Travels in the East Indian Archipelago

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TWO HIGHEST PRINCES

WIVES OF ONE OF THE

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By ALBERT §&. BICKMORE, M.A., I¥3 94,19 1g

FELLOW OF THY ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON,
COMMMBPONDING MEMBER OV THE AMERICAN AND LONDON ETHNOLUGICAL SOCIETIES,
NEW YORK LYCEUM OF NATURAL MisToRY, MEMBH#R OF THE BOSTON SOCIETY .
| OF NATURAL WisTORY AND AMERICAN ORIFSTAL SOCIETY, AND
PROFESSOR OF NATURAL HISTORY IN MADISON
UNIVERSITY, HAMILTON, . Y.

| | WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
|

“i LONDON:
| JOUN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
Re 1868.

The right of Trovalation t rererved.

LowDC: PRINTED BY W CLOWES AND SONS, DUKE STREET, STAMFORD STREET, ~
AND CHARING CROs,

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GOVERSMENT BUILDINGS AT BATAVIA.
Ste page 30.

PREFACE.

—

Tux object of my voyage to Amboina was simply
to re-collect the shells figured in Rumphius’s “Rari-
teit Kamer,” and the idea of writing a volume of
travels was not seriously entertained until I arrived
at Batavia, and, instead of being forbidden by the
Dutch Government to proceed to the Spice Islands,
as some of my warmest friends feared, I was honored
by His Excellency, the Governor-General of “ the
Netherlands India,” with the order given on page
40,

Having fully accomplished that object, I availed
myself of the unexampled facilities to travel af-

forded me in every part of the archipelago, and all
except the first six chapters describe the regions
thus visited.

The narrative given has been taken almost en-
tirely from my journal, which was kept day by day

with scrupulous care, Accuracy, even at any sacri-

6 PREFACE.

fice of elegance, has been aimed at throughout; and
first impressions are presented as modified by subse-
quent observation.

My sincerest thanks are herein expressed to the
liberal gentlemen to whom this volume is dedicated ;
to Baron Sloet van de Beele, formerly Governor-
General of the Netherlands India; to Mr. N. A. T.
Arriens, formerly Governor of the Moluceas ; to Mr.
J. F. R. S. van den Bosche, formerly Governor of the
West Coast of Sumatra; to the many officers of
the Netherlands Government, and to the Dutch and
American merchants who entertained me with the
most cordial hospitality, and aided me in every pos-
sible way throughout the East Indian Archipelago.

Camnrmpor, Mass., U. S. A.,
Sept. 1, 18Hk,

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IL.
THE STRAIT OF SUNDA AND BATAVIA.

Object of the Travels described in this volume—Nearing the coast of Java—
Balmy breezes of the Eastern Isles—King ‘olus’s favorite seat—A veil of
rain—First view of Malays—Entering the Java Sea—The Malay language—
Early history of Java—Marco Polo—Hinduism in Java—History of Bata-
via—The roadstead of Batavia—The city of Batavia—Houses of Europeans
—Mode of cooking—Characteristics of the Malays—Collecting butterflies—
Visit Rahden Saleh—Attacked with a fever—receive a letter from the Gov-
MoacGeneat'. co Se es ee

CHAPTER If.
SAMARANG AND SURABAYTA.

Sail from Batavia for the Moluccas—My companions—Mount Slamat—The
north coast of Java—Mount Prahu—Temples at Boro Bodo and Bramba-
nan—Samarang—Mohammedan mosque—History of Mohammedanism—
Mount Japara—The Guevo Upas, or Valley of Poison—Gresik—Novel
mode of navigating mud-flats—Surabaya—Government dock-yard and ma-
chine-shops—Zoological gardens—History of Hinduism—The Klings—Ex-
cursion to a sugar plantationm—Roads and telegrapbie routes in Java—
Malay mode of gathering ricee—The kinds of sugar-cane : . 42-70

CHAPTER IIL.
THE FLORA AND FAUNA OF THE TROPICAL East,

Leave Surabaya for Macassar—Madura—The Sapi—Manufacture of salt—The
Tenger Mountains—The Sandy Sea—Eruptions of Mount Papandayang and
Mount Galunggong—Java and Cuba compared—The forests of Java—Fauna
of Java—The cocoa-nut palm—The Pandanus—The banana—Tropical frase
—The mangostin—The rambutan—mango—duku—durian—bread - fiuit- -

8 CONTENTS.

Bali—Javanese traditions—Limit between the fauna of Asia and that
of Australia—A plateau beneath the sea—Caste and suttee practices on
Bali eee os ee i ee i |

CELEBES AND TIMUR.

History of Celebes—De Barros—Diogo de Cauto—Head-hunters of Celebes—
The harbor of Macassar—Voyages of the Bugis—Skilful diving—Fort Rot-
—The Societeit, or Club—A drive into the country—The tomb of a
native merchant—Tombs of ancient princes—Sail for Kupang, in Timur—
Flying-fish—The’ Gunong Api in Sapi Strait—Gillibanta—Sumbawa—Erup-
tion of Mount Tomboro—The Eye of the Devil—Floris and Sandal-wood
Island—Kupang—Fruits on Timur—Its barrenness and the cause of it—
Different kinds of people seen at Kupang—Human sacrifice—Purchas-
ing shells—Geology of the vicinity of Kupang—Sail for Dilli—Village
of Dilli—Islands north of Timur—The Bandas—Monsoons in the Java
and China Seas. ; ; y os ‘ : » « 97-129

*

CHAPTER V. ,
AMBOINA,

Description of the island and city of Amboina—Dutch mode of governing the
natives—A pleasant home—A living nautilus is secured—Excursion to
Hitu—Hassar steering—History of the cocoa-tree—Indian corn—Hunting
in the tropics—Butterflies—Excursion along the shores of Hitu for shells—
Mode of travelling in the Spice Islands—The pine-apple—Covered bridges—
Hitulama—Purchasing specimens—History of the Spice Islands—Enormous
hermit-crabs—An exodus—Assilulu—Babirusa shells from Buru—Great
curiosities—Jewels in the brains of snakes and wild boars—Description of
the clove-tree—History of the clove-trade—Watched by the rajah’s wives—
Lariki and Wakasihu—A storm in the height of the southeast monsoon—
Variety of native dialects—Dangerous voyage night—An earthquake—
Excursion to Tulahu . : ; < ~ « « 180-176

CHAPTER VI.
THE ULIASSERS AND CERAM.

The arrival of the mail at Amboina—The Uliassers—Chewing the betel-nut and
siri—Haruku—We strike on a reef—Saparua Island, village, and bay—
Nusalaut—Strange reception—An Eastern banquet—Examining the native
schools—Different classes of natives—Yield of cloves in the Uliassers—N ul-
lahia, Amet, cud Abobo—Breaking of the surf on the coral reefs—Tanjong
O—Travel hy night—Ceram—Elpaputi Bay and Amahai—Alfura, or head-

CONTENTS. 9

hunters, come down from the mountains and dance before us—Land on the
south coast of Ceram—Fiendish revels of the natives—Return to Saparua

and Amboina. : . ; A ‘ : . 77-212
CHAPTER VII.
BANDA.

Governor Arriens invites me to accompany him to Banda—The Gunong Api—
Road of the Bandas—Banda Neira and its forts—Geology of Lontar—The
Bandas and the crater in the Tenger Mountains compared—The groves of
nutmeg-trees—The canari-tree—Orang Datang—We ascend the voleano—
In imminent peril—The crater—Perilous descent—Eruptions of Gunong |
Api—Earthquakes at Neira—Great extent of the Residency of Banda—The
Ki and Arru Islands—Return to Amboina—Geology of the island of Amboi-
na—Trade of Amboina—The grave of Ramphius—His history . 218-252

CHAPTER VIII,
BURU,

Adieu to Amboina—North coast of Ceram—Wahai—Buru—Kayéli—Exenr-
sions to various parts of the bay—A home in the forest—Malay cuisine—
Tobacco and maize—Flocks of parrots—Beautifal birds—History of Buru—
The religion and laws of the Alfura—Shaving the head of a young child—A
wedding-feast—Marriage laws in Mohammedan countries—A Malay mar-
riage—Opium, its effects and its history—Kayu-puti oil—Gardens beneath
the sea—Roban—Skinning birds—Tropical pests—A deer-hunt—Dinding—
A threatening fleet—A page of romance—A last glance at Buru 953-297

CHAPTER IX.
TERNATE, TIDORE, AND GILOLO.

Seasons in Ceram and Buru—Bachian and Makian—Eruptions of Ternate—Ma-
gellan—Former monopolies—The bloodhounds of Gilolo—Migrations—A

birth-mark—The Molucea rei wi vais challenge the
Dutch — sl . - « 298-822

CHAPTER X.
THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF CELEBES.

Mount Klabat—Kema—aA hunt for babirusa—A camp by the sea—Enormous
snakes—From Kema to Menado—Eruption of Mount Kemaas—Population
of the Minahassa—Thrown from a horse—The Bantiks—A living death—
History of the coffee-tree—In the jaws of a crocodile—The bay of Menado—
Lake Linu—A grove by moonlight . ‘a i : » 823-355

—— =. —

10 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XI.
THR MINAHASSA,

The waterfall of Tinchep—A mud-well—A boiling pool—The ancient appear-
ance of our earth—Lake Tondano—One of the finest views in the world—
Palm-wine—Graves of the natives—Christianity and education—Tanjong
Flasco—Gold-mines in Celebes—The island of Buton—Macassar—A raving
maniac > ; - : : . . : » » « 856-353

CHAPTER XIL
SUMATRA,

Padang—Beautiful drives—Crossing the streams—The cleft—Crescent-shaped
roofs—Distending the lobe of the ear—Cafions—The great crater of Manin-
dyu—Immense amphitheatres—Ophir—Gold-mines_ . . 884-406

CHAPTER XIII.
TO THE LAND OF THE CANNIBALS.

Valley of Bondyol—Monkeys—The orang-utan—Lubu Siképing—Tigers and
buffaloes—The Valley of Raun—A Batta grave—Riding along the edge of a
precipice—Twilight and evening—Padang Sidempuan—Among the canni-
bals—Descent from the Barizan—The suspension bridge of rattan—Orna-
nients of gold—The camphor-tree . . . . « « 407-434

CHAPTER XIV.
RETURN TO PADANG.

Bay of Tapanuli—The Devil’s Dwelling—Dangerous fording—Among the Bat-
tas—Missionaries and their brides—The feasts of the cannibals—The pep-
per trade—The English appear in the East—Struck by a heavy squall—Ayar
Bangis and Natal—The king's birthday—Malay ideas of greatness 435-457

CHAPTER XV.
THE PADANG PLATEAU.

Thunder and lightning in the tropies—Paya Kombo and the Bua Valley—The
Bua cave—Up the valley to Suka Rajah—Ancient capitals of Menangkabau—
The reformers of Korinchi—Malay mode of making matchlo¢ks—A simple
meal—Geological history of the plateau—The Thirteen Confederate Towns—
The flanks of the Mérapi—Natives of the Pagi Islands—Where the basin of
the Indian Occan begins . . . wl let ete BABE

CONTENTS, 1]

CHAPTER XVI.

CROSSING SUMATRA.

Bay of Bencoolen—Rat Island—Loss of Governor Raffles’s collection—A trap
for tigers—Blood-suckers—Pits for the rhinoceros—virgin children—Pla-
teau of the Musi—From Kopaiyong to Kaban Agong—Natives destroyed
by tigers—Sumatra’s wealth—The Anak gadis—Troops of monkeys—From
Tebing Tingi to Bunga Mas—We come upon an elephant—Among tigers—
The Pasuma people—Horseback travel over—The land of game 486-520

CHAPTER XVII.

PALEMBANG, BANCA, AND SINGAPORE.

Mount Dempo—Rafts of cocoa-nuts—Floating down the Limatang—Cotton
—From Purgatory to Paradise—Palembang—The Kubus—Banca—Pre-
sented with a a python ie jae — for life—Sail for

. China,

Apvenprs A.

» 521-542

Area of the principal islands, according to Baron van

Carnbée . : : . 543
rE B. Population of the Netherlands India, 1865 , 545.
rh ©, A table of heights of the principal mountains in the i
pelago . : « ; - - o44
‘ D. Coffee sold by the SES, a Pathag ah wy te ORS
4 i. Trade of Java and Madura during 1864. : 546
ir F. A list of the birds collected by the author on the island
of Buru , d . 3 - : ‘ ; , - oT
INDEX : . : ‘ : : ; . 549

“Sarre” OXEN FROM MADURA,

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

_—

Map of the Eastern Archipelago .. wa zs Zt ee

Wives of one of the great Princes of Java (from a Photograph) Frontispicee
Poultry Vendor, Batavia Mt fe Page 27
Government Buildings in Batavia AAD R i 4
Sapis, or oxen from Madura a ar |
Javanese and family = & |
Rahden Saleh = eT
Rahden Saleh’s Palace re + én ON
Watering the streets, Java = wD
A Tanda + oe aM ee
A Kling sf 6 a 3 Pe a se Gp
A Native of Beloochistan (from a Photograph) .. 63
Fruit-Market 89
The Pinang, or Betel-nut Palm (from a Drawing by Rahden Saleh) « 480
After the bath (from a Photograph) aa P rf .. 182
Musical Instruments of the Malays (Batavia) .. - « 191
Dyak, or Head-hunter of Borneo (froma Photograph .. 206
Landing through the Surf on the south coast of Ceram peas a Sketch) 209
The Lontar Palm .. ew ooo
Ascent of the Voleano of Banda—saved by. a fern « rom a Sketch) 234
A Jungle... 261
A Malay Opium-amoker (ron a Photograph) fy * 281
The Gomuti Palm (from a Sketch) ¢ a ‘a < 370
The Bamboo “s “Z im - = 374
Approach to the Cleft near Padang ; x 300
Women of Menangkaban .. os a - + — « «9895
Scene in the interior of Sumatra... vs st “ = 404
Driving round a dangerous Bluff .. bs ne a = 419
Suspension Bridge of rattan 428
Native of Nias “3 = = bs 7 re :, - 445
Natives of the Pagi Islands ss < fs “i es « 482
Singapore .. és “ Se - O21
River Scene in Sumatra, on the Limatang = as n « 625
Natives of Palembang } * z . 580
Palembang—high water iE - ’
Killing a Python .. ‘ 4 2 en fe a » 641
MapofSumatra .. 4 to se .. To face page 384
- Tomb of the Sultan—Palembang i. - ts ~ os » 546

at the end

TRAVELS

IN THE

EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

CHAPTER I.
THE STRAIT OF SUNDA AND BATAVIA.

On the 19th of April, 1865, I was fifty miles east
of Christmas Island, floating on the good ship “ Mem-
non” toward the Strait of Sunda.

I was going to Batavia, to sail thence to the Spice
Islands, which lie east of Celebes, for the purpose of
collecting the beautiful shells of those seas.

I had chosen that in preference to any other part
of the world, because the first collection of shells
from the East that was ever described and figured
with sufficient accuracy to be cf any scientific value
was made by Rumphius, a doctor who lived many
years at Amboina, the capital of those islands. His
great work, the “ Rariteit Kamer,” or Chamber of
Curiosities, was published in 1705, more than sixty
years before the twelfth edition of the “Systema Na-
ture” was issued by Linnzeus, “the Father of Natural
History,” who referred to the figures in that work

14 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

to illustrate a part of his own writings. When Hol-
land became a province of France, in 1811, and it was
designed to make Paris the centre of science and lit-
erature in Europe, it is said that this collection was
taken from Leyden to that city, and afterward re.
turned, and that during these two transfers a large
proportion of the specimens disappeared ; and that,
finally, what was left of this valuable collection was
scattered through the great museum at Leyden. It
was “partly to restore Rumphius’s specimens, and
partly to bring into our own country such a standard
collection, that I was going to search myself for the
shells figured in the “ Rariteit Kamer,” on the very
points and headlands, and in the very bays, where
Rumphius’s specimens were found.

As we neared the coast of Java, cocoa-nuts and
fragments of sea-washed palms, drifting by, indicated
our approach to a land very different at least from
the temperate shores we had left behind; and we
could in some degree experience Columbus's pleasure,
when he first saw the new branch and its vermilion
berries. Strange, indeed, must be this land to which
we are coming, for here we see snakes swimming on
the water, and occasionally fragments of rock drifting
over the sea. New birds also appear, now sailing
singly through the sky, and now hovering in flocks
over certain places, hoping to satisfy their hungry
maws on the small fishes that follow the floating drift-
wood. Here it must be that the old Dutch sailors
fabled could be seen the tree—then unknown—that
bore that strange fruit, the double cocoa-nut. They
always represented it as rising up from a great depth

BALMY BREEZES OF THE EASTERN ISLES, 15

and spreading out its uppermost leaves on the surface
of the sea. It was guarded by a bird, that was not
bird but half beast; and when a ship came near,
she was always drawn irresistibly toward this spot,
and not one of her ill-fated crew ever escaped the
beak and formidable talons of this insatiable harpy.

But such wonders unfortunately fade away before
the light of advancing knowledge; and the prince
of Ceylon, who is said to have given a whole vessel
laden with spice for a single specimen, could have
satisfied his heart’s fullest desire if he had only known
it was not rare on the Seychelles, north of Mauri-
tius,

The trades soon became light and baffling. Heavy

rain-squalls, with thunder and lightning, were fre-
quent; and three days after, as one of these cleared
away, the high mountain near Java Head appeared
full a quarter of a degree above the horizon, its black
shoulders rising out of a beautiful mantle of the
ermine-white, fleecy clouds, called cwmuli.

Although we were thirty-five miles from the shore,
yet large numbers of dragon-flies came round the
ship, and I quickly improvised a net and captured a
goodly number of them.

After sunset, there was a light air off-shore, which
carried us to within a few miles of the land, and at
midnight the captain called me on deck to enjoy
“the balmy breezes of the Eastern isles;” and cer-
tainly to myself, as well as to the others, the air
seemed to have the rich fragrance of new-mown clover,
but far more spicy. At that hour it was quite clear,
but at sunrise a thick haze rose up from the ocean,

16 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

and this phenomenon was repeated each morning that
we were trying to enter the Strait of Sunda. As we
had arrived during the changing of the monsoons,
calms were so continuous that for six days we tried
in vain to gain fifty miles. When a breeze would
take us up near the mouth of the channel, it would
then die away and let a strong current sweep us
away to the east, and one time we were carried most
unpleasantly near the high, threatening crags at Pa-
lembang Point, near Java Head. Those who have
passed Sunda at this time of the year, or Ombay
Strait in the beginning of the opposite monsoon, will
readily recall the many weary hours they have passed
waiting for a favorable breeze to take them only a
few miles farther on their long voyage.

During those six days, at noon the sun poured
down his hottest rays, the thermometer ranging fr
88° to 90° Fahr. in the shade, and not the slightest air
moving to afford a momentary relief. Although con-
stantly for a year I was almost under the equator,
these six days were the most tedious and oppressive
I ever experienced,

The mountain back of Java Head seemed to be
King Eolus’s favorite seat. Clouds would come from
every quarter of the heavens and gather round its
summit, while the sun was reaching the zenith; but
soon after he began to pass down the western sky,
lightnings would be seen darting their forked tongues
around the mountain-crest : and then, as if the winds
had broken from the grasp of their king, thick cloud-
masses would suddenly roll down the mountain-sides,
hightnings dart hither and thither, and again and

A VEIL OF RAIN. 17

again the thunders would crash and roar enough to
shake the very firmament.

We are not alone. Six or eight vessels are also
detained here—for this Strait of Sunda is the great
gate through which pass out most of the valuable
teas and costly silks of China and Japan, and these
ships are carrying cotton goods to those lands to ex-
change in part for such luxuries. On the evening of
the sixth day a more favorable breeze took us slowly
up the channel past a group of large rocks, where
the unceasing swell of the ocean was breaking, and
making them sound in the quiet night like the howl-
ing and snarling of some fierce monster set to guard
the way and unable to prevent his expected prey
from escaping.

With the morning came a fine breeze, and, as we
sailed up the strait, several small showers passed
over the mountains, parallel to the shore, on the
Java side; and once a long cloud rested its ends on
two mountains, and unfolded from its dark mass a
thin veil of sparkling rain, through which we could
see quite distinctly all the outlines and the bright-
green foliage of the valley behind it. The highly-
cultivated lands near the water, and on the lower
declivities of the mountains, whose tops were one
dense mass of perennial green, made the whole view
most enchanting to me; but our captain (who was
a Cape Cod man) declared that the sand-hills on
the outer side of Cape Cod were vastly more charm-
ing to him. On the shallows, near the shore, the
clear sea-water took a beautiful tint of emerald
ereen in the bright sunlight, and here we passed

2

18 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

long lines of cuttlefish bones and parts of mysteri-
ous fruits where the tides met, that were setting in
different directions.

Nearly all the islands in the strait are steep,
volcanic cones, with their bases beneath the sea; the
bright-green foliage on their sides forming an agree-
able contrast with the blue ocean at their feet when
the waves roll away before a strong breeze; but
when it is calm, and the water reflects the light, as
from a polished mirror, they appear like gigantic
emeralds set in a sea of silver.

As we approached Angir, where ships bound
to and from China frequently stop for fresh provi-
sions, We saw, to our great alarm, a steamship! Was
it the pirate Shenandoah, and was our ship to be
taken and burnt there, almost at the end of our long
voyage? I must confess that was what we all
feared till we came near enough to see the “Stars
and Stripes” of the loyal flag of our native land.

Here many Malays paddled off in their canoes to
sell us fruit. We watch the approach of the first
boat with a peculiar, indescribable interest. It con-
tains two young men, who row. They are dressed
in trousers and jackets of calico, with cotton handker-
chiefs tied round their heads, This is the usual
dress throughout the archipelago, except that, in-
stead of the trousers or over them, is worn the sarong,
which is a piece of cotton cloth, two yards long by a
yard wide, with the two shorter sides sewn together,
so as to make a bag open at the top and bottom.
The men draw this on over the body, and gather it
on the right hip; the loose part is then twisted, and

ENTERING THE JAVA SEA. 19

tucked under the part passing around the body, so
as to form a rude knot. There is a man in the stern,
sitting with his feet under him, steering the canoe,
and at the same time helping it onward with his
paddle, He is dressed in a close-fitting red shirt ?
No! He is not encumbered with any clothing ex-
cept what Nature has provided for him, save a nar-
row cloth about his loins, the usual working-costume
of the coolies, or poorer classes. He brings several
kinds of bananas, green cocoa-nuts, and the “ pom-
pelmus,” which is a gigantic orange, from six to
sight inches in diameter. He seems perfectly happy,
and talks with the most surprising rapidity, From
an occasional word that may be half English, we
suppose, like traders in the Western world, he is
speaking in no moderate manner of the value of
what he has to sell.

Mount Karang, back of Angir, now comes into
view, raising its crest of green foliage to a height of
five thousand feet; a light breeze takes us round Cape
St. Nicholas, the northwest extremity of Java. It is a
high land, with sharp ridges coming down to the
water, thus forming a series of little rocky headlands,
separated by small sandy bays. These, as we sail
along, come up, and open to our view with a most
charming panoramic effect. Near the shore a few
Malays are seen on their praus, or large boats, while
others appear in groups on the beaches, around their
canoes, and only now and then do we catch glimpses
of their rude houses under the feathery leaves of the
eocoa-nut palm.

We are in the Java Sea. It seems very strange,

20 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

after being pitched and tossed about constantly for
more than a hundred days, thus to feel our ship
glide along so steadily; and after scanning the
horizon by the hour, day after day, hoping to be
able to discern one vessel, and so feel that we had at
least one companion on “ the wide waste of waters,”
now to see land on every side, and small boats scat-
tered in all directions over the quiet sea, That
night we anchored near Babi Island, on a bottom of
very soft, sticky clay, largely composed of fragments
of shells and coral. A boat came off from the shore,
and, as the coxswain could speak a little English,
I took my first lesson in Malay, the common lan-
guage, or lingua franca, of the whole archipelago,
As it was necessary, at least, that I should be able
to talk with these natives if I would live among them,
and purchase shells of them, it was my first and most
imperative task, on reaching the East, to acquire this
- language, The Malay spoken at Batavia, and at
all the Dutch ports and posts in the islands to the
east, differs very much from the high or pure Malay
spoken in the Menangkabau country, in the interior
of Sumatra, north of Padang, whence the Malays
originally came; after passing from island to island,
they have spread over all Malaysia, that is, the great
archipelago between Asia, Australia, and New Guin-
ea, Perhaps of all languages in the world, the low
or common Malay is the one most readily acquired.
It contains no harsh gutturals or other consonants
that are difficult to pronounce. It is soft and musi-
cal, and somewhat resembles the Italian in its liquid
sounds; and one who has learned it can never fail

EARLY HISTORY OF JAVA. 91

to be charmed by the nice blending of vowels and
consonants whenever a word is pronounced in his
presence. The only difficult thing in this language
is, that words of widely different meaning sometimes
are so similar that, at first, one may be mistaken for
another. Every European in all the Netherlands
India speaks Malay. It is the only language used in
addressing servants; and all the European children
born on these islands learn it from their Malay
nurses long before they are able to speak the lan-
guage of their parents. Such children generally find
it difficult to make the harsh, guttural sounds of the
Dutch language, and the Malays themselves are
never able to speak it well; and, for the same
reason, Dutchmen seldom speak Malay as correctly as
Englishmen and Frenchmen.

We are now off the ancient city of Bantam, and
we naturally here review the voyages of the earliest
European navigators in these seas, and the principal
events in the ancient history of this rich island of
Java,

The word Java, or, more correctly, “Jawa,” is
the name of the people who originally lived only in
the eastern part of the island, but, in more modern
times, they have spread over the whole island, and
given it their name, The Chinese claim to have
known it in ancient times, and call it Chi-po or
Cha-po, which is as near Jawa as their pronuncia-
tion of most foreign names at the present day.

It was first made known to the Western world by
that great traveller, Marco Polo, in his description
of the lands he saw or passed while on his voyage

99 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

from China to the Persian Gulf, in the latter part of
the thirteenth century. He did not see it himself, but
only gathered accounts in regard to it from others. He
calls it Giaua, and says it produces cloves and nut-
megs, though we know now that they were all
brought to Java from the Spice Islands, farther to
the east. In regard to gold, he says it yielded a
quantity “exceeding all calculation and_ belief.”
This was also probably brought from other islands,
chiefly from Sumatra, Borneo, and Celebes.

In 1493, one year after the discovery of America
by Columbus, Bartholomew Dias, a Portuguese, dis-
covered the southern extremity of Africa, which he
called the Cape of Storms, but which his king said
should be named the Cape of Good Hope, because
it gave a good hope that, at last, they had discovered
a way to India by sea, Accordingly, the next year,
this king * sent Pedro da Covilham and Alfonso de
Payva directly to the east to settle this important
question, From Genoa they came to Alexandria in
the guise of travelling merchants, thence to Cairo,
and down the Red Sea to Aden. Here they sepa-
rated—Payva to search for “Prester John,” a Chris-
tian prince, said to be reigning in Abyssinia over
a people of high cultivation; and Covilham to visit
the Indies, it having been arranged that they should
meet again at Cairo or Memphis, Payva died before
reaching the principal city of Abyssinia, but Covil-
ham had a prosperous journey to India, where he
made drawings of the cities and harbors, especially
of Goa and Calicut (Caleutta), and marked their

* Valentyn, “ History of the Moluccas.”

EARLY VOYAGES TO THE EAST. 23

positions on a map given him by King John of
Portugal. Thence he returned along the coast of
Persia to Cape Guardafui, and continued south to
Mozambique and “ Zofala,” where he ascertained
that that land joined the Cape of Good Hope, and
thus was the first man who knew that it was possible
to sail from Europe to India. From Zofala he re-
turned to Abyssinia, and sent his diary, charts, and
drawings to Genoa by some Portuguese merchants
who were trading at Memphis.

On receiving this news, King Emanuel, who had
succeeded King John, sent out, during the following
year, 1495, four ships under Vasco di Gama, who
visited Natal and Mozambique; in 1498 he was at
Calcutta, and in 1499 back at Lisbon.

In 1509 the Portuguese, under Sequiera, first came
into the archipelago. During the next year Alfonso
Albuquerque visited Sumatra, and in 1511 took the
Malay city Malacca, and established a military post
from which he sent out Antonio d’Abreu to search
for the Spice Islands. On his way eastward,
D’Abreu touched at Agasai (Gresik) on Java.

In 1511 the Portuguese visited Bantam, and two
years later Alvyrin was sent from Malacca with four
vessels to bring away a cargo of spices from a ship
wrecked on the Java coast while on her way back
from the Spice Islands.

Ludovico Barthema was the first European who
described Java from personal observation. He re-
mained on it fourteen days, but his descriptions
are questionable in part, for he represents parents as
selling their children, to be eaten by their purchasers,

.

o4. TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

and himself as quitting the island in haste for fear
of being made a meal of.

In 1596 the Dutch, under Houtman, first arrived
off Bantam, and, finding the native king at war with
the Portuguese, readily furnished him with assistance
against their rivals, on his offering to give them a
place where they could establish themselves and
commence purchasing pepper, which at that time was
almost the only export.

The English, following the example of the Portu-
guese and the Dutch, sent out a fleet in 1602, durmg
the reign of Queen Elizabeth. These ships touched
at; Achin, on the western end of Sumatra, and thence
sailed to Bantam.

In 1610 the Dutch built a fort at a native village
called Jacatra, “the work of victory,” but which they
named Batavia. This was destroyed in 1619, and
the first Dutch governor-general, Bolt, decided to
rebuild it and remove his settlement from Bantam to
that place, which was done on the 4th of March of
that year. This was the foundation of the present
city of Batavia. The English, who had meantime
maintained an establishment at Bantam, withdrew
in 1683,

In 1811, when Holland became subject to France,
the French flag was hoisted at Batavia, but that
same year it was captured by the English. On the
19th of August, 1816, they restored it to the Dutch,
who have held it uninterruptedly down to the pres-
ent time.

In glancing at the internal history of Java, we
find that, for many centuries previous to A. D. 1250

INTERNAL HISTORY OF JAVA. O5

Hinduism, that is, a mixture of Buddhism and Brah-
minism, had been the prevailing religion, At that
time an attempt was made to convert the reigning
prince to Mohammedanism, This proved unsuccess-
ful; but so soon afterward did this new religion
gain a foothold, and so rapidly did it spread, that in
1475, at the overthrow of the great empire of Maja-
pahit, who ruled over the whole of Java and the east-
ern parts of Sumatra, a Mohammedan prince took the
throne. Up to this time the people in the western
part of Java, as far east as Cheribon (about Long.
109°), spoke a language called Sundanese, and only
the people in the remaining eastern part of the
island spoke Javanese; but in 1811 nine-tenths of
the whole population of Java spoke Javanese, and
the Sundanese was already confined to the moun-
tainous parts of the south and west, and to a small
colony near Bantam.

Soon after founding Batavia, the Dutch made an
alliance offensive and defensive with the chief prince,
who resided near Surakarta. Various chiefs rebelled
from time to time against his authority, and the
Dutch, in return for the assistance they rendered
him, obtained the site of the present city of Samar-
ang; and in this way they continued to increase
their area until 1749, when the prince then reigning
signed an official deed “to abdicate for himself and
for his heirs the sovereignty of the country, confer-
ring the same on the Dutch East India Company, and
leaving them to dispose of it, in future, to any per-
son they might think competent to govern it for the
benefit of the company and of Java.” Seven years

26 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

before this time the empire had been nominally di-
vided, the hereditary prince being styled Susunan,
or “object of adoration,” whose descendants now re-
side at Surakarta, near Solo; and a second prince,
who was styled Sultan, and whose descendants re-
side at Jokyokarta, Each receives a large annuity
from the Dutch Government, and keeps a great num-
ber of servants. Their wives are chosen from all the
native beauties in the land, and the engraving we give
from a photograph represents those of one of the
highest dignitaries in full costume, but barefoot, just
as they dress themselves on festive occasions to dance
before their lord and his assembled guests.

The next day when the sea-breeze came, about
one o'clock, we sailed up through the many islands
of this part of the coast of Java. They are all very
low and fiat, and covered with a short, dense shrub-
bery, out of which rise the tall cocoa-nut palm and
the waringin or Indian fig. This green foliage is
only separated from the sea by a narrow beach of
ivory-white coral sand, which reflects the bright light
of the noonday sun until it becomes positively daz-
zling. Where the banks are muddy, mangrove-trees
are seen below high-water level, holding on to the
soft earth with hundreds of branching rootlets, as if
trying to claim as land what really is the dominion
of the sea.

This dense vegetation is one of the great charac-
teristics of these tropical islands; and the constantly
varied grouping of the palms, mangroves, and other
trees, and the irregular contour and relief of the
shores, afford an endless series of exquisite views.

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POULTRY VENDER,

THE ROAD OF BATAVIA. OT -

As we passed one of the outer islands, its trees were
quite covered with kites, gulls, and other sea-birds,

The next evening we came to the Batavia road,
a shallow bay where ships he at anchor partially
sheltered from the sea by the many islands scattered
about its entrance. The shores of this bay form a
low, muddy morass, but high mountains appear in the
distance. Through this morass a canal has been cut.
Its sides are well walled in, and extend out some dis-
tance toward the shipping, on account of the: shal-
lowness of the water along the shore. At the end
of one of these moles, or walls, stands a small white
light-house, indicating the way of approaching the
city, which cannot be fully seen from the anchorage.

When a ship arrives from a foreign port, no one
can leave her before she is boarded by an officer
from the guardship, a list of her passengers and
crew obtained, and it is ascertained that there is no
sickness on board, Having observed this regulation,
we rowed up the canal to the “ boom” or tree, where
an officer of the customs looks into every boat that
passes. This word “boom” came into use, as an
officer informed me, when it was the custom to let a
tree fall across the canal at night, in order to prevent
any boat from landing or going out to the shipping.

Here were crowds of Malay boatmen, engaged in
gambling, by pitching coins. This seemed also the
headquarters of poultry-venders, who were carrying
round living fowls, ducks, and geese, whose feet had
been tied together and fastened to a stick, so that
they had to hang with their heads downward—the
very ideal of cruelty.

“2

98 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

Before we could land, we were asked several
times in Dutch, French, and English, to take a ear-
riage, for cabmen seem to have the same persistent
habits in every corner of the earth, Meanwhile the
Malay drivers kept shouting out, “Crétur tuan! cré-
tur tuan!” So we took a “crétur,” that is, a low,
covered, four-wheeled carriage, drawn by two minia-
ture ponies, The driver sits up on a seat in front,
in a neat baju or jacket of red or scarlet calico, and
an enormous hemispherical hat, so gilded or bronzed
as to dazzle your eyes when the sun shines,

Though these ponies are small, they go at a
quick canter, and we were rapidly whirled along
between a row of shade-trees to the city gate, almost
the only part of the old walls of the city that is now
standing. The other parts were torn down by
Marshal Daendals, to allow a freer circulation of air.
Then we passed through another row of shade-trees,
and over a bridge, to the office of the American con-
sul, a graduate of Harvard; and, as Cambridge had
been my home for four years, we at once considered
ourselves as old friends,

Before I left America, Senator Sumner, as chair-
man of our Committee on Foreign Relations, kindly
gave me a note of warm commendation to the repre-
sentatives of foreign powers; and Mr, J. G. S. van
Breda, the secretary of the Society of Sciences in Hol-
land, with whom I had been in correspondence while
at the Museum of Comparative Zoology in Cambridge,
gave me a kind note to Baron Sloet van de Beele, the
governor-general of the Netherlands India. I imme-
diately addressed a note to His Excellency, enclosing

BATAVIA. 29

these credentials, and explaining my plan to visit the
Spice Islands for the purpose of collecting the shells
figured in Rumphius’s “ Rariteit Kamer,” and express-
ing the hope that he would do what he could to aid
me in my humble attempts to develop more fully the
natural history of that interesting region. These
papers our consul kindly forwarded, adding a note en-
dorsing them himself.

As the governor-general administers both the
civil and military departments of all the Dutch pos-
sessions in the East, I could not expect an immediate
reply. I therefore found a quiet place in a Dutch
family, with two other boarders who spoke English
and could assist me in learning their difficult lan-
guage, and, bidding Captain Freeman and the other
good officers of the Memnon farewell, took up my
abode on shore.

Batavia at present is more properly the name of
a district or “residency,” than of a city. Formerly
it was compact and enclosed by walls, but these were
destroyed by Marshal Daendals, in 1811. The for- ©
eigners then moved out and built their residences at
various places in the vicinity, and these localities still
retain their old Malay names, In this part of the
city there are several fine hotels, a large opera-house,
and a club-house, There are two scientific societies,
which publish many valuable papers on the natural
history, antiquities, geography, and geology, of all
parts of the Netherlands India. These societies have
valuable collections in Batavia, and at Buitenzorg
there is a large collection of minerals and geological
specimens, The “ King’s Plain” is a very large open

30 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

square, surrounded by rows of shade-trees and the resi-
dences of the wealthier merchants. Near this is the
“Waterloo Plain.” On one of its sides is the larg-
est building in Batavia, containing the offices of the
various government bureaus, and the “throne-room,”
where the governor-general receives, in the name of
the king, congratulations from the higher officials in
that vicinity.

The governor-general has a palace near by, but
he resides most of the time at Buitenzorg, forty
miles in the interior, where the land rises to about a
thousand feet above the level of the sea, and the
climate is much more temperate.

A river, that rises in the mountains to the south,
flows through the city and canal, and empties into
the bay. Many bridges are thrown over this river
and its branches, and beautiful shade-trees are planted
along its banks.

All the houses in these Eastern lands are low, rarely
more than one story, for fear of earthquakes, which,
however, occur in this\ part of the island at long
intervals. The walls are of bricks, or fragments of
coral rock covered with layers of plaster. The roof
is of tiles, or atap, a kind of thatching of palm-leaves.
A common plan is, a house part parallel to the street,
‘and behind this and at right angles to it an L or
porch, the whole building being nearly in the form
of a cross.

In front is a broad veranda, where the inmates
sit in the cool evening and receive the calls of their
friends, This opens into a front parlor, which, with
a few sleeping-rooms, occupies the whole house part.

EASTERN MODE OF COOKING. 31

The L, when there is one, usually has only a low wall
around it, and a roof resting on pillars. It is there-
fore open on three sides to the air, unless shutters are
placed between the pillars. This is usually the din-
ing-room, Back of the house is a square, open area,
enclosed on the remaining three sides by a row of
low, shed-roofed houses. Here are extra bedrooms,
servants’ quarters, cook-rooms, bath-rooms, and sta-
bles. Within this area is usually a well, surrounded
with shade-trees. The water from this well is poured
into a thick urn-shaped vessel of coral rock, and
slowly filters through into an earthen pot beneath;
it is then cooled with ice from our own New-Eng-
land ponds. Thus the cold of our temperate zone is
made to allay the heat of the tropics, Several ship-
loads of ice come from Boston to this port every
year. At Surabaya and Singapore large quantities
are manufactured, but it is as soft as ice in ice-cream.
When one is accustomed to drinking ice-water, there
is no danger of any ill effect ; but, on returning from
the eastern part of the archipelago where they never
have ice, to Surabaya, I suffered severely for a time,
and, as I believe, from no other cause. In the fre-
quent cases of fever in the East it is a luxury, and
indeéd a medicine, which can only be appreciated
by one who has himself endured that indescribable
burning.

The cook-room, as already noticed, is some dis-
tance from the dining-room, but this inconvenience is
of little importance in those hot lands, The Malays

are the only cooks, and I do not think that cooking .

as an art is carried to the highest perfection in that

Jf

39 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

part of the world, though I must add, that I soon
became quite partial to many of their dishes, which
are especially adapted for that climate. The kitchen
is not provided with stoves or cooking-ranges, as in
the Western world, but on one side of the room there
is araised platform, and on this is a series of small
arches, which answer the same purpose, Fires are
made in these arches with small pieces of wood, and
the food is therefore more commonly fried or boiled,
than baked. There is no chimney, and the smoke,
after filling the room, finally escapes through a place
in the roof which is slightly raised above the parts
around it,

As I am often questioned about the mode of
living in the East, I may add that always once a
day, and generally for dinner, rice and curry appear,
and to these are added, for dinner, potatoes, fried and
boiled ; steak, fried and broiled; fried bananas
(the choicest of. all delicacies), various kinds of
greens, and many sorts of pickles and sambal, or
vegetables mixed with red peppers. The next
course is salad, and then are brought on bananas
of three or four kinds, at all seasons; and, at certain
times, oranges, pumpelmuses, mangoes, mangostins,
and rambutans; and as this is but such a bill of
fare as every man of moderate means expects to pro-
vide, the people of the West can see that their
friends in the East, as well as themselves, believe in
the motto, “Carpe diem.” A cigar, or pipe, and a
small glass of gin, are generally regarded as indis-
pensable things to perfect happiness by my good
Dutch friends, and they all seemed to wonder that

——

JAVANESE AND FAMILY,

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MALAYS. 33

I could be a traveller and never touch either. It is
generally supposed, in Europe and America, that
housekeepers here, in the East, have little care or
vexation, where every family employs so many ser-
vants; but, on the contrary, their troubles seem to
multiply in direct ratio to the number of servants
employed. No servant there will do more than one
thing. If engaged as a nurse, it is only to care for
one child; if as a groom, it is only to care for one
horse, or, at most, one span of horses; and as all
these Malays are bent on doing every thing in the
easiest way, it is almost as much trouble to watch
them as to do their work.

The total population of the Residency of Ba-
tavia is 517,762. Of these, 5,576 are Europeans ;
47,570 Chinese; 463,591 native; 684 Arabs; and
341 of other Eastern nations.

All the natives are remarkably short in stature,
the male sex averaging not more than five feet three
inches in height, or four inches less than that of Euro-
peans. The face is somewhat lozenge-shaped, the cheek-
bones high and prominent, the mouth wide, and the
nose short—not flat as in the negroes, or prominent
as in Europeans. They are generally of a mild dis-
position, except the wild tribes in the mountainous
parts of Sumatra, Borneo, Celebes, Timor, Ceram, and
a few other large islands. The coast people are
invariably hospitable and trustworthy. They are
usually quiet, and extremely indolent. They all
have an insatiable passion for gambling, which no
restrictive or prohibitory laws can eradicate.

They are nominally Mohammedans, but have

3

84 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

none of the fanaticism of that sect in Arabia, They
still retain many of their previous Hindu notions,
and their belief may be properly defined as a mix-
ture of Hinduism and Mohammedanism. A few are
“ Christians,” that is, they attend the service of the
Dutch Church, and do not shave their heads or file
their teeth. They are cleanly in their habits, and
scores of all ages may be seen in the rivers and
canals of every city and village, especially in the
morning and evening. The sarong, their universal
dress, is peculiarly fitted for this habit. When they
have finished their baths, a dry one is drawn on over
the head, and the wet one is slipped off beneath
without exposing the person in the least. The
females wear the sarong long, and generally twist
it tightly round the body, just under the arms, Oc-
easionally it is made with sleeves, like a loose gown.
A close-fitting jacket or daju is worn with it.

The men have but a few straggling hairs for
beards, and these they generally pull out with a
pair of iron tweezers. The hair of the head in both
sexes is lank, coarse, and worn long. Each sex,
therefore, resembles the other so closely that nearly
every foreigner will, at first, find himself puzzled in
many cases to know whether he is looking at a man
or a woman, This want of differentiation in the
sexes possibly indicates their low rank in the human
family, if the law may be applied here that obtains
among most other animals,

Every day I went out to collect the peculiar
birds and beautiful butterflies of that region, my
favorite place for this pleasure being in an old

THE BUFFALO. ° 35

Chinese cemetery just outside the city, where, as the
land was level, the earth had been thrown up into
mounds to keep the bones of their inmates from
“the wet unfortunate places,” just as in China, when
far from any mountain or hill. A Malay servant.
followed, carrying my ammunition and collecting-
boxes. At first I supposed he would have many
superstitious objections to wandering to and fro
with me over the relics of the Celestials, but, to my
surprise, I found his people cultivating the spaces
between the graves, as if they, at least, did not con-
sider it sacred soil; yet, several times, when we
came to the graves of his own ancestors, he was care-
ful to approach with every manifestation of awe and
respect,

A small piece of land, a bamboo hut, and a buf
falo, comprise all the worldly possessions of most
coolies, and yet with these they always seem most
enviably contented.

They generally use but a single buffalo in their
ploughs and carts. A string passing through his
nostrils is tied to his horns, and to this is attached
another for a rein, by which he is guided or urged
to hasten on his slow motions, This useful animal
is distributed over all the large islands of the archi-
pelago, including the Philippines, over India and
Ceylon; and during the middle ages was intro-
duced into Egypt, Greece, and Italy. It thrives
well only in warm climates. From its peculiar
habit of wallowing in pools and mires, and bury-
ing itself until only its nose and eyes can be
seen, it has been named the “water-ox.” This

36 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

appears to be its mode of resting, as well as escap-
ing the scorching rays of the sun, and the swarms
of annoying flies; and in the higher lands the natives
make artificial ponds by the roadside, where these
animals may stop when on a journey. ‘They are
generally of a dark slate-color, and occasionally
of a light flesh-color, but rarely or never white.
They are so sparsely covered with hair as to
be nearly naked. They are larger than our oxen,
but less capable of continued labor. They are
usually so docile that even the Malay children
can drive them, but they dislike the appearance
of a European, and have a peculiar mode of mani-
festing this aversion by breathing heavily through
the nose, At such times they become restive and
unmanageable, and their owners have frequently re-
quested me to walk away, for fear I should be
attacked. When the females are suckling their
young, they are specially dangerous, A large male
has been found to be more than a match for a full-
grown royal tiger.

On most of the islands where the tame buffalo is
seen, wild ones are also found among the mountains;
but naturalists generally suppose the original home
of the species was on the continent, and that the wild
ones are merely the descendants of those that have
escaped to the forests. The Spaniards found them
on the Philippines when they first visited that archi-
pelago.

The plough generally used has both sides alike,
and a single handle, which the coolie holds in his
right hand while he guides the buffalo with the left.

RAHDEN SALEH,

RAHDEN SALEH’S PALACE,

A SPEAKING QUADRUPED. 37

_ The lower part of the share is of iron, the other
parts of wood. It only scratches the ground to the
depth of six or eight inches—a strange contrast to
* our deep subsoil ploughing. In these shallow fur-
rows are dropped kernels of our own Indian maize
and seeds of the sugar-cane. Sometimes the fields
are planted with cocoa-nut palms about twenty yards
apart, more for their shade, it appears, than for their
fruit, which is now hanging in great green and yellow
clusters, and will be ripe in a month. Beneath these
trees are blighted nuts, and in many places large
heaps of them are seen, gathered by the natives for
the sake of the husk, from-which they make a coarse
rope. .

Among these trees I was surprised to hear the
noise, or more properly words, “Tokay! tokay!”
and my servant at once explained that that was the
way a kind of lizard “talked” in his land. So
snugly do these animals hide away among the green
leaves that it was several days before I could satisfy
myself that I had secured a specimen of this speak-
ing quadruped.

During my hunting I enjoyed some charming
views of the high, dark-blue mountains to the south.
One excursion is worthy of especial mention. It was
to the palace of Rahden Saleh, a native prince. This
palace consisted of a central part and two wings,
with broad verandas on all sides, On entering the
main building we found ourselves in a spacious hall,
with a gallery above. In the centre of the floor rose
a sort of table, and around the sides of the room were
chairs of an antique pattern. Side-doors opened out

38 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

of this hall into smaller rooms, each of which was fur-
nished with a straw carpet, and in the centre a small,
square Brussels carpet, on which was a table orna-
mented with carved-work, and surrounded with a row
of richly-cushioned chairs, Along the sides were sim-
ilar chairs and small, gilded tables. On the walls
hung large steel engravings, among which I noticed
two frequently seen in our own land: “The Moham-
medan’s Paradise,” and one of two female figures
personifying the past and the future. In front of the
palace the grounds were tastefully laid out as small
lawns and flower-plats, bordered with a shrub filled
with red leaves. Anaccurate idea of the harmonious
proportions of this beautiful palace is given in the
accompanying cut. It is the richest residence owned
by any native prince in the whole East Indian Ar-
chipelago,

The Rahden at the time was in the adjoining
grounds, which he is now forming into large zoo-
logical gardens for the government at Batavia.
When a youth, he was sent to Holland, and educated
at the expense of the Dutch Government. While
there, he acquired a good command of the German
and French languages, was received as a distinguished
guest at all the courts, and associated with the lead-
ing literati. In this manner he became acquainted
with Eugene Sue, who was then at work on his
“Wandering Jew,” and—as is generally believed—
at once chose the Rahden as a model for his “ East-
ern prince,” one of the most prominent characters in
that book. But it is chiefly as a landscape-painter
that the Rahden is most famous. A few years ago

THE BATAVIA FEVER. 39

there was a great flood here at Batavia, which proved
a fit subject for his pencil; and the painting was so
greatly admired, that he presented it to the King of
Holland. When I was introduced to him, he at once,
with all a courtier’s art, inquired whether I was from
the North or the South; and on hearing that I was
not only from the North, but had served for a time
in the Union army, he insisted on shaking hands
again, remarking that he trusted that it would not be
long before all the slaves in our land would be free.
I had not been out many times collecting before I
found myself seized one night with a severe pain in
the back of the neck and small of the back—a sure
sign of an approaching fever, The next day found me
worse, then I became somewhat better, and then worse
again, The sensation was as if some one were repeat-
edly thrusting a handful of red-hot knitting-needles
into the top of my head, which, as they passed in, di-
verged till they touched the base of the brain. Then
came chills, and then again those indescribable dart-
ing pains. It seemed as if I could not long retain
the command of my mind under such severe torture.
At last, after seven days of this suffering, I decided
to go to the military hospital, which is open to citi-
zens of all nations on their paying the same price
per day as in the best hotels. The hospital consisted
of a series of long, low, one-story buildings placed at
right angles to each other, and on both sides facing
open squares and wide walks or gardens, which were
all bordered with large trees and contained some
fine flowers. In each of the buildings were two
rows of rooms or chambers of convenient size, which

40 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

opened out on to a wide piazza, where the sick could
enjoy all the breezes and yet be sheltered from the
sun. Every morning the chief doctor came round to
each room with assistants and servants, who carefully
noted his directions and prescriptions. He was a
German, and appeared very kindly in his manner ;
but when the time arrived to take medicine, I found
he had not only assigned for me huge doses of that
most bitter of all bitter things—quinine—but also
copious draughts of some fluid villanously sour.
The ultimate result of these allopathic doses was,
however, decidedly beneficial; and after keeping per-
fectly quiet for a week, I was well enough to return
to my boarding-house, but yet was so weak for some
time that I could scarcely walk,

Our consul, who had been kindly visiting me all
the while, now came with a letter from His Excellency
the governor-general that was amply sufficient to make
me wholly forget my unfavorable initiation into tropi-
cal life, It was addressed to the “ Heads of the Provin-
cial Governments in and out of Java,” and read thus:
“T have the honor to ask Your Excellency to render to
the bearer, Mr. Albert S. Bickmore, who may come
into the district under your command in the interest
of science, all the assistance in your power, without
causing a charge to the public funds or a burden to
the native people.”

Besides honoring me with this kind letter, His
Excellency generously wrote the consul that he would
be happy to offer me “ post-horses free over all Java,”
if I should like to travel in the interior. But it was
with the hope of reaching the Spice Islands that I

PREPARING TO GO FARTHER EAST. 41

had come to the East, and, after thanking the gov-
ernor-general for such great consideration and kind-
ness, I began making preparations for a voyage
through the eastern part of the archipelago. I had
brought with me a good supply of large copper cans
with screw covers. These were filled with arrack, a
kind of rum made of molasses and rice. Dip-nets,
hooks, lines, and all such other paraphernalia, I had
fully provided myself with before I left America. Yet
one paper, besides a ticket, was needed before I could
go on board the mail-boat, and that was a “permis-
sion to travel in the Netherlands India.” This paper -
ought to have been renewed, according to law, once
every month; but the governor-general’s letter was
such an ample passport, that I never troubled myself
about the matter again during the year I was jour.
neying in the Dutch possessions,

CHAPTER IL
SAMARANG AND SURABAYA.

On the 7th of June, as the twilight was bright-
ening in the eastern sky, I left my new Batavia
home, and was hurriedly driven to the “boom.” A
small steamer was waiting to take passengers off to
the mail-boat that goes to Celebes, Timor, and Am-
boina, the capital of the Spice Islands,

My baggage all on board, I had time to rest, and
realize that once more I was a wanderer; but lone-
some thoughts were quickly banished when I began
to observe who were to be my companions, there on
the eastern side of the world, so far from the centre
of civilization and fashion; and just then a real ex-
quisite stepped on board. He was tall, but appeared
much taller from wearing a high fur hat, the most
uncomfortable covering for the head imaginable in
that hot climate. Then his neckcloth! It was spot-
lessly white, and evidently tied with the greatest care ;
but what especially attracted my attention were his
long, thin hands, carefully protected by white kid
gloves. However, we had not been a long time on
the steamer, where every place was covered with a
thick layer of coal-dust, before Mr. Exquisite changed
his elegant apparel for a matter-of-fact suit, and made

THE GIBRALTAR OF JAVA. 43

his second appearance as a Jittératewr, with a copy
of the Cornhill Magazine. As he evidently did not
intend to read, I borrowed it, and found it was al-
ready three years old, and the leaves still uncut. It
contained a graphic description of the grounds about
Isaac Walton’s retired home—probably the most
like the garden of Eden of any place seen on our
earth since man’s fall.

The other passengers were mostly officials and
merchants going to Samarang, Surabaya, or Macas-
sar, and I found that I was the only one travelling
to Amboina. The general commanding the Dutch
army in the East was on board, He was a very po-
lite, unassuming gentleman, and manifested much
interest in a Sharpe’s breech-loader I had brought
from America, and regarded it the most effective
army rifle of any he had seen up to that time. He
was going to the headquarters of the army, which is
a strongly-fortified place back of Samarang. It was
described to me as located on a mountain or high
plateau with steep sides—a perfect Gibraltar, which
they boasted a small army could maintain for an in-
definite length of time against any force that might
be brought against it. About five months later,
however, it was nearly destroyed by a violent earth-
quake, but has since been completely rebuilt.

One genial acquaintance I soon found in a young
man who had just come from Sumatra. He had
travelled far among the high mountains and deep
gorges in the interior of that almost unexplored
island, and his vivid descriptions gave me an inde-
scribable longing to behold such magnificent scenery

44 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

—a pleasure I did not fancy at that time it would be
my good fortune to enjoy before I left the archipel-

0.
All day the sky was very hazy, but we obtained
several grand views of high volcanoes, especially two
steep cones that can be seen in the west from the
road at Batavia. <A light, but steady breeze came
from the east, for it was as yet only the early part
of the eastern monsoon, When the sun sank in the
west, the full moon rose in the east, and spread out
a broad band of silver over the sea, The air was
so soft and balmy, and the whole sky and sea so en-
chanting, that to recall it this day seems like fancy-
ing anew a part of some fascinating dream.

This word monsoon is only a corruption of the
Arabic word musim, “season,” which the Portu-
guese learned from the Arabians and their de-
scendants, who were then navigating these seas.
It first occurs in the writings of De Barros, where
he speaks of a famine that occurred at Malacca, be-
cause the usual quantity of rice had not been brought
from Java; and “the mugio” being adverse, it was
not possible to obtain a sufficient supply. The Ma-
lays have a peculiar manner of always speaking of
any region to the west as being “above the wind,”
and any region to the east as being “below the wind.”

June 8th—Went on deck early this morning to
look at the mountains which we might be passing;
and, while I was absorbed in viewing a fine head-
land, the captain asked me if I had seen that gigan-
tie peak, pointing upward, as he spoke, to a moun-
tain-top, rising out of such high clouds that I had not

THE NORTH COAST OF JAVA. 45

noticed it. It was Mount Slamat, which attains an
elevation of eleven thousand three hundred and thirty
English feet above the’sea—the highest peak but
one among the many lofty mountains on Java, and,
like most of them, an active voleano, The upper
limit of vegetation on it is three thousand feet below
its crest. The northern coast of Java is so low here
that this mountain, instead of appearing to rise up,
as it does, from the interior of the island, seemed
close by the shore—an effect which occurs in viewing
nearly all these lofty peaks while the observer is
sailing on the Java Sea. M. Zollinger, a Swiss, says
that at sunrise the tops of these loftiest peaks are
brightened with the same rose-red glow that is seen
on Monte Rosa and Mont Blanc when the sun is
setting, and once or twice I thought I observed the
same charming phenomenon. The lowlands and the
lower declivities of all the mountains seen to-day are
under the highest state of cultivation. Indeed, this
part of Java may be correctly described as one mag-
nificent garden, divided into small lots by lines of |
thick evergreens, and tall, feathery palm-trees. This
afternoon we steamed into the open roadstead of Sam-
arang during a heavy rain-squall; for though the
“western monsoon,” or “rainy season,” is past, yet
nearly every afternoon we have a heavy shower, and
every one is speaking of the great damage it is likely
to do to the rice and sugar crops which are just now
ripening. The heavy rain-squall cleared away the
thick haze that filled the sky, and the next morning
I went on shore to see the city. A few miles direct-
ly back of it rises the sharp peak of Ungarung to a

46 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

height of some five thousand feet, its flanks highly
cultivated in fields, and its upper region devoted to
coffee-trees. Somewhat west of this, near the shore,
I noticed a small naked cone, apparently of brown,
voleanic ashes, and of so recent an origin that the
vigorous vegetation of these tropical lands had not
had time to spread over its surface. Back of Unga-
rung rise three lofty peaks in a line northwest and
southeast. ‘The northernmost and nearest is Mount
Prau; the central, Mount Sumbing; and the southern
one, Mount Sindoro,

Mount Prau receives its name from: its shape,
which has been fancied to be like that of a “ prau,”
or native boat, turned upside down. It was the
supposed residence of the gods and demigods of
the Javanese in ancient times, and now it abounds
in the ruins of many temples; some partially cov-
ered with lava, showing that earthquakes and
eruptions have done their share in causing this
destruction. Many images of these ancient gods
in metal have been found on this mountain. Ru-
ins of enormous temples of those olden times are
yet to be seen at Boro Bodo, in the province of
Kedu, and at Brambanan, in the province of Mata.
rem. At Boro Bodo a hill-top has been changed
into a low pyramid, one hundred feet high, and hay-
ing a base of six hundred and twenty feet on a side,
Its sides are formed into five terraces; and the perpen-
dicular faces of these terraces contain many niches,
in each of which was once an image of Buddha. On
the level area at the summit of the pyramid is a
large dome-shaped building, surrounded by seventy-

THE THOUSAND TEMPLES, AT

two smaller ones of the same general form. Accord-
ing to the chronology of the Javanese, it was built
in A. D, 1344.

At Brambanan are seen extensive ruins of several
groups of temples, built of huge blocks of trachyte,
carefully hewn and put together without any kind
of cement. The most wonderful of those groups is
that of “The Thousand Temples.” They actually
number two hundred and ninety-six, and are situ-
ated on a low, rectangular terrace, measuring five
hundred and forty by five hundred and ten feet, in
five rows, one within another; a large central build-
ing, on a second terrace, overlooks the whole. This
was elaborately ornamented, and, before it began to
decay, probably formed, with those around it, one of
the most imposing temples ever reared in all the
East. According to the traditions of the Javanese,
these buildings were erected between a. p. 1266 and
1296.

These structures were doubtless planned and
superintended by natives of India. They were dedi-
cated to Hindu worship, and here the Brahmins and
Buddhists appear to have forgotten their bitter hos-
tility, and in some cases to have even worshipped in
the same temple. The Indian origin of these works
is further proved by images of the zebu, or humped
ox, which have been found here and elsewhere in
Java, but it does not now exist, and probably never
did, in any part of the archipelago,

As two Malays rowed me rapidly along in a
narrow, canoe-like boat, I watched the clouds gather
and embrace the high head of Mount Prau. Only

48 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

thin and fibrous cumuli covered the other lofty peaks,
but a thick cloud wrapped itself around the crest of
this mountain and many small ones gathered on its
dark sides, which occasionally could be seen through
the partings in its white fleecy shroud. The form
of the whole was just that of the mountain, except at
its top, where for a time the clouds rose like a gigan-
tic, circular castle, the square openings in their dense
mass exactly resembling the windows in such thick
walls,

Eastward of Ungarung are seen the lofty summits
of Merbabu and Merapi, and east from the anchorage
rises Mount Japara, forming, with the low lands at
its feet, almost an island, on Java’s north coast.

Like Batavia, Samarang is situated on both sides
of a small river, in a low morass. The river was
much swollen by late rains, and in the short time I
passed along it, I saw dead horses, cats, dogs, and
monkeys borne on its muddy waters out to the bay,
there perhaps to sink and be covered with layers of
mud, and, if after long ages those strata should be
elevated above the level of the sea and fall under
a geologist’s eye, to become the subject of some prolix
disquisition, This is, in fact, exactly the way that most
of the land animals in the marine deposits of former
times have come down to us—an extremely frag-
mentary history at best, yet sufficient to give us some
idea of the strange denizens of the earth when few or
none of the highest mountains had yet been formed.

Through this low morass they are now digging a
canal out to the roads, so that the city may be ap-
proached from the anchorage by the canal and the

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my a af + “er

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SAMARANG., 49

river. This canal is firmly walled in, as at Batavia.
From the landing-place to the city proper the road
was a stream of mud, and the houses are small and
occupied only by Malays and the poorer classes of
Chinese. In such streets two coolies are occasionally
seen carrying one of the native belles in a tandu.
The city itself is more compact than Batavia, and the
shops are remarkably fine. It was pleasant to look
again on some of the same engravings exposed for
sale in our own shops. The finest building in the
city, and the best of the kind that I have seen in the
East, is a large one containing the custom and other
bureaus. It is two stories high, and occupies three
sides of a rectangle. I was told that they were
fifteen years in building it, though in our country a
private firm would have put it up in half as many
months, There are several very fine hotels, and I
saw one most richly furnished, Near the river stands
a high watch-tower, where a constant lookout is kept
for all ships approaching the road. From its top a
wide view is obtained over the anchorage, the low-
lands, and the city. Toward the interior rich fields
are seen stretching away to the province of Kedu,
“the garden of Java.” A railroad has been begun
here, which will extend to Surakarta and Jokyo-
karta, on the east side of Mount Mérapi, and will
open this rich region more fully to the world.*

The church of the city, which is chiefly sustained

* The population of the Residency of Samarang, which includes the
city, is 1,020,275. Of these 5,162 are Europeans, 1,001,252 are natives,
11,441 are Chinese, 438 are Arabs, and 1,982 are from other Eastern
nations. In these figures the military are not included.

4

50 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

here as elsewhere by the Dutch Government, is a
large cathedral-like building, finished in the interior
in an octagonal form, One side is occupied by the
pulpit, another by the organ, and the others are for
the congregation. At the time I entered, the pastor
was lecturing im a conversational but earnest manner
to some twenty Malays and Chinese, gathered around
him. At the close of his exhortation he shook hands
with each in the most cordial manner.

From this church I went to the Mohammedan
mosque, a square pagoda-like structure, with three
roofs, one above the other, and each being a little
smaller than the one beneath it. It was Friday, the
Mohammedan Sabbath, and large numbers were
coming to pay their devotions to the false prophet,
for his is the prevailing religion in this land. By
the gate in the wall enclosing the mosque were a well
and a huge stone tank, where all the faithful per-
formed the most scrupulous ablutions before proceed-
ing to repeat the required parts of the Koran. It
was pleasant to see that at least they believed and
practised the maxim that “cleanliness is next to
godliness.” From the gate I walked up an inclined
terrace to the large doorway, and at once saw, from
the troubled expression on the faces of those who
were kneeling on their straw mats outside the build-
ing, that I had committed some impropriety; and
one answered my look of inquiry by pointing to my
feet. I had forgotten that I was treading on “ holy
ground,” and had therefore neglected “to put off my
shoes.” Opposite the entrance is usually a niche,
and on one side of this a kind of throne, but what

MOHAMMEDANISM IN THE ARCHIPELAGO. 51

was the origin or signification of either I never could
learn, and believe the common people are as ignorant
as myself in this respect. Their whole ceremony is
to kneel, facing this niche, and repeat in a low, mum-
bling, nasal tone some parts of the writings of their
prophet. Their priests are always Arabs, or their
mestizo descendants, the same class of people as
those who introduced this faith. Any one who has
been to Mecca is regarded as next to a saint, and
many go to Singapore or Penang, where they remain
a year or two, and then return and declare they have
seen the holy city. The first conversions to Moham-
medanism in any part of the archipelago occurred at
Achin, the western end of Sumatra, in 1204. It was
not taught by pure Arabs, but by those descendants
of Arabs and Persians who came from the Persian
Gulf to Achin to trade, Thence it spread slowly
eastward to Java, Celebes, and the Moluccas, and
northward to the Philippines, where it was just gain-
ing a foothold when the Spanish arrived. Under their
rule it was soon eradicated, and supplanted by Catho-
lic Christianity. Bali is almost the only island where
the people can read and write their native tongue,
and have not partially adopted this religion, On
the continent it spread so rapidly that, within one
hundred years after the Hegira, it was established
from Persia to Spain; but, as its promulgators were
not a maritime people, it did not reach Achin until
five hundred and seventy-two years after the Hegira,
and then its followers had so little of the fanaticism
and energy of the Arabs, that it was more than three
hundred years in reaching Celebes, and fully estab

52 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

lishing itself on that island. The Malay name for
this religion is always “ Islam.”

On our way back to the mail-boat we passed
quite a fleet of fishing-boats, at the mouth of the
river. They are generally made alike at both ends,
and look like huge canoes. Some have high lantern-
shaped houses perched on the stern, as if to make
them more unsightly. Here they all have decks, but
those at Batavia are merely open boats.

The next day we continued on our course to the
eastward, around the promontory formed by Mount
Japara, whose sides are so completely scored by deep
ravines that little or none of the original surface of
the mountain can be seen. Dr. Junghuhn, who has
spent many years studying in detail the mountains of
Java, finds that above a height of ten thousand feet
but very few ravines exist. This height is the common
cloud-level, and the rains that they pour out, of course,
only affect the mountain-sides below that elevation,
hence the flanks of a mountain are sometimes deeply
scored while its top remains entire. The substances
of which these great cones are chiefly composed are
mostly volcanic ashes, sand, and small fragments of
basalt or lava, just the kind of materials that swift
torrents would rapidly carry away. .

The voleanoes of Java are mostly in two lines: one,
commencing near Cape St, Nicholas, its northwestern
extremity, passes diagonally across the island to its
southeastern headland on the Strait of Bali. The
other is parallel to this, and extends from the middle
of the Strait of Sunda to the south coast in the longi-
tude of Cheribon. They stand along two immense

THE VALLEY OF DEATH. 53

fissures in the earth’s crust, but the elevating power
appears only to have found vent at certain separate
points along these fissures. At these points sub-aérial
eruptions of volcanic ashes, sand, and scoriz have oc.
eurred, and occasionally streams of basaltic and tra-
chytic lava have poured out, until no less than thirty-
eight cones, some of immense size, have been formed
on this island. Their peculiar character is, that they
are distinct and separate mountains, and not peaks
in a continuous chain.

The second characteristic of these mountains is
the great quantity of sulphur they produce, White
clouds.of sulphurous acid gas continually wreath the
crests of these high peaks, and betoken the unceasing
activity within their gigantic masses. This gas is the
one that is formed when a friction-match is lighted,
and is, of course, extremely destructive to all animal
and vegetable life,

At various localities in the vicinity of active vol-
canoes and in old craters this gas still escapes, and the
famous “Guevo Upas” or Valley of Poison, on the
flanks of the voleano Papandayang, is one of these
areas of noxious vapors. It is situated at the head
of a valley on the outer declivity of the mountain, five
hundred or seven hundred feet below the rim of the old
erater which contains the “Telaga Bodas” or White
Lake. It is asmall, bare place, of a pale gray or yellow-
ish color, containing many crevices and openings from
which carbonic acid gas pours out from time to time.
Here both Mr. Reinwardt and Dr. Junghuhn saw a
great number of dead animals of various kinds, as dogs,
cats, tigers, rhinoceroses, squirrels, and other rodents,

54 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

many birds, and even snakes, who had lost their lives
in this fatal place. Besides carbonic acid gas, sulphur.
ous acid gas also escapes. This was the only gas pres-
ent at the time of Dr. Junghuhn’s visit, and is prob-
ably the one that causes such certain destruction to
all the animals that wander into this valley of death.
The soft parts of these animals, as the skin, the mus-
cles, and the hair or feathers, were found by both ob-
servers quite entire, while the bones had crumbled
and mostly disappeared. The reason that so many
dead animals are found on this spot, while none exist
in the surrounding forests, is because beasts of prey
not only cannot consume them, but even they lose
their lives in the midst of these poisonous gases,

It was in such a place that the deadly upas was
fabled to be found, The first account of this wonder-
ful tree was given by Mr. N. P. Foersch, a surgeon
in the service of the Dutch East India Company.
His original article was published in the fourth vol-
ume of Pennant’s “Outlines of the Globe,” and re-
peated inthe London Magazine for September, 1785.
He states that he saw it himself, and describes it as
“the sole individual of its species, standing alone, in
a scene of solitary horror, on the middle of a naked,
blasted plain, surrounded by a circle of mountains,
the whole area of which is covered with the skele.
tons of birds, beasts, and men. Nota vestige of vege-
table life is to be seen within the contaminated atmos-
phere, and even the fishes die in the water!” This,
like most fables, has some foundation in fact; and a
large forest-tree exists in Java, the Antiaris tovicaria
of botanists, that has a poisonous sap. When its

THE UPAS. 55

bark is cut, a sap flows out much resembling milk,
but thicker and more viscid. A native prepared
some poison from this kind of sap for Dr. Horsfield.
He mingled with it about half a drachm of the
sap of the following vegetables—arum, kempferia
galanga, anomum, a kind of zerumbed, common onion
or garlic, and a drachm and a half of black pepper.
This poison proved mortal to a dog in one hour; a
mouse in ten minutes; a monkey in seven; a cat in
fifteen; and alarge buffalo died in two hours and ten
minutes from the effects of it, A similar poison is
prepared from the sap of the cheteh, a climbing vine.

The deadly anchar is thus pictured in Darwin’s
“ Botanic Garden :”

“Fierce in dread silence, on the blasted heath,
Fell Upas sits, the hydra-tree of death!
So, from one root, the envenomed soil below,
A thousand vegetative serpents grow !
In shining rays the steady monster spreads
O’er ten square leagues his far-diverging head,
Or in one trunk entwists his tangled form,
Looks o’er the clouds, and hisses at the storm;
Steeped in fell poison, as his sharp teeth part,
A thousand tongues in quick vibration dart,
Snatch the proud eagle towering o’er the heath,
Or pounce the lion as he stalks beneath ;
Or strew, as martial hosts contend in vain,
With human skeletons the whitened plain.”

All the north coast of Java is very low, often
forming a morass, except here and there where some
mountain sends out a spur to form a low headland.
As we neared Madura this low land spread out be-
neath the shallow sea and we were obliged to keep

56 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

eight or ten miles from land. On both sides of the
Madura Strait the land is also low, and on the left
hand we passed many villages of native fishermen
who tend bamboo weirs that extend out a long way
from the shore.

Here, for the first time, I saw boats with outrig-
gers, Each had one such float on the leeward side,
while, on a kind of rack on the windward side, was
placed a canoe and every thing on board that was
movable. Each boat carries two triangular sails,
made of narrow, white cloths, with occasionally a red
or black one in the middle or on the margins by way
of ornament,

Just before entering the road of Sitebess we
passed Gresik, a small village of Chinese and other
foreigners, situated immediately on the beach. It is
an old site and famous in the early history of Java,
but the houses seemed mostly new, and their red-
tiled roofs contrasted prettily with their white ridge-
poles an@® gable-ends. It was here, according to the
Javanese historians, that the Mohammedan religion
was first established on their soil.

At Surabaya there appears to be much more busi-
ness than at Batavia, and we found a larger number
of vessels at anchor in the roads. At Batavia, the
anchorage is somewhat sheltered by the islands at the
mouth of the bay. At Samarang, the anchorage is
quite exposed during the western monsoon, and the
swell and surf are sometimes so great that boats can-
not land, but at Surabaya the shipping is perfectly
sheltered from all gales. There are, however, strong
tidal currents, on account of the size of the bay, at

MODE OF NAVIGATING MUD-FLATS. 57

the anchorage, and the narrow straits that connect it
with the sea. These straits, though narrow, are not
dangerous, and this may be said to be the only good
harbor that is frequented on the island of Java. On
the south coast, at Chilachap, there is a safe and well-
sheltered anchorage, but it has very little trade.

At evening, when the water is ebbing, flocks of
white herons range themselves in lines along its re-
treating edge, and calmly await the approach of some
unlucky fish. Then the fishing-boats come up from the
east, spreading out their white sails, and forming a
counterpart to the lines of white herons along the
shore,

The natives, unable to walk to their huts on the
banks, have a most novel and rapid mode of navigating
these mud-flats. A board about two feet wide, five or
six feet long, and curved up at one end like the run- »
ner of a sled, is placed on the soft mud, and the fish-
erman rests the left knee on it while he kicks with
the right foot, in just the way that boys‘push them-
selves on their sleds over ice or snow. In this way
they go as fast as a man would walk on solid ground.

Like Batavia and Samarang, Surabaya* is sit-
uated on both sides of a small river, on low land,
but not in a morass, like the old city of Batavia,
and yet much nearer the shipping. This river has
been changed into a canal by walling in its banks.
Near its entrance it is lined on one side with nice

*The population of the Residency of Surabaya, which also includes
that of the city of the same name, is 1,278,600. Of these, 5,124 are Eu-
ropeans, 1,261,271 are natives, 7,603 are Chinese, 1,477 are Arabs, and
3,125 are from other Eastern nations.

58 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

dwelling-houses, and bordered with a row of fine
shade-trees. Back of these dwellings is the govern-
ment dockyard. It is very carefully built, and con-
tains a dry-dock, a place to take up ships like our
railways, ample work-shops, and large sheds for stor-
ing away lumber. They were then building six
small steamers and two or three boats, besides a great
dry-dock for the largest ships. Here was the Me-
dusa, the ship that led the allied Dutch, English,
French, and American fleet in the attack on Simono-
saki, at the entrance of the Inland Sea in Japan.
The many scars in her sides showed the dangerous
part she had taken in the attack, and I have fre-
quently heard the Dutch officers speak with a just
pride of the bravery and skill of her officers in that
engagement, Formerly, ships could only be re
paired by being “thrown down” at Onrust, an isl-
and six miles west of the road at Batavia; but now
nearly all such work is done in this yard. It was
most enlivening to hear the rapid ringing of ham-
mers on anvils—a sound one can rarely enjoy in those
dull Eastern cities,

The government machine-shop is another proof
of the determination of the Dutch to make for them-
selves whatever they need, and to be independent of
foreign markets. Here they make many castings,
but their chief business is manufacturing steam-boil-
ers for the navy. Nine hundred Javanese were then
in this establishment, all laboring voluntarily, and
having full liberty to leave whenever they chose.
Most of the overseers even are natives, and but few
Europeans are employed in the whole works, They

THE JAVANESE AS MECHANICS. : 59

all perform their allotted tasks quietly and steadily,
without loud talking or any unnecessary noise. Some
of them are so skilful that they receive nearly two
guilders per day. These facts show the capabili-
ties of the Javanese, and indicate that there may
yet be a bright future for this people. Here the
standard weights and measures for the government
are manufactured; and as an instance of the lon-
gevity of this people, when they are correct in their
habits, the director told me that one native had
worked for fifty-seven years in that department, and
for some time had been assisted by both his sons and
grandsons, He had just retired, and the director
had been able to obtain for him a pension of full
pay on account of the long time he had been in the
service. There were three others still in the works,
who also began fifty-seven years ago. Such cases are
the more remarkable, because these natives are usual-
ly unable to labor at the age of thirty-five or forty,
on account of their dissolute habits. Most of their
machinery is not as nicely finished as that imported
from Europe, but it appears to be quite as durable.
Yet the fact that some Javanese have the capacity to
do nice work was proved by one in charge of the en-
graving-department, whose fine lines would have been
creditable to many a European. A merchant also
has a similar machine-shop on a still greater scale.
Near by are the government artillery-works, where
all the parts of wood and iron and the saddles and har-
nesses are manufactured, every thing but the guns.
The wood used is carefully-seasoned teak. It is ex-
tremely durable, and combines in a good degree both

60) TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

hghtness and strength. The leather is made by the
natives from hides of the sapi, or cattle of Madura,
the only kind seen here in Surabaya. It is light and
flexible, and somewhat spongy compared to that
made from our Northern hides, When it is wet it
“ spots,” the wet places taking a darker color, which
they retain when the leather again becomes dry. The
director of the works thought that these defects might
be remedied by adopting some other mode of tanning
it. The leather made from the hide of the buffalo
is thin, and, at the same time, excessively rigid.

The streets of Surabaya are narrow compared to
those of Batavia; but they are far better provided
with shade-trees of different species, among which
the tamarind, with its highly compound leaves, ap-
pears to be the favorite. Here, as in all the other chief
cities of the archipelago, the dusty streets are usually
sprinkled by coolies, who carry about two large wa-
tering-pots, In the centre of the city, on an open
square, is the opera-house, a large, well-proportioned
building, neatly painted and frescoed within. In the
suburbs is the public garden, nicely laid out, and
abounding in richly-flowering shrubs. There were a
number of birds peculiar to the East: a cassowary
from Ceram, a black-swan from Australia, and some
beautiful wild pheasants (Gal/us) from Madura. Of
this genus, Ga//us, there are two wild species on that
island and in Java. One of these, Gallus bankiva,
is also found in Sumatra and the peninsula of Ma-
lacea. A third species is found in the Philippines, but
none is yet known in the great islands of Borneo and
Celebes or in any of the islands eastward. On the

COCK-FIGHTING, 61

peninsula of Malacca, Sumatra, Borneo, and the Spice
Islands, the Malay word ayam is used, but on the
Philippines and Java the Javanese word manuk is
frequently heard—it has hence been inferred that the
Malays and Javanese were the first to domesticate it,
and distribute it over the archipelago. Temminck
regards the Gallus bankiva as the progenitor of our
common fowl, If he is right in this conjecture, it
was probably brought into Greece by the Persians,
for the Greeks sometimes called it the “ Persian
bird.”* Its early introduction into Europe is shown
by representations of it on the walls of the Etruscan
tombs, and Mr. Crawfurd states that it was found in
England more than two thousand years ago. The
small variety known to us as “the Bantam,” is not a
native of Java, but received that name because it
was first seen by European traders on Japanese
junks which came to that city to trade.

All the Malay race, except the Javanese, have
the most inordinate thirst for gambling, and their
favorite method of gratifying this passion is cock-
fighting. This is forbidden by the Dutch Govern-
ment; but in the Philippines the Spanish only sub-
ject the gamblers to a heavy tax, and the extent to
which it is indulged in those islands is indicated
by a yearly revenue of forty thousand dollars from
this source alone,

The passion for this vice among the Malays is
also shown in their language; for, according to Mr.
Crawfurd, there is one specific name for cock-fight-
ing, one for the natural and one for the artificial spur

* Crawfurd’s Dict. Ind. Arch.

62 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

of the cock, two names for the comb, three for crow-
ing, two for a cock-pit, and one for a professional
cock-fighter,

But to return to the garden, where, among more
interesting objects, were some images of the Brah-
man or Buddhist gods, worshipped by the ancient
Javanese. One, particularly monstrous, appeared to
have the body of a man and the head of a beast. A
favorite model was to represent a man with the head
of an elephant, seated on a throne that rested on a
row of human skulls.

Hinduism was undoubtedly introduced into the
archipelago in the same way as Mohammedanism—
namely, by those who came from the West to trade,
first into Sumatra, and afterward into Java and Cele.
bes. This commercial intercourse probably began in
the very remotest ages; for, according to Sir Gardner
Wilkinson, the Egyptians used tin in manufacturing

their implements of bronze two thousand years be- —

fore the Christian era, and it is more probable that
this tin came from the Malay peninsula than from
Cornwall, the only two sources of any importance
that are yet known for this valuable metal, if we in-
clude with the former the islands of Billiton and
Banca. In the “Periplus of the Erythrean Sea,”
written about A, p. 60, it is stated that this mineral
was found at two cities on the western coast of India,
but that it came from countries farther east. In this
same descriptive treatise it is also mentioned that the
milabrathrwm, a kind of odoriferous gum imported
from India for the use of the luxurious Romans, was
found at Barake, a port on the coast of Malabar,

———— i hr i rt

A KLING,

NATIVE OF BILUCHISTAN,

EARLY COMMERCE IN THE ARCHIPELAGO. 63

but that it likewise came from some land farther
east; and malabrathrum is supposed by many to
be the modern benzoin, a resin obtained from the
Styrax benzoin, a plant only found in the lands of
the Battas, in Sumatra, and on the coast of Brunai,
in the northern part of Borneo,

Although we gather from the records of Western
nations these indications of products coming from
the archipelago in the earliest ages, yet we have no
information in regard to the time that the Hindu
traders, who sailed eastward from India and pur-
chased these valuable articles, succeeded in planting
their own religion among those distant nations, The
annals of both the Malay and Javanese are evidently
fanciful, and are generally considered unreliable for
any date previous to the introduction of Mohamme-
danism. Simple chronological lists are found in Java,
which refer as far back as A. p. 78; but Mr. Craw-
furd says that “they are incontestable fabrications,
often differing widely from each other, and con-
taining gaps of whole centuries.”

The people who came from India on these early
voyages were probably of the same Talagu or Telugu
nation as those now called by the Malays “ Klings”
or “ Kalings,” a word evidently derived from Kalinga,
the Sanscrit name for the northern part of the coast of
Coromandel. They have always continued to trade
with the peninsula, and I met them on the coast of
Sumatra. Barbosa, who saw them at Malacca when
the Portuguese first arrived at that city, thus de-
scribes them:* “There are many great merchants

* Orawfurd’s Dict. Ind. Arch., “ Hindustan,”

64 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

here, Moor as well as Gentile strangers, but chiefly
of the Chetis, who are of the Coromandel coast, and
have large ships, which they call giunchi” (junks).
Unlike the irregular winds that must have greatly
discouraged the early Greeks and Phcenicians from
long voyages over the Euxine and the Mediterra-
nean, the steady monsoons of the Bay of Bengal in-
vited those people out to sea, and by their regular
changes promised to bring them within a year safely
back to their homes.

The United States steamship Iroquois was then
lying in the roads, and our consular agent at this
port invited Captain Rodgers, our consul from Batavia,
who was there on business, and myself, to take a ride
with him out to a sugar-plantation that was under
his care. In those hot countries it is the custom to
start early on pleasure excursions, in order to avoid
the scorching heat of the noonday sun. We were
therefore astir at six. Our friend had obtained a
large post-coach giving ample room for four persons,
but, like all such carriages in Java, it was so heavy
and clumsy that both the driver asa a footman, who
was perched up in a high box behind, had to con-
stantly lash our four little ponies to keep them up to
even a moderate rate of speed, Our ride of ten miles
was over a well-graded road, beautifully shaded for
most of the way with tamarind-trees. Parallel with
the carriage-roads, in Java, there is always one for buf-
faloes and carts, and in this manner the former are al-
most always kept in prime order. Such a great double
highway begins at Angir, on the Strait of Sunda, and
extends throughout the whole length of the island to

THE TELEGRAPH IN JAVA AND SUMATRA, 65

Banyuwangi, on the Strait of Bali. It passes near
Bantam and Batavia, and thence along the low lands
near the north coast to Cheribon and Samarang,
thence south of Mount Japara and so eastward. This,
I was informed, was made by Marshal Daendals, who
governed Java under the French rule in 1809. There
is also a military road from Samarang to Surakarta
and Jokyokarta, where the two native princes now
reside, Java also enjoys « very complete system of
telegraphic communication. On the 23d of October,
- 1856, the first lie, between Batavia (Weltevreden)
and Buitenzorg, was finished. Immediately after, it
was so rapidly extended that, in 1859, 1,670 English
miles were completed. A telegraphic cable was also
laid in that year from Batavia up the Straits of Banca
and Rhio to Singapore; but, unfortunately, it was
broken in a short time, probably by the anchor of
some vessel in those shallow straits. After it had
been repaired it was immediately broken a second
time, and in 1861 the enterprise was given up, but
now they are laying another cable across the Strait
of Sunda, from Angir to the district of Lampong;
thence it will extend up the west coast to Bencoolen
and Padang, and, passing across the Padang plateau,
through Fort de Rock and Paya Kombo, come to the
Strait of Malacca, and be laid directly across to Singa-
pore.

These Javanese ponies go well ona level or down-
hill, but when the road becomes steep they frequent-
ly stop altogether. In the hilly parts of Java, there-
fore, the natives are obliged to fasten their buffaloes
to your carriage, and you must patiently wait for

5

66 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

those sluggish animals to take you up to the crest of
the elevation. .

Our road that morning led over a low country,
which was devoted wholly to rice and sugar-cane.
Some of these rice-fields stretched away on either
hand as far as the eye could see, and appeared as
boundless as the ocean, Numbers of natives were
scattered through these wide fields, selecting out the
ripened blades, which their religion requires them to
cut off one by one. It appears an endless task thus
to gather in all the blades overa wide plain. These
are clipped off near the top, and the rice in this state,
with the hull still on, is called “paddy.” ‘The re-
maining part of the stalks is left in the fields to enrich
the soil. After each crop the ground is spaded or
dug up with a large hoe, or ploughed with a buffalo,
and afterward harrowed with a huge rake; and to aid
in breaking up the clods, water to the depth of four
or five inches is let in. ‘This is retained by dikes
which cross the fields at right angles, dividing them
up into little beds from fifty to one hundred feet
square. The seed is sown thickly in small plats at
the beginning of the rainy monsoon. When the
plants are four or five inches high they are transferred
to the larger beds, which are still kept overflowed for
some time. They come to maturity about this time
(June 14th), the first part of the eastern monsoon, or
dry season. Such low landsthatcan be thus flooded
are called sawas, Although the Javanese have built
magnificent temples, they have never invented or
adopted any apparatus that has come into common
use for raising water for their rice-fields, not even the

VISIT TO A SUGAR PLANTATION. 67

simple means employed by the ancient Egyptians
along the hill, and which the slabs from the palaces
at Nineveh show us were also used along the Eu-
phrates.

Only one crop is usually taken from the soil each
year, unless the fields can be readily irrigated. Ma-
nure is rarely or never used, and yet the sawas ap-
pear as fertile as ever. The sugar-cane, however,
quickly exhausts the soil, One cause of this probably
is that the whole of every cane is taken from the field
except the top and root, while only the upper part of
the rice-stalks are carried away, and the rest is burned
or allowed to decay on the ground. On this account
only one-third of a plantation is devoted to its cul-
ture at any one time, the remaining two-thirds being
planted with rice, for the sustenance of the natives
that work on that plantation. These crops are kept
rotating so that the same fields are liable to an extra
drain from sugar-cane only once in three years. On
each plantation is a village of Javanese, and several
of these villages are under the immediate manage.
ment of a controlewr. It is his duty to see that a cer-
tain number of natives are at work every day, that
they prepare the ground, and put in the seed at the
proper season, and take due care of it till harvest-
time.*

The name of the plantation we were to see was
“Seroenie.” As we neared it, several long, low, white
buildings came into view, and two or three high

* For the history of the culture-system and government in the Nether-
lands India, consult Money’s “ Java.”

68 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

chimneys, pouring out dense volumes of black smoke.
By the road was a dwelling-house, and the “fabrik”
was in the rear, The canes are cut in the field and
bound into bundles, each containing twenty-five.
They are then hauled to the factory in clumsy, two-
wheeled carts called pedatis, with a yoke of sapis.
On this plantation alone there are two hundred such
carts. The mode adopted here of obtaining the
sugar from the cane is the same as in our country.
It is partially clarified by pouring over it, while yet
in the earthen pots in which it cools and crystallizes,
a quantity of clay, mixed with water, to the consist-
ency of cream. The water, filtering through, washes
the crystals and makes the sugar, which up to this
time is of a dark brown, almost as white as if it had
been refined. This simple process is said to have
been introduced by some one who noticed that
wherever the birds stepped on the brown sugar with
their muddy feet, in those places it became strange-
ly white. After all the sugar has been obtained that
is possible, the cheap and impure molasses that drains
off is fermented with a small quantity of rice.
Palm-wine is then added, and from this mixture is
distilled the liquor known as “arrack,” which conse.
quently differs little from rum. It is considered, and
no doubt rightly, the most destructive stimulant that
can be placed in the human stomach, in these hot
regions. From Java large quantities are shipped to
the cold regions of Sweden and Norway, where, if it
is as injurious, its manufacturers are, at least, not
obliged to witness its poisonous effects.

After the sugar has been dried in the sun it

WHERE OUR SUGAK-CANE CAME FROM, 69

is packed in large cylindrical baskets of bamboo,
and is ready to be taken to market and shipped
abroad.*

Three species of the sugar-cane are recognized by
botanists: the Saccharum sinensis of China; the
Saccharum officmarum of India, which was introduced
by the Arabs into Southern Europe, and thence trans-
ported to our own country + and the West Indies ; and
the Saccharum violaceum of Tahiti, of which the cane
of the Malay Archipelago is probably only ‘a variety.
This view of the last species is strengthened by the
similarity of the names for it in Malaysia and Poly-
nesia. The Malays call it tabu; the mhabitants of
the Philippines, tubw; the Kayans of Borneo, twro ;
the natives of Floris, between Java and Timur, and
of Tongatabu, in Polynesia, taw ; the people of Tahiti
and the Marquesas, zo ; and the Sanicdivicl Islanders, ho.

It is either a native of the archipelago or was in-
troduced in the remotest times. The Malays used to
cultivate it then as they do now, not for the purpose
of making sugar, but for its sweet juice, and great
quantities of it are seen at this time of year in all
the markets, usually cut up into short pieces and the
outer layers or rind removed. These people appear
also to have been wholly ignorant of the mode of
making sugar from it, and all the sugar, or more
properly molasses, that was used, was obtained then
as it is now in the Eastern islands, namely, by boil-

* During 1865 the government sold 250,000 piculs (16,666 tons) of
sugar, but the total exported from Java was two million piculs.
+ Our word sugar comes from the Arabic sakar, and that from the

Sanscrit sarkara, thus indicating in its name how it first came to be
known to Europeans.

T0 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

ing down the sap of the gomuti-palm (Borassus go-
muti).™

Sugar from cane was first brought to Europe
by the Arabs, who, as we know from the Chi-
nese annals, frequently visited Canpu, a port on
Hanchow Bay, a short distance south of Shanghai.
Dioscorides, who lived in the early part of the first
century, appears to be the earliest writer in the West
who has mentioned it. He calls it saccharon, and
says that “in consistence it was like salt.” Pliny,
who lived a little later in the same century, thus de-
scribes the article seen in the Roman markets in his
day: “Saccharon is a honey which forms on reeds,
white like gum, which crumbles under the teeth, and
of which the largest pieces are of the size of a fil-
bert.” (Book xii., chap. 8.)

This is a perfect description of the sugar or rock-
candy that I found the Chinese manufacturing over
the southern and central parts of China during my
long journeyings through that empire, and at the same
time it is not in the least applicable to the dark-
brown, crushed sugar made in India.

* Mr. Crawfurd states that it is a similar product made from the sap
of the Palmyra palm (Borassus flabelliformis), and not the sugar of the
cane, that forms the saccharine consumption of tropical Asia, i. e., among
the Cochin-Chinese, the Siamese, the Burmese, and the inhabitants of
Southern India, including the Telinga nation who introduced Hinduism
and Sanscrit names among these people, and probably were the first to
teach them how to obtain sugar from the sap of palm-trees,

CHAPTER IL
THE FLORA AND FAUNA OF THE TROPICAL EAST.

June 15th— At 8 a. m. we left our anchorage off
Surabaya, and steamed down the Madura Strait for
Macassar, the capital of Celebes. Along the shores
of the strait were many villages of fishermen, and
bamboo weirs extending out to a distance of five or
six miles from both the Java and Madura shores, and
showing well how shallow the water must be so
far from land. During the forenoon it was nearly
calm, but the motion of the steamer supplied a
pleasant air. In the afternoon the wind rose to a
light breeze from the east. At noon we passed Pulo
Kambing (“Goat Island”), a small, low coral island
off the south coast of Madura. Near by was a fleet
of small fishing-boats, each containing two men, who
were only protected from the broiling sun by a hat
and a narrow cloth about the loins. These boats
and other larger ones farther out to sea were ex-
tremely narrow, and provided with outriggers.

Madura receives its name from a Hindu legend,
which makes it the abode of the demigod, Baladewa.
It has but one mountain-range, and that crosses it
from north to south. It is, therefore. not well wa-

42 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

tered, and unsuitable for raising rice; and many of
its people have been obliged to migrate to the ad-
joining fertile shores of Java. The coffee-tree is
raised on this island, but the land is best adapted for
pasturage of the sapi, which is similar in its habits
to our own neat-cattle, and never wallows in mires
and morasses like the buffalo. In the mountains on
the western part of Java, a wild species, the banteng
(Bos sondaicus), is still found. It is not regarded
as the source of the sap2, but a fertile cross is ob-
tained from the two, and this intermediate breed is
said to be the one used on Bali and Lombok. The
sap? is found on all the islands to and including Ti-
mur, on Borneo, Celebes, and the Spice Islands, and
has been introduced into the Philippines since their
discovery, and now lives in a wild state on Luzon,
just as the cattle of the pampas in South America,
which have also descended from the domesticated
breeds imported by the Spaniards.

On the eastern end of the island, which is quite
low, great quantities of salt are obtained by evapo-
rating water in “ pans,” or small areas enclosed with
low dikes, like rice-fields, It is also manufactured in
a similar manner at several places on the north coast
of Java and on the western shore of Luzon, in the
province of Pangasinan. Generally the coasts of the
islands throughout the archipelago are either too high,
or so low as to form merely muddy morasses, which
are mostly covered with a dense growth of mangroves.

In some places on the south coast of Java, sea-
water is sprinkled over sand. When this water has
evaporated, the process is repeated, The sand is then

MODE OF MANUFACTURING SALT. 73

gathered, and water filtered through it and evapo-
rated by artificial heat. In Borneo, and among
some of the Philippines, marine plants are burned,
and the lye made from their ashes is evaporated
for the sake of the salt contained in the residuum.
_All through the interior, and among the mountains,
houses are built for storing it, and officials are ap-
pointed fo dispose of it to the natives. The quan-
tity yearly manufactured for the government at all
the various places is about 40,000 koyangs, or 80,000
tons; but it is not allowed to be shipped and used
until it is five years old, and a supply of 200,000
koyangs, or 400,000 tons, is therefore constantly kept
on hand. It is deposited in the government store-
houses by individuals at one-third of a guilder per
picul, It is then transported and sold at a great
profit by the government, which monopolizes the
traffic in this necessary condiment, and obtains a
large portion of its revenue in this manner,*

In the afternoon we were abreast the high Tenger
(i. e., wide or spacious) mountains. Here is the famous
“Sandy Sea,” a strange thing on an island covered
with such luxuriant vegetation as everywhere appears
in Java, To reach it one has to climb an old vol-
cano to a height of about 7,500 feet above the sea,
when he suddenly finds himself on the rim of an old
crater of an irregular elliptical form, with a minor

* The prices obtained for it are established as follows: On Madura
and the north coast of Java, 6.92 guilders; on the south coast, 5.92 gl. ;
at Bencoolen, Padang, and Priaman, on the west coast of Sumatra,
6.662 ¢1.; Ayar Bangis and Natal, 6 gl.; Palembang, 5.10 gl.; Banea,
6.72 gl.; Bandyermassin, 6.66 gl.; Sambas and Pontianak, 5.10 gl.

