_LABUAN._
_Wednesday, April 6th._--At daybreak it was so hazy that our position
could not be ascertained. Between 10 and 11 A.M. sights were worked
out, and it was found that a current had set us thirty miles to E.N.E.
At noon we had run 230 miles under steam, and, putting the yacht's
head round, we steered direct for the northern entrance to Victoria
Harbour, off Labuan Island, where we dropped anchor at 2 P.M.
Not long afterwards Lieutenant Hamilton, R.N. (Harbour-master,
Postmaster, Captain of the Port, Treasurer, and I believe the holder
of half a dozen other offices under the British Government), and Mr.
Everett called. They told us all the news, and recommended our going
alongside the wharf to coal and water at this, the last British port
before our long voyage to Australia. It is quite the funniest, most
out-of-the-world place we have ever been in, just as Sarawak is the
most wonderful little independent state--well managed, complete in
itself, with its small army, still smaller navy, and miniature
government. Labuan has not possessed a Governor since Sir Charles Lees
(then Mr. Lees) left, but it boasts capital public offices, a
first-rate Government House, Secretary's residence, church, parsonage,
and other amenities of advanced civilisation. Only there is nobody to
govern, and hardly anything for the officials to do. At present the
colony of Labuan seems a farce, and ought either to be done away with
or placed on an entirely different footing. The best plan would
probably be to make it an adjunct to the Straits Settlements, at the
same time establishing a protectorate over Sarawak and Brunei.
Dr. and Mrs. Leys came on board in the afternoon, and later on we
landed with them at the very rotten and rickety wooden pier, and
reached a grass sward, by the side of which stand the public offices
and a few shops. Some of the party walked, while others drove in
various little pony-carriages. Baby and I went with Dr. Leys to see a
party of Sarawak Dyaks who had just come in from the Barram River with
wedges of gutta-percha, which they were offering for sale, as well as
some weapons and clothing just captured. We bought a good many
interesting things, such as jackets made of cotton, grown, dyed, and
woven by the Dyaks, horn and tortoiseshell combs, kreises, parongs,
knives, pipes, tobacco-pouches, travelling-bags of plaited matting,
and sumpitans or blowpipes from which poisoned arrows are discharged.
They prize these latter very highly, and are generally loth to part
with them, so that we may consider ourselves fortunate in having come
across these few members of a tribe just returned from a warlike
expedition judiciously combined with the more peaceful and profitable
trade of gathering gutta-percha and india-rubber. We also met a group
of bird's-nest collectors, from whom we bought some nests of both the
black and white varieties, scientifically known as _Callocalia_. Then
we purchased two small rhinoceros-horns, greatly prized here for their
supposed medicinal virtues, and considered to be worth their weight in
gold. We succeeded likewise in getting some pairs of splendid
pearl-shells, with fine golden lips and incipient pearls adhering to
them; but I am obliged to admit that they were frightfully expensive.
After visiting all the shops in the town--few in number, and nearly
all kept by Chinamen--we went for a drive into the country. It was
just like driving through one vast park, along soft springy green
roads leading through fragrant jungle. There were no fences, and
fruit-trees of every kind abounded, heavily laden with oranges,
pomaloes, mangoes, mangosteens, durians, and other delicacies--all,
unfortunately for us, at present unripe.
The incongruity of some of the things which were pointed out to us
during our drive was very amusing. There, for instance, stood a large
jail, in the happy condition of being tenantless. So long, indeed, had
it been empty that the gates stood permanently open, and the jailers
had all departed for other lands, with the exception of the chief
official, who remained in the colony, indeed, but who had long since
turned his attention to other avocations. The system of plurality
appears to prevail in Labuan, and it is said that amusing situations
have more than once arisen in consequence of the multiplicity of
offices centred in one individual. The postmaster, for instance, has
been known to write to the treasurer for payment for the delivery of
mails, the harbour-master to the same official for the value of coals
consumed, the captain of the port for the homeward passage-money of
some shipwrecked sailors--all three letters and the replies thereto
being in the same handwriting. I rather think, by the way, that the
Labuan treasury was at a low ebb when we were there; for I know that
the question arose whether it contained enough money to meet some
fifty or sixty dollar notes of ours which we had given in exchange for
our purchases.
