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MEMOIR 



OP TUB 



LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES 



OP 



SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES, 

F.R.S., &c. &c. 



PARTICULARLY IN THE GOVERNMENT OF 

JAVA, 1811-1816, BENCOOLEN AND ITS 

DEPENDENCIES, 1817-1824 ; 

WITH 

DETAILS OF THE COMMERCE AND RESOURCES OF 
THE EASTERN ARCHIPELAGO. 



AND 



SELECTIONS FROM HIS CORRESPONDENCE. 



BY pis WIDOW. 

Ra^U^ ^^A.- ^a C^<'(() ,U ^<f,c( , /fjy, 

A NEW EDITION, IN TWO VOLUMES. 

VOL. II. 



LONDON: 
JAMES DUNCAN, 31, PATERNOSTER-ROW. 



MDCCCXXXV. 



♦ • 



LONZK)N: 

rUNTHD BY WILLIAM CLOWBI AND SONS. 
StamfKd StiwC 



CONTENTS 

OP 

THE SECOND VOLUME. 



\y 



CHAPTER Xin. PACK 

Sir Stamford*s arrival at Bencoolen — Improvement in the feel- 
ings of the inhahitants— State of affairs in the Eastern Archi- 
pelago requires him to proceed to Bengal — Wrecked on the 
passage — Attention of the Government already directed to the 
suhject of the Dutch encroachments — Lord Hastings deter- 
mines on another line of policy, and to secure the command of 
the straits of Malacca — Sir Stamford appointed Agent to the 
Governor- Greneral for this purpose — Account of the discovery 
of the Tapir — Departure from Calcutta — ^Anticipation of Sin- 
gapore as the spot for the new settlement — Arrival at Penang 
—Proceeds down the Straits of Malacca — hoists the British 
flag at Singapore — Acheen— Decides on the right of the crown 
—Description of Acheen — Reformation introduced at Ben- 
coolen— Journeys — General politics — Conquest of Java — ^The 
first convention for the unconditional restoration of it to the 
Dutch — only communication from Europe — Representations 
made in England— Apprehensions reatised on return to India 
— Bomean States — Dutch at Palemhang — Acheen affairs — 
Title to the occupation of Singapore — Bihle Society — Opinions 
of Captain Horshurgh and Mr. Carnegie on the settlement of 
Singapore — Accident to the vessel off Rhio 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Sir Stamford arrives at Bencoolen— Endeavours to induce the 
inhabitants to take an interest in the improvement of the coun- 
try — ^Irregularities which formerly prevailed — Schod for the 

324994 



IV CONTENTS. 

PAOK 

children of the slaves — ^Its success — ^Missionaries— Religion of 
the people— Effect of an institution for the Education of the 
higher orders— Anxiety for Mr. Wilberforce s assistance— Bible 
Society— Schools— Sir Stamford resolves to proceed again to 
Calcutta— Billiton— Lord Hastings on the subject of Eastern 
arrangements— Leaves Calcutta to return to Bencoolen. 42 

CHAPTER XV. 

Sir Stamford did not succeed in introducing a more economical and 
simple mode of government for the Eastern Islands— Difficulties 
of altering established forms — ^Illness— Sight of Sumatra— Tap- 
panooly — Battas — Population — Language— Manners — Civil- 
ized cannibals — Eating their prisoners of war, criminals, and 
parents, alive— Description of eating a person as a punishment— 
Padries— Cholera Morbus— Camphor tree— Laws of the Battas 
—Succession of nephews— Mr. Ward's opinion. . . 74 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Sir Stamford devotes himself to his favourite pursuits— Builds a 
house in the country— Collections in Natural History sent 
home — Correspondence of Captain Flint with the Java Govern- 
ment—Improvement in Bencoolen — Pulo Nias— Easy com- 
munication with Palembang across the Island— Sir Stamford's 
description of his Children — His confidence that he has pur- 
sued a right course— His defence of his conduct — His opinion 
of the powers he was invested with — Arrival of Missionaries — 
Mr. Burton settles in the Batta country— Sir Stamford not 
supported by the Ministry — Introduction of British manufac- 
tures into China — Agricultural Society — Expense of Singapore 
—Manufacture of Sugar— Colonization — Lake of Korinchie — 
Cultivation of rice — Nutmeg-trees — Malayan plants — Political 
speculation— Death of the Editor's brother. . .101 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Sir Stamford forms an establishment on the Island of Nias for 
the suppression of slavery— Sufficient spices raised at Ben- 
coolen for the supply of Great Britain— Description of the 
Island of Nias — Its population, exports, slaves — Period of pro- 



CONTENTS. V 

PAOS 

posed return to England— Poggie Islands— Description of the 
people— Death of Sir Stamford's eldest boy — Death of Captain 
Auber— Missionaries engaged in printing Malay Bible — ^Illness 
of another child — Intended publication on commercial prospects 
— Death of two children — Youngest child sent to England — 
Retired life— Expectation of Mr. Canning as Governor-General 
— Sir Stamford*s opinion of the state of England— Arrival of a 
party for the measurement of the pendulum at the Equator — 
Death of Dr. Jack — Voyage to Singapore. . .169 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Arrival at Singapore — Description of the settlement— Grounds of 
right to its retention— Occupation at Singapore — Selection of 
site for college — Value of land — Contrast of Bencoolen and 
Singapore — Number of vessels arrived in the first two years <^ 
and a half— Bungalow on Singapore hill— Botanic garden — 
Description of plant described by Dr. Finlayson — ^Mission to 
Bali — Drawing up laws and regulations for the settlement — ^ 
Magistrates — Memorial against slavery — Resolution of the 
Bengal Government — Instructions to Mr. Crawfurd — Ad- 
dresses from the inhabitants — Singapore the only place in India 
where slavery cannot exist — Leaves Singapore — Touches at 
Batavia — Correspondence with the Baron Van de Capellen . 239 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Arrival at Bencoolen — Plans for the future — Freedom of the port 
of Singapore — Account of the Padries— State of health— 
Death of friends — Death of child — Anxiety about the arrival 
of the ship Fame — Determines to embark in the Borneo — Ar- 
rival of the Fame — Embarkation — Burning of the ship — Appeal 
to the Court of Directors — Extract from Memorandum book, 
for regulation of time — Embarks in the Mariner — Storm off 
the Cape— Arrival at St. Helena — Landing at Plymouth. 296 

CHAPTER XX. 

Sir Stamford lands at Plymouth — Interview with his child— Re- 
sumes his labours — Interrupted by ill health — Views of the ^^ 
civilization and conversion of the heathen — Retrospect of the 



Tl CONTBNTS. 

PA6B 

proceedings of the Bible Society in Sumatra— Malay ichoob 
preparing the way for the Scriptures — Translation of St. 
John's Grospel — Effect of the transfer of the island to the 
Dutch— Access to China— Singapore Institution — Sir Stam- 
ford's life at home— The magistracy — Sudden illness— Pur- 
chase of Highwood — Judgment of the Court of Directors on 
his administration of Java, Sumatra and Singapore — His 
death. ...... 344 



The following is a memorandum of an intended Work, 
which was found after Sir Stamford's death : — 

NOTES ON THE EASTERN ISLANDS. 

ComprehendiDg an account of the British Administration of Java ; 
the Proceedings of the Local Authorities on the Restoration of that 
Colony under the Convention of 1815 ; the Establishment of the Set- 
tlement of Singapore, and the final adjustment of differences with the 
Netherlands* Government under the Treaty of 1824; with Obser- 
vations on that Treaty, and its probable effects with reference to the 
present condition and circumstances of the Archipelago. 

By Sir T. Stamford Raffles. 

To be printed in one volume quarto, uniformly with the History of 
Java by the same Author, to which work it may be considered sup- 
plementary. 

Also (in connexion with the above, and as introductory to the pub- 
lications of Dr. Horsfield), Notes illustrative of the Natural History, 
and more especially of the Geology of the Malay Islands, containing 
geographical and geological notices, with an account of some of the 
more remarkable vegetable productions, and the outline of a Fauna 
Malayana ; with Plates : 

By the same Author, assisted by Dr. Horsfibld. 

Contents. — ^Introduction. Geographical and geological outline of 
the Archipelago. — Ditto of Java, with plates. — Ditto of Sumatra, with 
ditto; and journey to Menangkabu. — ^Banca, with map and abstract 
memoir ; principal vegetable productions, and their distribution and 
localities. —Fauna Malayana. — Larger animals, &c.; distribution and 
account of, generally, as introductory to the descriptive catalogue. 
— Catalogue arranged scientifically with relation to the order of 
nature. 



MEMOIR 



OF 



SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES, F.R.S. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Sir Stamfords arrived ai Bencoolen — Improvement in the feelings 
of the inhabitants — State of affairs in the Eastern Archipelago 
requires him to proceed to Bengal— Wrecked on the passage— At- 
iention of the Government already directed to the subject of the 
Dutch encroachments— Lord Hastings determines on another line 
impolicy, and to secure the command of the Straits of Malacca — 
Sir Stamford appointed Agent to the Qovernor- General for this 
purpose — Account of the discovery of the Tapir— Departure from 
Calcutta — Anticipation of Singapore as the spot for the new set- 
tlement—Arrival at Penang— Proceeds doum the Straits of Ma^ 
lacca — hoists the British flag at Singapore — Acheen — Decides on 
the right of the crown — Description of Acheen— Reformation in- 
troduced at Bencoolen — Journeys — General politics — Conquest of 
Java — The flrst convention for the unconditional restoration of it 
to the Dutch — only communication from Europe— Representa- 
tions made in England — Apprehensions realised on return to 
India— Borean States — Dutch at Palembang — Acheen affairs — 
Title to the occupation of Singapore — Bible Society— Opinions 
of Captain Horsburgh and Mr. Carnegie on the settlement of Sin- 
gapore — Accident to the vessel offRhio, 

On his return to Bencoolen Sir Stamford had the satisfac- 
tion to find that a general impression prevailed with those 
committed to his charge^ that the object of his government 

VOL. II. B 



2 SIR Stamford's arrival at Sumatra. 

was to promote a spirit of enterprise among them as indi- 
viduals^ to give the utmost freedom to cultivation^ to 
extend the commerce of the country, and to advance the 
happiness of the people in general. It would have been 
delightful to him to have remained with them, desirous a» 
they appeared to be to promote his views for their welfare ; 
but the larger national interest in the Eastern Archipe- 
lago required his immediate attention. On his arrival in 
Sumatra he had foreseen that it would be necessary for 
him to have personal communication with the Bengal 
government on this subject ; and he therefore thought it 
advisable to proceed at once to Calcutta. 

It is only necessary to state, that Sir Stamford embarked 
in a very small vessel, which had no better accommodation 
than one small cabin, with only a port-hole to admit air, 
where centipedes and scorpions roved about without in- 
terruption : but personal convenience was never considered 
by him if it interfered with duty, and no better opportunity 
was likely to occur. The vessel lost a mast in the Bay of 
Bengal, and, owing to a drunken pilot, was literally upset 
in the middle of the night upon a dangerous bank at the 
mouth of the river Hoogley, where Sir Stamford was obliged 
to remain until boats were sent from Calcutta to take him 
out of the vessel. 

Sir Stamford found that the measures which he adopted 
in Sumatra, in particular the general protest which he had 
made against the Netherlands' authority on the occasion 
of its interference at Palembang, bad attracted the atten- 



SIR Stamford's arrival at Calcutta. 



tion of the Governor-Greneral in Council: and as the 
Netherlands' Government had submitted to the same au- 
thority its appeal against the part which he had taken^ the 
question was fairly before the Bengal Government. For- 
tunately the Government of Prince of Wales' Island had 
at length, on the transfer of Malacca to the Dutch, been 
awakened to the dangerous consequences which must have 
ensued to the interests of that Island, and the eastern 
trade generally ; and their representations had the e£Pect 
of corroborating and confirming all Sir Stamford's previ- 
ous apprehensions and statements. 

Havingthus succeeded in bringing the subject fully before 
a higher and competent authority, and having convinced 
that authority of the necessity of adopting some defined 
line of policy for the protection of those interests, he had 
the satisfaction to find that at length their nature and 
importance were justly appreciated; and the measures 
which he had previously adopted, however they might be 
regretted as occasioning collision with the Netherlands' 
Government, were pronounced '^ to have been dictated by 
the purest spirit of patriotism, and to have been such that, 
in the circumstances in which he was placed, he could not 
well have acted otherwise." 

It is not necessary, and perhaps it might be improper, to 
advert to the grounds on which the Governor-General 
resolved upon the line of policy which was subsequently 
adopted. It is sufficient to state, that it was determined, 
under existing circumstances, to concede to the Dutch 

b2 



4 LETTER TO W. MARSDEN, ESQ. 

their pretensions in Sumatra ; and to limit the interference 
to measures of precaution, by securing a free trade with 
the Archipelago and China through the Straits of Malacca, 
leaving to the Dutch the exclusive command of the Straits 
of Sunda. In order to eifect this, and at the same time 
to protect the poUtical and commercial interests in the 
Eastern Seas generally, it was essential that some central 
station should be occupied within the Archipelago, and to 
the southward of Malacca ; and Sir Stamford was appointed 
Agent to the Governor-General to effect this important 
object, if practicable, and generally to assume charge of 
the British interests to the eastward of the Straits of 
Malacca. > 
Sir Stamford wrote to Mr. Marsden on these subjects. 

TO WILLIAM MARSDEN, ESQ. 

*' Calcutta, October 16, 1818. 

" My dear Sir, 

" You will be happy to hear that I have made 
my peace with the Marquess of Hastings, and that his 
Lordship has at last acknowledged my exertions in Java 
in flattering terms. This was one object of my visit to ' 
Calcutta, and on it depended, in a great measure, the suc- 
cess of the others. I am now struggling hard to interest 
the Supreme Government in the Eastern Islands; and 
the measures taken by me at Palembang, &c., will, I 
doubt not, lead to the advantage of some defined line of 
policy being laid down for the future. With regard to 



LETTER TO W. MARSDEN, ESQ. 5 

the Dutch proceedings at Palembang, of which I hope you 
are, ere this, fiilly apprised. Lord Hastings has unequivo- 
cally declared, that his mind is made up as to the moral 
turpitude of the transaction, and that he considers this1)ut 
«« one of a course of measures directed in hostility to the 
British interests and name in the Eastern Seas. My 
despatches are now under consideration, and it is uncer- 
tain what may be the immediate result. There is but one 
opinion in regard to the manner in which our interests 
have been sacrificed by the transfer of Java, &c., and it is 
clear that the government at home will be called upon 
from hence to interfere for the security of our trade ; but 
in the mean time, and pending the reference to Europe, I 
fear that nothing decisive will be done. Lord Hastings 
is, I know, inclined to recommend our exchanging Ben- 

coolen for Malacca, and to make the equator the limit. 

***** 

" Lady Raffles has accompanied me — she is quite well, 
but finds the climate very different from that of our 
Eastern Isles — the heat has been extremely oppressive, 
and the whole of India very sickly — ^it is computed that 
not less than two millions have fallen a sacrifice to what is 
here called the cholera morbus. Our kindest regards. 

" Marco Polo has not yet appeared in this part of the 
world. 

"I have just received your kind letter, written on 
Christmas day last^ for which accept my best thanks — 
on my return to Bencoolen I shall no doubt, find a large 



b ESTABLISHMENT OF A STATION AT SINGAPORE. 

collection of English letters. I hope to be there in 
January/' 

Although Sir Stamford did not succeed in his endea- 
vours to induce the Bengal Govemnient to adopt all his 
views regarding Sumatra^ his presence in Calcutta created 
a general interest^ and turned the attention of the mer- 
chants^ as well as that of the government^ towards the 
progress of the Dutch power^ and the probable total de- 
struction of the EngUsh trade^ if some strong efforts were 
not made. If the moment was then allowed to pass away^ 
the time would be over when any thing could be done : 
the two only passages to the Eastern Archipelago secured 
by the Dutch, nothing but actual force would obtain for 
the British trader ingress to its thousand Isles. In his 
own words, he neither wanted people nor territory ; all he 
asked was> permission to anchor a line-of-battle ship, and 
hoist the English flag, at the mouth either of the Straits 
of Malacca or of Sunda ; and the trade of England would 
be secured, the monopoly of the Dutch broken. 

Lord Hastings was convinced ; and the occupation of 
Singapore was the consequence. Even before he left 
England, Sir Stamford contemplated this, to him, classical 
spot as a place favourably situated to become a British 
station. Mr. Crawfurd . has inadvertently given, in his 
account of the mission to Siam, an erroneous statement of 
the establishment of this settlement; the Carimons, which 
he describes as the original object of Sir Stamford's selec- 



LETTER TO THE DUCHESS O*' SOMERSET. 7 

tion, being the plan, in fact, of Colonel Farquhar, while 
Resident at Malacca, and not of Sir Stamford, who sur- 
veyed them out of courtesy only to that officer. 

Whilst still engaged at Calcutta, in endeavouring to 
secure the concurrence of the Supreme Government in his 
designs, he addressed letters to several friends, of which 
the following are extracts. 

TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

•* Calcutta, November 26 th, 1818. 

"I have now accompHshed the principal object of my 
visit to Bengal, and purpose embarking once more in the 
course of four or five days, for the Eastern Islands, which, 
I doubt not, I shall find as &esh and as blooming as ever. 
I yet hope to be in time to do something for the public 
good ; but the policy of the Dutch, and the unreserved 
terms of the convention, preclude me from being very 
sanguine. 

*' My own health remains much the same as when I left 
England, and Lady Raffles is, if any thing, better. Do 
you not pity poor Lady Baffles, and think Uae very hard- 
hearted to drag her about in her present state ? — ^but she 
will not remain from me, and what can I do ? We are 
now above three months without any news of our dear 
baby, so that you see we have our minor as weU as major 
separations. 

'' I have begged of Lady Raffles to give your Grace an 
account of the regal state of the Qovernor-Gleneral, which 
really exceeds all I had heard of it. 



8 LKTTKR TO MR. MARSDKN. 

" I take down from hence a medical man of the name of 
Jack, who will be entrusted with the botanical part of my 
researches; and I have two Frenchmen^ M. Diard and 
M. Duvausel, the former the pupils and the latter the 
step-son of Cuvier; so that in comparative anatomy I 
shall be strong. These three savans, with a missionary 
clergyman^ who takes charge of a printing-press, form my 
equipment from Calcutta, so that I hope we may do some- 
thing. 

'' I have at last succeeded in making the authorities in 
Bengal sensible of their supineness in allowing the Dutch 
to exclude us from the Eastern Seas ; but I fear it is now 
too late to retrieve what we have lost. I have full powers 
to do all we can ; and if anything is to be done, I think I 
need not assure your Grace that it shall be done — and 
quickly done." 

TO MR. MARSPEN. 

" Calcutta, December \{}th, 1818. 

" My dear Sir, 

" I am not certain whether, while in England, I 
mentioned to you a discovery which I thought I had made 
of the Tapir in the Malay countries. 

'' On my arrival at Penang in 1805, it was represented 
to me that a short time before, in the government of Sir 
George Leith, an animal in every respect the model of an 
elephant, but of diminutive size, had been brought from 
Queda; the animal had unfortunately died while Sir 



LETTER TO MR. MARSDEN. < 9 

George was on the hill, and the servants threw the body 
into the sea. 

*' I subsequently visited Malacca^ and made particular 
inquiries for an animal of this description; and from the 
information I received there, I had little doubt in my 
mind but the animal in question was rather the tapir than 
the elephant, and on showing the drawing of the former 
to the natives, they seemed at once to recognize it. 

" The result of farther inquiries has been conclusive on 
this head, and I now have the satisfaction to assure you 
that the animal exists, not only on the Peninsula, but in 
Sumatra. The head of one obtained in Malacca is now 
deposited in the Museum of the Asiatic Society at Cal- 
cutta; and a living tapir, from Sumatra, is now in the 
Grovernor-General's park at Barrackpore. 

'^. By the hands of Mr. Holton I send you a correct 
drawing of the Sumatran animal. It is the most docile 
creature I ever met with, and is more like the hog than 
any other animal to which I can compare it.'* 

TO MR. MARSDEN. 

** NearchuSy off the Sandheads, Dec. I2thy 1818. 
" My dear Sir, 

* *. * * 4c 

" We are now on our way to the eastward, in the hope 
of doing somiething, but I much fear the Dutch have 
hardly left us an inch of ground to stand upon. My 
attention is principally turned to Johore, and you must 



10 MISSION TO THE EASTERN ISLES. 

not be surprised if my next letter to you is dated from tbe 
site of the ancient city of Sin^apura. 

'' Yours, &c. 

" T. S. Raffles." 

Witli his usual foresight, knowing that his present 
objects required a military force, and fearing that he 
should not obtain any assistance from the government of 
Penang, Sir Stamford wrote from the Sandheads, at the 
mouth of the Ganges, to the officer commanding the 
troops at Bencoolen, which were about to be relieved, and 
requested him to come round by the Straits of Sunda, 
where a vessel should meet him with instructions. 

'* Penangt Jan. ISth^ 1819. 

" Me void a Pulo Penang. God only knows where 
next you may hear from me, but as you will be happy to 
learn the progress of my mission, I will not lose the 
present opportunity of informing you how I go on. In 
the first place, I have to complain most bitterly of * * 

*^ Whether an3rthing is to be done to the eastward or 
not, is yet very uncertain. By neglecting to occupy the 
place we lost Bhio, and shall have difficulty in establish- 
ing ourselves elsewhere, but I shall certainly attempt it. 

" At Acheen, the difficulties I shall have to surmount 
in the performance of my duty wiU be great, and the 
annoyance severe, but I shall persevere steadily in what I 
conceive to be my duty. I think I may rely on the Mar- 



HOISTS THE BRITISH FLAG AT SINGAPORE. 11 

quess ; his last words were> — ' Sir Stamford, you may 
depend upon me.' 
'' Sophia will remain at Penang, while I visit Acheen. 

" Yours, &c. 

'' T. S. Raffles.'' 

Of the delicacy and difficulties of the trust confided to 
Sir Stamford, some idea may be formed, when it is consi- 
dered, that before he had reached Penang, on his way to 
the eastward, the government of that settlement had 
failed in an attempt to acquire stich a station, had de- 
clared its conviction that the period had passed in which 
any such station could be obtained within the Archipe- 
lago, and on his arrival protested in the strongest manner, 
and exercised its power and influence in every possible 
way, against his proceeding towards the attainment of 
the important object intrusted to him ; while the Dutch 
authorities, having, as they thought, already succeeded in 
occupying every station, had not hesitated to declare 
their supremacy over the whole Archipelago, and to pub- 
lish their prohibitory regulations for the exclusion of 
British commerce, and the exercise of their own so- 
vereignty throughout the Eastern Seas. 

Sir Stamford, determined to accomplish the duty in- 
trusted to him, proceeded in person down the Straits of 
Malacca, and in ten days after quitting Penang hoisted 
the British flag, on the 29th of February, 1819, at Singa- 
pore, as he had anticipated upon leaving Bengal. The 



12 SINGAPORE. 

. commanding situation of this settlement embraced all the 
objects which he expected and desired. 

Sir Stamford conceived it of primary importance to 
obtain a post which should have a commanding geogiU* 
phical position at the southern entrance of the Stydts of 
Malacca^ which should be in the track of the China and 
coimtry traders^ which should be capable of affording them 
protection^ and of supplying their wants ; which should 
possess capabilities of defence by a moderate force ; which 
might give the means of supporting and defending the 
commercial intercourse with the Malay states ; and which^ 
by its contiguity to the seat of the Dutch power,, might 
afford an opportunity to watch the march of its policy> 
and, when necessary, to counteract its influence. 

The occupation of this station proved to the varied and 
enterprising population of the Archipelago, that the 
power and commerce of the British nation had not 
entirely sunk under the encroachments of the Dutch; 
and it also proved a determination to make a stand 
against them, and to maintain the right of free commerce 
with the Malay states. 

Independently of the tribes of the Archipelago, the 
situation of Singapore is peculiarly favourable for its 
becoming the entrepot to which the native mariners of 
Siam, Camboja, Chiampa, Cochin China, and China itself, 
may annually resort. It is .to the Straits of Singapore 
that their merchants are always bound, in the first in- 
stance; and if, on their arrival in them, they find a 



SETTLEMENT OF SINGAPORE. 13 

market for their goods, and the means of supplying their 
wants, they have no inducement to proceed to the more 
distant, unhealthy, and expensive port of Batavia. 

The passage from China can be made in less than six 
days, and the same time is all that is required, in the 
favourable monsoon, for the passage from BataAda, the 
coast of Borneo, and Penang. 

TO MR. MARSDEN. 

" Singapore, Jan, 31, 1819. 

" My dear Sir, 

" Here I am, true to my word, and in the enjoyment 
of all the pleasure which a footing on such classic ground 
must inspire. The lines of the old city, and of its de- 
fences, are still to be traced, and within its ramparts the 
British Union waves unmolested. 

" Singapore is every thing we could desire, it will 
soon rise into importance ; and with this single station I 
would undertake to counteract all the plans of Mjmheer ; 
it breaks the spell ; and they are no longer the exclusive 
sovereigns of the Eastern Seas. 

" Sophia is, I am happy to say, quite well ; she is now 
devoting a great deal of her time to botany, and so far 
from finding it hang heavy on her hands, she is constantly 
complaining that the days are too short. 

a|e 4c 4k 4e >K 

" This place possesses an excellent harbour, and every 
thing that can be desired for a British port in the island 



14 LETTER TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

of St. John's, which forms the south-western point of the 
harbour. We have commanded an intercourse with all 
the ships passing through the Straits of Singapore. We 
are within a week's sail of China, close to Siam, and in 
the very seat of the Malayan empire. This, therefore, 
will probably be my last attempt. If I am deserted now, 
I must fain return to Bencoolen, and become philosopher. 

" We are making very considerable collections in natiu*al 
history ; and if the political arrangements, which I now 
contemplate, are adopted and confirmed, we shall have it 
in our power to do a good deal in every department. We 
find more work than can be accomplished by six drafts- 
men employed from eight o'clock tiU four. 

" I expect to conclude all my arrangements at this 
place in the course of a few days, and then to return to 
Penang, where I have left Lady Baffles, and my anxiety to 
get there, on her account, is very great. From Penang 
my course will probably bend towards Acheen, where I 
have to establish the British influence on a permanent 
footing ; from thence I shall proceed to Bencoolen. 

TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

"Penang, Feb. 22, 1819. 

*' I am afraid your Grace will already have been tired 
out by the accounts I have, from time to time, given you 
of my rambling life ; it seems that I am never to be settled 
for any time, never to enjoy that rest and repose which 
the heart so much longs for. 



GEOGRAPHICAL SITUATION OF SINGAPURA. 15 

'' From Calcutta I came to this island^ and &om hence 
proceeded to the further east^ down the Straits of Ma- 
lacca. I have scarcely returned a week^ and am now 
bound to Acheen^ whence I shall again return to this 
place^ and proceed round the eastern and southern coast 
of Sumatra to Bencoolen. Nearly six months have now 
elapsed since we left our dear baby there> and we have 
scarcely heard of her since ; two or three months more 
must pass before our arrival and in the interim what im- 
portant events take place ! Among these I must mention 
Lady Raffles' expected confinement, an event which we 
daily look for ; this you will admit is a domestic event of 
no small importance. I have also to communicate to you 
a political event of great import, namely, the accomplish- 
ment of the great object which I have always had in 
view, by forming a permanent British estabUshment in 
the Malayan Archipelago, by which the progress of the 
Dutch supremacy may be checked, and our interests, 
political and commercial, secured. 

" It has been my good fortune to establish this station 
in a position combining every possible advantage, geo- 
graphical and local ; and if I only meet with ordinary sup- 
port from the higher powers, I shall effectually check the 
plans of the Dutch. 

♦ 4c ]|t 4c * 

'^ I must, however, tell you where you are to look for it 
in the map. Follow me from Calcutta, within the Nicobar 
and Andaman Islands, to Prince of Wales' Island, then 



16 PRESENT OCCUPATIONS. 

accompany me down the Straits of Malacca, past the 
town of Malacca, and round the south-western point of 
the Peninsula. You will then enter what are called the 
Straits of Singapore^ and in Marsden's map of Sumatra 
you will observe an island to the north of these straits 
called Singapura ; this is the spot, the site of the ancient 
maritime capital of the Malays, and within the walls of 
these fortifications, raised not less than six centuries ago, 
on which I have planted the British flag, where, I trust, 

it will long triumphantly wave. 

* 4t * * * 

" Almost all that I attempted in Sumatra has been 
destroyed, from a delicacy to the Dutch ; if this last effort 
for securing our interests also fails, I must be content to 
quit politics and turn philosopher. 

^p ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ 

" Your Grace would, I think, be amused, were you to 
overlook, our present occupations. Were it not for the 
Dutch, I should have little in politics to interest me, and 
as it is, I should have much leisure if I did not devote my 
time to natural history, in which we are daily making very 
important discoveries : the lower part of our house, at this 
moment, is more like the menagerie at Exeter Change 
than the residence of a gentleman. Fish, flesh, and 
fowl, alike contribute to the collection ; and above stairs 
the rooms are variously ornamented with branches and 
flowers, rendering them so many arbours. There are no 
less than five draftsmen constantly employed, and with all 



RIGHT TO THE CROWN AT ACHEEN. 17 

our diligence we can hardly keep pace with the new acqui- 
sitions which are daily made. 1 can assure your Grace 
that, while directing these various departments, we often 
think of the days that are to come, when quietly in Park 
Lane, or in the country, I may attempt to display to your 
domestic circle some of the riches and beauties with which 
nature has adorned these islands ; but when will that day 
come? A year has nearly elapsed since we landed on 
Indian ground : that year has not been spent in idleness ; 
but yet I must look through three or four more still 
longer years before I think of home; would that they 
were past too ! 

♦ * 4e 4: # 

" T. S. Raffles/' 

The duty which Sir Stamford had to perform at Acheen 
involved him in much trouble and discussion. The point 
to be decided was the right to the crown. A native mer- 
chant settled at Penang had endeavoured to establish a 
claim to it, which was not a little strengthened by his com- 
mand of wealth *. So much intrigue, trouble, and diffi- 
culty attended the arrangement of this disputed point, 
that Sir Stamford was absent three months. When the 
business was settled he returned to Penang, but he only 
remained a few days, and proceeded again to Singapore, 

* This was the only instance in which a bribe was offered to the 
Editor : a casket of diamonds was presented, and it seemed to create 
much surprise that it was not even looked at. 

VOL. 11. C 



18 LETTER TO COLONEL ADDENBROOKE. 

where he was most agreeably occupied for some time> in 
marking out the future town> and giving instructions to 
Colonel Farquhar for the arrangement and management 
of his new colony. 

The following are extracts fix)m letters written at this 
time from Singapore : — 

TO COLONEL ADDENBROOKE^ LATE EQUERRY TO HER ROTAL 

HIGHNESS PRINCESS d^ARLOTTE. 

"Singapore, June 10/A, 1819. 
" Mt DEAR Colonel, 

"You will probably have to consult the map in 
order to ascertain from what part of the world this letter 

is dated. 

♦ ♦ « « ♦ 

" I shall say nothing of the importance which I attach 
to the permanence of the position I have taken up at 
Singapore ; it is a child of my own. But for my Malay 
studies I should hardly have known that such a place 
existed ; not only the European, but the Indian world 

was also ignorant of it. 

« * » # * 

" I am. sure you will wish me success ; and I will there- 
fore only add, that if my plans are confirmed at home, it 
is my intention to make this my principal residence, and 
to devote the remaining years of my stay in the East to 
the advancement of a colony which, in every way in which 
it can be viewed, bids fair to be one of the most important. 



GENERAL POLITICS. 19 

I 

and at the same time, one of the least expensive and 
troublesome, which we possess. Our object is not terri- 
tory, but trade; a great commercial emporium, and a 
fodcrum, whence we may extend our influence politi- 
cally as circumstances may hereafter require. By taking 
immediate possession, we put a negative to the Dutch 
claim of exclusion, and at the same time revive the 
drooping confidence of our allies and friends. One free 
port in these seas must eventually destroy the speU of 
Dutch monopoly ; and what Malta is in the West, that 
may Singapore become in the East. 

" I shall leave this for Bencoolen in a few days, where I 
hope to remain quietly until we hear decidedly from 
Europe ; at all events I am not likely to quit Sumatra 
again for some months, and then only for a short period 
to revisit my new settlement. 

"You may judge of our anxiety to return to Bencoolen, 
when I tell you that we left oiir little girl there in August 
last, and have not since seen her. Lady Baflles, who 
accompanied me to Bengal, and is now with me, has 
since presented me with a son. The circumstances pre- 
ceding his birth were not very propitious. I was obliged 
to quit her only four days before the event; we were 
almost amongst strangers, no nurse in whom to confide, 
no experienced medical aid : for we had expected to reach 
Bencoolen in time. And yet all went on well ; and a finer 
babe, or one with more promise of intelligence, never was 
beheld. You will recollect that our little girl was born on 

c2 



20 GENERAL POLITICS. 

the wave^ under circumstances not more promising, and 
yet no mother and no children could have suffered less ! 
What strange and mysterious dispensations oS Provi- 
dence ! When I think of Claremont, and all the pros- 
pects which were there anticipated — ^but I must check my 
pen. 

" I thank you most sincerely for your letters of the 8th 
of December, 1817, and 29th of April, 1819 : the former 
I could never acknowledge till now, the latter is before 
me, and I cannot express how much I feel indebted to you 
for yoiu* kind and affectionate attention. The engravings 
I have duly received, one of them in particular is dear to 
me from many associations ; it is from the painting which 
I so often admired in the drawing-room. 

"Your account of our amiable and invaluable Prince 
has given me the greatest satisfaction. He has indeed 
had his trials : my heart overflows when I think of him and 
of his sufferings ; and though far removed and separated 
from the passing scene, be assured I listen with no com- 
mon interest to all that is said of and about him. 

" I have told you that Lady Raflles has presented me 
with a son and a daughter : from the circumstance of the 
latter having been bom on the voyage, the Javans, who 
are a poetic people, wished her to be named Tunjung 
Segara, meaning lotos of the sea; and a more appropriate 
name for purity or innocence could not have been con- 
ceived. I gratified their wish, but at the same time my 
own, by prefixing a more Christian and a more consecrated 



SIR Stamford's occupations and views. 21 

name^ '^ Charlotte." My son has been christened Leopold ; 
and thus will Leopold and Charlotte be commemorated in 
my domestic circle as names ever dear and ever respected ; 
and that of my daughter^ while associated with the em- 
blem of purity, handed down in remembrance of one 
whose virtues will never be forgotten. 

'' I must not close this letter without giving you some 
account of my occupations and views, as far as they are of 
a personal nature : I am vain enough to hope that these 
will interest you more than all I could write of a public or 
political nature. 

'' Notwithstanding the serious demands on my time^ 
arising out of my public station, and the discussions I have 
naturally had with the Dutch authorities, I have been able 
to advance very considerably in my collection in natural his- 
tory. Sumatra does not afford any of those interesting re- 
mains of former civilization, and of the arts which abound 
in Java; here man is far behind-hand, perhaps a thousand 
years, even behind his neighbour the Javan; but we have 
more originality, and the great volume of nature has hardly 
been opened. I was extremely unfortunate in the death of 
Dr. Arnold, who accompanied me as a naturahst from 
England : he fell a sacrifice to his zealous and indefatig- 
able exertions in the first journey which he made into the 
interior ; but not until he had immortalized his name by 
the discovery of one of the greatest prodigies in nature 
which has yet been met with, a flower of great beauty, but 
more remarkable for its dimensions ; it measures a full 



22 SIR STAMFORD'S OCCUPATIONS AND VIIlWS. 

yard across, weighs fifteen pounds, and contains in the 
nectary no less than eight pints, each petal being eleven 
inches in breadth, and there being five of them. I sent a 
short description of this plant, with a drawing, and part of 
the flower itself, to Sir Joseph Banks, from whom, or some 
of the members of the Boyal Society, you may probably 
have heard more particulars. I have now with me, as a 
botanist. Dr. Jack, a gentleman highly qualified ; and we 
are daily making very important additions to our herba- 
rium. We have recently discovered at this place some 
very beautiful species of the Nepenthes, or pitcher plants 
which in elegance and brilliancy, far surpass anything I 
have yet seen in this quarter : the plant is very remark- 
able, and though the genus has been generally described 
but little is known of the different species. We are now 
engaged in making drawings of them, and with a few 
other of the most remarkable and splendid productions of 
the vegetable world which we have met with, propose form- 
ing them into a volume, to be engraved in Europe. This 
wiU be an earnest of what we propose to do hereafter ; and 
you will oblige me much by informing me whether His 
Eoyal Highness would have any objection to their being 
dedicated to him : there will not be above six or eight en- 
gravings, but they wiU be on a large scale. 

" Besides our botanical pursuits, I have in my family 
two French naturalists, one of them step-son to the cele- 
brated Cuvier ; their attention is principally directed to 
zoology, but we include in our researches everything that 



SIR Stamford's occupations and views. 23 

is interesting in the mineral kingdom. Our collection of 
birds is already very extensive, and in the course of two 
or three years we hope to complete our more important 
researches in Sumatra. We shall endeavour to include the 
Malay Peninsula, Borneo, and wherever the Dutch, who are 
the Vandals of the East, do not establish themselves to 
our exclusion. I hope the plants, &c. by Dr. Horsfield 
reached Claremont in safety and tolerable preservation. 

" On the west coast of Sumatra we abound in great 
varieties of corallines and madrapores, but few of these 
are known in England, and collections are rare ; I am 
preparing a few for Claremont, and shall be happy to 
hear from you if they are likely to be acceptable, or what 
would be more so. 

" I beg of you to present my respects to Prince Leopold, 
with every assurance of deep regard, affection and esteem, 
which it may be respectfiil for me to offer. 

" To the Duke of Kent I wiU thank you also to present 
my respecte, and my coBgratulations on his marriage. 

'^ Allow me to add my kindest remembrances to Sir 
Robert Gardiner, the Baron, and Dr. Stockman, and to 
assure you, my dear friend, that I am with sincerity and 
truth. 

Your obliged and very faithfully attached friend, 

"T.S.R*." 

* The beautiful plant alluded to in the foregoing letter has been 
named Nepenthes Rc^fflesiana, and has since been engraved by Mr. 



24 LETTER TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

TO DR. WALLICH. 

" Singoqpore, June 17, 1819. 
" Our firiend Dr. Jack will keep you so regularly informed 
of our proceedings, that I shall not attempt to give you 
any account of our collections and discoveries. You will 
be happy to hear that we are at last on the Mring for 
Bencoolen, where we shall commence operations on a more 
determined plan. We have, however, no right to com- 
plain, and Singapore would have recompensed all our 
pains, had we found in it nothing but the new species of 
Nepenthes, which are splendid beyond description, and 
for novelty, size, and eflFect, certainly rank amongst the 
beauties of the East.'* 

TO HER GRACE THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

** Singapore, June lUA, 1819. 
" We are, at last, on our return home, and hope to leave 

this for Bencoolen in about a week. Poor Lady Baffles ! 

do you not pity her, to have been so long separated from 

her little girl, at such an interesting age, and to have been 

again confined among strangers, and with no one about 

her in whom she could confide ? 

" To add to our misfortunes, I was myself compelled to 

leave her only four days before the event. On my return, 

however, to Penang, I found her quite well, and one of 

the most beautiful boys that eyes ever beheld. Both 

Lambert, whose liberality in patronising any new discovery in his 
favourite science is well known. 



TI4CREASE OF POPULATION AT SINGAPORE. 25 

have done well ever since, and all are in doubt which is 
the most beautiful, Leopold or his sister Charlotte : he is 
three months old this day. Our troubles are not yet 
quite over, as we have a sea voyage of at least a month 
before us. 

" My new colony thrives most rapidly. We have not 
been established four months, and it has received an ac- 
cession of population exceeding five thousand, principally 
Chinese, and their number is daily increasing. 

" It is not necessary -for me to say how much interested 
I am in the success of the place ; it is a child of my 
own, and I have made it what it is. You may easily 
conceive with what zeal I apply myself to the clearing 
of forests, cutting of roads, building of towns, framing of 
laws, &c. &c. 

" T. S. Raffles.'* 



TO 



** Singapore, June 15M, 1819. 

" I am happy to inform you that everything is going on 
well here. It bids fair to be the next port to Calcutta; 
all we want now is, the certainty of permanent possession, 
and this, of course, depends on authorities beyond our 
control. You may take my word for it, this is by far the 
most important station in the East; and, as far as naval 
superiority and commercial interests are concerned, of 
much higher value than whole continents of territory. 

" Sophia and young Leopold are in high health and 



26 LKTTKR TO W. MARSDKN, ESQ. 

spirits: our darling girl is running about and talking, 
but it is now eight months since we saw her. What an 
age 



!" 



TO W. MARSDEN> ESQ. 

** Singapore, June I Uh, 1819. 
" My dear Sir, 



* * 



" I am now about to return to Bencoolen by the way of 
the Straits of Sunda, after an absence of nine months, 
three of which were spent at Acheen. At some future 
period I hope to give you an account of the information 
collected at the last-mentioned place. Our political nego- 
ciations were eventually successful, and although I had 
much anxiety and annoyance, I have no reason to regret 
my employment on the mission. Our government were 
nearly committed on the worst side of a very troublesome 
question ; and it required no common degree of assiduity 
and perseverance to persuade authorities, who had pre- 
viously declared opinions, that they were wrong. My 
colleague. Captain Coombs, however, at last saw the ques- 
tion in the same light in which it always appeared to me, 
and we had the satisfaction to conclude a treaty with the 
legitimate sovereign, by which all our objects were ob- 
tained, without the necessity of involving ourselves in any 

way. I have sent a copy of our report to Mr. , and 

you will oblige me by perusing it when at leisure ; it is 
not very long, considering the voluminous nature of our 



TEAK FORESTS IN ACHEEN. 27 

detached ^proceedings, which occupy upwards of one 
thousand pages. 



" The most important discoveries we made is the ex- 
istence of extensive teak forests near the northern coasts, 
and the general prevalence of mutilated Hindu images 
in the interior : of the former I obtained specimen 
branches of the trees, and undoubted evidence ; and of 
the latter, the accounts given were of a nature which left 
httle doubt in my mind with regard to the fact : I have 
set farther inquiries on foot, and in the course of time I 
hope to obtain much interesting information on this sub- 
ject. I have obtained several copies of their annals, and 
much information regarding their constitution and cus- 
toms, but I have not time at this moment to enter on the 
subject. Their hue of Mahomedan kings appears to have 
commenced in 601 of the Hegira, and from that period 
until the reign of Secunder Muda, or Macota Alem as he 
is more generally called, Acheen is said to have been 
tributary to Rum ; it then obtained Maaf, or exemption 
from tribute. The crown and regalia appear to have been 
brought from Rum shortly after the estabHshment of 
Islamism, and I think it probable that Acheen was the 
first and most important footing obtained by the Maho- 
medans to the eastward, and whence their religion was 
subsequently disseminated among the Islands. 
^ '* There is a fine harbotu* on the northern side of Pulo 

Way, the best in the Achenese dominions, and until this 



28 LETTER TO SIR R. H. INGLIS. 

period unknown to Europeans. It will be long^ I fear^ 
before Acheen will be restored to a state of complete 
tranquillity and confidence. ♦ ♦ * ♦ 

TO SIR ROBERT HARRT INGLIS. 

" StngaporCt June I2th, 1819. 
" My dear Sir, 

'' It is now nearly nine months since I left Bencoo- 
len for Bengal^ and during the whole of this period^ as 
well as previously, my mind and time have been so con- 
tinually devoted to the pressing and embarrassing duties 
of the responsible situations in which I have been placed, 
that the more satisfactory and comfortable duties of pri- 
vate friendship have necessarily been too often neglected. 
Among these I accuse myself of not having written to 
you, and I trust in your kindness to admit this general 
excuse as a sufficient apology. 

" From the warm and kind interest you take in all that 
concerns us, I am sure you will hear with pleasure that 
both Lady Raffles and myself have in general continued 
to enjoy the blessing of health, and that we are the happy 
parents of two most lovely children : our little girl was 
bom at sea, on the passage out; the boy at Penang, 
about three months ago : on both occasions the circum- 
stances in which Lady Baffles was placed were very dis- 
tressing. It is easy to conceive the anxiety and priva- 
tions attending such an event on board ship; and at 
Penang, independently of our not being in the least pre- 



LETTER TO SIR R. H. INOLIS. 29 

pared with a nurse or otherwise, I was myself compelled 
to leave her only four days before the event took place. 
AU, however, has gone on well, and we are truly thankAil 
to the Great Author and Disposer of all events, for the 
mercies and blessings we enjoy. 

" I know not how I can better fulfil my promise to 
you, than by giving you a general, but, as it must neces- 
sarily be, a hasty account of my proceedings, plans, and 
prospects, since I left England. I will endeavour to do 
this in as few words as possible, but it must be without 
order or arrangement. I will begin with Bencoolen, and 
the immediate interests of that settlement. 

'^ Before I left England I was prepared for the neces- 
sity of very essential changes in the mode of manage- 
ment. The encouragement given to slavery, gaming, and 
other vices, and the system of* forced services, and deli- 
veries at inadequate rates, appeared to me incompatible 
with the general principles of good government, and in- 
consistent with the character which the British nation has 
latterly assumed. 

" I accordingly endeavoured to procure an authority for 
reforming these evils ; and although I did not succeed to 
the extent I wished, I believe an impression was made on 
some of the more enlightened of the Directors, and on the 
President of the Board of Control (Mr. Canning), that 
some change was necessary and indispensable. Under 
these circumstances I assumed the charge of the settlement 
and a more reduced and wretched place than I found can- 



30 LKTTKR TO SIR R. H. INGLIS. 

not well be conceived ; recent neglect, and an awfiil visit- 
ation of Providence, had contributed to render the scene 
even more miserable than it might otherwise have been ; 
but under any circumstances, Bencoolen would have 
struck me as more insignificant and unimportant than 
any one of the twenty-two Residencies lately under my 
authority as Lieutenant-Governor of Java. 

'' The natural disadvantages of the place are so great, 
and the effects of misrule so deeply and extensively felt, 
that whilst I had every inclination to commence a new 
order of things, I was not very sanguine in the result; 
the country had already been too far impoverished and 
destroyed, the people too long deprived of all motive for 
energy and improvement, and the coast too long aban- 
doned by the native trader, and too inhospitable to invite 
his return. In this state, I had to determine whether I 
would undertake the thankless office of reformer, without 
the means of showing any immediate advantage, or con- 
tinue in the course of my predecessors, and eat the bread 
of idleness. My decision was in favour of the former, and 
among the first acts which I had the satis&ction to per- 
form, were the emancipation of three hundred slaves be- 
longing to the Company, and the aboUtion of the gaming 
and cock-fighting farms, whence the principal local reve- 
nues had previously been derived. 

" These and other changes declaratory of the new 
system of government which was about to take place, only 
paved the way to more essential changes ; and before I 



LETTER TO SIR R. H. INGLIS. 31 

proceeded to Bengal^ the system of forced services and 
deliveries was abolished^ new agreements entered into 
with the Chiefs, the courts of justice regulated on some 
fixed principle, and an active police established. All has 
been quiet since, and on my return to Bencoolen ; the ex- 
perience of the last twelve months wUL afford some data 
on the eventual effects. 



" Lady Baffles accompanied me on this as well as on my 
subsequent journey to Menangkabu, and you may form 
some idea of the fatigue we underwent when I teU you, 
that for the three days we had to pass in the forest and 
mountains, the paths were so narrow and precipitous, that 
it was absolutely impossible to reheve her from the fatigue 
of walking, except by occasionally carrying her for half an 
hour on a man's shoulders. We walked from before day- 
hght, sometimes till nine at night, and then we had to 
prepare our leafy dwelling from the branches of the sur- 
rounding trees. We carried a cot and bedding with us, 
but sometimes this did not come up ; and I had to select 
the smoothest stone from the river to serve as a pillow. 

'^ Every thing having succeeded at Pasumah to my 
wishes, a treaty of friendship and alliance was entered 
into, and we returned to Manna by a different route, 
though with equal fatigue and danger. Manna is situ- 
ated about eighty miles from Bencoolen ; to this place we 
had proceeded in a buggy along the sands in a journey of 
two days. We then continued our route southward as far 



32 LETTER TO SIR R. H. INOLIS. 

as Cawoor, keeping the sea-shore, and proceeding on 
horseback ; the distance about forty miles. 

" On our return to Bencoolen, which was accomplished 
by the 4th of June, new cares commenced. A Commis- 
sioner, with a party of troops, had arrived in a Dutch 
frigate, for the purpose of taking charge of Padang, 
by far the most important, and indeed the only valuable 
station on the west coast of Sumatra. 

" I had previously written to the Governor-General of 
Batavia, that there was an outstanding account between 
the two governments to the amount of 170,000 dollars, 
incurred by the British Government on the faith of its 
being repaid by the Dutch, whenever the place might be 
transferred, and according to the terms of the capitulation 
of the place, I had requested His Excellency would 
depute some person to examine the accounts, and give 
me some acknowledgment before the actual transfer. I 
accordingly called on the Commissioner for adjustment, 
but to my surprise, he informed me, that he had explicit 
orders not to enter upon any discussion of the kind ; that 
it was his duty first to hoist the Dutch flag ; and that 
afterwards the subject might be considered. As we had 
wofiil experience of such a procedure in Java, where 
after we had once allowed them to hoist their flag, they 
treated all our claims with indifierence and disregard, I 
was satisfied that unless we had some acknowledgment of 
this debt before the actual transfer, and while the English 
flag remained, the amount would be irrecoverably lost. 



LETTER TO SIR R, H. INGLIS. 33 

and the subsequent claims laughed at ; I therefore per- 
sisted in my demand, and the result was the return of the 
Commissioner to Batavia, for further orders. The Dutch 
government refused to waive the point. I remained reso- 
lute ; and the discussion ended in a reference to Bengal. 
In the mean time I was anxious to make myself ac- 
quainted with Padang, but more so to attempt a visit to 
Menangkabu, the ancient capital of the Malayan empire^ 
of which Europeans in these seas had heard so much, but 
which no European had yet seen. The difficulties which 
were opposed far exceeded those we had met with at 
Pasumah, but determined to overcome them, we accom- 
plished our object, and during a journey of fifteen days, 
principally on foot, we passed over a distance of, at least, 
250 miles, which no European foot had before trodden, 
crossing mountains not less than 5000 feet in elevation ; 
sometimes whole days along the course of rapid torrents, 
on others, in highly-cultivated plains, and throughout the 
whole, in a country in the highest degree interesting. 
We here found the wreck of a great empire hardly known 
to us but by name, and the evident source whence all the 
Malayan colonies now scattered along the coasts of the 
Archipelago first sprung, a population of between one and 
two millions, a cultivation highly advanced, and manners, 
customs, and productions in a great degree new and un- 
described. I can hardly describe to you the delight with 
which I first entered the rich and populous country of 
Menangkabu, and discovered, after four days' journey 

VOL. II. D 



34 LETTER TO SIR R. H. INOLIS. 

through the mountains and forests, this great source of 
interest and wealth. To me it was quite classical ground, 
and had I found nothing more than the ruins of an 
ancient city, I should have felt repaid for the journey ; but 
when, in addition to this, I found so extensive a popula- 
tion, so fertile a country, and so admirable a post whence 
to commence and effect the civilization of Sumatra, the 
sensation was of a nature that does not admit of descrip- 
tion. Instead of jealousy and distrust on the part of the 
natives, they received us with the utmost hospitality, and 
though their manners were rude, and sometimes annoy- 
ing, it was impossible to misunderstand their intentions, 
which were most friendly. They had but one request, 
namely, that I would not allow the Dutch to come to 
Padang — ' for the twenty-three years that the place had 
been in our possession, great changes had taken place> 
new interests had arisen, children then unborn had become 
men, and those who had been Mends to the Dutch were 
now no more.' I pacified them by receiving an address, 
which they wrote in public to the King of England, soli- 
citing his attention to their interests, and as I found, on 
subsequent inquiry, that the Dutch influence had never 
extended inland beyond the mountains, but had been ex- 
pressly limited to the western side of them, I did not 
hesitate to enter into a conditional treaty of friendship 
and alliance with the Sultan of Menangkabu, as the lord- 
paramount of all the Malay countries, subject, of course^ 
to the approval of Lord Hastings. 



LETTER TO SIR R. H. INGLIS. 35 

" The state of agriculture in the Menangkabu country 
is far higher than I expected to find it ; not in any re- 
spect inferior to what it is in Java^ and in some respects 
superior. Water-wheels and sugar-presses being common 
throughout Menangkabu, while they are almost unknown 
in Java, shows that in this point of view they are at least 
equal. In manners and civilization, however, they are 
very far behindhand. Some traces of a former higher 
state of civilization are discernible, but in general the 
people are little beyond what they are found to be in 
other parts of Sumatra. The Sovereign of Menangkabu 
has little or no authority, and the population seem to 
have relapsed into the ancient divisions of tribes so gene- 
ral throughout Sumatra. 

" I come now to another period in the history of these 
Islands. In the year 1811 we conquered Java, the seat of 
the Dutch Government, and from that time became 
supreme over the East as well as the West of India. 

" The instructions of Lord Minto, which authorized the 
conquest, directed, that after dismantling the fortifications, 
the country should be given up in independence to the 
native Chiefs. Holland at that time did not exist as a 
nation, and the prospect of transferring Java to France was 
not to be contemplated. The humane and benevolent mind 
of Lord Minto revolted at the idea of suddenly transferring 
back to the natives a colony which had been in possession 
of the European authority for two centuries. If such a 
policy were to be pursued, he conceived that it ought to 

d2 



36 LETTER TO SIR R. H. INGLIS. 

be gradual ; and while he took upon himself the responsi- 
bility of suspending, pending the reference to Europe, the 
rigid enforcement of the orders he had received, he did not 
hesitate to say that he had done so, and publicly to assure 
the natives that they would, in the mean time, be allowed 
every degree of rational liberty and independence con- 
sistent with the safety of the provisional government he 
had established. 

** On this principle was my government regulated : and 
you may judge with what surprise we received a copy of 
the convention for the unconditional transfer of the 
country to the Dutch, as fhe first and only communication 
from Europe. The Dutch no sooner obtained possession, 
than it became an object with them to lower the character 
of the British provisional administration, to displace those 
in whom we had confidence, and to obliterate, as far as 
possible all recollection of our rule. * * * 

" Of this I do not complain ; if our ministers, in the 
zenith of their magnanimity, chose to sacrifice the interests 
of five millions of people, and to cast them aside without 
notice or remembrance, it was not, perhaps, to be expected 
from the Dutch that they should be very nice. Gratitude 
is not among the list of national virtues ; it is, perhaps, 
inconsistent with them; at least it is at variance with 
national pride and vanity. 

"I did intend in this letter, to have entered at some 
length into other subjects, which have attracted my atten- 
tion since my return to India, but it is so unreasonably 



LETTER TO SIR R. H. INGLIS. 37 

long, that I must bring it to a close, with an apology for 
the extreme haste and inaccuracy with which it is written, 
and for taking up so much of your time on subjects which 
are probably of little interest to you. 

" You will have heard, that shortly after my arrival at 
Bencoolen, I had the satisfaction to establish a Bible 
Society. This was followed by the establishment of schools, 
and recently, on the visit of the Bishop of Calcutta to 
Penang, we formed a District Committee of the Society 
for Promoting Christian Knowledge, entitled the Prince 
of Wales' Island and Fort Marlborough Committee. 

" I have now with me, on board the ship on which I pro- 
ceed to Bencoolen, a printing-press, with types in the 
Boman and native characters, and have just granted per- 
mission to the Extra Ganges Mission to establish a col- 
lege at Singapore, for the study of the Chinese language, 
and the extension of Christianity. 

" The state of Society, even among the Europeans at 
Bencoolen, was very bad on my arrival. I trust it is im- 
proving. An instance has occurred which will, I hope, 
impress upon the higher authorities the necessity of at- 
tending more closely to the religious and moral character 
of their establishments. 

" I am afraid the progress towards improvement wiU be 
slow. I hope it will be sure, and, as soon as I can give 
you a good account, you may rely upon hearing from me. I 
did intend to write to Mr. Wilberforce, but I find I have 
not time, as the ship sails to-day. I shall, therefore, defer 



38 LKTTKR TO SIR R. H. INOLIS. 

tvriting to him till my return to Bencoolen, when I hope 
to have much new matter. In the mean time you will 
oblige me much by presenting my respects, and assuring 
him that we are doing all we can in the good cause. I 
wish he were AiUy aware of what might be done here.* 

'' On the voyage from England, the attention of Lady 
Baffles and myself was principally devoted to natural his- 
tory. We had with us Dr. Arnold, an eminent naturalist, 
and an amiable man, and, with his assistance, we studied 
most of the elementary works. Our poor friend. Dr. 
Arnold, has since fallen a sacrifice to his exertions, and 
we have lost him ; but we have supplied his place by Dr. 
Jack, a young man of very superior talent, and excellent 
disposition. His time is almost exclusively devoted to 
botanical pursuits, and our collections are already very 
interesting and extensive. I have also in my family two 
French naturalists, one of them step-son to Cuvier. They 
undertake the zoological department. We collect a few 
stones wherever we go, and chemistry may be added to 
the Ust of our studies. 

" These pursuits we selected as the most amusing and 
usefril we could follow. I was well aware that Sumatra 
afforded nothing in language, literature, science, or the 
arts, to interest. The great volume of nature, however, is 
is laid open before us ; and, in the absence of political 
objects, we foresaw enough to occupy our attention during 
the period of our banishment. We are vain enough to 
hope, that with the means we at present possess, and con- 



LETTER TO SIR R. H. INGLIS. 39 

tinued application for the next five years/ we shall be able 
to do much towards describing the natural history of Su- 
matra and the adjoining islands. 

" Thus you will see that we do not depend entirely upon 
public or political objects. I have done what I conceive 
my duty in these ; and if my projects fail^ I shall still have 
enough to interest me at home. 

'^ Lady Saffles unites in the most affectionate regards 
to Mrs. Inglis and yourself^ and we beg that you will offer 
our kindest respects to Sir Hugh and Lady Inglis. To 
Sir Hugh I would write^ had I not already informed you 
of all that is likely to prove interesting to him. My next 
letter shall^ however^ be to him ; but it must be delayed 
until I have more leisure and time to condense what I 
would wish to say. I should not feel myself authorized 
to convey my sentiments in the same loose and unguarded 
manner to him that I do to you. I rely upon your firiend- 
ship and kindness, and remain always. 

Most sincerely yours. 

'' It may be satisfactory to Sir Hugh to know that Lord 
Hastings has made the amende hcmorable ; expressed in 
the handsomest terms his regret that he should ever have 
viewed my proceedings in Java in another light, and 
his approbation and applause of the general principles 
which regulated my Government, which he is pleased 
to say were as creditable to me as honourable to my 
country." 



40 RETURN TO BENCOOLRK. 

Sir Stamford returned to Bencoolen, and the only event 
that occurred on the voyage was^ the vessel striking on a 
bank in the Straits of Bhio during the night. It was 
feared she would not be got off, and a small boat was pre- 
pared to endeavour to carry him back to Singapore, with 
the Editor and their child, an infant four months old : but 
just as they were leaving the vessel, hopes were enter- 
tained that by throwing all the water overboard to lighten 
the ship she might be got off, and before morning the 
attempt succeeded. It was then considered fortunate 
that the accident occurred so near an European settle- 
ment ; but on stopping at Bhio and sending in a boat, 
stating what had happened, and requesting a supply 
of water, the Dutch Besident refiised all intercourse, 
asserted that Sir Stamford went as a spy, and would 
not give the assistance solicited; it was, therefore, with 
considerable anxiety that the voyage was continued; 
fortunately in passing through the Straits of Banca 
a good Samaritan appeared in one of the beautiful 
American vessels, so numerous in these seas, when the 
Captain generously, and at considerable risk, for the wind 
was strong and in his favour, stopped his course, and with 
great difficulty, by means of ropes, conveyed some casks 
of water, and went on board himself to inquire into the 
cause of distress ; the Captain s name is forgotten, but his 
kindness has often been acknowledged with gratitude and 
praise. 

It is difficult to convey an idea of the pleasure of sailing 



SCENERY OF THE ARCHIPELAGO. 41 

through this beautiful and unparalleled Archipelago, in 
which every attraction of nature is combined ; the smooth- 
ness of the sea, the lightness of the atmosphere, the con- 
stant succession of the most picturesque lake scenery, 
islands of every shape and size clustered together, moun- 
tains of the most fanciM forms crowned with verdure to 
their summit, rich and luxuriant vegetation extending to 
the very edge of the water, little native boats, often with 
only one person in them, continually darting out from the 
deep shade which concealed them, looking like so many 
cockle-shells wafted about by the wind. Altogether it is 
a fairy scene of enchantment, deserving of a poet's pen to 
describe its beauties. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Sir Stamford arrives at Bencoolen^Endeavaurs to induce the inhor 
bitants to take an interest in the improvement of the country — 
Irregularities which formerly prevailed — School for the children 
qf the slaves— Its success — Missionaries — Religion qf the people 
— Effect of an institutionfor the Education of the higher orders — 
Anxiety for Mr, Wilberforce's assistance — Bible Society— ^Schoole 
— Sir Stamford resolves to proceed again to Calcutta — BiUiton — 
Lord Hastings on the subject qf Eastern arrangements — Leatoes 
Calcutta to return to Bencoolen, 

The immediate concerns of Bencoolen engrossed Sir Stam- 
ford*s attention on his return from Singapore. He was 
anxious to excite an interest in the Europeans for the 
improvement of the natives^ and to induce them to find 
occupation and amusement in a place where they were 
obliged to pass so many years of their lives. Of public 
duty there was little for them to perform; and it was 
always a subject of regret to him^ that so many young men 
were doomed to spend their days in idleness^ without any 
stimulant from the hope of future promotion or success^ to 
rouse them to energy and activity. 

Committees were appointed to inquire into various 
subjects; societies were formed for bettering the condi- 
tion of the people, and for promoting the agriculture of 
the country. 



ARRIVAL AT BENCOOLKN. 43 

The appearance of the Settlement was greatly changed. 
On Sir Stamford's first arrival in 1818, he found that every 
tree and shrub had been cut down (from fear of the na- 
tives) around the residence of the chief authority, which 
had in consequence a most desolate appearance : he imme- 
diately formed a garden, and surrounded the Government- 
house with plantations. As a proof of the luxuriance of 
vegetation in these islands, it may be stated, that during 
his absence of eleven months, the casuarina trees had 
grown to the height of thirty or forty feet ; and he had 
the pleasure, on his return, to see the house encircled by 
a shrubbery of nutmeg, clove, cocoa, and cassia trees, and 
of driving through an approach of alternate nutmeg and 
clove trees ; the place seemed to have been converted 
almost by magic from a wilderness into a garden. The 
nutmeg tree is exceedingly beautiful ; it bears in provi- 
sion, spreads its branches in a wide circle, and the fruit is 
perhaps the most beautifrd in the world ; the outside cover- 
ing, or shell, is of a rich cream colour, and resembles a 
peach; this bursts, and shows the dark nut, encircled and 
chequered with mace of the brightest crimson; which, 
when contrasted with the deep emerald green leaf, is de- 
lightfully grateful to the eye. 

Sir Stamford wrote to Mr. Wilberforce at this time on 
various subjects connected with his plans for the general 
improvement of the people around him. 



44 LETTER TO W. WlLBERFORCE> ESQ. 

TO W. WILBERFORCE, ESQ. 

** September, 1819. 

" My DEAR Sir, 

" I have delayed writing to you thus long in the ex- 
pectation of leisure, which I have never found; but I can- 
not longer decline the duty of giving you some information 
regarding the state of our population, and the means 
which are in progress for its amelioration and improve- 
ment. My public duties have called me to diflTerent and 
distant countries, and a large portion of my time has 
necessarily been devoted to political objects ; but in the 
course of these, neither the cause of the slave, nor the im- 
provement of those subjected to our influence, has been 
forgotten. In Sumatra 1 had, in many respects, a new 
field to tread ; its popidation, for the most part, is many 
centuries behind that of Java; and before any rational 
plan for general improvement could be adopted, it was 
necessary not only that much detailed information should 
be collected, but that the principles and extent of our 
political authority and influence should be clearly under- 
stood and established. 

" I shall not attempt to sketch even the outline of the 
picture which presented itself at Bencoolen, a settlement 
which has been in our possession upwards of a century ; 
but in which, I am sorry to say, I found as many vices and 
defects, political as well as moral, as were usually exhibited 
in the worst of the Dutch settlements. To attempt any 
improvement in the existing order of things, without 



NATIONAL SCHOOLS AT BENCOOLEN. 45 

changing the principle, appeared to me more likely 
to increase the evil than remove it, and a thorough and , 
entire reform became indispensable. This I found it 
necessary to introduce, and to effect on my personal re- 
sponsibility ; but I have since had the satisfaction to 
receive the approval of the liigher authorities, who have 
admitted that these changes appear to have been ' founded 
on sound principles of economy, expediency and hu- 
manity.' Thus encouraged, I have not hesitated to prose- 
cute my plans with ardour and decision ; and the results, 
as far as they have yet been seen, have fully answered my 
expectations. As much has been done as the time and 
the peculiar circumstances of the country and people have 
admitted, and the foundation has at least been laid on 
which a better state of society may be established. 

" Among the more striking irregularities which I found 
to prevail, was the encouragement and countenance given 
to slavery^ by the entertainment on the part of Govern- 
ment of a gang of negroes, in number between two and 
three hundred. This appeared to me so opposite to the 
Company's general practice and principles in India, and 
so prejudicial to their character, that I did not hesitate to 
take upon myself the measure of emancipating the whole, 
and by this my first act to give an earnest of the prin- 
ciples on which my future government would be con- 
ducted. A provision was continued for the old and 
infirm, as well as the children; and as the latter were 
numerous, no time was lost in affording them the means 



46 NATIONAL SCHOOLS AT BKNCOOLEN. 

of obtaining such an education as might fit them for the 
new state and condition to which they had been raised. 
An institution for the education of ihe Cafire children was 
accordingly established, and placed under the immediate 
superintendence of oiur chaplain ; and from this small be- 
ginning, originating in the abolition of slavery, may be 
traced the progress we are now making on a more exten- 
sive and enlarged scale throughout the Archipelago, and 
to which I am now to draw your attention. 

'^ The success of this little institution was soon mani- 
fest — ^an aptness and capacity in the children to receive 
instruction, and the unexpected talent displayed by some 
of them, excited general interest ; in the mean time our 
information and experience of the native character became 
more extensive, and it was found that no serious obstacle 
stood in the way of generally educating the whole of the 
rising generation subjected to our influence. In my visit 
to Bengal I had obtained the aid of the Baptist mis- 
sionaries, and one of these young men. well acquainted 
with the principles and practice of our national schools, 
accompanied me on my return, bringing with him a small 
fount of types in the Roman and native character. With 
this experience and aid I lost no time in giving effect to a 
plan I had long contemplated, and the improvement which 
had already taken place in the tone and taste of our 
small European society, seemed to second my efforts. In 
our chaplain, the Rev. Charles Winter, I found every dis- 
position to extend the sphere of his usefulness, and by 



INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OP SOCIETY. 47 

associating him in a committee of gentlemen who had for- 
merly been in my family in Java, and on whose principles, 
zeal, and devotion I could rely, I readily found the means 
of effective superintendence. The enclosed printed copy 
of the proceedings of this committee will place you in full 
possession of the principles on which we have proceeded, 
and of the particulars of what has been done towards the 
establishment of schools at Bencoolen. In the last report 
of the committee with which this paper concludes, you 
will perceive some interesting observations on the con- 
dition of society, the character and usages of the people, 
and the facilities which are afforded for more generally 
extending the plan of educating the whole of the native 
population. On this report I shall only observe, that in 
estimating tjie character of the people, the committee 
have rather taken a general opinion for granted, than 
gone themselves into the investigation of that character, 
or the causes which may have tended to deteriorate it. 
On this subject they are professedly superficial : in other 
respects you will find much to interest you, and I am con- 
fident they will have your fiill support and approbation in 
the general conclusions and anticipations which they form. 
Among the older inhabitants I found an inveterate preju- 
dice against the natives, although by their intimacy with 
them I might have expected a different opinion. Much 
of this, however, is already wearing off, and I have at 
least introduced into this superintending committee 
enough of the new leaven of charity and benevolence to 



48 INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF SOCIETY. 

prevent the institution from running aground on the rocks 
of illiberality and prejudice. 

''While this committee have confided themselves to things 
as they are, and to objects of immediate and practical use- 
fulness^ another committee have directed their undivided 
and particular attention to the causes which may have pro- 
duced the present state of society — to the origin and root 
of the evil> and the means which in a more extensive and 
enlarged view it may be proper to contemplate for its 
counteraction. I had myself paid much attention to this 
subject, and in my different excursions into the interior of 
the Island had collected abundant information. The 
various reforms and alterations which I have introduced 
had been adopted on a thorough knowledge of the state 
of the country and people ; but as yet I stood alone. It 
was on my undivided conviction, and on my personal repre- 
sentations alone, that the necessity and propriety of these 
amendments were upheld ; and as the interests of some 
were affected, and the doubts and malignity of others 
might be injurious, I thought it advisable that such a body 
of information should be collected by an independent 
committee, as would give weight and security to my own 
measures, and at the same time enable a distant authority 
to form a correct judgment of the real state of the case. 
The condition of society at Bencoolen is so peculiar, and 
it has been influenced by so many extraordinary and un- 
accountable circumstances, that it is difficult to convey any 
adequate or just idea of it in a few words. The first re- 



INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF SOCIETY. 49 

port of this committee is therefore of high interest, and I 
am confident it will be perused by you with attention. 
You will find depicted in it a state of society very different 
from what is usually met with, but you will observe with 
pleasure that, in the character of the people, we still find 
the rudiments and basis of a better order of things. 

" It is at present exclusively an official paper, and you 
must consider this communication as expressly private. 
Some severe strictures are necessarily passed in it on the 
general system of European administration, which it might 
not be pleasant to lay before so severe a tribunal as the 
public, although I am myself of opinion that it is far better 
openly to acknowledge our errors, where we know we have 
done wrong, and thus to bind ourselves to a different 
course for the future. 

" I am in a particular manner indebted to a member of 
my family, Mr. Jack, for the zeal, ardour, and ability 
which he has infused into the researches and proceedings 
of this committee; and, I think, you wiU find more inform- 
ation in a small compass, on the subject on which it treats, 
than is elewhere to be met with. The labours of the com- 
mittee are by no means closed ; they will prosecute their 
inquiries into the inmost recesses of Sumatra, and endea- 
vour to exhibit, in a clear and comprehensive view, the 
real resources of the country, and the true character, feel- 
ings, and capacity of its population. Of this large Island, 
the districts immediately dependent on Bencoolen are, 
perhaps, the least important ; but, as the seat of our 

VOL. II. E 



50 PROPOSES A COLLEGE FOR THE NATIVES. 

authority, they have necessarily attracted our first atten- 
tion. We have opened our ports to a free and unrestricted 
commerce, and have foregone all prospect of revenue from 
the country, at least in its present impoverished state ; 
and it is to the improvement of the people in their minds 
and their morals that we now alone look for our public 
prosperity. 

''I must now carry you to a more extensive field, and 
endeavour to obtain all the aid of your powerful patronage 
and support for an institution, which is to operate on a 
more enlarged and still more important scale, and which is 
intended to complete the design 1 had in view : it is the 
key-stone to the arch, and when once this is constructed 
and well cemented, holier and better men may raise upon 
it such a superstructure as their duty to God may require. 
All that I attempt is to pave the way for better things ; 
and, although I am far from lukewarm towards higher 
ends, I am content to confide all my views to the enlarge- 
ment of the human mind, and the general spread of moral 
principles. In the present state of these countries, these 
are the first to be attended to — ^to prepare the mind for 
religious truth and Christian discipline. It is true the 
people of these Islands are distinguished by the absence 
of that spirit of intolerance and bigotry, which prevails on 
the contin^it of India, and that they place the frdlest con- 
fidence in the benevolence and liberality of our govern- 
ment and institutions ; but we as yet only see them as the 
sea in a calm. I write these remarks to you, my dear Sir, 



PROPOSES A COLLEGE FOR THE NATIVES. 51 

without reserve, knowing that in your kindness and libera- 
lity they win meet with every indulgence. I am far from 
opposing missionaries, and the more that come out the 
better ; but let them be enlightened men, and placed in 
connection with the schools, and under due control. 

'' I must, however, return to my institution, which is 
intended to be a native college, for the education of the 
higher orders of the natives, and to afford the means of 
instruction to ourselves in the native languages, and of 
prosecuting our researches into the history, literature, 
and resources of the farther East. When I tell you that 
the effect of this institution is intended to be felt among 
a population of not less than thirty millions, and that its 
influence may eventually, and perhaps at no very distant 
date, extend over ten times that nimiber, it is not neces- 
sary to say more on the extent and importance of the field ; 
of its nature and interest, I need only refer you to the map 
of the world, and request you to consider all those countries 
lying to the east and south of the Ganges, as included 
within our range. It is from the banks of the Oanges to the 
utmost limits of China and Japan, and to New Holland, 
that the influence of our proposed institution is calculated 
to extend ; and of these extensive countries, no portion 
has a higher and more peculiar interest than the Eastern 
Islands. I dare not, however, trust myself to descant 
upon th^m, and to enter upon so extensive and important 
a field at the close of a private letter, which has already 
exceeded its proper limits ; but I regret this the less, as I 

e2 



52 ANXIETY FOR MR. WILBERFORCR's ASSISTANCE. 

am enabled to forward to you> in a more connected form, 
a copy ofthe leading arguments and reasoning which have 
weighed with me on the occasion/ 

" This paper has been drawn up to be submitted to the 
Marqms of Hastings, in the hope of obtaining his Lord- 
ship*s powerful support; but if it can be rendered in any 
way useful in your hands in aid of the olgects contem- 
plated, or in furtherance of the enlightened views which 
are always present to your philanthropic mind, you are at 
liberty to circulate it as you may think proper. We shall 
require all the aid of powerful support at home ; and as 
you were kind enough to take so warm an interest in the 
fate of our Java Benevolent Society, I am inclined to hope 
that the views and principles of the African Institution 
will not be considered to have been less attended to in our 
present proceedings, which promise to have a far more 
immediate and extensive operation. 

*^ I am particularly anxious that the lamp we have 
lighted should not be allowed to shine with a dim or im- 
perfect lustre ; the spark has been struck with enthusiasm, 
and while I remain in this country, the flame shall be 
fanned with ardour and perseverance ; but we must look 
to a higher Power for the oil which is to feed and support 
it, and, above all, to the protecting and encouraging influ- 
ence of true principles and British philanthropy, to shield 
it, not only against the blasts of adversity, but the no less 
destructive vapours of indifierence and neglect. 

'* However anxious I may feel to devote the best portion 



ANXIETY FOR MR. WILBERFORCE's ASSISTANCE. 53 

of my life, and however much my fortune might justify a 
longer residence in this country, I have reason to feel that 
my health is not likely to carry me through more than five 
or six years' continuance in these islands ; and it is there- 
fore necessary that I should look forward to a period 
when the influence of my personal presence and exertions 
will be withdrawn. I am now endeavouring to lay the 
foundation as broad as possible, and have already selected 
fit instruments for the furtherance of my plans in several 
of the most important stations ; but that I may raise more 
labourers for the field, it is of importance that they should 
have a high and steady superintending and encouraging 
authority to look to; such an authority and support at 
home as the labourers in the African cause at all times 
found. Can you not take us under your parental wings, 
or could you not make the Eastern Islands a branch of 
the African Institution under some other designation ? If 
our objects and our principles are the same, and the field 
for improvement is at least as wide and important, why 
should this fair and interesting portion of the globe, supe- 
rior by far in the extent of its population, and equal in its 
resources, and so pecuhar in its character, be left to slum- 
ber in ignorance, while the wilder shores of Africa, and 
the more distant isles of the South Sea alone invite the 
attention of the philanthropist ? Hitherto it'has been left 
at the mercy of the Moor and the Dutchman, Wd it might 
be difficult to decide which has been the most injurious : 
for my own part, I am inclined to prefer the former, but 



54 ANXIETY FOR MR. WILBERFORCE'S ASSISTANCE. 

perhaps my prejudices agidnst the Dutch may carry me 
too far. Be this as it may, we are now independent of 
both ; the station which has been established at Singsk 
pore, at the southern extremity of the Malayan Peninsula, 
has given us the command of the Archipelago as well in 
peace as in war : our commerce will extend to every part, 
and British principles wiU be known and felt throughout. 
" I ought to apologue for the length of this letter, 
knowing how much your time is occupied, and how little 
of it can possibly be devoted to* an object which appears 
to me so important as the present. I will not say I envy 
the unfortunate A&ican because he enjoys so much larger 
a portion of your thoughts and attention, but I cannot 
help adding that I wish they were, even for a short time, 
directed to the Malay, the Javan, the Sumatran, the Bor- 
nean, the Avanese, the Siamese, the Chinese, the Japa- 
nese, and the millions of others with whom I am in daily 
communication, and to whom the name of William Wil- 
berforce, if not entirely unknown, is only coupled with 
that of Africa. I know, my dear Sir, that the boundless 
goodness of your heart, and the noble stretch of your 
mindv embraces at once the good of all mankind; but 
perhaps from an impression that individual exertions are 
best directed to one particular focus or object, or more 
probably from the absence of correct information of the 
importance and necessity of your influence in these seas, 
the subject may not have sufficiently attracted your at- 
tention. 



