DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Duke University Libraries lUH https://archive.org/details/visittoindianarc01kepp_0 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO, IN H. M. SHIP MEANDER. WITH PORTIONS OF THE PRIVATE JOURNAL OF SIR JAMES BROOKE, K.C.B. BY CAPT^. THE HON. HENRY KEPPEL, R.N. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY OSWALD W. BEIEELEY. “ Where things famiUar cease, and strange begin.” NEW EDITION. LONDON : RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET; Pnblisijn: in ©rbinavg to pjtt IWlajcstg. MDGCCLIII. LONDON: BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS. TO SIR JAMES BROOKE, K.C.B., RAJAH OF SARAWAK. My dear Brooke, Dedications are, I believe, still in fashion ; and if so, many considerations decide me to assign this conspicuous position to your name. If it be in any measure a compliment, there is none to whom I would rather offer it. K it be a way of letting the world know that one has a worthy friend, you are the man. If it be a mode of drawing more attention to one’s work than its own merits would secure, or of bespeaking more indulgence for the sake of the patron than its unprotected demerits would find — yours is stiU the name to which I would trust. I have one other reason ; namely, that four or five chapters of my book are really devoted to a vindication, which certainly you do not need, but which I could not shun to offer, without turning out of the direct course of duty and of pleasure. Accept it according to its intention rather than its ability ; and believe me. My dear Brooke, Your sincere friend, HENRY KEPPEL. Deoxford, Dec. 11 , 1852 . PREFACE. I WAS considering how to excuse myself for writing a book, when my eye fell upon an old edition of Lord Bacon’s works, of which the illustrated title-page suggests an excellent apology for nautical authors. It represents a ship sailing into port ; and under it is this Scripture text in Latin, “ Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall he increased!’ Certain it is that “ they that go down to the sea in ships, and occupy their business in great waters, these men see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.” I believe that the profession, to which I have the honour to belong, has increased useful knowledge more than all other professions, and that it may still do so. Let sailors simply tell what they have seen and can testify ; each storing up his share of authentic information when he finds himself “ Where things familiar cease, and strange begin,” and none such need apologise for the books they write. 507381 PEEFACE. viii The phenomena of Nature ; the phases of society, civihsed, and semi-civilised, and barbarous ; its manners, customs, and pecuharities ; the productions, animate and inanimate, of all chmes : the world, in short, seen everywhere, and faithfully reported just as it is, affording thus food for the subhmest and for the simplest studies, — this is, at least in time of peace, a worthy department of the sailor’s mission. I do not say that we are all to print, whether we see anything or not ; but that a sailor, actively employed, can hardly escape from an “ increasing knowledge,” on subjects new to those at home, which qualifies him for a very useful kind of authorship. My “Visit to the Indian Aechipelago” has grown out of this principle, I hope the perusal of it may reflect on the reader some portion of that information or amusement, which I owe to it or to the days to which it takes me back. A word is necessary upon one particular subject, which occupies four or five chapters of this book, — more space than I had thought of assigning to it ; but it grew under the pen ; and of all parts I feel that this needs the least PKEFACE. IX apology, except for its imperfect execution. The subject is Sir James Brooke : and the intention is to vindicate that excellent man from calumny. This task, though almost superfluous, ofiered itself so directly in my course, that I could not turn from it. Many of my observations have been doubtless better made by abler defenders of my friend ; but there is some new matter' ; and I have drawn upon no extraneous source for opinions, which I have had superior opportunities of forming for myself. I commend my facts to the attention of the reader ; my reasonings to his impartiality ; and all inadvertent errors to his “ gentleness.” HENEY KEPPEL. Droxfoed, Dec. 11, 1862. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE Mceander Selected to take out Governor Brooke to Labuau — Departure from Spithead — Madeira — Rio de Janeiro — Great Circle Sailing — Prince Edward’s and Crozet's Islands — Straits of Sunda — Best Course for a Quick Passage — Arrival at Sincapore — Notice of its first Establishment — Investiture of Governor Brooke as K.C.B. — Tigers — Water-Buffaloes . 1 CHAPTER II. New Harbour — Sail from Sincapore — Santobong — Excitement at the Rajah’s Return — St. Pierre's — Mceander Proceeds up the River — Rejoicings — Kuching — Earhest Views and Movements of Sir James Brooke . .16 CHAPTER III. State of the Province of Sadong — Bornean Storm — Conference at the Rajah’s with the Native Chiefs — Wild Hog Killed — Departure for Labuan — The Governor Sworn in — Difficulties of the New Settlement — The Bari-acks — Departure for Brune — Squalls — Disasters thereby — Departure for Sincapore — Sickness at Labuan — Deaths among the Marines — Arrival at Sincapore — Return to Labuan — Sepoys on Board Ship — Increased Sickness and Mortality at Labuan — Dangerous Illness of the Governor — He Embarks on Board the Mceander, and Proceeds on a Cruise . . 26 CONTENTS. xii CHAPTER IV. PAGE Anchor off Kimanis — Communicate with the Orang Kaya — Boat Arrives from Wreck of the Minerva — Curious Swarm of Bees — Sail fi’om Kimanis — Kini Balu Mountain and Sceneiy — Wreck of Minerva Found Pkmdered and Burnt- — Balambangan — Hauling the Seine — Sheriff Hussein- — Civility of the Chiefs — Sporting — Simpang Mengiow — Mal- lawalli — Death of John Jago — Cagayan Soloo — Remarkable Inland Basin — Christmas Day 39 CHAPTER V. Toolyan — Bolod Islands — Island of Basilan — Samboangan — Sociable Society — Departure from Samboangan — Fleet of Gun-boats — Coral Island and Sea Birds — Cagayan Soloo — Discovery of a Second Circular Lake, and Description— Departure for Banguey — Labuan — Improvements there — Sincapore — Ordered to China — Arrival at Hong Kong . . .66 CHAPTER VI. Phacy in the China Seas — Regatta at Macao — Imprisonment of Mr. Summers — Interview on the Subject with the Portuguese Governor — Measures Taken for the Liberation of Mr. Summers — This Subject Reviewed — Particulars of the Assassination of Governor Do Amaral, and Subsequent Events — Explosion of the Doiia Maria Frigate 90 CHAPTER VII. Depai'ture for Manilla — Its Bay, River, City, Villages, and Manufactures— Hospitality — Trip to tjie Lakes — Cavita — Regal State of the Governor — Perils of a Patent of Nobility — Departure from Manilla — Ship Aground — Arrival at Labuan — Take in Coal — News of Pirate Fleet having put to Sea — Departure for the Coast of Borneo . , . .115 CONTENTS. xiii CHAPTEE VIII. PAGE Malays and Dyaks as respects their Piratical Character — Serebas Malays — Serebas Dyaks — The Malay Prahn — The Dyak Bangkong — Sakarrans — Remarks on their Piratical Propensities, and o!i our former Operations against them — Preparations of the Serebas Pirates — Preparations of the Rajah of Sarawak — Pirate Prisoner brought in — Attack on Sadong by the Serebas Pirates — A Chief Drmgdong — His Fate — Remarks — The Rajah of Sarawak Sallies forth with his Fleet — Is Joined by Native Alhes — His Proceedings — Return to Sarawak . . . . . . .126 CHAPTEE IX. Albatross Sails from Hong Kong for Borneo — Sir James Brooke Proceeds on a Mission to Soloo — His Return to Sarawak — A Arrives there — Pz-epamtions for again Encountering the Serebas Pirates — European Force — Native Force — Expedition Leaves Sarawak and Arrives off the Batang Lupar — Royalist Sent to Guard the Linga — Intelligence Received that the Pirate Balia had passed out to Sea — Proceedings of the Pirates — Expedition Takes up a Position off the Serebas — Return of the Pii’ate Fleet — Its Destruction — Further Particulars — Proceedings of another Portion of the Pirate BaUa — They Visit theMarotabus — Capture and Death of Hussein ... ...... 147 CHAPTEE X. Expedition Ascends the Serebas River and the Paku Branch — Accident to the Ranee- — Two Sous and Nephew of the Orang Kaya of Lundu Killed — His Grief and Departure with his Tribe — Paku Destroyed — Serebas Jack — Expedition Proceeds up the Rejang — Customs of the Millanows— Siriki — Kanowit River — Country of the Sakarran Pirates — Its Fertility — Native Force from Mato — Youthful Dyak Prisoner — His Liberation — Expedi- tion Descends the Rejang — Native Auxiliaries Dismissed — Rajah Gives an Audience to some Pirate Chiefs — Nemesis Proceeds up the Rejang to the Country of the Kanowits — Man Overboard Saved by a Malay — Proofs of Piracy — Fines Inflicted and Enforced — How afterwards Disposed of — Expedition Returns to Sarawak 163 XIV CONTENTS. CHAPTER XI. PAGE Keply to Charges made by Mr. Hume, particularly as they affect Sir James Brooke 182 CHAPTER XII. Reply to Mr. Hume continued — His Captains — His “ Gentleman ” — His “Merchants” — His Prompters — Himself 216 CHAPTER XIII. Reply to Mr. Hume concluded — “ Undue Severity ” — Documentary Refuta- tions — General Observations on Piracy and its Remedies . . . 247 CHAPTER XIV. General Remarks on Piracy — Its Origin, Sources of Growth, and Develop- ment — Means of Suppression and Prevention — Ancient and Modern Piracy similar in all Respects — England’s Duty as to the Police of the Eastern Seas — Sarawak — New Facts — Old Arguments .... 277 CHAPTER XV. Mceander Arrives off Sarawak — Progressive Improvement of that Town and Province — Population — Church — School — Hospital— Public Security — Court of Justice — Mode of its Administration — Specimens of Cases Tried — General Results of Sir James Brooke’s Government at Sarawak 302 CHAPTER XVI. Pnatical Chiefs Tender Submission — Good Effects of the Expedition — Dyak Gi’atitude — Dyak Women — Amusing our Visitors— Screw Steamer Astonishes the Natives — Adieu to Sarawak — Arrival again at Sincapore CONTENTS. XV — Sir James Brooke’s Journal — Immigration to Sarawak — Sambas — Struggles between the Dutch and Chinese — Opinions of Dyak Chiefs on Pu-acy — Death of Bunsie and Tujang — Policy of Mercy — Business on Hand — Description of a Wedding — Character of Bunsie, and of Tujang — Lundu — Progress of Sarawak — Effect of Improved Government on the Dyaks — Disposition and Capabilities of Dyaks Considered — The Orang Kaya Pamancha — Eetum to Kuching 348 CHAPTEE XVII. Siniawan — Dyaks Grateful — Bow — The Temple — Kimsi — The Parit — Contending Interests Settled — The Millanows — Aristocratic Thief — Delinquencies of Bandar Kassim of Sadong — Fishing — Superstition as to the Fish Puttin' — Church at Sarawak — Daily Life there — Court — Conferences with the Company — Suicide by a Chinaman — Sh- James Brooke Unwell, Decides on Visiting England — Sheriff Moksain — His Evil Deeds at Sakarran — Demand for European Government — Visits from Chiefs — Advice to them — European Governor Promised — Revenue 368 CHAPTEE XVIII. Cui'ious Bird in Labuan Described — Dyaks of Kanowit and Katibas — Mr. Bums— Particulars of his Murder — Letters from the Kayan Chiefs of Barram — The Kahau or Proboscis Monkey — Character and History of Kassim — Policy as to Sadong — Sakarran Politics — Sheriff Moksain — Undop Dyaks — Approaching Departure — Reflections — Universal Peace — Dyak Histories, Feuds — The Kayan Tribes, Cannibals — Dyaks of Jankang, also Cannibals 388 CHAPTEE XIX. Sir James Brooke Visits Labuan and Borneo — The Muruts — • Macota’s Delinquencies — Misgovernment of Borneo — Progi-ess of Labuan — The Megapodius, its Nest, &c. — Politics of Brand — Character of Mumein — Sir James Brooke Leaves Sarawak — Secret Societies, or Hue — Measures Against them — Sails from Sincapore — Aden — The Desert — Suez — Cairo — Alexandria — Malta 416 XVI CONTENTS. CHAPTER XX. Mieander Sails for Sydney — Anjer — Batavia Roads — American Liberality Hospitalities at Batavia— Commerce of Java — Flying Canoes Bali Lakes — Volcanic Mountains — Comba . — Lombok — Suttee Flores Pirates Again — Timor — Port Essington — Cobourgh Peninsula — Cannibalism Habits of the Natives . . • • • • CHAPTER XXI. Native Encampments — Dances — Revenge — Punishment of Murder Acci- dental Homicide— Personal and Social Habits— Wild Honey— Kangaroo Hunting— Wild Dogs— The Emu— Wild Fowl— Hunting— A Night in the Jimgle— Flies— Geese— The Dugong— Native Cookei-y— Feuds— Disposal of Dead— Fire Signals— Native Guides— Alligators —White Ants — Essington Settlement — Cape York CHAPTER XXII. Departure from Port Essington — Banda Islands— Spice Islands — Ceram — Dutch Policy — Barter with Natives— New Guinea — Its Commercial Attractions — Admiralty Islands — New Ireland — Port Carteret — New Britain — Sydney . CHAPTER XXIII. Port Jackson — Dry Dock on Cockatoo Island — Visit the Interior with Sir Charles Fitzroy — Death of Captain Owen Stanley — Short Memoir of his Services — Extracts from his Private Journal — His Funeral . . . .513 CHAPTER XXIV. Mast Defective — Proceed to Hobart Town — Home Comparisons — Kangaroo Hunting — Squatters’ Mode of Life — Pack of Beagles — Hobart Town Races — Transportation Question — Sham-Fight with 99th Regiment — Departure from Hobart Town — Arrive at Sydney — Norfolk Island — CONTENTS, xvii PAOK Description — Philip and other Islands — Caves — Tides — Fish — Soil, Climate, and Produce — Poultry— Birds — Bees — Public Buildings — Bide over the Island — Governor’s Cook — Crossing the Bar — Boat Swamped — Summary Proceedings of an Early Governor — Conclusion . . . 535 APPENDIX. I. — Letters and Documents Read or Referred to by Mr. Hume in Parliament 555 Address from the Merchants of Sincopore to Sir James Brooke . . 662 Letter from Mr. Vigors to Sir James Brooke 664 II. — Legal Proofs of the Piratical Character of the Serebas, &c. . . . 566 III. — Mr. Hume’s Latest Charges against Sir James Brooke .... 577 IV. — Question of “ Trading ” 578 V. — Productions of Norfolk Island 581 ERRATUM. Page 87, line 19, for “ Lloyd,” read “Sidd.’ .-; ■. : .. ;,'i;..'. r.1l»'‘7 ''i t >' ,.v, '*3' v'. .;'■ . -i J'.V-V' ' K<* '^S-. /.; ’ - -■■ ‘Ar^;:ToM '>i>£^!&;' ..■••rf.'t ILLUSTRATIONS. CHART OF THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO • Inserted in Pocket. H.M.S. MEANDER, CASTING FROM SPITHEAD . • To face the Title. MAN OVERBOARD * Page 6 SANTOBONG ENTRANCE • >} 17 FRESH WATER LAKE-, CAGAYAN SOOLOO . • ff 85 SHIP ON SHORE • ff >♦ 122 VOLCANIC MOUNTAIN, COMBA ISLAND . ■ .. 444 NATIVE BIER— PORT ESSINGTON • y> if 481 BAjSTDA 495 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. CHAPTER I. MEANDER SELECTED TO TAKE OUT GOVERNOR BROOKE TO LABUAN DEPARTURE FROM SPITHEAD MADEIRA RIO DE JANEIRO GREAT CIRCLE SAILING PRINCE Edward's and crozet’s islands — straits of sunda — best course for a quick PASSAGE ARRIVAL AT SINGAPORE NOTICE OF ITS FIRST ESTABLISHMENT investiture OF GOVERNOR BROOKE AS K.O.B. —TIGERS WATER-BUFFALOES. As soon as it was decided that Mr. Brooke was to go out as Governor of Labuan, Lord Auckland, with his usual kindness and consideration, concluded that an old friend acquainted with the locahty, and feehng an interest in Bornean affairs, might he of more assistance in forming the new settlement than a stranger ; I was in conse- quence, on the 1st of November, 1847, appointed to the M (Sander, 44 guns, at Chatham. She was quickly and well manned, and would have sailed at the end of VOL. 1. B 2 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. December so as to meet the Governor early in April at Sincapore ; his intention having been to leave England in February, by the overland route, Mr. Brooke had, however, obtained the appointment of Lieutenant- Governor for Mr. Wilham Napier, a gentleman who, from long residence as a proctor at Sincapore, was well acquainted with the intricacies of our treaties with the Netherlands Government respecting the Eastern Archipelago. It was decided that the passage by sea in a man-of-war would be more convenient than the route overland, for the conveyance of the Lieutenant-Governor’s family ; and he having much to arrange with his chief, which might easily be done during the voyage, they decided on going together. A passage was applied for and ordered accordingly. The main-deck guns, as far forward as the main-mast, were dismounted ; the ports fitted as windows, and the deck divided into cabins ; the Mcsander had then the appearance of one of Mr, Green’s fine Indiamen, without however pretending to their accommodation. The confusion on board even an Indiaman expressly fitted for passengers is generally bad enough ; but in a man-of-war, where every inch of space has been pre- occupied, the holds containing no more than the provisions necessary for so large a body of men, the extra demand for stowage which was not fairly to be had, crammed our lower deck up to the beams with luggage, turned the men MADEIRA. 3 out of their proper berths, and caused a degree of dis- comfort not to be described. On the 24th January we arrived at Spithead ; and, having embarked our passengers, we sailed on the evening of the 1st February. The weather was such as is usually experienced in the Channel at this season of the year, so that we had the disadvantage of at once plunging into a head sea ; and, before we had got abreast of the Eddystone, it blew hard from the westward : we thought it advisable to run into Plymouth Sound, and secure things in the places into which they had been just shaken ; we sailed on the 6th, and again took shelter on the 10th in Cork Harbour, our passengers suffering considerably. Sailed from Cork on the 15th. After our full share of bad weather, we were not sorry to arrive at Madeira on the 23rd. Our party were entertained with the usual hospitality of that island. Her Majesty the Queen Dowager was at this time residing there for the benefit of her health, and she had caused her munificent charity to be felt throughout the island. The day after our arrival. His Serene Highness the Duke Bernard of Saxe Weimar, attended by his sons, the Princes Edward and Herman, with Lord Horthland, Major de Winton, and a large party, paid the Maander a visit. We sailed on the. 26th. The incidents of a sea voyage are seldom interesting to any but the party concerned. On crossing the equator, the usual ceremony was 4 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. performed ; and the presence of passengers imparted to it an unusual degree of excitement. On the 24th we arrived at Rio de Janeiro, which we found as dirty as ever, with the slave trade in full vigour. A few months afterwards the philanthropic and enduring exertions of the British Government, seemed to have finally triumphed, and this vile traffic to have received its death-blow ; but we find it still attempting to struggle into a new existence. Among the men-of-war lying here we were glad to see the Comus, Commander D’Eyncourt, showing no symptoms of having been some weeks at the bottom of the muddy Rio de la Plata. May the time be far distant when a British officer shall despair of saving what by others might be given up as a lost affair ! Besides the Comus, we have the splendid example of the Gorgon steam-frigate, recovered in almost the same locality. The circumstances just differed sufficiently to make each instance remarkable on its peculiar grounds ; the former vessel was as far under water as the latter was above the usual level of the river. March 28th, sailed from Rio Harbour. On the prin- ciple of great circle sailing, we continued to make southing, until we were in the 56 th deg. of east longi- tude, by which time we had attained the 48th of south latitude. On the 19th April we made Prince Edward’s Island, the summits of whose mountains were covered with snow : SAILOR OVERBOARD. 5 on the following night, according to the chart, we ought, in the course we were taking, to have passed between the Crozet Islands, but we saw them not. On the 13th May we entered the Straits of Sunda, forty-seven days from Rio. Having made an equally quick passage six years pre- viously in the Dido, beating five men-of-war who kept the old track by St. Paul’s and Amsterdam, I can safely recommend the one by which we sailed as the most expeditious, though perhaps not the most agreeable route ; we had much cold and unpleasant Aveather, with the thermometer frequently below 40 deg. On comparing the track of the Dido with that of the Maander for the last 7000 miles, I find that the distances between the position of the two ships at noon on each day never exceeded 100 miles. On the 27th April, John Wallis, a fine young man, twenty -four years of age, fell overboard from the main- topsail yard ; the ship was running fast through the water, and the ship’s company at breakfast. While loAvering the quarter-boats to succour him, Lieutenant Comber, ever foremost in any such case, fell over the stern of the second cutter : the sea had closed over poor Wallis before a boat could reach him, and Comber was with difficulty picked up in an exhausted state. While he was in the water, we observed several huge specimens of the albatross pass over him, and so close that he felt the tips of their wings sweep his face. Felicia Hemans must have 6 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. seen some one in the like predicament before she wrote what so exactly describes our sensations : “ Be still, thou sea bird, with thy clanging cry ; My spirit sickens as thy wing sweeps by.” Attacks from these enormous gulls are not unusual. In 1830, when the Sermgapatam frigate was on her way to Valparaiso, after rounding Cape Horn, and being under close-reefed topsails, a man fell overboard : he was unable to swim, but was fortunate in getting hold of the life-buoy, to which he clung ; but he had scarcely time to congra- tulate himself on his good luck, before he was assailed by an unlooked-for enemy in the albatross, who seemed to consider him as their immediate property. A tap on the head from one of their beaks might have finished poor J ack’s career ; but, terrified at their formidable appear- ance and equivocal intentions, he attempted to defend himself with his shoe ; this, without much difficulty, they had just torn from his grasp, when the boat arrived to his rescue. Wallis was a general favourite, and the ship’s company requested they might be allowed to send a day’s pay to his widowed mother, who was entirely dependent on him for support.* On the 20th May we arrived at Sincapore, after an excellent passage of three months and five days, including stoppages at Madeira and Rio. * The acknowledgment, with grateful thanks, from poor Mrs. Wallis, I received a few mouths afterwards, in a letter dictated from her death-bed. .• . f. SINGAPORE. 7 Here we received the intelligence of another revolution in France, the proclamation of the Republic, and of Louis Philippe being a refugee in England. We found Commodore Plumridge’s broad pennant flying on board the Cambrian : the late commander- in-chief, Admiral Ingiefield, having died at Bombay. On the 22nd our passengers landed, Mr. Brooke being- received with all the honours due to a governor ; and on the following day preparations were commenced for establishing the new colony. An office was opened in Sincapore, and contracts received for the frame-works of the temporary residences to be erected for the Government functionaries. On the banks of a small stream — the rendezvous, until 1819, of only a few Malay trading prahus — now stands the rich and extensive town of Sincapore. By no act of his life did Sir Stamford Raffles manifest greater discernment and foresight, than by founding this settlement. In 1824, five years after its first establishment, the population amounted to 11,000, “the magical result,” says its eminent founder, “ of a perfect freedom in trade.” This number had already doubled itself when I saw the place for the first time in 1833; and it has continued to increase ever since in the same rapid way. Sincapore has now become the commercial emporium of all the trading communities of the Eastern Archipelago, as well as of that extensive trade which is carried on by all nations with Cliina and India. Hither also resort, now 8 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. twice in every month, the steam-vessels of the Dutch from Batavia, of the Spanish from Manilla, and our own from China, to meet the European mail. The number of square-rigged vessels that anchor annually in the roads exceeds a thousand. The island measures twenty-seven miles in length by eleven in breadth. A few years ago it was a dense jungle : on every hill may now be seen the residence of some hospitable merchant, surrounded by plantations of nutmeg or other spice trees. Excellent roads intersect the island ; and substantial bridges are thrown across its streams — for which luxuries of communication much credit is due to' the present energetic and excellent governor. Colonel Butterworth. On the 9th June the Plilegetlion steam-frigate sailed with the engineer, Mr. Scott, and Mr. Hosken the harbour-master, as the pioneers of the new settlement at Labuan. The June mail, which arrived on the 7th August, brought our new commander-in-chief. Sir Francis Collier, as well as the gratifying intelligence that Her Majesty had been pleased to confer the Order of the Bath on Mr. Brooke — of which he was made Knight Commander, — and the Lieutenant-Governor of Labuan was directed to invest Sir James accordingly. The ceremony was performed on the 22nd of August, a very great event in Sincapore, Mr. Napier representing Her Majesty with becoming dignity : the whole business was more amusing than imposing, and finished in the evening with a ball. TIGERS. 