188 LOMBOCK. 



great spirit will again appear to me, and will tell me what is 

 of great importance to me, and to you, and to all the people of 

 the island. Now go, all of you, and make this known through 

 the island, and let every village furnish men to make clear a 

 road for us to go through the forest and up the great mount- 

 ain." 



So the news was spread over the whole island that the Ra- 

 jah must go to meet the great spirit on the top of the mount- 

 ain ; and every village sent forth its men, and they cleared 

 away the jungle and made bridges over the mountain streams, 

 and smoothed the rough jslaces for the Rajah's passage. And 

 when they came to the steep and craggy rocks of the mount- 

 ain, they sought out the best paths, sometimes along the bed 

 of a torrent, sometimes along narrow ledges of the black 

 rocks ; in one place cu.tting down a tall tree so as to bridge 

 across a chasm, in another constructing ladders to mount the 

 smooth face of a precipice. The chiefs who superintended the 

 work fixed upon the length of each day's journey beforehand 

 according to the nature of the road, and chose pleasant 

 places by the banks of clear streams and in the neighborhood 

 of shady trees, w^here they built sheds and huts of bamboo 

 well thatched with the leaves of palm-trees, in which the Ra- 

 jah and his attendants might eat and sleep at the close of 

 each day. 



And when all was ready, the princes and priests and chief 

 men came again to the Rajah to tell him what had been done, 

 and to ask him when he would go up the mountain. And he 

 fixed a day, and ordered every man of rank and authority to 

 accompany him, to do honor to the great spirit who had bid 

 him undertake the journey, and to show how willingly th'ey 

 obeyed his commands. And then there was much prepara- 

 tion throughout the whole island. The best cattle were kill- 

 ed, and the meat salted and sun-dried, and abundance of red 

 peppers and sweet potatoes were gathei'ed, and the tall pinang- 

 trees were climbed for the spicy betel-nut, the sirih-leaf was 

 tied up in bundles, and every man filled his tobacco-pouch and 

 lime-box to the brim, so that he might not want any of the ma- 

 terials for chewing the refreshing betel during the journey. 

 And the stores of provisions were sent on a day in advance. 

 And on the day before that appointed for starting, all the 



