TELLS OF THE JOYS, ETCETERA, OF THE PROFESSOR IN THE SUMATRAN FORESTS,
ALSO OF A CATASTROPHE AVERTED.
Fortunately the weather continued fine at first, and the light wind
fair, so that the canoe skimmed swiftly over the wide sea that separates
Borneo from Sumatra. Sometimes our travellers proceeded at night when
the distance between islets compelled them to do so. At other times
they landed on one of these isles when opportunity offered to rest and
replenish the water-casks.
We will not follow them step by step in this voyage, which occupied more
than a week, and during which they encountered without damage several
squalls in which a small open boat could not have lived. Reaching at
last the great island of Sumatra--which, like its neighbour Borneo, is
larger in extent than the British Islands--they coasted along
southwards, without further delay than was absolutely necessary for rest
and refreshment, until they reached a port where they found the steamer
of which they were in search just about to start on its return voyage.
Van der Kemp committed his little craft to the care of the captain, who,
after vainly advising his friend to take a free passage with him to the
Straits of Sunda, promised to leave the canoe in passing at Telok
Betong. We may add that Spinkie was most unwillingly obliged to
accompany the canoe.
"Now, we must remain here till our friend Verkimier arrives," said the
hermit, turning to Nigel after they had watched the steamer out of
sight.
"I suppose we must," said Nigel, who did not at all relish the
delay--"of course we must," he added with decision.
"I sees no `ob course' about it, Massa Nadgel," observed Moses, who
never refrained from offering his opinion from motives of humility, or
of respect for his employer. "My 'dvice is to go on an' let de
purfesser foller."
"But I promised to wait for him," said the hermit, with one of his
kindly, half-humorous glances, "and you know I _never_ break my
promises."
"Das true, massa, but you di'n't promise to wait for him for eber an'
eber!"
"Not quite; but of course I meant that I would wait a reasonable time."
The negro appeared to meditate for some moments on the extent of a
"reasonable" time, for his huge eyes became huger as he gazed frowningly
at the ground. Then he spoke.
"A `reasonable' time, massa, is such an oncertain time--wariable, so to
speak, accordin' to the mind that t'inks upon it! Hows'eber, if you's
_promised_, ob coorse dat's an end ob it; for w'en a man promises, he's
bound to stick to it."
Such devotion to principle was appropriately rewarded the very next day
by the arrival of the trading prahu in which the professor had embarked.
"We did not expect you nearly so soon," said Nigel, as they heartily
shook hands.
"It vas because zee vind freshen soon after ve set sail--ant, zen, ve
made a straight line for zis port, w'ereas you possibly crossed over,
ant zen push down zee coast."
"Exactly so, and that accounts for your overtaking us," said the hermit.
"Is that the lad Baso I see down there with the crew of the prahu?"
"It is. You must have some strainch power of attracting frondship, Van
der Kemp, for zee poor yout' is so fond of you zat he began to entreat
me to take him, ant he says he vill go on vit zee traders if you refuse
to let him follow you."
"Well, he may come. Indeed, we shall be the better for his services,
for I had intended to hire a man here to help to carry our things. Much
of our journeying, you see, must be done on foot."
Baso, to his great joy, thus became one of the party.
We pass over the next few days, which were spent in arranging and
packing their provisions, etcetera, in such a way that each member of
the party should carry on his shoulders a load proportioned to his
strength. In this arrangement the professor, much against his will, was
compelled to accept the lightest load in consideration of his liability
to dart off in pursuit of creeping things and "bootterflies" at a
moment's notice. The least damageable articles were also assigned to
him in consideration of his tendency at all times to tumble into bogs
and stumble over fallen trees, and lose himself, and otherwise get into
difficulties.
We also pass over part of the journey from the coast, and plunge with
our travellers at once into the interior of Sumatra.
One evening towards sunset they reached the brow of an eminence which,
being rocky, was free from much wood, and permitted of a wide view of
the surrounding country. It was covered densely with virgin forest, and
they ascended the eminence in order that the hermit, who had been there
before, might discover a forest road which led to a village some miles
off, where they intended to put up for the night. Having ascertained
his exact position, Van der Kemp led his followers down to this
footpath, which led through the dense forest.
The trees by which they were surrounded were varied and magnificent--
some of them rising clear up seventy and eighty feet without a branch,
many of them had superb leafy crowns, under any one of which hundreds of
men might have found shelter. Others had trunks and limbs warped and
intertwined with a wild entanglement of huge creepers, which hung in
festoons and loops as if doing their best to strangle their supports,
themselves being also encumbered, or adorned, with ferns and orchids,
and delicate twining epiphytes. A forest of smaller trees grew beneath
this shade, and still lower down were thorny shrubs, rattan-palms,
broad-leaved bushes, and a mass of tropical herbage which would have
been absolutely impenetrable but for the native road or footpath along
which they travelled.
