Hence, As
Before Explained, The Scarcity Of Insects.
The Orang-kaya has
fine clothes, handsome lamps, and other expensive European goods,
yet lives every day on sago and fish as miserably as the rest.
After three days in this barren place I left on the morning of
March 6th, in two boats of the same size as those which had
brought me to Teluti. With some difficulty I had obtained
permission to take these boats on to Tobo, where I intended to
stay a while, and therefore got on pretty quickly, changing men
at the village of Laiemu, and arriving in a heavy rain at
Ahtiago. As there was a good deal of surf here, and likely to be
more if the wind blew hard during the night, our boats were
pulled up on the beach; and after supping at the Orang-kaya's
house, and writing down a vocabulary of the language of the
Alfuros, who live in the mountains inland, I returned to sleep in
the boat. Next morning we proceeded, changing men at Warenama,
and again at Hatometen, at both of which places there was much
surf and no harbour, so that the men had to go on shore and come
on board by swimming. Arriving in the evening of March 7th at
Batuassa, the first village belonging to the Rajah of Tobo, and
under the government of Banda, the surf was very heavy, owing to
a strong westward swell. We therefore rounded the rocky point on
which the village was situated, but found it very little better
on the other side. We were obliged, however, to go on shore here;
and waiting till the people on the beach had made preparations,
by placing a row of logs from the water's edge on which to pull
up our boats, we rowed as quickly as we could straight on to
them, after watching till the heaviest surfs had passed. The
moment we touched ground our men all jumped out, and, assisted by
those on shore, attempted to haul up the boat high and dry, but
not having sufficient hands, the surf repeatedly broke into the
stern. The steepness of the beach, however, prevented any damage
being done, and the other boat having both crews to haul at it,
was got up without difficulty.
The next morning, the water being low, the breakers were at some
distance from shore, and we had to watch for a smooth moment
after bringing the boats to the water's edge, and so got safely
out to sea. At the two next villages, Tobo and Ossong, we also
took in fresh men, who came swimming through the surf; and at the
latter place the Rajah came on board and accompanied me to
Kissalaut, where he has a house which he lent me during my stay.
Here again was a heavy surf, and it was with great difficulty we
got the boats safely hauled up. At Amboyna I had been promised at
this season a calm sea and the wind off shore, but in this case,
as in every other, I had been unable to obtain any reliable
information as to the winds and seasons of places distant two or
three days' journey. It appears, however, that owing to the
general direction of the island of Ceram (E.S.E. and W.N.W.),
there is a heavy surf and scarcely any shelter on the south coast
during the west monsoon, when alone a journey to the eastward can
be safely made; while during the east monsoon, when I proposed to
return along the north coast to Wahai, I should probably find
that equally exposed and dangerous. But although the general
direction of the west monsoon in the Banda sea causes a heavy
swell, with bad surf on the coast, yet we had little advantage of
the wind; for, owing I suppose to the numerous bays and
headlands, we had contrary south-east or even due east winds all
the way, and had to make almost the whole distance from Amboyna
by force of rowing. We had therefore all the disadvantages, and
none of the advantages, of this west monsoon, which I was told
would insure me a quick and pleasant journey.
I was delayed at Kissa-laut just four weeks, although after the
first three days I saw that it would be quite useless for me to
stay, and begged the Rajah to give me a prau and men to carry me
on to Goram. But instead of getting one close at hand, he
insisted on sending several miles off; and when after many delays
it at length arrived, it was altogether unsuitable and too small
to carry my baggage. Another was then ordered to be brought
immediately, and was promised in three days, but doable that time
elapsed and none appeared, and we were obliged at length to get
one at the adjoining village, where it might have been so much
more easily obtained at first. Then came caulking and covering
over, and quarrels between the owner and the Rajah's men, which
occupied more than another ten days, during all which time I was
getting absolutely nothing, finding this part of Ceram a perfect
desert in zoology. although a most beautiful country, and with a
very luxuriant vegetation. It was a complete puzzle, which to
this day I have not been able to understand; the only thing I
obtained worth notice during my month's stay here being a few
good land shells.
At length, on April 4th, we succeeded in getting away in our
little boat of about four tons burthen, in which my numerous
boxes were with difficulty packed so as to leave sleeping and
cooling room. The craft could not boast an ounce of iron or a
foot of rope in any part of its construction, nor a morsel of
pitch or paint in its decoration. The planks were fastened
together in the usual ingenious way with pegs and rattans. The
mast was a bamboo triangle, requiring no shrouds, and carrying a
long mat sail; two rudders were hung on the quarters by rattans,
the anchor was of wood, and a long and thick rattan; served as a
cable.
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