AN EXPEDITION TO MOUNT BATU LAWI. 47 
In the evening I try to find out if they have ever heard of any 
other- European making a visit to these parts, besides Mr. R. 5S. 
Douglas, the Resident of Baram, who visited Balang Katou’s old 
house at the mouth of the Seridan on two occasions. These Kalabits 
used to live quite close to Batu Lawi, so they should know if any one 
did. They say they have heard of a certain “Tuan Bunga” 
(European collecting plants) making an expedition from Brunei 
some 20 years ago, and that his native collectors reached Batu Lawi, 
though he himself did not. I could get no information at all of 
this man from anyone on the Limbang or Madihit and I am in- 
clined to think they were referring to Dr. Haviland (a keen 
botanist) who accompanied Mr. Ricketts up the Trusan in 1888, 
although in their account of that trip no mention is made of Batu 
Lawi at all (see p.—antea). One old Kalabit said he had heard of 
Sir Spenser St. John’s visit to the Adangs from his grandfather 
and that was all I could learn from them.* 
June 6th: This house is very dirty and smoky, and as usual 
swarming with dogs, though not so bad as Penribut’s house which 
has quite a local reputation for discomfort. Balang Katou and 
his men leave at dawn. Tamarpin reports that his wife and child 
are ill with fever so he wants to wait three days to look for good 
omens on their behalf. I notice that their illness did not prevent 
either of them from being up and about, so I gave him some quinine 
and told him we would start to-morrow. T:awaratu’s men arrived 
at the house up-river last night and a boat was sent to bring them 
down this morning with the remainder of my things from the 
Madihit. 
June 7th: An early start this morning, and we paddle or pole 
down the Seridan river for a short distance before joining the 
Mago which flows in from the east. The continuation of. the two 
rivers takes the name of the Mago, which is a comparatively broad 
stream, and about an hour’s journey further down we come to a 
large Kalabit house at Long Serin. Here we are met by Balang 
Katou and his men, somewhat drunk but still coherent. With so 
many visitors in their house they were making the most of the 
opportunity for a little conviviality and although it was barely 9 
¢ 
*In an ascent of Mt. Penrissen at the head-waters of the Sarawak 
River in November 1909, I spent a night in the Land-Dayak village of 
Sennah, which lies practically at the fot of the mountain. There the old chief 
in rep'y to my questions. saidhe remembered Sir Hugh Low climbing the moun- 
train, though he himself did not accompany him. being then only a little bov ; 
and this took place some 65 years ago (vide Sarawak Cazettee, 1910. pp. 5-7 
‘“Mt. Penrissen’’ by the nresent writer). Durnga recent visit to Mt. Sennah 
Some 29 miles from Kuching, I asked the old Land-Dayak ‘* orang kaya’”’ (chief) 
who had lived all his life on the hill or at the foot of it. if he remembered Wallace 
spending a month up there 1855-1856. But he could only remember the first 
Rajah going there on several occasions and that he was often accompanied by 
other Kuropeans. The Chinese rebellion in Sarawak took place a year later 
1857) and memories of those exciting times had superseded his revollections of 
any more peaceful incidents that had taken place before, 
R.A. Soc., No. 63, 1912. 
—— 
p 
