Four Young Explorers Part 8

They were picking up poles where they could find them, and cutting saplings, which they dropped with a single blow of the biliong. In a few minutes they had constructed a rude framework on crotched sticks, driven into the soft ground, with a platform of poles on the top. On this one of the two men mounted with his biliong, with which he began his work with a blow at the tree about four feet above the level of the ground.

The other Malay brought from the sampan a couple of spears, a parong latok, and a bundle of ropes and rattans.

"Do they use the sumpitan in Borneo now, Achang?" asked Louis.

"Not Dyaks, Mr. Belgrave; Kyans use it; shoot poison arrows; sure death; very bad."

The sumpitan is a kind of blow-gun, like the "bean-blower" formerly used by American boys, which was a tin pipe, or the "pea-shooter," an English plaything. It was used, it is said, by the Dyaks in former times; but recent travellers do not mention it as used by them. It is about eight feet long, and less than an inch in diameter, made of very hard wood, skilfully and accurately bored, and smoothed inside.

The parong latok, already described, is a heavy sword. It has a head, sometimes carved as an ornament, so that it cannot slip from the hand.

At about one-third of its length from this head, it bends at an abrupt angle of about thirty-five degrees, and it makes a very ugly-looking weapon.

"I suppose you all know that a mias is an orang-outang," said Louis. "No doubt the weapons carried up to the tree are to be used in killing the game when the tree comes down. We could easily bring down both; but we won't fire at them, for I think we are all curious to see how the Malays will manage the affair. The chopper has already made a big cut in the tree, and I doubt if Lane could have done the work any quicker."

The carpenter did not say anything, but no doubt he was greatly surprised at the rapid progress the native made with the biliong. He had cut the tree more than half-way through the trunk; and it was evident that he intended it should fall towards the river, for the second Malay was clearing away the ground on that side so that they might have a fair field for the fight that was to ensue. The chopper attacked the other side of the tree, and seemed to deal his blows with even more vigor than before.

The old orang kept up a constant growling. She had a nest just above the limb where she sat, which was quite green, indicating that it had been recently built. It was composed of the branches of the tree small enough to be easily broken off by the "jungle man." They were simply placed in a heap on the limb, with no particular shaping of the resting-place.

"She makes a new nest when the branches of the old one get dry; she like a soft bed," said Achang. "But the tree will come down now; big fight, they kill her."

He had hardly spoken these words before the tree suddenly toppled over, and fell upon the ground with a heavy crash. The orangs seemed to have no idea of what was going on at the foot of the tree, and they were pitched out. The chopper seized one of the spears, and rushed after the old one. The tree prevented the party on board the yacht from seeing the expected battle; and with their rifles in their hands, the "Big Four"

sprang ash.o.r.e, and secured a favorable position. The crew followed them, though the engineer remained at his post.

The first Malay, who had done the chopping, had confronted the orang, and they stood facing each other. Suddenly the animal made a spring towards her enemy, and was received on the point of his spear. The orang was wounded, but this only increased her wrath, and she made a furious onslaught upon the man; but the spear was too much for her, and she was wounded again.

The orang opened her mouth, and showed a terrible double row of teeth flanked by four long tusks. They were enough to intimidate one unaccustomed to the creature's appearance. She made repeated attempts to reach her enemy; but the spear, very adroitly handled, foiled her every time, and gave her a new wound. This sparring, as it were, was kept up for some time, and the Americans wondered that the Malay did not drive his weapon to the heart of the infuriated animal. Doubtless he would have done so if he could; but the orang had hands as well as feet, and she grasped the spear every time it punctured her skin, and seemed to prevent it from inflicting a fatal wound.

It was a mystery to the observers how the Malay contrived to detach his weapon from the grasp of the orang, though he did so every time. But at last the brute seemed to change her tactics, or she got a better hold of the spear; for she suddenly snapped the weapon into two pieces as though it had been a pipe-stem. Deprived of his arm, the Malay ran a few rods.

