when all the lower part is under water. They told me
that in the wet season the whole of the plain was a
sheet of water for sometimes more than a month.
Tuntoul to Danao, three miles, in two and a half
hours; direction, N.
April 12th.—Pushing on early this morning, we
soon left Danao Plain behind us, and entered the woods
again. The rice-fields on the plain are all fenced
round, and windmills set to frighten birds away.
Crossing the Meusaban and Nogorass streams, we
arrived without incident at Koligan. We have had
bad weather lately; the rain always begins in the
middle of the day with thunder, and lasts until evening.
Koligan: 3 houses; men, 21; women, 25 ; old
man, Sabong. Danao to Koligan, seven miles, in
three and a half hours; main direction, H.N.W.
- The people were engaged in killing pigs here, and
the noise was very great. They fasten the animal’s
legs and then thrust a sharp bamboo right up to the
animal’s heart. The curious part of the operation is
that from the moment the bamboo enters the body the
animal makes no more noise.
There was a dead man in one of the houses here, and
I went to see him. He was placed in a sitting posture
dressed in all the things he had ; a cigarette was being
held to his mouth; and a brass box containing betel,
&c., was open before him. His friends were seated
around, and were telling the dead man not to go to the
right or left, as they were the wrong roads, but to keep
straight ahead, “ and that is the way to Kina Balu.”
This cefemony. lasts one day and one night, and the
next day the man is buried with most of his material
belongings.
April 13th.—Our path from Koligan lay over a level
country, watered by numerous streams and . rivers.
One important river, the “ Lukan,” running E.S.E.
into the Sugut, was crossed this morning. I t evidently
rises in or near Kina Balu, as boulders of porphyritic
granite are plentiful. Had I means and food I should
like to examine the Sugut rivers, and this is a work
that must be done in the near future. Another
member of the Sugut system, the Silam-silam, was
crossed soon after, course N. by E. Presently we
arrived at Bonkud: old man, Gunsanad; men, 22;
women, 30; houses, 5. We crossed the Pangkatan,
where the Bonkud people get their water, and arrived
at a large village, Limaousse, at eleven o’clock.
Limaousse: old men, Garanter and Gendiong.; men,
31; women, 3 7 ; houses, 7. . Arrived at Marang-
Parangat3.30 : old man, Egongad; men, 10 ; women,
15 ; houses, 2. The country is called Gophon. In
the afternoon we arrived at the Lunganan, and crossed
into Lasas tired to death at 3.30.
IX.
Our Koligan baggage-bearers, following the same
plan as the Danao, Tuntoul, and Ghanaghana people,
lingered behind, and tried in every way to make us lose
time. Getting tired of this, I told every one that they
must get to Lasas to-night, and pushed on alone. For
hours we went up hill and down dale, until all at once
the path lost itself in a rice-field. About two miles
back we had passed a rice hut, from which all the
people ran at our approach. Being quite lost, I
thought the best thing would be to get back there.
This was, however, easier said than done, and shortly