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

by F. S. Brereton

"A grand suggestion, and one which we will put in practice," exclaimed the leader, snatching at the chance of avoiding further danger. "Stand quiet, all of you, and listen as I shout to them. Above there!"

Once more he placed his hands to his mouth, so as to make the sounds carry farther, and called to those in hiding. But there was no answer, though he repeated the words on four occasions.

"Then I will say what I have to say to the rock, well knowing that they will hear," he cried, seeing that his call had been ignored. "Above there! You who are in hiding on the rock, and who have killed four of my men, I give you warning that we will kill you, as you deserve, if you resist us again. For the loss which you have caused your lives are forfeit, and I call upon you to come down to us and suffer the penalty. Failing that we will drag you down by the neck, and then you shall learn what it is to lose a life with difficulty. Come, we wish you no worse than those others whom we have captured on former occasions. Come down and let the matter be ended."

It was strange to hear his quaint suggestion, and at another time Tyler would have been amused at the naïveness of it. But danger threatened now, and life was at stake. As Li Sung interpreted the message, word for word, a feeling almost of fear assailed our hero, and his heart sank at the prospect of early death. Then, remembering that he and his companion were as yet unseen, and that they might still do as well as formerly, his spirits rose, and he turned to the Chinaman with a smile upon his face.

"We will lie like mice and make no move. At least that is what I say. For you, Li Sung, you may issue from our hiding-place if you wish, and descend. For myself, the idea of being beheaded is sufficient to make me fight like a tiger and until I am killed."

"And for me, too, massa. De Chinee boy been wid de Malays, and he know dat dey not tink de same of life. A man am happy in dis world, but when him dead he happier still, so dey say. And when de time come for choppee de head, dey kneel wid a laugh on dem lips, and dey die easy. Chinamen am de same, but Li velly different. He not likee to lose de life, for he havee little wife and child in Singapore."

"Then we will stay quietly here and await events. Those fellows will scarcely dare to return to Rembas and tell their comrades that they have been defeated by two men alone, and for that reason they will remain till they see that their case is hopeless. That will suit us well, for we can easily beat them off, and if only we can defer the arrival of reinforcements till night has fallen, we shall have a better chance of escape. But what are they doing?"

Thrusting his head as close to the boulders as was possible, he peered through the narrow opening and watched the party of pirates with interest. As for the latter, the fact that their extraordinary demand had met with no reply, and that silence alone had followed, filled them with astonishment; for these Malays, with their comrades of the Dyak race who had thrown in their lot with the men of the sea in place of tilling the soil as did so many of their people, had a peculiar code of their own, and held life in such little esteem that, as in China, it was almost possible to buy a reprieve for one about to die by paying for a substitute. Fate was fate to them, and when all was lost, when sickness came, and when capture seemed imminent, it was a simple and an easy way to step forward to meet the inevitable, and to pass from the world with as little trouble as possible. Then was this not a desperate case? Could those above who were hidden on the rock hope to escape? Absurd! They were cornered, and sooner or later, and in any case within an hour or two, they would be captives, and their fate would be upon them. Then why go to the labour of putting it off? Why not come down and end the matter, so that these men might return to the opposite shore and prepare to meet the foreigners who were about to enter the river? Extraordinary though the idea was, it was in keeping with the upbringing of the Malays and the Dyaks, for they, like the Chinese, thought nothing of death, and met their end for the most part with a smile upon their faces. However, on this occasion the pirates had foes to deal with of a different stamp, and finding that no answer came to their warning, they collected together again to discuss the situation.

"The day advances, and soon the noonday heat will be upon us," said their leader in tones of vexation. "Let us put an end to this matter at once, and then return to Rembas. It is plain to all that the dogs who killed our friend will keep to their lair till we hunt them out, and that being the case, we will rush to the attack again. Keep your eyes open and fixed well above you. Your hands and feet will be sufficient to allow you to choose a good path."

He turned to look each of his men in the face, and then, seeing that none of them held back, he did as his dead comrade had done when leading the first charge, and having placed his kriss between his teeth came at the rock at a fast run, hoping to scale it rapidly.