MY TRIP TO BELUM. 131 



had had a long day. Our last rapid (Jeram Maya) was exhila- 

 rating, the waves being larger than we had so far encountered. 



We saw some small rafts, those used to pole up-stream, 

 at Banding. They are called lantin, and differ materially from 

 the rakit. In the latter the bottom or thick end of the bam- 

 boos are in the bow. In the former the tops or thin end are 

 in front. The number of bamboos used in a lantin is always 

 an odd number. It varies from five to eleven. In the middle 

 is a small raised bench with a handrail on each side. A lantin 

 is about the same length, but not quite so long as a rakit. 

 The centre bamboo is the longest and the others are each in 

 turn shorter than one another. When green, the bamboos are 

 lashed together, and both ends are raised by being rested on 

 logs or on higher ground : the centre is then heavily weighted 

 with stones, with the result that a good sheer is given to the 

 raffc. 



The Datoh and I were off at 6.15 a.m., on the 10th 

 August, and the early morning air was delightful. The men 

 saw a bachang tree (a species of mango) and landed to pick 

 some 30 fruit. I had a long shot at a jungle fowl. The 

 Datoh stopped to get rotan lang to tie our rafts together at 

 Kuala Temengor. At 7.30 we went alongside the right bank 

 and I looked in at Sira Eseh and saw a sambur. It looked up 

 at me and I had a shot of from 35 to 40 yards at its head. 

 Off it went, and though we followed its tracks for about 200 

 yards, we could find no trace of blood. Eheu. The Datoh 

 caught two fish from his raft while he waited. When I got 

 back to mine, the rest of the flotilla had arrived. 



I do not know whether the legend of the burong tebong 

 menkiiva (the bird which cut down the house of its mother-in- 

 law) has ever been printed in English. The hornbill, like the 

 poor, is always with you when in the jungle. This bird is a 

 hornbill, but the upper ridge of the bill is solid. Its cry is 

 tock-tock-tock and then the maddest of the mad laughs. Once 

 upon a time a girl married a man, a thriftless lout : her mother, 

 a widow, opposed the marriage. A few days later the girl, 

 when cooking, asked for salt. The husband said there was 



R, A, Soc, No. 54, 1909. 



