The girls now presented a very different appearance from before: they thronged round us, most of them with carefully-washed faces, and requested us to remember their commissions. Some wanted thread and needles, others looking-glasses and combs. As we did not intend to reascend the mountain, we, in return for the neat little baskets of tobacco with which they presented us, made a distribution among them of all our surplus warm clothing, and their delight was great; and Lemoung’s daughter took so great a fancy to my comb and brush that, though unwilling, I was obliged to part with them.
When we started next morning, crowds of friendly faces were around, and a troop of girls walked with us part of the way; and on our leaving them at the crown of the hill, they insisted upon our repeating the promise to visit them again. The good impression we made upon these villagers may be of service to future travellers. We stopped at Koung for the night, as many of our followers were ill, or suffering from falls received on that unlucky day on the summit of Kina Balu. We made the old chief’s heart glad by presenting him with one of our tents, and such goods as we could spare.
A hundred years ago, it was reported that the Ida’an were in the habit of purchasing Christian slaves of the pirates, in order to put them to death for the sake of the heads. If it were ever true, I believe it is not so now, as we never noticed dried skulls in any of their houses, except at Tamparuli; and if they had been given to any such practice, the Bajus, who never missed an opportunity to malign them, would have mentioned the subject to us.
As we were anxious to get our large collection of plants as fast as possible to the vessel, we pushed on next morning by the direct route to Buñgol and breakfasted there, and, notwithstanding heavy rain, continued our journey to Kalawat.
Next day we reached Si Nilau, to find that poor Sahat was dead of cholera, and that his companion had disappeared. We inquired about him, but could hear nothing. We asked for the rice that they had left here, but the owner of the house denied having any; though one of our guides discovered hidden away in a corner all the goods belonging to Sahat and the missing man. The thief finding himself discovered, ran into a neighbouring house and began to beat the alarm signal on a drum, and in a very short time the neighbouring villagers were seen collecting in arms; but hearing the cause of the disturbance they dispersed, saying the English might settle with the old thief as they pleased. However, on inquiry, finding our missing follower was safe, we merely warned the villager and continued our journey.
On arriving at Bawang we heard the distressing intelligence that cholera was in possession of all the villages. We met processions on the river: old women, dressed up like the priestesses among the Land Dayaks of Sarawak, were chanting and beating gongs, and on the banks of the stream were erected altars, round which gaily-dressed women were dancing with a slow, measured step.
We were surprised at the wealth displayed by the family of the old Datu of Tamparuli. There were silks, and gold brocade, and a large amount of gold ornaments. We arrived late, having walked in one day what had taken us three in our advance to the mountain.
During the night we were disturbed by the cries of some of the inmates of our house, three of whom where suffering from attacks of cholera, and the only remedy they appeared to apply was water from the sacred jars, though they endeavoured to drive away the evil spirits by beating gongs and drums all night. Three people had died the previous day, but when we left in the morning the sufferers I have before mentioned were still alive. We had no medicines, not even a glass of spirits, to give them.
Next morning we walked over to Pañgeran Sirail’s to breakfast, as our friends at Tamparuli were so much taken up with the awful visitation which had come upon them as to be unable to attend to anything else. In fact, though exceedingly hungry after our hard walking, we could not last night purchase anything for our dinner, and had to content ourselves with plain boiled rice. The Malay chief, however, was very hospitable, and soon procured us fowls, and sent off to Pañgeran Duroup for canoes to take us across the lake. On our arrival at Gantisan we found the cholera had left it, though not before it had carried off thirty-seven victims.
Signor Cuarteron came to visit us, and we kept him to dinner; but, in the evening, the south-west monsoon commenced blowing so heavily, that it was impossible for him to return to the vessel, and this was merely a commencement of what we had to expect. In the morning, however, it cleared up a little, and we landed to visit Pañgeran Madoud. He was erecting a very substantial-looking wharf, nearly a hundred yards in length, to enable people to get ashore at all times of tide, and he intended it partly to give protection to very small trading prahus during the south-west monsoon. It was a grand work for a Malay to conceive, and, although not constructed in a way likely to be very lasting, it was a good commencement. The Pañgeran had established himself in a very comfortable house, and in his audience hall had a large table and many chairs. He was very curious to hear everything connected with the great mountain, and begged, laughingly, for a single seed of the lagundi fruit, that his youth might be restored to him. We found Kamis, the negro, looking very sad in the stocks, but he got off with a very slight punishment; but, as a warning to others, we refused to receive the deserters on board, and let them return in a native prahu.