1888.] EDIBLE BIRDS'-NKSTS IN BRITISH NORTH BORNEO. Ill 



No. 2. The Madai Caves, Darvel Bay, East Coast. 



In July 1884 I visited these caves in company with Governor 

 Treacher. The approach to the shore in a steam-launch was 

 intricate work, as many coral patches obstructed the entrance. 

 Having anchored at the mouth of the Tucgabuah River, we 

 paddled up for about an hour and landed. A three-mile jungle-track, 

 much broken up by Elephants, Rhinoceroses, wild Cattle, and 

 wild Pigs, brought us to the entrance of the caves, which is on a 

 level with the surrounding country. The limestone walls rose 

 rugged and precipitous, and glittered in the light of the morning sun. 

 As we entered, there were flights of Swifts whizzing and flitting past 

 our heads, and we found many of the young birds, tied together by 

 the wings, lying on the floor ready to be carried away for food by 

 tlie collectors. These men belong to the Erahan tribe, and we found 

 some twenty of them living on stages inside the caves. They 

 handed to us torches and bees'-w^ax tapers, which were most welcome 

 as we clambered in the murky darkness over the slippery limestone 

 boulders. In the hollows of the floor there were thick layers of 

 guano, which was saturated with the rain-water that percolated 

 through the limestone ceiling ; the result was that we were fre- 

 quently immersed up to our middle in these offensive deposits. 



Unlike Gomanton, which boasts one monster cave, Madai pre- 

 sents a series of chambers, about 150 feet in height, connected with 

 each other by narrow passages. There are very few Bats, the Swifts 

 having taken possession of the most advantageous nest-building sites 

 and being evidently too numerous for the unremunerative mammalia 

 to lead a peaceable existence. 



As we walked through the six caves, the collectors pointed out 

 to us 23 " lobangs," as they are called by the natives. These are 

 domes or vaults, each one of which is owned by a separate pro- 

 prietor. The natives say that 20 of these vaults contain black nests 

 only, and that three vaults only hold white uests. 



This would denote, as native information frequently asserts, that 

 there are two kinds of Swifts, viz., one that builds black nests and 

 the other white nests. In fact some natives maintain that there are 

 as many as four different kinds of Swifts. Further investigation is 

 required to clear up this question. 



There are three collecting-seasons in one year ; the last season 

 yields nests of an inferior quality to the other two. The total 

 harvests of both black and white nests are valued at Si 5,000 per 

 annum. 



No. 3. The Sigalong Caves, Darvel Bay, East Coast, are situated 

 about 21 miles S.E. from the Madai Caves, and are approached 

 through coral reefs. The chambers are low, and the openings are 

 small and difficult to enter for Europeans. 



The native collectors enter some of these limestone caves by loop- 

 holes from the summit, which is about 2.50 feet above the surrounding 

 country. There is a preponderance of Bats over Swifts, but the depo- 

 sit of guano is not so large as in the Gomanton and Madai Caves. I 



