My stay in British North Borneo - Visit to a Tobacco Estate (Batu
Puteh) - Start for the Birds'-nest Caves - News of the Local
Chief's Death - Applicants for the Panglima-ship - We Visit the late
Chief's House-Widows in white - The Hadji "who longed to be King" -
Extraordinary Grove of Banyan-trees - Pigs, Crocodiles and Monkeys -
Astonishing Swimming Performance of a Monkey - Water Birds Feeding
on the Carcase of a Stag - The Hadji and his Men pray at a Native
Grave-shrine - An Elephant charges past us - Arrival at the Caves
- The Entrance - A Cave of enormous Height, description of the
Interior - Return to the Village - Visit to the Upper Caves -
Beautiful Climbing Plants - We reach the Largest Cave of all:
its Extreme Grandeur - "White" Nests and "Black" Nests secured -
Distinctions between the two kinds of Swallows by whom the Nests are
made - Millions of small Bats: an Astonishing Sight - Methods of
Securing the Nests described - Perilous Climbing Feats - Report
of numerous Large Snakes - Cave-coffins, and their (traditional)
rich contents - Dangers of the Descent - All's well that ends well.
I had just returned down the river with Richardson from
Tangkulap. Tangkulap is a journey of several days up the Kinabatangan
River in British North Borneo. Richardson was the magistrate for this
district, and his rule extended over practically the whole of this
river, Tangkulap being his headquarters. Only three or four white men
had ever been up the river as far as Tangkulap, it being a very lonely
spot in the midst of dense forests, with no other white man living
anywhere near. I had stayed with him for two months, making large
natural history collections and seeing a great deal of both native
and animal life. We had then returned down the river in Richardson's
"gobang" (canoe) to Batu Puteh, a large tobacco estate, and the
only one on this river. Here we were the guests of Paul Brietag, the
manager, a most hospitable German. He and his three German, French,
and Dutch assistants were the only other white men on the whole of
this great river.
While here, Richardson and I determined to visit the wonderful
Gomanton birds'-nest caves, from which great quantities of edible
birds' nests are annually taken. Very few Europeans had ever visited
them, though they are considered among the wonders of the world.
We left Batu Puteh in Richardson's canoe early one morning, and,
although we had a strong stream with us going down, we did not reach
Bilit till evening. Bilit is a large village made up of Malays,
Orang Sungei, and Sulus. Quite a crowd met us on our arrival, and
they seemed not a little excited. It appeared that their late Panglima
(chief), who was also a Hadji, had been on a second voyage to Mecca,
and they had just heard that he had died on his way back. "That was
quite right," they said; "his time had come, and, besides, it had
been foretold that he would die if he tried to go to Mecca again."
Two men were most anxious to gain favour with Richardson - viz., the
dead man's son and another Hadji, who was the richest man in Bilit,
and who had a large share in the Gomanton caves. The reason was that
Richardson had the power to appoint whom he liked as the new Panglima,
provided, of course, that the man was of some standing and fairly
popular. Richardson sent for one of the most influential men in the
village to come and talk the matter over, but he lived on the other
side of the river, and, it being late, they said he dared not cross
in his small "gobang," as the crocodiles are very bad indeed here,
and at night they often help themselves to a man out of his canoe. We
went to the late Panglima's house and had a chat, but nothing was said
about the new Panglima. I caught sight of one of the widows swathed in
white, going through all sorts of contortions by way of mourning for
her late husband. We found that the people were going to the caves in
two or three days to collect the black nests. The white nests had been
collected earlier in the year, but the influential Hadji "who would
be king" offered to go with us on the morrow and start work earlier
than he at first intended if his dreams were favourable, and thus
we should be able to see them at work collecting the nests. Here was
luck both for ourselves and the Hadji: it meant a step in his hopes
of the much-desired Panglima-ship by thus gaining favour with the
magistrate over his younger rival. He was a tall, haughty-looking man,
with an orange-coloured turban, worn only by Hadjis, and the people
seemed to stand in great awe of him and addressed him as "Tuan" or
"Tuan Hadji," the word "Tuan" being usually used only when addressing
Europeans like ourselves; still, his house in which we spent the night
was little better than a pigsty, although he was a very wealthy man.
The next morning we were off before sunrise. After leaving the
village we had a walk of about an hour and a half over a very steep
hill through luxuriant, tall forest, and on the other side came to a
small river, the Menungal, on the banks of which was a shed full of
"gobangs" (canoes) which were speedily launched, we both getting into
the leading one. We were followed by three others, in one of which was
the Hadji. Most of the way was through fine forest, the trees arching
overhead to shade us from the hot sun, the only exception being when
we passed through a stretch of swamps, with low, tangled growth, when
the river broadened out, but in the shady forest it was delightful,
gliding along to the music of the even dip of the paddles.
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