7-2 



BO/CiXEO. 



[CJIAT. ■? 



by tliQ action of some coiitiaental stream or seabeach, 

 befure the great island of Buroeo iiiul risen from the ocean. 

 The existence of sucli a system of hills and valleys repro- 

 ducing in iiiiuiatui'u ail the features of a great mountain 

 region, lias an important bearing on tlie modfin theory, 

 that the form of the gmund is mainly due to atmospheric 

 rather thim to subterranean action. When we have a 

 noruber of biimching valleys and ravines niuuing in many 

 flitlercnt directions witliin a square mile, it seems hardly 

 possible to impute their formation, or even their origiiia- 

 ti'jn, to rents aud lissiiri'S produced by earthfiuakes. Un tlie 

 otlK»r hand, the nature of tlie rock, so easily decomposed 

 iital removed by water, tmd tire kno\Mi action of the 

 abundant tropical rains, arc in this case, at least, (|uite 

 sulticient causes litr the production of sueh valleys. But 

 the rest iiihlanee between tlicir forms and outlines, their 

 mode of divergeneu, and the slopes and ridges that divide 

 them, and those of the gmnd mountain scenery of the 

 Himala)'aii, is so remtirkable, thai Ave are forcibly led to 

 the concluBion tliut the forces at work in the two cases 

 have been the simie, tlilferiitg only in the time they hnve 

 been in action, nnd the nature oF the material they have 

 J J ad to work upon. 



About noon we reached the village of ilenyerry, beau- 

 tifully situated on a spur of the mountain about bUO feet 

 above the valley, and aUbrding a delightful view of the 

 mountains of this part of Borneo. 1 here got a sight of 

 Penrissen ^Mountain, at the head of the Sarawak lliver, 

 and one of the highest in the district, rising to about 

 6,000 feet aljovc the sea. To tlie soutli the liowan, and 

 further olf the Uutowan Mountains in the Dutch territory, 

 appeared equally lofty. Ueseending from Menyerry we 

 again crossed the Kayan, which lK.'nds round the spCr, 

 and ascended to the pass which divides the Sadotig and 

 Saniwak vtdieys, and w^hich is about 2,000 fett high. The 

 descent from tins point was very fine. A stream, deep in 

 a rocky goi:ge, rushed on each side of us, to one of winch 

 w^e gradually descended, passing over many lateral galleys 

 and along the faces of some precipices by means of native 

 bamboo bridges. Some of these were several hundrerl 

 feet long and fifty or sixty high, a single smooth bamboo 



