188 TRAVELS IX THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



Europeans. They were quite naked, and carried in 

 their right hands large cleavers or swords (some 

 of vrhich I noticed were made of wood). On the 

 left arm was a narrow shield about foui' feet long, 

 and evidently more for show than use, as it was 

 only three or foui' inches wide in the middle. On 

 the head was a kind of crown, and, as long plumes 

 are scarce, sticks were covered with white hen- 

 feathers, and stuck in as a substitute. From theii* 

 shoulders and elbows hung strips of bright-red calico, 

 to make them look gay or fierce (it was difficult to say 

 which). Their war-dance consisted in springing for- 

 ward and backward, and whii'ling rapidly round. 

 Forming in two lines, they fiercely brandished their 

 swords, as we advanced between them to a little 

 elevation, where all the rajahs had gathered to re- 

 ceive the Resident. 



Nusalaut is oblong in form, less than two miles in 

 length, and in some places only half a mile wide. Its 

 area, therefore, is somewhat less than a single square 

 mile. Its surface is hilly, but the highest point is 

 not more than three hundred meters above the sea. 

 A century and a half ago its population numbered 

 five thousand, but at present it is only three thousand 

 five hundred. The number of villages, and, conse- 

 quently, of rajahs, is only seven. We first visited 

 Sila, the one nearest our landing. As we entered the 

 kampong, we found the main street ornamented in a 

 most tasteful manner. The young, light-yellow leaves 

 of the cocoa-nut palm had been split in two, and were 

 bent into bows or arcs with the midrib uppermost, 

 and the leaflets hanging beneath. These bows were 



