XV.] A SUCCESSFUL AMOK. 359 



disposicion de ustcd" said our host with a bow, but we dechned his 

 offer with thanks. 



We spent our Christmas at Lukut Lapas. The woods and 

 plantations were turned into temporary bogs and the paths into 

 Httle watercourses, for it was the end of the wet season, and the 

 rain descended in torrents. The fine weather was expected with 

 the New Year. In Suhi there are two rainy seasons, occurring at 

 the change of the monsoons. The first rains, which begin in April, 

 are not nearly so heavy as those ushered in by the easterly mon- 

 soon in September or October. 



The plantation had increased considerably since our first visit, 

 and many Liberian coffee-trees had been planted. They were in a 

 thriving condition, but the Arabian coffee was evidently destined 

 to be a failure, as indeed was only to be expected. At the 

 bungalow we missed our hostess's kindly face and greeting. 

 Her life, which had been one of the strangest vicissitudes, the 

 most stirring adventures by sea and land, was over, and she lay 

 at rest beneath the shade of the great durian-trees behind the 

 house. 



Our parting with our Spanish friends was an anuising one. 

 The Governor and his aide-dc-canvp, together with several other 

 officers, rowed oft" to the ship to make their adieux, and we drank 

 — with every wish for its fulfilment on our part — to our next 

 meeting. But the ceremony was not to end there. From the end 

 of the pier two huge canoes shot suddenly out — giant " dug-outs " 

 a hundred feet or more in length, crowded with people bearing 

 large glittering objects in their hands. It was the band, nearly 

 sixty strong, which had been ordered by our friend Don Julian to 

 play us out ! The sea was a little rough for such craft, and it was 

 ludicrous to watch the desperate efforts of the musicians to retain 

 their equilibrium and execute a difficult passage at the same time, 

 for the boats were rounded out smoothly and were unprovided with 

 thwarts or seats of any kind. At length they reached the calm 

 water to leeward of the yacht, and for the first time for many 



