Blown to Bits: The Lonely Man of Rakata, the Malay Archipelago

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

  A NEW FRIEND FOUND--NEW DANGERS ENCOUNTERED AND NEW HOPES DELAYED.

  When grey dawn began to dispel the gloom of night, Nigel Roy awoke withan uncomfortable sensation of having been buried alive. Stretchinghimself as was his wont he inadvertently touched the head of Van derKemp, an exclamation from whom aroused Moses, who, uncoiling himself,awoke Spinkie. It was usually the privilege of that affectionatecreature to nestle in the negro's bosom.

  With the alacrity peculiar to his race, Spinkie sprang through themanhole and sat down in his particular place to superintend, perhaps toadmire, the work of his human friends, whose dishevelled heads emergedsimultaneously from their respective burrows.

  Dawn is a period of the day when the spirit of man is calmly reflective.Speech seemed distasteful that morning, and as each knew what had to bedone, it was needless. The silently conducted operations of the menappeared to arouse fellow-feeling in the monkey, for its careworncountenance became more and more expressive as it gazed earnestly andalternately into the faces of its comrades. To all appearance it seemedabout to speak--but it didn't.

  Pushing out from the shore they paddled swiftly up stream, and soon putsuch a distance between them and their late pursuers that all risk ofbeing overtaken was at an end.

  All day they advanced inland without rest, save at the breakfast hour,and again at mid-day to dine. Towards evening they observed that thecountry through which they were passing had changed much in characterand aspect. The low and swampy region had given place to hillocks andundulating ground, all covered with the beautiful virgin forest with itspalms and creepers and noble fruit-trees and rich vegetation,conspicuous among which magnificent ferns of many kinds covered thesteep banks of the stream.

  On rounding a point of the river the travellers came suddenly upon aninteresting group, in the midst of a most beautiful woodland scene.Under the trees on a flat spot by the river-bank were seated round afire a man and a boy and a monkey. The monkey was a tame orang-utan,youthful but large. The boy was a Dyak in light cotton drawers, withthe upper part of his body naked, brass rings on his arms, heavyornaments in his ears, and a bright kerchief worn as a turban on hishead. The man was a sort of nondescript in a semi-European shootinggarb, with a wide-brimmed sombrero on his head, black hair, a deeplytanned face, a snub nose, huge beard and moustache, and immense bluespectacles.

  Something not unlike a cheer burst from the usually undemonstrative Vander Kemp on coming in sight of the party, and he waved his hand as if inrecognition. The nondescript replied by starting to his feet, throwingup both arms and giving vent to an absolute roar of joy.

  "He seems to know you," remarked Nigel, as they made for alanding-place.

  "Yes. He is the friend I have come to rescue," replied the hermit in atone of quiet satisfaction. "He is a naturalist and lives with theRajah against whom the pirates are plotting."

  "He don't look z'if he needs much rescuin'," remarked Moses with achuckle, as they drew to land.

  The man looked in truth as if he were well able to take care of himselfin most circumstances, being of colossal bulk although somewhat short oflimb.

  "Ah! mein frond! mine brodder!" he exclaimed, in fairly idiomaticEnglish, but with a broken pronunciation that was a mixture of Dutch,American, and Malay. His language therefore, like himself, wasnondescript. In fact he was an American-born Dutchman, who had beentransported early in life to the Straits Settlements, had received mostof his education in Hong Kong, was an old school-fellow of Van der Kemp,became an enthusiastic naturalist, and, being possessed of independentmeans, spent most of his time in wandering about the various islands ofthe archipelago, making extensive collections of animal and vegetablespecimens, which he distributed with liberal hand to whatever museums athome or abroad seemed most to need or desire them. Owing to his tastesand habits he had been dubbed Professor by his friends.

  "Ach! Van der Kemp," he exclaimed, while his coal-black eyes glitteredas they shook hands, "_vat_ a bootterfly I saw to-day! It beat allcreation! The vay it flew--oh! But, excuse me--v'ere did you comefrom, and vy do you come? An' who is your frond?"

  He turned to Nigel as he spoke, and doffed his sombrero with a graciousbow.

  "An Englishman--Nigel Roy--who has joined me for a few months," said thehermit. "Let me introduce you, Nigel, to my good friend, ProfessorVerkimier."