74 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

axis of three and a half and a major axis of four and
a half miles. Tt is the largest crater in Java, and
one of the largest in the world. Its bottom is a level
floor of sand, which in some places is drifted by the
wind like the sea, and is properly named in Malay
the Laut Pasar, or “Sandy Sea.” From this sandy
floor rise four cones, where the eruptive force has suc-
cessively found vent for a time, the greatest being
evidently the oldest, and the smallest the present
active Bromo, or Brama, from the Sanscrit Brama,
the god of fire. The position and relation of this
Bromo, as compared to the surrounding crater, is en-
tirely analogous to those that exist between Vesuvius
and Monte,Somma. The outer walls of this old
mountain are of trachytic lava, and Dr, Junghuhn
thinks its history may be summed up thus: first, a
period when the trachyte was formed; this was fol-
lowed by a period of trachytic lavas, then of obsid-
ian; fourth, of obsidian and pumice-stone; fifth,
the sand period, during which an enormous quantity
of sand was thrown out, and the present sandy floor
formed with the cones rising from it; and sixth, the
present ash-period, during which only fine ashes are
thrown out from time to time, and steam and sul-
phurous acid gas are constantly emitted.

The earliest descriptions of this crater represent
it nearly as it is seen at the present day; but great
eruptions, similar to the one supposed to have oe-
curred, have been witnessed by Europeans since they
first came to Java. In the year 1772 the volcano
Papandayang, which is near the south coast of Java,
and about in Long. 108° E., threw out such an

ERUPTION OF MOUNT GALUNGGONG. nr

immense quantity of scorie and ashes, that Dr.
Junghuhn thinks a layer nearly fifty feet thick was
spread over an area within a radius of seven miles;
and yet all this was thrown out during a single
night. Forty native villages were buried beneath it,
and about three thousand souls are supposed to have
perished between this single setting and rising of the
sun. Dr. Horsfield, who drew up an account of this
terrible phenomenon from the stories of the natives,
wrongly supposed that “an extent of ground, of the
mountain and its environs, fifteen miles long, and
full six broad, was by this commotion swallowed up
within the bowels of the earth.”

On the 8th of July, 1822, Mount Galunggong, an
old voleano, but a few miles northeast of Papanda-
yang, suffered a far more terrible and destructive
eruption. At noon onthat day not a cloud could be
seen in the sky. The wild beasts gladly sought
the friendly shades of the dense forest; the hum of
myriads of insects was hushed, and not a sound was
to be heard over the highly-cultivated declivities of
this mountain, or over the rich adjoining plain, but
the dull creaking of some native cart drawn by the
sluggish buffalo. The natives, under shelter of their
rude huts, were giving themselves up to indolent
repose, when suddenly a frightful thundering was
heard in the earth; and from the top of this old vol-
cano a dark, dense mass was seen rising higher and
higher into the air, and spreading itself out. over the
clear sky with such an appalling rapidity that in a
few moments the whole landscape was shrouded in
the darkness of night.

76 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

Through this thick darkness flashes of lightning
gleamed in a hundred lines, and many natives were
instantly struck down to the earth by stones falling
from the sky. Then a deluge of hot water and flow-
ing mud rose over the rim of the old crater,.and
poured down the mountain-sides, sweeping away
trees and beasts and human bodies in its seething
mass. At the same moment, stones and ashes and
sand were projected to an enormous height into the
air, and, as they fell, destroyed nearly every thing
within a radius of more than twenty miles. A few
villages, that were situated on high hills on the lower
declivities of the mountain, strangely escaped the
surrounding destruction by being above the streams
of hot water and flowing mud, while most of the
stones and ashes and sand that were thrown out
passed completely over them, and destroyed many
villages that were farther removed from the centre
of this great eruption.

The thundering was first heard at half-past one
o'clock. At four the extreme violence of the erup-
tion was past; at five the sky began to grow clear
once more, and the same sun that at noon had shed
his life-giving light over this rich landscape, at even-
ing was casting his rays over the same spot then
changed into a scene of utter desolation, A second
eruption followed within five days, and by that time
more than twenty thousand persons had lost their
lives,

When the mountain could be ascended, a great
valley was found, which Dr. Junghuhn considers
analogous to the “Val del Bove” on the flanks of

JAVA COMPARED WITH CUBA. m7

Kitna, except that a great depression among these
movable materials could not have such high, precipi-
tous walls as are seen in that deep gulf. This erup-
tion was quite like that of Papandayang, except that
there was a lake in the bottom of this crater which
supplied the hot water and the mud, while all the
materials thrown out by the former volcano were in
a dry state. In a similar way it is supposed the
great crater and the “Sandy Sea” of the Tenger
Mountains were formed in ancient times. On these
Tenger Mountains live a peculiar people, who speak
a dialect of the Javanese, and, despite the zealous
efforts of the Mohammedan priests, still retain their
ancient Hindu religion.

In the evening, fires appeared on the hills near
the sea. This was the last we saw of Java, which,
though but one-sixth of the area of Borneo, and one-
third that of Sumatra, is by far the most important
island in the archipelago. It is to the East Indies
what Cuba is to the West Indies. In each there is
a great central chain of mountains. Both shores of
Cuba are opposite small bodies of water, and are con-
tinuously low and swampy for miles, but in Java
only the north coast borders on a small sea, This
shore is low, but the southern coast, on the margin
of the wide Indian Ocean that stretches away to
the Antarctic lands, is high and bold, an exception
which is in accordance with the rule that the higher
elevations are opposite the greater oceans, or, more
properly, that they stand along the borders of the
ocean-beds or greatest depressions on the surface
of our globe. In Java, where the coast is rocky,

73 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

the rocks are hard voleanic basalts and trachytes,
which resist the action of the sea, and the shore-line
is therefore quite regular; but in Cuba there is a
fringing of soft coral rock, which the waves quickly
wear away into hundreds of little projecting head-
lands and bays, and on the map the island has a
ragged border. In its geological structure, Cuba,
with its central axis of mica slates, granitic rocks,
serpentines, and marbles, has a more perfect analogue
in Sumatra; for in Java the mountains, instead of
being formed by elevations of preéxisting strata, are
merely heaps of scoris, ashes, sand, and rock, once
fluid, which have all been ejected out of separate
and distinct vents. The area of Java is estimated at
38,250 square geographical miles; that of Cuba at
about 45,000. The length of Java is 575 geographi-
cal or 666 statute miles; that of Cuba 750 statute
miles. But while the total population of Cuba is
estimated only at a million and a half, the total
population of Java and Madura is now (1865),
according to official statements, 13,917,368.* In
1755, after fifteen years of civil war, the total popu-
lation of Java and Madura was but 2,001,911. In
a single century, therefore, it has increased more than
sixfold. This is one of the beneficial effects of a
government that can put down rebellions and all in-
ternal wars, and encourage industry. In Cuba, of a
total area of thirty million acres, it was estimated, in
1857, that only 48,572 were under cultivation, or,

* Of this number 27,105 are Europeans; 13,704,535 are natives;
156,192 are Chinese; 6,764 are Arabs; and 22,772 are from other East-
ern nations. See Appendix B.

THE FORESTS OF JAVA. 79

including pasturage, 218,161 acres; In Java and
Madura, last year (1864), the cultivated fields and
the groves of cocoanut palms covered an area of
2,437,037 acres. In Cuba, from 1858 to 1858, the
yearly exports were from 27,000,000 to 82,000,000 of
dollars, and the imports of about the same value. In
Java, last year, the imports amounted to 66,846,412
guilders (26,738,565 dollars); and the exports to the
enormous sum of 123,094,798 guilders (49,237,919
dollars), During 1864 twenty-four ships arrived from
the United States, of 12,610 tons’ capacity, and three
sailed for our country, of a united capacity of 2,258
tons,*

Both of these great islands abound in forests,
that yield large quantities of valuable timber. Java
furnishes the indestructible teak, from which the
Malays and Javanese fitted out a fleet of three hun-
dred vessels that besieged Malacca, two years after
it had fallen into the hands of the Portuguese. In
like manner the Spaniards, between 1724 and 1796,
built with timber from the forests of Cuba an armada
that numbered one hundred and fourteen vessels,
carrying more than four thousand guns, From the
Cuban forests come the indestructible Lignwm-vite,
and the beautiful mahogany. Those jungles shelter
no wild animals larger than dogs, but these in Java
are the haunts of wild oxen, tigers, one large and two
small species of leopard, the rhinoceros, two wild
species of hog, and five species of weasel. Two of
the latter yield musk ; and one, the Viverra musanga,

* For a list of the number of ships that arrived during 1864, their
tonnage, and the countries from which they came, see Appendix E.

80 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

of the size of a cat, is also found in the Philippines.
Six species of deer are found on this island, and two
of them, the Cervus rufa and Cervus mantijac, are
sometimes domesticated.* The elephant is not found
in Java, though it lives in Sumatra, Borneo, and the
peninsula. Also the wild horse of Suniatra or Cele-
bes does not exist in Java.

Among the more noticeable birds of Java is a
beautiful species of peacock, the Pavo spicifer. It
was represented to me as quite abundant in some
places along the south coast. The natives make very
beautiful cigar-holders from fine strips of its quills.
In Sumatra it is not found, but is represented by an
allied species. Of pigeons, Java has no less than ten
species, The web-footed birds are remarkably few in
species and numbers. A single duck, a teal, and two
pelicans, are said to comprise the whole number. The
white heron has already been noticed, and besides
this, ten other species have been described. One of
the smallest birds in Jaya, and yet, perhaps, the
most important, from its great numbers, is the rice-
eater, Lringilla oryzword, a kind of sparrow. Great
flocks of these birds are continually annoying the
Malays as soon as the rice is nearly grown. The

* Albinos are occasionally found among these animals. For a long
time previous to 1840 there was a famous “ white deer” on the coast at
Antju, in the vicinity of Batavia, Many attempts were made to shoot
it, and these invariably proved so unsuccessfal, that the natives, finding
they had an opportunity to give way to their insatiable love for the mar-
vellous, were all fully convinced that this animal was invulnerable. It
was, however, shot at last, and proved to be of a gray, rather than a
pure white. In 1845 a young one of a pure white color was caught at
Macassar.

MODE OF FRIGHTENING BIRDS. 81

natives have a very simple and effective mode of
driving them away. In the midst of a field a little
bamboo house, sufficient to shelter its occupant from
the rain and scorching sunshine, is perched high up
on poles above the rice-stalks, Around each field are
placed rows ‘of tall, flexible stakes, which are con-
nected together by a string. Many radiating lines of
such stakes extend from the house to those along the
borders, and the child or old person on watch has
simply to pull any set of these lines in order to
firighten away the birds from any part of the field.
There are seven species of owls, and when the hooting
of one is heard near any house, many of the natives
believe that sickness or some other misfortune will
certainly come to the inmates of that dwelling. Of
eagles and falcons, or kites, eight species are men-
tioned. One of the kites is very abundant at all the
anchorages, and so tame as to light on the rigging of a
ship quite near where the sailors are working. When
it has caught any offal in its long talons, it does not
fly away at once to a perch to consume the delicious
morsel at its leisure, like many birds of prey, but is
so extremely greedy that it tears off pieces with its
beak and swallows them as it slowly sails along in
the air.

When we begin to examine the luxuriant flora
of these tropical islands, almost the first tree that we
notice by the shore is the tall, graceful cocoa-nut palm.
Occasionally it is found in small clumps, far from
the abode of man, for instead of being reared by his
care, it often comes to maturity alone, and then in-
vites him to take up his abode beneath its shade, by

6

82 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

offering him at the sametime its fruit for food, and
its leaves as ample thatching for the only kind of a
hut which he thinks he needs in an unchanging,
tropical climate.

As it stands along the shore, it invariably inclines
toward its parent, the sea, for borne on the waves
came the nut from which it sprang, and now fully
grown, it seeks to make a due return to its ancestor
by leaning over the shore and dropping into the
ocean’s bosom rich clusters of its golden fruit. Here,
buoyed up by a thick husk which is covered with a
water-tight skin, the living kernel safely floats over
the calm and the stormy sea, until some friendly
wave casts it high up on a distant beach. The hot
sun then quickly enables it to thrust out its root-
lets into the genial soil of coral sand and fragments
of shells, and in a few years it too is seen tossing its
crest of plumes high over the white surf, which in
these sunny climes everywhere forms the margin of
the deep-blue ocean.

When the nut is young, the shell is soft and not
separate from the husk. In a short time it turns from
a pale green to a light yellow. The shell is now
formed, and on its inner side is a thin layer, so soft
that it can be cut with a spoon. The natives now
call it klapa muda, or the young cocoa-nut, and they
rarely eat it except in this condition. As it grows
older, the exterior becomes of a wood-color, the husk
is dry, and the shell hard and surrounded on the in-
side with a thick, tough, oily, and most indigestible
layer, popularly known as “the meat” of the nut.
This is the condition in which it is brought to our

MODE OF MAKING COCOA-NUT OIL. 83

markets, but the Malays seldom or never think of
eating it in this condition, and only value it for its
oil. To obtain this the nut is broken, and the meat
scraped out with a knife, This pulp is then boiled
in a large pan, when the oil separates, floats on the
top, and is skimmed off. This oil is almost the only
substance used for lighting in the East, where far more
lights are kept burning, in proportion to the foreign
population, than in our own temperate zone, notwith-
standing our long winter evenings, it being the
custom there for each man to light his house and
veranda very brilliantly every evening; and, if it is
a festive occasion, rows of lamps must be placed
throughout his grounds,

The natives also are fond of such display. The
common lamp which they have for burning cocoa-
nut oil is nothing but a glass tumbler, This is
partly filled with water, a small quantity of oil is
then poured in, and on this float two small splints
that support a piece of pith in a vertical position for
a wick, When the oil is first made, it has a sweet,
rich taste, but in such a hot climate it soon becomes
extremely rancid, and that used for cooking should
not be more than two or three days old, The cool,
clear water which the young nuts contain is a most
refreshing drink in those hot climates, far preferable,
according to my taste, to the warm, muddy water
usually found in all low lands within the tropics.
EspeciaHy can one appreciate it when, exposed to the
burning sun on a low coral island, he longs for a
single draught from the cold sparkling streams
among his native New-England hills. He looks

84 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

around him and realizes that he is surrounded by
the salt waters of the ocean—then one of his dark
attendants, divining his desire, climbs the smooth
trunk of a lofty palm, and brings down, apparently
from the sky, a nectar delicious enough for the gods.

This tree is of such importance to’ the natives
that the Dutch officials are required to ascertain as
nearly as possible the number of them in their sev-
eral districts. In 1861 there were in Java and
Madura nearly twenty millions of these trees, or
more than three to every two natives.

Near the cocoanut grows the Pandanus, or
“serew-pine,” which may be correctly described as a
trunk with branches at both ends. There are two
species of it widely distributed over the archipelago.
The flowers of one, the P. odoratissimus, are very
fragrant and highly prized among the Malays. In
some places mats and baskets are made from its
leaves. Its woody fruit is of a spherical form, from
four to six inches in diameter, and its surface is divi-
ded with geometrical precision by projections of a
pointed pyramidal or diamond shape.

Ona the low lands, back from the shore, where the
soil has been enriched with vegetable mould, the
banana thrives. Unlike the cocoa-nut tree, it is sel-
dom seen where it has not been planted by the
hand.of man, The traveller, therefore, who is worn
out with his long wanderings through the thick,
almost impassable, jungles, beholds with delight the
long, green, drooping leaves of this tree. He knows
that he is near some native hut where he can find a
shelter from the hot sun, and slake his thirst with

THE BANANA. 85

the water of the cocoa-nut, and appease his hunger
on bananas and boiled rice, a simple and literally a
Frugal meal. Out of the midst of these drooping
leaves hangs down the top of the main stem, with its
fruit decreasing in size to the end. Some near the
base are already changing from a dark green to a
bright golden yellow. Those are filled with deli-
cious juices, and they melt in your mouth like a deli-
cately-flavored cream. Such bananas as can be
purchased in our markets have been so bruised, and
taste so little like this fruit at its home in the
tropics, or at least in the East Indian islands, that
they scarcely serve to remind one of what he has
been accustomed to enjoy. ‘The number of the
varieties of bananas and the difference between
them is as great as among apples in our own
land.

Botanists call this tree the Musa paradisiaca, for
its fruit is so constantly ripening throughout the
year, and is such a common article of food, that it
corresponds well to “the tree that yielded her fruit
every month,” and whose “leaves were for the heal-
ing of the nations.”

Besides these plants, there are also seen on the
low lands Aroidew, Amaranthacee, papilionaceous
or leguminous plants, and poisonous Huphorbiacew.
The papaw (Carica papaya) thrives luxuriantly on
most soils, The natives are always fond of it, and I
found it a most palatable fruit, but the Europeans
in the East generally consider it a too coarse or com-
mon fruit to be placed on the table. It was evident-
ly introduced by the Portuguese and Spanish frem

86 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

the West Indies, and the Malay name papaya comes
from the Spanish papayo.

At the height of one thousand feet ferns appear
in very considerable numbers, and here also the use-
ful bamboo grows in abundance, though it is found
all the way down to the level of the sea. Practically
this is a tree, but botanically it is grass, though it
sometimes attains a height of seventy or eighty feet.
It is used by the natives for the walls of their huts,
For this purpose it is split open and pressed out flat,
and other perpendicular and horizontal pieces hold
it in place. It is also used for masts, spear-handles,
baskets, vessels of all kinds, and for so many other
necessary articles, that it seems almost indispensable
to them. Its outer surface becomes so hard when
partially burned, that it will take a sharp, almost
cutting edge, and the weapons of the natives were
probably all made in this manner previous to the
introduction of iron. At the present time sharpened
stakes, rangaus, of this kind are driven into the
ground in the tall grass surrounding a ladang or
garden, so that any native with naked feet (except
the owner) will spear himself in attempting to ap-
proach. I saw one man, on the island of Buru, who
had received a frightful, ragged wound in this way.

Above one thousand feet the palms, bananas, and
papilionaceous plants become fewer, and are replaced
by the lofty fig or waringin, which, with its high
top and long branches, rivals the magnificent palms
by the seashore, The liquidambar also accompa-
nies the fig. Orchidaceous plants of the most won-
derful forms appear on the forest-trees, and are fas-

THE COTTON-WOOD TREE, 87

tened to them so closely, that they seem to be parts
of them. Here the ferns also are seen in great
variety. Loranthacee and Melanostomacee are found
in this zone. To this region belongs the beautiful
cotton-wood tree Its trunk is seldom more than ten
or twelve inches in diameter, and rises up almost
perpendicularly thirty feet. The bark is of a
light olive-green, and remarkably smooth and fair.
The limbs shoot out in whorls at right angles to
the trunk, and, as they are separated by a considera-
ble space, their open foliage is in strong contrast to
the dark, dense jungle out of which they usually
rise. They thrive well also along the banks of
rivers. In Java these trees are frequently used as
telegraph-posts—a purpose for which they are ad-
mirably adapted on account of their regularity. Be-
sides, any thing but a living post would quickly
decay in these tropical lands. The fruit is a pod,
and the fibrous substance it yields is quite like cot-
ton. I found it very suitable for stuffing birds.

Over this region of the fig comes that of oaks
and laurels. Orchidaceous plants and melastomas
are more abundant here.

Above five or six thousand feet are Rubiaceae,
heaths, and cone-bearing trees; and from this region
Wwe pass up into one where small ferns abound, and
lichens and mosses cover the rocks and hang from
the trees. The tropical world is now beneath us,
and we are in the temperate zone.

The tops of all those voleanic mountains that are
still in a state of eruption are usually bare; and in
others so large a quantity of the sulphur they pro-

88 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

duce is washed down their sides by the rains that
the vegetation is frequently destroyed for some dis-
tance below their summits, ~

One of the great privileges of a residence in the
tropics is to enjoy the delicious fruits of those re-
gions in all their perfection. Of all those fruits, in
my opinion, the mangostin ought unquestionably
to be considered the first. This tree, a Garcinia, is
about the size of a pear-tree. Its Malay name is
manggusta, whence our own, but it is more gener-
ally known in the archipelago by the Javanese name
manggis. It flourishes in most of the islands from
the south coast of Java to Mindanao, the southern-
most of the Philippines, On the continent it yields
well as far up the Peninsula of Malacca as Bankok,
in Siam, and in the interior to 16° N., but on the
coast of the Bay of Bengal only to 14° N. The at-
tempts to introduce it into India have failed, but the
fruit is sometimes sent from Singapore after it has
been carefully coated with wax to exclude the air.
In Ceylon they have only partially succeeded in cul-
tivating it. All the trials to raise it in the West
Indies have proved unsuccessful, so that this, the
best of all tropical fruits, is never seen on our conti-
nent, Its limited geographical range is the more
remarkable, for it is frequently seen flourishing in
the East Indian islands on all kinds of soils, and
there is reason to suppose that it has been introduced
into the Philippines within a comparatively late
period, for in 1685 Dampier did not notice it on
Mindanao. The fruit is of a spherical form, and a
reddish-brown color. The outer part is a thick, tough

Ven,

FRUIT MARKET,

THE CHOICEST OF TROPICAL FRUITS. 89

covering containing a white, opaque centre an inch or
more in diameter. This is divided into four or five
parts, each of which usually contains a small seed.
This white part has a slightly-sweet taste, and a rich
yet delicate flavor, which is entirely peculiar to it-
self. It tastes perhaps more like the white interior.
of a cheekerberry than any other fruit in our tem-
perate climate. The thick covering is dried by the
natives and used for an astringent.

Several fruits claim the second place in this scale.
Some Europeans would place the rambutam next the
mangostin, and others would prefer the mango or
the duku. The rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) is
nearly as large as an apple-tree. The fruit is globu-
lar in form, and an inch or an inch and a half in
diameter, The outside is a bright-red rind, orna-
mented with coarse, scattered bristles. Within isa
semi-transparent pulp, of a slightly acid taste, sur-
rounding the seed. This tree, like the durian and
the mangostin, is wholly confined to the archipelago,
and its acid fruit is most refreshing in those hot lands,
At Batavia it is so abundant in February and March,
that great quantities almost line the streets in the
market parts of the city, and small boats are seen
filled to overflowing with this bright, strawberry-
colored fruit. |

The mango-tree (Adangifera indica) is a large,
thickly-branching tree, with bright-green leaves. Its
fruit is of an elliptical form, and contains a flat stone
of the same shape. Before it is ripe it is so keenly
acid, that it needs only to be preserved in salt water
to be a nice pickle for the table, especially with the

90 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

universal curry. As it ripens, the interior changes
from green to white, and then to a bright yellow. A
tough outer skin being removed, there is seen a soft,
almost pulpy, but somewhat fibrous mass within.
Some of these fruits are extremely rich, and quite
aromatic, while others have a sharp smack of turpen-
tine. They even vary greatly in two localities, which
may be but a few miles apart. Rumphius informs us
that it was introduced into the moluccas by the
Dutch in 1655. It has also been introduced into
Zanzibar and Madagascar. When the Spaniards first
visited the Philippines it was not noticed, but now it
is very common in those islands, and considerable
quantities of it are shipped to China, where I was
frequently assured it was very delicious; but those
who have tasted this or any other tropical fruit from
only one locality are by no means competent judges.
At Singapore I found some very nice ones that had
been brought down from Siam. It also flourishes in
India, and Mr. Crawfurd thinks, from the fact that
the Malay and Javanese names are evidently only
corruptions of the old Sanscrit, that it was originally
brought into the archipelago from the continent, and
should not be regarded as indigenous.

The dukw is another highly-esteemed fruit. The
tree is tall, and bears a loose foliage. From its trunk
and limbs little branchlets grow out, bearing in long
clusters the fruit, which is about the size of a robin’s
egg, The outer coating of this fruit is thin and
leathery, and of a dull-yellow color, This contains
several long seeds, surrounded by a transparent pulp,
which is sweet or pleasantly acid. The seeds them-

THE DURIAN. 91

selves are intensely bitter. The natives, however, in-
variably prefer the durian to all other fruits. The
Durio zibethinus is a very large tree. Its fruit is
spherical in form, six or eight inches in diameter, and
generally covered with many sharply-pointed tuber-
cles, This exterior is a hard shell. Within it is
divided into several parts. On breaking the shell, a
seed, as large as a chestnut, is found in each division,
surrounded by a pale-yellow substance of the con-
sistency of thick cream, and having an odor of putrid
animal matter, so strong that a single fruit is enough
to infect the air in a large house. In the season for
this fruit the whole atmosphere in the native villages
is filled with this detestable odor. The taste of this
soft, salvy, half-clotted substance is well described by
Mr, Crawfurd as like “fresh cream and filberts.” It
seems paradoxical to state that the same substance
may violate a man’s sense of smell, and yet gratify
his sense of taste at the same time, but the natives
certainly are most passionately fond of it, and I once
met a foreigner who assured me that when he had
once smelled this fruit he could never be satisfied till
he had eaten some of it. Its simple odor is generally
quite enough for all Europeans. It thrives well in
Sumatra, Java, the Spice Islands, and Celebes, and is
found as far north as Mindanao, On the continent_
forests of it exist on the Malay Peninsula, and it is
successfully raised as far north in Siam as the thir-
teenth or fourteenth parallel. On the coast of the
Bay of Bengal it is grown as far north as Tenasserim,
in Lat. 14° N, It flourishes well on all the kinds of
soils in this area, but all attempts have failed to in-

99 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

troduce it into India and also into the West Indies.
Its Malay name durian comes from dui, a thorn, and
is thus applied on account of the sharp, thorny points
of the pyramidal tubercles that cover its shell. The
fact, that the Malay name is the one used wherever
the fruit is known, indicates that it originated in a
Malay country, and this view is strengthened by the
circumstance that, while I was crossing Sumatra, I
passed through large forests mostly composed of
these trees in the high lands near the sources of the
Palembang River.

Another far-famed fruit is the bread-fruit. It grows
on a tree, the Artocarpus incisa, which attains a height
of forty or fifty feet. It will be noticed at once by the
stranger, on account of its enormous, sharply-lobed
leaves, which are frequently a foot wide and a foot
and a half long, The fruit has nearly the form of a
melon, and is attached by its stem directly to the
trunk or limbs. It is regarded of little value by the
Malays, but farther east, in the Society Islands, and
other parts of the South Sea, it furnishes the natives
with their chief sustenance. Just before it is ripe it
is cut into slices and fried, and eaten with a thick,
black molasses, obtained by boiling down the sap of
the gomuti-palm. When prepared in this manner it
tastes somewhat like a potato, except that it is very
fibrous. The seeds of this fruit in the South Sea
are said, when roasted, to be as nice as chestnuts, but
T never saw the Malays make any use of them. From
the Pacific Islands it has been introduced into the
West Indies and tropical America, Another species
of this genus, the A. integrifolia, bears the huge

BALI, 93

“jack-fruit,” which very closely resembles the bread-
fruit, Sometimes it attains a weight of nearly sev-
enty-five pounds, so that one is a good load for a coo-
lie. The only part which the natives eat is a sweet,
pulpy substance enveloping each seed.

June 16th.—This morning the gigantic mountain
on Bali, Gunung Agung, or “The Great Mountain,”
towered up abeam of us against the southern sky.
According to Mr, Crawfurd it attains an elevation of
twelve thousand three hundred and seventy-nine feet,
or four hundred and thirty-three feet higher than the
far-famed Peak of Teneriffe.

These mountains are only a continuation of the
chain which traverses Java, and Bali may be regarded
as almost a part of Java, as it has quite the same flora
and fauna, and is only separated from that island by
a narrow strait. Here the Asiatic fauna of Sumatra,
Borneo, and Java reaches its most eastern boundary.
On Lombok, the next island eastward, a wholly dif-
ferent fauna is seen, having well-marked affinities
with that of Australia, According to the traditions
of the Javanese, Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, and
Sumbawa, were all formerly united, and afterward
separated into nine different parts, and when three
thousand rainy reasons shall have passed away they
will be reunited. The dates of these separations are
given as follows:

Palembang (the eastern end of Sumatra) from
Java, A, D. 1192.

Bali from Balembangan (the eastern end of Java),
A. D. 1282.

Lombok from Sumbawa, A. p. 1350.

94 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

All these dates are absurdly recent, and besides,
the separations, in all probability, did not occur in the
order given above. When we compare the fauna of
the continent with that of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo,
we find that Sumatra has the greatest number of
species identical with those of the Peninsula of Ma-
lacca; that Borneo has a somewhat less proportion,
and that Java has the largest number peculiar to it-
self. Thence we conclude that Java was the first of
these islands that was separated from the continent,
that Borneo was next detached, and Sumatra at the
latest period. Bali was probably separated from Java
at a yet more recent date,

Mr. Sclater was the first to notice the fact that
the dividing line between the Asiatic fauna and that
of Australia must be drawn down the Strait of Ma-
cassar, and this observation has only been confirmed
by all who have collected in those regions since.
Mr. A. R. Wallace further ascertained that this
line should be continued southward, through the
Strait of Lombok, between the island of that name
and Bali. He visited the latter island, and thus con-
trasts its birds with those of Lombok: “In Bali we
have barbets, fruit-thrushes, and woodpeckers; on
passing over to Lombok these are seen no more, but
we have an abundance of cockatoos, honeysuckers,
and brush-turkeys (Megapodiide), which are equally
unknown in Bali, and every island farther west. The
strait here is but fifteen miles wide, so that we may
pass in two hours from-one great division of the
earth to another, differing as essentially in their ani-
mal life as Europe does from America.”

A PLATEAU BENEATH THE SEA. 95

The royal tiger of Sumatra and Java is also found
on that part of Bali nearest Java, but neither this
nor any other feline animal exists on Lombok.

Monkeys, squirrels, civets, and others are seen
west of this dividing line, but not east of it. Wild
hogs are distributed over all the larger islands from
Sumatra to New Guinea, and even occur as far east-
ward as Ceram. The flora of these islands is not
divided in this manner, but maintains quite the same
character from the northern end of Timur to the
eastern end of Java.

In 1845 Mr. Earl pointed out the fact that Java,
Sumatra, and Borneo, all stand on a plateau which
is only covered by a shallow sea. They therefore
not only were formerly connected, as the similarity
of their faune shows, but are at the present day,
and a line on the map, which indicates where the sea
reaches a depth of one hundred fathoms, shows exact-
ly where the great basins of the Pacific and Indian
Oceans really begin. Northward this line unites the
Philippines to Asia, and also proves that Formosa,
the Lew-Chew and Japanese Islands, and the Kuriles,
are all parts of the same great continent. Judging
from what is known of their fauna, Mr. Wallace
thinks the separation of the Philippines from the
continent occurred before that of Java, and since that
epoch they have undergone very considerable changes
in their physical geography.

In 1478, when the Hindu religion was driven
out of Java, it took refuge in Bali, where it exists
to the present day. The natives here, as in India,
ave divided into four castes. The first and high-

96 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

est includes only the priests; the second, the sol-
diers; the third, the merchants; and the fourth,
and lowest, comprises the common laborers. Ac-
cording to Mr. Crawfurd, who visited the island,
the wives of the soldiers frequently sacrifice them-
selves by stabbing with the Aris, and the body
is afterward burned, and “with the princes, the sac-
rifice of one or two women is indispensable.” The
high mountains on Bali contain a number of lakes or
tarns, which supply many streams, and the natives
are thus enabled to irrigate their land so completely,
that about twenty thousand tons of rice are annually
exported to other parts of the archipelago, after a
population of nearly three-quarters of a million is
supplied. In 1861 Java had only a population of
three hundred and twenty-five to a square mile, while
Bali was supposed to have nearly five hundred, and
it is probably the most densely populated island in
these seas at the present time.

The Hindu religion also prevails over a part of
Lombok. On this island a huge mountain rises up,
according to the trigonometrical measurements of
Baron van Carnbée, to a height of twelve thousand
three hundred and sixty English feet, and probably
overtops every other lofty peak in the whole archi-

pelago.

CHAPTER IY.

CELEBES AND TIMUR.

June 18th.—We anchored this evening close in to
the coast of Celebes on a shallow plateau, which is
really only a slightly-submerged part of the island
itself. This word Celebes is not of native origin,
and was probably introduced by the Portuguese, who
were the earliest Europeans that visited this island.
It first appears in the historical and descriptive writ-
ings of De Barros,* who informs us that it was not
discovered until 1525, fourteen years after the Portu-
guese first came to the Moluccas; but at that time
they were only anxious to find the regions where the
clove and the nutmeg grew. Afterward they were
induced to search for this island from the rumors that
came of the gold found here; and, indeed, to this
day, gold is obtained in the northern and southwest-
ern peninsulas. At first, Celebes was supposed to

* Jao de Barros, who wrote a classical history of the regions dis-
covered and conquered by the Portuguese in the East, was born in 1496,
and died in 1570. He never visited the Indies, but carefully and faith-
fully compiled his descriptions from the official records, which were all
intrusted to his care, in 1582. The first decade of his work was pub-
lished in 1552, the second in 1553, the third in 1563, and the fourth after
his death. He was, therefore, a contemporary of most of the early navi
gators whose history he narrates.

; 7

98 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

consist of many islands, and this belief appears to
have given it aname in a plural form, It consists of
a small, irregular, central area and four long limbs or
peninsulas, and De Cauto* very aptly describes it as
“resembling in form a huge grasshopper.” ‘Two of
these peninsulas extend to the south, and are sepa-
rated from each other by the Gulf of Boni: one
takes an easterly direction, and the other stretches
away six degrees to the north and northeast. In the
southwest peninsula, which is the only one that has
been completely explored, two languages are spoken
—the Mangkasara, in the native tongue, or Mang-
kasa, in the Malay (of which word, “ Macassar,” the
name of the Dutch capital, is only a corruption), and
the Wugi or Bugi, which was originally more par-
ticularly limited to the coast of the Gulf of Boni.
North of Macassar, in the most western part of the
island, is another people—the Mandhar—who speak
another language. On the island of Buton, which
ought to be considered a part of the peninsula east
of the Gulf of Boni, another language is spoken.
The eastern peninsula is unexplored. The northern
contains the people speaking the Gorontalo and the
Menado languages.

The primitive religion of most of these natives is
supposed to have been some form of Hinduism. De

* Diogo de Cauto, who wrote the “ Asia Portuguesa,” was born in
Lisbon in 1542, and died at Goa, the Portuguese capital of India, in 1616,
at the age of seventy-four. It is believed that he went to India at the
age of fourteen, and, after having lived there in the army ten years, re-
turned to Portugal, but soon after went back, and continued there till his
death. It is probable that he never visited any part of the archipelago
himself, but obtained from others the information he gives us,

THE HEAD-HUNTERS OF CELEBES. 99

Cauto says: “They have no temples, but pray look-
ing up to the skies with their heads raised,” which he
regards as conclusive evidence that “they had a
knowledge of the true God.” According to the rec-
ords of the Macassar people,* the Mohammedan re-
ligion was first taught them by a native of Menang-
kabau, a province on the plateau in the interior of
Sumatra, north of the present city of Padang. This
occurred just before the arrival of the Portuguese in
1525, and the native annals say that the doctrine of
the false Prophet and of Christianity were pre-
sented to the prince of Macassar at the same time,
and that his advisers pressed him to accept Moham-
medanism, because “God would not allow error to
arrive before truth.”

In the interior live a people called by the coast
tribes Turaju, who are represented as head-hunters,

*The early kings of Macassar boasted that they descended from the
Tormanurong, who, according to their legends, had this miraculous his-
tory as given in Pinkerton’s ‘ Voyages,” vol. ii., p. 216. In the earliest
times, it happened that a beautiful woman, adorned with a chain of
gold, descended from heaven, and was acknowledged by the Macassars
as their queen. Upon hearing of the appearance on earth of this celes-
tial beauty, the King of Bantam made a long voyage to that land, and
sought her hand in marriage, though he had before wedded a princess
of Bontain. His suit was granted, and a son was begotten in this mar-
riage, who was two or three years old before he was born, so that he
could both walk and talk immediately after his birth, but he was very
much distorted in shape. When he was grown up, he broke the chain
of gold which his mother had brought from heaven into two pieces,
after which she, together with her husband, vanished in a moment,
taking with her one half the chain, and leaving the other half and the
empire to her son. This chain, which the Macassars say is sometimes
heavy and sometimes light, at one time dark colored and at another
bright, was ever afterward one of the regalia of the kings until it was
lost in a great revolution.

100 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

and even cannibals, Barbosa * makes a similar state-
ment in regard to all the natives of this island in his
' time. He says, when they came to the Moluccas to
trade, they were accustomed to ask the king of those
islands to kindly deliver up to them the persons he
had condemned to death, that they might gratify
their palates on the bodies of such unfortunates, “ as
if asking for a hog.”

As we steamed up the coast to Macassar, the
mountains in the interior came grandly into view.
They appear much more connected into chains than in
Java, One of them, Lompo-batung, rises to a height
of eight thousand two hundred feet above the sea, and
is probably the loftiest peak on the whole island.

The harbor of Macassar is formed by a long,
curving coral reef, with its convex side from the
shore. At a few places this reef rises above the sur-
face of the water and forms low islands; but, in the
heavy gales of the western monsoon, the sea fre-
quently breaks over it into the road with such vio-
lence as to drive most of the native praus on shore.
Near it were fleets of fishing-boats, and this was the
first place in these tropical seas where I found a fish
that, according to my taste, was as nice as those which
come from the cold waters that bathe our New-Eng-
land shores.

* Odoardo Barbosa (in Spanish, Balbosa) was a gentleman of Lisbon,
who travelled in the East during his youth. From his writings it appears
probable that he visited Malacca before it was conquered by the Portu-
guese in 1511. His work appeared in 1516. In 1519 he joined Magel-
lan, and was treacherously murdered by the natives of Zebu, one of the
Philippines, in 1521, four days after the great navigator, whom he ac-
companied, had suffered a like fate.

VOYAGES OF THE BUGIS, 101

In the road were many praus of forty or fifty tons’
burden, and some even twice as large, In the begin-
ning of the western monsoon they go in great num-
bers to the Arru Islands, the principal rendezvous *
for the people of Ceram, Goram, the Ki Islands, Te-
nimber, Baba, and the adjacent coast of New Guinea,
Mr, Wallace, who was particularly seeking the birds
of paradise, went in one of these rude vessels to the
Arrus, a distance of one thousand miles. When Mr.
Jukes was at Port Essington, in January, 1845, two
of these praus were there. One had made the pas-
sage from Macassar in ten, and another in fifteen
days. But, on these long voyages, many never re-
turn, In the last of the month a third came into
that port and reported that four others, more than
had arrived safely, had just foundered during a
heavy gale, and that the crew of only one was saved,
Many go every year to the islands off the eastern
end of Ceram and to the neighboring coast of Papua,
and sometimes along its northern shores to Geelvink
Bay. These long voyages indicate that the Bugis
are now what the Malays were when the Portuguese
first came to the East, namely, the great navigators
and traders of the archipelago. They carry to all
these localities English calicoes and cotton goods of
their own manufacture, also Chinese gongs and large
quantities of arrack. They bring in return tortoise-
shell, mother-of-pearl shell, pearls, birds of paradise,
and tripang, which appears to be the common Malay

* Mr. Wallace estimated the value of the goods carried there from
Macassar alone at 200,000 guilders (80,000 dollars), and those brought
from other places at 50,000 guilders (20,000 dollars) more.

102 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

name for all kinds of Holothwrians, or “ sea-cucum-
bers.” ‘These latter animals abound on every coral
reef throughout the archipelago, just above and
below low-water level, As many as twenty different
sorts are recognized of perhaps half as many species.
That kind is considered the most valuable which is
found on the banks of coral sand which are bare, or
nearly bare, at low tide, and are covered with a short,
green sea-weed. After the animals are collected, the
intestines are removed, and they are boiled in sea-
water, in some places with the leaves of the papaw,
and in others with the bark of a mangrove-tree which
gives them a bright-red color. After they have been
boiled, they are buried in the ground till the next
day, when they are spread out to dry in the sun.
Sometimes they are not buried in the ground, but
dried at once on a framework of bamboo-splints over
a fire. They are now ready to be shipped to China,
the only market for this disgusting article. There
the Celestials make of them one of their many favor-
ite soups. It is said that the Chinese cooks boil
them some time with pieces of sugar-cane to partially
neutralize their rank flavor, Many are also gathered
in the Gulf of Siam and sent up the China Sea. Mr,
Crawfurd has been unable to discover any mention
of tripang by the Portuguese writers, and this he re-
gards as one proof, among others, “that the Chinese,
who chiefly carry on this trade, had not yet settled
in the archipelago when the Portuguese first appeared
in it.” There are yearly shipped from macassar some
fourteen thousand piculs of this article, of a value of
nearly six hundred thousand dollars! A few car-

SKILFUL DIVING. 103

goes, chiefly of coffee, from Menado and the interior,
are exported each year directly to Europe, but ships
usually have to go to China for a return-freight. In
1847 Macassar was made a free port, in imitation of
Singapore.

Our steamer came alongside a well-built iron pier,
the only one of any kind I had yet seen in the East.
Though the mail then came but once a month, there
seemed to be no great excitement. A small group
of soldiers, with red and yellow epaulets, came down
and looked on in a most unconcerned manner, while
a number of coolies gathered and began carrying the
cargo on shore—for trucks and drays are modern
innovations that have not yet appeared in these dis-
tant regions, not even to any considerable degree in
Batavia. The sea-water here is remarkably pure and
clear. As we were hauling in to the pier, several
boys kept swimming round and round the ship, and
shouting out, “ Képing tuan! képing tuan !” that is,
“A small piece of money, sir! a small piece of
money, sir!” and I found that when I threw a cop-
per coin as large as a cent,.so that it would strike the
water edgewise, even at a distance of ten feet from
them, some one would invariably catch it before it
reached the bottom. This is quite as wonderful.
skill as is shown by any of the natives in the South
Seas.

From the pier a street leads up to a large common,
and on the right side is Fort Rotterdam, which was
built soon after 1640, when the Dutch first formed a
settlement on the island, though they had been trad-
ing with the natives since 1607. In 1660 they had

104. TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

driven away their rivals the Portuguese, had con-
quered the natives of Macassar, and fully established
their authority over all this part of the island. Op-
posite the fort is the “Societeit,” or Club-House—
for every place of any considerable size in the Neth-
erlands India has one or two of these pleasant
resorts, where newspapers and periodicals are re-
ceived, and all the social Europeans gather in the
cool evenings to enjoy a “pijt”—a small glass of
gin with bitters—or “a potje van bier,” in just the
way that Irving pictures the happy moments of Rip
van Winkle, Any member may introduce a stranger,
who is at once considered one of the fraternity; and
I formed many pleasant acquaintances and passed
many pleasant hours in this way. Beyond the club-
house, on a street beautifully shaded with tamarind-
trees, are the hotel and residence of the governor. I
called on him, for, as I was travelling under the
patronage of the government, it was expected that
I should present myself before the highest official
of each place that I might chance to visit, and thus
express my sense of the kindness of the government
toward me; and, at the same time, do what the
etiquette of the land required. The governor here
most kindly offered me post-horses free, if I would
stop and travel in the territory under his immediate
command. After the heat of the day was passed,
two of my merchant-friends gave me a ride through
the town, and a mile or two out into the adjoining
country, to visit the tombs of the native princes who
raled that region before the arrival of Europeans,
These tombs had, originally, been enclosed in a

TOMBS OF ANCIENT PRINCES. 105

house, but the roof was already gone, and the walls
were rapidly crumbling away. At the foot and
head of each grave was a square pillar. Near by
were the ruins of a building which may have been
the residence of one of these princes. It was, like
the house enclosing the tombs, about thirty feet
square, with an entrance on one side. In the front,
and right and left sides, were two ranges of holes,
probably designed for windows. The upper ones
were small, but the lower ones were a foot and
a half in diameter. Its walls were eighteen inches
thick, and of the common coral rock. Several steps
led up to the entrance, and this and the windows
were grotesquely ornamented. De Cauto informs
us that these people were accustomed “to burn
their dead, and collect the ashes in urns, which they
inter in separate fields, where they erect chapels, and
for a year the relatives bring food, which they place
on their tombs, and which the dogs, cats, and birds
earry off.”

We then took a delightful walk through the
adjoining forest of waringin-trees and cocoa-nut and
betelnut palms, and again and again I wished I
could have photographic views of the scenery
around us to show to my friends, for words utterly
fail to convey any idea of the rich grouping of the
palms and shrubbery, and festooning vines about
us, as the setting sun shot into the luxuriant foliage
long, horizontal pencils of golden light.

Here we found the coffee-tree growing wild, and
near by we came to the tomb of a rich native mer-
chant. It was a low, square building, surmounted

106 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

by a dome, and the whole enclosed by a wall about
two feet high, whose outer surface was covered with
blue plates of porcelain. As we approached, a mo-
notonous, nasal chanting greeted our ears. It was
made by a native priest, who was repeating long
prayers from the Koran, by the grave of his departed
friends. The notes of his minor, melancholy chant
echoed and reéchoed widely through the quiet forest,
and were the more impressive because they seemed
to come from the abode of the dead. He invited us
in, and showed us his books, which were written by
hand, and yet all the characters were as neat and reg-
ular as copperplate. In the grounds was a papaw-
tree with a branch which bore at its summit leaves
and fruit like the parent stem.

On the 20th of June we sailed for Kupang, a
port near the southern end of the island of Timur.
The southern extremity of the southwestern penin-
sula of Celebes is low, with mountains of moderate
height rising in the interior, As we steamed past
it on our way southward to Sapi Strait, between
Sumbawa on one side and Commodo and Floris * on
the other, we found that the eastern monsoon had
already freshened to a strong breeze, but it was
steady, and the sky and sea reminded one of “the
trades.” Many flying-fish sprang out of the sea,
as if too happy to remain in their more proper
element.

On the second morning from Macassar, Gunong
Api, “ The Burning Mountain,” rose up majestically

* The name of this island comes from the Portuguese word jlor, a
flower; plural, floris.

THE GUNONG API IN SAPI STRAIT. 107

before us. Its high top, five thousand eight hundred
feet above the level of the sea, was hidden by hori-
zontal clouds, strati, which parted while we were ob-
serving the mountain, and let down a band of bright
sunlight over its dark sides. It is not a single but a
double peak—the one to the northwest appearing from
the deep valleys and ravines in its sides to be the
older, On the eastern flanks of this peak, near the
shore, there appears to be an old crater, whose outer
wall has been washed away by the sea. For one-third
of the distance from the shore to the top of this peak
there is some shrubbery in the bottoms of the deep
ravines; but the remaining two-thirds are quite
bare. At its top, this mountain ends in a small
truncated cone. The southwestern peak seems to
have recently formed, for, from its top down to the
shore, on the southeast side, there is one continuous ~
sheet of fine volcanic materials, scored only by nar-
row grooves with perpendicular sides, When viewed
in profile, the unbroken sweep of its sides, from its
summit to the sea, was most majestic. It was so reg-
ular, that it was difficult to believe it had not been
shaped by the hand of man. By this time we were
in the midst of the strait between Sumbawa and
Commodo, and soon we passed on the left hand Gil-
libanta, whose highest point is only twelve hundred
feet above the sea. Its name in Javanese means the
“one that disputes the way.” It is merely the rem-
nant of an old crater, whose northwestern wall has
disappeared beneath the sea, The southerly dip of
the successive overflows of lava was plainly to be
seen,

108 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

On our right was Sumbawa, with its high moun-
tains, and near its southeastern end is Sapi, or
Cattle Bay, which gives its name to the strait. Ina
peninsula on the northern side of this island is Mount
Tomboro, which suffered such a terrible eruption, and
caused so much destruction of human life, in 1815.
The first intimation that the people of Java received
of this frightful phenomenon was a series of explo-
sions, so closely resembling the reports of cannon,
that at Jokyokarta, in Java, a distance of four hun-
dred and eighty miles, troops were marched toward a
neighboring post that was supposed to have been at-
tacked. At Surabaya, gunboats were sent out to as-
sist ships that were thought to be trying to defend
themselves against pirates in the Madura Strait ; and
at two places on the coast, boats put off to search for
ships that were imagined to be in distress. ‘These re-
ports occurred on the 5th of April, and continued for
five days, when the sky over the eastern part of Java
began to be darkened by falling ashes, and for four
days they could not see the sun, Mr, Crawfurd
says that at Surabaya the sky for several months did
not become as clear as it usually is in the southeast
monsoon, Northward from Sumbawa the reports
accompanying this eruption were heard as far as
the island of Ternate, near Gilolo, a distance of seven
hundred and twenty geographical miles, and so dis-
tinctly, that the Resident sent out a boat to look for
the ship which was supposed to have been firing sig-
nals. To the westward these reports were heard
at Moko-moko, a post near Bencoolen, which is no
less than nine hundred and seventy geographical

ERUPTION OF MOUNT TOMBORO. 109

miles in a right line—as far as from New York to the
Keys off the southern extremity of Florida, The ashes
that were poured into the air during this eruption fell
to the eastward, or against the prevailing wind, as far
as the middle of Floris, about two hundred and ten
geographical miles; and westward on Java, in the
mountains of Cheribon, about two hundred and sev-
enty miles from the voleano. So great was the quan-
tity of ashes thrown out at this time, that it is esti-
mated that on the island of Lombok, about ninety
miles distant, forty-four thousand persons perished
in the famine that followed. Dr. Junghuhn thinks
that, within a circle described by a radius of two
hundred and ten miles, the average depth of the
ashes was at least two feet; this mountain, therefore,
must have ejected several times its own mass, and
yet no subsidence has been noticed in the adjoining
area, and the only change that has been observed is,
that during the eruption Tomboro lost two-thirds of
its previous height.* The captain of a ship dispatched

* The Rajah of Sangir, a village from twelve to fifteen miles south-
east of the volcano, was an eye-witness of this fearful phenomenon, and
thus describes it: “ About 7 p.m, on the 10th of April, three distinct
columns of flame burst forth, near the top of Tomboro Mountain, all of
them apparently within the verge of the crater; and, after ascending
separately to a very great height, their tops united in the air in a
troubled, confused manner. In a short time the whole mountain next
Sangir appeared like a body of liquid fire, extending itself in every di-
rection. The fire and columns of flame continued to rage with una-
bated fury until the darkness, caused by the quantity of falling matter,
obscured it at about 8 p.m. Stones at this time fell very thick at San-
gir, some of them as large as a man’s two fists, but generally not larger
than walnuts. Between 9 and 10 p.m. ashes began to fall; and soon
after, a violent whirlwind ensued, which blew down nearly every house
in the village of Sangir, carrying their tops and light parts along with

110 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

from Macassar to the scene of this terrible phenome-
non states: “On approaching the coast, I passed
through great quantities of pumice-stone floating on
the sea, which had at first the appearance of shoals,
so much so that I sent a boat to examine one, which,
at the distance of less than a mile, I took for a dry
sand-bank, upward of three miles in length, with
black rocks in several parts of it.” This is the kind
of stones I saw floating over the sea as we were ap-
proaching the Strait of Sunda. Besides the quanti-
ties of this porous, foam-like lava, that are thrown
directly into the sea by such eruptions, great quan-
tities remain on the sides of the voleano, and on the
surrounding mountains, and much of that is conveyed,
during the rainy monsoon, by the rivers to the ocean.
The land at the southeast extremity of Sumbawa
appears to be composed of a light-colored clay, the
strata of which have been greatly plicated.

Several ugly rocks rise in this strait. The largest
is named, in the native tongue, “The Eye of the
Devil,” and it winked at us most wickedly out of
the white surf as we passed. While in the Java Sea,
before entering the strait, we had only light winds;
but, as we came into the Indian Ocean, we expe-
rienced a strong breeze from the southeast. The
current, which had been with us and against the

it. In that part of the district of Sangir adjoining Tomboro, its effects
were much more violent, tearing up by the roots the largest trees, and
carrying them into the air, together with men, houses, cattle, and what-
ever else came within its influence. The sea rose nearly twelve feet
higher than it had ever been known to do before, and completely spoiled
the only small spots of rice-lands in Sangir, sweeping away houses and
every thing within its reach.”

THE ISLAND OF SUMBAWA. 11

wind, was met off the southwest promontory of
Floris by a current with the wind from the east, and
at once the sea rose up into pyramidal masses, or
formed waves that rolled over and broke against the
wind, like those from the windward quarter of a ship
which is sailing “on a wind.” High mountains also
line the Commodo and Floris side, but the scenery
became especially grand as we rounded the south-
west promontory of the latter island. It reminded
me of the pictures of the precipitous coast of Scot-
land, except that, while those rocks are all bare, these
are all covered with the trailing plants that have
gained a foothold in the crevices of these precipices.
Floris is also called Endé, from the principal port of
that name on its southern coast. The trade of this
place is mostly with Sandal-wood Island. It is also
called Mangerai, the name of the chief place on its
northern shore. The people of the latter port trade
mostly with the Bugis and Malays. In the coves
and bays on the northern coast near this strait many
pirates formerly took shelter. They were merely
Malays or Bugis from Bali, Sumbawa, or Celebes.
In the interior there is a people whose hair is frizzled.
A similar one also live in the interior and moun-
tainous part of Solor, Pintar, Lombata, and Ombay.
Those living on the sea-coast belong to the brown
or Malay race. On the south coast there is a tribe
called Rakka, who are reported to be the worst
kind of cannibals, accustomed not only to devour
their enemies, but the bodies of their deceased rela-
tives.

At sunset we could just discern the outline of

112 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

Sumba or Sandal-wood Island. It appeared uniform-
ly high, as it has always been described. Mr, Jukes
passed near its southeast point, while on a voyage in
her Britannic Majesty’s ship Fly from northern Aus-
tralia to Surabaya. He describes it as composed of
ranges of hills that rise immediately from the sea to
a height of two thousand feet. The strata of these
hills are nearly level, and appeared to be composed
of comminuted coral, This would indicate that
the island had undergone a great elevation during
the later tertiary period. It is probably composed
mostly of volcanic rocks, like the adjacent islands,
Its area is about four thousand geographical square
miles, The most frequented harbor is near the mid-
dle of the northern shore. Vessels go there from
Surabaya, in the latter part of the western monsoon,
to purchase the active little ponies peculiar to this
island, and return in the beginning of the eastern
monsoon, after having remained there about three
months. These horses are considered more valuable
than those from any other part of the archipelago,
except the Batta lands, in the interior of Sumatra,
When a ship arrives, her crew at once scatter over
the whole island, visiting all the various campongs,
or villages, to make their purchases. A Dutch
officer, who has travelled over the island, informs
me that these people have quite different features
from the natives of the adjoining island of Savu, es
pecially the females, whose faces are much broader.
They are said to have a peculiar language, and to be
a separate nation; but I judge from all I could learn
that they form merely a subdivision of the Malay

SANDAL-WOOD ISLAND. 113

family. The captain of an American whale-ship,
which was wrecked on one of the southern points,
complained to me that the natives stole every thing
he brought on shore, and threatened him and his
crew with violence; but I think it was only be-
cause he could not speak Malay, and because each
party misunderstood the intentions of the other.

At noon the next day we saw the lofty peak of
Mount Romba rising up on Floris. It is said to be
only seven thousand feet in height, but it appeared
to us as high as Mount Slamat in Java. At the
eastern end of the island, opposite Adenara and
Solor, is a small Portuguese settlement, called Larun-
tuka, The extreme length of the island is about two
hundred geographical miles, and its area a fraction
larger than Sandal-wood Island. It yields much
sandal-wood, and the natives state that copper is
found there, but gold and iron are not known to
occur. While in this part of the Indian Ocean, gen-
erally in the morning, we had strong breezes from
the southeast, which moderated at noon, and in-
creased again at sunset. They varied considerably
in the hour they began, and in their strength and
duration, and were quite unlike the steady trades,

At 2 p.m, on our third day from Macassar, we
sighted the island of Semao, off the bay of Kupang.
Its northern end is only a rock, sparsely covered
with trees. It has no mountains, and most of its
beaches are composed of coral sand.

After dark that evening we anchored near the
village of Kupang, which is situated on the south side
of a great bay, some twelve miles wide and twenty

8

114 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

long. This is a fine harbor now in the eastern
monsoon, but during the western monsoon it is 80
slightly protected by the northern end of Semao that
the sea may be said to roll directly in from the open
ocean. At such times the steamer is obliged to seek
a partial shelter under the lee of a small island on
the north side of the bay. Whalers, and merchant-
ships bound to and from China in the western mon-
soon, however, frequently call here, because it is the
only harbor of any kind near the southern end of
the island. If the projected line of steamers between
northern Australia, Surabaya, Batavia, and Singa-
pore, is established, this port would be one of the
places they would visit. The village is situated on
a sandy beach, that is terminated on either hand
by cliffs of coral rock, which the sea has worn out
into caves and small projecting points of the most
grotesque forms. It has a population estimated at
from six to seven thousand. Its chief exports are
tripang, beeswax from the interior, and a sandal-
wood, which is said to be the best in the whole
archipelago. They raise several kinds of the nicest
oranges. The Mandarin orange, probably brought
originally from China, is the most delicious of any
kind of this fruit that I ever tasted. I doubt very
much whether our West India Islands, or Sicily, or
any other part of the world, can compete with Timur
in the rich flavor of its oranges. The hills around
the village are only covered with a scanty vegeta-
tion, through which the coral rock outcrops, and in
eyery direction the whole country, except in the val-
leys, presents a most barren and uninviting aspect,

THE DIFFERENT RACES ON TIMUR. 115

compared to the richly-clothed shores of Java, and.
most of the other islands we have seen. Indeed,
none of the hills and high ridges throughout all the
southern half of the island are covered with such
dense forests as are seen in the eastern and northern
parts of Java, and the middle and northern parts of
Celebes, and over all the higher parts of Borneo and
Sumatra.

As we passed through Sapi Strait, I noticed
that, although both shores were green, yet forests
appeared to be wanting both on Sumbawa and
Floris, and this is also said to be true of Sandal-
wood Island. It is also asserted that this is some-
what the condition of the eastern end of Java and —
the southern end of Celebes. Probably the cause of
this partial sterility is chiefly owing to the circum-
stance that the southeast monsoon, which contin-
ues here most of the year, from about March till
November, comes over the dry, desert-like interior
of Australia, and does not become saturated with
moisture on its passage over the Arafura Sea. Most
of the precipitation, therefore, that does take place
on Timur, must occur on the southeast side of the
water-shed, and it is possible that extensive forests
may exist on that part of the island. The northern
half of the island, which is owned by the Portuguese,
is far more fertile, and if it were thickly inhabited,
and properly cultivated, might yield large crops of
coffee. On landing, the most surprising of all the
objects that meet the eye are the natives. At that
time there were at least six different kinds in this
same village, besides descendants of Malay mothers,

116 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

and Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, English, and prob-
ably American fathers, of every possible degree of
mixture, a perfect Gordian knot for the ablest eth-
nologist. Each of these varieties of natives had
some peculiarity in dress, and one wore the hair
long and frizzled; but I doubt whether they could
be referred to the true Papuan type. They ap-
peared to be fair specimens of the aborigines, whe
have been already mentioned as inhabiting the in-
terior of Floris, Solor, Omblata, Pintar, and Ombay.
The natives of Savu are described as belonging to
this same group, which Mr. Crawfurd calls the Negro-
Malayan race. The Rajah of Sayu was at Kupang
while we were there, and certainly was nearly of
pure Malay blood.

Contrary to what would be supposed, from its
position, the island of Rotti, off the southern end of
Timur, is inhabited by a lank-haired race, who are
probably Malays. They were represented to me, by
the Resident of Kupang, as a most peaceable people,
and very different in this respect from the wild
natives of Timur. On the southeast coast of Timur,
near Mount Allas, there is said to be a tribe of black
people whose hair is frizzled, and, instead of being
evenly distributed over the sealp, is collected into
little tufts, a characteristic which seems to separate
the Papuans from all other people. Mr. Earl says *
that some of the people on the table-land back of
Dilli have “opaque yellow complexions, the exposed
parts of the skin being covered with light-brown

* “Native Races of the East Indian Archipelago, Papuans,” by George
Windsor Earl, M. R. A. 5. London, 1853.

HUMAN SACRIFICE. 117

spots or freckles,* and the hair is straight, fine, and
of a reddish hue, or dark-auburn color, Every inter-
mediate variety of hair and complexion between this
and the black, or deep-chocolate color, and the short
tufted hair of the mountain Papuan, is found in
Timur.” This statement would indicate that all the
intermediate shades of difference were the results of
a mixture of the Malayan and Papuan blood, and
this seems to be the probable origin of the whole
Negro-Malayan race, Its position in that part of the
archipelago nearest Papua is in entire accordance
with this hypothesis.

Tradition says that the Rajah of Kupang for-
merly sacrificed a young virgin to the sharks and
crocodiles once every year, but this was generally
regarded as a fable, until a gentleman visited the
island of Semao, some twenty years ago, and asserted
that a rajah pointed out to him a place on the beach
of a bay near the southeast point of that island,
where “it was their custom after harvest to bring
sugar-cane, rice, fowls, eggs, pigs, dogs, and a “ittle
child, and offer them to the evil spirits,” and the
rajah further declared, that he had witnessed this
murderous rite himself.

As we were to remain only one day, and I was
chiefly interested in collecting shells, I at once en-

* Possibly the “spots,” of which Mr. Earl speaks, may have been
~ caused by some disease, for spots of a lighter hue than the general color
of the body are often seen among all Malays. Both the straight-haired.
Malaysians and the frizzled-haired Melanesians have the odd custom of
rubbing lime into their hair, which gives it a dull-yellowish or reddish
tinge. Mr. Earl, however, states that he has seen one native whose
hair was naturally red, a kind of partial albinoism.

118 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

gaged a Malay guide to conduct me to a village near
the shore, a mile westward toward Semao, Our
road was a bridle-path, a few large stones having
been removed, but the ragged coral rock everywhere
projects so completely through the thin soil, that it
was a constant wonder to me how the natives could
travel barefoot with such apparent ease. We soon
came to half a dozen circular huts, enclosed by a low
stone wall. They were the most wretched abodes
for human beings that I saw in all my journeys over
the archipelago. The walls, instead of being made
of boards or flattened bamboos, as in the other
islands, are composed of small sticks about three feet
high, driven into the ground. These supported a
conical roof, thatched with palm-leaves. Ugly-
looking pigs, with long bristles on their backs, were
rooting about these detestable hovels, Soon after,
we passed a burial-place. A low wall enclosed a
small irregular plat, that was filled with earth. This
contained one or more graves, each of which had for
its foot and head stones small square pyramidal
blocks of wood, with the apex fixed in the ground.
The next village we entered contained only a dozen
huts. A pack of wolflike dogs saluted us with a
fierce yelping and barking, and my attendant, after
much shouting and bustle, roused the inmates of one
of these miserable dwellings. The men were gone
to fish, but the women and children came out to gaze
at us, and when their dull apprehensions finally
allowed them to realize that we had come to pur-
chase shells, and had a good supply of small copper
coins, they briskly hunted about, and soon brought

PURCHASING SHELLS. 119

me a large number of nautilus-shells of enormous size.
The children were nearly all entirely naked, and the
women only wore a sarong, fastened at the waist and
descending to the: knees. This scanty clothing they
supplied by coyly folding their arms across their
breasts as they approached to sell their shells. Those
of the nautilus, they all agreed in saying, did not
come from their own shores, but from Rotti; and a
gentleman, who had been along all the neighboring
shores, assured me that he had seen the natives there
dive for them, in about two fathoms at low tide, and
bring them up alive, and that in this way great num-
bers are gathered for food.

The latter part of the western monsoon, or the
changing of the monsoons, was recommended to me
as the most favorable time to collect these rare
animals, Besides the nautilus, I obtained many
species of Pteroceras, Strombus, and many beautiful
cones and cypreas,

The coral rocks on the hills that we crossed con-
tained specimens apparently of living species, at a
height which I judge was five hundred feet above
the level of the sea. I marked the whole in my note-
book as merely a coral reef of very recent elevation.
Since returning, and comparing this observation with
the careful description of that region given by Mr.
Jukes,* in his voyage of the Fly, I find he expresses

* Mr. Jukes remarks, and I believe, most correctly, that “if the term
‘jura kalk’ is applied lithologically to these tertiary rocks, it is to a
eertain extent applicable, as they have a concretionary and odlitic
structure. If, however, it is meant to have a chronological meaning, it

is either incorrectly applied, or the formation is siti e extended on
the map to the neighborhood of Kupang.”

120 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

the same view, having seen this same late formation
at an estimated height of six hundred feet above the
sea; and a plateau, which rises in the interior to the
height of one thousand feet, he also suspects is of the
same origin. Mr. Schneider, however, has described
a “kalk formatie,” about Kupang, which, from its
position on the map, would seem to be identical with
that seen by Mr, Jukes and myself. This formation
Mr. Schneider refers to the age of the “Coral Rag,”
of the Jura, in England. Other fossiliferous strata
he regards as belonging to the old Odlitice period, or
the Lias, and underlying all he thinks is a “ diorite,
or dioritic porphyry and amorphous dioritic por-
phyry —the last, like that found in Humboldt’s
Bay, on the north coast of New Guinea, and much
like the amorphous dioritic porphyry of Australia.”
Copper-veins are found more or less wherever the
Jurassic beds appear, but in the greatest quantity
nearest the diorite.

On the evening of the 24th we steamed out of
Kupang Bay, and along the northwest coast of
Timur, for Dili; and all the way to that port we
were so completely under the lee of the land, that
we had only calms, and light airs from the southeast
and east-northeast. With these light winds we
always had a very clear sky; but on coming round
the southwestern end of Floris, and also on entering
Kupang Bay, each time when there was a strong
breeze from the east, the sky was remarkably thick
and hazy. Our captain, who has made many voy-
ages, at all seasons, in these seas, informs me that the
sky is almost always thick when the eastern monsoon

THE NORTHWESTERN COAST OF TIMUR. 121

has become strong. This coast of Timur is not low.
like the north coast of Java, but rises immediately
up from the sea, in a succession of hills. No gigan
tic and lofty peaks can be seen, as in Java, and in
all the islands east to and including Ombay; the
peaks along the water-shed, on Timur, generally
rising to not more than four or five thousand feet,
and Lakaan, which is regarded as the highest in that
chain, is supposed to be only six thousand. The soil
appears to be very infertile, yet when the sun was
approaching the western horizon, and the cumuli,
floating in the pure air, slowly drew along their
changing shadows over the innumerable hills and
valleys, the whole scene was nearly as delightful
as my first view of the tropics in coming up the
Strait of Sunda, There is no road in the interior of
the island, and every one who will travel the short-
est distance, must go on horseback along the sandy
beaches.

This afternoon we passed Pulo Gula Batu,
“Sugar-Loaf Island.” It is quite high, with steep,
almost perpendicular sides, which have a white,
chalky appearance, and appear to be composed of
strata of coral rock, which would indicate that it had
recently been elevated above the sea, At sunset we
entered Ombay Passage, the one that ships from
‘England and America usually choose when going to
China in the western monsoon, and frequently when
returning in the eastern monsoon. One was just
then drifting down into the Indian Ocean, on her
homeward voyage. This was the first vessel we had.
seen since we passed down Sapi Strait, and left the

129 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

Java Sea. It was then nearly calm, and yet I saw
flyine-fish come out of the water and go a consider.
able distance before plunging into it again, thus
proving that they must sustain themselves in the air
chiefly by a vibrating motion of their great pectoral
fins. The sun was now sinking behind the high,
_ dark peaks of the island of Pintar.

At daylight next morning we were steaming
into a little bay surrounded by hills of fifteen hun-
dred to two thousand feet. At the head of the bay
and around its southern shore extended a narrow
strip of level land, bordering the bases of these high
hills, On the low land are two miserable forts,
and a few houses and native huts. These comprise
the city of Dilli, the Portuguese capital in all these
waters. Of all the nations in Europe, the Portu-
guese were the first to discover the way to the In-
dies by sea. Then, for a time, they enjoyed an un-
disputed monopoly over the Eastern trade; but now
the northern half of this island, the eastern end of
Floris, the city of Macao in China, and Goa in Hin-
dustan, are the only places of importance in all the
East that continue in their hands, The common, or
low Malay language, has been more affected by the
_ Portuguese than any other nation, for the simple

reason that those early navigators brought with them
many things that were new to the Malays, who there-
fore adopted the Portuguese names for those articles.
The last governor of this place had run away a few
months before we arrived, because he had received
no pay for half a year, though his salary was only
five hundred guilders per month; and a merchant

A CORAL REEF. 123

at Macassar told me that, when he arrived at that
city, he did not have the means to pay his passage
back to Europe. The first inquiry, therefore, that
was made, was whether we had brought a new gov-
ernor. The captain’s reply was, that he had but one
passenger in the first cabin, and the only place he
appeared to care to see in that region was the coral
reef at the mouth of the harbor.

The native boats that came off with bananas,
cocoa-nuts, oranges, and fowls, were all very narrow,
only as wide as a native at the shoulders. Each was
merely a canoe, dug out of a single small tree, and
built up on the sides with pieces of wood and palm-
leaves. ‘They were all provided with outriggers, It
was then low water, and the reef was bare. It had
not been my privilege to visit a coral reef, and I
was most anxious to see one, but I could not make
up my mind to risk myself in such a dangerous skiff.
The captain, with his usual kindness, however, of-
fered me the use of one of his large boats; and as
we neared the reef, and passed over a wide garden
richly-tinted with polyps, with here and there ver-
milion star-fishes scattered about, and bright-hued
fishes darting hither and thither like flashes of light,
a deep thrill of pleasure ran along my nerves, which
I shall never forget to the end of my days. Here in
an hour I collected three species of beautiful star-
fishes, and sixty-five kinds of shells, almost all of
the richest colors. The coral rocks, thus laid bare
by the receding tide, were all black, and not white,
like the fragments of coral seen on shores. This reef
is scarcely covered at high water, and therefore breaks

194 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

off all swell from the ocean; but, unfortunately, the
entrance is narrow, and the harbor is too small for
large ships. Only two vessels were there at that
time. One was a brig from Amboina, that had come
for buffaloes, or for sapis, and the other was a small
topsail schooner from Macassar, that had come for
coffee, which is raised in considerable quantities on
the plateau back of Dilli, and is brought down on
the backs of horses. Long lines of them were seen
ascending and descending the winding paths on the
steep hill-sides back of the village. These declivities
were sparsely covered with trees, but a thick grove
of cocoa-nut palms grew on the low land bordering
the bay. The name Dilli, according to Mr. Craw-
furd, is identical with that of the Malay state on the
northeastern side of Sumatra, which we call Delli,
and he suspects from this fact that this area was set-
tled by a colony of Malays from Sumatra in the ear-
liest times, The word Timur, in the Malay, means
“ Hast,” and this island was probably the limit of their
voyages in that direction, hence its name. Immediate-
ly off the harbor of Dilli lies Pulo Kambing, or Goat
Island, a common name for many islands in the ar-
chipelago. On both this island and Pintar the high-
est peaks are at the southern end. North of Dilli
the coast is steep, and the mountains rise abruptly
from the sea. The sides of all these elevations are
deeply scored with valleys that have been formed by
the denuding action of rain.

From Dilli we steamed northward along the south-
east coast of Wetta, a high, mountainous island, Its
coasts are occupied by Malays, and its interior by a

ISLANDS NORTH OF TIMUR, 125

black, frizzled-haired people, allied to the inhabitants
of Timur. The bloody practice of “ head-hunting”
still exists among them, North of Timur is Kissa,
the most important island in this part of the archi-
pelago. In the early part of the present century this
was the seat of a Dutch residency. It is a low island,
and the rice and maize consumed by its inhabitants
are chiefly imported from Wetta. Its people, how-
ever, carry on a very considerable trade with the sur-
rounding islands, and are said to be far in advance
of the natives of Amboina in point of industry.
Southeast of Kissa lies Letti, for the most part high
and hilly, but level near the sea. Kloff* describes
the natives as tall and well formed, and having light-
brown complexions. The men wear no other dress
than a piece of cloth wrapped around the waist. The
women sometimes wear, in addition to this dress, a
habaya, open in front. Polygamy is not found, and
adultery is punishable with death or slavery. When
the Dutch occupied these islands, they induced the
natives to change these sentences into exile to the
Banda Islands, where men were needed to cultivate
the nutmeg-trees. Neither Mohammedanism nor Hin-
duism has been introduced into these islands; they
only pay homage to an image of human shape placed
on a heap of stones that has been raised under a large
tree near the centre of the village. When a marriage
or death, or any remarkable event occurs, a large hog
or buffalo, which has been kept and fattened for the
purpose, is slaughtered. They are especially anxious
_ * “Voyage of the Dourga in 1825 and 1826,” by Captain Kloff, trans-
lated by G. W. Earl.

126 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

to obtain elephants’ teeth, and hoard them up as the
choicest treasures.

The morning after leaving Dilli, Roma appeared
on our starboard hand. It is very high and moun-
tainous. In 1823 it suffered very severely from
a violent hurricane, which also caused a frightful de-
struction on Letti. On the latter island the cocoa-
nut trees were levelled to the ground over consider.
able areas. This disaster was followed by a drought,
which destroyed all their crops, and produced great
mortality among the cattle, through lack of food.
The hurricane also caused the bees to desert the
island for a time—a serious loss to the inhabitants,
as wax and honey are among their chief exports.
These are taken to the Arru Islands, and thence to
Macassar and Amboina. When a chief dies, his
wife takes his place in the council, a privilege rarely
granted to a woman among these Eastern nations.
East of Letti is Lakor, a dry coral bank, raised twen-
ty feet above the sea.

Damma soon after came into view. It is also high
and mountainous, and has a lofty volcanic peak at
its northeastern extremity. In 1825 it was pouring
forth great quantities of gas. At its foot is a sul-
phur-spring, such as exist at many places in Java and
Celebes, in the immediate vicinity of existing volcan-
ic action. The doctor of Captain Klofi’s ship, the
Dourga, sent some of the crew to bathe in this spring,
and he states that “though they were so affected
with rheumatism as to be not only unfit for duty but
in a state of great misery, the use of this water con-
tributed greatly to the improvement of their health.”

DAMMA, BABA, AND TIMUR-LAUT. 127

Springs of this kind are found in the district of
Pekalongan, west of Mount Prau, and are frequented
by many foreigners, but I never heard that any re-
markable cure has ever been effected by the use
of their waters. The nutmeg-tree grows wild on
Damma, and the canari also thrives here, Thirty
years after the Dutch deserted this island, the
whole population were found to have completely re-
lapsed into barbarism, but some of the natives of
Moa, Letti, Roma, and Kissa, continue to be Chris-
tians, and five or six native schoolmasters are now
located among those islands. Southeast of Damma
lies Baba. Its people have the odd custom of rub-
bing lime into their hair, even from infancy. An
English vessel that was trading here was boarded by
these wild natives, and all her crew were butchered.
Another vessel suffered a like fate at Timur-laut, that
is, “Timur lying to seaward,” an island about one
hundred miles long, and one-third as wide in its
broadest part. It is customary here for each family
to preserve the head of one of their ancestors in their
dwelling, and, as if to remind them all of his valorous
deeds and their own mortality, this ghastly skull is
placed on a scaffold opposite the entrance. When a
young woman marries, each ankle is adorned with
heavy copper rings, “to give forth music as she
walks.” Their war customs are like those of the
Ceramese. It is said that among the mountains of
this island a black, frizzled-haired people exist. If
this should prove true, they will probably be found
to be like the inhabitants of Timur and Ombay, and
not referable to the Papuan type. The inhabitants

128 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

of all these islands are constantly separated by petty
feuds, or carrying on an open warfare with each
other.

We were now fully in the Banda Sea, and on the
28th of June the summit of the Gunong Api, or
“ Burning Mountain” of that group, appeared above
the horizon, but, as I afterward revisited these beau-
tiful islands, a description of them is deferred to a
future page. As we steamed away from the Bandas,
we passed out of the region of continuous dry weather
and began to enter one where the wet and dry sea-
sons are just opposite to what they are in all the
wide area extending from the middle part of Suma-
tra to the eastern end of Timur, including the south-
ern half of Borneo and the southern peninsulas of
Celebes. In all that region the eastern monsoon
brings dry weather, though occasional showers may
oceur; but at Amboina, and on the south coast of
Ceram and Buru, this same wind bears along clouds
that pour down almost incessant floods. At Am-
boina I was assured that sometimes it rained for two
weeks at a time, without apparently stopping for five
minutes, and from what I experienced myself I can
readily believe that such a phenomenon is not of rare
occurrence,

In the northern part of Celebes, at Ternate, and in
the northern part of Gillolo, and the islands between
it and New Guinea, and also on the shores of the
western part of that great island, the wet and dry
seasons are not well defined, This exceptional area
is mostly included within the parallels of latitude two
degrees north and two degrees south of the equator.

MONSOONS OF THE JAVA AND CHINA SEAS. 129

North of it the wind at this time of year is from
the southwest, instead of from the southeast. This
dry southeast monsoon bends round Borneo, and be-
comes the southwest monsoon of the China Sea, sup-
plying abundant rains to the northern parts of Borneo °
and the Philippines. It has its origin near Australia,
and thence it pushes its way first toward the north-
west and then toward the northeast across the whole
Philippine group. It appears in Timur in March,
and reaches the southern part of the China Sea in
May.

CHAPTER V.
AMBOINA,

June 29th—We are this morning approaching
Amboina, the goal of my long journey, and the most
important of the Spice Islands. Amboina is both the
name of the island and its chief city. In form the
island is nearly elliptical, and a deep, narrow bay,
fourteen miles long, almost divides it longitudinally
into two unequal parts. That on the west, which
forms the main body of the island, is called Hitu; and
that on the east Laitimur, which in Malay means
“the eastern leaf.” Both are composed of high hills
which rise up so abruptly from the sea that, though
this bay for one-third of its length is nearly four
miles wide, yet it perfectly resembles a frith or broad
river. Along the shores are many little bays where
praus are seen at anchor, and on the beaches are
small groves of the cocoa-nut palm, which furnish
food and shade to the natives dwelling in the rude
huts beneath them. Higher up the hill-sides, large,
open areas are seen covered with a tall, coarse grass;
but the richly-cultivated fields on the flanks of the
mountains in Java nowhere appear. These grassy
hill-sides are the favorite burial-places with the

EVERY HILL A VOLCANO. 131

Chinese, for they rarely or never carry back the bones
of their friends to the sacred soil of the Celestial Land
from these islands as they do from California. Such
graves are always horseshoe-shaped, just as in China,
and their white walls make very conspicuous objects
on the green hill-sides. Above the open areas, in the
wooded regions, we notice a few places filled with
small trees that have a peculiar bright-green foliage.
Those are the gardens of clove-trees which have made
this island so famous throughout the world.

It is now the rainy season here, and thick rain-
clouds at first completely enshrouded us; but as we
passed up the bay they slowly broke away, and re-
vealed on either hand high hills and mountains,
which, on the Hitu side, began to assume a most
wonderful appearance. The strong easterly wind
pushed away the thick, white clouds from the ex-
posed sides of all these elevations, and caused them
to trail off to the west like smoke from hundreds of
railroad engines, until every separate peak appeared
to have become an active volcano that was continu-
ally pouring out dense volumes of white, opaque gas ;
and as these hills rose tier above tier to high, dark
mountains which formed the background, the whole
scene was most awe-inspiring, especially in this land
where eruptions and earthquakes are frequent, and
only a comparatively thin crust separates one from
the earth’s internal fires.

Near the mouth of the bay the water is very deep,
but eight or nine miles within it is sufficiently shal-
low for an anchorage. Here also the hills on the
east or Laitimur side are separated from the beach by

.

132 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

a triangular, level area, about a paal* long, and on
this has been built the city of “ Amboina” or “ Am-
bon,” in the native language. Viewed from the an-
chorage, the city has a pleasing appearance, its streets
being broad, straight, and well shaded. About half
way from its southern end is Fort Nieuw Victoria.
Landing at a quay we passed through this old strong-
hold out into a pretty lawn, which is surrounded by
the Societeit, or Club-House, and the residences of
officials and merchants. The total population of the
city is about fourteen thousand. Of these, seven
hundred are Europeans, three hundred Chinese, and
four hundred Arabs. The others are natives. The
entire population of the island is about thirty-two
thousand. Like all the cities and larger settlements
in the Dutch possessions, Amboina is divided into a
native hampong or quarter, a Chinese kampong, and a
quarter where foreigners reside. The natives are di-
rectly under the control of a rajah or prince, and he,
in turn, is responsible to a Dutch assistant resident.
In a similar manner the Chinese are subject to a
“Captain China,” who, in the larger cities, has one
or more assistants or “ lieutenants.” He, likewise,
must report himself to the assistant resident, In this
way each separate people is immediately ruled by
officers chosen from its own nation, and consequently
of the same views and prejudices. Justice is thus more
perfectly administered, and the hostile feelings which
each of these bigoted Eastern nations always enter-
tains against every other are thus completely avoided.

* A paal, the unit of measure on land in the East Indian Archipelago,

is fifteen sixteenths of a statute mile.
]

A PLEASANT HOME. 133

On leaving Batavia, Cores de Vries & Co., who
who then owned all the mail-steamers in the Nether-
lands India, kindly gave me a letter of credit so that
I might draw on their agents from place to place, and
wholly avoid the trouble and danger of carrying any
considerable sum with me. This letter further rec-
ommended me to the kind attention of all their em-
ployés, and Mr. Var Marle, their agent at this place,
at once said that I must make his house my home
while I remained in that part of the archipelago; and
this unexpected and very generous invitation was
still more acceptable, as both he and his good lady
spoke English, A chamber was assigned me, and a
large room in an adjoining out-building, where I could
store my collections and pack them up for their long
transit to America; and thus I was ready to com-
mence my allotted work without the least delay. I
then called on His Excellency the Governor of the
Spice Islands, who received me in the most cordial
manner, and said that boats, coolies, and whatever
other assistance I might need, would be immediately
ordered whenever I wished.

Amboina has long been famous for its shells, and
the Dutch officials have been accustomed for years to
purchase very considerable quantities as presents for
their friends in Europe. The natives, therefore, are in
the habit of gathering them for sale, and a few have
become extensive traders in these beautiful objects.
It was soon noised abroad that a foreigner had come
from a land even farther away than “ Ollanda,” as
they call Holland, solely for the purpose of purchas-
ing shells; and immediately, to my great delight, bas-

134 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

ketful after basketful of the species that I had al.
ways regarded as the rarest and most valuable began
to appear, every native being anxious to dispose of his
lot before his fellows, and thus obtain a share of the
envied shining coin, which I was careful to display to
their gloating eyes before I should say I had bought
all I desired. Competition, here as elsewhere, had a
wonderfully depressing effect on the price of their com-
modities, judging from what they asked at first and
what they were finally willing to take. The trade,
however, became more brisk day after day, and some
natives came from long distances partly to sell their
shells and partly to see whether “that man” could be
sane who had come so far and was spending, accord-
ing to their ideas, so much money for shells. At first
I bought them by the basketful, until all the more
common species had been obtained, and then I showed
the natives the figures in Rumphius’s “ Rariteit Ka-
mer” of those species I still wished to secure, and at
the same time offered them an extra price for others
not represented in that comprehensive work. One
species I was particularly anxious to secure alive. It
was the pearly nautilus. The shell has always been
common, but the animal has seldom been described.
The first was found at this place, and a description
and drawing were given by Rumphius. Afterward
a dissection and drawing were given by Professor
Owen, of the British Museum, and his monograph
probably contains the most complete anatomical de-
scription that has ever been made of any animal
from a single specimen, He worked, as he himself
described it to me, with a dissecting-knife in one hand

A NAUTILUS IS SECURED. 135

and a pencil in the other. So little escaped his pen
and pencil, that very little information has been add-
ed by later dissections. I was so anxious to secure
one of these rare animals, that I felt that, if I should
obtain one and a few more common species, I could
feel that my long journey had been far from fruitless,
Only the second day after my arrival, to my inex-
pressible delight, a native brought me one still Living.
Seeing how highly I prized it, he began by asking
ten guilders (four Mexican dollars) for it, but finally
concluded to part with it for two guilders (less than
one Mexican dollar), though I should certainly have
paid him fifty if I could not have obtained it for a
less price. It had been taken in this way: the na-
tives throughout the archipelago rarely fish with a
hook and line as we do, but, where the water is too
deep to build a weir, they use instead a budw, or bar-
rel of open basket-work of bamboo, Each end of
this barrel is an inverted cone, with a small opening
at its apex. Pieces of fish and other bait are sus-
pended from within, and the dudu is then sunk on
the clear patches of sand on a coral reef, or more com-
monly out where the water is from twenty to fifty
fathoms deep. No line is attached to those on the
reefs, but they are taken up with a gaff. Those
in deep water are buoyed by a cord and a long bam-
boo, to one end of which a stick is fastened in a ver-
tical position, and to this is attached a piece of palm-
leaf for a flag, to make it more conspicuous. In this
case it happened that one of these wws was washed
off into deeper water than usual, and the nautilus
chanced to crawl through the opening in one of. the

136 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

cones to get at the bait within. If the opening had
not been much larger than usual, it could not possi-
bly have got in. It was at once placed in a can con-
taining strong arrack. I then offered twice as much
for a duplicate specimen, and hundreds of natives
tried and tried, but in vain, to procure another during
the five months I was in those seas. They are so rare
even there, that a gentleman, who had made large col-
lections of shells, assured me that I ought not to expect
to obtain another if I were to remain at Amboina
three years. Rumphius, who usually is remarkably
accurate in his descriptions of the habits of the mol-
lusks he figures, says it sometimes swims on the sea ;
but this statement he probably received from the na-
tives, who made such a mistake because many empty
shells are frequently found floating on the ocean.
When the animal dies and becomes separated from
_ the shell, the latter rises to the surface of the sea on
account of the air or other gas contained in the
chambers, It is then swept away by the wind and
tide to the shore of a neighboring island. When the
natives are questioned as to where these shells come
from, they invariably reply, “The sea;” and as to
where the animal lives, they merely answer, “ Dalam,”
“Tn the deep.” The dead shells are so abundant on
these islands, that they can be purchased in any quan-
tity at from four to ten cents apiece.

My first excursion from the city of Amboina was
with a gentleman to a large cocoa-garden, which he
had lately planted on the high hills on the Hitu side.
A nice boat or orangbai—liiterally, “a good fellow”
—took us over the bay to the little village of Ruma

VISIT TO A COCOA PLANTATION. 137

Tiga, or “Three Houses.” The boatmen were gayly
dressed in white trousers with red trimmings, and had
red handkerchiefs tied round their heads. A small
gong and a ¢ifa or drum, made by tightly stretching
a piece of the hide of a wild deer over the end of a
short, hollow log, gave forth a rude, wild music, and
at least served to aid the boatmen in keeping time as
they rowed. Occasionally, to break the monotony of
their labor, they sang a low, plaintive song. In-
stead of steering straight for the point which we
wished to arrive at on the opposite side of the bay,
our helmsman kept the boat so near the shore that
we really passed round the head of the bay, twice as
far as it would have been in a right line. This mode
of hassar steering, or, as the sailors express it in our
language, “hugging the shore,” I afterward found was
the one universally adopted in all this part of the
archipelago. When we landed, I had the pleasure to
find, just beneath low-water level, hundreds of black
sea-urchins, with needle-like spines nearly a foot long,
and so extremely sharp and brittle, that it was very
difficult to get the animals out of the little cavities in
the rocks where they had anchored themselves fast
with their many suckers. Near by, the villagers were
busy boiling down the sap of the sagaru-palm for the
sugar it contains. According to my taste it is much
like maple-sugar. Up to the time that Europeans
first came to the East, this was the only kind of sugar
known to the natives, and large quantities of it are
still consumed among the islands here in the eastern
part of the archipelago.

From the beach, a narrow footpath led through

188 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

a agrore of palm-trees into a thick forest, and then

aigzagged up a steep hill-side, until it vondiod a
small plateau. Here were the young cocoa-trees,
filled with their long, red, cucumber-like fruit. The
original forest had been felled and burned, and these
trees had been planted in its place, Almost the only
difficulty in cultivating the cocoa-tree here is in re-
moving the grass and small shrubs which are con-
tinually springing up; yet the natives are all so idle
and untrustworthy that a gentleman must frequent-
ly inspect his garden himself, if he expects it to yield
a fair return. This tree,* the Z’heobroma cacao, Lin.,
is not a native of the East. It was discovered by
the Spaniards in Mexico during the conquest of that
country by Cortez. From Mexico they took it to
their provinces in South America and the West In-
dia Islands, At present it is cultivated in Trinidad,
and in Guiana and Brazil, It probably thrives as
well here as in Mexico, and is now completely sup-
planting the less profitable clove-tree.

The chief article of food of the natives working
in this garden is our own yellow Indian corn, an-
other exotic, also introduced into the Kast by Euro-
‘peans. It is now raised in every part of the archi-
pelago in such quantities as to form one of the chief
articles of food for the natives. The Dutch never
use it, and generally think it strange that it should

* The Dutch name for this tree and its fruit is cacao, Our word
chocolate comes from the Spanish “chocolate,” which was a mixture
of the fruit of this tree with Indian corn. These were ground up
together, and some honey was usually added. After sugar-cane was

introduced, that was also added to neutralize the bitter qualities of the
cocoa,

HUNTING IN THE TROPICS. 139

be made into bread for the very nicest tables in
our land, I never knew the natives to grind it or
pound it. They are accustomed to roast it on the ear
after the kernels have become quite hard and yellow.
Our house in this tropical garden was merely a
bamboo hut, with a broad veranda, which afforded us
an ample shelter from the pouring rains and scorch-
ing sunshine. I had been careful to take along my
fowling-piece, and at once I commenced a rambling
hunt through the adjoiing forest. Large flocks of
small birds, much like our blackbird, were hovering
about, but they so invariably chose to alight only on
the tops of the tallest trees, that I was a long time
securing half a dozen specimens, for at every shot
they would select another distant tree-top, and give
me a long walk over tangled roots and fallen trees
in the dense, almost gloomy, jungle. As evening
came on, small green parrots uttered their shrill,
deafening screams, as they darted to and fro through
the thick foliage. A few of these also entered my
game-bag.

In these tropical lands, when the sun sets, it is
high time for the hunter to forsake his fascinating
sport and hurry home. There is no long, fading
twilight, but darkness presses closely on the foot-
steps of retreating day, and at once it is night. On
my return, my friend remarked in the coolest manner
that I had secured us both a good supper; and be-
fore I had recovered from my shock at such a sug-
gestion, the cook had torn out a large handful of
rich feathers from the skins, and all were spoiled for
my collection; however, I consoled myself with the

140 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

thought that it did not fall to the good lot of every
hunter to live in the midst of such a wondrous vege-
tation and feast on parrots. In the evening, a full
moon shed broad oscillating bands of silver light
through the large polished leaves of the bananas
around our dwelling, as they slowly waved to and
fro in the cool, refreshing breeze. Then the low
cooing of doves came up out of the dark forest, and
the tree-toads piped out their long, shrill notes.
That universal pest, the mosquito, was also there,
singing his same bloodthirsty tune in our ears. Our
beds were perched on poles, high above the floor of
the hut, that we might avoid such unpleasant bed-
fellows as large snakes, which are very common and
most unceremonious visitors, That night we were
disturbed but once, and then by a loud rattling of iron
pots and a general crashing of crockery ; instantly
I awoke with an indefinite apprehension that we
were experiencing one of the frightful earthquakes
which my friend had been vividly picturing before
we retired. The natives set up a loud hooting and
shouting, and finally the cause of the whole disturb-
ance was found to be a lean, hungry dog that was
attempting to satisfy his appetite on what remained
of our parrot-stew.

My chief object on this excursion was to collect
insects; and among some white-leaved shrubs, near
the shore, I found many magnificent specimens of a
very large, richly-colored Papilio. The general color
of the upper surface of its wings was a blue-black,
and beneath were large patches of bright red. An-
other was a blue-black above, with large spots of

MODE OF TRAVELLING IN THE SPICE ISLANDS. 141

bright blue. The wings of these butterflies expand
five or six inches, and they seem almost like small
birds as they flit by.

It was my desire not only to obtain the same
shells that Rumphius figures, but to procure them
from the same points and bays, so that there could be
no doubt about the identity of my specimens with
his drawings. I therefore proposed to travel along all
the shores of Amboina and the neighboring islands,
and trade with the natives of every village, so as to be
sure of the localities myself, and, moreover, get speci-
mens of all the species alive, and thus have ample
material for studying their anatomy. I now realized
the value of the letter with which His Excellency
the Governor-General had honored me at Batavia.
I had only to apply to the assistant resident, and
he at once kindly ordered a boat and coolies for me
at the same rate as if they were employed by the
government, which was frequently less than half of
what I should have been obliged to pay if I had
hired them myself; and besides, many times I could
not have obtained boats nor coolies at any price;
and when the Resident ordered them to come at a
certain hour, I always found them ready.

My first excursion along the shores of the island
was on the north coast of Hitu. Two servants ac-
companied me, to aid in arranging the shells, and
earrying bottles of alcohol to contain the animals.
From the city of Amboina, a boat took us over the
bay to Ruma Tiga, where several coolies were wait-
ing with a “chair” to carry me over the high hills
tothe opposite shore. This “ chair,” or palanquin, is

142 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

merely a common arm-chair, with a bamboo fastened
on each side, A light roof and curtains on the sides
keep out the rain or hot sunshine, Usually eight
or more coolies are detailed to each chair, so that one-
half may relieve the others every few moments, The
motion is much like that on horseback, when the
horse is urged into a hurried walk, and is neither
extremely unpleasant nor so very delightful as some
writers who have visited these islands have described
it. In China, where only two coolies carry a chair, the
motion is far more regular and agreeable. This is
the only mode of travelling in all the islands where
horses have not been introduced, and where all the
so-called roads are mere narrow footpaths, except in
the villages.

From the shore we climbed two hills, and on
their crests passed through gardens of cocoa-trees,*
The road then was bordered on either side with
rows of pine-apples, Ananassa sativa, a third exotic
from tropical America, It thrives so well in every
part of the archipelago, without the slightest care,
that it is very difficult to realize that it is not an
indigenous plant. The native names all point out
its origin. The Malays and Javanese call it nanas,
which is merely a corruption of the Portuguese ana-
nassa. In Celebes it is sometimes called pandang, a
corruption of pandanus, from the marked similarity

* This name must not be confounded with that of the cocoa-nut-
tree, or Cocos nucifera, which isa palm. The word cocoa is supposed
to have been derived from the Portuguese word macoco or macaco, a
monkey, and to have been applied to the cocoa-nut palm, from a fancied

resemblance between the end of the shell, where the three black scars
occur, and the face of a monkey.

