832 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[April 2, 1883. 



Benkoka river and proceed south, crossing the Sugut and 

 back to Mr. Hattou's station. I warned the men they 

 were breaking their contract with me and that they 

 would obtain no wages, but this appeared to liave no 

 eit'ect upon them, for on my return from a stroll I found 

 they had already decamped and taken a short cut home. 

 I heard afterwards that the report of cholera at Benkoka 

 was the reason, but they never mentioned it to me. I 

 made attempts to get men from the headman here, but 

 he told me all the men had left and were working at 

 Kudat, and that my best way would be to go there 

 and procui-e them. So I obtained a boat and an'ived at 

 Kudat in the early morning of the day following. 



Sept. 7th. — There is a long gap in my diary, the cause 

 being due to cholera at Kudat and wHch prevented my 

 taking men inland, but the pest having passed away I 

 was able to collect a few men (the cholera having 

 driven oif a lot to Labuan, Brunei, &c.) and proceeded 

 to Kinarum and join my force "with that of Mr. Hat- 

 ton's. On my arrival at Kudat from Bongou, I heard 

 the sad news of Mr. Witti's murder. I little thought 

 when wishing him goodbye inland behind Kimanis I 

 was to be the last white man to see him alive. We 

 started early for Bungon, and would have got there be- 

 fore dark had it not been for the tide being low and 

 we consequently had some diihculty in getting om- boat 

 over the bar of the river. Arrived at Bungon we put 

 up in the Chinaman's house and found a letter from 

 Mr. Hattou, saying he had left for the Marudu river, a 

 short distance from here, and to meet hun there. 



Sept. Sth. — Went over to Sheriff Shea's house to get the 

 goods I had left with him and to obtain a guide. These having 

 been obtained I started for a village called Meudanow. We 

 travelled for some distance over the same flat land as pre- 

 viously experienced and mth no sign of cultivation. We 

 passed several small rivers which might be utihzed for 

 irrigating this plain and then arrived at a fau'-sized village 

 called Hamrow on the banks of the Marudu river. Here I 

 rested and waited for my men, but, as they made no sign of 

 turning up, I puslied on without them, crossing and re-cross- 

 ing the river several times, then passed through some flat 

 jungle with fair soil, which brought me out at Meudanow. 

 Here I found Mr. Hatton at home, but rather seedy, owing 

 to an attack of fever. 



Sept. 9th. — Started up a lull behind our house to S.S.E.up to 

 900 feet. There was principally chena and poor soU; at 1,150 it 

 improved. I found my stay at Kudat combined with an 

 attack of fever had not improved my walking condition. 

 At 1,900 feet I examined the soil again and found it less 

 sandy, and thi3 continued up to 2,500. The timber 

 was very tine and shewed no signs of wind. In the 

 afternoon I crossed over the river to a ravine in 

 which Mr. Hattou was blasting. I ascended the hill I had 

 noticed in the morning from the opposite side. The soil ap- 

 peared light and sandy, while below it partook of a more 

 clayey nature with signs of oxide of iron. 



September 10th. — The next place we wished to visit was 

 Pampang, fartlier up the river, and, as we could obtain no 

 guides, we followed its coui'se. TravelUng aloug rivers is 

 very monotonous, as the rough road occupies so much of 

 o^e's attention. We arrived at our destination, Lomaine, 

 during the course of the evening, and put up at the head- 

 man's house. TomoiTow we intend to explore the surround- 

 ing hills which completely shut us in. The elevation here 

 is 800 feet. I find several kinds of paddy (hill) are gro-ivu 

 here on account of theii- different flavours, but the most 

 remunerative is a Sarawak paddy called Kalumbuan. It 

 takes 5 months from the time of so%ving to be ready for 

 reaping. I purchased a piece of rope made from the bark 

 of the Tumbaran tree, the same as rough coats are made 

 of. I procui'ed a sample to send home. The tree appears 

 quick-gi'owing, rather resembling the Ceara rubber, and 

 seems to thrive in any soil. 



September 11th and 12th were spent in exploring this 

 noighboui'hood, and we then decided to retui'u to Kinarum 

 and proceed fi-om there to the western face of Kiuabahu. 

 We duly arrived at Kamrow, the viUage I had rested atou 

 my way. I was sorry to hear cholera had broken out at 

 Bungon. This will alter our plans a little. I had my first 

 ride on a buffalo today and have come to the conclusion 

 I prefer walking. 



September 13th. — I left early with most of the men, Mr. 

