260 The Gardens of the Sun. [ch. xm. 



tain was concerned, and although all our guides were loud 

 in their protests that it would he impossible to cross the 

 streams after the late heavy rain, we were doggedly 

 determined to go on. We crossed the river twice, and 

 now, at 8.30, all further progress seems impossible, since 

 we have to cross again, and this at a place where the 

 river is a boiling torrent nearly five feet deep. The 

 Dusun themselves seem to have no great difficulty in 

 crossing, but our Labuan men are afraid. The great 

 difficulty is to keep one's legs under one in the strong 

 current, and to facilitate this being done the Dusun often 

 take up a heavy stone and carry it on one shoulder. Our 

 men bathed here whilst waiting, and most of them took 

 up a stone and cast it into the water ere they flung them- 

 selves in. This they do to propitiate the " antu," or 

 river god, who they tell me might otherwise be offended, 

 and afflict them with sickness. As we sit beside this 

 rushing river, the most gorgeous butterflies flit here in 

 the chequered shade afforded by overhanging branches. 

 Yellow, white, and brown species vie with each other in 

 activity. Now and then the most splendid ornithoptera 

 are seen, their strong and swift flight resembling that of 

 a bird. One lovely fellow, fully six inches across the 

 wings, settled on my boot as I remained motionless 

 watching it. It was of a velvety blackness, with a bold 

 band of pea-green across the wings. Another species 

 rather smaller has a band of metallic blue. These deli- 

 cate insects are generally most numerous by rivers, or in 

 sunny places by the dry beds of streams, and, singularly 

 enough, are most abundant during the cool wet monsoon. 

 August 11th. A lovely morning, and at sunrise we 

 obtained charming views of " Kina Balu." The rugged 

 top crags were especially well defined, as also the sloping 

 plateau, which seemingly forms the watershed for one of 



