A journalist writes about the traditionally nomadic Penan people of Sarawak. He has had regular contact with them since the early 1980s when they were thought to number some 10,000. The Penan way of life has been often romanticised but the author highlights their poverty and hardships and prejudices they face from other ethnic groups as well as from the timber companies. Successes as well as failures to integrate in modern society, administration and education are highlighted. Many informal colour photographs show Penan families in their daily lives and on more informal occasions. With bibliography, tables and sketch map.