"A most suitable abode for tigers, I should think," remarked Nigel to
the hermit, who walked in front of him--for they marched in single file.
"Are there any in these parts?"
"Ay, plenty. Indeed, it is because I don't like sleeping in their
company that I am so anxious to reach a village."
"Are zey dangerows?" asked the professor, who followed close on Nigel.
"Well, they are not safe!" replied the hermit. "I had an adventure with
one on this very road only two years ago."
"Indeed! vat vas it?" asked the professor, whose appetite for anecdote
was insatiable. "Do tell us about it."
"With pleasure. It was on a pitch-dark night that it occurred. I had
occasion to go to a neighbouring village at a considerable distance, and
borrowed a horse from a friend--"
"Anozer frond!" exclaimed the professor; "vy, Van der Kemp, zee country
seems to be svarming vid your fronds."
"I have travelled much in it and made many friends," returned the
hermit. "The horse that I borrowed turned out to be a very poor one,
and went lame soon after I set out. Business kept me longer than I
expected, and it was getting dark before I started to return. Ere long
the darkness became so intense that I could scarcely see beyond the
horse's head, and could not distinguish the path. I therefore let the
animal find his own way--knowing that he would be sure to do so, for he
was going home. As we jogged along, I felt the horse tremble. Then he
snorted and came to a dead stop, with his feet planted firmly on the
ground. I was quite unarmed, but arms would have been useless in the
circumstances. Suddenly, and fortunately, the horse reared, and next
moment a huge dark object shot close past my face--so close that its fur
brushed my cheek--as it went with a heavy thud into the jungle on the
other side. I knew that it was a tiger and felt that my life, humanly
speaking, was due to the rearing of the poor horse."
"Are ve near to zee spote?" asked the professor, glancing from side to
side in some anxiety.
"Not far from it!" replied the hermit, "but there is not much fear of
such an attack in broad daylight and with so large a party."
"Ve are not a very large party," returned the professor. "I do not zink
I would fear much to face a tiger vid my goot rifle, but I do not relish
his choomping on me unavares. Push on, please."
They pushed on and reached the village a little before nightfall.
Hospitality is a characteristic of the natives of Sumatra. The
travellers were received with open arms, so to speak, and escorted to
the public building which corresponds in some measure to our western
town-halls. It was a huge building composed largely of bamboo
wooden-planks and wicker-work, with a high thatched roof, and it stood,
like all the other houses, on posts formed of great tree-stems which
rose eight or ten feet from the ground.
"You have frunds here too, I zink," said Verkimier to the hermit, as
they ascended the ladder leading to the door of the hall.
"Well, yes--I believe I have two or three."
There could be no doubt upon that point, unless the natives were
consummate hypocrites, for they welcomed Van der Kemp and his party with
effusive voice, look and gesture, and immediately spread before them
part of a splendid supper which had just been prepared; for they had
chanced to arrive on a festive occasion.
"I do believe," said Nigel in some surprise, "that they are lighting up
the place with petroleum lamps!"
"Ay, and you will observe that they are lighting the lamps with Congreve
matches--at least with matches of the same sort, supplied by the Dutch
and Chinese. Many of their old customs have passed away, (among others
that of procuring fire by friction), and now we have the appliances of
western civilisation to replace them."
"No doubt steam is zee cause of zee change," remarked the professor.
"That," said Nigel, "has a good deal to do with most things--from the
singing of a tea-kettle to the explosion of a volcano; though,
doubtless, the commercial spirit which is now so strong among men is the
proximate cause."
"Surely dese people mus' be reech," said the professor, looking round
him with interest.
"They are rich enough--and well off in every respect, save that they
don't know very well how to make use of their riches. As you see, much
of their wealth is lavished on their women in the shape of ornaments,
most of which are of solid gold and silver."
There could be little doubt about that, for, besides the ornaments
proper, such as the bracelets and rings with which the arms of the young
women were covered, and earrings, etcetera,--all of solid gold and
native-made--there were necklaces and collars composed of Spanish and
American dollars and British half-crowns and other coins. In short,
these Sumatran young girls carried much of the wealth of their parents
on their persons, and were entitled to wear it until they should be
relegated to the ranks of the married--the supposed-to-be unfrivolous,
and the evidently unadorned!
