198 WALLACE ON BORNEO. [Nov. 10, 1856. 



men to go with me, as I afterwards found, because the journey was 

 long and fatiguing. As I was determined to get on that day, 

 I told the few men that remained, that the chiefs had behaved very 

 badly, and I should acquaint the Eajah with their conduct, and that 

 I insisted on proceeding at once. Every man present made some 

 excuse, but after much trouble and two hours' delay, we succeeded 

 in getting off. For the first few miles, our path lay over a country 

 of a very singular character, cleared for paddy fields. It consisted 

 of abrupt hills and valleys, very steep, but of very slight elevation, 

 all terminating in sharp ridges and hillocks, with not a patch of 

 level ground. It was a mountain region in miniature. After crossing 

 the Kaj^an River, a fine stream, which is in fact a larger branch of 

 the Sadong than the one I ascended, we were on the lower slopes 

 of the Seboran Mountain, and the path lay along a sharp ridge which 

 led up to the mountain, and afforded an excellent view of the country 

 round. The features were exactly those of the Himalaya in minia- 

 ture, as described by Dr. Hooker, and might be considered as a 

 natural model of some part of those vast mountains, on a scale of 

 about one-tenth, thousands of feet being here represented by 

 hundreds. I now found the source of the beautiful pebbles which 

 had so pleased me all up the river. The slaty rocks had ceased, 

 and all these mountains appeared to be a conglomerate sandstone, 

 in some places a mere mass of pebbles cemented together. I ought 

 to have known before that such a small stream could not produce 

 such vast quantities of well-rounded fragments of quartz and agate. 

 They had been produced in past ages by the action of some large 

 continental stream, before the great island of Borneo had risen from 

 the ocean. 



About mid-day we reached the village of Menyerry, beautifully 

 situated on a spur of the mountain, about COO feet above the valley, 

 and affording a delightful view of the mountain i egion of this part of 

 Borneo. I here first got a view of the Penrhissen Mountain, at the 

 head of the Sarawak Eiver, and one of the highest, if not the highest 

 in this district, rising probably to near 6000 feet above the sea-level. 

 The Eowen Mountain to the south, seemed nearly equally lofty. It 

 is situated near Sikyam, on a tributary of the Pontianak Eiver ; and 

 in the same direction, but much more distant, appeared the lofty 

 mountain Nutowan. 



Descending from MenyeiTy we again crossed the Kayan, which 

 bends round the foot of the spur ; and ascended to the pass which 

 separates the valleys of the Sadong and Sarawak Eivers, and forms 

 the boundary of the Sarawak district. The height of this point 

 must be about 2000 feet. The descent from here was veiy fine. A 



