One wet day, in a Dyak house, when a number of boys and young men were about me, I thought to amuse them with something new, and showed them how to make "cat's cradle" with a piece of string.

Greatly to my surprise, they knew all about it, and more than I did; for, after Charles and I had gone through all the changes we could make, one of the boys took it off my hand, and made several new figures which quite puzzled me.

They then showed me a number of other tricks with pieces of string, which seemed a favourite amusement with them.
Even these apparently trifling matters may assist us to form a truer estimate of the Dyaks' character and social condition.

We learn thereby, that these people have passed beyond that first stage of savage life in which the struggle for existence absorbs all of the faculties, and in which every thought and idea is connected with war or hunting, or the provision for their immediate necessities.

These amusements indicate a capability of civilization, an aptitude to enjoy other than mere sensual pleasures, which might be taken advantage of to elevate their whole intellectual and social life.
The moral character of the Dyaks is undoubtedly high--a statement which will seem strange to those who have heard of them only as head-hunters and pirates.