THE FOOD OF THE NATIVES. 143

of the two fruits, In the Philippines it is generally
called piva, the Spanish word for pine-cone, which
has the same origin as our name pineapple. Pina
is also the name of a cloth of great strength and
durability, made by the natives of the Philippines,
from the fibres of its leaves. The Malays, on the
contrary, seldom or never make any such use of it,
though it grows so abundantly in many places that
any quantity of its leaves could be obtained for the
simple trouble of gathering them. The fruit raised
here is generally regarded as inferior to that grown
in the West Indies, and the Dutch consider the va-
riety known as “the West Indian ananas,” that is, one
that has been recently introduced, as the best. The
finest specimens of this fruit are raised in the interior
of Sumatra and on the islands about Singapore, and
great quantities are exposed for sale in the market at
that city.

From the crest of the first range of hills we de-
scended to a deep ravine, and crossed a bridge thrown
over a foaming torrent. This bridge, like most the
Dutch possessions, was covered with a roof, but left
open on the sides. The object of the roof and its
projecting eaves is to keep the boards and planks
beneath dry, for whenever they are frequently soaked
with rain they quickly decay in this tropical climate.
The coolies here lunched on smoked fish and sago-
cake, their common fare, and queriched their thirst
with draughts from the rapid stream. Their rag-
ged clothing and uncombed hair made them appear
strangely out of keeping with the luxuriant vegeta-
tion surrounding us. Crossing another high range,

144 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

we caught a view of the blue ocean, and soon de-
scended to the village of Hitu-lama, “Old Hitu.”
The rajah received me most kindly into his house,
and assigned meachamber, Large numbers of chil
dren quickly gathered, and the rajah explained to
them that I had come to buy shells, insects, and every
curious thing they might bring. As it was high
water, and good shells could only be found at low
tide, I asked them to search for lizards, and soon I
was surprised to see them coming with a number of
real “flying-dragons,” not such impossible monsters
as the Chinese delight to place on their temples and
vases, but small lizards, Draco volans, each provided
with a broad fold in the skin along either side of
the body, analogous to that of our flying-squirrel, and
for a similar purpose, not really for flying, but to act
as a parachute to sustain the animal in the air, while
it makes long leaps from branch to branch. Another
lizard, of which they brought nearly a dozen speci-
mens in a couple of hours, had a body about six
inches long and a tail nearly asmuch longer. Know-
ing how impossible it is to capture these agile and
wary animals, I tried to ascertain how they succeeded
in surprising so many, but they all refused to tell,
apparently from superstitious motives, and to this
day the mystery is unsolved. When these specimens
were brought to me they were always in small joints
of bamboo, and when one escaped the natives gener-
ally refused to try to catch it in their hands.

As the tide receded, shells began to come in; at
first the more common species, and rarer ones as the
ebbing ceased. My mode of trading with these peo-

TRADING WITH THE NATIVES. 145

ple was extremely simple, my stock of Malay being
very limited. A small table was placed on the ve-
randa in front of the rajah’s house, and I took a
seat behind it, The natives then severally came up
and placed their shells in a row on the table, and I
placed opposite each shell or each lot of shells what-
ever I was willing to give for them, and then, point-
ing first to the money and then to the shells, remarked,
Ini atau itu, “This or that,” leaving them to make
their own choice. In this way all disputing was
avoided, and the purchasing went on rapidly. When-
ever one man had a rare shell, and the sum I offered
did not meet his expectations, another would be sure to
accept it if no more was given; then the first would
change his mind, and thus I never failed to obtain both
specimens. It was a pleasure that no one but a natu-
ralist can appreciate, to see such rare and beautiful
shells coming in alive, spotted cypreas, marbled cones,
long Fusi, and Murices, some spiny and some richly
ornamented with varices resembling compound leaves,
The rarest shell that I secured that day was a living
Terebellum, which was picked up on a coral reef be-
fore the village, at low-tide level. Afterward I pro-
cured another from the same place; but so limited
does its distribution appear to be, that I never ob-
tained a live specimen at any other locality.

At sunset I walked out with the rajah along the
shore of the bay. Before us lay the great island of
Ceram, which the rajah called, in his musical tongue,
Ceram tana biza, “The great land of Ceram,” for in-
deed, to him, it was a land, that is, a continent, and
not in any sense a pulo or island. The departing

10

146 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

sun was sinking behind the high, jagged peaks of
Ceram, and his last golden and purple rays seemed
to waver as they shot over the glassy but gently-
undulating surface of the bay, and the broad, deeply-
fringed leaves of the cocoa-nut palms on the beach
took a deeper and richer hue in the glowing sun-
light. Then a dull, heavy booming came out of a
small Mohammedan mosque, which was picturesque-
ly placed on a little projecting point, almost sur-
rounded by the purple sea. This was the low roll-
ing of a heavy drum, calling all the faithful to assem-
ble and return thanks to their Prophet at the close
of the departing day. The rajah then left me to
wander along the shore alone, and enjoy the endless
variety of the changing tints in the sea and sky while
the daylight faded away along the western horizon.
It was in this bay that the Dutch first cast an-
chor in these seas, and this thought naturally car-
ries us back to the early history of the Moluccas, so
famous for their spices, and so coveted by almost
every nation of Europe, as soon as enterprise and ac-
tion began to dispel the dark clouds of ignorance and
superstition which had enveloped the whole of the
so-called civilized world during the middle ages.
Antonio d’Abreu, a Portuguese captain, who came
here from Malacca, in 1511, is generally regarded as
the discoverer of Amboina and Banda, but Ludovico
Barthema (Vartoma), of Bologna, after visiting Ma-
lacca and Pedir, in Sumatra, according to his own
account, reached this island as early as 1506, yet his
description of the Moluccas is so faulty that Valentyn
thinks he never came to this region, but obtained his

EARLY EXPEDITIONS TO THE SPICE ISLANDS. 147

information from the Javanese and Arabs, who, as
early at least as 1322, visited these islands to pur-
chase spices.* The Dutch first came to the East in the
employment of the Portuguese, and in this manner
became acquainted with its geography and its wealth.
Their earliest expedition sailed from Holland im 1594,
under Houtman. His fleet first visited Bantam and
the island of Madura, At the latter place the na-
tives seized some of his crew, and obliged him to pay
two thousand rix dollars to ransom them, On the
8d of March, 1599, he arrived here off Hitu-lama. A
serious and continual warfare then began between
the Spanish, the Portuguese, and the Dutch, for the
possession of the Moluccas, which lasted until 1610,
when the Dutch became masters of these seas, and
monopolized the lucrative trade of the nutmeg and
the clove. The English also tried to secure this valu-
able prize, but the Dutch finally compelled them to

* Francis Valentyn, the author of the most comprehensive and accu-
rate history and description of the Dutch possessions in all the East, was
a Lutheran clergyman. He was born at Dordrecht, about the year 1660.
In 1686 he arrived at Batavia as a minister, and having resided some time
at Japara, near Samarang, he was transferred to Amboina, the future
field of his ministry and literary labors. After a residence of twelve
years in the Spice Islands, he was obliged to return home on account of
ill-health. Having remained in Holland for eleven years, he sailed a
second time for India in 1705. Arriving at Java, he remained on that
island for two years, and then proceeded to the Spice Islands, where he
resided for seven years, and in 1714 he returned again to Holland. Im-
mediately after his arrival he devoted himself to arranging his copious
notes for publication. THis first volume was published in 1724; this was
followed by seven others, all fully illustrated, the last appearing in 1726.
They embrace a complete description and history of all the Dutch pos-
sessions from the Cape of Good Hope to Japan. The date of the death
of this eminent man is not known, but he must have been in his sixty-
sixth year when he finished his great: work.

148 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

leave this part of the archipelago, and have continued
to hold it, except for a short time in the early part
of the present century.

The guest-chamber of my host, the rajah, was so
open at the eaves that a current of damp air blew
over me all night, and I had a strong reminder of the
Batavia fever the next day. However, I continued
along the shore to Hila, where an assistant resident
is stationed, whose district also includes a part of the
neighboring coast of Ceram. In the days when the
clove-tree was extensively cultivated in Amboina,
this was an important place, but now it has become
almost deserted. It is chiefly famous for its fine man-
goes, the fruit of the Mangifera Indica.

The Resident here had two fine specimens of an
enormous hermit crab, the Birgos latro. The habits
of this animal are most remarkable. Its food is the
cocoa-nut, and, as the ripe nuts fall from the tree, it
tears off the dry husks with its powerful claws until
the end of the shell where the three black scars are
found is laid bare. It then breaks the shell by
hammering with one of its heavy claws, and the oily,
fattening food within is obtained by means of the
pineer-like claws attached to its hinder joints—so
perfectly is this animal adapted to its peculiar mode
of life. They are esteemed great delicacies after
they have been well fed for a time, and these two
unfortunates were destined for the table.

A rest of a couple of days stayed the fever, and a
boat was ordered to take me to Zyt, the next village,
where I reaped another rich harvest of beautiful
shells, Here I purchased many Zritons, which the

A PORTABLE FOUNTAIN. 149

natives had brought over from the neighboring coast
of Ceram. ‘They are quite similar to the Zritons of
the Mediterranean, which in mythological times were
fancied to be the trumpets used by Neptune’s attend-
ants to herald the approach of the grim god, when
he came up from the depths of the ocean, and was
whirled by foaming steeds over its placid surface.
The next village we visited was completely de-
serted, except by the rajah and his family. The
cause of this strange exodus was some misunder-
standing between the rajah and his people; and as
the Dutch Government claims the right to appoint
each native prince, and had refused to remove this
rajah, all his people had deserted their homes and
moved off to the various neighboring hampongs, a
quiet and probably an effective mode of remon-
strance. Near all these villages the beaches are
lined with cocoa-nut palms, and this is frequently
the only indication that you are approaching a ham-
pong, unless, as occasionally happens, a thin column
of smoke is observed slowly rising from out the tall
tree-tops. When I wished to take water with me in
our canoe, I naturally asked the rajah if he could
provide us with a bottle, but he only smiled to think
I could be so unaccustomed to tropical life, and
ordered a servant to climb one of the cocoa-nut palms
above us, and cut off some of its clusters of large
green fruit. These we could carry anywhere, and
open when we pleased, and a few strokes with a
heavy cleaver at once furnished us with a sparkling
fountain.

At Assilulu, the next village, I found the rajah

150 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

living in such style as I had always fancied a rich
Eastern prince enjoyed, His house was in the centre
of a large village, and located on the side of a steep
hill. It covered three large terraces, and, when viewed
from the landing below, appeared like a temple. At
this place, besides many rare shells, I purchased
several large cassowary-eggs, which had been brought
over from Ceram. They are about as long as ostrich-
eggs, but somewhat less in diameter, and of a green
color. The bird itself belongs to the ostrich family,
its feathers being imperfectly developed and separate
from each other, and suitable only to aid it to run,
One species has a spine on each wing to enable it
to defend itself, but the usual mode of attack is
by striking with the beak. In size it is twice as
large as a full-grown turkey. It is not found wild
on any island west of Ceram, and those reported from
Java were all undoubtedly carried there from this
part of the archipelago. Here also I bought of the
rajah a number of superb skulls of the babirusa,
Babirusa alfurus, \iterally “the hog-deer,” a name
well chosen, for its long tusks would at once suggest
to these natives the antlers of the deer, the only
other wild animal of any considerable size found on
these islands. These skulls came from Buru, the
eastern limit of this remarkable species of hog.

For some time one of my servants kept alluding
to several wonderful and most valuable curiosities
which this wealthy rajah was so fortunate as to pos-
sess—curiosities indeed, according to his glowing de-
scriptions, compared to the shells I was continually
buying. At last I asked him to say to the rajah,

JEWELS FROM THE HEADS OF WILD BOARS, 151

that I would be greatly obliged to him if he could
show me such rare wonders, being careful not to add,
that possibly I should like to purchase one or more;
for I had a strong suspicion that the rajah had offered
to give him all over a certain sum that I might pay
for them, if he could induce me to purchase them.
In these Eastern lands, when you send a servant to
buy any thing, you have the unpleasant certainty
in your mind, that a large part of “the price” will
certainly lodge in his pocket; however, if you go to
purchase yourself, such exorbitant prices will be de-
manded, that you will either come away without the
article you need, or have the unpleasant reflection
afterward that you have been cheated worse than if
you had sent your servant and allowed him to levy
his black-mail.

As I had anticipated, the rajah was not loath to
show me his treasures, They were merely half a dozen
glass rings, evidently made by cutting off a piece of a
glass rod nine or ten inches long, and half an inch in
diameter. This piece, having been heated, was bent
into a ring and the two ends united by fusion. In-
stead of expressing surprise and delight, as all who
were looking on seemed to expect, I coolly began ex-
plaining to the rajah what they were and how they
were made. A look of surprise and incredulity ap-
peared on the faces of all, and the rajah at once, in a
most solemn manner, averred that so far from their
being the work of man, they had been taken out of
the heads of snakes and wild boars! Despite the
dignified bearing the occasion was supposed to de-
mand, I could not refrain from a smile as I remarked

153 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO

that I had seen many heads of those animals myself,
but never before had I heard that they carried such
circular jewels in their brains, “ Have you ever seen
one of these taken out yourself?” Iasked. “Oh, no!
They come from Zana Ceram (the land or continent
of Ceram).” All who were listening, now fearing
that their rajah might be worsted in the discussion,
and being ready on every occasion to show that
they were loyal subjects, abruptly ended the argu-
ment by the unqualified assertion that every thing
was exactly as the rajah had said; and, as I was his
guest, I changed the conversation to another topic.
When I returned to the city of Amboina, I looked at
once in the “ Rariteit Kamer,” confident that Rumphius
would explain this remarkable and, as I afterward
found, common belief; for, though the rajah probably
did not believe what he said, his credulous subjects
doubtless never thought before of calling in question
such a generally-accepted notion ; such a query would,
in their view, have indicated a weak instead of an in-
quiring mind. This is one of the obstacles in the
way of advancement among these people. Rumphius
says that many rings were brought by the Portuguese
and sold to the natives, who prize them very highly.
This accounted for their origin; and afterward, when
I came to travel over the empire of China, and no-
ticed how that people value similar rings of jade
(nephrite), and remembered that the coast of Ce-
ram, opposite Assilulu, was once frequented by the
people of that empire, who came to purchase cloves
and nutmegs, it occurred to me that possibly it was
from them that the Amboinese had learned to

THE CLOVE-TREE. 153

place so high a value on such simple objects, and
had obtained their first specimens. Java is perhaps
the only island in the archipelago where such orna-
ments could have been made by the natives, but I do
not find that they are especially prized there, or
that they have been dug up with other relics of pre-
vious ages.

Off this coast lie three islands, the Three Broth-
ers, and on their shores the natives found a number
of rare shells. In the streets of the village consid-
erable quantities of cloves that had been gathered on
the neighboring hill-sides were exposed to the sun on
mats between the frequent showers, but the culture
of that spice has been so neglected of late years, that
this was the only place where I saw the fruit in all
the Moluccas. The clove-tree (Carophyllus aromati-
cus) belongs to the order of myrtles, which also in-
cludes the pomegranate, the guava, and the rose-
apple. The trunk of the full-grown tree is from eight
to twelve inches in diameter, and occasionally much
more. Its topmost branches are usually forty or fifty
feet from the ground, though I have seen a tree not
larger than a cherry-tree fully loaded with fruit. It
was originally confined to the five islands off the west
eoast of Gilolo, which then comprised the whole
group known as “the Moluccas,” a name that has
since been extended to Buru, Amboina, and the other
islands off the south coast of Ceram, where the clove
has been introduced and cultivated within a com-
paratively late period. On those five islands it begins
to bear in its seventh or eighth year, and sometimes
continues to yield until it has reached an age of nearly

154 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

one hundred and fifty years; the trees, therefore, are
of very different sizes, Here at Amboina it is not
expected to bear fruit before its twelfth or fifteenth
year, and to cease yielding when it is seventy-five
years old. Its limited distribution has always at-
tracted attention, and Rumphius, who describes it as
“the most beautiful, the most elegant, and the most
precious of all known trees,” remarks: “ Hence it ap-
pears that the Great Disposer of things in His wis-
dom, allotting His gifts to the several regions of the
world, placed cloves in the kingdom of the Moluccas,
beyond which, by no human industry, can they be
propagated or perfectly cultivated.” In the last ob-
servation, however, he was mistaken, for since his
time it has been successfully introduced into the isl-
and of Penang, in the Strait of Malacca, and Suma-
tra, Bourbon, Zanzibar, and the coast of Guiana and
the West India Islands, The clove is the fower-bud,
and grows in clusters at the ends of the twigs. The
annual yield of a good tree is about four pounds and
a half, and the yearly crop on Amboina, Haruku,
Saparua, and Nusalaut, the only islands where the
tree is now cultivated, is 350,000 Amsterdam pounds,*
It is, however, extremely variable and uncertain—for
example, in 1846 it was 869,727 Amsterdam pounds,
but in 1849 it was only 89,923, or little more than
one-tenth of what it was three years before. Piga-
fetta informs us that, when the Spanish first came to
the Moluccas, there were no restrictions on the cul-
ture or sale of the clove. The annual crop at that

* According to official statements, the total yield from 1675 to 1854
was 100,034,036 Amsterdam pounds,

MODE OF GATHERING CLOVES. 155

time, 1521, according to the same authority, reached
the enormous quantity of 6,000 bahars, 8,540,000
pounds of “uncleaned,” and 4,000 bahars, 2,360,000
pounds of “cleaned” cloves, about seventeen times
the quantity obtained at the present time, Though
this statement at first appears incredible, it is strength-
ened by the fact that the two ships of Magellan’s
fleet that reached Tidore, one of the Spice Islands,
were filled with cloves during a stay of only twenty-
four days. When the buds are young they are
nearly white, afterward they change to a light green,
and finally to a bright red, when they must at once
be gathered, which is done by picking them by hand,
or beating them off with bamboos on to cloths spread
beneath the trees. They are then simply dried in
the sun, and are ready for the market. In drying,
their color is changed from red to black, the condi-
tion in which we see them. They are gathered twice
a year, at about this time, in June, and again in the
last of December. The leaves, bark, and young
twigs also have some peculiar aroma, and at Zanzibar
the stems of the buds are also gathered and find a
ready sale, The favorite locations of this tree are
the high hill-sides, and it is said that it does not
thrive well on low lands, where the loam is fine and
heavy. The soil best adapted to it appears to bea
loose, sandy loam. In its original haditat it grows
chiefly on voleanic soil, but in Amboina and the other
islands, where it is now cultivated, it has been found
to flourish well on loams formed by the disintegra-
tion of recent sandstone and secondary rocks. The
native name for this fruit is chenkz, perhaps a corrup-

156 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

tion of the Chinese thkeng-ki, “odoriferous nails.” *
The Dutch name for clove is kruid-nagel, “ herb-nail,”
and for the trees nagelen-boomen, “ nail-trees.” Our
own name clove comes from the Spanish clavo (Latin
clavus), a nail, which has also been given them on ac-
‘count of the similarity of these buds to nails,
Although cloves form a favorite condiment among
all nations, the natives of these islands where they
grow never eat them in any form, and we have no
reason to suppose they ever did. The only purpose
for which the Amboinese use them, so far as I am
aware, is to prepare neat models of their praus and
bamboo huts, by running small wire through the
buds before they are dried. The Dutch purchase
and send to Europe so many of these models, that
almost every ethnological museum contains some
specimens of this skilful workmanship. The clove
probably came into use originally by accident, and I
believe the first people who fancied its rich aroma,
and warm, pungent taste, were the Chinese. The

* De Oauto, who visited these islands in 1540, says: “The Persians
call the clove calafwr, and speaking on this matter, with permission of
the physicians, it appears to us that the carofilum of the Latin is cor-
rupted from the calafur of the Moors (Arabs), for they have some re-
semblance, And as this drug passed into Europe through the hands of
the Moors with the name calafwr, it appears the Europeans did not
changeit. The Castilians (Spaniards) called cloves gilope, because they
came from the island of Gilolo (probably one of the chief sources of this
article at that time). The people of the Moluccas eall them changué.
The Brahmin physicians first called them Zavanga, but afterward gave
them the Moorish name. Generally all nations give them a name of
their own, as we have done; for the first of us (the Portuguese) that
reached these islands (the Moluccas), taking them in their hands, and ob-
serving their resemblance to iron nails, called them cravo, by which they
are now so well known in the world.”

HISTORY OF THE CLOVE TRADE. 157

_ similarity of the native name to that of the Chinese,
and its marked difference, according to De Cauto,
from that of the Brahmins or Hindus, lends probabil-
ity to this view. When the Portuguese first came to
these islands, the Chinese, Arabs, Malays, Javanese,
and Macassars, were all found here trading in this
article, Of the two former nations, the Chinese were
probably the first to reach this region, though the
Arabs sailed up the China Sea and carried on a large
trade with the Chinese at Canpu, a port in Hangchau
Bay, south of the present city of Shanghai, in the
thirteenth century, or fully two hundred years be-
fore the Portuguese and Spaniards arrived in these
SEAS.

The first notice of cloves in Europe occurs in a
law passed during the reign of Aurelian the First,
between s. D. 175 and 180, where they are mentioned
as forming an article of commerce from India to Alex-
andria; for the Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea
formed at that time the chief highway of Eastern
trade. From these islands the cloves were first taken
by the Malays and Javanese to the peninsula of Ma-
lacea, where they passed into the hands of the Telin-
gas or Klings, who carried them to Calicut, the old
Capital of Malabar. Thence they were transported
to the western shores of India and shipped across the
Arabian Sea, and up the Gulf of Aden and the Red
Sea to Cairo, These frequent transfers so increased
the original price, that in England, before the dis-
covery of the Cape of Good Hope, thirty shillings
were paid for them per pound, or one hundred and
sixty-eight pounds sterling per hundred - weight,

158 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

which was three hundred and sixty times their origi-_
nal price. It was to make this immense profit that the
Portuguese, the Spaniards, the Dutch, and the Eng-
lish, were all so anxious to find a passage to the East
by sea, and why, when these islands had been discov-
ered, each strove to monopolize the trade itself, and all
carried on such a persistent and piratical warfare for
many years. So long as cloves were not cultivated
elsewhere, and there was no competition in the Euro-
pean markets, the Dutch Government made a hand-
some profit by means of its monopoly; but when
they were raised in other places, the consumption of
such a luxury not increasing with the supply, the
previous high price began at once to decline, and for
many years the income of the government in these
islands has not been equal to its expenses in the
same region. Some have supposed that a further
reduction in the price would be followed with a cor-
responding greater demand, until its consumption
would become as general and as large as that of pep-
per; but this view is opposed by the common de-
cision of mankind—that pepper is a necessary article
of food, and that the clove is only a luxury. If no
attempt had been made to keep up the price of this
commodity to such a high figure in the European
markets, there would have been a less incentive to
other nations to introduce it into their own colonies,
and thus the market would not have been over-
stocked so soon, and the price would not have fallen
so low as to make the Spice Islands a source of loss
instead of profit, except within a recent date.

All the rajahs I met were strict Mohammedans,

MOHAMMEDAN JEALOUSY. 159

and, improving the privileges of their sect, had more
than one wife. Soon after arriving at each rajah’s
house, I was invariably asked whether or not I
was married, and for a long time I could not ima-
gine why I was so closely quizzed, until the pro-
verbial jealousy of these people occurred to me.
Each wished to know how strict a watch he was to
keep over his fascinating harem; and as I was
obliged to answer all such queries in the negative, I
never even saw one of their wives. At meals only
the rajah and myself sat at the table; and as I had
two servants, and each of these princes nearly a score,
we were always well served, considering our fare.
Two articles never failed to appear—chickens and
rice— and to these fish was usually added; and
for luncheon and dessert always the richest bananas.
One kind, the pisang Ambon, or “ Amboina banana,”
is very’ common in that region, but the one I soon
learned to prefer, and the one that my servants were
always ordered to procure if possible, wherever we
chanced to halt, was the pisang mas, or “golden ba-
nana,” a small variety, with a peculiarly rich, honey-
like flavor, and a bright golden skin when it is fully
ripe. This rajah, I noticed, was particular to seat me
at the table so that I could only look out at the front
door. The first query he proposed at dinner was,
how we are accustomed to eat in our land, adding
that, after all, no style suited him so well as dispen-
sing with knives and forks altogether, and adopting
the simpler and more natural mode of using one’s
fingers—a style so common, that each rajah usually
keeps a supply of finger-bowls, and frequently these

160 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

are worth more than all the crockery and other glass-
ware on the table beside. While I was most zeal-
ously explaining in reply the superiority of our cus-
tom, there arose a suppressed giggle behind me; the
secret was out—the rajah’s wives had been allowed
to leave their close prison and look at me, while I
was so placed that I could not, without the greatest
rudeness, turn round so as to steal a glance at them.
But as this noise was evidently not a part of the
proposed programme, I repressed my curiosity, and
continued my description. One topic especially they
never seemed weary of hearing about, and that was
my experience as a soldier. There was something
strangely fascinating to their rude imaginations in
the scenes of blood through which I have had to
pass. At first I had some difficulty in translating
my stories into good Malay, but one of my servants
fortunately spoke a little Dutch, and supplied me
with a word or sentence, as the case demanded.
From Assilulu I set off, during a heavy rain-
storm, over a neighboring mountain for the south-
west shore, and after a long walk over the rocks,
sand, and shingle, we reached Lariki, where there
was once a fort with a garrison, but now the ruins
of the fort, and a few old, rusty guns are all that
remain; and the only official stationed there is an
opzvener or “ overseer.” In two days, at that place, I
so increased my collection, that I had to hire eight
coolies to transport it, each carrying two baskets
—one on either end of a pole about four feet long.
The baskets are made of an open framework of
bamboo, covered inside with palm-leaves, and are

THE SOUTHEAST MONSOON AT ITS HEIGHT. 161

therefore very light and durable. The most common
shell there is the little eyprea caput-serpentis, or
“serpent’s- head cowry,” which has a close resem-
blance, both in form and color, to the head of a
snake,

From Lariki the opziener accompanied me to the
neighboring kampong of Wakasihu. Our narrow
footpath wound along the side of a rugged, project-
ing crag, and the view from the outer point was
very imposing. The stormy monsoon was at its
height. The heavy swell rolling in from the open
ocean broke and flung its white spray and clotted
foam far and wide over the black rocks left bare by
the ebbing tide. Thick clouds, heavily freighted
with rain, were driven by the strong wind against
the rugged coast and adjoining mountains. The
cocoa-nut palms that grew just above high-water
level, and leaned over toward the sea, twisted and
shook their plumy crests in a continual strife with
the angry storm, and above them the branches of
great evergreens moaned and piped as they lashed to
and fro in the fitful gusts of the tempests,

At Wakasihu the old white-bearded rajah, hear
ing of our approach, came out to welcome us, The
opziener explained to him the object of my coming,
and immediately he ordered a large tifa, that hung
under an adjoining shed, to be beaten, as a warning
to his people that their rajah required them all to
assemble at once before his house. The news quickly
spread that a foreigner had come to purchase shells,
and the old men, young men, women, and children

all came with the treasures that had been accumulat-
11

162 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

ing for months, and even years, in their miserable
dwellings. Here many perfect specimens of the
richly-colored Cassis flammea appeared, and also
that strangely-marked shell, the Cypraa mappa, or
“map cowry,’ so named from the irregular light-
colored line over its back where the two edges of
the mantle meet when the animal is fully expanded.
They had crawled into the dubus that had been
sunk for fish at a depth of several fathoms.

The trading was carried on only in Malay, but
when I offered a price, which was higher or lower than
they had expected, they frequently consulted with
each other in their own peculiar dialect or bahasa.
This the opziener, who was a native of the city of
Amboina, was as totally unable to understand as I.
He also assured me that even the natives at Lariki,
from which we had walked in half an hour, could
only understand an occasional word of the dahasa of
this village, and that the people of neither village
could understand a word of the dahasa of Assiluln,
two or three hours’ walk beyond Lariki. In fact, as
a rule, every community that is under one rajah, and
this is generally but one village, has its own peculiar
dialect, which is so different from the dialects of
every adjoining village, that all are obliged to learn
Malay in order to carry on any trade or hold any
communication with their nearest neighbors. The
bahasa is never a written language, and appears to
be constantly changing, for, at the city of Amboina,
the natives have completely lost their dialect since
the foreigners settled among them, and now can only
speak with each other in Malay. The great diver.

THE VARIETY OF NATIVE DIALECTS. 163

sity in the native dialects, and the general adoption
of Malay, existed at least as early as when the Span-
iards first navigated these waters, for De Barros says:
“'Two facts give reason to believe that the inhabit-
ants of these islands consist of various and diverse
nations. The first is the inconstancy, hatred, and
suspicion with which they watch each other; and
the second, the great variety of their languages; for
it is not the same with them and the Bisayans (the
inhabitants of Bisaya, one of the Philippines), where
one language prevails with all. The variety, on the
contrary, is so great that no two places understand
each other’s tongue. Even the pronunciation differs
widely, for some form their words in the throat,
others at the point of the tongue, others between the
teeth, and others in the palate. If there be any
tongue through which they can understand each
other, it is the Malay of Malacca, to which the
nobles” (rajahs and capalas) “have lately addicted
themselves since the Moors” (Arabs) “ have resorted
to them for the clove.” The Malays and Javanese
probably visited these regions long before the Arabs;
and they, and not the Arabs, were the people who
first taught these natives the Malay language.

From Wakasihu I continued during a violent
rain-storm along the south coast to Laha at the mouth
of the bay of Amboina, determined to cross the bay
and reach home that night, if possible. There were
a number of villages along the route, and at each
I had to procure a new relay of coolies. This caused
much delay, but a foreigner soon learns that he must
have an inexhaustible stock of patience to draw on at

164 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

any unexpected moment if he is going to deal with
these people. At one village they all agreed that a
neighboring stream, which we could not avoid cross-
ing, had become so swollen by the heavy rains, that
it was absolutely impassable; but I simply ordered
them to quietly follow me, and where I could not
lead the way they might turn back. However, when
we came to its banks, we found before us a deep,
foaming torrent, far more uninviting and dangerous
than I had anticipated, yet by following up its course
for half a mile, I came to a place where I made my
way to the opposite bank; but here I found myself
hemmed in by a precipitous cliff, and there could
be nothing done except to beat an inglorious retreat.
The natives meantime had been trying the stream”
farther down, and had found a ford where the strong
current was only waist-deep, and here we safely
gained the opposite bank. After this came another
stream even more difficult to cross, and after that,
still a third. Each time I almost expected that the
coolies, who were carrying over my shells, would be
swept away, but they were all so lightly clad that
they succeeded in maintaining their footing, even
where the current was perfectly boiling. The streams
are changed into rapid torrents in a few hours
in these islands, where the water seems to come
down from the sky in broad sheets whenever it rains.
There are few bridges, and the difficulty of crossing
the small rivers is one of the chief obstacles in
travelling here during the rainy season. However,
as a compensation, there is no sultry, scorching sun,
Near the beaches where the streams flow out to the

DANGEROUS VOYAGE IN A LEPER-LEPER. 165

sea, they all widen into deep, oblong pools, which are
made very narrow at high-water level by the quanti-
ties of sand thrown up by the surf. Near the low-
water level they again become broad and shallow, and
during ebb-tide the best place to cross them is on the
ocean shore as far down as one can go and avoid the
danger of being swept away by the heavy surf.

It was nearly night when we reached Laha;
we were all thoroughly drenched, and had eaten
nothing since morning except some half-ripe bananas.
The storm was unabated, but the rajah said it was
possible to cross the bay against the wind and waves,
and three men were detailed to paddle us six miles
to the city. Our boat was a common leper-leper, that

“js, a canoe made from the trunk of a large tree, with
pieces of plank placed on the sides to raise them to
the proper height. Both ends are sharp, and curve
upward. About four feet from the bow a pole is
laid across, and another the same distance from the
stern. These project outward from the side of the
boat six or eight feet, and to them is fastened a bam-
boo, the whole forming what is known as an “out-
rigger.” The canoes themselves are so narrow, that
without these external supports they would be even
more crank than the birch-bark canoes of our red In-
dians. When we launched our /eper-leper, and placed
on board our cargo of shells, and got in ourselves, her
sides were only about four inches out of water, but I
could not procure a larger boat, so we started. It
soon became so dark that all we could discern on the
neighboring shores were large fires which the natives
had made from place to place to lure the fish by

166 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

night into their weirs. The wind also increased, and
the waves rose higher and began to sparkle brightly,
and occasionally a strong gust would seem to change
the whole surface of the sea into a sheet of fire. For
a time my boatmen felt strong, and encouraged each
other with a wild shouting like an Indian warwhoop,
and in this way we had made more than a mile from
the shore, when the wind became much heavier, and
occasionally an ugly wave broke over us. My men
still continued to paddle on until we found that we
were scarcely holding our own against the storm.
Then they became discouraged and proposed to go
back, but turning round such a long, narrow boat in
the nidet of a rough sea was by no means an easy_
matter. The man forward stopped to rest, and just
then a heavy flaw struck the front part of the boat,
whirled it round in an instant, and away we flew off
before the tempest like a race-horse. It had now
become so dark and thick that, though the natives
knew every foot of the shore, they could not tell
where to steer, and it was only by paddling with all
their might that we escaped running into a mass of
foaming breakers. Finally we once more reached the
shore; the rajah had some rice and fish cooked, and
at midnight I took my second meal that day. My
bedroom was so open that the wind whistled in on
every side and so completely chilled me that I ex-
pected to find myself burning with fever the next
day, but the excitement counteracted the cold, and I
arrived again at Amboina safe and well. After such
an excursion several days were passed writing labels,
one of which I placed in each individual shell, a

AN EARTHQUAKE. 167

wearying and almost an endless task, but the thought
continually occurred to me that, if I should not be
permitted to return to my native land, such au-
thentic labels in my own handwriting would en-
able any one into whose hands my collection might
fall to fully accomplish the object of my long jour-
ney.

: haly 23d.—This morning, at a quarter-past four,
I was suddenly awaked by some cause which, for the
moment, I could not understand, but immediately
there began a low, heavy rumbling down deep in the
earth. It was not a roar, but such a rattling or
quick succession of reports as is made when a number
of heavily-laden coaches are rapidly driven down a
steep street paved with round cobble-stones. At
the next instant it seemed as if some huge giant had
seized my bed, and had pushed it from him and then
pulled it toward him with the greatest violence.
The gentleman and lady with whom I was residing
shouted out to me: “Run out of the house! run for
your life! There is a dreadful earthquake !”

Back of the main house was the dining-room,
surrounded by a low wall, and covered with a light
roof. This was our place of refuge. The gentle-
man then explained to me that the shock which
had just occurred was the second, and a very se-
vere one, and the first, which was light, was what
had so suddenly aroused me from a deep sleep, Of
course, no one of us knew but another still heavier
might come at the next instant and lay all the
buildings near us in a mass of ruins, if indeed the
earth should not open and swallow us all alive.

168 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

The time that elapsed between hearing the rumbling
noise and feeling the shock itself was about five
seconds, At this time of the year, in the middle of
a monsoon, the wind blows constantly day and
night; but after this earthquake there was not
the slightest perceptible motion in the air. The
tree-toads stopped their steady piping, and the noc-
turnal insects all ceased their shrill music. It was
so absolutely quiet that it seemed as if all nature
was waiting in dread anticipation of some coming
catastrophe. Such an unnatural stillness was cer-
tainly more painful than the howling of the most
violent tempest or the roar of the heaviest thunder.
Meantime, lights sprang up here and there in the
neighboring houses, and all the doors were thrown
open, that at the slightest warning everybody might
run into the street. The strange words of the Chinese,
Malays, and Arabs, sounded yet stranger in the dark,
still night, as each called in a subdued but most ear-
nest tone to his or her relatives. The utter helpless-
ness which every one feels at such a time, where even
the solid earth groans and trembles beneath his feet,
makes the solicitude most keenly painful. It was
half an hour—and that half hour seemed an age—
before the wind began to blow as before. Then
the nocturnal animals, one after another, slowly re-
sumed their nightly cries, and our alarm gradu-
ally subsided as the dawn appeared, and once
more gave promise of approaching day. I had long
been anxious to witness an earthquake; but since
that dreadful night there is something in the very
sound of the word that makes me almost shudder.

DISEASES CAUSED BY EARTHQUAKES. 169

There is usually at least one earthquake—that is,
one series of shocks—at Amboina every year, and
when eight or ten months have passed without one,
a very heavy shock is always expected.

On the 17th of February, 1674, according to
Valentyn, Amboina suffered from a heavy earth-
quake, and Mount Ateti, or Wawanu, on Hitu, west
of the village of Zyt, poured out a great quantity of
hot mud, which flowed down to the sea. In 1822
Dr. S. Muller visited it and found a considerable
quantity of sublimed sulphur, and some sulphurous
acid gas rising from it. Again, in 1815, when the
yoleano of Tomboro, or Sumbawa, was suffering its
terrible eruption, an earthquake was felt at seyeral
places on this island. Many people described to me
a series of shocks of great violence that began on the
1st of November, 1835, and continued three weeks.
The whole population of the city were obliged to
leave their houses and live for all that time in tents
and bamboo huts in the large common back of the
forts. Up to that date Amboina had been a re-
markably healthy place, but immediately afterward
a gastric-bilious fever broke out and continued until
March, 1845, On the 20th of July of that year an-
other heavy earthquake was experienced, and this
disease at once began again, but had somewhat sub-
sided, when, on the 18th and 20th of March, 1850,
capihier severe shock occurred, and again for the
third time it commenced anew. This time both the
governor and the assistant resident died, At pres-
ent Amboina is one of the healthiest islands in these
seas. On the 4th and 5th of November, 1699, a

170 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

series of earthquakes occurred among the mountains
where the river that flows through Batavia takes its
rise, During these shocks a land-slide occurred, and
the water was so filled with mud that the canals and
ramifications of the river in the city were silted up,
and their currents completely stopped. The imme-
diate consequence was, a large proportion of the
population of that city fell victims to a fever en-
gendered by the great quantities of stagnant water.
No similar cause could have operated here on the
island of Amboina. As the quantity of rain, the
strength and direction of the wind, and all other
meteorological phenomena, appear to have been the
same as in other years, it is evident that the disease
was connected in some way with the earthquakes,
and the view has been advanced that it was caused
by quantities of poisonous gases which are supposed
to have risen out of the earth during the violent
shocks.

Many fine shells were now brought me from Tu-
lahu, a Aampong on the northeast coast of Hitu, so I
determined to go on my next excursion in that direc-
tion. Two miles up the bay from the city of Am-
boina a tongue of land projects out from either shore,
until a passage only five hundred yards wide is left
between them. Within this passage the sea again
expands into a bay about three miles long and a mile
and a half wide. The depth of the water in the pas-
sage is sufficient for the largest ships, yet inside it
is nowhere more than twenty or twenty-five fathoms.
A large navy could anchor here, and be perfectly
sheltered from all winds and seas; but vessels rarely

CANAL TO BAGUALA BAY. 171

or never enter it, as the road ‘off the city is so far
from the mouth of the bay that it is very seldom any
considerable swell rolls in from the ocean, and more-
over, the shores of this bay are considered extremely
unhealthy on account of fevers, while sickness of that
kind is very rare at the outer anchorage. On the
eastern or Laitimur side of the bay there are several
kampongs upon the low land along the shore. Back
from the low land, on the Hitu side, there is a grad-
ual ascent to mountains a mile or two back. One of
them, Salhutu, rises twelve hundred metres above
the sea, and is the highest peak on the island. In
the shallow water around the head of the bay grow
many mangrove-trees (/thizophore). A low isthmus
of sand and alluvium, only some thirteen hundred
yards broad, and but a few feet above high-water
level, connects Laitimur with Hitu. Through this a
canal was cut in 1827 to the large bay of Baguala,
in order that the praus bound from Ceram to Am-
boina might avoid the long route round the danger-
ous shores of Laitimur; but in twelve years this pas-
sage became so filled up with sand as to be impas-
sable, except for small boats, and now they can only
go to and fro during high tide, and thus whatever
there is to be transported must be carried on the
backs of coolies. It is very painful to see such valu-
able improvements neglected and becoming useless,
for it shows that the whole tendency in this region,
instead of being toward progress, is only toward
decay, Crossing this isthmus, we continued along
the sandy shores on the north side of Baguala Bay,
for this is the only highway between the city of Am-

172 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

boina and the populous islands of Haruku, Saparua,
and Nusalaut, to the east. Occasionally the path
passed over a projecting point, but when it is low
water the natives usually prefer to follow along the
shore, just as their fathers did for centuries before
them, although it is frequently twice as far as by the
road, In an hour and a half we came to Suli, a
pretty Christian kampong. The road then turned
to the north and led us for two or three miles over
low hills of coral rock, covered with a thin layer of
red soil, to Tulahu, a village on the north coast,
which contains a population of about fifteen hun-
dred, and is the largest on the island. Near its
centre is a mosque, for the whole community is com-
posed of Mohammedans, AsI passed up the main
street on my way to the house of the rajah, scores of
boys and men kept gathering and following, to learn
from my servants who this strange foreigner that
headed the procession could be, and what was the
object of his coming. The rajah had been notified
by the Resident of my proposed visit, and received
me with a profound “salaam.” In the village was a
ruma négri, or “house belonging to the village.”
It had been erected by the villagers, in accordance
with orders from the Dutch Government, for the
accommodation of all officials and foreigners passing
that way. It was built in the usual style of foreign
houses in the East, with a broad veranda in front,
an admirable place to trade with the people. A
comfortable bedroom was fitted up for me, but I
dined with the rajah. I was always careful to
take a good supply of tea and sugar on such excur-

WE DINE ON INK-FISH. 173

sions, and my servants purchased chickens, fish, and
whatever else was to be procured ; in short, I bought
all the food, and the rajah helped me eat it, so that I
fulfilled to the letter the order of the governor-gen-
eral that I should prove “no burden to the native
people;” but, on the contrary, as I spent many guil-
ders for shells in each village, my visits, in their eyes,
were special blessings. Again and again mothers
would come with their children and complain most
bitterly that they had so little food and clothing,
and beg me to take the shells they had brought, and
name my own price. The rajah at first could hardly
believe I should collect many shells in his village,
but I asked him to beat the tifa for his capalas, liter-
ally “head men,” but really a higher class of ser-
vants, whose duty it is to convey to the people the
rajah’s commands, and see them duly enforced. The
capalas were ordered to summon all those who prob-
ably had shells in their houses, that I might invite
them to trade. Meantime supper was prepared, The
first object on the table that attracted my attention
was an Octopus, or “inkfish,” an animal much like the
squid of our own shores, which fishermen sometimes
use for bait, and which whalers know is a favorite
morsel for blackfish ; but I never heard of men feast-
ing on it before. After this questionable dish and a
chicken were disposed of, the fried fruit of the Avto-
carpus incisa, or “bread-fruit tree,” was placed on
the table. After supper I walked through all the
principal streets of the village, supported on either
side by a capala, who persistently drove all the na-
tives out of the street before us, and forced them to

174 ‘TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

take their proper place behind us. To give the trade
more éclat, 1 took a good quantity of small copper
coins and distributed them freely among the small
children as I passed along, The result of this ma-
nceuvre was most magical; everybody was anxious to
make my acquaintance and sell me shells, Even the
good Mohammedan priest laid aside his feelings of
indifference toward the Christian stranger, and in-
vited me under his roof. He also intimated that he
could favor me with a few species, but, as his .prices
were five times as high as those of the common
people, I neglected to make a selection from his
treasures.

Each evening that I was in this village the rajah
insisted on my passing hour after hour on his veran-
da, describing to him the foreign countries he could
name, Like many other natives who would like to
be free from all European rule, it afforded him great
comfort to hear that Zana Ollanda (Holland) was
much smaller in area than France or England. When
I came to tell him that Zana America was a still
greater country, he listened politely, but a halfin-
credulous smile revealed his belief that I only spoke
of it in such an enthusiastic manner because I was an
American; yet when I added, that however much
other nations might wish to possess these beautiful
islands, America would never have such a desire, his
knowledge of geography seemed to have become com-
plete at once, and he explained to all who were lis-
tening that Zana America was admitted by all to be
the largest and the most powerful of all nations. He
also had an almost endless series of questions to ask

A FRIENDLY SIEGE. 175

about the sovereigns of the lands I had described,
and, like a good Mohammedan, expressed his confi-
dence that I should speak well of the Sultan of Tur-
key, whom he appeared to regard as the next in au-
thority to the Prophet himself.

The next day I went westward to Waai, where I
obtained many specimens of the great Zrochus mar-
moratus, which lives in abundance a little farther
toward the northwestern end of the island, but can
only be procured alive during the opposite monsoon.
Its beautifully marbled, sea-green surface, and bright,
pearly interior have always made it a favorite orna-
ment for the parlor in every land. Many, wishing to
improve on Nature, remove the green outer layers
either by hydrochloric or nitric acid, so as to give
the exterior also a bright nacreous iridescence. Hun-
dreds of the heavy opercula of these animals are
found on the neighboring shores, for Nature has pro-
vided each with this thick door, which, after it has
withdrawn itself into the shell, it can close behind it,
and thus be free from all harm.

On my return I found my house besieged with more
than two hundred of both sexes and of every age, from
infaney to second childhood. Each had a lot of shells
to sell, and therefore the prices were very low; but
I was careful to pay them more than they could earn
in any other way in the same time.* The women and
children on all these islands are accustomed to gather
mollusks at every low tide for food, and whenever
any particularly rare or beautiful shell is found, it is
always saved; and it was for this reason that I was
always confident that I could obtain some valuable

176 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

specimens in every village. Here I secured one shell,
the Strombus latissimus, or “ thick-lipped strombus,”
that I had long been hoping to see. It lives in the
deep water between these shores and the opposite
coast of Ceram, and I could not hear that it is found
in any other locality. Many species of long “ spindle-
shells” (us?) are found here—some nearly smooth
and ‘some richly ornamented with tubercles,

. I had now been on the island four weeks, and it
was time for the monthly mail to arrive, bringing me
letters from home. This exciting thought caused me
to forget even my passion for shells, and, promising
the natives I would come again and purchase all the
specimens they could collect, I returned to the city
of Amboina.

CHAPTER VI.
THE ULIASSERS AND CERAM,

Tue arrival of the mail here, at Amboina, causes
a general rejoicing. Indeed, it is the only thing there
is to break the dull monotony of a residence in this
enervating climate, unless, as happened this month,
there is an earthquake, which affords a grand oppor-
tunity for the old residents to describe to all new-
comers the fearful shocks they have experienced, and
this they invariably do with that peculiar kind of
semi-boasting with which a veteran fights over his
battles in the presence of raw recruits. The last
earthquake, which everybody witnessed, is referred
to very much as we at home speak of some violent
gale that has swept along the coast. Those who
would be weather-wise in our land here discuss
the various directions from which the different
shocks came—upon which there seems a considerable
variance of opinion, but I notice that generally each
company agrees with the highest dignitary present.
This was a fortunate mail for me It brought me
letters from home, and many American papers from
our consul at Batavia, who never failed to send me
the latest news all the time I was in any part of the
archipelago. Before the next mail my letters were

12

178 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

read and re-read, The pages of the Boston papers
seemed like the faces of familiar friends, and it
was difficult not to peruse the advertisements, col-
umn by column, before I could lay them aside. I,
in turn, was able to write my friends that already I
possessed a full series of nearly all the species of
shells I had come to seek.

East of Amboina lie three islands, sometimes
ealled the’ “Uliassers.” The first and nearest to
Amboina is Haruku (in Dutch Haroekoe); it is
also known to the natives as Oma, or Buwang-bessi,
“Ejecting-iron.” The second is Saparua (in Dutch
Saparoea); but according to Mr, Crawfurd it should
be Sapurwa, or Sapurba, from the native numeral
Sa standing as an article, and the Sanserit, purwa,
“source,” a name probably given.it by the Malay
and Javanese traders, who came here to buy cloves
long before the Portuguese reached such a remote
region, and this is made more probable by the
name of the third island Nusalaut (in Dutch Noesa-
laoet), which is compounded of the Javanese word
nusa, “an island,” and the Malay word laut, “the
sea.” Nusalaut, therefore, means Sea Island, and was
evidently so named because it is situated more nearly
in the open sea. The Javanese word nusa, which is
applied, like the Malay word pulo, only to small
islands, enables us to trace out the early course of
the Javanese traders. At the southern end of Laiti-
mur is a kampong named Nusaniva (niba), “ Fallen
Island,” perhaps because some island, or a part
of Amboina itself, had sunk in that vicinity. Near
the Banda group is Nusatelo (better taluh), “Magic

MODE OF PASSING FROM ISLAND TO ISLAND. 179

Island.” Saparua is also known to the natives as
Honimoa, and Liaser, whence probably the old
name Uliassers, for this is the most important of the
three islands, and would naturally give its name to
the whole group. A merchant from Saparua, the
chief place on the island of that name, was then
visiting Amboina, and kindly invited me to accom-
pany him when he should return—an invitation I
was most happy to accept, for Rumphius received
many shells from these islands, and I anticipated ob-
taining some species alive, of which I possessed only
shells. A heavy storm delayed us for a week, a
frequent occurrence during the southeast monsoon,
From Amboina we followed my former route to
Tulahu, which we reached at evening, the usual
time for commencing a voyage in these seas at this
time of year, because the wind generally moderates
after sunset, and freshens again the next morning
soon after sunrise. We embarked at once on a large
prau, manned by eighteen natives of Saparua, and
readily distinguished from the people of Amboina
by the peculiar custom of clipping the hair short all
over the head, except a narrow band along the fore-
head, which is allowed to hang down over the face,
and gives them a remarkably clownish appearance.
One of these men, who was coxswain or captain,
steered with a large paddle; two others were de-
tailed to keep up the continual, monotonous din,
and which these people consider music, and the
others rowed. Our musical instruments were a
huge tifa, that gave out a dull, heavy sound, such as
would be caused by beating a hollow log, and not

180 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

the sharp, quick rap of a drum, which, however mo-
notonous, still has something stirring and lively in
it; and two gongs, imported from China, and just
harsh and discordant enough to please the musical
tympanums of the stupid Celestials. The tifa is beat
with a piece of wood of any shape held loosely in
the right hand, while the left hand raises the note
by pressing against the edge of the vibrating skin.
There ia, (arefore, no such thing as a long roll or a
short roll, but one unvaried beating. The two gongs
were of different sizes, and were struck alternately,
but this was so slight a change that it only made the
monotony more wearisome. Each rower had a small
wooden box, about a foot long, four inches high, and
six wide, where he carried the all-important betel-
nut, sir, lime, and tobacco. It also served as a chest
for his extra clothing. :

The betel-nut is the fruit .of a tall, slender, and
extremely graceful palm, the Areca catechu. The
trunk is usually from six to eight inches only in
diameter, but the sheaf of green leaves that springs
out of its top is thirty or forty feet from the ground.
Of all the beautiful palms, this is decidedly the most
fascinating to me. Near the house in which I lived,
at Batavia, there was a long avenue of these grace-
ful trees, and there in the bright mornings, and cool
evenings, I was accustomed to saunter to and fro,
and each time it seemed that they were more charm-
ing than ever before. This tree grows over all
tropical India, and the whole archipelago, including
the Philippines. Its Malay name is pinang, hence
Pulo Pinang is the Betel-nut Island. In nearly all

ie) OP edo ree

ee ae

PINANG, OR BETEL-NUT PALM.

,

eT?

~

pte * > CR ee tr ‘
=

MODE OF CHEWING BETEL-NUT. 181

the large islands it has a different name, an indica-
tion that it is indigenous. In Javanese it is called
jambi, and a region on the north coast of Sumatra,
where it is very abundant, has therefore received that
name, In favorable situations this tree begins to
bear when it is six years old, and generally yields
about a hundred nuts in a loose, conical cluster.
Each nut, when ripe, is about as large as a pullet’s
egg, and of a bright, ochreous yellow. This yellow
skin encloses a husk, the analogue of the thick husk
of the cocoanut, Within this is a small spheri-
cal nut, closely resembling a nutmeg, but very hard
and tough, except when taken directly from the
tree. It is chewed with a green leaf of the sir,
Piper betel, which is raised only for this purpose,
and such great quantities of it are consumed in this
way, that large plantations are seen in Java solely
devoted to its culture. The mode of preparing this
morsel for use is very simple: a small quantity of
lime as large as a pea is placed on a piece of the nut,
and enclosed in a leaf of sir. The roll is taken
between the thumb and forefinger, and rubbed vio-
lently against the front gums, while the teeth are
closed firmly, and the lips opened widely. It is
now chewed for a moment, and then held between
the teeth and lips, so as to partly protrude from the
mouth. A profusion of red brick-colored saliva now
pours out of each corner of the mouth while the man
is exerting himself at his oar, or hurrying along under
a-heavy load. When he is rich enough to enjoy
tobacco, a small piece of that luxury is held with
the siri between the lips and teeth. The leaf of the

182 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

tobacco is cut so fine that it exactly resembles the
“fine cut” of civilized lands; and long threads of
the fibrous, oakum-like substance are always seen
hanging out of the mouths of the natives, and
completing their disgusting appearance. This re-
volting habit prevails not only among the men,
but also among the women, and whenever a number
come together to gossip, as in other countries, a
box containing the necessary articles is always seen
near by, and a tall, urn-shaped spit-box of brass is
either in the midst of the circle or passing from one
to another, that each may free her mouth from sur-
plus saliva. Whenever one native calls on another,
or a stranger is received from abroad, invariably the
first article that is offered him is the siri-box.

From Tulahu we crossed a strait about half
a mile broad, and came under the lee of the
north side of Haruku, an oblong island, with a
long point on the east and southwest. Its extreme
length is about two and a quarter geographical
miles, its greatest width one and a quarter, and
its entire area eight square geographical miles.
The surface abounds in hills, but the highest is
not a thousand feet above the sea, Its population
is upward of seven thousand, and is distributed
in eleven villages, and about evenly divided be-
tween Christianity and Mohammedanism. Its geo-
logical structure is probably like the neighboring
parts of Laitimur. It is quite surrounded by a plat-
form of coral, which must be bare in some places at
low water. We kept near the shore, so that I could
look down deep into the clear water, and distinctly

AFTER THE BATH.

ta

a

, a

=
4?

WE STRIKE ON A CORAL REEF. 183

see many round massive heads of brain-coral, J/can-
drina, and other beautiful branching forms, Astrea,
hundreds of massive and tubular sponges, and broad
sea-fans, Gorgonias, as we glided over these miniature
forests and wide gardens beneath the sea. .
A clear sunset gave a good promise of an unusu-
ally pleasant night, and the stars twinkled brightly
as the evening came on, but the dull vibrations of the
tifa and the continual crashings of the gongs, with
now and then a wild, prolonged shout from one of
the oarsmen, and a similar chorus from the others,
kept me awake till late in the night. Finally, just
as a troubled sleep was creeping over me, there was
a sudden shout from every native, and our round-bot-
tomed prau gave a frightful lurch, first to starboard
and then to larboard. All was confusion and uproar,
and my first waking thought was that we must have
run into the back of some sea-monster, and that, per-
haps, the sea-serpent was no myth after all, for when
only such savages are seen on the land for men, it is
not unreasonable that hideous, antediluvian monsters
must be twisting their long, snaky forms beneath in
the deep, dark ocean. After awhile the danger was
explained: we had struck on a coral reef, though we
were at least half a mile from the shore, This indi-
cates the width, at this place, of the platform of coral
which encircles the whole island. The heavy swell
which had scarcely affected the boat while afloat now
made her roll almost over the moment her keel
touched the rock. Such rough, projecting coral reets
are very dangerous to the best boats, for in a few
moments they will frequently grind a hole through

184 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

her planks, and immediately she sinks in the surf,
while those on board find themselves far from the
shore. Pushing off, we stood directly eastward to
Saparua, four miles distant, and at half-past three
entered a small bay, and were at the kampong Haria.
This island has quite the form of the letter H, being
nearly divided into two equal parts by a deep bay
on the south side and another on the north. The
length of the western peninsula, which is a little
longer than that of the eastern, is two and a quarter
geographical miles, and the narrow isthmus which
connects them is about a mile wide. The peninsulas
are very mountainous, the highest peaks rising fif-
teen hundred feet above the sea, but the isthmus is
composed of low hills, and is mostly an open prairie.
The whole area of the island is ten square geographi-
cal miles. Its population numbers more than eleven
thousand, making it the most densely peopled of all
the islands that-now produce cloves. Along its
shores are no less than sixteen villages, mostly on the
two bays. Of these only three are Mohammedan,
the others are Christian. In 1817, when the English
restored these islands to the Dutch, a great rebellion
broke out in this island, which it took nearly two
years to quell, and, what is remarkable, the leaders
of this revolt were Christians, that is, members of the
Dutch Church.

From Haria we crossed the southern peninsula
to the chief town, also called Saparua, at the head
of the southern bay. Unlike the narrow foot-
paths on the island of Amboina, the roads here
are broad enough for carts, though none are used,

CELEBRATING A BIRTHDAY. 185

and besides, at the end of every paal from the chief
village a small square pillar is set up, indicating the
distance from the Resident’s house, and the year it was
erected. At Saparua, my merchant-friend gave me a
nice room, and the Resident, who received me in the
politest manner, said he was just planning a tour of
inspection to Nusalaut, the most eastern island of the
group, and would be happy to have me accompany
him, an invitation I most gladly accepted, for the na-
tives had described it to me as abounding in the
most beautiful shells, and already I possessed a few
rare species that had passed from one native to |
another until they reached me at Amboina. He also
showed me some choice shells that had been sent to
him as presents by the various rajahs, Two were
magnificent specimens of that costly wentletrap, the
Scalaria preciosa, for which large sums were once
paid in Europe. It was the only kind of shell which
I saw or heard of during my long travels among these
islands, of which I failed to obtain, at least, one good
specimen, He also had many very fine map-cow-
ries, which the natives everywhere regard as rare
shells,

That evening the commandant of the “ schuterij,”
or native militia, was to celebrate his birthday by giv-
ing a ball at the rwma négri. L attended, as a matter of
politeness, but not being able to dance myself, with-
drew when they had finished the first waltz, for the an-
ticipation of a ramble along the neighboring shores on
the morrow would have had a far greater fascination
to me than whirling until I was giddy, half embraced
in the arms of one of those dark belles, even if I had

186 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

understood how to take all their odd steps with due
grace. The passion of these people for dancing ap-
pears to be insatiable, for at eight o’clock the next
morning a good proportion of them were still whirl-
ing round and round with as much spirit as if the
féte had just begun. As might naturally be ex-
pected, these natives abhor all application and labor,
in the same degree that they are fond of excitement.
Saparua Bay is one of the most beautiful inlets
of the sea. Near its head is a bold, projecting bluff,
and on this rise the white walls of Fort Duurstede.
The other parts of the shore form a semicircular,
sandy beach, which is bordered with such a thick
grove of cocoa-nut palms that no one looking from
the bay would imagine that they concealed hundreds
of native houses. Here myriads of flat sea-urchins,
Clypeastride, almost covered the flats near low-water
level, and completely buried themselves in the cal-
careous sand as the tide left them. Thousands of
little star-fish were also found in the same locality,
hiding themselves in a similar manner. Higher up
the beach among the alge were many larger star-
fishes, with the usual five rays; but, as sometimes
‘happens among these low animals, one specimen was
provided with one arm more than his companions, and
could boast of six. Where ledges of coral rock rose
out of the water, countless numbers of the little money
eowry, Cyprea moneta, filled the excavations formed
in this soft rock. They are seldom collected here, as
they are too small to be used for food, and these na-
tives never use them as a medium of exchange, as
has been the custom from the earliest ages in India,

NUSALAUT. 187

August 17th—At 5 a, om. started with the Resi-
dent for Nusalaut. Our party included the doctor
stationed with the garrison, the commandant of
militia, whose birthday had been so faithfully ob-
served the day before, my merchant- friend, the
“ stuurman,” or captain, and last, and perhaps I
should add least, a little mestizo scribe, whose prop-
er title was “ the commissie.” A strong head wind,
with frequent squalls of rain, made our progress slow
till we reached a high point which the natives called
Tanjong O, the Headland O. From that point over
to Nusalaut was a distance of some two miles, As
we left the shore, and pushed out into the open sea,
our progress became still slower. Inch by inch we
gained till we were half-way across, when the wind
freshened, and for a time we could scarcely hold our
own, despite the increased jargon from the tifa and
the gong, and a wilder whooping from every native,
varied by mutterings from each, to the effect that he
was the only one who was really working. Almost
the moment these people meet with any unexpected
difficulty they become disheartened, and want to give
up their task at once, exactly like little children.

Nusalaut, like the other Uliassers, is completely
surrounded by a shallow platform of coral, which is
mostly bare at low water. We therefore entered a
small bay, where the deep water would allow our
boat to come near the shore. Coolies now waded
off with chairs on their shoulders, and landed us
dry-footed on the beach, where were a dozen natives,
clad in what is supposed to have been the war-cos-
tume of their ancestors long before the arrival of

188 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

Europeans, They were quite naked, and carried in
their right hands large cleavers or swords (some
of which I noticed were made of wood). On the
left arm was a narrow shield about four feet long,
and evidently more for show than use, as it was
‘only three or four inches wide in the middle, On
the head was a kind of crown, and, as long plumes
are scarce, sticks were covered with white hen-
feathers, and stuck in as a substitute. From their
shoulders and elbows hung strips of bright-red calico,
to make them look gay or fierce (it was difficult to say
which). Their war-dance consisted in springing for-
ward and backward, and whirling rapidly round.
Forming in two lines, they fiercely brandished their
swords, as we advanced between them to a little
elevation, where all the rajahs had gathered to re-
ceive the Resident.

Nusalaut is oblong in form, less than two miles in
length, and in some places only half a mile wide. Its
area, therefore, is somewhat less than a single square
mile. Its surface is hilly, but the highest point is
not more than three hundred meters above the sea,
A century and a half ago its population numbered
five thousand, but at present it is only three thousand
five hundred. The number of villages, and, conse-
quently, of rajahs, is only seven, We first visited
Sila, the one nearest our landing. As we entered the
kampong, we found the main street ornamented in a
most tasteful manner. The young, light-yellow leaves
of the cocoa-nut palm had been split in two, and were
bent into bows or ares with the midrib uppermost,
and the leaflets hanging beneath. These bows were

AN EASTERN BANQUET. 189

placed on the top of the fence, so as to form a con-
tinued series of arches; a simple arrangement that
certainly produced a most charming effect. As we
passed along, scores of heavily-loaded flint - locks
were discharged in our honor, and these mimic war-
riors continued their peculiar evolutions. From Sila
a short walk brought us to Lainitu, and here our re-
ception took a new phase. In front of the rajah’s
house was a wide triumphal arch, made of boards,
and ornamented with two furious red lions, who
held up a shield containing a welcome to the Resi-
dent. But just before we passed under that, the
crowd in front parted, and lo, before us stood eighteen
or twenty young girls, who had been selected from
the whole village for their beauty. They were all
arrayed in their costliest dresses, which consisted of
a bright-red sarong and a low kabaya, over which was
another of lace, the latter bespangled with many thin
pieces of silver. Their long, black hair was combed
backward, and fastened in a knot behind, and in this
were stuck many long flexible silver pins, that rapidly
vibrated as they danced, Most of them had a nar-
row strip of the hair over the forehead clipped short,
but not shaven, a most unsightly custom, and per-
haps originally designed to make their foreheads
higher. Their lips were stained to a dull brick-red
from constantly indulging in the use of the betel.
They were arranged in two rows, and their dance,
the minari, was nothing more than slowly twist- .
ing their body to the right and left, and, at the
same time, moving the extended arms and open
hands in circles in opposite directions. The only

190 TRAVELS IN THE EAST [INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

motion of their naked feet was to change the weight
of the body from the heel to the toe, and vice versa.
During the dance they sang a low, plaintive song,
which was accompanied by a tifa and a number
of small gongs, suspended by means of a cord in
a framework of gaba-gaba, the dried midribs of
palm-leaves. The gongs increased regularly in size
from one of five or six inches to one of a foot
or fifteen inches in diameter. Each had a round
knob or boss in the middle, which was struck with
a small stick, When made to reverberate in this
manner, their music was very agreeable, and re-
sembled closely that made by small bells. Sev-
eral gentlemen informed me that this instrument
was introduced here from Java by natives of these
islands, who were taken there by the Dutch to as-
sist in putting down a rebellion, It is merely a
rude copy of the instrument called the donang or
kromo in Java. The number of gongs composing
this instrument varies from six or eight to fourteen.
In Java the sticks used in striking the gongs, instead
of being made only of wood, are carefully covered
with a coating of gum to make the sound softer.
Another common instrument in Java is the gam-
bang, consisting of wooden or brass bars of different
lengths, placed crosswise over a wooden trough.
These are struck with small sticks composed of a
handle and a round ball of some light substance like
. pith, as shown in the accompanying photograph of a
Javanese and his wife. The instrument in the left hand
is a kind of flute, and that in his right is a triangle
exactly like those used in negro concerts in our land,

&>

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS USED BY THE
MALAYS AT BATAVIA, -

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF THE MALAYS. 191

In the Sunda districts of Java very good music is
produced by an instrument which consists of a series
of small bamboo tubes of different lengths, so placed
in a rude framework of wood that they can slightly
vibrate, and strike the sides of the frame when it is
shaken in the hand.

On the peninsula of Malacca a kind of gigantic
fZolian harp is made, by removing the partitions
within a bamboo, thirty or forty feet long, and making
a row of holes in the side as in a flute. This is
placed upright among the dense foliage, and in the
varying breeze gives out soft or heavy notes, until
the whole surrounding forest seems filled with the
harps of fairies.

All these natives are passionately fond of music,
and perhaps in nothing has their inventive genius
been so well displayed as in their peculiar musical in-
struments, which have been brought to the greatest
perfection in Java, where they are so elaborate that a
set of eighteen or twenty pieces, for a complete band,
costs from six hundred to one thousand dollars. A
number of these were taken to England by Sir Stam-
ford Rafiles, and carefully examined by a competent
judge, who expressed himself “astonished and de-
lighted with their ingenious fabrication, splendor,
beauty, and accurate intonation.”

While we were watching the slow, graceful dance,
dinner was prepared, and we were summoned from
the’veranda to an open room in the rear. The wife
of the rajah was the only lady at the table, and, as all
the princes and notables of the other villages were
present, the number of guests who were ready to

192 | TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

take seats with us was not small. Our bill of fare
was sufficient to satisfy the most fastidious epicure ;
for substantial diet the neighboring forests had fur-
nished us with an abundance of venison and the meat
of the wild boar, and the adjoining bays had yielded
several kinds of nice fish, All was prepared in an
unexceptional manner, and the rich display of pine-
apples, mangostins, dukus, and several kinds of bana-
nas was finer than many a European prince could set
before his guests. The process of demolishing had
fully begun, when the dark beauties, who had been
dancing before the house, came in, and ranged them-
selves round the table. My first impression was, that
they had come in to see how Europeans eat, and I only
refrained from hinting to that effect to the Resident
on my right, because he had already smiled to see
my surprise at our novel reception, and besides, I was
anxious not to appear to be wholly ignorant of their
odd customs, Soon they began to sing; and this, I
thought to myself, is probably what is meant by a
sumptuous banquet in the East, and, if so, it well de-
serves the name. As the song continued, one after
another took out a handkerchief of spotless white,
and folding it into a triangular form, began to fan the
gentleman in front of her. This is indeed Eastern
luxury, I said to myself, and while I was wondering
what would come next, the damsel behind the Resident
reached forward and gave him a loud kiss on his cheek.
“That was intended as an appetizer 1 presume?”
Natuurlijk, “Of course,” he replied, and I leaned
back in my chair to give way to a hearty laugh, which
I had been trying for a long time to restrain, when

AN OSCULATORY SALUTE. 193

suddenly I was astonished by a similar salutation on
the lips! It was done so quickly that I had no time
to recover from my bewildering surprise, and coolly
explain that such was not the custom in my land.
Instead of my laughing at the Resident’s expense,
the whole party laughed at mine; but my confusion
was dispelled by the assurance of all that even the
governor-general himself had to submit to such treat-
ment when he came to inspect these islands, Besides,
I was made aware that the fault was largely my own,
and that, when I leaned backward to laugh, the fair
one behind me had misinterpreted the movement as
a challenge (which she certainly seemed not loath to
accept). At every village we had to run a similar
gantlet, and I must confess that several times it oc-
curred to me that the youngest member of the party
certainly received his share of such tender attention,
and that many of these beauties, nona itwm, were de-
termined to improve their present opportunity for
fear that they might never again have the privilege
of kissing a gentleman with a white face.

The Resident’s duties, while on a tour of inspection,
consist chiefly in visiting and examining the schools,
of which there is one in every village on this island,
except at one place where two kampongs, which are
near each other, have one in common. On Saparua
also thirteen out of the sixteen villages are each
provided with a school, and on Haruku eleven vil-
lages are supplied with six schools, so distributed
over the island as to be accessible to all. The facili-
ties, therefore, afforded by the Dutch Government to

these natives to acquire a good common education are
13

194 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

far better than they are in many civilized lands, The
teachers are all well paid. Those on this island are
all natives. They are remarkably awkward, proba-
bly because they feel dressed up; for, on such an im-
portant occasion as the present, every one who holds
a government office must appear in a black suit.
Again and again I found it required great self-com-
mand to keep from smiling when it was expected I
should look very grave and dignified; for here, on the
outskirts of civilization, I beheld all the fashions of
Europe, apparently for the last two hundred years,
All the petty officials wore dress coats, some with tails
almost on the ground, and others with sleeves so long
that you could scarcely see the ends of the fingers,
and still others with the waists so small that they
seemed to be in corsets. Some of these coats had
narrow collars, and had evidently been worn by the
most dainty exquisites, while others had lapels
broad enough for the outer coat of a coachman. As
soon as the inspection is over these precious articles
are carefully rolled up and thoroughly smoked, to
prevent their being destroyed by the ants, They are
then placed away till the next year, when they are
again unrolled and at once put on, entirely filled with
wrinkles, and giving out the strongest odors.

On entering the school-house the Resident is
greeted with a welcome that has been prepared long
before by the teacher and committed to memory by
a small boy, who now steps forward, and, stretching
out both arms at full length, repeats the oration at
the top of his voice, occasionally emphasizing certain
sentences by making a low bow, but taking care all

NATIVE SCHOOLS. 195

the time not to bend his extended arms. This ordeal
finished, the children join in singing a psalm, all
keeping time by striking the forefinger of the right
hand with the palm of the left. It was most amusing
to see the little ones perform their part of the cere-
mony. The four classes, into which the schools are
divided, are now successively examined, The two
younger classes in reading and spelling the Malay
language, written in the Roman alphabet, according
to the Dutch rules of pronunciation. The two older
classes are likewise examined in these branches, in
penmanship, and the simple rules of arithmetic.

As I visited school after school I became more
and more surprised at the general proficiency of the
children, and I am certainly of the opinion that they
would compare very favorably with the children of
the same ages in our own country districts. This
remarkable promise in childhood is not, however,
followed by a corresponding development during
youth and manhood.

The population* of these islands is divided into
the following kinds: first, that of Europeans, which
also includes the mestizoes, or, as they are always
called here, “half-castes,’ who are of all shades of
mixture, from those who are as white as Europeans
to those who are as brown as the natives. Outside

* In 1855 the population of the islands east of Amboina was thus di-

vided, and so little change has ocourred that these figures closely repre-
sent the relative numbers of each class at the present time:
Slaves.

Mestizoes. | Burgers. |

Total,

Christiana, | Mohammedana.
Blarvkil..+<usseletettsces 88 288 B04 | = 844 64 | 7,188
BAPATUA...6sccceeenneeses| 163 9,012 T,40 1,14 97 11,665
Nusalaut ........ aonete ee 4 63 8,356 anne e $.470

eee

196 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

of the city of Amboina nine-tenths of the so-called
Europeans are really mestizoes. The second class is
composed of those natives who are not required by
the government to work in the clove-gardens, They
are named by the Dutch “burgers.” The third class.
includes the negrotjvolken or “villagers,” and the
fourth comprises those who were slaves, and are
mostly natives of Papua. The “villagers,” or com-
mon people, have paid no’ direct tax, but have been
required instead to work a certain number of days in
the clove-gardens belonging to the government, and
also sell to the government all they raise themselves
at a certain price. Now the Dutch are changing
this indirect mode of taxation into a direct mode, and
requiring the able-bodied men to pay one guilder
each this year, but not obliging them to work so
many days in the gardens. Next year they are to
pay two guilders and work a less number of days,
and so on till the fifth year, when they will pay five
guilders, and be entirely free from any other tax.
After the examination of the school has been fin-
ished, all the able-bodied men are called together be-
fore the rajah’s house, and the Resident explains to
them this change, and what will be expected of them
during the coming year. At present each village is
obliged to furnish men at a certain price to carry the
chair of every official and of every one who, like my-
self, has an order for such a privilege from the head
government at Batavia. In four years from this time
each official will be obliged to make a separate trade
at every village with his chair-bearers, and these peo-
ple are so indolent, and so given to demanding the

CARPE DIEM. 197

most extravagant prices, that I fear the chief effect
of this change will be to diminish even the little
travel and trade there are now, unless the present
system shall be continued till large numbers of horses
are introduced. .

This proposed taxation will certainly be very
light, for each man can earn the five guilders required
of him by carrying coal or freight for a week at the
city of Amboina,

The great obstacle to every reform among these
natives is, that only a very few of them, if they have
enough for one day, will earn any thing for the mor-
row. “Carpe diem” is a motto more absolutely ob-
served here than in luxurious Rome. The desire of
all Europeans to have something reserved for sick-
ness or old age is a feeling which these people appear
to never experience, and such innate improvidence is,
unfortunately, encouraged from their earliest child-
hood by the unfailing and unsparing manner in which
Nature supplies their limited wants. The possi-
bility of a famine is something they cannot compre-
hend,

In 1854, 120,288 Amsterdam pounds of cloves
were raised on this island from 13,042 trees, each
tree yielding the great quantity of nine pounds, In
the same year, on Saparua, from 29,732 fruit-trees,
181,137 Amsterdam pounds were gathered, one-third
of the whole crop (510,912 pounds) obtained that
year in Amboina, Haruku, Saparua, and Nusalaut.
On Haruku 38,803 pounds were gathered that year.
These three islands, Haruku, Saparua, and Nusalaut,
with the neighboring south coast of Ceram, form one

198 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

residency, over which an assistant resident or resi-
dent of the second rank is placed.

From Lainitu we passed along the northern shore
to Nullahia, where we remained for the night. Here
I purchased many beautiful “harp-shells” and a few
large cones, which were formerly so rare that they
have been sold in Europe for more than two hundred
dollars apiece. The next day we continued on to
Amet, the largest kampong on the island. Here a
good missionary was located, who was indeed like
Melchisedek, “both priest and king.” From this
place he is accustomed to travel to the various vil-
lages, preaching, teaching, and keeping a general sur-
veillance over the conduct of his people, and the good
results of his labor were well shown in the general
spirit of thrift and order which characterizes these
villages as compared to the Mohammedan kampongs
Thad previously visited on the shores of Amboina.
Every person in all these villages is nominally a
Christian, and this, I believe, is the only island in the
archipelago of which that can be said. The mission-
ary, however, informs me that a few of them occa-
sionally steal away to some secret place among the
mountains where they practise their ancient rites by
making offerings to spirits, possibly those of their
ancestors, which they were accustomed to worship
before the introduction of Christianity.

The village of Amet is one of the best places in
the whole Moluccas to gather shells. The platform
of coral which begirts the island extends out here
nearly two English miles from high-water level to
where the heavy swell breaks along its outer edge ;

THE WAVES BREAKING ON A CORAL REEF, 199

and all this flat area is either bare at low tide, or
only covered to the depth of a few inches by small
pools. Here the beautiful “mitre-shells” abound—
the Mitra episcopalis, or “ Bishop’s mitre,” and the
Mitra papalis, or “ Pope’s mitre,” and many beauti-
ful cones and cypreas.

From Amet to Abobo, at the southern end of the
island, a distance of more than a mile, the coral plat-
form narrows until it is quite near the high-water
line. Along the whole length of this reef the heavy
swell from the ocean is seen rising again and again
into one grand wall, which, slowly curling its high
white crest, plunges headlong over the soft polyps,
which, despite the utmost efforts of the ocean, slowly
but continually advance their wondrous structure
seaward. ‘This endless lashing and washing of the
waves, which would wear away the most adaman-
tine rocks, only enables those delicate animals to
work with a greater vigor, and this is probably the
chief reason that the reef here is wider than anywhere
else along the shores of the neighboring islands.

Between Amet and Abobo there is sometimes
found a very beautiful cone, covered with mottled
bands of black and salmon-color, which once com-
manded fabulous prices in Europe, and is now gen-
erally regarded by the natives as the most valuable
shell obtained in these seas, Although I travelled
along nearly all the shores of the adjacent islands, I
was continually assured that this part of Nusalaut
was the only place where this shell was ever found,
an assertion which I regard as true, so sparing is
Nature of her choicest treasures.

200 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

Returning from Abobo to Nullahia and Lainitu,
I took a small prau for Saparua. The monsoon was
light and the sea smooth at first, but when again we
approached Tanjong O, which these natives always
spoke of with the same respect that our sailors speak
of Cape Horn, we found a very strong current set-
ting in one direction, while the wind had freshened
from the opposite quarter. The meeting of the
wind and current made the waves rise irregularly up
in pyramids and tumble over in every direction. The
natives, apparently half terrified, stripped off their
clothes, as if they expected that the boat would cer-
tainly. be swamped, and that soon their only chance
of escape would be to swim to the shore and attempt
to climb up the ragged rocks through the surf; but I
encouraged them to paddle with all their might, and
though several waves broke over us, we went safely
through. As soon as the danger was past, each na-
tive frequently looked back and boastfully shook his
head, as if to taunt the evil spirit that dwells on this
dangerous headland.

When we arrived at Saparua, I found the Resident
just on the point of starting for the neighboring
coast of Ceram, and only waiting to invite me to ac-
company him. So again I was in good fortune, for I
had not anticipated reaching that almost unknown
island. From the southern bay we were taken in
chairs across the isthmus, that connects the two main
parts of Saparua, to the north bay. It was now night,
but we continued along the east side of this bay to
the kampong Nollot, at the northern end of the island,
the nearest point to the part of Ceram we were to

CERAM. 901

visit. Scores of natives followed us, some to relieve
each other as chair-bearers, and others to carry im-
mense torches of dry palm-leaves, which successively
blazed brightly for a moment and lighted up the ad-
joining forests and our strange party. Several vil-
lages lay along our route, and, as we entered each,
huge piles of leaves were set on fire, and the half:
naked natives all whooped and shouted until we
really seemed to be in the midst of the infernal re-
gions.

At daylight the next morning we started in two
praus for Ceram. As we left the rajah’s house the
beauties of the villages gathered on the bank, and,
while we were embarking, chanted a song of hope
that we should have “a pleasant voyage over the
sea, and soon return in safety.” The tifa and gongs
began the monotonous din, the rowers shouted and
tugged at their oars, and the high peaks of Saparua
slowly sank beneath the horizon. For a time no
land was in sight, and I could but note how perfect-
ly we were repeating the experience of the earliest
navigators of the Mediterranean along the shores of
Pheenicia and Greece.

Ceram is the largest island in the Moluccas,
Its length is one hundred and sixty-two geographi-
cal miles, but its greatest breadth is only forty.
Its area is computed to be about five thousand geo-
graphical square miles, which makes it rank next to
Celebes in the whole archipelago. It is divided into
three peninsulas by two deep bays on its southern
coast. The most eastern of these great inlets of the
sea is called Elpaputi Bay, which separates the west-

902 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

ern end of the island from the eastward. The west-
ern third is again divided into two unequal peninsulas
by the bay of Tanuno. The westernmost is called
Howamowel, or “ Little Ceram,” and is connected with
the middle peninsula, Kaibobo, by an isthmus less
than a mile broad, Kaibobo is again connected with
the eastern two-thirds of the island by an isthmus
about three miles broad. The whole island is really
but one great mountain-chain, which sends off many
transverse ranges and spurs, and the only low land it
contains is east of the bay of Amahai, along its south-
ern shore. In the western peninsula the mountains
do not have any considerable height, but in the
middle one some peaks attain an elevation of five
thousand or six thousand feet, and in the middle
part of the eastern peninsula Mount Nusaheli is sup-
posed to rise more than three thousand metres (nine
thousand eight hundred and forty-two English feet)
above the sea. Over all these elevations stretches one
continuous and unbroken forest. So great a part of
the whole island is unknown that various and widely-
different estimates of its population have been made,*
Some of its peaks now became visible through the
mist, and soon we were in Elpaputi Bay, and, chang-
ing our course toward the east, entered a small inlet
called the bay of Amahai. At the head of this bay
is the small village of the same name, containing a
population of thirteen hundred souls. The contro-

* In 1854 the western part that is included in the residency of Hila
was supposed to contain a population of two thousand four hundred and
sixty-eight; the middle peninsula and the bay visited on this voyage,
twenty-four thousand one hundred and ninety-four; the northern coast

THE HEAD-HUNTERS OF CERAM. 203

leur stationed here told us of the “ Alfura”* who
dwelt among the neighboring mountains ; and, that
I might have the opportunity of seeing these wild
savages, the Resident kindly sent a number of the
coast people to invite them to come down and _ per-
form their war-dance before us. In a few hours a
party of about twenty appeared. Only eight or ten
were able-bodied men; the others were women, chil-
dren, and old men. In height and general appear-
ance they closely resemble the Malays, and evidently
form merely a subdivision of the Malay race. Their
peculiar characteristics are the darker color of their
skins and of their hair, which, instead of being lank
like that of the Malays, is crisp, but not woolly like
that of the Papuans, They wear it so very long, that
they may properly be said to have large and bushy

under Wahai, forty thousand nine hundred and twenty-five; and, in the
great area east of Elpaputi Bay, it was supposed that there dwelt between
twenty-one and twenty-two thousand; making a total of eighty-nine
thousand and eighty-seven, about ninety thousand ; but Dr. Bleeker, who
gives these figures, thinks there are half as many more people among
the mountains, and that the whole population of the island should be
put down at one hundred and fifty thousand. He gives the population
of these islands for 1855 in round numbers as follows:

Amboina 29,500 Amblan.... 1,000 Manipa,....... T00
Harukt....0...00: 7,200 Bonoa .... - 100 Saparua ...... 11,600
Bum 9,200 Nuealant... - 8500 Ceram......... 150,000

WM aie vows abe vi sd caine nc ashen phaweeedeesebencielen eval 214,200

These figures may be regarded as good estimates of the population at the
present time.

*This name Alfura, in Dutch Alfoera, is also written Alfora, Alafora,
Arafara, and Halafora. Mr. Crawfurd finds that it is composed of the
Arabic articles alor, el, and the preposition fora, without ; and was simply
a general denomination given by the Portuguese when they were su-
preme in the Moluccas to all the native inhabitants who were without
the pale of their authority.

904 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

heads. When in full dress, however, this abundance
of hair is confined by a red handkerchief, obtained
from the natives on the coast, and ornamented with
parts of a small shell, the Vassa, in place of beads.
Their clothing is a strip of the inner bark of a
tree beaten with stones until it becomes white and
opaque, and appears much like white, rough paper.
This garment is three or four inches wide and about
three feet long. It passes round the waist and covers
the loins in such a way that one end hangs down in
front as far as the knee. On the arm, above the
elbow, some wore a large ring, apparently made from
the stalk of a sea-fan, Gorgonia. To this were fastened
bunches of long, narrow green leaves, striped with
yellow. Similar ornaments were fastened to the el-
bows and to the strip of bark at the waist. Each
of the warriors was armed with a parang or cleaver,
which he raised high in the right hand, while on his
left arm was a shield three or four feet long but only
four or five inches wide, which he held before him as
if to ward off an imaginary blow. Their dance was
merely a series of short leaps forward and backward,
and occasionally whirling quickly round as if to de-
fend themselves from a sudden attack in the rear.
Their only musical instrument was a rude tifa, which
was accompanied by a monotonous song from the
women, children, and old men, At first the time of
the music was slow, but by degrees it grew quicker
and louder, until all sang as fast and loud as they
could. The dancing warriors became more excited,
and flourished their cleavers and leaped to and fro
with all their might, until, as one of our company

. BLOODY LAWS OF THE ALFURA. 905

remarked, their eyes were like fire. It was easy to
understand that in such a state of temporary madness
they would no more hesitate to cleave off a head than
to cut down a bamboo. They are far-famed “head-
hunters.” It is a custom that has become a law
among them that every young man must at least cut
off one human head before he can marry. Heads,
therefore, are in great demand, and perhaps our
realization of this fact made these frenzied savages
appear the more shocking specimens of humanity.
The head of a child will meet the inexorable demands
of this bloody law, but the head of a woman is pre-
ferred, because it is supposed she can more easily de-
fend herself or escape; for the same reason the head
of a man is held in higher estimation, and the head
of a white man is a proof of the greatest bravery,
and therefore the most glorious trophy.

On the north coast, near Sawai Bay, the Dutch,
a few years ago, had a war with these natives, and
when they had driven them to the mountains, they
found in their huts between two and three times
as many human skulls as it is probable there were
people in the whole village, men, women, and chil-
dren taken together. When a man is afraid to go
out on such a hunt alone, he invites or hires two
or three others to assist him, and all lie in wait
near a neighboring village until some one chances to
pass by, when they spring out and dispatch their
victim, and escape. This, of course, creates a deadly
enmity between each tribe and every other near it;
and the whole interior of the eastern half of the
island, where this head-hunting prevails, is one un-

906 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN a

changing scene of endless, bloody strife. The same
custom prevails over the greater part of the interior
of Borneo among many tribes known as Dyaks, the
Malay word for “savage.” There only the heads of
men are valued, and new ones must be obtained to
celebrate every birth and funeral, as well as mar-
riage, I have seen a necklace of human teeth made
in that island by those people. Small holes had
been drilled in several scores of them, which were
then strung on a wire long enough to pass two or
three times round the neck of the hero who wore it.
When a head is secured, the brains are taken out,
and it is placed over a fire to be smoked and dried.
During this process, the muscles of the face contract
and change the features until they assume a most
ghastly grimace.

The dance being finished, we conversed with
them as well as we could about their customs, for
none of them could speak but a few words in Malay.
On the piece of paper-like bark which hangs down
in front, each warrior makes a circle when he cuts
off a head. Some had one or two of these circles;
but one man had four, and I gave him to understand
that I knew what they meant by drawing my hand
four times across my throat, and then holding up
the fingers of one hand, and instantly he hopped
about as delighted as a child, thinking that of course
I was regarding him as the bravest of the brave,
while I looked at him in mute astonishment, and
tried to realize what a hardened villain he was.
Our North American savages are civilized men com-
pared to these fiends in human form.

A DYAK OR HEAD.

HUNTER

“i oF

N ‘al i} i

OF BORNEO,

4 tees tik: +

LANDING THROUGH THE SURF. 207

From Amahai we sailed westward across Elpa-
puti Bay to the peninsula already described as re-
joicing in the melodious name of Kaibobo. Here, at
a small village, a native of Amboina had established
himself, and commenced planting cocoa-trees, which
we found thriving most satisfactorily, even better
than in the gardens I had previously visited on Am-
boina, At the present prices this is the most profit-
able product that can be raised in the Moluccas, and
the good result of this trial shows what enormous
quantities might be shipped yearly from this single
great island of Ceram, if foreigners or natives would
devote themselves to its culture.

Near by were two villagers of Alfura, who had
been induced to abandon their old habits of roaming
among the mountains and make for themselves a fixed
dwelling-place. The rajah of each place came to
the village where we landed, to acknowledge his
allegiance to the Dutch Government. From that
place we proceeded southward along the eastern
shore of the peninsula. While we were in the bay,
the opposite shore sheltered us from the heavy south-
easterly swell that now rolled in before a driving
rain-storm, and made our round-bottomed praus roll
and pitch so that the rowers could scarcely use their
oars. At length, near night, we came to anchor off
a village that the Resident was obliged to visit. It
was situated on a straight, open beach, which de-
scended so abruptly beneath the sea, that the high
swell never once broke before finding itself suddenly
stopped in its rapid course; it rose up in one huge
wall that reeled forward and fell on the steep shore

208 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

with a roar like heavy thunder. Although I was
- born by the shore of the open sea, and had seen boats
land in all kinds of weather, I never saw the most
daring sailors attempt it through such a surf as was
breaking before us. Every few moments the water
would rebound from the sand until it rose twice and
a half as high as the natives standing near it, at least
fifteen feet. One of our number could not conceal his
timidity, and declared that every one of us would
be drowned if we should attempt to land at that
time, The Resident, however, said he should try it,
and I assured him he should not go alone; and the
others concluded not to allow themselves to be left
behind. More than two hundred natives had now
gathered on the beach. They soon made a rude
skid or wide ladder, with large poles on the sides,
and small green ones with the bark torn off for the
rounds. This was laid down when the wave was
forming, and a heavy prau pushed on to it as the
wave broke, and a broad sheet of surf partially
buoyed her up. As this wave receded, she was suc-
cessfully launched. We were now ordered to change
from our boat into that one, and at once we ran in
toward the shore over the heavy rollers. Other na-
tives now appeared on the beach with a huge coil
of rattan an inch or more in diameter, and, two or
three of them seizing one end, ran down and plunged
headlong into a high wave as coolly and as unhesi-
tatingly as a diver would leap from the side of a
boat in a quiet bay. The end of the rattan was fast-
ened firmly to the front part of our boat; the other
was carried up a long way on the beach, and the na-

SS. —=- ~~

"WV¥HAI 40 LSVYOI HLNOS JHL NO AUNS AHL HONMOWHL ONIGNYI

——

o~*

A

i

io
4

A OCONVIVIAL OF THE IEAD-HUNTERS. 209

tives ranged themselves in two rows, each grasping
it with one hand as if ready to haul in the leviathan
himself, when the warning should be given, A
number of heavy seas now rolled in and broke, but
the natives, by means of their paddles, kept us from
being swept forward or backward. A smaller swell
is coming in now. Every native gives a wild yell,
and those on the shore haul in the rattan with all
their might, and away we dart on the crest of a
wave with the swiftness of an arrow. We are now
in the midst of the surf, and our boat is on the skid,
but away we glide at the speed of a locomotive, and
already we are high upon the bank before the next
wave can come in.

The Resident, who enjoyed surprising me as
much as possible, had carefully concealed the urgent
business that had compelled him to land in such a
difficult place, and my curiosity was not diminished
when I noticed his imperative orders for the militia,
who accompanied us as a guard, to come on shore
immediately. We were evidently near, or already
in, an enemy’s country. A large gathering of the
natives was now ordered at the rajah’s house, an
examination began, and several men were sentenced
to be seized by the guard and brought to Amboina
for trial. They had been guilty of participating in a
feest kakian, or meeting of a secret organization, that
was formed as early at least as a few years after the
arrival of the Dutch. There are various opinions as
to its object, some asserting that it originated as a
confederation of many tribes against other tribes, and
others supposing its design to be to resist the author-

14

910 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

ity of the Dutch, the view apparently entertained by
that government.

But a short time before we arrived they had held
one of their drunken revels at a place only half an
hour’s walk among the neighboring mountams. In
these convivials at first each indulges as freely as he
chooses in an intoxicating liquor made from the juice
of the flowering part of a palm; then all join in a
dance, and kick about a human head which has been
obtained for this especial occasion, and is tossed into
the midst of these human fiends all besmeared with
its own clotted blood. The natives whom our sol-
diers were seizing were present and took part in one
of these bloody carousals, as they themselves acknowl-
edged. I must confess that a sickening sensation,
akin to fear, crept over me that night before I fell
asleep, as I realized the probability that, if it were
not for our guard, instead of our taking away those
culprits to be punished as they richly deserved, they
would sever every one of our heads and have an-
other diabolical revel over their bloody trophies.

All night the wind piped loudly in strong gusts,
and the heavy pulsating of the surf came up from the
beach beneath us. In the morning the storm had
not abated, but I was anxious to go back to Amboina,
and no one of the party desired to remain long in
that savage place. To embark was more difficult
than to land. Again the skid was put down on the
sand, the prau placed on it, and as the water receded
the natives pushed us off, several waves sweeping
over their heads; but they were so completely am-
phibious, that it did not appear to trouble them in the

LIFE AT AMBOINA. 911

least. Unfortunately, a strong gust struck us just as
we floated, and for some minutes we remained mo-
tionless in one spot, the sea rolling up until what
Virgil says, with a poet’s license, was literally true
of us, the naked earth could be seen beneath our
keel,

Again all that day we pitched and tossed, and
the distance we had to go seemed endless, until, as
the sun sank, the high land of Saparua rose before us
and we entered a broad bay. The natives saw us
coming, and quickly kindled on the shore huge blazing
fires, which were repeated in the form of long bands
of bright light on the mirror-like surface of the quiet
sea, and now we were welcomed with shouts to the
same place where the native belles had sung such a
plaintive song at our departure.

From Saparua I returned directly to Amboina,
for one who has been accustomed to the mail facili-
ties of our land will subject himself to almost any
inconvenience in order to reach the place where the
mail-boat touches.

Life at Amboina, and at almost every other place
in the Dutch possessions, at the best is dull. Once
or twice a month, in accordance with an established
custom, the governor gives a reception on Sunday
evenings, when all the Europeans and most of the
mestizoes come and dance till late; and as there are
some seven hundred of these people in the city, and
the larger portion attend, such parties are quite bril-
lant affairs. The music is furnished by a small band

» connected with the detachment of soldiers stationed
here.

912 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

An occasional wedding also helps to break up
the unvarying monotony, and kindly furnishes a
topic for general conversation, so that for a time every
one does not feel obliged to complain of the abun-
dance of rain, if it is the rainy season, or of the lack
of rain if it is the dry monsoon, Whenever an official
goes back to Holland, or is transferred from one place
to another, which usually occurs once in three years,
even when he is not promoted, he sells most of his
furniture at auction. His friends always muster in
full force, and each one is expected to show his at-
tachment to his departing friend by purchasing a
number of articles, or something of little value, at ten
or a hundred times its price. Such an occasion also
gives a change to the talk among merchants.

An auction here, instead of being a kind of pri-
vate trade, as with us, is directly under the manage-
ment of the government. An authorized auctioneer
is regularly appointed at each place, and a scribe
carefully enters the name of the successful bidder,
the article he has purchased, and the price. Three
months of grace are allowed before such a bill be-
comes due, but then the buyer must at once pay the
sum due or make some arrangement satisfactory to
the seller, When natives, whose assets are always
limited, have purchased a number of articles, the
scribe frequently takes upon himself the responsibility
of ordering them not to bid again.

CHAPTER VIL
BANDA,

Two months had now passed since I arrived
at Amboina, and I had not only collected all the
shells figured in Rumphius’s “ Rariteit Kamer,” which
I had come to seek, but more tha twice as many
species besides, I was therefore ready to visit some
other locality, and turn my attention to a different
branch of natural history. During all the time I
had been gathering and arranging my collection, Govy-
ernor Arriens had frequently honored me with a visit,
and, as I was finishing my work, he called again, this
time to give me a pleasant surprise. He had a fine
steam-yacht, of three or four hundred tons. It was
necessary that he should go to Banda, and he took it
for granted that I would accompany him. If I had
planned for myself, what could I have desired more ;
but he added that, when his yacht, the Telegraph, re-
turned, there would be an item of business for her to
do on the north coast of Ceram, which I should also
visit, though alone, and that, when she returned to
Amboina a second time, we would go together to Ter-

» nate, and, taking the Resident stationed there, proceed
to the north coast of Papua—a royal programme.

