They had barely finished these preparations when a deafening noise announced the renewal of the attack by the courageous [[315]]besiegers who were shortly seen rapidly mounting the heights from the eastern side. The rifles were speedily discharged, but the enemy being well covered by the edge of the hill the result was trifling. In less than a moment they had appeared above the plateau and commenced the storming of the fort, utterly defiant of death. It was a real troop of heroes. But all their bravery could not break down the defence. Each head as it appeared above the palisades served as a target, and if occasionally a single one escaped from the well-aimed bullets to succeed in leaping into the enceinte, he was met by the lances and mandauws and mercilessly killed. In the meantime the rifle fire was uninterruptedly sustained through the loop-holes and caused heavy losses among the assailants. These still persevered, determined not to give way, displaying a devotion worthy of a better cause. Encouraging each other and hurling contemptuous epithets at the besieged, they mounted the parapet again and again, always with the same fatal result.
While the whole garrison of the kotta were devoting their attention to the repulse of this attack, La Cueille, who seemed to have his own plans, was directing his regards to another point. His bullets were still speeding forth, but his thoughts were elsewhere directed. At last he fancied that he heard some noise on the north side. He then quickly repaired to the exterior of the kotta, crept like a snake along the plateau as far as its edge, and looking over saw a dense mass of men silently mounting the hill through the cranny. He had guessed rightly; the real danger lay here. The assault from the other side was only a feint, a brave sacrifice of heroes, in order to give their companions [[316]]time and opportunity to accomplish their chief attack. As quietly as he had gone, La Cueille crept back, called Johannes and Wienersdorf, and ran to the kitchen to get a piece of burning charcoal, with which he set fire to the match. For a moment only, the Europeans saw the spark run along the ground to disappear through the palisades. They waited impatiently, but saw nothing more. The foremost of the enemies were already visible from the edge of the plateau. These leaped up, followed by others, until a hundred men were assembled on the top. Merciful Heavens! could the port-fire have become extinguished? that would be terrible. The Europeans opened fire upon the besiegers, but the number of the enemy became larger every moment, and they began to distribute themselves all over the plateau. The situation was becoming perilous, when, hark! there was a report so loud, so terrific, that for a moment besieged as well as besiegers stood motionless and horror-stricken. A fearful tongue of flame shot up from the ground as if a crater were opened; a thick cloud of smoke mounted to the sky, and one of the oscillating stones, lifted as if by magic, was seen to rise, drop from its support, topple over, and disappear thundering down the abyss. Before the assailants had time to account for this phenomenon, a second explosion took place and also hurled the other stony mass to the bottom. La Cueille’s mines, well laid and efficiently charged, had succeeded wonderfully. The huge piles rolling down the declivity caused terrible havoc among the climbers, dispersing them like chaff before the wind. Those already at the top fled in terror, their panic extending to the army engaged in the feigned movement on the eastern side. The [[317]]terrible destruction of their brethren filled them with consternation and led to the abandonment of their siege.
When the defenders of the kotta were able to estimate their losses they discovered that they had suffered considerably. Fourteen of the Kahajannese were found dead among a much greater number of Doessonese, and nearly twice as many were wounded. Not one of them hesitated to admit that, but for the timely arrival of our travellers, the result would have been immensely more fatal. La Cueille especially came in for a large share of admiration. He was a man who could dispose of thunder and lightning, making them rise from the earth to hurl upon their enemies mighty rocks which could only be lifted by Sangiangs. The Walloon, not being of a proud disposition, took this admiration with becoming modesty, though he was by no means disinclined to pose as a hero.
The Poenan chief now sent a couple of warriors to hail the rangkans which contained the women, while Johannes and a few Dayaks descended by means of the notched trees to fetch Schlickeisen and the four invalid Dayaks. Arriving below at the landing-place of the tomoi, they found that the rangkans in which their friend had been left, had disappeared. Four decapitated bodies of the Kapoeassers were lying on the bank, half in the water, with Schlickeisen’s gun near them, but of the Swiss himself there was not a trace. [[318]]
CHAPTER XVII.
PURSUIT—A BAND OF DOESSONESE SURPRISED—ON THE TRACK OF SCHLICKEISEN—HE IS SAVED—HARIMAOUNG BOEKIT MAKES A DISCOVERY—THE JOURNEY RENEWED—GOLD HUNTING—LA CUEILLE MAKES A FIND—BARTER WITH THE OLO OTTS.
This was indeed a terrible blow to Johannes. In nervous haste he examined the tomoi and the whole of its limited extent, without discovering anything further. He therefore rapidly ascended the Oepon Batoe and informed his companions of their misfortune. They all received the news with the deepest consternation, but Wienersdorf especially, with tears in his eyes, lamented the sad fate of his friend and countryman. It was certainly possible that he had saved himself by taking to the water. He was an expert swimmer, Wienersdorf said; but Harimaoung Boekit pointed to the wild and boiling stream and suggested that no human being could possibly swim across that torrent without being crushed to atoms a hundred times over, against the sharp and jagged rocks visible everywhere around. A third idea to which the Europeans clung, was that he had been carried away alive. This last would involve a terrible fate. They knew by experience how the surrounding natives [[319]]treated their prisoners of war. And when these Doessonese, who might be classed among the most cruel tribes of Borneo, should discover that their prisoner was a whiteface, what hope would remain to him? The idea alone was enough to terrify them. And yet Wienersdorf desperately stuck to this hypothesis. At least it left him and his friends the hope of being able to render some assistance—possibly to save the lost one. He therefore urged this opinion with all earnestness. Johannes also felt inclined to believe that. Schlickeisen had been taken prisoner, and true to his loyal nature he at once commenced to work for his deliverance. The first things to be determined were, which band of the enemy had captured him and whither he had been carried.
Harimaoung proposed to start for soengei Miri by the overland route. He and Amai Kotong called their warriors together, provided them with an ample supply of rice and as soon as the sun disappeared beneath the horizon the little troop of Dayaks and Poenans, accompanied by three Europeans, silently descended the hill and marched towards the north. While descending La Cueille had ample opportunity to notice the terrible effect of his recent stratagem. Human bodies completely flattened out were seen buried in the deep and hard ruts made by the rolling blocks of stone. Here a fractured skull, there a ripped chest or gaping abdomen, further on dissevered hands and feet—everywhere blood. It was a fearful sight. Even the hardened senses of the Dayaks were moved, and with looks of horror the woodmen turned aside to hasten on their route.
The path at the foot of the hill ran almost parallel to the [[320]]Kahajan. They marched on unflaggingly that night and the whole of the following day, without discovering any trace of the enemy. At sunset they halted at a convenient spot to take a few hours rest, after which the march was resumed with renewed energy.