^gQ THE ARV ISLJNDS. [chap, xxxri. 



remote froia Mecca than any other mosque in the world, 

 and marks the farthest eastern extension of the Maho- 

 metan religion. The Chinese here, as elaewhere, fihowed 

 tliinr sniieriOT wealth and crvilization by tombstones of 

 solid granite brouirlit from Sinrrapore, witli deeply-cut 

 inscriptions, the characters of whicli are ]>aiiited in red, 

 bhie, and gahl Ko people have more respect for the 

 graves of tlieir relations and fiiends than tnis strange, 

 ubiquitons, money-getting people. 



Soon after we had returned to Dobbo, my Macassar boy, 

 Baderoon, took his wages and left me. because I scolded 

 iiim for laziness. He then occupied himself in gambling, 

 and at first had some Inck, and bought oniaments, and had 

 plenty of money. Then liis luck turned ; be lost every- 

 tiling* borrowed money and lost tliat, and \vm obliged to 

 beccjme the slave of his creditor till he had worked out tlie 

 debt. He was a qiii<;k and active lad when he pleased, 

 but was apt to be idle, and had such an incorrigible pro- 

 pensity for gambling, that it will very likely lead to his 

 becoming a slave for life. 



The end of June was no%v approaching, the east monsoon 

 had set in steadily, and in another week or two Dobbo 

 would be deserted. Preparations for departure were every- 

 where visible, and every sunny day (rather rare now) the 

 streets were as crowded and as busy as beehives. Heaps 

 of tripang were finally dried and ]iacked up in sacks; 

 mother-of-pearl shell, tied up with rattans into convenient 

 bundles, was all day long being carded to the beach to be 

 loaded ; %vater-casks were tilled, and cloths and mat-sails 

 mended and strengthened for the run home before the 

 strong east wind. Almost eveiy day gi'oups of natives 

 arrived from the most distant parts of the ielauds, with 

 cargoes of bananas and sugar-cane to exchange for tobacco, 

 &ago, 'bread, and other luxuries, before the general de- 

 parture. Tlie Chinamen killed their fat pig and made 

 their parting feast, and kindly sent me some pork, and a 

 basin of birds' -nest stew, wliicli had very little more taste 

 than a dish of vermicellL My boy Ali returned from 

 Wanumbai, wliere I bad sent him alone for a fortnight to 

 buy Paradise birds and prepare the skins; he brought 

 me sLx.teen glorious specimens, and had he not been veiy 



