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60001718BV

MY JOURNAL IN MALAYAN WATERS.

MY JOURNAL IN MALAYAN WATERS ;

OK, TIIK

BLOCKADE OF QUEDAH.

BT

Captain SHERARD OSBORN, R.N., C.B.,

AinniOU OK " A CUUI8K IN JAPAN K8E WATFJIH," KTT.

" Sweet Memory ! wafted by thy gentle gale. Oft up tlie stream of Time I turn my sail. To view the fairy-hauntn of long-lost hours, Blest with far greener shades, far fresher flowers."

RoftKis

Sumtb (Stnim*

LONDON: ROUTLEDGE, WARNE, AND ROUTLEDGE,

FARRTNODON STREET;

AND 56, WALEEB STBEBT, NEW TORE.

1860.

2£/ 3./^. 2fo

The right of Transtalion is raemrd.

giiriratiir

TO

CAPTAIN WILLIAM WARREN.

ROYAL NAVY,

COMPANION OP THE MOST HONORABLE ORDER OP THE BATH, ETC. ETC* AND PORMERLY COMMANDER OP H.M.0. " HYACINTH,"

WITH THE WARMEST PEELINGS OP LOVE AND RESPECT,

BY HIS NAVAL NOMINEE AND MIDSHIPMAN,

SHERARD OSBORN.

PREFACE.

The majority of naval officers are self-taught men : the world their hook — the midshipman's dingy herth their ** Alma Mater." The author is no exception to the rule ; and as his confession may he profitahle to others^ he makes the puhlic sufficiently a confidant, to say, that to a steady hahit of journalising, noting down all he saw, read, or felt, [and, in spite of defective spelling and worse grammar, still educating himself with his journal, he is mainly indebted for heing able to fight his way up an arduous and emu- lative profession.

This fact he would fain impress upon the younger branches of the Boyal Navy : it will cheer and encourage the humble youth who dons the blue jacket, relying on his head and hand to win those

VI PREFACE.

honours and advancement which, in the natural course of things, appear only to have been created for the influential; and should the author have thrown some bright lights on the character of the much-meiligned and misunderstood Malay, the naval oflBcer will see that, in practising habits of obser- vation, not only does the officer discover a source of amusement and instruction for himself, but that, at some time or other, he may be able to serve his fellow-man, or add, at any rate, in a humble way, to the Aind of human knowledge.

The general reader will be best able to judge whether the author was justified in troubling them with this second series of "Stray Leaves" fi:om his journals. In transcribing them, the original cha- racter of the MS. has been adhered to as much as possible ; and, as far as lay in his power, the author has identified himself with that sunny period of life in which the tale of the Blockade of Quedah was originally written.

Some apology is perhaps due to those persons whose names are introduced in the narrative ; but

PREFACE. VU

forgiveness may be expected where no harm is said of them.

And it is not less the author s grateful duty to express his warm acknowledgments to the unknown body of critics and reviewers who have so kindly encouraged him by liberal praise in his past efforts. Aspiring, however, to no lofty niche in the temple of literary fame, the author launches his journal, confident that, while telling his sailor's yam in a sailor's way, he will be sure of sympathy and kindly criticism from his countrymen and countrywomen.

LOKDON :

Janibaryy 1857.

PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION.

The slight alteration of the title, which I have taken the liberty to make in this new edition of my Malayan jonmal, was necessary both in justice to tbe reading public, as well as myself.

Inexperienced as an author, I published in 1857 the first edition, under the strange name of the Eastern State^ off which I had so pleasantly cruised in the Hyacinth, and her boats. I forgot that although Quedah was well known to me and my shipmates, that it was a terra incognita to the majority of men. Readers therefore in search of a book, were perfectly puzzled by the mere term, Quedah. It might be a work on seamanship, under a Hebrew title, a geographical disquisition, or an Eastern vocabulary, and many, who, unscared by the title read tlio journal, have subsequently written, advising me to do what I have now done — let the title explain the contents of the book.

SHERARD OSBORN, Capt.

J union UniTBP Birtioi Club, iAmtUm, Sept. lOlA, 1860.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

India Twenty Years ago. — Singapore in the Month of May.

— Chinese Junks ready for Sea. — Frahus. — Singapore Boats. — Miniature Junks. — Origin of the Form of Junks.

— Sound Reason for Junks having one Eye on each Side.

— Arab Boats. — Sampan-puchats. — Singapore of old. — Commercial Singapore. — A Sepoy Martyr. — Court Uouse. — Churches with Steeples. — The " Hyacinth " in Port - Page 1

CHAP. II.

Internal Economy. — Fishing-Parties. — Rumours of Pirates. — News of an Illanoon Squadron. — A floating Menagerie. — An Encounter with Pirates. — The " Hyacinth " searches for Pirates. — A War-fleet heard of. — Quedah Politics. — We are required to aid the Siamese. — Rapid Equipment of Pirate Fleet. — The Malays are warned of the coming Retribution. — Captain Warren visits the Pirate Fleet. — Arrangements are made to equip a Flotilla. — The "Hya- cinth" and Gun-boats off Quedah. — My Gun- boat and Crew. — The Coxswain's Excitability. — The Interpreter's Appearance - - - - - -15

CHAP. III.

Commence to blockade Quedah Fort. — Jadee's imaginary Fight with a Tonkoo. — My Malay Coxswain's Appearance.

X CONTENTS.

— His Attire and Character. — Jadee's piratical Propensities. — Escapes Imprisonment by hanging a Man. — Quedah Fort and Town. — The Appearance of the adjacent Country. — A wet Night. — My Crew. — Jadee's Want of Bigotry. — Primitive Mode of eating - - - Page 35

CHAP. IV.

The Blockade rendered more stringent. — The Bounting Is- lands. — My Crew keeping Holiday. — " Hyacinths " poi- soned with Ground-nuts. — We discover Wild Bees'-Nests.

— Arrangements made for robbing the Hives. — The Bees quit their Hives and settle on me- ' — No Honey. — A Malay Doctor. — The Koran and Chunam remedy for Bee Stings - - - - - - -49

CHAP. V.

The North-east Monsoon. — Unsatisfactory News of our Siamese Allies. — The Pelicans. — Alligators abound. — The Cowardice of the Alligators. — Encounter and Capture an Alligator. — Extraordinary Strength and Vitality of those Reptiles. — A Strange Antidote against Fever. — The Rah- madan and "Quedah Opera." — The Malays endeavour to evade the Blockade. — The Watchfulness of my Native Crew - - - - - - - 59

CHAP. VI.

A Night Chase aft^r a Prahu. — The Chase. — The Prahu manoeuvres admirably. — Jadee volunteers to board her. — The Capture. — A Piratical Saint. — The Saint at Prayers. — The Saint's Deportment. — The Saint's Martyrdom. — Defensive Measures. — Escape of Siamese Prisoners. — Suf- ferings of the Siamese Prisoners. — A curious Mode of Sketching - - - - - - 69

CONTENTS. XI

CHAP. VII.

The Anxiety of the Officer commandinj; the Blockade. — In- telligence received of the Pirate Fleet. — My goo<l Fortune in sailing with so excellent a Captain. — A Tropical Thunder- storm. — Jadee kills the Wind. — How Jadoe learnt to kill the Wind. — The Dutch generally disliked. — Jadee's Pira- tical Friends attack a Junk. — The Defeat and Flight of Jadee*s Friends. — They are saved by the Rajah of Jehore. —Killing the Wind . - - - Page 81

CHAP. VIII.

Refreshing Effects of a Squall in the Tropics. — Scenery in the Malay Archipelago. — My Gun-boat " The Emerald " joins the Parlis Blockading Squadron. — The Malays try to stockade us out of the River. — Haggi Loung comes on an Embassy. — Malayan Diplomacy. — Jadee's Disregard for a Flag of Truce. — Jadee and the one-eyed Enemy. — A Spy. — The Chase by Starlight. — The submerged Jungle. — An Indian Night- Scene. — The Chase lost. — The Whip and Mangrove Snakes - - - - - 94

CHAP. IX.

Mahomet Alee does not attack. — Start Crane -shooting. — Day- break in Malayia.— The Adjutant. — The " old Soldier I "— The " old Soldier " fishing. — The " old Soldier " weathers a young Sailor. — No Cranes. — Plenty of Monkeys. — Monkeys in a Passion. — A sudden Chase of a Prahu. — Birds'-Nests and Pulo Bras Manna. — The edible-nest-building Swallow, jHi- rundo escvlenta ; Food ; Habits. — Decide upon seeing the Nests collected. — Difficulties in the way of doing so. — Jam- boo enjoying Company's Pay. — Jamboo remonstrates. — A scramble for Birds*-Nests. — The Malays descend the Face of

XU CONTENTS.

the Cliff. — The Home of the edible-nest-building Swallow.

— The Birds'-Nest Trade. — The Nests composed of Ge- latin ------ Page 108

CHAP. X.

Return to Parlis. — Datoo Mahomet Alee*s sanguinary Threat.

— Jadee has, we find, sent an abusive Message. — Jadee reproved. — Jadee's feelings are hurt. — Character of my Native Crew. — A Page about Native Prejudices. — One of the Malays mutinous. — Cure for Native Prejudices. — Malayan Jungle-Scenery by Daylight. — Black Monkeys.— A Monkey Parody upon Human Life. — English Seamen and the Monkeys. — Scarcity of Fresh Water. — The Village of Tamelan. — A Malay Chieftainess. — Watering. — Snakes disagreeably numerous. — Stories of large Snakes - 123

CHAP. XI.

Jadee declines to clean the Copper. — A Malay Prejudice. — A Malay Mutiny. — The lost Sheep return. — The Dif- ficulty surmounted. — Malayan mechanical Skill. — An Impromptu Dock. — An Accident, and quick Repairs. — Launch, and resume Station. — Loss of my Canoe. — A Sampan constructed. — The Malayan Axe or Adze. — In- genious mode of applying native Materials in Construction of Boats -----._ 137

CHAP. XIL

Return to Quedah. — Native Defences. — The "Teda bagoose."

— Scaring an Ally. — Difficulties which accounted for the Delay of the Siamese.— Inchi Laa acknowledges the Effects of our Blockade. — Severity towards the Malays. — A Prahu full of Fugitives captured. — Intelligence suddenly gained of Siamese Army. — Deserters. — The Malay Forces out-

CONTENTS. XllI

manoeuvred. — Serious Losses of the Malays. — Incbi Laa. — Shameful Atrocities of the Malays. — Exchange of Cour- tesies. — Permission given for the Women to escape. — Pre- parations for Flight - - - - Page 150

CHAP. XIII.

The Lull before the Storm. — The Exodus. — A Scene of Confusion and Distress. — The Malay Chieftain's Wife. — Baju-Mira. — The Convoy. — An extraordinary Appeal. — Midwifery simplified. — A Night-Scene. — A Midshipman*s Emotions. — A Malayan Houri. — Resign my Charge and return. — An Attempt to enslave the Fugitives - 165

CHAP. XIV.

Malay Slave Trade fostered by the Dutch. — Brutal System pursued by the Portuguese. — Slavery doubtless founded by the Mahometans. — Retribution has overtaken the Portuguese. — An enlightened Policy most likely to eradicate Slavery and Piracy. — Close Blockade. — The Call of the Siamese Sentries. — The Call of the Malay Sentries. — Deaths from Want of Water. — Kling Cruelty. — The Trial and Verdict, and Punishment. — Siamese Tortures. — Novel Mode of impaling a Rebel. — Extraordinary Palm-spears. — Remarks upon Native Governments - - - - 179

CHAP. XV.

The Massacre of the Prboners in Quedah Fort. — The alarmed Barber. — Inchi Laa repudiates the Act. — The Vultures' Feast. — Captain Warren visits the Siamese Camp. — The Siamese Army. — Renewed Vigour in the Operations. — The Capture of the Battery. — The Flight of the Harem. — Fugitives no longer able to escape by Sea. — Narrow Escape of my Crew. — Inchi Laa surrenders. — Struck by a Whirl- wind.— The last Broadside. — The Chiefs escape. — Quedah Fort abandoned - - - - - 195

XIV CONTENTS.

CHAP. XVI.

The Siamese in Possession of .the Fort. — Description of the Fort. — A Siamese Military Swell. — The Divan. — A Naval Ambassador. — The Ambassador demands Beef. — Curiosity of the Siamese Officials. — The Appearance of the Soldiery. — Mobility of the Siamese Troops. — Arms and Equipments. — The Buffalo of Malayia. — Mr. Airey, Master of the " Hyacinth." — Siamese Ingratitude not singular. — We proceed to Parlis - - - - Pjige 211

CHAP. XVII.

Return to Parlis. — A Case of Cholera-morbus. — An Irish Cure for Cholera. — Pat Conroy's Opinion of the Chinese. — Tamelan. — Parlis. — The Flight from Tamelan. — The Legacy of Queen Devi. — The Departure. — The Heart of a Cocoa-nut Tree. — Proceed to shoot a Buffalo. — Discover a Herd. — The Shot and the Chase. — Obtain plenty of Buffalo Meat . - - - - - 224

CHAP. XVIII.

Jamboo frightened by a River Spirit The Aborigines of

Malayia. — Malayan Superstitions. — An "Untoo," or Spirit, seen. — My Credulity taxed. — The Spirits of the Jungle. — On Superstitions in general. — The Charms of Superstition. — Musquitoes and Sand-flies. — The Village on Fire. — Flaming Cocoa-nut Trees. — Intentional Destruction. — Traces of Man rapidly obliterated in the East - - 238

CHAP. XIX.

A Crew of wretched Fugitives. — " Orang-laut," or Sea Gipsies. — Low Civilisation of the " Orang-laut." — Total Absence of all Religious Feeling. — Their Mode of Living

CONTENTS. XV

— The personal Appearance of Orang-laut. — Dearth of fresh Water. — Ordered to procure Water up the Kiver. — Parlis and Pirate Fleet. — Interview witli Ila^rgi Loung. — Permi85*ion granted to procure Water. — Tom West's Address to the Malays. — Paddle up the River. — Tropical Malayan Scenery. — Pass Kangah. — Obtain Fresh Water - Page 253

CHAP. XX.

The Ladies of Kangah bathing. — Halt to lunch at Kangah.

— Kangah, its Situation. — Mode of constructing Malay Houses. — The Mosque. — The Bazaar and its Occupants. — Arrival of armed Men. — Return to the Boat. — Praise- worthy Fidelity of the Malays. — Malay Independence of Character. — The Pleasures of Memory. — A Malay Family Scene. — Return to Parlis. — Pulo Quetam. — Trade during Blockade -.---- 270

CHAP. XXI.

Social Evenings. — Quaintness of English Seamen. — The Adventures of Lucas. — Runs away to Liverpool. — Enters on board of an African Trader. — The Voyage to the Bights. — Fever. — Deaths. — Difficulty in leaving Port. — A new Captain joins. — Voyage Home. — Sufferings from want of Water. — Disorderly Scenes. — A Fight. — Villanous Be- verage.— A Man flogged to Death. — A horrid post- mortem Examination. — Temporary Relief. — Recklessness. — Sufferings. — A second Case of Murder. — Lucas a Sailor, Tiolens volens ....-- 285

CHAP. xxn.

Jadee offers the Loan of a Love-Letter. — A Midshipman^s Scruples. — The *' Emerald" ordered to Pouchou. — Enter the River during the Night. — Jadee's Suggestions forward-

«

XVI CONTENTS.

ing off Musquitoes. — Jadee foresees Trouble. — A nautical Superstition of the olden Day. — The Flight. — The Sampan repulsed. — The Chase. — A Prahu captured. — Proceed to Tangong Gaboose. — Starving piratical Fugitives. — A Threat of Cannibalism. — The Horrors of Asiatic Warfare. — Jam- boo's View of the Malays* Position. — Reflections - Page 304

CHAP. XXIII.

A Surprise. — The Stratagem. — Escape of Mahomet Alee. — Jadee indignant. — Disappointment and Consolation. — We report the Escape. — Raising of the Blockade. — The neglected Warning. — The Gig chases the Canoe. — The " Laddas." — A Malayan Night- Scene. — Dream-Land. — Return to Things earthly. — Unsuccessful Search for Prahus.

— The Sea-breeze. — The Race. — Short Rations. — Eat Birds'-nests. — A long and distressing Pull. — Zeal and cheerful Conduct of the Crew. — Reflections - - 323

CHAP. XXIV.

A tropical Shower. — Early Breakfast. — The Malay piratical Soiree. — Jadee upbraids them for being surprised. — Pre- paring for Action. — Demeanour of English and Malay Sea- men.— Malay Charm for shooting straight. — My Coxswain ; his Piety. — Burning, sinking, and destroying. — The Rene- gade turns Traitor. — The large Reptiles of Langkawi. — The Tale of the Oular-besar, or Great Snake. — The Snake choked by a Holy Man. — A remarkable Fossil. — A Pirate's Hiding-place. — Lovely Scenery. — The Anger of the Skies.

— Struck by Lightning. — Close of Operations against Quedah. — Conclusion ----- 341

I

4

I

»i .'jt .

A

MY JOURNAL IN MALAYAN

WATERS.

CHAPTER I.

India Twenty Years ago. — Singapore in the Month of May.

— Chinese Junks ready for Sea. — Prahns. — Singapore Boats. — ^Miniature Junks. — Origin of the form of Junks. — Sound Reason for Junks having one Eye on each Side,

— Arab Boats. — Sampan-puchats. — Singapore of old. — Commercial Singapore. — ^A Sepoy Martyr. — Court House. — Churches with Steeples. — The '* Hyacinth " in Port.

On the 29th of May, 1838, the " Hyacinth,'' one of Her Majesty's 18-gun ship-rigged corvettes, made her number to the signal-staff over the Governor's residence at Singapore, and, aided by the light airs peculiar to that latitude, flapped, rather than sailed, into the anchorage

Twenty years have made vast improvements in that great emporium of the Eastern Archipelago ;

2 INDU TWENTY YEAES AGO.

but even that most thoughtless of all human beings^ a British midshipman — ^for such I then was — could not but remark the signs of vitality and active com- mercial enterprise which have since borne such good fiiiits. Perhaps this struck one all the more when coming from Ceylon and Hindostan, as we had done. There, it was true, the stranger from Europe could not but observe the air of English comfort and well-to-do which pervaded everything; but, somehow or other, it struck one as being wonder- fully stagnated : the feeling that India was highly respectable, highly conservative, but very much mildewed and very much astern of the world, forced itself equally on the mind. Steam was stiU an agent which Indian quid-nuncs questioned the success of in India^ whatever it might do elsewhere. A soli- tary steamer, the '' Diana," was almost as much a curiosity to the European residents of the Straits of Malacca as she was to the Malays or Chinese ; and poor Lieut. Waghom, of our navy, had not yet enlightened Leadenhall by showing them the ad- vantages of the Overland Route; indeed, it was nothing unusual, even at that time, to receive letters five months old, and to consider oneself remarkably lucky in getting such late intelligence. Now, if a letter was as many weeks old, the merchant of Sin-

8INGAPOBE IN THE MONTH OP MAY. 3

gapore would complain of the irregularities of the mail boats.

However, it is with Singapore of the past I have to deal. Before the town, and at the distance of a mile from it, lay numerous huge junks, all glittering with white and red and green and black; their strange eyes staring with all the vacuity of a China- man, and apparently wondering how they would ever find their way to China. Thither they were now bound, with the strength of the south-west monsoon to blow them, "vi^nto a popa," into the ports of the provinces of Quantung and Fokien, whence they had come with clandestine emigrants, teas, and silks, and sugars, aided by the north-east monsoon of the previous winter. Many a goodly yard of Manchester cottons, and manufactures by the ton of English handicraft, now filled their capa- cious holds. On their main-mast heads, which mast was, as usual, one long spar of stupendous girth, a most original arrangement in the shape of a dog- vane had been fixed, and from it long heavy, silken streamers waved in the hot sky. Around these ves- sels floated ** full many a rood " their long rattan cables, and I began almost to believe in the sailor's story of a Chinaman's anchor floating, when I saw their cables do so, and that the anchors of their

B 2

4 PRAllUS. — SINGAPORE BOATS.

largest vessels were constructed of wood. Unearthly cries, resembling swine in distress, issued from these ponderous arks, and evidently meant for songs by their sailors, as they hoisted in the long-boats pre- paratory to going to sea.

