This morning was splendid. The great banana fronds under the still,
blue sky looked truly tropical The mercury was 82 degrees at 7 A.M. The
"tiger mosquitoes," day torments, large mosquitoes with striped legs, a
loud metallic hum, and a plethora of venom, were in full fury from
daylight. Ammonia does not relieve their bites as it does those of the
night mosquitoes, and I am covered with inflamed and confluent lumps as
large as the half of a bantam's egg. But these and other drawbacks, I
know from experience, will soon be forgotten, and I shall remember only
the beauty, the glory, and the intense enjoyment of this day.

Quite early the Rajah Moussa arrived in a baju of rich, gold-colored
silk, which suited his swarthy complexion. He sat in the room
pretending to look over the Graphic, but in reality watching me, as I
wrote to you, just as I should watch an ouf. At last he asked how many
Japanese I had killed!!!!

The succession is here hereditary in the male line, and this Rajah
Moussa is the Sultan's eldest son. The Sultan receives 2,000 pounds a
year out of the revenue, and this Rajah 960 pounds.

The Resident arrived at nine, wearing a very fine dress sword, and gold
epaulettes on his linen coat; and under a broiling sun we all walked
through a cleared part of the jungle, through palms and bananas, to the
reception at the Sultan's, which was the "motive" of our visit. The
Sultan, Abdulsamat, has three houses in a beautiful situation, at the
end of a beautiful valley. They are in the purest style of Malay
architecture, and not a Western idea appears anywhere. The wood of
which they are built is a rich brown red. The roofs are very high and
steep, but somewhat curved. The architecture is simple, appropriate,
and beautiful The dwelling consists of the Sultan's house, a broad,