296 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap. 



together, was too much for their self-control ; with one 

 accord they made a mad rush at them and attempted to 

 drag them from the platform. Fortunately we white men 

 had placed ourselves with a few of the more reliable Dayak 

 fortmen between the two parties, and partly by force and 

 partly by eloquence we succeeded in beating off the attack, 

 which seemed to be made in the spirit of a school " rag " 

 rather than with bloody intent. But just as peace seemed 

 restored, a great shout went up from the Baram men, " Tama 

 Bulan is wounded " ; and sure enough there he stood with 

 blood flowing freely over his face. The sight of blood 

 seemed to send them all mad together ; the Tinjar people 

 turned as one man and tore furiously down the hill to seize 

 their weapons, while the Baram men ran to their huts and 

 in a few seconds were prancing madly to and fro on the 

 crest of the hill, thirsting for the onset of the bloody battle 

 that now seemed a matter of a few seconds only. At the 

 same time the Dayaks were swarming out of the bazaar 

 seeking something to kill, like the typical Englishman, 

 though not knowing which side to take. The Resident 

 hastened after the Tinjars, threw himself before them, 

 and appealed and threatened, pointing to the two guns 

 at the fort now trained upon them ; and Tama Bulan 

 showed his true greatness by haranguing his people, saying 

 his wound was purely accidental and unintended, that it was 

 a mere scratch, and commanding them to stand their ground. 

 Several of the older and steadier chiefs followed his example 

 and ran to and fro holding back their men, exhorting them 

 to be quiet. 



The crisis passed, the sudden gust of passion slowly died 

 away, and peace was patched up with interchange of 

 messages and presents between the two camps. The great 

 boat race was announced to take place on the morrow, and 

 the rest of the day was spent in making ready the war 

 canoes, stripping them of their leaf roofs and all other 

 superfluous gear. 



At daybreak the racing-boats set off for the starting- 

 post four miles up river. The Resident had given strict 

 orders that no spears or other weapons were to be carried in 

 the racing-boats, and as they started up river we inspected 

 the boats in turn, and in one or two cases relieved them of 

 a full complement of spears ; and then we followed them to 

 the post in the steam-launch. There was a score of entries, 

 and since each boat carried from sixty to seventy men 



