he perio ae ‘ he f Be iF ht ae : et VF oh i$ diy “< > ¢ “

* : 3 . : , ¢ “ie P . ¥ TESS eran HE He a Noe Mn eT PE TEED Beet hese id yht ed es hs ee ig a eee a ii el ae ht ee ht lye ae PT en tah. Cath Tal eee ree ee ee eres & Morel Ses ee oles % SS Wy bee 74

WIE kiwi" h| IVA ox ea Ss wh r- Uy,

WANDERINGS IN THE GREAT FORESTS OF BORNEO

A NORTH BORNEAN RIVER.

VEGETATION ON

Fig. I.

WANDERINGS IN THE GREAT FORESTS OF BORNEO

TRAVELS AND RESEARCHES OF A NATURALIST IN SARAWAK

By ODOARDO BECCARI

Sc.D., F.L.M.S., C.M.Z.S. erc.

LIBRARY NEW YORK BOTANICAL

GARDEN

TRANSLATED BY DR. ENRICO H. GIGLIOLI, C.M.Z.S., M.B.O.U.

Professor of Zoology in the University of Florence

AND REVISED AND EDITED BY eed Ee! (GU MEE RIVVARD SssiViAT ave Dy iencs

Late Reader in Geography at the University of Cambridge

LONDON ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE & CO Lrp 16 JAMES STREET HAYMARKET

1904

BUTLER & TANNER, THE SELWOOD PRINTING WORKS, FROME, AND LONDON.

TO GIACOMO DORIA

MAECENAS OF NATURALISTS AND BEST OF FRIENDS, HIS OLD TRAVELLING COMPANION DEDICATES THIS VOLUME IN MEMORY OF YOUTHFUL DAYS TOGETHER

IN BORNEO

Vil

EDITOR’S PREFACE anROEne

O naturalists generally, but especially to botanists, the author of the following pages stands in no need of introduction. His work in Borneo, which he here describes, was but the prelude to many years of travel and exploration which have found expression, in so far as regards their scientific results, in the pages of various Societies’ publications, and the shelves and drawers of the great museums of Italy and other countries—a monument alike to the author’s botanical and zoological knowledge and _ his tireless zeal as acollector. But while his name is thus familiar to the student of science, notably to those who have made the fauna and flora of the Eastern Archipelago a special subject of research, it is probably less so to what an old translator once contemptuously described as ‘the mere English reader,’’ or—as it would nowadays be phrased— the man in the street. To the latter it is only necessary to say that no one is more fully qualified to act as guide to the great island amidst whose primeval forests he wandered for so long. Whether the scientific reader does or does not admit the validity of all Dr. Beccari’s theories concerning species-formation, he cannot call in question his abundant experience of the country, or his know- ledge of the subjects of which he treats.

Dr. Beccari tells us that nearly forty years have passed away since the days of which he writes, and deems an apology necessary for so lengthy a hesitation. Certainly, in these days of “steam and speed,” a forty-year-old description of a country might seem to a hasty thinker something more than a little out of date. Were he to reject the volume on these grounds, his conclusion would be an erroneous one, and he would miss not a little. These vast primeval groves, through which the author will guide him so pleasantly, secure from mosquito’s bite and equatorial temperatures, are to-day as they have been from almost the beginning of things. The stupendous trees which form them have turned from seedling to mould for zeons not to be numbered. Beneath the shade of their predecessors the common ancestors of Man and Mayas may have wandered ; and though change is touching even the unchanging East, and there are such things as volcanoes to be reckoned with, the end ofthe Bornean forest is not, as yet, within sight. It is with nature-rather than man that Dr. Beccari deals, and nature needs something more than a generation to get out of date. For those ; a 1X *

b>

WEE

EDITOR’S PREFACE

desirous of information concerning the political and social condition of Sarawak at the present day the author has added a special chapter.

A word is necessary regarding this English presentment of the original Nelle Foreste di Borneo. It is not a literal translation of the latter. Somewhat liberally paraphrased by Professor Giglioli, it has at the same time undergone various emendations and additions at the hands of the author, while some appendices of more or less purely botanical interest have been omitted. For the English rendering the present writer is in great measure responsible. He has derived considerable enjoyment from the book, for it recalled pleasant memories of his own experiences as a wandering naturalist in Bornean jungles some twenty years ago. What would he not have given for the companionship in his journeys of so skilled a botanist and so enthusiastic a nature-lover as the author of this volume !

F. H. H. GUILE MAD: CAMBRIDGE, October 1904.

PREACH

N Borneo, the largest island of Malaysia, an English Rajah and an English Ranee rule with pure autocracy a State which in area equals England and Wales, and has its fleet and its army, yet is without telegraphic communication with the rest of the world ; possesses not only no railroads, but no roads, and is clothed by dense and interminable forests in which wanders the orang-utan. Here the natives live a primitive life, are in part still mere savages, true man-hunters, who delight in hanging in their houses the smoked skulls of their human victims, as a homage to imaginary supernatural spirits and as a proof of their bravery. This is the kingdom of Sarawak, which owes its origin to a man of great gifts and a born lover of adventure, Mr., afterwards Rajah Sir James Brooke, whose nephew and successor, Sir Charles Brooke, the second European Rajah, now governs with a spirit of the truest philanthropy, leading his subjects rapidly along the path of progress towards civilisation. In this country, when it was in a much more primitive and savage condition, and far less known to the world at large, I landed in June 1865, in company with Giacomo Doria, with the object of investigating its natural history. After the lapse of so many years, I should certainly never have dreamt of putting together the notes and itineraries of my juvenile travels, if a happy chance had not led to my meeting in Florence, with the present Ranee, H.H. Lady Brooke, who urged me to the task, assuring me that the manners and customs of the people and the very localities which I had visited are still to-day what they were then, and, indeed, what they have been from times unknown. I may thus venture to hope that it will not be thought that the publication of this book has been too long delayed, the more so as the subjects to which I paid special attention have, not a temporary, but a permanent interest, and a large portion of the regions which I explored have not been visited since by other naturalists. [I have also endeavoured, in a separate chapter, to give the reader an idea—as exact as informa- tion from authentic sources can render it—of the present condition of Sarawak. While I am comforted by the hope that I may in no way have to repent of having followed the advice of the charming and gifted Queen of Sarawak, I cannot but feel in duty bound to express to her my gratitude for the help and encouragement which she has so freely given me, and for the permission she has granted me of using and reproducing some of the fine photographs taken by Her Highness during a recent visit to her dominions.

