476 AMBOYNA. [chap. xx. 



in getting two each. An Amboyna Christian named 

 Theodoras Matakena, who had been some time with me 

 and had learnt to skin birds very well, agreed to go with 

 Allen, as well as a very quiet and industrious lad named 

 Cornelius, whom I had brought from Menado. I had two 

 Amboynese, named Petrus Eehatta, and Mesach Mata- 

 kena ; the latter of whom had two brothers, named re- 

 spectively Shadrach and Abednego, in accordance with the 

 usual custom among these people of giving only Scripture' 

 names to their children. 



During the time I resided in this place I enjoyed a 

 luxury I have never met with either before or since — the 

 true bread-fruit. A good deal of it has been planted 

 about here and in the surrounding villages, and almost 

 every day we had opportunities of purchasing some, as 

 all the boats going to Amboyna were unloaded just oppo- 

 site my door to be dragged across the isthmus. Though 

 it grows in several other parts of the Archipelago, it is 

 nowhere abundant, and the season for it only lasts a short 

 time. It is baked entire in the hot embers, and the 

 inside scooped out with a spoon. I compared it to York- 

 shire pudding ; Charles Allen said it was like mashed 

 potatoes and milk. It is generally about the size of a 

 melon, a little fibrous towards the centre, but everywhere 

 else quite smooth and puddingy, something in consistence 

 between yeast-dumplings and batter-pudding. We some- 



