FURTHER FACTS ABOUT OPIUM. BIRDS-NESTING AT KARANG BOLLONG.
These were most unpalatable facts for our friends to listen to. But,
however painful they might be, and however offensive to the ear of a
patriotic Dutchman, yet they were facts which could neither be ignored
nor explained away. Very gravely and very sadly the five young men sat
slowly rocking themselves in their chairs and watching the wreaths
of blue smoke as they curled upwards from their manillas. Thus they
passed some time in silent thought, when suddenly, in the distance
were heard fresh volleys of musketry, redoubled banging of mertjons,
and this noise accompanied by loud bursts of cheering repeated again
and again, which, arising within the banqueting hall, was taken up by
the thousands of natives who stood without waiting for the display
of fireworks. That crescendo in the festive din was occasioned no
doubt by Lim Yang Bing's eloquent speech in honour of Resident van
Gulpendam. "Sabieio, fill the glasses!" cried van Nerekool to his
servant, making an effort to shake off the gloomy thoughts which
oppressed him, and which not even van Beneden's story had been able
to dissipate.
For the next few minutes they all sat listening to the disturbance
outside, and when at length the noise had died away, van Rheijn
re-opened the conversation.
"You told us just now, my dear August, that Tio Siong Mo had found
no co-operation or support among the inferior class of officials; but
that these, on the contrary, sided with the more powerful company Hok
Bie. Now I take it for granted that you did not talk merely at random;
but that you had some sufficient grounds for saying what you did. One
thing, however, is not quite clear to me, and that is whether you
meant that accusation to apply to the native opium-officials or to
the Europeans. You will grant me, I suppose, that the accusation is
a rather serious one."
Van Beneden did not raise his eyes, he drew a deep breath. At length
after an interval of a few seconds, he said:
"Yes, you are perfectly right, the charge is undoubtedly a serious
one. As a lawyer I am perfectly aware of that; and you were
quite right also in presuming that I did not utter it without due
consideration. The question you now ask me is this: 'To whom do you
intend this grave censure to apply?' I might answer with perfect
truth, that I apply it to native and European officials alike. But
to be absolutely candid I ought to go further and confess that,
when I spoke, I was aiming specially at the European officers."
"August!" cried van Rheijn, evidently much moved at his friend's
earnestness and sincerity. "May you not be taking too partial and
unfair a view of the situation?"
"My dear fellow," replied van Beneden, "just listen to what I am
about to tell you, and then I will leave you to judge for yourself--
"Among the mass of documents relating to this Tio Siong Mo's business,
I came upon some remarks made by a very highly placed official, a man
perfectly competent to form a correct opinion; and who had, in fact,
been consulted on this very occasion. His remarks run thus:
"'The salaries paid to the officials who are employed in checking the
trade in contraband opium are wholly insufficient; and in the discharge
of their most arduous duties, these public servants receive no support
at all. The consequence of this is, that hardly a single person who
is properly qualified for the work will ever offer his services. In
what manner, then, are those places filled? Why, in the simplest manner
possible. Individuals are appointed quite at random and are then placed
under the orders of some Resident or other. These poor creatures, who,
as a general rule, have no very brilliant antecedents to boast of,
and who know little or nothing of the opium trade, receive a salary
of 150 guilders (£12 10s.) a month, and are stationed at such points
as the smugglers are most likely to resort to. It follows, of course,
from the nature of the case that these stations are far away from any
inhabited spot, generally in the heart of some swamp or in the all but
impenetrable jungle on the north coast of Java. In such localities
there can be no question of a house; and some of these men have to
hire a small bamboo hut at the rate of 25 or 30 guilders a month,
or else they run up a kind of rough shanty at their own expense. They
have no staff whatever--there being no money to provide one--and thus,
on an emergency, they have to apply for help to the chiefs of the
nearest dessas, and that is very much like going to the devil for
confession. Moreover, the Residents compel these people to keep two
horses, which animals they must purchase for themselves, and they have
to pay 10 guilders a month at least for forage for each horse. If now
we take into consideration deductions for widows' and orphans' fund,
then these wretched creatures receive only about 102 guilders a month,
out of which they must find house rent and servants' wages, leaving
them, say 67 guilders to live upon, to find themselves in dress,
and to keep their often numerous families. Now, the question is,
how can such persons manage to live at all in even the most frugal
manner? How do they manage to keep body and soul together? They have
no other resource than to apply to the opium-farmer for assistance,
and in him they always find a most obliging money-lender. The whole
question, then, comes to this: Are not such officers forced by mere
pressure of circumstances to squeeze as much out of their wretched
billet as can be got out of it?'
