We
went to the late Panglima's house and had a chat, but nothing was said
about the new Panglima. I caught sight of one of the widows swathed in
white, going through all sorts of contortions by way of mourning for
her late husband. We found that the people were going to the caves in
two or three days to collect the black nests. The white nests had been
collected earlier in the year, but the influential Hadji "who would
be king" offered to go with us on the morrow and start work earlier
than he at first intended if his dreams were favourable, and thus
we should be able to see them at work collecting the nests. Here was
luck both for ourselves and the Hadji: it meant a step in his hopes
of the much-desired Panglima-ship by thus gaining favour with the
magistrate over his younger rival. He was a tall, haughty-looking man,
with an orange-coloured turban, worn only by Hadjis, and the people
seemed to stand in great awe of him and addressed him as "Tuan" or
"Tuan Hadji," the word "Tuan" being usually used only when addressing
Europeans like ourselves; still, his house in which we spent the night
was little better than a pigsty, although he was a very wealthy man.
The next morning we were off before sunrise.
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