“ We walked together lip the hill, and entered nay
humble dwelling, which consisted of a roof and a floor
of split bamboos, built on piles. Having no chairs,
we sat together upon the hammock, and we each
seemed to have so much to say that we found a difficulty
in conversing at all.
“ The rest of that evening we spent in talking over
our homes and our respective relations, and conjecturing
together what our friends far away at home
were then doing; whether it was fine weather in the
old country or n o t; and many other things like that.
We opened a bottle of wine from my stores, and drank
to each other’s healths; we smoked cigarettes, and
talked far into the night. Frank then ordered his
hammock to be prepared, and we turned in ; but not
to sleep. We each had too many questions to ask of
one another. We would both be silent for a few
minutes, and I would ask some question about Sanda-
kan. Then silence again, and Frank would be the
interrogator. This was kept up till sunrise, when we
both dozed off for half an hour.
“ We then got up, had some coffee, and were busily
engaged in making arrangements for a journey up
the Mullykup, eating durian and langsat, smoking
cigarettes, and chatting gaily about the dear old mother
country. That night we managed to get more sleep,
and were up at daylight, refreshed and ready for the
journey upon which we were to start that morning.
“ All being prepared, we got into our canoes, and
started away about nine o’clock from Pinungah,
paddling quietly against the stream for the remainder of
the d ay ; passing some beautiful scenery, wild in the
extreme, lovely butterflies skimming everywhere, birds
chirping, and the lesser hornbill trumpeting enthusiastically
from the tops of the high trees on either
side of the Mullykup River. How and then we found
an opportunity of having a shot at a stray deer or
palandoTc, and once or twice were startled by an iguana
dropping from the branches of a tree flat on its belly
in the mud, and scampering into the water and disappearing.
At short intervals it was necessary to
alight from the canoes, which had to be carried over
the rapids, whilst we wended our way over enormous
rocks to rejoin them higher up.
“ That night at sundown we decided to halt, and
orders were given for a fire to be lit, and Frank’s hammock
to be fixed, I preferring to sleep in my canoe,
out of the reach of the enormous ants which tormented
poor Frank all night. He happened to remark in Malay
to one of his attendants, f Sumut dehawa, namoh
diatas.’ This expression, simple enough, meaning
‘ Ants below, mosquitoes above,’ in Malay was a
remarkably witty speech, and excited a deal of amusement
and laughter from our Malayan followers. He
told me an amusing stofy of his man Smith. He
liked Smith, and thought his repartee in this case
very smart, and laughed heartily as he related the
circumstance. In one district where they were the
first comers, and had no maps to guide them, Frank said,
‘ Smith, we must name some of these places for our
charts, supposing we call this spot Hatton Garden ? ’
Smith waited a little time without replying, and then
said, ‘Well, Mr. ’Atton, if you calls that ’Atton
Garden—what do you say to calling this Smithfield ? ’
“ Our meal that nightwas simple in the extreme, consisting
of a pot of tea, hard-boiled eggs, while our men