As this was a region full of birds, beasts, and insects of many kinds,
it was resolved, for the professor's benefit, that a few days should be
spent in it. Accordingly, the village chief set apart a newly-built
house for the visitors' accommodation, and a youth named Grogo was
appointed to wait on them and act as guide when they wished to traverse
any part of the surrounding forest.
The house was on the outskirts of the village, a matter of satisfaction
to the professor, as it enabled him at once to plunge into his beloved
work unobserved by the youngsters. It also afforded him a better
opportunity of collecting moths, etcetera, by the simple method of
opening his window at night. A mat or wicker-work screen divided the
hut into two apartments, one of which was entirely given over to the
naturalist and his _materiel_.
"I vil begin at vonce," said the eager man, on taking possession.
And he kept his word by placing his lamp on a table in a conspicuous
position, so that it could be well seen from the outside. Then he threw
his window wide open, as a general invitation to the insect world to
enter!
Moths, flying beetles, and other creatures were not slow to accept the
invitation. They entered by twos, fours, sixes--at last by scores,
insomuch that the room became uninhabitable except by the man himself,
and his comrades soon retired to their own compartment, leaving him to
carry on his work alone.
"You enjoy this sort of thing?" said Nigel, as he was about to retire.
"Enchoy it? yes--it is `paradise regained!'" He pinned a giant moth at
the moment and gazed triumphant through his blue glasses.
"`Paradise lost' to the moth, anyhow," said Nigel with a nod, as he bade
him good-night, and carefully closed the wicker door to check the
incursions of uncaptured specimens. Being rather tired with the day's
journey, he lay down on a mat beside the hermit, who was already sound
asleep.
But our hero found that sleep was not easily attainable so close to an
inexhaustible enthusiast, whose every step produced a rattling of the
bamboo floor, and whose unwearied energy enabled him to hunt during the
greater part of the night.
At length slumber descended on Nigel's spirit, and he lay for some time
in peaceful oblivion, when a rattling crash awoke him. Sitting up he
listened, and came to the conclusion that the professor had upset some
piece of furniture, for he could hear him distinctly moving about in a
stealthy manner, as if on tip-toe, giving vent to a grumble of
dissatisfaction every now and then.
"What _can_ he be up to now, I wonder?" murmured the disturbed youth,
sleepily.
The hermit, who slept through all noises with infantine simplicity, made
no answer, but a peculiar snort from the negro, who lay not far off on
his other side, told that he was struggling with a laugh.
"Hallo, Moses! are you awake?" asked Nigel, in a low voice.
"Ho yes, Massa Nadgel. I's bin wakin' a good while, larfin' fit to
bu'st my sides. De purfesser's been a-goin' on like a mad renoceros for
more'n an hour. He's arter suthin', which he can't ketch. Listen! You
hear 'im goin' round an' round on his tip-toes. Dere goes anoder chair.
I only hope he won't smash de lamp an' set de house a-fire."
"Vell, vell; I've missed him zee tence time. Nevair mind. Have at you
vonce more, you aggravating leetle zing!"
Thus the unsuccessful man relieved his feelings, in a growling tone, as
he continued to move about on tip-toe, rattling the bamboo flooring in
spite of his careful efforts to move quietly.
"Why, Verkimier, what are you after?" cried Nigel at last, loud enough
to be heard through the partition.
"Ah--I am sorry to vake you," he replied, without, however, suspending
his hunt. "I have tried my best to make no noice, but zee bamboo floor
is--hah! I have 'im at last!"
"What is it?" asked Nigel, becoming interested.
"Von leetle bat. He come in vis a moss--"
"A what?"
"A moss--a big, beautiful moss."
"Oh! a moth--well?"
"Vell, I shut zee window, capture zee moss, ant zen I hunt zee bat with
my bootterfly-net for an hour, but have only captured him zis moment.
Ant he is--sooch a--sooch a splendid specimen of a _very_ rar' species,
zee _Caelops frizii_--gootness! Zere goes zee lamp!"
The crash that followed told too eloquently of the catastrophe, and
broke the slumbers even of the hermit. The whole party sprang up, and
entered the naturalist's room with a light, for the danger from fire was
great. Fortunately the lamp had been extinguished in its fall, so that,
beyond an overpowering smell of petroleum and the destruction of a good
many specimens, no serious results ensued.
After securing the _Caelops frithii_, removing the shattered glass,
wiping up the oil, and putting chairs and tables on their legs, the
professor was urged to go to bed,--advice which, in his excitement, he
refused to take until it was suggested that, if he did not, he would be
totally unfit for exploring the forest next day.
"Vy, it is next day already!" he exclaimed, consulting his watch.
"Just so. Now _do_ turn in."
"I vill."
And he did.