uall--A
Dutch Dinner--Batavia--Weltereoden--Life in Java--
Buitenzorg--Koerapan--Dutch Soldiers--A Review--Modes
of Execution in the Archipelago--The World-Wide
Circus--Return to Singapore--Leave for Europe--Gibraltar.

Our days were now numbered in Sarawak, and we had but little time
before us, as we intended making a journey to Java, the principal
Dutch possession in the Eastern Archipelago, ere we returned to
England.

Packing up now became the order of the day. The skins of beasts and
birds of all kinds strewed the floor of our little bungalow,
transforming it into a sort of miniature museum, for we had made a
very fair collection considering our short stay in the country,
including no less than one hundred different specimens of butterflies,
three of the rare and lovely _Brookeana_ amongst them. It may be of
use to collectors of the latter to know that the safest and most
convenient way of carrying them any distance is not to set them up
when freshly caught, but to simply fold the wings back till they lie
flat against each other, and place them thus singly in a common
envelope. They will then keep for six months, or even more,
unimpaired. This is a far simpler method than that of setting-up,
which, even though the amateur be experienced in the art, is always
open to the danger of the butterflies becoming detached and shaking to
pieces in their box.

We left Kuching at midday on the 21st of July, after bidding adieu to
all our friends, not without regret at leaving a land where we had
passed so many pleasant days. The _Raja Brooke_ (a small trading
steamer of about 300 tons) was heavily laden, not only with cargo, but
also with over 100 deck passengers--Malays going on a "Haji
pilgrimage" to Mecca. There was also on board an old Hindoo, the
proprietor of a dancing bear, who had been making a good thing of it
in the Sarawak capital. The captain, L., and I, were the only inmates
of the saloon, and after dinner, it being a fine evening, we sent for
our Hindoo friend and his bear to give us a private performance--which
had, however, to be suddenly nipped in the bud, the pilgrims insisting
on coming aft _en masse_ and joining in the fun.

We had a fine passage to Singapore, though half-way across a heavy
squall struck us, and the sea, which half an hour before had been as
smooth as glass, rose rapidly. The poor bear, especially, had a rough
time of it, and narrowly escaped being washed overboard by one of