UP THE KAYAN RIVER 55 



One characteristic of the climate which had impressed 

 him much was the snow, which had been very cold for the 

 feet. He was kind enough to send me a present of a young 

 fowl, which was very acceptable. 



Long Pangian is a small settlement where ten native 

 soldiers are kept, under the command of a so-called post- 

 houder, in this case a civilized Dayak from the South 

 who met us at the landing in an immaculate white suit 

 and new tan shoes. It was warmer here toward the end 

 of March than at Tandjong Selor, because there had not 

 been much rain for a month. The soil was therefore hard, 

 and in the middle of the day so heated that after a shower 

 it remained as dry as before. A few Chinamen and Bugis 

 who live here advance rice and dried fish to the Malays 

 to provision expeditions into the utan which last two to 

 three months, receiving in return rubber and damar. 

 The Malays come from lower down on the river, and a 

 good many of them leave their bones in the jungle, 

 dying from beri-beri; others ill with the same disease are 

 barely able to return to Long Pangian, but in three weeks 

 those who do return usually recover sufficiently to walk 

 about again by adopting a diet of katsjang idju, the 

 famous green peas of the East Indies, which counteract 

 the disease. The Malays mix native vegetables with 

 them and thus make a kind of stew. 



The rice traded in Borneo is of the ordinary polished 

 variety, almost exclusively from Rangoon, and it is gen- 

 erally supposed that the polishing of the rice is the cause 

 of this illness. The Dutch army in the East seems to have 

 obtained good results by providing the so-called silver- 



