Shooting the rapids on a dangerous mission trip
'ON SUNDAY night we had a wonderful
Service of Worship. A cross had been set up on a box and the boys
and girls from the Methodist Iban School in Kapit sat nearby.
Lacking a church bell, Mr Baughman, in his strong baritone, led
the students and others who knew them in one hymn after another,
and hearing the singing, most of the two to three hundred residents
of the longhouse assembled, making a large group seated around
us on the floor.
Following the lead of the Agricultural Missions, Mr Baughman had
suggested to the people to get samples of earth from their padi
fields and some of the seed, and then to present them for God's
blessing at this Service.
The teacher who was coming to live there, Mr Manoeroeng, preached
a very vivid sermon telling the people how they must put away
their superstitions and follow the way of Jesus. I was asked to
give the benediction, after which Mr Baughman, using a kerosene
projector, showed slides and films. It was an evening that the
missionaries present will long remember.
Rain was again falling and this
time very heavily, so that we began to worry about the possibility
of returning home on the morrow, for these jungle rivers rise
and fall very rapidly and if the river was too turbulent and high
we would not be able to return to Kapit the next morning.
The next morning the river could be heard roaring down below us
and we, going down for our morning ablutions, were amazed to find
that it had risen between twelve and fifteen feet overnight, and
was now a mad, rushing, swirling mass of brown water hurrying
to the ocean far away. Our Iban boatmen said we would have to
wait to let it subside some, but when, after 8.30, it did not
seem to show any sign of doing so, they decided to risk it …
A longboat negotiating dangerous
rapids on a river near Kapit. - Methodist Church Archives picture.
With a roar our motor started, and off we went down that raging
current. What a thrill that was! Soon we came to the first rapids,
the huge stones of which were far below us, but nevertheless made
much commotion on the surface of the rushing river … the
motor was run full speed and we went through safely … the
same method adopted at each rapid that was dangerous, sometimes
using the motor, sometimes just trusting to their paddles to guide
us through the safest place.
Half an hour down the Melinau River we saw ahead at a bend a very
tumultuous mass of waves and dashing spray several hundred yards
long, and one could actually see how the surface of the river
went down several feet as it dropped through the rapids.
Our boatmen surveyed the scene ... and decided to shoot the rapids
on the opposite side. My heart came up to my mouth as we approached
the mad waters and I realised that we were going over one of the
largest dips. There must have been a huge rock down below, for
the water fell away alarmingly as it went over.
About ten feet of the front of our longboat was completely out
of the water as we hung over the fall, and then with a splash
that thoroughly soaked me and threw gallons of water into our
boat, we hit the next crest and somehow came through, our motor
roaring at high speed and the two boatmen working for dear life
with their paddles. To the left of us, as we came into a calm
spot on the side, we could hear and see the dashing waves often
throwing the water and spray high into the air.
I asked why we were stopping and Penghulu Sibat laconically said,
"Many people have been drowned in these rapids and we must
wait until the other two boats come through." My heart sank
as I thought of the other six missionaries, besides the Iban men
and boys, who had come on this visit at my suggestion. I got my
cine camera ready and we waited.
Suddenly, around the bend we saw the large Mission longboat coming
full speed, their 22 hp motor roaring above the sound of the dashing
river waves, and going right through the longest and, evidently
to our boatmen, the most dangerous part of the rapids. I heard
our two men groan as they saw them. All I could do was to pray
while I ground away with my camera.
I shall never forget the sight of that heavily loaded longboat
slashing through those waves and safely riding them out. The river
was carrying much debris, and even whole trees, which made navigation
by small, light longboats extra dangerous. Had any of our three
boats struck a log in those rapids it would have been all over
… It was with thankful hearts that we continued down the
river. We were all safe, and apart from splashes and wet clothes,
we were none the worse for the experience.
Now we know what our missionaries to the Iban people have to face
as part of their work among these people, and we know what gallant,
brave and loyal men our Iban hosts are ...' - Methodist Message
October 1950, p.11-12, slightly edited.
Earnest Lau, the Associate Editor of Methodist Message, is also the Archivist of The Methodist Church in Singapore.