v.] A CONTRETEMPS. 93 



and while there was six feet of water on one side of the vessel, 

 we found six inches only on the other. Soon everything began 

 falling over to leeward, and in a few minutes the cook's galley, 

 live coals and all, went across the deck with a crash. The impedi- 

 menta of our party lay in a confused pile mixed up with chairs 

 and the debris of our dinner, and we set to work to rescue what we 

 could with all despatch, — an affair of some difficulty, as we were 

 no longer able to stand upon the deck. Meanwhile the gallant 

 captain was engaged in a full-flavoured altercation with the mate 

 and crew concerning the making fast of certain hawsers to the 

 trees, which we had advised hmi to do some time before. From 

 our point of view, the incident was ludicrous enough as we crawled 

 about the deck on all fours in search of our property, but judging 

 from the expletive richness of the captain's language, the comic 

 element of the affair was evidently lost upon him. At length, 

 however, the tide turned, and with the young flood all doubts were 

 at an end. Before daylight the Vigilant was once more on an even 

 keel, and we were all comfortably turned in. 



A dense, sluggish mist hung over the river in the early morning, 

 and did not entirely clear off until nine o'clock. It reminded one 

 unpleasantly of Africa, and was immediately suggestive of quinine. 

 Two of our party started at once for Batang Ipil, — the farthest 

 point to which the Sigaliud is practicable for small boats, — in the 

 liopes of obtaining wild cattle, which were said to be numerous in 

 the neighbourhood. As the sun got higher the heat became 

 tremendous, and at mid-day, flnding it almost insupportable ashore, 

 I returned from a collecting trip in the jungle, hoping to find a 

 breath of air in mid-stream. The cabin temperature was 95° Fahr., 

 but it was distinctly cooler. What heat of this kind is, in a damp 

 climate like that of Borneo, can only be realised by those who have 

 experienced it. The far higher thermometric temperatures in dry 

 climates, such as Australia and Africa, are child's play in comparison. 



In the afternoon I explored a small tributary stream which 

 joined the Sigaliud a mile or two above tlie Buludupi huts. It is 



