ch. ix.] The Sulu Islands. 187 



the Sulu Archipelago. We reached Meimbong on the 

 evening of the 10th, and anchored just off the traders' 

 houses, which, as is usual here, are built on piles far 

 enough out from the shore for vessels to anchor at the 

 little jetty before the doors. Sulu is about thirty-six 

 hours steaming from Sandakan, but in this case we were 

 longer. We reached the islands at the entrance to the 

 harbour of Meimbong just at sundown, and were much 

 impressed by the indications of cultivation and fertility 

 which they presented. We could also see the culti- 

 vated patches and the fruit groves on the Sulu hills 

 quite plainly, while the cool fresh evening air was deli- 

 ciously perfumed, with what we afterwards found to be 

 a mint-like plant (Hyptis suaveolens), very common 

 throughout the island, especially in waste places and 

 cornfields. 



After dinner we went ashore to see an old Chinaman 

 named " Peah," one of the principal traders in the place. 

 His house was half house and half warehouse, consisting 

 of a large front room the entire length of the house with 

 some private apartments behind, the kitchen, as is usual, 

 being a separate structure at the end of the dwelling. 

 Half the large front room consisted of a raised platform 

 about four feet in height, carpeted with finely -worked 

 pandan mats, and covered with a fancy chintz canopy, 

 fringed in front. Cushions were piled up on the parti- 

 coloured mats, and between these and the partition be- 

 hind fancy coloured boxes were piled ostentatiously, each 

 secured by a brass lock of Chinese manufacture. On 

 entering we found " Peah " sitting on the platform talking 

 to some Sulu traders, his wife, a neat little Chinese 

 woman, and about a dozen slaves and attendants, mostly 

 Sulu girls. The room was but dimly illuminated with 

 cocoa nut oil lamps, but a couple of composite candles 



