April 2, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



S3 1 



very early here, and were the means of my waking niy men 

 up at half-past four, thinking they had overslept tlieniselves. 

 However, tiiere is notliin^ like making an early start in 

 these expeditions ; so havmg had our morning meal and 

 procured a guide, we continued our jomney, leaving, 

 however, a small present for oiu' " ahsent friend." We 

 crossed the the river and steered in an ENE dii'ec- 

 tiiu. Kinahalu, from here, appears very close and 

 very long, the supports standing boldly out. After cross- 

 ing one or two pretty grass plains we arrived at the out- 

 skii-ts of Dauoe Phiin, ha\'ing latterly steered due east. 

 It being 8 o'clock we had our breakfast on the banks 

 of the river and then continued our journey skirtiufj the 

 plain. I should have preferred stopping here last night, 

 but our guides would not come on and there were no 

 others to be had. Tliis plain wiD, I anticipate, be a 

 lai'ge settlement some day, and would be a suitable place 

 for a road from Bungon through the country were one 

 made. Tlie soil on the plain is very rich and paddy, I 

 am informed, is here irrigated in a proper manner. From 

 Danoe wo steered due north and crossed a small hill, the 

 soil of which appears excellent, and so I took a sample, 

 the elevation being 2,100. From the top of this hill I 

 was able to continue my survey of Kinabahu, wliich I 

 am gi-adually getting round. There appeared to be several 

 thousand acres of land quite close, and wliich, I am sui-e, 

 would be found suitable for tea and cinchona, while below 

 • some of the land might be found suitable for coffee. On 

 descending on the other side the soil was hardly as good, 

 but igneous rock was plentiful. We travelled along a jungle 

 ridge for two hom-s and then descended to a small collage 

 called Legan and waited for sti'agglers. Leaving here we 

 passed through some flat land with good soil and jungle 

 till "we came to a small river called TJhau, where we 

 rested. From here we passed principally tlnough cliena 

 till we came to a small village on the top of a hill, 

 called Boukud, fi'om which there appeared a good amount 

 of jungle round about. This may possibly be owing to 

 the proximity of Danoe, which ought to supply suilirient 

 rice for the inhabitants round about. The next village 

 we arrived at was Le Manse, and here our guides wanted 

 to stop, stating that Lasas, the place I wanted to reach, 

 was too far off. The people, however, of the village 

 stated it was untrue, so after a short remonstrance with 

 the guides wo continued our jouraey and shortly after 

 an'ived at Lasas, better known as Guppo. We uniortim- 

 ately missed the headman's house, but put up at another 

 farther on. The people here remembered well the late 

 Mr. Witti, he haN-ing stopped here on his way tlu'ough 

 Borneo. The land in the immediate vicinity appears flat, 

 soil good, wiih a fine, clear river running tlu'ough it. 

 Towards Kinabahu I see two fine ranges covered with 

 forest, which are named Lalumut and Piuonwentii. It 

 seems strange to me, knowing the pushing nature of the 

 Chinaman that none of his race are to be found inland. 

 The reason, I feel sure, is, no white man, and so no 

 Chinaman. What will, I think, be found the quickest 

 mode of civiUzing the natives inland will be: — 1st Eur- 

 opean residents, 2nd a good road, 3rdly Chinese ti'aders 

 and agriculturists. A want I feel myself and which will 

 also apply to them, is a dictionary of the Dusun language. 



August 11th. — Started along the banks of the Tang 

 XJnuen river shoi'tly after six o'clock, the soil in parts 

 being very rich. On our way I experienced for the first 

 time the "bad bird" nuisance, my guide always coming 

 to a standstill. I persuaded liiiu to go on a Uttle further, 

 and he would be sure to hear a good bii'd, but it aji- 

 peared to have no effect on him. After a few moments 

 of thought, in wliich I fancy blue cloth occupied a con- 

 spicuous place, he stated he would act as guide to the 

 village, but could not stop the night. I concealed my 

 son'ovv and proceeded, passing the small village of Marauti 

 (700) on our way. Around here jungle apiiears plentiful 

 and the soil fair. To the N.W. Tinocun hill is to be 

 seen, arund which there appears fine jungle. The next 

 village we anived at was Mituo, and, as it was exti-emely 

 hot, I accepted the chief's offer to come inside his fine 

 house. He appeared a verj^ pleasant man and remembered 

 the late Mr. Witti when he passed through a year before. 

