Along The First Part Of Our Road We Passed Hundreds Of Women
Carrying Rice, Fruit, And Vegetables To Market; And Further On, An
Almost Uninterrupted Line Of Horses Laden With Rice In Bags Or In
The Car, On Their Way To The Port Of Ampanam.
At every few miles
along the road, seated under shady trees or slight sheds, were
sellers of sugar-cane, palm-wine, cooked rice, salted eggs, and
fried plantains, with a few other native delicacies.
At these
stalls a hearty meal may be made for a penny, but we contented
ourselves with drinking some sweet palm-wine, a most delicious
beverage in the heat of the day. After having travelled about
twenty miles we reached a higher and drier region, where, water
being scarce, cultivation was confined to the little fiats
bordering the streams. Here the country was as beautiful as
before, but of a different character; consisting of undulating
downs of short turf interspersed with fine clumps of trees and
bushes, sometimes the woodland, sometimes the open ground
predominating. We only passed through one small patch of true
forest, where we were shaded by lofty trees, and saw around us a
dark and dense vegetation, highly agreeable after the heat and
glare of the open country.
At length, about an hour after noon, we reached our destination -
the village of Coupang, situated nearly in the centre of the
island - and entered the outer court of a house belonging to one of
the chiefs with whom my friend Mr. Ross had a slight acquaintance.
Here we were requested to seat ourselves under an open den with a
raised floor of bamboo, a place used to receive visitors and hold
audiences.
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