I Had, Fortunately,
By This Time Heard That The Dutch "Commissie" Had Really Arrived,
And Therefore Threatened That If My
Guide did not go with me
immediately, I would appeal to the authorities, and he would
certainly be obliged to
Gig a back the cloth which the "Orang-
kaya" had transferred to him in prepayment. This had the desired
effect; matters were soon arranged, and we started the next
morning. The wind, however, was dead against us, and after rowing
hard till midday we put in to a small river where there were few
huts, to cook our dinners. The place did not look very promising,
but as we could not reach our destination, the Watelai river,
owing to the contrary wind, I thought we might as well wait here
a day or two. I therefore paid a chopper for the use of a small
shed, and got my bed and some boxes on shore. In the evening,
after dark, we were suddenly alarmed by the cry of "Bajak!
bajak!" (Pirates!) The men all seized their bows and spears, and
rushed down to the beach; we got hold of our guns and prepared
for action, but in a few minutes all came back laughing and
chattering, for it had proved to be only a small boat and some of
their own comrades returned from fishing. When all was quiet
again, one of the men, who could speak a little Malay, came to me
and begged me not to sleep too hard. "Why?" said I. "Perhaps the
pirates may really come," said he very seriously, which made me
laugh and assure him I should sleep as hard as I could.
Two days were spent here, but the place was unproductive of
insects or birds of interest, so we made another attempt to get
on. As soon as we got a little away from the land we had a fair
wind, and in six hours' sailing reached the entrance of the
Watelai channel, which divides the most northerly from the middle
portion of Aru. At its mouth this was about half a mile wide, but
soon narrowed, and a mile or two on it assumed entirely the
aspect of a river about the width of the Thames at London,
winding among low but undulating and often hilly country. The
scene was exactly such as might be expected in the interior of a
continent. The channel continued of a uniform average width, with
reaches and sinuous bends, one bank being often precipitous, or
even forming vertical cliffs, while the other was flat and
apparently alluvial; and it was only the pure salt-water, and the
absence of any stream but the slight flux and reflux of the tide,
that would enable a person to tell that he was navigating a
strait and not a river. The wind was fair, and carried us along,
with occasional assistance from our oars, till about three in the
afternoon, when we landed where a little brook formed two or
three basins in the coral rock, and then fell in a miniature
cascade into the salt water river. Here we bathed and cooked our
dinner, and enjoyed ourselves lazily till sunset, when we pursued
our way for two hours snore, and then moored our little vessel to
an overhanging tree for the night.
At five the next morning we started again, and in an hour
overtook four large praus containing the "Commissie," who had
come from Dobbo to make their official tour round the islands,
and had passed us in the eight. I paid a visit to the Dutchmen,
one of whom spoke a little English, but we found that we could
get on much better with Malay. They told me that they had been
delayed going after the pirates to one of the northern islands,
and had seen three of their vessels but could not catch them,
because on being pursued they rowed out in the wind's eye, which
they are enabled to do by having about fifty oars to each boat.
Having had some tea with thorn, I bade them adieu, and turned up
a narrow channel which our pilot said would take us to the
village of Watelai, on the west side- of Are. After going some
miles we found the channel nearly blocked up with coral, so that
our boat grated along the bottom, crunching what may truly be
called the living rock. Sometimes all hands had to get out and
wade, to lighten the vessel and lift it over the shallowest
places; but at length we overcame all obstacles and reached a
wide bay or estuary studded with little rocks and islets, and
opening to the western sea and the numerous islands of the
"blakang-tuna." I now found that the village we were going to was
miles away; that we should have to go out to sea, and round a
rocky point. A squall seemed coming on, and as I have a horror of
small boats at sea, and from all I could learn Watelai village
was not a place to stop at (no birds of Paradise being found
there), I determined to return and go to a village I had heard of
up a tributary of the Watelai river, and situated nearly in the
centre of the mainland of Aru. The people there were said to be
good, and to be accustomed to hunting and bird-catching, being
too far inland to get any part of their food from the sea. While
I was deciding this point the squall burst upon us, and soon
raised a rolling sea in the shallow water, which upset an oil
bottle and a lamp, broke some of my crockery, and threw us all
into confusion. Rowing hard we managed to get back into the main
river by dusk, and looked out for a place to cook our suppers. It
happened to be high water, and a very high tide, so that every
piece of sand or beach was covered, and it was with the greatest
difficulty, and after much groping in the dark, that we
discovered a little sloping piece of rock about two feet square
on which to make a fire and cook some rice.
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