We spent the afternoon and evening in settling all claims against us, and having completed that work, ordered the rest of our baggage to be packed up ready for an early start next morning. Among the undistributed goods was about twenty pounds weight of thick brass wire. While I was away bathing, Lemaing coolly walked off with it; but on my return Mr. Low informed me of what had occurred. Knowing that if we permitted this to pass unnoticed, it would be a signal for a general plunder, we determined to recover the wire. As Mr. Low could not move, I went by myself in search of Lemaing, and soon heard his voice speaking loudly in the centre of a dense crowd of the villagers. I forced my way through, and found him seated, with the brass wire in his hand, evidently pointing out its beauty to an admiring audience. I am afraid I very much disconcerted him, as with one hand I tore the prize from his grasp, and with the other put a revolver to his head, and told him to beware of meddling with our baggage. I never saw a look of greater astonishment; he tried to speak, but the words would not come, and the crowd opening, I bore back the trophy to our end of the village house. The Bajus told us we should find the Ida’an of the plains dishonest, while those of the hills had the contrary reputation. We lost nothing in the plains; here we had to guard carefully against pilferers. We noticed that as we gradually receded from the sea, the clothing of the inhabitants became less--on the plains all the Ida’an wore trousers and jackets; at Koung and Kiau very few, and we were assured that those in the interior wore nothing but bark waist-cloths. An incident occurred the evening before our departure, which showed how the Ida’an distrust each other. Among the goods we paid to our guides were twenty fathoms of thick brass wire; the coils were put down before them; they talked over it for two hours, and could not settle either the division, or who should take care of it until morning; at length one by one all retired and left the wire before us, the last man pushing it towards Musa, asking him to take charge of it. Not relishing this trust, he carried it to Li Moung’s house, and placing it in the midst of the crowd, left it, and they then quarrelled over it till morning.