Bruin Part 24

CHAPTER FIFTY THREE.

DOG-DRIVING.

The guide was conducting them to a stream that ran into the bay some ten or twelve miles from the "ostrog." On that stream, he said, they would be pretty certain to find a bear, if not several: since at a place he knew of the water was not frozen, and the bears might be there trying to catch fish. When questioned as to why this particular stream was not frozen like the others, he said that some distance up it there were warm springs--a phenomenon of frequent occurrence in the peninsula of Kamschatka--that these springs supplied most of the water of the stream; and that for several hundred yards below where they gushed forth, the river was kept open by their warmth during the severest winters. Not throughout its whole course, however. Farther down, where the water became cool, it froze like in other streams; and that this was the case, was evident to our hunters, who had entered the mouth of the rivers from the icy surface of the bay, and were gliding in their sledges up its frozen channel.

After having gone three or four miles up this icebound stream, which ran through a narrow valley with steep sloping sides, the guide warned our hunters that they were close to the place where the water would be found open. At this point a low ridge ran transversely across the valley-- through which the stream had, in process of time, cut a channel; but the ridge occasioned a dam or lake of some half-dozen acres in superficial extent, which lay just above it. The dam itself was rarely frozen over; and it was by the water remaining in it, or flowing sluggishly through it--and thus giving it time to cool--that the stream immediately below got frozen over.

The lake lay just on the other side of the ridge, and was now only hidden from their view by the rise of the ground. If not frozen over, as the guide conjectured, there was likely to be a bear roaming around its edge; and therefore they resolved to observe caution in approaching it.

The sledges were to be taken no further. Our hunters had learnt how to manage both dog-sledges and dogs. Their experience in Finland, as well as in the countries of the Hudson's Bay territory, had taught them that; and made them skilful in the handling of these animals--else they would have made but poor work in travelling as they did now. In fact, they could not have managed at all: since it requires a great deal of training to be able to drive a dog-sledge. This, however, they had received--both the boys and Pouchskin--and fortunate it had been so; for very shortly after they were placed in a predicament, in which their lives depended on their skill as sledge drivers.

The dogs were left under cover of the ridge, near the bottom of the little slope; a sign was given to them to keep their places--which these well-trained creatures perfectly comprehended; and the hunters--the Kurilski with the rest--holding their guns in readiness, ascended towards the summit of the slope.

There was no cover, except what was afforded by the inequality of the ground. There were no trees in the valley--only stunted bushes, not half the height of a man's body, and these nearly buried to their tops in the snow. A few, however, appeared growing along the crest of the ridge.

The hunters crawled up to these on all-fours, and peeped cautiously through their branches.

It was the impatient Ivan that looked first; and what he saw so surprised him, as almost to deprive him of the power of speech! Indeed, he was not able to explain what he saw--till the other three had got forward, and became equally eye-witnesses of the spectacle that had astonished him.

As the guide had conjectured, the lake was not frozen. There was some loose snow floating over its surface; but most of the water was open; and the stream that flowed slowly in on the opposite side was quite clear of either ice or snow.

The guide had also predicted hypothetically that they might see a bear-- perhaps two. It had not occurred to this man of moderate pretensions that they might see _twelve_--and yet no less than twelve bears were in sight!

Yes, twelve bears--they were as easily counted as oxen--were around the sh.o.r.es of this secluded lake, and on the banks of the little stream that ran into it--all within five hundred yards of each other. Indeed, it would have been easy to have mistaken them for a herd of brown heifers or oxen; had it not been for the various att.i.tudes in which they were seen: some upon all-fours--some standing erect, like human beings, or squatted on their hams like gigantic squirrels--others in the water, their bodies half submerged--others swimming about, their backs and heads only visible above the surface; and still others, prowling leisurely along the banks, or over the strip of level meadow-land that bordered the lake.

Such a sight our bear-hunters had never witnessed before, and might never witness again, in any other country, save Kamschatka itself.

There it is by no means uncommon; and twenty bears instead of twelve have been often seen in a single drove--at that season when they descend from their mountain retreats to their favourite fis.h.i.+ng-grounds upon the lakes and streams.

Our hunters were perplexed by so unexpected a sight; and for some moments unresolved as to how they should act. Fortunately, the bushes already mentioned served to conceal them from the bears; and the wind was blowing towards the hunters--otherwise the bears, who are keen of scent, would soon have discovered their presence. As it was, not one of them--though several were close to the ridge--seemed to have any suspicion that an enemy was so near. The huge quadrupeds appeared to be too busy about their own affairs--endeavouring to capture the fish--some of them greedily devouring those they had already taken, and others wandering restlessly about, or eagerly observing the movements of the fish in the water. One and all of them looked fierce and famished, their bodies showing gaunt and flaky, and their enormous limbs having a lank angular appearance, that gave them a still greater resemblance to heifers--only heifers that had been half starved!

