August 18th
The water this morning had dropped a little below the level it had reached when we last attempted to go upstream, so Ipoei with seven more Dyaks was dispatched in an empty canoe to go up to river "C" and report on the feasibility of the canoes making the trip. He returned this afternoon and reported the trip still dangerous. Three times the canoe was almost swamped and the end of the canoe was smashed against a rock on the way back. It required eight hours to make the trip up to River C and half an hour to return. However, if the river drops a little more tonight, Posthumous and Jordans will go on up, as every day lost here is a day lost on cutting the trail to the interior. Le Roux and I will wait here until Saleh arrives, which will probably be tomorrow or the next day, and will make some short survey trips around here in the mountains and will then in about a week join Jordans in cutting the trail along the Rouffaer canyon. I am very curious to know where the river gets the sediment with which it is laden. {p. 217} I spent the evening with Anji and as usual we discussed the relative merits of Borneo and America. Anji presented me with a chicken the Dyaks caught in one of their traps.
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