Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
At length Manuel came in, looking very solemn and frightened, and said to me in English,
'Sir—must take care;—no safe here;—want cut throat.' On further inquiry, I found that the
Malay had been telling them, that the Rajah had just sent down an order to the village, that
they were to get a certain number of heads for an offering in the temples to secure a good
crop of rice. Two or three other Malays and Bugis, as well as the Amboyna man in whose
house we lived, confirmed this account, and declared that it was a regular thing every year,
and that it was necessary to keep a good watch and never go out alone. I laughed at the
whole thing, and tried to persuade them that it was a mere tale, but to no effect. They were
all firmly persuaded that their lives were in danger. Manuel would not go out shooting
alone, and I was obliged to accompany him every morning, but I soon gave him the slip in
the jungle. Ali was afraid to go and look for firewood without a companion, and would not
even fetch water from the well a few yards behind the house unless armed with an enormous
spear. I was quite sure all the time that no such order had been sent or received, and that we
were in perfect safety. This was well shown shortly afterwards, when an American sailor ran
away from his ship on the east side of the island, and made his way on foot and unarmed
across to Ampanam, having met with the greatest hospitality on the whole route. Nowhere
would the smallest payment be taken for the food and lodging which were willingly fur-
nished him. On pointing out this fact to Manuel, he replied, 'He one bad man,—run away
from his ship,—no one can believe word he say;' and so I was obliged to leave him in the
uncomfortable persuasion that he might any day have his throat cut.
A circumstance occurred here which appeared to throw some light on the cause of the tre-
mendous surf at Ampanam. One evening I heard a strange rumbling noise, and at the same
time the house shook slightly. Thinking it might be thunder, I asked, 'What is that?' 'It is an
earthquake,' answered Inchi Daud, my host; and he then told me that slight shocks were oc-
casionally felt there, but he had never known them severe. This happened on the day of the
last quarter of the moon, and consequently when the tides were low and the surf usually at
its weakest. On inquiry afterwards at Ampanam, I found that no earthquake had been no-
ticed, but that on one night there had been a very heavy surf, which shook the house, and the
next day there was a very high tide, the water having flooded Mr. Carter's premises, higher
than he had ever known it before. These unusual tides occur every now and then, and are not
thought much of; but by careful inquiry I ascertained that the surf had occurred on the very
night I had felt the earthquake at Labuan Tring, nearly twenty miles off. This would seem to
indicate, that although the ordinary heavy surf may be due to the swell of the great Southern
Ocean confined in a narrow channel, combined with a peculiar form of bottom near the