"And thus, you see, my dear Edward, that all these men either are,
or very soon get to be, under the thumb of the opium-farmers, and
the consequences of such a state of things are, you must grant,
inevitable. By the side of the note I read to you just now, I found
a list--it was a long list--of the names of such individuals as,
either for neglect of duty or for having aided and abetted the
smugglers, had been dismissed the service. There were others who
were mere puppets in the farmers' hands, and who could not venture
on the slightest remonstrance if the farmer himself was implicated
in the smuggling trade. Then there was a third--alas! the list was a
very short one--of officials who undertook to perform their duties
conscientiously, and who, looking upon a smuggler as a smuggler,
whether he happened to be an opium-farmer or not, were determined to
put down the illegal traffic whoever might be engaged in it. I regret,
however, to have to add that those names very quickly disappear from
the scene. The Residents soon found fault with such men--they had no
tact--no management--in fact, some ground of complaint was sure to
be found. And then, of course, the Government does not like to see
the farmers, so long as they pay their contract money regularly into
the treasury, annoyed by opposition of any kind."
"But," exclaimed Grenits, somewhat warmly, "what becomes, at that rate,
of the assertion made over and over in Parliament by the Colonial
Secretary, that the abuse of opium is in every possible way kept in
check? As far as I can make out from your statement, the Government
seems, indirectly of course, actually to protect the smuggling by
the farmers, and these, equally of course, in order to dispose of
their contraband, press the drug by all means, legal or illegal,
upon the helpless population."
"The sum and substance of all I have told you is simply this," said
van Beneden. "No man who has the slightest respect for himself can
or will undertake any office for the suppression of opium smuggling,
and therefore a lower class of people must be employed, and thence,
you see, it becomes possible for the tricks and dodges of such
companies as Hok Bie to succeed."
"By Jove!" cried van Nerekool, "that's another nice little glimpse
into the charming situation which the system of opium-farming
has created. Come! now we are about it, we had better exhaust the
unsavoury subject as far as we can. Did you not say just now, van
Rheijn, that you also had an opium tale to tell?"
"Oh, yes," replied Edward, "and something else besides that."
"Indeed!" said Grashuis; "go on then. I thought I was pretty well
informed; but every moment I am making fresh discoveries."
"Now, gentlemen," said van Nerekool, "are you all furnished with
cigars? Van Rheijn, we are waiting to hear you."
"I have had a letter from Murowski," began van Rheijn.
"From Murowski?" cried one.
"From our Pole?"
"From our doctor?"
"Yes, gentlemen, from our expert at the scientific opium-smoke. Now,
as his letter contains very few, if any, secrets, and that moreover it
is addressed to us in general, I need not follow our host's example;
and I will read it to you in full."
"But, my dear fellow," said Grenits, "it is getting late, nearly nine
o'clock. Is there anything in that letter about butterflies?"
"Oh, yes."
"And about beetles and snakes?"
"Oh yes, certainly."
"Then, I say! heaven help us, those entomologists are so long-winded;
they don't spare you a single claw, not an antenna, not a shard!"
"Oh, you won't find it so bad as all that," laughed van Rheijn;
"just listen."
"'My dear friend, in your last letter you ask me how I pass the
time at Gombong. At first, I must confess, it was tedious work and
everything looked very black. You know, I was rather smitten with
Agatha van Bemmelen, and I have reason to flatter myself that she
used not to shut her little peepers very hard when she happened to
meet me at Santjoemeh. So, when I first came here, my thoughts ran
entirely on her; I detested my new place, and cursed the man who had
played me the scurvy trick of having me transferred. Of entomology
there was no question. Two or three times I went out and tried
to get some specimens, but I failed woefully. Wherever I went, in
whatever direction I took my walks, there was but one picture before
my eyes--the image of my Agatha's sparkling eyes and my Agatha's
rosy cheeks.
