UNFRIENDLY NATJVKS. 



jackete, ami regular fighting costume. Ho made no reply 

 to the questions of our party about bullocks^ but kept his 

 liaud on his kris, and appeared undecided how to act* 

 Our party wore onl}'' eight in ntimbon and (lestitute of 

 anns, with the exception of one gun, the kind bebaviour 

 of their fi'ieiid the night b<?fore having completely removed 

 all suspicion of any sinister behaviour. Surrounded now 

 by about sixty well-armed, rascally4ookiiig tliievcs, of 

 hostile demeanour, they thought it best to put on as hold a 

 front iis possible » and at tlie Bame tirao quietly to retire ; 

 nor did they underrate their good fortune in regahihig the 

 boat without further molestation, the ship lacing some miles 

 distant, and shut out from view by projecting headlaiulH. 

 This was a lesson not to venture, in futm*e, out of sight 

 of the ship among the nafcivea of these islands without an 

 apparent superiority of force. Thoir white flags were hung 

 out as much for the purpose of entrapping the weak, as 

 of bartering with the strong, 



Finduig our wishes not Ukely to he attained, and not 

 liking our berth, which was exposed to the eastward, wo 

 weighed, and I'an ronnd to the opposite side of Cagayan 

 Soloo. This island, from its size and population, is next 

 in importance to Soloo itself 



The scenery, which presented itself to us in these 

 wanderings, was the perfection of tropical beauty, witli 

 just sufiicient cultivation to redeem it from the appearance 

 of wildn^ss. As we ran past the cottages and small 

 villages on the south cm shore, the inbabitanta shewed 



