48 
THE DUTCH AND THE NATIVES, 
one of the governor’s little lads seated within 
a circle of chairs, stools, and footstools. In 
childish fashion he was holding over again the 
reception which his father had that afternoon 
given to the Governor of Macassar and suite, 
and with bows and compliments and the most 
gracious manner was conversing with the ima- 
ginary circle of visitors. I was intensely amused, 
and dared not move lest I should discomfit the 
boy by the discovery that he was observed. 
This voyage gives an excellent opportunity 
of seeing the relations of the Dutch with their 
native servants. These, both male and female, 
loll or crouch about the deck all day, ready to 
run down-stairs on an errand for the mistress 
or children, or bring a light for master’s cigar. 
Children all speak Malay, and repeat their little 
tales and rhymes in that language. Their 
Dutch speech until they go to school is very 
imperfect. 
At Larantuka, before entering the strait of 
that name, some of the gentlemen went on 
shore to visit a Catholic settlement : it was 
then raining so heavily that we could not ac- 
company them. The wooded slopes, as we ap- 
proached the village, seemed to invite nestling 
villas and turreted chateaux, while the tiny spire 
