THE CAPTAIN'S ASTOUNDING PROPOSITION
All the cabin party had their lines out, but not another fish was
caught. The place where they fished seemed to be a hole, and the water
was deep and clear. Perhaps Morris's struggle with the big fish had
scared the others away, for not another could be seen. The day was done,
and it was growing dark. It was decided to anchor where they were, and
spend the night there; and they hoped the fish would be in biting
condition the next morning.
Achang called the fish the gourami, or something like that; but beyond
this nothing was known about him. Louis, who was generally posted, could
tell his companions nothing about it. But Pitts had cut it up, and it
was fried for supper. The flesh was hard, and the flavor excellent.
There was enough of it for all hands, and the supper amounted to a
feast. A heavy thunder-shower made the evening very gloomy; but the
canvas roof and curtains of the Blanchita fully protected the party from
the rain, which fell in sheets for full two hours.
The next morning when the party turned out, the weather was as pleasant
as they could desire, and the air was cleared and freshened by the
shower. The first thing they did was to throw over their lines; for
they could see the fish through the clear water of the lake. In about as
many minutes they had hooked four fish, though not one of them was so
large as the one Morris had caught the evening before. But at that point
they ceased to bite, and not another nibble was had. Either the fish did
not like the looks of the boat, handsome as she was, which would have
been very bad taste on their part, or the struggles of those which had
been hauled in frightened them away. Very likely the fish could have
explained the reason for their sudden disappearance; but they did not,
and it remained a mystery.
They had an ice-chest on board, and Mr. Eng had replenished it at
Simujan. Pitts dressed the fish, and put them in the refrigerator. For
breakfast they had fresh pork, and it was much better than that they had
had before. They had learned to drink coffee without milk, for it was
not often that it could be procured away from the larger towns.
"I say, fellows, don't you think there can be too much of a good thing?"
asked Captain Scott at the head of the table.
"Of course there can be too much of a good thing; for a fellow might eat
ice-cream till his throat was frozen," replied Felix.
"Almost anything becomes a bad thing when you have too much of it,"
added Louis. "But I think we could have stood about four more of those
nice fish. What is the moral of all this, Captain?"
"With me the moral is that I have had hunting enough for the present,"
replied Scott. "I should like a little more variety in our daily life."
"I don't think I should care to go hunting more than one day in a week,
or, at most, two," replied Louis. "We have had it right along for a
week; and, as you suggest, that's too much of a good thing."
"But it was you, Louis, who went in for three weeks of it," added the
captain.
"Simply because I thought it would take the Guardian-Mother and the
Blanche about that time to visit Siam and French Cochin-China."
"I suppose if we had made our trip up these rivers in a sampan, we
should not have got so far inland in another week," added Morris.
"I don't think we should have come up here at all if the Blanchita had
not been available," said Louis. "But we are close to the mountains now,
and I am in favor of a tramp on shore."
"All right; and after breakfast we will get under way, for I must attend
to the navigation," replied Scott; "and I suppose Felipe has steam
enough by this time."
They left the table, and Scott went to the wheel. To save time and
trouble, the men took their meals in the after cabin, and the engineer
had the head of the table. Both Louis and Felix had run the engine of
the Maud a portion of the time on her memorable voyage from Funchal to
Gibraltar, and the former was sent to the engine-room. The boat went
ahead; and after passing through a section of pandanus, they came to an
open lake, which they judged to be five miles long.
The water was shallow, though deep enough for the steamer. The captain
opened the binnacle, and headed the Blanchita to the north. It was a
very quiet time, and the boat went along at her usual speed. In little
less than half an hour she reached the head of the lake; but there was
no convenient landing-place for a craft of her draught, and she was
anchored at a considerable distance from the shore. Achang and two of
the seamen were directed to attend the "Big Four," and they were landed
in the sampan.
Each of the cabin party took his fowling-piece, while Achang had a
rifle, and each of the sailors carried one, the latter to be used by the
young men if they were wanted. They had walked but a short distance
before they came to a steep precipice about twenty feet high, at which a
notched log had been placed by some former visitors, as they supposed;
but as soon as they had mounted it, they came upon a Dyak long-house,
which might have been better called a short-house, for it contained but
six doors, and therefore the tax upon the village need not have caused
any grumbling.
The dwelling was not now a novelty, neither were the Dyak men and
maidens; for the latter were not as pretty as several they had seen on
the river. They were very hospitable, and invited the party to enter
the house, which they did; but there was little to interest them there.
Achang talked with them, and the head man said they caught plenty of
fish in the lake, and they snared pigs, deer, monkeys, and other game.
He engaged a couple of guides for the mountains.
The game was plentiful, and the hunters shot several deer, a pig, and a
Malay bear; but they were not enthusiastic hunters, considering that
they had come to Borneo for that purpose. After a four hours' tramp they
all thought they had had enough of it. Felix declared that he preferred
to hunt cobras and tigers, for all the game seemed to be very tame to
him. Seating themselves on the ground, they rested for an hour, and then
started on their return to the boat. All the game was given to the Dyak
guides, who were very glad to get it. They swung it on a pole, and
trotted along with their load as though it had been no burden at all.
"They do that all day," said Achang. "Never get tired."