The pension-list is very large in the island of Labuan. There is a
church, but no acting clergyman, though there are three on the
pension-list, and the bishop only comes twice a year, or sometimes
twice in two years, according to the requirements of the remainder of
his large diocese, which comprises North Borneo, Sarawak, and
Singapore, besides Labuan. He is expected to arrive to-morrow from
Sandakan, but I fear we shall just miss him.
[Illustration: Malay Village, Labuan]
There is an hospital, but no resident doctor--only two on the
inevitable pension-list. I believe, however, that a surgeon is now on
his way out from England to take up the duties of the post. Government
House is surrounded by a charming park and garden, and resembles an
old-fashioned West Indian planter's residence of the best class. It
might well serve to illustrate scenes in 'Tom Cringle's Log' or
'Peter Simple.' It is built entirely of a dark wood like mahogany, and
the rooms themselves looked snug and well arranged; but, alas, the
white ants have attacked one wing of the house, and it will have to be
pulled down or rebuilt.
Snakes are not numerous in Labuan, but the other day Mrs. Leys found
one comfortably coiled up on the sofa, just where she was going to lie
down. Not far from the town Dr. Leys once shot an alligator on its
nest, which contained thirty-nine eggs. Two of these he gave me, and I
hope to get them home safely, for they are not easily to be procured.
We were also shown some beautiful shells and weapons, and a war-jacket
made of bearskin, decorated with small bells and pieces cut from
kerosene-oil tins.
Our drive down to the shore, along the grassy roads of the park, in
the clear moonlight, was most delightful. The yacht had gone off to
her anchorage, and we had to wait some time for a boat. In the
interval we amused ourselves with a Chinese open-air theatre, waxwork
exhibition, and a puppet-show.
_Thursday, April 7th._--Weighed at 7 A.M. Mr. Everett and Lieutenant
Hamilton came on board, and soon afterwards the mail steamer arrived,
with the Bishop on board. We steamed across to the mouth of the Brunei
River, admiring the beautiful views on our way, especially at Coal
Point, where we transferred ourselves to the Rajah of Sarawak's
steamer 'Lorna Doone,' and proceeded up the river, the scenery of
which is very picturesque. The late Sultan built a wall of stones
across the channel with the view of keeping out the British fleet
under Sir Thomas Cochrane and Captain Keppel--now Admiral of the Fleet
Sir Harry Keppel; and although he did not succeed in his object, the
result has been to make the navigation extremely difficult. The bay
itself is surrounded by vast forests, and not long ago a steamer was
prevented from entering the river for three days, in consequence of a
fierce jungle fire, the dense volumes of smoke from which completely
obscured the entrance. The hills on either side of the river are
prettily wooded, but here and there the land has been cleared and laid
out in terraces for the cultivation of pepper by the Chinese. Brunei
River has been called the Rhine of the East, and I think it deserves
that name better than the town does its proud title of the Venice of
the East, the sole point of resemblance in the latter case being that
both cities are built upon piles.
Some members of another tribe of Dyaks came on board to-day, with
seven heads which they had captured, not on the war-path, but while
engaged in a nominally peaceful expedition into the jungle in search
of gutta-percha, camphor, and beeswax. They had chanced to come across
some natives belonging to a hostile tribe, and had promptly secured as
many heads as they could.
The approach to the town of Brunei is extremely picturesque, but the
place itself is not imposing. The wooden houses stand, as I have said,
upon piles, and there is no means of communication between them except
by boats, varying in size from house or shop boats to tiny canoes
almost invisible beneath the widespreading hats of their occupants.
The flooring of the houses is all open, and all refuse-matter falls or
is thrown into the water beneath.
We anchored a little above the 'Packnam,' and sent a messenger to the
Sultan to enquire when it would be convenient to him to receive us,
for which purpose he appointed two o'clock. In the interval we went
for a row, in quite the intensest heat I ever felt, to see something
of the town and the market. The women's hats were enormous--from three
to four feet in diameter. Anything more curious than the appearance of
a boat-load of these ladies can scarcely be imagined. It looked just
like a bunch of gigantic mushrooms which had somehow got adrift and
was floating down the stream. The marketing is, of course, all done in
boats; and it was interesting and amusing to watch the primitive
system of exchange and barter. Very little money passed, though some
of the hideous old women had little heaps of Chinese cash in front of
them. All the young women are kept shut up in the houses, and those
let out to buy and sell are indeed frightful specimens of the human
race. A couple of durians seemed to buy a hat. I could not arrive at
any idea of the price of other articles. The fish is brought up here
from the sea, just as at Kuching, by large boats to a certain point
and thence in prahus. Both fresh fish and stale fish--_very_ stale and
offensive it seemed to us--appeared to be the leading article of
commerce.