9 By some error, the representative of Majesty omitted to invite the too sensitive editor of a local journal, which over- sight gave rise to a succession of amusing articles, supposed to he in disparagement of the new colony generally, and of the Royal Navy in particular : some of these subsequently found their way into an English paper, and, I am told, were alluded to in the House of Commons. Great indeed must have been the triumph of my little friend. During our stay at Sincapore, the body of a large tiger was brought in by some Malays (a not unusual occurrence), to enable them to receive the reward given by Government. The Malays stated that, when they found this monster in a hole which had been dug to catch him, they threw quick lime into his eyes ; and the unfortunate beast, while suffering intense agony from this cruel appliance, drowned himself in some water which was at the bottom of the pit, though not more than a foot deep. The annual loss of human life from tigers, chiefly among the Chinese settlers, is perfectly fearful, averaging no fewer than 360, or one per diem. Great exertions are still making for the destruction of these animals, which is effected by pitfalls, cages baited with a dog, goat, monkey, or other restless animal, and by sundry cunning contrivances. Not many years ago the existence of a tiger in the island was disbelieved ; and they must have been very scarce indeed, for even the natives did not know of any. It is the opinion of Dr. Oxley (no mean 10 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. authority at Sincapore), that one may have been acci- dentally carried by the tide across the narrow straits which separate the island from the main land, and another may have instinctively followed : finding abundance of food they have multiplied. This is a more rational mode of accounting for their being here, than to suppose that they chased their prey over ; as it is contrary to the nature of the beast to follow in pursuit, after the first attempt proves unsuccessful. Now, at Sincapore, as in the days of Alfred with the wolves in England, it is necessary to offer a reward for their destruction. One of the most recent victims was the son of the headman at the village of Passier Rice, who, having gone into the jungle immediately at the back of his father’s house, for the purpose of cutting wood, was attacked by a tiger. The father, hearing his cries, rushed out just in time to grasp his son’s legs, as the brute was dragging him into the jungle. The father pulled and the tiger growled ferociously, and it was only on several persons coming up and assaihng him, that the monster was persuaded to quit his prey ; but the unfortunate young man was dead ! I could enumerate many instances of the daring exploits of these brutes, but one or two will be sufiicient to con- vince the reader of the ferocious nature of their attacks, and their peculiar relish for human flesh, which, when once tasted, is preferred by them to any other. The district of Siranjong appears to be their favourite prowling-ground. In April, last year, one of them put to WATER-BUFFALOES. 11 flight a party of Malays who were at work in that neigh- bourhood. Before they could get clear of the jungle, the tiger — a well-known brute, advanced in years, and remarkable from having large white spots — sprang upon one of them, selecting, of course, the fattest. When the first shock of their fright was over, they turned on the tiger, and, pursuing him with their parongs (short swords), made him drop his prey, but not until the poor man was in the agonies of death. The same tiger, however, deter- mined not to be disappointed of his meal, that night carried ofi" a Chinaman at a short distance from the scene of his morning’s exploits. In the course of the following month, at the same place, two Chinamen employed in sawing timber were carried off. On the last occasion, the com- rades of the victim, hearing his shrieks, bravely rushed out in a body to his assistance, as the tiger was dragging him towards the jungle ; but, instead of dropping his prey and skiflking off as he ought to have done, the brute, greatly to their dismay, faced about and stood growling over the body in a most ferocious manner ; and it was not until he had received a shower of sticks and stones that he moved off. The water-buffalo is an animal much in use at Sincapore for purposes of draught. It is a dull, heavy- looking animal — slow at work, and I think disgusting in appearance ; but remarkable for sagacity and attach- ment to its native keepers. It has, however, a particular antipathy to a European, and will immediately detect him 12 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. in a crowd. Its dislike to, and its courage in attacking, the tiger is well known all over India. Not long ago, as a Malayan boy, who was employed by his parents in herding some water-buffaloes, was driving his charge home by the borders of the jungle, a tiger made a sudden spring, and, seizing the lad by the thigh, was dragging him off, when two old bull buffaloes, hearing the shriek of distress from the well-known voice of their little attendant, turned round and charged with their usual rapidity. The tiger, thus closely pressed, was obliged to drop his prey, to defend himself. While one buffalo fought and successfully drove the tiger away, the other kept guard over the wounded boy. Later in the evening, when the anxious father, alarmed, came out with attendants to seek his child, he found that the whole herd, with the exception of the two old buffaloes, had dispersed them- selves to feed, but that they were still there — one standing over the bleeding body of their little friend, while the other kept watch on the edge of the jungle for the return of the tiger. There is a procession and much parade in bringing these tigers to the Government office. They are made to look as fierce as possible, propped up in a standing position by pieces of bamboo, the mouth open, and tail on end. The Governor kindly presented me with this fallen monarch of the jungle, and I was astonished at the number of native volunteers for the service of denuding TIGER’S FLESH. 13 him of his skin, the only part I coveted, while they demanded the carcase for their trouble. But I found afterwards that they made a large profit by retailing the flesh, a belief being entertained by this people that the eating of it is not only a sovereign remedy for all diseases, but that it imparts to him who eats it the sagacity as well as the courage of the animal. A friend of mine belonging to the 21st regiment, M.N.I., who was slowly recovering from an attack of fever, finding some difficulty in masticating the food before him, questioned his servant as to the cause, when he discovered that the fellow had purchased a small piece of my tiger, which he had clandestinely introduced into his master’s currie. When my friend got well, young Zaddie firmly believed that his remedy had effected the cure. On the Bajah’s visiting some poor Dyaks in November, 1850, located on the Quop branch of the Sarawak river, so strongly impressed were they with the idea that sagacity and intelligence might be instilled into the human frame through the channel of the throat, that, at a feast given to celebrate his visit, the elders of both sexes, taking from a cauldron a handful of rice, which some of the party were cooking in the centre of the apartment, brought it to the “ Tuan Besar” (Great Sir), to spit on, and the mixture thus made they swallowed with peculiar gusto, the younger branches applying to the Bajah’s European attendants for a similar relish to their meal. 14 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. Although out on several occasions, I "was never fortunate enough to fall in with a live tiger. With wild hog we occasionally had good sport. With my friend, Dr. Oxley, who seldom misses his bird, I had some good snipe-shooting, but it requires a companion acquainted with the locality to obtain sport. Deer are occasionally met with. The naturalist will find no end of amusement in the jungle ; there are varieties of the monkey ; the Pteromys (flying squirrel) is common ; but the most extraordinary creature is the Pteropus, or flying fox, of which Dr. Oxley writes, “ I may add several species of the bat tribe, amongst them, that most destructive one to all fruits, the flying fox or Pteropus : fortunately, however, they are as yet scarce, but at no distance from us they are numerous beyond count. I have seen a flock of them, whilst anchored in the straits of Malacca, so large, as to take several hours in passing and the editor of the “Journal of the Indian Archipelago ” states in a note, “ A colony is at present located in a mangrove creek at the head of the estuary of the Johore. In the day they may be seen asleep hanging in millions from the branches of the mangroves. At sunset they begin to stir, and presently they ascend into the air, and wing their way to the south- ward in one vast interrupted cloud. They pass the whole night in the jungle and plantations devouring fruit, and as soon as dawn begins to appear, they mount the air again, and return to their roosting-place at the head of the estuary.” Dr. Oxley adds, “ Their flesh is eaten by FLYING FOXES. 15 the natives, but no real fox smells to my mind one half so rank as they do ; methinks a rat would be palatable food compared with them.” I have frequently seen them when fresh caught ; they make scarcely any attempt at escape, and are very gentle, frequently licking the hand of their captors ; the skin is beautifully soft, the head is like that of a miniature fox. 16 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. CHAPTEK II. NEW HARBOUR — SAIL FROM SINCAPORE SANTOBONG EXCITEMENT AT THE RAJAh’s RETURN — ST. Pierre’s — meander proceeds up the river — rejoicings — KUCHING earliest VIEWS AND MOVEMENTS OF SIR JAMES BROOKE. While preparations were making for the establishment at Labuan, the Maander refitted in the snug and picturesque New Harbour, which appears, to have been overlooked in selecting the first points of settlement ; the only objection to it as a harbour is the intricacy of the eastern entrance ; a difficulty which, by the introduc- tion of steam, has become of little consequence. No place could be better adapted for a coal depot ; and, as a harbour for a man-of-war to refit, it is most convenient. The forge can be landed, boats repaired, and the artificers employed under commodious sheds, and all under the immediate eye of the officers on board. It has another great advantage over Sincapore roads ; in the latter anchorage a ship’s bottom becomes more foul than in any other that I know of, — perhaps from the near proximity to the bottom ; this is not the case in New Harbour, through OFF SARAWAK. 17 which there is always a tide running. Although it has the appearance of being hot and confined, surrounded as it is by high land, we did not find it so in reality : generally there is a current of air inside, while the ships in the stagnant and crowded roads are often becalmed. On 29 th August we re-embarked Sir James Brooke, who proposed calling at Sarawak on our way to Labuan ; the Lieutenant-Governor was to follow in the Phlegethon steamer, after the arrival of the mail. Right glad was I again to find myself, accompanied by Sir James Brooke, approaching the coast of Borneo. Five years had elapsed since we were last together there, ^ — ■ under circumstances, perhaps, of greater interest, although at the moment less auspicious. He seemed then to have no other resources, nor means of carrying out his truly philanthropic views than his own brave heart, manly bearing, and sincerely good intentions. On the 2nd September, being near Santobong, we sent a boat up to Sarawak, and' that evening we anchored off the Marotabus entrance, under Tanjong Poe. It was while under this point, in 1839, in the Royalist yacht, that Sir James for the first time witnessed a native skirmish : an attack was made by some Sakarran marauders on a small boat of Sarawak Malays, who had accompanied him on a short pleasure excursion. The news of our approach having reached Kuching* by the boat which we had despatched the previous afternoon, * Kuching is the name of the capital town of the province of Sarawak. VOL. I. c 18 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. as our avant-courm\ by the Santobong entrance, we now saw coming towards us with the last of the ebb a few prahus, the advance-guard of a whole fleet, which was hastening to welcome their beloved chief It had been the Rajah’s intention to reach his capital without any fuss ; but by a letter from Mr. Crookshank he learned that the whole population had been thrown into a state of the greatest excitement, and not an individual would remain at home, who could procure a conveyance down the river. The following morning presented, indeed, a lively and exciting scene ; the whole Sarawak population appeared to be afloat ; all their largest and finest boats had been put into requisition, and came with tomtoms beating, streamers and colours flying. The first boat which came alongside contained the Bornean Princes, the survivors of the Brune massacre, and relatives of poor Muda Hassim. Among them I recognised Pangueran Omar Alii, with a desperate wound in the face : he had also a frightful gash across the breast. He had a narrow escape, having been attacked while asleep. While I was on deck, waiting to receive their Royal Highnesses in proper form, they found their way into the presence of the Rajah through the quarter gallery window, thereby evading all ceremony. The pleasure on both sides at meeting was unfeigned : and, indeed — set- ting aside those social ties which must bind us all more or less to the land of our birth, — no one, witnessing the real ST. PIERRE’S. 19 delight which the return of Sir James Brooke afforded these simple people, could wonder at his preferring the country, where such a reception awaited him, to colder, if more civihsed, England. With the first of the flood tide our Rajah embarked in the McBanders barge ; and, quitting the ship under a salute and manned yards, attended by his picturesque fleet, he proceeded up the river. After Sir James’s departure we stood out to sea again, in search of our small tender, the Jolly Bachelor. Off Tanjong Datu we hoisted out our boom boats, and, sending them to the north and south, we stood ourselves towards St. Pierre’s. At a distance St. Pierre’s has the appearance of two islands ; but, on approaching, we found the parts connected by a white coral-bank, which appeared as if it would have been dry at low water. We stood within a cable’s length on the south and east, as well as on the south-west sides, without finding any bottom with the , hand-leads. We afterwards met the tender off the entrance of the Sarawak river ; but, darkness coming on, we brought up half-way between it and Tanjong Poe. It took us three days to get up to the Quop, owing to the freshets we experienced. There was no flood tide, and not sufficient wind to render the ship governable under canvass ; for certainly the McBander was the largest ship ever seen, or likely to be seen, in this river. I took up my old quarters in the Rajah’s house, and 20 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. found him surrounded, as formerly, by a happy and contented people. His reception by them had been most gratifying to him : it was late in the evening before the flotilla arrived, and every house was illuminated with rows of lamps, which were reflected on the smooth surface of the river for more than two miles, having a very pretty effect. Although we found Kuching greatly improved as regards size and importance, it was not so in appearance. We missed the magnificent jungle forest close to the backs of the picturesque native houses that faced the edge of the river. Bare hills, studded with black stumps of trees, which had been burnt to make room for roads and cultivation, now showed above the houses. Before entering into any further description of the province of Sarawak, it may be well to recapitulate, as briefly as possible, what I stated in a former work, as to the motives which first induced Sir James Brooke to visit this country ; it will be useful also to glance over subsequent events, up to the present time. “ I had,” observes Sir James Brooke in an early journal, “for some years turned my mind to the geography of the Indian Archipelago, and cherished an ardent desire to become better acquainted with a country combining the richest natural productions with an unrivalled degree of luxuriant beauty. Circumstances for a time prevented my entering on this field for enterprise and research ; and when the barriers were RETROSPECTIVE. ■ 21 removed I had many preparations to make, and some difficulties to overcome.” Mr. Brooke finally sailed from England in his schooner yacht the Royalist, of 142 tons, on the 16th December, 1838, and he arrived at Sincapore on the 1st of June, 1839. Thence he sailed for Borneo on the 28th July. His first intention had been to proceed to Maludu Bay ; but, hearing that the Rajah Muda Hassim, who then governed that part of the island called Borneo Proper, was at Sarawak, he determined on proceeding up the river to the capital town of Kuching. He was kindly welcomed by the Rajah, who did not usually reside at Sarawak, but was at that time detained there by a rebellion in the interior. The population was then about 1500 persons, chiefly the followers of the Rajah and of his fourteen brothers, who also had their ordinary residence elsewhere. On the 21st August, leaving the yacht in the river, and having obtained permission, Mr. Brooke, accompanied by some chiefs, proceeded on his first excursion into the inte- rior, visiting Sibnow, Samarahan, and other places removed from the seat of civil war. He returned on the 25th. On the 30th, he made another excursion, and visited a tribe of Dyaks up the Sundu river. These visits are most interestingly described in his published journal. On the 9th September, and on subsequent days, Mr. Brooke had interviews with the Rajah, during which trade and various other topics were discussed, and a reci- procal confidence and good feeling appears to have been 22 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. established. At these interviews a cunning and intel- ligent Malay, named Macota, was generally present. This man was of superior education, and appears to have gained much of Mr. Brooke’s confidence, as did also Muda Maliommed, who was own brother to Muda Hassim, and a good man on the whole, though subject to fits of sulkiness. On the 23rd, Mr. Brooke, leaving the Royalist off the mouth of the river, and accompanied by two Panguerans, Subtil and Illudeen, visited the river Sadong, of which the Songi is a branch, where he. made the acquaintance of Seriff Sahibe, by whom he was entertained. Datu Jembrong, an Illanun and pirate, lived near. Mr. Brooke described him as at that time somewhat advanced in years, stout, and with a resolute air, but of a most polite demeanour ; — as oily-tongued a cut-throat, indeed, as a gentleman need wish to associate witli. Having made these and other acquaintances, Mr. Brooke, on the 3rd October, again took leave of Muda Hassim, and returned to Sincapore. On the 20th November, he started on his interesting visit to the Celebes Islands, of which an account is published in Captain Mundy’s work, after which he again returned to Sincapore, where he refitted, but was detained some time longer by ill health. It was the end of August, 1840, before he made his second visit to Sarawak. He found the people in much the same state as at his first visit ; but there was some MUDA HASSIM. 23 talk of more decisive measures for bringing the civil war to a close. He renewed his friendly visits to the Rajah, and states in his journal that “ their good understanding knew no interruption.” “ October 2nd,” observes Mr. Brooke, “ lying at Sarawak, losing valuable time, but, pending the war, difficult to get away. Whenever the subject is mentioned, Muda Hassim begs me not to desert him just as it is coming to a close, and daily holds out prospects of the arrival of various Dyak tribes. “ The Rajah urged upon me that he was deceived and betrayed by the intrigues of Panguerans, who aimed at alienating from him the afiections of his countrymen ; and that, if I left him, he should probably have to remain here for the rest of his life, being resolved to die rather than yield to the unjust influence wliich others were seeking to acquire over him ; and he appealed to me whether, after our friendly communication, I could, as an English gentle- man, desert him. Under such circumstances, I felt that honourably I could not do so ; and, though reluctantly enough, I resolved to give him the aid he asked, — small indeed, but of consequence in such a petty warfare.” On the 3rd, Mr. Brooke started for the seat of war, and joined Der Macota, up the river at Leda Tanah. I must again refer my readers to the amusing descrip- tion he has given to the pubhc of this civil war. The aid he afibrded soon brought matters to a crisis. The rebels 24 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO, surrendered to him, and he interceded with the Rajah for their lives : — “ Those who know the Malay character will appreciate the difficulty of the attempt to stand between the monarch and his victims. I only succeeded when, at the end of a long debate — I soliciting, he denying — I rose to hid him farewell, as it was my intention to sail directly, since, after all my exertions in his cause, if he would not grant me the lives of the people, I could only consider that his friendship was at an end. On this he yielded,” The wives and children of the principal people were demanded as hostages, and were dehvered up. “Siniawan, the seat of the civil war, dwindled away. The poorer men stole off in canoes, and were scattered about, most of them coming to Kuching. The better class puUed down the houses, abandoned the town, and lived in boats for a month ; after which, alarmed by the delay, and impelled by hunger, they also fled. Patingue Oapoor, it was said, betook himself to Sambas ; and the Patingue Ali and the Tumangony sought a retreat among the Dyaks,” I have stated this much to enable those of my readers, who may not have had an opportunity of perusing Mr. Brooke’s early journal, to form an idea of some of the moving causes which induced my friend to allow himself to be invested with the Government of Sarawak. It was from no sordid nor ambitious views, but from truly philanthropic motives. He had acquired some experience ; and he MR. BROOKE’S VIEWS. 25 clearly saw that, if he could succeed in removing those evils which were a fertile source of oppression and abuse, he might live to see Sarawak inhabited by a flourishing and happy people. But, if my readers would appreciate all the difficulties with which Mr. Brooke had to contend, they must be referred to his early journals, which are already well known. What he has accomplished since their appearance, up to the present time, I shall endeavour to state in another chapter. 26 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. CHAPTER III. STATE OP THE PROVINCE OP SADONG — BORNEAN STORM — CONPERENCE AT THE RAJAh’s WITH THE NATIVE CHIEFS WILD HOG KILLED — DEPARTURE FOR LABUAN — THE GOVERNOR SWORN IN — DIFFICULTIES OP THE NEW SETTLEMENT THE BARRACKS DEPARTURE FOR BRUNI: — SQUALLS DISASTERS THEREBY DEPARTURE FOR SINGAPORE — SICKNESS AT LABUAN — DEATHS AMONG THE MARINES ARRIVAL AT SINGAPORE — RETURN TO LABUAN SEPOYS ON BOARD SHIP — INCREASED SICKNESS AND MORTALITY AT LABUAN — DANGEROUS ILLNESS OF THE GOVERNOR — HE EMBARKS ON BOARD THE MEANDER, AND PROCEEDS ON A CRUISE. I SHALL now proceed to describe what we saw during our necessarily short visit at Sarawak, and then relate a few subsequent events. Although Sir James Brooke had, previously to his departure in 1847, appointed proper persons to conduct the affairs of the province during his short stay in England, still the evils of lax government within, and the effect of renewed piracy without, were dis- cernible. He had not time, before departing with us for Labuan, to restore matters to the state which he intended they should resume. The province of Sadong, from its vicinity to that of Sarawak, lay immediately under the eye of the Rajah, and enjoyed, by virtue of his protection, a large share of PIRATICAL CONSPIRACY. 27 the prosperity of Kuching. In this province Sir James detected a conspiracy, which had for its real object the re-establishment of slavery and piracy. To nip this in the bud, he at once prepared a force to send to Sadong ; and an excellent opportunity thus presenting itself for introducing our boats to the Bornean river service, four of them, under charge of Lieutenant Bowyear, accompanied the expedition. They returned in a few days, having succeeded in all the objects for which they went. The principal agents in the con- spiracy were brought to account for their conduct before the “Tuan Besar” (Great Sir), and from one of them the origin of the conspiracy was worked out. It appeared that, immediately after Mr. Brooke’s departure for England, young Seriff Ahmed, the son of my old acquaintance Seriff Jaffer (since dead), entered into a correspondence with Seriff Mullah. Ever since the destruction of his village and property up the Undop by the Didds boats in 1844, the said Seriff Mullah had been hving in the Sakarran country, for the purpose, it was said, of collecting the disaffected, who had made their escape on the destruction of their piratical strongholds at the different towns and fortifications, viz., at Padi, Pakoo, Rembas, Patusen, Undop, &c. Their object now was to establish head-quarters, and to fortify themselves, in Seriff Sahibe’s old place, up the Sadong ; and from thence to afford every encouragement and protection to the Sarebas pirates, sharing with them the plunder, of which they 28 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. would be sure to obtain abundance, especially from the extensive and increasing trade now carried on by their neighbours of Sarawak, But “■ Man proposes, and God disposes.” The people of the Linga, with whom young Ahmed lived, were at enmity with the Sarebas. One day, as Ahmed was returning down the river from a visit to his friend Mullah, he was waylaid by the very men with whom he was about to form an alliance ; they endeavoured to murder him and the whole of his crew, and they so nearly succeeded, that out of eighteen one man only escaped to tell the tale. This was pretty well for “ inoffensive traders.” The Rajah’s return, — so unexpected by these worthies, — and his decisive measures, at once overawed the instigators of these proceedings ; and the appearance of the Mceander’s boats for a time checked the equipment of the Sarebas war-prahus. September 13th. We were joined by the Auckland steamer, which called in the river on its way to Labuan. With the Lieutenant-Governor came Sir James’s nephew. Captain Brooke Johnson Brooke, heir-apparent to the Rajahship. He will not forget the first night he passed on the river, in my gig, between the Quop and the town. Anxious to avoid the heat of the sun, we did not leave the Mceander until late in the evening, starting at about ten o’clock. One of those fearful storms peculiar to Borneo came on : the rain fell in such torrents that the FEASTS AT SARAWAK. 