IQQ TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



niglit into tlieir weirs. The wind also increased, and 

 tlie waves rose higher and began to sparkle brightly, 

 and occasionally a strong gust would seem to change 

 the whole surface of the sea into a sheet of fire. For 

 a time my boatmen felt strong, and encouraged each 

 other with a wild shouting like an Indian warwhoop, 

 and in this way we had made more than a mile from 

 the shore, when the wind became much heavier, and 

 occasionally an ugly wave broke over us. My men 

 still continued to paddle on until we found that we 

 were scarcely holding our own against the storm. 

 Then they became discouraged and proposed to go 

 back, but turning round such a long, narrow boat in 

 the midst of a rough sea was by no means an easy 

 matter. The man forward stopped to rest, and just 

 then a heavy flaw struck the front part of the boat, 

 whirled it round in an instant, and away we flew off 

 before the tempest like a race-horse. It had now 

 become so dark and thick that, though the natives 

 knew every foot of the shore, they could not tell 

 where to steer, and it was only by paddling with all 

 their might that we escaped running into a mass of 

 foaming breakers. Finally we once more reached the 

 shore ; the rajah had some rice and fish cooked, and 

 at midnight I took my second meal that day. My 

 bedroom was so open that the wind whistled in on 

 every side and so completely chilled me that I ex- 

 pected to find myself burning with fever the next 

 day, but the excitement counteracted the cold, and I 

 arrived again at Amboina safe and well. After such 

 an excursion several days were passed writing labels, 

 one of which I placed in each individual shell, a 