ANXIETY FOR MR. WILBERFORCE's ASSISTANCE. 55 

" I have observed it noticed in a late publication, ' that 
it is upon Asiatic soil only that the advocates of the slave 
abolition are to gain their final victory — ^that upon the 
British Asiatic poHcy in the development of the unbounded 
resources of Asia depends the ascendancy of the British 
character.' The writer most probably drew his conclusions 
from very different premises^ and they are so strikingly 
illustrative of what I would impress upon you, that I could 
not omit noticing them. You must remember also that 
we have many of the woolly-headed race scattered over 
these islands from the Andamans to New Guinea, and 
that there have not been wanting persons who consider 
them as the aborigines of the country : that the Malay 
language extends westward as far as Madagascar, and 
that, however remote these islands may be from Africa 
geographically, and distinct from it politically in the 
present condition of the world, there are traces of a more 
intimate connexion in former times. I mention this to 
show that we have even claims upon you as the friend of 
Africa : for I am far from concurring in the opinion re- 
garding the aborigines of these islands, and rather con- 
sider the Caffires we now find in them to have been 
brought by traders in remote periods as slaves — as such 
they are generally considered and treated whenever en- 
trapped. 

" The same political objection which might be started 
to the interference of your Society in Bengal, and where 
we have an extensive dominion, and an efficient Govern- 



56 ANXIETY FOR MR. WILBSRFORCS's ASSISTANCE. 

ment to provide for all its wants, does not apply to the 
countries beyond the Ganges. With these our intercourse 
is entirely commercial, and our object is to raise the native 
governments into consideration and importance : the 
stronger and more enlightened these are, the safer our 
communication, the more extensive our commerce, and 
the more important the connexion. There is hardly one 
of these states whose history, resources, and population 
is known to the European world. A part of my plan is 
to encourage the collection of all interesting details on 
these subjects, and I could wish that the persons who 
devote their time to these objects should possess the 
means of communicating the information to the public. 
An annual report to the African Institution, or to 
you individually, with such occasional tracts as may 
be interesting, might be forwarded. But I leave to 
you to point out what had best be done. You will 
perceive that we are not idle, and that the spirit 
which has gone forth only requires to be properly di- 
rected and supported to lead to results of the most 
promising nature. 

" I must now conclude with my kindest regards to 
Mrs. WHberforce, in which Lady Raffles unites most cor- 
dially, as well as in every assurance of respect, esteem, 
and veneration, with which I am, very obediently, 

'' T. S. R. 

'' I should mention that I caused your present of a seal 



BIBLE SOCIETY, 57 

to be duly delivered to the Penambahan of Samunap*, 
and that I have in return received his acknowledgments 
through the Governor-General of Batavia^ together with 
a handsome crees, which I am requested to forward to 
you as a mark of respect and attention on the part of that 
Chief." 

r 

EXTRACT FROM A LETTER TO SIR R. H. INGLIS^ BART. 

" Bencoolen, October 5th, 1819, 
* * * * ii^ 

" I have much to communicate to you on the subject 
of our Bible Society and Schools^ of the latter particu- 
larly ; but as our proceedings wiU probably be printed, a 
communication of them in that form will perhaps be suf- 
ficient until I can write you more at length. My atten- 
tion during the last two months has been very closely 
directed to the moral condition of our population. 

* A native Chief, who had inherited in his &mily domestic slaves. 
When it was proposed that all the slaves on the Island should he re- 
gistered, he proudly said, " I will not register my slaves ; they shall 
be free : hitherto they have been kept such, because it was the custom, 
and the Dutch liked to be attended by slaves when they visited the 
palace ; but as that is not the case with the British, they shall cease to 
be slaves ; for long have I felt shame, and my blood has run cold, when 
I have reflected on what I once saw at Batavia and Samarang, where 
human beings were exposed for public sale, placed on a table, and 
examined like sheep and oxen !** The slaves in Java were the pro- 
perty of the Europeans and Chinese alone : the native Chiefs never 
required the services of slaves, nor engaged in the trafiic of slavery. 
Whilst in England Sir Stamford had a seal made, and Mr. Wilber- 
force*s name engraved on it, which he took out, and sent to this Chief 
as a token of acknowledgment for this liberal act 



58 SCHOOLS. 

Schook on the Lancastrian plan have been adopted with 
success^ and I am now proposing the establishment of a 
native college at Singapore. I mean to submit my plans, 
in the first instance, to the Government of Bengal, and, 
if possible, to carry Lord Hastings with me. Some aid 
from the Company is indispensable, and his Lordship has 
evinced a general desire to support similar institutions. 

" I can assure you we are not idle, and if we do not 
make more noise about what we are doing, it is because 
we are more intent on the real object, than the acquisition 
of credit for what we do : it is for the pleasure and satis- 
faction which the labour itself affords, and the gratifica- 
tion a favourable result may ensure, that we work, and 
not for the uncertain praise and applause of the day. I 
enclose the first Report of our Bible Society: it says 
little, but to the purpose, and it may be interesting as the 
first production of a small press which I have established 
at Bencoolen. 

" Lady Bafiles unites with me in kindest respects. 

" I remain, 

'' T. S. Raffles." 

TO . 

'* October 7th, 1819. 
" Sophia enjoys the best health, and our two children 

are of course prodigies. The boy even excels his sister 
in beauty and expression, and our only anxiety is to take 
them to England before the climate makes an inroad on 
their constitution. Till they are six, seven, or eight 



DEATH OP COLONEL BANNERMAN. 59 

years old^ they may remain with safety; but after that 
period both mind and body will be injured by a longer 
residence within the tropics. 

" Such portion of my time as is not taken up in public 
business^ is principally devoted to natural history. We 
are making very extensive collections in all departments ; 
and as Sophia takes her full share in these pursuits, the 
children will, no doubt, easily imbibe a taste for these 
amusing and interesting occupations. Charlotte has her 
lap full of shells, and the boy is usually denominated ' fe 
jeum AristoteJ* 

- T. S. B. ' 

Whilst happily employed in these more domestic but 
not less interesting occupations, intelligence was brought 
of the death of Colonel Bannerman. This event, melan- 
choly in itself. Sir Stamford thought likely to afford an 
opportunity for urging upon the consideration of the Su- 
preme Government his views for the general administra- 
tion of the Eastern Islands. He therefore resolved to 
proceed again to Calcutta. The season was far advanced, 
the vessel which brought the report was the only one 
likely to touch at Bencoolen for many months ; and he 
was obliged to separate himself from his family on 
account of its total want of accommodation, as the captain, 
when offered any sum he would name to make room for 
the Editor, proposed to arrange a part of the hold of the 
vessel: public duty seemed to require his presence in 



60 SIR STAMFORD*S COMMERCIAL VIEWS. 

Calcutta, and therefore Sir Stamford determined to pro- 
ceed there alone. 

The following are extracts from the letters written 
during the voyage, or during his residence in Calcutta. 



TO 



** On board the brig Favourite, 
October 20, 1819. 

" I am once more at sea on my way to Calcutta. On 
deliberate consideration I resolved to proceed to Bengal 
for the advantage of personal communication, the object 
at stake being important. The size of the vessel, and the 
season of the year, about the change of the monsoon, have 
weighed with me in leaving Sophia at Bencoolen; and 
distressing as the separation must be, I do not regret that 
I am alone, for we have experienced very bad weather, and 
it is as much as I can do to stand up against all the pri- 
vations and annoyances of the vessel. 

" My views regarding the Eastern Islands are extensive, 
and, I think, important to our commercial and political 
interests. The field is large, new and interesting; and, 
in spite of all your advice. Self, I can assure you, is never 
viewed or reflected upon by me with any other feelings 
than those of patriotism, benevolence, and duty. Hitherto 
you have not had a word of my commercial plans : these I 
have kept back, as they did not require the immediate 
attention that those of a political nature did ; but they 
are not less important, for they include the whole trade of 



SIR Stamford's commercial views. 61 

the Archipelago. I will, however, give you some account 
of what we have been doing at Bencoolen. Here, at any 
rate, my measures have met with general approbation. 
They are admitted by the Supreme Government to be 
founded on sound principles of economy, good government, 
and humanity. 

" My absence from the seat of government, with little or 
no communication for upwards of eleven months, during 
which the charge of the place necessarily devolved on a 
person who did not comprehend the principles on which I 
acted, has afforded the means of proving that there was 
nothing in the nature of those principles calculated to create 
commotion, or to occasion dangerous consequences ; that, 
in fact, such an apprehension was a mere bugbear,^ created 
in the conAised noddles of those who were ignorant or 
a&aid of their advantage, and supported by those who 
knew no better ; that innovation and reform are attended 
with difficulties and dangers, no one will deny, but it is for 
him who carries them into effect to be prepared to meet 
and subdue them as they arise. I wish, however, those 
who were so ready to declare the impossibility of the 
change would now admit they were mistaken, and state 
the grounds of their misconception. They could not re- 
sist giving me at least credit for overcoming what they 
conceived impossible. I would then simply ask their 
opinion on the contrast between what is, and what was ? 

" You will recoUect a conversation we had previous to 
my embarkation on a very serious subject. To prove to 



62 MEASURES FOR IMPROTEMENT OF NATIVES. 

you that I am not inattentiye to those important interests 
on the largest scale, I refer you to what we have done to- 
wards the amelioration^ civilization^ and improvement of 
our population, the only rational steps which can be taken 
for eventually spreading advantages of a higher nature, 
which we derive from the comforts of revelation and reli- 
gion. 



''Of the more immediate and practicable measures, 
however, I must refer you to the recent establishment of 
schools on the Lancastrian principle. A parent school 
has been established at Bencoolen, whence I hope to sup- 
ply each village with a tutor, and gradually extend the 
spread of knowledge throughout the whole island. The 
march will be slow but sure, and while we are doing all we 
can to amend the present race, we are preparing to supply 
their place, in the rising generation, by a people in whom 
improvement and civilization may be more readily ex- 
tended. I 

4t 4i ^ * * \ 

" But a still more important and interesting report de- i 

serves your attention, as containing a true picture of the 
present state of society at Bencoolen, on the sulgect of 
the recent chaages which have been effected. It has 
occurred to me that this mode of exhibiting our real con- 
dition was advisable. My individual opinion might be 
doubted, or supposed to be interested or biassed ; I have, 
therefore, availed myself of the support of others,^ and by 



MEASURES FOR IMPROVEMENT OF NATIVES. 63 

placing our clergyman at the head of the committee, given 
a degree of weight which could not attach to the same ar- 
guments used by me alone. As I have no council at Ben- 
coolen, I make committees supply their place. Reflect that 
Bencoolen is the oldest estabUshment we have in India. 
It is foUy to say I am doing the Company an injury in 
exposing the vices of the system : they must be exposed 
in order to produce a thorough repentance, without which 
we cannot amend our ways ; or to use a more appropriate 
phrase, turn over a new leaf. No man, and no body of 
men, were ever condemned for acknowledging their errors, 
provided they were resolved to depart from them : it is by 
a perseverance in what is bad, by an endeavour to conceal 
from ourselves and the world that things are as bad as 

they really are^ that we do mischief. 

* « . « # » 

'* I feel so satisfied that all I have done and am doing 
at Bencoolen is right, that I am only apprehensive on one 
point, and that is, the authorities in Europe crying out 
prematurely. The obstacles in my way, in the point of 
economy, are great : while there is so large an estabUsh- 
ment of civilians for whom there is no employment, and so 
many dependants on the Company's bounty, what can be 
done ? B^move the former, and let the latter die off, and 
then we shall get on. 

'^ My health and constitution will not admit of my re- 
maining many years in India, and I must endeavour, by 
an increased activity, to make up for want of time. When 



64 FlN/iNCIAL REFORMS. 

do you think I shall get home ? Will seven years* banish- 
ment be enough for all my sins ? or must I linger till I 
can sin no more ? 

" You will be happy to hear that I have the advantage 
of a highly scientific friend in Dr. Jack, who supplies poor 
Arnold's place. I have also two Frenchmen employed, 
and my collections are very considerable ; and both Sophia 
and myself pass many happy hours among the flowers, 

the birds, and the beasts, &c. 

4t * « * « 

'' I have revised the custom-house and port regulations, 
which was absolutely necessary, and declared the port free 
of all duties.** 

TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

'* At 9ea, in the Bay of Bengal, Nov. 9, 1820. 
" Behold me again at sea in my passage to Bengal. I 
had hardly arrived at Bencoolen, when events occurred 
which rendered this voyage indispensable ; but I have 
undertaken it alone, the smaUness of the vessel and the 
adverse season of the year inducing me to insist on Lady 
Raffles remaining quietly at home. An opening seems 
now to be afforded for extending my views and plans to 
the Eastward, and this shall be the last effort I will make. 
If I succeed I shall have enough to occupy my attention 
while I remain in the East ; and if I do not, I can only 
return to Bencoolen, and enjoy domestic retirement in the 
bosom of my family. 



LETTER TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 65 

" In this country^ you will be happy to hear that we 
have completely turned the tables on the Dutch. The 
occupation of Singapore has been the death-blow to all 
their plans ; and I trust that our political and commercial 
interests wiQ be adequately secured, notwithstanding the 
unhandsome and ungenerous manner in which ministers 
have treated me individually, or the indifference they 
have shown to the subject. I was perfectly aware that 
they would not like the agitation of the question; but 
they ought to have been aware that it could not be 
avoided, and that however easy it may be in the Cabinet 
to sacrifice the best interests of the nation, there are spirits 
and voices engendered by the principles of our constitu- 
tion that will not remain quiet under it. * # « 

" But a truce to politics ; a few words on our domestic 
arrangements and plans will, I doubt not, be far more 
interesting than all my public speculations. You are 
already informed that Lady B^f&es presented me with a 
son and heir while at Penang; he is now a fine stout boy, 
and as bold as a lion ; the reverse of your god-daughter 
in ahnost everything. She is the most gentie, timid 
being in existence. It is now above a month since I left 
them, and two more wiU elapse before I see them again. 

4c 4c 4: He :|c 

" I have endeavoured to supply the place of Dr. 
Arnold by another botanical friend, and when other 
objects do not distract us, we always find abundant em- 
ployment among our plants and animals. The two French 

VOL. II. F 



66 LETTER TO THE DUCHESS OP SOMERSET. 

naturalists are inde&tigable, and their collection is already 
very extensive. I am now preparing for transmission to 
Sir Joseph a fiill description of the Duyong, or mermaid 
of these seas. I am afraid, however^ that the particulars 
will but ill accord with the accounts of former travellers, 
and that in this, as in many other cases, when we descend 
from imagination to simple facts, there will be a wonder- 
ful falling off; were it not so in the present instance, I 
don't know how I could detail to you the relish with which 
I dined off the flesh of one of these seducing animals. 

" I intended to have sent your Grace a detailed account 
of my mission to Acheen, where I had to put the crown 
on the proper head; but the subject is so mixed with 
political matter, that I fear it would have but httle in- 
terest; for what can you care about a kingdom at the 
other end of the world, and where the people have no 
pecuUar virtues to recommend them ? I was detained in 
the country for nearly two months, and to give you an 
idea of my employment, it may be sufficient to state, that 
our proceedings fiUed upwards of a thousand pages oi 
the Company's largest-sized paper. This is the labori- 
ous way in which we are sometimes obliged to do business 
in India, and will perhaps account for my unwillingness 
to enlarge farther on a subject of which I must be pretty 
well tired. 



BIBLE SOCIETY. 67 



TO THE REV. DR. RAFFLES. 



" At Sea, November 9th, 1819, within three 
days* sail of Calcutta. 

'' My DEAR Cousin, 

" As I know the warm interest you feel in our 
plans of improvement, I lose no time in enclosing, under 
a separate cover, a copy of the first proceedings which 
have been printed of our Bible Society, and a still more 
interesting account of our schools : the latter forms but a 
part of a more general and extensive plan that I have set 
on foot for the spread of knowledge, and the growth of. 
moral principles throughout the Archipelago. Much of 
my time has lately been devoted to these objects, and if I 
am able to carry my plan for the estabHshment of a native 
college at Singapore, the system will be complete. If you 
refer to the map, and observe the commanding position 
of Singapore, situated at the extremity of the Malay 
Peninsula, you will at once see what a field is opened for 
our operations. It is very probable that I shall print a 
few copies of a paper which I have drawn up on this sub- 
ject, in which case I shall not fail to send you a copy. 

" The Baptist Missionary Establishment have lately 
written to me on the subject of sending out missionaries. 
My answer is encouraging, and I have accompanied it by 
some general observations on the plan of conversion. 
We have already one young man, and a small printing * 
press ; but we require active zeal, and I shall find enough 
to do for all you can send out ; but let them make haste — 

f2 



68 LETTER TO THE REV. DR. RAFFLES. 

years roll on very fast. Two years have now elapsed 
since I left England, and in five or six more I hope to be 
thinking of returning. There is no political objection 
whatever to missionaries in this part of the East, and so 
far from obstructing, they may be expected to hasten and 
assist, the plans which are already in operation." 

TO THE SAME. 

" Off the Sand Heads, Bengal, Nov. lOth^ 1819. 

" My DEAR Cousin, 

♦ ♦ ♦ * * 

" I wish to bespeak your good offices, and the exertion 
of your energies, in support of an institution I am about 
to form for generally educating the higher class of natives. 
The enclosed paper will place you in full/possession of my 
views, plans, and anticipations in this respect, and I shall 
not detain you here by a repetition of them. 

" I have written to Mr. Wilberforce on the subject, and 
am anxious that he should take us under the parental 
wing of the African Institution. I promise glorious 
results, and all I ask is support and encouragement, not 
so much for myself, but to aid and foster a proper spirit 
in those who must practically assist, and on whom the 
immediate superintendence and labour must fall, when I 
am over the seas, and far away. All improvements of 
this nature must be slow and gradual, and we should look 
a good way forward. The short time that I may remain 
in India wiU only serve to set the machine in motion — 



LETTER Ta THE DUCHESS OF SOBIERSET. 69 

and how uncertain after all is life ! Unless some perma- 
nent support is found in England^ an accident to me 
might destroy all my highest anticipations. 

* * 4: ♦ 4e 

" I am now on my way to Calcutta, in the hope of 
forwarding all my plans — and if I am successM^ you shall 
soon hear further from me. In the mean time> and 
always^ believe me, most aflfectionately, 

" T. S. Raffles." 

Beferring to this subject in a letter to another friend, 
of the same date, he says, " The field is certainly extensive 
and interesting, and among so many good men at home, 
it is hard if we cannot find some friends to the Eastern 
Isles. If Mr. Wilberforce wiU take them up aU will go 
right." 

The state of Sir Stamford's mind, in private as weU as 
in public, may be collected from the following letters, 
written about this time. 

TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

*' Calcutta^ December Mth^ 1819. 

4e * * 4i 4i 

'* I do aQ I can to raise myself above these feelings, in 
the hope. that there is, even in this world, more happiness 
than we weak mortals can comprehend. I have had 
enough, of sorrow in my short career ; and it still comes 
too ready a guest without my bidding; but I drive it 
from my door, and do my best to preserve my health 



70 LETTER TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMBRSBT. 

and spirits^ that I may last out a few years longer, 
and contribute, as far as I can, to the happiness of 
others. 

" But away with this melancholy strain. I fear I am 
getting almost as bad as those to whom I would preach ; 
and, in truth, I am at this moment heavy and sick at 
heart. I could lay me down and cry, and weep for hours 
together, and yet I know not why, except that I am un- 
happy. But for my dear sister's arrival, I should still 
have been a solitary wretch in this busy capital. I left 
Lady Baffles and my dear children at Bencpolen three 
months ago ; and I have no one here of congenial feelings 
with whom I can communicate. 

" If there is time, I will endeavour to send your Grace a 
paper, which will explain to you more fully what my pre- 
sent views and wishes are. I do not, however, set my 
heart on them, or, indeed, on anything else, except re- 
turning to England as soon as possible. I am almost 
tempted to say that this is becoming every day more and 
more the sole object of my desires, and I do yet hope that 
ere the fifth repetition of Christmas, we may be within 
reach of one of the Duke's parks. On my return to Ben- 
coolen, I shall probably be able to speak more decidedly 
on this point ; and in the mean time, what I have now said 
will, I hope, convince you that I am beginning to turn my 
thoughts homewards. I must look out for some cottage 
or farm, and profiting by the distresses of the great land- 



APPROVAL OP SIR STAMFORD's PLANS. 71 

holders, endeavour to sell butter and cheese to advantage 
— do you think this would do ?" 



TO 



" Diamond Harbour, January, 1820. 
"I have been delayed in Calcutta for a month longer 
than I expected, on account of a severe and trj^ng illness^ 
which has long confined me to my bed and room : I am 
happy, however, to say, that I am again convalescent, and 
in a fair way of recovery. I embarked yesterday. Sophia 
and the children were well the beginning of December, 
but I have not heard from them since I sailed. 

" Singapore, I am happy to say, continues to rise most 
rapidly in importance and resources. It is already one of 
the first ports in the East, and I doubt not you will receive 
very favourable reports by every homeward-bound ship. I 
could write volumes in its favour, but it may suffice to say, 
that it has in every respect answered, beyond my most san- 
guine expectations. 

^^On leaving Calcutta, you will expect some opinion 
from me on the state of my interests, and generally of the 
opinion entertiained respecting my views and plans to the 
eastward. Here, as in England, I find that my presence 
has served to dissipate many a cloud, and that opposition 
has receded as I approached. There is a very favourable 
disposition to me personally, but, I believe, stiU more so 
to jny plans, which are now approved of, and upheld by all 



72 APPROVAL OF SIR STAMFORD's PLANS. 

descriptions of persons, high and low. The following ex- 
tract from a note I have received from a very high and 
influencing authority will speak for itself: — ' Your very in- 
teresting report regarding the commercial relations of the 
Eastern Islands is still in circulation with the members of 
government. It will not, probably, lead to any practical 
result in this country, but will, of course, be brought to the 
notice of the authorities at home. I should sincerely re- 
joice to see adopted the admirable scheme which you have 
sketched for the organization and management of our 
Eastern possessions. I am surprised that the commercial 
men of Calcutta have not more distinctly marked their 
sense of the great advantages likely to accrue to the com- 
mercial interests of India and England, from the success- 
ful prosecution of your plan.' 

'' With regard to the commercial men, nothing can ex- 
ceed the attention I have received from them : they gave 
me a public dinner, and made every demonstration to me 
personally during my stay in Calcutta; but they wait till 
I have left it to send in a written representation to Go- 
vernment, which, for many reasons, it is better should be 
done during my absence. 

'' I hope the Supreme Government will also forward, by 
the present ship, their sentiments upon my administration 
and proceedings at Bencoolen: they ftdly approve and 
applaud all I have done, and their communications to me 
on the subject are most flattering. 

" Report says, the Dutch have been driven out and 



APPROVAL OF SIR STAMFQRD's PLANS. 73 

massacred at Padang. Nothing is more likely, for their 
conduct was abominable. Oh that our politicians at home 
would act with a little common sense and firmness ! It is 
folly for them to procrastinate ; and unless they do what 
is just and fair, nature and circumstances will involve them 
in the eventual necessity of a still more unpleasant inter- 
ference hereafter." 



CHAPTER XV. 

Sir Stamford fails in introducing a more economical and simple 
mode of government for the Eastern Islands — Difficulties of 
altering established forms — Illness — Sight of Sumatra — Tap- 
panooly — Battas — Population — Language — Manners — Civilized 
cannibals — Eating their prisoners of war, criminals, and parents, 
alive — Description of eating a person as a punishment — Padries 
— Cholera Morbus — Camphor tree — Laws of the Battas — Succes- 
sion of nephews — Mr, Ward's opinion. 

Sir Stamford Raffles failed in his endeavour to prevail 
upon the Supreme Government to introduce a more 
simple mode of management for the Eastern Islands. 
It is^ perhaps^ not easy to break up large and old esta- 
blishments, or to check the progress of patronage and 
power. The government of Penang was admitted to be 
a cumbrous, useless machine, for which no employment 
could be found. A Resident with two or three assistants 
at each were acknowledged to be sufficient for all the 
duties at each of the three stations of Penang, Malacca, 
and Singapore, — the latter was so fixed by Sir Stamford ; 
but when Bencoolen was given up to the Dutch in 1824, 
the East India Company transferred all the civil servants 
from that establishment to these places, in two of which 
there were already more than it was possible to find em- 



LETTER TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 75 

ployment for; and even since that event more young men 
have been sent out to Penang. Under such arrangements 
it is impossible to keep down expenditure ; and Singapore 
has in consequence greatly increased in expense since Sir 
Stamford relinquished his control over it. 

In the month of February, 1820, Sir Stamford pre- 
pared to leave Calcutta and return to Simiatra, with the 
consciousness of having, to the utmost of his ability, en- 
deavoured to prevail upon those who had the power to 
reform what was acknowledged to require reformation, 
and to lessen expense where it was confessed that useless 
expenditure existed. 

The nature of his feelings, and of his occupations on 
his return to the scene of his public duties in Sumatra, is 
well described by himself in his letters to different friends, 
from which the following are extracts. They contain a 
curious and almost original account of some of the in- 
habitants of that great island : — 

TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

" Off Sumatra, February 12, 1820. 

^^ You will, perhaps, have condemned me for so long a 
silence, yet when you know the cause, I am satisfied you 
will cease to think unkindly. 

^* I have been ill — ^very ill — so much so, that for the last 
month of my stay in Calcutta I was confined to my bed, 
and forbidden to write or even to think. I was removed 
from my room to the ship with very little strength, but I 



4b DESCRIPTION OF TUB BATTAS. 

am happy to say that I am already nearly recovered : the 
sight of Sumatra^ and the health-inspiring breezes of the 
Malayan Islands^ have effected a wonderftd change ; and 
though I still feel weak^ and am as thin as a scare-crow> I 
may fairly say that I am in good health and spirits. 

" I am beginning to turn my thoughts homewards^ and 
shall very soon ask your advico on a thousand pursuits. 

4t « * « • 

" I have just left Tappanooly> situated in the very heart 
of the Batta country^ abounding in camphor and ben- 
jamin> and Aill of interest for the naturalist and philoso- 
pher. If you have occasionally looked into Mr. Marsden's 
History of Sumatra, you will recollect that the Battas are 
cannibals. Now do not be surprised at what I shall tell 
you regarding them, for I tell the truths and nothing but 
the truth. 

- To prepare you a litUe, I must premise that the 
Battas are an extensive and populous nation of Sumatra, 
occupying the whole of that part of iiie island lying be- 
tween Acheen and Menangkabu, reaching to both the 
shores. The coast is but thinly inhabited^ but in the 
interior the people are said to be 'as thick as the leaves 
of the forest ;' perhaps the whole nation may amount to 
between one and two millions of souls. They have a regu- 
lar government, deliberative assemblies, and are great 
orators ; nearly the whole of them write, and they possess 
a language and written character peculiar to themselves. 
In their language and terms, as well as in some of their 



DESCRIPTION OF EATING A CRIMINAL. 77 

laws and usages^ the influence of Hinduism may be 
traced, but they have also , a religion peculiar to them- 
selves; they acknowledge the one and only great God, 
under the title Dihaia Assi Assi, and they have a Trinity 
of great gods, supposed to have been created by him. 
They are warlike, extremely fair and honourable in all 
their dealings, most deliberate in all their proceedings ; 
their country is highly cultivated, and crimes are few. 

'' The evidence adduced by Mr. Marsden must have 
removed all doubt from every unprejudiced mind that, 
notwithstanding aU this in their favour, the Battas are 
strictly cannibals ; but he has not gone half far enough. 
He seems to consider that it is only in cases of prisoners 
taken in war, or in extreme cases of adultery, that the 
practice of man-eating is resorted to, and then that it is 
only in a fit of revenge. He tells us that, not satisfied 
with cutting off pieces and eating them raw, instances 
have been known where some of the people present have 
run up to the victim, and actually torn the flesh from the 
bones with their teeth. He also teUs us, that one of our 
IResidents found the remains of an English soldier, who 
had been only half eaten, and afterwards discovered his 
finger sticking on a fork, laid by, but first taken warm 
from the fire: but I had rather refer your Grace to the 
book ; and if you have not got it, pray send for it, and 
read all that is said about the Battas. 

" In a small pamphlet, lately addressed to the Court of 
Directors, respecting the coast, an instance still more 



78 DESCRIPTION OF BATING A CRIMINAL. 

horrible than any thing related by Mr. Marsden is intro- 
duced; and as this pamphlet was written by a high 
authority^ and the fact is not disputed^ there can be no 
question as to its correctness ; it is nearly as follows : — 

" A few years ago^ a man had been found guilty of a 
very common crime^ and was sentenced to be eaten ac- 
cording to the law of the land; this took place close to 
Tappanooly; the Resident was invited to attend; he 
declined^ but his assistant and a native officer were pre- 
sent. As soon as they reached the spot^ they found a 
large assemblage of people^ and the criminal tied to a 
tree^ with his hands extended. The minister of justice^ 
who was himself a Chief of some rank, then came for- 
ward with a large knife in his hand, which he brandished 
as he approached the victim. He was followed by a man 
carrymg a dish, in which was a preparation or condiment, 
composed of limes, chillies, and salt, called by the Malays 
Sambul. He then called aloud for the injured husband, 
and demanded what part he chose ; he replied the right 
ear, which was immediately cut off with one stroke, and 
delivered to the party, who, turning round to the man 
behind, deliberately dipped it into the Sambul, and de- 
voured it ; the rest of the party then fell upon the body, 
each taking and eating the part most to his liking. After 
they had cut off a considerable part of the flesh, one man 
stabbed him to the heart ; but this was rather out of com- 
pliment to the foreign visiters, as it is by no means the 
custom to give the coup de grace. 



VISIT TO TAPPANOOLY. /^ 

" It was with a knowledge of all these facts regarding 
the Battas that I paid a visit to Tappanooly, with a 
determination to satisfy my mind most ftdly in everything 
concerning their cannibalism. I had previously set on foot 
extensive inquiries^ and so managed matters as to con- 
centrate the information^ and to bring the point within a 
narrow compass. You shall now hear the result: but, 
before I proceed^ I must beg of you to have a little more 
patience than you had with Mr. Mariner. I recollect that 
when you came to the story of eating the aunt you threw 
the book down. Now I can assure your Grace that I have 
ten times more to report, and you miist believe me. 

'^ I have said the Battas are not a bad people, and I 
still think so, notwithstanding they eat one another, and 
relish the flesh of a man better than that of an ox or a 
pig. You must merely consider that I am giving you an 
account of a novel state of society. The Battas are not 
savages, for they write and read, and think fvll as much 
and more than those who are brought up at our Lancas- 
trian and National Schools. They have also codes of 
laws of great antiquity, and it is from a regard for these 
laws, and a veneration for the institutions of their ances- 
tors, that they eat each other. The law declares that for 
certain crimes, four in number, the criminal shaU be eaten 
ALIVE. The same law declares also, that in great wars, 
that is to say, one district with another, it shall be lawful 
to eat the prisoners, whether taken alive, dead, or in their 
graves. 



80 EATING CRIMINALS. 

^* In the four great cases of crimes the criminal is also 
duly tried and condemned by a competent tribunal. When 
the evidence is heard sentence is pronounced, when the 
Chiefs drink a dram each, which last ceremony is equiva- 
lent to signing and sealing with us. 

*' Two or three days then elapse to give time for assem- 
bling the people, and in cases of adultery it is not allowed 
to carry the sentence into effect, unless the relations of the 
wife appear and partake of the feast. The prisoner is then 
brought forward on the day appointed, and fixed to a stake 
with his hands extended. The husband or party injured 
comes up and takes the first choice, generally the ears ; 
the rest then, according to their rank, take the choice 
pieces, each helping himself according to his liking. After 
all have partaken, the chief person goes up and cuts off 
the head, which he carries home as a trophy. The head 
is hung up in front of the house, and the brains are care- 
fully preserved in a bottle for purposes of witchcraft, &c. 
In devouring the flesh, it is sometimes eaten raw, and 
sometimes grilled, but it must be eaten upon the spot, 
lames, salt, and pepper, are always in readiness, and they 
sometimes eat rice with the flesh, but never drink toddy or 
spirits ; many carry bamboos with them, and filling them 
with blood drink it off. The assembly consists of men 
alone, as the flesh of man is prohibited to the females : it 
is said, however, that they get a bit by stealth now and 
then. 

'' I am assured, and really do believe, that many of the 



EATING PARENTS. 81 

people prefer human flesh to any other, but notwithstand- 
ing this penchant they never indulge the appetite except 
on lawful occasions. The palms of the hands, and the soles 
of the feet, are the delicacies of epicures ! 

'^ On expressing my surprise at the continuance of such 
extraordinary practices, I was informed that formerly it 
was usual for the people to eat their parents when too old 
for work. The old people selected the horizontal branch 
of a tree, and quickly suspended themselves by their 
hands, while their children and neighbours, forming a 
circle, danced round them, crying out, ' When the fruit is 
ripe, then it will fall.' This practice took place during the 
season of limes, when salt and pepper were plenty, and as 
soon as the victims became fatigued, and could hold on no 
longer, they fell down, when aQ hands cut them up, and 
made a hearty meal of them. This practice, however, of 
eating the old people has been abandoned, and thus a step 
in civilization has been attained, and, therefore, there are 
hopes of Aiture improvement. 

'' This state of society you wiU admit to be very peculiar. 
It is calculated, that certainly not less than from sixty to 
one hundred Battas are thus eaten in a year in times of 
peace. 

" I was going on to tell your Grace much about the treat- 
ment of the females and children, but I find that I have 
already filled several sheets, and that I am called away 
from the cabin ; I will therefore conclude, with entreating 
you not to think the worse of me for this horrible relation. 

VOL. II. ® 



82 DESCRIPTION OP THV, BATTAS. 

Vou know that I am fiv from wishing to paint any cf the 
Malay race in the wont colours^ but yet I must tell the truth. 
Notwithstanding the practices I have idated> it is my de- 
termination to take Lady Baffles into the interior^ and to 
spend a month or two in the midst of these Battas. Should 
any accident occur to us^ or should we never be heard of 
more^ you may conclude we have been eaten. 

'' I am half afraid to send this scrawl^ and yet it may 
amuse you : if it does not, throw itin to the fire ; and still 
believe that, though half a cannibal, and living among 
cannibals, I am not less warm in heart and soul. In the 
deepest recesses of the forest, and among the most 
savage of all tribes, my heart still clings to those afar off; 
and I do believe that even were I present at a Batta feast, 
I should be thinking of kind friends at Maiden Bradley. 
What an association ! God forgive me, and bless you all. 

'^ I am forming a collection of skulls ; Sbme from bodies 
that have been eaten. Will your Grace allow them room 
among the curiosities T' 

TO W. MARSDEN, ESQ. 

"At sea, offAnvlabiat Feb. 13, 1820. 



" My dear Sir, 

'* Owing to my long absence from Bencoolen, and 
frequent change of residence, my Europe letters have sel- 
dom reached me without considerable delay, and then en 
masse, I have now before me your letters of the * * 
" After thanking you generally for these kind proofs of 



DESCRIPTION OF THE BATTAS. 83 

your attention and friendship, allow me to express my par- 
ticular obligations to you for Marco Polo, which I am 
happy to say has reached me in excellent condition. I 
have not had time to read it through, but I have devoted 
all my spare hours to it, and mean to go through it de suite 
as soon as I am once more settled at home. 

'* I am looking with anxiety for Crawfurd's work : from 
the time he has taken to arrange and polish, I feel no 
doubt of its value. I expect from him a somewhat new 
view of the literature, history, and antiquities of Java, as 
he appears in his review of my work in the Edinburgh to 
have thrown a cloud over that part of my story. I shall 
be happy to stand corrected where I am wrong, and to 
acknowledge my error ; but I hope he will give something 
more than assertion as to the dates which he disputed. I 
have obtained some new lights on these since my return to 
this country. 

" I observe what you say in your last letter regarding 
the publication of my late journeys in the interior. Dr. 
Horsfield has sufficient materials. Should he not under- 
take it, I shall have no objection to draw up the account 
myself; but I confess I would prefer its being undertaken 
by some other hand than mine. I shall be most happy 
to receive your suggestions as to the best mode of giving 
the public an account of the kind. I have a good deal to 
say about the interior of Moco Moco, and Sambi- Acheen, 
and Palembang; and if you purpose another edition of 
Sumatra, perhaps some of the information may be useful 

o2 



84 ACCOUNT OF THE PADRIES. 

to you. I am not desirous of publishing, and yet I should 
be sorry if the information were lost for want of it. 

" From the map you will receive you will perceive an 
essential difference in the situation of Pageruyong. It is 
about thirty miles east of the west "coast. From the dis- 
tracted state of the Menangkabu country^ it was difficult 
to obtain extensive information. The question regarding 
the communication between the fivers of Siak and Indra- 
giri must still rest on the authority on which you received 
it; as far as I could infer, and calculate distances and 
probabilities, I conceive it most likely that no such com- 
munication exists. The Indragiri river appears to be 
navigable for sloops of fifty and seventy tons, as high as 
the Falls, and it is even said that boats of considerable 
burthen are to be found above them. These are situated 
in that part of the country usually called K^uantan, near 
which the Sultan of Pageruyong has recently fixed his 
residence. 

** It occurs to me that an account of the Orang PuHs, 
or Padries, might be well introduced into the account of 
our journey to Menangkabu, and I have already collected 
some very interesting information respecting these people, 
who, in many particulars, seem to resemble the Wahabees 
of the desert. They have proved themselves most unre- 
lenting and tyrannical; but their ride seems calculated to 
reform and improve, inasmuch as it introduces something 
like authority, so much wanted over all Sumatra." 

The following is an extract from the paper of informa- 



ACCOUNT OF THE PADRIES. 85 

tion collected on the occasions to which Sir Stamford here 
alluded : — 

" The Padries are causing great alarm at our northern 
stations^ and seem to be rapidly increasing in power. 
The natives say, at first one of the Chiefs of the country, 
who was weU-read in most rehgious books, had great; 
sense and cunning, and much wealth and influence, con- 
sulted with some of his friends of the neighbouring dis- 
tricts, to endeavour to introduce some improvements 
among the people ; ^ for,' he observed, * not one-tenth of 
the population prayed, or seemed to have any fear of 
God ; but, on the contrary, were totally addicted to cock- 
fighting and inebriety :' he was therefore determined to 
abolish gambling, and to forbid the use of all intoxicating 
beverages. 

^' His friends wished him to go farther ; they alleged 
that it was written, ' that he who did not pray, and refused 
to embrace the tenets of the Koran, merited death and 
confiscation :' it was then determined to enforce the tenets 
of the Mahomedan religion throughout the province. 

" The Chief then proclaimed that the reUgion of Ma^ 
homet consisted in four principal doctrines — ^faith, circum- 
cision, seclusion, and the knowledge of God, and that 
prayer was the proof of religion ; and he entreated all 
people to unite with him in establishing these doctrines 
amongst themselves, and in every other country within 
their means ; that the tokens of union in the cause of 
God should be a beard for the males, and th^t the women 



86 ACCOUNT OF THE PADR1E8. 

should conceal their faces ; that neither sex should bathe 
naked ; that the selling of strong drinks should be unlaw- 
ful> and the use of tobacco for smoking ot eating should 
be abolished. 

'' The people generally^ as may be supposed, were not 
inclined to practise so much self-denial, and war was soon 
declared against all who reftised to pray and receive the 
new tenets. The country was devastatefd^ the people 
plundered^ and fines levied upon the conquered. A 
council was appointed to see that prayers were regular, 
and that drinking, and eating tobacco were no longer 
practised. A man who shaved away his beard was to be 
fined. The filing of teeth was to be punished by the 
forfeit of a buffalo. If the faces of females were un- 
covered ; if women quarrelled ; if a child was beaten, 
fines were imposed: long nails on the fingers were re- 
duced by cutting them and the flesh together, besides a 
fine. Repeated neglect of fast and prayers was punished 
with death. ♦ * ♦ » 

" I intended to have written you very fiilly from BengaL 
but I was attacked by a severe fever, and not allowed to 
use my pen for ten minutes together. I, however, for- 
warded to you from thence several papers, which I hope 
may prove of some interest. One of these is the report 
of a committee appointed to assist in forming something 
like a statistical account of Sumatra. You are folly 
aware of my sentiments respecting Bencoolen, and will 
not, therefore, be surprised to find them confirmed in the 



COLLEGE AT SINGAPORE. 87 

report. Not having a council, I avail myself of the as- 
sistance and advice of committees whenever I find it 
necessary that my opinions should be examined or con- 
firmed, and I have already found considerable advantage 
&om the plan. In a small place like Bencoolen, it is 
likely that such committees will generally feel the influ- 
ence of the superior authority ; but yet they may possess 
independence and talent sufficient to assist and protect 
that authority very essentially. 

'^ Of my plan for a college at Singapore I feel no doubt 
you will approve generally. The success of the undertak- 
ing will depend on the estimate I have formed of the 
character of the people : if I am right, they are a very 
different people from those on the continent of India, and 
it is in this difference that the advantage exists. On this 
subject also, I hope, when you are at leisure, you will 
favour me with your sentiments. 

" Of my own circumstances, plans, and expectations, I 
have not much to say at present. The result of my visit 
to Bengal has been a more intimate connexion with that 
government, and a strong recommendation home from 
them in favour of all my plans, whether at Bencoolen, 
Singapore, or Penang, or of the whole collectively. 

'' You will be pleased to hear that Singapore has again 
become a great and flourishing city. The population is 
abeady more than three times that of Bencoolen, and 
is rapidly augmenting. I do not Uke to say much on the 
subject, because it is something like praising one's own 



88 CHOLBRA MORBUS. 

child ; but I may fidrly say that it has in every respect 
exceeded even my most sanguine expectation, and this, 
you will admit, is saying not a little. 

" With respect to the Dutch, everything remains in 
great suspense pending the references made to Hurope 
by both parties. The Governor-General in council has 
declared his sentiments of their proceedings in much less 
qualified terms than I had previously done, and does not 
hesitate to tell the authorities of Batavia, that they have 
been actuated throughout by views of unbounded ambi- 
tion, and an unfair and dishonourable attempt to injure 
and degrade the English. 

" I will not, however, detain you. * ♦ 

''The cholera morbus has lately committed dreadful 
ravages at Acheen, Penang, and Quedah: it is now 
raging at Malacca, and I have great apprehensions for 
Singapore. From Bencoolen I have not heard for some 
months, but I am in hopes that the inhospitable nature of 
our coast, and the poverty of our inhabitants, may for 
once be in our favour, and that we shall neither receive so 
unwelcome a guest, nor, if he does effect his landing, afford 
him sufficient subsistence for his support. We fell in 
with a brig yesterday from the Isle of France, where this 
fatal disease appears also to have arrived: God knows 
where it will go next; whether eastward to Siam and 
China, or westward to Africa and Europe." 



CANNIBALISM OF THK BATTAS. 89 



TO WM. MARSDEN, ESQ. 

•• OffNattal, February 27th, 1820. 

" My DEAR Sir, 

'' As I shall find an arrear of five months to get 
through at Bencoolen, it may be as well that I communi- 
cate to you, without loss of time, some of the particulars 
which I have ascertained in my late visit to Tappanooly. 

*' We had a fine view of the waterfall at Mansular, and 
I did not fail to approach it in a boat near enough to 
ascertain that it does not fall into a great Danu, but into 
the sea. We landed on the Island, and collected a few 
plants of undescribed species. The rock of which the 
Island is composed is trap or basalt. 

'^ A subject of greater interest was the camphor tree, 
and, as might be expected, I tried my luck, and was for- 
timate in procuring a small quantity of camphor from the 
tree felled on the occasion. My friend. Dr. Jack, has 
now satisfied himself on all points, and a detailed descrip- 
tion is in progress. You are already informed that the 
flowers have been examined, and found to be monadel- 
phous (monadelphia polygamia); specimens have been 
sent home to Mr. Brown and Mr. Lambert. 

''But my attention was still more attracted by the 
people of the country ; and though our stay was short, I 
was enabled to satisfy myself fiiUy on several very in- 
teresting points. I have found all you say on the subject 
of cannibalism more than confirmed. I do not think you 



90 CANNIBALISM OF THE BAlTAt. 

have even gone ftr enough. You might have broadly 
stated, that it is the practice not only to eat the victim, 
but to eat him alive. I shall pass over the particulars of 
all previous information which I have received, and en- 
deavour to give you, in a few words, the result of a deli- 
berate inquiry from the Batta Chiefs of Tappanooly. I 
caused the most intelligent to be assembled ; and, in the 
presence of Mr. Prince and Dr. Jack, obtained the fol- 
lowing information, of the truth of which none of us have 
the least doubt. 

'' It is the universal and standing law of the Battas, 
that death by eating shall be inflicted in the foUowing 
cases. 

1st. For adultery. 

2nd. For midnight robbery ; and, 

'' 3rd. In wars of importance, that is to say, one dis- 
trict against another, the prisoners are sacrificed. 

'' 4th. For intermarrying in the same tribe, which is 
forbidden from the circumstance of their having ancestors 
in common ; and, 

*' 5th. For treacherous attack on a housQ, village, or 
person. 

" In all the above cases it is lawful for the victims to 
be eaten, and they are eaten alive, that is to say, they are 
not previously put to death. The victim is tied to a 
stake, with his arms extended, the party collected in a 
circle around him, and the Chief gives the order to com- 
mence eating. The chief enemy, when it is a prisoner. 



« 



<( 



CANNIBALISM OF THE BATTAS. 91 

or the chief party injured in other cases> has the first 
selection ; and after he has cut off his slice^ others cut off 
pieces according to their taste and fiEincy> until all the 
flesh is devoured. 

'^ It is either eaten raw or grilled^ and generally dipped 
in Sambul (a preparation of Chili pepper and salt)^ 
which is always in readiness* Rajah Bandahara^ a Batta, 
and one of the Chiefs of Tappanooly^ asserted that he was 
present at a festival of this kind about eight years ago, at 
the village of Subluan, on the other side of the bay> not 
nine miles distant, where the heads may still be seen. 

"When the party is a prisoner taken in war, he is 
eaten immediately, and on the spot. Whether dead or 
alive he is equally eaten, and it is usual even to drag the 
bodies from the graves, and, after disinterring them, to 
eat the flesh. This only in cases of war. 

*' From the clear and concurring testimony of all par- 
ties, it is certain that it is the practice not to kill the 
victims till the whole of the flesh cut off by the party is 
eaten, should he live so long ; the Chief or party injured 
then comes forward and cuts off the head, which he carries 
home as a trophy. Within the last three years there have 
been two instances of this kind of punishment within ten 
miles of Tappanooly, and the heads are still preserved. 

" In cases of adultery the injured party usrually takes 
the ear or ears ; but the ceremony is not allowed to take 
place except the wife's relations are present and partake 
of it. 



92 CANNIBALISM OF THK BATTAS. 

'* In these and other cases where the criminal is directed 
to be eaten> he is secured and kept for two or three days, 
till every person (that is to say males) is assembled. He 
is then eaten quietly« and in cold blood, with as much 
ceremony, and perhaps more, than attends the execution 
of a capital sentence in Europe. 

" The bones are scattered abroad after the flesh has 
been eaten, and the head alone preserved. The brains 
belong to the Chief, or injured party, who usually pre- 
serves them in a bottle, for purposes of witchcraft, &c. 
They do not eat the bowels, but like the heart ; and many 
drink the blood from bamboos. The palms of the hands 
and the soles of the feet are the delicacies of epicures. 

** Horrid and diabolical as these practices may appear, 
it is no less true that they are the result of much deli- 
beration among the parties, and seldom, except in the 
case of prisoners in war, the effect of immediate and pri- 
vate revenge. In all cases of crimes, thie party has a 
regular trial, and no ptmishment can be inflicted until 
sentence is regularly and formally passed in the public 
fair. Here the Chiefs of the neighbouring kampong 
assemble, hear the evidence, and deliberate upon the 
crime and probable guilt of the party ; when condemned^ 
the sentence is ratified by the Chiefs drinking the tuah, 
or toddy, which is final, and may be considered equivalent 
to signing and seaUng with us. 

''I was very particular in my inquiries whether the 
assembly were intoxicated on occasions of these punish- 



CANNIBALISM OF THE BATTAS. 93 

ments. I was assured it was never the case. The people 
take rice with them> and eat it with the meat, but no tuah 
is allowed. The punishment is always inflicted in public. 
The men alone are allowed to partake, as the flesh of man 
is prohibited to. the women (probably from an apprehen- 
sion that they might become too fond of it). The flesh is 
not allowed to be carried away from the spot, but must 
be consumed ^t the time. 

'' I am assured that the Battas are more attached to 
these laws than the Mahomedans are to their Koran, and 
that the number of the punishments is very considerable. 
My informants considered that there could not be less 
than fifty or sixty men eaten in a year, and this in times 
of peace ; but they were unable to estimate the true ex- 
tent, considering the great population of the country: 
they were confident, however, that these laws were strictly 
enforced, wherever the name of Batta was known, and 
that it was only in the immediate vicinity of our settle- 
ments that they were modified or neglected. For proof, 
they referred me to every Batta in the vicinity, and to the 
number of skuUs to be seen in every village, each of which 
was from a victim of the kind. 

*' With regard to the relish with which the parties 
devour the flesh, it appeared that, independent of the 
desire of revenge which may be supposed to exist. among 
the principals, about one-half of the people eat it with a 
relish, and speak of it with dehght : the other half, though 
present, may not. partake. Hunuin flesh is, however. 



94 CANNIBALISM OF THE BATTAS. 

generally considered preferable to cow or buffalo beef, or 
hog, and was admitted to be so even by my informants. 

" Adverting to the possible origin of this practice, it 
was observed that formerly they ate their parents when 
too old for work : this^ however, is no longer the case, and 
thus a step has been gained in civilization. 

^ It is admitted that the parties may be redeemed for a 
pecuniary compensation, but this is entirely at the option 
of the chief enemy or injured party, who, after his sen- 
tence is passed, may either have his victim eaten, or he 
may sell him for a slave ; but the law is that he shall be 
eaten, and the prisoner is entirely at the mercy of his 
prosecutor. 

'' The laws by which these sentences are inflicted are 
too well known to require reference to books, but I am 
promised some MS. accounts which relate to the subject. 
These laws are called huhum pinang an, from depang an, 
to eat — ^law or sentence to eat. 

*' I could give you many more details, but the above 
may be sufficient to show that our friends the Battas are 
even worse than you have represented them, and that 
those who are still sceptical have yet more to learn. I 
have also a great deal to say on the other side of the 
character, for the Battas have many virtues. I prize them 
highly. However horrible eating a man may sound in 
European ears, I question whether the party suffers so 
much, or the punishment itself is worse than the Euro- 
pean tortures of two centuries ago. I have always 



LAWS OF INHERITANCE. 95 

doubted the policy, and even the right of capital punish- 
ment among civilized nations; but this once admitted, 
and torture allowed, I see nothing more cruel in eating a 
man alive than in torturing him for days with mangled 
limbs and the like. Here they certainly eat him up at 
once, and the party seldom suffers more than a few 
minutes. It is probable that he suffers more pain from 
the loss of his ear than from what follows : indeed he is 
said to give one shriek when that is taken off, and then to 
continue silent till death. 

*' These severe punishments certainly tend to prevent 
crimes. The Battas are honest and honourable, and pos- 
sess many more virtues than I have time to put down. 

** I have arranged to pay a visit to Tobah, and the 
banks of the great lake, in the course of next year, and 
my plan is to go into the interior by the way of Barus, 
and to return by way of Nattal, taking the longest sweep 
where our influence will be most felt. Lady Raffles will, I 
hope, accompany me, and I shall endeavour to give up fiill 
six weeks for the trip. I am perfectly satisfied we shall be 
safe, and I hardly know any people on whom I would 
sooner rely than the Battas. In examining your map, it 
appears to me that you have carried the places mentioned 
in Miller's journey much too far to the eastward ; for in- 
stance, Batangenan, which is inserted near the eastern 
coast. He certainly never penetrated half across the 
island, and in my opinion hardly beyond the first range 
of low hiUs. 



96 LAWS OF INHERITANCE. 

'' It may be intcresimg to you to know^ that it is not 
among the Battas that the nephew inherits the rank and 
title ; they invariably marry by jujur, and the eldest son 
succeeds. Personal property is divided^ two-thirds to the 
eldest son, and one-third among the rest, boys and girls 
alike. Where there are more wives than one, the dldest 
son of the first wife succeeds. 

'' It is among the Malays that the succession of the 
nephew takes place. The Malays, as you are aware, trace 
their descent from Pati sa Batang and Kai Tumungung 
of Menangkabu. With the descendants of the former 
the nephew or kammanakan always succeeds. With the 
descendants of Kai Tumungung the eldest son or anak 
succeeds. The people of the Bander su Pulu, and nearly 
of all Padang, are of the tribe or division of Pati sa Ba- 
tang, and this wUl account for the nephew succeeding with 
them. 

" At Nattal the grandson inherits, unless the persons 
are married by jujur, when the son succeeds in preference. 

'^ In my inquiries after, books Rajah Bandara gave me 
the names and contents that follow : — 

" 1. Dha'un. On medicine. 

2. Pehi on Balangkahan Malay. On Astrology. 

3. Tandong. On the Art of War. 

^'4. Rumba. On Ditto, and which is referred to in 
cases of the last extremity. 

*' 5. Pangram bui. Rules for taking up proper posi- 
tions, &c. in war (Quarter-Master-Oeneral's department). 



<t 



<€ 



LAWS OF INHERITANCE. 97 

^' The great god of the Battas is styled Debatta Assi 
Assi; and he it is who is supposed to have created Batara 
Guru^ Seri Pada, and Mangala Bulan^ the inferior Trinity 
of their worship. 

" It would also appear that they have also something 
like an ecclesiastical Emperor or Chief, who is universally 
acknowledged, and referred to in all cases of public cala- 
mity, &c. His title is Sa Singah Maha Rajah, and he 
resides at Bakara, in the Toba district. He is descended 
from the Menangkabu race, and is of an antiquity which 
none disputes. My informants say certainly above thirty 
descents, or 900 years. He does not live in any very 
great state, but is particular in his observances ; he neither 
eats hog nor drinks tuah. They believe him possessed of 
supernatural powers. He can blight the paddy, or re- 
store the luxuriance of a faded crop. 

'^ Writing is said to have been first introduced among 
the Battas by two persons named Datu Dalu and Datu 
Labi. 

'' At SeUngdong is a stone image of a man, of great 
antiquity, supposed to have been brought from Page- 
ruyong. 

" Mr. Prince has recently discovered the ruins of a 
temple, with an inscription on stone, in unknown charac- 
ters, inland of Nattal. People are at present employed 
in obtaining fac similesy but it is at some distance ; and 
until I can visit the spot myself, I do not calculate on 
much. The inscriptions obtained at Menangkabu have 

VOL. II. H 



98 EXCURSION INTO THE BATTA COUNTRY. 

been translated by the Panambahan of Samanap into 
Javanese." 

The following is an extract from a letter of Mr. Ward, 
a missionary^ who afterwards made an excursion into the 
Batta country. It is introduced here as a corroboration 
of the truth of this extraordinary practice : — 

" Four days after my arrival at Tappanooly, I com- 
menced an excursion into the Batta country with Mr. 
Burton. We entered at the old settlement of Tappa- 
nooly^ and pursued a north-westerly course^ with the view 
of penetrating as far as the great lake of Toba. The 
hills were clothed with their native woods, and but thinly. 
At the distance of about twenty miles from the western 
coastj where the country assumed a more even surface, the 
forests entirely disappeared, and gave place to cultivation 
and an extensive body of people. The district of Silin- 
dang so highly gratified us, that we were tempted to 
remain a few days previously to prosecuting our journey 
to the Lake, a couple of days in advance. Three thousand 
people, who had never beheld a white face^ received us in 
a manner perhaps similar to what we read of respecting 
the first appearance of the Spaniards in America. We 
were kept for four hours, on an elevation of twelve feet, 
exhibiting our persons ; and not an hour passed for 
several days, during which we were not surrounded with 
crowds from various parts of the country. Some vene- 



EXCURSION INTO THE BATTA COUNTRY. 99 

rated us as gods ; all paid us much respect; and in point 
of treatment, we had nothing to complain of. To an 
assembly of the Chiefs the objects of our mission were 
explained : several tracts were read, and the future intro- 
duction of books was proposed, to all of which they 
listened with interest and pleasure, and frankly invited 
Mr. Burton to take up his abode with them ; and we may 
view the result as a pleasing prospect for his future 
labours. Our notions relative to the Batta character and 
habits have been much corrected. We found them quiet 
and harmless, and much more under the influence of civil 
order than had been supposed, although their govern- 
ment appeared of a singular nature. The practice of 
cannibalism was general and frequent. Mr. Burton had 
soon an attack of dysentery, in which he exhausted his 
Kttle store of medicine, and we were compelled to return 
without actually seeing the Lake. We gained some in- 
teresting particulars of it, which shall be duly mentioned. 
We discovered a hot mineral spring, depositing large 
quantities of lime. On the whole, I may say the Batta 
country, with regard to scenery, surpasses everything I 
have yet beheld : it possesses a delighful climate, an ex- 
tensive population, and extreme fertility. 

'' At Sibolga I procured specimens for Batta types, and 
made arrangements for two native schools." 

Mr. Burton, the Missionary, who is named in the fore- 
going letter, had requested permission to leave Bencoolen, 
and settle in the Batta country, with his wife and children. 

h2 



100 DEATH OF MR. BURTON. 

for the purpose of establishing schools^ and devoting his 
life to the education and improvement of a people whose 
character and barbarous customs excited general Horror 
and detestation. He was exceedingly well received^ and 
the people gladly availed themselves of the means of in- 
struction thus offSered them : but after having laboured 
diligently for several years> and succeeded in establishing 
schools^ both himself and his wife fell a sacrifice to the cU- 
mate ; and the Editor cannot but bear her testimony to 
the brightness of faiths the humble trust in God alone^ the 
total sacrifice of all personal comfort^ which they evinced 
when they went with their infant children amongst these 
people^ with the determination there to live and die ; there 
to devote themselves to their labour of love^ in the hope of 
conveying the glad tidings of the Gospel to those who had 
yet to learn that the Son of God died for them. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Sir Stamford devotes himself to his favourite pursuits — Builds a 
house in the country — Collections in Natural History sent home — 
Correspondence of Captain Flint with the Java Government-- Im- 
provement in Bencoolen — Pulo Nias — Easy communication with 
Palembang across the Island— -Sir Stamfords description of his 
Children — His confidence that he has pursued a right course— His 
defence of his conduct — His opinion of the powers he was invested 
with — Arrival of Missionaries — Mr, Burton settles in the Batta 
country — Sir Stamford not supported by the Ministry — Introduc- 
tion of British manufactures into China — Agricultural Society — 
Expense of Singapore— Manufacture of Sugar— Colonization — 
— Lake of Korinbie — Nutmeg-trees — Malayan plants — Politic-al 
speculation — Death of the Editors brother. 

On his return to Bencoolen (March, 1820) Sir Stamford 
felt that^ politically^ he had done all in his power to pro- 
mote the best general and national interests of his country 
in the Eastern Seas ; and from this time he devoted him- 
self to the improvement of the little settlement^ the more 
immediate scene of his residence and government; and 
indulged in pursuits to which he was always passionately 
attached. He resolved to build a house in the coimtry ; 
and as soon as one room was finished, took a part of his 
family, and occupied himself in cultivating the ground. 
He formed spice plantations to a large extent, and suc- 
ceeded in introducing the cultivation of coflTee. The labour 
was performed by convicts, who were settled in a village> 



102 SIR STAMFORD BUILDS A HOUSE IN THE COUNTRY. 

and soon became a useful community. The beauty^ the 
retirement^ the quiet domestic life, which he led in this 
happy retreat, soon restored his health ; he rose at four in 
the morning, worked in his garden (in which he always 
planted all the seeds himself) until breakfast ; then wrote 
and studied till dinner; after which he examined his 
plantations, always accompanied by his children ; and 
often walked about until a late hour of the night. But 
his manner of life at this period may he best known by a 
reference to the following selections and extracts from his 
correspondence. 



TO 



" Bencoolen, March 12, 1820. 
'' You will be happy to hear that I am once more 
in the bosom of my family, and in the enjojrment of every 
possible domestic felicity. We arrived here a few days 
ago, and found everything going on well, and as it should 
do. The country is perfectly quiet, the people satisfied, 
and Bencoolen, on the whole, improving ; so much so, that 
as far as our personal comforts are concerned, we shall 
regret whenever the order arrives that we must quit it. 

'' Charlotte and Leopold are in high health and spirits ; 
and in the course of two or three months, we hope to 
make up the trio. Sophia is quite well ; and, as you may 
well conceive, quite happy at my return, after an absence 
of five months : for myself, I never was in better health. 

" We are doing wonders in natural history, notwithstand- 
ing the want of support on the part of the Government. 



LETTER TO MR. MARSDEN. 103 

" We have literally nothing for the civil servants to do 
at Bencoolen, and idleness is the root of all evils ; they 
ought to be transferred to some other settlement, and not 
to be obliged to waste their time, life, and health here. 

"The Sultan of Palembang still maintains his inde- 
pendence, having driven the Dutch out of the river with 
the loss of many ships and Uves." 

TO MR. MARSDEN. 

*' Bencoolen, March 14, 1820. 
"My DEAR Sir, 

" I shall have the opportunity of writing you 
very fiilly by the Mary in the course of a few days; in the 
meantime it may be interesting to you to know that I pur- 
pose sending by her the whole of our zoological collection, 
among which are beautifiil specimens of the tapir, rhino- 
ceros, Idjangs, &c. stuffed, in skeleton, and in spirits. It 
will, I think, be as important and interesting a consign- 
ment as was ever sent home. I have had, as you may 
suppose, a great deal of trouble. 

" The term of their engagement is now concluded with 
my French naturalists ; and they are pledged by duty and 
honour not to publish until the collections arrive and are 
noticed in England. 

" I find the krabut, or great flower, to be much more 
general and more extensively known than I expected : in 
some districts it is simply called ambem ambem, and it 
seems to spring from the horizontal roots of those immense 
climbers or limes which are attached like cables to the 



104 AMMALS OF SUMATRA. 

largest trees of the forest. It takes three months from 
the first appearance of the bud to the full expansion of 
the flower ; and the flower appears but once a year, at the 
conclusion of the rainy season"^. 

*' Further inquiries respecting the tunnu and babi-ala 
induce me to believe that there is still some large animal 
in our forests not inferior in size to the tapir, marked with 
a narrow riband of white around the belly and back. The 
tapir having remained so long undiscovered, affords at 
least some grounds for concluding it possible that others 
may exist. The natives who describe this animal simply 
say, that the white band is narrow, the feet three-toed, 
head truncated, and tail long. The chungkor of Palem- 
bang may be a third animal. 

'' I have a long Ust of animals, of which nothing yet is 
known beyond the name and native description. 

'' I have recently heard of several interesting remains of 
antiquity in the interior. 



* An account of the Roffflena Amoldi completing its botanical 
history, will appear in the next part of the Linnean Society 9 Trans- 
actions. Since its discovery in Sumatra, a second species ofRqfflesiOt 
but little inferior in size, has been described and figured in the Flora 
Java of Dr. Blume, and a distinct but nearly-related genus {Brug^ 
mansia) has also been discovered in Java, and described in the same 
work. In the Paper about to appear in the Ztnn^an Society* s Trans- 
actions, these two, with a few other genera, allied in structure and of 
like economy, are considered as forming a separate natural order of 
plants, to which the name of R(\fflesiacea has been given. 

The Editor is indebted to the kindness of Robt Brown, Esq., so well 
known as a distinguished botanist, for this information. — May, 1835. 



ANIMALS OF SUMATRA. 105 

'^ As the French gentlemen decUne giving me the Lin- 
naean descriptions I require^ I shall set to work directly in 
framing a kind of catalogue raisonne, which shall be sent 
by the Mary^ or the first ship that follows. In this I shall 
give a short description of the most remarkable subjects^ 
without reference to what the French artists may say on 
availing myself of their papers. 

" The duyong, which I sent to Sir Joseph fianks^ will, 
I hope, have arrived safe. I have the skin and another 
complete skeleton here ; also one about four and a half feet 
long, preserved in spirits. In consequence of Sir Everard 
Home's notice, I immediately turned my attention towards 
it, and procured two specimens in a few months. 

'' With respect to the tapir, I am not surprised that an 
account was first published in France. Major Farquhar 
had sent a stuffed specimen and a head to the Asiatic 
Society, with a paper descriptive of the animal, and giving 
an account of the discovery. About the same time a 
Uving animal was sent from Bencoolen to the menagerie 
at Calcutta. 

*' It was from the examination of these in Calcutta that 
the Frenchmen prepared their accounts ; and the omission 
on our part is attributable, in a great measure, to the 
dilatoriness in the pubHcations of the Asiatic Society. 

" I have now several specimens, two male and female 
dried and stuffed, four in spirits, and four in skeleton. 

'' The Frenchmen maintain that the babi ala is one and 
the same animal with the tunnu : I suspect, however, that 



L.. 



106 CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT. 

they are mistaken. The true babi ala is represented to 
be a very different animal : it is the chungkor of Palem- 
bang, and abounds particularly in the district of Ban- 
guasin : the bones are preserved for medicinal purposes. 

" If the description is correct^ and you know how far 
reliance is to be placed on the unvarnished tale of the 
Sumatrans, this must be either a new animal altogether, 
or the babi rusa. 

'' I should here mention, that I do not find the babi 
rusa to be known as a native of Sumatra, and unless it 
should turn out to be the babi ala, which is at least doubt- 
ful, it cannot, I think, be yet considered as part of our 
fauna. What our future discoveries may lead to I will 
not say. Of the deer we have several specimens. 

" The skins of our rhinoceroses are all soft. As yet I 
can only trace the two-horned animal in Sumatra. The 
white-banded animal, which I have provisionally termed a 
rhinoceros, on account of the horn, must be an entirely 
new animal. 

" I break off to give audience to no less than three 
Sultans, who have been waiting for me for the last hour; 
and a man this moment appears with a cobra capella 
winding round his arm : it is not so large as the serpent 
of India, but has exactly the same description of hood. 

" My tunjong segara expands rapidly, and is by far the 
brightest floweret of our Eastern Isle; and my little boy 
Leopold is following quickly in her steps : in a few weeks 
Lady Baffles promises me a continuation of the series." 



CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT. 107 



TO . 

" Bencoolen, 
^' By the ship Mary I have sent a most valuable collec- 
tion in natural history. The greatest possible care has 
been taken to render the collection valuable, and an ap- 
propriate accompaniment to that from Java. All I ask is, 
that you will not be lukewaiin in promoting the interests 
of science and general knowledge. 

" I have thrown politics far away ; and since I must 
have nothing more to do with men, have taken to the 
wilder but less sophisticated animals of our woods. Our 
house is on one side a perfect menagerie, on another a 
perfect flora : here, a pile of stones ; there, a collection of 
sea-weeds, shells, &c. I enclose you a curious corre- 
spondence, which has taken place between the authorities 
in Java, and my brother-in-law. Captain Flint, who 
touched at Batavia on his way to Singapore : it will show 
you the degree of personal feeling that still exists on the 
part of the Dutch. 

FROM MR. BRAND, RESIDENT OF BATAVIA, TO 
CAPTAIN FLINT, R.N. 

•' * Batavia, March 29/A, 1820. 

" ' Sir, 

" ' The Resident of Batavia having laid before his 
Excellency the Governor-General your application for 
leave to proceed to Samarang, I am directed to inform 
you that, under existing circumstances, no person who 



108 CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT. 

may any ways be supposed to be connected with Sir 
Stamford Baffles and his views^ either avowed or con- 
cealed^ can be allowed a free ingress into the Island of 
Java^ and that your request to be permitted to proceed 
to the eastern districts cannot therefore be acquiesced in. 

'' ' In regretting that public grounds should lead to a 
refusal which may^ perhaps^ be productive of individual 
hardships^ it is, however, satisfactory to reflect, that the 
alleged object of your voyage to Samarang, viz, the ad- 
justment of private concerns with Messrs, Deans, Scott, and 
Co,, may be obtained with equal facility at Batavia, where 
a branch of that house is established. 

"' I retain the passport under which you proceeded to 
this place, and have the honour to be. Sir, 

" ' Your obedient servant, 
(Signed) « ' J. K Brand.* 

TO J. E. BRAND, ESQ. SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT. 

' Batama, April 6th, 1820. 






Sir, 

" ' In adverting to the general tenor of your letter 
of the 29th of March, I cannot but express my astonish- 
ment at so unexpected a communication ; and I should 
be wanting in duty to myself and to the rank I have the 
honour to hold in the service of my country, did I allow 
it to pass unnoticed. 

" ' The cause of my visit to Java was entii*ely of a private 
nature, which I conceive is sufficiently proved by my 
having brought out a passport from his Excellency the 



CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT. 109 

Dutch Ambassador in London, which I had the honour 
to enclose in my letter to the Resident, for the informa- 
tion of his Excellency the Governor-General, and there- 
fore cannot, by liberal minds, be construed as in any 
way connected with the situation or views of Sir Stamford 
BajBQes ; and allow me here to observe, that it is not con- 
sistent with the known character of a Captain in the 
British Navy to act so degrading a part as that of a spy — 
a term not absolutely expressed, but most distinctly im- 
pUed by the whole tenor of your letter. 

^' ' My conduct, from the moment of my arrival, wiU bear 
the strictest scrutiny. I landed in my uniform, and im- 
mediately called at the Government-house. The follow- 
ing day I had the honour to dine with his Excellency, in 
the same dress. I took that opportunity to mention my 
wish to proceed to Samarang. 

"^ At that time the Governor-General made no objec- 
tion whatever, but, on the contrary, inquired if I wished 
to proceed overland. This I declined in the most re- 
spectful manner, and on my quitting the Government- 
house, his Excellency referred me to the Resident, as the 
channel through which all public communications are 
made. I have written my name in fuU on the cover of 
every letter I have sent through the post-office, or 
otherwise. 

" ' This does not savour of concealment. That part of 
your letter negativing my being allowed, therefore, a free 
ingress into the Island of Java, must have been written 



110 CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT. 

in total misconception of mine to the Governor- General, 
and my subsequent letter to the Resident, if proof be 
wanting, is sufficient of itself to show I had no wish or 
inclination to visit the interior of the Island. 

'' ' I have the honour to be, Sir, 

'^ ' Your obedient servant, 
(Signed) " ' Wm. Flint.' 

TO W. FLINT, ESQ. 

" * Batavia, April Sth, 1820. 



t< ( 



Sir, 

" ' Having laid your letter of the 30th March and 
6th instant before his Excellency the Governor-General, 
I am now directed to give the following reply thereto : — 

" ' The communication which I had the honour to ad- 
dress to you on the 29th cannot, but by a studious mis- 
construction, be made subservient to inferences of the 
nature alluded to by you. The tenor of that letter was 
frank and unequivocal, and sprung from no other motive 
but the very natural desire to restrain the admittance of 
all persons, who might be supposed to possess that same 
eagerness of disseminating a hostile spirit towards the 
Dutch authorities, of which the late acts and attempts of 
Sir Stamford Raffles bear such decided and irrefragable 
testimony : for although the aspersions here alluded to, in 
whatever form thrown out, have been met by the Govern- 
ment with the only feeling which they are calculated to 
excite, yet it cannot be a matter of astonishment that the 



RAPID IMPROVEMENT OF SINGAPORE. Ill 

Government should be unwilling to admits without re- 
straint^ persons in whom the same tendency to indiscreet 
and ungenerous censure may be expected. 

'^ ' The tenor, however, of your last letter to my address 
has induced the Governor-General not to apply to you 
personally a measure in which, at first view, you ap- 
peared, from a general consideration of your private and 
public connexions with Sir Stamford Baffles, to be in- 
cluded; and relying, therefore, in the most unreserved 
manner, and with all confidence due to the rank you 
occupy in the British Navy, (a corps so eminently distin- 
guished for honourable principles,) on the assurance given 
by you as to the object of your visit to this island, his 
Excellency is pleased to permit you to proceed to Sama- 
rang, for which purpose the necessary passport will be 
issued to you on application to the Besident of Batavia. 
" ^ I have the honour to be. Sir, 

" ' Your most obedient humble servant, 

(Signed) " ' J. E. Brand.' " 



TO 



^Bencoolen, April 2, 1820. 

'' Singapore, I am happy to say, continues to thrive 
beyond aU calculation, notwithstanding the * * » * 
and the uncertainty of possession. The exports and im- 
ports, even by native boats alone, exceed four miUions of 
dollars in the year. 

'' Sophia and our little ones are quite well. The only 



112 LETTER TO MR. MARSDKN. 

loss in OUT family has been in the death of my favourite 
bear^ whose demise I shall not fail to notice with due 
honour when treating on Natural History." 

TO MR. MARSDEN. 

" Bencoolen, April Uth, 1820. 

" My DEAR Sir, 

" I cannot allow a direct opportunity to pass without 
again thanking you for the kind interest you continue to 
take in our welfare, and letting you know that we continue 
in excellent health, with as fair prospects as pohtical circum- 
stances at present admit. My two children expand daily, 
and are all and everything we could wish them. Lady 
Raffles bears the climate better than I expected. 

" In the political world I have nothing to communicate. 
In Java all remains quiet. The Dutch have wisely fol- 
lowed up the revenue system I established ; and though I 
could say a great deal against particulars, I am on the 
whole tolerably satisfied with what they have done in this 
respect. 

" We are anxiously awaiting the final arrangements 
from home. My last advices were in August, at which 
date the subject had been taken up. Java, and the Mo- 
luccas, with Macassar, or Celebes, is all that strictly ought 
to be left to the Dutch. Banca is of no ftirther value to 

them. 

* i< ♦ ♦ « 



IMPROVEMENT AT BENCOOLEN. 



113 



TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

" Bencoolen, April \%th, 1820. 

^' I wrote you very fully about three weeks ago by the 
Mary, by which ship I sent Sir Joseph Banks a large con- 
signment of prepared animals. I hope they have arrived 
safe, and proved that we are not idle. I have just now so 
little to do with politics, that I am able to devote a good 
deal of time to natural history; and I think you would be 
amused to see the extensive collection I am making. I 
intend to send you a large consignment by the first 
favourable conveyance, of which I shall request your 
Grace's kind care, until my return to England. This 
may serve as an indication that I am looking forward to 
the day when we may again meet. Two years have rolled 
away already ; three or four more will, I hope, accomplish 
all the objects I have in view in this country ; and then — 
we shall I hope meet again, all parties a few years older, 
but in other respects neither colder nor less happy than 
before we parted. We must now begin to forget those 
hateful words * Good bye,' and to think of ' How do you 
do V — Time flies fast — where are the years that are past — 
and how short may those which are to come appear when 
once we have again met, and look back upon them ? 

" Your Grace will, I doubt not, be happy to hear that 
our prospects, even at Bencoolen, are improving; the 
place no longer has that gloomy and desolate appearance 
of which I first complained. Population and industry are 

VOL. II. I 



114 ACCOUNT OF THE PULO NIAS. 

increasing; the inland merchants begin to bring down . 
the gold and cassia from the interior, and a stranger 
would hardly know the place again, so much is it changed 
from what it was two years ago. We have a good many 
comforts about us, and shall really regret any pohtical 
necessity which obliges us to remove from what has now 
become our second home. We have a delightful garden, 
and so many living pets, children tame and wild, 
monkeys, dogs, birds, &c., that we have a perfect regne 
animale within our own walls, to say nothing of the sur- 
rounding forests now under contribution. I have one of 
the most beautiful little men of the woods that can be 
conceived ; he is not much above two feet high, wears a 
beautiful surtout of fine white woollen, and in his dis- 
position and habits the kindest and most correct creature 
imaginable ; his face is jet black, and his fea.tures most 
expressive ; he has not the slightest rudiments of a tail, 
always walks erect, and would I am sure become a favour- 
ite in Park Lane. 

" Not long ago I gave your Grace a short account of 
my Batta friends. I am now much engaged in obtaining 
particulars of a very extensive and interesting population 
in one of the larger islands lying off Sumatra, Pulo Nias. 

" The Nias people beUeve in one Supreme God, Lora 
Langi, but they do not pay him any kind of public wor- 
ship. Below him is another God, called Batu Ba Danaw, 
who has charge of the earth, which they say is suspended 
from a stalk, or string, as an orange from the branch of a 



ACCOUNT OF THE PULO NIAS. 115 

tree. This is^ perhaps, as happy an idea as the double- 
headed shot of Lord Erskine, and perhaps his Lordship 
may avail himself of the hint in the next volume of Ar- 
mata. The world they suppose to have seven stages, or 
gradations, inhabited by as many diflFerent orders of 
beings. The stage immediately under us is possessed by 
dwarfs. The heavens, or sky above us, (Holi Yawa,) are 
peopled by a superior order of men, (Barucki,) of a most 
beautiful form and appearance. These are gifted with 
wings, and are invisible at pleasure, and they take an 
interest in all that passes on earth ; they are governed by 
kings of their own : the one at present reigning is called 
Luo Mehuhana ; there were four kings who ruled before 
him, and from whom he is descended. 

'' ' The people of the earth,' they say, * had for a length 
of time continued in a state of the grossest ignorance and 
barbarism; they neither lived in houses nor tilled the 
ground, but wandered about, subsisting on what the 
earth spontaneously produced. At last, the wife of Luo 
Mehuhana took pity upon their miserable condition, and 
ordered one of her subjects to descend to the earth, and 
teach its inhabitants the arts of civilization. He accord- 
ingly descended on Pulo Nias, and instructed them how 
to till the ground, to live in houses, to cook their victuals, 
and to form societies. He taught them also to speak, 
for hitherto they had not possessed even this means of 
communication.' 

" Their laws are remarkably severe. It is death to 

i2 



116 - AOCXHJNT OF THE PULO NiAS. 

touch any part, even the finger^ of an unmarried woman, 
or the wife of another man ; but, notwithstanding this, I 
do not learn that they are particularly chaste. The wives 
are bought from the parents, as in Sumatra; and a man 
may have as many as he can afford to pay for. 

" I will not at present trouble you with farther par- 
ticulars ; the above will be sufficient to show that they are 
at least very original in their ideas ; and on this account, 
if on no other, they must excite an interest. 

" I must not close my letter without a few words on the 
politics of this part of the world, in which 1 hope your 
Grace still continues to take some interest. 

