CHAPTER I
.
EXPEDITIONS TO EXPLORE THE INTERIOR TO THE SOUTH AND SOUTH-EAST OF THE CAPITAL.
Preliminary Expeditions--The Limbang River--Stories connected with it--The Madalam--River flowing under a Pile of Rocks--Caverns--Batu Rikan--The River issuing from under the Mountain of Molu--Ascend the Precipices--No Water--Long Roots--No Soil--Second Expedition--A Flood--Dangerous Position--Wakeful Night--Beautiful Flowers--Palms and Rhododendrons--Old Kayan Encampment--Detached Rocks--Ascent of Molu--Two new Species of Nepenthes--Difficult Climbing--New Rhododendrons--Stopped by a Precipice--Sharp-edged Rocks--Descent--Limestone Rock--Cave--Heavy Rain--Swollen River--Quick Return--Prepare for a distant Expedition--Alarm of the Brunean Government--Warnings--Preparations--Boats--My Headman Musa--A Travelled Dayak--Stories of Molu--Weapons--Merchandise.
In December, 1856, I made a short excursion up the Limbang River, and the wonders there told of its far interior strongly excited my curiosity. The natives were full of stories of the river forcing its way for miles under huge masses of rock, which formed a natural tunnel, called by the Malays “Batu berkejang,” or stone-roofed; of a cataract formed by the whole river falling over a ledge of rocks for a depth of nine fathoms; of the smooth water beyond this which stretched for a seven days’ journey, flowing gently through a vast table-land; of the tame goats without masters which thronged this region--but I could find no one who had seen any of these wonders--in fact, few Malays had passed Suñgei Damit, a river about three days’ journey from the capital.
In the following September I went with a small party up the right-hand branch of the river, the Madalam, to endeavour to reach the lofty mountain of Molu, and found that one of the stories told by the natives had some foundation. We followed the Madalam till we reached the Trunan on the eighth day, up which we pushed, thinking it led to the base of the highest peak of Molu. We soon came upon limestone rock, and after a few miles were suddenly stopped by the river, I may say, disappearing. We found a rocky eminence before us, its sharp angles concealed by ferns and climbing plants falling in festoons around, and a luxuriant vegetation of trees, whose bark was coated with mosses, orchids, and other epiphytal plants. There was an arched cavern into which we pushed our boats; at first we failed to find the inlet through which the stream entered, but at last, looking down into the clear water, we saw two huge holes below--the passages from whence the river came. We went round to the southern side of the rock, and there we found the river coming purling along to this lofty wood-crowned mass of limestone, and then entering a spacious hall it was lost, descending, as it were, to the passages before mentioned. There were various chambers with water floors, to the surface of which fine fish occasionally arose. This place is called Batu Rikan.
[Illustration:
T. Picken, lith. Published by Smith, Elder & C^o. 65, Cornhill, London. Day & Son, Lith^{rs}. to the Queen.
THE TRUNAN ISSUING FROM BATU BARIT MOUNTAIN.]
We stayed here a night, during which it rained heavily, making the stream that yesterday but washed our ancles, swell so that it was impossible to cross it. We therefore kept along the right bank, till we reached the spot where the whole river issued from the face of the precipice; it was a fine sight, this body of water running impetuously from this natural tunnel. On either side lofty trees arose, and above the precipice the green verdure spread in masses.
Our Bisayan guide, the Orang Kaya Panglima Prang, of the village of Blimbing, told us that during fine weather, we could penetrate a long distance under the mountain, though few had ever ventured to do so, on account of the very sudden way in which the water rises. Finding we could not cross the stream near the mountain, we skirted the precipice, which the Bisayas told us it was impossible to climb; but I determined on making the attempt, not crediting the truth of one of their objections that we should find no water on the mountain after the heavy rain which fell the previous night.
I led the way up the rock by a most difficult ascent, and after climbing these perpendicular precipices by means of the roots of trees, at length reached easier ground, but found the whole mountain a mass of honeycombed limestone rock, with trees scattered over the uneven surface, whose roots penetrated to an immense distance below. I endeavoured, by descending into the deep fissures, to find some water, and in doing so, traced a root above two hundred feet; it then entered a narrow crevice, too small to admit me; the root was still larger than my arm.
As there is no real soil on the mountain, this fine vegetation must derive its support from the air, the moisture in the thick moss, and the rotting leaves which sometimes lay in tangled damp masses, almost decayed into a black mould. We climbed about a thousand feet, but found no streams or pools, and were therefore compelled to descend. On our return to the Capital, we had the misfortune to lose my boat on a snag, and had a three days’ walk in the jungle through difficult sandstone mountains, and then we constructed a raft and floated down the river, till we met the Orang Kaya Panglima Prang, whom I had sent for relieving boats.