914 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

Sept. Tth—At 5 pv, u. steamed down the beautiful
bay of Amboina for Banda. Our company is com-
posed of the governor, who is going on a tour of
inspection, our captain, myself, an “officer of jus-
tice,” and a lieutenant with a detachment of soldiers
in charge of a native of Java, who is sentenced to be
hanged as soon as we reach our port. The worst of
the rainy season is now over, and this evening is
cool, clear, and delightful.

Early the next morning Banda appeared on the
horizon, or more correctly the Bandas—for they are
ten in number. The largest, Lontar, or Great Banda,
is a crescent-shaped island, about six miles long and
a mile and a half wide in the broadest parts, The
eastern horn of its crescent turns toward the north
and the other points toward the west. In a prolon-
gation of the former le Pulo Pisang, “Banana Isl-
and,” and Pulo Kapal, “Ship Island.” The first is
about two-thirds of a mile long, and half as wide;
the last is merely a rock about three hundred feet
high, and somewhat resembling the poop of a ship,
hence its name. Within the circle of which these
islands form an are, lie three other islands. The
highest and most remarkable is the Gunong Api,* or
“ Burning Mountain,” a conical, active voleano, about
two thousand three hundred feet high. Between Gu-
nong Api and the northern end of Lontar lies Banda
Neira, about two miles long and less than a mile

* This Ganong Api must not be confounded with another similar
voleano of the same name north of Wetta, and still another near
the western end of Sumbawa, at the northern entrance to the Sapi ~
Strait.

DISCOVERY OF THE MOLUCCAS. 915

broad. Northeast of the latter is a small rock called
Pulo Krakka, or “ Women’s Island.”

The centre of the circle of which Lontar is an
arc falls in a narrow passage called Sun Strait, which
separates Gunong Api from Banda Neira. The di-
ameter of this circle is about six miles. Without
it, another concentric circle may be drawn, which
will pass through Pulo Ai, “ Water Island,” on the
west, and Rosengain in the southwest; and outside
of this a third concentric circle, which will pass
through Swangi, “Sorcery or Spirit Island,” on the
northwest, Pulo Run (Rung), “Chamber Island,” on
the west, and the reef of Rosengain on the southwest.
The total area of the whole group is seventeen and
six-tenths geographical square miles,

The first European who reached these beautiful
and long-sought islands was D’Abreu, a Portuguese,
but he cannot correctly be styled their discoverer, for
the Arabs and Chinese, and probably the Hindus,
had been trading here for years before his arrival, as
De Barros informs us D’Abreu, while on his way,
touched at Gresik, in Java, to procure “ Javanese and
Malay pilots who had made this voyage,” and he
further adds: “ Every year there repair to Lutatam”
(Lontar) “Javanese and Malays to load cloves, nut-
megs, and mace; for this place is in the latitudes
most easily navigated, and where ships are most safe,
and as the cloves of the Moluccas are brought to it
by vessels of the country, it is not necessary to go to
the latter in search of them. In the jive islands now
named” (Lontar, Rosengain, Ai, Run, and Neira),
“grow all the nutmegs consumed in every part of the

916 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

world.” A proof of the correctness of a part of De
Barros’s statements is seen in the names of the different
islands, which are all of Malay or Javanese origin.
The population at that time was given at fifteen thou-
sand, which, if correct, would have made this group
far more densely peopled than any island or number
of islands in the whole archipelago is at the present
day. Their personal appearance and form of govern-
ment are thus minutely described by De Barros:
“The people of these islands are robust, with a tawny |
complexion and lank hair, and are of the worst repute
in these parts, They follow the sect of Mohammed,
and are much addicted to trade, their women per-
forming the labors of the field. They have neither
king nor lord, and all their government depends on
the advice of their elders; and as these are often at
variance, they quarrel among themselves, The land
has no other export than the nutmeg. This tree is
in such abundance that the land is full of it, without
its being planted by any one, for the earth yields
without culture. The forests which produce it be-
long to no one by inheritance, but to the people in
common. When June and September come, which
are the months for gathering the crop, the nutmegs
are allotted, and he who gathers most has most
profit.” * The fact that the natives were Mohamme-
dans may be regarded as a proof that they were in
advance of the other nations, who continued in hea-
thenism, and their daring and determination are-well
shown in their long contest with the Dutch.

For nearly a hundred years the Portuguese monop-

* De Barros, in Crawfurd’s “ Dictionary of the India Islands,”

a

NATIVES EXTERMINATED BY THE DUTCH. 7

olized the trade of these islands, and appear to have
generally kept on good terms with the natives, but in
1609 the Dutch appeared with seven hundred troops,
as large a foree—Mr. Crawfurd pointedly remarks
—as Cortez had with which to subjugate all Mexico,
The admiral commanding this expedition, and forty-
five of his companions, were taken by an ambuscade,
and all slain. The Dutch then began a war of exter-
mination, which lasted eighteen years, and was only
brought to an end by a large expedition from Java,
conducted by the governor-general in person, Dur-
ing this long contest the natives are said to have
lost three thousand killed and a thousand prisoners,
or more than a fourth part of what has been stated
as their whole number when the Dutch arrived.
All who were left alive fled to the neighboring
islands, and not a vestige of their language or pecu-
liar customs is known to exist at the present time.
The Dutch were thus left sole possessors of the
coveted prize, but there were no natives to cultivate
the nutmeg-trees, and they were therefore obliged to
import slaves to do their labor. When slavery was
abolished in the Dutch possessions, convicts were
sent from Java to make up the deficiency, and at this
time there are about three thousand of them in all
these islands, Most of them are in Lontar and
Neira. They are a most villanous-looking set, and
have nearly all been guilty of the bloodiest crimes.
They are obliged to wear around the neck a large iron
ring, weighing a pound or a pound and a half. It is
bent round, and then welded, so that it can only be
taken off by means of a file. It is not so heavy that

918 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

it is difficult for them to carry, but is designed, like
the State-prison dress in our country, to show that
they are common felons. The one on board our
ship, who will be executed on our arrival, killed a
secretary of the government—a European—in cold
blood, at Banda, where he had already been banished
for murder, like most of his fellows. The secretary,
having occasion to arrange some papers in a box at
the farther end of his room, noticed this common
coolie disturbing some letters on his desk, and natu-
rally ordered him to let them alone, and then leaned
forward to continue his work. Instantly the Java-
nese, without further provocation, sprang forward,
and, striking him on the back of the head with a
heavy cleaver, killed him on the spot. Afterward,
when this villain was seized and tried, he could as-
sign no other reason for his committing the murder
than the order from his superior to attend to his
own business. When he heard that he was sen-
tenced to death, he coolly remarked that he cared
very little, as they would hang him, and not take
off his head, so that what he had done would in no
way affect his entering Paradise !

In 1852 some natives came from Timur, Timur-
laut, and the neighboring islands, to work on the
nutmeg-plantations, or, as the Dutch prefer to call
them, “parks.” In two years these people numbered
two hundred and thirteen, but they have not in-
creased since to such a degree as to form a large
fraction of the whole population.

But while we have been glancing back over the
eventful history of the Bandas, our fast yacht has

THE BURNING MOUNTAIN, 219

rapidly brought us nearer to them over the quiet,
glassy sea. This is Pulo Ai on our right. It is
only from three hundred to five hundred feet high,
and, as we see from the low cliffs on its shores, is
mostly composed of coral rock. This is also said
to be the ease with the other islands outside of the
first circle we have already described, and we notice
that, like it, they are all comparatively low. Now
changing our course to the east, we steam up under
the high, steep Gunong Api, On its north-northwest
side, about one-fourth of the distance from its sum-
mit down to the sea, is a deep, wide gulf, out of
which rise thick, opaque clouds of white gas, that
now, in the still, clear air, are seen rolling grandly
upward in one gigantic, expanding column to the
sky. On its top also thin, veil-like clouds occasion-
ally gather, and then slowly float away like cumuli
dissolving in the pure ether. These cloud-masses
are chiefly composed of steam and sulphurous acid
gas, and, as they pour out, indicate what an active
laboratory Nature has established deep within the
bowels of this old voleano.

The western horn of crescent-shaped Lontar is
before us. Its shore is composed of a series of
nearly perpendicular crags from two to three hun-
dred feet high, but particularly on the northern or
inner side the luxuriant vegetation of these tropical
islands does not allow the rocks to remain naked,
and from their crevices and upper edges hang down
broad sheets of a bright-green, unfading verdure.
The western entrance to the road, the one through
which we are now passing, is between the abrupt,

990 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

magnificent coast of Lontar on the right, and the
high, overhanging peak of Gunong Api on the left;
and, as we advance, they separate, and disclose to our
view the steep and lofty wall that forms Lontar’s
northern shore. This is covered with a dense, matted
mass of vegetation, out of which rise the erect, col-
umnar trunks of palms, from the crests of which, as
from sheaves, long, feathery leaves hang over, slowly
and gracefully oscillating in the light air, which we can
just perceive fanning our faces. Now Banda Neira is
in full view. It is composed of hills which gradually
descend to the shore of this little bay. On the top
of one near us is Fort Belgica, in form a regular
pentagon, At the corners are bastions surmounted
by small circular towers, so that the whole exactly
resembles an old feudal castle. Its walls are white,
and almost dazzling in the bright sunlight; and
beneath is a broad, neatly-clipped glacis, forming
a beautiful, green, descending lawn. Below this
defence is Fort Nassau, which was built by the
Dutch when they first arrived in 1609, only two
years before the foundations of Belgica were laid,
and both fortifications have existed nearly as they
are now for more than two and a half centuries. On
either hand along the shore extends the chief village,
Neira, with rows of pretty shade-trees on the bund,
or front street, bordering the bay. Its population is
about two thousand. In the road are a number of .
praus from Ceram, strange-looking vessels, high at
stern, and low at the bow, and having, instead of a
single mast, a tall tripod, which can be raised and
lowered at pleasure. They are all poorly built, and

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THE GREAT BIRD OF PARADISE. 991

it seems a wonder that such awkward boats can live
any time in arough sea, A number of Bugis traders
are also at anchor near by. They are mostly herma-
phrodite schooners, carrying a square-sail or foresail, a
fore-topsail, and fore-royal, and evidently designed,
like the praus, to sail only before the wind. They
visit the eastern end of Ceram, the southwestern and
western parts of Papua or New Guinea, the Arus, and
most of the thousand islands between Banda, Timur,
and Australia. When the mail-steamer that took
me to Amboina touched here, a merchant of this
place, who joined us, brought on board four large
living specimens of the Paradisea apoda or “ Great
Bird of Paradise,” which he had purchased a short
time before from one of these traders, and was tak-
ing with him to Europe.* They were all sprightly,
and their colors had a bright, lively hue, incompar-
ably richer than the most magnificent specimens I
have ever seen in any museum. »

At our main truck a small flag slowly unfolds
and displays a red ball. This indicates that the gov-
ernor is on board, and immediately a boat comes to
take us to the village; but as business is not press-
ing—as is usually the case in the East—we prefer to
conform to the established custom in these hot lands,
and enjoy a szesta, instead of obliging our good friends
on shore to come out in full dress and parade in the
scorching sunshine,

At 5 p.m. we landed, and the Resident politely
conducted us to his residence. Our first excursion

* Subsequently I learned that two of them were still living when he
reached France,

929 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

was to the western end of the opposite island, Lon-
tar, the Malay name of the Palmyra palm, Borassus
flabelliformis. Its leaves were used as parchment
over all the archipelago before the introduction of
paper by the Arabs or Chinese, and in some places
even at the present time. Lontar, as already no-
ticed, has the form of a crescent. Its inner side is
a steep wall, bordered at the base with a narrow
band of low land. On the outer side from the crest
of the wall many radiating ridges descend to the sea,
so that its southwestern shore is a continued series
of little points separated by small bays. The whole
island is covered with one continuous forest of nut-
meg and canari trees. The nutmeg-tree, Myristica
moschata, belongs to the order Myristicacew, A foot
above the ground the trunk is from six to ten inches
in diameter. It branches like the laurel, and its lofti-
est sprays are frequently fifty feet high. It is dicecious,
that is, the pistils and the stamens are borne on differ-
ent trees, and of course some of them are unproduc-
tive. The fruit, before it is fully ripe, closely re-
sembles a peach that has not yet been tinged with
red; but this is only a fleshy outer rind, epicarp,
which soon opens into two equal parts, and within
is seen a spherical, black, polished nut, surrounded
by a fine branching ari/—the “ mace”—of a bright
vermilion. In this condition it is probably by far
the most beautiful fruit in the whole vegetable king-
dom. It is now picked by means of a small basket
fastened to the end of a long bamboo. The outer
part being removed, the mace is carefully taken off
and dried on large, shallow bamboo baskets in the

CURING NUTMEGS. 993

sun, During this ‘process its bright color changes
to a dull yellow. It is now ready to be packed in
nice casks and shipped to market. The black, shi-
ning part, seen between the ramifications of the ver-
milion mace, is really a shell, and the nutmeg is
within. As soon as the mace is removed, the nuts
are taken to a room and spread on shallow trays of
open basket-work. A slow fire is then made beneath,
and here they remain for three months. By the end
of that time the nutmeg has shrunk so much that it
rattles in its black shell. The shell is then broken,
and the nutmegs are sorted and packed in large casks
of teak-wood, and a brand is placed on the head of
the cask, giving the year the fruit was gathered and
the name of the plantation or “ park” where it grew.

From Neira a large cutter took us swiftly over
the bay to Selam, a small village containing the
ruins of the old capital of the Portuguese during the
sixteenth and early part of the seventeenth centuries,
while their rights remained undisputed by the Dutch.
This western end of Lontar is about four hundred
feet high, and is composed of coral rock of a very
recent date. Walking eastward, we next came to a
conglomerate containing angular fragments of lava.
This rock was succeeded on the shore of the bay
by a fine-grained, compact lava, somewhat strati-
fied, and this again by trachytic and basaltic lavas,
Indeed, the whole island, except the parts described
above, consists of these eruptive rocks, and Lontar
may be regarded as merely a part of the walls of an
immense crater about siz mz/es in diameter, if it were
circular, though its form may have been more nearly

994 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

elliptical. Pulo Pisang and Pulo Kapal, already
noticed as falling in the first circle, are two other
fragments of the old crater wall. All the remain-
ing parts have disappeared beneath the sea, Here,
then, is another immense crater, greater even than
the famous one in the Tenger Mountains in the east-
ern part of Java, the bottom of which is covered
with shifting, naked sand, and has been appropriately
named by the Malays the Laut Pasar or “Sandy
Sea.” That crater is elliptical in outline, its major
axis measuring four and a half miles, and its minor
axis three and a half miles, and, though of such dimen-
sions, its bottom is nearly a level floor of sand. Out
of this rise four truncated cones, each containing a
small crater. One of these, the “ Bromo” (so named
from Brama, the Hindu god, whose emblem is fire), is
still active. In this old crater the island Banda Neira
represents the extinct cones rising in the “ Sandy Sea,”
and Gunong Api has a perfect analogue in the active
Bromo. The enclosed bay or road, where vessels
now anchor in eight or nine fathoms, is the bottom
of this old crater, and, like that in the Tenger Moun-
tains, is composed of volcanic sand. The radiating
ridges on the outer side of Lontar represent the simi-
lar ridges on the sides of every volcano that is not
building up its cone by frequent eruptions at its
summit. Again, the islands crossed by the second
and third circles are only so many cones on the
flanks of this great voleano. True, those parts of
them now above the sea are largely composed of
coral rock like the west end of Lontar, but undoubt-
edly the polyps began to build their high walls on

BEAUTIFUL GROVES. 995

the shores of islands of lava, They are doing this
at the present moment, Every island in the group
is now belted with a fringing reef, except at a few
places where the shore is a perpendicular precipice
and the water of great depth.. The western entrance,
through which we came to the road, is already quite
closed up by a broad reef of living coral.

A stroll through these beautiful groves would be
one of the richest treats a traveller could enjoy, even
if he took no interest in the rocks beneath his feet.
All the nutmeg-trees were loaded down with fruit,
which is chiefly gathered during this month (Septem-
ber), and again in June, though some is obtained from
time to time throughout the year. It seemed sur-
prising that the trees could bear so abundantly
season after season, but the official reports show
that there has been little variation in the annual
yield for the last thirty years. An average crop for
the last twenty years has been about 580,000 Am-
sterdam pounds of nuts and 137,000 pounds of mace.
The trees may be estimated, in round numbers, at
450,000, of which only two-thirds bear. As the
governor remarked to me, while I was expressing
my wonder at the abundance of fruit on every side,
it is, indeed, strange that the income of the govern-
ment does not equal its expense. For this cause it
now, for the first time, proposes to give up its long-
continued monopoly. Beneath the trees is spread a
carpet of green grass, while high above them the
gigantic canari trees stretch out their gnarled arms
and shield the valuable trees intrusted to their care
from the strong winds which strive in vain to make

15

296 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

them cast off their fruit before it is ripe. Such good
service do the tall canaris render in this way, that
they are planted everywhere, and when the island is
seen from a distance, their tops quite hide the nut-
meg-trees from view. The roots of this canari are
most remarkable. They spring off from the trunk
above the ground in great vertical sheets, which are
frequently four feet broad where they leave the tree,
and wind back and forth for some distance before
they disappear beneath the soil, so that the lower
part of one of these old trees might well be fancied
to be a huge bundle of enormous snakes struggling
to free themselves from a Titanic hand that held
them firmly forever.

As we leisurely strolled along the crest of Lon-
tar, with a thick foliage over our heads that effect-
ually shut out the direct rays of the sun, we occa-
sionally caught distant views under the trees of the
blue sea breaking into white, sparkling surf on the
black rocks far, far beneath us.

Soon we came to the “ Lookout,” known here,
however, by the Malay name Orang Datang, “The
people come,” for it is a peculiarity of that language,
instead of naming a place like this subjectively, as we
do, that is from one’s own action, to name it objective.
ly, that is, from the result of that action. The look-
out is placed on the edge of the interior wall, and is
about six hundred feet above the sea. From this
point most of the Bandas are distinctly seen in a
single glance, and the view is undoubtedly one of
the most charming to be enjoyed among all the isles
of the sea. Before us was Banda Neira, with Neira

THE ORANG DATANG. 927

its pretty village, and to the left of this the dark,
smoking volcano; and beyond both, on the right, Ba-
nana Island, where the lepers live in solitary banish-
ment; and still farther seaward, Ship Rock, with the
swell chafing its abrupt sides, while, on our left, in
the distance, were Pulo Ai and Pulo Run, all rising
out of the blue sea, which was only ruffled here and
there by light breezes or flecked by shadows of the
fleecy clouds that slowly crossed the sky.

The next day we again went over to Lontar, and
followed along the narrow band of low land between
the base of the old crater-wall and the bay, visiting
a number of the residences of the “ Perkenniers,” as
the proprietors of the parks are styled. Each of
these consisted of a rectangular area of a eighth or a
quarter of an acre, enclosed by a high wall. The
side next the sea is formed by the park-keeper’s
house, and on the other three sides of the great open
yard are rows of store-houses, and the houses of the
natives who work on that plantation. Near the
place where we landed was a small area where all
the mace is white when the fruit is ripe and not red.
From the west end of the island we followed most of
the distance round its outer shore, and then crossed
toour landing. In the early morning, while we were
leaving on our excursion, preparations were made in
Fort Nassau for the execution of the Javanese we
had brought the day before from Amboina,; whither
he had been taken to be tried for his capital crime.
Long lines of natives, most of them women, were
seen hurrying along to witness the shocking sight,
apparently with exactly the same feelings they woul

998 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

have if they were on their way to some theatrical
show.

As the governor had now finished his duties as
inspector, he proposed that we try to reach the top
of the voleano! As we looked up toward its high,
dark summit, then but partially lighted by the fading
sunset, the thought of such a dangerous undertaking
was enough to make one shudder, and, indeed, even
while we were sitting on the broad veranda, and
discussing the dangers we must incur on the morrow,
there was a sudden jar—everybody darted instantly
down the steps—it was an earthquake, and no one
knew that a shock might not come the next instant
so severe as to lay the whole house in ruins, These
frightful phenomena occur here, on an average, once
a month, but, of course, no one can tell what moment
they may occur or what destruction they may cause,
Such is the unceasing solicitude that all the inhabi-
tants of these beautiful islands have to suffer. The
governor had ascended fifteen volcanoes on Java,
some of them with the famous Dr. Junghuhn, and
such a slight earthquake could not shake his decision.
But our party had to be made up anew. I promised
the governor he should not go alone, though I could
not anticipate the ascent without some solicitude.
The captain of our yacht then volunteered, also a
lieutenant, and finally, as no other shock disturbed us,
the excursion became as popular as before, and a
number asked permission “to go with His Excel-
lency,” a favor the governor was quite ready to grant,
though I noticed a good-natured smile on his counte-
nance to see such devotion and such bravery.

ASCENDING AN ACTIVE VOLCANO. 999

There was only one man, a native, who had ever
been to the top and “knew the way,” though from a
distance one part of the mountain seemed as danger-
ous as another, That man was engaged as our
“ ouide,” and also some ten others whose duty it was
to carry a good supply of water in long bamboos.
Early next morning the coolies were ready, but only
the four of us before mentioned appeared at the ap-
pointed hour; the daring of the others had evidently
been dispelled by portentous dreams. From the
western end of the village we crossed “the Strait of
the Sun” to the foot of the mountain. Some coolies
had preceded us, and cleared away a path up the
steep acclivity; but soon our only road was the nar-
row bands where large masses of rocks and sand,
which had been loosened from some place high up the
mountain, and shot down in a series of small land-
slides, ploughing up the low shrubbery in their thun.
dering descent. As long as we climbed up among the
small trees, although it was difficult and tiring, it was
not particularly dangerous until we came out on the
naked sides of the mountain, for this great elevation
is not covered with vegetation more than two-thirds
of the distance from its base to its summit. This lack
of vegetation is caused by the frequent and wide land-
slides and by the great quantity of sulphur brought up
to its top by sublimation and washed down its sides
by the heavy rains, Here we were obliged to crawl
up on all fours among small, rough blocks of porous
lava, and all spread out until our party formed a
horizontal line on the mountain-side, so that when
one loosened several rocks, as constantly happened,

930 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

they might not come down upon some one beneath him.
Our ascent now was extremely slow and difficult, but
we kept on, though sometimes the top of the moun-
tain seemed as far off as the stars, until we were
within about five hundred feet of the summit, when
we came to a horizontal band of loose, angular frag-
ments of lava from two to six inches in diameter.
The mountain-side in that place rose at least at an
angle of thirty-five degrees, but to us, in either look-
ing up or down, it seemed almost perpendicular.
The band of stones was about two hundred feet wide,
and so loose that, when one was touched, frequently
half a dozen would go rattling down the mountain.
T had got about half-way across this dangerous place,
when the stones on which my feet were placed gave
way. This, of course, threw my whole weight on
my hands, and at once the rocks, which I was hold-
ing with the clinched grasp of death, also gave way,
and I began to slide downward. The natives on
either side of me cried out, but no one dared to
catch me for fear that I should carry him down also,
Among the loose rocks, a few ferns grew up and
spread out their leaves to the sunlight. As I felt
myself going down, I chanced to roll to my right side
and notice one of them, and, quick as a flash of light,
the thought crossed my mind that my only hope was
to seize that fern. This I did with my right hand,
burying my elbow among the loose stones with the
same motion, and that, thanks to a kind Providence,
was sufficient to stop me; if it had broken, in less than a
minute—probably in thirty or forty seconds—I should
have been dashed to pieces on the rough rocks be-

IN GREAT PERIL. 931

neath. The whole certainly occurred in a less
space of time than it takes to read two lines on this
page. I found myself safe—drew a long breath of
relief—thanked God it was well with me—and, kick-
ing away the loose stones with my heels, turned
round and kept on climbing. Above this band of .
loose stones the surface of the mountain was covered
with a crust formed chiefly of the sulphur washed.
down by the rains, which have also formed many
small grooves. Here we made better progress,
though it seemed the next thing to climbing the
side of a brick house; and I thought I should
certainly be eligible to the “Alpine Club”—if I
ever got down alive. At this moment the natives
above us gave a loud shout, and I supposed of course
that some one had lost his footing and was going
down to certain death. “Zook out! Look out /—
Great rocks are coming |!” was the order they gave
us; and the next instant several small blocks, and
one great flake of lava two feet in diameter, bounded
by us with the speed of lightning. “ Here is an-
other!” Tt is coming straight for us, and it will
take out one of our number to a certainty, I thought.
I had stood up in the front of battle when shot and
shell were flying, and men were falling; but now to
see the danger coming, and to feel that I was per-
fectly helpless, I must confess, made me shudder, and
I crouched down in the groove where I was, hoping
it might bound over me: and at that instant, a frag-
ment of lava, afoot square, leaped up from the moun-
tain and passed directly over the head of a coolie a
few feet to my right, clearing him by not more than

932 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

five or six inches, I took it for granted that the
mountain was undergoing another eruption, and that
in a moment we should all be shaken down its almost
vertical sides; but as the rocks ceased coming down
we continued our ascent, and soon stood on the
rim of the crater. The mystery concerning the fall-
ing rocks was now solved. One of our number had
reached the summit before the rest of us, and, with
the aid of a native, had been tumbling off rocks for
the sport of seeing them bound down the mountain,
having stupidly forgotten that we all had to wind
part way round the peak before we could get up on
the edge of the summit, and that those of the party
who were not on the top must be directly beneath
him.

The whole mountain is a great cone of small an-
gular blocks of trachytic lava and volcanic sand, and
the crater at its summit is only a conical cavity in
the mass. It is about eighty feet deep and one hun-
dred or one hundred and fifty yards in diameter.
The area on the top is elliptical in form, about three
hundred yards long and two hundred wide. This,
on the eastern side, is composed of heaps of small
lava-blocks, which are whitened on the exterior,
and, in many places, quite incrusted with sulphur.
Through the heaps of stones steam and sulphurous
acid gas are continually rising, and we soon hurried
around to the windward side to escape their suffo-
cating fumes, and in a number of places we were
glad to run, to prevent our shoes from being scorched
by the hot rocks, On the western side of the crater
the rim is largely composed of sand, and in one place

PERILOUS DESCENT. 238

rises one hundred and twenty feet higher than on the
eastern side. The top, therefore, partly opens toward
the east, and from some of the higher parts of Lontar
most of the area on the summit of this truncated
cone can be seen. In the western part were many fis-
sures, out of which rose sheets and jets of gas. When
we had reached the highest point on the northwest
side, we leaned over and looked directly down into
the great active crater, a quarter of the distance from
the summit to the sea. Dense volumes of steam and
other gases were rolling up, and only now and then
could we distinguish the edges of the deep, yawning
abyss. Here we rested and lunched, enjoying mean-
while a magnificent view over the whole of the Banda
group when the strangling gas was not blown into
our faces, Again we continued around the northern
side, and came down into an old crater, where was a
large rock with “ Aitna,” the name of a Dutch man-of-
war, carved on one of its sides, and our captain bu-
sied himself for some time cutting “Telegraph,” the
name of our yacht, beneath it. Great quantities of
sulphur were seen here, more, the governor said, than
he had noticed on any mountain in Java, for the
abundance of sulphur they all yield is one of
the characteristics of the volcanoes of this archipela-
go. It was now time to descend, and we called our
guide, to whom some one had given the classical
prenomen of Apollo (a more appropriate title at
least than Mercury, for he never moved with winged
feet); but he could not tell where we ought to go,
every thing appeared so very different when we looked
downward, 1 chose a place where the vegetation

034 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

was nearest the top, and asked him if I could go
down there, to which, of course, he answered yes, as
most people do when they do not know what to say,
and must give some reply.

I had brought up with me an alpen-stock, or long
stick, slightly curved at one end, and with this I
reached down and broke places for my heels in the
crust that covered the sand and loose stones. For
hundreds of feet beneath me the descent seemed per-
pendicular, but I slowly worked my way downward
for more than ninety feet, and had begun to con-
gratulate myself on the good progress | was making.
Soon, I thought, I shall be down there, where I can
lay hold of that bush and feel that the worst 1s past,
when I was suddenly startled by a shout from my
eompanions, who were at some distance on my right.
“Stop! Don’t go a step farther, but climb directly
up just as you went down.” I now looked round for
the first time, and found, to my astonishment, that I
was on a tongue of land between two deep, long holes
or fissures, where great land-slides had recently oc-
eurred. I had kept my attention so fixed on the
bush before me that I had never looked to the right or
left—generally a good rule in such trying situations.
To go on was to increase my peril, so I turned,
climbed up again, and passed round the head of one
of these frightful holes, If at any time the crust had
been weak, and had broken beneath my heels, no
earthly power could have saved me from instant
death. As I broke place after place for my feet with
the staff, I thought of Professor Tyndal’s dangerous
ascent and descent of Monte Rosa. At last I joined

ASCENT OF BURNING MOUNTAIN} BANDA,

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ON TERRA FIRMA ONCE MORE. 935

my companions, who had found the way we had come
up, and after some slips and sprains, and considerable
bruising, we all reached the bottom safely, and were
glad to be off the volcano, and, landing on Banda
Neira, feel ourselves on terra firma once more,

For a few days I could scarcely walk or move my
arms, but this lameness soon passed away; not so
with the impressions made on my mind by those
dangers: and even now, when I am suddenly aroused
from sleep, for a moment the past becomes the pres-
ent, and I am once more on the tongue of land, with
a frightful gulf on either hand, or I am saving myself
by grasping that fern.

According to the statements of the officials, many
years ago a gentleman had the hardihood to attempt
to ascend this mountain alone. As he did not return
at the expected time, a party of natives was sent to
search for him, and his dead body was found some
distance beneath the summit. The rocks to which he
had intrusted himself had probably given way, and
the only sensation that could have followed was one
of falling and a quick succession of stunning blows,
and life was gone. Governor Arriens assured me
that the band of loose stones was the most danger-
ous place he had ever crossed, though he had climbed
many nearly perpendicular walls, but always where
the rocks were fixed and could be relied on fora
footing and a hold. If the ascent and descent were
not so difficult, sulphur might be gathered in such
quantities at the summit crater that it would form
an important article of export. The authorities in-
formed me that much was obtained in former times,

936 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

and that the natives who undertook this perilous
climbing were always careful to array themselves in
white before setting out, so that if they did lose their
lives in the attempt they would be dressed in the
robes required by their creed, and at once be taken
to Paradise. The first European who reached its
summit, so far as I am aware, was Professor Rein-
wardt, in 1821; the second was Dr, S, Miller, in
1828; and from that time till the 13th of September,
1865, when we ascended it, only one party had at-
tempted this difficult undertaking, and that was
from the steamer Aitna, whose name we had found
on a large rock in the old crater.

The height of this voleano we found to be only
two thousand three hundred and twenty-one English
feet. Its spreading base is considerably less than
two miles square. In size, therefore, it is insignifi-
cant compared to the gigantic mountains on Lom-
bok, Java, and Sumatra; but when we consider the
great amount of suffering and the immense destruc-
tion of property that has been caused by its repeated
eruptions, it becomes one of the most important vol
canoes in the archipelago.* In 1615 an eruption oc-
eurred in March, just as the Governor-General, Ge-
rard Reynst, arrived from Java with a large fleet to
complete the war of extermination that the Dutch
had been waging with the aborigines for nearly
twenty years. ?

For some time previous to 1820, many people

* From Valentyn and later writers we learn that eruptions have
oceurred in the following years: 1586, 1598, 1609, 1615, 1632, 1690,
1696, 1712, 1765, 1775, 1778, 1820, and 1824,

ERUPTION OF GUNONG APL 937

lived on the lower flanks of Gunong Api, and had
succeeded in forming large groves of nutmeg-trees
On the 11th of June of that year, just before twelve
o'clock, in an instant, without the slightest warning,
an eruption began which was so violent that all the
people at once fled to the shore and crossed over in
boats to Banda Neira, Out of the summit rose
perpendicularly great masses of ashes, sand, and
stones, heated until they gave out light like living
coals. The latter hailed down on every side, and, as
the accounts say, “set fire to the woods and soon
changed the whole mountain into one immense cone
of flame.” This happened, unfortunately, during the
western monsoon; and so great a quantity of sand
and ashes was brought over to Banda Neira, that
the branches of the nutmeg-trees were loaded down
until they broke beneath its weight, and all the
parks on the island were totally destroyed. Even
the water became undrinkable, from the light ashes
that filled the air and settled down in every crevice.
The eruption continued incessantly for thirteen days,
and did not wholly cease at the end of six weeks.
During this convulsion the mountain was apparently
split through in a north-northwest and south-south-
east direction. The large, active crater which we
saw beneath us on the northwestern flanks of the
mountain, from the spot where we stopped to lunch,
was formed at that time, and another was reported
higher up between that new crater and the older
one on the top of the mountain. A stream of lava
poured down the western side into a small bay, and
built up a tongue of land one hundred and eighty

238 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

feet long. The fluid rock heated the sea within a
radius of more than half a mile, and nearer the shore
eggs were cooked init, This stream of lava is the
more remarkable, because it is a characteristic of the
voleanoes throughout the archipelago, that, instead
of pouring out molten rock, they only eject hot
stones, sand, and ashes, and such materials as are
thrown up where the eruptive force has already
reached its maximum and is growing weaker and
weaker.

On the 22d of April, 1824, while Governor-Gen-
eral Van der Capellen was entering the road, an
eruption commenced, just as had happened two hun-
dred and nine years before, on the arrival of Gov-
ernor-General Reynst. A great quantity of ashes
again suddenly rose from its summit, accompanied by
clouds of “ black smoke,” in which lightnings darted,
while a heavy thundering rolled forth that complete-
ly drowned the salute from the forts on Neira, ‘This
was followed, on the 9th of June, by a second erup-
tion, which was succeeded by a rest of fourteen
days, when the volcano again seemed to have re-
gained its strength, and once more ashes and glow-
ing stones were hurled into the air and fell in show-
ers on its sides,

But the people of Banda have suffered quite as
tauch from earthquakes as from eruptions, though
the latter are usually attended by slight shocks,*
Almost the first objects that attract one’s attention
on landing at the village are the ruins caused by

* Heavy earthquakes, without eruptions, have oceurred in 1629,
1683, 1710, 1767, 1816, and 1852.

A VILLAGE SUBMERGED. 939

the last of these destructive phenomena. Many
houses were levelled to the ground, but others
that were built with special care suffered little in-
jury. Their walls are made of coral rock or bricks.
They are two or three feet thick and covered with
layers of plaster. At short distances, along their
outer side, sloping buttresses are placed against them,
so that many of the Banda residences look almost as
much like fortifications as dwelling-houses, The
first warning any one had of the destruction that
was coming was a sudden streaming out of the wa-
ter from the enclosed bay, until the war-brig Haai,
which was lying at anchor in eight or nine fathoms,
touched the bottom, Then came in a great wave
from the ocean which rose at least to a height of
twenty-five or thirty feet over the low, western part
of the village, which is only separated from Gunong
Api by the narrow Sun Strait. The praus lying
near this shore were swept up against Fort Nassau,
which was then so completely engulfed, as it was
stated to me on the spot, that one of these native
boats remained inside the fort when the water
had receded to its usual level. The part of the vil-
lage over which the flood swept contained many small
houses, and nearly every one in them was carried away.
The rapid outflowing of the water of this enclosed
bay (which is really only an old crater) was prob-
ably eaused either by the elevation of the bottom at
that spot, or else by such a sinking of the floor of the
sea outside, that the water was drained off into some
depression which had suddenly been formed. We
have no reason to suppose that there was any great

940) TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

commotion in the open ocean, and certainly there
was no high wave or bore, or it would have risen on
the shores of the neighboring islands. There are
three entrances or straits which lead from the road
out to the open sea. Two of these are wide and one
is narrow. When the whole top of the old volcano,
that is, Banda Neira, Gunong Api, Lontar, and the
area they enclose, was raised for a moment, the
water steamed out from the crater through these
straits, causing only strong currents, but as the land
instantly sank to its former level, the water poured
in, and the streams of the two wider straits, meeting
and uniting, rolled on toward the inner end of the
narrow strait. Here they all met, and, piling up,
spread out over the adjoining low village, causing a
great destruction of life, At the Resident’s house, a
few hundred yards east of Fort Nassau, the water only
rose some ten or fifteen feet above high-water level,
and farther east still less. The cause assigned above,
though the principal one, may therefore not have
been sufficient in itself to have made the sea rise
so high over the southwestern part of Banda Neira
and the opposite part of Gunong Api, and I sus-
pect that an additional cause was that the land
there sank for a moment below its proper level.
Valentyn thus describes another less destructive
earthquake wave: “In the year 1629 there was a
great earthquake, and half an hour afterward a flood
which was very great, and came in calm weather.
The sea between Neira and Selam” (on the western
part of Lontar) “rose up like a high mountain and
struck on the right side of Fort Nassau, where the

THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BANDAS. 941

water rose nine feet higher than in common spring
floods. Several houses near the sea were broken
into pieces and washed away, and the ship Briel,
lying near by, was whirled round three times.” *
However, all these events are but as yesterday
when we glance over the early history of this an-
cient voleano ; for, if we can judge by analogy, taking
as our guide the great crater already referred to as
this day existing among the lofty Tenger Mountains
on Java, we see in our mind’s eye an immense vol-
canic mountain before us. From its high crater dur-
ing the lapse of time pour out successive overflows
of lava which has solidified into the trachyte of
Lontar, That period is succeeded by one in which
ashes, sand, and hot stones are ejected, and which
insensibly passes into recent times. During one of
these mighty throes the western half of the crater-
wall disappeared beneath the sea, if the process of
subsidence had gone on so far at that time. Slowly
it sinks until it is at least four feet lower than at the
present day, for we found on the western end of
Lontar a large bank of coral rock at that height.
The outer islands are now wholly submerged. This
period of subsidence is followed by one of up-
heaval, but not till the slow-building coral polyps
had made great reefs, which have become white,
chalky cliffs, and attained their present elevation
above the sea. A tropical vegetation by degrees
* In this case the facts that the water in the roads did not pour sat
into the sea, and that the “flood” did not come until half an hour after
the shock had oceurred, indicate that this wave had its origin elsewhere,
and that there is no need of supposing, as in accounting for the great

wave of 1852, that any part of the group was raised or depressed.
16

949 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

spreads downward, closely pursuing the retreating
sea, and the islands become exactly what they are at
the present day.

The Banda group form but a point in the wide
area of the residency of Banda. All the eastern part
of Ceram is included in it, the southwest coast of
New Guinea, and the many islands south and south-
west to the northern part of Timur. Southeast of
Ceram are the Ceram-laut, that is, “Ceram lying to
seaward,” or Kefling group, numbering seventeen isl-
ands. Their inhabitants are like those I saw on the
south coast of Ceram, and do not belong to the Pa-
puan or negro race. They are great traders, and con-
stantly visit the adjoining coast of New Guinea,
where they purchase birds of paradise, many /wrés or
parrots of various genera, “crown pigeons,” dJega-
podiidee, scented woods, and very considerable
quantities of wild nutmegs, which they sell to the
Bugis traders, who usually touch here at Banda on
their outward and homeward passages. I saw many
of the wild nutmegs that had been brought in this
way from New Guinea. Instead of being spherical,
like those cultivated here at Banda, they are ellipti-
cal in outline, frequently an inch or an inch and
a quarter long, and about three-fourths of an inch
in diameter. They do not, however, have the rich,
pungent aroma of the Banda nutmegs, and this, I am
assured, is also the case with all wild ones wherever
found, and even with those raised on Sumatra and
Pinang from seeds and plants originally carried from
these islands, Wild nutmegs are also found on Dam-
ma southwest of Banda, and on Amboina, Ceram,

THE SOUTHEASTERN ISLANDS. 943

Buru, Batchian, the Obi Islands, and Gilolo, also on
the islands east of the latter, and on the northern
coast of the western part of New Guinea. This fruit
is widely planted by the “ nut-crackers,” two large
species of doves, Columba cenea, Tem., and Columba
perspicillata, Tem., which swallow the nuts covered
with the mace, the only part digested. The kernel
enclosed in its hard, polished shell is soon voided,
while it yet retains the germinating power, and a
young tree springs up far from its parent.

East of this group is that of Goram, composed of
three islands, inhabited by natives who are Moham-
medans, Southeast of Goram is the Matabella group.
Indeed, these groups are so united that they form but
one archipelago. The Ceram-laut Islands are low, but
those of Goram and Matabella are high. On the isl-
and Teor, or Tewer, in the last group, there is a vol-
cano which suffered a great eruption in 1659, Mr.
Wallace describes the Matabellas as partly composed
of coral reefs raised from three to four hundred feet.
Sometimes these people go as far west as Sum-
bawa and Bali. The “Southeastern Islands” begin
on the north with the Ki group, ten in number, south
of the former archipelago. Three of the Kis are large
islands and two are high, a peak on one being esti-
mated at about three thousand feet. They are so
well peopled that they are supposed to contain over
twenty thousand souls. The natives are very in-
dustrious, and famous as boat-builders. The wood
they use comes from their own hill-sides, and they
need no iron to complete boats of considerable size,
which they sell to the inhabitants of all that part of

244 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

the archipelago. Farther to the east are the Aru (in
Dutch, Aroe) Islands, that is, “ the islands of the casu-
arina-trees.” They number about eighty, and are
very low, forming a chain about a hundred miles
long and half as broad. When seen on the west
they appear as one continuous, low island; but on
coming nearer, intricate channels are found winding
among them, through which set strong tidal currents.
The people are said to closely resemble those of
Haruku, Saparua, and Nusalaut. The total popula-
tion is given at only fourteen thousand. A few are
Christians, and two or three native schoolmasters
from Amboina are employed there. Papuans are
said to live on the most eastern island. Large quan-
tities of tripang are gathered on the shallow coral
banks of these low islands, and in the sea the du-
gong, Halicore dugong, Cuv., isseen. The great bird
of paradise, P. apoda, is found here, and also the
red bird of paradise, P. regia. The skins of these
beautiful birds were probably brought here to Banda
and sold to the Chinese traders for many ages, but
the first account we have of them is by Pigafetta, who
accompanied Magellan’s fleet. He says that the king
of Bachian, an island west of the southern end of
Gilolo, gave his companions a slave and nearly two
hundred pounds of cloves as a present for their Em-
peror, Charles V., and also “two most beautiful
dead birds, These are about the size of a thrush,
have small heads, long bills, legs a palm in length
and as slender as a writing-quill. In lieu of proper
wings, they have long feathers of different colors, like
great ornamental plumes. The tail resembles that

BIRDS OF PARADISE. 245

of a thrush. All the feathers except those of the
wings are of a dark color. It never flies except
when the wind blows. We were informed these
birds came from the terrestrial Paradise, and they
called them bolondinata,* that is, ‘birds of God.”
This word the Portuguese translated into their lan-
guageas “ave de paraiso,” and hence our name “ birds
of paradise,” a name well chosen, for in some species
the feathers have all the appearance of the most
brilliant jewels. Southwest of the Ki Islands lies
Timur-laut, and passing on toward Timur we come to
the “Southwestern Islands,’ composed of the Baba,
Sermatta, Letti, Roma, Wetta, and Lamma groups,
which we noticed as we steamed away from Dilli.
Returning northward from Wetta, we come to
Gunong Api, an uninhabited volcano, rising between
six and seven thousand feet above the sea. It isa
well-known landmark for the ships bound to China
that have passed up the Ombay Passage, or those
coming down the Floris Sea, intending to pass out
through that strait into the Indian Ocean. Northeast
of Gunong Api are the Lucipara and Turtle (in
Dutch Schilpad) Islands, which praus from Amboina
frequently visit for tortoise-shell. East of Gunong
Api is Nila, an active voleano, about seventeen hun-
dred feet in height, and north of it is Serua, which
is merely a volcanic cone rising abruptly from the
sea. In 1694 a great eruption took place in this
voleano, A part of the crater wall fell in, and the
lava overflowed until the whole island is repre-

* Mr, Crawfurd thinks this is a corruption of burungdewata, which
in Malay means “ birds of God.”

DAG TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

sented as having become one “sea of fire,” and all
the inhabitants were obliged to flee to Banda. Again,
in September, 1844, after a rest of a hundred and
fifty years, another eruption began, which compelled
every one to leave its inhospitable shores once more.
Since that time it has been settled again, and here in
Banda are many of the boats its people bring in the
latter part of this month, when continuously for days
not a breeze ripples the glassy sea—halcyon days in-
deed. As the natives have no iron, the whole boat is
built of wood. The central part is low, but the bow
and stern curve up high, quite different from all I
have seen in any other part of the archipelago, and
reminding one of the representations usually given of
those used in some parts of the South Sea.

While I had been turning my attention to ge-
ology, the native who was assisting me to collect
shells was searching for a “ hunter,” that 1s, one who
ean skin birds. He soon had the good fortune to
find one, who was also a native of Amboina, for all
these natives dislike those of another village, and
only associate with them when they can find none of
their own people. During the few days we were
at the Bandas they collected several species of
most beautiful kingfishers; indeed, those who have
seen only our sombre-colored specimens can scarcely
conceive of the rich plumage these birds assume in
the tropical East. They were also so fortunate as to
find a few superb specimens of a very rare and valu-
able bird, with scarcely any tail, and having eight
very different colors, the Pitta vigorsi. An allied
species is found on the Arru Islands, and another on

GEOLOGY OF AMBOINA. 947

Buru, a third on Gilolo, and a fourth on Celebes,
but none is yet known on the great island of Ceram,

We now steamed back to Amboina, and while
the yacht was taking in coal and preparing to go to
Ceram, I crossed over Laitimur with the governor.
Our procession was headed by a native carrying a
Jarge Dutch flag, and after him came a “head man,”
supported on the right by a man beating a tifa, and
on the left by another beating a gong. Then came
the governor, borne in a large chair by a dozen coo-
lies, and I, in a similar chair, carried by the same num-
ber. From the city we at once ascended a series of
hills, sparsely covered with shrubbery, and composed
of a soft red sandstone, which is rapidly disinte-
grating, and is evidently of very recent origin, It is
found on the highest elevation we crossed, which is
from fifteen to eighteen hundred feet above the
sea. Near this point we descended into a small
ravine, where the soft sandstone had been washed
away, and the underlying rocks were exposed to view.
Here we found feldspathic porphyry and serpentine.
Thence we crossed other hills of sandstone and came
down to the sea-shore at the village of Rutong. We
were hoping to find a small hill of granite that Dr,
Schneider had discovered, but we were not able to
identify the places he describes. Dr. Bleeker, who
crossed over to Ema in 1856, remarks that the first
hills he ascended were composed of coral rock, and
that he came on to it again when he descended tow-
ard the seashore. We did not notice it at this
time, but, on my first excursion to the cocoa plan-
tation on Hitu, I found a long coral reef, fully five

948 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

hundred feet above the sea. It was a perfect repeti-
tion of the reef I visited in the bay of the Portuguese
village of Dilli, at the northern end of Timur, A
small place had been cleared on its crest, and there I
found several pairs of the huge valves of the Zridacna
gigas, which appeared from their relative position to
have been once partially surrounded by the soft coral
rock, which, having been washed away, allowed the
valves to fall apart, They were much decayed, but
had not lost more than half their weight. They had
evidently never been brought there by men; be-
cause the natives rarely or never use them for food.
There is no need that they should take the trouble
to gather such enormous bivalves when they have a
plenty of sago-palms, and all that it is necessary for
them to do to obtain an abundance of food is to cut
down these trees and dig out the pith. If, in former
times, they did collect the Zridacna for food, they
never would have carried these great shells, each
of which originally weighed a hundred pounds or
more, a mile back among the hills, but would have
taken out the animal and left them on the shore,
Governor Arriens, who had carefully studied these
recent reefs, stated to me that he had found them as
high up as eight hundred feet above the sea, but at
that elevation they seem to disappear.

When returning we stopped for some time on the
hills back of the city to enjoy a magnificent view of
the bay and the high hills rising on the opposite side,
Just then the broad strati, floating in the west, parted,
and rays of bright sunlight, darting through their fis-
sures, lighted up the dark water beneath us, There

TRADE OF AMBOINA. 249

were not many vessels and praus at anchor off the
city at that time, but I was informed that in about a
mouth later many would arrive, for the dry sea-
son, with its clear sky and light winds, had set in
about the 15th of September, when we arrived from
Banda.

About two hundred vessels and praus of all
kinds come to Amboina in a year. The praus are
owned and commanded by the natives themselves,
but most of the vessels are commanded by mestizoes
and owned by Arabs and Chinese, who carry on the
larger part of the trade in the eastern part of the
archipelago. Since a line of steamers has been es-
tablished, these Arabs and Chinese avail themselves
of that means of importing their goods from Batavia
and Surabaya, where they are received directly from
Europe. The total value of the imports is from a
half to three-quarters of a million of guilders, The
chief article is cotton fabrics, and the next rice, which
is shipped here all the way from Java and Sumatra
for the sustenance of the troops, Very little rice is
raised on any of these islands, because there are no
low, level lands suitable for its cultivation, In the
Bandas the whole attention of the population is so
devoted to cultivating the nutmeg that they are en-
tirely dependent on other islands for a supply of
food. The most important exports from this island
are cloves, cocoa, kayu-puti oil, nutmegs, various
kinds.of woods, and mace. Formerly the inhabitants
of Ceram-laut, Goram, and the Arru Islands were ac-
customed to bring their tripang, tortoise-shell, para-
dise birds, and massoi-bark to this port to sell to the

250 TRAVELS IN THE BAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

Bugis, but for the last forty or fifty years the Bugis
have gone from Macassar directly to those islands
and traded with-the people at their own villages.
In 1854, Amboina, Banda, Ternate, and Kayéli, were
made free ports, but this has not materially increased
the trade at any of those places.

The period when the trade at Amboina was most
flourishing was when it was last held by the Eng-
lish, from 1814 to 1816. The port was then free, but,
when it once more passed into the hands of the
Dutch, duties were again demanded, which forced
the trade into other channels, where it still remains,
notwithstanding there are now no duties. The proper
remedy has been applied, but applied too late. This
is also the history of the trade at Batavia, where the
heavy duties have induced the traders of the eastern
part of the archipelago to sail directly to the free
port of Singapore.

I had been at Amboina a long time before I could
ascertain where the grave of Rumphius 1s located,
and even then I found it only by chance—so rarely
is this great man spoken of at the present time.
From the common, back of the fort, a beautifully-
shaded street leads up to the east; and the stranger,
while walking in this quiet retreat, has his attention
drawn to a small, square pillar in a garden. A thick
group of coffee-trees almost embrace it in their droop-
ing branches, as if trying to protect it from wind
and rain and the consuming hand of Time. Under
that plain monument rest the mortal remains of the
great naturalist.

The inscription, which explains itself, and shows

THE TOMB OF RUMPHIUS. 95)

how nearly this sacred spot came to be entirely neg-
lected and forgotten forever, reads as follows :

MEMORLE SACRUM GEORGIL EVERARDI RUMPHI,
de re botanica et historica naturali optime merita
TUMULUM
dira temporis calamitate et sacrilegia manufere
DIRUTUM,

Manibus placatis restitui jussit
et
pietatem reverentiamque publicam testificans
HOG MONUMENTUM
IPSE CONSECRAVIT
Godarus Alexander Grardus Phillipus
Liber Baro A. Capellen

Totius Indiw Belgicwque
PREFECTUS REGIUS.
Amboinss Mensis Aprilis,
Anno Domini m.poco.xx1v.

George Evrrarp Rumer, whose name has been
latinized into Rumphius, as an acknowledgment of
the great service he has rendered to the scientific
world, was a German, a native of a small town in
Hesse-Cassel. He was born about the year 1626,
and, having studied medicine, at the age of twenty-
eight went to Batavia, entered the mercantile ser-
vice of the Dutch East India Company, and thence
proceeded to Amboina, where he passed the re-
mainder of his life. At the age of forty-two, while
contemplating a voyage back to his native land, he
suddenly became blind, and therefore never left his
adopted island home; yet he continued to prosecute
his favorite studies in natural history till his death,
which occurred in 1693, when he had attained the
ripe age of sixty-seven.

His great work on the shells of Amboina, which

952 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

was not published till 1705, twelve years after his
death, was for a long time the acknowledged stand-
ard to which all conchological writers referred. His
most extensive work, however, was the “ Hortus
Amboinense,” which was only rescued from the
Dutch archives and published at the late date of
forty-eight years after his death. It contains the
names and careful descriptions of the plants of this re-
gion, their flowering seasons, their hadztats, their uses,
and the modes of caring for those that are cultivated.
When we consider that, in his time, neither botany
nor zoology had become a science, and consider, more-
over, the amount and the accuracy of the information
he gives us, we agree with his contemporaries in
giving him the high but well-merited title of “the
Indian Pliny.”

CHAPTER VIIL
BURU.

Sept. 25th—Steamed down the bay from Am-
boina, this time not without a slight feeling of sad-
ness as I recalled the many happy hours I had passed
gathering shells on its shores and rambling over its
high hills, and as I realized that it would probably
never be my privilege to enjoy those pleasures again.
Only three months had elapsed since my arrival at
Batavia, but I had passed through so many and such
different scenes, that Amboina appeared to have been
my home for a year—and so it seems to this day.

As we came out of the mouth of the bay, we
changed our course to the west, and kept so near the
land, that I had a fine opportunity to reéxamine the
places I had visited during a heavy storm, when the
sea was rolling into white surf and thundering along
the shore.

Off the western end of Ceram lie three islands,
Bonoa, Kilang, and Manipa. Bonoa, the most east-
erly, is a hilly island about twelve miles long and
half as broad. Its population is divided into Chris-
tians and Mohammedans, and each has such a bitter
hatred against the other, that the Christians at last
determined to expatriate themselves, and accordingly,

954 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

in 1837, migrated to Bachian. The clove-gardens in
Bonoa were thus in danger of being neglected, and
the man who was governor of the Moluccas at that
time therefore sent messengers to induce them to re-
turn; but, when this measure proved unavailing, he
went himself in a war-ship, and brought them back.

From Amboina we passed up the strait between
Kilang and Manipa, which is less than a mile wide,
and made much narrower by long tongue-shaped reefs
of coral which project from several points, A fresh
breeze had sprung up from the south, and, under a
full head of steam and a good press of canvas, we
ploughed through the waves which rolled up against
the wind. In all these straits the tidal currents are
very strong, and in many places so swift that a good
boat cannot make headway against them with oars,
and this makes many of these narrow channels very
dangerous for the native boats.

That evening the bright fires built by the fisher-
men on the shores of Bonoa were seen on our lar-
board side, and the next morning we were near the
Seven Brothers, a group of islands on the west side
of Sawai Bay. Here are three dangerous reefs not
laid down on the charts, a mile or more from the
shore. As we passed, mountains three or four thou-
sand feet in height were seen standing by the sea near
the head of the bay. At noon we came to anchor in
the little harbor of Wahai, which is formed by coral
reefs that are bare at low tide. Unfortunately, it is
too small for sailing-ships to enter safely, or it would
be visited occasionally by those of our whalers who
frequent these seas. The whole village consists of a

BEAUTIFUL BIRDS. Ons

small fort, a house for the commandant, who has
the rank of captain, a house for the doctor, and a few
native huts on either hand. The only communication
the inhabitants of this isolated post have with the
rest of the world is by means of coolies, who cross
over from the head of Elpaputi Bay to the head of
Sawai Bay, and then come along the shore. All the
natives in the interior are entirely independent of the
Dutch Government, and the coast natives, who carry
the mail, are liable to be robbed or killed at any mo-
ment while on their journey.

My hunter at once began collecting birds, while 1
searched the shores for shells, and bought what the
natives chanced to have in their miserable dwellings,
The most common shell here is an Awricula. Its pe-
culiar aperture, as its name implies, is like that of the
human ear, It lives on the soft, muddy flats, where
the many-rooted mangrove thrives. The rarest and
most valuable shell found here, and indeed one of
the rarest living in all these seas, is the Postellaria
rectirostris. tis so seldom found that a pair is fre-
quently sold here for ten guilders, four Mexican dol-
lars. My hunter soon returned with two large white
doves, the Carpophaga luctuosa, and a very perfect
specimen of that famous bird, the Platycercus hypo-
phonius, G. R. Gray, called by the Malays the castort
rajah, or “prince parrot,” from its being the most
beautiful of all that brilliantly-plumaged family. It is
a small bird for a parrot. The head, neck, and under
parts are of a bright scarlet; the wings a dark, rich
green, and the back and rump a bright lapis-lazuli blue,
that shades off into a deeper blue in the tail, which

956 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

is nearly as long as the body. These birds generally
fly in pairs, and as they dart through the evergreen
foliage, and you catch a glimpse of their graceful
forms and brilliant plumage, it seems like the mo-
mentary recollection of some dream of Paradise.
Large flocks of red luris, Hos rubra, Gml., other spe-
cies of parrakeets, and many sorts of doves, frequent
the surrounding woods, and several species of king
fishers and snipes live by the shore, For three days
I enjoyed this rare hunting. We then steamed out
of the little bay of Wahai for the island of Buru.
While passing Bonoa we kept near the shore, and
saw a large white monument which was erected by
the Portuguese, and is probably one of the padroes,
or “pillars of discovery,” placed there by D’Abreu
when he first reached these long-sought isles. Soon
we passed Swangi, “ Spirit Island,” a lonely rock near
Manipa, supposed by these superstitious natives to
be haunted by some eyil spirit.

Buru, the island to which we were bound, lies a
few miles west of Manipa. Its area is estimated at
about twenty-six hundred geographical square miles,
so that it is one-half larger than Bali or Lombok.
Its form is oval, with the greatest axis east and west.
Its shores, instead of being deeply indented, like
those of all the larger islands in that region, are en-
tire, except on the northwest corner, where they recede
and form the great bay of Kayéli. The entrance to
this bay is between two high capes, three or four
iniles apart, so that on the northeast it 1s quite open
to the sea. Within these capes the shores become
low, forming on the southwest a large morass; and

IN EXILE. BT

the bay expands to the east and west until it is
about seven miles long. In the low lands bordering
the south side of this bay is the Dutch “ bezitting,” or
post, also named Kayéli. Here is a small, well-built
fort, in which are stationed a lieutenant and doctor,
and a company of militia from Java or Madura. A
controleur has charge of the civil department, and the
governor had kindly given me a note to him, and he
and his good lady at once received me kindly, and,
as it proved, 1 made my home with them and the
doctor for a long time. The plan the governor pro-
posed was that we should leave for 'Ternate and New
Guinea in five days after the steamer landed me at
Kayéli. Those five days passed, but no steamer ap-
peared. Again and again I watched by the hour,
hoping, almost expecting, to be able to discern smoke
on the horizon, and soon see the Telegraph coming
into the harbor. Thus a week passed, then ten days,
and by this time all, like myself, had come to the
conviction that some unexpected and unfortunate
event must have happened. But what was it? No
one could tell, Fifteen days of such uncertainty and
solicitude passed, when a large prau was seen coming
in from the sea. It brought me a letter from Gov-
ernor Arriens, stating that just as he was on the point
of coming to take me, as proposed, news came that a
great revolt had broken out in Ceram. Immediately
he accompanied the captain of a large man-of-war,
whose duty it was to put down all insurrections.
When they arrived off the village, the captain, con-
trary to the advice of all, landed with a small force,
hoping to be able to treat with the rebels, but he
17

958 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

had scarcely touched the shore when a party of

them in ambush poured a volley into his boat,
wounding him twice severely, but not fatally. I
now found myself really banished, for the yacht was
needed too much to come and take me away. I
therefore resigned myself quietly to my fate, and de-
termined to profit by the opportunity to make a col-
lection of the beautiful birds of the island. My first

excursion was to a cliff on the southeast side of the

bay, near its mouth, which I found was composed of

metamorphic schists, that were very much fissured by

joints and seams, and fell apart in cubical blocks,
Another place I frequently visited was the low mo-
rass on the southwest side of the bay, through which
flows out a stream of such size that a large canoe can
ascend it for three days. Along the canals in this
morass is a thick forest, the high branches of which
meet above, forming for a considerable distance grand

covered avenues. Here the kingfishers delight to

gather, and, perching on the lower boughs, occasion-
ally dart downward, like falling arrows, into the
quiet water. It was most delightful, during the heat
of the day, to glide along in these cool and shady
canals, which wind to and fro, and in such an endless
series of curves and angles, that no one could weary
of the rich, almost oppressive, vegetation that con-

tinually surrounds him, At the mouth of this small
river are long shallow banks of sand, which are bare
at low tide, and on these are many large snags and
logs that have come down the streams and grounded
while on their way to the sea. On these wide banks,
as the ebbing ceases and the tide begins to flow, long

HUNTING LURIS. 259

lines of gulls, sandpipers, plovers, and curlews, gath-
er, and, as the water advances, they are forced to
approach the shore until the only resting-places left
them are the logs and snags that raise their crooked
limbs and roots above the surface of the water. At
such times these perching-places are one living, flut-
tering mass of birds. Again and again I came to
this spot, and always returned with as many speci-
mens as my native hunter could skin on the follow-
ing day.

A few minutes’ walk back of the controleur’s
house took me into the surrounding forest, where I
was accustomed to ramble to and fro hour after hour
until I knew all the favorite haunts of most of the
birds; yet nearly every day, till the time I left, I se-
cured specimens of a species that had not been repre-
sented in my collection. Still others were seen, and
one or more specimens of them must be obtained;
and thus, the more I collected, the more interesting
became my work. My regular daily routine was to
hunt in the morning till ten or eleven o’clock, return
to the house to avoid the heat, and then go out again
about four, and remain till the setting sun warned
me to return or grope my way back as best I could
through the dark woods. Soon after I arrived, a
tree, as large as our oak, became filled with great
scarlet flowers, and in the early morning flocks of red
luris (4s rubra, Gml.) and other parrakeets, with
blue heads, red and green breasts, and the feathers
on the under side of the wings of a light red and bril-
liant yellow (Ziichoglossus cyanogrammus, Wag).),
would come to feed on them. It was easy to know

260 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

where those birds had begun their morning feast by
their loud, unceasing screeching and chattermg; and, —
after stealthily creeping through dense shrubbery for
hundreds of yards, I would suddenly behold one of
these great trees filled with scores of such brilliantly-
plumaged birds, flying about or climbing out to the
ends of the branches, and using their wings to aid im
poising themselves while they made a dainty break-
fast on the rich flowers. These are indeed the birds
that Moore describes as—
“ Gay, sparkling loories, such as gleam between
The crimson flowers of the coral-tree
In the warm isles of India’s sunny sea.”

Soon after sunset huge bats always came out, in
pairs, and sailed about on their leathery wings, search-
ing for those trees that chanced to be in fruit. The
wings of a male that I shot measured four feet and
four inches from tip to tip, and the wings of the female,
which accompanied him, expanded four feet eight
inches. They are very properly named by the Dutch,
“flying foxes,” and almost seem to be antediluvian mon-
sters, which ought to have disappeared from the face of
the earth long ago, like the formidable Pterodactyles.
During the day they hide away in the thick foliage,
and one afternoon I found one hanging, as they de-
light to do when they rest or sleep, with its head
downward, from the limb of a tree. They are very
tenacious of life, and will receive charge after charge
of large shot in the head before they will let go of
the limbs with their crooked claws and allow them-
selves to fall. They are said to be good for food, but
I never saw the natives eat them, and certainly had

A JUNGLE,

MY IIOME IN THE FOREST. 961

no desire myself to try the flavor of such questiona-
ble meat. A small path, leading a mile through the
forest, brought me out on to a large open field or
prairie, covered with a coarse grass as high as a man’s
shoulders. Beyond this was another forest, and
there I was informed was a settlement of two or
three houses, the farthest place inland inhabited by
any of the coast people or common Malays. Beyond
that’ point there is not the slightest footpath. All
the hills and high mountains, which I could see tow-
ard the interior of the island, are covered with one
dense, unbroken forest, and only on some of the lower
hills, bordermg the bay, are there open areas of
grass, What a nice thing it would be to live out
there for a week in the midst of that forest! My ~
mind was made up to do it. I returned and ex-
plained my plan to the controlewr, and the next day
we set off to hire one of the distant huts. The far-
thest one from Kayéli, and exactly the one I wanted,
chanced to be unoccupied, for the native who owned
it had found the place so lonely that he had deserted
it and taken up his abode in the village. The rent
for a week was agreed to without much parleying.
The owner further agreed to send his son to bring
water and keep house while I and my hunter were
away, and to be generally useful, which he inter-
preted to mean that he would only do what he could
not avoid. Another man was engaged as cook, and
my domestic arrangements were complete, for I pur-
posed not only to live in a native house, but to con-
form entirely to the Malay cuisine. Our cooking-
apparatus consisted of a couple of shallow kettles

962 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

and a small frying-pan; and the little teapot that ac-
companied me on my Amboina excursions was not
left behind.

October 16th.—This morning we came out to our
forest home. Our house is about eight feet wide,
twelve feet long, and perched upon large posts four
feet from the ground. It is divided by a transverse
partition into a front room or parlor, and a back
room or kitchen. In one corner of the latter’is a
square framework filled with ashes, in which are in-
serted three long stones, whose tops slightly incline
toward each other. These are to support the ket-
tles, for no Malay has ever conceived of a machine
for cooking so complicated as a crane. As to a chim-
ney, there is none whatever, but the smoke is allowed
to escape under the eaves or through a hole in the
side of the house that also serves fora window. The
frame of the house is made from small trees. For a
flooring, broad sheets of bark are used. The walls
are made of gaba-gaba, the dry midribs of large palm-
leaves, and the roof is of atap. The front door is in
one of the gable ends, and is reached by a rickety
ladder of two rounds. This part is transformed into
a rude piazza by a shed-roof, beneath which we have
made a seat and a kind of table for the hunter to use
in skinning birds.

My daily routine here is the same as eee
hunting every morning and evening, with a native
to carry my ammunition and to pick up the birds—
a very difficult task whenever we are in the thick
jungle or among the tall grass, Near our house is
the stony bed of a torrent, which is now perfectly

OUR HIGHWAY THROUGH THE FOREST. 263

dry. It is the only cleared way there is through the
dense forest around us, and I avail myself of it to
travel up toward the mountains and down toward
the sea. Indeed, I feel proud of our grand highway.
True, it is not paved with blocks all carefully cut
down to one precise model, and so exactly uniform
as to be absolutely painful to the eye, but Nature
herself has paved it in her own inimitable way—no-
tice how all the stones have been rounded by the
boiling torrent which pours down here from the
mountains during the rainy season. Some are al-
most perfect ellipsoides or spheres, but most are disk-
shaped, for they are made from thin fragments of
slate that had sharp corners when they broke away
from their parent mountain, To prevent a dull uni-
formity of color, she has scattered here and there
rounded boulders of opaque milk-white quartz, frag-
ments, undoubtedly, from beds of that rock which, at
this place at least, are interstratified with the slate.
Here and there are deeper places, where the troubled
stream was accustomed to rest before it went on
again in a foaming torrent to empty its sparkling
waters into the wide sea, the original source of all
streams, By this way I visit my nearest neighbors
and procure chickens, which our cook roasts on sticks
over the fire, after having carefully rubbed them with
salt and a liberal allowance of red pepper, the two
universal condiments among the Malays. For ages
all the salt these people have had has been brought
from Java, The red pepper thrives well every-
where without the slightest care, and it is almost al-
ways found growing near every hut, A large bush

264 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

of it at one corner of our house is now filled with
fruit of all sizes; some small and green, and some
fully grown and showing it is already mpe by its
bright-pink color. In this condition the Malays
gather and dry it, and always carry a good supply
wherever they go. Its Malay name is /omdok, but
the one more generally used is the Javanese name
chabé. Besides chickens, we have paddy, that is, rice
in the husk. A large elliptical hole is made in a log
for a mortar, a small quantity of paddy is then poured
in and pounded with a stick five or six feet long, and
as large round as a man’s arm, This is raised verti-
eally, and, when the hole is nearly even full, a native
will usually pound off all the husks without seatter-
ing more than a few grains on the ground; but, if a
foreigner attempts it, he will be surprised to see how
the rice will fly off in all directions at every blow.
When the husks are pounded off they are separated
from the kernels by being tossed up from a shallow
basket and carried away by the wind, as our farmers
used to winnow grain. This is the only mode of pre-
paring rice practised by the Malays, and the process
is the same in every part of the archipelago. From
one corner of our piazza hangs a large bunch of green
bananas to ripen in the sunshine. I find it very
agreeable to pluck off a nice ripe one myself when I
come in weary and thirsty from a long hunt. From
the other corner hangs a cluster of cocoa-nuts filled
with clear, cool, refreshing water.

Not far from us is a hut inhabited by two na-
tives, who are engaged in cultivating tobacco, Their
ladangs, or gardens, are merely places of an acre or

TOBACCO AND MAIZE. 265

less, where the thick forest has been partially de-
~stroyed by fire, and the seed is sown in the regu-
lar spaces between the stumps. As soon as the
leaves are fully grown they are plucked off, and the
petiole and a part of the midrib are cut away. Each
leaf is then cut transversely into strips about a six-
teenth of an inch wide, and these are dried in the
sun until a mass of them looks like a bunch of
oakum. It is then ready for use, and at once car-
ried to market. This cosmopolite, Vicotiana tabacum,
is a native of our own country. Las Casas says
that the Spaniards on Columbus’s first voyage saw
the natives in Cuba smoking it in tubes called éa-
bacos, hence its name. Mr. Crawfurd states that, ac-
cording to a Javanese chronicle, it was introduced
into Jaya in the year 1601, ninety years after the
conquest of Malacca by the Portuguese, who were
probably the first Europeans that furnished it to the
Javanese, as the Dutch had not yet formed an estab-
lishment on the island. It is now cultivated in
every part of the archipelago. The fact that this
narcotic was originally found only in America leads
us to infer, without raising the questions whether our
continent received her aboriginal population from
some other part of the globe, or whether they were
created here, that there never has been any extensive
migration of our Indians or red-men to the islands
in the Pacific, or to any distant part of the world;
for if they had colonized any area, in that place at
least, its use would undoubtedly contimue to ex-
ist at the present day, since it is probable that
they would never have thought of going to a new

266 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

land without taking with them this plant, which
they valued more even than food, and which they
had been accustomed to cultivate. If, after estab-
lishing themselves in their new colony, they had been
overpowered and completely destroyed by some more
powerful tribe, their conquerors would probably have
become addicted to the same habit as readily as the
people of every clime and every stage of civilization
do now, and thus the practice would have been per-
petuated, though the people who introduced it per-
ished ages ago, and all the idols, and temples, and
fortifications they might have made, have long since
crumbled into dust. This inference is greatly
strengthened, if we consider the past and present
geographical distribution of maize, or Indian corn,
which is also a native of our continent only, and,
like tobacco, is now raised in every part of the ar-
chipelago. Unlike rice, this plant thrives on hill-
sides and elevated lands, and can therefore be raised
on all the larger islands in these seas, where there
are few level areas that can be readily inundated for
the cultivation of rice. It was also probably intro-
duced by the Portuguese, for Juan Gaetano, a Span-
ish pilot, who visited Mindanao in 1642, twenty-one
years after the discovery of the Philippines by Ma-
gellan, states* that “in a certain part of that island
ruled by the Moors” (Arabs), “there are some small
artillery, and hogs, deer, buffaloes, and other animals
of the chase, with Castilian” (or common) “ fowls,
rice, palms, and cocoa-nuts, There is no maize in that

* Vide Ramusio, vol. i., p. 876, in Crawfurd’s “Dictionary of the
India Islands,”

THE TEAK-TREE. 267

island, but for bread they use rice and'a bark which
they call sagu, from which also they extract oil in
like manner as they do from palms.”

As maize is not difficult to be transported on
account of its bulk. or liability to any injury, and
formed the chief article of food among most of our
red-men, it would be the very provision they would
take with them on their migrations; and as the part
eaten is the fruit, they would have plenty of seed,
and would know from their previous experience pre-
cisely how to cultivate it.

One part of the surrounding forest is a grove of
jati, or teak-trees, Tectona grandis, Linn, Those
found here are only a foot or fifteen inches in diam-
eter and forty feet high, a size they attain in Java in
twenty-five or thirty years, where they do not reach
their full growth in less than a century. The na-
tive name jati is a word of Javanese origin, signify-
ing true, or genuine, and was probably applied to
these trees on account of the well-known durability
of the wood they yield. Now, near the end of the
dry monsoon, they have lost nearly all their foliage;
for, though it is sometimes ‘asserted that in the trop-
ics the leaves fall imperceptibly one by one, that is
not true, in this region, where there are well-defined
wet and dry seasons, The teak also thrives in a few
places on the continent, and is found in the central
and eastern provinces of Java, in Madura, Bali, and
particularly in Sumbawa, where the wood is consid-
ered better than that of Java, but it 1s said to be un-
known in Sumatra, Borneo, and in the peninsula of
Malacca. It exists in some places in Celebes, but

268 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

the natives assert that the seed was brought there
from Java by one of the sovereigns of Tanéte. It is
therefore uncertain whether the teak is a native of
this island. In the early morning, and again soon
after sunset, flocks of large gyeen parrots, Zanyg-
nathus macrorynchus, Wagl., come to these trees
to feed on the fruit which is now ripe. They are so
wary that it is extremely difficult to get near them,
especially as the large dry leaves of this tree cover
the ground and continually crack and rustle beneath
one’s feet. To see these magnificent birds flying
back and forth in the highest glee, while they re-
main unconscious of danger, is a grand sight, and it
seems little less than absolute wickedness to shoot
one, even when it is to be made the subject, not of
idle gazing, but of careful study, and it requires still
greater resolution to put an end to one’s admiration
and pull the fatal trigger. When one of these birds
has been wounded, its mate, and sometimes the whole
flock, hearing its cries, at once comes back, as if hop-
ing to relieve its misery.

In many places in this vicmity the tall canari-
tree is seen raising its high crest, and there flocks of
cream-colored doves, Carpophaga luctuosa, gather
to feed on its fruit. Their loud, continuous cooing
leads the hunter a long way through the jungle.
Among the limbs of the lower trees are seen the
long-tailed doves, Carpophaga perspiclata. On the
banks of the dry brook, near our house, are bunches
of bamboos, through which flit fly-catchers, Mus.
cicapide, and the beautiful Monarcha loricata, a
slender bird about as large as a martin, of a blue

WE RETURN TO KAYELI. 269

above, and a pure, almost silvery white beneath, ex-
cept on the throat, which is covered with scale-like
feathers, of a rich metallic blue-black. So far as is
known, this beautiful bird is only found on this
island. In the bushes and shrubbery is constantly
heard the cheerful note of a bird, the Zrobidorynchus
bouruensis, somewhat larger than our robin. By
day I enjoyed this Robinson Crusoe life very much,
but the mosquitoes proved such a torment by night
that we could scarcely sleep. A great smouldering
fire was made under our hut, but its only effect was
to increase our misery, and make the mosquitoes
more bloodthirsty. We were frequently disturbed
also by several yellow dogs, which came to crunch
what chicken-bones the cook had thrown away, and
to upset every thing around the house that was not
already in a state of stable equilibrium. Afterward,
when all was still, occasionally a heavy crash sighed
through the deep woods, caused by the falling of
some old tree, whose roots had been slowly con-
sumed by the fires that prevail in the neighborhood
during the dry season.

At the end of a week my hunter had preserved
the skins of sixty-three beautiful birds, including
specimens of six species that I had not secured
before. We now returned to Kayéli; and though
there were only eight white persons in the whole
place, I could nevertheless feel that I was returning
to civilization, and that I could speak some other
language than Malay.

The village of Kayéli is really composed of eleven
separate parts, or kampongs, all situated on a low,

270 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

marshy place, a couple of hundred yards back from
the sand-beach. They are separated from each other
by a little stream, or Aaui, and each has its own
rajah, and formerly had its own little square mosque,
for all these eleven tribes are Mohammedans, and
keep separate from each other, because they lived in
different parts of the island when the Dutch arrived.
In the centre of this village is a large, square lawn,
formed by the fort, the residence of a controleur, and
a few other houses, Back of the lawn is the Chris-
tian kampong; for in every village where there are
Mohammedans and Christians, each has a separate
part to itself. Occasionally, instead of a healthful
spirit of rivalry, a more bitter hostility springs up
than existed between the Jews and the Samaritans,
and finally the weaker party is obliged to migrate,
as in the case mentioned in regard to the inhabitants
of Bonoa.

From Valentyn we learn that, according to native
accounts, as early as A. D. 1511, ten years before the
arrival of the Portuguese, the Sultan of Ternate sent
out expeditions which subjected all the tribes of this
island. In 1652 a treaty was made between the
sultan and the Dutch, that all the clove-trees on the
island should beuprooted. The natives opposed this
measure to the best of their ability, but after a resist-
ance which lasted five years, they were completely
subjected, all their clove-trees were destroyed, and
they were obliged to remove to Kayéli Bay, and live
under the range of the Dutch cannon. Since that
time (1657), the clove-tree has never been introduced
again, Previous to the expedition of the Sultan of

THE ALFURA OF BURU. O71

Ternate in 1511, the shores of the island were
occupied by the Malays, who had already subjected
the earliest inhabitants of the island of which we
have any knowledge. During my stay at Kayéli I
saw several of them, though they are always shy
about entering the village. Like the Alfura of Ceram,
they resemble the Malays in stature and general ap-
pearance, but are distinguished from them by their
darker color, and by their hair, which is frizzly, not
lank like that of the Malays, and not woolly, like
that of the Papuans. As in Ceram, many of them
suffer from that unsightly disease, icthyosis, in which
the skin becomes dry and comes off in scales, Their
houses are described as the most miserable hovels,
consisting of little more than a roof of palm-leaves
resting on four poles, with a kind of platform a foot
or two above the ground, where they sit and sleep.
They are all free, and slavery is wholly unknown.
Mr. T. J. Miller, who was formerly resident here, took
much pains to gather all the information possible in
regard to them. He states that they have divided
the island into Fennas or tribes, each of which has
a chief. Instead of living together in villages, like
the Malays, they are scattered over their whole terri-
tory. Several of these chiefs continue to acknowl-
edge one of the Mohammedan rajahs, or, as they are
named by the Dutch, “regents,” in the village of
Kayéli, as theirsuperior. Formerly, each was obliged
to send one young girl to its regent for a bride
every year, but the Dutch have long since relieved
them from such an unwelcomeexaction. In former
times also they were compelled to pay their regent a

2979 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

certain part of their rice and sago, and provide men to
row his prau or to carry his chair, if he proceeded by
land, but they have been freed from this onerous
service, and the Malays who live in the village with
the rajah are obliged to perform such offices for
him, In regard to marriage, each man buys his wife,
her price, according to their laws, depending on the
rank of her father, as in Ceram, but a man is not,
however, required to cut off a human head before he
can be allowed to marry, as is the custom in that
island. Instead, therefore, of being fierce head-hunt-
ers, as the Alfura of Ceram, they are mild and in-
offensive. They believe, according to Mr. Miller, in
one Supreme Being, who made every thing, and is
the source of all good and all evil. They believe in
evil spirits. Prayer leads to prosperity; the negli-
gence of this duty to adversity. Through the love
that this Supreme Being had for man, whom He had
created, He sent him a teacher, Nabiata, who lived
among the mountains. He gave the will of his
Master in seven commandments, namely: 1. Thou
shalt not kill nor wound. 2. Thou shalt not steal.
8. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 4. Thou shalt
not set thyself against thy fenna. 5. A man shall not
set himself up against the chief of his tribe. 6, The
chief shall not set himself up against him that is over
his or other tribes. 7%. The chief over more than one
tribe shall not set himself up against him who is
placed over all the tribes. Nabiata also taught that,
though the body perishes, the soul shall still continue
to exist. They who have kept the foregoing com-
mandments—for all the acts of men are recorded by

SHAVING THE HEAD OF A YOUNG CHILD. 973

this Supreme Being—shall dwell far above the clouds
near the Omniscient One. They who have done
. wickedly shall never rise to the abode of the happy
nor remain on earth, but continually, in solitude and
sorrow, wander about on the clouds, longing in vain
to join their brothers who are above or beneath them.
Nabiata also instituted cireumcision, which was per-
formed on both sexes when they attained the age of
eight or ten years. From the introduction of this
rite we may infer that this Nabiata was a Mohamme-
dan teacher, probably an Arab, who had found his
way to this region on a Javanese or Malay prau,
that had come to purchase cloves, Finally, according
to their legend, Nabiata made men of birth his dis-
ciples and teachers, and ascended to the abode of the
good from whence he came,

One day, while at Kayéli, I received a most polite
invitation to attend a feast at one of the rajah’s
houses. The occasion was the shaving of a young
child’s head. An Arab priest began the rite by re-
peating a prayer in a monotonous nasal chant, five
others joining in from time to time by way of a
chorus. After the long prayer was ended, a servant
brought in the child, and another servant followed
carrying a large plate partly filled with water, in
which were two parts of the blossom of a cocoa-nut-
palm, a razor, and a pair of shears. The child was
first carried to the chief priest, who dipped his fingers
in the water, placed them on the child’s lead, and
then cut off alock of hair with the large shears. The
lock of hair was then carefully thrown into the water
along with a guilder, We all did the same, Tea

18

974 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCIIIPELAGO.

and small cakes made of rice were then served, and
“the feast” wasended. The child was one year old;
when it becomes eight or nine it will have to submit
to that abominable custom prevailing among both
sexes of all ranks of Mohammedans, filing the teeth.
This, I was informed, was done with a flat stone, or a
fragment of slate, and sometimes even with a piece
of bamboo. The object is to make the teeth short,
and the front ones concave on the outer side, so as
to hold the black dye. The Christians never file
theirs, and the Mohammedans always ridicule the
teeth of such natives by calling them “dogs? teeth,”
because they are “so white and so long.”

At another time I received an invitation to attend
a wedding-feast, but, when I reached the house, it
proved to be a feast that the married couple give to
their friends a few days after the wedding. As on
all such festive occasions, the house and veranda were
brilliantly lighted, and on either side from the house
out to the street were a number of posts made of the
large soft trunks of bananas. On their tops large
lumps of gum were burned. Between them were
arches made of young leaves of the cocoa-nut palm,
arranged as I had previously seen in Nusalaut. The
bride (who, of course, is to be spoken of first), to
our surprise, did not prove to be a young and bloom-
ing lass, but already in middle life, yet a suitable
helpmeet at least for the bridegroom, who was an
Arab, and had married this, his second wife, since he
came to Buru, only four months ago. The former
wife he had sent back to her parents, much against
her wishes. When a wife desires to leave her hus-

MARRIAGE LAWS IN MOHAMMEDAN COUNTRIES. O75

band, she cannot do so without his consent, which the
husband generally grants, choosing the less of two
evils, and, moreover, it is regarded as very ungallant
to retain an unwilling mate; but, while travelling in
Sumatra, I saw one husband who would not allow
his wife another choice, but his was a very peculiar
ease. His father was a Chinaman, and therefore, as
the descendants of the Chinese do, he had shaved his
head and wore a cue, and was a Chinaman also; but,
becoming desperately enamoured of a Mohammedan
lass, he concluded to yield to her unusual demand,
that he too must become a Mohammedan before he
could be accepted. She soon repented of her pro-
posal, but he replied that he had suffered so much for
her sake, he would not release her from her vows—
such are the unlimited privileges granted the husband
by the laws of the false Prophet.

While at Amboina I was surprised one day, just
before dinner, to see a strange servant appear with a
large platter containing fifteen or twenty kinds of
fishes, fruit, and the various inimitable mixtures made
by the Chinese, in whose quarter of the city we were
residing. The gentleman with whom I was living,
however, explained the mystery. There was to be a
wedding in a house near by, and the father of the
bride was one of his hired men, and those nice prep-
arations were intended as a present, that is, in form,
it being expected that only two or three of them
would be taken—and that was quite all a European
palate would desire. This was repeated for three or
four days. Meantime the father of the bride had
hired a house where other friends were received and

976 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

feasted, and the father of the bridegroom also re-
ceived and entertained his friends in like manner,
At length came an invitation to attend the jimale of
this long ceremonial, We first walked to the house
of the bridegroom. Large Chinese lanterns bril-
liantly lighted the veranda and the adjoming narrow
lane, which was thronged with men and boys. We
then visited the house where the bride was wait-
ing to receive her lord. The piazza opened into a
large room, and on one side of it was a smaller one,
closed by a red curtain instead of a door, No one
but the lady-guests were allowed to enter where the
bride was sitting. The larger room contained many
small tables loaded with delicacies, mostly of Chinese
manufacture. Not to be unsocial, we sat down and
sipped a cup of boiling tea, and observed the assem-
bled guests while all were waiting for the coming of
the bridegroom as in good Scripture times. In the
opposite corner was a table surrounded with Malay
ladies. It also was covered with sweetmeats, but
room was soon made for the more necessary siri-box ;
a liberal quid of lime, pepper-leaves, and betel-nut
was taken by each one, and, to complete the disgust-
ing sight, an urn-shaped spittoon, an inseparable
companion of the siri-box, was produced, and handed
round from one to another as the occasion demanded.
A shrill piping was now heard down the street, and
every one rushed out on the veranda to see the ap-
proaching procession, First came boys with wax-can-
dles, and near them others carrying the presents that
the bride and the bridegroom had received. Then came
the bridegroom himself, supported by his friends, and

A MPHAMMEDAN MARRIAGE. 277

surrounded by candles arranged at different heights
on rude triangular frames. He was dressed in a
Malay suit of light red, and wore a gilded chain, I
had been told that, when he should attempt to enter
the room where the bride sat waiting, the women
would gather and persistently dispute his right to
proceed, and here, in the distant East, I thought to
myself, I shall see an illustration of the maxim,
“None but the brave deserve the fair.” On the con-
trary, so far from manifesting any disposition to op-
pose him and prolong the ceremony, they only made
way for him to enter the bridal-chamber as quickly
as possible. As my friend and I were the only white
persons present, we were allowed the especial favor
of entermg also. On one side of the room was a
small table covered with a red cloth, and on this were
two gigantic red wax-candles. Behind the table sat
the bride, arrayed in a scarlet dress, with a white
opaque veil concealing her face, and fastened to her
hair. As the bridegroom approached, she slowly rose.
Placing his hands with the palms together, he bowed
three times in the same manner as the Chinese ad-
dress the images in their temples, She returned the
salutation by also bowing three times, but without
raising her hands. Now came the exciting moment.
She remained standing while he stepped forward and
commenced pulling out the pins that held fast the
opaque veil which hid her beauty from his longing
eyes. Not being very skilful in this operation, a
couple of the maids-in-waiting assisted him, and, by
degrees, was revealed a face that was at least one
shade darker than most of the ladies near her, and I

978 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

could but think, if that really was the first time
her husband had ever seen her, he must feel not a
little disappointed. However, his countenance re-
mained unchanged, whether such a saddening reflec-
tion crossed his mind or one of delightful surprise. He
then passed round the table to the side of his bash-
ful bride, and both sat down together and were
stupidly gazed at. In the opposite end of the room
was the bridal-bed. The four posts rose above the
bed nearly to the ceiling, and supported a mosquito-
curtain which was bespangled with many little pieces
of tinsel and paper flowers. Both the bride and
bridegroom were Mohammedans, and this marriage
was nominally according to the Mohammedan usage,
but it should perhaps be more properly regarded, like
most of the Malay customs at the present day, as
combining parts of the rite in China and Arabia with
that which existed among these nations while they
observed the Hindu religion, or continued to remain
in heathenism. The boys usually marry for the first
time when about sixteen, and the girls at the age of
thirteen or fourteen, though I was once shown a
child of nine years that was already a wife, and
mothers eleven or twelve years old are occasionally
seen. The great obstacle to marriage in all civilized
lands—the difficulty of supporting a family—is un-
known here. Children, instead of being a source of
expense, are a source of income. Until four or five
years old, the boys do not usually wear any clothing.
Their food costs very little, and all the education
they receive still less, or nothing at all. The average
number of persons in one family in Java, where it is

MALAY IDEAS OF MARRIAGE. 279

perhaps as large, if not larger, than elsewhere, is esti-
mated at only four or four and a half. The fact that
children help support their parents secures for them
such attention that they are never entirely neglected.
Polygamy is allowed here as in other Mohammedan
lands, but only the wealthier natives and the princes
are guilty of it. The facility with which marriages
are made, and divorces obtained, is one cause why it
is not more general, In regard to the evil effects of
polygamy, and the ideas of this people in respect to
the sacred rite of marriage, Sir Stamford Raffles, who
was Governor-General of Java, most truthfully re-
marks: “Of the causes which have tended. to lower
the character of the Asiatics in comparison with
Europeans, none has had amore decided influence
than polygamy. To all those noble and generous
feelings, all that delicacy of sentiment, that romantic
and poetical spirit, which virtuous love inspires in
the breast of a European, the Javan is a stranger;
and in the communication between the sexes he seeks
only convenience and little more than a gratification
of an appetite. But the evil does not stop here:
education is neglected, and family attachments are
weakened, A Javan chief has been known to have
sixty acknowledged children, and it too often happens
that in such cases sons having been neglected in their
infancy become dissipated, idle, and worthless, and
spring up like rank grass and overrun the country.”
In the little village of Kayéli there were only
three Chinamen, but one of them was an opium-sell-
er. He was agent for another Chinaman at Amboi-
na, who had bought the privilege of selling it from

280 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

the Dutch Government, who “farm out” or grant
this privilege in every district to the highest bidder
From this article alone, the government obtains in
this way an income of four or five million dollars.
Opium, as is well known, is the inspissated juice ob-
tained from the capsule of the white poppy, Papaver
somniferum. Its Malay name is apyun, which, com-
ing from the Arabic afyun, shows at once by whom
it was introduced into the archipelago; the same
people, as Mr. Crawfurd remarks, who made them
acquainted with ardent spirits, and at the same time
gave them a religion forbidding both, It is imported
from India, and the poppy is not cultivated in any
part of the archipelago. Barbosa mentions it in a
list of articles brought from Arabia to Calicut in
Malabar, and in his time its price was about one-third
what it is now. The man who sells it is obliged to
keep a daily account of the quantity he disposes of,
and this account is open to the inspection of the
government officers at all times, So large is the sum
demanded by the government for this farming privi-
lege, and so great are the profits obtained by the
Chinese, who are the people that carry on most of
this nefarious traffic, that the price the Malays are
obliged to pay for this luxury limits its consumption
very considerably. When imported, it is usually in
balls five or six inches in diameter. It is then soft
and of a reddish-brown color, but becomes blacker
and harder the longer it is kept. It is slightly elas-
tic, and has a waxy lustre, a strong, unpleasant odor,
and to the taste is bitter, nauseous, and persistent.
To prepare it for smoking, it is boiled down to the

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A MALAY OPIUM SMOKER,

AN OPIUMSMOKER, 981

consistency of thick tar. While it is boiling, tobac-
co and siri are sometimes added. A lamp is then
lighted, and a small quantity is taken up on a piece
of wire as large as a knitting-needle. This is held in
the flame of the lamp until it melts and swells up as
a piece of spruce-gum would do under similar cir-
cumstances, During this process it is frequently
taken out of the flame and rolled between the thumb
and forefinger. It is then placed in a small hole in
the large bow] of the pipe, and the wire being with-
drawn, a hole is left for inhaling the air. The bowl
of the pipe is now placed against the lamp and the
smoke inhaled with two or three long breaths, which
carry the fumes down deep into the lungs. By this
time the small quantity of opium in the bow] of the
pipe is consumed, It is then filled as before, and
this process is repeated until the eyelids become
heavy and an irresistible desire to sleep possesses the
whole body. Its immediate effect is to produce a
passive, dreamy state. This is followed by a loss of
appetite, severe constipation, and kindred ills, When
a man has once contracted the habit of using it, it is
impossible to reform. Greater and greater doses are
required to produce the desired lethargic effect. The
evil results of this vice are well shown in the accom-
panying photograph of a Malay, where the victim,
although only in middle life, has already become so
emaciated that he is little more than a living skele-
ton. The rude platform of planks covered with a
straw mat, on which he is sitting, is his bed, while
stupified with his favorite drug. A pipe, of the cus-
tomary form, is seen in his right hand, Being too

989 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

poor to own a lamp, he has instead a small fire of
charcoal raised on the top of an urn-shaped vessel
of earthen-ware. By his side are seen vessels for
making tea, and by copious draughts of that stimulant
he will try to revive his dead limbs by and by, when
he awakes from his contemplated debauch, and finds
his whole energy gone, and, as it were, his very life
on the point of leaving the body.

My next excursion, after a week in the woods,
was with the commandant of the fort to a high bluff
on the eastern side of the entrance of the bay of
Kayéli. The fires which rage here year after year
destroy much of the thick forest, and a tall, coarse
grass takes its place. In these prairies grow
many kayu-puti, or whitewood-trees, so called from
their bark, which makes them resemble our white
birches. Their branches are very scattering, and
bear long, narrow leaves, somewhat like those of our
willow, which are gathered about this time of year,
for the sake of their “oil.” It is obtained in the
following manner: the leaves are plucked off by
hand and placed in baskets which are carried to
sheds, where they are emptied into large kettles,
that are partly filled with water, and carefully closed.
From the centre of the cover of the kettle rises a
wooden tube, to which is joined another of cloth,
that is coiled up in a barrel containing cold water.
A fire being made beneath the kettle, the volatile
“oil” is carried over and condensed in the tube.
About eight thousand bottles of this article are man-
ufactured here every year. Indeed, it forms almost
the only export from this large island, The price —

WE SWIM FOR OUR GAME. 283

here is about a guilder per bottle. It is sent to Java
and other parts of the archipelago, and is used asa
sudorific, The tree, Melaleuca cajeputi, is also found
in Amboina, Ceram, Celebes, and Sumatra, but the
best oil comes from this island.

After we had wandered over a number of hills,
we came down into a basin, in the bottom of
which was a little lake, where we found a flock of
brown ducks. The borders of the lake, however,
were so marshy that I could get no fair shot at this
rare game. In a small lake near by I had the privi-
lege of seeing a pair of those beautiful birds, the
Anas rajah, or “prince duck.” Around the borders
of the lake was a broad band of dead trees. My
hunter spied a nice flock of the brown ducks on the
opposite side, and for nearly a mile we carefully
crept along through the sharp-edged grass, until
we were just opposite the flock. If we went down
to the margin of the pond they would be completely
shielded from our shot by the trees. I therefore or-
dered my hunter, whose gun was loaded with a ball
for deer, to lie down, while I sprang upon my feet
and tried the effect of one barrel of my fowling-piece,
which, by-the-by, was loaded with small shot for
doves. Shy as they were, we had evidently taken
them by surprise. There was a click, a report, and
four out of the eight remained where they were.
The next thing was to get them. We had no dog
nor boat, and I proposed to my hunter, as he was a
good swimmer, that he swim for them, but he only
shrugged his shoulders and declared the whole pool
was so full of crocodiles that a man could not get

284 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

out where the birds were before he would be de-
voured. It evidently was just such a place as those
monsters delight to frequent, but I determined to go .
after them myself; and as I proceeded to carry out
my resolution, my hunter, ashamed to remain on the
banks, joined me, and after an ugly scramble through
the bushes and sticks, and much wallowing in the
soft mud, we got into the water and out to the flock,
and as soon as possible were back again on the bank.
The commandant now came up, and I recounted to
him what we had been doing. He was horrified !
That a man could go into that pond and escape the
crocodiles for ten minutes he regarded as next to a
miracle. A number of natives, who had frequently
visited the place, assured me that nothing could have
induced them to run such a risk of losing their lives.
Our whole party then continued on over the grassy
hills, and came down to Roban, a place of two na-
tive huts, and one of those was empty. Here, I
thought to myself, will be another good locality to
find new species, and I determined to return and
occupy the vacant house for a few days.