CHAPTER FIFTY FOUR.

A SLEDGE-CHASE.

I have said that our hunters were for some time irresolute about how to act. The Kurilski was inclined to withdraw from the spot and leave the bears alone; and this of course was his advice to the others. He said there might be danger in disturbing them--so many cl.u.s.tered together, and in such a mood as they appeared to be. He had known them to attack a large party of men under such circ.u.mstances, and give chase to them.

They might do the same now?

Our hunters, however, did not give full credit to this story of their guide--thinking it might have its origin in the fears of the Kurilski, whom they knew to be of a timid race; and therefore they determined not to back out. The chance was too tempting to be surrendered for so slight a reason, and without a struggle. There were several bears within easy shot of the ground where they were kneeling!

It would never do to let such an opportunity pa.s.s. They might not meet with so good a chance again; or, at all events, they might be delayed a good long time before another would turn up; and a residence in Petropaulouski, even in the "isba" of the governor--who was himself only a sergeant of Cossacks, and his dwelling a mere hut--was not so pleasant as that they should wish to prolong it. They had now been a great while journeying through countries covered with frost and snow; and they were longing to reach those tropical isles--famed for their spices and their loveliness--which were to be the next stage in their grand tour round the globe.

Influenced by these thoughts, then, they resolved to run all hazard, and try a shot at the bears.

The Kurilski, seeing them determined, gave in; and, joining his gun to theirs, a volley of four shots was simultaneously discharged through the bushes.

Two bears were seen to drop over and lie kicking upon the snow; but whether they continued their kicking for any considerable length of time, was a question about which our hunters could give no definite information. They did not stay to see: for the moment the smoke had cleared off, they saw the whole gang of bears in motion, and rus.h.i.+ng towards them from all sides of the lake. The shrill fierce screaming of the animals, and the hurried pace in which they were making towards the ridge, declared their intentions. They were charging forward to the attack.

The hunters saw this at a glance; and thought only of retreating. But whither could they fly? There were no trees; and if there had been, the bears could have climbed them even better than themselves. There were steep rocky cliffs on both sides of the ravine; but these would afford them no security--even had their ice-coated slope permitted of their being scaled. But it did not, and if it had, the bears could have scaled the rocks too!

Our Russian hunters were in a complete state of perplexity, and perhaps would not have known how to save themselves, had it not been for their Kurilski comrade. He, however, had conceived an idea--or, rather, had drawn it from old experience; and just at this moment he rushed down the slope, as he did so calling to the others to take to their sledges, and warning them that it was their only chance of escape.

Of course none of them thought of disputing his advice, or even calling it in question; but one and all of them yielded obedience on the instant. Without saying a word, each rushed to his sledge, leaped upon the runners, seated himself in double quick time upon the little crescent-like cradle, seized the "ribbons," and straightened his team to the road.

Had the dogs not been well-trained, and their drivers equally well used to the management of a sledge, their peril would have been extreme. As it was--though all came into their places in good style, and without confusion--they had not a second to spare. The bears were already galloping down the slope; and as the last sledge--which was Pouchskin's--moved off from the bottom of the ridge, the foremost of the roaring pursuers had got within less than six yards of it!

It was now a trial of speed between bears and sledge-dogs--for the latter knew that they were in as much danger as their masters; and needed neither the exclamation _Ah_! nor the _oschtol_ to urge them forward. On swept they over the frozen crust, as fast as they could go--handling their limbs and claws with the nimbleness peculiar to their race.

The bears followed in a sort of lumbering gallop; yet, notwithstanding their uncouth movements, they kept for a long time close in the rear of the fugitives.

Fortunately they did not possess the speed of the canine race; and at length--seeing that they were being distanced--one after another gave up the chase, and commenced returning towards the lake, slowly, and with apparent reluctance.

Just at this crisis an accident occurred to Pouchskin--or rather Pouchskin committed a mistake--which, had it been made five minutes sooner, would most a.s.suredly have cost him his life. The mistake which Pouchskin made, was to drop the iron end of his "_oschtol_" on the snowy crust between his sledge and the two dogs nearest to it--the "wheelers"

as we may call them. The effect of this, with Kamschatkan sledge-dogs, is to cause the whole team to halt; and so acted the dogs that Pouchskin was driving--all five suddenly coming to a dead stop! Pouchskin endeavoured to urge them forward--crying out the usual signal, _Ha_; but, in his anxious eagerness, Pouchskin placed the accent after the vowel, instead of before it; and instead of _Ha_! his exclamation sounded _Ah_! The latter being the command for the dogs to halt, of course only kept them steady in their places; and they stood without offering to move a leg. By good fortune, the bears had already given up the pursuit, and were not witnesses of this interruption: otherwise it would have gone ill with the ex-grenadier.

