IN BORNEAN FORESTS [chap. 



On the banks a very small palm was frequent ; it turned out 

 to be a new species of Pinanga, the pygmy of the genus (P. rivularis, 

 Becc). Its fronds have long leaflets, very flexible and nearly linear. 

 It is a species which shows a special adaptation for living on the 

 banks of rivers which are frequently flooded. Several other plants 

 in this region show a similar conformation, including some which 

 belong to families whose members have usually broad leaves. 



The country we were crossing was mostly deprived of old forest, 

 and where there were no paddy fields the ground was covered with 

 jungle of secondary growth, more or less dense according to the 

 number of years that the land had been out . of cultivation. In 

 some places, however, the primeval forest was yet intact in all its 

 grandeur and picturesque beauty. I saw some trees which were 

 new to me, but I could not then stop to collect specimens. Amongst 

 others I noted a splendid Dipterocarp with very large leaves, pro- 

 vided with numerous and parallel robust ribs. I never afterwards 

 met with this species, of which I have only preserved the memory. 



Towards 3 p.m. we reached a village called Tunei. The people 

 would not allow us to enter the house, but we were permitted to 

 occupy a lanko similar to those we had seen in the rice fields on 

 the way, and only accessible by means of a notched tree-trunk. 



I was anxious to obtain men to carry my luggage and supplies 

 overland to the Bellaga, in the Baloi basin. The Tubao river could 

 be ascended for another day, but no more villages were to be met 

 with. Kam Diam, the Orang Tua of Tunei, was absent, but his 

 wife, Hat Hipon, was at home. She was civil enough, but asserted 

 that she could not give me men as carriers, giving as a reason the 

 mattang then in force. However, I was not easily put off, and 

 after much insistence managed to obtain five carriers, who, for a 

 recompense of two " depa " of red cotton cloth each, were ready to 

 go with me to the Bellaga, where I expected to meet the escort 

 which Mr. Cruikshank had sent for me. 



The Tunei Kayans, with Hat Hipon at their head, came at 

 sunset nominally to pay me a visit, but in reality to beg medicines. 

 I should very soon have emptied my small travelling medicine chest 

 had I given to each and all the remedies they asked. It was also 

 rather difficult to guess what ailments afflicted people who looked 

 so vigorously healthy. But I knew their ways, and that a flat 

 denial on my side might have caused trouble ; moreover, these 

 natives have a belief that a medicine once taken is a valid pre- 

 servative, and takes effect on any kind of future malady. Quinine, 

 whose virtues as a febrifuge were then widely known in Borneo, 

 even to savage tribes, was what they more especially wished to 

 have. I got out of the dilemma by dissolving a few grains of 

 sulphate of quinine in acidulated water, to which I added a small 

 quantity of fish-sauce. A bottle of this stuff, which was appreciable 



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