106 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



by a dome, and the whole enclosed by a wall about 

 two feet high, whose outer surface was covered with, 

 blue plates of porcelain. As we approached, a mo- 

 notonous, nasal chanting greeted our ears. It was 

 made by a native priest, who was repeating long 

 prayers from the Koran, by the grave of his dej)arted 

 friends. The notes of his minor, melancholy chant 

 echoed and reechoed widely through the quiet forest, 

 and were the more impressive because they seemed 

 to come from the abode of the dead. He invited us 

 in, and showed us his books, which were written by 

 hand, and yet all the characters were as neat and reg- 

 ular as copperplate. In the grounds was a papaw- 

 tree with a branch which bore at its summit leaves 

 and fruit like the parent stem. 



On the 20th of June we sailed for Kupang, a 

 port near the southern end of the island of Timur. 

 The southern extremity of the southwestern penin- 

 sula of Celebes is low, with mountains of moderate 

 height rising in the interior. As we steamed past 

 it on our way southward to Sapi Strait, between 

 Sumbawa on one side and Commodo and Floris ^ on 

 the other, we found that the eastern monsoon had 

 already freshened to a strong breeze, but it was 

 steady, and the sky and sea reminded one of " the 

 trades." Many flying-fish sprang out of the sea, 

 as if too happy to remain in their more proper 

 element. 



On the second morning from Macassar, Gunong 

 Api, " The Burning Mountain," rose up majestically 



* The name of this island comes from the Portuguese word jflor, a 

 flower ; phiral, floris. 



