My Life With the Headhunters by Wyn Sargent

My Life With the Headhunters

by Wyn Sargent

Arthur Baker, 1974, ISBN 0213164914, black and white photographic plates, hardcover, dustjacket

Good Condition, a little edge and shelf wear, a little rubbing and bumping to edges and corners, previous owners stamps to front endpapers, and title page, sticker residue and stamps to back endpapers, slight lean, dustjacket shows some edge and shelf wear with some rubbing, bumping, chipping and small tears, re-enforced with tape in parts (see photographs)

“American photo-journalist Wyn Sargent became one of the first persons to explore the savage jungles of Central Borneo, home of the headhunters.  Here is not only a fascinating account of her adventures in that hostile wilderness, but the story of how she saved the Dyaks, a doomed tribe – poverty-stricken, starving, diseased, and demoralised.
Mrs Sargent’s odyssey begins with a 200-mile journey by houseboat up the nearly unnavigable Mantaja River (accompanied by her twelve-year-old son, a local journalist, an interpreter, native guide, captain, cook, and five reluctant Indonesian soldiers).  She tells how her small entourage struggles to survive – without sanitation, drugs, or even a compass: their desperate fight against cannibalism as they’re forced to eat their own clothing – until their number dwindles from fifteen to seven.  And how, after being scorched and lashed by sun and tropical storms, they finally discover the Dyaks, four-and-a-half-foot tall headhunters, armed with spears, blowguns, and giant knives, who stand frozen with fear at the sight of strangers.”