Johannes then stepped on shore while the others sat ready, rifle in hand, to cover the retreat of their friend. He soon returned to inform them that the fortification was empty. With the exception of two Dayaks left behind to guard the boat the whole party now leaped ashore. The Europeans immediately closed and barred the gate at the back of the fortification. Three of them kept a sharp lookout so as to prevent a possible return of the garrison; while Johannes, accompanied by Dalim and the others, made a thorough survey of the place. They confiscated the cartridges and powder which they found, and assisted by their hirelings carried them to the canoe. They also took possession of the four small guns and forty rifles which formed the armament of the garrison.
After the fortification had been thoroughly examined and a [[140]]few more trifles had been seized, including some baskets of tobacco, Johannes took a piece of burning wood and thrust it among a heap of fagots stowed away under a shed. In a short time the fire spread and our adventurers had to make all haste in order to reach their boat and convey it out of danger into the middle of the stream. A few djoekoengs belonging to the fort, which they found moored in a neighboring creek, were incontinently scuttled and sunk. They then resumed their journey, leaving the fortification burning fiercely, the flames illuminating the stream and converting night into day.
“Aha!” Johannes said cheerfully, “this is an illumination in honor of our escape.”
“But is not that illumination an act of folly?” Wienersdorf asked. “Was this attack upon the garrison necessary? I think we could have passed on without hindrance or molestation, and that incendiarism might have been avoided.”
“Incendiarism!” Johannes said angrily. “You express yourself rather strongly! No, it was impossible to avoid it; the point of concentration of these people had to be removed and they themselves compelled to fly. No, I adhere to my assertion that under the circumstances the capture of this fortification and its destruction were comparatively necessary.”
Although Johannes spoke with earnest conviction, he could not know that this raid would have another and more direct influence upon their escape. He only realized the immediate results of his calculations; but at that very moment another danger greater than the one just overcome was preparing for them. [[141]]
Our readers will remember that on the day after the departure of Damboeng Papoendeh, the commander at Kwala Kapoeas ordered the chief of the district to be ready with fifty armed Dayaks to accompany him on an expedition to the upper Kapoeas.
The state canoe belonging to the fort, a handsome, fleet and roomy vessel, was made ready and provisioned; and at the appointed hour the Colonel set out. His parting instructions to the doctor urged the necessity of being always on the alert, and of keeping him continually informed of every important event occurring during his absence.
His first visit was to soengei Naning, but he failed to obtain any trustworthy information. At the approach of the handsome kaloeloes, as the state barge is called in the Dayak tongue, carrying the Dutch flag on its bow and manned by a large number of oarsmen, Ali Bahar flew to the wilderness. His wife was duly interviewed, but she was so terrified at this visit that all the kind and conciliating language addressed to her by Tomonggong Nikodemus Djaja Nagara failed to elicit any important information. She, however, persisted in declaring that no whitefaces had been seen by her.
An attempt was then made to hunt up Ali Bahar in the wilderness, but this proving unsuccessful the Colonel resolved to continue his journey.