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.