166 MACASSAR TO THE ARU ISLANDS [chap, xxviii. 



the bulwarks, I happened to spit over the side ; one of the 

 men begged I would not do so just now, but spit on deck, 

 as they were much afraid of this place. !N"ot quite com- 

 prehending, I made him repeat his request, when, seeing he 

 was in earnest, I said, " Very well, I suppose there are 

 'hantus' (spirits) here." "Yes," said he, " and they don't 

 like anything to be thrown overboard ; many a prau has 

 been lost by doing it." Upon which I promised to be 

 very careful. At sunset the good Mahometans on board 

 all repeated a few words of prayer with a general chorus, 

 reminding me of the pleasing and impressive "Ave Maria" 

 of Catholic countries. 



Dec. 20th. — At sunrise we were opposite the Bontyne 

 mountain, said to be one o^f the highest in Celebes. In the 

 afternoon we passed the Salayer Straits and had a little 

 squall, wluch obliged us to lower our huge mast, sails, and 

 heavy yards. The rest of the evening we had a fine west 

 wind, which carried us on at near five knots an hour, as 

 much as our lumbering old tub can possibly go. jJ 



Dec. 21st. — A heavy sweU from the south-west rolling us 

 about most uncomfortably. A steady wind was blowing, 

 however, and we got on very well. J 



Dec. 22d. — The swell had gone down. We passed 

 Boutong, a large island, high, woody, and populous, the 

 native place of some of our crew. A small prau retixrning 

 from Bali to the island of Goram overtook us. The 



