34 VOYAGE TO BATCHIAN. [chap. xxiii.
soon got among the narrow straits and islands which lead
down to the town of Batchian. In the evening we stayed
at a settlement of Gallia men. These are natives of a
district in the extreme north of Gilolo, and are great
wanderers over this part of the Archipelago. They build
large and roomy praus with outriggers, and settle on any
coast or island they take a fancy for. They hunt deer and
wild pig, drying the meat; they catch turtle and tripang;
they cut down the forest and plant rice or maize, and are
altogether remarkably energetic and industrious. They
are very fine people, of light complexion, tall, and with
Papuan features, coming nearer to the drawings and
descriptions of the true Polynesians of Tahiti and Owyhee
than any I have seen.
During this voyage I had several times had an opportunity
of seeing my men get fire by friction. A sharp-
edged piece of bamboo is rubbed across the convex surface
of another piece, on which a small notch is first cut. The
rubbing is slow at first and gradually quicker, till it
becomes very rapid, and the fine powder rubbed off ignites
and falls through the hole which the rubbing has out. in
the bamboo. This is done with great quickness and certainty.
The Ternate people use bamboo in another way.
They strike its flinty surface with a bit of broken china,
and produce a spark, which they catch in some kind of
tinder.
chap. xxui.] ARRIVAL. 35
On the evening of October 21st we reached our destination,
having been twelve days on the voyage. It had been
fine weather all -the time, and, although very hot, I had
enjoyed myself exceedingly, and had besides obtained
some experience in boat work among islands and coral
reefs, which enabled me afterwards to undertake much
longer voyages of the same kind. The village or town of
Batchian is situated at the head of a wide and deep bay,
where a low isthmus connects the northern and southern
mountainous parts of the island. To the south is a fine
range of mountains, and I had noticed at several of our
landing-places that the geological formation of the island
was very different from those around it. Whenever rock
was visible it was either sandstone in thin layers, dipping
south, or a pebbly conglomerate. Sometimes there was
a little coralline limestone, but no volcanic rocks. The
forest had a dense luxuriance and loftiness seldom found
on the dry and porous lavas and raised coral reefs of
Ternate and Gilolo ; and hoping for a corresponding richness
in the birds and insects, it was with much satisfaction
and with considerable expectation that I began my explorations
in the hitherto unknown island of Batchian.
D 2