29 men had to take their hats, in addition to the regular balers, to keep the boat free ; the vivid flashes of light- ning, followed by intense darkness and crashing peals of thunder, dazzled, bhnded, and confused ; and when the men recovered their oars after baling the water out, we knew not which way to steer. We were, however, fortunate in reaching Kuching before daylight. Among other interesting events which we witnessed during our short stay were two feasts, — one given by the Eajah to the chiefs and people, the other by the Datus to Sir James. At the Datus’ we were received by the still pretty and graceful Inda, mother of Fatima, the youthful heiress to all the Datu Gapoor’s property, whose beauty has now attained for her a wide celebrity throughout the Malayan Archipelago. She besprinkled us with coloured rice and gold-dust, to which was added a gentle shower of rose-water from an utensil, the commoner use of which was yet unknown among these kind and simple people. After we had taken our seats, verses from the Koran were chaunted, the book being handed from one to another, but without any regard to precedence or sanctity, the man with the strongest lungs taking the longest pull at it ; then came feasting, with the most undeniably excellent curries. On the 21st September, a Bechara (talk) held at the Rajah’s house was the principal and most important event. Every part of the audience-chamber was crowded ; light and air were almost excluded by the multitude of eager 30 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. faces that filled the openings which served for windows. We were in full uniform, and found it oppressively hot. The business commenced by the chief of each depart- ment welcoming back the Rajah. — The Europeans presented him with a rich and valuable sword. Then came the Rajah’s speech, — in the course of which he presented each of the Datus with a handsome state sword, and afterwards introduced to the people his heir-presumptive, his probable successor in the govern- ment of Sarawak. A new flag, which the Rajah had brought from England, was then unfurled for the first time — displaying a black and red cross on a yellow field. This was to be henceforth the national flag of Sarawak. It was hoisted and saluted in due form, the Menander s band by a lively air contributing to the effect. A very comphmentary portion of the Rajah’s speech was devoted to the Captain of the frigate, — “ Who had been,” said the speaker, “ particularly selected by Her Britannic Majesty for the present honourable service, because he had on a former occasion, in conjunction with some of this distinguished audience, assisted in the destruction of many piratical strongholds, — a friend to the good but a scourge to the evil doer.” During this speech, which, although it lasted more than an hour, was delivered in the native language with extraordinary fluency, a deferential and complete silence prevailed- At its conclusion pipes and cigars were introduced ; we WILD HOG. 31 threw oflF our jackets, and, appearing in full Sarawak uniform, viz., shirts and trowsers only, we discussed with less ceremony, and more comfort^ the past, the present, and the future. On one of the nights during our stay at Sarawak we were disturbed by a couple of shots, fired in the garden adjoining Mr. Ruppell’s bungalow, in which I was billeted. On reaching the spot, we found a huge hog making his last gasp. His epicurean taste for yams and pine-apples had long made him a great nuisance hereabouts ; but, his agihty being as remarkable as his appetite — enabling him to clear at one bound a six-foot high logwood fence — he had eluded all attempts of the Sarawak sportsmen to stop his gastronomic career. At length, however, one “ Peter ” was too cunning for him : he verified the proverb about the pitcher which comes too often to the well. The exact height of this monster was three feet four inches : within his expanded jaws a small child might have stood upright. We should have liked a longer sojourn at Sarawak, but our new settlement had to be attended to. On the 23rd September, the Mceander dropped down and anchored off Tanjong Poe ; and on the morning of the 25th we sailed for Labuan. 29th September w^e anchored in Victoria Harbour, Labuan. Temporary residences, consisting of small square cottage sheds raised about four feet from the ground, as all Malay buildings are, on piles, had been erected ; but 32 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. they did not look very inviting. The flat selected for the settlement was below the level of the sea, from the encroachments of which it was protected by a self-formed bank. It had a swampy, unhealthy appearance. How- ever, it is not for Englishmen to foresee difficulties, and the Governor landed in all due form, under a salute from the Mceandef. Sir James Brooke and Mr. Napier were duly sworn in, and thus commenced the government of Labuan. All provisions were ruinously dear — but the greatest difficulty with which the new settlers had to contend was the want of labourers ; those obtained were chiefly slaves, belonging to certain Malay chiefs on the Borneo side, who could recal their men at any moment. The few Klings and Chinese who had come over from Sincapore, had been spoiled by high wages and drink. It is supposed that our old friend, Der Macota, had been busy in preventing the transmission of either men or supplies of any sort from Borneo. The following is ^ a proof of the vindictive feeling evinced towards us by the Panguerans. A few Chinese carpenters went over to Brune from Labuan ; and, while there, they were visited by some Malay women. Three of these women were sum- moned into the presence of the Sultan and Macota ; one of the women was attended by her two infants, who clung to her dress on either side. An executioner, in attendance behind, with a parang lopped off the little armsvof the children — after which the three women were krissed. SQUALL. 33 A much more eligible and healthy spot than the site of our sheds had been selected for the barracks. They were to stand on higher ground, and, when fit for use, were to be occupied by a detachment of Madras Native troops, from the Straits settlement. On the 6th October we again received on board the Governor and his staff, — his Excellency purposing to pay a visit of ceremony to the Sultan of Borneo, as well as to arrange with him certain matters of business. We hoisted out the launch before quitting the harbour, there being no place in which the open sea was likely to be smooth enough to enable us to do so with safety. The next day, the 7th October, we were taken in a heavy squall, with the launch and our small steam-tender in tow ; and, before the sail could be got off, the launch — which was a bad imitation of the boats used on the north- west coast of Spain — took a dive, and turned bottom upwards. Our steam-tender, likewise in tow, did not take in so much as a spoonful of water. We succeeded in picking up the two boat-keepers, and the greater part of the gear : at the same time we came to an anchor for the purpose of hoisting in the launch, which was considerably damaged by her short tow under water. While we were thus employed, the Royalist hove in sight, under jurymasts, having been dismantled. She had left us on the evening of the 5th for Sincapore, and had been caught in the same squall with ourselves. I do not remember ever to have seen so complete a wreck, as far VOL. I. 34 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. as spars and rigging were concerned. She was caught while in stays, and head to wind ; the bobstays had given, and the forestays had brought the bowsprit in-board ; this had been carried away just outside the knight- lieads, and was now laid alongside the foremast, which, with the other three masts, lay amidships, fore and aft the deck. Leaving the Royalist at Labuan to refit, and a volunteer party of Marines to do duty on shore, we sailed on 14th October for Sincapore. The wind holding from the S.W., we went out to the eastward and northward of the island, taking advantage of the pilotage of Lieut. Gordon, commanding the Royalist, who was particularly well quahfied to show us the way, having lately completed an excellent survey of the island and adjacent coast. After he had left us, and before losing sight of Labuan, we passed over an extensive coral shoal to the N.W., the sounding varying from four to four and a half fathoms for several miles ; such an uncertain bottom rendered it most unpleasant cruising-ground for a forty-four gun frigate. On our passage, symptoms of fever began to show them- selves among the party of Marines, who had been first sent to do duty at Labuan ; one of them, a private, died on the 1 7th, and a corporal two days after : they were both promising young men. These casualties caused us to feel very anxious about the poor fellows who were still doing duty there. SEPOYS ON BOARD SHIP. 35 We made a long and tedious voyage to Sincapore, not arriving until the 31st. The Admiral immediately despatched the Auckland steamer, which returned with the Royalist in tow, on the 16th of November, bringing accounts of the progress made in the barracks for the Sepoy troops, as well as of the sickly state of all those who were located on the flat. It was decided, that we should embark a company of the 21st Native Infantry, under charge of my friend. Captain Douglas Hamilton. This we did on the morning of the 22nd; and, sailing immediately afterwards, on the evening of the sixth day we anchored off one of the islands outside Labuan. It was well that we made so quick a passage ; the poor Sepoys, who were as docile and obhging as they could be, under the circumstances, and appeared grateful for the arrangements we had made for their comfort, were still not happy. When they came on board we had just refitted, and had been fresh painted. Now John Sepoy is a clean animal on shore, when he can, without being seen, get rid of the red juice produced by the betel-nut and chunam, which he is constantly masti- cating ; but, when he is so situated that one sees everything about him besmeared with the stains of the nasty-looking liquid, superadded to the influence of sea- sickness, then is he a very changed and unattractive creature. We gave our Sepoy troops one side of the main-deck entirely to themselves. The Rajhpoots of the company being, next to the 36 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. Bramahs, the highest caste in Hindoostaii, could not, of course, cook their rice at the same fire, nor drink of the same water as that used by those of lower caste ; nor could the lowest follower of these soldiers "condescend to cook where our men daily dressed large portions of the unclean beast. Such a proceeding would, indeed, have been an abomination not to be got over ; so that we had to erect two cooking-places, independent of our galley-fire, and to hoist on board casks of water, which they had themselves provided and filled. The few poor fellows, whose stomachs were strongest, would appear in a morning with their little brass pots of water to perform their ablutions. They clean out the mouth with the forefinger, thrusting it well into the throat, which generally had the effect of accomplishing that which the unpleasant motion of the ship might have failed to do. On landing at Labuan I almost dreaded enquiring into the state of the poor fellows we had left behind. We found the whole colony sick : some Marines had died, many others were seriously ill ; and, of all the survivors, the poor Governor himself was in the worst condition. He had been delirious, and lay apparently with but little hope of recovery ; and his favourite medical attendant. Dr. Treacher, in whom he had every confidence, was nearly as bad as himself. I saw that some steps should be immediately taken ; and, making my way to the sick bed side, I begged Sir James to prepare for removal on the morrow, giving him the choice of the Auckland or the SITE OF LABUAN. 37 Masander. Having a particular dislike to the motion of a steamer, he selected the latter, in spite of our wretched accommodation ; but I saw that no time was to be lost. Feeling better in the morning. Sir James undertook to sign a few papers ; he fainted twice during the day ; and, when I called, just before sunset, with a boat’s crew to convey him on board, he was so exhausted that our surgeon declared that it would be dangerous to remove him ; with great reluctance therefore on my part, he was left to imbibe for another night the fetid and pestilential ail’ of the Labuan plain. The selection of such a site for the town of Labuan has been, not unnaturally, criticised. Several considerations appeared at first to recommend it, while the objections were thought to be such as time and skill would overcome. The site fixed upon lay on the bay which had been selected by all the naval officers, who had visited the island, as the best harbour for shipping. It presented a beautiful beach, with a broad level plain behind it, for building operations. It was here that Captain Mundy hoisted the English ensign, when the island was taken possession of as a British colony. As to its malarious character, that was believed to be temporary, and to proceed from the fresh-water swamp lying behind the plain, which admitted of being thoroughly drained. Doubts, however, have been raised whether the sickness pro- ceeded from the fresh-water swamp, or from the exposed coral reefs which abound in the vicinity of the harbour. 38 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. The site of the town has since been changed, the plain has been drained ; and I have not lately heard any complaints of unhealthiness, beyond those common to most tropical climates. The following morning Sir James felt better, and I received a note from the A. D. C., to say that his uncle would be ready to embark in the cool of the evening. At five o’clock I had the satisfaction of receiving him on board ; but how altered ! I supported him to his cabin ; and, that he might have a change of air, although never so slight, we immediately got under weigh, and proceeded as far as the fast disappearing daylight would allow. At seven o’clock we came to, off Collier Point. INVALID CKUISE, 30 CHAPTER IV. ANCHOR OFF KIMANIS — COMMUNICATE WITH THE ORANG KAYA — BOAT ARRIVES PROM WRECK OF THE MINERVA — CURIOUS SWARM OP BEES SAIL FROM KIMANIS — KINI BALU MOUNTAIN AND SCENERY WRECK OF MINERVA FOUND PLUNDERED AND BURNT — BALAMBANGAN HAULING THE SEINE SERIFF HUSSEIN CIVILITY OF THE CHIEFS SPORTING SIMPAN MANJIOW MALLAWALLER — DEATH OF JOHN JAGO CAGAYAN SOLOO REMARKABLE INLAND BASIN — CHRISTMAS DAY. Sir James Brooke had duties to perform, as Her Majesty’s Commissioner to the Sultan of Borneo, and the chiefs of the Malayan Archipelago ; but he was only just able to indicate to me the direction in which he would wish to go. Our chief object being the restoration of his health, we managed by keeping the ship under easy sail during the day, and by anchoring in the evening, to give liim the advantage of undisturbed rest at night. Among the invahds, there had come on board with the Governor his nephew and A. D. C., Captain Brooke, whose attack of fever was just coming on, — poor Dr, Treacher, a mere shadow of what he was, — young Charles Grant, also suffering from fever, and the good-tempered Spencer St. John, whose kindness to the sick had been unabated. 40 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. On Monday 4th we weighed at daylight, and with fair wind, smooth water, and fine weather, coasted along in the direction of Pulo Tiga, the scenery increasing in beauty as we got to the northward. Running between Pulo Tiga and Tanjong Kalias, we shaped a course E. by S. for the entrance to the Kimanis river, up which there was a fine old Orang Kaya (Chief Man), Isteer by name, a friend of our Rajah. It was dark when we came to, in six fathoms, about three quarters of a mile off shore, and two to the westward of the entrance, — a good hit, considering that we had run the last twelve miles without seeing the land ; nor is there by daylight any remarkable point to indicate the position of the river. This was formerly a great haunt of the Lanuns, and other thieves. The following morning, 5th December, having obtained the necessary information from some native fishing-boats, we sent the second gig up the river, to inform the Orang Kaya of the Rajah’s arrival, as well as to solicit a pilot for the river Mengatal, where we intended to get another for Maludu Bay. Sir James had been informed of piratical combinations and doings in Labok Bay; and, after calling at Maludu for information, it was his intention to proceed there. A cutter followed the gig, filled with amateurs, whose description of the river agreed with the favourable one given by Captain Mundy. After crossing the bar, in which they found little more than two feet water, they got immediately into fresh KIMANIS. 41 water ; and, pulling up for two miles and a half the prettiest stream imaginable, about a hundred yards wide, they came to the picturesque village of Kimanis. Here the houses, gardens, tropical plants, orchards, and orna- mented ground showed an improved state of civilisation : they found cattle, poultry, and stock of various lands. On their way back they shot an alligator, and a couple of monkeys, with a few birds. The worthy Orang Kaya, a man of most polished manners (as the higher class of Malays always are), came himself on board, to pay his respects to the Rajah, and to offer his services as pilot ; he brought a present of a calf, and some fruit. Our purser failed in obtaining a supply of fresh beef, the price of a bullock having reached ten dollars, — more than double the sum formerly asked for one. I had intended to go up in the cool of the next morning, but in that I was disappointed, as in the afternoon the unusual appearance, in these waters, of a boat with a European sail was reported, coming down along shore from the northward ; she reached us just before sunset, and proved to belong to the Minerva schooner, bringing the master and mate of that vessel, which they had left on a coral bank near Balambangan. In the master, Mr. Lonsdale, I recognised an old acquaintance, who formerly commanded the Maria, one of the transports under convoy of the Dido, during the Chinese war ; he stated that, having run on the reef, and fincUng that his vessel could not be got off without being 42 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. lightened, he was throwing her cargo, which was of teak, overboard, when he observed several prahus coming out from under a point of land ; having no arms wherewith to defend himself, he had taken to his long-boat with the few valuables he could hastily collect, manned by his Lascar crew, making eighteen in all. Ten of the Lascars after- wards left him, on his landing at a part of the island for fuel and water ; he then went on, intending to coast down as far as Labuan, and there seek assistance. These prahus, from whom Mr. Lonsdale, in his discre- tion, made such a precipitate retreat, might have been inoffensive, peaceable traders ; but, not having then read the opinion of some of those gentlemen in England who live at home at ease, and having himself served in these seas, he thought it just as well to make sure of keeping his head on his shoulders, by shunning the honour of a visit from such distinguished foreigners, belonging to a people whose tastes do occasionally rejoice in a necklace of human teeth. While we were at morning quarters off Kimanis, a swarm of bees, attracted perhaps by the sound of the band, came round the ship, and finally settled on the under quarter of the cross-jack-yard, presenting a most extraordinary appearance : by clinging to one another they formed themselves into a bag twelve or fourteen inches deep, the mouth of which, attached to the yard, occupied a space of about two feet in length, by one wide, and which was shaken and moved about by the wind. Fearing that the BEES ON BOARD. 43 men might get stung on going aloft, I tried to dislodge them, first bj discharging a musket with a double charge of coarse powder at them fi’om the mizzen-rigging, within four yards ; this having no effect, it was afterwards fired at the same distance with a charge of sand, by which a few fell ; the vacancies were immediately fiUed up, and the bag appeared to stick closer than ever. They remained two days, during which time we were twice under weigh, making and shortening sail, in each of which operations the chain topsail-sheet ran through the centre of the bag, and disturbed large portions of them in its passage ; but they returned and repaired the damage, as soon as the sheet or clewline had been belayed. The disaster of the Mmerva induced me to defer my visit to the village, in order that we might repair to the scene of the wreck, and render such assistance as might be practicable. Accordingly, early the following morning, having hoisted her boat on board, we weighed with a fresh southerly wind, which afterwards veered round to S.W. and W., and ran along the coast about a couple of miles off shore, with the noble mountain of Kini-Balu in the back ground, raising its magnificent head above the clouds. Nothing could be finer than the scene before us ; and the day being clear, we did not lose any part of this beautiful moving panorama. Our poor invalids were much too ill to enjoy it ; this was, however, the first day in which I had been able to discover the slightest improvement in the Governor’s appearance. At seven p.m., we came to, within 44 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. a couple of miles of the wreck, having run in smooth water no less than a hundred and twenty miles since the morning. 8th December. — As might he supposed, when we found the wreck, not only had she been completely gutted, but she had been burned down to the water’s edge, for the sake of the copper and iron bolts. We observed a few native boats in the distance, making off with the plunder. The appearance of Balambangan was not inviting ; its approaches are shoal and intricate. It was twice occupied by the East Indian Government, having been ceded to Mr. Dalrymple by the Sultan Amir of Soloo in 1763, but the occupiers for that Government were expelled by the Soloo pirates ; and, though afterwards recovered, it was eventually abandoned. The Spaniards also once claimed possession of Balambangan ; but, when Manilla fell into the hands of the English, they lost all hold on this place, as well as their other possessions in the Soloo Archipelago, The place has a south-west and a north-east harbour. There are several convenient spots on which we hauled our seine. There is always much excitement in this mode of fishing within the tropics, from the great variety of fish which are found in the bag of the net. Not to mention sharks, swordfish, and a multitudinous gathering of specimens more digestible, — young alligators also, turtle, and often very rare and beautiful shells are brought to land. The mouths of large rivers in wooded countries should be avoided, on account of the dead logs which lie on the MALUDU BAY. 45 bottom, half buried in sand, and which generally break your net. The time of rising tide I have always found the best for fishing : with a falling tide, I imagine, the fish go out into deep water. December 9th, we weighed, and stood into Maludu Bay. On our way we fell in with a native prahu, belonging to Seritf Hussein, a son of the unfortunate Seriff Osman, who made such a gallant resistance in August, 1845, up the Maludu River, when attacked by the boats of the fleet, under Captain Talbot of the Vestal. He came on board, not without certain apprehensions which he tried in vain to conceal, and was ushered into the presence of the “ Tuan Besar ” (Brooke), whose name alone in these seas appears to insure those who like to come to him protection and kind treatment. Not much information could be gained from this worthy at the first interview : during the second, he and the chiefs with him admitted that nothing could be worse than the unpro- tected state and want of government under which they lived ; that each petty chief quarrelled with and attacked his weaker neighbours, while they, in turn, hved in constant dread of an attack from the more formidable Bajow, or Soloo pirates. We anchored well up the bay, and sent on shore to communicate with the chiefs. The following morning a deputation came on board, when we were informed of the breaking up and dispersion of the Labok Bay pirates. These people, who visited the ship, were particularly 46 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. obliging and civil, and sent their men to show us the best shooting-ground, — rather appearing to Like our visit, although we were not long enough together to establish impHcit confidence in each other. On the 10th, having pulled and poled over a bar, and up a shallow salt-water creek, on the east side of the bay, a little to the northward of where we had anchored, we landed a small shooting party, and were shown some particularly likely-looking ground, covered with long- grass, and intersected in all directions by the fresh tracks of wild cattle. A hog was the result of our sport ; but three large red deer made their appearance on the edge of the jungle, just as the guns had been discharged at our less dignified game. We were informed, that part of the coast near Simpan Manjiow was the best place for deer and wild cattle : and as our principal object was to establish friendly intercourse with the natives, wherever practicable, we weighed in the evening with a light land- breeze, and at eight the following morning anchored in nine fathoms, near the point of Simpan Manjiow. The north-east monsoon having set in, there was a heavy surf breaking along the rocky beach. We discovered a bar about two miles to the southward, on the east side of the cape, over which we found a safe passage for the gig, leading into the entrance of a small river. On getting inside the bar, we discovered, parallel with the line of surf, a smooth-water boat-channel, affording a passage the wliole way to the cape itself SOLOO SEAS. 47 uninterrupted, except in one particular spot : here was a small shelf, about ten yards wide, but we had no difficulty in carrying the gig over it. We walked round and explored the ground on the western side, which we found well adapted for deer- shooting, being a fine open country, interspersed with trees, — the ground covered with short grass : there were tracks of numerous cloven-footed animals of all sizes, but it was too early in the day for them to be out feeding. Large herds of deer had been seen on a former occasion from the Samaran^' s boats, when they anchored for shelter on the western side of the cape. Numerous monkeys, while the tide was out, were amusing themselves on the sand. Another party from the ship explored the coast to the southward ; they saw several small deer, but only succeeded in getting one. On the 11th, with our tender, the Jolly Bachelor, in company, we weighed and stood towards the island of Mallawaller, and soon entered among the dangers of the Soloo seas. As far as the eye could reach from the mast-head, patches of sand and coral banks were visible ; but the weather was fine, the water smooth and clear, time our own ; and, with our tender sounding a-head, we proceeded, nothing daunted by appearances. We could always pick our way by daylight, and anchor at sunset. With the novel and agreeable duty of making ourselves acquainted with the islands of this extensive 48 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. Archipelago and their inhabitants, we combined the gratification of affording amusement, and, with it, restoration of health to some of our poor invahds. Mallawaller is surrounded by coral reefs and sand- banks. There appears to be a fine harbour to the eastward, but certainly no safe entrance for a ship the size of the Mceander. Exploring parties landed, and the island was well traversed. Some reported having- seen, and fired at deer ; and the appearance of the country made it probable that animals would be found there : it presented slopes of fresh, green grass, having rills of water running between them ; nothing, however, was killed, and our shooting parties in the Soloo seas were uniformly unsuccessful. The brushwood having been set on fire in the evening, the flame spread and advanced with great rapidity, presenting a pretty appearance. No traces of inhabitants were here discovered, although, from the position of the place, its supply of wood and water, and the rich appearance of the soil, it should be a favourable position for a settlement ; but we concluded that here, as well as at many other equally favoured spots, the absence of peaceable and settled inhabitants is to be ascribed to the want of such regular government as would secure protection from the lawless freebooters who infest these seas. On the 13th, at ten a.m. expired in the prime of life, one of our finest young men, John Jago, another victim to the Labuan fever : his health had several times TWO DEATHS— JAGO, MARTIN. 