WILD LIFE IN CENTRAL BORNEO 189 



crew. The kapala, who was attached to my prahu, was 

 active and gave his orders as if he knew how, a great re- 

 lief from a weak Malay that hitherto had been at "the 

 helm." When the men with the poles were unable to 

 move the boat against the current, the small, but strongly 

 built man, with a few very powerful pushes, would bring 

 it forward, making it vibrate by his strength. 



At Tamaloe animals and birds were not plentiful, 

 the call of the wah-wah usually imparting a little life to 

 the mornings; and I once heard a crow. I do not remem- 

 ber to have seen on the whole Busang River the most 

 familiar of all birds on the Bornean rivers, an ordinary 

 sandpiper that flits before you on the beach. Birds 

 singing in the morning are always rare except in the locali- 

 ties of paddi fields. The one most likely to attract atten- 

 tion on a forenoon is the giant hornbill, and as we ad- 

 vanced up the Busang its laugh might still be heard. 

 Much more unusual was the call of some lonely argus 

 pheasant or a crow. A few of the beautiful white raja 

 birds were observed. 



Wild pigs and deer continued plentiful, but the mon- 

 keys seemed gradually to disappear. Fish there were in 

 plenty, but they were now of smaller kinds, not agreeable 

 to eat, having an oily taste and mostly very bony. At all 

 our camping places ants of various kinds were numerous, 

 also Inside of the tent, but they did not seem to be ob- 

 noxious. Just before sunset the loud voices of the cicadas 

 began, and after dark lovely moths were attracted by 

 my lamp, while during the night bats flew in and out of 

 my tent. The humidity of the atmosphere was great. 



