CHAPTER XV 



The Malay Sampan — Excursion to Tanjong Datu — Pulo Sampadien 

 — The Dugong — A Pirate's Nest — -Ascent of Tanjong Datu — ■ 

 Lost in the Forest — Dyak Dogs — -The Domestic Cat of Borneo 

 — The Westernmost Extremity of Borneo — Marine Algje — The 

 Return Journey — An Enchanted Hill — An Unexpected Noc- 

 turnal Visit — Dangerous Food — -At Lundu — My First Attack 

 of Malaria — Rivers between the Lundu and the Sarawak. 



ON my return from the Batang Lupar I was obliged to stay 

 some time at Kuching, in order to arrange the considerable 

 zoological and botanical collections which I had made during my 

 exploration of that part of Borneo, and to pack them in readiness 

 to be forwarded to Europe. My sampan, too, stood in consider- 

 able need of repair before I could look upon it as in fit condition 

 for the new excursions which I proposed making. 



The sampan is the boat generally used in Sarawak for river 

 navigation, and also for short trips along the sea coast during fine 

 weather. It has, I believe, a considerable resemblance to the canoes 

 used on the great rivers of Cochinchina and Burma. That it has 

 not had its origin in Borneo is evident from its name, which is 

 Chinese. Sampans are dug-outs, made from the trunk of a single tree. 

 The method of construction is very ingenious, because from a tree 

 whose diameter is, let us say, a couple of feet, a boat may be made of 

 twice that width. This is done by hollowing out the trunk immediate- 

 ly the tree is felled to the size that its diameter permits, and regula- 

 ting the shape according to certain rules well known to the Malay 

 boat-builder, among which is the keeping of the sides of the craft 

 much higher in the middle than at either end. It is widened by 

 the application of fire, an easy operation with green, flexible wood, 

 which yields without splitting under the action of heat. It is 

 probably because this method of construction gives them a wide 

 beam that Bornean boats are unprovided with outriggers, which 

 are, in fact, not necessary. The one exception is in the north, where, 

 in the Sulu sea, boats have outriggers. 



Other people in this part of the world, such as the Papuans and 

 Polynesians, also use dug-out canoes made from a single tree trunk ; 

 but, not being widened out by the application of fire, their boats are 