 He gave me some information about my route and I then 

 started, but not before giving him and his pretty little 

 children some small token of fiicndship. From here we 

 passed through jungle and chena, till we airived at the 

 the Kapooikau river, alongside of which there is a village 



of that name. We found the headman out, but made 

 ourselves comfortable all the time. 



August r2th. — We did not get away till close on 7 o'clock 

 —the old story : guides not ready. Om' route was not very 

 interesting, as it was principally alon" the banks of the 

 river. Pas.sing on our right a small village called Kinun- 

 tang we then ascended thi'ough scrub to Mardh. I was 

 rather disappointed with tins place, there being only two 

 small houses, one of wliich we occupied ; but there did 

 not appear much cliance of our being able to increase 

 our rice supply. I always hke to have two if not tliree 

 days' rice in hand, as one is then independent and can 

 buy at a reasonable figure ; but now, when we get to 

 our next halting-place, Munius, we shall have to buy at 

 any price. The elevation here is 1,500 feet, and we are 

 shut in with jungle which rises to i,bOO if not more. 

 From here to Mumus takes a whole day, so we are 

 forced to stop, though only II o'clock. Timberanokan 

 appears to our west and has therefore a fine eastern 

 aspect, and Tambuyukan, another fine range close to it, near 

 which I expect to pass tomorrow. 



August Kith. — We were all ready for our expected early 

 walk by 6 o'clock, but the guides were not, and so we 

 were delaj-ed till seven. Our route led along the 

 ridge of a range beliind our house, the soil appearing in 

 parts a hght loam, wlule in others more dark. I took 

 samples of both. We descended after having crossed 

 several ravines to the Tambuyukan river, and while two 

 men were eating their meal I looked for minerals : but 

 I found none, although the place shone with mica. 

 Continuing oiu- journey along the banks of the river I 

 noticed the soil was veiy fair and free from sand, as is not 

 generally the case. To our west Tambuyukan hiU is very 

 distant, the height, I should say, being 5,000 feet. We arrived 

 at Mumus at 12 o'clock, earlier than I anticipated, and, al- 

 though oni- guide had told us, Mr. Hatton, the mineralogi.st of 

 the Company had a house here it turned out to be untrue ; 

 his house being a Uttle further on at a place called 

 Kinarum. Our guide maintained he knew the road no 

 farther and the houses around being empty everyone 

 being out at work we were forced to stop where we 

 were. Surely guides are the curse of ti-avelling inland. 

 August 14th. — The houses had filled during the course 

 of the evening before, and I made arrangements with a 

 man to act as guide to Kinarum at which place we 

 an-ived shortly after 9 o'clock, and had the good fortune 

 to find Mr. Hatton in. We stojiped the night in his 

 "palatial" residence, my men being able to get a good 

 supply of rice. 



Aug. loth. — Early this morning we started, following an old 

 Sheriff" on a bnfl'alo who was going the same way but before 

 going far I discovered he was quite as ignorant of the road as 

 I was, and the only encouragement he could give me was 

 that if we lost om' way we would be all lout iot/et/iey. This 

 might have been all very weU for him but it did not quite 

 suit my aiTangenients. So I picked out two of my .sharpest 

 men, and we soon got on the right track, leaving our 

 friend with his buffalo to follow at leisure. Our route took ua 

 over a lot of flat land with good soil on the banks of the 

 Kinai-um river and which will I think be very suitable for 

 Chinamen. Leaving the plain connti-y we ascended a 

 range called the Kararaeudicot, the highest point of 

 which was about 1,500 feet. The timber was very fine, and 

 the soil fair. We travelled through it for 5 hours and 

 then descended again to the Kinarum river and put up 

 at a small village on its banks called Timbangbattu (250). 

 The country round here and to Bungon appears rather 

 sandy. Mr. Saunders however procm'ed a very good leaf 

 of tobacco grown close here. 



August loth. — The pigs having absconded with one of 

 Mr. S,aunders's boots we were a little delayed. It was 

 veiy different travelling to what we had been accustomed 

 to, it being quite flat. The soil however was similar to 

 yesterdaj-, rather sandy. Anived at Bungon we put up 

 in a Chmaman's house, who I noticed was in the act 

 of dispatching a boat to Kudat containing a good amount 

 of gutta, rubber, rattans, .te., which had been collected 

 principally in the neighbourhood of Kinarum. In con- 

 versation with Sheriff Shea the principal man of the 

 place, he told me paddy was the principal product gi-own 

 and that only in the wet season. 



August I7th. — I was rather surprized and annoyed this 

 morning by my men refusing to go any farther. From 

 here it was my intention to cross overland to the 



