Blount and I were, as may be supposed, not a little astonished at the
apparition which appeared at the window, and we both instinctively
seized the implements nearest at hand, to defend ourselves, should he
have come with any hostile intent. Just then the torch, which burned in
the centre of the room, flared up, and, as much to my satisfaction as to
my surprise, I recognised the features of Kalong the Dyak. He had on
but scanty clothing, and he looked travel-worn and weary. Before
speaking, he carefully closed the shutters, and then, rushing forward,
he took my hand and covered it with kisses. Though Blount was a
stranger to him, seeing that he was a white man, he was not alarmed.
"Kalong, is it you, indeed!" I exclaimed. "How, my friend, have you
been able to discover me?"
"It is a long story, Massa; and to tell the truth, I cannot say much
till I have eaten something; for we have had a weary journey, and have
for many days past been looking about for you. It was necessary to be
cautious; for, had we been discovered, we should certainly have lost our
heads."
"When you speak of we, Kalong, do you mean yourself and Ungka?" I
asked.
"Oh no, Massa; I mean Hassan also. He is near, but watching the canoe;
and when I have eaten, I must take some food to him. You and the other
massa must then follow for, we have no time to lose."
"What do you mean by no time to lose?" I again asked.
"Oh Massa, give me some food, and then I will tell you all!" cried the
poor fellow.
I saw that he was famishing, so I restrained my curiosity till I had
placed some rice and pork and Indian corn bread before him. When he had
eaten a good meal, and stowed away a quantity more in a basket he
carried at his back he signified that he was prepared to give me the
information I required. I nodded my head, and he spoke to the following
effect:--
"You know, Massa, when squall come on, schooner almost capsize, then
drive a long way to leeward; next morning come back to the rock, and
when not find Massa there, sail after the prahus. At night lose sight
of them; look everywhere; no find them; then come back to the rock.
There I and Hassan look at the wrecks on the shore; and Ungka, too,
Massa; and we know, from build and many things scattered about, where
they come from; so we go and tell Massa Fairburn that we go and look for
you. He say we get killed, lose him head. We say we no mind that, we
find you, or we no come back. He then say he go with ship's company and
big guns, and fight, and make people give you up. We say, No good.
People cut off your head if they see the big guns, and then what good
look for you? We say, No, no; let schooner not come near the coast; but
we go in some other vessel, and no say what we come for. We at last go
on shore in Celebes--that is, Hassan, Ungka, and I; wait some time, then
find a Bugis trader going to Borneo; so we no tell what we want, but go
on board. We sometimes say that Ungka very wise monkey; the son of
sultan of the monkeys; and that we go about with him to show him the
world. This make many people think we great men, so they no cut off our
heads to hang round him necks. We go from kampong to kampong to find
Massa, but no see him. At last we hear that one tribe, long way off,
come to a kampong near Gunnung Taboor, and carry away many people, and
that one white man among them. Then we learn when him come, and what
him like, and we say, That is Massa. Then we know where to find Massa
if him head still on shoulders; so we walk long way, and we take canoe
at one river, and we pull up river every night, and in day we go to
sleep, till we come here. Then we see Massa in wood, and Ungka run away
and jump in him arms. So we say, All right now; Massa alive and well;
we get back to schooner some day, and be very jolly. But, Massa, me
have one more thing to say. When we at Gunnung Taboor, we hear that the
people there very angry at the people here do so much harm, and they
say, We go there some night, and cut off all him heads; so we make all
haste, lest they cut off Massa's head too. Now, Massa, we go back to
poor Hassan; him very hungry; and Massa, be ready to start to-morrow
night."
I fear that I have ill succeeded in giving an idea of Kalong's mode of
expressing himself. In an artless way he exhibited his affection for
me, and described the dangers and hardships he and Hassan had endured to
discover me. Having described where the canoe was to be found, and
arranged that as soon as the inhabitants of the kampong had gone to
sleep on the following evening, we should start, he took his departure.