It was already late in the afternoon before we
thought of returning, and pushed off from the shore
in a boat that had come round the cape at the mouth
of the bay to take us home. Soon the wind sprang
up ahead, our little sail was taken in, and our men
used their oars; but the sun set and the moon arose,
and yet we were slowly toiling on, and occasionally
our boat grated on the top of a coral head that rose
higher than those around it. At last we passed the
cape, and reached the smooth water of the bay, yet

A GARDEN BENEATH THE SEA. 985

_ the helmsman kept near the shore, and took us be-
tween two little islands on the east side of the bay,
called by the natives Crocodile Islands. As we
passed the low point of one of them, within a boat's
length from the shore, an enormous crocodile crawled
out of the jungle and clumsily hurried down the nar-
row bank into the water, as if he had come out ex-
pecting to make a meal of us, The thought of the
danger I had incurred that very day of being devoured
by such monsters made me shudder and seize an oar,
but the amphibious beast was already out of my
reach,

Along the eastern side of Kayéli Bay there is an
extensive coral reef, and farther out around the cape
is another, a quarter of a mile wide, that is bare at
low tide. Mong the outer edges of this I floated
the next day, while on my way back to Roban. The
water was still, and as clear as crystal, and we could
see distinctly far down into the deep, deep sea.
Now, as we come near the reef, its outer wall sud-
denly rises up, apparently from the unfathomable
abyss of the ocean. Among the first forms we notice
are the hemispherical Meandrinas, or “ brain corals,”
named, because, when the soft polyps are removed,
small fissure-like depressions are found winding to
and fro over its surface, making the raised parts be-
tween them closely resemble the convolutions of the
brain, Near by are some sending out many branches,
like a thick bush, and others with only a few, resem-
bling deer-antlers of abnormal growth. Some, which
do not attach themselves to their neighbors, are
circular, as we see them from above. Their under

286 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

surfaces are horizontal and their upper sides slightly .
convex. When the soft parts are removed, a num-
ber of radiating partitions are seen, so that the
whole resembles a gigantic mushroom turned upside
down; and this family of polyps is hence called
Fungide. Scattered among the stone corals are
many Gorgonias. Some are much like broad sheets
of foliage and similar to those known to us as “ sea-
fans,” which generally come from the tropical waters
among our West Indies. Others resemble bundles
of rattans; and, when the soft polyps are taken off,
a black horn-like axis stick is left. Others, when
taken out of the sea and dried, look like limbs
cut from a small spruce-tree after it has been dried,
and lost hundreds of its small needle-like leaves, Num-
bers of sponges are also seen, mostly of a spherical
form, with many ramifying ducts or tubes. But the
most accurate description possible must fail to con-
vey any proper idea of the beauty and richness of
these gardens beneath the sea, because, in reading or
hearing a description, the various forms that are dis-
tinctly seen at a single glance have to be mentioned
one after another, and thus they pass along in a se-
ries or line before our mental vision, instead of being
grouped into circular areas, where the charm consists
not so much in the wonderful perfection of a few
separate parts, as in the harmonious relations, or, as
architects say, the effect of the whole. The pleasure
of viewing coral reefs never becomes wearisome,
because the grouping is always new. No two places
are just alike beneath all the wide sea, and no one
ean fail to be thrilled with pleasure, when, after a

THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 987

few strong strokes of the oars, his canoe 1s left to
glide on by her own momentum, and the coral gar-
dens pass in review below with a magical effect like
a panorama,

At Roban I remained with my men three days,
and, as we were nearer the shore, the mosquitoes did
not torment us as badly as previously at our hut near
the mountains. This proved to be a favorite locality
of the castori rajah, or “ prince parrot,” which I had
already seen in Ceram, and I secured two or three
pairs of them here, but I was specially anxious to
get a specimen of the malayu, as the Malays strange-
ly name a bird, the Megapodius Forsteni, which is
allied to the hen. The common name for these birds
is “mound-builders,” from their peculiar habit of
scratching together great heaps of sand and sticks,
which are frequently twenty or twenty-five feet in
diameter, and five feet high. These great hillocks
are their nests, and here they deposit their eggs.
There is also another species here, the WM. Wadllacei,
which burrows deeply in the sand. The natives
brought me one specimen, which they caught while
she was crawling up from her hidden nest. I kept
her alive for some time, but, after laying an egg
more than one-third as large as her whole body,
she died. Two eggs of the same dimensions were
found at the bottom of the tunnel she had made in
the loose sand. This bird usually comes down from
the hills in the early part of the evening to deposit its
eggs, and then its wailing cry is occasionally heard,
but it is so extremely shy, that it is one of the
most difficult of all the birds on the island to procure.

288 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

I usually shot the birds, and my hunter always
skinned them, noting the locality of each, its sex, and
as nearly as possible the color of its eyes, The great-
est annoyance that troubles the collector of birds in
the tropics is caused by the swarms of small ants that
fill every conceivable place. If a bird is shot and
laid down on the ground for half an hour, it will al
most surely be injured so much by these insects that
it will not be worth skinning. There is no certain
means of keeping them away altogether, except by
completely isolating a place with water, which is
usually done by putting small basins under each leg
of a table, but before one is aware of it, something
is sure to be placed so as to touch the table, and thus
form a bridge for these omnivorous pests to cross
over and continue their work of destruction. As
soon as the birds are brought in they are hung up
by a thread or piece of small twine. After the
skins are taken off, they are thoroughly poisoned
with arsenic and camphor, mixed with water to the
consistency of cream. Each is then filled with the
cotton from the cotton-wood tree, until it has exactly
the size of the bird. They are then spread in the
sun on a bamboo frame, which is suspended by
twines fastened at its corners. After they have be-
come thoroughly dried, they are kept in a tight tin
box with large pieces of gum-camphor, and even then
they must be looked after every day or two, for they
are still liable to be injured by the ants, which are
particularly fond of gnawing at the base of the bill
and around the eyes. During the rainy season it is
extremely difficult to dry the skins properly, there is

TROPICAL PESTS. 939

so little sunshine. No one who has not lived in
the tropics can have any idea what a source of con-
stant vexation the ants are. Bread, sugar, and
every thing eatable, they are sure to devour, unless
it is kept in glass-stoppered bottles; and this is the
greater annoyance, because, when a quantity of pro-
visions is lost, as is constantly happening, it is so
difficult to procure another supply in every part of
the archipelago, except in the immediate vicinity of
the few chief cities. They are sure, in some way or
other, to find their way into every little nook or
corner; and though a table be set with the greatest
’ care, in nine cases out of ten some will be seen run-
ning on the white cloth before dinner is over. The
floors of the houses occupied by Europeans are
usually made of large, square pieces of earthen-ware,
and through the cracks that chance to occur in the
cement between them ants are sure to appear. It is
this, probably, that has given rise to the saying, that
“the ants will eat through a brick in a single night.”
In all parts of the archipelago it is an established
custom either to whitewash the walls inside and out-
side, or else paint them white, except a narrow strip
along the floor, which is covered with a black paint
chiefly composed of tar, the only common substance
to which these pests show any aversion, All these
troubles are caused by the “black ants,” but their
ravages do not compare with those caused by the
“white ants,” which actually eat up solid wood. The
frames of many of the smaller buildings and out-
houses in the East are not mortised, but are fastened
together with pieces of coir rope, and, of course, when
19

990. TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

they are eaten off, the whole structure comes to the
ground. A large L attached to the controleur’s
house, which we have been using for a dining-
room, fell down from this cause the other day. Af-
terward, when I came to Macassar, a fine war-steamer
of eight hundred or one thousand tons was pointed
out to me, which the white ants had succeeded in
establishing themselves in, and several gentlemen,
who ought to have known, said that she was so
badly eaten by them that she was almost unsea-
worthy.

On another occasion the commandant and I went
to the west end of the bay to hunt deer. We started
early, and at eight o’clock were already at the mouth
of a small stream, which we ascended for a short dis-
tance, and a guide then led us through a strip of
woods that lined the banks. Our party in all con-
sisted of more than twenty, half of whom were sol-
diers, armed with rifles; the others came to start
up the game. When we passed out into a level,
open prairie, all that had guns were posted about
twenty yards apart, in a line parallel to the woods.
The others made a long cireuit round, and finally en-
tered the forest before us, Then forming into a line,
they began to drive toward us, shouting with all
their might, and making a din horrid enough to
frighten other animals less timid than deer. Packs
of dogs, that the natives had brought, were mean-
time yelping and howling. Soon there was.a crack-
ing in the bushes near me, and at the next in-
stant came a female and her fawn, with high, flying
leaps through the tall grass, I carried a heavy gov-

A DEER HUNT. 291

ernment rifle, for, unfortunately, my light breech-
loading Spencer was not on the island. I aimed at
the foremost and fired; she fell, and I ran, shouting
out to the others that I had one, when, to my sur-
prise, at the next instant she sprang up again and
with one leap disappeared into the dense jungle.
That was the only good shot I had that day, Again
and again we drove, but when we stood in the tall
grass, which was as high as our heads, we could not
see our game, and when we perched on stumps, or
climbed into the trees, we could not turn round
quickly enough to fire suddenly in an unexpected
quarter with any certain aim. However, when the
horn was sounded for all to assemble, one fine deer
and one large wild hog were brought in. Once a
large male came out about five hundred yards from
where I was standing. At the crack of the rifle he
only raised his head high and darted away, almost
with the speed of a bullet. His antlers were very
large and branching, and the gracefulness and speed
with which he flew over the plain made the sight
one of the finest I ever enjoyed. The natives are ac-
customed now, during the dry monsoon, to burn the
prairie-lands, partly in order that new, sweet grass
may spring up, and that when the deer come out of
the forests to eat it they will be fully exposed to the
rifles, and partly, as they say, to induce them to come
out in order to lick up the ashes. The usual method,
besides driving, is to lie in wait near a newly-burnt
place by night, when there is moonlight enough to
enable the hunters to see every thing within a rifle-
shot plainly. After the deer is secured its flesh is

999 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

eut up into thin slices and smoked, and now, in many
places on the hills around the bay of Kayéli, col-
umns of smoke are seen rising every day, where the
natives are busy changing venison into dinding, the
only kind of meat they have except that of wild
boars, which are very abundant on this island, though
seldom taken. They are accustomed to come out
into the prairie-lands in great droves, and frequently
an area of a quarter of an acre is so completely rooted
up by them that it looks as if it had been ploughed.
They even come by night to the gardens, or culti-
vated places, at a little distance from the village, and
in a short time destroy almost every thing growing
in them. One time, seeing a rare bird perched high
on the top of a Jone tree that stood in the tall grass, I.
cautiously approached within range and fired, when
suddenly there was a rattling of hoofs on the dry
ground, caused by the stampede of a large herd
within pistol-shot of where we were, but entirely
hidden from our view by the thick grass, The na-
tives are usually afraid of them, and the one who was
crawling along behind me to pick up the bird fled at
the top of his speed when he heard the thundering
tread of more than a hundred hoofs, while I stood
wondering what sort of beasts had so suddenly
sprung out of the earth, and half querying whether
my shot, as they fell on the ground, had not been
changed into quadrupeds in the same miraculous way
that the dragon teeth, sown by Cadmus, were trans-
formed into men. The hog-deer, or babirusa, is also
found among these mountains. While I was at Ka-
yéli a young one was caught by some of the natives,

A THREATENING FLEET. 293

During this day’s hunt I came to a wide field of re-
cently-elevated coral, about one hundred feet above
the sea, The natives, who were surprised that I
should stop to look at such common rocks, asserted
that the same kind of datu puti, “white stone,” was
found among the hills, and I have no doubt that re-
cent coral reefs will be found in the mountainous
parts of all the adjacent islands as high up as Gov-
ernor Arriens has already traced them on Amboina.
While these days were passing by, we all won-
dered what the authorities were doing to put down
the great insurrection in Ceram. All the boats that
came brought us only the vaguest tidings, sometimes
of entire success, and sometimes of entire failure,
We had good cause to be solicitous, for at two or
three posts on that island there were only about a
dozen Dutch soldiers, and if any numbers of the head-
hunting Alfaras made an attack in concert, all would
inevitably be butchered. While we were in this
state of suspense, six large praus were seen coming in
round one of the capes and entering our bay. As
the foremost hove to and waited for the others, that
all might reach the anchorage together, they appeared |
to be coming with some evil design, and immediately
there was no little bustle in our settlement of nine
Europeans, four of whom were ladies. The com-
mandant summoned all his troops into the fort, ser-
geants were posted in the four corners by the four
cannon, the men once more put through the routine
of loading, so that if anybody was killed by the dis-
charge of their pieces, which, by the by, were only
six-pounders, it might be some one outside of the fort.

994 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

In short, every thing was made ready to do battle.
Meantime the six praus came to anchor off the beach.
One of them had the required pass from the Dutch
authorities at Ceram, allowing his boat to come to
Kayéli, but the others had no such papers, and, ac-
cording to their own story, had become frightened at
the great guns in Ceram, and had also deserted their
homes. This seemed to me so probable that I went
down on the beach, and, if the authorities had al-
lowed it, I would have taken half a dozen natives in
a canoe and boarded every one of the praus myself,
and found out what they contained. I was impor-
tuned to come back from the shore, but as I had been
in battle myself, I did not purpose to get frightened
and hide in the fort until I could see some cause
for it. After a long consultation, it was decided
that I should not be permitted to inspect the praus,
and a number of Malays were sent off to carefully
examine each of the dangerous vessels, This was
done, and the report brought back that there were
only three or four natives in each, and that as to
weapons, not one of them had even an old flint-lock.
Thus ended the alarm, and once more the usual dull
routine set in, but this time to be broken by a cir-
cumstance as romantic as it was peculiar.

In our little community of nine persons there was
a young officer. He was affable, energetic, and withal
a good military man for one of his years, but, unfor-
tunately, his mind had been fed on novels until this
world appeared to him little more than half real.
He was engaged to a young lady, who lived also in
our little village. Besides his romantic notions,

A PAGE OF ROMANCE. 295

another of his faults was that he was exceedingly ir-
ritable, so much so, that he and the lady’s father fell
into a serious dispute, in which he became so enraged
that he ordered his servant to saddle his horse forth-
with, while he pulled on his long-spurred riding.
boots, and stuck a large Colt’s revolver (navy size)
into his belt. He now declared his intention to put
an end to all his ills with his own hand, and, disre-
garding the screams of his affianced, and the prayers
and entreaties of all, he sprang into the saddle, and,
dashing by the house where I was living, disappeared
up the road into the forest. The gentleman with
whom I was residing saw him as he passed, and at
once surmised his intent, but I assured my host that
it took a brave man to commit suicide, and in due
time we should certainly see our friend safely return.
The sequel proved the correctness of my judgment,
for in a couple of hours he came back, his horse reek-
ing with perspiration, and he himself as crestfallen
as Don Quixote after his most heart-breaking misfor-
tunes. The only one who suffered from this event
was the young lady, who had so much confidence in
her gallant friend as to foolishly believe he would
carry out his desperate resolve to the bitter end.
Instead of remaining only a few days as I had
planned, I had now lived more than three months in
exile here at Buru, when one morning it was an-
nounced that the governor’s yacht, the Telegraph,
had arrived, to my great delight, for I had already
engaged a prau to call in for me while on her way
from Amboina to Ternate. The Telegraph came
from Ceram to afford me an opportunity of going to

296 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

Ternate, the very place I was anxious to reach, and
at the same time to leave an order for sapis, which
she would take to Ceram on her return. The sapi
or Madura cattle have been introduced into all these
islands by the government to be used as food for the
soldiers, but only in cases of emergency. I imme-
diately prepared to continue my travels to other isl-
ands, and that day, September 6th, we steamed out
of Kayéli Bay. For two months I had wandered
over hills and. mountains, penetrating the densest
jungles, and picking my way through bogs filled with
thorny vines. Again and again the natives enter-
tained me with descriptions of the great pythons
with which the whole island abounds, but whenever
I saw a bird that I wanted, I always followed it as
long as I could see it. The result was, that I had
collected eighty-one species,* which were represented
by over four hundred specimens, nine-tenths of which
I had shot myself.

This bay is a good harbor for our whalers, and,
before the war, several came here every year. It is
a free port, and there is a safe anchorage, plenty of
good water and wood, and vegetables can be obtained
at cheap rates,

For the last time I looked back on the mountains
rising behind in the interior of the village. Many
and many an hour, as the sun was setting, I used to
stand by the shore of the bay where a large cannon
was planted erect in the sand, and, leaning against its
dumb, rusty mouth, watch the changing of beautiful

* In the same length of time Mr. A. R. Wallace collected sixty-six
species on this island.

YOUTH'S RADIANT FOUNTAIN. 297

colors in the clouds that rested on the high peaks in
the south, while the day was fading into twilight,
and the twilight into a pure, starlight night. Near
this spot the sand-pipers came and tripped to and fro
on the beach when the tide was full, and many long-
winged night-hawks swooped back and forth, feast-
ing on multitudes of insects that came out as evening
approached. ar back of those mountains, near the
centre of the island, there is a lake, and on its
shores, according to the ancient belief of the natives,
grows a plant which possesses the wondrous power
of making every one who holds it in his hand young
again, even when his locks have grown white with
years, and his hand is already palsied with old age.
This must be the fountain of youth, which, according
to Mohammedan tradition, is situated in some dark
region in the distant East, and which Moore in his
“Lalla Rookh” refers to as—

“—. vouth’s radiant fountain,
Springing in some desolate mountain.”

CHAPTER IX,
TERNATE, TIDORE, AND GILOLO.

As we steamed out of the bay of Kayéli a heavy
rain came on, for the rainy season, which had been
prevailing on the south side of Buru, was now be-
ginning on the north side.

The same alternation of seasons is seen in Ceram.
When I was on the south side of that island, there
was one continuous rain; but when I came soon after
to Wahai on the north coast, the grass was dry, and
in many places completely parched. The cause of
this interchange of seasons is, that the clouds which
come up from the southeast are heavily charged with
moisture, and when they strike against the high
mountain-chain which extends from the eastern to the
western end of that island, the larger part of their
moisture is condensed and falls in heavy torrents,
so that when they pass over the water-shed they
pour out few or no showers.* When the wind
changes and comes from the northeast, the north
sides of Ceram and Buru are deluged, while it is dry
weather on their southern coasts.

* A similar cause produces the rainless district of Peru, but there the

prevailing wind throughout the year, at least in the upper strata of the
atmosphere, is from the southeast.

BACHIAN AND MAKTAN. 299

When we were three miles from the northern end
of Buru, we struck into a series of tide-rips, exactly
like those seen in the middle of the South Atlantic
Ocean, hundreds and hundreds of miles from any
shore. Night now came on, and it was so dark and
thick that we could not see fifty yards in any direc-
tion. It is especially at such a time, when there is
no moon, no stars, no light in the whole heavens, ex-
cept the lightning which fitfully darts and flashes
anywhere and everywhere over the sky, that one
can feel the inestimable value of the mariner’s com-
pass. That night we had’ much rough sea, and I
was thankful that I was on a good steamer instead of
the old prau on which I had been expecting to
make this voyage. In the afternoon of the next
day we passed the islands of Bachian and Tawali,
which are heaved up into ridges about a thousand
feet in height, and are separated by a long, narrow
strait, abounding in the grandest scenery. On
Bachian the clove-tree grows wild. The northern
part of the island is of sedimentary origin of various
ages, and there some coal and copper have been
found, and gold has been washed since 1774. The
southern part of the island is chiefly of volcanic
origin. North of Bachian lies a small group of isl-
ands, and north of these Makian, an old voleano. In
1646 it underwent a fearful eruption, and all the vil-
lages on its flanks were destroyed. They were said to
contain a population of some seven thousand. At
that time the whole mountain was so completely
split in two ina northeast and southwest direction,
that when viewed from either of those points two

300 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

peaks were seen. After this destruction it was again
settled, and in 1855 its population numbered six
thousand. In 1862 it again burst forth, destroying
nearly every one on the whole island. So great a
quantity of ashes was thrown out, that at Ternate,
about forty miles distant, they covered the ground
to the depth of from three to four inches, and nearly
all the vegetation, except the large trees, was de-
stroyed. A similar devastation caused the severest
suffering within all that radius. But this eruption,
fearful as it was, could not be compared to that of
Mount Tomboro, already described.

North of Makian is Motir, a deep cone of trachyt-
ic lava, about one thousand feet in height. During
the next night we passed between the high, sharp
peak of Tidore on the right and that of Ternate on
the left, and, entering a large, well-sheltered bay, an-
chored off the village, situated on the eastern declivi-
ty of the latter mountain. This morning as the sun
rose the scene was both charming and imposing
—imposing, while we looked upward to the lofty
summit of this old voleano and watched the clouds
of white gas rising in a perpendicular column high
into the sky, until they came up to a level where
the air was moving, and at once spread out into a
broad, horizontal band, while the sun was pouring
down a perfect flood of bright light over the high
crest of the ancient peak and the city on its flanks;
charming as we looked below the level water-line on
the shore, and beheld the whole grand sight above,
perfectly mirrored beneath in the quiet sea. This
was the first mountain, whose flanks are cultivated,

ERUPTIONS OF TERNATE. 301

that I had seen since leaving Java, Many small
ridges extend from its crest part way down its sides,
and then spread out into little plateau-like areas ;
and there the natives have cleared away the luxuriant
shrubbery and formed their gardens, and from them
were rising small columns of smoke as if from sacri-
ficial altars. The whole island is merely a high vol-
cano, whose base is beneath the ocean. Its cireum-
ference at the shore line is about six miles, and its
height five thousand four hundred feet. From Val-
entyn, Reinwardt, Bleeker, and Junghuhn, we learn
that severe and destructive eruptions took place in
1608, 1635, and 1653. In 1673 another occurred,
and a considerable quantity of ashes was carried
even to Amboina. Then, for one hundred and sixty-
five years, only small clouds of gas rose from the sum-
mit—not even hot stones were thrown out, and the
mountain seemed to have undergone its last labor,
when, on the 26th of February, 1838, another but not
a severe eruption took place. This, however, came
suddenly—so suddenly that, of a party of six natives
who chanced to be on the summit collecting sulphur,
four who had gone down into the crater did not
have time to escape, and the two who remained on
its edge only saved themselves by hastening down
the mountain; and even they were badly burned and
lacerated by the showers of hot stones, On the 25th
of March, of the next year, a more violent eruption
occurred, A heavy thundering roared in the earth,
thick clouds of ashes enveloped the whole island, and
streams of glowing lava flowed down the mountain.
Again, the next year, on the 2d of February, at nine

99 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

o'clock in the forenoon, a third eruption, yet more se-
vere, began. Heavier thundering was heard, smoke
and ashes poured out, and hot stones rose from the
crater, and fell like hail on the sides of the voleano,
setting fire to the dense wood which had completely
spread over it during its long rest, and causing it to
assume the appearance by night of a mountain of
flame. At the same time much lava poured out over
the crater on the north side, and flowed down to the
sea between Fort Toluko and Batu Angus, “the Hot
Stone.” This destruction continued for twenty-four
hours, and at four o’clock the next day all was still.
During the next ten days clouds of black smoke con-
tinued to pour out, but all trusted that the worst had
passed, when, on the 14th, at half-past twelve or almost
exactly at midnight, a “frightful, unearthly thunder-
ing” began again, and the shocks became heavier and
more frequent until half-past three (before it would
have been light if the sky had been clear), when
the last house in the whole place had been laid in
ruins. The earth split open with a cracking that
could be distinctly heard above the awful thunder-
ing of the mountain. Out of the fissures jets of
hot water rose for a moment, and then the earth
closed’ again, to open in another place. An edu-
cated gentleman, who, from his great wealth, gen-
erosity, and liberality, is justly known as the
“Prince of the Moluccas,” assured me that when
two men were about one thousand yards apart, one
would see the other rise until his feet seemed as high
as the head of the observer, then immediately he
would sink and the observer rise until he seemed as

GREAT EARTHQUAKE. 303

much above his fellow as he had been below him be-
fore. The published accounts entirely agree with
this statement. For fifteen hours the solid ground
thus rolled like the sea, but the heaviest wave did
not occur till ten o'clock on the 15th of February.
Fort Orange, which had withstood all the shocks of
two hundred and thirty years, was partly thrown
down, and wholly buried under a mass of pumice-
stone and the débris of the forests above it. The
people, as soon as this last day of destruction com-
menced, betook themselves to their boats, for, while
the land was heaving like a troubled ocean, the sea
continued quiet; no great wave came in to complete
the work of destruction on the shore. It seemed, in-
deed, as if the laws that govern these two great ele-
ments had been suddenly exchanged, and the fixed
land had become the mobile sea. The whole loss
caused by this devastating phenomenon was estimated
at four hundred thousand Mexican dollars; and yet,
after all this experience, so great was the attachment
of both foreigners and natives to this particular spot,
that they would not select some one less dangerous
on the neighboring shores, but all returned and
once more began to build their houses for another
earthquake to lay in the dust, proving that the com-
mon remark in regard to them is literally true, that
“they are less afraid of fire than the Hollanders are
of water.” The present city, however, judging by
the area of the ruins, is not more than two-thirds the
size of the former one. Its total population is about
9,000. Of these, 100 are Europeans, 300 mestizoes,
200 Arabs, 400 Chinese, and the others natives of

504 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

this and the adjoining islands. It is divided into
two parts, the southern or European quarter, known
by the peculiar name Malayu, and north of this the
Chinese and Arab quarter. Near the latter is Fort
Orange, which was built in 1607, as early as the set-
tlement of Jamestown. In 1824 this fort was pro-
nounced by the governor-general the best in all the
Netherlands India. Beyond the fort is “the palace”
of the Sultan of Ternate, and north of this is the
native village, The palace is a small residence, built
in the European style, and stands on a terrace, facing
a wide, beautiful lawn, that descends to the sea.
Near it is a flag-staff, which leans over as if soon to
fall, a fit emblem of the decaying power of its owner,
whose ancestors were once so mighty as to make the
Dutch regard them with fear as well as with
respect,

According to Valentyn, who gathered his infor
mation from the native records, there were formerly
in Gilolo a number of independent states, each with
its “kolano” or chief. In about a. p. 1250, two
hundred and seventy years before any European
sailed in these seas, a great migration took place to
the neighboring islands, and a village named Tabona
was formed on the top of this mountain, which has
been an active volcano ever since it was known to
Europeans. In a. p. 1322, many Javanese and
Arabs came here to buy cloves. This is the first
historical record we have of the spice-trade. The
inhabitants of Obi and Bachian now united to coun-
teract the growing power of the prince of Ternate,
but this union effected little, for, in a. p. 1850, Mo-

FERDINAND MAGELLAN. 305

lomateya, who was then reigning at Ternate, learned
from the Arabs how to build vessels, and, having pre-
’ pared a fleet, conquered the Sula Islands, The Arabs
and Javanese meantime made great exertions to con-
vert these people to Mohammedanism, and in 4. p.
1460,* a little more than two centuries after it had
been introduced into Java, Mahum, the prince of Ter-
nate, became a Mohammedan “through the influence
of the Javanese.” About this time Malays and Chi-
nese came from Banda to purchase cloves, which they
sold to Indian traders at Malacca. In 1512 Francisco
Serano, whose vessel struck on the Turtle Islands,
when returning with D’Abreu from Amboina and
Banda, induced the natives to assist him in getting
his ship afloat while the rest of the fleet were return-
ing to Malacca, and to pilot him to Ternate; and
thus he was the first European who reached the great
centre of the clove-trade. In 1521 the fleet of Magel-
lan anchored off Tidore, an island separated from
Ternate by only a narrow strait.

Ferdinand Magellan, who organized this fleet, was
a Portuguese nobleman. He sailed, however, under
the patronage of Charles V. of Spain. On the 20th
of September, 1519, he left the port of St. Lucas with
“five small ships of from sixty to one hundred and
thirty tons,” his object being to find a western passage
to the Indies, particularly the Spice Islands. Coast-

* This date is corroborated by Pigafetta, who wrote in 1521, and
remarks in regard to this point: “ Hardly fifty years have elapsed since
the Moors (Arabs) conquered (converted) Malucco (the Moluccas), and
dwelt there. Previously these islands were peopled with Gentiles (i. e.,
heathen) only.”

20

306 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

ing southward along the shores of Brazil, he found
the strait which still continues to bear his name. This
he passed through with three ships, one having been
wrecked, and one having turned back. For one
hundred and sixteen days he continued sailing in a
northwest direction, over (as it seemed to them) an
endless ocean. Their food became exhausted, but
they yet kept on the same course until at last their
eyes were blessed with the sight of land. Pigafetta, a
member of this expedition, thus pictures their suffer-
ings: “On Wednesday, the 28th day of November,
1520, we issued from the strait, engulfing ourselves
in the ocean, in which, without comfort or consola-
tion of any kind, we sailed for three months and
twenty days. We ate biscuit which was biscuit no
longer, but a wormy powder, for the worms had
eaten the substance, what remained being fetid with
the urine of rats and mice. The dearth was such
that we were compelled to eat the leathers with
which the yards of the ships were protected from
the friction of the ropes. This leather, too, having
been long exposed to the sun, rain, and wind, had
become so hard that it was necessary to soften it by
immersion in the sea for four or five days, after which
it was broiled on the embers and eaten. We had to
sustain ourselves by eating sawdust, and a rat was
in such request that one was sold for half a ducat.”
The first islands Magellan saw were those he
named the Ladrones or “ Islands of Thieves.” * From
those he came to the Philippines, and on one of these
(Mactan, near Zebu) he was murdered by the na-
* Vide Pigafetta in Orawfurd’s “ Dict. India Islands,”

CATHOLICISM IN THE MOLUCCAS. 507

tives, as was also Barbosa, a gentleman of Lisbon, who
had previously visited and described India, and from
whose writings we have frequently had occasion to
quote. From Zebu, Magellan’s companions sailed to
the northern part of Borneo and Tidore. Thence
they continued southward, touching at Bachian and
Timur, in 1522, and finally arrived safely back
in Spain, having completed the first cireumnaviga-
tion of our globe. This great voyage was accom-
plished nearly a century before the Pilgrims landed on
our New-England shores. Soon after the Portuguese
had established themselves at Ternate, they began to
teach the natives their Catholic creed, and in 1535 the
native king, who had accepted that religion and been
christened at Goa, returned to Ternate and began
his reign, Other native princes then proposed to
the Portuguese to become Catholics, if they would
take them under their protection, and thus Catholi-
cism began to spread rapidly, but the same year
all the native converts were destroyed by Moham-
medans, headed by Cantalino, who was styled “the
Molucean Vesper.” In 1546, Francis Xavier,* a
Catholie priest, visited Ternate. He afterward went
back to Malacca and proceeded to China and Japan,
and returning from the latter country died on an isl-
and off Macao, near Canton. The Dutch first came
to Ternate under Admiral Houtman, in 1578, In
1605, under Stephen van der Hagen, they stormed
and took Ternate, and thus drove the Portuguese out
of the Moluccas, and the island, since that date, has

* He has since been canonized, and is worthily considered by his
people a model of piety and devotion to the missionary cause.

308 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

continued in their hands, the English not being able
to capture it during the early part of this century,
when they took Amboina and the neighboring isl-
ands, They now continued their strenuous attempts
to dislodge the Spaniards from their stronghold on
Tidore, until the besieged, finding themselves con-
stantly in danger, deserted the whole Moluccas to the
Dutch in 1664,

As the Portuguese and Spaniards had been anxious
to convert the natives to Catholicism, so the Dutch
were anxious to convert them to Protestantism, but
they did not, however, labor in the same manner as
the former. Pigafetta informs us that in eight days
“all the inhabitants of this island” (Zebu, one of the
Philippines) “were baptized, and also some of the
other neighboring islands, In one of the latter we
set fire to a village” (because the inhabitants would
neither obey the king of Zebu nor Magellan). “Here
we planted a wooden cross, as the people were Gen-
tiles. Had they been Moors” (Arabs), “we should
have erected a stone column, in token of their hard-
ness of heart, for the Moors were more difficult of
conversion than the Gentiles.” In three days after
this conversion, these very natives murdered Magellan,
and in twelve days more they waylaid and butch-
ered twenty-four of his companions, The natives
were first instructed in Protestant doctrines by teach-
ers in 1621, and in 1628 the first Protestant clergy-
man came into the Moluccas, This faith has made
little progress, however, and, except the inhabitants
of Haruku, Saparua, and Nusalaut, and small com-
munities at the chief places of Amboina and Ternate,

FORMER MONOPOLIES, 3809

the whole native population east of Celebes is either
Mohammedan or heathen.

The islands on which the clove-tree grew spon-
taneously, and the ones originally known as “ the
Moluccas,” are Ternate, Tidore, Motir, Makian, and
Bachian, which are situated in a row off the west
coast of the southern half of Gilolo. Of this group
Tidore and Bachian, only, belong to the prince of
Ternate, and the Dutch East India Company, in order
to make the monopoly they already enjoyed more
perfect, offered this prince a yearly sum of seventeen
thousand four hundred guilders, nearly seven thou-
sand dollars, for the privilege of destroying all
the clove and nutmeg trees they could find in his
wide territory; for besides these five islands and
other smaller ones near them, and also the adjoin-
ing coast of Gilolo, where the clove-tree was indi-
genous, it had been introduced by the natives
themselves into Ceram, Buru, and Amboina, before
the arrival of the Portuguese. This offer the prince
accepted in 1652, perhaps because he could not re-
fuse longer. From that date his power began to de-
cline, and in 1848 he was unable to make the people
of the little island of Makian acknowledge his sover-
eignty, which once extended from north of Gilolo to
Buton and Muna south of Celebes, a distance of six
hundred geographical miles. His empire also in-
cluded the western coast of Celebes; and the islands
that lie between it and Bachian, Buru, and a large
part of Ceram, and one-half the area of Gilolo, were
within its limits. For a long time expeditions were
fitted out every year by the Dutch, to search each

810 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

island anew, and destroy all the trees which had
sprung up from seed planted by birds. Another
such piece of selfishness it would be difficult to find
in all history. The result of this agreement and this
policy has been that, for a considerable number of
years, the income of the government in the Moluccas
and Bandas, taken together, has not been nearly
equal to its expenses in these islands; and it is now
evident to all that very much has been lost by this
ungenerous and exclusive mode of trade,

On landing at this village I found a pleasant
residence with a good English lady, the second it
had been my good fortune to meet since I left Java.
After living so long among a people speaking an-
other language, it is a privilege indeed to hear
one’s native tongue spoken without a foreign accent,
and to converse with a person whose religion, educa-
tion, and views of life accord with one’s own, On
these outer borders of civilization, Americans and
Englishmen are—as we ought to be everywhere—
members of the same family,

The same afternoon, as it was clear, I rode with
an officer up the mountain to a summer-house, two
thousand four hundred feet above the sea, From
this high position we had a fine view over the
wide bay of Dodinga, formed by the opposite re
treating coast of Gilolo. High mountains are seen
to rise in the interior, and several of these are said
to be volcanoes, either active or extinct. In the
northern part of the island, opposite the island of
Morti, the Resident informed me that there was a
crater which, according to the accounts given him

THE BLOODHOUNDS OF GILOLO. 311

by the officials who had visited it, must be nearly as
large as the famous one in the Tenger Mountains
on Java. On Morti’ itself is Mount Tolo, which
suffered a severe eruption in the previous century.
Before that time Morti was said to be well peopled,
but now only the natives of the adjoining coast of
Gilolo, who are most notorious pirates, stay there
from time to time.

A large number of the natives of Gilolo were
then here at Ternate. Though frequently called
“ Alfura,” they are strictly of the Malay type, and
have not the dark skin and frizzly hair of the Al-
fura of Ceram and Buru, though representatives
of that people may exist in other parts of Gilolo.
Of the whole population of Gilolo, which is supposed
to be about twenty-seven thousand, all but five thou-
sand are under the Sultan of Ternate. During the
war in Java, from 1825 to 1830, the sultan sent a
considerable force of his subjects to assist the Dutch,
and those who were then at Ternate had been
ordered to come over to hold themselves in readiness
to aid in suppressing the revolt in Ceram, for the
Dutch believe in the motto “cut diamond with
diamond.” ‘These natives appear to be quite as mild
as most Malays, but the foreigners here say that they
fought so persistently while in Java, that soon they
were styled “the bloodhounds of Gilolo.” .A small
number of Papuans are also seen in the village.
They were mostly brought here from Papua by the
fleet that collects the yearly tribute for the Sultan
of Tidore. While I was at Amboina a very unfavora-
ble account of them was given by a native captain of

312 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

Macassar, who had been taken prisoner near this place.
According to his report to the government, when he
returned, all his crew was seized and eaten one after
another, and the only thing that saved him from a
like fate was that he read parts of the Koran.
This led them to believe him a priest, and finally in-
duced them to allow him to depart on the next ves-
sel that came to their shores. East of Geelvink Bay
two Dutch expeditions have found that the whole
population, men, women, and children, always go
absolutely naked. |

On our right, as we looked toward the east from
our lofty position, the steep, conical peak of Tidore
was seen rising about six thousand feet above the
sea, It is one of the sharpest peaks in all this part
of the archipelago, As it has no crater either at
the summit or on its sides, there is no vent by
which the gases beneath it can find a ready escape.
They must therefore remain confined until they
have accumulated sufficient power to hurl high
into the air the whole mass of ashes, sand, and rock
which presses them down. This is exactly what hap-
pened at Makian. Professor Reinwardt, who ex-
amined this peak in 1821, declared that it would be
blown up in twenty years, and, strange to say, it was
nineteen years afterward that the terrific eruption of
Makian, already described, occurred. As the islands
Ternate, Tidore, Motir, and Makian, are only cones
standing on the same great fissure in the earth’s
- erust, Professor Reinwardt’s prediction was fulfilled
almost to the very letter,

The village of Tidore is situated on its southern

MIGRATION TOWARD MICRONESIA. 313

side, and is the residence of the sultan, whose terri-
tory is no less extensive than that of the Sultan of
Ternate. It includes Tidore, Mari, the two eastern
peninsulas of Gilolo, Gebi, Misol, Salwatti, Battanta,
and the adjacent islands, the western and north-
ern shores of the western peninsula of New Guinea,
and the islands in Geelvink Bay. The population
of Tidore and Mari is about seven thousand five
hundred. The former cultivate the flanks of the
mountain up to a height of about three thousand
feet. Above this line is a dense wood, but the
pointed summit is quite bare. The income of this
sultan consists in his share of the produce obtained
on Gilolo, in the sago, massoi-bark, tortoise-shell,
tripang, and paradise-birds, which are yearly brought
from Papua, and the islands between it and Celebes,
and in twelve thousand eight hundred guilders (over
five thousand dollars) paid him by the Dutch Gov-
ernment, in accordance with the promise made by
the East India Company, when they destroyed the
spice-trees in his territory. The extension of the
empire of Tidore eastward was probably effected by
Malays, who migrated in that direction; for it is
stated in regard to Misol that the Papuans, who are
now driven back into the interior, occupied the
whole island when it was first visited by Europeans.
This tendency to push on toward the coast is the
more interesting, because it is generally supposed
that, ages and ages ago, the ancestors of the present
Polynesian race passed out from this part of the
Malay Archipelago into Micronesia, and thence into
the wide area they now occupy. From the northern

$14 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

end of Gilolo, and the adjacent island of Morti
(which is really but a part of the northern pen-
insula), the voyage to Lord North’s Island, and
thence to the Pelew group, would not be more
difficult to accomplish than the piratical expeditions
which even the Papuans, an inferior race, are known
to have made since the Dutch possessed the Mo-
luecas.

The taxes on paradise-birds* and other articles,
levied on Papua and the islands near it, are obtained
by a fleet which is sent out each year from the port
of Tidore, and which, according to the official re-
ports of the Dutch, carries out the sultan’s orders in
such a manner that it is little better than a great
marauding expedition.

But while we have been engaged in viewing the
scene before us, and recalling its history, the hours
have been gliding by, and we are admonished to
hasten down the mountain by the approaching
night. When we reached the village, I was shown
a remarkable case of birth-mark on a young child,
whose father owned the summer-house we had just
visited high up on the mountain. A short time pre-

* Mr. A. R. Wallace, who has travelled more widely than any other
naturalist over the region where these magnificent birds are found,
gives the following complete list of the species now known, and the
places they inhabit: Arru Islands, P. apoda and P. regia; Misol, P.
regia and P. magnijica ; Wagiu, P. rubra; Salwatti, P. regia, P. mag-
nijica, Epimachus albus, and Sericulus aureus ; coast regions of New
Guinea generally, Zpimachus albus, and Sericulus aureus; central and
mountainous regions of the northern peninsula of New Guinea, Lopho-
rina superba, Parotia sersetacea, Astrapia nigra, Epimachus magnus,
Craspedophora magnijica, and probably Pipa nn Wilsonii and Para
digalla carunculata.

A BIRTH-MARK. 815

vious to the birth of the child, the family were liv-
ing there. One night a heavy earthquake occurred,
and a brilliant cloud was seen rising out of the top
of the mountain. Immediately they began to pre-
pare to hasten down, and the mother, being greatly
frightened, attempted to run before, but fell heavily
on her right arm, bruising it severely in one place.
Soon afterward the child was born, and on its right
arm, and exactly in the same relative position as
where the mother had received the injury from her
fall, was found a red spot, or mark, which all agreed
had exactly the outline of the bright cloud seen by
them on the mountain-top.

The chief articles of export from this place are
those brought from the islands to the east, namely,
tortoise-shell, tripang, paradise - birds, massoi - bark,
and wax. Up to 18387, paradise-birds formed a very
‘important article of export from Ternate. In 1836
over 10,000 guilders’ worth were exported, chiefly
to China. In 1844 over 10,000 guilders’ worth of
massoi-bark was exported from this small emporium.
It comes from the interior of New Guinea, and is
sent to Java, where its aromatic oil is used by the
natives in rheumatic diseases, Until 1844, from
14,000 to nearly 70,000 guilders’ worth of tortoise-
shell was annually exported, chiefly to China; but
since that time it has frequently not exceeded 4,000.
The chief imports are rice, salt, and cotton goods.
A merchant who sends a small vessel each year to
Misol, and along the northern coast of Papua, kindly
offered me an opportunity to take passage on her;
but as it would be about six months before she

316 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

would come back to Surabaya, in Java, I was in
doubt whether I ought to go farther east, especially
as Mr. Wallace had obtained little at Dorey, the
only port on the north coast, and besides, it has the
unfavorable reputation of being one of the most
sickly places in the whole archipelago. The two
missionaries stationed at that place are now here,
having been obliged to return on account of re-
peated and severe attacks of fever. I was told that
the residents of Dorey are only free from this dis-
ease when they have a running sore on some part
of the body. While I was thus doubting whither to
direct my course, the man-of-war stationed to watch
for pirates in the Molucca Passage, between this
island and the northern end of Celebes, came into
port. She would return immediately to Kema, a
port on the eastern shore of the northern peninsula
of Celebes, and her commander kindly offered to
take me over to the “ Minahassa,” as the Dutch call
the northern extremity of that island. I had long
heard this spoken of as decidedly the most charming
part of the archipelago, and probably the most beau-
tiful spot in the world. But a moment was needed,
therefore, to decide whether I would go to the sickly
coast of Papua, or visit that beautiful land, and I ac-
cepted the commander’s invitation with many thanks,
I had been on this island four days, and we had had
Jour earthquakes, Indeed, the mountain seemed
preparing for another grand eruption, and I was not
loath to leave its shores. So great is the danger of
its inhabitants being entombed alive by night in the
ruins of their own dwellings, that all the foreigners

THE MOLUCCA PASSAGE. 317

have a small sleeping-house in the rear of the one
occupied by day. The walls of the larger one are
usually of brick or stone, but those of the sleeping-
house are always made of gaba-gaba, the dried mid-
ribs of large palm-leaves, which, when placed on end,
will support a considerable weight, and yet are al-
most as light as cork. The roof is of aéap, a thatch-
ing of dry palm-leaves, and the whole structure is
therefore so light that no one would be seriously
injured should it fall on its sleeping occupants,
Such continual, torturing solicitude changes this
place, fitted, by its fine climate, luxuriant vegetation,
and beautiful scenery, for a paradise, into a perfect
purgatory.

On the morning of the 12th of December we
‘steamed out of the roads for Kema. Soon we
passed near the southeast end of Ternate, and the
commander pointed out to me a small lake only
separated from the sea by a narrow wall, and in-
formed me that when the Portuguese held the island
they attempted to cut a canal through the wall or
dike, and use this lake as a dock—certainly a very
feasible plan ; but for some reason, probably because
they were so continually at war with their rivals, the
Spaniards, they did not carry it out. This lake is
said to be deep enough to float the largest ships, and
is, I believe, nothing more than an old, extinct crater.
On our larboard hand now was Mitarra, a steep vol-
canic cone as high as the Gunong Api at Banda, but
appearing much smaller from being, as it were, be-
neath the lofty peak of Tidore. It also is of voleanic
formation. We now came out into the Molucca Pas.

318 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

sage, and were steering west, and I could feel that
at least my face was turned homeward, a thought
sufficient to give any one a deep thrill of pleasure
who had wandered so far.

The wind being ahead, and our vesel steaming
slowly, we did not expect to see the opposite shore
until the next day, much to my satisfaction, for it
gave me a good opportunity to learn from the offi-
cers many particulars about the pirates in these seas,
Piracy has probably existed among these islands ever
since they were first peopled. It was undoubtedly
plunder, and not trade, that stimulated the natives
to attempt the first expedition that was ever made
over these waters. Piracy is described in the ear-
liest Malay romances, and spoken of by these natives,
not as a failing of their ancestors, but as an occasion
for glorying in their brave deeds. Such has also
been the case in the most enlightened parts of the
earth, when civilization and Christianity had made
no further progress in those regions than it has here
among the Malays. It has also been prevalent along
the northern shores of Europe and the British Isles.
The only reason that it was’ not a common practice
among our Indians was because they had not made
sufficient progress in the arts to construct large boats,
and were obliged to confine their plundering expedi-
tions to rivers and lakes, and could not sail on the
stormy ocean,

Pirates have been as numerous on the coasts of
China for centuries as they are now. Sometimes
they have come to the Philippines and the northern
parts of Borneo, but rarely or never among these

MALAY PIRATES. i 319

islands. When the Europeans first came to the
East, pirates abounded in every part of the archipel-
ago, particularly in the Straits of Malacca, in the
Sulu archipelago, between Borneo and Mindanao,
and especially on the southern shores of the latter
island. The establishment of a large port at Singa-
pore by the English, and a settlement on Rhio by
the Dutch, have quite scattered them from the former
region, but they continue to infest the Sulu Sea and
the southern part of the Philippines. They come
down here in the middle of the western monsoon,
that is, in January and February, and return in
the beginning of the eastern monsoon, so as to
have fair wind both ways, and be here during the
calms that prevail in these seas in the changing of
the monsoons, when the large number of oars
they use enables them to attack their prey as they
please. They appear to come mostly from the
shores of Lanun Bay, on the south coast of Min-
danao. From Dampier we learn that in 1686 they
were an inland people. “The Hilanoones,” he says,
“ jive in the heart of the country ” (Mindanao). “They
have little or no commerce by sea, yet they have
praus that row with twelve or fourteen oars apiece.
They enjoy the benefit of the gold-mines, and, with
their gold, buy foreign commodities of the Mindanao
people.” They are now the most daring pirates in
these seas. Last year the man-of-war on this station
had the good fortune to surprise five boats, one of
them carrying as many as sixty men. At first they
attempted to escape by means of their oars, but her
shot and shell soon began to tear them to pieces.

330 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

They then pulled in toward the shore and jumped
overboard, but, by this time, they had come near
a village, and the natives at once all turned out
with their spears, the only weapons they had, and
scoured the woods for these murderers until, as far as
could be ascertained, not one of them was left alive.
They seldom attack a European vessel, but, when
they do and succeed, they take revenge for the severe
punishment their countrymen receive from the Dutch
war-ships, and not one white man is left to tell the
tale of capture and massacre. ‘The vessels that they
prey on chiefly are the small schooners commanded
by mestizoes and manned by Malays, which carry on
most of the trade between the Dutch ports im these
islands. One of those vessels was taken and de-
stroyed by these murderers last year while sailing
down the coast from Kema. The whites and mesti-
zoes are always murdered, and the Malay crews are
kept as slaves. While I was at Kema two Malays
appeared at the house of the officer with whom I was
residing, and said they were natives of a small village
on the bay of Gorontalo; and that, while they were
fishing, they had been captured by a fleet of pirates,
who soon after set out on their homeward voyage;
and, while the fleet was passing Sangir, a small island
between the northern end of Celebes and Mindanao,
they succeeded in escaping by jumping overboard and
swimming a long distance to the shore, They had
now reached Kema, on their voyage toward Goron-
talo, and they came to the officer to apply for food,
clothing, and some means of reaching their homes
once more. Such cases are specially provided for by

A CHALLENGE FROM THE PIRATES. 321

the Dutch Government, and their request was imme-
diately granted. A few years ago these pirates sent
a challenge to the Dutch fleet at Batavia to come and
meet them in the Strait of Macassar, and several
officers assured me that five ships were sent. When
they arrived there no pirates were to be seen, but to
this day all believe the challenge was a bona fide one,
and that the only reason that the pirates were not
ready to carry out their part was because more men-
of-war appeared than they had anticipated. A short
time after I arrived back at Batavia, a fleet of these
plunderers was destroyed in that very strait. One
chief, who was taken on the opposite coast of Borneo
a few years ago, acknowledged that he had previously
commanded two expeditions to the Macassar Strait,
and that, though the Dutch war-ships had destroyed
his fleet both times, he had been able to escape by
swimming to the shore. At Kema I saw one of the
five praus that were taken in that vicinity last year.
It was an open boat about fifty feet long, twelve
wide, and four deep. There were places for five
oars on each side. At the bow and stern was a
kind of deck or platform, and in the middle of each
a small vertical post, on which was placed a long
swivel, throwing a pound-ball, They do not, how.
ever, depend on these small cannon, but always get
alongside a vessel as soon as possible, and then board!
her at the same moment on all sides in overpowering
numbers. It is almost impossible to catch them un-
less it is done by surprise, and this they carefully
guard against by means of spies on the shore. Our
captain informed me that several times when he has
21

399 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

suddenly appeared on some part of the adjacent
coasts, fires have been instantly lighted on the
tops of the neighboring hills, evidently as signals to
pirates in the immediate vicinity. As soon as they
receive this alarm they hide away in the shallow
creeks and bays among the mangrove-trees, so that
a war-vessel might steam past them again and again
without discovering the slightest indication of where
they are concealed. To the Dutch almost exclusive-
ly belongs the honor of having rendered the naviga-
tion of these seas so comparatively safe as it now is.
The English have assisted in the western part of
the archipelago, but the Spaniards, from whose terri-
tory these marauders now come, have effected little
toward removing this pest from the Philippines,
where it is as rife as it was two hundred years ago,

CHAPTER X.
THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF CELEBES,

On the morning of the 13th of December Mount
Klabat, a conical voleanic mountain attaining an ele-
vation of six thousand five hundred feet, appeared on
the horizon; and soon after, north of Klabat, was
seen Mount Sudara, “ The Sisters,” a twin cone whose
highest peak is about four thousand four hundred feet
above the sea. North of this again is Batu angus,
two thousand three hundred feet in height. Its name
in Malay means “the hot rock,” but it is really a large
volcano, whose top has been blown off and a great
crater thus formed; and this shows the fearful fate
that awaits each of the other two cones, as soon as
the gases pent up beneath their mighty masses have
acquired the necessary power. We now approached
Limbi, a high, uninhabited island with abrupt shores
extending in a northwest and southeast direction, and
soon after came to anchor in the road off Kema, the
coast here curving inward so as to form a small bay.
This is the port used now in the western monsoon.
During the eastern monsoon, steamers and ships go
round the northern end of Celebes to Menado, in
the Strait of Macassar. Kema is a village of two
thousand inhabitants, Its streets are very broad,

B94 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

and cross each other at right angles, The houses are
well built, and placed on piles twelve or eighteen
inches in diameter and six feet high—a remnant of
the old custom of placing their huts on high posts
to avoid attacks of enemies, which was practised by
these people previous to the arrival of Europeans.
It is certainly a good custom, not only because all
“such unwelcome intruders as the large snakes, which
are very numerous here, are thus avoided, but also
to keep the house dry and cool, by allowing a free
circulation of air beneath. Each house has a small
plot of ground, and this is separated from that
of its neighbor by hedges, which also border the
streets, and give the whole village a charming air
compared to the irregular, unsightly appearance of
those I had been visiting. Most of the streets are
also lined with shade-trees, and in the gardens, be-
hind the hedges, are rows of orange-trees, some of
their branches bearing flowers, some green fruit, and
some drooping under the abundance-of their golden-
yellow loads.

The controleur here kindly received me into his
house. He was just going to Limbi, an island five
or six miles north of Kema, to try to take some liy-
ing babirusa for the governor-general’s garden at
Buitenzorg, back of Batavia. That was exactly such
an excursion as suited my fancy, and I was very
willing to accept his invitation to join him before I
began a journey I had been planning over to Menado,
and thence up into the interior. While we were pre-
paring for our excursion, another gentleman, Mr. K.,
decided to join us.

A HUNT FOR BABIRUSA. 325

December 20th—A bright, clear day, and just
suitable for starting on our hunt. We have a ship’s
long-boat and a small prau, both containing about
twenty natives, and a large pack of dogs to start up
the game, The controleur is the captain of our boat,
and an old, gray Malay, who has been a seaman and
a whaler for most of his days, is the coxswain of
the other, and pilot for both. For ballast we have
a full load of rice, our two boats carrying only half
the whole party, the other portion—twenty-five na-
tives and half as many dogs—went yesterday,
under the charge of the second native chief of the
village, who rejoices in the euphonious title of
Hukom kadua, but the Dutch call him the “Sec-
ond Head.” From Kema up to the strait, between
Limbi and Celebes, we had a light air off the shore.
A thin cloud, like a veil of gauze, gathered on the
heads of the twin-peaks known as “The Sisters,”
and fell down in rich graceful folds over their green
shoulders. From the crests of all these peaks, down
to the high-water line on the shore, is one dense, un-
broken forest. There dwells the sap utung or
“wild ox,” probably not indigenous, but descended
from the tame sapi introduced from Java and Ma-
dura. The natives describe them as being exceed-
ingly fierce, both the cows and the bulls, Here that
peculiar antelope, the Anoa depressicornis, H, Smith,
abounds, In these same dense, undisturbed forests
the babirusa (Badbirusa alfurus, Less.) is found in
large numbers; and a species of Sus, much like the
lean hog that lives in the forests of our Southern
States, is very abundant. As soon as we entered

396 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

the strait we found a strong current against us, and
landed on the south side in a small bay to take our
lunch, Again we rowed and beat until we came to
the narrowest part of the strait, where high, per-
pendicular walls of rock rise on either hand, The
tide which sets toward the east, that is before the
wind, now changed, and away we shot between
the overhanging crags with the speed of an arrow.
‘Outside of these narrows the shores open on both
sides, so that almost at once we were exposed to the
full strength of the stormy monsoon. The strong tide
running against the wind rolled up a high, irregular
sea ; in fact, the ocean seemed to boil, “ Have you
any idea that we can land on that exposed shore
in the midst of such a surf?” I asked the controleur.
“Well, it is getting dreadfully rough,” was his in-
definite reply. The old Malay pilot, who had kept
his boat ahead, now stood up, and seeing the combing
waves, into which the strong current was rapidly
driving us, shouted out to the controleur, “Dra bisa
Tuan!” “Tt is impossible, sir! It is impossible, sir!”
Instantly we tacked and stood over toward the Celebes
side, and, under the guidance of the old whaler, soon
entered a small, well-sheltered bay. Near its middle
part the island of Limbi is very narrow, and across
that place had been stretched a series of strong nets
made of rope a quarter of an inch in diameter, the
meshes being about six inches square. Our plan was
to commence driving at the northern end of the isl-
and and force the wild babirusas into this trap; but
it was already quite dark, and the place where the
hukom had landed was a long way to windward, and

A CAMP BY THE SBA. 397

we therefore concluded to camp here to-night. For
a tent we cut poles from the neighboring bunches of
bamboo and covered them with the boat’s sail and
an old tarpaulin, Our friend K., who was extreme-
ly careful not to boast of being a good sailor, be-
came exceedingly frightened while we were in the
midst of the combing waves, and asked me, half a
dozen times during the evening, if the tide would
not rise so high as to wash us off this steep shore
before morning, but I tried to quiet his nerves by
assuring him that such a thing could not happen un-
less the earth should sink, a very possible thmg now
that I come to think of it, for that very beach was com-
posed of black volcanic sand, and we were almost
beneath a cone, which rose on the flanks of Batu
angus, and had been formed so recently that even the
luxuriant vegetation of these tropics had not yet had
time to gain a footing on its dark sides, In order
to get a partial shelter from the heavy showers we
expected before morning, we pitched our camp be-
neath the sturdy branches of an old tree. There
we slept while the wind, in heavy gusts, sighed
through the dense foliage over our heads, and at our
feet rose the heavy, pulsating roar of the ocean-surf.
December %1st.— After passing a comfortable
night, notwithstanding the fears of our companion
that we should awake before morning, and find our-
selves in the midst of the sea, we again attempted
to reach the northern end of Limbi, but, as soon as
we got out of the bay, we struck into such a heavy
sea that our men could not take us to windward, and
were therefore obliged to put back once more. This

528 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

time, to vary the scenery, we passed through the nar-
rows, and encamped on a charming little beach on
the island side of the strait, between two high, pre-
cipitous crags. Our first care was, of course, to con-
struct a tent, a work soon finished by our large crew.
At 11 a. m. we all felt a heavy earthquake-shock,
which lasted, apparently, thirty seconds; but these
are frequent phenomena in this part of Celebes. On
the 25th of last month, not four weeks ago, there was
a very heavy earthquake over the whole Minahassa.
At Kema we could still see great rents in the ground,
three or four inches wide, which could be traced for
several rods. The shock was so severe that nearly
every article of glass or earthen-ware in the contro-
lewr’s house was broken into fragments. Indeed, as
I look up now toward the west, I do not wonder
the earth heaves beneath us like a troubled sea; for
there rises the old voleano known in olden times
as Mount Tonkoko. It has a great yawning crater,
six hundred feet deep, out of which are rising thick,
white clouds of gas, On the northwest side a deep
ravine cuts through its flanks, and opens out into the
crater. Farther down this same side is the new cone,
beneath which we pitched our camp last night. In
1806 a great eruption began in this old volcano, and
ashes, sand, and pumice-stone were thrown out in great
quantities. At Ayar-madidi the ashes were fine and
of a gray color, and covered the ground with a layer
an inch thick, For two days the heavens were
darkened by the great quantity of these light mate-
rials floating in the air. So many stones were ejected,
that at a distance of nearly three miles a new cone

A FISHING EXCURSION. 329

was formed, from which a long tongue of land
stretched itself into the sea. This point the natives
called Batu angus, “the Hot Rock,” and since that
time the whole voleano has been known by that
name. Some of the pumice-stones were said to have
been as large as the native huts, but so changed into
a kind of foam by the action of heat, that they readily
floated on the sea.

Soon after suns¢t I went out to fish in a small
canoe with the controlewr and his old pilot. The
place we chose was under a high, perpendicular pre-
cipice that rose up out of the dark water like an ar-
tificial wall. Here we remained while the rocks grew
higher and higher and more and more overhanging
as the daylight faded, and the approaching night
blended the sharp outlines and increased the magni-
tude of every object around us. Near by was a deep
ravine, and from its farthermost recesses rolled out
the reverberating, moaning cries of monkeys, who
all night long keep up a piteous calling, each answer-
ing his fellow in the same mournful tones,

Our lines were just about as large as a mackerel-
line. The hooks each native makes for himself,
from brass wire, and about a fathom of wire is at-
tached to each hook before the line is fastened to it,
in order to prevent the fish from severing the cord
with their sharp teeth. For bait, small fish are taken.
In fishing at anchor, no leads are used, but, instead
of them, a kind of sling of palm-leaf is fastened to
each hook. ‘This sling contains a small stone, so
fixed that it will carry down the line, but drop out
as soon as it touches the bottom. After we had

330 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

obtained a good supply of fine fish, we slowly passed
along the high, well-sheltered shore, while the
heavy wind sighed through the lofty branches over
our heads. Now a gleam of light comes over the
dark water, just beyond that high bluff; we are near
the camp, and in a few moments stand again on the
beach. This day is done, and yet the storm continues,
but we hope we may be more favored to-morrow.

December 22d—tLast night I soon fell asleep after
such vigorous use of the paddle, though the storm
wailed, and my couch was any thing but a bed of down.
At midnight a troubled dream disturbed my brain.
An indefinite horror thrilled along my veins as I fan-
cied for a moment that I was whirling round such a
deep yawning maelstrom as Poe has pictured, and
then literally “a change came o’er the spirit of my
dream,” but scarcely a change for the better, for I
was fixed in the midst of a water-spout, and, in my
struggles to escape, awoke and found a great stream
of water pouring down on me from the tarpaulin
that formed the roof of our tent. A heavy shower
had come on, and the water was all running into a
depression in the sail over me, in which, of course,
there was a hole, so that the whole formed one big
tunnel. Of course, both K. and the controleur en-
joyed my discomfiture greatly, but I consoled myself
with the thought that long before daylight they
would find themselves in the same plight; and the
next morning, apparently, the thing that was farthest
from their thoughts was to inquire of me in regard
to the water-spout.

That portion of the party that had left Kema in

A BABIRUSA COMMITS SUICIDE. 331

advance of us had taken little rice. The controleur,
therefore, thought we must make a third attempt to
reach the northern end of the island, notwithstand-
ing K.’s earnest entreaties to be only taken back to
Kema once more. We had not reached the narrows,
however, before we met the hukom with all his men
and dogs. They had found the surf so high that
the only way most of his men had been able to
reach their boats, was to run down the steep rocks
and plunge head foremost into the combing waves.
We now landed a few natives to scour the woods,
and finally come to the southern end of the island,
while we went round in the boats. In order to make
their way through the dense forest, instead of putting
on more clothing as a protection against the sticks and
stones and thorny vines, they stripped off what little
they wore, except a narrow band over the loins. At
the southern end of the island was a small, deep bay,
and here we encamped for the third time. Soon the
natives came in, but they had secured only two wild
hogs. I preserved the skull of one, a female, in
which the canine teeth were not as long as those of
amale. The hukom declared that in the babirusa
only the males have the long curved teeth, which the
Malays have fancied resemble the antlers of a deer,
While waiting for us, he had been hunting in the
vicinity of his camp, and had taken one female by
driving her to the end of a high point. As soon as
she saw there was no chance for her to escape, she
leaped down the precipice and was killed by the
fall. Such suicide, he says, is frequently resorted to
by that animal when it finds it can retreat no farther.

332 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

The wild hugs plunge into the water to avoid the
dogs, and the natives then pursue them in boats and
kill them with spears. As soon as the hunters return
to camp, they cut up the hogs, and smoke the pieces
over a smouldering fire. The dogs now skulk about
to seize a piece if possible, and while the natives are
crouching round the fire transforming the lean pork
into tough bacon, you are frequently startled by a
sharp yelping as some one finds his portion disappear-
ing beneath the jaws of one of these hungry brutes,
and a liberal chastisement is at once administered to
the thief with the first stick or club at hand,
December 23d—Last night there was another
heavy shower. The water poured down in torrents
through our thatching of palm-leaves, for we had
already found that both the boat’s sail and the old
tarpaulin afforded little protection here where the
water appears to fall in broad sheets. Late in the
evening the controleur came back from fishing. We
could hear the Malays that were pulling his boat
singing in an unusually loud and merry style, and all
gathered on the beach to see what wonderful monster
of the deep they had secured. It proved to be a fish
as large as a horse-mackerel, and weighing fully two
hundred pounds, which the controleur had succeed-
ed in taking with a small line by chancing to get it
alongside the boat and securing it by gaffs. As our
stock of rice was getting low, we decided to return,
though I could scarcely feel satisfied, for I had hoped
to get a complete skeleton of the rare babirusa; how-
ever, the controleur more than made up the loss by
giving me half a dozen skulls of the equally rare ante-

ENORMOUS SNAKES, joa

lope of this region. We now crossed over to the
Celebes side to a village of four or five huts, to be
sheltered from the heavy rains that have drenched
us every night but one since we left Kema, A few
natives have moved here from Kema because they
take many fish off this part of the coast, and there is
a small stream emptying into the sea in the vicin-
ity. They live almost wholly by fishing, and have
cleared only a small place near their houses for a gar-
den of Indian corn. This evening they have shown
me one of the monsters of these forests. It was an
enormous python, Its head has been taken off, but by
careful measurement I find it must have been at least
fifteen feet long. It was killed here the day before
yesterday by one of the natives living in the house
where we are now sheltered from the rain. Missing
his dog, he chanced to go to the brook where they
get water, and there he found this monstrous reptile
trying to swallow his favorite. As quietly as pos-
sible he stole back to the village and gave the alarm,
and at once all went out and succeeded in cutting off
its head before it could disgorge its prey and attack
them. The natives are now taking off the skin to
make rude moccasins, which they frequently use
_ when hunting in the woods, or more especially when
travelling through the tall, sharp-edged prairie-grass,
They all agree that this tough, scaly skin is much
more durable for such a purpose than the best kind
of leather. Our old boatman tells me that he once
killed one of those great reptiles on Limbi, while it
was trying to swallow a wild pig. All the natives
_assert that this monster sometimes attacks the wild ox,

834 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

sapi utung, though none of them have ever seen such
a dreadful combat. The controlewr states to me that
when he was stationed at Bachian, near the southern
end of Gilolo, he was once out hunting deer, at a
place called Patola, with a large party of natives.
They had succeeded in starting up several, and he
himself saw one of them pass under a tree and at the
same instant a great snake came down from one of
the lower limbs and caught the flying deer with his
jaws. Unfolding his tail from the limb, he instantly
wound round his victim, crushing its bones as if they
were straw. An alarm was given, and the natives
gathered with their spears and killed the great rep-
tile on the spot. It was not as large round as this
one, but longer. Many of our men tell me that they
once assisted in killing a larger snake than this at
the bathing-place back of Kema, It had seized a
hog, whose squealing soon gave all the inhabitants a
warning of what had happened. They also say (and
this remarkable story has since been repeated to me
by several other persons at Kema) that a few years ago
a native boy went out as usual to work in his dadang,
or garden, some distance from the village. At night
he did not return, and the next morning a native
chanced to pass the garden and saw one of these
great monsters trying to swallow the boy head first,
having already crushed the bones of its victim. He
at once returned to the village, and a large party
of natives went out and found the snake and its
prey exactly as had been reported, and immediately
killed it with such weapons as they had, and gave
the body of their young friend a decent burial.

FROM KEMA TO MENADO. 305

While they were telling me these stories I thought
- of the danger to which I must often have been uncon-
sciously exposed while wandering mile after mile
through the jungles on Buru, never suspecting that,
before I left the archipelago, I myself should be
forced into a deadful combat with one of these mon-
sters, and in such a place that one or the other must
die on the spot.

The next day we returned to Kema, and I began
my journey over the peninsula to Menado, and thence
up to the plateau in the interior.

December 26th—At 9 a. Mm. started on horseback,
the only mode of travelling in the Minahassa, for Mena-
do, the largest village in this peninsula of Celebes, and
the place where the Resident of this region is located.
I went there first, in order to see the Resident and
obtain letters to the officials of the interior. The
distance from Kema to Menado is about twenty miles.
The road is made only for carts, but nearly all the
way it is lined with shade-trees, and in several places,
for long distances, they meet overhead so as to form
a continuous covered way, thus affording to those
who travel to and fro an admirable shelter from the
hot sunshine and heavy showers. Among these trees
were many crows, Corvus enka, not shy as they always
are in our country, but so tame that I frequently rode
within ten yards of where they were sitting without .
causing them to move. Numbers of a bright-yellow
bird, about as large as our robin, were seen among
the branches, and on the ground another somewhat
larger than a blackbird, Dicrwrus, with a long, lyre-
shaped tail, and a plumage of shining blue-black.

996 TRAVELS IN THE BAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

These birds rarely or never hear the report of a gun,
and therefore have not learned to look on man as a.
universal destroyer, and the tameness they manifest
is perfectly charming. Even the black crow, with its
hoarse caw, becomes an attractive bird when you
find he no longer tries to shun your company, but
makes all the overtures he can to be social.

The road runs along the southern flanks of Mount
Klabat, and is slowly ascending from Kemd to
Ayar-madidi, which is about half-way across, and then
slowly descends again to the western shore of the
peninsula. On my right hand was a deep valley,
and fine scenery was occasionally revealed through
the foliage of the trees that covered the way. On
the opposite side of the valley were many small pro-
jecting ridges that have been formed by denuding
torrents, and extend down to the level of the stream
that flows out from the lake of Tondano to the ocean
at Kema,

By noon I came to the village of Ayar-madidi,
“Hot Water,” a name it receives from a neighboring
spring, which in former times was hot. As it comes
out of Mount Klabat, it was probably heated by the
volcanic action that raised that great mountain, which
is only an extinct voleano, As the volcanic action
decreased, the heat passed off, until now, the water is
as cool as that of any other stream in the vicinity.
Even as late as the 12th of November, 1848, this
water was described as “cooking hot.” According
to Valentyn, in the year 1683, a great eruption took
place in a mountain near Menado, which he calls
“ Kemaas,” and all the surrounding country was laid

ERUPTION OF MOUNT KEMAAS. 337

waste. “ Kemaas” Dr. Junghuhn has supposed to be
Kabat, but he never visited this region, and the coni-
cal summit of Klabat shows its destruction by heavy
eruptions has not yet begun. It is far more proba-
ble that Kemaas was the mountain now known as
Sudara, whose two peaks are only the fragments of
the upper part of the cone that were left standing
when the eruptive force blew off the other parts, or
so weakened their foundations, that they have long
since fallen, and the materials of which they were
composed have been brought down, and spread out by
the rains over the flanks of the mountain, Natives,
who have been to the top of Klabat, inform me that -
there is a small lake on the northwest side. Its
basin is, no doubt, that part of the old crater which
has not yet been filled so as to make the whole ele-
vation a perfect cone. If this lake was of any con-
siderable size, then, as occurred on Mount Papanda-
yang, in Java, mud and hot water will certainly pour
down the sides of this mountain, if it is again con-
vulsed by the mighty forces that are now slumbering
beneath it. Ayar-madidi is a large kampong, or
negri, as the Malays sometimes call their villages. It
is beautifully situated on the southern flanks of
Mount Klabat. Its streets all cross each other at
right angles, and are well shaded. So far as we
are aware, the Malays and Javanese had no word
for village previous to the arrival of the Telin-
gas, and it has been conjectured, from this fact,
that they were scattered everywhere over their par-
ticular territories exactly as we have seen is the cus-
tom of the aborigines of Buru, the Alfura, who have

22

338 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

been beyond the influence of both Hindus and Arabs,
and even of those natives who have adopted any
foreign religion or custom, Ayar-madidi is a pret-
tier village than Kema. Indeed, the more I travelled
in the Minahassa, the more I admired the kampongs,
they are so incomparably superior to those of every
other part of the archipelago in the regularity of
their streets and the beautiful hedges with which
they are lined, and, above all, in the neatness and
evidence of thrift that everywhere appear.

The chief native of this village is also the chief
of the district, which contains several villages. His
title in the native language is Hukom Biza, or “ Great
Chief,” though he prefers to be addressed by the
Dutch title of major. The native official next in
rank is the chief of one of the smaller villages, as at
Kema. His title is Zukom Kadua, At smaller
villages than Kema the chief is called HHukom Tua,
or “Old Hukom,” and beneath him is the Hukom
Kachil, or Little Hukom. These officers are nomi-
nally elected by the natives, but the choice is gener-
ally confined to the sons of the deceased.

The Majors and Second Heads receive a per-
centage on all the coffee raised and delivered to the
government. This amounts to about twenty thou-
sand guilders per year for the seventeen districts in
the whole Minahassa. Besides this income, the Ma-
jor receives one guilder, and the Second Head half a
guilder from each family in their respective districts
and sub-districts, and the Hukom Tua five days’
labor from each able-bodied man yearly.

The natives themselves are divided by the Dutch

POPULATION OF THE MINAHASSA, 339

into burgers or “ free citizens,” and inlanders or “ na-
tives,” who are obliged to work a certain number of
days in the coffee-gardens belonging to the govern-
ment. The total population of the Minahassa in
this year (1866), as furnished me by the Resident
from the official documents, is 104,418,* and the
marked degree of variation in the population of this
country, where the natives have never been a mari-
time people, is worth more than a passing notice,
because it shows in some degree the beneficial effect
of a stable government, and how the natives are
sometimes swept away by disease. In 1800, accord-
ing to Valentyn, the population was 24,000, though
he gives the number of able men at only 3,990.
In 1825 it was 73,000; in 1842, 93,832; in 1853,
99,588. In 1854 a great mortality appeared, and
the population was diminished to 92,546, no less
than 12,821 persons, or about one-seventh of the
population, having died in a single year. In the
district of Amurang the loss was as high as 224
per cent. The principal diseases are fevers and dys-
entery. The population of the Minahassa, as com-
pared to its area, 14,000 English square miles, is by
no means large. The island of Madura, which is of
about the same extent, has more than five times as
large a population; and the residency of Surabaya,
also of about the same extent, contains more than
ten times as many people. The natives directed me
to the major’s residence, which I found to be a small
but neat and well-painted house, built in European

* This number is divided according to nationalities as follows: Euro
peans, 550; natives, 102,428; Chinese, 1,494; Arabs, 11.

840 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

style. It is situated in the middle of a large, oblong
lawn, that is surrounded with a row of trees much
like our locust-trees, and which are now in full bloom,
Near the gate are a guard-house and long series of sta-
bles. Dismounting here, I walked up to the broad
piazza, where the major sat smoking his pipe in the
Dutch style, and discussing in the Dutch language
the state of the weather, the crops, and such things
as interested the Dutchmen of those lands, His
manners were polished, and he received me in a most
stately way. His friends were going to Menado, so
that I should have companions the rest of the way.
Our dinner was in European style, which seemed the
more remarkable to me because it differed so much
from the way I had been entertained by the rajahs
of the Moluccas. In our dining-room was a fine
series of pictures representing scenes in that most
charming tale, “ Paul and Virginia.” We were just at
the foot of Mount Klabat, but we could not see its
summit on account of thick rain-clouds that covered
its sides, and now and then rolled down and poured
out heavy showers over the village. As one of these
floated away to the east, the sun came out brightly
and changed the fallmg drops into a remarkably
broad and brilliant rainbow, which seemed sus-
pended from the cloud, and floated along with it in
a most magical manner.

Here I saw for the first time the plant from
which “manilla hemp” is manufactured. It is a
species of banana, Musa textilis, and grows to a
height of twelve or fifteen feet. It appears to be
indigenous, and can be raised here from the seed.

THROWN FROM MY HORSE. O41

The fibres are taken from the large, succulent leaves,
Though it resembles the banana so closely that at
first most people would mistake it for that plant,
its fruit is small, disagreeable to the taste, and not
edible. Several residents have made strenuous
efforts to extend its cultivation, but the result has
shown that the natives can be more profitably em-
ployed in raising coffee. The rain-clouds having
cleared away, we all started for Menado. The horse
that had been kindly furnished me by an officer was.
not fast nor sure-footed; and, finally, as we were
going down a gentle declivity at a quick canter, he
fell headlong. As I am, at least, a much better
sailor than horseman, I went off over his head with
a most surprising momentum, my feet, unfortunate-
ly, passing so far into the stirrups that I could not
extricate either of them, This so frightened the horse
that he reared and plunged fearfully, but I had no
idea of being dragged off like Mazeppa, and held on
to the reins until my feet were once more clear, when,
with one leap, I was again in the saddle, and ready
for further experience in this mode of travelling.
Though I was aware my position was somewhat dan-
gerous, I could not help feeling amused at the alarm
manifested by my companions. They all seemed de-
lighted to know that I had escaped with only such
inconvenience as one clad in a summer suit of white
would necessarily experience in coming down in such
an unceremonious manner into the midst of a muddy
stream. Late in the evening we came to the Resi-
dent’s house, where a cordial welcome awaited me,
and I had the pleasure to find myself once more in

349 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

the midst of a pleasant family after so long and lone-
ly an exile.

The next morning I walked through the village.
Its total population is only about 2,500, of which
300 are Europeans and mestizoes ; about 600 China-
men, and 1,200 natives, half of whom are Christians
and the other half Mohammedans. The Resident’s
house is surrounded by large grounds, abounding in
the choicest of tropical plants. Not far from it is
the market, a house without walls, the roof resting
on pillars of wood and masonry, This is the uni-
versal style of the markets in all parts of the archi-
pelago. Here various kinds of fruits, gambier, betel-
nuts, and siri are sold by the natives, and salt, cotton
fabrics, and cutlery, by Chinese. The salt used here
is not imported from Java, as that used on the other
islands I have visited, but is made by the natives
themselves in the following manner: Littoral-plants
are gathered and burned. The ashes are then placed
in a bamboo, which is filled with water. After this
has remained for some time, the water is strained off
and evaporated. The residuum is a dark, impure
salt, but the natives prefer it to any that can be im-
ported. This custom seems to have been introduced
lately, for in 1841 the government sold three hun.
dred and twelve thousand pounds of imported salt,
but in 1853 only two thousand, From the village
of Menado I walked northward parallel to the bay,
and, crossing the little stream Menado, came to the
village of the Bantiks, a peculiar people, numbering
about two thousand five hundred, who refuse to be-
come Mohammedans or Christians, and continue to

THE BANTIKS. 343

retain the heathen belief of their forefathers. Many
of them are taller than the other people I saw in the
Minahassa, Their houses are not placed on higher
posts than those of other natives, but they are fre-
quently long, and occupied by several families—a
custom which appears to have been general through-
‘out the archipelago in ancient times, and is still
practised at Dorey, on the north coast of New
Guinea, and again by the people of the Tenger Moun-
tains in Java, who pride themselves on retaining the
customs of their ancestors. The view has been ad-
vanced that the Bantiks are descendants of China-
men, who established themselves here when they
first came to the Moluccas to purchase spices. This
may have been the case, but their features, though
somewhat different from the other natives, did not
appear to me to be so unlike them as to necessitate
such a theory. As they have kept themselves more
away from the influence of all foreigners than most
Malays, they give us a good idea of what the abori-
gines of this region were before the arrival of the
Portuguese,

About three miles round the northern side bay,
we came to Temumpa, where all the lepers of this
residency are obliged to live, banished forever from
all communication with other natives, except such of
their friends as come to see them. The little village
consists of twelve small houses, regularly arranged
on either side of a street. They were all neatly
whitewashed, and each has a small plot of ground,
where its unfortunate occupants can busy themselves,
and forget their incurable sufferings and their ban-

344 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

ishment. A native who lives near by has charge of
them, and my opinion was very decided that they
were well cared for by the government, As we
passed from house to house, the officer called them
out, and I gave each a small piece of silver, for which
they appeared very grateful. There are now nine.
teen here afflicted with this loathsome malady. The
part that appears to be the first attacked is the
nose, the next is the hands, and the last the feet,
though in some it only appears in one of these organs.
In one case the nose had wholly disappeared—even
the partition between the nostrils—so that I could
look directly into the chamber over the mouth. At
the same time the muscles on one side of the face
were so contracted that the features presented a most
sickening sight. In another case, the nose and all
the upper lip were gone, and even the outer part of
the upper jaw, so that the front teeth only stuck
fast on one side, and were completely exposed to
view throughout their entire length. These, how-
ever, were the older cases, in which the disease had
made greater progress. Many had lost their fingers
and toes, One little girl had her ankles and feet so
swollen that her ankle-bones could not be seen, and
yet I could not but notice how cheerful she appeared.
Two men had the disease in their feet, which had
swollen until they were three times their proper
size, and all broken open and fissured in the most
shocking manner. No one who has not seen such
lepers as these can have any idea of what forms
human flesh can assume, and life yet remain in the
body. Suffering from such an incurable, loathsome

A LIVING DEATH. 345

malady is literally a living death. I found it
so sickening, even to look at them, that I was
glad when I came to the last house. Here I was
shown a young child, a few weeks old. No marks
of the disease could be detected, unless it might be
that it was very much lighter colored than either of
its parents. The father was one of the worst cases I
saw, but the disease had not appeared in the mother,
except as a great swelling in the ankles. This child
must certainly die a leper, and probably will never
leave the village where it was born. For this reason,
if for no other, the government certainly acts wisely
in compelling all who have this disease to come and
live here together, where, at all events, it cannot be
widely spread. When it does not appear in a very
malignant form in the parents, it has been known
to fail to appear in the children, but to appear
again in the grandchildren, Governor Arriens told
me of such a case in Java, It was evident that the
man was a leper, though only a considerable swell-
ing could be detected on one ear, yet he was able to
prove that neither of his parents was a leper, but, on
further inquiry, the governor found that the man’s
grandfather was a leper. This disease is regarded here
as an endemic, that is, chiefly confined to the Mina-
hassa and the Moluccas. Much discussion has arisen
whether leprosy is contagious. The doctor with
whom I resided while at Buru had been previously
stationed at Amboina, and while there a soldier who
was born in Holland was taken, and died with this
disease. In that case it was evident that the disease
was not hereditary, and, after the most careful in-

346 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

quiry, the doctor was not able to learn that he had
ever been near a leper, or that he might have taken
the disease from any one; for all afflicted with this
loathsome malady in Amboina and the neighboring
islands are banished to Molano, a small island south-
west of Saparua. This is the only case that I heard
of, during my travels among these islands, where a
foreigner had suffered from this disease, It may be
remarked that this is not the leprosy spoken of in
the sacred Scriptures, where the sufferers are described
as being “ white as snow.”

From the shore near Temumpa we had a delight-
ful view over the bay of Menado. The sea was
as smooth as glass, and scarcely a ripple broke on
the sandy beach, which was shaded by graceful, over.
hanging palms. Before me to the south rose the
high mountains which form the great buttresses to
the plateau they enclose, and on my right was the
sharp voleanic peak called Old Menado because
foreigners first established themselves on that island,
and then moved over to Celebes,

In the evening the Resident showed me the
large wooden store-houses where the coffee is received
fron’ the interior, and kept for exportation. As we
entered the building, 1 was surprised at the rich
aromatic fragrance that filled the air. It differed
much more from the fragrance given out by the coffee
seen in our land than any one will readily believe.
Here it is stored in bags, just as it comes in from the
plantations. In order that I might see what supe-
rior coffee the Minahassa produces, the Resident had
several bags opened. I found the kernels, instead

HISTORY OF THE COFFEE-TREE. B47

of being opaque, and having, as when we usually see
them, a tinge of bronze, were translucent, and of a
greenish-blue color. The best are those which have
these characters, and at the same time are very hard.
This coffee commands a much higher price than that
of Java, and is superior to any raised in the archi-
pelago, unless it may be some that comes from the
highlands in the interior of Sumatra.

The coffee crop is subject to some variation, but
the Resident informs me that the average yield of the
government gardens during the last few years has
been no less than 37,000 piculs (5,000,000 pounds).
The whole number of trees belonging to the govern-
ment is 5,949,616, but a large proportion of these are
young, and therefore bear little or no fruit, Several
private individuals also own large plantations, that
yield as well in proportion to the number of trees
they contain. The trees are found to thrive best
above an elevation of one thousand feet.

The native name of this plant and its fruit is £op/,
a corruption of the name in Dutch, the people who
introduced it into this archipelago. The tree, Coffea
Arabica, is a native of Africa, between the tenth and
fifteenth degrees of north latitude,* but it thrives
anywhere within the tropics on the hundreds of high
islands in the archipelago, as well as in the dry lands
where it is indigenous. It was as late as 1450, about
half a century before the discovery of our continent,
that it was brought over from Abyssinia to the moun-
tainous parts of Arabia. In this way it happened
that the Arabians were the people who introduced it

* Orawfard’s “ Dictionary of the India Islands.”

348 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

into Europe. In 1690, forty years after, the peo-
ple of Europe had learned to use it as a beverage.
Governor-General Van Hoorne had some of the seeds
brought to him from ports on the Arabian Gulf, by the
vessels of the Dutch East India Company, who then
carried on some trade between those places and Java.
The seeds were planted in a garden near Batavia,
where the plants flourished well and bore so much
fruit that their culture was at once begun, and since
that time has spread to many parts of the archipelago,
but the chief islands from which coffee is now export-
ed are Celebes, Bali, Java, and Sumatra. It is also
raised to some extent in the Philippines, and these
and the Malay Islands furnish one-fourth or more
of all that is used. One of the first plants raised at
Batavia was sent to Holland, to Nicholas Witsen, the
head of the East India Company, where it arrived
safely and bore fruit, and the plants from its seeds
were sent to Surinam, where they flourished, and in
1718 coffee began to be an article of export from that
part. Ten years later, in 1728, it was introduced
from Surinam into the French and English islands
of the West Indies, having previously been suc-
cessively introduced into Arabia, Java, and Hol-
land. I am told that it was first brought here from
Java by a native prince, and, the remarkable manner
in which it thrived having attracted the attention of
the officials, more trees were introduced. In 1822
only eighty piculs were produced ; in 1834, a remark-
ably favorable year, 10,000, but in the next year only
4,000 were obtained. In 1858 the crop was 13,000
piculs, and in 1854, 23,000, This indicates how re-

IN THE JAWS OF A CROCODILE. 349

markably this crop varies in the same locality—in
that year the total number of trees was 4,600,000—
and that there has been a steady increase since,
both in the number of trees and in the quantity
of fruit they have yielded; but yet not more than
one-half the number are planted that might be if
the population was sufficiently great to take proper
care of them. With such an enormous yield a large
surplus is left in the hands of the government after
it has paid the natives who cultivate it, the percent-
age to the chiefs, and the cost-of transportation from
the small store-houses in the interior to the large ones
at Menado, from which it is put on board of vessels
either directly for foreign ports or to be taken to Ma-
cassar and thence be reshipped to Europe. Though
the government wishes to give up its monopoly in
the cultivation of spices in the Bandas and Moluccas,
I did not hear that it is particularly anxious to do so
here with the profitable cultivation of coffee.

From the store-houses we walked to the hospital,
where I was shown a patient whose case was most re-
markable. He was a native of Kema, and was bath-
ing in one of the streams that flow through the village,
when suddenly he found his head between the teeth
of an enormous crocodile. Fortunately, the great
reptile did not close his jaws, nor settle down with
his prey as usual, and another native, hearing the
cries of his friend, caught a large stick, and beat the
brute until he let go. The man was at once brought
here to the hospital, and has now nearly recovered.
On his left jaw-bone there was one continuous inci-
sion from the ear to the chin, and on the right side

350 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

of his face the muscles near the cheek-bone and on
the temple were dreadfully lacerated. That a man
should ever escape alive after his head had once been
between a crocodile’s jaws is certainly the next thing
toa miracle, Iasked him what he thought when
he found his head in such a vice. “ Well,” said he,
coolly, “I thought my time had come, but that I had
better sing out while I could, and that’s what saved
me, you see.”

December 28th—At 6 a. m. bade the Resident
good-by, and started for the highlands in the interior
with an opas or official servant as a guide and attend-
ant. It was a lovely morning. The cuckoos were
pouring out their early songs, and the gurgling of
the brook by the wayside was almost the only other
sound that disturbed the stillness of the morning.
A few cirri were floating high in the sky, and also a
number of cumuli, whose perpendicular sides reflected
the bright sunlight like pearly, opaque crystals.
Along the way we met natives of both sexes carry-
ing tobacco and vegetables to market, the men hav-
ing their loads in a sled-shaped frame on their backs,
and the women carrying theirs in shallow baskets on
their heads. Our road, which led to the south, was—
like all in the Minahassa—broad and well graded,
and where it ascended an acclivity coarse fibres from
the leaves of the gomuti palm were laid across it
from place to place to cause the water to drain off
into the ditches by its sides. When the road came
to a village it always divided, that all the carts may
go round the village, and not through it. This
arrangement enables the natives to keep the street

THE BAY OF MENADO. 351

through their village neat and smooth. Such streets
usually consist of a narrow road, bordered on either
side by a band of green turf, and outside of these
are sidewalks of naked soil like the road. Six
miles out we came to Lotta, a village of about four
hundred souls, and soon after began to rapidly as-
cend by a well-built road, that zigzags up the sides
of Mount Empung, which forms one of the north-
ern buttresses of the plateau situated to the south
and east. Nine paals from Menado, when we were
about twelve hundred feet above the sea, I wheeled
round my horse and enjoyed a magnificent view
over the bay of Menado and the adjacent shore.
Out in the bay rose several high islands, among them
the voleanic peak of Menado Tua, its head raised
high in the blue sky, and its feet bathed in the blue
sea. Near the shore the land is very low, and
ahounds in various species of palms. Farther back
it begins to rise, and soon curves up toward the lofty
peak of Klabat.

The beautiful cirri which we had noticed in the
early morning now began to change into rain-clouds,
and roll down the mountain, and soon the beautiful -
landscape beneath us was entirely hidden from our
view. The road here passes through deep cuts that
show well the various kinds of rocks, which are
trachytic sand, pumice-stone, and a conglomerate of
these materials. As we ascended we passed many
places on the mountain-side where the natives were
cultivating maize, and from far above us and beneath
us came the echoing and reéchoing songs of the
natives, who were busy cultivating this exotic but

839 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

most useful plant. The custom of these people to
sing while working in the field is the more notice-
able, because the Javanese and Malays usually toil
without thinking of thus lightening their monoto-
nous labor. Upward and upward we climbed until
we were about three thousand feet above the sea,
when we came to two small villages. Beyond, the
road again became level, and soon we reached To-
mohon, where I met the controlewr from 'Tondano,
a large village to the east, who had come at the
Resident’s request to accompany me for the rest
of that day’s journey. Another horse was brought
and saddled for me, and we continued on toward the
south, our party now numbering six or eight, for the
chief of each village and one or two servants are
obliged by law to accompany the controlewr from
their own village to the next one he comes to, in
whatever direction he may choose to travel. We
soon after entered the charming village of Saronsong.
In the centre of it and on one side of the street is the
chief’s house, and opposite to it but back from the
street 1s the rwma négri, and the space between the
_ two is a pretty garden abounding in roses, This
reminder of home gave me a thrill of pleasure that I
shall remember as long as I love to look on this, the
most beautiful of all flowers. As we galloped out
of this village the thick rain-clouds and fog cleared
away, and only cumuli and cirri were again to be
seen in the sky. I now had a magnificent view, on
the left, of the high range along the west side of lake
Tondano, toward the northwest of the sharp vol-
eanic cone of Lohon, about five thousand feet in

LAKE LINU. 353

height, west of that of Empung, attaining nearly that
height, and in the northeast Gunong Api with its
three peaks. Somewhat farther on we rode down
into a little valley, where the road ran along the side
of a small lake, whose muddy water was of a dirty-
white color, and from which strong, almost strang-
ling, fumes of sulphur were rising—a most unearthly
place, and one that would remind the traveller of
Bunyan’s picture of “the Valley of the Shadow of
Death,” where the way was narrow, and on either
hand “ever and anon came up flame and smoke in
great abundance with sparks and hideous noises.”
In one place a flock of ducks was swimming in this
sulphurous pool, and on its margin I noticed a few
waders running to and fro seeking food. Its banks
were mostly covered with ferns, the leaves of which
were of a bright red, reminding one of the brilliantly-
colored leaves of our maples in autumn.

Near the next village, Lahendong, we made a
short excursion to the left, up a-high but not a
steep hill, to see the remarkable lake Linu. The
hill is the top of an old voleano, and soon, as we de-
scended and turned a sharp point, we found before
us the lake now filling the bottom of the crater. On
our way down to a house near its edge, we passed
a place where much sulphurous gas was escaping. It
looked indeed much like the top of a great half-
slaked lime-kiln. The lake is about half a mile in
diameter, and has an outlet on the southwest, through
a former split in the old erater-wall. In most parts
the water has a blue color, but in some it has a
whitish tinge from gases that rise up through the

23

354 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

bottom of its basin, On the northeast end there is
a large solfatara, like the one we passed in coming
down to the lake, but larger. Here it was that the
Italian count, Carlo de Vidua, who had travelled over
a large part of the globe, met with a misfortune that
caused his untimely death, He ventured too far on
the soft, hot clay, and sank in, and before the natives,
who had cautioned him against going there, could
take him out, he was burned so badly that he died
in a short time afterward at Amboina, whither he
was taken, that he might be cared for in the best
possible manner. He had travelled over a consid-
erable portion of our own continent, and, after
escaping many imminent dangers, ventured in this
spot too far. Such is the history of many a daring
traveller, and no one who comes out here, where on
the sea there are pirates, and on the land earth-
quakes and savage beasts, and in some places still
more savage men, can know at what moment he is
planning a fatal voyage, or when he is taking the step
that may be his last. Yet some one must take this
risk if the limited boundaries of our knowledge of
these remote lands are ever to be extended.
Although the water of this lake is largely im-
pregnated with sulphur and other substances that
rise up through its bottom, yet Dr. Bleeker found
two kinds of fish here, Ophiocephalus striatus, B1.,
and Arrabas scandens, Cuv., and an eel, Anguilla
Elphinstonei, Syk., which are also found in the fresh
waters of Java and Sumatra, and in India. Return-
ing to the main road, we continued on to Sonder, and,
passing through a part of the village, came to the

THE GROVE BY MOONLIGHT. 355

ruma négri, a public-house for any officer who chances
to come to that place. This house is said to be
far better even than any of the same kind in Java.
It stands at the end of a long, beautifully-shaded
avenue. The road is bordered with a narrow band
of grass, neatly clipped, and the sidewalks are of a
white earth, which has been brought from some dis-
tance. A fine grove surrounds the house, and here
are many casuarina or cassowary-trees, the long,
needle-like leaves of which closely resemble the
downy plumage of that strange bird. This evening,
as the full moon shines through the foliage, the
whole grove is transformed into an enchanted place,

CHAPTER XI.
THE MINAHASSA,

December 29th—Early this morning rode about
two miles from Sonder in a northwest direction,
down over the edge of the plateau on which that
village is situated. The road was nothing but a
narrow path, and led along a deep ravine, whose
sides in several places were high precipices. A short
distance beyond the native village of Tinchep is the
beautiful waterfall Munte, nine hundred and sixty-
four feet above the sea, but six hundred and fifty
below Sonder. The height of the fall is about sixty
feet, and the width of the stream at this time is
nearly twenty. The rock over which it pours is
a perpendicular wall of trachytic lava. The place
from which travellers view the fall is some two
hundred feet above it, where the road runs along the
side of a mountain-chain, that curves in the form of
a horseshoe around it, and makes a magnificent
background for this charming picture. Luxuriant
foliage hangs over the stream above the cataract, and
vines and small trees have found a foothold in the
erevices and on the projecting ledges of the steep
wall beneath; and as the showers of falling drops
strike the ends of their branches, they continually

SUDDEN DISAPPEARANCE OF GARDENS, 357

wave to and fro, though where the beholder stands,
not the slightest breeze is moving in the air. We
had come at just the right time to see it when it
is most charming, for the early sun was then shoot-
ing oblique bands of bright light across the falling
water, and as the stream is divided into millions of
drops the moment it curves over the edge of the
cliff, those pearly spheres were now lighted up and
now darkened, as repeatedly they shot out of the
shaded parts into the bands of golden light.

