Through Central Borneo An Account Of Two Years' Travel In The Land Of The Head-Hunters Between The Years 1913 And 1917 By Carl Lumholtz
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The Chinese Rickshaw Men Here Are Of Superb
Physique, And The Excellence Of The Service Renders This The Most
Agreeable Method Of Getting About.
Moreover, it is a pleasure to watch
their athletic movements and long easy stride, as if they were half
flying.
Some of them pass the carriages. They are jolly, like big
children, and are natural teetotalers, but they sometimes fight about
money among themselves.
After securing a Chinese photographer and a trained native collector of
zoological specimens, I embarked in the excellent Dutch steamer Rumphius
for Batavia where I arrived on the 10th of November. The first thing to be
done was to ask an audience of the Governor-General of Netherlands India,
who usually stays at Buitenzorg, the site of the world-famous botanical
gardens. It is an hour's trip by express from Batavia, and although only
265 metres higher, has a much pleasanter climate. The palace, which is
within the botanical gardens, has an unusually attractive situation, and
the interior is light, cool, and stately. His excellency, A.W.F. Idenburg,
most courteously gave the necessary orders for the furtherance of my
proposed expedition to New Guinea, and as it was necessary for me to go
first to Dutch Borneo, to secure a Dayak crew, he provided me with an
introduction to the Resident of the South and Eastern Division.
During the few days I stayed in Buitenzorg, the botanical gardens were a
source of ever new delight. It was in the latter half of November and thus
well into the rainy season.
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