^* It will be satisfactory to you to know that the Dutch 
authorities in this country have at length been brought to 
their senses ; and if what has been done here is only sup- 
ported and followed up with common prudence and deci- 
sion, we may at least save our commercial interests from 
the ruin which so lately impended. Singapore continues 
to rise as rapidly as all the out-stations of the Dutch 
decline." 

The following extract of a letter from Sir Joseph Banks 
to Dr. Horsfield will show the high opinion he enter- 
tained of Sir Stamford, as well as of the botanical collec- 
tions made in Java, and the encouragement he so liberally 
and generously extended to all those in pursuit of scien- 
tific objects ; it was written in the year 1817, when Sir 
Stamford was in England : — 

** The collections are interesting in the extreme, and will, 



LETTER TO MR. MARSDEN. 117 

when published^ make very valuable additions to the 
science of botany. Your industry. Sir, in collecting them 
is praiseworthy in the extreme ; and the talent you have 
shewn in arranging them encourages a well-founded hope 
of much advantage to science being derived from your 
arrangement and observations on them. 

" We are all here delighted with the acquaintance of 
Governor Raffles : he is certainly among the best informed 
of men, and possesses a larger stock of usefrJ talent thai^ 
any other individual of my acquaintance. 

" I beg, Sir, that you will be assured that I shall always 
be ready and happy to give you every assistance in my 
power, and that you will have no scruple in addressing 
questions to me. Gentlemen who, Uke you, cultivate 
science in the wilderness of nature, where books are not 
to be found, have a right to call upon us inhabitants of 
Ubraries for every assistance you stand in need of, which 
we have the power of affording. 

" I beg. Sir, that you will believe me your obliged and 
obedient servant, 

" Joseph Banks." 

to mr. marsden. 

'* Bencoolen^ April 20, 1820. 

** As you may not possess a correct vocabulary in the 
Nias language, I send you a few words ; and you may, 
perhaps, be glad to learn that I am at present directing 
my attention a good deal to that Island. 



118 IMPROVEMENT AT BBNOOOLEH. 

" I hope hereafter to give you a complete vocabulary, iB 
the Nias and Batta languages, of not less than three 
thousand words. My object is to compare them particu- 
larly with the Malay and Buggis. I shall follow the 
same arrangement as adopted in the Appendix to my His- 
tory of Java, in order to render it more convenient for 
reference. 

** My small establishment in the interior at BuMt Eabut 
has been of the greatest service in attracting traders and 
settlers from the interior ; and were the affairs of Palem* 
bang once settled to our satisfaction, the interior would 
soon be as well known as the coast. There is a very good 
horse-road from Marlborough to Muara Billiti, on the Pa- 
lembang river, whence the passage by water to Palembang 
can be accomplished in less than three days. Were 
Palembang free from the Dutch, I should make it the 
usual route between this place and Singapore. 

" I have the pleasure to send Mrs. Marsden three boxes 
of spices, the produce of our own garden. We are now 
commencing plantations in the interior." 



TO 



(( 



Bencooien, May 26, 1 820. 



" At Singapore our interests and influence are rapidly 
extending ; all goes on just as I could wish ; and I think 
that you will be happy to hear that even Bencoolen has 
assumed a new interest in my eyes, and that I really feel a 



IMPROVEMENT AT BENCOOLEN. 119 

satisfaction in the progressive improvement in the place. 
The last few months' leisure has enabled me to investi- 
gate the ancient tenure and history of the place and peo-< 
ple^ and the causes which have retarded the improvement 
of both; and to apply remedies which are likely to be 
eflFective. The old system may be now considered as de- 
stroyed, root and branch ; and although a few of the 
decayed branches, and some noxious weeds may here and 
there appear, the country has generally assumed a new 
aspect, cultivation is quite the order of the day, and com- 
menced upon with a spirit I hardly expected. 

* * * i^ * 

" Under these circumstances I should be sorry if any 
thing removed me from the place for the next year — and 
it will certainly require attentive management for a few 
years subsequent. The country and people are, in many 
respects, so different from what I found them, that a 
stranger would hardly know them again. It sometimes 
occurs to me as possible that Bencoolen may be given to 
the Dutch, in exchange for some other place. Sooner 
than we should lose our footing in the Archipelago I would 
willingly resign it ; but, under any circumstances, it would 
be heart-breaking to give up the place just as the fruits 
of my system, and the returns for my labour, are about to 
be seen." 

TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

** Bencoolen^ June 2, 1820. 
''It is almost an age since I heard from England. 



120 sift Stamford's oocupatioks. 

Your last letters were dated nearly a twelvemonth ago \ — 
what a lapse ! — and what may not have occurred in the 
interim ? I dread to think of it ; and yet^ after all, I be- 
lieve it is these cares and anxieties that are the chief source 
of all our earthly bliss, for without them we could not 
appreciate their reverse, or know what real happiness is. 
Had I not returned to India I should never have contem- 
plated the delight which I now anticipate of once more 
meeting a long absent fiiend. You see what a philoso- 
pher I am. 

''Nothing very particular has occurred since my last, 
except the birth of another boy. My dear little Charlotte 
is, of all creatures, the most angelic I ever beheld. She 
has those inborn graces which, as she expands, must 
attract the admiration of every one — ^but she has a soft 
heart, and is so ftill of mildness and gentleness, that I fear 
she will have many trials to go through in this unfeeling 
world. Her brother Leopold, however, will take her part, 
for he has the spirit of a lion, and is absolutely beautiful. 
But I will not tire you with any more family details, it 
will be sufficient to add, that we are all well, and as happy 
as absence from dear and relative friends will admit. My 
life is at present rather monotonous, not however unplea- 
santly so, for I have all the regular and substantial em- 
ployment of domestic comfort in the bosom of a happy 
and thriving family ; and in the daily pursuits of agricul- 
ture and magisterial duty I find abundance to interest and 
amuse. But I am no longer striding from one side of 



SIR Stamford's occupations. 121 

India to another^ overleaping mountains^ or forming new 
countries — I am trying to do the best I can with a very- 
old and nearly worn-out one, in which I hope, by inAising 
a new spirit, and encouraging habits of industry, and 
motives of enterprise, much may be done. I am busily 
engaged in taking a census of the population, and in- 
quiring into the processes of husbandry, and the viQage 
institutions ; and I think you would be amused to see me 
amid my rude and untutored mountaineers, collecting the 
details, and entering into all thie particulars, as if they 
were the peasants of my own estate. I am becoming so 
attached to these pursuits, and find them so much more 
-satisfactory than political discussion, that I believe I shall 
be sorry to change this mode of life. Allow me, there- 
fore, to indulge my whim for a short time longer, and then 
I shall be able to carry home such a weight of experience, 
as may perhaps bring all your barren lands into cultiva- 
tion. If I am not rich enough to have a farm of my own, 

I shall wish to become -a farmer on your lands, and then — 

m * * * * 

"This is a very hurried letter, written at a moment 
when the ship is under weigh." 

* « « « «F * 

Perhaps this was one of the most happy periods in Sir 
Stamford's life. Politically, he had attained the object 
which he felt so necessary for the good of his country (the 
establishment of Singapore). He was beloved by all 
those under his immediate control, who united in showing 



122 SIR Stamford's domestic habits. 

him every mark of respect and attachment, and many 
were bound to him by ties of gratitude for offices of kind* 
ness, for private acts of benevolence and assistance which 
he delighted to exercise towards them. The settlement, 
like many other small societies, was divided into almost as 
many parties as there were families on his first arrival ; 
but these differences were soon healed and quieted, and a 
general interchange of good offices had succeeded. The 
natives and Chiefs appreciated the interest which he took 
in their improvement, and placed implicit reliance upon 
his opinion and counsel. 

The consciousness of being beloved is a delightful, happy 
feeling, and Sir Stamford acknowledged with thankfiilness 
at this time that every wish of his heart was gratified. 
Uninterrupted health had prevailed in his family, his 
children were his pride and delight, and they had ahready 
imbibed from him those tastes it was his pleasure to culti- 
vate : this will not be wondered at, even at their early age, 
when it is added, that two young tigers and a bear were 
for some time in the children's apartments, under the 
charge of their attendant, without bemg confined in cages, 
and it was rath^ a curious scene to see the children, the 
bear, the tigers, a blue mountain bird, and a fiatvourite cat, 
all playing together, the parrot's beak bdng the only 
object of awe to all the party. 

Perhaps few people in a public station led so simple a 
life ; his mode of passing his time in the country has been 
already described. When he was in Benooolen he rose 



SIR Stamford's domestic habits. 123 

early and delighted in driving into the villages^ inspecting 
the plantations^ and encouraging the industry of the 
people; at nine a party assembled at breakfast, which 
separated immediately afterwards; and he wrote, read, 
studied natural history, chemistry, and geology, superin- 
tended the draftsmen, of whom he had constantly five or 
six employed in a verandah, and always had his children 
with him as he went from one pursuit to another, visiting 
his beautiiul and extensive aviary, as well as the extraor- 
dinary collection of animals which were always domesti- 
cated in the house. At four he dined, and seldom alone, 
as he considered the settlement but as a family of which 
he was. the head ; immediately after dinner all the party 
drove out, and the evening was spent in reading and 
music and conversation. He never had any game of 
amusement in his house. After the party had dispersed, 
he was fond of walking out with the Editor, and enjoying 
the delicious coolness of the night land-wind, and a moon 
whose beauty those only who have been in tropical cli- 
mates can judge of, so clear and penetrating are its rays, 
that many fear them as much as the glare of the sun. 
Though scarcely a day passed without reptiles of aQ kinds 
being brought in, and the Cobra de Capello in numbers, 
the Editor never remembers these pleasures being inter- 
rupted by any alarm. 

Amidst these numerous sources of enjoyment, however. 
Sir Stamford never forgot that the scene was too bright to 
continue unclouded, and often gently warned the Editor 



124 LETTER TO MR. MARSDEN. 

not to expect to retain all the blessings Ood in his 
bounty had heaped upon them at this time, but to feel 
that such happiness once enjoyed ought to shed a bright 
ray over the future, however dark and trying it might 
become. 

TO MR. MARSDEN. 

" Beneoolen, June 27th, 1820. 

*' As the notice given of the present opportunity of 
sending letters has been unexpected and short, I am not 
able to enter so fully as I could wish into the affairs and 
prospects of Bencoolen. This deficiency, however, I shall 
endeavour to supply by forwarding to you herewith copies 
of my recent letters on the subject, together with the regu- 
lations which I have recently established. It will, I am 
sure, afford you satisfaction to find that I am at length 
enabled to make a favourable report. I am very confi- 
dent of success, but all depends on a perseverance in the 
plans commenced, and some liberality « on the part of 
Government. 

'' I shall feel much indebted for your advice and opi- 
nion on any points which may strike you. I am perfectly 
open to conviction wherever I may have been wrong, and 
shall not be offended with the freedom of your remarks. 

" The London arrived here on the 9th instant, and is 
now taking in a cargo of pepper at Toppanooly. By her 
I had the pleasure of receiving your letter of December. 
Pray tell Mrs Marsdcn that I will endeavour to make 



SIR STAMFORD*S ATTENTION TO NATURAL HISTORY. 125 

amends by sending her a volume of details on all family 
matters the moment I can obtain an hour's leisure: in 
the mean time it will be satisfactory to her to know that 
we are all well and happy. My three children, Charlotte, 
Leopold, and Marco Polo, for so he is stiU called, 
although he was christened Stamford Marsden, are cer- 
tainly the finest children that were ever seen ; and if we 
can manage to take them home in about four or five 
years, we hope to prove that the climate of Bencoolen is 
not so very bad. 

'^ As there was no chance of a direct opportunity, I 
have sent by the London duplicates, and even more com- 
plete sets of the quadrupeds and birds than those sent by 
the Mary, numbered, named, and ticketed, so as to corre- 
spond with my catalogues. 

" I am at this moment superintending a complete set 
of the drawings, to be forwarded by the present opportu- 
nity, via Calcutta. 

" I fear there will hardly be time for completing the 
duplicates of the catalogue of birds. My writers are now 
engaged upon it, and I will do my best to send it by the 
present conveyance. 

" I find the natives in the interior consider the Ungka 
Puti as the Raja Binatang, on account of the extreme 
Hghtness and celerity of his movements : they say that in 
the morning he swings firom tree to tree, and runs along 
the branches without shaking the dew from the leaves. 

" From the reports received from Batavia, it would 



126 EXERTIONS TO IMPROVE BBNCOOLEN. 

seem the Dutch hesitate with regard to another attack 
on Palembang : in this I think they are wise — ^they seem 
to be in sad confiision> quarrelling among themselves^ and 
without confidence in any of their subjects. About a 
fortnight ago they shot seven Frenchmen tor deserting^ 
and attempting to go over to Palembang — ^it is not^ how- 
ever> true that the Sultan has any foreign aid whatever. 
Singapore continues to prosper more and more. 

« We are now busy in arranging the reptiles and crabs, 
of which we have a very large collection." 



TO 



" Bencoolen, June 27th, 1820. 
'' You will find that I am not at a loss for useful em- 
ployment and amusement at Bencoolen; it is a small 
place, but I will make the most of it I can. I no more 
trouble my head about the Dutch. I have turned farmer, 
and as President of the Agricultural Society find more 
real satisfaction than is to be derived from all the success 
that could attend a political life. We are all quite well ; 
Sophia will write to this point." 

TO THE SAME. 

" Bencoolen, July 7th, 1820. 
" We are all quite well, and shall be very well content 
to remain so. Singapore goes on progressively, and even 
Bencoolen is assuming a new and interesting character. 
My time and attention are at present devoted chiefly to 
agricultural pursuits, and I am determined, if possible, to 



EXERTIONS TO IMPROVE BENCOOLBN. 127 

make the place raise its own supplies. I am taking a 
general census of the population of the country, and of 
its agricultural resources ; and I hope soon to send you 
home some reports of interest and importance. The field 
is not very extensive, but it is new and untried, and 
energy and zeal shall not be wanting to make the most 
of it. 

'^ Sophia and our three children are quite well ; Char- 
lotte and Leopold are everything we could wish, and the 
most intelligent children I ever met with, and young 
Marco Polo promises well. Leopold is by far the finest 
child of the three ; he is handsome, bold, and intelligent, 
and struts about the house with an air of the most com- 
plete independence. We are all busy cultivating potatoes 
and plucking nutmegs. I hear that the Government of 
Batavia have declined sending the projected expedition 
to Palembang this year, and I think they are wise for so 
doing: the Sultan holds out nobly. The Dutch still 
complain of me. God knows I have shown them courtesy 
enough on this coast, and since the fate of Padang has 
been decided, I have felt but little interest in any other 
possession to the northward." 

TO THE SAME. 

" Bencoolen, July Uih, 1820. 
'^ Since the establishment of the factory of Singapore, 
I have bid adieu to all political responsibility. My time 
has been exclusively devoted to the pursuits of natural 



128 PRRSKCUTION OF SIR STAMFORD. 

history^ and the immediate interests of Bencoolen, which 
I am endeavouring to advance with all my might. 

*' Should Mr. Grant come into the chair> there is still a 
hope that all may be right. I am not, however, very 
sanguine, and shall be prepared for whatever ignorance, 
injustice, or party-spirit may dictate. 

'' I have lived long enough in the world to appreciate 
what is valuable in it; and the favour of ministers or 
courts never appeared to me equal to the conscientious 
conviction of having done one's duty — even the loss of 
fortune, honours, or, I might add, health. I have more 
satisfaction in what I have done since my return to India 
than with all my former endeavours ; and the more I am 
opposed, the more my views are thwarted, destroyed, and 
counteracted, the firmer do I stand in my own opinion : 
for I am confident that I am right, and that when I ap- 
pear at home, even those who are most opposed to me 
will be the first to acknowledge this. They do not, and 
will not, look at the question in its fair and true light ; 
and such appears to be the spirit oi persecution, that it 
would be idle to oppose it at this distance. I shall, 
therefore, bend with the blast, and endeavour to let the 
hurricane blow over me : the more violent it becomes, the 
sooner will it expend itself, and then it will be time for 
me to raise my head, to show the injury and devastation 
which has been spread abroad, and the folly of the course 
which has been pursued. 

" The only mischief in this line of policy is this, that it 



1 



DUTCH POLITICS. 129 

will force me to become a more public and prominent 
character than I would wish. My ambition is to end my 
days in domestic peace and comfort and literary leisure. 
A busy scene will oppose this, and though I may become 
a greater man, I perhaps may not become a happier one. 

4c * ♦ 4: * 

" After all, it is not impossible the ministry may be 
weak enough to abandon Singapore, and to sacrifice me, 
honour, and the Eastern Archipelago, to the outrageous 
pretensions of the Dutch. In this case, I may be recalled 
sooner than I expect, perhaps immediately. This I am 
aware of, but I should be best contented with things 
remaining even as they are for two or three years to come ; 
I should then be better prepared for the contest ; for a 
contest it must come to, sooner or later, and the longer 
the adjustment of our diflferences with the Dutch, on a 
broad and just footing, is delayed, the better must it be 
for our interests. 

" I shall not fail to look forward, and to be prepared 
for this contest, come when it will ; and if I cannot carry 
my plans here, they must prevail in England eventually. 

" So much for politics and the Dutch. I shall now turn 
to more pleasing, and, at the same time, more safe sub- 
jects for discussion — ^what I am doing at Bencoolen, and 
the state of our domestic circle. 

" In all your letters, you do not ask a question about 
Bencoolen. Is it because it is too insignificant ? Here, 
at any rate, I am supported and upheld by the Bengal 

VOL. II. K 



130 EXPENSE OF SINGAPORE. 

Government ; they have hitherto approved, uncondition- 
ally, of all my arrangements, and they have not been 
trifling. I have had to upset everything, and have had 
every possible difficulty to oppose in surmounting the 
prejudices and abolishing the corruptions of a hundred 
years' standing. The place is at last thriving, the remedy 
applied has been efficient, the turn has been taken, and a 
few years' perseverance will make this a new and prosper- 
ous country — great it can never be. I must, however, be 
prepared for an attack on the score of expense. The 
charges of the settlement have, I fear, rather beeft in- 
creased than otherwise, and this, with many, will teU 
against it ; but it ought to be considered that we have 
abolished all revenues, consequently have no receipts to 
meet the charge — this was ordered by the Bengal Go- 
vernment — and that at the present moment we have a 
double establishment, civil and mihtary. All changes 
and reforms are, besides, expensive ; and although all my 
plans lead to real and practical economy, some liberality 
in effecting them is indispensable in the nature of things. 
I am endeavouring to cultivate the soil, and to civilize the 
people ; and I am happy to say that some progress is 
making in both, notwithstanding the stubbornness with 
which both have been charged. It is a poor place, and 
much can never be made of it ; but as it now nearly com- 
prises my whole jurisdiction, and to act well our part, as 
far as our means extend, is all that is required, I do not 
deem its improvement unworthy my attention. It has 



ARRIVAL OF MISSIONARIES. 131 

become a beautifiil place ; the spice gardens are rapidly 
increasing; and, as a place of retirement, I hardly know 
one which I would prefer to it. It is now my place of 
confinement ; and as it is far superior to St. Helena, I 
ought not to complain. The Dutch wish me to be con- 
fined at Engano. 

*' Sophia and my dear children enjoy excellent health 
and spirits. We are now spending a few weeks in the 
midst of groves of nutmegs, cloves, and mangosteens." 



TO THE REV. DR. RAFFLES. 

Bencoolen, July 17/A, 1820. 



({ 



** My dear Cousin, 

'' I have now before me your letters of the 18th 
December, delivered to me by Messrs. Burton and Evans, 
who arrived here early in last month, and are both likely 
to do well for themselves and the good cause in which 
they are embarked. I like them much, and they seem 
disposed to meet all my wishes. If anything, they are 
rather above than below the standard I would have fixed ; 
and I am fearAil they are hardly prepared for the diflicul- 
ties and privations of a missionary life in such a barbarous 
country as this : they do not, however, appear to want 
zeal ; they are scholars and gentlemen ; and their wives 
are weU calculated to aid their endeavours. Mr. Evans 
and his wife remain at Bencoolen, where they purpose 
opening a school on the 15th of next month. I have 

k2 



132 CANNIBALS. 

assisted them by placing the children of our free school 
under their superintendence, and advancing them funds 
to commence the undertaking. Mr. Burton proposes 
fixing himself at Tappanoolj or Natal^ in the northern 
part of Sumatra, with a view to the conversion of the 
Battas and people of Pulo Nias. The field for his exer- 
tions is new and interesting, and I hope he wiU have 
energy and courage enough to explore it. The world 
knows so little of these people, and their habits and cus- 
toms are so peculiar, that all the information which he col- 
lects will be useful. You are of course aware that they are 
cannibals. The population of the Batta country does not 
fall short of a million ; and throughout the country it is 
the invariable law not only that prisoners taken in war 
should be eaten, but that capital punishment should also 
be inflicted by eating the prisoners alive for the five great 
crimes. You may rely on the fact, and that eating alive 
is as common with them as hanging in England. I have 
lately passed some part ;of my time in this part of the 
country, and can vouch for the correctness of what I state. 
The Island of Nias lies off the coast of Sumatra, nearly 
opposite Natal, and contains a population of above a 
hundred thousand souls : they have no religion whatever, 
and I am convinced that an active government and a 
zealous missionary may do wonders among them. 

« Of our progress at Bencoolen I can now speak with, 
more confidence than when I last wrote to you. The, 
native school has fully answered my expectation, and 



IMPORTANCE OF SINGAPORE. 133 

upwards of seventy children distinguished themselves at 
the last annual examination. I am now extending the 
plan so as to include a school of industry, in which the 
children will be instructed in the usefiil arts. The arrival 
of the missionaries is most fortunate, and I hope they will 
in time complete what we have so successfully begun — the 
progress, however, must necessarily be slow. 

"I have lately made a very long stride towards the 
general civilization of the country^ by the establishment 
of a property in the land, and the introduction of order 
and regulation on the principles of a fixed and steady 
government. You would I am sure be gratified with the 
details had I time to send them, but my health has not 
been very good for some weeks, and I dare not write much. 
Hereafter you shall have all the particulars, and it is not 
improbable some of them will find their way to the press. 
My attention is chiefly directed to agriculture, and I am 
endeavouring to improve the grain produce of the country. 
This is the basis of all national prosperity, and in countries 
like Sumatra constitutes and comprises all that is impor- 
tant. We have an Agricultural Society, of which I am 
President, in which we discuss, without restraint or reserve, 
all questions concerning the produce of the land and the 
condition of society. The latter is most peculiar, and not 
to be explained in few words. You have probably read 
Bowditch's Mission to Ashantee — I think I could give you 
a picture as striking, novel, and interestijo^ ; but this 
must be reserved for a future period. 



134 IMPORTANCE OF SINGAPORE. 

" My settlement (Singapore) continues to thrive most 
wonderfUly ; it is all and every thing I could wish, and if 
no untimely fate awaits it, promises to become the empo- 
rium and the pride of the East. I learn with much regret 
the prejudice and malignity by which I am attacked at 
home, for the desperate struggle I have maintained against 
the Dutch. Instead of being supported by my own Govern- 
ment, I find them deserting me, and giving way in every 
instance to the unscrupulous and enormous assertions of 
the Dutch. All however is safe so far, and if matters are 
only allowed to remain as they are all will go well. The great 
blow has been struck, and though I may personally sufier 
in the scuffle the nation must be benefited — and I should 
not be surprised were the ministers to recall me, though I 
should on many accounts regret it at the present moment. 

" Were the value of Singapore properly appreciated, I 
am confident that all England would be in its favour; it 
positively takes nothing from the Dutch and is to us every- 
thing; it gives us the command of China and Japan, with 
Siam and Cambodia, Cochin China, &c. to say nothing of 
the Islands themselves. What you observe with regard to 
British cottons through this port to China is a most im- 
portant question — the affair is perfectly practicable and 
nothing more easy. I had framed a plan and am still 
bent upon the object, but until I know from England how 
I am to be supported in what I have so far done, it would 
be premature to suggest any speculation : confirm Singa* 
pore, and establish my authority in the Archipelago on 



IMPORTANCE OF SINGAPORE. 135 

the principle I have suggested^ and it will not be long 
before there is abundant demand for this description of 
our manufactures at least. Upwards of ten thousand tons 
of raw cotton are annually sent to China from our terri- 
tories in India — ^why should we send our raw produce to 
encourage the industry of a foreign nation^ at the expense 
of our own manufactures ? If India cannot manufacture 
sufficiently cheap^ England can ; and it is idle to talk of 
the cheapness of our goods unless we can bring them into 
fair competition. I see no reason why China may not be 
in a great measure clothed from England — no people 
study cheapness so much ; and if we can undersell them 
we have only to find the way of introducing the article. 
The monopoly of the East India Company in England> 
and of the Hong merchants in China^ precludes the idea 
of anything like fair competition in our own ships^ or at 
the port of Canton — ^not but the East India Company can 
and perhaps will assist as far as in them lies ; but their 
ships are too expensive— the articles would also pass 
through the Hong merchants before they reach the gene- 
ral trade and commerce ; and their intermediate profits 
would form another barrier. 

^^ At Singapore^ however, every object may be obtained. 
Let the commercial interest for the present drop every 
idea of a direct trade to China, and let them concentrate 
their influence in supporting Singapore, and they will do 
ten times better. As a free port, it is as much to them as 
the possession of Macao ; and it is here their voyages 



^ 



136 IMPORTANCE OF SINGAPORE. 

should finish. The Chinese themselves coming to Singa- 
pore and purchasing, they have the means of importing 
into the different ports of Canton, without the restraints 
and peculations of the Hong merchants. Many of the 
Chinese viceroys are themselves engaged clandestinely in 
extensive trade ; and Singapore may, as a free port, thus 
become the connecting link and grand entrepot between 
Europe, Asia, and China ; it is, in fact, fast becoming so. 
Vessels come from China to Singapore in five days. AU 
will, however, depend on its remaining under good govern- 
ment, and the port being regulated on the principles I 
have laid down ; what these are, you may learn from * *, 
who is fiilly apprised of all my views and plans. These 
once confirmed from home, I shall lose no time in forward- 
ing musters of the cloths required, and the most detailed 
information as to the extent and nature of the speculation. 

"You ask again respecting the Brata Yudha, and I 
must return you the same answer as before. I have as 
little to do with Java now as you have ; and were I to 
communicate with any one on that Island, it would be 
considered as treason : such is the hatred or dread which 
the present rulers of that country feel towards me. 

" God knows they treat me unjustly ; for although I have 
disputed and opposed their enormous designs in the Ar- 
chipelago generally, I have never interfered with Java, or 
any of their lawftil possessions ; but their fears magnify 
the danger." * * * » 

" Believe me, &c." 



LETTER TO MR. MURDOCH. 13' 



TO 



" Bencoolen, July 26thy 1820. 

" I have just received from Bengal some of your letters, 
down to the 23rd of January : this last informs me of the 
appointment of a deputation from Holland, and a com- 
mittee from the Court, to discuss all points respecting the 
Eastern Islands. This is as it should be, and augurs 
well : it looks as if, at last, the subject were about to be 
taken up seriously and comprehensively. I feel that I 
have done all and everything in my power to enable the 
authorities at home to act with justice, advantage, and 
decision. 

" From Bengal my accounts, as late as June, are favour- 
able- At Bencoolen I have not been inactive: all my 
energies are now centered in this httle spot, and I am 
improving it rapidly ; much can never be made of it, but 
it may, and ought to be better. Agriculture is what I 
most attend to, and no stone is left unturned to ad- 
vance it. 

" Sophia and my dear children are all well and happy." 

TO MR. THOMAS MURDOCH. 

" Bencoolen, July 22, 1820. 

"My DEAR Sir, 

" I have been so bad a correspondent, that I fear 
it is too late to make apologies for my silence : the truth 
is, so few opportunities offer of writing direct to Europe, 
and so many urgent calls always press on my time at the 



138 ENDEAVOURS TO IMPROVE SUMATRA. 

moment of a despatch, that I am too apt to defer, sine die, 
what may be put off till the morrow. 

" You will, I am sure, be happy to hear that we con- 
tinue in excellent health, and as yet unaffected by climate, 
and other drawbacks. Lady Baffles looks better at pre- 
sent than I ever knew her, and my three children are every 
thing that the fondest parent could wish. Charlotte and 
Leopold (your god-son) are both running about, and are 
as blessed in intelligence as disposition. Charlotte is all 
mildness, Leo aU boldness ; the youngest, who is usually 
called Marco Polo, after his godfather, Marsden, bids fair 
to follow in the same steps ; and we are as happy a family 
as you can well conceive. One of Lady Haffles' brothers, 
from the Bengal army, is now with us on a visit, and we 
are daily expecting another to remain with us perma- 
nently. My sister and her little boy also form part of our 
family at present. 

" Having, by the establishment of Singapore, done all 
that rested with me for the protection of our interests in 
the Archipelago, I have long given over all discussions 
with the Dutch authorities, and have now been for several 
months enjoying the quiet of home ; so comfortable, in- 
deed, have we managed to make ourselves, that we shall 
feel regret whenever the day comes that we are to leave 
Bencoolen, whether for better or worse. I know not how 
it is, but I have latterly become so much attached to the 
place, that it is daily becoming more interesting. The 
changes which I have been able to work have been so 



ENDEAVOURS TO IMPROVE SUMATRA. 139 

satisfiurtory^ and the attachment of the people is so great, 
that I have detennined to make a strong efifort for the 
improvement of the place. My early measures will, I 
fear, have hardly met the approval of our friend Marsden, 
as the principles on which I proceeded were difiFerent to 
those supported by him in his history ; but, I think, were 
he to see the different face which the country has since 
put on, that he would be more inclined to admit their pro- 
priety. He reasons upon the state of the country before 
the destructive effects which have followed since the abo- 
lition of the Government ; I put the state of things as I 
found them. However bad in principle the old system 
may have been, I am ready to admit that its effects were 
good, when contrasted with those which ensued from the 
introduction of what is generally considered to have been 
a more pure system. The fact is, the country has gone 
rapidly to ruin ever since it has been under the Bengal 
Government, and that from the most obvious causes of 
misgovemment and neglect : the affection of the people 
has been alienated, and the contempt with which they have 
been treated has produced its natural effects. I have had 
the task of restoring confidence, and recovering the coun- 
try from a state of wildness and disorder into which it had 
run, to one of agricultural industry and subordination ; the 
task has been difficult, and in some respects hazardous : but 
I have, at all events, carried the hearts of the people 
along with me, and, in directing their energies into pro- 
per channels, I find enough to occupy and amuse me. I 



140 ENDEAVOURS TO IMPROVE SUMATRA. 

have assumed a new character among them^ that of lord 
paramount : the Chiefs are my barons bold, and the 
people their vassals. Under this constitution^ and by the 
establishment of a right of property in the soil, I am 
enabled to do wonders, and if time is only given to perse- 
vere in the same course for a few years, I think I shall be 
able to lay the foundation of a new order of things on a 
basis that shall not easily be shaken. My attention is, at 
present, principally directed to agriculture : an .agricul- 
tural society has been established, of which I am Presi- 
dent, in which we discuss, without reserve, aU questions 
which relate to the produce of the soil and the people who 
cultivate it. Agriculture is every where the only solid 
basis of national prosperity ; and in countries like 
Sumatra, it constitutes and comprises nearly all that is 
valuable and interesting. 

^^ We are very anxiously awaiting the decision of the 
higher powers on the numerous questions referred to 
them. It appears to me impossible that Singapore should 
be given up, and yet the indecisive manner in which the 
ministers express themselves, and the unjust and harsh 
terms they use towards me, render it doubtful what course 
they will adopt. If they do not appoint me to Penang, it 
is probable that they wiU confine me to Bencoolen as a 
place of punishment — ^banishment it certainly is : but if 
even here they will leave me alone, I will make a paradise 
for myself. 

'' Bencoolen is certainly the very worst selection that 



ENDEAVOURS TO IMPROVE SUMATRA. 141 

could have been made for a settlement ; it is completely 
shut out of doors ; the soil is, comparatively with the 
other Malay countries, inferior, the population scanty; 
neighbourhood, or passing trade, it has none ; and, fur- 
ther, it wants a harbour, to say nothing of its long-reputed 
unhealthiness, and the miserable state of ruin into which 
it has latterly been allowed to run. Against aU these 
drawba<;ks I yet think something can be done, and I am 
attempting it : the greater the difficulties to be encoun- 
tered, and the greater the exertion required, the greater 
is the satisfaction to be obtained. I have never yet found 
any which repressed my energies ; on the contrary, they 
have always increased in proportion to the occasion. 

" I have found in the Sumatrans a very diflFerent people 
to the inhabitants of Java : they are, perhaps, a thousand 
years behind them in civilization, and, consequently, re- 
quire a very different kind of government. In Java I 
advocated the doctrine of the liberty of the subject, and 
the individual rights of man : here I am the advocate for 
despotism. The strong arm of power is necessary to 
bring men together, and to concentrate them in societies ; 
and there is a certain stage in which despotic authority 
seems the only means of promoting civilization. Sumatra 
is, in a great measure, peopled by innumerable petty 
tribes, subject to no general government, having little or 
no intercourse with each other, and man stiU remains in- 
active, suUen, and partaking of the gloom which pervades 
the forests by which he is surrounded. No European 



142 ENDEAVOURS TO IMPROVE SUMATRA. 

power seems to think it worth its while to subdue the 
country by conquest, the shortest and best way of civilizing 
it; and, therefore, all that can be done is^ to raise the im- 
portance of the Chiefs, and to assist in promoting the 
advance of feudal authority : this once established, and 
government being once firmly introduced, let the people 
be enlightened, and the energies which will be then called 
forth in regaining a portion of their liberties, will be the 
best pledge of their future character as a nation. At 
present the people are as wandering in their habits as the 
birds of the air, and until they are congregated and 
organized under something like authority, nothing can be 
done with them. I have, fortunately, become very popular 
among them ; all classes seem persuaded that I want to 
make a country, and there is nothing which I wish or sug- 
gest which they are not anxious to do : they have already 
submitted to alterations and innovations which, in former 
times, it would have been dangerous to mention ; and if 
ever anything is to be made of them, this is the time for 

« 

the eflFort — the opportunity, neglected, will never recur. 

" I fear I have troubled you with a very dull discussion 
on a very uninteresting subject, but I am anxious to 
prove to you that, however limited my field of action, I 
still contrive to find something within it worthy of my 
attention. Bencoolen will never become a place of great 
commercial or political importance, but it is the place 
where, at present, I can be most practically useftil ; and, 
instead of repining and resenting the slights and injuries 



LETTER TO THE DUKE OF SOMERSET. 143 

of the higher powers, I shall, for the next few years, con- 
tent myself, if fixed here, with leaving a garden where I 
have found a wilderness. 

*' Lady Baffles unites with me in kindest regards to 
Mrs. Murdoch, and all the members of your family. I 
need not teU you of the esteem in which we hold you, and 
how often we anticipate the pleasure of once more meet- 
ing under the same roof, and in that same country where, 
spite of all its faults, the best of enjoyments are to be 
found. 

*' Politically, I have done all that could be expected 
from me in this country. If the authorities at home still 
demur, and are not only opposed to my plans but to my 
personal interests, it is clear that I can do no good to the 
cause here. I am at present bound and chained to Ben- 
coolen, almost as closely as Napoleon is to Saint Helena. 

4c 3|e 4: 4e 4e 

" I have now the satisfaction to state that Bencoolen 
and Singapore together are not as expensive as Ben- 
coolen was before the change." 

TO THE DUKE OF SOMERSET. 

** Bencoolen, August 20, 1820. 

" The best excuse I can ofiTer for having allowed your 
letters to remain so long without acknowledgment, is that 
I have had nothing to communicate in reply, to justify 
the intrusion on your time and notice ; and I have been 
ashamed to dwell on the never-failing subject of self, after 



144 LETTER TO THE DUKE OF SOMERSET. 

troubling the Duchess with so many uninteresting details 

on this particular. 

* « ♦ 41 ♦ 

" In the present alarming and important crisis^ I fear 
the public attention will be too much occupied with affairs 
nearer horne^ to trouble itself much with what is going on 
in this part of the world ; and yet I cannot help thinking 
that more extensive views, and a more enlarged poUcy 
with regard to the colonies, particularly in the East, would 
tend greatly to remove some of the burdens by which 

England seems to be at present overwhelmed. 

^ * * * * 

" It is not necessary for me to detail to your Grace the 
dangers to which our commerce was exposed, or the dis- 
abilities under which it laboured previously to the occu- 
pation of Singapore. The Dutch, by reviving the prin- 
ciple on which their establishments in the East were 
originally founded, and acting upon the same with the 
increased power and means which their improved con- 
dition and rank among the nations of Europe gave them, 
had nearly succeeded in bringing under their control every 
native state within the Archipelago, and in excluding the 
British Indian trader from every port eastward of the 
Straits of Malacca and Sunda, while they secured to them- 
selves the commerce of those important passes through 
which the trade to and from China must necessarily be 
carried on. It is not a little remarkable, that the establish- 
ment of this system of exclusion on the part of the Dutch 






LETTER TO THE DUKE OF SOMERSET. 145 

was much facilitated by the improved local resources of 
the colonies actually restored to them ; and that it is to 
our having conquered and occupied Java^ that they are 
mainly indebted for the means of obstructing and destroy- 
ing our commerce ; for had not that event taken place, they 
would not have had the pretext or the means of establish- 
ing anew an empire and system so diametrically opposed 
to our commercial interests, and which the policy of our 
Government, and the enterprise of our merchants, had 
so successfiiUy combated and destroyed in the preceding 
century. 

*' The commerce, therefore, for which I have been again 
contending, and which I have endeavoured to secure by 
the occupation of Singapore, is no less important to us 
than it is our legitimate right. Within its narrowest 
limits^ it embraces a fair participation in the general trade 
of the Archipelago and Siam, and in a more extensive 
view> is intimately connected with that of China and 
Japan. We should not forget that it was to the Eastern 
Islands that the attention of Europeans was first directed, 
and that it was in these seas the contest for the commerce 
of the East was carried on and decided ; that it was this 
trade which contributed to the power and splendour of 
Portugal^ and at a later date raised HoUand from insig- 
nificance and obscurity to power and rank among the 

nations of Europe. 

♦ * * * * 

'' Notwithstanding the uncertainty which must prevail 

VOL. II. L 



1 



146 LETTER TO THE DXJKK OF SOMERSET. 

pending the decision of the higher powers in Europe, and 
the circumstances of its being still held solely on my per- 
sonal responsibility, against all the efforts of our own 
government as well as that of the Dutch, the settlement 
has advanced in the most rapid manner. From an insig- 
nificant fishing village, the port is now surrounded by an 
extensive town, and the population does not fall short of 
ten or twelve thousand souls, principally Chinese. The 
number is daily increasing, and the trade of the. place has 
already induced the establishment of several mercantile 
houses of respectability. 

" Should the decision firom home prove favourable, I 
hope to proceed there in the course of next year, for the 
purpose of establishing such municipal and port regula- 
tions as may provide for the increasing population and 
trade. Should it be otherwise, I shall probably remain 
quietly at Bencoolen, where I am not without employ- 
ment, and where, though the field will be less extensive, 
and the immediate object somewhat different, there is 
much to be done. Bencoolen being in a great measure 
shut out from the general trade of the Eastern Islands;^ 
and having no trade of its own, the first and main point 
to be attended to is its agriculture; and I am now busily 
engaged in clearing forests, draining morasses, and culti- 
vating the soil. 

" I hope the present year the grain produce will be in- 
creased at least two-fold, and go on in a geometrical pro- 
portion for many years to come, until we become an 



LETTER TO THE DUKE OF SOMERSET. 147 

exporting rather than an importing country. Every man 
is obliged to cultivate suflBcient grain for his own subsist- 
ence, either with his own hands or his proper Ainds ; and 
I have already had the satisfaction of seeing a large por- 
tion of the people turn from habits of idleness to those of 
indujstry and activity. By establishing a right of property 
in the soil, and giving the preference to the actual culti- 
vator, an extraordinary competition has been excited, and 
my time is now engaged for many hours in the day in 
settling boundaries and claims to land, which a year ago 
may be said to have been without owner or claimant. 

" But it is not to the grain cultivation alone that I am 
directing my attention : I am attempting to introduce the 
cultivation and manu&cture of sugar on the same prin- 
ciple as in the West Indies, and to extend the cofiee, 
pepper, and other plantations. 

'' I find that a sugar- work may be established here at 
less than one-sixth of the expense which must be incurred 
at Jamaica ; that our soil is superior, our climate better, 
and, as we are neither troubled with hurricanes nor yellow 
fever, that our advantages are almost beyond comparison 
greater. For instance, in an estate calculated to afford 
two hundred or two hundred and fifty tons of sugar an- 
nually, the land alone would cost eight thousand or ten 
thousand pounds in Jamaica, whila here it may be had for 
nothing. The negroes would there cost ten or twelve 
thousand pounds more, while here labourers may be ob- 
tained on contract, or by the month, with a \evj moderate 

l2 



148 LKTTER TO THE DUKE OF SOMERSET. 

advance^ at wages not higher than necessary for their sub- 
sistence. The other expenses of a West India plantatioii 
are estimated at ten thousand pounds more; so that 
before any return can be received^ an outlay of at least 
thirty thousand pounds must be made. Here about five 
thousand pounds may be considered to cover every ex- 
pense^ including thirteen hundred pounds for machinery 
from England^ and every outlay before the sugar is made. 
A gentleman has come over from Jamaica^ and is esta- 
blishing a very extensive plantation. He is now engaged 
in planting the cane> and^ in about a year hence^ he will 
commence his sugar. Water-miUs, &c., have been applied 
for from Liverpool^ and if the undertaking shoidd turn 
out favourably, as I have no doubt it will, I trust it will 
not be long before his example is generally followed. 
CoflTee and other tropical productions may of course be 
cultivated here with equal advantages ; and, considering 
the present state of capital and labour in England, I 
cannot help regretting that the public attention is not 
turned to the advantages which might result from colo- 
nizing this part of Sumatra. Our advantages over the 
West Indies are not only in soil, climate, and labour, but 
also in constant markets. The West Indies always look 
to the European market, and that alone : here we have 
the India and China markets, besides an extensive local 
demand. The only thing against us is the freight, which 
is of course somewhat higher, on account of the greater 
distance ; but if from the West Indies the planter could 



LETTER TO THE DUKE OF SOMERSET. 149 

afford to send his sugar home at ten pounds per ton^ war- 
freight, he may surely pay five pounds per ton, peace- 
freight, which is the present rate. In consequence of the 
advantages of this island being unknown, many British 
subjects have established sugar and coffee plantations in 
Java, and are, in consequence, now enriching a foreign 
colony by their labour and capital, while we are suffering 
from the want of both. 

^^The present regulations of the East India Company 
q,re adverse to colonization ; but under the existing cir- 
cumstances of the country, I should think that body 
would not oppose any feasible plan which could be devised 
for affording relief. The Eastern Islands are so differ- 
ently circumstanced to the continent of India, that the 
principle which is considered to apply against colonization 
in the latter, does not hold good in the former. It is 
here by colonization, by European talents and Chinese 
labour alone, that the resources of the country can be 
brought forward, whereas in India the country is for the 
most part cultivated to the highest pitch, and occupied 
by an industrious race of inhabitants. 

" I much fear the expectations of advantageous coloni- 
zation at the Cape will be disappointed. It is ^sending 
poverty to feed on poverty ; and the most that can be ex- 
pected by the settlers, after a life of toil and misery, is a 
bare subsistence. The climate, it is true, is more conge- 
nial to an European constitution,, but this is all : in every 
other respect we have the advantage, not only over the 



150 LETTER TO THE DUKE OF SOMERSET. 

Cape, but over the West Indies, America, New Holland, 
or any other place that could be named — Java always 
excepted. The climate is certainly warm and unfavour- 
able to Europeans, but I believe I may safely affirm, that 
it is the most pleasant, if not the most healthy within the 
tropics. In the mountainous districts the heat is by no 
means great, and I have already established a regular 
supply of potatoes, which are extensively cultivated in the 
interior district, and which previous to our arrival were 
always imported. Wheat also grows, and Indian com 
may be cultivated with great advantage : our cattle may 
easily be increased, and the breed improved ; and water- 
carriage is to be found in almost every direction, in the 
numerous rivers which descend from the central mountains 
to the sea. 

" The principle, however, on which colonists settle here 
must be very different to what it appears to be at the 
Cape ; here nothing can be done without capital, every- 
thing with it. Capitalists in England must either send 
out their relatives, or lend their money on mortgage to 
some active and intelligent planter. Any young man 
of steady habits and common sense, whose father cannot 
obtain employment for him at home, but who can advance 
him from four to five thousand pounds, may thus esta- 
blish himself, and create an estate of three or four thou- 
sand pounds a-year for his descendants. These principals 
in the concern would require under-surveyors, coopers, 
distillers, writers, &c., and each estate would give employ- 



LETTSR TO THB DUKE OF SOMERSET. 151 

ment to several Europeans. The Chinese and natives 
would be the manual labourers, as the negroes are in the 
West Indies. 

" Politicallj, the colonization of that part of Sumatra 
which belongs to the British Government would be very 
important, as it would enable us to make a stand against 
the Dutch encroachments. They are colonizing Java 
very fast ; and, notwithstanding our power on the conti- 
nent of India, they might easily overrun and occupy, to 
our exclusion, every possession between the Straits of 
Sunda and China. 

" I have to apologize to your Grace for these hasty re- 
marks, but they are drawn forth by the regret that the 
forty thousand paupers sent to the Cape had not, on a 
different principle and more enlightened plan, found their 
way here, where, independent of the advantages I have 
already pointed out, they might have assisted in extend- 
ing our spice gardens, and dragging the golden ore from 
our mines. 

" Whatever may be done towards paying off the national 
debt, or reducing the interest, we must still have recourse 
to extensive emigration, and the sooner we open our 
colonies to the settler the better. If we delay too long, 
much of the capital and industry will have found their 
way into foreign countries, and, by assisting our rivals, 
check our own spedulations. 

*' The West India merchants and proprietors might at 
one time have inveighed against colonization in the Ea8t> 



152 LETTER TO W. MARSDEN> ESQ. 

and I know they were decidedly opposed to the retention 
of Java on this account: but the progress in Sumatra 
will be slow, and the abolition of the slave trade has so 
effectually destroyed their prospects, that they must neces- 
sarily retrograde, so that their opposition will be of less 
weight. At all events, what is done in Sumatra will take 
nothing from them direct; and, as far as I can judge, 
they would find it more to their advantage to embark 
themselves and their machinery, and change their resi- 
dence to the East. The superior advantages there would 
soon repay the expenses of transport." 

TO W. MARSDEN, ESQ. 

" BencooleUf August 27th, 1820. 
'^ We are now thinking of delaying the publication of 

the plants until a more general view of the natural history 
of these Islands can be taken, and we think they might 
form an advantageous appendix to a work which we pur- 
pose to entitle 'An Introduction to the Natural History 
of the Eastern Islands ; ' the frame-work of which has been 
completed, but which will require perhaps a year or two 
for the details. 

" I have just been closing a large consignment of sub- 
jects in spirits and skeletons. 

*'You will have learned that the cassowary is not a 
native of Java ; it is not found west of the Moluccas, and 
m them I believe is confined exclusively to one of the 
large Islands, either Halhambipa or Ceram, I forget which. 



i 



LAKES IN SUMATRA. " 153 

'' I have written to you so fully lately^ that I am not 
aware that I have anything of moment left to communi- 
cate^ except the discovery of the lake in the Lampung 
country^ at the back of Croee^ which has been visited and 
examined in the last four months. The length of the lake 
is about twelve miles> the' breadth eight ; the population 
is thin upon its banks^ and but few boats. None of these 
carry sails: the people have a superstitious aversion to 
hoisting them^ under an apprehension that the sails wiQ 
invite the wind, upset the boat, or, in other words, that 
they will raise the devil by it. 

" I have made a sketch of the shape and position of this 
lake, and have sent another party with compasses, &c., to 
correct our former observations, and also to collect mine- 
rals in its vicinity, and the best information attainable of 
the country beyond it. 

^'I have had an opportunity of examining the third 
lake, namely, that of Korintki. 

" The only important lake not yet ascertained is that 
of Toba, in the Batta country. The moment I can well 
leave Marlborough, I purpose making an incursion into 
the Batta country to ascertain this and many other inte- 
resting points, and if I am not eaten on the journey I 
have no doubt the results will repay the labour. I am at 
present confined to Marlborough, on account of the posi- 
tive orders of the Court of Directors, who would seem in- 
chned to limit my perambulations as much as possible, lest 
they should excite the jealousy of our friendly aUies the 



154 LAKE8 IN SUMATRA. 

Dutch : but for this, you should long before this time have 
had an account of the sources of most of the principal 
rivers. I do not think the source of the Siak river 
can be correctly laid down^ and with respect to the Tulang 
Bawang river I am still more puzzled, and am much in 
want of scientific and even practical assistance. 

'' I have applied to the Bengal government respecting 
the want of surveys on this coast above Tappanooly^ and 
I hope that authority will be inclined to attend to the 
subject. In the mean time I am collecting all the infor- 
mation I can. 

'^ I am at present deeply engaged in the details of Ben- 
coolen> taking statistical accounts of our population, &c. 
I propose ]rinting them, as the only means of securing the 
safety of tlie record, and turning the public attention of 
the place to the &rther prosecution of similar inquiries 
hereafter. They will fiirnish excellent data a hundred 
years hence to judge of the advance or decline of the 
place. Our first agricultural report is finished, and I 
think you will not only admit the facts, but concur in the 
reasoning. 

" Lady Raffles and the children continue to enjoy excel- 
lent health. She desires to be most kindly remembered 
to Mrs. Marsden. I am obliged to insist on her avoiding 
writing. Your godson is now three months old, and does 
credit to Bencoolen. 

" I fear I shall have often been very tedious in my re- 
petitions : the fact is, that I have always so much public 



POPULATION OF SUMATRA. 155 

business in hand on the depaxture of a ship^ and the 
notice is generally so shorty that I have no time to write 
a connected letter^ or keep copies of what I do write. 

-The population of the Batta country far surpasses my 
expectation ; it can hardly be less than a miUion and a 
half. 

" The progress of the Padries, as they are called^ has 
been surprising^ and the countries they have ravaged will 
excite your astonishment. I am collecting details for a 
ftdl account of their progress. 

♦ ♦ 41 ♦ Hi 

"The spice plantations have done wonders. 

" The statistical returns confirm your opinion of the in- 
fecundity of the people, as they show an uncommon dearth 
of children ; but they, at the same time, attest the healthi* 
ness of the country by the very small nimiber of deaths. 

" I have not been very well lately, and am rather ap- 
prehensive I am not doomed to last much longer in a 
tropical climate. Unless, therefore, the public authorities 
at home turn a more favourable eye towards me, I shall 
think of returning at the close of my five years. 

* ♦ « 4c « 

" I am afraid, my dear Sir, you will long ere this have 
been tired with this old and long story ; at all events, I 
hope you wiU consider it an earnest of my desire to prove 
to you that I am not inattentive to the real interests of 
the place entrusted to my immediate charge. 

" Lady Baffles and my dear children continue to enjoy 



156 EXERTIONS TO CIVILIZE THE SUMATRANS. 

excellent health. Marco Polo thrives apace^ and is every- 
thing you could wish.*' 

The spice gardens^ of which there were now many in 
the neighbourhood of Bencoolen^ added greatly to its 
interest and beauty ; Sir Stamford's residence in the 
country was twelve miles from the town^ and though on 
first making the attempt to persuade people to live out of 
the settlement^ no servant could ever be induced to ven* 
ture three miles after sunset^ at this time (1823) there 
were various country-houses on the road to Permattam 
Ballam^ (his country-house,) all of them surrounded by 
plantations. The clove trees as an avenue to a residence 
are perhaps unrivalled; their noble height^ the beauty of 
their form^ the luxuriance of their foliage, and, above all, 
the spicy fragrance with which they perfrune the air, pro- 
duce, in driving through a long line of them, a degree of 
exquisite pleasure only to be enjoyed in the clear light 
atmosphere of these latitudes. 

'* BencooleUt September 23rd, 1820. 

'' I am doing more good here and at Singapore, at 
Nattal Tappanooly, and Nias. I am making a country 
and a garden out of a wilderness, and I trust I am laying 
the foundation of the friture civilization of Sumatra : the 
independence of the Eastern commerce I have already 
established. My letters from Bengal say that all my 
plans are lauded at home, but others are larded for them. 



LETTER TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 157 

and that it is feared I must limit my recompense to the 
gratifying sense of my public services. My friends say^ 
* Do not, however, allow any penury in your superiors to 
damp your zeal ; for you can at all times show to whose 
intelligence we are indebted for the civilization and inde- 
pendence of the Eastern countries.' Are they right ? 

'^ My attention is at this moment directed to the Island 
of Nias, lying off Nattal, a httle to the north of Padang : 
it contains a population of &om one to two hundred thou- 
sand active, intelligent, and industrious people, and is the 
granary of this coast. The people are heathens, and in 
great want of civilization and improvement, and I contem- 
plate a fine field for philanthropic exertions. 

" Sophia will write you all domestic news. For myself I 
do not feel my health so good as it was, and I fear I cannot 
at the outside remain with any comfort above a year or 
two longer in India : I therefore think you will see us in 
1823 or 1824 at farthest." 

TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

" Bencoolen, October 9th, 1820. 
" We are still remaining very quietly at Bencoolen, and 
I fear the detail of an agricultural Ufe, which mine is at 
present, is too monotonous to afford many incidents to 
interest you at such a distance, were I to attempt any 
description of my present occupations. After having 
drawn together all the wild animals of the forests, and 
collected the rich plants of the mountains, I am now en- 



158 LETTER TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

deavourmg to tame the one and cultivate the other^ and 
have undertaken the arduous task of converting a wilder- 
ness into a garden. I have established a law, that every 
man shall sow grain enough for the consumption of him- 
self and family. I am making new roada and water- 
courses, regulating the police of my villages, abolishing 
slavery and bond-service, forcing the idle to be industri- 
ous and the rogues to be honest. But all this would not 
be half so interesting in description as a Batta feast, or 
tlie discovery of some new and wild race. 

* ♦ * ♦ 4" 

" In my last letter I intimated to your Grace that I am 
now turning my thoughts homewards; one-half of my 
period of banishment has certainly passed over, and in 
1823, or the beginning of 1824, you will certainly see us. 
I know of nothing that would induce me to remain longer. 
My health, I am sorry to say, is not so good as it was. 
I feel the effects of climate very seriously, and on this 
account, if I had no other inducement, I should hasten 
home. In a public point of view, all I wish is, to remain 
long enough to see my settlement at Singapore firmly 
established, and lay something like a substantial founda- 
tion for the fiiture civilization of Sumatra : two or three 
years will be sufiicient for this, and then I shall have an 
object at home in endeavouring to uphold and ftirther 
what will have been so far proceeded on. My great 
object, the independence of the Eastern Islands, has been 
attained. 



LETTER TO MR. MARSDEN. 159 

^^Lady Raffles and my dear children continue to enjoy 
excellent health. Leopold is the wonder of all who see 
him. Charlotte speaks English very distinctly^ and finds 
no difficulty in Malay and Hindostanee> and it is curious 
to observe how she selects her language to the different 
natives. To us or her nurse she always speaks English : 
to a Malay she is fluent in his language^ and in an instant 
begins Hindostanee to a Bengalee : if she is sent with a 
message^ she translates it at once into the language of the 
servant she meets with. She is only two years and a half 
old ; such is the tact of children for acquiring languages. 
She always dines with us when we are alone^ and the cloth 
is no sooner removed, than in bounces Master Leopold, 
singing and laughing, and occupying his place. Mr. Silvio, 
the Siamafig, is then introduced, and I am often accused 
of paying more attention to the monkey than the children. 
This last gentleman is so great a favourite, and in such 
high spirits, that I hope to take him to England with the 
family, and introduce him to my little friend Anna Maria." 

TO MR. MARSDEN. 

" Bencoolen, October 9, 1820. 

*' I have now the pleasure to send you the third paper 
on our Malayan plants. These are only to be considered 
notices made at the moment, where we have not the ad- 
vantage of reference to late pubUcations, or communica- 
tion with scientific friends. The paper contains an 
account of the nepenthes, sago, camphor, several new 



160 LETTER TO THOMAS MURDOCH, ESQ. 

mangifera, many ligna vit», the melastomas, &c. You 
will recognize many of your old friends, particularly the 
kayu gadis, or virgin tree. 

'' Under Styphelia you will find an interesting observa- 
tion respecting Singapore. We have not half gathered 
the rich harvest which surrounds our settlement, but 
I think you will give me credit for what has been done. 
I am now expecting an abundant supply of new matter 
from Pulo Nias and the northern parts of Sumatra ; and 
I hope, in the course of next year, again to visit Singapare» 
and pick up something on the Eastern coast in addition 
to our present botanical stores." 

TO THOMAS MURDOCH, ESQ. 

^'Bencoolen, October 9, 1820. 

^^ As my letter of July 22d was written at a time when 
I was very much hurried, I am anxious to correct any 
hasty expression I may have used, and to explain more 
fully my reasons for now becoming so strong an advocate 
for despotic authority. There appear to be certain stages 
and gradations through which society must run its course 
to civilization, and which can no more be overleaped or 
omitted, than men can arrive at maturity without passing 
through the gradations of infancy and youth. Indepen- 
dence is the characteristic of the savage state ; but while 
men continue disinterested, and with little mutual depen- 
dence on each other, they can never become civilized. 

" The acquisition of power is necessary to unite them 



PROGRESS OF CIVILIZATION. 161 

ttnd to organize society^ and it would perhaps be difficult 
to instance a nation which has risen from barbarism 
without having been subjected to despotic authority in some 
shape or other. The most rapid advances have probably 
been made^ when great power has fallen into enlightened 
and able hands; in such circumstances nations become 
wealthy and powerfiil, refinement and knowledge are 
diffiised, and the seeds of internal freedom are sown in 
due time^ to rise and set limits to that power whenever it 
may engender abuse. Freedom thus founded on know- 
ledge and a consideration of reciprocal rights, is the only 
species that deserves the name^ and it would be folly to 
conceive the careless independence of the savage as 
deserving of equal respect. In order to render an uncivil- 
ized people capable of enjoying true liberty, they must 
first feel the weight of authority, and must becpme 
acquainted with the mutual relations of society. 

''Whether the power to which they bow be the des- 
potism of force, or the despotism of superior intellect, it 
is a step in their progress which cannot be passed over. 
Knowledge is power, and in the intercourse between 
enlightened and ignorant nations, the former must find 
will be the rulers. Instead, therefore, out of an affected 
respect for the customs of savages, of abstaining from all 
interference, and endeavouring to perpetuate the institu- 
tions of barbarism, ought it not rather to be our study 
to direct to the advancement and improvement of the 

VOL. lu ¥ 



162 PROGRESS OF CIVILIZATION. 

people^ that power and influence with which our situa- 
tion and character necessarily invests us ? 

" Power we do and have possessed ; we have employed 
it in the most arbitrary of all modes^ in the exaction of 
forced services and in the monopoly of the produce of the 
country. While, as if in mockery, we have professed to 
exercise no interference with the native administration of 
the country, we have made ourselves the task-masters of 
the people, and with a false humility have refused to be 
their governors. Ought we not to discard this empty 
pretence ? The people are now living without a head to 
direct them, for we have destroyed the power of the native 
Chiefs ; both reason and humanity would urge us to take 
the management into our own hands, and to repah* the 
mischief of an hundred years, by affording them a regular 
and organised government. Instead of compelling their 
services for our own commercial monopoly, while we leave 
them in then* original ignorance and barbarism, and by 
reducing them to the condition of slaves, shut the door of 
improvement against them, ought we not to endeavour to 
direct their industry to objects beneficial to themselves, 
and by securing to them the benefits of their labour, raise 
them by degrees in the scale of civilization ? 

"The case of Bencoolen is altogether different from 
what it was in Java at the time of our occupation of it, 
arising entirely from the comparatively higher state of 
civilization to which the inhabitants of that Island had 
attained: and even then, in some of the mountainous 



1 



PROGRESS OF CIVILIZATION. 163 

and less civilized districts^ it was questionable whether the 
period had yet arrived when the people were competent 
to advance by their own unaided efforts^ and they were 
therefore still left in some measure under the immediate 
sway of their Chiefs. By far the larger portion of the 
inhabitants of Java had already passed that stage, and 
were thereby prepared for entering on the enjoyment of 
a higher and improved condition. 

" I have troubled you with the above observations, that 
you may be prepared for the arguments in which I found 
my assumption of sovereign power. Tyrants seldom want 
an excuse, and in becoming a despot, I am desirous to 
give you mine. Hereafter, when I have an opportunity 
of explaining to you more fiiUy the real state of the coun- 
try, I shall easily convince you that my premises are cor- 
rect. Our friend Marsden will, I think, admit at once 
that they are so ; but the course I am pursuing is so 
opposite to his notions, as expressed in his History, that 
I despair of carrying him along with me without a strug- 
gle. I know he is kind enough to place great confidence 
in me, and to be fiilly satisfied with my motives ; but I 
fear that he looks upon some of my plans as visionary and 
speculative. They may be so, and I am willing to admit 
that they are not without the latter quality, but I cannot 
be one of your tacit spectators of barbarism. It is well to 
say, let things remain as they are — ^they have gone on well 
enough heretofore, why introduce new speculations of 
improvement while the people are content ? This might 

m2 



164 CONDITIONS OF JAVA AND SUMATRA. 

perhaps have been said, if not acted upon, if the thing 
had been possible. Some few years since, in England, 
when the people were in the enjoyment of more substantial 
happiness than recent reforms, or attempts to introduce 
them, are likely to prove, England may have been said, 
if not to have reached the summit, at all events, to have 
attained an eminence above all other nations ; and, in all 
fiirther attempts, we were necessarily without the aid of 
experience. But can this be said of Sumatra, or more 
particularly of Bencoolen, where the people are at least a 
thousand years behind their neighbours the Javanese ? 
Surely not. 

" If you would know the extent of my speculations, I 
wotild beg you to contrast the present conditions of Java 
and Sumatra. From the hand of God, Sumatra has per- 
haps received higher advantages and capabilities than 
Java, but no two countries form a more decided contrast 
in the use which has been made of them by man. While 
Sumatra remains in a great part covered with its primeval 
forests, and exhibiting but scattered traces of human in- 
dustry, Java has become the granary and the garden of 
the East. In the former, we find man inactive, sullen, 
and partaking of the gloom of the forests ; while in the 
latter he is active and cheerftd. They are considered to 
have sprung firom the same general stock, and the Strait 
which separates them is not twenty miles across. How 
are we to account for the difference ? 

*' It is not likely that I shall give the Dutch credit for 



CAPABILITIES OF SUMATRA. 165 

having had much share in the improvement of Java, but 
they are not without some claims in this respect. We 
must seek the causes elsewhere. I shall not now attempt 
to enter into them, but I wish much to remove the idea 
that Sumatra is by nature less fertile than Java. Wretched 
as our west coast districts may be, I can affirm that the 
soil of the interior is for the most part rich and produc- 
tive. No country is better watered ; its navigable rivers 
afford a striking contrast to the want of them in Java ; the 
population cannot well fall short of three millions, and in 
some parts agriculture is equally advanced with Java. We 
have, unfortunately, selected the very worst spots, and 
adopted the very worst system of government — and to 
this alone should be attributed our failure. I ask no 
more than a carte blanche {ot five years to make Sumatra 
more important — more valuable to England than even 
Java would have been. 

"By opening the communication between Bencoolen 
and Palembang, the grand navigable river of the latter 
place would be the outlet for all the rich produce of the 
interior, including the spices of Bencoolen. The Jambi^ 
Siak, and other rivers to the northward would again be 
opened as the great channels of trade, while our stations 
on the west coast, which I would still maintain, would be 
our military posts, whence all the rivers and all the inte- 
rior of the country would be commanded. I would open 
a high road along the centre of the Island, from one end 
to the other, and the rivers should be my transverse path- 



166 CAPABILITIES OF SUMATRA. 

ways. I would assume supremacy without interfering 
with the just independence of other states. I would he 
the protector of the native states. I would, in fact, re- 
establish the ancient authority of Menangkabu, and be 
the great Mogul of the Island. I would, without much 
expense, afford employment for twenty or thirty thousand 
EngUsh colonists, and I would soon give employment to 
as much British tonnage, and as many British seamen as 
are now engaged in the West India trade. 

" In short, what would I not, and indeed what could I not 
do, were I free to act, and encouraged rather than abused ? 

" This, I am wilUng to admit, is all very speculative, 
and I am sorry to be obliged to add also very visionary, 
for there is no chance of my ever attempting anything of 
the kind — the time has gone by when I had the spirit for 
it. I have met with so much injustice and ill-usage on 
the part of the authorities at home, that the charm is 
gone, my confidence is lost, and I only think of these 
changes as what might have been, had circumstances been 
more favourable. 

" I am now confining myself strictly to our own petty 
states on the coast, and surely what I am doing in them 
is rather practical than speculative. What I am doing 
will not only benefit these districts immediately, but may 
enable some subsequent authority, less harassed by an 
unconfiding government at home, to enlarge the sphere 
for the extension of British principles : I shall be content 
with what is immediate and practical. 



CAPABILITIES OF SUMATRA. 167 

*' I am afraid^ after all, that I shall have failed to prove 
to you, that, in advocating despotism, I am the true and 
steady friend of national freedom. If so, I must rely on 
your friendship to be satisfied with my assertion ; if, on 
the contrary, you admit my arguments, pray enforce them 
with Mr. Marsden, as I would rather have his concurrence 
than the first authority the British legislature could give : 
he will not approve without being convinced ; but if he 
still thinks me speculative, it may be sufficient to say that 
I have relinquished the only speculation which deserved 
the name of one> and am now a plain practical man. 
Pray make our united regards, &c. 
To prove to you that when I assume and advocate 
dospotic authority, I do not forget that men have rights, 
it may be sufficient to observe that I have abolished the 
whole system of slaves and slave-debtors, so intimately 
interwoven with what are called the native institutions of 
the country ; that a time has been fixed at which the con- 
dition of actual slavery shall cease to exist ; and that for 
the system of slave-debtors, I have substituted one of free 
contract, and this with the full and hearty concurrence of 
the native Chiefs and the European population." 



(C 



<( 



TO 



''Beneoolen, October 27, 1820. 

" The enclosed letters are to convey most melancholy 
tidings. 



4t # . % 



168 DEATH OF Mtt. HULL. 

" The affliction they announce is a most severe one ; vfe 
have lost poor Robert Hull^ and now mourn his death in 
all the agony of grief and wretchedness. He died on the 
24th instant, after a severe illness of five days, which he 
bore with exemplary fortitude and resignation. The im- 
mediate cause of his death was inflammation of the 
bowek; but he never recovered firom the illness occa- 
sioned by the fatigue and exposure of the last campaign, 
and on account of which he was absent firom his station. 
Poor Sophia and Nilson attended him day and night 
during his illness and last moments, and have sufiered a 
severe shock; but the first and most violent effects are 
now subsiding, and I hope in a short time they will gain 
strength and spirits by quiet and resignation. 

" Everything here is going on very quietly, the place 
manifestly improving fast, and a spirit of industry and 
activity beginning to supersede the dull lethargic torpor 
which so lately prevailed. 

'^ The attention of every one is directed to agriculture, 
and I find my little experience in Java of some impoi^- 
ance in directing the labours of the people of this coast, 
who have still so much to learn from their neighbours.** 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Sir Stamford forms an establishment on the Island of Nias for the 
suppression of slavery — Sufficient spices raised at Bencoolen for 
the supply of Great Britain — Description of the Island of Nias — 
Its poptUaiion, exports, slaves— ^Period of proposed return to 
England — Poggie Islands— Description of the people — Death qf 
Sir Star^foriTs eldest boy — Death of Captain Auber— Missionaries 
engaged in printing Malay Bible — Illness of another child — In- 
tended publication on commercial prospects — Deaths of two chil- 
dren — Youngest child sent to England— Betired life — Expectation 
of Mr, Canning as Governor- General — Sir StamforcPs opinion of 
the state of England— Arrival of a party for the measurement qf 
the pendulum at the Equator — Death of Dr. Jack — Voyage to 
Singapore. 

The suppression of slavery was never lost sight of by Sir 
Stamford Baffles; it was connected with all his views, 
political or commercial; and when he found it prevailed 
to a serious extent in an island (Pulo Nias) in the imme- 
diate neighbourhood of the British power, he was anxious 
to make some effort to relieve the inhabitants from this 
oppression; and as the English Besident at Tappanooly 
and Nattal had always maintained a small establishment 
in the island, it appeared an object of easy attainment. 
The following letters contain references to this sub- 
ject :— 



170 DEATH OF SIR JOSEPH BANKS. 

TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

<* Bencoolen, June 22, 1821. 
" We have an ugly report by the way of Batavia^ that 
poor Sir Joseph Banks is no more ! I fear it is too true, 
as by our last accounts he appeared nearly exhausted. It 
was an event for which I ought to have been prepared ; 
but^ notwithstanding this, his death has been a severe 
shock to me, as it must have been to all who knew him, 
and could appreciate his inestimable value. When shall 
we meet his like again, and by whom will his place be 
supplied ? He has left a sad blank. To fill his place as 
he filled it is impossible. A successor, however, must be 
appointed ; and if talents, fortune, and entire devotion to 
the object cannot be found united in one individual, rank 

must supply the deficiency. 

* * * * * 

" I am very much airaid that the death of Sir Joseph 
will go far to break the heart of the Society. Many of 
the old and sterling members will, I am sure, feel the loss 
most deeply, and want heart to attend the fiiture meet- 
ings. Much, however, nay everything, iVill depend on the 
character of the new President. 

" I have a long account to send your Grace of my dis- 
coveries in Pulo Nias. I believe I formerly told you that 
I was engaged in some arrangements for bringing that 
island under British authority. I am now happy to say 
that I have succeeded ; the people have unreservedly be- 
come the subjects of Great Britain. As this is an island 



DESCRIPTION OF PULO NIAS. 171 

almost unknown, and I may at least claim the merit of 
first visiting and exploring its interior, some particulars 
may not be uninteresting, though I have not time to say 
many words on them at present. 

" The island is in sight of Sumatra, and seen by most 
ships passing. I find the population to exceed 230,000 
souls, on a surface of about 1500 square miles, which 
gives a population of about 153 to the square mile; the 
country most highly cultivated, the soil rich, and the 
people the finest people, without exception, that I have yet 
met with in the East. They are fair, and a strong, athletic, 
active race; industrious, ingenious, and intelligent, and 
forming a striking contrast to their neighbours on the 
opposite coast of Sumatra. What has most astonished 
me is, the high degree (comparatively) of civilization to 
which they have attained, without communication from 
without. We have no trace, no idea whence or how the 
island became peopled; the people themselves say, a man 
and woman were first sent from heaven, from whom they 
are all descended. Their language, their habits, their 
character, and institutions, are strikingly different from 
all others with which we are acquainted. Hinduism never 
found its way to their shores, and only a few Mahomedans, 
traders, are here and there to be found on the coast, but 
the religion itself has made no way. 

" They dwell in excellent and commodious houses, the 
interior of which are laid out with neatness, not devoid of 
elegance; streets are regularly formed and paved, with 



172 SPICES RAISED AT BENCOOLEN. 

avenues of trees^ and stone stairs to the pinnacles of the 
different hills^ on which their villages are mostly situated, 
embosomed in the richest foUage imaginable. The slopes 
of the hills and the valleys are covered with one continued 
sheet of the richest cultivation^ and there is not a forest 
tree standing in the island ; all have disappeared before 
the force of industry. To each village are attached stone 
baths, appropriated to the different sexes, which remind 
us of Roman luxuries. They wear a provision of gold 
and other ornaments, than which nothing can be con- 
ceived more original. I have a large collection now 
before me, and only wish I could at once transfer them to 
Park Lane. 

" We have discovered an excellent harbour, and made 
two military stations merely on account of the flag; and 
hereafter I hope to have much satisfactory employment. 

" I am at this moment called away on particular busi- 
ness." 



TO 



" I believe I may now affirm with safety, that Bencoolen 
alone will be able to supply Great Britain with all the 
spices she requires. You may judge of the interest of 
this kind of cultivation, when I inform you that the 
annual clear produce or profit of an acre of nutmeg-trees 
is not less than ten pounds sterling, and that we are 
covering the whole land with our parks of them. No- 
thing can be more beautiftil than an avenue of clove- 



SLAVE-TRADE AT PULO NIAS. 173 

trees ; the luxuriant foliage and the fragrance of the air 
make it charming. 

" My attention has been drawn to the Island of Nias* 
which is situated opposite the settlement of Tappanooly 
and Nattal> and on which the Resident has always main- 
tained a small establishment. 

♦ ♦ 4c « * 

'^ It is quite unnecessary for me to enlarge on the result 
of the mission, from which we learnt that the population 
consisted of not less than 230,000 souls ; that the state 
of cultivation was such as to frimish an export of 12,000 
bags of rice annually ; and that the number of slaves 
taken from Nias in each year exceeded 1500 ! 

^' The circumstances that attended the latter inhuman 
traffic were of the most appalling nature, and no less re- 
volting than those which attached to the same abominable 
commerce on the coast of Africa. 

*' The unhappy victims, torn by violence from their 
friends and country, are deUvered, pinioned hand and 
foot, to the dealers in human flesh, and kept bound 
during the whole course of the voyage. Instances have 
occurred, where the captives have seized a moment of 
liberty to snatch up the first weapon within their reach, 
stab all whom they encountered, and concluded the scene 
by leaping overboard, and seeking deliverance from their 
persecutors in a watery grave !" 

♦ * 4t « 4( 

Frequent appeals made from the Chiefs of Pulo Nias, 



174 CAUSES OF THE COMMISSION TO PULO NIAS. 

and the peculiar connexion which had ahrays subsisted 
between that Island and the districts in the west of Sums- 
tra> induced Sir Stamford to appoint Mr. Prince and Dr. 
Jack to inquire into the real circumstances of the case^ in 
the hope of adjusting existing differences^ and providing 
for the immediate tranquillity of the country, and at the 
same time to collect such information as would enable 
the higher authorities to decide on the future course 
proper to be pursued. It Was impossible to witness the 
constant scenes of rapine and plunder, to which the coast 
of the Island had so long been a prey, from the inroads 
of pirates and slave dealers, after the express injunctions 
of the legislature, and the principle so universally de- 
clared to actuate the civilized nations of the world. It 
was notorious that Pulo Nias, although for a long period 
of years nominally enjoying the protection of the English 
flag, was still the most abundant, and almost the only 
source of the supply of slaves on the coast, and that not- 
withstanding the prohibition against importation at Ben- 
coolen and elsewhere, it was impossible to prevent it 
entirely. It was also well known that Pulo Nias was the 
principal resort of the French cruisers for refreshment and 
refitment, and whence they commanded the whole coast 
of Sumatra during many periods of the late war. An un- 
disputed supremacy of the Island was important in a 
political point of view, as it may be considered to com- 
plete the command of the coast from Acheen to Nattal. 
Another subject for consideration was the probability of 



DESCRIPTION OF PULO NIAS. 175 

the natives being easily converted to the Cliristian reli- 
gion, and that if the favourable opportunity were neg- 
lected, they would be likely to fall into all the supersti- 
tions of the Mahomedans. 

The following is from an account of this Island fur- 
nished to Sir Stamford Raffles by Dr. Jack and Mr. 
Prince. 

'' Pulo Nias is situated under the first degree of north 
latitude, and runs in a north-west and south-east direc- 
tion, throughout 5° of latitude and 48° of longitude. 
The villages are mostly situated on the very pinnacle of 
the hills, yet they are always embosomed in cocoa-nut 
and fruit trees of the greatest luxuriance, while the land 
beneath them is devoted to rice, sweet potatoes, and other 
articles of supply. 

" The cultivation of rice is carried on both in sawahs 
and ladangs, according to the nature of the ground, the 
latter prevailing in the more hilly parts, and the former 
along the course of the principal rivers. The returns 
from sawahs are stated to be above a hundred-fold ; from 
ladangs the returns are about forty-fold ; and such is the 
singular fertility of the soil, that they are again fit for 
clearing in from five to ten years. The greater part of 
the rice is. raised for exportation, the inhabitants raising 
but little for themselves, and preferring sweet potatoes, 
yams, plantains, &c., for their own consumption. They 
breed g^eat numbers of fowls and hogs, which are chiefly 
fed on cocoa-nuts ; cattle and buffaloes are not indigenous, 



\ 



176 DESCRIPTION OF PULO NIAS. 

but have been introduced at some of the Malay settle- 
ments; cocoa-nut trees abound along all the shores; 
pepper has only lately become an article of cultivation 
among the Achenese settlers, but it promises to extend 
rapidly : samples of coffee appear also of very good quaUty . 
" The principal exports of Pulo Nias (exclusive of 
slaves) are, rice to the extent of about 12,000 bags per 
annum ; oil, about 7000 or 8000 bamboos ; cocoa-nuts in 
great quantities ; pepper at present about 800 peculs, but 
the quantity increasing; with some minor articles, the 
total value of which may be about 45,000 rupees. The 
payments on account of slaves have not fallen short of 
from 70 to 80,000 rupees a-year; making the total value 
of the exports about 120,000 rupees. The returns for 
this are almost entirely in the following articles of mer- 
chandize: — blue salampores, white mamoodies and gur- 
rahs, kerwahs, iron, brass ware, steel, gold-dust, coarse 
china-ware, &c. &c. Salt is manufactured in small quan- 
tities on various parts of the coast, by the method of 
pouring salt water on burning wood, and is sold at the 
rate of three bamboos for a dollar. It is very sparingly 
used by the Nias people, probably on account of the enor- 
mous price ; but it is not unlikely that it would come into 
more general use, were they suppUed at a cheaper rate by 
importation. 

