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THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
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CAPTAIN THOMAS MILLER.
OVER FIVE SEAS AND OCEANS.
FROM
NKW YORK
TO
BANGKOK, SIAlVt,
• AND RETURN.
SOIVIE REIVIINISCENCES
BY
THOMAS MILLER.
NEW YORK:
Albert Metz & Co., 22 Piatt St.
DEDICATfiD TO HIS FrIENDS
IN THE
New York Life Insurance Company,
l'?-'7322-1
DS
PREFACE.
This little story of a few years residence and
travel in the East has been written at the solici-
tation of the author's friends.' It makes no claim
to great literary distinction, nor does it aspire
to rank among the chefs d\viivrcs of the world
of books. It is the plain, unvarnished story of
the experiences of a Yankee in the Orient, who
presents the illustrations and the printed matter
from memory, after a lapse of twenty-seven years,
which he trusts is a sufficient apology for all
errors.
I,\
2 1
^ ^ ?p^,■- 'If-p
CHAPTER I.
WITH three others, sailed from New
York on the 4th day of August, 1857,
on board of the British barque "Oak,"
of Hartlepool. We crossed the bar
the next day with little or no wind, and laid our
course S.E. by E. from the Highland Lights,
losing sight of the Lights at dark that night.
Our voyage was very pleasant until we crossed
the line — the Equator ; there, for two or three
days, it was rather squally, but not enough to
reef topsails. We had a good run until we made
the Islands of Amsterdam and St. Paul, two lonely
islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The
next land we made was the Islands of Java and
Sumatra about the 20lh of November. Arrived
at Anjiers in the Straits of Sunda about dark the
same day, atter a passage of about one hundred
and seven days from New York.
Here we recruited ship with fresh provisions,
such as yams, onions, sweet potatoes and fowls.
On the third day we weighed anchor, and sailed
out into the Straits, with the wind from S.S.W.
blowing up the Straits. We passed the Two
Brothers Island out in the China Sea. The first
Sunday, after we entered the China Sea, at day-
light, we were confronted with seventeen water-
spouts of huge size, some of which were over two
miles off. At one time it looked as if we would
be engulfed by them, for certainly, if one of them
had burst on us, our good ship would have gone
down. A water-Spout is a long column of water,
rising out of the sea. It begins with a little rip-.
pie on the water like a whirlwind, increasing in
diameter until ten or twelve feet in size ; it then
rises, up and up, until it reaches the clouds. It
ascends with a corkscrew motion. The only
way to get clear of it is to fire a cannon into it,
Sometimes the concussion will break the column,
and it falls with a terrible noise and splash into
the sea. As luck would have it, we had no
guns to fire into the worst one ; therefore, only
by an overruling- Providence and a little main
strength and smartness in hauling our braces, did
our good ship sail clear of the nearest one, which
was very large. As it passed us, or we passed it,
the noise was almost deafening. Notwithstand-
ing our scare, the sight was perfectly grand. As
it was the Northeast Monsoon, we kept well to
the southward and eastward up along the coast of
Borneo, commonly called the Palawan Passage.
We passed large numbers of beautiful islands, un-
til we made nearly a fair wind of it, and sailed
direct for the entrance to the Gulf of wSiam. We
came to anchor off the bar about the 24th of De-
cember ; took pilot, and crossed the bar and drift-
ed up to Bangkok,
The river is so very crooked we could not sail
pp ; therefore, we drifted up with the tide, and
lO
came to anchor in mid stream on the 27th of De-
cember, after a passage of one hundred' and forty
days. The whole distance of about seventeen
thousand miles could have been made in a ship's
boat.
We were very kindly received by our con-
signee and the natives. The first native of note I
met was the Prime Minister of the Kingdom, who
was very friendly. After the machinery was all
landed and housed in the godown of the con-
signee, I was sent to the province of La Consa-
chee to finish erecting a small steam sugar mill.
La Consachee is northwest from Bangkok; distance
from Bangkok about seventy-five miles. I went
in a covered boat, with four stalwart oarsmen and
a C(jok, who acted as interpreter. We journeyed
at night and tied up to trees in the daytime. Went
ashore to get fruit and to chase monkeys, with
which the country abounds. We arrived at our
destination in the middle of the third night after
leaving Bangkok. Next morning the Governor
II
of the Province called on me, and presented me
with what is called a drinking cocoanut, which
was very cool and refreshing. It is a fruit filled
with natural milk, and very sweet. This fruit is
a token of friendship. I lived on the very best
provisions the country afforded during my three
weeks stay with them. I started up the mill and
showed the natives how to run it. The day be-
fore I began grinding cane, 1 requested the Su-
perintendent of the mill to give me as large a pile
of cane as he gave the bull mills. He laughed at
the idea of my little mill of 12^ x 35 roller grinding
as much as the three bull mills. About six P. M.
we all started up, and I had to jump around to
show the natives how to handle cane; and they
handled it so that by 2 A. M. next morning my
pile of cane was all used up, and I helped the
others to get finished by daybreak, which is
about 4.30 the year round. Then there was great
rejoicing over the first steam sugar mill erected
in Siam. We did not grind again for three nights
12
for the want of cane, so 1 had a good time going
round looking at the country, and seeing how
they cut cane. I ran the mill a week, until the
natives could handle it, which thev did, the third
night, without my assistance. They are a very
smart, observing people. I left La Consachee for
Bangkok, after a trip down stream of two nights
and one day.
On landing, I found one of our young men, A.
Sharpp, crazy. The doctor called it delirium
tremens, but I thought it was sunstroke. He
being a British subject, we turned him over to
the Consul, after we were worn out watching day
and night with him for three weeks. The Consul
sent him to Singapore to the hospital, and he died
on the passage, and was buried at sea. The cap-
tain never handed his effects to the authorities at
Singapore, including a twenty dollar gold piece I
put in his trunk to buy some little comforts that
the hospital did not supply. Sharpp's death left
in the gang two engineers and one carpenter.
13
The carpenter, Mr. Hatch, got some kind of skin
disease, which compelled him to leave for home.
Then there were only two left, myself and Jen-
kins. Poor Jenkins turned out badly, and left me
inside of two years ; thus I was the only one left
at Bangkok.
My next move was with my mate to put a pair
of 20 X 24 yacht engines in the Prime Minister's
yacht, *' Meteor." I ran the yacht for some time,
until the natives were properly schooled.
The next job was to put in a small single en-
gine for Som Decht Noi's yacht, used for merely
a plaything round the river and canals. Som
Decht Noi was a very high noble. His title was
conferred on him for meritorious conduct. He
was a very old man, and was heavy, say about
250 pounds. He wanted me to erect the engine
in a saw shed, which I did. He came in the day
I started it, and became very much interested and
excited at seeing the engine run. He said it
was wonderful. As he was leaving the shed,
14
his half-idiotic son took hold of the little fly-
wheel, and it threw him over on a pile of sawed
lumber. He had tried the trick several times
before, and I had stopped him ; but this time,
as his father was there, he put on airs, and took
hold of the wheel, and got what I had told him.
This accident and the excitement of seeing the
machinery running, brought on an attack of
heart trouble with the old gentleman, and he
fell dead on entering his palace. His body was
kept one year, and then the funeral pile was
built, and the body placed on the top, incased in
a gold box or urn. Ten Buddhist priests stood in
a row, having in their hands a heavy web of silk.
It passed from the last one to the ground. On
inquiring, I found that the sins of the man were
passing from the body during the incantations of
the priests, which never ceased until the pile was
all ready for the torch to be applied by the King.
This took three days and nights, during which
there were theatres, juggling, all kinds of shows
15
with fruits and candies — a three days go-as-you-
please.
On the evening before the burning, the King
and his nobles were present, and I, with several
other foreigners, went up to see the grand dis-
play. The King saw me, and sent his page for
me. We all sat on mats, with the Prime Minister,
Lord Mayor and several others. We laughed
and talked until 12 o'clock; then we made our
salaam and left. Next day we attended the burn-
ing, and, as the custom is, the King scattered
limes (a small lemon), in which is money, from
one Fuang to Siluing, to a Tical, and some had
gold rings. The King saw me and called me,
" Ma Millee," to come up to him in the midst of
his nobles on a temporary platform. The nobles
were on their knees and elbows, while I stood up,
and the King filled my pockets with the limes, for
which I said, " Cop chie " (thank you), and left.
What he gave me contained two gold Fuangs, the
rest silver. During all this time the body was
16
burning. When the whole pile was consumed
we went home.
The next job was to put up a steam saw mill to
saw teak wood. This was a failure on account of
opposition from the Chinese sawyers.
Next was a job to put in an engine in the
steamer '' Jack Waters " for C. A, Allen, of And-
over, Mass. ; A. J. Westervelt, of New York, and
Russell & Co., of Hong Kong. Mr. Westervelt
was the shipbuilder and I was the engineer. I
put the engine and boiler in the boat before she
was decked, and was ready for steam when the
boat was launched, except shipping the wheel,
which was done, and we went on a trial trip the
third day after the boat was put in the water, and
it was successful in every particular. The boat
was put to towing on the river, which was not a
success until the company built some lighters of
their own, which they did ; then business was
flourishing, and kept so for about a year, when
Mr. Westervelt became timid and sold his interest
17
to me, with the understanding that I was to have
charge of the floating stock, which consisted of
one steamer and three lighters, with carrying ca-
pacity of 4,000 piculs, or about 250 gross tons.
Work was fair. Messrs. Russell & Co. sold their
interest, through Chang Lai Soon, an educated
Chinaman, to Williams, Anthon tS: Co., who as-
sumed the shore work. This went along for a time,
until one Sunday they took it into their heads to
go on an excursion down to the bar. This was
in violation of my agreement, which was that the
boat should not be run on Sunday, no matter
what inducements offered, as m}- men worked
hard six days and six nights, when called upon.
But my partners took the boat down the river,
Mr, Allen and my native assistant acting as cap-
tain and engineer. This act dermined my future
action. Next morning, Monday, I called at Will-
iams, Anthon's & Co.'s office, and stated my ulti-
matum ; namely, I was ready to buy or sell, feel-
ing satisfied in my own mind that they were not
18
able to manage the property, and the interview
ended as I expected: C. A. Allen and Thomas
Miller bought out the entire concern. To pay
my interest, I borrowed $3,000 from the King's
brother, Prince Crom Alouing Wangsau, with-
out interest. We did well for over eighteen
months ; then business came to a stand still, ow-
ing to the heavy crops of rice in China and else-
where. We did not earn $5,000 in four months.
At the same time we were under heavy expense,
with about ninety men in our employ. This was
very discouraging to us. We agreed to buy or
sell by comparing notes. Of course, whichever
offered the most took the whole. Mr. Allen offer-
ed $1,000 more than I did, and became the sole
owner of the steamer "Jack Waters" and four
freight barges, and a schooner of about 100 tons.
f^i
CHAPTER 11.
Y intention was to sail for home, after
I came back from my trip to Ayiithia,
Prabat, etc., and the interior of the
country on excursion.
On or about the 12th of January, 1861, I, with
two others, foreigners, started for the trip, after re-
ceiving a general letter from the King to the Gov-
ernors of the several Provinces through which we
might pass. This letter ordered that boats, ele-
phants, and all other supplies should be provided
for us, which made our journey very pleasant.
We started from Bangkok about 6 P. M., and
arrived at Ayuthia the next evening about sun-
down. We called on the Governor by invitation.
