April 2, 1883.] 



tHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



829 



NORTH BORNIiO OR " NEW CEYLON ": THE 



SABAH GOVERNMENT. 

 Diary of Mb. Von Donop travelling TiinonGH the 



OOUNTKY. 



To Ike Milvrs of the "Ceylon Observer." 

 ^ 8aU(lakaa, 3rtl January 1883. 



Dear Sirs, — I have been iutendiiig to send you a shoi-t 

 account of another trip tlu-ough North Borneo for .some 

 time, back, but no opportunity has offered till now, I 

 havuig to wait till weather clears up iu order to get back 

 to my headquarters at .Selam. 



On .July 30th I left Kudat in the Company's 

 launch "JMougelas" accompanied by Jlr. 8aunders, an 

 experienced tobacco planter from Deli, who was 

 anxious to ascert.^in whether this couutry was suited 

 for that product. Our destination was the bay of 

 Abai, situated on the west coast, which place we reached 

 towards evening: but owing to the bar and low tide we 

 were unable to enter till night. Abai had always been 

 pronounced one of the pettiest Kesidencies of the Com- 

 pany and certainly it is very picturesque. The Govern- 

 ment house, which lies quite close to the shore, has a 

 beautiful green background, upon which several hundred 

 head of cattle all iu the pink of condition were to be 

 seen grazing. 



July 31st.— We landed and put up at the Residency, which 

 happened to be unoccupied and made ourselves quite com- 

 fortable. Dining the afternoon two of the headmen from 

 Jampassuck. which is about six miles distant, came over 

 to pay their re,spects, and I at on :e questioned them about 

 supplying me with men as carriers to go inland. The re- 

 sult was not very encouraging, as they told me this was 

 a most unfortunate time of the year to procure them, as 

 the men were all busy preparmg their rice-fields; but 

 that they would do their best for me and let me know- 

 on the morrow. After they had made their departure I 

 crossed the liver with Mr, Saunders to see some Liberian 

 coffee and some of the Arabica kind. I found them with- 

 out much difficulty growing under heavy shade and choked 

 by. a good deal of undergrowth. The Liberian variety was 

 about S ft. high, but, owmg to the shade, growing iu a 

 very lauky fashion. The Coffea Arabica was growing in 

 native fashion and had not a very healthy appearance. 

 I pruned them out a bit and topped the Liberiau trees and 

 then hacked some of the jungle to let in more light, 

 from which they ought to gain great advantage. From 

 here we took a stroll in the direction of the Jampas- 

 8uk plain, which appeared very extensive. Parts ap- 

 appeared covered with a fodder grass and other with lalang. 

 The soil appeared rather sandy, but I put oft a fui-ther 

 inspection till the next day. 



August 1st.— We followed today the same tracks as yester- 

 day. On Bearing the old Jampassuk Kesidency, the soil 

 appeared to be much richer than tliat in the Abai direc- 

 tion, there being also several fresh-water springs. Arrived 

 at the Residency I sought out the little coffee (jU-abica) 

 garden, which was neatly enclosed iu a fence. The trees 

 were growing in native fashion and had a fair crop upon 

 them. I could find no disease, every one of them looking 

 most healthy, I gathered some of the ripe cherries, which, 

 on testing on my return to Abai, appeared to have a large 

 percentage of light coffee, but this would be expected, 

 seeing it is growing about 50 feet above the sea in a 

 sandy soil and under the shade of the tamarind, tree. The 

 Blanila hemp which I next went to see I foimd smothered 

 up in scrub, ))ut it nevertheless looked well and I expect 

 to get several hundred shoots from it. The natives told 

 me that formerly it was grown on an extensive scale, but 

 that cheap cotton goods liad done away with the necessity 

 for its cultivation. 



I also saw the shoeflower growing and flowering well, 

 BO that residents in Borneo will be able to obtain a 

 very pretty shrub for making garden fences. 1 thought 

 in getting sapan seed from Ceylon I was introducing a 

 new and valuable proiluct, but I found it growing here, 

 though on a small scale, the natives using the dye for 

 ornamenting the coils of rattan they wore rounil their hips. 

 Crossing the Jampassuk river we again entered a large 

 and extensive plain, the soil appearing very rich. I went 

 into one field where I saw a man ploughiug, aud it struck 

 105 



me he would get very good returns for his labour. 

