20 
AN EXPEDITION TO THE BAH COUNTRY. 
Two days more marching brought us to the foot of the 
Pamabo Range of mountains, which towered up some 
4,000 feet above us. The next day we clambered up 
these heights and were rewarded by a splendid view from 
the summit. In front of and below us w r as stretched out 
the plain of the Ivalabit country. This great plain is 
bounded on three sides by the great mountain ranges of 
Pamabo, Murud, and Apo Rewat, which in places run up 
to 8,000 feet in height, whilst on the fourth side lie the 
head waters of the Baram River. These mountains are 
much higher above the plain on their outer face than on 
the inner, and I should think that this enclosed tableland 
must be between two and three thousand feet above sea 
level. It was a magnificent sight, and the contrast of the 
dark green of the foliage and white limestone of the 
mountain cliffs, shimmering and glittering under the 
fierce rays of the tropical sun, was wonderful. In front 
of us we could see for miles towards the boundaries of 
Sarawak and British North Borneo territory, and on our 
right there shot up 7,000 feet into the air, that strange 
peak, seeming to rise like a needle out of the plain, Batu 
Lawi, around the base of which one is said to be able 
to walk in five or six hours. 
From here we descended into the plain, which 
near-by had been thoroughly irrigated and was covered 
with crops of rice in various stages of ripeness. It is 
strange that these Kalabits, the wildest and furthest 
from civilization of all the tribes in Borneo, should be 
the only interior people to irrigate their fields, and 
therefore are able to obtain two crops of rice in the year. 
All the other interior races farm by felling the jungle 
and burning it and then planting out the grain, which is 
a most wasteful method and destroys an enormous 
quantity of valuable timber. In the evening we reached 
the small village of Ballang Lam Bah, and spent two 
nights here, as we heard varied reports as to the reception 
that we were to receive at the hands of the hostile 
tribes along the Border, so decided to wait until we 
heard more definite news. 
The next day we started off to walk across to the 
big village of Pun Mein, and took extra precautions, as 
we expected to be attacked by the numerous tribe living 
on the Brian River. However, we reached the village at 
the foothills of the Apo Rewat Range in the afternoon, 
