256 The Gardens of the Sun. [ch. xm 



others, or the loss would have been one of the worst that 

 could have befallen me, since in all long foot journeys, 

 and especially in mountain climbing, good boots are of 

 the first importance. 



In the tarippe trees (Artocarpus Blumci) here, we no- 

 ticed very ingenious traps of bamboo, set to catch the 

 " basing," a sort of squirrel or tree-climbing rodent, which 

 plays havoc with this delicious fruit just as it approaches 

 maturity. At this village our guide thus far, Abdul Rath- 

 man, is to return, so we have engaged the headman here, 

 " Gantang," to accompany us on our next two days' jour- 

 ney as far as Kiau, which is the last village on the way 

 to the mountain. The scarcity of birds and animals is 

 very marked as we proceed inland. One reason for this 

 may possibly be the absence of virgin forest, nearly all 

 the country bordering on the Tampassuk river having 

 been by some means — possibly former cultivation, aided 

 by jungle fires — stripped of all its primaeval forest. 



August 9th. — We were up at daybreak, and at once ate 

 our breakfast. As usual, we had to await the coming of 

 our guides, and it was fully nine o'clock ere we got fairly 

 started. I notice that many of the natives here wear 

 semi-circular betel-boxes tied around them, and charms 

 are very commonly worn. These last are seemingly of 

 the most varied description, anything seems to do for a 

 charm — shells, teeth, and bones of animals, seeds, stones, 

 and bits of rock, tiny bells, and especially a kind of fossil 

 wood called "kayu lagundi," or, "tree of youth." 

 These are enclosed in the folds of an old kerchief and are 

 tied around the body. Great confidence is felt by the 

 wearers of certain good charms, and they are very popular 

 among the Sulu pirates, who will fight like demons, 

 believing themselves to be invulnerable. All the villagers 

 had come down to see us start, and they followed us down 



