VISIT THE RAJAH. 75 



proved a valuable associate to us in our inter- 

 course with this people. 



On landing for the purpose of paying our 

 respects to the rajah, Don Domingos Santa 

 Cruz, we were conducted to the residence of 

 that personage, a large wooden edifice, erected 

 close to the beach, enclosed by lofty palisades, 

 and embowered in a plantation of cocoa-nut 

 trees. After waiting in a kind of guard-room 

 for a time which, although tedious to us, was 

 considered by the native party as consistent 

 with etiquette, we ascended by a ladder to an 

 elevated apartment, where we found the rajah 

 seated on a mat, surrounded by pillows and 

 cushions. He was indisposed, but rose to re- 

 ceive us, and invited us to be seated on some 

 chairs, that formed a part of the furniture of the 

 room. He is an elderly man, of short stature, 

 and by no means well-formed. His features, 

 broad, harsh, and truly Malay, were not improved 

 by a pair of bright ferocious eyes, and a mouth 

 broad to deformity, and stained with the san- 

 guineous hue of the betel-nut. His counte- 

 nance expressed an austere dignity, which, com- 

 bined with a manner peculiarly his own, was 

 repulsive of any approach to familiarity. He 

 spoke with a shrill, querulous voice, but slowly, 

 with much emphasis, and with very impressive 



