The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

vm LIFE ON THE RIVERS 133
feet, dropping their paddles and seizing their poles.
Thrusting these against the stony bottom in perfect
unison, the crew swings the boat up through the
rushing water with a very pleasant motion. If the
current proves too strong and the boat makes no
progress, or if the water is too shallow, three or
four men, or, if necessary, the whole crew, spring
into the water and, seizing the boat by the gunwale,
drag it upstream till quieter water is reached. It
is necessary for a man or boy to bale out the water
that constantly enters over the gunwale while the
boat makes the passage of a rapid. All through
these exciting operations the captain directs and
admonishes his men unremittingly, hurling at them
expressions of a strength that would astonish a crew
on the waters of the Cam or Isis :
*' Matei tadjin
selin " (may you die the most awful death) is one
of the favourite phrases. These provoke no
resentment, but merely stimulate the crew to greater
exertions.
Sometimes, when much water is coming down
after heavy rains, the current is so swift in deep
places that neither paddling, poling, nor wading is
possible. Then three or four men are landed on
the bank, or on the boughs of the trees, and haul on
the boat with long rattans, scrambling over rocks
and through the jungle as best they can.
The passage down stream in the upper reaches
of a river is even more exciting and pleasurable.
The crew paddles sufficiently to keep good steerage
way on the boat, as it glides swiftly between the
rocks and shallows ; as it shoots over the rapids,
the steersman stands up to choose his path, the
water splashes and gurgles and leaps over the
gunwale, and the men break out into song. The
smaller waterfalls do not check its onward rush ;
as the boat approaches a fall, several men near the
bow stand up to see if there is sufficient water ; then,