A PLEASANT HOME. 133 



On leaving Batavia, Cores cle Vries &, Co., wlio 

 wlio tlien owned all tlie mail-steamers in the Nether- 

 lands India, kindly gave me a letter of credit so that 

 I might draw on their agents from place to place, and 

 wholly avoid the tronble and danger of carrying any 

 considerable sum with me. This letter further rec- 

 ommended me to the kind attention of all their em- 

 ployes, and Mr, Var Marie, their agent at this place, 

 at once said that I must make his house my home 

 while I remained in that part of the archipelago ; and 

 this unexpected and very generous invitation was 

 still more acceptable, as both he and his good lady 

 spoke English. A chamber was assigned me, and a 

 large room in an adjoining out-building, where I could 

 store my collections and pack them up for their long- 

 transit to America ; and thus I was ready to com- 

 mence my allotted work without the least delay. I 

 then called on His Excellency the Governor of the 

 Spice Islands, who received me in the most cordial 

 manner, and said that boats, coolies, and whatever 

 other assistance I might need, would be immediately 

 ordered whenever I wished. 



Amboina has long been famous for its shells, and 

 the Dutch officials have been accustomed for years to 

 purchase veiy considerable quantities as presents for 

 their fi'iends in Europe. The natives, therefore, are in 

 the liaT)it of gathering them for sale, and a few have 

 become extensive traders in these beautiful objects. 

 It was soon noised abroad that a foreigner had come 

 from a land even farther away than " Ollanda," as 

 they call Holland, solely for the purpose of i)urchas- 

 ing shells ; and immediately, to my great delight, bas- 



