114 BRITISH NORTH BORNEO. [chap. 



covered with thick forest. We were anxious to take in water, but 

 though we searched along the coast in this neighbourhood for some 

 miles it was without success,^ and we resolved on trying the 

 Kimanis Eiver, off the mouth of which we accordmgly anchored 

 late one afternoon. A strong breeze was blowing as we started in 

 the lifeboat to row up the river, and we were prepared for a good 

 wetting, if not something worse, in going over the bar, which is 

 rather an awkward one. Fortune favoured us, however, and we 

 crossed without mishap. The river runs between mangroves and 

 Mpa palms for tlu-ee or four miles, but the scenery is saved from 

 monotony by pretty peeps of distant blue hills. We found the 

 Eesidency a carefully-kept and really attractive bungalow, inhabited 

 by a solitary European. A neatly-trimmed lawn with flower-beds 

 and sandy paths sloped down to the river, and the verandahs, hung 

 with ferns and orchids, gave an air of comfort and homeliness to 

 the place wliich was all the more attractive from its having been 

 entirely unexpected. Beyond, on either side of the river, stretch 

 the native huts, — the usual pile-supported buildings of the country. 

 The station had barely recovered from a blow which at one time 

 bade fair to anniliilate it altogether. In August, 1882, — some ten 

 months before our visit, — cholera broke out, and in a short time 

 one half of the entire ])opulation had fallen victims. Before its 

 advent Kimanis numbered just under three hundred souls, and of 

 these one hundred and seventy-seven were attacked, and one 

 hundred and forty-four died. All trade ceased, and the inhabitants 

 could scarcely be got out of their houses. Mr. Dalrymple, the then 

 Eesident, and the sole European in the settlement, exerted liimseK 

 with the greatest courage and devotion in aid of the sufferers, but 

 was eventually obliged to go for assistance to the nearest station. 

 The monsoon was blowing strong at the time, and the native boat 



1 The watering-place spoken of in Findlay's "Directory" (Indian Archipelago, 

 1878, p. 503) is not to be relied on, for the water, like a great deal of that to be 

 found on this part of the coast, is of a rich peaty brown, and though perfectly 

 clear, cannot be used with safety, owing to its liability to cause fever aud to turn 

 bad in the tanks. 



