DR. O. STAPF ON THE FLORA OF MOUNT KINABALU. 71 
evidence for it, except in the case of a species of Pinanga which was obtained at Bongol, on 
the Lower Tampassuk. In 1858 Sir Hugh Low, accompanied by Mr. Spencer St. John, 
Consul-General for Borneo, twice repeated his attempt to explore Kinabalu. The first 
time, in April and May, Sir Hugh Low was compelled to stay at Kiau, on the foot of 
the mountain, whilst Mr. St. John ascended it almost to the top. The second time, in 
July, he was more successful, and they both reached a peak which is only second in 
height to the summit. It was then that the splendid Pitcher-plants were collected, which 
Sir Joseph Hooker described and figured in the ‘ Transactions of the Linnean Society,’ 
vol xxii. (1859), and made the mountain at once famous. A very exhaustive 
report on both expeditions may be found in Spencer St. John's * Life in the Far East.' 
Several later attempts to ascend Kinabalu had no botanic importance, but in 1877 
Mr. F. W. Burbidge went there to collect for Messrs. Veitch of Chelsea. A set of 
- dried plants gathered on Kinabalu was sent to Kew, together with others from Labuan, 
from the Lawas River, and other places in North-east Borneo. As, however, the labels 
in many cases do not indicate the locality beyond the general printed heading “ North 
Borneo," I have omitted those without the special indication, unless it was evident from 
Burbidge's book or diary that they were from Kinabalu. In 1887 and 1888 Mr. John 
Whitehead, an ornithologist, undertook several expeditions to Mount Kinabalu. In 
1888 he stayed for more than four weeks at an elevation of about 8000 feet, and he 
ascended the top under very favourable conditions. Mr. Whitehead collected a few 
plants, which he presented to the Natural History Museum, South Kensington. His 
splendidly illustrated book ‘Exploration of Mount Kinabalu’ contains not only a 
detailed account of his expedition with several very fine illustrations representing the 
mountain as seen from different sides and elevations, but also numerous remarks 
which throw light on the general character of the vegetation. The last and, from 
a botanical point of view, most successful expedition was Dr. G. D. Haviland’s, 
in March and April 1892, on the results of which the greatest part of the present 
paper is based. As Dr. Haviland has not published an account of his expedition, I 
asked his permission to insert an abstract of an account drawn up by him for private 
use. This abstract, which follows, consists of the copied passages of the account 
which I thought of interest in connection with the subject of this paper, and 
Dr. Haviland kindly undertook the revision of it. 
Dr. Havinann’s EXPEDITION (1892). 
Dr. Haviland writes :— We left Kuching on March 1st, and reached Gaya late on the 
evening of the 5th. Here we stayed till the 10th, whilst our packages and provisions were 
being carried by boat to Tawaran. We reached Tawaran early on the morning of the 11th. 
The river is small, and there is a bar at the mouth. The Government offices are situated 
about an hour’s pull up the river. Beyond there is a large open plain, free from jungle, 
and thickly populated by Dusuns and their buffalos. The paddi harvest was over, the 
ground very dry, and the river low. On the 12th we sent our packages up river to 
a house at the east end of the plain, near the foot of the hills, whilst we and the coolies 
walked on foot, and we reached the place long before the boat. The river was about 
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