He Came The
Following Day, And Gave A Very Bad Account Of Pelah, Where He Had
Been.
There was a little brush and trees along the beach, and
hills inland covered with high grass and cajuputi trees - my dread
and abhorrence.
On inquiring who could give me trustworthy
information, I was referred to the Lieutenant of the Burghers,
who had travelled all round the island, and was a very
intelligent fellow. I asked him to tell me if he knew of any part
of Bouru where there was no "kusu-kusu," as the coarse grass of
the country is called. He assured me that a good deal of the
south coast was forest land, while along the north was almost
entirely swamp and grassy hills. After minute inquiries, I found
that the forest country commenced at a place called Waypoti, only
a few miles beyond Pelah, but that, as the coast beyond that
place was exposed to the east monsoon and dangerous for praus, it
was necessary to walk. I immediately went to the Opzeiner, and he
called the Rajah. We had a consultation, and arranged for a boat
to take me the next evening but one, to Pelah, whence I was to
proceed on foot, the Orang-kaya going the day before to call the
Alfuros to carry my baggage.
The journey was made as arranged, and on May 19th we arrived at
Waypoti, having walked about ten miles along the beach, and
through stony forest bordering the sea, with occasional plunges
of a mile or two into the interior.
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