At the end of the fifth day we arrived at the head of the Rejang. Here
the river broke up into a dozen small streams and a swamp. A stockade
had been erected, and the Rajah had stationed a small company of
native soldiers under an English officer to keep the head-hunting
Dyaks in check. I don't remember what our captain found out in regard
to the gold fields, at least it was not encouraging; for he gave up
the search and joined the English lieutenant in a grand deer-hunt
that lasted for five days, and then started back accompanied by two
native soldiers bearing despatches to the Rajah.
It was easy running down the river with the current. One man in each
end of the boat kept it off roots, sunken logs, and crocodiles, and the
rest of us spent the time as best our cramped space allowed. Twice
we detected the black, ugly face of a Dyak peering from out the
jungle. The men were for hunting them down for the price on their
heads, but the captain said he never killed a human being except in
self-defence, and that if the Rajah wanted to get rid of the savages he
had better give the contract to a Mississippi slave-trader. Secretly,
I was longing for some kind of excitement, and was hoping that the
men's clamorous talk would have some effect. I never doubted our
ability to raid a Dyak village and kill the head-hunters and carry off
the beautiful maidens. I could not see why a parcel of blacks should
be such a terror to the good Rajah, when Big Tom said he could easily
handle a dozen, and flattered me by saying that such a brawny lad as
I ought to take care of two at least.
In the course of three days we reached the mouth of the river, and
prepared the sail for the trip across the bay to the Bangor. Just as
everything was in readiness, one of those peculiar and rapid changes
in the weather, that are so common here in the tropics near the
equator, took place. A great blue-black cloud, looking like an immense
cartridge, came up from the west. Through it played vivid flashes of
lightning, and around it was a red haze. "A nasty animal," I heard the
bo's'n tell the captain, and yet I was foolishly delighted when they
decided to risk a blow and put out to sea. The sky on all sides grew
darker from hour to hour. A smell of sulphur came to our nostrils. It
was oppressively hot; not a breath of wind was stirring. The sail
flapped uselessly against the mast, and the men labored at the oars,
while streams of sweat ran from their bodies.
The captain had just taken down the mast, when, without a moment's
warning, the gale struck us and the boat half filled with water. We
managed to head it with the wind, and were soon driving with the
rapidity of a cannon-ball over the boiling and surging waters. It was
a fearful gale; we blew for hours before it, ofttimes in danger of a
volcanic reef, again almost sunk by a giant wave. I baled until I was
completely exhausted. But the long-boat was a stanch little craft, and
there were plenty of men to manage it, so as long as we could keep her
before the wind, the captain felt no great anxiety as to our safety.