276 THROUGH CENTRAL BORNEO 



passed without showers. One evening occurred the 

 heaviest thunder-storm I experienced in Borneo. It came 

 from the west and was accompanied by a great down- 

 pour, straining my tent to the utmost. The sergeant 

 one day brought in a large lizard (varanus) which he shot 

 from the prahu just as it was about to enter the river. 

 Its length was 2.30 metres; the circumference back of the 

 fore legs 44 centimetres. 



It was with regret that I said good-bye to the Bahau 

 peoples. Had it been in my power, I should like to have 

 spent years instead of months in this Mahakam region. 

 The Dayaks here are friendly to strangers, and as the 

 great rapids farther down the river form a natural barrier, 

 they seldom receive visitors, therefore are little changed 

 by outside influence. The Malays have never been able 

 to extend their influence above the rapids, and whatever 

 modification may be noticeable in the natives is chiefly 

 due to their journeys to Long Iram in order to exchange 

 the products of the utan for commodities of the outside 

 world. The government has exerted itself to keep the 

 Malays from coming, but no doubt in the end this will 

 prove as unavailing as it did on the Upper Barito. A few 

 of them now and then find their way across the range 

 that forms a natural boundary toward the south, and 

 although thus far Malay settlement up here is negligible, 

 its ultimate ascendancy is probable, however long the 

 time that may pass before it is accomplished. 



