readiness to give chase and dispatch them. We, too,
waited here a little while, but finding no signs of sport we
rode on to a clump of low trees on the hill side where we
were told the Sultan and his people were waiting. We
found His Highness had dismounted, and was sitting on
the trunk of a fallen tree, smoking and watching for signs
of sport. He looked pleased to see us, and after he had
shaken hands with Mr. Cowie, whom he had long known,
I was introduced to him. Mr. Cowie told him I had come
to explore the island for natural history purposes, and
that I particularly wished to ascend the two highest mountains.
He seemed rather amused to hear of a traveller
looking for flowers and birds, but graciously replied that
I could go where I liked and he would tell his people to
help me, adding, that the best way of reaching the highest
mountain would be to come to his Istana and sleep there,
after which the mountain could be ascended in a day from
that place. I had previously been recommended to his
good offices by the government at Labuan through their
consular agent, Inche Mahomed, of Brunei, who had
landed here in Sulu a day or two previously in H.M.
gunboat “ Fly,” Capt. McNeil. As I saw His Highness
here seated on a fallen tree I could not help noticing
how emblematical the position was, since at the best his
position here as Sultan is but nominal, so fallen are the
fortunes of his house. Only two months after my visit,
i.e., in July, 1878, the Spaniards, after nibbling like timid
mice at the Sulu cheese for centuries took formal possession
of the whole island by hoisting their flag in the
Sultan’s capital of Meimbong.
Behind him the Sultana and the ladies of her Court
were mounted on ponies, one or two scarlet and gold
coloured umbrellas being held over them. Altogether
there were ten or twelve mounted ladies and several
female attendants, betel-box carriers, &c., on foot. The
Sultan himself had forty or fifty followers standing around
in a broken circle. He is about thirty-five years of age,
and has a bright and intelligent countenance. His dress
consisted of an embroidered silk kerchief tied turban
fashion on his head, a dark close-fitting jacket of semitransparent
material, embroidered with red and yellow
flowers, and having tight sleeves. Under this he wore a
white merino vest. Like most of his followers he wore
breeches which fit very tight below the knee, and are
wide and baggy in the seat. These were black and beautifully
embroidered with flowers just below the knee.
White socks and elastic-sided boots of European manufacture
completed what my sailor friends called “ his
queer rig.” His eldest son, an “ awful young sweep,” of
about twenty years of age, was much more gaily attired
in a white striped blue vest and trowsers, and a bright
buff head-dress, while, like his father, he wore the short
heavy Sulu sword or “ barong.” The Sultana and her
suite kept in the background, of course, but were evidently
much interested at our visit. I noted that she wore full
Turkish trowsers of blue silk richly embroidered, and a
blue vest fitting very tight and ornamented with gold
buttons, lace in front, using the universal sarong as a
covering for her shoulders ; around her head a clear buff
kerchief was tied turban fashion; white cotton stockings
and a pair of Chinese slippers completed her outward
visibilities. Nearly all the Sulu women wear a deal of
yellow, which contrasts vividly with their luxuriant black
hair, and like the men they ride well and also in the same
style,—exactly, fair reader,—a la fourchette !
We also had dismounted, of course, and had stood
talking and looking on the particoloured scene and
swarthy faces around us, when suddenly a cry from the
o 2