NUSALAUT. 187 



August 17th. — At 5 a. m. started witli the Resi- 

 dent for Nusalaut. Our party included the doctor 

 stationed ^vith the garrison, the commandant of 

 militia, whose birthday had been so faithfully ob- 

 served the day before, my merchant - friend, the 

 " stuurman," or captain, and last, and perhaps I 

 shoxdd add least, a little mestizo scribe, whose prop- 

 er title was " the commissie." A strong head ^\TLnd, 

 with frequent squalls of rain, made oui' progress slow 

 till we reached a high point which tlie natives called 

 Tanjong O, tlie Headland O. From that point over 

 to Nusalaut was a distance of some two miles. As 

 we left the shore, and pushed out into the open sea, 

 our progress became still slower. Inch by inch we 

 gained till we were half-way across, when the wind 

 freshened, and for a time we could scarcely hold our 

 own, despite the increased jargon from the tifa and 

 the gong, and a mlder whooping from every native, 

 varied by mutterings from each, to the effect that he 

 was the only one who was really working. Almost 

 the moment these people meet with any unexpected 

 difficulty they become disheartened, and want to give 

 up their task at once, exactly like little children. 



Nusalaut, like the other Uliassers, is completely 

 suiTounded by a shalloAV platform of coral, which is 

 mostly bare at low water. We therefore entered a 

 small bay, where the deep water would allow our 

 boat to come near the shore. Coolies now waded 

 off with chairs on their shoulders, and landed us 

 dry-footed on the beach, where were a dozen natives, 

 clad in what is supposed to have been the war-cos- 

 tume of their ancestors \ona: before the arrival of 



