378 CHURCH SERVICE IN MALAY. 



service in Malay. The congregation was rather 

 thin, owing, it was said, to the prevailing sickness 

 among the native population. The clergyman 

 preached with great apparent fluency and distinct- 

 ness, and the people were very attentive. At the 

 conclusion two men went round with black velvet 

 bags, at the end of long black sticks, to collect con- 

 tributions. We afterwards walked about a mile 

 above the town, up the valley of the brook, where I 

 saw enough of the geology to excite my curiosity to 

 know more. I accordingly gave up an excursion 

 with Lieut. Ince to the head of the bay, and devoted 

 the next day to the examination of the immediate 

 environs of Coupang. 



September 4. — I was ashore before daylight, and 

 engaging a sharp little Malay boy to carry my bag, I 

 proceeded up the valley. This expands to about a 

 quarter of a mile in width, above the town, where 

 it is laid out in small paddy fields and little planta- 

 tions carefully irrigated, intersected by narrow roads 

 arched over with trees. In about a mile it is con- 

 tracted into a mere ravine, with rocky, precipitous 

 sides. After working for some hours here, I climbed 

 by a narrow path up the western side of the ravine, 

 and came out onto a commanding ridge, from which 

 I got a view of some miles into the interior. Here 

 stood a two-storied house, in a European style of 

 building, belonging to a native Rajah. The shutters 

 were all closed, and I did not see any body but two 

 men at work under an adjoining shed, who, after 