Once more I was full of hope, for I felt that though many difficulties
were to be encountered, our deliverance was at hand. Eva had been
awakened by the sound of the stranger's voice, and we communicated the
joyful intelligence to her; and, as may be supposed, she was but little
inclined again to go to sleep, so she came in and joined our
council-board. Blount was anxious to warn the people of the intended
attack, and so was I; for although they had kept us prisoners, they had
treated us with humanity and kindness in other respects. Our difficulty
was to do so without betraying our friends, till at last Blount
suggested that the people might be made to suppose that our knowledge
was derived from Ungka, who would, of course, in consequence, gain
immense credit among them. It was settled, therefore, that on the
following morning the people should be called together, and informed of
the danger threatening them.
"Now come, it is time to try and take some sleep, for we shall get but
little rest to-morrow night," I exclaimed as I arose, and opening the
window-shutters, looked out on the calm night-scene before me. The air
was hushed; the only sounds were the rippling of the stream over its
rocky bed below the cottage, and the chirrup of some insects in the
neighbouring wood. The stars shone brightly forth from the intense blue
sky, their light just glancing on the mimic waves of the rivulet, while
the tall trees and wild rocks on either side were thrown into the
darkest shade.
Scarcely had I spoken, when the silence was interrupted by wild shrieks
and cries. We all full well knew the meaning of those sounds. The
ruthless enemy had surprised the village, and burning to avenge their
late defeat, would spare no one they encountered.
"We must fly!" I exclaimed.
"I am prepared," said Eva calmly, though her cheek grew pale at the
recollection of the dreadful scenes she had before witnessed.
To collect some provisions in baskets was the work of a minute. We
aroused Ungka, who seemed perfectly to comprehend the state of the case,
and perched himself on my left shoulder, while, supporting Eva on my
right arm, I sallied forth, followed by Blount, who took charge of
Little Nutmeg. Our great fear was lest the enemy should have surrounded
the village, in which case our retreat would have been cut off. The
stream I have spoken of ran down to the river, and we now followed a
path which led along its banks. Not a moment was to be lost. The wild
shouts of the enemy seemed to come nearer every instant; but as yet we
did not hear them in front of us. Eva behaved with great courage; she
did not tremble, or even utter an exclamation of fear, but exerted all
her strength to proceed. For an instant I looked back. Part of the
village was already on fire, but the enemy had not yet reached our
cottage. My fear was, that when they did so, we should be pursued. At
length, by the turnings of the stream, we lost sight of it, and the
noise of the dreadful tumult sounded fainter in our ears. Still we
pushed on without stopping; we had to force our way through a thick
wood, and then to cross a broad open space, where I was much afraid,
should the enemy be watching for us, of being seen; but there was no
help for it, so we dashed on. Fortunately both Blount and I had so
frequently wandered in that direction, that we had a tolerably correct
idea of the way we were to go; but still we found a great difference
between passing through a wood in broad daylight, and traversing it in
darkness. Our chief guide was a star which we could see through the
tops of the trees, and which Blount had fixed on as we were setting out.
We found it of much service when we lost the sound of the stream, by
which we otherwise directed our course. The cries of the enemy were in
our rear; we rushed across the open space. I looked anxiously over my
shoulder. I saw no one, and we in safety reached the shelter of the
wood. At length the broader channel of the river appeared below us.
Our next difficulty was to find the canoe; but we judged that Hassan and
Kalong, hearing the tumult in the village, and well knowing its cause,
would be on the watch for us. We had got thus far, when the sound of
voices, as if from people in pursuit, met our ears. My hope was that
they could not tell the exact way we had taken. We all drew close
together, in the shade of some thick trees, where we were perfectly
concealed, while Blount offered to go out by himself to search for the
canoe.
He was on the point of leaving our cover, when we heard the sound of
footsteps approaching, and directly afterwards we saw the figure of a
man cautiously making his way among the trees. He might be an enemy,
the precursor of others; but our fears on that score were soon set at
rest by finding Ungka leap off my shoulder, and, running towards him,
jump into his arms.
"Ah! Massa not far-off," said a voice, which I recognised as that of
Hassan the Malay. We soon made ourselves known to him, to his great
delight. He told us that the canoe was close at hand, but that Kalong
had become alarmed at hearing the signal of the attack, and, at the risk
of his life, had gone back to look for us. Grateful as I was to the
faithful creature, the delay was very vexatious. Of course, however, we
had no remedy but to wait for him. In the meantime we launched the
canoe, and placed Eva and Nutmeg in the centre, with our provisions.
