F. Scott Fitzgerald - "The Beautiful and Damned"

Burton Egbert Stevenson - "The Home Book of Verse, Volume 3"

by Alfred Russell Wallace - "The Malay Archipelago Volume 1"

Norman Douglas - "Alone"

Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature 2007
This paper argues that discourses of love in Ghanaian market literature for youth offer a view into complex negotiations of agency and empowerment. Drawing on Deborah Durham's notion of youth as "social `shifters'" and Francis Nyamnjoh's conception of the "interconnectedness" of agency, I take Ghanaian market literature as one specific case of how African literature for youth foregrounds questions of continuity and change as African societies enter into increasingly complex global relations. In this literature for youth, received notions of love, often constructed out of impressions from American pop and hip hop music, carry new notions of agency that compete with existing "domesticated" forms. Authors like Ike Tandoh and Evelyn Tay employ discourses of love to offer youth alternative avenues for empowerment in a context of socio-economic disenfranchizement. In a creative process of "straddling", this writing both reveals and reproduces the contradictions that obtain in youth configurations of agency.

The Malay Archipelago Volume 1

b >> by Alfred Russell Wallace >> The Malay Archipelago Volume 1




Of all the birds of Lombock, however, I sought most after the
beautiful ground thrushes (Pitta concinna), and always thought
myself lucky if I obtained one. They were found only in the dry
plains densely covered with thickets, and carpeted at this season
with dead leaves. They were so shy that it was very difficult to
get a shot at them, and it was only after a good deal of practice
that I discovered low to do it. The habit of these birds is to
hop about on the ground, picking up insects, and on the least
alarm to run into the densest thicket or take a flight close to
the ground. At intervals they utter a peculiar cry of two notes
which when once heard is easily recognised, and they can also be
heard hopping along among the dry leaves.

My practice was, therefore, to walk cautiously along the narrow
pathways with which the country abounded, and on detecting any sign
of a Pitta's vicinity to stand motionless and give a gentle whistle
occasionally, imitating the notes as near as possible. After half
an hour's waiting I was often rewarded by seeing the pretty bird
hopping along in the thicket. Then I would perhaps lose sight of
it again, until leaving my gun raised and ready for a shot, a
second glimpse would enable me to secure my prize, and admire its
soft puffy plumage and lovely colours. The upper part is rich
soft green, the head jet black with a stripe of blue and brown
over each eye; at the base of the tail and on the shoulders are
bands of bright silvery blue; the under side is delicate buff
with a stripe of rich crimson, bordered with black on the belly.
Beautiful grass-green doves, little crimson and black flower-
peckers, large black cuckoos, metallic king-crows, golden
orioles, and the fine jungle-cocks--the origin of all our
domestic breeds of poultry--were among the birds that chiefly
attracted my attention during our stay at Labuan Tring.

The most characteristic feature of the jungle was its thorniness.
The shrubs were thorny; the creepers were thorny; the bamboos
even were thorny. Everything grew zigzag and jagged, and in an
inextricable tangle, so that to get through the bush with gun or
net or even spectacles, was generally not to be done, and insect-
catching in such localities was out of the question. It was in
such places that the Pittas often lurked, and when shot it became
a matter of some difficulty to secure the bird, and seldom
without a heavy payment of pricks and scratches and torn clothes
could the prize be won. The dry volcanic soil and arid climate
seem favourable to the production of such stunted and thorny
vegetation, for the natives assured me that this was nothing to
the thorns and prickles of Sumbawa whose surface still bears the
covering of volcanic ashes thrown out forty years ago by the
terrible eruption of Tomboro.

Among the shrubs and trees that are not prickly the Apocynaceae
were most abundant, their bilobed fruits of varied form and colour
and often of most tempting appearance, hanging everywhere by the
waysides as if to invite to destruction the weary traveller who may
be unaware of their poisonous properties. One in particular with a
smooth shining skin of a golden orange colour rivals in appearance
the golden apples of the Hesperides, and has great attractions for
many birds, from the white cockatoos to the little yellow Zosterops,
who feast on the crimson seeds which are displayed when the fruit
bursts open. The great palm called "Gubbong" by the natives, a
species of Corypha, is the most striking feature of the plains,
where it grows by thousands and appears in three different
states--in leaf, in flower and fruit, or dead. It has a lofty
cylindrical stem about a hundred feet high and two to three feet
in diameter; the leaves are large and fan-shaped, and fall off
when the tree flowers, which it does only once in its life in a
huge terminal spike, upon which are produced masses of a smooth
round fruit of a green colour rind about an inch in diameter.
When those ripen and fall the tree dies, and remains standing a
year or two before it falls. Trees in leaf only are by far the
most numerous, then those in flower and fruit, while dead trees
are scattered here and there among them. The trees in fruit are
the resort of the great green fruit pigeons, which have been
already mentioned. Troops of monkeys (Macacus cynoraolgus) may
often be seen occupying a tree, showering down the fruit in great
profusion, chattering when disturbed and making an enormous
rustling as they scamper off among the dead palm leaves; while
the pigeons have a loud booming voice more like the roar of a
wild beast than the note of a bird.

