436 TWO TEARS IX THE JUNGLE. 



"November 29th. — Last evening, after making my daily entry in 

 this journal, an incident occurred which promised to turn out very 

 seriously. Ah Kee is very fond of hunting, and often takes my gun 

 and goes off hunting by himself. This afternoon, after my dinner 

 was over, he took the big gun and went out. He did not return at 

 the usual time, and, just at sunset, I was standing in the door ex- 

 pecting evei-y moment to see him put in an appearance, when, all 

 at once we heard two reports of his gun coming in quick succession, 

 muffled and faint, and so distant that the sound barely reached our 

 ears. It seemed at least three miies off, and I instantly exclaimed, 

 ' Ah Kee is lost ! ' I told some of the Dvaks to go at once in the 

 direction of the sound and find him ii p )ssible. Perara and I be- 

 gan firing our guns, and kept it up at intervals all the time. The 

 Dyaks and Dobah went as far as they could before darkness came 

 on, and I heard them calling and calling, but without an answer. 

 I waited to see if Ah Kee would come nearer, or if the men would 

 find him, and, at last, after it had gi'own pitch dark, we heard an- 

 other muffled ' boom ! ' even fainter and farther away than before, 

 and I saw that if we did not go and find him, he would have to stay 

 all night in the jungle and perhaps longer. 



"Now, under certain circumstances, a night in the jungle is no 

 laughing mattei*. Ah Kee Avas in the worst swamp in the country, 

 without a parong or knife, or any means of making a fire, perhaps 

 with all his cai'tridges expended, wet of course, nothing to eat, and 

 tormented by myriads of mosquitoes and leeches, to say nothing 

 of the fear of poisonous snakes or p3'thons, or of being attacked in 

 the darkness by a bear or a tiger-cat. We knew that even if he 

 heard our firing, he could not possibly come to us in the pitchy 

 darkness of that tangled, thorny jungle, and if left alone, he was 

 iust as apt to go directly away from us as any other way. If not 

 found before to-morrow, he might wander where we could not find 

 him, and, all his cartridges being expended, he would be unable to 

 signal to us. Ah Kee was a faithful fellow — perhaps the best ser- 

 vant I have ever had — and he was devoted heart and soul to my 

 wants and my interests regardless of himself. So I decided, in two 

 seconds, that we must find him at once. 



"I called the Dyaks and told them to prepare torches and a 

 good supply of wood, while I put on my hunting gear. Taking 

 my revolver and rifle, with a bag half full of cartridges for each, 

 and a small bottle of gin, we set out. Perara seemed to think it a 

 good joke on Ah Kee, and declared he had often told him not to 



