A PLEASURE TRIP UP THE SARAWAK. 477 



to the Chinese, which proves to be the case. Two or three Chinese 

 shops are passed ; Gunong Matang, the mountain so conspicuous 

 from Kuching, also went by us on the right, with a few other peaks 

 of humbler elevation. 



Eight miles above Kuching, the mountains of the interior rise 

 prominently into view in long ridges with fleecy white clouds cling- 

 ing to their densely wooded sides. Though not so very distant, 

 they were of a deep blue color, and. taken altogether, were to the 

 eye a grateful reUef from the everlasting green of the level jungle. 



We took in the scenery until dark and then reluctantly turned 

 from it to the dinner table. The Firefiy is a veiy comfortable little 

 craft, but her passengers must provide their own bill of fare and 

 table furniture. ^Ye had plenty of soup, but there was not a sjDoon 

 on board, so we drank it out of our plates and proceeded to dispose 

 of the remainder of the menu with equal facility. 



The night was exceedingly dark, and how the steersman man- 

 aged to keep clear of the banks was more than I could see. About 

 twelve miles up, we came to the confluence of the two branches of 

 the Sarawak Eiver, and took the smaller or western stream, which 

 soon became very narrow, but still remained deep, swift, and murky. 

 About 8 P.M. we reached Busau, twenty-six miles from Kuching, and 

 landed. Here we were at the terminus of the Borneo Company's 

 tram-way system, from which the antimony mined in the vicinity 

 and the quicksilver from Tegora is shipped down the river. Leav- 

 ing our luggage to be pushed after us on a tram-car, we set out in 

 the black darkness and walked on the tram-way four miles to Paku, 

 At the police station we turned ofif and climbed a steep conical hill 

 untn we were out of breath, which brought us to the top, upon 

 which was perched a house, to the comforts of which we were hos- 

 pitably welcomed by ]SIr. A Hart Everett, the naturalist. 



It was a great treat to meet an accomplished Malasian naturalist 

 on his native heath, a man who knew Borneo by heart, and was, like 

 myself, almost whoUy given over to collecting. I plied the poor 

 man with questions until we were both fairly exhausted and obliged 

 to open some bottles of ale. ]\Ii-. Everett was on a mission of much 

 more importance to science than the mere collecting of specimens. 



Under the patronage and support of the British Museum and 

 the Marquis of Tweeddale, then President of the Zoological Society, 

 he had entered upon a thorough and systematic examination of the 

 caves of Borneo, in the hope of finding in the deposits upon their 

 floors fossil remains of the forerunner of the anthropoid apes. It 



