BATCHTAK [chap. xzit. 



very dim lamps barely render dnrkness visible. The floor 

 ia of black aandy earth, the roof hid in a smoky impene- 

 trable blackness ; two or three benches stand against the 

 walls, and the orchestra consists of a fiddle, a fife, a drmn, 

 and a triangle. There is plenty of company, consisting of 

 young men and women, all veiy neatly dressed in white and 

 black— a true Portuguese habit Quadi'illes, waltzes, polkas, 

 and mazurkas are danced wnth great \'iguur and much 

 skill The refreshments are muddy cotfee and a few sweet- 

 meats. Dancing is kept up for hours, and all is conducted 

 -with much decorum and propriety. A part}' of this kind 

 meets about once a week, the principal inhabitants taking 

 it by turns, and all who please come in without much 

 ceremony. 



It is astonishing how little these people have altered 

 in three hundred years, although in that time they 

 have changed their '^language and lost all knowledge of 

 their own nationality. They are still in manners and 

 appearance almost piu-e Porfcug\iese, ver^' similar to those 

 with whom I had become acquainted on tlie banks of the 

 Amazon, They live yqtv poorly as regards their house 

 and fumiture/bvit preseWe a semi-Euixipean dress, and 

 ha^'e almost all full suits of black for Sundays. They are 

 nominally l*itttestants, but Sunday evening is their grand 

 day for music and daucing. The men are often good 

 hunters ; and two or three times a week, deer or wild pigs 

 are brouglit to the village, which, with fish and fowls, 

 enables Them to live well. Tliey are almost the only 

 people in the Arclupelago who eat the great fruit-eating 

 bats called by us " flying foxes." These ugly creatures are 

 considered a" great delicacy, and are muck sought after. 

 At about the beginning of the year they come in large 

 flocks to eat fruit, and congregate durmg the day on some 

 small klands in the bay, hanging by tliousanda on the 

 trees, esiK^cially on dead" ones. They can then be easily 

 caugiit or knocked down with sticks, and are brought 

 home by buskets-fulL They require to be carefully pre- 

 pared, as the skin and fur has a rank and powerful fory 

 odo'iT \ but they are generally cooked with abundance of 

 spices and condiments, and are really very good eating, 

 something like hare. The Orang Sirani are good cooks, 



