4C8 A NATURALIST'S WANDERINGS 



and offers on the Ziiili stone in his own house^ which he then 

 carries to the river to wash the auriferous sand over. It is 

 affirmed that every one finds gohl on that day — more or less, 

 all some. The ritual to be followed by one who is to search for 

 the first time difters somewhat from that observed by those who 

 have searched before. On his return from the mountain the 

 celebrant must enter the Uma-lidi^ taking Avith him a fowl or a 

 young pig, w^hich, after he has made what appears to be a sort 

 of confession to the Dato^ is killed and a piece of flesh from 

 its heart and from its jaws is offered to the Luli, the rest 

 being partaken of by both of them. The novitiate gold-washer, 

 after receiving some sacred siri and pinang, accompanies the 

 Date to the river, where, after another fowl or pig has been 

 killed he may collect sand anywhere at random, and '^ of a 

 surety he will find gold in it, for Maromak A\ho alone giA'es 

 the gold will give him fortune." 



After ascending the river bed for three hours, we turned to 

 the left up tlie Fatvuiaruk Peak, 3400 feet, to the chief of 

 Saluki's, where I spent several busy and successful days among 

 the vegetation of the deeper ravines. This ^as the first 

 metalliferous district I had visited, and for the first time the 

 proportion of the people suffering from goitre was so large as 

 to attract notice from the most casual obserA'cr. 



