Bark canoes among the Jakuns and Dyaks
This short note by Dr. W. L. Abbott documents the use of bark canoes among the Jakuns of Pahang and the Dyaks of West Borneo, a practice he considered previously unrecorded in Malaya.
Summary
Abbott first observed the canoes in July 1902 on the Rumpin River in Pahang, where the Jakuns used roughly made meranti bark canoes called “rapako” to transport rattans and jungle produce down the Jekati and Keratong tributaries. The canoes were approximately 4–5 metres long, constructed by removing bark in a single sheet, cutting the ends square, stitching them with small rattan, and lashing transverse ribs and sticks to hold the sides in position. The gunwale edge was enclosed with a large split rattan, and the sewn ends were caulked with mud or clay (p. 109).
In July 1907, Abbott found similar canoes in use among the Dyaks of the Semundung and Ulu Sempang Rivers in West Borneo. These were made from a thicker, spongier, more resinous bark (identified by Malays as bintangor batu?) and dispensed with the split rattan gunwale reinforcement. Abbott noted that two Dyaks could construct a large canoe in half a day, and that the canoes bore no comparison with the elaborate birch bark vessels of North American peoples (p. 110).