72 THE SULU ISLANDS. [chap. 



Given tame bulls aud a tyro cspada, they are better left to the 

 imagination. One thing, however, deserves to be recorded. The 

 third and last bull was — hear it, ye champions of the rmg 

 who lounge in the Puerta — a con:/ I was pleased to find the 

 Governor at the back of the box, whither I retired. "I do not 

 like bull-fights," he said. I confessed myself of the same opinion. 



On the 16th of May we returned to Meimbun en route for 

 Siassi and the islands to the south-west. All our Spanish friends 

 had come oif to bid us adieu, and we were most heartily sorry to 

 part with them. The Governor especially, with his unvarying 

 bonhomie, his keen sense of humour, and his quaint philosophy, had 

 endeared himself to all of us, and we should have liked to take 

 him away from the prison where he had still many more months 

 to serve. Life in Jolo seemed to us to be little, if at all, better than 

 penal ser\'itude. It is certainly more unhealthy, and, as we dipped 

 our ensign, and the farewell strains of the band gradually faded in 

 the distance, we wondered how many of our friends would welcome 

 us should chance lead us again to the shores of Sulu on our return 

 voyage. 



Siassi, which, with the neighbouring island of Lapac, forms an 

 excellent harbour, lies about five and twenty miles to the south- 

 south-west of Sulu. A Spanish settlement was formed upon it in 

 October, 1882, and we found no less than three small vessels 

 anchored off it, engaged in transporting stores and building 

 materials. The settlement consisted of a block-house for troops, 

 two or three houses for the ofticials, and a dozen or so of native 

 huts, among which that of the ineAitable Chinaman was of course 

 to be found. It is situated on the west side of the island immedi- 

 ately opposite Lapac, and is under the command of a " Comandante 

 Politico y Militar," Don Jorge Gordojuela, who proved a very 

 pleasant companion, and rendered us every assistance in his power 

 during our two days' ^^sit, Up to that time they had had no 

 fighting with the natives, but apparently did not put any very 

 great confidence in them. A few months previously the cholera 