49 partially rallied, but two days previous to his death he sent to take leave of me, and I was some time endeavouring to cheer him up. The sick were suspended in cots on both sides of the main-deck ; and, when any death occurred, it was difficult to liide from the others what had taken place. Jago was the last of the barge’s crew who was taken ill, and had attended most of his companions through their attacks of fever : there was a happy expression of countenance, and a generosity about this poor fellow, that had endeared him to both officers and men. He left me the address of liis mother, and of a young girl to whom he was betrothed. On the 15th, we weighed as soon as the sun was liigh enough to show us the dangers, and stood under easy sail to the eastward, with the tender sounding a-head. After some little difficulty in winding the ship through the shoals, and an occasional scrape on some projecting point of coral, that had outgrown the bed to which it belonged, we made Cagayan Soloo on the 18th; and before coming to an anchor on the eastern side, we buried a young Marine, George Martin. Dollars not being a current medium of exchange among most of these islands, glass beads, looking-glasses, coloured cottons, &c., had been brought by us for purposes of barter ; and, as we were very anxious to obtain a supply of bullocks to keep our men in general, as well as the VOL. I. E 50 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. sick, as much on fresh meat as possible, a boat was sent, with the purser and the interpreter, accompanied by a party of officers, to communicate with a house, which struck us in passing — from its size and the planta- tions around it — as probably belonging to some chief, by whose assistance we hoped to get a supply of cattle. Having got inside the shoals with some difficulty, and effected a landing, our party was received in the politest manner by a fine-looking old Malay, who came down with his family to meet them. They made him to understand our wants ; and he sent immediately to the chief of the district, and acquainted him with our wishes, appointing the next morning at nine, as the time to receive the chief’s answer. Our people left the shore much pleased with their friend, who, as I have before remarked of the well-bred Malays, was a gentleman, polite, easy, and dignified. The next morning the same party landed Avith the necessary articles for barter, expecting to meet the chief or his deputy, and to make a bargain for the cattle. Their friend of the evening before received them in the same kind« manner. They waited some time in expecta- tion of the cattle arriving, instead of which, parties of natives kept thronging in, well armed with kris, spear, and shield, — their tomtoms beating outside. After a while came the chief with a numerous train — himself a humpbacked ferocious-looking savage — with all his men in padded UNFRIENDLY NATIVES. 51 jackets, and regular fighting costume. He made no reply to the questions of our party about bullocks, but kept his hand on his kris, and appeared undecided how to act. Our party were only eight in number, and destitute of arms, with the exception of one gun, the kind behaviour of their friend the night before having completely removed all suspicion of any sinister behaviour. Surrounded now by about sixty well-armed, rascally-looking thieves, of hostile demeanour, they thought it best to put on as bold a front as possible, and at the same time quietly to retire ; nor did they underrate their good fortune in regaining the boat without further molestation, the ship being some miles distant, and shut out from view by projecting headlands. This was a lesson not to venture, in future, out of sight of the ship among the natives of these islands without an apparent superiority of force. Their white flags were hung out as much for the purpose of entrapping the weak, as of bartering with the strong. Finding our wishes not likely to be attained, and not liking our berth, which was exposed to the eastward, we weighed, and ran round to the opposite side of Cagayan Soloo. This island, from its size and population, is next in importance to Soloo itself The scenery, which presented itself to us in these wanderings, was the perfection of tropical beauty, with just sufficient cultivation to redeem it from the appearance of wildness. As we ran past the cottages and small Ullages on the southern shore, the inhabitants shewed 52 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. great alacrity in displaying pieces of white cloth ; we ourselves keeping a white flag constantly flying, to signify our reciprocity of good feehng, and our desire to com- municate with them. Having stood out for the melancholy purpose of committing to the deep the body of a Marine, named Allan Cameron, a second victim within the last eight- and-forty hours to the Labuan fever, we came to an anchor on the south-west side, off the principal village of Cagayan 80I00, the shoalness of the water not allowing us to approach within three miles of the landing- place. We encountered here none of the menacing style of the rogues on the eastern side ; the people were willing to exchange cattle, poultry, and vegetables, for our articles of barter — of which red and white cottons were the most attractive ; empty bottles and midshipmen’s anchor-buttons fetched their full value. The residents here described those on the east side as being bad people, and I have no doubt that the humpbacked ruffian, whom we had seen there, was some noted piratical chief, who by right of might had for a time located himself on the island. Had the party we landed been composed of our less reflecting young gentlemen, instead of the senior officers, the rude manner of these people would have been in some way resented, and the chief would have avenged the mischief we had so often inflicted on those of his craft, by krising the whole party. Had this occurred, they have INLAND BASIN. 53 SO many hiding-places, that we should have had much difficulty in finding the real offenders ; the whole island would in consequence have suffered, and unavoidably some of the innocent with the guilty. Our friends in the village gently opposed any attempts on our parts to penetrate into the interior, and were anxious to get rid of us before dark. As usual, the women were carefully kept out of sight. Captain Sir Edward Belcher, in describing his voyage in these seas, mentions having discovered in the south side of Cagayan Soloo a circular inlet of very deep water, cut off from the sea by a shallow bar. Being very anxious to find this fathomless basin, we kept a good look- out from the mast-head ; and a spot answering the description having been observed in passing, it was deter- mined to send an exploring party the next day. This was done ; and on their return they gave such a wonder- ful account of the before-named curious basin, as well as of its beauty, that it was decided we should return by this route from our cruise, and, anchoring close to the basin, take an opportunity to examine it more carefully. It was to be hoped that our invalid Rajah would, by that time, be sufficiently recovered to accompany us. December 22nd. — Weighed, and stood towards Mam- bahenauan, a small island to the southward, intending to come to for the night, but found no anchorage; so, the sea now being comparatively clear of shoals, we stood to the eastward. 54 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. On the 23rd, the currents being very uncertain, we found ourselves among a cluster of islands which the charts did not enable us to identify. As we were groping about seas very imperfectly surveyed, this neither astonished nor alarmed us ; and, while a sandy beach offered itself for the seine, and a jungle for the gun, — Christmas, too, being at hand, — we selected an eligible spot, and came to an anchor. On Christmas Day, after the usual routine of muster and church, the ship’s company were allowed to land, taking with them their dinners and small arms, and seek amusement in their own way. They appeared to enjoy themselves a great deal more than they could have done if kept on board, even with a double allowance of grog. Although upwards of a hundred men had landed, none of them fell in mth a native ; nevertheless, natives could not be far off, inasmuch as poultry were found running about, besides other marks of domestic life and doings. Later, however, in the evening, when our people were returning on board, I myself landed with Mr. Lonsdale ; and, having strolled to the opposite side of the island, we suddenly came upon a long canoe filled with natives, armed to the teeth, with spears and krises. They were stealthily pushing through a narrow creek that was overhung and partially hid by bushes. Our astonishment was, however, mutual. After a while, seeing probably that we were only two, they made signs for us to approach ; but not liking the looks of them, although each had a AERIVAL AT SOLOO. 55 double-barrelled gun, we withdrew without further communication. On the 26 th, we got under weigh, our course lying- through a very pretty archipelago, whose numerous shoals made the navigation doubly interesting. On the 27 th, we sighted Soloo. 56 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. CHAPTER V. TOOLTAN — BOLOD ISLANDS ISLAND OP BA3ILAN — SAMBOANQAN — SOCIABLE SOCIETY DEPARTURE FROM SAMBOANGAN FLEET OP GUN-BOATS CORAL ISLAND AND SEA BIRDS — CAGAYAN SOLDO — DISCOVERY OP A SECOND CIRCULAR LAKE, AND DESCRIPTION — DEPARTURE FOR BANGUEY — LABUAN IMPROVEMENTS THERE SINGAPORE — ORDERED TO CHINA ARRIVAL AT HONG KONG. The island of Soloo, wliich equals Cagayan in beauty, surpasses it in the cultivated richness of its slopes, while an improved magnificence is communicated to it from the mountains in the interior. Its length, from east to west, is about ten leagues, and its breadth four. A good sprinkling on the sea of fishing and trading boats, of picturesque build and rig, gave to this place a pleasing- appearance of life and animation, such as we had not before witnessed. It was late when we came to an anchor here ; but, the ship having been seen from the high land long before, we were not surprised by the appearance of some bustle taking place in the town : this was evidenced by the number of lights moving about throughout the night. We imagined, and found it afterwards to be the case, that they were removing their CITY OF SOLOO. 57 valuables, with their women and children, to the mountains, as a precaution in the event of our visit being of a hostile nature. The next morning we found ourselves off the city of Soloo (also named Soog), the capital of the Soloo Empire, and the abode of its Sultan, — who was at one time all- powerful throughout these seas, his influence extending to the north and eastern coasts of Borneo. I have already mentioned that, in 1775, the Soloos attacked and drove the British from Balambangan. Soloo had, even then, long been an emporium not only of regular traders from most nations, but the head-quarters of those piratical marauders who there found a ready market for enslaved victims and heterogeneous plunder — and whose descendants, to this day, are both proud and emulous of the deeds of their ancestors. We had looked forward with much interest to our visit to Soloo, and were not, on the whole, disappointed — though, perhaps, it may be considered rather curious than very interesting. The English ensign was flying over the house which we at once knew must be that of Mr. Windham, a gentleman who had for some time been connected with these people in a commercial way, and resident among them. An officer was sent to com- municate with him and obtain information. The town is built partly on land and partly on the sea. That part which is on the land, and which might almost be called the citadel, was, at the time of our visit, strongly 58 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. stockaded and flanked with batteries mounting heavy guns. The Spaniards have since destroyed these works and carried off the guns — a measure which is to be regretted. The Sultan, under the influence and counsel of the Rajah of Sarawak, had become opposed to piracy, and anxious for its suppression. His fortified position gave him weight, which he had frequently thrown into the scale of humanity : and it must now be feared that many, whom he was able to hold in check, will again follow their evil propensities unrestrained, as they did under previous dynasties. The resentment of Spain, as visited on the Sultan of Soloo, seems equally impolitic and unjust. The pretext was piracy, of which some solitary instance may very possibly have been established against a Soloo prahu : but the Sultan was certainly sincere in his wish to co-operate against that system. There is ground to fear that national jealousy was desirous of striking its puny blow at an European rival, through the degradation of the Sultan of Soloo,— that he has incurred, in fact, the resentment of the Spanish colonial governors, by those commercial treaties with ourselves which were but lately concluded by Sir James Brooke. That portion of the town which is not within the stockades is built in regular Malay fashion, on piles. The houses run in rows, or streets ; and outside of them is a platform about six feet wide to walk upon. This is supported underneath by a light scaffolding of bamboo. These rows of birdcage-looking buildings extend into the SOLOO. 59 sea for half a mile, over a shoal which is nearly dry at low water. The population is numerous ; composed principally of fishermen and Chinese traders. The said platform runs the whole length of the rows ; and its planks were so carelessly thrown across, that it seemed wonderful how the children could escape, if they always did escape, falling through the yawning spaces which invited them to a watery, or a muddy grave ; they were crawling about these ricketty stages in vast numbers : if the tide was out when they fell, they would be received into three feet deep of soft mud, supposing always that they did not break their little backs across the gunwales of the canoes beneath, which were made fast to the scaffolding. Mr. Windham’s house was one of those thus situated ; and at low water it was necessary for us, who wore shoes and stockings, to be carried from the boat, and deposited on his accommodation-ladder, where a kind welcome awaited us. We found him dressed in Malay costume ; and, from long residence among them, he had assumed much of both the appearance and manner of a native. He willingly undertook the task of commu- nicating with the Sultan, and arranging an audience for Sir James Brooke. The usual salutes were exchanged. Mr. Windham informed us that a short time previously, when he was absent attending the pearl-fishing at the Ceroo Islands, two Hutch men-of-war had arrived at Soloo, who, after visiting and exchanging the usual salutes, suddenly 60 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. attacked the town : this accounted for the panic on the night of our arrival. The Dutchmen, having fired on the town for some time, landed and burnt a few houses, paying Mr. Windham the compliment of making particular inquiries for his, which they destroyed, with much valuable property. The watering-place deserves particular notice, — a lovely spot, about a mile and a half to the eastward of the town, in a small bight of white sand. The water, after being filtered through some hundred yards of porous rock, came welhng out in several places through the sand, about high-water mark, and as clear as crystal. On one side of this little bay, and close to the springs, grew a magnificent tree of, I think, the Banyan species, throwing its shade over an acre of ground. It was a striking object; and served as the try sting-tree, where on market-days the mountaineers met the townspeople, to exchange com- modities. A mutual distrust appeared to subsist between them, the highlanders seldom going into the town, nor the townsmen to the mountains. The country people are tributary to the Sultan, though often refractory subjects ; and a system of clanship appears to prevail amongst them. Mr. Windham pointed out to us a spot on the beach, between the watering-place and the town, as the scene of public executions ; he also informed us that the capital crime most abhorred and most severely punished — on the system, as we supposed, of “ honour amongst thieves ” — was theft. The criminal being hound to a frame-work, resembling St. Andrew’s PUBLIC EXECUTIONS. (51 cross, is cut up with a kris at the discretion of the executioners, any one being at liberty to exercise his taste that way : death is thus rendered either lingering or instantaneous, according as the victim may be the object of popular dislike or sympathy. A real friend would dispatch him at once. Women frequently take advantage of such an opportunity of avenging themselves for some real or imaginary injury, addressing the unfor- tunate wretch, as they detach pieces of flesh from his body, in terms little suitable to the “ softer sex.” With the identical kris which Mr. Windham then wore, — and a desperate-looking blade it had, of a wavy form and as sharp as a razor, — he had seen a man, at one blow, cut open from the shoulder to the heart. The bodies, or fragments (for some carry their revenge so far as to mutilate the remains after life is extinct), are left to be devoured by dogs and wild pigs. Mr. Windham took us a short walk — I fancy about as far as he dared himself venture — into the interior. What we saw of the country was highly cultivated ; consisting, with intervals of jungle, of pasture grounds and gardens, very flourishing and pretty, with abundance of cattle. Our appearance excited much curiosity with the natives, and many questions were asked ; but the presence and explanations of Mr. Windham satisfied them Before commencing our watering, it was necessary to make certain arrangements, as a French squadron under Admiral Cecille had been much molested during that 62 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. operation a short time previous, and an attempt had been made to poison the springs ; all necessary precautions, therefore, were taken on our part. The Jolly Bachelor was first placed a few yards from the watering-place, which her howitzers completely covered. Our people were then strictly charged to avoid offending the natives in any way during their casual intercourse ; under these auspices, our watering progressed quickly and well. The day after we had commenced was a market-day. The mountaineers came down in parties of from six to twelve, mounted on well-formed little horses, or oxen, according to their rank and means ; on these they sat with graceful ease, spear in hand — they were all well armed besides, with shield and kris ; in some instances also we observed the heavy two-handed Lanun sword. They had a wild and independent bearing ; and, when seen in groups, some standing, some squatting, the women all chattering, under the wide-spreading tree, they much increased the interest of the already picturesque scene. They seemed indifferent as to the sale of their stock, which was conducted chiefly by the women, who freely accompanied them, and were by no means ill-favoured. The townspeople, who met and traded with these mountaineers, were dressed in gayer colours, but not so well armed. The stock brought by the latter was small — a few fowls, eggs, vegetables, and fruit being their staple commodities ; these were exchanged for cottons, PRODUCTIONS OF SOLOO. 63 tinsels, and other baubles. Altogether, though the market on this occasion -was well attended, the trade was slack ; but I doubt not that, in the palmy days of active piracy, a considerable amount of business was transacted under the old Banyan tree. The fruit at Soloo is plentiful and good ; the mangoes are not so good as those in the Phillippine Islands, but the oranges are equal to those of China or of any other country. There is the jack and bread-fruit tree, the far- famed mangostein, also the pine-apple, and the highly- prized, but offensive -smelling durian ; cocoa nuts of course, and a great variety of plantain and banana, and others whose names I forget. Cinnamon, ginger, and various spices likewise grow ; in fact, the soil appeared capable of producing whatever the natives might take the trouble to cultivate. We did not consider it prudent to venture into the interior on shooting excursions, but we heard that there were partridges and quail, wild ducks, snipe, and teal. Monkeys, doves, and pigeons we saw. The beef we found particularly good. We went to see what they call their races, which were held in an open space not far from the town. We observed groups of savage, but picturesque- looking men, mounted on spirited, strong-built little horses, of the Manilla or Spanish breed ; these men were generally well armed, bearing each a spear or lance. Presently, one man would dash out from the rest as a challenge ; then a man from another group, or perhaps from the same. 64 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. would ride up alongside ; then both would start off in a line of their own choosing, at a brisk trot, at which kind of pace the races were generally contested. On several occasions I noticed a ruffian, apparently mounted no better than his neighbours, start out from the crowd, — still no one seemed to accept the challenge. These men I found were a sort of bravo, whom nobody cared to quarrel with, which such an offence as beating them at a race would be sure to end in. When any of these known characters came out, they were loudly cheered by the spectators. Their seat and gait were awkward in the extreme, but they did not seem to think so, and I should not have willingly ventured to tell them so. December 30th was the day appointed for Sir James Brooke’s interview with the Sultan of Soloo. We landed in full costume at ten o’clock. Having walked over the sea suburbs, and arrived at the beach, we found a guard of honour and attendants waiting to conduct Sir James to the Sultan’s presence : they were a motley group, but made themselves useful in clearing the way. Passing within the outer stockade, we arrived, after a few minutes’ walk, at the royal residence. It was walled in and fortified : a large space was inclosed by double rows of heavy piles driven into the earth, about five feet apart, and the space was filled up with large stones and earth, making a very solid wall of about fifteen feet in height, having embrasures, or rather port-holes, in convenient places for cannon, — out of which we noticed the rusty SULTAN’S PALACE. 65 muzzles of some very heavy guns protruding. A great part of the town was stockaded in a similar way ; and the country houses of the Datus and mountain chiefs of any importance were also walled in, and had guns mounted. Passing through a massive gateway, pretty well flanked ’^dth guns and loopholes, we entered a large court, in which some two thousand persons were assembled, armed, and in their best apparel, but observing no sort of order : it was a wild and novel sight. Malays are always armed. The kris to them is what the sword was to an Enghsh gentleman in the feudal times. Every person who, by virtue of his rank or on any other pretext, could gain admittance, was in attendance on this occasion ; for our Eajah had become a justly celebrated man in the great Eastern Archipelago, and was an object of curiosity. We were conducted through the crowd to a corner of the court-yard, where a building, inferior to a small Enghsh barn, was pointed out as the Sultan’s palace. We entered it by a flight of broad wooden steps (for the palace was raised on piles), through a narrow passage thronged with guards, — and we found ourselves in the royal presence. The audience-chamber was not very large : a table, covered with green cloth, ran across the centre of it ; above the table, and round the upper end of the room, sat a very brilliant semicircle of personages, the Sultan occupying a raised seat in tlie middle. The cortege VOL. L F GG A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. consisted of his Grand Vizier, the members of the royal family, and the great Datus and officers of State. Behind these stood the guards and attendants, dressed in silks, the colours being according to the fancy of their respective masters. The Sultan gave us a gracious reception, shaking hands 'uith each officer as he was presented. This ceremony over, chairs were placed for Sir James and his suite ; while those of our party, who could not get seats, formed a semicircle on the other side ot the table. The scene was striking and gay. ’ The Sultan is a young-looking man, but with a dull and vacant expression, produced by the too free use of opium : his bps were red with the mixture of betel-nut and cere-leaf, which he chewed. He was dressed in rich silks, red and green the predominant colours. A large jewel sparkled in his turban, and he wore jewels also profusely on his person. The hilt of his kris, the great distinguishing ornament of all Malays, was beautifully decorated with gold wire, curiously twisted in. Immediately behind the Sultan, in closest attendance on his person, stood the cup-bearer, a fine young man dressed in green silk, who held in his hand a purple finger-glass, which was constantly held to his royal master’s mouth, to receive the filthy-looking mixture which is in such favour with these people, — composed of the juice of. the betel leaf, with the areca-nut and gambier. The other personages composing the circle AUDIENCE WITH SULTAN. 