He met us in his audience hall, with no furniture,
except very handsome mats on the floor. He
20
received the King's letter on a silver waiter, read
it, and then passed it to his Cabinet to read, and
then passed it back to me. Then he asked our
pleasure. I told him we wanted seven elephants
with howdahs, to carry us and our servants to
Prabat and back, a journey of about twelve days,
and we wanted breakfast early next morning, so
as to get off early in the cool of the day. Next
morning we started at six A. M., and made good
time crossing rivers and traveling through the
jungle. At night fall we came to an old dilapi-
dated temple, where we put up for the night.
Our cook prepared our rice, curry, fish and a
bowl of tea, after which we laid down under our
mosquito nets on our mats, and slept soundly till
daybreak. I got the cook up, and he got our
rice, curry and fish, with the bowl of tea. After
we had breakfast, we started again, and we came
out onto a beautiful road with a number of foun-
tains of spring water, where the caravans stopped
to water their cattle. There we met a large num-
21
ber of pilgrims on their way to Prabat to wor-
ship, as this was the season for all devotees of
Buddha to assemble on the mountains of Prabat
round the footprint of their god. These crowds
of people, with their elephants and ox carts, on
their way to the shrine of worship, reminded me
of the Children of Israel going up to Jerusalem
in the days of old to worship.
We arrived at Prabat early in the evening, and
presented the King's letter to the Governor of
that Province, who received us very graciously,
and provided quarters for us. Our cook pre-
pared supper of boiled chicken, rice and curry.
We slept very soundly that night. Next morn-
ing, after breakfast, we started up the mountain
via steps cut zig-zag up its face. It was ab ^ut
I, GOO feet to the top. We met scores of pilgrims
coming down. When we got to the top, we en
tered a very large, beautiful temple, built to
cover over what Siamese say is the footprint of
Buddha, which was made in the rock when he
22
made his ascent to Heaven ; and the natives be-
lieve it ; therefore, they erected this magnificent
temple. It has four walls about 40 feet high, and
covering a space of say 75 feet square. The roof
is carried without columns or supports of any
kind, and the spire goes up to a needle point. On
entering this gorgeous temple, the High Priest or
Pope of the Kingdom saw vis. He sent his page
over to where we stood, and he made his salaam
to us, and said His Grace wanted to see me, as
we had met before in Bangkok. When we drew
near, he came down from his throne, and bid us
welcome, and conducted us to the footprint,
which was about 6 feet long, 2 feet wide and
about 4 feet deep, and all covered with gold cloth
resting on four columns, overlaid with gold. His
Grace caused the worshippers to leave so that
we could examine it, which we did, and I found
about 15 inches deep of gold leaf. This leaf is
put in the cavity or print as an offering which
these people make to their gods or idols. This
2Z
temple has several idols in it, some of which are
very costly. We stayed upon the mountain until
long after noon. The natives from all parts of the
Kingdom come to Prabat every February to wor-
ship. As there are no hotels to live in, they use
tents, umbrella shape, and so large that six or
eight can sleep under one. They do their cook-
ing outside. The sight to us heathen of the
Western Nations was very unique. Only think
of looking at thousands of people who go to
Prabat to worship as Ancient Israel went up to
Jerusalem to worship ! After thanking the High
Priest for his kindness, we took our leave, and
went down and mingled with the worshippers at
the foot of the mountain. We found bazaars,
market places where everything in the line of
vegetables and fish, together with trinkets, some
of which were very beautiful, were sold ; the
trinkets of ivory, brass and filigree silver work ;
also, Chinese theatres, juggling, snake charming,
etc.
24
On the second day after our arrival at Prabat
we started in a westerly direction toward Noc-
burrie, over the beautiful road through the jun-
gle. We passed an old temple built by the road
side, in the shape of an old fashioned Quaker
meeting-house, with a belfry on top, out of which
grew a tree, say about sixty feet high, known out
there as the Bude Tree. We call it in our
country Sycamore, with heavy foliage. The roots
ran down the belfry to the roof, down the roof,
and so on down to the ground, from which it
took its nourisnment. It was a grand sight.
We arrived at Nocburrie Saturday evening.
The Governor placed us in an ante-chamber
which was half way decent. Our grub was very
fair. We lay up all Sunday, and Monday started
again on our voyage of discovery. We opened
up into a most beautiful level place, covered with
grass and shrubbery. Our guide gave us an
elephant race, and it was a race very exciting,
and full of pain and soreness next day. We
25
stopped at a temple over night and dined on
cold rice and sugar, as our supplies were nearly
out. Our breakfast consisted of sugar and rice.
We started about noon, and we came to a Laos
village, where we got a supply of rice, fish and
palm sugar, which is very good, also a few fowls.
Here let me say that Laos women are, as a
general thing, very pretty and very tidy. The
village was very neat and clean. With them, as
with the Siamese, the women do the work of
buying, selling, and doing all their business. We
stayed in this village over night, and its sur-
roundings were beautiful. The houses v/ere sur-
rounded by clusters of bamboos, which grew ten
or twelve in a cluster and from two to six inches
in diameter and from twenty to fifty and seventy-
five feet high. Very beautiful. The natives use
the bamboo for a thousand and one purposes —
from ornaments to rafts to build houses on; thus
the floating houses we read about. Strange to
asy, if a man docs not like his location, he can
26
pull up stakes and drop down with the tide to
another location. We made another start, and
crossed an immense paddy or rice field. When
in the centre of it we could not see the bound-
aries on either side. We traveled on out to
level ground, which was very picturesque, with
flowers and other shrubbery ; also a large herd
of oxen grazing. On this plain we saw rather
a singular sight — three stones, almost perfect
spheres, on top of one another, the largest in
the middle. What held them, I can't say. The
bottom stone was about one-third in the ground.
It certainly was curious. We passed on till we
came to some bamboo houses, where we stopped
over night. After breakfast of rice and fish and
tea, started on our homeward trip, and arrived
at Ayathua about dark. Discharged our guide
and elephants and gave money presents to ele-
phant drivers, etc. After bidding the Governor
and others good-by, we left for Bangkok in our
boat, and arrived there the next afternoon, tired
27
out with our journey of about fifteen days,
amidst the rejoicing and congratulations of
friends, who gave us a grand dinner, such as
we did not have during our absence.
I was perfectly well satisfied with the trip.
It gave me a store knowledge of the country
and of the people; and, I am prepared to say,
the Siamese are just the finest people east of
the Cape of Good Hope. Just before we left
Bangkok on our trip, C. . A. Alien bet me a
suit of clothes he would be in America and at
home before I would. Of course, I being so
positive, and had made all arrangements for
my passage to Hong Kong in the " Viscount
Canning," a large steamer belonging to Pr Pa
San, a very rich Chinaman, merchant, which
had not yet arrived, but was expected daily.
So I rested very quietly, taking things easily,
smoking my Manilla No. 2, which I then thought
was very fine. Allen came to me on the second
day after getting back and said, "Old chap, I
28
want to go home to see my sister and other rela-
tives whom I have not seen in thirteen years, and
if you will stay in my place I will give $3,000 per
annum and all expenses and $800 for traveling
expenses home." I said, " Charley, I will sleep
over it." Next morning I accepted his offer. In
less than two hours we were in the United States
Consulate, and a power of attorney signed, sealed
and delivered. On our way up to the office he
told me why he wanted to get away. First, he
was sorry I took him up in the purchase. Second,
as he had borrowed a large amount of money and
was afraid the parties would sell him out, and he
did not want the disgrace. The truth of the mat-
ter just here is, I w^as sorry I did not get the con-
cern. I knew there was money in it. Allen sailed
for Hong Kong ; from there to San Francisco,
where he got a new suit of American clothes, and
was photographed, and sent a picture, written on
the back of which was, " You paid for these,"
which was the first time I had thought of the bet.
29
Allen had not gone two weeks before work came
in, and we were all busy, night and day, for eight
months. Made money hand over fist, so that I
paid his debts, paid for a whole new set of ma-
chinery, paid for i4X20-inch engines and boiler
i^i,2oo or $6,000. Built a dock to haul vessels
in for repairs. Built a wharf, blacksmith shop,
hospital, carpenter shop, and built a new lighter,
no feet keel, 20 feet beam, 10 feet depth of
hold, to carry 3,500 piculs of rice, 206 tons,
and built a coal shed and put in it 300 tons
of Swansea coal at $10, $3,000. I did all this
in fourteen months, and had in hand about
$4,000 when he arrived out again, and for all
of which he was well pleased. I omitted to
say that I sent him drafts while at home,
amounting to about $3,000.
30
CHAPTER III.
N the 8th day of February, 1862, Mr.
Allen took charge of his business and
gave me a splendid dinner, at which
were all the Consuls of the different
nations. When the cloth was removed, Mr.
Allen arose at the table and, after eulogizing
me for the way I had acted since 1859 to
the present, more especially the last fourteen
months, he presented me at the close Avith a
Frodsham gold watch and chain, which cost
at Tiffany's, New York, $600. The presenta-
tion was unexpected to me. I replied, thank-
ing him for so valuable a gift. Of course, I
said I was not worthy of it, as I had only
done my dutv. Then there were speeches
made by all the Consuls. Sir R. Schamburg,
31
in his speech, made mention of a lawsuit be-
tween the British Government and the Siam-
ese Government, he for his country and I on
the side of the Siamese. He terminated his
remarks by saying I beat him ; then I went
on to tell the company that two unfortunate
engineers were hired by Capt. Bush in Singa-
pore to take charge of the engines of the
Siamese steamer "Tiger" on her trip from
Singapore to Bangkok. The two men went
on • board to their duty immediately and
ordered the Siamese firemen to fire up, when
there was little or no water in starboard
boilers. The natives told the men of this
important fact, and still they did fire up. The
consequence was they burned the crown sheets
over the fires, thus ruining the boiler for future
use until thoroughly repaired. I was called by
the Prime Minister to survey the damages,
which I did, and reported the boiler unfit for
use. The British Consul sent the engineers
32
from an English steamer to make a survey,
which they did. The engineers who burned
the boilers sued the King for their money,
about $60 each, through the Consulate. The
King requested me, through the Prime Min-
ister, to take up the Siamese side of the suit.
On the day of trial, Her Majesty's Counsel gave
me the seat at the right of the clerk. The suit
began by first appointing six assessors or jurors.
I told the counsel to select all from his own
countrymen, which he did. The reports of the
English engineers were read, with a long letter
on charity, showing that the two engineers were
very poor and needed what they sued for. As
defendant, I received the report, and the balance
of the letter I laid on the table, to be taken up
further on in the trial. All the witnesses for
the plaintiff were examined, after which Her
Majesty's Counsel rose in his seat and decided
the case ended in favor of the engineers, and
he would Sfive them the lull amount of their
33
claim. Everybody was perfectly amazed at
such conduct. I arose from my seat and
checked him in his bombast. I gave him to
understand I was there as defendant's counsel,
and demanded of him, as Her Majesty's Counsel,
the right to be heard, and asked him where he
p-ot the law that authorized him to decide a case
ended when there were two sides to be heard.
