35 6
On quitting this ifland, we retraced our courfe to feek a fpot fit for repairing ourveflels, one of which leaked greatly, and the other, for want of a pilot, had ftruck on afand bank near an ifland called Bibalen * ; but, thank God , we got it afloat again. Welike wife ran a great rifk of being blown up : a failor after fnuffing a candle, throughinadvertence, threw the lighted wick into a cafe of gunpowder j but he drew it outagain fo quickly that the powder did not take fire.
On the way we faw four pirogues. We took one loaded with cocoa nuts deftinedfor Burne •, but the cre w efcaped to a fmall ifland. The three others avoided us byretiring behind fome other iflets.
Between the north cape of Burne and the ifland of Cimbonbon, in latitude eight de-grees feven minutes north, we found a very commodious port for careening our fhips; butas we were deftitute of many things neceflary for this purpofe, it took us forty-two daysto finifh this work. Every one did his belt, one taking one part, another a differentone. What caufed us mofl trouble was getting wood from the forefts, as the wholecountry was covered with brambles and thorny bufhes, and we were barefooted.
In this ifland there are very large boars. Of thefe we killed one as it was fwimmingfrom one ifland to another. Its head was two fpans and a half in length, and its tufksvery long f. Here alfo are crocodiles, which live on land as well as in the water, oyflersand fhell fifh of every defcription, and turtle of a very large fize. We caught two, themeat alone of which weighed, of the one, twenty-fix, of the other, forty-four pounds.Welikewife caught a fifh, the head of which, refembling that of a hog, had two horns.Its body was cloathed with a bony fubflance, and on its back was a kind of faddle, butnot very large.
What to me feemed more extraordinary was to fee trees, the leaves of which as theyfell, became animated. Thefe leaves refemble thofe of the mulberry-tree, except innot being fo long, their ftalk is fhort and pointed, and near the flalk on one fide andthe other they have two feet. Upon being touched they make away ; but whencrufhed they yield no blood. I kept one in a box for nine days ; on opening the boxat the end of this time, the leaf was alive, and walking round it: I am of opinionthey live on air J.
On quitting this ifland, that is to fay the port, we fell in with a junk coming fromBurne. We made fignal to it to lay to ; but as it paid no attention to us, we purfued,took, and pillaged it. It had on board the governor of Pulaoan, with one of his fons andhis brother, whom we obliged to pay for his ranfom, within the fpace of a week, fourhundred meafures of rice, twenty hogs, a fimilar number of goats, and a hundred andfifty fowls. Not only did he give us all we required, but to thefe he added fponta-neoufly cocoa-nuts,bananas, fugar-canes, and vafes of palm-wine. In recompence for his
from the north point to the port at fifty leagues, and Laoe at the fouthern point of the ifland. Nothaving heard any other parts of it mentioned, he gave to the ifland the form of a triangle, and laid downthe two cities on the bay of Borneo .
* Now called Balaba.
•f- This is the babirofla (Sus babirufia Linn.) which has the faculty of fwimming, and whofe fnout isarmed with long tulles. See the defcription of this animal in the Voyage par le Cap. de Bonne El'perancect Batavia, a samarang, a Macalfar, a Amboine et a Surate; par Stavorinus, tom. i. p. 254, in whichalfo its figure may be feen.
J Other travellers have feen fimilar leaves, and have examined them with greater attention. Some havefancied thefe leaves to be moved by an infedt contained in them. Hilt. Gen. des Voy. tom. xv. p. 58 5others have remarked that they are not really leaves, but a fpecie3 of locuft covered with four wings of anoval form, and about three inches in length, the upper ones of which bend in fuch manner the one overthe other as to refemble perfectly a brown leaf with its fibres. Stedman. Voyage to Surinam , book ii.
libera*