March 1 - At sea 
We left the Adelphi shortly after nine this morning, and boarded 
the Plancius, of the K. P. g, line - a swell little Dutch boat. For 
an hour before sailing fcwe watched the Malay boys diving for coins 
near the side of the boat. Each one had a canoe that looked just 
about as sturdy, and much the ssme shape, as a peanut-shell. How 
they could balance themselves in these little dug-outs was a mystery. 
From time to time they would bail them out with a curious scooping 
motion of their feet. One of the boatmen was a famous Singapore 
character, an elderly, gray-haired Malay, with a lighted cigpr al- 
ways puffing in his mouth. When a coin came his way, he auicklv 
reversed the cigar, putting the burning end in his mouth, "dived" for 
the coin, righted the cigar as soon as his head came to the surface 
agsm, and climbed back in his boat with the cigar still lighted. 
The boys played an interesting and skillful ball game, striking 
a rubber ball, anout the size of a tennis ball, with their paddles. 
Ihey would send it against the side of the Plancius, catch it time 
and again on the tip of their paddles, hit 'it from one boatman to 
another, and vary the game by hitting it occasionailv with their 
heads . 
As we pulled out, the Plancius served us orange ice instead of 
the customary bouillon on deck. We left the skyline of Singapore, 
and the blue hills of Johore behind, and set out through the 
Straits of Malacca. All afternoon we were in sight of land, partly 
KKEHxiEnx±±y low coastal country but mostly with mountains rising 
from the green water. Many of the mountains were typically volcanic. 
boys 
The crew and the X*8»*2$S on the boat are Javanese, and each 
one wears a batik sash and turban. We begin learning Malay in 
earnest, in order to get what we want to eat and drink. 
Bill and I sat on deck very late, enjoying the mild evening, 
the moon and the clouds, and getting a great thrill out of the 
thought that to-morrow we will be in Sumatra, the island that has 
been the center of our hopes and plans for so many years. 
March 2 - Belawan and Medan . 
The Plancius docked at Belawan about eleven o'clock, and Cc.me 
alongside in a curious nunner all its own. Two launches e?me out 
from land, each with a long rope, which was fastened at one end to 
stanchions on the boat, at the other to piles on the dock. A 
donkey engine on deck wound up the rope," and we were pulled in 
sideways to the pier. 
There was considerable delay while all our baggage was trken 
ashore. Then we went ashore an-! sat on a pile of trunks waiting 
for the head of the customs. It was interesting to watch the cooiies 
disemberking from between decks. There had been twenty or thirty 
first-class passengers on board, but there were eighteen hundred" 
Javanese between-decks, coming out to work on the plantations. A 
stre&m of them ctme ashore, each one carrying his worldly goods on 
his back. There were worn en with babies in their arms, men with 
bird cages, strange bundles of all shapes and sizes tied up in 
grass matting, boxes of household utensils - a seemingly endless 
procession. 
MM 
