How they managed it was a mystery to me, but they know grass must be had, and they get it.

One lame woman had charge of a flock of ducks.

Twice a day she took them out to feed in the marshy places, let them waddle and gobble for an hour or two, and then drove them back and shut them up in a small dark shed to digest their meal, whence they gave forth occasionally a melancholy quack.

Every night a watch was set, principally for the sake of the horses--the people of Goa, only two miles off, being notorious thieves, and horses offering the easiest and most valuable spoil.

This enabled me to sleep in security, although many people in Macassar thought I was running a great risk, living alone in such a solitary place and with such bad neighbours.
My house was surrounded by a kind of straggling hedge of roses, jessamines, and other flowers, and every morning one of the women gathered a basketful of the blossoms for Mr.Mesman's family.