Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
quartz, but with abundance of jasper and agate, presenting a beautifully variegated appear-
ance. It was only ten in the morning when we arrived at Budw, and, though there were
plenty of people about, I could not induce them to allow me to go on to the next village. The
Orang Kaya said that if I insisted on having men, of course he would get them, but when I
took him at his word and said I must have them, there came a fresh remonstrance; and the
idea of my going on that day seemed so painful that I was obliged to submit. I therefore
walked out over the rice-fields, which are here very extensive, covering a number of the
little hills and valleys into which the whole country seems broken up, and obtained a fine
view of hills and mountains in every direction.
In the evening the Orang Kaya came in full dress (a spangled velvet jacket, but no
trowsers), and invited me over to his house, where he gave me a seat of honour under a can-
opy of white calico and coloured handkerchiefs. The great verandah was crowded with
people, and large plates of rice with cooked and fresh eggs were placed on the ground as
presents for me. A very old man then dressed himself in bright-coloured cloths and many
ornaments, and sitting at the door, murmured a long prayer or invocation, sprinkling rice
from a basin he held in his hand, while several large gongs were loudly beaten and a salute
of muskets fired off. A large jar of rice wine, very sour but with an agreeable flavour, was
then handed round, and I asked to see some of their dances. These were, like most savage
performances, very dull and ungraceful affairs; the men dressing themselves absurdly like
women, and the girls making themselves as stiff and ridiculous as possible. All the time six
or eight large Chinese gongs were being beaten by the vigorous arms of as many young
men, producing such a deafening discord that I was glad to escape to the round house,
where I slept very comfortably with half a dozen smoke-dried human skulls suspended over
my head.
The river was now so shallow that boats could hardly get along. I therefore preferred
walking to the next village, expecting to see something of the country, but was much disap-
pointed, as the path lay almost entirely through dense bamboo thickets. The Dyaks get two
crops off the ground in succession; one of rice, and the other of sugar-cane, maize, and ve-
getables. The ground then lies fallow eight or ten years, and becomes covered with bamboos
and shrubs, which often completely arch over the path and shut out everything from the
view. Three hours' walking brought us to the village of Senánkan, where I was again ob-
liged to remain the whole day, which I agreed to do on the promise of the Orang Kaya that
his men should next day take me through two other villages across to Sénna, at the head of
the Saráwak River. I amused myself as I best could till evening, by walking about the high
ground near, to get views of the country and bearings of the chief mountains. There was
