30 THE SULU ISLANDS. [chap. 



apparently, hopelessly turljulent and regardless of life, yet in our 

 five weeks' intercourse with them, walking or riding alone in 

 almost all parts of the island, we met with the greatest ci"sdlity 

 everywhere, except in one instance to which I shall presently 

 refer. 



The inspection of the Ifaixhesa by the two Turks must have 

 been satisfactory, for on paying another visit to the Sultan on the 

 following day we learnt from hmi that he would come on board in 

 state that afternoon. "We accordingly returned to make arrange- 

 ments, as it had been delicately hinted that His Eoyal Highness 

 would expect a salute of twenty-one guns, and we were rather un- 

 certam as to the efficiency of our armament. At 3 p.m. our boats 

 were seen making for the ship, literally crammed with people, whose 

 brilliantly-coloured sarongs and jackets gave our lifeboat, gig, and 

 cutter the appearance of three Crystal Palace flower-beds. Before 

 long our decks were crowded. The Sultan was in a different dress 

 from that in which we had first seen him. He wore a flat fez of 

 black silk hea\TLly embroidered with gold lace, a short cloth coat 

 also much embroidered, and a white silk sarong. His dress was 

 decidedly eft'ective and in good taste, and although we knew him 

 to be a man of the weakest character, with no thoughts beyond his 

 harem and his opium pipe, he comported himself with a quiet 

 dignity and perfect good-breeding which made us all like him. It 

 is no doubt a common enough characteristic among those of ]\Ialay 

 race, but for all that it is none the less pleasmg, especially when 

 accompanied, as it w^as in his case, by a smiling unreserve which is 

 not so often met with, and an e^ddent sense of pleasure at the 

 novel objects by which he found hunself surrounded. 



The crowd of Sulu warriors that thronged our decks were all 

 armed, but the Sultan carried no weapons of any kind. He was, 

 however, closely followed by an attendant who bore his imrang — a 

 beautiful weapon of razor-like sharpness, gold-liilted, and with its 

 ivory handle inlaid with eight pearls. There were other personal 

 attendants whose Sulu titles I am not acquainted with. Anglicised 