67 were dressed with equal gaudiness, in bright silks ; in the selection, however, of their colours they displayed consi- derable taste. Many of the guards were dressed in very ancient chain-armour, consisting of skull-caps and tunics, covering the arms and reaching from the throat to the knee. Those armed with sword, spear, and kris did not look amiss ; but two sentries, placed to guard the entrance to this ancient hall of audience, each shouldering a very shabby-looldng old Tower musket, of which they looked very proud, had an absurd effect. After a reasonable time passed by each party in admiration of the other, the conversation was opened by Sir James Brooke, who, as Her Majesty’s Commissioner in these regions, submitted to the Sultan certain propositions on matters of business. To these His Majesty expressed his willingness to accede ; and he graciously reminded Sir James that the royal family of Soloo were under considerable obligations to the English ; inasmuch as his great grand-father Sultan Amir, having been once upon a time imprisoned by the Spaniards in the fortress of Manilla, was delivered from durance vile and reinstated on the throne of his ancestors by. Alexander Dalrymple, — a.d. 1763. This was now the more liberal on the part of His Majesty, because his royal ancestor had not at the time allowed the service to be altogether unrequited ; for he ceded to the English Government a fine island adjoining Soloo (of 68 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. which, by the bye, no use appears to have been made), together with the north end of Borneo and the south end of Palawan, with the intervening islands. At length we took leave of His Majesty, retiring in much the same order as that in which we had entered. Although no actual treaty was concluded with the Sultan, Sir James paved the way for opening up com- merce, and for cultivating a better understanding with the natives. In the afternoon we visited one Datu Daniel, a powerful chief, very friendly, and well disposed towards the English- His stronghold was at a short distance in the country, at the foot of one of the mountain slopes, fortified in much the same way as the Sultan’s, but on a smaller scale ; his stockades were, however, quite as strong, and his guns in better order. His enclosed court, being likewise a farm- yard with a good supply of live stock, looked as if he was better prepared than his royal master to stand a long siege : his wives looked happy, his children merry ; and, on the whole, his domestic life appeared tolerably comfortable. The terms, on which the Sultan appeared to live with his great vassals, very much resembled the feudal system of the Middle Ages. The fact, that any man putting his foot on British soil becomes free, and that the deck of a man-of-war was all the same as British soil, seemed to be “ a dodge ” perfectly understood by the Soloo chiefs ; and, during the stay of SELF-EMANCIPATORS. 69 Her Majesty’s ship Mceander, all the slaves were carefully locked up like other live stock, with the exception of a few old servants, who, having received such long-continued kindness as to be slaves in name only, were trusted by their masters. Gratitude, however, is as rare in Soloo as elsewhere ; and about a dozen of these faithful well-fed slaves were fools enough to find their way on board the Mceander, to be landed at the next port at which we might touch, and there to starve as free men. Their usual plan was to sneak alongside at night, cling hold of the chain-plates, kick the canoe adrift — which they had in all probability stolen — and then make a noise until helped up the side, when they imagined themselves Britishers. Every one of those whom we questioned appeared to have been treated by their owners with the greatest confidence and kindness. Considering that Soloo was the great commercial centre of these seas, we were surprised at not seeing more large prahus ; there were none afloat, and very few hauled up * the number, however, of building-sheds and blacksmiths’ forges showed that they have the means of starting into activity at short notice. Mr. Windham had been trying to persuade the Soloos to bear a flag with a St. George’s Cross in their trading prahus, as a badge of peaceful mercantile occupation, by which they might be known to our cruisers ; but this suggestion had not yet been adopted. We quitted the Soloo capital with some regret, and ran 70 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. down the coast, intending to visit the island of Tooljan, said to belong to the English. The scenery, although there was no Kini-Balu for a background, was more beautiful than any we had yet seen, and quite answers to the following description by Mr. Hunt : “ There are few landscajjes in the world that exhibit a more delightful appearance than the sea-coasts of Soloo ; the luxuriant variety of the enchanting hills exhibits a scenery hardly ever equalled, and certainly never surpassed by the pencil of the artist. Some with majestic woods that wave their lofty heads to the very summits ; others with rich pastm’age delightfully verdant, with here and there patches burnt for cultivation, which form an agreeable contrast with enamelled meads ; others, again, exhibit cultivation to the mountain-top, chequered with groves affording a grateful variety to the eye ; — in a word, it only requires the decorations of art and civilised hfe to form a terrestrial paradise.” It was dark before we anchored off the island of Toolyan. Our arrival caused the same con- sternation as at Soloo, the same noise, and flitting about of lights ; until one fine fellow, braver than the rest, determined to risk his life for the good of the community and paddled himself alongside, when our pacific intentions were made known, and confidence was at once established. This island is separated from Soloo by a narrow strait. It appeared well cultivated, — the people industrious, and much more peaceably inchned than their neighbours. There were gardeners on shore, and fishermen afloat. BASILAN. 71 ready to supply our wants in their respective depart- ments ; we did not, however, trouble them, hut proceeded, after a short visit, on our course for Samboangan. The excitement and interest of our voyage rather increasing as we proceeded, on the 5th we anchored off the Bolod Islands, and landed to search for the eggs of a bird, which from the description given to us we supposed to be the Megapodius. In this we were unsuccessful, some natives having not long before visited these islands for the same purpose. We found some heaps of rubbish, comprising sea-weed, stones, and sticks, which had evidently constituted the materials of these birds’ nests. A description of this singular bird and of its nest, from the more able pen of my friend the Rajah of Sarawak, will be found in a later portion of this work. On the 8th, we anchored off the west coast of the island of Basilan, — the largest of the Soloo Archipelago, — on which the Spaniards have established a small settlement, though not without much trouble, the inhabitants being- hostile and warlike, and keeping their garrison constantly on the alert. The French squadron, under Admiral Cecille, sustained some loss in an attack by boats on a part of this island. The next day we worked our way between numerous small, but beautiful islands, only regretting that we had not time to explore them. At 9 p.M. we came to, in eleven fathoms, off the fort of Samboangan ; and on the following morning we saluted the Spanish flag. The settlement is on the south part 1-2 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. of the southernmost island of the Philhppine group, and its population is reinforced by convicts sent from Manilla. It is situated near the great Lanun Bay, the inhabitants of which are the fiercest and most warlike of all these islanders, and are celebrated for their piratical propen- sities. There is no part of the great Eastern Archipelago, as far even as the Malacca Straits, that has not, at some time or another, suffered from these freebooters. Samboangan has a strong fort ; the gun-boats are very efficient, and keep this part of the Soloo sea in tolerable order. Our tender, having arrived before us, had already exchanged civilities with the authorities, and prepared them for our visit. The town is extensive, and is, with the exception of the residences of the officials, built in the native fashion. We much enjoyed a few days in this comparatively civilised place. Owing to the clever management, as well as the good taste, of the Oovernor, Don Cayetano de Figueroa, Colonel of engineers, a very sociable system of society prevailed, uniting all classes, — the proud Spanish dames not refusing to meet in the same ball-room the pretty half-caste girls, who during the mornings were engaged in washing the officers’ clothes, or retailing eggs and poultry in the market. The hospitality of the Gfovernor provided for us, at his own residence early every morning, first a cup of excellent chocolate ; and after our light breakfast, horses being in readiness, he would kindly accompany us in SAMBOANGAN. 73 some picturesque ride, conducting us by the most inter- esting routes, and pointing out everything worth seeing. The settlement of Samhoangan lies within narrow boundaries. The sovereignty of these islands is claimed by the Spaniards ; but it would scarcely have been prudent to venture farther into the interior than the first range of mountains, in reliance on the protection of any civilised power, inasmuch as a very hostile attitude is still maintained by the “ ultramontane ” aborigines. In the immediate vicinity of the town the land was highly cultivated, and the scenery very picturesque, with a pleasing variety of extensive pasture grounds. In our rides we were generally attended by boys carrying our guns, the woods abounding in varieties of doves and pigeons. We had dances and dinners on shore and on board, and it was at length with no small regret on our parts, that we took leave of our kind and hospitable friends. There is much in these regions to interest the conchologist, and to reward his patient researches among the rocks and sea-weeds. Finding that I was a collector in this pleasing department of natural history, the officers of the Spanish Marine freely supphed me from their own stores with some very beautiful additions to my cabinet, especially of the Spohidylus and Chama. On the 14th- of January we left Samboangan, gettmg 74 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. under weigh in company with such a fleet of gun-boats as would have done credit to any nation. It must be confessed that, in systematic protection to the commerce of their respective seas, both Spain and Holland infinitely surpass our own country, so far as she has at present shown any determination to crush this evil in the latitudes where English influence alone could do so. The Spaniards, alive to the truth that commerce and piracy cannot co-exist, have long maintained such a naval force as has not only driven away, but keeys at a distance from the Phillippine Islands, those hordes who used to inflict on their marine traffic such sacrifice of life and merchandise. Some of the most formidable hordes now existing are composed of, or maintained by, fugitive princes and nobles, who have been, by Spanish vigilance, chased away from the Bay of Magindano, and other places within the protection of that flag. The Dutch, true to the same policy, and perhaps even more happy in its exercise, have, by a system of energetic vigilance along the whole coast of Java, not only to a great extent eradicated piracy from the Celebes, but have in many instances converted freebooters into fishermen, murderers into merchants or agriculturists. What becomes, however, of the remnant — of those for whom, as a vocation, murder and rapine have superior charms '? They, of course, must du sea of impunity ; establish themselves on the least protected coast — the least cared-for expanse of ocean ; where, if they ever do happen to surpass themselves in PIRACY. 75 atrocity, punishment is so uncertain, and, when it does fall, so transient, as just to add the charm of speculation and excitement to the other charms of piracy. Casting about for such an ehgible cruising-ground, the expelled of the Phillippines and the Celebes find it exactly to their mind in those seas where commerce has the strongest claims to the protection of the British flag — the flag of that humane, incredulous nation, which will believe no harm of those poor men in “ boats,” * and will take a strict account of any one who injures them. Surely when Spain, whose trade is so insignificant, compared with ours, — when Holland, whose trade, if it equals, certainly does not exceed our own, — when these nations find it true economy to provide systematically and effectually against the evils of piracy, surely England, the nation of shopkeepers, mistress of the seas — England who expends her millions in a more doubtful cause on the coast of Africa — might expend something (and I think it need not be much) in a cause which offers more substantial temptations, which promises, on the experience of other nations, more satisfactory results, which involves questions of slavery and massacre, and which demands of us in the name of commerce and humanity such permanent arrange- ments, as shall make it impossible for any of those commu- nities within our reach, — and where would they be beyond it, if we were in earnest \ — to gain so much by a lawless * “ It appeared, from the class of boats used by the Dyaks, that it was impossible they could be pirates.” — M r. Hcme. 76 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. and desperate vocation as to encourage them to persist in it, against our unsparing and inevitable visitations. Of the achievements of Spain in this righteous cause we have no such detailed particulars as Holland has furnished us, in the instructive compilation of M. De Groot. From this I hastily set down a few passages, which may be at once our shame and our encouragement ; although, from the occasional tone of the document, it would appear that the Dutch are not very earnest in desiring our co-operation : commercial jealousy seems to suggest to them some counterbalancing evil ; — " In the j’^ear 1826 the Dutch force engaged in tliis service alone was, two corvettes, eight large brigs, five small brigs, eighteen gun- boats — of which the Dutch Admiral reports, that it has answered the end for wliich it was instituted, having scattered as mueh as possible the numerous and formidable pirates We are surrounded by small islands, which are so many nests of pirates ; but our unin- terrupted cruisings have prevented them from makiug descents upon our coasts, and carrying off the inhabitants to their haunts as slaves ; and they have successfully protected the coasting trade — Page 79. “ In order to meet the evils of piracy in the Indian Archipelago, the Dutch Governor-General equipped a fiotiHa of schooners, of small draft of water, wliich, at fixed periods, in concert with the ships of the Eoyal and Colonial Navy, undertook expeditions against the pirates. Every year they followed them up even to their haunts, to make an example of them, to burn their ships, to carry off their arms, and to spread terror and confusion among the pirates themselves.” — Page 81. “We do not well understand,” says an able pamphlet quoted by DUTCH MEASURES. 77 M. de Grootj “ how the Dutch Government of India can have acted •with too mnch rigour against bandits, who do not content them- selves with plundering and capturing vessels and merchandise, but who sell as slaves, or mercilessly massacre, aU whom they find on board their vessels.” — Page 105. Pour hundred pirates,” says a Dntch Eeport of 1836 — ISIO, “ were established as agriculturists at Saleyer, to the south of Celebes. The pirates to the north of Borneo were punished. The English intervention prevented more being done in these countries.” — Page 103. “ These forces do not, as formerly, meet in the islands of Bouton. Their power has gradually increased to the south of the Aj’clupelago; and it is astonishing what a number of prahus are there at present. I attribnte it to the great number of losses they have sustained on the coast of Celebes and the neighbouring islands for some years past. The defeat which they experienced in 1827, near Tana Tjampea, convinced them that, on every other point of the coast of Celebes or its neighbourhood, they wordd be exposed to similar surprises, and could no longer reckon on a sure retreat in those latitndes. On watching their movements since then, it -will be easily observed that the pirates have no longer a fixed place of meeting, as if they had not yet determined on a convenient spot from which to start. It is, no doubt, of paramount importance to them to choose a well-situated spot for their sphere of action, at a distance from our poiver ." — Page 94. “Wherever our power cannot extend, the slave-trade is still possible, and piracy, committed with the object of carrying away human beings, has not yet ceased.” — Page 119. “ Even the English papers have often rendered justice to the zeal and efficacious measures of the Dutch Government to suppress piracy in the Indian Arcliipelago ; and the comparison drawn by these papers, between the efforts made in favour of that cause by the British Government and our own, is not in favour of the 78 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. English The success of the measures adopted \vill cause the name of the Dutch to be held in honour among commercial nations. But piracy has taken too deep root in the Indian Archipelago to render the power and good-will of the Dutch Government sufficient to eradicate it.” — Page 120.* The whole system of piracy, throughout that part of the Eastern Archipelago in which we are interested, might be effectually suppressed, the trade protected, and the duties of the Malacca Straits performed, at a cost not equalling that of the ships of war occasionally employed on that station ; but I repeat that the force so employed must be permanent. It is difficult to calculate the good that might be done, the benefit that would accrue to the cause of humanity, and the vast trade that would as assuredly spring up, were protection thus secured to it by the right description of force, judiciously applied under an intelligent and active officer. The position of Sir James Brooke, and his experience, would render his co-operation most valuable, and I am sure it would be always readily afforded. Without some such measures, I am equally assured that all our late operations will soon have been in vain ; and, in proportion as the proceedings of other nations are well organised, we shall suffer by the incompleteness of our own. On the 16th January, observing a sand-bank to the Parliamentary Paper relating to Piracies in the Indian Archipelago, 1851. CORAL ISLAND. 79 north-west not mentioned in Horsburgh nor in any of our charts, we hauled up, intending to anchor near it, and ascertain its correct position. We gradually reduced the quantity of sail set, as we neared the island ; and so, with the leads going in the chains, look-out men at the mast-head, and an occasional cast of the deep-sea lead, we approached the lee-side, and got within cable’s length of the beach without obtaining bottom at 120 fathoms. A line of breakers with overfalls extended off the north- west end, having the appearance of a shelf of rocks ; but these proved to be nothing but a tide ripple, as we stood into them. The island was very small, and had the same appearance all round. On landing, we found a patch of glaring white sand without a vestige of vegetation, sur- rounded by a belt of coral about a mile and a half in circumference, and so steep that I believe we might have rubbed the sides of the Mceander against it, without obtaining bottom with the hand-leads. The centre was covered with a variety of sea-birds ; their new-laid eggs proved excellent eating. The birds themselves were in every stage of growth — from the httle gaping nudity, just introduced into the world, to the old full-grown guardians of their progeny, which shrieked and hovered over our heads, disputing our landing so pertinaciously that we were obliged to knock them down with sticks, while on the wing, two or three at a time. We found on this lonely coral island the solitary grave of a Mussulman. Here was, indeed, a resting-place likely 80 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. to be undisturbed ; a spot where the pilgrim of any creed ’ “ His life being weary of these worldly bars. Might wish for power to dismiss itself,” or, as the Koran hath it, “might envy the quiet dead, and say, Would to God I were in thy place.” Never- theless, a sublimer grave than the coral rock — according to my idea — ^was close at hand. There can scarcely be a moment more impressive than when “ we commit a body to the deep ; there to look for the resurrection of the body, when the sea shall give up its dead.” No doubt, however, an earthly — even a coral — tomb had superior recommendations for the Mussulman. He could repose in the right position for his prophet's tomb ; he could have at his head the well-known symbol of the turban, rudely carved, in this instance, out of a piece of wood. Above all, those who closed his eyes could also prepare him by their friendly prompting for the interrogation of the examining angels. “When they say to thee, ‘Who is thy Lord?’ answer, ‘ God is my Lord,’ in truth ; and when they ask thee concerning thy prophet, say unto them, ‘Mahomet is the Apostle of God,’ with veracity ; and when they ask thee concerning thy religion, say unto them, ‘ Islamism is my religion and when they ask thee concerning thy book of direction, say to them, ‘ The Koran is my book of direction — and I have lived and died in the assertion that there is no deity but God ; and Mahomet is God’s Apostle.’ — And they will say, ‘ Sleep, 0 servant of God, in the protection of God.’ ” Had the deceased FUiVERAL AT SEA. 81 son of Islam been committed to the deep, he would probably have reached one of the “ dark imfathom’d caves of ocean,” before these instructions could have been pronounced from the funeral rites of the Mahom- etan. I have often watched the ominous-looking mass, as it sunk slowly, with a gentle swing from side to side, down the transparent depths, until it disappeared in the abyss, and left the most thoughtless of those whose eyes had followed it solemnly — and not always transiently — fixed on the realities of that purer faith which accompanies the Christian sailor round the world. I beheve that not a few may refer to a sailor’s funeral for the time when they first said, “ Cod is my Lord,” in truth ; and “ The son of Cod is my prophet,” in veracity ; and, taking His faith for their religion, and His Book for their “ Book of direction,” have lived and died, so that the devout Mahometan shall not shame them on the day when all shall meet. “ Qui nescit orare, Diseat navigare.” Graceless art thou as to pray’r I Go to sea — thouTt learn it there. “ According to the Moslem creed, the souls of the faithful hover, in a state of seraphic tranquillity, near their tombs. Hence, the Moslem usage of visiting the graves of their departed friends, in the idea that their souls are the gratified witnesses of these testimonials of affection.” * * Washington Irving. VOL. I. 82 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. Not very likely is it that the tenant of the coral rock •will often receive this pleasure from the friend who closed his eyes. The wild screams of the sea-hirds seemed singularly incompatible with seraphic tranquilhty. We made the shoal in latitude 8° 4' 34" N., and 119° 17 ' 30 " E. longitude. On the 1 7th, we came to, in ten fathoms, about a mile off the south side of Cagayan, and immediately commenced our examination of the curious circular lake before men- tioned, of which we had reserved the examination for this opportunity. The entrance is by a gap about fifty yards wide ; this, however, is crossed by a bank of coral, which extends along the whole south coast, and at low water is nearly dry, so as to exclude any boat larger than a canoe. Just outside the middle of the bar was a small island of rock and sandstone, with a sujfficient shelter of bushes to make an excellent shaded spot for our pic-nic. On passing the bar, we found ourselves inside a magnificent circular lake of deep blue water ; its circumference was about three miles. It was completely encircled by sand- stone cliffs, upwards of 200 feet in height, and nearly perpendicular ; their sides were covered with trees and shrubs. In the natural barriers of this remarkable enclosure only two small breaks occurred ; one was the gap by which we entered ; the other was on the E.N.E- side. From the inside, the little island at the entrance had all the appearance of having once filled the gap, and INLAND LAKE. 83 looked as if it had been forced out into the sea bj some internal pressure. The break which I mentioned on the north-east side did not come lower than within seventy or eighty feet of the water’s edge, and was partially concealed by the thick foliage of the jungle and forest- trees. In sounding, we found the depth of water to vary from fifty to sixty fathoms, and it appeared to be as deep at the sides as in the centre. Nothing could be more beautifully luxuriant than the growth of the jungle-trees of every description, their trunks and branches covered with an endless variety of beautiful creepers in brilliant blossom, hanging in festoons to the very water’s edge. Over our heads, disturbed by such unusual visitors, numbers of pigeons flew to and fro ; while many varieties of the parrot screamed their remonstrances at our intrusion. Forming ourselves into small parties, we dispersed — some to haul the seine, some to search for shells, while a third party explored the gap on the north-east side, clambering up without any anticipation of a further treat which was in reserve for them. At a height of about ninety feet, another beautiful lake burst on their astonished sight, circular in form, and as nearly as possible similar to that which they had just left. The two lakes were separated by a sort of natural wall ; and the spec- tator standing on its narrow edge could, by a mere turn of the head, look down either on the inner lake at a depth of thirty feet, or on the outer eighty feet beneath him, almost perpendicularly. The water of the higher or inner 84 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. lake was perfectly fresh ; but it may be observed that while it is called the inner lake, because we approached it through the other, it is, in fact, very little further inland than the first. This grand discovery being communicated to the other rambling parties, curiosity became here concentrated. Men and axes were procured from the ship ; the trees were cut down, and a road made up the gap, and so over to the fresh- water lake. A raft was then constructed, and, together with a small boat belonging to the tender, was very shortly launched upon the upper water. Our operations soon drew some of the natives to the spot, who expostulated on our proceedings, informing us that the waters of the lake were sacred, and had never yet been desecrated by the presence or by the pressure of an earthly canoe ; that the Spirit of the Lake (by description a Fiery Dragon of the worst order) would not fail to manifest his displeasure at the innovation ; and that nothing would induce them to venture on it. These scruples were, however, got over by one of them after he had swallowed a glass of grog. It was not until we were afloat on the inner lake, that we were enabled to form a correct idea of the beauty of its encircling barriers, and of the luxuriant vegetation which graced them. We had then also the best view of the extraordinary gap through which we had passed into it. The sandstone cliffs were more perpendicular on the fresh-water side, assuming the appearance of massive ■ -''^- '' * • . - . ' ri'-O't-. •V W,,/-;,^:-. b^-A AA - ‘.irf , , ■ , {r::., ‘ : X--jb,y. irj.rA , -i ■ '■ , '■ fe:',''. , . ■ A.