 The river runs all along this plain, which could, if ne- 

 cessary, be easily irrigated. Passing on we arrived at the 

 chief's house, whose name is Data Tomangong. He quickly 

 brought a gaudy mat with cushions and requested us to 

 make ourselves comfortaljle. A chief's house is rather in- 

 teresting. Most of the space is taken up with large 

 mosquito curtains, and inside each of them is a lix- 

 urious bed, consisting of a pile of mattresses and 

 cushions, with a number of handsome boxes, brass- 

 ware, old Borneo guns, etc., which form a rather queer 

 background. Mrs. Data soon came to the front with a 

 cup of tea and some sweet cakes, and, while refreshing 

 ourselves, I made enquiries about the promised men, but 

 found to my regret nothing as yet had been arranged. 

 The chief informed me that the men all say : "If we don't 

 sow our paddy we and our families will all die," but 

 that he would still try to get some for me. We there- 

 fore said good-day aud returned to the Abai. X learned 

 afterwards that what we thought was tea turned out to be 

 liquor made from a creeper called the Lecatty Lema. Neither 

 Mr. Saunders nor myself could distinguish the difference 

 between it and China tea. 



August 2nd.— Started from the Abai soon after 6 o'clock 

 to have a look at the plains to the south of Jampassuk. 

 They weremostly rich m. soil and here and there I noticed a 

 small commencement had been made for planting paddy. 

 On my way back I called on Dat;i Rumbungan, and he 

 told me ho had got me three men aud that he heard the 

 other Data had got two and that most likely I would 

 be able to procure as many more men as I required at 

 Ginambur, a vill,\ge on my route. I therefore decided ■ 

 to send back the launch to Kudat and do my best with • 

 buffaloes and what men I can get and make for Ginam- 

 bur. I also intend to come over and put up with the Data, 

 as I can make better arrangements on the spot. 



August 3rd.— The launch left early for Kudat, and after 

 it had gone we loaded two or three buffaloes with our 

 luggage and started for Jampassuk, Arrived at the chief's 

 house, we found him out, but made ourselves com- ' 

 fortable all the same. The old man came in towards 

 evening, he baring been hunting men for us and got he 

 said a fair number who would arrive in the morning. 

 The scenery round about his house reminds one very 

 much of a nobleman's park. Large timber trees inter- 

 mixed with fruit trees of all descriptions with cattle grazing 

 on the grass beneath, combine to give the place a very 

 picturesque appearance. We smoked and talked till 

 late at night and then turned in, I fortunately had a 

 mosquito curt;un, but Mr, Saunders unfortunately was with- 

 out one and suffered fearfully. 



August 4th — Shortly after six o'clock our men num- 

 bering about 20 arrived and then commenced the busi- 

 ness of packing each man's pack and seeing that each had the 

 right weight and taking an account of what each man 

 had. This being at last accomplished, I bade farewell 

 to the Data, gave his wife a small present, and then we 

 commenced our march. This route is the same as was 

 taken by Messrs. Low, St. John, and Burbridge on their 

 way to Kinabahu. It was a very hot walk over the 

 plains to Ginambur, a miserable little village. We arrived 

 at it towards evening ; but luckily it was close to the river 

 and we were able to get a very pleasant bath. Just as we 

 were going to sit down to our evening meal the news 

 arrived that the buffalo carrying our rice had breathed 

 his last in a pool some three miles distant. This was most 

 amazing, as 1 did not like to send the men, who had had 

 heavy loads and were naturally tired, back for it. Fort- 

 unately the Data happened to be following us on his way 

 to market and brought us sufficient rice for the evening 

 meal aud sent back buffaloes for the remainder. Our abode 

 for the night was much more hutable than that on the 

 preceding night, 



August 5th,— Got a few more men and loaded them 

 with rice and then commenced our day's joiu-ney. which was 

 principally along the banks of the Ginambur river, the 

 country being principally chena. Owing to the fine weather 

 the river is low, but 1 can ea.sily imagine what a swollen 

 torrent it must become when the heavy rains commence. 

 A small mountain called Parie Pair is always before us; 

 it shews signs of cultivation most of the way up. Just, 

 before reaching a village called Tambutuan I sawpaUdy 