I said it was not the law of any commonwealth
or nation. I therefore protested against his
action in this case, and would now proceed
with our side. 1 called up first one and then
the other of the plaintiffs and, by cross-
examination, proved by them that they were
intoxicated at the time the burning of the
boiler occurred, and that they were told that
the boiler was nearly empty of water, and
that they did not know what they were doing
—and put that in as a plea. The defendant
rested and gave Her Majesty's Counsel the
liberty to sum up his side of the case, which
34
he declined. So I took our side, and showed
by the action of two drunken men, which I
proved by their own evidence in cross-exami-
nation, and I showed by their acts that they
had thrown a pall of discontent and dissatis-
faction over American enterprise in Siam. I
told Her Majesty's Counsel that by his act
that day, had it been carried out, he would
have had the Siamese believe the boiler was
defective. I said they were as fine a pair of
boilers as ever were put on a ship of its size,
and that Americans can build boilers and ma-
chinery equal to, if not superior to, any other
nation. With these few remarks, I would
place the case in the hands of the jurors,
hoping that they would judge the case by
the evidence, and not by any charitable in-
stincts of their good nature, but let me do
the charity act. The jury gave us the ver-
dict without leaving their seats, greatly to
the discomfiture of Her Majesty's Counsel,
35
amid the cheers of the visitors in the court
room— say about 200, natives and foreigners.
I took my papers and left the court. The
counsel hardly spoke to me when I left.
When I got to my boat, ready to go back
to my office, I was met by the two engin-
eers, who expressed much regret that I should
have gone so hard against them. I explained
why I did it. It was to draw out in the trial
where the fault lay — whether it was sheer
negligence, brought on by drunkenness, or
whether the American boilers were defective
in their make-up ; and I was satisfied that I
had upheld the American mechanic, of which
I was one. Then I told them to get in my
boat and go with me to my ofifice, and I
would show them that tlie King did not wish
to wrong them. So I paid each man his de-
mand ($60), and took separate receipts, which
made them happy for the time being. Next
morning I reported to the Prime Minister the
36
verdict. Of course he had already heard, and
met me at his palace door most cordially and
thanked me for the interest I took in Siamese
matters. I then told him what I had done
with the engineers, and he said that was right ;
for, said he, the money we don't care for — it
is the cause of the accident and what is the
remedy. Thereupon, he gave me an order on
his treasurer for $120. Thus ended the lawsuit.
When the steamer "Chow Phyar" arrived from
Singapore with the mails, she brought a num-
ber ot the Singapore " Times," which had an
editorial on the Siamese lawsuit in Bangkok,
in which the English were beaten by me.
During my residence in Bangkok, I made
several trips to Purchaburrie, the King's sum-
mer palace, which is built on top of the moun-
tain, a perfectly beautiful spot. From it can
be seen the Gulf of Siam and the Plankplaisoi
Mountains, and all the surrounding country,
which is very beautiful. There are several
37
small temples and caves, which are fitted up
with innumerable idols, large and small, from
15 inches to 20 feet high. The largest cave is
a natural cavity in the mountain, with small
opening going out from it. The natives have
cut a winding zigzag stairway leading down
to the bottom. This cave is in the woods.
From this cave I got by purchase three idols
as curios. I was in two or three other caves
of less note. I always enjoyed a week or two
up in the mountains of Purchaburrie. The
river is very winding. On one of my visits
the water was low. We got the "Jack
Waters " up by handwork and, for fear the
boat would get stuck on some of the points
in the river, sent her down to the bar. and I
followed the fourth day. On my way down
in the ship's boat I saw a large herd of
monkeys on the beach. There were several
that were over two feet high when on all
feet, and with great teeth. I thought 1 would
38
have a little fun with them, so I went on
shore. The monkeys ran up the hill. When
on top, they held a council of war, chatter-
ing and shaking their teeth. One of the largest
started for me, the rest followed. The natives
yelled to me to " Rhu ! Rhu ! "—run ! run !—
which I did with all the speed I could. They
told me afterwards that if I had stood my
ground I would have been killed, and I believe
it. Only think, over a hundred monkeys attack-
ing a man. The natives told me before I started
for them not to do it, as they would " Tatlow "—
cut me, kill me — and I was glad to get on the
boat again. I never troubled a lot of monkeys
again. T had one at my office, also a bull terrier
dog and an otter, all pets, and they would
play together as a happy family. The monkey
would sit on bamboo lounge at noon after I
had my tiffin, or lunch at one o'clock. He
would smooth my hair, and I would go to
sleep, wake up and find him lying beside me
39
fast asleep, thus presenting two monkeys asleep.
The dog would go down and up the river on
the boat, and if the boat left without him, the
Chinamen on the lighters would come ashore
for him with their sanpan. He would do their
fiofhtins: for them. The sailors would not come
on the lighter without I or the pilot was there.
The otter was a perfect pet. He would wiggle
up on the piazza, then up on my lap, and kiss
me, no matter how clean my clothes were ; then
get down and play around my feet and squeal,
and if I spoke sharply to him, he would go
down and get into the river and swim around.
He would do anything 1 told him, such as
going off in the river to a fisherman's boat, steal
a fish, then come back to the landing and cat
it. Thus I passed my leisure hours with my
three pets. In dull times I would take a trip
to Ayathua, or Blank Plasoi, on the cast coast
of the gulf, and spend several days every year.
It is a fishing village, also a Baptist Mission
40
station. There is a beautiful beach for bath-
ing. I generally took three or four outings
every summer — Ayathua, Purchaburrie, Blank
Plasoi, etc. The main cause of my success
was. doing just as I said, whether it pleased
or not.
On a certain occasion I called on the Prime
Minister, who owed me about $700. It was as
good as gold, but this time the British Consul had
some drafts for sale on the Royal Treasury of
London, and I wanted to buy to send home to
my family. So I called on him for what was due.
He asked through his Secretary what I wanted,
as he was a little off that morning ; that was the
cause of his sarcastic inquiry and his not meeting
me as he always had done, in a more cheerful,
friendly way. I told him, through the same chan-
nel, my errand ; that I wished to send some money
home, and that there was a chance for me to buy
some drafts, and the mail steamer was to sail that
day ; therefore, if he would let me have the
41
amount due, he would oblig"e me. He replied, if
I was a gentleman I would not ask him for
money. I got my Dutch up, and asked the sec-
retary if he would tell His Excellency what I
said. " You will please tell him if he was a coun-
tryman of mine and Prime Minister, and say I
was no gentleman, because I asked him for my
just dues, I would slap his mouth." He laughed,
and gave me an order on his treasurer for the
money. He was a better friend, if possible, than
ever, and told the United States Consul that I
was a man in every way.
42
CHAPTER IV.
HEN the new engines and boiler for
the "Jack Waters" arrived out from
Gardner & Mcintosh, New Cross,
London, and I got my dock ready
to dock the boat, the Prime Minister hired me
his yacht " Meteor " at $ioo per day, and I pay all
expenses until I got the " Jack Waters " ready.
Of course I did not pay for days she did not run.
She averaged four days a week, and I paid him.
This leads me to receiving and landing the ma-
chinery. I erected a large pair of shears on my
wharf for the purpose of lifting heavy boilers and
machinery out of vessels for myself and others.
The first to use them was the King, who had a
consignment of machinery from the Novelty Iron
Works, N. Y. In doing the work I hurt my
43
ankle very badly, but did not break the skin. It
caused me to lay up for two months without
relief. I told Dr. Campbell that if I was a sur-
geon, I would have known what to do with
that leg. He asked me, " What would you
do?" I said, "Cut it," which he did with his
old saw blade. He made three cuts, and I got
ease. Then he put flaxseed poultice on, and I
went to sleep, and felt very much better when I
got up. During the time my leg was so very sore,
my own machinery arrived, and I had to attend
to the discharging it from the ship. One day,
when standing on the ship's rail, cheering the
men at the crab — the boiler was nearly up out of
the hold of the vessel— who should appear, walk-
ing up the wharf, but my friend Jenkins, dressed
with a sailor jacket and hat. I requested him
to go up on the piazza and take a seat, and I
would follow him when I got the boiler landed,
which I did. We shook hands. I enquired after
his welfare and of his future. He had no thought
44
for the future, as he had done wrong in leaving
his ship in Singapore. He had been chief-en-
Sfineer on the steamer " Chaw Paar," but drink
ofot him out of it. To encourage him, I told him
I would give him work. He asked what to do.
"Ah," said I, "at anything I can find for you,
and I am ready to give you $125 per month and
board. This caused tears to come in his eyes,
for he did not expect such kindness, after treat-
ing me as he had. I told him that was passed
with me, and he must look ahead, so I kept him
working until I started for home. Then I put him
in first engineer of the " Jack Waters." When I
docked the " Waters " for repairs, and put the
new machinery in, I made him boss of the job,
with Mr. Jackson, my engineer, to help him when
he could. I was laid up with my sore leg. When
the " Waters " went into dock, I put new gar-
board planks in, also thoroughly overhauled her
by putting new knees and also knee braces i inch
by 2 inch iron, so as to strengthen her, as she got
45
a powerful twisting by being put on the sunken
junks at the mouth of the river by a Portuguese
man-of-war brig we were taking out. The tide
was running out strong, and the pilot, to clear
the junk, shoved the " Waters " on the other
junk. We passed out of the river, and the tide
was too low to go over the bar. We came to off
Mud Point, where we grounded in the mud.
Dropped anchor to prevent swinging on the turn
of the tide. We lay there two or three hours,
until one of the fireman came and told me the
boat was making water fast, and I told the pilot
to cast off from the brig and make for the mud
fiats, and put on all steam, and drove the boat
high upon the mud, over two miles from the brig.
Next morning, about eight o'clock, we floated off.
We pumped the water out. Strange to say, the
boat did not make any water for six months after
— never made a drop, and we had to put water in
her to keep her clean. When we took off the
garboard plank, we found the mud so thoroughly
46
packed in between the timbers, we had to cut it
out with hammer and chisel. This novel way of
calking ship with mud just shows what a Yankee
can and will do in emergencies. While the boat
was in the dock, we put her new machinery in,
strengthened her, put new deck on ; in fact, made
her a new boat. The fact is, the "Waters" was
always too light for the work I put her to. I
made her do all she could and more. She cut off
five crank pins in one month ; at another time,
broke the top cylinder head in pieces, which we
replaced with boiler plate. Another time the
boat was coming up the river with $66,000 in
treasure consigned to three merchants. I was
waiting for her ; about 2 A. M. I saw a boat pull-
ing up the river. When near enough I asked
Jackson, the engineer, where the " Waters " was.
He answered, " Dropping up with the tide." It
flashed on me that another crank pin had gone.
" Yes," said he, " and the c^dinder is broken from
one side of the steam chest to the other." About
M
4 o'clock she got to the wharf, and 1 got the
boxes of treasure on three sanpans, with us three
white men, Miller, Jackson and West, one in
each, and we delivered the treasure to the con
signees. Here let me say, that I doubt very
much if I could go from the Battery to Four-
teenth street, on the North River, with that
amount of treasure in open boats, and not be
molested, here in enlightened America or Eng-
land. After we returned to the boat, I gave
orders to take the cylinder off and clear the
wreck. After breakfast we turned to repair
it. T had no experience with broken cylinders,
but, as I have always brought ray mind to bear
upon emergencies, I made two check rings of
brass and fitted them close, and all solid, put the
cylinder back, and connected it up and put 75
pounds of steam on. It leaked some. I was pre-
pared for that, and I melted about 100 pounds of
lead, made a coffer dam of clay, then poured the
lead round the cylinder. When cold, calked it,
48
which made it perfectly tight. The boat did her
work for six months after, and, strange to say,
never broke a crank pin. The second day after
after we floated her out the dock, we got steam
up and I hobbled on board with my cane and the
assistance of one of my boatmen. 1 looked her
all over to see that everything was ready. I gave'
the engines little steam. Jenkins and Jackson
down below, seeing all went right, after working
slow for some time, I ordered the boat to be cast
off, and we went down the river ten miles, every-
thing working fine. On our return I let the en-
gines out to see what they would do. They
registered 90 revolutions per minute, which was
grand for new engines. I put the " Waters " to
work on the third day after coming out of the
dock. In the midst of work, one of my Tycoons
or captain, named Check Churie, fell and broke
his leg. As I had a sick hospital or room on the
ground, he was put in this room, and Dr. Camp-
bell called. Here let me say that Dr. Campbell
49
received from each foreigner's house located in
Bangkok $200 per annum, whether there was any
sickness or not. The doctor set the leg, and put
on it the usual appliances. The Tycoon did not
like the English doctor's treatment, so, after two
weeks of complaining, I got out of patience and
told him to get his Chinese doctor, if he wanted
to, not wishing to stand in his way of getting
well. He sent for his Chinese doctor, who came
down and took off Dr. Campbell's appliances, and
put his own on, which consisted of what appear-
ed to be a putty made of lime and vermilion red,
and, strange to say, that in three weeks the
man was walking about the compound with a
crutch. Neither Dr. Campbell nor myself could
understand how it could be possible for a man
with a broken leg to get up and around so soon.