^' In the northern division of the island, the trade has 
been principally in the hands of the Malays and Achenese 
who have settled at the various ports, and formed alliances 



DESCRIPTION OF PULO NIAS. 177 

and connexions with the Nias Chiefs. This connexion has 
subsisted for a considerable length of time, some of the 
early settlements having been formed about sixty or 
eighty years ago ; and frequent intermarriages have so 
united their interests, that the Nias Chiefs are generally 
guided by their Malay friends in all their intercourse with 
foreigners : they have never, however, yielded any part of 
their territorial rights, or admitted their interference in 
their internal affairs. The efforts of the Malays have 
been solely directed to engrossing the commerce, which 
they have in a great measure effected, and the Nias 
people rarely attempt to dispose of their produce at first 
hand. The kind of monopoly they have thus succeeded 
in establishing diminishes the profit to the grower on 
the one hand, at the same time that it enhances the price 
to the buyer. 

" In the southern districts, on the contrary, there are 
no foreign settlers, and the Nias people themselves carry 
on a direct traffic with boats and vessels from aU parts of 
the Sumatran coast. The consequence is, there is more 
wealth, and the people appear to have made a greater 
advance in the arts of life. 

" The Achenese have generally been found the most 
troublesome intruders ; wherever they have been allowed 
to settle, their aim has been to foment dissensions and 
troubles, with a view to their own independence, and 
the more easily gratifying their rapacity. They are 
the principal agents in the slave-trade, and are not 

VOL. II. N 



178 DBSCRIPTION OF PDIiO II1A8. 

very scrupulous in the means they resort to for pro- 
curing them. 

** The Nias slaves are highly valued throughout the 
East, for their industry, ingenuity, and fideUty ; and ob- 
servation has shown that these are no less the charac- 
teristics of the people in their native country. The int^- 
course with them has given us a most favourable impres- 
sion of their native character, and of their capabilities of 
improvement. Notwithstanding the disadvantages of a 
secluded situation, the absence of ail instruction and ex- 
ample, and the insecurity ariBing from a state of intemal 
division, they have drawn forth, by their industry, the 
resources of their fertile country to a greater degree than 
has yet been effected by any of their neighbours on the 
coast of Sumatra. 

" The extent of their grain export would alone be suffi- 
cient evidence of their industry; but the same spirit 
pervades their whole economy. Their towns and vil- 
lages, placed on elevated situations, with a view to 
defence, are clean and neat ; the ascent is facilitated by 
a long stair or causeway, regularly built of stones, and 
shaded by a row of fruit trees on each side ; and the 
principal street itself is often paved in a manner that 
would do credit to European skill. Their houses are 
built of wood in the most substantial manner, raised upon 
strong posts, and their interior is arranged with a neat- 
ness not devoid of elegance. Attached to every village 
are two enclosed baths, built of stones, appropriated to 



DESCRIPTION OF PULO NIAS. 179 

the different sexes; any trespass by a man on that 
belonging to the females subjects the offender to a heavy 
£ne. In the manufacture of their arms^ clothing, and 
gold ornaments^ (of which they wear a great many,) they 
display great ingenuity and considerable taste. In their 
persons they are a handsome^ athletic race ; their warlike 
habits, and perhaps the nature of their country, give them 
an activity and vigour of frame unusual to the inhabitants 
of tropical countries. They are not addicted to any prac- 
tice of intoxication or gambling. Their address is frank 
and open; they are keen in their commercial dealings, 
fond of gain, but scrupulously exact in the fulfilment of 
their engagements. 

" The country is divided into a number of tribes and 
di8tei«5t8, whose Chiefs maintain a perfect independence of 
each other, and between many of whom ancient feuds and 
perpetual enmity subsist. In his own district the Rajah 
possesses considerable power, and is considered lord of 
the soil, though he derives no direct revenue therefrom. 
In the exercise of his judicial authority he is assisted by 
the Pamunchu, which office is always held by one of his 
relations, and their decisions are guided by the traditional 
usages or customs of the country. Their laws are re- 
markable for severity ; offences are probably rare. Mur- 
der, adultery, and robbery, are punished with death, and 
the slav^ of the offender's family ; theft, and minor 
offences, by heavy fines. 

'' In cases of debt, on failure of payment at the regular 

n2 



180 DESCRIPTION OF PULO NIAS. 

time^ the amount is doubled ; on a second fiulure it is 
doubled again, and so on until it amounts to a certain 
sum, when the creditor is considered entitled to the person 
of his debtor as a slave. Should the debtor avoid com- 
pliance, which is often the case, the creditor may seize on 
any member of his family ; and when they belong to dif- 
ferent districts, the first straggler of the tribe is some- 
times made responsible. This practice produces much 
distrust, as no man is secure from seizure on some pre- 
tence or other ; and the consequence is, they are always 
on their guard, and never move any where unarmed. 
All marriages are by jujur (or purchase), and the amount 
is very high. It is probable that a great part of the debts 
are incurred on this account. 

'' All the evils arising from the imperfections of their 
civil institutions have been aggravated and increased by 
the odious traffic in slaves ; and as this subject is one of 
peculiar interest, we have been particular in obtaining the 
most minute information concerning its extent, causes, 
and origin. 

" The greatest number of slaves has hitherto been ex- 
ported from Sumanbawa and Sello Dalum; those from 
the northern parts have been much fewer. It is by no 
means easy to get an exact account of their numbers, 
some endeavouring to extenuate and diminish it, and 
others equally desirous of magnifying it, according as 
they wished to give a favourable impression of their con- 
duct, or a high idea of their wealth; and the very nature 



DESCRIPTION OF PULO NIAS. 181 

of the trade in some measure precludes exactness. From 
a comparison^ however, of these diflFerent accounts, checked 
by an estimate of the number of vessels resorting thither, 
and the value of their imports, we are satisfied that the 
annual number exported has not fallen short of fifteen 
hundred. According to some accounts, more than this 
had been carried from Sumanbawa alone. They are pur- 
chased chiefly by Achenes and Chinese vessels, the latter 
of whom carry them to Padang and Batavia. 

'' The circumstances that attend the traffic are no less 
revolting to humanity than those which marked it on the 
coasts of Africa. The unhappy victims, torn by violence 
from their friends and country, are deKvered, pinioned 
hand and foot, to the dealers in human flesh ; they are 
kept bound during the whole course of the voyage, a pre- 
caution which is considered necessary to the safety of the 
crew. Instances have occurred where the captives have 
seized a moment of liberty to snatch up the first weapon 
within their reach, stab all whom they have encountered, 
and conclude the scene by leaping overboard, and volun- 
tarily seeking a watery death. In their country, the Nias 
people rarely make use of rice as food, and are almost un- 
acquainted with the u^e of salt. The sudden change of 
diet to which they are subjected on board ship, added to 
the confinement and dejection of mind, prove fatal to 
many : of a cargo of thirty slaves, twenty have been 
known to perish before the conclusion of the voyage ; and, 
on' a moderate calculation, it may be estimated that, of 



182 DESCRIPTION OF PULO NIA9. 

the total number purchased, one-fourth never reach their 
destinations, but fall victims to the various causes above 
mentioned. 

'' On the scenes of violence that take place in this 
country itself in the search of victims it will be useless to 
dwell; they can be better imagined than described. We 
shall merely relate one weU-authenticated instance, as 
given by an eye-witness. 'A plan had been laid to 
attack a single insulated house^ inhabited by a man, his 
wife, and children, and to seize the whole family. At the 
appointed hour the house was surrounded, but the man 
no sooner discovered his situation, understood the pur- 
pose, and saw that there was no escape, than he locked 
himself into the inner apartment, drew his kris, killed first 
his wife and children, and then plunged it in his own 
breast, preferring death to a life of slavery.' 

'' Such are the circumstances that our inquiries have 
brought to light; it is impossible to contemplate such 
high qualities as we have described, subjected to such 
evils, without feeling the strongest interest in their favour. 
They have appealed to Britain for protection ; they have 
placed themselves under her flag and dominion. We 
cannot forbear recording the remarkable expression of 
one of the Chiefs of Tellodalam. He earnestly entreated 
us not to leave him: ' Have patience with us,' he said; 
' we are ignorant, uninstructed people, but we are desir- 
ous of obtaining the means of improvement : formerly we 
looked to the Malays and to the Achenese, but they de- 



DESCRIPTION OF PULO NIAS. 183 

ceived us ; if you should now desert us^ from whom can 
we entertain any hope ?' We trust the appeal will not 
be in vain. 

'' With a view to ascertain the best means of effecting 
the suppression of this nefarious commerce^ we have been 
minute in our inquiries into the causes and origin of 
slavery in Pulo Nias^ and the mode in which slaves are 
procured. Slavery is recognized by their laws and cus- 
toms ; it is the punishment ordained for certain crimes, 
and it is permitted as the ultimate resource in cases of 
debt. These customs have, no doubt, been much in* 
creased in severity by the temptation of an external 
demand, and are often employed on very slight pretences, 
but they are quite inadequate to account for the great 
number annually exported. We have abundant proof 
that the greater number are made slaves by open and 
actual violence. The Rajahs had little hesitation in ad- 
mitting the fact, but said that the system originated with 
foreigners, and that the source of the evil was without. 
In fact, the temptation of exorbitant gain, and the per- 
suasion of the dealers who resort to the ports, prove too 
much for their self-denial, and induce the most unprin- 
cipled among them to have recourse to every means of 
fraud, stratagem, or violence, to procure victims to their 
avarice. 

'' It must not be forgotten to record that we have met 
with a few instances of Chiefs whose virtues have been 
proof against temptation; who had not only prohibited 



184 DESCRIPTION OF PULO NIAS. 

the traffic in their own districts, but even refiised to 
permit the transit of slaves from the interior^ or their 
disposal in any manner at their respective ports. We 
had still greater reason to be satisfied with the conduct 
of the Bajah of Sumanbawa. On the subject being first 
opened to him, and our views and intentions explained, 
he expressed his own approbation, but wished to commu- 
nicate with the Chief of the interior, with whom he was 
connected^ before entering into such important engage- 
ments ; the answer proved unfavourable, and the Bajah 
was threatened with vengeance. After some consulta- 
tion, however, he came on board and acquainted us that 
he was determined to disregard the threats of the interior 
Chief, and to enter into agreements with us. He pro- 
fessed himself ready to shut his ports against all exporta- 
tion of slaves, on condition of our affording protection 
and encouragement to legitimate commerce. This was 
peculiarly gratifying, as Sumanbawa has hitherto been 
the greatest slave-port on the Island. Indeed it is but 
justice to all the Chiefe to say that, on a full discus- 
sion, they entered into our views with regard to the 
slave-trade with more cordiality than could have been 
expected. 

'' The measures, therefore, to be adopted for its sup- 
pression appear to divide themselves into three branches. 
First, to check as much as possible the external demand; 
second, to endeavour to soften and modify the severity of 
the native customs ; and third, to provide the means of 



DESCRIPTION OF PULO NIAS. 185 

relief tx) debtors^ and such as by existing usages are liable 
to the condition of slavery. 

'' On inquiring of the different Rajahs the number of 
persons in a state of slavery on account of debt^ whose re- 
demption they wished to effect^ the answer was uniformly^ 
' We have none, but if you wish to purchase slaves, wait a 
few days and you may have a hundred." On inquiring fur- 
ther how this was to be effected, we found that they had only 
to send notice to their agents among the interior Rajahs, 
and any number were forthwith brought down bound. 
They probably sent word to catch so many slaves, with as 
much indifference as they would have given an order to 
catch so many hogs for the same purpose. The fact is 
the arrival of the trading boats, which takes place at a cer- 
tain season, is the signal for universal rapine and violence 
throughout the interior. 

" On the subject of religion, the people of Pulo Nias 
have but few ideas ; they acknowledge a Supreme Being, 
whom they caU Sumban Quit or the Lord of Heaven, but 
they have no distinct notions respecting him. Wooden 
images are to be found in all their houses, which are re- 
garded as a kind of lares or protecting household gods, 
but no worship is addressed to them ; they are rather con- 
sidered as representatives or memorials of their ancestors, 
for whom they have a great reverence. A belief in charms 
is common, and every man carries a bundle of these at- 
tached to his kris. Great occasions are celebrated by the 
slaughter of hogs and a great feast ; and when a Chief 



186 DESCRIPTION OF PULO MAS. 

commences any affair of consequence^ as the building of a 
house^ the head of an enemy is sometimes suspended in 
honour of the circumstance. Their form of oath is by 
cutting the throat of a hog, while the party invokes the 
vengeance of Heaven that he may suffer the fate of the 
said animal if he prove unfaithful to his oath. 

" In these rude notions we can trace little more than the 
unassisted efforts of the human mind in a low state of 
civilization, conscious of the limitation of its own powers, 
and impelled thereby to imagine a superior existence. It 
would be vain to trace a connexion between them and any 
of the forms of Pagan worship established in the East. 
The people of Nias had probably been separated at a 
very early period from their original stock, and have been 
exempted by their insular situation from the influence of 
the various religions that have at different times pervaded 
the greater islands. The settlements of Mahomedans 
have been of too recent a date to have much influence, and 
they have made but few converts ; they have not, however, 
overlooked the object, but have generally defeated it by 
their rapacity and violence. By Europeans the Island 
has been almost entirely neglected. Thus abandoned to 
the ravages of pirates, and to all the evils of an active 
slave-trade, we cannot but estimate highly those native 
energies which have rendered their country populous and 
flourishing in spite of so many obstacles." 

Sir Stamford was anxious to do the utmost possible 



DESCRIPTION OF PULO NIAS. 187 

good for such an Island and such a people. It has been 
stated that Pulo Nias is the granary of that side of 
Sumatra^ and the extent of its grain produce only limited 
by the demand. The benefits arising from the suppres- 
sion of the slave-trade would not be confined to the relief 
of the unhappy victims alone^ but would be the first step 
to the civilization of the country. Independent of the 
habits of cruelty and rapine which it tends to infuse, the 
exorbitant profit it holds out, like those of gambling, 
excites an aversion to the slower advantages of legitimate 
commerce and agricultural labour. It required no special 
interposition of foreign influence; a few stations of police 
along the coast would have been sufiicient evidence of 
protection, and this Sir Stamford warmly advocated, and 
hoped so great a benefit so easily obtained would meet 
with approbation from all the wise and good: but the 
Court of Directors " had no hesitation in declaring that his 
proceedings in regard to Pulo Nias were deserving of their 
decided reprehension." " And they were incHned to visit 
him with some severe mark of their displeasure for the 
steps he had taken," and threatened to remove him from 
his government. 

After the transfer of Sumatra to the Dutch, the slave- 
trade was resumed with greater vigour than ever ; and 
numbers of these poor people have since been carried 
away to Batavia, and the French Island of Bourbon. 



188 REFORM IN THE SYSTEM OF ACCOUNTS. 



TO 



" Bencoolen, Feb. 1«/, 1821. 

'' I am now engaged in drawing up a detailed report of 
the past^ present^ and anticipated circumstances of this 
settlement with reference to its finances in particular. 
This report will not be long, but it takes time to go 
through the books, and draw out abstract statements of 
the accoimts. 

" I have had a great deal of trouble in revising and re- 
forming our general books and accounts, and it is only 
lately that I have received authority from Bengal to clear 
them of the rubbish and confiision which has been heaped 
upon them during the last twenty years of ruin and deso- 
lation. 

« ♦ « ♦ :^ 



TO MR. MARSDEN. 

"Bencoolen, May 15, 1821. 

" I have not much to communicate from hence. We 
have about half-a-dozen new animals to describe, and our 
collections^of plants are rapidly increasing. What shall 
we do with them ? If we do not clear off as we go, we 
shall find ourselves terribly clogged in our fiiture exer- 
tions. 

" Our agriculture is extending, and much of my time 
is spent in the country. I am now completing a very 
comfortable residence ; the grounds are in one direction 
about four miles long, and towards the hills about three 



IMPROVEMENT OF BENCOOLEN. 189 

miles wide. We hope to raise all our suppUes on ihem^ 
as the sawah land is very extensive^ and I have upwards 
of two hundred head of fine cattle. Our roads are excel- 
lent. The distance is about thirteen miles from Marl- 
borough ; but I think the communication is much quicker 
than between Aldenham and London^ as our Mends think 
nothing of driving out to breakfast^ and returning before 
the heat of the day. 

*' I sincerely hope we shall carry you along with us in 
our progress of improvement. I need not tell you how 
anxious I am to know your sentiments on what we are 
doing ; for you must be pretty well aware that in all such 
proceedings it is rather to good and sincere friends that I 
can look for advice and support^ than to the higher official 
authorities with whom I am in communication. Neither 
the Court of Directors nor the Supreme Government 
seems inclined to enter into any improvements which do 
not decrease expenses^ and raise immediate revenues ; and 
I find that it is really lost labour to enter into long ex- 
planations^ and frimish them with despatches which they 
never read. While I am conscious of taking the right 
path^ I shall persevere; and I suppose that in the end> 
when we come to collect the fruits^ we shall find all the 
authorities willing to gather them. 

'' Our climate is excellent and delightfrd, and the im- 
provements which we see give an interest in the place 
which I never thought it capable of exciting. 

''Lady Baffles bears up remarkably well. Marsden, 



190 LETTER TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

TOUT godson, I am happy to say. is getting on very fiist. 
My other children are becoming quite companions, and 
often remind .me of the necessity I shall be under of re- 
turning to England at no very distant date/' 

TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

** Bencoolen,May 29, 1821. 

# * * * * 

" Ood willing, we hope to embark from this for England, 
if not in 1823, certainly in 1824 ; I am not aware of any 
changes which are likely to protract my departure. On 
the contrary, everything seems to concur in proving the 
necessity, to say nothing of the inclination to return: 
political events may hasten, but cannot well retard it; 
and my presence in England may soon become indispens- 
able in support of what I have been trying to do in this 
part of the world. It is hardly possible for you to con- 
ceive how much I have suffered for opening so important 
a channel for trade as has been effected by the establish- 
ment of Singapore: everything is condemned. But a 
truce to politics : I have other reasons to urge me home. 
Neither my health nor that of Lady Baffles is very good ; 
I never was strong, and during my jBrst residence in India 
the climate made a considerable inroad on my constitu- 
tion. I have had two or three severe attacks since my 
return, and am now unjler the necessity of being very 
careful. I really do not think I could last out above two 
or three years more ; and certainly ambition shall not 



LETTER TO THE DUCHESS OP SOMERSET. 191 

weigh with me one moment against life. Besides this, 
my dear little rogues will be rapidly expanding. Char- 
lotte is already as advanced as most children of five years 
old : she takes an interest in every thing that is going 
forward, and is really becoming quite a companion. In 
two or three years both her mind and body will require a 
colder climate, and to send her home for education, as 
people usually send their children from this country, is 
out of the question ; we have determined to take her and 
all the children (-for we have now four born within as 
many years), and to time our departure with reference to 
their health and happiness. Leopold also will, in two or 
three years, have grown beyond my management, and it 
will be time to commence upon the rudiments of a better 
education than I can give him. I believe people generally , 
think I shall remain longer, as they hardly suppose in 
such times, and with an increasing family, a man will be 
inclined to forego the advantages of the field before me ; 
but they know me not. I have seen enough of power and 
wealth to know that, however agreeable to the propen- 
sities of our nature, there is more real happiness in domes- 
tic quiet and repose, when blessed with a competence, than 
in all the fancied enjoyments of the great and the rich. 

*' Of public news I have very little to communicate, and 
perhaps none that wiQ be interesting. The Dutch you 
know are stiU at war with Palembang, and they have lately 
fitted out a third expedition, consisting of upwards of 
3000 Europeans, fresh from Holland ; poor fellows ! They 



192 LETTER TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

are determined on vengeance. No quarter is to be given, 
and dreadful wiU be the massacre if they succeed^ which 
God forbid ! 

" Our establishment at Singapore is gaining ground so 
rapidly^ that the Dutch are determined to risk everything, 
sooner than allow lus to remain ; and, as far as I can judge 
of the proceedings between the Commissioners in Engknd, 
there is reason to fear they will gain their point. It is 
the only chance our ministers have of making some 
amends for the manner in which they restored Java. 

♦ it: 4t * « 

m 

^* I am afraid you will find this a very long and selfish 
letter, and yet you beg of me to say more of me and mine. 
I have endeavoured to obey your commands.*' 

TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

"/tflttf 12, 1821. 

<^ In my last letter^ I informed you I was much interested 
with the people of Pulo Nias ; during the last month my 
attention has been entirely devoted to them, and I am half 
incUned to write a book in their favour, in order to prove 
that they are the happiest and the best people on earth. I 
had nearly made my mind up to this, when I made further 
discoveries in the neighbouring Islands, called the Nassau 
or Poggy Islands, where I found a people still more 
amiable, and, if possible, still more genuine. If I go on 
at this rate, I may expect to discover the garden of Eden, 
and the descendants of our first parents, enjoying all the 
simplicity of primeval tunes. 



LETTER TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 193 

*' It is very certain that on the first discovery of what 
we term savage nations, philosophers went beyond all 
reason and truth in favour of uncivilized happiness ; but 
it is no less certain, that of late years, the tide of prejudice 
has run equally strong in the opposite direction ; and it is 
now the fashion to consider all who have not received the 
impression of European arms and laws, and the lights of 
Revelation, as devoid of every feeUng and principle which 
can constitute happiness, or produce moral good. The 
truth, most probably, as is generally the case, lies between 
the two extremes, and there is, no doubt, much diflFerence 
according to the circumstances under which the people 
may have been placed. We find, in some of the Islands 
of the South Seas, people who are habitually mis- 
chievous, given to thieving, lazy, and intractable ; in 
others, we find the very opposite qualities; and phi- 
losophers, speculating upon the first data that are af- 
forded, without foil and general information, are led 
into error. 

" Various circumstances have hitherto prevented me 
firom penetrating into the Batta country, but I lose no 
opportunity of collecting information, and your Grace 
will not perhaps be surprised to learn, that even among 
these cannibals, I find much to praise and admire. In 
one province I have ascertained, beyond doubt, that a 
considerable refinement has taken place in the mode of 
eating parents. Here, instead of the young people eat- 
ing the old ones, when past work, they send them to their 

VOL. II. o 



194 RAVAGES OF THE CHOLERA MORBUS. 

neighbours, who, in due iioie, return the compliment to 
them." 

4> 4i * ♦ 4e 

TO MR. MARSDEN. 

*' Bencoolen^ July 12, 1821. 

" You must, during the last year, have been so much 
pestered with my letters, that a respite of a few months 
will be very acceptable. Your letters of the 21st Novem- 
ber and 28th December have duly arrived ; and I hardly 
know how to thank you for the zealous interest you have 
taken in all the questions I have so unmercifully troubled 
you with. You have done just as I could have wished in 
everything, and, once for all, allow me to return my most 
sincere and grateful acknowledgments. 

" I have obtained a great mathematical assistant, and 
hope to do something respecting the geography of the 
island. Dr. Jack and a few friends have just ascended 
the Sugar-loaf, and were the first Europeans who had 
reached the summit ; they are still out in their rambles, 
and will, I hope, bring in an abundant collection in the 
botanical department. Of animals they have not yet ob- 
tained one that is new ; and indeed they observe, with 
regard to the mountain, that it is in vain to look for them 
there, as none but monkeys can possibly climb the rocks. 

" Java, I am concerned to say, is suffering under all 
the miseries of the exterminating cholera; the deaths 
average eight hundred a-day, and from ten minutes to 
four hours is the usual period of illness. God grant it 



DEATH OF SIR STAMFORD's ELDEST SON. 195 

may not extend this way, although, as one of the Badins 
said on the occasion, if it did, it would leave us much as it 
found us, as the population could not be well more scanty 
than at present. 

" Your god-son grows a fine boy, and runs about. 
Lady Baffles has since presented me with another girl." 

Upwards of three years had passed in uninterrupted 
health and happiness, but a sad reverse took place at this 
period; the blessings most prized were withdrawn; the 
child most dear to the father s heart, whose brightness 
and beauty were his pride and happiness, expired in all 
the bloom of infancy, after a few hours' illness : and firom 
this time until his return to England, sickness and death 
prevailed throughout the settlement and in his own 
family; but God's Holy Spirit enabled him to receive 
these afflictions with meekness, and to feel that they were 
trials of faith, not judgments of anger. 



TO 



" Bencoolen, July 12, 1821. 

" I little thought a week ago, when overwhelmed with 
grief by the loss of our dear and eldest boy Leopold, who 
was snatched from us after a very short illness, that I 
should so soon have been called upon to report upon 
another, and to you, my dear friend, a still more severe 
loss. A vessel leaves this port immediately, and bad 
news flies fast. Cruel as must be the stroke, and ill- 

o2 






196 ANECDOTE OF A NATIVE WOMAN. 

qualified as I am at the present moment to break it to 
you with the tenderness and caution I could vrish, I must 
perform the duty : I must rend your heart by telling you 
that our dear friend and your brother Harry is no more ! 

" He breathed his last yesterday, and was carried off in 
a few days by a series of apoplectic fits, which baffled all 
the powers of medicine. He has just been buried, and I 
snatch a moment from the time I am obliged to devote to 

Sophia to send you the melancholy intelligence. 

iti * * * * 

" I shall not trouble you with our griefs, you wiU have 
enough of your own. Neither Sophia nor myself are 
well, and time and the influence of God's blessed Spirit 
can alone work any change. My resolution is taken to 
return home during the next or the following year. 

" Neither my health nor spirits, nor indeed my time, if 
I had either, enable me to say more ; in a few days we 
shall be more collected. God bless you ! and beHeve that 
there are hearts here which sympathize with yours most 
deeply." 

As an example of the character and feeling of the 
people, the following anecdote may be interesting: — 
Whilst the Editor was almost overwhelmed with grief for 
the loss of this favourite child, unable to bear the sight 
of her other children — unable to bear even the light of 
day, — ^humbled upon her couch with a feeling of misery, — 
she was addressed by a poor, ignorant, uninstructed native 



ECONOMY OF SIR STAMFORD's GOVERNMENT. 197 

woman of the lowest class^ (who had been employed about 
the nursery,) in terms of reproach not to be forgotten : — 
" I am come because you have been here many days shut 
up in a dark room, and no one dares to come near you. 
Are you not ashamed to grieve in this manner, when you 
ought to be thanking God for having given you the most 
beautiful child that ever was seen ? Were you not the 
envy of every body ? Did any one ever see him, or speak 
of him, without admiring him ; and instead of letting this 
child continue in this world till he should be worn out 
with trouble and sorrow, has not God taken him to 
heaven in aU his beauty ? What would you have more ? 
For shame, leave off weeping, and let me open a 
window." 



TO 



** BencooleUf October \6th, 1821, 
****** 

" So far from my administration being expensive, you 
wiQ perceive that the nett charges are less than any 
former year, notwithstanding all the changes that have 
been worked, and that they are in a gradual course of 
reduction. 



" My spirits are quite broken down, and I can write 

but little. 

* « « * * 

'^ I send by this conveyance my report on the past, 

present, and fiiture, or rather prospective circumstances 



196 ECONOMY OF SIR 8TAMFORD*S GOVERNMENT. 

of Bencoolen. It is my last effort, and will prove that my 
finances will bear the test of examination. You will per- 
ceive how we are reducing the nett charges. 

*' I do not expect an unlimited surrender in &vour of 
colonization^ but it is a great point even to move the 
question. If we can go silently on, the end will be accom- 
plished eventually ; all we want is men and capital, and 
certainly you have abundance to spare. 

" We are getting better, but Sophia is not competent 
to write." 



TO MR. MARSDBN. 

** Bencoolen, November 9fA, 1821. 
" My dear Sir, 

" I have before me your long and kind letters of the 
11th, 19th, and 23rd of March, the last which I have 
received, and I can hardly find words to express to you 
either my acknowledgments for the warm interest which 
you have taken in all that concerns me, or my regret and 
annoyance that I should have subjected you to so much 
trouble and inconvenience. For the latter I have no 
excuse to offer but the necessity which obUged me to call 
upon some fiiend on whom I knew I could rely ; and in 
the hope that your kindness, like charity, will cover a 
multitude of sins, I will fain trust that I am abready for- 
given for the unreasonable intrusion on your time. 

** I will write you more fiiUy hereafter, at present I am 
hurried and I am sorry to say very far from weU. The 



LETTER TO MR. MARSDEN. 199 

loss of oiir eldest boy has been a severe stroke to us^ and 
followed as it has been by so many deaths among our rela- 
tives and connexions^ it has nearly proved fatal to our 
happiness. I thank God Lady Baffles is at last recover- 
ing, but we are neither of us what we were, and I fear we 
must soon think seriously of returning ^home. 

" I have some anxiety about a successor for this place : 
unless it is some one inclined to follow in the track I have 
marked out, I fear all I have done may be thrown away. 
We are certainly improving. 

" I am planting coffee extensively at Permattam Ballam, 
and the country really begins to assume a new character. 
At present, my plan is to leave this the end of next year, 
about this time, for Singapore, and there to remain till 
I hear what are the arrangements at home. I have no 
idea of its being given up to the Dutch, but I fear its 
being put under Panang. Should everything go on 
favourably, which is hardly to be expected, I should wish 
to remain at Singapore till the early part of 1824. 

" My last letter will have informed you that our atten- 
tion is now devoted to geographical and geological in- 
formation. The result is contained in a paper forwarded 
to Mr. Colebrook ; for the correctness, as far as it goes, 
I hold myself fully responsible. About January I expect 
a party will be here from the observatory at Madras, for 
the purpose of trying the vibration of the pendulum on 
the line ; if we have good weather and zealous men we 
shall do much. We go on collecting the never-faiUng 



200 LETTER TO MR. MAR8DEN. 

wonders of our extraordinary and abundant vegetation. 
I have lately thought it advisable to draw up a short 
review of the circumstances of Bencoolen, particularly with 
reference to its finances ; should you be disposed to read 
it, it may perhaps serve to amuse an idle hour, and it will 
prove to you that I am leaving no stone unturned to make 
the most of this place before I leave it. I am working 
upon rather a stubborn soil, but I think I feel it give way 
before the exertions we are now making. 

" Our little family are upon the whole very well ; they 
have their share of trials, but bear them pretty well, and 
at present are in good health. Charlotte is everything 
mamma could wish, and Marsden, now alas, the only son, 
is advancing rapidly. He has not the beauty and loveh- 
ness of poor Leopold, but he is a fine boy, and remarkably 
quiet and inteUigent. Our last, Ella, is a great beauty. 

" We live in the country quite retired^ and when the sun 
admits, which is not for many hours in the day, we are 
always in the grounds superintending our improvements. 
We call our house Permattam Ballam — the abode of peace. 

" Our missionaries are engaged in printing a new version 
of the gospel of St. John. Mr. Bobinson, the author of the 
work on Malayan orthography, is a Baptist missionary, 
who settled under my administration in Java, and has 
since sought my protection here; he has been a close 
student of Malay literature and language for the last 
seven years, and has long been in the habit of preaching 
to the natives." 



ILL HEALTH OF SIR STAMFORD. 201 



TO THE DUCHESS OF 



** November 9, 1821. 

"My heart has been nigh broken, and my spirit is 
gone : I have lost almost all that I prided myself upon in 
this world, and the affliction came upon us at a moment 
when we least expected such a calamity. Had this dear 
boy been such as we usually meet with in this world, time 
would ere this have reconciled us to the loss — ^but such a 
child ! Had you but seen him and known him you must 
have doated — his beauty and intelhgence were so far 
above those of other children of the same age, that he 
shone among them as a sun, enlivening and enlightening 
everything around him. I had vainly formed such notions 
of fixture happiness when he should have become a man, 
and be all his father wished him, that I find nothing left 
but what is stale, flat, and unprofitable. My remaining 
children are, I thank God, rather superior to the ordinary 
run, and Charlotte is everything we could wish her. How 
is it that I feel less interest in them than in the one that 
is gone ? — ^perhaps it is in our nature. 

*^^But I must leave this subject, or you will have cause 
to regret my correspondence. You will be sorry to hear 
that Lady Raffles and myself have been seriously ill, and 
that I am still so far complaining that I hardly know 
whether I shall live or die. At one time I am sorry to 
say I cared but little which way my fate turned ; but I now 
begin to think of the necessity of exertion for those about 



202 ILL HEALTH OF SIR STAMFORD. 

me^ and sometimes venture to look forward; but I am 
too low and wretched to write much more, even if my paper 
allowed." 



TO 



" Bencoolen, November 1 0th, 1 82 1 . 

" Sophia has at last undertaken to write to her mother. 
She is getting better, and I am happy to say the children 
are well ; for myself I am at this moment under the ope- 
ration of mercury, and maintain but a crazy kind of exist- 
ence. I sometimes think it very doubtful that I shall ever 
reach England again : at other times, I rally a little ; but, 
upon the whole, I begin to be more indifferent as to the 
result than I used to be. 

'^ My present plan is to leave Bencoolen about this time 
next year for Singapore, and to remain there tiU I go 

home. 

* * * * m 

'' As far as comfort and accommodation go, I think we 
might more advantageously remain all our time at Ben- 
coolen, but we want a change, and I dread the chance of 
two years' idleness." 

TO THE SAME. 

" Bencoolen^ December 6th, i82l. 
" Our health has upon the whole improved, but we have 
still a sick house ; nothing however serious. I calculate 
that by the next China ship we shall be able to see our 
way clear. If it is certain that I am not to administer 
Singapore on my own principles, then I shall feel little 



ILL HEALTH OF SIR STAMFORD. 203 

interest in going round as I at first proposed. If I do not 
go the end of next year it will probably be March^ 1823, 
fcefore I move from hence to Singapore, my object being 
to remain there till I start for England. This event will, 
I hope, take place in January, 1824, at furthest; my 
health and constitution will not stand longer. 

*^ I observe what you say regarding trade and the open- 
ing which now offers by the late Act. I fear trade any 
where just now is a bad concern. At any rate it is not 
likely to be much improved in India by this unimportant 
Act — ^it merely grants to English ships indulgences which 
they formerly took upon themselves to enjoy." 

" We have thousands of ships carrying on the port to 
port trade, including China, and the only advantage now 
gained by the English shipping is, that they are allowed 
to compete with those of India on pretty nearly fair terms. 
It may possibly raise the value of English ships, and will 
in proportion depress those of India, and it may be the 
means of satisfying John Bull for a year or two, when he 
will find that he has not gained much by it : you see, 
therefore, that we view this subject in India somewhat dif- 
ferently to what you do in England." 



TO 



**Bencoolent December lOth, 1821. 
" We are at this moment in great alarm for our dear 
Charlotte, who labours under a violent dysentery — Sophia 
has not left her for three days and nights, and our 



204 LETTER TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

almost only hope is now in effecting a salivation with 
mercury. So severe has been our affliction in the loss of 
poor Leopold, that we are hardly capable of sustaining a 
second shock of the kind just now. The younger children 
have also been seriously ill, but are getting better. We 
have at any rate resolved to send home all we have left as 
soon as a ship going direct can be procured : I have half 
made an agreement with the Captain of the Borneo for 
the purpose, and they will probably sail in February. 

" What a sad reverse is this ! but the other day we were 
alarmed lest we should have too many, now all our anxiety 
is to preserve some even of those we have. The change 
of climate may do wonders, and we shaU hope to follow 
them in a year or eighteen months. 

" I keep to my resolution of going to Singapore in the 
course of the present year; some change will be necessary 
for Sophia." 

TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

*• Bencoolen, December 16 /A, 1821. 
" My last letter will have informed you of our sad afflic- 
tion in the loss of my dear boy Leopold. I cannot yet 
reflect on the event with any degree of calmness. Char- 
lotte has also nearly fallen a sacrifice to the cHmate^ and is 
at this moment far firom being out of danger. Our house 
for the last six months has been a complete hospital. This 
change has within a few days induced us to resolve upon 
sending all the children we may have left to England 






EXTENSION OF THE EASTERN TRADE. 205 

•without loss of time, and we propose embarkiQg them on 
the Borneo, to touch here for them in February next. If 
our dear Charlotte lives to embark, I shall write you more 
particularly, if not I shall want spirits to address you. 

•* My own health stiU continues most seriously affected. 
I am seldom well for twelve hours, and always laid up for 
several days in the month. Nothing but a sense of pubUc 
duty would weigh with me, under these circumstances, to 
stay a day longer ; but I cannot leave my post without 
previous notice, and completing some arrangements which 
are in progress. I shall, however, be at liberty to move 
where I please, by the time our answer can be received 
from England to letters written by the present oppor- 
tunity. Lady Raffles is almost exhausted with continual 
watching, night and day.'* 



TO 



'' Bencoolen, Dec, 26^A, 1821. 

" My former letters will apprise you that we send our 
dear children home by the 1st of March, so that you may 
expect them in June. Charlotte is improving, though 
very slowly. 

" With regard to the increased facilities in trade to 
arise from the new Act, you will se^ from my former let- 
ters, that I do not rank them very high. They will, to a 
certain extent, be injurious to the country traders ; but I 
think the local knowledge of the latter, and their greater 
facilities of knowing the state of the markets, and taking 



206 SIR STAMFORD*S VIEWS REGARDING SINGAPORE. 

advantage of the inoment> will still enable them to sustain 
a successAil competition. 

'' I have said and done all that was possible in the 
political department. My attention will occasionally be 
directed to the agricultural interests at Bencoolen ; but 
as soon as I proceed to Singapore^ commercial plans will 
occupy all my time. All the information which has yet 
reached England seems to be very general You want 
something practical, and my idea is to collect all parti- 
culars in detail ; that is to say^ specimens of the manu- 
factures that may be introduced into Siam, Cochin-China, 
Japan, &c., through Singapore; the extent of the de- 
mand, the price to be obtained, and the returns to be 
procured. A body of information of this kind, collected 
by me on the spot, with the advantage of personal expla- 
nation in Europe, is likely to be very valuable. 

" I shall probably point out great advantages ; such as 
the introduction into China of manufactured cottons, in 
lieu of twenty thousand tons of raw material, that we 
now send them from India ; the supersession in the China 
market of the iron and crockery-ware, now so extensively 
in demand from China throughout the whole Archi- 
pelago; the extensive circulation of a British copper 
coinage throughout the Archipelago. 

'' I hope to prove to the Company and my country, 
that in my views and expectations regarding Singapore, I 
have not been visionary." 



PROPOSED VISIT TO SINGAPORE. 207 

** BencooleUt Jantiary \bthy 1822. 

" We have this 4aorning buried o\ir beloved Char- 
lotte. Poor Marsden was carried to the grave not ten 
days before, and within the last six months we have 
lost our three eldest children : judge what must be our 
distress. 

'^ This is a melancholy day, and I have turned my 
thoughts to serious subjects : among the rest, to the risk 
we run by remaining longer in this country. I have, 
therefore, taken the first step towards going home, by 
sending in my resignation. 

" On referring to my commission, I find that I am not 
allowed to leave India without permission from the Court, 
under the hand of thirteen or more Directors. 

'' This is intended merely to apprise you of the mis- 
fortunes and afflictions we are still doomed to suffer. We 
have now only one child left, the little Ella, still an infant ; 
thank God, she is apparently well, and it is our deter- 
mination she shall go home in the Borneo, in which ship I 
had engaged accommodation for the three. 

" I shall not attempt to convey to you anything like an 
idea of poor Sophia's sufferings. Charlotte had attained 
that age that she was quite a companion, and of all the 
misfortunes likely to happen, this was the last looked to. 
Yet, severe as the dispensation is, we are resigned to it ; 
we have still reason to thank God. 

'' I still propose visiting Singapore about September 
next, to return here the following May. By the 1st 



208 ILLNESS OF SIR STAMFORD. 

January, 1824, God willing, we hope to be on our way 
home ; but more of this hereafter." 

** Bencoolen, February 19<A, 1822. 



" I am sending home various collections, principally 
rocks and corals. 

4: « 4c * ♦ 

'' I have been desperately ill and confined to a dark 
room the last ten days, but, thank God, I am better : I 
dare not write much." 

** Bencoolen^ February 26/A, 1 822. 

" As the Borneo will be off in a day or two, I sit down 
to give you something of a general letter, but I am too iU 
and weak to write much, and you must excuse repetition, 
should I fall into it. For the last three weeks I have been 
confined to my room by a severe fever, which fell on the 
brain, and drove me almost to madness. I thank God, 
however, that I have now got over it, and am on my legs 
again ; but I am still weak, and unable to converse with 
strangers. 

"The first and most interesting subject is our dear 
child. * * * 4C 

" Our little darling is under the immediate charge of 
Nurse Grimes. She leaves us in excellent health, and we 
indulge the hope that by the strong measure we have 
taken of sending her to a healthier climate, we may be 



« 



C( 



BIBLE SOCIETY. 209 

spared this one comfort to solace and enliven our declin- 
ing days. 

" Sophia's health, though it has suffered severely, is, I 
thank God, improving, and if it is the will of God that we 
even continue as well as we are, we hope to be able to 
stand out another year or two with tolerable comfort. 

I fancy I shall find plenty to do at Singapore. * * 
The place thrives wonderfully. The amount of the 
tonnage arrived during the first two years and a half will 
speak volumes in its favour. 

*' We sent lately a commercial embassy to Siam, which 
was well received. So convenient and contiguous is 
Singapore, that Siam sugars and other articles are seUing 
there a dollar cheaper than in Siam itself: this is owing 
to their being conveyed in native junks to Singapore. 

'* There is a sad confusion at Penang, first among the 
Governor and his counsellors, and next with the Siamese, 
who have burnt and sacked Queda, and obliged the King 

to take refiige at Penang. 

♦ « 4! « # 

'' You seem anxious to know how we go on with our 
schools and Bible Society, and I am happy to report 
favourably of them. Upon the whole we go on well, par- 
ticularly with the schools. We are printing the Gospels 
in an improved Malay version suited to this coast, and 1 
have it in contemplation to print the New Testament in 
Javanese, which is now ready for the press. 

" The spices I think must attract the attention of the 

VOL. II. P 



210 DEATH OF SIR STAMFORD'S CHILDREN. 

Court of Directors. The private consignments by the 
Borneo are nearly equal to the Company's, and the whole 
will afford a supply for the British Isles for nearly twelve 
months. 

'' Look after the engraving of the chart of the pepper 
ports by Captain Ashmore, and interest Horsburgh : he 
will know the value of them." 

TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

" Bencoolen, February 27th, 1822. 

'' You will, I am sure, grieve to learn what has befallen 
us. My last letter announced to your Grace the loss of 
my dear Leopold. I have now to add, that during the 
last month, and within a few days of each other, we have 
been successively deprived of my only remaining boy, and 
of Charlotte, your god-daughter. We have now only one 
left, an infant, the little Ella ; and that we may not run the 
risk of a tropical climate, we send her home by the pre- 
sent opportunity, under the charge of our good old nurse. 

'' Such severe trials in a climate by no means congenial 
to an European constitution, and broken down as we 
were by former afflictions, have had their effect in produc- 
ing severe illnesses. Lady Raffles has in point of health 
shared better than myself, but she is miserably reduced 
and lowered. For myself, I have had two of the most 
severe attacks I ever suffered. The last a fever which 
fell on the brain, and I was almost mad. I am still an 
invalid, and confined to my room. 



LETTER TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 211 

*^ How different are these communications to those I 
was so happy as to make during our first three years 
residence ! We were then perhaps too happy, and 
prided ourselves too highly on future prospects. It has 
pleased God to blight our hopes, and we must now 
lower our expectations more to the standard of the ordi- 
nary lot of human nature — God's will be done ! 

" All our thoughts, and aU our wishes are now turned 
homewards. Sometimes the prospect is bright, and the 
heart expands in the contemplation ; at others, dark 
clouds intervene, and the dread of meeting old friends 
with new faces and colder hearts chiUs every feeling of 
pleasure. For ourselves I can only say, that with every 
remove we have dragged a ' lengthened chain' ; and that 
our attachments and affections have only warmed and 
increased in the ratio of the distance to which we have 
been driven, and the time we have been banished. We 
shall carry home the same hearts, the same principles and 
attachments with which we left England, heightened 
only by the force which absence and privation give to 
every enjoyment. Lady Raffles prays you to excuse her : 
since the loss of my dear Leopold she has never dared to 
take a pen in her hand. 

** In a day or two we shall be left without a single 
child ! What a change ! We who had recently such a 
large and happy circle. All our fears were once that we 
should have too many: all our cares are now to preserve 

p2 



212 LETTER TO THE DUKE OF SOMERSET. 

one— OUT only one. I cannot say any more : my heart 
is sick and nigh broken." 

TO THE DUKE OF SOMERSET. 

**' Bsncoolen, February 28M, 1822. 

** Our domestic misfortunes have borne so heavily upon 
us, that I have been obliged for many months to forego 
the satisfaction of anything like a regular correspondence 
with my friends. The loss of our three eldest children, 
added to severe and dangerous illnesses, have so com- 
pletely broken our spirits, that we are almost afraid to 
look forward ; and under these circumstances I am sure I 
shall not plead in vain to your Grace, that you will excuse 
my long silence. 

" I am still confined to my room from the effects of a 
violent nervous fever, and my medical attendants limit 
me to the number of lines I may write : this will therefore 
account for my unusual brevity. 

♦ 4k # ♦ # 

" I send by the Borneo a very considerable collection 
of plants and seeds for the Horticultural Society: among 
them some very thriving plants of the mangosteen and 
other Malayan fruits, our choicest flowers, the sago and 
sugar-tree, with all the varieties of our pine-apples, &c. 
If the ship meets with good weather they will, I think, be 
a very valuable addition to their stock. 

" My settlement at Singapore continues to prosper 



LETTER TO MR. MARSDEN. 213 

By the returns of shipping, and native vessels arrived 
since it has been in our possession, the following resiilts 
appear. 

" The total tonnage arrived in two years and a half 
has been upwards of 161,000 tons, and the estimated 
value of imports and exports, 8,000,000 dol., or 2,000,000/. 

" Considering all the disadvantages under which Sin- 
gapore has been placed, the want of confidence in its 
retention even for a month, the opposition of the English 
settlement at Panang, and of the Dutch, a stronger proof 
of its commercial importance could hardly be afforded. 

" It is my intention to go round to Singapore in about 
three months, and to remain there until I have made the 
necessary arrangements for establishing the place on a 
proper and lasting foundation. 

" The change for a few months will, I doubt not, prove 
beneficial to Lady Baf&es' health and spirits.'' 

TO MR. MARSDEN. 

*< Bencaolen, Feb. 2Sth, 1822. 
" My dear Sir, 

"Our domestic afflictions have been so greats 
that I have been quite unequal, during several months, to 
maintain any thing like a regular correspondence with my 
friends. You will have heard of our severe loss in the 
death of my eldest boy Leopold ; and I have now to add, 
that during the last month, and within a few days of each 
other, we were doomed to lose our eldest daughter Char- 



214 CONSIGNMENT OF SPICES FROM BENCOOLEN. 

lotte^our first-bom^ and my only remaining boy, Marsden, 
your godson. These have been dreadful trials to my dear 
Sophia; but, I thank God, she is now becoming tolerably 
reconciled, and that, upon the whole^ the shock has been 
got over as well as could have been expected. 

*' We have still one little prattler left, an infant ; but . 
after what has passed we have lost all confidence in the 
climate, and lose not a moment in sending her to Eng- 
land. She proceeds in the Borneo, now about to quit this 
port for London. Parting with our only one is an addi- 
tional trial to Lady Baffles, but we have judged it the best, 
and have not allowed feelings to predominate. This will 
prove to you that, however we may be depressed, the spring 
of our minds is not destroyed. 

" I have myself suffered most severely from iUness, and 
am at this moment hardly convalescent, not having left 
my room for three weeks. This last attack is the most 
severe I have felt, and I can compare it to nothing short 
of a brain fever, wHch ahnost made me mad. It is the 
first and only fever I ever experienced, and by falling on 
the nerves was doubly distressing. 

"All these circumstances combined have only tended 
the more firmly to fix our determination of going to Eng- 
land in the course of next year, and I have accordingly 
sent home my resignation. 

" By the Borneo I send a considerable consignment of 
Bencoolen spices to the Company, and the planters have 
shipped a still larger quantity on their own account : the 



LETTER TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 215 

invoices cannot amount to less than 100^000 doUars^ and 
probably more. This will afford the means of a fair expe- 
riment^ and I am anxious to interest all the friends of 
Bencoolen in it. Our cultivation is extending, but we are 
sadly off for capital and European industry, the very com- 
modities with which you overflow." 

* « * ♦ * 



TO 



" Bencoolen, March 6, 1822. 

"The Borneo sailed from hence on the 4th instant, 
having our dear and only child on board. Sophia has 
borne the parting tolerably well; but what a sad and 
lonely house, without nurse and the children ! — Never was 
there such a change ! — We wander from room to room, 
solitary and dejected. But God's will be done, and we 
must be content. 

" I see no reason for altering the course I am steering, 
and my mind is made up to stand or fall by my own views 
or measures ; thank you, however. * * 

" Our schools here are extending, and the missionaries 
gaining ground." 

TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

•* Bencoolen, April 12, 1822. 
" It is now above a month since I wrote to your Grace 
by the ship in which we sent home our dear and only re- 
maining child Ella ; and though, as you may well suppose, 
we have been left as solitary and disconsolate as can well 



216 DEFEAT OF THE DUTCH IN SUM ATKA« ^ 

be imagined, I think it will be satisfactory to you to know 
that both Lady Raffles and I have been gaining ground in 
health and spirits. We now begin to look with some con- 
fidence on returning to our native. land> and to indulge in 

a thousand anticipations of joy and anxiety. 

♦ « ♦ * * 

'' In the way of news, or interesting information, you 
cannot expect much. The only political event in our 
neighbourhood of recent occurrence is the defeat of the 
Dutch in the interior of Padang, where they have become 
engaged in a war with the Padries, a sect of Mahomedans, 
which is rapidly gaining ground through the northern parts 
of Sumatra. It is the practice of these people, when they 
are attacked, to place the women and children in front ; 
and in the last onset by the Dutch, it is reported that not 
less than one hundred and twenty women, each with a 
child in her arms, were sacrificed^ the women standing 
firm. 

" The discomfiture of the Dutch on the last occasion is 
stated to have been occasioned by the treachery of a Padri 
Chief, who apparently came over to their side, and led 
them into a snare ; and the Dutch took their revenge of 
his perfidy by assembling all the troops and Chiefs of the 
country, shaving off the poor man's beard, &c., and then 
chopping off his head, embalming it, and sending it down 
to the seat of government, to the Resident's, where it is 
exhibited." 



LETTER TO THOMAS MURDOCH, ESQ. 217 

TO THOMAS MURDOCH, ESQ. 

** BencooleUy April \2th, 1822. 
** My DEAR Sir, 

" I am afraid you will have thought me very re- 
miss in not acknowledging the receipt of your kind and 
friendly letters; and yet could you know the state of 
misery and anxiety into which we have been plunged 
during the last year, I am sure you would make allow- 
ances. Our first serious misfortune was the death of 
Lady Raffles* eldest brother, who had come to us from 
Bengal on a visit. Next followed my dear and eldest boy 
Leopold, your godson, the pride and hope of my life ; but 
we were perhaps too proud, and we hoped for too much, 
and, if so, we have been justly humbled. Our brother-in- 
law. Captain Auber, who brought us out to this country, 
was the next; and after him, in rapid succession, nearly 
every person in India whom I could call a friend ; all those 
who had been in my confidence in Java : and to close the 
year, I was myself attacked with a serious and alarming 
illness, which I did not shake off for many months. Lady 
Baffles, though not laid up, was in a very precarious state; 
fl,nd though her anxiety for me might be of temporary 
service in turning her thoughts from former afflictions, it 
could not do otherwise than still further reduce her. 

"With the past year, however, we had vainly hoped 
that we had overcome our afiiictions. We endeavoured 
to raise ourselves about Christmas ; but before the 20th 
of January two more of my children, my eldest daughter 



218 IMPORTANCE OF SINGAPORE. 

Charlotte, and my only remaining boy Marsden, were in 
the grave ! This blow was almost too much for us. But 
we had still one little one left, and embraced the first 
opportunity of sending her to a safer climate, where, we 
trust in God, she will have duly arrived long before this 
reaches you. Our misfortunes did not even end here ; for 
I again fell ill, and was confined for nearly two months, 
with something very like a brain fever. It is only within 
the last month that I have got about at all; but I now 
feel myself completely recovered, though much shaken in 
constitution. Lady Baffles most fortunately, and unex- 
pectedly, has kept her health tolerably well; and if it 
pleases God that our afflictions now cease, we will still 
look forward to brighter days and better times. 

" I have thus detailed my sorrows, not so much to excite 
your commiseration, as to prove to you that it was inca- 
pacity alone which prevented my writing. It is of no use 
to brood over misfortunes, and you will I am sure be 
happy to learn that we have both recovered our usual tone 
of mind and spirits ; the body however is weak, and the 
only remedy for this is change of dimate ; on this also we 
have resolved, and I hope to reach England early in 1824* 

" I propose going round to Singapore in the course of a 
few months, for the purpose of completing all my arrange- 
ments in that quarter. Its rise still continues to astonish 
those who did not at first look deeply. From a statement 
of the arrivals and departures, imports, &c., during the 
first two years and a half, it appears that, during that 



LETTER TO THE REV. DR. RAFFLES. 219 

period, no less than 2889 vessels have entered at the port, 
of which 383 were armed and commanded by Europeans, 
and 2506 by natives of independent states, and that their 
united tonnage amounted to 161,515 tons. 

" It fiirther appears that the value of merchandise in 
native vessels that have entered the Port during the same 
period has exceeded five millions of dollars, and that the 
imports and exports by ships have not been less than 
three millions more, making a gross amount of eight mil- 
lions of doUars, or nearly 200,000Z. sterUng. 

" These statements have been forwarded to Europe, 
and from this proof of the extent of commercial dealings 
at Singapore during the infancy of the establishment, and 
whilst it has laboured under many disadvantages, some 
estimate may be formed of its real value and importance." 

TO THE REV. DR. RAFFLES. 

** Bencoolen, April 17, 1822. 
" My dear Cousin, 

" I wrote to you so lately by the Borneo, that I have 

little to add beyond the assurance of my continued esteem 

and affection. We have, thank God, recovered very 

much of late, and Sophia is quite herself again. I am but 

a crazy mortal at best, but on the whole am quite as well 

in health as I have any right to expect in a climate which 

is anything but congenial to my constitution. 

"We still hold our determination of quitting India, 



220 SIR Stamford's aoricultural exertions. 

God willing^ for Europe^ about the end of next year — 

neither of us can last out longer. 

* * • * * 

" We now pass our time in great retirement. I have 
lately completed a very comfortable country-house, and 
much of my time is taken up in agricultural pursuits. I 
am by far the most active farmer in the country, and as 
President of the Agricultural Society, not only take pre- 
cedence at the board, but in the field. I have a dozen 
ploughs constantly going, and before I quit the estate, I 
hope it will realize a revenue of two or three thousand a 
year, besides feeding its population. It is an experiment, 
but it will encourage others ; and as it is a property which 
belongs to the Company, no one can accuse me of inte- 
rested views in the efforts which I am making. It is pos- 
sible that in England I may look with interest to the 
returns in money which my oats and barley may afford ; 
but here I am quite satisfied with seeing and collecting 
the produce of my industry and exertions. I am culti- 
vating and improving for the mere love of the thing, 
and the desire of employing my time advantageously for 
others. 

" Our sugar at last succeeds very well, but the disap- 
pointment in the mills has been great indeed. It was only ' 
a few weeks ago that I received the letters from Messrs. 
Littledale. We then immediately set to work to construct 
a mill here as well as we could ; and it has now commenced 



SIR Stamford's agricultural exertions. 221 

to work at the rate of half a ton a day. The sugar is ex- 
cellent, and I have no doubt the rum will be of equally- 
good quality. This is the first part of my mechanical 
operations, for which I take to myself no little credit, con- 
sidering our want of assistance and experience. We took 
our model from the Encyclopaedia. 

"Adieu, my dear Cousin, &c." 



to 



**Bencoolen, July 25/A, 1822. 
" I am sure it will be satisfactory to you to know that 
both Sophia and myself have become ourselves again : not 
that we can forget our past and heavy af&ictions, or cease 
to mourn over them; but we can now again enjoy the 
present hour, and look forward with steadiness and satis- 
&ction. I am not one of that ^Satanic school' who look 
upon this world as the hell of some former and past 
creation, but am content to take it as I find it, firmly be- 
hoving, from aU I have known and seen, that whatever is, 
is for our good and happiness, and that there is actually 
more of both, even in this world, than in our consciences 
we can think we have deserved. Our health, too, has im- 
proved, and if in this respect we could remain as we are, 
we might risk two or three years more, at least so say our 
present feelings, but we must not trust them ; experience 
dictates prudence, and if we only hold out till the appointed 
time, we shall be satisfied. We have had a very sickly 
season, and among the casualties are our chaplain and 



222 BXPBGTED APPOIMTMBNT OP MR. CANNING. 

doctor ; Jack also has been obliged to fly to Batavia for 
change of air^ and deaths are of daily occurrence in our 
small circle : but notwithstanding this we still look up ; 
therefore, with the blessing of God, don't despair of seeing 
us in 1824. 

** I have long looked for the appointment of Mr. Can- 
ning as Governor-General ; and^ upon the whole^ I augur 
well of his government, not firom any personal views as to 
myself, but with respect to the pubiic interests, to which I 
cannot but look with anxiety. My life has hitherto been 
a public one ; and long habit, if it is nothing else, has 
made the public weal as interesting to me as my own per- 
sonal prospects ever can be. Without attending to it I 
should lose half the interest of my life, so that you must 
not be surprised if I still hold on the same course, even 
though I may not be able to prove that my interests are 
advanced by it. To these I never looked primarily, and 
God grant I never may. I believe, paradoxical as it may 
seem to say so, I should lose my identity were I to cease 
to love other things better than myself. It may be a 
wrong turn of mind, but such is the twist of it, and matured 
as it now is by forty years' growth, I fear I must change 
myself ere I think or act otherwise. 

''Do not, however, do me the injustice to suppose that 
I am overweeningly attached to the things of this world 
— am in love with ambition, or suppose I can reform the 
world by my endeavours. I think I know myself better. 
I would rather be a simple unit with the united few who 



EXPECTED ARRIVAL OF MR. CANNING. 223 

act rightly and on principle, than a blazing cipher 
acting for self and my own nothingness. But a truce to 
this. I hope to be at Singapore by the time Canning 
arrives, so that he will find me at my post of danger, and 
I yet hope of honour too. 

''As for Crawfurd, what you say, to a certain extent, 
had now and then presented itself transiently to my mind 
in the same light ; but you mistake me if you suppose I 
entertain any unpleasant feeling on the account; whatever 
his faults, he is devoting his mind exclusively to objects 
in which my heart and soul are deeply interested. Let 
Crawfurd have his swing, the more extended the better ; 
in the present times we, perhaps, require such bold and 
fearless men. The cloud of ignorance, which still hangs 
over England, with regard to the Eastern Islands, cannot 
be dissipated by ordinary means, or by dint of reason : it 
requires the agency of some of those powerful elements 
which, while they disperse, cannot avoid partially de- 
stroying. 

"Where we differ we shall explain, and longer and 
cooler heads may light their matches from the sparks 
which we strike out. Two of a trade, they say, can 
never agree ; and Crawfiird and I are, perhaps, running 
too much on the same parallel, not now and then to be 
jostling each other ; but if in following my steps he 
profits by my errors and experience, it will be a satis- 
faction to me. He writes to me that his views are 
turned homewards in 1825, but this I don't believe. I 



224 SIR STAMFORD ON THE STATE OF ENGLAND. 

think he expects to return irom his cruise about the fall 
of the next year^ and will, I have no doubt, convey a fine 
collection to the Governor-General : it is not impossible 
we may meet. 

" I observe what you say on the state of the nation. I 
agree with you, as far as we can perceive from this dis- 
tance, that things look better. Manufactures and com- 
merce are certainly improving, and agriculture will come 
about in due time. It is very amusing to hear the com- 
plaints of the ruin of the country in consequence of its 
too great riches and abundance. For those who suffer, 
and they are very many, I feel most sincerely: most 
deeply do I commiserate the wretchedness which must 
necessarily be felt by certain classes; and all must be 
content to retrograde from the high pitch of ease and 
luxury, which were created by an over, but, perhaps, 
necessary excitement : yet I never can bring my mind to 
suppose our case desperate, while we not only have more 
people, but more food, and more money than we know 
what to do with. Were I to land, for the first time, on 
some large and highly populous island, and to observe a 
similar state of things, what would be my impression ? 
Not that it was a ruined, but a badly governed country. 
Ours, perhaps, is so circumstanced ; although among the 
many quacks and pretenders to heal the diseases of the 
state, I have seen but few whose panacea were worth the 
trial. Upon the whole, perhaps, we cannot go on much 
better than we are doing : our circumstances have changed. 



CURIOUS FACT RESPECTING A LOAN. 225 

and are still changing, and the great object is to assist 
the wheel as it turns round and render this as gradual 
and imperceptible as possible. Most certainly do I think 
we have not changed for the worse. Scarcity and high 
price never can be better than cheapness and abundance : 
for a time, it may serve to gorge the appetites of the few ; 
but in the long run, and for the nation at large, it never 
can last, but must inevitably end in ruin. Industry and 
plain living suit better with good morsds, sound under- 
standing, and, consequently, with the happiness of this 
life, and the prospects of the future, than idleness and 
luxury, though they were to be bought without the sacri- 
fice of the many to the few. I look highly on the re- 
sources of the country, I consider them as inexhaustible, 
a-nd that the days of our true greatness are now approach- 
ing. So much for politics. 

" I must not omit to tell you a curious fact : the Java 
Government were distressed for money, and proposed to 
raise a loan of thirty lacs in Bengal, at fix)m seven to 
nine per cent., payable in five years. The terms were 
communicated to me, and the loan opened : but there was 
a feverish anxiety in Calcutta as to the security of the 
Butch, notwithstanding their power and means in the 
Sast weiQ never less equivocal; and the Dutch them- 
selves thought better of it, and the loan was closed, when, 
lo and behold ! the only subscription to the loan, actually 
realized, was from me. This has occasioned a reference 
to Batavia from Bengal ; and it is odd enough, after all 

VOL. 11. Q 



226 SIR STAMFORD*S RESPONSIBLE SITUATION. 

our battlings, that I should be found to be the only man 
in India who woidd hear their distress, and trust them 
with a penny. This is, at least, an amusing anecdote fcnr 
the entertainment of his Netherlands' Majesty, when he 
may honour me with another invitation to his palace at 
Lacken. 

" Your letter respecting young M'Lean I purposely put 
aside to answer, after turning the matter in my thoughts ; 
it is a serious matter to direct the destination of a young 
man, and, as I never like to drop those whom I once take 
up, I am anxious to see that all is right in the beginning. 
So much depends upon the start,, that we cannot be too 
cautious. 

" My former letters will have informed you of my 
present plan for going home, and, I thank God, the 
necessity does not exist for our going in the Layton. 

" I observe what you say respecting Pulo Nias : I must 
again refer you to my principles of action, with an assur- 
ance that I do, and will, to the utmost of my power, 
act prudently and cautiously. 

'^ I am placed here, as it has been my lot ever since I 
have been intrusted with a government, to administer 
the public affairs according to my best ability. I lose v^ 
time in informing my superiors of my situation, and the 
circumstances of the country, and their interests. I im- 
plore advice, and ask for authority; I receive none; 
scarce an acknowledgment, and when I do, one that 
only proves they can never have read what I have 



SIR Stamford's responsible situation. 227 

written. Year after year rolls on; the public weal must 
be attended to^ and time and tide stand still for no man. 
How is it possible that a man, having the honour of his 
country at heart, and any conscience whatever, can 
remain a silent spectator of what is daily getting worse 
and worse ? Either he must step in to stop the ruin, or 
he must eat the bread of idleness, and pocket the wages 
of iniquity ; for they cannot be honestly earned without 
the performance of corresponding duties, to say nothing 
of the happiness or misery of the thousands and tens of 
thousands committed to his charge, and whose destiny 
must, in a great measure, be considered in his hands. 

" I receive very kind letters from Mr. Grant and Mr. 
Edward Parry ; I have reason to value and esteem them, 
and I am deeply sensible of their kindness. 

" My hand aches, and I must leave off with an apology 
for writing you so long a letter ; but, in truth, I have not 
had time to write a shorter^ and, therefore, give you in 
haste what comes uppermost. We are aU well." 

" Bencoolen, July 26 th, 1822, 
"You say our new Deputy Master- Attendant is a 
protege of Mr. Robinson, and on this account entitled to 
my attentions. 

'' I am not aware that, as yet, I am under any obliga- 
tion to Mr. Bobinson, for if report says true, he is most 
hostile to me, but for why I know not. Be it as it may, I 
would always rather return good for evil; and, in the 

hope that he may one day lay aside his prejudice, and be 

q2 



228 COMMERCIAL SPECULATIONS AT BENCOOLEN. 

open to reason and conviction^ you may assure him that I 
only regret I am not better known to him. Times may 
alter as they have once altered, and really I cannot 
account for much that I see and hear; nevertheless, I 
shall continue to pursue a straight-forward course^ as I 
have hitherto done, without swerving to the right or left, 
quarrelling with no one." 



TO 



" Bencoolen, July 28^A, 1822. 

" I will now reply to your letter respecting young 
M'Lean. 

" With industry and perseverance, a good constitution 
and frugal habits, there wants but one thing more to 
complete the requisites, and that is capital, or credit, 
which is the same thing ; without this last, it is chance if 
the others have fair play, and with it, I think few places 
offer better prospects than the spot from whence I write 
— Bencoolen, where there are most advantageous open- 
ings for advantageous speculations, in the cultivation and 
manufacture of sugar and rum, the culture of coffee, 
spices, &c., and where, notwithstanding all its supposed 
disadvantages, more may now be done with dollars than 
ever could be effected in the West Indies with poumds. 

" Commercial speculations are, in a great measure, at a 
stand, and Singapore is overstocked with merchants. 
They will be too keen for a novice, and in these times it 
is quite a science, even for the first houses to know how 



COMMERCIAL SPECULATIONS AT BENCOOLEN. 229 

to make money : the most they can do is to prevent loss; 
In Java there are great facilities and advantages, both 
for trade and cultivation, particularly the latter, but then 
it is under a Dutch government. Of the extent of capital 
required, anything from one to five thousand pounds will 
answer, but, of course, the more the better. With two of 
three thousand pounds to sink in the land at Bencoolen, 
I really think a pretty fortune might be made in ten 
years, paying back the first capital with a high interest in 
three or four. 

'' One thing, however, must not on any account be ex- 
pected either here or at Singapore — there are no appoint- 
ments to be had — not more than you can pick up in the 
streets of London; therefore, everything must depend 
upon the party himself, and on his own frugality and 
exertions." 



TO 



" Bencoolefiy September 4th, 1822. 

" We have had a very sickly season. I am concerned 
to say, my inestimable friend Jack stiU remains in a very 
dangerous state, and is obliged to embark in the Layton 
for the Cape. In him I lose my right hand ; but if he 
survives, he will rejoin me in six months, and accompany 
us home. 

'^ I am afraid I shall have a good deal to do at Singa- 
pore, as the place grows so rapidly, that some important 



230 PBPPBR CARGO. 

provisions must be made for its internal management and 

comfort. 

« « » * « 

" Sophia^ I am sorry to say^ has had an illness which 
has lowered her very much^ and makes me very anxious 
to get her home. Would to Ood we were once safe with 

you^ and out of these enervating regions. 

# ♦ ♦ ♦ « 

** The idea of a pepper cargo without dead weight is 
such a farce^ that the Layton has been the laughing- 
stock to all the private traders, and, were the whole pro- 
ceeding to be pubUshed, I know of no instance that 
would expose more ignorance and absurdity in the Com- 
pany's proceedings as merchants. 

" I am off for Singapore to-morrow, very fer from well, 
and the change may do us good." 



TO W. MARSDEN, ESQ. 

" Bencoalen, September Sth^ 1823. 
" My dear Sir, 

" I promised myself the satisfaction of writing to 
you very fully by the Layton, but illness, and the variety 
of detail which must be got through in the few days 
between this and my embarkation for Singapore, will, I 
fear, compel me to be more brief than usual. I still con- 
tinue to suffer so severely from a nervous affection in. my 
head, that I cannot calculate upon an hour's health; 



LETTER TO W. MARSDEN^ ESQ. 231 

Lady Baffles too is only just recovering from an illness ; 
and my invaluable friend^ Dr. Jack> is on the eve of em- 
barking for the Cape as a last hope. Under these cir- 
cumstances^ and the bustle of packing and delivering 
over the charge of the settlement for some months^ you 
1^^ I am confident^ make allowances. Your kind letters, 
from the 19th of August, 1821, to the 7th of March last, 
are now before me, and although there are many points 
in them to which I could have wished to advert, I must 
be content to notice a few. 

"Your observations on our press are as just as they are 
liberal ; and I only wish it was in my power to convince 
you that we have sufficiently profited by them. You 
•were, of course, aware that my object is rather to excite 
others than to come forward myself, and that in our 
present publications I necessarily keep in the back- 
ground. 1 allow nothing to appear as direct from 
myself. 

" This will show you that I am doing all I can to 
ascertain the true form of the coast in this quarter. 

" The following is the latest and best information 

which I can obtain respecting the Rakan river. 

m * * * * 

" I must defer our frurther geographical discoveries till 
another opportunity. I enclose you Captain Crisp's cal- 
culations on the longitude of Bencoolen: we are just 
commencing with Jupiter's satellites, and I shall cer- 



232 LETTER TO W. MARSDEN, ESQ. 

tainly not allow the present astronomical party to leare 
the coast until I have laid down all the principal points. 

" September lith. I had written thus far, when I was 
broken in upon by a host of people^ and on business ; and 
my time is now so shorty that I can do little more than 
close this letter^ as we embark at daylight to-morrow. 
Dr. Jack is still alive> and sails for the Cape this evening, 
but I have very little hope for him ; I shall feel his loss 
most severely, both as a private friend and an able as- 
sistant, not only in the particular line of natural history, 
but in our geographical pursuits. With his assistance 
and Captain Crisp*s, I had commenced our general 
survey of Sumatra with some hope of success ; but I am 
now no longer sanguine of doing much in my own time. 
In a country like this, where nothing material of this 
nature has been effected, the scope of our operations 
seemed naturally to divide itself into three branches : 
first, the determining the geographical position of all the 
sea-ports and harbours, and the hydrographic delineation 
of the line of coast and the adjacent Islands ; in this we 
have done, and I am happy to say we are still doing a 
good deal : secondly, the conducting a series of trian- 
gles from a measured base, in order to fix the site of 
towns, the extent, and direction of the several ranges of 
mountains, and the points where the rivers take their 
rise ; in this we have gone so far as to lay down a tole- 
rably extensive base from the tower of Marlborough Fort, 



LETTER TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 233 

which we purpose to adopt as the leading point, or meri- 
dian, and to carry on the triangles as far as the eye will 
reach from hence ; and, thirdly, the sketching the more 
minute topographical details, in which we neither have 
wasted nor shall waste our time. 

" I must, however, here close, in the hope that my 
health will enable me to take advantage of the leisure of 
the voyage to write you more fully. I take the liberty of 
presenting Mrs. Marsden with a cask of Bencoolen sugar, 
in the hope that she will patronize our manufacture. 
The superior authorities will insist that we can neither 
manufacture sugar nor grow coffee, though we have 
already produced the former of better quality than any 
known in the East, and our coffee-gardens are in every 
way promising, and the export from Padang alone, during 
the last year, exceeded 20,000 peculs. You will observe 
that our sugar is muscovado, and not the light article 
usually obtained from India; and as the worth of sugar 
must be in its sweetness, we think we stand high. I am 
confident you will give it aU the credit it deserves, and 
more we do not wish." 

TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

** September 14, 1822. 
" The last arrivals have brought us many kind letters 
from you ; and I need not attempt to say how truly, and 
how deeply, we feel your kindness. The hand of afflictioa 



n 



234 DEATH OF DR. JACK. 

has been heavy upon us ; and it is in such times that the 
kindness of friends^ and of those we love and esteem, is 
doubly valued. 

*' I did intend to write you a very long letter by this 
opportunity ; but illness, and the multiplicity of detail 
which crowds upon me at the moment, deprive me of the 
leisure of even five minutes. We embark for Singapore 
to-morrow morning. 

** If I am able to hold up my head, and use my pen at 
all, I shall certainly avail myself of the leisure of the 
voyage to endeavour to make amends for my long silence 
by writing you a very prosing letter. I will not attempt 
to say more at present, as you will easily perceive finim 
the writing that I hold my pen with diflScidty ; but 
though my head fail, my heart never will." 

* 4r 4t « « 



TO 



" Bencoolen^ September 15, 1822. 
" We were to have embarked this morning for Singa- 
pore, but the wind has proved foul, and it was (»rdained 
that we should remain another day, to bury our dear and 
invaluable friend, William Jack. Poor fellow ! a finer 
head or heart there never was ; and whether as a bosom 
fiiend, or as a scientific assistant^ he was to me invalu- 
able ; he had been long iU, and returned &om Java about 
a fortnight ago, after an unsuccessful visit for change of 



DEPARTURE FOR SINOAPORK. 235 

air : we embarked him yesterday morning in the Layton^ 
for the Cape ; and he died this morning before the ship 
weighed her anchor. 

'* I am so depressed in spirits, and altogether so incom- 
petent to the task of writing to his father at this hurried 
moment, when all is confusion for my embarkation, that I 
must postpone it ; but I beg you to assure him, that the 
loss is as deeply deplored by his friends here, as it is pos- 
sible it can be by his family at home ; and that for myself, 
I am so overwhelmed by the misfortune, that I cannot 
command myself to enter into particulars. His character 
and talents stood deservedly high with all who knew him ; 
and if anything can afford relief to a parent in the loss of 
such a son, it ought to be the reflection that he has per- 
formed the course which he was destined to run with 
honour and integrity, and that his sphere of usefulness 
was as extended as his talents and ability, themselves of 
no common order, could command.'* 

'* Straits of Sunda, offAngier^ September 26, 1822. 

'' I am happy to say that we are thus far on our way to 
Singapore, all well. The melancholy addition to the 
number of deaths in our family, by the loss of William 
Jack, made us quit the place without much regret ; and 
God grant the change of air and scene may work a 
fiivourable change both in our health and spirits. 

'^ It IS indispensable that the ship which comes out for 
us should have a poop, as Sophia could not undergo the 



236 LETTER TO THE REV. DR. RAFFLES. 

voyage below hatches ; indeed^ she is so bad a sailor, and 

« 

we are both so weak and unfit for a long voyage, that we 
sometimes think of making a port-to-port voyage home ; 
that is to say, going to the Isle of France, the Cape, St. 
Helena, and the Cape de Verd Islands, and stopping at 
each place a week or a fortnight to recruit." 

TO THE REV. DR. RAFFLES. 

** In the StratU of Banco, Oct. 1, 1822. 

" My dear Cousin, 

" Our correspondence has latterly flagged, though 
I hardly know why, except it be that we may neither of 
us have had heart or spirit enough to enter on the sad 
subjects which have most absorbed our attention. You 
will, I think, be glad to hear that we have quitted Ben- 
coolen for a season ; for though I still adhere to its 
being, on the whole, as healthy as other parts of the East, 
the melancholy events which have accumulated in our 
own family must produce a contrary impression on all 
who look to us with interest and affection. Death, as if 
he seemed determined to glut himself to the last, snatched 
from us, two days before we sailed, another member of 
our family, my invaluable and highly respected friend. Dr. 
Jack ; he had supplied the place of Dr. Arnold, and all 
my future views in life were intimately blended with the 
plans and projects which we had formed. He was to have 
accompanied me to England, and his death has left a 
blank which will not be easily or speedily filled up. 



MORTALITY AT BENCOOLKK. 237 

" I am now on my passage to Singapore, accompanied 
by Sophia and her youngest brother ; and my plan is to 
remain there about six months, with the view of arranging 
and modelling something like a constitution for the place, 
and transferring its future management to a successor. 
Should God spare our lives, we then look to return to 
Sencoolen for the purpose of winding up ; and then, 
about the end of the year, if it be not too presumptuous 
to look forward so far after what has passed, we contem- 
plate the prospect of revisiting old England. At all 
events, no views of ambition will weigh with us beyond 
that period ; and, considering the precarious state of our 
health, and the many ties at home, it seems in the natural 
course of things that we should then take this step. 

" Among the numerous deaths which have occurred at 
Bencoolen, we have lost no less than three doctors, and 
our worthy chaplain, Mr. Winter, whose widow and family 
are now on their way to England. As the • advance of 
good principles so essentially depends on the character of 
the pastor, and particularly at Bencoolen, where there is 
only one of our Establishment, and his union with the 
Missionaries is so essential, I am not a little interested in 
the choice that may be made of a successor. He will be 
appointed from home, and, most likely, become known to 
you before his departure. This, I think, would be advan- 
tageous, particularly with reference to future cori*espon- 
dence after I may leave the country. Of all places, a ship 
is the worst for application, or even for writing a letter, for 



238 APPOINTHBKT OF A CHAPLAIN TO BSNCOOLEN. 

Uteeee is always something going on, and generally what 
IB annoying rathflr one way or the other. I am salject to 

Htant interruptioiis, and am at this moment obliged 

ireak off my letter. 
I again resume the pen, though I have little to add, 

apt a farewell." 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Arrival at Singapore — Description of the settlement — Grounds of 
right to its retention — Occupation at Singapore — Selection of site 
for college — Value of land — Contrast ofBencoolen and Singapore 
— Number of vessels arrived in the first two years and a half-^Bun^ 
galow on Singapore hill — Botanic garden — Description of plant 
described by Dr. Finlay son— Mission to Bali — Drawing up laws 
and regulations for the settlement — Magistrates — Memorial 
against slavery — Resolution of the Bengal Government — Instruc- 
tions to Mr, Crawfurd — Addresses from the inhabitants — Singa- 
pore the only place in India where slavery cannot exist— Leave 
Singapore — Touch at Batavia — Correspondence with the Baron 
Van de Capellan, 

The pleasure of witnessing the increasing prosperity of a 
settlement which he had himself formed^ in which he was 
hailed as a benefactor^ and welcomed as a friend by all 
ranks and classes^ raised the spirit which sorrow had de- 
pressed ; and Sir Stamford's heart again expanded with 
the hope of happiness^ and rejoiced in the consciousness 
of possessing the power of difi^sing civilization and bless* 
ings around him. 

