One of them has its under side decorated with
transverse sections of beautiful scarlet alternating with black.
Ah Sewey, the photographer, was also an efficient man, but at first we had
immense difficulty with the developing. One cannot count on water cooler
than 75 F., and at that temperature the films come out well, but in the
beginning many plates were spoiled. For the photographer in the tropics
the use of formalin is an absolute necessity. He must also face other
difficulties, avoiding among other things the possibility of having his
films, when drying, eaten by small species of grasshoppers.
CHAPTER IV
AN EXPEDITION INTO THE JUNGLE - FIRST IMPRESSIONS - RAPID CHANGE IN THE
DENSENESS OF VEGETATION - ANIMAL LIFE - A STUBBORN FIGHT
About the middle of January, I began an expedition into the utan, as the
Malays call the great jungles of Borneo, first going up the river half a
day and from there striking inland toward the north. If circumstances
proved favourable, I intended to travel as far as Bengara, about twelve
days' trip for a Dayak with a light burden to carry. In case of
unfavourable weather and too much delay in getting fresh provisions, I
felt that I should be satisfied in penetrating well into a region not
before visited by whites, where I might succeed in coming into contact
with the shy nomads, called Punans, known to roam there in limited
numbers. To this end I had taken along one of the Sultan's petty
officials, a so-called raja, who exercised more or less control over the
Punans. This man, evidently half Malay and half Dayak, and as nude as the
rest, demanded to be waited upon by the other natives, who even had to put
up his hair. He was lazy; he would not be a raja if he were not. If he
were on the move one day, he would sleep most of the next.
Among my twenty-two Kayans was an efficient and reliable man called
Banglan, the sub-chief of Kaburau, who was alert and intelligent. He had
only one hand, the result of a valorous fight with a crocodile, by which
his prahu (native boat) had been attacked one day at dawn in a small
tributary of the river. The animal actually upset the prahu and killed his
two companions, in trying to save whom with no weapon but his bare hands,
he lost one in the struggle. In their contact with the crocodiles the
Dayaks show a fortitude almost beyond belief. A Dutch doctor once treated
a man who had been dragged under water, but had the presence of mind to
press a thumb into each eye of the reptile. He was badly mangled, but
recovered.
As long as we remained at a low altitude camping out was not an unalloyed
pleasure, because the tormenting gnats were exasperating, and at night the
humidity was great, making the bed and everything else damp. The
atmosphere was heavy and filled with the odor of decaying vegetable matter
never before disturbed. In the morning at five o'clock, my hour for
rising, there was considerable chill in the air. It was difficult to see a
star here and there through the tall trees and dense undergrowth that
surrounded us as closely as the walls of a cave.
The stagnant atmosphere and dark environment, which the sun's rays vainly
attempted to penetrate, began to have a depressing effect on my spirits.
After a couple of nights spent thus, a longing for sunshine came over me
and I decided to stay one day, make a clearing, dry our belongings, and
put up a shelter in which to leave some of our baggage; all of which could
not be carried up the hills.
I told the raja and Banglan that I wanted the sun to shine into the camp,
and the men immediately set to work with cheerful alacrity. The Dayaks
have no rivals in their ability to make a tree fall in the desired
direction. First, by carefully sighting the trunk, they ascertain the most
feasible way for the tree to fall, then they chop at the base with native
axes, sometimes four men working, two and two in unison. In a remarkably
brief time it begins to weaken, the top making slight forward movements
which are followed by a final sharp report announcing the end of their
labour.
Quickly noting that they were masters in their craft, I permitted them to
fell forest giants in close proximity to our tents, some of which landed
but half a metre distant. Immense specimens in their fall brought down
thickets of creepers and smaller growths which produced big openings, so
we succeeded in making quite a sunny camp in the dark jungle.
Since that experience I have made it an invariable rule in my travels to
cut a small clearing before putting up my tent in the jungle. Sometimes
the felling of one or two trees will ameliorate the situation
immeasurably, admitting fresh air and sunlight, and there is little
difficulty about it when one is accompanied by such able and willing men
as the Dayaks. For their own use when travelling they make simple shelters
as night approaches, because they dislike to get wet. The material is
always close at hand. Slender straight poles are quickly cut and brought
in to make frame-work for a shed, the floor of which is about half a metre
above ground. The roof is made of big leaves, and in less than an hour
they are comfortably at home in one or more sheds, grouped around fires on
the flimsy floor.
