第 35 节
作者:无边的寒冷      更新:2021-03-11 18:28      字数:9321
  went down and interfered。 Even after everything was settled; Miss Shaw
  was feeling so ill that she wanted to stay in the police station all
  night; at least; but Mr。 Hayward and I; who consulted assiduously about
  her; were of opinion that we must move her; even if we had to carry
  her; for if she were going to have fever; I could nurse her at Captain
  Murray's; but certainly not in the veranda of a police station!
  This worthy man; who is very brave; and used to facing dangerwho was
  the first European to come up here; who acted as guide to the troops
  during the war; and afterward disarmed the populationpositively
  quailed at having charge of these two fragile girls。 〃Oh;〃 he repeated
  several times; 〃if anything were to happen to the Misses Shaw I should
  never get over it; and they don't know what roughing it is; they never
  should have been allowed to come。〃 So I thought; too; as I looked at
  one of them lying limp and helpless on a Malay bed; but my share of the
  responsibility for them was comparatively limited。  Doubtless his
  thoughts strayed; as mine did; to the days of traveling 〃without
  encumbrance。〃 There was another encumbrance of a literal kind。 They had
  a trunk! This indispensable impediment had been left at Malacca in the
  morning; and arrived in a four…paddled canoe just as we were about to
  start!
  Mr。 Hayward prescribed two tablespoonfuls of whisky for Miss Shaw; for
  it is somewhat of a risk to sleep out in the jungle at the rainy
  season; for the miasma rises twenty feet; and the day had been
  exceptionally hot。 Our rather dismal procession started at seven; Mr。
  Hayward leading the way; carrying a torch made of strips of palm
  branches bound tightly together and dipped in gum dammar; a most
  inflammable resin; then a policeman; the sick girl; moaning and
  stumbling; leaning heavily on her sister and me; Babu; who had grown
  very plucky; a train of policemen carrying our baggage; and lastly;
  several torch…bearers; the torches dripping fire as we slowly and
  speechlessly passed along。  It looked like a funeral or something
  uncanny。 We crawled dismally for fully three…quarters of a mile to cut
  off some considerable windings of the river; crossed a stream on a
  plank bridge; and found our boat lying at a very high pier with a
  thatched roof。
  The mystery of night in a strange place was wildly picturesque; the
  pale; greenish; undulating light of fireflies; and the broad; red
  waving glare of torches flashing fitfully on the skeleton pier; the
  lofty jungle trees; the dark; fast…flowing river; and the dark; lithe
  forms of our half…naked boatmen。
  The prahu was a flattish…bottomed boat about twenty…two and a half feet
  long by six and a half feet broad; with a bamboo gridiron flooring
  resting on the gunwale for the greater part of its length。 This was
  covered for seven feet in the middle by a low; circular roof; thatched
  with attap。  It was steered by a broad paddle loosely lashed; and poled
  by three men who; standing at the bow; planted their poles firmly in
  the mud and then walked half…way down the boat and back again。 All
  craft must ascend the Linggi by this laborious process; for its current
  is so strong that the Japanese would call it one long 〃rapid。〃
  Descending loaded with tin; the stream brings boats down with great
  rapidity; the poles being used only to keep them off the banks and
  shallows。 Our boat was essentially 〃native。〃
  The 〃Golden Chersonese〃 is very hot; and much infested by things which
  bite and sting。 Though the mercury has not been lower than 80 degrees
  at night since I reached Singapore; I have never felt the heat
  overpowering in a house; but the night on the river was awful; and
  after the intolerable blaze of the day the fighting with the heat and
  mosquitoes was most exhausting; crowded as we were into very close and
  uneasy quarters; a bamboo gridiron being by no means a bed of down。 Bad
  as it was; I was often amused by the thought of the unusual feast which
  the jungle mosquitoes were having on the blood of four white people。
  If it had not been for the fire in the bow; which helped to keep them
  down by smoking them (and us); I at least should now be laid up with
  〃mosquito fever。〃
  The Misses Shaw and I were on a blanket on the gridiron under the roof;
  which just allowed of sitting up; Mr。  Hayward; who had never been up
  the river before; and was anxious about the navigation; sat; vigilant
  and lynx…eyed; at the edge of it; Babu; who had wrapped himself in
  Oriental impassiveness and a bernouse; and Mr。 Hayward's police
  attendant sat in front; all keeping their positions throughout the
