AN EXPEDITION TO PENRISEN 261 



insects secured by threads of fibre on to the buttons 

 of my coat, until Cox said I presented the appearance 

 of a Christmas-tree hung with living animals. The 

 Dayaks were much tickled with my difficulties and 

 vied with each other in presenting me with more and 

 more specimens, each addition being greeted with 

 roars of laughter. Fortunately I had my butterfly-net 

 with me, and managed to secure a specimen of a rare 

 mountain butterfly, Cyrcstis seminigra, that flitted across 

 the clearing ; another creature that I secured was one 

 of those queer Land-Planarians, or flat-worms, coloured 

 brilliant sealing-wax red with black and white cross- 

 bands. 



The appearance of the rest of our train of coolies 

 put an end to my difficulties, and soon all my captures 

 were reposing in boxes or were pickled in spirit. The 

 Land-Dayaks now began to construct us a long lean-to, 

 or lankau, but we told them that that was of no sort 

 of use ; as our stay was to be one of three weeks, we 

 wanted a proper hut, one good enough, as Cox 

 phrased it, to serve as a Padi barn. So the men set 

 to work and in the space of three hours built us a 

 hut about 8 feet square, raised 2 feet off the ground, 

 open in front but with the sides, back, and roof of 

 well-made palm thatch. A species of Caryota palm 

 with pinnate leaves grew in abundance close by us, 

 and the thatch was made from these in a very 

 simple but ingenious way. Two bunks, two shelves, 

 both made of the palm-stems, and a three-stepped 

 ladder completed the house, and I may say here 

 that so efficiently was it constructed that, in spite 

 of some heavy rains, the roof did not leak till the 

 day before we left the mountain, and then the leak 



