The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1884-07-09
A UNIQUE ADVENTURE.
PECULIAR FLIGHT FROM BLACK ANTS.
Some Cinnamon and NTaiays Who We're
Astonished at n Remarkable
'' Run Made BY Yankee
f Sailors. F4 ar
my. Mail aud Exprsss.l

A few years ago was second officersot
the good Sea Queen, and at the time the
following incident occurred we were lying
at Labuan, an island about thirteen miles
long and from three to Eve broad, of the
northeast coast of Borneo. One Sunday
morning Ned Wells (the third o1icer) and
resolved to walk to Victoria, small and,
indeed, the only regular settlement on the
| island, composed Of few Scotch engineers
and mechanics, the superintendent of the
mines, and 200 Chinese, who worked them.
Reports varied as to our distance from
Victoria. whether eight, ten or twelve
miles. All agreed that there was only
half.beaten foot-track through dense
| Jungle. So, prepared for q good tramp,
| we started at $3.50 a. m. through such
wonderful luxuriance of tropical growth
as can be seen nowhere in greater profusion
than in Borneo, where the vegetation is
most diversified, from dense underground
| of ferns and creepers to the gigantic trees
| Of the forest, towering aloft from 150 to2OO
feet, often rising more than 100 feet before
the symmetry of their outline is broken by
a branch We pushed on for about two
hours and half, making slow progress,
for the track was nothing more than an
Indian trail and so overgrown that it was
difficult to keep it, even for me, who had
had some experience in the backwoods of
Canada and Australia.
About one O'Clock we came to natural
clearing about 200 feet across, covered
with a beautiful growth of grass, and
nearly across It's centre lay a huge fallen
tree-the roots were away in the jungle
beyond the clearing, and the head was lost
in the underground on the other side, SO
one can imagine the size Of the fallen
monarch. Feeling hot and rather tired,
we concluded to rest here; so lighting our
pipes, we climbed upon the huge trunk and
began to look around and admire the
birds with their brilliant plumage, and
the hundreds of lizards and humming-
birds to be seen in every direction. Our
quiet enjoyment was suddenly disturbed
by Ned who, giving a scream like wild
Indian, slipped off the tree, and while
holding his calf exclaimed: "rve been
bitten!n was off in second, looking
for snakes, and after few moments of un-
pleasant conjectures, we found that we
had been trespassing on the right of way
Of some large black ants who had prob
ably long been undisturbed in their occu-
pancy of the tree. Their bite, though ir-
ritating, is not dangerous; so reassured,
but our ardor perhaps somewhat cooled, we
decided to give up Victoria and find our
way back again, and while thinking Of the
scramble before us, bright idea struck
me. " I+''+.a .'h'
'Why, Ned, we can walk back on the
track; the mine must be somewhere near
here. tNN.f-,u. .l. .ti.-ssr
After taking our bearings by the sun as
' we'll as the trees would allow, and after
half an hours pushing and cutting through
the mass Of creeprs aud underwood, with
an uncomf ortable sensation Of possible
snakes all the time, we came out on the
, track, cutting through the forest just
wide enough for the narrow tracks side by
side, the whole being on grade, the load
ed cars going down, pulling the empty
ones up. We were not far from the mouth
= of the pit. consequently about two miles
:. from the dock; however, sure now of our
way, we trudged along contentedly, when
chanced to see small construction truck
lying overturned by the side Of the track.
said to Ned: " stJtN stT
"Why should we walk when we can
. rider Let us put the machine right side
= up, and we'll spin along the whole way in
no time"
1t was the work Of moment to turn the
h truck over on TO the rails 1t was only a
a, small platform about six feet by four,
mounted on wheels to carry rails or sleep.
ers, with no railing or sides Of any kind,
and we soon found another more serious
deficiency. Our momentum increasing
/. each moment by the force Of gravity, we
q were soon spinning! along, and said:
n "Ned, guess we had better put on the
4 brake" when to our dismay we found this
,, most important accessory had been broken
Il Off, which probably accounted for the
o truck being where we had found 1t.
2 suggested; i'that I'VE had7u better jump
Il off while. 9we9 could with safety, but
a Ned, who ,, was a wild, daredevil fell
i low, said: "Oh,, hang it; let her run
n W are ali right as long as she Keeps or
j the track % The short time occupied By
d these remarks had seriously increased oul
speed. Faster and faster we a ew, crouch
), ing on our knees, holding on to. the from
IA platforms, our hats (playthings for tht
J, monkeys) left far behind, the vino
Z, whistling past us as we smiled a grim an(
4 ghastly smile at each other, and, like Mr.
Micawber, waited for r. something t.
II TURN .up.sassauzt tiaa,s ,s,s,s.szsl..s,.,sss
r Still faster, till we few like an express
"a train, and our carriage, being light, rock
ed from side to side, now on two wheels
n now on three, and sometimes on none at all
a Presently we passed the Chinamen's quar-
- ters, about half mile from the pier, an,
: were greeted with a chorous of ali yah
IA Hi yahp ' '.',H F'gl
,e Want Of time and breath compelled us
1t forgo any reply to their remark. Like
" flash their long, low building disappeared
and we were in front of the resident dot
f" tor'shouse, and on theveranda the docto
himself, with our captain and the super
le intendent of the mines, was sitting. The
T. started up and ran toward us, shoutin
II something which we could not hear, an
N which, like much other good advice, wa
" wasted on the air.
" If we could only keep the track, ha
as made up mind for nothing worse than
aa plunge into the sea over the end Of th
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