with as little restraint upon their actions, and there is scarcely any of that noise
and excitement which might be expected. In fine weather the greater part of
them are quietly enjoying themselves—some are sleeping under the shadow of
the sails; others, in little groups of three or four, are talking or chewing betel;
one is making a new handle to his chopping-knife, another is stitching away at a
new pair of trousers or a shirt, and all are as quiet and well-conducted as on
board the best-ordered English merchantman. Two or three take it by turns to
watch in the bows and see after the braces and halyards of the great sails; the two
steersmen are below in the steerage; our captain, or the juragan, gives the course,
guided partly by the compass and partly by the direction of the wind, and a
watch of two or three on the poop look after the trimming of the sails and call
out the hours by the water-clock. This is a very ingenious contrivance, which
measures time well in both rough weather and fine. It is simply a bucket half
filled with water, in which floats the half of a well-scraped cocoa-nut shell. In
the bottom of this shell is a very small hole, so that when placed to float in the
bucket a fine thread of water squirts up into it. This gradually fills the shell, and
the size of the hole is so adjusted to the capacity of the vessel that, exactly at the
end of an hour, plump it goes to the bottom. The watch then cries out the number
of hours from sunrise and sets the shell afloat again empty. This is a very good
measurer of time. I tested it with my watch and found that it hardly varied a
minute from one hour to another, nor did the motion of the vessel have any
effect upon it, as the water in the bucket of course kept level. It has a great
advantage for a rude people in being easily understood, in being rather bulky and
easy to see, and in the final submergence being accompanied with a little
bubbling and commotion of the water, which calls the attention to it. It is also
quickly replaced if lost while in harbour.
Our captain and owner I find to be a quiet, good-tempered man, who seems to
get on very well with all about him. When at sea he drinks no wine or spirits, but
indulges only in coffee and cakes, morning and afternoon, in company with his
supercargo and assistants. He is a man of some little education, can read and
write well both Dutch and Malay, uses a compass, and has a chart. He has been a
trader to Aru for many years, and is well known to both Europeans and natives
in this part of the world.
Dec. 24th.-Fine, and little wind. No land in sight for the first time since we
left Macassar. At noon calm, with heavy showers, in which our crew wash their
clothes, anti in the afternoon the prau is covered with shirts, trousers, and
sarongs of various gay colours. I made a discovery to-day which at first rather
alarmed me. The two ports, or openings, through which the tillers enter from the