Ampanam, 163 



feet culms, to as great a force and fury as when a gale of wind 

 is blowing, beating to j^ieces all boats that may not have been 

 hauled sufficiently high upon the beach, and carrying away 

 incautious natives. This violent surf is j^robably in some way 

 dependent on the swell of the great southern ocean, and the 

 violent currents that flow through the Straits of Lombock. 

 These are so uncertain that vessels preparing to anchor in the 

 bay are sometimes suddenly swept away into the straits, and 

 are not able to get back again for a fortnight. What sea- 

 men call the " ripples " are also very violent in the straits, the 

 sea appearing to boil and foam and dance like the rapids below 

 a cataract; vessels are swej^t about helpless, and small ones 

 are occasionally swamj^ed in the finest weather and under the 

 brightest skies. 



I felt considerably relieved when all my boxes and myself 

 had passed in safety through the devouring surf, which the 

 natives look upon with some pride, saying that " their sea. is 

 always hungry, and eats up every thing it can catch." I was 

 kindly received by Mr. Carter, an Englishman, who is one of 

 the banders, or licensed traders, of the poi't, who offered me 

 hospitality and every assistance during my stay. His house, 

 storehouses, and offices were in a yard surrounded by a tall 

 bamboo fence, and were entirely constructed of bamboo with 

 a thatch of grass, the only available building matei'ials. Even 

 these were now very scarce, owing to the great consumption 

 in rebuilding the place since the great fire some months be- 

 fore, which in an hour or two had destroyed every building 

 in the town. 



The next day I went to see Mi-. S., another merchant to 

 whom I had brought letters of introduction, and who lived 

 about seven miles off. Mr. Carter kindly lent me a horse, and 

 I was accompanied by a young Dutch gentleman residing at 

 Ampanam, who offered to be my guide. We first passed 

 through the town and subui'bs along a straight road bordered 

 by mud walls and a fine avenue of lofty trees ; then through 

 rice-fields, irrigated in the same manner as I had seen them 

 at Bileling, and afterward over sandy pastures near the sea, 

 and occasionally along the beach itself. Mr. S. received us 

 kindly, and offered me a residence at his house should I think 

 the neighborhood favorable for my pursuits. After an early 



