On the Equator

A travel narrative recounts a voyage to Southeast Asia with stops at Singapore and Kuching and sketches colonial society, markets, clubs, and the administration of the riverine territory. The author records river and mountain expeditions—an ascent of Matang and voyages up the Rejang and Kanowit—encountering diverse indigenous groups and describing customs, dances, tattooing, burial rites, and reported head-hunting. Natural-history and sporting episodes feature orang-utans, snakes, alligators, and hunting adventures alongside notes on timber, gutta-percha, and river commerce. The account closes with further travel through Java and other archipelago ports before the return passage toward Europe.