III.
UP THE LABUK RIVER AND OVERLAND TO
KUDAT.
Tropical forests—A mysterious chief—Native ideas of gold—
—Discovery of a hill of pure talc—Leeches and rattans—Sin-
Dyaks—A river accident—Head-hunters on the watch-—“ Like
men with tails ”—Omens— “ Terrible news ”—A strange ceremony
luckily concluded—A lovely scene—“ The giant hills
of Borneo”—Collecting upas juice—Mineral prospects—Initiated
into the brotherhood of the Bendowen Dusuns—“ Oh,
Kinarringan, hear us ! ”—Talking to a dead man’s ghost—
Tattooed heroes, and marks denoting a coward—Bice harvests
—“ Only iron pyrites ”—More brotherhood ceremonies—A
model kampong—Hardships—Inhospitable Ghauaghaua or Tun-
foul men—A ghastly scene—Not head-hunting, but head-
stealing—Pig-killing, and a dead man—Promise of minerals
in the Sugut rivers—Lost in the jungle—An angry native and
a churlish tribe—The end of the journey—“ In the Bornean
bush from March 1 to.June 15.”
I,
H aving been instructed by the Governor to proceed to
the Labuk River in order to investigate “ the antimony
find,” which had been reported from that district, I
left Sandakan for the Labuk on March 1st, 1882, at
6.30, in the steam launch Boyah. Before leaving I
received two small pieces of sulphide of antimony,
weighing respectively l l -325 grms. and 13'726 grms.,
and upon which I have already written a note to the
Company. This ore was reported to have been brought
down the river by Hadji Sedik, who was said to know
of large deposits existing up the Labuk“; indeed, I was
told that there were “ seven hills of antimony.” I t at
once struck me as strange, if the ore existed in great
quantities, that such small specimens only could be
obtained.
Nothing of importance occurred on my first day’s
journey. I t rained considerably, and on picking up
the house-boat from Sandakan, which had started
before us, we all put into a tree-covered sandy island
called “ Liborreu ” to wait for the morrow.
We left Liborreu at an early hour the next day, and
were glad enough to get away, as there was no fresh
water there. We arrived at the mouth of the Labuk
River at one o’clock. The actual mouth is about a mile
wide, and the Labuk is joined at its embouchure by
another stream from the S.E. Shortly after reaching
the mouth we grounded on the bar,- and were delayed
an hour and a half before we succeeded in finding the
deep channel and getting into the river. During this
time I took a bearing of Tanjong Sugut, N.E. from our
position. Having got well into the river, we steamed
on in a W. to W.N.W. direction for about twelve miles,
when our course changed to N.E. into a much smaller
channel, leaving an immense swamp, looking like a lake,
on the W. The Labuk winds and turns very much;
a large bold stream about 300 to 500 yards wide, and
having a very rapid current. The banks here are
lined with magnificent nipa palms, which grow to an
enormous size. These useful growths form a fringe
along the river, at the back of which are trackless