22 
FORTY-EIGHT HOURS IN SARAWAK. 
tall, dead tree, covered with masses of flowering orchids, 
would give colour to the otherwise sombre background. In 
the evening we saw plenty of the curious Proboscis 
Monkeys (Nasalis larvatus ) on the river bank. 
Early next morning I landed at the Signal Station for 
the only real collecting walk which it was possible to 
make. It is only necessary to mention the more important 
captures made during this walk ; suffice it to say that both 
I myself and the seaman who accompanied me were kept 
fully occupied with nets and boxes. 
The landing was accomplished with considerable diffi¬ 
culty ; all went well as far as the Signal Station, which 
could be reached in the launch ; but wishing to embark at 
a point further up the river, it was necessary to make 
use of a sampan, which was fortunately available. From 
this we landed on the tidal mud off the end of the road 
to Kuching; dry land was reached after walking along 
slippery tree-trunks, which served as a path through the 
riverside mud. 
Almost the first insects caught by the roadside were 
two female specimens of the magnificent “ carpenter” bee 
(.Xylocopa malayana , Cam.), flying at some flowering creeper. 
This species was described from a male specimen, and the 
female was hitherto unknown to science; in size it ranks 
with the largest bees found in Borneo, although the female 
is smaller than the male. In colour this fine insect is 
shining black, with a dense green pubescence on the thorax 
and base of the abdomen. Another good capture was a 
specimen of the little social wasp (Icaria maculifrons , 
Cam.), of which only one specimen, a co-type, hitherto 
represented the species in the National Collection. 
At night a number of moths were caught at the yacht’s 
lights. Disappointment was general the next morning on 
learning that we were to weigh anchor as soon as possible, 
since the damp heat was proving too much for certain 
members of the party. One of the last things we did up 
the river was to puchase a charming young “Wawa” or 
Silvery Gibbon (Hylobates leuciscus) from a native who came 
alongside in a boat. On arriving home Lord Crawford pre¬ 
sented it to the Zoological Society, where it is still thriving. 
We reached the open sea about lunch time, and anchored 
again off Po Point, in order to give a last opportunity for 
collecting. A scramble up the steep slope, the greater 
part of the way by means of steps cut in tree-trunks laid 
up the slope, brought us to the summit, and incidentally 
