CRUISE IN THE SOUTHERN CHINA SEA. 63 



long line of brown houses on land and water, following the 

 course of the shore — lay higher up the creek. Beyond rose the 

 jungle. and hills, with the quaintly-shaped Thumb Peak — abrupt 

 and solitary— standing 1 out prominently against the sky. 



A white man is a bit of a curiosity in these parts and for the 

 rest of the day it was but seldom that twenty or thirty heads 

 were not poked through the skylight windows watching our 

 goings-on. 



Next morning we went up to the village to visit the Dato 

 and show him a letter written by the Sultan of Linga who, under 

 the Dutch, rules ail these islands. 



A roofed-in platform with benches and flight of steps forms 

 a pleasant landing and lounging place before the village, near 

 which was anchored a stranger vessel — a little prau about the 

 size of our whaleboat packed with a large and unprepossessing 

 family of Orang Laut. 



From the jambatan we were led to the Dato. The village 

 consists of about 250 houses threaded by tidy paths and supplied 

 with water by numerous bamboo penclwrans leading from the 

 higher ground in the rear. No women were visible but from 

 the houses came the clacking of numerous looms : good strong 

 sarongs are made here, dyed, however, with aniline colours 

 purchased in Singapore : indeed though Dutch possessions, the 

 Straits dollar was the only coin current in all the islands of our 

 cruise. Passing the mosque, a pucca triple-roofed structure of 

 wood and stone, and a number of old cannon that lay scattered 

 about, we reached the Dato's, a well-built shingle-roofed house, 

 with a long enclosed verandah running its length, in which we 

 were welcomed. 



The Dato was an amiable old gentleman, treated by his 

 people as he treated the Sultan's letter — with great respect. 

 Chairs were arranged at one end of the room and when we took 

 our seats the lower end was crowded by the populace while 

 women stared through the latticed windows of the inner rooms. 

 An official, bent double with respect, read the Sultan's hukum, 

 which explained our object and recommended all assistance, 

 and then the Dato and the audience descanted on the 

 local fauna, its paucity in those islands and how much 

 better off other places — Pahang, for instance — were in this res- 

 it. A. Soc , No. 41, 1903 



