Four Young Explorers; Or, Sight-Seeing in the Tropics
by Oliver Optic · English · Gutenberg #24252 · 536,464 chars · public domain (US)
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Four Young Explorers; Or, Sight-Seeing in the Tropics
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States,
you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.
Title: Four Young Explorers; Or, Sight-Seeing in the Tropics
Author: Oliver Optic
Illustrator: A. B. Shute
Release date: January 11, 2008 [eBook #24252]
Most recently updated: January 3, 2021
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24252
Credits: Produced by David Edwards, Emmy and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from scans of public domain material produced by
Microsoft for their Live Search Books site.)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOUR YOUNG EXPLORERS; OR, SIGHT-SEEING IN THE TROPICS ***
Produced by David Edwards, Emmy and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from scans of public domain material produced by
Microsoft for their Live Search Books site.)
ALL OVER THE WORLD LIBRARY
OLIVER OPTIC
[Illustration]
FOUR YOUNG EXPLORERS
ALL-OVER-THE-WORLD LIBRARY
By OLIVER OPTIC
* * * * *
_Illustrated, Price per Volume $1.25_
FIRST SERIES
A MISSING MILLION
Or THE ADVENTURES OF LOUIS BELGRAVE
A MILLIONAIRE AT SIXTEEN
Or THE CRUISE OF THE GUARDIAN MOTHER
A YOUNG KNIGHT-ERRANT
Or CRUISING IN THE WEST INDIES
STRANGE SIGHTS ABROAD
Or A VOYAGE IN EUROPEAN WATERS
SECOND SERIES
AMERICAN BOYS AFLOAT
Or CRUISING IN THE ORIENT
THE YOUNG NAVIGATORS
Or THE FOREIGN CRUISE OF THE MAUD
UP AND DOWN THE NILE
Or YOUNG ADVENTURERS IN AFRICA
ASIATIC BREEZES
Or STUDENTS ON THE WING
THIRD SERIES
ACROSS INDIA
Or LIVE BOYS IN THE FAR EAST
HALF ROUND THE WORLD
Or AMONG THE UNCIVILIZED
FOUR YOUNG EXPLORERS
Or SIGHT-SEEING IN THE TROPICS
_OTHER VOLUMES IN PREPARATION_ ANY VOLUME SOLD SEPARATELY
LEE AND SHEPARD Publishers Boston
[Illustration: "YOUR FIRST SHOT, LOUIS," SAID SCOTT.
_Page 30._]
_All-Over-the-World Library--Third Volume of Third Series_
FOUR YOUNG EXPLORERS
OR
SIGHT-SEEING IN THE TROPICS
BY
OLIVER OPTIC
AUTHOR OF
"THE ARMY AND NAVY SERIES" "YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD, FIRST AND SECOND
SERIES" "THE BOAT-CLUB STORIES" "THE ONWARD AND UPWARD SERIES"
"THE GREAT WESTERN SERIES" "THE WOODVILLE STORIES" "THE
LAKE SHORE SERIES" "THE YACHT-CLUB SERIES" "THE RIVERDALE
STORIES" "THE BOAT-BUILDER SERIES" "THE BLUE AND THE GRAY
AFLOAT" "THE BLUE AND THE GRAY--ON LAND" "THE STARRY
FLAG SERIES" "ALL-OVER-THE-WORLD LIBRARY, FIRST SECOND
AND THIRD SERIES" COMPRISING "A MISSING MILLION" "A
MILLIONAIRE AT SIXTEEN" "A YOUNG KNIGHT-ERRANT"
"STRANGE SIGHTS ABROAD" "AMERICAN BOYS AFLOAT"
"THE YOUNG NAVIGATORS" "UP AND DOWN THE
NILE" "ASIATIC BREEZES" "ACROSS INDIA"
"HALF ROUND THE WORLD" ETC., ETC., ETC.
BOSTON
LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS
10 MILK STREET
1896
COPYRIGHT, 1896, BY LEE AND SHEPARD
_All Rights Reserved_
FOUR YOUNG EXPLORERS
TYPOGRAPHY BY C. J. PETERS & SON, BOSTON.
PRESSWORK BY BERWICK & SMITH.
TO
MY APPRECIATIVE AND VALUED FRIEND
FREDERICK D. RUGGLES, ESQ.
RESIDING ON A HISTORIC HILL IN
HARDWICK, MASS.
This Volume
IS RESPECTFULLY AND CORDIALLY
DEDICATED.
PREFACE
"FOUR YOUNG EXPLORERS" is the third volume of the third series of the
"All-Over-the-World Library." When the young millionaire and his three
companions of about his own age, with a chosen list of near and dear
friends, had made the voyage "Half Round the World," the volume with
this title left them all at Sarawak in the island of Borneo. The four
young explorers, as they became, were permitted to spend three weeks
there hunting, fishing, and ascending some of the rivers, while the rest
of the party proceeded in the Guardian-Mother to Siam. The younger
members of the ship's company believed they had seen enough of temples,
palaces, and fine gardens in the great cities of the East, and desired
to live a wilder life for a brief period.
They were provided with a steam-launch, prepared for long trips; and
they ascended the Sarawak, the Sadong, and the Simujan Rivers, and had
all the hunting, fishing, and exploring they desired. They visited the
villages of the Sea and Hill Dyaks, and learned what they could of their
manners and customs, penetrating the island from the sea to the
mountains. They studied the flora and the fauna of the forests, and were
exceedingly interested in their occupation for about a week, when they
came to the conclusion that "too much of a good thing" became wearisome;
and, more from the love of adventure than for any other reason, they
decided to proceed to Bangkok, and to make the voyage of nine hundred
miles in the Blanchita, as they had named the steam-launch, which voyage
was accomplished without accident.
After the young explorers had looked over the capital of Siam, the
Guardian-Mother and her consort made the voyage to Saigon, the capital
of French Cochin-China, where the visit of the tourists was a general
frolic, with "lots of fun," as the young people expressed it; and then,
crossing the China Sea, made the port of Manila, the capital of the
Philippine Islands, where they explored the city, and made a trip up the
Pasig to the Lake of the Bay. From this city they made the voyage to
Hong-Kong, listening to a very long lecture on the way in explanation of
the history, manners, and customs, and the peculiarities of the people
of China. They were still within the tropics, and devoted themselves to
the business of sight-seeing with the same vigor and interest as before.
But most of them had read so much about China, as nearly every American
has, that many of the sights soon began to seem like an old story to
them.
Passing out of the Torrid Zone, the two steamers proceeded to the north,
obtaining a long view of Formosa, and hearing a lecture about it. Their
next port of call was Shang-hai, reached by ascending the Woo-Sung. From
this port they made an excursion up the Yang-tsze-Chiang, which was an
exceedingly interesting trip to them. The ships then made the voyage to
Tien-tsin, from which they ascended by river in the steam-launch to a
point thirteen miles from Pekin, going from there to the capital by the
various modes of conveyance in use in China. They visited the sights of
the great city under the guidance of a mandarin, educated at Yale
College. Some of the party made the trip to the loop-wall, near Pekin.
Returning to Tien-tsin, with the diplomatic mandarin, who had accepted
an invitation to go to Japan in the Guardian-Mother, they sailed for
that interesting country, where the next volume of the series will take
them.
It may be necessary to say that the Guardian-Mother, now eighteen months
from New York, and half round the world, reached Tien-tsin May 25, 1893;
and therefore nothing relating to the late war between China and Japan
is to be found in this volume. Possibly the four young explorers would
have found more sights to see, and more adventures to enjoy, if they had
struck either of the belligerent nations during the war; but the ship
sailed for the United States before hostilities were begun.
Of course the writer has been compelled to consult many volumes in
writing this book; and he takes great pleasure in mentioning among them
the very interesting and valuable work of Mr. W. T. Hornaday, the
accomplished traveller and scientist, "Two Years in the Jungle." This
book contains all that one need know about Borneo, to say nothing of the
writer's trip in India among the elephants. His researches in regard to
the orang-outang appear to have exhausted the subject; though I do not
believe he has found the "missing link," if he is looking for it.
Professor Legge contributed several articles to "Chambers's
Encyclopædia," which contain the most interesting and valuable matter
about China to be derived from any work; for he lived for years in that
country, travelled extensively, and learned the language. I am under
great obligations to these authors.
The author is under renewed obligations to his readers, young and old,
who have been his constant friends during more than forty years, for the
favor with which they have received a whole library of his books, and
for the kind words they have spoken to him, both verbally and by letter.
WILLIAM T. ADAMS.
DORCHESTER, MASS.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
THE BORNEO HUNTERS AND EXPLORERS 1
CHAPTER II.
A VOYAGE UP THE SARAWAK RIVER 10
CHAPTER III.
SOMETHING ABOUT BORNEO AND ITS PEOPLE 19
CHAPTER IV.
A SPECULATION IN CROCODILES 29
CHAPTER V.
A HUNDRED AND EIGHT FEET OF CROCODILE 39
CHAPTER VI.
THE VOYAGE UP THE SADONG TO SIMUJAN 48
CHAPTER VII.
A SPIRITED BATTLE WITH ORANG-OUTANGS 58
CHAPTER VIII.
A PERFORMANCE OF VERY AGILE GIBBONS 67
CHAPTER IX.
A VISIT TO A DYAK LONG-HOUSE 77
CHAPTER X.
THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE DYAKS 87
CHAPTER XI.
STEAMBOATING THROUGH A GREAT FOREST 96
CHAPTER XII.
A FORMIDABLE OBSTRUCTION REMOVED 106
CHAPTER XIII.
THE CAPTAIN'S ASTOUNDING PROPOSITION 115
CHAPTER XIV.
DOWN THE SIMUJAN AND UP THE SARAWAK 125
CHAPTER XV.
ON THE VOYAGE TO POINT CAMBODIA 134
CHAPTER XVI.
AN EXCITING RACE IN THE CHINA SEA 143
CHAPTER XVII.
THE END OF THE VOYAGE TO BANGKOK 153
CHAPTER XVIII.
LOUIS'S DOUBLE-DINNER ARGUMENT 163
CHAPTER XIX.
A HASTY GLANCE AT BANGKOK 172
CHAPTER XX.
A VIEW OF COCHIN-CHINA AND SIAM 181
CHAPTER XXI.
ON THE VOYAGE TO SAIGON 191
CHAPTER XXII.
IN THE DOMINIONS OF THE FRENCH 201
CHAPTER XXIII.
A LIVELY EVENING AT THE HOTEL 211
CHAPTER XXIV.
TONQUIN AND SIGHTS IN CHOLON 221
CHAPTER XXV.
SEVERAL HILARIOUS FROLICS 231
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE VOYAGE ACROSS THE CHINA SEA 241
CHAPTER XXVII.
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE PHILIPPINES 250
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE DESCRIPTION OF AN EARTHQUAKY CITY 260
CHAPTER XXIX.
GOING ON SHORE IN MANILA 270
CHAPTER XXX.
EXCURSIONS ON SHORE AND UP THE PASIG 280
CHAPTER XXXI.
HALF A LECTURE ON CHINESE SUBJECTS 290
CHAPTER XXXII.
THE CONTINUATION OF THE LECTURE 300
CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE CONCLUSION OF THE LECTURE 310
CHAPTER XXXIV.
SIGHT-SEEING IN HONG-KONG AND CANTON 321
CHAPTER XXXV.
SHANG-HAI AND THE YANG-TSZE-CHIANG 332
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE WALLS AND TEMPLES OF PEKIN 342
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
"YOUR FIRST SHOT, LOUIS," SAID SCOTT _Frontispiece_
PAGE
"WHAT HAVE YOU GOT THERE, MR. BELGRAVE?" 41
"YOU ARE NEAR ENOUGH, CAPTAIN" 99
THE BOAT ROSE GRACEFULLY ON THE BILLOWS 132
"BUT WHERE IS FELIX?" DEMANDED MRS. BLOSSOM, 161
SHE MADE A VIGOROUS LEAP INTO THE FORE-SHEETS, 267
NATIVES PREPARING TOBACCO IN MANILA 285
TEMPLE AND GARDEN IN CHINA 329
FOUR YOUNG EXPLORERS
CHAPTER I
THE BORNEO HUNTERS AND EXPLORERS
The Guardian-Mother, attended by the Blanche, had conveyed the tourists,
in their voyage all over the world, to Sarawak, the capital of a
rajahship on the north-western coast of the island of Borneo. The town
is situated on both sides of a river of the same name, about eighteen
miles from its mouths.
The steamer on which was the pleasant home of the millionaire at
eighteen, who was accompanied by his mother and a considerable party,
all of whom have been duly presented to the reader in the former volumes
of the series, lay in the middle of the river. The black smoke was
pouring out of her smokestack, and the hissing steam indicated that the
vessel was all ready to go down the river to the China Sea. Her anchor
had been hove up, and the pilot was in the pilot-house waiting for the
commander to strike the gong in the engine-room to start the screw.
Just astern of the Guardian-Mother was a very trim and beautiful
steam-launch, fifty feet in length. The most prominent persons on board
of her were the quartette of American boys, known on board of the
steamer in which they had sailed half round the world as the "Big Four."
Of this number Louis Belgrave, the young millionaire, was the most
important individual in the estimation of his companions, though happily
not in his own.
Like a great many other young men of eighteen, which was the age of
three of them, while the fourth was hardly sixteen, they were fond of
adventure,--of hunting, fishing, and sporting in general. They had gone
over a large portion of Europe, visited the countries on the shores of
the Mediterranean, crossed India, and called at some of the ports of
Burma, the Malay peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Celebes, and had reached
Sarawak in their explorations.
They had visited many of the great cities of the world, and seen the
temples, monuments, palaces, and notable structures of all kinds they
contain; but they had become tired of this description of sight-seeing.
When the island of Borneo was marked on the map as one of the localities
to be visited, the "Big Four" had a meeting in the boudoir, as one of
the apartments of the Guardian-Mother was called, and voted that they
had had enough of temples, monuments, and great cities for the present.
They agreed that exploring a part of Borneo, with the incidental
hunting, fishing, and study of natural history, would suit them better.
Louis Belgrave was appointed a committee of one to petition the
commander to allow them three weeks in the island for this purpose.
Captain Ringgold suggested to Louis that it was rather selfish to leave
the rest of the party on the steamer, stuck in the mud of the Sarawak,
while they were on the rivers and in the woods enjoying themselves.
But the representative of the "Big Four" protested that they did not
mean anything of the sort. They did not care a straw for the temples and
other sights of Siam, Cambodia, and French Cochin-China; and while they
were exploring Borneo and shooting orang-outangs, the Guardian-Mother
should proceed to Bangkok and Saigon, and the rest of the tourists could
enjoy themselves to the full in seeing the wonders of Farther India.
It required a great deal of discussion to induce the commander, and then
the mothers of two of the explorers, to assent to this plan; but the
objections were finally overcome by the logic and the eloquence of
Louis. The Blanche, the consort of the Guardian-Mother, having on board
the owner, known as General Noury, his wife and his father-in-law, had
nothing to do with this difficult question; but the general had a
steam-launch, which he was kind enough to grant for the use of the
explorers.
The third engineer of the ship was to go with the quartette, in charge
of the engine; five of the youngest of the seamen were selected to make
the venture safer than it might otherwise have been. Achang Bakir, a
native Bornean, who had been picked up off the Nicobar Islands, after
the wreck of the dhow of which he had been in command, was to be the
guide and interpreter.
The youngsters and their assistants had taken their places on board of
the "Blanchita," as Louis had christened the craft, and she was to
accompany the two large steamers down the river. But the farewells had
all been spoken, the hugging and kissing disposed of, and the tears had
even been wiped away. The mothers had become in some degree reconciled
to the separation of three weeks.
The Guardian-Mother started her screw, and began to move very slowly
down the river, amid the cheers and salutations of the officers,
soldiers, and citizens of the town. The Blanche followed her, and both
steamers fired salutes in honor of the spectators to their departure.
The Blanchita secured a position on the starboard of the
Guardian-Mother, and for three hours kept up a communication with their
friends by signals and shouts.
Off the mouth of the Moritabas, one of the outlets of the stream, the
steamers stopped their screws, and the "Big Four" went alongside of the
Guardian-Mother; the adieux were repeated, and then the ships laid the
course for their destination. Both of the latter kept up an incessant
screaming with their steam whistles, and the party on board of them
waved their handkerchiefs, to which the "Big Four," assisted by the
sailors, responded in like manner, while the engineer gave whistle for
whistle in feeble response.
When the whistles ceased, and the signals could no longer be seen, the
Blanchita came about, and headed for the Peak of Santubong on the
triangular island formed by the two passes of the Sarawak River. The
explorers watched the ships till they could no longer be seen, and then
headed up the river.
"Faix, the bridges betune oursels and civiloization are all broke down!"
exclaimed Felix McGavonty, who sometimes used his Milesian dialect in
order, as he put it, not to lose his mother's brogue.
"Not so bad as that, Felix; for there is considerable civilization lying
around loose in Borneo," replied Louis Belgrave.
"Not much of it here is found," added Achang Bakir, the Bornean.
"Is found here," interposed Morris Woolridge, who had been giving the
native lessons in English, for he mixed with it the German idiom.
"Rajah Brooke has civilized the region which he governs, and the Dutch
have done the same in portions of their territory. Professor Giroud gave
us the lecture on Borneo, and we shall have occasion to review some of
it," added Louis. "But I think we had better give some attention to the
organization of our party for the trip up the Sarawak River."
"I move, Mr. Chairman, that we have the same organization we had on
board of the Maud," interposed Felix, dropping his brogue. "That means
that Mr. Scott shall be captain, and Morris mate, while Louis and myself
shall be the deck-hands."
"Mr. Chairman, I move an amendment to the motion, to the effect that
Louis shall be captain, while I serve as deck-hand," said Scott.
"I hope the amendment will be voted down, and that the original motion
will prevail," Louis objected. "Captain Scott, in command of the Maud,
on a voyage of two thousand miles, proved himself to be an able and
skilful commander, as well as a prudent and successful leader in several
difficult situations. He is the right person for the position. Question!
Those in favor of the amendment of Mr. Scott will signify it by raising
the right hand."
Scott voted for his own motion, and he was the only one.
"Contrary minded, by the same sign," continued Louis, raising his right
hand, Felix and Morris voting the same. "The amendment is lost. The
question is now on the original motion of Felix. Those in favor of its
adoption will signify it."
Three hands appeared, the motion was carried, and the chairman informed
Scott and Morris that they were chosen captain and mate. Scott was
outvoted, and he made no further objection. Of the five seamen on board
he appointed Pitts cook and steward, in which capacity he had served on
board of the Maud. The starboard is the captain's watch; though the
second mate, when there is one, takes his place for duty, and the port
is the mate's watch.
"I select Clingman for the first of my watch," continued Scott. "Your
choice next, Morris."
"Wales," said the mate.
"Lane for the starboard," added Scott.
"Hobson's choice," laughed Morris, as he took the last man. "Clinch for
the port; the last, but by no means the least."
"I fancy the watches will have an easy time of it; for I suppose we
shall not do much running up and down these rivers, and through dark
forests, in the night," suggested Louis.
"If we lie up in the night, I shall divide them both into
quarter-watches, and have one man on duty all the time; for we may be
boarded by a huge crocodile or a boa-constrictor if we are not on the
lookout. But Achang is a pilot for these rivers. Isn't that so, Captain
Bakir?"
"I have been up and down all the rivers in this part of the island,
though I was not shipped as a pilot then," replied Achang, who had been
the captain of a dhow, and on board the ship he had been called by his
first name or the other with the title.
"All right; we shall use you for pilot or interpreter as occasion may
require; and I suppose you can tell us all we want to know about the
country and the people," added the captain.
Clinch, one of the ablest seamen on board, was steering the launch, and
Scott kept the run of the courses; but as long as the craft had three
feet of water under her, she was all right. The conversation took place
in the cabin, as the explorers called the after part of the steamer,
though no such apartment had been built there.
A frame constructed of brass rods, properly braced, extended the entire
length of the launch. A stanchion at the bow and another at the stern,
with five on each side set in the rail, supported a rod the whole
distance around the craft. Another extended from the bow to the stern
stanchion, directly over the keel, about six inches higher than those at
the sides. Ten rods led from the central down to the side rods, like the
rafters of a house.
Over the whole, of this structure above was extended a single piece of
painted canvas, serving as a roof, and keeping out both sun and rain. It
was laced very taut to the rods, and had slope enough to make the water
run off. On the sides were curtains, which could be hauled down tight.
The launch had been used by the rajah on the Ganges, and when closed in
the interior was like "a bug in a rug."
Thus closed in, the standing-room was called the cabin. It was
surrounded by wide cushioned seats, which made very good beds at night.