  night as dutifully as the figures in a tableau vivant; and so we
  silently left Permatang Pasir for our jungle voyage of eighteen hours;
  in which time; by unintermitting hard work; we were propelled about as
  many miles; though some say twenty…nine。
  No description could exaggerate the tortuosity of the Linggi or the
  abruptness of its windings。 The boatmen measure the distance by turns。
  When they were asked when we should reach the end they never said in so
  many hours; but in so many turns。
  Silently we glided away from the torchlight into the apparently
  impenetrable darkness; but the heavens; of which we saw a patch now and
  then; were ablaze with stars; and ere long the forms of trees above and
  around us became tolerably distinct。 Ten hours of darkness followed as
  we poled our slow and tedious way through the forest gloom; with trees
  to right of us; trees to left of us; trees before us; trees behind us;
  trees above us; and; I may write; trees under us; so innumerable were
  the snags and tree trunks in the river。 The night was very still;not
  a leaf moved; and at times the silence was very solemn。 I expected;
  indeed; an unbroken silence; but there were noises that I shall never
  forget。 Several times there was a long shrill cry; much like the
  Australian 〃Coo…ee;〃 answered from a distance in a tone almost human。
  This was the note of the grand night bird; the Argus pheasant; and is
  said to resemble the cry of the 〃orang…outang;〃 the Jakkuns; or the
  wild men of the interior。 A sound like the constant blowing of a
  steam…whistle in the distance was said to be produced by a large
  monkey。 Yells; hoarse or shrill; and roars more or less guttural; were
  significant of any of the wild beasts with which the forest abounds;
  and recalled the verse in Psalm civ。; 〃Thou makest darkness that it may
  be night; wherein all the beasts of the forest do move。〃 Then there
  were cries as of fierce gambols; or of pursuit and capture; of hunter
  and victim; and at times; in the midst of profound stillness; came huge
  plungings; with accompanying splashings; which I thought were made by
  alligators; but which Captain Murray thinks were more likely the riot
  of elephants disturbed while drinking。  There were hundreds of
  mysterious and unfamiliar sounds great and small; significant of the
  unknown beast; reptile; and insect world which the jungle hides; and
  then silences。
  Sheet lightning; very blue; revealed at intervals the strong stream
  swirling past under a canopy of trees falling and erect; with straight
  stems one hundred and fifty feet high probably; surmounted by crowns of
  drooping branches; palms with their graceful plumage; lianas hanging;
  looping; twistingtheir orange fruitage hanging over our heads; great
  black snags; the lithe; wiry forms of our boat…men always straining to
  their utmost; and the motionless white turban of the Hadji;all for a
  second relieved against the broad blue flame; to be again lost in
  darkness。
  The Linggi above Permatang Pasir; with its sharp turns and muddy hurry;
  is; I should say; from thirty to sixty feet wide; a mere pathway
  through the jungle。 Do not think of a jungle; as I used to think of it;
  as an entanglement or thicket of profuse and matted scrub; for it is in
  these regions at least a noble forest of majestic trees; many of them
  supported at their roots by three buttresses; behind which thirty men
  could find shelter。 On many of the top branches of these; other trees
  have taken root from seeds deposited by birds; and have attained
  considerable size; and all send down; as it _appears_; extraordinary
  cylindrical strands from two to six inches in diameter; and often one
  hundred and fifty feet in length; smooth and straight until they root
  themselves; looking like the guys of a mast。 Under these giants stand
  the lesser trees grouped in glorious confusion;cocoa; sago; areca;
  and gomuti palms; nipah and nibong palms; tree ferns fifteen and twenty
  feet high; the bread…fruit; the ebony; the damar; the india rubber; the
  gutta…percha; the cajeput; the banyan; the upas; the bombax or cotton
  tree; and hosts of others; many of which bear brilliant flowers; but
  have not yet been botanized; and I can only give such barbarous names
  as chumpaka; Kamooning; marbow; seum; dadap; and; loveliest of all; the
  waringhan; a species of ficus; graceful as a birch; and underneath
  these again great ferns; ground orchids; and flowering shrubs of heavy;
  delicious odor; are interlocked and interwoven。 Oh that you could see
  it all! It is wonderful; no words could describe it; far less mine。 Mr。
  Darwin says so truly that a visit to the