In the Eastern Seas

by William Henry Giles Kingston

  CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR.

  WALTER'S ADVENTURES IN BORNEO.

  My Dyak hosts seemed well-disposed towards me; yet, I confess, I was notaltogether comfortable in their society. The first morning after myarrival, just as I left my sleeping-corner, I saw a large basketstanding in the chief's room. Supposing it to contain provisions, Ilooked into it, when, what was my horror to see it filled with a numberof dried Imuran heads grinning horribly up at me! I turned away indisgust, when I saw the chief looking at me with a glance of triumph inhis eye, just as a civilised person would have been pleased atexhibiting a collection of his orders of merit for gallantry in battleor sagacity in the council. They were trophies, I found, taken by thechief in his wars with neighbouring tribes. Probably it was thepossession of these which had raised him to his position in his tribe.

  Soon afterwards I saw a number of young men coming along. They weresinging and shouting. I saw that one of them had a head, yet gory andfresh, on the top of a spear. A light brown girl, really a prettycreature, ran out to welcome him; and I afterwards discovered that shewas his bride-elect, and that he had gone with his companions on a forayin order to obtain this human head, to make himself worthy of heraffection. These people were, however, very gentle and mild in theirmanners to each other, and had I not witnessed this, and similar sights,I could scarcely have supposed they were the savages they have beendescribed. A party soon afterwards assembled, apparently to go out on ahunting expedition. Each man had a wooden tube about five feet long.This was a blow-pipe, through which bamboo arrows are shot with greatprecision. The points are dipped in a subtle poison, which destroysbirds and small animals almost instantaneously when struck with them.Some of the men, also, were armed with bows and arrows. The chief mencarried swords about two feet in length, slightly curved, and broad atthe end. They were admirably tempered, and the chief, to show me howsharp they were, cut through with a blow a small bar of iron, and thenshowed me the blade to prove that it was not in the least turned. Thepoison of their arrows was, I believe, extracted from the juice of atree similar to the upas-tree of Java. It is called _ippo_.

  I accompanied them on the hunting expedition, when they used generallythe blow-pipe I have described. The instant a bird was struck, itdropped dead to the ground. I observed that they immediately cut roundwhere it had been wounded, and all the birds thus killed were afterwardseaten without any bad effect.

  Having completely recovered my strength, I was anxious to recommence ourvoyage, and told Ali of my wish. He, however, seemed in no hurry to goaway; but signified that, if I would be content to wait a little longer,he would accompany me. I endeavoured to employ the time in obtainingsome knowledge of the Dyak language, as also the habits and customs ofthe people. I found that at a little distance from this village anotherexisted, inhabited by the same tribe, or at all events the people wereon terms of friendship with each other. There was great wailing oneday, and I suspected that a person of consequence, perhaps a chief, wasvery ill, or had died, in the other village. Finding some of the peoplegoing in that direction, I followed them. The path, however, was verydifficult to walk in, as it was sunk a foot or so below the ground oneither side, and was only broad enough for a man's foot to tread in; theDyaks walk in a peculiar manner, by placing one foot directly before theother, without in the slightest degree turning out their toes. I foundon my arrival at the village that my suspicions were correct. The chiefwas not dead, but very ill, and as I saw him lying on his mat in anupper room, I perceived that he had not long to live. Had I known atthe time more of the customs of the people, I should have been greatlyalarmed for my own safety and that of Ali.

  On my return with several people of our village, the chief made signs tome that he was going on an expedition. Supposing it to be for hunting,I gladly signified that I was ready to accompany him. Several largecanoes, which I had not before seen, were now drawn out of a place ofconcealment a little up the stream. Our chief with about fortyfollowers entered them, armed with their swords, bows and arrows, andblow-pipes. Not till we had got a little way down the river did Idiscover that they bore a more warlike appearance than would have beenthe case had they been simply going on a hunting expedition. What hadbecome of Ali I could not tell, or I might have learned from him moreabout the matter. We started soon after daybreak, and pulled along thecoast for a considerable distance, when we landed in a bay whereapparently there were no inhabitants, as the thick jungle came closedown to the water without a break on either side. Here the flotillaremained till the sun sank low, when we shoved off and continued asbefore along the coast. It was dark when we entered the mouth ofanother river, up which we proceeded, the men paddling carefully, andnot a word being spoken. We kept close in with the bank, now and thentouching on the long straggling roots of a mangrove-tree, then forcingour way through the entangled mass of underwood, out of which affrightedbirds flew shrieking amid the darkness.