Between these divans was a table where the meals of the explorers were
to be served. Under the seats were many lockers for all sorts of
articles, the bedding, and the arms and ammunition.
Just forward of the cabin were the engine and boiler, with bunkers on
each side for the coal. In the middle of the craft was abundant space.
The forward part of the boat was provided with cushioned divans, where
passengers could sit by day or sleep at night; and this space was
appropriated to the sailors. In the centre of it was the wheel. Next to
it was the galley, with a stove large enough to cook for a dozen
persons, and all needed utensils.
The ship's company had looked the craft over with great interest, and
all of them were well pleased with the arrangements. The launch had been
put into the water and fitted up for use the day before. The party from
both ships had visited her, and almost wished they were to go to the
interior of the country in her.
The Blanchita continued on her course up the river. Pitts was at work in
the galley; and as soon as the launch was made fast off the "go-down,"
or business building of the town, dinner was served to the seamen, and
later to the denizens of the cabin. The afternoon was spent in examining
the place, and in obtaining such supplies as were needed; for the boat
was to sail on her voyage up the river early the next morning.
With the assistance of Achang, a small sampan, a kind of skiff, was
purchased; for the Bornean declared that it would be needed in the
hunting excursions of the party, for much of the country was flooded
with water, a foot or two in depth.
CHAPTER II
A VOYAGE UP THE SARAWAK RIVER
The young hunters slept on board of the Blanchita, and they were
delighted with their accommodations. Sarawak, or Kuching, the native
name of the town, is only about one hundred and fifty miles north of the
equator, and must therefore be a very warm region, though away from the
low land near the sea-coast it is fairly healthy. The party slept with
the curtains raised, which left them practically in the open air.
Achang had given them a hint on board of the ship that mosquitoes were
abundant in some localities in Borneo. The Guardian-Mother was provided
with the material, and the ladies had made a dozen mosquito bars for the
explorers. They were canopies, terminating in a point at the top, where
they were suspended to the cross rods on which the canvas roof was
supported. The netting was tucked in under the cushions of the divan,
and the sleepers were perfectly protected.
Captain Scott had carried out his plan in regard to the watches. The
cook was exempted from all duty in working the little steamer; but each
of the other seamen was required to keep a half-watch of two hours
during the first night on board. Clinch was on watch at four in the
morning. He called the engineer at this hour, and Felipe proceeded at
once to get up steam. It was still dark, for the sun rises and sets at
six o'clock on the equator.
As soon as there was a movement on board, all hands turned out forward.
There were no decks to wash down; and, if there had been, the water was
hardly fit, in the judgment of the mate, for this purpose, for it was
murky, and looked as though it was muddy; but it was not so bad as it
appeared, for the dark color was caused by vegetable matter from the
jungles and forest, and not from the mud, which remained at the bottom
of the stream.
"The top uv the marnin' to ye's!" shouted Felix, as he leaped from his
bed about five o'clock,--for all hands had turned in about eight o'clock
in the evening, as the mosquitoes, attracted by the lanterns, began to
be very troublesome,--and the Milesian could sleep no longer.
"What's the matter with you, Flix?" demanded the captain.
"Sure, if ye's mane to git under way afore night, it's toime to turn
out," replied Felix. "Don't ye's hear the schtaym sizzlin' in the froy'n
pan?"
"But it isn't light yet," protested Scott.
"Bekase the lanthern in the cab'n bloinds your two oyes, and makes the
darkness shoine broighter nor the loight," said Felix, as he looked at
his watch. "Sure, it's tin minutes afther foive in the marnin'. These
beds are altogidther too foine, Captain."
"How's that, Flix?" asked Scott, as he opened the netting and leaped out
of bed.
"They're too comfor-_ta_-ble, bad 'cess to 'em, and a b'y cud slape till
sundown in 'em till the broke o' noight."
"Dry up, Flix, or else speak English," called Louis, as he left his bed.
"There is no end of 'paddies' along this river, and I'm sure they cannot
understand your lingo."
"Is it paddies in this haythen oisland?" demanded Felix, suspending the
operation of dressing himself, and staring at his fellow deck-hand. "I
don't belayve a wurrud of ut!"
"Are there no paddies up this river, Achang?" said Louis, appealing to
the Bornean.
"Plenty of paddies on all the streams about here," replied the native.
"And they can't oondershtand Kilkenny Greek! They're moighty quare
paddies, thin."
"They are; and I am very sure they won't answer you when you speak to
them with that brogue," added Louis.
"We will let that discussion rest till we come to the paddies,"
interposed the captain, as he completed his toilet, and left the cabin.
By this time all the party had left their beds and dressed themselves;
for their toilet was not at all elaborate, consisting mainly of a
woollen shirt, a pair of trousers, and a pair of heavy shoes, without
socks. Felipe had steam enough on to move the boat; and the seamen had
wiped the moisture from all the wood and brass work, and had put
everything in good order.
"Are you a pilot for this river, Achang?" asked Scott, as the party came
together in the waist, the space forward of the engine.
"I am; but there is not much piloting to be done, for all you have to do
is to keep in the middle of the stream," replied the Bornean. "I went up
and down all the rivers of Sarawak in a sampan with an English gentleman
who was crocodiles, monkeys, mias, snakes, and birds picking up."
"Wrong!" exclaimed Morris. "You know better than that, Achang."
The native repeated the reply, putting the verb where it ought to be.
"He was a naturalist," added Louis.
"Yes; that was what they called him in the town."
"I think we all know the animals of which you speak, Achang, except
one," said Louis. "I never heard of a mias."
"That is what Borneo people call the orang-outang," replied the native.
"Orang means a man, and outang a jungle, and the whole of it is a jungle
man," Louis explained, for the benefit of his companions; for he was
better read in natural history than any of them, as he had read all the
books on that subject in the library of the ship. "In Professor
Hornaday's book, 'Two Years in the Jungle,' which was exceedingly
interesting to me, he calls this animal the 'orang-utan,' which is only
another way of spelling the second word."
"Excuse me, Louis, but I think we will get under way, and hear your
explanations at another time," interposed Captain Scott.
"I have finished all I had to say."
"Take the wheel, Achang," continued the captain.
The sampan was sent ashore to cast off the fasts. The river at the town
is over four hundred feet wide, and deep enough in almost any part for
the Blanchita. As soon as the lines were hauled in, the captain rang one
bell, and Felipe started the engine. The helmsman headed the boat for
the middle of the stream, and the captain rang the speed-bell. When
hurried, the Blanchita was good for ten knots an hour, but her ordinary
speed was eight.
On the side of the river opposite Kuching, or Sarawak, was the kampon of
the Malays and other natives; and the term means a division or district
of a town. Many of the natives of this village had visited the
Blanchita,--some for trade, some for employment, and some from mere
curiosity. None of them were allowed to go on board of the launch; for,
while the Dyaks are remarkably honest people, the Malays and Chinese
will steal without any very heavy temptation.
Achang headed the boat up the river. For five miles the banks were low,
with no signs of cultivation, and bordered with mangroves. At this point
the captain called Lane to the wheel, with orders to keep in the middle
of the river. The "Big Four" had taken possession of the bow divans, the
better to see the shores. They were more elevated, which simply means
higher above the water.
"When shall we come across the paddies, Achang?" asked Felix; "for I am
very anxious to meet them, and maybe we shall have a Kilkenny fight with
them."
"No, you won't, for you speak English," replied Louis.
"The paddies are here on both sides of the river," added Achang.
"I don't see a man of any sort, not even a Hottentot, and I am sure
there is not a Paddy in sight."
"Your education has been neglected, Flix, and you did not read all the
books in the ship's library," said Louis. "I only told you the paddies
would not answer you if you spoke to them with a brogue. You can try
them now if you wish."
"But I don't see a single Paddy to try it on."
"Here is one on your left."
"I don't see anything but a field of rice."
"That's a paddy in this island."
"A field of rice!"
"Achang will tell you that is what they call them in Borneo."
"Bad luck to such Paddies as they are! But it looks as though there
might be some Paddies here, for the houses are very neat and nice, just
as you see in old Ireland."
"Certainly they are; but I never saw any such in Ireland," added Louis.
"You remember the old woman on the road from Killarney to the lakes who
told us she lived in the Irish castle, to which she pointed; and it
looked like a pig-sty."
"Of course it didn't have the bananas and the cocoanut-palms around it."
"I admit that we saw many fine places in Ireland, and very likely your
mother lived in one of them. But, Achang, is there any game in the woods
we see beyond the paddies?"
"Sometimes there is plenty of it; at others there is scarcely any. You
can get squirrels here and some birds."
"Any orang-outangs?"
"We found none when we came up the river, for this is not the best place
for them. If we run up the Sadong and Samujan Rivers, you will find
some," replied the Bornean. "I don't think it will pay to go very far up
the Sarawak, if it is game you want; but you can see the country. There
is quite a village on the right."
The party were very much interested in examining the houses they saw on
the borders of the stream. Like those they had seen in Java and in
Sumatra, they were all set up on stilts. A Malay or Dyak will not build
his home on dry land, as they noticed in coming up the lower part of the
river, though there was plenty of elevated ground near. The dwellings
were all built on the soft mud.
The village ten miles up-stream was constructed on the same plan. The
houses were placed just out of the reach of the water when it was higher
than usual. The material was something like bamboo, as in India, with
roofs of kadjang leaves, which abound in the low lands. In front of
every one of them was a flat boat--sampan; and one was seen which was
large enough to have a roof of the same material as the house. The boats
were made fast to a pole set in the mud.
"There is a bear on the shore!" shouted Morris, with no little
excitement in his manner, as he pointed to the woods on the shore
opposite the houses, to which the attention of all the rest of the party
had been directed.
At the same time he seized his repeating rifle, and all the others
followed his example. The animal was fully three feet high, and at a
second glance it did not look much like a bear. Whatever it was, it took
to its heels when the sound of the steamer's screw reached its ear. But
Morris fired before the boat started, and the others did the same.
"That is not a bear, Mr. Morris," interposed Achang, laughing as he
spoke.
"What is it, then?" demanded Morris.
"A pig."
"A pig three feet high!" exclaimed the hunters with one voice.
"A wild pig," added the Bornean.
"Is he good for anything?" inquired Scott.
"He is good to eat if you like pork."
"He dropped in the bushes when we fired. Can't we get him?" asked
Morris.
Under the direction of the captain the steamer was run up to the shore;
and the bank in this place was high enough to enable the party to land
without using the sampan. All hands, including the seamen, rushed in the
direction of the spot where the pig had been seen. The game was readily
found. The animal was something like a Kentucky hog, often called a
"racer," because he is so tall and lank. He was a long-legged specimen;
and Achang said that was because they hunted through swamps and shallow
water in search of food, and much use had made their legs long. He added
that they were a nuisance because they rooted up the rice, and farmers
had to fence their fields.
He was carried on board by the sailors, and Pitts cut out some of the
nicer parts of the pig. They had roast pork for dinner, but it was not
so good as civilized hogs produce.
CHAPTER III
SOMETHING ABOUT BORNEO AND ITS PEOPLE
"I don't think we know much of anything about Borneo," said Scott, as
the Blanchita continued on her course up the Sarawak, after the dinner
of roast pork.
"We all heard the lecture of Professor Giroud on board the ship,"
replied Louis.
"I should like to hear it over again, now that we are on the ground,"
added the captain.
"Sure, we're not on the ground, but on the wather," suggested Felix.
As the reader did not hear the lecture, or see it in print, it becomes
necessary to repeat it for the benefit of "whom it may concern." The
professor, after being duly presented to his audience in Conference
Hall, proceeded as follows:--
"Australia is undoubtedly the largest island in the world, and some
geographers class it with the continents; but Chambers makes Borneo the
third in size, while most authorities rate it as the second, making
Papua, or New Guinea, the second in extent. Lippincott says Papua
disputes with Borneo the claim to the second place among the great
islands of the world; and I do not propose to settle the question.
Chambers gives the area of Borneo at 284,000 square miles, the
population in the neighborhood of 200,000, and the dimensions as 800 by
700 miles.
"It has a coast-line of about 3,000 miles, nearly the whole of which is
low and marshy land. A large portion of the island is mountainous, as
you may see by looking at the map before you;" and the professor
indicated the several ranges with the pointer. "One chain extends nearly
the whole length of the island, dividing in the middle of it into two
branches, both of which almost reach the sea on the south. Near the
centre of the island are two cross ranges, one extending to the east,
and the other to the south-west. It would be useless to mention the
Malay names of these ranges, for you could not remember them over night.
The general idea I have given you is quite enough to retain.
"The interior of Borneo is but little known; and when Mr. Gaskette makes
another map of the island twenty or thirty years hence, it will probably
differ considerably from the one before you. In the extreme north is the
peak of Kini Balu, the height of which is set down at 13,698 feet, with
an interrogation point after it. Other mountains are estimated to be
from 4,000 to 8,000 feet high. There are no active volcanoes.
"In the low lands on the coast, it is hot, damp, and unhealthy for those
who are not acclimated; but in the high lands among the mountains, the
temperature is moderate, from 81° to 91° at noon, and it is sometimes
worse than that in New York. From November to May, which is the rainy
season, violent storms of wind with thunder-showers prevail on the west
coast. In hot weather the sea-breezes extend a considerable distance
inland. Vegetation is remarkably luxuriant, as our young hunters will
find in their explorations. The forests produce all the woods of the
Indian Archipelago, of which you know the names by this time. Bruneï, on
the north-west coast, produces the best camphor in Asia, which is about
the same as saying in the world."
"What is camphor, Professor?" asked Mrs. Belgrave. "I have used it all
my life, but I have not the least idea what it is."
"Camphor is an oil found in certain plants, mostly from the camphor
laurel. This oil is separated from the plant, and then undergoes the
process of refining. It is mixed with water, and then boiled in a sort
of retort. It makes steam, which is allowed to escape through a small
aperture, which is then closed, and the camphor becomes solid in the
upper part of the vessel. This is the article which is sent to market.
"All the spices and fruits of the Torrid Zone are produced in Borneo,
with cotton and sugar-cane in certain parts. The animals of the island
are about the same as in other parts of the Archipelago. The monkey
tribe is the most abundant, including the simia, the gibbon, the
orang-outang, found in no other island, except very rarely in Sumatra,
where our hunters did not find even one; tapirs"--
"What are they?" asked Uncle Moses.
"They are a sort of cross between an elephant and a hog. They are found
all over South American tropical regions and in this part of Asia. The
animal is more like a hog than like an elephant, though it has the same
kind of a skin as the latter. It is about the size of the average
donkey. It has a snout which is prehensile, like the trunk of an
elephant, but on a very small scale.
"What does that mean?" asked Mrs. Blossom.
"Capable of taking hold of anything, as the elephant does with his
proboscis. The tapir is one of the gentler animals, and may be easily
tamed; though it will fight and bite hard when attacked, or harried by
dogs. They take to the water readily, though the American swims, while
the Asiatic only walk on the bottom. One book I consulted calls the
tapir a kind of tiger, to which he bears hardly any resemblance.
"The other animals are small Malay bears, wild swine, horned cattle, and
puny deer. The elephant and rhinoceros are found, few in number, in the
north. The birds are the eagle, vulture, argus-pheasant,--a singular and
beautiful bird,--peacocks, flamingoes, and swifts."
"What in the world are swifts?" inquired Mrs. Woolridge.
"They are a kind of swallow, of which you may have seen some as we came
down from Rangoon. They make the edible birds'-nests which are so great
a delicacy among the Chinese when made into soup. The rivers, lakes,
and swamps swarm with crocodiles, the real man-eaters. Leeches are a
nuisance when you bathe in the rivers and ponds, and various kinds of
snakes abound. There are plenty of fish in the sea, lakes, and rivers.
Diamonds, gold, coal, copper, are mined in the island.
"All of New England and the Middle States, with Maryland, could be set
down in Borneo, still leaving a considerable border of swamp and jungle
all around them. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland could
be slapped down upon it like a flapjack, and there would still be more
than space for another United Kingdom, without covering up all the mud
of Borneo. We do not see how big it is when we look on the map.
"The larger portion of the island is included in the Dutch possessions.
Banjermassin, of which something was said as we passed the mouth of the
Barito River, on which it is located, contains 30,000 inhabitants, and
is the most important in the island. Borneo proper is in the north-west,
and is under the government of the Sultan of Bruneï. He lost nearly
one-half of his territory, taken by the North Borneo Company, and that
in the west, which is now Sarawak, of which I shall have something more
to say later. The island of Labuan lies six miles west of the northern
portion of Bruneï. It was ceded to the English by the sultan, and is
principally valuable as a coaling-station, though it has a considerable
trade.
"Sabah is the country of the North Borneo Company. An American obtained
the right to this territory in 1865, and transferred it to the present
company. It has an area somewhat larger than the State of Maine. No
doubt they will develop and improve the country.
"Sarawak has a territory nearly as large as that of the State of
Pennsylvania, and larger than the State of Ohio. Its history is involved
in the life of Sir James Brooke, who was originally created the rajah,
or governor of the country, by the Sultan of Bruneï, and retained the
title till his death in 1868. He was born in Benares in 1803, and
educated at Norwich, England. In 1819 he entered the East Indian army,
and was severely wounded in the Burmese war. He returned to England; and
his furlough lapsed before he could rejoin his regiment, and with it his
appointment. He left the service. He next conceived a plan for putting
down piracy in the Indian Archipelago, and of civilizing the savage
inhabitants of these islands, a grand and noble scheme to be carried out
by a single individual on his own responsibility.
"He bought a small vessel, and made a voyage to China, probably with the
intention of improving his finances for the work he had in view. In 1835
he inherited $150,000 at the death of his father. After a cruise in the
Mediterranean, he sailed in a schooner-yacht from London for Sarawak,
where he arrived in 1839. The uncle of the sultan was engaged in a war
with some tribes of rebels, and Brooke rendered him important
assistance. He returned to Kuching with the title of rajah, his
predecessor, a native, having been compelled to resign.
"The new governor immediately went to work very vigorously to establish
a better government, introducing free trade, and framing a new code of
laws. At this time the atrocious custom of head-hunting prevailed in the
island. Enemies killed in battle were decapitated simply for the sake of
the head, and the Dyak who obtained the greatest number of them was
esteemed the most valiant warrior.
"A Dyak girl would not accept the addresses of a young man who had not
obtained a head, in the earlier time; and murders were often committed
for the sole purpose of obtaining the head of the victim, either to
conciliate some dusky maiden, or as a trophy for the head-house, of
which there is one in every village. The heads were 'cooked,' as they
called it, though the operation was merely drying and cleaning the
skull. Rajah Brooke made the penalty of this kind of murder death,
without regard to the customs and antecedents of the natives; and he
soon abolished head-hunting in his dominion.
"The sultan, either directly or by 'winking at it,' encouraged piracy;
and the crime was as common as in the vicinity of the Malay states fifty
years ago. Sir James Brooke resolutely attacked the pirates, and with
the means at his command soon vanquished and drove them from the sea and
the land. The Dyaks, in spite of their head-hunting propensities, were
rather a simple people; while the Malays of the island were cunning,
dishonest, treacherous, and cruel. The simple Dyaks were no match for
them, and were cheated and abused in every possible way. There was no
such thing as justice in the land. The new rajah corrected all these
abuses.
"Having established his government on the basis of right and justice to
all, Brooke went to England in 1847. He was invited to Windsor by the
Queen, and created a K. C. B. (Knight Commander of the Bath), a
distinguished honor in Great Britain. The next year he was made governor
of Labuan. He was charged in the House of Commons with receiving
head-money for pirates killed; but the charge was disproved.
"Brooke continued to hold his position as Rajah of Sarawak while at
Labuan; but in 1857 he was superseded at the latter, and returned to his
government. The Chinese, of whom there are a great many in Borneo,
became incensed against him because he prevented the smuggling of opium
into his territory. A large body of them attacked his house in the
night, and destroyed a great amount of his property.
"But the rajah was not a man to submit quietly to such an outrage. He
immediately collected a force of Dyaks and Malays, and attacked the
Celestials. He razed a fort they had constructed, and thoroughly
defeated them in several successive battles. He was very prompt and
decided in action, and to see an abuse was to remedy it without
unnecessary delay. He established and maintained a model government, and
the country prospered greatly under his mild but decisive rule.
"He found a town with 1,000 inhabitants, and left it with 25,000. He
died in 1868, and was succeeded by his nephew, Sir C. T. Brooke, who
extended his territory, and ten years ago placed it under the protection
of the United Kingdom. This is the history of a noble man and a model
colony."
"But what are Dyaks, Professor?" inquired Mrs. Belgrave.
