t Sadong for two days, during which time we were
principally engaged in getting our guns in order, after the rough
usage they had experienced during our sea voyage in the _Sri Laut_;
and arranged to leave for the Mias district, 30 miles up stream, the
third day after our arrival at Sadong. The half-caste resident gave us
the loan of his cook (a Kling), and a most undeniable hand at a curry,
to accompany us, and he proved a treasure in his way, though as a
_compagnon de voyage_ he was hardly a pleasant adjunct to our party,
as the reader will presently see.

I should not omit to mention an important character, who was
constantly appearing on the scene during our sojourn at Sadong. This
was the _Abang_ or Malay chief of the village. This worthy constantly
dogged our footsteps, and followed us wherever we went, invariably
making his appearance at breakfast and dinner time, and squatting
himself on the floor by L.'s or my side, gravely watched us throughout
the meal. He was a thin, cadaverous-looking old man, about sixty years
of age, with a most melancholy cast of features, so much so that we
christened him the "Skeleton at the Feast!" As I am but little
conversant with high-class Malay, and L. knew none, our conversation
was somewhat limited, and while I fully acted up to the old Turkish
proverb that "Silence is golden," he, in his turn, did so to that of
"Hurry is the devil's," for he never would leave us till we had
finished our last glass of grog, and turned in for the night.

The sun was scarcely up on the morning of the 13th of July when we
were up and stirring, and by 6.30 were on board the _Sri_, and,
casting off from the shore, paddled away up stream. Our crew now had
an addition of two new hands: the cook aforesaid, and a Dyak who
accompanied us as guide, and who had the reputation of having killed
with his own hand a greater number of orangs than any native in
Sarawak.

Four hours above Sadong the stream narrows to about twenty feet in
width, and the scenery here is truly beautiful. Tall Nipa palms and a
species of bamboo grew out of the water, while above us the long
branches of enormous forest trees stretched over us on either side,
and formed a kind of natural archway, their branches alive with
monkeys of every description, from the hideous proboscis to the pretty
wa-wa, whose cry exactly resembles the running of water from a
narrow-necked bottle. We emerged from this lovely glade half an hour
after enter