"If one tribe claimed a debt of another, it was always demanded, and the claim discussed. If payment was refused, the claimants departed, telling the others to listen to their birds, as they might expect an attack. Even after this, it was often the case, that a tribe friendly to each mediated between them, and endeavoured to make a settlement of their contending claims. If they failed, the tribes were then at war. Recently, however, Parimban has attacked without due notice, and often by treachery, and the Sow Dyaks, as well as the Singè, practise the same treachery. The old custom likewise was, that no house should be set on fire, no paddy destroyed, and that _a naked woman_ could not be killed, nor a woman with child. These laudable and praiseworthy customs have fallen into disuse, yet they give a pleasing picture of Dyak character, and relieve, by a touch of humanity, the otherwise barbarous nature of their warfare.
"_Babukid, bubukkid, or mode of defiance._--I have before mentioned this practice of defiance, and I since find it is appealed to as a final judgment in disputes about property, and usually occurs in families when the right to land and fruit-trees comes to be discussed. Each party then sallies forth in search of _a head_; if one only succeed, his claim is acknowledged; if both succeed, the property continues common to both. It is on these occasions that the Dyaks are dangerous; and perhaps an European, whose inheritance depended on the issue, would not be very scrupulous as to the means of success. It must be understood, however, that the individuals do not go alone, but a party accompanies each, or they may send a party without being present. The loss of life is not heavy from this cause, and it is chiefly resorted to by the Singè and Sows, and is about as rational as our trials by combat."
This babukid must be a check of a permanent sort.
_Houses._--With certain of the Dyak tribes the houses are not huts, nor yet mere dwelling-houses of ordinary dimensions. They hold from one hundred to two hundred persons each; and are raised above the ground on piles. This form of domestic architecture is important in itself; and it is also important, because it appears again in New Guinea, and has already been found in Java.