KINA BALU. 
125 
On the evening of the 9th we arrived once more at the Bajow campongs, where I had 
my birds carefully dried, as some were wet from the frequent immersions in the Tampassuk, 
though carefully packed in waterproof bags. Here I purchased a large canoe-shaped boat, 
or, as it is called by the Bajows, a “ pakarangan,” in which we paddled down the Tampassuk 
and sailed round to Abai, where I had left a few provisions and some boxes, in which we 
repacked our precious birds. 
The next morning we sailed for Pulo Gaya. Billio accompanied us, as he wished to 
invest his wages in trade-goods and also to visit Patatan; he had a sharp attack of jungle- 
fever during the night, so had to be looked after. The next morning, before daylight, the 
sea became rough, so we had to paddle hard for the mouth of the Menkabong river, 
and steered safely into the somewhat dangerous entrance. The wind blew half a gale 
during the day, so we had to pass our time in idleness on the sea-shore. Towards evening 
the wind moderated and the otf-shore breeze sprang up, so we set sail, and before morning 
had rounded the dangerous headland into Gaya Bay, where dozens of Frigate-birds were 
busy fishing round about the islands there. The view of Kina Balu in the bright silvery 
moonlight, as seen from the sea, is superb ; and these nights, calmly sailing down the coast, 
are perhaps the most enjoyable part of a naturalist’s travels. After resting during the heat 
of the day in Gaya, we proceeded on our journey to Labuan by the Kilias and Mempakol. 
We reached Labuan in a week from the Tampassuk, having frequently to take refuge in the 
estuaries of the rivers during the, at times, violent winds. My Chinese servant was seized 
with a violent attack of fever two days after reaching Labuan, and could hardly stir for 
three days. I rather benefited by the change to the cooler mountain climate. 
The results of this expedition were most interesting to naturalists, as this was the 
first collection of importance from the highlands of Borneo, and was sufficient to prove the 
close affinity that exists between the fauna of highland Borneo and the great Himalayan 
chain, leaving little doubt that Kina Balu has received its ornis from that great region. 
But though the results of this expedition were beyond my anticipation, I was by no means 
satisfied, for though we had collected amongst the highlands of Kina Balu, we had utterly 
failed to reach the higher altitudes of that great mountain. 
For information concerning the collections made, the reader is referred to the papers, 
by eminent specialists in zoology, at the end of the volume; but I hope I shall be excused 
for giving a short summary of the results of this, my first expedition to Kina Balu. 
We were away from Labuan from the 25th January until the 16th April, of which 
time eight weeks were spent in bird-collecting in the neighbourhood of Melangkap and 
amongst the mountain spurs. During this period we collected some 300 birds, eighteen of 
which were new to science, and many others added to the ornis of Borneo for the first time. 
The Calyptomena and the Arachnothera would have been a sufficient reward in themselves. 
Besides birds, I had several new mammals, including two new squirrels and several rats. 
There were also four new reptiles—a Draco, a snake, and two new frogs; and six new 
butterflies, four of which were Papilios. During the month spent by us amongst the defiles 
of Kina Balu we were greatly hampered by the almost incessant rain, not having more than 
three really fine days and many entirely wet ones. The time during which rain fell—roughly 
speaking—averaged seven hours per diem. With fine weather our collections, especially of 