Returning to Sonder, I proceeded along the main
route in the southeast direction to Sonder Tua, “ Old
Sonder,” and Kawangtoan, and thence to the lovely
négri of Tompasso. During this distance, of about
eight miles, we had slowly ascended until we were
about five hundred and seventy-five feet above Son-
der. The view here is open on all sides, In the
southwest is Mount Tompasso, which attains an ele-
vation of over thirty-eight hundred feet. In the
southeast the high, steep mountains are seen that
border this elevated plain on the south. Great land-
slides appear on their sides; and the people at Tom-
passo said that, not long before, three natives, who
had cleared and planted large gardens on the steep
declivities, went one morning to continue their labor,
as usual, when to their great surprise their gardens
had disappeared, and all that was left of them was a
huge heap of sandstones and fragments of trees
piled up on the edge of the plain.

This village is laid out with a large, square pond
in the middle, and on a broad dike which crosses it
is the highway. A well-graded street borders this

358 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

pond, and the houses on its four sides are all placed
facing its centre. The hedges that border the house-
lots are mostly composed of rose-bushes, and the
pond itself is nearly filled with the richly-colored
and fragrant lotus, Vymphea lotus, a large water-
lily, held sacred in Egypt and India as the symbol
of creation. It is the beautiful flower upon which
Buddha is represented as sitting in each of the
great images, where he is supposed to personify the
Past, the Present, and the Future, three immense
statues, to be seen in any of the thousand temples in
the East dedicated to that heathen god. The “lotus”
or “lotos” of northern Africa, the fruit of which was
supposed to possess the wonderful power of making
all who tasted it forget their “homes and friends
and native shores,” is a tree, the Céeltis Australis. If
the ancients, who delighted so much in fables and
myths, had only known of this charming place,
they would have located their lotus-land here in the
distant East, where the air is so pure and balmy, and
the scenery so enchanting.

About a mile and a half beyond Tompasso we
came to a number of “mud-wells,”” and I began to
examine them; but, as a heavy shower was now seen
coming up, my attendant and I again leaped into our
saddles and dashed off at a fast canter to Langowan,
where the chief very politely insisted on my remain-
ing with him instead of going to the next village—
an invitation I was happy to accept, for I was deter.
mined not to leave this wonderful region until I had
visited all the hot-springs in the vicinity, especially
as the missionary here offered to go with me on the

A MUD-WELL. 359

morrow, so that I should not fail to see those that
were most interesting.

December 30th.—Early this morning, in company
with the missionary, the hukom tua, and a number
of natives rode back nearly to Tompasso to reéxam-
ine the mud-wells seen yesterday. The area in which
most of them are found is about half a mile square,
on the side of a gentle declivity. Some time before
we came to them, we could tell where they were by
the quantities of steam and gas rising from them,
and, as we came nearer, we could hear the heavy
bubbling of the principal one. It is of a triangular
form, and measures about thirty feet on a side, one
of the angles lying toward the top of the hill. The
mud is generally of a lead color, and varies in con-
sistency from the centre, where it is nearly as thin as
muddy water, to the edges, where in some places it
is as thick as cream, and in others like putty. It
boils up like pitch—that is, rises up in small masses,
which take a spherical form, and then burst. The
distance between the centres of these ebullitions va-
ries from six inches to two feet or more, so that the
whole surface is covered with as many sets of con-
centric rings as there are separate boiling points.
Near each of the centres the rings have a circular
form; but, as they are pressed outward by the suc-
cessive bubbling up of the material within them,
they are pressed against each other, and become
more or less irregular, the corners always remaining
round until they are pressed out against those which
originated from another point. By that time the
rings have expanded from small circles into irregular

360 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

polygons. They, therefore, exactly represent the
lines of concretionary structure frequently seen in
schists, and represented in nearly every treatise on
geology.* If this bubbling action should cease,
and in the course of time the clay become changed
by heat and pressure into slates, the similarity of the
two would perhaps be very close. Have, therefore,
the particles now forming the old schists which
show this structure been subjected to such mechani-
eal changing in their relative position to each other,
before they were hardened into the schists they now
form, as the particles of clay in this pool are un-
dergoing at the present time?

Near this large well was a hot-spring about three
feet in diameter, and two feet deep. Its temperature
was as high as 98° Celsius, 208.4° Fahrenheit, and
of course much steam rose from its surface. We
boiled some eggs here hard in a few minutes. The
water was pure and the natives living in the vicinity
.frequently come and wash their clothing in this nat-
ural boiler. No trace of vegetation could be de-
tected beneath the surface nor on its edges where the
bubbling water splashed. At the foot of the hill we
visited a considerable lake which was strongly im-
pregnated with sulphur, and near it a pond of thick,
muddy water which in several places boiled up at
intervals. About twenty of these boiling pools are
found on this hill-side, and in the low, marshy land
at its feet. Up the hill above the mud-well first
described was a naked spot several yards in diameter.

* For an accurate representation of these rings, see the drawings of
coneretionary structure in Dana’s * Manual of Geology, ” p. 99, fig. 85.

A BOILING POOL. 361

It is composed of tana puti, white earth; that is, de-
composed lavas. Considerable steam was escaping
from two or three holes where the natives had been
taking out this white earth or clay, which they mix
with rice-water and use in whitewashing their houses,
a common practice throughout the Minahassa. We
now rode west to Tompasso, and turning to the north
came to a small village called Nolok. Thence the
natives guided us a short distance in a northeasterly
direction toa brook, and following up this for some
distance, we came to a large bowl-shaped basin about
seventy-five feet in diameter and twenty feet deep.
Its sides were of soft clay, and so steep that we had
much difficulty in getting near enough to its edge to
obtain such a view as I desired, and the only way we
accomplished it was by selecting a place where the
intertwining roots of many small trees made a kind
of turf. The coolies cleared away the shrubbery with
their cleavers, and then by taking the left hand of one
native while he held fast to another with his right, I
was enabled to lean over its soft edge and obtain a
complete view of the boiling water which partly
covered its miry bottom. The stream which flows
down into this basin rises on higher land to the
north, and is cool until it comes into this basin.
Here it is heated and strongly impregnated with
sulphur, and changed to a whitish color. This cireu-
lar basin I suppose has been wholly formed by the
motion of the water that boils with the heat beneath
it. One object in visiting these hot springs was to
ascertain at what degree of temperature vegetation
first began to appear. We therefore went down the

362 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

stream, and began following its course upward tow-
ard this basin. At a place where the temperature
was 48° Celsius, 118.4° Fahrenheit, the rocks and
sticks in the water were thickly covered with dark-
green alow, A little higher up the temperature was
51° Celsius, 123.8° Fahrenheit, and alge were still
present, though the fumes of sulphur that rose choked
me as I stooped to examine the temperature. We
had now come to a thick jungle where the ground
was so soft and miry it was both difficult and danger-
ous to get nearer the boiling pool. At last one of
the natives was induced by the promise of a large
piece of silver to cut away the bamboos and small
shrubbery, if I would keep close behind him. Thus
we slowly worked our way several yards higher
up, when I ordered him to turn toward the stream,
This hot-bog was certainly the next place to Tartarus,
In several places between the clumps of small trees
and bamboos the water was boiling and bubbling
furiously, and pouring out great volumes of stifling
gases, but I followed my coolie so closely that he had
no time to regret his agreement, and at last we
reached the bank of the stream, a place was cleared,
and fastening my thermometer to the end of a long
bamboo, I placed it in the hot, opaque water. Three
times I repeated the observation, and each time the
mercury stood at 50° Celsius, 122° Fahrenheit, but I
judged from the rate it fell after the first reading
that it stood at 52°, certainly not higher, before it
was raised into the air. In this spot we had unfortu-
nately come among hundreds of ants, that came out
and bit me until my ankles seemed to be surrounded

THE TEMPERATURE OF THE POOLS. 363

with live coals, and at the end of the third reading
I dropped the bamboo and ran back with all my
might to escape these pests and end my misery,
While I held the thermometer in the bubbling (not
boiling) water, I ordered the coolie to raise the sticks
that were floating in it, but could not discern the
slightest appearance of any vegetable growth, though
it was very noticeable a little farther down the stream
where the temperature of the water was not more than
one degree lower, but where the quantity of sulphur
in the water must have been much less, judging by the
proportionate strength of the fumes that rise in the
two places, All the other readings given here were
made while the mercury remained in the water, and
as the thermometer had been carefully marked the
observations are liable to but little error. If some
other observer should go to the same places and find
a greater or less quantity of water, no doubt the tem-
perature also would be found to have slightly changed.
The missionary in our party, who had visited this
place several times, assured me that frequently, when
the cold stream that flows into this basin is much
swollen by heavy rains, the water is thrown up at
short intervals as high as a common palm-tree, about
fifty feet. ‘The natives also told me they had all often
seen it in such violent action. The basin is therefore
nothing but the upper, expanding part of a deep
geyser-like tube.

We now returned toward Langowan, and visited
a large basin of hot water to the left of the road, and
about a mile from that village. Its basin is bowl-
shaped, nearly circular in form, forty-eight feet in

564 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

diameter. The water does not boil up except in one
or two places, and almost the only gas that escapes is
steam. Its temperature is 78° Celsius, 172.4° Fahren-
heit. On one side is a small brook which carries off
the surplus water, for this is truly a spring, that is,
a place where water flows up from the ground. A
short distance to the west and north are a number
of hills, from which this water no doubt comes, As
stifling gases were not pouring out, I had a better
opportunity for examining the banks of the brook,
which flowed off sixty feet, and was then conducted
across the road by a causeway. Tracing it with the
current several times, 1 invariably came to the first
indication of vegetable life in the same place. It
was a small quantity of alge on the bottom of the
brook, each plant being about as large round as a
pin, and an eighth of an inch in length, and re-
sembling the Vaucheria, or brook silk, the green
threads of which are seen in the fresh-water ponds
by our roadsides in summer. Here the temperature
was 762° Celsius, 170.15° Fahrenheit. As the water
flowed out through this shallow brook, a large part
of all the sulphurous gas it contained of course
passed off, and I believe the vegetation began at that
point, not so much because the water was 14° Celsius
cooler than in the basin, as because it was much
purer, for at a short distance nearer the basin, where
the temperature was 773° Celsius, 172.82° Fahren-
heit, no kind of vegetation could be- detected, and
yet the difference in the temperature. of the water in
the two places was only three-eighths of a degree in
Celsius’s scale,

THE ANCIENT APPEARANCE OF OUR EARTH. 565

Geologists suppose that our earth was once a
molten, liquid mass, which cooled by degrees until a
crust was formed, that slowly thickened until con-
densation began in the surrounding atmosphere, and
thus the water of the primeval ocean was formed.
At first this water must have been just below the
boiling point, and the query has arisen, How cool did
the sea become before vegetation began to appear in
it, and on the land then above the sea? The partial
answer indicated by the few observations above is,
that the presence of vegetable life depended more on
the chemical composition of the water than on its
temperature. If it was as pure then as the larger
pool described above, the whole ocean was yet one
great steaming caldron when these very simple
aquatic plants, each apparently consisting of only
a single branching cell, began to grow in the shallow
places along its shores. Before this time, however,
other algw, like those which now grow in moist ter-
restrial places, may have been thriving on the land
in the steamy atmosphere.

Sunday, December 31st—At 8 a. m. attended the
native church, where the missionary preaches. It
was well filled, and the attention manifested by all
was highly commendable. At the close of the ser-
vice four or five couples were married; the pastor,
after performing the ceremony, explaining to the
husbands that they must support their wives, and
not, like the Alfura, who are heathens, live in idle-
ness, and expect their wives to support them. A
controleur, who had been stationed in the interior,
back of Gorontalo, now arrived at Langowan, on his

366 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.
o

way to Kema, having been transferred, at his re-
quest, to Sumatra. We should therefore be com-
panions on the steamer all the way to Java, which
. was especially agreeable to me, as he spoke Eng-
lish well, and no one not born in Holland can ever
learn to pronounce the harsh gutturals of the Dutch
language with perfect ease and accuracy. From Lan-
gowan we rode four miles in a northerly direction to
Kakas, a village at the southern end of the lake of
Tondano, The rwma négri here is one of the most
pleasantly-situated buildings in the Minahassa, It is
large and carefully built, and has broad verandas
both toward the lake and the village. It is sur.
rounded with plots of green grass, neatly bordered
with gravelled walks, and rose-bushes covered with
large crimson flowers. In the evening, when the moon
rose over the sharp peaks a short distance to the
east, and spread a broad band of silver light over the
lake, the effect was charming; and now, while we
inhale the balmy air, and recall to mind the ponds of
beautiful lotus we have been passing, we may feel
that we are indeed in the enchanted lotus-land that
Tennyson thus pictures :

In the afternoon they came unto a land

In which it seemed always afternoon ;

At noon the coast with languid air did swoon,
Breathing like one that hath a weary dream.
Full-faced above the valley stood the moon ;

And like a downward smoke the slender stream
Along the cliff to fall, and pause, and fall, did seem.

January 1, 1866.—Walked with the controleur
and chief through the village, and saw the mode of

THE LAKE OF TONDANO. 367

pounding out rice by water-power. The axle of the
water-wheel is made very long, and filled with a
number of small sticks, which, as they turn over,
raise poles fixed in a perpendicular position, that fall
again when the revolving stick is drawn away from
them. A large boat, manned by seven natives, was
made ready for me to go to any part of the lake
of Tondano and ascertain its depth. It occupies the
lower portion of a high plateau, and its surface, as
measured by 8. H. De Lange, is two thousand two
hundred and seventy-two English feet above the sea.
It is about seventeen miles long in a northerly and
southerly direction, and varies in width from two to
seven miles, It is nearly divided into two equal
parts by high capes that project from either shore.
On the south and southwest and on the north, its
shores are low, and the land slowly ascends from one
to five miles, and then curves upward to the jagged
mountain-crest that bounds the horizon on all sides,
In the other parts of its shores it rises up from the
water in steep acclivities. All the lowlands and the
lower flanks of the mountains are under a high state
of cultivation, and the air is cool and pure, while it
is excessively hot and sultry on the ocean-shore below.
Some writers have regarded this lake-basin as an old
extinct crater; and some, as only a depression in
the surrounding plain, or, in other words, the lower
part of the plateau. To settle this question beyond
a doubt, it was necessary to ascertain its form, I
therefore asked the Resident if he could furnish me
with a line to sound with as I crossed it. He re-
plied that he had but one of two hundred fathoms,

368 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

and that I could not expect to reach the bottom with
that, for all the fishermen who live on its shores de-
clare that it “has no bottom,” that is, is unfathoma-
ble. It would be something to know that it was
more than twelve hundred feet deep—so a coolie
was ordered to carry the line. From Kakas we
rowed over a short distance toward the high shore
opposite, that being said to be one of the unmeasur-
able places. A» heavy sinker was put on, and the
whole line cleared, so that it would run out freely
to the last foot. I gave the man at the bow the
command, and the cord began to rattle over the
boat’s side, when suddenly it stopped short. “Is the
sinker off?” “No, it’s on the bottom.” “How
many fathoms are out.” “ Eleven fathoms and five
feet.” After this we sounded eight times, and the
deepest water, which was near the middle, between
the two high capes, is only twelve fathoms and two
feet. The water not only proved shallow, but the
bottom was found to be as even as the lowland at
the northern and southern ends of the lake. The
basin is therefore only a slight depression in the
lower part of the plateau. The only fishes known
in this lake are the same three species already men-
tioned as existing in the sulphurous waters of Lake
Linu. Reaching the large village of Tondano, at the
northern end of the lake, I was kindly received by
the controleur, who had accompanied me already
from Tomohon to Sonder. A heavy rain set in, and
I was obliged to defer the rest of my journey till the
next day.

January 2d.—The thick rain-clouds of yesterday ©

ONE OF THE FINEST VIEWS IN THE WORLD. 869

broke away this morning as the sun rose, and the
sky is now perfectly clear. The controleur provided
me with a horse, and a hukom twa accompanied me
as a guide. Our course was nearly west, and soon
the road became very steep, and extremely slippery
from the late rain. As we rose, the view over the
plateau beneath us widened, until we wound round
the mountain to the little village of Rurukan, the
highest négri in this land. The head of this village
guided us to the top of a neighboring peak, where I
found a large part of the Minahassa spread out be-
fore me like a great map. From the point where I
stood, there stretched to the south a high mountain-
chain, forming the western border of the lake of
Tondano. A little more to the east were seen the
lake far below, and the level land along a part of its
~ shores, while on the opposite side of the lake rose
the mountains that form the other end of the chain
on which I was standing. This chain curves like a
horseshoe, the open part being turned toward the
north. At the same point where all the details of
this plateau were comprised in a single view, by
turning a little toward the north, I could look down
the outer flanks of this elevated region away to the
low, distant ocean-shore, where the blue sea was
breaking into white, sparkling surf. A little farther
toward the north rose the lofty peak of Mount
Klabat, covered with a thick mantle of fleecy clouds,
which had a hue of ermine in the bright ight. This
mantle was slowly raised and lowered by the invisi-
ble hand of the strong west wind. Beneath it, low

on the sides of the mountain, was seen a line of trees
24

370 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

marking the shady way I had taken from Kema to Me-
nado, This is considered, and I believe rightly, the
finest view in the archipelago, and one of the most
charming in the world, because the other famous
views, like that of Damascus, do not include that
great emblem of infinity, the open ocean.

Rice is raised at even as great an elevation as the
place we had reached, about four thousand five hun-
dred feet, in what are called kebon kring, “ dry gar-
dens.” These are known as tegal lands in Java. The
yield is said not to be as large as on the low lands,
swwas, by the margin of the lake which are over-
flowed in the usual manner. The yearly crop in the
Minahassa is from one hundred and fifty to two hun-
dred thousand piculs, of which ten to eighteen thou-
sand are exported chiefly to Ternate and Amboina.
Tobacco is also cultivated, but only for home con-
sumption. Cocoa is also raised; and this year (1865)
forty-four and three-fourth piculs were exported.
Like that at Amboina, it is all bought by Chinamen,
who send it to Manilla. Cocoa-nuts are also ex.
ported to the chief islands eastward. The yield this
year is estimated by the officials at four million.
There is a great abundance here of the gomuti or
sagaru palm-tree, the large petioles of which spread
out at the base into broad fibrous sheets that enclose
the trunk. Some of the fibres resemble horsehair, but
are much stiffer and very brittle, and are gathered by
the natives and manufactured into coir, a kind of
coarse rope. As the fibres soon break, they project
in every direction until the rope becomes extremely
rough and difficult to handle. It has the valuable

PALM,

THE GOMUTI

PALM WINE. 371

property, however, of being nearly indestructible in
water, and the Resident tells me that this coir will
probably prove of much value in manufacturing tele-
graph-eable. The quantity of fibres that could be
gathered yearly would be very considerable if there
should be any demand for them. Among the flexi
ble, horsehair-like fibres are coarser ones, which the
natives use for pens and arrows for their blowpipes,
and interwoven with them is a mass of small fibres
nearly as soft as cotton, which are used as tinder.
The flowering part is cut off with a knife, and the
sap which exudes is gathered in a piece of bamboo.
In this condition it has a slightly acid and very
bitter taste, resembles the thin part of buttermilk,
and is a very agreeable and refreshing beverage in
such a hot climate. As soon as it is allowed to fer-
ment it becomes twak, a highly-intoxicating drink, of
which the natives are very fond ‘This palm prefers
higher lands than the cocoa-nut, which flourishes well
only on the low areas near the level of the sea, It
will be readily distinguished from all the other palms
of this land by its large leaves and the rough ap-
pearance of its trunk. Gomuti is the Malay name
for the coir only, the tree itself they call anau. In
Amboina the native name for it is nawa, and in other
parts of the archipelago it has local names, showing
that it is probably an indigenous plant. The soft
envelopes of the seeds, which are so numerous that,
when ripe, one bunch will frequently be a load for
two men, contain a poisonous juice which the natives
were accustomed to use on their arrows, and which
the Dutch have named “ hell-water.”

873 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

Besides the fruits already mentioned, there are
durians, mangostins, jambus or rose-apples, lansiums,
pompelmuses, limes, bread-fruits, bananas, pine-ap-
ples, and oranges. The latter are particularly nice,
and in one of the kinds the leathery rind is not yel-
low when the fruit, which is merely a berry, is ripe,
but still remains as green as when only half-grown.
It is the custom here at the table to peel this fruit
with a knife, exactly as we peel an apple.

From Tondano to Kema the road is built in a
deep, zigzag ravine, and commences to descend a mile
north of the lake. Through the ravine flows a
stream which is the outlet of the lake. On the
northern side of the plateau where the road begins
to descend, this stream is changed into a waterfall,

which is known as the waterfall of Tondano. It °

consists of three falls, but, when seen from the usual
point, a short distance north of the lower fall, the
upper and middle ones form a boiling rapid, and only
the lowest one presents a grand appearance, Where
the first and second occur the water shoots down
through a deep canal, which has been apparently
formed in the rock by the strong current. Having
rolled in a foaming mass through this deep canal, the
water takes a flying leap down seventy feet into a
deep, circular pool, the outer edges of this falling
stream breaking up into myriads of sparkling drops,
which fall in showers into the dark pool, where they
disappear forever.

Here a strange tragedy occurred in the year 1855,
when the governor-general from Java was journeying
through this land, One of the highest officers on

GRAVES OF THE NATIVES. 373

his staff, a gentleman who had previously been gov-
ernor of the Moluccas, came to this place while the
others were resting at Tondano, and committed sui-
cide by plunging headlong into the deep canal above
the high fall. Only a short time before, he had dined
with the whole company and seemed very cheerful,
but here, probably in a moment of unusual despon-
dency, he made the fatal leap.

Continuing in the way that followed this crooked
stream, I occasionally beheld the high top of Mount
Klabat before me, Several large butterflies flitted
to ‘and fro, their rich, velvety blue and green colors
seeming almost too bright to be real, At the eighth
paal we came to the native village Sawangan, and the
chief showed me the burial-place of his people pre-
vious to the arrival of Europeans. Most of the
monuments consist of three separate stones placed
one on another. The lowest is square or oblong, and
partly buried in the earth. Its upper surface has
been squared off that the second might rest on it
more firmly, This is a rectangular-parallelopipedon,
one or two feet wide and two-thirds as thick, and
from two to three feet high, It is placed on end on
the first stone. In its upper end a deep hole has
been made, and in this the body of the deceased is
placed. It was covered by the third stone of a tri-
angular form when viewed at the end, and made to
represent that part of a house above the eaves, It
projects a little beyond the perpendicular stone be-
neath it. On the sides of the roof rude figures of
men, women, and children were carved, all with the
knees drawn up against the chin and clasped by the

374 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

arms, the hands being locked together in front below
the knees. In many of these the faces of the figures
were flat, and holes and lines were cut representing
the eyes, nose, and mouth; in others rude busts were
placed on the eaves, This burial-place contains the
finest monuments of olden times now existing in the
Minahassa. Others can be seen at Tomohon, and
especially at Kakas, but they are not as highly orna-
mented as these. At Kakas they are mostly com-
posed of but two stones, one long one set upright in
the ground, and another placed over this as a cover
to the hole containing the body. At each of these
places they are entirely neglected, and many of the
images here have already fallen or been broken off.
Noticing that a very good one was loose and ready
to fall, I remarked to the chief that, if I did not take
it, it would certainly soon be lost, and, before he had
time to give his assent, I had it under my arm. The
missionary at Langowan informed me that originally
these graves were beset with such obscene ornaments
that one of the Residents felt it his duty to order
that they should all be broken off. This fact, and
the rude form of the images, led me to think that
they ought to be classed with the remarkable temple
found near Dorey, on the north coast of New Guinea,
and with the nude statues used by the Battas to or-
nament the graves of their deceased friends,

When the Portuguese first arrived in the Molue-
cas, this region was tributary to the prince of Ter-
nate. All the natives were heathen then, and many
of them yet retain the superstitious belief of their
ancestors. Mohammedanism had not gained a foot-

THE BAMBOO,

CHRISTIANITY AND EDUCATION. 375

hold among them, nor has it since, and the only Mo.
hammedans now in the land are the immigrants at
Menado, who have come from other parts of the
archipelago, and a few natives banished from Java,
Even as late as 1833, but little more than thirty
years ago, Pietermaat, who was then Resident, in his
official report, says of these people: “They are
wholly ignorant of reading, writing, and arithmetic.
They reckon by means of notches in a piece of bam-
boo, or by knots made in a cord.” Formerly they
were guilty of practising the bloody custom of cut-
ting off human heads at every great celebration, and
the missionary at Langowan showed me a rude draw-
ing of one of their principal feasts, made for him by
one of the natives themselves. In front of a house
where the chief was supposed to reside, was a short,
circular paling of bamboos placed upright, the upper
ends of all were sharpened, and on each was stuck a
human head. Between thirty and forty of these
heads were represented as having been taken off for
this single festive occasion, and the missionary re-
garded the drawing as no exaggeration, from what
_he knew of their bloody rites.

The remarkable quantities of coffee, cocoa- nuts,
and other articles yearly exported from the Mina-
hassa show that a wonderful change has come over
this land, even since 1833; and the question at once
arises, What is it that has transferred these people
from barbarism to civilization? The answer and the
only answer is, Christianity and education, The
Bible, in the hands of the missionaries, has been the
chief cause that has induced these people to lay aside

376 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

their bloody rites. As soon as a few natives had
been taught to read and write, they were employed
as teachers, and schools were established from place
to place, and from these centres a spirit of industry
and self-respect has diffused itself among the people
and supplanted in a great measure their previous
predisposition to idleness and self-neglect. In 1840,
seven years after Pietermaat gave the description
of these people mentioned above, the number of
Christians compared to that of heathen was as one
to sixteen, now it is about as two to five; and
exactly as this ratio continues to increase, in the
same degree will the prosperity of this land be-
come greater.

The rocks seen on this journey through the
Minahassa, as noted above, are trachytic lavas, vol-
canic sand and ashes, pumice-stone, and conglome-
rates composed of these materials and clay formed
by their decomposition. They all appear to be of
a late formation, and, as Dr. Bleeker remarks, the
Minahassa seems to be only a recent prolongation
of the older sedimentary rocks in the residency of
Gorontalo, In this small part of the peninsula,
there are no less than eleven volcanoes, North of
Menado is a chain of volcanic islands, which form a
prolongation of this peninsula. On the island Siao
there is an active voleano. North of it is the large
island of Sangir. According to Valentyn, the high-
est mountain on the island underwent an eruption
in December, 1711. <A great quantity of ashes and
lava was ejected, and the air was so heated for some
distance around, that many of the natives lost their

TANJONG FLASCO. 377

lives. North of the Sangir islands are the Talaut
group. These are the most northern islands under
the Dutch, and the boundary of their possessions in
this part of the archipelago.

The steamer Menado, on which I had previously .
taken passage from Batavia all the way to Amboina,
now arrived at Kema. She had brought my collec.
tion from Amboina, Buru, and Ternate, and I was
ready to return to Java, for some months had passed
since I accomplished the object of my journey to the
Spice Islands, and during that time I had travelled
many hundred miles and had reached several regions
which I had not dared to expect to see, even when I
left Batavia. A whale-ship from New Bedford was
also in the road, and when I visited her and heard
every one, even the cabin-boy, speaking English, it
seemed almost as strange as it did to hear nothing
but Malay and Dutch when I first arrived in Java.
Many whales are usually found east of the Sangir
Islands, and north of Gilolo and New Guinea.

January 10th— At noon steamed out of the bay
of Kema and down the eastern coast of Celebes for
Macassar. When the sun was setting, we were just
off Tanjong Flasco, which forms the northern limit
of the bay of Gorontalo or Tomini. As the sun
sank behind the end of this high promontory, its
jagged outline received a broad margin of gold.
Bands of strati stretched across the sky from north
to south and successively changed from gold to a
bright crimson, and then to a deep, dark red as the
sunlight faded. All this bright coloring of the sky
was repeated in the sea, and the air between them

378 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

assumed a rich, scintillating appearance, as if filled
with millions of minute crystals of gold.

The controleur, on board, who travelled with
me from Langowan, has been farther into the inte-
rior, south of Gorontalo, than any foreigner previ-
ously. He found the whole country divided up among
Ynany petty tribes, who are waging a continual war-
fare with each other; and the immediate object of
his dangerous journey was to conciliate two power-
ful tribes near the borders of the territory which the
Dutch claim as being under their command, He
found that all these people are excessively addicted
to the use of opium, which is brought from Singa-
pore to the western coast, near Palos, by Mandha.
rese and Macassars.

The dress of the people consists of a sarong,
made from the inner layers of the bark of a tree,
They have-large parangs, and value them in pro-
portion to the number and minuteness of the damas-
cene lines on their blades, Twenty guilders is a
common price for them. The controleuwr gave me a
very fine one, which was remarkably well tempered.
The most valuable export from this bay is gold,
which is found in great quantities, at least over
the whole northern peninsula, from the Minahassa
south to the isthmus of Palos, The amount ex-
ported is not known, for, though the Dutch Gov-
ernment has a contract with the princes to deliver
all the gold obtained in their territory to it at a
certain rate, they are offered a much higher price
by the Bugis, and consequently sell it to them.
No extensive survey has yet been made in this

‘GOLD MINES IN CELEBES. 379

territory, by the mining engineers employed by the
government, and the extent and richness of these
mines are therefore wholly matters of the most
uncertain speculation. The fact, however, that gold
was carried from this region before the arrival
of Europeans, more than three hundred and forty
years ago, and that the amount now exported ap-
pears to be larger than it was then, indicates that
the supply must be very great. The government
has not yet granted to private individuals the
privilege of importing machinery and laborers, and
proving whether or not mining can be carried on
profitably on a large scale. A fragment of rock
from this region was shown me at Kema by a
gentleman, who said he knew where there were
large quantities of it; and that specimen certainly
was very rich in the precious metal. Gold is also
found in the southwestern peninsula of Celebes,
south of Macassar. The geological age of these
auriferous rocks is not known, but I was assured
that, back of Gorontalo, an outcropping of granite
had been seen. Buffaloes and horses are plenty and
cheap at Gorontalo, and many are sent by sea to
the Minahassa. The horses are very fine, and from
the earliest times the Bugis have been accustomed
to buy and kill them to eat, having learned that such
flesh is a most delectable food, centuries before this
was ascertained by the enlightened Parisians,
Janwury 11th—Last night and to-day the sea
has been smooth, almost as smooth as glass, while
we know that on the opposite or western side of
Celebes there has been one continuous storm. This

380 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

is why we have come down the eastern side of
the island. Here the seasons on the east and west
coasts alternate, as we have already noticed in
Ceram and Buru, though those islands extend east
and west, while Celebes extends north and south.
To-day we passed through the Bangai group, lying
between the Sula Islands and Celebes, From the
appearance of the water, and from such soundings
as are given, there appears to be only a depth
of some thirty fathoms in the straits. These islands,
therefore, not only have formed a part of the ad-
jacent peninsula of Celebes, but do at the present
day.

A remarkable similarity has been noticed be-
tween the fauna of Bachian, near the southern end
of Gilolo, and that of Oelebes, and in the Bangai and
the Sula Islands we probably behold the remnants
of an old peninsula that once completely joined
those two lands. When we compare Celebes and
Gilolo, we notice that the Bangai and Sula groups,
stretching off to the east and southeast from one of
the eastern peninsulas of Celebes, are analogous in
position to Gebi, Waigiu, and Battanta, and the ad-
jacent islands which are but the remnants of a pen-
insula that in former times connected Gilolo to the
old continent of New Guinea and Australia.

Now, at sunset, we were approaching the Buton
Passage, which separates the large island of Buton
from Wangi-wangi, “ The Sweet - scented Island.”
This is a great highway for ships bound from Singa-
pore to China in the west monsoon, and several are
now here, drifting over the calm sea,

THE ISLAND OF BUTON 381

Buton is a hilly island, but no mountains ap-
pear. Its geological formation is said to consist
of “recent limestone, containing madrepores and
shells.” Here, again, we find indications of the wide
upheaval that appears to be occurring in the whole
archipelago, but especially in its eastern part. It
is quite famous for the valuable cotton it produces,
which, in the fineness and length of its fibres, is said
to excel that raised in any other part of the archi-
pelago, and is therefore highly valued by the Bugis
and Macassars,

January 13th—This morning we passed a large
American man-of-war coming down grandly from the
west, under steam and a full press of canvas. It is a
most agreeable and unexpected pleasure to see such
a representation of our powerful navy in these re-
mote seas.*

The next day we passed through Salayar Strait,
which separates the southern end of the peninsula
of Celebes from the Salayar Islands, and may be re-
garded as the boundary between the alternating wet
and dry seasons on the opposite sides of Celebes.

January 15th—Axrived back at Macassar. There
is nothing but one continuous series of heavy, pouring
showers, with sharp lightning and heavy thunder.

* T had little idea, when the above was written, that this ship was no
other than the Hartford, made so famous by Admiral Farragut’s brave
and successful assault on the forts below Mobile, and that Rear-Admiral
H. H. Bell, then commanding our Asiatic squadron, was on board; and
that during that same year (1866) it would be my privilege to meet him,
and receive from him and the other officers of our United States ships
so much kind assistance in making long voyages on the coasts of Ohina,
Corea, and Japan.

382 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

January 16th.—Sailed for Surabaya in Java,
This morning there is only such a wind as sailors
would call a fresh, but not a heavy gale. In all
the wide area between Java and the line of islands
east to Timur on the south, and the tenth degree of
north latitude, none of those frightful gales known in
the Bay of Bengal as cyclones, and in the China Sea as
“typhoons,” have ever been experienced, The chief
sources of solicitude to the navigator of the Java and
the Banda Seas are the strong currents and many

reefs of coral.

Our large steamer is little else than a great float-
ing menagerie. We have, as usual, many native sol-
diers on board, and each has with him two or three
pet parrots or cockatoos. Several of our passengers
have dozens of large cages, containing crested pigeons
from New Guinea, and representatives of nearly every
species of parrot in that part of the archipelago. We
have also more than a dozen different kinds of odd-
looking monkeys, two or three of which are contin-
ually getting loose and upsetting the parrot-cages,
and, before the sluggish Malays can approach them
with a “rope’s end” unawares, they spring up the
shrouds, and escape the punishment which they
know their mischief deserves. These birds and mon-
keys are mostly purchased in the Spice Islands; and
if all now on board this ship could be safely trans-
ported to New York or London, they would far ex-
cel the collection on exhibition in the Zoological Gar-
dens of the latter city.

Besides the Chinese, Arabs, Malays, and other
passengers forward, there is a Buginese woman, a

A RAVING MANIAC. 383

raving maniac, She is securely shackled by an iron
band around the ankle to a ring-bolt in the deck.
One moment she is swaying to and fro, and moaning
as if in the greatest mental agony and despair, and,
the next moment, stamping and screeching in a per
‘fect rage, her long hair streaming in the wind, her
eyes bloodshot, and flashing fire like a tigress which
has been robbed of her young. It would be difficult
to fancy a more frightful picture. They are taking
her to the mad-house near Samarang, where all such
unfortunates are kindly cared for by the government.
Her nation, the Bugis or Buginese, are famous for
“running a muck.” Amuk, which was written by
the early navigators “a muck,” is a common term in
all parts of the archipelago for any reckless, bloody
onset, whether made by one or more. It is, how-
ever, generally used by foreigners for those insane
attacks which the Malays sometimes make on any
one, generally to satisfy a feeling of revenge. When
they have decided to commit a murder of this kind,
they usually take opium, and, when partially under
its influence, rush out into the street with a large
knife and try to butcher the first person they
may chance to meet. Many years ago such émeutes
were of frequent occurrence, and even at the present
time most of the natives who stand guard in the
city of Batavia are each armed with a long staff, on
the end of which is a Y-shaped fork, provided on the
inner side with barbs pointing backward. This is
thrust against the neck of the murderer, and he is
thus secured without danger to the policeman.

CHAPTER XII.
SUMATRA.

On the third day from Macassar we arrived
safely at Surabaya, and thence proceeded westward to
Samarang, and, on the first of February, 1866, I was
again in Batavia, having been absent in the eastern
part of the archipelago eight months. Through the
courtesy of Messrs. Diimmler & Co., of that city, who
obligingly offered to receive and store my collections
and forward them to America, I was left entirely
free to commence a new journey.

The generous offer of the governor-general to give
me an order for post-horses free over all parts of Java
was duly considered; but as many naturalists and
travellers have described it already, I determined to
proceed to Sumatra, and, if possible, travel in the
interior of that unexplored island, and, accordingly,
on the 12th of February, I took passage for Padang
on the Menado, the same steamer in which I had
already travelled so many hundred miles,

From Batavia we soon steamed away to the Strait
of Sunda, and once more it was my privilege to be-
hold the lofty peaks in the southern end of Suma:
tra, From that point as far north as Cape Indrapura

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THE CITY OF PADANG, asd

the coast is generally bordered with a narrow band
of low land, from which rises a high and almost con-
tinuous chain-of mountains extending parallel with
the southwest, or, as the Dutch always call it, the
“west” coast, all the way north to Achin.

The next morning, after passing the lofty peak
of Indrapura, found us steaming in under the hills
and high mountains that stand by the sea at Padang
and rise tier above tier until they reach the crest
of the Barizan chain, producing one of the grand.
est effects to be enjoyed on the shores of any island
in the whole archipelago. Padang, unfortunately,
has no harbor, and the place where ships are obliged
to anchor is an open, exposed roadstead. There is a
sheltered harbor farther to the south, but it would
cost a large sum to build a good road from Padang
to it by cutting down the hills and bridging the
ravines, The distance from the anchorage to the city
is some three miles, and all the products exported
must be taken out to the ships on barges.

The city of Padang is situated on a small plain,
whence its name; padang in Malay, meaning an open
field or plain. Its population numbers about twelve
thousand, and is composed of emigrants from Nias,
Java, some Chinese and Arabs, and their mestizo
descendants, besides the natives and Dutch. The
streets are well shaded and neat. Near the centre
of the city is a large, beautiful lawn, on one side of
which is the residence of the governor. On the op-
posite side is the Club-House, a large and well-pro-
portioned building. On the south side is a small
stream where the natives haul up their boats, and

25

386 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

here the barges take in their cargoes, This part of
the city is chiefly filled with the storehouses and
offices of the merchants. In front of the governor’s
residence is a largecommon. ‘Two of its sides are oc-
cupied by private residences and the church, the roof
of which has fallen in, and indeed the whole structure
is in a most dilapidated condition compared to the rich
Club-House on the other side of the green. Having
landed and taken up my quarters at a hotel, I called
on Governor Van den Bosche, who received me polite-
ly, and said that the inspector of posts, Mr. Theben
Terville, whose duty it is not only to care for trans-
porting the mails, but also to supervise and lay out
the post-roads, had just arrived from Java, and must
make an overland journey to Siboga, in order to exam-
ine a route that had been proposed for a post-road
to that place.

He had promised the inspector, who was an old
gentleman, the use of his “ American,” a light four-
wheeled carriage made in Boston. There was room
for two in it, and he would propose to the inspector
to take me with him, and further provide me with
letters to the chief officials along the way; but as it
would be two or three days before Mr. Terville, who
was then in the interior, would be ready to start, he
proposed that I should leave the hotel and make
my home with him as long as I might remain in
Padang. “ Besides,” he added, “I have eight good
cearriage-horses in the stable, and I have so much
writing to do that they are spoiling for want of exer-
cise; now, if you will come, you can ride whenever
you please.” So again I found myself in the full tide

BEAUTIFUL DRIVES. 997

of fortune. It is searcely necessary to add that I did
not fail to avail myself of such a generous offer. In
the evenings, when it became cool, the-governor was
accustomed to ride through the city, and occasionally
out a short distance into the country. Our roads
were usually shaded with tall trees, frequently with
palms, and to fly along beneath them in a nice car-
riage, drawn by a span of fleet ponies, was a royal
pleasure, and one never to be forgotten. One pleas-
ant day we drove out a few miles to a large garden
where the governor formerly resided. The palace
had been taken down, but a fine garden and a richly-
furnished bathing-house yet remain. The road out
from Padang to this place led through a series of low
rice-lands, and just then the young blades were six
or eight inches high, and waved charmingly im the
morning breeze. The road, for a long distance, was
perfectly straight and bordered by large shade-trees.
It was one of the finest avenues I ever saw. Here I
was reminded of the region from which I had so
lately come, the Spice Islands, by a small clove-tree,
well filled with fruit. Much attention was formerly
given here to the culture of the clove, but for some
years raising coffee has proved the most profitable
mode of employing native labor. There were also
some fine animals in various parts of the garden,
among which was a pair of the spotted deer, Awis
maculata. Thus several days glided by, and the
time for me to go up into the interior and meet
the inspector came almost before I was aware
of it.

February 21st, 1866.—At 8 a.m. we started from

388 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

Padang for Fort de Kock, sixty miles from this city,
A heavy shower during the night has purified the
air, and we have a clear, cool, and in its fullest sense
a lovely morning. This “American” is generally
drawn by two horses, but the governor has had thills
put on so that one may be used, for he says, between
Fort de Kock, where the present post-road ends, and
Siboga, a distance of about one hundred and ninety
miles, by the crooked route that we must travel, that
we shall find it difficult to get one horse for’a part of
the way. Behind the carriage a small seat is fastened
where my footman sits or stands. His duty is to
help change the horses at the various stations, which
are about five miles apart. When the horses are
harnessed his next duty is to get them started, which
is by far the most difficult, for most of those we
have used to-day have been trained for the saddle,
and we have not dared to put on any breeching
for fear of losing our fender, these brutes are so
ready to use their heels, though fortunately we have
not needed any hold-back but once or twice, and
then, by having the footman act as hold-back himself
with a long line, I have urged on the horse, and in
every case we have come down to the bottom of the
hill safely. With only a weak coolie tugging behind,
of course I have not been able to make these wild
horses resist the temptation to go down the hill at a
trot, and, after running and holding back until he was
out of breath, the coolie has always let go, general-
ly when I was half-way down; nothing of course
then remained to be done but to keep the horse gal- |
loping so fast that the carriage cannot run on to him, ©

CROSSING THE STREAMS. 389

and by the time we have come to the bottom of the
hill we have been moving at a break-neck rate, which
has been the more solicitous for me, as I had never
been on the road, and did not know what unexpected
rocks or holes there would be found round the next
From Padang the road led to the northwest, over
the low lands between the sea and the foot of the
Barizan, or coast chain of mountains. In this low
region we have crossed two large streams, which
come down from these elevations on the right, and are
now quite swollen from the recent rains, A long and
large rattan is stretched across from one bank to the
other, and a path made to slip over it is fastened to
one end of a rude raft. This rattan prevents us from
being swept down the boiling stream, while the na-
tives push over the raft with long poles. I began to
realize what an advantage it was to ride in the carriage
of the Zuan Liza, or “Great Man,” as the Malays
all call the governor. As soon as those on the oppo-
site side of the stream saw the carriage they recog-
nized it, and at once came over by holding on to the
rattan with one hand and swimming with the other.
In their struggles to hasten and kindly assist, several
times the heads of a number of them were beneath
the water when they came to the middle of the
stream, where the current was strongest and the rattan
very slack; but there was very little danger of their
being drowned, for they are as amphibious as alliga-
tors. I had not been riding long over these low
lands before I experienced a new and unexpected |
pleasure in beholding by the roadside numbers of

390 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

beautiful tree-ferns, which, unlike their humbler rep-
resentatives in our temperate regions, grow up into
trees fifteen to eighteen feet high. They are interest-
ing, not only on account of their graceful forms and
limited distribution, but because they are the living
representatives of a large family of trees that flour-
ished during the coal period.

As we proceeded, our road approached the base
of the Barizan chain until we were quite near them,
and then curved again around some spur that pro-
jected toward the sea-shore. Late in the afternoon
we came to the opening of a broad, triangular valley,
and beheld on our right, and near the head of the
valley, the towering peak of Singalang, whose summit
is nine thousand eight hundred and eighty feet above
the sea, Large numbers of natives were seen here
travelling in company, returning homeward from the
market at Kayu Tanam, the next village. Their holi-
day dress here as elsewhere is a bright red. Beyond
Kayu Tanam the road ran along the side of a deep
ravine, having in fact been cut in the soft rock, a nar-
row wall of it being left on the outer side to prevent
carriages from sliding off into the deep chasm. §nd-
denly, as we whirled round the sharp corners while
dashing through this place, we came into a deep
canon extending to the right and left, called by the
Dutch the Kloof, or “ Cleft,” a very proper name, for
it is a great cleft in the Barizan chain. Up this cleft
has been built a road by which all the rich products
of the Padangsche Bovenlanden, or “ Padang pla-
teau,” are brought down to the coast. Osposite to
us was a torrent pouring over the perpendicular side

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THE CLEFT. 391

of the cleft, which I judge to be about seventy-five
feet in height. Where it curved dver the side of the
precipice it was confined, but, as soon as it began to
fall, it spread out and came down, not in one con-
tinuous, unvarying sheet of water, but in a series of
wavelets, until the whole resembled a huge comet
trying, as it were, to escape from earth up to its
proper place in the pure sky above it. On either
side of this pulsating fall is a sheet of green vegeta-
tion, which has gained a foothold in every crevice
and on every projecting ledge in the precipice. Be-
hind the falling water there is a wall of black, vol-
eanic rock, and at its foot is a mass of angular débris
which has broken off from the cliff above. Now we
turned sharply round to the north, and began ascend-
ing to the plateau. The cleft has not been formed in
a straight but in a zigzag line, so that, in looking up
or down, its sides seem to meet a short distance be-
fore you and prevent any farther advance in either
direction ; but, as you proceed, the road suddenly
opens to the right or left, and thus the effect is never
wearying. It resembles some of the dark cafions in
our own country between the Rocky Mountains and
Sierra Nevada, except that while their dark sides are
of naked rock, the sides of this ravine are covered
with a dense growth of vines, shrubs, and large trees,
according to the steepness of the acclivities. Here
were many trees and shrubs with very brilliantly-
colored leaves. The whole scenery is so grand that
no description, or even photograph, could convey an
accurate idea of its magnificence. For four miles we
rode up and up this chasm, and at last came on to the

392 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

edge of the plateau at the village of Padang Panjang.
We were then more than two thousand four hun-
dred feet above the plain, having ascended about
two thousand feet in four miles. Here the inspec.
tor left word for me to wait a couple of days for
him, as he was still away to thesouth. Heavy show-
ers continued the next day, so that I had little op-
portunity of travelling far; besides, it was very cool
after coming up from the low, hot land by the shore.
There is almost always a current of air either up or
down this cleft, and the warm air of the coast region
is brought into contact with the cool air of the pla-
teau, and condensation and precipitation seems to
occur here more abundantly than at any other place
in the vicinity, the number of rainy days numbering
two hundred and five. This is no doubt due to the
local causes already explained. The average tem-
perature here is 49.28° Fahrenheit. In the cleft, at
one or two places, are a few houses made by the peo-
ple who have moved down from the plateau. Théy
are placed on posts two or three feet above the ground.
Their walls are low, only three or four feet high, and
made of a rude kind of panel-work, and painted red.
Large open places are left for windows, which allow
any one passing to look in. There are no partitions
and no chairs nor benches, and the natives squat down
on the rough floor, It requires no careful scrutiny of
these hovels to see that they are vastly more filthy
than the bamboo huts of the Malays who live on the
low land,

Tn all the villages I have passed to-day, both on
the low land and here on the plateau, there is a

CRESCENT-SHAPED ROOFS. 393

pasar, or market, and, where they have been erected
by the natives, they are the most remarkable build-
ings I have seen in the archipelago. They are perched
upon posts like the houses, The ridge-pole, instead
of being horizontal, curves up so high at each end,
that the roof comes to have the form of a crescent
with the horns pointing upward. Sometimes a shorter
roof is placed in the middle of the longer, and then
the two look like a small crescent within a large one,
Long before Europeans came to this land these peo-
ple were accustomed to meet to barter their products,
and this was their only kind of internal commerce. The
next morning I rode part way down the cleft to near
the place where the post-horses are changed, and found
a marble that was soft, but so crystalline as to contain
no fossils. I understand, however, that Mr. Van
Dijk, one of the government mining engineers, dis-
covered some pieces of this limestone which had not
been crystallized, and that he considered the species
of*corals seen in them to be entirely of the recent
period. Limestone again appears in the cleft of
Paningahan, a short distance to the south. The rocks
with which it is interstratified are chloritic schists,
that is, layers of clay changed into hard schists by
the action of heat and pressure.

Lebruary 23d—The inspector arrived this morning,
and we set out together for Fort de Kock, about twelve
miles distant. From Padang Panjang the road con-
tinues to rise to the crest of a ridge or col, which
crossed our road in an easterly and westerly direction,
and connects Mount Singalang with Mount Mérapi.
This acelivity is very nicely terraced, and the water is

394 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

retained in the little plats by dikes. When any excess
is poured into the uppermost in the series, it runs
over into those beneath it, and thus aeconstant sup-
ply of water is kept over all. On looking upward
we saw only the vertical sides of the little terraces
covered with turf, and, in looking down, only the
rice-fields. Near the crest of the co] we could look
down the flanks of the Mérapi to Lake Sinkara away
to the south. The earth here is a tenacious red clay
formed by the decomposition of the underlying vol-
eanic rocks and volcanic ashes and sand. These are
arranged in layers which have an inclination nearly
parallel to the surface. The layers of ashes and sand
may have been partly formed in their present posi-
tion by successive eruptions in the summits of the
neighboring peaks, but those of clay show that the
col has been elevated somewhat since they were
formed. The height of this col is three thousand
seven hundred feet, and this is the highest place
crossed by the road from Padang to Siboga, We néw
began slowly to descend, passing wide, beautifully-
cultivated sawas on either hand to Fort de Kock.
Here on a pretty terrace is located the house of the
Resident, who has command of the adjoining elevated
lands, so famous in the history of this island as the
kingdom of Menangkabau, whence the Malays origi-
nally migrated, whom we have found on the shores of
all the islands we have visited, and who are very dis-
tinct from the aborigines of these islands, as we have
particularly noticed at Buru.

The dress of the men here is not very different
from that of the Malays of Java, but the costume

WOMAN OF THE PADANG PLATEAU,

DISTENDING THE LOBE OF THE EAR. 395

of the women is remarkable. On the head is worn a
long scarf, wound round like a turban, one end being
allowed to hang down, sometimes over the forehead,
and sometimes on one side, or on the back of the
head. The upper part of the body is clothed in a
baju of the common pattern, and passing over one
_ shoulder, across the breast, and under the opposite

arm is a long, bright-colored scarf. The ends of this,
as well as that worn on the head, are ornamented
with imitations of leaves and fruit, very tastefully
wrought with gold thread. At the waist is fastened
the sarong, which is not sewn up at the ends as
in other parts of the archipelago. It is therefore
nothing but a piece of calico, about a yard long,
wound round the body, and the two ends gathered
on the right hip, where they are twisted together,
and tucked under, so as to form a rude knot. As
the sarong is thus open on the right side, it is
thrown apart higher than the knee at every step,
like the statues representing the goddess Diana in
hunting-costume. Their most remarkable custom,
however, is distending the lobe of the ear, as seen in
the accompanying cut from a photograph of one of the
women at the kampong here at Fort de Kock. When
young, an incision is made in the lobe, and a stiff leaf
is rolled up, and thrust into it, in such a way that
the tendency of the leaf to unroll will stretch the in-
cision. When one leaf has lost its elasticity it is
exchanged for another, and, in this way, the opening
increases until it is an inch in diameter. This must
be a very painful process, judging from the degree to
which the ears of the young girls are inflamed and

396 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

swollen. A saucer-shaped ornament, with a groove
in its rim, is then put into the ear, exactly as a stud is
put into a gentleman’s shirt-bosom. It is generally
made of gold, and the central part consists of a very
fine open work, so that it is very light, yet the open-
ing in the ear continues to increase until it is fre-
quently an inch and a half in diameter, and almost
large enough for the wearer to pass one of her hands
through, The front part of the loop is then only at-
tached to the head by a round bundle of muscles,
smaller than a pipe-stem, and the individual is
obliged to lay aside her ornaments or have the
lower part of her ears changed into long, dangling
strings. While these ornaments (for it is not proper
to call such a saucer-shaped article a ring) can be
worn in the ear, the appearance of the native women,
as seen in the cut, is like that of the other Malay
women; but as soon as these ornaments are taken
out, and the lobes of their ears are seen to be nothing
but long loops, their appearance then becomes very
repulsive. The men are never guilty of this loath-
some practice. A similar habit of distending the
lobe of the ear prevails in Borneo, among the Dyak
women. It is also seen in all the Chinese and Jap-
anese images of Buddha. The native women of
India are accustomed to wear several small rings,
not only all round in the edge of the ear, but in the
nostrils, A large number of rings are shown in the
ear of the cut of a Dyak or head-hunter of Borneo.
Even in the most civilized lands this same barbaric
idea—that a lady is made more prepossessing by

CANONS. 397

having some foreign substance thrust through, and
dangling from, each ear—still prevails.

After we had rested from our ride, the Resident
took us through the adjoining kampong. The houses
were like those already described in. the Cleft, Our
attention was particularly drawn to the magnificent
bamboos by the roadside, many of which attain a
height of forty or fifty feet.

February 24th—The inspector, having travelled
for some time, prefers to rest to-day, and as I am
anxious to see the lake of Manindyu, which is some
distance off our route, I avail myself of the oppor-
tunity. The Resident kindly gave me a very fine
saddle-horse, and early this morning we started in
a northwesterly direction for Matua, Our path at
once led down from the high plateau into a series of
deep valleys with perpendicular sides, composed of
stratified sand and clay, formed by the disintegration
and decomposition of pumice-stone, These deep val-
leys have been wholly formed by the action of the
rapid streams which flow in their bottoms, and which,
by changing their courses from one side of the valley
to the other, have carried away the talus that has
formed at the bases of the cliffs. These cliffs, there-
fore, are perpendicular, whether the valleys be wide
or narrow. The strata of the sand and clay are so
horizontal that we are warranted in considering them
deposited in a lake of fresh or salt water. No fos-
sils of any kind, so far as I can learn, have ever been
seen in these late deposits, to determine whether
they are of lacustrine or marine origin. The upper
edges of the sides of these deep valleys are so sharply

398 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

defined that the buffaloes, feeding on the grass-lands
above, unconsciously venture too far, and of course
are instantly killed by such a high fall, and, for this
reason, the Dutch call them “ buffalo holes,”

At several places small tributaries come in as
branches to the main stream, which here flows to the
northwest, and the tongue of land in the acute angle
of such branches rises up like a perpendicular wall
with a sharp edge. These deep valleys resemble the
canons of the Colorado, which were also formed by
the erosive action of running water; but here the sce-
nery is on a small scale compared to those deep, dark,
gloomy chasms. Two or three times we climbed
the zigzag path that led up the sides of one valley,
and then went down again into the next valley. The
bottoms of these caiions, being well watered, are admir-
ably suited for the cultivation of rice, and here were
some plats still overflowed where the rice was only
a few inches high, and not far from them others,
where the natives were collecting the ripe, golden
blades. Such a mingling of planting the seed,
and gathering in the ripe grain, appeared the more
strange when I thought of our temperate climate,
where we are obliged to sow at a certain time in the
year or reap no harvest. The higher lands between
these valleys form a plateau, which, from Fort de
Kock to Matua, is very sterile when compared to the
high land farther south.

From Matua our course changed to the west and
lay through broad sawas filled with half-grown rice,
Tt slowly ascended, until we found ourselves on the
edge of a crater of most enormous dimensions. Thick

DESCENDING INTO AN EXTINCT CRATER. 399

rain-clouds gathered and began pouring down heavy
showers, which obscured every thing about us, and I
could only see that we stood on the edge of a vast
yawning gulf. Our way now rapidly descended first
to the right and then to the left, and, as I looked
down into the deep abyss which we were descend-
ing, such thick vapors enveloped us that every thing
was hidden from our view at the distance of a hun-
dred yards, and it seemed as if we must be going
down into the Bottomless Pit. Down and down we
went, until at last I became quite discouraged, and
seriously began to think of explaining to my native
guide that the wisest heads which lived in my land
believe that the centre of the earth is nothing but a
mass of molten rock, and to inquire of him whether
he was sure we should stop short of such an uncom-
fortable place, when the thick mist which enshrouded
us cleared away, and I beheld far, far beneath me a
large lake, and above me the steep, overhanging cra-
ter-wall which I had descended ; but I was only half-
way down, yet I had the satisfaction of knowing there
was an end to the way, and, besides, the road was not
so steep, and consequently not so slippery as the half
we had already come. So we slipped and plodded
on, and early in the afternoon I came to the residence
of the controlewr of that region, at the village of Ma-
nindyu, on the east side of the lake.

The height of the edge of the crater where we
began to descend is thirty-six hundred feet, and that
of the lake fifteen hundred and forty above the sea.
The perpendicular distance that we had come down,
therefore, was over two thousand feet; but to come

“400 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

that distance, our road had zigzagged so continually
to the right and left, that we had travelled five miles.
Toward evening the rain ceased, and the controleur
conducted me a short distance north of the kampong
to a hot spring, where the natives have a square pool
for bathing, and covered it with a small house, for
they ascribe all sorts of healing virtues to this warm
water. I found the water to be perfectly pure to the
eye, and free from any sensible escape of gas. Its
temperature was 1024° Fahrenheit, and an abundance
of alge was seen on the rocks beneath its surface.

At sunset, the heavy clouds that had filled the
crater during the day slowly rose upward, but not
so high at first as to allow us to see the tops of the
peaks in the serrated crest of the crater-wall oppo-
site. The bright sunlight, therefore, shone in through
the triangular openings between the lower surface of
the level clouds, and the bottoms of the sharp val. .
leys, and these oblique bands of golden light fell on
the water at some distance from the opposite shore,
and then came over the lake and illuminated the
place where we sat watching this unique and mag-
nificent view.

After the sunlight had faded, the clouds rose
higher, and I could look round and behold all sides
of the largest crater it has been my privilege to see,
and indeed one of the largest in the world. The
general height of the wall does not vary much from
that point where I crossed it coming down, and is
very steep, except at that place, and in many parts
nearly perpendicular. It is not circular, but com-
posed of two circles of unequal diameter, which

GREAT CRATER OF MANINDYU. 401

unite on one side, and leave a tongue of land project-
ing from the east and west sides, Each of these cir-
cles is a crater, and the tongues of land that project
from either side of the lake mark the boundaries be-
tween them. The width of the larger crater at the
level of the lake, as given on the best maps I have
been able to consult, is three geographical miles;
that of the smaller crater, at the same level, two and
a quarter miles; and the length of the lake, which
lies in a northerly and southerly direction, and is ap-
proximately parallel to the great Barizan chain in
which it is found, is no less than six geographical
miles. These two craters, I believe, were not formed
at the same time. The larger crater, which is on the
north, is older, and the smaller one to the south is
the later, the eruptive foree which formed the larger
having lost some of its power, as well as having
slightly changed its position when it formed the
smaller. This gigantic crater is the more interesting
to us, because it is as large as the one we supposed
formerly existed in the Banda Islands, when we re-
garded Great Banda, Pulo Pisang, and Pulo Kapal,
as parts of the walls of that crater, if, as was then
suggested, that crater was not circular, but nearly
elliptical, like this great one of Manindyu, Even the
famous crater of the Tenger Mountains becomes of
moderate dimensions, when compared to this,

In the western side of the larger crater is a cleft or
deep ravine that conducts the superfluous waters to
the sea. This split, it may be noticed, has occurred
on the side toward the sea, where, of course, the wall
of the crater was thinnest and weakest. This re-

26

402 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

gion is considered quite valuable, because coffee-trees -
flourish here remarkably well. ‘The coffee obtained
is brought over the lake in boats to the mouth of the
outlet, and thence transported to the village of Tiku,
on the coast.

The controleur also showed me a quantity of the
edible birds’-nests obtained in the neighboring cliffs,
that were considered of a superior quality, that is,
by Chinese palates, for, if the Celestials had not taken
a fancy that these should be-regarded as dainties, I
do not believe that Europeans would have ever
thought of tasting them.

February 25th—At eight o'clock rode back with
the controlewr up the crater wall, by the way I came
down yesterday. The road is built on the spur or
projecting ridge that forms the boundary between
the two craters on the east side, and zigzags to the
right and left in such a manner that, when viewed
from beneath, it reminds one of the way, usually
pictured, that the people of Babel climbed their lofty
tower. To shorten the distance, we went over a
number of steep places, instead of going round by
the road. The clay and wet grass, however, were so
slippery that such climbing was exceedingly danger.
ous; but the rider had the satisfaction of knowing
that, if his horse did lose his footing altogether, they
would both go down so many hundred feet that nei-
ther would suffer pain for many moments after their
descent was ended.

The heavy rain of yesterday had wholly cleared
away, and when we reached the crater rim we enjoyed
a perfect view of this enormous gulf, six miles long

IMMENSE AMPHITHEATRES. 408

and four miles broad, and more than two thousand
feet deep. Apparently the crater had ceased its ac-
tion a long time ago, and now the hot springs on the
borders of the lake are the only reminders of the
causes that formed it ages and ages ago. As we
looked down from our high point, clouds were seen
floating beneath us, and on the opposite wall of the
crater long, narrow, vertical strips of naked earth
marked the places where land-slides had come down
its precipitous declivities.

Soon after we reached Matua, the imspector ar-
rived from Fort de Kock, and we went on together
toward the northwest. The road was exceedingly
rough, and, after riding five miles, our little pony
became so worn out that I got out and walked to
Palimbayang, the next station, a distance of nine
miles, in the scorching, tropical sun. The road from
Matua is built on the side of the Barizan chain, and
we had on our right a deep valley, in the bottom of
which coursed the stream that we had previously
crossed in the deep cafions near Fort de Kock. Sev-
eral small streams came down from the mountains
on our left, and in the side valleys, where those
streams entered the main one, the natives had formed
many terraces,

A number of these smaller valleys had the form
of an ellipse, cut in two at its minor axis. In the
distance they looked like immense amphitheatres, the
horizontal terraces forming the seats for the imagl-
nary spectators—amphitheatres of such ample dimen-
sions that, in comparison with them, even the great
Coliseum at Rome dwindles into insignificance.

404 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

The height of this point is a little less than that
at Matua, and all the way from Fort de Kock to this
place I have been able to keep in sight the remains
of the plateau which begins on the south with
the col between the Singalang and Mérapi. The
horizontal layers, that once filled the whole valley
west of us, have been carried away by the streams
until only a narrow margin is left on the Barizan,
and its parallel chain; it forcibly reminds me of the
terraces seen along the upper part of some of our
own New-England rivers—for instance, those in the
upper part of the Connecticut Valley.

Here, at Palimbayang, I have had the first oppor-
tunity of enjoying a view of that magnificent moun-
tain, Ophir, nine thousand seven hundred and sey-
enty feet in height. Its truncated summit indicates
that its highest parts are the ruins of an old crater,
and this thought reminds us of the voleanic action
to which the mountain owes its birth, The name of
this mountain is not of native origin, but was given
it by the Portuguese, because they fancied that at
last they had found the place where the ships of
Solomon obtained the enormous quantities of gold
that he used in adorning the magnificent temple of
Jerusalem, The same name they also gave to an-
other, but a much smaller mountajn, on the Malay
Peninsula, forty miles of the Oop Malacca.

In the vicinity of both of these mountains much
gold had been obtained for centuries before Euro-
peans ever came to this region. The idea enter-
tained by the Portuguese, that a part of the gold
which reached Jerusalem came from this island and

As ehh.
ety, !
ey fd

\ |

oS

a att

IN THE INTERIOR OF SUMATRA,

A SCENE

OPHIR. 405

the peninsula, has been the subject of much ridicule,
but, nevertheless, there may be considerable evidence
in favor of such an hypothesis.

No one region is known in that part of the east
that could have furnished all the different articles
brought by Solomon’s fleet; and Ophir has therefore
been considered the name of an emporium, situated
near the entrance of the Red Sea, or, more probably,
near the head of the Arabian Sea, at the mouth of
the Indus, The names in the Hebrew of the articles
thus brought, show that they are all of foreign ori-
gin, having been evidently adopted from some other
language, and probably from the Sanscrit.* The
name for peacock appears to have been derived from
the word in Tamil, a language spoken on the Mala-
bar coast by the Telingas, or “Kings,” who visited
this island and the Malay Peninsula long before the
time of Solomon, 1015 to 975 B. c, for the tin used
by the Egyptians in making their implements of
bronze, as early as 2000 B, c., doubtless came from
the Malacca, and the Klings were the people who
took it as far toward Egypt as the eastern shore of
India. Tin and gold are both obtained in the same
manner, namely, by washing alluvial deposits.

Gold is found in small quantities over a very
considerable part of the Malay Peninsula. It has
always been more highly valued than tin, and it
is, therefore, by all means probable that it was an
article of commerce, and was exported to India

* Vide Max Miiller’s “ Lectures on the Science of Language,” First
Course, p. 224,

406 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

as early as tin, or at least five hundred years before
Solomon commenced building his splendid temple.

Gold is also found in the western and southern
parts of Borneo, and in some places on Luzon and
Magindanao, in the Philippine Archipelago. As we
have already noticed, it is found on Bachian, and, in
the northern and southern peninsulas of Celebes. It
is indeed one of the most widely-distributed metals
obtained in the archipelago. It is not only found
on many of the islands that are not wholly of vol-
canic origin, between Asia and Australia, but also
from place to place over both of those continents.
The quantity obtained here, on Sumatra, is wholly
unknown, but, judging from what is used in orna-
ments, it must be very considerable. It is always
bought and sold in the form of “ dust,” and has never
been coined for money in any part of the archipelago,
except at Achin.

CHAPTER XUL
TO THE LAND OF THE CANNIBALS.

February 26th—At 7 a.m. rode down the edge
of the plateau to the bottom of a deep ravine, and
then climbed up the opposite ridge. Here we met
all the rajahs and their attendants in the vicinity, and
again descended to the bottom of a second ravine to
the little village of Pisang. As the way was exceed-
ingly rough, I preferred to ride a nice horse the con-
troleur had given me, to being jolted in the carriage.
Beyond Pisang our road lay in a narrow valley, and,
as the sky was clear and the neighboring hills pre-
vented any breeze from reaching us, we seemed to be
at the focus of a great burning lens. In the thick
woods on either hand troops of large, black monkeys
kept up a hooting or trumpeting, their prolonged
cries sounding exactly like a score of amateurs practis-
ing on trombones, In some places the din they made
was quite deafening. In one place the road passed
through a deep cut through strata, composed of sand
and conglomerate, which probably once filled the
whole valley. From Pisang, which is at an eleva
tion of seventeen hundred feet, we continued to de-
scend until we came to the small valley of Bondyol,
which is only seven hundred and forty feet above the

408 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

sea, On the way we met the controleur superintend-
ing the construction of a bridge, for the officials in
these small places have to plan buildings and bridges
and be at the same time judges, architects, and ma-
sons. The residence of this officer was located on a
hill rismg on one side of the small valley. It was
nicely shaded, and commanded a view over the ad-
joining lowlands, which were all sawas. At this
place I saw some of the beautiful little musk-deer of
this region—a deer that is only about a foot and a
half high, without antlers, and weighs less than a
rabbit.

There were more than a dozen monkeys in the
backyard. Some of them were of the dog-like species,
others with long tails and long limbs. Some of them
were extremely restless, while others sat still and
looked so grave and dignified as to be more comical
than their mischievous companions. There are ten
species on this island, none of which are found in
Java, while the four species of Java are never seen
here, such a limit does the Strait of Sunda form to
the faune of these two islands, although it is only
fifteen miles wide in some places, and islands are
nearly midway from either shore. ‘The most remark-
able of the apes found on the island is the orang-utan,
which lives in the lowlands in the northern and east-
ern parts of the island. The governor at Padang
had a live one that had been sent him from that
region, She was more than three feet high and very
strong. Escaping one time from the box where she
was fastened, she climbed a neighboring shade-tree’
~ and commenced breaking off large limbs and placing

THE ORANG-UTAN. - 409

them in a fork of the tree until she had made herself
a nice resting-place. That, however, not being high
enough, she climbed up nearly to the top of the tree
and then broke all the twigs near her, and thus form-
ed a second couch. She did not sway to and fro con-
tinually, as many monkeys do, but used to sit quietly
picking off all the foliage within her reach, and then
took up another position and demolished the foliage
there in the same manner. It is very singular this ,
‘animal is found on Sumatra and Borneo, and has
never been seen on the Malay Peninsula, which al-
most lies between them.

February 27th.— At 7.30 a, mM. started on
horseback for Lubu Siképing. At first the road
led through the lowland near Bondyol, and then
crossing a rapid stream began to ascend a narrow
winding valley. My little pony took me up the
steep places apparently with as little exertion as if
we were ascending a gentle acclivity. Like all the
saddle and carriage horses used in the archipelago, he
was a stallion, it being considered among all these
islands as disgraceful for a man to ride or drive a
mare as it would be in our land for a farmer to plough
with a yoke of cows. Even geldings are never seen,
and, as would naturally be expected, the stallions,
unless remarkably well-trained, are very vicious, and,
worse than all, extremely capricious, springing, or
kicking, or halting, without any provocation, and
without giving their rider the slightest warning ; but,
when they are perfectly trained, they are among the
finest saddle-horses in the world, they are so fleet and
so sure-footed. In a short time the narrow valley

410 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

changed into a deep ravine, and the road continued
to ascend along one of its steep sides, and became so
narrow that I was afraid my horse would lose his
footing in the soft clay, and that we should both go
down to certain destruction on the rocks that raised
their ragged jaws above the spray of the foaming
torrent below. A dark forest of primeval, gigantic
trees covered the sides of the mountains above us,
and crossing a rickety bridge we found many of their
huge trunks lying across our path. They had lived
to their allotted age and had not fallen by the hand
of man. This road has been lately made, and already
great fissures in its outer edge show that it is quite
ready to slide down the mountain.

Large troops of monkeys have established them-
selves in this dark gorge, and just when I was in the
most dangerous place they made a frightful noise,
some trumpeting, some screeching, and some making
a prolonged shrill whistling, yet I could only see one
or two, though the natives who were building the
road assured me that the tops of the trees were full
of them. While in this deep ravine I crossed the
equator for the third time since I entered the archi-
pelago.

I had now climbed up one thousand four hundred
feet during my short ride, and was therefore two
thousand one hundred feet above the sea, To the
northwest there now opened out before me a long,
narrow, gently descending valley, like the one I had
left behind; in fact, this water-shed is merely a trans-
verse ridge which unites the Barizan chain with the
chain parallel to it, in the same way as it is done by

LUBU SIKEPING. 411

the transverse ranges in which the Mérapi and the
Sago rise, This appears to be naturally as fruitful a
region as the Menangkabau country proper, and
was undoubtedly included within the limits of
that empire during its most flourishing period. This
valley is generally very poorly cultivated, on account
of the small numbers of its population. By the way-
side were a number of coffee-gardens. The trees
were well filled with fruit, but they had been great-
ly neglected, and the tall grass was rapidly choking
them.

A few miles farther on I came to Lubu Siképing,
where we were to rest until the next day. A native
opziener, or “ overseer,” was stationed here to receive
the coffee from the adjoining plantations. He had
not heard of our coming, and was quite surprised to
see a stranger here in such a remote spot among the
mountains, and not the less so when I informed him
that the inspector was just behind me, and that I
only chanced to be in advance because, from what I
had heard of the road in the gorge, I had no fancy to
ride through it in a wide carriage. He received us,
however, like all the other officials, in the most polite
manner, and was evidently glad that something had
occurred to break up the dull routine of such a life of
exile. It was market-day here, and, as soon as I met
some of the natives returning to their homes, I saw
that they were a different people from those of the
Menangkabau country, and the overseer told me that
they are not natives of this particular region, but
belong to the wild tribe of Lubus, which I should
see farther up the valley, and that it is for this reason

4193 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

that this place is called Lubu Siképing. They now
build houses like those of other Malays. They are
better-formed people than the Javanese, and closely
resemble in their features the Oranglaut, or common
Malays of the coast regions. Their favorite holiday-
dress is chiefly a bright scarlet, Half an hour after
I arrived here the inspector came. He had found the
road so narrow in one or two places that the natives
had to push out planks beyond the outer edge of the
road to support the outside wheels of the carriage,
and I was glad that I came on horseback, though,
when I led the vicious brute, I had to keep a constant
watch to prevent him from seizing my wrist in his
teeth.

At 5 p. mu. we walked out to enjoy the grand
scenery in the vicinity. The level plateau here, which
is one thousand five hundred feet above the sea, is
bounded on the northeast side by an exceedingly
steep, almost overhanging range of mountains, whose
several crests appear to be five thousand feet above
us, It was one of the most imposing sights I wit-
nessed on that island of high mountains, Mount
Ophir is just west of this place, and at sunset we
saw it through a gap in the mountains near us, rest-
ing its lofty purple summit against the golden sky.

Kebruary 28th—I find it much more agreeable to
ride on horseback most of the time, because I can stop
or turn round when I please, and the opziener has
therefore given me a horse to go the next ten paals,
For all that distance the scenery was much like that
described last night, except that the valley kept widen-
ing as we progressed northward, and, therefore, the

TIGERS AND BUFFALOES. 413

mountains, being farther from us, were not so impos-
ing. When we had come to the limit of the overseer’s
territory, another living in the next district met us and
travelled with us to his little house, where we dined
on venison while he entertained us with tiger-stories.
Only a few days before we arrived he had seen a
tiger in the road. but little more than a rifle-shot from
his house; and, indeed, the deer that supplied the
venison we were eating had been shot in his own gar-
den, where it had evidently been chased by one of
those ferocious beasts. At the opziener’s houses there
is a regular price for every thing furnished, and you
order what you please, though one can seldom feast
on venison, and must generally satisfy his hunger on
chickens and eggs, and, to receive both of these dif:
ferent articles, he needs only to order the latter. In the
houses of all officials of a higher rank than opzieners
it would be considered no less than an insult to
offer to pay for your lodging. From this place I
rode with the inspector a distance of twenty-five
miles to Rau, the chief village in this valley. We
had not gone far before we came into herds of buf
faloes, which are more than half-wild and said to be
very dangerous, but the natives that accompanied us
kept up a loud shouting, and the herd leaped to the
right and left into the jungle and tall grass, and al-
lowed us to pass on unmolested. The people here
sometimes shoot them, but consider it a most danger-
ous kind of sport, for they say that when one is
wounded, but not fatally, he will certainly turn and
pursue the hunter, and, if he can overtake him, will
quickly gore him to death.

414 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

On our way we crossed several long, covered
bridges, one of which was so low and our horse so
unmanageable, that we came near losing the top of
our carriage before we could throw it back. Two or
three of them were so bent down in the middle by
only a buffalo and a native occasionally crossing them,
that I was unwilling to risk myself in the carriage,
and jumped out and crossed them on foot. One
vibrated up and down in such a manner that [
certainly expected at the next moment I should
see the inspector, horse, bridge, and all, in the midst
of the stream below. This stream begins at Lubu
Siképing, and, after flowing northwest to Rau, where
it is called Sumpur, it curves to the northeast, and,
receiving tributaries during its course, flows on till it
empties into the Strait of Malacca. The coffee raised
in this valley is transported in padatis from Lunda, a
small village south of this place, over a high, difficult
way to Ayar Bangis, on the west coast. Sometimes
a hot simoom sweeps up the valley from the south,
parching up the vegetation and causing a severe ill-
ness to those foreigners who are exposed to it. The
mountains here are much lower on the east than on
the west, and, as there are no deep clefts in the Bari-
zan, diate hes as in the Menangkabau country, the
Sumpur is obliged to find its outlet to the east.

The soil here is not as fertile as farther to the
north, where it is somewhat higher, the elevation of
this point being only one thousand feet. Here we
see the benefit of the transverse ranges that connect
the Barizan to its parallel chain. At Bondyol, in
the next valley to the south, where we were yester-

THE VALLEY OF RAU. 415

day, we found the bottom of the valley abounding
in rich vegetation, though that was three hundred
feet lower than this place, because that valley is so
short that the air has no room to become heated to a
dry simoom, which can wither the vegetation as it
sweeps along. It is, therefore, in this valley that the
simoom is formed, not on the high mountains that
border it or on the adjacent ocean.

March 1st—Left Rau at 6 a. m., for we have an-
other long day’s journey before us. As yesterday,
the road led along the bottom of the valley, but soon
a range of mountains appeared before us, and we
began to ascend along the side of a deep ravine. The
rock here was exposed, and proved to be a soft sand-
stone covered with clay. Here we came to a third
water-shed two thousand one hundred and fifty feet,
high, and could look back down the valley of Rau to
the southeast. Its length in a right line, from this
water-shed to that at the gorge near Lubu Siképing,
is thirty geographical miles, but, instead of being
straight, it curves to the northeast, and is of a
crescent form, widest in the middle, and gradually
narrowing toward the extremities. In its broadest
part it is not more than six or eight miles wide. We
now turned to the northwest, and began to descend
into another valley, that of Mandéling. Here the
mountains are quite devoid of forests, and only cov-
ered with a tall, rank, useless grass, the Andropogon
caricosum.

At Marisipongi, the first village we came to in
this valley, we found we were among an entirely new
people, the Battas or Bataks. They also belong to

416 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

the Malay race, but have an alphabet and a language
of their own. Each of their villages usually consists
of only a single street, which is straight, and not
necessarily parallel to the road. Here it was market-
day, and, while we stopped to rest, I had a good op-
portunity of observing them, The women generally
wore only a sarong fastened at the waist and descend-
ing to the knee, the upper part of the body being
wholly aneovared, As we passed, the younger wo-
men made up for this deficiency to the best of their
ability with the scarf in which they were carrying
their children, These young women have the odd
custom of wearing from fifteen to twenty don rings
in each ear, and as many more on their arms above
the wrist.

A great many persons of both sexes, and even
some children, were afilicted with that unsightly
malady, goitre, and had large swellings, generally on
the neck, though I noticed one at the lower end of
the breastbone. The cause assigned here by the
Dutch officials for this disease is that these people
have been accustomed to use very little salt, the iodine
contained in that condiment bemg supposed to act as
a preventive to the development of the disease. It is
said to seldom or never appear among those Malays
who have lived on the sea-coast for several genera-
tions, and I do not remember to have seen a single
case in such a locality.

The market-place was nothing but a shed, and
here a few Chinese and Arabs were displaying cotton
cloth, knives, and ornaments, and the natives had
brought dried and smoked fish, which they catch in

A BATTA GRAVE. 417

these mountain-streams, also bananas, jambus or rose-
apples, and a kind of fruit like that from which the
guava jelly is made.

Rice is the chief article of food of the natives here,
with dried fish and bananas, and a few eggs and chick-
ens. From this village we rode to Kotanopan, our
way again descending along a large foaming brook,
in which the opziener of that district assured me the
natives were accustomed to wash for gold, which they
still obtain, though only in small quantities.

Here we passed the grave of a Batta, It con-
sisted of a rectangular mound, with a wooden image
of a horse’s head on one end, and a part of a horse’s
tail fastened to the other—the mound forming his
body. At each of the four corners was an image of a
nude man or woman, Over the whole was a rude roof
supported on four posts, and around the whole was
placed a row of sticks four feet high, and a foot or
two apart, bearing on their tops small flags of white
cloth. This tendency to ornament graves we have
already noticed among the aborigines of the Mina.
hassa. It is also seen, but in a more revolting form,
in the Papuan temple at Dorey.

March 2¢d—¥rom Kotanopan we have come to
Fort Elout, after a journey of more than ordinary
danger. For the first five miles our road was very
good, but then we found it completely overgrown
with tall grass. So long as it was over the level
lands there was little danger, but soon it changed to
the flanks of a spur, thrown out by the chain that
formed the northeastern boundary of the valley.

There it became very narrow, and the tall grass com-
27

418 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

pletely hid its outer edge. Besides, our horse was
wholly unaccustomed to a carriage, and only half
trained, and every few moments took it into his head
to stop so short that we had to hold on to the car-
riage all the time, or at an unexpected moment find
ourselves going over the fender. The road was now
taking us out toward the end of the spur, the ravine
was growing deeper and deeper with an alarming
rapidity, and I began to wish myself out of the car-
riage, but the inspector was unwilling to stop the
horse for fear we could not get him started again. A
Malay was guiding our wild steed by the bit, and
away we were dashing at full gallop, when suddenly,
as we rounded the spur, the road, which was cut in
the rock, was so narrow that the outside wheels of
the carriage were just on its outer edge, and from
that verge the rock descended in such a perpendicu-
lar precipice that I could look from my seat in the
carriage down fully two hundred feet, with a boiling
torrent beneath me, It was evidently too late to
jump then, so I seized hold of the carriage, deter-
mined not to go off before my companion, the in-
spector, who, realizing at once our great danger, and
perceiving that the only thing that we could do was
to keep the horse going at the top of his speed,
shouted to the horse, and, in the same breath, threat-
ened to take off the Malay’s head if he should let go
of the bridle. Some fragments of rock had fallen
down into the road, and our fore-wheel, on the
inner side, struck these with such violence that I
thought certainly we should be thrown off the nar.
row shelf down the precipice. For two minutes we

‘
Ny
“ark

J i)
ATW,

ee oe
—

DRIVING ROUND A DANGEROUS BLUFF IN SUMATRA,

RIDING ALONG THE EDGE OF A PRECIPICE. 44a

seemed to hang in the air, and then the road widened.
I drew a long breath of relief, and then bounded out
over the wheel on to the solid ground, before I could
fully satisfy myself that, thanks to a kind Providence
and the force of gravitation, I was really safe.

The inspector said that he had travelled many
thousand miles in Java, in all manners of ways, and
through all manners of dangers, but was never so
frightened before, and that he would not go back
that way in a carriage for ten thousand guilders, If
we had only known what we were coming to, we
could have got out and walked, but it was already too
late when we saw the danger. I determined to ride
no farther in the carriage that day, and made our guide
exchange places with me, and give me his horse, This
dangerous place the natives call Kabawjatu, “ where-
the-buffaloes-fall.” Only a short time before, a Malay
was driving a single buffalo to market along this
way, when he shied a little, went off headlong, and
was dashed in pieces on the rocks beneath.

A short distance beyond this place we changed
horses, at a little settlement of the Lubus. Their
houses are scattered over the mountain-side, and not
gathered into one place. They are ten or fifteen feet
long, and eight or ten wide, and perched on high
poles. The walls are made of bamboo, and the roofs
are thatched with straw, like all that we have seen
since leaving Lubu Siképing, instead of atap, which
is used by all the natives farther south. The officials
here informed me that these people eat bananas, and
probably most fruits, maize, dogs, monkeys, and even
snakes, but never rice; and this is the more strange

490 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

because it is the staple article of food among their
neighbors. They are yet slaves to their rajah, just
as the people of all the tribes in this vicinity were
before they were conquered by the Dutch, for the
Lubus, so far as we know, remain as they were in the
most ancient times. Here I enjoyed a magnificent
view of the active voleano Seret Mérapi, the summit
of which is five thousand nine hundred feet above the
sea. It is not a separate mountain like the Mérapi
of the Menangkabau country, but merely a peak in
the Barizan chain. From its top a jet of opaque gas
rose into the clear, blue sky, while small cumuli came
up behind the coast-chain from the ocean, and seemed
to settle on its highest summits, as if weary, and wish-
ing to rest, before they continued their endless flight
through the sky.

When we again came to the bottom of the valley,
we found what seemed to us a wonder—a smooth,
well-craded road, bordered on either side with a row
of beautiful shade-trees, All the low land in this
vicinity is used for sawas, and the rice, which was
mostly two-thirds grown, waved most charmingly in
the light wind, that reminded me of our summer-
breezes, The inspector, who was an old gentleman,
felt somewhat worn out with such incessant jolting,
and, as I had been travelling without stopping for
eight days, I was only too glad to have one day of
rest also,

At sunset, as is always the custom in these tropi-
cal lands, we took an evening walk. The many fires
now raging in the tall grass that covers the lower
flanks of the mountains have so filled the air with

TWILIGHT AND EVENING, 491

smoke, that when the sun had sunk behind the ser-
rated crest of the Barizan, the whole horizon for
twenty degrees and to a considerable height was
lighted up with one-unvarying golden glow. Here
the Barizan is composed of four or five parallel
ranges, which rise successively one above the other
until the last forms the highest elevation in that
chain. These different ranges were of various shades
of color; that the nearest to us, or the lowest, being
the darkest, and those above it of a lighter and
lighter hue up to the highest range, which had a
bright border of gold along its crest; and from that
line to where we stood the air seemed filled with a
purple dust. As the daylight faded, the fires in the
tall grass on the hillsides became more distinct ;
sometimes advancing in a broad, continuous band,
and sometimes breaking up into an irregular, beaded
line. Soon afterward the moon rose as charmingly
in the east as the sun just gloriously set in the west.
First a diffuse light appeared along the mountain-
tops and whitened the fleecy cumuli hovering over
their summits, Then that part of the sky grew
brighter and brighter until the light of the full moon
fell like a silver cascade over the serrated edge of the
high mountains and rested on the tops of the hills
below. An assistant resident is stationed here at
Fort Elout, who has charge of this fruitful valley of
Mandeling, which is wholly inhabited by the Battas,
The territory between this valley and the west coast
is also inhabited by this rude people. The Resident
explained to us the trouble taken by the government
and the expense it was incurring, in order to teach

499, TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

them to read and write, and cultivate the land. One
time the older children burned all the books given
them by the government, supposing that, of course
if they had no books, they would not be required to
go to school. Earthquakes are frequent here, and,
but a short time since, seven shocks occurred in one
day. All came from the south, exactly from the dli-
rection where the Seret Mérapiis seen burning. Most
of them were accompanied by a noise, which pre-
ceded the shock long enough for the Resident to re-
mark to a friend, “ there comes another,” before the
shock itself was perceived, Here we saw many
hanging birds’-nests, most ingeniously constructed.
They were made of fine grass, woven into a mass
having the form of a pear or gourd, from eight inches
to a foot long. The smaller part is attached to the
end of a drooping twig, and on the bottom at one
side is the opening of a tube about an inch and a
half in diameter. This rises vertically for four or
five inches and then curves over and descends like a
syphon. At the end of the short part of this syphon
the tube is enlarged to a spherical cavity, and here
the ingenious bird lays her eggs. In order to ap-
preciate the remarkable skill required to make the ~
nest, it would be necessary for one to see a series of
them, from those which have been just begun to those
that are nearly finished, for the tube which is to lead
to the nest is not formed by blades of grass wound
into rings ora helix, but is built up from a single direc-
tion until the two curving sides meet. Among the
sawas are small artificial pools, where fish are raised
as in China; a custom probably introduced by the

PADANG SIDEMPUAN, 493

Chinese themselves. After these shallow pools have
been used for this purpose a year or two, the fish
are taken out, the larger ones sent to market, and
the smaller ones transferred to another pond, The
water in the first pool is then drained off, and its
bottom becomes a fruitful rice-field. In this manner
the natives allow their land to lie fallow, and at the
same time make it yield a good crop.

March 4th—aAt 6 a. M., started from Rau for Pa-
dang Sidempuan, at the northern end of this valley,
which begins on the south at Marisipongi, where we
first saw the Battas. All day our route has been in the
bottom of the valley, at a general elevation of one thou-
sand feet. Sometimes we passed over gentle undula-
tions, but usually over one monotonous level area
covered with tall grass, in which were interspersed
large clumps of shrubbery. In one village there
were two most enormous waringin-trees, under which
the villagers had prepared a rude table. On this
they had spread young cocoa-nuts, and bananas, ap-
parently the only kinds of fruit they had to offer.

As we advanced, the mountains on our right
dwindled until they formed hills, whose tops were
only five or six hundred feet above the plateau in
which we were travelling. Before us rose another
great transverse ridge, in which towered up the peak
of Lubu Rajah to a height of over six thousand two
hundred feet above the sea. It is the highest moun-
tain in the Batta Lands, as the Dutch call the high
plateaus of Silindong and Toba which le north of
this transverse ridge, and are beyond the limits of the
territory subject to the government of the Nether-

494 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

lands India, Soon after we arrived, the controlewr re-
ceived a letter from a Batta chief. It was nothing
but a piece of young bamboo a couple of inches in
diameter and about six inches long. On this had
been scratched, with a blunt needle, characters of
various shapes, quite intricate, but not having by
any means the barbarous appearance of those used
by the Chinese. The object of this letter was to in-
form the controleur that during a recent rain a bridge
near the rajah’s village had been washed away. Un-
like the Chinese language, where every character is a
word, the Batta is an alphabetic language, and one
of their own invention. As spoken by the various
branches of this tribe it differs only to the degree of
dialects, and the language is, therefore, a unit. The
religion of this people is a belief in evil spirits and
omens. The place where their aboriginal civilization
sprang up was probably in the neighboring plateau
of Silindong and on the borders of Lake Toba.
Thence they seem to have spread over all the area
they now occupy in the interior and to the sea-coast
on either side. In later times the people of Menang-
kabau, or Malays proper, extended their power along
the coast and made the Battas an inland people,

The strangest fact concerning this people, who
have come to such a state of civilization as to invent
an alphabet of their own, is, that all of them, be-
yond the territory under the Dutch Government, are
cannibals. Those living on this plain also feasted on
human fiesh until the Dutch conquered them, and
obliged them to give up such a fiendish custom.
The rajah of Sipirok assured the governor at Padang

AMONG THE CANNIBALS. 495

that he had eaten human flesh between thirty and
forty times, and that he had never in all his life
tasted any thing that he relished half as well. This
custom has prevailed among the Battas from time
immemorial.

From Marco Polo’s writings we learn that, as
early at least as in 1290, they were addicted to their
present revolting habits.

Sir Stamford Raffles, who visited Tapanuli Bay
in 1820, was informed that any one who should be
convicted of the following five crimes must be cut
up alive: For adultery; midnight robbery; in wars,
where prisoners were taken ; intermarrying in the
same tribe; and for a treacherous attack on any
house, village, or person. The facts which came to
my knowledge while in this region, and the state-
ments of the Dutch officials and of the natives
themselves, entirely confirm this account of their
customs and laws, except in regard to that against
intermarrying. Such are yet the practices of the
people in this immediate vicinity, and such, not
many years ago, were those of all the people
among whom we had been travelling for the last
four days.

Here, and at several other places in the interior,
I have seen young trees of a species of cinnamon,
hayu manis, or “sweet wood” of the Malays. Its
leaves and bark have a considerable aroma, but it is
not the true cinnamon of Ceylon, nor that of Cochin
China nor China, Cinnamons of one or more species
occur also in Java, Borneo, Luzon, and Magindanao.
As our carriage needed repairing, and both the in-

426 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

spector and I were becoming fatigued, we therefore
rested at this place for a day.

March 6th—Started early in the carriage for
Lumut, in a westerly direction. Our road continued
to ascend until we reached the water-shed formed by
the Barizan, and were two thousand five hundred
feet above the sea. We now passed out of the great
valley of Mandéling, which is fifty-five miles long in
a right line, but only from six to ten miles broad.

The descent from the water-shed toward the sea is
gradual, but the road is execrable and exceedingly nar-
row at best, and wholly covered, except a narrow foot-
path, with tall grass, Besides, our horses had never
been harnessed to a carriage before, and, after many
fruitless attempts to guide them, I said to the inspect-
or that the only way we should be able to proceed
would be to make the wild natives, who gathered to
look on, haul us themselves. He replied that that
would be perfectly impossible, for they respect no
one but the governor, However, I noticed that they
recognized our “ American” as the one the governor
had used in travelling that way once before—the only
time a carriage had ever been seen on the road—and
jumping out, directed our Malay attendants, who
could speak their language, to say to them the gov-
ernor wished us to take the “American” through to Si-
boga, and every man must help us obey his com-
mand, This chanced to strike them favorably, and
their rajahs detailed some twenty to haul us as far
as the next village. I selected three of the tallest
and fleetest and placed them between the thills, and
ranged others outside to haul, by means of long rat-

DESCENT FROM THE BARIZAN. 497

tans fastened to the forward axle, and a suitable pro-
portion behind to hold back by a rattan secured to
the hind part of the carriage as we went down-hill.
All being in their places, I jumped into the carriage.
A wild yell was raised, and away we dashed down a
gradual descent, as if we were drawn by a race-horse ;
the road became steeper and steeper, and we flew
faster and faster; those behind had evidently for-
gotten what was expected of them. Those in front,
who were outside of the thills, dropped the rattan and
leaped aside for fear of the rattling wheels behind
them, and those in the thills shouted out all sorts of
implorings and execrations against those behind, who
seemed to enjoy the discomfiture of their fellows too
much to hold back at all. When we reached the
bottom of the long hill, the men in the thills were
the only ones near the carriage. The others were
scattered at intervals all the way down the hill,
but were coming on as fast as they could. All
seemed in the best of temper, except those in the
thills, who gave a spirited lecture to the others;
but at once all formed as before, and took us up
the succeeding hill. The inspector was in constant
apprehension of some mishap, but I thought we
might as well be drawn by wild men as wild horses.

Just before we arrived at each village, the rajah
of that place met us with men enough to take us on
to the next kampong, and sometimes we had forty or
fifty of them drawing us at a time. On the level
lands they usually took us along at a fast canter,
shouting, and screaming, and leaping, as if they were
half mad.

498 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

At noon we came to the famous suspension
bridge of rattan, of which I had been hearing the
most frightful accounts for the last hundred miles.
At once I took off my shoes to avoid slipping, and
hastened down the airy, oscillating way, without al-
lowing myself to look down and become giddy at
the fearful depth beneath me. At the middle it
rests on the tops of tall trees, which grow up from a
small island in the torrent far below. It has been
constructed by first stretching across three large rat-
tans. On them narrow strips of boards are placed
transversely, and fastened at each end by strips of
common rattan. Other rattans, starting from the
ground at a little distance back of the bank, pass
above the branches of high camphor-trees that grow
on the edge of the chasm in which the torrent flows.
Descending from these branches in a sharp curve,
they rise again steeply at the farther end of the
bridge. From these rattans vertical lines are fas-
tened to the rattans below them, exactly as in our
suspension bridges, and thus all parts are made to
aid in supporting the weight. At each bank the
bridge is some eight feet wide, but it narrows tow-
ard the middle until it is only two feet, where it
vibrates the most. I had been directed to go over,
if possible, at a hurried walk, and thus break up the
oscillating motion, and particularly cautioned against
seizing the side of the bridge, lest it might swing to
the opposite side and throw me off into the abyss
beneath. When I had gone half-way across the first
span I found that one of the cross-boards, on which I
was just in the act of placing my foot, had become

: fae | |
wamnanguail lt

HANGING BRIDGE OF BAMBOO; SUMATRA.

