THE ORAN KAYA. 471 



one gun from a proa hauled up on the beach. Our 

 arrival had evidently caused much excitement among 

 the natives, who came down in great numbers, and 

 formed a semicircle round the boat. They were 

 nearly all armed with creesses and steel-headed 

 spears. Several of them wore a sort of breastplate 

 made of hide, and their heads were ornamented with 

 a profusion of richly coloured feathers and long 

 horn-like projections formed of white calico ; long 

 necklaces of shells hung down to their waists, and 

 all had their hair dyed in the same way as at 

 Oliliet. Here we again noticed the carved horns 

 surmounting the gables of the houses. 



Soon after we landed, the Oran Kaya made his 

 appearance, and seemed to be in a great state of 

 alarm. As soon as he got within the circle of his 

 countrymen he commenced a series of most profound 

 salaams, bending his head down till he touched my 

 feet. By way of reassuring him, I presented him 

 with a fine gaudy red shawl, which for a time had 

 the desired effect ; and he then produced a docu- 

 ment in Dutch, signed by Lieutenant KolfF, which 

 appeared to be a certificate of good conduct. By 

 means of the vocabulary and dictionary I tried to 

 make them understand that we only wanted some 

 pigs, vegetables and poultry, for which we had 

 brought money to pay or goods to exchange. These 

 he promised to procure for us, and to send them on 

 board, earnestly making signs all the time that we 

 should go away as soon as possible. 



