Download Reliable Study Materials and full Test Banks at testbankmall.

com

Business Intelligence Analytics and Data Science A

Managerial Perspective 4th Edition Sharda Test
Bank

https://testbankmall.com/product/business-intelligence-
analytics-and-data-science-a-managerial-perspective-4th-
edition-sharda-test-bank/

OR CLICK HERE

DOWLOAD NOW

Visit now to discover comprehensive Test Banks for All Subjects at testbankmall.com
 Instant digital products (PDF, ePub, MOBI) ready for you
Download now and discover formats that fit your needs...

Start reading on any device today!

Test Bank for Business Intelligence, Analytics, and Data

Science: A Managerial Perspective, 4th Edition, Ramesh
Sharda, Dursun Delen Efraim Turban
https://testbankmall.com/product/test-bank-for-business-intelligence-
analytics-and-data-science-a-managerial-perspective-4th-edition-
ramesh-sharda-dursun-delen-efraim-turban/
testbankmall.com

Solution Manual for Business Intelligence, Analytics, and

Data Science: A Managerial Perspective, 4th Edition,
Ramesh Sharda, Dursun Delen, Efraim Turban,
https://testbankmall.com/product/solution-manual-for-business-
intelligence-analytics-and-data-science-a-managerial-perspective-4th-
edition-ramesh-sharda-dursun-delen-efraim-turban/
testbankmall.com

Test Bank for Analytics, Data Science, and Artificial

Intelligence 11th Ediiton Sharda

https://testbankmall.com/product/test-bank-for-analytics-data-science-
and-artificial-intelligence-11th-ediiton-sharda/

testbankmall.com

Solution Manual for Analytics Data Science and Artificial

Intelligence 11th Ediiton Sharda

https://testbankmall.com/product/solution-manual-for-analytics-data-
science-and-artificial-intelligence-11th-ediiton-sharda/

testbankmall.com
Test bank for Business Intelligence: A Managerial
Perspective on Analytics, 3/E 3rd Edition. Ramesh Sharda,
Dursun Delen, Efraim Turban
https://testbankmall.com/product/test-bank-for-business-intelligence-
a-managerial-perspective-on-analytics-3-e-3rd-edition-ramesh-sharda-
dursun-delen-efraim-turban/
testbankmall.com

Solution Manual for Business Intelligence: A Managerial

Perspective on Analytics, 3/E 3rd Edition. Ramesh Sharda,
Dursun Delen, Efraim Turban
https://testbankmall.com/product/solution-manual-for-business-
intelligence-a-managerial-perspective-on-analytics-3-e-3rd-edition-
ramesh-sharda-dursun-delen-efraim-turban/
testbankmall.com

Solution Manual for Analytics, Data Science, & Artificial

Intelligence Systems for Decision Support 11th by Sharda

https://testbankmall.com/product/solution-manual-for-analytics-data-
science-artificial-intelligence-systems-for-decision-support-11th-by-
sharda/
testbankmall.com

Test Bank for Business Government and Society A Managerial

Perspective, 13th Edition: Steiner

https://testbankmall.com/product/test-bank-for-business-government-
and-society-a-managerial-perspective-13th-edition-steiner/

testbankmall.com

Test Bank for Business Intelligence and Analytics: Systems

for Decision Support, 10/E 10th Edition : 0133050904

https://testbankmall.com/product/test-bank-for-business-intelligence-
and-analytics-systems-for-decision-support-10-e-10th-
edition-0133050904/
testbankmall.com
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 100

8) Google Maps has set new standards for data visualization with its intuitive Web mapping
software.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 103

9) There are basic chart types and specialized chart types. A Gantt chart is a specialized chart
type.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 107

2
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
10) Visualization differs from traditional charts and graphs in complexity of data sets and use of
multiple dimensions and measures.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 110

11) When telling a story during a presentation, it is best to avoid describing hurdles that your
character must overcome, to avoid souring the mood.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 113

12) Visual analytics is aimed at answering, "What is it happening?" and is usually associated
with business analytics.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 112

13) Dashboards provide visual displays of important information that is consolidated and
arranged across several screens to maintain data order.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 117

14) In the Dallas Cowboys case study, the focus was on using data analytics to decide which
players would play every week.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 118

15) Data source reliability means that data are correct and are a good match for the analytics
problem.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 59

16) Data accessibility means that the data are easily and readily obtainable.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 59

17) Structured data is what data mining algorithms use and can be classified as categorical or
numeric.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 61

18) Interval data are variables that can be measured on interval scales.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 62

19) Nominal data represent the labels of multiple classes used to divide a variable into specific
groups.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 61

2
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
20) Descriptive statistics is all about describing the sample data on hand.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 75

21) Which characteristic of data means that all the required data elements are included in the data
set?
A) data source reliability
B) data accessibility
C) data richness
D) data granularity
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 59-60

22) Key performance indicators (KPIs) are metrics typically used to measure
A) database responsiveness.
B) qualitative feedback.
C) external results.
D) internal results.
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 99

23) Kaplan and Norton developed a report that presents an integrated view of success in the
organization called
A) metric management reports.
B) balanced scorecard-type reports.
C) dashboard-type reports.
D) visual reports.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 99

24) Which characteristic of data requires that the variables and data values be defined at the
lowest (or as low as required) level of detail for the intended use of the data?
A) data source reliability
B) data accessibility
C) data richness
D) data granularity
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 59-60

25) Which of the following is LEAST related to data/information visualization?

A) information graphics
B) scientific visualization
C) statistical graphics
D) graphic artwork
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 101

3
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
26) The Internet emerged as a new medium for visualization and brought all the following
EXCEPT
A) worldwide digital distribution of visualization.
B) immersive environments for consuming data.
C) new forms of computation of business logic.
D) new graphics displays through PC displays.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 101-103

27) Which kind of chart is described as an enhanced version of a scatter plot?

A) heat map
B) bullet
C) pie chart
D) bubble chart
Answer: D
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 107

28) Which type of visualization tool can be very helpful when the intention is to show relative
proportions of dollars per department allocated by a university administration?
A) heat map
B) bullet
C) pie chart
D) bubble chart
Answer: C
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 106

29) Which type of visualization tool can be very helpful when a data set contains location data?
A) bar chart
B) geographic map
C) highlight table
D) tree map
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 107

30) Which type of question does visual analytics seeks to answer?

A) Why is it happening?
B) What happened yesterday?
C) What is happening today?
D) When did it happen?
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 112

4
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
31) When you tell a story in a presentation, all of the following are true EXCEPT
A) a story should make sense and order out of a lot of background noise.
B) a well-told story should have no need for subsequent discussion.
C) stories and their lessons should be easy to remember.
D) the outcome and reasons for it should be clear at the end of your story.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 113

32) Benefits of the latest visual analytics tools, such as SAS Visual Analytics, include all of the
following EXCEPT
A) mobile platforms such as the iPhone are supported by these products.
B) it is easier to spot useful patterns and trends in the data.
C) they explore massive amounts of data in hours, not days.
D) there is less demand on IT departments for reports.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 115

33) What is the management feature of a dashboard?

A) operational data that identify what actions to take to resolve a problem
B) summarized dimensional data to analyze the root cause of problems
C) summarized dimensional data to monitor key performance metrics
D) graphical, abstracted data to monitor key performance metrics
Answer: A
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 119

34) What is the fundamental challenge of dashboard design?

A) ensuring that users across the organization have access to it
B) ensuring that the organization has the appropriate hardware onsite to support it
C) ensuring that the organization has access to the latest Web browsers
D) ensuring that the required information is shown clearly on a single screen
Answer: D
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 119

35) Contextual metadata for a dashboard includes all the following EXCEPT
A) whether any high-value transactions that would skew the overall trends were rejected as a part
of the loading process.
B) which operating system is running the dashboard server software.
C) whether the dashboard is presenting "fresh" or "stale" information.
D) when the data warehouse was last refreshed.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 121

5
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
36) Dashboards can be presented at all the following levels EXCEPT
A) the visual dashboard level.
B) the static report level.
C) the visual cube level.
D) the self-service cube level.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 122

37) This measure of central tendency is the sum of all the values/observations divided by the
number of observations in the data set.
A) dispersion
B) mode
C) median
D) arithmetic mean
Answer: D
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 76

38) This measure of dispersion is calculated by simply taking the square root of the variations.
A) standard deviation
B) range
C) variance
D) arithmetic mean
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 78

39) This plot is a graphical illustration of several descriptive statistics about a given data set.
A) pie chart
B) bar graph
C) box-and-whiskers plot
D) kurtosis
Answer: C
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 79

40) This technique makes no a priori assumption of whether one variable is dependent on the
other(s) and is not concerned with the relationship between variables; instead it gives an estimate
on the degree of association between the variables.
A) regression
B) correlation
C) means test
D) multiple regression
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 86

41) A(n) is a communication artifact, concerning business matters, prepared with the
specific intention of relaying information in a presentable form.
Answer: report
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 98

6
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
42) statistics is about drawing conclusions about the characteristics of the population.
Answer: Inferential
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 75

43) Due to the expansion of information technology coupled with the need for
improved competitiveness in business, there has been an increase in the use of computing power
to produce unified reports that join different views of the enterprise in one place.
Answer: rapid
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 98

44) management reports are used to manage business performance through outcome-
oriented metrics in many organizations.
Answer: Metric
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 99

