In About Two Hours We Entered The River, And Commenced
Our Inland Journey Against A Very Powerful Current.
The stream
was about a hundred yards wide, and was generally bordered with
high grass, and occasionally bushes and palm-trees.
The country
round was flat and more or less swampy, with scattered trees and
shrubs. At every bend we crossed the river to avoid the strength
of the current, and arrived at our landing-place about four
o'clock in a torrent of rain. Here we waited for an hour,
crouching under a leaky mat till the Alfuros arrived who had been
sent for from the village to carry my baggage, when we set off
along a path of whose extreme muddiness I had been warned before
starting.
I turned up my trousers as high as possible, grasped a stoat
stick to prevent awkward falls, and then boldly plunged into the
first mud-hole, which was immediately succeeded by another and
another. The marl or mud and water was knee-deep with little
intervals of firmer ground between, making progression
exceedingly difficult. The path was bordered with high rigid
grass, brewing in dense clumps separated by water, so that
nothing was to be gained by leaving the beaten track, and we were
obliged to go floundering on, never knowing where our feet would
rest, as the mud was now a few inches, now two feet deep, and the
bottom very uneven, so that the foot slid down to the lowest
part, and made it difficult to keep one's balance. One step would
be upon a concealed stick or log, almost dislocating the ankle,
while the next would plunge into soft mud above the knee. It
rained all the way, and the long grass, six feet high, met over
the path; so that we could not see a step of the way ahead, and
received a double drenching. Before we got to the village it was
dark, and we had to cross over a small but deep and swollen
stream by a narrow log of wood, which was more than a foot under
water. There was a slender shaking stick for a handrail, and it
was nervous work feeling in the dark in the rushing water for a
safe place on which to place the advanced foot. After au hour of
this most disagreeable and fatiguing walk we reached the village,
followed by the men with our guns, ammunition, boxes, and bedding
all more or less soaked. We consoled ourselves with some hot tea
and cold fowl, and went early to bed.
The next morning was clear and fine, and I set out soon after
sunrise to explore the neighbourhood. The village had evidently
been newly formed, and consisted of a single straight street of
very miserable huts totally deficient in every comfort, and as
bare and cheerless inside as out. It was situated on a little
elevated patch of coarse gravelly soil, covered with the usual
high rigid grass, which came up close to the backs of the houses.
At a short distance in several directions were patches of forest,
but all on low and swampy ground. I made one attempt along the
only path I could find, but soon came upon a deep mud-hole, and
found that I must walk barefoot if at all; so I returned and
deferred further exploration till after breakfast. I then went on
into the jungle and found patches of sago-palms and a low forest
vegetation, but the paths were everywhere full of mud-holes, and
intersected by muddy streams and tracts of swamp, so that walking
was not pleasurable, and too much attention to one's steps was
not favourable to insect catching, which requires above
everything freedom of motion. I shot a few birds, and caught a
few butterflies, but all were the same as I had already obtained
about Cajeli.
On my return to the village I was told that the same kind of
ground extended for many miles in every direction, and I at once
decided that Wayapo was not a suitable place to stay at. The next
morning early we waded back again through the mud and long wet
grass to our boat, and by mid-day reached Cajeli, where I waited
Ali's return to decide on my future movements. He came the
following day, and gave a very bad account of Pelah, where he had
been. There was a little brush and trees along the beach, and
hills inland covered with high grass and cajuputi trees - my dread
and abhorrence. On inquiring who could give me trustworthy
information, I was referred to the Lieutenant of the Burghers,
who had travelled all round the island, and was a very
intelligent fellow. I asked him to tell me if he knew of any part
of Bouru where there was no "kusu-kusu," as the coarse grass of
the country is called. He assured me that a good deal of the
south coast was forest land, while along the north was almost
entirely swamp and grassy hills. After minute inquiries, I found
that the forest country commenced at a place called Waypoti, only
a few miles beyond Pelah, but that, as the coast beyond that
place was exposed to the east monsoon and dangerous for praus, it
was necessary to walk. I immediately went to the Opzeiner, and he
called the Rajah. We had a consultation, and arranged for a boat
to take me the next evening but one, to Pelah, whence I was to
proceed on foot, the Orang-kaya going the day before to call the
Alfuros to carry my baggage.
The journey was made as arranged, and on May 19th we arrived at
Waypoti, having walked about ten miles along the beach, and
through stony forest bordering the sea, with occasional plunges
of a mile or two into the interior. We found no village, but
scattered houses and plantations, with hilly country pretty well
covered with forest, and looking rather promising.
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