xix] MUSICAL FISH 



in Government employ as a substitute. I had no guide and 

 interpreter, and only a small boat with four men. I had with me 

 a good supply of rice, but left behind everything that was not 

 absolutely necessary. This was the third time that I had ascended 

 the Bintulu, and I was determined not to do so again. If I did not 

 succeed in getting to Gunong Julit or to Tinjar I determined to go 

 somewhere else, and on the way I hoped to find some one to guide 

 me towards the interior which I so longed to visit. 



At Silas we made our first halt ; and here I noticed a strange dull 

 vibrating sound, something like that of a muffled Jewish harp, 

 which seemed to come through the bottom of our boat. My men 

 told me that this sound is produced by a fish, which the Brunese 

 call " Ikan umbulong-umbulong" and the Malays of Sarawak, 

 " Undangkara." The Malays, however, use the word " Ikan," not 

 only for fish, but also for many water animals used by them as 

 food. 1 The sound lasted a good while, but although I tried to catch 

 a glimpse of the mysterious sub-aqueous performer, it was in vain — 

 the waters were too deep and turbid. Our progress up the river 

 was slow, for we were undermanned and the current was strong, 

 and we also had a violent storm. On the 17th we reached Labbang, 

 where I learnt that a party of about thirty Kanowit Dyaks, led 

 by Jeomakkei, were coming up the Baloi. They had been sent by 

 Mr. Cruikshank, Resident on the Rejang river, to meet and escort 

 me, as he had heard that it was my intention to cross the Kayan 

 country and descend the Baloi. This was indeed a most fortunate 

 circumstance, and induced me to give up the idea of going to Tinjar. 

 But how was I to ascend the Tubao river, which I must do to get 

 to the Baloi, if the " Pamali" or " Mattang," a true kind of 

 taboo, was then in force on that river ? 2 It was this very thing 

 which had determined me to explore the Barram basin first, and 

 to defer the Baloi expedition till later. When but a few days 

 previously I had been obliged by the mishap which happened to 

 my boat to leave the Tubao, I had been informed that 

 the " Pamali " was about to commence on that river, and that it 

 would last twenty-five days — that is, until the operations connected 

 with rice cultivation were over. During that period no stranger 

 was permitted to ascend or descend the river. 



Meanwhile we continued our journey up the river, and on 

 the 18th met a boat-load of Malay traders from Bintulu, who had 

 started to get to the Baloi, but had been turned back on reaching 

 Tubao. They told me that the Kayans would allow no one to pass, 

 and that they had barred the river across opposite the village with 



1 Besides this species there are other well-known estuarine fish belonging 

 to the family of the Sciaenoids which produce a strange drumming sound. 



2 I have heard the term Mattang used for Pamali, but it more properly 

 signifies a sacred place, a place inhabited by spirits. 



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