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

.346 THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. [cnAP.the interior of a continent. The cliannel continued of a uniformaverage width, with reaches and sinuous bends, one bank beingoften precipitous, or even forming vertical cliffs, while the otherwas flat and appai'entlj^ alluvial ; and it was only the pure saltwater,and tlie absence of any stream but the slight flux andreflux of the tide, tliat would enable a joerson to tell that liewas navigating a strait and not a river. The wind was fair,and carried us along, witli occasional assistance from our oars,till about three in the afternoon, when we landed where a littlebrook formed two or three basins in the coral rock, and then fellin a miniature cascade into the salt-water river. Here webathed and cooked our dinner, and enjoyed ourselves lazily tillsunset, when we pursued our way for two hours more, and thenmoored our little vessel to an overhanging tree for the niglit.At five the next morning we started again, and in an hourovertook four large praus containing the " Commissie," whohad come from Dobbo to make their official tour round theislands, and had passed us in the niglit. I paid a visit to theDutchmen, one of whom spoke a little English, but we foundthat we could get on much better with Malay. They told methat they had been delayed going after the pirates to one of thenorthern islands, and had seen three of their vessels but couldnot catch them, because on being pursued they rowed out inthe wind's eye, which thej^ are enabled to do by having aboutfifty oars to each boat. Having had some tea with them, I badethem adieu, and turned up a nai-row channel which our pilotsaid would take us to the village of Watelai, on the east side ofAru. After going some miles we found tlie channel nearlyblocked up with coral, so that our boat grated along the bottom,crunching what may truly be called the living rock. Sometimesall hands had to get out and wade, to lighten the vessel and liftit over the shallowest places ; but at length we overcame allobstacles and reached a wide bay or estuary studded with littlerocks and islets, and ojDening to the eastern sea and thenumerous islands of the '' blakang-tana." I now found thatthevillage we were going to was miles away ; that we shouldhave to go out to sea, and round a rocky point. A squall seemedcoming on, and as I have a horror of small boats at sea, and fromall I could learn Watelai village was not a place to stop at (noBirds of Paradise being found there), I determined to returnand go to a village I had heard of up a tributary of the Watelairiver, and situated nearly in tlie centre of the mainland of Aru.The people there were said to be good, and to be accustomed tohunting and bird-catching, being too far inland to get any partof their food from the sea. While I was deciding this point thesquall burst upon us, and soon raised a rolling sea in the shallowwater, which ujiset an oil bottle and a lamjD, broke some of mycrockery, and threw us all into confusion. Rowing hard wemanaged to get back into the main river by dusk, and lookedout for a place to cook our suppers. It happened to be high