198 THE JAVANESE COMMANDANT. 



have a peculiar cry, which arrests the animal's pro- 

 gress for a raoment, while they fire. 



The deer were all brought up to the commandant, 

 who begged our acceptance of them. We thanked 

 him, and took the two smallest. By the time we 

 reached Pritie they were skinned and hung up, 

 ready to be put into the boats. The persons who 

 had shot them had received their stone bolts again 

 very little injured ; the hole they make is enormous. 

 We rewarded these people ; but to the commandant 

 we were really at a loss how to express our obliga- 

 tions. At length we thought of giving him some 

 powder and shot, which was a present he seemed 

 right glad to receive. I afterwards learnt the 

 history of this excellent old Javanese, and was sur- 

 prised and grieved to hear that a person so univer- 

 sally esteemed had been banished from Java and 

 his family for some trifling political offence. His 

 property was sold to purchase his freedom, and the 

 proceeds were entrusted to the captain of a ship, who 

 ran oiF with the whole, thus at once ruining a most 

 worthy family, and reducing my good friend the 

 commandant to the necessity of remaining in exile, 

 I was glad to hear, on my second visit to Timor, that 

 he was still alive and well, though without any 

 prospect of an alleviation to his condition. 



Wishing him farewell, we left Pritie with some 

 regret. By dark we had crossed Babao Bay, and 

 reached the ship at half-past eight. It may be as 

 well to mention that, looking from Coepang, the 



