Unfortunately,
After A Few Days I Became Ill With A Low Fever Which Produced
Excessive Lassitude And Disinclination To All Exertion.
In vain I
endeavoured to shake it off; all I could do was to stroll quietly
each day for
An hour about the gardens near, and to the well,
where some good insects were occasionally to be found; and the
rest of the day to wait quietly at home, and receive what beetles
and shells my little corps of collectors brought me daily. I
imputed my illness chiefly to the water, which was procured
from shallow wells, around which there was almost always a
stagnant puddle in which the buffaloes wallowed. Close to my
house was an enclosed mudhole where three buffaloes were shut up
every night, and the effluvia from which freely entered through
the open bamboo floor. My Malay boy Ali was affected with the
same illness, and as he was my chief bird-skinner I got on but
slowly with my collections.
The occupations and mode of life of the villagers differed but
little from those of all other Malay races. The time of the women
was almost wholly occupied in pounding and cleaning rice for
daily use, in bringing home firewood and water, and in cleaning,
dyeing, spinning, and weaving the native cotton into sarongs. The
weaving is done in the simplest kind of frame stretched on the
floor; and is a very slow and tedious process. To form the
checked pattern in common use, each patch of coloured threads has
to be pulled up separately by hand and the shuttle passed between
them; so that about an inch a day is the usual progress in stuff
a yard and a half wide. The men cultivate a little sirih (the
pungent pepper leaf used for chewing with betel-nut) and a few
vegetables; and once a year rudely plough a small patch of ground
with their buffaloes and plant rice, which then requires little
attention until harvest time. Now and then they have to see to the
repairs of their houses, and make mats, baskets, or other
domestic utensils, but a large part of their time is passed in
idleness.
Not a single person in the village could speak more than a few
words of Malay, and hardly any of the people appeared to have
seen a European before. One most disagreeable result of this was
that I excited terror alike in man and beast. Wherever I went,
dogs barked, children screamed, women ran away, and men stared as
though I were some strange and terrible cannibal or monster. Even
the pack-horses on the roads and paths would start aside when I
appeared and rush into the jungle; and as to those horrid, ugly
brutes, the buffaloes, they could never be approached by me; not
for fear of my own but of others' safety. They would first stick
out their necks and stare at me, and then on a nearer view break
loose from their halters or tethers, and rush away helter-skelter
as if a demon were after them, without any regard for what
might be in their way. Whenever I met buffaloes carrying packs
along a pathway, or being driven home to the village, I had to
turn aside into the jungle and hide myself until they had passed,
to avoid a catastrophe which would increase the dislike with
which I was already regarded. Everyday about noon the buffaloes
were brought into the villa, and were tethered in the shade
around the houses; and then I had to creep about like a thief by
backways, for no one could tell what mischief they might do to
children and houses were I to walk among them. If I came suddenly
upon a well where women were drawing water or children bathing, a
sudden flight was the certain result; which things occurring day
after day, were very unpleasant to a person who does not like to
be disliked, and who had never been accustomed to be treated as
an ogre.
About the middle of November, finding my health no better, and
insects, birds, and shells all very scarce, I determined to
return to Mamajam, and pack up my collections before the heavy
rains commenced. The wind bad already begun to blow from the
west, and many signs indicated that the rainy season might set in
earlier than usual; and then everything becomes very damp, and
it is almost impossible to dry collections properly. My kind
friend Mr. Mesman again lent me his pack-horses, and with the
assistance of a few men to carry my birds and insects, which I
did not like to trust on horses' backs, we got everything home
safe. Few can imagine the luxury it was to stretch myself on a
sofa, and to take my supper comfortably at table seated in my
easy bamboo chair, after having for five weeks taken all my meals
uncomfortably on the floor. Such things are trifles in health,
but when the body is weakened by disease the habits of a lifetime
cannot be so easily set aside.
My house, like all bamboo structures in this country, was a
leaning one, the strong westerly winds of the wet season having
set all its posts out of the perpendicular to such a degree as
to make me think it might someday possibly go over altogether.
It is a remarkable thing that the natives of Celebes have not
discovered the use of diagonal struts in strengthening buildings.
I doubt if there is a native house in the country two years old
and at all exposed to the wind, which stands upright; and no
wonder, as they merely consist of posts and joists all placed
upright or horizontal, and fastened rudely together with rattans.
They may be seen in every stage of the process of tumbling down,
from the first slight inclination, to such a dangerous slope that
it becomes a notice to quit to the occupiers.
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