41 
CHAPTER III. 
SAIL FOR KUDAT.—BENKOKER RIVER.—OBTAIN A HOUSE.—FAREIGH, THE NEGRO.—BIRDS.—ORANG 
SUNGEI.— MAMMALS. —CROCODILES.—PIGS.—CROCODILE’S NEST.—EANDEIRA’S AMOK.—START 
FOR KUDAT.—HORNBILL’s NEST.—BEES.—BUTTERFLIES.—SCARCITY OF INDIVIDUALS. — LOW 
RATE OF INCREASE.—NESTING-HABITS IN THE TROPICS.—FEVER.—WET SEASON SETS IN.— 
RETURN TO LABUAN. 
N the 24th of August I left Labuan for Kudat—the Company’s 
station on Marudu Bay—where the Resident of the West Coast 
resides, taking the three natives mentioned as my servants. I 
thought it would be best to dispense with European assistance, 
seeing what a farce my Padas expedition had turned out; and as 
none of my followers could speak a word of English, it would be 
necessary for me to learn sufficient Malay to make myself under¬ 
stood. 
On the 27th of August we arrived in Kudat, where we remained trying to get a boat' 
to take us across to the Benkoker River until the 31st. At Kudat the Resident showed 
me great kindness, inviting me to live in his bungalow during my stay, and assisting me in 
arranging my trip to Benkoker, which river flows into Marudu Bay opposite Kudat. 
Kudat in 1885 looked anything but a prosperous port of the young colony; a greater part 
of the town was built of attap houses over the sea on piles, and on a saridspit between the 
sea and a swamp, but nearly all were tenantless and dropping to pieces, two Chinese brick 
shops being the only buildings worthy of the name. The Government bungalow was a 
fine substantial building, both cool and comfortable, being built with expectations of great 
things, which up to the present have not been realized. Kudat was expected by its 
builders to be a place of great importance, being in a splendid bay with deep water close 
in shore ; but I believe one of the chief reasons of its early decay was the cholera and small¬ 
pox epidemic, a few years before I saw this station. However, the trade will have to be 
brisk to make the place attractive, as the water obtainable some distance from the town 
site is both scanty and brackish ; it may seem absurd, but it is, I believe, a fact that Kudat 
was built before its founders looked for fresh water, which they never found, after boring 
in various directions. Since my visit in 1885 it received a fresh start with the tobacco 
industry, which I believe is now on the wane. The country round about is covered with 
forest and is mountainous. 
G 
