less for me to stay, and begged the Eajah to give me a prau
and men to carry me on to Goram. But instead of getting
one close at hand, he insisted 011 sending several miles off •
and when after many delays it at length arrived, it was
altogether unsuitable and too small to carry my baggage
Another was then ordered to be brought immediately, and
was promised in three days, but double that time elapsed
and none appeared, and we were obliged at length to get J
one at the adjoining village, where it might have been so
much more easily obtained at first. Then came caulkineO
and covering over, and quarrels between the owner and the
Eajah’s men, which occupied more than another ten days,
during all which time I was getting absolutely nothing,
finding this part of Ceram a perfect desert in zoology,
although a most beautiful country, and with a very luxuriant
vegetation. It was a complete puzzle, which to this
day I have not been able to understand; the only thing I
obtained worth notice during my month’s stay here being a
few good land shells.
At length, on April 4th, we succeeded in getting away
in our little boat of about four tons burthen, in which
my numerous boxes were with difficulty packed so as to
leave sleeping and cooking room. The craft could not
boast an ounce of iron or a foot of rope in any part of its
construction, nor a morsel of pitch or paint in its decoration.
The planks were fastened together in the usual
Ingenious way with pegs and rattans. The mast was a
bamboo triangle, requiring no shrouds, and carrying a long
mat sail; two rudders were hung on the quarters by rat-
|ans, the anchor was of wood, and a long and thick rattan
[served as a cable. Our crew consisted of four men, whose
!sole accommodation was about three feet by four in the
•bows and stern, with the sloping thatch roof to stretch
themselves upon for a change. We had nearly a hundred
miles to go, fully exposed to the swell of the Banda sea,
which is sometimes very considerable; but we luckily had
it calm and smooth, so that we made the voyage in comparative
comfort.
On the second day we passed the eastern extremity of
Ceram, formed of a group of hummocky limestone hills;
and, sailing by the islands of Kwammer and Keffing, both
thickly inhabited, came in sight of the little town of Kil-
waru, which appears to rise out of the sea like a rustic
Venice. This place has really a most extraordinary appearance,
as not a particle of land or vegetation can be
seen, but a long way out at sea a large village seems to
float upon the water. There is of course a small island of
several acres in extent; but the houses are built so closely
all round it upon piles in the water, that it is completely
hidden. It is a place of great traffic, being the emporium
for much of the produce of these Eastern seas, and is the
residence of many Bugis and Ceramese traders, and appears