"They are natives of Borneo, though all the people are not known by this
name. They are divided into Hill Dyaks and Sea Dyaks. At the present
time they are a high-toned class of savages; for they do not steal or
rob, and they have many social virtues which might be copied by the
people of enlightened nations. Head-hunting and piracy are known among
them no more. They are the farmers and producers of the island. There is
much that is very interesting about them. They build peculiar houses,
some of them occupied by a dozen or more families, though they always
live in peace, and do not quarrel with their neighbors. The young women
select their own husbands, and a head is no longer necessary to open the
way to an engagement.
"If any of the party wish to learn more of the Dyaks, their manners and
customs, present and past, you will find a work in two volumes, by the
Rev. J. G. Wood, entitled, 'The Uncivilized Races of Men;' and you will
find that the author often quotes from Rajah Brooke."
CHAPTER IV
A SPECULATION IN CROCODILES
The Blanchita continued on her course up the river with Clingman at the
wheel. There was no table in the fore cabin; and the dinner of the six
men, including the engineer, was served astern after the "Big Four" had
taken the meal. Louis attended to the engine while Felipe was at his
meals and occasionally at other times. A table is not a necessity for
the crew of a ship, and one is not used on board a merchant vessel; but
Louis insisted that all hands should fare equally well on board of the
little steamer.
The dinner was disposed of, and Wales was at the wheel. The men had
nothing to do, and a couple of them had assisted Pitts in washing the
dishes and putting the after cabin in order. It was an idle time, and
the "Big Four" were anxious to have something more exciting than merely
sailing along the river, the novelty of which had worn off; and they had
not long to wait for it.
"A crocodile ahead, Captain, on the port bow, sir!" exclaimed Wales, the
wheelman, whose duty required him to keep a sharp lookout for any
obstructions in the stream.
All of the party had their weapons within reach, including the three
seamen who were disengaged; but the latter were not expected to use the
rifles till they were ordered to do so by the captain or any one of the
hunters. The occupants of the fore cabin, the principal personages on
board, had the exclusive use of the forward part of the boat, though the
hands were at liberty to use the seats when they were not required by
any of the "Big Four." No order to this effect had been given; but the
men, under the influence of the discipline on board of the ship, had
involuntarily adopted the system.
"Slow her down, Wales," said Scott, after he had observed the situation
of the saurian.
The wheelman rang the jingle-bell, and the boat soon came down to
half-speed. The five hunters, including Achang, had their rifles ready
for use, though they still retained their seats. The reptile was not
asleep; and he appeared to have some notions of his own, for he was not
disposed to wait for the coming of the boat. He settled down in the dark
water so that he could not be seen, but the surface was disturbed by his
movements.
"Port the helm, Wales," said the captain quietly. "He is going across
the river."
Presently he came to the surface again, and was swimming towards the
opposite shore. He kept his head and a small portion of his back next to
it above the surface of the water, as the young hunters had seen in
Sumatra before.
"Full speed; give her a spurt, Wales," said the captain.
The wheelman rang the speed-bell, and then spoke through the tube to the
engineer. The boat suddenly darted ahead under this instruction, and was
soon abreast of the reptile, who was not at first disposed to change his
tactics. He evidently realized that he was pursued, and it seemed to
make him angry.
"The rascal has put his helm to port," said Wales.
"Look out there, in the waist!" shouted Scott to the seamen, a couple of
whom were seated on the rail, with their legs dangling over the side of
the boat. "Never sit in that way, men, unless you want to be carried to
the hospital with a leg bitten off."
"Will they bite, Captain?" asked Clinch.
"Bite? They are regular man-eaters on these rivers."
"I used to go in swimming with the alligators on the Alabama River; but
they all kept their distance," added the seaman.
The two men drew in their legs and moved inboard. Alligators, which are
generally considered harmless in the rivers of the Southern States, will
bite at anything hanging in the water. As Wales had suggested, the
crocodile had changed his course, and was now headed directly for the
Blanchita. He seemed to have concluded that there was no safety for him
in flight, and he had decided to fight.
"Your first shot, Louis," said Scott, who had not even taken up his
rifle, as if he thought there would be no chance for him after the
millionaire had fired.
Louis waited a minute or more till he could distinctly see the eye of
the crocodile, and then he fired. As has so often been said before, he
had been thoroughly trained in a shooting-gallery, and was a dead shot,
as he had often proved during the voyage. The bullet had evidently gone
to his brain, for the reptile floundered about for an instant, and then
moved no more. As Felix put it, he was "very dead," though the word
hardly admits of an intensifier.
"What are you going to do with him now?" asked the Milesian.
"I don't think we want anything more of him; but, like a poison snake,
he is a nuisance that ought to be abated," replied the captain. "I dare
say the rajah will be much obliged to us for making the number of them
even one less."
"How long is he?" Achang inquired, as he returned his rifle to its
resting-place.
"About ten feet," replied Louis.
"More than that," the captain thought. "I should say twelve feet."
"Then he is worth eighteen shillings to you," added the native.
"What is he good for, Achang?" asked Morris.
"He is good for nothing," replied the Bornean. "The crocodile here eats
men and women. Some are killed every year, and the government pays one
and sixpence apiece for the heads."
"That looks like a war of extermination upon them," said Morris.
"I don't know what that is; but they want to kill them all off," replied
Achang, who had improved his language so that his tutor seldom had to
correct it.
"That is the same thing. They pay by the foot for crocodiles here."
"The bigger they are, the more dangerous," suggested Louis. "Let us haul
him alongside, and see how long he is."
The boat had stopped her screw before Louis fired; and the captain
directed Wales to lay her alongside the saurian, which was done in a few
minutes. Ropes were passed under his head and tail; and with a couple of
purchases made fast to the horizontal rods over the rail, close to the
stanchions, the carcass was hoisted partly out of the water. The measure
was taken with a line first, to which Lane, who was a carpenter's
assistant, applied his rule, which gave twelve feet and two inches as
the length of the crocodile.
"That makes him worth eighteen shillings," said Achang.
"About four dollars and a half," added Morris. "We could make something
hunting crocodiles. If we could kill ten of them like that fellow it
would give us forty-five dollars."
Louis and Scott laughed heartily at this calculation, and thought the
idea was derogatory to the character of true sport, though they did not
object to turning their victims of this kind into money.
"Must we carry the carcass of this beast down to Kuching in order to get
the reward, Achang?" asked Morris.
"The head will be enough; and they can tell how long he is by the size
of it."
"How shall we saw the head off? Can you do it, Lane?"
"I can do that," interposed the Bornean, as he went to a bundle of
implements he had procured in the town and from the natives.
He drew from it a very heavy sword, from which he took off the covering
of dry leaves, and applied his thumb to the edge of the weapon. Then he
picked out a straw from some packing, and dropped it off in pieces, as
one tries his razor on a hair. It appeared to be as sharp as the
shaving-tool, and he was satisfied. All hands watched his movements with
deep interest. He secured a position with one foot on the side of the
boat, and the other on the back of the crocodile. With two or three
blows of his sword, he severed the head from the body, and a seaman
secured it with a boathook.
All hands applauded when the deed was done, as the Bornean washed his
keen blade. The operation excited the admiration of all the lookers-on,
it was so quickly and skilfully done. Louis wished to examine the
weapon, and it was handed to him. It was heavy enough to require a
strong arm to handle it; and it was sharp enough for a giant's razor, if
giants ever shave, for most of them are pictured with full beards.
"I suppose this is a native's sword," said Louis, as he passed it to the
captain.
"Dyak _parong latok_; _parong_ same thing, not so long," Achang
explained.
"I suppose that is what the Dyaks used when they went head-hunting,"
said Felix.
"No head-hunting now; used to use it, the Hill Dyaks. Used in battle
too; split head open with it, or cut head off."
"What other weapons did the fighting men use?" asked Louis.
"They carried a shield, and used a spear with the parong latok; no other
weapons. Two kinds of Dyaks, the Sea and the Hill."
While the native was talking, the seamen, by order of the captain, had
hoisted the head of the saurian into the sampan towing astern, placing
it on a piece of tarpaulin. The carcass was cast loose, and probably was
soon devoured by others of its own kind.
"We might find some eggs in the crocodile," said Achang, as the body
floated past the boat.
"We don't want the eggs," replied the captain, turning up his nose.
"Good to eat, Captain. My naturalist used to eat them. Very nice, like
turtles' eggs, which Englishmen always put in the soup."
"None in my soup!" exclaimed Scott, with a wry face, to express his
disgust.
"I suppose they would be all right if we only got used to them,"
suggested Louis.
"As the man's horse did when he fed him on shavings," sneered Scott.
"I did not take very kindly to turtles' eggs when we were in the West
Indies; but I got used to them, and then liked them," added Louis. "In
Africa the natives eat boa-constrictors, and think they are a choice
morsel. Some of our Indians eat clay, and I suppose they like it."
"Something up in the trees yonder, Captain," said Wales, as the boat
approached some higher ground, which was not overflown with water, as
most of the shore below had been.
"Monkeys," added Achang, not at all excited.
"I don't think I care to shoot monkeys unless it is for the purpose of
examining them," said Louis. "They are too small game, and they are
harmless creatures."
"Strange monkeys in here," continued Achang. "Not these," he added when
he had obtained a sight of one of them. "These no good."
All eyes were directed to the tree; and at least a dozen common monkeys
were there, such as they had seen in the museums at home. The steamer
continued on her course, and a couple of miles farther on the forest was
inundated. Some of the trees appeared to be inhabited.
"Plenty of elephant monkeys in here," said Achang.
"Elephant monkeys!" exclaimed Louis. "I never heard of any such animals.
Are they called so because they are so large?"
"No, sir," said Achang; "because they have such long noses."
"There are a dozen monkeys in that tree, and they look very queer," said
Louis, as he elevated his double-barrelled fowling-piece, loaded with
large shot, and fired.
One of them dropped, and another when he discharged the second barrel.
The boat was run in the direction of the tree till it grounded in the
mud. The captain proposed to go for them in the sampan, when Clingman
volunteered to wade to the tree for the game, and soon returned with the
two victims of the millionaire's unerring aim. They were placed in the
waist, and all were curious to see them. The rest of the tribe scampered
away over the tops of the trees, crying, "honk, honk, kehonk!"
"They are proboscis monkeys, and old males at that; for they have very
long noses, which is the reason for the name, and why Achang calls them
elephant monkeys," said Louis, as he turned the creatures over. "The
noses of these two reach down below the chin. They stand about three
feet high, but are rather lank, like the tall pigs."
While the party were examining them, the captain gave the order to back
the boat, and then to go ahead. She was moored for the night soon
after. The next morning, by the advice of Achang, the Blanchita was
headed down the river, for the native declared that they would find no
different game on the banks of the Sarawak.
CHAPTER V
A HUNDRED AND EIGHT FEET OF CROCODILE
The party were stirring as soon as it was daylight; for in the tropics
the early hours are the pleasantest, and they had fallen into the habit
of early rising in India. The trees were alive with monkeys of several
kinds, though the proboscis tribe seemed to be in the majority. Felix
came out of the cabin with his gun in his hand, and began to regard the
denizens of the tree-tops with interest.
"What are you going to do, Flix?" asked Louis, who was sitting on the
rail, busily cutting out a notch in the end of a long piece of board.
"Don't you see there is plenty of game here, my darling?" demanded
Felix, pointing up into the trees.
"Game!" exclaimed Louis contemptuously. "Monkeys!"
"Didn't you shoot a couple of them yesterday afternoon, Louis?"
"I did; but I wanted them in order to study the creature. Now every
fellow knows what a proboscis monkey is, as he did not before except by
name. I got my books out, and read him up with the animal before me. I
am glad I did; for the picture of him I had seen was nothing like him
in his nasal appendage, which gives him his name."
"What is the reason of that?"
"The portrait was taken from a young one, before his nose had attained
its full growth. But I don't believe in shooting monkeys for the fun of
it. Our party are not inclined to eat them."
"I'd as soon eat a cat as a monkey," added Felix.
"Then, don't shoot those long-nosed fellows, for we have all the
specimens of them we need," said Louis.
"What are you going to do with them, my darling? You can't keep them
much longer, and you will have to throw them overboard, for they won't
smell sweet by to-morrow."
"Achang learned something about taxidermy from the naturalist he
travelled with, and he has promised to skin and mount one of them for
me."
"But what's that you are making, Louis?" asked Felix, who had been
trying to take the measure of the implement the young Cr[oe]sus was
fashioning.
Its use was not at all evident. A triangular piece had been sawed out of
the end of a strip of board four inches wide, and the rest of it had
been cut down and rounded off, and the thing looked more like a
pitchfork than anything else.
"Is it to pitch hay with?" persisted Felix.
[Illustration: "WHAT HAVE YOU GOT THERE, MR. BELGRAVE?"
_Page 41._]
"No, it is not; when you see me use it, you will know what it is for.
You must wait till that time before you know," replied Louis, who
appeared to have finished the implement just as the other brought his
gun to his shoulder.
"That's the handsomest schnake I iver saw since me modther, long life to
her, left ould Ireland before I was bahrn."
"Don't shoot him, Flix!" protested Louis vigorously. "Where is he?"
"Jist forninst the bow of the boat. Sure, Oi'm the schnake-killer of the
party, and he's moi game."
"I don't want him killed yet," replied Louis, as he moved forward from
the waist with the forked stick in his hand. "He is handsome, as you
say, Flix."
Creeping very cautiously till he could see over the bow, he discovered
the serpent, which was nearly six feet long, working slowly down a dead
log towards the water. Springing to his feet on the bow, he struck down
with his weapon, directing the fork at the neck of the reptile. The
outside of the log was nothing but punk, or the operation would have
been a failure. As it was, the two points of the implement sunk into the
wood, and the snake was pinned in the opening at the end of the stick.
"What have you got there, Mr. Belgrave?" asked Achang, hurrying to the
side of the operator.
"A snake; do you know him?" demanded Louis, as the reptile struggled to
escape.
"I saw one like it years ago;" and he gave a long Dyak name to it which
the others did not understand. "Wait a minute or two, and I will bring
him on board for you."
"I don't know that we want him on board," added Louis.
"He is not poison, and he won't hurt you," said the Bornean, as he made
a slip-noose at the end of a piece of cord.
Hanging over the bow, he passed the noose over the head of the snake,
and hauled it taut, and then made the end he held fast to the boat.
Louis lifted his implement from the neck of the snake, and he squirmed
and wriggled as though he "meant business." Achang leaped to the shore,
and seizing the serpent by the tail, tossed him into the boat. He struck
on one of the cushions, and the cord prevented him from going any
farther.
Scott and Morris had just reached the fore cabin at this moment, and
they started back as though they had been bitten by the snake. His head,
tail, and belly were bright red, with white stripes upon a dark ground
along his back and sides. No one but Achang had ever seen such a
serpent, even in a museum. His snakeship was disposed to make himself
comfortable on the cushion, and the Bornean loosed the cord around his
neck.
"I saw a small snake, not more than two feet long, swimming near the
shore of Lake Cobbosseecontee, in Maine, that had nearly all the colors
of the rainbow in his skin," said Morris. "I tried to knock him over
with my fishing-rod, and catch him; but I failed. I told the people
where we boarded about him, but no one had ever seen a snake like him."
"There are plenty of such snakes in South America, some that are not
poisonous, which the native women tame and wear as necklaces," added
Louis.
"Well, what are you going to do with him?" asked Captain Scott. "I think
you had better kill him, and throw him into the river, pretty as he is.
He isn't a very desirable fellow to have as a companion on board."
"What is the use of killing him? He would only be food for the
crocodiles," protested Louis.
"Do what you like with him, Louis," added the captain.
"I certainly will not have him killed. If Achang never saw but one of
the kind, there cannot be a great many of them in this part of the
island. Put him ashore, Achang," said the humane young gentleman.
The Bornean complied with this request; and the handsome snake skurried
off in the woods, none the worse for his adventure. But the others were
not quite satisfied with the policy of the young millionaire. They
wanted to shoot whatever they could see in the nature of game, including
monkeys, and he was opposed to this destructive action. Of course they
could kill whatever they pleased, but the moral influence of the real
leader prevailed over them.
"Steam enough!" shouted Felipe from the engine.
"Take the wheel, Clingman, back her out and go ahead," said the captain;
and in a few moments they were steaming down the river.
"I suppose you haven't any tenderness for crocodiles, have you, Louis?"
inquired Scott, with a smile.
"You seem to believe that I am as chicken-hearted as a girl; but I
believe in killing all harmful animals, including poisonous snakes; but
I do not like to see these innocent monkeys shot down for the fun of
it," replied Louis. "You can kill them if you choose, but I will not."
"The rest of us will not, if you are opposed to it," added Scott.
"Crocodile on the port hand!" exclaimed Clingman. "He is swimming across
the river, about three boats' lengths from us."
"Stop her!" said the captain.
"I shot the last one, and I will not fire at this one," added Louis, who
was not disposed to monopolize the fun.
"All right; then I will be number two, Morris three, Flix four, and
Achang five; and if you are all satisfied, we will fire in this order
hereafter," continued Scott, as he took aim at the saurian.
He missed the eye of the reptile, and the bullet from the rifle glanced
off and dropped into the water.
"How many shots is a fellow to have before he loses his chance?" asked
the captain, as he aimed again.
"I suggest three," said Louis. "Those in favor of three say ay."
They all voted "ay," and Scott fired twice more. "Your turn, Morris;"
and he appeared to be very much chagrined at his ill luck. "I could
hardly see the eye of the varmint."
Morris fired his three shots with no better success. Felix took a
different position from the others, placing himself on the stem. He
fired, and the saurian still kept on his course. He did better the
second time; and the reptile floundered for a moment, and then turned
over dead. The boat was run up alongside, and Achang was required to
bring out his parong latok, with which he decapitated the game at a
single blow this time; but the creature was only nine feet long.
Pitts called the cabin party to breakfast at this time. The Blanchita
went ahead again, and the repeating rifles were left on the cushions. At
Louis's suggestion the captain gave the four men off duty permission to
use the arms on crocodiles, but not on monkeys.
Ham and eggs, with hot biscuit and coffee, was the bill of fare; and the
young men had sharpened their appetites in the sports of the morning.
Before they were half done they heard the crack of a rifle. They
listened for the second shot, but none followed it.
"Who fired that shot, Pitts?" asked the captain, as the steward brought
in another plate of biscuit.
"Clinch, sir," replied the man. "He knocked the crocodile over at the
first shot, sir."
"Then he is a better shot than I am," said Scott, laughing.
"Or any of the rest of us who had their turns," added Felix. "Louis is
the only fellow that brings 'em down the first time trying."
"The rest of you would have done better if the sun had not reflected on
the water, and shaken your aim," said Louis.
Before the meal was finished, another shot was heard, followed by two
more. When the party went forward they found that the little steamer had
gone around a bend so that the forest shaded the surface of the water.
Wales had fired the last three times at a crocodile still in sight; but
he declared that he could not hit the side of a barn twenty feet from
him, and did not care to fire again. The men went to breakfast, and the
cabin party picked up the rifles. It was Achang's turn; and he missed
twice, but killed the game at the third shot.
"I can see four more of them. We seem to have come to a nest of them,
and the family are out for a morning airing," said Louis, as he picked
up his rifle, while Felix was filling the other chambers with
cartridges. "They have all started to go across the river."
"That must be the father of the family at the head of the procession,"
added the captain. "It is your turn now, Louis."
"Go ahead a little, Pitts," said the next one in turn; for the cook had
taken the wheel while Clingman went to his morning meal. "I can't see
his eye yet."
"That will do; stop her. I can see his eye now, and there is no
reflection on the water."
As soon as the boat lost her headway, Louis fired. The saurian leaped
nearly out of the water, and came down wrong side up. There were three
dead reptiles lying on the water. It was the captain's next shot, and
when he placed the yacht in a position to suit him he fired. The
crocodile lifted his head out of the water, and did not move again.
"Bravo, Captain!" cried Louis. "You did not have a fair chance last
time, and you have redeemed yourself."
"I thought I could shoot better than before, and now I feel better. But
there are two more, and your turn, Morris."
He killed the game with the third shot, and Felix finished the last in
sight with the second. Achang had brought out his formidable weapon, and
the six dead reptiles were decapitated. The last three killed were each
nine feet long, while the one Louis had shot was fourteen. The heads
were all put in the sampan, and they made a full load for it. The
Blanchita arrived at Kuching early in the afternoon, and the chief of
police measured the heads, and took the figures from Felix. He made one
hundred and eight feet of crocodile, which the official approved as
correct, and paid not quite forty dollars for the bounty.