My collecting operations here were carried on under more than
usual difficulties. One small room had to serve for eating,
sleeping and working,and one for storehouse and dissecting-room;
in it were no shelves, cupboards, chairs or tables; ants swarmed in
every part of it, and dogs, cats and fowls entered it at pleasure.
Besides this it was the parlour and reception-room of my host, and
I was obliged to consult his convenience and that of the numerous
guests who visited us. My principal piece of furniture was a box,
which served me as a dining table, a seat while skinning birds,
and as the receptacle of the birds when skinned and dried.
To keep them free from ants we borrowed, with somedifficulty, an old
bench, the four legs of which being placed in cocoa-nut shells filled
with water kept us tolerably free from these pests. The box and the
bench were, however, literally the only places where anything could
be put away, and they were generally well occupied by two insect boxes
and about a hundred birds' skins in process of drying. It may therefore
be easily conceived that when anything bulky or out of the common way was
collected, the question "Where is it to be put?" was rather a
difficult one to answer. All animal substances moreover require
some time to dry thoroughly, emit a very disagreeable odour while
doing so, and are particularly attractive to ants, flies, dogs,
rats, cats, and other vermin, calling for special cautions and
constant supervision, which under the circumstances above
described were impossible.

My readers may now partially understand why a travelling
naturalist of limited means, like myself, does so much less than
is expected or than he would himself wish to do. It would be
interesting to preserve skeletons of many birds and animals,
reptiles and fishes in spirits, skins of the larger animals,
remarkable fruits and woods and the most curious articles of
manufacture and commerce; but it will be seen that under the
circumstances I have just described, it would have been impossible
to add these to the collections which were my own more especial
favourites. When travelling by boat the difficulties are as great
or greater, and they are not diminished when the journey is by
land. It was absolutely necessary therefore to limit my
collections to certain groups to which I could devote constant
personal attention, and thus secure from destruction or decay
what had been often obtained by much labour and pains.

While Manuel sat skinning his birds of an afternoon, generally
surrounded by a little crowd of Malays and Sassaks (as the
indigenes of Lombock are termed), he often held forth to them
with the air of a teacher, and was listened to with profound
attention. He was very fond of discoursing on the "special
providences" of which he believed he was daily the subject.
"Allah has been merciful today," he would say--for although a
Christian he adopted the Mahometan mode of speech- "and has given
us some very fine birds; we can do nothing without him." Then one
of the Malays would reply, "To be sure, birds are like mankind;
they have their appointed time to die; when that time comes
nothing can save them, and if it has not come you cannot kill
them." A murmur of assent follow, until sentiments and cries of
"Butul! Butul!" (Right, right.) Then Manuel would tell a long
story of one of his unsuccessful hunts--how he saw some fine
bird and followed it a long way, and then missed it, and again
found it, and shot two or three times at it, but could never hit
it, "Ah!" says an old Malay, "its time was not come, and so it
was impossible for you to kill it." A doctrine is this which is
very consoling to the bad marksman, and which quite accounts for
the facts, but which is yet somehow not altogether satisfactory.

It is universally believed in Lombock that some men have the
power to turn themselves into crocodiles, which they do for the
sake of devouring their enemies, and many strange tales are told
of such transformations. I was therefore rather surprised one
evening to hear the following curious fact stated, and as it was
not contradicted by any of the persons present, I am inclined to
accept it provisionally as a contribution to the Natural History
of the island. A Bornean Malay who had been for many years
resident here said to Manuel, "One thing is strange in this
country--the scarcity of ghosts." "How so? "asked Manuel. "Why,
you know," said the Malay, "that in our countries to the
westward, if a man dies or is killed, we dare not pass near the
place at night, for all sorts of noises are heard which show that
ghosts are about. But here there are numbers of men killed, and
their bodies lie unburied in the fields and by the roadside, and
yet you can walk by them at night and never hear or see anything
at all, which is not the case in our country, as you know very
well." "Certainly I do," said Manuel; and so it was settled that
ghosts were very scarce, if not altogether unknown in Lombock. I
would observe, however, that as the evidence is purely negative
we should be wanting in scientific caution if we accepted this
fact as sufficiently well established.

