KINA BALU. 
115 
apparent misfortune. Yesterday it commenced to rain at 11 a.m. and continued until 
10 p.m. ; to-day it has commenced at mid-day, and rained incessantly until 8 P.M. 
The Kadyans, and the Chinaman especially, do not like the idea of stopping here a 
month, as they are afraid of a spate, which might occur just about the time we want to 
return; but as we have plenty of rice and other provisions I do not mind. Jack turned up 
about mid-day very hungry, and without a claw that was not bleeding. 
Owing to the height of the mountains around us, this camp receives no warmth from 
the sun until nearly 10 A.M., although we have selected the best place for catching the 
sun’s rays. Usually at 11 a.m. the sky began to cloud over and a gentle drizzle set in, 
which developed into a steady downpour by 2 o’clock in the afternoon, at times accompanied 
by terrific thunderstorms. 
Sometimes the sky would clear again by 6 P.M., but more often the rain continued 
until 8 or 10 o’clock at night. The river, which flowed within ten yards of our house, was 
often in high flood, coming down with a sudden rush about 4 o’clock in the afternoon; but 
luckily we were out of harm’s way, though the roar of the 'water at night, as it carried away 
the trees we had felled, made one feel rather nervous at times. In such an incessant 
downpour, with so little sunlight, the humidity was so great that we had to dry our clothes 
and collections by fires. All my insect-boxes, and anything fastened with glue, became 
unfastened, though kept in waterproof bags. My bedding I always had placed in the 
sunlight when possible, and rolled up, after the sun was clouded over, in a ground-sheet. 
14th.—The Kaclyans are busy finishing the house. Nyhan cut a path to the top of the 
hill behind, from which we have a splendid view of the huge buttress of Kina Balu and 
the jagged ridged range beyond. We are quite close to the buttress; the spur on which we 
stand is an offshoot from the main spur which runs close up to the foot of the precipices. 
Our collection to-day consists of Leucocerca albicollis, discovered to-day for the first time in 
Borneo, and two new birds, Hemixus connectens * and Stapliidia everetti f; also a new 
squirrel, Sciurus jentinki. The spur which we explored to-day is for some distance on 
one side a sheer precipice, and then continues as a narrow rocky ridge, when an easier 
travelling ground is reached. This formation makes it almost impossible at times to 
retrieve the birds shot, as they often fall hundreds of feet down the mountain sides, the 
tops of some high trees being on a level with the ridge and only a few yards distant from us. 
15th.—To-day some of the Kadyans started cutting a path up the mountain, on the 
opposite side of the stream, as yesterday, from the top of the spur visited, we were able to 
form some idea of the surrounding country, and in that direction it was decidedly less 
precipitous. Our greatest trouble in cutting paths is a small creeping bamboo, the stems 
of which are like wire and about the thickness of a lead-pencil. This bamboo is hard to 
cut, as it gives with every stroke of the “ parang.” I find that in path-cutting it is best to 
take three men and let them work two at a time for about fifteen minutes, then shift one 
by turns. To-day we reached an altitude of 3700 feet, and while slowly following the path- 
cutters, I shot a new Dicceum {!). monticola ) with a bright rosy-scarlet breast. I also 
destroyed the only specimen I obtained on this expedition of a new Tailor-bird ( Phyllergates 
cinereicollis), and procured two scarlet-breasted Nectarinias (jEthopyga temmincki). 
* Figured on plate facing p. 84. f Figured on plate facing p. 96. 
Q 