The man was at his work in about two months.
Any man that got sick or hurt in my employ was
paid for his time and fed, and a man to take care
of him until he returned to work.
50
During the time I was laid up with a lame
ankle, I bought a large boatload of wood for
Starting fires on the steamer and other pur-
poses. Wood is sold by loo pieces, at dif-
ferent prices, according to length and size. I
agreed with the boatman to count the pieces
and pile the wood up in two ranks or piles,
as I could do nothing but growl at every-
thing and everybody. I watched the man
pitch the wood ashore, at the same time count-
ing the pieces. He would call out " ing, song,
see, hoc, jit, caw, sip" — one, two, four, six,
eight, nine, ten. Thus, you see, I was being
cheated out of three pieces in every ten. He
kept this up until all was on shore ; then I
called out my interpreter, asked him to count
ten. He began, " ing, song, sani, see, ha, hoc,
jit, bat, caw, sip." Then I told how the man
counted, and ordered him to go and tell the
man how he counted the wood, and to count
it over and pile it up. He declined, saying his
51
count was correct. I told him if he did not
count it over, and give me a correct count,
I would have him arrested. This put the
quietus on him, and he recounted the wood
with my man keeping tally. When done, I
was very nearly 500 pieces less than he said
at first. The above is only one of the great
many tricks they have to cheat foreigners.
Of course, they are very honest with good
watching ; at the same time, I will say that
if you make a confidant of an}- one of them,
he will do his duty.
To illustrate : I had in mv strong box in
the office 5000 ticoLs and the building was not
strong-built of bamboo. I said to the man,
" ow henna heep nung, ha pan bat anny " —
do you see the box, 5000 ticols in it. This
man kept his word, so that I had the money
to pay my help next day.
Another instance of their shrewdness: a mate
of an English ship I was loading kept tally
52
of a cargo of rice, and cheated me out of
25 bags or picols, and signed the boat note
or receipt for 25 bags less than its face. I
told the tycoon, or captain, of the lighter. He
said he "can do, makee all the samee good
next time." So he did. When he went to the
ship and discharged his lighter, he was 75
bags ahead. I compelled the mate to sign the
boat note 75 bags over. He did not want to
do it, but I told him he signed the last 25
less, and of course he must sign this one 75
over. At the same time, I knew there could
be none over or none less, from the fact that
every bag that goes on board the lighter the
tycoon takes the piece of bamboo that is stuck
in the bag when it leaves the go-down ; there-
fore the same number must be counted out
that was counted in. When I took the boat
notes to the merchant it was all right, for he
knew all about miscounts as well as I did.
Thus I was brousfht to learn more thorough-
53
ly to count in their dialect, as follows, which
will be as a key to their language, as I often
remarked that a person must of necessity keep
his or her mouth full of betel nut to say:
I 2 3 4 5 (i 7 a 9
" ing, song, sam, see, ha, hoc, jit, bat, caw,
JO _ 11 _ 12 13 14 _ 15
sip, sip bet, sip song, sip sam, sip see, sip ha,
16 17 _ 18 _ 111 20
sip hoc, sip jit, sip bat, sip caw, ye slip."
This brings me to another source of my
success. A rich Chinaman named Poo Yin,
who owned several ships, came to me one
Sunday morning, and said his ship. Five Stars,
was at the outer anchorage, and he wanted
her towed up. I told him it was Sunday, and
my men wanted rest, and I always gave them
that day until seven o'clock in the evening.
Then the boat went down the river. He asked
my price. I told him $200. He offered me
$400, just double. I said no ; not but what I
wanted to oblige him, but I could not violate
principle for money. At the same time I
54
asked him when he wanted his ship up. He
answered by sunrise next morning. I told
him he should have her up by that time. He
went off satisfied that I would do what I
said. I sent the boat down with instructions
to lay the lighters alongside of the ships and
then take in tow the Five Stars, and bring
her up to Bangkok, but if the weather is
fine, why wait for them and bring them all
up to Packet Canal, let the barges go through
and pick them up at the end and take the
ship round the big bend. Monday morning
about four o'clock, I heard the "Waters" whistle
round Petticom's Point. I hustled to get out
in my boat to meet them, which I did, the
ship and four lighters, I boarded the ship,
and she dropped the lighters, as we went up
the river to their proper consignees. Then
we went up opposite Poo Yims go-down and
dropped anchor. I moored ^hip. I left for
fiome, and got my breakfast, and then went
55
to business, seeing the lighters were getting
loaded and their boat notes on board. Then
I let them drop down the river so the
steamer could pick them up. This done, I
returned home to Tiffin or lunch. While per-
forming that pleasant duty, a messenger came
in from Poo Yin with four hundred Mexican
dollars. My boy counted the money in two
sections or piles. One pile I kept ; the other
I sent back with my compliments. About 4
P. M., Poo Yin called to know why I sent
$200 back. I told him inasmuch as 1 did not
send the steamer expressly for his ship, of
course, 1 would only charge my price, $200;
but said 1, if I held the steamer back for the
lighters, of course 1 would take $400 for I
would lose a trip. Me went off pleased and
and I got all his work from that day forth.
This reminds me of a little matter that might
have proved fatal, namely, there was a man, an
American, keeping a sailor boarding-house up
56
near San Pang or market place. He was taken
sick and died. He made his will, and gave his
sister what he had, after paying his debts. Dur-
ing the latter part of his sickness I had to hire a
man to take care of him. I hired a man named
Redmon from Orleans County, N. Y., who came
to us as a sailor, and got sick or left his ship, I
can't say Avhich. However, I hired him at §i
per day. As he was not doing anything, he was
glad to get it. He was an ugly character, as I
found out afterwards. The sick man died a few
days after. I told the man Redmon to call and
get his money, $i6, which he promised to do. In
the meantime 1 heard that the United States Con-
sul held a claim in the Consulate against Redmon
for $25 for killing J. S. Parker's dog. I again
asked him to call for his money, as I must have a
voucher for the money. He answered, " I will,"
and did not until the Consul garnisheed the
money in my hands, which I did not pay over to
the Consul, thinking I might get Redmon off from
57
paying the $25. He called for his money, and I
told the situation, but told him to go down to the
Consul with a letter I wrote him about the mat-
ter. Instead of so doing, he went off and got full
of arick, or samshoo, that will make one crazy
drunk. In this condition he went down to the
Consulate, and drove the Consul out of the Con-
sulate, with two single barrel pistols and a large
bowie knife, 12 inches long in the blade- When
he could do no more, he turned his attention to
me. We met on the steamer's landing. He
asked for his money. I told him I had done all I
could do until the Consul answered my letter
which he carried down. I then started up the
steps to the piazza. I heard a click ; I turned to
see what it was. Just then he pulled the trigger
the second time, and it missed fire. He threw it
away into the wood pile, and pulled another from
his pocket, and said, " Damn you ! give me my
money, or I will kill you." With that, he pulled
the third and fourth time, and missed fire. He
58
threw that one in the wood pile. He then drew
his bowie knife, and made for me, I then slap-
ped him on the shoulder, and told him he was too
big a coward to use his knife against an unarmed
man. This excited him more than he was. He
repeated the word coward three or four times,
then made a cut at me, and broke his knife off at
the handle, by striking the rail which I was lean-
ing upon at the time. By this time several men
from the next compound came in and took the
knife from him. Just then the United States
Marshal came onto the scene, and I ordered
Redmon's arrest. The Marshal put a pair of
handcuffs on him. In less than five minutes he
broke them, solid iron. Captain White, of the
ship "John W. White," brought a set of chain
handcuffs which he could not break. He was
put in jail at the Consulate, and made so much
noise that the natives ran away. The Consul
sent for me to take him away. Not I, but I
cooled his fighting propensity by going into the
59
jail. There he was, as wild as a madman. He
saluted me by asking, "What do you want?" I
told him I was prepared to quiet him. I said,
•' You came at me with pistols and bowie knife
yesterda}^ and I did not have a jack knife." I
measured across the room, went out and had the
natives make me a pair of stocks for his feet.
When done, I took them in, and made him put
his feet in the holes, and I screwed them up. I
did not have any weapon. He was kept that
way until he got the whisky all out of him, and
he got all right. Then they were taken off. He
was indicted for attempting my life. He pleaded
guilty. He was asked if any one would defend
him. After he was condemned, before sentence,
I pleaded for him. He looked so penitent. I
got him off with ten years in Sing Sing, and he
was sent to Hong Kong in double irons, and
from there he was sent to the United States in a
man-of-war. As luck would have it, the papers
^cnt by the Consul were not sufificient to holc^
6o
him, therefore he was let go. I gave him pipes
and tobacco to last him up the sea to China.
The next I heard of him he was in Singapore,
sick in the hospital with derangement of the
liver. I sent him some money, as I believed he
would never have done what he did if sober.
6i
CHAPTER V.
HERE are many little items T could
refer to with pleasure, such as din-
ners and buryings, etc. I will men-
tion one or two.
First: I had some business with Krom Aloing
Wang Saw, the King's brother, a large, heavy
man, about 300. I called with my boat on him.
On entering the palace grounds, I met the King
and his children coming out of the palace, where
he had been to the top-knot cutting of the
Prince's eldest son. What I mean by cutting
the top-knot is this: Male children's hair is
allowed to grow on the top of the head from
birth until they mature. Then it is cut. With
royalty it is a great feast, with royalty and
nobles assembled to do honor to the young man.
62
I passed the King, who bowed with his military
cap lifted very graciously. I stood and saluted
him. I started on to the palace, and just as I got
to the inner gate, who should face me but the
Queen, with a large number of Amazons or fe-
male soldiers. They looked neat and tid3^ In
the rear was a young corporal. She looked at
me and laughed. I said to the corporal, '* Will
you take me in your army?" She laughed aloud,
and set the rest at it. The Queen looked back to
see the cause of the merriment. Of course I
stood as quiet as a lamb, with my face serene. I
told the old Prince what I passed through. He
laughed, and put his big fat arms around me and
said I was a good American. I got through with
my business, and left him with the usual salaam.
