38 Mr. J. Whitehead on the 



V. — Notes on the Birds of Palawan. By John Whitehead. 



(Plate II.) 



I left Labuan on 18th June, 1887, in a small trading- 

 steamer belonging to a Chinaman who had several stores on 

 the southern end of Palawan. The steamer landed us at 

 Taguso, on the S.E. coast (many miles south of Puerto 

 Princesa), promising to return in two and a half months ; 

 but as she did not turn up until nearly four, I was unable to 

 change my collecting-ground to the N.W. coast, as I had 

 intended. When we landed in Taguso there were no Spaniards 

 there, and the natives were doing much as they liked. Pala- 

 wan is notorious for the bad characters which have taken 

 refuge there from the Sulu and other islands ; and twice 

 since I have been in the "Far East" have the Sulus 

 murdered the Chinese and sacked their stores. 



In the interior of Palawan is another race, nearly related 

 to the Bornean Dusans and Muruts ; these people are under 

 the thumb of the coast Sulus. The Sulus will not allow a 

 Dusan to sell any jungle- produce to the Chinese, but oblige 

 the Chinese to buy from them, as middle men. As one 

 Sulu said to me, when I asked questions on this subject, 

 " How was he to get a living if things were otherwise ? " 



All my attempts to make friends with the Dusans failed; 

 the Sulus, though promising to help me, were all the time, 

 I believe, influencing the Dusans against me, they thinking, 

 no doubt, that my real object was to trade direct with the 

 natives inland. After two weeks' palavering, I went some 

 miles inland to visit a chief, but he would give me no assis- 

 tance. A few days later I went to the mountains, my own 

 men carrying sufficient provisions for three days ; but the 

 natives we met were very uncivil, refusing even to show us 

 the right paths. 



A few days after my return to the coast some fifty Dusans 

 came to the store and threatened to attack us if we went 

 inland again. As my party only numbered nine, and there 

 was nothing to be gained by such short expeditions, I did 

 not attempt the interior again in that direction. 



