134 l^he Gardens of the Sun. [ch. vi. 



palms the ' Nebong ' {Oncosperma JUamentosum) and the 

 unique red-stemmed 'Malawarin' (which long defied 

 Eastern collectors who wished to introduce it to Europe) 

 were most beautiful. The former produces an excellent 

 ' cabbage,' as good as seakale when well cooked, and its 

 old stems are generally employed as piles by the Malays, 

 who almost always erect ther palm-thatched ' atap ' 

 houses over the water of river or sea. 



"Bird-life generally was dozing — the birds were enjoying 

 their noontide siesta in the shady trees. The handsome 

 Bornean pheasants, the 'Argus,' the 'Fireback,' and 

 the ' Bulwer ' with its pure snowy tail of blackcock-like 

 shape, were alike unseen and unheard. Now and then 

 the deep rich and mellow whistle of the ' Mino ' bird or 

 Javanese ' Grackle ' reached us, and a whole colony of 

 large blue, and of pretty little greyish green, yellow- 

 winged pigeons — Carpophagi — were surprised on a fig 

 tree in fruit as the canoe shot around a sudden bend in 

 the stream. Of the seven or eight species of hornbills 

 known to inhabit these groves we saw not one — ^indeed 

 our view of the birds would have been but meagre but 

 for the apparition of a black darter with only its head or 

 neck above the water, in which attitude its resemblance 

 to a snake is well nigh perfect. A few kingfishers braved 

 the sun and flitted alongside the nipa leaves, or flew 

 rapidly across stream like clusters of jewels endowed with 

 life and motion. Scarcely a sound disturbed the quietude 

 and beauty of such a tropical scene, except that now and 

 then for no very apparent reason the boatmen made a 

 spm't with their paddles, any little extra exertion in this 

 way being often accompanied by a plaintive song in 

 chorus — ^melody in perfect keeping with a wildly natural 

 albeit lovely spot. At one well-remembered bend of the 

 glassy stream the men had been directe'd to stop awhile. 



