I scarcely know how they managed to make their way at all through the
dense jungle which hemmed us in on every side, or to disentangle
themselves from the numerous obstacles which beset our path. If one of
the bearers suddenly plunged up to his waist in a morass, someone else
instantly came forward to pull him out and to raise the chair again.
When huge fallen trees obstructed the way, one or two men rushed
forward to assist in lifting the chair and me over the barricade. In
less than two hours I had been borne over an intricate and fatiguing
path, up hill and down dale, with frequent changes but with no
stoppages, until at last we fairly faced the limestone cliffs which we
had seen from the distance rising straight out of the jungle. We had
passed, and in fact followed for some distance, the fresh spoors,
eighteen inches in diameter, of an elephant, the sight of which caused
great excitement among the natives, especially when we met other
natives armed with guns.

[Illustration: Return of the Head-Hunter]

One bird's-nest taker whom we passed had just seen two elephants, and
a great palaver ensued, in which the word 'harden,' or some such
equivalent for ivory, frequently occurred. Many of the trees on the
line of route were very fine, specially the tapangs, the splendid
stems of which, supported by natural buttresses, rose in several
instances at least two hundred feet from the ground, unbroken by a
single branch. In the stem of the tapang the wild bees build their
combs, and beeswax is an important and valuable product of the
country. These trees, either singly or in groups, are the property by
inheritance of the natives; so that whenever any attempt is made at
clearing, or even cutting down a single tree, one of these small
proprietors is sure to come forward and swear that his interest,
derived from his father, his grandfather, or some even more remote
ancestor, is likely to be affected. The timber itself is valuable, and
where two buttresses occur exactly opposite to one another the width
of the tree is often so great that large slabs, with a fine grain
capable of taking a high polish, and large enough to form a
dining-table for twenty-four people, have been cut from them. The
Borneo jungle is so dense, and is so completely overshadowed by the
trees rising from it, that there is no undergrowth, and the effect of
bareness is produced; though I dare say that, if one could only look
down on the forest from the car