IN BORNEAN FORESTS [chap. 



constant currents of air. We were now in a region where variable 

 winds reign, alternating with calms. 



Although the entire delta of the Rejang may be considered as 

 an unbroken swamp, it has no such aspect, for the plants which 

 grow there cannot be called aquatic in the true sense of the term. 

 For while the tall forest-vegetation which covers even' bit of 

 ground is practically aquatic, herbaceous aquatic plants, and 

 especially floating species, are entirely absent. The Araceae, 

 Pandanaceae, palms, and an infinite number of other plants besides, 

 whose feet are always in water, become truly aquatic. This is 

 the reason why many of the tropical plants belonging to the above 

 mentioned families do not thrive in our hothouses, or only do so 

 when they are treated as aquatic plants, and the pots in which 

 they grow are immersed in water kept constantly at a high tem- 

 perature. 



Few, indeed, were the brightly coloured flowers which I saw in 

 the forest through which we were paddling. In that never-ending 

 mass of green only a few scarlet Ixoras met my eye. I found a new 

 species of Momordica (M. racemiflora, Cogn.) pretty common, 

 remarkable for its large flesh-coloured flower and a black calyx — a 

 true black, that is to say, which is a colour'very rarely met with in 

 flowers. Many are very dark, but there is always a tendency towards 

 violet or purple. For the moment I can only recall one other in- 

 stance of true black in a flower, and this is also that of a Bornean 

 plant, an orchid, Ccelogyne pandurata, in whose flower the labellum 

 has large patches and veins of a deep black colour. 



Stillness, heat, sandflies, horseflies, and mosquitoes reigned 

 supreme, but did not combine to make our journey an enjoyable 

 one. The absolute silence and solitude are startling. Not a hut, 

 not a single boat did we meet with for hours and hours together. 

 Towards noon Nature appears asleep ; not a bird's note, not a 

 sound of any kind breaks the profound stillness. The very water 

 appears to move on as a solid mass, and not the slightest breath of 

 air moves its polished shining surface. The atmosphere, is heavy 

 and oppressive to an extreme, loaded with aqueous vapour, invisible 

 on account of the high temperature. 



The silence was only broken by the cadenced sound of the 

 paddles dipping in the water, at long intervals, to the sleepy chorus 

 of my men. But a sudden shock and the lifting of our sampan from 

 beneath awoke us from the drowsiness into which we had fallen. 

 We at first thought that we had struck some snag or tree-trunk 

 floating on the water. It turned out to be the back of an enormous 

 crocodile, but I could not make out whether we had struck him 

 accidentally, or whether he had tried to capsize the boat. 



Shortly after this adventure I perceived another huge crocodile 

 sunning himself on the muddy bank. His posture was comical, 



320 



