Full text of "The prison of Weltevreden : and a glance at the East Indian Archipelago"

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GIFT OF

Charles A. Koi oid

THE

PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN;

AND A GLANCE

BAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO

WALTER M. GIBSON.

ILLUSTRATED PROM ORIGINAL SKETCHES

NEW YORK:
J. C. RIKER, 129 FULTON STREET,

1855.

v ft

Entered acc&lt;m]ii to Act of Congress, in the year 1S55,
( T , ." ;." 5v5VALTER M. GIBSON,
In the cierk s Office of t h fi District Court of the United States, for the
*;*/! ItJoulhcrn District of New York.

f rman of

ONSECRATED to

the elevation of the na
tive races of the East
Indian Archipelago, in
religious truth, in morals
and social virtues; and
to the mitigation of the
selfishness and asperity
of European dominion
in the East; through the development of a closer
sympathy between Western Intelligence and Eastern
Imagination ; under the fostering influence of the
faith and enthusiasm of woman, of the WOMEN OF
CHRISTENDOM, to whom this work is earnestly in
scribed bv the

AUTHOR.

M1B119Q

GE.NEBAL VIEW

OF THE SCOPE, TREATMENT, AND AIM OF THIS WORK.

n its

IT embraces some mention of early influences, which led
the author to adventure in the East ; his voyage thither
in his own vessel, visiting many small islands but little
known, in the South Atlantic, and Indian Oceans ; his arri
val in the Malayan Archipelago, and sojourn in the interior
of Sumatra ; where he saw apparent evidences of semi-
human beings, and became acquainted with princes and
nobles of the island, and their families ; visiting them at
their homes, partaking of their hospitality, studying their
literature, and observing their religion, laws, customs and
social habits ; as peculiar to the Malay race, and as affect
ed by European influences ; and forming intimate friendly
relations, which were interrupted by the jealousy of
Dutch officials ; causing his arrest, the seizure of his ves
sel, and his confinement for fifteen months in the prison of
Weltevreden, in the Island of Java ; where he underwent

GENERAL VIEW.

a most extraordinary and oppressive prosecution at the
hands of the government of Netherland India ; and at the
same time, meeting within his prison cell, a most novel and
interesting experience of Malay and Javanese character ;
finding teachers of all that he wished to learn of these
isles, and docile pupils to listen to all that he wished to
impart ; finding many evidences of a refined and tasteful
civilization, of a happy disposition to receive the truths
of a more convincing creed than their own, and a sim
plicity of character, and a heroism of devotion, in many
instances bordering upon the regions of romance ; which
brightened many prison hours, and finally enabled him,
when his life was in danger, to effect his escape.

In % ratet

truth has been adhered to, but not in the naked
form of daily occurrence. Events of like character
are grouped together ; and only those are introduced,
which illustrate some point of view in the Glance that is
presented. The romantic beauty and poetic life of Indian
isles is arrayed in the vesture of Eastern story ; whilst the
graver facts of the country s resources, and of European
influence and dominion, are set forth in more sober garb.
Some names have been changed, of persons who still live in
the presence of a power, that might look with disfavor on
the parts they enacted, as set forth in these pages ; and
many things of deep interest have been suppressed, to
screen those who are thus exposed : and thus some other

GENERAL VIEW. Vii

licenses taken ; but otherwise, facts alone are presented,
and all are but a small portion of what might be said
about isles and races so little known to this western
world ; about weak and worthless princes, and simple,
heroic women ; about climes of perpetual spring, lands
of unfading verdure, rocks seamed with gold, groves filled
with spices, and an unsurpassed beauty and bounty of
nature ; every where surrounded by miasma, by cruel
things in the water, on the earth, in the forest, in the
air ; and in the shape of European civilization, enlight
enment, religion and dominion.

ft* Jlim

is to open up new regions of thought and feeling, and in
presenting real pictures of oriental character, to point out
new avenues to the oriental mind ; to show forth child
like races claiming by their simplicity, docility, obedience
and truthfulness, the highest paternal care of a superior
civilization ; to show how this has been wielded to grat
ify selfish ends alone, producing a harvest of vice and hate;
and to show the effects of another policy, studying the
simple character, meeting it with congenial sympathy,
wishing to serve rather than to be served, teaching with
patience and some fraternal regard ; and receiving in ex
change, a childlike love and devotion : to show that this
result might be universal throughout the beautiful islands
of the Indian Ocean, among their simple and numerous
races ; who by their numbers, by the defences that the Ore-

viii

&lt;:r.\r.u u. vn:\v

ator has set up around them, by the deadly barriers that
s i\e them from any permanent Caucasian intermixture,
must ever be the sjle producers of the chief Eastern treasures
f"i- which the selfish world has contended ; and demand that
attention from self-interest, which ought to spring from an
enlightened, Christian philanthropy.

CONTENTS.

GENERAL VIEW of the Scope, Treatment, and Aim of this Work.

PROLOGETIC. Description of Prison of Weltevreden Prisoner s hopes of Release Order
of Ke-arrest Lonely Lady Musing at Sea Revery broken by Wreck on Brewer s
Shoals A Clipper-Ship in Sunda Straits Escaped Prisoner on Board A Chase-
Meeting of Prisoner and the Lady Coincidence of Reveries Brower the Sheriff, and
Brewer s Shoals The Palmer at Sea Her Cabin Passengers The Elder and Younger
Missionaries, and their Wives The Lady of the Eevery A Stout Man-of-War Boat
swain, of whoso great strength a talo is told Curiosity of Passengers to hear the Story
of the Escaped Prisoner, 1

THIRD DAY of Homeward Voyage of Palmer from Java The Escaped Prisoner begins a
Narration About Early Influences An Adventurous Uncle Many years in the East
Indian Archipelago Wonderful stories about Sumatra, filling a boy s mind with longings
to see the famous island, 18

FOURTH DAY. An Old Teacher His stories of the Indian Isles Wanderings in South
Carolina Romantic Scenery favoring reveries of the East Early Marriage Death,
cause of further wandering, 23

FIFTH DAY. A Log Cabin home in Georgia The Silver Mine Going in quest of means
to work it Journeyings in Mexico, on the heels of Scott s Conquering Army See
from Acapulco the Pathway to the Eastern Isles Spanish American Connection
Inducements to fit out a Small Clipper Vessel for a Central American Navy Purchase
of the Flirt Expedition to Central America cannot be carried out Vessel on hand
Now will sail for the East, and realize early longings Departure from Block Island
Comments of Boatswain on board Palmer, 27

SIXTH DAY. The Flirt bound for Bahia Her Owner, Master, Crew, Cargo, and Arma
ment Mutiny on Board A Rioter in Irons Continued dissatisfaction with Master
The Owner takes charge Put into Porto Praya to settle grievances Master leaves the
Vessel Governor of Porto Praya Conversations about Portuguese Dominion Tho
Invalid Daughter Departure of Flirt, 86

SEVENTH DAY. Sabbath on board the Palmer A Sermon from the younger Mis
sionary, .... 45

O N T E N T 8 .

EIGHTH DAY. The Trade Winds Paradise of tlio Sea A Sail A Chase French brig
overhauled Alarm at tho war-trim of Flirt Relief on finding her M&gt; harm!e
Liberality of French Commander to .supply some needs His Romantic Character Pro-
P&lt;a;&gt; &lt;&gt;r ii partnership of adventure Discourse of two Commanders suddenly inter
rupted by quarrel between the two crews A Risinjj Wind Quick retreat on board the
oner Parting Salutes, 4C

NINTH DAY. Tho Coast of Brazil A Slaver on Fire Put into Maccio Combat on
board Flirt Bloodshed Brazilian authorities seeking pretence to confiscate the
Schooner Crew Interrogated Vessel Detained Arrival of British war steamer Con
flict Her Commander interferes No American at tho place Cowardice of Brazilians
Triumphant release and departure of Flirt Leave Master and wounded Mate The
Owner takes command, 54

TENTH DAY. Arrival at Pernambuco Glance at Brazil Departure to relieve a wrecked

ff Capo St. Roque Afterwards head for the East Stop at Tristan d Acunha

some account of that remarkable little Island Governor Glass, and its llobinson Crusoe

population, 59

ELEVENTH DAY. Island of St. Paul s Remarkable natural Minaret Its Solitary
Settler A French Chevalier The Cocos group Governor Ross First Sight of Su
matra The Aromatic Breezes A glance at the Archipelago, on tho way to Singapore
A Storm Obliged to cast anchor on tho coast of tho Island of Banca Discover Minto
in sight next morning Go ashore to got some fresh provisions, .... 67

TWELFTH DAY. Meet with a friendly, hospitable Port-master Inducements to stay
some time at Mlnto Interview with Governor or Resident of tho Island An offensive
display of antl- American feeling Pleasant welcome at house of Port-masterCreole
Ladies Pantomime A midnight encounter A Belgian Deserter wishes to join tho
Flirt with a dozen followers, 73

