Although Professor Verkimier had promised to return at once, he was
compelled to encamp in the forest, being overtaken by night before he
could reach the river and procure a boat.
Next morning they started at daybreak. The country over which they
passed had again changed its character and become more hilly. On the
summits of many of the hills Dyak villages could be seen, and rice
fields were met with as they went along. Several gullies and rivulets
were crossed by means of native bamboo bridges, and the professor
explained, as he went along, the immense value of the bamboo to the
natives. With it they make their suspension bridges, build their
houses, and procure narrow planking for their floors. If they want
broader planks they split a large bamboo on one side and flatten it out
to a plank of about eighteen inches wide. Portions of hollow bamboo
serve as receptacles for milk or water. If a precipice stops a path,
the Dyaks will not hesitate to construct a bamboo path along the face of
it, using branches of trees wherever convenient from which to hang the
path, and every crevice or notch in the rocks to receive the ends of the
bamboos by which it is supported.
Honey-bees in Borneo hang their combs, to be out of danger no doubt,
under the branches of the Tappan, which towers above all the other trees
of the forest. But the Dyaks love honey and value wax as an article of
trade; they therefore erect their ingenious bamboo ladder--which can be
prolonged to any height on the smooth branchless stem of the Tappan--and
storm the stronghold of the bees with much profit to themselves, for
bees'-wax will purchase from the traders the brass wire, rings,
gold-edged kerchiefs and various ornaments with which they decorate
themselves. When travelling, the Dyaks use bamboos as cooking vessels
in which to boil rice and other vegetables; as jars in which to preserve
honey, sugar, etcetera, or salted fish and fruit. Split bamboos form
aqueducts by which water is conveyed to the houses. A small neatly
carved piece of bamboo serves as a case in which are carried the
materials used in the disgusting practice of betel-nut chewing--which
seems to be equivalent to the western tobacco-chewing. If a pipe is
wanted the Dyak will in a wonderfully short space of time make a huge
hubble-bubble out of bamboos of different sizes, and if his long-bladed
knife requires a sheath the same gigantic grass supplies one almost
ready-made. But the uses to which this reed may be applied are almost
endless, and the great outstanding advantage of it is that it needs no
other tools than an axe and a knife to work it.
At about mid-day the river was reached, and they found a native boat, or
prahu, which had been sent down to convey them to the Rajah's village.
Here Nigel was received with the hospitality due to a friend of Van der
Kemp, who, somehow--probably by unselfish readiness, as well as ability,
to oblige--had contrived to make devoted friends in whatever part of the
Malay Archipelago he travelled.
Afterwards, in a conversation with Nigel, the professor, referring to
those qualities of the hermit which endeared him to men everywhere,
said, with a burst of enthusiasm, which almost outdid himself--
"You cannot oonderstant Van der Kemp. No man can oonderstant him. He
is goot, right down to zee marrow--kind, amiable, oonselfish, obliging,
nevair seems to zink of himself at all, ant, abof all zings, is capable.
Vat he vill do, he can do--vat he can do he vill do. But he is sad--
very sad."
"I have observed that, of course," said Nigel. "Do you know what makes
him so sad?"
The professor shook his head.
"No, I do not know. Nobody knows. I have tried to find out, but he
vill not speak."
The Orang-Kaya, or rich man, as this hill chief was styled, had provided
lodgings for his visitors in the "head-house." This was a large
circular building erected on poles. There is such a house in nearly all
Dyak villages. It serves as a trading-place, a strangers' room, a
sleeping-room for unmarried youths, and a general council-chamber. Here
Nigel found the hermit and Moses enjoying a good meal when he arrived,
to which he and the professor sat down after paying their respects to
the chief.
"The Orang-Kaya hopes that we will stay with him some time and help to
defend the village," said Van der Kemp, when they were all seated.
"Of course you have agreed?" said Nigel.
"Yes; I came for that purpose."
"We's allers ready to fight in a good cause," remarked Moses, just
before filling his mouth with rice.
