KINA BALU: SECOND EXPEDITION. 
103 
this spot I may mention a small gentian, Gentiana pedicellata, a Utricularia, sp. 1, 
Trachymene sanicula?folia (Hk.). Of sedges, Gahnea javanica (Steud.) was one of the 
commonest; and Xyris schcenoides (Mart.), a Panicum, sp. ?, Alectris, n. sp. ?, Eric an Ion, 
n. sp.,—the last four species being insignificant-looking weeds. 
Not far below the camp I noticed a small white Begonia, sp. ?, flowering freely. The 
trees in the vicinity are about fifteen feet high, stunted, twisted, and weather-beaten: on the 
top of the ridge they are exposed to every blast, are clothed inches deep about the trunks 
with dripping mosses; their branches are festooned with long beard-like growths of silvery 
lichen, a proof, if proof be wanting, of the humidity. The commonest tree is a species of 
mountain Casuarina: of other pine-like species, Dacrydium datum (Wall.) is common; I 
also collected a species of Juniperus, sp. \ In the forest above the camp I found a 
Medinilla, sp. nov., which had a pretty pink flower. In the marshy patch we have dug 
shallow wells, which I hope will keep us supplied with water, even if the weather should 
turn fine. The soil in most places is only a few inches deep, and is mixed with a good 
deal of white limy-looking earth; this want of subsoil accounts for the absence of trees 
and has saved the Patersonia from extinction. Most of the plants mentioned are found in 
Australia, and the Patersonia, I am told, is peculiar to that region : this is curious, as the 
ornis of this mountain is almost entirely Himalayan. 
After a short rest I was most anxious to explore the forest in our neighbourhood, so I 
went for a stroll with Nyhan, leaving the other two men to finish the camp. Unlike the 
Melangkaps, the Kiaus have a path right up to the higher altitudes of Kina Balu ; this is a 
great blessing to us, as we are able to get about at once without spending days in cutting- 
paths : the path leads straight along the top of the spur, and later on, as we discovered, 
right up to the granite slopes, or to about 11,000 feet. As long as the path is followed it 
is pretty easy travelling, so we were able to traverse the mountain with comparatively little 
trouble. These paths are made by the Kiaus for the express purpose of setting their 
bamboo rat-traps : the traps are placed a few yards apart, the intervening spaces being 
generally difficult, or made so by the Dusuns, along the sides of the paths to nearly 9000 
feet. The frequented runs of the small mammalia, such as rats, squirrels, mice, &c. &c., 
are easily discernible on the soft moss-covered ground. After leaving the camp we 
proceeded for some distance through the low weather-beaten trees, no view being obtain¬ 
able on account of the mist. Feeling fatigued I sent Nyhan on, and sat down to meditate 
on the situation: my thoughts were, however, shortly disturbed by a Blackbird, which 
perched within five yards and calmly examined me, wondering no doubt in his unsophisti¬ 
cated mind what an extraordinary new species of monkey had turned up in his domain. 
The eye of this Blackbird was bright, his bill and legs of a golden yellow, his breast black 
with the lower half reddish brown; I knew at a glance that he must be unbaptized. He 
kept so near that I could not secure him, so I was forced to do what birds in this country 
try to do—to get away from him, thus reversing the order of things ; shortly he settled on 
the ground, but too near, so when he was slightly hidden behind a stump I fired, hoping to 
secure the bird with a few pellets only ; but he was untouched, most of the shot lodging in 
the stump. This attempt upon his life was nothing to my Blackbird—he merely flew up 
into a low tree and examined me with more interest than before, as much as to say, “ What 
