Overcome with fatigue, wretched as I was, I fell fast asleep, surrounded
by my savage companions, and was allowed to remain undisturbed all the
night. When the morning dawned, we were running under sail, with the
northern coast of Celebes on our larboard hand. I looked out for my
dear little _Fraulein_, in the anxious hope that she might be following;
but, alas! she was nowhere in sight; and with a sinking heart I felt
that I was about to be carried into hopeless slavery. I did not doubt
that my friends would search for me everywhere; but if I was transported
into the interior of the country, I knew too well how almost impossible
it would be for them to discover me.
The high land of the northern coast of Celebes remained in sight for
some days, as we pursued our course to the westward; but the pirate
fleet did not attempt to make any descent on it; indeed, their prahus
had already as much cargo on board as they could well carry. One day we
stood close in, and I observed ranges of lofty blue mountains, with
rocks and precipices, and waterfalls, and groves of trees, and green
fields, forming altogether a most enchanting and tempting prospect. We,
however, stood off again; and whatever was the intention of the pirates,
either to rob or to obtain water, it was frustrated. The inhabitants of
Celebes are called Bugis. They are very enterprising and industrious,
and are the chief traders in the Archipelago. They are said not to be
altogether averse to a little piracy, when they can commit it without
fear of opposition or detection. They are, at all events, far more
civilised than any of the surrounding people, and they are in proportion
deceitful and treacherous. As Celebes belongs to the Dutch, and they
have a settlement on the north-eastern point, that of Mindanao, I was in
hopes that some Dutch ship of war might encounter the fleet and rescue
me from the hands of my captors; but day after day passed away, and no
such good fortune, as I should then have called it, befell me. I had
reason, afterwards, to be thankful for all that occurred to me. But I
must not anticipate. Losing sight of the coast of Celebes, we crossed
the Straits of Malacca, and sighted the lower shores of Borneo. The
land was low and thickly fringed with mangrove trees of large growth but
behind their dark foliage I observed blue mountain ranges rising in the
distance, which gave the scenery a more inviting appearance. We soon
entered the mouth of a broad river, up which we sailed in martial
array--tom-toms beating, pipes sounding, men shouting and brandishing
their weapons, and flags waving. I was at first doubtful whether they
were preparing for war, or celebrating their victories on their return
home. I found, at last, that all this noise and fuss was their mode of
rejoicing and congratulating themselves on their success. At first I
was inclined to think their custom very barbarous and ridiculous, till I
remembered that we in England do precisely the same thing in our own
way, only, as we are a more powerful people, we make more noise at a
victory. We fire off much bigger guns, and more of them; we wave a
greater number of larger flags; we light up our houses, which are much
higher, with lamps; and our mob, who are more numerous, shout with
hoarser voices. Indeed, when I came minutely to compare the habits and
customs of barbarous people with ours, I found that there was a much
greater similarity than I was at first inclined to suspect.
As we sailed on, the scenery much improved. Fine green fields, or
meadow land, formed the banks, varied with gently sloping hills and
knolls, or more rugged elevations, covered to their summits with the
richest and most varied foliage. We passed two or three places where I
observed the ruins of huts and stockades, and also that the fruit-trees
were cut down. On these occasions the warriors flourished their swords
more vehemently than ever, and seemed to threaten some invisible enemy,
when I thought it advisable to keep out of their way, lest they should
take me for a real one, and hew me to pieces. Higher up, considerable
patches of cultivated ground appeared, and, scattered thickly along the
banks, were to be seen the picturesque cottages, or rather huts, of the
inhabitants. I afterwards learned that they were of the Sagai race--a
tribe of the Dyaks--some of whom manned the prahu on which I was. As we
proceeded, canoes assembled from each village to greet us, and others
were seen coming down the river in large numbers for the same
complimentary object. I was now placed on the most conspicuous part of
the fighting deck, either as a trophy of war, or an object of curiosity
to the assembled multitude, I could not tell which; but I was not
flattered by the distinction, which was at all events excessively
disagreeable.
At length we reached a town of some size, surrounded by a stockade, with
a fort, mounting a number of old guns on one side. The town, I found,
was inhabited chiefly by Malays, who live on friendly terms with the
Sagais. The houses, unlike those of the Dyaks of the north coast, were
built of one storey on the ground, chiefly of bamboo, neatly thatched
and floored. The fleet having anchored before the town, and fired a
salute, the admiral and his chief officers landed with me in their
train, and marched towards the palace of the sultan, as the ruler of
each petty state is called. We had not advanced far, when the
victorious leader was met by a procession, with the prime minister in
state, coming to do him honour. First marched a Malay, with a staff and
a large flag waving above his head; then came two spearmen with their
shields; and next the minister, another man holding above his head a
canopy of state, a huge flat-topped umbrella, of scarlet silk, fringed
with gold. Next followed a band of musicians, two with drums, and two
with pipes; and last, a large body of spearmen, all habited in scarlet
cloth.
