258 A NATURALIST IN BORNEO 



and regretted it for half an hour afterwards. All the 

 natives of Borneo use these angled knives for cutting 

 and carving small objects ; the blade is held between 

 the fingers and thumb of the left hand, the handle 

 lying along the fore-arm, whilst the article that is to 

 be carved is held in the right hand and is turned 

 and pressed against the knife-blade ; a left-handed man 

 would hold the knife in his right hand and the object 

 to be carved in his left. 



Between five and six o'clock we reached the point 

 where we had decided to camp for the night. There 

 was here an enormous boulder known to the natives 

 as Batu Tinong ; it juiled out from the side of the 

 mountain, and overhung so far that a sort of open 

 cave was formed. Close by there was a mountain 

 stream dashing down a rocky ravine ; and quickly 

 divesting ourselves of our clothes, supersaturated with 

 sweat, we flung our weary bodies into the foaming 

 torrent. The chill of the water fresh from the mount- 

 ain-top acted as a splendid tonic and stimulant, and 

 we emerged cool and refreshed. Our followers mean- 

 while had constructed beneath the overhanging boulder 

 a floor of branches raised about a foot from the 

 ground ; on this our waterproof sheets and boat-mat- 

 tresses were spread, and we were soon discussing a 

 savoury supper such as a Chinese cook can, with 

 the most limited appliances, turn out under the most 

 adverse circumstances. 



We then composed ourselves for well-earned slumbers, 

 but sleep was not for me ; to begin with I was over- 

 tired, every bone in my body seemed to ache, my 

 bed seemed uncommonly hard, and the knots of the 

 branches composing the floor could be felt through 



