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

xxxTii.] VOYAGE FROM WAIGIOU TO TERXATE. 415to eat. At night we found our bag of stones still held us verywell, and we slept tranquilly.The next day (October 12th), my men set to work makinganchors and oars. The native Malay anchor is ingeniously constructedof a piece of tough forked timber, the fluke beingsti'engthened by twisted rattans binding it to the stem, whilethe cross-piece is formed of a long flat stone, secured in the samemanner. These anchors, when well made, hold exceedingly firm,and, owing to the expense of iron, are still almost universallyused on board the smaller jjraus. In the afternoon the headmen arrived, and promised me as many rowers as I could puton the prau, and also brought me a few eggs and a little rice,which were very acceptable. On the 14th there was a northwind all day, which would have been invaluable to us a fewdays earlier, but which was now only tantalizing. On the 16th,all being ready, we started at daybreak with two new anchorsand ten rowers, who understood their work. By evening we had.zr-^MALAY ANCHOR.come more than half-way to the point, and anchored for theniglit in a small bay. At three the next morning I ordered theanchor up, but the rattan cable parted close to the bottom, havingbeen chafed by rocks, and we then lost our third anchor on thisunfortunate voyage. The day was calm, and by noon we passedthe southern point of Gilolo, which had delayed us eleven days,whereas the whole voyage during this monsoon should not haveoccupied more than half that time. Having got round the pointour course was exactly in the oiDposite direction to what it hadbeen, and now, as usual, the wind changed accordingly, comingfrom the north and north-west—so that we still had to ro\v everymile up to the village of Gani, which we did not reach till theevening of the ISth. A Bugis trader who was residing there,and the Senaji, or chief, were very kind ; the former assistingme with a spare anchor and a cable, and making me a presentof some vegetables, and the latter baking fresh sago cakes formy men, and gi^'ing me a couple of fowls, a bottle of oil, andsome pumpkins. As the weather was still very uncertain, I got