The minister wore a silk handkerchief wound round his head, the end
sticking out at the top, a silk vest, a richly embroidered coat, broad
trousers with a deep fringe, and a handsome shawl round his waist, into
which was stuck his sword and kriss, the end of which made his coat
stick out very much behind. Such, indeed is the general dress of the
Malays in those regions. After saluting the admiral, he turned round,
and heading our line of march, we proceeded to the palace.
We found the sultan seated on his throne in a large room of bamboo, open
on three sides, that behind him having a scarlet cloth curtain hanging
before it. We all drew up in front of the throne, and a great many
speeches were made by those present, very complimentary, I doubt not, to
each other, and very much the contrary to their enemies; and then I was
brought forward and examined, and turned round and round, till they were
tired of looking at me. As they were aware that I did not understand a
word of their language, or they of mine, they did not ask me any
questions, which saved me a great deal of trouble. I was at last sent
back to my original captor, whose property I evidently was. He kept me
for three days in the town, where I was visited by an immense number of
the inhabitants, who evidently considered me a curiosity, just as we in
England would look on a Dyak if we had him to exhibit. He did not
understand the art of a showman, so he did not attempt to make anything
by me; but now, considering that it was time for me to commence gaining
my own livelihood, and bringing him some profit into the bargain, he
intimated to me that I was to accompany him into the interior on the
following day. My master's name was Kaka, and he was, I believe,
considered a great warrior and a first-rate navigator; at least, I know
the Malay admiral put great confidence in him.
Early in the morning we set out, Kaka and some friends being on
horseback, while I was compelled to trudge forward on foot, with a
bundle, moreover, on my back. The scenery as we advanced was very
beautiful, and the luxuriance and variety of the vegetation most
magnificent. I was surprised at the immense number of cultivated trees,
shrubs, and plants which surrounded the native villages. There were
large groves of broad-leaved plantains and graceful cocoa-nut trees, the
slender tapering betel-nut palm and elegant palmyras; while the
showy-looking papaw, and here and there a rhambutan tree, or a
dark-leaved guava, contrasted with the golden fruit of the shaddock, and
the delicious mangustan and the curious-tasted durian were to be found
in numbers among them.
I observed extensive groves of bamboo at the back of some of the houses,
and pine-apple plantations luxuriating in the dark damp shady nooks.
Then there are large fields of the most vivid hues; the bird's-eye
pepper and tumeric are found growing like common weeds; while the piper
betel, the leaf of which is chewed with ripe or green pieces of the
areca-nut, is a most graceful plant, especially when loaded with its
long spikes of fruit. Sometimes it runs like a creeper along the
ground, and at others it climbs the stems of the palmyra and areca palms
in little patches, which are carefully guarded by rough paling. Great
attention is paid to the irritation of these spots, to insure a good
flavour in the leaves.
The cultivation of these various productions of the earth was certainly
very rude; but wherever I went I observed a greater approach to the arts
of civilisation than I expected, but more especially I was struck with
the immense resources of the country, the extreme fertility which
Providence has so bountifully bestowed on it, and the great reciprocal
advantages which the inhabitants would reap by a free commercial
intercourse with civilised countries.
When I became better acquainted with the people, I felt convinced that,
notwithstanding their many barbarous and cruel customs, they possessed
dispositions which, if properly cultivated by the introduction of the
true spirit and tenets of Christianity, and a firm and judicious
government, would form them into prosperous and happy communities. They
appeared to me, when I saw them unexcited by war, to be of a very mild
character, and most anxious to act rightly and honestly, according to
their notions, towards each other. Of course, I judged them by their
own standard of right and wrong, as I conceive the only fair way to form
a just estimate of the character of a people is to calculate the
advantages they possess. Alas! I fear that, were the behaviour of
Englishmen thus to be judged, their characters would often sink very
very much below the standard at which, in our conceit, we are too proud
of rating them.
We travelled on for several days into the interior. I tried to keep up
my spirits and an appearance of indifference, as I knew that thus I
should have a much better chance of being well treated by the natives,
than if I had appeared sick or out of humour. I trudged on, singing
when I could manage to screw my voice up to the proper pitch, sometimes
chewing a piece of cocoa-nut, and at others whittling away, as the
Americans call it, at a stick, which I had cut from the forest. I tried
hard to make some of the inferior Sagais carry my load, by placing it on
their shoulders; but, though they took the trick in good part, the man
to whom I had given it passed it on to another, and very soon it was
returned to me. Most of them, indeed, had loads of their own to carry.
