CHAP. XSVIIL] 



407 



the other half of the littlo house on deck, Tliere wero 

 abvHit ten respectable men, Chinese or Bugis» whom oui 

 owner used to call "his own people." He treated them 

 very well shared his meals with them, and spoke to them 

 always with perfect politeness; yet they were most of 

 theia a kind of slave debtoi-s, bound over by the police 

 m.'igistrate to work for him at mere nominal wa?_re3 for a 

 term of yeara till their debts wem liquidated, Tiiis is a 

 Dutch iiistitutioii in this part of the world, and seems to 

 work welL It is 'a great boon to tradei-s, who can do 

 nothing in these thinly-populated regions wiihout trusting 

 goods to agents and petty dealers, who frequently squander 

 tliem away in gambling and debauchery. The low«-r 

 classes are almost all in a chronic state of debt. The 

 merchaiifc trusts tlieui again and again, till the amount is 

 something serious, when he brhigs them to court and has 

 their services allotted to him for its liquidation. The 

 debtors seem to think this no disgrace, but rather enjoy 

 tlieir freedom from responsibility, and the dignity of their 

 jMisition under a wealthy and well-known merchant. They 

 tiude a little ou their own account, and both parties seem 

 to get on very well together. The 3>lan seems a more 

 sensible one than that which we adopt, of effiectually pre- 

 venting a man from earnmg anything towards paying his 

 debts by shutting him up in a jail. 



Jly own servants were three in number. Ali, the JIalay 

 boy whom I liad picked up in IJorneo, was my head man. 

 He had aheady been with me a year, could turu his hand 

 to anything, and was qnite attentive and truslwortliy. He 

 was a good shot, and fond of shooting, and I had taught 

 him to skin birds very well The second, named Biidernon, 

 was a Macassar lad, also a pretty good boy, but a desperate 

 gtimbler. Under pretence of buying a house fbr his mother, 

 and clothes for himself, he had received four months' 

 wages about .a week befoi'e we sailed, and in a day or two 

 ganildod away every dollar of it. He had come on boartl 

 with no clothes, no betel, or tobacco, or salt fish, all which 

 necessary articles I was obliged to send Ali to buy for 

 him. These two lads were about sixteen, 1 should suppose; 

 the third was younger, a sharp little rascal named Baso, 

 who had b^en with me a month or two, and had learnt Lo 