"Within these junks, in comparison with which we looked uncommonly small, were thousands of prahus of every size and form, stretching away into a narrow and shoal harbour which lies to the right of the town. They were traders from every port of the Archipe- lago ; they had held a constant floating fair until very lately, and had disposed of their wares, completed re- turn cargoes, and would likewise shortly depart for their different destinations. A merchant assured us, that as many as 4000 of these vessels had arrived during the past monsoon ; and, but for the Dutch interference and jealousy, many more would visit Singapore yearly. Skimming about amongst these vessels of curious forms and still more curious rigs, there were hundreds of boats in whose shape the in- genuity of man seemed to be exhausted in inventing bodies, intended for propulsion through the water, which should differ as much as possible from each other. The Singapore sampan decidedly carried off the palm for beauty and fleetness, approaching, in sharpness of outline and the chances of drowning

MIXIATUBE JUNKS. 5

the sitters, to one of our above-bridge racing wher- ries on the Thames: two Malay rowers, each pulling a single broad-bladed oar, could in these sampans beat our fleetest gig. Then, in contradistinction to these, came the Chinese boat — from which the name ^^ sam- pan" had, I believe, been derived — a perfect minia- ture junk, except that she had no deck ; panted with ports along the side, and green, white, red, and black eyes in the bow. In the large ones of this descrip- tion, which evidently belonged to the junks in the offing, the crews sometimes amounted to twelve or sixteen persons; but in those which belonged to Singapore, and merely served as a means of com* munication between the vessels and the shore — or in some cases were owned by fishermen of the place — the pigmy junk was iivvariably rowed by one man« In all, however, whether big Chinese sampans or small ones, the mode of rowing was alike. The de- scendants of Confucius, differing from the Europeans in that as in every other respect, instead of sitting down to their oars, when rowing they always stand up ; instead of being before their oars, they are always abaft them ; and instead of the rowers facing aft, they always face forward. The form of the sampan and junk is, of course, that of the model, a slipper ;

B 3

6 CHINESE LEGEND.

and that not a lady's one either, but a good broad- toed, broad-heeled, broad-soled one, — a good old- fashioned list slipper, in short. In case the reader should not have heard the legend upon the authority of which rests the fact that the slipper became the model for the Chinese ship-builders and waterman's companies, I may as well tell him that, in the time of that wise monarch who walled off China from the rest of the world by land, — between two and three hundred years before the birth of Christ, and about the time Alexander the Great invaded Persia — I like to be particular about dates 1 — the Chinese ship- builders gave a great deal of anxiety to the heaven- descended monarch by Introducing clippers, copper bottomed ships, and other abominable innovations — which quite threatened to subvert his wise intentions of keeping the Flowery Land free from the con- tamination of strangers. One day the monarch, pressed down with anxiety as to how his plans for the suppression of navigation in general were to be carried out, sat in public divan at Pekin to hear, as was the wont in those days, the petitions of his people. There was a rush through the crowd, and a subject with a wooden model under his arm threw himself at the monarch's feet, rapping his head most devotedly upon the steps of the imperial throne ; he

OEIGIN OF THE FORII OF JUNKS. 7

\yas told to rise^ and present his cliiim to heaven-bom consideration.

The wretch was a ship-builder of Southern China. He held a perfect model of a sharp-keeled vessel in his hands^ such as barbarians two thousand years afterwards are seen to sail in, and implored his Majesty to patronise his improvement in the con- struction of imperial ships I Sacrilege of the deepest dye I Here, on the one hand^ sat Inexpressible Wisdom, who desired to make the earth stand still ; on the other. Science, who wished to carry the people of the Flowery Land — their arts and peaceful dis- coveries, the printing-press, the magnet, the manu- facture of silks and paper — to nations who employed their leisure hours in butchering one another; and maybe bring back their bloodthirstiness as return cargoes. It was horrible — most horrible I — but the monarch, though he sat cross-legged, was a merciful monarch : he grasped his slipper — for it was ready to his hand. " Avaunt, monster I " he shouted ; and, with unerring aim, he hove his sacred slipper at the miscreant's head. " Avaunt I — from henceforth build all thy vessels on the model of that old shoe ; and, ministers," said he, addressing the Court, "let an edict go forth that my slipper alone shall be the type of every floating thing in the Flowery Land ;

B 4

8 REASON FOE JUNKS HAVING ONE EYE.

and " — lowering his voice to his prime minister and favourite, the heaven-bom deigned to close one eye and leave the other open as he muttered — ** and it's deviUsh funny cruising at sea they will have, if they adhere to that model, oh! Fan-tsel" Since that day China has adhered steadily to the imperial fancy ; and the royal act of winking is immortalised by the solitary eye which stares from the bow of their vessels ; the other one is supposed to be shut ; and that solitary eye says, as audibly as a wooden eye can say it, —

**It's devilish funny cruising we have at sea, oh! Fan-tse!"

Whilst cogitating profoundly, as jolly-boat mid- shipmen invariably do, on the profound wisdom of Chinese legislators, and wondering whether there are any more like them in the world at present, two other queer craft appear on the scene.

The one is a boat built on English lines, though rather round and full in form ; she is painted with alternate streaks of every colour upon this earth, and resembles, as they are reflected on the polished surface of the calm sea and again re-reflected upon her sides, a dying dolphin, though a very ugly one. In her the crew — dressed in frocks of divers gay colours — are rowing in a peculiar manner, by

ARAB BOATS. — SAMPAN-PUCn ATS. 9

rising off their seats as they dip their oars in the water, and then, when they throw their weight on the oars, coming down upon their seats with a " sough I ^ which must have loosened the teeth in their heads. Yet they sang a wild and plaintive air, splashing the water about with their oars, and rap- ping down with an energy upon the thwarts which was charmingly original, and excited all my mirth — a mirth which the sitters — very obese -looking Par- sees from Bombay — looked very indignant at; at least, as much so as a ton of flesh can ever look. These boats came from some Arab vessels which adorned the anchorage, vessels called grabs, rigged somewhat like brigs, but having a length of bow which was perfectly astounding ; indeed, in some of them, the long taper of the bow was one-third the length of the whole vessel, and the bowsprit was entirely inboard.

The other strange boat which attracted my attention was a craft, perhaps 1 20 feet long, with 20 feet beam, looking like an overgrown Malay sampan, and pulling 50 or 80 oars : she resembled nothing so much in colour and appearance as some huge centipede scrambling over the sea ; these were the sampan-puchats — fast vessels, owned by the merchants of Singapore and manned by stalwart Chinese crews ; they can outstrip the fleetest

10 SINGAPORE OP OLD.

prahus^ and are able to sail or pull with equal facility. By them^ an immense smuggling trade is done with the Dutch monopolists^ and many a rich cargo of spices and gold-dust, antimony and pepper, repays the merchant of Singapore for his speculation in Sheffield and Birmingham goods.

We pull into the little creek or river of Singapore, which splits the good town in two, and here the same Babel-like character is equally thrust upon the obser- vation.

I am, however, to tell of the sea, and shall leave to others the details of Singapore on shore — premising that a good description has yet to be written of that Queen of the Malayan Archipelago. It will suffice for a sailor's narrative to say, that the whole town stands upon a level of no very great extent, which stretches along the base of gently swelling hills, on the top of the highest of which stands Government House, tenanted by the present Sir Samuel Bonham — then governor of the Straits of Malacca — a most able civil servant of the Hon. East India Company, beloved by all classes, and always spoken of by the Malays with a mixed feeling of awe and affection, in consequence of the active part he took as a commissioner in the suppression of piracy in the Straits.

COMMERCIAL 8IN0AFOBE. 11

The creek separated Singn^K)re Into two dUtinct parts. The one was purely commercial^ with its bazaar and market-places^ its mitive town, and overflowing stores, a perfect commercial Babel, where, if a confusion of tongues would induce men to cease building temples to the goddess of wealth, they would have taken ship and fled the spot. There was an energy, a life, a go- aheadism about everything, that struck mc much ; everybody was in a hurry, everybody pushing with a will. The boatmen condescended to tout for passen- gers, and were blackguards enough, we heard, to occasionally rap the passengers over the head if they objected to pay them the fare — a proceeding the pas- sengers in other parts of India often reverse by ill- treating the cowardly boatmen ; then came along a crowd of half-naked Chinese, staggering under some huge bale of goods, and working with a will which would put London porters or Turkish hammels to the blush ; a crowd of black and oily Ilindostanees, screeching like jackdaws over a stack of bags of sugar, and Arabs, Englishmen, Jews, Parsces, Armenians, Cochin-Chinese, Siamese, half-castes, and Dutch- men, each struggling who should coin dollars fastest ; and as my coxswain, a Gosport boy, expressed himself, on his return from making some humble purchases — " Well, I thought they were a smart set on Common

12 A SEPOY MARTYR.

Hard, sir, but blest if they don't draw one's eye- teeth in Sincumpo! "

It was pleasing to turn, from all these loud noises and strong smells of the commercial part of Singa- pore, to the opposite side of the river, where, nestling amongst green trees, lay the residences of the wealthy European merchants: all was as dreamy, sleepy, quiet, and picturesque as anyone could desire, and, I am bound to add, as hot ; for there the bright equatorial sun was pouring down with- out shadow or breeze to take off its effects. The Sepoy sentry seemed to be frizzling in his leathern shako and hideous regimentals, and the sensation I felt on regarding his scarlet coat was that he might at any moment burst into flames. He was a military martyr lashed to a British musket instead of a stake. From that painful sight the eye instinctively sought repose upon a mass of cold dark-green foliage, against which the Court-House rose, — a long building, pos- sibly commodious, but decidedly of the Composite order of architecture. Within it, at stated periods, the British embodiment of the Goddess of Justice occasionally sat; whether in the classic pepper-and salt coloured wig and black gown which that deity disguises herself in on our own dear island, I know not; but as Mars adheres in the East to leather

CHUBCHES WITH STEEPLES. 13

stocks^ pipeclay, and black-ball, it is quite possible that Astray does not abandon horsehair and black silk.

A pretty esplanade, and bungalows standing in pleasant detached patches of ground, stretched away until lost in the jungle and half-cleared country beyond; these, with a very commodious church, constituted the west-end of Singapore: those who built the church, built it to give sitting-room to those who attended ; heathens that they were, they forgot the steeple I The good bishop of Calcutta could not — like the Chinese emperor with his old shoe — throw a steeple at their heads; but he did more : he preached a crusade against churches with- out steeples, and laboured, preached, and subscribed to have steeples put to all Protestant churches so successfully, that steeples went up in the air wherever he had trodden ; and I dare say by this time people in Singapore when they build churches build steeples, as they do in modem England, for birds to build in, instead of aisles in which Christians may pray.

But what have I to do with the shore ? — Let us return to the " Hyacinth,^ and busy ourselves, painting and polishing, until every one belonging to her begins to believe she is the most beautiful thing that ever floated. The first lieutenant has holy-

14 THE "hyacinth" IN PORT.

atoned the decks and scraped the masts^ until both are as bright as a hoand's tooth ; the boatswain has been driven distracted bj having to square and re- square the yards^ in consequence of some slight flaw being detected in their parallelism^ and confides to me, as I steer him on board for the sixth time, that " Hell be d — d if he doesn^t think them yards are enchanted, for, somehow, he used to square the ' Wapsc's' yards in five minutes;" and the carpenter has been " cutting out " the white streak here, and ** cutting in " the black paint of the hull there, until he fancies he has brought the appearance of the old sloop to as near perfection as it is possible for mortal man to do.

IMTEBNAI. ECONOMT. 15

CHAP. II.

Internal Economy. — Fishing-Partiea. — Rumours of Pirates.

— News of an Illanoon Squadron. — A floating Menagerie.

— An Encounter with Pirates. — The " Hyacinth " searches for Pirates. — A War-fleet heard of. — Quedah Politics. — We are required to aid the Siamese. — Kapld Equipment of Pirate Fleet. — The Malays are warned of the coming Retribution. — Captain Warren visits the Pirate Fleet. — Arrangements are made to equip a Flotilla. — The '* Hya- cinth '* and Gun-boats off Quedah. — My Gun-boat and Crew. — The Coxswain's Excitability. — The Interpreter's Appearance.

The Captain has gone ashore to take up his quarters with the Governor ; the second lieutenant says it is his duty to be out of the ship as much as possible in harbour^ and has gone to cany his theory into prac- tice. Those of the subordinate officers who arc blest with funds^ go on shore to hire horses^ and try and ride their tails off; those that have not^ calcu- late the number of days that must intervene before they have a right to inform their affectionate relatives, through the Navy Agents, that they are alive, and of course doing well, and are heard to assert that they will commemorate the cashing of that prospective

1 6 FISHING-PARTIES.

bill by feats in horsemanship and gastronomy which would make both steeds and poultry tremble could they only hear them. Being of those whose happi- ness was involved in a cheque not yet arrived at maturity, I stayed on board ; and, by way of amuse- ment, cricket and fishing parties were made up. Of the former, I shall not speak : for any one can form an idea of what cricketing must be at a distance of sixty miles from the equator, the temperature at the time we played, 3 p.m., being about 84° in the shadiest part of Singapore. The seining-parties were decidedly the most pleasant and healthy. The plan of pro- ceedings usually consisted in either of the two seniors of the midshipman's berth obtaining permission from the first lieutenant to make up a fishing party ; that done, there was a selection of volunteers from the seamen, marines, and boys, sufficient to man the cut- ter and jolly-boat. Into the latter boat, the seine- poles and lines were carefully placed, and in the cutter a goodly store of biscuit and pork, tea, coffee, and a little private stock of spirits. A couple of good frying-pans and some lard were of course a necessary addition, in order that we might enjoy a supper upon fish fresh from the water— a gastronomic treat in all climates, but doubly so in the East Indies. After evening quarters, the fishermen repaired to

KUMOUBS OF PIRATE8. 17

their boats^ clad in any old clothes thej chose to put on ; and just as evening closed in we would leave the sliip^ repair to some beautiful sandy beaches among the neighbouring islands^ and there^ through the early part of the night, fish away to our hearts' con- tent^ then muster round a roaring fire, enjoy a merry supper of fried fish, rashers of pork, and biscuit, washed down with tea or coffee made in a tea-kettle in gipsy fashion. The supper over, a glass of grog per man would be produced from the officers' private store, pipes would be lit, songs would be sung, and yams told, until the small hours warned us to return to our floating home, and the next day's routine. These night parties, in after days, led us into strange adventures and funny scenes; but I will not forestall my narrative: suffice it that at that time we were novices in the East, and all was charming, strange, and exciting.

Eagerly believing, eagerly listening to all that transpired around us, — it may 1x3 supfiosed that nothing was more keenly sought for, by all on board the "Hyacinth," than news about Malay pirates, those ogres, those bogies of the Archipelago ; and just then two events happened, sufficient to satiate the appetite for the piratical for some time to c<mic# The one was of the past, but still not long since. The

0

18 N£WS OF A ILLANOON 8QUADBON.

" Wolf,** a BiBter-eloop that we had come out to relieve and send home, had twice fallen in with piratical squadrons.

On the first occasion, her boats, consisting of a pinnace and cutter, fell in with the pirates in a fine hay near Cape Romania., the extreme southern point of the Malayan peninsula. The prahus, some twelve or thirteen in number, fought the boats and escaped, the forces being very disproportionate. This fact sharpened our eagerness, and we naturally longed for an equally good opportunity, an anxiety which was soon likely to be gratified, as the traders from Cochin-China and Siam had reported that an Ilhinoon squadron was cruising amongst the islands which lie on the eastern side of the peninsula, and intercepting prahus and junks bound to Singapore. The " Wolf ^ had been despatched after these gentry, and the " Diana ^ steamer likewise, with a gun-boat in tow, when the fact became undoubted of the existence of Illanoons. We awaited intelli- gence of their movements, and shortly afterwards the ^^ Diana ^ arrived from a place called Tringanau, about sixty miles to the northward, and reported that an action had taken place, and the pirates, after fighting like heroes, had, it was supposed, retreated to their own country across the China Sea«

A FLOATING HENAOEBIE. 19

One fine morning our gallant captain sent off to express his astonishment that the arrival of IL M. S. ^^ Wolf" had not been reported to him, I hardly fancy his astonishment] was greater than our own, on the fact being ascertained to be true; for, al- though a Ycssel had been seen to come in, no one supposed she was a man-of-war. I fancy that it was the skill displayed in disguising the '' Wolf '* that had made her so successful in falling in with Malay pirates ; and I must say the effort made to give her the appearance of a merchantman was carried to a wonderful extent; for even when on board of her it was difficult to realise the fact that a pennant flew overhead. She was a perfect floating menagerie. Baboons flew playfully at your legs; a loathsome orang-outang, or *' man of the woods," crawled up to shake hands, and made you thank Providence that man, in the progressive theory, had at any rate advanced a stride or two above the creature before you ; pigs and peccaries, sheep, fowls, a honey bear, and a black panther, formed a scene Wombwell would have gloated over, whilst Mr. Gould, or any other ornithologist, might have found a week's work in classifying all the parrots, louries, and screeching and whistling pets which added to the riot below.

20 AN ENCOUNTER WITH PIRATES,

However, we went on board the "Wolf" to hear about the pirates, and not to look at wild birds and beasts.

They told us that, one day whilst cruising off Tringanau, reports arrived of pirates being among the neighbouring islands. Two Company's gun-boats with the pinnace and cutter were detached to seek them. The morning after the boats left, at day- light, six large prahus were seen attacking a junk about five miles to seaward of the ship. It was then a stark calm, and the " Wolf" was perfectly power- less to help the unfortunate junk ; the gun-boats and large boats being nowhere in sight. While in the greatest state of suspense, the steamer " Diana " was seen approaching from the south with a gun-boat in tow. The "Wolf" immediately sent every available man and officer into the " Diana " to fight her guns, and she then steered for the junk, which was still making a manful resistance.

Seeing her approach, the prahus formed in line <ibreast, with their bows pointed towards her, their guns, be it remembered, being always mounted for- ward and directed ahead. The prahus, six in number, were large-sized lUanoons, pulling two tiers of oars, and full of slaves and fighting men. The action was a severe one, but the " Diana " could not

*' hyacinth" searches fob pibates. 21

run the risk of attempting to board them, and had to take care that they did not succeed in executing that manceuvre upon her, which they repeatedly attempted to effect. Many of their fighting men, creese in hand, were seen to leap into the water in the hope of boarding the steamer ; one or two were cut down as they actually had hold of the boats towing astern of her; and, in short, though they suffered tremendously, none of the prahus surren- dered, though one sunk, and from her some twenty wretches were taken : the other five prahus escapeil, and had eluded all further search by the ''Wolf" or her boats.

Shortly after this event we sailed in the ''Hyacinth" to seek the remnant of this piratical squadron. Our cruise was a delightfully interesting one in every respect, and, although we picked up the trail of the pirates in the islands they had retreated to after the fight, we soon learnt from different sources that they had there destroyed three more of their prahus as being unfit for the voyage across the China or Soolon Sea, in consequence of injuries received from the '* Diana^s^ grape and canister,[and then embarking all their crews in the two sound vessels, they had borne up to return to their own homes — a sea voyage of

about twelve hundred miles.

c 3

22 A WAB-FLEET HEARD OF.

Betuming empty handed and somewhat disap- pointed to Singapore, about the end of July, we were still further disgusted to learn] that Malay war-prahus, to the number of forty^ had made their appearance at the opposite and western end of the Straits.

They had, we learnt, fitted out on the Sumatran coast, at a place called Battu-putih, or ** White Rooks," and carrying two thousand fighting men: the pirates had taken advantage of our absence from the Penang station to capture from the Siamese Government the important province of Quedah.

This fleet of prahus, styled by us a piratical one, sailed under the colours of the ex-rajah of Quedah ; and although many of the leaders were known and avowed pirates, still the strong European party at Penang maintained that they were lawful belli- gerents battling to regain their own.

The East India Company and Lord Auckland, then Govemor-Gkneral of India, took however an adverse view of the Malay claim to Quedah, and declared them pirates, though upon what grounds no one seemed very well able to show.

Quedah had always, in olden time, been a Malay statCi though possibly tributary alternately to either the Emperor of Siam or the Emperor of Malacca, as

QUEDAH POLITICS. 23

the power of either happened to be in the ascendant. After the Portuguese crushed the IVIalaj Empire by the capture of Malacca in 1511, it is possible the JEtajah of Quedah presented his ''golden flower** to the Emperor of Siam, and in a way swore fealty to that monarch. We, however, seem to have heeded the suzerainty of the Siamese very little, when it served the Honourable Company's interest ; for in 1786 we find them inducing the Rajah of Quedah, on his own sole right and responsibility, to sell us the island of Penang for the yearly sum of ten thousand dollars, an annuity upon which the descendants of the rulers of Quedah now exist in Malacca.

However, about the time we were engaged in the first Burmese war, and when it became highly de- sirable to keep the Siamese neutral in the fray, the Emperor of Siam chose to invade Quedah, and after committing unheard-of atrocities upon the Malay inhabitants, he established his rule, and was con- firmed in it by a treaty with us; with, I believe, an ofiensive and defensive alliance clause, so far as the respective boundaries of British and Siamese rule were concerned. The Malay chieftains con- sidered themselves aggrieved, and lost no opportunity of harassing the Siamese, and the present attack had been patiently conspired and prearranged at Malacca.

c 4

24 THE SIAMESE HEQUIfiE OUR AID.

Money, arms, and prahus, had been secretly col- lected at Battu-putih; and then the chiefs raised the old red flag of Quedah, and there was no lack of enterprising and disaffected spirits to join them.