_ ODOARDO BECCARI. xJ

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

THE SARAWAK RIVER—KUCHING—OUR HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS

—First IMPRESSIONS IN THE ForEsST—A ROAD OVER TREE TRUNKS—LEECHES—SIUL AND TUAN-KU ‘YASSIM—GIGANTIC

CICADAS—FIG-TREES AND BIRDS—AN EXPLORATION TOWARDS

MATTANG

CHAPTER IL

THE PEOPLE AT KUCHING—TRADES AND PROFESSIONS—THE CHINESE

—THE Martayvs OF BORNEO AND THEIR ORIGIN—ARABS AND IsSLAMISM—HYBRIDISMS—-PROBABLE ABORIGINES IN BORNEO— THE Martays A MONGREL RACE—THEIR PHYSICAL CHARACTERS AND DRESs . d ; ; i : F i i ‘

CHAPTER: Di

THE FRUITS OF SARAWAK—JHE MANGOSTEEN AND ITS HABITAT—

ORIGIN OF CULTIVATED FRUITS—THE PINANG—OUR MENAGERIE X1li

PAGE

17

CONDEINGS

—MonkEYS—THE NASALIS AND THE SHAPE OF THE NOSE IN MAN —BIRDS IN CAaAPpTIVITY—SNAKES—FASCINATED FROGS—THE FLYING LIZARD—FLYING ANIMALS—THE MAMMALS OF BORNEO —BIGc GAME IN SARAWAK

CEIAP TER: TV

Miss1ons—BisHop MacDouGALL—UP THE BATANG-LUPAR—THE BORE

ON

—BANTENG—CHRISTIANISED DyAKS—NEPENTHES BICALCARATA— SIMANGGAN—UNDUP—THE SEA-DYAKS

CHAPTER V

THE SERAMBO HiILL—LaNnp-Dyak VILLAGE AND HEAD-HOoUSE— PININJAU—PORPHYRITIC HILLS—TRUE AND FALSE SWIFTS WITH EpIBLE NESTS—WALLACE AND HIS NOCTURNAL MoTH-HUNTING —GUNONG SKUNYET—VEGETATION OF THE SECONDARY FORESTS —Dyak PaTHWAYS—LIMESTONE CLIFFS AND THEIR CAVES—THE DurRIAN—NOTES ON THE Lanp Dyaxs : : ‘ :

CHAPTER VE

EXCURSION TO Mount MATTANG—Matay ADZES—CYNOGALE BENNETTI

—In SEARCH OF A ROAD TO THE SUMMIT—SOME METHODS OF SEED DISPERSION—DIFFICULTIES IN GETTING BOTANICAL SPECIMENS— How A ForREST CAN BE EXPLORED—My REASONS FOR CLIMBING Matranc—Tue ‘“ UmBput’’—DwarFr PALMS—THIN RoOTANGS— A LANKO—SUDDEN STORMS—IMPRESSIONS IN THE MATTANG ForREST—-PHOSPHORESCENCE AND FIREFLIES—INSECTS, FLOWERS AND LiGHT—Quop—FLYING-FOXES . : : . :

X1V

PAGE

25

40

33

66

CONTENTS

PAGE CHAPTER VII

NEw YEAR’S Day IN KucHING—THE HouSE ON MaTTANG—ATAPS— RIVERSIDE PLANTS ON THE SARAWAK RIVER—NIBONGS, NIPAS, AND MANGROVES—AIR-ROOTS—SEEDS WHICH GERMINATE IN

Mi1p-AIR—SALAK AND ITS GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE—THE MENKA- BANG PINANG—VALLOMBROSA—THE SuMMIT Os MATTANG—A MONTH AT SINGAPORE—‘‘ WOODLANDS ’’—TIGERS—DORIA LEAVES FOR EUROPE—RETURN TO MatTTANG—THE HAIR OF A CHINA- WOMAN—A SINGULAR CEREMONY—I ARRANGE MY HousE— METHOD OF DRYING PLANTS—HEIGHT OF SOME TREES—THE BILIAN—FLOWERING OF TREES—THE DIPTEROCARPEE ON MATTANG —PRIMITIVE FLORA . : . : : 7 : 5 Of)

CHAPTER VIII

THE FLORA OF THE SEA-SHORE—SANTUBONG PEAK—STRANGE PLANTS —NEPENTHES VEITCHII—SATANG—TURTLES — EXCURSION TO PoE—AUSTRAL CHARACTER OF THE VEGETATION—MORE NOTABLE PLANTS — THE RAFFLESIA—GUNONG GADING— FRESHWATER ALG 5 : : 5 5 ° d A A 5 ; 94

CHAPTER Ide

At Mattranc AGAIN—WILD BEES—AN UNINHABITED MOuUNTAIN— ANTIQUITY OF THE ForEST—THE NAME MatTTanc—AN ABUND- ANCE OF BEAUTIFUL PLANTS—IHE AGE OF TREES—RARE SAPRO- PHYTES AND FUNGI IN THE ‘TROPICS—ADVENTITIOUS PLANTS AROUND THE CHINAMEN’S HousES—THE VALLEY OF RoTancs— Sprnous PLANTS—THE MoRMOLYCE—PITYRIASIS GYMNOCEPHALA —HorRNBILLS—-ARGUS PHEASANT AND NOCTURNAL LEPIDOPTERA —ALONE AT ‘ VALLOMBROSA’’—A STORM IN THE FOREST —SHOOTING AT BUNTAL P : 5 5 : : TOO

