XIX.] 
EXCURSION TO THE KALTAS. 
409 
the poles give from the thousands of crawling animals which 
swarm in the grassy meadows of tropical regions. It is 
probable also that the mosquitos are less troublesome along 
the sea-shore than farther into the interior of the country. 
Some of my companions saw similar huts during an excursion, 
which they undertook in the steam launch, to the mouth of 
a large river debouching on the neighbouring coast of Borneo. 
Begarding this excursion Dr. Stuxberg gives the following 
report: 
“On the 19th November Palander, Bove, and I, together with 
two men, undertook an excursion in the steam launch of the 
Vega to the river Kalias debouching right opposite to Labuan. 
We started at dawn, a little after six o’clock. The course was 
shaped first north of Pappan Island, then between the many 
shoals that lie between it and the considerably larger Daat 
Island, and finally south of the latter island. 
“ Pappan Island is a small beautiful island, clothed down to 
high-water mark with a dark green primeval forest. On Daat 
Island, on the contrary, the primeval forest on the east side has 
been cut down, and has given place to a new plantation of cocoa- 
nut trees, the work of a former physician on Labuan, which 
yields its present owner a considerable revenue. 
“We had no little difficulty in finding a way over the sandy 
bar, which is deposited in front of the river mouth at a distance 
of a nautical mile and a half to three miles from the coast 
of Borneo. After several attempts in the course of an hour 
we at last succeeded in finding the deep channel which leads to 
the river. It runs close to the mainland on the north side, from 
Kalias Point to the river mouth proper. At the bar the depth 
was only a metre, in the deep channel, it varied between 3'5 and 
7 metres, in the river mouth it was fourteen to eighteen metres 
and sometimes more. 
“ On the south side of the tongue of land, which projects north 
of the mouth of the Kalias, were found two Malay villages, 
whose inhabitants appeared to view our passage up the river 
with curious glances. A crowd of half or wholly naked children 
began a race along the shore, as soon as they set eyes upon the 
fast steam launch, probably in order to keep us in sight as long 
as possible. We now had deejD water and steamed up the river 
without delay. The longed-for visit to some of the Malay 
villages we thus reserved till our return. 