This brings me to a little affair I had with the
second King. The second King could talk good
English. He was taught by Mr. Jones and
other American missionaries. The King built
himself a very nice steam yacht, and put the en-
63
gines in the boat. He did ver}' well, except
some little things. He sent his royal barge with
60 paddlers for me. Of course I went up to his
palace, which is very beautiful, neat and trim,
with beautiful gardens. He met us at the King's
landing. At first the sentry on the landing would
not permit me to land on the King's landing, but
I insisted on doing so. Finally, the King came in
sight, and he told the sentry to let the barge
come into the landing. We met, and we had
some refreshments, such as drinking cocoanuts,
coffee and cakes. We talked awhile, telling me
many things about the counti-y and himself. His
heir apparent was named Prince George, after
our own George Washington, as he was always a
great admirer of Washington. We went on
board of the boat. I packed, and showed his
men how to pack the engines, and wanted to
know where he should put the clock, meaning
the steam gauge and the whistle. I set a drill
and set his men drilling a hole in the steam drum,
64
and when done, I tapped the hole. In doing so I
wanted a screw wrench, and said to one of the
men " Kon kie me." The King said, " Hold on,
what did you ask for?" I answered, " Kon kie
me." " Well," said he, "you are a better Siamese
than I am " He persisted in calling it kon, which
means hammer. Kie means something to turn a
screw with. So I put the two together, and called
it kon kie. The King gave in I was right. I put
the gauge and whistle up. We got up a little
steam, and turned the engines over at the wharf,
and I blew the whistle, which pleased him very
much, and the gauge he watched with interest.
First I had to explain how the steam turned the
screw round to the figures. I told him he could
carry 70 or 80 pounds, if he wanted to. He
thanked me for the service I rendered him. 1
saw him many times on the river with his yacht.
Another rather laughable affair took place.
The Prime Minister, Cala Holme, called at my
place of business. When he arrived I was at din-
65
ner. As it is the custom of the country never to
disturb or be disturbed while eating, he took a
seat. The mail steamer "Chow Phyar " arrived
that afternoon, and the captain sent me a piece
of American ice. Just as I came out from din-
ner the Prime Minister asked me what it was.
I told him it was ice, or nam now nuck, not
knowing any other name for it. I gave him a
piece in his hand. He said it was ron nuck,
because it stung his hand. I said, " Plan now
nuck " — it was cold, so 1 put a piece in a glass of
water. After shaking it quite some time, I gave
it to him to drink. Then he found it was cold,
and said it was dee nuck, and wanted a piece to
take home with him. That was the first ice he
had seen.
This brings me to anotlier matter, different
from the above. One evening I was preparing
to go out to dinner, when two of my lighter men
came to my room and informed me my men and
Pekenpack's men were fighting. To explain : My
66
men belonged to the clan of Hoinan-Chinamen,
while the others came from the Canton district,
and spoke a different dialect from that spoken by
the Hoinan, the Tea a Choo ; so, when the cause
is given, no matter how trivial, they come to
blows, something like the Corkonians and Far-
downs in Ireland. 1 hastened down the river to
the lighter. There I saw a bloody fight between
the two factions, One man had his head cut
open with an ax. I took in the state of things
and concluded there would be more killed. I
said to Mr. Pekenpack, " Why did you not stop
this fight in the beginning instead of sending for
me." He said he was afraid to interfere. With
that I took off my coat and picked up a piece of
Sappan wood, and watched for a lull, and in I
went between the contending parties. I struck
out right and left. I drove my men on board of
their lighter, and Pekenpack's men into their
houses. On the way, I made them pick up the
dead man and carry him into his house. By this
6;
time the King's police came on the scene, and
wanted to arrest my men for killing the man. I
stopped them by telling the officer to come to-
morrow morning and I would give them the man
that did the deed. After all was made quiet, I
learned the cause, namely, the cook of my lighter
was splitting some wood on the jetty or wharf to
cook supper with, and one of Pekenpack's men
got a splinter in his foot. Thereupon, he threw
the cook, ax and wood into the river. Both sides
being very excitable, they came to blows. Next
morning I went down to the lighter, and found
both parties at work, just as if there had been no
difference with them. When they stopped for
breakfast I got my men upon deck. I talked to
them upon the enormity of the crime that had
been committed by one of them, and as 1 passed
by each one, they all looked me in the face and
smiled, except one man, who hung his head and
looked guilty. I took him by the hand and led
him out, and passed him over to the captain
68
of police. He was tried and condemned to
have his head cut off. When I heard of it I
called on the Prime Minister, and had the case
opened. As these men were working for me,
they were under American protection, and should
have been tried only by American law and before
the American Consul. The trial commenced, and
I defended my man, and the case closed by giv-
ing him nine months with ball and chain, and
work when wanted. I sent him from time to
such things as he needed for comfort, and he got
his pay up to the time of his death, which was
in the third or fourth month after conviction.
I am reminded that on a return trip from
the bar, I sent the lighters through Paclet
Canal. When the men were poling them
through, some drunken natives began throwing
bricks and stones at the men, and struck
several of them. This caused anger, and my
men went on shore and chased the others,
and they ran into the Governor's yard. There
69
they had a fight, and one of the drunken men
was hit so hard that he died in a few days.
My men were arrested, and were tried . by the
Lord Mayof, and fined 7200 Ticols or ,^4, 320.00.
I left the matter in the hands of the U. S.
Consul. He, not being posted in such matters,
and not wanting to offend the Siamese, let
matters take their course. When I got back
from the outer anchorage, I was informed of
the decision of the Court, and of the fine
placed upon my men. I went up to the Minis-
ter of Foreign Affairs, and insisted on having
the case opened up so my men could be
heard. He refused. I then told him I should
write home to my Government, and lay the
case before our Secretary of State, as all I
asked was justice, and if it was then decided
that my men should pay jet Pan Song Roy
Bart, seven thousand two hundred ticols, I
would willingly do it, but not till I was sat-
isfied that they had had justice done them.
70
The case, was appointed for Saturday, as that
was the only day I could attend in person.
After all interested had assembled, the case
was called on, and he examined his witnesses.
1 cross examined them as they came along, I
had my interpreter take notes. At first, his
Lordship would not let my man put my ques-
tion, and give their answers. He said one in-
terpreter was enough. I said no, my man
was in my place as interpreter, and I propos-
ed using him. When he saw I was deter-
mined to have justice, he went on with the
case, and I proved by their own side that
my men were going along quietly and not
disturbing anybody, and they threw bricks and
stones at my men, and struck several of them,
and made a number of dents and marks on
the cabin of the lighter. When my men were
called upon to giy^ testimony, his Highness
objected ; but I insisted that they should be
heard in their own defence. I proved by them
71
that they were passing through the Canal, and
when they got half way through, several
drunken men began to stone them with bricks
and stones, to the injury of their persons and
property, which was nothing more than the
plaintiffs stated in their testimony. My men
said they got very angry, and got on shore
and ran after the men, and they ran into the
Governor's yard, and in the fight, the man got
fatally hurt; but could not say by whom,
whether by 'them, or whether he fell and got
hurt. Thus, by both sides, I proved that my
men were right in protecting my property, a
property that was paying into the Siamese
treasury thousands upon thousands every month,
and why should my property and men be in-
jured by a lot of drunken Siamese? "Why"
said I, " your Lordship ought to make these
men pay me 5000 ticols for the loss of time
of my men and the lighter." At the conclusion
of my speech, he said that the \vid(nv of the
72
dead man was very poor, with three children,
and inasmuch as he had not got the whole
case as he now understood it, he would say
that my men ought to give the widow two
hundred ticols for the loss of her husband.
Thereupon I increased it to two hundred and
fifty ticols, showing thereby that I wanted to
do the right thing. So I sent my interpreter
to the steamboat office for the 250 ticols,
and paid it then and there. This whole trial
shows what a little pluck or cheek will do.
I had many cases of running down boats at
night, when the darkness was so intense that
a boat could not be seen coming up the river,
as they never carry lights. Calling at the U.
S. Consulate became so frequent, that I told
the Consul that if any native preferred charges
against the "Jack Waters" for running him down,
for him to p^' the damages, not exceeding
twenty-five ticols. That wound up the boat
business, for as I told him if a boat carried
73
a light, and the "Waters" ran her down, I
would pay the damages, but if the boat car-
ried no light, not one cent would I pay.
74
CHAPTER VI.
AM reminded of a dinner I attended.
A high noble invited me to dine with
him, which 1 did, and was met and
cordially received by His Highness.
In due time, we sat down to dinner, we two
with six or eight servants to wait upon us.
Course i, was soup; No. 2, fish; 3, boiled
chicken; 4, roast pork, very fat; 5th, grub
worms (or looked like them). I, of course,
partook of everything I saw him eat. After
I had swallowed two or three of the last, I
imagined I felt them squirm inside of me,
6th, roast duck ; 7th, roast peacock which was
very fine ; 8th, rice and currv ; 9th, fruit of
eight or ten different kinds from the Man-
gosteen and Lichees to the Durian. The
75
Durian is a fruit very obnoxious to the olfac^
tory organs. The odor can be detected half
a mile off, but the pulp inside is perfectly
grand, and if a new comer will hold his nose
and eat the pulp of one seed, he will untie
his nose and eat the pulp of half a dozen
seeds. This was my case. I was in the coun-
try nearly a year, and the Rev. S. S. Smith,
Baptist missionary, invited me to tiffin with
him and his good wife. Tiffin consists of
roast chicken, fruit, tea and cake. On the
table was my inveterate enemy, the Durian.
He invited me to partake of it. I declined,
but he insisted, saying, " if you don't like it I
will never set it before you or ask you to
eat it again." I did eat the pulp of one seed,
and I found it like a singed cat, far better
than it looked ; before I moved from the
table, I ate the pulp of several seeds. loth,
tea, coffee and cake, and Siamese candy which
is very good; nth, segars, which I enjoyed
76
very much. We separated about 9 P. M.,
and thus ended the dinner.
This brings to notice a little affair that hap-
pened when I was building the large barge
and ' had some two hundred Chinamen and
Siamese to work, ship carpenters and joiners,
blacksmiths, calkers and laborers. One evening
while at dinner, and all the workmen had
gone home, there was one man lurking around,
and the watchman saw him pick up some
small scraps of copper, and he stopped him
and reported it to me. I told him Ped de O
con kin cow low — wait a little until I eat,
then I would see him — which I did. I asked
him what he was doing there, and Avhen he
had told me I looked at the scraps of cop-
per. They were of no value to me, inasmuch
as I had never to the value of a pin lost
anything. I made an example of him by tak-
ing his tickets from him and tearing them
up. These tickets are given in the evening at
;;
five, when work stops. They pass in the mar-
ket the same as cash. At the end of the
month all tickets are paid, no matter who
brings them in. On some pay days I would
have as many as twenty fish and other vend-
ders to receive their money for tickets. After
I destroyed iiis tickets (^three in all), I told
my interpreter to put him out of the gate,
which he did. A few days after the watch-
man went down into the market for some
eatables, and the discharged man pulled him
and beat him shamefully, cut his face and
head. He came to me with the blood on his
face, and under the impulse of the moment,
my sympathy was enlisted for Chick Heah,
the watchman. I called my six boat boys,
each with a club, and we started for the
market, with me ahead. Just as we entered
the market, 1 saw the man with others enter
into a gambling den. We followed and went
up to the man, and took him ^y the arm,
78
and led him out, and fifteen or twenty others
followed, yelling and hooting after us as we
went on up to our compound. I put the man
in the center with three of my boys ahead,
and three behind. I took the rear with Chick
Heah with me. I then sent him with a body-
guard up to the Lord Mayor with instruc-
tions to my interpreter to tell His Excellency
what the man had done. Chick Heah went
with them with the evidence still on his face.
Strange to say, if one man draws blood from
another, the injured man never washes the
blood off until it is seen by an officer, when
the truth of his assertion is estabhshed beyond
a doubt. His Highness looked at Chick Heah
and sent him back to me to do what I
thought proper. Next morning the man's wife
came to my office and pleaded for her hus-
band on the ground of drunkenness. As I
did not have any sympathy for drunkards, I
referred the matter to Chick Heah to settle.