"'So utterly lost was I in rapture that the rarest specimens
in butterflies fluttered past my very nose without my so much
as holding out my net. I gave the whole thing up in despair, and
tossed all my apparatus into a corner. But, what to do with oneself
at Gombong? The officers of the garrison were busy enough; but I
had nothing--absolutely nothing--to occupy my time. The climate of
Gombong is a wretched one--most miserably healthy, no chance of ever
getting a patient here! Being a devout Catholic, I sent up a little
prayer every now and then for a good epidemic, or at least some case
worthy of keeping one's interest going--nothing of the kind!'"
"Well now," cried Theodoor, "did you ever hear of such a fellow,
praying for an epidemic! Such a chap as that ought to be put out
of the colony altogether--he is fit only for the new lunatic asylum
at Buitenzorg!"
"Nonsense!" retorted van Rheijn, "does not every one pray for his
daily bread? Does not our friend van Beneden here pray for a good
lawsuit--and that is, perhaps, not much less serious a matter than
an epidemic. But let me go on.
"'Seeing that my prayers were not heard, I sought refuge in
poetry;--perhaps I might say I prayed and wrote verses alternately. I
celebrated my well-beloved in alexandrines, in iambics, in pentameters,
in hexameters, in odes, in lyrics, in sonnets, in stanzas, in German,
in Polish--'"
"That must have sounded well!" interrupted Grashuis.
"'--In Polish, in French, nay, even in Latin!'"
"In Latin!" exclaimed Grenits, with a shout of laughter, "the fellow
must have gone raving mad!"
"Just fancy the poor child receiving an ode from her adorer entitled
'Solis occasus,'--and 'Virgini Agathæ pulcherrimæ Bemmelensi
dedicatus'--I should like to have seen her little phiz," cried van
Beneden.
"Do stop all that nonsense," remonstrated van Rheijn, who nevertheless
was laughing as heartily as the others, and when silence had been
restored, he continued:
"'And Heaven only knows how much paper I might have wasted had not
suddenly the news reached me that my adored Agatha was engaged, and
was, indeed, on the point of being married. Then I crumpled up all my
poetical effusions, and that very evening made a nice little fire of
them. They were of some use in that way in keeping off the mosquitoes
and other such like vermin. I invited all the officers of the garrison
to a jolly good champagne supper; and, after having passed a night
in which I rivalled the Seven Sleepers of holy memory--I arose next
morning a new man--perfectly cured!--'"
"That Pole is a practical fellow," cried Grashuis. "I say, Charlie,
you should take a leaf out of his book!"
"'Thereupon I resumed my insect hunting, and then, for the first time,
it dawned upon me that the hemiptera, the diptera, the hymenoptera,
the lepidoptera, the coleoptera--'"
"I say, I say!" cried Grenits, "might you not skip all these barbarous
words. That a Pole like Murowski makes use of them is excusable
perhaps--he knows no better; but that he should inflict them upon
us!--it is unpardonable."
"Oh, well!" replied van Rheijn, "I have almost done--
"'--The coleoptera, the crustaceans are really our best and truest
friends, and that they would, after all, afford me the most wholesome
recreation. I happened to be in luck's way. Patients there were none,
and, to make assurance doubly sure, a medical officer, and therefore a
colleague of mine, had arrived here in Gombong. He had obtained three
months' leave, and, in this mild and singularly equable climate,
he hoped to find a cure for an incipient liver-complaint. This
gentleman was willing, he was indeed quite eager, to take my place in
any unforeseen emergency, if it were only to break the monotony of
his existence out here. I quickly availed myself of this favourable
opportunity to ask our military chief for eight days' leave to go
on a trip into the Karang Bollong mountains and give myself up to my
passion for entomology.
