114 ARRIVAL AT SOOLOO. [1844. 



by day are sufficiently annoying ; but the ripplings of 

 these eddies, rendered more distinct by the stillness and 

 general calms prevailing at night, tend to cause greater 

 uneasiness. Passing over, however, these inconveniences, 

 we reached Sooloo on the 16th of April, having made 

 our approach by the west, instead of the more certain 

 channel from the north ; and having been compelled to 

 drop a kedge for the night, and despatch our boat to a 

 schooner seen off the town, in order to show a light to 

 lead us to the anchorage ; but it was not until the ensu- 

 ing dawn that the breeze enabled us to move, and before 

 8 o'clock we had reached our position. Shortly after, 

 we were visited by Mr. Wyndham, the owner of the 

 schooner ' Velocipede ', which we had observed at anchor, 

 and, as he had been long resident at Sooloo and conversant 

 with their language, I was glad to accept of the tender 

 of his services as Interpreter, and requesting him to 

 make the necessary arrangements for my visit to the 

 Sultan, I proceeded to the nearest rocky point in order 

 to obtain the necessary astronomical observations for 

 securing its position. I selected a spot distant from 

 the town, in the hope of remaining unmolested by the 

 prying multitude, but in this I was, as usual, disap- 

 pointed; several small parties, armed with spears and 

 krises, came around us; and as neither party under- 

 stood Malay, nor we their language (Bisayan), explana- 

 tion, or remonstrance, was impossible. The proximity 

 of their weapons much disturbed our magnetic obser- 

 vations, and compelled me to surround my position 

 with a body of men, under arms, before I could pro- 

 ceed. This manoeuvre not being very palatable to 



