﻿" WHERE WALLACE TROD." 215 



highway, we came by a steep but easier path to a deserted 

 village, which, situated as it was on the steep slope of the hill, 

 surrounded by the stately trees characteristic of old jungle, and 

 itself overgrown by a quick-spreading green garment of creeper 

 and undergrowth, made a pretty picture, and my friend was not 

 slow to take the opportunity of photographing it. A few 

 minutes further brought us to the end of our journey — a fine 

 mangosteen tree loaded with some of the most delicious fruit 

 imaginable. Our Dayak guides said this was where the bunga- 

 low used to be, and after a little search we discovered the six 

 posts on which the raised floor had rested ; between them grew 

 a fine young tree just three feet in circumference at the base, 

 and the whole place was, as the Dayaks had said, just like 

 ordinary jungle. Except for those six posts and two boards used 

 for steps, not a trace of the bungalow was left.* 



We returned that afternoon and slept the night at the Dayak 

 house. Next morning we ascended the hill again, this time 

 accompanied by twenty-one Dayaks, who, after carrying up our 

 baggage, spent some hours clearing the site and building us a 

 house. This was built on much grander lines than is usual for 

 these jungle shelters, and for those unacquainted with this style 

 of domicile the following details may be of interest : — Six poles 

 were first driven into the ground, three to mark each end of the 

 house, which then measured 13 ft. x 10 ft. Two feet above the 

 ground poles were tied across these ends, and others laid at 

 right angles to them, supported by more cross poles on forked 

 stakes underneath. Bamboos were then laid close together to 

 form a floor, while the walls were formed of the same useful 

 material split lengthwise, and then more bamboos laid across 

 the top supported our '* kadjang " roof.f We were a bit short of 

 these •' kadjangs," but luckily my friend had brought a tarpaulin, 

 so we were able to make our little hut very fairly watertight. 



* Wallace's description of his visit there is given in his ' Malay Archi- 

 pelago ' (10th ed. 1902, pp. 63-67). I quote the following lines descriptive of 

 the place : — 



" This is a very steep pyramidal mountain of crystalline basaltic rock 

 about a thousand feet high, and covered with luxuriant forest. There are 

 three Dayak villages upon it, and on a little platform near the summit is the 

 rude wooden lodge where the English Rajah was accustomed to go for relaxa- 

 tion and cool fresh air. It is only twenty miles up the river, but the road up 

 the mountain is a succession of ladders on the face of precipices, bamboo 

 bridges over gullies and chasms, and slippery paths over rocks and tree- 

 trunks and huge boulders as big as houses. A cool spring under an over- 

 hanging rock just below the cottage furnished us with refreshing baths and 

 delicious drinking water, and the Dayaks brought us daily heaped-up baskets 

 of Mangusteens and Lansats, two of the most delicious of the subacid 

 tropical fruits." 



f "Kadjangs" are palm-leaves sewn together in a large square; they 

 are in continual demand for hut and boat coverings — in fact, anything whicli 

 wants a temporary protection from the rain ; they cost about fourpence each. 



s 2 