  Nigel held out his hand and gave the naturalist's a shake so hearty,that a true friendship was begun on the spot--a friendship which wasrapidly strengthened when the professor discovered that the Englishyouth had a strong leaning towards his own favourite studies.

  "Ve vill hont an' shot togezzer, mine frond," he said, on making thisdiscovery, "ant I vill show you v'ere de best bootterflies are to befount--Oh! sooch a von as I saw to--but, excuse me, Van der Kemp. Vyyou come here joost now?"

  "To save _you_," said the hermit, with a scintillation of hishalf-pitiful smile.

  "To safe _me_!" exclaimed Verkimier, with a look of surprise which wasgreatly intensified by the rotundity of the blue spectacles. "Vell, Idon't feel to vant safing joost at present."

  "It is not that danger threatens _you_ so much as your friend theRajah," returned the hermit. "But if he falls, all under his protectionfall along with him. I happen to have heard of a conspiracy againsthim, on so large a scale that certain destruction would follow if hewere taken by surprise, so I have come on in advance of the conspiratorsto warn him in time. You know I have received much kindness from theRajah, so I could do no less than warn him of impending danger, and thenthe fact that you were with him made me doubly anxious to reach you intime."

  While the hermit was saying this, the naturalist removed his blueglasses, and slowly wiped them with a corner of his coat-tails.Replacing them, he gazed intently into the grave countenance of hisfriend till he had finished speaking.

  "Are zee raskils near?" he asked, sternly.

  "No. We have come on many days ahead of them. But we found a party atthe river's mouth awaiting their arrival."

  "Ant zey cannot arrife, you say, for several veeks?"

  "Probably not--even though they had fair and steady winds."

  A sigh of satisfaction broke through the naturalist's moustache onhearing this.

  "Zen I vill--_ve_ vill, you and I, Mister Roy,--go after ze bootterfliesto-morrow!"

  "But we must push on," remonstrated Van der Kemp, "for preparations toresist an attack cannot be commenced too soon."

  "_You_ may push on, mine frond; go ahead if you vill, but I vill notleave zee bootterflies. You know vell zat I vill die--if need be--forzee Rajah. Ve must all die vonce, at least, and I should like to die--if I must die--in a goot cause. What cause better zan frondship? Butyou say joost now zere is no dancher. Vell, I vill go ant see zeebootterflies to-morrow. After zat, I will go ant die--if it must be--with zee!"

  "I heartily applaud your sentiment," said Nigel, with a laugh, as hehelped himself to some of the food which the Dyak youth and Moses hadprepared, "and if Van der Kemp will give me leave of absence I willgladly keep you company."

  "Zank you. Pass round zee victuals. My appetite is strong. It alwaysvas more or less strong. Vat say you, Van der Kemp?"

  "I have no objection. Moses and I can easily take the canoe up theriver. There are no rapids, and it is not far to the Rajah's village;so you are welcome to go, Nigel."

  "Das de most 'straord'nary craze I eber know'd men inflicted wid!" saidMoses that night, as he sat smoking his pipe beside the Dyak boy. "Itpasses my compr'ension what fun dey find runnin' like child'n arterbutterflies, an' beetles, an' sitch like varmint. My massa am de wisestman on eart', yet _he_ go a little wild dat way too--sometimes!"

  Moses looked at the Dyak boy with a puzzled expression, but as the Dyakboy did not understand English, he looked intently at the fire, and saidnothing.

  Next morning Nigel entered the forest under the guidance of Verkimierand the Dyak youth, and the orang-utan, which followed like
a dog, andsometimes even took hold of its master's arm and walked with him as ifit had been a very small human being. It was a new experience to Nigelto walk in the sombre shade beneath the tangled arches of thewilderness. In some respects it differed entirely from hisexpectations, and in others it surpassed them. The gloom was deeperthan he had pictured it, but the shade was not displeasing in a land soclose to the equator. Then the trees were much taller than he had beenled to suppose, and the creeping plants more numerous, while, to hissurprise, the wild-flowers were comparatively few and small. But thescarcity of these was somewhat compensated by the rich and brilliantcolouring of the foliage.

  The abundance and variety of the ferns also struck the youthparticularly.

  "Ah! zey are magnificent!" exclaimed Verkimier with enthusiasm. "Lookat zat tree-fern. You have not'ing like zat in England--eh! I havefound nearly von hoondred specimens of ferns. Zen, look at zeefruit-trees. Ve have here, you see, zee Lansat, Mangosteen, Rambutan,Jack, Jambon, Blimbing ant many ozers--but zee queen of fruits is zeeDurian. Have you tasted zee Durian?"

