162 
KINA BALU: SECOND EXPEDITION. 
cleared, we had a fine view of a small waterfall which tumbled down into the depths below 
at the head of the gorge. After heavy rain the Avater fell over, as it were, in masses; this 
stream is the source of the Tampassuk Eiver, floAving from the very summit of Kina Balu. 
When Ave arrived, greatly fatigued—carrying as much as Ave were able—at the camp, 
I found that the Kadyans had made a small shelter just large enough for me to lie doAvn 
in; it Avas raised a feAV feet off the ground: this erection we roofed in and surrounded on 
two sides Avith waterproof sheets. The three Kadyans for themselves have rebuilt the low 
grass-thatched Dusun shelter and covered part of the leaky roof Avith a A\ r aterproof sheet; 
but it is still far from watertight. The flooring they have made of poles a feAV inche.s 
above the ground, above which they have tied a light platform of sticks, fastened to cross¬ 
bars, for their sleeping accommodation. The fireplace we built up with mud and stones, 
to be out of the reach of the water. The Kadyans Avere quite done up Avith carrying their 
loads up to this camp—Avhich my aneroid gives as 7350 feet—being unaccustomed to such 
altitudes, and during our frequent rests on the mountain side they declared that this was 
the last time they Avould go mountaineering. I have resolved Avhen the Dusuns call to 
see us, which they have promised to do, to send the two men in the lower camp back to 
Kiau and have everything Ave want brought up here. The tAvo men will do little or no 
good beloAv and Avill consume our rice, Avhich is too valuable, while at Kiau they may 
collect something, and they Avill be able to buy rice from the villagers. Rice near the 
summit of Kina Balu is worth a fortune to the explorer, not even taking into consideration 
the actual cost of bringing it up from the coast. Just now, at 3 P.M., the sun is shining 
through a steady shower of rain; this is the first time it has shone upon us for a month. 
Hoav all-important is our great luminary to our comfort, and what miserable beings we are 
without his all-powerful rays! in a few months after the close of those millions of years 
Avhich scientific men tell us will see him consumed and dead as the moon, Kina Balu may 
still be here, but not an organic form, such as we now know, Avill exist. 
Our camp is situated in a good position: it is on the top of a spur, and receives, after 
Ave have cut doAvn a feAV of the Ioav trees, all the sunshine. This small open spot is perhaps 
25 yards square, is marshy, and contains quite a number of plants. When I Avas too ill to 
get far from the camp, I amused myself by making a small collection of dried plants, chiefly 
from this spot. The most abundant species here, and of Avhich the hut’s roof Avas composed, 
Avas also the most interesting plant: it is, I am told, a Pcctersonia, closely allied to P. gla- 
hrata ; this plant is an Australian species, and even in that country is extratropical; it 
has never been recorded from any other islands in the Archipelago. This geographically 
interesting plant, though common on this small marshy patch, I did not notice elseAvhere on 
the mountain. Just iioav it is in flower ; the floAver, hoAvever, is insignificant, being three- 
and rarely four-petaled, Avhite with a purple centre; it belongs to a genus someAvhat allied 
to Iris. As I have introduced the subject, I may as Avell complete the account of the 
botany of this small marshy spot. Round the edge are numerous Nepenthes, the commonest, 
or perhaps the most conspicuous, being N. loivii ; more hidden, but equally common, is 
K villosa, Avith its beautiful rose-coloured pitchers. A fern allied to Polypodium dipteris 
(Blume), together Avith Lycopodium cernuum (Linn.), a species of bracken, and a variety of 
mosses reach to the upper edge of the marsh. Amongst the flowers collected by me on 
