Our return was easy, as the river had risen enough to cover all the rapids, so that their presence was only marked by the increased velocity of the water; but when we joined the Limbang it became more sluggish, and after Sungei Damit its speed had lessened from five knots to one knot per hour.
These preliminary expeditions accomplished, having heard that I could procure Murut guides, I determined to explore the main stream of the Limbang, which evidently penetrated a long distance into the interior. The ostensible object of the expedition was to reach those Muruts who formerly lived upon the Adang, one of the tributaries of the Limbang, but had now been driven away beyond the mountains by repeated attacks of the Kayans. This was very vague information, but it was the best I could procure.
The Bornean Government, on hearing of my intention to start, was filled with uneasiness, and earnestly requested me to forego my intention. The Sultan and Pañgeran Tumanggong were especially anxious, as they feared some accident would happen; they talked of the head-hunting Kayans, the wandering Pakatans with their poisoned arrows, the interior filled with strange aborigines who had never seen a white man or even a Malay, and the dangers of the river that imperilled our boats, and the wanderings in the jungle that threatened starvation. The last two were especially dwelt upon, as they reminded me of my former misadventure in returning from Molu. They little thought that their descriptions of the interior (from hearsay) only added to my desire to be away exploring. I knew that all the threatened dangers really existed, but I determined to take every precaution, and trust the rest to that fortune which had ever befriended me in my former journeys.
It being uncertain how long I might be away, it was necessary to take a large supply of food and ammunition. We prepared two boats, and both were heavily laden; the first was a garei, a long canoe with raised sides and regular timbers, forty-five feet by five, flat-bottomed, not drawing above eighteen inches, with all her crew and stores on board. She was commanded by a man I have often had occasion to mention, Musa, a native of the Philippines, not above five feet one inch in height, but sturdily and strongly built. The crew consisted of ten men, half of whom were tried followers. An accompanying tender, containing six men, was only suited for smooth water, being totally unfitted for the rapids we should find in the interior, but it was our intention to change it when we reached the Murut villages.
In this boat was Japer, the most remarkable man of the whole party. I met him at the village of Blimbing during my first attempt to ascend Molu, and he was full of stories. I learned that he belonged originally to the wandering Pakatans, but had been converted to Islamism. He appeared to have been quite a traveller, having visited Penang, Malaka, Batavia, and Sarawak. He was familiar with the English conquest of Java, and talked fluently of Lord Minto. I had been so accustomed to look upon the great French war as a thing of the past, that I could scarcely bring myself to believe that this man could have seen Lord Minto at Malaka or Penang in 1811, but considering he was at least sixty-three when I first saw him in 1857, there was really nothing surprising in it.
He also abounded with accounts of Molu; having been at its base several times, though he had never attempted to ascend it. But he told us stories of the dwarfs who inhabited the caves, of big eggs which ten men could not lift; but what particularly fixed the attention of his native audience was the account of a sight witnessed by a Tutong man. He said that one day he was seeking edible nests in holes round the base of the mountain, when, being tired, he fell asleep in a cleft in the side of a large cavern. He was awoke by lights flashing in his eyes, and peering from his hiding-place, saw a long procession of supernatural beings pass slowly by him, each carrying a torch, and there was one to whom they all paid respect. He was too frightened to remember the particulars, but he thinks they were dressed in flowing robes.
Some of my men were in hopes these fearful stories would have deterred me from my design to explore the mountain; but on my offering a reward to any one who would take me to the cave where these wonderful sights were seen, they saw ghosts did not daunt white men.
I took with me, also, my Chinese boy, Ahtan, to cook and wait upon me; he had behaved so well during our Kina Balu expeditions that I liked him to follow me.
As we might meet enemies we prepared a good stock of arms and ammunition. I took two double-barrels, one rifle, and one smooth bore—for general service in Borneo the latter is the best weapon of all—a single-barrelled rifle, an Adams’s revolving carbine, and a revolving pistol; for the men four long carbines, and a dozen flint muskets; the last we found much too heavy for carrying through the forests, and too cumbersome for boats.
Not knowing what kind of people we might meet, I embarked merchandise of many kinds—hatchets, cloths (yellow, black, red, and white), looking-glasses, agate and common beads; in fact, four times as much as was necessary. My instruments, tents, and baggage, were both weighty and occupied much room, so that when the crew entered the boat, with five-and-twenty days’ provisions on board, its gunwales were not many inches above the water.