A MOKTH WITH THE DYAKS. 441 



and I sit here in this gloomy tut, flat on the floor, with my 

 blanket spread on the rough poles for a mat, and my ammu- 

 nition-box between my knees for a writing desk, while outside 

 it is pitch dark, the rain is pouring down, and the tide is running 

 swiftly up. The men prefer to sleep in the boat, and I am left 

 alone in my gloiy. We have had a long, hard day of it, with pre- 

 cious little to eat, and I will abandon this tiresome journal and 

 seek my swinging cradle. 



" December Id. — Up at daylight, and Perara and I made short 

 work of skinning and skeletonizing the mias. With a little help 

 from Dobah we finished it in two hours. Then we tumbled into 

 the boats and set off. The Malays are working by the job, henco 

 their willingness to make good time. In the afternoon, as we were 

 about entering the mouth of the Sadong, a violent squall caught us, 

 and we came very near being swamped. We certainly would have 

 been had not the wind ripped off our kadjangs clean and clear so 

 quickly that we were saved from going over. Luckily we did not 

 have the sail up. For a time it looked as if there would be an 

 amateur swimming match in which aU who could swim would par- 

 ticipate to see who could get to shore. But we presently found a 

 haven in the mouth of a small creek, which we ran into thankfully 

 enough, but with passengers and cargo thoroughly drenched, and 

 waited until the squall was over. Dined off a pint tin of hare soup, 

 which was short measure and very thin. Reached Simujan at 10 

 P.M. and found my valuable collection and all other belongings in 

 fierfect safety, just as I left them." 



The day after my return Lamudin found the nest of a crocodile 

 on the bank of a small creek about four miles below the kampong ; 

 and after shooting at the old female and wounding her, he came 

 to let me know. On visiting the spot with him I found the croco- 

 dile lying dead beside the nest whither she had crawled, mortally 

 wounded, to watch her charge to the last. Her length was nine 

 and a half feet. 



The nest was situated on a clear strip of marshy ground, 

 about fifty yards from the bank of the creek. It was simply a 

 mound of dead grass, grass-roots, and earth, about nine feet in di- 

 ameter on the ground and three feet high. The ground around 

 the nest was covered with water at high tide, and the mound was 

 thrown up to afford the eggs a resting-place above high water 

 mark. We went to work with our hands to dig open the nest, and 



