STORY OF COELOGYNE SPECIOSA 137 



content.' The Kayans were not only independent but 

 ruthless and conquering foes of Brunei. 



There was no other hope of selling the confounded jars. 

 After assuring himself that the enterprise was not too 

 hazardous, Williams sought a merchant familiar with the 

 Kayan trade. He chose Nakodah Rahim, a sanctimonious 

 and unprepossessing individual, but one whose riches made a 

 guarantee of good faith. This man contracted to transport 

 him and his goods to Langusan, the nearest town of the 

 Kayans on the Baram, and to bring him back. 



Williams was the first European perhaps to reach that 

 secluded but charming settlement. The Nakodah prudently 

 anchored in mid-stream and landed by himself to call on the 

 head chief. When the news spread that a white man was 

 aboard the craft, swarms of delighted Kayans tumbled pell- 

 mell into their canoes and raced towards it, yelling, laughing, 

 splashing one another in joyous excitement. But the great 

 chief Tamawan put a stop to this unseemly demonstration. 

 Rushing from the Council Hall, where he and his peers 

 were giving audience to the Nakodah, he commanded the 

 people to return, each to his own dwelling. Stentor had not 

 a grander voice. It overpowered even that prodigious din. 

 The mob obeyed. They swarmed back, and, landing, 

 shinned up the forty-foot poles which are their stairs, like 

 ants ; reappearing a moment afterwards on the verandah, 

 among the tree-tops. These vast ' houses,' containing per- 

 haps a thousand inmates, Hned each bank of the river, and 

 every soul pressed to the front, mostly shouting — a wild but 

 pleasant tumult. 



The chiefs sent an assurance of hearty welcome. Williams 

 paid his respects ; they returned his call on board, and 

 Tamawan invited him to a feast. Next day another poten- 

 tate entertained him and then another. Drink of all sorts, 

 including ' best French brandy,' flowed without intermission. 