CHAPTER VI
THE VOYAGE UP THE SADONG TO SIMUJAN
The money received for the heads of the crocodiles was in the hands of
Felix, who was the clerk of the captain on board the ship, and it was
proper to make him purser of the Blanchita. What to do with it was the
next question. Louis's advice was asked for, and he promptly suggested
that it should be divided into ten parts, and a share given to all but
himself; and this was done. He refused to accept a penny, but all the
others received about four dollars apiece.
The money was all in silver, as it is all over India and the Archipelago
for general use. The engineer and the seamen shared with the four
hunters; for the former had done all the work and some of the shooting.
The steamer was made fast at the shore, and all hands except Pitts
landed for a walk through the town. Their first visit was to a
fruit-store kept by a Chinaman; and most of the shops in the place were
in the hands of the Celestials.
Bananas and oranges were the principal, though there were also nearly
all the tropical fruits in season. Many of the party purchased useful
articles in other places. They had learned in Singapore and Batavia how
to deal with Chinese traders, and they seldom gave even more than
one-third or one-half of what was demanded. After diligent search Achang
found a certain Dyak tool he wanted,--a sort of axe, which Lane, the
carpenter's assistant, ridiculed without mercy.
The young men visited the English Mission, where they were kindly
received, and went to the school. The American missionaries are also
active in Borneo, and one of them has made a vocabulary of the Dyak
language.
It was decided to start down the river the next morning on the way to
the Sadong and Simujan Rivers, the latter being a branch of the former.
In the early morning, as the hands were casting off the fasts, two
Malays came alongside in a sampan, and asked to be towed to the Sadong.
Achang had some talk with them, and made the request of the captain for
them. He learned that they were engaged in the business of catching
crocodiles for the reward.
"They don't shoot crocodiles, and they have no rifles," added Achang.
"How do they get them then?" asked Louis.
"They fish for them."
"What, with a hook and line?" demanded Captain Scott.
"With a line, but have no fish-hook," replied the Bornean. "You must see
them catch one."
"All right," replied the captain; "we will tow them down the river."
After the yacht had been moving about an hour, they came to a colony of
saurians apparently, for several of them were in sight at once. Achang
directed the reptile-hunters to catch one of them, and they paddled
their sampan towards a large one. The Blanchita kept near enough to
enable all hands to witness the operation, which the Bornean described
to them as the Malays made their preparations, for they had all their
fishing-gear in their boat.
The line they used was a rattan about forty feet long. At the "business
end," as Scott called it, they attached a float to keep it on the top of
the water. The steamer just crawled along on the river in order not to
disturb the game, though the reptiles were accustomed to the sight of
vessels.
"Now you see that stick the hunter has in his hand," said Achang, though
each of them had one. "'Most a foot long, like a new moon."
"Crescent-shaped," added Louis.
"Called an _alir_ in Malay. Made of green wood, very tough, pointed at
the ends; they fasten the rattan line to the middle of the stick."
Some tough green bark, braided together, was then wound around the stick
so that the game could not bite it in two. A big fish for bait was then
attached to the alir, and carefully fastened to it so that the reptile
could not tear it off.
Thus prepared, the apparatus was thrown overboard, and the sampan
paddled away from it to give the game an opportunity to approach it, the
Malays each paying out his forty feet of line, one on each side of the
boat. The spectators watched the result with great interest. As the
sampan receded from the saurians, they approached the bait. Crocodiles
and alligators do not nibble at their prey, but bolt it as a snake does
a frog.
The bait nearest to the observers on the yacht was soon gobbled up by
the hungry crocodile, who appeared not to have been to breakfast that
morning; and the Malay at the other end of the line gave a sharp jerk to
his gear, the effect of which was to draw the pointed crescent "athwart
ships," as the sailors would say, or across his stomach; and the harder
it was pulled the more the pointed ends would penetrate the interior of
the organ.
The first Malay had hardly hooked his game before the second had another
ready to haul in. Both of the saurians struggled and lashed the dark
water into a foam; but both of the men in the sampan kept the line as
taut as they could with all their strength; and this is the rule in
hauling in all gamey fish.
"Tell them we will go ahead, Achang, and all they need to do is to make
fast their rattans to the sampan," said Captain Scott, when he had taken
in the situation.
In reply to the message the Bornean delivered to them, the Malays nodded
their heads vigorously, and smiled their assent.
"Go ahead, down the river, Clinch," added the captain to the helmsman.
"I fancy there will be a lively kick-up on the part of the game," said
Louis, as the boat came up to her course.
"Not much," added Scott. "If we put them through the water at the rate
of eight knots an hour, the crocs will not feel much like doing any
gambolling. We are not making more than four knots now."
"They are as lively now as a parched pea in a hot skillet."
"I will ring the speed-bell now, and see how that will affect them,"
replied the captain, suiting the action to the word.
The Blanchita darted ahead at her usual speed. Clingman began to
overhaul the painter of the sampan, for it did not look strong enough
for the present strain. He had scarcely got hold of it before it snapped
in the middle, and relieved the strain on the crocodiles. The steamer
backed at the order of the captain; and a strong line was thrown into
the sampan, which one of the Malays seized and made fast.
When the strain upon them was thus removed, the saurians made violent
struggles to escape. The yacht then went ahead again, and the speed-bell
was rung immediately. The pressure on the game was renewed, and they
ceased to struggle. The apparatus held fast, for the saurian fishers
were experienced in their business, and had done their work well.
At eight o'clock the Blanchita reached the mouth of the river. The
crocodiles were not dead, but their stomachs must have been in a
terrible condition. To Louis it seemed to be cruel to prolong their
sufferings; and he wished Achang to request the Malays to kill them, and
Scott agreed with him. The Bornean said they could not kill them while
they were towing behind, and that, if the lines were slacked, they might
get away.
The captain took the matter in hand, and told Achang what he intended to
do, which he communicated to the reptile-hunters. On the starboard hand
Scott fixed his gaze on a small tongue of land extending out into the
river. Taking the wheel himself, he run her close to the land some
distance above the point, and worked the sampan and its tow close to the
shore. The tow-line of the sampan was then lengthened out to a hundred
feet or more, and the yacht went ahead again, rounding the point, so
that the peninsula lay between the steamer and her tow.
Then she went ahead again, and the result was that she pulled the sampan
upon the point; and as she was flat-bottomed, there was no difficulty in
doing so. The Blanchita continued on her course, and the two crocodiles
were landed after her. One of the Malays then produced a parong latok;
and even more skilfully than Achang had done the job, he cut off the
heads of both reptiles. They were out of misery then, and Louis was
satisfied.
The yacht was then run up to the point, and Lane was sent on shore to
measure the reptiles, while the fishermen proceeded to recover the
apparatus from the stomachs of the defunct reptiles. The larger
crocodile was twelve feet and four inches long, and the other ten feet
and seven inches. The voyage was resumed on the sea to the mouth of the
Sadong; and in three hours more she entered the stream, which was a
large one, averaging half a mile wide for twenty miles.
"Bujang!" called Achang, as instructed by the captain. "Do you want to
go any farther?"
The head man replied in his own language that they wished to go to
Simujan, or till they came to plenty of game. The Bornean said Bujang
was a great hunter, for he had killed fifty-three crocodiles that year.
The yacht, with the sampan still in tow, started up the river, keeping
in the middle of it. Just before sunset she reached the junction of the
Simujan and Sadong.
On one side of the branch stream there was a considerable Malay village,
backed by an abundance of cocoanut palms; and, of course, the houses
were built on stilts close to the water. On the other side was the
Chinese kampon, or quarter, consisting largely of shops and
trading-houses. Louis Belgrave had been presented to the officials at
Sarawak as the owner of the Guardian-Mother, and that established him as
a person of great distinction.
After the ship departed on her voyage to Siam, many attentions were
bestowed upon him; and when, after the return of the yacht from up the
Sarawak, they learned that she was going to the Simujan, one of the
officials had given him a letter of introduction to the Chinese
half-cast government official, who was the magnate of the place.
Figuratively, he took the "Big Four" in his arms, and there was nothing
he was not ready to do for them.
He conducted them to the government house, and insisted that they should
live there during their stay at Simujan. It had been erected to receive
such officials as might have occasion to remain there at any time. It
was well built and comfortable, and each chamber had a veranda in front
of it. It was set on posts six feet from the ground, like all the other
dwellings near it. It was the police station of the region; and the two
Malays collected eight or nine dollars for their game, which they did
not offer to share with the crew of the yacht--no Malay would do such a
thing.
The agent's tender of the rooms to the party was accepted, for the
members wished to sleep in a four-posted bedstead once more for a
change. The chief Malay of the place called upon them, and treated them
very handsomely. The Chinese official gave them much information as they
were seated on a veranda of the house.
"You may find the orang-outang up the Simujan; but I don't know that you
want such large game," said he.
"We have shot tigers in India, and Mr. McGavonty has shot more cobras
than all the rest of us. He has a talent for killing snakes."
"Show me the snakes, and I will finish them," added Felix.
"You will not find many of them in the jungle. There are some water
snakes taken occasionally, and people here eat them. They make a very
fine curry."
"I should ask to be excused from partaking of that dish," said Scott.
"That is all prejudice," said the agent. "Perhaps you would like to go
a-fishing in the Sadong and its branches. We have a peculiar way of
taking fish here. We use the tuba plant, which the Malays prepare for
use. It is a climbing-plant, the root of which has some of the
properties of opium. It is reduced to a pulp, mixed with water. I cannot
fully explain the process of preparation, in which the Malays are very
skilful. At the right time of tide, the fluid is thrown into the stream.
The effect is to stupefy and sometimes kill the fish. With dip-nets the
fish are picked up, though some of them are so large that they can be
secured only with a kind of barbed spear."
"I don't think I care to fish in that way," said Louis, with some
disgust in his expression. "It is very unsportsmanlike, and it looks to
me to be a mean way to do it."
"Just what some Englishmen who were here a while ago said, and perhaps
you are right; but it is a Malay art, and not English."
The party slept very comfortably on bedsteads that night, but they were
up before the sun the next morning.
CHAPTER VII
A SPIRITED BATTLE WITH ORANG-OUTANGS
The civilized people of Simujan were not stirring when the party came
from their chambers. Felipe had steam up at half-past five, for the
captain intended to begin the ascent of the river; but he did not care
to leave without bidding adieu to the kindly agent. But they got under
way at his order, and ran up the river for a morning airing. The boat
had not gone more than a mile when the young men discovered a sampan
containing two Malays paddling with all their might for the shore.
They had no guns, and could not shoot their game, whatever it was; but
each of them had a _biliong_. This was the implement Achang had bought
in Sarawak. It looked something like a pickaxe with only one arm, the
end of which was fashioned like a mortising chisel, and was used as an
axe.
The edge of the chisel portion was parallel to the handle; but Achang
explained that the Dyaks had another kind of biliong, with the cutting
part at right angles with the handle, and this was used as an adze.
While Lane, the carpenter, was ridiculing the tool, the Malays on shore
moved to a tree in sight of the steamer, which had stopped her screw
close to the sampan.
"They are going to cut down a tree with the biliongs," said Achang.
"Sometimes do that to get the game."
"They couldn't cut down a tree a foot through with those things in a
week!" exclaimed Lane.
"So quick as you could cut it down," insisted the Bornean stoutly.
"Dry up, now, and let us see the Malays work with the thing," interposed
the captain.
"Lane, you shall have a trial with a Dyak or a Malay, and I will give a
prize of three dollars to the one that fells the tree first," said
Louis.
"I should like to try that with any Dyak or Malay," replied Lane
good-naturedly; and he was a stout Down-Easter, who had been a logger in
the woods before he was a carpenter or a seaman.
"There are two animals in that tree where they are at work," cried
Morris, as he pointed to the scene of operations. "One of them is a big
one, and the other is a little one," he added, when he obtained a better
view of the game the Malays were trying to obtain. "What are they,
Achang?"
"Mias! Mias!" exclaimed the native, as a movement of the boat ahead gave
him a full view of the creatures. "One is a big one, and the other is
her baby."
"But what are the Malays doing now?" asked Louis.
"Make a stage to stand on," replied Achang.
"What do they want of a stage?" demanded Lane contemptuously.
"You will see if you wait," added the captain.
They were picking up poles where they could find them, and cutting
saplings, which they dropped with a single blow of the biliong. In a few
minutes they had constructed a rude framework on crotched sticks, driven
into the soft ground, with a platform of poles on the top. On this one
of the two men mounted with his biliong, with which he began his work
with a blow at the tree about four feet above the level of the ground.
The other Malay brought from the sampan a couple of spears, a parong
latok, and a bundle of ropes and rattans.
"Do they use the sumpitan in Borneo now, Achang?" asked Louis.
"Not Dyaks, Mr. Belgrave; Kyans use it; shoot poison arrows; sure death;
very bad."
The sumpitan is a kind of blow-gun, like the "bean-blower" formerly used
by American boys, which was a tin pipe, or the "pea-shooter," an English
plaything. It was used, it is said, by the Dyaks in former times; but
recent travellers do not mention it as used by them. It is about eight
feet long, and less than an inch in diameter, made of very hard wood,
skilfully and accurately bored, and smoothed inside.
The parong latok, already described, is a heavy sword. It has a head,
sometimes carved as an ornament, so that it cannot slip from the hand.
At about one-third of its length from this head, it bends at an abrupt
angle of about thirty-five degrees, and it makes a very ugly-looking
weapon.
"I suppose you all know that a mias is an orang-outang," said Louis. "No
doubt the weapons carried up to the tree are to be used in killing the
game when the tree comes down. We could easily bring down both; but we
won't fire at them, for I think we are all curious to see how the Malays
will manage the affair. The chopper has already made a big cut in the
tree, and I doubt if Lane could have done the work any quicker."
The carpenter did not say anything, but no doubt he was greatly
surprised at the rapid progress the native made with the biliong. He had
cut the tree more than half-way through the trunk; and it was evident
that he intended it should fall towards the river, for the second Malay
was clearing away the ground on that side so that they might have a fair
field for the fight that was to ensue. The chopper attacked the other
side of the tree, and seemed to deal his blows with even more vigor than
before.
The old orang kept up a constant growling. She had a nest just above the
limb where she sat, which was quite green, indicating that it had been
recently built. It was composed of the branches of the tree small enough
to be easily broken off by the "jungle man." They were simply placed in
a heap on the limb, with no particular shaping of the resting-place.
"She makes a new nest when the branches of the old one get dry; she like
a soft bed," said Achang. "But the tree will come down now; big fight,
they kill her."
He had hardly spoken these words before the tree suddenly toppled over,
and fell upon the ground with a heavy crash. The orangs seemed to have
no idea of what was going on at the foot of the tree, and they were
pitched out. The chopper seized one of the spears, and rushed after the
old one. The tree prevented the party on board the yacht from seeing the
expected battle; and with their rifles in their hands, the "Big Four"
sprang ashore, and secured a favorable position. The crew followed them,
though the engineer remained at his post.
The first Malay, who had done the chopping, had confronted the orang,
and they stood facing each other. Suddenly the animal made a spring
towards her enemy, and was received on the point of his spear. The orang
was wounded, but this only increased her wrath, and she made a furious
onslaught upon the man; but the spear was too much for her, and she was
wounded again.
The orang opened her mouth, and showed a terrible double row of teeth
flanked by four long tusks. They were enough to intimidate one
unaccustomed to the creature's appearance. She made repeated attempts to
reach her enemy; but the spear, very adroitly handled, foiled her every
time, and gave her a new wound. This sparring, as it were, was kept up
for some time, and the Americans wondered that the Malay did not drive
his weapon to the heart of the infuriated animal. Doubtless he would
have done so if he could; but the orang had hands as well as feet, and
she grasped the spear every time it punctured her skin, and seemed to
prevent it from inflicting a fatal wound.
It was a mystery to the observers how the Malay contrived to detach his
weapon from the grasp of the orang, though he did so every time. But at
last the brute seemed to change her tactics, or she got a better hold of
the spear; for she suddenly snapped the weapon into two pieces as though
it had been a pipe-stem. Deprived of his arm, the Malay ran a few rods.
The orang is very clumsy on its feet, and she could not catch him. The
man only went a few rods to the place where the parong latok had been
placed, and with this weapon he returned to the attack.
The skirmishing with this weapon continued for some time longer, and the
beast was wounded every time she attempted to get hold of her opponent.
In the meantime the other Malay had not been idle. He used no deadly
weapons, but substituted for them a long cord he had brought from the
sampan. He made a slip-noose in one end of it, and was trying to catch
the young one. It might have run away if it had been so disposed, but it
seemed to be determined to stay by its mother.
"He wants you, or needs your skill with the lasso, Captain Scott," said
Morris, recalling the feats with the lasso of the commander.
"He is doing very well, and he handles the line well," replied Scott.
"Now he has him!" he exclaimed, as the Malay passed the cord over the
head of the young orang, and hauled it taut around his neck.
With the line he dragged the orang to a sapling near the fallen tree,
and, with other lines he had left there, tied his hands and feet
together, and fastened him to the small tree.
He had hardly secured his victim before a yell from the first hunter
startled him, and he ran with his lasso and a spear to his assistance.
The old one, badly wounded by the sharp weapon of her enemy, had
suddenly dropped upon all fours, and crawled to the man; seizing him by
his legs, she set her villanous teeth into the calf of one of them. It
looked as though the human was to be the victim of the brute.
The Malay, howling with the sharp pain, slashed away with all his might
at the hind quarters of the orang; but she did not relax her grip on his
leg. His companion arrived at the scene of the conflict. He dropped his
lasso then, and began to use his parong latok. After he saw that blows
with the weapon accomplished nothing, he plunged the blade into the body
of the brute several times in quick succession. These stabs ended the
battle. The orang rolled over, and then did not move again.
Both of the human combatants then walked down to the Blanchita, one of
them limping badly. They showed their wounds, and through Achang asked
to be "doctored." Pitts had some skill as a leach, and the
medicine-chest was in his care. He laid out the patient with the wounded
leg, washed the wound, and then applied some sticking-plaster to the
lacerated member, after he had restored the parts to their natural
position. Then he bandaged the leg quite skilfully, so as to keep all
the parts in place. The hands of the other were covered with
sticking-plaster and bandaged.
With the assistance of the seamen, the carcass of the old orang was
dragged down to the river, and put in the sampan of the Malays. The
young one was as ugly as sin itself, and tried to get at the men to bite
them. Finally Clingman stuffed a piece of rope into his mouth, and tied
it around his head so tight that he could not shut his mouth. He was
mad, but he could not bite. He was put into the sampan, and made fast
there.
The yacht got under way again, and with the Malay sampan in tow, headed
down the river. The tide was running out at a mill-stream pace, for the
water in the stream had risen far beyond its usual level. Achang shook
his head as he looked at the rapid outward flow of the water; but the
steamer went at railroad speed, and the boys enjoyed it hugely.
"What is the matter, Achang?" asked the captain, as he observed the
uneasy movements of the Bornean as the yacht approached the junction
with the Sadong.
"Have bore soon; better go no farther," replied the native. "Upset all
boats and sampans."
Captain Scott ordered the helmsman to go to the shore, and there the
painter of the Malay sampan was cast off, and her men got to the land.
"There it goes up the Sadong!" cried Achang, as he pointed to the broad
stream.
A wave, estimated to be about ten feet high, fringing, curling, and
lashed into foam, and roaring in its wrath, rolled up the river. It
struck two small sampans, upset them, and spilled the men in them into
the angry, boiling waters. With less fury it rolled up the Simujan, and
Scott rushed to the wheel himself. He "faced the music," and headed the
yacht into the wave. She rose some feet in the air at the bow, and
passed over it. She was too far from the banks to be thrown ashore, and
no harm was done.
These bores are not uncommon on the Sadong; and they were not a new
thing to those on board of the Blanchita, for they had seen one in the
Hoogly at Calcutta; but even Scott, who was a bold navigator, would not
have cared to be in the river when a wave ten feet high swept on his
craft.
CHAPTER VIII
A PERFORMANCE OF VERY AGILE GIBBONS
The cabin party went on shore and breakfasted with their Chinese friend,
who had invited them to the meal the evening before. It was a very
pleasant occasion, and it occupied half the forenoon. The host gave them
useful information, and listened with interest to their account of the
battle with the orang-outangs. When they left the house they found the
two Malays who had been their companions in the morning waiting for
them.
One of them presented a tarsier to Scott. It was a very pretty and
curious little creature, belonging to the monkey tribe. It had very
large eyes, and was certainly very cunning. It appeared to be playful,
but his new owner got a nip from its teeth which warned him to be
careful. The most curious part of the animal was its legs, the hind ones
being much the longer.
Its five slender toes ended in what looked like balls, which proved to
be flat, and acted like the foot of a fly, retaining by suction its hold
upon the tree where it lived. The spine of its neck was so constructed
that it could describe a circle with its head. Its long hind legs
enabled it to leap like a kangaroo.
