OF MT. KINABALU AND BRITISH NORTH BORNEO 7 
The Tampussuk, Tuaran, and Papar rivers flow through rich alluvial 
plains on their lower courses ; on the other hand the Padas river passes 
through swamp forest, which is, however, very restricted compared with the 
area occupied by a similar formation in Sarawak. 
The parallel sandstone ranges bordering the coast are as yet unsurveyed. 
They are very steep and of a switchback character, as seen from the sea. 
Captain Learmonth, R.N., who has taken part in the Admiralty Surveys 
on the north coasts of Borneo for many years, informs me they range from 
4000-5000" in height. 
Posewitz refers to the peculiar mountain structure of Borneo, with its 
isolated mountain ridges and mountain islands lying in hillland. This feature 
is also evidenced in British North Borneo, where on the west coast the Limba- 
kauh mountain in the south, supposed to be 10,000’, and the Walker range, 
up to 5000’, bounding the Pengallan river, stand out alone. The Trusmandi 
range near Tambunan approximates to 8000, with Kinabalu running up to 
13,440' ; while the Crocker, an extensive range, about 5000' in height, runs 
parallel to the coast and at about 12-20 miles from it. Dr. Stapf (17. 76) 
queries whether the Southern spur of Kinabalu does not run down to the 
Padas river, in which case it would form a portion of this range. Captain 
Learmonth, however, to whom I am indebted for the above information, does 
not consider such to be the fact; he has taken all the altitudes, and is 
certain that there is no sustained connection, the intervening hills showing a 
series of breaks. The Southern spur of Kinabalu does not run out for any 
great distance, and the mountain is isolated in its orographieal character like 
the so-called Crocker range. 
9. METEOROLOGY. 
In the following table from the Meteorological Report for British North 
Borneo in 1906-1907 (it has been impossible to obtain complete returns 
for the whole year of later dates), the mean temperature and rainfall are 
given for three localities in the provinces Dent and Keppel on the west coast, 
viz., at Jesselton, Beaufort, and Sapong, for the two years. 
Tt will be seen that at Jesselton, on the sea-coast, the temperature is very 
constant, ranging from 91-72° F., while the mean rainfall is 98°33 inches. 
At Beaufort, 57 miles inland from Jesselton, the temperature shows less 
variation, the maximum and minimum being from 92-76°, whereas the 
annual mean rainfall is very heavy, being 158:57 inches, possibly due to the 
fact that that station is surrounded by steep hills, the Rayoh to the north and 
the Panggi to the south. 
At Sapong, on the contrary, about 35 miles farther inland, and situated in 
open rolling country on the south side of the Panggi hills, which no doubt 
condense the moisture in the clouds as they pass over them, the mean 
rainfall for the two years is only 61:03 inches. 
