VII.
April 7th.—Left Byag for the purpose of examining
the river which flows along the valley. We forded the
“Aona” stream running into the “ Tympae,” a tributary
of the Labuk, and at 9.30 arrived at the “ Lilompatie,”
which is an important tributary of the Labuk, running
E . This stream is now only thirty yards wide, but in the
wet season it must be 100, and deep enough to float the
biggest ships, although it can now be crossed with the
water no higher than one’s waist in places. We walked
up this stream with immense difficulty, climbing over
enormous boulders and fallen trees, where a slip would
have ensured a broken leg, if not something worse. At
10.0 we arrived at the “ Kinang-Konang,” a rapid little
tributary of the Lilompatie on the right bank. The
natives said there was copper, here. There were two
capital sections of the river exposed; the formation
still consists of grey slate and quartz. From the
quartz at its junction with the slate were running
small streams of water, coloured red from the presence
of oxide of iron. This told a sad tale of only iron
pyrites. I soon had the men at work with pick and
spade, and we got some quartz containing unmistakable
iron pyrites. I took a sample, and as it was raining
heavily, we made the best of our way back to Byag.
We resumed our journey in the morning, and shortly
after leaving Byag arrived at the banks of the Lilompatie.
The road lay as usual over high hills. Having
waded through the river up to our middles, we stopped
on the opposite side to go through the ceremony of
brotherhood with the headman of Byag, who accompanies
me to the next village, and also with “ Orang
Kaya Dorrok,” the chief of 1 Niasanne,” our resting-
place for to-night. . No water-jars were buried, but
three stones were placed in a triangular fashion, and
two fowls were slaughtered. The spot selected was
Close to the woodland path ; this is an important point.
We fired three volleys, and I held the feet of the two
fowls, whose bodies were left to rot. The ceremony
over, we marched on to Niasanne, which is a beautiful
little village high up in the hills; and yet surrounded
on all sides by mountains stretching away in the
distance to Labuk. These mountains are composed
entirely of quartz, and the soil is excellent. The
people are well-made, and I particularly noticed the
absence of skin diseases among them, and also of
smallpox-marked persons. This I have noted since
leaving Bendowen. They are very simple; eagerly
snatch up empty cartridge-cases and tins without contents,
for which they will carry my baggage for miles.
They shave their heads like the Chinese, leaving
a patch at the back and two small tufts at the
ears. All the men and women wear much brass,
but earrings are not at all popular. Niasanne
headman, “ D o rro k ;” 14 houses; men, 47; women,
•35. The people here have cocoanuts, limes, oranges,
mangosteen, plantain, jack-fruit, sago (which they use
only for making ataps), betel, durian, rice, Indian
corn, cotton, tobacco, melons, cucumbers, sweet potatoes,
lemon-grass, kaladiums, a kind of onion, rope-
tree, &c. The soil is very fertile, and the tobacco plant
growing out in the open reaches a height of three to four
feet. Their livestock includes goats, karubas, pigs,
and fowls. Niasanne is the most favoured kampong I
have yet seen or am likely to see, I expect. They have