140 SUMBAJVA. [chap. 



was asleep, and were accordingly led by Omar to the house of the 

 Tungku Jirewi, It consisted of three small rooms, in the outer 

 one of which, adjoining the balcony on either side of the wooden 

 steps, he received us. He was a little man, wasted ahnost to a 

 skeleton by opium-smoking, and was dressed m the usual bright- 

 coloured silk sarong and haju. He wore a flat cap of plain black 

 silk, of the shape which used five and twenty years back to be 

 termed a " pork-pie." It was decorated with a gold band, not of 

 lace, but a thin plate of the metal itself. A large gold stomacher 

 nearly the size of an octavo book adorned the region of his waist- 

 coat, and a kris, with its sheath and handle covered with the 

 same metal, hung at his side. A dozen or more old muskets, mostly 

 with flint locks, stood in a rack at the back of the room together 

 with some spears, one of which was beautifully hilted with worked 

 gold. There is, of coiu'se, no ivory in the island, but both this and 

 gold are imported, and largely used for kris and spear decoration. 

 These weapons excited our admiration as much as our guns did 

 theirs, but although we tried on several occasions to buy them, we 

 were seldom able to come to terms. Many of them were hehiooms, 

 and the prices asked were in all cases very large. Omar told us 

 that he had known two hundred dollars offered for a spear blade 

 only, so highly prized are some methods of working the steel. 



After a long hichara of the usual character, we asked the 

 Tungku's permission to eat in his house, and he retired meanwhile 

 into the adjoining room, whence sounds of various female voices 

 were audible. From time to time an eye peeped through a chink 

 in the bamboo wall, and it was evident that we were being freely 

 inspected and criticised by the ladies of the harem, who in these 

 islands have not the freedom permitted to those in Sulu. We had 

 brought with us a couple of bottles of champagne, which experience 

 had long ago taught us to have even more power than music in 

 soothing the breast of Oriental potentates, and, disregarding the 

 Koran, we sent some in to our host and his companions. It had 

 the effect of bringing him out for some more, and we prevailed on 



