THE SULU ISLANDS. [chap. 



Our guest was much pleased with the mechanism of a Norden- 

 felt gun we carried, and his astonishment when we showed him its 

 rapid action with ball practice was considerable. He inquired the 

 price, and asked if we could get him one, adding that it would be 

 a capital thing in the case of any further row with the Spaniards ! 

 He wandered over the ship, exhibiting considerable interest in 

 what he saw, but his chief source of pleasure seemed to be the 

 piano, to the music of which he insisted on dancing. I must clear 

 the imperial character by adding that he had partaken of nothing 

 stronger than lemonade. 



We sped the parting guest with a salute of twenty-one guns, 

 and were not sorry to get our decks clear of his numerous ad- 

 herents. As a matter of fact, four hours of a sultan is quite 

 sufficient. We had on many subsequent occasions to entertain 

 these small potentates, — " Eajah days " they used to be called by 

 the sailors, — and very fatiguing and monotonous work we found 

 it. Not only were our meals disorganised and the routine of the 

 ship interfered with, but the decks were generally found liberally 

 bespattered with the ineradicable stains of betel juice, greatly to 

 the disgust both of officers and men. It speaks well for the 

 character of our guests that we never had any article stolen. 



During our stay at Meimbun, and again on subsequent visits, 

 the time passed pleasantly enough. Subjects for the camera were 

 abundant, and collecting and preserving birds and other specimens 

 took up a large portion of the day. Every morning, shortly after 

 sunrise, we disembarked from our boat at the little bridge by the 

 upper village, and were welcomed by a small crowd of stark-naked 

 little Sulus of both sexes, who fought for the honour of carrying 

 our game-bags and cartridge-belts. None spoke Malay, and so our 

 conversation had to be carried on by signs, but it never flagged, at 

 least on their part, and we had some difficulty in keeping it within 

 bounds when, as often happened, a party of ten or a dozen 

 accompanied each gun. The young ladies showed as much keen- 

 ness in the sport as their companions. The Eoman fair ones 



