242 THROUGH CENTRAL BORNEO 



who make people ill. The extreme silence was interrupted 

 only once, by the defiant cry of an argus pheasant. As 

 the weather was cloudy I decided to return here soon, by 

 myself, in order to photograph and make closer inspection 

 of the burial-place. I then descended to the prahu, and 

 desiring to make camp at a sufficient distance to keep 

 my men in a tranquil state of mind, we went about two 

 kilometres down the river and found a convenient camp- 

 ing-place in the jungle. 



On two later occasions I visited the cave and its 

 surroundings, becoming thoroughly acquainted with the 

 whole mountain. The Penihings have an easy access to 

 this primeval tomb, a little further below, by means of 

 a path leading from the river through a comparatively 

 open forest. The corpse in its box is kept two to seven 

 days in the house at the kampong; the body of a chief, 

 which is honoured with a double box, remains ten days. 

 According to an otherwise trustworthy Penihing inform- 

 ant, funeral customs vary in the different kampongs of 

 the tribe, and generally the box is placed on a crude plat- 

 form a metre above the ground. 



As for the orchid, I, as well as the Dayaks, who were 

 shown an illustration of it, searched in vain for three days. 

 There is no doubt that I was at the place which had been 

 described to me, but the plant must be extremely rare 

 and probably was discovered accidentally "near the 

 water," as the native collector said, perhaps when he was 

 resting. 



