BAGIIIAN AND MAKIAN. 



299 



Wlieii wo were three miles from the northern end 

 of Bum, we struck into a series of tide-rips, exactly 

 like those seen in the middle of the South Atlantic 

 Ocean, hundreds and hundreds of miles Irom any 

 shore. Night now came on, and it was so dark and 

 thick that we could not see fifty yards in any direc- 

 tion. It is especially at such a time, when there is 

 no moon, no stars, no light in the whole heavens, ex- 

 cept the lightning which fitfully daaiis and flashes 

 anywhere and everywhere over the sky, that one 

 can feel tlie inestimable value of the mai'iner'a com- 

 pass. That night we had much rough sea, and I 

 was thankful that I was on a good steamer instead of 

 the old prau on which I had been expecting to 

 make this voyage* In the afternoon of the next 

 day we passed the islands of Bachian and Tawali, 

 which ai'e heaved up into ridges about a thousand 

 feet in height, and are separated by a long, naiTow 

 strait, abounding in the grandest scenery. On 

 Bachian the clove- tree grows wild. The northern 

 part of the island is of sedimentary oiigin of various 

 ages, and there some coal and copper have l^een 

 found, and gold has been washed since 1774. The 

 southem pai-t of the island is chiefly of volcanic 

 origin. North of Bachian lies a small group of isl- 

 ands, and north of these Makian, an old volcano. In 

 164G it underwent a fearful eruption, and all the vil- 

 lages on its flanks were destroyed. They were said to 

 contain a population of some seven thousand. At 

 that time the whole mountain was so completely 

 split in two in a northeast and southwest direction, 

 that wlien viewed from either of those points two 



