IN BORNEAN FORESTS [chap. 



developed, and in this state I found it even more palatable than 

 when completely ripe. The durian is the favourite fruit of the 

 Dyaks, and the rich buttery pulp which surrounds the seeds is con- 

 sidered most delicious by those Europeans who have been able to 

 overcome the strong smell of rotten garlic which it gives forth. 

 (Fig. i6).i _ 



A delicious bathe in the cool and limpid spring entirely took 

 away the effects of the heat and the long tramp, and I was able to 

 sit down to dinner with a splendid appetite. 



On November 7th we discovered to our dismay that our pro- 

 visions were running out, that our ammunition was expended, and 

 that the paper for preparing botanical specimens was also exhausted. 

 A return to Kuching became imperative, and with great regret we 

 were obliged to put an end to our delightful visit at Pininjau, and 

 to say good-bye to the good Dyaks of Serambo. 



The Land-Dyaks, concerning whom I will now say a word or 

 two, are limited to that portion of Western Borneo which is in- 

 cluded between the Sadong and Pontianak rivers. A large portion, 

 therefore, of these people live on Dutch territory, whence it is be- 

 lieved that the Sarawak tribes also originally came. 



These Dyaks have not the bold and arrogant look which dis- 

 tinguishes the Sea-Dyaks. They are quieter and milder in their 

 habits, and more modest in their dress. They are undoubtedly 

 Malayan like their sea brethren, but differ from the latter in many 

 respects. They are in general smaller and uglier. Some grow scanty 

 moustaches and a slight beard on the chin (Fig. 17). They are often 

 affected by a skin disease known in Borneo as " kurap," which is 

 produced by a minute acarus which penetrates beneath the epider- 

 mis, and is very similar, if not actually identical, to that producing 

 the itch. I at least recognized this amongst the Papuans and in 

 the Molucca Islands, where the same disease is very common and 

 is known by the Portuguese term of " cascado." 2 



1 I have written at some length on the durian, and on the wild species of 

 this fruit whichgrowin Borneo, in my work entitled "Malesia" (Vol. III. p. 230). 

 The durian, as I have already remarked, is unknown in the wild state ; but 

 considering that various wild species very nearly akin grow in the Malay 

 Peninsula and in Borneo, it must belong to the flora of these regions. We 

 are thus obliged to suppose that the durian in its present form must have 

 grown in the past in land then existing between Borneo and the Peninsula ; 

 or else that in the wild condition it has been exterminated by man in the 

 Bornean and Malayan forests. But we are also free to suppose that the fruit 

 owes the extraordinary development which it has attained to cultivation, or, 

 better still, to the indirect protection afforded it by primitive man. For a 

 durian left to its own resources has scant chances of being able to reproduce 

 itself, for its fruits are gathered on the trees by monkeys and other arboreal 

 animals, while on the ground wild boars, attracted by the powerful smell, soon 

 come and devour them. 



2 Cf. Malesia, Vol. I., p. 94. Probably the acari found bv the author 



60 



