210 EAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. [Ch. XIII. 



In the neighbourhood of this estate is a Gambier planta- 

 tion, the only one in Sarawak, which I visited with Mr. 

 Martin. At that gentleman's instance a Chinese planter 

 came forward, and he also induced the Eajah to offer encou- 

 ragement to such as would promote the interest and industry 

 of the settlement in that manner, for hitherto no attempt 

 has been made on the part of the Sarawak Government to 

 improve the land, or to encourage enterprise of that kind, 

 by which the resources of the territory or its exports might 

 be increased. The planter in this instance had the land 

 free of charge, with the proviso that he should clear it, and 

 plant it with Gambier (Uncaria Gambir). In the midst of 

 the clearing, a lofty building was in coiurse of erection, in 

 which the processes of boiling the leaves and preparing the 

 extract were to be carried on ; and the Gambier plants were 

 springing up healthily among the stumps of the forest- 

 trees — some in flower and some in seed ; in the latter case, 

 resembling in appearance and contents the long pod and 

 feathery seed of E]jdobium. The process of clearing the 

 jungle is a gradual one — all the wood being valuable for the 

 purposes of fuel in boiling the gambier — and as it is con- 

 sumed in proportion to the quantity of the latter produced, 

 year by year the cleared space increases in extent. Gam- 

 bier is a native production of the place. 



.Sitting in the verandah of Mr. Martin's house about sun- 

 set, I had an opportunity of observing the habits of the 

 flying squirrel (Galeopithecus), the Kubong of the Malays. 

 The animal came streaming through the air from a distant 

 clump of trees, its flank membranes extended, and its long 

 tail stretched out behind, and with a graceful sailing motion 

 at length arrived at a tall tree trunk which had been left in 

 the midst of the cleared jungle, on the lower part of which 



