I70 THROUGH CENTRAL BORNEO 



them to their rattan caps, and from the solid casque with 

 whiih the l)e.ik of the ^iant species is provided, are 

 carved the lari^e red ear ornaments. Aided by the 

 siimpitan the Dayaks and Punans are expert in bring- 

 ing down the rather shy birds of the tall trees. 



Three hours later we had managed to carry all our 

 goods above the kiham Duyan, which is only one hundred 

 metres long, but with a fall of at least four metres; conse- 

 quently in its lower part it rushes like a disorderly water- 

 fall. It took the men one and a half hours to pull the 

 empty prahus up along the irregular bank, and I stood on 

 a low rock which protruded above the water below the 

 falls, watching the proceedings with much interest. The 

 day was unusually warm and full of moisture, as, without 

 hat, in the burning sun I tried for over an hour to get 

 snapshots, while two kinds of bees, one very small, j)er- 

 sistently clung to my hands, face, and hair. 



The journey continued laborious; it consisted mostly 

 in unloading and reloading the prahus and marching 

 through rough country, now on one side of the river, 

 now on the other, where the jungle leeches were very 

 active and the ankles of the men were bleeding. At 

 times the prahus had to be dragged over the big stones 

 that form the banks of the river. It was easy to under- 

 stand what difHculties and delays might be encountered 

 here in case of much rain. But in sjMte ol a lew 

 heavy showers the weather favoured us, and on the last 

 day of the month we had successfully passed the rapids. 

 Next morning, after j)ulling down my tent, the Penyah- 

 bongs placed stray pieces of paper on top of the remain- 

 ing tent-poles as a sign of joy that tlie kiliains were left 