At last we arrived at the chief's residence. It was a neatly built
cottage of bamboo, thatched with palm-leaves, and surrounded by a number
of smaller cottages, the habitations of his relations and followers, the
whole encircled by a palisade and trenches to serve as a fortification.
I was at once introduced to the chief's wife, and made to understand
that I was to obey her orders. She wore a large loose garment of native
cloth, called a sarong, wrapped round her waist and descending some way
down her legs, but not sufficiently long to impede her walking. She was
really very good-looking, though rather stout; but her beauty was not
increased by the enormous rings of tin which she carried in her ears.
She seemed good-natured, and I determined to do my best to please her.
She first set me to light the fire. To produce ignition, in the first
place, she gave me a stick with a pointed end, which she showed me how
to insert into a hole in a board, which led to a groove in the lower
side, and by turning the stick round rapidly between the palms, the
flame burst forth. She next gave me a quantity of rice or _padi_ to
pound for family consumption; and then putting a basket into my hand,
made of straw so closely woven that it held water, she intimated that it
was to get her from a rivulet a supply of that necessary article.
I was next employed in collecting the fruit of a species of bassia, or
what I should call a butter tree. This she boiled down, and then poured
the liquid into bamboo cases. When it had cooled it was taken out, and
was of the colour and consistence of cheese. The larger quantity was
intended for exportation; but she also, taking some strips of cotton,
dipped them into the mass, and produced some apologies for candles. The
flame was not bright; but the vegetable tallow has the advantage of
remaining concrete, or hard, under the greatest tropical heat, white
that produced from animal fat becomes too soft for the purpose. When
she had no household work to give me, I was sent out with a number of
other slaves, both black and brown, to cut wood for firing or building
purposes, and to collect aromatic barks, such as the clove bark and the
cinnamon. I never refused to perform any work she gave me, and went
about it with so cheerful a countenance that I gained her approbation
and confidence. I own that all the time my heart was very heavy, and
that I was endeavouring to discover some means by which I might have a
chance of escaping. At the great distance I was from the coast, I knew
that to escape would be very difficult; but I notwithstanding resolved
never to despair. Others had been rescued from equally hopeless
situations; why should not I? though I could not see the means by which
it was to be accomplished. My place of captivity was in the
neighbourhood of a fine river, abounding with fish; and after a little
time I was sent out to assist my master and his companions in catching
them. Sometimes we used the root of a shrub found in the forests,
which, being steeped in water, the juice was poured into the pools where
the fish lay. This completely stupefied them, and made them float to
the surface, where the natives dexterously transfixed them with their
spears. They have, however, another and a very amusing way of catching
them in the stream, which I think might be imitated to advantage in
England. A number of model ducks are made of light wood, to imitate the
real bird, and to their feet hangs a line with a hook and some tempting
baits. These were set floating in the current, and watched at a little
distance by a man in a canoe. Sometimes the ducks would swim tail
first, contrary to the practice of all live ducks; but the fish, I
supposed, did not observe the eccentricity, for they bit just as readily
at the bait below. As soon as the fisherman perceived that a duck began
to bob and dive, he paddled forward and secured the living prize
beneath. I soon grew expert at this sort of fishing, which was very
amusing; and as I set to work to manufacture the ducks, I sometimes had
five or six dozen floating around me, and it was very exciting pulling
here and there, when, by their movements, I saw they had made a capture.
Near the village, on the banks of the stream, were several podado trees,
which are of a light-green foliage, and extremely elegant. They are the
abode of fire-flies; and at night it was most beautiful to watch the
thousands of those brilliant insects flitting about among their
branches. Sometimes I have seen both banks of the river completely lit
up as if by a display of fireworks.
I was rapidly gaining a knowledge of the language of my captors, which I
diligently studied for the purpose of aiding my escape, and I thus was
able to gain a great deal more about the people than I could otherwise
have done. I have already slightly described their dress. It varied
very much, each man seeming to follow his own taste. Some wore
enormously large helmets of skins stretched out on canes, and ornamented
with a variety of feathers; and when they wore skin cloaks, the head of
the animal usually hung down behind, and had a very grotesque
appearance. They wear corselets of leather, stuffed, and some large
pearl-oyster shells, to serve as armour. Their sumpitans are most
exactly bored, and look like Turkish tobacco-pipes. The inner end of
the sumpit, or arrow, is run through a piece of pith fitting exactly to
the tube, so that there is little friction as they are blown out of the
tube by the mouth. The barb is dipped in a mixture, of which the chief
ingredient is the sap of the upas tree; and, to increase its virulence,
lime-juice is sometimes added. The poison, by its exposure to the air,
loses its noxious qualities.
