412 VISIT TO GRISSEK. 



along the Java shore, towards the north-west, 1 de- 

 termined to visit them, especially as they were said 

 to be inhabited by the swallow that makes the edible 

 nest. 



On the morning of the 23rd I went in a tamban- 

 gan down to Grissek. It was at first calm, and the 

 tide against us, obliging us to pull up in the shoal 

 water across large mud flats. Lines of upright 

 posts traversed these in several directions, with 

 cross pieces from one to the other. The posts were 

 bamboos, which, from their motion, seemed only to 

 be moored with a weight at the bottom. They were 

 in some way connected with the fishery, but how 

 they were used, unless it was to dry the nets on, 

 or merely as boundary marks, I could not make 

 out. 



As we neared Grissek, a very shoal bay, bordered 

 with mangroves, seemed to run in on the Java side, 

 and mangrove flats also appeared at the end of 

 Madura ; but at Grissek itself commenced a small 

 range of hills, some three or four hundred feet in 

 height. Near the town the shore began to be bor- 

 dered by houses, of which one, seemingly a large 

 and handsome one, belonged to a Chinese mer- 

 chant. It was eleven o'clock before we reached the 

 pier at Grissek, where I landed, and walking into 

 the town, inquired for the assistant-resident, M. 

 Kurchinnus, to whom Mr. Fraser had given me a 

 letter. To my regret, however, I found he had gone 

 to Sourabaya, and I now was puzzled how to pro- 



