This Motley,
Ignorant, Bloodthirsty, Thievish Population Live Here Without The
Shadow Of A Government, With No Police, No Courts, And
No
lawyers; yet they do not cut each other's throats, do not plunder
each other day and night, do not
Fall into the anarchy such a
state of things might be supposed to lead to. It is very
extraordinary! It puts strange thoughts into one's head about the
mountain-load of government under which people exist in Europe,
and suggests the idea that we may be over-governed. Think of the
hundred Acts of Parliament annually enacted to prevent us, the
people of England, from cutting each other's throats, or from
doing to our neighbour as we would not be done by. Think of the
thousands of lawyers and barristers whose whole lives are spent
in telling us what the hundred Acts of Parliament mean, and one
would be led to infer that if Dobbo has too little law England
has too much.
Here we may behold in its simplest form the genius of Commerce at
the work of Civilization. Trade is the magic that keeps all at
peace, and unites these discordant elements into a well-behaved
community. All are traders, and know that peace and order are
essential to successful trade, and thus a public opinion is
created which puts down all lawlessness. Often in former year,
when strolling along the Campong Glam in Singapore, I have
thought how wild and ferocious the Bugis sailors looked, and how
little should like to trust myself among them. But now I find
them to be very decent, well-behaved fellows; I walk daily
unarmed in the jungle, where I meet them continually; I sleep in
a palm-leaf hut, which any one may enter, with as little fear and
as little danger of thieves or murder as if I were under the
protection of the Metropolitan police. It is true the Dutch
influence is felt here. The islands are nominally under the
government of the Moluccas, which the native chiefs acknowledge;
and in most years a commissioner arrives from Amboyna, who makes
the tour of the islands, hears complaints, settle disputes, and
carries away prisoner any heinous offender. This year he is not
expected to come, as no orders have yet been received to prepare
for him; so the people of Dobbo will probably be left to their
own devices. One day a man was caught in the act of stealing a
piece of iron from Herr Warzbergen's house, which he had entered
by making a hole through the thatch wall. In the evening the
chief traders of the place, Bugis and Chinese, assembled, the
offender was tried and found guilty, and sentenced
to receive twenty lashes on the spot. They were given with a
small rattan in the middle of the street, not very severely, the
executioner appeared to sympathise a little with the culprit. The
disgrace seemed to be thought as much of as the pain; for though
any amount of clever cheating is thought rather meritorious than
otherwise, open robbery and housebreaking meet with universal
reprobation.
CHAPTER XXXI.
THE ARU ISLANDS. - JOURNEY AND RESIDENCE IN THE INTERIOR.
(MARCH TO MAY 1857.)
MY boat was at length ready, and having obtained two men besides
my own servants, after an enormous amount of talk and trouble, we
left Dobbo on the morning of March 13th, for the mainland of Aru.
By noon we reached the mouth of a small river or creek, which we
ascended, winding among mangrove, swamps, with here and there a
glimpse of dry land. In two hours we reached a house, or rather
small shed, of the most miserable description, which our
steersman, the "Orang-kaya" of Wamma, said was the place we were
to stay at, and where he had assured me we could get every kind
of bird and beast to be found in Aru. The shed was occupied by
about a dozen men, women, and children; two cooking fires were
burning in it, and there seemed little prospect of my obtaining
any accommodation. I however deferred inquiry till I had seen the
neighbouring forest, and immediately started off with two men,
net, and guns, along a path at the back of the house. In an
hour's walk I saw enough to make me determine to give the place a
trial, and on my return, finding the "Orang-kaya" was in a strong
fever-fit and unable to do anything, I entered into negotiations
with the owner of the house for the use of a slip at one end of
it about five feet wide, for a week, and agreed to pay as rent
one "parang," or chopping-knife. I then immediately got my boxes
and bedding out of the boat, hung up a shelf for my bird-skins
and insects, and got all ready for work next morning. My own boys
slept in the boat to guard the remainder of my property; a
cooking place sheltered by a few mats was arranged under a tree
close by, and I felt that degree of satisfaction and enjoyment
which I always experience when, after much trouble and delay, I
am on the point of beginning work in a new locality.
One of my first objects was to inquire for the people who are
accustomed to shoot the Paradise birds. They lived at some
distance in the jungle, and a man was sent to call them. When
they arrived, we had a talk by means of the "Orang-kaya "as
interpreter, and they said they thought they could get some. They
explained that they shoot the birds with a bow and arrow, the
arrow having a conical wooden cap fitted to the end as large as a
teacup, so as to kill the bird by the violence of the blow
without making any wound or shedding any blood. The trees
frequented by the birds are very lofty; it is therefore necessary
to erect a small leafy covering or hut among the branches, to
which the hunter mounts before daylight in the morning and
remains the whole day, and whenever a bird alights they are
almost sure of securing it.
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