102 PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 
are the Malay Archipelago; don’t you see ?—it is as plain 
as a pike-staff—there is Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and the 
Celebes; that is the Straits of Malacca, and those Sunda. 
Well, I have often thought of going to them parts; for, the 
oftener I spit, the more frequently I make the self-same 
show, clearly telling that there is an opening in that coun- 
try for a man of intellect and energy. You are not listen- 
ing; but look here, Britisher, just look how quick the Hin- 
doostan peninsula dried up, showing nairey a doubt that 
there an’t a show for a Yankee nohow in that benighted 
land.” 
From my own experience, I knew there was a deal of 
truth in what the Massachusetts school-master said; and I 
wished Old England would only see the necessity of hold- 
ing in her own hands these self-same Straits of Malacca 
and Sunda with the same jealous care as she does our In- 
dian empire, as through them all our most valuable com- 
merce must pass to the populous north-eastern shores of the 
Pacific. 
Pleasant company, yet a great character, was this Yan- 
kee. Here he was evidently on a hunting tour, yet he could 
not shoot; and when in search of game, in spite of remon- 
strance, would frequently produce his tuning-fork, and strike 
up some doleful psalm through his nose, instead of from his 
mouth, to let the hills of this heathen land resound, as he 
said, to the songs of the Lord. 
Mr. School-master—for I found out he was a dominie; 
any fool with a grain of sense, except myself, might have 
known with half an eye that he was something out of the 
ordinary line—never killed any thing; so the duty of sup- 
porting two mouths instead of one devolved upon me. 
From soon after sunrise to sundown I was invariably from 
camp, leaving my new associate to the bent of his fancies, 
provided he looked after the horses, and kept sufticient fire- 
