54 AN EXPEDITION TO MOUNT KIN A BALU. 



To leave the tent and take refuge in the houses seemed impossi- 

 ble ; it was pitch dark and the weather outside too awful. So I 

 remained soaking- till 6 a.m. when I fled to the next house. This 

 experience cost us dear, since many of our things got wet 

 through and remained so for several days. We left Kalawat in 

 disgust at 9.50 a.m., fine rain falling at the time, but fortunately 

 the sun came out soon after. Our path now descended, and we 

 had an easy march to the Inunian River, arriving there about 

 noon. This is a splendid river, rushing along over boulders and 

 shaded by mighty trees. Here we bathed and the men caught 

 me some remarkable tadpoles with huge suckers (liana cavity m- 

 panum). They always found these tadpoles attached to the 

 boulders in the most foaming parts of the river. We crossed by 

 a ford to the left bank, and then over a low watershed and 

 reached the Menternan River. This river we had to ford three 

 times in close succession : the natives apparently making a spe- 

 ciality of short cuts : in this case it seemed to me it would have 

 been much easier to ford the river once and then proceed along 

 the bank, but my guides had different ideas. At 2.45 p.m. we 

 reached Bungol, a large village on the left bank of the Menter- 

 nan. Here the men begged me for a treat to buy them a 

 bull. As this somewhat startling proposal only involved an ex- 

 penditure of $3, and it was a splendid young beast, I agreed, and 

 much admired the speed with which the animal was despatched 

 and disappeared in the various cooking pots. I myself had an 

 excellent steak before me about an hour after the bargain had 

 been concluded. Heavy rain fell during the late evening. 



Friday, March 17th. The day opened somewhat foggy, 

 but fine, and we started at 7.45 a.m., fording the Menternan 

 three times, and ascending Gunong Kampil by a slow incline. 

 Then followed a tremendously steep descent, about 2000' down 

 a grass-covered slope, to the Kadamaian river, which is the local 

 name for the upper course of the Tampassuk. The river here is 

 already deep and difficult to ford on account of its strong cur- 

 rent. The men were up to their necks in water, and had to 

 carry the luggage on their heads. Fortunately everything re- 

 mained dry, with the exception of my camera. We rested on 

 the right bank of the river, and reached Koung at 2.15 p.m., 

 having had fine weather during the march, though rain set in 



