AN EXPEDITION TO PENRISEN 249 



repetition of the preceding, except that we made better 

 progress ; the river was so rapid that paddling the 

 boats was out of the question, and they were poled 

 along at a fair pace against the strong stream. The 

 air grew cooler for every mile that we advanced, and 

 the scenery more beautiful ; we had left behind us 

 the mud-flats of the lowlands with their monotonous 

 vegetation of Nipa-palm, and the succeeding zone of 

 scrub and secondary jungle, and were now fairly in 

 the upper waters of the river. Great cliffs of lime- 

 stone, sculptured and grooved by weathering agents, 

 and clothed in a bewildering variety of vegetation, 

 towered above us on either hand. Every reach of the 

 river that we entered on appeared more lovely than 

 the last, and contained some fresh wonder on which 

 the eye could feast. At one spot the river-gorge nar- 

 rowed considerably, and the rush of the water between 

 the huge boulders that here bestrewed the river-bed 

 was so great that we were compelled to disembark, 

 partially unload the boats, and haul them by their 

 rattan painters through the torrents. Dusk found us 

 still some miles from the village that we had hoped 

 to reach that night, but as we had now left behind us 

 the chief river-gorges and had emerged into a region 

 where the stream flowed more placidly between low 

 and gravelly banks we had no difficulty in selecting a 

 spot suitable for a bivouac. There was a brilliant 

 moon, and for long after we had eaten our supper 

 we sat listening to the rush of the stream and to the 

 shrilling of countless insects that made the tropical 

 night clamorous. 



On the opposite bank was a small tree growing 

 close by the water's edge, which was covered with 



