TALISSE ISLAND 79 



quite impossible to re^jeat. I tried in vain to remember 

 one of the most frequent and familiar tunes, but by hum- 

 ming, -whistling, or singing I could make no tune at all 

 resembhng theirs. Whether this is entirely due to my 

 deficiency of ' ear ' or to a different number of the notes ia 

 the Sangirese musical bar to ours, I do not know, but the 

 fact remains that, although the music of those sing-songs 

 is still ringing in my ears even as I write these pages, I 

 cannot make a sound even now that in any way resembles it. 



We had but few European visitors to Talisse besides 

 the agent of the M.H.V. The visits of the ' Flying Fish ' 

 and ' Ternate ' were, of course, of exceptional importance 

 and interest to all of us. 



There was a httle schooner called the 'Minahassa,' 

 belonging to the M.H.V., which came occasionally. The 

 captain and the mate of this vessel were Dutchmen. Then 

 a German brig named the ' Claus ' and a Danish brig, the 

 'Louise,' came to take a cargo of ebony wood for Europe. 



One day in December a brig came to Talisse with a 

 cargo of rattans from the Tomini Bay. She flew the 

 Enghsh flag, as she belonged to Singapore, but she was the 

 property of the old Arab trader who always sailed with her 

 as skipper. The captain had a harem of five wives on 

 board, all of them Malay women from various parts of the 

 Archipelago ; the crew were mostly Arabs and Malays, the 

 others being Chinamen. This captain often came ashore 

 to see me, and told me many interesting things about the 

 people of the Tomini Bay. He had spent the greater part 

 of his hfe cruising about the Malay Archipelago, barter- 

 ing his clothes and knives and beads for rattans, copra, 

 copal, and whatever other produce he could procure. I 

 was told that he had amassed a very considerable fortune 

 in this trade, and I dare say it is true. But, hke so many 

 of the wanderers over the face of the earth, he could not 



