The Ternate, people use bamboo in another way.
They strike its flinty surface with a bit of broken china, and
produce a spark, which they catch in some kind of tinder.
On the evening of October 21st we reached our destination, having
been twelve days on the voyage. It had been tine weather all the
time, and, although very hot, I had enjoyed myself exceedingly,
and had besides obtained some experience in boat work among
islands and coral reefs, which enabled me afterwards to undertake
much longer voyages of the same kind. The village or town of
Batchian is situated at the head of a wide and deep bay, where a
low isthmus connects the northern and southern mountainous parts
of the island. To the south is a fine. range of mountains, and I
had noticed at several of our landing-places that the geological
formation of the island was very different from those around it.
Whenever rock was visible it was either sandstone in thin layers,
dipping south, or a pebbly conglomerate. Sometimes there was a
little coralline limestone, but no volcanic rocks. The forest had
a dense luxuriance and loftiness seldom found on the dry and
porous lavas and raised coral reefs of Ternate and Gilolo; and
hoping for a corresponding richness in the birds and insects, it
was with much satisfaction and with considerable expectation that
I began my explorations in the hitherto unknown island of
Batchian.
CHAPTER XXIV.
BATCHIAN.
(OCTOBER 1858 To APRIL 1859.)
I LANDED opposite the house kept for the use of the Resident of
Ternate, and was met by a respectable middle-aged Malay, who told
me he was Secretary to the Sultan, and would receive the official
letter with which I had been provided. On giving it him, he at
once informed me I might have the use of the official residence
which was empty. I soon got my things on shore, but on looking
about me found that the house would never do to stay long in.
There was no water except at a considerable distance, and one of
my men would be almost entirely occupied getting water and
firewood, and I should myself have to walk all through the
village every day to the forest, and live almost in public, a
thing I much dislike. The rooms were all boarded, and had
ceilings, which are a great nuisance, as there are no means of
hanging anything up except by driving nails, and not half the
conveniences of a native bamboo and thatch cottage. I accordingly
inquired for a house outside of the village on the road to the
coal mines, and was informed by the Secretary that there was a
small one belonging to the Sultan, and that he would go with me
early next morning to see it.
We had to pass one large river, by a rude but substantial bridge,
and to wade through another fine pebbly stream of clear water,
just beyond which the little but was situated. It was very small,
not raised on posts, but with the earth for a floor, and was
built almost entirely of the leaf-stems of the sago-palm, called
here "gaba-gaba." Across the river behind rose a forest-clad
bank, and a good road close in front of the horse led through
cultivated grounds to the forest about half a mile on, and thence
to the coal mines tour miles further. These advantages at once
decided me, and I told the Secretary I would be very glad to
occupy the house. I therefore sent my two men immediately to buy
"ataps" (palm-leaf thatch) to repair the roof, and the next day,
with the assistance of eight of the Sultan's men, got all my
stores and furniture carried up and pretty comfortably arranged.
A rough bamboo bedstead was soon constructed, and a table made of
boards which I had brought with me, fixed under the window. Two
bamboo chairs, an easy cane chair, and hanging shelves suspended
with insulating oil cups, so as to be safe from ants, completed
my furnishing arrangements.
In the afternoon succeeding my arrival, the Secretary accompanied
me to visit the Sultan. We were kept waiting a few minutes in an
outer gate-house, and then ushered to the door of a rude, half-
fortified whitewashed house. A small table and three chairs were
placed in a large outer corridor, and an old dirty-faced man with
grey hair and a grimy beard, dressed in a speckled blue cotton
jacket and loose red trousers, came forward, shook hands, and
asked me to be coated. After a quarter of an hour's conversation
on my pursuits, in which his Majesty seemed to take great
interest, tea and cakes-of rather better quality than usual on
such occasions-were brought in. I thanked him for the house, and
offered to show him my collections, which he promised to come and
look at. He then asked me to teach him to take views-to make
maps-to get him a small gun from England, and a milch-goat from
Bengal; all of which requests I evaded as skilfully as I was
able, and we parted very good friends. He seemed a sensible old
man, and lamented the small population of the island, which he
assured me was rich in many valuable minerals, including gold;
but there were not people enough to look after them and work
them. I described to him the great rush of population on the
discovery of the Australian gold mines, and the huge nuggets
found there, with which he was much interested, and exclaimed,
"Oh? if we had but people like that, my country would be quite as
rich "
The morning after I had got into my new house, I sent my boys out
to shoot, and went myself to explore the road to the coal mines.
In less than half a mile it entered the virgin forest, at a place
where some magnificent trees formed a kind of natural avenue.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 9 of 109
Words from 8088 to 9102
of 111511
