I 



My Crew run Away. 381 



same object. It is the rendezvous of the praus trading to va- 

 rious parts of New Guinea, which here assort and dry their 

 cargoes, and refit for the voyage home. Tripang and mussoi 

 bark are the most bulky articles of produce brought here, 

 with wild nutmegs, tortoise-shell, pearls, and birds of paradise, 

 in smaller quantities. The villages of the main-land of Ceram 

 bring their sago, which is thus distributed to the islands far- 

 ther east, while rice from Bali and Macassar can also be pur- 

 chased at a moderate price. The Goram men come here for 

 their supplies of opium, both for their own consumption and 

 for barter in Mysol and Waigiou, where they have introduced 

 it, and where the chiefs and wealthy men are passionately 

 fond of it. Schooners from Bali come to buy Papuan slaves, 

 while the sea-wandering Bugis arrive from distant Singapore 

 in their lumbering praus, bringing thence the produce of the 

 Chinamen's workshops and Kling's bazar, as well as of the 

 looms of Lancashire and Massachusetts. 



One of the Bugis traders, who had arrived a few days be- 

 fore from Mysol, brought me news of my assistant Charles 

 Allen, with whom he was well acquainted, and who, he assured 

 me, was making large collections of birds and insects, although 

 he had not obtained any birds of paradise ; Silinta, where he 

 was staying, not being a good place for them. This was on 

 the whole satisfactory, and I was anxious to reach him as soon 

 as possible. 



Leaving Kilwaru early in the morning of June 1st, with a 

 strong east wind we doubled the point of Ceram about noon, 

 the heavy sea causing my prau to roll about a good deal to the 

 damage of our crockery. As bad weather seemed coming on, 

 we got inside the reefs and anchored opposite the village of 

 Warns- warns to wait for a change. The night was very squal- 

 ly, and though in a good harbor, we rolled and jerked uneasi- 

 ly ; but in the morning I had greater cause for uneasiness in the 

 discovery that our entire Goram crew had decamped, taking 

 with them all they possessed and a little more, and leaving 

 us without any small boat in which to land. I immediately 

 told my Amboyna men to load and fire the muskets as a sig- 

 nal of distress, which was soon answered by the village chief 

 sending off a boat, which took me on shore. I requested that 

 messengers should be immediately sent to the neighboring 