In February, 1858, Mr. Low and I again attempted the ascent of Molu, taking the Orang Kaya Panglima Prang as our guide, though neither he nor any one else knew more of the mountain than they had gathered during my former journey.
On the sixth day we reached the entrance of the Madalam without difficulty, and brought up for the night on a bank of gravel and pebbles, where there were traces of coal among the hard gray sandstone nodules, and broken quartz. All the country we had hitherto seen belongs to the Labuan coal measures, and the dip is steep, about 45°, and is to the east of north.
In the evening, heavy rain came on, when the river began to rise rapidly, and rush by us with a strong current. The men had pitched their tents on the pebbly bank, while we stayed in the boats; we had had a heavy day’s work, and our followers were so fatigued that they fell asleep immediately. The rain continued pouring down. About two hours after sunset I heard a shout, and found the water was overflowing the tents, and rushing down the opposite side of the river like a mill sluice, carrying along with it huge trunks of trees. With extreme difficulty we awoke the men, and it was a work of greater difficulty to keep them from getting into the boats before they were properly secured. I jumped out, and soon discovered the reason; the water coming from the lofty heights of Molu was icy cold; my teeth chattered so that I could scarcely give an order, and the river rose so fast, that very soon it was impossible to remain on the bank.
We none of us slept that night, our boats swayed to and fro in the angry waters which now rushed impetuously over the point, and knowing that we had but a small rope holding us, we feared every moment to see it part and find our boats dashed over a neighbouring fall. In the morning we observed by rough measurement that the water had risen twenty-four feet. As the river continued too rapid to be contended against, we employed next day in manufacturing strong rattan ropes. It took us five days more to reach our camping-ground at the foot of the mountain, a journey which in ordinary times might have been done in two.
We passed during our advance up the Madalam many curious and beautiful plants; among others, a very elegant little palm, with finely-divided pinnated leaves, and a stem about a foot high; it grew in tufts on the banks, within the influence of the rise of the waters. Mr. Low found also a beautiful climber with white flowers, in bunches, on the _axils_ of the leaves, with a very fragrant scent; and also a curious rhododendron, with terminal single pale yellow flowers an inch and a half across on pendent branching stems, epiphytal in moss on many of the trees overhanging the water; but what I admired most was a rhododendron with large bunches of straw-coloured blossoms. It grew on the trees, and the flower, as it gracefully bent over us, looked both showy and beautiful. Here, too, Mr. Low discovered three new species of the areca palm, and was enabled to secure the seeds of two: one of them had a curious mottled foliage, another had a dark green stem, with white sheaths to the leaves, which were most delicately fashioned, the leaflets being linear, and not more than an eighth of an inch broad. I may further notice that at the mouth of the Limbang River grows in the marshes a beautiful fan-palm, which at a distance might, from its size, be mistaken for a fine cocoa-nut tree.
We reached the Batu Rikan in safety, and passed round it, through a small rivulet, improved into a sort of canal by the Kayans, above which we brought up at an old Kayan encampment on the left. We had here a good view of the range, which is a mass of limestone, and the ascent to the summit is at an angle of 70°; impossible to ascend over any other kind of rock than limestone, the water-worn surfaces of which usually present so many prominent points as to render these precipices practicable. The mountain appears to be covered with vegetation to the precipitous summit, and even on the almost bare rocks shrubs could be seen clinging to the crevices.
Round the base of the mountain are detached masses of limestone, much water-worn, with caverns and natural tunnels, with the ground around covered by the tracks of pigs and deer. At the base of the mountain the soil is a yellow loam, with many water-worn sandstone pebbles on its surface.
I do not intend dwelling on this expedition, as I only kept an account of the geographical features of the country, though Mr. Low has kindly placed his interesting journal at my disposal to refresh my memory. I will, however, briefly indicate the character of the mountain.
We left our encampment and struck through the jungle to a spot that a previous examination made me consider the easiest way to pass the precipices. The rocks looked like broken masses which had fallen from above, presenting sharp points and edges dangerous to our unshod men. It was climbing, not walking, our hands being as much used as our feet. We ascended about 800 feet, when we found ourselves on a sharp edge with a valley beyond, and then descended about forty feet by means of roots, and after a painful advance made preparations to pass the night there, as our men were lagging. We could, however, nowhere find a smooth place broad enough to set up our tents; so threw poles across the rocks and heaped boughs and leaves on them, and on sticks above spread our piled cotton tents.
