Suddenly the crowd fell back, as a rather stout, dark, middle-aged man came down the path to meet us. This was F. Domingo de Rosario (called “Mingo” by his friends), Commandant of Kapit Fort. His father was a Portuguese from Malacca, and Mingo had come to Sarawak during the reign of the first Rajah Brooke, to whom he was butler. Mingo was born in Sarawak, and was educated at the Protestant Mission at Kuching, and when old enough to join the Rajah’s service he was sent to the Rejang district, where he has remained ever since. Mingo is well acquainted with the wild inhabitants in his district, and is much beloved by them. With his burly figure, his dark, kindly face, his utter disregard to personal danger, and, above all, for the way he has of looking at life as a huge joke, the Dyaks often compare him to “Simpurei”, one of their jolly war-gods. Mingo has been through strange adventures, fought many battles, and on one occasion, many years ago, was attacked in a place called Ngmah, where a Fort had been erected, but which has long since been pulled down and dismantled. In these quieter days, when life on the banks of the Rejang is comparatively free from danger, Mingo is sometimes heard to regret the fine old times when his time was spent in perpetual excitement. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, he takes the change philosophically enough. He is married to a Tanjong woman, who takes great care of him, and they have a daughter named Madu (meaning honey), to whom he is much attached. We settled down comfortably in Kapit Fort, and the days passed quickly by. A constant stream of Dyaks and Kayans came from the countryside to see us, for Mr. Bampfylde had made them aware of our intention to visit Belaga, a place some three weeks’ journey by boat, situated at the head-waters of the Rejang--Belaga being the real object of our journey up this river. Knowing my intense wish to visit all the places I possibly could, Mr. Bampfylde had suggested this trip to Bertram and myself. The great charm of the undertaking lay in the fact that to get to Belaga innumerable rapids had to be surmounted, and we had to go through an interesting stretch of country lying between Kapit and this distant Fort, for it is essentially the land of Kayan people, and here and there along the banks of those higher reaches of the Rejang are to be seen interesting and wonderful monuments of Kayan industry, in the shape of tombs carved by the people containing the remains of their most famous chiefs. On such expeditions, it is customary for the people of the country to paddle the boats in which the Rajah or his family make excursions up these difficult and sometimes dangerous cataracts, like giant stairways, which lead into the interior.