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"Great blue heron" but with brownish shoulder feathers, underparts and sides of neck; white headed, red bodied hawks were abundant; there were also two other larger species of hawks which were not so plentiful. Two species of rails were common. Tree duck were common, seen in flocks and in pairs. Anhingas were also fairly common.

The natives claim that during the dry season, which is the nesting time, they gather great numbers of birds' eggs for food, but their principal occupation is fishing during the dry season.

Having delivered cargo and passengers at a kampong at the far side of the lake, we returned to Muara Muntai where we stayed until midnight.

March 3, 1914.
Muara Pahoe was our first stop at 10:00 A.M., having steamed steadily since midnight. The country hereabouts, while slightly higher than that of Muara Muntai is low and the banks appear everywhere to be covered with old second growth jungle of which the most conspicuous evidence is the presence of two varieties of palm trees, namely the sugar palm (banda) and the betel nut (penang) which are nearly always to be found where natives have made clearings.

Having discharged some cargo at Muara Pahoe, we proceeded on up stream, reaching Melak at sundown. The soot from the steamer's funnel has simply covered my prahn and makes everything very dirty. Since leaving Samarinda, we have had but one slight shower, that was the first night; since then the weather has been very clear and hot. Melak, like practically all the native Malay villages, consists of one long line of houses along the river bank and then a line of bath houses built on logs in the water in front of the houses.

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