some hours after leaving Sibu presents
the same flat uninteresting appearance as we had passed from the mouth
to Sibu, the landscape being unbroken by hill or habitation of any
kind, and newspapers and books that we had brought with us from
Kuching, proved in great demand as the journey for the first few hours
was sadly monotonous. Towards four o'clock in the afternoon, however,
the scenery entirely changed, and books were discarded to look at the
really beautiful country we were passing through, the narrowing of the
stream to about 500 yards broad, and the swiftness of the stream
indicating that we were approaching Kanowit. The powerful current
rushed by so rapidly, that the little _Ghita_ had hard work to make
any headway, and the "snags," or huge pieces of timber, that whirled
past us, gave the steersman plenty of work in keeping the launch clear
of them. The dense jungle here gave place to green park-like plains,
broken by a succession of undulating hills, not unlike Rhine scenery.
Several Dyak habitations were now passed, which gave evidence of
Kanowits being near, their inmates thronging to the water's edge for a
look at the _fire-ship_, a rare and novel sight to them.

At five o'clock we rounded the bend that hid it from our view, and
came in sight of the little white fort and village of Kanowit, about a
mile distant at the end of the reach we were entering. No sooner had
we entered the latter than we were observed by the natives, and could
distinguish them, through our glasses, shoving off from the bank in
four or five large canoes, and paddling towards us. Their boats are
all built flat-bottomed for greater facility in shooting rapids, and
were each manned by a crew of ten or twelve men, who presented a
curious spectacle--their faces and bodies completely covered with
tattooing, their long black locks streaming in the wind, and bright
brass ornaments flashing in the sun. As they came alongside us they
brandished their paddles and yelled--this being meant as a welcome to
the Resident--and, although the _Ghita_ was going at full speed, they
laid hold of her bulwarks and commenced clambering on board in such
numbers that the little launch's deck was soon so crowded as to offer
scarcely standing room, and we should have shortly had to beat a
retreat to the cabin had not their chief "Jok" arrived, and sent the
majority back into their canoes with more force than ceremony.

The Kanowits are a small tribe, numbering