vn] A MONTH AT SINGAPORE 



gone directly after to live there with Doria, but the latter's health 

 had been failing, and a delay was necessary. 



Whilst on Mattang superintending the finishing of my house I 

 determined to climb to its highest point. I started on January 22nd, 

 at 10 a.m., and in an hour had reached the spot where we passed 

 our first night on the mountain, at an elevation of 1,827 ft- I 

 did not stay, but continued to ascend, and following the ridge at 

 a point some 2,400 ft. above sea-level, I found in great abundance 

 a palm which I have since named Eugeissonia insignis. It has the 

 aspect of a sago-palm, but its stem is only twelve or fifteen feet in 

 height. Its inflorescence, which issues from the crown of leaves, 

 measures about ten feet, whilst the leaves, which have spiny stalks, 

 are from twenty to twenty-five feet in length. 



About an hour after noon I at last reached the true summit, 

 formed by two points of equal elevation close together. The 

 elevation I made to be 3,071 ft., but in the Sarawak Gazette of 

 January 1, 1889, the height is given as 3,130 ft. Here there were 

 no big trees, merely bushes, only a few feet in height, and with 

 very small leaves. All were out of blossom. Of special interest 

 was an undescribed rhododendron with willow-like leaves and large 

 yellow flowers {R. salicifolium, Becc), but not then in bloom. I 

 also remarked a quantity of Sphagnum, which is always found on 

 mountain tops in Borneo. 



As Doria's health showed no signs of improvement, his return 

 to Europe became necessary, and at the beginning of March he left 

 Sarawak. I accompanied him to Singapore, where we remained 

 together nearly to the end of the month. 



Of our stay at Singapore I shall merely recall a week passed at 

 " Woodlands," in a small wooden bungalow which our Consul, Mr. 

 Leveson, had built on the Johore Straits, and which he kindly lent 

 to us. The house stood on a slight elevation overlooking the sea, 

 and was most picturesquely placed, with a view across the water of 

 the southern extremity of the Malacca Peninsula and the capital 

 of the State of Johore. It was surrounded by the then untouched 

 primeval forest. On the sea, always as smooth as glass, a delicious 

 bathing place had been constructed, shut off by a palisade, a neces- 

 sary precaution against sharks and crocodiles. 



The shallow parts of the Straits were covered with a marine 

 plant {Enhalus acoroides), which has the aspect of our Vallisneria, 

 and produces similar flowers, but of larger size. The female flowers 

 of the Enhalus are not, as in Vallisneria, at the extremities of 

 spirally twisted stalks, but nevertheless they rise to the surface of 

 the water at low tide and can thus come in contact with the male 

 flowers. These, at first enclosed in a sort of small bag under water 

 near the roots, get detached when mature and float on the surface 

 of the sea, forming large patches of white powder. 



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