chap, xv] EXCURSION TO TANJONG DATU 



too narrow and too round in section, and are thus very crank, out- 

 riggers being an absolute necessity to prevent their being easily 

 upset. 



It is hardly likely that the above-mentioned method of making 

 sampans has been invented in Borneo. Like many other industries, 

 it has probably been imported from the Asiatic continent ; indeed, 

 I believe that the same method of widening by fire is used in the 

 manufacture of canoes in Burma and Siam. 



The sides of sampans are raised by a high strake or washboard, 

 which is connected to the body of the boat with wooden pegs. The 

 seam is caulked with the soft bark of Melaleuca leucodendron, and a 

 resinous mixture made with an oil called " kruing " (the product 

 of Dipterocarpus Lowii, Hook.), to which is added resin reduced to 

 a fine powder. With these ingredients a sticky paste is formed, 

 which is used like pitch, and renders the seams perfectly watertight. 

 Sampans have generally a roofing of " kadjan," a sort of matting 

 made with palm or pandanus leaves, under which the men can 

 paddle sheltered from rain or from the sun's rays. Amidships, too, 

 there is usually a kind of cabin, somewhat like that of a Venetian 

 gondola, where one can lie down and sleep in comfort. Sampans 

 are usually propelled by paddles (pengayu of the Malays), and 

 have no rudder, being steered by one of the crew with his paddle 

 when necessary, while at other times he paddles with the rest. 

 The Malayan paddle has no peculiarities, and is not ornamented 

 in any way, as are so often those of the Papuans and Polynesians. 

 It is used with the palm of one hand grasping the small transverse 

 portion at the end of the handle, while the tapering part of the latter 

 is gripped with the other hand. 1 



To my sampan I had added a sail, for during the monsoon then 

 prevailing I could even venture out to sea and coast ; a thing which 

 would have been very imprudent in such a craft in any other season. 



Everything now being in readiness, I left Kuching at sunset on 

 the thirteenth of June with a crew of five men, bound for Tanjong 

 Datu. 



We slept at Santubong, and sailed early next morning, favoured 

 by the land breeze. We were soon at Pulo Sampadien, a small 

 island about thirteen miles west of the mouth of the Sarawak river. 

 We landed to take in a supply of better water than that we had got 

 at a small stream near the village of Santubong. The island is about 

 two miles from the coast, and in the portion I explored is mostly 

 formed of limestone, regularly stratified, and in some places rising 

 many feet out of the water and overhanging it. The limestone is 

 of a dark colour, with conchoidal fracture ; it is more or less schis- 



1 I have seen in Italy, on the Lake of Massaciuccoli, near Lucca, a paddle 

 exactly like the Malay one. 



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