Till UTKKNTH DAY. Other Hospitalities Surgeon of tho Fort gives an account of the
Island Tin Mines, and Chinese Arrival of a Transport Ship A Barque from Bali going
to Palembang in Sumatra Inducements to go In company with her A Malay Servant
A Spy put on board Flirt Hospitable Chinese ship Chandler Curious circumstances
attending departure from Minto, 82

FOURTEENTH DAY. Sabbath on board the Palmer, 92

FIFTEENTH DAY. Misgivings of Commander about proceeding into the interior of
Sumatra Resolves to leave the Bali Barque Out of sight A Storm Obliged to cast
Anchor Storm clears away Riding close alongside of Barque Fate decides to g&gt;
Visit of Balinese Commander An interesting Story, illustrating Piracy in the Ea-t
Indian Archipelago Comments about Maritime Police of English and Dutch Rajah
Brooke traduced and vindicated Boatswain on board Palmer tells some of his ex
perience with Pirates Yankee invention in war, 93

&gt;1 \ I I". i:\TH DAY. The Soonsang River Gorgeous Scenery Visit of a Malay Chief
tain Comments on Malay Character, ](&

S :VKNTKKNTH DAY. A Boat Expedition A Cavernod Creek Leaping Leivhes.
and fierce Insects, defenders of tho Soil of Sumatra A glimpse of wild, hairy, human-
shaped beings Comments of a Dutch Officer about GutU Percha, Coal, and Orang
Kubn, ... Ill

CONTENTS. XI

EIGHTEENTH DAY. Arrival at Palembang Its Floating Houses Dutch Authorities
Visit on board Flirt from Scherrif Ali, an Arab Panyorang, or prince Reminiscences
at Palembang of Sir Stamford Raffles Abdallah, a grandson of the Panyorang, wishes
to join the Flirt Comments upon Malay Character and Dutch Policy in the Archi
pelago, . . 124

N INETEENTII DAY. Dinner with the Eesident of Palembang Insulting anti-American
feeling of a Naval Commander Mortgage of Washington, and sale of Dutch Treasures
of Art Returning from the Fort of Palembang Way lost in the dark An Encounter-
Brutal treatment of Malay girls by Dutch Officers Authorized Concubinage of Army of
Netherland India A Carousal Happy escape of the Girls Visit on board Flirt Some
account of Topography of Territory of Palembang, 135

TWENTIETH DAY. Visit to a Malay Improvisatrice An interesting young Girl An
Improvised Song in the style of the pantuns, or proverbial verses of the Malays Al
lusions to Alexander the Great Visit to a Chinaman, friend of the ship Chandler of
Minto A Floating House Public Bathers One seized by an Alligator Dinner to the
Resident on board Flirt Beautiful trim of Vessel Visits of many Malay Chieftains, 151

TWENTY-FIRST DAY. Visit to a Malay Panyorang Sends his State Prahu Compli
ment with an American flag A Malay abode Entertainment Songs and Plays Reci
tations of Poetry, about Wars and Romance A celebrated Malay Princess Zaydeo
Komala A Malay Secretary engaged by Commander of Flirt Comments by the
younger Missionary upon Malay Poetry, 1C5

TWENTY-SECOND DAY. The Family of the Malay Chieftain A Malay Lady in full-
dress The Granddaughter, Sahyeepah Her superior intelligence An Orang Kubu
Slave Fabled Monsters in the East Some account of the Territory of Jambee Com
ments of a Dutch Officer about Malay Character A Malay Gentleman Female Su
premacy in Sumatra, and in the Archipelago, 177

TWENTY-THIRD DAY. A visit to the Princess Zaydeo Komala Her Beauty An
Entertainment Interchange of Presents, 19!

TWENTY-FOURTH DAY. Dutch jealousy aroused Many Malays and Arabs wishing
to join the Flirt The Grandson of Panyorang Scherrif Ali Anticipations of a Suraatran
Heroine, 196

TWENTY-FIFTH DAY. Apprehensions of Annoyance Preparing to depart Mate of
Flirt wishes to go to Jambee A Letter, addressed to Sultan of Jambee, prepared for
him Written by the Malay Secretary, 200

TWENTY-SIXTH DAY. A Chinese Wedding Feast Commander of Flirt the chief
g Ues tCurious Particulars of the Feast Bird s Nest Whispered Warnings Com
mander returns to his Vessel Departure of Mate, 200

TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY. The insulting Naval Officer on board Flirt Violent cir
cumstances attending the arrest of the Commander Gross insult to the American

Flag, 2 "

. 222

TWENTY-EIGHTH DAY. Sabbath on board the Palmer

TWENTY-NINTH DAY. Examination of Baggage on entering Fort of Palembang A
Revolver Pistol Prints of a little girl s hands and feet Home Memories, . . 223

Xii CONTENTS.

THIRTIETH DAY. Visit of Resident to Commander In Prison False friendship of tho
Dutch Governor Tho Silver Heart Chances of escape Refusal to make use of
them, 22S

Til I RTY-FIRST DAY. Removed on board a Vessel of War, to bo carried to Batavia
Stop at Minto Visit of Port-Master and Surgeon Anti- American feeling in N. India
Painful musings on traversing the Java Sea a Prisoner Contrasts with former free
rovings Arrival at Batavia, 2%

THIRTY-SECOND DAY. Horrors of a Onard Ship Transfer to the Prison of Welt,-
vreden The Baron, and other Fellow-Prisoners, 242

THIRTY-THIRD DAY. The Prison Cell A Strange Maniac Prisoners of State A
mad Lawyer A crazy Lady Convict Pirates, the waiters Brandy recommended as
superior to Philosophy Brought in stealthily in hollow bamboos" Staffs of Life,"
Prove broken reeds, 248

THIRTY-FOURTH DAY. Tho Bastinado Terrible Punishment Foster child of the
Baron Interesting little Malay Girl History of Umbah Affection for her A Drunken
Scene Arrival of a Chief Magistrate Examinations Umbah clings to her new frit- ml
for protection, 2C2

THIRTY-FIFTH DAY. Sabbath on board the Palmer, 270

TIII1.TY-MXTH DAY. Visit to the Flirt to obtain Baggage Her plundered condition
Liberation from Prison on account of informality of arrest Regrets on leaving Um-
t.:th, tin- little l"-t Flower of the Sumatran Mountains At Liberty, but cannot K-ave
\ilvisi-rs A KirM, true-hearted Ainrrican CapUiin Re-arrest Looking for a
Jail Horrors of Stad Prison The Bold Captain beleaguers Dutch Justice, and obtains
relief for the Prisoner Return to belter Quarters in Weltevreden, . . .280

THIRTY-SF.VF.NTH DAY. Liberation of Crew The Faithful Pirrz Black Cabin
I .ny f Flirt Hi&gt; IIM&lt; ry Lost Papers saved by him Departure of brave Bassett
Opinion of Boatswain about ditferenco between American citizens and American Gov-
irnment, -297

THIRTY-KIGHTH DAY. Dutch Government sends for Officers at Palembang toappear
as Witnesses All drowned, on the King s Birthday Suspected Revenge of Balineso
Captain, 305

Till RTY-NINTH DAY. The Unhung Marshal of Napoleon A Brick Machine made for
his Grandson American talent in Prison, 314

FORTIETH DAY. A Retrospect Liberation of Crew of Flirt Vacillation of Judges
and Jailers A Change of events, -820

FORTY-FIRST DAY. Granddaughter of Panyorang Osman in Prison A Brutal Turn-
k.-y punished Grace and Beauty in tho Archipelago Heartlessuess of European
Lovers and Fathers, 836

FORTY-SECOND DAY. Sabbath on board the Palmer, 843

F&lt;RT\ -THIRD DAY. Pin-/, in Prison Ensign of tho Flirt Celebration of the Fourth
of July in Wt-ltevmlen Consequences A Removal Arrival of an American Man-of-
War Visit to tho Governor General A Spurious Document Inglorious departure of
Man-of-War Comments of Boatswain, - .844

CONTENTS. Xlll

FORTY-FOURTH DAY. The New Cell Maniac Neighbor A Visitor, brother of Sah-
vocpah A Javanese Discourse News from Panyorang Osman A Malay Letter Lib
eration of Baron Tariff of Grace Umbah, the bold little Escort, . 3451

FORTY-FIFTH DAY. The motherless Malay Child Visions of a Mother-Music in the
Heart Weltevreden, a College The chief Pupil The Granddaughter of the Sumatran
Prince Malay Taste for Geography Chewing of Sirih Malay horror of the Negro
Race Little dog Bassett Attack upon a Soldier Umbah and Bassett, . . 373

FORTY-SIXTH DAY. Visit of a Priest A Bnghis Soldier condemned to die The
Christian and Mahometan Teacher Malay Metempsychosis Story of a Murderer
His Lover killed by a Tiger A Career of Blood An Oriental Mind awakened A
Wonderful Change The Barbarian s Hope Baptism in Prison Death of a Soldier of
the Cross The Souls and Trade of the East, 8-5