  "No, not yet."

  "Ha! a new sensation is before you! Stay, you vill eat von by ant by.Look, zat is a Durian tree before you."

  He pointed as he spoke to a large and lofty tree, which Mr A.R.Wallace, the celebrated naturalist and traveller, describes asresembling an elm in general character but with a more smooth and scalybark. The fruit is round, or slightly oval, about the size of a man'shead, of a green colour, and covered all over with short spines whichare very strong and so sharp that it is difficult to lift the fruit fromthe ground. Only the experienced and expert can cut the tough outerrind. There are five faint lines extending from the base to the apex ofthe fruit, through which it may be divided with a heavy knife and astrong hand, so as to get to the delicious creamy pulp inside.

  There is something paradoxical in the descriptions of this fruit byvarious writers, but all agree that it is inexpressibly good! Saysone--writing of the sixteenth century--"It is of such an excellent tastethat it surpasses in flavour all the other fruits of the world."Another writes: "This fruit is of a hot and humid nature. To those notused to it, it seems at first to smell like rotten onions! butimmediately they have tasted it they prefer it to all other food."Wallace himself says of it: "When brought into the house, the smell isso offensive that some persons can never bear to taste it. This was myown case in Malacca, but in Borneo I found a ripe fruit on the ground,and, eating it out of doors, I at once became a confirmed Durian-eater!"

  This was exactly the experience of Nigel Roy that day, and the way inwhich the fruit came to him was also an experience, but of a verydifferent sort. It happened just as they were looking about for asuitable spot on which to rest and eat their mid-day meal. Verkimierwas in front with the orang-utan reaching up to his arm and hobblingaffectionately by his side--for there was a strong mutual affectionbetween them. The Dyak youth brought up the rear, with a sort ofgame-bag on his shoulders.

  Suddenly Nigel felt something graze his arm, and heard a heavy thud athis side. It was a ripe Durian which had fallen from an immense heightand missed him by a hairbreadth.

  "Zank Got, you have escaped!" exclaimed the professor, looking back witha solemn countenance.

  "I have indeed escaped what might have been a severe blow," said Nigel,stooping to examine the fruit, apparently forgetful that more mightfollow.

  "Come--come avay. My boy vill bring it. Men are sometimes killed byzis fruit. Here now ve vill dine."

  They sat down on a bank which was canopied by ferns. While the boy wasarranging their meal, Verkimier drew a heavy hunting-knife from his beltand, applying it with an unusually strong hand to the Durian, laid itopen. Nigel did not at all relish the smell, but he was not fastidiousor apt to be prejudiced. He tasted--and, like Mr Wallace, "became aconfirmed Durian-eater" from that day.

  "Ve draw near to zee region vere ve shall find zee bootterflies," saidthe naturalist, during a pause in their luncheon.

  "I hope we shall be successful," said Nigel, helping himself to somemore of what may be styled Durian cream. "To judge from the weight andhardness of this fruit, I should think a blow on one's head from itwould be fatal."

  "Sometimes, not always. I suppose zat Dyak skulls are strong. But zeewound is terrible, for zee spikes tear zee flesh dreadfully. Zee Dyakchief, Rajah, with whom I dwell joost now, was floored once by one, andhe expected to die--but he did not. He is alife ant vell, as you shallsee."

  As he spoke a large butterfly fluttered across the scene of theirfestivities. With all the energy of his enthusiastic spirit and strongmuscular frame the naturalist leaped up, overturned his dinner, rushedafter the coveted specimen, tripped over a root, and measured his lengthon the ground.

  "Zat comes of too much horry!" he remarked, as he picked up his glassesand returned, humbly, to continue his dinner. "Mine frond, learn alesson from a foolish man!"

  "I shall learn two lessons," said Nigel, laughing--"first, to avoid yourtoo eager haste, and, second, to copy, if I can, your admirableenthusiasm."

  "You are very goot. Some more cheekin' if you please. Zanks. Ve mostmake haste viz our meal ant go to vork."