45) When validating the assumptions of a regression, assumes that the relationship
between the response variable and the explanatory variables are linear.
Answer: linearity
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 89

46) regression is a very popular, statistically sound, probability-based classification

algorithm that employs supervised learning.
Answer: Logistic
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 90

47) charts are useful in displaying nominal data or numerical data that splits nicely
into different categories so you can quickly see comparative results and trends.
Answer: Bar
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 106

48) charts or network diagrams show precedence relationships among the project
activities/tasks.
Answer: PERT
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 107

49) are typically used together with other charts and graphs, as opposed to by
themselves, and show postal codes, country names, etc.
Answer: Maps
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 107

50) Typical charts, graphs, and other visual elements used in visualization-based applications
usually involve _ dimensions.
Answer: two
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 110

7
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
51) Visual analytics is widely regarded as the combination of visualization and
analytics.
Answer: predictive
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 112

52) Dashboards present visual displays of important information that are consolidated and
arranged on a single .
Answer: screen
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 117

53) With dashboards, the layer of information that uses graphical, abstracted data to keep tabs on
key performance metrics is the layer.
Answer: monitoring
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 119

54) series forecasting is the use of mathematical modeling to predict future values of
the variable of interest based on previously observed values.
Answer: Time
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 97

55) Information dashboards enable operations that allow the users to view underlying
data sources and obtain more detail.
Answer: drill-down/drill-through
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 121

56) With a dashboard, information on sources of the data being presented, the quality and
currency of underlying data provide contextual for users.
Answer: metadata
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 121

57) When validating the assumptions of a regression, assumes that the errors of the
response variable are normally distributed.
Answer: normality
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 89-90

58) charts are effective when you have nominal data or numerical data that splits
nicely into different categories so you can quickly see comparative results and trends within your
data.
Answer: Bar
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 106

59) plots are often used to explore the relationship between two or three variables (in
2-D or 2-D visuals).
Answer: Scatter
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 106

8
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
60) charts are a special case of horizontal bar charts that are used to portray project
timelines, project tasks/activity durations, and overlap among the tasks/activities.
Answer: Gantt
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 107

61) List and describe the three major categories of business reports.
Answer:
• Metric management reports. Many organizations manage business performance through
outcome-oriented metrics. For external groups, these are service-level agreements (SLAs). For
internal management, they are key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Dashboard-type reports. This report presents a range of different performance indicators on
one page, like a dashboard in a car. Typically, there is a set of predefined reports with static
elements and fixed structure, but customization of the dashboard is allowed through widgets,
views, and set targets for various metrics.
• Balanced scorecard–type reports. This is a method developed by Kaplan and Norton that
attempts to present an integrated view of success in an organization. In addition to financial
performance, balanced scorecard–type reports also include customer, business process, and
learning and growth perspectives.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 99

62) List five types of specialized charts and graphs.

Answer:
• Histograms
• Gantt charts
• PERT charts
• Geographic maps
• Bullets
• Heat maps
• Highlight tables
• Tree maps
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 107-108

63) According to Eckerson (2006), a well-known expert on BI dashboards, what are the three
layers of information of a dashboard?
Answer:
1. Monitoring. Graphical, abstracted data to monitor key performance metrics.
2. Analysis. Summarized dimensional data to analyze the root cause of problems.
3. Management. Detailed operational data that identify what actions to take to resolve a
problem.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 119

9
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
64) List the five most common functions of business reports.
Answer:
• To ensure that all departments are functioning properly
• To provide information
• To provide the results of an analysis
• To persuade others to act
• To create an organizational memory (as part of a knowledge management system)
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 98

65) What are the most important assumptions in linear regression?

Answer:
1. Linearity. This assumption states that the relationship between the response variable and the
explanatory variables is linear. That is, the expected value of the response variable is a straight-
line function of each explanatory variable, while holding all other explanatory variables fixed.
Also, the slope of the line does not depend on the values of the other variables. It also implies
that the effects of different explanatory variables on the expected value of the response variable
are additive in nature.
2. Independence (of errors). This assumption states that the errors of the response variable are
uncorrelated with each other. This independence of the errors is weaker than actual statistical
independence, which is a stronger condition and is often not needed for linear regression
analysis.
3. Normality (of errors). This assumption states that the errors of the response variable are
normally distributed. That is, they are supposed to be totally random and should not represent
any nonrandom patterns.
4. Constant variance (of errors). This assumption, also called homoscedasticity, states that the
response variables have the same variance in their error, regardless of the values of the
explanatory variables. In practice this assumption is invalid if the response variable varies over a
wide enough range/scale.
5. Multicollinearity. This assumption states that the explanatory variables are not correlated (i.e.,
do not replicate the same but provide a different perspective of the information needed for the
model). Multicollinearity can be triggered by having two or more perfectly correlated
explanatory variables presented to the model (e.g., if the same explanatory variable is mistakenly
included in the model twice, one with a slight transformation of the same variable). A
correlation-based data assessment usually catches this error.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 89-90

66) Describe the difference between simple and multiple regression.

Answer: If the regression equation is built between one response variable and one explanatory
variable, then it is called simple regression. Multiple regression is the extension of simple
regression where the explanatory variables are more than one.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 87

10
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
67) Describe the difference between descriptive and inferential statistics.
Answer: The main difference between descriptive and inferential statistics is the data used in
these methods—whereas descriptive statistics is all about describing the sample data on hand,
and inferential statistics is about drawing inferences or conclusions about the characteristics of
the population.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 75

68) Describe categorical and nominal data.

Answer: Categorical data represent the labels of multiple classes used to divide a variable into
specific groups. Examples of categorical variables include race, sex, age group, and educational
level. Nominal data contain measurements of simple codes assigned to objects as labels, which
are not measurements. For example, the variable marital status can be generally categorized as
(1) single, (2) married, and (3) divorced.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 61

11
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Other documents randomly have
different content
and up the hill slope beyond, until just below the rocky summit, this plant is found at a
place called the ‘Devil’s House’ (‘Satan punya ruma’) where are some dark deep holes
in the face of perpendicular rocks, frequented by the swallows which build the edible
nests so highly valued by the rich Chinese. The burbidgea grows on low wet sandstone
boulders, on which their rhizomes and roots form a perfect mat, and among the plants as
thus elevated decayed leaves and other forest débris is blown by winds or washed by
rains. Although growing in rich shady forest, and subjected to a heavy rainfall, and high,
albeit fresh and often windy atmosphere, the plants rarely exceed a yard in height. To
this place Mr. Veitch went with a body of trusty natives, and many bundles of the plants
were brought back, some of them fine masses of twenty or thirty stems, each having
recently borne a large cluster of its rich, orange-coloured flowers.

“While Mr. Veitch was away, my Chinese boy, ‘Kimjeck,’ got out the cooking utensils to
prepare dinner on the shore, and the men who stayed behind amused themselves by
looking for flowers (‘cheri bunga’) in the low forest and on the sandstone rock near our
landing-place. I had to lie in the boat beneath the awning, feeling very sick, and with a
splitting headache—feverish symptoms which all travellers in tropical forests alike must
suffer. I was just dozing off to sleep when I heard much yelling, and my boy, who had
joined the men, returned down the jungle path at full speed, shouting ‘Ular! Ular! Tuan!
Sayah mow etu snapang lakas skali!’ ‘Trima kasi!’ he ejaculated, as he snatched my gun
and disappeared with the agility of a young goat. The gist of the matter was, he had seen
a snake and was off to shoot it. After listening for ten minutes to the most deafening
shouts and yells, mingled with many ejaculations of advice and caution, and the reports
of both barrels echoing through the forest, I was rather disappointed to see them return
with a small snake, not larger than the English viper. On my expressing my surprise, and
observing that, by the noise, I thought it was a snake big enough to swallow a buffalo,
the men all agreed that what it lacked in size was amply compensated for by its fatal bite
—or, as they expressed it, ‘if that snake bit a man he need not trouble about food any
more, as he would have no time to pray.’

“The Muruts have a great love for gong music; and now and then a cheap German gun,
or old Tower musket, is obtained from Chinese traders. Spears, blow-pipes, krisses or
parongs (swords), and their ghastly baskets of human skulls, form their only
accumulated wealth. These heads are used to ornament their dwellings at their periodical
seasons of feasting, and when illuminated by the flickering glare of ‘dammar’ gum
torches the effect is melodramatic in the extreme. It was rather difficult to make any use
of these Muruts as collectors—they showed no powers of discrimination whatever, while
the Kadyans, on the other hand—who are also aboriginals, but have mixed much with
the dominant Malays, by whom they were years ago converted to the faith of Islam—
showed great aptitude, and were of real service; and I shall long retain pleasant
memories of some of the Kadyan villagers, especially ‘Moumein,’ of Meringit, who
received me into the little village he had founded with every demonstration of
friendship, and rendered me much intelligent assistance for many weeks. Of Malays
generally one may say that they live by lying and thieving in one form or another, but the
aboriginal races of Borneo, like the Papuans whom Goldie met inland in New Guinea,
are gentle and hospitable to peaceably disposed strangers, and it will be a great pity to
see them exterminated in the way their prototypes, the Incas of Peru, and the Red Men of
the West, have been.”