FORTY-SEVENTH DAY. Another Investigation and Liberation Re-arrest A Re
markable Malay Mind Studies with Sahyeepah Enthusiasm and Ambition of Malay
Females The Peddler and the Message Bearer of a Despatch wanted Sahyeepah
undertakes a Dangerous Journey Curious concealment of a Letter, . . . 401

FORTY-EIGHTH DAY. Sabbath on board the Palmer, 417

FORTY-NINTH DAY. Visit of the Baron Consultation about Umbah Settlement of
the Foster Child The Crazy Lady Infanticide and Madness Dyak Superstition Ab
duction of a Girl by an Orang Utan Strange Students and Studies in Prison Civiliza
tion touching the Heart of Barbarism, , . . . .418

FIFTIETH DAY. Three great Events in Succession Serpent in the Cell An Earth
quake rocking the Prison A Third Decree of Liberation by one Court And order of
Re-arrest by another Motives for a Public Trial Apprehensions about Sahyeepah, 428

FIFTY-FIRST DAY. The Trial A Remarkable Assemblage of Witnesses-Trial de
scribed by Boatswain on board Palmer The Letter to the Sultan of Jainbee The Arab
Prince Evidence by Pantomime Verdict of Acquittal Friendly Greetings with Chief
tains from Palembang Kiagoos Lanang, the repentant Secretary Continued fears
about Sahyeepah, 435

FIFTY-SECOND DAY. Happy Return of a Heroic Messenger Narrative of her Event
ful Journey The Magician and Robber An American Blackguard in Java Misfortune
of the Travellers Stop at Cheribon Help At Samarang The Mountain of Horses and
Chariots The Mountain of Red Fire Drowning of Ambon Arrival at Surakarta
The state of the Emperor The Wild Beast Shows Labors of Sahyeepah Return
down Solo River Soorabayah At Sea Death of an old Servant Sahyeepah faint
and worn out, falls into the arms of her Father, 450

FIFTY-THIRD DAY. The Faithful Messenger Forgetfulness of Self The Awakened
Mind of Sahyeepah Love of Christ in Java The Prison a Temple for the Worship of
the Most High Dutch Patriotism and Oppression Weakness of Native Princes The
Hope of the Archipelago Xavier, Raffles, Judson, 466

FIFTY-FOURTH DAY. The Government of Netherland India feels that it can oppress
an American citizen with impunity- Expected presence of an American squadron at Ba-
tavia Too busy with a treaty Hopes of release Congratulations Faithful Javanese
Friends Sahyeepah in her beautiful robes A Change Sentinel at the door The Grip
of ruthless power Time to Escape- Helps without Defrauding and Betrayal of a

XIV CONTENTS.

Prisoner by a Dutch official Tho Kns&lt;i:m ("oiirt- -A Cutter fitted up at Singapore
Crui-ings off Java The Boatswain tells how ho found the Prisoner in face of I)e:i:h--
"\Vorkin:: at window-bars Sudden Apparition of the faithful Pirez Supernatural powers
ascribed to him Faithful heart of Sahyeepah He scales Prison walls Tho noblo
young friend of Americans Flight of Pirc-z A stunned and bleeding Sentinel Safety
of the Mate of the Flirt The Baron brings poison Messaco from Tinbah Faithful
&gt;sett The Crirfs of Escape Trying moments The air of Freedom Sahyeepah
on tho way Tho boat of tho Palmer Her bravo Crew Farewell to the Flirt Fare
well to noble, faithful Hearts Farewell to Sahyeepah Firo from the Guard Ship
returned Last sight of Java, 475

THE Prison of Weltevreden, in 1853, was an irregular group of
thick-walled barracks, one story high. There was a gloomy Hall
of Justice in front, where the examination of prisoners pro
visionally detained took place. The visitor who did not wish
to enter the chambers of the Hall, would pass along beneath an
archway; and then came in view* of the house of the head
jailer. Further on, he would enter an open court, with a row
of commodious, cleanly, prison chambers on either side, devoted
to prisoners of state and to unconvicted persons : beyond this,
passing through a gateway in a lofty wall, he would enter an
other open court, between rows of smaller, and more closely
guarded cells, whose iron studded doors, and close barred grat
ings, showed that they were the abodes of convicted men ; an
other and smaller court was beyond this, with inclosures and rows
of cells on either side ; these were smaller, filthier, more closely
guarded than the preceding ones, and the abodes of still greater
unfortunates ; but farthest of all, at the bottom of the quad
rangle, there was to be seen a range of low, gloomy walls, of
1

!&gt; PRISON OF

heavy, black-stained, iron-embossed doors, with crevices for light
and air. There the deadly silence of a church vault reigned
behind ; except now and then, might be heard the footfall of a
Dutch sentry ; or the hoarse, heavy rustle of the chains of some
wretch doomed to death or to lifelong woe.

On the afternoon of the 2Gth January, 1853, in the first
cell, on the right hand of the first court, a prisoner was pacing
his chamber floor, with a look of deep thought, and some exciter
ment. He is a man in early manhood, but his bleached and
marked face, show a greater number of years than he has yet
passed. He has been in prison a long time, and his soul has
been sorely tried ; but now he has heard news, that give him
hopes of speedy liberty ; and he feels a thronging rush of emo
tions at the thought of beholding the bright world again. He
had heard of a favorable decision by his judges ; and each time
he hears the outer gate of the prison swing open, he expects to
behold an officer with the order for his release.

He has packed up the few effects of his scanty wardrobe,
and some trifles, the work of his brain and hands .during his
prison hourSj each of which he would preserve as mementoes of
a painful, yet strangely interesting portion of life. He paces to
and fro, to calm the tumult of his heart, throbbing with long
ings to work out in deed, some visions that had broken in upon
him like prophecies in his lonely prison room.

As he walks, his face droops, and there is a shade passing
over it; he thinks how little less cheerless will be the wide
world to the prison he leaves behind. He thinks of some ties
and duties, that would demand his devotion when free ; and he
recall &gt; many, so many strange and happy memories ; but all
are mingled with pain, much more than seems to be the common
lot of mon.

THE RE-ARREST. 3

His hopes of freedom bring melancholy ; the sadness of in
tense feeling. He is touched with it deeply ; but not love, nor
the memory of it, has place in his thoughts ; and yet they are
busy with pictures of woman, some one of his own race ; some
wise and sympathetic soul with whom he fain would talk.
He needs the faith which the jealousy of man never gives to
that fellow-man, who steps out upon a new and untrodden
course.

As he muses, the prisoner pauses at the bars of his room
window. The sun^has set, and the stars are fast spangling a
lovely Javan sky : so ^tly, deeply blue, and of a dreamy, mysterious
loveliness like the daughters of the Javan land. The sky and
daughters of the sacred isle, had often soothed the prisoner in
his solitude, and lulled him to a forgetfulness of the past, awak
ening hopes of a new and happier life among these coral isles.

But with the thoughts of freedom return the memories of
the sky of his own land, and the daughters of his own race.
He looks northward and westward, where the clear blue sky, the
fresh invigorating air, and noble, fair faces, thoughtful not
dreamy, nerve the soul to its highest and best essays.

As he muses on, his head and heart are busy with many
plans and warm hopes. The prison gate swings open ; an officer
appears ; the well-known face of thee, good Brower, who had often
brought such change of joy and woe to the tenants of this sad
house of care. The prisoner steps forward to meet him ; he sees
a paper in his hand, and his heart beats strongly ; but there is a
cloud on ttte face of Brower; for the good sheriff was joyful
when he brought joy, and sad when he brought sadness. The
paper is seized, is read ; tis a decree from superior judges,
ordering another trial, and casting the prisoner back upon the
doubt, and pain, and gloom of his prison life.

Ox a fair evening, in the Java sea, on board of one of Ameri
ca s largest and fleetest clippers, homeward bound from China, a
)ady was seated on the quarter deck, leaning upon the t gallant
rail, and gazing earnestly upwards at the starry splendors of a
lovely Indian sky.

She gazed with a quiet joy upon the stars, and some faint,
waning tints of a rich tropic sunset ; and a gentle murmur of
the waters rippling by the ship s sides, made soothing melody to
her soul ; yet was she sad in her revery.

Though each breath of air wafted that ship on its way to her
native land and home, to the loved ones around the old home s
hearth ; yet there was a painful gap of space, a weary lapse of
time to pass away, ere the joys of home would be her s.

She was feeble in health ; and there were causes more besides
to make the voyage dull and unpleasing ; and to make the long
time that was yet to pass away look still longer. She longed
as only a prisoner, and a lonely passenger at sea can long, for
some companionship, to help chase away the dreary8olitude of
that quarter deck.