79
The three agreed to abide my decision. There-
upon I decided that the man should pay Chick
Song Sip ha Leon $25, to which husband
and wife demurred, and offered Song Sip
Leon $20 which was accepted. As I knew
their propensity for Jewing down, I made
it $25 with a view of a cut down. Then
the wife wanted the man to go for the money,
and she stay until he came back. I said
Plow — no — the wife must go and get the
money, as I knew the man would never come
back, and I could not hold the wife. So she
went. In a short time she came back with
$20 and handed it to me. 1 refused it and
told her to pay it to the man her husband
had nearly killed, which she did, and then
they left.
The following Sunday, Chick Heah gave the
amount to the poor fund of the little Baptist
Church of which he was an honored deacon
and a good man, none better in an}- country,
a converted heathen, and proved himself one
of the salt of the earth. What man in this
country would do the same thing — put money
in the treasury of the Lord, that which he
received for being cut and slashed to pieces ?
The little Baptist church consisted of thirty-
one converted heathens, and I tell you of a
truth they were all consistent Christians, main-
ly fishermen. They would come from differ-
ent points of the surrounding country on Com-
munion Sunday, every two months, and such
a meeting ! The Rev. R. Telford, Missionary,
presided over the church of which he was
ver}- proud. I have seen thirty-one ticols or
$18.60 put in the poor box for the poor of
the church, and other needy Chinamen. A
ticol looks as big as a grape shot in the e3'es
of a poor Chinaman, and fish is their princi-
pal diet. Notwithstanding they use light diet,
they are very strong. Only think, a man of
about 130 lbs. or 140 lbs. will carry piculs of
rice 133 lbs. on his shoulder in turn with
others, for two and three hours, until they
discharge 12 or 1500 piculs of rice out of the
lighter up on board of the ship, sometimes in
a rough sea when they can hardly keep their
feet.
82
CHAPTER VII.
Y understanding of the trouble be-
tween France and Siam is that it is
owing principally to France's grasp-
ing disposition to overpower the
small independent kingdoms in the East.
I think it was about i860 the French made
a demand on the King of Siam for a cer-
tain piece of territory over in Anam, in fulfill-
ment of an agreement made by one of the
sons of the old king of Anam. This young
Prince, after the death of his father, agreed
to give the French the territory named if the
French would put him on the throne in place
of his brother, who was the legitimate heir.
The work was consummated ; and then the
new King told the French that the King of
83
Siam must consent to his giving the land as
it was tributary to Siam. Then the French
took up the cudgel of might against right,
and began to intimidate the King of Siam, by
bringing one of their gun boats up the River
with flags flying and drums beating. The ship
passed Packnam, which is a custom house,
with their guns and cannon on board, which
was a violation of the treaty obligations made
with Western nations. Up the River came
the gun boat with Count Castlenau on board.
The demand was then made with all the bom-
bast that a Frenchman can command, and it
was refused. The King referred the matter to
the Kalaholm, Prime Minister. He gave Count '
Castlenau an audience. After listening to the
Count's demand, the Kalaholm asked "By what
authority do you come here to treat with
Siam for land ? Where is your exequatur to
act?" The Count said he had none. "Well,"
said his Excellency, "you had better go home
84
and ask your Royal Master to give you some
authority to act, and not come here with your
gun boat and guns past Packnam in violation
of treaty which says all guns shall be sent on
shore, when a vessel is bound up the River."
The fortification of Packnam consists of only
one fort on right hand side of the river as you go
up. This fort was built more for appearance
than anything else. An American 6-inch gun
would knock spots out of it. The river at its
mouth is very wide at high water, and about a
half mile wide at low water. The channel is
very narrow, with two sunken junks on either
side. They were sunk there, loaded with stone,
to keep the Burmese from entering the river.
Bangkok, the capital of the Kingdom, is situated
about 25 miles up, and, in my opinion, a very
beautiful city as compared with other oriental
cities. The people are very friendly, and, for
aught I know, strictly honest and straightfor-
ward in their dealings with foreigners, except in
85
a few instances, such as I have named — the wood
dealer is one.
July 4, 1 86 1. — Four or five of us Americans got
up a Fourth of July celebration, consisting of a
grand dinner, the best edibles that Singapore and
Bangkok could give us. The table was set for 65
guests, in which there were Siamese nobles, Chi-
nese of high grade. We sat at table and enjoyed
the dinner, while a Siamese band gav£ us the best
music they could, which means the fellow who
can make the biggest noise is the best musician.
After the cloth was removed toasts were given
and drunk in water-champagne. The King of
of Siam was represented by the Lord Mayor ; the
President of the United States by the writer ; the
Queen of England by Her Majesty's Consul.
Everything went off just as wc intended it should.
We began the day by hring a national salute with
the largest firecrackers we could get ; and I tell
you we made the welkin ring, for the crackers
made a noise like small cannons. We fired 41
86
guns to salute our flag, 21 to salute the Siamese
flag, and kept firing at intervals all clay saluting
everybody's flag. Thus the day, evening and
night passed off very grandly with lots of fun.
The natives enjoyed it as much as we did. We
closed the grand fandango about 2 A. M. on the
5th, by S. P. Goodale proposing a toast to the
writer, to which we responded with good cheer,
although very tired. It took nearly all next day
to clear up the debris and get in the flags, for we
borrowed all the flags from the American ships at
the outer anchorage, and all the captains came
up to the dinner and had a good time.
Before leaving for home, the King sent his
messenger, a noble, for me on Sunday morning,
requesting an audience. I told the messenger
that inasmuch as Sunday was a day of rest, and
I had been in his country nearly five years, and
had not violated one of my Christian princi-
ples, and as I was about taking my leave of
Siam, I did not wish to violate or trespass upon
87
the good examples I had tried to inculcate in
the minds of his subjects ; but added in my
note that I would meet His Majesty at lo next
morning. He answered by note, saying my time
was too early in the morning, but would meet
me at 2 in the afternoon. When it was time
to start for the Palace, I called away my gig
(boat) and took with me the Rev. S. Matoon
and Rev. R. Telford. When we arrived at the
Palace we were conducted to the reception apart-
ment, in front of which there were two elephants
with all their fixings on, and also about 50 soldiers
drawn up in line. Music was furnished by the
King's brass band, with a French leader, who
played " Star Spangled Banner," " Yankee Doo-
dle," etc. Finally, the King came out and bid us
welcome, and talked of many things pertaining to
my stay in his Kingdom, and of the many regrets
expressed by his brother, Prince Crom Alouing
Wang-Sau, the Prime Minister, and other nobles,
and closed the interview by requesting me to
send him, at his expense, two boxes of American
tobacco called Honey Dew. During the inter,
view or audience, the King took off and put on
his finger a magnificent ring. I began to think
he intended to present it to me as a souvenir of
his best wishes, but he did not.
He took this occasion to invite us to the crown-
ing ceremony of his eldest son and heir to the
throne of Siam, but as he had learned from Ma
Millee that he did not participate in anything on
One Ah Tit (Sunday), and Sunday would be the
first day, he hoped we would all come on the
other two days. We thanked His Majesty, and
made our salaam, and were escorted to our boat,
and left for home. On the day appointed we
went to the crowning, and were given the best
seats at the show and feast. The crowning of an
oriental prince was something grand. To me it
was a grand sight; in fact, it was to all of us
who came from the far off western nation. The
second day, the young prince was ^irrayed in gor-
YOUNG PRINCE, NOW KING OF SIAM. (Page 89.)
89
geous apparel, and carried on a very handsome
sedan chair by four native noblemen, with two
nobles to steady him, as the gold decorations on
the young man would certainly weigh twenty
pounds. They were interwoven with diamonds
and other precious stones. The procession stop-
ped in front of the writer, so I got a good look
at the young prince as he was taken down from
the sedan chair and was conducted into the tem-
porary throne room where he was divested of
his gorgeous apparel. Then he was taken up
winding stairs to the top of a very high artificial
mountain built of bamboo, and covered with
green paper, and having miniature trees up the
sides and on top. The whole thing was worthy
of the occasion. The writer was ver}' much
pleased with all he saw. After the ceremony we
were conducted to the banqueting hall, and sat
down to a bountiful feast, gotten up in true Ame-
rican and English style, with beer, wine and other
liquors for those who drank. The whole thing
90
passed off in a manner worthy of an oriental
King. The then young prince is now the reign-
ing monarch of that Kingdom,
On my arrival in New York I called on John
Anderson & Co., 1 14 Liberty street, who very read-
ily said they would put up a dozen boxes or six
gross of tobacco into very handsome boxes, and
forward them free of charge, for the privilege of
of advertising the order received from the King
of Siam, I dictated the order to his agent, which
made about one-fifth of a column in the daily
papers. The tobacco was put up in grand style.
First it was put into very handsome paper boxes,
then into a perfectly beautiful mahogany case,
with this inscription in gold letters : " For the
first King of Siam and Sovereign of Laos." This
case was on exhibition for some time. Then it
was put into a strong pine box and shipped to
Bangkok via Hong Kong, care Messrs. A. A.
Low Bros., Chinese merchants ; from Hong Kong
Bangkok, care of the Rev. S. Matoon, of Presby-
91
terian mission, and forwarded by him to the
Palace. The King received the shipment and
expressed his thanks.
Last, but not least, the steamer " Viscount
Canning " arrived, and I got all ready for my de-
parture for Hong Kong and home. Some of my
friends waited upon C. G. Allen to charter the
" Jack Waters " to take me down to the bar. He
declined, saying he had made all arrangements
to take me down at his own expense, which he
did in noble style.
92
CHAPTER VIII.
|^^^?22^E started from Bangkok about 9 o'clock
. ^Sim o" t*^^ ^^^^^ o^ March, 1862, and ar-
pltillH rived alongside of the steamer about
I o'clock. Captani Ah Choon was up
to all good things, for he had the cabin table
spread with a grand collation, which we all en-
joyed.
After doing full justice to the good things
which Captain Ah Choon had provided, the cloth
was removed. S. P. Goodale, the United States
Consul, rose in his seat and proposed the name of
our guest (the writer), to which Mr. C. G. Allen
responded, eulogizing the writer in the highest
degree. Then there were several other speeches
from the Portugese, ex-American, Russian, Brit-
ish and the Hamburgh Consuls. All spoke in
93
about the same strain, by crediting me for more
than I thought I deserved. At the conckision of
S. P. Goodale's remarks, a boy handed him two
bags containing about 600 Mexican dollars. This
amount he said was contributed by my friends in
Bangkok for the purpose of purchasing a set of
silver, and to be kept to remind me of the friends
I left behind me in Bangkok, and also to refresh
my memory of the many happy days I passed
with them during my four and a half years resi-
dence in that city. He said my friends were
legion ; he did not know of a man, woman or
child but what respected me for my manhood
and Christian character, from the King down to
the Cooley population. In fact, I think he eulo-
gized me too highly to my face. If I had been
dead, then he could say what he pleased. At the
close of his remarks he presented me with the
two bags of treasure. After considerable talking,
laughing and crying, the entire escort returned
to the "Jack Waters," and cast off their lines and
94
started for Bangkok, and left me alone with my
own feelings, for I certainl}^ did feel bad at part-
ing with so many staunch friends. I watched
the receding "Jack Waters" until she passed
around Mud Point and entered the river. My
mind began to run over my past four and a half
years with the natives, and I saw nothing in my
career amongst them but what was of the most
friendly character ; and I will say the Siamese
are today a kind, generous people. I traveled
through a large part of their country, and met
with nothing but kindness. In some places where
we passed, the natives, who never saw a white
man, and to whom we looked strange and ate
strangely with knife, fork and spoon, would ob-
serve us very closely and watch how we handled
the tools. Why should I not feel sad at leaving
so many people, native and foreign, whom I
loved ? \
The captain went back to the city with the
steamer.
