i] AN EXPLORATION TOWARDS MATTANG 



marking the way, but indispensable in forest travelling, to prevent 

 getting lost. Even when such travelling is comparatively easy 

 because the vegetation is less dense, it is prudent to keep marking 

 the way thus. Those who have never known these forests could 

 hardly believe how easy it is to lose oneself. 



In the forest, as on the ocean, the horizon closes up behind 

 as one progresses, with this difference, that in the forest the horizon 

 is only a few feet distant. Forest travelling inspires greater 

 fear than sea or desert travelling, for here the sun by day and 

 the stars by night are sure guides. But in the Bornean primeval 

 jungle the sky is invisible, and if a few sun-rays now and then 

 filter through the dense foliage overhead, they are useless in telling 

 the direction to be followed. Again, in deserts or extensive plains 

 it is rare indeed not to find some prominent object which can be 

 used as a sign-post to mark the way. In the forest the world 

 appears to close in behind us, the fear of advancing grows with the 

 thought of not being able to turn back, and the unknown generates a 

 sense of horror. I think it very probable that many animals feel this 

 same impression of fear and horror that man does at the thought 

 of losing himself in a forest. And it is possibly this which causes a 

 marked restriction in the geographical range of the forest fauna 

 when compared with that of deserts, steppes, or plains. 



During certain hours of the day a strange and impressive calm 

 pervades the forest. Nature appears to have gone to sleep in her 

 own domain, and hardly a sound or a cry can be heard denoting the 

 presence of living creatures. But the Bornean forest is so varied 

 and so different at different hours and seasons that no description 

 can possibly convey an adequate idea of it to those who have not 

 known it. Infinite and ever changing are its aspects, as are the 

 treasures it hides. Its beauties are as inexhaustible as the variety 

 of its productions. In the forest, man feels singularly free. The 

 more one wanders in it the greater grows the sense of profound 

 admiration before Nature in one of its grandest aspects. The 

 more one endeavours to study it, the more one finds in it to study. 

 Its deep shades are sacred to the devotee of Science. Yet they 

 afford ample food for the mind of the believer, not less than to that 

 of the philosopher. 



We proceeded slowly, compass in hand, through the forest, 

 thinking we had made more progress than was actually the case. 

 The marshy nature of the ground and the matted vegetation of 

 rotangs, screw-pines, Mapania, and other big herbaceous plants with 

 spinous leaves, greatly hampered our movements. In these 

 localities Nepenthes rafflesiana is frequently met with — one of those 

 singular pitcher-plants for which Borneo is renowned, with large, 

 blood-stained ampulla? filled with water, depending from a thread 

 at the extremities of the leaves. 



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