One evening I heard Manuel, Ali, and a Malay man whispering
earnestly together outside the door, and could distinguish
various allusions to "krisses," throat-cutting, heads, etc. etc.
At length Manuel came in, looking very solemn and frightened, and
said to me in English, "Sir--must take care,--no safe here;--want
cut throat." On further inquiry, I found that the Malay had been
telling them that the Rajah had just sent down an order to the
village, that they were to get a certain number of heads for an
offering in the temples to secure a good crop of rice. Two or
three other Malays and Bugis, as well as the Amboyna man in whose
house we lived, confirmed this account, and declared that it was
a regular thing every year, and that it was necessary to keep a
good watch and never go out alone. I laughed at the whole thing,
and tried to persuade them that it was a mere tale, but to no
effect. They were all firmly persuaded that their lives were in
danger. Manuel would not go out shooting alone, and I was obliged
to accompany him every morning, but I soon gave him the slip in
the jungle. Ali was afraid to go and look for firewood without a
companion, and would not even fetch water from the well a few
yards behind the house unless armed with an enormous spear. I was
quite sure all the time that no such order had been sent or
received, and that we were in perfect safety. This was well shown
shortly afterwards, when an American sailor ran away from his
ship on the east side of the island, and made his way on foot and
unarmed across to Ampanam, having met with the greatest
hospitality on the whole route. Nowhere would the smallest
payment be taken for the food and lodging which were willingly
furbished him. On pointing out this fact to Manuel, he replied,
"He one bad man,--run away from his ship--no one can believe word
he say;" and so I was obliged to leave him in the uncomfortable
persuasion that he might any day have his throat cut.

A circumstance occurred here which appeared to throw some light
on the cause of the tremendous surf at Ampanam. One evening I
heard a strange rumbling noise, and at the same time the house
shook slightly. Thinking it might be thunder, I asked, "What is
that?" "It is an earthquake," answered Inchi Daud, my host; and
he then told me that slight shocks were occasionally felt there,
but he had never known them to be severe. This happened on the day of
the last quarter of the moon, and consequently when tides were low and
the surf usually at its weakest. On inquiry afterwards at Ampanam, I
found that no earthquake had been noticed, but that on one night there
had been a very heavy surf, which shook the house, and the next day
there was a very high tide, the water having flooded Mr. Carter's
premises, higher than he had ever known it before. These unusual
tides occur every now and then, and are not thought much of; but
by careful inquiry I ascertained that the surf had occurred on
the very night I had felt the earthquake at Labuan Tring, nearly
twenty miles off. This would seem to indicate, that although the
ordinary heavy surf may be due to the swell of the great Southern
Ocean confined in a narrow channel, combined with a peculiar form
of bottom near the shore, yet the sudden heavy surfs and high tides
that occur occasionally in perfectly calm weather, may be due to
slight upheavals of the ocean-bed in this eminently volcanic region.

CHAPTER XI.

LOMBOCK: MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE.

HAVING made a very fine and interesting collection of the birds
of Labuan Tring, I took leave of my kind host, Inchi Daud, and
returned to Ampanam to await an opportunity to reach Macassar. As
no vessel had arrived bound for that port, I determined to make
an excursion into the interior of the island, accompanied by Mr.
Ross, an Englishman born in the Keeling Islands, and now employed
by the Dutch Government to settle the affairs of a missionary who
had unfortunately become bankrupt here. Mr. Carter kindly lent me
a horse, and Mr. Ross took his native groom.

Our route for some distance lay along a perfectly level country
bearing ample crops of rice. The road was straight and generally
bordered with lofty trees forming a due avenue. It was at first
sandy, afterwards grassy, with occasional streams and mudholes.
At a distance about four miles we reached Mataram, the capital of
the island and the residence of the Rajah. It is a large village
with wide streets bordered by a magnificent avenue of trees, and
low houses concealed behind mud walls. Within this royal city no
native of the lower orders is allowed to ride, and our attendant,
a Javanese, was obliged to dismount and lead his horse while we
rode slowly through. The abodes of the Rajah and of the High
Priest are distinguished by pillars of red brick constructed with
much taste; but the palace itself seemed to differ but little
from the ordinary houses of the country. Beyond Mataram and close
to it is Karangassam, the ancient residence of the native or
Sassak Rajahs before the conquest of the island by the Balinese.

