Chapter M: N. Hanhart Lith. Printers

LONDON; LONGMAN & CO. 1848]

We found that Mr. Brooke had been recognised by Government, and that Captain Bethune had been testing the capability of making Labuan a coal dépot. Poor Williamson, the interpreter, and a great friend of ours, had been drowned some months previous, while crossing the river at night in a small canoe, and no doubt fell a prey to the alligators. He was not only a very amiable, but a very clever fellow, and his loss was deeply felt by every body.

Mr. Brooke was absent from Kuchin on an expedition to the Sakarran river, in the Phlegethon steamer, to inquire into the particulars, and punish, if necessary, an attack upon his Dyak allies by the natives of Sakarran. Two Sakarran chiefs, accompanied by a great many war prahus, had paid a visit to Mr. Brooke, and had been entertained by him in his usual hospitable manner. At their departure he loaded the chiefs with presents, for which they appeared to be extremely grateful. As a return for this kindness, and to prove their sincerity as allies, the principal chief left his son, a boy of twelve years of age, with Mr. Brooke. But notwithstanding that this boy was as a hostage, they could not resist an opportunity of plunder, and that very evening they ascended one of the tributary streams of the Sarawak, attacked a village, and brought off with them twenty-seven heads of the unfortunate Dyaks. When the news arrived, Mr. Brooke was so much enraged at their treachery, that he almost determined upon sacrificing the boy chief, as the natives expected; but not wishing to visit the sins of the father upon the lad, who was innocent, and fearful that his own people would not be so forbearing, he returned the boy to his parents. We all felt annoyed that we had not an opportunity of bidding farewell to Mr. Brooke, and thanking him for his kindness to us whenever he had an opportunity of showing it. He was, indeed, beloved by every body who had the pleasure of his acquaintance.

Sailed for Sincapore. The next night we communicated with the Julia (Mr. Brooke's vessel). She had on board Captain Elliott, and twenty-five sepoys[3], who were to be stationed as a garrison at Kuchin. We were much pleased to find that Government had taken up this cause so warmly, and that Mr. Brooke was likely to be recognised by it, after all his individual exertions. Our passage to Sincapore proved very tedious, all hands upon short allowance, and no grog. We touched at Barren Island, and obtained a large quantity of sea birds' eggs, but they were mostly rotten; but this did not prevent our making omelets of them, for we were now with only three days' provisions on board at half allowance, and the calm still continued. Three days we were in sight of the island, the sails flapped idly against the masts, and not a breath disturbed the surface of the ocean wave. We thought of the tale of the Ancient Mariner, and there were not wanting those on board who declared that this continued calm was a judgment upon us, not for shooting an albatross, but for robbing the nests of the eggs.

[Footnote 3: These sepoys were raised and _paid_ by Mr. Brooke.]

Our barges were sent to Sincapore for provisions, for famine was staring us in the face, but that same night a breeze sprang up, and on the 20th of May we dropped our anchor in the roads. At Sincapore we found the Hazard, 18, whose crew suffered so much at New Zealand; and here also we found, to our inexpressible delight, our orders for England, of which we had begun to have some doubts. On the 14th of June arrived the Admiral, in H. M. S. Agincourt, towed by the Spitfire steamer. As soon as he was joined by the rest of the squadron, it was the intention of Sir T. Cochrane to make sail for Bruni, and punish the six-fingered sultan and his piratical advisers.

Sincapore, like all new settlements, is composed of so mixed a community, that there is but little hospitality, and less gaiety. Every one is waiting to ascertain what is to be his position in society, and till then is afraid of committing himself by friendly intercourse; moreover, every body is too busy making money. The consequence is, but few parties are given, and a ball is so rare that it becomes the subject of conversation for months. There are some good-looking girls at Sincapore, but it is only at church or on parade that a stranger obtains a glimpse of them. Prudery is at present the order of the day, and this is carried to such an extent from non-intercourse, that at a farewell ball given to the Cambrians, the women would only polka and waltz with each other.

The country immediately outside the town of Sincapore is spotted with little bungaloes, the retreat of the merchants from the monotonous business-life which they are compelled to lead. The plantations of nutmegs and beetle-nut which surround these country residences are very luxuriant; and at this time the fruit was on the trees, and the odour quite delightful. One male tree is planted for every ten females. Very little cloves or cinnamon are grown at this settlement, but I saw some specimens. A nutmeg tree is valued, when it once arrives to full bearing, at a guinea a year. The Areca-palm is a very beautiful tree, and requires but little attention: these and cocoa-nut are valued at a dollar per year. Large quantities of sugar-cane are now grown here, and some fine sugar-mills are built in the vicinity of the town. The roads are kept in good repair by the convicts, and are now really very respectable.