"'"By all means," said the kind-hearted captain, "by all means, you
go and catch butterflies and snoutbeetles. Only see that in those
wild mountain districts you don't come to grief; and, mind you,
be back again in time."
"'An hour after, I had shouldered my gun, slung on my game-bag; and,
with the tin box for my collection strapped to my back, I was on the
war-path, my servant following with the other necessaries. From Gombong
I marched through the dessas Karang djah, Ringodono and Pringtoetoel,
and there I was in the heart of the mountain country. That journey I
did not make in a single day; but I took my time, and spent two days
in covering the ground.
"'I will not tire you with an account of my insect-hunt, that would,
in fact, be casting pearls before swine.'"
"Upon my word, that is a good one!" exclaimed Grenits, laughing. "Our
Pole is exquisitely polite!"
"Well," laughed van Rheijn, "he is paying you back in your own coin,
you remember what you said about 'barbarous words' just now. But let
me get on.
"'But yet I must tell you that my trip was very successful. I have
every reason to be satisfied; for among many other rare and valuable
specimens, I secured a fine Ulysses and a splendid Priamos. But
what will constitute the real glory of my collection is an Atlas,
a truly magnificent creature, which, with outspread wings, covers
an area of nearly a foot square. I will not however dwell on these
matters. I know you take no interest in them. No, no, I have a subject
to write upon which will prove much more attractive to yourself and
to your friends. Our experiment in opium-smoking has been haunting
me ever since I witnessed it; and I have by no means forgotten the
conversation we held on that occasion. What I then heard and saw has
opened my eyes and my ears, and has made me very attentive whenever the
opium question is mentioned. And, I must say, that I have here been
brought to the very spot where I am able to glean most interesting
information about the use of that drug. In my wanderings through
the Karang Bollong mountains, I have been brought into contact with
the gathering of the far-famed birds' nests. Whether you gentlemen
are acquainted with that source of the Dutch revenue, I know not;
but in order to come to the subject I wish to lay before you, that
is, the abuse of opium and the encouragement the Government gives to
that abuse, I must give you a short account of this most interesting
gathering of birds' nests. You must, for the present at least, take
my word for the truth of every syllable I write--'"
"The deuce we must!" cried Grenits, "he is rather exacting!"
"I bet we shall have a lot of learned stuff inflicted upon us. The
prigs which the German Universities turn out can be pedantic to the
last degree."
"No fear," replied van Rheijn, "for my part I must say that I
have found in this letter, a great number of highly interesting
particulars. But I must get on.
"'The Karang Bollong mountain range is, as you are probably aware,
a spur of the Goenoeng Djampong which again forms the connecting link
between the Midangang mountains and the Goenoeng Batoer. The bulk
of these Karang Bollong mountains consists of extensive chalkbeds
which form the table-land known as Goenoeng Poleng; and, on the
side of the sea, these chalk-beds are surrounded by a broad band of
trachyte rock which rises perpendicularly out of the Indian Ocean. In
this massive wall of trachyte the ocean, with its mighty breakers
rolling in from the South Pole upon Java's coast, has washed numerous
holes or cavities, some of which extend to a considerable distance
underground. It is in the innermost recesses of these caves that men
find the nests of a certain kind of swallow which the natives call
manoek lawet, and to which the Zoologists give the name of hirundo
esculenta.'"
"Didn't I tell you so?" cried Grenits indignantly; "the Pole is
beginning already to bring in his Latin names. Heaven only can tell
what may be in store for us!"
"And what about me, then?" remarked van Rheijn. "I have had to read
the whole letter! You need not trouble yourself, that Latin will come
all right enough. I go on:
"'----give the name of hirundo esculenta. The nests consist of a slimy
substance which is found in the stomach of the birds. These little
swallows cover the spot in the rock they have selected for their nest
with an extremely fine coating of this gelatinous stuff. As soon as
this layer has dried and has had time to harden, they apply a second
coat, which again must have time to dry before they can proceed with
their building. And thus they go on gradually and layer by layer until
the nest is complete. When it is finished it looks like a saucer of
small diameter which has been broken in two with the line of fracture
cemented to the wall of stone. Thus these little nests consist of
a hardened gelatinous mass of a light yellow colour and which, when
they are of superior quality, ought to be somewhat transparent.'"