Soon after passing Mataram the country began gradually to rise in
gentle undulations, swelling occasionally into low hills towards
the two mountainous tracts in the northern and southern parts of
the island. It was now that I first obtained an adequate idea of
one of the most wonderful systems of cultivation in the world,
equalling all that is related of Chinese industry, and as far as
I know surpassing in the labour that has been bestowed upon it
any tract of equal extent in the most civilized countries of
Europe. I rode through this strange garden utterly amazed and
hardly able to realize the fact that in this remote and little
known island, from which all Europeans except a few traders at
the port are jealously excluded, many hundreds of square miles of
irregularly undulating country have been so skillfully terraced
and levelled, and so permeated by artificial channels, that every
portion of it can be irrigated and dried at pleasure. According
as the slope of the ground is more or less rapid, each terraced
plot consists in some places of many acres, in others of a few
square yards. We saw them in every state of cultivation; some in
stubble, some being ploughed, some with rice-crops in various
stages of growth. Here were luxuriant patches of tobacco; there,
cucumbers, sweet potatoes, yams, beans or Indian-corn varied the
scene. In some places the ditches were dry, in others little
streams crossed our road and were distributed over lands about to
be sown or planted. The banks which bordered every terrace rose
regularly in horizontal lines above each other; sometimes
rounding an abrupt knoll and looking like a fortification, or
sweeping around some deep hollow and forming on a gigantic scale
the seats of an amphitheatre. Every brook and rivulet had been
diverted from its bed, and instead of flowing along the lowest
ground, were to be found crossing our road half-way up an ascent,
yet bordered by ancient trees and moss-grown stones so as to have
all the appearance of a natural channel, and bearing testimony to
the remote period at which the work had been done. As we advanced
further into the country, the scene was diversified by abrupt
rocky bills, by steep ravines, and by clumps of bamboos and palm-
trees near houses or villages; while in the distance the fine
range of mountains of which Lombock Peak, eight thousand feet
high, is the culminating point, formed a fit background to a view
scarcely to be surpassed either in human interest or picturesque
beauty.

Along the first part of our road we passed hundreds of women
carrying rice, fruit, and vegetables to market; and further on, an
almost uninterrupted line of horses laden with rice in bags or in
the car, on their way to the port of Ampanam. At every few miles
along the road, seated under shady trees or slight sheds, were
sellers of sugar-cane, palm-wine, cooked rice, salted eggs, and
fried plantains, with a few other native delicacies. At these
stalls a hearty meal may be made for a penny, but we contented
ourselves with drinking some sweet palm-wine, a most delicious
beverage in the heat of the day. After having travelled about
twenty miles we reached a higher and drier region, where, water
being scarce, cultivation was confined to the little fiats
bordering the streams. Here the country was as beautiful as
before, but of a different character; consisting of undulating
downs of short turf interspersed with fine clumps of trees and
bushes, sometimes the woodland, sometimes the open ground
predominating. We only passed through one small patch of true
forest, where we were shaded by lofty trees, and saw around us a
dark and dense vegetation, highly agreeable after the heat and
glare of the open country.

At length, about an hour after noon, we reached our destination--
the village of Coupang, situated nearly in the centre of the
island--and entered the outer court of a house belonging to one of
the chiefs with whom my friend Mr. Ross had a slight acquaintance.
Here we were requested to seat ourselves under an open den with a
raised floor of bamboo, a place used to receive visitors and hold
audiences. Turning our horses to graze on the luxuriant glass of
the courtyard, we waited until the great man's Malay interpreter
appeared, who inquired our business and informed us that the Pumbuckle
(chief) was at the Rajah's house, but would soon be back. As we had
not yet breakfasted, we begged he would get us something to eat,
which be promised to do as soon as possible. It was however about
two hours before anything appeared, when a small tray was brought
containing two saucers of rice, four small fried fish, and a few
vegetables. Having made as good a breakfast as we could, we strolled
about the village, and returning, amused ourselves by conversation
with a number of men and boys who gathered around us; and by
exchanging glances and smiles with a number of women and girls who
peeped at us through half-opened doors and other crevices. Two little
boys named Mousa and Isa (Moses and Jesus) were great friends with
us, and an impudent little rascal called Kachang (a bean) made us
all laugh by his mimicry and antics.

