142 ACCOUNT OF EXPEDITIONS TO MT. KINABALU. 
appointed Eesident of Perak. He retired in 1884, and 
died April 18th, 1895. 
1858. Life in the Forests of the Far East. 1868. By 
Spenser St. John, F.B.G.S., F.E.S. [Yol. i. Chaps, viii.-x. 
are devoted to the author’s two expeditions to Kinabalu.] 
In St. John’s first expedition, accompanied by Sir (then 
Mr.) Hugh Low, he left Labuan on April 15th, 1858, 
reached Abai on the coast of North Borneo on the 17th, 
and proceeded up the short river of that name. They then 
joined the Tampassuk, and after two or three days arranging 
for guides and coolies, followed that river up to Koung, 
where they arrived on April 25th. Next day, on setting 
out for Kiau, they had to pass through the village of 
Labang, where the inhabitants gave them a hostile recep¬ 
tion ; however, the two Europeans showed themselves 
determined to pass and stand no nonsense, which they did 
without coming to blows. St. John notes that “ the Kiaus 
are much dirtier than any tribes I have seen in the neigh¬ 
bourhood ; the children and women are unwashed, and 
most of them are troubled with colds, rendering them in 
every sense unpleasant neighbours.” 
On the 28th they set out for the mountain, putting up 
for the night in one of the bamboo huts at the end of the 
paddi farms. Next morning St. John had to proceed alone, 
as his companion was unable to walk, having suffered much 
from walking with bare feet, to which he was unaccustomed. 
In two days he reached the Pakka cave, and the next day, 
May 1st, he climbed to the summit. He found the spot 
where Low had left the bottle in 1851,* and named the 
place Low’s Gully ; he then made his way further west to 
explore one of the higher peaks, afterwards known as St. 
John’s Peak. He spent that night and the next at Pakka, 
and descended on the 3rd, finding Low still encamped on 
the paddi farm. After some trouble with the natives, who 
seemed keen not to let any goods leave their village, they 
got away from Kiau on the 6th, reached Abai (Low doing 
most of the journey on a raft down the Tampassuk) on the 
8th, and Labuan five days later. 
This was the first trial of the Tampassuk or northern 
route. In their next expedition they followed the Tuaran 
route, as Low had done originally in 1851. 
They left Labuan early in July, and proceeding via 
* Presumably still there, though there appears to be no other mention of 
it in the accounts of subsequent travellers. I was unable to find it in 1913. 
