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

—xsin.] VOYAGE TO BATCHIAN". 247hour we were no nearer, and found we were in a violent currentcarrying us out to sea. At length we overcame it, and got onshore just as the sun set, having been exactly thirteen hourscoming fifteen miles. We landed on a beach of hard corallinerock, witli rugged cliffs of the same, resembling those of the KeIslands (Chap. XXIX.) It was accompanied by a brilliancy andluxuriance of the vegetation very like what I had observed atthose islands, which so mucli pleased me that I resolved to staya few daj^s at the chief village, and see if their animal productionswere correspondingly interesting. While searching for asecure anchorage for the niglit we again saw the comet, stillapparently as brilliant as at first, but the tail had now risen toa higher angle.October l-ith.—All this day we coasted along the Kaioa Islands,which have much the appearance and outline of Ke on a smallscale, with the addition of flat swampy tracts along shore, andoutlying coral reefs. Contrary winds and currents had preventedour taking the joroper coui'se to the west of them, andwe had to go by a circuitous route round the southern extremityof one island, often having to go far out to sea on account ofcoral reefs. On trying to pass a channel througli one of thesereefs we were grounded, and all had to get out into the water,which in this shallow strait had been so heated by the sun as tobe disagreeably warm, and drag our vessel a considerable distanceamong weeds and sponges, corals and prickly corallines.It was late at night when we reached the little village harbour,and_ we were all pretty well knocked up by hard work, andhaving had nothing but very brackish water to drink all daythe best we could find at our last stopping-jDlace. Tliere was ahouse close to the shoi'e, built for the use of the Eesident ofTernate when he made his official visits, but now occupied byseveral native travelling merchants, among whom I found aplace to sleep.The next morning early I went to the village to find the" Kapala," or head man. I informed him that I wanted to staya few days in the house at the landing, and begged him to haveit made ready for me. He was very civil, and came down atonce to get it cleared, when we found that the traders hadalready left, on hearing that I required it. There were no doorsto it, so I obtained the loan of a couple of hurdles to keep outdogs and other animals. The land here was evidently sinkingrapidly, as shown by the number of trees standing in salt waterdead and dying. After breakfast I started for a walk to theforest-covered hill above the village, with a couple of boys asguides. It was exceedingly hot and dry, no rain having fallenfor two months. When we reached an elevation of about twohundred feet, the coralline rock which fringes the shore wassucceeded by a hard crystalline rock, a kind of metamorphicsandstone. This would indicate that there had been a recentelevation of more than two hundred feet, Avhicli had still more