TO . 

** Singapore^ October Wth^ 1822. 
^^We landed yesterday^ and I have once more estar 
bUshed my head-quarters in the centre of my Malayan 



240 ARRIVAL AT SINGAPORE. 

friends. I have just time to say thus much^ more you 
shall have soon and often : in the meantime you will be 
glad to know that I feel sufficient health and strength to 
do all I wish. The coldest and most disinterested could 
not quit Bencoolen, and land at Singapore, without sur- 
prise and emotion. What, then, must have been my 
feelings, after the loss of almost everything that was dear 
to me on that ill-fated coast? After all the risks and 
dangers to which this my almost only child had been ex- 
posed^ to find it grown and advanced^ beyond measure and 
even my warmest anticipations and expectations, in im- 
portance, wealth, and interest — in every thing that can 
give it value and permanence ? 

*' I did feel when I left Bencoolen that the time had 
passed when I could take much active interest in Indian 
affairs, and I wished myself safe home; but I already 
feel differently ; I feel a new life and vigour about me ; and 
if it please God to grant me health, the next six months 
will, J hope, make some amends for the gloom of the 
last sixteen. 

" Rob me not of this my political child, and you may yet 
see me at home in all my wonted spirits, and with an elas- 
ticity about me which will bear me up against all that 
party spirit can do to depress me. 

" I have not time to write to any one else, therefore let 
all fiiends know that we are well, and again. Heaven 
be praised, in the land of the living. Sophia is quite 
well. 



LETTER TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 241 

'^ Mary Anne and her child are well also, and in our 
hearts we sing, ' Oh be joyful in the Lord.' " 

TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

" * Singapore^ November 30, 1 822. 

" I am sure you will congratulate us in having escaped 
from Bencoolen with our lives, after the rapid succession 
of miseries which we experienced there. To close the 
melancholy list of casualties in my own family, I have 
to add the loss of my most excellent, valued friend. Dr. 
Jack. He was carried off the day before we sailed from 
Bencoolen. 

" We have already experienced the benefit of change of 
scene and climate ; and the prosperous state of this rising 
colony has made amends for the dull and sombre views 
which we have left. Here all is life and activity ; and it 
would be difficidt to name a place on the face of the globe 
with brighter prospects or more present satisfaction. In 
little more than three years it has risen from an insigni- 
ficant fishing- village, to a large and prosperous town, con- 
taining at least 10,000 inhabitants of all nations, actively 
engaged in commercial pursuits, which afford to each and 
all a handsome livelihood, and abimdant profit. There 
are no complaints here of want of employment, no de- 
ficiency of rents, or dissatisfaction at taxes. Land is 
rapidly rising in value, and instead of the present number 
of inhabitants, we have reason to expect that we shall have 
at least ten times as many before many years have passed. 

VOL. M, H 



242 ESTABLISHES A CONSTITUTION FOR SINGAPORE. 

/This may be considered as the simple, but almost magic 
result of that perfect freedom of trade which it has been 
my good fortune to establish. 

*' We are daily looking for accounts of the arrival of 
our new Governor-General; and it is not improbable he 
may bring out final instructions respecting this placey as 
far as concerns the questions with the Dutch. I have, 
however, very little uneasiness on the subject, as I think 
it now nearly impossible to dispossess us ; and the time 
for my going home now draws so nigh, that I shall be 
able to fight the battle out in England, upon more equal 
ground than I have been obliged to do here. 

*' I could fill a volume with new matter, on new people, 
new manners, and new coimtries, but I must be content 
to hold my tongue until I have the gratification of telling 
you all my long stories in person. 

4t ♦ * ♦ * 

^' I am at present engaged in establishing a constitution 
for Singapore, the principles of which will, I hope, ensure 
its prosperity. The utmost possible freedom of trade and 
equal rights to all, with protection of property and person, 
are the objects to be attained, and I shall spare no pains 
to establish such laws and regulations as may be most 
conducive to them. In Java I had to remodel, and in 
doing so to remove the rubbish and encumbrances of two 
centuries of Dutch mal-administration — ^here I have an 
easier task — and the task is new. In Java I had to look 
principally to the agricultural interests, and the commer- 



LETTSR TO W. MARSDBN, ESQ. 243 

t^isd only so fixr as they were connected with them ; here, 
on the contrary, commerce is everything, agriculture only 
in its infancy. The people are different as well as their 
pursuits. I assure you I stand much in need of advice, 
and were it not for Lady BafBes I should have no coun- 
sellor at all. She is nevertheless a host to me, and if I 
do live to see you again, it will be entirely owing to her 
love and affection : without this I should have been cast 
away long ago. If it please God we have health, we hope 
to pass the next two months pleasantly enough in this 
interesting occupation. 

*' The only amusing discovery which we have recently 
made is that of a sailing fish, called by the natives ikan 
layer, of about ten or twelve feet long, which hoists a 
mainssdl, and often sails in the manner of a native boat, 
and with considerable swiftness. I have sent a set of the 
sails home, as they are beautifully cut, and form a model 
for a fast-sailing boat — ^they are composed of the dorsal 
fins of the animal, and when a shoal of these are under sail 
together, they are frequently mistaken for a fleet of native 
boats." 

TO W. MARSDEN, ESQ. 

Singapore, Nov, 30, 1822. 



<( 



" My dear Sir, 

" You will, I am sure, be glad to learn that we 
have derived every advantage from change of scene and 
climate which we calculated upon, and that both Lady 
Bafiles and myself have daily improved in health and 

»2 



244 DEATH OF DR. JACK. 

spirits since our arrival here. The last blow reserved for 
us at Bencoolen was the death of my most valued friend. 
Dr. Jack, and great indeed has been the loss which I have 
sustained by this event. Poor fellow, we had become so 
intimate, and our fixture plans had become so interwoven 
with each other's views in life, that I could not have felt 
the loss of a brother more than I did his. But I must 
not get into a melancholy train of thought, and will drop 
the subject till we meet. 

'' Of Singapore I coidd of course say a good deal ; but 
when I say that it is going on as prosperously as possible, 
you will infer much of what I would communicate. ' I 
have nearly got over the job of undoing, and am steadily 
going on in the establishment of something like a consti- 
tution for the place, on the principle of establishing it 
permanently as a free port in every sense of the word: 
The active spirit of enterprise which prevails among all 
classes is truly astonishing, and, for its extent, I believe I 
may safely say that no part of the world exhibits a busier 
scene than the town and environs of Singapore. The 
Dutch have been obliged to take off their duties at Java 
and elsewhere on native prows, and as far as appearances 
go, they seem to see the nk^essity of adopting a more 
liberal system throughout. I am sorry, however, to say 
that .a recent act, in which they were the principals, is 
perhaps as disgraceful and abominable over a defenceless 
woman, as ever was committed by a civilized nation. 



FIRE AT CANTON. 245 

" Thie details of the destructive fire which, has . taken 
place in China will reach you through the public prints ; 
I will therefore only notice that the whole of the factories, 
EngUsh and foreign, with two exceptions, and upwards of 
12,000 Chinese houses, including six belonging to the 
Hong merchants, were burnt to the ground between the 
first and third instant, and that the fire was by no means 
extinguished on the twentieth, when our last accounts 
came away. The whole of the Company's woollens of 
the season, worth about 400,000Z. have been destroyed, 
and about five hundred tons of tea — 700,000 dollars were 
fortunately saved from the Company's treasury, but 
nothing else from the factory, and the supercargoes have 
for the most part lost everything but the clothes on their 
backs. This will occasion some long faces in LeadenhaU- 
street, but it will set the. manufacturers at work to supply 
the woollens lost. 

" You will no doubt have heard of Crawfturd's mission 
to Siam and Cochin China. He has failed in the es- 
sential objects of his mission, but has had the means of 
collecting a good deal of information respecting the 
countries he has visited, which will afford him the oppor- 
tunity of writing a very interesting book or two. He was 
with me last week on his return to Bengal, and I had the 
opportunity of entering frilly into the subject. At ^iam 
he was detained five months. The King received him in 
the first instance, but all his communications subsequently 
were with an officer of the second rank below the sove- 



24S MISSION TO SIAM AND COCHIN CHINA. 

reign ; and the only acknowledgment he conld obtain of 
the Govemor-Oeneral's letter, was a short reply from an 
officer of the third rank, Bpecifying the duties and regula- 
tions of the port; but which was no sooner delivered 
than the terms were broken, and the first act after Craw- 
furd's departure was to seize the supercargo. Captain^ and 
part of the crew of an English vessel, and to beat and 
knock them about till they had nearly deprived them of 
life ; afterwards putting them in irons and treating them 
with a barbarity which would disgrace savages : and this 
purposely as an insult to our embassy, and to show their 
contempt of our power. 

" At Cochin China he met with a somewhat better 
reception personally, but the King would not grant him 
an audience, or receive the letter from the Governor- 
General at all. The reason assigned was its not coming 
from a crowned head, and that a similar letter from 
France had not been received. A certificate from one 
of the mandarins, that we should be allowed to trade on 
the same terms as the French, was all that Crawfurd 
could obtain. 

*' It does not seem that there is any foreign European 
influence at either court, prejudicial to our political or 
national interest ; and Crawfiird seems to think they are 
both too jealous to admit of any. They have undoubt- 
edly great apprehensions of any European power gaining 
a footing among them ; and nothing could equal the strict 
manner in which the embassy was watched at Codiin 
China. 



MISSION TO SIAM AND COCHIN CHINA. 247 

" Siam proves to be ftdly as rich a country as we sup- 
posed. Its population is estimated at six millions^ of 
which one-sixth may be Chinese^ and nearly one-half the 
whole are included at the districts of Lao^ the other half 
occupying Lower Siam. The produce in sugar, pepper, 
&c. &c., is immense; and the tonnage on junks which 
annually enter the Minam is not estimated at less than 
40,000 tons ; of these, eighteen or twenty of the largest 
junks belong to the King, who, with the court, monopo- 
lizes all the foreign trade of this country. The value of 
this junk trade is so important to the King and all con- 
cerned in it, that they are naturally averse to the admis- 
sion of our shipping, to its supercession, and perhaps 
destruction ; and this circumstance added to the despotic 
nature of the Government, its jealousy and general bad 
character, seem to preclude the hope of our enjoying a 
direct trade to any extent, by means of our own shipping. 
We must be satisfied with the entrepot which we have 
established at Singapore, whither their junks regularly 
come with a large portion of the produce of ihe country 
and can afford to sell it at a lower rate than foreigners 
can procure the same articles in Siam itself; and now 
under the protection of the British flag the exchange 
must take place. In the extension of this trade^ the 
King and his court are so much interested, that he will 
in a manner feel dependent on us for the accommodation 
and protection afforded. 

" The . richest province of Lower Siam seems to be 



248 LKTTER TO W. HAR8DEN, ESQ. 

Chantibun, on the eastern side of the gulph. It is eaid 
to export upwards of 8U,000 peculs of pepper in a year. 

" On his way to Cochin China, CrawAird touched at 
Saigun, the capital of Lower Cochi, and situated on the 
northern bank of the CaralKga river. This place he de- 
scribes as fiill of activity and produce, and abounding 
with Chinese, who seemed anxious for a more general 
intercourse with us. Cochin China is a poor country 
comparatively with Siani ; but the principal value of our 
connexions with it seems to be with reference to the 
channel which it may afford for a more extensive inter- 
course with several of the provinces of the Chinese. 

" For further details I must refer you to Crawfurd's 
book when published, or beg of you to await my arrival 
in England, as I am ashamed to lengthen this letter 
further." 

to W. MAR8DEN, ESg. 

" Singapore, November 30th, 1S23. 
" My plan is to resign Singapore as soon as I can 
make arrangements for the appointment of a successor. 

" Since I have been here I have caught no less than 

six duyonga (the animal described by Valentin, and so 

of as the mermaid), some as large as nine feet 

A iiill-grown female is now under the dis- 

fe, so that the natural history of tiiis extraor- 

lal is likely to be better known than any of the 

Td's astronomerB omitted to take either the 



LETTER TO T. MURDOCH, ESQ. 249 

latitude or longitude of Bankok, the present capital o 
Siam, although they were there upwards of four months. 
The most remarkable production which they fell in with 
was a large potato or yam . (a species of menispermum) 
weighing no less than four hundred and eighty pounds 
avoirdupois ! This is a match for my great flower. 
Crawford carried up two duyongs from hence^ and I have 
now three, ready prepared for England. 

'' We are making some, advances towards a general 
survey of Singapore and the adjacent Islands;, and I am 
happy to say I have succeeded at. last in getting a very 
correct survey of the eastern coast of Sumatra . from 
Diamond Point down to the Carimons. By the time I 
return to Bencoolen, I trust my astronomical party at the 
Lane will have done something ; and, at all events, I hope 
I shall have it in my power to show you that I have not 
been idle. 

^'You will be surprised to hear that a considerable 
quantity of the finest benjamin is produced in Lao, about 
the latitude of 15° or 16°, if not more. 

" My hand is rather unsteady from my late illness, 
therefore excuse my scrawl, which I am almost ashamed 
to send." 

TO T. MURDOCH, ESQ. 

" Singapore, December 4th, 1822. 
*' My dear Sir, 

" I am afraid you will accuse me of neglect in not 

writing to you for so long a period, but I must tell the 



250 BENEFICIAL EPFBCT8 OF CHANGE OP SCENE. 

truth, and rely on yoar kindness. I have not been able 
to bring myself to the point since the loss of my dear boy, 
Leopold, and even now feel a reluctance in doing so, 
which I can hardly overcome. The loss of that dear boy, 
in whom all our hopes were centred, has indeed been a 
severe blow ; and the rapid succession in which our other 
darlings have been swept lirom us has been almost too 
much to bear. But, I thank God, the worst is past ; and 
though we may have hardened our hearts a Uttle in order 
to get over it, I will yet hope that there is as much hap- 
piness lefl for us in this world as we deserve to enjoy. 
We were, perhaps, too happy, too proud of our blessings ; 
and, if we had not received this severe check, we might 
not sufficiently have felt and known the necessity of an 
hereafter. The Lord's will be done, and we are satisfied. 
" You will, I am sure, congratulate us on our removal 
irom Bencoolen. Only two days before we left it we lost 
another member of our &mily, my inestimable Iriend, Dr. 
Jack. This blow was reserved till the last, but it has not 
been the less severe. Poor fellow, we have lost in him 
one of the clearest heads and wannest hearts I ever met 
with ; but death has so assailed us in every quarter within 
the last year, that I hardly yet know or feel all that I 
have lost. 

Ve have been here nearly two months, and the 
;e of air and scene has done us great good. Lady 
s in particular has greatly recovered both in her 
1 and spirits, and I am myself very sensibly better. 



PROSPEROUS STATE OF SINGAPORE. 251 

though still occasionally dreadfully oppressed with head* 
aches. 

" Public report speaks so favourably of this place, that 
I cannot well say more about it, without subjecting myself 
to the charge of egotism, for it is, indeed, everything I 
could wish, and rising and improving in every way ftdly 
equal to my expectations. It is at least a child of my 
own ; and now that I am in other respects childless, I 
may perhaps be indulged with this ; and I can assure you 
that the interest I take in it cheers many a day that 
would otherwise be gloomy and sad enough in reflections 
on the past. 

^' I am now busy in allotting the lands and laying out 
tbe several towns, defining rights, and establishing powers 
and rules for their protection and preservation. I have 
been a good deal impeded, but the task, though an ardu- 
ous and serious one, is not one that I find unpleasant. 
What I feel most is the want of good counsel and advice, 
and of sufficient confidence in my own experience and 
judgment to lay down so broad and permanent a foun- 
dation as I could wish. I have already upwards of 10,000 
souls to legislate for, and this number will, I doubt not, 
be increased during the next year. The enterprise and 
activity which prevails are wonder&l, and the eifects of a 
free-trade and liberal principles have operated like magic. 
JBut that the past prosperity of the place may not prove 
ephemeral, it requires that I be the more carefiil in what 
I do for the future ; for if the past, under all our-uncer- 



252 t-ROSPEROUS STATE OF SINGAPORE. 

taint; of poseession, has so far exceeded my expectations, 
what may not be calculated upon hereafter, when out 
principles are better understood, when our possession is 
considered secure, and when British capital and enterprise 
come into fiill and iair play 1 

" My sister and Captain Flint are here, and it is no 
small gratification for us to he with them. Flint is 
anxious to testify his recollection of your kindness and 
attention, and proposes sending you by the first oppor- 
tunity the skeleton of an enormous ape, standing about 
five feet six, lately obtained from Borneo. 

" We are overwhelmed with duyongs. While writing 
this I am informed of the arrival of another, which makes 
the seventh since I have been here, 

" Lady BafKes will write to Mrs. Murdoch very soon. 
She pleads the same excuse for her silence that I have 
done for mine. The kindness of yourself and family has 
induced such a feeling on our part, that we calculate upon 
your sympathy in all our misfortunes." 



" Singapore, Deceiver lo, 1822. 
" My time is at present engaged in remodeUing and 
laying out my new city, and in establishing institutions 
laws for its future constitution ; a pleasant duty 
igh in England, where you have books, hard heads, 
lawyers to refer to, but here by no means easy, where 
nust depend on my own judgment and foresight. 



VALUE OF LAND AT SINGAPORE. 253 

Nevertheless I hope, that though Singapore may be the 
first capital established in the nineteenth century, it will 
not disgrace the brightest period of it. 

'^ You will be surprised to hear of the value of land 
here. A few spots of ground hitherto considered of no 
value, and passed over by the local resident, sold in the 
course of an hour for upwards of 50,000 dollars. You 
will perceive that I have been very cautious in wording 
the grants of land, so as not to alarm the anti-colonists at 
home. 

" We have heard nothing of the Borneo since her leav- 
ing the Cape, and are looking out most anxiously for news 
of our dear child. Sophia^s patience is almost exhausted, 
and her spirits begin to flag, but I thank God she is 
again in excellent health, and better than I have seen her 
for the last two years. The hope of getting away from 
this country the end of the year buoys us both up, and 
enables us to get on from day to day with something like 
satisfaction. 

" I have been very severely attacked since my arrival 
here, and it would be madness to think of remaining in 
the country a day longer than the time I haye limited. I 
must remain here till April or May, and be at Bencoolen 
in June to meet and despatch the Indiaman. 

" Nothing can be more striking than the contrast be- 
tween the two settlements. At Bencoolen the public 
expenses are more in one month than they are at Singa- 
pore in twelve. The capital turned at Bencoolen never 



254 LETTER TO REV. DR. RAFFLES. 

exceeds 400,000 dollars in a year, and nearly the whole of 
this is in Company's bills on Bengal, the only returns 
that can be made; at Singapore* the capital turned in a 
year exceeds eight millions, without any government biUs 
or civil establishment whatever." 

EXTRACT OF A LBTTER TO THE REV. DR. RAFFLES. 

Singapore, Jamtary 12, 1823. 



€€ 



" Mt DEAR Cousin, 

" Since my arrival here I have received two letters 
firom you of rather ancient date ; but they remind me 
that I am very much your debtor in the way of corre- 
spondence ; and if my health admitted it, should not long 
be so. As it is, you must be satisfied with a few lines, the 
doctor prohibiting me from writing more. 

" The progress of my new settlement is in every way 
most satisfactory, and it would gladden your heart to 
witness the activity and cheerfulness which prevail 
throughout; every day brings us new settlers, and Sin- 
gapore has already become a great emporium. Houses 
and warehouses are springing up in every direction, and 
the inland forests are fast giving way before the indr^ 
trious cultivator. I am now engaged in marking out the 
towns and roads, and in establishing laws and regulations 
for the protection of person and property. We have no 
less than nine mercantile houses (European), and there is 
abundant employment for capital as &8t as it accu- 
mulates. 



LETTER TO MR. MAR8DEN. 255 



^* Both Sophia and I have improved in health since our 
arrival here^ but I still feel myself so weak and broken 
down in constitution^ that it will be as much as I can do 
to hold out for the year. My principal attack is in the 
head^ and for days together I am nearly distracted^ and 
almost unconscious of what I am doing. 

** The death of my friend^ Dr. Milne^ of Malacca, has 
for a tune thrown a damp on missionary exertions in this 
quarter, but I expect Dr. Morrison, of China, to visit this 
place in March, and I ho])e to make some satisfactory 
axrangement with him for future labours. The two mis- 
sionaries who are here are not idle. Messrs. Milton and 
Thompson, the former in Chinese and Siamese, and the 
latter in Malay and English printing. I have selected a 
spot for my intended college ; and all I now require is a 
good head-master or superintendent. It is my intention 
to endow it with lands, the rents of which will cover its 
ordinary expenses. I am also about to commence upon a 
church, the plan of which is already approved. 

*' Believe me, &c." 

TO MR. MARSDEN. 

" Singapore, January 21, 1 823. 

'' Mr DEAR Sir, 

** By a statement I forwarded to the Court of 
Directors in February last, it was shown that, during the 
first two years and a half of this establishment, no less 
than two thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine vessels 
entered and cleared from the port, of which three hun- 



256 TRADE OF SINGAPORE. 

dred and eighty-three were owned and commanded by 
Europeans, and two thousand five hundred and six by 
natives, and that their united tonnage was one hundred 
and sixty-one thousand tons. It appeared also, that the 
value of merchandise in native vessels arrived and cleared 
amounted to about five millions of dollars during the 
same period, and in ships not less than three millions, 
giving a total amount of about eight millions as the 
capital turned. 

" This statement I thought very favourable; but I 
have now the satisfaction of forwarding to the same 
authority ofiicial statements, from which the following 
results appear for the year 1822, a detailed and accurate 
account having been kept during that period of the trade 
of the place : — 

" Total amount of tonnage, importing and exporting, 
one hundred and thirty thousand six hundred and eighty- 
nine. 

" Total value of imports and exports in the year 1822, 
eight millions five hundred and sixty-eight thousand one 
hundred and seventy-two. 

" Nearly the whole of this trade is carried on by a bor- 
rowed capital, for which interest is paid from nine to 
twelve per cent, per annum ; and it is not a little remark- 
able, that since the establishment of the settlement, now 
four years, not a single ship has arrived from England, 
notwithstanding European goods are in constant demand.' 
All British manufactures that heretofore found their way 



1 



TRADE OF SINGAPORE. 257 

into the settlement have come by circuitous routes, and 
with heavy charges of freight and duties at other ports 
added to their invoice value. No less than four free 
traders loaded home from Singapore last year; and 
the Venelia, by which I send this, now goes home 
with a frill and valuable cargo of sugar, pepper, tin, 
tortoise-shell, &c. ; and we could load half a dozen 
more ships in the course of the season were they 
here*. 

'' It being a great object to establish the freedom and 
independence of the port on a solid foundation, I take 
the liberty of enclosing you copies of several regulations 
I have recently passed for the registry of land, the rules 
of the port, and the establishment of a local magistracy, 
in the hope that you will consider them applicable to the 
peculiar circumstances of Singapore. Land has already 
assumed a high value, and a few lots of about sixty feet 
front, in a convenient situation for mercantile purposes, 
realized at public sale upwards of fifty thousand dollars in 
the course of half an hour. Small lots in the outskirts of 
the town, of only eighteen feet front, are bought and sold 
by the Chinese as high as seventy or eighty dollars each, 

* It may be interesting to compare the relative trade at Singapore, 
Penang, and Malacca. The following is the value of the Exports and 
Imports in the year 1827-8 : — 



IMPORTS. 

Singapore. Penang. Malacca. 

dollars . dollars. dollars. 

14,885,999 6,437,042. 1,266,090 

VOL. II. 



EXPORTS. 

Singapore. Penang. Malacca. 

dollars. dollars. dollars. 

13,872,010. 5,586,707. 7,918,163. 



258 TRADE OF SINGAPORE. 

at the same time that they pay an annual quit rent of 
eight dollars to government. 

'' I have established a revenue^ without any tax what- 
ever on the trade^ which more than covers all civil dis- 
bursements^ and which must annually increase in foture 
years^ while these disbursements should remain the same. 

'^ I give you these outlines^ knowing how much interest 
you take in the settlement, and how satisfactory they will 
be to you. We yet remain without any accounts as to 
the final decision in Europe, but I cannot bring my mind 
to suppose that it will be unfavourable. 

^^ We have lately built a small bungalow on Singapore 
Hill, where, though the height is inconsiderable, we find a 
great difference of climate. Nothing can be more inte- 
resting and beautiful than the view firom this spot. I am 
happy to say the change has had a very beneficial effect 
on my health, which has been better during the last fort- 
night than I have known it for two years before. The 
tombs of the Malay kings, are, however, close at hand ; 
and I have settled that if it is my fate to die here, I shall 
take my place amongst them : this will, at any rate, be 
better than leaving one's bones at Bencoolen. If it please 
God, we still live in the hope of embarking for Europe 
towards the end of the year. 

'' I am laying out a botanic and experimental garden, and 
it would delight you to see how rapidly the whole country 
is coming under cultivation. My residence here has 
naturally given much confidence, and the extent of 



LETTEK TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 259 

the speculations entered into by the Chinese quite 
astonishes me.'* 

TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

" Singapore^ January 23, 1823. 

'^ Since I last wrote to your Grace, about a month ago, 
I have had another very severe attack in my head, which 
nearly proved fatal, and the Doctors were for hurrying 
xne on board ship for Europe without much ceremony. 
However, as I could not reconcile myself to become food for 
fishes, I preferred ascending the hUl of Singapore, where, if 
my bones must remain in the East, they would have the 
honour of mixing with the ashes of the Malayan kings ; and 
the result has been, that instead of dying, I have almost 
entirely recovered. I have built a very comfortable house, 
which is sufficient to accommodate my sister's family as 
well as our own ; and I only wish you were here but for 
half an hour, to enjoy the unequalled beauty and interest 
of the scene. My house, which is one hundred feet front, 
and fifty deep, was finished in a fortnight from its com^ 
mencement. When will your cottage be done ? 

" We have been a long time without news from Europe, 
and as yet have had no account of the arrival of our dear 
little girl. God grant she may have i^eached England in 
safety. She is now our only one, and any accident to this 
our last and only remaining hope and consolation, would 
be severe indeed. 

"We have recently discovered a companion for my 

s2 



260 MISSIONARIES A.T SINGAPORE. . 

great flower, in a noble orchideous plant, which will 
shortly be described by Mr. Finlayson and my firiend 
Dr. Wallich, the latter of whom has taken several growing 
specimens to Calcutta, in the hope of getting them to 
England. It grows parasiticaUy on rocks, or roots, in 
several of the islands in the Straits of Malacca, and the 
stems are as thick as a man's wrist, and firom six to ten 
feet long, without branches, at the extremity of which 
they produce abundance of leaves. But the wonder is, 
its magnificent inflorescence, which forms an erect spike 
six feet high, with upwards of one hundred large-spreading 
brown and white chequered fragrant flowers, between two 
and three inches in diameter." 



TO T. A HANKEY, ESQ., TREASURER TO THE LONDON 

MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 

Singapore, January 23, 1823. 



« 



" Dear Sir, 

" Since my return to Singapore, I have had occasion 
to notice the very zealous and successful exertions of the 
Rev. C. H. Thompson, settled at this place as a mission- 
ary in connexion with your Society. His acquirements in 
the Malay language are considerable, and he has succeeded 
in establishing a Malay school of from twenty to thirty 
pupils, several of whom he has converted to Christianity. 
He has also a small portable press, with Roman and Malay 
types. Considering his means and the circumstances of 
the place, he has already done more than could be ex- 



MISSIONARIES AT SINGAPORE. 261 

pected; and, at any rate, laid a good foundation for future 
labours. I have given the necessary permission for the erec- 
tion of a Malay chapel. 

" The proposal of a mission to Bali seems to me to 
deserve attention. The Dutch have no influence in that 
island, and Mahomedanism has made but little or no pro- 
gress in it. The population is estimated at between half 
a million and a million ; and I am not aware that a mis- 
sionary, properly qualified, would find many obstacles to 
his establishment. He should, however, in the first 
instance, come to Singapore to study the language, and 
become acquainted with the manners and character of the 
people. 'He must be content to suffer some privations, 
and to overcome some difliculties, at the outset; but if he 
has temper and a good constitution, the spirit of the good 
cause should carry him through it with satisfaction and 
credit." 



TO 



" Singapore, January 23, 1823. 

'' I am anxious to interest you in favour of our missionary 
labourers, and particularly in support of the Rev. C. H. 
Thomson, who is established here, in connexion with the 
London Missionary Society. His means have been very 
limited, but he has done a good deal, and is making a 
sure and steady progress. He has made several converts 
and established a very respectable school. 

** I have written home to the Secretary of the Society, 



262 RAPlb PROGRESS OF SINGAPORE. 

recommending their sending out to him two printing- 
presses. Pray support this recommendation, if you have 
any interest with the Society^ as I look with great confi- 
dence to the influence of a well-conducted press in this 
part of the East^ and the superintendence can never be 
better placed than in the hands of the missionaries. 
'^ We have also proposed a mission to Bali, and some 

other measures.*' 

» * ♦ ♦ * 

TO DR. WALLICH. 

" Singapore, February 8, 1823. 

" You would hardly know the south bank of the river 
again. From the point, as far as the small nullah> all is 
in active improvement. Messrs. Mackenzie, Napier, and 
Scott, Che Sang, and others, are building substantial ware- 
houses, according to an approved plan ; and two high- 
streets are forming from the river, through the centre of 
the Chinese town, to the sea. The bridge, too, is in great 
forwardness ; and in two months more the whole plan for 
that side of the water will be so far proceeded upon> that 
my successor cannot help following it up. 

''The botanic garden goes on well. I am now em- 
ployed in laying out the walks, and stones are collected 
for the foundation of a handsome rail- way round it. 

*' I shall soon become anxious about the arrangements 

of this place." 

***** 



LETTER TO DR. WALLIGH. 263 



TO 



" Singapore, February 26, 1823. 

" We are still without accounts respecting our dear 
little pne, although the papers announce the arrival of the 
Borneo, and letters as late as the 20th August have been 
received. 

" It is impossible that I can leave this place under its 
present circumstances. I have no one about me to put in 
charge of it, on whom I could rely. I have had, and stiU 
have, much to do in remodelling almost everything, so 
that my time is ftiUy taken up, and the days pass more 
quickly than I expected. Thank God, both Sophia and 
I keep our health much better than we expected, and we 
only pray that we may so continue till the end of the 
year; then, if it pleases God, we wiU make an attempt to 
join you in the land of our fathers." 

TO DR. WALLICH. 

^ Singapore, March 8, 1823. 
" My DEAR Friend, 

" I snatch a few minutes to thank you for your 
kind and welcome letter of the 10th of January, and con- 
gratulate you most sincerely on your return to the bosom 
of your family, and the delights of your second Eden. 

" It will be satisfactory to you to learn, that notwith- 
standing the delays attending the wet season, my job 
here is nigh accomplished, the ground being raised as far 



264 ABOLITION OF SLAVKKY AT 81N6APORK. 

as the small nullah^ and the new warehouses rising in 
every direction. 

" Your principles are too pure, and your heart too 
warm, to encounter the shafts of ridicule, which envy and 
malice may fling at you. These are the weapons of the 
heartless and unprincipled — of those who have no sym- 
pathy with the feelings of others, no consideration for their 
happiness, no common feelings for the common benefit of 
mankind. Never mind, magna est Veritas et prevalebit, 
and truth is virtue. You must recollect my warning. 
We live in a strange world. Unfortunately in the poU- 
tical part of it we are often obliged to smother feelings. 
This I say in my own defence, lest you should think I do 
not sufficiently espouse your cause. My heart and soul 
are with you and for you, and therefore you may judge 
how I feel. 

" The magistrates have commenced operations with 
great prudence and judgment; their first presentation 
was upon the arrangement of the town. 

" The second came in yesterday in the shape of a me- 
morial against slavery — the slave-master and slave-debtor 
system — which seems to have been permitted here to an 
unlimited extent. I have not yet finally decided upon 
the question, but I am much inclined to think the wisest 
and safest plan will be to do in this as I did in the lands, 
annul all that has gone before. This establishment was 
formed long after the enactments of the British legisla- 
tifre, which made it felony to import slaves into a British 



SINGAPORE INSTITUTION. 265 

colony, and both importers and exporters are alike guilty, 
to say nothing of the British authority who countenanced 
the trade. The acknowledgment of slavery in any shape 
in a settlement like Singapore, founded on principles so 
diametrically opposed to the admission of such a practice, 
is an anomaly in the constitution of the place, which 
cannot, I think, be allowed to exist. But of this more 
hereafter. 

'^ I am now in negociation with Dr. Morrison for the 
transfer of the Anglo-Chinese College from Malacca to 
this place, and its union with my proposed Malay College, 
under the general designation of the ^Singapore Insti- 
tution.' * * * * 

" I notice your request about my book (History of 
Java), and shall most heartily and willingly meet your 
wishes. The book itself was a hasty performance, and I 
have often been ashamed of it ; but the true circum- 
stances under which it was written are stated in the pre- 
face, and all the world must know that I am no book- 
maker. 

" I shall write to your excellent friend General Hard- 
wicke by the present opportunity, if I can snatch a few 
moments of time. I feel most grateful for his kind and 
generous attachment, and I beseech you to say, from me 
to him, all and everything that with such feelings I ought 
to say. I have indeed a warm and affectionate regard for 
him, and to tell you the truth, I love you both ; and what 
can I say more?*' 



266 ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIVfi COLLEGE. 



TO 



*« Singapore, April 14, 1823. 

'' Yesterday brought us our letters and packets up to 
the 30th of August^ and truly satisfactory have they been 
to us. The accounts of our dear child^ the welfare of all* 
have been most gratifying, and we return thanks to God 
for the blessings we have received. 

" I have lately had two or three severe attacks, but am 
getting over them^ and Sophia is improving. She is to be 
confined in October, and in January we hope to start for 
England. 

'^I am anxiously looking out for Crawford to take 
charge here, that I may proceed to Bencoolen, where my 
presence is urgently required, Mackenzie, my deputy, 
having been obliged to fly on account of ill health. I 
hope to be there by June. 

'' I have had two very kind letters fix)m Mr. Edward 
Parry and Mr. Money, pledging themselves to support 
my claims. 

" I am now engaged with my valuable friend Dr. Mor- 
rison, of China, in rearing and establishing an institution 
at Singapore, for the cultivation of Chinese and Malayan 
literature, and for the moral and intellectual improvement 
of the Archipelago, and the surrounding countries. It 
will be my last public act. Singapore continues to thrive 
and expand." 



LETTER TO DR. WALLICH. 267 



TO DR. WALLICH. 



«( 



Singapore, April 17, 1823. 

" My health is upon the whole much the same as when 
you left us — ^not over good at any time, and at others 
miserable ; nevertheless, I hold up with a good heart, and 
again feel some confidence that I may last out the year. 
More I dare not risk in these climes. 

'^ I have just established an Institution which will, I am 
sure, give you satisfaction. The particulars I shaU here- 
after communicate, not having time at present. The 
object is the cultivation of Chinese and Malayan Ute- 
rature, with the improvement of the moral and intellectual 
condition of the people. The Anglo-Chinese College at 
Malacca is to be removed here, and united with a Malay 
College, and both form parts of the Institution, which has 
a scientific department, and places for professors in natu- 
ral philosophy, &c. &c. I have put poor Finlayson's 
name down for the latter, partly as a just compliment I 
wished to pay him, and partly to raise the character of our 
Institution, by associating so creditable a name with it. I 
have also taken the liberty of naming you as a trustee. 

'^We have about 20,000 dollars in funds, and have 
voted 15,000 for the buildings. The site is fixed upon near 
the beach, and the plan and appearance will be very re- 
spectable. 

" I trust in God this Institution may be the means of 
civilizing and bettering the condition of millions ; it has 
not been hastily entered into, nor have its possible ad- 



268 KSTABLISUMENT OF A NATIVE COLLEGE. 

vantages been over-rated. Our field is India beyond the 
Ganges^ including the Malayan Archipelago, Australasia, 
China, Japan, and the islands in the Pacific Ocean — ^by 
far the most populous half of the world ! Do not, my 
dear friend, think that I am led to it by a vain ambition 
of raising a name — ^it is an act of duty and gratitude only. 
In these countries has my little independence been gained. 
In these countries have I passed the most valuable, if not, 
perhaps, the whole period of my public life. I am linked 
to them by many a bitter, many a pleasant tie. It is here 
that I think I may have done some little good, and in- 
stead of frittering away the stock of zeal and means that 
may yet be left me in objects for which I may not be 
fitted, I am anxious to do all the good I can here, where 
experience has proved to me that my labours will not be 
thrown away. lU health forces me to leave Singapore, 
before even the material arrangements are made for its 
prosperity ; but in providing for its moral improvement, I 
look to its more certain and permanent advance. Would 
that Icould infrise into the Institution a portion of that 
spirit and soul by which I would have it animated, as 
easily as I endow it with lands, &c. It will long be in its 
infancy, and to arrive at maturity will require all the aid 
of friends and constant support. It is my last public act, 
and rise or fall, it will always be a satisfactory reflection, 
that I have done my best towards it. I pray you be- 
friend it. 
. " Adieu — I am called to breakfast, and have written this 



RESOLUTIONS 0¥ THE BENGAL GOVERNMENT. 269 

random letter with so much haste and inattention, that you 
will hardly make it out. 

I remain, now and for ever, 
'^ Yours, most devotedly and affectionately, 

'' T. S. E." 

The following resolutions of the Bengal Government, 
on Sir Stamford's leaving Singapore, were very satisfac- 
tory to him. 

*'Fort miliam, March 29, 1823. 

" The first question for consideration is the nature of 
the control to be exercised henceforward over the affairs 
of Singapore,* and the proceedings of the local Resident. 
The arrangement under which that trust was vested in 
the Lieutenant-Governor of Fort Marlborough originated 
in the circumstances under which the settlement was 
founded, and the temporary convenience resulting from 
it will cease with the relinquishment of the charge by Sir 
Stamford Baffles, under whose immediate direction the 
settlement was estabUshed, and whose personal super- 
intendence of it, in its early stage, therefore possessed a 
peculiar value. 

'' It would seem more naturally to fall within the range 
of the government of Penang, but there are objections of 
a different kind to that arrangement. There is a general 
impression that the prosperity of Singapore must in a 
great degree be attended with a proportionate deteriora- 



270 RESOLUTIONS OF THE BENGAL GOVBRNMENT. 

tion of Penmg. As fiur as the informatioii fomislied by 
the records of the custom-house at the latter place affords 
the means of judging^ it would not appear that this has 
yet been the case ; but there is no doubt that the feeling 
prevails among the inhabitants of both settlements gene- 
rally, and without supposing that it reaches the Govern- 
ment^ or that if it did, it would bias theur conduct, there 
seems no such advantage to be contemplated in rendering 
Singapore dependent on Penang, as to justify the risk of 
injury to the interests of the rising establishment, from the 
direct or incidental consequences of such an arrangement. 
The system of government, and the principles of commer- 
cial policy prevailing at the two settlements are moreover 
radically different, and it is not reasonable to expect that 
each could be administered under the direction of a 
subordinate and limited authority with equal effect. 

" On the occasion of relieving Sir Stamford Baffles 
from the superintendence of Singapore, the Governor- 
General in Council deems it an act of justice to that 
gentleman, to record his sense of the activity, zeal, judg- 
ment, and attention to the principles prescribed for the 
management of the settlement, which has marked his con- 
duct in the execution of that duty. 

'' On placing Mr. Crawfiird in charge of the settlement 
of Singapore, you wiU be plesused to communicate with 
him iuUy on aU points, and iumish him with such instruc- 
tions as you may deem necessary for carrying into efiect 
the orders which are now communicated to you, in reply 



PRINCIPLES OP THE GOVERNMENT AT SINGAPORE. 271 

to your several despatches relative to the affairs of that 
settlement." 

Sir Stamford framed a short code of laws and regula- 
tions for the preservation of peace and good order, in a 
settlement which existed for upwards of five years entirely 
on his responsibility, and the confidence reposed in him 
individually ; from this responsibility neither the Bengal 
Government nor the Court of Directors would relieve 
him ; yet trade increased greatly, and population collected 
rapidly, in the confidence he inspired. A short extract 
from Sir Stamford's Report to the Bengal Government, 
on these Laws and Begulations, will show the reasons 
which influenced him, and the principles on which he 
kcted : — 

" First, I have declared that the port of Singapore is a 
free port, and the trade thereof open to ships and vessels 
of every nation, free of duty, equally and aUke to all. 

'' I am satisfied that nothing has tended more to the 
discomfort and constant jarrings which have hitherto oc- 
curred in our remote settlements, than the policy which 
(has dictated the exclusion of the European merchants 
from all share, much less credit, in the domestic regula- 
tion of the settlement^ of which they are frequently its 
most important members. Some degree of legislative 
power must necessarily exist in every distant dependency. 
The laws of the mother-country cannot be commensurate 



272 PRINCIPLES OF THE GOVERNMENT AT SINGAPORE. 

with the wants of the dependency : it has wants of which 
a remote legislature can very imperfectly judge^.and which 
are sometimes too urgent to admit the delay of reference. 

'^ It may be expected that I should explain the grounds 
on which I have felt myself authorised to go^ even as tdx 
as I have done, in legislating, and constituting a power of 
legislating provisionally for Singapore^ and at the same 
time state the mode in which I consider the legislative 
and judicial branch of the public administration can be 
best provided for, in any permanent arrangement to be 
made by the authorities at home. 

'' I shall briefly state that an actual and urgent necea- 
sity existed for some immediate and provisional arrange- 
ments ; and that, in adopting those which I have establishr 
ed, it has been my endeavour^ while I gave all due weight 
to local considerations, to adhere, as closely as possible, to 
those principles, which^ from immemorial usage, have ever 
been considered the most essential and sacred parts of 
the British constitution. The peculiar tenure on which 
Singapore is at present politically held, the unusual de- 
gree of responsibility still resting on me personally, and 
the actual circumstances under which a large population 
and extensive capital have accumulated under my admi- 
nistration, naturally called upon me to adopt all such pro- 
visional measures as necessity might dictate. More than 
this I have not attempted; and I should have but ill 
frilfilled the high and important trust reposed in me, if, 

ft 

after haying congregated so large a portion of my fellow- 



APPOINTMENT OF MAGISTRATES. 273 

creatures^ I had left them without something like law and 
regulation for their security and comfort." 

With these views and feelings Sir Stamford selected 
twelve of the most respectable merchants^ and appointed 
them to act as magistrates for one year. A list was 
ordered to be kept of persons eligible for the magistracy, 
from whom and the ex-magistrates the Resident was in 
future to appoint twelve annually. Two of these magis- 
trates were to sit with the Resident in court, to decide in 
civil and criminal cases ; and two were to act in rotation 
each week for the minor duties of this office. Juries were 
to consist either of five Europeans, or four Europeans 
and three respectable natives. In criminal cases the jury 
might be either purely European, or purely native. 

The Resident's Court was to assemble once a week, the 
Magistrates' twice, but their office was to be open daily. 

It will be evident that this simple arrangement, which 
had never before been attempted, is well adapted to bring 
the ignorant natives acquainted with a knowledge of right 
principles of action, and to inspire them with respect for 
those who thus administered justice; but Sir Stamford 
did not rest satisfied with the mere enaction of punish- 
ment, his object was also the prevention of crime, an 
equal or even more important duty of a legislator : with 
this view, gambling and cock-fighting were prohibited, 
and declared to be illegal ; the persons found to have con- 
ducted a gaming-table or cock-pit wer^ liable to the con-« 

VOL. n. T 



274 APPROVAL OF SIR STAMFORD'S REGULATIONS. 

fiseation of their property, and banishment frmn the 
settlement^ and no gaming debts could be recognised by 
the magistrates, but the winners were to be compelled to 
restore the amount to the losers. 

The Bengal Government highly approved of this effort 
to check the vicious propensities of the natives ; Imt after 
Sir Stamford's return to England, Mr. Crawfurd, whom 
he had placed in charge of the settlement, anxious to raise 
a revenue at any cost, established Government licenses 
for indulgence in both these vices, and they were in con- 
sequence farmed out to the highest bidder. The Grand 
Jury soon gave a proof that Sir Stamford judged wisely 
in employing European merchants as guardians of the 
public peace and morals ; for on the assembling of the 
Court of Judicature, they presented a bill against such 
a public sanction of vice, as appearing to them deeply to 
affect the interest of the community of Singapore ; stating 
that '' the subject which they (the Grand Jury) presented 
is one to which they advert with some degree of delicacy, 
because they are aware that two opinions exist on the sub- 
ject ; and, secondly, because it is a source of revenue to 
the Honourable Company. However, as only one senti- 
ment prevails in the minds of the Grand Juxors with 
regard to the propriety or expediency of licensing public 
gambling-houses, they consider it would be a dereliction 
of their duty were they not to present the- system as, in 
their opinion, fraught with considerable evil to the com- 
munity. To them it appears as detrimental to the secuinty 



APPROVAL OF SIR STAMFORD's REGULATIONS. 275 

of property, to the peace and good order of the settlement, 
and to the moral character of the lower classes of its 
inhabitants^ as it is repugnant to the laws of their country. 
They do not deem it necessary to enter into any lengthened 
arguments to prove the truth of this proposition. Suffice 
it to observe, that their opinion is formed on the experi- 
ence of this settlement for the last five years; and that of 
fourteen bills of indictment, which have been preferred 
during the present sitting of the Grand Jury, no less 
than tlffee of the offences originated in, or were connected 
with, public gambling-houses." 

The Recorder stated, " There is no doubt but that gam- 
bling-houses are public nuisances at common law, and 
indictable as such. It was not at all necessary for you to 
have stated in your Presentment, that you felt any delicacy 
on the subject because the gambling-houses in Singapore 
were a source of revenue to the Government. You have 
done no more than your duty in presenting them," &e. 
It appears that this vicious system of legalizing vice 
amongst the lower orders of society has in consequence 
been given up, and Sir Stamford's original laws and regu- 
lations enforced. Above all, it must not be forgotten that 
Sir Stamford declared, " As the condition of slavery,, under 
any denomination whatever, cannot be recognised within 
the jurisdiction of the British authority, all persons who 
Kiay have been so imported, transferred, or sold as slaves 
or slave-debtors, since the 29th day of February,. 1819i. 
are entitled to claim their freedom, on application to the^ 

t2 



276 ADDRESS OF THE MERCHANTS OF SINGAPORE. 

registrar^ as hereafter provided ; and it is hereby declared 
that no individual can hereafter be imported for sale; 
transferred or sold as a slave or slave-debtor, or, having 
his or her fixed residence under the protection of the British 
authorities at Singapore, can hereafter be considered or 
treated as a slave, under any denomination, condition, 
colour, or pretence whatever. 

" Hereafter, a continued residence of twelve months at 
Singapore shall be considered to constitute a fixed resi- 
dence, and to entitle the party to all the benefits of the 
British administration." 

Sir Stamford had the gratification to receive from those 
best qualified to appreciate the commercial advantages of 
Singapore, the following address on hb departure ftom the 
settlement. His feelings are, however, best expressed in 
his replies, which are annexed. 

Address of the Merchants of Singapore ^ on the occasion of 
the departure of the Honourable Sir T. S. Raffles in 1823. 

" to the honourable sir t. s. raffles. 
*' Honourable Sir, 

" It is with peculiar satisfaction that I find myself 
made the channel of conveying to you the thanks and 
acknowledgments of the mercantile community of Singa- 
pore, a body distinguished for good sense and discrimina- 
tion, and who have at once felt the benefits of your rule 
and enjoyed the best means of appreciating your exertions. 
It is scarcely necessary for myself, who have for so many 



ADDRESS OF THE MERCHANTS OF SINGAPORE. 277 

years had the advantage of your confidence and friend- 
ship, and 'the honour of serving under your government, 
to say how cordially I join in all the sentiments expressed 
in the address, and I shall only take this opportunity, 
when we are on the point of being separated by a long 
interval of time and place, to renew to you the assurance 
of my affectionate attachment to your person, and my 
respect and esteem for your public talents. 

" I remain, with sincere regard, 

" Your faithful and obedient Servant, 

(Signed) "J. Crawfurd, 

" Resident'' 
" Singapore, June 5, 1823." 

" to sir t. s. raffles, lieutenant-governor of 

fort marlborough. 

" Honourable Sir, 

" The period of your approaching and final de- 
parture is one of peculiar interest to the commercial 
community of this place, and we the undersigned mem- 
bers of it gladly seize the opportunity which it affords us 
of indulging in the expression of those feelings towards 
your person which the occasion is so well calcidated to 
excite. 

" At such a moment we cannot be suspected of pane- 
gyric, when we advert to the distinguished advantages 
which the commercial interests of our nation at large, and 
ourselves more especially, have derived from your personal 



278 ADDRESS OF THE MERCHANTS OF SINOAPOEB. 

exertions. To your unwearied zeal^ your vigilance, and 
yoiur comprehensive views, we owe at once the foundation 
and maintenance of a settlement unparalleled for the 
liberality of the principles on which it has been esta- 
blished : principles, the operation of which has converted, 
in a period short beyond all example, a haunt of pirates 
into the abode of enterprize, security, and opulence. 

*' While we acknowledge our own peculiar obligations 
to you, we reflect at the same time with pride and satis- 
faction upon the active and beneficent means by which 
you have promoted and patronized the diffusion of intel- 
lectual and moral improvement, and we anticipate, with 
confidence, their happy influence in advancing the cause 
of humanity and civilization. 

'' We cannot take leave of the author of so many 

benefits without emotion, or without expressing our 

sorrow for the loss of his protection and his society. 

Accept, Sir, we beseech you, without distinction of tribe 

or nation, the expression of our sincere respect and 

esteem, and be assured of the deep interest we shall ever 

take in your own prosperity, as well as in the happiness 

of those who are most tenderly related to you. 

" We remain, with the deepest respect, 

" Your most obedient Servants. 

{Signed by the European and Native Merchants 

of Singapare,'] 
** Singapore, June 5ih, 1823." 



REPLY TO MR. CRAWFURD. 279 

TO JOHN CRAWFURD^ ESQ. RESIDENT OF SINGAPORE. 

" Sir, — I have had the honour to receive your letter with 
the address from the mercantile community of Singapore, 
and you will oblige me by submitting to that highly re- 
spectable body the accompanying reply. 

" My experience enables me to bear ample testimony 
to the disinterestedness and honour of the principal 
merchants of Singapore, European and Native, and while 
it is a high satisfaction to me to find such truly respect- 
able establishments formed in the early period of the 
settlement, it can be no less a proportionate gratification 
to me personally to receive from men so distinguished, so 
unexpected an expression of their public opinion in favour 
of the measures which I have felt it my duty to adopt for 
the general prosperity of the place. 

" The sentiments of respect and attachment which you 
are pleased to express towards my person are most grate- 
fill to my feelings, and while I thank you most sincerely 
for the kind and handsome manner in which you have 
conveyed them, you must allow me in return to wish you 
iall prosperity in the discharge of the important duties to 
which you are now called, and for which you are so highly 
and eminently qualified, and at the same time that you 
may enjoy all happiness and comfort in your social and 
domestic circle. 

" With an affectionate and sincere regard, 

" Believe me, yours truly, 
(Signed) " T. S. Raffles/' 

** Singapore, June 9th, 1823.** 



280 reply to thb merchants of 81noafors. 

to alexander morgan, esq. and other european and 
native merchants of singapore. 

" Gentlemen, 

'* Mr. Crawfiird has delivered to me the address 
which you have so kindly and delicately drawn up on the 
occasion of my departure. 

" Under the peculiar circumstances of my personal 
connexion with the establishment of Singapore, it is im* 
possible to suppose that I can be indifferent to any of its 
interests, far less to its commercial interests, of which I 
consider you to be the representatives. 

" It has happily been consistent with the policy of 
Oreat Britain, and accordant with the principles of the 
East India Company, that Singapore should be esta- 
bUshed as a Free Port ; that no sinister, no sordid view, 
no considerations either of political importance or pecu- 
niary advantage, should interfere with the broad and 
liberal principles on which the British interests have 
been established. Monopoly and exclusive privileges, 
against which public opinion has long raised its voice, are 
here unknown ; and while the free Port of Singapore is 
allowed to continue and prosper, as it hitherto has done, 
the policy and UberaUty of the East India Company, by 
whom the settlement was founded, and under whose pro- 
tection and control it is stiU administered, can never be 
disputed. 

" That Singapore will long and always remain a free 
Port, and that no taxes on trade or industry will be 
established to check its fixture .rise and prosperity, I can 



RtePLY TO THE MERCHANTS OF SINGAPORE. 281 

have no doubt. I am justified in saying thus rnuch^ on 
the authority of the Supreme Government of India^ and 
on the authority of those who are most likely to have 
weight in the councils of our nation at home. 

'' For the public and peculiar mark of respect which 
you. Gentlemen, have been desirous of showing me on the 
occasion of my departure from the settlement, I beg that 
you will accept my most sincere thanks. I know the feel- 
ing which dictated it, I acknowledge the delicacy with 
which it has been conveyed, and I prize most highly the 
gratifying terms to me personally in which it has been 
expressed. 

" During my residence among you, it has afforded me 
the highest satisfaction to witness the prudence, the regu- 
larity, the honourable character of your proceedings ; and 
when I quit you for other lands, I shall be proud to bear 
testimony in your favour, not only as your due, but a^ the 
best proof of the sure and certain result which the adop- 
tion of liberal and enlightened principles on the part of 
Government must alwaj'^s ensure. 

" There are some among you. Gentlemen, who had to 
encounter difficulties on the first establishment of the 
freedom of the Port, and against whom party spirit and 
its concomitant, partial judgment, was allowed for a time 
to operate. In the commanding station in which my 
public duty has placed me, I have had an opportunity of, 
in a great measure, investigating and determining the 
merits of the case, and the result renders it a duty on my 



282 REPLY TO THE MERCHANTS OF SINGAPORE. 

part, and which I perfonn with much satisfaction, to ex- 
press my most unqualified approbation of the honourable 
principles which actuated the merchants of Singapore on 
that occasion. 

'' I am not aware. Gentlemen, that I have done any of 
you a favour ; that is to say, that I have done to any man 
amongst you that which I would not have done to his 
neighbour, or more than what my duty required of me, 
acting, as I have done, on the liberal and enlightened 
principles authorized by my superiors. My best endea- 
vours have not been wanting to establish such principles* 
and to sketch such outlines, as have appeared to me 
necessary for the future prosperity of the settlement; and 
in doing this it has been most satis&ctory to me to have 
found in you that ready concurrence, and at all times that 
steady support, which was essential to my government 
and authority. 

" May you. Gentlemen, English and Native, and as 
the language of your address expresses it, without class 
or distinction, long continue in the honourable and dis- 
tinguished course which you have so happily commenced, 
and may the principles which you respect and act upon 
long distinguish you among the merchants of the East 

" I can never forget that the Singapore Institution 
could not have been founded without your aid. The 
liberal manner in which you came forward, to spare from 
your hard earnings so large a portion for the improve- 
ment and civilization of the surrounding tribes, and in the 






BMBARKS FOR BENCOOLEN. 283 

fortberance of general knowledge and science, would at 
once stamp the character of the Singapore merchant, 
even if it did not daily come forward on more ostensible 
occasions. 

"I am most grate&l for the kind expression of your 
personal regards to me, and those who may be dear to 
me ; and, in return, beg you will accept my most sincere 
and heartfelt wishes for your health, comfort, and pros- 
perity. 

" I have the honour to be. Gentlemen, 
'' Your's most faithfully, 

(Signed) *^ T. S. Kaffles." 

** Singapore, June 9th, 1823. 

Sir Stamford now returned to Bencoolen, and on the 

voyage wrote the letters from which the following are 

extracts : — 

TO . 

" Off Borneo, June 12, 1823. 

" Having placed Crawfurd in charge of Singapore, and 
sailed from thence on the 9th instant, we are thus far on 
our return to Bencoolen, being under the necessity of 
touching at Batavia on the way, the ship having goods to 
land there. Don't alarm yourself at this last intimation, 
for I am most peaceably inclined, and do not intend to 
land. 

" You will hear from Bengal that all my proceedings 
and plans at Singapore have been approved ; that Craw- 
furd has been appointed Resident immediately under the 



284 EMBARKS FOR BBNCOOLEN. 

Bengal Government. This is exactly what I wished ; and 
I 'am happy to say everything has turned out to my entire 
satisfaction. 

'* I have not, as you may suppose, remained at Singa- 
pore eight months for nothing; two-thirds of the time 
have, no doubt, been spent in pain and annoyance, from 
the dreadful head-aches I am doomed to suffer in this 
country, but the remaining third has been actively em- 
ployed. 

'^ I have had everything to new-moiUd from first to 
last ; to introduce a system of energy, purity, and en- 
couragement ; to remove nearly all the inhabitants, and 
to re-settle them; to line out towns, streets, and roads; 
to level the high and fill up the low lands ; to give pro- 
perty in the soil and rights to the people ; to lay down 
principles, and sketch institutions for the domestic order 
and comfort of the place, as well as its Aiture character 
and importance ; to look for a century or two beforehand, 
and provide for what Singapore may one day become, by 
the adoption of all such measures of forecast as reason 
and experience can suggest. 

" That I have not forgotten the moral interests and 
character of the settlement, the establishment of the Sin- 
gapore Institution will be the best proof. I have given it 
as free a constitution as possible ; and Singapore is now, 
perhaps, the only place in India where slavery cannot 
exist. 



J 



LETTER TO DR. RAFFLES. 285 

" Sophia bears up very well. We expect to reach Ben- 
coolen by the 10th of July." 

TO THE REV. DR. RAFFLES. 

** At Sea, of the Coast of Borneo, June I4tk, 1823. 
" My dear Cousin, 

*^ We left Singapore on the 9th, and are thus far 
on our return to Bencoolen, with the intention of touching 
at Batavia on the way. My time was so fully occupied 
while closing my administration at Singapore, that I really 
had it not in my power to sit down, as I ought to have 
done, to thank you most sincerely for your letter announc- 
ing the arrival of our dear little Ella; it was the first 
account we received, and I need not attempt to express 
the joy and gladness which it diffused throughout our 
domestic circle. Sophia's patience was almost tired out, 
and the news has given her almost a new Ufe. I am sorry 
that I have been obliged to leave Singapore before the 
printing of the papers on the formation of the Singapore 
Institution was completed. Printing in this country is, 
indeed, .most . tedious and expensive work. I have left 
ordiers that several copies be sent to you by the very first 
opportunity, , and you will perceive that I have put your- 
name down as a llrustee. I laid the foundation-stone of 
the buildings three days before I embarked. 

" Mr. Crawfurd is now the Resident of Singapore ; and, 
in anticipation of my return to Europe at the end of the 
year, I have resigned all further charge of the place. It 



286 LKTTKR TO DR. WALUCH. 

is a most promising settlement, and is fast realizing my 
most sanguine views reg^ding it 

" We have under oiur charge for Europe my sister Mary 
Anne's little boy Charles, and are thinking of prepara- 
tions for the voyage home, which, with the blessing of 
God, we hope to commence with the new year, touching 
at the Cape and at St. Helena on the way, so as to be 
with you in May or June. My hesdth has now become 
worse, but Sophia s is much improved. 

" You know by experience the misery of ship-board, and 
will, therefore, not expect that I should, in such a situation, 
write you a very long and interesting letter. I write these 
few lines with a very unsteady hand and giddy head ; but 
as I may have a chance of sending them by some vessel 
about to sail from Batavia, I am unwilling to lose the op* 
portunity of writing at all.*' 

TO DR. WALUCH. 

" At Seot of the Coast qfBameo^ Jtdy^ 1823. 

" My dear Friend, 

'* It is quite an age since we heard from you, 
and we have been somewhat disappointed in not receiving 
a line from you by Crawfurd, or, at any rate, by the ship 
in which he came down. He, however, brought Soplua 
your bottle of ether, which has proved that you did not 
forget us : accept our best thanks for it. 

'' It will, I am sure, be satisfiEustory to you to know that 
all my arrangements have been approved in Bengal, and 



LETTER TO DR. WALLICH. 287 

that I have cause to be highly satisfied with the consi- 
derate attention and support which I have uniformly met 
with from Mr. Adams's Government. They appear to 
have entered into> and fully understood my views, and, 
what is more, folly appreciated them. I placed Crawfurd 
in full charge before my departure. 

''I give you this parish news, because I am confident it 
will interest you, and be at the same time satisfactory to 
you to know, that however annoyed I may have been for 
a time, the close of my administration at Singapore has 
been just what I wished. 

'^ You will probably hear much of my College, and the 
laws of the former ; the pamphlet now in the press will 
give you all information, and of the latter I have not time 
to enter into the details. It was impossible that, after 
collecting together so great a population, and so much 
wealth as is now accumulated at Singapore, I could, with 
any satisfaction to myself, leave the place without esta- 
blishing something like law and regulation. The consti- 
tution which I have given to Singapore is certainly the 
purest and most Hberal in India ; but this, perhaps, is not 
saying much for it. 

" I left Singapore on the 9th instant. I am forced to 
touch at Batavia on my way to Bencoolen, very much 
against my will ; but the Captain has goods to land, and 
no other opportunity was likely to oflTer of getting round. 
Hie Dutch win be a Httle astonished, but I cannot help 
it ; I do not intend to land. 



288 LETTER TO DR. WALLICH. 

"You will be gratified to hear, that although I was 
dreadfully harassed and fagged before leaving Singapore, 
I feel no ill effects firom it, and now do not have a dreadful 
head-ache above once or twice a-week, instead of for two or 
three da^s together as heretofore. Lady Baffles also 
bears the voyage better than I expected; and upon the 
whole we have great cause to be thankful for the compa- 
ratively tolerable health we now enjoy. So that I hope 
we may yet last out till the end of the year, after which it 
would be madness to attempt to hold out in this country. 

" Write me fully and frequently to Bencoolen, and say 
what I can but do for you at home. God bless you, my 
dear friend ; and that you may enjoy health and prosperity 
is the ardent wish of your most affectionate friend.*' 

TO DR. WALLtCH. 

" Java Sea8, July 20» 1823. 
." My dear Friend, 

'' Before we arrive at Batavia, where recollections 
of the past and change of scene may occupy my whole 
attention, let me remind you of two or three Utile things 
in which I require your good offices. First and foremost 
stands my desire to obtain for Sir Everard Home the 
foetus of the tiger, lion, whale, rhinoceros, &c. &c. 

"In the next place, a particular description of the 

Jackia formosa, and memorandum for the life or memoir 

* 

of our departed friend, to be completed with the assistance 
of his brother. 



ARRIVAL AT BATAVIA. 289 

- 1 Wish you to send me drawings of all the varieties of 
nutmegs in your possession. I shaU have much to say 
respecting the cultivation of the nutmeg at Bencoolen^ and 
it would be interesting to enliven the description with an 
account of the natural growth^ habitude^ &c. I have 
already a large collection, upwards often varieties. 

'^ I enclose you my decision on the slave question. Do 
not forget the dwarf bull and cow to Bencoolen before 
I go. 

*' Adieu, my good friend, and God bless you and yours." 



TO 



** Batavia Roads, June 28, 1823. 

" We arrived here on the 25th. Sophia was taken on 
shore on the same day, and is now under the hospitable roof 
of Macquoid, where she is gaining health and strength to 
enable her to get through the remainder of the voyage. 
This is Saturday, and we hope to be off on Tuesday 
morning. 

" For myself, I remain on board according to the reso- 
lution I took on embarking. I have, however, had an 
opportunity of seeing all the English gentlemen, and have 
no particular cause to regret the necessity which forced us 
to touch here, as I have been able to see the sort of material 
of which the Dutch Governor General is made. I deemed 
it respectM and proper to send Nilson on shore, telling 
him, I was in the roads, and that Sophia would land on 
account of her health ; but that it was neither my wish 

VOL. TI. u 



290 GORRESPONDENCB WITH BARON VAN DER GAPELLEN. 

nor intention to land. His surprise and apprehension, 
however, on the occasion were such that he would not ask 
Nilson a single question, but returned an answer to my 
note verbally by Maoquoid. 

" In the evening, however, he thought a written acknow- 
ledgment necessary. Had Bonaparte returned to life, 
and anchored in the Downs, it would not have excited 
greater agitation in England, than my arrival has 
done here, though the sensation might have been 
very different. Here fear and apprehension are every- 
thing, and to these all courtesy, principle, and interest 
give way. 

" I send you the correspondence which has taken place 
on the subject, as it is rather amusing." 

No. I. 

TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE BARON VAN DER CAPELLEN. 

" Tuesday Evening, 

'' Sir, 

" I have the honour to inform your Excellency of 
my arrival in Batavia Roads, in the ship Hero of Malown, 
in which I am returning to Bencoolen, being under the 
necessity of touching at this port, for the purpose of land- 
ing some consignments from Bengal. 

" I trust our detention will not exceed twp or three days ; 
but as Lady Raffles is in a very delicate state of health 
and suffers much at sea, the advantage of going on shore 
will be a great relief to her. 



BARON CAPELLEN*S LETTER TO T. S. RAFFLES. 291 

"Captain Hull, of my personal staff, will have the 
honour of delivering this letter. 

" I have the honour to be, 

with the highest consideration, &c. &e. 
(Signed) " T. S. Raffles." 

No. II. 

TO MR. L£ CHEV. THOS. S. RAFFLES. 

" BataviOt Jtdn 25, 1823. 

'' Monsieur, 

" J'ai requ avec une extreme surprise la lettre 
que M. le Capitaine Hull m'a remise de votre part. 

" J'ai charge M. Macquoid de vous donner verbalement 
ma r^onse, et ne doute point qu il ne s'acquitte avec 
exactitude de cette commission. 

" Je veux cependant ajouter encore k ce qu'il vous dira 
de ma part, que j*^tois loin de m^attendre k vous voir 
arriver k Bafavia apres tout ce qui a eu lieu depuis 
1818. 

"Vous ne pouviez ignorer. Monsieur, qu'une pareiUe 
visite, que vous auriez pu eviter, ne pent que m'fetre ex- 
trSmement desagr6able. 

" L'indisposition de Madame Raffles est cependant un 
motif que je respecte trop pour m'opposer a votre sejour 
k Batavia pendant quelques jours. 

" Je regrette. Monsieur, de ne pouvoir, apres tout ce 
qui a eu lieu, vous acciieillir, comme je me fais toujours 
un devoir et plaisir de recevoir les fonctionnaires d*un 

v2 



292 CORSE8PONDENCE WITH BARON VAN DEB CAPELLEN. 

Gouvemement si intimement lie avec celui que j'ai VIioti- 
neur de repreEenter ici. 

"Voua connoissez trop bienl'etat des choees. Monsieur, 
pour ce que j'ai besoin de vous obeerrer, que toute com- 
munication ou entrevue personneUe entre nous doit Hie 
^vitae. Je ne pourrais que r^peter de nouveau toute la 
B^rie de plaintes que j'ai cru de mon devoir d'adresser i 
mon Gouvernoment comme k vdtre, depuis plusieurs 
ann^es, centre un grand nombre de vos actions dirigees 
contre les int^r^ts de mon Souverain ; one pareille com- 
munication n'ofirirait aucun i^rement ni pour vous ni pour 
rooi-mSmo. 

" J'ai I'honneuT d'etre, &c. 
(Signed) " Van Der Capelikn." 

No. III. 

TO HIS EXCELLENCV BARON VAN DER CAPELLEN. 

" On board the Hero o/Malown, Batavia Roadi, 
Thursday morning. 
" Sir, 

"Your Excellency's letter was delivered to me 
during the night. 

" I am Borry that what was intended merely as a mark 
of respect, should have given rise to the extreme surprise 
which you express. I felt it right to inform your Excel- 
lency of my being in the roads of Batavia, and I stated 
the circumstance which had led to it. 



CORRESPONDENCE WITH BARON VAN DER CAPELLEN. 293 

" You would appear to have been misinformed, in sup- 
posing that it was my intention or my desire to land or 
court a personal interview. My landing in Java, while 
under your Excellency's government, could only have been 
attended with painful feelings, public as well as private, 
and there certainly has been nothing in the conduct of 
your Excellency, which could have rendered me par- 
ticularly desirous of personal communication or ac- 
quaintance. 

'' I caused it to be pubUcly known before I embarked, 
that I neither intended nor wished to land ; and under 
these circumstances, I trust you wiU admit that the pro- 
scription you have thought proper to issue might, in com- 
mon courtesy, have been delayed, until a solicitation on 
my part might have called for it. 

"Your Excellency also appears to have been misin- 
formed, when you state that I might or should have 
avoided touching at Batavia, knowing how disagreeable it 
would be to you. I can assure you it was a matter of abso- 
lute necessity, in every way against my wishes and feel- 
ings ; though I must say, I never for a moment supposed 
it would have given rise to any apprehensions or unplea^ 
sant feelings on your part. 

" You have. Sir, thought proper to refer to political dif- 
ferences, and to the complaints which you have thought 
proper to make against my proceedings, which you consi- 
dered to be directed against the interests of your Sove- 
reign; on which it is necessary for me to call to your 



294 CORRESPONDENCE WITH BARON VAN DER CAPELLEN. 

recollection^ that I have at least had similar grounds of 
complaining of some of the proceedings of your govern- 
ment, and that the very acts on my part, which you call 
into question, arose solely firom a conviction, that such 
proceedings on your £xcellency*s part were directed 
against the interests of my country. The decision, as to 
whose views on the subject have been most correct, re- 
mains with higher authorities ; and while I cheerfully give 
your Excellency the credit of having acted as you deemed 
best for the interests of your country, I hope you will 
judge equally charitably of the motives which may have 
dictated my conduct. 

" I have thought the above explanation due as well to 
your Excellency as myself, as I should have presumed you 
to have been as incapable of offering a personal incivility, 
as I am of receiving one, without noticing it as it de- 
serves. 

*' I did not. Sir, consider it necessary to request your 
permission for Lady Raffles to land, as I could not sup- 
pose it to be so in the present state of civilized society ; 
but I have now respectfully to request that, as she is in 
delicate health, and far advanced in her pregnancy, your 
Excellency will insure her a safe passport to the ship 
whenever she may be desirous of re-embarking. , 

" I have the honour to be, &c. 
(Signed) " T. S. Raffles.*' 

This correspondence may be left without comment. It 



CORRESPONDENCE WITH BARON VAN DER CAPELLEN. 295 

is not necessary to add more than that the request con- 
tained in the closing lines was granted : and that^ though 
Sir Stamford himself remained on boards during the week 
of the vessel's stay at Batavia^ and did not once visit the 
shore^ the people of the Island were not to be restrained ; 
and he there held as it were a continual levee every day, 
people of all ranks flocking to him. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Arrival at Bencoolen— Plans for the future— -Freedom of the port of 
Singapore-^Account cf the Padriet^State of health — Death of 
friendi— Death of child — Anxiety about the arrival of the ship 
Fame — Determines to embark in the Borneo — Arrival of the 
Fame — Embarkation — Burning qf the ship— Appeal to the Court 
qf Directors — Extract from Memorandum book, for regulation of 
time — Embarks in the Mariner — Storm off the Cape — Arrival at 
St, Helena^Landing at Plymouth. 

Sir Stamford had now closed his official connexion with 
Singapore^ the most interesting object of the latter part of 
his public life in the East, and he proposed to have passed 
the few remaining months of his residence in India, in 
completing and arranging his affairs, both public and pri- 
vate. During his residence in these regions, he had de- 
voted himself with aU his mind, health, and strength, for 
twenty years, to the duties of the several stations entrusted 
to him, and he had combined with the performance of 
those duties, which peculiar circumstances had made more 
responsible and arduous than usual in such situations, an 
unwearied pursuit of the literature of the several countries 
within his reach. He also pursued, as will have been per- 
ceived, the study of chemistry, geology, and natural history, 
and in fact was unceasingly occupied in the acquirement 
of various kinds of knowledge. 






LETTER TO DR. WALLICH. 297 

The following axe extracts from the letters written 
during this period of his residence in Sumatra. 

TO DR. WALL[CH. 

** Bencoolen, November I, 1823. 
" Crawfurd has promised most solemnly to adhere to 
and uphold all my arrangements. 

^c >|e ♦ > 4c 

** I lament to observe by the papers that poor Finlay- 
son breathed his last in the way home. Poor fellow, I 
never had much hope that he would be spared ; yet his 
death has been to me a severe shock, admiring and 
valuing as I did, his talents, disposition, and principles. 

" It is only a week ago that we had another death in 
our family : Mr. Drummond, a gentleman who had come 
out to us highly recommended from home, and was em- 
barking largely in our agricultiiral pursuits, was carried 
off in less than twelve hours. I know not how it is, but 
these continual breaches in our domestic circle seem to be 
sad warnings. 

" I had hoped to have got away by the end of the pre- 
sent year, but an accumulation of details, and the arrival 
of a detachment of troops most unexpectedly sent by the 
Bengal Government to the northern part of the Island, 
may keep me for some time. My health for the last 
week or two has rather improved, but I am still subject 
to the same attacks which so often and so completely 
overpowered me at Singapore. 

" Lady Baffles, though entirely recovered from her last 



296 PLANS FOR THE FUTURE. 

confinement, is in a very delicate state, and it was only 
last night that we were forced to apply thirty leeches, and 
have recourse to warm baths and laudanum, to keep 
down inflammation. 

" My time has been so occupied since my return, that I 
have hardly been able to arrange the papers of our friend 
Jack. I prepare to take them all hence with me. They 
are not very extensive, but they are generally to the 
point, and valuable. 

« We are desirous of placing an inscription over his 
grave, and I have written to Calder to send an appro- 
priate stone from Calcutta. I leam from his broths that 
his age was only twenty-seven ; he died at Bencoolen, at 
the Government-house, on the 15th September, 1823. I 
must beg of you to do the last kind office, of adding 
to the above particulars a few words expressive of his 
character and attainments.'' 



TO 



** Bencoolen, November 4, 1823. 

*' Sophia, I am sorry to say, has had an attack of fever, 
and alarmed us very much, but she is improving ; and if 
we get away this season all may yet be well. 

'' I propose on the voyage hence, if my health admits, 
to sketch out something like an account of the establish- 
ment of Singapore, with a description of the place, map, 
&c. Something of the kind seems necessary for general 
information. 

'' Our little Flora expands daily." 



PROPOSED PLAN FOR THE VOYAGE HOME. 299 

TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

November 6, 1823. 

'' This is the last opportunity that will offer for writing 
to England, before we ourselves intend embarking. 

" The voyage out looked long^ and was long, but we 
shall no longer draw a lengthening chain, each day will 
bring us nearer to that spot where all our best affections 
are centered, and we shall hope to land in far better 
spirits than the day we parted. That indeed was a 
dismal day ; and yet^ if we do meet again, shall we not 
forget it ? 

'' I am sorry to say that we have had another death in 
our family^ and that I have been under great alarm for 
Lady Baffles. She had first presented me with another 
little girl, and recovered from her confinement^ when she 
was attacked by a most severe fever. 

* 1" ♦ ♦ 4( 

*' By touching at the Cape of Good Hope> which we 
hope to reach from this in six weeks^ remaining there ten 
days^ and then stopping at St. Helena^ which we should 
reach in ten days, and proceeding from thence to Eng- 
land^ in seven weeks more^ we hope to break the length of 
the passage^ and to keep up her strength, as well as that 
of the infant, by occasional rest and refreshment. 

'' I believe I have already informed your Grace, that I 
had deUvered over charge of Singapore^ and that it only 
remains for me to wind up my administration here.'' 

4c ♦ * :^ » :ilf 



300 LETTER TO MR. MURDOCH. 

TO MR. MURDOCH. 

*• B£*icoolen, November 14, 1823. 

" My dear Sir, 

" I have received your kind and friendly letters 
down to the 23rd of January last, and feel most grateM 
for the warm and kind interest which you continue to 
take in our welfare and happiness. Indeed, I hardly 
know how to thank you sufficiently, except it is by saying 
that we justly appreciate it. 

" As this may be the last opportunity afforded of 
writing to England before we ourselves may embark, I 
am anxious not to let it pass without once more praying 
your forgiveness for all my omissions in the way of letter- 
writing. I feel conscious that I have not written to you 
so often nor so fully as I ought to have done, and that I 
have a long arrear of debt^ which I fear I shall never dis- 
charge, unless you will accept of the only composition 
which it is in my power to offer — the assurance that, 
though I may not have written much, I have not felt the 
less^ and that both Lady Raffles and myself have not 
only retained our respect and affection for you and your 
family unabated, but that time and distance have only 
tended to strengthen the feeling into that kind of affec- 
tionate attachment and regard, that in returning to 
Europe, we look forward to the pleasure of seeing you, 
as to the meeting with those of our own blood and 
family. 

" Our plan" is to leave this about February, or so as to 



ILLNESS OF LADY RAFFLES. 301 

make England in July ; but so fatally have our antici- 
pations been disappointed hitherto, that I hardly dare 
look forward with confidence to its execution. Lady 
Baffles had hardly recovered from her last confinement, 
when she was attacked by a violent fever, which has 
hardly yet left her, and she is still confined to her couch. 
I am scarcely able to hold up my head two days together ; 
but yet we wiU hope that our period of banishment is 
nearly terminated, and that we may, with the blessing of 
God, see you in the course of next summer. 

" What may be my future plan of life is still more un- 
certain ; but if I am fortunate enough to reach England 
ahve, I am certain that no inducement shall ever lead me 
to revisit India. I have already passed nearly thirty 
years of my life in the Company's service, and have 
always been placed in situations of so much responsi- 
bility, that my mind has always been on the stretch, and 
never without some serious anxiety. 

" I naturally look forward to retirement, when these 
anxieties may cease, and I can enjoy that serenity which 
is above all things necessary for the peace and comfort of 
this life. Accustomed, however, to activity, and neces- 
sarily to habits of business, I am aware that I cannot be 
idle and happy at the same time, and therefore I shall be 
ready to enter with some degree of zeal upon any pur- 
suits that appear to promise eventual satisfaction. 