XV

CONTENTS

PAGE CHAPTER X

THE SOUTHERN BRANCH OF THE SARAWAK RIVER—DIAMOND WASHING —FOosSILS IN THE LIMESTONE—RAPIDS—RIVERSIDE PLANTS— PANKALAN AMPAT—IN SEARCH OF CoAL—GUNONG Wa— GREAT BamBoos—A Dyvak BANQUET—NEW KINDS OF FRUIT— Roaps BEYOND THE FRONTIER—SENNA—OTHER FRUITS AND CULTIVATED PLANTS—THERMAL SPRINGS—EXCURSIONS ON THE West BRANCH OF THE SARAWAK RIVER—THE CAVE OF THE WINpbs, ‘‘ LoBANG ANGIN ”’ : 5 ; j 4 3 5 UD

CEART ER Xa

ON THE BATANG LUPARIN SEARCH OF THE ORANG-UTAN—FROM KUCH- ING TO LINGGA ON THE “ HEARTSEASE’’—PULO BURONG AND ITS PaLMS—WeE ASCEND THE BATANG LUPAR—THE BURONG BUBUT —THE IKAN Sumpit—A SINGULAR LoORANTHUS—MarRop—I TAKE UP MY QUARTERS WITH CHINAMEN—EXPLORATIONS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD—AN ALBINO WoMmMAN—My FIRST ORANG-

UTAN—RacES AMONGST THE PRIMATES—A LARGE SPECIMEN OF “Mavas TJAPING ’’?—DISCONTENT AMONGST THE CHINAMEN—

A STRANGE CURE—BRIEF BUT SUCCESSFUL HUNT . 6 5 BY

CEEANP APE aap

BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLIES—A CHINESE DINNER—THE GOOD AND THE Evit oF OprlumMm—A YounGc Mayas—ExcuRSION TO THE TIANG Layu—A Poisonous SNAKE—HILL PIGS—VEGETATION ON THE SUMMIT OF TIANG LajJU—-PHOSPHORESCENCE IN THE FOREST— Dyak PREJUDICES—THE BEAR AND THE ANTS—UPAS CLOTH —NESTS OF BIRDS—ZOOLOGICAL AND BOTANICAL NOVELTIES— WILD Bananas—A DISGUSTING FLOWER—THE IKAN TION— Curious MEANS OF DEFENCE IN CERTAIN ANTS—THE CLULUT AND Its NEST—THE SUPPOSED FEMALE OF Mayas TJAPING—A FORTUNATE ORANG HUNT : : : 5 5; F Py i

XV1

tm Oo

CONTENTS

PAGE CHAPTER XIII

START FOR THE Kapuas LAKES—DYAK GALLANTRY—ON THE RIVER KANTU—NATIVE TOBACCO MANUFACTURE—CARDING AND SPINNING CoTTON—BraAss WORKERS—CURIOUS FISHERY—RAINS AND FLOODS —TrRIAL BY WATER—ANCIENT JARS—FLOODED-ouT INSECTS— Down THE KANTU AGAIN—NAVIGATION IN THE FOREST—IN THE UMPANANG—STRANGE FISHES—BLACK WATER—ON THE LAKES— —THE FORMATION OF COAL IN BORNEO—ON THE LAMPEI HILL —LakEeE PLants—HunGry DoGs—JouRNEY BacK—BOTANICAL RESULTS OF THE EXCURSION—DyYak NAMES—FRESHWATER ALG —ORCHARD HERBS AT MARop—GoopD CaTTLE Foop . , LOO,

CHAPTER XIV

DIFFERENT SPECIES OF ORANG-UTAN—THEIR HABITAT, FOOD, ETC.

—PECULIARITIES AND Hasits—THE SUMATRAN ORANG—AN ADAPTA-

ORANG F@tTUS—BOoRNEO AND THE PRECURSORS OF MAN TION TO ENVIRONMENT—VARIABILITY OF SPECIES—A NEW THEORY OF EVOLUTION—CONDITIONS NECESSARY FOR THE EVOLUTION OF MAN AND THE ANTHROPOIDS—THE HUMANISATION OF THE ANTHRO- POIDS—THE PLACE OF ORIGIN OF MAN : : : : 5 HOA

CHAPTER XV

THe Maray SAMPAN—EXCURSION TO TANJONG DATU—PULO SAMPA- DIEN—THE DuGoNG—A PIRATE’s NEST—ASCENT OF TANJONG Datu—LostT IN THE FoREST—Dyak DoGs—THE Domestic CAT OF BORNEO—THE WESTERNMOST EXTREMITY OF BORNEO—MARINE ALG#—THE RETURN JOURNEY—AN ENCHANTED HILL—AN UNEXPECTED NOCTURNAL VISIT—DANGEROUS Foop—AT LUNDU—

My First ATTACK OF MALaRIA—RIVERS BETWEEN THE LUNDU AND THE SARAWAK : : ; ; ; ; ; a 222 XVil

CONTENTS

PAGE CHAPTER XVI

THE ROTANG YIELDING DRAGON’s BLOoOoD—SINGHI HILL—NOTABLE PALMS AND THEIR Uses—-Across THE FOREST—ROTANG JER- NANG—MANNER OF EXTRACTING DRAGON’S BLOOD—THE LIRAN— SINGULAR FunGcI—A NiGcHtT Bivovuac—GIAntT Patm LEAVES— Dyak METHODS OF MAKING FIRE—FISHING IN FOREST STREAMS —VARIED USES OF BAMBOOS—MOBILITY OF THE TOES IN MALAYS AND DyaKS—NOTES ON THE FISHES OF THE SARAWAK RIVER—