In due time the dogs were once more started; and Pouchskin--putting them to their highest rate of speed--soon overtook the sledge-train; which did not come to a halt until a good mile of snow-covered country was between it and the bears.

The hunters only paused then, for a short while, to breathe their panting dogs; and this done, they resumed their seats on the sledges, and continued on to the ostrog--without a thought of going back after the bears.

They had no intention, however, of giving them up entirely. They only drove home to the village--in order to get a.s.sistance; and, as soon as their report was delivered, all the men of the settlement--Cossacks, Kurilskis, and half-breeds--turned out armed to the teeth for a grand battue, and proceeded towards the lake with the Governor himself at their head.

The bears were still upon the ground--both the living and the dead--for it was now seen that two of their number had fallen to the shots of our hunters--and upon the former a general fusillade was at once opened, which ended in their complete discomfiture. Five more of them were killed upon the spot; and several others that took to flight were tracked through the snow, and destroyed in their hiding-places. For a week after, there was very little fish eaten in the ostrog of Petropaulouski--which for a long period previous to that time had not witnessed such a carnival.

Of course our Russian hunters came in for their share of the trophies; and, choosing the skin of one of the bears they had themselves shot, they left it with the Governor, to be forwarded _via_ Okhotsk and Yakoutsk, to the distant capital of Saint Petersburg. Shortly after the fur s.h.i.+p carried them to Canton,--whence they might expect to find a pa.s.sage in a Chinese trading vessel to the grand island of Borneo.

CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE.

THE SUN-BEARS.

There are colonies of Chinese settled in different parts of Borneo-- whose princ.i.p.al business there is the working of gold and antimony mines. These Chinese colonial settlements--along with numerous others throughout the Oriental islands--are under the protection and direction of a great Mercantile Company called _Kung Li_--somewhat resembling our own East India Company. In Borneo, the headquarters of this commercial a.s.sociation of the Chinese, is the port and river of Sambos, on the western coast; though they have many other settlements in different parts of the island. Of course, between these colonies and Canton there is a regular traffic; and our travellers found no difficulty in proceeding to Borneo in a Chinese junk which traded direct from Canton to Sambos. At Sambos there is also a Dutch settlement, or "factory,"

belonging to the Dutch East India Company; and this Company has also two other stations in the island--all, however, occupying a territory of limited extent, compared with the large surface of the island itself.

No other European settlements exist in Borneo, if we except an English "agency" lately established at the little island of Labuan; and a settlement at Sarawak, under an English adventurer, who styles himself "Rajah Brooke."

The "rajah" rests his claim to the t.i.tle and territory of Sarawak on a grant from the Sultan of Borneo (Bruni); and the _quid pro quo_ which he professes to have given, was the having a.s.sisted the said Sultan in putting down the "Dyak pirates!" This is the pretence hitherto put forth to the British public; but on a closer inquiry into the facts of this transaction, the story a.s.sumes quite a different colour; and it would rather appear, that, instead of a.s.sisting to put down piracy in the Bornean waters, the first act of the philanthropic Englishman was to a.s.sist the Malay Sultan in enslaving several tribes of inoffensive Dyaks, and forcing them to work without pay in the mines of antimony!

This appears to have been the nature of the services that purchased Sarawak. It was, in fact, aiding the pirates, instead of putting them down: since the Bornean Sultan was himself the actual patron and protector of these sea robbers, instead of being their enemy!

The patriot and statesman Hume endeavoured to procure an inquiry into these acts of Oriental _filibusterism_; but the underhand influence of an unprincipled Administration, backed by an interested commercial clamour, was too strong for him; and the shameful usurpation has been justified.

Notwithstanding that Europeans have been settled for hundreds of years in the islands of the Indian Archipelago--ruling them, as we may almost say--it is astonis.h.i.+ng how little is yet known of the great island of Borneo. Only its coasts have been traced, and these very imperfectly.

The Dutch have made one or two expeditions into the interior; but much knowledge need not be expected from such trading hucksters as they.

Their energies in the East have been expended throughout a period of two centuries, with no other apparent object than to promote dissension, wherever it was possible; and to annihilate every spark of freedom or n.o.bility among the races who have had the misfortune to come in contact with them.

Notwithstanding their opportunities, they have done little to add to our knowledge of Borneo--which was about as well-known a hundred years ago as it is at the present hour.--Never was a subject more ripe for ill.u.s.tration than this magnificent island. It courts a monograph--such as has been given to Sumatra by Marsden, by Tennant to Ceylon, and to Java by Sir Stamford Raffles. Perhaps some one of my young readers may become the author of that monograph?