“They were tried by court-martial; but before the conclusion of the trial that famous amnesty was proclaimed which granted a free pardon to all concerned in the rebellion with few exceptions. Those exceptions were good and worthy men who had only been defending themselves against oppression, and they were denied the grace extended to robbers and murderers! Our desperadoes were liberated on the sole condition that they [[58]]should report themselves once a week at the nearest military station. I never heard our Colonel curse and swear as he did when the two came the first time to report themselves to him. ‘Oh!’ he cried, after their backs were turned, ‘if I could have foreseen this wretched farce those wretches would never have entered the fort alive.’ And every well-disposed person will coincide with him.” [[59]]
CHAPTER V.
ON THE JOURNEY—A PREVENTIVE AGAINST MOSQUITOES—THE SOENGEI BASARANG—THE KAPOEAS—PAST POELOE KANAMIT—THE BOAR’S HEAD—A TRUE DAYAK MEAL—FOUND IN THE WOOD—A PANGARERAN PUTTING OUT FISHING-HOOKS—THE CAPTURE OF A CROCODILE—THE SOENGEI MANTANGEI—FIGHT WITH A BOA CONSTRICTOR—A SKIRMISH—THE JOURNEY RESUMED.
The journey was resumed as soon as the Dayaks had stored away the gathered rattan in their boat and the tide had sufficiently risen to float her from the mud-bed. They had at first to struggle against the same obstacles that had beset them in the morning, but at length reached a branch of the soengei Basarang; and although the difficulties in their way were still numerous, the men could now resume their places in the boat and continue their course. They rowed on all night and when next morning the sun appeared above the horizon they were entering the soengei Basarang.
Dalim proposed to stop here until night had fully set in again, when they might reach the Kapoeas in a few hours. All concurring, the travellers hid their boat among the thick shrubs overhanging the banks and prepared and ate their meal.
When they had finished the repast the Dayaks put a small [[60]]tea-pot on the fire, the contents of which they subsequently proceeded to rub over their bodies. Some also drank a few mouthfuls of the brew before disposing themselves to sleep. Johannes enquired what the liquor was and why they used it. He was informed that it was a decoction of brotoali, a species of cactus which was a safeguard against the mosquitoes. No person who drank a few cups of this mixture in the morning would be troubled by those horrible insects. Similar impunity could be secured by washing the exposed parts of the body with it. The Europeans complained of their disturbed slumbers of the preceding night and the Dayaks willingly allowed them to try the native remedy. As a consequence, sound sleep was that night enjoyed by the entire party.
About midnight Dalim, who was on guard, woke them up; the canoe was pushed in mid-stream and carefully guided through the soengei. Close to the mouth our fugitives observed an open space in the forest surrounded by some charred trunks of trees, which had been placed to command the soengei as well as the main stream. They were the remains of a Dayak fort built along the borders of that river. It was the first fortification raised after the outbreak of the insurrection on the south coast of Borneo.
All the while that the fugitives were sailing out of the soengei Basarang they carefully scanned the broad surface of the waters of the river. Only a few lights were visible in the south-east, and the dark outlines of the fortress at the mouth of the Kapoeas. Nothing else was perceptible to the naked eye. The river was safe and with strong efforts they pursued their journey. [[61]]
But alas! after their two days’ travelling they were now only at the same spot whence they had originally started. If there, where those lights shone so brilliantly, it were only known how near the reach of their guns the fugitives were! But all remained silent; the fortifications continued lost in the gloom; the midnight calm was only disturbed by two beats of a gong indicating two A.M., and the low cry of the sentries which proved that however quiet everything appeared to be, the necessary vigilance was not neglected.