Like Those Noble Animals, I Too Was Used To It,
And It Did Not Affect My Appetite.
The children here were more
shy than at Tabokan, and I could not persuade them to play.
I
therefore turned showman myself, and exhibited the shadow of a
dog's head eating, which pleased them so much that all the
village in succession came out to see it. The "rabbit on the
wall" does not do in Borneo, as there is no animal it resembles.
The boys had tops shaped something like whipping-tops, but spun
with a string.
The next morning we proceeded as before, but the river had become
so rapid and shallow and the boats were all so small, that though
I had nothing with me but a change of clothes, a gun, and a few
cooking utensils, two were required to take me on. The rock
which appeared here and there on the riverbank was an indurated
clay-slate, sometimes crystalline, and thrown up almost
vertically. Right and left of us rose isolated limestone
mountains, their white precipices glistening in the sun and
contrasting beautifully with the luxuriant vegetation that
elsewhere clothed them. The river bed was a mass of pebbles,
mostly pure white quartz, but with abundance of jasper and agate,
presenting a beautifully variegated appearance. It was only ten
in the morning when we arrived at Budu, and, though there were
plenty of people about, I could not induce them to allow me to go
on to the next village.
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