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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Accompanied by Mr. Loing, the surveyor, on the last day of November I left
Bandjermasin on the steamship Janssens, which, en route for Singapore,
was to call at Sampit.
There is always a large contingent of Malays who
with their families go on this steamer to and fro between Borneo and the
Malay Peninsula, where they work on rubber and cocoanut plantations; out
of their earnings they buy the desires of their hearts - bicycles and
yellow shoes. Thus equipped they go back to Bandjermasin to enjoy
themselves a few weeks, after which the bicycles are sold and the
erstwhile owners return to the scene of their labours to start afresh.
The controleur, Mr. H.P. Schouten, had just returned on the Selatan from
a trip up the Katingan, and turned it over to my use. When the coaling had
been done and our goods taken on board, the strong little boat lay deep,
but the captain said it was all right. He was the same able djuragan of
two years before. Having received from the controleur letters to the five
native officials located on the Katingan, we departed, and the following
morning arrived at the mouth of the river. At first the country was very
thinly inhabited, because the banks are too low to encourage settlement.
As hitherto noted the country bordering on the lower portions of the great
rivers is populated by Malays exclusively, and here their territory
stretches almost to Kasungan. The remainder of the riparian lands is
occupied by Katingans.
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