The Larger Vessels Have Been Often Seen But Cannot Be
Caught, As They Have Very Strong Crews, And Can Always
Escape by
rowing out to sea in the eye of the wind, returning at night.
They will thus remain among
The innumerable islands and channels,
till the change of the monsoon enables them to sail westward.
March 9th.-For four or five days we have had a continual gale of
wind, with occasional gusts of great fury, which seem as if they
would send Dobbo into the sea. Rain accompanies it almost every
alternate hour, so that it is not a pleasant time. During such
weather I can do little, but am busy getting ready a boat I have
purchased, for an excursion into the interior. There is immense
difficulty about men, but I believe the "Orang-kaya," or head man
of Wamma, will accompany me to see that I don't run into danger.
Having become quite an old inhabitant of Dobbo, I will endeavour
to sketch the sights and sounds that pervade it, and the manners
and customs of its inhabitants. The place is now pretty full, and
the streets present a far more cheerful aspect than when we first
arrived. Every house is a store, where the natives barter their
produce for what they are most in need of. Knives, choppers,
swords, guns, tobacco, gambier, plates, basins, handkerchiefs,
sarongs, calicoes, and arrack, are the principal articles wanted
by the natives; but some of the stores contain also tea, coffee,
sugar, wine, biscuits, &c., for the supply of the traders; and
others are full of fancy goods, china ornaments, looking-glasses,
razors, umbrellas, pipes, and purses, which take the fancy of the
wealthier natives.
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