Ampanam. One evening I heard a strange rumbling
noise, and at the same time the house shook • slightly.
Thinking it might he thunder, I asked, “ What is that ? ”
“ I t is an earthquake,” answered Inchi Daud, my host;
and he then told me that slight shocks were occasionally
felt there, hut he had never known them severe. This
happened on the day of the last quarter of the moon, and
consequently when the tides were low and the surf usually
at its weakest. On inquiry afterwards at Ampanam, I
found that no earthquake had been noticed, but that on
one night there had been a very heavy surf, which shook
the house, and the next day there was a very high tide,
the water having flooded Mr. Carter’s premises, higher
than he had ever known it before. These unusual tides
occur every now and then, and are not thought much o f ;
but by careful inquiry I ascertained that the surf had
occurred on the very night I had felt the earthquake at
Labuan Tring, nearly twenty miles off. This would seem
to indicate, that although the ordinary heavy surf may be
due to the swell of the great Southern Ocean confined in
a narrow channel, combined with a peculiar form of bottom
near the shore, yet the sudden heavy surfs and high tides
that occur occasionally in perfectly calm weather, may be
due to slight upheavals of the ocean-bed in this eminently
volcanic region.
CHAPTER XI.
LOMBOCK: MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE.
the birds of Labuan Tring, I took leave, of my kind
host, Inchi Daud, and returned to Ampanam to await an
opportunity to reach Macassar. As no vessel had arrived
bound for that port, I determined to make an excursion
into the interior of the island, accompanied by Mr. Ross,
an Englishman born in the Keeling Islands, and now
employed by the Dutch Government to settle the affairs
of a missionary who had unfortunately become bankrupt
here. Mr. Carter kindly lent me a horse, and Mr. Ross
took his native groom.
Our route for some distance lay along a perfectly level
country, bearing ample crops of rice. The road was
straight and generally bordered with lofty trees forming
a fine avenue. I t was at first sandy, afterwards grassy,
with occasional streams and mud-holes. At a distance
of about four miles we reached Mataram, the capital of
the island and the residence of the Rajah. It is a large
village with wide streets bordered by a magnificent avenue