III
DUTCH EAST INDIES
Having once passed through the narrow Pitt Straits, just south of the Equator, we were in another world, and New Guinea was left behind. It was almost with a pang that I realised it. No longer were we in the savage cannibal Papuan area, but had entered upon the pirate-haunted seas of the Malays, the golden sphere of the famed spice inlands.
How is one to speak of this great wonderland of seas and islands?—thousands of isles of all shapes, sorts, and sizes—coral reefs, palm-clad and bordered by veritable coral gardens full of exquisite colour and beauty—scented isles in an azure sea.
"Beneath the spreading wings of purple morn,
Behold what isles these glist'ning seas adorn!"
If you look at the map you will see nearest to New Guinea, and stretching down in scattered masses towards Australia, those many groups known now collectively as the Moluccas and including the great Celebes. North of these are the Philippines—the scorpion America has got hold of by the tail and cannot leave go of. All these
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