Europeans. They were quite naked, and carried in
their right hands large cleavers or swords (some
of which I noticed were made of wood). On the
left arm was a narrow shield about four feet long,
, and evidently more for show than use, as it was
I only three or four inches wide in the middle. On
the head was a kind of crown, and, as long plumes
are scarce, sticks were covered with white hen-
feathers, and stuck in as a substitute. From their
shoulders and elbows hung strips of bright-red calico,
to make them look gay or fierce (it was difficult to say
which). Their war-dance consisted in springing forward
and backward, and whirling rapidly round.
Forming in two lines, they fiercely brandished their
swords, as we advanced between them to a little
elevation, where all the rajahs had gathered to receive
the Resident.
Nusalaut is oblong in form, less than two miles in
length, and in some places only half a mile wide. Its
area, therefore, is somewhat less than a single square
mile. Its surface is hilly, but the highest point is
not more than three hundred meters above the sea.
A century and a half ago its population numbered
five thousand, but at present it is only three thousand
five hundred. The number of villages, and, consequently,
of rajahs, is only seven. We first visited
Sila, the one nearest our landing. As we entered the
kampong, we found the main street ornamented in a
most tasteful manner. The young, light-yellow leaves
of the cocoa-nut palm had been split in two, and were
bent into bows or arcs with the midrib uppermost,
and the leaflets hanging beneath. These bows were
placed on the top of the fence, so as to form a continued
series of arches; a simple arrangement that
certainly produced a most charming effect. As we
passed along, scores of heavily-loaded flint-locks
were discharged in our honor, and these mimic warriors
continued their peculiar evolutions. From Sila
a short walk brought us to Lainitu, and here our reception
took a new phase. In front of the rajah s
house was a wide triumphal arch, made of boards,
and ornamented with two furious red lions, who
held up a shield containing a welcomie to the Resident.
But just before we passed under that, the
crowd in front parted, and lo, before us stood eighteen
or twenty young girls, who had been selected from
the whole village for their beauty. They were all
arrayed in their costliest dresses, which consisted of
a bright-red sarong and a low kabaya, over which was
another of lace, the latter bespangled with many thin
pieces of silver. Their long, black hair was combed
backward, and fastened in a knot behind, and in this
were stuck many long flexible silver pins, that rapidly
vibrated as they danced. Most of them had a narrow
strip of the hair over the forehead clipped short,
but not shaven, a most unsightly custom, and perhaps
originally designed to make their foreheads
higher. Their lips were stained to a dull brick-red
from constantly indulging in the use of the betel.
They were arranged in two rows, and their dance,
the minari, was nothing more than slowly twisting
their body to the right and left, and, at the
same time, moving the extended arms and open
hands in circles in opposite directions. The only