1 On mountains in Borneo above 7000 feet a form of Dipteris Horsfieldii grows freely among
dacrydiums, droseras, dianella, dawsonia superba, a tiny umbellifer, and other Australian types. It is dwarf,
rarely above two feet high, with glaucous leathery and brittle fronds, almost silvery below. ↑
CHAPTER VII.
 BEAUTIFUL BORNEO.

Borneo—Wild animals—the Malays—Poetry—Romances—Dewa Indra—Native government

—Pile dwellings—Intermarriage—Language—Clothing—Courtship—Marriage—Inland tribes
—Land culture—Native villages—Food products—Textile fabrics—Bark cloth—Native
women—Climate—Native produce—Kayan weapon—Rivers—Gambling—Opium smoking.

Borneo, the beautiful—the “garden of the sun”—is the third largest island in the world,
and boasts a much larger area than that occupied by the British Isles. The equator divides
it, and the climate is, perhaps, that most suitable for vegetation of any other, being
uniformly hot and humid all the year round. There are no volcanoes, the tiger is
unknown, and it is the only habitat of the wild elephant in the Malay Archipelago. It is
also remarkable as being the home of the wild man of the forests, or the “orang utan” of
the Malays. Alligators abound in the rivers, and are the most dangerous of the wild
animals. Snakes exist plentifully, and in great variety, but death from snake-bites is very
rare. The two-horned rhinoceros, wild cattle, pigs in abundance, and several species of
deer are known.

The human inhabitants may be roughly divided into two races, the Malays and the
Borneans, or aboriginals. The origin of both types is obscure. The Malays, however, are
immigrants who inhabit the coasts of all the large Malay islands where, as here in
Borneo, they have long held the dominant power. Some believe them to have originally
been the descendants of Arabs who settled in the Celebes long before the Dutch became
rulers in these seas, and this view gains some support from the fact of the Arabic
character being used in writing, and their titles as Sultan, hadji, and sherrif, are of Arabic
origin. They all profess Islam. The Bornean Malays may be said to have but little
literature: the Koran, a few MS. poems, prayers, and tales are the only books generally
seen in the island; but the people possess a vast amount of traditional lore, and many of
their songs refer to the history of the country, the beauty of their women, or to the
personal attributes and prowess of their former rulers.

The following may be taken as a fair sample of Malayan poetry, and was originally
published in the Asiatic Journal. Many of the tales and legends of the Malays are in
blank verse, with a good many repetitions; and choruses are extremely popular, as also
are extemporaneous vocal performances:—

“Cold is the wind, the rain falls fast,

I linger, though the hour is past.
Why come you not? whence this delay!
 Have I offended—say?

“My heart is sad and sinking too;

Oh! break it not! it loves but you!
Come, then, and end this long delay,
Why keep you thus away?

“The wind is cold, fast falls the rain,

Yet weeping, chiding, I remain,
You come not still—you still delay!
Oh, wherefore can you stay!”

Malayan romances and minstrelsy are alike rich in imagery, as the following examples
from Marsden’s Malay Grammar will suffice to show:—

Passages extracted from a Pŭngutib sagala remah

Romance, containing the deripada hikayat Indra
adventures Of Indra Laksana, Laksana, dan Indra
Mahadewa, and Dewa Indra. Mahadewa dan Dewa Indra.

“The prince then smiling (at the defiance “Maka baginda pun tŭrsŭnyum sŭraya
sent by the enemy) went to soothe the pŭrgi mŭmbujok istrinya itu, katanya,
affliction of his wife, and addressed her ‘adoh adinda tinggallah tuan nyawa dan
thus: ‘O my love, thou who art to me the badan kakŭnda, jikalau kakŭnda mati
soul of my body, farewell! If perchance it kŭlak, maka tuan kŭnangkanlah kasih
should be thy husband’s doom to fall (in sayang kakŭnda yang sŭdikit itu, dan tuan
the approaching battle), wilt thou cherish slimutilah kakŭnda dŭngan kain yang
the memory of him with some degree of dipinggang tuan itu, dan tuan mandikanlah
fond concern? Wilt thou wrap him in the mayat kakŭnda dŭngan ayer mata tuan
scarf that binds thy waist? Wilt thou bathe yang sa’pŭrti ŭmbon yang dihujong
his corpse with thy tears pure as the dew rumpot juga adanya. Dan taborilah mayat
that hangs at the extremity of the grass? kakŭnda dŭngan bunga yang dalam sangol
Wilt thou bestrew it with the flowers tuan itu.’ Maka tuan pŭtri itupon makin
which now adorn the folds of thy hair?’ sangatalah iya mŭnangis sŭraya mŭmŭlok
The princess upon this wept the more leher Indra Laksana. Adapun tangan tuan
abundantly, and embraced the neck of pŭtri mŭmŭlok itu sapŭrti gadong kasturi
Indra Laksana, her arm enfolding it as the yang mŭlilit pohon angsuka itu
muskscented epidendrum entwines the dŭmkianlah rupanya, maka sŭgralah
angsuka tree (Pavetta indica). Such was disapunya ulih Indra Laksana ayer
the picture she exhibited, whilst Indra matanya tuan pŭtri itu.”
wiped away the tears from her eyes.”

“Upon the arrival of Indra Mahadewa at “Adapun Indra Mahadewa sŭtlah iya
the palace, he seated himself by the side of datang kamahligie itu, maka lalu iya
the princess (his bride) and said to her, dudok dŭkat tuan pŭtri sŭraya tŭrsŭnyum
smiling, ‘My love, my soul, what manner katanya, ‘ya adinda tuan nyawa kakŭnda,
is it your intention to dispose of yourself, apatah bichari tuan skarang ini, kŭrna
as I am obliged to proceed in the search of kakŭnda ini akau pŭrgi mŭnchari saudara
my brother? If it be your design to kakŭnda? Dan jikalau tuan akan pŭrgi
accompany me, you should lose no time in bŭrsama sama dŭngan kakŭnda, maka
giving orders for the necessary baiklah tuan mŭnyurohkan orang bŭr­‐
preparations, as my departure must be simpan simpan, skarang ini juga kakŭnda
immediate.’ When the princess Seganda ini akan bŭrjalan.’ Sŭtlah tuan pŭtri
Ratna heard these words, she held down Seganda Ratna mŭnŭng ar kata Indra
her head, and with glances sweet as the Mahadewa itu, maka tuan pŭtri itupon
blue lotos flower in the sea of honey, tundok, maka ekor matanya spŭrti sruja
replied, ‘What plans, my love, am I, a biru yang didalam laut mŭdu, rupanya
young female, to pursue but those of my manis bukan barang barang, sŭraya
lord alone? For is not a wife under the bŭrkata, ‘ya kakŭnda apatah bichara
guidance of her husband?’ Indra kapada anak prŭmpuan, mŭlainkan lebih
Mahadewa showed his satisfaction at bichara kakŭnda juga? Kŭrna prŭmpuan
hearing these expressions from the itu didalam maalum lakinya?’ Maka Indra
princess, embraced and kissed her saying, Mahadewa pun tŭrsŭnyum munŭngar kata
‘Thy good sense adds grace to thy lovely tuan pŭtri itu, maka lalu dipŭlok dan
features; thou shalt be the soother of my chiyumnya sluroh tubohnya, sŭraya
cares, my comforter, my companion.’ ” katanya, ‘Pandienya orang yang baik paras
ini bŭrkata kata,’ dan tuanlah akan
pŭmadam hati kakŭnda yang mŭshgol dan
yang mŭnjadi panglipur lara hati, dan
tŭman kakŭnda.”
“Having spoken thus, Indra Mahadewa “Sutlah sudah iya bŭrkata dumkian itu,
bent his course wherever his uncertain maka Indra Mahadewa itupun bŭrjalanlah
steps might lead. With an anxious heart dŭngan sapambawa kakinya, dŭngan
and suffering from hunger and thirst, he rawan hatinya, dŭngan lapar dahaganya,
penetrated into forests of great extent, masok hutan rimba yang bŭsar bŭsar, dan
ascended high mountains, and crossed mŭlalui gunong yang tinggi tinggi, dan
wide plains. The sun was now set, and the masok padang yang luas luas. Maka mata
moon rose in all her splendour as if to hari pun masoklah, maka bulan pun
serve him for a torch. The prince, although tŭrbitlah spŭrti orang mŭnyulohkan Indra
fatigued, proceeded towards the hills of Mahadewa itu, chayanya pun tŭrlalu trang
Indra Kila, and as he passed, the tender tŭmarang. Maka baginda pun lalu mŭnuju
branches of the climbing plants waved gunong Indra Kila dŭngan lŭlahnya, maka
with the wind and seemed inclined to sagala puchok kayu yang mŭlata ditiup
follow the beautiful youth. As the dawn angin mŭlambie rupanya, spŭrti handak
gradually arose, the clouds in the border of mŭngikot orang baik paras lakunya. Maka
the sky assumed a variety of shapes, some fajar pun mŭnyensenglah bŭr­pangkat
having the form of trees, and some pangkat, maka awan ditŭpi langit itu
resembling animals; but the trees of the bŭrbagie rupanya, ada yang spŭrti pohon
forest were still obscured from sight by the kayu, dan ada yang spŭrti binatang
dense vapour rising from the dew. The rupanya, maka sagala pohon rimba itu pun
light of the sun now began to appear, tiadalah klihatan kŭrna kabot ulih ŭmbun.
glancing from the interstices of the Maka chaya matahari pun tŭrbitlah
mountains like the countenance of a lovely mŭmanchar manchar deri chŭlah chŭlah
virgin, whilst its beams shooting upwards gunong, spŭrti muka anak darah yang elok
exhibited the appearance of flags and rupanya, dan rupa sinarnya yang
banners waving in front of an army mŭmanchar kaatas spŭrti tunggol dan
marching to battle.” mega dihadapan lawan akan prang.”

