Friday
August 27th
1926
It was after 7 before we got away from camp. Couldn’t get the motor started for some reason or other and I utilized the time trading with the Papuans who were on hand early in the morning. About 15 or 20 including many children were present. I got a small boy[’]s bow and arrows in addition to many other things. The soldiers reported many Papuans in back and around camp all nite, but nothing was stolen. They could both hear and see them on the fringe of camp. The stream was exceptionally swift in front of camp and it took us considerable time to loose site [sic, = lose sight] of our nite[’]s stop. At 8:30 as we were dragging along[,] 4 or 5 women and children appeared on shore and watched us with interest. Two were young girls and they embraced one another as they walked along. The men were stationed upstream. It was the first time we saw the women above and so close to the water as we past [sic] by. Shortly after this the Motor Boat from M.C. appeared upstream and we are now “speeding” along at about 3 or 4 miles an hour. It is such a big change that we are all singing with joy. It means M.C. by noon at least. The extra motor boat gives the extra power that is needed and we make good time. At eleven o’clock the atop [sic, = atap] roofs of M.C. appear and we are all happy. The river is exceedingly low and many large sand bars appear so the head motor boat which is pulling us has to maneauver [sic] about considerable [sic], to keep it off the bars. Finally we have to go thru the narrow swift channel just below camp for the water is too shallow all about us. This is a difficult stretch for a large island is in the middle of the river and the shore close on the other side. The stream rushes thru here at a speed of about 6 or 8 miles an hour. On the other side of the island and above it are many sand bars {F3.57} which are submerged during high water. We are lucky to have the extra motor boat helping us for it would have been impossible for us to have negotiated this swift stream with our Motor Boat and the 4 prows in addition to the prow basar [sic, = besar (Malay, “big, large”)]. We just move along even with the extra motor boat. As we are in the center of the worst spot our motor commences to howl and squeak. The motorist gets excited and fearful of something breaking[,] shuts off the gasoline. This puts all the load on the leading Motor Boat which at this critical time goes aground. The motorist gives her the gas again and we pull up to the towing motor which is pulled off the bar by the heavy stream and our heavy drag. Instead of putting the motor in neutral to stop our advance we come up to the other motor. Then things began to happen faster than they could be recorded. It was funny as well as tragic. The motorist in the head motor boat threw out his anchor and we came up and cut the anchor rope all to pieces. The first boat swung around[,] lost its anchor and was carried swiftly down stream for the tow rope was severed by our propellor. As we had no anchor and had no power we started down stream after him with the same speed and our canoes behind us. Everything whirled around and we narrowly missed upsetting when we bumped against several trees sticking out of the water. The other motor[,] not having a load[,] outdistanced us and we could see the motorist in that boat working frantically trying to start the motor. They were nearly out of sight and we were disappearing so fast that they decided to try and paddle to a sand bar to stop their progress. They made it all right and edged up on it a considerable distance down stream. In the meantime we had dropped our anchor and it held after a fashion. It held enough so that we could get our canoes behind untied and they paddled to the island shore. We were dragging our anchor just a little and the motorist worked on the engine. He started to tear things apart and Dick[,]{F3.58} who had suggested that he look into the propellor for he had seen how we had cut the other motor[’]s anchor and finally the tow rope[,] peeled off his clothes and dove under and came back with the information that the prop was all wound up with the heavy anchor rope and that was why the motor would not start. Dick said that he would have started to king the magneto off before he would look for the real trouble so decided to make sure for himself that that was the cause of our trouble. Sure enough it was and when the Dyaks had cleared the propellor of the heavy rope the engine started. He also informed them that that was the matter with the other motor boat for it too had its prop wrapped with anchor and tow rope. We dispatched one prow with Dyaks down river with that information and then proceeded to motor camp with the big prow leaving the three others on the shore. When we reached the camp the motor boat went back for the others but returned shortly for they had found the trouble and everybody came back happy[,] but one motor boat was minus one anchor. It was a thrilling experience and funny besides. We would have liked to have had a picture of it. Everybody talked at once in our Motor Boat but nobody did anything. All of the trouble could have easily been avoided had the motorists been instructed or had taken it upon themselves to put the engine in neutral as we pulled up to the other motor boat on the sand bar, and so we got back to camp. The camp was the same but a Dutch sergeant from Head Camp was in charge and the native sergeant had taken his place above. We were tired after our ten days or more absence and the camp looked good to us. We soon had our baths and something to eat and were once more settled. Dick developed a few of his films taken on the trip. They turned out good.
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