some dry rocks. I sent twice for them to come on to us,
but they would not move, and passed the night without
fire or food, rather than bestir themselves to prepare
either. We managed to start a fire after some difficulty,
and then pulled off our cold wet garments. I got one of
my Malays to rub me briskly all over with a coarse towel,
and then put on two flannel shirts, trowsers, and jacket,
after which I felt comparatively comfortable. One of
the Dusun fetched us some water from a stream half a
mile off; and it was so icy cold as to make one’s teeth
chatter to drink it—rather a novelty in the tropics.
“ Jeludin,” although shivering, set about booking our
dinner; and “ Suong,” who was the most useful man I
had, chopped up enough wood to last us all the night.
The men who came on with us sat shivering under the
rocks for over an hour, before I could induce them to set
about lighting themselves a fire. It was, indeed, really
painful to see the poor fellows so utterly paralysed.
“ Boloung,” the chief of the Kiau Dusun, who had accompanied
us, had carried up a fowl under his arm the
whole way ; and when he reached the cave, I was agreeably
surprised when he presented it to me, and I took it
as a great compliment, for it is extremely rare for a
Dusun to put himself to so much trouble even for a
friend, much less“ for a stranger like myself. This fowl,
although lively enough in the morning, had become so
wet and cold during the ascent, that it appeared to be
dead ; indeed, I thought it was dead for some time, but
on holding it near the fire, it revived a little. Our Dusun
followers made their encampment under a dry, overhanging
rock, a quarter of a mile ahead of us. We had a
view of the great waterfall on the bare granite rocks of
the mountain opposite, and could hear the dash of its
current into the stream below very plainly.
After dinner we made up a good fire ; and never did
I fancy a cup of hot coffee so delicious as this seemed to
be ; while the primest of fragrant Havannahs have been
far less comforting than was the modest cigarette of
native grown tobacco, which one of my followers made
and presented to me on the spot. Our fire blazed up
brightly, and diffused both warmth and fragrance in our
rocky dwelling; and, wrapping our rugs and blankets
around us, we were soon asleep, surrounded by our
Labuan men, who crowded around the fire, and kept it
replenished with fuel throughout the night.