PoIsonous FISHES AND SINGING FisHES—A THIEF-DETECTING FISH—FISHING WITH THE ‘‘ TUBA ”’

: ee 2 air

CHAPTER XVII

From LABUAN TO BRUNI ON THE Rajau’s GuNBoAT—My MAtLay SERVANTS—LABUAN—Mr. H. Low—THE VEGETATION AT LABUAN —PTILocERcUS Lowti—KiInAa BALU AND ITS NEPENTHES—BRUNI —RECEPTION BY THE SULTAN—DECAY OF THE CITY—PARASITES

IN OYSTERS—ON THE NAME BoORNEO—CLIMATES OF BRUNI AND LABUAN

5) BAD

CHAPTER XVIII

BIntTULU — THE MELLANAOS — FLOTSAM AND JETSAM — DETRITUS FLOATING ON THE SEA—AppITIONS TO My CoLLEcTIONS—INDIA- RUBBER-PRODUCING CREEPERS—NEW SEA PLANT—BUKETANS AND PENNANS—IDOLS AND TOMBS OF THE MELLANAOS—ASCENT OF THE BINTULU—THE TUBAO—TOMBS AND HOUSES OF THE KAYANS —Bic TapanG PLanKs—A FeEstivat—Curious MusicaL INSTRU- MENT—CAMPHOR AND THE METHODS OF EXTRACTING IT—FUNERAL CEREMONIES—NOTES ON THE KavyANS—THE UPAS AND THE PRE- PARATION OF THE PoIsoN—IRON ORE—NEW AND INTERESTING PLants—A SINGULAR BrRD—-THE MINUANG—AFFLUENTS OF THE BINTULU—A WILD DURIAN ‘ : : < 5 a BO)

XVill

CONTENTS

PAGE CHAPTER XIX

SAGO MAKING AT BINTULU—-DEPARTURE FOR THE INTERIOR—A PRIMI- TIVE Boat—UP THE BINTULU RIVER—A DANGEROUS ADVENTURE —WE ARE ForRcED TO RETURN—THE UNDANG-UNDANG—AN AQUATIC FERN—THIRD DEPARTURE FOR THE INTERIOR—SUB- AQUEOUS SOUNDS—A FORTUNATE MEETING—THE PAMALI ON THE TuBpao—I ForcE THE Pass—WITH THE KAYANS—NOVEL KIND oF IDOL—ASCENT OF THE TUBAO—DISEASES OF THE KAYANS— INFLUENCE OF FLOODS ON PLANTS—THE BELLAGA HILLS—-ON THE REJANG : ; : ‘ : ‘ 5 é on 287

CHAPTER XX

Down THE REJANG—THE KAYANS’ KNOWLEDGE OF THE INTERIOR— STENOPHYLLISM AND ITS CAUSES—CAMPHOR TREES—TAMA DIAN AND His ESTABLISHMENT—THE WILD SAGO PaLtmM—A KaAYAN MASQUERADE—THE BANTENG AND OTHER BIG GAME—ON THE RAPIDS—FRESHWATER ALG#® OF MARINE TyPE—SHARKS AND RAys IN THE RIVER—THE TANJONG—IN THE Dyak CoUNTRY—THE KETIBAS—KANoOwIT—A DISHONEST TRADER—AT SIBU—-THE TRIBES OF THE REJANG—FROM SIBU TO THE SEA—-BLACK FLOWERS —ADVENTURES WITH CROCODILES—NEW PaLMs—MOUTH OF THE IGAN—MOSQUITOES AND OTHER INSECT PESTS—WILD ORANGES . 302

CHAPTER XXI

FROM THE REJANG TO THE BATANG LUPAR—A SPLENDID Dyak TYPE —ORANG SKULL AMmMoNGST HUMAN TROPHIES—A Lucky GUN ACCIDENT—ON THE Kanowit—The Ruppy MONKEY AND BEZOAR STONES—ABNORMAL Dyaxs—A BIRD OF GOOD OMEN—POLING —PICTURESQUE SCENERY—REMARKABLE AQUATIC PLANTS—A GIANT TAPANG—MANUFACTURE OF SUMPITANS—WE BEGIN THE OVERLAND JOURNEY—FLOWERS ON Roots—A PicmMy AROID— EDIBLE STONES—RICE FIELDS—IN THE SAKARRANG VALLEY—

X1x

CONTENTS

PAGE Tue MILK oF THE Upsas—DyAk COSMOGRAPHY—DOWN THE

SAKARRANG—A DyAk CouURT OF JUSTICE—TRAVEL CUSTOMS ON THE SAKARRANG—ARRIVAL AT SIMANGGAN , ‘ : « 325

CHAPTER XXII

FROM THE BATANG LUPAR TO KUCHING — SIMANGGAN — A SWAMPY ForEST—AT BANTING—ASCENT OF Mount LINGGA— DIFFICULTIES BESET OUR JOURNEY—ASTRAY IN THE LAGOONS OF THE LINGGA— Dyak INSTRUMENT FOR HUSKING RICE—AN EXPERIMENT WITH Upas Poison—THE KuLit-LAWAN—AMONGST THE SABUYO DYAKS —MaRSHES WITH PANDANI—FROM SUMUNDJANG TO SAMARAHAN —LostT IN THE FOREST—END OF THE JOURNEY : : 7 4t

CHAPTER XXIII

SEASONAL ABNORMALITIES AND THEIR EFFECTS ON VEGETATION—AN ABLE TRAPPER—I BECOME INVALIDED—EXCURSION TO THE AURI- FEROUS DISTRICTS OF SARAWAK—-AT GROGO—FRESHWATER PEARL OvsTERS—GOLD IN CAVES—THE Paku CAVE—THE END OF MY PRoJECTS—I RETURN TO ITALY eae. 2 : : : ge B53

