1 62 TALES OF A NOMAD. 



On coming round a bend of the river I saw a timbadau 

 bull, and was tempted to fire, but refrained. The tim- 

 badau are a species of wild cattle. The male is of a 

 dark chocolate colour (almost black), with a white nose, a 

 white stern and white legs. In conformation he some- 

 what resembles the " bos ghaurus," or bison of India. 

 The female is red, with white nose, stern and legs. They 

 are reported to be dangerous ; but though I have shot 

 many of them, I have never seen one show fight, and I 

 fancy the danger incurred in hunting them is inconsider- 

 able. Their beef is almost uneatable. I suppose this 

 is due to their feeding on bitter leaves in the jungle. 



We continued to ascend the river until it was nearly 

 dark. I began to fear that the elephants could not have 

 come in this direction at all, so I ordered the boats to 

 pull into shore and make fast. 



We set to work to clear away small bush, and camp 

 down for the night. The Dyaks are very ingenious at 

 this kind of work. They will make you a bedstead, a 

 table, and a chair in ten minutes, and then put a roof 

 over the whole. They cut sticks, having one end sharp- 

 ened and a fork at the other. They use these for up- 

 rights, driving the sharp end into the ground. Crosspieces 

 are fixed across from fork to fork, and then withes are 

 used as longitudinals, the whole being lashed together 

 firmly with strips of bark. 



In the evening the life of the jungle seems to wake 

 up. Pigeons whiz about overhead as they fly to roost. 

 A peculiar kind of insect which lives in the bark of trees 

 begins to make a shrill chattering noise, and if there 

 are any flying foxes about, they soar from tree to tree. 

 They are in reality a species of large squirrel which has 

 a skin or membrane connecting its fore and hind legs. 