The other Malay brought with him a flying dragon, a king of lizards,
said to be the reptile from which the fables of the original dragons
originated. It has a pair of membranes with the semblance of wings, with
which it sustains itself in the air in its leaps from one tree or branch
to another, as the flying-fish does in its flights over the water.
The party took leave with many thanks of the Chinese agent, and promised
to visit him on their return from up the river. Louis stated that they
wanted to kill one full-sized orang-outang, for the one killed by the
Malays was so cut up and chopped in the fight that she was not in
condition to be stuffed and kept as a good specimen.
"You will find them on the Simujan, but hardly anywhere else in the
island except in this vicinity, on the Sadong, Batang Lupar, and their
branches," replied the agent. "The orangs have been hunted so much,
especially by naturalists, that they are becoming scarce; and they are
likely to become extinct, for the scientists are looking for the
'missing link,' as they call it."
The speaker laughed as he made the last remark; and it was evident that
he was not a Darwinian, or at least that he had not followed out the
theory of evolution. Taking their places in the yacht, the captain gave
the order to cast off the fasts, the boat stood up the river, and soon
passed the scene of the morning's conflict.
"Gibbons!" exclaimed Achang, pointing to a portion of the forest where
the trees were sparsely scattered.
There were half a dozen of them, and they seemed to be engaged in a
frolic. This ape has been described in a former volume, for it is
abundant in Sumatra. Louis wished to observe the movements of the
animal, which has very long arms, is wonderfully agile, and a gymnast of
the first order. It could travel all over Borneo where forests exist
without touching the ground, passing from tree to tree in long leaps.
The boat was stopped in the river, in order to permit the party to
witness the exhibition which was in process, without the payment of any
admission fee.
Every branch was a trapeze, and no troupe of artists could compare with
them in the agility of their movements. Their long arms appeared to be
the key to their marvellous feats, for their legs were comparatively
short, and for the size of their bodies the animals possessed immense
strength.
"If some enterprising manager of a theatre devoting himself to athletic
exhibitions could secure the services of the half dozen gibbons which
are giving us a free show, he would make his fortune in our country,"
said Louis. "Don't try to see them all at once, but watch that fellow on
the right."
The one indicated grasped a horizontal branch with his hands, his arms
looking like the ropes of a swing. He was swaying to and fro with great
rapidity, apparently trying to see how fast he could go, for he put a
tremendous amount of vigor into his efforts. In an exhibition hall he
would have "brought down the house," and would certainly have received
an "_encore_."
Suddenly, while he was swinging at a dizzy speed, he let go his hold
upon the branch, and seemed to be flying through the air; but with his
fingered feet he seized another branch, not less than forty feet from
the first, and, with his long arms extended to the utmost, continued to
swing in this inverted position. The observers were so delighted with
this skilful performance that they applauded lustily by clapping their
hands. The noise did not disturb the performers, and the actor that had
so distinguished himself appeared to put even greater vigor into his
movements.
Possibly he was getting up a momentum; for he soon released the hold of
his feet on the branch, went flying through the air with his long arms
extended ahead of him in the direction of another favorable limb of a
tree, and grasped it with his hands. After swinging for a moment, he
drew himself up on the branch, and proceeded to walk up to a greater
height, using his hands to assist in keeping his equilibrium. This was a
fair specimen of the performance of every member of the troupe.
One of the company appeared to see something on the ground that
attracted his attention; and he made a flying leap to a lower branch,
and then dropped himself upon the soil. Looking about him for a moment,
he apparently discovered a bush with some sort of fruit on it, for he
immediately began to walk towards it. As a walkist he was far from being
a success, and his awkward movements excited the laughter of the
interested spectators. In his present _rôle_ he would have made an
excellent clown in a circus ring.
His short legs seemed to be incapable of fully supporting his body, and
he behaved like an inexperienced athlete walking on a tight rope without
a balancing-pole. His long arms served as this implement, and with a
bend at the elbows and the hands dropped down, he waddled along very
slowly.
"It's heavy sea for that fellow, and he looks like a landlubber trying
to walk the deck in a rough sea," said Captain Scott. "But I fancy the
performance is over, and it is time to shoot some of the actors if that
is what you intend to do."
"For one, I don't intend to do anything of the sort," replied Louis,
with considerable energy in his tones. "I don't believe in killing for
the sake of killing, or for the fun of it. My admiration of the skilful
performance we have just witnessed will not allow me to kill the actors
or any of them."
"What did we come to Borneo for, Louis?" asked the captain.
"To see the country, and explore some of its rivers."
"I thought we came here to hunt and fish," added Scott.
"I did not come here to kill harmless creatures for the fun of it. We
want a full-grown orang, and I am ready to hunt for him," replied Louis.
"We want him for the purpose of study, and to show to our friends on
board of the ship. I don't object to shooting any bird or animal to
extend our information."
Louis had his double-barrelled fowling-piece in his hand. Suddenly he
brought it to his shoulder and fired. All eyes were directed to the
shore, and a large bird was seen to drop upon the ground. The captain
started the boat, and ran her up to the bank. Clinch leaped ashore, and
soon brought the bird on board. Its plumage was highly colored and very
beautiful.
"What do you call that bird, Louis?" asked Morris.
"Chambers calls it simply the argus, but the more common name is the
argus-pheasant," replied Louis.
"Faix, he's a magnificent crayter; and what a long tail our cat has
got," added Felix, as he spread the bird out on the gunwale.
The last remark referred to the long tail of the bird, which made the
entire length from the bill to the end of it about five feet. Only two
of the feathers were thus prolonged, adding about three feet to the
dimension. The variety of colors were jet black, deep brown, fawn,
white, and a number of secondary hues. The bird, deprived of his
feathers, is about the size of an ordinary hen.
"But you can't see him at his best now that he is dead," continued
Louis, who had read up the animal life he expected to find in Borneo.
"Like a peacock, though to a less extent, he can spread out his pretty
feathers, but not in the same manner; for they open out in the form of a
circle, making a sort of round disk on his back and concealing his head.
If you could see the bird alive with his wings spread out you would find
every feather had a number of marks that look like eyes, and seventeen
have been counted on one of them. Each of these marks consists in part
of a jet-black ring, with other different colored rings inside of it,
which make the whole figure like an eye.
"You remember a fellow who was called Argus in mythology, who had a
hundred eyes, of which only two were ever asleep at the same time. This
bird gets his name from him; though the story is that Mercury killed
him, and Venus transferred his eyes to the tail of the peacock."
"Thanks for the lecture, Louis," said Scott when he had finished his
description. "It was certainly a part of our plan in coming to Borneo to
study natural history; and we are doing so instead of shooting all the
time."
Just at this moment Felix, who had wandered from the fore cabin to the
waist, discharged his fowling-piece. The Milesian was as good a shot as
Louis, for both of them had been trained in the same shooting-gallery in
New York. All hands rushed to the rail to ascertain what the hunter had
brought down. On the bank of the river they discovered a creature about
two feet long, lying on its back, and struggling in its death-throes.
Lane leaped ashore, and soon laid the animal on the gunwale of the boat
by the side of the argus. It was a queer-looking creature about the
head, and no one on board except Achang had ever seen one like it. For
the length of the head, the muzzle was very broad, hardly less than
three inches. It was covered with a soft and rather long fur on its
body, dark brown in color.
"What do you call my game, Mr. Naturalist?" demanded Felix, addressing
Louis, who was looking the animal over.
"_Cynogale Bennetti_," replied the young naturalist very gravely.
"Faix, that's jist what I thought he was whin Oi foired at him," added
Felix. "Sin O, gal! But what had Ben Netty to do wid it? Or was Netty
the name of the gal?"
"I gave you the scientific name because this creature has no plain
English name, though the natives here call it the _mampalon_," added
Louis.
"That's what we call it; but I forgot the name," said Achang.
"He is one of the otter family; and Mr. Hornaday, whose book I hope you
will all read when you return to the ship, thought it might be called
the otter-cat. I wish we could have taken him alive, for it would have
made a very nice specimen to set up in the cabin of the
Guardian-Mother."
"I should like to knock over the big orang-outang you want, Louis, my
darling," continued Felix. "There comes a covered sampan up the river,"
he added, pointing down the stream.
Many such covered boats are used on the rivers. On a frame of bamboo or
other wood was a covering of leaves, each of which is six to seven feet
long, and two inches wide. They are sewed together with a thread of
rattan, overlaying each other, like tiles or shingles, thus shedding the
rain. They were in strips or squares, so that they could be readily
removed. The sides were sometimes curtained with the same material. The
long leaves are taken from the nipa palm, which grows abundantly in the
island, and serves a great many useful purposes.
The boat waited to see the covered sampan, and later there appeared to
be two of them. As they approached, the familiar voice of the Chinese
agent was heard hailing the party. It appeared that this gentleman was
bound up the river to a Dyak village, a few miles farther up.
"You had better go with us," said the agent, as his sampan stopped
abreast of the steamer. "I spoke to you about a Dyak long-house; and you
will have an opportunity to examine one, and to sleep in it if you are
disposed to do so. You will be received very kindly, and have a chance
to see the people as well as the houses."
"Thank you, Mr. Eng Quee; we will certainly go with you," replied
Captain Scott, prompted by Louis. "We will heave you a line, and tow you
up."
In a few minutes more the steamer moved up the river with the two
sampans in tow.
CHAPTER IX
A VISIT TO A DYAK LONG-HOUSE
As the Blanchita approached her destination many Dyaks appeared on the
shores. They were Sea Dyaks in this region; and the name seems to have
come down from a former era in the history of the island, for at the
present time they have little or no connection with a sea-faring life,
and their sampans are mainly if not entirely used on the rivers. But
formerly they built large war-boats, or _bankongs_, some of which were
seventy feet long.
These craft did not go to sea. The naval battles were fought on rivers
and lakes; for the boats were not adapted to heavy weather, and could
not have lived even in a moderate gale. They were propelled entirely by
oars, single banked, and twenty-four rowers were all that could work.
The largest of them had a platform or elevated deck, under which the
oarsmen sat, and on which the warriors engaged the enemy.
Some sort of strategy was used; for the small boats were sent ahead
sometimes to skirmish with the foe, and lure their canoes to a point
where the larger craft were concealed, which then came out and fell upon
the enemy. If the craft were used for purposes of piracy, as they were
in the northern part of the island, in attacking foreign vessels, it
could only be when the strangers were caught within a short distance of
the shores.
Mr. Eng came on board of the yacht when his sampans were taken in tow,
and was seated with the cabin party on the forward seats. He spoke
English perfectly, and explained everything that needed it as the boat
proceeded. The explorers had seen Dyaks enough, but had not before taken
the trouble to study them; for they seemed not to be in touch with the
civilization of Sarawak, and were "hewers of wood and drawers of water,"
and not proper specimens of the race.
"The men here, Mr. Eng, do not appear to be very powerful physically,"
said Louis, as they passed several laborers at work in a paddy.
"They are not as strong as Englishmen and Americans," replied the agent,
glancing at the seamen in the waist. "The tallest man I have seen among
the Sea Dyaks was not more than five and a half feet in height. Five
feet three inches is a more common figure, though the average is less
than that. They are not men of great strength; but they are active, of
great endurance, and in running they exhibit great speed."
"These people are not ruined by their tailors' bills," said Scott.
"They do not need much clothing in this climate; and a piece of
bark-cloth a yard wide is full dress here. The _chawat_, as they call
this garment, is about five feet long, and is wound around the waist
tightly, and drawn between the legs, one end hanging down in front, and
the other behind. They wear a sort of turban on the head; and some of
them have as many as four rings, large and small, hanging from their
ears, through which they pass. Some of them use white cotton instead of
bark-cloth, like the Hindoos in India."
The yacht was now approaching the landing-place pointed out by the
agent. A crowd of women and children were hurrying to the riverside.
They appeared to be lighter in complexion than the men. As a rule they
were not handsome, though a few of them were rather pretty. The American
visitors were not likely to fall in love with any of the young women on
the shore. They were all in "full dress," which means simply a
petticoat, reaching from the waist to the knees, made of bark-cloth
embroidered with various figures.
A few of the females wore a sort of red jacket and the conical Malay
hat; but those are used only on "state occasions." The single garment
was secured at the waist by being drawn into a belt of rattans, colored
black. Above this was worn a coil of many rings of large brass wire; and
all of them seemed to be provided with this appendage. There was some
variety in the use of this ornament; for some wore it tightly wound
around the body, while others had it quite loose.
In addition to this some of the young girls had a dozen rings of various
sizes hanging loosely around their necks, and falling upon the chest,
which had no other covering. Their eyes were black, as was also their
hair, which was very luxuriant, and generally well cared for, being tied
up in a cue behind.
The village did not consist of a great number of small buildings, but
from the landing-place could be seen the end of an immense structure
with a forest of palms behind it. The rear of it was not perpendicular,
but slanted outward, like many of the walls of corn-houses in New
England, doubtless to keep the rain from the roof from penetrating. All
the party, including the sailors, landed; for Mr. Eng declared that the
Dyaks were honest, and even in Sarawak were never known to steal
anything, though the Malays and Chinamen were given to pilfering.
The crowd of men, women, and children gathered on the shore had looked
the Blanchita over with the closest attention while the Americans were
looking them over. The party landed under the escort of the agent, and
took up the line of march for the big house. The entire crowd of Dyaks
followed them, though they did not intrude upon them; on the contrary,
they treated all of the visitors with a respect and deference bordering
on homage.
"That 'long-house,' as we call it here, is nearly two hundred feet in
length," said Mr. Eng. "It is thirty feet wide. Now you can see more of
it; and you notice that it is set upon a multitude of posts, like all
Malay and Dyak houses. These posts are firmly set in the ground; and
being about six inches in diameter, you can readily see that the house
rests on a solid foundation. It is not likely to be blown down in any
ordinary gale, though a hurricane might sweep it away. Not a nail, not a
wooden pin or peg, is used in the construction of such buildings."
"Then, I should think any ordinary gale would level them to the ground,"
suggested Louis.
"But the Dyaks have a substitute for nails or pins," replied the guide.
"All the poles and sticks and boards are tightly bound together with
rattans; and I believe they hold together better than if they were
nailed."
"I observed in England and France that the stagings used in the erection
of buildings were made partly of round poles, tied together with ropes.
I talked with a man who told me they were stronger than if put together
with nails," said Morris.
"I think he was right. I can't tell you how the Malays and Dyaks manage
the rattan to render it so flexible, but it seems to me they make better
work than ropes. On the back of this house, there is not a single window
or other opening," continued Mr. Eng, as the party stood at the end of
the structure, near the rear corner. "The disagreeable feature of the
building, or rather of the habits of the occupants, is that the space
under it, ten feet between the ground and the floor, is a catch-all for
all refuse matter, and you notice that an unpleasant odor comes from
it."
"Is this the only entrance to it?" asked Scott, pointing to a door,
which was reached by a log notched like a flight of stairs.
"There is a door at the other end also; and there may be ways of
mounting the platform, or veranda, which forms the front of the
building, as climbing a post, or dropping from a tree. Some of the
posts, of which you see a multitude under the house, are cut off at the
first floor, while many of them reach up to the roof, and support it. We
will go in now, if you like; and, being sailors, I suppose you can climb
the log."
"No doubt of that," replied Scott, who was the first to ascend. "Are all
that crowd coming up?"
"Certainly; they are the occupants of the long-house, and they must be
at home in order to do the honors of the occasion," laughed the guide.
The villagers followed the party, and immediately manifested their
politeness in various ways. The prettiest girl in the crowd spoke to
Louis; though he did not understand a word she said, but replied to her
in English, when she was as much at sea as he had been.
"What does she say, Achang?" he asked of the Bornean.
"_Tabet, tuan_," replied the native.
"I heard her say that; but what does it mean?"
"It means, 'Good-day, sir,'" answered the Bornean; and he proceeded to
tell her that Louis was the "head man," very rich, and owned a big
ship.
She made a very graceful obeisance to him, and then rushed away through
a door on the side of the grand hall, as it may well be called. But she
returned immediately, bringing a very elaborately worked mat, which she
spread on the floor at the feet of the "head man." Then she spread out
her hands, and bowed low, saying something which was Greek to him.
"She invites you to take a seat on the mat," Achang explained.
As a matter of politeness Louis seated himself, and looked at the maiden
who treated him with so much consideration. By this time the other women
were bringing mats for the rest of the party, making no distinction
between the seamen and the cabin party. The latter followed the example
of the young millionaire, and seated themselves. The foremast hands
declined the proffered courtesy; and Achang explained to the ladies that
only the four young men who were seated were the magnates of the
company, while the others were inferior personages, for the Bornean was
not strictly democratic in his ideas.
"We will look at the house now, if you please," said Mr. Eng, after the
"Big Four" had been seated a few minutes; and all of them rose to their
feet, bowing low to the young ladies who had treated them with so much
distinction.
About forty or fifty of the posts extended from the ground, for the
visitors had not time to count them; and most of them had suspended upon
them various trophies of the hunt, including the antlers of deer,
crocodiles' heads, weapons, paddles, and spears. In the middle of the
long hall a fire was burning on a foundation of soil, enclosed by a
border of wood. In the roof was a sort of scuttle, which was fastened
open to admit the air, and to allow some of the smoke to escape, though
there was plenty of it remaining in the apartment.
"What is that overhead, Mr. Eng?" asked Louis, pointing to a black mass
suspended near the fire, though he had a suspicion of its nature.
"That is a collection of human skulls, relics of the days of
head-hunting; for they are generally kept in a building erected for the
purpose, though appropriated at the present time partly to other uses.
There are about twenty of them, which is not a large number for a
village like this. Not one of them is less than twenty years old; for
Rajah Brooke put an end to head-hunting long ago, though some of it has
been done in spite of his edicts. A lady beckons to you, Mr. Belgrave."
The pretty girl--by comparison--stood by his side, pointing to one of
the numerous doors at the closed side of the house. Louis followed her,
and she conducted him into a room. A portion of the floor was covered
with mats on which the occupants sleep, with an earth section for a
fire. There was no furniture of any kind. The roof of the building was
covered with square pieces of palm like those used on the sampans, and
these could be raised in each room when necessary for air.
"This apartment is occupied by one family, or by a married couple, and
unmarried men and boys sleep in the attic overhead," said Mr. Eng. "It
has but one door, the one opening into the main hall. This is a house of
sixteen doors; and by this enumeration the size of the village is
stated, and this number gauges the taxes to be paid."
"Citizens cannot dodge their taxes here, then, as some of them do in the
United States," said Scott.
The party walked the entire length of the hall, and then passed out upon
the platform, which was not covered, and was used for various purposes,
such as drying rice or other articles. The floors were composed of
strips of palm, not more than an inch and a half wide, and placed an
inch apart. They were lashed to the floor joists, or poles, with rattan.
"Those doors, which indicate the taxable rate of the village, look as
though they were cut out of single planks," said Scott.
"And so they are," replied the agent.
"I have seen no saw-mills here, and I suppose they bring the lumber from
England or India."
"Not at all, though some may be obtained in that manner. They are made
from the buttress of the tapang-tree, which you must have seen."
"I have not noticed any such thing, though perhaps none of us could
identify it," replied the captain.
"It is found growing out in triangular form from just above the roots of
the tree. In a large one it is twelve or fifteen feet long. It makes a
natural plank two inches thick, which may be trimmed into any shape with
the biliong."
The party were ready to depart; and they made all sorts of courteous
gestures to their hosts, especially the ladies. The women asked them for
tobacco, as Achang interpreted the requests. They had none, but some of
the seamen supplied them with all they had about them.
CHAPTER X.
THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE DYAKS.
After seeing the sleeping accommodations of the Dyaks, consisting of a
mat on a rather uneven floor, the Americans concluded to pass the night
on board of the yacht. They invited Mr. Eng to supper on board, and he
passed the evening with them in the cabin.
"You have seen the Dyaks at home now, young gentlemen; how do you like
the looks of them?" asked the guest, after the meal had been disposed
of.
"I think they are the pleasantest savages I have ever met," replied
Louis.
"I am afraid you did not appreciate the young women who were so
attentive to you, Mr. Belgrave," continued the agent.
"Regarding them as uncivilized maidens, they are about the best
specimens. The expression on their faces was pleasant, a few of them
were pretty, though as a whole they were not handsome, and they seemed
to be kind-hearted. I could not admire them, though their eyes were as
brilliant as they were black. Their long hair would be the envy of many
an English or American belle."
"The women are very vain of their hair. They bestow a great deal of
attention upon it," added Mr. Eng. "The fever of the island sometimes
deprives them of their hair, as it may in your country, and that is the
greatest calamity that can overtake the younger women."
