ART. 12 BIRDS FEOM ISLANDS jSTEAR BORNEO RILEY 3 



reef. It has no human inhabitants. Natives from Derawan sometimes visit 

 the island to collect turtle eggs but otherwise it is seldom visited. Tandjong 

 Batoe is the nearest point on the mainland and it is 22 miles away in a 

 northwesterly direction. 



We sailed from Sangalalii for Bilang Bilangan, 46 nautical miles away in 

 a southeasterly direction. After getting out of sight of the island we were 

 becalmed and as the coast is low we could see no land at all. At nightfall 

 I suggested that the natives should row. They replied that if they did, we 

 should pass the islands of Bilang Bilangan and Mataha during the night. 

 They then told me that whenever they were becalmed on their way to gather 

 turtle eggs on these islands, they furled sail, dropped anchor (so that 

 in case they drifted near a reef the anchor would catch before the boat 

 grounded) and went to sleep. When they awakened in the morning they were 

 always in sight of the islands. I followed their advice but we were so many 

 miles away I could scarcely believe that the current alone could carry us so 

 far by morning. However, at daybreak the first thing I heard was an argu- 

 ment among the natives about the names of the two islands in sight. We had 

 been carried about 20 miles during the night by the southeasterly current and 

 were then about 5 miles from Bilang Bilangan, which we reached in an hour. 



Bilang Bilangan is 23 miles from the nearest point on the mainland. It is 

 less than a mile long and runs to a point on the northern end. This northern 

 point is covered with grass and bushes but the rest of the island is forested. 

 There are no permanent inhabitants but the natives from Derawan and else- 

 where come to gather turtle eggs. 



Mataha looked like a very small island from Bilang Bilangan, because it 

 is very narrow and long and from that point only one end of it can be seen. 

 In character the two islands are very much alike, though the forest on Mataha 

 is perhaps a little more dense. Mataha has no i>ermanent inhabitants. It is 

 2^2 miles southwest of Bilang Bilangan and 20 from the mainland. 



From Mataha we sailed 16 miles due west to Balik Kukup, a tiny island 

 half a mile or less in length, nearly all of it planted with coconuts of which 

 many were bearing. There were a few big forest trees at one end of the 

 island and some dense growth beneath them. The inhabitants of Balik Kukup 

 were all Badjaoe (seafaring Malays) and related to natives of Tandjong 

 Boeaja Boeaja and Samoentai on the nearby mainland. Balik Kukup is just 

 10^2 miles from the mainland. 



After staying a short time at Balik Kuivup, we sailed to Manimbora, an island 

 even smaller than the one we had left, and located 6% miles southwest of that 

 island. Manimbora is covered with coconut trees in bearing. It had been 

 used for a great many years as a burial ground for natives of the whole region. 

 In fact, my boys told me than they could seldom dig a grave without unearth- 

 ing the bones of a former burial. 



Eraban is a small island four miles due south from Manimbora. Part of 

 it had been for many years planted with coconut trees. The whole island is 

 very low and almost surrounded by mangrove swamps, which almost connect 

 it with the larger island of Tandjong Boeaja Boeaja. 



Following the coast southeasterly for 24 miles, we reached the island of 

 Kanioengan Besar, somewhat over a mile from the mainland. It was planted 

 with coconuts and had a village populated with seafaring Malays. 



Three miles northeast of Kanioengan Besar is the tiny island Kanioengan 

 Ketjil, on which there is no vegetation except coarse grasses and little vines 

 or creepers. 



