They Said They Were Wonderfully
Strong, And Each One Could Kill A Great Many Aru Men; And When
They Were Wounded, However Badly, They Spit Upon The Place, And
It Immediately Became Well.
And they made a great net of rattans,
and entangled their prisoners in it, and sunk them in the water;
and the next day, when they pulled the net up on shore, they made
the drowned men come to life again, and carried them away.
Much more of the same kind was told me, but in so confused and
rambling a manner that I could make nothing out of it, till I
inquired how long ago it was that all this happened, when they
told me that after their people were taken away the Bugis came in
their praus to trade in Aru, and to buy tripang and birds' nests.
It is not impossible that something similar to what they related
to me really happened when the early Portuguese discoverers first
carne to Aru, and has formed the foundation for a continually
increasing accumulation of legend and fable. I have no doubt that
to the next generation, or even before, I myself shall be
transformed into a magician or a demigod, a worker of miracles,
and a being of supernatural knowledge. They already believe that
all the animals I preserve will come to life again; and to their
children it will be related that they actually did so. An unusual
spell of fine weather setting in just at my arrival has made them
believe I can control the seasons; and the simple circumstance of
my always walking alone in the forest is a wonder and a mystery
to them, as well as my asking them about birds and animals I have
not yet seen, and showing an acquaintance with their form,
colours, and habits.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 238 of 412
Words from 63915 to 64221
of 111511