"And the Chinese eat such trash as that and like it?" cried Grashuis
curling his lip in disgust.
"Do let me go on," said van Rheijn.
"'When soaked in water and properly cooked these nests are looked
upon by the Chinese as the rarest delicacy. A cup of broth made of
that gelatinous substance represents, in their estimation, the most
delicious beverage that can gratify the human palate. They ascribe
to this soup rare medicinal virtues and prize it as a never-failing
aphrodisiac. In my opinion this latter is the only quality which
gives value to the nests.'"
"And this again is the sort of thing out of which the Dutch Government
makes a revenue!" exclaimed Grenits. "It is a very lucky thing that
the ingathering of these nests can only be carried out on a small
scale, or else, no doubt, some means would be found to force this
kind of food upon such Chinese as do not, at present, crave for it;
just as the farmers do their utmost to drive the population into
their infamous opium-dens."
"'The gathering of these nests,'" continued van Rheijn still
reading Murowski's letter, "'takes place three times a year. The
first gathering begins in the latter part of April and is called
"Oedoean kesongo." The second begins in the middle of August and is
called "Oedoean telor," and the third, the "Oedoean kapat," takes
place in December. Now that kind of birdsnesting, my friends, is an
occupation which I very willingly leave to the Javanese who make it
their business. To gain the entrance of one of those caves they must
clamber down the perpendicular face of the rock along ladders. The
ladder, for instance, which leads to the mouth of the Djoembling cave
is only 660 feet long. My heart beat high with desire to make a trip
to these subterranean vaults. But--when I laid myself flat down and
got my head over the edge of the rock while a couple of Javanese were
holding on to my legs--when I saw that rottang ladder swinging hither
and thither in the breeze sometimes clinging to the wall and then again
curving inward and for a while lost to the eye. When, at a giddy depth
below, I saw the huge breakers come tumbling in and forming there
at the foot of the rocks a savage scene, a wild and whirling chaos
of spouting water, of dazzling foam and of blinding spray. When my
ear caught the hoarse thunder of their charge while I felt the very
stone under me quiver with the shock--then, I must confess a feeling
of sickening horror came over me; I started back involuntarily, and
nothing on earth could have induced me to plant my foot on the crazy
ladder which, a few moments ago, I had made up my mind to descend.
"'But how grand, how magnificent, how sublime was the spectacle! The
towering waves which like a stately row of hills came moving along
the intense azure blue of the Indian Ocean--that graceful curve of the
billow as it neared the pumice reefs which lie at the base of the mass
of trachyte--then the thundering fall of this mighty crest toppling
over, as it were, into a sea of seething milk in which every drop,
every foam-speck glittered in the rays of the tropical sun--that
finely divided spray which hung over the watery mass and wrapped
it as in a veil of transparent silver-gauze--all this, my friends,
formed a spectacle which can never be effaced from my memory but
will dwell there engraven as on tables of stone. At times, when a
wave of unusual height came rolling in, the entrance of the caves
would be completely swallowed up and hidden and the water driven into
the interior would continue its perpetual work of excavation. Then,
for a few moments it seemed as if the holes had disappeared. But
presently, when the wave flowed back again, the water, impelled by the
tremendous force of the compressed air within, would rush forth like
a horizontal fountain five or six hundred feet in length, spouting
and hissing and blowing with a roar which was perfectly appalling,
and forming whirls and high-flowing eddies in the retreating wave.
"'No, no, no, I durst not touch that swinging ladder; but I have
nevertheless made up my mind to penetrate by some other means into the
interior of those mysterious cavities. The natives here tell me that
when the south-east trade-wind is far from the south-coast of Java,
on very calm days a flat-bottomed boat may enter the Goewah Temon,
which is the name of one of the grots. The loerah of the dessa Ajo
has promised me to keep a canoe in readiness for me, if I will give
him notice beforehand; and, on the first favourable opportunity I mean
to make the attempt. Meanwhile, however, I have had to satisfy myself
with a description of this birdsnesting which I soon hope to witness in
person, and this is what one of the chiefs has told me concerning it.
