Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
will decay in one or two seasons, but it can be so quickly replaced as to make it more eco-
nomical than using a harder and more durable wood.
Dyak crossing a bamboo bridge
One of the most striking uses to which Bamboo is applied by the Dyaks, is to assist them
This method is constantly used in order to obtain wax, which is one of the most valuable
products of the country. The honey-bee of Borneo very generally hangs its combs under the
branches of the Tappan, a tree which towers above all others in the forest, and whose
smooth cylindrical trunk often rises a hundred feet without a branch. The Dyaks climb these
lofty trees at night, building up their Bamboo ladder as they go, and bringing down gigantic
honeycombs. These furnish them with a delicious feast of honey and young bees, besides
the wax, which they sell to traders, and with the proceeds buy the much-coveted brass wire,
earrings, and gold-edged handkerchiefs with which they love to decorate themselves. In as-
cending Durian and other fruit trees which branch at from thirty to fifty feet from the
