ze. An Englishman
told me that he and some Malays were exploring the jungle to find traces
of antimony ore, and came to an opening in the wood, across which they
saw the body of a sawar as thick as his own--he was not very
stout--moving along; but they never saw either the head or tail of that
snake, for, after watching its progress for a long time, they were
seized with a panic at its enormous length, and fled.

A Malay whom we knew very well, Abong Hassan by name, and a mighty
hunter, told us that once, when he was seeking deer in the forest,
towards evening he sat down to rest, and cook his rice, on what he
thought was a great fallen tree. While thus occupied, he felt his seat
moving from under him, and, starting up, found he had been making use of
a huge sawar lying inert and distended with food. He killed it, and
found a full-grown deer in its stomach. These snakes must live to a
great age, and grow always, to attain such a size.

Some people kept a small boa in their house to kill rats, but we found
they were equally fond of chickens, and therefore not desirable inmates;
for at Sarawak chickens were the principal animal food to be had, and it
was necessary to keep a stock of them.

After some years we built up the lower story of the mission-house with
bricks, to make it more substantial and cooler. The ground floor was at
first wholly occupied with the school, the dormitory on one side, the
matron's and girls' room on the other, and a large schoolroom through
the centre of the house. A similar room over it was our dining-room, and
was used for divine service until the church was finished. The library
and our bedroom were over the boys' dormitory, and bedrooms for
missionaries on the other side. There were also three rooms in the roof,
which made good bedrooms, but were too hot for use in the daytime. The
roof was covered with shingles of balean-wood, which only grows harder
and darker coloured from rain and use. They were blown off sometimes in
the storms to which we were subject, but were otherwise more lasting
than any other kind of roofing. We used to call this house Noah's Ark,
from the variety of its occupants. A bell hung in the porch roof, and
rung at different hours to call the workmen and regulate the school. The
people in the town got so used to it that, when we discontinued it for a
time, they sent a petition that it might begin again, for without it
they never knew what o'clock it was. When the schoo