CHAPTER XXIV

SARAWAK TEN YEARS LATER—THE ‘‘ ASTANA,” RESIDENCE OF THE RajaAH—A GLANCE AT THE HISTORY OF SARAWAK—RAJAH SIR James BROOKE—THE CHINESE REBELLION—THE PRESENT RaAJAH —EXTENT AND BOUNDARIES OF THE KINGDOM OF SARAWAK—OUR PRESENT GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE INTERIOR OF BORNEO —WILpD TrRIBES—ABSENCE OF NEGRITOS IN BORNEO—CANNIBALISM AND HuMAN SACRIFICES—POPULATION OF SARAWAK—INTER-

xX

CONTENTS

PAGE COURSE OF THE CHINESE WITH THE ISLAND—-ARCHHOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES IN SARAWAK—STONE ADZES—ARCHAIC WRITING— PRopDUCTS OF BORNEO—AGRICULTURE—PRESERVATION OF THE FORESTS—EARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANIC PHENOMENA—MINERAL WEALTH OF BORNEO—KUCHING—POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF SARA- WAK—COMMERCE—REVENUE AND CUSTOMS—FORM OF GOVERN- MENT—RELIGIONS AND MISSIONS—CONCLUSIONS . : 54

APPENDIX

THE BORNEAN FOREST ; : : A é : A o | RIS)

XX1

ILLUSTRATIONS

Vegetation on a North Bornean River 5 4 Frontispiece. Kuching, Sarawak

View in the Gardens of the Astana, Kuching .

The Chinese Kampong in Kuching

Inche Bakar, Clerk at the Court of Justice (Malay), Datu Imaun, Head of the Mosque at Kuching (of Arab origin). Hadji Suden, Member of Council, Kuching (Partly Arab) .

Figure in Boro Budor Sculptures wearing Sloar

Figure in Boro Budor Sculptures wearing Sarong

Fruit of the Mangosteen, Garcinia Mangostana

The Sarawak River from the Astana Gardens

Head of Proboscis Monkey, Nasalis larvatus

Sea-Dyaks of the Seribas .

Girl of the Seribas Dyaks wearing the Silver S7szr .

Woman of the Seribas Dyaks weaving

Landing-Place of the Sea-Dyaks

Head-House or “ Panga”’ of the Land-Dyaks of Mungo Babi

Fruit of the Durian, Durio Zibetinus : , : ; 5

Land-Dyak, wearing Collar of Boars’ Tusks Girl of the Land-Dyaks

Nipa Palms, Nipa fruticans

Leaves and Flowers of Palaquium Optimum Flowers of Palaquium Optimum

Pitchers of Nepenthes Veitchit XXil

PAGE

13

FIG.

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 30 37 38 39 40 4I 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55

ILLUSTRATIONS

Rafflesia Tuan-Mude, Becc. Flowering Branch of the Tapang, Abauria excelsa Burmanniacee of the Mattang Forest A Bamboo Bridge on the Upper Sarawak . Land-Dyak Girls Lobang Angin, Upper Sarawak . “Tkan Sumpit ”’ or Sumpitan Fish, Toxodes jaculator . Adult Male Mayas Tjaping 6 Head of Supposed Female of Mayas Tjaping Profile of Supposed Female of Mayas Tjaping Interior of Sea~-Dyaks’ House Platform of Sea-Dyaks’ House . Tajau Jars of the Dyaks . Skull of Mayas Kassa Skull of Mayas Tjaping Orangs of the Mayas Kassa Race, on a Durian Tree Bones of Left Hand and Left Foot of Orang Foetus of Orang Foetus of Orang, side view Dyak Method of Obtaining Fire The West African Oil Palm (Eleis Guiniensis) Growing in Labuan Bruni Leuconotis Elastica, Becc. Orang-Kaya Tumanggong, Kayan Chief of the Barram River Orang-Kaya Tumanggong (profile) A Kinya; with Eyebrows and Eyelashes Extirpated . A Kinya (same subject in profile) Shooting Monkeys with the Sumpitan Leaves of Bornean Stenophyllous Plants (under surface) Tanjong Women Weaving Tambuks with Strips of Rotang Sidoan Women of the Lower Rejang making Baskets, etc. Dyak Method of Boring a Sumpitan . Sea-Dyak of the Sakarrang X X11

PAGE

103 108 ne T2Y7, 129 133 140 I51 156 157 7A 173 178 196 197 201 203 206 208 235 245 251 261 271 273 276 277 279 299 315 319 331 339

ILLUSTRATIONS

FIG. ; PAGE 56 Sea-Dyaks of the Batang Lupar . : : : : - B48 57 Hand-mill for Husking Rice . : : . . : ye SVAS) 38 The Astana, Kuching . : j : : : : Be S5V// 59 Cultivation of Pepper in Sarawak . . 5 . 5 375 60 A Forest Clearing in North Borneo . Sy hers ; : 385 61 Mount Kina Balu, from the Tampassuk River . < : 5 bien MAPS

I. SKETCH Map OF BORNEO . : 4 : A : . Lo face 17 2. Map oF PART OF SARAWAK : A : : : : me LAH 3. OUTLINE Map OF SARAWAK, SHOWING ROUTES FOLLOWED

BY THE AUTHOR . : : 3 : - . 5a) meeSY7:

XX1V

(Cale ial Jt

THE SARAWAK RIVER—KUCHING—OUR HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS— First IMPRESSIONS IN THE FoREST—A ROAD OVER TREE TRUNKS— LEECHES—SIUL AND TUAN-KU YASSIM—GIGANTIC CICADAS—FIG-TREES AND BrrRDS—AN EXPLORATION TOWARDS MATTANG

N April 4th, 1865, [embarked at Southampton on the Delhi, one

of the fine steamers of the P.and O. Company, and twelve days *

later reached Alexandria, where I met my friend Doria, who came from Genoa. The Suez Canal being then non-existent, we crossed the Isthmus by rail to join the Indian mail steamer in the Red Sea.

