there with occasional tufts of vegetation forming little
islets in mid river, hills on each bank running down perpendicularly
to the water’s edge and covered with creepers,
moss, wild palms, and ferns, magnificent trees on either
side stretching their branches into triumphal arches over
head. Soon the whole scene was changed, clouds gathered,
and thunder rumbled, and down came the rain in a continuous
torrent. Towards evening we arrived at our
destination like so many drowned rats. In the evening
I held service under difficulties, there being no prayer-
house, and the long public verandah of the house being
the only available place. The dignity of worship suffers
terribly in such circumstances. No sooner do we begin
than dogs begin to fight, or a child to cry, or an unsympathetic
heathen at the other end of the house to make
some discordant row, or a fighting cock will fly right into
the midst of the kneeling assembly, and distract everyone’s
attention.”
The condition of the natives near the capital is not
nearly so good as at Kina Balu, a hundred and fifty miles
away, if we except the Kadyans, who being Mahomedans,
and having powerful friends in Brunei, are able to resist
many of the taxes which the Muruts of the Limbang and
elsewhere are called upon to pay. I made two visits
here to the capital, and made a boat journey up the
Limbang and Pandarowan rivers as far as Bukit Sagan.
This trip was made in the wet season, and took twelve
men three days, owing to the heavy freshes against which
they had to pull. The Pandarowan river is small compared
with the Limbang, of which it is a tributary; but
it is, without exception, the loveliest river I ever saw
At the end of the second day after leaving the capital
we reached a large house belonging to the Muruts of this
district. It stood in a little clearing close beside the
stream, and was nearly a hundred yards in length. A
rude pathway of tree trunks lay on the muddy shore
reaching to one end of the building. We landed here to
cook our dinner, and clambered up into the house by a
rude stair formed of a notched tree trunk. The Muruts
looked rather surprised to see such visitors, but spread
mats for us, and gave us some firewood and water. After
dinner we had a smoke with the head-man, a fine muscular
old fellow, nearly six feet high. About fifty men,
women, and children swarmed round the circle, of which
a wood fire was the centre, to get a peep at us. The
head-man’s wife was a young and rather handsome girl,
having a fine dusky little baby swung behind her, and
several other of the younger married women and girls
were comely, with dark eyes and luxuriant hair. Others,
however, were less attractive, and many of both sexes
were troubled with peculiar skin diseases. We engaged
two men of this tribe to go with us as far as Bukit Sagan,
as our men did not exactly know the best place at which
to land. We slept by the fire until about two o’clock,
when the rain, which had been coming down heavily all
day, ceased, and the silver moon being nearly at the full,
it quite illumined the stream as it sped past the house.
The mosquitoes became very troublesome, and so I called
the men and went down to the boat. After shouting for
about half an hour, the Muruts came down and took their
places; and pulling across the current, we crept up stream
beneath the arching plumes of the Nipa palm, which is
here abundant. It was hard work for the men, although
we had now fourteen paddles. A sharp look-out had to
be kept for snags and floating trunks of trees, several of
which we saw shooting past us mid stream. Our Labuan
men were rather afraid, and several times wanted to make
fast until daybreak. At one place the boat struck heavily