"Or to die in it!" added Verkimier, engulfing the breast of a chicken at
a bite. "But as zee pirates are not expected for some days, ve may as
vell go after zee mias--zat is what zee natifs call zee orang-utan. It
is a better word, being short."
Moses glanced at the professor out of the corners of his black eyes and
seemed greatly tickled by his enthusiastic devotion to business.
"I am also," continued the professor, "extremely anxious to go at zee
bootterflies before--"
"You die," suggested Nigel, venturing on a pleasantry, whereat Moses
opened his mouth in a soundless laugh, but, observing the professor's
goggles levelled at him, he transformed the laugh into an astounding
sneeze, and immediately gazed with pouting innocence and interest at his
plate.
"Do you always sneeze like zat?" asked Verkimier.
"Not allers," answered the negro simply, "sometimes I gibs way a good
deal wuss. Depends on de inside ob my nose an' de state ob de wedder."
What the professor would have replied we cannot say, for just then a
Dyak youth rushed in to say that an unusually large and gorgeous
butterfly had been seen just outside the village!
No application of fire to gunpowder could have produced a more immediate
effect. The professor's rice was scattered on the floor, and himself
was outside the head-house before his comrades knew exactly what was the
matter.
"He's always like that," said the hermit, with a slight twinkle in his
eyes. "Nothing discourages--nothing subdues him. Twice I pulled him
out of deadly danger into which he had run in his eager pursuit of
specimens. And he has returned the favour to me, for he rescued me once
when a mias had got me down and would certainly have killed me, for my
gun was empty at the moment, and I had dropped my knife."
"Is, then, the orang-utan so powerful and savage?"
"Truly, yes, when wounded and driven to bay," returned the hermit. "You
must not judge of the creature by the baby that Verkimier has tamed. A
full-grown male is quite as large as a man, though very small in the
legs in proportion, so that it does not stand high. It is also very
much stronger than the most powerful man. You would be quite helpless
in its grip, I assure you."
"I hope, with the professor," returned Nigel, "that we may have a hunt
after them, either before or after the arrival of the pirates. I know
he is very anxious to secure a good specimen for some museum in which he
is interested--I forget which."
As he spoke, the youth who had brought information about the butterfly
returned and said a few words to Moses in his native tongue.
"What does he say?" asked Niger.
"Dat Massa Verkimier is in full chase, an' it's my opinion dat when he
comes back he'll be wet all ober, and hab his shins and elbows barked."
"Why d'you think so?"
"'Cause dat's de way he hoed on when we was huntin' wid him last year.
He nebber larns fro' 'sperience."
"That's a very fine-looking young fellow," remarked Nigel, referring to
the Dyak youth who had just returned, and who, with a number of other
natives, was watching the visitors with profound interest while they
ate.
As the young man referred to was a good sample of the youth of his
tribe, we shall describe him. Though not tall, he was well and strongly
proportioned, and his skin was of a reddish-brown colour. Like all his
comrades, he wore little clothing. A gay handkerchief with a gold lace
border encircled his head, from beneath which flowed a heavy mass of
straight, jet-black hair. Large crescent-shaped ornaments hung from his
ears. His face was handsome and the expression pleasing, though the
mouth was large and the lips rather thick. Numerous brass rings
encircled his arms above and below the elbows. His only other piece of
costume was a waist-cloth of blue cotton, which hung down before and
behind. It ended in three bands of red, blue, and white. There were
also rows of brass rings on his legs, and armlets of white shells. At
his side he wore a long slender knife and a little pouch containing the
materials for betel-chewing.
"Yes, and he is as good as he looks," said the hermit. "His name is
Gurulam, and all the people of his tribe have benefited by the presence
in Borneo of that celebrated Englishman Sir James Brooke,--Rajah Brooke
as he was called,--who did so much to civilise the Dyaks of Borneo and
to ameliorate their condition."
