William Temple Hornaday in his book Two Years in the Jungle ... gives a very good description of the government house in Sadong where Francis Farrington took up residence in 1909.
"The government house stands a hundred yards above the confluence of the two rivers, and I was surprised at finding it so well-built, roomy and comfortable. It was built to accommodate such of the government officers as might have occasion to visit this locality in the discharge of their duties. As usual the house stands on posts six feet high, and the space underneath is quite well adapted to such work as skinning and skeletonizing animals. It contains two suites of rooms, and a latticed verandah in front of each sleeping apartment, which is a capital place for keeping pet monkeys and orang-utans.
At the front of the house the steps lead up to a spacious audience room, from the door of which there is a fine view of several miles directly down the Sadong, here a mighty river half a mile wide. The house is used as a police station by a detachment of half a dozen men, whose duties consist mainly of striking the hours on a deep-toned gong which hangs in the verandah.
... The grounds in front of the house are tastefully laid out, and quite filled with flowering and curious plants from the surrounding jungle, all of which seem to thrive without care.
The virgin jungle comes up to within a hundred yards of the house at the back, and the Malay kampong nestles at its edge."
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