246 RAJA DONAN. 



"This boat/' said Raja DONAN, " has come from the country 

 of Mandi Angin, 



deripada bendang yang tiada ber-batas 

 ayer yang tiada ber-ikan 

 tampat si-longkang ber-bunyi malam 

 tampat siamang minum ber-gantong 

 tampat chine hi li ber-ulang mandi 

 tampat orang yang makan paku kamahang 

 from the rice-fields where are no embankments, 

 from the waters where no fish are ever seen, 

 a lonely place where the ape howls nightly, 

 where the gibbon swings himself down to drink ; 

 a place haunted by the chinchili bird which bathes there 



unseen, 

 inhabited only by people who live on fern-shoots." — 



" Thence it is that I come, and I have no purpose of going 

 to any fixed destination, but am driven to wander on the sea 

 by evil fortune. As for cargo, there are a few lengths of cot- 

 ton-tree trunks and a case or two of carroway-seeds and 

 some oranges ; * also one kris with a waved blade, and one 

 straight sword (janawi jantan) . Master, mate, steersman, 

 supercargo, boatswain and crew are represented by myself, for 

 it is I who sail this boat. As for the customs and observances 

 of those who live on the sea, the learning that has come down 

 to me is simply this — that when there is a favourable wind one 

 sets sail, and when the wind dies away one anchors." 



The emissary of Raja CHAMAR LAUT, who was all this time 

 alongside in his galley, began to get impatient, and stated 

 plainly that either tribute must be paid, or the Bunga Rampei 

 would be seized as a prize. RAJA DONAN was by no means 

 disconcerted, and answered politely that he would always con- 

 form to the custom of any country in which he might find 

 himself. u I do not," said he, " refuse to pay the tax demand- 

 ed, but first just ask the port-fire of my cannon, the point of 

 my kris ) and the blade of my sword whether I must pay or 

 not. If they say I must pay, there is an end of the matter." 



* By these, cannon, gunpowder and round-shot are meant. 



