chap, xvn] LOW'S HOUSE AT LABUAN 



rades of Rajah Brooke, and published an excellent book on Sarawak. 

 Some of the most beautiful of existing plants were discovered by him 

 in Borneo ; and I need only mention the beautiful Nepenthes from 

 Kina Balu, and the magnificent Vanda, or Arachnanthe, which bears 

 his name. Sir Hugh Low was afterwards made resident of Perak, 

 where he did much to promote scientific research. I am glad of this 

 occasion to record the kind aid he gave to a fellow-countryman of 

 mine, the Padre Scortechini, who later fell a victim to his zeal in 

 investigating the flora of the Malay Peninsula. 



In addition to many insects, shells, and plants of Labuan, Mr. 

 Low kindly presented me with a singular parasitic plant preserved 

 in spirits, which he had collected during an excursion up the Limbang 

 river. It turned out to be a second species of that most interest- 

 ing genus Brugmansia, belonging to the family of the RafflesiacecB, 

 which I have since described and named after the generous donor. 1 



Next morning, August 8th, I was up early, Mr. Low having most 

 kindly promised to act as my guide on a little excursion across the 

 island. We first went to his bungalow, then undergoing repairs ; but 

 he wished to show me his plants, for he w T as passionately fond of 

 horticulture. Round his house the principal fruits of the tropics 

 grew in profusion, the pummeloes, or pamplemousses, and several 

 varieties of orange with delicious fruits being especially remark- 

 able, while mangosteens, lansats, and rambutans abounded. Some 

 beautiful orchids which I had not seen in Sarawak had been collec- 

 ted in the forest, and were growing there, attached to trunks and 

 branches of the trees in the garden. In a streamlet I noted a grace- 

 ful Nymphcea, with light violet flowers, which has now become 

 naturalised on the island, where it had been introduced by Mr. Low, 

 who had collected it on Mount Kina Balu. As I have already 

 remarked, such floating aquatic plants are rare in Borneo, and this 

 fine species was well worthy of notice. 



The part of Labuan which I crossed is formed wholly of a friable 

 kind of sandstone, but in some places the soil was nothing but loose 

 white quartzose sand. The very same formation is found in some 

 localities in Sarawak ; as, for example, near Marop, at Sungei Siul, 

 near Kuching, in the neighbourhood of Lundu, at the base of Mount 

 Mattang, and elsewhere. I have already drawn attention to the fact 

 that these localities are characterised by a peculiar vegetation ; by 

 the umbrella Casuarina (C. Sumatrana Miq. ?) especially, for 

 instance, and frequently, Dacrydium datum. It was at Labuan, 

 whilst examining this formation, that the idea of considering the 

 above mentioned localities as remains of islands of a now vanished 

 sea first came into my mind. 2 



1 Brugmansia Lowii, Becc. ; in Nuovo Giomale Botanico Italiano, 

 vol. i. p. 85. 



2 In the sandy spots above mentioned I collected Rhodomyrtus tomentosa 



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