Our food supply, too,—that is, the rice—ran short, and
so the men were reduced to live on kaladi and sweet
potatoes roasted in the embers and eaten with a little
salt. Our Dusan guides also complained of the cold,
and tried to hurry us in our descent; indeed at last they
would wait no longer, and they slipped away, leaving us
to reach their village alone as best we could. We were
fully determined not to be defeated in our object, however,
and keeping ahead of our own men we descended
leisurely so as to gather plants by the way, until all had
as much as they could possibly carry down. I carried
my servant’s load in order that he might carry a lot of
rare specimens which I had secured for him in a handkerchief.
The descent after the rain of the night before
was difficult and dangerous, and we had a good many
falls. Once I fell down a steep place a depth of about
twenty feet, among shrubs and creepers, which saved me
from serious injury. Mr. Yeitch and myself, my “ boy,”
and a solitary Labuan man, went on a-head of our main
party, and just at nightfall discovered that we had lost
our way. The right path lay across a clearing down
which we turned instead of pushing across and striking
the path beyond.
We floundered along in the gloaming down several
dangerous steeps and across a rocky stream, in crossing
which I stepped incautiously on a slippery water-worn
boulder, and became thoroughly submerged in the water,
which being from the heights above is icy cold, at least
it seems so after one has been used to the heat of the
tropics. This increased my discomfort, and poor Mr.
Yeitch was but little better. Here we were at dark lost
and benighted beside the rocky declivities of this mountain
stream; but there was no help for it; and after
vainly trying to strike a path, we gave up at the base of
a large tree, and putting down our burdens, we resolved
to pass the night here. To mend matters, it commenced
to rain heavily about seven o’clock, and I am afraid we
were not so happy as the mere possession of health and
strength ought to have made us. We had no food
except a couple of wet biscuits and about half a glass of
brandy in a flask. These we shared, and perhaps they
were sweeter than the choicest viands would have tasted
had we been in dress clothes and in comfortable quarters.
Then Mr. Veitch had a great find in his bag—a couple
of cigars and a box of matches. Sitting in the smoking-
room of a comfortable club, or in the billiard-room at
home, one may smile at such a discovery; but, situated
as we were, cold and wet, a cigar added much to our
comfort. Our two followers tried to make a little shelter
from the rain for themselves, but failed miserably.
About ten o’clock the rain ceased, and we then tried
to improve our position; for hitherto all we] could do
was to walk about around a large tree—a distance of a
few yards only; for in the darkness we knew not what
ugly falls might not await us if we strayed from our
wretched camping-ground, which was wet and spongy
under foot; and the leeches crawled up our legs and bled
us to their hearts’ content. We noticed luminous fungi
on the rotten sticks at our feet glowing quite brightly,
and the effect was weird and ghostly in the extreme.
My “ boy,” quite by accident, had placed a couple of dry
flannel shirts, a pair of trowsers, and a blanket, in the
other man’s basket, and so, after the rain ceased, I was
able to put on a dry warm shirt and trowsers, a luxury I
had not expected, and also to give Mr. Yeitch a dry
shirt and a share of my rug. We now sat down on some
brushwood, and leaning back against the tree, fell asleep,
and we did not wake until near sunrise. Thus ended