— — a. |S “t a
Ve yg | i * fee on be

Sate, ae
nf rie tes ty
ate at.
. : 7" »

A SUSPENSION BRIDGE OF RATTAN. 499

loose and slipped over to one side, so that, if I had
stepped as I had intended, I should have put my
foot through, if mdeed I had not fallen headlong
and been dashed on the rocks in the torrent more
than a hundred feet beneath me. I therefore stopped
instantly, and allowed myself to swing with the
bridge until it came to a state of rest, and then
again went on slowly, and safely reached the oppo-
site bank. My companions, who stood on the bank
behind me, became greatly alarmed when they saw
me stop in the midst of the long span, and were sure
that I had either become giddy, or was frightened,
and that, in either case, I would grasp hold of the
side of the bridge contrary to their express orders,

The difficulty in crossing this bridge, which is as
flexible as Manilla rope, is so great, not only because
it oscillates to the right and left, but because there is a
vertical motion, and its whole floor, instead of moving
in one piece, is continually rolling in a series of waves,
An official, who had taken very careful measurements
of it in order to make an estimate of the cost of erect-
ing a true bridge, for this airy way does not deserve
such a substantial name, gave me the following fig-
ures: total length, 874 feet; height of the middle
and lowest part of the first span above the torrent,
108 feet; height of the middle and lowest part of the
second span, 137.5 feet. The inspector then came
over safely, and we walked a short distance to a
neighboring village while the natives were taking
our carriage to pieces and bringing them over one at
a time.

Although I am not one of those who allow them-

430 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

selves to be constantly tortured by presentiments and
omens, I could not rid myself of an impression that
some accident was going to happen to those who were
bringing over the carriage, and went back to see for
myself what they were doing. The wheels and top
were over, and six natives were bringing the body,
which, though quite large, was very light. They had
already crossed the long span, and were coming on
to the short one. “Is it possible,” I said to myself,
“that such a slight structure can hold such a weight
at such a great leverage? We shall soon see, for
they are rapidly coming to the middle of the second
span.” At the next instant there was a loud, sharp
crack, like the report of a pistol. One of the large
rattans that went over the high branches of the
camphor-trees and supported the sides, had parted at
one of its joints. The officer who had charge of the
bridge, and was standing by my side, seized me by the
shoulder in his fright. As soon as the rattan on one
side broke, the bridge gave a fearful lurch in the op-
posite direction, but the natives all knew they must
keep perfectly quiet and allow themselves to swing,
and, finally, when it had become still, they came on
earefully and safely reached the bank. The officer
and I both believed that the moment one of the rat-
tans broke, the others, having of course to support a
much greater weight, would also break, and that we
should hear a few more similar crackings, and see all
the natives fall headlong down nearly one, hundred
and forty feet into the boiling torrent beneath, which
is so rapid that only a few days ago a buffalo, that
was standing in the side of the stream above the

ORNAMENTS OF GOLD. 431

bridge, lost his footing and was carried down without
being able to reach either bank.

The carriage was soon put together again, and a
good number of natives detailed to haul us to the
next village, and away we dashed along, and that
fearful place was soon hidden from our view. From
this point to Lumut our road extended over a hilly,
undulating country, in which we crossed a number
of small streams on rafts of bamboo.

Lumut we found to be only an opziener’s station.
A Malay teacher is also employed here by the govern-
ment, but the general appearance of the people has
changed little since they were accustomed to enjoy
their cannibal feasts, and this is true of all the na-
tives we have seen this side of Padang Sidempuan.

Most of the rajahs we have seen to-day have worn
garments profusely ornamented with gold. The head-
dress of each usually consisted of a short turban so
wound around the head that the two ends hung down
in front, and to these were fastened small, thin pieces
of gold of a diamond or circular form, They also
wear short jackets which are usually trimmed with a
broad band of gold, though a few had silver instead.
At the waist is worn a belt on which is worn in front
a large diamond-shaped ornament four or five inches
long, made of thin gold and ornamented with flowers
and scrolls. When at Rau, we visited a native who
was famous for his skill in manufacturing such golden
ornaments, The leaves which he made on them were
remarkably well-proportioned, and the details very
correctly wrought in; and we admired his skill the
more when he came to show us his tools, which con-

432 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

sisted of a flat stone for an anvil, a hammer, and two
or three large, blunt awls. Having beaten the gold
out into thin sheets of the desired form, he made the
leaves rise in relief by forming a corresponding groove
on the opposite or inner side. In other cases he had
formed the gold into small wire, which was bent into
helices for ornaments to be placed on the front of such
articles as buttons. At Fort de Kock this business
is carried on so extensively as to form an important
branch of the internal trade. The metal generally
used there is silver, the coin imported by the Dutch,
for we have no reason to suppose that that metal is
found on this island. They make models of their
houses, of leaves, flowers, and all the principal fruits,
which are sent to Padang, where they find a ready
demand among the foreigners, who send them as pres-
ents to their friends in Europe.

We have just been honored by a call from the
two rajahs of this little village of Lumut. The bands
of gold on their jackets were two inches broad—an
indication that the precious metal must be obtained
in all this region in very considerable quantities.
Ever since entering the southern end of the valley
of Mandéling, I have been repeatedly informed
that the natives obtained gold by washing in their
vicinity. At Fort Elout the Resident showed
me a nugget, as large as a pigeon’s egg, which a na-
tive had just found in a neighboring stream where
they had certainly been at work for ,centuries.
Washing seems to be almost the only mode adopted
. by the natives for obtaining gold, and I heard of only
one place where they have ever attempted to take it

THE CAMPHOR-TREE. - 433

from the rock. That place is in the mountains west
of Rau.

March %th—KYarly this morning continued on
for Siboga, with the satisfactory feeling that this day
would be the last of our long and difficult journey.
The road for ten miles led through a deep forest of
gigantic camphor-trees, Dryobalanops camphora, the
tall, straight trunks of which rose up like lofty col-
umns, From their high branches hung down hun-
dreds of the cord-like roots of a parasite. The “cam-
phor-oil” is obtained from these trees by making a
small cavity in the trunk near the ground, and the
fluid dripping into this cavity is the “oil.” After
a tree has been dead for a long time, it is cut
down and split up, and layers of pure camphor are
found erystallized in thin plates in the fissures, where
the wood in dying has slightly split open. This is
known as “camphor barus,” from Barus, a village on
the coast a short distance to the north, because such
crystallized camphor was formerly exported from that
place. The Chinese and Japanese, who suppose it
possesses the most extravagant healing properties,
pay enormous prices for it, while, except that it is
somewhat purer, it 1s probably not any better than
that they make themselves by distillation from the
wood of the Cinnamon camphora. The camphor.
tree is not only valuable for the camphor it yields,
but also for its timber, which is very straight and
free from knots and other imperfections. This is a
favorite region for tigers, and I have seen one or
more skins at the house of each official, A short
time since, an elephant came down here from the in-

28

454 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

terior, but the natives failed to secure so valuable a
prize. Herds of them are said to frequently appear
in the Silindong plateau, The tusks of one taken
here lately were sold for one thousand guilders (four
hundred Mexican dollars). On our way we passed
eight or ten houses of Battas, who had come down
from the mountains. They were placed on posts
like those we have been seeing; but the gable-ends,
instead of being perpendicular, slant outward, so that
the ridge-pole, which comes up high at each end, is
much longer than the floor, Over a number of these
streams we found long suspension bridges, but none
were high as that over the Batang Taroh. <Ascend-
ing to the crest of a mountain-range, some six or
eight hundred feet in height, we found before us a
erand view of the high mountains, stretching in a
semicircle around the bay of Tapanuli; of the low
land at their feet, and of a part of the bay itself. <A
steep, zigzag way took us down nearly to the level
of the sea, and led us over the low land to the vil-
lage of Siboga, a small Dutch settlement and mili-
tary station at the head of the bay.

CHAPTER XIV.
RETURN TO PADANG.

Back of Siboga rises a high peak, and from its
summit I was confident that I could enjoy a magnifi-
cent view over the whole bay. A native engaged to
show me the way to its top, but after we had trav-
elled a long distance I found he had even less idea of
how we were to reach the desired spot than I had
myself, Other natives gave me directions, but that
day was too far spent for such a journey, and I there-
fore made my pretended guide travel with me the
next day for nothing, asa punishment for his lying.
Following up a stream back of the settlement, we
took a minor valley to the south, and discovered a
narrow path by which the Battas sometimes come
down from the interior, This led up through a thick
forest to a large place where that people had par-
tially cleared the land by burning down the trees. In
the irregular spaces between the stumps they had
planted pineapples and yams, which were both thriv-
ing remarkably well. When we had gained that
place I found the desired peak still above us. My
attendant now begged me not to attempt to reach it,
less, as I afterward learned, from his fear of the
Battas than from his fear of the evil spirit who is

436 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

said to inhabit that high point, and whom he be-’
lieved we should certainly meet. But we gained the
summit without meeting any unearthly intruders.
There I found the whole bay and its shores spread
out before me like a map. The broad coral banks
bordering several of the points and islands were of a
light-clay color in the dark-blue water, which was
only here and there ruffled by the light morning
breezes then moving over its limpid surface, This
bay is said to closely resemble the bay of Rio Janeiro
_ by those who have seen both, To the north it has a
long arm, but on the south its boundary is sharply
defined when viewed from the lofty pomt where I
stood, while off the mouth of the bay was the high
island of Mensalla, its hills making a sharply-ser-
rated line against the sky.

On another occasion I made an excursion in a
boat some six miles toward the northern end of the
bay to look at some layers of coal. Leaving the
boat we went a short distance up the side of a range
of hills on the northwest side of the bay, and, crossing
two small ridges that ran down to the shore, found
the bed of a brook, which at that season was dry.
In one of its sides were seen the layers of coal, ap-
proximately parallel to the surface of the hills, and
resting on clay schists, to which they appeared _per-
fectly conformable. Crossing another low ridge, we
came down into the bed of another brook, where the
same strata were again seen. ‘The coal here is very
impure, except near the middle layers, and appears
to be of little commercial value; neither is the pros-
pect flattering for finding other strata of a better qual-

THE DEVIL'S DWELLING. 437

ity beneath those seen at the surface. Although
I looked carefully, I could detect no leaves or stems
of plants, or any organic remains, by which the geo-
logical age of this coal could be determined ; but the
position of the layers parallel to the surface, or last
folding the strata have undergone, agrees with its
mineral characters in placing it, like the other coals
of Sumatra, in the tertiary patind.

As I came to Siboga from the south, over the low
land around the bay, I noticed on my right a high,
perpendicular cliff composed of recent strata that
were horizontal, and which must have been deposited
beneath the ocean, because the opposite side of the
valley is open to the sea, with only hills at intervals
along its shore, and even their forms indicate that
they are of the same sedimentary origin. This cliff
the natives call in Malay the Ruma Satan, or “the
Devil’s Dwelling.” It was on the western declivity
of the mountains which sweep round parallel to the
shore. The Resident gave orders to the rajah of Si-
buluan, a native village about four miles south of
Siboga, to go with me and show me the way. When
I came to that village I found the rajah was a young
man, and evidently afraid of such an undertaking.
In the first place, we must be exposed to the cannibal
Battas, and even travel among them; but I assured
him that that, so far from making me desire to turn
back, only made me the more anxious to go on,
for I liked to see all kinds of people, and I had no
fear that the Battas would eat me. Finding he
could not induce me to give up what he evidently
considered a most venturesome journey, he summoned

438 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

the largest man in his kampong and armed him with
along,rustysword., Several others were also ordered
to accompany us, though the rajah seemed to rely
chiefly on the brave who carried his arms, As for
me, the only weapon with which I was provided was
a pocket-knife, but I think now that I underrated the
danger then, and that if I were going on the same ex-
cursion again I should take a revolver at least, From
Subuluan our course was along a large stream. Soon
we came to a Batta village, where a capala and two
men joined us, to act as our guides and also to in-
crease my body-guard, which, even then, would have
been far from formidable if any real danger had pre-
sented itself, and they had had a good opportunity
to run away. The rough path that we were follow-
ing came to a stream which I was compelled to wade,
and found so deep that it rose tomy arms, Besides,
the current was so strong that I was glad to have the
assistance of a native on either side. The sand and
sharp gravel were thus washed into my shoes; and as
I learned we should have to cross that stream some
ten times, for such a road do these wild cannibals
use, I quickly prepared myself to go barefoot.

We had now come into a deep gorge; the sun
poured down his most scorching rays; the rocks and
sand were so hot that it seemed they would blister
my feet, and even the Malays complained. The next
ford was just above a series of rapids. I was clad in
a suit of blue flannel, which absorbed so much water
that I found I was in great danger of being swept
away by the torrent. I concluded that I had better
adopt the costumes of the Malays. The rajah wore

DANGEROUS FORDING. 439

a new pair of chilanas, of the prevailing pattern,
made in Achin, They are short-legged trousers, fast-
ened at the waist and reaching nearly to the knee. I
proposed that we exchange, but he declined to do
that, and insisted on my keeping possession of my
own habit, and using the article I desired, and in
that costume I travelled till I came back to his
village, In one place the torrent rolled up against a
high precipice, but there chanced to be a horizontal
crevice some distance above the water, and there,
where scarcely a monkey would think of venturing,
we were obliged to crawl along as best we could.
This danger passed, we had to cross back and forth
over rapids by leaping from rock to rock, some of
which were above and some just beneath the surface
of the boiling torrent. Then we came to an area of
high grass. The tall native, in accordance with the
rajah’s orders, marching ahead with the sword
grasped in his right hand, and its naked, rusty blade
resting on his bare arm, was, indeed, the personi-
fication of bravery ; but, as I had little faith in the
necessity of such a doughty warrior, I began to ridi-
cule his appearance to the rajah, when suddenly our
brave gave an ugly nasal grunt, and, brandishing his
sword high over his head, brought it down with a
heavy cutting stroke on some object in front of him,
“ What is the matter?” every one asked. “A great
snake was crossing the road!” an agreeable thing to
hear, considering that I had no clothing on below
the knee; but, while he was flourishing his weapon
and getting ready to strike, the reptile had glided
away in the tall grass.

440 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

The rajah now showed me a spot by the wayside
where a Batta, who had been guilty of adultery,
had been killed and eaten by his fellows not long
before. All the others in the party confirmed the
story in every particular. A little farther on was a
Batta village consisting of four houses on high posts,
One was small and stood apart from the others, and
in that they stored their rice. To prevent the mice
from reaching it, large projecting pieces of planks
were placed on the tops of the posts. The walls,
floor, and gable-ends of the dwelling-houses were
made of plank, and the roof was a thatching of grass
or straw. Having some curiosity to see the internal
arrangements of a Batta house, I climbed up a ladder
of five or six rounds at one end of the building, and
took a place assigned me on the floor. There was no
bench nor stool, nor any thing of the kind, so, ac-
cording to Batta etiquette, I rested my back against
the side of the house. The whole building was in
one room, without a shadow of any partition. From
the number of the inmates, I saw that probably four
families dwelt in this single apartment, and this sus-
picion was strengthened when I noticed a rude fire-
place, without any chimney, in each corner. On
inquiry, | was informed that my conjectures were
true. “But how do you know,” I asked, “ what
part belongs to one family and what to another ?
Where is your partition?” One of them, who could
understand a little Malay, gravely rose, and, coming
to my side in answer to my query, pointed to a crack
in the floor, |

From this place the rajah had said I could obtain

AMONG THE BATTAS. 441

an unobstructed view of the cliff, but when we ar-
rived there a neighboring hill completely hid it from
view. He then excused himself by saying that he
had never been there before ; and, when I informed
him that I must go on until I could see it perfectly,
the tears actually stood in his eyes from fear, he was
so certain we should meet with the Evil Spirit. One
of the Battas, who knew the way, offered to be my
cuide, and I released the rajah from the Resident’s
order to accompany me as far as I wished to go, and
continued on, for I had no fear of meeting Apollyon
in the next valley.

Two sections at right angles showed that the
strata of this cliff were nearly horizontal, and com-
posed of a light-colored clay, containing many coarse
crystals of quartz. These -materials had recently
been formed by the decomposition of the adjoining
syenitic rocks, and had been arranged into layers by
the action of water. The height to the top of the
cliff from the bed of the brook I judge to be eight
hundred feet, and that is at least fifty feet above the
level of the sea, making the whole elevation which
this part of the island has recently undergone to be
eight hundred and fifty feet.

When we returned to the Batta village, the rajah
seemed greatly relieved, for he declared that he
believed he should never see us again. Such are
thé superstitious terrors that constantly torture the
_ imaginations of these ignorant people. On our re-
turn, a heavy rain set in, which completely drenched
us and swelled the brook. Again and again the
strong current came near sweeping us off the slippery

449 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

rocks, while the lightning flashed in broad sheets and
the thunders echoed and reéchoed in the deep ravine.
The Malays who formed my guard then began to
discuss in an undertone, without thinking that I over-
heard them, whether the Evil Spirit would not, after
all, bring some dreadful misfortune on the white
gentleman for daring to visit his abode. One sug-
gested that the Battas might yet capture him on one
of his dangerous excursions, Another said he would
probably have an attack of fever (which I confess I
myself considered probable), for after such exposure
to the hot sun, and such a drenching, any man, even
a native, is likely to find a keen burning in his veins
the next morning. The rajah, however, replied to
these unfavorable suggestions, that Tuan Allah would
take pity on him, and not allow even the rain to
harm him, for he was a good man, and it could not
be very wicked in any one simply to go and see
where the Evil Spirit lived. My feet and ankles had
become so bruised from treading on the rough rocks
in the bed of the torrent, and so cut from walking
through the tall grass, that as soon as I reached my
room I went to bed, and did not rise for thirty
hours; but the rajah’s predictions proved true, and
I escaped without even an attack of fever.

A few days afterward, a rajah came from his vil-
lage on the coast near Barus, or Barros, a small port
about thirty miles toward Achin. He said that
some neighboring Battas had taken two of his men,
and had already eaten one of them, and were keeping
the other to eat him also, and that he came to Siboga
to ask the Resident that soldiers be sent to compel

MISSIONARIES AND THEIR BRIDES. 443

those cannibals to deliver up their intended victim.
Such a request, of course, it was not possible for the
Resident to grant, however much he might wish to
do so, for the whole country is extremely mountain-
ous, and covered with a dense, impenetrable forest ;
and the moment these Battas have finished their at-
tack, they instantly retreat into the interior without
allowing the Dutch the possibility of punishing
them, except by subjugating the entire country, and
that would be a work of the greatest difficulty, and
one that would require much time, and money, and
bring no adequate recompense. It is such a common
thing for the foreigners here at Siboga to hear that
one or more natives have been eaten in the neigh-
boring mountains, that no one thinks of speaking of
it as any thing strange or even incredible. In the
Silindong valley two missiogaries have been living
for some time, trying to educate and convert the
Battas. I met one of them with his bride at the
governor's residence when I arrived at Padang. The
lady had arrived but a short time before from Hol-
land, and they were just then starting on their wed-
ding tour to their future residence among the canni-
bals. The other missionary is now at this village,
and I have just been present at his wedding. His
wife is a young lady of not more than seventeen
summers, and what is stranger than all in both of
these matches is, that neither of these gentlemen
had seen his betrothed before she arrived, except in
a miniature, which of course might or might not be
a good likeness. It may relieve the curious for me
to state that all parties are entirely satisfied.

444 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

This missionary tells me that he knew of a Batta
who had been guilty of stealing an article of only
very little value according to their ideas of wealth,
yet he was seized, his arms extended at full length
and fastened to a bamboo, a sharpened prop placed
under his chin, so that he could not move his head,
and in this condition he was bound fast to a tree,
The knife was then handed to the native who had
lost the article, and he was ordered to step forward
and cut out of the living man what piece he pre-
ferred. This he did promptly; the rajah took the
second choice, and then the people finished the cold-
blooded butchery, and thus their victim died, This
revolting feast, he assures me, took place but a short
distance from the village where he resides. How
any lady can think of going to live among such dan-
gers I cannot conceive ;,but Madame Pfeiffer, accord-
ing to her account, went considerably farther than
the place where these missionaries reside, and even
reached the northern end of the Silindong valley ;
but I am assured here, and she states nearly the
same thing in her book, that the Battas only per-
mitted her to return because they regarded her as a
witch. Three years after she performed that jour-
ney, three French priests were butchered and de-
voured, before they had come near to the farthest
place she had reached alone. No Malay would have
ever escaped who had gone so far into their country.

The parts that are esteemed the greatest deli-
cacies are the palms of the hands, and, after them,
the eyes. As soon as a piece is cut out it is dipped,
still warm and steaming, in samda/, a common con-

— Ss, \. ~
< - al

A NATIVE OF THE ISLAND OF NIAS,

Fy

THE FEASTS OF THE CANNIBALS. A45

diment, composed of red or Chili peppers and a few
grains of coarse salt, ground up between two flat
stones, Formerly it appears to have been the cus-
tom to broil the human flesh, for Mr. Marsden states
that, in December, 1780, a native of Nias, who
stabbed a Batta at Batang Taroh, the river I
crossed on the suspension bridge, was seized at
six one morning, and, without any judicial process,
was tied to a stake, cut in pieces with the utmost
eagerness while yet alive, and eaten upon the spot,
partly broiled, but mostly raw.

It is probably on account of the difficulty of
penetrating their inland and elevated country, and
from the natural ferocity of these people, that the
Mohammedan priests of the neighboring country of
Menangkabau have failed to induce the Battas to
adopt their religion. The first white men who went
up far into the interior appear to have been Mr.
Ward and Mr. Burton, two English missionaries,
about the year 1820,

They started from this place, and reached the
Silindong valley. Their object was to reach Lake
Toba, but they were only obliged to return on ac-
count of their becoming seriously ill, The kindly
manner in which they were treated is very different
from the reception all other white men have re-
ceived at the hands of these cannibals.

It appears that the next white men who went up
into the interior of this country were two American
missionaries, Henry Lyman and Samuel Munson,
graduates of Amherst College, and natives of Massa-
chusetts. In 1835 they sailed from Batavia to Pa-

446 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

dang, and thence came directly up the coast to the
Batu Islands, Pulo Nias, and this bay. From this
village they went up into the interior toward Lake
Toba, and when about fifty miles distant they were
attacked and killed by the Battas.

Considering the friendly reception given the for-
- mer missionaries, I do not think this journey prom-
ised such an unhappy issue.

The Battas certainly do not eat human flesh for
lack of food, nor wholly to satisfy revenge, but
chiefly to gratify their appetites. The governor at
Padang informed me that these people gave him
this odd origin of their cannibal customs: Many
years ago one of their rajahs committed a great
crime, and it was evident to all that, exalted as he
was, he ought to be punished, but no one would
take upon himself the responsibility to punish a
prince. After much consultation they at last hit
upon the happy idea that he should be put to
death, but they would all eat a piece of his body,
and in this way all would share in punishing him.
During this feast each one, to his astonishment, found
the portion assigned him a most palatable morsel,
and they all agreed that whenever another convict
was to be put to death they would allow themselves
to gratify their appetites again in the same manner,
and thus arose the custom which has been handed
down from one generation to another till the present
day.

For many years after the discovery of a passage
to the East by sea, pepper formed the principal
article of trade, and even Vasco de Gama, who made

THE PEPPER TRADE. 447

this great discovery, appears not to have been satis-
fied with the results and prospects of his voyage
until he had fully loaded his ships with it. At that
time it was worth about seventy-five cents per pound
in Europe. For a century afterward, so completely
was this trade monopolized by the Portuguese and
Dutch Governments, that it constantly commanded
even a higher price. Except salt, perhaps no other
condiment is so universally used; and yet the
natives, who cultivate it for the rest of the world,
never use it themselves, just as we have already seen
is the case with those Malays who raise cloves and
nutmeg and mace,

It was used by the Romans more than two thou-
sand years ago; and Pliny is surprised that people
should go all the way to India to obtain a condiment
that had nothing to recommend it but its pungency
(amaritudo).

In the early part of this century a very consider-
able trade in pepper was carried on by American
vessels, chiefly from Boston and Salem, with this
island, especially between this place and Achin, a
region generally known to our sailors as “The
Pepper Coast.” Serious troubles often arose be-
tween their crews and the natives, and in 1830
nearly all the officers and crew of the ship Friend-
ship, of Salem, were overpowered and murdered but
a little farther north.

The region where the pepper-vine is now most-
ly cultivated is south of Palembang, on the banks
of the river Ogan. In the archipelago it does
not grow wild, and is only cultivated on Sumatra

448 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

and a few of the Philippines. Its Javanese name,
maricha, is pure Sanscrit, and this as well as its
distribution indicates that it was introduced from
India.

Here, at Tapanuli, are many natives of Achin,
and their darker color and greater stature at once
mark them as another people, and indicate that they
are the descendants of natives of India and Malays,
and this is completely in accordance with what we
know of their history. The village of Achin is situ-
ated at the northwestern extremity of the island,
on a small river two miles from where it empties
into a bay, which is well sheltered by islands from
the wind and sea in all seasons. On account of its
good roadstead, and its being the nearest point to
India in the whole archipelago, Achin appears to
have been, for ages before the arrival of Europeans,
the great mart for the Telinga traders from the east-
ern shores of the southern part of India,

There they brought cotton fabrics, salt, and
opium, and obtained in exchange tin, gold, pepper,
cloves, nutmegs, mace, betel-nuts, sulphur, camphor,
and benzoin, When the Portuguese first arrived, in
1509, under Sequiera, at the neighboring city of
Pedir, Achin was tributary to that city, but in 1521
an energetic prince came to the throne; in eigh-
teen years he had conquered all the neighboring
kingdoms, and his city became the great commercial
emporium for all the western part of the archipelago.
This prosperity it continued to enjoy for a hundred
and fifty years. Its fame even reached Europe, and
the proudest sovereigns were anxious to obtain the

THE ENGLISH APPEAR IN THE EAST. 449

favor of the King of Achin, and make commercial
treaties with him.

Here the English first appeared, in 1602, under
Sir James Lancaster, who commanded a squadron of
four ships, and was furnished with a letter from
Queen Elizabeth* to the king, who had been a
fisherman, and had only obtained the throne by
murdering the prince who would have lawfully in-

* Queen Elizabeth’s letter is as follows: “We for them” (the East
India Company) “do promise, that in no time hereafter you shall have
cause to repent thereof, but rather to rejoice much, for their dealing
shall be true and their conversation sure, and we hope that they will
give such good proof thereof that this beginning shall be a perpetual
confirmation of love betwixt our subjects in both parts, by carrying
from us such things and merchandise as you have need of there, So
that your highness shall be very well served, and better contented, than
you have heretofore been with the Portugals and Spaniards, our ene-
mies, who only and none else of these regions have frequented those
your and the other kingdoms of the East, not suffering that the other
natives should do it, pretending themselves to be monarchs and absolute
lords of all those kingdoms and provinces, as their own conquest and
inheritance, as appears by their lofty titles in their writings, The con-
trary whereof hath very lately appeared unto us. That your highness,
and your royal family, fathers and grandfathers, have, by the grace of
God, and their valor, known, not only to defend your own kingdoms,
but also to give war unto the Portngals in the land which they possess,
as namely: in Malacca, in the year of human redemption, 1575, under
the conduct of your valliant Captain Ragamacota (Rajah makuta) with
their great loss and the perpetual honor of your highness’ crown and
kingdom. And now, if your highness shall be pleased to accept unto
your favor and grace and under your royal protection and defence, these
our subjects, that they may freely do their business now and continue
yearly hereafter, this bearer, who goeth chief of the fleet of four ships,
hath order, with your highness’ license, to leave certain factors with a
settled house or factory in your kingdom, until the going thither of another
fleet, which shall go thither on the return of this—which left factors
shall learn the language and customs of your subjects, whereby the bet-
ter and more lovingly to converse with them.”

29

450 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

herited it. Such was the humble appearance of the
English in the East two centuries and a half ago,
‘Little probably could even the far-seeing queen
herself have imagined that one of her successors
should reign over the hundred and fifty millions of
Hindustan; that her Eastern merchants would soon
give up the trade in pepper with Sumatra, and in
spices with the Moluccas, for the far more lucrative
commerce in silks and teas with China, and espe-
cially that to the then unexplored continent of Aus-
tralia citizens of her own kingdom would migrate,
and there lay the foundation of the most enterpris-
ing, flourishing, and, what promises to be within the
next century, the greatest power in all the East.

When we started from Padang it was planned
that a man-of-war should come to Siboga and take us
back; but we have been obliged to wait here ten days,
and now she has come only to take the Resident, and
go to Singkel, the farthest point up the coast held by
the Dutch.

The captain of the steamer on which I came from
Surabaya to Batavia, however, has chanced to arrive
in a little prau, in which he has been visiting several
places along the coast for the purpose of ascertaihing
the facilities for obtaining timber to be used in con-
structing some government buildings at Padang.
He is now on the point of sailing to the Batu Islands
and thence to Padang, and proposes that I share the
dangers of such a voyage in his little boat, an offer
which I gladly accept, but Mr. Terville, the inspector,
prefers to wait for the return of the steamship. Our
boat is about thirty feet long by eight broad, and in-

STRUCK BY A HEAVY SQUALL. 451

stead of being covered by a flat deck, has a steep roof,
which descends on either side to the railing like the
Javanése junks, Aft, where the tiller sweeps round,
the deck is horizontal, but, as the stern 1s nearly as
sharply-pointed as the bow, there is little room to
sit. We have one mast, with a large, tattered main-
sail and two jibs.

At midnight there was a little breeze from the
land and we weighed anchor and stood to sea, In
the morning we found ourselves becalmed about five
miles from Tunkus Nasi, a sharp, conical island,
which forms the southern extremity of Tapanuli Bay.
Somewhat more to the west was the high plateau-like
island of Mensalla. On its northwestern shore there
is a waterfall, where the water leaps down some two
hundred feet directly into the sea, It is so high that
when I was at Siboga, people who have been at
Barus assured me they have been able to see it when
the sun shone on it, though the distance is some six-
teen miles. At sunset we were so far down the coast
that it was time for us to change our course to the
south if we would visit the Batu Islands.

Our Malay captain was anxious that we should
keeyfon our course to Padang ; my friend said he cared
very little to go to those islands, and when I looked
at the ragged mainsail and realized that it would prob-
ably disappear in a moment if a heavy squall chanced
to strike us, I gave my vote to continue on near the
shore. Besides, the sky looked threatening, and we
were evidently in a miserable vessel to live out a fresh
gale and a heavy sea. Near midnight I was aroused
by our boat pitching and rolling heavily, and the cap-

459 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

tain shouting out to his Malay crew all sorts of or-
ders in rapid succession. Soon he came down to in-
form us, in the most trembling tones, it was so dark
that it was not possible to see any thing, and in a
few moments we should all be drowned. I hurried
on deck, more from a habit of always wishing to see
what is going to happen, than from fear, A thick,
black mass of clouds was rolling up from seaward
and spreading over the sky with alarming rapidity.
The mainsail was taken in and only the main-jib was
set, when the first gust struck us. Immediately, as
if rolled over by a gigantic hand, our boat careened
until her lee-rail was completely under water, and I
thought, for a moment, she would certainly capsize.
The main-jib burst into ribbons, and at last we
righted, The flying-jib was then set, when she came
near upsetting again. We were then only about a
mile from the land, and the wind was directly on
shore, so that it was impossible to save ourselves by
running before it. Nothing could be done to keep
off the rocks excepting to heaye-to and trust to our
anchor. All the cable possible was paid out, and yet
the tempest continued to drive us toward the land.
Another gust came, and as the lightning flashed I
could see that we were not half a mile from a high
island with precipitous shores, encircled by a coral
reef, where the heavy swell rolling directly in from
the ocean was breaking apparently twelve or fifteen
feet high. I knew that at the rate we were drifting
we must strike on it in fifteen minutes, and that to a
certainty our frail boat would be broken into frag-
ments in an instant, ‘There was no possibility of es-

AYAR BANGIS AND NATAL. 453

cape, for the most expert swimmer could not possibly
have saved himself in such a frightful surf. I coolly
concluded that that would be the last of my dan-
gers and resigned myself to my fate. Soon, however,
the horizon became somewhat clearer, and, better
than all, our anchor had evidently struck into good
holding-ground and was keeping us from drifting.
In an hour more the tempest was over, though the
heavy swell continued to roll in as before. In the
morning we found ourselves not far from Ayar Ban-
gis, and put in there while our crew mended the
sails, This is the port to which the coffee raised in
the valley of Rau, in the interior, is brought down, to
be hence shipped in praus to Padang, where it is
placed in the government storehouse and sold at auc-
tion four times a year, viz., in March, June, Septem-
ber, and December. Natal, about twenty-five miles
north of here, is the chief port to which is brought
the valuable coffee raised in the fertile valley of Man-
déling, of which Fort Elout is the capital. All this
part of Sumatra abounds in very valuable timber,
and the Resident here showed us some magnificent
logs which his natives are sawing into planks. If
we‘had such timber in our country we would use it
for the nicest kinds of veneering.

As the storm continued, we remained for a day
among the islands off Ayar Bangis. They are mostly
low, and nearly all composed of coral rock. The
natives live on fish and the cocoa-nuts which they
raise in great numbers on these low coral islands.

The chief value of the cocoa-nuts here, as in the
eastern part of the archipelago, is for the oil they

454 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

yield ; considerable quantities of that article are
brought to Padang from these, the Batu and other
islands off this part of Sumatra,

At sunset, next day, we were near Pasaman, a
small place on the coast, west of the lofty peak of
Ophir. Thousands of small, fleecy cumuli at that
time covered the sky, and, as the sun neared the
horizon, all these clouds were changed into the
brightest gold. Indeed, the whole sky seemed liter-
ally paved with small blocks of gold, most of which
were bordered with a narrow margin of purple. One
end of this great arch seemed to rest on the distant
horizon, the other on the crests of the lofty moun-
tains east of us, but especially on the top of Mount
Ophir, whose western side was lighted up with tints
of gold and purple of surpassing richness,

All this glorious display in the heavens was so
perfectly repeated, even to the minutest details, on
the calm sea, that it was difficult to tell which to
admire more, the sky or the ocean, Of all the rich
sunsets I enjoyed while in the tropical East, this was
by far the most magnificent, and never did I ima-
gine it was possible for any one, while here on earth,
to behold a scene that would so nearly approach the
splendor of the Celestial City, described in the apoc-
alyptic vision as being “of pure gold, like unto
clear glass,”

The next morning we were near Tiku, a village
at the mouth of the small stream that flows out
from the lake in the bottom of the great crater of
Manindyu. The cirenlar mountain-range which
forms the walls of this great crater was clearly

THE KING’S BIRTHDAY. 455

seen, and the deep rent through it, by which the
waters collected in the bottom of the crater find a
passage out to the sea. Twenty miles south of Tiku
is Priaman, the place to which most of the coffee from
the Menangkabau, or, as the Dutch prefer to call it,
the Padang plateau, is brought to be sent in praus to
Padang. On the evening of the fifth day the Apen-
burg, on Ape Hill, which marks the approach to Pa-
dang, and the shipping in the road, near by, were in
full view. One large and very fine ship was flying
the American ensign. In a few hours more I found
myself again in the palace of the governor, and thus
the expedition through the land of cannibals was
safely over.

The American ship was owned by one of the
largest and most enterprising firms in Boston. Her
captain and his lady were on shore, and I soon
hurried to their boarding-place; and, at once, we
almost felt ourselves back in New England, and for-
got that we were far from America, in a land of
palms, and of one long, endless summer.

The chief article exported from this place to the
United States is coffee. It is a very variable crop.
During the last nine years it has varied in quantity
from six thousand piculs (eight hundred thousand
pounds) in 1857, to seventy-two thousand piculs
(nine million six hundred thousand pounds) in
1858.*

The king’s birthday—the great national holi-
day with the Dutch—now occurred. In the morn-

* For a detailed list of the quantities exported each year, and the
average price, see Appendix D,

456 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

ing there was a grand parade on the lawn, in front
of the governor’s palace, of all the European and
native troops, numbering in all some four or five
thousand, but many others are stationed in small
bodies at various places in the interior. They were
organized in battalions on the French plan, and their
appearance and manceuvring were very creditable.
There was a small mounted force, much hke our
flying artillery. This, I was informed, proved to be
one of the most efficient parts of the army in their
contests with the natives—the paths in the interior
always being so narrow and so extremely uneven
that only very light cannon can be brought into use.
After the parade the governor, as the representative
of the king, received the congratulations of all the
officials in that region. The day ended with a grand
ball, to- which, I may add, the mestizo belles were
not only invited, but came, and took as prominent
a part as the ladies who had the envied fortune to
be born in Europe. At every little post the highest
official receives the congratulations of his brother-
officers in similar manner, and all are required to
appear in full dress with cocked hats,

After having served in our own gigantic war,
where a sash, a pair of small shoulder-straps, a few
bright buttons, and a gold cord round a slouched
hat, were sufficient to indicate the rank of even a
major-general, I was quite dazzled by the brillant
uniforms of even the most petty officials in the
Dutch service. The army officers wear epaulets, and
broad bands of gold lace on the pantaloons, collars,
and cuffs. The backs of their coats are figured

MALAY IDEAS OF GREATNESS. 457

over in the most extravagant fashion. The civil offi-
cers present a similar gaudy display in silver. The
object of all this is to impress the natives with a high
idea of the wealth and power of the Dutch Govern-
ment, and of the great dignity of those who are
honored by being selected to administer it; and
exactly these ideas are conveyed to the minds of the
natives by such displays. Their own rajahs and
princes never appear in public without making the
most dazzling show possible; and the mass of the
people, therefore, have come to think that their rulers
must be weak and poor, and even more worthy of
their contempt than their respect, if they do not
make a most imposing appearance on all great
occasions,

CHAPTER XV.
THE PADANG PLATEAU.

As I had seen only a small portion of the Pa-
dangsche Bovenlanden, or Padang plateau, 1 again
set off for the interior, following the same route that
I had taken before, namely, north, over low lands
to the left of the Barizan chain. As the governor’s
“ American” had not arrived from Saboga, he kindly
borrowed for me a “ bendy,” that is, a small, heavy,
two-wheeled chaise. He gave me an order allowing
me to use two horses if I pleased; and, by the time
I had travelled twenty miles, I was glad to avail my-
self of the privilege. A bamboo was fastened across
the thills and allowed to project four or five feet on
one side, and the additional horse was then placed
beside the other, the usual mode of driving tandem
in this country. To complete the odd style of har-
nessing these half-tamed steeds, the natives arranged
the reins so that I was obliged to hold two in the
left hand and but one in the right. The result was,
that the outer horse was as loose as those harnessed
in a similar manner in Russia, and altogether be-
yond my control. Whenever we came to a slight
descent, he would always spring into a full gallop,
and the one in the thills would follow his example.

THUNDER AND LIGHTNING IN THE TROPICS. 459

Then came a few severe shocks against the large
stones in the road, and we found ourselves at the bot-
tom of the hill. One time the shocks were so severe
that my footman, who had a seat behind, and a good
place to hold on with both hands, was missing when
I reached the bottom of the hill, and, on looking
round, I found the bendy had flung him off some
distance upon the rough stones, When we reached
Kayu Tanam, thick clouds, that had been gathering on
the adjacent lofty peaks, rolled down and poured out
a perfect flood of rain. The drops were so large, and
fell with such momentum, that it seemed like stand-
ing under a heavy shower-bath. The lightning
gleamed as it only does in tropical lands, and the
thunder roared as if the great Barizan chain on my
right was splitting open again, and forming another
immense “cleft.” I was wondering that my horses
were not frightened amid such terrific peals, when
suddenly a piercing flash dazzled my eyes, and the
same instant came a sharp crash like the sudden
breaking of a thousand heavy timbers, and for a
moment I was quite bewildered, Both horses reared
until they nearly stood on their hind feet, and then
plunged forward in a perfect state of fright. The
road there chanced to be straight, and I let them go
at the top of their speed for a mile or two, when
they again became somewhat manageable, and in this
way we flew along high up the side of a great ravine
and came into the deep cleft. Ascending the cafon,
we came to Padang Panjang, and the next day to
Fort de Kock. The waterfall opposite where we
entered the cleft was considerably swollen by the

460 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

heavy rains, and a small stream, separate from the
main fall, was shooting over the high edge of the
precipice. On a steep declivity near by, a small
stream had coursed part way down, completely hid-
den from view by the thick sheet of vegetation that
covered the rocks, until, striking some obstacle, it
flew off into the air in a great jet, which appeared to
come out of the solid rock.

From Fort de Kock my course was nearly west a
day’s ride to Paya Kombo. At first the road led
over a level or slightly undulating land which
abounds in villages, and is highly cultivated. A
number of small streams that rise on the northern
flanks of the great Mérapi, flow northward across the
plain, and then turn to the east and join to form the
Batang Agam. Nine miles out we came to a range
of jagged hills, the scanty soil on their sides only
serving to make their sharp, projecting rocks more
conspicuous and unsightly, like a tattered garment
thrown over a skeleton, This rock I found to be a
highly crystalline marble of a blue color, completely
split up by joints and fissures into cubical blocks,
whose outer surfaces have everywhere become greatly
roughened by the action of rain and heat. Sub-
sequently I had an opportunity of learning that it
makes a very valuable kind of white lime.

We presently found ourselves descending into a
beautiful valley, through which the Agam, already
a considerable stream, courses rapidly along. The
road immediately approached its banks, crossed it
over a high stone bridge, and then ran along a nar-
row terrace cut in a high precipice of the limestone

PAYA KOMBO AND THE BUA VALLE\. 461

cliff, whose feet were bathed in the small river. On
the level land and hills in this region, the only rock
which outcropped was a red sandstone, composed
of strata that have been considerably plicated in many
places; but they are evidently of a recent formation
and unconformable to the older crystalline limestone
on which they rest. Passing the Mérapi, we rode
down a gradually descending plain that hes on the
north of Mount Sago.

Early in the afternoon we came to Paya Kombo,
where an assistant resident is stationed. His residence
is the finest building I have seen in Sumatra. He
greeted me kindly, and introduced me to the assist-
ant resident stationed at Fort Van der Capellan, the
next chief place I was designing to visit. Thus I
found a pleasant companion, and one who could ex-
plain the peculiarities of the country I should see
during the next two days.

April 2¢—Rode from Paya Kombo to Bua with
the Resident of this district. A short distance from
Paya Kombo we crossed a large and very beautiful
stone bridge that had been planned and superin-
tended by a government official who had never re-
ceived the slightest training in architecture. Our
course was nearly southwest, and the road slowly
ascended, for we were really coming upon the flanks
of Mount Sago. It then changes to the east, and
again to the south, as we made a circuit round the
eastern side of the mountain. This part of the road
was built on a steep acclivity, that descended to the
deep valley of the Sinamu on our left. The higher
hills on the opposite side of the valley are probably

462 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

of limestone. When we came round to the south
side of Mount Sago, before us lay the charming val-
ley of Bua, perhaps the most beautiful valley in
Sumatra, On our left was a range of hundreds of
sharp peaks, a continuation of the limestone chain
noticed yesterday between Fort de Kock and Paya
Kombo, Near their feet is the Sinamu, now a small
river, flowing away to the southeast. At Paya Kom-
bo this stream flows to the southeast, which is its
general course for about twenty-five miles after it
passes Mount Sago; it then changes to the east,
and is known as the Indragiri. It is a fair sample
of the tortuous course of all the streams in the
mountainous parts of Sumatra. They wind to and
fro so abruptly, that sometimes the traveller comes
to the banks of a river without suspecting for a
moment that it is the very one which he was follow-
ing in a wholly different direction the day before.
The only way it is possible to realize the irregulari-
ties of these streams, is to examine a map of this
region on a very large scale. On our left was an-
other high range walling in the narrow valley, the
bottom of which curves gradually upward as it ap-
proaches either side, The level parts of the valley
are all changed into beautiful sawas, which are now
filled with young rice- blades of a bright green.
Riding down the valley for four or five miles, we
came to the controlewr’s house at Bua, It is sit-
uated near the west side of the valley, facing the
north, Thick clouds, that had been hiding the top
of Mount Sago, now vanished into pure air, and the
old crater-walls came grandly into view. They are

THE BUA CAVE. 463

so deeply notched on the southern side, that I
could look directly up into the crater from the con-
trolew”’s residence in the valley, The sharp lime-
stone needles, on the east side of the valley, also
were more distinct. They were only three miles
away, and yet I counted no less than twenty sepa-
rate peaks in a straight line, at right angles with my
vision, in fifteen degrees along the horizon. Looking
up from the village of Bua toward Mount Sago, the
view has a charming ideal effect—such as one might
expect to see in a composite painting, where wonder-
ful details of scenery from different localities are
harmoniously combined.

April 3d—At 6 a.m. went with the controleur
and rajah, and about forty natives, to a large cave
west of Bua, in the limestone range that forms the
western boundary of the valley, Coming to a small
stream that flows out of this chain, we followed its
course upward, until we found it issuing from be-
neath a high arch that opened into a large cavern,
Here the strata of the limestone were more distinct
than I have seen elsewhere. They have a dip of
about 20° west, their strike being northwest and
southeast, the general direction of the chain, Im-
mediately within the arch the roof of the cave rose
into a dome, apparently more than one hundred feet
high at the centre. TF locks of swallows had made
this their building-place, and, disturbed by the smoke
of our torches, they made the cavern resound with
their sharp chirping. On the walls were many
stalactites that closely resembled the luxuriant or-
chids and parasites of tropical forests, as if Nature

464 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

were here reproducing in stone the wonders of the
vegetable kingdom. After crossing the stream two
or three times we came to the end of this grand hall,
and climbed up what appeared to be a waterfall, but
was, in reality, solid stone. The water, flowing over
the steep ledge of limestone, had in time deposited
over its rough edges an incrustatioh, which, of course,
took exactly the form of the running water that
made it.

Having reached the top of this petrified fall, we
passed on our hands and knees through a small hole,
and found ourselves in another large hall of an ellip-
tical form. At the farther end was a small rivulet
gurgling its way among the large rocks that covered
the floor of the cave. I had been told that this water
was so hot that a man could not hold his hand in it;
but, on trying it with the thermometer, I found the
mercury only rose to 92° Fahrenheit, not quite up to
blood-heat (98°). It abounded, however, in small
fish about four inches long, several of which the na-
tives caught with their hands. They all had eyes
that were apparently well formed, though this place
seemed to us absolutely cut off from daylight.

Returning to the outer cave, we proceeded a short
way by wading in the bed of the stream, but the cav-
ern now diminished into an irregular tunnel, and the
water that flowed through it was too deep for us to
go on in safety, and we were therefore obliged to re-
turn. The controlewr informed me that one of his
predecessors had gone on and come out again in the
plain near Fort Van der Capellen, so that the cave is
really a tunnel, which passes completely through the

UP THE VALLEY TO SUKA RAJAH. 465

whole chain; and the distance from its mouth at
this place to the opening at its opposite end must be
at least five miles in an air line. While the natives
were in the water, and each held a blazing torch, I
ordered them to range themselves a few feet apart in
along line. The. light reflected from the changing
surface of the flowing stream beneath, and the wide
irregular rocks and stalactites above, and the dark
half-naked bodies of the natives themselves, made it
appear as if I had come into the abode of evil de-
mons; and this delusion became complete when one
shouted, and the rest joining in prolonged their ery
into a wild yell that echoed and reéchoed again and
again, coming back to us like the answering, remorse-
ful shriek of hundreds of evil spirits that were impris-
oned forever deep within the bowels of the mountain.

In the inner part of the larger cave I was directed
to look up in a certain direction, when soon a long,
narrow band of yellow light gleamed from an open-
ing, and, darting into the cave, partially lighted up
some of the long stalactites that hung from the roof.
Then came two bright flames waving to and fro,
which showed me the forms of two natives who had
climbed up some other chamber, and had come out
through an aperture far above us into the apartment
where we were standing.

The Resident was travelling to inspect the coffee-
gardens, and would go back up the valley to Suka
Rajah, the “ Rajah’s Delight,” a large coffee-garden
in the ravine that leads up into the old crater of the
Sago. I therefore hired coolies to haul my bendy

over the mountain to Fort Van der Capellen, and
30

466 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

‘thence to Padang Panjang, while I accompanied the
Resident and controleur on horseback. After we
had rested awhile at a small summer-house, I con-
tinued on foot up the ravine as far as coffee-trees
are planted, a coolie from the valley following me,
and continually begging me to return, for fear we
might be attacked by a tiger. I told him to go back
and let me proceed alone; but we were already so
far away that he did not dare to leave me. The whole
interior of this crater is covered with a dense forest,
in which there are many trees, showing that it
has constantly remained inactive for many years,
and this is corroborated by what we know of the
history of this part of Menangkabau ; for, when “ the
voleano” is spoken of, 1t 1s probable that the Mérapi
is meant, and not the Sago, on the one side, nor the
Singalang on the other.

As I could not reach to the bottom of the crater
by following up the ravine, I determined to try to
ascend one of the ridges on its sides, and possibly
look down into it from an elevated point. That part
of the steep mountain-side was covered with tall
grass, and the “tufa,” or red clay, formed by the
decomposition of the volcanic rock, ejected from this
vent, was very slippery after the recent shower. Yet,
by grasping the grass and small shrubbery, I made
my way up nearly to the rim of the crater, but did
not get the unobstructed view I wished. To obtain
this, it is necessary to ascend the mountain on the
north side, I was, however, far more than repaid
for my labor, by the magnificent landscape spread out
before me to the south and southeast. At my feet

THE RAJAH’S DELIGHT. 467

began the Bua Valley, which, at a distance of ten or.
twelve miles, expanded into a plain bordered on the
west by the high mountains of the Barizan chain, and
on the east by that of the Padang Lawas, which yet
farther on curved round to the southwest and united
with the Barizan in the gigantic peak of Mount Ta-
lang. Winding to and fro down the Bua Valley, was
occasionally seen the silver surface of the Sinamu,
and beside that and the other streams were many
broad overflowed sawas, which gave the valleys the
appearance of abounding with hundreds of little
lakes, This is the grandest and most comprehen-
sive view I have enjoyed in Sumatra, and this spot
is well named “The Rajah’s Delight.” At an eleva-
tion of about four thousand five hundred feet we
found it very chilly by night, not so much from the
difference of temperature, as indicated by the ther.
mometer, as on account of a strong wind and a thick
mist that enveloped us. This coffee-garden is consid-
ered the best in this region ; but the Resident informs
me that there are one or two at the same, or a some-
what greater elevation, on the Mérapi, which are
finer. The large crops raised here are probably due to
the elevation and to the soil, which has been formed
from decomposing voleaniec’rock, and enriched by the,
vegetable mould that has accumulated for centuries, !

April 4th—Continued on horseback along the
southern flanks of Mount Sago to its western side,
when we came to the head of a valley bounded by steep
acclivities. A thick mist unfortunately concealed the
view from this point, the finest, it is said, in the whole
region. A steep, zigzag path brought us down to a

468 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

small stream, and, ten miles in a southwesterly direc-
tion, we came to the Resident’s house at Fort Van
der Capellen. The more direct and frequented road
between Paya Kombo and this place lies between
Mount Sago and Mount Mérapi; and those two great
elevations are so separate that Tangjong Allam, the
highest point on the road, is only three thousand
four hundred feet, about two hundred feet above
Fort de Kock. Four miles beyond, we passed
through a village where there is a waringin-tree of
enormous dimensions. Its trunk is so large that I
found it required eight natives to embrace it by
joining hands! It is not, however, a single, compact
trunk, like that of a pine, but is composed of an
irregular bundle of them bound together. Besides
this, there are three other great trunks which sup-
port the larger limbs, this species of #%cus being very
closely allied to the banyan-tree of India.

Two miles west of this place, on the acclivity of
one of the limestone ranges already described, lies
Pagaruyong, now a small kampong, but in ancient
times one of the capitals of the great Malay kingdom
of Menangkabau. Its early history only comes down
to us in obscure legends, One is that Noah and his
“forty companions” in the ark discovered dry land
at Lankapura, near the present city of Palembang,
by seeing a bird which had escaped from their vessel
alight at that place. From that spot two brothers,
Papati-si-batang (a name of Sanscrit origin), and
Kayi Tumangung (a name of Javanese origin), who
were included in the forty that had escaped the del-
uge, came to a mountain named Siguntang-guntang,

THE LEGENDS OF MENANGKABAUD. 469

which was described as dividing Palembang from
Jambi, and thence to Priangan, a word in Javanese
signifying “the land of wood-spirits,” or fairies, and
at present the name of a kampong on the road from
this place to Padang Panjang, and situated on the
flanks of the Mérapi, near the wooded region, There
is little doubt that this kampong is the same as the
ancient one of the same name, for that was described
as being “near the great volcano.”

Another legend represents the founder of the
Menangkabau empire to have been Sang Sapurba (a.
name compounded of both Sanscrit and Javanese
words), who is also said to have come from Palem-
bang, which we know was a Javanese colony. The
Javanese and Sanscrit origins of these names at once
suggest the probability that a larger part of the
civilization which rendered this empire so superior
to all others in Sumatra, was not indigenous, but
introduced from Java, and at a period subsequent to
the introduction into that island of Hinduism and
its accompanying Sanscrit names from India. The
names of many of the most remarkable mountains
and localities in this region are also found to be of
similar origin, and greatly strengthen this probabil-
ity. The word Menangkabau itself signifies in Java-
nese “the victory of the buffalo;” and, as it has
been one of the favorite sports of the Javanese from
time immemorial to make buffaloes fight with tigers,
we may presume this locality acquired its name from
its being the frequent scene of such a bloody pas-
time.

When Europeans first arrived on the northern

470 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

coast of the island, in 1509, this empire was evident-
ly in its decline; and though the rajahs of Achin,
Pedir, and Pasé, acknowledged the sultan of this
country as their superior, they only paid him a
small tribute, and were really independent princes.
The empire at that time included on the east coast
the area between the rivers of Palembang and Siak,
and on the west coast from Manjuta, near Indrapura,
as far north as Singkel, at the mouth of the river of
that name, which is the outlet of the great Lake Aik
Diiu, in the Batta Lands.* Afterward the Rajah of
Achin, whose daughter the sultan had married and
slighted, took possession of the west coast, as far
south as Bencoolen, In 1618 his successor claimed
no farther south than Padang, and he ces gov-
erned no place south of Barus.

In 1680 the Sultan Alif died, aring no heir.
Dissensions at once arose, and the empire was ul-
timately divided between three princes, who each
claimed to be the regular successor to the throne,
and assumed all the extravagant titles of the pre-
vious sultans. These princes severally resided at
Suruasa (on the Dutch maps Soeroeasso), which is
situated two miles south of Pagaruyong, on the
banks of a small stream that flows southward and
empties into the Ombiling, at Pagaruyong (on the
Dutch maps Pager Oedjoeng), and at Sungtarap (in
Dutch Soeng Tarap), a kampong three miles north
of Fort Van der Capellen. The Dutch treated the
Prince of Suruasa with the greatest distinction, but

* Vide Marsden’s “ History of Sumatra,” p. 322 et seq.

THE REFORMERS OF KORINCHI. 471

whether that place or Pagaruyong was the more an-
cient site is undecided.

The first European who reached this region was
Sir Stamford Raffles in 1818. He had the good for-
tune to discover at Suruasa two inscriptions on stone
in the Kawi, or ancient Javanese character, thereby
proving that the early civilization of Java was trans-
planted to this land. At Pagaruyong he also dis-
covered a Hindu image, “ chastely and beautifully
carved, corresponding with those discovered in Java,
and evidently the work of similar artists and the ob-
ject of a similar worship.” Thus the ancient religion,
as well as the ancient language of Java, was adopted
to some extent by the early inhabitants of this coun-

try.

There appears to be no reason why we should
suppose that Mohammedanism was first introduced
into Java and thence brought to this land, as there
is in the case of the Hinduism that prevailed here
centuries ago. We may rather infer that soon after
that religion had found followers on the north coast,
its teachers were not long in making their way into
the Menangkabau country, the influence and reputed
wealth of which must have been pictured to them in
the most glowing colors as soon as they first landed
at Achin.

About the year 1807 three native pilgrims re-
turned from Mecca to their homes on the shores of
Lake Korinchi, which is situated about thirty miles
southeast of the great mountain of Talang. As they
had just left the grave of their prophet, they burned
with zeal to discipline their lax countrymen, and to

472 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

make them conform more nearly to the rigid require-
ments of the faith they had pretended to adopt. Be
lieving, like true Mohammedans, that no argument is
so convincing as the sword, these zealots began a
warfare as well as a reform, This religion is the
more remarkable, because, so far as we know, it is
the only one that has ever been originated in the
whole archipelago.

In 1887 these religious conquerors came into
collision with the Dutch, and, after a severe contest
of three years, were completely conquered, and not a
vestige of their rigorous laws can now be discerned.
Such harsh measures were evidently distasteful to
the lax Malays, and now on all market-days and fes-
tive occasions they array themselves in as gaudy colors
as they did before the zealous pilgrims of Korinchi
came back from Mecca.

The skilful work of these people in silver and gold
has already been described, This they did not learn
from foreigners, but have practised for ages. They
were also very skilful in the manufacture of kris-
blades, cannon, and matchlocks—mining, smelting,
and forging the iron entirely themselves. Marsden
says their principal mine was at Padang Luar, prob-
ably Padang Luwa or Lawa, a kampong on the level
land near Fort de Kock, and about a mile north
of that place. It was taken to Selimpuwong (on the
Dutch maps Salimpawaac), a small kampong between
Mount Mérapi and Mount Sago, on the road leading
northward from this place to Paya Kombo, where it
was smelted and manufactured, Their cannon were
often mentioned by the earliest Portuguese naviga-

MALAY MODE OF MAKING MATCHLOCKS. 473

tors, They were manufactured here and sold to the
more warlike nations at the northern end of the isl-
and. The barrels of their matchlocks were made by
winding a flat bar of iron spirally around a circular
rod and welding it into one piece; and Marsden, who
probably saw some of these guns, describes them as
being of the “justest bore.” They also manufactured
an inferior kind of powder. These arts they may
have learned from the Chinese, who practised them
long before they were known in Europe, and who
probably came down the coast to the Malay penin-
sula and this island centuries before the Portuguese
sailed around the Cape of Good Hope.

At present, all the natives, except the militia,
within the limits of the Dutch territory, are abso-
lutely forbidden by the Dutch Government to have
powder or fire-arms of any description in their pos-
session, and the penalty against importing them and
selling them to the natives is very severe. Without
such a law, no foreigner would be safe in any part of
the archipelago. The iron that these people now use
appears to be wholly imported from Europe. They
need little except for knives, and the steel for those
comes mostly from Padang.

This evening the guard reported a fire in a neigh-
boring kampong, and a bright light was seen some
miles off on the flanks of the Mérapi. Although I
have now been in the archipelago nearly a year, it
is the first fire I have seen; and this appears the more
remarkable, when we consider the highly inflammable
materials of which the native huts are built, the walls
being of bamboo and the roof of atap. However,

474 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

when they do take fire, they blaze up and disappear
like a bundle of straw.

April 6th—The Resident gave me a span of
horses and a covered carriage to drive to the banks
of a stream flowing to the southeast, and a servant
followed with another horse for me to use in fording
the stream and continuing my journey southward
to the southern end of Lake Sinkara. There has
been much rain during the past week, and coming to
the river we found it so swollen and rapid that the
moment a horse or man stepped into it he would cer-
tainly be swept away. I was, therefore, obliged to
follow up its course a mile or two, till I came toa
village where the natives had made a rude bridge
between two high trees that leaned toward each other
from the opposite banks of the torrent. The bottom
of the bridge consisted of only two large bamboos,
but there was another on either side to enable one to
maintain his balance while crossing. No place could
be found where it was possible to bring over the
horse, and I was obliged, therefore, to send him back
and finish that day’s journey of twenty miles on foot.

After crossing the stream I turned to the east-
ward, and, passing over a number of sharp ridges,
came down to the road we had left. This conducted
us along a small, rapid river, which we found to be
the Ombiling, the only outlet of Lake Sinkara. At
several places I noticed large wheels for raising water
to inundate the rice-fields, On the rim were fastened
pieces of bamboo at a slight angle, which filled as
they touched the surface of the stream and poured
out their contents when they came to the highest

A SIMPLE MEAL. 475

point. In all particulars these wheels are exactly
like those used in China for the same purpose, and
perhaps were introduced by immigrants or merchants
from that land. We crossed the foaming Ombiling
on a bridge near where the lake pours out its surplus
water down a ravine and forms that stream. Before
the Dutch came up into this region the natives had
made a suspension bridge here, near Samawang, simi-
lar to the one I crossed over the Batang Taroh. Gov-
ernor Raffles has described it in his memoirs, and has
also noticed the water-wheels just described, so that
they must have been in use for a long time, and could
not have been introduced by Europeans nor by the
Chinamen who have established themselves at the
principal places in this region since it became subject
to the Dutch.

Mid-day was passed when I reached the kampong
of Samawang, near the bridge, and I was so worn out
with my long walk over the mountains and fording
the swollen streams, that I was glad to craw] into a
little dirty hut and beg an old Malay woman to cook
me a little rice, for I had yet ten miles farther to go,
and pouring showers frequently came over the lake.
My repast consisted of rice, a smoked fish, a few
grains of coarse salt and some red pepper ground up
together between two flat stones. As I satisfied my
hunger, I could but contrast my simple meal with the
royal feasts I had been taking with the governor at his
residence at Padang less than a week before, but, as
Shakespeare says, “ Hunger is the best sauce,” and
I enjoyed my hard fare more than many pampered
princes do the choicest viands. From this place there

476 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

is a well-built road along the eastern side of the lake
to the kampong of Sinkara on the southern shore. The
lake is ten miles long and about three miles wide. It
is parallel to the Barizan chain in this place, and ex-
tends in a northwest and southeast direction. Its
surface is about seventeen hundred feet above
the sea, Its most remarkable character is its great
depth at one place, near the cleft of Paningahan,
where the plummet runs down eleven hundred
and eighty-two feet, nearly a quarter of a mile, so
that its bottom, at that spot, is only about five hun-
dred feet above the level of the sea. West of the
Sinkara is the great Barizan chain, with its acclivities
rising immediately from the margin of the lake, and
its peaks generally attaining an elevation of fifteen
hundred feet above the lake, or three thousand two
hundred feet above the sea, On the eastern side, and
on the northern end of the lake, are hills of less than
half that height, mostly composed of syenite. The
Barizan chain, as shown in the cleft of Paningahan,
is composed of chloritic schists interstratified with
marble, and overlaid in most places with lava, pum-
ice-stone, and volcanic sand or ashes. These strata
of schists and limestone undoubtedly rest on gigan-
tic rocks, for such are found outcropping on the op-
posite or coast side of the range. The basin of Lake
Sinkara, therefore, occurs where a great fault has
taken place. Five miles east of the lake, and a short
distance south of the kampong Pasilian, is Mount
Sibumbun, which, as well as the cleft of Paningahan,
has been carefully examined by Mr. Van Dijk, of
the Government Mining Corps, on account of the

GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE PLATEAU. 477

copper-mines they contain. Sibumbun is a peak of
greenstone rising out of syenite. Westward, one
passes from the granite into marble, and then on to
a sandstone of a late formation, which contains layers
of coal that is probably of the same age as that I saw
at Siboga.

The whole geological history of this part of Su-
matra may be summed up as follows: On the syenite
and granite, layers of mud and coral were deposited ;
then the whole was raised and plicated; and after
this period was deposited the sandstone, the strata of
which we have already noted as being unconformable
to the rocks on which they rest, and more nearly hori-
zontal, If,as Mr. Van Dijk thinks, and is very prob-
able, the marble in the cleft of Padang Pangjang is
formed from corals, at least not older than the eocene
age, it follows that the mountain-ranges of Sumatra
have been formed within a comparatively recent pe-
riod, The process of covering these strata by lava,
pumice-stone, and voleanic sand and ashes, has been
going on since historic time.

The most remarkable thing in this kampong of
Sinkara, is the dali, or town-hall. Either end, on
the inside, is built up into a series of successive plat-
forms, one rising over the other. On the outside these
elevated ends resemble the stern of the old three and
four decked frigates which the Dutch generally used
when they first became masters of these seas, and such
as can yet be seen used as hulks in the ports of the Brit-
ish colonies. The exterior of the dali, as well as the
better private houses, are painted red, and ornamented
with flowers and scroll-work in white and black.

478 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

While at this village I noticed a native leading a
large dog-like monkey from place to place. On in-
quiring, the servants told me that he was trained to
pick off cocoa-nuts from the bunches in the trees, but
I doubted whether he could know what ones to se-
lect, and therefore watched him myself. His master
brought him to the foot of the tree, gave a peculiar
jerk to the rope, and at once he began to climb up.
Reaching the top, he seated himself on the base of a
leaf and immediately began wrenching off those nuts
that were fully grown, by partially twisting them.
After he had taken off all the ripe nuts on one side
of the tree, he went round to the opposite side and
broke off the ripe ones there also, without once at-
tempting to pull off those that were partly grown.
This selecting the ripe nuts from the large clus.
ters seemed to be the result of his own instinct, and
not of any signal from his master, so far as I could
detect.

The shore at the southern end of the lake is very
low and marshy, and wholly devoted to rice-fields,
Here were enormous flocks of herons, that made the
sawas perfectly white wherever they alighted. Over
these low lands is built the road that leads to Solok,
six miles distant in a southeasterly direction.

_ April 8th—Rode to Solok. On the way passed
twenty-seven women going to the burial of a native
prince, Their costume was peculiar, even in this
land. It consisted simply of the common sarong
open at the right hip, and fastened at the waist to a
narrow scarf about the neck, and a turban around
the head. About three miles from Sinkara, the way

THE THIRTEEN CONFEDERATE TOWNS. 479

passed over a slight elevation, and again I came
down into a low land which was one great fertile
sawa. Rice here is abundant and very cheap,
and the Resident states that many of the natives
prefer to use that which is at least a year old, and
that a few have small quantities which they have
kept for several years. The kernels of this rice are
smaller than those of the kind grown in our Caro-
linas; but that has been tried here, and found to
yield less by a considerable number of pounds per
acre than the native variety.

This region was known, before it was conquered
by the Dutch, as the Tiga Blas country, or the coun-
try of the “Thirteen Confederate Towns,” because
the thirteen villages in this vicinity had entered into
a compact to afford mutual aid and protection. In
a similar manner all the territory that previously be-
longed to the single kingdom of Menangkabau was
divided up into petty confederacies when the Dutch
conquered the country, and the several areas thus
ruled are now marked on the Dutch maps as the
district of the “ Five, Ten, or Twenty Kottas.” At
present, though most of the natives live in villages,
many houses are scattered over the cultivated lands,
Before the conquest they all lived in villages that
were generally surrounded by a stockade and a thick
hedge of bamboos, The Dutch generals who sub-
dued them destroyed these rude fortifications, that
the villagers might have no defences and less facili-
ties to revolt.

Many of the kampongs in this region were then
situated on the hills, but have since been removed to

480 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

the plains for the same reason. Near Solok, the in-
ner range that forms the western buttress of the pla-
teau rises up above the surrounding plain like a great
wall, that curves round to the west and unites with
the Barizan chain in the great Talang, which attains
an elevation of about eight thousand five hundred
feet. A short distance north of it is a cleft, through
which the Resident is now building a road to Padang.
About twelve miles to the north are two other clefts,
near Paningahan, formed by the throes of a volcano
near that kampong; and farther north is the cleft at
Padang Panjang, all four occurring within less than
thirty miles in a straight line.

On the southeastern declivity of Talang, at the
height of six thousand feet, is a small tarn, whence
issues the Solok River, that empties into Lake Sinkara,
the source of the Ombiling, which curves to the east
and southeast, and unites with the Sinamu, that we
have already traced from Paya Kombo down the
Bua Valley. From their juncture begins the In-
dragiri, which, pursuing an easterly course over the
low lands that form the eastern side of Sumatra,
empties into the Java Sea nearly opposite the Linga
Islands, This tarn, therefore, may be regarded as
the source of the Indragiri; and within a circle of
half a mile radius rise three streams that flow in
wholly different directions—two, the Indragiri and
Jambi, emptying into the Java Sea, and the third
mingling its waters with those of the Indian Ocean.

April 10th—Rode on horseback from Sinkara
north to Samawang, at the outlet of the lake, and
thence continued on foot in a westerly direction to

THE FLANKS OF THE MERAPT. 481

Batu Bragon, at its northern end, and in a north-
westerly direction to Padang Panjang.

On the west side of the lake, from the mouths of
the deep ravines, extend bands of naked stones, which
form, as it were, paved highways—the highways,
indeed, that Nature has made for man to go up among
her sublime mountains.

Between Samawang and Batu Bragon I crossed
several beds of these dry torrents. The boulders in
them were mostly of lava, and rapidly falling apart
into a coarse, sharp-edged shingle, Fragments of
syenite also appeared. These stones had been washed
down from the neighboring hills, and were piled up
in long winrows, as if they had been as light as chaff
—so great is the transporting power of these moun-
tain torrents, that only exist during the heavy rains.

From Batu Bragon the road ascended the flanks
of the Mérapi, which are under the highest state of
cultivation—most of them terraced for rice, but
some sugar-cane is also raised here. To press out
its juices, two cylinders of wood are placed perpen-
dicularly in a wooden frame, and several spirals are
made on each, so that they will exactly fit into each
other like the cogs of two wheels. One of these is
turned round by a long lever drawn by a buffalo,
the other cylinder revolving at the same time, but,
of course, in the opposite direction. The stalks of
the cane are put in on one side, and the juices are
gathered in a large vessel beneath. This they boil
into a syrup, and, some say, crystallize it into sugar.

Again and again, as I was ascending to Padang
Panjang, I turned to enjoy once more the magnifi-

31

489 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

cent view to the south. Near me were green rice-
fields waving in the sunshine, and far beneath these
was the large blue lake surrounded by high dark
mountains ; on their lofty peaks were gathering
black clouds, from which occasionally a heavy, sup-
pressed muttering rolled along, betokening the se-
verity of the coming storm. The next day I returned
to the governor’s residence at Padang.

Some time before I came from Java, a Malay
prau, in the employ of Chinamen, had visited the
Pagi Islands, to purchase cocoa-nut oil and tortoise-
shell, and had induced a man and woman, repre-
sented in the accompanying illustration, to go with
them to Padang. The sarong of the woman was made
of the leaves of the cocoanut palm and banana, torn
up into strips, and fastened at one end to a long
rattan, which was wound several times round the
waist. When these leaves are green, they form a
respectable covering, but, in the hot, tropical sun,
they soon wither into mere strings. For a baju a
similar garment of banana-leaves was used, The head-
dress was yet more peculiar. It was made of banana-
leaves, folded, as shown in the engraving, into the
form of a cocked hat. This is usually ornamented at
the top with a tuft of grass, and it is always worn
crosswise, The only clothing of the man was a strip
of bark, about four inches wide, and ten or twelve
feet long, passing round the waist, and covering the
loins, as shown in the cut. Boys go entirely naked
until they are about eight years old. Neither the
man nor woman cared for rice, but they were fond of
bread, though they had never seen any before. Their

NATIVES OF THE PAGI

ISLANDS,

NATIVES OF THE PAGI ISLANDS, 483

usual food at home was sago, boiled in salt water,
and covered with grated cocoa-nut. When the gov-
ernor gave the man a fowl, and asked him to cook it
after his own fashion, he built a small fire in the
back yard, and, as soon as it was well blazing, tied
the bird’s wings and legs, and thrust it alive into
the flames, in order to burn off the feathers. The
governor provided them with many presents for
their rajahs and friends, and, at the first oppor-
tunity, sent them back to their islands. Soon after
their return, another native came to Padang in the
same way. He was there when I came back from
the interior, and, at the governor’s invitation, he
made us a visit. He was of the pure Malay type,
‘not differing to a marked degree in stature or general
proportions from the Sumatran Malays who came
with him, His breast and abdomen and the backs
of his hands were tattooed. Both sexes are orna-
mented in this way. The process is begun when
they are six or seven years old, and continued at in-
tervals for a long time. This man said that each
village had a style of its own. It is done with a
sharpened copper wire, and the substance pricked in
is said to be the smoke of a gum, mingled with the sap
of some plant, as the juice of the sugar-cane. He had
no idea of the origin of this custom ; nor of its use,
except to distinguish the people of the various vil-
lages.

Some time before I set out on my last journey, the
governor had offered to give me a small gun-boat,
somewhat larger than a pilot-boat, but manned with
nearly twenty Malays, to go off to these islands, tak-

484 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

ing this man, who had learned some Malay during
his stay at Padang with me as an interpreter. An
unexpected event, however, made it necessary to send
that boat up the coast, and it would be some days
before another would come; so I concluded to take
the mail-boat for Bencoolen, and commence a long
journey directly across the island to Palembang, and,
reaching Banca, go up to Singapore on the steamer
which touches at that island while on her way to
Singapore from Batavia.

While travelling in the interior of Sumatra, we
have seen that the mountains, which extend from one
end of the island to the other, range themselves, gen-
erally, in two parallel chains, that wall in a long,
narrow plateau. The island of Engano is the sum-
mit of the southeastern peak in another similar
mountain-chain, extending in a northwesterly direc-
tion, parallel to those already described. After sink-
ing beneath the level of the sea, this chain reappears
in the Pagi, Mantawi, and Batu groups, Pulo Nias,
Pulo Babi, and the Cocos Islands.

The plateau in the interior, we have also found,
is divided into a number of separate valleys, by
transverse ranges, which yoke together the principal
chains. In a similar manner transverse ranges ap-
pear in Pulo Kapini, one of the Batu Islands, and in
the Banyak Islands. These transverse ranges are
seen also in the high and well-marked promontories
which jut out from the Barizan, or coast-chain of
Sumatra, at those places. A third projecting part
of the coast is seen at Indrapura. As the valleys in
the interior become plateaus, when we compare them

WHERE THE BASIN OF THE INDIAN OCEAN BEGINS. 485

to the present sea-level, so is the long, narrow area
between these islands and Sumatra a plateau, when
compared with the bed of the unfathomable ocean
outside of them. In the same manner, then, as
the Kurile and Japan Islands, the Lew-Chews, and
Formosa, are but the more elevated parts of a great
mountain-chain that rises on the eastern edge of the
continent of Asia, so these islands are only the tops
of another great chain which rises on a part of the
southern border of the same continent, and indicates
where the wide and deep basin of the Indian Ocean
commences.

CHAPTER XVI.
CROSSING SUMATRA,

April 17th—Took the steamer at Padang for
Bencoolen, Nearly all the way we had a heavy wind
from the southeast, though the southeastern monsoon
has not yet begun in the Java Sea. The western
limit of this monsoon region, I judge, after many in-
quiries, may be considered to be the Cape of Indra-
pura, but both monsoon winds prevail occasionally as
far north as Padang. Farther north the winds are
constantly variable. At Tapanuli Bay I was in-
formed that heavy “northers” occasionally prevail
for several days; and I was earnestly advised not to
go off to the adjacent island of Mensalla in a ship’s
boat, though the sea was calm for two or three days
at a time,

April 18th.—At 2 p.m. we entered Bencoolen Bay.
It is an open roadstead, and the swell raised by the
steady southeast trades of the Indian Ocean rolls in
and breaks for the first time on the shore, there
being no chain of islands to the seaward to protect
this part of the coast, as there is farther north. We
were able, however, to anchor in the bay off the city. -
Landing here is difficult, on account of the surf, and

RAT ISLAND. 487

especially as the shores are mostly fringed with coral
reefs. The city is located on a low bluff, on the
south side of the bay.

By a treaty with the Dutch in 1824 this terri-
tory was ceded them by the English, in exchange for
Malacca and the adjoining country. It is at present
under a Resident, who is appointed by the govern-
ment at Batavia, and is not under the Governor of
Padang. The residency commences at the south-
eastern extremity of the island, and includes the
area between the Barizan chain and the sea-coast,
from that point as far north as Mokomoko. Its
population numbers one hundred and twenty thou-
sand five hundred and fourteen, and is divided as
follows :—Europeans, one hundred and seventy-four ;
natives, one hundred and nineteen thousand six hun-
dred and ninety-one; Chinese, five hundred and
ninety-six ; Arabs, six; other Eastern nations, forty-
seven.

April 19th.—The Resident gave me a large prau
to go to Pulo Tikus or Rat Island, a small coral island,
about six miles off Bencoolen, On its shore-side the
reef curves in at one place, and forms a little bay.
All round it, on the edges of the reef, were a number
of old anchors, heavy enough for the largest frigates,
They had been placed there by the English, who
moored their ships at that place, and carried off the
pepper from Bencoolen in praus. If Bencoolen had
a good harbor or roadstead, it would be an impor-
tant place, but it has none, and there is no good
opportunity to make one,

On Pulo Tikus we found a few fishermen, from

488 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

whom I obtained a number of the same species of
shells that I had gathered before at the Spice
Islands and other places in the eastern part of the
archipelago, The common nautilus-shell is occa-
sionally found there, and a very perfect one was given
me that had been brought from Engano. It is, how-
ever, probable that the animal does not live in these
seas, and that these shells have floated from the vicin-
ity of the island of Rotti, off the southern end of
Timur, where, as already noticed, these rare mollusks
are said to live in abundance.

Bencoolen is also well known throughout the
archipelago as having been the residence of Sir
Stamford Raffles, who was governor of the English
possessions, on this coast, from 1818 to 1824, From
1811 to 1816, while the whole archipelago was under
the English, Sir Stamford was governor-general, and
resided near Batavia, and it was contrary to his
most earnest representations that Java and its de-
pendencies were ceded back to the Dutch; and
the great, direct revenue which those islands have
yielded to Holland, since that time, has proved, in
an emphatic manner, the correctness of his foresight,
Ever since I arrived at Batavia, 1 have frequently
heard his name mentioned by the Dutch officials,
and always with the greatest respect.

Governor Raffles’s taste for natural history was
very marked. During his visit to London, before
coming here, he founded the Zoological Society, and
began the Zoological Gardens, which now form one
of the chief inducements to strangers to visit that
great and wealthy metropolis. When he sailed from

LOSS OF GOVERNOR RAFFLES’S COLLECTION. 489

this port, his ship was nearly loaded with the ani-
mals of the region, living and mounted, but, the
same evening, when not more than fifty miles from
the coast, she took fire, and her crew and passengers
barely escaped with their lives. Not only all Sir
Stamford’s specimens, but all his official documents,
and the many private papers he had been gathering
during twelve years, were irreparably lost. Such a
strange fatality seems to attend the shipment of
specimens in natural history from the East, but I
trust that mine may be an exception to this rule.*

April 20th—Rode to Ujang Padang, a low bluff
about twenty feet high, on the north side of Ben-
coolen Bay. It is composed of a stiff, red clay, rest-
ing on other layers of lead-colored clay, which are
stratified, and contain many fossils of recent shells, a
few of which appeared in the lower strata of the red
clay. These fossiliferous strata probably extend for
some distance north and south, but are concealed by
the overlying strata of red clay, for they reappear
again at the foot of a bluff between this point and
Bencoolen.

From Cape Indrapura southward, a strip of low,
- comparatively level land borders the shore, but north
of that point the ocean comes up to the bases of the
hills and mountains. South of that point there are
a few small islands near the shore, but north of it

* While this work is going to the press, the specimens referred to
have all arrived in perfect order, though the ship that brought them
was obliged to put in twice in distress, having one time been nearly
dismasted by a cyclone, that kept her on her beam ends for eight
hours.

490 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

the sea is studded with them ; and especially north of
Padang there are very many shallow, dangerous coral
reefs, not indicated on most maps. South of Indrapura
the coast has either been elevated more than the area
north of it, which has remained beneath the sea, or
the northern part of the coast has been depressed,
while the southern part has nearly maintained its
former level. The sand and clays of which this strip
of low alluvial land is composed came from the dis-
integration and decomposition of the rocks that form
the Barizan chain. They have been transported to
their present position by the many small streams
that flow down the southwestern flanks of those
mountains to the sea, The transporting power of
a stream depends, of course, chiefly on its volume,
and the rapidity with which it flows. A glance
at the maps of Sumatra will show that the larger
streams are north of Cape Indrapura. Again, as the
streams south of that point flow, for a part of their
course, through level lands they are not as rapid
as those north of it, which empty at once into the
sea, without making a circuitous or zigzag course
through the alluvial lands, or deltas, which they
themselves have formed.

April 21st—Commenced my overland journey
on horseback, the only mode of travelling in this
region, Our company to-day consists of the Resi-
dent, a rajah, and many attendants; and we have
come here to Suban, to look at the deposits of coal
in this vicinity. From Bencoolen to Taba Panan-
jong, at the foot of the Barizan, the road is nearly
level, being over the strip of low land that we fol-

A TRAP FOR TIGERS. 491

lowed along the Bencoolen River, having the sharp-
ly-pointed Sugar-Loaf Mountain on our right, until
we came to a second pointed hill belonging to the
same eruptive formation. In one place we saw the
recent tracks of an elephant, and the natives, who
are good judges, think they were probably made yes-
terday. Soon after, a spot was pointed out to me
where, not long before, were found fragments of the
clothing, and a part of the body of a native, who,
while travelling along this, the most frequented road
in this region, had been torn to pieces by the tigers.
Near by is a rude trap for these destructive beasts.
It consists of a small place, enclosed by a paling,
with two large trees placed horizontally, the one
above the other, so that when the tiger puts his head
between them to seize the kid within the paling, the
upper beam falls on him and holds him fast by its
great weight. The natives then, hearing his roaring,
come up and quickly dispatch him with their lances,
When eighteen paals (about seventeen miles) from
Bencoolen, we left the main road, which is well
built, and followed a narrow footpath for six paals
over a succession of small ridges that jut out from
the main coast-chains. They were so near together
that we were continually either scrambling down a
steep declivity to the bottom of a little valley, or
climbing up the opposite side. The soil is a red
clay, like that noticed in the cliffs at Ujang Padang,
and has been formed by the decomposition of the vol-
eanic rocks which it covers. Heavy showers have
occurred in this vicinity to-day, and descending or
ascending these declivities is very difficult. It would

499 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

be dangerous to travel here with any but these active
and sure-footed ponies. With men on their backs
they will climb up places that our horses at home,
which are accustomed to level roads, would not like
to ascend alone. In certain spots along this path
were many piles of the excrements of elephants,
where they came to feed on the branches of young
trees. Half an hour before sunset we arrived here,
at Suban, a village of four houses, and were glad to
rest and take some food after a very fatiguing day’s
journey. Near by is a large stony brook, where I
have enjoyed a refreshing bath in the cool, clear
mountain-stream.

April 22d.— Early this morning we walked
about half a mile up the stream, making our way
over the huge boulders in its bed. Soon we came to
strata of coal, associated with layers of clay and
sandstone. I was searching particularly for a lime-
stone mentioned by Van Dijk, who has examined
the geology of this region, as being of the same age
as the coal, and containing fossils of a recent period.
Not finding it in this direction, I returned and con-
tinued down the stream for half a mile, crossing from
side to side over the slippery rocks and through the
torrent until the banks became high, perpendicular
walls, and the water was deeper than the waist.

Finding I could proceed no farther without a raft
of bamboo, I returned a quarter of a mile, ascended
the steep bank, and followed down the stream for
about a mile, but could not find any outcropping of
the rock I was seeking. When I reached Suban
again, I felt a peculiar smarting and itching sensa-

BLOOD-SUCKERS. 493

tion at the ankles, and found my stockings red with
blood. Turning them down, I found both ankles
perfectly fringed with blood-suckers, some of which
had filled themselves until they seemed ready to
burst. One had even crawled down to my foot,
and made an incision which allowed the blood
to pour out through my canvas shoe. All this
day we have suffered from these disgusting pests.
Our horses became quite striped with their own
blood, and a dog that followed us looked as if
he had run through a pool of clotted gore before we
reached the highway again. Of all the pests I have
experienced in the tropics, or in any land, whether
mosquitoes, black flies, ants, snakes, or viler vermin,
these are the most annoying and disgusting. There
is something almost unendurable in the thought
that these slimy worms are lancing you and sucking
out your life-blood, yet the Resident informs me that
he has travelled many times through the forests in
this region when these animals were far more numer-
ous and tormenting than they have been to-day.
Sometimes he has known them to drop from the
leaves upon the heads and into the necks of all
who chanced to pass that way.

Returning two paals toward the highway, we took
a path through a magnificent forest in a more easter-
ly direction, for about the same distance, to Ayar
Sumpur, a brook where the coal again appears on its
sides and in its bed. The layers seen at Suban were
not more than two or three feet thick, but here they
are from six to ten. Between this place and Suban
coal again outcrops on the banks of the Kamuning.,

494 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

In all these places it is near the surface, being
only covered with a few feet of red clay. That
at Ayar Sumpur appears decidedly better than that
found near Siboga.* From this place to where the
coal could be taken down the Bencoolen River is a
distance of only four Java paals. From there it
could be transported to Bencoolen on bamboo rafts,
the distance by the river being twenty-six and a half
paals, The enormous quantity found here is esti-
mated at over 200,000,000 cubic yards. The quan-
tity and the quality of this deposit will make it of
value, in case the government owning this part of the
island should have its supply from Europe cut off by
a war, but the disadvantage of not having a good
roadstead at Bencoolen, where this coal could be
taken on board vessels, renders it doubtful whether
it would be found profitable to work this mine, ex-
cept in case of great emergency, and then it might be
found preferable to bring it from Borneo, Coal is also
found at Dusun Baru, in the district of Palajou, on
the banks of the Ketaun River, in the district of
Mokomoko, and again in the district of Indrapura.
At all these places it agrees in its mineral charac-
teristics and outcrops very regularly at a distance of
about ten miles from the sea-coast. About five miles
farther inland, at Bukit Sunnur and at Suban, another
and superior kind of coal appears, which may be some-
what older than the former. This latter coal agrees
in its mineral characteristics with that found a few

* This accords with Van Dijk’s statement, that while the purity of
English coals is represented by 81.08, that of the Orange-Nassau mines
in Borneo would be represented by 98.46, and this by 69.47.

PITS FOR THE RHINOCEROS, 495

miles east of the lake of Sinkara, All the coal in the
vicinity of Suban is near the surface, sometimes only
covered with four or five feet of red clay. Any pri-
vate company who would like to work this mine
would receive every assistance from the general and
local governments,

On our return from Agar Sumpur we noticed the
tracks of a rhinoceros, tiger, and deer, which had
all passed along that way last night. In the path,
from place to place, the natives had made pits eight
or ten feet long, and about three wide and five or six
deep. Each was covered over with sticks, on which
dirt was laid, and dry leaves were scattered over the
whole so as to perfectly conceal all appearance of
danger. It is so nearly of the proportions of the rhi-
noceros, for whom it ismade, and so deep, and the clay
in which it is made is so slippery, that he generally
fails to extricate himself, and the natives then dis-
patch him with their spears. The Resident tells me
that the natives have also killed elephants by watch-
ing near a place where they come often to feed, and
when one is walking and partly sliding down a steep
declivity they spring up behind him and give a heavy
blow with a cleaver on the after-part of the hind-
legs, six or eight inches above the foot, but that this
dangerous feat is very rarely attempted.

Reaching the main road, we soon arrived at
Taba Pananjong. All the kampongs in this re-
gion are small, frequently consisting of only eight
or ten houses, but they are all very neat and
regularly arranged in one row on each side of the
road, which is usually bordered with a line of cocoa-

496 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

nut-trees. The natives-are called Rejangs, and form
a distinct nation from the Malays of Menangkabau.
They have an alphabet and language peculiar to
themselves, but belong to the same Malay race as all
the others in the island of Sumatra. In order that
I might see them dance, the Resident invited the
rajah to come to the house of the controlewr in the
evening and bring with him the “anak gadis,” liter-
ally “the virgins,” of the village, but really the un-
married females. They were all clad in a sarong,
fastened high round the waist, and over the shoulders
was thrown a sort of scarf, which was so folded that
one end would hang down behind, between the shoul-
ders. Their dance consisted in little more than stretch-
ing both arms back until the backs of the hands
nearly touched each other, and holding the edges of
the searf between the fingers. This peculiar figure
they take in order to give their busts the fullest ap-
pearance possible, and captivate some one of the
young men looking on, From this position they
changed their hands to near the shoulders, the arms
being extended and the forearms being turned back
toward the head. The hands were then twisted
round, with the wrist for a pivot.

Several young men appeared quite charmed and
eagerly joined in the dance. The postures they as-
sumed were quite similar. It is on such festive oc
casions that marriage contracts are generally made.
The price of a bride, juwjur,is fixed by the Dutch
Government at twenty guilders, eight Mexican dollars,
that is, the parents cannot now recover more than
that sum for their daughter in case their son-in-law

THE VIRGIN CHILDREN. 497

is unwilling to payalargersum. When the English
were here in the beginning of this century, the jujur
was as high as a hundred or a hundred and twenty
dollars. Some of the “ virgin children” I noticed had
reached middle age, but the rajah explained to me that
no man is willing to part with his daughters at a less
price than the twenty guilders his neighbor receives
for each of his, for fear of appearing to acknowledge
that he thought his neighbor’s daughters were more
fascinating than his own; and a young man, being
obliged to pay the same sum for any bride, of course
chooses one who, according to his fancy, possesses the
greatest charms, and no one who is not young is sup-
posed to be charming.

Another common mode of marrying among these
people is termed wmbil anak, “taking a child.” A
father chooses a husband for his daughter and takes
the young man to live in his family. When this
young man can pay a certain sum to the father, he
removes his wife and family to his own house, but
until that time he and his family are regarded as ser-
vants or debtors. As tokens of their virginity, the
anak gadis wear silver on their forearms, and broad
bands of silver on their wrists, In the Lampong
country to the south, instead of small, solid rings, they
wear large rings made of hollow tubes, sometimes in
such a number as to cover both arms from the wrist to
the elbow. Here they occasionally have silver chains
on their necks, and in their ears ornaments some-
what similar in form to those worn in the Menang-
kabau country, but much smaller, and the part that

passes through the ear is no larger than a quill.
32

498 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

These natives also make many fine imitations of fruit
and flowers in silver, like those of the Padang plateau.
Their sarongs and scarfs they manufacture themselves,
and ornament very skilfully with figures and leaves
wrought in with silver-thread.

April 20th—Rode this morning from Taba
Pananjong over the Barizan or Coast Range, which
here, as elsewhere, is generally higher than the ranges
parallel to it on the east, and therefore forms the
water-shed between the east and west coasts. The
road had been well built, but was extremely muddy
and badly washed away in some places by the heavy
rains which have lately occurred in this vicinity. It
is, however, sufficiently good for the natives to use
their padatis, or carts drawn by buffaloes, but most of
the men I met were carrying their produce to market
on their backs,

All the mountains are covered with a most dense
forest, but the low lands which spread from their
bases to the sea appear quite unfertile, especially
when compared with the low lands of Java. The
morning air was still and clear, and troops of large
black monkeys made the valleys and ravines continu-
ally resound with their loud trumpeting. From the
top of the pass, which is from two thousand five
hundred to three thousand feet in height, a magnifi-
cent view is obtained, to the southwest, of the low
lands extending to Bencoolen, and also of Pulo Tikus
in the distance, and the heavy surf breaking on its
coral reefs and sparkling brightly in the sunshine.
On the opposite or interior side of the chain was
spread out before me the lovely and highly fertile

PLATEAU OF THE MUSI. 499

valley of the River Musi, which takes its rise a little
farther to the north. In the midst of this valley was
the kampong and Dutch post Kopaiyong. Beyond the
valley rose an active voleano, Mount Ulu Musi, with
three peaks, The largest and the oldest was quiet, and
beyond it was a second and somewhat smaller cone,
evidently of a more recent origin than the former, but
also inactive. Beyond this cone wasa third, yet smaller,
from the top of which great quantities of steam and
other gases were ascending in dense volumes.

From this pass our descent was as rapid as our
ascent had been on the coast side, until we came
down to the banks of the Musi, and the valley in
which the village of Kopaiyong is situated. The
height of this plateau above the sea is from fifteen to
eighteen hundred feet. It is a complete analogue of
the plateau about the lake of Sinkara, and all the
others between the Barizan and its parallel chains
to the northward. Its soil is a fine, black loam. Its
chief products are tobacco and coffee, which both
thrive here very well. This is considered, and no
doubt rightly, a very healthy place. There are no
“wet or dry seasons,” as in Java, but showers occur
here every few days, generally in the afternoon.
Although the soil and climate of this valley are so
favorable for the development of civilization, yet the
natives in all this region, until a few years ago, only
clothed themselves with the bark of trees. This pla-
teau has lacked, however, one inducement toward pro-
moting industry and civilization which that of Me-
nangkabau possesses, and that is gold. In the coast
region, the houses of the natives have high, sharp

500 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

roofs, and are covered with atap, but here they are
larger and lower; and the roofs are nearly flat, and
covered with bamboos split into halves and placed
side by side, with the concave side upward. Over the
edges of these are placed other pieces of bamboo, with
the concave side downward, This is the on1y piace
in the archipelago where I have seen this simple and
easy mode of making a roof.

April 24th—Finding myself very ill from over-
exertion during the past two days, and that the next
two days’ journeys must be long and fatiguing, I rest
here and enjoy the cool, refreshing air of Kopaiyong
for a day. The controleur informs me that the vol-
canic cone northeast of us was formed during an
eruption which took place only a year ago, and that,
for some time previous to the eruption, heavy earth-
quakes occurred here very frequently ; but since the
gases that were pent up beneath the mountain have
found a vent, only one earthquake has been expe-
rienced, and that was very slight. This is the most
active voleano I have seen. A great quantity of white
gas is now rising most grandly. At one moment it
appears like a great sheaf, and at the next instant
slowly changes into a perpendicular column, and this
again becomes an immense inverted cone, which
seems supported in the sky by resting its apex on
the summit of the voleano beneath it. The whole
amount of trade at this place in a year amounts to
one hundred thousand guilders (forty thousand dol-
lars). The traders are Chinamen, Arabs, and a few
Dutchmen. They obtain from the natives coffee and
tobacco, and give them in return cotton goods, knives,

FROM KOPAIYONG TO KABAN AGONG. 501

and various kinds of trinkets. The population of
this region appears to be only a small fraction of
what it is on the Padang plateau; if it were as large
and industrious, the upper valley of the Musi would
soon be transformed into one great garden, and Ben-
coolen, to which its products must be taken to be
shipped abroad, would immediately become a port
of the first importance. I had seriously contem-
plated undertaking the journey from Solok to this
place, and if it had not been necessary for me to re-
turn to Padang, I should have attempted it, notwith-
standing it would have been necessary to have trav-
elled the whole distance on foot, and to have met
constant hinderances and annoyances from the natives,
who are extremely jealous of all foreigners. The
distance from Solok, in a straight line, is nearly two
hundred geographical miles, but by the zigzag and
cireuitous route which I would have been obliged to
take, it would have been nearly three hundred.

The house of the controlewr at this place is cov-
ered with an atap of bamboo splints, made in the
same way as the common atap of palm-leaves, but it
is much neater, and said to be far more durable.

April 25th.—As there are no white people at the
place where I am to lodge to-night, the controleur
was so kind as to send a servant yesterday with an
ample supply of eatables, and orders to the rajahs on
the way to receive me kindly when I reached their
respective villages.