  I had now but little doubt that we were on some marauding expedition.Now and then we stopped, apparently that our leader might listen toascertain whether any enemy was near, when from the forest there cameforth shrill whistles, chirrups, unearthly cries, drumming noises, suchas make one of these Indian forests apparently more full of life duringthe night than when the sun sheds his beams over the scene. Now weglided away more towards the centre of the river, which was as smooth aspolished glass, and reflected, wherever the trees left an opening, themillions of stars which sparkled in the clear sky overhead; while aboveus on either side rose the tall stems of the mighty trees, waving theirsable plumes in the air; and often, as if some sprites were amusingthemselves in letting off rockets, sparks of fire darted out in thickmasses, now appearing in one spot, now in another amid the wavingleaves. The sparks were produced by thousands and tens of thousands offire-flies. Thus we made our way up the stream, now branching off inone direction now in another, till I could not possibly have discoveredmy way again to the ocean. At length we drew up under a thick shadedbank, when the chief and most of his followers landed, steppingnoiselessly over the soft green sward as they made their way through theforest. One man only was left in each canoe. I also remained, havingnow stronger fears than ever that my companions were bent on evil. Nota sound was heard except those I have before described proceeding fromthe forest. Suddenly I saw a bright light burst forth amid the branchesof the trees. Loud shrieks and cries rent the night air. My companionsseemed highly excited, and could scarcely restrain themselves fromleaping on shore and deserting the canoes. The cries increased. Shoutsof triumph rose above them. For some minutes they continued. Sofearful were the sounds that they made my heart sink within me, andgladly would I have escaped from them. Then all was silent. In a fewminutes we heard steps coming through the forest. I had little doubtthat some village had been attacked by my friends, and expected to see anumber of prisoners brought to the canoes; but, instead, every man borea round ball in his hand, so it seemed through the gloom; but when theystepped into the canoes, what was my horror to discover that each was ahuman head held by the hair. Shoving off their canoes, they began topaddle away down the stream up which we had come. Once more they weresilent, as they had been when we approached the ill-fated village. Ihad now no doubt that they had set fire to it while the inhabitants werefast asleep, and then, as they rushed out to escape the flames, they hadwaylaid and cut off the heads of all they could catch hold of.

  When daylight broke, we had already gained the mouth of the river. Eachman who had been so fortunate as to kill an enemy, sat with a gory headby his side, and my horror was increased when I saw that several werethose of women and children. I turned away sick at heart from thespectacle. The river opened out on one side into a wide lagoon, and asthe mists of night rose, I saw at no great distance a tall bird with redplumage standing in the water seeking his prey. His body wascomparatively small, but he had an enormous neck, and a bill a yardlong, it seemed, and of immense size at the head. I knew him at once tobe an adjutan
t bird--the chief of fishermen. Soon he began to move hishead rapidly about, then he made some rapid strides into deep water,into which he plunged his long beak, and presently rose with a largefish held by it. The fish wriggled about as if attempting to escape,then by a sudden jerk he seemed to throw it into his mouth, down whichit disappeared.

  Again we were at sea, paddling along parallel with the shore. There wasno longer a necessity for silence, and the Dyaks gave vent to their joyand satisfaction at the success of their headhunting with shouts andsongs and peals of laughter. "It was no laughing matter to the oncepeaceful inhabitants of the village you have so ruthlessly destroyed," Ishould have liked to have said, but as they would not have understoodthe sentiment, I remained silent, and I saw that they smiled whenever Iturned away my eye with disgust as it chanced to fall upon their gorytrophies. They met, on our return, with an enthusiastic welcome.Directly on landing they set off to the neighbouring village, probablyto console the dying chief with the sight of the heads they had brought,to assure him that in his passage to the other world he would have nolack of retainers. They had been gone some time, and the house wasalmost deserted, when I saw Ali paddling up in our boat to the steps.He sprang up on the platform and came to me. "Bad people dese," hesaid. "Dey cut off Ali's head, dey cut off Walter's head," and he madea significant sign across his throat. "I know what do, ay, ay."