The Chinese joss-house here is considered very fine, and I made a drawing of it. It has some good stone carving and figures, but is very inferior to that of Ningpo. During the time that I was drawing it was filled with Chinese, who were very inquisitive and troublesome: the only method I could devise for keeping them off was by filling a bowl full of vermilion, and when their curiosity overcame their prudence, and they came rubbing up against me, daubing their faces with the colour--this plan, accompanied with a kick, proved effectual.

Sincapore being the penal settlement of India, there are a large number of convicts here, who are chained, and work at the roads and bridges. One night I visited the gaol, and was taken over it by an overseer. We first visited the Chinese department. Two long benches ran along the room, on which were stretched some thirty men. As the overseer passed he struck each man with his rattan, and in a moment they were all sitting up, rubbing their eyes, and looking as innocent as possible. They were all confined for murder, and were a most rascally-looking set. From this room we proceeded to another, fitted in the same manner, and filled with Indians. Many of them were branded on the forehead with "Doomga," which signifies murder; and in some cases the brand was both in Hindostanee and English. Leaving them, we entered a small room close to the gates of the gaol, and guarded by a sentry. In this room were confined the most reckless characters. They were but eight in number. Parallel to the bench ran a long iron rod, and to this they were shackled, both hands and feet. The first man among them pointed out to me by the overseer was a fine-looking grey-bearded Indian, of great stature, and with the eyes of a tiger. He had been formerly a rich shipowner at Bombay; but having been convicted of insuring his vessels to a large amount, and then setting fire to them, his property was confiscated by the government, and he was sentenced to work for life in chains. It is said that he has offered a million rupees to any man who will knock off his irons. His son carries on the business at Bombay, and it was reported that a vessel was always lying at Sincapore ready to receive him in case he should effect his escape; but of this there does not appear to be the slightest chance, as he is particularly watched and guarded.

The next culprits pointed out to us were two of the heads of the secret society of India. So much has already been said of this extraordinary association, that I need not discuss it here. There is, however, a society in Sincapore of a similar nature, composed of all the lower orders of the Chinese. It is said to amount to 15,000; and the police is much too weak to prevent the robberies, although some check is put to them by the presence of the military. It must not be supposed that because there are 15,000 in the society, that there are that quantity of robbers: such is not the case. Of course it is difficult to arrive at the regulations of any secret society, but as far as can be collected, they are as follows. A certain portion of the society are regular thieves, and these in a body compel those who are inoffensive to join the society, by threats of destruction of property, &c. If the party joins the society, all that is expected of him is, that he will aid and assist to prevent the capture, and give an asylum to any one of the society who may be in danger. The richest Chinese merchants have been compelled to join, and lend their countenance to this society, upon pain of destruction of their property, and even assassination, if they refuse; and as they have more than once put their threats into execution, the merchants have not the courage to resist. Shortly after our arrival at Sincapore, the burial of one of the chiefs of the society took place; and such was the concourse assembled to witness the funeral, that it was thought advisable to call out the troops, as a skirmish was expected to take place. However, every thing passed off quietly.

The richest Chinaman at Sincapore is Whampoa: he supplies the navy with stores, and has a thriving business. His country house is a favourite resort of the naval officers, and he gives excellent dinners, and very agreeable parties. His champagne is particularly approved of.

There is little or no amusement at Sincapore. During the afternoon every body is asleep. In the cool of the evening half a dozen palanquins, and perhaps a few gigs, may be seen driving on the parade: these proceed at a steady pace round the grass-plot for about an hour; and this is the only exercise taken. Fashion is very drowsy here, and only wakes up occasionally, that she may sleep the longer afterwards. From the want of hospitality, the evenings are passed by strangers at the hotels, playing billiards, smoking, and drinking. The hotels are very good, in consequence of the steamers from Bombay to Hong Kong touching here; they are fitted up with an unusual degree of comfort; and the charges are, of course, not very moderate. The markets are well supplied with fruit, vegetables, and stock of all kinds. Among the fruits must be mentioned the mangostein, which is brought from Malacca; and the pine-apples from the island of St. John's. The opposite side of the island upon which Sincapore is built is well wooded. A great many tigers swim over from the main, and pits are dug for their destruction, 100 dollars being given by government for every tiger killed.

