ch. v.] P anger an Ran. 79 



fellow of over sixty, and spoke but little, asked no ques- 

 tions, and spent most of his time sitting cross-legged on 

 a mat drinking tea, chewing limed " sirra " leaf and betel, 

 or smoking long cigarettes of tobacco rolled in nipa leaf, 

 all being brought to him from time to time by little 

 Malay boys. The head-house was soon filled with men 

 from the other houses, who flocked in to see us and to 

 hear the news from Labuan of our followers. We rested 

 a little, and then walked out to obtain a bath before 

 dinner. Some natives directed us to a spring about half 

 a mile off across the plain, which here, near the houses, 

 is of sand covered with coarse sedges and scrub. We 

 passed two or three palm-leaf cottages on our way ; and 

 here I noticed the first implement of agriculture I saw in 

 Borneo. It was a wooden harrow ; and a native seeing 

 me interested in it, pointed to a rude iron-shod plough 

 which hung in a large mango tree near one of the 

 huts. 



A good many of the people who live here are Badjows 

 or " sea gipsies," so called from their habit of wandering 

 about from place to place in boats, in which they seem 

 more thoroughly at home than in the wretched huts 

 they now and then build on shore. They are essentially 

 lazy, and will not walk a yard if they can get a buffalo or 

 anything having four legs to carry them. We saw two 

 Badjow boys going to the spring for water, and they 

 both rode on a buffalo calf, which seemed used to its 

 mischievous load. We returned to dinner at dusk, and 

 managed to get a good night's rest here, as the houses 

 were cool, being built over the water, and the mosquitoes 

 were not nearby so bloodthirsty as usual. 



Our boat did not come round until nearly ten the 

 following morning. We had been up since sunrise, and 

 had our breakfast ; so, when our craft appeared, we 