Ungka jumped in after them. Blount and I were to use the two middle
paddles, Hassan was to steer, and Kalong was to use the bow paddle. The
rest got in, and I held on the painter, to be in readiness to shove off
the moment he returned.
Several minutes thus passed, during which time our ears were assailed by
the dreadful sounds of the conflict. They grew louder and louder, as if
the pursued and the pursuing were approaching us. I began at length to
fear that Kalong, in his anxiety to serve me, had ventured too far, and
had been cut off by the enemy. Every moment was increasing our risk of
discovery. The time might have been so advantageously employed in
paddling down the river, and, for Eva's sake, I was doubly anxious to be
off. I was almost despairing of his return, when the long feathery
leaves of the shrubs near me were pushed aside, and, breathing with
haste, Kalong appeared. In an instant he perceived how matters stood,
and, making a sign to me to take my seat in the canoe, he stepped in
after me, and, seizing a paddle, shoved her head off from the bank. He
then began to ply it most energetically, and Blount and I followed his
example, while Hassan steered her down the stream.
There had been no time to lose, for the scouts of a number of people on
the bank showed that he had been hotly pursued. He did not stop to
explain what had happened; and for half an hour or more we paddled on in
perfect silence, keeping always in the centre of the stream. By degrees
the shrieks and cries of the combatants grew fainter on our ears, till
they ceased altogether.
Kalong then for a moment ceased paddling, and drew a deep breath, which
seemed much to relieve his heart. He then explained briefly, that he
had gone up to our cottage, and that, finding it already sacked, and
seeing nothing of us, he was about to return, when he was seen, and
pursued by the attacking party. He dashed on, and was just in time to
reach the canoe and escape them.
"And now, Massa, pull away again, or some of them black fellows follow
and kill us," he exclaimed, suiting the action to the word. All night
long we paddled on, and to such good purpose, that we entirely distanced
any enemies who might have been following us. Whenever a village
appeared; we crossed over to the other side of the stream, and as the
night was dark, and we kept perfect silence, we were unobserved.
Sometimes, for miles together, there were no signs of human habitations,
the dark forest clothing either bank of the stream, so that we were able
to converse without fear of betraying ourselves.
Hassan then told us that he hoped we might reach the sea in two days, by
paddling on during all the hours of darkness, and remaining concealed
while it was light.
"And what do you propose doing when we get to the sea?" I asked.
"Then, Massa," said Kalong, "we will pull away from the land, and trust
to Providence, you sometime tell me about--we fall in with the schooner,
or some other craft--or we go over to coast of Celebes. No good to
trust to people about here. As Massa say, if we do all we can,
Providence do all the rest."
Kalong, I found, had not forgotten the instruction I had attempted to
bestow on him while on board the _Fraulein_.
Blount and I agreed, that although the canoe was small, we had seen
many, less fit for the work, living in a very heavy sea, when properly
handled, and that it would be better to risk the passage to Celebes than
to trust to the tender mercies of the Malays or Dyaks of the coast.
Dawn beginning to appear, we ran the canoe into a small bay, completely
shut in by trees, where, by a little management, we might remain
concealed without fear of discovery.
Having secured the canoe, we cut down a quantity of boughs, which we
fastened round her, so that a person passing quite close would not have
suspected that several human beings lay hid behind them, though we,
looking through the branches, enjoyed a view across and down the stream
for some distance. We had, as I said, brought a supply of provisions.
These we husbanded carefully; and Kalong said that he hoped to be able
to get some cocoa-nuts and other fruit from some of the gardens we might
pass at night. I did not like the idea of robbing the poor people, but
we had no means of paying for the fruit; and, under the circumstances,
we were justified in taking it. Having made our arrangements, we lay
down to sleep, one at a time remaining on foot to keep watch, with the
rifle loaded ready for use. The after part of the canoe was
appropriated to Eva and her attendant. Blount and I stretched ourselves
in the bow; while Hassan, Kalong, and Ungka climbed up into a
neighbouring tree, by the leaves of which they were perfectly concealed,
at the same time that they obtained a wider look-out than we could
below. I had slept, I suppose, about four hours, when I was awakened by
the howling of a dog, and, looking through the boughs, I observed a
small canoe on the opposite side of the river, with four men in her,
busily employed about something or other. While I was watching their
proceedings, Kalong slid down the tree and came near me.
