xxiv AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION 



tion of the facts and of the observations gleaned by the 

 writer during a seven years' sojourn in Sarawak. If my 

 readers in their reading can taste one-tenth of the 

 pleasure which I experienced in making my observations 

 and in setting them forth, I shall feel well rewarded. 



For seven years I occupied the post of Curator of the 

 Museum at Kuching, Sarawak, and I would fain pay a 

 small tribute to the delights of this appointment. The 

 pay was adequate ; I was granted abundant opportunities 

 to visit other parts of the State for making collections ; 

 there was an entire absence of tedious officialism and 

 red-tape, for all the Museum accounts were kept at 

 the Treasury. The Museum was well stocked, and yet 

 acquisitions to it were always welcome, as the collections 

 were by no means complete. The Rajah had wisely 

 ordered that the Museum should be confined to the 

 fauna, flora, and ethnography of Borneo, and as this rule 

 was strictly adhered to, the collections did not become 

 unwieldy, and there was no great difficulty in the deter- 

 mination of species. The officials of the Sarawak 

 Government vied with each other in presenting 

 specimens, so that a constant stream of material flowed 

 into the Museum. In fact there never was a museum 

 where the accessions were obtained at so small a cost, 

 and as the Museum staff was composed of a Chinese 

 clerk, Malay attendants, and Dayak hunters, the wages 

 bill was small. The Museum to-day contains the most 

 complete collections illustrating the fauna, flora, and 

 ethnography of Borneo, and its annual upkeep amounts 

 to under ^750 [Note i, p. 312]. A museum in the tropics 

 has a treble function : it provides for the inhabitants 

 of the country a constant source of interest ; it makes 

 possible an increase in the knowledge of the fauna, flora, 