-J y , -i -V’ ' ' ® - jf-'* - ' , ''-iSSi-iii'L j y) . . ^'1 'mi^hAty. '■ ! • ■>.• ^ >• v V' ’ ’ % ' » . ■ ./f «*■ ' ” '■ vr-' " -"’ey i k y-- , • :^ 'S' '- ■■ ■■■ ,A^‘'AA'' ■ ' %;;:lyAAyi'y^; i' A M h.. ., . J.--'-' '''AAA y.' .,.‘rh;AA ijiiv: ’J • ■;•! '. "y ■•'-'tr'' . ' • ' ■ -ij.. y'..y^'. : .: --y- ■ -. : .... a ., •V' ' TRESH "V/ATER LARE C A'3AE AR S O OEO O INLAND LAKES. 85 masonry ; and the gap might be a large portal, a hundred feet in height, broken through the immense stone wall. The creepers also were hence seen to great advantage, some of them falling in most beautiful luxuriance the whole length from the summit of the surrounding heights to the water’s edge. The lake may at one time, by some convulsion, have risen and burst through its barriers at this spot into the lower basin ; which in turn may, by a similar process, have formed the gap in the outer side, and then subsided to its present sea level. Such was the appearance which it had to us. Taken altogether, we had certainly here presented to us a great natural curiosity. I should have added that the cliffs on the lake-side were intersected at regular distances by a stratum of conglomerate ; and the whole scene was so novel and so pecuhar as to render description difficult. The natives having spoken of the existence of other similar lakes at no great distance, we explored in the direction to which they guided us, but made no new discoveries. The sacred bottom of the lake was dredged by the conchologists of our party, but without finding any shells. We left the shore not a httle proud of having dis- covered an object of curiosity which had escaped so keen an observer as Sir Edward Belcher, who, though he had the honour of finding the lower basin, was not aware of the existence of the far more wonderful lake above. There is no knowing how far even a 86 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. member of the Royal Yacht squadron may extend his rovings in these days of enterprise. I may commend, therefore, to the excursionist in the Soloo sea a visit to this our interesting discovery, certain that he will thank me for so doing. A ship may obtain good fresh watei- from a small trickling stream, which permeates through the barrier, near the gap, into the basin below ; but it should be so arranged that the laden boats pass the coral reef off the coast, before the tide falls too low. On the 20th, we took up our old berth in the south-west bay of Cagayan Soloo, and commenced an active barter for stock ; this, however, was brought to a sudden con- clusion on the 22nd, the natives taking fright at our shell practice. We were exercising at general quarters, and a few of them had remained to see the shot strike the target ; but the double report produced by these missiles, and the shower of perils which they emit at last, were on the whole too much for Soloo nerves ; and so they left us. Sailed on the 23rd, making for the northward of Ban- guey ; and, having anchored occasionally, on the 26th we ran between that island and Balambangan, and again came to, near the remnant of the wreck of the Minerva. On the 28 th, we came to in Victoria Bay, Labuan ; and soon after we landed our Governor, restored to compara- tive health. Much had been done during our short absence. More comfortable residences had been erected on the higher LABUAN AGAIN. 87 ground ; and that great step towards civilisation, a good road, had been made to the buildings on the plain, which were now only used as offices. The troops were comfortable and contented. Mr. Low, whom we had left in an apparently dying state, had under the care of his amiable wife so far recovered as to be able to superintend the cultivation of the portion of ground allotted to him ; and, although the soil was not superior, enough had been accomplished to prove that it was capable of producing all tropical fruits and vegetables. Deer and wild hog were plentiful ; few, however, had been killed ; although, in Captain Hamilton, the garrison contained one of the keenest and best sportsmen in the East. The communication with the coal district, which was the great attraction, was still by water only. Until ceded to the Eastern Archipelago Company, the coal seam had been rented by an adventurer named Miles, once Lloyd, who had managed to enrich himself by picking merely the surface of the seam close to the water’s edge, and selling it for the use of the Government steamers at the rate of £1 per ton. On the 30th, we sailed for Sincapore. On the 2nd of February, in running between the Anambas Islands, of which we had in our possession a recent French survey, we suddenly observed breakers a-head, and had barely time to sheer clear of a small and 88 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. dangerous shoal which had escaped the vigilance of Monsieur Paris, of La Favorite. Its position, by cross bearings, was Tokong Island N.N.E., Sra Island W. ^ S. On the 3rd, we again anchored in Sincapore Roads. We here found orders to proceed to China, the Com- mander-in-Chief thinking it advisable to have a force ready, in case the Government should think it necessary to enforce the treaty made with the Chinese Government by Sir John Davis, in 1847, by which the gates of the city of Canton were to be opened to strangers. This treaty was likely to be disregarded by the Chinese, according to opportunity, when the immediate danger should be removed, having been made at the bayonet’s point, while our troops were in possession of the environs of the Imperial city. There was now among its population a growing disposition to dispute with their Government the idea of admitting the Barbarians of the outer waters. Having received on board, through the cabin windows, a huge spar 9 6 feet in length, to make a government flag- staff, with a topmast and yard to match — which no other ship on the station could or would carry, — we sailed on the I7th for China. We shaped our course so as to com- municate with Sarawak and Labuan, and worked up the Palawan coast. We then steered for the Pratas, and made that dangerous shoal H.E. ^ E. from the mast head on tlie morning of the 29th March, having been set twenty- five miles to the westward during the night. The CHINA SQUADRON. 89 following day at noon, we ran into Hong Kong by the Lyemoon passage. In addition to the Hastings, flag-ship, we found many of the China squadron, comprising the Scout, Pilot, Columbine, Albatross, sloops ; with the Fury and Inflexible, steamers. We were shocked to hear that our worthy and respected chief. Sir Francis CoUier, had sustained a paralytic stroke. The 10th April arriving — the day on which the gates of Canton should have been opened, and perhaps would have been, had the Canton mob been kept in the same subjection as the London mob was on that famous day — the Admiral, finding that there was no intention on the part of our Government to enforce the Davis Treaty, sailed in the Inflexible to visit the northern ports ; he ordered the Hastings to Sincapore, dispersed the sloops— the Albatross to Borneo, and the others to their respective stations at the ports in China, which were opened to trade by the Pottinger Treaty. The Mceander was left to take care of Hong Kong. 90 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. CHAPTER VI. PIRACY IN THE CHINA SEAS — REGATTA AT MACAO — IMPRISONMENT OF MR. SUMMERS INTERVIEW ON THE SUBJECT WITH THE PORTUGUESE GOVERNOR MEASURES TAKEN FOR THE LIBERATION OF MR, SUMMERS — THIS SUBJECT REVIEWED PARTICULARS OF THE ASSASSINATION OF GOVERNOR DO AMARAL, AND SUBSEQUENT EVENTS — EXPLOSION OF THE DONA MARIA FRIGATE, Nothing unusual took place during our stay here. Various acts of piracy, attended with cruel murders, occurred between Hong Kong and the entrance to the Canton River ; but this could not be called unusual. Some of the rogues were taken by the Inflexible, and six fellows were hanged at West Point ; but so httle effect had this example, that a fresh act of piracy was com- mitted within sight of the suspended corpses, and within range of the sentry’s musket. The Admiral returned in the Fury on the 20th of May, much benefited by his trip to the northern ports. He sailed again on the 26th, leaving us to await the arrival of the Amazon from England. She came in on the following day, and we prepared to return to our old station in the Eastern Archipelago : but before our MACAO REGATTA. 91 departure an event occurred, which gave an unanticipated, notoriety to our short sojourn here. Were I to pass it unnoticed, my motive might be mistaken ; but as the narrative must unavoidably be egotistical, and the subject has perhaps lost its general interest, — my readers may now pass to the next chapter, who have no incHnation to discuss a point of international law, nor to see how it was decided, for the occasion at least, by a British boat’s-crew and a party of Marines. Just before the arrival of the Amazon, I received an invitation through my young friend, Mr. Robert Ellice (Honorary Secretary on the occasion), to act as joint umpire with Commodore Geisinger of the United States at a regatta which had been got up chiefly by Mr. Bush, the United States Consul at Hong Kong, — he kindly giving a cup to be sailed for. The event was to come off, weather permitting, on the 8th of June. To this proposal I cheerfully acceded. As the Medea, Com- mander Lockyer, was cruising outside for the suppression of piracy, and the Columbine, Commander John Dalrymple Hay, was coming down from Whampoa about that time for provisions, — I wrote to each of these officers, inviting them to meet me ; and, as I had to give up the charge of the station to Captain Troubridge of the Amazon (which could be done as well at Macao), we all agreed to meet there on the 7th. The American squadron, consisting of the Plymouth, the Peebles, and the Dolphin, added to our own, made a gay show in the roads : the Hong Kong 92 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. steamers were also called into requisition, and brought nearly all those who had not found their way in the inen-of-war. Having fired the usual salute on arrival, I proceeded with Captain Troubridge on the following morning, to pay our respects to the Grovernor, Don Joao Maria Farreira do Amaral. I may here mention that he was a Captain in the Portuguese navy, a gallant and distinguished ofiicer. He lost his right arm by a cannon-shot, when eighteen years of age, while leading a storming party at Itaparica, in Brazil, He had also served in the fleet of Don Pedro, under Sir Charles Napier. He spoke and understood English as well as we did. He received us most cordially ; and in the course of conversation said that he had broken through a rule, by accepting an invitation to dine with Mr, Forbes (an American gentleman, to whom we were likewise engaged), as he would not forego the pleasure of meeting his brother officers. Taking our leave, we proceeded to the room in which we were to arrange the starting of the vessels for the cup. At the door I was met by Captain Staveley, Military Secretary to the General commanding at Hong Kong, who requested my assistance in getting a young gentleman released, who had been imprisoned on the previous evening, he believed for not saluting the Host. I immediately expressed my willingness to apply to the Governor, remarking, that he was a very good fellow, and INTERVIEW WITH THE GOVERNOR. 93 I was sure would not hesitate to comply with my request. Accordingly, Captain Trouhridge and myself, accompanied by Captain Staveley, returned to the Government House. Without waiting to he announced, we proceeded at once to the apartment in which we had just before left Sehor Amaral, and we found him seated with the French Charge- d’affaires, M. le Baron de Forth Rouen. I apologised for the intrusion ; but His Excellency rising accompanied me to one of the windows. I then stated that I was come to ask a favour — that he would be so kind as to give an order for the release of a Mr. Summers, who, it appeared, had been confined in the common prison all night, for not saluting the Host. I concluded by remarking that, in all probabihty. His Excellency had heard nothing of the business. To this he sharply replied, that not only did he know all about it, but that the person in question had been confined by his order. I then remarked to His Excellency that the punishment (Mr. Summers having been confined in the common jail, without food, since five o’clock the previous afternoon) had surely been equal to the offence ; and I again expressed a hope that the Governor would order his release. On this he stated that Mr. Summers was sent to prison, not for any disrespect to the Host , — “for which he (the Governor) cared 'perhaps as little as I did ,” — but for disobeying his (the Governor’s) order. I inquired, “ What order ? ” — He replied, “ The order he gave him to take his hat off.” I then asked “ whether I understood the Governor rightly — whether he 94 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. could order any person he chose to take his hat off in the open streets ” To this he said, “ Exactly so.” I then said that tliis altered the case, and that I must now- request the immediate liberation of Mr. Summers, as I could not consider that the alleged olfence, for which he was imprisoned, was any crime at all. I further added, that I could hardly believe that I had heard now, in the nineteenth century, the Governor of a Portuguese settle- ment assert that he had imprisoned a British subject for refusing to take his hat off in the open streets, when ordered by him through a soldier to do so : I stated that, some five centuries back, a certain Gessler had placed a cap on a pole, and, in trying to make one William Tell bow to it, he had revolutionised Switzerland. — To this tiie Governor repHed, that I was not acquainted with Portu- guese law. I said, very likely not; but that I knew what common justice was. I then bowed, and retired. When I had descended half way down the steps, the Governor, calling me by name, asked me if I came to demand Mr. Summers’s liberation as a right, or to ask it as a favour. I replied that, while I beheved Mr. Summers had neglected to take off his hat, as was customary, on the passing of one of the religious ceremonies of the country, I had asked his liberation as a personal favour ; but, since His Excellency had explained that Mr. Summers was confined for what I conceived to be no crime at all, I really could not, in the position I then occupied, ask for his liberation as a favour. MR. SUMMERS IN PRISON. 95 After this unexpected termination to our interview, we retired to the residence of my friend Mr. Patrick Stewart, situated within a few doors of the Government House, to consider with Captain Troubridge what steps should next be taken. Here was a British subject, whose arrest had been in the first instance illegal, still unjustifiably detained after a respectful remonstrance on my part, — I being, in the absence of any British Consul or other civil authority, the proper representative of the British Government. I felt it my duty to demand in writing the immediate release of Mr. Summers : considering, however, the warm tempera- ment of Senor do Amaral, and the bearing towards me which he had already assumed, I could scarcely augur for the more formal application that success which had been denied to my friendly intercession. I thought it advisable, therefore, to make the necessary arrangements in anticipa- tion of denial. Owing to the shoalness of the water, no ship of any size could anchor within three miles of the landing-place. The boats of the squadron were preparing to pull at the regatta. I sent a gig off to the First Lieutenant of the Mceander, with an order to him to make the signal, “Prepare to land boats for service.” Captain Staveley in the meantime undertook to make himself acquainted, without exciting suspicion, with the position and state of the prison, the route to it, and how it was guarded, &c. To efiect this he assumed a white jacket, the usual costume of the mercantile gentlemen ; and, taking with 06 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. him a basket of fruit, he walked up and obtained an inter- view with the prisoner, returning with the information we required. I then wrote the following letter, which Captain Troubridge took to the Governor : — “H.B.M. Ship Mieander, Macao Roads, “8//t January, 1849. “ Sir, “ As I understand, from the personal interview I have just had with your Excellency, in the presence of Captain Troubridge, of H.B.M.S. Amazon, and Captain Staveley, Military Secretary to the General commanding the troops at Hong Kong, that Mr. Summers, a British subject and resident of Hong Kong, has been put in the common jail by your Excellency’s order, for not taking off his hat, in obedience to your order conveyed by a soldier, on the occasion of the Host passing ; and your Excellency having entirely separated the supposed offence from any religious aspect, by distinctly stating that he was com- mitted to jail for not obeying your order to take his hat off, I deem it my duty, as senior naval officer of H.B.M. ships in China, to demand his immediate release, and a full explanation of the circumstances which led to his imprisonment, for the information of H.B.M. Government. “ I have the honour to be. Sir, “ Your Excellency’s most Obedient Servant, “HENRY KEPPEL.” Captain Troubridge found the Governor where we CORRESPONDENCE. 97 had left him, and stated that he was requested to wait for an answer to this letter. The Grovernor absented himself for a while, and then returned with the following reply : — “Most Illustrious Sir, “ In reply to the letter which you have just addressed me from on board H.B.M.S. Mceander, anchored in Macao Hoads, I transmit to you herewith the enclosed copy of an official letter, which accompanied Mr. Summers when he was sent by me to-day to the judge, to whom, according to the Portuguese laws, appertains the further prosecution of that affair. “ God preserve you. “ (Signed), JOAO MARIA FERREIRA DO AMARAL. “The Most Illusteious Senor Henry Keppee, “ COMMANDING H.B.M. SQUADRON IN CHINA. “Macao, June 8i/i, 1849.” The purport of the enclosure was as follows : — “ Most Illustrious and Excellent Sir, “To-day, on the passing of the procession of Corpo de Deos, J. Summers, Protestant Missionary, remained near the church of Misericordia with his hat on his head, amid a number of people who all showed respect for the religion of the country ; and I having ordered one of my attendants to tell him to take off his hat, — he would not. In consequence of this, I sent him to the H 98 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. guard-house, and now send him to your Excellency, in order that your Excellency may condescend to settle this doubly scandalous case according to justice. “ God guard your Excellency. “JOAO MARIA FERREIRA DO AMARAL. “ To THE Most Illustrious Senhor Conselheiro Ioaqutm Antonio de Moraes Carneiro, “JUIZ DE DECRITO OF THIS CITY. “ Macao, June Sth, 1849.” To dance attendance beyond this point on Portuguese justice at Macao seemed to me unworthy of my position, and hopeless as to the object. Tlie judge would have referred me back to the Governor, whose tool he was, and with whom alone I could properly hold official intercourse ; in the meantime Mr. Summers must he in prison, awaiting the “ course of law,” which, let me add, has within these last ten years left British subjects to die incarcerated in this very prison. I decided on liberating him at once. To do so with the least possible risk of any disastrous incident was now the great object ; and I adopted the mode of proceeding which seemed the most promising for this end. A second boat being despatched to the Mcsander, with directions that the signal should be made for the “ Boats to land immediately,” I went on board the Canton steamer, which was moored off the town, and took my place as umpire at the regatta, which was about to commence. We started the sailing vessels — and RELEASE OF MR. SUMMERS. 99 shortly after, observing some of the boats on their way to the shore in obedience to my signal, I excused myself for a few minutes, and again landed. The first boat which arrived was the Mceanders barge, with a crew of twelve blue-jackets and six Marines ; and, the other boats being some way behind, I asked Captain Staveley, who was with me, whether he thought he could by a coup-de-main release Mr. Summers with that one boat’s crew 1 To this he gallantly replied that he had no objection to try — stipulating only, like a good general, that I should secure his retreat. Upon this I requested Mr. Burnaby, who had charge of the barge’s crew, to attend to his wishes. Passing quickly through a house which had a back entrance to the Senate Square, and so to the street in which the prison stood, Captain Staveley, with his party, immediately proceeded thither. The cutter from the Mceander arriving next, I directed its crew to take charge of the house through which Captain Staveley had passed, placing sentries at each door. The third boat had just arrived, when my attention was attracted towards Senate Square by the report of musketry. Leaving orders with the officer in charge of the landing place to pay every attention to His Excellency, should he land before my return (which was not improbable, since he must have seen all that was going on from on board the Plymouth), I was hastening to the scene of action, when I met Captain Staveley walking H '1 100 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. down, arm in arm with Mr. Summers, — the rear brought up by the barge’s crew. I immediately sent to stop the chsembarkation of any more men. The whole business, from the landing of the barge’s crew until their return to the boat with Mr. Summers, did not occupy five minutes of time. The arms from the launch and barge were transferred to the pinnace ; and the boats, with the exception of those which were to pull for the prizes, were ordered back to their respective ships. I returned to the Canton steamer, and had the pleasure of seeing the two best prizes won by the launch and barge of the McBander. I learned from Captain Staveley that his party had to cross the square, to get to the street in which the prison was situated. On the left side of the square was the entrance to the arsenal, near which was a battery of four field-pieces, with a guard. When abreast of this battery, Captain Staveley directed Mr. Burnaby, with the blue-jackets, to possess themselves of the guns and remain there until his return, he pro- ceeding with the Marines to the prison. The sentry at the prison presented his musket at Captain Staveley ; upon which the corporal of Marines wounded the sentry in the arm, causing him to drop his musket ; this proved to be superfluous, as the musket was found not to be loaded. The jailer dropping his bunch of keys, and the guard having vanished, the liberation of Mr. Summers was the work of a few seconds. I am sorry, however, to add that this object was not CASUALTY. 