Also keenly humourous, he enjoyed my initial
mistakes in Malay, though maintaining a proper respect for the leader of
the expedition.
In the evening, having retired for the day, he, as well as the Chinese
photographer could be heard in their respective tents studying English
from small guidebooks which they had brought along. He told me that his
earnings were invested in a small rubber plantation which he and his
brothers worked together. Chonggat was a good example of what a native of
Borneo can accomplish under proper civilizing influences.
One morning he brought in a king cobra (naia bungarus) which he had shot,
and as life was not yet extinct I got a good photograph of it. This serpent
was about three metres long, but these very poisonous snakes, called ular
tadong by the Malays, attain a length of seven metres. They are beautifully
formed for quick movement, and will attack human beings, the female being
particularly vicious when it has eggs. "When I see ular tadong coming
toward me," said Chonggat, who was no coward, "then I run." There are
several species of very poisonous snakes in Borneo, but according to my
experience they are not very numerous. Two small ones, about thirty-five
centimetres long, are the most common varieties encountered in the jungle.
They are sluggish and somewhat similar in appearance, dark brown and red
being the principal colours. One of them has its under side decorated with
transverse sections of beautiful scarlet alternating with black.
Ah Sewey, the photographer, was also an efficient man, but at first we had
immense difficulty with the developing. One cannot count on water cooler
than 75 F., and at that temperature the films come out well, but in the
beginning many plates were spoiled. For the photographer in the tropics
the use of formalin is an absolute necessity. He must also face other
difficulties, avoiding among other things the possibility of having his
films, when drying, eaten by small species of grasshoppers.
CHAPTER IV
AN EXPEDITION INTO THE JUNGLE - FIRST IMPRESSIONS - RAPID CHANGE IN THE
DENSENESS OF VEGETATION - ANIMAL LIFE - A STUBBORN FIGHT
About the middle of January, I began an expedition into the utan, as the
Malays call the great jungles of Borneo, first going up the river half a
day and from there striking inland toward the north. If circumstances
proved favourable, I intended to travel as far as Bengara, about twelve
days' trip for a Dayak with a light burden to carry. In case of
unfavourable weather and too much delay in getting fresh provisions, I
felt that I should be satisfied in penetrating well into a region not
before visited by whites, where I might succeed in coming into contact
with the shy nomads, called Punans, known to roam there in limited
numbers.
