After a while the first portion of the rapids was safely surmounted, and a basin of calmly flowing water was reached. But this was not far, it afforded a breathing space before the next difficult point was reached, a perpendicular fall of ten feet. Here was a portage; provisions, arms, and ammunition had to be carried by land, and the boats hauled over sixty feet of a steep rocky incline, covered with water when the river was full, but now left dry. In the process, however, a good many of the boats went to pieces, and the crews had to be partitioned among the others.
This was followed by another fall, that had to be surmounted in the same way. "This last was a terrible job, and at every foot gained, I thought my coffin would have gone in two, as she creaked piteously. But at last we gained the summit of the first rapids. Here we stopped, as the crews required rest, and the sun was piercingly hot." The whole length of this first rapid is four miles, and the breadth of the river six hundred yards. Not one third of the force had as yet surmounted it, and some were discouraged and made no attempt to do so.
KAYAN MORTUARY.
Next day, the 3rd, the Tuan Muda's thirty-fourth birthday, the coffin was advancing up stream where the river was broken up by islets and running between them, like a mill race, followed by the boat containing Mr. Cruickshank and Mr. Stuart Johnson, when, in punting, it was driven against a submerged rock and at once began to fill. Seizing his gold watch and chain, the Tuan Muda sprang into the water and swam to the boat that followed and was taken in; but provisions, the Tuan Muda's sword, spyglass, rugs, etc., all new from England, were irretrievably lost, and the whole crew were boatless; for the coffin was whirled down the stream.
"4th.—We advanced again as usual, and after about an hour's hard pulling and many ropes, the stream became smooth and deep, and no more rocks were in sight. The reaches were long and straight, with a steady current of two and a half knots. The land was level without being swampy, and the soil appeared to be a rich yellow loam. What land for agriculture! and it extends for miles."
They were now on the fringe of the Kayan country, and they came on the remains of the house of the chief Akam Nipa, which he had deserted. The enemy had retired before the advancing force, and not one had as yet shown himself; though a small party, consisting of seven men, that had gone into the jungle hunting, three days before, thinking that the Kayans had all retreated, had incautiously lain down to sleep, when they were captured, tortured slowly to death on the spot, and then decapitated.
On the 6th, the Tekok rapids were encountered, and another abandoned Kayan village passed. The hills now began to show, and the river to flow over rocks and between bluffs. Had this spot been held by the enemy, it would have been most difficult to pass, but they had considered it best to retreat.
On the 7th, the abandoned village of the Sekapans[[284]] was reached and committed to the flames. There, farming grounds with the jungle freshly cut were found on both sides of the river. The scenery was very beautiful, but there was very little cultivation. The bays are sometimes five hundred yards in width, giving the appearance of a landlocked lake rather than a running river. The height of the hills varies under a thousand feet. Many fruit trees were on the bank.
"We were pulling with all our sinews, having continued it since morning, when at 3 P.M. we descried a sampan manned by a crew dressed in various colours, steering for us. They brought news of the enemy being fortified in a house[[285]] round the next point, and on the leading boats approaching they were fired into, and some were killed and others wounded. The enemy's house was already surrounded, they said, but every time our fellows advanced some were shot down.