chap, xxl MASSIF OF THE INTERIOR 



supplies were beginning to give out, and I was obliged to measure 

 carefully the rice I gave to my men, and to let them have it only 

 for one meal a day. We had, however, some sago in the granu- 

 lated form, to which I had got accustomed, and which we all used to 

 munch as we went along. It is a most convenient kind of food for 

 such journeys, and is a good substitute for bread or biscuits, but, 

 unfortunately, far less nourishing. 



The village of Skapan was in bad condition. It consisted of 

 a long house thatched with the leaves of an Alpinia, or other allied 

 Zingiberaceous plant. The old village of well constructed houses 

 had been burnt by the Dyaks a few years before during one of 

 the famous expeditions of the then Tuan Muda. A short dis- 

 tance from the house of the Skapans was one belonging to the 

 Punans, who were then in a state of great excitement, having 

 heard two days before that the inland Dyaks had killed one of 

 their own people and carried off his head. I saw in this house 

 several persons with sores, and was unable to satisfy myself as 

 to their origin ; whether the disease was of a hereditary nature, 

 or caused by bad climatic conditions. I believe the former hypo- 

 thesis, however, more likely to be the true one. Several of the 

 villagers were also afflicted with bad eyes, but I think that the 

 strange custom of plucking out the eyelashes contributed to this. 



The natives of this part of the Baloi are well acquainted with 

 the topography of the interior of Borneo, and traced for me on the 

 sand the courses of the principal rivers ; they also offered to pilot 

 me down the Banjar or down the Koti, but such a project was 

 quite impracticable, on account of the absolute dearth of pro- 

 visions. I questioned my informers on the existence of a high 

 mountain which is said to rise in the very centre of Borneo, and 

 from which its principal rivers are reported to flow. ' Mr. St. John 

 {Op. cit. ii. pp. 35 and 47) mentions this mountain, calling it Gunong 

 Tilong. Its summit is described as being white with snow, and 

 the same author tells us that from its slopes a salt spring flows 

 which gives rise to the Banjarmasin river. 1 



The natives whom I questioned on the subject, however, asserted 

 that the central mountains of Borneo were two, not one, though 

 close together and forming one group. The northernmost they 

 call Batu Tibang, and from it they say the Barram river flows ; 

 the other, more to the south, is called Batu Puti, and from 

 its western slope the Rejang flows ; and the Koti, the Batang 

 Kayan, and the Banjar from its eastern side. The latter is 



1 " Banjar " may be interpreted " which floods," " which spreads 

 out " ; and " masin " means salted. " Banjar masin " would thus mean 

 " the salt river which spreads," and is probably so named because on account 

 of the tides its waters are brackish for a large part of its course, overflow 

 their banks, and flood the country over a wide area. 



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