COLLECTING AROUND SIMUJAN. 387 



not at all related to the pike, but is nearest akin to the peculiar 

 fishes with lab}Tinthiform pharyngeals, known as the Anabantids, 

 and comprising, among others, the climbing fish and gourami. 

 Its combination of pecuHar characters renders it an object of 

 great interest to naturalists, and by them it is considered to be 

 the representative of a special family, — the Luciocephalids. 



The next day ray hunters brought me a rhinoceros hornbiU, 

 two proboscis monkeys, a live slow-paced lemur [Nycticehus tardigra- 

 dus) and a brilliant emerald-green tree-snake {Passerita), about six 

 feet long, which was the most beautiful serpent I ever saw. A 

 Dyak boy brought it in his hands, and I received it in mine with- 

 out any of the revulsion of feeling one ordinarily feels in handling 

 a live snake. 



It was a sociable sort of a snake, not in the least nervous on ac- 

 count of its captivity, and I kept it alive for some hours, and al- 

 lowed it to crawl quietly over my table and around the room. I 

 was quite charmed with its splendid color, lithe, beautiful form, and 

 graceful movement. It was a painful matter to both of us when 

 I was at last obliged to consign it to the alchohol can. 



Late in the afternoon of October 4th, I started on my third and 

 last trip to Padang Lake, ^^nih. the intention of living at the Po- 

 pook village for two or three weeks. Our starting was delayed 

 by the arrival of a large civet cat, a wild cat, and a wild hog's head, 

 all of which had to be attended to immediately. I took the little 

 baby orang with me, partly because I did not like to risk lea\T.ng 

 him, and also because I liked his company. 



Darkness overtook us before we had gone far, but it was a clear 

 moonhght night and we expected to make a long pull before tying 

 up. Very soon, however, the sky became overcast with heavy black 

 clouds, making the darkness xerj intense, and the lightning and 

 thunder foretold an approaching storm. Just before it broke, 

 we came to a tiny Dyak hut, about eight feet square, recently 

 erected at the edge of the bank, and, making fast to the shore, we 

 quickly cHmbed the ladder and craved shelter. " The man of the 

 house " was at home, with his wife" and two children, and we were 

 received with true Dyak cordiality. A dammar torch was burning 

 near the door, and in a comer a small fire was smouldering on a bed 

 of clay. The hut which sheltered us from the pouring rain was of the 

 kind frequently seen along the Sadong and Simujan, a mere tempo- 

 rary erection, built in three days, and occupied only while the owner 

 was planting a crop of paddi and afterward while harvesting it. 



