A TRIP TO MT. PENRISSEN, SARAWAK. 7 



ble. At this station the hunters had erected a long lean-to 

 on the side of the hill, and from it we had a most magnificent 

 view of the country below us right down to the sea, fifty miles 

 away. Unfortunately at this altitude our view was too 

 frequently interrupted by fog and cloud, which generally swept 

 up towards the middle of the day, and obscured everything till 

 nightfall. From this station we made various expeditions round 

 and about. Birds and mammals were extremely scarce, and 

 the insects did not differ very markedly from those to be caught 

 on the plateau ; a^, moreover, I had obtained alive several speci- 

 mens of the fly-larva, Vermi'eo sp (?)* we decided to return to 

 our original and comfortable quarters. 



We descended on the 24th, and from then till the 30th lived 

 a calm and uneventful life; our mornings from an early hour to 

 nearly noon were spent in tramping through the jungle, hunting 

 for birds, reptiles, insects, in fact, everything that had life in it; 

 the afternoons in skinning, pinning out insects, bottling and 

 labelling spirit specimens, and the other thousand and one duties 

 which make a collector's life a busy one. An early dinner with 

 bed to follow completed the day. 



The return journey to Sennah was much like the first, save 

 that it was accomplished in one day, one little incident only 

 perhaps is worthy of note : — as we neared the foot of the mountain 

 our carriers suddenly espied a small tree, which to our eyes 

 presented no particular features of interest; however, loads 

 were thrown aside in a hurry and a rush made for the tree, 

 which was quickly hacked down and split up, and from number- 

 less burrows in the wood, hundreds of a peculiarly scented, 

 pinkish larva were extracted. No adults or pupre were to be 

 found, so beyond recognising the larva as that of a beetle, I was 

 unable |p determine the species or even family ; these larvie 

 when boiled are considered a great delicacy by the natives of 

 I he district. They certainly looked much more appetising than 

 the fat white grubs of the big coconut beetle which these 

 people also devour with great gusto. 



From Sennah we proceeded straight on to Pankalan 

 Ampat, and after waiting a few days for boats and to collect 



* See this Journal for description of the habits of tills curious larva. 