" I enclose you a copy of the address presented to me 
by the merchants of Singapore, on the occasion of my 



302 PROPOSED AC5COUNT OF SINGAPORE. 

resigning charge of that settlement, preparatory to my 
proceeding to Europe, and hope that, in the pledge which 
I gave them, of the permanency of the freedom of the 
Port, without duties or restrictions of any kind, I shall he 
supported and borne out by the authorities at home. I 
cannot but think that we have now taken too firm a root 
at Singapore, to render it even possible that it should be 
delivered over to the Dutch, and therefore I did not 
advert to such a possible contingency. Hereafter I hope 
to present you with a pamphlet, containing the particulars 
of the establishment of the Singapore Institution, as well 
as with the regulations which I have adopted there for 
the administration of justice, until more regular provi- 
sions are made. They will, I think, meet your appro- 
bation. I notice what you say regarding the publication 
of some account of the establishment of Singapore, with 
a map annexed, and thank you for the hint. I have little 
to say on the subject, more than has been repeated over 
and over again in my official despatches^ though perhaps 
in different words ; but as these are likely to moulder 
away in Leadenhall Street, without perhaps being twice 
read, it may be useful should I attempt a more public 
exposition of my sentiments and views. Indeed, after 
what has taken place, and particularly with reference to 
the extraordinary assertion of Lord Bathurst as to the 
nature of my appointment, something of a public nature 
will be required from me ; and although I am far from 
wishing to obtrude myself or my proceedings on the 



PROFOSKD ACCOUNT OF SINGAPORE. 303 

public^ I feel confident, that the more my conduct is in- 
vestigated and known, the more credit will at any rate be 
given to my motives ; so that, in this point of view, I have 
rather an inducement to publish than otherwise. 

*^ Should, therefore, my health admit, I shall probably 
devote a few hours in the day, during the voyage home, to 
condense into a convenient space what I think may be 
interesting on the subject, to be revised after my arrival 
in England, according to circumstances. It is not my 
wish, any more than my interest, to run counter to the 
authorities that be ; but, as a public man, I hardly know 
how I can pass over the direM sacrifices made by Lord 
Castlereagh without remark. My sole object, in a pohti- 
cal point of view, is to do justice to the cause I have 
undertaken, and I think it only requires to be fairly and 
honestly stated, to make its way wherever it is known. 

''According to my present notion of the subject, it 
occurs to me that, by way of introduction, I might 
enlarge on the course and value of the trade of the 
Eastern Islands and China, its past history and present 
state, with a description of the more interesting points of 
character among the inhabitants, and some account of the 
geography and natural history of the different countries. 
I might then give a short, but pointed account of the 
question with the Dutch ; the reasons which induced the 
establishment at Singapore ; how that establishment was 
effected ; the principle on which it was maintained, and 
the rapidity of its rise ; a short description of the place. 



30-1 PROPOSED ACCOUNT OF SINOAPORE. 

its inhabitants, productionB, and localities, might foUcnr, 
with an account of its instdtutions, aod an appendix, con- 
taining the regulations for the Chinese and Malay Col- 
lege, &c. 

" You will hardly believe, that at the close of my ad- 
ministration of that settlement, I received the unreserved 
approbation of the Government of Bengal of all the 
measures of a pubUc nature that I had adopted. I have, 
however, been opposed throughout in eatablishing the 
freedom of the Fort, and anything like a liberal mode of 
management, and not only by the Penang Government, 
but also in Bengal. The Bengal merchants, or rather 
one or two of them, whom 1 could name, would have pre- 
ferred the old system, by which they might have mono- 
polized the early resources of the place, and thus checked 
its progresB to importance. My views have been more 
enlarged, and as the authorities at home have fortunately 
not yet interfered with the details, I have taken upon my- 
self to widen the base, and to look to a more important 
superstructure. I have given the place something like a 
constitution, a representative body, and fashioned all my 
regulations more with reference to the pure principles 
" 'he British constitution, than upon the half-aut, or 
iry-hom regulations of our Indian administration, 
'}t, however well they may be suited to the circum- 
ces of continental India, are altogether inapplicable 
[le state of society in the Eastern Islands. This has 
ight upon me what may be called a local opposition- 



MENDEZ PlNTO's ACCOUNT OF JAVA, 305 

party in Bengal, and I must be content to look for the 
just appreciation of my views and plans rather in England 
than in India. 

'^ I was the other day looking over the translation you 
were so kind to make for me from Mendez Pinto relating 
to Java ; and though he may exaggerate numbers, and 
tell a story with embellishments, his localities are so cor- 
rect, that, as far as I can judge from this instance, I km 
inclined to think he deserves more credit than he* has y^t 
received. His statements regarding Borneo, and other 
countries of the Archipelago less known than Java, woidd 
be interesting ; and if from the history of the last-men- 
tioned island we could vouch for his correctness, it might 
set people thinking of what was possibly the former con- 
dition of the Archipelago, before the valour of Portugal 
broke down its power, and the sordid policy of the Dutch 
destroyed its spirit and energies. It would be an odd 
coincidence, if, as Marsden has undertaken the cause of 
Marco Polo, on account of what he said of Sumatra, I 
should be the advocate of Pinto from the relation he gives 
of Java. 

'* Your observations respecting the bark of the nutmeg- 
tree have not pass unnoticed, and I have now a parcel of 
the bark preparing for Europe as an experiment : it does 
not, however, appear to me to be peculiarly fragrant.-' 

r 

In returning to Bencoolen Sir Stamford had to en- 
counter once more a scene. of trial, sickness, and death. 

VOL. II. X 



306 LETTER TO THE REV. OR. RAFFLES. 

His few remaining friends fell a sacrifice to ike elimiUe; 
iiis family it pleased God to afflict with illness; and it 
seemed as if his life was to end with his labours. It is 
not easy to describe the state of anxiety in which the two 
last months were spent: ready and anxious to leave a 
place in which so many earthly ties of happiness had been 
broken, and yet seeing hour after hour pass away, without 
the means of escape, and with scarcely a hope that life 
would be prolonged from one day to another. 

" The following letters give a Uvely picture of the state 
of his feelings at this period : — 

TO THE REV. DR. RAFFLES. 

** Bencoolen, November 15, 1823. 
'^ My DEAR Cousin, 

'^ As this may be the last opportunity of writing 

before we ourselves embark, I am anxious not to let it 

pass without endeavouring to repay some part of the 

heavy debt standing against me on the score of omissions 

in letter-writing. 

4t * * ^i ' 4i 

f* We have suffered much in health and spirits since we 
'said farewell ; but our hearts are the same ; and we trust 
tiiat, if we can regain our health by a change of climate, 
there may yet be many happy days in store for us, even in 
this sublunary and transitory scene. 



« 



Of Hhiis place I have nothing at present very particular 



PftOGKKSS OF THE PADRTBS. 307 

to comtnunicate, or that will not as conveniently be left 
for personal intereourse ; but it will be satis&cfcory for 
you to know that we are doing wonders with our schools, 
and that our Bible Society is not inactive : the two mis- 
sionaries whom we have here, Messrs. Eobinson and 
Ward, are very zealous; and Reports are now framing to 
be laid before the General Meeting on the 1st of Januiury, 
which will, I hope, prove that we have not been inactive ; 
and that the results are as great as we could rationally 

have expected in so short a time. 

« * « * « 

'' Considerable interest has lately been excited by the 
progress in Sumatra of the Mahomedan sect, usually 
termed the Padries, or more particularly the Putcho or 
Whites, in opposition to the Elaws or Blacks, by which 
latter term they designate all who do not embrace their 
doctrine. 

'* It was to the ravages of these people that I alluded in 
my account of the journey to Menangkabu, as having re- 
peatedly pillaged and burnt the capital of that celebrated 
seat of the Malay empire ; and it is with them that the 
Dutch, since their occupation of Padang, have been 
involved in a desperate and relentless war, neither party 
giving quarter, and prices being set upon the heads of the 
principal Chiefs. The first notice of this powerful sect, 
which had its origin near Mount Ophir, was about ten 
years ago ; but it has been during the last three, and priur 
cipally since the occupation of Padang by the Dutch, that 

x2 



306 PROGRESS OF THE PADRIES. 

it has become formidable, and occasioned alarm for the 
safety of the European settlements on the west coast of 
Sumatra. 

"The policy of the British Government has hitherto 
been that of neutrality, considering that the question 
related principally to peculiar doctrines of Mahomedanism, 
in which the natives might be best left to themselves : but 
the success of the Padries during the last year, in which 
they have overrun nearly the whole of the rich and 
populous countries of the interior, has at length called for 
measures of decision even on the part of the British autho- 
rity. A considerable force was detached from Bengal in 
September last, direct to Nattal; and measures are in 
progress for the adoption of offensive operations, should 
negociation fail. The tenets of the Padries require, that 
all Mahomedans shall refrain from the use of opium, from 
cock-fighting, and other Malayan vices — that they should 
wear a peculiar dress, and submit to ecclesiastical autho- 
rity. The M^la^ys^ who form the population of the coast 
districts, are averse to this change, as altering their habits, 
and departing from their ancient customs ; and the Eu- 
ropean Governments are actually employed in protecting 
them against the improvement which would necessarily 
follow from their adoption of the tenets of the Padries. 

"It is not to be denied that, with people of so low a 
state of civilization as those in the interior of Sumatra 
must be, success will too often make them wanton ; and 
that their practice is frequently inconsistent with their 



J 



PROGRESS OF THE PADRIES. 309 

doctrines — ^this is naturally expected — and the love of 
plunder and thirst of revenge over those who are most 
obstinate in resisting them is too often predominant. 

"The resources of these people seem considerable; 
and their engagements with the Dutch have taught them 
to know their own strength. Their power in the interior of 
Sumatra may now be considered as completely established^ 
and various speculations are formed as to the result. 

" We thus see one of the finest islands in the world, on 
which we have had establishments for upwards of a century, 
without once venturing to improve the condition of the 
people, or to send one Christian Missionary among them, 
giving way before the desolating influence of the false 
prophet of Mecca, and becoming rapidly a strong Maho- 
medan resting ground, with our eyes open, and with 
scarcely one effort made by ourselves to oppose them by a 
purer faith. The missionaries we have lately employed 
in Sumatra are too few in number to do much. That they 
will do good, as far as their influence reaches, there can 
be no doubt ; but that influence will long be limited to 
our immediate stations, unless we increase their numbers. 
Instead of three missionaries, we ought to have three hun- 
dred ; and the object of these three hundred should be to 
initiate three thousand of the natives to act as missionaries 
in the interior. There are yet hundreds of thousands, 
perhaps millions, in Sumatra, who at this moment pos- 
sess no religion at all, among whom we may include the 
Battas. The Padries are now on their very borders, with 



310 PEATH OF CAPTAIN SALMOND. 

the Koran in one hand, and the sword in the other ; and 
the only missionary whom we have is an isolated indivi- 
dual, residing under the protection of the British factory 
at Tappanooly, but who has not the means of penetrating 
into the interior. This individual, however, (Mr. Burtcm,) 
has translated part of the Scriptures into the Batta 
language, and his success in this respect is highly praise- 
worthy to his application and character ; but alone he can 
do little beyond the influence of our own factory, which 
does not extend one mile inland. 

* 4E « 4t * 

" It would be useful to draw public attention to this 
subject now, particularly as it has excited much interest 
in India ; and is the only cause likely to detain me here 
longer than I could wish. I cannot well leave the coast 
till some decisive measure is adopted ; and yet in politics 
who can see the end ? My desire is to avoid all involve- 
ment as much as possible ; and if our measures are likdy 
to be of a protracted nature, I shall not think of waiting 
the issue. 

" Believe me, &c." 



TO 



" Pifrmaiiam Ballam, Bencoahn, Nov. 23, 1823. 

" This is a most melancholy day. One of my last 

letters informed you of the death of poor Drummond aflter 

a few hours' illness ; one of the Mr. Days died about the 

fiame time. Two days ago Mr. Halhed was carried off; 



. LETTER TO DR. WALLICH. 311. 

and I have just received information that my dear and 
valuable friend Salmond is no more. 

" This last blow has been almost too much for us, for- 
Salmond was as dear and intimate with us as our own 
family. I have just opened his will, aiid find he has 
nominated me as his sole executor in the following: 
words : — ' I appoint my only fidend Sir Stamford Raffles 
to be my executor, and I pray to God he will take charge 
of my estate and children.' The loss of poor .Salmond is 
quite a death-blow to the settlement. How is it that all 
we love and esteem, aU those whose principles we admire, 
and in whom we can place confidence, are thus carried off, 
while the vile and worthless remain ? 

" Sophia is recovering slowly firom her late illness, but 
she has suffered severely. I am much the same in health, 
but we are both low in spirits. Would that a ship had 
come out as I wrote for direct, that we might have 
been off! 

'^ We have as yet heard nothing of the Fame, nor is 
there any opportunity besides her likely to offer." 

TO DR. WALLICH. 

**Bencoolen, November 24, 1823. 
" You will grieve to hear that we have just lost our 
worthy, inestimable friend Captain Salmond ; he is the 
second in our family, and the fourth in our small society 
who has paid the debt of nature within the last month ! 
Would to God we wete ourselves faiily out of the^pUlce ! 



318 DEATH OF SIR STAHFQKD'i YOVHOEST CHILD. 

Sophia recoren but very alowly from her late dangennu 
iOneu, and these events cast • sad and melancholy gloom 
over everything. I write these Tew lines at her very par- 
ticular request, to remind you of my picture. Whether I 
go home or not, I must, if Lady RafiSes survives, send 
her home by an early opportunity. 

" Our united regards and fervent prayers for your 
health and happiness. Believe me always, 

'- Yours affectionately." 

TO DK. WALLICH. 

" BmcooUn, DeeemAer 10, 1823. 

" We are, I am sorry to say, in great distress, having 
lost several friends during the last month, but the worst 
of all has been the loss of our only remaining child in this 
country, at a time when Lady Raffles was herself danger- 
ously ill with fever. The shock has been too much for 
UB, and I hardly expect she will get over it. We have 
indeed been severely afflicted, and what is worse, we are 
both BO ill ourselves that neither of us dare quit the room. 

" These drcumstances will be a sufficient excuse for 
not writing you more fully." 



•• BemooUn, Dtom^r W, 1833. 
will grieve to hear that we have had another 
in the loss of our dear babe, whose birth I for- 
nounced. 
mu carried off very suddenly, and at a moment 



ANXIETY ABOUT LEAVING BENCOOLEN. 313 

-when we were least prepared to meet such a shock. The 
death of poor Salmond and Mr. Drummond^ besides 
several other deaths in the settlement^ had cast a gloom 
over everything, and Sophia was but very slowly recover- 
ing from a severe inflammatory fever which nearly proved 
fatal. The loss of an infant only a few months old is one 
of those things which in itself perhaps might soon be got 
over, knowing how uncertain life is at that period, but 
this loss of our fourth and only remaining child in India 
has revived all former afflictions, and been almost too 
much for us. Fortunately Sophia's fever has not re- 
turned since the event, and upon the whole she is in 
better health than she was preceding, but she has not yet 
left the house; her spirits, as well as my own, are com- 
pletely broken, and most anxious are we to get away from 
such a charnel-house, but here we are detained for want of 
an opportunity. How often do we wish the Fame had 
come out direct — we might have saved this last misfor- 
tune — ^but we have neither seen nor heard of her, and 
God only knows when the day of our deliverance will 
arrive. Either I must go to England or by remaining in 
India die. 

" If we are to meet again in this world, it must be 
soon jJter the receipt of this — ^^till then farewell, and God 
grant that you may never be subjected to such misfor- 
tunes with your children as we have been. I shall wait a 
day or two in writing to Cheltenham, in hope of having 
better spirits than to-day." 



314 SIR 8TAMFORD*S ANXIETY TO RETURN TO ENGLAND. 



TO 



" Bencoolen, January 4, 1 824. 
'' We have entered the new year^ and as yet no accounts 
of the Fame. You can hardly imagine to yourself the 
serious disappointment to all our hopes and plans which 
this occasions. We begin to think we are doomed to end 
our days here, and that there is something like a speU 
upon our movements. After Sophia's severe illness and 
our last affliction, the delay of a day is most serious, and 
night and day we cannot help regretting that you have 
not insured a ship on the strength of my letters to you. 
I relied exclusively on what you would do, and still have 
no other hope than that the Fame will be in time to save 
our Uves, though we have very little confidence that this 
will be the case.'* 



TO 



" Bencoolen, January 14, 1824. 
" I have, before I embark, to wind up all my afiSurs. 

" God grant that we may have a happy and satis&ctory 
meeting in old England, for which I may in truth say my 
heart yeameth much indeed and sadly. 

" We are such poor creatures, that, like the aspen leaf, 
we shake with every breath of air, and are daily treading 
on the edge of eternity." 

Months having elapsed beyond the time fixed for the 
arrival of the ship Fame, which was to carrv Sir Stamfi^xd 



BURNING OF THE F\M£. 315 

und his family to England, without any accounts of her, 
he determined to take the cargo out of the Borneo, a small 
vessel which had touched at Bencoolen on her passage to 
England, and in which he had two years before sent home 
his infant child ; but the very day the arrangement was 
to have been completed (fortunately, it was then supposed) 
the Fame arrived. The Borneo made a safe and good 
passage; of the fate of the Fame Sir Stamford's own 
letters give an account : it is only necessary to add, that 
the ship was insured, which prevented any loss to the 
owners — ^that the captain had no interest in her — that the 
jBast India Company had only a few tons of saltpetre on 
board for ballast — ^that the loss fell entirely on the indivi- 
dual, whom it pleased God to hiunble by the overwhelming 
calamity. 

''Bencoolefit February 4, 1824. 

" We embarked on the 2d instant in the Fame, and 
sailed at day-light for England with a fair wind, and every 
prospect of a quick and comfortable passage. 

" The ship was everything we could wish ; and having 
closed my charge here much to my satisfaction, it was one 
of the happiest days of my life. We were, perhaps, too 
happy ; for in the evening came a sad reverse. Sophia 
had just gone to bed, and I had thrown off half my 
clothes, when a cry of fire, fire ! roused us from our calm 
content, and in five minutes the whole ship was in flames ! 
I ran to examine whence the flames principally issued, and 



316 BURNING OF THE FAME. 

found that the fire had its origin immediately under our 
cabin. Down with the boats. Where is Sophia? — Here. 
The children ? — ^Here. A rope to the side. Lower Lady 
Raffles. Give her to me, says one ; I'll take her, says the 
Captain. Throw the gunpowder overboard. It cannot be 
got at ; it is in the magazine dose to the fire. Stand clear of 
the powder. Skuttle the water-casks. Water! water! 
Where s Sir Stamford ? Come into the boat, Nilson ! 
Nilson, come into the boat. Push off, push off. Stand 
clear of the after part of the ship. 

'' All this passed much quicker than I can write it ; we 
pushed off, and as we did so, the flames burst out of our 
cabin-window, and the whole of the after part of the ship 
was in flames; the masts and sails now taking fire, we 
moved to a distance sufficient to avoid the immediate ex- 
plosion ; but the flames were now coming out of the main 
hatchway; and seeing the rest of the crew, with the 
Captain, still on board, we pulled back to her under the 
bows, so as to be more distant from the powder. As we 
approached we perceived that the people on board were 
getting into another boat on the opposite side. Sh& 
pushed off; we hailed her : Have you all on board ? Yes, 
all, save one. Who is he ? — ^Johnson, sick in his cot. 
Can we save him? — No, impossible. The flames were 
issuing from the hatchway; at this moment the poor 
feUow, scorched, I imagine, by the flames, roared out most 
lustily, having run upon the deck. I will go for him, says 
the Captain. The two boats then came together, and we 



BURNING OF THE FAME. 317 

took out some of the persons from the Captain's boat^ 
which was overladen ; he then pulled under the bowsprit 
of the ship^ and picked the poor fellow up. Are you all 
safe ? — ^Yes, we have got the man ; all lives safe. Thank 
God ? Pull off from the ship. Keep your eye on a star 
Sir Stamford. There's one scarcely visible. 

*' We then hauled close to each other, and found the 
Captain fortunately had a compass, but we had no Ught 
except' from the ship. Our distance from Bencoolen we 
estimated to be about fifty miles in a south-west direction. 
There being no landing place to the southward of Ben- 
coolen, our only chance was to regain that port. The 
Captain then undertook to lead, and we to follow, in a 
N.N.E. course, as well as we could ; no chance, no possi- 
biHty being left, that we could again approach the ship ; 
for she was now one splendid flame, fore and aft, and aloft, 
her masts and sails in a blaze, and rocking to and fro, 
threatening to fall in an instant. There goes her mizen 
mast ! PuD away, my boys ! There goes the gunpowder ! 
Thank God ! thank God ! 

''You may judge of our situation without ftirther parti- 
culars. The alarm was given at about twenty minutes 
past eight, and in less than ten minutes she was in flames : 
there was not a soul on board at half-past eight, and in less 
than ten minutes afterwards she was one grand mass of fire. 

'' My only apprehension was the want of boats to hold 
the people, as there was not time to have got out the long- 
boat, or to make a raft. All we had to rely upon were two 



318 BURNING OF THE FAME. 



small quarter-boats^ which fortunatdy were lowered with- 
out accident ; and in these two small open boats, without 
a drop of water or grain of food, or a rag of covering, ex- 
cept what we happened at the moment to have on our 
backs, we embarked on the ocean, thankM to God for his 
mercies ! Poor Sophia, having been taken out of her bed, 
had nothing on but a wrapper, neither shoes nor stockmgs ; 
the children were just as taken out of bed, whence one had 
been snatched after the flames had attacked it ; in short, 
there was not time for any one to think of more than two 
things. Can the ship be saved ? — No. Let us save our- 
selves, then. All else was swallowed up in one grand rmn. 

'' To make the best of our misfortune, we availed our- 
selves of the light from the ship to steer a tolerably good 
course towards the shore, ^e continued to bum till 
about midnight, when the saltpetre which she had on 
board took fire, and sent up one of the most splendid and 
iHrilliant flames that ever was seen, illumining the horizon 
in every direction, to an extent of not less than fifty miles, 
and casting that kind of blue light over us, which is of ali 
others most horrible. She burnt and continued to flame 
in this style for about an hour or two, when we lost sight 
of the object in a cloud of smoke. 

" Neither Nilson nor Mr. Bell, our medical friend who 
had accompanied us, had saved their coats ; but the tail of 
mine, with a pocket-handkerchief, served to keep Sophia s 
feet warm, and we made breeches for the children with our 
neckcloths. Bain now came on, but fortunately it was 



BURNING OF THE FAME^ 319 

not of long continuance, and we got dry again. The night 
became serene and star-light : we were now certain of our 
course, and the men behaved manfully ; they rowed inces- 
saotly^ and with good heart and spirit^ and never did poor 
inortals look out more for day-light and for land than we did ; 
not that oiur sufferings or grounds of complaint were any 
thing to what has befallen others ; but &om Sophia's deli^ 
cate healthy as well as my own^ and the stormy nature of 
our coast, I felt perfectly convinced we were unable to 
undergo starvation and exposure to sun and weather many 
days, and aware of the rapidity of the currents, I feared 
we might fall to the southward of the port. 

'* At day-light we recognized the coast and Rat Island, 
which gave us great spirits ; and though we found our- 
selves mudi to the southward of the port, we considered 
ourselves almost at home. Sophia had gone through the 
night better than could have been expected, and we con- 
tinued to pull on with all our strength. About eight or 
nine we saw a ship standing to us from the Roads ; they 
had seen the flames on shore, and sent out vessels to our 
reUef ; and here certainly came a minister of Providence 
in the character of a minister of the Gospel, for the first 
person I recognized was one of our missionaries. They 
gave us a bucket of water, and we took the Captain on 
board as a pilot. The wind, however, was adverse, and 
we coidd not reach the shore, and took to the ship, where 
we got some refreshment and shelter from the sun. By 
this time Sophia was quite exhausted, fainting continually. 



320 BURNING OF THB FAME. 

About two o'clock we landed safe and sound, and no words 
of mine can do justice to the expressions of feeling, sym- 
pathy, and kindness with which we were hailed by every one. 
If any proof had been wanting, that my administration had 
been satisfactory here, we had it unequivocally from all ; 
there was not a dry eye> and as we drove back to our 
former home, loud was the cry of ' God be praised.' 

'' But enough ; and I will only add, that we are now 
greatly recovered, in good spirits, and busy at work 
getting ready-made clothes for present use. We went 
to bed at three in the afternoon, and I did not awake till 
six this morning. Sophia had nearly as sound a sleep, 
and, with the exception of a bruise or two, and a little pain 
in the bones from fatigue, we have nothing to complain of. 

" The lofis I have to regret, beyond all, is my papers and 
drawings,-^all my notes and observations, with memoirs 
and collections, sufficient for a frdl and ample history, not 
only of Sumatra, but of Borneo, and almost every other 
Island of note in these seas ; — ^my intended account of the 
establishment of Singapore , — the history of my own ad- 
ministration ; — eastern grammars, dictionaries, and voca- 
bularies ; — and last, not least, a grand map of Sumatra, 
on which I had been employed since my arrival here; 
and on which, for the last six months, I had bestowed 
almost my whole undivided attention. • This, however, 
was not all ; — aU my collections in natural history,^— 
all my splendid collection of ijbawings, upwards of iuH) 
thousand in number, — ^with all the valuable papers and 



BURNING OF THE FAME. 321 

notes of my friends^ Arnold and Jack ; and, to conclude, 
I will merely notice, that there was scarce an unknown 
animal^ bird, beast, or fish, or an interesting plant, which 
we had not on board : a living tapir, a new species of 
tiger, splendid pheasants, &c., domesticated for the 
voyage ; we were, in short, in this respect, a perfect 
Noah's ark. 

'' AU, all has perished ; but, thank God, our lives have 
been spared, and we do not repine. 

" Our plan is to get another ship as soon as possible, 
and, I think, you may still expect us in July. There is a 
chance of a ship, called the Lady Flora, touching here on 
her way home, and there is a small ship in the Boads 
which may be converted into a packet, and take us home, 
as I have a captain and crew at command. 

'' Make your minds easy about us, even if we should be 
later than you expected. No news will be good news." 

A striking proof of the attachment of those who had no 
longer any interested motive to influence them deserves 
to be recorded. After the boat which contained Sir 
Stamford and his family got within sight of the shore, the 
numerous little native craft, which were all in requisition 
at the moment, approached in every direction with great 
velocity, and the people put, without exception, this one 
question : '' Is the Tuan Besar (the great man) safe ?*' 
Receiving an aflirmative answer, they darted off as if 
there was no other point of interest to them. 

VOL. II. Y 



322 ORIGIN OF THE FIRE. 

In writing to the Court of Directors on this subjeet. 
Sir Stamford states : — 

" The fire had its origin in the store-room, immediately 
under the apartments occupied by myself and family, 
and was occasioned by the shameful carelessness of the 
steward going with a naked light to draw off brandy from 
a cask, which took fire ; but I am bound to speak in the 
highest terms of the conduct of the captain, officers, and 
s^p's company, who spared no exertions to save the ship, 
and when that was found impracticable, to secure the 
lives of all on board, acting throughout with the utmost 
coolness and self-possession which such a moment would 
admit of. 

" We had scarcely time to lower two small boats hangr 
ing over the quarter, before the whole of the poop was on 
fire, and the flames had ascended the mizen-rigging. So 
rapid, indeed, was the progress of the fire, that before 
even a small canoe could be got out forward, the flames 
were issuing from the main and fore hatchways, and we 
were of necessity forced to trust our lives, forty-one in 
number, to the mercy of the waves, in these two open 
boats, quitting the ship in such haste, that it was impos- 
sible to save a single article, or even to secure a drop i£ 
water, or other refireshment. We were fortunate enough, 
however, to push off from the ship before the magazine 
eiqploded, when the fire immediately became general over 
the whole ship, the masts and sails flaming, and rocking 



LETTER TO THE COURT OP DIRECTORS, 323 

to and fro, till they fell one by one, affbrding> in the dark- 
ness of the night, and in the midst of the ocean, one of 
the most truly awfol and sublime spectacles that ever was 
witnessed. 

'' We estimated that our distance from the shore could 
not exceed fifty miles, and that by steering towards 
Sumatra, and in the direction of Bencoolen, we might 
possibly regain that port, should the weather continue mo- 
derate ; and accordingly adopted this course, the captain 
leading in the larger boat of the two. This indeed was the 
only chance, for if carried to the southward there was no 
other landing-place on the Island, and we must inevitably 
have perished at sea by the most horrible of all deaths, 
there not being a drop of water or other refreshment in 
either of the boats— not a mast or sail but imperfect 
rudders, and most of us without even a complete suit of 
clothes. My wife had been taken from her bed without 
shoes or stockings, or other covering but a loose wrapper, 
and the children under our charge had been literally 
snatched from their beds when actually in flames. 

" It however pleased the Almighty Disposer of events 
to temper his judgments with mercy, and to allay the 
storms and currents which so constantly prevail in these 
seas during the present monsoon ; and through the steady 
and great exertions of the men in the boats, we had the 
satisfaction to make the land in the morning, within 
about fifteen miles from Bencoolen. The flames from the 
ship, which had served to assist us in keeping a direct 

y2 



324 LETTER TO THE COURT OF DIRECTORS. 

course to the land, had likewise been seen on shore, 
illumining a circumference of not less than fifty miles> 
and boats had been sent out in every direction to our 
assistance. By the aid of one of these we reached Ben- 
coolen about four o'clock in the afternoon of the next day, 
after having had to contend with an unfavourable current, 
and latterly a turbulent sea and adverse wind, for upwards 
of sixteen hours, every moment of which, under our desti- 
tute circumstances and the boisterous nature of this coast, 
was pregnant with a degree of anxiety and apprehension 

not to be described. The state both of Lady Raffles and 
myself, already worn down by illness and affliction to the 
last stage of existence, was ill calculated to support the 
privations and exposure to which we were subjected, and 
long before we reached the harbour she had fallen into a 
succession of fainting fits, &om which we with difficulty 
recovered her. 

" It may however be satisfactory to state, in concluding 
this melancholy account, that no lives have been lost, and 
that the whole of the ship*s company and passengers have 
reached this port in safety, thankful to the Almighty for 
his mercies. 

" Submitting, as it is my duty to do, with patient re- 
signation to this awftil dispensation of Providence, I 
make the following statement, not in the spirit of com- 
plaint, for I repine not, but simply as illustrative of my 
personal circumstances and prospects, as they stand 
affected by this dire and unlooked-for calamity. 



• 



LETTER TO THE COURT OF DIRECTORS. 325 



" After a service of nearly iJiirty years, and the exercise 
of supreme authority as a Governor for nearly twelve 
years of that period, over the finest and most interesting, 
but perhaps least known countries in creation, I had, as I 
vainly thought, closed my Indian life with benefit to my 
country, and satisfaction to myself; carrying with me 
such testimonials and information as I trusted would have 
proved that I had not been an unprofitable servant or a 
dilatory labourer in this fruitful and extensive vineyard. 

" This lovely and highly-interesting portion of the 
globe had, politically speaking, long sunk into insignifi- 
cance from the withering eflFects of that baneful policy 
with which the Hollanders were permitted to visit these 
regions, when it fell to my lot to direct the course of the 
British arms to the Island of Java, and there on the 
ruins of monopoly, torture, and oppression, in all its 
shapes, to re-establish man in his native rights and pre- 
rogatives, and re-open the channel of an extensive com- 
merce. Political events required our secession from that 
quarter, but the establishment of Singapore, and the 
reforms introduced on this coast, have no less afforded 
opportunities for the application and extension of the 
same principles. 

'' In the course of those measures, numerous and 
weighty responsibilities became necessary ; the European 
world — the Indian world — (the continental part of it at 
least) — were wholly uninformed of the nature of these 
countries, their character, and resources. I did not hesi- 



326 LETTER TO THE COURT OF DIRECTORS. 

tate to take these responsibilities as the occasion required 
them; and though from imperfect information many of 
my measures in Java were at first condemned, I had the 
satisfaction to find them in the end not only approved but 
applauded, far beyond my humble pretensions, and even 
by those who at first had been most opposed to me. I 
need refer to no stronger case than that of the Marquis <^ 
Hastings. 

*' During the last six years of my administration, and 
since I have ceased to have any concern in the affairs of 
Java, the situations in which I have been placed, and the 
responsibilities which I have been compelled to take in 
support of the interests of my country, and of my em- 
pbyers, have been, if possible, still greater than during 
my former career : I allude to the struggle which I have 
felt it my duty to make against Dutch rapacity and power, 
and to the difficulties that I had to contend with in the 
establishment of Singapore, and the reforms which have 
been effected on this coast. 

*' In addition to the opposition of avowed enemies to 
British power and Christian principles, I had to contend 
with deep-rooted prgudices, and the secret machinatioDs 
of those who dared not to act openly ; and standing alone, 
the envy of some and the fear of many, distant authorities 
were unable to form a correct estimate of my proceedings. 
Without local explanation some appeared objectionable, 
(while party spirit and Dutch intrigue have never been 
wanting to discolour transactions and misrepresent facts. 



LETTER TO THE COURT OF DIRECTORS. 327 

'^ It was at the close of such an administration that I 
embarked with my family on the Fame^ carrying with me 
endless volumes and papers of information on the civil 
and natural history of nearly every island within the 
Malayan Archipelago^ collected at great expense and 
labour, under the most favourable circumstances, during 
a life of constant and active research, and in an especial 
manner calculated to throw light not only on the com- 
mercial and other resources of these islands, but to ad- 
vance the state of natural knowledge and science, and 
finally to extend the civilization of mankind. 

" These, with all my books, manuscripts, drawings, 
correspondence, records, and other documents, including 
tokens of regard from the absent, and memorials from 
the dead, have been all lost for ever in this dreadfiil con- 
flagration; and I am left single and unaided, without 
the help of one voucher to tell my story, and uphold 
my proceedings, when I appear before your Honourable 
Court. 

'^ It has always appeared to me that the value of these 
countries was to be traced rather through the means of 
their natural history, than in the dark recesses of Dutch 
diplomacy and intrigue ; and I accordingly, at all times, 
felt disposed to give encouragement to those deserving 
men who devote themselves to the pursuits of science. 
Latterly, when political interests seemed to require that I 
should, for a time, retire from the field, and there wan 
little more to be done for this small settlement, I have 



328 LETTER TO THE COURT OF DIRECTORS. 

myself devoted a considerable portion of my time to these 
pursuits^ and in forming extensive collections in natural 
history: my attention had also been directed in a par- 
ticular manner to the geography of the Island of Su- 
matra. 

" To be brief, I may sum up the collections and papers 
which I have had the misfortune to lose, under the follow- 
ing heads. They were carefully packed in no less than 
one hundred and twenty-two cases, independent of those 
for immediate reference, but which last are also lost, not 
one scrap of paper having been saved, or one duplicate 
left ;— 

" Of Sumatra. — A map on a large scale, constructed 
during a residence of six years, from observations made 
by myself and persons under my authority, European 
and native, calculated to exhibit, at one view, the real 
nature and general resources of the country, on a very 
different scale to what was formerly supposed; together 
with statistical reports, tables, memoirs, notices, histories 
of the Battas, and other original races, native and Euro- 
pean vocabiQaries, dictionaries, and manuscripts in the 
different languages, contained in several cases. 

" Of Borneo. — A detailed account of the former history, 
present state, population, and resources, of that long- 
neglected island, already drawn' out to the extent of up- 
wards of one thousand pages of writing, with numerous 
notes, sketches, details of the Dayak population, their 
government, customs, history, usages, &c., with notices of 



i 



LETTER TO THE COURT OF DIRECTORS. 329 

the different ports, their produce, and commercial re- 
sources. 

" Of Celebes, — Nearly a similar account. 

" And of Java and the Moluccas, — The whole of the 
voluminous history, as carefiilly abstracted from the Dutch 
archives while I was in Java, with careful translations of 
the most valuable native books, vocabularies, memoirs, 
and various papers intended principally to assist in a new 
edition of my History of Java. 

" Of Singapore. — A detailed account of its establish- 
ment ; the principles on which it is founded ; the policy 
of our Government in founding it ; the history of com- 
merce in the Eastern Islands ; its present state and pro- 
spects ; the rapid rise of Singapore ; its history until I 
gave over charge; with aU the original documents con- 
nected with the discussion with the Dutch, and every 
voucher and testimony which could have been required to 
make good the British claim, and uphold the measures I 
had adopted. 

" In Natural History the loss to myself and to science 
has been still greater. The choicest, the cream and flower 
of all my collections, I retained to take under my personal 
charge, together with the manuscripts and papers of my 
invaluable deceased friends, Drs. Arnold and Jack. 
Among these also was that invaluable, and I may say, 
superb collection of drawings in natural history, executed 
under my immediate eye, and intended, with other inte- 
resting subjects of natural history, for the museum of the 



330 LETTER TO THE COURT OF DIRECTORS. 

Honourable Court. They exceeded in number two thou- 
sand ; and having been taken from life, and with scientific 
accuracy, were executed in a style far superior to anything 
I had seen or heard of in Europe ; in short, they were my 
pride : but as man has no business to be proud, it may be 
well that they are lost. Cases of plants, minerals, animals, 
&c. &c., I shall not name. 

'' Indeed it would be endless for me to attempt even a 
general description of all that has perished ; and I will only 
add that, besides the above, all the papers connected with 
my administration of Java, as collected and arranged by 
my deceased friend and secretary, Mr. Assey, have also 
been lost, with all my correspondence. 

*' A loss like this can never be replaced, but I bow to it 
without repining. 

'' In a pecuniary point of view, my loss has not been 
less extensive, as may be perceived by the annexed state- 
ment, in which I have assumed the actual cost of the prin- 
cipal articles which have been sacrificed. Most of them 
are what no money can replace ; such as the service of 
plate presented to me by the inhabitants of Java; the 
diamonds presented to my fiunily by the captors of Djoc* 
jocarta ; the diamond ring presented to me by the Princess 
Charlotte on my embarkation for India, a week before her 
death. These and many other tokens of regard, friendship, 
and respect, during an active and varied Ufe, can never be re- 
placed. Money may compensate perhaps for other losses, 
but no insurance was, or could be, effected from home. It 



i 



LETTER TO THE COURT OF DIRECTORS. 331 

rests solely and exclusively with the Court to consider in 
how far my claims, on account of services, may be strength- 
ened by the severity of misfortune which has latterly 
attached itself to my case. 

''The anxiety and fatigue occasioned by the calamitous 
event which I have detailed have been such, that however 
much I may feel desirous, from motives of pecuniary ne- 
cessity, to prolong my stay in India, in the hope of 
replacing, in part, some of the personal property which 
I have lost, I dare not look forward to such a measure, 
and I am under the necessity of taking advantage of the 
first opportunity that oflFers of proceeding to Europe, 
where I shall throw myself on your Honourable Court 
to enable me to end my days in honourable retirement, 
trusting to an all-bounteous Providence to restore me 
and my family to health and peace in my native land. 

*' In the mean time I have thought it my duty to re- 
sume charge of the Company's affairs on this coast, and 
have advised the Supreme Government accordingly. 

" With a former letter I had the honour to submit a 
copy of the address which was presented to me on the 
occasion of my departure for Europe, with the reply 
which I have felt myself called upon to make on so favour- 
able an expression of the public feeling; and it is now 
with satisfaction that I transmit, for the perusal of your 
Honourable Court, the address of condolence which was 
presented to me on my unexpected return under such a 
sad reverse of fortune. 



332 LETTER TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

" In expressing my deepfelt gratitude to the inha- 
bitants of this settlement^ for their sympathy in our suf- 
ferings^ and genuine hospitality^ I can only say^ that 
having been thrown back on their shores most unex- 
pectedly, — We were naked, and they clothed us, — ^hungry 
and athirst, and they fed us, — weary and exhausted, and 
they comforted and consoled us ; and I pray to God that 
your Honourable Court, as the immediate guardian of 
their interests, will bless this land of Sumatra in return, 
even for their sakes. 

'* I have the honour to be, 

'^ Honourable Sirs, 
" Your devoted, sincere, and faithful servant, 

(Signed) " T. S. Raffles. 

*'F6rt Marlborough, February 8, 1824." 

TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

" Bencoolen, February 20, 1824. 

" We have just suffered a sad calamity, but as we have 
been so long inured to misfortune, it perhaps falls more 
Ughtly upon us than it would otherwise have done. Time 
does not admit of my writing a long letter, and, therefore, 
I take the liberty of enclosing a copy of what I have 
written at the moment, and in great haste, but which will 
afford you all particulars. 

" I have this day engaged another ship, in which we 
hope to have better fortune, but she will not be able to 
sail till the end of next month. 



i 



LETTER TO DR. WALLICH. 333 

" It was not enough that we should have the dangers 
of storms, rocks, and seas to contend with ; but another 
element must rise up against us : earth, air, fire, water, 
all combined to oppose our progress ! But I will not 
despair. 

" Pray excuse the brevity of this. In truth, it is with 
the utmost difficulty I hold the pen." 

TO DR. WALLICH. 

**Bencoolen, March 28, 1824. 
*' My dear Friend, 

" You will have heard of our dreadful misfortime 

long before this reaches you, and therefore I shall not 

enter into particulars further than by stating, that I have 

lost all and everything belonging to me save my wife. 

We, thank God, escaped by a miracle, and are grateful to 

Providence for so wonderfiil a deliverance. 

" The whole of my drawings, between two or three 
thousand ; all my collections, descriptions, and papers of 
every kind ; all those of our invaluable &iend Jack, with 
every document and memorandum that I possessed on 
earth, fell a prey to the all-devouring flame. 

" A subsequent attempt to get home in the Wellington 
has failed in success ; for after taking her up, and being 
prepared to embark, the commander most suddenly 
and unexpectedly went out of his mind, and is now 
raving mad. 

'^ This, in fact, was the third ship we had engaged, and 



334 EXERTIONS OF SIR STAMFORD. 

in wluch something occurred to check our progress. I 
have now engaged a fourth, the Mariner, a small Botany 
Bay ship, to take home the crew and passengers of the 
unfortunate ship Fame> and God grant we may be more 
successful in her. We hope to embark on her in the 
course of the week, and once more to trust ourselves to 
the mercy of the elements. 

'^ If it pleases God that we should arrive in England, 
you will hear from me ere long, and I shall not fail to 
inform you of all I think likely to interest you. 

'' Adieu ! and excuse haste. All I have time to add is 
a repetition of what I have often said before, and will con- 
tinue to say till my dying day : God bless you, and be 
assured of my devoted friendship and affection. 

'' Lady Baffles sends thanks for having kept my 
picture so long, as it otherwise would have been lost, 
with everything else, by the Fame.'* 

So heavy a misfortune was sufficient to have depressed 
the spirit and damped the ardour of the strongest mind; 
but it seemed to have no other effect on that of Sir 
Stamford than to rouse him to greater exertion. The 
morning after the loss of all that he had been collecting 
for so many years, with such unwearied zeal, interest, and 
labour, he recommenced sketching the map of Sumatra, set 
all his draughtsmen to work in making new drawings of 
some of the most interesting specimens in natural history, 
dispatched a number of people into the forests to collect 



CONDUCT OF THE SAILORS. 335 

more aiumals^ and neither murmur nor lamentation ever 
escaped his lips ; on the contrary, upon the ensuing Sab- 
bath, he publicly returned thanks to Almighty God, for 
having preserved the lives of all those who had for some 
time contemplated a death from which there appeared no 
human probability of escaping. And here the Editor 
cannot forbear offering her testimony to the admirable 
conduct of the sailors. When Sir Stamford first got into 
the boat, and they were requested to move to a httle dis- 
tance, a slight murmur took place at the idea of desert- 
ing their comrades, but on being assured that the only 
object was to choose the easiest death, they one and all 
yielded in perfect silence, and calmly watched the success 
of an effort to lower another boat ; nor did they afterwards 
indulge in any complaint, but toiled with the greatest 
good humour, sometimes laughing at the Purser and the 
Steward, on whom they laid the blame of the accident ; 
sometimes expressing pity for " the lady,'' and comforting 
themselves with the idea that they were not much worse 
off than they were before. When the boat approached 
the shore, they entreated that they might be indulged in 
the pleasure of landing the party in safety, only request- 
ing first — to have some water ; and when a large bucket 
Ml was lowered from the side of the vessel which came 
to meet the boats, the eager rush with which they plunged 
their heads into it will easily be imagined when it is re- 
collected that they had been working for eighteen hours, 
without intermission, against a strong current, and in a 



336 KXTRACT FROM HIS MEMORANDUM BOOK. 

tropical climate. Some idea may be formed of the danger 
which the boats were in, when it is stated that there 
was no handle to the rudder ; and that the only way of 
stopping the aperture in the bottom of the boat was by 
one of the men keeping his thumb in it ; as he often fell 
asleep and forgot his office^ the water would rush in, and 
the boat was frequently nearly filled with water and in a 
sinking state. So crammed was it with people, that none 
of those who were not engaged in rowing could, during 
these many hours, move either hand or foot. 

Though Sir Stamford's health received a severe shock 
by this calamity, the following extract from his memoran- 
dum book, on his second embarkation, affords another 
proof that the energy of his mind was not shaken, nor the 
buoyancy of his spirit broken. 

" On the 8th April embarked in the Mariner, and on 
the morning of the 10th weighed and sailed for England 
in that ship, in company with the Lady Flora, Captain 
M'Donnel. She, however, kept to windward and parted 
from us during the night ; a few days afterwards she came 
in company again, but on the 20th we again lost sight 
of her. 

" 20th April. — I this day commenced to apply to study, 
and devoted the early part of the morning to Euclid, and 
the remainder to the arrangement of my papers, &c. As 
far as circumstances admit, I propose to divide my time 
and application as follows, during the voyage: appro- 



EXTRACT FROM HIS MEMORANDUM BOOK*. 337 

priating eight hours in each day to study, reading, or 
writing, and with an intention of making up one day for 
any loss of time on another. 

" Breakfast being fixed at 9 and dinner at 4, 
I appropriate, before breakfast, from 7 to 9 . hours 2 

" Between breakfast and dinner, from 10 to 1 
and from 9 to 4 . . . . >, 5 

'^ In the evening, from 8 to 9 . . ,, I 



hours . 8 



^' Before breakfast. — One hour mathematics or logic 
one hour Latin, Greek, or Hebrew. 

'^ After breakfast, from 10 to 11. — In committing to 
paper and arranging and reviewing what I studied before 
breakfast. 

"From 11 to 1. — Writing an account of my administra- 
tion in the East. 

" From 2 to 4. — General reading and reading out to 
Sophia. 

" In the evening for one hour. — ^Reading a play of 
Shakspeare's, or other entertaining productions. 

'^ By this arrangement, I have, in the morning, by rising 
at 6, one hour for exercise before breakfast, and half an 
hour for the same after breakfast. One hour from 1 to 
2 for tiffin and exercise, and after dinner from 5 to 7, 
two hours for exercise or relaxation in the cool of the 
evening. As the servants are always behindhand in fur- 

VOL. II. z 



338 EXTRACT FROM HIS MEMORANDUM BOOK. 

nishing the meals^ I may freely trust to their affording me 
time for dressing by such delays, which will only eventu* 
ally break in on the proposed three hours' relaxation for 
the evening, a portion of which may well be spared ; or 
half an hour may be added to the day by going to bed at 
half past 9 or 10, instead of 9 as proposed. 

''My object in making this memorandum is, that I may 
hold the rules as inviolable as I can, and by frequently 
recurring to it, revive my sleeping energies, should I at 
any time be inclined to indolence. I should not, however, 
omit to add, that all reading and study on a Simday is to 
be confined to the Bible and religious subjects. The 
Oreek and Hebrew, however, as connected, may never- 
theless form a part of the study of that day. 

"25th June, 1824. — Arrived at St. Helena on the after- 
noon of the 25th of June, after a passage of eleven weeks 
from Bencoolen, and encountering constant and severe gales 
off the Cape of Good Hope during three weeks of that 
period. The gale was so severe, that during this period 
we were unable to leave our cots, the sea poured through 
the decks into our cabin, and the war of the wind was 
such that we could not hear each other speak. Lady 
RafBes, though boarded up in her couch, was obliged 
to have ropes to hold by to prevent her knocking from 
one side of it to the other: the ship lay like a wreck 
upon the ocean at the mercy of the winds and waves, and 
we resigned ourselves to the feeling that our pilgrimagr^ 
in this world was soon to close.'' 



STORM OFF THE GAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 339 

Those who have never experienced such a scene pan 
form no idea of the severity of the gale. Captain Young, 
who had passed the cape nineteen times^ declared he had 
never witnessed anything like it; nor c?,n the Editor 
ever forget one nighty on which Captain Herbert, (for 
all on board were worn out with fatigue and watching,) 
as he retired to take a Uttle rest, desired the officer on 
the watch to observe in one particular direction, and call 
him the moment he saw the smallest speck in the horizon ; 
the Captain then came to tell Sir Stamford that the ship 
still held well together. It was a dreadfol night, the 
sky appeared a heavy dense arch, threatening to fiatU 
with its own weight, and crush everything beneath it, 
save in one spot, where a faVL moon of the deepest blood 
red shed an unnatural crimson hue that just rendered the 
darkness visible. It was not long before the expected 
mark appeared, and before the Captain could get on deck, 
the fiiry of the wind was sweeping away all brfore it. 

'^Landed the evening of the 25th of June, and the 
next morning were kindly received by General and Mrs. 
Walker, with whom we remained at Plantation-house 
during our stay. 

" Sailed from St. Helena the 3d of July, and crossed 
the line the I2th of July, 1824. 

''There are some souls bright and precious, which, 
like gold and silver, may be subdued by the fiery trial, and 
yield to a new mould ; but there are others firm and solid 

22 



340 ARRIVAL AT ST. HELENA. 

as the diamond, which may be shivered to pieces, yet in 
every fragment retain their indelible character.'' 

TO THE DUCHESS OP SOMERSET. 

" St. Helena, June 26, 1824. 

'' Thank God we are once more on the right side of the 
Cape of Good Hope, with a fair prospect of a favourable 
passage home. After being eleven weeks at sea, and suf- 
fering a dreadfol gale of three whole weeks off the Cape, 
we landed here last night. ♦ * * » 

" I have neither time nor spirits to say more than that 
we are alive and tolerably well, and have a hope to reach 
England in August. My health and strength are entirely 
gone, but I trust I have yet enough spirit to bear up for 
the voyage. To complete our sorrow, I have just received 
an account of the death of my dear mother, an event for 
which I had for some time been prepared, but which has 
been a sad stroke at such a moment, just as I felt the 
possibility of once more embracing her, and cheering her 
latter hours : but God's wiU be done. 

" We propose, wind and weather permitting, to land at 
Plymouth, and from thence to cross the country, through 
Exeter and Bath to Cheltenham, where Lady Raf&es 
family are at present residing. 

'^ I mention this, because, next to the duty and inclina-* 
tion I feel to place my dear wife in the bosom of her 
anxious family, I am led to look towards you and yours. 



ARRIVAL AT ST. HELENA. 341 



'^ Pray excuse this hasty scrawl ; my eyes are quite 
blinded with tears, and my hand is so nervous that I can 
scarcely hold my pen." 
I 

TO MR. MARSDEN. 

" St. Helena, July 3, 1824. 

" My dear Sir, 

" After our dreadful misfortune you will, I am 
sure, be glad to hear that we have at length reached this 
place in safety, and that with the blessing of Providence 
we hope to be with you in the course of the next month. 
My constitution is sadly broken, and the last accident has 
given both Lady Baffles and myself so severe a shock, 
that we have with difficulty been able to bear up; but 
the change of scene within the last few days, and the 
kind attentions of General and Mrs. Walker, added to 
the near prospect of home, have again cheered us, and we 
will yet hope that there may be many happy days in store 
for us. 

'^ As the account of the loss of the Fame by fire will, 
no doubt, have reached England before this can arrive, I 
wiU not distress you by recurring to the particulars of 
that dreadful event, by which, though we fortunately 
escaped with our lives, I have been a sufferer beyond what 
it is in my power to express. Nearly one-third of the 
ship was occupied by my collections and packages, and I 
fondly, but vainly, flattered myself that I should astonish 
you with the extent of our exertions and research, par^ 






342 ARRIVAL AT PLYMOUTH. 

ticularly in the departments of natural historj, to which 
tny attention had latterly been so much directed. Our 
friends^ Sir Everard Home and Dr. Horsfield^ wiQ have 
to regret the loss of many interesting subjects^ as i had 
endeavoured to comply with all their wishes^ and suc- 
ceeded beyond my expectations. You too, my dear Sir, 
will suffer no less ; for without vanity I may say^ that I 
had collected a body of information regarding Sumatra, 
that woiUd have been highly interesting to you. I had 
completed a general map of the whole island^ with more 
detailed particulars of the principal divisions, extensive 
vocabularies, &c., and I regret to say, that I had not 
taken the precaution of leaving duplicates behind : of 
most it would have been difficult to have done it. It is, 
however, of no use to repine. I have set to work again 
upon the map, but I fear it will very imperfectly supply 
the place of the one I intended for you." 



TO 



** Plymouth^ Sunday^ August 22, 1824. 

'* Here we are, thank God, safe and sound ! We made 
the land on the 20th, and landed here this moming> 
I am happy to say, in better health than could have 
been expected. Yours of the 20th has just been put 
into my hands, so that you will perceive I have neither 
lost my punctuality nor my activity. I have a sad 
head-ache firom the fatigue of landing, and therefore 
you must excuse my saying more to-day; but as we 



ARRIVAL AT PLYMOUTH. 343 

shall reach Exeter to-morrow, I will write more fiilly 
from thence. 

" Mr. Rosdew is with us, and we shall sleep at Beech- 
wood to-night. Sophia will speak for herself, and Nilson 
is well. My hand is so cramped that I cannot hold my 
pen." 



CHAPTER XX. 

Sir Stan^ford lands at Plymouth—Interview with hit child— Re- 
sumes his labours— Interrupted by ill health— Views of the civili" 
zation and conversion of the heathen — Retrospect of the proceed- 
ings of the Bible Society in Sumatra — Malay schools preparing 
the way for the Scriptures — Translation of St. John's Gospel- 
Effect of the transfer of the island to the Dutch — Access to China 
— Singapore institution'^ Sir Stamford^ s life at home — The ma- 
gistracy — Sudden illness— Purchase of Highwood— Judgment of 
the Court of Directors on his administration of Java, Sumatra, 
and Singapore — His death. 

Sir Stamford Raffles landed at Plymouth with health 
and strength greatly reduced^ and after remaining one 
night with Mr. Rosdew^ at Beechwood, in whose house he 
had last enjoyed the pleasures of social intercourse pre- 
vious to his departure seven years before, he hurried on 
to Cheltenham. The following letters describe his feel- 
ing« at this period:- 

TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

" Cheltenham, August 24, 1824. 

'* Once more we are safe at home, and I trust it will not 
be long before I have it in my power to overcome the 
short distance which separates us. 



INTERVIEW WITH HIS CHILD. 345 

"' We are safe, but, I am sorry to say, far from sound ; 
for my constitution is terribly shattered : nevertheless, I 
live in confidence that, as the spirit is good, the body will 

yet mend. How happy shall I be to see you once more 1 

***** 

" Your letter must have arrived at Plymouth the day 
after I left it. We were most anxious, as you may well 
suppose, to throw ourselves into the arms of our family as 
soon as possible, and did not remain at Plymouth above 
three hours ; but what with assizes, horse-races, air- 
balloons, and other festivities of the season^ we got on 
so slowly for the first two days, that 1 was obUged to push 
the post-boys from Bath to this place at about thirteen 
miles in the hour, until our front wheel caught fire, in 
order to satisfy Sophia's impatience to see her child. 
This has rather fatigued us ; but you will, I am sure, be 
happy to hear that we have found her all that our fondest 
vdshes could have desired. 

" I am unfortunately so troubled with cramp, that I 
can scarcely hold my pen; therefore, pray excuse my 
writing all that my heart and feeUngs dictate. 

" How pleasant it is to be near one's friends ; for what 
are a hundred miles after fourteen thousand ! 

'' Of my ftiture plans in Ufe I cannot say that I have 
fixed any. * * * I confess that I have a 

great desire to turn farmer, and have the vanity to think 
I could manage about two hundred acres as well as my 
neighbours. With this, I suppose, I should in time be- 



346 LETTER TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

come a country magistrate, an office of all others which I 
should delight in ; and if I could eventually get a seat in 
parliament^ without sacrificing principle, I should be con- 
tent to pass through the rest of my life without aiming at 
any thing further, beyond the occupation of my spare 
time in promoting^ as far as my humble means and talents 
admitted, the pursuits of knowledge and science, and the 
advancement of philanthropic and religious principles. 

'' Your Grace will, perhaps, say that I have chalked 
out for myself a very varied and diversified course ; but 
what is life without variety ? and what is existence with- 
out occupation T 

TO THE DUCHESS OP SOMERSET. 

" Cheltenham, October 9, 1S24. 

" Your advice is so good, so friendly, and so kind, that 
I will at once pledge myself to follow it in everything. 
My only wish is not to be idle, but to be usefol to the 
extent of my means. 

* « * * # 

" I have been engaged for the last two or three days in 
drawing out a brief review of my public administration 
during the last twelve years. Aflter the loss of all my 
documents and records, a paper of this kind becomes the 
more interesting. I hope I shall not be found to have 
said too much in favour of my own services and preten- 
sions ; and yet the countries in which I have been placed 
have been so new, untrodden, and interesting, and the 



LETTER TO MR. MARSDEN/ 347 

situations in which I have been thrown have been bo 
peculiar and trying, that unless I state them myself, few 
will either know or understand anything about them. I 
feel confident that my course has been so straightforward, 
that the more light may be thrown upon it, the more 
obvious it will appear, and the more creditable it will be 
to my character." 

TO MR. MARSDEN. 

" Cheltenham^ October 22nd, 1824. 
'' My dear Sir, 

'' I have been so unwell since I had the pleasure 
to receive your kind letter, that I have been quite unable 
to answer it till now ; not that I have, on the whole, cause 
to complain as to the general improvement of my health 
since my arrival, which, I am happy to say, has been 
greater than I expected ; but I am still occasionally sub- 
ject to severe attacks in the head, and have been confined 
for days together to my bed, firom this and a severe cold, 
which for the time incapacitated me from writing. I am, 
however, on my legs again ; and you will, I am sure, be 
happy to hear that both Lady Baf&es and myself already 
feel some confidence that we may weather the winter, and 
look forward to next summer for the full re-estabUshment 
of our health. Our dear little one we have found every 
thing the fondest parents could desire ; and I would hope we 
have at length come to the termination of the long series 
of misfortunes, with which it has pleased an aU-wise Pro- 



348 SIR Stamford's ill health. 

videncc to afflict us of late^ and that there is still much 
comfort and happiness in store for us." 



TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

" Cheltenham, October 23rd, 1824. 

" Your Grace will have been surprised at my long 
silence ; I have been iU and confined to my bed almost 
ever since I received your last letter^ and I am only able 
to-day to refer to the date^ and apologize for not acknow- 
ledging it. When Lord Seymour was with us, I had 
entirely lost my voice from a violent cold ; so that we had 
some difficulty in communicating ; but he had hardly left 
us, than I had one of those severe attacks in my head that 
nearly deprived me of reason; and I began to think I 
must bid you a long farewell. Thank God, however, I 
am better; though I am hardly able to hold my pen, 
and which I dare not trust except within very close limi- 
tation : for I believe it was in consequence of using it too 
much on the paper that I was drawing up that I have to 
attribute this unfortunate relapse; which has thrown me 
back in point of health at least two months ; and as winter 
is fast approaching time is precious. 

" I have finished the paper I was writing some time ago, 
and it is now at the printer s — it is not exactly what I 
could have wished, and the state of my health obliged me 
to contract it within very narrow limits, and bring it to a 
conclusion rather suddenly, and with less spirit than I 



LETTER TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 349 

could have wished. Such as it is, you shall have it in a 
few days." 

TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

•* Cheltenham, November 2nd, 1824. 

" I have corrected the proof of the paper which I am 
sending in to the Court of Directors, and have desired a 
copy to he sent to you. I am afraid you will not find it 
very interesting ; but as it takes a general view of my 
services and the situations in which I have been placed, it 
may amuse you for half an hour during a duU November 
day. You must bear in mind to whom it is addressed, and 
the necessity of my keeping within bounds ; as well as 
with reference to a body so constituted, as on account of my 
own health, which does not admit of my enlarging on the 
subject. You will see that I have pledged myself to give 
the public a memoir on Singapore. I hope you will not 
disapprove of my taking so much blame to myself as I 
have been willing to do. I am ready to justify every act 
of my administration, and feel perfectly easy on that score, 
but it is for others to judge — not me ; and aU I am anxious 
to do is to get the question agitated, as I am ready to 
stand or fall by the result. 

" I am very sensible of the Duke's kindness, and am 
only sorry that I give you so much trouble and so Uttle 
satisfaction. Time was when I wanted not strength to 
second my will ; but I am now, alas ! shattered, and alto- 
gether unequal to one-thousandth part of all I would wish 
or desire to do. 



350 MAPS OF SUMATRA AND SINGAPORE. 

" Promising, with God's help, to be a better corre- 
spondent during the next than I have been during the 
last week, 

" I am, &c. &c., 

" T. S. R. 



'^1 have put the maps of Sumatra and Singapore into 
the hands of an artist this morning, to be constructed 
and engraved on a scale to suit a quarto volume^ 

TO THE DUCHESS OF SOMERSET. 

*• PiccacUUy, December 9th, 1824. 

" I have been following your kind advice — sidling and 
playing the fool with my time as much as possible. 

'^ We are beginning to get a Uttle more to rights than 
when you left us, but I have only been able to unpack two 
cases out of one hundred and seventy-three in course of 
transport to the house." 

As soon as Sir Stamford was settled in London, he 
commenced an examination, as intimated in the last letter, 
into the wreck of the immense collections which he had 
had made during the twenty years he had passed in India. 
He also designed to arrange his papers ; and whilst India, 
with all its varied interests, was fresh in his memory, to 
record whatever he thought would promote the general 
improvement of mankind, or the particular advantage of 
his country ; but his health was so delicate, that he was 



BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. 351 

prevented from applying himself as he wished to the ob- 
jects and pursuits which he had most at heart ; the least 
exertion of mind or body was followed by days of pain and 
sickness^ and he was continually regretting how much he 
was losing time — ^how little he was doing for the good of 
others. 

The following letter is to the Committee of the British 
and Foreign Bible Society. Sir Stamford always conceived 
that the idea of converting the natives of India by preaching 
only was fallacious^ and that the miraculous outpour- 
ing of the Holy Spirit which attended the first preaching 
of the Gospel^ and which by its numerous converts were 
so multiplied^ was not now to be looked for. It was his 
conviction that the best means of securing this object was 
to civilize and instruct the people^ and^ together with civi- 
lization and instruction^ convey to them the blessed tniths 
of the Gospel^ trusting that God in his own good time 
would bestow upon them that faith in a Bedeemer^ with- 
out which all knowledge is vain^ and which alone is for the 
^* healing of nations.'* 

TO THE COMMITTEE OF THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE 

SOCIETY. 

" February, 1825. 
'' In compliance with the desire expressed by the Com- 
mittee, I now have the honour to report generally on the 
state of the Sumatran Auxiliary Bible Society at the 
period of my quitting Bencoolen, and to offer such sug- 



352 BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. 

gestions as occur to me, with a view to the continuance of 
its operations under the political changes in that part of 
the East. 

"Detailed reports of the proceedings of this Society 
from its commencement until January, 1824, were in- 
trusted to me for the Parent Society in England; but, 
unfortunately, the whole of these were lost by the destruc- 
tion by fire of the ship Fame, on which I had embarked 
for England ; and, during the confusion attending my 
second embarkation from Bencoolen, I am sorry to find 
that I was by no means frimished with a complete series 
to supply their place ; nevertheless, I will endeavour to 
convey to the Committee an outline, as far as I bear them 
in recollection, which I hope will be sufificient to prove 
that it has not been without its usefulness ; and that if, 
owing to the peculiar circumstances of the place, much 
may not have been done in the actual distribution of the 
Scriptures, the way had been paved to a considerable 
extent ; and that time alone was wanting to ripen into 
eflFect the operations of those who had entered on the un- 
dertaking. 

" I cannot charge my memory with the exact number of 
Bibles distributed by means of the Auxiliary Society ; I 
believe it was inconsiderable with reference to the extent 
of population ; but when it is considered that previous to 
its establishment few, if any, could read, or had any idea 
of the existence of such a book, or that Christians had such 
a boon to confer upon them, this will not be surprising. 



BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. 353 

** At an early period of the Society, my attention was 
directed more especially to the necessity of introducing 
letters, and, with them, moral and industrious habits were 
gradually attended to. The rapid progress made by the 
children in the different public schools, afforded an earnest 
that perseverance alone, for a few years, was necessary to 
effect a complete change in the condition of the people, 
^nd to place within their comprehension the leading 
truths of the sacred volume. 

^^ Although the progress and success of these schools 
may not be considered as falling directly within the im- 
mediate objects of the Bible Society, yet, as without them 
we never could have expected that the Bible could have 
been read, I may perhaps be permitted to annex to this 
memorandum the last report of our School Committee, 
which shows that in the immediate vicinity of Bencoolen, 
the number of boys who had been taught to read, and 
who had been disciplined in regular habits, amounted to 
some hundreds ; and that in the dependent districts along 
the coast of Sumatra, among a population of not less than 
€0,000 souls, a considerable anxiety prevailed for the ex- 
tension of the system. 

" I may add in truth that I never witnessed a more 
animating and interesting spectacle than the public exa- 
mination of the children of Bencoolen. It was one in 
which aU classes of people united to express their admira- 
tion and surprise ; and the fair promise which the children 
afforded was the most satisfactory earnest of their future 

VOL. II. 2 A 



354 BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. 

advancement in civilization and happiness^ if good seed 
were sown, and the tiller were not idle. 

" Order and industry were more generally introduced 
among the adults than in former times ; and I have 
reason to believe that, throughout, the beneficial changes 
eflTected were considered as springing directly from the 
pure motives of a Christian Government, whose principles 
the people could not but revere. 

" Thus far, in connexion with, and imder the auspices 
of, the Bible Society, has the way been prepared for the 
reception of the sacred volume on the west coast of 
Sumatra. In other parts perhaps little has been done, 
owing to the want of means. The Island itself probably 
contains a population of not less than three millions ; and 
these are for the most part under independent and worse 
than semi-barbarous Chiefs. 

" One of the most interesting and promising establish- 
ments, however, formed in fiirtherance of these objects, 
was at Tappanooly, in the heart of the Batta country; 
where Mr. Burton, a Baptist Missionary, has been suc^ 
cessfully established under the protection of the British 
Government. This gentleman has already made himself, 
in a great measure, master of the Batta language ; and 
after translating several tracts into it, was engaged, at the 
period of my leaving Sumatra, in a plan with the Mis- 
sionaries at Bencoolen, for translating the Gospel of St. 
John. Mr. Burton has since that period penetrated, in 
company with Mr. Ward, into the interior of the Batta 



BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLB SOCIETY. 355 

country ; the particulars of their discoveries in this part 
of Sumatra will, I doubt not, soon meet the public eye. 
In the mean time it may be satisfactory to state that they 
found the population more extensive, and the productions 
more valuable than they expected; and that, instead of 
finding obstacles and difficulties thrown in their way, they 
were universally treated with kindness and hospitality. 
They entered the country without disguise, as English- 
men and Missionaries, and were treated with respect. 

'' But if, on one hand, the friends of the Society at Ben- 
coolen were anxious to open the eyes and ears of the 
ignorant to a knowledge of the Word of God, they were 
no less active in endeavouring to prepare the sacred word 
in such a form as might most readily and most correctly 
meet their conception. 

'^ Superior knowledge of the languages into which it 
was to be translated became indispensable ; and without 
entering into the difficulties which stood in the way in this 
respect, I will merely take the liberty of adverting to the 
state of the question as concerns the Malay Bible, and 
which was, I believe, the first specimen of a translation 
into any of the Eastern languages. The Rev. Mr. Bobin- 
8on, whose exertions in promoting the great objects of the 
Society, and in cultivating the waste and barren soil of 
the native mind with indefatigable industry, entitle him 
to the highest praise, has, among other publications for the 
use of the schools, recently edited a work on Malay ortho- 
graphy ; in the preface to which he has introduced some 

2a2 



356 BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. 

observations on this translation^ which may deserve the 
attention of the Committee; and I am in consequence 
induced to annex the volume ; and at the same time to 
refer to the note at the end of the 36th page of the 
Introduction. 

"I take this opportunity of forwarding a few copies 
of the Gospel of St. John, as rendered into Malay by 
Mr. Robinson; on the merits of which it would be desir- 
able that a decision should be formed as early as circum- 
stances admit. The only step, with this view, taken on the 
spot was, to submit it to a Committee of two of the senior 
civil servants on the Bencoolen establishment, and who were 
considered to be the best versed in the Malay language ; 
who gave their opinion generally in favour of the transla- 
tion, and more particularly in support of the orthography 
adopted by Mr. Robinson. — I do not feel myself prepared 
at the present moment to offer any decided advice on the 
subject; but as there is every reason to hope that the 
Institution, recently established at Singapore, may pros- 
per and become efficient, I should think this a point which 
might be well considered and adjudged by the collective 
knowledge which will be assembled within its walls. 

''I now turn to the probable state of the Auxiliary 
Society at Bencoolen, as it will be affected by the transfer 
of that settlement to the Dutch, and from the British 
withdrawing from the whole of Sumatra on the 1st of 
March last, conformably to the treaty. 

"When the last accounts left Bencoolen, the official 



BRITISH AND FOREIGN 'BIBLE SOCIETY. 357 

advice of the intended transfer had not reached that 
settlement ; but sufficient intimation of the probability of 
such an event had been received, to throw the whole coun- 
try into a state of the greatest confiision and alarm. 

"The following is an extract from one of the latest 
letters, which may serve in some degree to convey an idea 
of the apprehension. 

" ' What the effect this change may be upon our mission 
it is impossible fully to conjecture ; — but there seems just 
cause to fear that it will be attended with some present 
evil. The Bible Society, which was to have supported 
our translation, will exist no more ; and the liberal sum 
which we have hitherto enjoyed for the support of the 
native schools will also be withdrawn.' 

" I introduce this extract to show, that, on the spot, 
little hope is entertained that, after the British flag is 
lowered, there will be any chance of the society atBencoo- 
len holding up its head ; and to submit whether, consider- 
ing that the British Government has agreed to withdraw 
itself in toto from all friture concern in the administration 
of Sumatra, and has left that Island to the exclusive con- 
trol of the Netherlands' Government, it might not be 
advisable to concert with the Bible Society of the Nether- 
lands, to receive its special control and care. 

" I should be loth to recommend the abandonment of 
any interest by the British and Foreign Bible Society 
however distant the hope of success, and more particularly 
of one, with the rise of which I had the satisfaction to take 



358 BRITISH AND FORKION BIBLB SOCIBTT. 

gome painB^ and with which I was in a great measure per- 
sonally connected; but when I reflect on the local discus^ 
sions and difficulties which may arise among contending 
authorities, jealous even of each other's name, I feel that 
I am taking a higher and a safer ground, when I look 
rather to the Netherlands' authority, and to the sseal of 
their Bible Society, for carr}dng into effect the plan which 
we have begun in Sumatra. 

** If the Committee should view the question in the same 
light, I would suggest the advantage of an early and 
candid communication being made to the Netherlands' 
authorities, and that it should be clearly understood, whe- 
ther the four missionaries (Baptists) now in Sumatra will 
be permitted to remain, and to continue their labours on 
the same principle as heretofore, on an assurance of pro- 
tection on the part of the Dutch Government; or if not, 
whether any and what countenance will be given to them 
under the change of circumstances which has taken place ; 
or otherwise, whether the Netherlands' Society itself wiU 
undertake the whole duty, and they may withdraw. 

'' It would be highly advisable that such an understand- 
ing should be effected as would effectually prevent the 
possibility of clashing on the spot. The Government at 
home as well as the Parent Societies, are actuated but by one 
common and social cause, and will mutually aid each other ; 
but the same spirit is not always predominant abroad ; and 
at all events we ought to do everything in our power in Eu- 
rope to prevent the possibility of misunderstanding them. 



BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. 359 

" On the restoration of Java to theDutcK the Auxiliary 
Bible Society established there by the English was allowed 
to decline and go into decay ; and it was not until an 
offer was made to Mr. Bruohnor^ at Samarang, to print a 
version of th0 Javanese Bible at Bencoolen under his 
revision, that the Dutch Government came forward and 
assisted in the prosecution of the work ; in which I am 
happy to say he is now successfully employed. 

" In the Moluccas, the Netherlands' Government have 
afforded considerable countenance and assistance ; and it is 
to be hoped that the subject will be taken up in the Nether- 
lands with the same liberality and spirit. The religion of 
Christ will then not long be prevented from exercising its 
improving and resuscitating influence over this long- 
neglected portion of the globe. 

" At the same time that I feel myself bound to offer an 
apology for the length of this communication, I am in- 
duced to make one observation more, for which I crave 
your indulgence. 

" In the last Annual Report of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society, notice was taken of the labours of Dr. 
Morrison^ and particularly of the advantage that might 
arise in appointing an agent to proceed to Singapore^ 
and from thence to China and different parts of the East> 
with the view of distributing the Scriptures in China. I 
take this occasion to offer my entire concurrence and un- 
reserved testimony in support of the suggestion of Dr- 
Morrison ; and to state that, situated as we are now on 



360 BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. 

the threshold of China, and surrounded by perhaps half a 
million of that people, who have emigrated and settled 
around us in the adjacent countries, with ahnost constant 
intercourse, and means of communication even with the 
heart of China itself, Loochoo, and Japan, I consider this 
the most favourable opportunity that could be embraced 
for furthering the objects of the Society in that quarter. 
I ought also to add, that Siam and Cochin China are 
now, for the first time, open to our commerce ; and that, 
whatever may be the result of the present contest in the 
Birman country, a field seems to be opening in that 
quarter, from which we shall no longer be debarred en- 
trance. India beyond the Ganges, or Eastern Asia, at 
no former period of its history seems to have been preg- 
nant with greater changes than at present ; and, though 
all good and great works must be the work of time, yet I 
trust I may stand excused in suggesting whether the 
time has not arrived, when a knowledge of the languages 
and character of the people ought to be cultivated, in 
order that we may have agents prepared to act whenever 
safe openings offer. Instead of one or two persons 
learned in the Chinese, should we not at least have a 
dozen ? Siam and Cochin China are extremely populous; 
and I am not aware that any Protestant missionary has 
ever been among them ; or that any version of the Scrip- 
tures in their languages has been attempted. 

" With the view of affording to the Committee every 
information as to the present state of Eastern Asia, I 



ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, 361 

have taken the liberty to transmit herewith a memoran- 
dum of the Institution at Singapore ; an institution which 
in its degree will, I trust, be found essentially conducive 
to the civilization and advancement of the countries by 
which it is surrounded." 

Sir Stamford had not been many months in England 
when he suggested a plan to Sir Humphrey Davy for the 
formation of a Zoological Society, which should combine 
with the pursuit of science the introduction and domes- 
tication of such quadrupeds, birds, and fishes, as might 
be most Ukely to prove useful to agricultural and do- 
mestic purposes. 

The following letters allude to this subject. 

TO SIR R. H. INGLIS, BART. 

'' April 2B, 1825. 

" My dear Sir Robert, 

" As Sir Humphrey has gone out of town, leaving 
with me the list of names in support of the plan for ex- 
tending our zoological researches, &c., to add the names 
of as many of my friends as might be desirous of promot- 
ing it, I am induced to ask if I may have the honour of 
putting down your name. 

^' Mr. Peers name is at the head of the list, and those 
of Lord Spencer, Lord Lansdowne, Lord Stanley, Mr. 
Heber, and many others of weight foUow. 

" When the list is completed to a hundred, which I 



362 BSTABLISHMENT OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 

conclude it will be in a day or two^ it is proposed to ap« 
point a committee^ when the objects of the society will be 
more clearly defined. In the first instance^ we look 
mainly to the country gentlemen for support, in point of 
numbers ; but the character of the institution must of 
course depend on the proportion of men of science and 
sound principles which it contains. I look more to the 
scientific part of it, and propose, if it is established on a 
respectable footing, to transfer to it the collections in 
natural history which I have brought home with me. 

*' Yours sincerely, 

" T. S. Baffles." 



TO THE SAME. 

" Qrowenor- street J June 16, 1825. 

<' My DEAR Sir Robert, 

" I have duly registered Sir Thomas Acland's 
name on the list of subscribers to the proposed society, 
which I am now happy to find is to be honoured and 
benefited by his support. 

'' A meeting is proposed to be held next week, when 
some kind of form or constitution will be given to it : at 
present it is almost ^ without a local habitation or a name.* 

'' In the mean time -I enclose you the last prospectus, 
with a list of the names as they stood a week ago, since 
which there have been several accessions. 

'' The state of my health has been such, that I have 
found it impossible to call at Manchester-buildings^ not- 



LETTER TO SIR R. H. INGLIS. 363 

withstanding many attempts^ and I am now forced to fly 
from town rather suddenly. We go as far as Homsey on 
Saturday^ and expect early in the next month to remove 
to High Wood, which I have purchased; at present^ 
however, we have some difficulty about the period of pos- 
session, on account of delay in making out the title ; and, 
as the case stands, I have been obhged to say, that unless 
I can remove at an early date, our agreement must fall to 
the ground. " Yours, &c. 

" T. S. Raffles." 



To Sir Stamford the enjoyments of a country Ufe were 
peculiarly delightful, indeed almost necessary ; and when 
he found himself once more at Uberty to cultivate his 
garden, to attend to his farm, and to interest himself in 
those simple pleasures in which he had always delighted, 
he hoped to regain that health and strength which alone 
were wanting to his happiness. Here he could indulge 
the feelings of his heart without restraint ; and it was his 
intention, had not God ordained better things for him, to 
have passed the greater part of his time in the happy 
retirement which the spot he selected for his residence 
promised to secure to him. 

