xx] 



FROM SIBU TO THE SEA 



well and strong ; but I should be guilty of an untruth if I asserted 

 that I did not relish and appreciate the luxuries of my friend 

 Mr. Skelton's table, and that I failed to do them full justice. 



Sibu, nevertheless, was not the end of my journey, for I 

 had planned to follow the Igan branch of the great river down to 

 the sea. I remained a couple of days at the fort, however, to take 

 a little rest, to replenish my supplies, and to allow a Chinese tailor 

 sufficient time to make me something new in the way of clothes. 



On the fifth of October, having procured a boat without difficulty, 

 and added the necessary number of paddlers to my four Malays, I 



Fig- 53- — SIDOAN WOIIEN OF THE LOWER REJANG MAKING BASKETS, ETC. 



started at 3 p.m. on my way down the northernmost branch of the 

 Rejang delta, distinguished as the Igan. The forest of tall straight 

 tree-trunks rose like a gigantic wall on either side, the width of the 

 river being several hundred yards. The ground level was so low 

 that in some places we entered with the boat into the forest. Few 

 of the trees were then in blossom, but the aspect of the vegetation 

 was different from that of the Upper Rejang, and plants with 

 narrow leaves were no longer to be seen. The effects of sudden 

 periodical floods on the river banks are not felt here, nor those of 



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