"They have load enough to feed the village for a week," added the
captain. "I should not care for the fun of feeding them another week,
for I find hunting here very tame business."
"My sintimints also," added Felix.
After a walk of another hour they reached the Dyak house, and the whole
population of the place followed them to the shore. They were filled
with wonder and admiration at the sight of the Blanchita, and went off
to her in their sampans. They were permitted to go on board; but when
Felipe fed the fire in the furnace, and the steam began to hiss, some of
them were frightened, and fled to their boats.
Dinner was all ready when the party went on board; and Achang was
instructed to send off the guests, for the boat was to get under way at
once. They got into their sampans; but they remained near the Blanchita,
evidently desirous to see her sail. They had not to wait long, for the
anchor was weighed, and the captain rang the gong. She went off at her
usual speed, and the Dyaks expressed their astonishment in various ways.
"Dinner all ready, gentlemen," said Pitts as soon as the steamer was
well under way.
"What have you for dinner, Pitts?" asked the captain.
"Baked fish, Captain, in two pieces; for he was too long to go into my
oven," replied the cook.
"All right. Take the wheel, Clingman, and make the course due south."
"Due south, sir," repeated the wheelman.
The party hastened to the after cabin; for they were hungry after their
long tramp, though they had taken a light lunch with them. The fish, "in
two pieces," was placed before the captain; while Pitts stood by his
side, ready to pass the plates, and hear any comments the captain might
make on the principal viand.
The odor from the steaming fish was emphatically agreeable to the hungry
hunters, and so was the soft divan to their tired legs. Scott helped the
members of the party to liberal portions of the dainty dish, and without
pausing for manners they began to partake. When the captain had tasted
the fish, he stopped short, and looked at Pitts. Then he reached out his
right hand to him.
"Your hand, Pitts!" and the cook took it, his face wreathed in smiles.
"You have cooked a dish here, Pitts, which is fit for any king on the
continent of Europe, to say nothing of Asia."
The rest of the party applauded vigorously, and every one of them,
following the example of the captain, took the cook by the hand, and
bestowed additional praise upon him; and Louis declared that he could
not have done better if he had served his time as a _cuisinier_ in the
Grand Hotel in Paris. But the most telling tribute to the skill of the
cook was in the amount consumed; and the captain expressed a fear that
the engineer and five seamen would have to "kiss the cook."
"It is only a woman cook that gets served in that way, and then not
unless she is good looking," replied Pitts, laughing. "But you need have
no fear, Captain, and the second table will have no occasion to kiss the
cook, even it were one of the pretty girls we saw at the long-house
below; for I have another fish in the oven, and it will be done by the
time they are ready for it."
"That's right, Pitts; look out for the men as well as you do for the
rest of us," added the captain. "Now, fellows, I am going to the wheel;
and I want to see all of you in the fore cabin, for I have something to
say, and we may have occasion to vote."
"Vote on what, Captain?" inquired Felix.
"There is no motion before the house, Flix; and when morning comes the
sun will rise, not before," replied Captain Scott.
As soon as a plum-pudding had been disposed of, the party hastened to
the fore cabin; for their curiosity had been excited by what had been
said. The captain took the wheel; and Louis went to the engine, though
he could hear what was said while near enough to the levers to act in
case of need. Scott had brought from his berth in the after cabin a
blue-colored roll, which all understood was a chart, though of what sea
they did not know.
"Now, fellows, I have come to the conclusion that we are all tired of
paddling about the muddy rivers of Borneo," the captain began, after he
had scrutinized the compass in the binnacle. "I have said so before;
though I have not enlarged on the subject, or spoken half as strongly as
I might. The rest of you may not take my view of the situation; but I do
not ask you to do so, and I hope you will all speak out just what you
think, as I have done, and shall do stronger than before. We want
something that is not quite so tame as shooting pigs and crocodiles at
thirty-six cents a foot."
"I am quite of your opinion, Captain," added Morris. "I don't think
there is any more fun in shooting orangs, for we are not naturalists nor
scientists of any sort. If we had brought a naturalist with us, we
should have done better."
"I have had enough of it for the present; but we have two weeks yet
before the ship will come to Kuching for us, and what are we to do
during that time?" said Louis, walking a little nearer to the wheel.
"That is precisely the conundrum I intend to guess on the present
occasion, and for which I have called this meeting without consulting
Mr. Belgrave," replied Captain Scott, giving the wheel to Morris, with
the course, and unfolding the blue roll. "The Guardian-Mother will go to
Saigon before she comes back to Sarawak. That is about a two days' run
for her. From Sarawak, or the mouth of the river, the distance is five
hundred sea miles. Now, to flash it on you all at once, I propose to
sail in the Blanchita to Point Cambodia, where the ship will pick us up
as she comes down the Gulf of Siam. Now I am ready to hear you all
groan."
"It looks like a risky voyage in such a craft as this steam-launch,"
said Louis, when there was a prolonged silence.
"I wish you all to look over the chart of the China Sea; this meeting is
adjourned to the after cabin at four o'clock, and you may do your
groaning there."
The men soon came out of the after cabin, and Pitts was busy removing
the dishes and putting everything in order. At the time stated, the
party were seated around the table in the after cabin, ready to consider
the captain's astounding proposition.