On the 18th we received our final orders, and took our farewell of Eastern India; but it must not be supposed that we made the best of our passage to England. On the contrary, the captain was as anxious to remain out as we were to get home; and we were six months and twelve days from the time that we left Sincapore till our arrival at Portsmouth. The fact was, that the pay and emoluments of a surveying captain are such, that our captain felt no inclination to be paid off; and as he never spent any money, he was laying up a nice provision for his retirement; besides which he hoped that, upon his representations to the Admiralty, the order for his recall would be cancelled, and that he would find a letter to that effect at the Cape of Good Hope. His object, therefore, was to spin out the time as much as possible, so as to allow the answer of the Admiralty to arrive at the Cape before we did. We were ordered to survey some shoals, the Cagardos Carahos, on our passage home; but I believe nothing more.

On Sunday, the 22d, we anchored off a small island near to the isle of Billaton. At two A. M. we weighed, and ten minutes afterwards the ship struck on a shoal. All our exertions to get her off proved abortive, and in this uncomfortable position we remained till the following Thursday, when she again floated, after throwing overboard the guns, and landing such stores as we could on the island. This accident and light winds lengthened our passage to Anger (the Dutch settlement in Java) to twenty-one days; and there we remained five days, to ascertain the rate of our chronometers. This Dutch settlement at Anger, although slightly fortified, might be made a place of great consequence: both outward and homeward bound vessels touch here for water and stock; and were it properly supported and improved by the Dutch, as it should be, it would command a great deal of trade, and during war be of great consequence. It is governed by a Dutch military officer, and is garrisoned with about fifty soldiers. The country is remarkably fine here, the plains richly cultivated and covered with cattle. The farmers complain bitterly of the taxes imposed upon them by the Dutch, taxes so onerous that no native has a chance of realising any profits of consequence; but this is Dutch policy, and very unwise policy it is. We now thought that we were about to proceed to the isle of France direct, but we were mistaken: we weighed anchor, and proceeded to the Cocoa islands. This is a low group of islands literally covered with cocoa-nut trees. These islands are possessed by a Mr. Ross, formerly mate of a merchant vessel. His family consisted of two sons and two daughters, and are the only Europeans who reside there. We could not help thinking that the Misses Ross had very little chance of getting husbands. The remainder of the population, amounting to about 120 souls, are all black. They extract the oil from the cocoa-nut, and trade with it to Java, from whence they procure the necessary supplies. Whalers occasionally call here to obtain fresh provisions; but the visit of a man-of-war was quite an event.

From the Cocoas we steered for the Cagardos Carahos shoals, where we remained for more than a fortnight, surveying. There are several islands close to these shoals, which are in the shape of a crescent. They are very dangerous, being in the direct track of ships from China and the Indies.

Indeed, we had ocular proof of their dangerous position, for there were seven or eight wrecks upon them, and the small islands of sand were crowded with masts, spars, chests, interspersed with human bones bleaching in the powerful sun. On one of the islands we discovered the remains of the British ship Letitia, which was wrecked in September, 1845. At a short distance from the beach was the grave of the captain, who was drowned in attempting to reach the shore with a bag of dollars. Had he not held on so tight to the bag, he would in all probability have been saved, as were all the rest on board of her. It certainly would be very advisable to build a lighthouse upon these shoals; the expense would be nothing compared to the loss of property and life which they occasion every year. From the Cagardos Carahos we proceeded to the Mauritius. Here we found the President, bearing the flag of Admiral Dacres, and the Snake brig just arrived from England.

Port Louis has been too often described to be mentioned here. Behind it rose a range of mountains, the highest of which are about 1400 feet above the level of the sea, and completely shelter the town from the S. E. gales, which at this period of the year blow with great violence. Among these mountains is the famous Peter-Botte, and we looked upon it with great interest, in consequence of the daring and successful attempt made a few years since by some Englishmen to attain the summit of it. Even now, although we know that it has been done, it appears to be impossible. One of the leaders of this expedition was Lieutenant Thomas Keppel, the brother of our favourite Captain Henry Keppel, and this circumstance gave it more interest to us; but T. Keppel has since left the service, and is now a Reverend, moored in a snug _Creek_, and has quite given over climbing up Peter-Bottes. During the short time that we remained at this delightful island, we received every kindness and attention from the governor and his lady, and the officers of the two regiments stationed there.

(MAURITIUS.)

F. M. DELT.