The lady sighs and thinks of home, feeling that there alone,
and not till seated there, can she hope for any answer to her
soul s want; and she sighs, not that it should be thus, but
that home is so far off, that there are three or more weary

THE WRECK.

months to pass away, Before reaching it ; and there is no hope
of pleasant voice and look to brighten with some cheer the long,
long days, that must be lived through on board that cheerless
ship.

She sees no hand of Providence, leading that ship; as it
silently wings its way on that unruffled sea, beneath that calm,
starry sky of the Indian Archipelago. She sees only those twin
isles, the " Two Brothers ; " and a little way off, the " Watch
er," which seem in some way typical of herself and her heart s
longings ; and though she sees it not, those longings arise from
some sympathy, with .the near approach of the workings of that
hand, which was leading that ship on a pathway on which ship
had never gone before.

The great clipper glides onward, through the phosphorescent
waters, amid the deepening shades of night. Her officers pace
her decks in confident security, and the word is passed that all
is well. They have looked at the charts, and think their path
way clear ; they see no hidden rocks, nor reefs, nor shoals in the
course they would pursue for the night. There were some coral
ledges marked down, which their observations placed about three
miles oiF on their starboard bow ; But their place on the chart
was wrong.

The lady sighs again, and says : What ray of hope, of cheer
to this solitude, is there on the long track of waters before me ?

What hope, there is a rebound, and quivering shock felt

throughout that ship : there is a dull, grating sound rising up
from the waters beneath her bows ; and see the confused hurry of
officers and men, as they cry, Aground ! aground ! we re aground !

The ship had struck on Brewer s shoals.

ON the morning of the 25th April, 1853, the Palmer, a large
American ship, was to be seen leaving the roadstead of Batavia,
with all her canvas spread, to catch the soft land breeze, that
came in aromatic wafts from off the Java shore.

Her commander, crew, and passengers were all on deck, look
ing towards the port they were leaving, with a gaze of intense
anxiety. Two long twelve-pounder cannon were run out for a
stern chase, and stout, rugged-looking seamen, were standing by
with hands already blackened with powder: and there were
other signs, which would seem to show a state of war, or the
attack of some hostile sea rover. But it is neither war nor pi
racy, that is the cause of this ship s warlike trim.

There is a man on board, for whom this anxiety is shown ;
for whom these guns are pointed. He has just come up from
out of the ship s hold, where he has been lying hid for some
time. He looks very pale, bleached by long, unchanging stay,
within confining walls ; and this pallor contrasts strangely with
thick, black hair on his head, and long, unsightly black hair on
his lips; but this is not his own; his own lighter hair peers
from beneath, and his strange-looking, ill-fitting garments do not
Beem to have been made for his person.

It would be easy to judge from this man s disguised costume

THE STRAITS OF SUNDA. 7

and countenance, and his anxious, hunted look, that he was a
fugitive ; and it would be no less easy to judge from the stir on
board around him, and the lookout towards Java, that he had
just escaped from that island; and the people on board were
expecting a pursuit, and stood ready to beat off all attempt to
retake him.

The land breeze now freshens up, and the clipper surges
ahead, at a rate that would defy the pursuit of any craft, with
sail or steam, in those seas. The city of Batavia has sunk from
view ; but a Dutch war steamer s long, black wreath of smoke is
yet to be seen above the horizon.

Edam, with its wild ruins, and the Thousand Isles, are
passed; then Onrust, that grave of sailors; next Cramat, with
the Tchandys of the old Brahmins ; and then the Kambuys,
Great and Little, the fruity Babi, the lofty Guming Laoo, near
by the Pulo Merak with its curious cove, rise upon the view,
and are lost astern of the swift-winged ship. There are cluster
ing here, and lining the Sunda Straits, that great gateway of the
trade of the East, some of earth s fairest spots of island verdure
and shade, and filled with the brightest of winged life, and
tropic beauty.

The lovely Sunda Isles glide quickly past in review. The
shoaly channelled Zutphen group, the pirate prahu s safe re
treat ; then little Thwart the Way, with its noisy, foaming
shore, the lofty Rajah Bassa of the great Malay land, Sebookoo, by
the Lampong s Bay and Pulo Bessi ; but chief of all, is the sub
lime and lovely Crockatoa, with its marvellous marine gardens
by its shores, its deep verdure and boiling fountains, where the
angler can cook the fish caught within his rod s reach, from the
ocean tide, laving the island s coral border ; and lastly appears
Pulo Intan. The Batoo Hadjy, or Pilgrim s rock of the Dia-

8 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

mond Island, is waning to the view ; tis gone, and now that ship
is alone between unbroken sky and water, on the great Indian
sea.

The sun has set ; and the weary crew and passengers are re-
tiring to an early rest. The officer of the watch is pacing to and
fro, and the man at the wheel is watching his compass, and the
shaking skysail.

There are three persons, who are lingering on that quar
ter-deck: they are gazing wistfully out upon the sparkling
sea, and then at the splendor of the Indian night sky ; and two
of these are ladies, and the other is the fugitive.

He draws near, and they speak of the beauty of the sea and
the stars. The ladies were talking of the cheatery of star-raised
hopes ; of the treachery lying beneath these gentle Indian waters ;
and of the frailty of the great ship, that now bore them on so
swiftly and so safely.

And why did the ladies think thus ? And then they tell of
the revery of one, some three months before, on this same quarter
deck, at a point within two degrees of where their ship now is ;
and they tell how the starry and ocean depths they were then
looking at had been questioned, seeking to find a solace in their
shadowy looks and great mysterious voices ; and how the heart
had gathered hope from them, and the soul was soothed with the
melcdy of whispering wavelets ; soothed to a sense of peace and
quiet trust. But just then the coral rocks were beneath the ship s
bows, and she struck upon Brewer s hidden shoals. How the
vessel had been got off, and barely kept afloat to run into a port
near by ; and how, after three months refitting, she had sailed ;
and at the moment of departure, he had himself escaped on
board ; of all this, the fugitive himself best knew.

It was curious, a fact outvying in strange coincidence many

A MEETING. 9

a rare device of fancy. He, too, had had a revery, on the
evening of a day, just three months ago : and he had been look
ing from close-barred gratings up to the same blue and glittering
space, seeking hope in the skyey depths; he thought he read
there what he sought, and he was about to go forth, to enjoy the
sweets of wandering free once more ; but the cold hand of ruth
less power, under a cloak of justice, was then near by; and
Brower, the sheriff of Weltevreden, came with an order of re-
arrest, that cast the prisoner back upon his despair.

All this is true on the same day, almost the same hour,
these two reveries were broken by the wreck and the re-arrest ;
by Brower the sheriff, and by Brewer s shoals.

They begin to tell to each other something of the past. The
ladies had heard some rumors, from a prison in Batavia ; but all
was vague about him, who came on deck that morning. He had
come amid hurry, excitement, and the roar of cannon. Where
had he been ? why imprisoned ? and above all, how had he es
caped ?

The questions of the ladies conjure up an eventful and excit
ing past. A host of strange people, of wild and lovely scenes,
and stirring deeds, that would require much time to unfold. But
there is a long voyage before them ; and they all shall have plea
sure on many a fair day, and many a soft evening, in telling and
listening.

THE Palmer is a beautiful ship ; of frigate size in length of
keel, from deck to kelson, and in the width of her beam. Her
sides, bows, and stern, sweep around in continuous curves. She
has long polished masts, of bright-grained heart of pine, tapering
from the thick columnar base in the hold, up so gracefully
to the slender royal shafts on which the gilded trucks are poised.
The Palmer s yards are of man-of-war s weight and width, on
which are bent a full suit of sails, from spanker to jib, from
main to sky-sail, springing so trimly from the clews, and span
ning each spar with a graceful arch. The whitest of pine glis
tens on her quarter-deck, one third of the ship s length; and
at the break of it, steps lead down to the main deck, on each
Bide of a covered companion-way, leading into

THE CABIN OF THE PALMER.

In it there is a range of state-rooms, starboard and larboard,
four of each, ample as chambers, with beds, not berths, of four
feet width, with springy mattress, like beds ashore. The polish
of bird s-eye maple, by the side of deep-hued mahogany, glistens
from panel and stanchion. A partition of rich panelling and
stained glass, cuts off ten feet of the after part of the saloon,
superbK cushioned and carpeted, from the main portion forward,
which is filled with the dining table, and the cushioned seats on
either side.

PASSENGERS OF THE PALMER. 11

At this table, eleven persons are seated, on the second morn
ing of the homeward voyage of the ship from Java. Her com
mander sits at the forward end : he is yet young, not past his
thirtieth year. He is backward and faint of speech in the cabin,
though forward and firm enough on deck : he does not speak
much or well, except in a gale of wind, to men on the yards,
reefing refractory sails.

His fair young wife sits on his left ; who had preferred life
at sea with her bronze-faced sailor, to a quiet home with
father and mother. Their baby, a crowing urchin, the pet of
the cabin, little Charley boy, is just now nestled in the lap of
the lady who sits next to his mother ; and this is the lady of the
revery on the quarter-deck.

