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

whoXXXI.] ARU ISLANDS.—RESIDENCE IN THE INTERIOR. 351bringing Ali and all the thing.s I had sent for quite .safe. Alarge party liad assembled to be ready to carry home the goodsbrought, among which were a good many cocoa-nuts, which area great luxury here. It seems strange tluit they should neverplant them ; but the reason simply is, that they cannot bringtheir hearts to bury a good nut for the prospective advantageof a crop twelve years hence. There is also the chance of tliefruits being dug up and eaten uidess watclied night and day.Among the things I had sent for was a box of arrack, and I wasnow of course besieged with requests for a little drop. I gavethem a flask (about two bottles), which was very soon finished,and I was assured that there were many jiresent who had nothad a taste. As I feared my box would \ery soon be emptiedif I supplied all their demands, I told them I had given themone, but the second tliey must pay for, and that afterwards Imust have a Paradise Bird for eacli flask. They immediatelysent round to all the neighbouring houses, and mustered up arupee in Dutch copper money, got their second flask, and drunkit as quickly as the first, and were tlien very talkative, but lessnoisy and importunate tlian I had expected. Two or three ofthem got round me and begged me for the twentieth time totell them the name of my country. Then, as they could notpronounce it satisfactorily, they insisted that I was deceivingthem, and that it was a name of my own invention. One funnyold man, who bore a ludicrous resemblance to a friend of mineat home, was almost indignant. "Ung-Iung " ! said he, "whoever heard of such a name 1—Ang-lang—Anger-lang—that can'tbe the name of your country ;you are playing with us." Thenhe tried to give a convincing illustration. " My countiy isWanumbai—anybody can say Wanumbai. I'm an orang-Wanumbai ; but, N-giung ! ever heard of such a name 1Do tell us the real name of your countiy, and then wlien youare gone we shall know how to talk about you." To this luminousargument and remonstrance I could oppose nothing butassertion, and the whole jmrty remained firmly convinced thatI was for some reason or other deceiving them. Tliey thenattacked me on another point—what all the animals and birdsand insects and shells were preserved so carefully for. Theyhad often asked me this before, and I had tried to explain tothem that tliey would be stufied, and made to look as if alive,and peojDle in my country would go to look at them. But thiswas not satisfying ; in my country there must be many betterthings to look at, and they could not believe I would take somuch trouble with their birds and beasts just for people to lookat. They did not want to look at them ; and we, who madecalico and glass and knives, and all sorts of wonderful things,could not want things from Aru to look at. They had e^'identlybeen tliinking about it, and had at length got wliat seemed avery satisfactory theory ; for the same old man said to me, in alow mysterious voice, " What becomes of them when you go on