“The king was highly pleased with the “Maka baginda pun tŭrlalu sangat
manners and disposition of Dewa Indra, as bŭrkŭnan mŭlihat lakunya dan pŭkŭrtinya
well as with his graceful person and Dewa Indra itu, tambahan pula dŭngan
superior understanding. He said to him, baik rupanya, dŭngan arif bijaksananya.
‘Partake of betel, my son.’ Dewa Indra Sŭraya katanya, ‘Makanlah sireh, ya
having accordingly partaken, returned the anakku.’ Maka Dewa Indra itupŭn lalu
betel-stand to the king, who thus addressed makan sireh sa’kapor, maka
him: ‘I have sent for you, my son, in order dipŭrsŭmbahkaneya kapada Dewa Indra,
to make known to you a resolution taken katanya: ‘hie anakku, adapun ayahanda
by me some time since; that to the person mŭnyuroh mŭmanggil tuan kamari ini,
who having counted out ten large kŭrna ayahanda ini sudah bŭrtitah dahulu;
measures of sesame seed and as many shahadan barang siapa dapat mŭmbilang
measures of sand, thoroughly blended biji lang yang sa’puloh koyan, dan pasir
together, should be able to separate the sapuloh koyan juga, maka dichamporkan
grains of the one from the grains of the antara kaduanya itu, kŭmdian maka
other, and to complete the performance of dipilehnya pasir dan biji lang itu, shahadan
the task in the course of a day; to such maka habislah dŭngan sa ‘hari itu juga,
person alone should I give the hand of my atau kapada malam, maka iyalah akan
daughter in marriage.’ Dewa Indra smiled suami tuan pŭtri.’ Maka Dewa Indra
on hearing the king’s words, knowing Kayangan itupun tŭrsŭnyum, dan taulah
them to proceed from the artful suggestion iya akan tipu itu deripada anak rajah rajah
of the princes (his rivals), and bowing itu juga, maka Dewa Indra itupun
replied, ‘whatever may be your majesty’s mŭnyŭmbah sŭraya kaatanya, ‘mana titah
injunctions, your servant is ready to deri bawa duli tuanku, patik junjong.’
execute them.’ The sand and the sesame Maka pasir dan biji lang itupŭn sudah
seed being then provided and mixed sŭdialah dichamporkan orang ditŭngah
together in the court before the palace, miedan itu dibalerong itu, maka Dewa
Dewa Indra made his obeisance, Indra itupun mŭnyŭmbah, lalu turon
descended to the spot, and as he stood bŭrdiri dihampir lang dan pasir itu, maka
beside the heap, silently wished for aid dichitanya rajah sŭmut; maka dŭngan
from the king of the ants; when instantly skutika itu juga rajah sŭmut itupun datang
the monarch made his appearance, dŭngan sagala blantŭntaranya, yang
followed by his whole army, consisting of sambilan timbunan itu. Maka disurohnya
the population of nine hillocks. Upon ulih Dewa Indra mŭmilih pasir dan biji
receiving the directions of Dewa Indra for lang itu, maka ulih sagala tŭntara sŭmut
separating the grains, each individual ant lalu digigitnyalah sa’orang satu biji lang,
took one seed in his mouth, and in this itupun dilainkannya, maka dŭngan skutika
manner the separation was presently itu juga pasir dan biji lang itupun masing
effected and the grains laid in distinct masing dŭngan timbunannya, maka barang
heaps, not one being wanting. This done, sa’biji juga pun tiadalah kurang. Maka
the king of the ants and all his train rajah sŭmut dan sagala blantŭntaranya
disappeared, and returned to the place itupun raiblah kŭmbali katŭmpatnya, maka
from whence they came. Dewa Indra Dewa Indra itupun naiklah ka’atas
reascended the steps of the palace, and balerong itu lalu dudok mŭnyŭmbah
having taken his seat and made obeisance, baginda sŭraya katanya, ‘Sudah tuanku
said, ‘Your Majesty’s commands for the turpilih biji lang dan pasir itu ulih patik
separation of the sand and the sesame seed yang hina papa ini.’ Maka baginda pun
have been obeyed by your mean and hieran dan tŭrchŭngang chŭngang,
humble slave.’ The king expressed his turmangau mangau dŭngan sagala
amazement, and all the ministers of state, pŭrmantri, hulubalang, pahlauan dan rayat
the warriors, and the people in general skalian, itupun hieranlah iya mŭlihat
were astonished at witnessing this proof of kasaktian itu, maka akan anak rajah itu ada
the supernatural power of Dewa Indra; but yang mŭnggrakkan kapalanya dan ada
with respect to the princes, some of them yang tundok, dan ada yang bŭrpaling,
shook their heads, some bent them down, tiada mau mŭlihat muka Dewa Indra
and others turned them aside, being unable kayangan.”
to support his looks.”

The Malays of Borneo acknowledge the rule of a Sultan, who is assisted by various
Ministers of State, who are principally his own relations. The Court at Brunei is kept up
by taxes imposed on the few Chinese merchants, and on the native Borneans who live
inland beside the rivers on the north-west coast from the Baram to Kimanis. A yearly
payment is also made to the Sultan by the Rajah of Sarawak. Many of the Malays are
traders. The poorer classes are sailors, fishermen, or engaged in simple domestic
industries.

The true bred Malay has a penchant for building his pile dwelling over the shallow water
near the mouth of or beside a river wherever such a site is procurable. The Borneans, on
the other hand, prefer a clearing near the streams, and some tribes, especially the Dusan,
build their huts high up in the hills.

Intermarriages with native women have helped to identify the Malays with the Borneans,
and especially with the Kadyans, a tribe who live near the capital, and who long ago
embraced the faith of Mahomet. The language of the Malays is soft and pleasing in
sound—the “Italian of the East”—and very expressive. It is readily acquired by
strangers, and forms the medium of commercial communication throughout the Straits
Settlements and Malay Archipelago. Like our own tongue, Malay seems to be a
conventional blending of several other languages, Arabic, Sanscrit, and the languages of
the aboriginals with whom the Malays were first thrown into contact. At the present day
many English and Portuguese words find their way into it but little disguised by
pronunciation. Malay is the Court language at Brunei, but the inhabitants generally use a
dialect similar to that of the aboriginals who live near the capital.

The clothing of the Malays of high rank is often very lavish and showy, consisting of
fancy head-cloths and short jackets, often highly embroidered with gold buttons and
wire or lace. White trowsers, similar to those worn by Europeans, and patent leather
slippers are also affected by the rich Malays, and all, rich or poor, wear the national
“sarong,” a sort of chequered petticoat wound around the waist, and allowed to fall to the
feet in graceful folds. When trowsers are worn a shorter “sarong” is worn kilt-fashion,
barely reaching as low as the knees. The Malay Hadjis or priests wear long green Arab
coats, and green or white turbans around their shaven heads. The women when engaged
in their household duties wear nothing but a “sarong” reaching from the breasts to the
feet. When abroad, however, neat print sacques reaching as low as the knees are worn,
having long and tight sleeves. This dress opens in front, and is fastened by a set of three
silver or gold brooches. Below this a chequered, or Javanese sarong reaches from the
waist to the ankles. Beautiful sarongs are made by the Brunei ladies. They are richly
embroidered with gold wire, and are worn by the well-to-do women along the coast.

Slippers of European or Chinese manufacture are sometimes worn. Their black hair is
oiled profusely, and secured behind with silver pins. It is often perfumed by tying up in it
flowers of the champaca, jasmine, gardenia, or other scented blossoms over night. Both
men and women bathe at least twice daily, morning and evening, and the women dye
their nails with a mixture made of the red stems of a common balsam, mixed with lime
juice, as a substitute for the henna so largely used in Persia and Egypt.

COURTSHIP.

There are some very singular liberties allowed to loving swains in out of the way places
in Wales and Cornwall, but those allowed by the Malay and native girls of Borneo to
their favourite lovers are of a yet more faithful kind. A Bornean youth may enter the
house of his loved one’s parents and awaken her if she be really sleeping, to sit and talk
with him in the dark, or to eat betel-nut and the finest of sirih-leaves from his garden. A
similar custom, so far as nocturnal visits are concerned, formerly existed in the country
districts of Scotland. It is but seldom that immorality results from this custom in Borneo,
even according to European ideas on the subject, and the parents think no more of
putting a stop to these nightly meetings than do those of our own fair daughters in the
case of the “morning call” of an eligible suitor at home. There was a grand wedding at
the capital during one of my visits there, the bride being a relation of his Highness the
Sultan. There was a grand procession of boats on the river, and a large lighter had been
decorated with parti-coloured flags and streamers, and in the centre a raised daïs and a
canopy overhead of red cloth had been erected for the parties mainly concerned. In the
case of the Malays there is the usual religious ceremony, at which the “hadjis” appear
and chant the prayers in gorgeous apparel of green Arabic coat and ample turban. There
was much firing of cannon throughout the town, the whole event lasting nearly a week,
and there was a grand reception, the bride and bridegroom being seated in state on a
raised daïs, and covered with finery and gold ornaments, mostly borrowed for the
occasion. In the interior, where nearly all enjoy “liberty, equality, and fraternity,” in a
way one can only dream of in civilised “society,” marriage is very simple, and
monogamy the rule. The celebration of a marriage consists of a notification of the fact,
and it is acknowledged by all in the village, who meet for feasting. A couple of fowls or
a goat is killed, and the appearances presented by these after death furnish auguries of
good or ill fortune for the newly married pair.

