MANNER OF I.IFE OF THE EUROPEANS IN BANKA. 
345 
pical fruits I planted European vegetables, among which beans and cu¬ 
cumbers prospered the best. The potatoes never arrived at their blos¬ 
soming, when they reached a certain height they withered and died. The 
cabbage which I obtained from shoots suffered much from ringtails, a- 
gainst which my gardener applied the juice of-certain plants, mixed with 
water. A single cabbage plant often costs here one guilder. 
If, after a solitude of weeks and months, I experienced a deadly^ennui, 
and neither studies, drawing nor collecting of natural curiosities proved a 
remedy for it, then I made an excursion into the country alone or accompa¬ 
nied by a servant. My passion for hunting often seduced me to penetrate 
into the thickest jungle, in which I a few times lost the way and was em¬ 
barrassed by the breaking in of the night. Several times also snakes pass¬ 
ed dose to my head between the boughs of the trees, to which they climb 
with great agility. I often passed the branches of the Baturussak stream 
thickly covered and overhung by the bushes, in a small sampan, when nei¬ 
ther the overturning of the boat by submerged trunks, nor the fearful prox¬ 
imity of the alligator frightened me back. I felt satisfied if the heart was 
beating in such jeopardies j only the unspeakable charms of the wilder¬ 
ness and its dangers could compensate me for solitude. 
One morning I passed, with the English Captain Nash, up thestream in a 
boat in order to enjoy the prospect of Maras, which was visible in the next 
reach of the river gigantic, tow ering to the sky in the distance. The wea¬ 
ther was fine, the fogs of the morning air covering the forest were 
pressed down by the pure luminous light of the sun, which cast its rays 
through the blue ether. The bright greeu of the trees was animated by 
monkeys which we chased as we passed along. Suddenly I perceived a 
black and yellow speckled snake rolled up and clinging to a forked bough 
which hung over our way. The boatmen tried to avoid passing close to 
the animal, however I desired the captain to direct the course of the boat 
towards the spot and discharged the contents of my gun, consisting of 
small shot, at the snake, which, rapidly unrolling, made a furious spring in 
the air, clinging with the tail to the tree and searching with flashing eyes for 
the enemy, while from her open mouth the blood gushed. Availing myself 
of this moment, I gave her a second charge, which precipitated her into the 
water. We caught her with a sling and triumphantly carried her home. 
She measured was 6 feet in length. 
At another time the soldiers brought a living snake, 14 feet long, which 
they had caught in the kitchen, I stripped off her skin which I filled with 
sand and dried in the sun. The administrator of Sungie-liat who visited 
