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



clothes, and hung them on a beam over the blazing fire to 

 dry, and then came the question of dinner. At last we 

 procured a fowl and a bowl of rice, and nry Chinese 

 "boy," Kimjeck, who was a good cook, soon had these 

 on the fire. 



After it was dark we heard shouting, and soon after six 

 of our men who carried the food, clothes, and sleeping 

 gear came in, being afraid, as they said, that we should 

 want food. We were soon all as jolly as sandboys. The 

 fowl was cut up and boiled with a tin of julienne soup and 

 three or four chilies, and this and a nice white bowl of 

 steaming rice formed a dish which to us, tired and hungry 

 as we were, seemed "fit for a king." A cup of chocolate 

 and a cigar followed by way of dessert, and all our 

 troubles for the time being vanished in smoke ! We 

 paid our guide a fathom of grey shirting, and gave 

 him a looking-glass for our night's lodging. The fowl 

 and a couple of cocoanuts also were paid for with a 

 fathom of shirting, and everybody was thus easily 

 satisfied. 



Having only a sleeping-rug each, we found it rather 

 chilly, and I could not sleep well. I rose about 11 

 o'clock, however, and made up a good fire, and then lay 

 down beside it and slept well until daybreak. We had 

 breakfasted in the morning and were outside ready to 

 start, when our laggards of yesterday came in, and they 

 looked sheepish and crestfallen when they found that we 

 were really about to start on and had not intended to 

 have awaited their coming. Two Dusun men now accom- 

 panied us as guides, and after crossing the Tawaran 

 several times, we mounted the hill to the left, cross- 

 ing the ridge and descending towards Koung. The way 

 to the village was down rocky gutters seemingly worn by 

 heavy rains, and the hill-side paths in the kaladi gardens 