MARRIAGE.

To face page 148.

The native Borneans proper are sparsely scattered over the whole country, and are
divided into various tribes, each inhabiting a particular district, and speaking a dialect
peculiar to itself. These tribes have been compared with the natives of our English
counties, but they are much more distinct, each having its own customs, dress, mode of
life, weapons, and in many cases a language unknown to the tribes only a few miles
distant. The Dyaks, Kayans, Muruts, Kadyans, Dusun, and Lanun, are a few only of
these tribes. Another peculiar race are the Badjows, or “Sea Gipsies,” common to all the
islands of these seas. They are nomadic—water rovers—and engaged in diving for
pearls, or pearl shell, fishing, or in petty trade. They rarely settle down on shore, or
remain long in one place, but live in their boats. Indeed they are the gipsies of the sea in
every sense of the word, and given to pilfering like their namesakes on shore. The
Badjows, Lanun, Balagnini, and Sulus, who inhabit the north of Borneo and the islands
to the north-east are an adventurous people given to piracy, and, of course, excellent
sailors. The Muruts are the only existing race of head-hunters north of the capital. The
Dusun and Kadyans, although formerly head-hunters, have now taken to agricultural
pursuits, and are well fed and prosperous compared to the Muruts, who, although they
clear and plant the land around their immensely long pile dwellings, still depend much
on their skill in hunting wild pig, deer, and other game for food. The Dyaks of Sarawak,
although formerly fierce and warlike, are now peaceful and industriously engaged in
seafaring or agricultural pursuits. The Kayans are still warlike, and a fine race of
straight-limbed powerful people. They formerly inhabited the country inland near the
Limbang and used to plunder the villages of the Muruts and Sabayans, killing the men,
and taking the women and children into slavery. Of late years, however, they have
migrated further south, and their head-quarters are now on the Baram river. The Lanuns
live on the coasts north of Menkabong, and are petty traders or cultivators. Like the
Badjows, however, they have a lingering affection for the sea. The Dusun, who live in
the hills further from the coast, give them a bad character and assert that formerly they
used to steal their children.

Land culture is becoming much more general among the natives inland than formerly,
security of life and property having also increased. Rice, kaladi, sweet potatoes, and
Indian corn and sago are the principal food products cultivated. Tobacco, cotton, sugar-
cane, tapioca, and fruit are also grown here.

The implements used for purposes of land culture in the island are of the most rude
description. On the plains of Menkabong, Tawaran, and Tampassuk, near the coast,
ploughs and harrows drawn by buffaloes are employed, and their produce is carried to
market in light bamboo sledges. Further inland, however, the implements are yet more
primitive, nearly all the necessary labour of cultivation being performed with a blunt-
pointed iron chopper, or a sharp-pointed bamboo.

The hoe, another implement used, may be taken as the type of that adopted by the
Chinese emigrants in the Straits Settlements and Eastern Archipelago generally; indeed,
wherever a Chinaman sets his foot in a new locality for cultural purposes, a chopper and
a blade or two of his national “chunkal” or spade-hoe are sure to form a part of his
extremely small belonging. He sets to work cutting the brushwood and small timber on
his future clearing, and piling this at the base of the large trees, he fires the whole until
only a few great black stumps, and here and there a gaunt leafless durian or
dryobalanops remains of the old forest. Now, the “chunkal” is used to stir the virgin soil
by chopping it up, a much quicker process than digging; indeed, a spade would have no
chance in a competition where, as in this case, the soil is full of roots. If desirable, the
soil can be thus chopped up to a depth of 12 in. or 14 in., the only drawback being that
the operator stands on the freshly cultivated land. Armed with a chopper and one of these
spade-hoes, a solitary Chinaman will not unfrequently build a miserable little palm-leaf
hut on a well-watered bit of forest near a river, and in a month or two he will have
cleared several acres, to which, when planted with gambier or pepper, he looks for a fair
return. Here, alone in the forest, or at the best with a companion or two equally poor as
himself, he subsists on a little boiled rice, until his crops of sweet potatoes, bananas,
sugar-cane, egg fruit, maize, and yams, are fit for use; for one of his first cares has been
to clear the bit of land around his hut, on which to plant the few roots and seeds which
he has brought with him, most probably the gift of one of his richer countrymen,
perchance of the trader of whom he bought the bag of rice, which with a little freshly
caught fish from the river, are the only “stores” which stand between him and starvation,
until his garden produce is available. I have often come across these clearings right in
the heart of the forest, miles away from any other human habitation, and have been as
much astonished at the amount of labour performed with such a simple tool, as the
thrifty labourer himself was to see me.

The Dusun villagers keep bees and export wax in quantity, and most of the tribes collect
the varied natural products of the sea or of the forests in their respective districts. The
Sulus were until quite recently a warlike race inhabiting the large island of Sulu,
between Borneo and the Philippines. They were independent and ruled by a Sultan, who
held Sulu, Tawi Tawi, and the north of Borneo, including the fine harbour of Sandakan.
The Sulus, however, are now practically under the Manilla Government. Slavery,
although not yet abolished in Borneo, is not nearly so common as was formerly the case.
The native government at Brunei is practically under the eye of the British governor of
Labuan, and thus many former abuses have become mitigated merely by the moral
influence of a British colony being located thus near to the capital.

It must not be imagined that either the Malays or the native Borneans are the
bloodthirsty savages they are sometimes made out to be. The Malays generally are
courteous, dignified, and hospitable. Many of them have made long journeys for
purposes of trade, and have a tolerably good idea of the manners and customs of
Europeans. Others have taken to the use of European commodities after observing them
used by the Chinese traders and settlers, and one can rarely visit a native of any
consideration without finding him the hospitable possessor of a chair or two, plates,
dishes, water bottles and glasses, and very often of excellent brandy and cigars. They are
most sensitive, innately polite and gentle in manners, and very quick to understand and
appreciate any little courtesies or civilities one may offer them. All but the poorest carry
their national weapon, “the murderous crease,” a sort of long sinuous-edged dagger,
generally as sharp as a razor, and most deadly when wielded by a skilful hand. In many
cases where the owners are rich or of high rank these weapons are beautifully finished—
rarely damascened—and the handles of ivory or gold set with pearls, diamonds, and
other precious stones. The running “amok,” so often cited as an instance of their savage
bloodthirsty nature is really a very rare occurrence, and is generally attributed to the
excessive use of opium, or to some great disappointment or dishonour having befallen
the frantic creature who, drawing his kriss, rushes at friend and foe alike until either shot
down like a mad dog or run through the body with a spear. Jealousy is the main cause of
all the bloodshed of which the Malays are guilty. The co-respondent in Borneo must
either have a tacit understanding with the husband or rather proprietor of the frail one, or
his adventures may end very suddenly. I saw one man in the hospital at Labuan who paid
the penalty of his indiscretion. One night a kriss or spear had been driven into his thigh
through the interstices of the floor of the house in which he was sleeping with his Helen,
and with such force that the bone was completely severed. It is possible the weapon was
poisoned, at any rate he died some little time afterwards, notwithstanding all that
surgical skill could suggest. In the case of the Malays their women are, as a rule,
secluded from the gaze of strangers in private apartments, but in the interior the women
of the aboriginal tribes enjoy equal freedom with the men, and often join in discussions
and trading difficulties with great tact. Monogamy is the rule with the Borneans and
polygamy with the Malays. In Borneo, as in Europe, the female exceeds the male
population, and here, too, the women do a large proportion of the field labour in addition
to their domestic duties.

Some of the little villages of the native tribes inland present a pleasant and prosperous
exterior. Little palm-leaf houses stand here and there beneath groves of cocoa-nut trees,
betel-palms, tree-ferns, or graceful willow-like bamboo. Breadths of fresh greensward
occur among the clumps of low brush or scrubby vegetations, the remains of the old
jungle, and here buffaloes or goats, and occasionally other cattle, browse around the
houses. Pigs, bees, and poultry are domesticated, and are often very abundant. The
houses are built on piles, and a sloping hill-side or knoll is generally selected as a site, so
that all superfluous surface water may readily escape. The fowls are caught every
evening and placed in open-work baskets of either rattan or bamboo, suspended beneath
the eaves of the houses. This care is essential in order to guard them from the attacks of
large snakes and iguanas, or other poultry-stealing saurians.

