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

ssiii.] A^OYAGE TO BATCHIAN. 245slave, a tall, strong black fellow, but veiy civil and careful. Theboat I had hired from a Chiuaman named Lau Keng Tong, forfive guilders a month.We started on the morning of October 9th, but had not got ahundred yards from land, Avhen a strong head wind sprung up,against which we could not row, so we crept along shore to belowthe town, and waited till the turn of the tide should enable usto cross over to the coast of Tidore. About three in the afternoonwe got off, and found that our boat sailed well, and wouldkeep pretty close to the wind. We got on a good way beforethe wind fell and we had to take to our oars again. We landedon a nice sandy beach to cook our suppers, just as the sun setbehind the rugged volcanic hills, to the south of the great coneof Tidoi'e, and soon after beheld the planet Venus shining in thetwilight with the brilliancy of a new moon, and casting a verydistinct shadow. We left again a little before seven, and as wegot out from the shadow of the mountain I observed a brightlight over one pai*t of tlie ridge, and soon after, what seemed atire of remarkable whiteness on the very summit of the hill. Icalled the attention of my men to it, and they too thought itmerely a fire ; but a few minutes afterwards, as we got fartheroff shore, the light rose clear up above the ridge of the hill, andsome faint clouds clearing away fi'om it, discovered the magnificentcomet which was at the same time astonishing all Europe.The nucleus presented to the naked eye a distinct disc of brilliantwhite light, from which the tail rose at an angle of about 30^ or35^ with the horizon, curving slightly downwards, and terminatingin a broad brush of faint light, the curvature of whichdiminished till it was nearly straight at the end. The portionof the tail next the comet appeared three or four times as brightas the most luminous portion of the milky way, and what sti'uckme as a singular feature was that its upper margin, from thenucleus to very near the extremity, was clearly and almostsharply defined, while the lower side gradually shaded off intoobscurity. Directly it rose above the ridge of the hill, I said tomy men, " See, it's not a fire, it's a bintang ber-ekor," (" tailedstar,"the Malay idiom for a comet). " So it is," said they ; andall declared that they had often heard tell of such, but had neverseen one till now. I had no telescope with me, nor any instrumentat hand, but I estimated the leng-th of the tail at about 20",and the width, towards the extremity, about 4' or 5\The whole of the next day we were obliged to stop near thevillage of Tidore, owing to a strong wind right in our teeth. Tliecountry was all cultivated, and I in vain searched for any insectsworth capturing. One of my men went out to shoot, butreturned home without a single bird. At sunset, the wind havingdropped, we quitted Tidore, and reached the next island, Marcliiwhere we stayed till morning. The comet was again visible, butnot nearly so brilliant, being partly obscured by clouds, anddimmed by tlie light of tlie new moon. We tlien rowed across