CHAPTER XXIII 



A PROFITABLE STAY — MAGNIFICENT FRUITS OF BORNEO — 

 OMEN BIRDS — THE PENIHINGS IN DAILY LIFE — TOP 

 PLAYING — RELIGIOUS IDEAS — CURING DISEASE 



On my return to camp a pleasant surprise awaited me 

 in the arrival of mail, the first in six months. The days 

 that followed were laborious: buying, arranging, and 

 cataloguing collections. From early morning Penihings 

 came to my tent, desiring to sell something, and did not 

 quit until late at night. Some were content to stand qui- 

 etly looking at the stranger for ten or fifteen minutes, and 

 then to go away, their places being taken by others. But 

 after all it was a happy time, much being accomplished 

 every day by adding to my collections and gaining much 

 interesting information. 



Over my tent grew a couple of rambutan trees, and 

 close by were two trees bearing a still more delicate fruit 

 called lansat (lansium domesticum). It is mildly acid, 

 like the best kind of orange, but with more flavour, and 

 in appearance resembles a small plum without a stone, 

 and when ripe is almost white in colour. Every morning, 

 at my request, the chief climbed one of these trees, on 

 which the fruit hung by the bushel, and sold me a basket- 

 ful for a trifle. The lansat is so easily digested that one 

 can eat it freely in the evening without inconvenience; 

 in fact it is a decided aid to digestion. According to the 

 natives these trees are plentiful in the utan, but in the 



kampong they, as well as the famous durian and the 



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