A Prince Abdullah, a descendant of the ex-rajah, was the nominal head of the insurrection ; he was a wild, dissipated young man, but had around him a very able body of chiefs or ministers, called ** Ton- koos," men of undoubted courage, and sons of that race which had so manfully struggled against Al- phonso Albuquerque and his powerful fleets in the heyday of Portugal's glory. Their plan of opera- tions was ably laid down by a Tonkoo Mahomet Said; and owing to the absence of ourselves — the "Diana," "Wolf," and gun-boats — there was no one to interfere with its successful execution.

The Siamese, however, knew perfectly well how to appeal to a treaty when it involved their own interests, and a deputation from Bankok soon waited upon the Governor of the Straits of Malacca, calling upon the British to aid them in asserting their legal yet unjust rights. British good faith to one party had to be supported at the sacrifice of British justice towards the other; and, as usual, the unfortunate Malays were thrown overboard ; their rights ignored.

RAPID EQUIPMENT OF PIRATE FLEETS. 25

themselves declared pirates^ aud their leader, a rebel escaped from British surveillance.

The Malays had> I have before said, calculated their operations admirably. Their fleet was fitted out on the Sumatran shore, near the province of Acheen ; arms, powder, and other stores were liber- ally, but covertly, supplied from European as well as native traders at Fenang ; the payment to be here- after made in rice and other products of the rich lands of Quedah. In the height of the south-west mon- soon, when the bad weather season prevails along the western seaboard of the Malayan peninsula, and the inhabitants naturally fancied themselves secure from such a visit, the Malay Tonkoos, or chiefs, watched for a good opportunity, crossed the Straits to a secure place, not many miles from Pulo Penang, there con- centrated their forces, and then like hawks pounced upon their prey. Dashing at once into the rivers with their light vessels, they stockaded the mouths ; and knowing that at that season our men-of-war could not approach close enough to injure them, and that open ships' boats could not live off the coast, the Malays felt that they had six months before them to establish and fortify their positions before the "white men" could commence operations, or the Siamese troops advance from Bankok.

26 THE MALAYS ABE WARNED

Knowing this> and feeling we had been perfectly checkmated, the " Hyacinth " was sent to warn the Malays of the coming retribution, and to make such observations as might serve •for the forthcoming season of operations.

Leaving Penang in September, we first proceeded to the town of Quedah, lying at the mouth of a river of the same name. On an old Portuguese fort which commands the town and entrance to the river, the Malayan colours were flying, and Tonkoo Mahomet Said was found to be in command. Captain Warren had a conference with that chief and Prince Ab- dullah, in which they were duly warned to abstain from a course which must bring down upon them the wrath of the all-potent Company, and pardon was promised in the event of their doing so immediately. The chief made out a very good case, as seen from a Malay point of view^ and nothing but a sense of duty could prevent one sympathising in the efforts made by these gallant sea-rovers to regain their own. *^Tell the Company," said Prince Abdullah, with that theatrical air and gesture so natural to the well- born Asiatic, ^^ that we shall brave all consequences : we have reconquered Quedah, which was, and is, ours by a right which no law can abrogate; and, so long as we can wield a sword or hold a spear, we

OF THE COMING BETBIBL'TIOX. 27

will maintain the heritage descended from our fore- fathers!'' No prahus were in sight at this place ; and it was not until after a long and arduous search amongst dangerous and intricate channels, at a tem- pestuous season of the year, that we discovered the Malay fleet, they being then at a i)lace called Trang, on the northern boundary of the province of Quedah. Here, as at the capital, the ship could not approach the coast, and Captain Warren had to throw himself amongst the Malays, in an open boat, with some eight or ten English seamen. Passing a shallow entrance to a river, which was carefully stockaded and flanked with gingal • batteries. Captain AVarren, after a short pull, found himself amongst a formida- ble fleet of fifty prahus, carrying guns and swivel;?, or culverins, and with crews varying from twenty to fifty men.

A guard of 100 armed men marched down to receive the Rajah Lant, or sea-king, of the British Queen ; and, with great ceremony and state, con- ducted him to their admiral or leader, a noted old pirate named Datoo Mahomet Alee, Datoo being his title as chieftain or lord.

♦ A gingal is a long and heavy wall-piece, much used by Asiatics, and very formidable in their hands.

28 CAPT. WARREN VISITS PIRATE FLEET.

Had treachery been so common as It is generally supposed to be amongst the much vilified Malays^ assuredly It would have been an easy task to put to death the British captain and his boat's crew, for they were fairly in the lion's den, and the bearers ot a hostile message, apart from Mahomet Alee knowing full well that a price had been fixed, for his capture as a felon, by the Company. Yet, on the contrary, they behaved with the utmost generosity and civility, listened respectfully to the warning given of future punishment, and, even here, as at Quedah, allowed a proclamation to be posted up, calling on all these pirates to disperse.

The conference over. Captain Warren learnt that the Malay attack had been successful on every point, and, apart from organising the means of pre- serving their hold of the province, they intended in the coming monsoon to assail the Siamese in such strength as to prevent their detaching a force to re- conquer Quedah. To a wish expressed by Captain Warren, that they would come out and have a fair fight in open water, Mahomet Alee replied, that although he had never fought a British man-of-war, he was one who could boast of having beaten off a man-of-war's boats; and nothing would give him greater pleasure than trying to do so again, if Captain

ARBANGEMENTS TO EQUIP A FLOTILLA. 29

Warren would come to fight him in the spot he then was. With such mutual expressions of chivalrous desire to meet again^ the ^^ Hyacinth" returned to report proceedings to the Governor of the Straits of Malacca.

During the month of November we went to Singapore to arrange a plan of operations^ in con- junction with the Siamese, emissaries from his golden- tufted Majesty having been sent there for that pur- pose. Singapore was chosen as the place of outfit for the flotilla, because the Malays were less likely to glean information of our plans there than they would undoubtedly have been from their agents and sympathisers at Penang.

It was arranged that directly the north-east mon- soon, or fine weather season, commenced, the British Government were to closely blockade the coast of Quedah, whilst a Siamese army of 30,000 men marched down to reconquer the province; and we were to treat as pirates all armed prahus fallen in with.

The " Hyacinth," besides her own boats, had lent to her for this service three lugger-rigged and decked gun-boats, named, respectively, the "Diamond," « Pearl," and " Emerald," or Nos. 1, 2, and 3. They were all manned by Malays, and the " Diamond "

30 THE ** HYACINTH " AND GUN-BOATS

was commanded bj a half-caste native gentleman in the Company's service. A small steamer, the only one that at that time had been seen in those waters, was available in case of necessity ; and the very terror inspired by the " Diana," — or "fire-ship," as the Malays called her — was a host in itself. When all was ready, we suddenly left Singapore ; and giving Penang as a rendezvous, the corvette and gun-boats made the best of their way there, com- pleted water and provisions, and gleaned all necessary information, prior to starting for Quedah ; off which place the "Hyacinth" anchored on December 7th, with the gun-boats around her.

Great was the delight and excitement through the ship when the fact of the boats being about to leave for months, manned and armed, came to our know- ledge. The pinnace and cutter were got out, and provisioned. All our lieutenants having either gone home on promotion, or died, the command of the boats generally fell to a mate, Mr. George Drake, in the pinnace ; the senior midshipman, Mr. Barclay, had the cutter ; whilst the two gun-boats fell respec- tively to Mr. Peter Halkett and myself.

Not a little proud of my command, at an early hour on the 8th I found myself on board the Hon. Company's gun-boat "Emerald." She was a fine

OFF QUEDAU. 31

wholesome boat, about forty-eight feet long, carrying two large lugger sails, and with a crew of twenty- five stout Malays, besides a serang*, or boatswain. Completely decked over, she carried in her bow an 18-pounder carronade, on a traversing carriage, and a brass 6-pounder gun on a pivot upon the quarter- deck ; and had, moreover, an ample store of all arms on board.

My swarthy crew received their new commander in the height of Malay tenue. The gayest pocket- handkerchiefs tied round their heads, and their bodies wrapped in the tasteful cotton plaid of the country, called a sarong, and their bare legs and sinewy arms, with the warlike creese, gave them the air of as many game-cocks. Not a soul of them could speak a word of English ; and until I could master enough Malay to be understood, my sole means of communication lay througli an individual who introduced himself to me as " Jamboo, sir ! — Interpreter, sir I " " And a very dirty one too," I mentally added.

The pantomime over, of passing a small valise, con- taining my kit, into a little cabin, which I saw abaft the mainmast, I desired Jamboo to direct the serang

* Serang is a native term for boatswain.

32 MY GUN-BOAT AND CREW.

to get under weigh and follow the pinnace^ for she was already pulling in for Quedah fort, whilst the " Hyacinth," spreading her wings, was running north- ward for another river called the Parlis. The crew in a trice ran the anchor to the bows, and got out the sweeps*, as there was no wind, and pulled so heartily as to show me that we had, at any rate, the legs of all our consorts. Checking the zeal of my serang, who, standing amongst the rowers, was exciting them by word and gesture to outstrip the senior officer, I dropped astern into my place, and proceeded to make myself acquainted with ray strange shipmates and vessel.

The interpreter Jamboo's history was a short one. He was one of that numerous class who do not know their own fathers. His mother, who was a Burmese woman of Moulmein, averred that a British officer was entitled to the honour of the parentage, though Jam- boo, with a smile, said, * I don't know sar, she say so !" an assertion I was quite ready to believe. A half- caste he undoubtedly was, and, as such, passed for a Portuguese 1 although his only reason for so saying was, that the people of that country were about as

* Sweep is a nautical term applied to large oars used in heavy vessels ; for instance, those used in barges are ** sweeps" properly speaking.

THE interfbeter's appearaxce. 33

dark as himself, and that Jamboo, finding himself without a religion as well as a father, had, faute de mieuxy become a Roman Catholic, his faith being strongly mixed up with his poor mother's Buddhism and the wild superstitions of his Malayan companions. His face, of a dark olive colour, was perfectly beauti- ful ; his figure, although effeminate, was graceful and lithe to a degree; his hands and feet might have served Phidias as a model ; and he was not wanting in intelligence. Weak and nervous in temperament, he was as obedient as a child, and it was painful to witness his cringing, fawning manner.

Jamboo's account of my worthy crew was some- what startling: the majority of them had, I learnt, at various times been imprisoned in Singapore jail as pirates, the most notorious scamp being my serang, Jadee. '^Pleasant company I" Iejaculated,aslscanned the rogues who, seated along the deck on either side, were throwing themselves back with a shout at every stroke of their " sweeps," and displaying twenty-five as reckless, devil-may-care countenances as any equal number of seamen ever exhibited. The serang, Jadee, was, to my astonishment, standing on the main -hatch, with a long lUanoon creese in his hand, which he waved as he gave utterance to a series of expressions, uttered with frantic energy and rapid pantomime.

34 THE coxswain's ORATION.

stopping every now and then to allow his crew to express their approval of what he said^ by a general chorus of Ugh I which sounded like a groan^ or an exulting shout of Ya 1 ya I ya 1 which was far more musical. " He is only telling them what fighting and plunder is in store for them^" said Jadee^ '^ and point" ing out the certainty of victory while fighting with white men on their side^ mixing it up with descrip* tions of revellings they will have when this war is over.*'

COMMEKCB TO BLOCKADE QUEDAII FOBT. 35

CHAP. III.

Commence to blockade Queiloh Fort. — Jadcif^s imaginary Fight with a Tonkoo. — My Malay Coxswaiirn Apiicaraiice. — His Attire and Character. — Jadee's piratical I*roi»eiiiiitie8. ^-Escapes Imprisonment by hanging a Man. — QulmIuIi Kurt and Town. — The Appearance of the adjacent Country. — A wet Night. — My Crew. — Jadee*9 Want of Bigotry. — Primitive Mode of eating.

The pinnace, with the *^ Pearl " and " Emcrakl," soon reached the shallow bar which lies across the Quedah river, a feature common to every river on tiiis side of the Malayan peninsula, and doubtless occasioned by the action of the BOuth->west monsoon against the natural course of the rivers, causing the sediment to be deposited at their entrances instead of being car- ried out into the deeper parts of the sea. The fort of Quedah hoisted its colours, and armed men showed themselves along the battlements ; but we merely placed ourselves in line across the entrance of the river, out of gunshot, and anchored to commence the blockade. The north-east monsoon, which is the

fine weather season of this coast, had scarcely set in

p 'J,

36 jadee's imaginary fight

yet, and flying showers, with occasional squalls, pro- mised a wet and cheerless night. Kain-awnings were spread at once, and after every preparation had been made for a sudden action with war-prahus, I sat down with Jamboo, and my serang, Jadee, to glean in- formation and pick up Malay. To my inquiry, through the interpreter, as to the opinion Jadee held of the line of conduct likely to be pursued by the occupants of Quedah, he assured me that the Malays would never voluntarily fight the '^white men, Orang^ putihsy^ as we, of all Europeans, are styled par ex-- cellence. It was quite possible, if we were very careless, that they would try and capture Englishmen as hostages for their own safety; and that, by way of inspiriting his men, a Malay chief might, if he found one of the gun-boats alone, which was manned by Malays, fight her in the hopes of an easier capture than they would find in the pinnace. The very prospect of such a piece of good fortune seemed to arouse all Jadee's recollections of by-gone forays and skirmishes ; for no sooner had Jamboo told him that I only hoped Tonkoo Mahomet Said might take it into his head to try the experiment upon the •* Emerald,'' or " Numero Tega,"* as she was called

* " Tega " is Malay for " Three ;" the Malays preferred call- ing the vessel by her number, instead of by her name of " Emerald "

WITH A TONKOO. 37

by Jadee^ than my serang sprang to bis legs^ and shouted^ quivering with passion^ for Campar I Cam- par soon came : Campar being a swarthy giant, who did the double duty of armourer and carpenter.

In reply to some order^ he dived below, and brought up a thick quilted red vest^ without arms, which tlie excited Jadee donned at once, girded up his loins, gave his head-dress a still more ferocious cock, and then baring his arms, with a long Illanoon creese in one hand and a short " badi," or stabbing knife, in the other, he enacted a savage pantomime of a supposed mortal fight between himself and Mahomet Said, in which he evidently conquered the Tonkoo ; and finished ofi^, after calling him, his mother, sisters, and female relations, all sorts of unseemly names, by launching at him, in a voice of thunder, his whole stock of English : " Ah ! you d — d poul 1 come along- side 1 " Poul, or fool, being supposed to be something with which the white men emphatically cursed their enemies.

Amused beyond measure, though somewhat dif- ferently to my crew, who, holding Jadee in the greatest awe, crowded aft and looked on, firmly be- lieving that Tonkoo Mahomet Said would be so treated^ should his enterprise lead him to combat the noted Jadee, I quietly told him that I only trusted

V 3

38 MY MALAX COXSWAIN.

he would do as well if the real fight ever came ofi^ and meantime would dispense with such a perform- ance, especially as the row he made had caused ^'Numero Tega" to be hailed from the pinnace to know if anything was amiss. This piece of advice Jadee took in such good part, that he constantly re- hearsed the pantomime for my amusement whenever he saw me low-spirited, or in want of occupation.

Jadee informed us that his cognomen amongst the people of Singapore, and white men generally, was Jack Ketch ; a nickname he pronounced so clippingly that it sounded not unlike his real one : and from Jambo I heard the following history of my re- doubted serang ; but, previous to repeating it, let me introduce the hero.

Jadee stood about five feet seven inches in height ; his colour was of a light brown. His broad shoulders, small waist, and fine hips, with well-formed arms and legs covered with muscles in strong relief, denoted great strength and activity. His delicate yet far from effeminate hands and feet were but little re- concilable to an Englishman's ideas with a man who had lived from the cradle by the sweat of his brow. A square well-formed head, well placed on a strong nervous neck, completed the man. The countenance, although that of a pure Malay, had nothing so re-

HIS ATTIRE AND CHABACTEB. 39

pukiTO about it as people generally suppose; the eheek-bones were high, and the face somewhat square, but his eyes were good and expressive, without being either deep set or with bloodshot cyebaUs, as the regular '^ property IVIalays" of novel-writers usually are represented : a good nose and forehead, with a massive but beardless chin, gave much character to the face of Jadee, and his short black hair, brushed up on endj with a sort of rollicking laughing air about the man, required nothing to fill up the pic- ture of a Malayan buccaneer. Jadee was a beau withal. Sound his waist, and falling to the knees like a Highland kilt, he wore a circular piece of cot- ton plaid, of a small blue and white pattern ; stiff with starch, it stuck out, and half hid in its folds his handsome creese, a weapon never from a Malay's side. Over one shoulder and across to the opposite hip, hung in an easy jaunty manner another sarong of brighter hues, generally red and yellow tartan ; it served as a covering to the upper part of the body when necessary, or, wrapped round the arm, acted as a shield in a skirmish. An ordinary red cotton hand- kerchief served as a head-dress, great coquetry being shown in the mode of wearing it. It was in the first place starched until almost as stiff as pasteboard, then folded across ; two ends were tied on one side of the

V 4

40 jadee's youth and antecedents.

head in a jaunty knot^ whilst the others stuck up or waved about in a very saucy manner. A mouthful of cere leaf^ penang nut^ and chunam^ with a small quid of tobacco stuck under the upper lip, completed the appearance of Jadee. Poor fellow I he was ge- nerous to a fault, and thoughtless as a child ; and when I afterwards came to know him well, I often thought how strong the similarity was between the disposition of him and his companions and the ma- jority of our untutored seamen.

He was by birth a "Batta," or else had been stolen, at an early age, and carried off by that race from some sea-coast village. These Battas inhabit the hill country of Sumatra, and are reputed cannibals — at least, such is the charge brought against them by neighbours.

Jadee, whilst still a youth, happened to accom- pany a party of Battas who visited the pepper plantation of a sea-coast chieftain, for some hostile and I fear no very reputable purpose ; the result was that, in a skirmish which took place, Jadee was cap- tured, and as a slave entered upon a different career to that of living amongst the branches of trees and eating fellow-men.

Some Sooloo slave-dealers and pirates visited the district in which Jadee was detained, and he was ex-

III8 PIRATICAL rROPENSITIKS. 41

changed for various commodities that they disposed of to his master. Made at first to row, and bale water out of their prahus, he gave such proofs of courage and address^ that in a short time they ad- vanced him to the rank of a fighting man. Jadee^ however^ did not like his masters, although he had an uncommon degree of respect for their enterprise and skill as sea-rovers ; and after some years of strange adventures against the Chinese, Spaniards, and Dutch — the latter of whom he never spoke of without execrating the memory of their mothers — he escaped, and took service under the Rajah of Jehore, or some chief who sailed prahus from the neighbourhood of our then youthful colony of Singa- pore.

After a little active service, our hero found himself in possession of a perfect fortune in hard dollars and sycee silver ; and to spend it in the most approved manner, proceeded to Singapore. To take unto him- self a fresh wife was an easy task for such a gallant ; and Jadee kept open house in the neighbourhood of Singapore, in one of those neat native huts which may still be seen raised upon piles, although far enough from the water.

The money flew fast, and, sailor-like, Jadee soon found himself compelled to take to the sea for a sub-

42 JADEE ESCAPES IMPRISONMENT

sistence. For a few years he led a chequered career : plenty one day — opiom^ curry and rice, and wives galore ; then pulling at an oar like a galley-daye to win more ; at last the white men spoilt his career. An expedition in which Jadee was engaged was attacked by a British man-of-war^ and suffered a severe defeat Jadee never bargained for fighting them: anything with a dark skin — let him be the Old Gentleman himself — he felt himself a match for. A Dutchman he did not mind, and a Spaniard he had often seen run; but the Orang-putihs — there was no charm, not even firom the Koran, which had ever been efficacious against pirates bo mighty as they. Jadee had sailed with distinguished Malay ^^ Rajah Lauts," or Kings of the Sea, but their glory paled before the *^ Rajah Lauts" of the white men ; they were indeed rovers whom Malay men might envy but might not imitate.

Driven with many of his companions from follow- ing up their profession in a wholesale way, Jadee and one or two roving spirits struck up a new business. They bought a fast-pulling sampan, lived at Singa- pore, and apart from an occasional honest fare, used at nights to waylay the market-boats and Chinese potty traders, and frighten them into paying black mail. Even this came to an end ; for, one day when

BY HANGING A MAN. 43

asleep in his sampan, Jadee was captured by a dozen Chinese, who carried him before the authorities, and swore, by all they could swear by, that he had been caught in an act of piracy. Jadee was fairly frightened; he knew the English had a rapid way of hanging up his countrymen, and vowed to him- self that he would adopt the white merCs mode of living, if he escaped this present peril.

The judge, although a severe man, was a just one, and happily in this case suspected the veracity of the Chinese. Jadee was sent to jail to ruminate over his evil practices, and had remained there some time, when a reward was offered to anyone who would hang a Chinese murderer, the executioner having absconded. Our friend was glad to earn his liberty so easily, the more so that a Chinaman was to be the unfortunate to be operated upon.

