ity of the Dutch, the view apparently entertained by
that government.
But a short time before we arrived they had held
one of their drunken revels at a place only half an
hour’s walk among the neighboring mountains. In
these convivials at first each indulges as freely as he
chooses in an intoxicating liquor made from the juice
of the flowering part of a palm; then all join in a
dance, and kick about a human head which has been
obtained for this especial occasion, and is tossed into
the midst of these human fiends all besmeared with
its own clotted blood. The natives whom our soldiers
were seizing were present and took part in one
of these bloody carousals, as they themselves acknowledged.
I must confess that a sickening sensation,
akin to fear, crept over me that night before I fell
asleep, as I realized the probability that, if it were
not for our guard, instead of our taking away those
culprits to be punished as they richly deserved, they
would sever every one of our heads and have another
diabolical revel over their bloody trophies.
All night the wind piped loudly in strong gusts,
and the heavy pulsating of the surf came up from the
beach beneath us. In the morning the storm had
not abated, but I was anxious to go back to Amboina,
and no one of the party desired to remain long in
that savage place. To embark was more difficult
than to land. Again the skid was put down on the
sand, the prau placed on it, and as the water receded
the natives pushed us off, several waves sweeping
over their heads; but they were so completely amphibious,
that it did not appear to trouble them in the
least. Unfortunately, a strong gust struck us just as
we floated, and for some minutes we remained motionless
in one spot, the sea rolling up until what
Virgil says, with a poet’s license, was literally true
of us, the naked earth could be seen beneath our
keel.
Again all that day we pitched and tossed, and
the distance we had to go seemed endless, until, as
the sun sank, the high land of Saparua rose before us
and we entered a broad bay. The natives saw us
coming, and quickly kindled on the shore huge blazing
fires, which were repeated in the form of long bands
of bright light on the mirror-like surface of the quiet
sea, and now we were welcomed with shouts to the
same place where the native belles had sung such a
plaintive song at our departure.
From Saparua I returned directly to Amboina,
for one who has been accustomed to the mail facilities
of our land will subject himself to almost any.
inconvenience in order to reach the place where the
mail-boat touches.
Life at Amboina, and at almost every other place
in the Dutch possessions, at the best is dull. Once
or twice a month, in accordance with an established
custom, the governor gives a reception on Sunday
evenings, when all the Europeans and most of the
mestizoes come and dance till late; and as there are
some seven hundred of these people in the city,, and
the larger portion attend, such parties are quite brilliant
affairs. The music is furnished by a small band
connected with the detachment of soldiers stationed
here.