dust-shots while they were basking in the morning 

 sun. Hunting for birds and other small mammals was 

 done singlehandedly by Gaun. 



Afternoon times were usually spent preserving 

 specimens, and writing down field notes and weather 

 and river data. You would find Gaun skinning a tupai 

 (tree-shrew) or musang (civet) that was shot in the 

 morning, with a lighted cigarette hanging between his 

 lips. In the late afternoon, after taking a bath in the 

 river, you would find Bob in his colorful sarong work- 

 ing on his field notes. 



Not all the fish specimens were caught by us. 

 Occasionally the villagers brought in big catfish or 

 ikan baung (Pangasius and M;ystus) weighing 3 to 4 kg 

 (6.6-8.8 lbs.) a piece. Bob gladly bought the fish. 

 After taking measurements of the specimens and 

 examining their stomach contents, I would cut off the 

 head and the fins for preservation. The remaining 

 body portions would be handed over to Awang, the 

 cook, for our evening meals. One day, when the river 

 was in flood, a native boy brought in a bundle of ikan 

 kokok {Leiocassis) . We already had collected many 

 catfishes, so we decided to keep the smaller fish for 

 specimens and sent the bigger ones to Awang. Luckily 

 we kept the smaller fish, for they were later found to 

 be a new species — Leiocassis robustus. All the catfishes 

 we sampled at Deramakot were very delicious. 



The workers had strong personal characters. 

 Gaun, the Iban hunter from Sarawak Museum, who 

 wore a big mustache, was a strong and dignified per- 

 son and a true professional. One day I followed him 

 on his hunting trip in the forest. When we reached a 

 spot surrounded by tall trees, he stopped to listen and 

 announced that there were animals in the trees. He 

 then loaded his shotgun and watched carefully as 

 some fragments of nuts dropped down from a tree. He 

 told me calmly that kubong (flying lemur) was up 

 there. It was a big tree, perhaps 30 or 35 m tall, and I 

 could not make out the kubong from the leaves. Just 

 as I was about to ask him to point out the kubong to 

 me, I saw him lift up his shotgun and fire — and down 

 came the kubong. The action was swift and neat, tak- 

 ing only a few seconds. 



Awang, our cook, was a liar and a bad gambler. 

 He lost all his pay gambling with the logging crew. 

 One day during supper Bob asked him why a whole 

 fish became a half fish after it was cooked by him. 

 Awang denied any knowledge of the missing portion. 

 About a year later, when I was invited to give advice 

 on construction of a fish pond at the prison compound 

 in Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu), I was not surprised 

 to find Awang among the prisoners. 



Bilit, the manual worker, was a small and timid 

 man, who smoked a homemade pipe. He was a keen 

 field worker and a good fisherman. He went fishing in 

 his leisure time and used to bring back good catches. 

 He had never handled a pistol, until one day when he 

 was allowed to use the .22 pistol loaded with dust-shot 

 to hunt for lizards. He went into the jungle armed 

 with the pistol, there he came face-to-face with an 

 elephant. He fired a shot at the jumbo and ran back to 

 the camp as fast as he could. As it came closer to the 

 time to leave we did less field work and concentrated 

 on packing. I checked through my fish notes and 

 came up with a total of 48 species, which we collected 

 during this trip. 



Day 3 J . Last day in the camp. Heavy rain in the 

 afternoon, but Pina arrived at 1700 hr as expected. 

 We finished loading our belongings on board at 1800 

 hr. That evening we said good-bye to the manager of 

 the timber camp, Mr. Lai Kim Foh, and his staff at the 

 kongsi, and thanked them for their hospitality. We 

 were all ready to leave the next morning. 



Our return journey to Sandakan was very fast in- 

 deed. We boarded M/B Pina at 0545 hr at Deramakot 

 and started to sail downstream. The river was still 

 flooding and we reached Mumiang at 2300 hr in the 

 clear moonlight. We had covered 300 km in less than 

 18 hours. The next morning we arrived in Sandakan. 



In the years that followed, Bob and I maintained 

 close contact. As a result, in 1959, we produced our 

 first joint-authorship paper, entitled "New species of 

 fresh-water catfishes from North Borneo" (Fieldiana: 

 Zool., 39: 279-296). In 1960, through Bob's efforts, 

 I was awarded a research fellowship by the U.S. 

 National Science Foundation, which brought me to 

 the Field Museum of Natural History to work with 

 Bob on the fresh-water fish collection from North 

 Borneo. Our joint effort led to the publication of the 

 following papers: 



1 96 1 . The Bornean cyprinoid fishes of the 

 genus Gastromyzon Gunther. Copeia 

 1961: 166-176. 



1962. The fresh-water fishes of North Borneo. 

 Fieldiana: Zool., 45: 1-268. 



I consider myself very fortunate to have met 

 Bob. Through working together in the field and in the 

 laboratory, I have gained in-depth knowledge and a 

 refined skill in the science of ichthyology. More than 

 35 years have passed since we first met, but our friend- 

 ship has never faded. While working together, Bob 

 took the leading role and shouldered the "lion's share" 

 of work and responsibility. I have always regarded him 

 as my friend and teacher. 21 