The murderer was duly hung, and Jadee, or Jack Ketch, was free. Finding "the Company** too strong for him, Jadee wisely determined to enlist under their colours. He turned from pirate to pirate-catcher, and a more zealous, intelligent servant Governor Bonham, or the Touhan Besar*, did not possess. Jadee soon brought himself into notice, and, with one exception, on an occasion when

* " Touhan Besar," the great chief or officer.

44 QUEDAH TOWN AND FORT.

a jealous husband thrust a spear fourteen times into Jadee's body, for certain attentions to his cara sposoy he had maintained an unblemished character. Such was his history.

Towards evening the rain ceased and the clouds cleared away, enabling us to see the place we had to starve into subjection.

Our gun-boats lay at the distance of about twelve hundred yards from the mouth of the river, across which a stout stockade had been formed, leaving only one narrow outlet, and there the Malays had stationed a look-out man to give an alarm in case of necessity. Within the stockade, upon the north bank of the river, stood the town and fort of Quedah.

The latter was a rectangular work built of stone, and said to have been constructed In the days when the Portuguese were in the zenith of their glory. The parapet was now sadly dilapidated, and armed with a few rusty guns, whilst on a bastion which, at one of the angles, served to flank the sea face of the works, and command the river entrance, several long formidable looking pieces of cannon were pointed threateningly at us. Beyond the fort, and on the same side of the river, a long continuation of neat- looking thatch-built houses constituted the town, and off it lay numerous trading prahus, and several topes.

APFEABANCE OF ADJACENT COUNTBY. 45

a Malayo-Chinese ycssel peculiar to the Straits of Malacca. A dense and waving jungle of trees skirted round the town and fort of Qucdah, and spread away on either hand in a monotonous line of green. The country^ which was said to be particularly rich in the interior, was extremely flat towards the sea- coast ; and the only thing that broke its sameness was the remarkable hill which^ under the name of Ele- phant Mounts rose above the jungle like an island from the sea. Far distant ranges of hills, the back- bone of the peninsula, stretched however as a back- ground to the scene. Slowly the setting sun tinged their peaks with rosy and purple tints, and then they gradually sank into darkness as the evening mists gathered strength along the seaward edge of the jungle, and, acted upon by light airs, sailed slowly along like phantoms : it was then night with a dew- laden atmosphere and a starlit sky.

The English seamen in the pinnace loaded the air with noise, if not with melody, by singing their sailor-songs ; and the^ Malays, in their own peculiar way, amused themselves by singing extempore love- songs, to the melancholy accompaniment of a native drum played upon by the hand : gradually these sounds ceased, men and officers sought the softest planks, and, clad in blanket frocks and trousers, lay

46 A WET NIGHT. — MY CREW.

down to sleep, and the first day of the Quedah block- ade was oyer. During the night it rained hard, and the wet, in spite of our awnings being sloped, began to encroach upon the dry portions of the deck. I heard my men moying about ; but desirous of setting an example of not being easily troubled with such a discomfort as a wet bed, I kept my place, and was not a little pleased to see Jadee bring a mat called a kajanff, and slope it carefully over me, evidently thinking I was asleep, and then the poor fellow went away to rough it as he best could. And this man is a merciless pirate! I thought; and I felt a friendship for my Malay coxswain from that moment, which nothing will ever obliterate. With early dawn all were awake, and shortly afterwards the usual man-of- war operations of scrubbing and cleaning commenced, Jadee exhibiting as much energy amongst buckets and brooms, as if such peaceful articles were the only things he knew how to use. Leaving him to do first lieutenant's duty, I perched myself — I was but a lad of seventeen— upon the pivot-gun, and, as the dif- ferent men of my crew came in sight, asked their names and characters of the interpreter. Jamboo's account of them was, to say the least of it, very un- satisfactory. One was a notorious pirate of Sumatra, another of Tringanau; those that were not pirates.

jadee's want op BIOOTBV. 47

Jamboo yowed^ had fled from Java, or Acheen^ for acts of violence of one sort or another. Their looks were not in their favour; and walking with the pecu- liar strut of Malay seamen, I could not but repeat Falstaff 's soliloquy :

'' Nay, and the villains march wide betwixt the legs, as if they had gyves ; for indeed I had most of them out of prison I ^

The fears, however, of the redoubted Jamboo had much to do with the characters he gave the poor fellows ; and I afterwards discovered it was rather his opinion of what they must have been, than what they really had been. I was debating in my mind how my messing was to be carried on, in a vessel manned with Mahometans, where pork was an abomination and myself an unclean animal and an infidel, when Jadee, with the most graceful bow he could muster, came to announce that the ship's company's rice and fish were cooked, and that in a few minutes our curry and rice would be ready. Through the interpreter, I expressed a hope that he would not depart from any religious opinions as to feeding with a Christian, because I was set in autho- rity over him. To which the good fellow made a very neat answer, in a very modest way, that he was a servant of the same Great Bajah as the white officer,

48 PRIMITIVE MODE OF EATING.

and if I did not consider it beneath my dignity to eat out of the same dish as an Orang Malayu, it was not for him to do so.

This difficulty over, we sat down cross-legged to our breakfast — a mountain of snow-white rice with a curried fowl. I was at first very awkward in the use of my right hand as a substitute for spoon and fork, etiquette not allowing the left hand to be used ; but I soon learnt how to pick up the rice, press it gently together between the extended fingers, and then by means of the thumb to slip what was taken up into my mouth ; a drink of pure water finished the repast, and then the ever useful Campar ap- peared, with water and towel for us to wash our hands and mouth. We had only two meals a day ; breakfast at about seven or eight o'clock, and dinner at three p.m. ; rice and salt fish, or rice and curry, being the constant fare.

BLOCKADE KENUEKEU MOBE STBINGBNT. 49

CHAP. IV.

The Blockade rendered more Stringent. — The Boun ting Is- lands. — My Crew keeping Holiday. — " Hyacinths " poi- soned with Ground-nuts. — We discover "Wild Bees'-Xcsts. — Arrangements made for robbing the Hives. — The Bees quit their Hives and settle on me. — No Honey. — A Malay Doctor. — The Koran and Chunam remedy for Bee Stings.

The first week or ten days was sadly monotonous : we had to be very guarded in our movements, as the policy intended to be pursued by the enemy had not developed itself, and we were yet ignorant of the force of armed prahus which they might possess up the river; but I was not idle, and, under Jadee's tuition, was fast learning the simple and beautiful language of Malaya. The interest taken by my serang, in repeating over for my information the Malay for every article or object upon which he saw my attention fixed for a moment, was a pretty con- vincing proof of the anxiety he entertained for our being able to understand one another without Jam- boo's assistance.

About the middle of December, we had reason to

I

50 THE BOUNTING ISLANDS.

believe that small prahus escaped out of the river, or entered it at top of high water, by keeping close in to the jungle ; and as we had ascertained that there was deep water inside the bar, it was determined to cross the bar at night, directly the tide rose high enough to allow us to do so, and to remain close off the stockade until the tide again fell, so as to compel us to retreat rather than risk an action with fort and war-prahus combined. This measure gave great umbrage to " Tonkoo Mahomet Said," who sent to warn us that we might get fired into by accident during the night, if we persisted in such a manoeuvre. The reply to this threat was a promise of returning the compliment, if any such accident did occur; and after a while we found the people of Quedah sub- mitted quietly to this stricter blockade, and it was evident that they were reserving their fighting qualities for the Siamese army, of which we only knew that it was to co-operate with us; how, or when, nojie could guess. The want of wood and fresh water in our little squadron obliged the senior officer to detach me to a group of islands, about twenty miles distant^ in quest of some ; and this job I had regularly to execute every tenth day or so. The three islands are known under the names of the Bounting Group ; the Malays, with a playful fancy.

Mr CREW KEEPING HOLIDAY. .01

having, in the outline of one of them, seen a resem- blance to a woman in that '* state in which ladies wish to be who love their lords." That island is called ^'Bounting," and, in carrying out the idea, the next is named "Pangail" or ^^Calll*' and the other is "Bedan" the "Accoucheur I" — a strange nomenclature, but the joke of which was evidently a great source of fun to my scamps.

Having, then, no small boats, our mode of procuring wood and water was primitive enough ; the gun-boat used to be anchored in a convenient position, and then all hands, myself included, jumped overboard, swam ashore with casks and axes, and spent the day filling the former, cutting wood, bathing, and washing our clothing. It was a general holiday; and, like seamen of our own country, my Malays skylarked, joked, and played about with all the zest of schoolboys ; and I observed, with no small pleasure, that, in their practical jokes or witticisms, there was none of that grossness or unbecoming language which European sailors, be their nation what it may, would assuredly have indulged in — a state of things which I imputed to the knowledge they each had of the other's quick- ness of temper, and the moral certainty of an appeal to the creese should an insult be intentionally given.

The Bountings, though clothed with trees, and the

I 2

52 **HTACINTHS" POISONED

rankest vegetation of the East, ^w ere, like many other inlands of the Malayan Archipelago, unproductive of a single wild fruit or vegetable capable of sustaining life. If the wild cocoa-nut tree or plantain had ever grown there, they had been eradicated to prevent pirates procuring refreshment on the islands — a step often pursued by the inhabitants of these buccaneer- haunted shores. Beyond turtles and their eggs on the beaches, and wild honey in the woods, nothing edible was there procurable. Some short time after- wards, however, our gallant corvette happened to be at anchor off the Bountings, and those of the crew left in her, asked permission to go on shore for a run. Uninhabited as it was, there appeared to be no reason why they should not go on shore ; and the commanding officer cheerfully assented, with a self- congratulatory feeling that, at any rate, as there were there neither ladies nor grog. Jack could not get himself into trouble. " Oh I yes, by all means ; you may all go,'* was the reply, and the jolly-boat and gig soon landed every man but the sentry and quarter- master ; a parting warning was given to the worthies not to be tempted to touch any fruit, as they were poisonous. Having bathed, and washed their clothes over once or twice, by way of a jollification, and walked up and down the beaches until tired, one of

WITH GROUND-NUTS. 53

the old sailors expressed it as his opinion, that ** it must be a d — d rum island, if there was nothing eatable to be found on it,** and ventured a surmise, that the woods must have heaps of nuts in them, if they only knew where to find them. A young mizen- top-man jumped at the idea, and started away in search of nuts : finding none on the trees, he next sought for ground-nuts, and, as ill-luck would have it, soon found plenty, in the form of something which resembled strongly the common chesnut Before long, all hands had had what they graphically termed * a bowse-out," and soon afterwards became gene- rally ill, being sick and griped to a ridiculous extent. The officers who went to bring off the liberty- men could hardly believe their senses when they found all those so recently landed hearty and well, lying about like so many sick monkeys, and almost as much frightened as hurt by their thoughtlessness. They were taken off, and strong emetics given, which added still more to the general sickness, and all night long there were ejaculations heard of "Those infernal ground-nuts!" and the unfortunate boy who had first discovered them was promised more thrashings than, it is hoped, he ever received.

My Malays, being either more experienced or less enterprising than their English comrades, contented

E 3

M

54 WE DISCOVER WILD BEES'-NESTS.

themselves with the honey and turtle-eggs; and as Jadee reported to me that a man called Alee had discovered a splendid wild bees' nest on Pulo Bedan, I expressed a strong desire to see the process by which the bees were robbed of their store. We happened to be standing in a wood on a part of that island^ and the bees were flying about us, when I expressed this wish in my usual tone of voice. " Hush I " said Jadee, putting his finger to his lips, "hushl speak low, or the bees will hear us!" And then, in a whispering voice, he informed me that the honey would not be fit for capture for some time : and that, at any rate, it was wrong to disturb the bees except at the full of the moon. As he con- sidered it necessary to wait for that auspicious period, I assented, and only took care at the next full moon to be there. Alee and four other Malay seamen were told off to rob the bees'-nest, and they as well as myself were soon stripped and swimming ashore. I observed that each man carried with him a small bundle of the husk of cocoa-nut shells, and directly they landed they proceeded to cut branches of a species of palm, and in the leaves enveloped the husks they had brought with them, forming the whole into articles resembling torches; a fire was then kindled upon the beach, fragments of the burn-

ARRANGEMENTS FOR ROBBING THE HIVES. 55

ing embers introdueed into the heart of each torch, and then by swinging them round so as to cause a draught, the husk ignited, and, aided by the action of the green leaves, poured out of one end of the torch A solid column of smoke. The faithful Jamboo had been left on board ; but I understood, from the little these Malays told me, that the torches were intended for the purpose of driving the bees away from the honey, but I did not understand that they were essential to one*s safety and therefore declined to carry one when it was offered to me.

Holding the torches in their hands and standing up^ the Malays next enacted some mummery or incantation, which concluded with the usual repeti- tion of the Mahometan creed — one so beautiful and concise, that it appears a pity we cannot produce anything as graphic in our own faith.

" Grod he is God ! and Mahomet is his Prophet ! *' exclaimed we all ; and the torch-men leading the way, we left the pleasant shade of the jungle, and walked briskly along the shore until abreast of the bees' nest, which lay some three-quarters of a mile inland. Turning into the jungle, waving their smoke-torches, and keeping a sharp look-out for snakes, which appeared to me all the more dangerous from the novelty of my attire, — :for like my men I had only

s 4

56 THE BEES SETTLE ON ME.

one cloth round my hips and a handkerchief over my head^ — we soon sighted, up a small vista in the forest, the aged trunk of a blighted tree, which was alive with bees. Three of the Malays now sat down, waved their torches gently, throwing a haJo of smoke round their tawny persons, and commenced to re- cite, in a slow solemn manner, some verses from the Koran, whether to keep the bees away, or to insure there being honey in the nest, I don't know ; for just as I, half-laughing, was putting the question to them, the fourth Malay, Mr. Alee, walked deliberately up to the nest and applied his torch.

Thunder and lightning ! a thousand lancets were suddenly plunged into my body, and a black cloud of bees were around me. I shouted for Alee ; ^^ God he is God ! and Mahomet is his Prophet I " groaned out the Malays, as they waved their torches, the bees threatening them as well as myself. It was more than I could bear ; with a yell of agony, I started off like a deer for the sea : it seemed but a stride to the rocks, and at once I plunged into the water, taking down many a bee which adhered tenaciously to my body and face. Keeping down as long as possible, I rose in the hope of being clear from the little brutes; but, alas I they were not so easily baffled, and a cloud of them was ready to descend upon my

NO IIONET. — A MALAT DOCTOK. 57

devoted head: it might have ended seriously, had not Alee found that there was no honey in the nest, and he and his comrades then ran down to assist me, frightening off the bees with their torches, and ac- companying me to the gun-boat, which I reached nearly blind, and rather disgusted with the result of my first Asiatic bee-hunt ; the more so that, in addi- tion to the lesson I had learnt upon the advisability of using smoke preservers, we had disproved the truth of the old axiom, that '* Where there are bees, there must be honey,"

Jadee was in great distress at seeing me return in such sad plight, and vowed that Alee and his com- panions must have been lubbers at their work ; how- ever, he promised me almost instantaneous relief, and as I was willing to accept that on any terms, one of the men, a leading hand, who, from his strict obser- vance of his religious duties, was named the " Haggi," was sent for to cure me.

The Haggi, proud of an opportunity of displaying his medical skill upon a white man, who are all sup- posed to be born doctors, proceeded immediately to roll up a quid of cere leaf, betel-nut, gambier, and chunam, in the right proportions for chewing — such a quid as a Malay so much delights in. Whilst I mas- tic«ited this in the most approved manner, the Haggi

58 THE KORAN AND CHUNAM REMEDY.

opened a small box of fine white chunam^ made from the lime procured from burnt sea-shells; this chunam he carefully applied to my skin wherever it had been stung, muttering all the while, in a solemn strain, select sentences from the Koran, the responses or final portions of each chapter or sentence being taken up and repeated by my faithful coxswain, who for the time seemed desirous to entitle himself to a green turban by the fervour of his prayers, varying them, however, by shaking his tawny fist in the direction of the unconscious bees, and saying, with the utmost gravity, " Ah I you d — d pouls T*

Whether it was the chunam or the Koran cured me, it would be ingratitude to my holy friend the Haggi to say, for he stoutly maintained one to be inefficacious without the other ; but this I can aver, that in a very short time all inflammation had sub- sided, and I was able to laugh over my adventure, making, however, a vow to bridle my curiosity for the future, where bees were in the question.

THE NOBTH-BABT MONSOON. 59

CHAP. V.

The North-east Monsoon. — Unsatisfactory News of our Siamese Allies. — The Pelicans. — Alligators abound. — The Cowardice of the Alligators. — Encounter and Capture an Alligator. — Extraordinary Strength and Vitality of those Reptiles. — A Strange Antidote against Fever.-— The Kah- madan and "Quedah Opera." — The Malays endeavour to evade the Blockade. — The Watchfulness of my Native Crew.

The north-east monsoon had fairly set in. All day long we had a delightfully pleasant breeze off the land, for the Malayan peninsula has so small a breadth^ that the winds which blow upon it from the China Sea reached us before they were robbed of their moisture or heated to an unpleasant degree by the action of the land : occasionally the monsoon would freshen, for a day or so, into a double reefed top-sail breeze, or at other times become squally without rain, but our nights were invariably fine, with only just wind enough to fill the mat sails of a prahu. The sea was seldom ruffled, and more delightful weather for boat-work cannot be conceived. All we were required to do, was to guard against sleeping in the night-dews,

60 UNSATISFACTORY NEWS OP OUR ALLIES.

and by so doing, we all enjoyed better health than those cooped up in the ship.

Our new position inside Quedah bar became at last to be acknowledged by the Malays as our right, and from that time we often had communications with the fishermen who came out to visit their fishing- weirs. Through them we learnt that fighting was going on with the Siamese, a long distance off: according to their version, the Malay rajahs were everywhere victorious ; several large towns and many slaves had fallen into their hands, and there was no probability of a Siamese army being able to act upon the offensive during that monsoon.

This was decidedly very cheerless news, but the authority was a questionable one ; and we could see slight defensive preparations taking place in the fort, which betokened something else than entire confi- dence and security.

Meantime, each day brought with it novelty and amusement. Anchored as we now were, within the river and close to the stockade, broad mud-banks ex- tended themselves on either hand whenever the tide was low. Asiatic birds and reptiles haunted these banks ; some of the former, such as the snipe and curlew, were well known to us, and, until scared away, added to our daily fare. The pelicans, at first,

PELlCAxNS. — ALLIGATORS ABOUND. 61

were the sole robbers of the fishing-weirs, but they soon found themselves no match for the expert sea- men of the pinnace and gun-boats, and left us for some other spot. The alligators, however, were not to be frightened, although they took uncommonly good care not to enter into any of the personal com- bats upon the mud which the Malays, and after them the English sailors, were constantly trying to entrap them into. The numbers of these loathsome brutes to be seen at a time was extraordinary ; but what- ever might be the danger of falling in with them, if wading or swimming alone through these waters, there was no doubt of their being arrant cowards when fallen in with on shore. With the rising tide, the alligators generally found their way up to the edge of the jungle, and there lay among the roots of the trees (which they strongly resembled), as if wait- ing for cattle, or wild animals, that might come down to drink : we, however, never saw them catch any- thing during a period of several months. The ebbing tide would often thus leave the brutes several hun- dred yards from the edge of the water, and very much they appeared to enjoy themselves when so left, with an Indian sun pouring down upon their tough hides ; and, as if in the very height of the dolcefar nienie, they would open back their hideous

62 COWARDICE OF THE ALLIGATORS.

jaw8y and remain in that position for more than an hour at a time. As to trying to shoot them^ we soon found it mere waste of time, as well as of powder and ball ; for, mortally wounded or not, they invariably carried themselves far beyond our reach. The Malay sailors showed us how, at any rate, we could frighten the alligators exceedingly, even if we could not cap* ture them — by landing lightly equipped with a sharp spear or boarding-pike, and thus obliging the reptile to make a long detour to escape being assailed. Occasionally I have seen the men, by dint of great activity, get near enough to fling their weapon and strike the alligators ; but as in such cases they in- variably struck the upper part of the back, they might as well have tried to spear a rock. The natives showed the utmost indifference to the presence of alligators in their neighbourhood, and, when ques- tioned upon the subject, asserted that in salt or brackish water, at the mouths of rivers, the alligator was never dangerous to man ; and that it was only up rivers, and \n marshy places, where they lived, as it were, amongst human beings, that they screwed up their courage to indulge in such a dangerous luxury as eating men or women.

