70 BATCH! AN. [chap. xxiv. 



trader going to buy goods. We had to sleep all together 

 in the cabin, packed pretty close ; but they very civilly 

 allowed me plenty of room for my mattrass, and we 

 got on very well together. There was a little cook- 

 house in the bows, where we could boil our rice and 

 make our coffee, every one of course bringing his own 

 provisions, and arranging his meal-times as he found 

 Tuost convenient. The passage would have been agree- 

 able enough but for the dreadful " tom-toms," or wooden 

 drums, which are beaten incessantlj^ while the men 

 are rowing. Two men were engaged constantly at them, 

 making a fearful din the whole voyage. The rowers are 

 men sent by the Sidtan of Ternate. They get aV)Out three- 

 pence a day, and find their own provisions. Each man 

 had a strong wooden " betel" box, on which he generally 

 sat, a sleeping-mat, and a change of clothes — rowing 

 naked, with only a sarong or a waist-cloth. They sleep in 

 their places, covered with their mat, which keeps out the 

 rain pretty well. Tliey chew betel or smoke cigarettes 

 incessantly ; eat dry sago and a little salt fish ; seldom 

 sing while rowing, except when excited and wanting to 

 reach a stopping-place, g,nd do not talk a great deal. 

 They are mostly Malays, with a sprinkling of Alfuros from 

 Gilolo, and Papuans from Guebe or Waigiou. 



One afternoon we stayed at Makian ; many of the men 

 went on shore, and a great deal of plantains, bananas, and 



