UP THE GALATHEA RIVER 163 



" Once we ran aground on some rocks, and twice had to 

 scramble on fallen tree-trunks spanning the river, and force the 

 boat beneath them. But for such incidents we progressed steadily 

 upwards until eleven o'clock, when we pulled to one of the banks, 

 here only some 1 5 yards apart, and tying up the boat, proceeded 

 to camp during the heat of midday. 



"Then, after breakfast had been disposed of, it was delightful 

 to lie on one's back in the shade of the jungle and watch the 

 waving leaves against the sky ; to search with the eyes for graceful 

 ferns and orchids drooping from the branches overhead, and in a 

 dreamy semi-slumber to listen to the calls of the birds, and the 

 faint voices of the men as they rambled about in the forest. 

 Presently, as the sun reached its highest point, all became quiet, 

 and we dozed an hour away, to wake up, and — after boiling the 

 kettle for some tea — start off once more. 



" Gradually narrowing, the river maintained the same char- 

 acter, save that the banks became more open. At one fallen 

 tree we had to unload the boat and haul it bodily over ; several 

 times we got round or under such obstacles with difficulty ; and 

 so, rowing and poling as the stream lessened, we went on, until 

 at about five o'clock, the river, now only 25 feet wide, became 

 so shallow and obstructed by fallen branches that we were forced 

 to cease all attempt at further progress, and so made camp at 

 a spot about 16 miles up-stream, almost in the latitude of Pulo 

 Babi. In the rainy season it would perhaps be possible to 

 ascend a few miles higher. 



" While daylight lasted, the boat was partly unloaded, sticks 

 cut to support the mosquito nets, and supper prepared — heaped- 

 up plates of snowy rice, eked out by various tinned com- 

 modities. Then after re-charging the dark slides beneath a 

 rug, and covering the baggage with a tarpaulin in case of 

 rain, we turned in. 



"It was a glorious moonlight night and the cicadas sang us to 



on the river, and the calls of one or two birds not elsewhere obtained, were 

 distinguished. Numbers of fish were seen in the shallows, and sometimes a 

 snake swimmingr from bank to bank was to be observed. 



