180 TRAVELS IN THE EAST ETOIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



the shmj), quick rap of a drum, which, however mo- 

 notonous, still has something stirriug and lively in 

 it ; and two gongs, imported from China, and just 

 harsli and discordant enough to please the musical 

 tympanums of the stupid Celestials. The tifa is beat 

 with a piece of wood of any shape held loosely in 

 the right hand, while the left hand raises the note 

 by pressing against the edge of the vibrating skin. 

 There is, therefore, no such thing as a long roll or a 

 short roll, but one unvaried beating. The two gongs 

 were of different siises, and were struck alternately, 

 but this was so slight a change that it only made the 

 monotony more wearisome. Each rower had a small 

 wooden box, about a foot long, four inches high, and 

 Btx wide, where he carried the all-important betel- 

 nut, siri, lime, and tobacco. It also served as a chest 

 for his extra clothing. 



The betel-nut is the fruit .of a tall, slender, and 

 extremely graceful palm, the Areca catechu. The 

 trunk is usually from six to eight inches only in 

 diameter, but the sheaf of green leaves tbat springs 

 out of its top is thirty or forty feet from the ground. 

 Of all the beautiM palms, this is decidedly the most 

 fascinating to me, Near the house ia which I lived, 

 at Batavia, there was a long avenue of these gi'ace- 

 ful trees, and there in the bright mornings, and cool 

 evenings, I was accustomed to saunter to and fi-o, 

 and each time it seemed that they were more charm- 

 ing than ever before. This tree grows over all 

 tropical India, and the whole arehipelagp, including 

 the Philippines, Its Malay name is pinang^ hence 

 Pulo Pinang is the Betel-nut Island* In nearly all 



