In the meantime Moendoet had taken a handful of tobacco, infused it for a couple of minutes in some boiling water and with the lotion thus formed bathed the neck of her sweetheart. The leeches dropped off and their wounds soon healed, to the great satisfaction of the Walloon.
“Henceforth we shall often be plagued with these pests,” Johannes said, “and I think it will be wise to have some tobacco water ready in our flasks for possible emergencies.”
“Shall we have to pass many cataracts?” Wienersdorf enquired.
“A great many; perhaps four to-morrow. But why this question?”
“Because we shall then have to wash ourselves four times at least with this tobacco sauce. We shall be perfumed like the bowl of a German pipe.”
“Very likely,” Johannes laughed, “but fortunately we don’t [[265]]want to make our entrée de salon, or perhaps you are anxious lest Hamadoe will be disgusted with you? Don’t feel alarmed, she is quite accustomed to tobacco.”
By the time the cable had been drawn in, the sun had also finished his course and unceremoniously disappeared in the west behind the forest. Our men and especially the Dayaks and Poenans had had a fatiguing day and longed for some rest. They consequently resolved to pass the night in the immediate neighborhood. The rangkans were tied to a projecting tree, leaving them room enough to float in mid-stream. The women and children were lodged within them, ten of the men occupying one at each end as a safeguard. One of the men in each canoe was told off to mount guard, while the others of the crew were divided into two equal watches, posted along the banks of the river opposite the rangkans.
The four deserters joined this party, two of them in each watch, one to keep lookout while the others rested.
Their precautions were excellently taken and showed the solicitude felt by Johannes for their general welfare. The night however passed by undisturbed. Early in the morning Schlickeisen noticed a creaking sound coming from the forest bordering the banks. He kept a sharp lookout and observed a herd of about fifty deer, led by a handsome buck with a magnificent pair of antlers, coming down the slopes to drink from the crystalline river water. While the herd was drinking their leader stood posted on the top of the bank whence he could overlook the surrounding country. There he remained, sniffing the air and pricking up his ears, offering a fair mark to the Swiss, who proceeded to take [[266]]good aim and fired. His first movement, however, had alarmed the stag; the noble animal suddenly threw his horns back on his neck, uttered a loud cry and took his first and last leap. Tumbling from the steep height he rolled into the water and would undoubtedly have been carried out of reach had he not struck against one of the rangkans and become entangled among the lines.
The rest of the herd had suddenly disappeared.