xvn] BRUNI 



N. Rajah, surpasses all other known species for the immense develop- 

 ment of its pitchers or ascidia, some of which reach a length of twelve 

 inches, are six inches across, and can hold seven pints of water. 

 More recently (1887-8) Kina Balu was explored by the well-known 

 ornithologist, Mr. G. Whitehead ; and botanically by Dr. G. D. 

 Haviland, in March and April, 1892. 



The coast towards which our course was directed appears but 

 slightly elevated, and in some places is quite flat near the sea ; but a 

 few miles inland it rises, forming an elevated mountain chain, whose 

 higher summits are probably more than 6,000 feet high. Bruni is 

 thirty- three miles from Labuan in a S.S.W. direction. The entrance 

 to its river is not easy, and it is not navigable by large ships. On the 

 bar at low tide there are only six or seven feet of water, which 

 doubles at high tide. There is, besides, a submerged artificial bar, 

 constructed in past- times as a defence for the city, with a single 

 outlet, which has to be well known by any vessel wishing to enter. 



The Bruni river lies between a double row of hills, which rise on 

 each side to a height of three or four hundred feet. They were partly 

 cultivated with rice, and had been cleared of the old forest. I re- 

 marked on their crest a handsome palm, which I recognized as a 

 species of Eugeissonia, differing, however, from E. insignis, which 

 I had discovered on the top of Mount Mattang. I was not then able 

 to preserve specimens, but I believe I am not mistaken in referring 

 it to a species which I subsequently collected on the banks of the 

 Rejang (E. utilis, Becc). It is a wild species which produces sago 

 of good quality, and this explains its abundance in cultivated 

 localities, for had it been useless it would have been destroyed with 

 the rest of the forest. 



We passed the small chapel of the Roman Catholic Mission, 

 then abandoned and partly ruined. It was placed on a tongue of 

 land called Brambanggan, in a charming situation amongst the 

 hills. From Mr. St. John's book I gather that the Bruni Mission 

 was founded by Sehor Quarteron, in 1857, and that an Italian priest, 

 Father Ripa, of Lecco, had its direction. Farther on is the house of 

 the British Consul, and then the city comes in view, which some have 

 ventured to style the Venice of the East. I admit that Bruni has 

 its points; but what irony to compare for a moment the city of marble 

 palaces with this mass of miserable huts, which a single match could 

 easily reduce to ashes ! 



The houses at Bruni are almost all built on piles, for which the 

 stems of nibongs are generally used. They are roofed with " ataps " 

 made of nipa or sago palm leaves, and the walls are matting, or 

 sometimes planks. All have a door on the front, against which is 

 placed a wooden ladder of the usual form, or a tree-trunk merely 

 notched, which leads down to the water. The piles are sunk on mud 

 banks in the wide bed of the river, and are always covered with 



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