  I could not understand his purpose--indeed, he did not deign further toexplain himself. He had left the boat at the steps. He made signs tome to get into her. I did so, and found that he had supplied her with apair of oars and a number of bamboos of water, as well as a supply ofrice and fish and other articles of food. He then made signs to me torow a little way down the river, and there to wait for him. I had gotto a little distance, when I saw some one moving under the house, wherea quantity of dry husks of rice and stalks of various sorts had beencollected. I recognised Ali by his costume, different from that of theDyaks. Presently I saw him making his way from under the house, andcoming along the path near the spot where he had told me to meet him.Just then several Dyaks sprang out from the jungle; I saw the brightgleam of a sword, and the instant afterwards Ali's body fell to theground, and a Dyak waved his head in triumph in the air. Such might bemy fate, I thought. A strong breeze was blowing. While the Dyaks wererejoicing round the head of the man it appeared to me they had sotreacherously murdered, I saw a bright flame spring up from under thehouse. Presently it caught the dried bamboos which formed the flooring,and in a few seconds the whole building was in flames. As the greaternumber of the inhabitants were absent, there were not people enough toattempt to put it out. A few seemed to run into the building, butquickly retreated. I dared not return, warned by the fate of Ali, andsuspecting that, should I fall into the Dyaks' power, I should betreated in the same way. I therefore bent to my oars, and began to pulldown the stream as fast as I could go. I might have hoisted my sail,but that, I thought, might attract the attention of the Dyaks. In themeantime the whole house was wrapped in flames, while the wind blew thelight embers towards the neighbouring houses and trees. The riceplantation caught fire, and soon I saw the fire extending on either sidedown the banks of the river. It seemed as if a hundred torches had beenapplied to the jungle at the same moment, but it was not so. The sparkwhich Ali had kindled was the origin of the whole. Fearful was therapidity with which the flames had spread among the dry brushwood. Formonths probably not a drop of rain had fallen there. Now the fireworked its way amid the leaves and dry grass, now the flames mounted thetrees, wrapping round the tall palms, the leaves being like touch-paper;and no sooner was one ignited, than the next caught fire. Thus bothbanks of the river soon bore the appearance of being covered withgigantic torches flaming and waving in the air. The sun had set by thistime, the flames looking more fierce and lurid amid the darkness ofnight. Away the fire leaped from tree to tree, licking up with itsfiery tongue every object it encountered. I pulled for my life, for thefierce flames blew across from side to side of the stream, making afiery arch overhead, while the boughs as they burnt through camecrashing down in masses of fire astern of me.

  Fast as I rowed, the flames came faster, and it seemed impossible that Ishould escape. A fearful death, I thought, was about to overtake me.It was like some terrible dream. I dreaded lest the boat might groundon some bank, or run against the wide-spreading roots of themangrove-trees. But on, on; I felt that my only prospect of escape wasto persevere. I had often to turn my head round, to try and discoverthe branch of the stream up which we had come. I saw one at length onmy left, and pulled down it, having strong doubts, however, whether itwas the right one. At length I appeared to have got to a distance fromthe flames, which I could see however, burning up as brightly as beforeamid the trunks of the trees which lined the banks of that part of thestream through which I was now making my way. My arms began to ache,perspiration dropped from my brows, but still I must go on. I was bythis time getting out of sight of the flames, but I could still see theglare of the burning forest rising above the topmost boughs of thetrees. Finding myself in a broad stream, I began at length to breathemore freely. The wind came down it. I guessed by that that it leddirectly to the sea. For the first time I dared to cease rowing, andstepping the mast, hoisted my sail. Strange sounds came out of thewoods on either side, and sometimes I fancied I could hear the shouts ofthe Dyaks pursuing me, to revenge on my head the destruction of theirvillage. I knew that an account of the catastrophe would soon have beenconveyed to the tribe whose chief lay dead, and I thought it probablethat they would come in pursuit of me and cut me off, should it be knownthat I had escaped. I glided on, recovering my strength with the rest Iwas thus able to afford myself. And now the river opened out wider thanbefore, and I saw through the gloom the calm sea spread out before me.There was not a ripple on the bar. The current ran smoothly, and myboat, carried on its tide, glided out into the ocean.

  I was now as eager to escape from the land as I before had been to reachit, but in what direction to steer my course I knew not. On I sailed.The boat now began to rise and fall on the swell of the open ocean. Shewas well provisioned for many days, and I trusted by economising my foodto make it last till I should reach some land inhabited by civilisedpeople. As far as I could judge, therefore, I steered to thesouth-west. Encouraged by Macco's preservation under somewhat similarcircumstances, I hoped either to be picked up as he was, or to reach theshore I was in search of in safety. When day broke I was already atsome distance from the land--too far, I hoped, to be seen by any of theDyaks who might be in search of me. I had, however, miscalculated mystrength, for having been pulling for so long during the night, I soonbegan to feel excessively fatigued, and longed to lie down and sleep.At length I could no longer resist the temptation, and lowering my sailand mast, I stretched myself in the bottom of the boat.