101 effected without one serious casualty, which, although it could not alter the view I had taken of my duty, much increased both my own regret at the perverseness of the Governor, and the general excitement consequent upon the event. A Portuguese soldier was killed by a musket-shot. It was said by his own people that he was unarmed, and not in any way opposed to our rescuing force. It may have been so ; it is not possible to reconcile the conflicting accounts even of this short affair. Ca.ptain Staveley, however, whose account I believe, states that some shots were exchanged between our men and the Portuguese, the latter firing into the square fi:om the windows of a house : in this way they probably slew their own comrade ; but the point is not worth discussing, as it can neither lessen nor increase my own responsibility. I am convinced that the course I pursued can be perfectly justified in the eyes of every one with whom might does not constitute right, which law seemed to be the only one recognised by the Governor of Macao. It may be observed, that thei'e is no class of public servants on whom great responsi- bilities are more suddenly imposed, than on the officer commanding a man-of-war ; and he cannot, with any security for his public duty, allow himself to consult those personal impulses, which, as they vary with every temperament, would produce inconsistencies in every sea. He must be guided, where special orders have not defined his course, by that which may best maintain 102 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. the honour of his Sovereign, and of the flag which she entrusts to him : and of this flag the greatest honour is that, into whatever port it floats, there it becomes the refuge of the humblest individual who, born to a share of British liberty, has not forfeited it by a positive breach of any law to which he and his nation owe respect. From what had transpired at my last interview with Sehor Amaral, it must be evident that he deliberately disconnected the point at issue from any rehgious question whatever. Nothing could be more studiously arbitrary than the shape in which the Governor was pleased to put it to me and this in the presence of the representative of France ; nor could I divest myself of the suspicion that, if he had not been present, the Governor’s bravado would have been wanting also. As it was, however, he first forces upon me the conviction that the liberation of Mr. Summers is a right, which I could demand, repudiating in his offence that element which had already enabled me to ask the “ favour ” of his pardon ; and then he says, “ Unless you ask it as a favour you shall not have it. I care as httle as you do for the religious point ; but if I order any man to take off his hat, he shall do it, or go to prison — Exactly so” I should like to see the British officer who would assent to Sehor Amaral’s “ exactly so.” I should like to see him make his bow at the Admiralty, with the consciousness that, not long before his return, he, being Captain of a British frigate, — repre- SUBJECT REVIEWED. 103 seiitative oii that spot of Her Britannic Majesty, had succumbed to the dictatorship of a Governor of Macao, and could give no further account of the Englishman who had claimed his protection, than that when the McBander sailed, as when she arrived, he was “ in prison for not taking off his hat 1 ” The perverse bearing of Senor Amaral, on my personal application to him, is the more remarkable, and is aggra- vated by the fact that he had, in his note to the judge, charged Mr. Summers, “ a Protestant Missionary,” with the ‘‘^double scandal,” of disrespect to the procession, and to liimself. With one, therefore, he chose, at the expense of candour, to sink the o'eligious point, that he might exalt himself. I have hinted to the general reader how much he may skip. How, therefore, as the case presents points of professional as well as of personal interest, I will proceed to state particularly the considerations which were duly — though, as the case was urgent, — promptly weighed by me, before I determined to settle with Sehor Amaral after his own summary fashion. As the senior naval officer then at Macao, I had three distinct questions to determine, viz : — I. — Has this British subject contravened any law of the country in which he is imprisoned, so as to forfeit the protection of Iris own country’s flag '? II. — Who is the proper person to intercede for him if he has, or to see justice done to him, if he has not ? 104 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. III. — In what way should this he done 1 1. The first question is decided in a few words. The Governor of Macao, on his own statement of the case, tempted, as it seemed to me, to shew off before the representative of France — claimed for himself an auto- cratical importance, which, had its victim been a Frenchman, would have been as promptly repudiated by M. le Baron de Forth Bouen, as it was by myself. My address on entering ought to have satisfied his vanity ; for I then told him that I had come to ask a favour ; and he ought the rather to have yielded with a good grace at once, as knowing that he had no acknowledged power to extort from foreigners, of other religions, any act of observance towards his own. He might have felt also that a “ Protestant Missionary had a claim to some forbearance at his hands. The course pursued by him, disregarding even the formalities which his own laws prescribed — not to mention the special provisions of our treaties with Portugal — could only be considered as lawless and arbitrary ; Mr. Summers, then, the subject of it, was entitled to the earliest practicable redress. 2. With whom did it rest to vindicate his cause ? Certainly, with the senior officer on the spot. At Lisbon it might have been a job for the ambassador : at Macao it devolved on me, as Her Britannic Majesty’s repre- sentative then and there. It was not a case which could with any propriety be referred to the civil authorities at Hong Kong. First, because I had no right, nor any SUBJECT REVIEWED. 105 desire to impose on Mr. Bonham, even could he have performed it, the responsibility of my own disagreeable duty ; and secondly, because he could not have performed it ; he could only have resorted to tardy diplomatic correspondence at a distance of forty miles, and then, in case of failure, back to myself or to the military power at Hong Kong. In the meantime the utmost conceivable punishment for the “ double scandal,” would have been already undergone by Mr. Summers. There exists a note written by a predecessor of Sehor Amaral, which he would probably have made his model in replying to any communication on this subject from Hong Kong. On the occasion to which this note refers, the Consular Agent for the United States expressed his “regret at the arrest and imprisonment of two American citizens by order of his Excellency, the then Governor of Macao : ” their offence seems to have been of the nature of Mr. Summers’s. In reply, his Excellency the Governor Palha winds up a severe note by saying that it is “ by an excess of moderation, but only for this time, that he has not determined instantly that Mr. Fisher should quit the city, for having the audacity to pretend that the Governor should account to him for the rules of his conduct.” This peculiar style of the Governors of Macao does not encourage a reference to civil authorities when injustice is patent — when delay aggravates it — and when a man-of-Avar is at hand. 1U6 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 3. How then was I to liberate Mr. Summers 1 Here was no doubt an opportunity to emulate the Governor’s bravado, and to make a grand display ; but the mode which should involve the least possible risk of bloodshed was that suggested by duty and humanity. Sehor Amaral’s absence at the regatta offered an excellent opportunity, and it was used as I have narrated. I am well satisfied to have taken advantage of that accident. Had the Governor been on the spot, his high spirit would doubtless have urged him to an opposition which, though hopeless, might have multiplied subjects for regret, I have passed over one argument which was much relied on at the time by the party who took the anti- Amaral side ; for the affair, of course, created a great sensation, and each side of the question had its advocates. I was charged, on the one side, with having “ violated a territory belonging to the Crown of Portugal.” To this it was answered, that Macao does not belong to Portugal ; — whence, it would follow, that Portuguese law can have no footing there. It may certainly be shown that on many occasions the Portuguese have either been constrained, or have found it convenient, to admit that they have only a qualified property in this corner of China ; but I have not yet claimed the benefit of this argnment ; because, I professed only to give the grounds on which I acted at the time ; because, I might not then have had at my SUBJECT EEVIEWED. 107 fingers’ ends tlie colonial history of Macao ; and because, two simpler points were clear to me : — first, that the outrage was indefensible under any law ; secondly, that, whether the prison stood on Portuguese or on Chinese territory, the prisoner was my countryman, and entitled to my help. At the same time, I do not forego an argu- ment which I have every right to advance, and which is supported by authorities of the highest order, I have not had time to ask the formal permission of Sir Henry Pottinger, late Plenipotentiary in China, and now Governor of Madras, to make this use of a note which I received from him last year ; but I have no apprehension that he will object to my subjoining the following passage : — “My opinion always has been, and will be, that you acted quite right in rescuing a British subject from the Portuguese at Macao. They have no sort of rights oj sovereignty there; and I told the Governor, in my day, that if any of Her Majesty’s subjects took refuge or were detained there, I would make him deliver them up. Lord Aberdeen approved of my decision ; and my friend Keying issued an edict declaring Macao to be on the footing of the five ports opened to trade. That I think is conclusive.” I have assumed, as I hope I may, that my own state- ment of the minuter facts of this case will be received as the correct one. Some of the published accounts, — gathered, perhaps, with every desire for accuracy, 3'et from miauthentic or prejudiced sources, — are just 108 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. sufficiently erroneous to affect materially the merits of the case. For example, the excited Governor, on the day fol- lowing this event, invited all foreign officials, then at Macao, to attend the funeral of a soldier “ assassinated by order of Captain Keppel.” Poor man ! he has since met his own fate from some real assassins. He was as brave an officer as could adorn any service, and I grieve for his unworthy end. In my slight collision with him I have no doubt whatever that, according to the view he took of his position, “ What he did, he did in honour. Led by th’ impartial conduct of his soul,” an apology made and accepted by greater men than either of us. I, in turn, will apply to my share of the trans- action other words of the same speaker* — “ Your highness pleased to forget my place, The majesty and power of law and justice. The image of the Queen whom I presented ; Whereon I gave bold way to my authority.” And I cannot but feel perfectly at ease under the opinions both of the eminent personages already named, and of others equally so, whose correctness of judgment on questions of public delicacy, founded not only on the general experience of official life, but on particular know- ledge of local circumstances, and appreciation of national character, is further guaranteed by their actual career in * Chief J iistice Gascoigne. TOLERATION RECIPROCAL. 109 the public service, and by the success with which they have themselves maintained our national honour. In seeking to conclude usefully an egotistical chapter, I would venture to remind my British fellow subjects, who may find themselves where other laws and other creeds prevail, that the duty of private individuals is often different from that which is ofBcially incumbent upon us, who bear about our Sovereign’s flag. Let them never by indiscretion invite a difiiculty, from which they must afterwards invite their country’s help to rescue them. Let them remember that customs and religions are reciprocally strange ; and that, if they are allowed in a foreign land to practise unmolested their own obser- vances, it is by virtue of that same forbearance, which they are doubly bound to exercise in turn, No ignorance was ever dispelled, no creed ever purified by the con- temptuous sneer of a “ conscientious ” foreigner. I have the greatest respect for the devoted missionary ; but with reference to such scruples as I suppose to have actuated Mr, Summers, I humbly think that, when his conscience forbade him to bow himself in the house of Rimmon, it might have whispered that principle would be satisfied, and contention avoided, by his quietly taking his walk another way. While the military or naval ofl&cer, following his severe path of duty, may be pure from the blood of all men, self-acquittal may not be so easy to him, who, having gone forth to spread the Gospel of peace, calls into action his fellow-subjects militant, for 110 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. his own personal defence, bj an unnecessary parade of the letter, rather than the spirit of Christianity. What- ever may become our bounden duty, when a case has actually arisen, let the missionary assure himself that, even if laurels could be gained in such collisions, we desire to reap none through his inconsistent or ill-timed frowardness ; that while we rejoice, as fellow-members of the household of faith, to co-operate with him in every land, we accept it not as a pleasure, nor willingly as a duty, unless it tends to the magnifying of his office rather than of himself. I have alluded to the tragical end of Sehor Amaral, which took place not very long after this event. I subjoin the particulars, which have now painful interest. The position of Macao is on the small peninsula which projects from the large island of Hiangshan, and is about eight miles in circumference. The narrow isthmus, connecting Macao with the remainder of the island, is more than a mile in length, and a barrier wall runs across its narrowest part. Along this isthmus the Governor used to ride almost every day. On the evening of the 22nd August, 1849, he was taking his usual ride. He had passed through the barrier gate, and, having given a quarter-do! lar to an infirm old China woman, a pensioner on his bounty, was quietly proceeding homewards in conversation with his aide-de-camp, when he encountered a party of Chinamen, about three hundred yards from the barrier gate, coming GOVERNOR ASSASSINATED. Ill leisurely along the road. Among them was a young man, who held in his hand a bamboo of that sort used by coolies for carrying goods. Attached to the end of it was a bunch of green bushes and flowers, which, on meeting the Governor, he thrust into his face. The Governor turned on his assailant, exclaiming, “You dog!” vdien a dash was made at him by six other Chinamen, which caused his horse to shy to the left, where the ground was broken by an acclivity of two or three feet, which the pony cleared. It is probable that, as soon as he could pull up on clear ground, his first and fatal impulse was to face his pur- suers. He took the bridle in his teeth, raising his only arm (the left) to take a pistol from the holsters, when they rushed upon him with drawn swords, the foremost of them cutting at his arm, by disabhng which he would be at their mercy. He kept his seat for some time, although he had lost a stirrup and was but an indifferent horseman. The aide-de-camp observed him fall at length, after he himself had been brought to the ground. Having got the Governor down, the murderers cut off his hand and head, — appa- rently by repeated strokes from their blunt swords. The lower jaw and part of the tongue remained attached to the trunk. The wounds in the body were not mortal. The murderers escaped through the barrier, taking with them the head and hand of their victim ; and, having “ chin-chinned Joss ” in an adjoining house, embarked in a boat they had in waiting. 112 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. The Hong Kong papers state that two gentlemen on horseback witnessed the attack from a short distance, but, being unarmed, they could render no assistance ! Lieutenant J. P. Leite, the aide-de-camp, stated that, when the Governor’s horse shied from the six Chinamen, he made an attempt to go to his assistance ; on which three of them turned upon him, and cut him down from his horse : he still held the rein ; but on attempting to get up he received a second cut on the head, and the pony escaped. When he was on the ground he observed the Governor falling off, but did not hear a sound from him : he saw the Chinese gathering round and hacking at the body. He then got upon his feet, and ran forward, pursued for several paces by two of the murderers. There were various surmises as to the motive for this foul deed ; and most people were inclined to beheve that it had been instigated by the Chinese Government. That a murder so cunningly devised, and so boldly executed, was not the act of common robbers is evident from the fact, that the murderers did not plunder their victim : a watch and other valuables were left on the body of the unfortunate Governor. That it was a political murder is proved by the fact, that the head and hand were taken away, to serve for evidence that the hired assassins had performed their horrid office, for which no doubt they were promised a large reward. It is pretty certain that twenty-four hours after the murder the ghastly proofs of it were in possession of the PORTUGUESE RETALIATION. 113 Canton patriots, and probably gloated over by Com- missioner Sen himself. It is not for me to animadvert on the probable cause of the Celestial Government taking this truly Chinese mode of ridding themselves of a troublesome neighbour. His Excellency had lately acted upon his liberal, free-trade feeling, in ridding Macao of the Chinese Hoppo, or Custom House, which had existed since the Portuguese first rented Macao. He had also, for the purpose of improving the drive on which the European residents took their exercise, cut a pretty road through an extensive burial-ground, thereby disturbing the remains of many hundred Celes- tials, — a point on which they entertain very strong prejudices. The excitement in Macao was great. The troops were not to be restrained : they insisted on changing a too peaceably inclined commander, by whom they were kept in check, for a Captain Ricardo, an energetic officer, in whom they had confidence. They sallied forth — a force of 120 men — and captured, in gallant style, a fort situated near the barrier. The storming party, of thirty-five men, was headed by a Lieutenant Mesqueda. The Portuguese had seven wounded ; the Chinese seventy-four killed. The houses around the fort were fired, and no fewer than forty guns spiked. In a spirit of hasty and unjustifiable retaliation, however, they tarnished these laurels by bringing away the head and left hand of the mandarin who had charge of the fort : these they stuck on a pole in 114 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. fi’oiit of the house where the remains of the Governor were lying. Poor Amaral would have been as much disgusted by this substitution as were the Portuguese authorities themselves, who immediately removed these trophies. All remonstrances, as well as threats, on the part of Portugal have hitherto been unavailing for recovery, from the Chinese Government, of the lost head and hand. Many substitutes have, I believe, been offered. On 27th May, 1850, the new Governor, Commodore Pedro Alexandrino de Cunha, arrived at Macao, in the Don John, of twenty-two guns, and the Doha Mao'ia II., frigate, of thirty-two guns, also arrived from Goa, with a Company of Artillery ; and with this extra force it was supposed His Excellency would bring the China authorities to a sense of what was due to Portugal. Most unfortunately, however, the Doha Maria while lying in the Typa anchorage, on the 29th September following, blew up wdth a terrific explosion, by which 188 lives were lost. The cause of this accident remains a mystery. The ship had been dressed out in honour of the birthday of the Prince Consort of Portugal. Out of 224 on the ship’s books, only thirty-six were alive at the subsequent muster. The Captain and most of the officers perished. The “ Boletein do Governo ” concludes its accounts of these melancholy events with : — “Would to God that this be the last of the no small series of calamities that has afflicted this establishment ! ” MANILLA. 115 CHAPTER VII. PEPARTURB FOR MANILLA — ITS BAT, RIVER, CITY, VILLAGES, AND MANUFACTDEES HOSPITALITY TRIP TO THE LAKES CAVITA REGAL STATE OF THE GOVERNOR — PERILS OP A PATENT OF NOBILITY DEPARTURE FROM MANILLA SHIP AGROUND ARRIVAL AT LABUAN — TAKE IN COAL NEWS OF PIRATE FLEET HAVING PUT TO SEA DEPARTURE FOR THE COAST OF BORNEO. We left the scene of our “untoward event” early on the following morning ; and on the 21st anchored in Manilla Bay. Respecting either the bay or the city it would be difficult to write anything new. The bay is twenty-five miles in circumference, and receives many rivers. The city, happily situated at the mouth of the Pasig, is the capital of the Spanish settlement in the Phillippine Islands. The Pasig is navigable as far as the lakes, of which there is a succession, the nearest being about three leagues eastward of the town. On their borders may be seen upwards of a hundred picturesque Indian villages, chiefly built of bamboo. The prevalence of earthquakes has prevented the erection of lofty build- ings ; nevertheless, the city has an opulent and substantial appearance from the anchorage, to which, however. 116 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. the numerous churches and monasteries contribute largely. Its extensive manufacture of cheroots is well known. In one building alone are employed some 14,000 women, all talking at the same time, but kept in tolerable order by female overseers of austere aspect. There are also manu- factories for the beautifully-embroidered piiia cloth, made from the fibres of the pine-apple leaf. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the kind and hearty welcome with which a man-of-war is invariably received at Manilla, especially by the mercantile community, — our transatlantic brethren vying with our own countrymen in hospitality. Our arrival seemed to be made an excuse for a little relaxation from the duties of the counting-house ; and, during the eight days that the ship remained in the bay, there was a succession of pic-nics, dinners, and balls. Excusing myself from accepting the kind invitation of Mr. Farren, the Consul, I returned to the old quarters where I had been so kindly received, while in the Dido, by my friend Mr. F. Richardson, of the firm of Paterson and Co. One party visited the lakes, which they had heard described in such glowing terms, and they appeared particularly to enjoy themselves. The canoes afford a most luxurious mode of travelling. They are paddled along by natives, who ply at either end, the passenger occupying the centre : he may at his pleasure turn into a comfortable bed, sheltered from the rain or sun by a mat-covering, which is supported on EXCURSION TO THE LAKES. 117 bamboos, arched over from side to side. There is room also for a portmanteau and gun-case. Two or more people may be accommodated in this way. The kind friend, who had given our party a letter of introduction to a gentle- man residing on the borders of the lakes, likewise took care to see that they should have a well-supplied commissariat. The following account of the excursion is taken from the notes of one of the party : — “We took canoe, and paddled up the river, on either side of which the country-houses and gardens of the inhabitants extended for miles. “ It was dark when we reached the entrance to the lakes ; and our boatmen took it easy during the night : but at daylight, when we rubbed our eyes and looked around us, the change seemed magical. Instead of the narrow and very muddy river on which we were paddling when we went to sleep, we found ourselves on the bosom of a magnificent lake measuring several miles across, and in water which, although fresh, was deep and blue in appearance. The hills, or rather mountains, came sloping down from the clouds to the water’s edge ; we could see the fish rising in all directions. As we passed by headlands, or emerged from groups of islands, fresh expanses of the lakes opened before us, all of the same beautiful character- It was in fact one large lake, though in many places nearly separated into several different basins, by narrow 118 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. passes and numerous islets. We went on wondering and admiring, until we reached our friend’s residence in the vicinity of a large and flourishing village. To our great disappointment he was absent from home, having gone on a visit to the Pueblo of San Francisco, a pro- vincial town about ten miles off at the extremity of the lake. We managed to make his “ Major Domo ” under- stand our wants ; whereupon he unlocked the doors, kicked out the dogs, and made us comfortable with a hot breakfast. After this he provided us with a guide to the summit of a hill in the vicinity, commanding an extensive view. On our way thither we passed through the village, which is approached by pleasant lanes, sheltered from the sun by hedges of bamboo, the ends of which, gracefully inclining inwards, formed an arch overhead. The houses were clean and well-built, with white walls and neatly-thatched roofs : the streets are built at right angles ; and there is, after the common fashion of Spanish towns, a plaza, or square, in the centre. “ The inhabitants, who are of a mixed breed between the Spanish and Indians, appeared entirely agricultural in their pursuits and resources : they send their produce by canoes to Manilla. “ The low-land, between the village and the hills at the back, was drained and highly cultivated. The corn fields were generally fringed with groves of cocoa-nut trees, affording a very pleasant and necessary retreat from the noonday sun. THE LAKES. 119 “It was intensely hot, and the hiU ascent very laborious ; but the view from the summit was worth the trouble. Looldng in the direction where we imagined we had entered the waters, we were at fault ; for the labyrinth of lakes seemed interminable — basin after basin of blue water appearing one above the other. Some of the distant land lay high ; it sloped gradually to the water’s edge, and seemed to be capable of any degree of cultivation. “ In an opposite direction the lake-view was not equally extensive, but bounded by higher mountains, at the foot of which, in a plain beyond, communicating by rivers with the lake, stands the town of San Francisco. The view on this side was more hvely, the monotony of the lake being relieved by the white sails of the numerous canoes passing to and fro. The low-land immediately beneath our feet, bordering the lake, was teeming with herds of cattle. Altogether the scene was indescribably beautiful. “It seemed strange to us that agriculture was so partially pursued on the shores of these lakes, where the soil was so rich, where easy means of irrigation are at command, and where the water-communication from aU parts with Manilla is so open and easy. The explanation given was that aU communication, whether by land or water, is insecure ; liable to the attacks of banditti, — these are composed partly of deserters from the army, and partly of native Indians, a race still untamed and unimpressible as to the advantages of quiet commerce. 