musement.

On December 13th I went on board a prau bound for the Aru Islands, a
journey which will be described in the latter part of this work.

On my return, after a seven months' absence, I visited another district
to the north of Macassar, which will form the subject of the next
CHAPTER.

CHAPTER XVI. CELEBES.

(MACASSAR. JULY TO NOVEMBER, 1857.)

I REACHED Macassar again on the 11th of July, and established myself in
my old quarters at Mamajam, to sort, arrange, clean, and pack up my Aru
collections. This occupied me a month; and having shipped them off for
Singapore, had my guns repaired, and received a new one from England,
together with a stock of pins, arsenic, and other collecting requisites.
I began to feel eager for work again, and had to consider where I should
spend my time until the end of the year; I had left Macassar seven
months before, a flooded marsh being ploughed up for the rice-sowing.
The rains had continued for five months, yet now all the rice was cut,
and dry and dusty stubble covered the country just as when I had first
arrived there.

After much inquiry I determined to visit the district of Maros, about
thirty miles north of Macassar, where Mr. Jacob Mesman, a brother of my
friend, resided, who had kindly offered to find me house-room and
give me assistance should I feel inclined to visit him. I accordingly
obtained a pass from the Resident, and having hired a boat set off one
evening for Maros. My boy Ali was so ill with fever that I was obliged
to leave him in the hospital, under the care of my friend the German
doctor, and I had to make shift with two new servants utterly ignorant
of everything. We coasted along during the night, and at daybreak
entered the Maros river, and by three in the afternoon reached the
village. I immediately visited the Assistant Resident, and applied for
ten men to carry my baggage, and a horse for myself. These were promised
to be ready that night, so that I could start as soon as I liked in the
morning. After having taken a cup of tea I took my leave, and slept in
the boat. Some of the men came at night as promised, but others did not
arrive until the next morning. It took some time to divide my baggage
fairly among them, as they all wanted to shirk the heavy boxes, and
would seize hold of some light article and march off with it, until made
to come back and wait until the whole had been fairly apportioned. At
length about eight o'clock all was arra