The baby s nurse sits next to the lady; a spare-looking,
talkative, cheery old dame ; she has spent her life singly, has
seen much of the world nursing and voyaging ; yet prouder of
nothing more than to be a famous child manager and pleaser ;
and somewhat vain of her knowledge of making crullers and
doughnuts, and all manner of domestic pastry.

The old nurse finds sometimes a willing, sometimes a gruff,
impatient listener to her exploits with babies and short crust, in
her neighbor on her left. We shall follow that course round the
table. The nurse s left hand neighbor is a man about forty-
five years of age ; he is a huge, broad-chested, dark-looking man
of war. He is terrible to look at, and terrible in his strength
and courage. The ancient god of force seems incarnate in that
man.

He was a boatswain on board an American ship of war, sta
tioned in the Chinese waters. He became chafed at times, and
disturbed the ship s people with his Titanic play. At one time,
he was ordered under arrest, and several marines were sent to

12 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

seize him ; but as they came within reach of the nervy palms
of the boatswain, they fell around him like rotten reeds blown
down by a strong wind ; and had these been the days of Sam
son, without powder and bullet, he might have withstood the
whole ship s company with a handspike ; or even Samson s weapon
against the Philistines.

But our boatswain must yield to the overwhelming power of
the enginery of war. He was discharged and disrated ; and he
shipped on board the Palmer, at Canton, to return home, to seek
some redress at the hands of the Chief of Marine at Wash
ington.

"Whilst the Palmer was repairing at Onrust, the navy yard
of the Dutch, near to Batavia, the boatswain, like the rest of
the passengers, spent his time ashore in this city. The fame of
his strength was common talk among the natives and the for
eigners of the port. Mynheer took his pipe from his mouth,
and stared at the shaggy, lion-headed American, as he passed
by ; and the Malay and Javanese said that the rakshashas, the
giants of old, Laksamana or Panji, had come back to earth
again.

But there was one who took umbrage at the boatswain s re
nown a merchant, and a man of wealth; but an athlete, and
a prize-fighter at heart who handled the boxing glove more
readily than the pen, and preferred the bowling alley to the
counting-room. He too was hugely built ; but plump, florid, and
round limbed; a marked contrast to the square built, bull-
necked boatswain ; though they were alike in age, stature, and
girth.

Thoy met at the hotel, where the merchant had rooms. Th
two gladiators frankly gave and took words of good feeling and
good fellowship. An admiring crowd stood off, looking on, and

THE BOATSWAIN AND MERCHANT. 13

whisperingly discussed the strong men s animal points. These
two drank to each other s health, and toasted the sages and the
heroes of their countries.

The merchant warme d fast with wine ; his voice grew loud
er ; he bantered the boatswain about his strength ; he chal*
lenged him to exchange a few buffets with the gloves ; but our
man of war kept cool ; he was a guest, and he would not take
up the gauntlet of his host. The latter taunted and pressed on
the boatswain, and seized him by a lappel of his coat as he
was about to depart : he pulled till the lappel and part of the
back was left in his hand; still the boatswain would retreat,
and would meet the boxing merchant some other day. But no,
the latter would have a trial of strength then: he seized his
retreating guest by the remaining lappel, taunted him with cow
ardice, and tore lappel and almost the whole of a new uniform
coat from the boatswain s back.

Now, our man-of-war s-man s blood was up. He bared his
brawny arms. He closed with his challenger, and the garments
of the merchant were torn from him like wetted paper. They
grappled, they swayed to and fro, they heaved, they lunged, and
the merchant was hurled to the ground.

The lookers on, were the mate of the Palmer, another
American, some merchants of the city, and a lawyer. These
rushed forward to help the fallen man; but the sailor scat
tered them right and left, and kept his foot upon his prostrate foe.
One, more forward than the rest, came within the boatswain s
grasp, who seized him by both legs, like a helpless child, and
hurled the rash man out of a window near by, who was only
Baved from a desperate fall, and probable death, by a balcony
rail against which he struck.

The boatswain s foot was loosened, and the merchant sprang

14 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

up. He rushed upon his enemy with infuriated rage. They
struck and tore each other with terrible power ; and in a mo
ment their broad, massive faces were bruised and gashed, and
their garments were hanging in tatters and clotted with blood.

The merchant staggered, and again he went down. Threo
lookers-on rushed forward to stop the maddened American from
leaping upon him. The boatswain seized them one by one,
and felled them sprawling upon the prostrate gladiator; laid
hold upon a huge, heavy, round Dutch table, overturned and
slammed it down upon the struggling four, jumped on top, leaped
and kicked forth upon it for a few seconds, an infuriated war-
dance; and then stalked forth, conqueror, bloody, ungarmented,
and awful.

The boatswain, and the stout mate of the Palmer, who is on
his left, at the after end of the cabin table, now listen with quiet
deference to the garrulous nurse ; or to the passenger, who has a
place, at the after end of the starboard side. He is the late
fugitive, and is speaking of Sumatra, a chosen land with him,
of which he hopes to tell much, to many in his own and other
lands. He will tell his story in another way, in these pages, as
he told it to those who sailed with him in the Palmer.

Next to him is a pale, slender, slow-spoken man, about
thirty years of age, eight of which he had passed as a mission
ary in China, and he is a great amateur in Chinese litera
ture. He had married early; but Chinese diet or climate, or
missionary life in China seems fatal to American women; for his
wife soon died, like many other missionary wives who had gone
out. The young missionary needed another companion ; and the
mm at home, who sent him forth, the American Board of For-

THE MISSIONARIES. 15

cign Missions, had made large provision to meet the wife-wants
of the gospel laborers it sent forth. At one time, they pro
vided for the return of the widowed missionary to seek another
partner ; but finally it was decreed, that those who wished to
supply the place of a lost partner, should stay in the field of
their labors, and have one sent to them.

Our worthy minister sent for one, and he often spoke of the
novel feeling, in awaiting an unknown spouse. In due time, the
matrimonial order was filled from a female school for missionary
wives ; was shipped, and duly received in China by the eagerly
expectant consignee, who accepted the shipment, pronounced it
good, and put his own name upon it : and now, this matrimonial
consignment, a slender, quiet young lady, with a mild, pale
and kindly face, sits beside her missionary spouse. She is an
invalid, and they are returning home, to save her from the
speedy grave of the missionary wife.

Another missionary sits next to the invalid wife. A stoop
ing, pale-faced, elderly-looking man ; though older with infirm
ity than with years. His thin hair is almost white ; but it is
a flaxen whiteness, and its natural hue ; and the pallor and
wrinkles of his face, are the bleachings and markings of failing
health, the speedy product of " Celestial " air and food.

But the face of the elder missionary, as we shall call him,
has a good, earnest, and benevolent expression ; and his eyes
beam forth occasionally from out of the surrounding drapery of
disease, with a sparkle of true missionary enthusiasm. His
head swims, his sight is dim, and his hand wanders at times, in
quest of food upon the table. Then there is put forth a woman s
hand to obtain what the sick man wants ; and there is a woman s
voice by his side, that rouses the sluggish invalid from his tor
por. That voice has a foreign sound, a Scandinavian accent, and

16 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

belongs to a Swedish face, with a look of middle age, round,
florid, and fair, that left Sweden some ten years ago for Eng
land, and there entered the British missionary service to go to
China, as a teacher; where some twelve months before this time
she married our elder missionary, who had not long lost a wife.

The Swedish lady sits on the right hand of the commander,
and completes the table circle. She leads the way in conversa
tion among the cabin s company ; and has been addressing the
fugitive passenger a multitude of questions about his wander
ings in the Indian Archipelago, about the Malays, his imprison
ment, his trials and his escape.

He feels, as one often feels who has seen much of life,
and met a strange fate, like many a one of earnest thought, and
of some fine-fibred feelings, easily jarred : he shrinks from the
direct challenge of curiosity, to tell, like a hireling story-teller,
of that which has been most eventful in life.

He is feeble now, not yet recovered from late pain and ex
citement : he looks very thin, and ghastly. After a time, he
will be glad to tell his brave rescuers, and kind-hearted pro
viders, something of what he has lately seen and undergone. It
will be the only return he now can offer for the mate and boat
swain s timely rescue with the boat ; for the comfortable berth he
now finds on board ; for the change of garments from the elder
and younger missionary; and for the abundant gift of toilet
luxuries from the ladies.

The commander wishes to know something of the yellow-
skinned people on the pepper coasts of Sumatra ; the boatswain
is more curious about the bloody pirates, who cut off heads and
skin stout sailors alive ; the mate damns the Dutch, and wouM
know, why the big-breeched smokers had dared to lay rude hands
on the flag of his country ; the elder missionary asks about the

HOW THE STOUT WAS TOLD. 17

gospel among the Malays ; the younger about the books of the
Javans; and the ladies ask if there be" any truth in a story,
that some heroic daughter of a Sumatran chief or Javan noble,
had brightened the cell of their fellow passenger, while in the
Prison of Weltevreden.

