122 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



Java Sea. It was then nearly calm, and yet I saw 

 flying-iisli come out of tlie water and go a consider- 

 able distance before plunging into it again, tlius 

 proving that they must sustain themselves in the air 

 chiefly by a vibrating motion of their great pectoral 

 fins. The sun was now sinking behind the high, 

 dark peaks of the island of Pintar. 



At daylight next morning we were steaming 

 into a little bay surrounded by hills of fifteen hun- 

 dred to two thousand feet. At the head of the bay 

 and around its southern shore extended a narrow 

 strip of level land, bordering the bases of these high 

 hills. On the low land are two miserable forts, 

 and a few houses and native huts. These comprise 

 the city of Dilli, the Portuguese capital in all these 

 waters. Of all the nations in Europe, the Portu- 

 guese were the first to discover the way to the In- 

 dies by sea. Then, for a time, they enjoyed an un- 

 disputed monopoly over the Eastern trade ; but now 

 the northern half of this island, the eastern end of 

 Floris, the city of Macao in China, and Goa in Hin- 

 dustan, are the only places of importance in all the 

 East that continue in their hands. The common, or 

 low Malay language, has been more affected by the 

 Portuguese than any other nation, for the simple 

 reason that those early navigators brought with them 

 many things that were new to the Malays, who there- 

 fore adopted the Portuguese names for those articles. 

 The last governor of this place had run away a few 

 months before we arrived, because he had received 

 no pay for half a year, though his salary was only 

 five hundred guilders per month ; and a merchant 