Besides the small canoes and prahus there were a good many large house
and shop boats, with quite a goodly supply of stores, all owned by
Chinese.
[Illustration: Brunei Hats]
Borneo produces about half the sago used by the civilised world. On
our way among the houses we had many opportunities of observing the
primary process of preparing sago for the market. It is not very
inviting, and is productive of a most sickening smell. The large logs
of the sago-tree are brought down from the jungle by river and moored
in the dirty water against the piles underneath the houses, the
consoling feature of this arrangement being that the water is running.
One log is selected at a time for treatment. A man stands over it, and
with an instrument, something between a hatchet and a hoe, extracts
all the pith of the tree, which is the sago. This he pitches on to a
mat suspended between four poles over the river, and, having poured
water over it, he and any members of his family who may happen to be
available proceed to run round and jump and dance upon the whole mass,
singing and smoking all the time. This pressure has the effect of
squeezing the fine sago starch through the mat into a trough below
(usually an old canoe), full of water, where it remains until it
settles. The water is then run off, and the white sticky mass is sold
to Chinamen. It is satisfactory to know that it goes through a good
many more washings before it is considered fit for the market.
Brunei is said to have been at one time a town of 25,000 houses--such
as they were--with an average of from five to seventeen occupants to
each house. This does not, however, include the Sultan and his
relatives, with their numerous retinues. Then the numbers dwindled
down to 10,000 inhabitants; and at present it is difficult to believe
that there are more than half that number; but we are told that some
5,000 are now away on the war-path.
[Illustration: FISHING-STAKES, SARAWAK RIVER]
At two o'clock exactly we landed, or, to be more precise, climbed up
a narrow ladder, the rungs of which were _very_ far apart, to a wooden
staging supported on piles. It was a difficult feat to perform
gracefully, and the noise of a salute of nineteen guns, fired almost
in our ears, did not tend to facilitate matters or make one feel more
comfortable. Then we were led up a long wooden pier, on which stood
some small but beautifully ornamented cannon, of Brunei manufacture,
until we came to a large room, at one end of which stood a sort of
dais, like an enlarged bedstead, covered with mats. On this the
Sultan--an ugly, smiling, feeble old man--shortly afterwards took his
seat. He was attended by retainers bearing betel-boxes, spittoons,
weapons, and all sorts of things which his Majesty might want or fancy
that he wanted. He received us affably, shaking hands with us all, and
inviting us to be seated, after which he ordered large wax candles to
be placed in front of Tom and me, Tom's candle, however, being much
the bigger of the two. This was intended as a great compliment, and if
times had not been so bad and beeswax so scarce, the candles would, we
were informed, have been of even greater size. We were then offered
cigarettes and excellent tea, flavoured with herbs, very hot and
sweet.
The sides of the room had been left open, for the sake of coolness,
but the surrounding space was filled by a dense mass of human beings
eager to see what was going on, so that there was not much fresh air.
Conversation rather languished, for neither of the interpreters was
very quick, and we had considerable misgivings as to the value and
correctness of their translation of our pretty little speeches.
At last, after presenting the Sultan with some slight offerings and
expressing our warm thanks for the kind reception accorded us, we
retired, being escorted to the boat by the First Wazier and another
officer of state. Having again admired the cannon, and heard the
history of their manufacture, we re-embarked in our boats under a
fresh salute of nineteen guns. I fear the poor town of Brunei must
have been put to great expense by the Sultan's desire to do us honour.
Just as we were starting, the large candles, hastily blown out, were
put into our boat, as a last and very special compliment.
