330 



GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY. 



southward ; and the Kapuas and Rejang, flow- 

 ing westward. The highest known mountain 

 is Kina Balu, in the North Borneo Company's 

 territory, which lias an altitude of 13,698 feet. 

 There are several which rise to from 6,000 to 

 8,000 feet above the sea-level. The range of 

 mountains which is set down on the map, run- 

 ning from the northeast to the southwest ex- 

 tremities of the island, has a number of breaks. 

 There are several lakes in Borneo, but the one 

 marked on the map as the largest, and called 

 Kina Balu, probably has no existence. The 

 inundation of the country in the rainy season 

 may have given rise to the report of such a 

 lake. All the lakes undergo remarkable varia- 

 tions in size and elevation between the rainy 

 and the dry seasons. Borneo may be con- 

 sidered the home of the sago-palm, which 

 flourishes only here and on the coasts of Su- 

 matra, Celebes, New Guinea, and the Moluccas. 

 The territory of Sarawak furnishes alone more 

 than half the sago consumed in the world. 

 William M. Crocker, the British Resident of 

 Sarawak, who lived some time among the Mi- 

 lanows, a peculiar tribe in the northern part 

 of that dominion, which has grown rich by the 

 cultivation of the sago, has published interest- 

 ing notes concerning them. They are of the 

 same stock as the tribes of the interior, who 

 still live in the lowest condition of savagery ; 

 but they were early visited by Malays for the 

 purposes of trade, and have adopted the Malay 

 dress, and many of them the Mohammedan 

 religion. They have squarer features than the 

 other tribes of the country. They are perhaps 

 the only people in these islands who flatten the 

 heads of their children. They formerly lived 

 in great dread of pirates and of the head-tak- 

 ing sea Dyaks, and built their houses on high 

 posts, but now they are efficiently protected 

 by the government. They still keep a few 

 skulls in their houses, but have abandoned the 

 barbarous custom of capturing heads. Their 

 skin is very light, having a sickly, milky- white 

 appearance. The men are of medium stature. 

 They are gentle and peaceable in disposition. 

 Like the Dyaks, they are superstitious, and be- 

 lieve in dreams and omens. Their religion, or 

 belief in evil spirits, greatly resembles that of 

 the Cochin-Chinese. Gold is found in differ- 

 ent parts of Sarawak. From the middle divis- 

 ion of this country gutta-percha and rattans are 

 largely exported, and considerable quantities of 

 bilian timber, or iron-wood, are sent to China. 

 The lower division, or Sarawak proper, is rich 

 in minerals. Gold is worked by Chinese, and 

 diamonds by Malays ; but the principal prod- 

 ucts are antimony and quicksilver, the monop- 

 oly of which is given to the Borneo Company. 

 Between 1859 and 1879,25,000 tons of antimony 

 were exported, valued at over $1,000,000, and 

 between 1870 and 1879 15,000 flasks of quick- 

 silver, value $717,500. Gambier and pepper 

 are now being successfully cultivated, and an 

 influx of Chinese capital and labor is expected. 

 Turtle- eggs, and the roes of the trobok-fish, 



which are esteemed a delicacy in China, are 

 among the exports of Sarawak ; rice is exten- 

 sively grown and exported from some districts. 

 There are several settlements of Chinese and 

 a considerable population of Malays, besides 

 the sea Dyaks, many of whom have become 

 semi-civilized, mild, and peaceable. 



Dr. Montano, during a scientific journey in 

 Malaysia and the Philippine Islands in company 

 with Dr. Paul Rey. visited North Borneo, land- 

 ing at Elopura, on Sandakan Bay, where the 

 North Borneo Company have a small station. 

 He ascended the Sagaliud River, which emp- 

 ties into that bay, to study in one of their vil- 

 lages the Buli Dupis, a previously undescribed 

 race, differing essentially in its anthropological 

 characteristics from the Malays. The village 

 was a group of only ten huts in a clearing sur- 

 rounded by dense forests. The Buli Dupis have 

 features of a much higher type than the sur- 

 rounding Malays and Suluans, and, where they 

 are not modified by cross-breeding, closely ap- 

 proaching the European standard. They are 

 not inferior to the other tribes in any respect, 

 but the race seems to be diminishing in numbers. 

 According to their tradition, they came origi- 

 nally from an island called Kamiguil, which is 

 supposed to lie to the east of Sandakan. They 

 take their name, Orang Buli Dupi (men of Dupi 

 Mountain), they say, from a peculiar kind of 

 tree called dupi, which grows on the hills of 

 their island. They were formerly very numer- 

 ous, and were scattered over many parts of the 

 coast of Borneo, but now are found only at 

 Sagaliud, at Labuk, west of Sandakan, and at 

 some points on the river Kino Batangan. 

 Their language differs materially from those of 

 the Malays and Suluans. 



The great peaks of the Andes in Ecuador 

 have been more thoroughly and more intelli- 

 gently explored than they ever were before, 

 by Edward Whymper, an Englishman, who 

 had already won celebrity as the most success- 

 ful of Alpine climbers. One of the objects of 

 his researches was to observe the physiological 

 effects of the atmosphere at great elevations, 

 and the possibility of living on the summits of 

 the highest mountains of the globe. By re- 

 maining a considerable time at elevations of 

 from 16,000 to 18,000 feet, until they felt no in- 

 convenience from the rarefied air there, which 

 was at first utterly insupportable, Whymper and 

 his party were able to ascend to the height of 19,- 

 000 feet and pass twenty-six hours there with- 

 out experiencing any ill effects. He concluded 

 that he could have mounted several thousand 

 feet higher, but is not convinced that explorers 

 could breathe the air at elevations of 24,000 

 feet or higher for any length of time, or that 

 the human system can adapt itself to the di- 

 minished pressure, which, at such altitudes, ia 

 one third of that at the level of the sea. An- 

 other subject investigated was the working of 

 aneroid compared with mercurial barometers 

 at great elevations. His experiments led him 

 to the conclusion that calculations of altitude 



