IN BORNEAN FORESTS [chap. 



to divide the load. It was 2 p.m. when at last we were ready. I 

 entered the larger boat with five men, and the three Kayans em- 

 barked in the other. 



That evening we stopped to cook our dinner on the banks of 

 the river, but slept in the boats and had a bad night. In the middle, 

 where I lay down, the edge of the sampan was only an inch or two 

 above the water-line, and we were obliged to move with great 

 caution to avoid capsizing. And here the danger was not merely 

 that of an unpleasant nocturnal bath in the river and the loss of 

 traps and provisions, but of becoming food for crocodiles, which 

 were both numerous and ferocious in this part of the river. My 

 guide told me that at that very spot a few days before a woman 

 paddling in her boat had been carried off by one of these voracious 

 reptiles ; while on another occasion a man, likewise in his canoe, had 

 been seized by the arm, but he managed to draw his parang with 

 the other hand, and, with a vigorous cut on the crocodile's snout, 

 succeeded in freeing himself. His arm was literally bored through 

 and through by the creature's fangs, and he was besides badly 

 scratched on the back by its claws. 



We had violent rain during the latter part of the night. These 

 everlasting deluges annoyed me, because I, foresaw that the river 

 would swell and our progress be rendered slower and more difficult. 

 We reached Labbang at 10 a.m. on the ninth of September. 

 Although early, we stayed there to cook our rice, knowing that we 

 should not find a convenient spot higher up until late in the 

 evening. The whole day we continued to ascend the Bintulu, and 

 found a suitable place, high and dry, for passing the night more 

 comfortably than in the boats ; but again rain came to spoil our 

 plans. Even the next day we did not succeed in reaching Tubao. 

 The river continued to rise, the current increased, and so did the 

 indolence of my men ; indeed, more than once I lost all patience 

 with them, but with little or no effect. The worst of all was a 

 rascal named Bakar, not my faithful Malay boy, but a man of the 

 same name engaged at Bintulu, who was to act as guide and 

 interpreter. He was an undersized youth, as stupid as an owl, 

 out of whom I could scarcely get a word. He spent most of his 

 time in rolling nipa cigarettes, and then lighting them with his flint 

 and steel. 



Towards evening we got to the mouth of the Tubao, but could 

 not enter it on account of the violence of the current. As it was 

 getting late, we entered a bend of the river close by, where we found 

 a lanko on a dry part of the bank, and, as the place was also shel- 

 tered from the strong current, I decided to pass the night there. 

 We all dined on shore ; but I went with two men to sleep in the boat, 

 which was secured to a branch projecting over the water. I had 

 slept badly for several nights, owing to fever and rheumatic pains, 



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