  The grandeur and novelty of the scenery through which they passed whenthey did go to work was a source of constant delight and surprise to ourhero, whose inherent tendency to take note of and admire the wonderfulworks of God was increased by the unflagging enthusiasm and interestingrunning commentary of his companion, whose flow of language and eagersympathy formed a striking contrast to the profound silence and gravityof the Dyak youth, as well as to the pathetic and affectionateselfishness of the man-monkey.

  It must not, however, be supposed that the young orang-utan was unworthyof his victuals, for, besides being an amusing and harmless companion,he had been trained to use his natural capacity for climbing trees inthe service of his master. Thus he ascended the tall Durian trees, whenordered, and sent down some of the fruit in a few minutes--an operationwhich his human companions could not have accomplished without tediousdelay and the construction of an ingenious ladder having slender bamboosfor one of its sides, and the tree to be ascended for its other side,with splinters of bamboo driven into it by way of rounds.

  "Zat is zee pitcher-plant," said Verkimier, as Nigel stopped suddenlybefore a plant which he had often read of but never seen. He was toldby his friend that pitcher-plants were very numerous in that region;that every mountain-top abounded with them; that they would be foundtrailing along the ground and climbing over shrubs and stunted trees,with their elegant pitchers hanging in every direction. Some of these,he said, were long and slender, others broad and short. The plant atwhich they were looking was a broad green one, variously tinted andmottled with red, and was large enough to hold two quarts of water.

  Resuming the march Nigel observed that the group of orchids wasabundant, but a large proportion of the species had small inconspicuousflowers. Some, however, had large clusters of yellow flowers which hada very ornamental effect on the sombre forest. But, although theexceptions were striking, he found that in Borneo, as elsewhere, flowerswere scarcer than he had expected in an equatorial forest. There were,however, more than enough of striking and surprising things to engagethe attention of our hero, and arouse his interest.

  One tree they came to which rendered him for some moments absolutelyspeechless! to the intense delight of the professor, who marched hisnew-found sympathiser from one object of interest to another with thesecret intention of surprising him, and when he had got him to the pointof open-mouthed amazement he was wont to turn his spectacles full on hisface, like the mouths of a blue binocular, in order to witness and enjoyhis emotions!

  Nigel found this out at last and was rather embarrassed in consequence.

  "Zat," exclaimed the naturalist, after gazing at his friend for sometime in silence, "zat is a tree vitch planted itself in mid-air and zensent its roots down to zee ground and its branches up to zee sky!"

  "It loo
ks as if it had," returned Nigel; "I have seen a tree of the samekind near the coast. How came it to grow in this way?"

  "I know not. It is zought zat zey spring from a seed dropped by a birdinto zee fork of anozer tree. Zee seed grows, sends his roots down anthis branches up. Ven his roots reach zee ground he lays hold, ant, venstrong enough, kills his support--zus returning efil for good, like azankless dependent. Ah! zere is much resemblance between plants andanimals! Com', ve must feed here," said the professor, resting his gunagainst one of the roots, "I had expected to find zee bootterfliessooner. It cannot be helped. Let us make zis our banqueting-hall. Vevill have a Durian to refresh us, ant here is a handy tree which seemsto have ripe vones on it.--Go," he added, turning to the orang-utan,"and send down von or two."

  The creature looked helplessly incapable, pitifully unwilling,scratching its side the while. Evidently it was a lazy monkey.

  "Do you hear?" said Verkimier, sternly.

  The orang moved uneasily, but still declined to go.

  Turning sharply on it, the professor bent down, placed a hand on each ofhis knees and stared through the blue goggles into the animal's face.

  This was more than it could stand. With a very bad grace it hobbled offto the Durian tree, ascended it with a sort of lazy, lumbering facility,and hurled down some of the fruit without warning those below to lookout.

  "My little frond is obstinate sometimes," remarked the naturalist,picking up the fruit, "but ven I bring my glasses to bear on him healways gives in, I never found zem fail. Come now; eat, an' ve vill goto vork again. Ve must certainly find zee bootterflies somevere beforenight."

  But Verkimier was wrong. It was his destiny not to find the butterfliesthat night, or in that region at all, for he and his companion had notquite finished their meal when a Dyak youth came running up to themsaying that he had been sent by the Rajah to order their immediatereturn to the village.

  "Alas! ve most go. It is dancherous to disobey zee Rajah--ant I amsorry--very sorry--zat I cannot show you zee bootterflies to-day. Nomatter.--Go," (to the Dyak youth), "tell your chief ve vill come.Better lock zee next time!"