saying it had been delivered to him by a Sassak. He furthermore told Willemstijn that war had broken out between the Balinese and the company-but this news the captain refused to believe and as soon as he reached the bivouac he lay down to rest. No sooner had Major van Lawick mastered the contents of the letter than he roused Captain Willemstijn and after a short consultation it was decided that the column must be in marching order for Ampenan at 5 p. m. The order was cheerfully received by the men who, notwithstanding the day's fatigue set to work to have everything ready at the appointed hour. Meanwhile the commanding officer assembled his captains and read them the Commander-in-chief's letter; he sent a note to Lieutenant Van der Zwaan of the topographical service, who was absent surveying in the neighbourhood and not expected at Batu Klian until next day, informing him of the altered circumstances, and instructing him to avoid Tjakra but to make for the East coast, where a government steamer should be sent to fetch him. This forethought on the part of the Chief saved the life of this clever young officer and it was acts of this nature which so endeared van Lawick to his men. They left the bivouac at 5 p. m.; as there were only two invalids to be carried in tandoes, they marched briskly and without interruptions until dusk, when halt was made in the kampong of Surabaya. Before daybreak the Commander was warned of the arrival of Mami Moesti Hadji, one of the three Sassak Chiefs whom he had left with the Commanderin-chief; Mami narrated how he had fled at the first shot, but could not explain the cause of the outburst, beyond the fact that there were many bad people at Narmada who wanted to kill the company. The troops were soon on their feet again and after a short breakfast of bread and coffee they started and at 11 a. m. they reached the river Babak; hardly had the first man got through the brush wood when the enemy opened fire, besides which, preparatory to the arrival of the troops, they had thrown up earthworks and put up a palisade of bamboo and prickly shrubs at the landing place; however breastworks and palisade soon gave way before a couple of salvos from the infantry and the energy of the engineer, who soon cleared the passage, enabling the entire column to land without loss; from this point onward their progress was much slower, for both infantry and artillery had to drive away the enemy whilst advancing and at Narmada the firing increased in intensity and it was here that the column suffered their first loss, a native artillery soldier and a mule being fatally wounded. The artillery brought their battery into position on a height near the river and opened fire on Narmada to cover the passage of the troops and in spite of all the enemy's guns they reached the high road to Tjakra at about 3 p. m.; the fire of the Balinese diminished gradually and ceased entirely as they approached the capital, so they had enjoyed comparative immunity for an hour or two; they were at the entrance gates of the town at half past three, there were no signs of disturbance, the enemy apparently was driven back. The Commander of the column was so convinced that he was within easy reach of headquarters that he discussed with Dr. Ujlaki, the advisability of requesting the Commander-in-chief to allow the wounded to proceed to Ampenan that evening, as they could be better cared for, even should the remainder of the column be ordered to stay at Tjakra. The wide gate (3,5 mètres) had been narrowed by filling up the opening with bamboo, but as this had been done partly when they had passed through before not much was thought about it; the captain of the Staff however drew the Commander's attention to the fact that the entrance had been further narrowed by newly added bamboo and was now reduced to little over 1 mètre; yet the entry was made in good spirits, in the anticipation of soon meeting friends and comrades and enjoying a well-deserved rest after the prolonged march. Not a single Balinese was visible in the street.... but this was not considered as any thing unusual at this hour of day; but it certainly was curious that all the doors leading to the homesteads should be closed, they generally being thrown wide open and no one was at the market, at other times so busy... The greater part of the column had advanced through the gates and the foremost division had reached the bend in the road, when a shot was fired which was the enemy's signal for a general discharge from every one of their pieces; here too they had loopholes all along the line and through these and from over the walls and from the trees burst forth the murderous fire! "Forward! Forward! as quick as possible!" ordered the Commander who was at the head of the column, hoping to find a refuge for his men in the old bivouac; he turned round to tell captain Willemstijn to transmit the order and in another minute he lay mortally wounded and the 1st lieutenant Van der Staay met the same fate not many yards off. Captain Willemstijn carried the instructions to the Commander of the guard, but here in the second bend of the road the firing was so severe on all sides that Captain Christan stationed his men in a small deserted Dewa temple on the north side of the road. While this small space afforded a temporary refuge to the vanguard and the two mountain guns with Lieutenant Vis, Captains Willemstijn and Christan under cover of a section of infantry, proceeded to reconnoître in the direction of the cross-roads at Tjakra, but within 5 to 600 mètres of this point they perceived that the bivouac of the 6th battalion was deserted.... True, Kamerman's company was still in the temple and they had heard Van Lawick's advancing column; later on we shall see the reason of their silence. What was originally the bivouac was now a mass of ruins strewn with dead bodies and dead horses..., what a gruesome sight! what a crushing disappointment! There was not much time for reflection, death was threatening them too from every side; quickly they hastened back to their men in the dewa temple, hoping to be able to restore communication with the main division and the rear-guard. The horses and mules maddened with the roar of the guns were rushing about wildly, dragging