Evening Star Newspaper, December 28, 1930, Page 82

Attacked by the TfiE Si!NDAY STAR, _WASH!NGTQN, D. C, DECEMBER 28, 1930. The Chief, Sembulu, Was Out A fter Heads “and He Pre ferred the Heads of White Men—A True Adventure in the Jungle. Showers of Spears and Poisoned Arrows. Exploration Party Meets a Real Peril. EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the third of three articles by Dr. Tor- rance and relates sn dramatic style a thrilling battle with head-hunters in Borneo, who were tintent on adorning their door posts with the heads of the scientists who wmade up Dr. Torrance’s party, a group of men engaged in pacific explo- ration of the country. BY DR. ARTHUR TORRANCE. E were in the heart of wildest Borneo. I was conducting a party of American college professors across the hinterland on an ex- pedition of scientific research ‘that at times carried us through regions where no white man's feet had ever trod before. In addition to our police bodyguard and band of native helpers and guides, there were seven of us—a college president, a geographist, an ento- mologist, a botanist, another doctor, a camera- .man and myself. We had been on the march .for a considerable length of time, during which we had had many exciting adventures, when .we were warned of further danger ahead of us. Nagive traders returning from the region of ‘Lake Bankalang reported mysterious activities .among the head-hunters in the Boentak Hills. We forged steadily ahead, however, our ulti- ‘mate goal being the region surrounding the ‘base of the Rojong Range of Mountains. When .we reached Lake Bankalang after traveling up the River Berite in canoes fresh murmurs of the head-hunters’ activities reached us, but we kept on across the lake and made for beyond, where the river diverged into several smaller ‘streams, before establishing our headquarters. We camped high on a slope overlooking the countryside and began to build a fort of earth- «works and fallen trees. This was surrounded -with a strong palisade of pointed bamboo ‘stakes. Not far distant were the Boentok Mountains. Soon we received more definite warnings of "the activities of the head-hunting chiefs in surrounding villages, and Tindig, my chief native guide, who was as sensitive to danger as a tiger of the forest in which he lived, sent two of his scouts to reconnoiter. They returned to inform us that the datus, or chiefs, of the district were determined to attack us and were soliciting the aid of other tribes by circulating tales of the white men’s evil doings. ‘WH:!Nvelesmedthh we made our camp into a lttle fortress, and then we sent ‘one of our police soldiers down the river with a message for Pelandet. Pelandet was the chiet olaghe head-hunting tribe by which we had been threatened earlier on our journey when it was .believed that we had stolen one of their native women, but when it developed that there had “been a misunderstanding, Pelandet had become quite friendly. Our message to him now was a piece of diplomacy, for it contained a warn- ing that Pelandet must arm for battle if he was to save the heads of his village people. 1 could not ask for help, for it would have been a confession of weakness and might have brought the whole countryside down upon us. *One old chief in particular, who was known as Sembulu, was the leader in the plot against us. He had a reputation for prophecy that ‘gave him great influence over the superstitious natives. In his scheming mind there was ap- ‘parently a deep-rooted fear and hatred of the white man, and he was developing a plan that would at the same time annihilate us and make him a still greater and more powerful _chieftain. Meanwhile my little party of university pro- fessors packed away their specimens of germs “and plants and mosquitoes and flies and what- not, and prepared quite cheerfully for battle. ‘We turned most of our energies into the build- ing of our improvised fortress. It could not be made impregnable, of course, but we wanted it to be as resistant as possible to the poisoned tion. But it was important to have strong barriers on both our flanks and, above all, to the river well in view, for at this spot streams came together o form a bread , and it was here that the H £ help us. But friendships among savages are not very reliable. Meanwhile our job for the moment was to tackle Sembulu, undermine his influence and break the superstitious fear of white men he had taught the natives. I knew he was nobody’s fool. I had just one interview with him that showed me his caliber. He came down the river to meet me in a highly decorated war prahu propelled by the powerful strokes of a dozen . war-painted warriors. At my signal— although he must have known that half a dozen ~guns were trained on him from our stockade— he stepped fearlessly achore. He was a tall man with the proud bearing and the dignified mien of a true Polynesian—beardless and with eagle eyes—wearing earrings of tiger claws and car- rying a long spear. A truly imposing figure. I warned him that he had better not atiack us. I reminded him that even if his warriors suc- ceeded in making museum exhibits of our heads, the Great White King across the water would send soldiers to punish him, destroy his villages and take his country away from him. But as I spoke rage took pcssession of him and his nostrils dilated with contempt as he replied: “The white man has come to my country uninvited. He has brought evil magic to our hills. Whose hills are these? Are they not ours? Were they not our fathers? I speak truth. Sembulu is powerful in his own land. I will attack you and your heads shall ornament the lintels of my house. Let it serve as a warn- ing to your Great White King that his head too will look down from a doorpost if he should . be foolish enough to come after you.” It was a good spsech. And in my heart I couldn’t blame him. But we couldn’t allow ourseives to be beheaded. The problem was how surely to get a message down the river to inform Pelandet and Lambang of the situation, for it was very doubtful under the circumstances that my soldier messenger had won through. day after Sembulu's visit half a dozen large war prahus manned by some 20 natives each appeared