The main food product is rice, of which two distinct races are grown. One kind only
prospers in the rich alluvial deposits of the valleys near the streams, where it can be
irrigated at particular stages of its growth. The other kind, or “hill-rice,” will grow on the
hills up to 3000 feet elevation, and prospers in dry red earth, and when growing it
closely resembles a barley-field at home. One of the most important of the women’s
duties is to clean and prepare daily the “padi” or rice in the husk, which, with fish and
fruit, forms the main food supply of these islanders. The “padi” is placed in large
wooden mortars and beaten with wooden pestles a yard or more in length. This beating
or pounding separates the husk from the white grain within. It is a very pretty sight to
see the girls of the villages inland thus engaged. As many as three may sometimes be
seen beating the rice in one of these large wooden mortars. With one hand they grasp the
pestle about the centre, while the other hand is rested on the hip. One woman
commences to beat the rice with a steady, regular stroke, then another one joins her, and
then a third. Of course, the most exact time has to be observed, and the graceful motions
of their slightly-draped figures, the dancing pestles, and the regular thudding sounds
produced, are very interesting to a stranger. After the rice has been sufficiently beaten,
one of the girls scoops it out of the mortar with her little hands into a shallow tray of
closely-woven rattan work of circular form and about two feet in diameter. Standing on
the verandah or platform between the houses so as to catch the breeze, the rice is sifted,
and now and then dexterously thrown up into the air so that the chaff and refuse is blown
away, but the rice falls back into the tray. When finished the rice is as clean and as white
as that dressed by the finest machinery in England. Two or three girls will soon clean the
day’s supply, and by the laughing and gossip indulged in one may infer that the task is
not a very unpleasant one to them.

The farther one proceeds inland the more extensive are the clearings devoted to rice
culture. This is accounted for by the fact that near the coast rice is often imported in
exchange for jungle produce, but far inland the natives are obliged to grow all the food
they require, and in some cases as in the district to the south of Kina Balu most of the
hills up to 3000 feet are either under rice culture, or are lying fallow, covered with low
brushwood or jungle. Virgin land or old forests are rare here, unless on the slopes of the
great mountain itself. The clothing of the aboriginals is in most cases very scanty, now
and then “sarongs” and white calico are obtained from the coast in return for wax, gutta,
tobacco, or other produce of the hills, but, as a rule, the clothing of the native tribes of
the north of Borneo inland is a short “sarong” made of a strong indigo-dyed cloth, which
is woven by the women from the strong fibres of the “Lamba” (Curculigo latifolia), a
yellow-flowered broad-leaved weed, often seen in great abundance on old cultivated
plots near the houses. Many of the men, especially those of the Murut tribes, who are
perhaps the most primitive of all the northern Borneans, wear nothing but a strip of bark-
cloth or “chawat” around the loins, and I have no doubt but that this was the first
clothing ever worn by the natives of the island. This bark-cloth is the produce of
Artocarpus elastica, a tall tree with a trunk two feet in diameter, and leaves closely
resembling those of the bread-fruit, but rough instead of glossy. The inner bark is
stripped off and soaked in water, being afterwards beaten to render it soft and pliable. Of
this “chawats” or loin-cloths and jackets are commonly made by the Muruts on the
Lawas and the Limbang rivers, and it is also still used by the Dusan villagers on the
Tampassuk, notwithstanding their skill in preparing, weaving, and dyeing the “Lamba”
fibre.

The native women inland wear short “sarongs” of “Lamba” cloth reaching from the
waist nearly to their knees, and a profusion of stained rattan coils, brass wire, coloured
beads, and other trinkets around their waists, and heavy rings of brass on their legs, or
coils of brass wire on their plump and dusky arms. The younger ones wear a strip of dark
cloth across the breast. All have glossy black hair and dark eyes. Some of the Murut
women are fine muscular creatures, and either in boats or afield they appear to be as
strong and active as the men. Their hair is often very gracefully wreathed up with a
string of red or amber-coloured beads, sometimes with a strip of the pale yellow nipa
leaf in its young state, and the colour contrast is then very effective. The physique of the
inland tribes, especially of the Dyaks, Kayans, and Muruts, is superior to that of the
Malays. The Kayans and Muruts are especially lithe and active—bronzy, straight-
limbed, and statuesque. This is the result of an active life spent hunting in the forest,
climbing after gutta, rubber, jungle-fruit, or beeswax, or in cultivating the clearings
around their dwellings, or in fishing in the rivers. The aboriginals are active, while, as a
class, the Malays are lethargic and luxurious, and rarely exert themselves or make long
foot journeys unless actually compelled to do so, and the richer ones spend much of their
time in opium smoking or with their women instead of trying to ameliorate the condition
of their poorer neighbours, who in one way or another have to “pay the piper.”

It is sad to see such a lovely and fertile island impoverished to a great extent by the
avaricious Malays, who ought to encourage the natives to improve themselves and the
country in which they live, instead of which they wring their property from them
whenever possible under all manner of pretences. The harsh treatment to which the
aboriginals, and even the poorer of the Malays, were formerly subjected by the petty
chiefs and Pangerans, is now much moderated, as many natives have visited Labuan, and
it has now become known as a sanctuary from their unjust oppressors.

The climate of Borneo although hot and wet, is fairly healthy, especially on the hills
inland, where the air is much fresher and cooler than on the lowlands near the coast; the
mean annual temperature is about 84°. The hot and dry monsoon lasts from December to
May, and the cool and wet one from June to November; the rainfall is very heavy,
especially on the hills. The economic products for which the soil and climate are suitable
are coffee, cinchona, cocoa, cotton, tobacco, sugar-cane, indigo, gambier, cocoa-nuts for
oil, and manilla hemp. Fine timber, gutta, caoutchouc, rattans, and camphor, are the
indigenous products of the forests primæval. Among the introduced fruits which succeed
well are oranges, limes, pomoloes, mangoes, pine-apples, and bananas. The animal
products are edible swallows’ nests, ivory, sea-slug or beche de mer, (Holothuria), fine
fish of many kinds, pearls, and pearl-shell. Among minerals, coal, antimony, cinnabar,
and gold seem the most promising; diamonds, tin, copper, plumbago, and iron are
reported; and if one may judge of the iron by the old weapons, such as krisses, parongs,
and spears as made by the Bruneis and the Kayans, it must be of excellent quality.

I made a pen and ink sketch of a Kayan war knife which I saw in the collection of native
weapons in the possession of Mr. Treacher at Government House, Labuan. Of this sketch
Mr. Cooper has made me this careful fac-simile on wood. It had a finely-tempered blade,
ornamented along the back for about half its length. One side of the blade was flat, the
other rounded; the sheath was elaborately carved and, as is generally the case in Borneo,
made of two flat pieces of wood bound tightly together by neatly worked rattan cane; the
hilt was ornamented with tufts of red and black hair, and it was furnished with a girdle of
rattan plaited—altogether a most handy and formidable implement in the paw of a lusty
naked savage.

Gold, diamonds, and antimony have been obtained in remunerative quantities at the
Sarawak mines, which were originally worked by the Chinese settlers, but are now in the
hands of a company. Mining operations are very difficult owing to the enormous rainfall;
and it is only the abundance of cheap Chinese or native labour which renders it possible
in such a climate. Coolies from Hong Kong may be obtained for seven to eight dollars
per month, or for less if their food is provided; and natives will work sometimes for five
to seven dollars per month. A good Chinaman as a labourer, is however worth two
Malays.

The largest rivers in the island are supposed to be the Kinabatangan and the Pontianak;
the former is said to be navigable over two hundred miles from its mouth, and at the
farthest point reached it was fifty yards wide, and there was seven fathoms of water.
Dutch steamers have ascended a long way inland up the Pontianak which lies south of
Sarawak. Most of the rivers on the north-west coast are very shallow, having dangerous
bars at their mouths; and that at the mouth of the Brunei was partly blocked by large
rocks about the time of the siege of that city by the English.

Gambling and opium smoking are the bane of the Chinese settlers and of many of the
well-to-do Malays; and of all forms of intemperance surely this last must be the most
degrading and otherwise hurtful in its effects. The manufactured drug as imported from
Benares and other opium producing districts, is in the form of balls six inches in
diameter, covered with the dried petals of poppy flowers. This product is the inspissated
juice of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), and is of a dark brown or black colour.
Before it is used for smoking, however, it has to be still further prepared by boiling and
stirring in shallow pans over a bright fire; and as the pure product is very high in price, it
is often subjected to adulteration. In our eastern colonies it is usual to let or farm out the
right to prepare and sell or export opium to an enterprising native or Chinese merchant,
and the revenue thus obtained is often enormous as compared with that on spirits and
tobacco, or other duty-paying goods.
 An opium-smoking establishment consists of a few
gloomy rooms furnished with cane-bottomed
couches, and on little stands are the pipes, tiny lamps,
and other implements used by the smokers. The smell
is generally sufficient to deter Europeans entering an
opium-smoker’s haunt from motives of curiosity; or if
under guidance one does venture into the ill-
ventilated and malodorous apartments behind, it is
with feelings of relief that the sweet outer air is again
gained. The smokers lie on the bamboo couches, and
a little stand is brought, on which are one or two
flute-like pipes, a pill or two of the drug, and a little
glass lamp. In some cases an attendant manipulates
the drug and fills the pipes; as a rule, however, this is
done by the smokers themselves. There is no
mistaking an habitual opium smoker; his eyes are
dull, his complexion sallow, and in general a listless
bearing, with a frame more or less emaciated,
betokens his being a degraded victim. Without a
supply of his favourite drug he is miserable; and
when under its influence he is useless. Here he lies
holding a morsel of the black drug on a needle over
the flame of the lamp, twirling it round and round,
and toasting it in the flame until the proper
consistence is attained. It is then introduced into the
pipe, and the needle, on being withdrawn, leaves a
tiny air-hole through the mass as it fits like a plug in
the bowl. The smoker now holds the bowl to the
lamp, and obtains a light, and then he draws a long
whiff or two as the burning morsel of opium rapidly
decreases in the bowl.
KAYAN WAR KNIFE.
CHAPTER VIII.
 A CITY OF LAKE DWELLINGS.

