Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
I rather regretted leaving, because my host was one of the most remarkable men and most
entertaining companions I had ever met with. He was a Fleming by birth, and, like so many
of his countrymen, had a wonderful talent for languages. When quite a youth he had accom-
panied a Government official who was sent to report on the trade and commerce of the
Mediterranean, and had acquired the colloquial language of every place they stayed a few
weeks at. He had afterwards made voyages to St. Petersburg, and to other parts of Europe,
including a few weeks in London, and had then come out to the East, where he had been for
some years trading and speculating in the various islands. He now spoke Dutch, French,
Malay, and Javanese, all equally well; English with a very slight accent, but with perfect flu-
ency, and a most complete knowledge of idiom, in which I often tried to puzzle him in vain.
German and Italian were also quite familiar to him, and his acquaintance with European lan-
guages included modern Greek, Turkish, Russian, and colloquial Hebrew and Latin. As a
test of his power, I may mention that he had made a voyage to the out-of-the-way island of
Salibaboo, and had stayed there trading a few weeks. As I was collecting vocabularies, he
told me he thought he could remember some words, and dictated a considerable number.
Some time after I met with a short list of words taken down in those islands, and in every
case they agreed with those he had given me. He used to sing a Hebrew drinking-song,
