210 The Gardens of the Sun. [ch. xi. 



book. Amongst other things therein was a rough sketch 

 of a "barong" or sword, and its carved sheath belonging 

 to the old Orang Kayu at Meimbong, which His Highness 

 at once recognised, and he sent off " Gelah " to fetch a 

 valuable one of his own, which was, as he told me, of 

 Sulu manufacture. The blade was beautifully finished, 

 having an inlaid representation of a scorpion on one side 

 and a centipede on the other, together with some Arabic 

 dates of important events. The handle was of ivory, 

 carved and mounted in chased gold and pearls. I made 

 a sketch of this weapon, at which he was greatly pleased, 

 and he watched every line and touch with great interest. 

 We had dined previous to our leaving the ship, and 

 I had congratulated myself earlier in the evening at 

 having been lucky enough to escape eating more than a 

 biscuit with my cup of chocolate ; but even after ten 

 o'clock our table was loaded with more edibles. There 

 were dishes of snowy rice, biscuits, excellent fish, curried 

 fowl, eggs boiled, and some bananas and other fruit. 

 The whole was daintily cooked and well served. With a 

 graceful wave of the hand he requested us to satisfy the 

 hunger which, as he said, he felt sure had been occa- 

 sioned by the long ride we had been so good as to 

 undergo in order to visit him. Of course there was 

 nothing for it but to fall to; and I must say that we 

 both enjoyed the fresh fish and rice, and the well- 

 made curry very much. Clean water and glasses were 

 placed on the table, and chocolate was again brought 

 in. After this meal more brandy and water and 

 cigars were introduced to our notice by " Gelah," and 

 we kept up a conversation with His Highness until after 

 twelve o'clock, Avhen lie withdrew after having had a 

 peep to see that our sleeping apartment was in good 

 order. As soon as his back was turned towards us — 



