A CONTSVUL or THE DEAD-HUNTEIiS, 



209 



tWm ranged themselves in two rows, each grasping 

 it witli one band as if ready to haul in tlie leviathan 

 liimselt* when the wai'ning should be given. A 

 number of heavy seas now rolled in and broke, but 

 the natives, by means of their paddles, kept us from 

 being swept forward or backward, A smaller swell 

 is coming in now. Every native gives a mid yell, 

 and those on the shore haul in the rattan with all 

 their might, and away we dart on the crest of a 

 wave with the swiftness of an aiTow. We are now 

 in the midst of the surf, and our boat is on the skid, 

 but away we glide at the speed of a locomotive, and 

 already we are high upon the bank before the next 

 wave can come in. 



The Resident, who enjoyed surprising me as 

 much as possible, had carefully concealed the m'gent 

 business that hatl compelled him to land in such a 

 difficult place, and my curiosity was not diminished 

 when I noticed his imperative orders for the militia, 

 who accompanied us as a guard, to come on shore 

 immediately. We were evidently neai^, or already 

 in, an enemy*s country. A large gatheidng of the 

 natives was now ordered at the rajah's house, an 

 examination began, and several men were sentenced 

 to be seized by the guard and brought to Amboina 

 for trial. They had been guilty of paiiicipating in a 

 feest kahicm, or meeting of a secret organisation, that 

 was formed as early at least as a few year's after the 

 arrival of the Dutch. There are various opinions as 

 to its object, some asserting that it originated as a 

 confederation of many tribes i^ainst other tribes, and 

 othei^ supposing its design to be to resist the author- 



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