By-the-bye, I discovered that the deadly qualities of the upas tree are
very much exaggerated. I climbed into the branches of one, and drank
water from a stream passing near its roots, without suffering the
slightest inconvenience; at the same time, perhaps, under some
circumstances, it may be more hurtful.
The chief articles exported by my captors were bees' wax and camphor,
honey, vegetable tallow, areca-nuts, _trepang dawma_, sharks' fins,
tortoise-shell, edible birds' nests, and pearls. These are only a very
small portion of the articles they might export under other
circumstances.
The edible bird's nests are formed by a species of swallow, which builds
them in the caves on the coast. They adhere in numbers to the rocks,
very like watch-pockets to the head of a bed. They are either white, or
red, or black, and are formed chiefly of _agal-agal_ a marine cellular
plant. The Chinese lanterns are made of netted thread, smeared over
with the gum produced by boiling down this same plant, which, when dry,
forms a firm pellucid and elastic substitute for horn.
The collecting of these nests, from the positions they occupy, is as
dangerous as the samphire-gathering described by Shakespeare. I must
return to my description of the people. The members of each tribe are
usually divided into their fighting men, those who manufacture arms, and
those who cultivate the ground and make ornaments for the women.
Although addicted to warfare, they still cultivate the ground; they
treat their women better than do most savages, always the mark of a
superior grade in civilisation; they do not torture prisoners as do the
North American Indians, although they cut off the heads of those they
kill.
They believe in one God, and fancy that heaven is situated at the top of
Kina Balow, their highest mountain, and that the pass is defended by a
savage dog. It is curious that the North American Indians and the
Greeks of old had a similar notion.
In their warfare they are as fierce and remorseless as the Red Indian,
and, without the fair warning which he gives to his enemies, they attack
them in the dead of night, and slay all they meet. I heard of a race of
people who inhabited the woods in the interior, who go about entirely
without clothing; they sleep under the overhanging branches of trees,
make a fire to keep off the wild beasts and snakes, and, cover
themselves with a piece of bark. When the children can take care of
themselves, they quit their parents to pursue the same course. The
Dyaks hunt them, and shoot their children in the trees with sumpits as
they would monkeys. I had heard of these wild people; and one day in
the woods, with another slave, we observed what I was convinced was one
of them, standing before me with a huge stick in his hands; but instead
of being without clothing, he had a well-made coat of skin on his
shoulders. We were both unarmed; and as my companion instantly ran
away, I was afraid that he might retaliate on me the injuries he had so
often received. He looked at me fiercely for a minute, and then
brandishing his stick, advanced towards me. I saw that I was not likely
to escape by running, and fully expected to have my brains knocked out.
Luckily a branch of a tree lay near me; I seized it, and rushed towards
my antagonist. To my surprise he instantly threw down his stick, and
began to climb a tree near him. I was now the assailant; and as my
courage increased, his oozed out, and he climbed from branch to branch
in an endeavour to make his escape. On nearer examination, what I took
to be a coat was his natural skin; and I discovered that instead of a
wild man, an enormous ourang-outang was before me. As I had no wish to
molest him, I began to retreat; but as I did so, he came down from his
tree and followed me. On this I turned again, when he instantly
stopped, and as I advanced he began to climb.
I suspected, from this manoeuvre, that he intended me some treachery,
and, coming to an open space, I set off and ran as hard as I could. He
followed for some distance, when, growing tired of walking, he gave up
the chase, and returned to his wood. I suspect that the wild people
spoken of are no other than baboons. I advanced further in the good
graces of my mistress by taking notice of her children, and by making
them swings, and a variety of toys suited to their tastes, so that she
was induced to indulge me more than the other slaves. I, however, still
had to toil hard, and my master was as severe as at first. One day I
had gone with a number of other slaves to collect cinnamon in a
direction I had not before visited, when, as I was passing a cottage on
my return homeward, I heard the sounds of a female voice singing a low
and soft melody. The notes thrilled through my heart. They were not
the sounds of a native woman's voice. I let my load drop at the risk of
feeling my master's lash on my back, that I might stop and listen. How
eagerly did I drink in these notes! I heard the words, too; yes--I
could not be mistaken--they were English. Oh, what sensations did they
create! I had an indistinct notion that I had heard them before in the
days of my infancy. It was a gentle, plaintive air. Now I should never
forget it. I longed to see who was the singer; but she was concealed
inside the cottage, and I feared to enter; I dared not even delay longer
to listen, for the lash of my master was about to descend on my
shoulders. What wild fancies rushed into my brain! "Can it be Eva?
Can she be so near me? I dare not think it," I kept repeating to
myself, as I was urged on with my load. All night long I lay awake,
that sweet voice sounding in my ear, while I meditated how I could
discover the mystery.