At 6 a.m, started with a guide and a coolie for
Kaban Agong, a distance of nine paals in a southeast-
erly direction, along the Musi, which, in this part of

503 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

its course, is only a small stream with slight falls at
short distances, The valley south of Kopaiyong
may be quite wide, but we soon passed into such a
dense jungle that I was unable to obtain any view
of the mountains on either hand. Kaban Agong is
a small kampong of twenty or twenty-five houses,
and, except the two or three occasionally seen near
each other in the cleared places, or ladangs, the
whole country is an unbroken wilderness,

The houses of the village were quite regularly
arranged in two rows, and in the middle of the street
between them is a small circular house, with open
sides, and seats around it for the coolies, who are
travelling to and fro, to stop and rest under a shelter
from the sunshine. Here the rajah received me, and
brought such fruits as his people raised. The coolie,
who marched beside my horse, carried my Spencer’s
breech-loader, which I had been careful to have
ready loaded and capped. It caused the natives to
manifest the greatest respect for us, especially when
my servants declared that I needed only to put it to
my shoulder, pull the trigger, and there would be a
constant stream of bullets. From Kaban Agong to
Tanjong Agong (eight paals) we passed over a more
open and hilly country. The road here diverged
from the left bank of the Musi, and took a more east-
erly course. Here more sawas appeared, but the
people are in great poverty. Many of the hills are
covered with the common rank prairie-grass, which
we saw covering large areas in the northwest part
of the Mandéling Valley, and in many other places.

In such open prairies the sun poured down a most

NATIVES DESTROYED BY THE TIGERS. 503

scorching heat, and even my Malay attendants com-
plained bitterly; indeed, I find I can bear such
excessive heat better than they. From the tops
of the low hills I enjoyed fine views of the Barizan
or coast chain, The outline of many of its peaks
shows that they were formerly eruptive cones, but
now they are more or less washed down or changed
in form by rains and streams. As we came near this
village, Tanjong Agong, the road was filled with the
tracks and excrements of a herd of elephants that
passed this way yesterday or the day before. Two
days ago two of these beasts came into the sawas,
near this place, and the natives succeeded in shoot-
ing one. Tanjong Agong is a small village, of only
eighteen or twenty small houses, each of which is
placed on posts six or eight feet high, A ladder leads
up to a landing, which is enclosed by a fence and a
gate, to prevent the tigers from entering their houses.
The natives keep hens, and would have dogs, but they
are all destroyed by the tigers, These ravenous beasts
infest the whole region in such numbers, and are so
daring, that the rajah, who can speak Malay very well,
assures me that, during last year, five of the people
of this little village were torn to pieces by them
while working in the sawas, or while travelling to
the neighboring kampongs. No native here ever
thinks of going even the shortest distance by night,
except when sent on the most urgent business; and
it is chiefly for this reason that I always commence
my day’s journey so early,

The house in which I lodge is built of bamboo,
and surrounded with a paling of sharpened stakes,

504 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

which also include the stable. It has lately been
built by order of the Dutch Government for the ac-
commodation of any official or other foreigner trav-
elling in this country. Before the paling was com-
pleted, the controleur of the district visited this
place, and put his horse into the stable. At mid-
night he heard a loud howling and neighing, and the
natives shouting out to each other to come with their
arms, <A tiger had come out of the adjoining forest,
and had sprung upon his horse from behind, and the
natives were attacking him with their lances, He
lost his horse, but had the privilege of carrying away
the tiger’s skin. Those who complain of the scarcity
of game ought to come here. It is not by any means
inaccessible, and both tigers and elephants are ex-
ceedingly abundant.

April 26th— At 64 a. m. continued on through a
more open and somewhat cultivated country. The
Musi here makes a great bend to the southwest, and
the path leads eastward over a gently-rising eleva-
tion, on the top of which is a large and most
thriving coffee-garden, and near by are rice-fields
which yield abundantly. This garden has been
very lately planted, and yet all the trees that are old
enough to bear are nearly loaded down with fruit.
The rice-fields show that an abundance of food could
be raised here, and the only thing that 1s wanting is
people to do the work, The elevated situation of
this country makes it very healthy for foreigners.
If any one could obtain a grant of land here, and
also the privilege of bringing a large number of
Chinamen, he would certainly realize a fortune, for

SOURCE OF SUMATRA’S WEALTH. 505

coffee can be here cultivated with little care, and rice,
the staple article of food among that people, can be
raised in any quantity. Such a privilege could not
be obtained at present, but the liberal tendency of
the government of the Netherlands India promises
that it may be, at no distant time in the future.
Such an enterprise would not have the character of
an experiment, for the facility with which coffee and
rice can be grown has already been shown on this
plantation, and the cost of transporting it to Padang
or Palembang would be very light. Sumatra un-
doubtedly contains large quantities of gold, but the
true source of her wealth is not the precious metal
she possesses, but the crops of coffee she produces,
From the top of this mountain I took my last
view of the Barizan chain, which had been constant-
ly in sight since I passed through the Strait of Sun-
da on my way to Padang. In the ladangs in this
region the walls of the huts of the natives are mostly
made of bark. While coming down from this low
mountain-range, we had a splendid view up a valley
to the southward, and of the low but sharply-crested
chain which limits on the south the area drained by
the Musi. At the foot of this elevation a stream
courses southward to the Musi, and on its banks are a
native village, and a Dutch post and fort. Here, as
elsewhere, I rode up to the house of the controleur,
whom [ had previously notified of my coming. He
had gone a number of miles southward, to the limit
of his district and the Pasuma country, where I now
learned a war was going on. His good lady was at
home, and; to my great surprise, welcomed me in

506 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

pure English, To be able to converse in the in-
terior of Sumatra, in my native tongue, was indeed a
pleasure I had not anticipated. The distance from
Tanjong Agong to this place is eleven paals, about
ten miles,

April 27th—Continued down the north bank of
the Musi, which here flows to the northwest. For
three or four paals the path (for it cannot properly
be styled a road) was very narrow, and built on the
steep side of a mountain, at the foot of which the
Musi boils in a series of rapids. When within six
or seven miles of Tebing Tingi, we found the valley
much broken, and soon it became fiat, and changed
in many places into morasses. Here we came to a
small stream, over which was a bamboo bridge,
supported by rattans fastened to the limbs of two
high, overhanging trees. This was so weak that
my guide directed me to dismount and pass on
foot. At 2 a.m. we arrived at Tebing Tingi,
where an assistant resident is stationed, who re-
ceived me politely, and urged me to remain with
him several days. Distance made to-day, seventeen
paals. The whole distance from Kopaiyong to this
place, forty-five paals, I have travelled with the
single horse given me by the controleur of that vil-
lage. Such is the generous manner in which the
Dutch officials treat those who come to them prop-
erly recommended by the higher authorities.

After crossing the Barizan chain, and coming
down into this valley of the Musi, I have noticed
that the natives are of a lighter color, taller, and
more gracefully formed than those seen in the vicin-

THE ANAK GADIS. 507

ity of Bencoolen, The men always carry a kris or
a lance when they go from one kampong to an-
other. The same laws and customs prevail here as_
in the vicinity of Bencoolen, except that the jugur,
or price of a bride, is considerably higher, The anak
gadis here also wear many rings of large silver wire
on the forearm, and gold beads on the wrist, in
token of their virginity. The Resident states to me
that the native population does not appear to in-
crease in this region, and that the high price of the
brides is the chief reason. As the price is paid to the
girl’s parents, and not to herself, she has less induce-
ment to conduct herself in accordance with their
wishes; and, to avoid the natural consequences of
their habits, the anak gadis are accustomed to take
very large doses of pepper, which is mixed with
salt, in order to be swallowed more easily. Many
are never married, and most of those who are, bear
but two or three children, after they have subjected
themselves to such severe treatment in their youth.
April 27th—Rode five or six paals up the Musi,

and then crossed it at the foot of a rapid on a
“racket,” or raft of bamboo, the usual mode of fer-
rying in this island. In the centre of the raft is
a kind of platform, where the passenger sits. One
native stands at the bow, and one at the stern, each ~
having a long bamboo. The racket is then drawn
up close to the foot of the rapids, and a man keeps
her head to the stream, while the other pushes her
over. As soon as she leaves the bank, away she
shoots down the current, despite the shouts and ex-
ertions of both. We were carried down so swiftly,

508 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

that I began to fear we should come into another
rapid, where our frail raft would have been washed

.to pieces among the foaming rocks in a moment;
but at last they succeeded in stopping her, and we
gained the opposite bank. Thence my guide took
me through a morass, which was covered with a
dense jungle, an admirable place for crocodiles, and
they do not fail to frequent it in large numbers;
but the thousands of leeches formed a worse pest.
In one place, about a foot square, in the path, I think
I saw as many as twenty, all stretching and twisting
themselves in every direction in search of prey. They
are small, being about an inch long, and a tenth of an
inch in diameter, before they garge themselves with
the blood of some unfortunate animal that chances to
pass. ‘They tormented me in a most shocking man-
ner. Every ten or fifteen minutes I had to stop and
rid myself of perfect anklets of them,

I was in search of a coral-stone, which the natives
of this region burn for lime. My attendants, as well
as myself, were so tormented with the leeches, that
we could not remain long in that region, but I saw it
was nothing but a raised reef, chiefly composed of
comminuted coral, in which were many large hemi-
spherical meandrinas. The strata, where they could

~ be distinguished, were seen to be nearly horizontal.
Large blocks of coral are scattered about, just as on
the present reefs, but the jungle was too thick to
travel in far, and, as soon as we had gathered a few
shells; we hurried to the Musi, and rode back seven
miles in a heavy, drenching rain.

All the region we have been travelling in to-day

TROOPS OF MONKEYS. 509

abounds in rhinoceroses, elephants, and deer. If the
leeches attack them as they did a dog that followed
us, they must prove one of the most efficient meang
of destroying those large animals. It is at least for-
tunate for the elephant and rhinoceros that they are
pachyderms. While passing through the places
where the jungle is mostly composed of bamboos,
we saw several large troops of small, slate-colored
monkeys, and, among the taller trees, troops of an-
other species of a light-yellow color, with long arms
and long tails. On the morning that I left Tanjong
Agong, as we passed a tall tree by the roadside, the
natives cautioned me to keep quiet, for it was “ full
of monkeys,” and, when we were just under it,
they all set up aloud shout, and at once a whole
troop sprang out of its high branches like a flock of
birds. Some came down twenty-five or thirty feet
before they struck on the tops of the small trees be-
neath them, and yet each would recover, and go off
through the jungle, with the speed of an arrow, in
a moment.

While nearly all animals have a particular area
which they frequent—as the low coast region, the
plateaus of these tropical lands, or the higher parts of
the mountains—the rhinoceros lives indifferently any-
where between the sea-shores and the tops of the high-
est peaks, This species has two “horns,” the first being
the longer and more sharply pointed, but the Java
species has only one. The natives here know nothing
of the frequent combats between these animals and
elephants, that are so frequently pictured in popular
works on natural history. The Resident has, how-

510 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

ever, told me of a combat between two other rivals
of these forests that is more remarkable. When he
was controlewr at a small post, a short distance north
of this place, a native came to him one morning, and
asked, if he should find a dead tiger and bring its
head, whether he would receive the usual bounty
given by the government. ‘The Resident assured
him that he would, and the native then explained
that there had evidently been a battle between two
tigers in the woods, near his kampong, for all had
heard their howls and cries, and they were fighting
so long that, he had no doubt, one was left dead on
the spot. A party at once began a hunt for the ex-
pected prize, and soon they found the battle had not
been between two tigers, as they had supposed, but
between a tiger and a bear, and that both were dead.
‘The bear was still hugging the tiger, and the tiger
had reached round, and fastened his teeth in the side
of the bear’s neck. The natives then gathered some
rattan, wound it round them, just as they were, strung
them to a long bamboo, and brought them to the
office of the Resident, who gave a full account of this
strange combat in his next official report.

These bears are popularly called “sun” bears,
Helarctos Malayanus, from their habit of basking
in the hot sunshine, while other bears slink away
from the full light of day into some shady place.
The Resident at Bencoolen had a young cub that was
very tame, Its fur was short, fine, and glossy. It
was entirely black, except a crescent-shaped spot of
white on its breast, which characterizes the species.

Governor Rafiles, while at Bencoolen, also had a

FROM TEBING TINGI TO BUNGA MAS. 511

tame one, which was very fond of mangostins, and
only lost its good-nature when it came to the table,
and was not treated with champagne. When fully
grown, it is only four and a half feet long, It is
herbivorous, and particularly fond of the young
leaves of the cocoa-nut palm, and is said to destroy
many of those valuable trees to gratify its appetite.
April 30th—At 6 a, mu. commenced the last stage
of my journey on horseback. My course now was
from Tebing Tingi, on the Musi, in a southeasterly
direction, to Lahat, the head of navigation on the
Limatang. The distance between these two places is
about forty paals, considerably farther than it would
be from Tebing Tingi down the Musi to the head of
navigation on that river; but I prefer to take this
route, in order to learn something of the localities of
coal on the Limatang and its branches, and of the
unexplored Pasuma country. We crossed the Musi
on a raft, and at once the road took us into a forest,
which continued with little interruption all the way
to Bunga Mas, a distance of twenty-four paals. Most
of this forest rises out of a dense undergrowth, in
which the creeping stems and prickly leaves of rattans
were seen, These are various species of Calamus,
a genus of palms that has small, reed-like, trailing
stems, which are in strange contrast to the erect and
rigid trunks of the cocoa-nut, the areca, the palmetto,
and other palms. It seems paradoxical to call this a
palm, and the high, rigid bamboo a species of grass.
When they are growing, the stem is sheathed in the
bases of so many leaves that it is half an inch in di-
ameter. When these are stripped off, a smooth, reed-

512 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

like stem of a straw-color is found within, which be-
comes yellow as it dries. The first half-mile of the
road we travelled to-day was completely ploughed
up by elephants which passed along two days ago
during a heavy rain. The piles of their excrements
were so numerous that it seems they use it as a
stall. Every few moments we came upon their
tracks. In one place they had completely brushed
away the bridge over a small stream, where they
went down to ford it; for, though they always try to
avail themselves of the cleared road when they travel
to and fro among these forests, they are too saga-
cious to trust themselves on the frail bridges.

In the afternoon, the small boughs which they
‘had lately broken off became more numerous as we
advanced, and their leaves were of a livelier green.
We were evidently near a herd, for leaves wilt in a
short time under this tropical sun. Soon after, we
came into a thicker part of the forest, where many
tall trees threw out high, overarching branches,
which effectually shielded us from the scorching sun,
while the dry leaves they had shed quite covered the
road.

Several natives had joined us, for they always
travel in company through fear of the tigers. While
we were passing through the dark wood, suddenly
a heavy crashing began in the thick jungle about
twenty paces from where I was riding. A native,
who was walking beside my horse with my rifle
capped and cocked, handed it to me in an instant,
but the jungle was so thick that it was impossible
to see any thing, and I did not propose to fire until

WE COME UPON AN ELEPHANT. 513

I could see the forehead of my game, All set up a
loud, prolonged yell, and the beast slowly retreated,
and allowed us to proceed unmolested. The natives
are not afraid of whole herds of elephants, but they
dislike to come near a single one. The larger and
stronger males sometimes drive off all their weaker
rivals, which are apt to wreak their vengeance on
any one they chance to meet. Beyond this was a
more open country, and in the road were scattered
many small trees that had been torn up by a herd,
apparently this very morning.

Although they are so abundant here in Sumatra,
there are none found in Java. They occur in large
numbers on the Malay Peninsula, and there is good
reason to suppose they exist in the wild state in the
northern parts of Borneo. This is regarded as dis-
tinct from the Asiatic and African species, and has
been named Elephas Sumatrensis. |

Three paals before we came to Bunga Mas, a
heavy rain set in and continued until we reached
that place. Our road crossed a number of streams
that had their sources on the flanks of the moun-
tains on our right, and in a short time their torrents
were so swollen that my horse could scarcely ford
them. Bunga Mas is a dusun, or village, on a cliff
by a small river which flows toward the north. Near
the village is a stockade fort, where we arrived
at half-past six. The captain gave me comfortable
quarters, and I was truly thankful to escape the
storm and the tigers without, and to rest after more
than twelve hours in the saddle.

This evening the captain has shown me the skin

33

514 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

of a large tiger, which, a short time since, killed three
natives in four nights at this place. The village is
surrounded by a stockade to keep out these ravenous
beasts, and the gate is guarded at night by a native
armed with a musket. One evening this tiger stole
up behind the guard, sprang upon him, and, as a na-
tive said who chanced to see it, killed him instantly
with a blow of her paw on the back-of his neck.
She then caught him up and ran away with him.
The next day the body was found partly eaten, and
was buried very deeply to keep it out of her reach.
The second evening she seized and carried off a na-
tive who was bathing in the stream at the foot of the
cliff. The captain now found he must try to destroy
her, and therefore loaded a musket with a very heavy
charge of powder and two bullets. The gun was
then lashed firmly to a tree, and a large piece of fresh
meat was fastened to the muzzle, so that when she
attempted to take it away she would discharge the
piece, and receive both bullets, The next morning
they found a piece of her tongue on the ground
near the muzzle of the gun, and the same trap was
set again; but the next night she came back and
took away a second man on guard at the gate of the
dusun, The captain now started with a corporal
and eight men, determined to hunt her down. They
tracked her to a place filled with tall grass, and clos-
ing round that, slowly advanced, until two or three
of them heard a growl, when they all fired and killed
her instantly. It proved to be a female, and she had
evidently been so daring for the purpose of procuring
food for her young.

AMONG TIGERS. 515

May 1s¢.—The rain continued through the night,
and only cleared away at daylight. In two hours
I started, though I found myself ill from such con-
tinued exertion and exposure to a burning sun and
drenching rains, and, more than all, from drinking so
many different kinds of waterin a single day. I was
accompanied by a soldier who was one of the eight
who went out to hunt the tiger that killed so many
natives in such a short time. He repeated to me all
the details of the whole matter, and assured me-that
a piece of the brute’s tongue was found on the ground
just as the captain said, and that, when they had se-
cured her, they found that a part of her tongue was
gone,

We had not travelled more than half a mile be
fore we came upon the tracks of two tigers, a large
one and a small one, probably a female and her
young, which had passed along the road in the same
way we were going. The perfect impressions left by
their feet showed they had walked along that road
since the rain had ceased, and therefore not more
than two hours before us, and possibly not more than
ten minutes. We expected to see them at almost every
turn in the road, and we all kept together and pro-
ceeded with the greatest caution till the sun was high
and it was again scorching hot. At such times these
dangerous beasts always retreat into the cool jungle.

For eight paals from Bunga Mas the road was
more hilly than it was yesterday. In many places
the sides of the little valley between the ridges were
so steep that steps were made in the slippery clay
for the natives, who always travel on foot. Seven paals

516 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

out, we had a fine view of the Pasuma country. It
is a plateau which spreads out to the southeast and
east from the feet of the great Dempo, the highest
and most magnificent mountain in all this region. The
lower part of this volcano appeared in all its details,
but thick clouds unfortunately concealed its summit.
Considerable quantities of opaque gases are said to
have poured out of its crater, but it does not appear
to have undergone any great eruption since the
Dutch established themselves in this region. It is
the most southern and eastern of the many active
volcanoes on this island. Like the Mérapi in the
Padang plateau, the Dempo does not rise in the
Barizan chain nor in one parallel to it, but in a trans-
verse range. Here there is no high chain parallel to
the Barizan, as there is at Kopaiyong, where the Musi
takes its rise, and also north of Mount Ulu Musi con-
tinuously through the Korinchi country all the way
to the Batta Lands. Another and a longer transverse
elevation appears in the chain which forms the bound-
ary between this residency of Palembang and that of
Lampong, and which is the water-shed, extending in
a northeasterly direction from Lake Ranau to the Java
Sea. The height of Mount Dempo has been variously
estimated at from ten thousand to twelve thousand
feet, but I judge that it is not higher than the Mérapi,
and that its summit therefore is not more than nine
thousand five hundred feet above the level of the sea.

The Pasuma plateau is undoubtedly the most
densely-peopled area in this part of the island. Its
soil is described to me, by those who have seen it, as
exceedingly fertile, and quite like that of the Musi

THE PASUMA PEOPLE. 517

valley at Kopaiyong, but the natives of that country
were extremely poor, while the Pasumas raise an
abundance of rice and keep many fowls. During the
past few years they have raised potatoes and many
sorts of Huropean vegetables, which they sold to the
Dutch before the war began. ‘The cause of the pres-
_ ent difficulty was a demand made by the Dutch Gov-
ernment that the Pasuma chiefs should acknowledge
its supremacy, which they have all refused to do.
The villages or fortified places of the Pasumas are
located on the tops of hills, and they fight with so
much determination that they have already repulsed
the Dutch once from one of their forts with a very
considerable loss. No one, however, entertains a
doubt of the final result of this campaign, for their
fortifications are poor defences against the mortars
and other ordnance of the Dutch.
Soon: after the tracks of the two tigers disap-
peared, we came to a kind of rude stockade fort,
where a guard of native militia are stationed. The
paling, however, is more for a protection against the
tigers than the neighboring Pasumas. A number of
the guard told me that they hear the tigers how] here
every night, and that frequently they come up on the
hill and walk round the paling, looking for a chance
to enter; and I have no doubt their assertions were
entirely true, for when we had come to the foot of
the hill the whole road was covered with tracks,
The natives, who, from long experience, have remark-
able skill in tracing these beasts, said that three
different ones had been there since the rain ceased ;
but one who has not been accustomed to examine such

518 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

tracks would have judged that half a dozen tigers had
passed that way. There are but a few native houses
here at a distance from the villages in the ladangs,
and those are all perched on posts twelve or fifteen
feet high, and reached by a ladder or notched stick,
in order that those dwelling in them may be safer
from the tigers.

At noon we came down into a fertile valley sur-
rounded with mountains in the distance, and at 2
p. M. arrived at Lahat, a pretty native village on the
banks of the Limatang. The controleur stationed
here received me politely, and engaged a boat to take
me down the Limatang to Palembang, The Lima-
tang takes its rise up in the Pasuma country, and
Lahat, being at the head of navigation on this river,
is an important point. A strong fort has been built
here, and is constantly garrisoned with one or two
companies of soldiers, One night while I was there,
there was a general alarm that a strong body of
Pasumas had been discovered reconnoitring the vil-
lage, and immediately every possible preparation was
made to receive them. The cause of the alarm proved
to be, that one of the Javanese soldiers stationed out-
side the fort stated that he saw two natives skulking
inrthe shrubbery near him, and that he heard them
consulting whether it was best to attack him, because,
as was true, his gun was not loaded. The mode of
attack that the Pasumas adopt is to send forward a
few of their braves to set fire to a village, while the
main body remains near by to make attack as soon as
the confusion caused by the fire begins. This is un-
doubtedly the safest and most effectual mode of at-

HORSEBACK TRAVEL OVER. 519

tacking a kampong, as the houses of the natives are
mostly of bamboo, and if there is a fresh breeze and
one or two huts can be fired to windward, the whole
village will soon be in a blaze. Though this seems
to us a dastardly mode of warfare, the Pasumas are
justly famed for their high sense of honor, their
bitterest enemy being safe when he comes and intrusts
himself entirely to their protection. When the Dutch
troops arrived here, an official, who had frequently
been up into their country, volunteered to visit the
various kampongs and try to induce them to submit,
and in every place he was well received and all his
wants cared for, though none of the chiefs would, for
a moment, entertain his proposals,

My journey on horseback was finished, The dis-
tance by the route taken from Bencoolen is about
one hundred and twenty paals, or one hundred and
twelve miles, but I had travelled considerably farther
to particular localities that were off the direct route.
I had chanced to make the journey at just the
right time of year. The road is good enough for
padatis and to transport light artillery. For most
of the time a tall, rank grass fills the whole road ex-
cept a narrow footpath, but the government obliges
the natives living near this highway to cut off the
grass and repair the bridges once a year, and I chanced
to begin my journey just as most of this work was
finished. The bridges are generally made of bamboo,
and can therefore be used for only a short time after
they are repaired. Indeed, in many places, they are
frequently swept away altogether, and are not rebuilt
until the next year. From what I have already re-

” 590 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

corded, those who glory in hunting dangerous game
may conclude that they cannot do better than to visit
this part of Sumatra. To reach it they should come
from Singapore to Muntok on the island of Banca, and
thence over to Palembang, where the Resident of all
this region resides, and obtain from him letters to
his sub-officers in this vicinity. From Palembang
they should come up the Musi and Limatang to Lahat,
when they will find themselves in a most magnificent
and healthy country, and one literally abounding
in game,

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SINGAPORE,

CHAPTER XVIL
-. © PALEMBANG, BANOA, AND SINGAPORE,

May 4th—At 7 a.m. I bade my host, the contro-
leur, good-by, and began to glide down .the Lima-
tang for Palembang.

It was a cool, clear morning, and I enjoyed a fine
view of Mount Dempo and the other high peaks near
it. The current at first was so rapid that the only
care of my men was, to keep the boat from striking
on the many bars of sand and shingle. To do this,
one stood forward and one aft, each provided with a
long bamboo. We soon shot into a series of foaming
rapids, and here the river bent so abruptly to the
right and left that I thought we should certainly be
dashed against a ragged, precipitous wall of rock that
formed the right bank at that place, but we passed
safely by, though the stern of the boat only passed
clear by a few inches. My boat was about twenty
feet long and five broad, flat-bottomed, and made of
thin plank. Its cential part was covered over with
roof of atap, like the sampans in China, and on this
was another sliding roof, which could be hauled for-
ward to protect the rowers from rain or sunshine,
From Lahat to the mouth of the Inem River relays of

529 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

natives stood ready on the bank to guide our boat.
This service they render the Dutch Government in-
stead of paying a direct tax in money.

A short distance below Lahat, on the right bank,
is a remarkably needle-like peak called Bukit Sirilo.
Near this hill the Limatang makes a long bend to the
north, and after we had left it two or three miles be-
hind us I was quite surprised to find we had turned
sharply round, and that it was now two or three
miles before us. A short distance above the Sirilo
we passed a fine outcropping of coal in the left bank.
The government engineers have examined it, and
found it to be soft and bituminous, but containing
too large a proportion of incombustible matter to be »
of any great value. The strata dip toward the coast.
The Resident of Tebing Tingi informed me that a
similar coal is found on the Musi below that place.
I believe ‘that strata of recent limestone, containing
corals, which I observed above Tebing Tingi, under-
lie this coal, and that it is, therefore, of very recent
geological age. “At 4 p.m. we came to Muara Inem,
a large kampong of two thousand souls, on the Inem,
at its juncture with the Limatang. Here I had the
pleasure of meeting the controlewr, whom If had met
in the Minahassa, and who had been my fellow-tray-
eller from Celebes to Java, During the latter third
of my way down the Limatang to this point, the
country is well peopled, and forms a marked contrast
with the sparsely-populated regions through which I
have been travelling since leaving Bencoolen.,

At one kampong we saw three women in a small,
flat-bottomed canoe, each sitting erect and paddling

RAFTS OF COCOA-NUTS. . 598

with both hands. In this way they crossed the river
with a surprising rapidity, considering the simple ap-
paratus they used, The readiness with which they
paddled indicated that this is no very uncommon
mode of crossing rivers in this land.

As the villages became larger and more frequent,
‘ more and more cocoa-nut trees appeared, and soon we
passed several large bamboo rafts, bearing sheds that
were filled with this fruit, and in one place two na-
tives were seen quietly floating down the river on a
great pile of these nuts in the most complacent
manner. At first I expected to see. the nuts fly
off in all directions and the men disappear beneath
the surface of the river, but as we came nearer I saw
the nuts were fastened together in small bunches by
strips of their own husks, and these bunches were
bound into a hemispherical mass large enough to
float the two men. The nuts on the raft were to
be taken down to Palembang, where the cocoa-palms
do not flourish, During the day we saw two or
three large troops of monkeys. This is a very pleas.
ant time to pass down these rivers, because they are
now high, and instead of seeing only walls and bluffs
of naked mud on either hand, the banks are covered
with grass down to the water’s edge, and the bam-
boos and trees, that grow here in tropical luxuriance,
lean over gracefully toward the rapid river, and lave
the tips of their lowest branches in the passing
current.

May 5th—The controleur kindly took me in his
large barge, with twenty men to paddle and two men
to steer, some five miles up the Inem River to Lingga,

524 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

where there is an outcropping of coal in the river
bank. The coal found there is very light, almost as
soft as charcoal, and evidently of a-very recent geolo-
gical age. A similar but somewhat better coal is
found five or six miles farther up this river. At
Karang Tingi, three miles up the river from Muara
Inem, the rajah of that district gave me a bottle of
petroleum, which is about as thick as tar, and, ac.
cording to the examinations of the Dutch chemists,
does not contain much paraffine, naphtha, nor material
suitable for burning in lamps. It is found about six
miles back from the river. At Karang Tingi we no-
ticed a number of boys enjoying an odd kind of
sport. They were sliding down the high slippery
bank on their naked backs,

_ At Muara Inem the controleur showed me a large
garden filled with trees, from which the “palm-oil”
is manufactured. It is a low palm, and the fruit is
not much larger than the betel-nut. I understood
him to say that it was the Z/ais Guineensis, and had
been introduced from the Dutch possessions on the
west coast of Africa, The oil is contained in the
husk, and is used in manufacturing soap and candles.

May 6th—Very early this morning started with
the controleur down the Limatang in his barge, with
twenty men. During last night the river rose here
four or five feet, and the current is now unusually
strong. From Muara Inem, to where it empties into
the Musi, it is very crooked, constantly bending to the
right in nearly equal curves, the current, of course, be-
ing strongest in the middle of each bend. This con-
stant curving gives an endless variety to its scenery.

ee Be ee Al i

"VHIVANS NI JNAIS HAAIY

ve

ae
bao “a

FLOATING DOWN THE LIMATANG. 5On

The water, being high, enabled us to see the cleared
places that occurred from time to time on the bank;
though generally only a thick wood or dense jungle
appeared on either hand, yet I never for a moment
was weary of watching the graceful bending of the
reeds and tall bamboos, and of the varied grouping
of these with large trees. In two places the river
makes such long bends, that artificial canals have
been made across the tongues of land thus formed.
One of these cuts, which was less than a hundred
yards long, saved us going round half a mile by the
river. Every four or five miles we came to a large
kampong, and exchanged our boatmen for new ones,
so that all day long we swiftly glided down the
smooth stream, one relay of men not getting weary
before they were relieved by another, and the
strong current also helping us onward. The kam-
pongs here are free from the filth seen in those
farther up in the interior. The houses are all placed
on posts five or six feet high, for sometimes the
whole country is completely flooded. Many of them
are built of well-planed boards, and have a roofing
of tiles. When the sun had become low, we came
to the large kampong of Baruaiyu. At all these
villages there is a raft with a house upon it, where
the boatmen waited for us, Fastening our boat to
one of these, we took up our quarters in the rajah’s
house. Like those built by our Puritan forefathers,
it had one long roof and one short one, but it was so
low that a tall man could scarcely stand up in it any-
where. The floor, instead of being level, rose in four
broad steps, and the whole building formed but one

526 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

large apartment with two small rooms at the rear
end,

May 7th—A severe toothache and the bites and
buzzing of thousands of mosquitoes made me glad to
see the dawn once more, and again be floating down
the river. Before we came to the chief village of
each district, where we were to exchange boatmen,
we always met the boat of the rajah of that place,
and were greeted with shouts and a great din from
tifas and gongs.

The rajahs in this region are divided into three
grades, and their ranks are shown by the small
hemispherical caps they wear. Those of the highest
rank have theirs completely covered with figures
wrought with gold thread; those of the second
rank have theirs mostly covered with such orna-
ments; and those of the third rank wear only a
gold band. They all carry krises of the common ser-
pentine form. Those that have the wavy lines alike
on each side of the blade are regarded as the most
valuable. The handles are usually made of whale’s-
teeth, and very nicely carved ; and the scabbards are
frequently overlaid with gold. Those that have
been used by famous chiefs are valued at all sorts of
enormous prices, but are never sold. They also fre-
quently wear a belt covered with large diamond-
shaped plates of silver, on which are inscribed verses
of the Koran, for the natives of this region are prob-
ably the most zealous and most rigid Mohammedans
in the archipelago,

The staple article of food here is rice. They also
raise much cotton from seed imported from our

COTTON, 597

Southern States.. Having gathered it from the ripe
bolls, they take out the seeds by running it between
two wooden or iron cylinders, which are made to re-
volve by a treadle, and are so near together, that
the seeds, which are saved for the next season, can-
not pass through. The fibres are very short, com-
pared to the average product raised in our country,
but it serves a good purpose here, where they make
it into a coarse thread, which they weave by hand
into a cloth for kabayas and chilanas,

The marriage rites and laws here are nearly the
same as those I have already described at Taba Pa-
nanjong, except that the price of a bride here is just
that of a buffalo, or about eighty guilders (thirty-two
dollars). Unless a young man has a buffalo or other
possessions of equal value, therefore, he cannot pur-
chase a wife. Near Baruaiyu there is a peculiar peo-
ple known as the Rembang people, who live in four
or five villages at some distance from the river, They
are very willing to learn to read and write their own
language, but will not allow themselves to be taught
Dutch or Malay. Last night the river rose still
higher, and now it has overflowed its banks, which
appear much lower than they are between Lamat
and Muara Inem. During the day we have had
several showers. At 5 p. M. we arrived at Sungi
Rotan, the last village on the Lamatang before its
confluence with the Musi. It is a small and poor
village, the land here being generally too low for
rice, and the cocoa-nut palms yielding but little
compared to what they do higher up. Farther
down toward Palembang they yield still less. This

528 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

is the limit of the controleuwr’s district in this diree-
tion. It extends but a short distance up the Inem
and up the Limatang above Muara Inem, and yet it
contains no less that ninety-one thousand souls.

The controlewr came here to settle a difficulty be-
tween the people of this and a neighboring village.
The other party had occupied a portion of the rice-
lands belonging to this people, and the trouble had
risen to such a pitch, that the government had to in-
terfere, to prevent them from beginning a war. I said
to the rajah that, beyond Lamat, I had passed for
miles through a beautiful country, and that it seemed
to me he would do well to migrate there; but he evi-
dently disliked such a suggestion, and the controleur
asked me not to urge him to adopt my view, for fear
that he might think the government designed send-
ing him there, and because he and all his people
would rather die than go to live in any distant re-
gion.

May 8th—At 64 A. m. started for Palembang.
My own boat, which I sent on directly from Muara
Inem, arrived here yesterday a few hours before us,
having been three days in coming down the same
distance that we have made in two. We soon stopped
at the request of one of the boatmen to examine a
small bamboo box which he had set in a neighboring
bayou for crawfish. Several were found in it. Their,
eyes seemed to emit flashes of light, and appeared to
be spherical jewels of a light-scarlet hue. I found
them palatable when roasted. The boatmen also
found some Ampullarie, which they said they were
accustomed to eat, and I found them palatable also

FROM PURGATORY TO PARADISE, 529

We soon floated out of the narrow Limatang into
the wide and sluggish Musi, and changed our course
from north to east. There are great quantities of
rattan along the lower part of the Limatang and the
Musi, and the natives gather only a small fraction of
what they might if they were not so indolent. Last
night, at Sungi Rotan, the mosquitoes proved a worse
‘pest than the night before, and they have continued
to annoy us all day.

In the afternoon I had a slight attack of fever,
almost the only one I have had since I was ill im-
mediately after my arrival in Batavia, a few days
more than a year ago. After three large doses of
quinine I fell asleep, my boatmen saying that we
should not reach Palembang till morning, which en-
tirely agreed with my own wishes, as I did not care
to call during the evening on the assistant Resident,
whom I had already notified of my coming. When
the last dose had disappeared I soon became oblivious
to all real things, and was only troubled with the
torturing images seen in a fever-dream. While these
hideous forms were still before my mind’s eye, I was
suddenly aroused by a loud noise, and, while yet
half awake, was dazzled by a bright light on the
water, and, on looking out, saw, that we were near a
large house. On the brilliantly-lighted portico above
us were festoons of flowers, and, while I was yet
gazing in wonder, inspiriting music sprang up and
couple after couple whirled by in the mazy waltz, I
put my hand up to my head to assure myself that I
was not the victim of some hallucination, and my
boatmen, apparently perceiving my state of mind, in-

84

530 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

formed me that we had arrived at Palembang, and
that a sister of one of the officials had lately been
married, and her brother was celebrating the happy
occasion by giving a grand “feast,” or, as we should
say, a ball.

The bright light, the enlivening music, and the
constant hum of happy voices, instantly banished all
possibility of my entertaining the thought of remaining
for the night in my dark, narrow cabin; and at once,
with no other light whatever than that reflected on
the water from the bright ballroom, I prepared my-
self to meet the Resident in full dress. He was
greatly surprised to see me at such a late hour, but
received me in a most cordial manner, and at once
commenced introducing me to the host and hostess,
the bride and bridegroom, and all the assembled
guests. The chills and burning fever, from which I
had been suffering, vanished, and in a moment I
found myself transferred from a real purgatory into
a perfect paradise.

Palembang occupies both banks of the Musi for
four or five miles, but there are only three or four
rows of houses on each bank. Many of these houses
were built on bamboo rafts, and, when the tide is
high, the city seems to be built on a plain, but at low
water it appears to be built in a valley. The tide
here usually rises and falls nine or ten feet, but in
spring fourteen feet. This is the greatest rise and
fall that I have seen in the archipelago. It is said
that in the river Rakan, which empties into the Strait
of Malacca, at spring tides the water comes in with a
bore and rises thirty feet. The principal part of Pa-

WOMEN OF PALEMBANG,

PALEMBANG — HIGH WATER.

PALEMBANG. ee ;:3 |

lenibang is built on the left bank. There are a large
and well-constructed fort, and the houses of the Resi-
dent, assistant Resident, and other officials. The
Resident and the colonel commanding the fort are
now in the Pasuma country. On the left bank is the
Chinese quarter, and very fine imitations of the more
common tropical fruits are made there in lacquer-
ware by those people. Below the fort, on the right
bank, is the large market, where we saw a magnifi-
cent display of krises, and enormous quantities of
fruit. The name Palembang, or, more correctly, Pa-
limbangan, is of Javanese origin, and signifies “the
place where the draining off was done.” The “drain-
ing off” is the same phrase as that used to describe
water running out of the open-work baskets, in which
_ gold is washed, and the word Palembang is regarded
generally as equivalent to “gold-washing” in our
language. The Javanese origin of the first settlers in
this region is further shown by the title of the native
officials and the names of various localities in the vi-
cinity. The natives have a tradition that Palembang
was founded by the Javanese government of Majapa-
hit, but the Portuguese state that it was founded two
hundred and fifty years before their arrival, or about
A. D. 1250.

Back of the Resident’s house is a mosque with:
pilasters and a dome, and near by a minaret, about!
fifty feet high, with a winding external staircase, It
is by far the finest piece of native architecture that I
have seen in these islands, and is said to be decidedly
superior to any of the old temples in Java. Its his-
tory appears to be lost, but I judge it was built not

539 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

long after the arrival of the Portuguese. The archi-
tects were probably not natives, but the Arabs, who
have not only traded with this people, but succeeded
in converting them to Mohammedanism, Palembang
Lama, or Old Palembang, is situated on the left bank,
a mile or two below the fort. Landing with the na-
tives under a waringin-tree, I followed a narrow path
over the low land for a mile, and came to the grave
of a native queen. All possible virtues are ascribed
to her by the natives, and many were on their way
to this shrine to make vows and repeat their Moham-
medan formulas, or were already returning home-
ward. ‘Those who were going stopped at a little vil-
lage by the way to purchase bunches of a kind of
balm which they placed in the tomb. After meet-
ing with many worshippers, I was quite surprised to
find the grave was only protected by an old wooden
building. The coffin was a rectangular piece of
wood, about a foot and a half wide, and five feet
long, in which was inserted at the head and foot a
small square post, about two feet high. Near the
grave of the queen were those of her nearest relatives.
This is regarded as the oldest grave that can be iden-
tified in this vicinity. It is supposed to have the
power to shield its worshippers from sickness and all
kinds of misfortune. The Mohammedanism of this
‘people, therefore, even when it is purest, is largely
mingled with their previous superstitions.

Nearer Palembang we visited the tombs of later
princes. A high wall encloses several separate build-
ings from twenty to thirty feet square, and surmount-
ed by domes, and within are the coffins, much like

THE KUBUS. 533

that already described. Other massive rectangular
tombs are seen outside. None of these appear to be
very old.

From Palembang to the mouth of the Musi is
about fifty miles, and yet there is plenty of water
for the largest steamers to come to the city. The
‘Musi is therefore the largest river in Sumatra; and}
Palembang gains its importance from its position as
the head of navigation on this river, which receives
into itself streams navigable for small boats for many
miles. On the south is the Ogan, which, in its upper
part, flows through a very fertile and well-peopled
region, and which, from the descriptions given me,
I judge is a plateau analogous to that at Kopaiyong,
near the source of the Musi. This region of the
Ogan produces much pepper. North of the Musi is
the country of the Kubus, who have been described
to me here and at Tebing-Tingi as belonging to the
Malay race. They are said to clothe themselves
with bark-cloth, and to eat monkeys and reptiles of
all kinds, They shun all foreigners and other na-
tives, and are very rarely seen. They appear to be
very similar in their personal appearance and habits
to the Lubus that I saw north of Padang, and per-
haps form but a branch of that people.* It was to
this place that the author of the “Prisoner of Welte-
vreden ” came on his filibustering expedition, and
was seized and carried to Batavia, whence he es-
caped. The open-hearted and generous manner in

* The total population of this residency is estimated at 527,050, of
which 132 are Europeans; about 522,345 natives; 2,790 Chinese; 1,716
Arabs; and 67 from other Eastern nations.

534 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

which I have been everywhere received and aided,
both by the government and by private persons, as
has constantly appeared on these pages, convinces
me that any American, whose character and mission
are above suspicion, will be treated with no greater
kindness and consideration by any nation than by
the Dutch in the East Indian Archipelago.

May 13th—Took a small steamer for Muntok,
on the island of Banca, where the mail-boat from
Batavia touches while on her way to Singapore.
Muntok is a very pretty village. The houses, which
mostly belong to Chinamen, are neatly built and
well painted, The streets are kept in good repair,
and the whole place has an air of enterprise and
thrift. Here I had the pleasure of making the
acquaintance of the chief mining engineer on the
island. One morning we rode out a few miles to a
granite hill, from the top of which I had a fine view
over the Strait of Banca to the low, monotonous
coast of Sumatra. There are but few elevations on
Banca, and none of any considerable height. All
are covered with a thick forest. The rocks of which
Banca is composed are chiefly granite, and a red,
compact sandstone or grit. The tin is disseminated
in small particles through the whole mass of granite,
which has slowly disintegrated and decomposed, and
the clay and sand thus formed have been washed into
the nearest depressions. The tin, being the heaviest
of these materials, has settled near the bottom of each
basin, when they have been somewhat assorted by
the action of water. The upper strata being re-
moved, the particles of tin are found in the lower

BANCA. 535

strata, and obtained by washing, just as in the
process of washing similar alluvial deposits for gold.
When the beds of all the basins on the island have
been thoroughly washed, the yield of tin will be at
an end, because it does not occur, as at Cornwall, in
veins in the granite, but only in small scattered
grains, The washing is almost wholly done by
Chinese, who chiefly come from Amoy.

The income of Banca* has been for some time
over three million guilders per year, after deduct-
ing the salaries of all the officials on the island, and
the annual expense of the garrison. The chief engi-
neer thinks that about two-thirds of all the tin on
the island has now been taken out, but that the
present yield will continue for some years, and a less
one for many years after. This tin-bearing range
of granite begins as far north on the west coast of
the peninsula of Malacca as Tavoy. It has been
obtained at Tenasserim, and on the island of Junk
Ceylon, and large quantities are annually taken out
at Malacca. It is also found on the Sumatra side of
the strait, in the district of Kampar. The range
reappears in the islands of Banca and Billiton, and
again in Bali, at the eastern end of Java.

‘ May 14th—In the evening the steamer arrived
from Batavia. For fellow-passengers I found the eap-
tain and doctor of an English ship that had lately
been burned in the Strait of Sunda while bound from
Amoy to Demarara with a cargo of coolies, A pas-
senger from her was also on board, who had written

* The population of the island is 54,839. Of these, 116 are Euro-
peans; 37,070 natives; 17,097 Chinese, and 56 Arabs.

536 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

a book on Cochin China, giving his experience while
a captive in that land.

May 18th.—We continue, this morning, to pass
small islands, and now, by degrees, we are able to
make out many ships and steamers at anchor in a
,bay, and soon the houses by the bund or street bor-
dering the shore begin to appear. We are nearing
Singapore. A year and fourteen days have passed
since I landed in Java, During that time I have
travelled six thousand miles over the archipelago,
and yet I have not once set foot on any other soil
than that possessed by the Dutch, so great is the
extent of their Eastern possessions,

The activity and enterprise which characterize
this city are very striking to one who has been liv:
ing so long among the phlegmatic Dutchmen. Singa-
pore, or, more correctly, Singapura, “the lion city,”
is situated on an island of the same name, which is
about twenty-five miles long from east to west, and
fourteen miles wide from north to south.

When the English, in 1817, restored the archi-
pelago to the Dutch, they felt the need of some
port to protect their commerce; and in 1819, by the
foresight of Sir Stamford Raffles, the present site of
Singapore was chosen for a free city. In seven years
from that time its population numbered 13,000; but
has since risen to 90,000, Its imports have risen
from $5,808,000 in 1823 to $31,460,000 in 1863, and
its exports from $4,598,000 in 1823 to $26,620,000
in 1863,

As soon as I landed, I found myself among Amer-
ican friends, and one of them kindly introduced me

PRESENTED WITH A PYTHON. 537

to the Governor of the Straits Settlements, who re-
ceived me in the most polite manner and kindly offered
to assist me in any way in his power, At my request,
he gave me notes of introduction to the Governor
of Hong Kong and the admiral commanding her
Majesty’s fleet in the seas of China and Japan. A
few days of rest after my long journeys over Suma-
tra soon glided by, and I was ready to continue my
travels. |

From Singapore my plan was to proceed directly
to China, but finding in port a French ship which
was bound for Hong Kong, via Saigon, the capital of
Cochin China, I engaged a passage on her in order to
see something also of the French possessions in the
East. Just as we were ready to sail I met a gentle-
man who had lately returned from a long journey to
Cambodia, whither he had gone to photograph the
ruins of the wonderful temples in that land. He had
a specimen for me, he said, which I must accept before
I knew what it was, a condition I readily complied
with, but when the “ specimen” appeared I must con-
fess I was not alittle surprised to find it was an enor-
mous python. It had been caught by the natives of
Bankok after it had gorged itself on some unfortu-
nate beast, but that was some time before, and the
brute was evidently ready for another feast. My
eans containing alcohol were already on board the
ship, but I took the monster with me when I went
off to her late in the evening, designing to drown it
in its box and then transfer his snakeship to a can,
The captain, with the greatest politeness, met me at
the rail, and showed me my state-room in the after-

538 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

cabin, and the sailors began to bring my baggage,
when first of all appeared the box containing the
python! I shouted out to the cabin-boy that that
box must be left out on deck, and then, in a low tone,
explained to the captain that it contained an enormous
snake. “ Un serpent? un serpent?” he exclaimed,
raising up both hands in horror, in such an expressive
way as only a Frenchman can, and proceeding to de-
clare that he ought to have known that a passenger
who was a naturalist would be sure to fill the whole
ship with all sorts of venomous beasts, All the
others were little less startled, and shunned me in the
half-lighted cabin, as if I were in league with evil
spirits, but I quieted their fears by ordering a sailor
to put the box into a large boat that was placed
right side up on the main deck and promising to kill
the great reptile to-morrow.

May 24th—Karly this morning we made sail,
and I concluded to let my troublesome specimen re-
main until we were out of the harbor, but now, in
the changing of the monsoons, the winds are light
and baffling and we finally came to anchor once more;
and a sailor who got up into the boat said something
about “de serpent.” Iwas on the quarter-deck at the
time, and determining at once not to be troubled
more with it, jumped down on the main-deck, ran
to the side of the boat, and seizing the box gave it
a toss into the sea, but just as it was leaving my
hands I thought to myself, “How light it is!” and
the sailor said, “ Le serpent n’est pas encore !—pas en-
core!” We alllooked over the ship’s side and there
was the box floating quietly away, and it was evident

THE PYTHON ESCAPES. 539

that the monster had escaped. Every one then asked,
“Where is he?” but no one could tell. I assured
the captain that he was in the box when I put it on
the sampan to come off to the ship. “Is he on
board?” was the next question from the mouths of
all. We looked carefully in the boat and round the
deck, but could detect no trace of him whatever, and
all, except myself, came to the conclusion that he was
not brought on board, and then went back to their
work, The box in which he had been confined was
about a foot and a half long by a foot high and
a foot wide, and over the top were four or five
strips of board, each fastened at either end with a
single nail. On inquiring more closely, the sailor
told me that before I seized the box, the side with
the slats was one of the perpendicular sides, and had
not been placed uppermost, as it ought to have been.
“Then,” I reasoned, “he is here on board somewhere
beyond a doubt, and I brought him here, and it’s my
duty to find him and kill him.”

We had four horses on deck, and the middle of
the boat was filled with hay for them, and under
that it was probable the great reptile had crawled
away. In the bottom of the boat, aft, was a tri-
angular deck, and, as I climbed up a second time, I
noticed that the board which formed the apex of the
triangle was loose, and moved a little to one side.
Carefully raising this, I espied, to my horror, the
great python closely coiled away beneath, the place
being so small that the loose board rested on one of
his coils, I wore a thin suit, a Chinese baju, or loose
blouse, a pair of canvas shoes, and a large sun-hat.

540 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

Throwing off my hat, that I might go into the dread-
ful struggle unimpeded, I shouted out for a long
knife, knowing well that what I must try to do was
to cut him in two, and that he would attempt to
catch my hand in his jaws, and, if he should sueceed
in doing that, he would wind himself around me as
quick as a man could wind the lash of a long whip
around a fixed stick, and certainly he was large
enough and strong enough to crush the largest horse.
The cook handed me a sharp knife, more than a foot
long, and, holding the board down with my feet, I
thrust the blade through the crack, and, wrenching
with all my might, tried to break the great reptile’s
back-bone, and thus render all that part of the body
behind the fracture helpless. Despite my utmost
efforts, he pulled away the knife, and escaped two or
three feet forward, where there was more room under
the deck. By this time there was the greatest con-
fusion, The captain, evidently believing that dis-
cretion is the better part of valor, ran below the mo-
ment he was satisfied that I had indeed discovered
the monster, seized a brace of revolvers, and, perching
himself upon the monkey-rail, leaned his back against
the mizzén-rigging, and held one in each hand, ready
to fire into the boat at the slightest alarm, The sail-
ors all gathered round the boat, and stood perfectly
still, apparently half-stupified, and not knowing
whether it would be safest for them to stand still,
climb up in the rigging, or jump overboard. The
first mate armed himself with a revolver, and
climbed on to the stern of the boat. Indeed, every
moment [I expected to hear a report, and find

KILLING THE PYTHON,

A STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. o41

myself shot by some of the brave ones behind
me. The second mate, who was the only real man
among them all, seized a large sheath-knife, and
climbed into the boat to help me. I knew it would
not do to attempt to strike the monster with a
knife where he had room enough to defend him-
self; I therefore threw it down, and seized a short
handspike of iron-wood, the only weapon within my
reach, and told the second mate to raise the deck,
and I would attempt to finish my antagonist with
the club, for the thought of escaping while I could,
and leave for others to do what belonged to me,
never entered my mind. As the deck rose I beheld
him coiled up about two feet and a half from my
right foot. Suffering the acutest agony from the
deep wound I had already given him, he raised his
head high out of the midst of his huge coil, his red
jaws wide open, and his eyes flashing fire like live
coals. I felt the blood chill in my veins as, for an
instant, we glanced into each other’s eyes, and both
instinctively realized that one of us two must die on
that spot. He darted at my foot, hoping to fasten
his fangs in my canvas shoe, but I was too quick for
him, and gave him such a blow over the head and
neck that he was glad to coil up again. This gave
me time to prepare to deal him another blow, and
thus for about fifteen minutes I continued to strike
with all my might, and three or four times his jaws
eame within two or three inches of my canvas shoe.
I began now to feel my strength failing, and that I
could not hold out more than a moment longer, yet, in
that moment, fortunately, the carpenter got his wits

549 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

together, and thought of his broad-axe, and, bringing
it to the side of the boat, held up the handle, so that
I could seize it while the reptile was coiling up from
the last stunning blow. The next time he darted at
me I gave him a heavy cut about fifteen inches be-
hind his head, severing the body completely off, ex-
cept about an inch on the under side, and, as he coiled
up, this part fell over, and he fastened his teeth into
his own coils. One cut more, and I seized a rope,
and, in an instant, I tugged him over the boat’s side,
across the deck, and over the ship’s rail into the sea.
The long trail of his blood on the deck assured me
that I was indeed safe, and, drawing a long breath
of relief, I thanked the Giver of all our blessings.

This was my last experience in the tropical East.
A breeze sprang up, and the ship took me rapidly
away toward the great empire of China, where I
travelled for a year, and passed through more con-
tinued dangers and yet greater hardships than in
the East Indian Archipelago,

| Map
To Nlustrate M? Bickmore’ Travels
iN THE

) EASTERN ARGEUPELAGO

authors Route..——--~.

R

= |
a |
~ ae
BI

=
fi

=

-

t

in oe
ea

ae
Re!
«

bay

~
a)

.

eat ome

aie

‘

. sears 2

APPENDIX A.
Area of the Principal Islands, according to Baron Melville van Oarnbée.

penvapeiateiion: ||. gecneapisical miles.
Java and Madura. abana rT ak O51 2 hiss ER ee eet a 9,808.0
OMAR, o90s04 anne 198,560.0 Sandal-wood Island .... 8,784.0
Palo Nias. . oicncascs .. 1,200.0 | Tenimber Islands....... 2,400.0
DAW cence oaaiae aie 480.0 | Aru Islands......... -. 1,040.0
PEGI. bucccte es 560.0 | Islands of Banda....... 17.6
Batiea.i.. neevee Soeeeen «SM Detar fies cseaes <i 4,944.0
Billiton ..... Beaks avin, c/o 1,904.0 | Burn .......... cece. syne G
PORGOD: 65. ven es106 eins oe 203,888.0 | Gilolo..........2see00s 5,016.0
Oelebes............-.-- 67,248.0| Bachian............... 800.0
PEPER tS hg ares can# Rois 5-o 1,879.2 | Ternate..........000005 11.2
Lt eee ees «-- 16,848.0| Amboina..:...:....5.. 9,128.0
Lombok ..... vias Yesese 2000.0 —-——
Sumbawa ............. 4,448.0 | Total area of the Nether-
Floris.......+s++e+e00+ 4,082.0] lands India.......... 445,411.2
APPENDIX B.

je pinalete of the Netherlands India, 1865.

Joavaand Madura...... és .
Ls West Coast’? of Suma-

Residency of Bencoolen. .
Lampong...
ike bg Palembang.

Borneo (the rts under
the Dutch bias
Celebos .....c.ccsceenes
Residency of Amboina...
sil Banda fet “
Ternate..

Timur . cee cee cee ee einai

Total........ Scala 83,677. 17,641,602! 235,535} 10,565| 81,424) 17,952,803
a eS”

544 APPENDIX.

APPENDIX QO.
A Table of Heights of the Principal Mountains in the Archipelago.
e

Pace Ee | mee aie

AMBOINA. MINAHASSA.
Salhutu (highest peae on Mount Massarang..... . 4,150
the island).......... 4,010 Mount Tompasso....... 8,850
TERNATE (peak of).......+. 5,510 Mount Saputan........ 5,960
Trpore (peak of)...... .-- 5,440 Mount Mahawut....... 4,17)
Mov arassa. Mount Sempo......... 4,904
Mount Klabat......... 6,560 Mount Katawak....... 3,970
Mount Sudara........-. 4,390 Mount Kawin......... 3,430
Mount Batu Angus..... 2,290 Lake of Tondano...... 2,272

Mount Lokon,.......-. 5,140

HEIGHTS IN JAVA.

mac Krawang......+-+: 5,771 | Sindoro ...4.-.-+2+eeese0s 10,316
ei TM 2 7944|Merbabu..........----+++ 10,219
Mandalawsngi Sane aa veg 9,940 | Sumbing.............+.--- 10,947
GOA 2 cise ecdstinwapes 9,750 | Lawt......-eseeeceeseeer 10,727
Bedaratt.......-0 csecaese 9,591 | Dorowati........0.+.++-++ 8,480
Alun-alun .......0sce086- 9,100 | Kawi ......s00s cnvcccees 9,408
Papandayang .......+.+-. TATT | ATFUNG, 6. ccsecccwiorecss 10,947
Pasir Alang.....sssss008s 8,887 | Sémiru......-.-e-ssenees 12,235
Taman Sadt.............- 7,908 | Budolembn, highest sa in
QHIKOTAL. ¢5c.cccecesce ences 9, 933| the Tenger Mountains... 8,705
oe BOGS; ccczie'sch swe 5, S74 | Borowmo......20cesesesess 7,545
Highest edge of Galunggong, 5,820 Ajang....c.ccecscecseress 9,096
RIMNGOONN. iui sesssrcnes 8,825 RaOM. 02s cesccsenesevccss 10,177
SlamMiah....civcoevecececs 11,829

i Hill (Apemberg)......00ceceee es eee eee reeenceennreee 841
Kayu Tamam .......cceeecceceennsenssccncesenececeeeares 403
paw Panjang... ...ceesevcncceseuecsencccecsaveseseseees 2,482
ugur Sigandang, the highest point on the col between
Singalang and Mérapi.........-eeseeserecerereeeerecees 8,677
From this place to,Matua is the plateau of Agen—Matas a is. 8,389
Bambang Pa ee ee WE Un a Mire sie ... 2,028
Fa ahaa dg 9 yk nvele ero aca ei ctn|ose-nib ace’ bias ple bial eee ee = 1,685
Kumpodang (where we crossed the brook anak found a controleur
making a bridge, etC.).......0eee sees eeeeer eter eneeereees 670
Bondyol ....-2csscsccescccccce coverssesneaveteesssvsesons 785
Water-shed just before coming to Libu RSENS Bee a cules She bone 9,182
La Siképing. .. 0s cee cee eee c eee eeneeererenseeereeeneceees st
hcciclicd ae dene a'ca.0 sds Se USD Wray’ 's 0'< § 4cba7d amie mene 9
Watershed between Rau and Kota Nopan...........+.0ee00es 2,132

APPENDIX. | 545

Feet.
Water-shed between Tobing and Uraba,.............-....-5. 2,451
Last hills crossed before coming down to ‘ik Bediri. ...... 600 to 800
Dundgus Nasi (island passed in coming from Siboga)........... 800
Mount Talang (Crawfurd’s napuccantt: Ot Et = Gee ere 10,500
Monnt Bingelang..... 4452 cence cecsees MRE eae aaa ns 9,634
Mount Mérapi........ pra aba er ataaua Wve dw ial ;6 at nieraae tm 2 ror nRooey 9,570
Monnt Sago, about. 2.2.2... 2. cece cee ees Pdea at alte « cas «e+. 5,862
WEGUG Vio resat aie alae site nviews benih ewcmenie hese wes ecisisivlnn ye 9,770
Mount Kalabu (west of Ran)......... RO Sirhan De Pret a 5,115
Mount Seret Mérapi............0..00008 She Pere cares dathiee eNO
Mount Pitya Kéling............-.4++- ek eer Sor Arieveckh ptut Mey
EGO MATERE Ca oes a lsic'n aiprecaiw elaipins vd Weise eslGseocenwineses Hols 6,234
Height of the platean of Toba, SHGRG as eae ainsi Bath sets 4,000
Sinkara, greatest depth.,.............-.-ee0. ee ee ta 1,193
Bottom of Silindong Valley Brera faah maser ivats trajavalee Mieke reeTateacreetree 6,144
Bukit Gedang, the edge of the old crater crossed in going down
to Maninc WW i Solas SLM Maiare palais seid gra bhae oa eae 3,624
Lake of Manindyo. 23... seca cee du seeaneerrtaeences *.ese 1,041
Tanjong Alam, on the a from Fort van der Capellen to Paya
RUHR sha poh arc lieniite ok rics are eave kel We'e ere'e a--ole'e a iece\ ee 8,428
By 2 ROL ORR IS AS Serpe: errs os 2a bane ye ana 1,704
Height of Silindong Valley (e. g., at Uta Galong) SNe scolsre Ate, dunieete 8,144
Height of Toba Valley ab GOREN AG in 5 Serbia as Pole als TES 4,000
Mount Indrapura, estimated at... . 0.2... c sees eee e eee e eens 12,255

Mount Lusé, in the territory of Achin, in 3° 40' N. (Orawfurd). 11 "250
Mount Lombok, according to Melville van Oarnbée, by aanee
lation, SS ie aa ee a eee oisin oie (erwin ai baie Wrest nangRPOre

APPENDIX D.
Coffee sold by the Government at Padang.
YEAR. “Total quantity. Exported to U. 8.) Average rae

TQD6 oc cretek a teenies a 125,000 65,521 30.84
SOOT cic trae theo cals weer 150,000 | 6,037 63.78
TEBE. ot ran ban keen 185,000 72,010 25.25
SURE e ee eninclaecal aaOGHnO 46,2865. $2.09
i ee ee eee 151,000 19,536 $4.59
1861..... Scayatiecaanbetaere’ s/s ae 150,000 18,715 34.67
Are aitk sts ads visas 135,000 15,971 41.15
1OGR ee ei ecitwasl ‘eenene - 23,745

LEGS. o-...cteereiee veneers 164,400 48,543 39.56

36

546 ” APPENDIX.

APPENDIX E,
Trade of Java and Madura during 1864.

COUNTRIES. No. of ships. | Tonnage.
ARRIVALS,

ETOH EeRTCEMINC 5 f.cl tet e'e evince vip aly ernie espe iacseus,e 197 143,250
From other parts of Europe................45 69 34,193
From the United States............. AA ee Aver | 24 12,610
From the Cape of Good Hope............ Jail 7 4,132
TOMORE RENEE ost oie gle Meets bute beieley ¢ naka acm 18 9,060
From Ohina, Manilla, and Siam.......... cee, 128 45,067
Prony MaUeiiaue <. .ais'c ire, s weve vanevee nena es | 4 1,084
PROM APRO aos oko hes cssetaeeterserss es | 4 845
Protr :Avsteabia. ss a\si0s cso! ais pees so ee an ale 68 | 29,548
From the eastern parts of the archipelago eaten 2,138 141,4624

TORRES 7 sec stiae eas cake oseirs vole te ere 2,657 493,0834

DEPARTURES,

PO FROUGN Ge che, 4/6 5.20% napintas la alee 396 267,260
For other parts of Europe ..............45- ae 9 8,338
For the United States... 0.00. csacee vee bbvee 3 2,258
Dies al er ee SSO Ne Pay toe SMI oe he Bae 8 4,755
For China, Manilla, and Siam............. aerate 73 22,508
IAM AD AD i a Spa cineca elves Weasels ea aie ats 5 1,878
Wot AXGtFANR ys sss tose ees alae Ties Caer d aera 20 4,338
For the eastern parts of the archipelago.......) 2,245 151,066)

TOE os b-sia- 5 Rep Wa are'nis el Stan late en ee 2,759 57,4014

TOMB OF THE SULTAN—PALEMBANG,

See page 131.

APPENDIX, °

547

APPENDIX F.

A List of the Birds collected by the Author on the island of Buru.

Panidion bt a Gould,
B, of Aust., vol. i., pl. 6

| Motacilla flavescens, Shaw,
P.ZS., 1860, p. 350.

Baza Rheinwardtii, Schleg. and Mill, Criniger mysticalis, Wall.,

- P.ZS.,* 1860, p. 342.

Tinnunculus moluccensis,
Jacq., P.ZS., 1860, p, 343.

Ephialtes lewcospila, Gray,

P.Z.8., 1860, p. 344.

Caprimulgus macrourus, Horsf.,
i P.Z.8,, 1863, p. 22.

Hirundo javanica, Sath.,

P.ZS., 1860, p. 845.

Cypselus mystaceus, Sess.,
PAB, 1863, p. 22.

Eurystomus pacificus, G
ie — P.ZS., 1863, p. 25.

Todiramphus collaris, Bon.,
P.Z.8., 1863, p. 23.

Todiramphus sanctus, Bon.,
P.Z8., 1863, p. 23.

Aleyone pusilla, Gould,
ag of Aust., vol. ii., pl. 26.

Nectarinia zenobia, ae
.8., 1863, p. 32.

Nectarinia ad age Wall.,

, 1863, p. 32.
Dicwum eres acs
P.ZS., 1863, p. 32.

Tropidorynchus bouruensis, Wall,
P.Z.8., 1863, p. 31.

Acrocephalus australis, Gould,
B. of Aust., vol. iii., pl. 37.

via flavescens, Gray,
Sune PAN, 1860, p. 349.
Cysticola rustica, Wall.,
P.Z.8., 1863, p. 25.

Cysticola Bs Gould,
0 Aust., vol. iii., pl. 45.

Hornb.: and Mimeta cine

P.ZS., 1863, p. 28.

Wall.,
P.Z.S., 1868, p. 26.

Rhipidura tricolor, Gray,
P.Z.S., 1860, p. 351.

| Bhépidura bouruensis, Wall.
P.Z8., 1863, p, 29.

Rhipidura, sp.

| Monarcha loricata, Wall.,

P.Z.S8., "1863, p. 29.
Musicapa, sp.
Camphega marginata, Wall.,
sities e P.ZS., 1863, p. 31.

Artaurus leucogaster, G
PLS. 1860, p. 354.

Dierurus asc ati Gray,
Z.8., 1860, p. 354.
Calornis obsewra, ties,
P-ZS., 1860, p. 855.
Calornis metallica, Bon.,
P.Z.S., 1860, p. 855.
Munia molucea, Blyth,
P.Z.S., 1860, p. 355.
cereus dorsalis, Quoy and Gaim,

(P.h honius, Gray
BESS TSG, p. 356.

Pl

Eos rubra, Wagl.,
P. Z.3., 1860, p. 356.
Trichoglossus cyanogrammus, Wagl.,
sh P.Z.8., 1860, p. 357.

Felectus puniceus, Gm
P.ZS. 1860, p. 357.

Eclectus polychlorus, Seop
PZS.. 1860, p. 358.

Tanygnathus ae Wall.,
P.Z.5., 1863, p. 20.

© * Provecdings of the Zoological Society of London.

548 *

Geoffroius personatus, Gray,

P.Z.S., 1860, p. 858,

Eudynornis ramsomi, Bon.

P.Z.8., 1860, p. 359.

Centropus medius, Miill.,
P.Z. s 1863, p. 23.
Cuculus caroides, Miill.,

P.Z.8., 1860, p. 359.
Cuculus assimilis, Gray,
‘PL. sue p. 184.

Cacaomantis sepulchris, Bo

P.ZS., 1860, p. 359.

Ptilonopus mnperen Ee

Ptilonopus prassinorrhous, Gray,

P.Z.8., 1858, p. 185.

Ptilonopus viridis, Gm.,
P.Z8., 1863, p. 34,

Treron aromatica, Pie.
1863, p. 33.

Carpophaga SA cnn Gray,

"1860. p. 360.

Carpophaga mt Gis,

Z.8,, 1860, p. 361,

Maeropyqia pe aS Gray,

P.Z.8., 1860, p. 361.

Macropygia, sp.
Chaleophaps moluccensis, Gray,

P.Z.8., 1860, p. 361.

Megapodlius Forster’, Temm.,
P.Z.S., 1860, p- 362.

Megapodius Wallacii, Gray,
.45., 1860, p. 362.
Glareola grallaria, Temm.,
P.ZS., 1863, p. 35.

teph.,
PLS. P1858, p. 184.

APPENDIX,

Ardeita flavicollis, Suth.,
Gould, B. of Aust., vol. vi. , pl. 65.

Ardea nove-hollandiz, Sath.,
Gould, B. of Aust., vol. vi., pl. 58.

Herodias ah grains Gould,
B. of Aust. , Vol. vi, pl. 58,

Butorides javanica, oe
Z.8., 1863, p. 35,

ialis, Goal,
. of Aust., vol. vi., pl. 29.

Sphoeniculus magnus. Gould,
B. of ‘Aust., vol, vi., pl. 33,

Sphoeniculus subarquatus, Gould,
B. of Aust., vol. vi., pi. 82.

Sphoeniculus albescens, Gould,
B. of Aust. yol, ee 31.

Limosa u

Artitis empusa, Gould,
B. of Aust., vol. vi., pL 31.

Tolanus griseopygius, Gould,
= B. of Aust., vol. vi., pl. 38.

Numenius wropyqialia, Gould,
B. of Aust., vol. vi., pl. 43.

Gallinula oes Temm.

Rallus pectoralis, C
Gould, B. of acon vol. vi, pl. 76,

Rallus, sp
Dendrocyqna guttulata, Gray,
P.Z.S8., 1863, p. 36.

Sterna velox, Riip
PZS., 1860, p. 366.

Sula fusea, Gould,
B. of Aust., vol. vii. pl. 78.

Nore.—For lists of birds collected on the Banda Isles, Ternate, and Celebes,
see ‘ Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History. For a list of the”
shells collected in the Moluccas and other scientifie papers, see ‘Memoirs and
Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History,’ and the ‘ American

Journal of Science for 1868,’ et seq.

INDEX.

A.

Abreu, Antonio d’, sent to search for the
Spice Islands, 23; is the first to
reach the Bandas, 215; pillars of
discovery erected by, 256.

Achin, country, people, and trade, 448 ;
English appear at, 449.

Alfura, name whence derived and its
signification, 203, and note ; bloody
laws of, in Ceram, 205; of Kaibobo,
207; drunken revels of, 209, 210;
of Buru, their customs and_ belief,
271-273, of the Minahassa, 365.

sai bay of, described, 202; village
of, ib,

Amboina, residence of Rumphius, 13;
island and city described, 130-132;

’ famous for its shells, 133; life of for-

eigners at, 211; trade of, 249.
Amuk, defined, 383.
Anak gadis, or virgin children, 497, 507.
Anoa depressicornis, an antelope, 325.
_ Ants, abundance of and trouble caused
by, 288, 289,
Army, headquarters of Javanese, 43;
Dutch, in Sumatra, 456.
Arrack, how made, 68.
Arriens, governor of the Moluccas, 213;
kind invitation given the author, id, ;
| visits Banda, 213 et seq.
Aru Islands, account of, 244, °
ge visit to the village of, 149-
61.
Ayar Bangis, port of, 453.

B.

Baba, island of, described, 127.

Babirusa, skulls of, 150; distribution
of, ib. ; young one seen at Kayeli,
292; author hunts for, on Limbi,
325; one commits suicide, 331.

Bachian, island of, described, 299;
great python killed on, 334; fauna
of, 380.

Baju, a, described, 34.

Buli, described, 93 ; fauna of, ib. ; sep-
aration from Java, 93, 94; fauna of,
94; religion of, 95, 96,

ali, a town hall, 477.

Bamboo, used by the Malays, 86.

Banana, tree and fruit described, 84,
85; native name for, 159; different
kinds, ib,

Banca, description and geology of, 534;
income of, 535.

Banda, author arrives at, 128, and re-
visits, 214; description of the group,
214, 215; early inhabitants of, 216;
religion of, id, ; natives of, extermi-
nated by the Dutch, 217; convicts
banished to, 217, 218; the group
only walls of a crater, 224; compared
with that of the Tenger Mountains,
is, ; nutmeg parks on, 227; residency
of, 242,

| Banteng, the Bos sondaicus, 72.

Buntiks, a people near Menado, 343.

Barros, Jio de, history of, 97, noe;
his description of Celebes, 97; de-
scribes the many languages spoker in
the Moluccas, 163; his description
of the Bandas, 215, 216.

Barus, a port in Sumatra, 443,

Batavia, purpose of going to, 13; foun
dation of, 24; police of, 383.

Batta, grave of a, 417; Lands, a descrip-
tion of, 423; are cannibals, 424; re-
ferred to by Marco Polo, 425; by Sir
Stumford Raffles, id. ; draw the au-
thor’s curriage, 426, 427; author
visits a village. of, 440; houses of,
is, ; eat a man, 442; missionaries
among, 443; Madame Pfeitfer among,
444; kill two American missionaries,

550 INDEX.

i 428, 430; of bamboo, 474; of rattan,
Barbosa, Odardo, cited, 63; history of, 478.
100, nofe; describes the natives of Bua, valley of, 462; cave of, 463, 464,

445; origin of their cannibal customs, | Bridge, suspension, made of rattan,
446,

Celebes, 100, Buffalo, the, described, 35; habits of,
Bears, of Sumatra, 510, 511. 35, 86; color of, 36; fights with
Bencoolen, bay of, 486; history of, 487, tigers 36; wild ones in Sumatra,

489, 413.

Benzoin, a resin, 6 Buru, described, 256; history of, 270,
Betel-nut; tree described, 180; mode; 271; Alfura of, and their customs and
of chewing the, 181. belief, 271-273 ; alternation of sea-

Birds.—Bird that guarded the double| sons in, 298.
cocoa-nut tree, 15; of Java, 80, 81; | Buton, description and geology of, 380,
trade in, on the coast of New Guinea, S81,
242; Juris, ib, ; crown pigeons (Me-
gupodiidece), 242; doves (Columba C.
@nea and Columba perspicillata), fruit
planted by, 248; of paradise found Camphor-trees, described, 433 ; kinds
at Aru Islands, 244; Pigafetta’s ac-| _ of, id.
count of, i. ; king-fishers at the Campong, a, described, 132,
Bandas, ‘246: Pitta vigorsi, a rare| Cannibals; mode of eating men, 444;
species, i. ; ‘Carpoph a luctuosa, a| see also ’ Battas.
white dove, 268, sath e prince par- | Cassowary, eggs of, 150; habitat of the,
rot (Platycere Mperbomen): de-| ib, .
scription of, éb.; cote vod (ie mubra ), | Canto, Diogo de, history of, 98, note ;
256, 259; king-fishers at Buru, 258;| his description of Celebes, 98, 99,
hunting iuris, 259; parrakeets, ib, ; | Celebes; description and history of, 97-
Trichoglossus eyanogrammus, ib, =| 100; ’ northern peninsula of, 329 ;
luris, Moore’s deseription of, 260: gold-mines i in, 879; fauna of, 380,

hus maecrorynchus, & 8 lnge Cemetery, Chinese, at Batavia, 35.

green parrot, 268; Carpo; Ceram, described, 201, 202; head-
spicillata, a long- tailed Mee ib.; hunters of, 208 ; Alfura, ib. ; landing
i ‘onarcha loi cata, ib; on the south coast of, 207 ; alterna-

Fvenidsteaas bouruensis, 269 ; tion of seasons in, 298.
Anas rajah, or “ prince duck, - 283 ; Ceram-lant, natives of, 242; elevation
author incurs great danger in procur- of, 243.
ing, ib. ; castori rajan, 289; Ae Corvus rufa, 80; mantjac, ib.
podius Forsteni, ib,» M. Wallacei, | Chair, to travel i in, deseribed, 141, 142.
mode of shooting, satoniie eat and fog Chilachap, port of, 57.
serving, 288, 289; Corvus enka, 835 ; | Christmas Island, ‘passed, 13,
Dicrurus, ib. Cinnamon, kinds of, and their distribu-
Birgos latro, the great hermit crab, 148.) _ tion, 425.
Bleeker, Dr., on the geology of Laitimur, Cleft, ‘of Padang Panjang, 390-392 ;
“i$ on the ichthyology of Lake Linu,| 459, 460,

' Clove, tree and fruit described, 153;
Be suacvare author tortured by, 492,} distribution of, 153, 154; quantities
493, 508. obtained in previous years, 153;
Boats, with outriggers, 57; see also} mode of gathering the, 155; names
for, 156; history of, 157; yield of,

Bonang, the, described, 190, in acer Haruku, and Nusalaut,

Bonoa, situation of, 253, 197.

Bosche, Governor Van den ; entertains Clypeastride, abundant at Saparua, 186.
the author at Padang, 887. Coal, near Siboga, 436; near Bencoolen,

Bos sondaieus ; the ox of Madura, 72. 492-495; abundance of, 494; on the

Bread-fruit, tree and fruit described, | Limatang, 521; on the Inem, 524.
92. Cock-fighting, Malay passion for, 61.

Breech-loader, Sharpe's, 43. Cocoa-nut, the double, 14; palm, de-

INDEX.

5D]

scribed, 81-88; oil, mode of mak-| Elizabeth, Queen; her letter to the

ing, 83; kind eaten by Malays, 82,
83 ; importance of, 84 ; beaches lined
with trees of, 149; a portable foun-
tain, i/, ; abundance of, on the upper
Limatang, 523 ; rafts of, i,

Cocoa-trees at Amboina, 138; history
of, 138, 139.

Coffee, store-houses for, at Menado,
346; histery of, 347-849; how
brought to Padang and when sold,
453; exports to the United States,
455, and Appendix D.; where large
quantities could be profitably raised,
504, 505.

Coir, a rope made of gomuti fibres,
370

Controleur, duties of, 67; in Ceram
summons the head-hunters, 203.

Cooking, Eastern mode of, 31.

Coral, Meandrinas, or “ brain corals,”
285; different kinds of, and appear-
ance beneath the sea, 285-287 ;
Fungide, is, raised reefs, 508.

Cotton, raised by the natives on the
Limatang, 527.

Crawfurd, Mr. John, cited, 96; in re-
gard to Mount Tomboro, 108.

D.

Damma, described, 126; hot springs in,
126, 127. .

Deer, author hunts, on Buru, 290-292 ;
their venison smoked and made into
dinding, 292; Azis maculata, 387 ;
heater by tigers, 413.

Diaz, Bartholomew, his discovery of
southern extremity of Africa, 22.

Dilli, city of, 122; name whence de-
rived, 124.

Diving, skilful, 103.

Draco volans, described, 144.

Dugong found at Aru Islands, 244,

Duku, the, described, 90,

Durian tree and fruit described, 91, 92.

E.

Earl, Mr., cited in regard to a plateau,
95; people near Dilli, 116,

Earthquake, experienced by the author
at Amboina,167—169 ; diseases caused
by several, 169, 170.

Elephants, native mode of killing, 495;
author comes near a stray one, 515;
distribution of, i.

rajah of Achin, 449, note.
Eugene Sue, describes Rahden Saleh,
38

Exquisite, an Eastern, described, 42,

F,

Fest Kakian, a revel of the head-hunt-
ers, 210,

Fever, Batavia, described, 39.

Fishes; large one caught at Limbi, 332;
Ophiocephalus striatus, 354; Anabas

Fishing, boats used by Malays, 52;
Malay mode of, £29.
Floris described. 1” ; cannibals of, id.

| Flying-fish, 106+ san fly during a calm,

122,

Forest, home in a tropical, 261; na-
ture’s highway through, 263.

Fountain, “youth’s radiant,” quoted
from Moore, 297.

Fringilla oryzwora, the rice-hird, 80,

G.

Gallus bankiva, 60, 61; other species
of, 60

Galunggong, Mount; eruption of, 75,
76; compared with the Tenger Moun-
tains, 77.

Gambang, of Java, 190,

Gambling, Malay vice of, 61.

Geology, of Timur, near Kupang, 119,
120; of the Banda group, 241; of
Amboina, 247; of Buru, 263, 293;
of Bachian, 299; of the Minahassa,
376; of Gorontalo, 879; of Buton,
381; of a cliff at Tapanuli Bay, 441;
of the Padang plateau, 477; of the
cliffs of Bencoolen Bay, 489,490; of
the region near Tebing Tingi, 508 ;
of the region of the upper Limatang,
§22; of Banea, 534.

| Gillibanta, passed, 187.

Gilolo, west coast of, 310; Alfura of,
811; “the bloodhounds " of, iA.

Goitre, prevalent in the interior of Su-

matra, 416; probable cause of, ib,
Gold-mines in Celebes, 379; geological

age of, .; mines in Sumatra, 404—

406 ; distribution of, 406; ornaments

of, 481, 452; mode of obtaining, 432.
Gomuti palm, fibres of, 350; made

into arope, 870; twak or wine of, 371.
Goram, situation of, 243.

Gorontalo, bay of, 377; country and
tribes near, 378.

Gresik, village of, 56,

Gunong Api, of Sapi Strait, 106, 107;
of Banda, 214-219; author ascends,
228; description of, 228-234; ac-
count of eruptions of, 237; the one
near Wetta, 245; of Banda compared
to Ternate, 317.

H.

Haruku, one of the Uliassera, 178;
north coast of, 182; population and
description of, ib.

Head-hunters, of Ceram, 203; clothing,
203, 204; dance ‘of, i4.; of Sawai
Bay, 205, 206.

Hinduism, history of, 62.

Hitu, a part of Amboina, 180; remark-
able appearance of hills on, 131;
excursion along the coast of, 141,

Horse, author thrown from a, 341;
of Sumatra, 409.

Hospital, at Batavia, 39.

Houtman, commander of first Dutch
fleet to the East, 24; arrives at Ter-
nate, 30/7.

Hukom, Biza, Kadua, Tua, and Kachil,
meaning of, 338. _

Hunting in the tropics, 139.

L

Ice, used in the East, 31; whence
brought, and where manufactured, 31.
Inkfish, an Octopus, author dines on,
172.
J.

Java, Sea, 19; meaning of the word, 21;
described by Ludovico Barthema, 23 ;
compared with Cuba, 77-79 ; descrip-
tion of, 77, 78; population of, 78;
imports and exports, 79; forests, ib.
fauna, 79-81; flora, 81-89 ; separated
from Sumatra and Bali, 93, 94.

Jewels, from the heads of wild boars,
151; Rumphius’s account of, 152,

Jukes, Mr., cited on the geology of
Sandal- wood Island, 112; Timur,
110.

Junghuhn, Dr., cited, 52, 53, 109,

K.
Kayéli, bay of, 256; village of 257;

INDEX.

description of, 269; history of, 270;
a threatening flect arrive off, 283.
Kayu-puti, trees and oil described, 282,
283; distribution of, 283.
Kema, village of, 323; great
killed near, 334.
Ki, some account of the group, 243.

python

| Kissa, described, 125.

Klings, whence their name, 63; early
voyages of, to the archipelago, 405.
Kloff, Captain; describes the natives

of Kissa, 125,
Korinchi, reformers of, 471.
Kubus, the tribe of, described, 533.
Kupang, village of, 113; bay of, #. ;
population of, 114; oranges of, ib,

L.

Ladangs, native gardens, 264.

Lepers, author visits a village of, 343;
description of the, 343-346; deserip-
tion of the disease, 345.

Lepper-lepper, a native boat, 165 ;
dangerous voyage in, 165, 166,

Letti, described, 125,

Limatang, river of, 518, 520, 521; au-
thor descends, 521-533.

Limbi, an island near Kema, 324 ; author
visits for Babirusa, 324-332.

Living, Eastern mode of, 32,

| Lombok, the, described, 264.
| Lombok, island of, separated from Bali,
93; fauna of, 94; flora, i,

Lontar, one of the Banda Islands, 214 ;
shores of, 219; author visits it, 223-
227; beautiful nutmeg-groves of, 225,

Lotus, fragrant, 358; land of, by Ten-
nyson, 866,

Lubus, tribe of, 411; habits, 419,

M.

Macassar, harbor of, 100; praus of, 100,
101; city of, 103-105; tombs of
princes near, 105.

Madura, a low island, 55; Strait of, 56;
cattle of, 60; south const of, 71;
whence its name, é, ; coffee-trees on,
72; manufacture of salt on, 72.

Magellan, Ferdinand, his discovery of
the Spice Islands, 305-307.

Maize, history of, 265-267.

Makian, island of, deseribed, 299 ;
eruptions of, 299, 300,

Malabrathrum, a gum, 62.

Malay, first sight of, 18; language of,
20; physical characteristics of, 33,

INDEX.

$4; passion for gambling, i. ; are
mostly Mohammedans, i. ; language
affected by the Portuguese, 122 ;
speak many dialects, 162, 163; mi-
grations of, from Gilolo, 313.

Mango, tree and fruit described, 89,
90, 148,

ostin, described, 88, 89.

Manindyu, lake of, ats crater of, 899, |
f, i

401; ig of, ib.

Marco Polo, is account of Java, 21.

Marriage, feast at Kayéli, 274; Mo-
hammedan laws in regard to, 275; at
nolan, 275-278; Malay ideas of,
279.

Matabella, situation of group, 243;

Be i description of, ib. ;
enado, village of, 342; bay of, 346,
351; Tua, an island, 346.

Menangkabau, kingdom of, 894 ; former
capitals of, 468 ; history of, 469-474 ;
arts in, 472, 473.
i .; the most beautiful spot on
the globe, 316; mode of travelling
in, 335; population of, and area, 389 ;
cataract in, 356 ; mud-wells and
hot springs in, 358-364; Alfura of,
365; most charming view in, 569;
products of, 870,375; graves of the
aborigines of, 873 ; Christianity and
education in, $755 geology of, 376.

Mittara ; small island near Ternate, 317.

Mohammedan religion, first converts |

to, 51; at Gresik, 56; jealousy, 159 ;
requires the shaving of the head,
273; filing the teeth, 274.

Moluccas, history of the, 146 ; population
and how divided, 195; Catholicism
in, 307, 308 ; Christianity introduced,
308 ; of what islands composed, 309.

Monkeys, of Sumatra and Java, 408, |

409 ; troops of, 410; sagacity
of, 478; a flock of, 509.

Monsoons, calms during the changing
of, 16; name whence derived, 44;
east and west, i/,; rainy, 45; sky
thick in the eastern, 120; eastern at
Amboina, Ceram, Buru, and New
Guinea, 128, 129; western boundary

of, 486.
Mosque, Mohammedan, in Samarang,
50)

Mount, Ungarung, 45; Slamat, @. ;
Sumbing, 46; Prau, residence of the
gods, 46-48 ; Japara, 48; Tenger, 73 ;
Bromo, 74; Tomboro, eruption of,
108-110; Tompasso, $57; Singalang,

538

393; Mérapi, i, ; Ophir, 404; Seret
Mérapi, 420, 422; Lubu Rajah, 423 ;
Sago, 461-468; Talang, 480; Ulu -
Masi, 499 ; Dempo, 516,

Mud-wells, in the Minahassa, 369-364.

Miiller, Dr. §., ascended Gunong Api of
Banda in 1828, 236.

Musa paradisiaca, the banana-tree, 85 ;
textilis, 340,

N.

| Natal, port of, 453.

Nautilus, shells of, purchased at Ku-
pang, 119; said to be common on
Rotti, ib, ; those secured at Amboina,
184, 135.

el 5 mud-flats, 57.

Nusalaut, name whence derived, 178;
author visits, 187; surrounded by a
platform of coral, 187; natives of, ir.
ancient costume, #4. ; description and
population of, 188.

Nutmeg-tree, when found, 215; gath-
ered by the natives, 216; description
of tree and fruit, 222; mode of cur-
ing the fruit, 222, 228.

0,

Orangbai, an, described, 136.

Orang-utan, habits of, 408, 409.

Ophir, whence the gold of, 405.

Opium, mode of selling and smoxing,
279-282 ; history of, 280,

ie

Padang, city of, 385; Panjang, 392;
Sidempuan, 423.

Padangsehe Bovenlanden, or Padang
plateau, 390; native houses in, 393 ; 7
dress of the natives of, 394; author
travels in, Chap. XV.; geology of,
477.

Paddi, deseribed, 66.

Pagi Islands; natives of, and their
habits, 482, 483.

Palembang, wathor arrives at, 529; de-
scription and history of, 530, 581;
‘mosque of, 5631; Lama, 522.

Pandanus, a screw-pine, 84.

Papandayang, Mount, eruption of, 74,

i)

Papaw, tree and fruit deseribed, 85.

Papua, natives of, 311, 312; taxes
levied on, 814; author thinks of go-
ing to, 315.

554

Pasuma, plateau.and people of, 516-519.
Pedatis, described, 68.

Pepper, an article of trade, 446-448 ; | Ruma,

distribution of and native names for,
447, 448.
Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, 62.
Pigafetta, his account of birds of para-
ise, 244; account of the Philippines,
308.

Pifia-cloth, how made, 143,

Pine-apples, introduction and history
of, 142,

Piper betel, \eavea of, chewed by the Ma
lays, 181.

Pirates, in the Moluccas, 818; from
China, it.; from Mindanao, 319;
Malays escape from, 320; a surprise
of, ib, + praus of, 821; a challenge
from, WK ; Dutch cruise for, $22,

Plough, kind used by Malays, 36;
mode of using, 36, 37.

Pompelmus, a gigantic orange, 19.

Ponies, Javanese, 65,

Post-coaches of Java, 64.

Pumice-stone, great quantities of, 110,

Python, one seen near Kema, 333;
stories concerning, 833-335 ; ‘author
presented with one, 537; it escapes,

539; author has a deadly struggle
with, 1.

R.

Raffles, Sir Stamford, history of, 488,

Railroads in Java, 49.

Ramlutan, described, 89.

Rarjaus, 86,

Rattan, kinds of, 511;
511, 512,

Reef, ‘first coral, visited, 123; author's

* boat strikes on one, 183; waves break-
ing on a, 199.

Reinwardt, Professor, cited, 53; as-
cended Gunon Api of Banda, in
1821, 236; predicts an eruption, 312.

Rejangs, customs and laws, 496-498,

Reynst, Gerard, arrival at Banda, 236.

how gathered,

INDEX

Ruma négri, a public house, 355; beau-
tiful ohe, 366.

Satan, or Devil’s Dwelling, author
visits, 437442,

Rumphius ; his “ Rariteit Kamer” re-
ferred to by Linnwus, 13; grave of,
250; sketch of life of, 251,

8.

Saag, sinensia, 69;

i ib,

Sacrifice, human, 117.

Saleh, Rahden, palace of, 37, 38; man
ners and acquirements of, 38; de-
ascribed by Eugene Sue, i.

Salt, manufacture in Madura,72; Java,
72, 73; Borneo and ‘Philippines, 43;
quantity of, #, ; prices of, 78, note.

Samarang, arrive at, 45; described, 48.

Sambal, described, 32.

Sandal-wood Island, description of, 113;
horses of, ib,

Sandy Sea, the, 74,

Saparua, name whence derived, 178;
island described, 184 ; history, ib. ;
town of, 184, 185; bay of, 186.

Sapi, described, 60,

Sarong, description of the, 18, 34.

Sawai bay, people of, 205.

| Sawas, described, 66; fertility of, 67.

Schneider, Dr., cited, 120, 247.

Schools, in the Spice "Islands, 198; how
supported, #4. , welcome to the Resi-
dent, 194; classes of, 195.

Sclater, Mr., "cited, 94.

Semao, island of, 113,

Sequiera, first brings Portuguese into
Eastern Archipelago, 25.

Shells, collecting, at Kupang, 117-119;
Trochus mamoratus, 175; Strombus
latissimus, 176; Scalaria pretiosa,
185; Cypraa moneta, 186; best
place i in the Bpice Islands to gather,
198; harp, ib. ; Mitra pening ane

oun

officinarum,

Rhinoceros, native pits for, 495; dis-| Siboga, author comes to the village of,

tribution of, 509.

Rice, manner of gathering in Java, 66

Rivers; Musi and its valley, 499; Inem,
521, ‘522,

Roads, post, in Java, 64.

Roma, described, 126.

Roses, abundance of, in the Minahassa,
352, 366.

Rotti, ‘island of, 116; people of, i.

434; country about, 435, ef seq.; coal
near, 436,
Singapore history and description of,

Sinkare, lake of, 476; kampong, #3,

Siri, Mulay name for the Piper betel,

Snakes, swimming, 14.

Springs, Damma, 126; in Java, 127;
hot, in the Minahassa, 360-86 t.

181.

INDEX.

Strait, Sunda, 13-19; Sapi, passed |

through, 106-108.
Styraz benzoin, described, 63.
Sugar-cane, kinds of, 69; history of,

. 69, 70.

Sugar-Loaf Island, passed, 121.

Sulphur, from volcanoes, 53,

Sumatra, grand mountains of, 43; au-
thor travels in, 884-532 ; Dutch army
in, 456; Hinduism in, 471; Moham-
medanism in, 471; unimproved areas

in, 502; true source of the wealth of, |

6505.

Sumbawa, seen, 107; Mount Tomboro
in, 108.

Sundanese, a language of Java, 25.

Surabaya ; business of, 56; shipping at,
ib. ; harbor of, 57; situation of, i. ;
population of, ib. ; dock-yard, 58 ;
machine-shops, ib. ; artillery works,
59; streets of, 60.

Surakarta, ‘residence
princes, 26.

Surf, on south coast of Ceram, 208 ; re-
volt in, 257.

T.

Tandu, a, described, 49.

Tanjong 0, feared by the natives, 200;
Flasco, beautiful sunset seen at, 877.

Tapanuli, bay of, 434, 436; geology of
a cliff near, 441; natives that come
to the bay of, 448.

Teak, durability of, and different pur-
poses used for, 59; abundant in Java,
79; distribution of, 267.

Telegraph-lines in Java and Sumatra,
65.

Tenger Mountains, seen, 73; Sandy Sea
in, 74; Bromo in, #.; compared with
the Bandas, 241.

Ternate, island and village of, described,
$00, 303, 304; history and account
of the eruptions of, 300-309; the
prince of, and his territory, 309, 310;
trade of, 315; author experiences

four earthquakes at,in four days, |

$16; houses of foreigners at, 317.
Tidore, peak and village of, 312, 313;
prince of, 813.
Tifa, a kind of dram, 137; discordant

sounds of, 179; mode of beating, 180. |

Tigers, ravages of, 413; native fraps
for, 491; natives destroyed, 503, 504 ;

THE

of Javanese

55D

fight with a bear, 510; abundance of,
513-517.

Timur, different races on, 115; south-

east monsoon in, #). ; northwestern
coast of, 121.

Timur-lant, described, 127; natives of,

at Banda, 218.

Tin, distribution of, 535.
Tobacco, history of, 265, 266.
Tondano, lake of, 367, 368; village of,

368; Klabat, mantled with clouds,
869; tragedy occurred near, 372.

Trees.—Upas, 54; Antiaris toxicaria,

54,55; anchar, 65; <Arfocarpus in-

cisa, and integrifolia, 92, 93; Caro-

phyllus aromaticus, the clove, 153;
Palmyra palm, 222; Borassus flabelli-
Jormis, ib. ; Myristica moschata, the
nutmeg, ib, ; Teelona grandis, the
teak, 267.

Tripang, deseribed, 101-103.

U.

Uliassers, described, 178.

¥;

Valentyn, his deseription of an earth-

quake wave, 240; history of Buru,
270; history of Ternate, 304; de-
scribes the eruption of Mount Ke-
maas, 336, 337.

Valley of Poison, 53,
Van Dijk, cited, 476, 492, 494,
Vidua, Carlo de, sinks in a solfatara,

B54.

Viverra musanga, 79, 80.

W.

Wakasihu, visit to the village of, 161-

164; rajah of, 161; shells gathered
at, 162.

Wallace, A. R., cited, 94, 98 ; list of the

birds of paradise, 341, note.

Wetta, described, 124.
Wilkinson, Sir Gardner, cited, 62.

X.

‘Xavier, St. Francis, visits the Moluccas,

307
Z.

Zoological gardens, at Batavia, 38 ; at

Sumarang, 60.

END.

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