Of the enormous strength and extraordinary vitality of these reptiles, we had a pretty good

CAPTUEE OP AN ALLIGATOR. 63

proof; for one evenings when the pinnace^ as usual, dropped alongside the weir to take out fish for the evening meal^ the men who went into the '^ pocket " to see what had been caught^ were obliged to move their legs nimbly to escape the gin-like jaws of a good-sized alligator which had got into the weir after the fish^ and^ having devoured them^ could not escape. The pinnace-men cheered with delight, and proceeded at once to capture the prisoner. It was, however, a good tough job : the brute, some ten or twelve feet long, lay in the bottom of an enclosed space of about equal diameter ; the water was about three feet deep, and extremely muddy, rendered more so by the splashings and convulsions of the animal. Attempts were at first made to thrust sharp boarding- pikes down through his hide ; and from the height the seamen stood over the creature, and the weight they were able to bring to bear upon the pikes, it ap- peared probable that some weak spot would be found. But, no ; although sometimes eight or nine powerful men pressed down with as many pikes, the brute did not suffer a scratch ; and, incredible as it may ap- pear, more than one of oar boarding-pikes, strong as they are, were bent in the neck. It was evident that a soft spot must be sought for under his ** calipash,'^ as, in imitation of turtle, the men called his upper

64 STRENGTH AND VITALITY OP ALLIGATORS.

coat of armour. Every man armed himself with some weapon or other, and stirred up the alligator with a vengeance. He became perfectly furious, and lashed about his tail and snapped his jaws in a very spiteful manner: the fun waxed warm; the ** click" of the teeth as the mouth closed, sounded uncommonly un« pleasant, apart from the cracking of boat-hook staffs, and other articles, as if they were mere twigs. At last a good noose was slipped over the creature's head and hauled tight round his neck ; this enabled the seamen to administer a multitude of wounds which would have let Its life out had it had more than the usual number. But it was a long time before it was deemed suflSciently safe to be hauled out of the weir, and towed to one of the gun-boats to be dis- sected and skinned: and even then the muscular action of portions of the body, the tail especially, whilst being cut into pieces, was something extra- ordinary, and denoted how strong is the vitality of all this reptile tribe. I, and others, tasted a cutlet of alligator's flesh, and although it was not particularly nice, still there was nothing about it disagreeable : some compared it to very bad veal cutlets ; for my part, it tasted very much as turtle coUops would, which Is not saying much in its favour.

Observing the *^ Haggi " in quest of something.

STKANGE ANTIDOTE AGAINST FEVER. 65

I watched my surgical friend, and found him care- fully cutting open the head, to extract the brain. Through Jamboo, I asked what purpose it was to be applied to, and was informed, with a solemn shake of the head that would have qualified the Haggi for the College of Physicians, that *^ it was an invaluable remedy for all fevers I " I need not say that, great as my faitb was in the Koran and chunam-box of the holy mariner, I determined not to go through a course of alligator brains, come what might. Prior to our Christmas Day, the Mahometan fast*, or Lent, took place. Our Malays kept it in a parti- cularly lax manner; but our opponents in Quedah appeared to be far more orthodox, their devotions finding vent in a magnificent chaunt by male voices, which, heard in all the lonely stillness of a tropical night, was deeply impressive. Jadee assured me that the performers were men of undoubted sanctity, having all made the pilgrimage to Mecca, and kissed the tomb of their prophet, without which qualification they could not take part in what the English seamen sacrilegiously styled the "Quedah Opera." The conclusion of the fast was a general holiday in the

* During the month of Kahmadan, the Mussulman abstains from eating or drinking, smoking, or pleasure, from sunrise to sunset.

66 CHBISTMAS-DAT.

town and fort; a constant saluting and cheering took place, and men, women, and children were dressed in holiday attire, giving a great deal more animation to the tumble-down fort and the devoted town than we were wont to see them assume.

Then came our Christmas. The " Hyacinth" ran down to the Bountings, and captured some very fine turtle. Turtle-soup and plum-pudding galore were prepared ; and, like a hen gathering her chicks, we all sailed off from our blockading posts, and tumbled on board the dear old craft in time for an early dinner.

The Malay sailors got a holiday and a double allowance of rice and fish, and paid all due respect to the *^ white man's feast," whilst we talked over our adventures with shipmates and messmates, and hoped and prophesied for the future. As the evening closed in, all boat's crews were again piped away, and we rowed into Quedah, keeping time to the tune of some sentimental ditty, in which the lady of the sailor's love

" Was a rich mercliant*s daughter, From London she did come,'* &c. &c. ;

and winding up with a denouement far more comical than moral.

EFFORTS TO EVADE THE BLOCKADE. 67

Yet was our duty not all play or sightHBeeing. The Malays in Quedah had to dispose of their pro- duce at Penang, and procure, in return, arms, powder, and salt, and our duty was to prevent them. When- ever the night tides were high, combined with a misty state of the atmosphere likely to cover their escape through our cordon, prahus would push out, and, by keeping close under the shadow of the jungle, strive to escape our vigilance. Their lofty mat sails caught the faintest breath of land-breeze, the beauti- fully sharp bow of the prahus made hardly a ripple as it cut through the water, and it required the keenest eye to detect them when stealing thus along in silence and shadow. The quick sight and hearing of our Malays was in this respect invaluable : they had themselves been engaged in similar feats, and knew all the tricks of their compatriots. On more than one occasion did the look-out man call me at night, when, although a clear sky overhead, nothing but the tops of the trees could be seen peering over a white mist which poured like smoke out of the unhealthy mangrove swamps. " A prahu ! " the man would say, pointing into the mist, making a sign at the same time to listen. Holding my head low down and horizontally, I could at last distinguish what had caught the Malay's attention — a low creak occasion-

F 2

68 WATCHFULNESS OF MY NATIVE GBEW.

ally^ which I most decidedly should have thought to be the swaying of some branch in the forest^ had he not assured me that it was the action of a prahu's oar in a rattan grummet.* At other times a rippling sounds such as water will make when running past any fixed object, was wafted on the night wind. *^ It is merely the tide running past the fishing-weirs, Jamboo," I might perhaps say. ** Oh no, sir I " he would reply, ^^the look-K)ut man assures me the sound is altering its position, and that it 's the stem of a prahu cutting through the water." Silently and stealthily, but quickly, as men who had been all their lives at such work, the crew would be on their legs. '^ Baughan ! semoa-secalar, hancat sown ! " in a low and distinct whisper, would run along the deck ; or, in other words, *^ Arouse, ! hands up anchor ! " The anchor would be run up gently, and Numero Tega would be aft«r her prey like a night- hawk. We had to deal, however, with keen hands and fast boats; and often have I chased to early dawn before being sure of my prize.

♦ " Grummet," the piece of rope used for attaching an oar to the rowing-pin.

A NIGHT CHASE AFTER A PBAHU. 69

CHAP. VL

A Night Chase after a Prahu. — The Chase. — The Prahm maiKBUvres admirably. — Jadee volan tears to board her. — The Capture. — A Piratical Saint. — The Saint at Prayers. — The Saint's Deportment. — The Saint's Martyrdom. — Defensive Measures. — Escape of Siamese Prisoners. — Suf- ferings of the Siamese Prisoners. — A carious Mode of Sketching.

The pluck and zeal of my crew oft^n strack me, but never perhaps more than on the occasion I am about to relate.

We had had a long and unsuccessful chase one day after a fast-pulling prahu^ and the crew being much exhausted, I anchored for the night at the mouth of a small river called the Furlong, about two miles north of Quedah fort. Heartily tired with the past day's exertion, all my crew soon dropped asleep, except the usual look-out man, and I donned my blanket frock and trousers, and threw myself on the deck to rest. About ten o'clock I was aroused by a fine old one-eyed fellow called ^'Souboo,**

T 3

70 THE CHASE,

"Touhan!"* whispered he, *'a large two-masted prahu has just sailed past us 1" ^* Where ? — in what direction ?'* I asked. "To leeward, sir!" said Souboo, as he dropped upon his knees and peered along the water, over which the night mists were moving; "there she is — a real *capel prahu,' and sailing very fast." To up anchor and make sail to the land-breeze did not take many minutes; the sweeps were manned, and the guns cleared for action.

Whilst my little craft was flying through the water, I questioned Souboo as to how it was he first got sight of the prahu. " The wind was rather along the land than off it," said he, "and I was watching the mouth of the river, when suddenly happening to turn my head to seaward, I saw a prahu come out of the mist and almost tumble on board of us, as she hauled in for the stream ; but in a minute her course was changed, and she bore up for the southward with flowing sheets."

"All right,^' exclaimed Jadee, " we will have her — there is a twenty-mile run for her to the Bountings, and before that ground is gone over the fog will have cleared off and the wind fail." " How if she

* Touhan, in this sense, was equivalent to " Sir ;" it is generally used as Mr. would be in English.

THE PBAHU MANCEUVBES ADMIBABLT. 71

hauls up3 and goes to the northward ?** I suggested. *^ No Malay man tries to sail against the wind with a prahu^ when the white man is in chase of him, Touhanl" saidJadee; *^ and if Souboo's description of this vessel is correct, she is one of the war-prahus of Mahomet Alee's fleet I "

Under this pleasing anticipation, Jadee got quite excited ; and I must say I joined in the feeling, as the gun-boat listed to the breeze, and her dashing crew bent with a will to their oars. The zealous Campar handed to Jadee the longest and ugliest creese in his stock, and I observed all the men stick their short knives in their girdles ready for a fray* *^ No prahu yetl" I exclaimed, after running two or three miles through the mist. "We will catch her I " responded Jadee ; and almost aa he said the word, we seemed to be aboard of a large-sized prahu, running the same way as ourselves. There was a yell of delight from the Number Threes^ as my crew styled themselves, and one as of astonish- ment from the prahu ; but in a moment she, what is termed, jibbed her sails, and slipped out of sight again before we could dip our heavy yards and lug-sails. Altering our course so as to intercept her in her evident intention to seek a hiding-place in the Bounting Islands, the bow-gun was cleared away and

F 4

72 JADEE OFFERS TO BOARD THE PRAHU.

loaded with grape, ready to knock away her masts when another opportunity offered. Again we ran almost upon her, our sails being at the time boomed out " wing and wing." *^ Lower your sails, and sur- render!" Jadee shouted, as I fired, and brought down her mainsail. For a minute her capture seemed certain ; but we had to deal with no novice. As we shot past the prahu, going nearly eight knots, she dropped her foresail, put her helm hard down, and long before our sails could be furled and the gun- boat's head got round, the villanous prahu was out of sight astern. I fancy I swore ; for Jadee called the lost prize a " d — d poul," which she most de- cidedly was not, and added that he evidently was " a pig I and would not fight."

We still determined to adhere to our original course, confident of the prahu having no shelter nearer than the islands, and were rewarded as the mist cleared away by again sighting her. I soon saw that we were by far the faster sailer with the fresh breeze then blowing, and determined not to let her escape me this time. I proposed, if three or four men would follow me, to jump on board of her, and prevent her escape, until the gun-boat got fairly alongside. Jadee at once seized the idea, and only 80 far altered it as to persuade me, through the

THE CAPTURE. 73

assistance of the interpreter^ that the Malays in the prahu would be more likely to surrender quietly to a countryman who could assure them of quarter, than they would be at the sight of a naval officer, when fright alone might make them run a muck, and 'cause a needless loss of life.

Accordingly, Jadee and his three boarders stood ready at the bow, and, looking at them as they stood on the gunwale, eagerly eyeing the prahu as we rushed at her, they would have made a fine study for a painter. They were nearly naked, with the ex- ception of a sarong wrapped round the left arm, to ward off such blows as might be aimed at them ; in the waist-belt, across the small of their backs, each had stuck his creese, and a sharp short cutlass dangled from their wrists. Strange sights indeed do travellers see 1 but, for disinterested devotion and bravery, I question whether a finer example could be shown than that of these dark-skinned subjects of Queen Victoria.

As we closed the prahu, no answer was returned to our hail to surrender. '^ All ready!" said Jadee, swinging himself almost out of the rigging with eagerness. " Look out !" I shouted, and fired again at the sails. The prahu repeated her old manoeuvre, but we checkmated her this time, for as our side

74 THE CAPTURE.

scraped her stern, Jadee and his followers leapt into her with a shout. Our sails were down in a trice, and we swept alongside of the prize ; and, having heard so much as I had done of the desperate character of Malays, I was not a little delighted to find that they had, in this case, surrendered without resistance, directly Jadee made himself master of their helm, and announced his intention, with a vicious wave of his abominable creese, to maintain it against all comers until the gun-boat got alongside.

The vessel had been a war-prahu ; but her breast- work for the guns had been removed, and, in the peaceful character of a trader, she was, we afterwards found, employed to keep up the communication be- tween the Malay chieftains in Quedah province and their friends in Penang. The emissary upon this occasion we made a prisoner of; the vessel we re- spected as a trader, but forced her to return into Quedah.

The prisoner was a Malay of good extraction, and, having performed the pilgrimage to Mecca, wore the distinguished decoration of a considerable quantity of green calico about his head; apart from his sanctity, he was, as his able efforts to escape had proved, an expert sailor, and, doubtless, a most worthy member of his piratical fraternity. There

A PIRATICAL SAINT. 75

was something about the man particularly com- manding. He was tall and slight for a Malay^ and bore, like many of the higher caste in Malaya do, marks of Arab blood in his veins ; his face would have been good looking but for the high and square cheek-bones, and a fierce expression of the eye ; a small Vandyke-shaped beard, which was a mark of his holy rank, and a certain dignity of manner, showed him one accustomed to command ; and it amused me to see with what self-possession he was prepared, although my prisoner, to exercise his au- thority upon my men, who instinctively obeyed him as they would do their master.

I did not, however, show any great awe for his piratical saintship, much to Jadee's astonishment ; for although my coxswain's knowledge of the creed of the faithful was but a mere glimmering, still he had vague superstitious fears about it, which would have made me laugh had Jadee not been so much in earnest about them. Out of consideration for Jadee's fears as to the evil consequences likely to arise through the imprisoned Haggi's influence with divers demons, spirits, et cetera, I consented that, whenever the position of the gun-boat brought the direction of the prophet's tomb over the stern, the Haggi might, in pursuance of the established form of Mahomet-

76 THE SAINT AT PRAYERS.

anisra^ bring his carpet on the quarter-deck, and pray; at other times he was to remain forward. Accordingly, at the hour of prayer, the pirate-saint would stalk along to the stem of the gun-boat, spread his little carpet, turn towards Mecca, or, rather, the direction in which it lay, and then, indif- ferent to who were looking at him, or whatever might be going on, enter upon his devotions with a zeal and abstraction from the little world around him which could not but command admiration from men of any creed. His orisons finished, he returned to his place with the dignity of a rajah.

He never made the slightest effort to conciliate either my good-will or that of any of my crew. I was evidently a Giaour, an infidel, and the Malays around me renegades ; but I rather admired him for this independence, and took good care nothing should occur to offend his religious scruples, so far as he per- sonally was concerned. Perhaps, in time, we should have appreciated each other better ; for, on my one day notifying to him that he was to proceed to Penang, to stand upon his trial before Governor Bonham, he relaxed for a few minutes, clasped both hands together, made a low bow, and " Hoped God would be with me, and that I should walk in health I " expressions which I cordially returned ;

I>£F£NSiy£ MEASURES. 77

and so we parted. From what I afterwards heard, I had reason to believe the ** Company Sahib" had a long account with this holy man, and that, with some others, he was to be seen in after years innocently employed sweeping and keeping in order the fortifi- cations of Fort William at Calcutta. A bevy of houris in the world to come will doubtless reward him for the injury he has suffered from the infidel in this.

Towards the commencement of the new year, our attention was called to a strong working party being seen every day to leave the fort, and proceed to clear away the jungle which had grown up close round the works ; this done, they commenced the construc- tion of an admirable battery, which flanked our anchorage as well as the landward side of Quedah fort. Observing that this working party was strongly guarded, we learnt, on inquiry from the fishermen, that the labourers were unfortunate Siamese — men, women, and children — who had been captured when the province was conquered by the Malays, and that the work they were now doing was merely to keep them out of mischief. We, however, plainly saw that the chiefs had some cause for anxiety, and anti- cipated an attack, though how or whence we had as yet no certain intelligence. We took some pains to get information carried to these poor creatures of

78 ESCAPE OP SIAMESE PRISONERS.

our readiness to give them shelter, and shortly after- wards two Siamese effected their escape under diflS- cult circumstances. The musquito squadron were just on the point of separating to take up their stations for the night — a step we always took care to carry out after dark, in order that the enemy might not know our position — when a voice was heard to hail us from a long -tongue of mud which ran out to seaward from the northern point of the river. At first it was supposed to be the whoop of a night-hawk, but it was repeated, and our men declared it to be the voice of either Chinese or Siamese. Mr. Jamboo was called for, and, in a dialect which was so unmusical as to resemble the sounds emitted by knocking two hard pieces of wood together, he soon ascertained that they were two Siamese men who had escaped from the Malays, and in an attempt to cross the mud-fiat had sunk into it exhausted, and unless we could reach them would assuredly be drowned or devoured by the alligators upon the return of the tide. The pinnace was now forced in as near as possible to the mud-bank, and three or four of the English seamen having volunteered to assist the unfortunates, they stripped themselves, and aided by oars and boards slipped over the mud to where the Siamese were fairly bogged, pulled

XnEIB BUFFERINGS. 79

them out by sheer strength and activity^ and brought them off amidst the cheers of all our party. The blue-jackets washed them^ and clothed their shiver- ing frames in sailors' frocks and trousers, persuaded them to drink a glass of raw Jamaica rum each, and then, with considerable truth, said, half-laughing, " Why, Jack, your mother would not know you I" — a remark the Siamese would probably have ac- quiesced in, had they understood the rough but good-natured fellows.

The tale of the Siamese was soon told : they were father and son, and had originally entered the pro- vince of Quedah from the neighbourhood of Bankok. At the time of the Malay inroad, the father was a petty merchant, barber, and painter, at an island called Liancdvi. They were made prisoners, or rather slaves ; worked like horses, starved, and con- stantly saw their countrymen creesed before their eyes. They escaped, stole a boat, and sailed with her across to the mainland, by following the coast of which they knew they must reach English terri- tory. At last they observed our ship in the offing, and rightly conjecturing that some of her boats would be found off Quedah, had happily succeeded in reaching us without being seen by the lynx-eyed look-outs of Quedah.

80 CURIOUS MODE OF 8KETGHINQ.

They stayed some days with us, and appeared anxious to evince their gratitude in every possible way. The old man, as a Siamese artist, presented each officer with specimens of his skill; the most remarkable point in his sketches being the fact of his wonderful departure from all our preconceived notions of drawing.

For instance, in a pencil sketch of Buddha, drawn for me, in which that divinity is represented reposing upon one leg, and looking uncommonly like Canova's famed figure of a dancing-girl reposing, and almost as unnatural, the draughtsman commenced with the toes and worked gradually up to the gorgeous head- dress, yet preserving a just proportion in all the parts of the figure ; as a whole, the result may be said to have been more curious than pleasing. When the Siamese eventually proceeded to Penang, they left us favourably impressed with their disposition and ability, although they evidently lacked the energy of character which marked the Malays about us.

ANXIETY OF COMMANDING OFFICER. 81

CHAP. VIL

The Anxiety of the Officer commanding the Blockade. — In- telligence received of the Pirate Fleet. — My good Fortune in sailing with so excellent a Captain. — A Tropical Thunder- storm* — « Jadee kills the Wind. — How Jadee learnt to kill the Wind. — The Dutch generally disliked. — Jadee*s Pira- tical Friends attack a Junk. — The Defeat and Flight of Jadee's Friends. — They are saved by the Rajah of Jehore. — KUling the Wind.

Our enterprising captain in the " Hyacinth'* had, aa it may be supposed, a very anxious time. The extent of coast to be blockaded was not less than fifty or sixty miles in extent much of it but little known ; nu- merous islands, rivers, and creeks existed of which charts and surveyors had no cognizance. He knew well that a large force of prahus and armed men were in the province ; their exact whereabouts, how- ever, was preserved a perfect secret, and Captain Warren's fear was, lest they should fall upon his boats or the gun-boats with vastly superior forces, and carry off an easy victory. The " Hyacinth" there- fore, like a troubled spirit, was ever flitting up and

G

82 INTELLIGENCE OP PIRATE FLEET.

down between Quedah and a spot of equal impor- tance called the Parlis River, situated twenty miles farther north, and in the entrance of which the ship's cutter and No. 1. gun-boat, the Diamond, were sta- tioned. In the second week of January, information was received that a considerable number of the war- prahus seen by us at Trang during the previous autumn, had succeeded, under their renowned leader, Datoo Mahomet Alee, in getting into the Parlis River, and were employed in the defence of that neighbour-* hood. It became therefore necessary to reinforce the Parlis blockading force, and I was ordered to proceed there for that purpose. Delighted at the prospect of seeing more of this interesting country, my craft was soon under weigh and spinning along the coast, which, to the northward of Quedah River, rapidly improved in appearance; the picturesque group of islands known as the Lancavas, and beyond them the Laddas, lying to seaward, and spurs of mountain land from the central chain ap- proaching close to the coast of the mainland.

