IN BORNEAN FORESTS [chap, x 



of a streamlet at about an hour's walk from the village of Senna. 

 The water was clear and left no appreciable deposit, even when 

 allowed to stand for a time in a glass tumbler. It had a sul- 

 phurous smell. A thermometer I placed in the spring reached the 

 high temperature of 163° Fahr. 



On the 24th I returned to Penkalan Ampat, and the next day 

 found me on my journey back to Kuching. On the way I stopped 

 at Sabungo to ascend Gunong Braam, a limestone hill in the vicinity, 

 where I got some interesting botanical novelties. In Borneo the 

 plants which have a predilection for calcareous soil do not appear 

 to be frequent ; on the contrary, the greater number dislike it, leaving 

 the epiphytes out of the question. All herbaceous forest plants, 

 as well as ligneous ones, live in the humus and extend their roots 

 in the superficial stratum formed of vegetable detritus. This is no 

 doubt the reason why most tropical plants cultivated in hothouses 

 require a compost rich in humus, and must have water that 

 is free from lime. I passed the night of the 26th at Koom, and the 

 next day reached my house at Kuching. 



In December I returned to Mattang, where I found plenty to 

 do in collecting specimens of the fruit of those trees of which I had 

 previously collected the blossom. The Dipterocarpece formed the 

 special object of my search. 



The greater part of January was employed in constant excur- 

 sions around Kuching, where I remained during the whole of 

 February chiefly occupied in arranging and packing my collections. 

 During March I made an excursion to Lobang Angin, one of the 

 caves in the limestone hills along the western branch of the Sara- 

 wak river. We started from Kuching on the morning of the 2nd, 

 in my sampan with its usual crew. Close to the banks of the river, 

 a little above the town, I was struck by the very peculiar colour of a 

 herbaceous plant, which caught the eye at once among the rest of 

 the vegetation, and was called by my men daun batik angin, i.e. 

 " the leaf that changes with the wind " — a name probably derived 

 from the very different coloration of the leaves, which are green 

 at the lower part of the plant, and of a brilliant salmon red at the 

 upper part, where the flowering takes place. The plant is a Cleroden- 

 dron, which I have distinguished as C. discolor (Becc, P.B. No. 35 

 and 3,584). I passed the night at Busso, and the next day we 

 continued to ascend the river. On a tree on the bank I noticed 

 two squirrels, one brown, the other perfectly white ; they were 

 probably male and female, and this is the only albino mammal 

 which I saw in Borneo. We also met with a crocodile sleeping on 

 the bank, belonging to the species called by the natives " buaya 

 katak." I snatched up my rifle, but it was too quick for me, and 

 disappeared under water before I could fire. 



We next passed under Gunong Tundong, a small limestone 



132 