After the usual stop at Aden, and a quiet voyage over the Indian Ocean, we sighted the high land of Ceylon at dawn on May 5th, and at 6 a.m. our vessel, the Candia, dropped anchor in the small and not too well protected harbour of Point de Galle. The delight with which I gazed at this outermost fringe of the continent of Asia— perhaps more blessed by Nature than any other part of the world I can hardly venture to describe. The surprise for the traveller is all the greater from the fact that, as it were, at a single bound he finds himself transported from Europe to the tropics. The memory of the sweltering shores of the Red Sea, and the burnt and arid crags of Aden, only serve to increase his admiration of the charms of this island of perennial verdure.

In Ceylon we spent some delightful weeks which I need not dwell upon here. As a naturalist, finding himself for the first time in tropic lands, I was greatly disappointed to have to tear myself away from this enchanted isle. But our aspirations were towards more distant and less known lands, and on May 2oth we bade adieu to the island, laden with ineffaceable memories of the delightful days we passed on it. Touching at Penang, we arrived in due course at Singapore, and on June 15th found ourselves on the Rainbow, the Sarawak Government’s steamer, carrying the mails between Singapore and Kuching, the capital of Rajah Brooke’s dominions.

On the morning of June 19th we were early on deck, for with daylight the mountains of Borneo were sighted. The steamer had slackened speed in order not to approach the coast before dawn. As the sun rose, the imposing mass of Santubong appeared, like a

great fortress commanding the entrance to the Sarawak river. I B

IN, BORNEAN BORD SES ic i

Westward, and not far off, rose the high mountains Gading and Poe, and nearer still were the little islands Satang and Sampadien. Beyond, the coast-line terminates with the bold outline of Tanjong Datu, the frontier of the dominions of Rajah Brooke.!

The crests of Mattang command the land, which we rapidly - approached, whilst the outlines of new hills and new mountains appeared in the background as the morning mists faded away. Santubong from the sea looks quite inaccessible; but few bare patches of rock were to be seen on its flanks, for it is almost every- where clothed with dense vegetation. Huge trees rose from the fissures in its rocky sides, and on the enormous branches spreading out from their gigantic trunks lanas climbed up everywhere and hung down in thick festoons of verdure. Before us lay a narrow, sandy beach, covered beyond the water-line with tall casuarinas.

The Sarawak river is about 450 yards wide at its mouth, but at low tide it has a depth of hardly more than nineteen feet on the bar. Once inside the river, the few huts of the Malay fishermen forming the village of Santubong are visible on the mountain side. The Santubong entrance to the river is preferable with fine weather, whilst with bad weather it is easier to enter by the Mara- tabas channel, where there is greater depth and good anchorage for big ships.

Within the river mouth the scenery is at first highly picturesque, but after passing some hills covered with dense forest this is the case no longer. Both banks are covered down to the water’s edge with the vegetation peculiar to these tropical estuaries. Most con- spicuous are the mangroves (R/izophora), with bright, shining leaves of an intense green, which reflect the sun’s rays on their polished surfaces. Large tracts are entirely covered with the Nipa palm, whose enormous leaves are very like those of the coconut. Beautiful as they are, they become extremely monotonous after a time, packed closely together and without variation either in appearance or height. More elegant are the Nibong palms (Oncosperma filamen- tosa), also very abundant, with straight and slender stems, crowned with a tuft of delicate fronds finely divided and drooping in graceful curves.

The navigation on the Sarawak river is not dangerous for small ships; there are only two rocks to be avoided near the left bank about two and a half miles below the city. From this point the country, hitherto flat, gradually rises. Malay huts, partly hidden by trees, also begin to appear ; but although we are very near Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, distant seventeen miles from Santubong, the course of the river is so tortuous that no signs of the town can

1 The following words, Tanjong (cape), Pulo (island), Gunong (mountain),

Bukit (hill), Sunged (river) and Danau (lake), should be noted as Malay geo- graphical terms which of necessity will often occur in these pages.

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‘IVMVUVS ‘ONTHOOUN—'e ‘SIP

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IN BORNEAN: FORESTS [ CHAP.

yet be seen. A last point is rounded and a few white houses with wide roofs come into view, next the stores of the Borneo Company near the water’s edge, the Chinese bazaar, anda small wooden fort over which waves the Rajah’s flag. All this is on the right bank. On the left are few houses, but conspicuous amongst them the Astana, or palace of the Rajah, painted grey, and situated on a hill which overlooks the river. Such was our first view of the capital of Sarawak; but since our visit the town has increased very con- siderably in size, and has now some 25,000 inhabitants.

We were expected at Kuching, and a Government officer boarded the steamer at once with a kind invitation from the Tuan Muda for us to land and take up our quarters with him. The then Tuan Muda—for whom we had special letters of introduction from Sir James Brooke, the first European Rajah of Sarawak, whose acquaint- ance I had made in London before I started—is the present Rajah, H.H. Sir Charles Brooke, nephew of Sir James.! He received us with courteous and kind hospitality, which he extended to us during our residence in Sarawak, and which I shall ever remember with the sincerest gratitude.

We were lodged in a bungalow not far from the Astana or palace, and only a few hundred yards from the primeval forest. The house was constructed entirely of wood, somewhat in the style of Malay dwellings, resting on piles some five or six feet above the ground, thus enabling a man to walk beneath. It consisted of two big rooms, with a wide verandah all round, from which we had an extensive view of the town and its surroundings. The river which flowed at our feet is here about 250 yards in width. Its waters are turbid and completely influenced by the tides. The Malay quarter (Kampong Malayu) is composed entirely of houses built on piles which encroach upon the water along the muddy bank. A couple of miles away, in the direction of the Mattang range, rises the isolated conical hill known as Gunong Siul. Across the stream, in a south-easterly direction, the green forest covers the land as far as the eye can reach, with a distant border formed by rugged mountains. Not a village nor even an isolated hut was to be seen.

