IN BORNEAN FORESTS [chap. 



formed by the two great branches of the Baloi, which are the 

 Rejang, properly so-called, and the Igan. 



The fort commands an immense expanse of water, the Baloi 

 being here no less than a mile and a half in breadth. The country 

 is quite flat ; not the slightest hillock breaks the uniform line of the 

 horizon. Behind the fort, marshes covered with swampy grounds 

 and primeval forest extend right away to the sea. The river here 

 is very deep, and its waters, which are turbid, are of a dirty greenish 

 colour. 



Mr. Cruikshank, the local Resident and commandant of the 

 fort, was absent ; but Mr. Skelton, his lieutenant, received me as 

 an old friend, and treated me with the most generous and cordial 

 hospitality. 



For eighteen days I had lived and fared like a Kayan. Sago 

 and rice, with curry and a few sardines as condiments — and especially 

 the first, for rice was scarce till we got to Kanowit — had been practi- 

 cally my only food. 1 It is true that I often had fish, for my cook, 

 Sahat, was clever with the " jala," or casting net — a round net 

 weighted with lead plummets all round, used in many countries. 

 When I was in Borneo I always carried one of these nets with me, 

 finding it most convenient' for catching fish, and thus varying our 

 very monotonous diet ; in fact, in these regions I found it much 

 more useful than my gun, which, on river journeys, can hardly be 

 used without much loss of time. With a net, on the other hand, a 

 haul of fish was easily obtained in the shallows hard by while the 

 rice was being cooked. 



When I reached Fort Sibu my personal luggage was greatly 

 diminished. My shoes and socks were gone, and my dress was 

 reduced to a jacket, a pair of trousers, and a sarong in a condition 

 which I dare not describe. My utensils consisted of a single pot 

 for cooking rice. But I had safely brought to my journey's end a 

 large package of dried plants, many of which I afterwards found 

 represented endemic species mostly new to science, even generically. 

 The living plants of camphor and of Kajattao had also arrived in 

 perfect condition. 



Notwithstanding my meagre diet of rice and sago, I had had 

 no more attacks of fever after leaving the Bellaga. I felt perfectly 



1 Bad hygienic and nutritious qualities are usually attributed both to 

 rice and sago, but I believe this to be a mistake. It is true that sago is not 

 very nutritious, but it is easily digested, and can be safely eaten in large quanti- 

 ties. I may say that during our journey down the Rejang we used to munch 

 pellets of sago the whole day long ; and certainly my paddlers never showed 

 signs of losing strength, but worked energetically all the time, and they ate 

 hardly anything else. Physiologists have now shown that carbohydrates, 

 such as feculum, sugar, etc., facilitate and keep up muscular energy and force, 

 on which nitrogenous food has little or no special influence. 



318 