"'From the mouth of the caves the Javanese have stretched a couple
of cables along the interior wall. The lower of these rottang-cables
serves as foot-hold, the upper is grasped in one hand, while with the
other hand, the man engaged in the work picks the birds' nests from the
rock. When the hand cannot reach them the man detaches them by means
of a long bamboo pole furnished with an iron hook, and as they fall he
has to catch them in a small hand net. As you may suppose, the taking
of these swallows' nests is an extremely perilous undertaking. First
to clamber down that ladder to an extreme depth along the perpendicular
face of the rock and dangling over that boiling sea, then to penetrate
into these holes into which the ocean thrusts its waves. In rough
weather the work has to be stopped altogether in many of the caves;
and, not unfrequently, it happens that the ropes are washed away and
the poor fellows who trust to them are dashed to pieces or miserably
drowned. You will ask then, perhaps, how can people be found to venture
on so hazardous an undertaking? You know, of course, that no race on
earth is more attached to its native soil than the Javanese. That
characteristic is found in this part of the island also. There is
perhaps no wilder and more ungrateful soil in this world than this
region in the Karang Bollong mountains. Nothing, or next to nothing,
can be made out of agriculture. The tiny rice-fields one meets with
here and there on the mountain slopes, are not worth mentioning;
and, as far as tradition reaches, the scanty population of this part
of Java has always supported itself and does still support itself,
by collecting these edible nests.
"'Whether they fared better or worse before the Dutch government
appropriated that source of income to itself, I have not been able to
ascertain. But one thing is certain, that the pay these poor wretches
receive from the Government is something worse than pitiful. I have
now lying before me a statement drawn up by an official in this part
of the country, from which I gather that, for every sack of 80 nests
delivered into the Government stores, the man who collects them gets a
sum of 15--let us put it down in words--of fifteen cents (about 3d.)!'"
"Aye but," said Grashuis, "before we follow the grumblings of our
Pole any further, it would be well to know what is the commercial
value of those 80 nests."
"As a merchant," remarked Grenits, "I can at once supply you with the
information you require. The Chinese are always ready to give five
thousand guilders for a pikol of nests, and, since one hundred of them
weigh about one kattie and the pikol contains one hundred katties,
our Government receives four hundred guilders, while it sends the
poor devil of a native about his business with 15 cents! By Heaven
it is a crying shame!"
"But has not the Government other expenses to meet?" asked Grashuis.
"Allow me to continue," said van Rheijn, "I promise you an answer to
your question, August."
"All right, drive ahead!"
"'It is true,'" continued van Rheijn, "'that when a man has good luck
he may deliver 12 bags.'"
"That comes to one guilder eighty cents (about 3s.)," cried
Grenits! "and then he must be in luck! God help the poor fellow!"
"Now do not be constantly interrupting me!" cried Edward impatiently.
"'One must be a Javanese to encounter such perils for so miserable a
pittance; for, to realize that magnificent sum, the poor devil must
make several trips to the cave which has been assigned to him. The
shortest gathering always lasts three weeks, and the longest sometimes
goes on for more than two months. Now, how can the native be induced,
for such utterly inadequate pay, to face this perpetual and deadly
risk? I fancy I can see that question hovering on your lips, and
if you will bear with me for a few moments I will tell you. In
the first place the Government has secured the co-operation of the
native chiefs. You know what a dependent race are the Javanese, how
they trust implicitly to their chiefs, and these men are indeed paid
on a much more liberal scale. Where the actual worker receives his
three shillings, the loerah, for instance, is paid twenty guilders
(£1 13s. 4d.), besides a number of perquisites of all kinds, and
he receives this, mind you, merely for superintending the work,
as it is called. Yet it is probable that the respect and obedience
of even a Javanese would not endure such miserably inadequate pay,
and therefore the Government has devised another means of binding
these poor creatures hand and foot, and that means, my dear friends,
is--opium!