95
14th. — The captain came on board and ordered
steam up, and the anchor hove short. At 9 A. M.
we started, everybody bustling about, getting the
ship ready for sea. We passed Cape Liant out
into the open Gulf of Siam. Farewell to Siam !
I came to you with my forebodings four years,
six months and fifteen days ago ! I now go
away with many heartfelt feelings of respect.
May God grant that the day is not far distant
when you may all see the beauties of the re-
ligion of Jesus Christ, and turn from your idol
worship to the one living and true God !
19th. — Passed Pulo Cordore, 12 miles distant;
wind N.E. by E., with very bad coal.
20th. — Kept off two points to let the sails
draw.
2 1 St: — Fresh breeze, with heavy sea running.
Sighted the Island of Pulo de Moore — large
island, inhabited by a very industrious class
of Cochin Chinese. 4 P. M. — Ever)^ prospect of
a very dirty night.
96
22d. — Heavy sea running. Ship heading N.E.
by E. Heavy weather, with rain. No sun to-
day. 5 P. M.— Put the ship on the port tack, and
stood in for the Gulf of Tonquin. On account of
bad coal could not make steam.
23d. — Doing well for us — about 6 knots; ship
heading E.N.E.
24th. — No wind, with long rolling sea. Kept
close up to the Parasels Shoals in 4^^ fathoms.
Lat., 14 N. Ship rolling like a log. No steam.
With such weather the ship, with good coal,
could make 12 knots. This is all on the Owen
Pher Py San. This is the Northeast Mantzoon
season, and we may expect a snorter from N.E.
at any time. If we do get it, good bye, John, for
we will hand in the number of our mess. Lat.
1 5-40.
26th, 6 A. M.— Stopped the engines to clean
tubes and back bridges all right. Lat., 17 N.;
long., 113 E.
27th.— All right, making 7 knots. Wind N.
97
half E. Stopped two hours to get clear of the
land.
28th, 6 A. M. — We made the Leana Island.
Weather thick and hazy, and to me very cold.
Quite a number of fishing junks outside fishing
with their long seines, end of which are made
fast to two junks, and they sail about 150 feet,
dragging the seine with them. After a certain
time, they come in and take the fish out of the
net. About 9 o'clock passed the Ass's Ears, and
came to in the harbor of Hong Kong, after a very
tedious passage of 14 days.
Hong Kong is an English colony under
British rule, and is a very fine city, built on
the side of a hill, very high, the top of which
is called Victoria Peak, which has a marine
telegraph station. There are some very fine
granite buildings belonging to the English and
Americans and other foreign merchants, Rus-
sell & Co., Augustine Heard & Co., Oliphant
& Co., Thomas Hunt & Co. It is a very
98
lively city. x\t this writing, there are say
fifty sail of ships of various nationalities at
anchor,
29th. — I took a sail up to Wampoo and Can-
ton on the American steamer, White Cloud.
Wampoo is a place for mechanical work.
There are three very fine dry docks, and a
machine shop. The ship N. B. Palmer, belong-
ing to A. A. Low cS: Bros., of New York, I
went on board of, and engaged passage and
state room for New York, $400. Everybody is
getting rich.
30th. — The City of Canton is a walled city
of about 5,000,000 population including the
white population; about 1,500,000 live on the
water. I saw about one-eighth of the city and
I was in the great Confucius temple of five
hundred gods. I went inside of the wall and
met nothing but friendship and kindness from
the Cantonese. I was carried in a sedan chair
by two coolies up on top of a high hill where
99
I could see all over the city, all a bustle,
everybody busy. Streets very narrow, about
nine feet from curb to curb, principal business
tea and silk, no loafers or idle men or women.
31st. — I again started for Hong Kong on the
White Cloud. The Canton river is beautiful,
having clusters of islands, and the banks of
the river presented high mountains, very pic-
turesque.
April ist. — Nothing but going about.
3d. — Breakfasted with Capt. Treadwell on
board of the American clipper ship, Sagamore.
4th. — Breakfasted with Capt. Rowe on the
American Barque, Homer, and dined on board
the British Barque, Alicia, Capt. Morse. Be-
tween the 5th and loth I did as 1 pleased,
visiting the various Chinese shops, and buy-
ing trinkets, silk for dresses, and getting my
wardrobe, such as all kinds of linen, etc., ready
for a long voyage. I went to dinner on board
of the American ship, Golconda, Capt.
100
I have forgotten his name, and I ought to
know it for I had business with him after-
wards. The " Golconda " had two large paint-
ed eyes round her horse pipes. The only way
I could make my Sanpan man, Boston Jack,
understand what ship I wanted to go to — I
said " Jack, you savy that piece of Melican
ship have got eye ? " He answered, " I savy
plenty." Then I asked, " Jack, why that ship
have got eye?" He asked, "You no savy?"
I said no ; then he said, " No got eye, no can
see ; no can see, no can savy. How can ? "
That is to say, if a ship has no eyes, it can't
see where to go.
14th. — I sent my baggage on board of the
Palmer, consisting of 14 packages. I am just
tired out walking, and being carried about in
a sedan chair, and feasting, as my friendly
captains of many American clipper ships in-
sist on my breakfasting and dining with them,
so that I ate only a few meals at my hotel,
lOI
the Oriental up on the hill, a very fine Ameri-
can Hotel kept by Theo. Andrews & Com-
pany.
19th. — I paid my bill, and left for the ship.
After passing the night with my friend Capt.
Treadwell of the American ship, Sagamore,
here I am on board of the Palmer, and the
Chinese pilot in command, who ordered the
anchor hove short, and loose the topsails. We
were lying nearly inside of all the ships, the
pilot backed the fore topsail to give the ship
stearnway, and backed the ship out through
the other ships with her head pointed outward.
10^
CHAPTER IX.
PRIL 20th. — Sunday, all right. Ship
doing well, and better than we ought
to expect at this season of the year.
Just on the change of Montzoon from
N. E. to S. W. which makes it hard for ships
bound down the sea, and good for those bound up.
2 1 St. — All right, while everything set from
mainsail to skysail. The ship is in first rate
trim, and everybody happy, from Capt. Chas.
P. Low and lady, Mrs. Parker and two child-
ren, of Mass., Rev. Mr. Talmadge and four
children, of New Jersey, Mr. E. E. Webber
of Mass., T. Barnard of Mass., and Thos.
Miller of New York. The Rev. Mr. Talmadge
is returning with his children after laying his
wife away in her grave. S.S.W. 130 miles.
103
22nd. — The ship going along steady as a
pump bolt, 130 miles S.W. x W.
23d. — And all's well ; ship off course two
points. 12 M. tacked ship and stood off 138
miles. 68 miles on her course due south.
24th. — 6 A. M., beautiful morning, and good
breeze ; the ship off two points on the port
tack S.W X S. Made the Island of Pulo Con,
a small island to the south of the mainland
of Cochin China. Tacked ship and stood off
to clear the Island. 5 P. M., tacked ship on
the port tack ; passed the Island on the star-
board beam. 9 P. M., tacked ship and stood
out to sea. 49 miles due south.
25th. — Wind dead ahead. 65 miles on our
course.
26th. — Wind still dead ahead. 35 miles on
course.
27th. — Sunday. All is well. Wind ahead. Very
dull day on shipboard. No work but working
ship. We have 35 Lascar sailors, all Mahome-
I04
tans, headed by a Surang, who is a high man in
their religious faith. He is looked up to by the
sailors. They have held their worship on ship^
board. 49 miles.
28th. — Doing very well. 35 miles.
29th. — x\ll is well, and now having the first fair
wind. 9i knots. Wind very light, with stud-
ding sails. 134 miles.
30th. — All is well. Fair wind, very light. 1 50
miles.
May I St. — Beautiful morning for the first of
May. Opposite the Gulf of Siam. 140 miles.
2d. — Here we are, down among the Midorus
Islands — a group of islands governed by a Ra-
jah ; a very fine hospitable man.
3d. — Very calm ; nothing doing.
4th.— Lat., 1-15 N. In full view of a large
group of islands called Saddle, Campbell and
Meguan Islands.
5th. — My birthday ; 40 years old today. We
landed a boat, and the first mate, Mr. Joseph Steel,
105
Mr. Webber, Barnard and jNIiller went ashore.
As I thought I ought to have some excitement
on my birthday, so I went ashore on Campbell
Island. The island is about two miles long, half
mile wide, shaped like a camel's back ; desert
island. Did nothing today.
6th. — Very calm, to almost suffocation. Ther-
mometer 91. We saw steamer astern, coming
down the sea with a vessel in tow. 9 P. M. — She
is off our starboard beam.
7th. — The steamer we saw last night is far
astern of us. We had a little breeze during the
night, and sailed away ahead of the steamer. No
wind, and the steamer is passing on one side of
the island of St. Barba and we on the other.
8th. — No wind, with lots of islands in sight.
9th. — No wind. Ten squalls in the morning ;
very calm in the afternoon.
nth. — We are now in the Java Sea. We pass-
ed through the Straits of Jasper last night. Lat.,
4-20 S.
io6
1 2th. — Still calm.
13th. — Very calm, with the Islands of the
Brothers and the North Watchers in sight. 3
P. M. — Squally, with rain. Passed the North
Watchers, with two of the One Thousand Islands
in sight.
14th. — Here we are at anchor in the Harbor of
x\njier in the Straits of Sunda, 26 days from
Hong Kong. We went, on shore on the Island
of Java, saw the harbor master, and then took a
stroll over the town, which I found very much
improved since I was there in 1857. We went
out to the coffee plantations and saw the natives.
Lat., 6-20 S. Coffee is hulled with a concave
and convex roller. The coffee is put in the con-
cave roller and the convex one crushes the hull
off, after which it is winnowed by hand in the
old primitive way, with shallow baskets or
trays.
15th. — Still at anchor, and getting fresh water
and provisions. The captain and I went on shore
I07
here. Let me say that all the islands are of coral
formation. I have some fine specimens.
i5th. — We again got under way about ii
o'clock last night, and stood out of the straits
between Java and Sumatra. Wind hauling ahead,
and caused us to pass between the Islands of
Cockatoo and Princess.
17th. — Java head still in sight. Very little
breeze from S.S.E. Lat:, 6-48 : long., 104 E. 60
miles.
1 8th. — All right. Light winds and squalls.
Lat., 8-55 ; long., 102 E. 58 miles.
19th. — All right. Good breeze. 30 days out
from Hong Kong. Distance 206 miles from
Java.
2oth. — All is well. Lat., 10-10; long., 98-54.
2ist.— Lat., 11-35 ; long., 96 E. 190 miles.
22d. — Lat., 12-32; long., 94-17 E. Distance
130 miles.
23d.— Lat., 13-48; long., 92-51 E. Distance
138 miles.
io8
24th. — Lat., 15-04; long., 89-40 E. Distance
161 miles.
25th. — Grand breeze, and Mr. Talmadge gave
us a talk from Hebrews, iii,, 16. Lat., 16-4;
long., 84-45. 188 miles.
26th. — Good heavy breeze. This is the first
day we had to take any sail off on account of
wind. Lat., 17-34; long., 82-08. 282 miles.
