It had been arranged that a general meeting of the inhabitants should take place on the 14th of June, to give me an opportunity of making known to them the purport of my visit. At nine o'clock in the morning of the day fixed on, I sent forward a detachment of twenty armed European seamen to the village, under the command of one of my officers, and soon afterwards I left the brig for the shore, accompanied by Messrs. Ram and Dielwaart, with the officers of the brig, the clerk and the interpreters, under a salute from the guns. The natives received us on the beach with much ceremony, and conveyed us in litters towards the town, amid the firing of lelahs and the joyous shouts of the natives; these proofs of friendship being the more agreeable from their evident sincerity. To my great satisfaction, I found that nearly every chief of the island was present at the meeting, and I was heartily welcomed by the upper Orang Kaya in the name of them all. Immediately after this, the entire multitude cried out simultaneously, "_Tarima kasipada tūhan Alla, Compania būlūm lūpa sama kami orang_," ("Thanks be to God, the Company have not yet forgotten us.") The letter sent to them by the Governor of the Moluccas was now read in a loud voice by the interpreter, under a salvo from the small arms, according to the custom of the natives; and soon afterwards I distributed among them the presents with which I had been furnished for them by the Government. I have frequently observed, that the natives never decide on any point at the moment, but consult with each other until they have come to a determination. I therefore left them for a time, that they might have their deliberations to themselves. On my return, as I had expected, they expressed themselves very thankful for the good wishes of the Government, and earnestly requested that a small detachment of troops might be established among them as formerly, and that the Government would send them also a missionary or teacher to instruct them in the tenets of Christianity, for whose maintenance they would amply provide. I now, in the name of the Government, confirmed the authority of the various chiefs, in token of which I delivered the staves of office[11] formerly presented to their chiefs by the old East India Company, into the hands of their successors. The chief Orang Kaya, Zacharis Frederick Bakker, had in his possession a certificate of chieftainship furnished him by the present Government, which he requested me to inspect. I then presented him with one of the silver knobbed staves I had brought with me, promising that the Government would afterwards replace it with one provided with a golden knob.