"I suppose it all right here; but they disfigure and spoil one of the
principal attractions of ladies in enlightened nations, the teeth, which
they blacken by chewing betel."
"It also makes their lips look as though they had daubed them with blood
or red paint; but they do it here, as in India, to make themselves more
beautiful. Tastes differ, and the practice makes them ugly to you. The
betel-vine grows here, and the leaves are used for chewing. The nut of a
certain palm produces the same effect on the teeth."
"I don't admire the brass rings they wear on their waists and around
their necks. If I were old enough to get married, I should not look for
a wife among the Dyak girls," said Louis, laughing and shaking his head.
"The Dyak women are generally well treated; but they have to work very
hard, and much that you would think the men ought to do is done by them.
The lords of creation here are inclined to be lazy, while their wives
and daughters are engaged in the rice-fields, though their husbands and
brothers are driven to labor.
"But the women are not the abject slaves you sometimes find them in the
savage state. They have their influence, and exercise a degree of
control in household matters. The females are fond of fish, and insist
that their husbands shall supply them with this diet. On account of the
bores which sweep up the rivers, this is often a dangerous occupation,
and the men are unable to procure any fish. Instances are known in which
the women bar the door of the house against them if they are
unsuccessful."
"I believe the Malays are generally Mohammedans. What is the religion of
the Dyaks?" inquired Louis.
"It has been said by some travellers that they have no religion of any
kind; but I don't think this is quite true, though it is not far from
it," replied Mr. Eng. "Religion is a very indefinite idea among the
Dyaks, and they are chary in speaking of what there is of it. Some who
have been among them maintain that they believe in a Supreme Being, who
has a great many different names among the various tribes. They have
almost as many inferior deities as the Hindus.
"They are very superstitious; and there are all sorts of omens, among
which there is a particular bird which has obtained the name of the omen
bird. His cry on the right of, or behind, a person engaged in any
enterprise is an unlucky sign, and he abandons his object; while the cry
heard on the left is a favorable omen, and the individual is duly
encouraged to go forward.
"I had a story from a Kyan head man which had come down to him as a
tradition. A great head-hunting expedition, consisting of a thousand
warriors, had set out many years ago. It had not gone far when a little
muntjac, which you know is a kind of deer, ran across the path of the
warriors. This was a bad omen; and they gave up the enterprise, and
returned to their villages.
"I know of a couple just married who separated because they heard a
deer-cry within three days after their union, which was a sign that one
of them would die within a year. Even little insects intimidate doughty
warriors, or assure them that they are far from danger, by their
appearance or their cry."
"There is not a little of similar superstition in enlightened nations,
though there is vastly less of it than formerly," added Louis.
"I have heard my grandfather say that the ticking of a death-watch used
to scare him so that he could not sleep when he was a boy," said Morris.
"What is a death-watch?" asked Scott.
"It is a kind of beetle that conceals itself in the walls of old
houses," replied Louis. "The noise it makes is really the call of the
bug for his mate, and is the cry of love instead of death, as many
ignorant people believe. The breaking of a looking-glass is also a sign
of death in the family."
"Mrs. Blossom wouldn't break a looking-glass for a fortune," added
Felix. "She says she broke one nine years before her husband died, and
therefore it was a sure sign."
"But the death must come within a year to make the sign hold good,"
replied Louis. "But if enlightened people have faith in such stuff, it
is no wonder that Dyaks believe in omens. I want to ask, Mr. Eng, if
these Dyaks are regularly married?"
"They are, though with very little ceremony, and no vows, oaths, nor
promises. In fact, the marriage consists of such rites as the parties
please, and often with no rites at all. Sometimes the betrothed are
married by exchanging bracelets in public, or by eating a meal of rice
together. In some communities the affianced are seated on a couple of
bars of iron, and the head man shakes a couple of live chickens over
their heads, invoking many blessings upon them, and the birds are
afterwards killed and eaten."
"Do these people drink liquor, or have they anything in the shape of
intoxicating fluids?" asked Scott.
"The national drink of Borneo is _tuak_, about the vilest tipple that
ever was invented. I went to a Dyak feast when I first came to the
island, which proved to be nothing but a series of drunken orgies. The
principal actors at the feast were a number of pretty girls, such as you
saw this afternoon. Their office was to induce the men present to drink
this vile liquid till they dropped on the floor of the open platform;
and they even poured it down the throats of their victims when no longer
able to drink for themselves."
"What sort of rum is it?" inquired Scott.
"It looks like the milk of the cocoanut, and I suppose that it is made
from that; but I did not taste it," replied the agent. "It is about my
bedtime, and I think I will go to my sampan and retire."
But Captain Scott invited him to sleep on board of the Blanchita; and he
accepted after a little pressing, evidently believing that the soft
cushions of the yacht made a better bed than the mats of the sampan.
Felipe was instructed to have steam on at daylight, and the anchor watch
was to call him in season to do so. Fully protected by their nettings
from the mosquitoes, which had troubled them to some extent in the
evening, all hands slept like tired boys.
When the steam from the gauge-cocks hissed as the engineer examined into
the condition of the water in the boiler, the sound waked the captain,
and he jumped from his bed. This movement roused all the others; and
they went out into the waist, following the example of Scott, who wore
nothing but his nightdress.
"I am going to have a swim this fine morning," said he.
"Look out for crocodiles," Morris interposed. "You know they are
man-eaters in these rivers."
"I haven't seen any of them around here," replied the captain. "But call
all hands, Lane; and tell the men to bring out their rifles."
"I think you are very imprudent to go into the water here," interposed
Mr. Eng. "The reptiles are on the watch; and if you must go in, I warn
you to keep near the boat."
But the boys all dived from the gunwale into the river, and swam out a
few rods. The men placed themselves on the rail, and kept a sharp look
out for saurians, though it was still too dark to enable them to see
very distinctly. Scott had reasoned that he could not take his bath
after it was fully light, for a crowd of Dyak men and women would be on
the bank at that time.
The swimmers had not been in the water more than five minutes when the
cry of "Crocodiles!" came from Achang, who had stationed himself just
forward of the engine. Probably he had a keener vision for the reptiles
than the Americans; for the seamen had not yet seen anything that looked
like one. He could tell by the appearance of the water that the enemy
was approaching, though the disturbance of its surface was near the
other side of the stream.
The party in the water turned about, and headed for the boat, swimming
with all the vigor they could command. Achang had his rifle in his hand;
but even he could not make out the crocodile clearly enough to be sure
of his aim. Five minutes more elapsed; for it required that time for the
swimmers to reach the yacht. The seamen assisted the party into the
boat, and they rushed with all speed into the cabin; for a quartet of
Dyak maidens had already reached the bank of the river, and were begging
the men for more tobacco.
Achang fired his rifle; but three crocodiles could now be seen moving
towards the yacht. Their approach was not impeded by the shot, for it
was impossible to see the eyes of the reptiles in the semi-darkness. But
the cabin party were safe, and it was as useless to fire at them as it
would have been at a stone wall.
"I advise you not to try that experiment again, young gentlemen," said
Mr. Eng as the bathing party came out into the waist.
"I don't think we shall, though we were protected by half a dozen
rifles," replied the captain, who had been the leader in the venturesome
exploit.
"If you do try it again, do so in the daylight, when your riflemen can
see the eyes of the enemy," added the agent. "I must bid you good-by
now, for I have business on shore here. I don't think the crocodiles
will come any nearer to you, but be prudent. I shall hope to see you at
Simujan on your return."
Mr. Eng shook hands with all the cabin party, and went ashore. The
captain gave the order to cast off the fasts, and Lane was ordered to
take the wheel. The two sampans had before made fast to the shore; and
as the Blanchita got under way, one of them put off, and paddled towards
the crocodiles. The last that was seen of the craft, it had a saurian
hooked after the Malay mode of fishing for them.
After breakfast had been served in the cabin, and the party had gone to
their seats forward, the character of the river began to change,
becoming much narrower. They came to another Dyak village, where the
jungle was cleared off and paddies were near the stream. It looked as
though all the inhabitants had gathered on the bank, male and female. A
long-house was to be seen on a knoll, and the wheelman was ordered to
take the boat within a couple of rods of the shore.
"Are you going to make a landing at this village, Captain Scott?" asked
Louis.
"No; we have seen enough of these people, but we will see what we can as
we pass along. They are all beckoning us to go ashore; but we won't do
so, for any more Dyak maidens would be rather monotonous."
"I quite agree with you, Captain, though there is one with a big stick
of bamboo in her hand, who looks more graceful and pretty than any we
saw in the village we visited," replied Louis.
"I wonder what that cane is for," added Scott.
"That's to contain some kind of liquid; and she may have four feet of
tuak in it," answered the millionaire, laughing at the idea of measuring
a fluid by Long Measure. "I think the girl comes nearer to being a
beauty than any girl I have seen before."
"She is hooped with brass like all the rest of them," added Scott, as
the boat proceeded beyond the group on the shore.
In another half-hour great trees, with an abundant undergrowth of
bushes, extended down to the river, and in places some distance into the
water.
CHAPTER XI
STEAMBOATING THROUGH A GREAT FOREST
Although there was a wall of green on each side of the boat, and the
river was not more than sixty feet wide, the explorers found that
everything close to the earth was under water. If the dense jungle had
not prevented, they might have sailed inland, they knew not how many
miles. As the stream became narrower the current increased in force. The
trees were full of monkeys, and hundreds of them appeared to be in sight
all the time. They were of the most common kind to be found in Borneo,
and the yacht created no excitement among them. They were so tame that
any number of them could have been brought down by the hunters.
"The water is not so dirty as it has been everywhere below," said
Captain Scott, as the Blanchita stemmed the current without any
difficulty, where paddling a sampan must have been a laborious
occupation. "It is tolerably clear along here, and we might take our
morning bath very comfortably."
"We might if a big crocodile did not break his way through the bushes to
pay us a visit," replied Louis.
"After the experience of this morning, I am not disposed to try it
again, and I shall take my bath in a wash-bowl with a sponge, though I
am very fond of swimming. But, Louis, don't you think we have had about
enough of hunting in Borneo?"
"Enough! Why, we have not yet been a week on the island," replied Louis,
not a little astonished at the captain's question. "I have enjoyed
myself very well so far, and I certainly do not wish to leave till we
have killed at least one good-sized orang."
"It is rather stupid hunting here, for about all the country is under
water," added Scott. "There seems to be nothing but monkeys here; and
they are very small game, even if we were disposed to shoot them."
"But there are some lakes up the river, Mr. Eng told me; and I think we
shall get out of this tangle very soon; and when we come to higher
ground we will go on shore, and try our luck on foot."
The captain talked as though he had some scheme in his head which he was
not yet prepared to unfold to his companions. But what could he do?
Nothing had been said on board of the ship about coming back to Sarawak
for the hunters, and to give up hunting and exploring would be simply to
return to Kuching, and idle away the time for the next two weeks. Louis
did not like this idea at all; and yet it seemed to be the alternative
which Scott must have in his mind.
"Mias!" shouted Achang, when the conversation had proceeded so far.
"Where is your mias?" demanded Louis; for most of the party had come to
calling the orang by his Malay name.
The Bornean pointed into the forest, the trees of which were growing in
the water, though there was an undergrowth of screw-pines, which had
been abundant all along the river. They were not pines as the explorers
understood the word at home. The plant is a bush or small tree with half
a dozen or more branches angling upward from the trunk, and twisting a
little towards it, from which feature it takes its name. It has long,
lanceolated leaves, and therefore is not at all like the American pine.
"Stop her, Lane!" called the captain in a tone that "meant business."
"Back her!"
The last order was given because there was an opening through the
screw-pines which afforded a full view of the taller trees about twenty
rods farther from the stream. The captain then took the wheel from Lane,
rang the gong to go ahead; and, putting the helm hard-a-starboard, the
boat came about, headed into the opening. Looking forward, there seemed
but very few trees or bushes compared with the number along the flowing
stream.
"Do you see the mias, Louis?" asked Scott.
"I do; and he is in a very favorable position. He is a big one, and must
be a male," replied Louis, who stood at the stem with a repeating-rifle
in his hand.
"Do you see him, Flix?"
"I do; and he has a green nest in the same tree with him."
[Illustration: "YOU ARE NEAR ENOUGH, CAPTAIN."
_Page 99._]
By this time all the party had taken their rifles. The boat moved very
slowly. A seaman sounded the depth with a boathook, and reported eight
feet. As she approached the orang, the brute showed his teeth, and
uttered several successive growls, as though he understood that danger
was near; but he did not attempt to escape.
"I wonder can the blackguard swim," said Felix, who had his rifle ready
to fire.
"I have read that he is a poor swimmer," replied Louis.
"How does he get about here where the water is eight feet deep?"
"He is not as agile as the gibbon; but he can make his way from one tree
to another in the same manner, and his road is through the trees, and
not on the ground."
"Here I am, and I can't go any farther," said the captain, as he rang to
stop her. "I can't get the boat through this clump of bushes."
"You are near enough, Captain; let her rest where she is," replied
Louis, as he aimed his rifle at the orang, which was sitting on a branch
holding on with both hands.
Louis fired, and the creature fell with a loud splash into the water at
the foot of the tree. But he was not dead, and was struggling to escape.
He was evidently wounded very badly, and when the hunter saw his
opportunity he fired again. The orang had grasped a screw-pine, and he
held on, but he struggled no more. The captain had ordered the sampan
to be brought alongside, and two men were at the paddles. Louis and
Felix joined them, and they paddled towards the _game_.
"I think he is dead though he still holds on at the bush," said Louis.
"We shall soon find out," added Clingman, as he threw a slip-noose over
his head. "Heave ahead now!" he continued, as Clinch grasped the line
with him, and they pulled together.
The orang did not make any movement, and it was certain that he was
dead. When they had drawn him within a few feet of the sampan, the line
was made fast, and the men paddled to the steamer. A purchase was rigged
to the top of one of the stanchions, and the dead animal was hoisted
into the sampan.
"Now, Lane, measure him," said the captain.
The body was laid out at full length in the bottom of the boat; and the
carpenter took his length on a boathook, which he notched to indicate
the height of the animal. He was directed to take several other
measurements; in fact, Louis kept him at work for over an hour, with
another hand to assist him in spreading out the limbs. The captain
became quite impatient; for he was less a scientist than the young
millionaire, though he had a taste for natural history.
"Have you finished, Louis?" asked Scott as the former returned to the
yacht.
"All done; but Lane must sum up the results," replied Louis.
"What good will all those measurements do you?" demanded the captain
rather contemptuously.
"They will not put any money in my pocket, but I want to know the size
of the game I have killed," answered Louis, somewhat nettled by the
manner of Scott. "When a man has caught a fish he wants to know what his
prize weighs."
"All right; but I want to get a little farther into the woods here, and
I can get around the bushes ahead of her," replied the captain, who had
been studying up a course by which he could go a considerable distance
farther inland.
He backed the boat, and then went ahead very slowly, with Clingman
feeling of the bottom with the boathook. It was novel sailing through
the forest in a steam-launch, and all hands enjoyed it. The screw-pines
were rather scattered, and the forest of large trees was quite open.
After the boat had gone about half a mile, as the captain judged,
Clingman made a report.
"By the mark, one," said he, as the depth is given with the lead, in
fathoms.
"Six feet; we are shoaling," added Captain Scott. "Try it again."
"Five feet," returned the seaman.
The steamer continued on her course, with Scott at the wheel, for some
time longer. The dry land could be seen through the trees at no great
distance ahead. The boat continued on her course for a quarter of an
hour, when Clingman call out a depth which caused the captain to ring
the gong to stop her. The last report was three feet, and the keel was
evidently grinding through the soft mud. Then he rang to back her; and
when she had increased her depth to four feet, he struck the gong to
stop her.
"Dinner is ready, gentlemen," said Pitts.
"We must attend to that before we do anything more," added the captain.
"Keep a sharp lookout ahead, Clingman."
The party went into the after cabin, and the novelty of dining on board
of a steamer in the woods was sufficiently inspiring to add a big
interest to the occasion.
"What have you got for dinner, Pitts?" asked Felix, as he entered the
cabin. "Have you got any stewed crocodiles?"
"Not a croc, Mr. McGavonty," replied the cook.
"Any boiled orang-outang?"
"Not an orang. The captain bought six dozens of eggs at the village
where we stopped yesterday, and I have ham and eggs for dinner, which I
hope will suit you," replied Pitts.
"The best thing in the world for me. Whisper! Are they crocodiles'
eggs?"
"Not a bit of it, sir."
The principal dish proved to be very satisfactory to the boys, whose
appetites had been sharpened by the exercise of the forenoon. The
cuisine had been very good along the rivers, for Pitts had generally
been the caterer as well as the cook and steward. Chickens and eggs had
been plentiful enough, and at the town he had obtained some fish. There
was no fresh beef or mutton. They had a barrel of excellent salt beef
from the stores of the ship; and Pitts made a splendid hash, which
suited all hands better than almost anything else.
While they were at dinner the steward brought in Lane's report of the
measurements of the orang Louis had shot. It was given to the Captain at
the head of the table; and he read it off: "Height, 4 feet, 5-1/4
inches; arms spread out full length, from end to end of longest fingers,
7 feet, 10 inches; length of arm, 3 feet, 3 inches; length of hand,
10-1/2 inches; length of foot, 12-1/4 inches; round the waist, 4 feet, 2
inches. Four men estimated on the weight, and the average is 185
pounds.'"
"Big mias," said Achang.
"Do you think you can skin and stuff him, Achang?" asked Louis.
"Know I can; have done it with naturalist."
"Then you may go to work on it as soon as you please, and I will give
you five dollars for the job," added Louis. "Take your time, and do it
well."
"Where I work? Sampan no good."
"I can make a place in the waist," said the captain; "besides, I want
the small boat, for we can see higher land farther in, and I wish to go
ashore there; we may find some shooting."
The boxes and barrels were moved farther forward and aft, and a workshop
made for the Bornean. The sampan was cleaned out when the hands had
finished their dinner, and the "Big Four," embarked in it. They did
their own paddling, for there was not room enough for any more in the
boat without crowding. Each of them carried a rifle. It was but a short
distance, and the party were soon on the dry land.
Louis had hardly put his feet on the shore when he levelled his gun and
fired. A moment later Felix followed his example; and each of them had
brought down a deer. They rushed forward to secure their game; and then
the other two hunters discharged their rifles, and a couple of wild pigs
rolled over on the ground. It was plain that they had struck a spot
where hunters seldom came. If there was any more game near, the report
of the guns had driven it off.
"That was pretty well for a five minutes' hunt," said Louis when he and
Felix had dragged the two deer to the water. "I think we had better stay
here over night, and hunt on high ground to-morrow."
"That wouldn't do, Louis, and I should not dare to keep the Blanchita
here over night," replied Captain Scott.
"Why not?"
"The water is high and low up here by turns, and I am afraid I should
find the yacht on the bottom in the morning," replied Scott. "Then we
could not get her out of the woods, and might have to stay here a week
or two, waiting for water to float her. No, no; I won't take the risk."
The game was dragged to the shore, and loaded into the sampan; for the
appalling picture the captain had made of low water induced them all to
hurry on board of the yacht.
CHAPTER XII
A FORMIDABLE OBSTRUCTION REMOVED
The deer shot by Felix was a little fellow, though he was full grown,
Achang said, when it was taken on board the yacht. The one killed by
Louis was much larger. The pigs were in better condition than the one
shot before. The men were set at work to skin the deer, and the cook cut
out the best parts of the two swine. There was plenty of salt pork in
the stores, so that the sides were not needed.
Achang kept himself very busy in his workshop. He had a difficult job on
his hands; for he had to skin the fingers and toes of the animal, and to
keep every part in its original shape. Captain Scott went to the wheel
as soon as he came on board, and started the engine. Clingman reported
the depth of water the same as when the party went on shore. By backing
and going ahead a short distance at a time, he got the boat about, and
headed her for the river.
The water was deep enough, and there was no particular difficulty in the
navigation, though he was to follow the course he had taken at first. He
had carefully observed the shape and location of the trees, and the
stream was reached in a short time. Louis declared that it was a great
pity they could not remain near the high ground, for he had no doubt
that plenty of game would have been found.
"It seems to me that we have got all the game we want," said Scott.
"What could we do with a couple more deer and a brace of wild hogs?"
"Perhaps you are right; but the fellows want to hunt, though I think I
have had enough of it. I enjoy the sailing up this river, and it will be
pleasant to explore the lakes farther up the stream," added Louis.
"I hope we shall get to some place where we can do some fishing for a
change; besides, I am fish hungry," replied Scott.
"Most of the fishing here is done with the tuba plant; and I think it is
mean to stupefy the fish, and then pick them up on the top of the water.
But the river is clearer up this way, and we will drop our lines when we
come to a good place."