All, at any rate, was bright and beautiful to me : placed, young as I was, in a position of trust and responsibility ; enjoying all the sweets of command, and still too young to feel its anxieties, it was indeed the sunny side of the world that I was then enjoying;

MY EXCELLENT CAPTAIN. 83

and as, vfith a throbbing pulse and zealous heart, I walked my own quarter-deck, how earnest, in all the honesty of youth, were my resolutions to deserve well of my profession, and those set in authority over me. Fortunate are those boys who, like me, sail their first trip as embryo admirals with such a cap- tain as mine was ; a gentleman in all things ; labour- ing in his profession quietly and earnestly ; not, upon the one hand, scorning it as being beneath his birth or abilities ; or, upon the other, degrading himself into a mere menial, and working for the dirty pounds^ shillings, and pence it would yield him. The mid- shipman who sails and learns his profession with such a man may perhaps, in after life, suffer when he happens to be under the tyrant, schemer, or bully — for, alas ! such will be found in every noble profession; but those principles early acquired will ever be a solace to him, and the love and recollection of such a man console him and cheer him in the hope of emu- lating his example.

As we approached a long low point named Tan- gong Bouloo, or the Cape of Bamboos, from the numbers of those canes which were waving gracefully over it, my attention was called to the necessity of preparing for a heavy squall which was rapidly sweeping down towards us from the distant hill8«

G 2

84 A TROPICAL THUNDEBSTOBM.

As the wind freshened^ we reduced canvass until the " Emerald" was flying along under a close-reefed foresail, everything cracking withal. The squall swept on ; a dense black mass of clouds, charged with electricity, a burst of thunder which seemed to make the gun*boat tremble to her very keel, and a vivid flash of lightning which blinded one for a minute^ showed how close it was. The tall trees bent to the gale, the bamboos were swept down like a long row of feathers, and a white streak of foam rushed towards ns as we took in our sail, and prepared to receive it under bare poles. With a shriek it struck us ; the little " Emerald" lay down to it for a moment, the helm was put up, and away she flew before the storm like a snow-flake. Jadee stood by my side, " A bad wind, Touhan ; we must kill it I " *^ Kill away I Jadee," I replied, laughing at the idea of so fickle a personage as the Clerk of the Weather getting into a scrape with a Malay pirate, — *^ kill away, by all means 1" " Cam- par 1" shouted Jadee — poor Campar I he had to be everywhere — " oh I Campar, thou son of a burnt mother, hand here the rice-spoon I" shouted Jadee, looking as solemn as a quaker or a haggi. This rice- spoon, by the way, was the only one in the vessel ; it was made of wood, and used for stirring the rice whilst cooking over the fire ; its value to us may-be

JADEE KILLS THE WIND ! 85

invested it with a certain degree of sanctity. The spoon was brought^ and I tried to look as solemn as Jadee, who^ calling to his aid the sanctimonious Alee^ placed the spoon upon the deck between him and the wind^ and the pair of true believers repeated some verses over it — bound themselves, by a vow, to sacrifice several game-cocks* upon a favourable occa- sion, and then the precious spoon was stuck through the lanyards of the main rigging, with the handle to leeward. I think I should have died from the efTects of suppressed mirth, had not the fury of the squall and the quantity of water thrown on board of us given me enough to do to look after the safety of the craft. Jadee, however, sat quietly watching and waiting for the efiect of his incantation : at last, down came the rain, not in drops, but in bucketsful, and, as usual, the wind fell entirely. Hastening to get under the rain-awnings and mats until the weather cleared up, I remarked to Jadee that " the wind was fairly killed." " Yes 1" he replied, with a sly expression of countenance, **I never saw that charm fail; I never saw the wind that could long stand its efiect. The Bajah of Jehore was the first man who taught it to me, and I have found it infal-

* I fancy from game-cocks being introduced into this super- stitious observance, that it is purely of Malay origin,

a 3

86 HOW JABEE LEABNT TO KILL THE WIND.

lible. If Jamboo was here, Touhan, I'd tell you how it happened." Jamboo was at once sent for; and making a proviso that my coxswain should speak slowly and distinctly, so as to enable me to call in the interpreter's aid as little as possible, he proceeded to tell his tale, somewhat as follows : —

** Long before that action with the English man-of- war which drove me to Singapore, I sailed in a fine fleet of prahus belonging to the Rajah of Jehore.* We were all then very rich — ah I such numbers of beautiful wives, and such feasting ! — but, above all, we had a great many most holy men in our force ! When the proper monsoon came, we proceeded to sea to fight the Bugismen and Chinamen bound from Borneo and the Celebes to Java ; for you must re- member our Bajah was at war with them (Jadee always maintained that the proceedings in which he had been engaged partook of a purely warlike, and not of a piratical character).

'* Our thirteen prahus had all been fitted out in and about Singapore. I wish you could have seen them, Touhan I These prahus we see here are nothing to

* I have said the Rajah of Jehore ; but Jadee called the in- dividual bj some peculiar term not easily spelt, and described his place of abode and hiding-place as being near Cape Bomania, in the Jehore district.

THE DUTCH GENEBALLT DISLIKED. 87

them ; — such brass guns; such long pendants ; such creeses I Allah-il- Allah I our Datoos were indeed great men I

'^ Sailing along the coast up as high as Patani^ we then crossed over to Borneo, two lUanoon prahus acl^ ing as pilots, and reached a place called Sambas : there we fought the Chinese and Dutchmen, who ill-treat our countrymen, and are trying to drive the Malays out of that country. Gold-dust and slaves in large quantities were here taken ; most of the latter being our countrymen of Sumatra and Java, who are cap- tured and sold to the planters and miners of the Dutch settlements."

" Do you mean to say," I asked, " that the Dutch countenance such traflSc ? "

" The Hollanders," replied Jadee, " have been the

bane of the Malay race ; no one knows the amount of

villany, the bloody cruelty of their system towards

us. They drive us into our prahus to escape their

taxes and their laws, and then declare us pirates,

and put us to death. There are natives in our

crew, Touhan, of Sumatra and Java, of Bianca and

Borneo ; ask them why they hate the Dutchmen ;

why they would kill a Dutchman. It is because

the Dutchman is a fuhe man, not like the white man

(English). The Hollander stabs in the dark: he

a 4

88 jadee's pibate fleet

is a liar I However, from Borneo we sailed to Bi- liton and Bianca, and there waited for some large junks that were expected. Our cruise had been so far successful, and we feasted away, — fighting cocks, smoking opium, and eating white rice. At last our scouts told us that a junk was in sight. She came ; a lofty-sided one of Fokien. We knew those Amoy men would fight like tiger-cats for their sugar and silks ; and, as the breeze was fresh, we only kept her in sight by keeping close in shore and following her. Not to frighten the Chinamen, we did not hoist sail, but made our slaves pull. Oh I" said Jadee, warming up with the recollection of the event, — "oh I it was fine to feel what brave fellows we then were I

" Towards night we made sail, and closed upon the junk, and at daylight it fell a stark calm, and we went at our prize like sharks. All our fighting men put on their war dresses ; the lUanoons danced their war dance, and all our gongs sounded, as we opened out to attack her on difierent sides.

" But those Amoy men are pigs I They burnt joss- papcr, sounded their gongs, and received us with such showers of stones, hot water, long pikes, and one or two well-directed shots, that we hauled oiF to try the effect of our guns ; sorry though we were to

^f'^mmmmmmmmm^^^^^'^'f^f^.

ATTACK A JUNK. 89

:A#^ do it; for it was sure to bring down the Dutchmen upon us. Bang I bang I we fired at them, and they at us ; three Iiours did we persevere^ and whenever we tried to board, the Chinese beat us back every time, for her side was as high and smooth as a wall, with galleries overhanging. We had several men killed and hurt ; a council was called ; a certain charm was performed by one of our holy men, a famous chief, and twenty of our best men devoted themselves to effecting a landing on the junk's deck, when our look-out prahus made the signal that the Dutchmen were coming; and sure enough some Dutch gun-boats came sweeping round a headland. In a moment we were round and pulling like demons for the shores of Biliton, the gun-boats in chase of us, and the Chinese howling with delight. The sea- breeze freshened, and brought up a schooner-rigged boat very fast : we had been at work twenty-four hours, and were heartily tired ; our slaves could work no longer, so we prepared for the Hollanders ; they were afraid to close upon us, and commenced firing at a distance. This was just what we wanted ; we had guns as well as they, and, by keeping up the fight until dark, we felt sure of escape. The Dutch- men, however, knew this too, and kept closing gra- dually upon us, and when they saw our prahus

90 PIRATES ENGAGE A DUTCH FLOTILLA.

baling out water and blood, they knew we were BufTering, and cheered like devils. We were desi)e- rate ; surrender to Dutchmen we never would : we closed together for mutual support, and determined at last, if all hope ceased of escape, to run our prahus ashore, bum them, and lie hid in the jungle until a future day. But a brave Datoo, with his shat- tered praliu, saved us ; he proposed to let the Dutch- men board her, creese all that did so, and then trust to Allah for his escape.

^' It was done immediately ; we all pulled a short distance away, and left the brave Datoo's prahu like a wreck abandoned. How the Dutchmen yelled, and fired into her ! The slaves and cowards jumped out of the prahu, but our braves kept quiet ; at last, as we expected, one gun-boat dashed alongside of their prize, and boarded her in a crowd : then was the time to see how the Malay man could fight ; the creese was worth twenty swords, and the Dutchmen went down like sheep. We fired to cover our coun- trymen, who, as soon as their work was done, jumped overboard, and swam to us; but the brave Datoo, with many more, died, as brave Malays should do, running a muck against a host of enemies.

" The gun-boats were quite scared by this punish- ment, and we lost no time in getting as nipidly away

FLIGHT OF JADEE'S COMPANIOKB. 91

as possible ; but the accursed schooner, by keeping more in the offing, held the wind, and preserved her position, signalling all the while for the gun-boats to follow her. We did not want to fight any more ; it was evidently an unlucky day. On the opposite side of the channel to that we were on, the coral reefs and shoals would prevent the Hollanders following us: it was determined at all risks to get there in spite of the schooner. With the first of the land-wind in the evening, we set sail before it, and steered across for Bianca. The schooner placed herself in our way like a clever sailor, so as to turn us back ; but we were determined to push on, take her fire, and run all risks.

^^ It was a sight to see us meeting one another ; but we were desperate: we had killed plenty of Dutchmen ; it was their turn now. I was in the second prahu, and well it was so; for when the head- most one got close to the schooner, the Dutchman fired all his guns into her, and knocked her at once into a wrecked condition. We gave one cheer, fired our guns, and then pushed on for our lives. Ah I sir, it was a dark night indeed for us. Three prahus in all were sunk, and the whole force dispersed. To add to our misfortunes, a strong gale sprang up. We were obliged to carry canvass; our prahu leaked from

f

92 THE PIRATES SAVED BY THE BAJAH.

shot-holes ; the sea continually broke into her ; we dared not run into the coral reefs on such a night, and bore up for the Straits of Malacca. The wounded writhed and shrieked in their agony, and we had to pump, we fighting men, and bale like black fellows 1 By two in the morning, we were all worn out. I felt indiflferent whether I was drowned or not, and many threw down their buckets, and sat down to die. The wind increased, and at last, as if to put us out of our misery, just such a squall as this came down upon us. I saw it was folly con- tending against our fate, and followed the general example. *God is great 1' we exclaimed; but the Eajah of Jehore came and reproved us : ^ Work until daylight,' he said, *and I will ensure your safety.' We pointed at the black storm which was approaching. *Is that what you fear?' he replied, and, going below, he produced just such a wooden spoon, and did what you have seen me do ; and I tell you, my captain, as I would if the * Company Sahib ' stood before me, that the storm was nothing, and that we had a dead calm one hour afterwards, and were saved. God is great, and Mahomet is his Prophet ! — ^but there is no charm like the Jehore one for killing the wind I "

It did not take as long to tell as it does to write

KILLING THE WIND I 93

this odd tale ; and it would be impossible to try to give an idea of how my coxswain's feelings were carried away with the recital of his narrative^ or how genuine and child-like the credulity of the old pirate. I wrote it down as a strange episode in Malay life, and possibly the prescription may get me a medal from the College of Physicians, even if it should be declared valueless by European navigators in general.

94 RBFBESHINO EFFECTS OF A SQUALL.

CHAP. VIIL

Refresliing effects of a Squall in the Tropics. — Scenery in the Malay Archipelago. — My Gun-boat " The Emerald " joins the Parlis Blockading Squadron. — The Malays try to Stockade us out of the Kiver. — Haggi Loung comes on an Embassy. — Malayan Diplomacy. — Jadee's disregard for a Flag of Truce. — Jadee and the one-eyed Enemy. — A Spy* — The Chase by Starlight. — The submerged Jungle. — An Indian Night*Scene. — The Chase lost. — The Whip and Mangrove Snakes.

Again we made sail and sped on our way. How nature revives in those equatorial climes, after the revivifying effect of such a squall as we had just experienced t Animate and inanimate objects gain fresh life as it were from the action of the passing storm ; the very sea glittered in the sunlight with a brighter and a deeper blue, and the forest-clad sides of the surrounding mountains looked even more gorgeous than was their wont, as they shone in all the thousand shades of which green and gold are susceptible. Away to the northward stretched a labyrinth of islands of every size and shape — some

SCENERY IN MALAYAN ARCHIPELAGO. 95

still wrapt in storm-clouds, others bathed in refulgent light, or softened by distance into ** summer isles of Eden lying in dark purple spheres of sea." In short, it realised at such a moment all one's briglitest dreams of the East ; and it required but little imagi- nation to people it with bloody pirates and fleet- footed prahus, in warring with whom I amongst others was to win bright honour.

At the base of a range of hills which bound the broad valley of Quedah on the north, the river Parlis discharges itself over a bar into the Indian Ocean. I hauled in for it, and soon had the satisfaction of shaking the gallant Barclay by the hand.

The river at its mouth was divided, by a small island half a mile long, into two branches. This island, called ** Pulo Quetam," or Crab Island, by the natives, served for a dockyard, drying- ground, and place of recreation to our little force, and, to« gether with the fact of a large fleet of war-prahua being up the river, under the command of one of the most enterprising of pirates, gave to the blockade here a degree of interest which Quedah did not possess.

Our force consisted of two gun-boats and a ship's cutter, carrying altogether four guns, and about seventy men. The Malays far outnumbered us.

0^ MT cry-BOAT jonrs nr

sotd D&too Mabosiet Alee hsA sent a derisiTe me^ sacr^s to say be oould asd sLould go in or om of lb* rivfcT wbeuerer it £iihed bis ODnTeme&ce. Tbe

cciB£tf?qi2eiroe v^ss, ve Hred in nkomentaiy expectation oi a ioi2gb lurtion with a set of beroes vbo bad alreaar foa;:ht ibe boats of H. M. S. "Zetra" and

'^ RfSft'^ on fomjer oocaaions, and allowed them no decided Ldvantage.

Dcnng tLe day we nsed to lie t<^ther in tbe i>orLii£;m eutraioe of tbe river, bnt at nigbt I was detz&c^ed to bjo'jkade tbe dontbem branch, and pre- TCLl all ingress and egreas hj even tbe fishermen. Uiitn tbe arriral of tbe ** Emerald" this measure bad been impraddcable, and ii gaxe great nmbrage to tbe enemy. A pangleman, or jietiy chief, was tbcrefore seot dc^wn from tbe town of Parlis. stnated twelve mDfis njt the stream, to try and indnoe ns to deast. Tbe ambassador was not wanting in skilL He said tiiat Mahomet Alee sent all bealtb to tbe officer in ccjmmand of the English gnn-lioats, and iKjgged to assure bim tbat tbe presence of a vessel in the south branch of tbe river was an unnecessarv measure, and an act of discourtesy wbich be boped would cease. He knew from experience tbat ithite men i Orang-jmtihsii never wantonly frightened women or children, but tbat my vessel rowing round to ber

THE BLOCKADE OF PARLIS. 97

station every night had only that effect ! The pan- gleman alluded here to the inhabitants of a small village, situated in the fork of the river, which I had to pass nightly.

Lastly, Mahomet Ali begged to remind us that such a ridiculous force as we were, was merely tolerated, and that we should not do as we liked.

Mr. Barclay, our senior officer, gave a concise answer. That he should do his duty as he pleased, and that the women and children would cease to fear when they found we did them no harm ; and lastly, the sooner Datoo Mahomet Ali put his threat into execution the better pleased we should all be.

We never understood what Mahomet All's real motive was ; but as if to show us that he did not care about the south channel being open or not, he took advantage of my absence one night, whilst chasing a prahu, to send a strong party of men down, who actually stockaded that branch entirely across, much to the astonishment of my brother officer, who found it completed in the morning. I was told of it on my return, and he gave me full permission to do what I pleased, to show our indifference to the authority or temper of ** Mahomet Ali." I accordingly went round, and finding we could not easily otherwise remove the stakes, I lashed the

II

98 ATTEMPT TO STOCKADE THE BIYEB.

gun-boat to them at dead low water, and as the tide rose she lifted them out as easily as feathers, and on the ebb-tide we sent them floating to sea. Again did the enemy watch for an opportunity, and again did I uproot their stockade ; the expenditure of labour being but slight on our side, whilst with them the skill, energy, and labour necessary to construct such a work, although merely formed of the stems of young trees from the neighbouring jungle, were Tery remarkable.

Several messages of a very uncivil nature came to our commanding officer, to which equally un- courteous answers were returned.

One day the other gun-boat, the "Diamond," and the cutter had been obliged to weigh and proceed to sea in chase of prahus, leaving my vessel alone in the river. About noon two long row-boats, called sampans, with ten or twelve persons in eacli, swept suddenly round the point ahead, and made direct fur us. Jadee saw them immediately, and his eyes glistened at the prospect of their intentions being warlike. Whatever their original purpose was, they were peaceable enough when they saw us all under arms; Jadee, however, as a precautionary measure, putting on his fighting jacket, a long sleeveless one of red cloth, sufficiently quilted to turn the edge of

HAQGI LOUNG'S EMBASSY. 99

a <^badi."* The leading canoe was hailed at pistol- shot distance, and called upon to state her mission. We were informed that they came with a communi- cation from Datoo Mahomet Ali, the bearer being no less a personage than his second in commandi a man called " Haggi Loung,'*

The canoe in which the Haggi was seated, was per- mitted to come alongside^ and she had eyidently a picked crew, armed to the teeth ; and I had no doubt that my serang was right in saying that, had they found the gun-boat with half a crew on shore, as was usually the case about noon, the reverend Haggi and his comrades were to have essayed her capture. However, I received the gentleman with all the dignity a youth could muster, although I was some- what piqued at the supercilious smile which played on the face of Haggi Loung as he eyed the pocket edition of the white man before him.

Loung was rather tall, with square shoulders and bony limbs, evincing undoubted capability for en- forcing those maxims of the Koran which his high forehead and intellectual countenance showed he possessed mental capacity for acquiring and incul* eating.

* A "badi" is a small stabbing-knife, used in a close figbty or to administer a coup de grace to an enemy.

H 2:

100 MALAY DIPLOMACY.

Seating ourselves in a circle, consisting of Haggi Loung and his secretary, with Jadee on one side of me and the interpreter on the other, we proceeded to business. The message — if ever one was sent, which I strongly question — when divested of Eastern orna- ment and circumlocution, amounted merely to an attempt to persuade me to believe that the blockade of the southern branch of the river was totally need- less, and that the best proof that it was so, consisted in the fact of their having stockaded it across them- selves; and they begged I would not touch that stockade.

I told him, **He had already received an an- swer from my superior officer upon these points; I had nothing to add; and that Mahomet Ali must remember that, as English officers merely acted from a sense of duty, and in obedience to orders, I hoped the next time he asked me a favour it would be one that I could grant."

The Haggi wanted to discuss the point; but as the arguments passed for the most part through the medium of Jadee and the interpreter, I suppose they lost their point, for I kept my ground.

Failing in this respect, he gradually turned the conversation to the prospect of the Siamese regaining the province of Quedah, and with much finesse led

i

JADEE AND A FLAG OP TRUCE. 101

me into the error of believing that the Siamese army had been repulsed at all points. I now sent for boiled rice and fish, which I ordered to be set before the Haggi ; and Jadee proceeded, by my desire, to see that the Malays in the canoes had food supplied to them, though, from the expression of his face whilst so employed, I could plainly observe that he would have far preferred blowing them from the muzzle of the bow gun. Watching his opportunity, Jadee made a quiet sign that he wished to speak to me, and when I went to him, hurriedly said, " Now, sir, now is our opportunity ; capture this man ; send his canoes away to say so, and tell IVIahomet Ali we are alone this afternoon, and that Numero Tega will fight him at once I " I pointed out to Jadee that the challenge might be very well, but that the capture of Loung was out of the question, as he had come to us in the sacred character of a messenger. Jadee could not understand it at all, and walked away muttering something in which I heard, ^^ Mahomet Ali — pigs — and poltroons " generally mixed up.

