the proposition of captain scott was certainly an astounding one, not unlike the daring of those men who have crossed the atlantic in a dory or in small sailboats; and so it struck the other members of the cabin party. scott was not a reckless navigator; and his companions had voyaged with him on stormy seas several times in the maud, though she was a better sea-going craft than the blanchita. she was decked over her entire length, so that she could be closed as tight as the inside of a barrel, while the steam-launch was an open boat.
scott did not regard the venture as an extremely perilous one, though he would not have thought of such a thing as crossing the atlantic in a craft like the blanchita, principally because she could not carry coal enough to render the trip a prudent risk. the distance from land to land was about five hundred miles, and the little steamer could easily make this distance inside of three days. but the captain must speak for himself.
"now, fellows, you can study the chart for yourselves," said he, as he put the point of his pencil on the mouth of the sarawak river. "if the blanchita[126] were a sailing-craft instead of a steamer, i should not have a moment's hesitation; for though she is not heavy and clumsy, she is very strongly built. i have looked her over several times, with this trip in my head."
"but she can be rigged as a sailing-craft, and has a short mast and a sail," interposed morris. "i talked with the rajah about her, and he told me that he had been out to sea in her. he said he had never had occasion to use the sail, but he carried it in case anything should happen to the engine."
"that betters the situation very materially," replied the captain. "if we have anything to depend upon if the engine should break down or the coal should give out we should be all right."
"there must be heavy seas out in the china sea," added louis, as he looked over the chart.
"we haven't seen any very heavy seas in any of these waters. the south-west monsoons prevail at this season of the year in these waters. i don't find any decided ocean current laid down on the charts of the southern and western portions of the china sea. they strike in at the eastward of java, and flow to the eastward of borneo, through the macassar strait," said scott, pointing out the direction on the chart.
"that looks favorable; and if there is any current to speak of, it runs in the direction of the monsoons, and therefore will not be likely to cause heavy winds."[127]
"if i thought the trip was a very dangerous one, i certainly should not propose to make it," added the captain.
"fish!" shouted clingman at the wheel.
in spite of their interest in the discussion, all the party rushed forward at this cry. the captain ordered the wheelman to stop her, though her headway kept her moving for some minutes after the screw ceased to revolve. the men baited the hooks as soon as fish were indicated. the boat had reached the locality where the catch of the day before had been obtained, and all hands were on the lookout. the lines were thrown over, and the fish bit quickly as soon as the steamer was at rest. in half an hour they had taken seven.
"keep her moving, clingman," said captain scott, as the party hurried back to the cabin to continue the discussion.
pitts dressed the fish, and put them in the ice-chest. achang had completed the skinning of the orang, and the skin was now drying in the sun. the voyage to siam or cambodia looked very much like an adventure, and the young men were deeply interested in it.
"i don't think we are likely to encounter any very heavy weather in the western part of the china sea," said captain scott, as he put his pencil on the chart again. "we may be overhauled by a typhoon."
"and what is a typhoon?" asked felix. "i[128] know it is some sort of a storm, and that is all i do know."
"there are different names for a storm in different parts of the earth," replied scott. "what is a hurricane in the west indies is a cyclone in the northern part of the indian ocean, and a typhoon in the china sea. they are all alike in substance, being revolving storms, in which the wind whirls around in a circle, and at the same time has a forward movement as a whole towards some point of the compass. but there are various signs which indicate the approach of a typhoon or a hurricane; and in these seas the barometer has to be watched constantly."
"i suppose we should be out of sight of land about all the time on the passage," suggested morris.
"not at all, my lad; for the first two hundred miles of the course we should not be out of sight of land half of the time, or only for a few hours at a time. now look at the chart, all of you. here we are at the mouth of the sarawak river. about a hundred miles west of that is cape datu, the most western point of borneo. then for two hundred miles there is a chain of islands extending to the north-west, which is our course. these are the natuna islands; the largest one takes the same name, and is forty miles long. there are several other small islands north of this one, and if the weather came on very bad we could make a lee under one of them."[129]
"channel, sir!" shouted clingman.
"i think you have got an idea of the whole thing, and we have a couple of days to think of it," said the captain, as he rose from his seat. "i will leave the chart here, and you can all study it."
scott went forward to the wheel. he had caused a red rag to be tied to the top of a screw-pine while the sampan was looking for a channel through the lake, and clingman had stopped the boat abreast of it. the captain took the helm himself; and he had carefully observed various marks, and obtained the bearings of the mountain, and other prominent objects which might assist him in taking the steamer through the shallow lake. he started her at once, and rang the speed-bell confidently, as though he had been through the lake a dozen times before.
it was sunset when the boat entered the narrow river, and they were called to supper. clinch was placed at the wheel. it was a good moon, and the boat continued on her course till she came to the dyak village where they had visited the long-house. she had been seen or heard as she approached; and the whole village was on the shore, including mr. eng.