"See, Massa," he said, "have some fun soon."
I now observed that the people had erected a sort of stage, and on the
top of it they had secured an unhappy dog, whose voice had first
awakened me. Near the stage was a long stick, hanging over the water,
and loosely attached to it was a thick rope, with a dead monkey at one
end and a rattan at the other. Kalong explained that a strong piece of
stick was placed alongside the monkey, with the end of the rope secured
to the middle of it. The canoe shortly paddled away down the stream,
greatly to our satisfaction; for we were afraid she might have come near
us, when the consequences might have been disagreeable. The poor dog
howled for some time, and the dead monkey floated on the surface of the
water, till our attention was attracted by an object coming down the
stream towards us. As it approached, we perceived the long snout and
black scaly back of a huge crocodile. The monster eyed us, as we
thought, with a malicious look, as if he contemplated attacking us, and,
from his appearance, we judged that he would have made one hearty meal
of us all, and perhaps swallowed up the canoe into the bargain. To
prepare for him, I grasped Blount's rifle, with the intention of
shooting him through the eye, should he begin to molest us; but, of
course, I would only have fired in a case of extreme necessity. Either
he had not noticed us, or he thought he would first swallow the monkey,
which was all ready for him, and then come back and have a nibble at us;
so, to our satisfaction, away he swam across the river. He first rubbed
his nose against the monkey to smell it, and then began sucking away
very leisurely, thus to enjoy the morsel to the utmost. When he had got
it down, he swam on a little, and that gave a jerk to the rope, which
pulled the stick across his inside, so that by no possibility could it
come out again. This seemed to inconvenience him excessively, for he
plunged under the water, and then swam across from one side of the river
to the other, the rattan at the end of the rope always showing his
whereabouts. As he swam about, he approached disagreeably near to us,
and we were not a little afraid that a whisk of his tail might stave in
our canoe. Fortunately, he again turned, and he did not seem to wish to
eat, the stick in his inside having probably spoiled his appetite. At
last, when he found it was impossible to get free from this inconvenient
ornament in the water, he scrambled on shore, where he lay hid among the
reeds, not far from the spot where he had swallowed the bait, the
rattan, which remained in the water, pointing out his position. In
about an hour the canoe returned, accompanied by three others, with an
equal number of men in each. They first got hold of the rattan, and
then, landing, they gently drew him forth from his hiding-place. He
offered no resistance, merely wagging his tail backwards and forwards,
and I could scarcely persuade myself that he was a monster capable of
eating a man at a meal. The Dyaks first made a strong lashing fast
round his mouth, to prevent him from biting, and then secured his legs
over his back, so that he was perfectly helpless. After haranguing him
for some time, though what they said I could not tell, they dragged him
again into the water, and towed him off at the stern of their canoes in
triumph.
Kalong declared that they were carrying him away to worship him. This I
could scarcely believe; but I have heard that they look upon the
crocodile as the sultan, or rajah, of animals.
Fortunately, the people in the canoes were so much occupied that they
did not observe us. No other adventure occurred; and as soon as it was
dark, we issued forth from our leafy hiding-place, and paddled away down
the stream. We passed a village where a number of torches were burning,
and people were singing and beating their tom-toms, Kalong asserted, in
honour of the captured crocodile. We were yet some way from the sea,
when towards the morning we again sought a place of concealment. All
day we rested, preparing for the work of the morrow. We endeavoured to
fit our frail canoe, better to encounter the waves, by fastening strips
of bark round her sides, and by decking over the bow and after part with
the same material. We also filled a number of gourds we had collected
with water; and Kalong foraged with considerable success in every
direction for provisions, so that we had little fear of suffering from
hunger, unless we should be kept out longer than we expected. At night
we again proceeded, and I shall never forget the refreshing smell of the
sea air as we first inhaled it on approaching the mouth of the river.
It renewed our strength and courage; and when the morning broke, we were
dancing on the ocean waves--the land was astern--no sail was in sight,
and we felt at length that once more we were free.