Such was the country which was to be the field of our explora- tions. Nothing better could be wished for by a naturalist—a wild and virgin country untouched by man, near a populous and civi- lised centre. Here we could study at our leisure the natural products of the land, then but little known, and enjoy at the same time most of the advantages of civilisation. Later, I travelled over a large portion of Borneo, penetrating into its far interior; I visited also

1 In Malay the title of “‘ Rajah’ corresponds to king, and that of “ Ranee”’ to queen. The Crown Prince bears the title of ‘‘ Rajah Muda” (young king), the second heir that of “ Tuan Muda” (young sir),

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1] OUR HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS

many of the less known islands of Malaysia and New Guinea; but nowhere did I meet with primeval forests so rich, so varied, and so peculiar in their flora as in the vicinity of Kuching.

The reason why so primeval a forest is to be found so near a populous centre may very naturally be asked. It is more simple than at first sight appears. To begin with, the capital of Sarawak was formerly much lower down the river, where Santubong now lies. Again, it must be remembered that, until lately, the Malay population of the Bornean coast-land lived entirely by piracy, and hardly thought of or attempted anything in the way of agriculture ; while even those Malays who had settled along the rivers of the interior were more often engaged in trying to cheat the Land- Dyaks than in cultivating the soil. With the country in a con- stant state of war and anarchy, the refuge of pirates from all parts of the Indian archipelago, now siding with the Malays now with the Sea-Dyaks, agriculture was, in fact, impossible. Yet this was the condition of Sarawak before Sir James Brooke came to the rescue. Itis therefore not surprising that the forest around Kuching should be still unmodified over an area of many miles towards the interior, and that the Land-Dyaks, more peaceful in their habits than the Sea-Dyaks, found it safer to establish themselves in less accessible localities, far from the sea and from the Malay settlements.

But I must lay aside the past history of Sarawak to complete the description of the neighbourhood of our bungalow, the scene of our first scientific explorations. I have already remarked that the primeval forest was on one side close to our house. No kind of pathway, however, led to it, and in order to reach it a dense scrub had to be crossed which had grown where the old trees of the forest had been destroyed. The flora of this scrub was very uninteresting, and after the first day got none of my attention. Westwards, however, in the direction of Mattang, only a short stretch of bare ground intervened, and a good path led at once into the great forest. Our bungalow was in the midst oi park-like ground, the meadow patches being formed by a small grass (Andro- pogon aciculatus, Retz.), the well-known “love grass” of Anglo- Indians, so called because its prickly glumes or ears are easily detached and fasten themselves on the dress of the passer-by in the most tenacious and inconvenient manner. Round the Rajah’s palace the gardeners are continually cutting it, and have succeeded in converting it into fine, green, soft and close-cropped lawns. In Sarawak this “‘ love grass” is the only plant with which lawns can be made, and when well kept the inconvenience caused by the seeds and their involucra is much diminished. The plant, which is a stranger to Borneo, as are nearly all the grasses found there, owes its wide diffusion to its tenacious and too affectionate ears.

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IN BORNEAN] FORESEES [ CHAP.

Around the bungalow, but farther off, where the ground was left uncultivated, other kinds of grasses grew. Of these the most per- nicious was the “Lalang” or ‘ Alang-alang,”’ the Imperata avundinacea of botanists, which destroys every other plant where it grows. I need not speak of it at present, but on more than one occasion I shall have to mention this pest in the following pages. More interesting were the bushes of the ‘‘ Onkodok”’ of the Malays (Melastoma obvolutum, Jack.), with big, rosy flowers of great beauty, and, where the soil was damper, clumps of Dillenta (Wormia), suffruticosa, Griff.), the “* Simpor”’ of the Malays, were most con- spicuous on account of its large leaves and huge golden flowers, often five and a half inches in diameter.

A little stream, issuing from the jungle and running into the river just below our house, was crossed by a wooden bridge. Fol- lowing it a pathway led to a hill on which once stood the Rajah’s residence, burnt to the ground in 1857, during the historic mutiny of the Chinese, which very nearly overthrew the young kingdom, and in which the Rajah, Sir James Brooke, narrowly escaped with his life. Our bungalow was one of the few European residences which were not destroyed during the revolt.

Some of the land lying between our house and the forest was partially cultivated with plantations of sweet-potatoes, bananas, yam, pineapples, etc., which were evidently recent. These orchards were cared for by the ~ Orang Boyan,”* or moremcomechhy ““Bawean ’—Javanese who come from a small island north of Madura and are considered in Borneo the best field-labourers. In the midst of these plantations a few trees of the old forest were still remaining, some yet lving—giants with their first branches springing from the trunks a hundred feet or more from the ground—but most of them dead, and their bare limbs battered and broken by the winds. On some of these large epiphytes were still growing, such as figs, Pandani and ferns. Amongst the latter the great elk’s-horn (Platycertum grande), on account of its singular conformation and the diversity in shape of its fronds, was by far the most notable.

The trees which go to form the great forests of Borneo are not adapted to remain isolated, although in most cases provided at their bases with broad expansions in the shape of buttresses which widen considerably below and contribute greatly to the stability of the trunk. If each tree could grow without having others near it its trunk would branch sooner and not grow to so great a height

1 Ovang in Malay means ‘‘man.’’ The ‘“ Orang Boyan” are thus the natives of the island of Boyan, as “‘ Ovang Ingris’’ are the English, “ Ovang Blanda’”’ the Dutch, ‘“‘ Ovang putih’”’ or “‘ white men,”’ all Europeans, ‘“ Ovang Dayak’”’ the Dyaks, ‘“‘ Ovang Malayu’’ the Malays, etc.

