IN BORNEAN FORESTS [chap. 



gave me but a single species. On the whole, the flora of the lake- 

 region appeared to me much less rich than that of Sarawak. 



As a philological curiosity I shall give the names of the Dyaks 

 who went with me on the trip. They were : — Sigu Wat, Hi, Uyu, 

 Munao, Udjal, Unka, Lad] an, and Intika. 



I employed May 24th in collecting and preparing some aquatic 

 plants, to which the Chinese, in damming freshwater streams for 

 the operations of gold washing, had furnished the necessary con- 

 ditions of existence, conditions which seldom or never occur natur- 

 ally in the country. 



It is very difficult to discover how long Chinamen have been 

 settled in the auriferous region of Marop. Probably the gold 

 washings have been taken up and abandoned over and over again. 

 As a consequence of these operations water-holes and small stag- 

 nant pools have been formed which are not covered by forest. 

 In these I collected a Nitella (the only one I met with in Borneo), 

 a Utricularia (U. exoleta, R.B.), which I had found in the padi- 

 fields at Singhi, and about ten species of freshwater algae, which 

 are scarce in Borneo, 1 simply because stagnant waters which 

 are not at once invaded by arboreal vegetation are met with only 

 very exceptionally, and are then generally the result of landslips, 

 or the work of man. Small stagnant pools in which the water 

 is not renewed are only formed during unusual periods of dryness ; 

 but such conditions in Sarawak probably last at the utmost from 

 ten to fifteen days. Here rain is almost of daily occurrence, and 

 the constant changing or washing out of the water of such pools 

 prevents algae from establishing themselves and developing. 



At Marop the Chinese had gardens, in which certain foreign 

 plants which appear to follow man in all his migrations had gained 

 a footing. Amongst these were several grasses, especially a 

 Digitaria, called by the Chinese " Isu-mion," which had here 

 extended to and completely infested the rice fields. Another 

 Digitaria keeps to orchards and gardens, together with a Poa 

 (P.B. No. 3,291) called " Gniam-kum-so," Eleusine indica, 

 and Elephantopus scaber, a composite, the " Chisam-teo " 

 of Chinamen. Near the houses grew Adenosma (Pterostigma) 

 villosum, a scrophulariaceous plant used medicinally by the Chinese, 

 who call it " Sa-chou-con. Paspalum conjugatum, another grass 

 which might be useful if more cultivated as pasture, is also common. 

 The Malays call it " Rumput orang-puti," or " Rumput sapi," 

 which means white man's or cow grass. It makes excellent 

 cattle food, and the Malays assert that it has been introduced by 



1 Tetraspora gelatinosa, C. Ag. ; Tolypothrix flexuosa, Zan. ; T. distorta, 

 Leptothrix punctiformis, Zan ; Conferva fontinalis var. ochracea, Zan. ; 

 Zygnema sp., Rhizoclonium sp., Batrachospermum Borneense, Zan. 



192 



