He killed the game with the third shot, and Felix finished the last in sight with the second. Achang had brought out his formidable weapon, and the six dead reptiles were decapitated. The last three killed were each nine feet long, while the one Louis had shot was fourteen. The heads were all put in the sampan, and they made a full load for it. The Blanchita arrived at Kuching early in the afternoon, and the chief of police measured the heads, and took the figures from Felix. He made one hundred and eight feet of crocodile, which the official approved as correct, and paid not quite forty dollars for the bounty.
CHAPTER VI
THE VOYAGE UP THE SADONG TO SIMUJAN
The money received for the heads of the crocodiles was in the hands of Felix, who was the clerk of the captain on board the ship, and it was proper to make him purser of the Blanchita. What to do with it was the next question. Louis's advice was asked for, and he promptly suggested that it should be divided into ten parts, and a share given to all but himself; and this was done. He refused to accept a penny, but all the others received about four dollars apiece.
The money was all in silver, as it is all over India and the Archipelago for general use. The engineer and the seamen shared with the four hunters; for the former had done all the work and some of the shooting. The steamer was made fast at the shore, and all hands except Pitts landed for a walk through the town. Their first visit was to a fruit-store kept by a Chinaman; and most of the shops in the place were in the hands of the Celestials.
Bananas and oranges were the principal, though there were also nearly all the tropical fruits in season. Many of the party purchased useful articles in other places. They had learned in Singapore and Batavia how to deal with Chinese traders, and they seldom gave even more than one-third or one-half of what was demanded. After diligent search Achang found a certain Dyak tool he wanted,—a sort of axe, which Lane, the carpenter's assistant, ridiculed without mercy.
The young men visited the English Mission, where they were kindly received, and went to the school. The American missionaries are also active in Borneo, and one of them has made a vocabulary of the Dyak language.
It was decided to start down the river the next morning on the way to the Sadong and Simujan Rivers, the latter being a branch of the former. In the early morning, as the hands were casting off the fasts, two Malays came alongside in a sampan, and asked to be towed to the Sadong. Achang had some talk with them, and made the request of the captain for them. He learned that they were engaged in the business of catching crocodiles for the reward.
"They don't shoot crocodiles, and they have no rifles," added Achang.