v.] BULUDUPIS. 95 



wings, to the loud booming note of the large Fruit-eating Pigeons 

 {Carpophaga) and the ceaseless and ear-piercing whir-r-r of 

 thousands of cicadas. It is tropical nature indeed, but in its least 

 pleasing aspects, and, lying sweltering between the walls of 

 vegetation that shut him in on either hand, almost too inert to lift 

 the gun to his shoulder, the traveller longs for a less vehement 

 nature, — for the restfulness of an English 



..." liiddeii brook 

 In the leafy month of June 

 That to the sleeping woods all night 

 Singeth a quiet tune." 



Coolness of a comparative sort conies with the setting sun, and the 

 nights are more pleasant with a light blanket than without, but 

 the heat we experienced in these Bornean rivers during the day 

 was almost as trying as that of New Guinea or West Africa. 



The following morning we started early upon a photographic 

 tour. The Buludupi huts were our first object, but we tried in 

 vain for a long time to get a photograph of one of the dug-out 

 canoes of these people, which was manned by four little heathens 

 in a state of nature. Some of the children had their heads 

 completely shaved, but in others a small tuft of hair was allowed 

 to grow over the forehead, after the manner of Chinese small boys. 

 I do not know whether this custom is general among any of the 

 interior tribes, but the fact seems interesting when the connection 

 between China and Borneo in bygone times is borne in mind.^ 

 Proceeding up stream for some distance we noticed traces of an 

 old footpath upon the bank, and on landing and following it into 

 the forest, we came upon a clearing which was evidently a burial- 

 ground of the Buludupis. It contained about a dozen graves. 

 Oblong pieces of wood with a narrow mortice cut longitudinally 

 through them lay upon the slightly-raised mounds, and at the 

 head was a small wooden post, roughly carved after the Malay 



^ Many instances of this connection might be adduced in Bornean nomenclature, 

 such as Kina-hahx (Chinese widow), Kina-ha,tB,nga,i\ (Chinese river), etc. etc. 