120 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. “We found that villages, much nearer Manilla than those now in our view, were nightly kept on the qui-vive by this source of alarm. It is strange that this should he a true complaint so near the capital of the Phillippine Islands, colonised hy the Spaniards upwards of three centuries ago — but so it was. “ Returning to the village in the afternoon, and not being able to learn anything definite about the probability of our friend’s return, we gave up the hope of shooting and rejoined our canoes with some regret, imagining that, much as we had seen, we might possibly have missed some of the beauties of these lakes through want of a competent cicerone. “We had also heard of the existence of a volcano in this neighbourhood, said to be sometimes in activity — but we did not see it. Fairly embarked again in our canoes, we slept off our disappointment, and awoke the next morning in Manilla.” The white buildings of the naval arsenal at Cavita, situated in the bay nine miles to the southward of Manilla, may be seen from the anchorage. This town, commanding respect by its antiquity, was founded by Don Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, the first Captain-General, about 1564. It still contains the remains of one of that interesting class of vessels, the Spanish galleon — the last of its order, — now rotting in the basin. I had the honour of being entertained by His Excel- lency, General Don Antonio Maria Blanco, Field-Marshal, SPANISH ETIQUETTE. 121 Commanding-in-Chief, — doing the duties of the Captain- General, who was absent on a tour in search of health. I was much struck by the more than regal state and etiquette observed by the Don. The dinner was excellent. Aides-de-camp, in handsome scarlet uniform, stood at each end of the table and carved : they entered into conversation, and made themselves very agreeable, but never attempted to eat, nor even to sit down except during the changing of the courses ; and then only at a distance from the festive board. The Captain-General, Don Marciso Claveria, had lately been made a Grandee of Spain, under the title of Conde de Manilla, for his services in putting down a horde of pirates at Balagnini. The patent of nobility had been sent out by the Overland Mail ; and the officer in charge, who was conveying it from the mail-steamer at Hong Kong to the Spanish Charge-d’affaires at Macao, happened to be in one of the vessels that was attacked by the Chinese pirates, some of whom were afterwards hanged at Hong Kong. This officer was murdered, and his portmanteau, containing the Letters Patent beautiffiUy illuminated in gold, was retaken in the junk that was captured by the boats of the Inflexible, and had thus just reached the hands of the Condessa. I found her rejoicing over its contents when I called to pay my respects. We sailed from Manilla on the 2nd July. Passing round the north end and down the coast of Luban, we 122 A VISIT TO THE HNDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. ran between that coast and the Cabras Islands ; and on the 6 th, after passing between Mindoro and the Appo shoal, we steered to the southward for the passage to the eastward of Palawan. In working down we experienced very fine weather, but light and variable winds : the coast was free from dangers, and in that respect far preferable to the western side. On the 13th, we landed on East Island, while the ship ran between it and the coast. On the 16th, made the Peak of Balabac. The following morning, at five o’clock, just as we had set the studding-sails to a freshening breeze, the ship running fast, she took the ground at the top of high- water, on a coral bank not laid down, and close to which we had worked the ship before without noticing the appearance of any danger. Having plenty of head-way, she shot twice her length before she stopped. The tide beginning to fall, we had only time to get the sails furled and top-gallant masts on deck, before she began to heel over, which she continued to do until she had attained 38 deg. from the upright position. If a ship is to be got off, it is generally by the same road by which she got on. The weather was fine and the water smooth ; so that we had nothing for it but to “ turn to ” with a will. Having laid a bower-anchor out astern, and hove the cable well taut, we sent the pinnace to Labuan for assistance, and lightened the ship by throwing the guns overboard, and lading the boats with shot and other MEANDER ON A REEF. 123 weighty materials. The next morning, at half-past seven, the ship floated. The only way that I know of, to enable a man — especially if he be the Captain — fully to appre- ciate the agreeable sensation that I experienced on feeling the ship once more alive, and moving back into deep water, is to let him first get into a fix similar to that from which the had just escaped. By breakfast-time the following morning we were running, with all sail set, for Balambangan ; and, if the rusty appearance of the muzzles of the guns had not told tales, no one who might have met us could have seen that anything had happened. Before the pinnace had lost sight of the ship, the tide had fallen to its lowest ; and the huge hull aiDpearing on the horizon had looked so perfectly helpless, and its position so unlike what they ever expected to see her in again, that the crew of the pinnace gave a desponding account of her on their arrival at Labuan. The next day in Kimanis Bay we met the H.E.I.C. steam-frigate Semiramis, Commander Daniell, coming to our assistance. The crew manned the rigging, and congratulated us on our escape by three hearty cheers. 23rd. — Came to, off the Coal Point, Labuan. Coal had become so scarce at Sincapore, that the Commander-in- Chief had sent to borrow some from the Dutch Govern- ment at Batavia. All the surface of the fine coal seam had been picked oft by the person who had contracted, before the charter was granted to the E. Archipelago Company, to supply our steamers with coal ; and that part 124 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. of the seam at which they were now working was some three hundred yards from the water’s edge ; and, although labour was cheap and the contract price had been raised, they could with difficulty work out ten tons per day. By working in the cool of the morning and evening, we put on board in a few days 150 tons, fillin g the after-hold. We had just completed our dirty job, when the news reached us that the Sakarran and Serebas pirate fleet had put to sea, and that the Albatross, accompanied by Sir James Brooke and his native force, was out in search of them ; but I may as well state at once that the pirate fleet was even then destroyed, as we ascertained on reaching the Bornean coast. While, however, our ship is on her way thither, I will endeavour to contribute towards the conviction of the unprejudiced a few of those stubborn facts, from which it may be decided whether the sufferers at the hands of Captain Farquhar and Sir James Brooke were “ peaceful traders ” or blood-thirsty and systematic pirates. There will always be some peculiarly constituted minds, fortified by a sort of moral gutta-percha, through which neither pre-conceived opinion can evaporate, nor a deluge, even, of new evidence effect an entrance. For such persons it were vain to write : they can but be recommended to visit the Eastern Archipelago. Let them cross the path of these peaceful traders. They will probably return better able than before to define a pirate, and to illustrate the uses of a kris. PIRACY QUESTION. 12.5 Not discouraged, however, by a few impenetrables, I shall devote the next chapter to a brief account of the piratical communities of the Bornean seas ; and to a notice of the proofs which have been accumulated that they are piratical communities. As an eyewitness, already honoured with credit, generally, so far as I have contributed my mite of testimony, I feel bound to add that which I have more recently collected. The charitable determination of some well-meaning “ philanthropists,” to think no evil of the “ poor Byaks ” unfortunately reduces to the category of murderers and liars certain of their fellow-countrymen, whom the same charity might suppose to be as well-meaning and as honourable as themselves, while reason must allow them to be better informed. The publication of this volume having been unex- pectedly delayed, in waiting for the map and illustrations, I now find many of my remarks, on the subject of piracy especially, anticipated by the author of an able and interesting article in the “Edinburgh Review,” No. 195. Its perusal has made me hesitate to shew myself in the same path with a writer whom I can follow only at a distance : but, being one of the very witnesses whom he has honoured with notice, I have determined to let the whole work stand as if I had not seen the “Review,” offering to the same able writer, or to others, on subjects which I hope will not be dropped, the results of my further actual experience and ocular observations. 126 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. CHAPTER VIIL MALAYS AND DYAKS AS RESPECTS THEIR PIRATICAL CHARACTER — SEREBAS MALAYS — SEREBA3 DYAKS — THE MALAY PRAHC THE DYAK BANGKONG — SAKARRANS — REMARKS ON THEIR PIRATICAL PROPENSITIES, AND ON OUR FORMER OPERATIONS AGAINST THEM PREPARATIONS OF THE SEREBAS PIRATES — PREPARATIONS OF THE RAJAH OP SARAWAK — PIRATE PRISONER BROUGHT IN — ATTACK ON SADONG BY THE SEREBAS PIRATES— A CHIEF DUNGDONG — HIS FATE — REMARKS — THE RAJAH OP SARAWAK SALLIES FORTH WITH HIS FLEET — IS JOINED BY NATIYE ALLIES HIS PROCEEDINGS — RETURN TO SARAWAK. The Serebas, like the inhabitants of the other rivers on the north-west coast of Borneo, are divided into two distinct classes — the Malays and the Dyaks. The origin of the present Malay race of Serebas is a question unsettled by ethnologists. They are not indigenous, as the Dyaks are. Once, however, established in their present locality, they would naturally fall under the dominion of the Sultan of Borneo. But it is recorded that, towards the end of the seventeenth century, they rejected his rule, and offered to become subjects of the Sultan of Johore, from whose country it has been supposed that they sprung, and wdiose power was then considerable. MALAYS OF SEREBAS. 127 The advantage to the Serebas from this transfer of their allegiance would be great. They would no longer pay tribute, from the proceeds of their depredations, to the Sultan of Borneo ; while the Sultan of Johore, having an acknowledged claim, would find it a troublesome one to enforce. The Sultan of Borneo, however, has never given up his right of sovereignty over the Serebas country, though it is now only nominal. In these political tactics, which secured to them a field for depredation without any one really to call them to account, we have early indications of a character which the Malays of Serebas have ever since sustained. The piratical character of the Malays in general \\di& never been disputed. “ It is in the Malay’s nature,” says an intelligent Butch writer, “ to rove on the seas in his prahu, as it is in that of the Arab to wander with his steed on the sands of the desert. It is as impossible to limit the adventurous life of a Malay to fishing and trading, as to retain an Arab in a village or in a habitation.” The Malays of Serebas have never been an exception, in this respect, to those of the same race located on the various sea-coasts of the Eastern Archipelago ; in fact they differ in no material point from the Malays of other places — all are equally addicted to piracy. This is not merely their habit ; it may be termed their instinct. All are equally warlike, equally well armed. From their superiority in these respects, and in point of civilisation, 128 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. they are in the position of rulers and protectors to the Dj/aks. The Malayan community of Serebas, however, never exceeded 1500 fighting men ; and their depredations were, for some time, limited to the plunder of such vessels as they could overcome with that force at sea. The captured crews were on all occasions carried into slavery. The Dyaks of the Serebas country comprise of them- selves numerous communities, numbering several thousand warriors. While their warlike operations were confined to the intertribal feuds so common among savages, their weapons were the spear and the sword, — formidable enough in Dyak hands : they adopted, however, other arms, according as they became mixed up with the operations of the Malays, in the manner which I shall presently explain ; but they always were, and still are, a distinct people. Such being the state of things in the Serebas country, the Dyaks, about eighty or even one hundred years ago, were gradually trained to piracy by the Malays, com- mencing their apprenticeship as pullers in the Malayan prahus, in which service they were rewarded with the heads of the slain (for which they had a peculiar taste), and they received also such captives as were useless to the Malays for slavery. In the course of time these Dyaks became expert seamen ; they built a description of prahu, or bangkong, peculiarly suited to their stealthy and rapid movements ; , DYAK HEAD-HUNTING. 129 and, together with the Malays, formed the fleets composed of one hundred or more prahus, which swept the seas, and devastated the shores of Borneo over a distance of 800 miles. The Dyaks soon became aware of their own power ; and, accordingly, both in their internal government and on their piratical expeditions, their chiefs in time attained equal authority with the Malayan rulers : the plunder also, whether of vessel or village, was equally divided between Malay and Dyak ; but no male captive was wilhngly spared by them, owing to the propensity of the Dyaks for collecting heads. It will be remembered, from the earlier journals of the Bajah of Sarawak, that the present of a head is exacted from every aspirant to a Dyak bride, — this preliminary being “ established from time immemorial, and indispensable.” So far as the E-ajaBs influence extends, this barbarous custom is, with many others, fast disappearing. Some of the young Dyaks have plainly stated that they would give up head- hunting, were it not for the taunts and gibes of their wives and sweethearts, who threaten to put on them the bedung (petticoat) if they do not procure, and lay at their feet, these ghastly trophies of their bravery. They never attempt to disguise the fact, that they go forth in their expeditions excited by no injuries, seeking no revenge, but simply intent on plunder, and above all on heads. Thus the character of piracy was altered, and rendered more bloody, by the infusion of this Dyak element. I 130 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. therefore wish my readers distinctly to keep in view, that the pirates who are the subjects of this chapter are the Malays and Dyaks of Serebas ; that it was against these Malays and Dyaks, conjointly, that I had to act in the years 1843 and 1844, and against whom Captain Farquhar was engaged in 1849. When I mention the Serebas as pirates, I include with these the Sakarran Dyaks. The Serebas inhabit the interior of the river of the same name, and the country near the sources of the Lipat, a branch of the Kaluka river. The Sakarrans live on the left-hand branch of the Batang Lupar, and on the Kanowit, the Kalibas, and other tributaries of the Rejang. All the tribes and their several divisions have inland communication with each other ; and when a piratical balla is fitted out in one river, all who are disposed to join it cross overland to the place of rendezvous, and assist in manning the bangkongs. At other times the Malays of Serebas (about 1500 in nhmber, armed with lelas and musketry,) compose the principal part of the fighting men in the Dyak bangkongs. The former was the case in March 1849 — when Sadong was attacked by the pirates, and one hundred people slaughtered. The latter plan was in force when the Serebas were engaged by Captain Farquhar four months later ; the heavy Malayan prahus had been left behind, to enable them to baffle an enemy whom they knew they were not unlikely to meet at sea : to each of these occasions I sliall have to refer more particularly. MALAY AND DYAK VESSELS. 131 The Malayan inhabitants of Serebas are, as I have before stated, armed in the same manner as the Malays of other places. Their weapons are the kris (indis- pensable to every Malay), the spear, and whatever fire- arms they choose to obtain from the free market of Sincapore. A word now on the description of vessel in which they make their piratical cruises. These are of two kinds : the Malay prahu, and the Dyak bangkong. The war- prahu of the Malays of Serebas is in no respect inferior to that used by those most notorious pirates, the Lanuns and Balagnini. I have known one of these piratical prahus measure ninety feet in length, with a proportionate beam. The usual armament of such a vessel would be one gun — from a six to a twelve-pounder — in the bow ; from four to six swivels, or lelas, on each broadside ; besides about twenty or thirty rifles or muskets. Such boats would pull from sixty to eighty oars, in two tiers ; and her complement of men would be from eighty to one hundred. Over the pullers, and extending the whole length of the vessel, is a light but strong flat roof, made of thin strips of bamboo, and covered with matting. This protects their ammunition and provisions from the rain, and serves as a platform on which they mount to fight, and from which they fire their muskets or hurl their spears with great precision. The rowers sit cross-legged on a shelf projecting outwards from the bends of the vessel. A vessel of this description, well known on the 132 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. coast, belonging to the Laksimana of Serebas, was de- stroyed by Captain Farqubar at Paku. SeriflF Mullah’s praliu, captured by the Didds boats at Undop, was of the same formidable class ; many others seen by our officers on their various expeditions were fully as for- midable, or more so. Such is the class of vessel in common use with the Malays of Serebas for the purposes of piracy. The Dyak bangkongs, drawing but a few inches water, are both lighter and faster than the prahus of the Malays, with a long overhanging stem and stern ; they measure a hundred feet in length, by nine or ten in beam. These bangkongs are usually propelled by from sixty to eighty paddles ; they are as swift as an eight-oared London wherry, and can be turned at full speed in their own length. Each bangkong, besides its regular complement of Dyaks, carries a few Malays armed with musketry, and they occasionally mount one or two small lelas. They are equally efficient for pursuit and for flight ; and their stealthy and noiseless approach gives no warning to their victims, who have been too often surprised, and over- whelmed with a shower of spears in the dead of the night. I have here given a description of a Malayan pralm and a Djmk bangkong of Serebas, of the first-class. The vessels are essentially different, in all respects ; there are of course, belonging to each description, numerous vessels of smaller size and armament ; the complement, whether in the one or the other, may be very moderately com- THEIR PIRACY UNDENIABLE. 133 puted at an average of thirty-five men. On some occasions, and according to the nature of the service on which they are engaged, the heavily armed Malayan prahus, and the swift and destructive Dyak bangkongs, form one fleet or holla. It was in 1843, when I first visited Sarawak, that I made every necessary inquiry, to convince myself of the real character of these communities before acting against them. I collected such a mass of testimony from numerous persons of various nations — from Malays, Dyaks, and Chinese — from the Rajah Muda Hassim — from the Datus of Sarawak — from respectable men of many other rivers — and from my own countrymen, as left no doubt whatever of the extensive and systematic depredation carried on by these pirates. I became assured that a large amount of human life was annually sacrificed ; that the coast was devastated, and the trade destroyed by these marauders ; and therefore I did not hesitate to act against them on my own responsibility — I considered it a duty incumbent upon me to do so. The result fully confirmed my expectations, — the piratical ravages of the Serebas were checked; and their discom- fiture, even for a season, conferred the greatest benefit upon the peaceful inhabitants of the coast. It was to me a fair subject of regret to have been ordered to China from this sphere of usefulness. I had the satisfaction of finding what was done at this time entirely approved of by the British Government — 134 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. and it may be added, by the British public, declaring itself by its acknowledged organ, the influential portion of the press, — ^nor was any voice then raised on the side of what I must consider mistaken and short-sighted humanity, allying itself with the pirate against the peaceful trader. My successors on the station, arriving there equally unprejudiced, but resorting in like manner to the evidence of their senses, adopted the same views as myself ; nor am I aware that a doubt on this subject was entertained, either in England or abroad, during the three following years. In 1849 I was again appointed, as Captain of the McBander, to carry out the suppression of piracy on that same coast of Borneo, and against this very people, the Serebas. Arriving on the station, I instituted fresh inquiries into the recent acts of piracy committed by them ; and I should with ample reason have again adopted the severest measures, had I not been once more ordered to China. Captain Parquhar, who succeeded me, met and defeated these pirates in the manner which I shall presently describe ; and then arose an outcry in England, the secret springs of which I will abstain from conjecturing, or rather from directly pointing to. It assumed a shape which sufficiently indicated its source, — that of unscrupulous calumny, aimed princi- pally at one individual whom I am proud to call my friend ; one with whom I first made acquaintance SIR JAMES BROOKE. 135 at the ends of the earth, occupying a position unpre- cedented for an European as a friend of the human race. “ Men, that make Envy and crooked malice nourishment, Dare bite the best.” “ Men’s minds will feed either upon their own good or upon others’ evil; and who wanteth the one, will prey upon the other : and whoso is out of hope to attain to another’s virtue, will seek to come at even hand by depressing another’s fortune.” Whatever be the motives of Sir James Brooke’s detractors, they have not succeeded in their aims. Even while their “gall coins slanders like a mint, To match him in comparisons with dirt. Opinion crowns him with imperial voice ! ” And I feel assured, that every shaft they shall hurl with the same unworthy aim will, like the boomerang thrown by a clumsy hand, revert upon their own heads : I despair of its touching any more hopeful part. The subject of piracy has during the last three years given rise to repeated discussions in Parliament ; bnt these have assumed the tone not so much of enlightened debate as to the best means of suppressing it, as of fierce attacks on aU that has been done for this end, and on the characters of those employed, — on their humanity, their disinterestedness, their veracity. As one of the ofiicers implicated with the “ Anglo-Malayan Rajah” in 136 A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. such serious charges, I cannot refrain, although well satisfied with our honourable defenders in both Houses, from using this opportunity to take my own part, and. that of my friends and co-operators in a work which, I again say, cannot he left incomplete without increasing peril to the best interests of humanity. As the gravest charges advanced against us all had their origin and foundation in the severe chastisement of a piratical fleet by Captain Farquhar, I will in due order advert to the acts of these particular pirates, the Malays and Dyaks of Serebas and Sakarran, immediately before their chastise- ment ; then to the action itself, and to the movements subsequently made in following up the blow. I will next notice as fairly as I can the charges against all concerned which arose out of these proceedings — the Parliamentary organ of our accusers being the honourable member for Montrose. Lastly, I will endeavour to give as full and complete an answer to all objectors, as facts and experience may supply. I have already stated that the Rajah of Sarawak, on his return thither from England, in September 1848, discovered that an intrigue was on foot, of which the object was to re-establish a nucleus of piracy at Songi, the former residence of a notorious pirate, Seriff Sahibe, on a branch of the Sadong river. To nip in the bud this mischief, which had germinated during his absence in England, the Rajah sent up immediately a sufficient force to make an imposing demonstration, and took such PIRATICAL MOVEMENTS. 137 further measures as removed all ground for apprehension in that quarter. The Mceander^s boats accompanied those of Sarawak on this occasion. In the Serebas country, also, active preparations had been for some time going on to fit for sea a formidable piratical baUa ; but the unexpected arrival on the coast of so powerful a ship as the Mceander, and the news, which soon spread to the Serebas, that her boats had already visited the Sadong, operated for the time as a check upon their active measures. No sooner, however, did the departure of the Mceander leave the Bornean coast without a man-of-war, — the steamer of the station being employed in keeping up communication between Labuan and Sincapore, — than the Serebas pirates resumed those preparations for fresh atrocities, in which they spend all the time not actually taken up in executing evil deeds already planned. The absence from Sarawak of the Rajah himself during the four following months facilitated and encou- raged their proceedings. It will be remembered that, after a very brief sojourn at Sarawak, on his return from England, he had gone on in the M