We advanced next day over rather easier ground, and found more vegetable mould between the rocks; the trees were large, and among them I had seen on the previous day troops of reddish monkeys, equal in size to the small kind of orang-utan. We could find no water except such as could be obtained from squeezing the moss, or from the pitchers of two new kinds of nepenthes. It was on the third day that Mr. Low came upon them, after passing a deep gorge, and up a steep and fatiguing ascent over craggy cliffs, everything being covered with long wet moss. There were two kinds; the specimens, unfortunately, were lost by the men:--the first was shaped something like a claret jug, with a quadrilateral stem, and was of a pale green, except on the inside of the pitcher, which was purplish--the pitchers themselves were about ten inches long, and did not show the lower part in perfection except when full-grown. The next kind was growing half buried beneath the moss, and creeping closely along the stems of trees; its pitchers had a very peculiar mouth, with an edge like a frill. Its stem was rough with brown hairs, the leaves broad and short, and it was distinguished from all others we had yet seen, by the leaves, which are close above one another, giving off always to the right and left, and not on all sides of the stem as in the other species; they lie also very close; its stem was at most three feet long; the pitcher was about nine inches in length, not including the lid.
Mr. Low, the Orang Kaya, and myself, led our party, but the ascent was getting worse every yard. We worked our way over the most dangerous places, where a false step would have broken our necks or limbs, or have cut us to pieces on the sharp rocks; as we advanced, precipices and broad deep fissures became more frequent, one of the latter we crossed on a small tree four inches in diameter, which the Orang Kaya felled for the purpose. It bent beneath us, and was so uncertain a footing, that I was thankful to have passed it, as the deep chasm below was filled with jagged rocks. The Malay description of it is true--“sharp axes below, and pointed needles above, such is the mountain of Molu.”
It is curious that although we were only 3,500 feet above the level of the sea, this region resembled what is found on Kina Balu at from 5,000 to 8,000 feet, where shrubs with beautiful flowers abound.
Mr. Low discovered two very interesting little rhododendrons here. They were epiphytal, of a character different from any he had seen elsewhere; they had short brown lanceolate leaves, almost an inch long, in _whorls_ of four or five, on branching brownish stems. Their flowers were terminal and solitary, and about an inch and a half long; one was whitish, the other a pinkish purple, and both were remarkably pretty.
I was leading the way, when I saw a precipice before me which appeared to be impassable; it ran across the spur we were ascending, and extended to the ravines on either side. At last we noticed a narrow fissure, and by supporting myself on the sharp points of rocks, and steadying myself by a small root, I reached to within six feet of the top. To get up the rest of the way was not very difficult, but to get down again appeared unpleasant, and beyond rose a succession of precipices. As the side of the mountain was at an angle of 70°, it was easy to see a long way ahead of us. As I stood balancing myself, it struck me as an impossibility to take loaded men up such places, so I hailed Mr. Low, who was already commencing the ascent of the precipice, to stop till I came down to consult. Two of my most active men, Musa and another, volunteered to go ahead and explore, and we waited for them at the foot of the precipice, and took observations.
It is almost impossible to conceive the difficulty of ascending this mountain. While we were waiting here, a comparatively smooth spot, we could find no place broad enough for the stand of the barometer, but were obliged to construct a framework of sticks. No ledge was more than six inches broad, and Mr. Low made me nervous by walking out on some not an inch wide whilst in search of flowers or shells. In fact, at one place my shoe was cut through, and three of our men had already been sent back with severe wounds, whilst several of those left were much injured.
Musa at last joined us with the intelligence that about one hundred yards beyond there was a precipice, which he and his companion had found it impossible to pass; so, very unwillingly, we turned our faces homeward.
Descending was more dangerous than ascending, and Mr. Low got two severe falls, as his eyes were not always on the next spot to place his foot, but wandering about in search of plants. I escaped better, as my thoughts were engrossed by the difficulties and dangers of the path. It is curious that when these sharp rocks were struck they gave out a clear ringing, almost metallic, sound; there is no appearance of stratification: the rocks are of a fine-grained limestone, and some, when broken, presented a pinkish, others a whitish or grayish blue colour.
We noticed during our ascent a cave in the limestone rock about forty feet high, and the roots of the trees growing on the rock above came down perpendicularly and passed into the fissures in the stones that formed the floor. Their upper parts were encrusted with carbonate of lime in the form of stalactites. Water was continually dripping from the roof of the cave, and in one place had collected in a little basin, the only time we saw any pure water on the mountain.
The following day we reached our tents and enjoyed a good dinner, after four days on biscuits and plain boiled rice. In the evening there came on a thunderstorm, and the rain fell in a manner I have never before known even in Borneo; it appeared to be coming down in tubsfull instead of drops.
We attempted next day to go and examine the Batu Rikan, but the rush of waters prevented our approaching it; in fact, the roar of the river, as it dashed into the caves and whirled its spray into the air, made us take precautions not to be swept into the boiling cauldron.
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.
##