sian of
uncertain occupation, a young lieutenant of the Philippine constabulary,
and myself. We had, therefore, the pick of the deck staterooms, which is
worth while when traveling within ten degrees of the equator in
mid-summer.

Zamboanga is the chief city of the island of Mindanao and is the capital
of the turbulent Moro province, which includes the well-known island of
Sulu with its once-famous sultan.

After a night's run we tied up at the dock of Jolo, the chief town of
the island of Sulu. Here my two companions left the ship, so that until
we reached the next port, Sandakan, I was the only cabin passenger, and
when the ship's officers were prevented by their duties from appearing
at the table I had the undivided attention of the chief steward, two
cooks, and three waiters. This line of vessels being primarily for
freight the "Sandakan" has accommodations for less than twenty
first-cabin passengers, and it probably seldom has anything like a full
list on this out-of-the-way run from "Zambo" to Singapore. So far as its
accommodations go, however, they are excellent, and a pleasanter trip of
a week or ten days would be hard to find, in spite of the tropical heat.

While the first cabin list was so small, the third class accommodations
seemed taxed to their utmost, and the conglomeration of orientals was an
unending source of amusement. They slept all over their deck and
appeared happy and comfortable in spite of the fact that they seemed
never to remove their clothes nor to bathe; it is probable that to most
of them ten days without such luxuries was not a noticeable deprivation.

Leaving Jolo, a picturesque walled city with a reputation for dangerous
Moros (one is not supposed to go outside the walls without an armed
guard, and many men carry a "45" at their hip at all times), we sailed
southwest through the countless islands of the Sulu Archipelago, and
after a run of about twenty hours passed the high red cliff at the
entrance to the harbor of Sandakan, the capital of British North Borneo,
and were soon alongside the dock.

Sandakan is a rather pretty little town of two or three thousand
inhabitants, including about fifty white people. It extends along the
shore for about a mile and in the center has the athletic or recreation
field, that is found in all these little towns, as well as the post
office and other government buildings. In this central part of the town
are also the Chinese stores, usually dirty,