[Illustration: Pangeran's Arrival]
We returned straight on board the 'Lorna Doone,' and had scarcely
arrived ere we saw a long, smartly ornamented thirty-paddle canoe
emerge from among the houses near the Sultan's palace, and come
swiftly towards us. It had a white flag at the stern and a green flag
at the bow, and was crowded with people carrying umbrellas of all
sorts, sizes, and colours, which served as insignia of the rank of
their owners. Among them two very large yellow Chinese umbrellas,
surrounded by three little carved galleries, were conspicuous. One was
carried over Pangeran Bandahara, and the other over his younger
brother, Pangeran di Gadong, who holds the position of Second Wazier
of Brunei, but who had not appeared at the palace in consequence of
his not being on speaking terms with the present Sultan. The two
royalties, without their umbrellas, but accompanied by an interpreter
and a few of the chief officers, came on board the 'Lorna Doone,' and
were received by us in the extremely small deck-house, the remainder
of the suite having to content themselves with looking through the
windows and strolling about the deck. It was very puzzling to be
obliged to invent fresh civilities, for we felt that our recent visit
had quite exhausted our stock; but I luckily bethought me that there
was some connection by marriage between the Sultans of Brunei and
Johore; and the discussion of this point, which must have cost the
poor interpreters much mental effort, lasted us a long time. In fact,
with the exception of a short interval spent in enquiries as to our
respective ages, it carried us on until it was time for our visitors
to take their departure, which they did with many effusive
hand-shakings, and many no doubt charming little farewell speeches.
The way in which the connection between the Sultans of Brunei and
Johore came about is rather curious. The Sultan of Sulu had been
engaged in negotiations for the marriage of a princess of Johore (an
aunt of the present Sultan) to one of his sons. The Sultan of Brunei
had also set his mind on the same young lady. When the Sulu fleet of
prahus started to bring the fair--or dark--princess to her new home,
the Brunei fleet followed as far as the Straits of Johore, and
anchored outside, but in the night a swift Brunei prahu stole softly
along the shore, carried the young lady off, crept through the fleets
again, and was soon out at sea on its way back to Brunei. The next
morning, when the princess was not forthcoming and the true state of
affairs was discovered, the Sulu fleet was naturally anxious to start
in pursuit; but the Brunei prahus intercepted them, and before the
Sulus could fight their way through, the lady had been safely lodged
in the Sultan's harem at Brunei.
If the weather had not been so exhaustingly hot, and Tom had not been
so much afraid of our getting fever, I should have tried to persuade
him to take us to Sulu, which must be a most interesting country,
judging from the description of Burbridge, Wallace, and others. The
natives retain many traces of the old Spanish dominion in their style
of dress and ideas generally. They have excellent horses, or ponies,
and are adepts at pig-sticking. Occasionally boar-hunts are organised
on a large scale, which allow of a fine display of horsemanship, as
well as of gaudy costumes. At the feasts given by the Sultan, the
dishes, and even the plates, are all of mother-of-pearl shells, of the
finest golden-lipped variety, each with one or more large pearls
adhering to it. In some cases visitors have been tempted to pocket
their plates, and strict watch and ward has therefore to be kept over
them. There were some Sulus on the 'Lorna Doone' with us, wearing
horsey-looking trousers, short jackets with buttons on the sleeves,
bright sashes stuck full of knives and other arms, and jaunty little
turbans, something like a Maccaroni's cap with the traditional feather
stuck in it. They seemed altogether superior in point of civilisation
and appearance to the Sarawak and Brunei Dyaks; and if the taste of
the lady whose adventures I have just recorded was at all consulted, I
cannot help thinking she made a mistake in the selection of her
adopted country.
After the Sultan's nephew had departed, we had a visit from Achu
Mohammed, who has been British Consul here for many years, often in
very troublous times. With him came an army of shopkeepers, or rather
manufacturers, from whom we bought several curious specimens of Brunei
wares. The metalwork is really beautiful, especially the brass
sirrhi-boxes, and some kettles with an ingenious arrangement in the
lid, causing them to whistle loudly when the water boils. This place
is also celebrated for its earrings, which are exactly like
champagne-corks in size and shape, and are made of gold or silver
gilt, and studded with rubies, emeralds, and other stones found in the
neighbourhood. The narrow part of the cork is fixed in a large hole in
the ear, down the back of which a row of little earrings is often worn
in addition.
Brunei looked very pretty as we left it, in the light of the now
setting sun. The 'Packnam' had already started on her return journey,
and there was not much time to spare if we wanted to save the tide and
the light. On our way down the river we again saw the heights from
which Sir Harry Keppel had bombarded the town, and the Chinese
pepper-terraces, now fast falling to decay. By five o'clock we had
arrived alongside the 'Sunbeam,' with quite a cargo of purchases, and
soon afterwards, having said farewell to our friends and entrusted to
their care a very heavy mail for England, we steamed away.
