xxn] CROSSING THE DIVIDE 



house and had an evacuation. It then came up again and curled 

 up as if to sleep on the floor, showing no signs of pain, though it 

 appeared exhausted, and its breathing was very feeble and infre- 

 quent. After two hours it was still in the same condition, looking 

 as if it would die at any moment ; but in about three hours after 

 having been wounded it began to recover slightly, and dragged it- 

 self towards the fire. 



Next morning the poor dog was still alive, but still under the 

 influence of the poison. It made frequent attempts at vomiting, 

 its circulation was evidently profoundly affected, and the pulsations 

 of the heart were very irregular. Considering how slight and super- 

 ficial the wound was, the effect of the upas appeared to me very 

 energetic, and I have no doubt that it would have been fatal had 

 the dart penetrated further and carried the poison directly into the 

 circulation. 



On the 17th I had hoped to make an early start, but only man- 

 aged to get off towards 9 a.m. I had been able to recruit four 

 men, for I had very energetically impressed on the Dyaks that it 

 was their bounden duty to accompany Europeans who were travel- 

 ling through their country ; a thing which I believe the missionaries 

 have never thought of teaching them. For some time we marched 

 up the Subumban torrent, walking in its bed, and then crossed 

 over some hills about 1,600 feet high, following a fairly good path 

 which traversed an old forest, where, judging from the abundance 

 of their nests, orangs must have been common. Large blocks of 

 granite were strewn about the forest. 



As we descended the hill I came across a kulit-lawan tree 

 (Cinnamomun Kulitlawan), a species then new to me, which is akin 

 to the true cinnamon, and also produces an aromatic bark which 

 is highly esteemed. The leeches were more than usually abundant 

 and troublesome, and I could not protect my feet from their attacks. 

 My men chewed tobacco and squirted the juice over them, when 

 they fell off. If they are violently detached the bite gets inflamed, 

 and may then easily become a tiresome and even dangerous sore — 

 as I can amply testify from personal experience during the first 

 period of my sojourn in Borneo. 



We next crossed a small plain, with an isolated Dyak house in 

 the middle of it, built on the Seppas torrent, which empties itself 

 into the Sumundjang river farther on. We had thus crossed the 

 water-divide ; but instead of following the course of the torrent, 

 which is a very tortuous one, we climbed over another sandstone 

 hill, and found ourselves again in the Sumundjang valley. We then 

 crossed a marshy tract, and after seven hours of rapid and con- 

 tinuous marching, fatiguing even to the Dyaks, we reached the 

 Ramin pangkalan. 



We put up in a house belonging to the Sabuyo Dyaks, who 



347 