The orang is very clumsy on its feet, and she could not catch him. The man only went a few rods to the place where the parong latok had been placed, and with this weapon he returned to the attack.

The skirmishing with this weapon continued for some time longer, and the beast was wounded every time she attempted to get hold of her opponent.

In the meantime the other Malay had not been idle. He used no deadly weapons, but subst.i.tuted for them a long cord he had brought from the sampan. He made a slip-noose in one end of it, and was trying to catch the young one. It might have run away if it had been so disposed, but it seemed to be determined to stay by its mother.

"He wants you, or needs your skill with the la.s.so, Captain Scott," said Morris, recalling the feats with the la.s.so of the commander.

"He is doing very well, and he handles the line well," replied Scott.

"Now he has him!" he exclaimed, as the Malay pa.s.sed the cord over the head of the young orang, and hauled it taut around his neck.

With the line he dragged the orang to a sapling near the fallen tree, and, with other lines he had left there, tied his hands and feet together, and fastened him to the small tree.

He had hardly secured his victim before a yell from the first hunter startled him, and he ran with his la.s.so and a spear to his a.s.sistance.

The old one, badly wounded by the sharp weapon of her enemy, had suddenly dropped upon all fours, and crawled to the man; seizing him by his legs, she set her villanous teeth into the calf of one of them. It looked as though the human was to be the victim of the brute.

The Malay, howling with the sharp pain, slashed away with all his might at the hind quarters of the orang; but she did not relax her grip on his leg. His companion arrived at the scene of the conflict. He dropped his la.s.so then, and began to use his parong latok. After he saw that blows with the weapon accomplished nothing, he plunged the blade into the body of the brute several times in quick succession. These stabs ended the battle. The orang rolled over, and then did not move again.

Both of the human combatants then walked down to the Blanchita, one of them limping badly. They showed their wounds, and through Achang asked to be "doctored." Pitts had some skill as a leach, and the medicine-chest was in his care. He laid out the patient with the wounded leg, washed the wound, and then applied some sticking-plaster to the lacerated member, after he had restored the parts to their natural position. Then he bandaged the leg quite skilfully, so as to keep all the parts in place. The hands of the other were covered with sticking-plaster and bandaged.

With the a.s.sistance of the seamen, the carca.s.s of the old orang was dragged down to the river, and put in the sampan of the Malays. The young one was as ugly as sin itself, and tried to get at the men to bite them. Finally Clingman stuffed a piece of rope into his mouth, and tied it around his head so tight that he could not shut his mouth. He was mad, but he could not bite. He was put into the sampan, and made fast there.

The yacht got under way again, and with the Malay sampan in tow, headed down the river. The tide was running out at a mill-stream pace, for the water in the stream had risen far beyond its usual level. Achang shook his head as he looked at the rapid outward flow of the water; but the steamer went at railroad speed, and the boys enjoyed it hugely.

"What is the matter, Achang?" asked the captain, as he observed the uneasy movements of the Bornean as the yacht approached the junction with the Sadong.

"Have bore soon; better go no farther," replied the native. "Upset all boats and sampans."

Captain Scott ordered the helmsman to go to the sh.o.r.e, and there the painter of the Malay sampan was cast off, and her men got to the land.

"There it goes up the Sadong!" cried Achang, as he pointed to the broad stream.

A wave, estimated to be about ten feet high, fringing, curling, and lashed into foam, and roaring in its wrath, rolled up the river. It struck two small sampans, upset them, and spilled the men in them into the angry, boiling waters. With less fury it rolled up the Simujan, and Scott rushed to the wheel himself. He "faced the music," and headed the yacht into the wave. She rose some feet in the air at the bow, and pa.s.sed over it. She was too far from the banks to be thrown ash.o.r.e, and no harm was done.

These bores are not uncommon on the Sadong; and they were not a new thing to those on board of the Blanchita, for they had seen one in the Hoogly at Calcutta; but even Scott, who was a bold navigator, would not have cared to be in the river when a wave ten feet high swept on his craft.

