THE PALACE HEIGHT. 
81 
pore twice over; for the palace rose out of the centre 
of the town almost, overlooking every thing. Thus we 
looked down upon the city by piecemeal at first, and 
finally, upon reaching the summit, took in ‘ the wdiole’ 
at a revolving glance, — the city, the hay, the opposite 
land, the back-country with its dense jungle, and the 
immediate grounds around our feet. This also was 
grand. 
“ We were ushered into the reception-room by a 
fancifully-liveried native, and were soon after met by 
the ladies. We found Mrs. and Miss Butterworth most 
accomplished personages, and passed a pleasant fifteen 
minutes. They showed us a stone which had lately 
been brought from a mountain in the island of Banca, 
(one of those around wdiich we were surveying,) and 
which exerted a powerful influence over the needle ; 
every one called it a loadstone. Stevens, having found 
that it would not attract a ca?n6nc-needle, pronounced it 
a singular iron-ore; and such subsequently proved to be 
its nature.” 
We had been riding around in our one-dollar vehicle 
to see the sights. Here is one of them, a Chinese 
temple: — 
“As we entered through the massive stone-work, we 
were followed by a dozen or more loafing Chinamen, 
who stopped their gambling (gambling in the very 
porch of their temple !) to watch our movements. We 
were very respectful at first, for fear of alarming their 
jealousy, throwing away our cigars and taking off our 
hats. These loafers, however, motioned us to light 
other cigars and to resume our covering, and were so 
6 