Brunei the Capital—Market Chinese traders—Gun foundry—The Istana—Weak

government—The Sultan Moumein—Native jewelry—Native smithy—Public
executions—Punishment for robbery—Sago factories—Inter-marriage—Morality
—Old Mission Church—Boat journey inland—Murut hospitality—Canoe travel
—Forest travel—New aroids—Native insects—Day flying Moths—River travel
by moonlight—Sago-washing station.

Brunei, the capital of Borneo and the seat of the government, is a water-city
of about twenty thousand inhabitants. The palm-thatched houses of which it
for the most part consists, are built on piles so as to be above the river at
high tide. From one of the adjacent low hills the view of this “Venice of the
East” is a most novel one—indeed, unique in its way; and although the
town is nearly fifteen miles from the mouth of the river, yet a moderate-
sized gunboat can anchor in the broad water-way in the very centre of the
city, and within a few yards of the Sultan’s Istana. There is a rather
awkward bar at the entrance to the river. A trading steamer from Singapore
calls here once a month to bring letters and goods for the Sultan and a few
Chinese merchants, and to take back sago, which is the main export. In
some cases the blocks of houses are connected by bridges formed of long
palm stems lashed together with rattans; but, as a rule, all general
communication must be carried on by boats. Some of the inhabitants grow a
few flowers and herbs in boxes of earth; and occasionally papaw trees and
gourds of different kinds are thus cultivated. Little rafts, or floating tree-
trunks, are moored to the piles which support the houses for the
accommodation of ducks and fowls.

The market held on the river every morning is one of the most singular
sights of the place. Here you may see a hundred or more little boats
containing fruit, fish, rice, and other produce, for sale or barter. Among the
petty traders the Brunei women are most prominent, and many of them
present a most singular appearance, the hats they wear being made of neatly
plaited Nipa leaves, and being from two to three feet in diameter, they serve
the purpose of both head covering and umbrella, and they screen the whole
body of the wearer from the hot sun. Most of the women to be seen in the
market are old and coarse featured—in many cases positively ugly—
reminding one of the orang utan as they glance at you from beneath their
wrinkled foreheads, their mouths overflowing with betel-nut juice the
while, their repulsive black teeth being worn off level with their gums; their
more beautiful sisters are secluded according to the etiquette of Islam; the
nobles and richer Malays have wives and slaves in abundance. A European
lady who visited the court here and was admitted into the women’s
apartments, tells me that some are passing fair, with tiny hands and feet,
straight noses and liquid eyes, prototypes of those black-eyed damsels who
are to attend all true believers of the Prophet in the gardens of Paradise.

The principal traders are Chinamen, who have floating warehouses

singularly like the Noah’s arks of early memory. Brunei is the Sheffield of
north-west Borneo, the manufacture of knives, parongs and krisses being
largely carried on; and on one of the little islands is a primitive foundry
where gongs, brass guns, cooking-pots, betel boxes, &c., are cast. Some of
these articles are ornamented with well-designed figures in relief, and
would not be any disgrace to a European manufacturer. The models and
methods of casting are singularly like those of our own artizans. I visited
one rude armourer’s shop, and much admired the exquisite finish of some
weapons he had made. The peculiar long swivel guns or small cannon cast
here are now rarely used, except as currency, being valued at about thirty
dollars per cwt. In the good old times slaves could be purchased here at
thirty dollars, or a picul of gun-metal each; but at the present time the
Malays complain of the low purchasing power of money—i.e. of brass guns
—just as do most people nearer home.

The Sultan’s palace or Istana, like nearly all the other dwellings here, is
built on piles over the water, and is a shabby, tumble-down looking
establishment. In front is a large audience chamber, containing a few old
gilt framed mirrors and silvered globes, and there are, on occasion, a round
table and a few rickety chairs. The Sultan himself is now an old man, over
eighty, and so avaricious that he will do anything for the sake of a few
dollars.
The Government here is corrupt, and, indeed, but little more than nominal;
and if his people of the outlying districts refuse to pay tribute, or to obey his
mandates, he has no means of enforcing his demands. He has a good many
wives, and female slaves or concubines, but no children. I visited the palace
in company with Mr. Peter Veitch and Inche Mahomed, the British Consular
agent at this port. We were honoured with an audience by His Highness. His
two nephews, Pangeran Matassan and Pangeran Anak Bazar, were present,
and welcomed us before the Sultan appeared. They were intelligent men,
and it was a pleasure to hear Malay spoken by them in all its purity. Tea was
offered us, together with the long Nipa leaf cheroots so largely smoked by
Malays and Borneans of all grades.

In about five minutes His Highness appeared, dressed in a long Arab coat, a
sarong, and having a small black cap on his head. That the portraits of Pope
Pius IX. resemble him very much has repeatedly been observed by visitors
here. He walked slowly, bearing rather heavily, as I thought, on a long staff,
which had two short prongs at the lower extremity. He came forward, and
we shook hands, after which he sat down in an arm-chair on the opposite
side of the table. He told us that he was now a very old man, and that every
day found him weaker. I thanked him for a passport he had given me some
months before for the journey inland to Kina Balu.

He seemed interested in hearing of the great mountain, and asked several

questions. He appeared astonished to hear it was so cold there; and inquired
as to the tobacco and rice crops. He also expressed his regret that being now
old and infirm, he could not undertake a journey to the mountain himself, of
which, he observed, he had heard several accounts derived from natives
who had accompanied Mr. Low and Mr. St. John.

On leaving the Sultan’s, we visited a foundry situated near the house of the
minister of war or the Tumongong; also the house of a gold worker, who
made most of the trinkets, rings, and ear ornaments worn by the Brunei
ladies. The proprietor, an old man, showed us some prettily designed
specimens of native gold work, the ear ornaments being especially singular.
It is the fashion for many of the ladies of Brunei and the interior to cut a
large gash in the lobe of each ear, and in these holes are inserted gold or
silver ornaments, as large as a wine cork. If of gold, they are mostly made
of beaten work; the highly decorated convex ends, however, are generally
cast in little moulds formed of clay and wax, or dammar. The crucibles used
for melting the metal are of the size and shape of half a hen’s egg, being
formed of fine porous clay. These are heated over tiny charcoal fires, the
heat being augmented with a blow-pipe.

In some of the ornaments we observed rudely cut rock crystals, or Bornean

diamonds; and part of a waist-belt contained a dozen fine pearls, but most
of their beauty was lost by bad setting. The stock in trade of a gold-worker
here is of the most simple description. A rough block of hard wood serves
as a bench or anvil, and is perforated with large and small holes, into which
iron pins of various sizes are inserted for various uses. Hammers of iron and
wood, a chisel or two, a pair of shears, wax and clay for models, or matrices
and earthen crucibles for melting up the Spanish gold pieces, are all the
plant he deems necessary.

There is not much originality in the designs used. Some of the Brunei ladies
must have fingers of the most delicate proportions to be able to wear some
of the rings I saw here for repair. Smiths’ shops are pretty much the same all
over the world. We visited one here, and except that iron and tools were less
plentiful, it was pretty much like a village smithy in England. Sheffield files
and rasps are used even in this out-of-the-way part of the East. Most other
tools were of Brunei make. Choppers, knives, parongs, and krisses
represent the manufactures. A Bornean bellows is peculiar, being made of
two upright wooden cylinders four or five feet high, and connected at the
bottom with the iron pipe which enters the fuel. In each cylinder is a
wooden disk edged with soft feathers stuck on with glue, and to each a
piston rod of wood is attached. A man standing behind the cylinders works
them up and down alternately, and in this way a constant current of air is
supplied to the fire. The old smith was much struck with a breech-loading
Reilly shot gun Mr. Veitch had with him, and he took the trouble to go
across a rickety bridge of bamboo into his dwelling-house to fetch a parong,
or Brunei sword, of which he asked our opinion. Considering the rude
appliances of this primitive smithy, the sword, in fine damascene work and
finish, was perhaps as wonderful in its way as the gun. On returning to the
ship, which was anchored in the river below the town, we saw a gathering
of natives on a grassy knoll a little above the old ruined Consulate, and
were informed that a public execution was going on. It appears a China
trader had been murdered and robbed on the Trusan river, and two of the
Trusan Muruts had been arrested, and were being executed for the crime,
although it was by some thought that the murder had actually been
committed by Brunei men. At any rate, of these poor Muruts scapegoats
were made. A grave was dug beneath a tree, and a noose connected with a
bit of board was passed over their heads. A stout stick was now inserted in
the rope, and two or three turns—Spanish winch fashion—finished the poor
fellows’ existence, whether innocent or guilty. We did not land, but watched
the proceedings as well as we could from the bridge of the vessel with
glasses. Summary justice is the rule here.