The prophecy of Moses about the professor was fulfilled. Just as it was
growing dark that genial scientist returned, drenched to the skin and
covered with mud, having tumbled into a ditch. His knuckles also were
skinned, his knees and shins damaged, and his face scratched, but he was
perfectly happy in consequence of having secured a really splendid
specimen of a "bootterfly" as big as his hand; the scientific name of
which, for very sufficient reasons, we will not attempt to inflict on
our readers, and the description of which may be shortly stated by the
single word--gorgeous!
Being fond of Verkimier, and knowing his desire to obtain a full-grown
orang-utan, Gurulam went off early next morning to search for one.
Half-a-dozen of his comrades accompanied him armed only with native
spears, for their object was not to hunt the animal, but to discover one
if possible, and let the professor know so that he might go after it
with his rifle, for they knew that he was a keen sportsman as well as a
man of science.
They did not, indeed, find what they sought for, but they were told by
natives with whom they fell in that a number of the animals had been
seen among the tree-tops not more than a day's march into the forest.
They hurried home therefore with this information, and that day--
accompanied by the Dyak youths, Nigel, the hermit, and Moses--Verkimier
started off in search of the mias; intending to camp out or to take
advantage of a native hut if they should chance to be near one when
night overtook them.
Descending the hill region, they soon came to more level ground, where
there was a good deal of swamp, through which they passed on Dyak roads.
These roads consisted simply of tree-trunks laid end to end, along
which the natives, being barefooted, walk with ease and certainty, but
our booted hunters were obliged to proceed along them with extreme
caution. The only one who came to misfortune was, as usual, the
professor; and in the usual way! It occurred at the second of these
tree-roads.
"Look, look at that remarkable insect!" exclaimed Nigel, eagerly, in the
innocence of his heart. The professor was in front of him; he
obediently looked, saw the insect, made an eager step towards it, and
next moment was flat on the swamp, while the woods rang with his
companions laughter. The remarkable insect, whatever it was, vanished
from the scene, and the professor was dragged, smiling though confused,
out of the bog. These things affected him little. His soul was large
and rose superior to such trifles.
The virgin forest into which they penetrated was of vast extent;
spreading over plain, mountain, and morass in every direction for
hundreds of miles, for we must remind the reader that the island of
Borneo is considerably larger than all the British islands put together,
while its inhabitants are comparatively few. Verkimier had been
absolutely revelling in this forest for several months--ranging its
glades, penetrating its thickets, bathing, (inadvertently), in its
quagmires, and maiming himself generally, with unwearied energy and
unextinguishable enthusiasm; shooting, skinning, stuffing, preserving,
and boiling the bones of all its inhabitants--except the human--to the
great advantage of science and the immense interest and astonishment of
the natives. Yet with all his energy and perseverance the professor had
failed, up to that time, to obtain a large specimen of a male
orang-utan, though he had succeeded in shooting several small specimens
and females, besides catching the young one which he had tamed.
It was therefore with much excitement that he learned from a party of
bees'-wax hunters, on the second morning of their expedition, that a
large male mias had been seen that very day. Towards the afternoon they
found the spot that had been described to them, and a careful
examination began.
"You see," said Verkimier, in a low voice, to Nigel, as he went a step
in advance peering up into the trees, with rifle at the "ready" and
bending a little as if by that means he better avoided the chance of
being seen. "You see, I came to Borneo for zee express purpose of
obtaining zee great man-monkey and vatching his habits.--Hush! Do I not
hear somet'ing?"
"Nothing but your own voice, I think," said Nigel, with a twinkle in his
eye.
"Vell--hush! Keep kviet, all of you."
As the whole party marched in single file after the professor, and were
at the moment absolutely silent, this order induced the display of a
good many teeth.
Just then the man of science was seen to put his rifle quickly to the
shoulder; the arches of the forest rang with a loud report; various
horrified creatures were seen and heard to scamper away, and next moment
a middle-sized orang-utan came crashing through the branches of a tall
tree and fell dead with a heavy thud on the ground.
