Taalwurt then very slightly struck this one of the dead; under the ear Taalwurt very lightly struck him.

Another of the dead then struck Taalwurt very forcibly on the legs with a stick: Taalwurt went walking along quickly; another of the dead, in the ribs with an exceedingly big stone, extremely hard hit him." A murmur of applause ran through the assembled natives.

The ngob-burn boye, koom-bur bomb-gur, or exceedingly big-stone, extremely hard hit, was evidently regarded by them as a masterpiece of eloquence; and the contrast between this and the neyp bomb-gur, very gently struck, of Mr.
Taalwurt, undoubtedly evinced its superiority in their estimation; but as Taalwurt was a stout able fellow, and one by no means given to deal gentle blows when in a passion, I did not place implicit faith in this poetical narration.

I had however no doubt that Taalwurt had been first struck and was thus the injured party; but now I knew he had returned the blow I was also sure that he had given at least as good a one as he had taken.
The case therefore did not tell in Taalwurt's favour as much as I expected it would; and on the offender being produced, I found that he was a native from the island of Timor, and not much more civilized than his opponent.

The mate of the vessel who came up with him stated that the man bore an excellent character, and that he was willing to make any compensation Taalwurt might require.