pretty. A species of dwarf palm (Areca, sp.), bearing
clusters of small scarlet fruits, is noticeable, and a
trailing plant, allied to the jasmines, bore axillary clusters
of white waxy flowers, each having a hrown eye-like spot
in its centre. The perfume emitted by its blossoms was
delicious, and resembled that of spring hyacinths. A
red-fruited raspberry (Rubus roscefolius), and several
species of ferns and selaginellas carpeted the low shady
forest along our route. The only bird we saw was a
lyre-tailed shrike of a dark ash colour. Our dinner
consisted of a fowl cut up and boiled with a little rice,
and when it was nearly done we added a small tin of
Julienne soup to it, thus securing some substantial potage,
and we were hungry enough to appreciate it at its full
value. A cup of coffee and a cigar made us forget all our
bruises, and knowing the stiff day’s work we had for the
morrow, we retired to our blankets early.
August 15th.—We awoke about 5 a .m . and aroused
our followers. A Malay named “ Jeludin,” acted as
cook in the absence of my regular “ boy,” and he prepared
a very palatable breakfast of the remains of our
dinner, supplemented by nicely boiled rice and dried fish.
“ Kurow ” breakfasted off wild cat roasted a la Dusun,
and a little rice which we gave him. After breakfast he
sat smoking, and “ Suong ” came and told me that he
would not go up the mountain. On my asking him his
reason for resolving thus, he replied that he could not
go because he had no trowsers, nor coat, nor head-cloth.
I had given him a warm tweed coat previous to starting,
but this he had left in his house. I at once told him
through “ Suong,” that if he did not go as I had paid
him to do, I should tell all the headmen as we returned
to the coast, that he broke his bargains, and was afraid
to go up the mountain. This threat had the desired
effect on him ; for after reflecting on it several minutes,
he arose and prepared to start, saying with charming
naivetS, that “ I was a good man, and that he liked me.”
About seven o’clock “ Boloung ” and five or six of his
followers rejoined us, as they had promised, and we set
off on our way up the spur.
Our path at first lay up the bed of the torrent, but we
left this in a few minutes, hearing up the spur to the
right, past a bamboo fence in which rat-traps were placed
at intervals of a few feet. Here and there, too, we
noticed the dangerous spring pig-spearing apparatus, so
commonly met with in the forests of the Murut and
Kayan tribes who live further south. The deposit of
forest debris at the base of this south spur is very rich in
ferns and herbaceous plants. A melastomad here and
there bore clusters of pretty pink flowers. Of this plant,
which grew in the moss beside the path, there are green
and purple-leaved varieties. A glossy-leaved ardisia,
having clusters of red berries, the foliage being claret-
coloured beneath, was conspicuous ; and the stems of a
shrub four feet high were covered with clusters of vermilion
tinted berries the size of small peas ; another
shrub, a yard high, having lance-shaped serrate leaves,
bore clusters of pure white, gesnera-like flowers. As we
climhed higher up the mountain side, rhododendra,
bearing white, scarlet, yellow, or magenta-coloured blossoms,
began to appear, and epiphytal and terrestrial
orchids also became more plentiful. The curious pitcher-
plants also increased in profusion, some being of a
wondrous size and of the most singular form, colour and
texture. At one place in a secluded mossy nook, where
Mr. Yeitch and I had obtained plants during our last
ascent, I found that some cuttings we had accidentally left
on the ground had thrown out numerous fresh roots into