Haggi Loung was all smiles and civility, little thinking how hostile a proposition had just been made against him, and shortly afterwards rose to depart ; an event I rather hastened, as it was impossible, witli such inflammable materials as his crews and mine

H 3

102 JADEE AND THE ONE-EYED ENEMY.

were composed of, to tell the moment a disturbance might take place. Jadee was rustling about like a game-cock ready for a row ; and I saw him, and a wild-looking Malay who steered one of the canoes, exchanging glances and curls of the lip which be- tokened anything but amity. Desiring Jadee to do something at the other side of the gun-boat, I wished Haggi Loiing " Good-bye," and had just lost sight of them round the point when my serang came aft, all smiles and sunshine : to my queries he only smiled mysteriously, and replied I should soon know ; and as this evidently referred to something connected with our late visitors, I began to have my fears lest a pleasant divertissement, in the shape of a creese fight, had been arranged between him and the Orson from Parlis.

Directly it fell dark, our consorts rejoined us ; and whilst all the vessels were lashed together, prior to taking up their night positions, one of the look-out men maintained that a long canoe had crossed the river above us, his quick eye having sighted her as she darted over the bright streak of light which gleamed between the gloomy shadows of either side. From one of our prizes we had captured a long fairy-like canoe, scooped out of the trunk of a tree : with six paddles she would fly through the water. Barclay

A SPY. — THE CHASB BY STABLIOHT. 103

and I jumped into her at once, and, with a mixed crew of Malays and Englishmen, gave chase to the stranger. It was top of high water, or nearly so ; the tide as usual had overflowed all the B^hbouring land (except the high patch of ground on which stood the little village previously referred to), and the dark stems of the mangrove and other trees, which seemed to flourish in an amphibious life, stretched away on either hand from the river in a black and endless labyrinth.

A few deep and silent strokes brought us up almost noiselessly to the spot where the stranger had been seen to cross, although we were in the shadow on the opposite side of the river ; the paddles were laid across our boat, and the steersman fdone kept her going gently up the stream. We were all eyes; now looking in among the dark waters, out of which rose the black and solemn trunks of the trees; now eagerly gazing across to the opposite side of the river. Almost instinctively, we all pdinted, with- out speaking a word, to a canoe twice as long as our own, which had evidently seen us, and was apparently waiting to see whether we were in search of her, or for us to show our intentions. We did not keep them long in suspense.

H 4

104 THE SUBMERGED JUNGLE.

((

Give way," exclaimed Barclay, "and get above them I *' In a moment our paddles struck the water, and our craft seemed to lift and jump at every stroke. The other canoe was not idle; for a few minutes it was doubtful which would win, and wc could hear the men cheering one another on to exertion. " A scout I a scout I " exclaimed our Ma- lays ; '* the prahus will be down when the ebb«*tide makes I '' I told Barclay this. " I hope to God they will I " he exclaimed ; " we shall be ready for them!" We now began to head the canoe: as soon as we saw we could do that, Barclay got his musket ready, and gave orders, directly he fired, for the helmsman to steer diagonally across the stream, 80 as to get on the same side as the craft we were in chase of.

Taking a deliberate aim at the scout canoe he fired, and we with a shout struck across for her, hoping eitlier to lay her alongside or drive her back ujK)n the gun-^boats ; but we had counted without our host, and the Malays of our party gave a yell of dit^st as the enemy disappeared as it were into the jungle. We were soon on her heels, and guided l»y the sound she made in forcing through the mangrove swamp, held our course: now aground upon the stnuldling legs of a mangrove tree; then pushing

AN INDIAN NIGHT-SCENE. 105

through a thicket^ out of which the affrighted birds flew shrieking ; then listening to try and distinguish the sound of the flying canoe from all the shrill whistles^ chirrups^ and drumming noises, which render an Indian jungle far more lively by night than by day. Once or twice we thought we were fast catch- ing her, when suddenly our canoe passed from the mangrove swamp into an open forest of trees, which rose in all their solemn majesty from the dark waters. We saw our chance of success was now hopeless, for the scout canoe had fifty avenues by which to baffle us, and terra firma was, we knew, not far distant. It was a strange and beautiful scene. The water was as smooth as burnished steel, and reflected, wherever the trees left an opening, the thousand stars which strewed the sky : the tall stems of the forest trees rose from this glittering surface, and waved their sable plumes* over our heads ; whilst the fire-fly, or some equally luminous insect, occasionally lit up first one tree and then another, as if sparks of liquid gold were being emitted from the rustling leaves.

Silently we lay on our oars, or rather pad- dles ; not a sound of the flying canoe could be heard : it was evident that the scout had escaped, and it only remained for us to make the best of

106 THE WHIP AND MANGROVE SNAKES.

our way back again — a task which, in the ab- sence of all excitement, we found an extremely tough one; indeed, we grounded so often on the roots of the mangrove trees, that I proposed to wade through the mud and water, dragging the canoe after us. To this, however, the Malays would in nowise listen, and spoke so earnestly of the danger arising from a particular kind of snake, that we thought it better to listen to them — a piece of wisdom upon our part which gave rise to some con- gratulations on the morrow, when, in company with our advisers, we visited the mangrove swamp, and found in the fork of many of the trees a perfect nest of snakes. These, the Malays assured us, were very venomous, yet the reptiles were not above a foot or eighteen inches long, and about the girth of a man's little finger ; the greatest peculiarity being strong black markings about the body, which gave them an appearance somewhat in keeping with their bad reputation. Having, like most youths, read every book which I could get hold of, descriptive of wild beast, bird, and reptile, I, from my reading, had been led to believe that the whip-snake was everywhere most dangerous ; and I must say — when I observed a number of these long green-coloured creatures hanging like tendrils from the trees we

THE WHIP AND MANGROVE SNAKES. 107

had in the darkness of the previous night been pushing our way through — I felt thankful for our escape. Touching one of the Malays who were with me, I pointed at them and said, " They are very bad." He smiled, and assured me they were not by any means so dangerous as those in the forks of the trees in the mangrove swamps.

108 MAHOMET ALEE DOES NOT ATTACH.

CHAP. IX.

Mahomet Alee does not attack. — Start Crane shooting. — Day- break in Malayia.— The Adjutant. — The " old Soldier ! "— The " old Soldier " fishing. — The " old Soldier " weathers a young Sailor. — No Cranes. — Plenty of Monkeys. — Monkeys in a Passion. — A sudden Chase of a Prahu. — Birds'-Nests anil Pulo Bras Manna. — The edible-nest -building Swallow, HU rundo esculenta ; Food ; Habits. — Decide upon seeing the Nests collected. — Difficulties in the way of doing so. — Jam- boo enjoying Company's pay. — Jamboo remonstrates. — A scramble for Birds'-Nests. — The Malays descend the Face of the Cliff. — The Home of the edible-nest-building Swallow. — The Birds'-Nest Trade. — The Nests composed of Ge- latin.

The chase by night was followed by no general attack from the piratical fleets and we surmised that the scouts^ having found us on the " qui vive^^ had reported unfavourably of the probability of sur- prising the blockading squadron^ — a surmise which the inhabitants of the neighbouring village , after- wards confirmed.

One middle watch in January, the look-out man awoke me, and told me my sampan and gun were ready as I had desired.

START CRANE-SHOOTING. 109

I could hardly conceive it possible to feel so cold and cheerless at the short distance of 200 miles from the equator as I then did. The mist of the early night had fallen in the shape of dew> wetting the decks and awnings as if it had been raining heavily ; and a light breeze blowing down from the Pivtani Hills struck a chill into my bones^ already stiffened by sleeping upon a hard and damp deck.

Day had as yet hardly dawned^ but I was anxious to try and get a shot at some flocks of elegant white cranes of a small size which nightly roosted on a clump of trees about a mile distant from my anchorage ; and my only chance of being able to get sufficiently near, was to be there before they flew off to their feeding-grounds. Half lamenting I had troubled myself with any such sporting mania^ yet unwilling to let the Malay see what a lazy individual his captain was, I threw myself into the canoe, grasped the paddle, and by a stroke or two awoke to the interest of the spot before me, and the beau- ties of a morning in Malaya.

The day dawn had already chased the stars away from one half the bright heaven overhead ; the insect world, so noisy from set of sun on the previous day, had ceased their shrill note, whilst the gloomy forest shook off its sombre hue, and, dripping with dew>

110 THE ADJUTANT.

glistened in many a varied tint, as the morning beams played upon it, or streamed down through the mountain gorges beyond. The Indian Sea laughed with a thousand rippling smiles, and the distant isles seemed floating on clouds of purple and gold as the night mists rose from their level sea^boards, and encircled the base of their picturesque peaks.

One could have cheered with joy and heartfelt healthful appreciation of the glorious East ; but no 1 not far beyond me, on a projecting shoal, stands the tall adjutant, who had as yet baffled all our attempts to shoot him — a very king of fishing*birds. He formerly used to fish in the Parlis river, but our seamen in the cutter, who would brook no competi- tors in their poaching pursuits, fired and fired at the poor adjutant without hitting it, until, by way of re- venge, they nicknamed it the "old soldier" — a term which in their estimation comprised all that was wary, and difficult to catch at a disadvantage. " The old soldier " loomed like a giant in the grey mist flowing from the forest, and he evidently saw me as soon as I did him; but knowing from experience the distance to which his enemies might be allowed to approach with safety, he strutted out a pace or two into deeper mud or water and pursued his fishing. I, however, did not intend to fire until I reached the

THE "OLD soldier" FISHING^ HI

cranes, which I could see clustering in some trees ahead ; and the adjutant, as if fathoming my inten- tions, or, what is more likely, taking me for a Malay (who never disturbed him), let me pass within mo-* derate shot distance.

I was interested in seeing how he captured his prey, and watched him narrowly. The bird stood like a statue, in a foot of water and mud, the long legs admirably supporting the comparatively small body, a long neck, and such a bill I It looked as if it could cut a man in two and swallow him. Pre- sently, from a perfect state of quietude, the adjutant was all animation, the head moving rapidly about as if watching its unconscious prey; a rapid stride or two into a deep gully of water, a dive with the prodigious beak, and then the adjutant held in the air what looked like a moderate-sized conger-eel. Poor fish ! it made a noble fight ; but what chance had it against an " old soldier " who stood ten feet without stockings, and rejoiced in a bill as big as one's thigh and some four feet long? The last I saw of the poor conger-eel was a lively kick in the air, as " the soldier " lifted his beak and shook his breakfast down.

My resolution to shoot cranes alone was not proof against the temptation. I saw before me, not only

112 ^^OLD soldier'* r. YOUNG SAILOR.

a thumping bird, but — alas 1 for the frailty of a mid- shipman's appetite! — a jolly good breakfast in the contents of his maw. A more convincing proof of my not being a thorough^bred sportsman could not be adduced^ than my allowing such base feelings to actuate me. I stealthily laid my paddle into the boat, capped my fowling-piece before lifting it from between my feet ; but the " old soldier " had his eye upon me, and directly I stopped paddling, com- menced to walk away from his old position. By the time I took aim, a long range intervened between us, and, of course, all I did was to ruffle his feathers, and send the "old soldier" off, as usual, at "the double," — thus losing adjutant and fish, as well as the cranes, which took flight when the echoes of the forest carried the report to them.

My firing had, however, disturbed more than cranes ; for a screeching and chattering noise in the jungle on my right made me load again rapidly, and paddle with all my strength for a nullah or water- course, from which these sounds were, I felt certain, coming. On obtaining a view of it, I saw at once what was the matter — a school of black monkeys had been alarmed ; and when I turned my canoe so as to go up the narrow creek of water which led into the forest, the fighting monkeys of the little

MONKEYS IW A PASSION. 113

party seemed determined to frighten me out of it. I never saw anything so comical: the ladies and babies retired, whilst about a dozen large monkeys, perfectly black except their faces — which were grey or white, giving them the appearance of so many old men — sprang along the branches, that reached across over my head. They worked themselves up into a perfect fury, shrieking, leaping, and grinning with rage. Once or twice they swung so close over my head, that I expected they were going to touch me ; but, amused beyond measure, I was determined not to fire at the poor creatures. Whether, as in the case of the ^^ old soldier," my resolution was proof against all temptation, I had not time to prove; for the sullen boom of a gun from Parlis river rolled along the forest ; and being the signal for an enemy in sight to seaward, I left the monkeys for a future day, and hurried back to my vessel, just reaching her in time to start in chase of a prahu that had been seen running for an island called Pulo Bras Manna. The breeze sprang up fresh and fair, and my little vessel soon rattled over the eight miles of distance which intervened, but not before the prahu had disappeared behind the island. Skirting the rocky shores of Pulo Bras Manna, we discovered the prahu at anchor in a pretty little sandy bay, the only

I

114 EDIBLE BIRDS'-NESTS.

one in the Island. The nicodar^ or master of the prahu^ hailed to say he was a friend ; and, on my getting alongside of him, showed proofs of her being a peaceful trader, employed in collecting the edible birds'-nests constructed by the ^^ Hirundo esculenta^' of naturalists, with which all these islands abound. I was right glad to have an opportunity of gleaning any information about an article of commerce so novel and strange to all Europeans. The nicodar informed me that all the adjacent islands yielded birds'-nests for the Chinese market in a greater or less degree, the more rocky and precipitous islands yielding the larger quantity. The right of taking them was for the time vested in Tonkoo Maho- met Said of Quedah, on behalf of his sovereign; but he had farmed them out for a year to some Penang merchant, who paid a certain rent, and screwed as much more as he could out of the birds'- nests. The nicodar of the prahu had entered into a speculation by which he promised a certain number of nests to the merchant, provided he might have the surplus — an engagement which he assured me would this year be a very losing one.

My attention had often been previously called to the little birds which construct these curious nests. They might be constantly seen skimming about the

EDIBLE-NEST-BUILDINO SWALLOW. US

surface of the sea in the neighbourhood of the Ma- layan Islands. In form and feather they looked like a connecting link between the common swallow and the smallest of the petrel tribe — the Mother Carey's chicken — -ever restless^ ever in motion. Sometimes they appeared to skim the water as if taking up some substance with the bill from the surface ; at other times darting, turning, and twisting in the air, as if after fleet-winged insects. Yet neither in the air nor on the water could the keenest eye amongst us detect anything upon which they really fed. How- ever, the Malays asserted that they fed upon insects and upon minute creatures floating upon the sur&ce of the sea; and that, by some arrangement of the digestive organs, the bird, from its bill, produced the glutinous and clear-looking substance of which its nest was constructed — an opinion in some manner substantiated by the appearance of the nests, which in structure resembled long filaments of very fine vermicelli, coiled one part over the other^ without much regularity, and glued together by transverse rows of the same material.

In form, the edible nests resemble the bowl of a large gravy-spoon split in half longitudinally, and are, in all respects, much smaller than the conmion swaHow's nest^ The bird fixes the straight edge

X 2

116 HABITS OF THE "HIRUNDO ESCULENTA."

against the rocks, generally preferring some dark and shady crevice in a cliff, or a cave formed by the wash of the waves of the sea. I am rather inclined to believe that the swallow which constructs these edible nests is a night bird, and that the day is by no means its usual time for feeding ; indeed, I hardly ever remember observing them, except early in the morning, late in the evening, or in the deep shadow afforded by some tall and overhanging cliff, and they appeared to avoid sunlight or the broad glare of day.

Although the nicodar of the prahu was necessarily very civil, he did not willingly assent to my proposal to accompany his men on their excursion to collect nests; but Jadee recommended me to wait quietly until we saw his party starting, and then to proceed and join them, nolens volens ; though he warned me that curiosity would hardly induce me to undergo, a second time, the risk the nest-gatherers went through for large profits.

In a couple of hours' time we saw a party land from the prahu and join some half-dozen Malays who lived in a hut on the beach. Awakening my interpreter, Jamboo, who being upon Company's pay gave way to sleeping and rice-eating with a degree of perseverance which astonished me, I hastened

JAMBOO REMONSTRATES. 117

away with him, and before his eyes were well open we were scrambling through brake and jungle, at a headlong pace, the Malays having evidently deter- mined to shake us off by hard walking. The conse- quence was that poor Jamboo, with a howl, went rolling over the rocks, and tried hard to detain me. I saw only one remedy, and started off to catch the nearest party of nest-gatherers, and keep them until my worthy interpreter was able to join. I soon suc- ceeded in showing them that a young sailor's legs were as good as theirs ; and having a pistol with me, there was no difficulty in making two Malays sit down until Jamboo, in reply to my repeated hail, came up, muttering at the hardships his duty as a midshipman's interpreter was ever leading him into. Laughingly consoling him by the strong doubts I entertained of his ever again seeing his dear Penang, I added : " Now, then, Jamboo, tell these fellows we are going birds'-nestiug with them.**

" By Gad, sar I you kill me, sar 1 Me poor man, sari What my mother do?" remonstrated poor Jamboo.

" Never mind about the old lady," I replied ; " do

what I tell you, and come along. — Why, Jamboo, you,

the son of an Englishman, and not ashamed to talk

in that strain 1" I continued; ^^ fancy if your father

I 3

118 A SCRAMBLE FOR BIRDS'-NESTS.

could only see you, and hear that his son was afraid of going birds'-nesting I "

** Ah, sar !" replied Jamboo, " you only make play now. My father very brave man — so my mother say ; but I never see him ; and my mother never teach me to go down dark holes with a little bit of rope, and swing about in the air, all the same as one bird."

I had at last to promise Jamboo that he should not have to ** swing about in the air, all the same as one bird," and thereupon he informed the two Malays they were to go on in the execution of their voca- tion, but that we would keep with them«

The Malays had on little if any clothing: each man carried a sharp bill hook, with which to cut his way through the underwood, with an iron spike of considerable length; and a torch made of bark and the resins exuded from forest trees. A small bag for containing the nests, and a coil of roughly- made rope strong enough to support their weight, together with a flint and steel, completed the equip- ment

We climbed a long though steep ascent which led to some precipitous cliffs on the opposite side of the little island. Our way led through a pretty close jungle, with much underwood overgrowing rocks.

THE MALAYS DESCEND THE CLIFFS. 119

fissures, and boulders, in all directions : a more break-neck walk I had never before undertaken ; and as we went straight across country, over and through everything, Jamboo's clothes, as well as mine, were torn into shreds and decorated every thorn, or ragged stump ; to add to the excitement, the Malays kept a sharp eye about them in the hollows or where the vegetation was very dank, and muttered the ominous word ** Oular 1 " snake, as a warning to us. How- ever, I felt that it was out of the question to depend upon one's keenness of vision for security against such reptiles, when the creepers and grass were up to my waist, and sought a little consolation in my friend the Haggi's creed of predestination.

At last we reached the edge of the cliff, which stood about 200 feet above the sea, having many deep fissures in its face and several caves at its base. After sitting down to rest for a short time, the Malays went to work. Each man drove his spike very carefully in the ground, secured his rope to it, slung his bag and torch across his back, and, after repeating a Mahometan Pater-noster, lowered him- self down the cliff by means of his rope, and pro- ceeded to search the caves and crannies for birds'- nests. Accustomed though I was, as a sailor, to see

great activity and much risk mu, still it fell far short,

I 4

120 EWBLE-y£5T-Bl'ILDr3rG SWaLLO^.

in jnr esxiTiiSktirjn, of tliat rmd-rrz-ne fcv these MiLiv?: in 2ome placed thev had to Tibni:e in the air like a periduIanD^ to gather soScient momenram to swing in under some overhangTn;^ portion of the clidP, the wretched rope bj which the man was suspended a hundre^l feet above the chafini; sea and rocks below, cutting against the sharp edge of the cliffy to use a nautical simile^ '' like a rope-yam oyer a naiL*" Here and there the men picked up a nest or two, but nt last one of them who had lowered himself down to within ten or twelve feet of the water, shouted out that he had discovered a cave thickly tenanted with the birds, of which we had ocular demonstration by the numbers that flew out when they heard his voice. Leaving Jamboo to help me, should I fail in climb- ing up as the Malays did, I slid down to the newly- discovered cave of nests. The nest-seekers smiled at my curiosity, and pointed into a cave with a narrow entrance, out of which a smell was issuing which partook neither of frankincense nor myrrh, and of an inky darkness which the keenest eye could not pene- trate. There was a narrow ledge of rock which led into the cave, and on this we advanced until out of the wind and daylight : the Malay now struck a light un<l lit his torch, and his doing so was the signal for the most infernal din mortal cars were ever pained

THE BIRDS'-NEST TRADE. 121

with ; the tiny chirp of the swallows being taken up and multiplied a thousandfold by tbe beautiful echoes of the cave^ whilst huge bats flitted round us^ and threatened not only to put our light out, but to knock us ofi^ the narrow ledge on which we stood, by a rap on the head, into the black cleft below, which seemed to descend to the very foundations of the cliSs. Holding both hands to my ears, I asked the Malay to show me the nests: he waved his torch about, and pointed some of them out in spots overhead, where it appeared as if only a gnome could have gathered them; the poor Malay, however, explained to me that he must go up and cut some saplings and branches to form a ladder by which he could reach those apparently inaccessible nests, though not, I could well see, without considerable risk. Satisfied with what I had seen, I returned to the top of the clifi^ aided materially by the Malay, who, like a goat, found footing where gulls could only have roosted, and, joining Jamboo, we returned alone through the forest to my little craft.

