42 CURIOSITY OF THE RONGO. 



men would turn out ready and eager for the fray. 

 The animal, however, was sure to shift his quarters 

 during the night, so that the next morning would 

 be too late to look for him. 



The Rongo was a middle-aged man of a portly 

 appearance, with an intelligent, good-humoured 

 countenance, and very amiable manners. He ap- 

 peared fond of a joke, and could we have conversed 

 freely with him, would, I think, have been an ex- 

 cellent companion ; but as all the conversation had 

 to be interpreted by Hill, it could not be very brisk. 

 He seemed much interested with respect to England, 

 and was never tired of asking questions about it. 

 He wanted to know the amount of the army, the 

 number of the fleet, how many colonels there were, 

 under which title he included post-captains, the 

 amount of their pay, and similar matters. He 

 seemed amused with the idea of a " Rajah param- 

 pouan," or woman Rajah, although acquainted with 

 the fact of our having a Queen and her name, and 

 asked how many children she had. He evidently 

 could not understand why Prince Albert was not 

 King. He asked about the probability of war, and I 

 think was desirous of ascertaining whether there was " 

 any chance in the future of the English recovering 

 possession of Java. We assured him that there was 

 none, as we had more territory than we knew what 

 to do with. 



There still seems to linger a hope and expecta- 

 tion on the part of the native inhabitants, and a 



