268 The Gardens of the Sun. [ch. xm. 



three miles, but without any change in the vegetation. 

 On returning, we did not descend the way we came, but 

 followed the crest in a westward direction, and from one 

 point we got a capital view of one of the waterfalls on the 

 mountain. It was now becoming misty, however, and we 

 returned to the village, which we reached just in time to 

 avoid a drenching, for the rain came down in torrents. 

 I sent one of my men to fetch " Kurow," and when he 

 came I told him I wanted to bargain with him to take me 

 to the mountain in the morning. He at first said he 

 couldn't bargain, because " Boloung," the headman, was 

 out. He had scarcely spoken, however, before " Boloung " 

 himself entered from the other end of the house. Find- 

 ing this loophole closed, he said he could not bargain 

 to-day, because it was an unlucky day to him. He had 

 visited all his traps and snares this morning, he said, and 

 there was nothing caught, adding that he knew it before ' 

 he started; this was his bad dajr. " Boloung " said they 

 would come in and bargain in the morning. Fortunately 

 I was not entirely dependent on them, and could have 

 found the way myself, intricate as it is. Anyone who 

 had not travelled here before, however, is entirely de- 

 pendent on these people as guides, and their utter dis- 

 regard of the value of time is perplexing enough to a 

 stranger with limited supplies of food for himself and 

 followers. It was these people who turned back Mr. 

 Thomas Lobb when he attempted to ascend Kina Balu 

 from this village in 1856, and the moral force of a well- 

 armed and rather imposing party is still necessary in 

 order to keep their avarice within moderate bounds, and 

 to obtain from them the little assistance necessary. 

 "When Mr. Low ascended the mountain in 1851, he gave 

 many presents to these people, and even now the wealth 

 the village obtained through his visit is much talked of 



