IN BORNEAN FORESTS [chap. 



small very dwarf kind (Licuala Borneensis, Becc), the other also a 

 Licuala (L. olivceformis, Becc.), but of a very unusual character. 

 The stem was very robust, short, root-like, tortuous, and ringed, 

 covered with the bases of old leaves, and rising from the ground to 

 the height of about two feet. From the midst of the fan-shaped 

 leaves a large branched spadix issued, loaded with fruits as big as 

 olives, of a light yellow colour, and in shape resembling those of 

 Livistona chinensis . 



Having got back to the Tubao with my booty, I paid the two 

 Kayans and sent them off. We continued to descend the river, and 

 were soon back on the main branch of the Bintulu. Here I got my 

 men to paddle slowly, and we stopped now and then so that I could 

 carefully search the banks for any interesting specimen. 



My attention was soon called to a clump of fine palms, with 

 stems some twenty feet high, and six or eight inches in diameter ; 

 the stems were not smooth, but covered by the bases of the old 

 fronds. These palms turned out to be a new and most distinct 

 species of Arenga (Arcnga undulatifolia, Becc). Like the common 

 Arenga saccharifera, the Kayans call it " Appin," and use it for a 

 variety of purposes. The fact that both yield timber explains the 

 native name, for "Appin " is evidently derived from the Malay word 

 for fire. The wood of A . undulatifolia is hard externally, but soft and 

 rich in fecula within, so that it yields a species of sago. The central 

 bud, or cabbage, is excellent eating, and from the hard cortical 

 layer of the midrib, which splits easily longitudinally, the Kayans 

 make their sumpitan darts or arrows. 



It is a most important peculiarity of the Bornean forest that it 

 possesses a large number of useful and food-yielding species which 

 require no culture. Thus in Borneo the savage can live on forest 

 produce : a thing which cannot be said of any other Asiatic island, 

 including New Guinea. 



We camped for the night a little below the entrance to the Tubao. 

 The current was then slight, but during spring tides their effect is 

 felt up the Bintulu as far as this point. 



On the 29th we continued our way down the river ; and 

 on getting to the part already mentioned where the banks are high 

 and picturesque and covered with fine and varied vegetation, I 

 noticed at a considerable distance a very showy plant, with large 

 leaves, and a stem about three feet high terminated by spikes of 

 brilliant red flowers about two inches long. It was a new plant of 

 the order Melastomaceae, which Dr. Cogniaux has recently named 

 after me Beccarianthus pulcher. 



I met for the first time, too, a very singular bird, which my men 

 called " Undang-undang." When I first saw it, it was perched on a 

 tree, and as it was out of range, I fired to make it rise, which it did, 

 soaring like a hawk. The tail was long like that of a hornbill ; the 



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