Mahomet, like all the inhabitants of Sumatra, spoke the
Malayan language, but we occasionally helped each other with Spanish or
Dutch words, of which he had acquired the meaning by his intercourse
with crews of these nationalities. When I told him we required masts as
well as rigging, he seemed to consider my request unreasonable. There
were masts on the island, he said, good ones too, made of beech, but
they belonged to the king, who set great store by them, since they had
come to him as the result of a victory by the fort over a foreign
vessel which had attempted to raid the island and take by force what
could only honestly be obtained by trade. On my asking to see the king
Mahomet turned up his eyes with an exclamation of astonishment at my
audacity. No foreigners were permitted to see the king, he said. It was
death to enter without permission the inner apartments of the palace
where the king lived. But when I produced one of my rubies he became
less demonstrative in his protestations against my proposed visit.
"It is for these toys that I would trade with the king," I said to him,
as I held up the red crystal to the light in order that he might see it
better.
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