34 VOYAGE TO BJTCHIAN. [chap, xxiii. 



soon got among the narrow straits and islands which lead 

 down to the town of Batchian. In the evening we stayed 

 at a settlement of Gallia men. These are natives of a 

 district in the extreme north of Gilolo, and are great 

 wanderers over this part of the Archipelago. They build 

 large and roomy prans with outriggers, and settle on any 

 coast or island they take a fancy for. They hunt deer and 

 wild pig, drying the meat ; they catch turtle and tripang ; 

 they cut down the forest and plant rice or maize, and are 

 altogether remarkably energetic and industrious. They 

 are very fine people, of light complexion, tall, and with 

 Papuan features, coming nearer to the drawings and 

 descriptions of the true Polynesians of Tahiti and Owyhee 

 than any I have seen. 



During this voyage I had several times had an oppor- 

 tunity of seeing my men get fire by friction. A sharp- 

 edged piece of bamboo is rubbed across the convex surface 

 of another piece, on which a small notch is first cut. The 

 rubbing is slow at first and gradually quicker, till it 

 becomes very rapid, and the fine powder rubbed off ignites 

 and falls through the hole which the rubbing has cut in 

 the bamboo. This is done with great quickness and cer- 

 tainty. The Ternate people use bamboo in another way. 

 They strike its flinty sm-face with a bit of broken china, 

 and produce a spark, which they catch in some kind of 

 tinder. 