The spot where we had anchored in Brunei Bay was exactly opposite the
Muara coal-mines, of which we could just see the shafts, with one or
two houses beside them. On our return to the yacht we found that the
owners of these mines had been on board, and had expressed a hope that
we would postpone our departure long enough to enable us to visit the
colliery, which seems likely to become a valuable property. The seam
is twenty-six feet thick, and the coal is of good quality. After the
Labuan failure, however, one is disposed not to be over-sanguine in
such matters. When Mr. Cowie first brought his wife out here the place
looked so desolate and dreary that she absolutely refused to land.
After a while she was persuaded to make a closer inspection, and,
being a very bad sailor, has never left the place since, except once,
when the Rajah of Sarawak sent his steam-launch for her on New Year's
Day to enable her to go and see some sports at Labuan. She was afraid
to come on board the yacht, and we had not time to call upon her and
take her some books and papers, as I should like to have done, for her
life must be terribly isolated.
I have often been astonished to see how well people resist the
relaxing influences of these out-of-the-way places. Their houses all
have a nice homelike look; the ladies are well dressed, and apparently
keep their households in excellent order. In the rare case of
unexpected visitors dropping in, meals are produced at short notice
without bustle or confusion, the table being often decorated with
flowers, and always arranged with refinement and elegance. What struck
me as perhaps even more remarkable than the neatness and order of
their houses was, that these ladies, who have to do, or at all events
very closely superintend the doing of, the more important part of the
household work, talk far less about their servants and domestic
troubles than many people in England, who only have to give an
occasional order. They have also plenty of conversation on other than
local subjects, though there are no circulating libraries within
reach, and the supply of books and newspapers must necessarily be
limited. It may be that this scarcity leads them to study the volumes
which they possess more closely.
_Friday, April 8th._--To our great disappointment, we passed Gaya
Island and Bay before daybreak, and were therefore unable to see
anything of the magnificent harbour, where the North Borneo Company
has one of its many stations.
At 6 A.M. we opened out Ambong Bay, behind which rose Kina Balu (in
English 'the Chinese Widow'), 13,700 feet high, looking most beautiful
through the morning mist. A little to the north of this spot the
Tainpasick River runs into the sea, and we are told that the best way
of reaching the lower elevations of the mighty mountain, with their
endless wealth of orchids and pitcher-plants, lies on that side.
[Illustration: Pitcher Plants and Kina Balu]
Finding that to pass outside Banguey Island would involve our making a
large circuit, and losing some fine scenery, we decided to go through
the Mallewalle Channel, and to anchor off Kudat for the night. At noon
we had come 160 miles under steam, Kudat being thirty miles distant.
At 2 P.M. we reached the northernmost point of the island of Borneo,
which used to be the favourite place of assembling for the large
fleets of pirate prahus, formerly the terror not only of the
neighbouring Straits but of much more distant seas and countries.
The entrance to Marudu Bay, another of the many fine natural harbours
on this gulf-indented coast, is most picturesque. At 4 P.M. we
anchored off Kudat, in the small bay of that name, which is only an
indentation of the shore of the larger Marudu Bay.
We landed at the usual rickety Borneo pier, and were met by Mr.
Davies, the Resident, and Dr. Lamb, the company's doctor for this
district. Tab and Mr. Pemberton soon made friends with Dr. Lamb, and
went out snipe-shooting with him, the rest of the party meantime
strolling about the bazaars, which, though neither large nor well
stocked, afforded an opportunity of picking up a few curios, such as
saws from the nose of a saw-fish, sirrhi-boxes, gongs, old china jars,
Java sarongs, and so forth. We were also shown two large heaps of gum
from the interior, lying on the seashore ready for shipment. Then we
took a few photographs, including one of a house on piles, and another
of a long Borneo house, in which many families live under one roof,
with separate entrances for each family. Afterwards we strolled slowly
on up the hill, towards the Residency. It was a pretty walk, but
rather tiring this hot evening. I felt nearly exhausted myself, and
was grieved to see how completely done up Tom was by what ought to
have been for him very easy work. When at last the verandah was
reached he was quite worn out and glad to lie down in one of the
comfortable basket chairs. Delicious tea and cool champagne-cup soon
refreshed us, however, and made us better able to admire the charming
garden, with its profusion of plants and flowers, and to watch the
antics of two tame _mias_, or orang-outangs, which were chained in
separate palm-trees close to the house. They were ugly--nay, hideous
animals--but very amusing in their ways. Their names were Zachariah
and Jane; and Zachariah, being the tamer of the two, was allowed to
run about loose. He came to his master to be fed, then ran up his own
palm-tree, from which he jumped easily on to Jane's, and tried to
entice her to other tree-tops; but of course her chain prevented this.