The professor's rifle was a breech-loader. He therefore lost no time in
re-charging, and hurried forward as if he saw other game, while the rest
of the party--except Van der Kemp, Nigel, and Gurulam--fell behind to
look at and pick up the fallen animal.
"Look out!" whispered Nigel, pointing to a bit of brown hair that he saw
among the leaves high overhead.
"Vere? I cannot see him," whispered the naturalist, whose eyes blazed
enough almost to melt his blue glasses. "Do _you_ fire, Mr Roy?"
"My gun is charged only with small-shot, for birds. It is useless for
such game," said Nigel.
"Ach! I see!"
Up went the rifle and again the echoes were startled and the animal
kingdom astounded, especially that portion at which the professor had
fired, for there was immediately a tremendous commotion among the leaves
overhead, and another orang of the largest size was seen to cross an
open space and disappear among the thick foliage. Evidently the
creature had been hit, but not severely, for it travelled among the
tree-tops at the rate of full five miles an hour, obliging the hunters
to run at a rapid pace over the rough ground in order to keep up with
it. In its passage from tree to tree the animal showed caution and
foresight, selecting only those branches that interlaced with other
boughs, so that it made uninterrupted progress, and also had a knack of
always keeping masses of thick foliage underneath it so that for some
time no opportunity was found of firing another shot. At last, however,
it came to one of those Dyak roads of which we have made mention, so
that it could not easily swing from one tree to another, and the
stoppage of rustling among the leaves told that the creature had halted.
For some time they gazed up among the branches without seeing anything,
but at last, in a place where the leaves seemed to have been thrust
aside near the top of one of the highest trees, a great red hairy body
was seen, and a huge black face gazed fiercely down at the hunters.
Verkimier fired instantly, the branches closed, and the monster moved
off in another direction. In desperate anxiety Nigel fired both barrels
of his shot-gun. He might as well have fired at the moon. Gurulam was
armed only with a spear, and Van der Kemp, who was not much of a
sportsman, carried a similar weapon. The rest of the party were still
out of sight in rear looking after the dead mias.
It was astonishing how little noise was made by so large an animal as it
moved along. More than once the hunters had to halt and listen intently
for the rustling of the leaves before they could make sure of being on
the right track.
At last they caught sight of him again on the top of a very high tree,
and the professor got two more shots, but without bringing him down.
Then he was seen, quite exposed for a moment, walking in a stooping
posture along the large limb of a tree, but the hunter was loading at
the time and lost the chance. Finally he got on to a tree whose top was
covered with a dense mass of creepers which completely hid him from
view. Then he halted and the sound of snapping branches was heard.
"You've not much chance of him now," remarked the hermit, as they all
stood in a group gazing up into the tree-top. "I have often seen the
mias act thus when severely wounded. He is making a nest to lie down
and die in."
"Zen ve must shoot again," said the professor, moving round the tree and
looking out for a sign of the animal. At last he seemed to have found
what he wanted, for raising his rifle he took a steady aim and fired.
A considerable commotion of leaves and fall of broken branches followed.
Then the huge red body of the mias appeared falling through, but it was
not dead, for it caught hold of branches as it fell and hung on as long
as it could; then it came crashing down, and alighted on its face with
an awful thud.
After firing the last shot Verkimier had not reloaded, being too intent
on watching the dying struggles of the creature, and when it fell with
such violence he concluded that it was dead. For the same reason Nigel
had neglected to reload after firing. Thus it happened that when the
enormous brute suddenly rose and made for a tree with the evident
intention of climbing it, no one was prepared to stop it except the Dyak
youth Gurulam. He chanced to be standing between the mias and the tree.
Boldly he levelled his spear and made a thrust that would probably have
killed the beast, if it had not caught the point of the spear and turned
it aside. Then with its left paw it caught the youth by the neck,
seized his thigh with one of its hind paws, and fixed its teeth in his
right shoulder.
Never was man rendered more suddenly and completely helpless, and death
would have been his sure portion before the hunters had reloaded if Van
der Kemp had not leaped forward, and, thrusting his spear completely
through the animal's body, killed it on the spot.