Donna Isabel than the treasure with which she had
so heartlessly decamped.

"She was a clever woman, Peter," was all he said to me in reference to
the matter, "and I shall miss her." Then he clapped me on the shoulder,
and bade me not despond. "We still have the rubies," he reminded me,
"which, properly invested, will more than pay for all we need."

I had forgotten the rubies, but I stipulated that the disposal of them
should be left in my hands.

"Willingly, Peter," replied Hartog, "for, between ourselves, I doubt
not I am more at home on the sea than in making a bargain with
land-rogues ashore. Take you command of the ship until she is once
more taut and trim."

To this I agreed, although I had no intention of depriving Hartog of
his authority, and, after breakfast, I landed with a boat's crew, in
order to interview the islanders, and, if possible, to make
arrangements with some of them for the equipment of our vessel.

Achin, the metropolis of Sumatra, is situated at the north-west end of
the island. It stands on a plain, surrounded by woods and marshes,
about five miles distant from the sea, near to a pleasant rivulet. The
city consists of some eight thousand houses which take up more ground
than a city of this size would demand by reason of every person
surrounding his dwelling with a palisade that stands some yards distant
from it. The inhabitants are, in general, small, and of very swarthy
complexion. They have black eyes, flat faces, and high check-bones.
Their hair is long and black, and they take great pains to dye their
teeth black. They also besmear their bodies with oil, as do the natives
of other hot countries, to protect themselves from being stung by
insects, while they let their nails grow exceedingly long, scraping
them until they are transparent, and dyeing them vermilion. The poorer
class go almost naked, having only a small piece of cloth round the
waist, and a piece of linen about the head, or a cap made of leaves
resembling the crown of a hat. The richer sort wear white breeches to
above the knee, and a piece of calico, or silk, wrapped round their
loins and thrown over the left shoulder. Some wear sandals, but all are
bare-legged and bare-bodied from the waist upward. The common language
among them is the Malayan language, and, by speaking to some whom I met
on landing, I found I was able to make myself understood, and to
understand, though imperfectly, what was said to me. The Sumatrans a