DOWN THE RAPIDS 209 



The river bank on which the kampong is built is lower 

 than usual, and the place is clean and attractive. All the 

 people look strikingly more healthy than the Saputans, 

 and I saw a few very nice-looking young girls. The men 

 swarmed round me like bees, all wanting in a most amiable 

 way to help put up my tent. During the day I had lost 

 the cover of my red kettle — annoying enough when it can- 

 not by any means be replaced — but even a more serious 

 loss would have been compensated by the delightful ex- 

 perience of the day, which was without other mishaps. 



Our goods having been safely brought in, the next day 

 about noon we started in fully loaded prahus. All went 

 well with the exception of one of the smaller boats which, 

 timidly working down along the bank, suddenly turned 

 over and subsided on a rock. The men did their best to 

 save the contents, the rapid current making it impossible 

 for us to stop until we were a hundred metres further 

 down, where the Dayaks made ready to gether up boxes 

 and other articles that came floating on the current. Noth- 

 ing was lost, but everything got wet. 



