xvmj AFFLUENTS OF THE BINTULU 



neck, which it moved continuously, was also long and very slender ; 

 indeed, on account of its neck, I at first thought the bird had a 

 snake in its bill. My men said it was an aquatic bird, that it dived, 

 and had webbed feet. Although I was most anxious to secure it, 

 this time the coveted prize escaped me. 



Along the banks of the river cleared of forest minuangs 

 (Octomeles Sumatrana) are frequent — a tree I have already mentioned 

 which belongs to the " tapang " group ; that is, those on which 

 honey bees build their nests. One isolated specimen I could see 

 from the boat showed long brown spikes hanging from the ends of 

 the smaller branches, and on getting near it I perceived from the 

 fragments on the ground that it bore female flowers. I was, there- 

 fore, anxious to secure specimens, as the plant was not well known 

 to botanists ; but when, after fully an hour's labour, we had felled the 

 tree, I discovered to my regret that the flowers were over, and utterly 

 useless for scientific investigation. 



On the morning of the 30th, in order to save time, I had the 

 rice for the day cooked before starting. The most notable plant I 

 saw was a Dipterocarp {P.B., No. 3,755), a splendid tree, literally 

 covered with large flowers of a light yellow colour, giving off a sweet 

 vanilla odour. The Daun balik angin, the fine Clerodendron dis- 

 color which I had observed on the Sarawak river, was very common 

 here, as elsewhere on the banks of the Bintulu. 



The river flowed through a plain from which the forest had been 

 cleared for some hundreds of yards from the waterside. These 

 were the fields of the Labbang Mellanaos, whom we found at work 

 on them, preparing to plant rice. Some were engaged in burning 

 the jungle, and this being of secondary growth contained many 

 bamboos, which exploded when on fire with reports like musket 

 shots. When the ground is thus cleared, a man with a long pointed 

 pole makes holes in the soil, in which a woman, who follows close 

 behind him, throws a few grains of rice. It rained nearly the whole 

 day. We slept at Pandan, a small village at the mouth of a stream 

 which bears the same name, on the right bank of the Bintulu. The 

 village consisted of ten or twelve houses, and was inhabited by 

 Bintulu Mellanaos intermingled with Pennans. 



The Pandan can be ascended in boats for six days, and it is on 

 the upper portion of its course, or " ulu," as the Malays say, that the 

 Pennans are numerous. It is there, also, that the kajatau (probably 

 Eugeissonia utilis), which produces a good quality of sago, the prin- 

 cipal food of the natives, is said to be plentiful. The Pandan at a 

 certain place divides into two branches : the principal one appears 

 to trend eastwards ; the other, called the Bigno, turns, it is said, 

 in an opposite direction, and is stated to be navigable for four days. 

 I was afterwards told that it issues from a lake in which sea fish 

 live, and whose waters during the dry season are salt. 



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