XXII GOVERNMENT 297 



sitting two abreast, more than a thousand men were taking 

 part in the race. The getting the boats into line across the 

 broad river was a noisy and exciting piece of work. We 

 carried on the launch a large party of elderly chiefs, most 

 of whom were obviously suffering from " the needle," and 

 during the working of the boats into line they hurled 

 commands at them in language that was terrific in both 

 quality and volume. At last something like a line was 

 assumed, and on the sound of the gun the twenty boats 

 leaped through the water, almost lost to sight in a cloud of 

 spray as every one of those twelve hundred men struck the 

 water for all he was worth. There was no saving of them- 

 selves ; the rate of striking was about ninety to the minute, 

 and tended constantly to increase. Very soon two boats 

 drew out in front, and the rest of them, drawing together 

 as they neared the first bend, followed hotly after like a 

 pack of hounds. This order was kept all over the course. 

 During the first burst our fast launch could not keep up 

 with the boats, but we drew up in time to see the finish. 

 It was a grand neck-and-neck race all through between the 

 two leading boats, and all of them rowed it out to the end. 

 The winners were a crew of the peaceful down-river folk, 

 who have learnt the art of boat-making from the Malays of 

 the coast ; and they owed their victory to their superior skill 

 in fashioning their boat, rather than to superior strength. 

 When they passed the post we had an anxious moment — 

 How would the losers take their beating? Would the 

 winners play the fool, openly exulting and swaggering? 

 If so, they would probably get their heads broken, or 

 perhaps lose them. But they behaved with modesty and 

 discretion, and we diverted attention from them by swing- 

 ing the steamer round and driving her through the main 

 mass of the boats. Allowing as accurately as possible for 

 the rate of the current as compared with the rate of the tide 

 at Putney, we reckoned the pace of the winning boat to be 

 a little better than that of the 'Varsity eights in racing over 

 the full course. 



The excitement of the crowds on the bank was great, 

 but it was entirely good-humoured — they seemed to have 

 forgotten their feuds in the interest of the racing. So the 

 Resident seized the opportunity to summon every one to 

 the conference hall once more. This time we settled down 

 comfortably enough and with great decorum, the chiefs all 

 in one group at one side of a central space, and the common 



