VOYAGE FROM TENIMBER. 
211 
nearly ten years in the East Indies now, and are 
greatly enamoured of the pleasant life, preferring 
the climate to that of Europe. Two girls who 
inherit the mother’s beauty, Irma and Ilka (the 
Mary and Ellen of English), and a most precoci- 
ous spirited boy of four, are growing up around 
them. My converse with them is in German, 
but H. and the doctor fall generally into the 
ready Malay, which, with the aid of Latin, 
serves them in the most learned discussions. 
From these friends we have an excellent oppor- 
tunity of gaining information ou all subjects 
connected with life in the archipelago, for they 
have had experience of many parts of it while 
stationed at the different garrisons. 
Before I tell yon of social life in Amboina, I 
must turn for a few minutes to speak of our 
voyage here from the Tenimber Islands, and 
particularly to mention one person to whom we 
owe much, the chief officer of the vessel, an ideal 
sailor of the old type. We quite intrigued to 
waylay him for a few minutes’ talk when we 
saw him approach with his steadying gait, learnt 
in many a wild storm. He possessed only a 
limited knowledge of sailor-English, but could 
recount his experience or tell a hu morons tale 
with a power which commanded the listener’s 
