FROM TORRES STRAIT TO HONG-HONG. 
1 14 
defined by a step. On the south ‘ side, and facing the tomb at right angles, stands what 
looks like a side-altar or large stone chair. The tomb figured on preceding page was the only 
one adorned with bas-reliefs, these being executed in the style with which Chinese carvings 
on wood or ivory have made us familiar, but their meaning must, I fear, remain a “ Chinese 
puzzle.” The various animals introduced may allude to the different countries visited 
BAS-RELIEFS ON CHINESE TOMB. 
by the individual who is buried here. The bas-relief with the deer may be considered as 
typical of Amboyna, those with the elephants and the tiger as representing Siam and India. 
Another exhibits one of the symbolic monsters of Chinese mythology, composed of the trunk 
of an elephant, the horns of a cow, and the body and tail of a horse. Near its fore feet is a 
figure resembling an octopus. In one of the bas-reliefs appears the figure of a man rising out 
of the ground, and of another man with a bundle on his back like a traveller returning home. 
It may be an accidental lesemblance, but I was surprised to find in these Chinese tombs more 
than one reminiscence of ancient Greece : the outline of the tomb in the shape of the letter 
Omega , the spiral, the symbol of infinite development or eternal life, which, under the form of 
the lams horn, is one of the attributes of Zeus, the god of life ; and the bas-reliefs themselves. 
Some of the enterpiising natives of Amboyna had followed us to the coaling-wharf, 
which during our stay was transformed into a market for the sale of fruit, fish, birds, shells, 
the horns of deer—which abound in the forests of the island—baskets made of cloves 
strung together, and other articles. Cloves, as is well known, are the principal production 
of Amboyna. One evening, at the invitation of the Resident, we attended a performance 
of the band of the National Guard at the club-house. After listening to a selection of 
operatic and national airs, some of us, preferring a walk to a tedious passage by boat, 
returned on foot to our station at the coal-wharf. The cool evening air, delightful after 
the heat of a tropical day, was illumined by the sparks of the fire-flies, which swarmed in 
and out among the branches of the trees and shrubs along our path. They seemed to settle 
especially upon a species of tall shrub remarkable for its numerous branches but few leave. 
Occasionally we crossed one of the light roofed-in bridges characteristic of this part of 
the world. 
