188 COMMUNICATE WITH 



fancied he spoke some Malay dialect from the simi- 

 larity in sound and intonation of his words, nor was 

 it until I had used some of the commonest and least 

 chang-eahle Malay words — as those meaning- iire, 

 water, &c. — without heing- understood, that I was 

 convinced of my mistake. Two others of our party 

 were allowed to come up one by one, and some 

 trifling articles were exchanged for various orna- 

 ments. Still they would not suffer any one with a 

 gun to approach, although anxious to entice us 

 singly and unarmed to their village towards which 

 they were gradually leading" us, and where they 

 could be reinforced by another party, whom we saw 

 watching us on the edge of the mangroves. 



But it was not considered expedient to waste more 

 time upon the natives, so we turned back and 

 walked along the eastern side of the island one and a 

 half miles, with the boat in company outside. A 

 small stream of fresh water was found, not sufficient, 

 however, for our wants, nor was the place suitable 

 for the approach of boats. The rock on Pig Island, 

 where exposed at some of the points, is mica slate, 

 soft and sphntery in many places, with frequent 

 veins of quartz. The lulls,* although often running 

 in ridges, have a rounded outUne, and the soil on the 

 smooth grassy places — comprising three-fourths of 

 the island — is composed of disintegrated rock mixed 

 with pieces of undecomposed quartz, any considerable 



* The highest part of the island, measured up to the tops of 

 the trees, is 479 feet. 



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