160 TALES OF A NOMAD, 



prahu, or native boat, which four Dyaks were propel- 

 ling with swift strokes of their paddles. Over me was 

 an awning of mats woven out of palm leaves, and I was 

 as comfortable as I should have been in a first-class 

 carriage. 



I estimated that it would take us four hours paddling 

 to reach the mouth of the Kayu River. The direction 

 in which the elephants were reported to have gone would 

 most likely bring them to the Kayu River, and it was 

 probable that they might follow the bank, lingering from 

 time to time to feed and to bathe as they went along. 

 I intended to ascend the river, examining the banks for 

 spoor. If I failed to find their tracks I contemplated 

 making a cut across country in a direction at right angles 

 to the line which I supposed they had taken, and thus 

 cross their path and follow it up until I came upon the 

 elephants. 



When we got out a little distance the breeze freshened, 

 and our two boats were soon skimming along at four or 

 five knots under sail. 



In another three hours we reached the embouchure of 

 the Kayu, and crossing the bar entered the river, which 

 was here bordered by mangrove swamps. The flood- 

 tide was running up strongly, and so far overcame the 

 power of the stream as to give us almost dead water. 



After paddling for an hour in this manner we got out 

 of the region of mangrove into a belt of nipa palms, 

 whose broad fronds in places met across the river and 

 necessitated our hacking them away in order to allow 

 the boats to pass. 



In another hour or so we emerged from the nipas, and 

 now the banks were clad with jungle, in some parts very 

 dense, but generally speaking a man could find his way 



