74 The Gardens of the Sun. [ch. iv. 



the ' wigwam ' of leafy branches which he has erected in 

 order to conceal himself from sight. The door or en- 

 trance to these ' wigwams ' is partially closed by a screen 

 of palm (Nipa fruticans) leaves. This is elevated a little 

 to allow the pigeons to enter, after which it is allowed to 

 fall, portcullis-like, entirely, so as to close the entrance ; 

 and the bird is then easily secured. Above the entrance 

 two holes are made, so that the hunter can look out 

 without being seen. These huts are formed of a few 

 poles or sticks, rudely thatched with twigs and palm- 

 leaves, and vary from four to six feet in height. 



" This pigeon is migratory, and arrives in Labuan and 

 on the opposite Bornean coast with the change of the 

 monsoon, about April. Many hundreds are then caught 

 by means of this ' dakut,' or ' bamboo call,' and are 

 offered for sale by their captors for a cent or two each. 

 They are also kept by the natives as domestic pets, along 

 with young hombills, the ' Mino ' bird or ' Grackle,' a 

 small species of paroquet, and Java sparrows." 



At this season little huts are built in the forest, and 

 the hunter, ensconced within, blows his call, and they 

 will actually run inside the hut, where they are caught. 

 The Kadyans and then Murut neighbours collect a good 

 deal of gutta and caoutchouc in the surrounding forests, 

 which is afterwards manufactured into lumps or balls, 

 and taken over to Labuan for sale. The gutta is ob- 

 tained from four or five kinds of large forest trees, 

 belonging to the genus isonandra, by felling the trees 

 and girdling or ringing their bark at intervals of every 

 two feet, the milky juice or sap being caught in vessels 

 fashioned of leaves or cocoa-nut shells. The crude sap 

 is hardened into slabs or bricks by boiling, and is gene- 

 rally adulterated with twenty per cent, of scraped bark — 

 indeed, the Chinese traders who purchase the gutta from 



