1 82 C O O K’s V 0 Y A G E. 
cipality in which we were afhore, feemed to have great autho- 
rity, without much external parade or Ihow, or much appear- 
ance of perfonal refpeft. He was about five and thirty years 
of agp, and the fattefi: man we favv upon the whole ifland : he 
appeared to be of a dull phlegmatic difpofition, and to be di- 
rected almofi: implicitly by the old man who, upon my pre- 
senting him with a fword, had procured us a fair market, in 
fpight of the craft and avarice of the Dutch faftors. The name 
of this perfon was Mannu Djarme, and it may reafonably 
be fuppofed that he was a man of uncommon integrity and 
abilities, as, notwithftanding his poffeflion of power in the 
charafter of a favourite, he was bcdoved by the whole princi- 
pality. If any difference arifes among the people, it is fettled 
by the Raja and his counfellors, without delay or appeal, and, 
as we were told, with the molt folemn deliberation and im- 
partial j uftice. 
We were informed by Mr. Lange, that the chiefs who had 
fucceflively prefidcd over the five principalities of this ifland, 
had lived for time immemorial in the ftridleft alliance and molt 
cordial friendfhip with each other ; yet he faid the people 
were of a warlike difpofition, and had always courageoufly 
defended themfelves againft foreign invaders. We were told 
alfo, that the ifland w r as able to raife, upon very fhort notice, 
7300 fighting men, armed with mufkets, fpears, lances, an<j 
targets. Of this force, Laai was faid to furnifh 2600, Seba 
2-00, Regeeua 1500, Timo 800, and Maffara 400. Befides 
the arms that have been already mentioned, each man is fur- 
;i ; died with a large pole-ax, refembling a wood-bill, except 
that it has a flrait edge, and is much heavier : this, in the 
hands of people who have courage to come to clofe quarters 
with an enemy, muft be a dreadful weapon ; and we were told 
that they were fo dextrous with their lances, that at the dis- 
tance of fixty feet they would throw them with fuch exaftnefs 
as to pierce a man’s heart, and fuch force as to go quite 
through his body. 
How far this account of the martial prowefs pf the inha- 
bitants of Savu may be true, we cannot take upon us to de- 
termine, but during our fiay, we faw no appearance of it. 
Wc faw indeed in the town-houfe, or houfe of affembly, 
about one hundred fpears and targets, which ferved to arm 
the people who were fent down to intimidate us at the trading 
place ; but they feemed to be the refufe of old armories, no 
two being of the fame make or length, for fome were fix, and 
fome fix teen feet long : v/e favv no lance among them, and as 
jo the mufkets, though they were clean on the outfide, they 
Were eaten into holes by the ruft within ; and the people them- 
fdves anpeared to be fo little acquainted with military difei- 
pline, jhat they marched like a diforderly rabble, every one 
having, 