"'I will not trouble you with all the superstitious fads which the
Government not only tolerates but pays for in the matter of this
gathering of birds' nests; nor will I speak of the idolatrous worship
of Njahi Ratoe Segoro Kidoel which precedes every expedition, and
which also is paid for out of the public purse. I will merely point
out to you the use which is made of opium, the pernicious effect of
which, when taken in anything like excessive quantities, you have
yourselves been able to observe.
"'Well then, let me tell you that in everything which has any relation
whatever to this gathering of nests the current coin is opium.
"'If the wajang and toppeng-players have to be sent for, five petty
chiefs and four dessa-folk are despatched to fetch them. For this
piece of service each of the former receives one kedawang, and each
of the latter half a kedawang of opium, the kedawang being equivalent
to about two matas. For the cleansing and clearing of the Goewah
Bollong loerahs and other chiefs are specially appointed, the former
receiving each two and the latter one kedawang of opium. The wajang
and toppeng-players receive on their arrival, sixteen kedawangs apiece
and four kedawangs for sadjen or offering, and, on their departure,
they are paid with a further present of sixteen kedawangs of opium.
"'In the Goewah Bollong a feast is always held before the commencement
of the expeditions; and for this feast, a certain number of bullocks
and one goat have to be killed. For the slaughtering of each of these
animals eight kedawangs of opium are paid. For each quarter of the
slaughtered animals which must be brought in and carried by one petty
chief and two dessa men, the chief is paid one, and the men have half
a kedawang of opium apiece. When the ladders are brought to the edge
of the cliff, a ceremony which requires two chiefs and two men, the
former receive one kedawang, and the latter half a kedawang of opium.
"'But I have not finished yet, the abuse of opium goes much further
than that. My friends, I beg you have patience and read on.
"'At the festival itself the following quantities are served out:
to each loerah and each petty chief two kedawangs, and to every
guest one kedawang. I have now lying before me a paper from which
the following words are an extract:
"'"It is impossible to give, with any exactness, the number of persons
present at these customary festivals; but seeing that every guest has
his portion of opium served out to him, it may be taken for granted
that no one who has the slightest right to be present, fails to avail
himself of it. At the opening of every cave eight kedawangs are served
out, and when the ropes are fastened another eight kedawangs are paid."
"'During the ingathering of the nests--but how shall I get through
it all? Let me try to be brief. The loerah of Goewah Jedeh gets 76,
the loerah of Goewah Dahar gets 64, the one at Goewah Mandoe Loro 44,
and the other loerahs receive 40 kedawangs apiece. The toekans of
these caves receive each 54, the bekels 24, and the sekeps each 12
kedawangs of opium.
"'But even this is not all. The dessas in which the ladders are made
are paid in opium, the persons appointed to mount guard over the nests
when they are gathered receive their pay in opium. The transmission
of the produce, the carrying to and fro of orders, the return of the
ladders, the guarding of the caves--everything--everything--is paid
with the same fatal drug. In one word, the entire thing is simply
an opium debauch on a colossal scale; and it is the surest means of
accustoming the people to the use of the deadly narcotic. But--why
should I further dilate upon this matter, my letter is already, I fear,
too long and I have still to communicate to you certain things which
I know will be of the greatest interest to you.'"
"Is there much more of the letter?" asked Grashuis.
"Yes, I have some pages more to read," replied van Rheijn.
"You have given us quite a budget already," remarked van Beneden.
"True; but it is extremely interesting," said Grenits.
"By Jove, those Poles know how to make use of their eyes."
"He has learnt that lesson from the Germans, you know they steal with
their eyes."
"True, witness the Franco-German war in which the Teutons proved that
they knew more about France than the French authorities themselves."
"Don't you think," asked van Rheijn, "we had better get on as fast
as we can? The most interesting part of the letter is yet to come."
These last words he spoke with a strange look at Charles van Nerekool.
"Had we not better have a drink first?" suggested Grenits.
"By Jove, yes!" cried van Rheijn, "my throat is as dry as a rasp."
"Sabieio!" cried van Nerekool, "fill the glasses."
While the servant performed that duty the gentlemen lit a fresh cigar,
rocked themselves for a while in their rocking-chairs and then were
all attention.