The Kenyahs (Oma-Kulit) who had
committed the outrage had been apprehended by the Company, as the
government is called by the natives. The brother of the chief of Long
Pelaban, who was with us fishing, three months previously had returned
from Samarinda, where he had spent one year in prison for having been
implicated in a minor way in this crime, while the main offenders were
serving labor terms of six years in Sorabaia, Java.
This report was confirmed by a Dutch officer whom I met a month later and
who came from Apo Kayan. The attacking Kenyahs were eighty in number, of
whom ten were punished. The affair took place in 1912 at a distance of six
hours, going down-stream, from Long Nawang. Though head-hunters are known
to travel wide and far, and distant Apo Kayan is not too remote for them,
nevertheless to me, as well as to Chonggat, the risks seemed unfounded;
however, there remained no alternative but for all of us to return to Long
Pelaban.
CHAPTER X
IN FOG AND DARKNESS - A RAID BY ANTS - DEPARTURE FROM LONG PELABAN - AN
EXCITING PASSAGE - RETURN TO TANDJONG SELOR
During April and the first half of May the weather was warm with very
little rain, though at times thunder was heard at a distance.
