That spot for years was our boast; there was no bathing-place like Peninjau, no water so cool, no air so bracing. Once our grotto fell to a discount, and that was when some one unromantically brought from our basin a huge leech, fifteen inches long; but that was the only intruder that ever invaded the sacred spot. I may say that we never enter the basin when we bathe in these places, or at our houses, but pour small buckets of water on our heads, and let it run over our bodies; it is the most refreshing plan. But up country, in the cool mountain streams, we always take a plunge into the water. At night, looking south, the prospect appeared quite lively with fires and flashing lights; these came from the villages of Chinese gold-workers occupying the valleys below. They extended irregularly for about ten miles until they reached their chief town of Bau, romantically situated among limestone hills, presenting perpendicular sides. To the eastward was one of the noblest valleys in Sarawak, perfectly uninhabited. At the nearer end the Sirambau Dayaks occasionally had a farm, but thousands of acres, untrodden by man, lay there uncultivated. To the left of Sirambau are some very fine Tapang trees, in which the bees generally build their nests; they are considered private property, and a Dayak from a neighbouring tribe venturing to help himself of this apparently wild honey and wax, would be punished for theft. This tribe, also, is rich in edible birds’-nests, while the Peninjaus are becoming wealthy from the great extent of their fruit-groves. In former times, the Malays used to gather them without thinking of asking permission, but now the government has forbidden this practice, and the amount realized by the Dayaks is, for Borneo, something surprising. One good fruit season, a hundred and fifty families realized two pounds sterling each, enough to buy rice to last them six months. I have said I am more familiar with the manners and customs of these Dayaks than with those of any others, and having had the advantage of receiving full and careful replies to a list of queries I addressed to all those I thought likely to be able to give me assistance, particularly from the Rev. Mr. Chalmers, the able missionary who formerly resided there, and whose departure from Borneo all sincerely regret, I will enter an account of the ways of the Land Dayaks, noticing in what manner they vary from those of the surrounding tribes. Though I am greatly indebted to Mr. Chalmers’s notes, I by no means bind him to the opinions expressed, as we differ on some points, particularly regarding the belief in the Supreme Being.