188 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN AECfllPELAGO. 



Europeans. They were quite naked, and carried in 

 their right hands large cleaners or swords (some 

 of which I noticed were made of wood). On the 

 left aiTa was a nan'ow shield about four feet long, 

 and evidently more for show than use, as it was 

 * only three or four inches wide in the middle. On 

 the head was a kind of crown, and, m long plumes 

 are scarce, sticks were covered with white hen- 

 feathers, and stuck in as a substitute. From their 

 shouldei's and elbows hung strips of bright-red caJieo, 

 to make them look gay or fierce (it was difficult to say 

 which). Theu' ^var■dance consisted in spiinging for- 

 ward and backward, and whirling rapidly round. 

 Forming in two lines, they fiercely brandished their 

 Bwords, as we advanced between them to a little 

 elevation, where all the rajahs had gathered to re- 

 ceive the Resident. 



Nusalaut is oblong iu form, less than two miles in 

 length, and in some places only half a mile wide. Its 

 area, therefore, is somewhat less than a single square 

 mile. Its suiiiice is hilly, but the highest point is 

 not more than three hundred meters alcove the sea 

 A century and a half ago its population numbered 

 five thousand, but at present it is only three thousand 

 five hundred. The number of viUages, and, conse- 

 quently, of rajahs, is only seven. We first visited 

 SDs, the one neai*est om' landing. As we entered the 

 kampong, we fi^und the main street ornamented in a 

 most tasteful manner. The young, light-yellow leaves 

 of the cocoa-nut palm had been split in two, and were 

 bent into bows or arcs with the midrib uppermost, 

 and the leaflets hanging beneath, Tliese bows were 



