134 THROrGH CKNTRAI. BORNEO 



London, which contained several substitutes Cor arsenic 

 and claimed to he ecju.illy efficient, may have been at 

 fault in part, though not entirely, the main cause being the 

 moist heat and the almost entire lack of motility in the 

 air. So little accustomed to wind do the natives here 

 appear to be that a small boy one day jubilantly drew 

 attention to some ripples in the middle of the river 

 caused by an air current. 



My Malay cook was taken ill, so I had to do most of 

 the cooking myself, which is not particularly pleasant 

 when one's tinie is valuable; and when he got well his 

 lack of experience rendered it necessary for me to oversee 

 his culinary operations. One day after returning to my 

 tent from such supervision I had a curious adventure with 

 a snake. It was a warm day about half past one. All was 

 quiet and not a blade stirred. I paused near the tent 

 opening, with my face toward the opposite side of the 

 river, which could be seen through an opening among 

 the trees. Standing motionless on the bank, which from 

 there sloped gradually down toward the river, more than 

 a minute had elapsed when my attention was distracted 

 by a slight noise behind me. Looking to the right and 

 backward my surprise was great to perceiv^e the tail-end 

 of a black snake rapidly proceeding toward the left. 

 Hastily turning my eyes in that direction I beheld the 

 well-shaped, powerful, though somewhat slender, forward 

 part of the serpent, which, holding its head high, almost 

 to the height of my knee, made downward toward the 

 river. 



In passing over the open space along the river bank it 