everything along with them in their frantic efforts to get away from the fire; they got up, stumbled over dead bodies, knocked down the soldiers and added to the universal distraction; it is a terrible, a desperate fight for life! And, drowning the moans and sighs of dying and wounded were heard the war cries of the Balinese, their shouts of exultant joy and the rattling of the guns. It was impossible to make way through such a scene, so they waited, in hopes that the rear guard would soon join them and shortly a section of infantry under lieutenant Broekman, despatched by Captain Lindgreen, came up and informed them that van Lawick was dead. The command now passed to Captain Christan; with the help of the two pieces of mountain artillery they kept the enemy at bay for a little but the Balinese succeeded in piercing walls that command those of the Dewa temple and screened by these they fired straight into the midst of the division; the ammunition was getting used up; many were wounded and many were killed; the situation was fast growing unbearable and to wait for Lindgreen and his men any longer would have meant certain death to all assembled there. Neither a forward nor a backward move was possible; so they decided to move sidewards (to the North) and fight their way through the enemy at the point of the bayonet if needs be and reach the open sawah, where at least they would not have to fight an enemy protected by walls. The wounded, 28 in number, were carried to the northern exit, and the open sawah was soon reached, notwithstanding the incessant fire; a halt was made and the signal constantly repeated for the "2nd company to assemble" (Lindgreen's), but it was in vain, they received no reply! They dared not wait here any longer and even Lieutenant Broekman was by this time convinced that he could not return to his column and must throw in his lot with Captain Christan. The retreat now proceeded in good order in a northeast direction. across sawahs, ravines and kalis (small rivers); they had only a few cartridges left, still the confidence of the men in their officers continued unabated and where the latter lead the former unhesitatingly followed. Finally they reached the road to Lingsar-and fell in with a crowd of Balinese, who allowed them to proceed on their way unmolested and only one shot was fired. How is this extraordinary behaviour to be accounted for? Were they afraid to meet our troops in the open field? The march was continued Northwards across an extensive sawah and after careful reconnoitring through a bomboo plantation and then again across another sawah; presently considerable astonishment and anxiety are felt at the appearance of several natives waving white flags the meaning of which one is at a loss to understand. All doubts were soon dissipated on discovering that they were held by some friendly Sassaks from a neighbouring kampong, where they provided the men plentifully with water and cocoa nuts; needless to say that this timely hospitality was vastly appreciated by all and the refreshing water was particularly welcome to the poor sufferers in the tandoes. Night had overtaken them and still there was a long march before them and who could say to what further hostilities they might not be exposed? They gladly accepted the offer of the hadji, the chief of the kampong, to accompany them some little distance, after which he appointed two Sassaks to serve as guides along the dark unknown road. At 8 p.m. they could distinguish the electric search light of the opium cruiser lying in the roadstead of Ampenan; this sight filled the men with fresh energy, although it was two hours longer before they reached the strand, owing to the darkness and the inequalities of the ground. Ignorant of the situation at Ampenan Captain Christan signals "9th battalion, 4th company, the doctor," hoping at the same time to attract the notice of the steamers, in which he is successful, for shortly afterwards a boat from the "Koningin Emma" nears the shores but owing to the roar of the surf they cannot hear what the officer shouts to them. The signal of the 9th battalion was repeated on board the steamers. had the comrades of the 9th whom they had left at Ampenan embarked? They hardly knew what to expect; after the horrors they had witnessed at Tjakra nothing seemed too bad to anticipate. But no! their signals were also answered from the bivouac, where the exhausted column arrived at about 10 p. m, ... Great were the rejoicings at the safe arrival of a portion of van Lawick's column, but a general gloom spread over the bivouac on hearing of the death of the Chief of the column and of their youthful and promising comrades Kalff and van der Staay and so many others. The grief of all was intensified by the painful anxiety concerning the fate of Lindgreen's column.... Captain Christan volunteered to start with fresh troops to relieve him, but the Commander-in-chief considered it would be too reckless. . . . Let us see what happened to Lindgreen; the same obstacles which prevented Captain Christan's going back to the column prevented Lindgreen's advancing; he waited where he was for a little, but the men around him were rapidly being decimated and the ambulance was crowded; doctor Ujlaki performed his duties unflinchingly amidst showers of bullets and was ably assisted by nurse Loverinck; the little band under Lieutenant de Graaf covering the ambulance was growing less and less. It was evident that to linger here was certain death for all and Lindgreen gave the order for all to retreat into a small dewa-temple, the doors of which were open; quick as lightning the ambulance and the native soldiers obeyed the order and once again a heathen temple provided asylum to our troops! They were only just in time, for by now the Balinese intoxicated with success were about to hurl themselves bodily against this handful of men and very nearly managed to push forward into the temple with the last of our soldiers.... their reception was not of a nature to encourage the attempt! Thwarted in this they tried to climb the walls but this too they had to give up, for every man whose head appeared was instantly shot down. This temporary security afforded time to review their position; inside the temple are |