got under weigh and proceeded down the river accompanied by a large
canoe, which was occupied by the rajah's son, six or seven hunters, and
a pack of the dogs used in hunting the wild boar on this island. These
dogs were small, but very wiry, with muzzles like foxes, and curling
tails. Their hair was short, and of a tan colour. Small as they are,
they are very bold, and one of them will keep a wild pig at bay till the
hunters come up to him.

[Illustration: OBTAINING FIRE.]

We arrived at the hunting ground at the mouth of the river in good time,
before the scent was off, and landed in the _Tam-bang_. Our captain
having a survey to make of an island at the mouth of the river, to our
great delight took away the barge and gig, leaving Mr. Brooke, Hentig,
Captain Keppell, Adams, and myself, to accompany the rajah's son. Having
arranged that the native boat should pull along the coast in the
direction that we were to walk, and having put on board the little that
we had collected for our dinners, we shouldered our guns and followed
the hunters and dogs. The natives who accompanied us were naked, and
armed only with a spear. They entered the jungle with the dogs, rather
too fatiguing an exercise for us, and we contented ourselves with
walking along the beach abreast of them, waiting very patiently for the
game to be started. In a very few minutes the dogs gave tongue, and as
the noise continued we presumed that a boar was on foot; nor were we
wrong in our conjecture; the barking of the dogs ceased, and one of the
hunters came out of the jungle to us with a fine pig on his back, which
he had transfixed with his spear. Nor were we long without our share of
the sport, for we suddenly came upon a whole herd which had been driven
out of the jungle, and our bullets did execution. We afterwards had more
shots, and with what we killed on the beach, and the natives secured in
the jungle, as the evening advanced we found ourselves in possession of
eight fine grown animals. These the rajah's son and his hunters very
politely requested our acceptance of. We now had quite sufficient
materials for our dinner, and as we were literally as hungry as
hunters, we were most anxious to fall to, and looked upon our pigs with
very cannibal eyes. The first thing necessary was to light a fire, and
for the first time I had an opportunity of seeing the Dyak way of
obtaining it. It differs slightly from the usual manner, and is best
explained by a ske