Through Central Borneo; an Account of Two Years' Travel in the Land of Head-Hunters Between the Years 1913 and 1917Lumholtz, Carl
History
Through Central Borneo; an Account of Two Years' Travel in the Land of Head-Hunters Between the Years 1913 and 1917
Lumholtz, Carl
Borneo -- Description and travel; Ethnology -- Borneo; Natural history -- Borneo
Our first task was to make arrangements for the further journey up the
Busang River to Tamaloe, a remote kampong recently formed by the
Penyahbongs on the upper part of the river. We were about to enter the
great accumulation of kihams which make travel on the Busang peculiarly
difficult. The lieutenant's hope that we might secure more men from among
the rubber gatherers was not fulfilled. The few who were present made
excuses, and as for the others, they were far away in the utan, nobody
knew where. We still had some Malays, and, always scheming for money or
advantage to themselves, they began to invent new difficulties and demand
higher wages. Although I was willing to make allowances, it was impossible
to go beyond a certain limit, because the tribes we should meet later
would demand the same payment as their predecessors had received. The old
Malay resident, who in the meantime had returned from his absence, could
offer no advice.
Finally exorbitant wages were demanded, and all wanted to return except
four. As the lieutenant had expressed his willingness to proceed to
Tamaloe in advance of the party and try to hire the necessary men there,
it was immediately decided that he should start with our four remaining
men and one soldier, while the rest of us waited here with the sergeant
and four soldiers. On February 4 the party was off, as lightly equipped as
possible, and if all went well we expected to have the necessary men
within three weeks.
On the same afternoon Djobing and three companions, who were going up to
another rattan station, Djudjang, on a path through the jungle, proposed
to me to transport some of our luggage in one of my prahus. The offer was
gladly accepted, a liberal price paid, and similar tempting conditions
offered if they and a few men, known to be at the station above, would
unite in taking all our goods up that far. The following morning they
started off.
The Malays of these regions, who are mainly from the upper part of the
Kapuas River in the western division and began to come here ten years
previously, are physically much superior to the Malays we brought, and for
work in the kihams are as fine as Dayaks. They remain here for years,
spending two or three months at a time in the utan. Djobing had been here
four years and had a wife in his native country. There are said to be 150
Malays engaged in gathering rattan, and, no doubt, also rubber, in these
vast, otherwise uninhabited upper Dusun lands.
What with the absence of natives and the scarcity of animals and birds,
the time spent here waiting was not exactly pleasant. Notwithstanding the
combined efforts of the collector, the sergeant, and one other soldier,
few specimens were brought in. Mr. Demmini, the photographer, and Mr.
Loing were afflicted with dysentery, from which they recovered in a week.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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