Rumah juman, above Giam Bakun, held the awe and respect of being the house where the hereditary penghulu Usun Hang lived. Some way upriver above her were situated two small nondescript longhouses, rolling virgin hills and the very long stretch of the tempestuous Batang Rejang. at each longhouse in which Asah and his men had  inevitably to put up for the night, additional men would join his party of warriors. Each door would give whatever they could : a cigarette, a tin of rice, or some other provisions, to the war party.

For Asah and his party, Rumah juman in the evening was lighted up with spluttering damar-fire in an  earthen bowl. In a circle, around the fire, a crowd of maidens, women, men and children gathere, mingling with their guests. Noe and then, the maidens cast bashful glances at the warrior and lowered them demurely as the young warriors boldly touched their arms.

Beginning with Asah, each guest was approached and a mug of borak offered to thim by a leading lady. She sang a lengthy pantun of praises and good wishes firstly, and finally gave hin the borak at the end of her recital. To the rhythm and chorus of "Doo-oo-eh-eh!", Asah drained the invigorating drink, and showed it bottoms up amidst the cheers of the happy crowd. Plucking up their courage, the other maidens did the same as thier leader. They then offered borak to the men of their fancy and attempted to outdo one another with panduns.Finally, all settled down with the borak warming their hearts.

A sapeh was struck and a pretty maiden rose from the crowd and walked gracefully into the open space in the circle. There was an air of expectancy from the crowd. She was dressed in sarong  tucked up above her bosom. Her hair freshly combed, was crowned with a band of multi-coloured woven beads. Her arms were bare, and she was tattooed from her loower arms to her fingers, and from her lower eggs to her toes.

Rhythmically tapping the floor with her bare feet, first with her right foot and then with her left, in tune with the strains of the sapeh, she then undulated her arms and hands. Thereafter, she gently and gracefully swayed hr slender figure and limbs and moved slightly forward and backward. She did a quarter turn and then a full turn. Her face was serene and natural and she was physicallly relaxed. She drew murmurs of admiration  and at the end of her performance, there was an applause.

The two girls walked lighlty into the ring and facing each other, began tapping their feet in turn to time with the music. both were dressed in almost similar attire as the first. they danced, swaying their figures and undulating their arms and hands. they moved towards each other lightly and then backed away. they were also very graceful dancers.

There was no lack of dancers from the men, though each had to bedragged by the maidens onto their feet to dance. The ngajat of the men was almost similar to the women's, but only a shade stiff. They leapt and jumped with wooden shields and parangs held in their hands. A dancer usually showed off his hunting prowess and headhunting ability in his dancing.

The dancing and drinking continued till early morning and only stopped when the musicians themselves were affected by too much drinking. The haunting twangs of the sapeh, the teasing and flirting, were irresistable to the young and old. finaaly, the merrymakers dropped off in a dead heap, drunk and exhausted.

Next morning the war  party left. To these two boat-loads of intrepid warrior, the river had been and would be their best friend in wars or in prosperity. As they dipped their paddles in unison on their way upriver, many young men recalled the parting at Rumah Juman that morning. the maidens had run ankle-deep in water to reach their boats as the war party cast off. Hastily, they had pressed into the delighted men's hands, small packets of natice tobacco.  there, the maidens had sttood with tears willing in their eyes as the war party , chanting with gusto, departed.

Excited whoops of joy could be heard in the midst of rhythmical knocks of paddles against the perahu as each warrior had discovered two neatly rolled tobacco on the same leaf.

Paddling upriver against the flow of water was, at all times, laborious. In stretches of swiftly-flowing water over its shallow bed, it was necessary to pole in unison. At the rapids, it was necessary to pole in unison. At the rapids, it was necessary to unload goods to facilitate dragging the perahu through the falls and other obstructions. some warriors climbed and slithered up rocks and jungle tracks to skirt the falls.

Falls, submerged and semi-submerged rocks and sharp turns in the river made navigation extremely hzardous. these contributed to the momentum and impetus to an already swiftly flowing water which erupted in foam and spray. Welling and churning, it leapt,laughed and splashed in jest.

It groaned and shrieked in terror. It bashed itself against the rocky wallk, recoiling in surprise, then foamed in anger. The cicadas chirped in their orchestral cacophany above the noise of the deafening falles. The stunted trees overhead along the rocky and perpendicular bank seemed unimpressed by the fantastic water display, but had been most unwilling witnesses of as many human good fortunes as stark tragedies.

For most of the time, human lives were lost while shooting down the rapids or falls. The goods in the perahu had to be unloaded. Only a few paddlers were needed to guide the boat and to bale the water. The perahu would race down at an incredible speed, approaching close to twenty-miles an hour, through narrow passages and straight into the rocky walls and semi-submerged rocks. An expert and alert man at the bow had to ward off at the right moment. The man at the stern had to counter-move simultaneously amidst shouts of: "Wi-id', Pa-ut! Pa-ut! Wi-id!" The man in the middle would bale water, irrespective of what occured in the bow or stern. A slight mistake in mistiming by either men would result in a smashed bow, an upturned boat and men flung into the raging, sucking stream.