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| FIRST IMPRESSIONS IN THE FOREST

as it does, struggling for light and air in the company of its fellows. Thus the enormous height of the trunk is a direct consequence of the number of other trees in its vicinity competing for the ground on a restricted area, each individual striving to outgrow its neigh- bours in order to place its foliage in the best possible conditions. As long as these giants of the vegetable world are associated in large numbers so as to form a forest, they prop each other up recipro- cally and have good stability. But as soon asa forest tree is isolated by the destruction of those which grew around it, it cannot long resist the violence of the winds, and is soon mutilated and perishes. In the forest the roots of the trees are also in a peculiar condition of existence, so that they are unable to withstand the destruction of the surrounding timber. The soil, which before was always damp and shady, becomes abruptly exposed to great variations both in temperature and moisture. Moreover, on account of the thick stratum of rich humus which forms the surface layer of the primeval forest, the roots of the trees grow out superficially instead of down- wards. This circumstance, which on the one hand must have con- tributed to the formation of the basal buttress-like expansions of the trunks, explains on the other how isolated trees can easily be overthrown by the wind, owing to the absence of deep roots.

I was impatient to see something of the country, and the morning after our arrival, followed by a few native lads, I took my way along the path I have mentioned which led directly into the forest— a dense assemblage of trees, some gigantic in size, some slender, cylindrical, and devoid of branches to a considerable height. Their foliage high up, compactly united, formed a dense green vault, occasionally pierced by a stray sunbeam, marking its way across the hot, damp air. Lesser plants and bushes, of many kinds and varied aspect, struggled below for air and light amidst the bigger trees. The ground was covered by an intricate and confused mass of branches and fallen trunks of aged trees, decayed and enveloped with mosses; and a host of plants, all new to me. Not a single stone did I see uncovered. The fallen leaves heaped together formed a thick layer, which decomposition converts into a rich leaf- mould wherein other plants flourish in the shade caused by the larger ones. It hardly required any botanical experience to recognise a few palms in the multiform vegetable crowd surrounding me. Of these some had fan-like leaves (Licwala), and others showed elegant pin- nated fronds, springing from a long and slender trunk (Pinanga). But few gaudy flowers indeed were to be seen ; only here and there a solitary Ixora ventured to colour with its deep red blossoms the pervading dark green of the forest. The big aroids, Freycinetias, and Pandani with long, hanging leaves, together with ferns, orchids and hosts of epiphytes which it is impossible to enumerate, find ways and means of existence, as exiles from the soil, high up in the

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IN BORNEAN FORESTS [ CHAP.

air, holding on by their roots to the bark of the veterans of the forest.

For a few hundred yards the path was fairly good and dry, but if one wandered from it one was often brought up short by the sharp hooked thorns of the rotangs (Calamus), the climbing palms so characteristic of the forests of Malaysia. The ground was undulating, and gradually rose on the right, but on the left it sloped towards the river and soon became marshy. Farther on was a streamlet with sluggish waters, clear, but of the colour of strong tea. In such hollows, where one sinks up to the knees in the black mire formed by the decomposition of the fallen leaves, the types of vegetation were very varied. Numerous lianas with singular stems tightly twisted together ran along the ground, then climbed rampant over the trees, to shoot up far beyond their tops. From the bare trunks of these hanas bunches of flowers and masses of fruit often project, without the least trace of leaves, looking as if they were attached to the ropes of a ship. Here also grew various small trees and singular shrubs, some with stems supported by high roots, as if wishing to be lifted from the miry soil. One amongst them, a new species of Archyt@a, had a tall but slender stem which appeared as if raised on high stilts, and its head was entirely covered with beautiful blossoms of a camellia-like red. This plant (one of the Ternstrcemiaceee, P.B., No. 319), not having yet received a name, may be known as Archviea (Plojarium) pulcherrima ; it is easily distinguished from the well-known species A. elegans by its much larger flowers. _This was one of the few small trees which, under the shade of the big ones, bore flowers of a bright colour. Another very curious small tree not scarce in that locality belonged to the Anonacez (Polyaliia, P.B., No. 2,277), with the stem clothed from the base to the bigger branches with stellate flowers of a salmon red. The number of plants new to science which I subsequently found in this small tract of forest was truly wonderful.

Continuing to advance, the path grew worse. Hardly a foot of dry ground was met with, but the pathway was traced out, and was an example of many such in Borneo. It had been made by order of the Tuan Muda not long before, and led to Siul, the small conical hill which could be seen from our house. Where the ground was rising and dry, the forest could be easily crossed; but in the hollows the water accumulates, and the vegetation is so dense as to be quite impenetrable. In order, therefore, to make a pathway, big trees are cut by the natives so as to fall in the direction required ; the branches are then lopped off and the trunks adjusted in a con- tinuous line. Thus a path is laid down over a line of prostrate tree trunks, or “‘ batang,” as the Malays call them, even for many miles ; but, naturally, it is hardly a level and smooth one, although much can be done in this way by filling the gaps with smaller trunks

9 S

| A ROAD OVER TREE TRUNKS

and branches tied down with rotangs and fixed with stakes driven into the ground. Such pathways when recently constructed can be travelled over rapidly enough when one has learnt how to do so with bare feet, but a novice can only acquire the art after the experience gained by frequent falls.

The road to Siul was for the most part of this kind, but being some months old the trunks, owing to the prevailing damp heat and frequent rains, were becoming decayed. Many had lost their bark on the exposed side, and this was rendered extremely slippery by a thin coating of aminute alga. Such trunks were not at all easy to cross without slipping off, for they were as greasy as if they had been well soaped. I soon learnt that thick-soled