"Just what some Englishmen who were here a while ago said, and perhaps you are right; but it is a Malay art, and not English."
The party slept very comfortably on bedsteads that night, but they were up before the sun the next morning.
CHAPTER VII
A SPIRITED BATTLE WITH ORANG-OUTANGS
The civilized people of Simujan were not stirring when the party came from their chambers. Felipe had steam up at half-past five, for the captain intended to begin the ascent of the river; but he did not care to leave without bidding adieu to the kindly agent. But they got under way at his order, and ran up the river for a morning airing. The boat had not gone more than a mile when the young men discovered a sampan containing two Malays paddling with all their might for the shore.
They had no guns, and could not shoot their game, whatever it was; but each of them had a biliong. This was the implement Achang had bought in Sarawak. It looked something like a pickaxe with only one arm, the end of which was fashioned like a mortising chisel, and was used as an axe.
The edge of the chisel portion was parallel to the handle; but Achang explained that the Dyaks had another kind of biliong, with the cutting part at right angles with the handle, and this was used as an adze. While Lane, the carpenter, was ridiculing the tool, the Malays on shore moved to a tree in sight of the steamer, which had stopped her screw close to the sampan.
"They are going to cut down a tree with the biliongs," said Achang. "Sometimes do that to get the game."
"They couldn't cut down a tree a foot through with those things in a week!" exclaimed Lane.