 Ilattou paying a hm-ried visit to Bougon, but will join me iu 

 tlie evening. It was a very warm day, and Iwas glad 



when our walk was over. A bath iu the river adjoining 

 Timbangbattu refreshed me however. 



September 14th. — We were ready to start early but found 

 two of oiu- buffaloes had got away during the night ; so we 

 had to wait the whole day. They tui-ned up in the even- 

 ing, and so we made all the necessary arrangements for 

 the next day. 



September 15th. — I am now ti-avelling over the same 

 country as I did a few weeks before. We saw rain com- 

 ing up, so pushed on and reached Kinarum just as it was 

 beg innin g, but the river we crossed was impassable for our 

 men, who arrived haif-an-hour later, so that it must have 

 been raining heavily farther inland. 



September l"th. — Having made preparations the day 

 before, we commenced our journey for our trip towards 

 Kinabahu, steering S. W. The first halt we made was at 

 Kias, where Mr. Burbridge was living and searching for 

 min erals. We waited till om- buffaloes anived and then 

 continued our march, leaving the river behind us and 

 ascending a hill, passing on our way small gardens contain- 

 ing paddy, sugarcane and Indian corn, the soil appearing ex- 

 cellent. From the toji of the hill I obtained a splendid view of 

 the surrounding counti-y. To the east I noticed several fine 

 ranges of jungle, which are, I believe, the watersheds of 

 the Paitan river. There I hope to exijlore in my tiip from 

 Kinarum to Benkoka on my return. The Tambuyukan 

 range appears very close and I shall certainly ^'isit tliis 

 fine range also on my retiun. The immediate country is 

 mostly chena with fair soil. Here and there some coconut 

 and fruit trees shew signs of a previous settlement, the in- 

 habitants having "moved on." The ruin we had ex- 

 perienced in the morning still continued but fortunately 

 there are no more rivers to cro,ss, but it is all tlie same 

 very uncomfortable walking. Ai-rived at a small village with 

 two houses, we .stopped ami put up in one for the night, the 

 rain still continuing. 



September 18th. — We left early for Kian, but not the 

 Kian I had previously visited, but one called Kian Geudokud, 

 our direction being S. W. AVe passed through nothing 

 but chena, but the soil, especially on the flats, appeared 

 very rich. I noticed the remains of several old .settlements. 

 It seems strange to me that the people should abandon 

 fertile land. The only reason I can attribute it to is that 

 the weeds and lalang get too troublesome for them and 

 that they therefore prefer to fell new laud, which, besides 

 giving them a larger return, is for a year or so pretty free 

 from weeds. This though is a very extravagant habit. 

 The rain today was very heavy and added much to the 

 fatigues of the journey, the roads becoming so slippery. 

 AVe arrived at our destination on the banks of the Jam- 

 passuk during the afternoon, but before descending I ob- 

 tained a good view of the Abbai and Jampassuk plains 

 as well as the sea. All the country around here is chena, 

 some of which is being felled for the second time. 



September 19th. — Leaving tliis morning we entered on a 

 very different sort of country to that around Kinarum, 

 this being the regular Jampassuk lay of land, consisting 

 of easy undulating hills covered in many instances with 

 fodder grass as high as one's head and in other parts 

 with lalang and chena. Here and there we saw small patches 

 of paddy growing, and it certainly seemed as if 

 anything would grow in this steamy climate. The soil 

 appeared light and sandy, and after last night's rain 

 was of course looking its best. A good view is obtainable 

 here of the country round about, old Kiuabahu standing 

 boldly out. The valley we are travelling up is parallel to 

 the one I travelled on my first journey, but to the west. 

 I forgot to mention a pretty little village surrounded with 

 coconuts, which we passed on our way. It is called 

 Mouhabar, and possibly we may stop at it on our way back. 

 We crossed the river twice and found the current very 

 strong, and the black clouds overhead shewed signs of 

 approaching rain. In crossing a stream we were rather 

 horrified to see one of our bufl'aloes that was carrying rice 

 disappear under the water. Fortunately little damage only 

 was done. Oontiuuing our journey we reached a small 

 village called Tareutedon. From here the road is im- 

 practicable for buffaloes, so we unloaded the rice to dis- 

 tribute it to the men, but during the process it rained so 

 heavily that we decided to remain where we were for the 

 night. During the course of the evening the rain stopped, 

 and we obtained a close view of Kinabahu's northern 

 face with the Tambuyukan range on its east. The former 



