528 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



is the limit of tlie cont/roleur'' 8 district in this direc- 

 tion. It extends but a short distance up the Ineni 

 and up the Liinatang above Muara Inem, and yet it 

 contains no less that ninety-one thousand souls. 



The controleur came here to settle a difficulty be- 

 tween the people of this and a neighboring village. 

 The other party had occupied a portion of the rice- 

 lands belonging to this people, and the trouble had 

 risen to such a pitch, that the government had to in- 

 terfere, to prevent them from beginning a war. I said 

 to the rajah that, beyond Lamat, I had passed for 

 miles through a beautiful country, and that it seemed 

 to me he would do well to migrate there ; but he evi- 

 dently disliked such a suggestion, and the controleur 

 asked me not to urge him to adopt my view, for fear 

 that he might think the government designed send- 

 ing him there, and because he and all his people 

 would rather die than go to live in any distant re- 

 gion. 



May ^tJi. — At 6^ a. m. started for Palembang. 

 My own boat, which I sent on directly fi*om Muara 

 Inem, arrived here yesterday a few hours before us, 

 having been three days in coming down the same 

 distance that we have made in two. We soon stopped 

 at the request of one of the boatmen to examine a 

 small bamboo box which he had set in a neighboring 

 bayou for crawfish. Several were found in it. Their 

 eyes seemed to emit flashes of light, and appeared to 

 be spherical jewels of a light-scarlet hue. I found 

 them palatable when roasted. The boatmen also 

 found some Ampullar ice ^ which they said they were 

 accustomed to eat, and I found them palatable also 



