1 70 MACASSAR TO THE ARU ISLANDS [chap, xxviii. 



is a very good measurer of time. I tested it with my 

 watch and found that it hardly varied a minute from one 

 hour to another, nor did the motion of the vessel have any 

 effect upon it, as the water in the bucket of course kept 

 level. It has a great advantage for a rude people in being 

 easily understood, in being rather bulky and easy to see, 

 and in the final submergence being accompanied with a 

 little bubbling and commotion of the water, which calls 

 the attention to it. It is also quickly replaced if lost while 

 in harbour. 



Our captain and owner I find to be a quiet, good- 

 tempered man, who seems to get on very well with all 

 about him. When at sea ha drinks no wine or spirits, 

 but indulges only in coffee and cakes, morning and after- 

 noon, in companj'- with his supercargo- and assistants. He 

 is a man of some little education, can read and write 

 well both Dutch and Malay, uses a compass, and has a 

 chart. He has been a trader to Aru for many years, and 

 is well known to both Europeans and natives in this part 

 of the world. 



Dec. 24:th. — Fine, and little wind. No land in sight for 

 the first time since we left Macassar. At noon calm, with 

 heavy showers, in which our crew wash their clothes, and 

 in the afternoon the prau is covered with shirts, trousers, 

 and sarongs of various gay colours. I made a discovery 

 to-day which at first rather alarmed me. The two ports, 