in the broad reach of the river. There were also small canoes carrying from two to four warriors, so that by afternoon there were at ieast 200 of them floating on the stream or resting on the bank, each one of them armed with shieilds, blow-guns and evil-looking steel-edged parangs, and suspiciously watching our every movement. Finally Tindig came to me and said that he had picked out two of his best men to convey my message to the friendly tribes. We dared not use one of our own canoes because it was sure to be recognized and its occupants would never get out alive, but Tindig had conceived the daring plan of steal- ing one of the enemies’ small canoes. We waited anxiously until the sun had gone down and then in the brief interval of darkness between sunset and moonrise our messengers slipped off noiselessly and disappeared into the gloom of the mangrove swamp. And as they went an odd feeling of loneliness crept over us. If those men failed in their mission we would meet a barbarous end in this desolate country. The first incident of note occurred about 4 o'clock in the morning. Dawn was just breaking and the rich red shafts of sunlight were flash- ing along the deeply colored green foliage on the opposite bank of the stream, glorifying the mangrove swamp and lighting up the surface of the lazy river, when from the gléoom and silence under the trees where the canoes had been moored a large prahu powerfully propelled by 30 paddles suddenly shot forth and came straight for our landing. All the rowers were in full war dress. Their skulls and faces were plastered with daubs of yellow and black clay and their heads were literally covered with nodding egret feathers, and strapped over their shirts of tree bark in sheaths made of animal hair were loaded murderous looking parangs. It was not an encouraging sight, to be sure, but for the moment it did not cause us much ad- fort with a roof. But pretty soon the maneuvers of the gentle- men in the fine feather hats began to be a little disturbing. We noticed that the big war prahu Real Wild Men of Borneo Sembulu stepped fearlessly ashore—a truly imposing figure. cloud of arrows flew over the palisades and struck with hissing thuds upon the flimsy roof of our fortress. An exclamation of pain broke from the lips of one of our Malay soldiers and, turning, I saw a tiny spurt of blood gush out from where an arrow had pierced his arm. “Take cover,” I shouted, ‘“those arrows are poisoned.” As another flight of the poisoned weapons hissed over us, I commanded my companions to fire into the jungle, and the fight began. The arrows were coming fast and furiously, many of them right in our midst, and before many min- utes I had to call an order to save our ammu- nition. I knew this trouble was not going to end with the first battle. va I saw Tindig fall with a gash in his shoulder, just as a long parang—not an arrow—dropped with a clang on the floor. The doctor rushed to help him. Another parang shot over our heads, and to our dismay we noticed that it came from the rear. Looking out over the bare limestone we saw the plumed warriors from the war prahu lying barricaded behing - the small canoes and throwing their long-bladed parangs through our flimsy barri- cade. All together, we fired a round of our precious ammunition. The was several long- drawn howls of pain. But it was going to take more than a few volleys from our rifles to stop these devils, for Sambulu and his picked staff « of warriors were no mean adversaries. It was doubtful, indeed, whether we had enough am- munition to hold out and it was certain that we could not stop them if they made up their minds to charge. Suddenly, while the poisoned arrows and parangs continued to fall, our cameraman dis- appeared. At the edge of the jungle we could see our enemies assembling on both sides and pretty soon they began spreading out both to the left and to the right in a way which showed they intended to surround us. We had been sending volley after volley into the forces of the Jil man, it appeared, who was something of an in- ventor as well, in the few minutes during which I had missed him had gathered together a pile or nails, slugs, bullets, gunpowder and placed them in an empty tobacco tin. To this he had fixed a fuse and had thus evolved a most ef- fective bomb. It was a magnificent stroke of genius and courage and we owed him our lives. For the advance was checked, at least for a time. But two of our soldier-police were dead of wounds from the poisoned arrows; three others had been badly hurt, and, worst of all, the university president had been poisoned by one of the arrows and there were moments in the hour following the battle when we feared for his life. Tindig, too, who had fought so val- jantly even after he had been wounded, was near a collapse. His courage in the face of pain and danger had deceived us and we had not realized how ‘badly he was hurt. And now all of us were hungry. Therefore, before cleaning up the mess of battle or even straightening cut our barricade, we opened up several of thz last precious tins of potted meats, biscuits and peaches and satisfied the nesds of our famished bodies. Soon the dusky twilight warned us of coming night. I had the men build a circle of firss within the palisades around our barricade. The Borneo soldiers pre- pared a lot of tcrches in order to have them for a stand-by when the looked-for renczwal of attack came. LOWLY the night passed, until at last a faint glimmer of dawn appeared in the eastern sky. No socner had the rosy flush made objects distinguishable than one of our men gave a sharp challenge. We sprang to our places in the stockade and peered into the misty fringe of forest and there we could see the crouching forms of naked savages. They se>med quite motionless, but by umltgl watching we could detect stealthy move- men Suddenly one of the men shouted that they were coming. I heard his rifle bark and then a shriek of pain, followed by a bloodcurdiing yell, resoucded through the morning air. In- stantly the hazy background was alive with the forms of savages who sprang to their feet amnd came bounding toward our little fortress, hurling their darts and parangs as they came.