missie had really arrived, and therefore threatened that if
my guide did not go with me immediately, I would appeal
to the authorities, and he would certainlv be obliged to give V © O
back the cloth which the “ Orang-kaya” had transferred
to him in prepayment. This had the desired effect; matters
were soon arranged, and we started the next mommao1’
The wind, however, was dead against us, and after rowing
hard till midday we put in to a small river where there were
a few huts, to cook our dinners. The place did not look
very promising, but as we could not reach our destination,
the Watelai river, owing to the contrary wind, I thought we
might as well wait here a day or two. I therefore paid a
chopper for the use of a small shed, and got my bed and
some boxes on shore. In the evening, after dark, we were
suddenly alarmed by the cry of " Bajak! bajak!” (Pirates I)
The men all seized their bows and spears, and rushed down
to the beach; we got hold of our guns and prepared for
action, but in a few minutes all came back laughing and
chattering, for it had proved to be only a small boat and
some of their own comrades returned from fishing. When
all was quiet again, one of the men, who could speak a
little Malay, came to me and begged me not to sleep too
hard. If Why ? ” said I. “ Perhaps the pirates may really
come,” said he very seriously, which made me laugh and
assure him I should sleep as hard as I could.
Two days were spent here, but the place was unproductive
of insects or birds of interest, so we made another
attempt to get on. As soon as we got a. little away from
the land we had a fair wind, and in six hours’ sailing
reached the entrance of the Watelai channel, which divides
the most northerly from the middle portion of Aru. At
its mouth this was about half, a mile wide, but soon
narrowed, and a mile or two on it assumed entirely the
aspect of a river about the width of the Thames at London,
winding among low but undulating and often hilly country.
The scene was exactly such as might be expected in the
interior of a continent. The channel continued of a uniform
average width, with reaches and sinuous bends, one bank
being often precipitous, or even forming vertical cliffs,
while the other was flat and apparently alluvial; and it
was only the pure salt-water, and the absence of any
stream but the slight flux and reflux of the tide, that would
enable a person to tell that he was navigating a strait and
not a river. The wind was fair, and carried us along, with
occasional assistance from our oars, till about three in the
afternoon, when we landed where a little brook formed
two or three basins in the coral rock, and then fell in
a miniature cascade into the salt-water river. Here we
bathed and cooked our dinner, and enjoyed ourselves
lazily till sunset, when we pursued our way for two hours
more, and then moored our little vessel to an overhanging
tree for the night.