This curiosity was not immediately gratified, but his story was
gradually drawn out, day after day ; and as the interest in narra
ting and listening increased, he would make a preparation of notes
during the day, for the afternoon s story on the quarter-deck ;
and the book is mainly made up from those notes ; many of the
first chapters being only slightly changed from the words then pre
pared. But the exact order of telling has not been preserved ;
little attention has been paid to the circumstances attending
each narration on board the Palmer ; and only such comments of
the listeners as had a bearing upon the object of the work, have
been retained. He first told of the early influences that led him
to adventure in the East ; then of his voyage to Sumatra; and
afterwards of his imprisonment, and all that occurred to him in
the island of Java,

THIRD DAY.

THE dark clouds of the night before have rolled mutteringly
away to the laud of storms, leaving a bright tropic day ; and
now, the slanting rays of the declining sun shed a golden light,
and a softened warmth along the polished quarter-deck of the
Palmer.

All of the cabin s company are seated there, on the light rat
tan settees of China. They are grouped around the passenger
from Java, who begins now the story he had promised

ABOUT HIS UNCLE.

I had an uncle, who, when a youth, ran away from home, a
good home ; from a kind father, and an affectionate mother, to go
to sea, to become a sailor, to live a life of adventure, and to seo
strange people and far-off lands. He went through all the bit
ter trial of a friendless apprenticeship on board ship ; the tyr
anny of a brutal captain; the cruel, harmful jokes, and snub-
bings of more brutal men ; all this with hard labor, and bitter
weather on deck, and with coarse food, and a foul berth in the
forecastle, he struggled through sufferingly, until he became a
man, and could hold an even hand with a harsh life and the
tyranny of his fellow-men.

ilis thoughts, like those of all sea-roving young souls, wan
dered among the isles of the Southern seas. He had daily
strolled in boyhood upon the wharves of his native seaport town,

THE UNCLE. 19

to gaze upon the mighty ships that sailed to the Indies. He had
read with eager relish; all stories of Eastern lands ; and he be
held in dreams, Arabs, Hindoos and Malays, with brown skins,
bright turbans, and jewelled robes, moving in pomp and dazzling
array.

He found the captain of an East Indiaman, who needed an
apprentice, and would take him. He thought of the glory and
fortune he would win on the ocean, and in the Indies; but how
leave his mother. He prepared a glowing story to tell her ; but
he felt that she could never view the adventure as he did ; and
his heart failed him.

The time approached for the ship to sail. He had daily
watched the reeving of ropes, the bending on of sails, and all
the preparations for a long sea voyage. The day of sailing had
arrived ; the ship is in the stream, ready to up anchor, the
moment the captain shall come on board. Still my uncle has not
dared to break unto his mother, his desire to go with this ship.
He feels that she would never consent for him to go : he per
suades himself also, that she cannot understand all the advan
tages of the voyage, and all the motives that lead him to wish
to go. He beholds, with boyish hope, a glorious voyage accom
plished in a very short time, when he shall return in triumph,
with fame and fortune, wherewith to gratify his mother, and
others whom his young soul does love. He meets a young sailor
whom he knew, about to put off for the ship. The signal flag
of the gallant craft is floating from the main ; and waves him
on to glory and the glittering East. The judgment of the boy and
his sense of duty, are lost for the time, in the strange visions of the
young roving heart. He resolves to go. He writes a few hur
ried words of love and assurance to his mother ; and, in a few
hours, he is on board the ship, at sea.

20 ruisoN OF WJ;LTJ:VKI:I&gt;EN.

I shall not tell you of the various fortunes of this uncle in
the East. He had passed from the bitter life of the friendless
apprentice, to that of the sailor man 5 and yet neither the fame
nor the fortune of his boyish dreams had been found. He felt
the sting of disobedience, along with his other hardships ; and
yet he would not return to his country, till he could show those
at home something for his hopings, and his wanderings. But
there came a time, when his pride was broken ; when his heart
yearned to go back to his mother, a"nd try to wipe away the error
of the past, by soothing her failing age ; and then there came
the news of his mother s death.

After this there was little in his country, for which the deso
late, disappointed man, now cared. He made his home irl the
East. He entered the service of an Arab merchant of Muscat ;
and after a time, fell into the favor of the Imaum. He made
many voyages to the Malay Islands, chiefly to Acheen, in the
island of Sumatra.

Whilst on a return voyage, and touching at Bombay, he
found letters froni a sister, whom he remembered as a little child,
but was now married to a man of wealth. The sister longed to
see her much thought-of, and long lost brother. His heart wa.s
touched with home memories. He arranged his affairs on his
return to Muscat, and after many affectionate adieus from Eastern
friends, he departed for the home of his sister.

The sun-bronzed man was embraced by a fair and dignified
lady ; they who had once romped together, a ruddy, round-faced
boy, and a curly-haired, rosy-cheeked girl. Time s changes at
home were sad for him to dwell upon. He prepared to return
to the scene of his interests ; and where he had spent eighteen
years of his life, those years when faith is strongest, and hopes
are brightest. In speaking to his sister of his future in the

THE UNCLE. 21

East, he said that he wanted one of her children to share his
fortunes with him there. He singled out her third son, a child
rocked upon his own much-loved sea. His love for this -nephew
grew strong from the first moment of his seeing him, though the
child could barely lisp his name. There was a strange bond of
sympathy between them. And when the uncle was gone, he regu
larly sent from Muscat, or Ceylon, or Acheen, some word or gift
for his nephew Walter, who now tells it to you.

As I grew up, in boyhood s inquiring age, I heard them often
speak at home of my adventurous uncle ; who had caressed me
in my childhood, and had chosen me to be his heir, and his part
ner in foreign lands. The spirit of adventure, to see strange
people and far-off countries, sprang up in me, as soon as I had
learned to read about them ; and that was at a very early age.
I felt a longing to go to sea, and to join my uncle, even in my
seventh year.

It was about this time my uncle made a strange, abrupt re
turn. I was much with him during this visit, rambling to
gether often on the sea beach, to listen to the melody of the
tossing waters, which we both loved so much. And then he
talked of Arabia, and of the islands of the far East : and more
than all of Sumatra : of the perfumes that wafted from her
shores ; of the many dainty fruits, and myriad bright-feathered
birds of her flowery groves : of the Malay princes, and of the
mighty wars with Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and English.

And then he spoke of a great city in the centre of the island,
a city once of mighty extent and population, whose Sultans had
given laws to all the rest of the Malay nations. But this great
city had decayed ; and its empire had been divided into many
small, and feeble portions. Now the Malays looked for the res
toration of the sacred city ; and their traditions had pointed to

22 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

fair-skinned men from the West ; who should come with wisdom
and great power; and who should destroy the robbers of Islam, the
evil genii of the woods, and a great plunderer called Jan Com
pany. All these scenes, all these events and legends, stirred up
a spirit which, from that time forth, grew upon my soul.

My uncle returned to the East. The bronze-faced man was
gone. The stories of the sea and of the islands had ceased ;
but the wonders of Sumatra, the glittering pomp of Eastern
princes, shone in every bright scene that met my eyes ; and then
as I rambled on the beach, I often beheld with revery s eye, far
out at sea, where water and sky did meet, where the sun s glis
tening rays were dancing amid the mirage of its own making ;
there I beheld the sacred city of the Malay isle, with its shining
walls and temple roofs ; and then I wondered who should help,
who should teach, and who should do good to the people of the
Indian seas.

When the story of the uncle was ended, the captain ex
pressed his wonder how that any man, who had ever traded on
the coast of Sumatra, could weave such fine fancies, as did the
uncle around the thieving, cut-throat Malays; and the boat
swain muttered something about too nice a yarn, and bending
on too much fancy tac le, and too long in getting to sea among
the Dutch and the pirates. But the ladies and the mission
aries smiled approval, and hoped on the following day to hear
more of the early influences that led the narrator to the East.

FOURTH DAY.

When the sun s declining rays, caught by the spanker, left
one half of the Palmer s quarter deck in shade, the ladies and
the missionaries were grouped around the fugitive on the weather
quarter, when he began to relate

ABOUT AN OLD TEACHER.

I received my limited share of bookish lore under the di
rection and tuition of a good and remarkable old man. He
was famous for his stories. The ordinary routine of the tasks
and the teaching of his class, was often stayed to tell some stir
ring tale of heroic life or travel.

The old worthy had been a missionary among the red men, and
bois brules, of the remote North West, and on the Pacific bor
ders : and the boy-hearted old enthusiast, often led away his
pupils from their books, to lead them on in story by the beaver
dams on the streamlets of the Winnipeg and the Wimpigoos,
among the wigwams and the deer haunts, and the browsing buffa
loes on the prairies of the Saskatchawan, and then across the
rocky bound of Oregon, and down the Okanagan to the shores
of the Pacific.

