Life in the forests of the Far East

Abstract

jang," or stone-roofed ; of a cataract formed by the whole river falling over a ledge of rocks for a depth of nine fathoms ; of the smooth water beyond this which stretched for a seven days' journey, flowing gently through a vast table-land ; of the tame goats without masters which thronged this region-but I could find no one who had seen any of these wonders-in fact, few Malays had passed Sungei Damit, a river about three days' journey from the capital.In the following September I went with a small party up the right-hand branch of the river, the Madalam, to endeavour to reach the lofty mountain of Molu, and found that one of the stories told by the natives had some foundation.We followed the Madalam till we reached the Trunan on the eighth day, up which we pushed, thinking it led to the base of the highest peak of Molu.We soon came upon limestone rock, and after a few miles were suddenly stopped by the river, I may say, disappearing.We found a rocky eminence before us, its sharp angles concealed by ferns and climbing plants falling in festoons around, and a luxuriant vegetation of trees, whose bark was coated with mosses, orchids, and other epiphytal plants.There was an arched cavern into which we pushed our boats ; at first we failed to find the inlet through which the stream entered, but at last, looking down into the clear water, we saw two huge holes below-the passages from whence the river came.We went round to the southern side of the rock, and there we found the river coming purling along to this lofty wood-crowned mass of limestone, and then enter- ing a spacious hall it was lost, descending, as it were, ' so that when the crew entered the boat, with fiveand-twenty days' provisions on hoard, its gunwales were not many inches above the water.* Trusan, means a passage connecting one stream with another, or a short cut joining two reaches of the same stream.VOL. II. 2 * I may remark liere that the map I had with me had been con- structed during my former journeys, and I verified it as I proceeded.* The Murut tribe, who formerly inhabited the Madalam branch of the Limbang, and occupied the country round the base of the mountain of Molu.* A pikul is 133yib.f A gantang is six pints.The natives know directly when the palm is ripe by the appearance of the flower, but if it be allowed to fruit, the whole pith is spoilt for the purposes of VOL.it.• 3Chinese on the Madihit.September 1st, 7 a.m.-The night continued fine till towards early morn, when the rain commenced, and still continues.The showers arc not very VOL.II. 4; had we continued ascending the Madalam, we should have found ourselves under the great peak.Prang, I have often referred to, and when lie saw the Kayan force descending the river, he ran to his guns and prepared to fire into them, hut the people in the foremost boat shouted out that if he would neither fire his guns, or beat the alarm signal, they would not meddle with his village, upon which he ordered his men not to interfere.The villagers of Baiat Ikan, inhabited by Muruts, trusting to the usual alarm signal, kept no watch, and were easily surprised.From time immemorial, it has been a custom among the inhabitants of these villages to beat an alarm on their gongs on the first appearance of an enemy, or when some great misfortune has happened.It puts the people on the alert, as when I lost my boat on a snag in the Madalam, the report spread I was drowned or in trouble, and the alarm signal was beaten, and I met a dozen boats coming to the rescue, or to inquire into the truth of the report.Makota's trick, referred to above, was this -The Kayans were in force at Sungci Damit (in 1855) when he arranged with their chiefs that on the pay- ment of a hundred pikuls of guns (700/.)they should retire.The Muruts collected a lanm amount, which Makota coolly kept for himself.The enraged Kayans fell upon a Tabun village above BatangParak, and carried it with great slaughter of men, women, and children.Having remained quiet the whole day, the men were in no way fatigued, and we sat late talking over these and other matters, and collecting words of the Adang language, which is, in fact, the same as that of the other Muruts.This is the tradition or history : they were, as usual, cruising down the Gulf of Siam, look- ing out for prey, wdien they observed a prahu, gaily DS646.3 .S14 v.

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