"we are not going to lie up to-night," said captain scott when asked to land. "we are somewhat in a hurry to get back to kuching, and we shall run down to simujan this evening."
"i am going in the morning, captain," added the agent.[130]
"i will tow you down, and you can sleep on board if you wish."
"thank you; my men will come down with the sampans to-morrow, and i gladly accept your offer," replied mr. eng. "but i must first go over to the pangah."
"to what? will it take long?" inquired the captain.
"the pangah, or head-house of the village. i left my portmanteau there, and must get it."
"the head-house! may we go with you? for we did not stop to look at it when we were here before."
"certainly you may go with me; i will have some torches so that you can see it as well as in the daytime," replied the agent, as he started with the cabin party, attended by four dyaks who had come to the river with torches. "no head-hunting has been done for many years, as you are aware, and not many heads are on exhibition. in some villages you will find them by the hundred, though the people here were never much given to the barbarous practice. it was not necessary in this part of the island that a young man should get a head before a girl would accept him as her husband. here it is."
it was a circular building not far from fifty feet in diameter, with a conical roof. in the centre was a place for a fire, which was perhaps required in cleaning the abominable trophies of war or individual murders. all around the apartment was a sort of[131] divan, or bench, while over it were hung up the skulls, all nicely cleaned in the first instance, but now darkened by the smoke.
"this is the public building of the village, and the council when it meets has its place here for deliberation and action," said mr. eng, when he had pointed out what was to be seen in the building.
"rather a sombre place, i should say, for such a purpose," suggested louis.
"when you got used to the skulls you would not mind them any more than you would any other dry bones," laughed the agent. "i slept here last night, and the young men and boys lodge here. if you were to remain over night, young gentlemen, you would be quartered here; for it is the home of the stranger who visits the village."
"then, i should be very thankful that we had a cabin in our steamer," replied louis. "but there is no accounting for tastes."
the agent gave his baggage to a dyak, and the party returned to the boat. a bed in the cabin was prepared for mr. eng, who said he was very tired, for he had walked a great distance that day, and he retired at once. the captain took the first watch, with two of the men. it was plain sailing, and in the middle of the night the blanchita was anchored in the river in front of the kampon. scott turned in then, with one of the port watch on duty.
in the morning they could not be induced to accept mr. eng's pressing invitation to remain a day[132] or two at simujan. he promised to take them to the coal and gold mine if they would remain; but all of them were so full of the great project that the invitation was declined. three of the fish were presented to the agent, who told them something about it, and declared that it was the finest fish on the island.
a quantity of ice was obtained at the town; and pitts carefully packed the rest of the fish, which were still hard and in nice condition. the captain desired to present a couple of them to rajah brooke, and some of the others to officers who had been very kind to them, and had assisted them in many ways. in the early morning they bade a grateful adieu to the agent, and departed on the trip to kuching.
the tide was going out, and they made a quick passage to the sea. on their arrival there they found a stiff south-west wind blowing, and the bay covered with white-caps. they had not tried the blanchita in anything like a heavy sea, though the rajah had declared that she was a very able and weatherly sea-boat. captain scott was very glad of the opportunity to test her behavior in rough weather. he went to the helm himself as the boat came out of the sadong. the very first wave that broke on her bow scattered the spray from stem to stern.
the boat rose gracefully on the billows. the boat rose gracefully on the billows.
page 132.
scott ordered the men to batten down the curtains on the weather side. but the boat rose gracefully on the billows, and did not scoop up any water in[133] doing so. boxes, barrels, and other movable articles were secured, and the captain was delighted with the working of the boat.
"i don't want any better sea-boat than the blanchita," said he with great enthusiasm. "i doubt if we get it any rougher than this on the voyage to cambodia point."
"unless we run into a typhoon," said morris, who was observing the conduct of the boat with quite as much interest as his superior officer.
"we won't run into a typhoon," replied the captain.
"how can you help yourself? as sailors we must take things as they come."
"if navigators have a thousand miles or more of ocean ahead of them, they must face the music. but among these islands, if the weather looks typhoony, we can get under a lee, or make a harbor in some bay. but don't try to cross the bridge till we get to it, morris."
"sail, ho!" shouted clingman.
it was a steamer about as far off as she could be made out. the two craft were approaching each other, and the steamer from the west went into the sarawak ahead of the blanchita. she was a small vessel, apparently of not more than three hundred tons. it soon became evident that she was not a fast sailer, for the blanchita held her own with her all the way up the river to kuching.
