on shore ; but they made no effort to stop us, and I
really think they were afraid of the black mefi. who
were with me.
Progress up the river is very'difficult and dangerous.
I think we ascended not more than fifty
yards to-day, divided in three rapids. • After this
we passed under a second rattan stretched across
the river between Kananap, a district of Sogolitan,
and Sogolitan proper. These two rattans form one
“ key” to the country, and if one is cut down, in
defiance, the Dyaks never leave the war-path until
the offenders’ heads are at rest with the others in their
head-store. All these people are very superstitious.
The “ bad bird ” is a great trouble, for it causes
trading parties to turn and go back, even when within
sight of the end of their journey. On head raids there
are several special birds, and great attention is paid to
their warnings. If the bird flies from left to right and
does not again return, the whole war party sits down
and waits, and if nothing comes of the waiting ¿very
one goes home. This evening I caught a first sight of
Mentapok, stated by Mr. Witti to be 8000, but which
I should think is at least 9000 feet high. I t is a fine,
bold peak, with exposures of white rock near the summit,
and is not unlike the Matterhorn.
IV.
On the 20th we passed into the “ Miruru ” country.
Mentapom. was bearing 345°. I noticed an extensive
landslip on the right bank of the river, and curiously
enough the rock exposed was sandstone. I t seems
th a t we have passed a great range of hills, composed
of plutonic and metamorphic rock, and have now got
into a sandstone formation once more. I should think,
however, that this inland sandstone is of much more
ancient origin than the coast formation, which is very
recent. Further on another big landslip was passed,
disclosing strata dipping at 80° S.S.W.
V.
We camped to-night almost at the foot of Mentapom,
and I fired my gun several times as a signal to a prahu
which had not yet come up. Some Dusuns, who were
catching fish, asked us not to fire, as it made the spirits
on Mentapom angry, and we should sure to get rain.
I cannot tell how they got hold of this curious superstition,
but, sure enough, half an hour afterwards the
rain came down in torrents.
March 21st.—At about nine o’clock the missing go-
bang came up. Terrible news ! She had gone over, and
all our things were lost. A gun and sword-bayonet, a
box of tinned provisions, four or five blankets, half a bag
of rice (being all the rice we had to feed twenty hungry
men), and all the biscuit, besides endless things belonging
to the Datu and the unfortunates in the boat. This
is a most terrible business for us. The men have not a
grain of rice to eat. I was thinking over the situation,
when one of them said he could see a house on the
top of a hill near the base of the Mentapom. He
pointed it out to me, and I determined to go up and try
and get food. Taking some cloth and four men, I went
forward. At our approach all the people ran away and
shouted, “ Take the paddy; there it is, there it is ! ”
They were in the midst of cutting paddy. When they
saw that we did not intend to rob and murder them,