smoke and a chat over our misadventure. Several men
came over from the opposite coast of Lumbedan, where
there are a few native houses, to look at u s ; and I asked
them to bring over a boat in the morning, which they
very civilly promised to do. About nine o’clock we
sought our blankets, and turned in for the night, and
slept well, notwithstanding our recent mishap.
August 1 st.—We were all astir by daybreak this morning
; and, after having had our customary cup of coffee
and dry toast, we set our followers to work to spread
out the wet rice on mats in the sun, and to rearrange
all our stores. Some of the men were sent to cut down
*( nebong ” palms, the young tops of which form a
delicious vegetable when boiled, and others were employed
in cleaning our arms, cutting fire-wood, and other
necessary work. While this was going on, I took my
gun, and went out on a stroll around our little island.
The vegetation I found was rather dense, and the whole
■surface rocky. I noticed several species of palms, and an
epiphytal fern or two, and plants of the white-flowered Den-
■drdbium, crumenatum hung here and there on the trees.
I shot two of the beautiful white island pigeon (Car-
pophaga bicolor), called “ Pragam pulo ” by the natives,
and a larger species, of an ash colour (C. cenea), the
■wings and neck being shot with purple and bronze tints.
This is a very large and handsome bird, common in
Borneo, and when cooked, is very good eating. On my
return to the tent I found the man from the coast had
brought over his boat, as promised, and I at once sent
it off, with eleven of my men, with a letter to Mr. A.
Boosie, the manager of the coal mines in Labuan, asking
him to lend me one of his boats, in which to continue
my journey.
It is a lovely day to-day, and our rice and clothes are
getting dry again. “ Kimjeck,” after he had done his work
this morning, started off on a collecting excursion, and
has just returned, with a couple of broad-tailed, dusky-
■coloured rock-snakes, one a very fine specimen. Beetles
and butterflies, he tells me, are alike unobtainable, and
he can find no flowers, so that we can do no collecting
on the island. Knowing that it will be night at the
earliest ere our own men can possibly return with the
boat, I and Smith went over to Lumbedan with some
natives, who had come in a boat to look at us, and had a
walk in the tall forest, which forms a back-ground to the
houses near the shore. Here we found the “ nebong ” palm
attaining to a large size ; and some woodcutters promised
to cut us a few young tops by the time of our return.
This forest, although originally rich in plants, like that
of Labuan, has suffered severely during recent years from
the now ever recurring jungle-fires of the dry monsoon.
We could find nothing of interest. A large-leaved crinum
grows in the sand by the shore ; and a scarlet-flowered
ixora with narrow foliage, was blooming here and there
in patches. We shot a long-tailed paroquet, and a blue
kingfisher, the only birds we saw, and retraced our steps
to the village just before sunset. We were thoroughly
tired, and rested here some time, watching the young
Kadyans playing at foot-ball on the beach. The players
stand in a circle, three or four yards in diameter, and the
ball is kicked in the air by the player to whom it falls
nearest. To do this properly requires great dexterity, as
the ball is struck with the sole of the foot; and a part}'
of good players will thus keep a ball in the air for several
minutes by each kicking it upwards just as it is about to
fall. The ball itself is a light hollow one, of rattan openwork,
about the size of an ordinary cricket-ball; and the
game closely resembles shuttlecock, as played in China.
s 2