At length, about four o'clock, the Pumbuckle made his appearance,
and we informed him of our desire to stay with him a few days, to
shoot birds and see the country. At this he seemed somewhat
disturbed, and asked if we had brought a letter from the Anak
Agong (Son of Heaven) which is the title of the Rajah of Lombock.
This we had not done, thinking it quite unnecessary; and he then
abruptly told us that he must go and speak to his Rajah, to see
if we could stay. Hours passed away, night came, and he did not
return. I began to think we were suspected of some evil designs,
for the Pumbuckle was evidently afraid of getting himself into
trouble. He is a Sassak prince, and, though a supporter of the
present Rajah, is related to some of the heads of a conspiracy
which was quelled a few years since.

About five o'clock a pack-horse bearing my guns and clothes
arrived, with my men Ali and Manuel, who had come on foot. The
sun set, and it soon became dark, and we got rather hungry as we
sat wearily under the shed and no one came. Still hour after hour
we waited, until about nine o'clock, the Pumbuckle, the Rajah,
some priests, and a number of their followers arrived and took
their seats around us. We shook hands, and for some minutes there
was a dead silence. Then the Rajah asked what we wanted; to which
Mr. Ross replied by endeavouring to make them understand who we
were, and why we had come, and that we had no sinister intentions
whatever; and that we had not brought a letter from the "Anak
Agong," merely because we had thought it quite unnecessary. A
long conversation in the Bali language then took place, and
questions were asked about my guns, and what powder I had, and
whether I used shot or bullets; also what the birds were for, and
how I preserved them, and what was done with them in England.
Each of my answers and explanations was followed by a low and
serious conversation which we could not understand, but the
purport of which we could guess. They were evidently quite
puzzled, and did not believe a word we had told them. They then
inquired if we were really English, and not Dutch; and although
we strongly asserted our nationality, they did not seem to
believe us.

After about an hour, however, they brought us some supper (which
was the same as the breakfast, but without the fish), and after
it some very weak coffee and pumpkins boiled with sugar. Having
discussed this, a second conference took place; questions were
again asked, and the answers again commented on. Between whiles
lighter topics were discussed. My spectacles (concave glasses)
were tried in succession by three or four old men, who could not
make out why they could not see through them, and the fact no
doubt was another item of suspicion against me. My beard, too,
was the subject of some admiration, and many questions were asked
about personal peculiarities which it is not the custom to allude
to in European society. At length, about one in the morning, the
whole party rose to depart, and, after conversing some time at
the gate, all went away. We now begged the interpreter, who with
a few boys and men remained about us, to show us a place to sleep
in, at which he seemed very much surprised, saying he thought we
were very well accommodated where we were. It was quite chilly,
and we were very thinly clad and had brought no blankets, but all
we could get after another hour's talk was a native mat and
pillow, and a few old curtains to hang round three sides of the
open shed and protect us a little from the cold breeze. We passed
the rest of the night very uncomfortably, and determined to
return in the morning and not submit any longer to such shabby
treatment.

We rose at daybreak, but it was near an hour before the
interpreter made his appearance. We then asked to have some
coffee and to see the Pumbuckle, as we wanted a horse for Ali,
who was lame, and wished to bid him adieu. The man looked puzzled
at such unheard--of demands and vanished into the inner court,
locking the door behind him and leaving us again to our
meditations. An hour passed and no one came, so I ordered the
horses to be saddled and the pack-horse to be loaded, and
prepared to start. Just then the interpreter came up on horse
back, and looked aghast at our preparations. "Where is the
Pumbuckle?" we asked. "Gone to the Rajah's," said he. "We are
going," said I. "Oh! pray don't," said he; "wait a little; they
are having a consultation, and some priests are coming to see
you, and a chief is going off to Mataram to ask the permission of
the Anak Agong for you to stay." This settled the matter. More
talk, more delay, and another eight or ten hours' consultation
were not to be endured; so we started at once, the poor
interpreter almost weeping at our obstinacy and hurry, and
assuring us "the Pumbuckle would be very sorry, and the Rajah
would be very sorry, and if we would but wait all would be
right." I gave Ali my horse, and started on foot, but he
afterwards mounted behind Mr. Ross's groom, and we got home very
well, though rather hot and tired.

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