nto thick
coils, rigid and unyielding as iron. The immense export of rattan for
chairs, couches, and innumerable domestic purposes, indirectly results
in the preservation of myriad palm-trees, by releasing them from the
deadly grasp of the tenacious creepers. The waving cocoanut trees of
Senana, the principal island of the Soela-Bessir group, kiss the blue
water with sombre plumes, bowed down by the wealth of heavy fruit lying
in green and golden clusters between frond and stem. The steamer
anchors far from the shore, and the launch proving unable to cross the
shallow bay, the landing of passengers can only be accomplished by two
crossed oars, carried and steadied by four of the crew. The mode of
progression is wobbling and risky, but the improbability of revisiting
Senana supplied a mental argument of unfailing force in balancing pros
and cons. The secluded island, so slightly influenced by the outside
world, changes but little with the lapse of time, and the triple-tiered
roofs of numerous thatched _Messighits_ rising above the palm-leaf huts
of the brown _campong_, assert the hereditary creed. The green banner
of Islam was planted here centuries ago by a fanatical horde of Arab
pirates, who added religious enthusiasm to love of plunder and thirst
of conquest. Their fiery zeal, though not according to knowledge,
ensured a vigorous growth of the foreign offshoot from the questionable
faith of these Arab corsairs, who left indelible traces on the whole of
the Malay Archipelago. The _Messighits_ of Senana are now only the
ruined shrines of a decadent creed, but the simple islanders remain
nominal adherents to the Monotheism of the past. Canoes and _blotos_,
rowed by lithe brown figures, come out to welcome the steamer, and a
fantastic boat, with carven prow, darts from beneath a green bower of
tangled foliage, laden with golden bananas. Merry-faced little savages
line the shore, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the white strangers,
who supply them with the amusement afforded by a travelling circus to
the more sophisticated children of the West. An eager desire to please
and gratify the extraordinary visitors, mingles with the uncontrollable
delight, manifested in capering, dancing, and gay laughter, as they
beckon us to follow them through the narrow lanes of the long
_campong_. Naked brown forms dash into their native huts at sundry
points of the route, to summon friends and kinsfolk, until the
procession swells into form