86 The Gardens of the Sun. [ch. v. 



then a fowl for our dinner was caught and killed. For 

 this and the fruit we had stolen we paid him a fathom 

 and a half of grey shirting, with which he was veiy 

 pleased. His house was a very neat one, having a large 

 public room in front, with a stove, hearth, or fire-place 

 opposite the door, and two little sleeping rooms behind. 

 Like all Dusun houses the floor was elevated four feet 

 from the ground, level on piles, so that the pigs and 

 fowls had shelter beneath. The side walls and floors 

 were of bamboo, beaten or pressed out flat, like boards, 

 and being of a clear, yellow colour, they had a warm and 

 comfortable appearance as the fire glowed on the hearth, 

 above which was a rack for the storage of fire-wood, 

 or on which clothes could be dried. 



After dinner we lit our lamp, and made ourselves as 

 cosy as possible over our post-prandial cigar, after which 

 we were not loath to turn in. Up by daybreak, and 

 snatching our morning meal, we were soon en route for 

 Kalawat Peak, and thence we descended to Kalawat 

 village by a rocky mountain-path, fringed with bamboos, 

 large ginger-worts, and ferns of various kinds. 



A strong growing species of bauhinia was very showy 

 here, overrunning the branches of bushes and low trees 

 beside the path, and bearing its pale, yellow flowers in 

 large clusters very profusely. As seen at a distance it 

 has a pleasing effect in the landscape — a rare thing with 

 Bornean flowers ; and a nearer sight of it is suggestive 

 of our native woodbine. 



Selaginellas were plentiful near the streams, and near 

 the crest of the Peak (alt. 2000 feet) we saw a dainty 

 little bertolonia, rarely exceeding two inches in height, 

 having pearly- spotted leaves, and terminal clusters of 

 rosy-pink flowers. A stately habited nephrodium, with 

 gracefully arching light-green fronds, nearly a yard 



