ith every one silently
and respectfully standing around listening to every word. He wished
me success in my travels in the interior, and told his officials to
do all in their power to help me. When you talk about the Rajah you
say "His Highness," but when you address him, you simply say "Rajah"
after every few words--"Yes, Rajah," or "No, Rajah." The native chiefs,
I noticed, kissed the hands of both the Rajah and the Rajah Muda.

There is no hotel in Kuching, so I put up at the rather dilapidated
government Rest-House, part of which I had to myself, the other half
being occupied by two government officers. The club in Kuching seems
a most popular institution with all the officials, and "gin pahits"
(or "bitters") the popular drink of this part of the world; billiards
and pool help to pass many a pleasant evening, the Rajah Muda often
joining us at a game of black pool, like any ordinary mortal.

The Rajah's troops, the Rangers, are a fine body of men; they are
chiefly recruited from the Malays and Dayaks, and have an English
sergeant to drill them. I was told that when they go fighting the wild
head-hunters, they are allowed to bring in as trophies the heads of
those they kill, in the same way that the Dayaks themselves do. The
method of execution here is the same as in other Malay countries,
the criminal being taken down to the banks of the river, where a long
"kris" is thrust down through the shoulder into the heart, and is
then twisted about till the man is dead.

After a visit to Bau, further up the Sarawak River, where the Borneo
Company, whose guest I was, have a gold mine (the clay being treated
by the "cyanide" process), I collected specimens for some time in the
beautiful forests at the foot of the limestone mountains of Poak. Here
I saw something of the Land Dayaks, but they are a poor degenerate
breed, and not to be compared to the Sea Dayaks, who are born fighters,
and whose predatory head-hunting instincts give a great deal of trouble
to the government. These latter were the Dayaks I was anxious to meet,
and I soon made arrangements to visit their country, which is a good
way from Kuching, the real Sea Dayak rarely visiting the capital.

So one morning early I found myself with my two servants, a Chinese
cook and a civilized Dayak named Dubi (Mr. R. Shelford also going),
on board a government paddle-wheel steamer which was bound for Sibu,
on the Rejang River. Twenty-five miles' descent of the Sarawak Ri