With the Dyaks of Borneo: A Tale of the Head Hunters

by F. S. Brereton

"We will keep in rear," said Tyler, calling John Marshall to his side. "Take the tiller, my lad, and keep her in the centre of the stream. I will go with Li Sung, and will arrange to have a sail or two bent. There will be no difficulty either, for many are hanging in their places half-furled."

"And what wind there is is down-stream," added the boatswain. "Give the sheets a pull to bring 'em tight, and then get the darkies to shy a bucket or two of water over the sails. It'll make 'em draw, and send us along bowling."

"I'll see what can be done about guns, too," went on Tyler, "for I fancy that we shall have to fight for it later on. But it will be a small affair compared with what we have had already, and somehow I don't seem to mind much."

"And I don't think no more of the idea than that," burst in the sailor, snapping his fingers. "I'm jest light-hearted, I am, and I keeps on a-roaring at the Dutchman. Lor', didn't he catch it!"

The honest fellow went to the tiller with a broad grin upon his features, looking a peculiar object indeed as he stood there in his strange garb of a Dyak. As for Tyler, it was a wonder that he did not see the ridiculous side of his appearance also, for the swim across the river had not improved his disguise by any means. In fact the merest glance was sufficient to show that he was no native, for long white streaks extended from his neck to his feet, while his face presented a mottled appearance. Then, owing to his swim across the river, and to the subsequent grovelling in mud and in the dust within the stockade, he had obtained a coating which matched but badly with the stain of the betel-nut, while his waist-cloth and turban were much discoloured. But he had no time for the subject, and indeed, when he looked toward the stern to see the boatswain in similar attire, he found nothing wrong, nothing out of the ordinary, and it seemed only what was to be expected to have a big raw-boned native there, watching the rigging with nautical eye, and standing at his tiller in a business-like manner which showed that he was a sailor born and bred.

"The sails first and the guns afterwards," said Tyler, running forward with Li Sung. "Get to work, like a good fellow, and take charge of one gang. I will do what I can with the other."

Thanks to the fact that the vessel had been sailed into the river, and that those who had captured her had not taken the trouble to strip her of her canvas, but had merely furled the sheets to the yards, the new owners of the schooner had little difficulty in setting a large amount of sail, so much so that ere long those on board the prahu were being overhauled, and seeing that their sweeps were no longer needed, prepared to come aboard.

"Make her fast to the stern and we will drop a ladder for you," shouted Tyler, Li Sung interpreting the order. "She may be useful to us later on, or I would have her scuttled. Now, how are the others doing?"

He turned his face down the river, and watched the other prahus which bore the tribe of Dyaks who had journeyed with him so far.

"Good!" he exclaimed. "My followers evidently understand all about vessels of that description, and they have them now fairly under weigh. Then the stream is helping them along, and as they are smaller and more easily manœuvred than this schooner, they should be able to keep well ahead. But we will see to that, and should any be lagging we will keep them company, for it would never do to leave them behind. How are they behaving at the pirate's stronghold?"