27th.— This is a grand day for the ship. All
are happy but me. I have a fearful heartburn
caused by doing a big lot of nothing, with heavi-
ness over the eyes. Lat., 19: long. 77-44. 288
miles.
28th. — We are doing well, and I feel better,
thanks to a good dose of medicine. Lat., 20-10;
long., 74-14. 214 miles.
29th. — Breeze continues, and I feel better to-
day. Lat., 21-05 ; Long., 70-35. 200 miles.
30th. — Good breeze, and I feel better than I
have for some days. Lat., 21-37; long., 67-35,
182 miles.
109
3 1 St. — Six weeks out to-day. Almost calm,
Lat., 22-30; long-., 65-47. 125 miles from first
Sunday, and very calm. 3 P. M. — Squally, with
rain. Mr. Talmadge gave us a talk from Ephe-
sians. 43 days out. Lat., 22-23 ; ^ong., 64-24. 80
miles.
June 2d. — All well. Bitter wind. Occupied
my time overhauling my trunk. Lat., 22-51;
long., 61-46 W. by W. half N. 150 miles. 4 days.
3d.— Nearly calm. Lat., 23-12; long., 59-51.
70 miles. 45 days out.
4th. — Wind unsteady. My boy's birthday ; 6
years old. Lat., 23-41; long., 57-51. 70 miles.
46 days.
5th. — Wind light. Sent down skysail yards.
Lat., 24-11 ; long., 56-48. 72 miles. 47 days out.
6th. — All right. Lat., 24-48; long., 55-14. 94
miles. 48 days.
•7th. — Doing well. Lat., 24-03 ; long., 53-14.
1 19 miles. 49 days.
8th. — And a fair prospect of a good breeze.
110
Preaching by Mr. Talmadge, from Deuteronomy,
9th chapter. Lat., 25-33 ; long., 51-26. 114 miles.
50 days.
9th. — Strong breeze all night, with heavy thun-
der and sharp lightning. 12 M. — The ship was
under close-reefed topsails. Lat., 26-46 ; long.,
48-44. 164 miles. 51 days.
loth. — All well, but no wind. Lat., 26-45 ;
long., 47-30. 65 miles. 52 days.
nth. — Very calm. Lat., 27-40; long., 46-50.
68 miles. 53 days.
I2th. — Lat., 27-40; long., 45-16. 80 miles. 54
days.
13th. — Heavy wind from N.W. Ship under
every sail. Heavy sea running. Lat., 28-06 ;
long., 44-15. 68 miles. 55 days.
14th. — Eight weeks out today. Wind moder-
ate. Lat., 27-40 ; long., 43-33. 54 miles. 56
days.
15th. — Lat., 27-13; long., 41-59. 88 miles. 57
days.
Ill
i6th.— Lat., 27-29 ; long., 40-46. 68 miles. 58
days.
17th.— Lat, 28-34; long., 39-05- Strong breeze
from N.W.
1 8th. — Heavy gale from N.W. Ship under
every canvas. Lat., 29-41 ; long., 36-02. 170
miles.
iQth. — Heavy gale from S.VV. Laid to under
close-reefed topsail and fore skysail. Heavy
sea. Water flying like snowdrifts. Lat., 29-24 ;
long., 34-42. 70 miles.
2ist.— Lat., 31-47; long., 30-50. 220 miles.
Doing well. Saw a large Dutch ship, deep
loaded, from Batavia, homeward bound.
22d.— Strong gale from W.S.W. Lat., 32-51;
long., 29-02. 112 miles.
23d.— Lat., 33-30; long., 29-09. Leeway 29
miles. Gale continues from W.S.W. Every-
thing snug, and ship riding like a duck, and
we have lost our Dutch friend astern out of
sight.
112
24th.— Lat, 33-12 ; long., 28-52. Land in sight
starboard bow. Weather fair. 210 miles.
25th.— Lat., 34-45; long., 25-11. Saw three
ships. 120 miles.
26th.— Lat., 34-47; long., 23-118. 67 days.
Head wind. Close-reefed topsails.
27th.— Lat., 35-06; long., 22-S9. Blowing a
snorter from W.S.W.
28th.— Lat., 35-16; long., 22-07. Head wind.
Ship under easy sail. Two ships in sight.
29th.— Lat., 35-31 ; long., 20-56. Four ships in
sight. Spoke the British barque "Wellington,"
83 days from Bombay, bound to Liverpool.
30th.— Lat., 25-34; long., 20-50. Heavy gale,
with close-reefed main topsail.
July ist— Lat., 34-35 ; long., 20-40. With the
Table Lands in the east coast of Africa in sight.
Distance about 20 miles.
2d.— Lat., 34-51; long., 20-24. All becalmed
on the Lagulis Banks. All hands fishing ; caught
113
i,20o pounds of beneta, long' fish, some which
weighed 25 lbs.
3d. — Lat., 35-34; long-., 19-28. Sighted nine
ships. Cape Lagulis light in sight.
4th. — Lat., 35-07; long., 19-12. Two brigs in
sight. Heavy gale ; laid to ; wind north.
5th. — Lat., 34-13; long., 17-48. Gale still pip-
ing.
6th. — Lat., 33-39; long., 17-38. Saw large
British ship, 87 days out from Akyah, bound to
London.
7th. — Lat., 33-13; long., 17-28.
8th. — Lat., 33-13; long., 17-28. Nothing of
interest to-day.
9th. — Lat., 33-13; long., 17-28.
loth. — Lat., 32-54
I ith. — Lat., 31-05
1 2th. — Lat., 30-23
13th. — Lat., 29-44
14th. — Lat., 29-03
15th. — Lat., 28-10
long., 16-23.
long., 16-17.
long., 16-03.
long., 14-50.
long., 13-50.
long., 13.
114
i6th.— Lat., 26-19; loiigv 10-27. 175 miles; the
first day of the S.E. trades. 89 days out.
17th.— Lat., 24-12 ; long., 6-18. 264 miles.
1 8th. — Lat., 22-9; long., 3-9. 216 miles. 91
days.
19th. — Lat. 19-45 ; long., 41 W. 265 miles.
2oth. — Lat., 17-43; long., 3-47. 220 miles.
2 1 St. — Lat., 15-55; long., 5-30. 150 miles. 94
days.
•M Ji
1^ ^ #
r
-#
■J* ^
115
CHAPTER X.
ULY 22d.— Sighted the Island of St.
Helena at daylight, and about 8 A. M.
came to anchor in roadstead. The
island is nothing but a large lonely
island in mid ocean. Jamestown is an English
garrison, settled by soldiers and their families
and others. Some are tradespeople, who came
to the island to make money out of the soldiers
and natives. The natives, by the way, are a very
small race of people, and talk half English, half
Indian. They have a very yellow cast of counte-
nance, more of the Mala}- color. After getting
water and some fresh provisions on board, a num-
ber of us went on shore and hired two carriages,
and we all started up a very rough mountain
road for Long Wood, the home of the great Na-
ii6
poleon. We passed through all the rooms of the
house, even into the room where Napoleon died.
There is an iron fence built round the spot where
the bed stood. Everything is in a good state of
preservation, and is kept by Frenchmen, as it is
the property of the French by purchase. There
is a fish pond near the house. The house and
surroundings are on the top of the highest moun-
tain, a bleak sort of a place, with guns of large
size set with their muzzles pointing seaward. All
this ado to keep one man a prisoner on a lonely
island in mid ocean ! We saw the house called
Brier where they put him at first on landing on
the island, and we saw the grave where he was
buried, down in a lonely valley between two high
hills, with a lonely little weeping willow tree at
the head of the grave. The tree was dead, and not
more than six inches in diameter and fifteen feet
high. Just such a place as a man of his great
brain would have selected for a resting place.
Here let me say that there have been more sprigs
117
of willow brought to this and other countries by
sailors than would make a tree three feet in
diameter. All his surroundings tell of the iso-
lated life of the great French chieftain. I entered
my name in the visitors' register on the very
table where he amused himself playing a game
called " Solitaire." We left Long Wood for James-
town, and, after looking over the place, saw, in
many places, terrible devastation to buildings
caused by the white ant. On inquiring I found
that a vessel came in and landed a load of African
pine and other wood, in which were white ants.
The white ant is very destructive to some kinds
of wood. So much for Jamestown and the Island
of St. Helena. We again boarded cnir good ship
" N. B. Palmer," and sailed about 8 P. M. Lat..
16-03 ; long., 7-06.
23d. — Lat., 14-02; long., 10-20. 198 miles.
24th. — Lat., 12-19; lottf?-' 12-14. 160 miles.
25th. — Lat., 11-06; long., 14-16. 140 miles.
26th.— Lat., 9-56 ; long., 16-33. 152 miles.
Ii8
27th. — Lat., 8-46; long-., 19-33. 196 miles. 100
days out from Hong Kong.
28th, — Lat., 7-28 ; long., 22-02. 174 miles.
29th. — Lat,, 5-54; long., 24-37. 180 miles.
30th. — Lat., 4-01 ; long., 27-18. 190 miles.
31st. — Lat., 1-36; long., 29-40. 200 miles.
August ist. — Lat., 1-49 N.; long,, 32-14 W.
235 miles.
2d.— Lat, 3-45 ; long., 35-05.
3d. — Lat., 4-55 ; long., 36-40. 105 miles.
4th. — Lat., 6-47; long., 37-10. 100 miles, and I
am five years away from home to-day.
5th. — Lat., 9-25 ; long., 38-20. 170 miles.
6th. — Lat., II ; long., 40-02. 140 miles.
7th. — Lat., 12-42 ; long., 40-42. 160 miles.
8th. — Lat., 13-10; long., 42-36. 140 miles.
9th. — Lat., 14-22 ; long., 45-26. 180 miles.
loth. — Lat., 15-02; long., 48-1. 160 miles.
nth.— Lat., 15-36; long., 49-08. 62 miles.
1 2th. — Lat., 16-07; long; 49-15. 35 miles.
13th. — Lat., 16-49; long-' 50-15- 72 miles.
119
I4th. — Lat., 18-30; long,, 52-39. 170 miles.
Boarded the British barque " S. Hardy," from
Cork, Ireland, bound to Barbadoes, I got a bar-
rel of beef,
15th. — Lat,, 19-46; long., 55-40, 185 miles,
i6th. — Lat., 21-34; long., 57-40. 160 miles.
17th. — Lat., 23-56; long,, 60-52, 228 miles,
i8th, — Lat., 26-12 ; long., 63-30. 200 miles.
19th. — Lat., 27 58; long., 65-59. 170 miles.
20th. — Lat., 29-58 ; long., 67-51. 160 miles.
2ist, — Lat,, 31-20 ; long,, 68-46, 96 miles.
22d, — Lat,, 32-38 ; long,, 69-42, 92 miles.
23d,— Lat., 33-55 ; long., 70-07. 84 miles.
24th. — Lat., 35-12; long., 71-26. 104 miles. 2
P. M.— Entered the Gulf. 1 1 P. M.— Brought
the ship down to topsails. Ship in sight, bound
south.
25th. — Lat., 37-55 ; long., 73-38. 190 miles,
26th, — Lat,, 40; long., 74. 100 miles. 130 days
from Hong Kong. 3 P. ^L — Took pilot from
Boat No, 13. Came to anchor off the bar, wait-
T20
ing for high tide. Everybody very happy at
seeing our native land, after an absence of many
years, some longer than others. Next morning
took a tow boat from the bar up to the City of
New York, and docked the ship. Then I went
ashore, and did some business, and started for
Home, sweet home,
Be it ever so humble,
There's no place like home !
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