"If you want to do any more shooting just now, there is a flock of
long-noses" (by which he meant proboscis monkeys), said the captain, as
he pointed to them.
"We have one good specimen of that creature, and I don't want any more
at present; but I would give something to know why they prefer to be in
trees which grow out of the water," added Louis.
"I give it up, for I don't see any reason for it; but I suppose the
long-nose understands the matter himself, and he won't tell us. Here we
are at the river."
The captain rang the speed-bell as the steamer entered the stream where
it was only thirty feet wide. There was a considerable current, and the
screw-pines were densely packed together on both sides. The boat
continued on her course for half an hour longer, when she seemed to have
come to the end of all things, and the gong rang to stop her.
"Here we are!" exclaimed Scott. "And here we are likely to remain,
unless we back down stream till we find a place wide enough to turn in."
The obstruction which closed the passage of the river against the
Blanchita was a bridge of dead pines which the current had brought down,
and they had caught at the sides till they formed the barrier. It was
not more than six feet wide, though it might as well have been a hundred
so far as blocking up the river was concerned.
"I don't like the idea of stopping here, for I want to see the lakes
above; and I hoped we might get some fishing there," said Louis.
"What the matter is?" called Achang from his workshop.
He moved to one side so that he could see the obstruction.
"You can go through that, Captain," he continued, after Morris had
corrected his English. "I have come up here before, and we have cut a
way through."
"All right; we will see what the bridge is made of," said the captain,
as he rang to back the boat.
She backed down the stream about twenty rods, and then he stopped her.
He then ordered Clingman to draw a piece of sailcloth over the stem, to
prevent the dead pines from scratching the paint on the bow. As soon as
this was done, she went ahead again at full speed, and the captain
called to the engineer to give her all the steam he could. She went
ahead at a furious rate, and Scott pointed her to what seemed to be the
weakest place in the barrier.
"Now hold on, fellows, or she will tip you over!" shouted the captain as
the boat approached the obstruction.
She struck the mass of pines, and drove her bow far into it, but stopped
without going through it. The barrier was not solid, and was held
together by the entanglement of the bushes as they were driven into the
nucleus of the mass by the current.
"We can't cut through in that way," said Scott, as he looked at the
half-sundered bridge.
"We don't want to take the back track," added Louis.
"There are more ways than one to skin a mosquito, and we haven't half
tried yet," replied the captain. "The thing is softer than I supposed,
and yielded when the boat hit it. I could go through, but it would take
all the paint off the sides. Get out the anchor, Clingman, and we will
see what can be done."
"I think we shall stick fast enough without anchoring," said Morris with
a laugh.
"Wait a few minutes, my hearty; for I was not thinking of coming to
anchor just now," answered Scott, as he went forward to the stem, and
mounted the rail.
The anchor was stowed under the forward seat; and Clingman, after
overhauling the cable, passed it up to the captain. It was not very
heavy, and with a skilful toss he threw it just over the edge of the
barrier on the up-stream side. All wondered what he was going to do, for
they saw no way to get through by means of the anchor; but they were
willing to believe that the captain knew what he was about, and they
said nothing.
"Now pay out about fifty feet of cable," continued Scott, as he rang the
gong to back her. "Haul steady on it till you are sure it is fast in the
stuff, Clingman."
The seaman humored the cable till he was unable to haul the rope home,
and then reported the situation. The boat continued to back till the
cable was hauled taut, when he stopped her. Then he spoke through the
tube to the engineer, and rang the gong. The craft moved again, but very
gently, for Scott was afraid the anchor would not hold; but it did, and
speaking through the tube, he gradually increased the speed. The cable
swayed and groaned, and it was evident that a heavy strain was upon it.
The barrier was shaking and quivering under the pressure, and it was
plain that something would yield very soon.
"Hurrah!" shouted Felix, who was looking over the bow at the bridge of
pines; and the cry was repeated by the rest of the cabin party, and
taken up by the sailors. "Bully for you, Captain Scott! Upon me wurrud,
ye's have skinned the muskitty!"
This demonstration was called forth by the rupture of the barrier in two
places, so that about one-half of it gave way, and was towed down stream
by the steamer. Scott kept the craft moving till he found a place in the
green banks of the river to leave the tow, for it was wide enough to
obstruct the channel.
"Clingman and Wales, jump on the raft with the boathooks, and crowd the
stuff over to the starboard side," said the captain when he had found
the place he wanted.
He stopped the boat, and then went ahead, to enable the men to get upon
the mass, after they had thrown a couple of boards upon it to stand on.
Backing her again, he hugged the starboard side of the stream, and drew
the raft abreast of the place, and close to it, where it was to be left.
The men on it hooked into the screw-pines, and hauled it into the
opening. Pulling vines from the trees, they moored it where it was. As
soon as the two men came aboard the boat, the captain went ahead again.
"You did that job handsomely, Captain Scott," said Louis. "I thought the
only way we could get through was by cutting a passage for the boat."
"That would have taken too long," replied Scott, as he called Clinch to
the wheel. "Mind your eye! for the river is very crooked up here. Look
out for the swing as she goes around the bends."
The boat had not gone a great distance when she came to a considerable
expanse of territory which had been swept over by fire. The party did
not think that the green bushes would burn; but they had burned so that
nothing was left of them but the blackened stems, and there was no room
for an argument.
"When the fire gets started, it scorches and dries the bushes till they
will burn," Louis explained. "But what are we coming to now?" he asked,
looking ahead where the country seemed to be level, and covered with a
sheet of water, in which the screw-pines were abundant.
"That must be one of your lakes, Louis," added the captain.
"If it is mine, I will sell it to you," replied he.
"I don't want to buy; but I am not so sure that we can get through as
shoal a place as that seems to be, for it is only the spreading out of
the river. The greater the expanse, the less the depth. How is that,
Achang?"
"Plenty water; float the boat," answered the Bornean. "Little Padang
Lake. Plenty pandanus."
"What are pandanuses?" asked Scott.
"The plural of the word is pandanaceæ; and they are the same thing as
the screw-pines, and sometimes are found thirty feet high. There is one;
and you can see roots starting out of the stem, and heading downward.
The leaves are very useful to the natives. We shall get tied in a hard
knot if we follow the twists of this stream much farther."
Presently the boat came to the lake. The captain was considerably
exercised about the depth of water; and as they entered the lake, which
was not very different from the overflowed region they had visited that
day, he ordered the wheelman to stop her.
"There must be some sort of a channel through this pond," said he,
looking about him. "There is a bigger lake than this one farther up.
There are mountains in sight in the distance, and the water from them
must find an outlet to the sea."
"I have no doubt you are right; and probably there is a channel through
this lake, for its water must get to the sea, unless it dries up on the
way," added Louis.
"It will be easier to find this channel near the river than it will when
we are half-way across the lake;" and the captain sent two men with
Morris in the sampan to search for it.
The water was tolerably clear; and they went to the mouth of the outlet,
sounding all the time with the boathooks. They found the channel at this
point, and then followed it up beyond the steamer. Morris shouted that
the sampan was in the channel, and the Blanchita moved into it. The
searching-party returned to the steamer. Morris was the mate; and, with
the two men who had gone with him, he was directed to keep the run of
the deeper water.
In another half-hour they came to the forest again, though the trees
were growing in the shallow lake. Achang was hard at work all the time,
taking all the pains with his operation which Louis had required of him;
but his occupation did not prevent him from looking about him, and he
soon made a discovery.
"Mias! Mias!" he shouted, pointing to a tall tree a few rods from the
boat. "Mias fast asleep!"
All the party looked in the direction indicated, and saw the orang. He
was lying on his back in the crotch of the tree, holding on with both
hands to the branches. He must have been a heavy sleeper or the puffing
of the engine would have aroused him. But Louis would not fire at him,
as Scott suggested. He had a bigger orang than the one in the tree, and
he did not want another. As he would not fire, Felix refused to do so,
and the mias was left to finish his nap.
A little later in the day the boat came to Padang Lake; but they were
disappointed when they found it was filled with screw-pines, though they
could see open water, in one direction quite a large sheet of it.
Following the channel, they reached the open space. The boat had hardly
passed the limit of the screw-pines before Clingman shouted, "Fish!"
The captain rang the gong, the boat stopped, and fishlines were in
demand. The flesh of the orang was used for bait; and in a few minutes
Morris hauled up a fish so large that it taxed all his strength and
skill to get him into the boat.
CHAPTER XIII
THE CAPTAIN'S ASTOUNDING PROPOSITION
All the cabin party had their lines out, but not another fish was
caught. The place where they fished seemed to be a hole, and the water
was deep and clear. Perhaps Morris's struggle with the big fish had
scared the others away, for not another could be seen. The day was done,
and it was growing dark. It was decided to anchor where they were, and
spend the night there; and they hoped the fish would be in biting
condition the next morning.
Achang called the fish the gourami, or something like that; but beyond
this nothing was known about him. Louis, who was generally posted, could
tell his companions nothing about it. But Pitts had cut it up, and it
was fried for supper. The flesh was hard, and the flavor excellent.
There was enough of it for all hands, and the supper amounted to a
feast. A heavy thunder-shower made the evening very gloomy; but the
canvas roof and curtains of the Blanchita fully protected the party from
the rain, which fell in sheets for full two hours.
The next morning when the party turned out, the weather was as pleasant
as they could desire, and the air was cleared and freshened by the
shower. The first thing they did was to throw over their lines; for
they could see the fish through the clear water of the lake. In about as
many minutes they had hooked four fish, though not one of them was so
large as the one Morris had caught the evening before. But at that point
they ceased to bite, and not another nibble was had. Either the fish did
not like the looks of the boat, handsome as she was, which would have
been very bad taste on their part, or the struggles of those which had
been hauled in frightened them away. Very likely the fish could have
explained the reason for their sudden disappearance; but they did not,
and it remained a mystery.
They had an ice-chest on board, and Mr. Eng had replenished it at
Simujan. Pitts dressed the fish, and put them in the refrigerator. For
breakfast they had fresh pork, and it was much better than that they had
had before. They had learned to drink coffee without milk, for it was
not often that it could be procured away from the larger towns.
"I say, fellows, don't you think there can be too much of a good thing?"
asked Captain Scott at the head of the table.
"Of course there can be too much of a good thing; for a fellow might eat
ice-cream till his throat was frozen," replied Felix.
"Almost anything becomes a bad thing when you have too much of it,"
added Louis. "But I think we could have stood about four more of those
nice fish. What is the moral of all this, Captain?"
"With me the moral is that I have had hunting enough for the present,"
replied Scott. "I should like a little more variety in our daily life."
"I don't think I should care to go hunting more than one day in a week,
or, at most, two," replied Louis. "We have had it right along for a
week; and, as you suggest, that's too much of a good thing."
"But it was you, Louis, who went in for three weeks of it," added the
captain.
"Simply because I thought it would take the Guardian-Mother and the
Blanche about that time to visit Siam and French Cochin-China."
"I suppose if we had made our trip up these rivers in a sampan, we
should not have got so far inland in another week," added Morris.
"I don't think we should have come up here at all if the Blanchita had
not been available," said Louis. "But we are close to the mountains now,
and I am in favor of a tramp on shore."
"All right; and after breakfast we will get under way, for I must attend
to the navigation," replied Scott; "and I suppose Felipe has steam
enough by this time."
They left the table, and Scott went to the wheel. To save time and
trouble, the men took their meals in the after cabin, and the engineer
had the head of the table. Both Louis and Felix had run the engine of
the Maud a portion of the time on her memorable voyage from Funchal to
Gibraltar, and the former was sent to the engine-room. The boat went
ahead; and after passing through a section of pandanus, they came to an
open lake, which they judged to be five miles long.
The water was shallow, though deep enough for the steamer. The captain
opened the binnacle, and headed the Blanchita to the north. It was a
very quiet time, and the boat went along at her usual speed. In little
less than half an hour she reached the head of the lake; but there was
no convenient landing-place for a craft of her draught, and she was
anchored at a considerable distance from the shore. Achang and two of
the seamen were directed to attend the "Big Four," and they were landed
in the sampan.
Each of the cabin party took his fowling-piece, while Achang had a
rifle, and each of the sailors carried one, the latter to be used by the
young men if they were wanted. They had walked but a short distance
before they came to a steep precipice about twenty feet high, at which a
notched log had been placed by some former visitors, as they supposed;
but as soon as they had mounted it, they came upon a Dyak long-house,
which might have been better called a short-house, for it contained but
six doors, and therefore the tax upon the village need not have caused
any grumbling.
The dwelling was not now a novelty, neither were the Dyak men and
maidens; for the latter were not as pretty as several they had seen on
the river. They were very hospitable, and invited the party to enter
the house, which they did; but there was little to interest them there.
Achang talked with them, and the head man said they caught plenty of
fish in the lake, and they snared pigs, deer, monkeys, and other game.
He engaged a couple of guides for the mountains.
The game was plentiful, and the hunters shot several deer, a pig, and a
Malay bear; but they were not enthusiastic hunters, considering that
they had come to Borneo for that purpose. After a four hours' tramp they
all thought they had had enough of it. Felix declared that he preferred
to hunt cobras and tigers, for all the game seemed to be very tame to
him. Seating themselves on the ground, they rested for an hour, and then
started on their return to the boat. All the game was given to the Dyak
guides, who were very glad to get it. They swung it on a pole, and
trotted along with their load as though it had been no burden at all.
"They do that all day," said Achang. "Never get tired."
"They have load enough to feed the village for a week," added the
captain. "I should not care for the fun of feeding them another week,
for I find hunting here very tame business."
"My sintimints also," added Felix.
After a walk of another hour they reached the Dyak house, and the whole
population of the place followed them to the shore. They were filled
with wonder and admiration at the sight of the Blanchita, and went off
to her in their sampans. They were permitted to go on board; but when
Felipe fed the fire in the furnace, and the steam began to hiss, some of
them were frightened, and fled to their boats.
Dinner was all ready when the party went on board; and Achang was
instructed to send off the guests, for the boat was to get under way at
once. They got into their sampans; but they remained near the Blanchita,
evidently desirous to see her sail. They had not to wait long, for the
anchor was weighed, and the captain rang the gong. She went off at her
usual speed, and the Dyaks expressed their astonishment in various ways.
"Dinner all ready, gentlemen," said Pitts as soon as the steamer was
well under way.
"What have you for dinner, Pitts?" asked the captain.
"Baked fish, Captain, in two pieces; for he was too long to go into my
oven," replied the cook.
"All right. Take the wheel, Clingman, and make the course due south."
"Due south, sir," repeated the wheelman.
The party hastened to the after cabin; for they were hungry after their
long tramp, though they had taken a light lunch with them. The fish, "in
two pieces," was placed before the captain; while Pitts stood by his
side, ready to pass the plates, and hear any comments the captain might
make on the principal viand.
The odor from the steaming fish was emphatically agreeable to the hungry
hunters, and so was the soft divan to their tired legs. Scott helped the
members of the party to liberal portions of the dainty dish, and without
pausing for manners they began to partake. When the captain had tasted
the fish, he stopped short, and looked at Pitts. Then he reached out his
right hand to him.
"Your hand, Pitts!" and the cook took it, his face wreathed in smiles.
"You have cooked a dish here, Pitts, which is fit for any king on the
continent of Europe, to say nothing of Asia."
The rest of the party applauded vigorously, and every one of them,
following the example of the captain, took the cook by the hand, and
bestowed additional praise upon him; and Louis declared that he could
not have done better if he had served his time as a _cuisinier_ in the
Grand Hotel in Paris. But the most telling tribute to the skill of the
cook was in the amount consumed; and the captain expressed a fear that
the engineer and five seamen would have to "kiss the cook."
"It is only a woman cook that gets served in that way, and then not
unless she is good looking," replied Pitts, laughing. "But you need have
no fear, Captain, and the second table will have no occasion to kiss the
cook, even it were one of the pretty girls we saw at the long-house
below; for I have another fish in the oven, and it will be done by the
time they are ready for it."
"That's right, Pitts; look out for the men as well as you do for the
rest of us," added the captain. "Now, fellows, I am going to the wheel;
and I want to see all of you in the fore cabin, for I have something to
say, and we may have occasion to vote."
"Vote on what, Captain?" inquired Felix.
"There is no motion before the house, Flix; and when morning comes the
sun will rise, not before," replied Captain Scott.
As soon as a plum-pudding had been disposed of, the party hastened to
the fore cabin; for their curiosity had been excited by what had been
said. The captain took the wheel; and Louis went to the engine, though
he could hear what was said while near enough to the levers to act in
case of need. Scott had brought from his berth in the after cabin a
blue-colored roll, which all understood was a chart, though of what sea
they did not know.
"Now, fellows, I have come to the conclusion that we are all tired of
paddling about the muddy rivers of Borneo," the captain began, after he
had scrutinized the compass in the binnacle. "I have said so before;
though I have not enlarged on the subject, or spoken half as strongly as
I might. The rest of you may not take my view of the situation; but I do
not ask you to do so, and I hope you will all speak out just what you
think, as I have done, and shall do stronger than before. We want
something that is not quite so tame as shooting pigs and crocodiles at
thirty-six cents a foot."
"I am quite of your opinion, Captain," added Morris. "I don't think
there is any more fun in shooting orangs, for we are not naturalists nor
scientists of any sort. If we had brought a naturalist with us, we
should have done better."
"I have had enough of it for the present; but we have two weeks yet
before the ship will come to Kuching for us, and what are we to do
during that time?" said Louis, walking a little nearer to the wheel.
"That is precisely the conundrum I intend to guess on the present
occasion, and for which I have called this meeting without consulting
Mr. Belgrave," replied Captain Scott, giving the wheel to Morris, with
the course, and unfolding the blue roll. "The Guardian-Mother will go to
Saigon before she comes back to Sarawak. That is about a two days' run
for her. From Sarawak, or the mouth of the river, the distance is five
hundred sea miles. Now, to flash it on you all at once, I propose to
sail in the Blanchita to Point Cambodia, where the ship will pick us up
as she comes down the Gulf of Siam. Now I am ready to hear you all
groan."
"It looks like a risky voyage in such a craft as this steam-launch,"
said Louis, when there was a prolonged silence.
"I wish you all to look over the chart of the China Sea; this meeting is
adjourned to the after cabin at four o'clock, and you may do your
groaning there."
The men soon came out of the after cabin, and Pitts was busy removing
the dishes and putting everything in order. At the time stated, the
party were seated around the table in the after cabin, ready to consider
the captain's astounding proposition.
CHAPTER XIV
DOWN THE SIMUJAN AND UP THE SARAWAK
The proposition of Captain Scott was certainly an astounding one, not
unlike the daring of those men who have crossed the Atlantic in a dory
or in small sailboats; and so it struck the other members of the cabin
party. Scott was not a reckless navigator; and his companions had
voyaged with him on stormy seas several times in the Maud, though she
was a better sea-going craft than the Blanchita. She was decked over her
entire length, so that she could be closed as tight as the inside of a
barrel, while the steam-launch was an open boat.
Scott did not regard the venture as an extremely perilous one, though he
would not have thought of such a thing as crossing the Atlantic in a
craft like the Blanchita, principally because she could not carry coal
enough to render the trip a prudent risk. The distance from land to land
was about five hundred miles, and the little steamer could easily make
this distance inside of three days. But the captain must speak for
himself.
"Now, fellows, you can study the chart for yourselves," said he, as he
put the point of his pencil on the mouth of the Sarawak River. "If the
Blanchita were a sailing-craft instead of a steamer, I should not have
a moment's hesitation; for though she is not heavy and clumsy, she is
very strongly built. I have looked her over several times, with this
trip in my head."
"But she can be rigged as a sailing-craft, and has a short mast and a
sail," interposed Morris. "I talked with the rajah about her, and he
told me that he had been out to sea in her. He said he had never had
occasion to use the sail, but he carried it in case anything should
happen to the engine."
"That betters the situation very materially," replied the captain. "If
we have anything to depend upon if the engine should break down or the
coal should give out we should be all right."
"There must be heavy seas out in the China Sea," added Louis, as he
looked over the chart.
"We haven't seen any very heavy seas in any of these waters. The
south-west monsoons prevail at this season of the year in these waters.
I don't find any decided ocean current laid down on the charts of the
southern and western portions of the China Sea. They strike in at the
eastward of Java, and flow to the eastward of Borneo, through the
Macassar Strait," said Scott, pointing out the direction on the chart.
"That looks favorable; and if there is any current to speak of, it runs
in the direction of the monsoons, and therefore will not be likely to
cause heavy winds."
"If I thought the trip was a very dangerous one, I certainly should not
propose to make it," added the captain.
"Fish!" shouted Clingman at the wheel.
