chap, x.] AMP AN AM. 239 



the swell of the great southern ocean, and the violent 

 currents that flow through the Straits of Lombock. These 

 are so xmcertain that vessels preparing to anchor in the 

 bay are sometimes suddenly swept away into the straits, 

 and are not able to get back again for a fortnight ! 



o o o 



What seamen call the " ripples " are also very violent in 

 the straits, the sea appearing to boil and foam and dance 

 like the rapids below a cataract ; vessels are swept about 

 helpless, and small ones are occasionally swamped in the 

 finest weather and under the brightest skies. 



I felt considerably relieved when all my boxes and 

 myself had passed in safety through the devouring surf, 

 which the natives look upon with some pride, saying, 

 that " their sea is always hungry, and eats up everything 

 it can catch." I was kindly received by Mr. Carter, an 

 Englishman, who is one of the Bandars or licensed traders 

 of the port, who offered me hospitality and every assistance 

 during my stay. His house, storehouses, and offices were 

 in a yard surrounded by a tall bamboo fence, and were 

 entirely constructed of bamboo with a thatch of grass, the 

 only available building materials. Even these were now 

 very scarce, owing to the great consumption in rebuilding 

 the place since the great fire some months before, which in 

 an hour or two had destroyed every building in the town. 



The next day I went to see Mr. S., another merchant 

 to whom I had brought letters of introduction, and who 