There, our good teacher loved to pause, and point out to us,
far away, upon the grand ocean, beautiful islands, the chosen
scenes of the lavish bounty and beauty of nature, where flowers
for ever bloomed, and spring-time had no end. Such was the pic-

24 PRISON OF WT.LTEVREDEX.

turc the good old man s enthusiasm presented to the eye of all
his young hearers ; and with me, the stories of my uncle, and
my own dreamings of Sumatra were revived ; and thus another
step was my heart led on towards the East.

Were I telling the story of my life, I would have much to
Bay about many haps in early boyhood : even a childhood
of adventure. I was a wanderer from home, and left to my
own guidance at the age of fourteen. I entered a youthhood
rich in a wild young heart s revelry, amid all that adventure
sought, and romance could wish for ; and wretched too in all that
unthinking, lonely, unadvised youth could bring upon itself, of
unseasonable trials, trouble and care.

I fled from my studies with the old missionary, to seek
a home among the red men he had so much spoken of. I wan
dered off with a hunting party, and marched many a day with
my boy s feet, over wide tracts of wild forest ; or with light-footed
dogs, and the flat, metal-sheeted traineau, glided over the fragile
ice crust of deep, boundless, bleak snow wastes. I followed in
adventure s steps, in the great Empire city ; and above all in my
own adopted State. How glowing and bright was the life of
those early days ; and how rich then, the revelries of the wild
young heart !

And then came the trials and cares of the unadvised youth.
When I was yet a boy, I met in my wanderings in the backwoods
of South Carolina with a fair gentle girl of my own age, who had
never been more than half a day s ride from the plantation of her
father. We often sauntered together in the still woods of Milwec
on summer days ; we would wade, barefooted, the shallow pcbbly
streams ; cross the deep and rapid creeks, with mutual help of
I-inds to our tottering steps, as we walked the unsteady swinging
trunk that bridged them over. We rambled hand in hand to gather

THE PLANTER. 25

wild grapes and the muscadine, then we would rest beneath the
dense shade, and at the foot of some great tree, and talk of our
boyish and girlish fancies ; and then without any thought as to
mutual tastes, character, or fitness, or any thing that had
to do with the future ; but listening only to the music of OUT
young voices ; to the alluring notes of surrounding nature ; and
having only our young faces to admire, we loved ; and long ere
I was a man, we were married.

It was about this time, that I made the next step towards the
Islands of the Indian Ocean, through the influence of a wealthy
and intelligent planter* He was a man of expanded mind,
and enthusiastic temperament; and had a great relish for
travel, and bold enterprise in unknown countries. He often
spoke of the hidden wealth of the Eastern world; and said
how it had been a dream of his youth to go into the heart
of Asia, and then among the marvellous islands of the In
dian Ocean. He oftentimes traced out a route on the East
ern Hemisphere, which I followed with eager eyes. I recalled
again the first impulse given to my boyish imagination; and
now, aroused by this man s fervor, the Sumatran land began to
gleam in revery before my eyes again ; and the Indian Ocean
lay outstretched, a shining path before me, even in those early
days, leading to fortune and to honorable renown.

The region of country in which I dwelt, the upland border of
the state, is a chosen spot of nature to foster the ardor of young
thoughts of novel and lofty enterprise. There are no groupings
of earth, and woods, and streams, that offer wilder and richer pic
tures, than can be seen along the windings of the Keowee, so deep
ly fringed with borders of laurel and muscadine ; on the Wild
Wolf Creek, from the mighty beetling crags of Table Rock, in
the sweet valley of Jocassee, on " Horse Shoe" Chauga, fame4

26 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

in Kennedy s romance, and then beyond Tugaloo in the Currahee,
in the rich beauty of the " leaping liquid silver " of Talula and
Tccoa; and thus a host of wild and lovely vales, and frowning
peaks, and shining streams, in this Switzerland of America, were
the scenes of my early oriental dreainings.

I was indeed but a dreamer then; in those days before I be
came a maa ; or I had not found my calling. I felt myself fit for
little, in a planting country, sparsely peopled, where few or none
were wanted but those, who could handle the plough, the hammer
or the axe ; who were shrewd in the exchange of peddlers wares ;
or could drub some knowledge of books into rude backwoods,
barefooted boys, in an " old-field-school," for which pursuits I
had but small skill, and less of taste.

I longed to look at the sea again. It was a strong, yearning
wish I felt. I gazed with pleasure on the swift waters of the
Savannah ; and as I thought of them flowing on towards the
ocean, my heart almost tempted me, at times, to launch forth in
a well-stored canoe, descend to the river s mouth, and there join
any great ship going to any distant land. It was a boy s
thought ; whilst I had a man s cares to fix me in my back
woods home. But now, in the midst of my boyish longings,
death came to chill all dreams, and cloud my life ; yet after a
time my young widowed heart felt free to range again ; and
I wanted to fly on the wings of the wind towards the rising of
the sun.

FIFTH DAY

THE Palmer was still in the trade-winds : she rolled gently yet
swiftly on, under a full spread of canvass : the sky was bright
overhead, with a skirt of white fleecy masses just above the ho
rizon : the watch off duty lay outstretched on the t gallant fore
castle, basking in the softened rays of a declining tropic sun ;
and the passengers were lounging on the settees of the quarter
deck, or leaning over the t gallant rail, watching the yellow sea
weed floating past amid the deep blue waters, when he of the
Southern backwoods sat down to relate his departure from his
early home, some travels, and what led to

THE PURCHASE OF THE FLIRT.

I left a curious little cabin home, on the banks of the Savan
nah. It had been the work of my own hands, and of that
neighborly help, ever so readily lent by the Southern planter
and backwoodsman. It was a rude little wooden hut; but the
pine log walls, and the oak-board roof, and the mud and stick
chimney had been a pleasant home ; and the corn cake baked on
my own hearth stone eat sweetly in those days, when coarse
fare and a draught from the water brooks was luxury.

The best of my early years were spent on the waters of the
Savannah : on both of its banks, on the Carolina, and on the

28 PRISON OP WELTEVREDEN.

Georgia side. I have travelled those waters, from the Tybee
mouth to the utmost limit where a steamer s keel can run ; then
with shoulder to a boat pole have urged, with slow and strain
ing step, the flat-bottomed cotton barge up to the shoals on the
Seneca. I have canoed on Keoweo and Twelve Mile, and have
waded, or crossed on some simple log, every branch and spring
stream running down from the Saluda Hills on the one side, and
the Currahee on the other

I love the land by the Savannah s waters. I have wandered
over, and explored, every wood and hollow, every steep and ra
vine, from Chatooga and Chauga, from Conneros and Generos-
tee, from Twelve Mile and Eighteen to Six and Twenty on the
Carolina side ; and then from Tugaloo and Tecoa, from Big Ce
dar and Little Lightwood Log, to the Great Broad in Georgia.

I love the people that live by these waters; the clear-headed,
generous, independent men ; and the fair, trusty, warm-hearted
women of the southern backwoods.

I lived the philosopher s coveted life, in my early unambi
tious years, among these people, in these woods, and by these
streams. A light labor got me all I wanted then, of simple
dress, and simple food : the homespun garb, both inner and outer
one, from the coat to. the stocking feet, was carded, spun, dyed,
woven, and made up, by the sam3 hands that cooked the
backwoods fare. And I cared not for more than this supply of
simple wants, and my pine log home.

When this light labor was laid aside, which was often done,
then I turned to other toil, with my rifle and hatchet and hunt
ing knife, in the W9ods ; and I roused the red deer abounding in
the glens and valleys, and on the hill sides around Oconee, and
the Valhalla of later days.

In one of my chases among the wilds of Pickens, I wu.s

LEGENDARY INDIAN MINES. 29

wooed by a deep, silent, and shaded hollow to shelter from the
noonday heat, and take my hunting meal ; and as I lay on a
cool, green bank, watching the leaping and eddying play of a lim
pid mountain stream, that purled and brawled over its pebbly
bed, I saw amid the bubbles of a little shoaly point, a glistening
speck of bright metallic lustre.

I found among slaty and crystalline stones, a dark pebble,
bearing upon its face a gout of pure, white, silvery metal, from
which the dim coating of native ore had been burnished, when
swollen waters had hurried it onward in the streamlet s bed, rub
bing against its fellows.

The glistening of that metal had greater charm than the
chase of deer/ I sought along the stream for more of the mate
rial of coin, of which so little was seen in those mountain wilds ;
and as I sought I came to a curious dent in the streamlet s bank,
covered with the growth of the surrounding ground, but which
showed that the hand of man had been burrowing in that wild
glen many years ago.

I then recalled some backwoods stories of the Cherokees,
when masters of these forests, how in some frontier warfare they
had dealt out death with silver bullets, found in some mountain
haunts, never seen by the white man s eye.

