viii] THE RAFFLESIA 



Hepaticce, to clothe the stems and branches of the shrubs. Of 

 the latter I collected a large quantity, of which not a few were new 

 to science and of great interest. 1 Amongst the more noteworthy 

 plants I collected were three species of Nepenthes (not, however, 

 amongst the finer ones), and two orchids, viz., a Renanthera with 

 large orange flowers, and a Spatho glottis, also with very large flowers 

 of a yellow colour. 



At noon in the shady and cooler spots on the summit the ther- 

 mometer marked 70 Fahr., and my aneroid 639.31 mm., which 

 would give for Mount Poe an altitude of 5,520 ft. 2 It is thus the 

 highest mountain of Sarawak and of all the western part of Borneo. 

 It marks the frontier with the province of Sambas, of which a large 

 portion can be seen from the top as a uniformly undulating stretch 

 of woodland. On the side looking towards Sarawak the trees, 

 although only of medium height, impeded my view. 



I had heard that a species of Rafflesia was to be found on Mount 

 Poe, one of those extraordinary parasitical plants whose huge and 

 startlingly conspicuous flowers spring from the ground like gigantic 

 mushrooms. I had accordingly hunted everywhere for it, but till 

 then in vain. I spoke about it to the Dyaks of our party, and one 

 of them assured me that he knew the plant, and offered to take me 

 to a spot where he had seen it ; so I put myself under his guidance 

 and left my companions, followed by some of the younger and more 

 active Dyaks. I may here remark, incidentally, that I was on this 

 occasion not a little impressed by the advantage I had over them 

 in the descent, which we took at a run, for I wore shoes and they 

 were obliged to be constantly on the look-out not to wound their 

 naked feet. 



When we got to the foot of the mountain, we turned off for about 

 half an hour from the path we had followed in the ascent, pene- 

 trating into the heart of a magnificent jungle, which reeked with 

 damp from the density of the shade and the man}/ streamlets which 

 bubbled up everywhere, winding about amidst the blocks of granite 

 which had rolled down from the mountain. I had been told that 

 close to the Rafflesia a gigantic tree grew, which had been climbed 

 a few days before by my guide in order to get the honey of some 

 wild bees. We soon came across the very tree, which from its 

 fallen leaves I discovered to be a Shorea. It was bigger than any 

 of these giants of the forests that I had previously seen, and the 

 cylindrical portion of its trunk was about 6^ feet in diameter. I 

 was not able to measure its height, but I do not think I exaggerate 

 in asserting that it must have been over 230 feet. Later, I saw 



1 Cf. De Notaris. Epatiche di Borneo raccolte dal Dr. O. Beccari, in " Atti 

 R. Accad. di Torino,'" series ii., vol. xxviii. 



2 In calculating heights with my aneroid I have followed the directions 

 and used the formulas of Comm. Felice Giordano. 



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