43 
A VISIT TO THE BIRDS’ NEST CAVES AT GOMANTON, 
NORTH BORNEO. 
By H. Pryer.* 
Tue edible bird’s-nest has long been famed as one of the most 
remarkable articles of the Chinese cuisine, and little being known 
concerning the place of production, I determined, during my 
recent trip to North Borneo, to visit the caves where the nests 
are obtained, to gather information on the subject, and to ascer- 
tain, if possible, the material from which the bird makes its 
much-prized and valuable nest. 
On March 19th, at half-past ten o’clock a.m., in company 
with a gentleman in the employ of the British North Borneo 
Company, I left the flourishing little town of Elopura, at the 
head of Sandakan Bay, in a steam-launch for the Sapugaya 
River, which flows into the bay about eight miles below the 
town. Our party was composed of two Englishmen (W. and 
self), one Chinese cook, two Malay boys, three Malay boatmen, 
eight Sulu to act as carriers, a Buludupi guide named Buti, and 
my Japanese collector. The mouth of the Sapugaya was reached 
at noon. The banks here for some miles are lined with mangrove 
trees, of which there are several kinds, but all agreeing in their 
love for mud and salt water, and growing on trestles formed by 
their own roots, the tree-trunks being raised from four to ten feet 
above the ground. The river winds about in a most puzzling 
manner, and sometimes, after we had been steering due south, 
our course was suddenly altered due north. After the mangrove 
is passed, the Nipa swamps commence; this plant is like a huge 
fern, sending up immense fronds, sometimes 30 ft. in length; it 
bears a large fruit, something like a round pineapple, weighing 
151b. to 20 tb. The leaf is used for walls and roofs of houses by 
the natives, who prefer it to anything else for this purpose, and 
the young unexpanded frond makes an excellent cigarette- 
wrapper. 
Above the Nipa, where the river-banks rise above the reach 
of the tide, the forest extends down to the water’s-edge; it is 
composed of splendid forest trees of the most durable timber ; 
** Reprinted from ‘The Japan Gazette.’ 
