ver left the place since, except once,
when the Rajah of Sarawak sent his steam-launch for her on New Year's
Day to enable her to go and see some sports at Labuan. She was afraid
to come on board the yacht, and we had not time to call upon her and
take her some books and papers, as I should like to have done, for her
life must be terribly isolated.

I have often been astonished to see how well people resist the
relaxing influences of these out-of-the-way places. Their houses all
have a nice homelike look; the ladies are well dressed, and apparently
keep their households in excellent order. In the rare case of
unexpected visitors dropping in, meals are produced at short notice
without bustle or confusion, the table being often decorated with
flowers, and always arranged with refinement and elegance. What struck
me as perhaps even more remarkable than the neatness and order of
their houses was, that these ladies, who have to do, or at all events
very closely superintend the doing of, the more important part of the
household work, talk far less about their servants and domestic
troubles than many people in England, who only have to give an
occasional order. They have also plenty of conversation on other than
local subjects, though there are no circulating libraries within
reach, and the supply of books and newspapers must necessarily be
limited. It may be that this scarcity leads them to study the volumes
which they possess more closely.

_Friday, April 8th._--To our great disappointment, we passed Gaya
Island and Bay before daybreak, and were therefore unable to see
anything of the magnificent harbour, where the North Borneo Company
has one of its many stations.

At 6 A.M. we opened out Ambong Bay, behind which rose Kina Balu (in
English 'the Chinese Widow'), 13,700 feet high, looking most beautiful
through the morning mist. A little to the north of this spot the
Tainpasick River runs into the sea, and we are told that the best way
of reaching the lower elevations of the mighty mountain, with their
endless wealth of orchids and pitcher-plants, lies on that side.

[Illustration: Pitcher Plants and Kina Balu]

Finding that to pass outside Banguey Island would involve our making a
large circuit, and losing some fine scenery, we decided to go through
the Mallewalle Channel, and to anchor off Kudat for the night. At noon
we had come 160 miles under steam, Kudat being thirty miles distant.
At 2 P.M. we reached the norther