Just afterwards a ship came here and anchored in the river. It was very hot,
and at night the ports were left open to secure ample ventilation. In the
morning a gold watch and a revolver were missing. The thieves had
dropped down the river silently in a boat and taken advantage of the
darkness to put their hands in at the ports and take all they could reach. A
complaint was made to the Sultan at once. In a few days the goods were
recovered, and word was also brought to the effect that each of the
offenders had lost one of their hands for the offence. Of course nothing so
severe as this was anticipated when the charge was made, and no one more
regretted the cruelty than those who were so near being losers by the
dishonesty of the maimed sufferers. The principal export product is sago, of
which large quantities are brought down from the Limbang and other rivers
in the interior. There are two large sago-washing establishments in the
town, both the property of intelligent and hospitable Chinamen. Gutta-
percha, caoutchouc, edible birds’-nests, camphor, rattans, and fine timber
are also obtained in small quantities from the forests of the country behind.
Fine fish is obtained from the river by the natives, and fruit is very plentiful
in season. Excellent drinking-water is obtained from some rocks beside the
river between the town and the old Consulate. It is pure, cool, fresh, and
abundant, inestimable qualities in such a hot and thirst-producing climate.
We visited one of the sago factories, and found their water remarkably
good; and when I and Mr. Veitch went out one evening snipe and pigeon-
shooting on a plain behind we came across an aqueduct formed of large
bamboo stems, in which this water was conveyed from a spring nearly a
mile away. I was very much interested in the old Chinaman’s garden, which
contained a fair assortment of fruits and flowers. The lively white-flowered
Pancratium zeylanicum was blooming beautifully in one of the well-
watered beds. The mangoes were large, and of excellent flavour. In
exploring the garden behind the house I came across our host’s coffin
standing on supports in one of the sheds. It was large and curiously shaped,
and made of some dark durable wood highly valued by the wealthy
Chinese. Most Chinese settlers here, when sufficiently wealthy, send to
China for one of these coffins, which is preserved until their death. Nearly
all the Chinese settlers here in the capital are married to Malay women, and
healthy children generally result from these unions. On the other hand, the
Malay or Bornean women rarely bear children when married to Europeans,
and if so, the children are generally unhealthy, and they themselves rarely
have offspring. No doubt the Malays of the capital are gradually becoming
absorbed by intermarrying with the native Bornean women of the Murut,
Kadyan, and other inland tribes. Many of the Malays, so called, closely
resemble the aboriginals in physiognomy, and the common people or
Bruneis may be characterised as an ugly and immoral lot of mongrels. Now
and then traces of African blood are seen.

Nowhere else in Borneo are the men such liars and thieves as here, and the
Brunei women have been described by a former writer as being perhaps
“the most immoral in the whole world.” Of classical celebrities, Cato and
Phryne are certainly well represented in this great water city of the far East.
The climate is sultry. A large upas tree is pointed out to all comers, and it is
a fine specimen, standing on the right bank of the river, just below the town,
near some ancient tombs. A burial-ground, indeed, occupies nearly the
whole right bank of the river from just beyond the Consulate as far as the
sago factory. One or two of the tombs are large, and built of stone, with
entrance gates; but most are small, with perhaps only a large stone to mark
the spot.
The capital, as also the towns all along the coast, suffers now and then from
epidemic diseases, cholera and small-pox being the most common. Senõr
Quateron, the old padre, now resident in Labuan, formerly had a mission
here, and the remains of his chapel still stand on the left bank of the Brunei
river, a little below the town. As seen coming down the stream, it forms a
picturesque object, a white campanile standing on a grassy knoll, the blue
peaks of Molu towering up into the sky behind. I should think that Brunei,
of all other places in Borneo, is the last at which missionaries of any
denomination would be likely to succeed. Their sphere is not with
Mahomedans, whose faith is good, so far as it teaches cleanliness and
temperance; but with the aboriginals of the interior, who are thrifty, honest,
and truthful to a fault, and who have no systematic faith unless their belief
in the cries and motions of birds and animals, and other omens can be so
called. With these people missionaries would doubtless be successful, but
they must be hard-working men who could teach these gentle savages the
benefits of civilisation without introducing its vices.

A missionary has thus recorded his impressions of life among the natives
near Sarawak:—“A message came to me from one of the Christians on the
Kabo, asking me to go up and see them. Accordingly, as soon as I could get
a boat ready we were on our way down the Sebetan river .… the wild,
sombre, solitary feeling of the primæval forest, the easy motion of the boat,
the cheeriness of the paddling Dyaks, united to produce a sensation of
repose and awe.…. Next morning we soon came to the first waterfall
rushing and roaring over the rocks. Here we had to halt and stow away the
palm-leaf awnings, and pull the boat over the fall. Then one could not help
feeling the charms of tropical scenery,—the clear stream running over a
pebbly bottom, rocks here and there with occasional tufts of vegetation
forming little islets in mid river, hills on each bank running down
perpendicularly to the water’s edge and covered with creepers, moss, wild
palms, and ferns, magnificent trees on either side stretching their branches
into triumphal arches overhead. Soon the whole scene was changed, clouds
gathered, and thunder rumbled, and down came the rain in a continuous
torrent. Towards evening we arrived at our destination like so many
drowned rats. In the evening I held service under difficulties, there being no
prayer-house, and the long public verandah of the house being the only
available place. The dignity of worship suffers terribly in such
circumstances. No sooner do we begin than dogs begin to fight, or a child to
cry, or an unsympathetic heathen at the other end of the house to make
some discordant row, or a fighting cock will fly right into the midst of the
kneeling assembly, and distract everyone’s attention.”

The condition of the natives near the capital is not nearly so good as at Kina
Balu, a hundred and fifty miles away, if we except the Kadyans, who being
Mahomedans, and having powerful friends in Brunei, are able to resist
many of the taxes which the Muruts of the Limbang and elsewhere are
called upon to pay. I made two visits here to the capital, and made a boat
journey up the Limbang and Pandarowan rivers as far as Bukit Sagan. This
trip was made in the wet season, and took twelve men three days, owing to
the heavy freshes against which they had to pull. The Pandarowan river is
small compared with the Limbang, of which it is a tributary; but it is,
without exception, the loveliest river I ever saw. At the end of the second
day after leaving the capital we reached a large house belonging to the
Muruts of this district. It stood in a little clearing close beside the stream,
and was nearly a hundred yards in length. A rude pathway of tree trunks lay
on the muddy shore reaching to one end of the building. We landed here to
cook our dinner, and clambered up into the house by a rude stair formed of
a notched tree trunk. The Muruts looked rather surprised to see such
visitors, but spread mats for us, and gave us some firewood and water. After
dinner we had a smoke with the head-man, a fine muscular old fellow,
nearly six feet high. About fifty men, women, and children swarmed round
the circle, of which a wood fire was the centre, to get a peep at us. The
head-man’s wife was a young and rather handsome girl, having a fine dusky
little baby swung behind her, and several other of the younger married
women and girls were comely, with dark eyes and luxuriant hair. Others,
however, were less attractive, and many of both sexes were troubled with
peculiar skin diseases. We engaged two men of this tribe to go with us as far
as Bukit Sagan, as our men did not exactly know the best place at which to
land. We slept by the fire until about two o’clock, when the rain, which had
been coming down heavily all day, ceased, and the silver moon being nearly
at the full, it quite illumined the stream as it sped past the house. The
mosquitoes became very troublesome, and so I called the men and went
down to the boat. After shouting for about half an hour, the Muruts came
down and took their places; and pulling across the current, we crept up
stream beneath the arching plumes of the Nipa palm, which is here
abundant. It was hard work for the men, although we had now fourteen
paddles. A sharp look-out had to be kept for snags and floating trunks of
trees, several of which we saw shooting past us mid stream. Our Labuan
men were rather afraid, and several times wanted to make fast until
daybreak. At one place the boat struck heavily and keeled over in an
alarming way, but we found the obstruction was a raft of the stems of the
sago palm, which some Muruts had felled and lashed near the bank ready
for floating down to their rude washing-sheds below. This heavy bump
woke up our men, several of whom had previously been dozing, although
paddling the while, and we got along for a mile or two in first-rate style.
Then, in crossing the current, at an awkward bend we were well-nigh
washed away; indeed, had it not been for the silent but strenuous exertions
of our Murut guides, the alligators would possibly have had a feed. The
stream for the moment got the better of our men, but by a clever touch of
the paddle our guides steered us through safely, and a steady pull for an
hour longer brought us to the foot of the hill where we were to land. We
made our rattan-rope fast to a tree, and slept until nearly daybreak. One man
told us in the morning that he had not slept a wink all night, as he was
afraid our “painter” would part; but it stood the strain well, although the
boat had swung about and tugged a good deal, owing to the swift current
running down. The scene at sunrise was lovely; every stem and leaf was
covered with dew-drops, and the hazy golden mist, through which palms,
tree-ferns, and curious leafage of all descriptions loomed out more and
more plainly until we saw everything in the foreground quite distinctly. It
was a transformation scene on a gigantic scale, and its loveliness was such
as only Turner at his best could have portrayed. The delicate arching outline
of the nebong palms was sharply defined against the sky overhead, and
large masses of a wild musa fringed both banks with immense leaves and
clusters of delicate rosy bracts.

How comes it that none of our good landscape-painters ever visit the
tropics, where the beauty of form and colour in the landscapes is more
glorious than anywhere else, and yet nearly all the tropical pictures one sees