TO SIR R. H. INGL1S> BART. 

**High Wood, December 3U 1825. 
" My dear Sir Robert, 

'' The application I am about to make to you 

will be the best proof I can give that I am recover- 



364 REQUESTED TO ACT IN THE MAGISTRACY. 

ing my health, and feel some confidence in my future 
exertions. 

" My neighbours here have urged me strongly to act as 
a magistrate, and the necessity of such an authority is 
unquestionable. We are more than four miles removed 
from our parish church, and the exercise of anything like 
police; and the consequences are as might be expected : 
the poorer classes, left to themselves without control in 
this world, and neither checked by moral nor any other 
authority, are in a sad degraded and irregular state. We 
are just on the borders of another county, not famous for 
the moral character of its inhabitants, in the vicinity of 
Barnet and Whetstone, which is a further reason for my 
undertaking the office. 

" We are now concerting a plan for the erection of a 
Chapel of Ease ; and the next object is an efficient magis- 
tracy. For some time I resisted the entreaties of my 
friends that I should endeavour to get into the commis- 
sion, not feeling my health equal to the duties, and appre- 
hensive that, although during the longest part of my 
public life, I have been acting on the principle, and 
directing others how to execute similar offices, I might 
myself be deficient in the details ; but from the improve- 
ment in my health, and from a desire to be usefril to the 
extent of my ability, added to the consideration that it 
may afford me the means of becoming practically ac- 
quainted with the real state of our society, and of much 
regarding our laws and usages which it is impossible for 



LETTER TO THE REV. DR. RAFFLES. 365 

me to know otherwise than theoretically, I no longer 
hesitate. 

'* I have, in a great measure, recovered my health, by 
being quietly in the country, and avoiding pubUc or large 
parties, and the benefit of a pure air; but we propose 
going into town in the course of a few months. 

" Yours, &c. 

" T. S. Raffles." 

TO THE REV. DR. RAFFLES. 

**23, Lower Grosvenor Street, March 9, 1825. 

*' My dear Cousin, 

" I have been intending to write to you for the 
last three weeks, and particularly in answer to your refer- 
ence to Sophia respecting the Singapore Institution ; but 
I have been far from well, and not able to communicate 
with Dr. Morrison and other friends so fiilly as I could 
have wished. 

" It is now determined that he does not return to 
China this season j and he has for the present established 
himself at Hackney, where he lectures twice a week, and 
affords instruction in the Chinese language. His object 
is to introduce the study of it into this country ; and a 
plan is in progress for appointing a professor in Oxford. 

" I am decidedly of opinion, that the interests of the 
Institution will be better forwarded by considering it as a 
whole; it being of course optional with subscribers to 



36G STUDY OF THE CHINB8B LANGUAGE. 

give their assistance either generally, or to either of the 
three departments — Literary, Chinese, or Malay. Dr. 
Morrison looks principally to the Chinese, but he by no 
means wishes to throw the other departments into the 
background ; and I believe he is fully convinced that we 
must uphold the literary and scientific department, as 
most essential for the well-being of the whole. * * 
I propose after Easter to take it up, and will then write 
you more fully. 

" It will I think be advisable to move in the first in- 
stance in London, where I propose appointing a com- 
mittee. Dr. Morrison does not appear sanguine about 
public meetings, and seems to think we can do more by 
committees. 

« ♦ 4( « * 

'' My health has improved, but I am still delicate and 
unsound; so much so, that I am unable to bear the 
fatigue of going into the city, or attending to anything 
like business. I look forward with no little anxiety to 
May and June, when we may hope to quit London and 
ruralize. 

" I am much interested at present in establishing a 
grand Zoological collection in the metropolis, with a 
Society for the introduction of living animals, bearing the 
same relation to Zoology as a science, that the Horticul- 
tural Society does to Botany. The prospectus is drawn 
out, and when a few copies are printed I will send some 
to you. We hope to have two thousand subscribers at 



THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 367 

2?. each; and it is further expected we may go far beyond 
the Jardin des Plantes at Paris. Sir Humphrey Davy 
and myself are the projectors ; and while he looks more 
to the practical and immediate utility to the country gen- 
tlemen^ my attention is more directed to the scientific 
department. More of this, however, hereafter. 

* * ;tt * 4i 

" T. S. Raffles." 

TO THE REV. DR. RAFFLES. 

" Lower Qrosvenor Street, May 18, 1826. 
'^ My DEAR Cousin, 

'' You are kind, indeed, to be thinking of me and 
my prospects, at a time when I fear I shall have given you 
too much reason for accusing me of neglect. My con- 
science has for many a day told me that I ought to have 
written to you more than I have done ; and the only way 
in which I have been able to satisfy it, has been by reflect- 
ing on your kindness and consideration to make allowance 
for all my sins of omission ; — ^which in the way of cor- 
respondence have latterly accumulated most frightfully. 
I feel in the light of an unfortunate debtor, with but little 
prospect of ever discharging my arrears. 

" My health, thank God, is upon the whole improved ; — 
and I am happy to say both Sophia and my little one are 
quite well. Necessity has compelled me to go much into 
society; and I am almost surprised, that,- at this gay 
season of festivity, I have been able to carry on the war. 
Seldom a day passes without an engagement for dinner. 



368 THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIBTT. 

and for many weeks I have not been able to command an 
hour's leisure. It is true I have not attended very closely 
to anything, but all is so new, varied, and important in 
the metropolis of this great empire, after so long an ab- 
sence in the woods and wilds of the East, that like the 
bee, I wander from flower to flower, and drink in delicious 
nutriment from the numerous intellectual and moral 
sources which surround me. 

♦ * « 4t ♦ 

"The few copies of the Zoological plan which were 
struck off were soon dispersed ; and I did not think of 
sending some to you until I found I had not one left for 
myself Some idea has been entertained of throwing the 
prospectus into a new form ; and at this very time I am 
a little at issue with Sir Humphrey Davy, as to the share 
which science is to have in the project. As soon as I have 
a copy of the plan resolved upon, I will send it to you; 
and in the mean time I shall take the liberty, save permis- 
sion, of placing your name with the honourables who 
support it. 

'^Do you know of any layman who would go to Singa- 
pore and China as an Agent to the Bible Society ; — or 
who would devote himself to the cultivation of the Chinese 
language ? He would have a salary of lOOZ. per annum, 
and all expenses for travelling, &c. paid. I am looking 
out fi>r such a person, at the suggestion of the Bible 
Society; and considering the great opening, and the 
extent of the field, surely there must be sufficient interest 



ILLNESS OF SIR STAMFORD. 369 

in the country to rouse some one into action. I think it 
likely that you will see some notice on the subject in the 
next monthly extracts published by the Society. 

* « * 4>- * 

^*T. S. Raffles." 

TO THE REV. DR. RAFFLES. 

** Lower Grosvenor-street, May 24, 1826. 

" My DEAR Cousin, 

*' Thank God I can return a tolerably satisfactory 
answer to your kind enquiry, by saying, that though still 
rather weak and nervous, I am again getting about. My 
attack was sudden and unexpected, but fortunately was 
not apoplectic as was at first feared. I was inanimate for 
about an hour; but, on being bled, got better, and I have 
had no return. 

" It has reminded me, however, that I have been quite 
long enough in London, and its dissipations and excite- 
ments ; and we are now making arrangements for retreat- 
ing as soon as we can. Nothing has yet been determined 
respecting the property at Hendon ; but we are still in 

treaty, the difference being about a thousand pounds. 

* iffi * * * 

"I am afraid of writing much, as my head is not quite 
what it should be. 

" Yours most affectionately, 

" T. S. Raffles." 

Sir Stamford alludes to an illness in the foregoing 
vol. il 2 r 



370 PROSPKCTUS OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 

letter ; he bad been to call on bis friend Mr. Murdoch ; 
and after leaving bis bouse was suddenly seized with a 
fainting- fit> and brought home by a surgeon who happened 
to be passing at the time. The hope that it was not an 
attack of apoplexy was> alas ! fallacious ; but how often are 
the warnings of God rendered of no avail by the re- 
luctance of man to apply them ! In this instance those 
near and dear to him refused to listen^ because to have 
done so would have been to yield up every hope of 
earthly happiness. 

TO THE REV. DR. RAFFLES. 

" Lower Grosvenor-street, June 6, 1826. 
" My dear Cousin, 

" I sent you by the coach of Saturday a few of the 
copies of the Prospectus of the Zoological Society. It is 
a subject on which much has been said, and more might 
be written ; but it has been thought best, in the present 
state of the speculation, to confine the notice to a few words. 
The names are coming in fast ; and I shall be happy to 
receive a list of any of your friends at Liverpool, who may 
be desirous of becoming subscribers. The amount of the 
sum will not ruin them, neither will they find themselves 
in bad company : and no pecuniary call will be made until 
the plan is advanced, and we can show them something 
for their money. 

'' It is proposed to have a general meeting of the sub- 
scribers who may be in town, in the course of the present 



PROSPECTUS OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 371 

months in order to appoint a Committee, and proceed to 
business. 

" We expect to have at least 500 members to begin with, 
and that Government will provide us with ground, &c. 

"I am happy to say that I continue tolerably well; 
although the last serious attack, in reminding me of my 
mortality, has thrown me back considerably both in 
strength and spirits ; so much so, that I am obliged to 
forego society in a great measure, and to come to the reso- 
lution of quitting London almost immediately. We have 
fixed on the 15th to move to Homsey, for a week or two, 
whence we shall remove to our new dwelling at High 
Wood. This place I have just purchased, and we are to 
have possession at Midsummer. It is in the parish of 
Hendon, and on the borders of Hertfordshire, but in 
Middlesex, eleven miles from London, and three from 
Barnet, so that we shall be at least ten miles nearer to 
you than we are in London. The house is small, but 
compact, and the grounds well laid out for appearance 
and economy. The land, 112 acres, in grass ; and, as I 
have tiaken the growing crops, I must begin hay-making 
while the sun shines. There is a very good farming 
establishment on a small scale; and I am now rejoiced 
that I can offer you and Mrs. Raffles and the children 
comfortable beds and accommodation whenever you can 
pass a few weeks with us. I anticipate, with the blessing of 
God, great advantage from the change of air and occupa- 
tion. We have now been nearly eight months in London, 

2b2 



372 ESTABLISHES THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 

and most heartily am I tired of it; indeed, I do not think 
I could stand a month longer at the rate we have been 

obliged to live, without quiet or retirement for a day. 

♦ * ♦ ♦ * 

''The last attack has so shaken my confidence and 
nerves, that I have hardly spirit at the present moment 
to enter upon public life; and prudence dictates the 
necessity of my keeping as quiet as I can, until I com* 
pletely re-establish my health. A few months in the 

country, and on the farm, may set me up ag^n. 

♦ « ♦ • * 

"Sophia unites in kindest love to Mrs. Baffles and 

yourself, 

" And I remain, 

" Yours, most affectionately, 

" T. S. Raffles. 

'' I am not sure that I mentioned in my former letter 
that my attention was directed to High Wood, in the first 
instance, by our respected friend, Mr. Wilberforce, who 
has purchased the estate adjoining, so that we are to be 
next door neighbours, and to divide the hill between us. 

'' I am happy to say that his health is improving. — ^Do 
you not almost envy us such a neighbour ?" 

It will bo seen fit>m the notices in this and some of the 
preceding letters, that Sir Stamford had at this time the 
gratification of carrying into execution in London. his 



LETTER TO DR. RAFFLES. 373 

favourite plan of an establishment similar to the Jardin 
des Plantes at Paris. His own taste led him^ as he has 
stated himself^ to consider the^scientific department as the 
one of the greatest interest and advantage to his country. 
The Zoological Society now possesses that portion of 
the collections which he made during his last government, 
and sent home previously to his return from Sumatra. 

TO THE REV. DR. RAFFLES. 

" High Wood, Middlesex, June \bth, 1826. 

" My dear Cousin, 

" I have just received your welcome letter of the 
12th, and should send this immediate acknowledgment to 
Liverpool, if it did not appear that I should best insure 
its deUvery, and meet your arrangements, by forwarding 
it to Highbury Place. 

*' We are here, thank God, once more out of the tram- 
mels and disorders of a London life. We came down last 
week, and are looking forward to the hope of remaiiiing 
some time. We have nearly dismantled the house in 
Grosvenor-street, so that I fear you would find but poor 
accommodations there : here we cannot have you too 
much with us ; and from the nature of the house you can 
best judge the accommodation we can afford. 

•^We have the same dread of the measles that you 
appear to have. Neither of the children have had them ; 
and, as they have had a sad hout, and are only just reco- 
vering from the hooping-cough, which I caught from 
them, we cannot be too particular. 



374 LETTER TO DR. RAFFLES. 

" As to my engagements for the next three weeks, I 
know but of one or two likely to interfere with any 
arrangement which we can make for being together^ as 
much as possible, while you are in the vicinity of 
London. 

^' We are daily waiting a summons from Lady Harcourt 
to go to St. Leonard's^ where we have promised to take 
the children for a week. We are also under the necessity 
of going into Essex after the Midsummer holidays, to 
put Charles to school, and spend a few days with Mr. 
Sotheby, the poet, and our friend Mr. Hamilton : with 
these exceptions the coast is clear. 

" You do not say the time that Mrs. Raffles proposes 
being in town : but I hope you will arrange for her coming 
to us when she does arrive : and that, at all events, we 
may be able to make a comfortable family circle, pre- 
vious to your trip to Hamburgh. 

" Let me have a line from you when you reach High- 
bury, should you not stop by the way at fiamet, and first 
look in upon us. I generally go into town once a week, 
and we must lose no time in meeting. 

'^ I have had a great deal to annoy me since I saw you 
last ; but it is a worldly affair, and I trust will not mate- 
rially affect our happiness. 

** Sophia is quite well, and desires her kindest love. 

" Yours affectionately, 

- T. S. Raffles." 



DIFFICULTIES OF SIR STAMFORD's PUBLIC LIFE. 375 

" We suffer a little from the heat ; but, as we hope to 
make our hay in the course of next week, I don't com- 
plain ; High Wood is now in its best dress, and will, I 
am sure, please you. 

" My neighbour, Mr. Wilberforce, takes possession to- 
morrow, and will previously spend the day with us." 

This is the last letter from which the Editor can pre- 
sent any extract, and her duty now approaches to its 
close. 

Through the whole course of the narrative it will have 
been obvious, that from the first period of public action, 
preceding and during the expedition to Java, Sir Stam- 
ford's course of duty forced him to act on his own re- 
sponsibility ; that, in very few instances, were his supe- 
riors pleased to view in the same light the interests of 
the charge entrusted to his management; that in the 
absence of instructions solicited, and of replies to his fre- 
quent references, he was impelled onwards by the course 
of events ; that in the administration of the Government 
of that Island, and in his subsequent Government of 
Bencoolen, and the important establishment of Singa- 
pore, unfortunately, when his superiors did interfere, it 
was in general only to raise objections, and to suggest a 
different course of measures, when, by their own delays, 
the time was past in which their views could have been 
adopted. This may be supposed to have arisen more 
from their ignorance of the subjects on which they 



376 DIFFICULTIES OF SIR STAMFORD's PUBLIC LIFE. 

thought it necessary to decide, than from any intention 
of being unjust or harsh towards the individual whose 
merits and services many of them, no doubt> justly appre- 
ciated. Among the Directors of the East India Com- 
pany, Sir Stamford had the happiness to possess the 
friendship of Sir Hugh Inglis, Mr. Grant, Mr. Edmond- 
stone, Mr. Money, and Mr. Edward Parry, to every one 
of whom individually, he would have referred with the 
greatest confidence for an opinion on any and every point 
of his public life. 

The second period of his services in the East, his go- 
vernment in Sumatra, placed him in a predicament equally 
trying; every act which tended to benefit his country 
generally, and to promote the interests of the people more 
immediately subject to his authority, interfered in the 
same degree with the principles of monopoly on which 
the East India Company have founded their policy. 

It was the opinion of Sir Stamford, that during the 
infancy of our intercourse with India, the union of mer- 
chant and legislator might exist without injury to the 
general interests of the country ; but that it was a short- 
sighted policy which induced the reluctance to share with 
competitors those benefits formerly enjoyed by the Com- 
pany alone ; and that, as it is impossible for the Company 
to compete with the private trader, it would be for their 
honour and advantage to withdraw from this field. By 
being known as Legislators and Governors only, by en- 
couraging general trade, and removing all obstacles to 



DECISION OF THE COURT OF DIRECTORS. 377 

general intercourse, they would in reality increase their 
revenue, and secure the support of the public. 

Sir Stamford, as a servant of the Company, was bound 
indeed to promote their peculiar and corporate interests, 
but he looked beyond the mere question of the profits of 
a retail trade; and he felt that no Government could 
prosper unless it went hand in hand with the improve- 
ment of the people. That the Company have not reaped 
the results of his labours cannot be imputed to him. 

It remains only to state the judgment of his superiors 
upon his general measures. On the 12th of April, 1826, 
the Court of Directors gave their opinion of the services 
of Sir Stamford under the three heads of Java, Sumatra, 
and Singapore. 

Of Java — the Court admit, that the success of the ex-, 
pedition to Java was promoted by the plans and informa- 
tion of Sir Stamford Haffles. 

That the representation of Sir Stamford Raffles as to 
the financial embarrassment of Java on the outset of his 
government is correct. 

That those financial difficulties were enhanced by the 
inevitable hostilities * with Palembang and Djojocarta. 

That of the measures introduced by Sir Stamford 
Baffles for the removal of the financial embarrassments ; 
viz. the sale of lands, withdrawal of Dutch paper cur- 
rency, and a new system of land revenue: — 

* Measures approved by the Bengal Government, 



378 DECISION OF THE COURT OF DIRECTORS. 

The sale of lands * is considered to have been a ques- 
tionable proceeding. 

The entire series of measures for the reform of the 
currency are conceded to have been well adapted to their 
object. 

With regard to the system of revenue introduced by 
him^ the Court state that they would have been inclined 
to augur favourably of the success of his measures^ and 
consider it highly probable that the colony would have 
soon been brought at least to liquidate its own expenses 
by the lenient and equitable administration of Sir Stam- 
ford Raffles' system. 

The regulations for reform in the judicial department 
and police, the TJourt consider entitled, both in their prin- 
ciples and in their details, to a considerable degree of 
praise. 

On the measures respecting Borneo, Banca, and Japan, 
the Court remark that, under a permanent tenure of 
Java, and a different system of policy, the measures in 
question (promoting intercourse and enlarging the British 
power) would have been valuable service. 

Sumatra. — The measures of internal reform introduced 
by Sir Stamford Raffles are generally approved. 

In his political measures he incurred the strong dis- 
approbation of the Court ; but the motives by which he 

* Pronounced by the Governor-General to have been an able 
EXPEDIENT in a moment of great emergency. 



1 
DECISION OF THE COURT OF DIRECTORS. 379 

was actuated were unquestionably those of zealous solici- 
tude for the British interests in the Eastern Seas^ and 
form a part of a series of measures which have terminated 
in the establishment of Singapore. 

Singapore. — It is allowed that Sir Stamford Raffles 
developed the exclusive views of the Dutch, and the 
measures ultimately carried into effect are to be attri- 
buted to his instrumentaUty ; and to him the country is 
chiefly indebted for the advantages which the settlement 
of Singapore has secured to it. The Court consider this 
to be a very strong point in Sir Stamford Raffles' favour, 
and are willing to give him to the full extent the benefit 
of their testimony respecting it. 

His administration of Singapore has been approved by 
the Bengal Government. 

The Court's opinion with regard to the general services 
of Sir Stamford Raffles is summed up in the following 
terms : — 

" The Government of Sir Stamford Raffles appears 
with sufficient evidence to have conciliated the good feel- 
ings of, at least, the great majority of the European and 
Native population ; his exertions for the interests of lite- 
rature and science are highly honourable to him, and 
have been attended with distinguished success ; and al- 
though his precipitate and unauthorised emancipation of 
the Company's slaves, and his formation of a settlement 
at Pulo Nias, chiefly with a view to the suppression of a 
slave-traffic, are justly censured by the Court, his motives 



APPENDIX. 



A DISCOURSE 

DELIVERED AT A MEETING OF THE SOCIETY OF ARTS AND 

SCIENCES, IN BATAVIA, ON THE TWENTY-FOURTH 

DAY OF APRIL, 1813, BEING THE ANNIVERSARY 

OF THE INSTITUTION, 

By the Hon. Thomas Stamford Haffles, President. 

'' Gentlemen, 

'* Although I have naturally withheld my signature 
from the address to Lord Minto, which now lies on the 
table, in consequence of the very pointed manner in which 
the framer of that address has noticed the protection and 
encouragement which I have personally afforded to the 
Society, I shall have much pleasure in forwarding it, and 
in personally, soliciting his Lordship to take the Society 
under his immediate patronage. I am satisfied that he 
will entertain a due sense of the consideration which you 
have shown to his exalted taleiits, and I flatter myself 
that we may confidently count on his promoting the views 
and objects of the Institution to the utmost extent. 

" Elected as your President, by the unanimous voice of 
the Society, and earnestly solicited by the most conspicu- 
ous of your Members to accept that station, I have not felt 



384 MR. RAFFLES* ADDRESS. 

myself competent to decline so marked a distinction; 
but I must assure you that I feel very sensibly my entire 
inability to execute its important duties^ either ^ith benefit 
to you or credit to myself. Far more preferable would 
it have been to me had this honourable post devolved 
upon one of your more competent members^ and that 
you had permitted me to have mixed with you as one of 
your ordinary^ though not least zealous associates. 

*' On the present occasion^ however, assembled as we 
are, in commemoration of the anniversary of the Institu- 
tion of the Batavian Society, with such fair prospects before 
us of promoting the original design of its establishment, 
under the anticipated protection of so illustrious a Patron, 
I cannot refrain from taking a general though imperfect 
review, of the progress of the Society, from its first insti- 
tution, nor from indulging in the contemplation of the 
lights, which the fiiture exertions of its active and zealous 
members may throw on man and nature in these remote 
regions. 

" In common with other human institutions, the Batavian 
Society has been subject to many changes and vicissi- 
tudes ; but it is to the calamitous efiects of a war which 
has desolated the finest countries in Europe, and which 
extended its banefrd influence to this distant Isle, that we 
are principally to attribute its decline. Cut off from all 
communication with the mother-country, and distracted 
by internal jealousies and disputes, science drooped, and 
this Society, which at one time maintained so distinguished 
a character, almost ceased to be known. 

"The Batavian Society has, I believe, the honour of 
being the first institution of a literary nature established 
by Europeans in the East. Previous to its establishment, 
Mr. Badermacher, a gentleman of distinguished talents, 
and a zealous promoter of the Christian religion, and of 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 385 

science, with a few Mends at Batavia, conceived the idea 
of assembling together a number of persons of considera- 
tion and ability, with the view of encouraging the arts and 
sciences in this capital and the other Indian establish- 
ments then dependent on Holland. They considered 
that in India, as in Europe, where for two centuries the 
reformation in letters preceded that in religion, a taste for 
the arts and sciences must be introduced previously to the 
general adoption of the Christian religion in the East ; 
but they were aware of the difficulties to be encountered, 
under the circumstances in which the colonies of Holland 
were then placed, and a considerable period elapsed before 
the design was carried into efifect. 

" At length, in the year 1777, when Mr. Radermacher 
and his &ther-in-law, the Governor-General De Klerk, 
were newly elected directors of the Society of Haerlem, a 
programma appeared, which contained the plan of extend- 
ing the branches of that Society to the Indies. The 
distance and extent of the Dutch colonial possessions in 
the East did not, however, admit of this plan being realized, 
but the idea being thus brought forward to public notice, 
a separate Society was, by the unremitting perseverance 
of Mr. Radermacher, who may be called the founder of the 
Institution, established at Batavia. 

" On the 24th of April, 1778, this Society was duly 
established, under the authority of government, and after 
the example of Haerlem, took for its motto. The Public 
Utility. On its first organization the Society consisted 
of 192 members, the Governor-General being Chief 
Director, and the members of the High Regency Directors. 
The ordinary members were elected from among the 
moi^t distinguished inhabitants of Batavia, and the pos- 
sessions of the Company ; and it was enacted, that as 
many as were present should annually hold a general 

VOL. II. 2 c 



386 MR. raffles' address 

assembly, in order to judge and decide upon the answers 
received to the different questions proposed, to propose 
new questions, and to make general regulations. In ad- 
dition to this general direction, a committee was nomi- 
nated, consisting of eight members, with a president and 
secretary, who were charged with the daily occurrences, 
and with authority to decide upon and carry into effect 
whatever might not admit of delay, reporting their pro- 
ceedings at the ensuing general assembly. 

'' The Society selected as objects of research and inquiry 
whatever could be useM to agriculture, commerce, and 
the welfare of the colony ; it encouraged every question 
relating to natural history, antiquities, and the manners 
and usages of the native inhabitants, but expressly avoided 
entering upon any subject which might relate to the East 
India Company; and in order the better to define the 
objects and contribute to their accomplishment, a pro- 
gramma was from time to time printed and circulated 
abroad. 

*' These programmas contain many important questions, 
as well general as particular, relating to agriculture, com- 
merce, the means of removing the insalubrity of Batavia, 
the diseases of the climate generally, and other points 
which clearly mark the objects of the Society. Among 
these, the following question may deserve notice : — 

"^Sy what means of finesse do the Preachers and Mis- 
sionaries of the Moslem faith succeed, even at the present 
day, in converting Pagans to the faith of the Koran, and in 
establishing them in this faith T 

'^ Although it might seem that this question might either 
have been answered generally by stating ' that the Maho- 
medans at the present day owe their success principally to 
their more intimaie assimilation unth those to be converted ; 
or, perhaps, eventually by ' a philosophical and political 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 387 

view of the first establishment of the Mahomedan Religion 
on the islands and coasts of the seas lying east of the Straits 
of Malacca and Sunda;' it does not appear to have been 
replied to in any of the subsequent vohimes. 

" The view which I have just mentioned seems to fall 
particularly witiiin the province of the Society, and to be 
highly deserving its attention; it is a part of history 
which seems hitherto to have been too little investigated, 
and a tract on the subject, while it discussed the question 
alluded to, would naturally introduce other important 
subjects. 

" The Society was no sooner fiilly established, and its 
proceedings generally known, than it received from all 
quarters various acquisitions to its cabinet and Hbrary. 
Mr. Radermacher himself presented the Society with a 
convenient house, and with eight cases of valuable books, 
a collection of animals, fossils, minerals, musical instru- 
ments of the Javanese, and of the different coins current 
in the East ; and in the same year, by the liberality of 
Mr. Bartto, the Society was enabled to form a Botanical 
Establishment in a garden presented by that gentleman. 

^'In 1779 the Society undertook to print the first 
volume of its Transactions ; the second appeared in 1780, 
and the third in 1781, but from the want of tjrpes and 
other unfortunate circumstances, a programma only ap- 
peared in 1782. In 1786 the fourth volume was, however, 
given to the public, but printed in Holland, by the com- 
missaries of the Society, under the special privilege of 
the States General. 

" After this period the Society observing that the ques- 
tions proposed remained unanswered, set to work them- 
selves, and pubUshed the fifth volume in 1790. In this 
and the sixth volume, which appeared in 1792, the essays 

are written exclusively by the members. 

2 c2 



388 MR. raffles' address 

*' In 1794 the first two essays^ intended for the seventh 
volume^ were printed ; but no subsequent publication of 
the Transactions of the Society appears to have taken 
place. 

*' Subsequent to this period, when the revolutions in 
Europe, the war and other circumstances of the times, 
continued to interfere with the prosperity of the Society, 
it was suggested by some of the members, that by adopt- 
ing a more limited plan for its proceedings, the objects 
which the Society had in view might still be obtained; 
and accordingly a resolution appears to have been taken 
to this effect, to which the approval of the High Regency 
was obtained, in May, 1800. 

" Under this new organization of the Society, the 
' Public Utility' was still the declared object of the Insti- 
tution ; but the publication of questions, except at the 
particular suggestion of any member, was discontinued. 
The Society still continued to consist of men of ability 
and talent. The direction of the Society was placed in 
the hands of a Directory of nine persons, including the 
secretary, who were chosen from among the members, 
each taking precedence in his turn for one month. Cor- 
responding members were elected at the principal settle- 
ments and out-stations, and the general annual assem- 
bhes were abolished. In the hands of this Directory the 
Society appears to have deposited everything ; and con- 
sidering the distracted state of the country, such a 
conduct may perhaps have been essential for maintaining 
its existence during the convulsed period which ensued. 

'* Notwithstanding the exertions of the Directory to 
complete the seventh volume, it was found impracticable ; 
and the only acquisitions which it appears to have ob- 
tained during the period in which the affairs of the Society 
were exclusively under its management, are the communi- 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 389 

cations of Dr. Thomas Horsfield. This gentleman was 
proposed to the High Begency, and authorised to prose- 
cute his botanical researches under the sanction of govern- 
ment. After several excursions in diflTerent parts of the 
island^ he established himself at Souracarta> with the view 
of forming a Flora Javana, forwarding to the Society from 
time to time reports of his progress, dried plants, and 
usefril descriptions and accounts of discoveries made by 
him in natural history. 

'' Such was the state of the Society at the change of 
government, in 1811, when the dark perspective was 
illumined, and the talents and ambition of the Society 
again shone forth from the obscurity in which pohtical 
circumstances had involved it. 

" Without noticing particularly the various essays which 
adorn the pages of the six volumes of the Transactions 
already published, I shall briefly observe, that as far as 
my limited knowledge of the language enables me to 
judge, they contain much usefril and interesting informa- 
tion, particularly on economical subjects materially con- 
nected with the interests of science and literature. 

" In the first volume will be found an interesting de- 
scription of the Dutch possessions in the East Indies, and 
the Transactions are replete with various valuable tracts 
on agriculture, commerce, political economy, and natu- 
ral history, by Messrs. Radermacher, Van Hogendorp, 
Hooyman, Van Iperen, Baron Van Wurmb, Couperus, 
Van der Steege, Titsing, Tessiere, Van Boeckholtz, and 
others. 

" Having thus taken a retrospective view of the Society, 
from its first institution until the period when it was new- 
modelled under the regulations of last year, I shall pro- 
ceed briefly to notice the contents of the volume, which is 
now sent to the press, and to communicate such sug- 



390 MR. RAFFLES* ADDRESS 

gestions as occur to me with regard to our ftiture pro- 
ceedings. 

'^ In various branches of natural history^ Doctor Hors- 
field is eminently conspicuous, and the papers which will 
now come before the public from his pen, are highly in- 
teresting to science. On the antiquities and native his- 
tory of the island, some light is thrown by lieutenant- 
Colonel Mackenzie, Surveyor-General on the Madras 
Establishment, in his interesting tract on the Ruins of 
Prambana, forming the capital of one of the early dynas- 
ties of this island; and on the Island of Borneo some 
interesting data are fomished, on which to found our 
further inquiries in that immense island, from the pen of 
the late Dr. Leyden. The circumstances under which 
this paper was written are stated in a note annexed to the 
paper itself. 

''Had our late valuable secretary. Dr. Hunter, been 
spared but a few months, the present volume would not 
have made its appearance without containing some highly 
interesting essay from him. His death is deeply deplored 
by us all, as must for ever be the unexpected and un- 
timely fate of my departed friend Dr. Leyden, who, 
although not actually initiated as a member of this So- 
ciety, came from the other India panting after knowledge, 
and busy in the pursuit of science. Had Providence 
ordained that he should have remamed a few months on 
this island in the exercise of the wonderful powers of his 
ever active mind, I am convinced, that from his extra- 
ordinary acquirements in all the languages of the East, 
his deep erudition, and his zeal in the cause, he would 
have found it no difficult task to have traced the con- 
nection which formerly subsisted between the Eastern 
Islands and Western India, from a comparison of their 
languages and dialects only. His views were the most 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 391 

extended and comprehensive that a philosophic mind can 
conceive. Ardent in the pursuit of knowledge in every 
direction^ and rising with difficulties^ his uncommon nund 
and rare talents must naturally have overcome every 
obstacle. 

*' A more convincing proof cannot perhaps be offered 
of the views which he contemplated in setting his foot in 
this capital of the Eastern Islands^ than in the sketch of 
Borneo, which I have just noticed. This was prepared 
by him on his passage from Malacca to Batavia during 
the progress of the expedition. It stands uncorrected by 
his masterly hand, but even in its present state will, I 
have no doubt, be found to merit a place in your publi- 
cations. 

*' Irreparable as the loss of these inestimable promoters 
of our design and ornaments of our age must be, and 
deep as our regret may be felt, we are not to despair of 
what may hereafter be done ; but rather, from the loss we 
have sustained, put our shoulders more firmly to the 
wheel and exert ourselves more than under other more 
fortunate circumstances would have been necessary. 

*' The first point which it appears to me essential to 
notice with regard to our future proceedings, is the neces- 
sity of encouraging and attaining a more general know- 
ledge of the Javanese language. Hitherto the commu- 
nication with the inhabitants of the country has been 
chiefly through illiterate interpreters, or when direct, 
through the medium of a barbarous dialect of Malays, 
confounded and confiised by the introduction of Portu- 
guese and Dutch. Without a thorough knowledge of 
this language, it is impossible to form any accurate idea 
of the modes of thinking or acting among the people of 
this country. Much valuable information may be ex- 
pected to be found in their books, and when they are 



392 MR. RAFFLES^ ADDRESS 

more generally known, an attempt may be made to 
develop the early history of the island, which, with the 
exception of some leading facts, remains, anterior to the 
introduction of Mahomedanism, involved in obscurity and 
fable. 

** I have already in my possession three detailed his- 
tories of the island, stated to be taken from their own 
written accounts ; but as they have passed through one, 
and in some cases two, intermediate languages^ and the 
persons intrusted with the first translation not perhaps 
understanding the subject, I cannot depend upon them. 

" Vocabularies have already been collected of the dif- 
ferent dialects of the Javanese, and also of the principal 
languages of the Eastern Seas ; and from the unremit- 
ting and indefatigable exertions of Colonel Mackenzie, 
whose researches into the history and antiquities of 
Western India so eminently qualify him for similar pur- 
suits in this quarter, we are justified in the expectation 
that many of the doubtfril points regarding the early 
connection of Java and the Eastern Islands with the con- 
tinent of India will be cleared up. 

" The collections of Colonel Mackenzie, who has per- 
sonally visited almost every part of the island, prove the 
zeal with which he has taken up the subject ; and on his 
return to India, where an opportunity may be afforded of 
decyphering several inscriptions found in different parts 
of Java, of which he has taken fac similes, we are pro- 
mised that his exertions will not be relaxed in endeavour- 
ing to illustrate whatever may be important. 

" The opportunity afforded of increasing our stock of 
Javanese Manuscripts has not been lost ; and if the Go- 
vernment should be enabled to prosecute a plan, which is 
in contemplation, for forming an establishment for the 
acquisition of the language, we may hope that transla* 



TO THE BAT AVI AN SOCIETY. 393 

tions of the most important will soon find a place on the 
shelves of our library. 

'' Dr. Horsfield still continues his pursuits in natural 
history, with unabated zeal; and although he has been 
for a time removed from the immediate field of Java, he 
is prosecuting, in a neighbouring island, pursuits of a 
similar nature. The Island of Banca, which has lately 
fallen into the possession of our Government, had never 
been explored by Europeans. Dr. Horsfield has under- 
taken the task, and, from his talents, ability, and industry, 
the most sanguine expectations may be realised. 

" Mr. Muntinghe also, whose enlarged views and extra- 
ordinary endowments so peculiarly qualify him to direct 
you in the paths of science and Hterature, will not be 
wanting in contributing his share to the general purposes 
of the Society. He has already collected many highly 
interesting tracts on the Native Laws and Institutions, as 
they are traced to have existed antecedent to the intro- 
duction of the M ahomedan faith ; and when his informa- 
tion is more mature, and his collections more complete, 
we are justified in the expectation, that he will devote to 
the Society some portion of that extensive stock of lite- 
rary acquirement and sound judgment for which he stands 
so eminently conspicuous. 

" To the learned Professor Ross, the Society is already 
highly indebted ; and while we cannot but consider our 
thanks as peculiarly due to this gentleman for his exer- 
tions in preserving the existence of the Society during a 
period of pecuUar delicacy and difficulty, I am satisfied 
that we may look to him and the other Dutch members 
for the most essential aid in future. To particularize 
many of these members would perhaps be invidious to the 
whole, but if I may be allowed to introduce the names of 
Engelhard, Couperus, and Van Naersen, and to calculate 



394 MR. raffles' address 

on the advantages which must be derived from the inves- 
tigations and communications of these gentlemen^ I am 
sure there are few among us who will not readily admit 
their claim to pre-eminence and distinction. 

" Without entering on the various subjects which oflFer 
themselves for inquiry on Java^ and which^ not to intrude 
on your time at present, may be more advantageously in- 
troduced in a list of desiderata, I shall confine myself to 
a few observations on the present state of the countries 
in its vicinity which seem most to demand attention. 

" The members of the Society must have been forcibly 
struck with the rapid progress made by the Asiatic So- 
ciety in Calcutta ; an institution of recent date, compared 
with that established at Batavia ; and however much the 
decline of the latter may be attributed to the political cir- 
cumstances already stated, I am inclined to think, that its 
decay may in some degree have been accelerated by the 
nature of its constitution. A very essential change has 
lately been effected, and the regulations of the Batavian 
Society have been new modelled, nearly on the same prin- 
ciple as those of the Asiatic Society in Bengal. Al- 
though, therefore, we may not at the present moment 
boast of so many eminent literary characters as are to be 
found among the members of that Society, it is but fair to 
flatter ourselves with the expectation, that under the for- 
tunate change of circimistances which has taken place, 
with regard to this island, and the new organization of the 
Society, our exertions may tend considerably to a better 
knowledge of this part of the world, and the general 
advancement of literature and science. 

" The objects of the Asiatic Society in Calcutta are so 
fully explained in the discourses of Sir William Jones, 
that it is unnecessary to enter into any explanation of 
them here. The researches of that Society are not 



TO THE BAT AVI AN SOCIETY. 395 

confined immediately to Western India; they extend 
throughout the whole regions of Asia. The whole circle 
of the sciences, and the wide field of Asia, are alike open 
to your observation, but it occurs to me, that the interests 
and object of the Institution will be more advantageously 
promoted by its exertions being directed to what falls 
more immediately within your reach. 

'^ It is to what has been emphatically termed the 
'' Further East" that I would direct your more imme- 
diate attention ; and here, if I am not mistaken, an ample 
field is afforded. The history of Sumatra, by Mr. Mars- 
den, has thrown so clear a light on the country and 
character of the inhabitants, that I have but to refer you 
to that valuable work for all that is yet known respecting 
that interesting Island. Much, however, still remains to 
be done, even in this quarter, and our recent connection 
with Palembang, and the Southern Provinces of the 
Island, promises to afford every facility to our inquiries* 
Of Banca, we shall no doubt possess the most accurate 
and interesting information, on the return of Dr. Hors- 
field, and as our recent establishment in that quarter 
forms a new centre, from which our inquiries may diverge, 
the various countries in its vicinity will no doubt be early 
explored. 

'' Of the chain of Islands lying East of Java, and with 
it denominated generally the Sunda Islands, I shall only 
notice particularly that of Bali. This Island lies so close 
to Java that it is surprising so little is known of it. All 
accounts agree, that vestiges of the Hindu or B'hudist 
religion, perhaps of both, are still to be found* Some 
accounts go so far as to state, that in the interior of the 
country, the inhabitants are divided into four tribes, 
termed Bramana, Sudra, Wazier, and Sutra; and it is 
certain^ that on the final establishment of the Mahomedan 



396 MR. raffles' address 

religion in Java^ the Hindus or B*hudists, who remained 
unconverted^ took refiige in that Island. I will not ven- 
ture further on this unknown ground^ feeling satified that 
another year will not be allowed to pass by without 
personal observation on the spot by some inquisitive 
inquirer. 

" We have hitherto only adverted to the countries lying 
in the more immediate vicinity of Java, but in extending 
the prospect, and directing our views eastward to the 
other islands of the Archipelago, our attention is forcibly 
attracted by the great Island of Borneo, hitherto a blank 
on the chart of the world. From the best information we 
have yet been able to obtain of this immense Island, 
greater in extent than any civilized nation of Europe, and 
abundantly rich in the most valuable natural productions, 
it would appear that the whole country was, at no very 
remote period, divided under the three empires of Borneo, 
Sucadana, and Banjer Masin, of which the reigning 
princes of the two latter trace their descent from Mah ja*^ 
pahit in Java. 

" Borneo or B'rni, now termed by us Borneo Proper, 
having been the first port visited by Europeans, may 
have given rise to the name of Borneo being erroneously 
applied to the whole Island, which by the native inhabit- 
ants, and universally by the Eastern States, is termed 
Pulu K'lemantan. Its princes deduce their origin from 
the Sultans of Johore, but such is the wretched state to 
which their country has fallen, that they possess little 
more than nominal authority, except on the immediate 
spot of their residence. 

'^ Sucadana, though the most conspicuous in latter 
times, is now reduced to little more than a name. To 
the rise of Sambas, Pontiana, and other petty states on 
its numerous rivers, originating in grants and usurpations 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 397 

of various portions of the empire, the destruction of the 
seat of government by the Dutch^ and the general imbe- 
cility and want of enterprise on the part of the reigning 
princes, may be attributed the state into which the pre- 
sent possessor of the title has latterly fallen. He resides 
entirely at Matan, an inconsiderable place far up an ad- 
jacent river. This prince still possesses the large diamond 
which has been for eight generations in his family, but 
retains little other valuable appendage or consideration 
to support either his rank or authority. 

"Banjer Masin, although not much indebted to the 
interference of the Dutch in promoting its internal im- 
provement, still owes much of its remaining respectability 
as a State, to the protection aflForded by the presence of 
the European authority. Deprived, however, latterly of 
that support, convulsed by the consequences of the 
measures which closed the period of Dutch influence, and 
exposed to the inroads of piratical enterprise, it was 
rapidly falling into decay, and in a short period its princes 
would perhaps have had little more to boast than those of 
Sucadana, had not the fostering care of the European 
power been again extended by the encouragement given 
to the wishes and expectations of the reigning prince, 
whose conduct affords, amongst many others, a convinc- 
ing proof how much the interests, welfare, and even ex- 
istence of the native states depend on the ability and 
character of the reigning prince*. 

" A more intimate acquaintance with Banjer Masin 
than with the other parts of the Island enables us to 
speak more decidedly with regard to the progress of 

* The Factory of Banjer Masin was withdrawn, and the connexion 
abandoned by the Dutch, early in 1809, the Sultan purchasing, for 
the sum of 50,000 rix dollars, the forts and buildings, on his being 
declared independent 



398 MR. RAFFLES* ADDRESS 

civilisation in the interior of the country, and the general 
state of the Southern Provinces. Something has ahready 
been written on the northern part, and the settlements 
formerly maintained by the English have thrown some 
light on the character of the country and habits of the 
population in that quarter; the interference which has 
been found requisite, for the immediate suppression of 
piracy in the states formerly appertaining to Sucadana, 
will also afford the means by which much interesting in- 
formation will be obtained from thence. 

''Banjer Masin, in common with Java, still retains 
some vestiges of Hindu antiquity, and among others it 
may not be uninteresting to notice the circumstance of 
the Sultan being in possession of a golden tortoise with 
several rings, on which are engraved the figures of Ish- 
wara and other Hindu deities, and impressions of the 
cow and elephant^. 

• The manner in which the golden tortoise was discovered is thus 
related : — ** In the reign of the former Sultan, a native of Banjer 
Masin, when at sea in company with a Kling, or native of the coast of 
Coromandel, ascertained from conversation that the latter, who was a 
Hindu, had a secret ohject in proceeding to Banger Masin, and at 
length discovered that ohject to he the recovery of property belonging 
to his ancestors, which appeared to lie buried in the eardi at a place 
called Mirampiaii. Stimulated by the expectation of gain, he dis- 
suaded the Hindu from immediately prosecuting his object, and bent 
his own course directly to the spot, where, after digging to a consi- 
derable depth, he discovered several compartments inclosed by walls, 
in one of which he found the tortoise, with a pot of gold-dust on the 
back/* Intelligence being immediately carried to the Sultan, his 
further researches were prevented, in consequence of the spot being 
seized as a droit of royalty ; after which no further investigation ap- 
pears to have taken place. The cow is said to be never seen among 
the emblems of Hindu or Vedantic Mythology; but the Ox fre- 
quently. The elephant is introduced merely as an ornament, except 
when repeated in certain stories with other figures of the drama. 
The elephant exhibited on the seal-ring may have some allusion to 
the Calinga or Telinga state, the chief of which was denominated the 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 399 

" Of the population of the Island, all that we are yet 
justified in saying is, that the Moslems appear to have 
established themselves in authority over the aborigines, 
who are generally termed Orang Dayak, in those parts of 
the country adjacent to settlements which they have 
formed on the banks of the many rivers with which the 
Island is watered. These extend some distance inland, 
but the Mahomedan influence has not spread far into the 
interior. Indeed, the mass of the population, which may 
have submitted to the Moslem Chiefs, still remains un- 
converted to the Mahomedan faith, and in the interior 
their habits are so barbarous as to prevent all intercourse, 
even with the Mahomedans most in their vicinity. Those 
subjected to the Mahomedans appear to be mostly tract- 
able and of mild disposition, but so wretchedly sunk in 
barbarous stupidity as to submit to every indignity with- 
out resistance, while those who still retain their inde- 
pendence, and who are to be considered as the bulk of the 
original population, form innumerable ferocious tribes, 
constantly at variance with each other, and individually 
rejecting internal government and control. 

'^ It may be a question whether the present state of 
society, among the unsubdued inhabitants, is to be attri- 
buted to any marked distinction between them and those 
who have submitted to the Mahomedan rule, or whether 
the barbarity, which now disgraces human nature, may 
not be traced in a great measure to the conduct observed 
to those who have submitted to a foreign influence. Be 

Gaja Putty, or Lord of Elephants. In like manner as the Chief or 
King of the Camatic was denominated Nara Patty, or Lord of Men, 
but the seal of Camatic was a wild-hog. Pillars and remains of 
buildings, evidently traces of a more enlightened population at a 
remote period, have been noticed a considerable way up the river ; 
but until that part of the country is visited by Europeans, it would be 
premature to offer any observation on their origin and design. 



400 MR. raffles' address 

this as it may, it is a lamentable fact not to be disputed, 
that at the present day, aknost within sight of Java, the 
sacrifice of human beings at ceremonies and festivals is so 
common, that enterprises are undertaken divested of every 
other object but the attainment of human beings for such 
occasions. 

" Where such practices are prevalent, it is not to be ex- 
pected that a country can boast extensive population; 
indeed, under such circumstances, it may rather be matter 
of surprise that Borneo should be so populous as it is. 
Happily there is no state of human nature so debased as 
not to afford a field for improvement, and although the 
horrid custom alluded to would seem to check any san- 
guine hope of a rapid change being effected, there are 
some traits to be found, even in these savages, which 
afford an opening for intercourse and consequent im- 
provement. They are not without industry, and when 
met by candour and kind treatment, are rather disposed 
than otherwise to a trading intercourse. From mild and 
judicious management much may be expected. 

'' From what has been said of the present state of 
Borneo, it follows, that we are not to calculate on any im- 
mediate addition to our stock of useful arts ; but as every 
untrodden path affords some new incitement to the inqui- 
sitive mind, we may look for much in the various branches 
of natural history ; — to the philosophic miad a wide and 
interesting field is opened, and while we contemplate, in a 
political point of view, the advantages which must result 
from bringing forth, and directing in a proper course, the 
latent energies and resources of so large a portion of the 
habitable globe, it must be a pleasing reflection to the 
philanthropist, that so many of our fellow-creatures are 
thus gradually retrieved from ignorance, barbarism, and 
self-destruction. 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 401 

*' Proceeding east, our progress is arrested by the Ce- 
lebes, an island as remarkable for its peculiar shape, as for 
the martial and commercial enterprise of a great portion 
of its inhabitants. Of this island, however, we yet know 
but little that is to be depended upon, except of the south- 
west limb, and the immediate neighbourhood of the north- 
east point. 

" Among the records of the Dutch government a very 
interesting map of the south-western limb has been found ; 
and from the minuteness and ability with which it appears 
to be executed, it promises to throw much light on the 
general nature of the country ; and will, at all events, 
facilitate a more accurate survey whenever cu*cumstances 
may admit of such an undertaking. 

^' The most prominent nations in this part of Celebes are 
the Bugis and Macasar or Mengasar, but hitherto we have 
only discovered one written character, distinct from every 
other in the Eastern Islands. The Mahomedan religion 
prevails generally throughout this part of the island, but 
in the northern provinces, beyond Mandhar, and generally 
in every interior part of the island, human nature appears 
nearly in the same rude state as we have described it in 
the interior of Borneo. 

^' The people are, however, known under the general 
denomination of Alfur or Arafura, which term is extended 
to the same description of inhabitants in the islands farther 
east ; these last do not appear to diflFer essentially from 
the Orang Dayak of Borneo, and may with them be con- 
sidered as the aborigines of these islands. The Celebes, 
from its peculiar figure, seems admirably adapted for the 
]^urposes of commercial intercourse ; and although but a 
very small portion seems yet to have advanced to any 
degree of civilization, they are renowned among other 
eastern nations for the spirit of commerce and war. They 

VOL. i\, 2d 



402 MR. raffles' address . 

have established various colonies on the opposite coast of 
Borneo, and on the shores of the adjacent islands^ and 
even maintain an influence of no inconsiderable weight 
in the politics of the Malayan States west as far as the 
Straits of Malacca. The Bugis and Macasar nations^ 
like the Javanese, are nations perfectly distinct firom the 
Malays ; but we are not yet sufficiently acquainted with 
the native history, to assert how far they are entitled to be 
considered as the indigenous inhabitants of the country. 

"We know pretty accurately the date of the introduc- 
tion of the Mahomedan faith, and some leading circum- 
stances relating to the conversion of the people ; but firom 
the advanced state of their civilization compared with that 
of the Arafuras, it must be inferred, that, at the period of 
its introduction, they had attained a considerable degree of 
improvement beyond the bulk of the population; and, 
indeed, we are borne out by tradition and history .in the 
belief that, in this part of the island, there existed a power- 
ful nation, long antecedent to the introduction of Maho- 
medanism. We are not, however, prepared to say firom 
what foreign quarter this portion of the native population 
was first civilized, and we are not yet informed whether, 
as in Java, any traces are to be found of Hinduism. On 
these points, and in short on every essential point, we 
have much to learn; and the field is so important and 
interesting, that I flatter myself the period is not far dis- 
tant when the pages of our transactions may throw much 
light on the subject. We have already, as I before 
noticed, obtained through the assistance of Captain Phil- 
lips, the Besident, very extensive vocabularies of the 
language, and the inquiries which have been set on foot 
by that gentleman, at the suggestion of the Society, 
promise the most interesting results. 

'' Farther East lies the Island of Jelolo or Halamahira, 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 403 

which is situated between the Moluccas and the Papua 
Islands, as Celebes itself is situated between the Moluccas 
and Borneo. Jelolo has sometimes, from its form, been 
denominated Little Celebes. With the western coast of this 
Island we are less acquainted, but the inhabitants of the 
eastern coasts, especially those of Asa and Maba, are, 
from their connexion on the Moluccas, well known. These, 
however, would appear to occupy so small a portion of the 
country compared with the AJfurs, that we can hardly be 
said to be yet fully acquainted with the bulk of the 
inhabitants. 

'* On this island, therefore, and the group of smaller 
islands in its neighbourhood, including the Moluccas, the 
first object appears to be that of ascertaining correctly 
what is already known ; and after reducing the same to 
such a form bs may furnish a basis, or at least determined 
points, from which to proceed on further inquiry and inves- 
tigation) to persevere steadily in the attainment of what is 
deficient. Our information on the natural history of the 
Moliiccas is perhaps more complete than that of any region 
of the East, and it is not among the least distinguished 
records of our Society, that we find a manuscript copy of 
an original work of the celebrated Bumphius. 

" I fear I have already detained you too long in thus 
particularising the present state of these Islands, consider- 
ing that however interesting and important they may be, 
as lying contiguous to the seat of our deliberations, they 
embrace but a small portion of the extensive tract which 
lays open to the Society, even within the range that I am 
desirous of defining. To enter upon the whole, otherwise 
than generally, would be foreign to the object of the pre- 
sent discourse, and I am far from being competent to 
undertake the task ; but while I hastily pass over New 
GKiinea and New Holland, with the numerous islands of 

2 d2 



404 MR. raffles' address 

the Southern Seas, reserving the observations which occur 
on these for a future occasion, I cannot refrain from notic- 
ing the rapid progress of the European settlements in the 
more Southern parts of New Holland, and anticipating 
the practicability of obtaining, in concert with men of 
research in that quarter, early and interesting information 
on many important points which still remain doubtfrd. 

" Much has been said and collected by Mr. Dahymple 
on the Sulu Islands, and on the large Island of Mindanawi 
or Majindanau, but it must be confessed that very little 
light is yet thrown on the history of man in those regions 
— the mine is still unexplored, and from the notice in the 
writings of the Signer Margarette and others on Luconia 
and the Philippine Islands, much may still be expected 
in aid of what has already been suggested. 

" From the intimate political connexion now open with 
the Spanish possessions in both hemispheres, the period 
is, I trust, not far distant, when an intercourse between 
our Society and similar institutions existing at Manilla, 
may bring to light much interesting information. Under 
existing circumstances, it will naturally occur, that no 
time should be lost in opening correspondence, and in 
encouraging the most unreserved and cordial com- 
munication. 

''Had I not already trespassed too long on your time, 
I should have been inclined to indulge at some length on 
the prospect which the projected enterprise to Japan 
affords in aid of our researches in that quarter. From 
the distinguished talents of Dr. Ainslie, the English 
Secretary to the Society, who proceeds as commissioner on 
the part of the English government, we have just grounds 
for anticipating the acquisition of much that is to be learnt 
from these remote and interesting countries. 

" I must, however, now apologise for the very uncon- 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 405 

nected and diffuse manner in which I have taken the 
liberty to address you. The occasion required that I 
should say something, and I have already stated how 
inadequate I felt myself to say anything to the purpose. 
I cannot, however, conclude without offering to you my 
congratulations on the revival of the Institution under its 
present promising circumstances, nor without noticing the 
liberal manner in which you have undertaken the publica- 
tion of a 'New Edition of the Sacred Scriptures in the 
Malayan character.' Allow me to assure you that I am 
individually deeply interested in the success of the Insti- 
tution, and that, while it may be in my power, from my 
official situation, or otherwise, to encourage and protect 
your laudable pursuits and undertakings, you may calcu- 
late on the most unreserved and liberal support of 
government.'' 

'* a discourse delivered on the 11th september, 1815, 
by the honourable thomas stamford raffles, 
president. 
" Gentlemen, 

" A series of domestic afflictions, alas ! but too well 
known to you all, have followed in such qxiick succession 
to the melancholy event which it has long been my duty 
to communicate, that, until the present hour, I have felt 
myself in every way unequal to the trying task of publicly 
announcing to you the death of our noble and enlightened 
patron, the late Earl of Minto ; an event so unlooked for, 
and so pain&Uy calamitous in its immediate effects, that, 
to use the energetic language of Mr. Muntinghe, it 
* obliged us,* as it were, ^to close our lips before the 
Almighty /' 

" For how difficult was it to be reconciled to our wishes. 



406 MR. raffles' address 

and to our natural conceptions of right and wrong, that a 
man of such public and private worth should have been 
lost to his country^ and snatched away from the embraces 
of his friends and family, at the very moment he was 
to receive the only reward which, in this worlds could 
recompense his past labours — a calm and placid recollect 
tion of the arduous, but successful career he had run ! 
How difficult was it to be reconciled to our ideas of re- 
munerative justice, that the man who had so successfully 
served his country should only live to see his triumphs 
completed, but not be allowed to enjoy them; that he 
should not even have been allowed to live the necessary 
space of time to make the extent of his services known^ 
and to describe the nature of the conquests he had made ! 
And if^ in this instance, it may occur that the public and 
the nation is, if not more, at least as much, the sufferer as 
the individual, how, again, is it to be reconciled to indivi- 
dual desert, that a man so eminent in private and domestic 
virtue; who had been seen, descending from the high 
station which he held, hastening in person to the pestilen- 
tial shores of Batavia, administering on the way every 
aid and assistance to a sickly son ; and who, after this 
beloved son fell a sacrifice, knew how to tranquillize 
bis mind by the consoling reflection, that his death wof 
the first and only grievance which either this son or any 
of his children had ever inflicted on their parents ; that this 
father, blessed with such a family, and with such a sense 
of domestic felicity, should be snatched away by death, 
almost in sight of his home> and while they were stretching 
forth their arms to receive and embrace him ! 

" If not so strong and intense in their feeling, yet of the 
same nature, and more extensive in their operation, were 
the ties which attached him to this colony — to the whole 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 407 

community of Java, and especially^o our Society : a tender 
and parental care for the Island of Java was publicly 
avowed on different occasions; the proofs of it were 
received ; the European community was saved and pre- 
served by his humanity, and on his responsibiUty : for the 
native administration principles were laid down, on which 
the whole of the present structure has been raised; and 
in every instance a wish was evinced of improving the 
successes of war, as much in favour of the conquered as of 
the conqueror. 

'' It would not be proper on this occasion to enter into 
particulars; but who does not gratefully recollect the 
general tenor of his Lordship's conduct and demeanour 
while on Java ? administering aid and assistance with his 
own hands to the maimed and wounded of his enemies ; 
setting, in the midst of his successes, an example of mo- 
deration and simplicity of manner even to the vanquished 
— proceeding often in public without any other signs of 
greatness and distinction than what the whole community, 
singly and jointly, were eager to show him ; never missing 
an opportunity of doing even a temporary good ; and 
conciliating, by these means, the minds of the public to 
such a degree, that enemies were rendered friends, and 
that the names of conqueror and subduer were lost in 
those of protector and liberator. How hard, therefore, 
was it for the befriended and protected to lose their pro- 
tector and Uberator ; and for the protector himself not to 
be allowed to see the fruits of his benevolence come to a 
proper maturity ! 

^' But, however deeply we may, from these reflections, 
be led to bewail this melancholy event, let us beware 
not to murmur against the ways of Providence. Let 
us rather draw from aU these circumstances the consoling 



406 MR. RAFFLES* ADDRESS 

reflection^ that the deficiency will be amply filled up in 
another state> where life, bliss, and happiness will be ever- 
lasting. 

'' Having paid this humble tribute to the memory of 
our departed Patron, I proceed to notice the result of 
those inquiries, which have either been set on foot by the 
Society, or have fallen under its immediate observation, in 
the various branches of its pursuits, since I had last the 
honour of publicly addressing you. 

'* At that period Dr. Horsfield had, under instructions 
from Government, just commenced his laborious exertions 
on Banca : we have since seen those exertions brought to 
a close ; and I have to report the collection of the most 
complete information regarding the position, constitution, 
and productions of that important island. The state of 
society has not been omitted in the investigation, and 
satisfactory data have been ftimished, on which to esti- 
mate the present condition of its inhabitants, as well as to 
contemplate plans for their progressive advancement in 
civilization and happiness. 

" It is during the later periods only of the European 
establishments in the East that Banca has attracted 
notice. The discovery of the tin mines, about the con- 
clusion of the last century, first gave it celebrity ; but we 
can only date the commencement of scientific investiga- 
tion, or of European control, from the period of its ces- 
sion to the British Government in 1812. The Dutch 
Government, it is true, set on foot various inquiries at 
different periods; and some account of the population 
and produce of the country is contained in the earlier 
volumes of our Transactions ; but those views being 
confined to commercial objects, and the despotic sway 
of the native government of Palembang still remaining 



TO THE BAT AVI AN SOCIETY. 409 

absolute^ but little was known of the country beyond 
the extent of the produce in tin which it could annually 
export. 

" In explanation of the geographical description, and in 
order to point out the places referred to in the descrip- 
tions of the mines, and in the detail of the mineralogical 
and. botanical remarks. Dr. Horsfield has constructed the 
outline of a map, in which are laid down the principal 
rivers, the mountains and ridges of hills, with the settle- 
ments of the Malays and Chinese, and the divisions 
adopted by the original inhabitants. 

" After entering into a detailed geographical account 
of the island, and furnishing statistic tables of the popu- 
lation and produce. Dr. Horsfield proceeds to a narrative 
of the mineralogical appearances, as explanatory of the 
constitution of the mines, and of the geological history of 
the country. 

" On the mineralogical constitution of Banca, he ob- 
serves, that ^ the direction of the island being from north- 
west to south-east, it follows not only the direction of 
Sumatra and the Malayan peninsula, but the large chain 
of Asiatic mountains, one of the many branches of which 
terminates in Ceylon, while another, traversing Arakan, 
Pegu, the Malayan peninsula, and probably Sumatra, 
sends off an inferior range through Banca and Billiton, 
where it may be considered to disappear.' The elevated 
parts of Banca are observed to have the same constitu- 
tion as the great continental chain, being composed prin- 
cipally of granite. Next to these occurs a species of rock, 
which he terms ^ red iron-stoney extensively distributed on 
situations of secondary elevation, in single rocks, or in 
veins of many united together, covering large tracts of 
country. Tracts composed of this stone are bounded by^ 
alluvial districts, which are again subdivided into such ais 



410 MR. RAFFLES* ADDRESS 

are fanned of waving hills^ gradually rising on each other^ 
apparently of prior formation, and of such as are low and 
level, of recent origin, and confining the discharge of 
rivers. Those districts which occur in juxtaposition of 
the primitive portions, filling the space hLeeiZse and 
the veins of ' red iron-stone ;' or, again, between those and 
the aUuvial parts, are stratified, the strata being uniformly 
horizontally arranged. 

'' It is through these horizontal strata that the tin ore 
is represented to be disseminated; and, as far as has 
hitherto been remarked, it appears to he either imme* 
diately under the surface, or at no great distance below it. 

' Another section of the report contains a view of the 
tin mines, exhibiting a general enumeration of those 
worked at present, or in former periods, with an account 
of the process of mining, and of the economy of the 
mines. 

'' The process of mining on Banca is remarkable for its 
simplicity ; it consists in an excavation, of a square or 
oblong form, made by digging perpendicularly to the 
beds, or strata, containing the ore, and in a proper appli* 
cation of the water, to facilitate the labours of the miners 
and the washing of the ore. There is no necessity, as in 
other countries, where the metal hes concealed in deep 
veins, to have recourse to difficult operations, or expensive 
machinery. The process, indeed, requires so Uttie pre- 
vious instruction, that it is mostiy performed by persons 
whose only qualification is a robust constitution. A 
favourable spot being selected, the pit is sketched out ; a 
canal conducted from the nearest rivulet ; and the miners 
excavate until they arrive at the stratum containing the 
ore : this is then deposited in heaps near the water, so as 
to be conveniently placed for washing. The aqueduct is 
lined with the bark of large trees; and a stronger current 



TO THE BATAVIAJ^ SOCIETY. 411 

being produced by the admission of more water, the heaps 
are thrown in and agitated by the workmen — the particles 
of ore subsiding by means of their gravity, and the earth 
being carried away by the current. 

" When a sufficient quantity of ore is thus accumulated, 
the process of smelting commences : this is also very mi- 
nutely and accurately described by Dr. Horsfield. It is 
unnecessary to observe, that almost all the operations con- 
nected with the process of mining and the refining of the 
metal are performed by Chinese. 

" In his botanical pursuits, Dr. Horsfield has been 
peculiarly successful ; his descriptions comprising a collec- 
tion of upwards of five hundred plants, of which sixteen 
appear to be of doubtful genera. 

" An account of the inhabitants, their mode of life and 
occupations, the state of agriculture, and the history of 
the different settlements, is introduced into this valuable 
report, wMch I hope wiU shortly appear in print, under 
the liberal patronage and support of the East India Com- 
pany. In this expectation, and that I may not diminish 
the interest excited in its favour, or exceed the latitude 
with which I am vested, by more extensive drafts on the 
interesting information which it contains, I shall close 
these notices on Banca by a short account of the extent 
and character of the population, as it appeared to Dr^ 
Horsfield at the early period of the establishment of Eu^ 
ropean influence. 

The inhabitants of Banca consist of Malays, Chinese; 
Orang Gunung, or mountaineers, and Rayads, (Orang 
Laut,) or sea people. The Malays are few in number, of 
a peaceable, disposition, but indolent, and of little import- 
ance in the affairs of the island. The Chinese preserve, 
on Banca, their original habits of industry, enterprise, 
and perseverance; they are the most useful among the 



412 MR. raffles' ilBDRESS 

inhabitants^ and indispensable in the labours of the mines^ 
The general character of the Orang Gunung, or moun- 
taineers^ the original, and, perhaps, most interesting por- 
tion of the population, is rude simplicity. Dispersed 
over large tracts in the interior of the country, they live 
nearly in a state of nature, but submit without resistance 
to the general regulations which have been established, 
and willingly perform the labours required of them, al- 
though their natural timidity and wandering habits render 
them, in a considerable degree, inaccessible to Europeans. 
The Rayads are the remains of a peculiar race of people 
so called, living with their families and household in small 
prows in the Bays of Jebus and E^abut, and obtaining a 
subsistence by fishing and adventure : particulars of the 
habits and dialects of both the mountaineers and Rayads 
will form a separate notice. 

" On Borneo, if we have not derived the advantage of 
scientific inquiry, we have yet added considerably to our 
stock of information, in a more correct knowledge of the 
character and habits of the native population ; in the col- 
lection of vocabularies of many of the dialects of the 
country, and in the attainment of many interesting par- 
ticulars regarding the extensive colonies of Chinese, by 
which the gold mines are worked. 

. " Some notices have been received of ruins of temples, 
statues, and dilapidated cities, and of the existence of 
various inscriptions in different parts of the country, in 
characters imknown to the Chinese, Malay, or Dayak; 
but the information yet received is too vague, and, in 
some instances, too contradictory to be relied upon ; and 
the question whether this island, at any former period, 
rose to any considerable degree of greatness, must yet 
remain undecided. Embanking, as it were, the navigable 
pathway between the eastern and western hemispheres. 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 413 

and lying contiguous to the most populous regions of the 
globe, China and Japan, there can be little doubt but, at 
one period, she must have risen far above her present 
state of degradation and neglect. That Borneo was 
visited, many centuries ago, by the Chinese and Japa- 
nese is well established; but whether the country was 
ever more extensively colonized by either of those nations, 
than it is at present from China, must be left to future 
inquiry. Porcelain jars, plates, vases, and earthen uten- 
sils of various descriptions, the manufacture of China 
and Japan, are frequently discovered in difiFerent parts of 
the country ; and such is the veneration in which these 
articles, so found, are held, that a single jar of this de- 
scription has been known to be purchased by the Dayaks 
of the interior for a sum not far short of two hundred 
pounds sterling : these jars are prized by the Dayaks as 
the supposed depositories of the ashes of their fore- 
fathers. 

'' I would here notice the information collected regard- 
ing the different tribes of Dayaks which have come under 
observation, did not the detail appear misplaced in the 
very general view which I am, of necessity, compelled to 
take of the subject. I will only observe, that from a com- 
parative vocabulary of as many of their dialects as are at 
present attainable, they appear to differ but little from 
the Malayan ; that of the numerous tribes described by 
name and peculiarities, several are represented as tat- 
tooed; and that some are noticed with curled hair, and 
resembling the Papuas. 

*^ In the vicinity of Banjar-Masing, no opportunity has 
been lost of improving our inteUigence. Mr. Alexander 
Hare, the founder of the interesting colony established in 
the southern part of the island, has himself penetrated 
across the south-western peninsula; and as confidence in- 



414 MR. RAFFLES* ADDRBSS 

creases, we may look to a more extensive intercourse with 
the rude and scattered tribes of the interior. 

" In a former discourse, I took occasion to notice, that 
the most prominent people on Celebes were the Bugis and 
Macasar ; that^ though speaking different languages, they 
adopted the same peculiar written character ; and that the 
Mahomedan religion prevailed generally in those parts of 
the island which might be considered to have at all ad- 
vanced from a state of barbarism. 

" Confining our observations to the south-western limb 
of this whimsically-shaped island, we may infer that, not- 
withstanding the country has greatly declined since its 
intercourse with Europeans, it may stiU be reckoned popu- 
lous, compared with many of the islands of the East. 
The population has been roughly estimated at about a 
million ; but the data on which this estimate was formed, 
are not to be imreservedly relied upon. 

" About the period of the first arrival of Europeans in 
the East, the Macasar and Bugis tribes were among the 
principal dealers in spices, and the Island of Celebes was 
nearly under the authority of a single Sovereign. On the 
breaking down of this great empire, several of the minor 
states submitted to European administration ; while the 
support given to the authority of Boni, and the monopoly 
of the spice-trade by Europeans^ effectually reduced the 
political influence of the ancient state of Goa. 

^' The most ancient state of which tradition makes 
mention on Celebes, is Luhu, or Luwu, situated in the 
inner part of the Bay of Boni ; and their galigas, or his- 
torical romances, are replete with the adventures and ex- 
ploits of Samra Oading, the first Chief of that country, 
and who is said to have extended his dominions to the 
Straits of Malacca. Next to Luhu^ the empire of Goa 
has the greatest claims to antiquity; and a period is 



TO THE BAT AVI AN SOCIETY. 415 

mentioned when this state extended its influence to 
Acheen, Manda^ Sulu, Temate, and the whole of the 
Spice Islands. 

'' In 1663 Rajah Palaka visited Batavia^ and in 1666 
co-operated with the Dutch government against the native 
states on the coast of Sumatra. From this period the 
authority of Boni advanced^ until the recent arrangements 
by the British government. 

" The Macasar and Bugis tribes are known to be the 
most bold^ adventurous^ and enterprising of all the Eastern 
nations. They were formerly celebrated for their fidelity 
and their courage, and for this reason were employed, as 
the Swiss in Europe, not only in the armies of Siam, 
Camboja, and other countries, but also as guards to their 
princes. 

The most singular feature in the constitution of society 
on Celebes, is that of an elective monarchy, limited by an 
Aristocracy, generally hereditary, and exercising feudal 
authority over the minor Chiefs and population, at all 
times prepared to take the field; a constitution of society 
which> however common to Europe, is perhaps without 
parallel in Asia, where, firom the influence of climate, reli- 
gion, and political institutions, we seldom witness any 
considerable departure firom the despotic sway of one 
individual. The whole of the states on that portion of 
Celebes to which I have aUuded are constituted on this 
principle : the Prince is chosen fi*om the royal stock by a 
certain number of councillors, who also possess the right 
of subsequently removing him ; these councillors are 
themselves elected fix>m particular families of the here- 
ditary Chiefs of provinces; and such is their influence^ 
that the Prince can neither go to war, nor, indeed, adopt 
any public measure, except in concert with them : they 
have the charge of the public treasure, and also appoint 



416 MR. raffles' address 

the Prime-minister. The Prince cannot himself take the 
personal command of the army; but the usage of the 
country admits of a temporary resignation of office for 
this purpose ; in which case a Regent succeeds provision- 
ally to the rank of Chief, and carries on the affairs of 
government in concert with the majority of the council. 
Women and minors are eligible to election in every de- 
partment of the state, from the Prince down to the lowest 
Chief; and when this takes place, an additional officer, 
having a title which literally means support, or prop, is 
appointed to assist. Some variation is observable in the 
different states : in Boni, the Prince is elected by the 
Orang Pitu, or seven hereditary councillors ; in 6oa, the 
Prince is chosen by ten councillors, of whom the first 
minister, termed Bechara Buta, is one. This last officer 
is himself first appointed by the council of nine, termed 
the nine farmers of the country ; but in the exercise of 
his office possesses very extraordinary powers : he can 
even remove the Prince himself, and call upon the electors 
to make another choice. The inferior Chiefs, or Krains, 
who administer the dependent provinces, are appointed 
by the government, and not elected by a council, although, 
in the exercise of their office their power is in like manner 
liitiited ; the number of the council varying, in different 
provinces, from two to seven. 

'' War is decided upon in the council of the state ; and 
so forcibly is the desperate ferocity and barbarism of the 
people depicted by the conduct they observe on these 
occasions, and in their subsequent proceedings towards 
their enemies, that, however revolting the contemplation 
of such a state of society may be, it forms too striking a 
trait in their character to be omitted. War being decided 
upon by the Prince in council, the assembled Chiefs, after 
sprinkling their banners with blood, proceed to take a 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 417 

solemn oath^ by dipping their criss in a vessel of water, 
and afterwards dancing around the bloody banner with 
frantic gesture, and a strange contortion of the body and 
limbs, so as to give the extended criss a tremulous motion: 
each severally imprecates the vengeance of the Deity 
against his person, if he violates his vow. An enemy is 
no sooner slain, than the body is decapitated, and treated 
with every indignity which the barbarous triumph of 
savages can dictate; the heads are carried on poles, or 
sent in to the Lord Paramount. Some accounts go so far 
as to represent them devouring the raw heart of their 
subdued enemy ; and whatever shadow of doubt humanity 
may throw over this appalUng fact, it cannot be denied 
that their favourite meal is the raw heart and blood of 
the deer. This repast is termed Lor Data, or the feast 
of the bloody heart, which they are said to devour, as 
among the Battas, in the seasons when limes and salt are 
plenty. 

" This, however, is viewing them on the worst side of 
their character, with immediate reference to their conduct 
in war, and to practices found to prevail among that por- 
tion of the population labouring under the restrictions on 
foreign commerce ; there are other points of view in which 
it may be more favourably considered. 

" The inhabitants of the Wadju districts, in particular, 
are celebrated for their enterprise and intelligence ; ex- 
tending their commercial speculations, with a high cha- 
racter for honourable and fair dealing, from the western 
shores of Siam to the eastern coast of New Holland. 
Women, as before observed, take an active part in all pub- 
lic concerns, and are in no instances secluded from society, 
being on a perfect equality with the men. The strongest 
■ attachment that is conceivable is felt for ancient customs, 
and relics of antiquity are held in the highest possible 

VOL. II. 2 E 



418 MR. RAFFLES* ADDBBSS 

veneration. They are slow and delib^ate in thdr deci- 
sions; but these, once formed, are final. Agreements, 
once entered into, are invariably observed on their part; 
and a Bugis is never known to swerve firom his bargain. 
That natural politeness which characterizes the various 
nations and tribes distinguished by wearing the criss, is 
nowhere more forcibly exhibited than among the inha- 
bitants of Celebes. Their minor associations are held 
together by all the attachment and warmth which have 
distinguished the clieins of North Britain. The same bold 
spirit of independence and enterprise distinguishes the 
lower orders ; whilst the pride of ancestry, and the 
romance of chivalry, are the delight of the higher classes. 
Attached to the chace as an amusement, rather than as 
the means of subsistence, the harvest is no sooner reaped, 
than each feudal Chief, with his associates and followers, 
devotes himself to its pursuits. The population being 
equally at the command of the feudal Lord, whether in 
time of peace or war, agricultural pursuits, beyond what 
may procure a bare subsistence, are but little attended to. 
The usual share of the crop at the disposal of the Chief 
is a ty the termed Sima : this, with a few imposts in the 
Bazars, and the services of the people, constitute the 
revenue of the state. 

" The languages and literature of the Celebes require 
a more extended and detailed view than it is possible to 
take of either on the present occasion. I shall, therefore, 
only briefly observe, that the language prevalent throng- 
out these states appears, at no very remote period^ to 
have been the same; but that tiie various revolutions 
which first raised the power of 6oa, and subsequent^ 
elevated that of Boni to a still higher importance, have, 
in separating the states under two distinct authorities, 
given rise to two prevailing dialects, now assuming the 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIKTY. 419 

appellation of two distinct languages — the language of 
Ooa or M acasar is peculiarly soft, and is considered to be 
the most easy of acquisition, but not to be so copious as 
that of the Bugis — ^whether the Bugis language contains 
any portion of a more ancient language than either (of 
which traces are said to exist in some old manuscripts of 
the country), or, from commercial intercourse with other 
states, has adopted more foreign terms, is yet to be de- 
termined — the written character is nearly tfie same ; the 
Macasars, however, using more consonant sounds than 
the Bugis — the same practice of softening the abrupt or 
harsh sound of a word ending in a consonant, by attach- 
ing a final a or o, so general in almost every tongue of the 
Archipelago, is common to, and, I believe, invariably ob- 
served in both these languages. 

'^The possible existence of a language distinct from, 
and anterior to those now in use, is a subject well deserv- 
ing enquiry. The Bugis trace back to Sawira Gadmg, 
whom they represent to have proceeded in immediate 
descent from their heavenly mediator, Bitara Gruru, and 
to have been the first Chief of any celebrity on Celebes. 
He reigned, as I before observed, over Luhu, the most 
ancient kingdom on Celebes, and a lapse of time equal to 
seven descents is said to have taken place before ihe 
establishment of Boni. Both this Chieftain, and the 
founder of the empire of 6oa, are represented to have 
been great navigators and foreigners, or, according to the 
romance of native tradition, deities sent from heaven to 
govern and take care of them. The inhabitants of Maca- 
sar have no idea by what means, and at what period, the 
present form of government, of the nine Glaranff, and the 
Bichara Buta of Goa, was established. 

^'Literary compositions,, in both the Macasar and 
Bugis languages, are numerous: these consist priiK^ipally 

2e2 



420 MR. RAFFLES* ADDRESS 

of historical accounts of the different states^ since the 
introduction of Mahomedanism^ which is represented to 
have taken place so late as the early part of the sixteenth 
century ; of Oaligas, or collections of traditions, regarding 
more early times ; of romances and poetical compositions, 
in which love, war, and the chace are the favourite themes. 
They possess a paraphrase of the Koran, and several 
works evidently translated from the Javanese and Arabic, 
and many in common with the Malayu — works on judicial 
astrology, collections of institutions and customs which 
have all the force of law ; and each principal state adopts 
the practice of duly recording every public event of im- 
portance as it occurs. 

