ciently good-looking, yet neither their persons nor their
garments had that appearance of freshness and cleanliness
without which no other charms can be contemplated
with pleasure. Everything had a dingy and faded appearance,
very disagreeable and unroyal to a European
eye. The only thing that excited some degree of admiration
was the quiet and dignified manner of the Bajah,
and the great respect always paid to him. None can
stand erect in his presence, and when he sits on a chair,
all present (Europeans of course excepted) squat upon
the ground. The highest seat is literally, with these people,
the place of honour and the sign of rank. So unbending U ! O
are the rules in this respect, that when an English carriage
which the Bajah of Lombock had sent for arrived, it was
found impossible to use it because the driver’s seat was
the highest, and it had to be kept as a show in its coachhouse.
On being told the object of my visit, the Bajah at
once said that he would order a house to he emptied for
me, which would be much better than building one, as
that would take a good deal of time. Bad coffee and
sweetmeats were given us as before.
Two days afterwards I called on the Bajah, to ask him
to send a guide with me to show me the house I was to
occupy. He immediately ordered a man to be sent for,
gave him instructions, and in a few minutes we were on
our way. My conductor could speak no Malay, so we
walked on in silence for an hour, when we turned into a
pretty good house and I was asked to sit down. The head
man of the district lived here, and in about half an hour
we started again, and another hour’s walk brought us to
the village where I was to be lodged. We went to the
residence of the village chief, who conversed with my conductor
for some time. Getting tired, I asked to be shown
the house that was prepared for me, but the only reply I
could get was, “ Wait a little,” and the parties went on
talking as before. So I told them I could not wait, as I
wanted to see the house and then to go shooting in the
forest. This seemed to puzzle them, and at length, in
answer to questions, very poorly explained by one or two
bystanders who knew a little Malay, it came out that no
house was ready, and no one seemed to have the least idea
where to get one. As I did not want to trouble the Bajah
any more, I thought it best to try to frighten them a little ;
so I told them that if they did not immediately find me a
house as the Bajah had ordered, I should go back and
complain to him, but that if a house was found me I
would pay for the use of it. This had the desired effect,
and one of the head men of the village asked me to go
with him and look for a house. He showed me one or
two of the most miserable and ruinous description, which
I at once rejected, saying, “ I must have a good one, and
near to the forest.” The next he showed me suited very