106 BRITISH NORTH BORNEO. [chap. 



"My bast Compliments to yau. I was sent yau 27 faowels and One 

 while man. Plice Eecived By the Bearar and Plice Fed the Bord Hayar, 

 and I was sick. A. C. Pitchy." 



The " while man," I need scarcely say, was an orang-utan, — 

 a formidable-looking beast enclosed in a large wooden cage. We 

 had at first the greatest respect for him, and he was fed through 

 the bars with all possible precaution. One day, however, he 

 managed to escape, and we suddenly discovered that he was of the 

 most harmless and tractable disposition. From that moment 

 " Bongon " became the pet of the ship, and was spoilt alike by the 

 crew and ourselves. Indirectly this was, no doubt, the cause of 

 his death, — a much-deplored event that took place some months 

 later on the coast of Celebes. 



We left Kudat May 30th. The northern part of Borneo is by 

 no means plentifully supplied with good water, and we tried in 

 vain to fill our tanks in the neighbourhood of Cape Sampanmangio. 

 We were equally unsuccessful in our search along the coast beyond, 

 and as our supply was nearly finished we decided to return east- 

 wards and try Banguey Island. It is the most northern possession 

 of the Company, and but little is as yet known of it, though 

 Balembangan — an island in close proximity to it — was in the 

 middle of the last century an English settlement. We anchored a 

 little to the south of Banguey Peak — a conspicuous, sharp cone of 

 nearly 2000 feet, which is believed to be an extinct volcano — and 

 were fortunate enough to hit off the entrance of a small river, the 

 existence of which, though not discovered by Belcher and other ex- 

 plorers of these seas, had been made known to us by some of the 

 officers of the North Borneo Company. The mouth was completely 

 hidden from tlie ship by a long strip of sand running out from the 

 left bank, and on entering we found ourselves surrounded by pretty 

 scenery, which was the more striking from the absence of man- 

 groves. We were able to row up stream for nearly a mile, when 

 we came to a sudden bend where the stream ran briskly over 

 pebbly shallows. The water was clear and good, and we at once 