" I shall not longer detain you with notices on our ex- 
ternal relations, while so wide and interesting a field 
attracts attention at home, on Java, and that range of 
islands which modem geographers have classed under the 
denomination of the Sunda Islands. I have hitherto re- 
frained from noticing the extensive traces of antiquity, 
foreign intercourse, and national greatness, which are 
exhibited in the numerous monuments of a former wor- 
ship, in the ruins of dilapidated cities, in the character, 
the institutions, the language, and the literature of the 
people, in the hope that abler pens would have attempted 
a more correct sketch than either my humble abilities or 
limited information enable me to contemplate or embrace: 
the subject is so extensive, so new, so highly interesting, 
that I must claim your indulgence, if, in aiming at con- 
ciseness in representing the appearances and facts which 
have most forcibly struck my attention, many still more 
important particulars pass unnoticed. 

" On the peculiar province of Dr. Horsfield, to whom I 
am indebted for whatever information I possess on the 
natural history of the Island, I shall not further trespass 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 421 

than by adverting to the extensive and almost endless 
variety which these regions present, in every branch of 
his pursuits. One observation, however, as connected 
with the earlier history of Java, in explaining the high 
fertility of its soil in comparison with that of the Malayan 
Peninsula and Sumatra, may deser^'^e notice in this place. 
From the result of every investigation yet made, the con- 
stitution of Java appears to be exclusively volcanic, with- 
out any admixture whatever of the primitive or secondary 
mountains of the Asiatic continent; while, on the con- 
trary, Sumatra, with Banca, as before noticed, appear to 
be a continuation and termination of the immense chain 
of mountains which pervades great part of Asia, and runs 
off finally in a direction north-west to south-east. Java 
deviates from the direction of Sumatra and the Peninsula 
of Malacca, in striking off directly west and east ; in this 
direction it is followed by the larger islands of Bali, Lom- 
bok, Sumbawa, Endi, Timor, and by many smaller, which 
contribute to constitute an extensive series — ^the direction, 
as well as the constitution of all the islands enumerated, 
indicates the existence of an extensive volcanic chain in 
this part of the globe, running many degrees ahnost 
parallel with the equator. The consequences of Java 
being exclusively volcanic are, that while Sumatra abounds 
in metals, Java, generally speaking, is destitute of them * ; 

* All the indications yet discovered confirm the assertion that the 
constitution of Java is unfavourable p metals. The only notice as to 
the existence of gold or silver is contained in the first volume of the 
Transactions of the Batavian Society ; and the attempts on Gunung 
Parang in 1723, and on the Meg^ Mendung in 1744, were soon 
abandoned. Iron pyrites is found in small quantities in several dis- 
tricts, as well as red ochre, which, however, often contains so little 
iron as scarcely to serve for the common purpose of a paint. The ex- 
istence of mercury in the low lands of Damak, where it is distributed 
in minute particles through the clay of the rice-grounds bounding, one 
of the principal rivers in that district, cannot be considered, a^ aain<r 
dication of a mine, or of ores of that metal. 



422 MR. RAFFLES* ADDRESS 

that while on Sumatra there are many extensive tracts, 
sterile and unfavourable to vegetation, Java, with few ex- 
ceptions, is covered with a soil in the highest degree 
fertile, luxuriant, and productive of every species of 
vegetation. 

" Referring to the ample details on the mineralogy of 
Java, which the scientific and persevering exertions of 
Dr. Horsfield have enabled us to include in our present 
volume, I shall, on this branch of our pursuits, only ob- 
serve, that catalogues and collections of the varieties in 
the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, as they have 
been foimd to exist on Java, have been formed by this 
gentleman, who is at present engaged in exploring the 
districts lying to the east and south of Souracarta, with 
the view of completing materials for the natural history of 
Java — ^his Flora Jcuvana is already far advanced; the 
geography of plants is a subject to which he has particu- 
larly directed his researches. From the extensive range 
of the thermometer between the high and the low lands, 
Java presents to the botanist, at the least, six distinct 
associations of plants or floras, indigenous to as many 
climates, defined by their comparative elevation above the 
level of the sea*. 

* The height of the principal mountains on Java is estimated at 
from 7000 to 8000 feet ahove the level of the sea. Several of them 
have heen ascended, and measures are now in progress for ascertaining 
the elevation with some degree of accuracy. Lieut. Heylund, who 
has several times ascended Sindoro, ohserves, " that on reaching the 
summit on the 20th May» 1813, the sun had set, and the thermometer 
of Fahrenheit stood at 36°. During the night the thermometer varied 
lietween 36" and 44°; and as the day broke on the morning of the 
21 St, it was at 26°, a second thermometer at 30°. .He immediately 
proceeded to the lake, and found it covered with ice of the thickness 
of about two Spanish dollars. A piece of double this thickness, foimd 
some distance from the edge on the same lake, induced a belief that 
it had remained unthawed on the day preceding, and had now re- 
ceived the addition of a second night's frost. The water in the soup- 
plates which had been used as hot- water-plates the evening before. 



TO THB BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 423 

• " If to the naturalist Java exhibits these extensive and 
wonderful varieties^ to the antiquarian^ the philologist, 
and the philosopher, she in like manner offers subjects of 
equal novelty, and even of higher interest, whether we 
investigate the splendid remains of her temples and her 
cities, her lang^uages and her literature, or the character> 
institutions, and customs of her inhabitants. 

" To attempt any satisfactory description of the various 
monuments of antiquity and of a former worship, which 
are to be found in almost every district of the island> 
would be impracticable on the present occasion, and, with 
the exception of a few notices, I must content myself with 
assuring you, that however deficient we may be in scien- 
tific information, or in a knowledge of the mythology 
sacred to which these monuments may have been reared, 
measures have been taken that a record, to be depended 
upon for exactness at least, should exist of the actual 
remains of Hinduism on Java. I am indebted to Captain 
Baker, who is now actively engaged in these pursuits, for 
the most accurate sketches of the present appearance of 
the most important of these ruins, as well as for ground- 
plans and elevations of the principal temples, with notices 
of much valuable information which is to be collected of 
their origin, object, and history. 

" You are aware that the most splendid of these monu- 
ments are to be found at Prambana, Boro Bodo, and 
Singa Sari ; — of the former an interesting description is 
given in the last volume of our Transactions, by our 
highly-esteemedfriend. Colonel Mackenzie; circumstances 
have since admitted of a more minute investigation, and 

was completely frozen through, and the ice the thickness of an inch.** 
On another excursion, in October, 1814, the thermometers fell to 36 
and 38, and the ice formed on them after they had been immersed in 
water and exposed to the air. 



424 MR. RAFFLKS' ADDRESS 

our information^ as far as regards their present state, is 
much more complete. These extensive ruins hold claim to 
the highest antiquity, and considering the vicinity of the 
temples to have been the seat of the earliest monarchy on 
Java, I may be permitted, in the words of Captain Baker, 
to lament the contrast of the present times, with ' times 
long since past.' ' Nothing,' he observes, * can exceed the 
air of melancholy, desolation, and ruin, which this spot 
presents ; and the feeUngs of every visitor must be for- 
cibly in unison with the scene of surrounding devastation, 
when he reflects upon the origin of this once-venerated, 
hallowed spot; the seat and proof of the perfection of 
arts now no longer in existence in Java; the type and 
emblem of a religion no longer acknowledged, and scarce 
known among them by name; when he reflects upon 
that boundless profusion of active, unwearied skill and 
patience, the noble spirit of generous emulation, the 
patronage and encouragement which the arts and sci- 
ences must have received, and the inexhaustible wealth 
and resources which the Javanese of those times must 
have possessed.' 

" In attempting to describe the Chandi Sewo, or Thou- 
sand Temples, which form a principal part of these ruins, 
he laments his inability to convey any adequate ideas, 
satisfactory to his own mind, even of the actual dis- 
mantled state of this splendid seat of magnificence and 
of th^ arts. ' Never,' he observes, * have I met with such 
stupendous, laborious, and finished specimens of human 
labour, and of the poUshed, refined taste of ages long 
since forgot, and crowded together in so small a compass^ 
as characterize and are manifested in this little spot ; and 
though I doubt not there are some remains of antiquity 
in other parts of the globe more worthy the eye of the 
traveller, or the pencil of the artist, yet Chandi Sewo 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 425 

must ever rank with the foremost in the attractions of 
curiosity or antiquarian research.' 

*' I have preferred giving you the words of Captain 
Baker^ while the subject was folly impressed on his mind^ 
and while in the midst of the objects which he contem- 
plated : there is a feeling excited at such a moment that 
gives a colouring to the picture, which is weakened in the 
faded tints of a more distant view. 

'^ Next to Prambana the ruins of Boro Bodo may be 
ranked as remarkable for grandeur in design, peculiarity 
of style, and exquisite workmanship : this temple is in the 
district of Boro, under the residency of the Kadu, whence 
I presmne it takes its name : Bodo being either a term of 
contempt cast upon it by the Mahomedans, or erroneously 
so pronounced, instead of Bud'ho, which, in its general 
acceptation in the Javanese language, is synonymous 
with ancient or heathen. It is built so as to crown the 
upper part of a small hill, the summit terminating in a 
dome : the building is square, and is composed of seven 
terraces rising one within the other, each of which is 
enclosed by stone walls, the ascent to the different ter- 
races being by four flights of steps leading from four 
principal entrances, one on each side of the square. On 
the top are several small latticed domes, the upper part 
terminating in one of a larger circumference. In separate 
niches, or rather temples, at equal distances, formed in 
the walls of the several terraces, are contained upwards of 
three hundred stone images of devotees, in a sitting pos- 
ture, and being each above three feet high. Similar 
images are within the domes above ; in compartments on 
the walls, both within and without, are carved in reUef, 
and in the most correct and beautiful style, groups of 
figures containing historical scenes and mythological cere- 
monies, supposed to be representations of a principal part 



426 MR. RAFFUSS* ADDRESS 

either of the Bamayan or Mahaborat. The figpires and 
costumes are evidently Indian, and we are at a loss 
whether most to admire the extent and grandeur of the 
whole construction, or the beauty, richness, and correct- 
ness of the sculpture. 

'' The name and resemblance of the images which sur- 
round this temple to the figure of Buddha has induced 
an opinion that it was exclusively confined to the worship 
of that deity : but it should be noticed that in the imme- 
diate vicinity of this large temple, and evidently con- 
nected with it, are the remains of several smaller temples^ 
constructed much after the fashion of the temples at 
Prambana, and containing a variety of sculptures and 
images of the Brahminical worship. A large but muti- 
lated stone figure of Brahma was found in a field hard 
by; and as there are images similarly resembling Buddha 
to be found at Prambana, it would seem that, if they are 
ascertained to represent that deity, these buildings must 
have been erected at a period when the worship was not 
separated. 

" Although the general design of this temple differs 
from those at Prambana, a similar style of sculpture and 
decoration is observable, and the same may be also traced 
to the ruins at Singa Sari, situated in the Besidency of 
Pasaruan, where are still to be found images of Brahma, 
Mahadewa, Ganesa, the Bull Nandi and others, of the 
most exquisite workmanship, and in a stiU higher degree 
of preservation than any remaining at Prambanan or 
Boro Bodo. One of the most extraordinary monuments 
in this quarter, however, is an immense colossal statue of 
a man resting on his hams, of the same character as the 
porters at Prambanan, lying on its face, and adjacent to a 
terrace, on which it was originally placed: this statue 
measures in length about twelve feet, breadth between 



TO THE B ATA VI AN SOCIETY. 427 

the shoulders nine feet and a half, and at the base nine 
feet and a half, with corresponding dimensions in girth, 
cut from one solid stone. The statue seems evidently to 
have fallen from the adjacent elevated terrace, although it 
is difficult to reconcile the probability of its having been 
elevated to such a station, with reference to any traces we 
now have of the knowledge of mechanics by the Java- 
nese-to have raised it by dint of mere manual labour 
would appear, at the present day, an Herculean task : the 
terrace is about eighteen feet high. A second figure of 
the same dimensions has since been discovered in the 
vicinity of the above ; and when the forest is cleared, 
some traces of the large temple to which they formed the 
approach may probably be found. Not far from Singa 
Sari, which was once the seat of empire, and in the dis- 
trict of Malang, are several interesting ruins of templeSj 
of similar construction, and of the same style of orna- 
ment. 

'' These buildings must have been raised at a period 
when the highest state of the arts existed, and constructed 
at no very distant date from each other : considered in 
this view, they serve very forcibly and decidedly to cor- 
roborate the historical details of the country, which are 
found to exist in the diflFerent written compositions and 
dramatic entertainments. 

*' In noticing the more prominent remains of antiquity, 
as they are to be traced from the architecture and sculp- 
ture of former days, I should be wanting in attention, and 
indeed in a due respect to the popular tradition, and the 
still-received opinion of the Javans, did I not notice 
Grunung Prahu, a mountain, or rather a range of moun- 
tains, for there are no less than twenty-nine points, which 
have distinct names, situated on the northern side of the 
island, and inland between Samarang and PacaLongan, 



428 MR. RAFFLKS' ADDRESS 

the supposed residence of Aijuno, and of the demi-gods 
and heroes who distinguished themselves in the B'rata 
Yud*ha, or Holy War. Here the ruins of the supposed 
palace of the Chief, the abode of Bima, his followers and 
attendants, are exhibited, and so rich was this spot in 
reHcs of antiquity, that the village of Kali Babar, situ- 
ated at the foot of the mountain, is stated to have, from 
time immemorial, paid its rents in gold melted down from 
the golden images here discovered : so great indeed has 
been the desire to meet the courtly thirst for these in- 
teresting relics, that I regret to say many of the buildings 
composed of materials less in demand have suffered pre- 
mature dilapidation on this account. Several interesting 
remains have recently been discovered by Major Johnson, 
Resident at the court of the Susunan ; among these the 
ruins at Suku deserve particular notice : but I have 
already trespassed on a subject which it is impossible to 
treat well except in detail, and with reference to drawings 
of the extensive variety of erections, deities, and attri- 
butes which abound throughout Java. 

'^ As connected with these early and splendid monu- 
ments of the former high state of the arts in Java, and 
illustrative of the history of the country, are to be noticed 
the great variety of inscriptions found in different parts of 
the island : fac similes of most of these have been taken, 
and I am happy to add that we have succeeded in decy- 
phering some of the most interesting. The character on 
the stone found at Prambanan is no doubt one of the 
Dewa Nagri characters of India, and, with the exception 
of a few characters discovered at Singa Sari on the back 
of stone images^ the only specimen yet discovered of this 
peculiar formation. 

" From the vicinity of the former kingdom of Jong'golo, 
not far distant from the modern Surabaya, have been 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 429 

brought several large stones of the shape of English tomb- 
stones^ covered with the inscriptions of the ancient 
Javanese character^ and in the Kawi language ; transla- 
tions (or rather paraphrases, for they principally contain 
prayers and invocations to the Deity, in a language, the 
meaning of a few words only of which are retained, while 
the idiom and grammatical construction has long been 
lost) have been made and will be found on the pages of our 
Transactions : it has fallen to my lot to succeed not only 
in decyphering the MSS. recently discovered in Cheribon, 
but also the inscriptions on the copper-plates so long de- 
posited among the records of our Society as unintelligible : 
the results will be communicated to the Society in another 
form, and the subject wiU be more particularly adverted 
to, when speaking of the languages and literature. 

" These inscriptions, which in general contain dates, 
are of the first importance in enabling us to trace the 
source whence the language and literature may have 
flowed, and to satisfy our minds of the prevailing wor- 
ship at any particular period. It is only by an assemblage 
of as many data as can be collected from this source, from 
the remains of the arts, from the language, literature, and 
institutions of the people of the present day, compared 
with the best information we can procure of other countries 
of the East, which may have been civiUzed at an earlier 
period, that we can come at any fair and just result ; the 
question is too extensive, too important to be lightly 
treated, or to be decided upon from any pre-conceived 
opinion or partial views. 

''Did not other striking and obvious proofs exist of the 
claims of Java to be considered at one period far advanced 
in civilization, it might be sufficient to bring forward the 
perfection of the language, the accession which that Ian- 
guage must in early times have received from a distant 



430 Mil. RAFFLES* ADDRESS 

but highly cultivated source, and the extensiveness fat 
which it stands so peculiarly and justly distinguished. 

'' On the Island of Java, two general languages may be 
considered as prevalent The Sunda language, which 
prevails in the western, and the Javanese, which is the 
language of the districts east of Cheribon — ^the former is 
a simple dialect accommodated to all the purposes of the 
mountainous classes who speak it, and perhaps differs 
from the Javanese, not so much in its construction, as in 
the portion of original and of Malayan words which it con- 
tains : one-fourth of the language, at the least, may be 
considered to be the same as the Javanese, another fourth 
is, perhaps, original, and the remaining half Malayan. 
At what period this extensive portion of the Malayan was 
adopted, or whether any part or the whole of this portion 
may not originally have formed the common lang^uage of 
this part of the country, is yet to be decided. In the 
Javanese, or language of the eastern division of the Island^ 
and also of the lower parts of Bantam and Cheribon, the 
natural or vernacular language, in like manner, contains a 
considerable number of words in common with the Malayan, 
and the general principles of construction are found to 
have a striking accordance. We thus find strong proofs 
in support of one common origin of the prevailing lan- 
guages of the Archipelago — notwithstanding, a large por- 
tion of the Malayan words now used on Java, may be 
ascertained to have been received at a comparatively recent 
date, and in the course of long and continued intercourse 
with the neighbouring countries. 

" The Javanese language, properly so called, is distin- 
guished by a division between what may be considered 
as the vernacular language of the country, in use by the 
common people among themselves, and which is adopted 
when addressing an inferior, and what may be considered as 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 431 

a second, or court language, adopted by all inferiors when 
addressing a superior. The same construction^ as well as 
the idiom of the language, is, I believe, pretty generally 
preserved in both the languages; the latter, however, 
consists of a more extensive class of foreign words, which 
would appear to have been picked and culled for the pur*- 
pose : where different words have not been found from th^ 
eommon language of the country, an arbitrary variation 
in the sound of the word belonging to the common 
language is adopted, as in changing the word proyo into 
pragi, dadi into dados, jawa into jawi, &c. ; and the more 
effectually to render the polite language distinct, not only 
are the affirmatives and negatives, as well as the pronouns 
and prepositions varied, but the auxiliary verbs and par- 
tkles are in general different. 

^^ So effectually, indeed, does this arbitrary distinction 
prevail, that in the most common occurrences and expres- 
sions, the language that would be used by a superior 
bears not the slightest resemblance to what, with the same 
object would be used by an inferior : thus, when a superior 
would say to an inferior — ^ It is a very long time that you 
have been sick,' — ^he would in the common or vernacular 
language use the words ' Lawas teman goni lorOy while 
an inferior, using the court language, would to the same 
purport say ' Lami terms genipun sakiV — If the former 
would ask the question, 'Your child, is it a boy or a girl ?' 
he would use the words ' Anak kiro wadon opo lanamg T 
the latter would express himself ' Putro hijang'an dtka, 
estri punopo?^ Again, would the former observe, 'that 
the people of Java, both men and women, like to preserve 
the hair of the head,' — he would say, ' fFong pulu Jawa 
lanang wadon podo ngHng'u rambut,' — while the latter 
would use the words, ' Tetiang heng nusa Jawi estri jalar 
^ami n'inga remo,' &c. 



432 MR. RAFFLES* ADDRESS 

'' It is not^ however, to be supposed that these languageis 
are so separated that the one is studied and attained ex- 
clusively of the other, for while one is the language of 
address, the other must be that of reply, and the know- 
ledge of both is indispensable to those who have occasion 
to communicate with persons of a different rank with them- 
selves. In the polite language, Kawi words are frequently 
introduced by the party, either to shew his reading, or 
evince a higher mark of respect-the Kawi is, however, 
more properly a dead language, the language of literary 
compositions of the higher class, and is to the Javanese 
what the Sanscrit is to the languages of Hindustan, and 
the Pali is to the Burman and .Siamese : how far it may 
assimilate to either must remain to be decided by more 
accurate comparison and observation than we have yet 
had opportunity to make. It is in this language that the 
more ancient and celebrated of the literary performances 
of the country are written ; and it is probable it will be 
found that, while the general language of Java possesses, 
in common with all the more cultivated languages of the 
Archipelago, a considerable portion of Sanscrit terms, the 
court language is still more replete with them, and that 
the Kawi, and particularly that which is reckoned most 
ancient, and which is decyphered &om inscriptions on 
stone and copper-plates, is almost pure Sanscrit. The 
construction and idiom in these inscriptions is no longer 
comprehended by the Javanese, and there are but few 
whose intelligence and acquaintance with the terms used 
enables them to give even a faint notion of their meaning. 
Examples of these languages, taken &om the B'rata 
Yud'ha, and from some of the inscriptions alluded to, will 
appear in the present volume. 

'' To facilitate the acquirement of a language in its 
nature so extensive and varied as that of the Javanese, 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 433- 

a method is adopted similar to what I understand is known 
in Indist, of classing the synonymes in such a manner as 
to connect them in the memory, by stringing them in 
classes according to the natural chain of our ideas ; the 
collection or vocabulary so composed, is termed doso nomo, 
literally, ten names, and in point of fact, there are but few 
words in the language which have not at least as many 
synonymes. An example of this mode of instruction, and 
of assisting the memory, is also included in the present 
volume, as illustrative not only of the method alluded to, 
but of the great delicacy and variety of the language. 

" I am happy to report that very extensive vocabularies, 
not only of both divisions of the Javanese, including the 
Kawi, but of the Sunda, and of the dialects of Madura 
and Bali, with notices of the varieties in particular dis- 
tricts and mountain tribes, have been collected ; and that 
whenever our more intimate acquaintance with the written 
compositions of the country may afford the test of some 
experience in aid of what has already been done, the grand 
work of a grammar and dictionary may be accomplished; 
this has long been our first and grand desideratum *. 

" In both the Sunda and Javanese languages, the same 
written character is in use — and it has not yet been traced 
whether the former ever had a separate written character 
or not : at a place, however, called Batu Tulis, on the site 
of the ancient capital of Pajajaran, is preserved an inscrip- 
tion on stone in very rude characters — and several similar 
inscriptions in the same character have been recently dis- 
covered at Kwali in Cheribon, whither some of the descen- 



* *' Considerable progress has been made since our last meeting in 
the acquirement of the Javanese language : the Rev. Mr. Trout, in 
particular, is prosecuting his studies at Samarang with great success ; 
and arrangements are in progress for procuring from Bengal a fount 
of Javanese types.** 

VOL. II. 2 F 



434 IIR. RAFFLE8' ADDRESS 

dants of the Princes of Pajajaran took refuge; tliis 
eliaracter> till lately, appeared widely different from any 
other yet noticed in Java, but is now found to contain some 
of the letters and vowel marks in common with the Java- 
nese. The date inscribed on the stone at Batu Tulis has 
fortunately been deciphered, and the character was doubt- 
less used by the Sunda people at the period of the 
destruction of the western government of Pajajaran. 

'' No less than seven different characters are represented 
to have been in use at different periods of Javanese history 
— and although those at present adopted appear^ at first 
sight, to be very different from the more ancient, on 
examination, the one may without much difficulty be traced 
to the other, by observing the gradual alterations made 
from time to time. Specimens of these different charac- 
ters, with the periods in which they were respectively 
used, are submitted to the inspection of the Society ; and 
I regret that the absence of an engraver precludes them 
from appearing in the present volume of transactions. 

"The literature of Java, however much it may have 
declined in latter days, must be still considered as 
respectable — the more ancient historical compositions are 
mostly written in the Kawi language, to which frequently 
the meaning of each word, and a paraphrase of the whole 
in Javanese, is annexed. Of these compositions those 
most highly esteemed are the B'rata Yud'ha or Holy 
War, and a volume entitled Bomo or Bama, the former 
descriptive of the exploits of Arjuno, and the principal 
heroes whose fame is recorded in the celebrated Indian 
poem of the Mahabarat, the latter of those who are distin- 
guished in the Bamayan : these poems are held by the 
Javanese of the present day in about the same estimation 
as the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer are by Europeans. 
Until translations are made, and can be compared with 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 436 

the more extensive works in India^ it would be premature 
to form any judgment on their relative excellence. The 
B'rata Yud'ha is contained in about two hundred verses ; 
but in rendering the Kawi into Javanese^ it is found ne- 
cessary^ in order to conviey anything like the meaning, to 
render one line of Kawi into at least three of the modern 
Javanese; and I should not omit to mention that the 
belief is general among the Javanese that the seat of this 
celebrated romance was on Java : they point out the dif- 
ferent countries which are referred to^ such as Hastina^ 
Wirata, and others in different districts of the Island^ 
which have since assumed more modern names ; and the 
supposed mansion of Aijuno^ as before noticed^ is still to 
be traced on Gunung Prahu. 

'* These works, in common with almost every composi- 
tion in the language, are composed in regularly measured 
verses, and as far as we can judge from the partial trans- 
lations which have been made from them through the 
medium of the Javanese, they do credit to the power of 
the language and the genius of the poet. 

" Historical compositions are divided into two general 
classes, termed Pakam and Babat ; under the former are 
considered the Bomo and B'rata Yud'ha: institutions 
and regulations for Princes and the Officers of State and 
Law, entitled Kopo Kopo, Jogol Muda and Kontoro; 
works on astronomy and judicial astrology, termed Wuku; 
and works on moral conduct, regulations and ancient in- 
stitutions, termed Niti Sastro and Niti Projo : under the 
Babat are classed chronological, and other works on mo- 
dem history since the establishment of the Empire of 
Mataram. 

" There are in use few: ordinary and popular composi- 
tions five different kinds of regular measured stanzas, 
termed Tembang, adapted to the subject treated of, whether 

2p2 



436 MR. raffles' address 

heroic, amorous, or otherwise : these are termed Asmorah 
Donoy Dandang Oula, Sinonij Durmo, and Pangkur. In 
the higher compositions, and particularly in the Kawi, 
these measures are still more varied, and in number 
upwards of twenty, twelve of which correspond in name 
with the stanzas used in the poetry of continental India. 

*' In repeating these compositions, they are chanted) 
Or rather drawled out in regular metre according to rules 
laid down for the long and short syllables. Dramatic le* 
presentations of various kinds form the constant recrea- 
tion of the higher classes of society, and the most polished 
amusement of the country : these consist of the Wayang 
Kulit or Scenic Shadows, in which the several heroes of 
the drama, represented in a diminutive size, are made to 
perform their entrances and their exits behind a trans- 
parent curtain : the subjects of these representations are 
taken either from the more ancient works of the B'rata 
Yud'ha or Romo, and then denominated Wayang Purwo ; 
or from the history of Panji, the most renowned hero of 
Java story, and then termed Wayang Oedog, The 
Wayang Wong, in which men personify the heroes of the 
B'rata Yud'ha and Bomo is also termed Wayang Purwo : 
they have also the Topeng, in which men, wearing masks, 
personify those immortalized in the history of Panji, and 
the Wayang Klitic or Koritchil, not unlike a puppet-show 
in Europe, in which diminutive wooden figures personify 
the heroes of Majapahit. 

" Tliese dramatic exhibitions are accompanied by per- 
formances on the Gamelan^ or musical instruments of the 
Javanese, of which there are several distinct sets; the 
Salindro, which accompanies the performances from the 
B'rata Yud'ha and Bomo, as well as the Topeng; the 
Pelog which accompanies the Wayang Gedog, the Kodak 
Ngokek, Chara Bali, Senenan, and others; the Java- 



J 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 437 

nese music is peculiarly harmonious^ but the gamut is 
imperfect. 

'' Whatever portion of astronomical science may have 
in former times been communicated to Java^ the people of 
the present day have no pretensions to distinction on 
this account; it is true they possess the signs of the 
Zodiac^ and still preserve a mode of calculating the sea* 
sons^ the principles of which must have been discovered 
by a people well acquainted with the motions of the 
heavenly bodies : they also possess several works on judi- 
cial astrology, but in this they foUow only what is laid 
down for them in the few pages of a book almost illegible^ 
tod in the tradition of the country*. 

" It was my intention, in this place, to have attempted 
some sketch of the interesting and peculiar features of 
the Javanese character, with reference to those admirable 
institutions which distinguish the constitution of society 
among this people; but I have already trespassed too 
long upon your kindness — and there are two subjects 
which have recently attracted my particular attention, and 



* " The signs of the Zodiac, as represented in the ancient MS. dis- 
covered at Telaga, in Cheribon, compared with the Indian Zodiac, 
are as follows : the figures' being very correctly drawn, and the 
names, with the explanation, annexed to each. 



Indian, 


Javanese MS. 


Mesha— the Rau^ 


» Misa. 


Vrisha— the Bull . 


M'risa. 


Mithuna— the Pair 


. M'ri Kogo (a butterfly.) 


Carcata— the Crab . 


Calicata. 


Sinha-^the Lion • 


. Singha. 


Cunya— the Virgin . 


Canya. 


Tula— the Balance 


. Tula. 


Vrishchica — ^the Scorpion . 


Privata. 


Danus — the Bow 


. Wanu. 


Macara— the Sea Monster 


Macara (Crawfish.) 


Cumbha— the Water Jug 


. Cuba. 


Mina— the Fish 


M4na," 



438 MR. raffles' address 

which> oir account of their novelty^ I am desirous of bring- 
ing to your notice. During my late tour through the 
Eastern districts, I visited the Teng'gar mountains, on 
which it had been represented to me that some remains of 
the former worship of Java were still to be found, and 
accident threw me on the shores of BaU, while attempting 
to reach Banynwangi. The simplicity of the people who 
inhabit the Teng'gar mountains, and the fact of such 
remains being still in existence on Java, is entitled to 
record ; and I am aware that whatever information I may 
be able to communicate respecting Bali, however imper- 
fect, will be accepted. 

'' To the eastward of Surabaya, and on the range of 
hills connected with Gunung Dasar, and lying partly in 
the district of Pasuruan and partly in that of Probolingo, 
known by the name of the Teng*gar mountains, we find the 
remnant of a people still following the Hindu worship, 
who merit attention not only on account of their being 
the depositaries of the last trace of that worship dis- 
covered at this day on Java, but as exhibiting a peculiar 
singularity and simplicity of character. 

*' Tliese people occupy about forty villages, scattered 
along the range of hills in the neighbourhood of the 
Sandy Sea, and are partly under Pasuruan and partly 
under Probolingo. The site of the villages, as well as the 
construction of the houses is peculiar, and differs entirely 
from what is elsewhere observed on Java. They are not 
shaded by trees, but built on spacious open terraces, 
rising one above the other, each house occupying a ter- 
race, and being in length from thirty to seventy, and even 
eighty feet; the door invariably in one corner, at the 
opposite end of the building to that in which the fire- 
place is built. The building appears to be first con- 
structed with the ordinary roof, but along the front is an 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 439 

enclosed veranda or gallery of about eight feet broad, 
with a less inclined pitch in the roof formed of bamboos, 
which are so placed as to slide out either for the admis- 
sion of air^ or to afford a channel for the smoke to escape, 
there being otherwise no aperture except a small opening 
of about a foot square, at one end of the building above 
the fire-place : this is built of brick, and is so highly 
venerated, that it is considered a sacrilege for any stranger 
to pollute it by the touch. Across the upper part of the 
building rafters are run across, so as to form a kind of 
attic story, in which they deposit their valuables and in- 
struments of husbandry. 

" The head of the village takes the title of Petingi, 
as in the low lands, and he is generally assisted by a 
Kahayan, both elected by the people from their own 
village : there are four priests, who are here termed 
Dukun, having charge of the sacred records. 

''These Dukuns, who are in general intelligent men, 
have no tradition when they were first established on 
these hills, from whence they came, or who intrusted 
them with the sacred books, to the faith contained in 
which they stiQ adhere: — these they concur in stating 
were handed down to them by their fathers, their office 
being hereditary, and the sole duty required of them 
being to perform the puja according thereto, and again to 
hand them down in safety to their children. These records 
consist of three compositions written on the Lontar lesS, 
describing the origin of the world, the attributes of the 
Deity, and the forms of worship to be observed on dif- 
ferent occasions. Copies were taken on the spot, and as 
the language does not essentially differ from the ordinary 
Javanese, I hope at an early period to place the Society 
in possession of translations. 

'' In the mean time some notices of their customs, and 



440 MR. RAFFLES* ADDVBSS 

of the ceremonies perfonned at births, marriages, and 
funerals, may be interesting. 

"When a woman is delivered of her first child, the 
Dukun takes a leaf of the Alang-alang grass, and scrap- 
ing the skin of the hands of the child and of the mother, 
as well as the ground, pronounces a short benediction. 

" When a marriage is agreed upon, the bride and 
bridegroom being brought before the Dukun within the 
house, in the first place, bow with respect towards the 
south — then to the fire-place — then to the earth, and 
lastly, on looking up to the upper story of the house 
where the implements of husbandry are placed, perform 
the same ceremony : the parties then submissively bowing 
to the Dukun, he repeats a prayer commencing with the 
words ' Hong ! Oendogo Bromo ang^gas siwong^go fiomo 
nwoho sany'yang g'ni siro kang*,' &c., while the bride 
washes the feet of the bridegroom. This ceremony over, 
the friends and family of the parties make presents to 
each of crises, buffaloes, implements of husbandry, &c. ; 
in return for which the bride and bridegroom respectfully 
present them with betel leaf. 

"At the marriage feast which ensues, the Dukun 
repeats two Puja, which will be found in the collection — 
the marriage is not, however, consummated tiU the fifth 
day after the above ceremony — ^which delay is termed by 
them undang mantu : — a similar delay is, in some cases, 
still observed by the Javanese in other parts of the island, 
under the term undoh mantu, 

" On the death of an inhabitant of Teng'gar, the corpse 
is lowered into the grave, the head being placed to the 



* tt 



These prayers will be found at length in the Transactions of 
the Society — the word Hong, used by the Javanese at the commence- 
ment of their invocations to the Deity, is doubtless the Mystical Om 
of the Hindus. 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 441' 

souths (contrary to the direction observed by the Ma<* 
hometans^) and bamboos and planks are placed over, so 
as to prevent the earth from touching it. When the 
grave is closed^ two posts are planted over the body^ one 
perpendicular from the breast, the other from the lower 
part of the belly ; between these two a hollowed bamboo 
is inserted in the ground, into which, during seven suc- 
cessive days, they daily pour a vessel of pure water, 
placing beside the bamboo two dishes, also daily re- 
plenished with eatables. At the expiration of the seventh 
day, the feast of the dead is announced, and the relations 
and friends of the deceased assemble to be present at 
the ceremony, and partake of the entertainment — which 
is conducted as follows. 

"An image of leaves, ornamented with variegated 
flowers, made to represent the human form, and of about 
a cubit high, is prepared and placed in a conspicuous 
place, and supported round the body by the clothes of 
the deceased : the Dukun then places in front of the 
garland an incense-pot with burning ashes, and a vessel 
containing water, and repeats the two jmja to fire and 
water, the former commencing with ' Homg Kendogo Bromo 
gangsi wong'go yo nomo siwohoy &c., the latter with 
' Hong, hong gong^go moho terfo roto mejel saking hati,* 
&c., burning dupu or incense at stated periods during the 
former, and occasionally sprinkling the water over the 
feast during the repetition of the latter. 

" The clothes of the deceased are then divided among 
the relatives and friends, and the garland burned; — 
another puja, commencing ' Hong ! awigno mastu ncnno 
sidanif hong ! araningy &c., is then repeated, while the re- 
mains of the sacred water is sprinkled over the feast, after 
which the parties sit down to the enjoyment of it, invoking 
a blessing from the Almighty on themselves, their houses. 



442 MR. raffles' address 

and their lands. Nothing more occurs until the expira- 
tion of a thousand days^ when^ if the memory of the de- 
ceased is beloved and cherished, the ceremony and feast 
is repeated — otherwise no fiirther notice is taken. 

'' On questioning them regarding the tenets of their 
religion, they replied that they believed in a Dewa, who 
was all-powerful, and that the term by which the Dewa 
was designated was Bumi Truko Sangyang Dewoto Bator ; 
that the particulars of their worship were contained in the 
book called Pangkwa, which they presented to me. 

" On being questioned regarding the adat against adul- 
tery, theft, and other crimes, their reply was unanimous 
and ready — that crimes of the kind were unknown to 
them, and that consequently no punishment was fixed 
either by law or custom — that if a man did wrong, the 
head of the village chid him for it, the reproach of which 
was always sufficient punishment for a man of Teng'gar. 
This account of their moral character is fully confirmed 
by the Begents of the districts under whose authority 
they are placed, and also by the Besidents. They literally 
seem to be almost without crime; they are universally 
peaceable, interfere with no one, neither quarrel among 
themselves : it may be unnecessary to observe, that they 
are unacquainted with the vices of gaming and opium- 
smoking. 

'' The aggregate population amounts to about twelve 
hundred souls ; they occupy, without exception, the most 
beautifully rich and romantic spots on Java; the ther- 
mometer is frequently as low as forty-two ; the summits 
and slopes of the hills are covered with Alpine firs, and 
the vegetation common to a European climate generally 
prevails. 

^' The language does not differ much from the Javanese 
of the present day, though more gutturally pronounced : 



J 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 443 

from a comparison of about a hundred words of the ver- 
nacular Javanese^ two only differed. They do not inter- 
marry or mix with the people of the low lands^ priding 
themselves on their independence and purity in this 
respect. 

'' losing from this last vestige of the Hindu worship 
now acknowledged on Java^ (for the Bedtii^ though de- 
scendants of the fiigitives of Pajajaran^ scarcely merit 
notice in this respect^) I proceed to notice some of the 
leading observations which I made on Bali. The notices 
regarding the prevalence of Hinduism on Bali^ and of the 
nature of the government and country have hitherto been 
so scanty^ that on such interesting ground I may be par- 
doned for entering into some detail, without which it is 
impossible to convey a just notion of the subject. 

" The Island of Bali is at present divided under seven 
separate authorities, each independent of the other, and 
of this heptarchy the state of KUmgkong is acknowledged 
to be the most ancient^ its princes tracing their descent 
from the princes of Java, and having once possessed 
authority over the whole island. In the regalia of this 
state are reported to be still preserved the Cris of Maja^ 
pahit, the celebrated Gong named Bentur Kadaton ; and 
although the other governments do not at the present day 
admit of any interference on the part of this state, they 
still evince a marked respect and courtesy to this family 
as the Asal Rajah Bali, the stock from which they 
sprung. 

'* The population is roughly estimated by the number 
of male inhabitants whose teeth have been filed, and 
whose services each prince can command — these amount 
to upwards of 200,000 ; the female population is under- 
stood rather to exceed the male, and as it may be con- 
sidered that only the active and able-bodied men are 



444 MR. raffles' address 

included in the above list^ an average of four to a family 
may be fairly taken, giving a total population for the 
whole island exceeding 800,000 souls. 

'* The mode of government, institutions, and prevailing 
habits, are represented to be the same throughout the 
island, and the following sketch of Bailing may afford a 
just notion of the whole. 

" The government is despotic, and vested in the Prince 
alone — ^he is assisted by a head Perbakal in all affairs 
relating to the internal administration of the country, 
under whom are immediately placed the heads of villages, 
and by a Radin Tumung'gung, who conducts the details of 
a more general nature, of commerce and foreign inter* 
course ; the constitution of each village is the same, the 
head or chief is termed Perbakal, and the assistant Ka- 
lian Tempek. These officers are invariably selected from 
among the people of the village, the son, however, gene- 
rally succeeding the father, if competent to perform 
the duties : under the Perbakal, who has the desig- 
nation of Perbakal Rajah, are several inferior PerbakaU, 
for general duties and communications with the villages; 
and under the head Radin Tamung'gung a similar es- 
tabUshment, bearing the rank and designation of Kalian 
Tempek. Among the heads of villages are many whose 
families have formerly distinguished themselves in the 
wars of Bali, and who are termed Ousti, The command of 
the military is at present vested in a Chief of the Bra^ 
mana caste, who seems to receive honours and respect 
next to the Prince himself. 

" Whatever may at former periods have been the ex- 
tent and influence of the Hindu religion, Bali is now the 
only island in the Eastern Seas in which that religion is 
still prevailing as the national and established religion of 
the country. That high spirit of enterprise which burst 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 445 

the bounds of the extensive confines of India^ like the 
dove from the ark, rested its weary wing for a while on 
Java, till, driven from thence, it sought a refiige in Baliv 
where, even among the rudest and most untutored of 
savages, it found an asylum. The four grand divisions of 
the Hindus are here acknowledged, and the number of 
Bramana (Bramins) attached to the small state of jB7i- 
ling exceeds four hund):ed, of whom about one hundred 
are termed Pandita, 

" Without entering into the particular tenets of the 
prevailing Hinduism of Bali, which can only be treated 
of with propriety and correctness after a more thorough 
acquaintance with the practical duties, and some know- 
ledge of what is contained in their sacred records, it may 
be afiirmed without hazard, that Hinduism, as it exists at 
the present day on Bali, is rather to be considered as the 
nationalized Hinduism of Bali, in which a large portion 
of the native institutions and customs are admitted, than 
Hinduism as it is understood to prevail on the continent 
of India. The Bramins are, however, held in high vene*- 
ration, and on being questioned as to their doctrines, and 
to what sect they belong, they answer, invariably, they 
are Bramana Siwa, They have the same appearance as 
Bramins wherever they are met with, and the Indian 
features at once distinguish them as descended from a 
foreign race. The town and small temples which we 
occasionally observed have the appearance of a Mahratta 
village, and the eye is struck with everything strictly 
Hindu, forming a most unexpected contrast with the 
present style of building and appearance of the country 
on passing through Java and the other Eastern islands. 

" On inquiring into the relative rank and importance 
of their deities, they invariably described Bitara Guru as 



446 MR. raffles' address 



the first in rank; then Bitara Bramah, the spirit of fire; 
Bitara Wisnu, the spirit of the waters; Bitara Siwa, the 
spirit of the winds. 

'' Besides these, they describe numerous subordinate 
deities to whom they pay adoration, as Dewa Gid'e Se- 
gara, the divinity of the great sea; Dewa Gid'e Dalam, 
the divinity who presides over death; Gide Bali Agung, 
the great and popular deity of Bali; Dewa Gid'e Gu- 
nung Agung, the great deity of the mountain ; which last 
is the deity of most general worship. 

'' Bitara Guru, though considered as the highest object 
of worship, is declared to be subordinate to, and only the 
mediator with the divinity, whom they designate by the 
expressive and appropriate term of Sang Yang Tun^al^ 
The Great and only One. 

*' The bodies of the deceased are invariably burnt, and 
the wives and concubines of the higher classes perform 
the sacrifice of Satia, A few days previous to my land- 
ing on Bali, nineteen young women, the wives and con- 
cubines of the younger Rajah, who was lately put to 
death, sacrificed themselves in this manner. 

" The written language of Bali differs but little firom 
that of Java, but the character has a more ancient form : 
Kawi is the sacred language, and understood, or pre- 
tended to be understood, by the Bramins ; the common 
language is a mixture of the original language of the 
country, and that of Java, in which the latter predominates. 

'* Deferring, until another occasion, a more particular 
review of the religion, institutions, and habits of this 
people, I will for the present confine myself to such obser- 
vations as occur on the contemplation of the peculiar and 
extraordinary character they present, for the Balinese 
differs widely, both in appearance and character, firom the 



TO THE B ATA VI AN SOCIETY. 447 

Javan^ and indeed from every other nation of the Archi- 
pelago. 

'^ The natives of Bali are about the middle size of 
Asiatics^ larger and more athletic than the Javans or 
Malays, and carry an air of independence different alto- 
gether from the appearance of their more polished neigh- 
hours on the opposite coast of Java : the women in par- 
ticular are well proportioned, they seem to be on a perfect 
equality with the men, they are not secluded from society, 
and their general intercourse with strangers, even Euro- 
peans, is frank and dieerful: they are fairer than the 
women in Java, and wearing no covering above the waist, 
the natural beauty and symmetry of their shape is neither 
restrained nor concealed. 

'' There are two kinds of slavery existing at Bali, and 
sanctioned by the laws of the country : the first is termed 
Paniak, by which is understood a perfect state of slavery ; 
the second Bowang, which resembles the condition of the 
slave-debtor in Sumatra, and the Malay peninsula. Pa- 
niak is sjmonymous with Humba among the Malays, and 
signifies a slave : the master has complete possession of 
his person, and may lawfrdly transfer and punish with 
death, according to his will and pleasure, it being con- 
trary to usage for the Prince to interfere. In the mode 
of acquiring this absolute property, there appears to be 
but little restriction. Prisoners taken in war, or families 
carried off from their countries, are daily sold and trans- 
ferred, the deed of transfer, called, in Bali, Padol, being 
authenticated by the Tumunggung. In cases where 
an outrage occurs in a neighbouring state in alliance, 
application from the injured party, transmitted through 
the proper Chief, will cause the persons to be restored, 
and the perpetrators of the outrage are liable to the 
punishment of death; but in cases where the countries 



44B- MR. RAFFLES* ADPRKSS 

are not immediately in alliance, or. when the parties, 
carried off from a friendly state happen to want friends 
to make application in their favour, no notice is taken of 
such occurrences. If a free man wishes to marry a 
female slave, he may obtain her by purchase, provided he 
can agree with the proprietor, otherwise he may be ad- 
mitted to marry her on condition that he becomes a ser- 
vant with her : this second degree of slavery comes under 
the title of Rowang. Persons convicted of offences not of 
the first magnitude are generally sold for slaves by the 
Prince, or taken to serve him as such. The term Rowang 
is used to express the second or modified degree of 
slavery. If a man happens to be indebted, and without 
the means of payment (the debt exceeding ten dollars)^ 
he may be sold by the Jaxa, and the amount for which he 
is disposed of is appropriated to repay his creditor, the 
surplus being divided between the Prince, the Jaxa, and 
the creditor, as a recompense for their trouble ; the man 
sold in this manner becomes a Rowang : this state of ser-t 
vitude embraces every feature of slavery, excepting that 
the Rowang cannot be sold, put to death, or sent out of 
the country : if a Rowang wishes to marry, he may do so 
on receiving his master's consent, but the \\^oman becomes 
a Rowang also. But the Rowang possesses this ad- 
vantage, — ^that he may redeem himself at any time by 
paying the amount of the debt, or the money may be 
advanced for him, so that his condition becomes that of a 
debtor bound to serve his creditor until the amount of his 
debt is discharged. In the event of the debt not amount^ 
ing to ten dollars, the party cannot be sold, but the Jaxa 
will order the goods and property of the debtor to be disr 
posed of, and an obligation to be given for the payment of 
the remainder, whenever his circumstances may admit. A 
person indebted to another, and unable to pay, may make 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 449 

over his wife and children to the creditor, who in such 
ease will become Rowang, and on payment of his debt, 
eventually, he may demand back his family. 

'^ In marriage, the dowry established by custom for all 
persons of equal rank is forty dollars, to be paid to the 
parents of the bride* ; but as it happens in many cases 
that the husband is unable to pay this sum, he becomes 
indebted to the parents for the amount, and this consti* 
tutes a third branch of slavery under the term Tatung'- 
gon. The man and wife reside in the house of the bride's 
father, and the man performs service in attendance on the 
family, or in assisting in the cultivation of the land : when 
the husband is enabled to pay the dowry, he is then at 
liberty to quit the father's house, and to maintain an inde- 
pendent establishment, under the term of Orang Merdika, 
or free man. If the new-married man, however, behaves 
to the satisfaction of his wife's family, it often happens 
that after a certain time the father-in-law consents to 
remit the whole or part of the dowry, according to the 
circumstances of the parties. 

" The punishments for crimes are death, confinement, 
and selling into slavery; neither torture to obtain con- 
fession, mutilation, nor even corporal punishment, are 
used: theft and robbery are punished with death; and 
for murder, treason, and gang-robbery, in aggravated 
cases, the punishment of death is inflicted by breaking 
the limbs with a hatchet : this, though it assimilates to 
the manlier of breaking on the wheel, does not appear to 
have been adopted from Europeans, the practice being of 
ancient date: the party is left to linger, sometimes for 
several days, before death ensues. All executions are in 
public ; other capital punishments are usually performed 

'* * In Bali, as well as on Java, the term used for this payment sig- 
nifies a purchase/* 

VOL. 11. 2 G 



450 MR. KAFFLES' ADDRESS 

with a cris; open robbery by daylight is punished by 
death, but steaUng by confinement only ; robbery by 
night invariably by death. All offences are punished in 
the Jaxa's Court, which consists of two Jaxas and two 
Kcmcha or Registers, the Perbakal being the prosecutor : 
the sentence of the Court must be confirmed by the 
Prince, previous to execution, whose warrant, or Lantar, 
is necessary in all cases. In civil cases the confirmation 
of the Prince is only required when persons are sold into 
slavery ; a regular table of fees, in civil as well as crimi- 
nal cases, is exhibited in Court, and the amount divided 
between the members and the Prince. In criminal cases, 
when the punishment is capital, the property is confis- 
cated and divided in like manner, but in other punish- 
ments the parties retain their property. Adultery is 
punished with death to the man, and the woman becomes 
a slave to the Prince. Theft is the most prevalent crime, 
and adultery is uncommon, perhaps not twenty cases in a 
year: the husband has the power by law to kill both 
parties at the moment, if he detects them in the fact, but 
not otherwise. 

" In their domestic relations, however, the conduct of 
the Balinese appears unexceptionable; and there is, in- 
deed, a superior delicacy to what might be expected, and 
the tenderness towards early age speaks strongly in favour 
of their natural disposition. The parental authority is 
exercised with such tenderness, that it is peculiarly striking 
when taken in the same view with the apparently rude 
character of the people. They seem to evince a careless 
indifference to the rod of despotism which hangs over 
their head, and an air of good-humour and general satis- 
faction prevails throughout. Temperate in their diet, and 
strangers to drunkenness, the ruling passion is gaming, 
from cock-fighting to an inordinate and unprincipled de- 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 451 

sire for conquest ; such is the energy of the character, 
that it must find some powerful vent — something on 
which to discharge itself; and not being subject to a form 
of government calculated to repress their energies, they 
evidently feel no inclination to stand still in the scale of 
civilization. As a nation they are certainly invincible to 
any native power in the Eastern Seas ; still maintaining 
a high and noble independence of character, they perhaps 
exhibit, in a concentrated spot, as much of human nature, 
checked by regulation, and yet not lowered or refined by 
it, as is to be found in any part of the universe. 

" If we contemplate the various nations and tribes 
which inhabit the Southern Peninsula of India, and the 
innumerable islands composing that portion of the globe 
comprehended within Polynesia and Australasia, our at- 
tention is arrested by the striking uniformity in habits 
and language which prevails throughout, inducing the 
inference either of one common origin, or of early and 
very general intercourse. 

" Such customs as the singular practice of filing the 
teeth and dyeing them black, noticed by the authors who 
have written on Pegu, Siam, Camboja, and Tonquin, and 
prevailing generally throughout the whole Malayan Ar- 
chipelago ; the practice of distending the perforated lobe 
of the ear to an enormous size, noticed in like manner to 
exist in the same parts of the Peninsula, and prevailing 
throughout the Archipelago in a greater or less degree in 
proportion with the extension of Islamism; the practice 
of tattooing the body, noticed among the Burmans and 
people of Laos, common to many tribes on Borneo, and 
particularly distinguished in some of the islands in the 
Pacific Ocean. If it is observed that this custom, as well 
as that of plucking the beard, was noticed in South 
America, the question may arise in what course or direc- 

2g2 



452 MR. RAFFLES ADDRESS • 

tion the tide of population may have "flowed. In a recent 
publication an idea has been started^ on the similarity of 
the languages, that the population of the Philippines and 
of the islands in the South Sea originally emigrated from 
America*. It will not be required of me to go into any 
description of those singular appendages to the virile 
member, noticed by the writers on Pegu, Siam, and 
Camboja, and adopted among many tribes of Borneo and 
the Moluccas : whatever may have been the origin of this 

" • This author notices that, observing the proper names of places 
about the middle of the continent of South America were very similar 
to those of the Philippines, he endeavoured to procure a vocabulary of 
the country, and to examine the few words of the language of Chili 
which Ercilla mentions in his Araucana, and found them perfectly 
conformable to the language of Tagala. * In examining the structure 
of the two languages,' he observes, ' we are compelled to conclude 
that they flow from one and the same source, and I dare to affirm that 
the Indians of the Philippines are descended from the aborigines of 
Chili and Peru, and that the language of these islands derives imme- 
diate from the parent source, those of the neighbouring islands being 
dialects of this : that there are many reasons, and one in particular, 
for supposing that the islands in the South Sea could not be peopled 
from the westward ; viz., that in all the torrid zone the east wind 
generally prevails, which being in direct opposition to the course from 
Malacca and the adjacent islands, it is fair to conclude the inhabitants 
of all the islands in the South Sea came from the East, sailing be/ore 
the toind; for we have seen it often happen, that the Indians from 
the Palaos have arrived at the Philippines precisely under these cir- 
cumstances. On the contrary, we have no instance on record of any 
of the Philippine Indians having been, even by accident, carried by 
the winds to the islands to the Eastward.* 

** * Here, therefore,' he concludes, * we appear to have formed the 
most probable solution of our difficulties ; that is, that the first settlers 
came out of the East, we may presume from the coast of South 
America, and proceeding gradually to the westward through the 
Pacific Ocean, studded as we find it with islands and clusters of 
islands, at no very great distance from each other, and of course of 
easy access before the wind ; it follows that to whatever point in 
an eastern direction we trace the Tagalic language, we may conclude 
that at that point emigration must have commenced.* '' — Description 
of the Philippine Islands, by Mar finer de Tuniga. — Mams, Trans. 
p. 30. 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 453 

very singular custom^ traces are to be found even on Java 
of the veneration in which it once was held. The practice 
of triumphing over a subdued enemy may be common to 
the barbarous state in general, but the deliberate system 
of man-hunting, in order to procure heads as a trophy of 
manliness and mihtary gallantry, however it may have 
originated in this feeling of uncivilized nature, may be 
ranked among the peculiarities of this portion of the 
globe. 

'^ The language of the different tribes of Borneo is 
ascertained to bear a strong resemblance to that of the 
scattered tribes of Camboja, Champa, and Laos. The 
position maintained by Mr. Marsden, that the Malayan is 
a branch or dialect of the widely-extended language pre-^ 
vailing through the islands of the Archipelago, to which 
it gives name, as well as those of the South Sea, appears 
to be established and confirmed as our information ad- 
vances ; and if we except the Papuas and scattered tribes 
having curled hair, we find the general description given 
of the persons of the Siamese, and the ruder population 
of the adjacent countries which have not admitted any 
considerable admixture from the Chinese, to come very 
near to the inhabitants of the Archipelago, who may, in 
fact, be said to differ only in being of a smaller size, and 
in as far as foreign colonization and intercourse may have 
changed them. 

" To trace the sources from whence this colonization 
and consequent civilization flowed, and the periods at 
which it was introduced into different states, is a subject 
new to the historian, and not uninteresting to the phi- 
losopher. 

" If we admit the natural inference, that the population 
of the islands originally emigrated from the Continent> 
and at the same time the probability that the country 



454 MR. RAFFLES* ADDRESS 

lying between Siam and China is the immediate source 
from whence such emigration originally proceeded, the 
history of the Eastern Islands may, with reference to that 
of Java in particular, in which a powerful Hindu govern- 
ment was, without doubt, early established, be divided 
into five distinct periods. 

" The first division would include the period com- 
mencing with the earliest accounts of the population 
down to the first establishment of a foreign colony in 
Java, of which the written annals of the country make 
mention ; the date of this is pretty accurately ascertained, 
and may be fixed at about the commencement of the 
sixth century of the Javanese era, or a.d. 600, when 
only the period of authentic history can be considered to 
commence. 

*^ The origin of all nations is buried in obscurity, and 
unless we may succeed in obtaining new lights from Siam 
or China, we shall have but little to guide us during the 
early part of this division, beyond conjecture and such 
general inferences as may be drawn from a similarity in 
person, language, and usages, still found to prevail among 
the less civilized tribes. According to the division of Sir 
William Jones, the original population of the islands 
were doubtless of the Tartar race, and probably from the 
same stock as the Siamese. The Javans date the com- 
mencement of their era from the arrival on Java of Adi 
Saka, the minister of Prabu Joyo Boyo, Sovereign of 
Hastinay and the fifth in descent from Arjuno^ the fa- 
vourite of Krisna, and the leading hero of the B'rata 
Yud'ha. This epoch corresponds with that of the intro- 
duction of a new faith into China and the further Penin- 
sula by Saka, Shaka, or Sakia, as he is differently termed, 
and with the chronology of the Hindus, as explained by 
Sir William Jones, in which Saca is supposed to have 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 455 

reigned seventy-nine years subsequent to the commence- 
ment of the Christian era ; but whether Saka himself, or 
only some of his followers assuming this name^ found 
their way to Java may be questionable, and it is not 
impossible that the Javanese may have subsequently 
adopted the era, on a more extended intercourse with the 
further Peninsida*. A connexion would at any rate 
appear to have existed between Java and Siam, as this 
Adi Saka is not only represented to have founded the 
present era of Java, but to have introduced the original 
letters of the Javanese alphabet, by a modification of the 
letters used in Western India and in Siam. It does not 
appear that either he or his followers established them- 
selves in any authority, and we can trace but little with 
certainty during the following five centuries ; some of the 
Javanese accounts refer to the arrival of various settlers 
during this period, but we find no traces either of a 
government having existed, or of the estabUshment of 
any extensive colony, until the commencement of the 
sixth century. I should observe in this place, that the 
Javanese year corresponds pretty nearly with the Hindu 
year of Salivarna, and that the word Saka, in Sanscrit, 
means an epoch or era, and is applied to the founder of 
an era. 

''The Javanese occasionally use the numerals for re- 
cording dates, but more generally and particularly, in 
dates of importance, they adopt an hieroglyphical inven- 
tion termed Chondro Sangkolo, in which the different 
numerals from one to ten are represented by particular 
objects"; this is either eflfected, in buildings and sculpture, 
by the actual representations of these objects, or in writ- 
ing, by the insertion of their names, the meaning fre- 

" * The present (1815) Javanese year is 1742 : that of Bali 1733." 



456 MR. RAFFLES* ADDRESS 

quently having some allusion to the fact which the date 
records. Thus the date of the destruction of Majapahit, 
in the Javanese year 1400, is recorded as follows, the 
order of the numerals being reversed — 

Sima — Uang — Kertaning — Bund 
Gone — gone — is the work — of the land 
4 1 

" Anterior to this supposed arrival of Adi Sacha, the 
two most eventful periods in the history of these coun- 
tries, of which tradition and history make mention, are, 
first, that which includes the incursions of the far-famed race 
who have been supposed to have peopled South America*, 
and, according to Sir William Jones, 'imported into the 
furthest parts of Asia the rites and fabulous history of 
Bama;' and, secondly, that which includes the conse- 
quences of the invasion of India by Alexander the 
Great. That the fabulous history of Rama, as well as 
the exploits of Alexander, have been current in the 
Malayan Archipelago from time immemorial, cannot be 
questioned; and it may be remarked, that while the 
Javans use the term Rama for father, the Malays univer- 
sally attempt to trace their descent jfrom Alexander, or 
his followers. Sumatra was long considered to have 
been the Taprobane of the ancients ; and when we advert 
to the single circumstance that this was said to be a 
country in which the North Polar Star was not visible, or 
only partially, we must still doubt the correctness of the 
modern conclusion in favour of Ceylon. The Eastern 
Islands furnish that peculiar kind of produce which has, 
from the earliest times, been in demand by continental 

* " See a former note on the similarity between the languages of 
South America and the Philippines, and the recent works of Hum- 
boldt, on the existence of Hindu remains still found in America, in 
support of this assertion.'* 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 457 

nations ; and the same avidity with which, in modern 
days, Europeans contended for the rich products of the 
Moluccas, in all probability actuated, at a much earlier 
period, adventurers from Western India. Traces of in- 
tercourse with Ethiopia may be found at this day in the 
scattered tribes of the wooUy-habed race peculiar to 
Africa, which are to be found on the Andamans, on the 
southern part of the further Peninsula, and throughout 
the Archipelago ; and that the Hindus were, at one 
period, an enterprising and commercial nation, may, I 
think, be established with little difficulty, from the incon- 
testable proofs which at this day exist on Java, and the 
traffic which stiU exists in native vessels, and on native 
capital, between the Coromandel coast and the Malayan 
peninsula. If any country, therefore, in the Archipelago 
lays claim to this distinction more than another, it is 
Java ; but probably it was rather to the Eastern Islands 
generally, than to one island in particular, that the ap- 
pellation was given. Both Ptolemy and the Arabians 
would seem to have designated the Islands by one gene- 
ral name ; by the one, they were termed Jabadios Insulce ; 
by the others. Jaw, or Jawa : hence, probably, the confu- 
sion in the Travels of Marco Polo, and the still disputed 
question between Java Major and Java Minor*. 

* " If we reflect upon the extent and nature of the recent volcanic 
phenomena on Sumbawa, and the effects which may have been pro- 
duced by similar convulsions of nature, we are led to conclude that 
the present appearance and form of the various islands of the Archi- 
pelago may be very different from what they were two or three 
thousand years ago. At that period these Islands may have formed 
part of the main land, or have been themselves united in one conti- 
nent. An authentic account of this extraordinary phenomenon, as 
far as can be collected from information yet received, is submitted to 
the Society, and will be found in the subsequent pages of its Trans- 
actions. I can vouch for the correctness of the statements, and the 
raw materials may be found useful in the hand of the natural 
historian." 



458 MR. raffles' address 

'^ The second division would include the period between 
this first regular establishment from Western India^ and 
the decline and fall of the first Eastern empire of Java^ 
which may be fixed, with tolerable accuracy, at about the 
Javanese year 1000, or a.d. 1073. 

" During this period, by far the most eventful in the 
history of Java, we shall find colonies of foreigners esta- 
blishing themselves not only on Java, but on various 
other islands of the Archipelago ; that the arts, particu- 
larly those of architecture and sculpture, flourished in a 
superior degree; and that the language, literature, and 
institutions of the continent of India were transferred, in 
various directions, through the Oriental Islands. It was 
during tliis period that the principal temples, of which 
the ruins now exist on Java, were built; and besides the 
concurring testimonies of tradition, and the written com- 
positions of the country, the numerous inscriptions and 
dates on stone and copper, the characters of which we are 
now able to decipher, as well as the ancient coins, would 
lend essential aid in establishing a correct chronology. 
On the one hand, we should have to direct our inquiries 
to the history of the various continental nations from 
whence these foreigners might have proceeded ; and, on 
the other, to the nature and extent of the establishments, 
intercourse, and civilization introduced by them into the 
different islands. 

" This period will commence from the arrival of Awap, 
the reputed son of Balia Atcha, Sovereign of Kudjir^t, 
who came in search of a celebrated country described in 
the writings of Saka, and under the name of Sewelo Cholo 
established the first regular monarchy of which the Java- 
nese annals make mention ; and include the adventures 
of the celebrated Panji, the pride and admiration of suc- 
ceeding ages. Our attention would also be directed in a 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY, 459 

particular manner to the intercourse between Java and 
the other Islands^ and the nature and extent of the 
foreign establishments formed by Java. Tradition and 
the popular romances of the country represent not only 
the kingdoms of Goa and Luhu on Celebes, but even the 
kingdom of Menagkabu, on Sumatra, to have been esta- 
bhshed about the conclusion of this period by Princes 
from Java. 

" The third division would include the period from the 
above date, till the final overthrow of the second Eastern 
Empire, in the Javanese year 1400. Some idea may be 
formed of the power and opulence of this second empire 
estabUshed at Majapahit, from the extensive ruins of that 
city still extant : these I took an opportunity of visiting 
during my late tour ; and I believe I am within the mark, 
when I represent the walls to have enclosed a space of 
upwards of twenty miles in circumference. 

" Within this period will be included the establishment 
of the Western Empire at Pajajaran ; the subsequent 
division of the Island under the Princes of Majapahit and 
Pajajaran; the eventual supremacy of Majapahit; and 
the final overthrow of the government and ancient insti- 
tutions of the country, by the general establishment of 
the Mahomedan faith. 

" It was during this period that Java may be said to 
have risen to the highest pitch of her civilization yet 
known, and to have commanded a more extensive inter- 
course throughout the Archipelago, than at any former 
period. Colonies from Java were successively planted on 
Sumatra, the Malayan peninsula, Borneo, and Bali, the 
Princes of which countries still trace their descent from 
the house of Majapahit ; and that adventurers from 
Western India, from Siam, from Champa, from China, 
and from Japan, frequented Java in the greatest number; 



460 MR. RAFFtEs' ADDRESS 

but the object of first importance will be to trace the in^ 
troduction, progress, and final establishment of the Ma- 
homedan faith in the various countries where it now is 
acknowledged as the established religion; and particu- 
larly on Java, where we find that> notwithstanding at- 
tempts to make proselytes were made as early as the 
commencement of the twelfth century, such was the 
attachment of the people to their ancient faith and insti- 
tutions, that they did not effectually succeed tiU the 
latter end of the fifteenth century of the Christian era. 

" The fourth division would commence with the esta- 
blishment of the Mahomedan government on Java, and 
might be brought down to the establishment of the 
Dutch in the Eastern Seas, say a.d. 1600; and a fifth, 
and by no means uninteresting period, might include the 
history of the European establishments, down to the con- 
quests by the British arms in 1811. 

*' The further prosecution of this extensive inquiry 
would lead me beyond the limits at present prescribed ; 
and I must, therefore, conclude with drawing your atten- 
tion to the striking similarity between the early state of 
Greece, and that of the Malayan Islands : change but 
the names, and the words of Mitford's Introduction to 
his History of Greece will be found equally applicable to 
this more extensive Archipelago. 

" 'Thus,' he observes, ' Greece, in its early days, waij 
in a state of perpetual marauding and piratical warfare. 
Cattle, as the great means of subsistence, were fii*st the 
great objects of plunder ; then, as the inhabitants of some 
parts by degrees settled to agriculture, men, women^ and 
children were sought for as slaves. But Greece had 
nothing more peculiar than its adjacent sea, where small 
islands were so thickly scattered, that their inhabitants, 
and in some measure those of the shores of the surrounds 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY- 461 

ing continents also, were mariners by necessity; waters- 
expeditions, therefore, were soon found most commodious 
for carrying off spoil. The Greeks, moreover, in their 
more barbarous state, became acquainted with the pre- 
<;ious metals ; for the Phoenicians, whose industry, inge^ 
nuity, and adventurous spirit of commerce, led them early 
to explore the further shores of the Mediterranean, and 
even to risk the dangers of the ocean beyond, discovered 
mines of gold and silver in some of the Islands of the 
-^Egean, and on its northern coast they formed estabhsh- 
ments in several of the islands ; and Thasus, which lay 
convenient for communication with the most productive 
mines, became the seat of their principal factory. Thus 
was offered the most powerful incentive to piracy, in a sea 
whose innumerable islands and ports afforded singular 
opportunity for the practice. Perhaps the conduct of 
the Phoenicians towards the uncivilized nations, among 
whom the desire of gain led them, was not always the 
most upright or humane ; hostilities would naturally 
ensue, and hence might first arise the estimation of 
piracy, which long prevailed among the Greeks as an 
honourable practice.' 

" Java has long been advanced beyond that state in 
which piracy and robbery are held to be honourable in 
the eyes of men; but the picture wiU be found pretty 
correct of those Islands strictly denominated Malayan. 

" The superior and extraordinary fertility of the soil 
may serve to account for the extensive population of Java, 
compared with that of the other islands ; and when to 
the peaceable and domestic habits of an agricultural life 
are added the facilities for invasion along an extensive 
line of coast, accessible in every direction, it will not be 
surprising that she should have fallen an easy prey to 
the first invader. She appears to have lost by these 



462 MR. raffles' address 

invasions much of that martial spirit and adventurous 
enterprise which distinguishes the population of the other 
Isles ; but> at the same time^ to have retained not only 
the primitive simplicity of her own peculiar usages, but 
all the virtues and advantages of the more enlightened 
institutions which have been introduced at different 
periods from a foreign source. At all events, when we 
consider that her population cannot be less than four 
millions, and when we witness the character and litera- 
ture of the people as it is even now exhibited, we must 
admit that Java had attained a far higher degree of civili- 
zation than any other nation in the southern hemisphere. . 

" You will, however, expect firom me some notice re- 
garding Japan, 'that celebrated and imperial Island,' 
which, to use the words of Sir William Jones, bears ' a pre- 
eminence among Eastern kingdoms, analogous to that of 
Britain among the nations of the West ;* and however 
slender may have been the information procured, such as 
it is I venture to submit it to you, nearly as I received it 
from the verbal communications of Dr. Ainslie. 

''It may be satisfactory and gratifying, in the first 
place, to observe that every information which has been 
obtained tends to confirm the accuracy, the ability, and 
the impartiality of Ksempfer, whose account of Japan is, 
perhaps, one of the best books of the kind that ever was 
written, considering the circumstances under which he wa§ 
sent. I am assured that there is not a misrepresentation 
throughout. He was a man of that minute accuracy, and 
that habitude of talent, which saw everything as it stood, 
and not through the mist or medium of any preconcep- 
tion. The Japanese observe of him, that he is in history 
' the very apostle of their faith,' and from whose works 
alone they know even their own country. Their first 
inquiry wa9 for a copy of Ksempfer ; and, endeavouring to 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 463 

evinee the estimation in which this author was held by 
them, their observation was literally that ' he had drawn 
out their heart from them, and laid it palpitating before 
us, with all the movements of their government, and the 
actions of their men/ 

" Referring you, therefore, to the works of Kaempfer 
for an account of their history, institutions and acquire- 
ments, as genuine data on which this interesting people 
may be appreciated, I need only oflFer a few notices on the 
character which they appeared to Dr. Ainslie to display, 
during a residence of four months, and as &r as he had 
the opportunity of judging. 

" They are represented to be a nervous, vigorous peo- 
ple, whose bodily and mental powers assimilate much 
nearer to those of Europe, than what is attributed to 
Asiatics in general. Their features are masculine, and 
perfectly European, with the exception of the small 
lengthened Tartar eye, which almost universally prevails, 
and is the only feature of resemblance between them and 
the Chinese. The complexion is perfectly fair, and indeed 
blooming, the women of the higher classes being equally 
fair with Europeans, and having the bloom of health 
more generally prevalent among them than is usually 
found in Europe. 

" For a people who have had very few, if any, externai 
aids, the Japanese cannot but rank high in the scale of 
civilization. The traits of a vigorous mind are displayed 
in the sciences, and particularly in metaphysics and judi- 
cial astrology. The arts speak for themselves, and are 
deservedly acknowledged to be in a much higher degree 
of perfection than among the Chinese, with whom they 
are, by Europeans, so frequently confounded. The lat- 
ter have been stationary, at least, as long as we have 
known them ; but the slightest impulse seems sufficient 



464 MR. raffles' address 

to give a determination to the Japanese character^ which 
would progressively improve^ until it attained the same 
height of civilization with the European. Nothings indeed, 
is so offensive to the feelings of a Japanese, as to be com- 
pared, in any one respect, with the Chinese ; and the only 
occasion on which Dr. Ainslie saw the habitual politeness 
of a Japanese ever surprised into a burst of passion, was 
upon a simiUtude of the two nations being unguardedly 
made, when he laid his hand on his sword. 

" The people are said to have a strong inchnation to 
foreign intercourse, notwithstanding the political institu- 
tions to the contrary; and perhaps the energy which 
characterizes the Japanese character cannot be better 
elucidated than in that extraordinary decision which ex- 
cluded the world from their shores, and confined them- 
selves within their own limits : a people who had before 
served as mercenaries throughout all Polynesia, and who 
traded with all nations — ^themselves adventurous navi- 
gators. 

" There is by no means that uniformity among them 
which is observed in China, where the impression of the 
government may be said to have broken down aU indivi- 
duality, and left one Chinese the counterpart of another. 
Unlike the Chinese, the women here are by no means 
secluded : they have a society among themselves, as the 
ladies of Europe. During the residence of Dr. Ainslie, 
frequent invitations and entertainments were given: on 
these occasions, and at one in particular, a lady from the 
court of Jeddo is represented to have done the honours 
of the table with an ease, elegance, and address that would 
have graced a Parisian. The usual dress of a Japanese 
woman of middle rank costs, perhaps, as much as would 
supply the wardrobe of an European lady of the same 
rank for twenty years, 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 465 

"The Japanese, with an apparent coldness like the 
stillness of the Spanish character, and derived nearly from 
the same causes, — that system of espionage, and that 
principle of disunion, dictated by the principles of both 
governments, — are represented to be eager of novelty and 
warm in their attachments ; open to strangers ; and, bating 
the restrictions of their political institutions, a people 
who seem inclined to throw themselves into the hands of 
any nation of superior intelligence : they have, at the 
same time, a great contempt and disregard for everything 
below their own standard of morals and habits, as instanced 
in the case of the Chinese. 

" This' may appear to be contradicted by the mis- 
sion from Russia in 1814, under Count Kreusenstem; 
but the circumstances under which that mission was placed 
should be considered. From the moment of their arrival 
they were under the influence of an exclusive factory, who 
continued to rain upon them every possible ignominy 
which can be supposed to have flowed from the despotism 
of Japan, through the medium of an interested and avari- 
cious factor, who dreaded competition, or the publication 
of his secret. The warehouse in which the Russian mis- 
sion had been lodged, was pointed out to Dr. Ainslie, 
who observes, that ' as the rats were let out, the Count 
and his suite were let in, where they remained for six long 
months, with scarce room to turn ; the mark of obloquy to 
the Japanese, and the laughing-stock to the European 
factory. So lively, indeed, was the impression of the 
occurrence, that the chief Japanese officer asked the 
English commissioner if he, too, would condescend to play 
the part of the Russian count ; the officer answering to 
his own question, ' No, I trust not.' 

"The mistaken idea of their illiberality in religious 
matters, seems to have been fully proved; and the 

VOL. II. 2 H 



466 MR. raffles' address 

late mission experienced it in a degree hardly credible, 
and little expected by themselves, from the representations 
previously made to them. The story of the annual test 
of trampling on the crucifix at Nangasaki and the other 
important cities is a story derided by the Japanese priest- 
hood. On visiting the great temple on the lulls of Nan- 
gasaki, the EngUsh commissioner was received with 
marked regard and respect by the venerable patriarch of 
the northern provinces, eighty years of age, who enter- 
tained him most sumptuously. On shewing him round 
the courts of the temple, one of the English officers pre- 
sent heedlessly exclaimed in surprise, 'Jasus ChristuiJ' 
The patriarch turned half round, with a placid smile, 
bowed significantly, expressive of ' We know you are 
Jasus Christua well ; don't obtrude him upon us in our 
temples, and we remain friends ;* and so with a hearty 
shake of the hands these two opposites parted. This 
leave-taking reminded Dr. Ainslie very forcibly of the 
story Dr. Moore tells so well of the Duke of Hamilton 
and himself taking leave of the Pope. The Pope, who 
had conceived a regard for the young Duke, on the 
latter making his conge, said, 'I know you laugh at 
the benediction of a Pope ; but the blessings of an old 
man can do you no harm ;' and laid his hand on his head, 
and blessed him. 

" The massacre of Samebarra is, by the Japanese, attri- 
buted to European intrigue ; and even Kseempfer notices 
that the European ships of war formed the practical 
breach through which the Japanese entered, and perpe- 
trated that massacre, to which it would appear that they 
had been originally prompted by others. 

^^That the negociations from England, on a former 
occasion, should not have been more successfrd than the 
late attempt from Russia, may easily be accounted for. 



TO THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY. 467 

when we reflect on the possibility of the favourite factor 
having said to them^ 'forty years ago your throne has 
been all but overturned by the intrigue of these heretics ; 
this embassy comes from the King who has married the 
daughter of the head of that caste^ and from whom you can 
expect nothing less than an irruption still more fatal 
to your tranquillity. Such an argument^ pushed by a 
narrow-minded and interested factor, could not but carry 
weight with the Japanese, accustomed to respect, and 
to place all confidence in their western visitors. 

" They are not averse to the indulgence of social excess, 
and on these occasions give a latitude to their speech, 
which one would hardly suppose they dared to do in 
Japan. 

'' It is an extraordinary fact, notwithstanding the deter- 
mination of the empire not to enter into foreign commerce, 
that for seven years past, since the visitation of Captain 
Pellew, the English language has, by an edict from the 
Emperor, been cultivated with considerable success by the 
younger members of the College of Interpreters; they 
were, indeed, anxious in their inquiries after English 
books. 

''While the commissioner was at Nangasaki, there 
arrived a large detachment of officers of rank, who had 
been out nearly four years, and not yet completed one- 
fourth of a survey on which they were engaged. These 
officers were attended by a nimierous and splendid retinue, 
and were eimployed in making a practical survey of every 
foot of the empire and the dependant isles. The survey 
appeared to be conducted on a scientific principle, to be 
most minute and accurate in its execution, and to have for 
its object a regular geographical and statistical survey of 
the country. 

" In a word, the opinion of Dr. AinsUe is, that the 



468 MR. RAFFLBS' ADDRESS. 

§ 

Japanese are a people .with whom the European world 
might hold intercourse without compromise of character; 
for the Japanese themselves are wonderfully inquisitive in 
all points of science^ and possess a mind curious and 
anxious to receive information^ without inquiring from 
what quarter it comes. 

" In the same spirit let us hope that now^ when 

' That spell upon the minds of men 
Breaks, never to unite again* — 

no withering policy may blast the fair fruits of that spirit 
of research which has gone forth from this Hall; nor con- 
tinue, under any circumstances, to shut out one-half of 
the world from the intelligence which the other half may 
possess.'* 



THK KND. 



JUN 3 1918 



LONDON: 
William Clowxs and Sons, Stamford Street.