104 BRITISH XORTH BORNEO. [chap. 



to give themselves up, and attacked the Silvhs unexpectedly. In 

 the skirmish that ensued three Bajaus and two of the police were 

 killed, and hoth parties withdrew. Ten days later a larger force of 

 Sikhs was sent to the village, and a fine of SI 00 miposed, which 

 was eventually paid. It was with a view of ascertaining the state 

 of affairs that the Fly — with Mr. Gueritz, Eesident of Kudat, on 

 board — sailed for Bongon on the 25th of May, in company with 

 the Marchesa. "We anchored nearly three miles from the mouth of 

 the river on which the callage is placed, for the bay is here very 

 shallow, and the rise and fall of tide considerable. It is, indeed, 

 facetiously related that early one morning one of the watch of a 

 certain gun-boat reported that the " anchor was in sight two points 

 on the port bow on a mud-bank." We proceeded in the cutter and 

 steam launch to the village, and were well received, the natives 

 flymg little white flags on their huts in token of submission ; and 

 from what we learnt there was no doubt that the disturbance had 

 no political significance whatever. In the eyes of these natives 

 the taking of a human life is a little thmg. When they realise 

 the fact that each Sikh policeman brought to bag costs fifty dollars, 

 it is to be hoped that they may relinquish the sport. 



The pleasant jungle walks and long stretches of beach fringed 

 with Cycas and Casuarina proved a source of great enjoyment to us 

 during our week's stay at Kudat, and we added considerably to 

 our collection. In one of my morning rambles I came across a 

 small bird {Mixornis hornensis) fast entangled in the we]) of a 

 spider of the genus Nephila. These structures in the tropical 

 forests of this part of the world are often of large size and gTeat 

 strength, but I w^as astonished to find that they were sufliciently 

 strong to capture a bird which, in this instance, was as large as a 

 goldfinch. For the moment my feelings of humanity overpowered 

 me, and I released the captive, but directly afterwards I regretted 

 that I had done so, as the conclusion of the drama might have been 

 of interest. The spider, though evidently somewhat deterred by 

 his unusually large capture and the violent shakings of the web. 