It made quite a little comedy, for when Zachariah had teased her
sufficiently he brought her bunches of fresh leaves, and evidently did
his best to induce her to, as it were, kiss and make friends. We
watched them with much interest for a long time, and at last tried to
take a photograph, but I fear they were too restless to allow it to
turn out well.
[Illustration: Kudat]
Some fine specimens of the heads of wild cattle shot by Mr. Davies
stood in the verandah. One head alone required four men to move it.
Mr. Davies gave me some interesting curios brought from a village
where a rather severe fight took place recently. The natives posted
themselves with great cunning behind some rocks on the top of a hill,
which our people had to scale. From this shelter they hurled down
spears and poisoned arrows, wounding many of their assailants, while
our rifles were of no effect against them until the height had been
carried.
On our way back to the yacht we had to cross a rickety wooden bridge
over a muddy creek, in which some of the party thought they saw a
crocodile; not a rare sight on this coast, though they are not so
numerous here as in Sarawak, where the Government offers a reward of a
dollar a foot for all those killed. Last year 2,000 dollars were paid
for 2,000 feet of crocodiles of all sizes and ages.
Dr. Lamb, who dined on board with us, appears to be greatly interested
in his work, though the life is rather rough. He has a good deal of
riding about the country to vaccinate the natives, who seem fully to
understand the value of the operation in mitigating the ravages of
smallpox--a disease by which the country was at one time decimated.
Our regret at not having been able to stop at Gaya was increased when
we heard from Dr. Lamb that the Assistant Resident, Mr. Little, had
just returned from a successful ascent of Kina Balu, having reached
the summit by a new route, and brought down a wonderful collection of
plants and flowers.
About ten o'clock Mr. Davies came on board, and with Dr. Lamb and Tab
started off on a shooting expedition across the bay.
_Saturday, April 9th._--The night was hot and oppressive, and we could
not help feeling somewhat anxious about the sportsmen, whose
expedition in search of wild cattle has a decided spice of danger in
it. Two o'clock came, and then four, and still they did not return. At
last, to our great relief, at half-past six they arrived alongside,
bringing with them a fine young Sambur buck, the carrying of the
carcass having delayed them considerably. They were disappointed not
to have succeeded in killing a buffalo, especially as they had seen
several herds of them in the distance; but the natives who had been
sent to drive the cattle performed their task with such indiscreet
ardour, and with so much noise, that of course they frightened the
cattle away.
Directly the sportsmen came on board we started, and proceeded under
steam close under Malleangau, and thence southward of the fatal Egeria
Rocks to the western extremity of the island of Mallewalle, passing to
the northward of Mandarilla, and to the southward of Kakabau, whence
we steered for Tigabu. By noon we had steamed eighty-seven miles since
leaving Kudat. Tom went up on the fore-yard at 6.30 A.M., and did not
come down until 1.30 P.M., when we had virtually passed the most
dangerous part of the coast. We sent his breakfast up to him in a
bucket, for he did not dare leave his post for one moment, the channel
being most intricate, and the only guide the difference in colour of
the coral patches. He suffered considerably from the heat of the
almost vertical sun, which blistered his legs, in spite of extra
protection, and made the glasses, which he had constantly to use, so
hot that they burnt his hands and eyes, as they did ours when he
brought them down on deck.
[Illustration: On the Fore-yard, making the Land]
About 4 P.M. we touched on a coral patch, in two fathoms, not marked
on the chart (in lat. 6 deg. 40' N., long. 117 deg. 52' E.), which rather
astonished us, and caused us to go still more slowly and carefully for
some time. The sea being absolutely smooth, and the sky overcast,
there was neither break nor reflection to help the look-out, though
Tom thought that he had noticed something peculiar in the colour of
the water a few moments previously. He was almost continuously in the
foretop again from two o'clock until dark, when he took up his
position on the topgallant forecastle.
We passed between Tigabu and Lipeendung, and outside Sandy Island,
Balhalla, Lankayau, Langaan, and Tong Papat, entering the Bay of
Sandakan at 11.45 P.M., and anchoring off the town of Eleopura exactly
at eight bells.
[Illustration: In the Bird's-Nest Caves, Madai]