CHAPTER VIII

A PERFORMANCE OF VERY AGILE GIBBONS

The cabin party went on sh.o.r.e and breakfasted with their Chinese friend, who had invited them to the meal the evening before. It was a very pleasant occasion, and it occupied half the forenoon. The host gave them useful information, and listened with interest to their account of the battle with the orang-outangs. When they left the house they found the two Malays who had been their companions in the morning waiting for them.

One of them presented a tarsier to Scott. It was a very pretty and curious little creature, belonging to the monkey tribe. It had very large eyes, and was certainly very cunning. It appeared to be playful, but his new owner got a nip from its teeth which warned him to be careful. The most curious part of the animal was its legs, the hind ones being much the longer.

Its five slender toes ended in what looked like b.a.l.l.s, which proved to be flat, and acted like the foot of a fly, retaining by suction its hold upon the tree where it lived. The spine of its neck was so constructed that it could describe a circle with its head. Its long hind legs enabled it to leap like a kangaroo.

The other Malay brought with him a flying dragon, a king of lizards, said to be the reptile from which the fables of the original dragons originated. It has a pair of membranes with the semblance of wings, with which it sustains itself in the air in its leaps from one tree or branch to another, as the flying-fish does in its flights over the water.

The party took leave with many thanks of the Chinese agent, and promised to visit him on their return from up the river. Louis stated that they wanted to kill one full-sized orang-outang, for the one killed by the Malays was so cut up and chopped in the fight that she was not in condition to be stuffed and kept as a good specimen.

"You will find them on the Simujan, but hardly anywhere else in the island except in this vicinity, on the Sadong, Batang Lupar, and their branches," replied the agent. "The orangs have been hunted so much, especially by naturalists, that they are becoming scarce; and they are likely to become extinct, for the scientists are looking for the 'missing link,' as they call it."

The speaker laughed as he made the last remark; and it was evident that he was not a Darwinian, or at least that he had not followed out the theory of evolution. Taking their places in the yacht, the captain gave the order to cast off the fasts, the boat stood up the river, and soon pa.s.sed the scene of the morning's conflict.

"Gibbons!" exclaimed Achang, pointing to a portion of the forest where the trees were spa.r.s.ely scattered.

There were half a dozen of them, and they seemed to be engaged in a frolic. This ape has been described in a former volume, for it is abundant in Sumatra. Louis wished to observe the movements of the animal, which has very long arms, is wonderfully agile, and a gymnast of the first order. It could travel all over Borneo where forests exist without touching the ground, pa.s.sing from tree to tree in long leaps.

The boat was stopped in the river, in order to permit the party to witness the exhibition which was in process, without the payment of any admission fee.

Every branch was a trapeze, and no troupe of artists could compare with them in the agility of their movements. Their long arms appeared to be the key to their marvellous feats, for their legs were comparatively short, and for the size of their bodies the animals possessed immense strength.

"If some enterprising manager of a theatre devoting himself to athletic exhibitions could secure the services of the half dozen gibbons which are giving us a free show, he would make his fortune in our country,"

said Louis. "Don't try to see them all at once, but watch that fellow on the right."

The one indicated grasped a horizontal branch with his hands, his arms looking like the ropes of a swing. He was swaying to and fro with great rapidity, apparently trying to see how fast he could go, for he put a tremendous amount of vigor into his efforts. In an exhibition hall he would have "brought down the house," and would certainly have received an "_encore_."

Suddenly, while he was swinging at a dizzy speed, he let go his hold upon the branch, and seemed to be flying through the air; but with his fingered feet he seized another branch, not less than forty feet from the first, and, with his long arms extended to the utmost, continued to swing in this inverted position. The observers were so delighted with this skilful performance that they applauded l.u.s.tily by clapping their hands. The noise did not disturb the performers, and the actor that had so distinguished himself appeared to put even greater vigor into his movements.