108 
PORTUGUESE TRACES. 
communication with the Dutch for 250 years, 
the Portuguese element predominates in the okl 
Christian population. This nation had a won- 
derful power of impressing its national charac- 
teristics on the peoples it subjected. Traces of 
its influence are yet indicated in habits and 
words — nyora (signora), lengo (handkerchief), 
cadeira (chair), and many domestic terms, being 
plainly Portuguese. ' Although the Amboinese 
now profess the Protestant faith, at feasts and 
on gay occasions they preserve the processions 
and music of the Catholic Church, curiously 
mingled with the gongs and dances of the 
aborigines. 
The weather is simply delightful. Every day 
it gets more and more into the rainy season, but 
not sufficiently yet to cause discomfort. Even 
at mid-day a fresh breeze blows, and at evening 
one might call the climate temperate. After the 
hottest hour we are ready to set out, and have 
already become familiar with the town and its 
outskirts. We frequently meet the stream of 
Mohammedans gathering for evening worship at 
the mosque. The wealthy Arab comes along 
with measured tread, his ablutions already per- 
formed, and fresh in liis flowing white robes : 
his poorer brethren come rushing up, press in 