In spite of their interest in the discussion, all the party rushed
forward at this cry. The captain ordered the wheelman to stop her,
though her headway kept her moving for some minutes after the screw
ceased to revolve. The men baited the hooks as soon as fish were
indicated. The boat had reached the locality where the catch of the day
before had been obtained, and all hands were on the lookout. The lines
were thrown over, and the fish bit quickly as soon as the steamer was at
rest. In half an hour they had taken seven.
"Keep her moving, Clingman," said Captain Scott, as the party hurried
back to the cabin to continue the discussion.
Pitts dressed the fish, and put them in the ice-chest. Achang had
completed the skinning of the orang, and the skin was now drying in the
sun. The voyage to Siam or Cambodia looked very much like an adventure,
and the young men were deeply interested in it.
"I don't think we are likely to encounter any very heavy weather in the
western part of the China Sea," said Captain Scott, as he put his pencil
on the chart again. "We may be overhauled by a typhoon."
"And what is a typhoon?" asked Felix. "I know it is some sort of a
storm, and that is all I do know."
"There are different names for a storm in different parts of the earth,"
replied Scott. "What is a hurricane in the West Indies is a cyclone in
the northern part of the Indian Ocean, and a typhoon in the China Sea.
They are all alike in substance, being revolving storms, in which the
wind whirls around in a circle, and at the same time has a forward
movement as a whole towards some point of the compass. But there are
various signs which indicate the approach of a typhoon or a hurricane;
and in these seas the barometer has to be watched constantly."
"I suppose we should be out of sight of land about all the time on the
passage," suggested Morris.
"Not at all, my lad; for the first two hundred miles of the course we
should not be out of sight of land half of the time, or only for a few
hours at a time. Now look at the chart, all of you. Here we are at the
mouth of the Sarawak River. About a hundred miles west of that is Cape
Datu, the most western point of Borneo. Then for two hundred miles there
is a chain of islands extending to the north-west, which is our course.
These are the Natuna Islands; the largest one takes the same name, and
is forty miles long. There are several other small islands north of this
one, and if the weather came on very bad we could make a lee under one
of them."
"Channel, sir!" shouted Clingman.
"I think you have got an idea of the whole thing, and we have a couple
of days to think of it," said the captain, as he rose from his seat. "I
will leave the chart here, and you can all study it."
Scott went forward to the wheel. He had caused a red rag to be tied to
the top of a screw-pine while the sampan was looking for a channel
through the lake, and Clingman had stopped the boat abreast of it. The
captain took the helm himself; and he had carefully observed various
marks, and obtained the bearings of the mountain, and other prominent
objects which might assist him in taking the steamer through the shallow
lake. He started her at once, and rang the speed-bell confidently, as
though he had been through the lake a dozen times before.
It was sunset when the boat entered the narrow river, and they were
called to supper. Clinch was placed at the wheel. It was a good moon,
and the boat continued on her course till she came to the Dyak village
where they had visited the long-house. She had been seen or heard as she
approached; and the whole village was on the shore, including Mr. Eng.
"We are not going to lie up to-night," said Captain Scott when asked to
land. "We are somewhat in a hurry to get back to Kuching, and we shall
run down to Simujan this evening."
"I am going in the morning, Captain," added the agent.
"I will tow you down, and you can sleep on board if you wish."
"Thank you; my men will come down with the sampans to-morrow, and I
gladly accept your offer," replied Mr. Eng. "But I must first go over to
the _pangah_."
"To what? Will it take long?" inquired the captain.
"The pangah, or head-house of the village. I left my portmanteau there,
and must get it."
"The head-house! May we go with you? for we did not stop to look at it
when we were here before."
"Certainly you may go with me; I will have some torches so that you can
see it as well as in the daytime," replied the agent, as he started with
the cabin party, attended by four Dyaks who had come to the river with
torches. "No head-hunting has been done for many years, as you are
aware, and not many heads are on exhibition. In some villages you will
find them by the hundred, though the people here were never much given
to the barbarous practice. It was not necessary in this part of the
island that a young man should get a head before a girl would accept him
as her husband. Here it is."
It was a circular building not far from fifty feet in diameter, with a
conical roof. In the centre was a place for a fire, which was perhaps
required in cleaning the abominable trophies of war or individual
murders. All around the apartment was a sort of divan, or bench, while
over it were hung up the skulls, all nicely cleaned in the first
instance, but now darkened by the smoke.
"This is the public building of the village, and the council when it
meets has its place here for deliberation and action," said Mr. Eng,
when he had pointed out what was to be seen in the building.
"Rather a sombre place, I should say, for such a purpose," suggested
Louis.
"When you got used to the skulls you would not mind them any more than
you would any other dry bones," laughed the agent. "I slept here last
night, and the young men and boys lodge here. If you were to remain over
night, young gentlemen, you would be quartered here; for it is the home
of the stranger who visits the village."
"Then, I should be very thankful that we had a cabin in our steamer,"
replied Louis. "But there is no accounting for tastes."
The agent gave his baggage to a Dyak, and the party returned to the
boat. A bed in the cabin was prepared for Mr. Eng, who said he was very
tired, for he had walked a great distance that day, and he retired at
once. The captain took the first watch, with two of the men. It was
plain sailing, and in the middle of the night the Blanchita was anchored
in the river in front of the kampon. Scott turned in then, with one of
the port watch on duty.
In the morning they could not be induced to accept Mr. Eng's pressing
invitation to remain a day or two at Simujan. He promised to take them
to the coal and gold mine if they would remain; but all of them were so
full of the great project that the invitation was declined. Three of the
fish were presented to the agent, who told them something about it, and
declared that it was the finest fish on the island.
A quantity of ice was obtained at the town; and Pitts carefully packed
the rest of the fish, which were still hard and in nice condition. The
captain desired to present a couple of them to Rajah Brooke, and some of
the others to officers who had been very kind to them, and had assisted
them in many ways. In the early morning they bade a grateful adieu to
the agent, and departed on the trip to Kuching.
The tide was going out, and they made a quick passage to the sea. On
their arrival there they found a stiff south-west wind blowing, and the
bay covered with white-caps. They had not tried the Blanchita in
anything like a heavy sea, though the rajah had declared that she was a
very able and weatherly sea-boat. Captain Scott was very glad of the
opportunity to test her behavior in rough weather. He went to the helm
himself as the boat came out of the Sadong. The very first wave that
broke on her bow scattered the spray from stem to stern.
[Illustration: THE BOAT ROSE GRACEFULLY ON THE BILLOWS.
_Page 132._]
Scott ordered the men to batten down the curtains on the weather side.
But the boat rose gracefully on the billows, and did not scoop up any
water in doing so. Boxes, barrels, and other movable articles were
secured, and the captain was delighted with the working of the boat.
"I don't want any better sea-boat than the Blanchita," said he with
great enthusiasm. "I doubt if we get it any rougher than this on the
voyage to Cambodia Point."
"Unless we run into a typhoon," said Morris, who was observing the
conduct of the boat with quite as much interest as his superior officer.
"We won't run into a typhoon," replied the captain.
"How can you help yourself? As sailors we must take things as they
come."
"If navigators have a thousand miles or more of ocean ahead of them,
they must face the music. But among these islands, if the weather looks
typhoony, we can get under a lee, or make a harbor in some bay. But
don't try to cross the bridge till we get to it, Morris."
"Sail, ho!" shouted Clingman.
It was a steamer about as far off as she could be made out. The two
craft were approaching each other, and the steamer from the west went
into the Sarawak ahead of the Blanchita. She was a small vessel,
apparently of not more than three hundred tons. It soon became evident
that she was not a fast sailer, for the Blanchita held her own with her
all the way up the river to Kuching.
CHAPTER XV
ON THE VOYAGE TO POINT CAMBODIA
The Blanchita moored as usual in front of the town, while the steamer
anchored in the river. She proved to be the Delhi, from Calcutta; and it
was ascertained when the party went on shore later, that she was to sail
for Saigon the next day. The first care of the cabin party was to send
the fish to Rajah Brooke and two officers whose acquaintance they had
made.
Pitts overhauled the ice-chest, and found them in excellent condition;
and Achang was appointed to be the bearer of them, with the compliments
of the Americans, to the gentlemen who were to receive them. Two native
porters were to carry them; and the party knew that the fish were a
rarity in the town, and they were in season for the dinner of that day.
The four went on shore together just as a party from the Delhi landed
with a boat. The captain of the steamer hailed them in the street in
front of the government house, and asked if they belonged to the
steam-launch which had just come up the river. He was curious to know
something more about the explorers, and Captain Scott told him what they
had been doing in the island. He was invited on board of the Blanchita,
and was much interested in the young men.
They showed him over the boat; and he was greatly pleased with the
craft, and with the excellent accommodations for sleeping, eating, and
making the voyagers generally comfortable. They came to the ice-chest,
in which two of the choice fish still remained; and Scott presented one
of them to their guest.
"We intend to sail for Point Cambodia to-morrow to rejoin our ship,"
said the captain of the Blanchita, after the fish had been sent on
board.
"In this little tub of yours?" asked the commander of the Delhi with a
smile of incredulity.
"Is this part of the China Sea subject to violent seas?"
"Not at just this season of the year. With the south-west monsoons smart
squalls come up sometimes, but they are not very bad. I don't think you
will find it any rougher than we had it outside the river to-day on your
passage to the Point," replied Captain Rayburn, who stated then that he
had seen the Guardian-Mother when she was at Calcutta.
"You are bound to Saigon, I think you said."
"To Saigon, but a portion of my cargo goes to Kampot. If I found a
sailing-vessel here that was going up the Gulf of Siam, I was ordered to
reship my freight for Kampot in her; if not, I was to take it there in
the Delhi. I find no such vessel here."
"Then you will make your course direct for Point Cambodia, Captain
Rayburn?" said Scott.
"Precisely so; and if you can keep up with my steamer, we need not part
company on the voyage."
"I think we can keep up with you," replied the captain of the Blanchita
with a smile.
The party went on shore again, and arrangements were made for taking in
a supply of coal early the next morning. Everything on board of the
yacht had been stowed very carefully on the passage from Simujan, in
order to make all the room possible for coal; but the boat could carry a
supply for four days, and Scott was not at all afraid that he should
come short of this needed article. Pitts purchased all the provisions
and stores needed for the voyage.
After dinner the four paid their respects to the rajah, and visited the
two officers whose acquaintance they had made. They were heartily
thanked for the welcome gift of the fish, which the officers declared
were a great luxury; and Governor Brooke said that he should make a trip
to the lake where they were caught, in the government steam-yacht. These
gentlemen thought the young men were rather venturesome to undertake the
voyage before them in so small a craft; but the best wishes of all of
them went with the party.
At daylight in the morning the coaling was begun; the provisions and
stores were all looked over, and all deficiencies were supplied. By nine
o'clock everything was in readiness for sailing. Captain Rayburn sent
word that the Delhi would sail at ten o'clock, and afterwards went on
board of the Blanchita.
"You seem to be well supplied with coal," said he, as he looked about
him.
"I think we have a five-days' supply on board," replied Scott. "As I
figure it up, we shall make the run to the Point inside of three days."
"The Delhi's time is sixty-three hours," added her commander. "If your
coal should come short, I can help you out; but I think you won't need
it."
"Thank you, Captain Rayburn; that kind offer removes the only doubt I
have in regard to the voyage," replied Captain Scott.
"The Delhi, as you have seen for yourself, is not a fast steamer; but
the only fear I have is that you will not be able to keep up with her,"
added Captain Rayburn. "I am obliged to sail in the interest of my
owners, and I must make the best time I can. The south-west monsoons
prevail at this season; and by carrying sail I may add half a knot, or
perhaps a knot, to her speed. I should be sorry to run away from you,
but I must do my duty."
"Certainly; that is understood. If you run away from me, I shall still
wish you _bon voyage_. But suppose I should run away from you?"
suggested Scott, laughing.
"You will be quite welcome to do so. The Delhi is an old steamer, and
not up to modern-built ones; but with a breeze I have made nine knots in
her."
"I shall try to keep up with you, for I should be very sorry to have to
part company with so pleasant a captain as you are."
"Thank you, Captain Scott; and if we part company on the voyage, I hope
we shall meet again. I am liable to be detained some time in Saigon; for
mine is a tramp steamer, and I have to look up a cargo for some port,"
said Captain Rayburn, as he shook hands with the four, and went into his
boat alongside.
The first thing Scott did was to look up the mast and sail of the
Blanchita. It had not been covered up with coal, as he had feared; for
Clingman had suspended it inboard under the rail. The sail had been
stowed away in the bow of the boat, and it was brought out and
overhauled. It was nearly new, and needed no repairs. It was a
lug-foresail, with a gaff, but no boom. It was stepped just abaft the
galley, and the sail could be set in two or three minutes when it was
required.
The statement of the captain of the Delhi that he could gain a knot or
less in a good breeze had stimulated Scott to be ready for such an
emergency. The wind would be on the port quarter during the whole
voyage, and the sail would certainly add something to the speed of the
yacht. In the crowd that collected at the government storehouse were the
rajah and most of the officers of the place. The handshaking was all
done over again, and pleasant wishes were extended to the "Big Four" as
the Blanchita cast off her fasts.
The Delhi was already under way, and going at full speed down the river.
Clingman was at the wheel, and Scott went aft to the engine-room, as it
was called, though there was no such room, and the word applied simply
to the locality; and the same was true of the galley. The boat had been
delayed a little while the party were making and receiving the parting
salutations of their friends, and the Delhi had a lead of nearly half a
mile.
"Give her a spurt, Felipe," said the captain. "I want to know if that
craft has the ability to run away from us."
The engineer threw more coal into the furnace; and in a few minutes he
"let her out," as the captain called it. It was very soon perceived that
the yacht was gaining on the old steamer, and Scott became
correspondingly happy. She was farther down in the water than usual on
account of the extra quantity of coal in her bunkers, and all along her
sides, to trim her properly.
"I don't believe the Delhi will run away from us, Louis," said the
captain as the millionaire joined him, curious to know what he was
doing. "She isn't loaded for her best sailing, but she is doing
first-rate for her present trim."
"This is smooth water, Captain; what will she do when we get out to
sea?" asked Louis.
"We had a chance to try her yesterday in more than half a gale, and she
behaved like a lady on a dancing-floor."
"But she was not loaded down with coal then as she is now."
"The extra weight will not disturb her; on the contrary, I think it will
make her steadier."
"I talked with the rajah on board, who has used her for over a year, and
has made a trip to Rangoon in her. He said she was usually run at eight
knots an hour; but on his return voyage, when he was in a hurry, she
made nine knots for twelve hours together," Louis explained.
"That is all I want of her; but I shall not drive her up to that unless
the Delhi is likely to run away from us; and not then till after I have
added the sail to our power of locomotion. We are coming up with her
now, and probably Captain Rayburn's fears that his steamer may run away
from us are beginning to abate," said the captain, rubbing his hands in
his delight at the performance of the Blanchita.
Rather for the occupation it gave him, Scott took the wheel himself,
directing Clingman to call the men, and remove the stanchions and
connecting-rods on the starboard side of the boat from the galley to the
length of the mast aft, so that the sail might not be obstructed when it
was set.
Then, while the Blanchita was still making her nine knots, he ran her
alongside the Delhi on the port side, keeping at a safe distance from
her. Then he called to Felipe to reduce the speed to eight knots. He had
gained nearly half a mile in going half-way down the river to the sea;
and this fully satisfied him.
"Bully for you, Captain!" shouted Captain Rayburn from the quarter-deck
of his steamer.
"I won't run away from you!" returned Scott, as the noise of escaping
steam when the engineer reduced the speed must have reached his ears.
"Wait till we get out to sea!" called the captain of the Delhi.
"All right."
The two craft kept abreast of each other till they had passed the
mountain at the mouth of the river. The captain laid the course
north-west half-west; and this was to be the course for half the
distance to Point Cambodia, as he remarked to Louis, who was at his side
observing the progress of the yacht.
"How do you spell that word, Captain Scott?" asked Louis.
"Just as I spelled it when I went to school, and it is so put down on my
chart; but I noticed in Black's "Atlas" that it was spelled Camboja
instead of Cambodia," replied Scott. "I am a sailor, and I stick to the
chart."
"I see that Captain Rayburn has laid his course; how does it agree with
yours, Captain?" inquired Louis, when they were a mile off the mountain.
"I should say that it was identically the same. I will hail him."
"North-west half-west," was the answer returned by the captain of the
Delhi.
"I make it the same," replied Scott.
The cabin party were summoned to dinner at this time, and Clingman was
called to the wheel.
"What's the bill of fare to-day?" asked Scott as he took his seat at the
table.
"Baked fish and roast venison," replied Pitts, "with plum-duff."
"Very good," returned the captain. "We don't get so much breeze off here
as we did yesterday, Louis."
"It does not look at all rough off at sea," added the captain. "But when
we get Cape Datu on the beam, we may feel it more."
The Delhi had not yet set her foresail, for she was schooner-rigged, and
there was not wind enough to help her much; all the rest of the day the
two craft kept abreast of each other, as they had in coming down the
river. After supper the watches were arranged for the night. The
captain, with Clingman and Lane, had the first, or starboard watch,
while Morris, the mate, had the port watch, with Wales and Clinch.
Louis and Felix were appointed second engineers, as the seamen on board
relieved them from duty as deck-hands; and the three in that department
were to keep four-hour watches, like the officers and seamen. Achang
wanted something to do; and he was given the berth of second mate, and
as such he served in charge of the captain's watch.
CHAPTER XVI
AN EXCITING RACE IN THE CHINA SEA
Everything worked as smoothly on board of the Blanchita as though she
had been in commission for years, for there was not a green hand in the
cabin or forecastle. The experience obtained by the "Four" in the Maud
had made them proficients in the duties of their present positions.
Louis and Felix were not trained engineers or machinists; though they
were familiar with the machine, which was of very simple construction.
Both of them were competent to run the engine, and had served their
watches in the Maud. If there was any trouble, the chief engineer was
close at hand.
From eight to twelve it was the captain's watch. Achang, who had been
the master of a vessel, had been regularly installed as second mate, and
was in charge of this watch; though Scott remained on deck all the time,
for he was anxious to observe the movements of the Delhi. Clingman and
Lane had their two-hour tricks at the wheel, and there was no hard work
for anybody.
The breeze was good, though not heavy from the south-west; but the Delhi
had not yet set a sail. The Blanchita passed Cape Datu at ten in the
evening, and the second mate made a note of it on the log-slate. Both
craft were still making their eight knots, and remained abreast of each
other. The wind increased slightly in force, but the conditions were
about the same all night. At twelve the watch was changed, and Morris
came on duty, with Louis in the engine-room. The captain turned in at
this time.
At three in the morning the yacht was off the island of Sirhassen, of
which a note was made on the log-slate. Morris had studied the chart
enough to enable him to recognize the island, distant as it was, at six
bells, or three o'clock in the morning. Of course he could not identify
it by its looks, never having seen it before; but the captain had given
him the distances between the islands on the course. Sirhassen was forty
sea miles from Cape Datu, or five hours as the yacht was running; and
when land was reported on the beam, bearing about west, he knew what it
was. The chart gave the island as one of considerable size compared with
the multitude of small ones in that locality; and this indication
afforded him a further clew to the identification.
At eight bells, or four o'clock, the morning watch came on duty, with
Achang as its officer. Captain Scott did not turn out when the second
mate was called, with Felix to take his place at the engine, and it was
six o'clock when he made his appearance. Except when there is only one
mate, as in small vessels, the captain keeps no watch; but he is liable
to be called at any hour of the night in case of a squall or other
peril. His responsibility may induce him to spend the entire night on
deck.
When he came out of the cabin, his first care was to observe the signs
which indicate the coming weather. Then he went to the wheel, and read
the entries made on the log-slate. The sea was about the same as it had
been when he left the deck. He had looked at the barometer before he
left the cabin. There were no signs of bad weather in any direction.
"What do you think of the weather, Mr. Achang?" he asked of the officer
of the deck.
"It will be fine, Captain," replied the second mate. "I have come all
the way from Banjermassin to Calcutta with the weather just like this
always; but I think we have more wind when the sun come up."
"We can stand more than we have now," added Scott.
"Some of the young gentlemen fear to go to sea in open boat like this
yacht; but the dhows and the proas have not much decks," said the
Bornean.
"Then you think we shall have weather like this all the way to Point
Cambodia?"
"May blow a little more hard some time."
The sun was coming up in the east, and in the course of half an hour
Achang's prophecy of more wind was realized. It freshened rapidly for a
short time; but it did not come in flaws or squalls, and was a steady
breeze. A table had been set up in the fore cabin; and at half-past
se
Showing first 200,000 characters. Full text: gutenberg.org/ebooks/24252