Then and afterwards I gleaned, from different sources, that the trade in birds'-nests employed a very large amount of capital and men. The loss of life arising from accidents and exposure was ex- traordinarily large; but the high prices obtained

122 THE NESTS COMPOSED OF GELATIN.

insured no lack of labour. One person largely en- gaged in the trade assured me that> on an average^ two out of five men employed in birds'-nesting met with a violent death ; and, under those circum- stances, it is not to be wondered at that a catty (or pound and a quarter English) of the best nests cost generally forty dollars, or about nine pounds sterling I

The value of the nests depends upon their trans- lucent whiteness and freedom from feathers or dirt ; the first quality being those which evidently have not been lined, or used, by the unfortunate little swallows. Such nests are nothing but a morsel of pure gelatin ; and having often eaten them in their native state, I can vouch for their perfect tasteless- ness ; indeed, upon one occasion, after being twenty- four hours without food, I enjoyed birds'-nests boiled down in cocoa-nut milk.

The Chinese employ them largely, as well as Mche de mer, shark-fins, and other gelatinous substances, in thickening their soups and rich ragouts.

DATOO MAUOMET ALEE'S TUBEAT. 123

CHAP. X.

Return to Parlis. — Datoo Mabomet Alee's sanguinary Threat. — Jadee has, we find, sent an abusive Message. — Jadee reproved. — Jadee's feelings are hurt. — Character of my Native Crew. — A Page about Native Prejudices. — One of the Malays mutinous. — Cure for Native Prejudices.— Malayan Jungle-Scenery by Daylight. — Black Monkeys.— A Monkey Parody, upon Human Life. — English Seamen and the Monkeys. — Scarcity of Fresh Water. — The Village of Tamelan. — A Malay Chieftainess. — Watering. — Snakes disagreeably numerous. — Stories of large Snakes.

From Pulo Bras Manna and birds'-nests we re- turned again to Parlis, just saving daylight enough to find our way over the bar and its shallows. On reporting myself to the senior officer, I was not a little astonished to learn that, in consequence of the wanton insult received from me and my gun-boat, Da- too Mahomet Alee had sent down an uncivil message, declaring the ^' Numero Tegas" hors de loiy and had sworn by his beard, that so surely as he caught me, or any of my crew, from the valiant Jadee to the toiling Campar, no mercy would be shown. Quite at a loss to understand the origin of so sanguinary a

124 JADEE SENDS AN ABUSIVE MESSAGE.

threat — for I and Haggi Loung had parted the best of friends — I guessed that Jadee had been at some nefarious tricks. At first he pretended to suppose that the wrath of the pirate arose from my destruc- tion of his stockades ; but this I felt sure was not the sole offence^ and at last he acknowledged that the Polyphemus who steered the canoe had jeered at him, and insinuated that it was unbecoming for Malay men to be commanded by a white boy, al- luding to myself. To which Jadee had replied by stating, it was his opinion that the mother of not only the one-eyed gentleman, but those of the gentry up the river in general, were no better than they should be, — that their fathers were dogs, and their chiefs pigs ! and the sooner they all came down to try the strength of the Company's powder, the better pleased he should be. I saw at once what had excited Datoo Mahomet Alee's ire, and that he no doubt identified me with Jadee. All my efibrts to point out to my worthy coxswain the impropriety of his conduct failed: he was satisfied with haying brought about a state of feeling which added mate- rially to the excitement of himself and crew ; and although, whilst I was speaking to him, he seemed as repentant as possible, I saw in a minute afterwards he had forgotten my admonition, and would be a Malay

JADEE REPROVED. — HIS EEELINGS HURT. 125

in spite of me. With any other than an Asiatic^ such abuse and challenges would have partaken of the cha- racter of mere bravado ; but it was not so in Jadee's case ; and I had to be careful not to let him think I fancied it was so : for on one occasion^ when he asked me what the Rajah Laut (Captain Warren) would think of it, I said I feared he would be very angry, and would rather doubt his courage than otherwise. Jadee, I saw, was sadly hurt at this, sulked for a day or two, and when I quietly got him into conver- sation, he said if Captain Warren should really express such an opinion, he had but one course, and that at any rate would prove he did not fear Mahomet Alee and all his crew put together. I knew what he meant — to run a muck amongst the pirates, a des- perate resource of every Malay when he fancies him- self irredeemably injured in character, or when ren- dered reckless by misery. Armed with his creese, one man will, in such a mood, throw himself upon any number of foes or friends, and stab right and left until himself shot down or creesed as a mad dog would be. With a little kindness, and a gentle introduction to my small store of grog, of which Jadee had not a Mahometan horror, I gradually brought him round to a better frame of mind ; indeed, by the end of the second month, I perfectly understood the cha-

126 CHARACTER OP MY NATIVE CBEW.

racter and disposition of all my crew. Secure in the feeling of awe for a white master which the native of India and Malayia cannot shake off^ I was enabled to treat them far more familiarly than I could have done English seamen, without subverting the disci- pline of a man-of-war. I found them all obedient to a degree, so far as I was personally concerned ; but there were sometimes irregularities arising from Ja- dee's imperious treatment of them, or from the feel- ing of utter contempt in which they (the seamen) held my interpreter, the worthy Jamboo — a feeling arising purely, I fancy, from his being an unfortunate half-caste, a man of no nation nor blood.

Whenever these cases did occur, I punished the Malays exactly as we were in the habit of doing Englishmen ; and although they sometimes stared at the novelty, the system answered admirably, notwith- standing that the native gentleman in the '^Diamond" gun-boat assured me it must end in mutiny and danger to my person. Like all Asiatics, the Malay, if he finds you will listen to what are termed national prejudices, will produce an endless store of them, to avoid doing anything but what happens to please him. He sees a Sepoy soldier encouraged in all sorts of prejudices; he sees a fellow who would quiver under your very look, were you alone with

A PAGE ABOUT NATIVE PBEJUDIGES. 127

him in an open field, allowed to be grossly abusive and insolent to an English officer, if the latter should by accident touch his water-jar, or cross the magic circle drawn round his cooking-place, under the plea that his Brahmin or Mahometan prejudices, forsooth, have been infringed upon; and the Malay, very naturally, would like to have some recognised pre- judices likewise*

The one they wished to establish in our little squadron was the right of treating the wretched half-caste interpreter with contumely. I determined to dispute the prejudice; and although the affair occurred later in the blockade than the period I am now referring to, still I shall relate it now, as illus- trative of one of the many misapprehensions people labour under with respect to Malays. A prahu had escaped me one night, owing to the want of vigilance in the look-out men, and I, in consequence, made ar- rangements for Jadee, tbe interpreter, and myself, to take the watch in turn, besides stationing a look-out man as usual* One night, after Jamboo had re«* lieved me at twelve o'clock, I lay upon deck, but could not sleep, fancying I heard some unusual noises in our neighbourhood. Jamboo went forward in a quarter of an hour's time, and found the look- out man sound asleep. On rousing him, the feUow

128 ONE OF THE MALAYS MUTINOUS.

— a young, smart, but excessively saucy Malay — In- stead of thanking him, called him an abusive name. I desired Jamboo to give him an extra hour as sentry. Shortly afterwards, the Malay was again off his post, and again abusive. I got up, and spoke to him, assured him of a severe punishment if he per- sisted in such conduct and language ; but it was of no avail, and, about two o'clock, 2k fracas took place, in which I heard the Malay apply the foulest epithet in his language to the interpreter ; and he persisted in repeating it when I ordered him to be silent ; in short, he became so violent and threatening, I had to iron and lash him down.

I saw that there would be an end to my authority, if the fellow was not punished by a severe flogging ; and I sought Mr. B — — 's authority for carrying it into execution. He advised me to see the native oflScer, who commanded the senior gun-boat, in the first place, but fully sanctioned a severe punishment.

Mr. S was very averse to any such thing, and

wanted to stop the prisoner's rice or his pay. I was obstinate, however, and carried my point, al- though he warned me of all sorts of fatal conse- quences likely to ensue.

Next day, with all due formalities, I carried the law into execution, lashing the culprit to the bow

CURE FOB NATIVE PREJUDICES. 129

gun. He could hardly believe his senses ; and when the first lash was laid on^ shouted for a rescue, and appealed to his countrymen not to look on and see him beaten like a dog: he altered his tone^ nevertheless, when he found no rescue likely to come, and vowed never to disobey me again — a promise he afterwards faithfully kept ; and from that time I had no more trouble in " No. 3." with that national prejudice, at any rate, and slept just as soundly, and placed just as much faith in my swarthy crew, as ever I had done, without having any cause to rue it, the culprit eventually becoming one of my right-hand men.

I had not forgotten the fact that monkeys abounded in our neighbourhood; and although both my bro- ther-midshipman and myself perpetrated all sorts of atrocities at first in shooting the poor creatures, we soon desisted, and satisfied ourselves with wasting powder and shot on less interesting creatures. Mon- key Creek, as we termed the place which they most frequented, was our usual afternoon lounge ; and after our light and necessarily wholesome dinner (consisting of Her Majesty's rations adorned with a little rice, and occasionally a plate of fish), Bar- clay and I did not, of course, feel a siesta by any means necessary, but jumping into the sampan, we

K

INDIAN JUNGLE-SCENERY.

f would paddle gently up Monkey Creek, to enjoy the cool shade of the forest and amuse ourselves. Pass- ing clear of the belt of maugrove, we soon floated amongst the luxuriant vegetation of an Indian jungle ; the underwood here and there giving place to small patches of grass or weed. Large alligators which had been ashore on either bank launched them- selves slowly into the creek, or turned round and kept a steady watch with their cruel-looking yellow eyes. Bright-coloured iguanas and strange-shaped lizards shuffled along the banks, or lay on the branches of trees, puffing themselves up so as to look like nothing earthly; the shrill call of the pea-hen and the eternal chattering of monkeys gave life and ani- mation to a scene which did not lack interest or beauty. Pushing our canoe in amongst the over- hanging wild vines and creepers so as to hide her, we sat quietly smoking our cigars to await the curiosity of the monkeys : it was not long before they commenced their gambols or attempts to frighten us, A string of black ones, whose glossy coats would have vied in beauty with that of a black bear, came breaking through the trees with frantic cries, and threw themselves across the creek, and back again, with amazing energy ; then a hoarse sound made us turn suddenly, with a flashing suspicion of Malay

k

A MONKEY PARODY UPON HUMAN LIFB. Wl

treachery, to meet the gaze of a face almost human, with a long grey beard, which was earnestly watch- ing us through the foliage of a withered tree ; bring a gun to the shoulder, and the old man's head would be seen to leap away upon the disproportionate body of some ape. But nothing could equal in ludicrous interest a family monkey-scene taking place in some clear spot at the base of a tree. There a respectable papa might be seen seated against the roots, stretch- ing out his legs, enjoying the luxury of a scratch, and overlooking with patriarchal pride, and no small degree of watchfulness, the gambols of his son or daughter; while with fond solicitude his better half, a graceful female monkey, was employed turning aside the tufts of grass, as if seeking nuts or berries for the little one ; then she would clutch the little rascal, and roll over with him, in all the joyousness of a young mother, and he, the tiny scamp, shrieked, pouted, and caressed her, like any master Johnny or dear Billy would have done. The whole scene was a burlesque upon human na- ture: unable to contain ourselves any longer, we burst into roars of laughter. The father leapt at once on a neighbouring branch, and shaking it with rage, whoo-whoo'dl at us through a very spiteful set of teeth ; the lady screamed, the baby squ

K 2

132 ENGLISH SEAMEN AND THE MONKEYS.

and jumped to her breast^ clasped its little arms round her neck^ and its legs round her chest, and then with a bound she was off and away with her *^ tootsy pootsy;" papa following, and covering her retreat with venomous grins at us, whom he evidently con- sidered only a superior breed of apes.

Such scenes we often witnessed ; and, to the En- glishmen in the cutter, the monkeys afforded an endless source of mirth ; and the quaint comparisons they drew between some of these sylvans in the forests of Quedah, and sundry Daddies Brown, or Mothers Jones, at Portsmouth or Plymouth, though extremely laughable and witty, would, I fancy, have been thought far from flattering, had they been heard by the old people in question.

The main difficulty experienced in maintaining a close blockade of a coast such as Quedah, arose from the want of fresh water with which to supply the daily wants of our men. On Crab Island, all the * wells we dug yielded only salt water ; the river was always brackish; and as the dry season advanced, the wells upon the islands to which we usually re- sorted began to fail us. We were despatched in quest of water, and, at the suggestion of one of the men, who knew this neighbourhood, proceeded to a place called Tamelan.

THE VILLAGE OP TAMELAN. 133

This village was about twenty miles distant^ and situated on a small river called the " SetouS," which discharges itself into a very picturesque but shallow bay.

After some diflSculty, we discovered the " SetouS," and proceeded up it a few miles^ and alarmed the inhabitants of Tamelan not a little by our sudden arrival. The village was prettily situated on a high bank^ and consisted of about a hundred neatly-built mat houses, scattered through a grove of cocoa-nut trees, which extended for a mile in a line along the SetouS river; either end of the cocoa-nut grove rested on a dense jungle, which swept, with a large semicircular curve, behind the village, leaving ample clearance for the rice-fields and wells of the inha- bitants. Tamelan, strangely enough for a country where women are not held in high repute, was under the rule of a petty chieftainess, called **Nicodar Devi;" her title of Nicodar arising from her pos- sessing the prahus which had carried these Malay settlers to the reconquered village.

We of course gave her brevet rank, and christened her Queen Devi; and a perfect little queen she was. A messenger immediately waited upon me, oflPering all she had, and trusting we would not molest her people. I immediately visited the Malay queen, and

K 3

134 A MALAY CniEFTIANESS.

soon set her mind at rest by stating that we merely wanted water. She sent men to deepen the wells ready for the morrow, and, in short, did all that was possible to assist me. Nothing could exceed the respect and deference paid to this lady by her clan ; and we soon learnt to appreciate the kind and hos- pitable chieftainess — the first Indian woman I had as yet seen treated otherwise than as a drudge or a toy.

She was not more than five-and-thirty, and still very good looking ; her manner was extremely lady- like and authoritative, and I took good care she should be treated with the utmost respect by all my people. The inhabitants of Tamelan and Numero Tega soon became great friends, and they willingly sold us all they could spare of fruit or fowl.

While my crew filled the water-casks and embarked them, I generally employed myself butchering doves, wild pigeons, and orange-coloured orioles, which fed in large numbers in the open grounds or amongst the houses.

There was only one serious drawback to sporting such as mine, and that consisted in the great number of snakes which were to be found in the cleared grounds, especially in the neighbourhood of the many holes dug as wells by the Malays. I fancy the great heats an

SNAKES. 136

long droughts had caused these reptiles to congre- gate where water was only to be found. The Malays killed them in numbers ; I counted on one occasion no less than eight of these reptiles lying together, all crushed in the head, and although not large in girth, they varied in length from five to seven feet.

The natives of Tamelan declared most of them to be of the boa-constrictor species, not dangerous in their bite, but, when large, capable of killing a man or a strong deer by enveloping him in their folds : they said it was their poultry which principally suf- fered, but spoke of monsters in the deep forests, which might, if they came out, clear off the whole village — a pleasant feat for which Jadee, with a wag of his sagacious head, assured me that an ^^ Oular Bessar," or big snake, was quite competent.

It was strange but interesting to find amongst all Malays a strong belief in the extraordinary size to which the boa-constrictors or Pythons would grow : they all maintained, that in the secluded forests of Sumatra or Borneo, as well as on some of the smaller islands which were not inhabited, these snakes were occasionally found of forty or fifty feet in length ; and the vice of incredulity not being so strong in me then as it is now, I gave full credence to their

K 4

136 STORIES OF LABGE SNAKES.

tales^ and consoled myself by remembering, when my faith was taxed by some tougher tale than usual, that my respected schoolmaster in the village of Chud- leigh had birched into me the fact, attested by even a Pliny, that a snake 120 feet long had disputed the passage of a Roman army on the banks of the Ba- grada, and killed numbers of legionaries before its skin could be secured to adorn the Capitol.

JADEB DECLINES TO CLEAN THE COPPEB. 137

CHAP. XL

Jadee declines to clean the Copper. — A Malay Prejudice. — A Malay Mutiny. — The lost Sheep return. — The Dif- ficulty surmounted. — Malayan mechanical Skill. — An Impromptu Dock. — An Accident, and quick Repairs. — Launch, and resume Station. — Loss of my Canoe. — A Sampan constructed. — The Malayan Axe or Adze. — In- genious mode of applying native Materials in Construction of Boats.

I HAD but one fracas in my gun-boat with my MalaySy which, considering how young and inexpe- rienced I was as a commander, was less than might have been expected ; but as it assumed a rather serious character at one time, and showed the dispo- sition of my men, it may be worth relating.

I had repeatedly pointed out to the coxswain, Jadee, that it was highly necessary, with a view to preserving the speed of the " Emerald," that the copper with which her bottom was covered should be kept as clean as possible, and where it was visible that it should shine like that of the "Hyacinth" — a vessel I naturally looked upon as my model in every nautical respect.

r

138 A MALAY PREJUDICE.

Jadee^ however^ shirked the question^ and the copper did not improve. I then ordered him to clean it on the morrow, employing the whole crew for the purpose. He began a long rigmarole story about Malaymen not liking to clean copper.

I cut him short by saying white men did not much like doing it, either ; but it was our principle to clean every part of a vessel, and that at 9 o'clock in the forenoon on the morrow I expected to see that the work had been done. I dined with Barclay on board the cutter, and paddled myself back in the evening in my canoe, and although Jadee received me respectfully, I saw he was sulky : like more civilised first-lieutenants, he wanted to have his own way ; but I took no notice of that until next morning, when at the proper time I looked over the side and found the copper still very dirty. I need scarcely say I was very angry.

Jadee caught a thorough good wigging, and said something about being afraid of ordering the men to do it. I immediately desired him to pipe " Hands clean copper ! " He did so. " Every man in a bowling knot and over the sidel" I next directed ; and then, seeing that they knew what I wanted done, and were at work, I said, in all the Malay I could muster, tliat the copi)er was to be cleaned

A MALAY MUTINY. 139

dailj^ and pointed out the necessity of a clean bottom to catch fast prahus — a truism I could see they were perfectly aware of. All hands were soon splashing about cleaning the copper, and I fancied my difficulties at an end ; addressing Jadee, I told him that I had had to do at 9 o'clock what he should have commenced at 5 o'clock; but that when the copper was clean, he could call his people out of the water, and meantime I was going to shoot in my canoe. He bowed silently, as if accepting my reproof, and I left the ** Emerald." Firing at alli- gators and kingfishers, cranes, fishhawks, and wild pigeons, I did not return for three or four hours. As I was paddling past the cutter, my friend Barclay hailed me, to say I had better go and see what had happened, as Mr. Jadee and all the crew had just passed him, swimming and wading towards the senior gun-boat, the " Diamond," but he could not under- stand what they said. On reaching the " Emerald," I found no one on board of her but the cook and Jamboo. The latter was in a great fright, and vowed he did not know what would next happen, as all the crew had struck work after cleaning the copper, and, with Jadee at their head, had gone to the half-caste officer on board the " Diamond " to say so. Much amused at the novelty of a man-of-

140 THE LOST SHEEP RETURN.

war's crew ewiinming away from her, I disguised my anger, and leaving word with Jamboo to say, when they returned, that they should not have gone out of the " Emerald " without my permission, I proceeded to explain to Barclay all that had occurred.

He of course was very indignant at what with Englishmen would have been accounted mutiny. I begged him, however, not to be too severe, and to give Jadee and his men an opportunity of coming round quietly. Leaving me, therefore, on board the cutter, he went to the "Diamond," and there

found Mr. S in a state of great excitement at

what had taken place, and vowing some direful acci- dent would occur to me, if I did not study the native character a little more, instead of carrying out my orders in so strict a manner. Barclay, however, was an excellent clear-headed ofEcer, and he knew I was generally considerate to the men; he there- fore desired Mr. S to point out to Jadee that

he had committed a sad breach of discipline, and that so surely as I reported him or others officially, for deserting their colours in the face of an enemy, he would be put in irons and sent off for Captain Warren to adjudicate upon ; and, as an only alter- native, the best thing they could do was to hurry

THE DIFFICULTY SURMOUNTED. 141

back before I discovered that they were absent upon anything but amusement.

Finding his little scheme fail^ Jadee, like a wise man, yielded at once, swam ashore, crossed Pulo Quetam with his men, and went off to the gun- boat, resuming their usual avocations as if nothing had happened.

About a couple of hours afterwards I returned on board, reprimanded him for going to collect shell- fish (a common employment during the day) with- out my sanction, and then, raising my voice, said, ^* Clean the copper again to-morroj^ morning, and give me the name of the first man who hesitates to do it I "

Next morning Jadee reported all ready for quarters at nine o'clock ; and, with a roguish twinkle in his eye, asked if I was satisfied with the copper. I found it as bright as a new penny. Through the interpreter, I then quietly