"•] 



SULU GRAVES. 



37 



flower. For how long after they have closed over our loved ones 

 are our graves decorated, I wonder ? Here Nature, kindlier-hearted 

 and unforgetful, year after year lays her daily offering of Champac 

 blossoms upon the tomb. 



A few days after our arrival the Sultan intimated that he 

 would like to brincj his wives on board with him when next he 



A SCLU GRAVE. 



visited us. He was said to have six, but we could not ascertain 

 the exact number, as it is of course contrary to the rules of 

 etiquette to allude to them. The first wife, a Sulu woman much 

 older than the Sultan, was, we soon found out, not the favourite. 

 Wliat little affection he had to give was bestowed upon a rather 

 nice-looking gui with a good figure, who had been taken but a 

 short time before from a Datu or chief at the east end of the island. 

 War had broken out in consequence, and both parties were shortly 



