The Malay archipelago : the land of the orang-utan ... - Wallace Online

128 THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. [chap.the Anak Agong (Son of Heaven), which is the title of the Eajahof Lombock. This we had not done, thinking it quite unnecessary; and he then abruptly told us that he must go andspeak to his Eajah, to see if we could stay. Hours passed away,night came and he did not return. I began to think we weresuspected of some evil designs, for the Pumbuckle was evidentlyafraid of getting himself into trouble. He is a Sassak prince,and, though a sujDporter of the present Rajah, is related to someof the heads of a conspiracy which was quelled a few yearssince.About five o'clock a pack-horse bearing my guns and clothesarri\ed, with my men Ali and Manuel, who had come on foot.The sun set, and it soon became dark, and we got rather hungryas we sat weai'ily under the shed and no one came. Still hourafter hour we waited, till about nine o'clock, the Pumbuckle, theEajah, some priests, and a number of their followers arrived andtook their seats around us. We shook hands, and for someminutes there was a dead silence. Then the Eajah asked whatwe wanted ; to which Mr. Eoss replied by endeavouring to makethem understand wlio we were, and why we had come, and thatwe had no sinister intentions whatever ; and that we had notbrought a letter from the " Anak Agong," merely because we liadthought it quite unnecessary. A long conversation in the Balilanguage then took place, and questions were asked about myguns, and what powder I had, and whether I used shot or bullets ;also what tlie birds were for, and how I preserved them, andwhat was done with them in England. Each of my answers andexplanations was followed by a low and serious conversationwhich we could not understand, but the jDurport of which wecould guess. They were evidently quite puzzled, and did notbelieve a word we had told them. They then inquired if wewere really Englisli, and not Dutch ; and although we stronglyasserted our nationality, they did not seem to believe us.After about an hour, however, they brought us some supper(which was the same as the breakfast, but without the fish), andafter it some very weak cofiee and pumpkins boiled with sugar.HaAT.ng discussed this, a second conference took place ;questionswere again asked, and the answers again commented on.Between whiles ligliter topics were discussed. My spectacles(concave glasses) were tried in succession by three or four oldmen, who could not make out why they could not see throughthem, and the fact no doubt was another item of suspicion againstme. My beard, too, was the subject of some admiration, andmany questions were asked about personal peculiarities wliichit is not the custom to allude to in European society. At length,about one in the morniTig, tlie whole party rose to depart, and,after conversing some time at the gate, all went away. AVe nowbegged the interpreter, who with a few boys and men remainedabout us, to show us a place to sleep in, at which he seemedvery much surprised, saying he thought we were very well