NORTH BORNEO. 
79 
coast of Borneo, owing to the flatness of the country many miles inland, it is very difficult 
to find drinking-water even slightly brackish. At the station I met one of the Sikhs who 
had been wounded in the Kawang “ amok ” ; he remembered me at once and was very 
grateful for the attentions I had shown him, insisting on making me the only present in 
his power—a chicken. I fancy the feeling of gratitude must be strongly inscribed in the 
mind of the Sikh ; but that feeling, or one akin to it, I have utterly failed to find in the 
Bornean Malay, who, though a pleasant and observant companion in forest wanderings, is 
as utterly devoid of fellow-feeling as the soulless heathen Chinee. Several times I have had 
to remonstrate with my Kadyan followers for the utter indifference with which they treated 
each other’s misfortunes; as an example I will relate a little episode which occurred on my 
Palawan expedition, during a lengthened march we made in that island from the sea-coast 
to a house which a native chief had lent me at the foot of the hills. On completing the 
journey, I noticed one of the Kadyans was missing, and on inquiring of his companions the 
reason, they told me that he had fallen down about two miles distant with an attack of 
fever, and was unable to walk any further, so they left him under a clump of bamboo. 
Wh en I heard this I ordered two of them to return at once and assist the sick man, which 
they reluctantly did, with scowling faces and muttered curses at their companion’s mis¬ 
fortune. This is only one example of the utter want of feeling natives have for each other; 
but when travelling for months at a time with the same companions such episodes are of 
almost daily occurrence ; and as apparently this trait exists in their characters when in 
then - daily intercourse with one another, how can Europeans expect to find the least 
gratitude from such a phlegmatic race'? 
At daylight on the 21st April we left Qualla Penyu for Pulo Tega (yndo=island, tega= 
three) or Three Islands, arriving there soon after mid-day, sailing nearly the whole distance. 
After landing, the first thing to be done was to search for fresh water; in an hour or two 
one of my men discovered a small pool of foul, dirty-coloured water in some rocks, into 
which was slowly trickling what in the wet season would be a stream ; with the assistance 
of my sponge rammed tightly into a joint of bamboo, we erected a filter, which slightly 
improved the liquid. 
Leaving the men to erect the shelter, I started to explore the forest with which these 
islands are thickly covered. It was not long before the noise made by some heavy bird 
rising from the ground attracted my attention as it settled in the lower branches of a tree, 
when on firing I picked up a splendid specimen of the Nicobar Pigeon, the Burong jinjuni 
of the natives. This Pigeon is, perhaps, the most handsome of all its numerous genus, 
having the plumage of bright metallic green, which in certain lights shows bronze-red 
reflections ; the neck is ornamented with long hackles of the same colour; the breast is 
almost black, with green reflections; the tail pure white ; and when freshly shot the plumage 
of the neck, head, and breast is covered with a fine grey powder. This fine species 
frequents the ground, where it feeds on fallen fruit, is seldom met with, like several other 
species of its order, except on the small islands off' the coasts of the large islands, where no 
doubt it is less molested by enemies. On being alarmed the Pigeon flies into the lower 
branches of the trees, where, seated perfectly still, it is protected by the assimilation of its 