Many a search had been made, and I dare say is making to
this day, to find out. the silver mines known to the Indians ; and
when I found the pebble with the silvery gout, and looked
upon the cut in the little creek s bank, I doubted not but that
I had fallen upon one of the Indian mines.

I returned home with the piece of shining ore, and showed
it to one who knew much about gold, and silver and lead
mining ; and he at once pronounced what I had found to be a
piece of native silver, often found in ductile gouts and threads

30 PRISON OF WELTEVHEDEN.

on the surface of some lump of the dark quartose stony ore, in
which it is mostly hid, and from which by grinding, and by heat
or metallic flux only can it be brought forth.

The miner made rue a tempting offer to lead him to the spot,
where I had found the silver ore ; but I cared not to share niy
secret, and sought it again alone. I went this time with pick
and spade, to dig into the cut in the creek bank. I saw
plainly, that the bed of earth into which I dug had been
before disturbed, and was like. the filling in of some old pit.
I pierced through this mingled soil, and came to a bed of
dark and crystalline rock and earth, and still deeper I found the
same dark stone and quartz ; and of this I brought away a load
not knowing whether I had found silver or not.

The miner s mortar and crucible showed that I had found a
silver mine. Now there were visions of great treasure, and of
a pomp and pride of wealth, which those backwoods had never
known ; and now the rude forest home, and the simple dress and
fare had lost the quiet charm which once they had worn for me.

The desire arose to buy the lands in which the silver was
found ; but they were part of a great, encumbered, law-entan
gled domain; and so utterly rugged and barren, that no one
could seek their purchase, with the plea of wishing to till the
soil.

Still it became my great wish to own this land, so that I
could work out the imagined silver masses unmolested; but
towards the carrying out of this wish, my chief means were a
rifle, a mule, some old books, and the little furnishings of my
rough log shelter.

But I had youth, the youth of nineteen; and a large share
of that age s ardor and over sanguine hopefulness : and then from
my point of view, in those backwoods, when my young mind, had

CAUSE OF LEAVINU THE BACKWOODS. 31

been so long growing up untrammelled and luxuriant, I felt not
those checks in looking forward to any achievement of fortune or
of fame, which spring from the discipline of arts and letters, and
the training of society.

In speaking of this, my state of mind, and the finding of
the fancied great silver mine, I merely wish to tell of one, the
most pleasing one to the curious ear, of the many causes, along
with the death I have spoken of, that led me to leave peaco, and
quiet joys, and a simple life in a fair sylvan home, to go ana
enter into the common strife for gain with the rest of the money-
groping world.

There were some calls to common practical pursuits, which
led me into the business world ; but beneath this outside of every
day toil, there glowed the hope in that hopeful time to get the
means to draw forth a silver wand from the hills of Oconee, that
would open up a road to the charmed East ; and with that in
view, I left the pine-log home, the homely fare, the homespun
garb, and the unfettered life of the backwoods.

I soon learned that an adventurous spirit, and ambitious
hopes, and all lack of training to any labor of the head or
hands, were but poor stock in trade among the busy marts of
men ; and I soon felt that what had made me feel so rich among
the forests, would in the city keep me very poor.

The drudge and the routine of the daily life of trade, soon
drove away all dreams of the past. But wealth was eked out of
this dull toil ; even as the bright gold is dug out of the dull
earth : and so I gained some fortune, and then I travelled.

Of my ramblings then, it is not my object to speak ; except
to glance at so much as led to the once longed-for journeyings
in the East.

Among other countries, I travelled throughout the republic

32 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

of Mexico. I followed the track of Scott s conquering army :
by the battlements of Ulua; through the -woody pass of Cerro
Gordo : at Plan del Rio, Jalapa, Perote, Puebla ; and then
among the smiling huertas, overtopped by the snowy peak of Ori-
zava.

I saw something of the havoc at Molino del Rey, and upon
the cypress steeps of Chapultepec. Then I wandered by Chalco ;
and mounted to the snows of the Muger Blanca : visited the
silver lands of Guanajuato, and ranged through miles of hot gal
leries, down a thousand feet and more in the earth s bowels, in
those old emptied metal veins of Rayas, La Luz, and Valencini-
ana ; from whence dollars are still poured out, by millions every
year. And here I thought of the Peruvian, whose mountain
chase led him to the silver-loaded caverns of Potosi ; and then I
thought of the silver gout and the creek bank by Oconee.

I was in the hot plains, in the Tierra Caliente, and sojourned
at Cuernavaca, at the old hacienda of Cortez of Atlacamulco;
then explored the hand wrought halls and corridors within the
womb of Montezuma s mount of Xochycalco, abode at Mia-
catlan, Tcmisco, and Cocoyotlan, visited the Aztec republics in
the hills, went a day s journey within the wondrous caverns of
Cacahuamilpa ; and then on the road to Acapulco, looked forth
towards the Pacific, and thought of early plans of fortune and
renown as I looked on the pathway to the East.

I became known to many of the leading men of Spanish
America abroad ; and soon formed a large circle of South Ame
rican friends on my return home. There was one, a diplomat
from a Central American State, who offered me a gratifying po
sition, and prospect of great moneyed gain, if I would fit out and
equip a small, swift and stout-built vessel, for the service of his
government, which I resolved to do.

THE PURCHASE OF THE FLIRT. 33

I found the craft that was needed, a man-of-war built schooner,
long and low in the hull, broad in the beam, sharp at the bows,
with raking masts, and large yards. Some six and ninety feet
in the length of her keel, four and twenty, the width of her
beam; and her burthen less than one hundred tons, though
admeasured to be three and fifty more.

I had the schooner fitted up with great care in her equipment,
and taste in her adornment. She was to be the nucleus of a lit
tle fleet of a small republic, whose banner had never yet floated
over a keel of its own ; but now the pennant of a Centralian
flag ship was to float from the masthead of the Flirt.

Her hull was repaired, her copper cleaned, her decks calked,
her shrouds set up, her running gear all rove, her crew aboard,
and about to bend on her new suit of sails, when trouble and
loss ensued, and the pleasant and harmless scheme of the
Centralian navy failed ; yet still, I held the Flirt, and I longed
to have a sail in her. I had lost the chances of winning great
profit and naval glory ; but my beauteous ship was ready for sea ;
the sea, on which I had longed so much to range, in a vessel of
my own.

You will not care to know all the causes that should have
stayed me, or that sent me forth. A vessel was on my hands,
bought for a purpose which could not be achieved. She was not
fit for the common carrying of trade. Her sale would have been
a great sacrifice at home, which was so promiseful of profit
abroad ; and so I thought I had sonic cause to make a venture
in the little ship, and felt ; being most willing to believe, that
Providence bid me go.

Let me glance back to a soft sunny afternoon on the 19th of

34 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

May, 1851. I am reclining on Beacon Hill, on Block Island,
with telescope in hand, ranging the horizon, and scanning every
sail that breaks the ocean line, or looms up from behind Mon-
tauk Point. Each mackerelman coming out of Buzzard s Bay,
with a square foretopsail, has been the object of my eager gaze,
and for three weary days the mackerelmen have mocked my
straining eyes.

Once more a square foretopsail heaves in sight, with low hull
and raking spars ; but she stands off from the island, and bears
up channel towards Point Judith. I wave a little flag from the
Beacon heights, and now she heads up for the island shore, and
signals are in her shrouds : I run down to the beach, a fisher
man is about to push off in his boat. I want to jump in with
him; but rumor has filled the island with wild stories of a
strange craft hovering on the coasts, and he refuses to pull me
to the dark, dashing little craft, now backing her foresail, with
in a mile, off shore. I offer five, ten, all the dollars I have,
and at last am afloat in the fisherman s skiff, and soon alongside
of, and on board the Flirt.

We ran up to Newport, came to anchor, and spent there the
night, the next day, and got under way again on the morning
of the following day. As we stood out of the harbor, a well
manned cutter loosed her sails, and bore up in our wake,
seemingly wishful to dare the Flirt to her best, and so we
crowded on all sail, running swiftly down past the sandy flat of
Conanicut, and threading our way with ease, among and ahead
of the fleet of mackerelmen that whitened the Narraganset
Bay. Block Island again is passed ; the last dim line of land
is lost to view, and of all that we left behind that morning, the
last speck that breaks the receding horizon s verge, is the pursu
ing cutter, which soon is gone, and the Flirt is fairly out at sea.

THE PURCHASE OF THE FLIRT. 35

The Boatswain had drawn near, on hearing the name of the
schooner. He had kn-own her well, when she was with the Gulf
Squadron, and at Vera Cruz. It was to him like the hearing
about an old friend ; and he told how that she was the stiffest
little sea-boat that ever sailed out of Chesapeake Bay, on the
eastern coast of which she was built. She had run down many
a degree with exploring Wilkes, and the gallant Nicholson ; and
with many a story of the old cruisings of the Flirt, the ex-man-
of-war boatswain amused the passengers of the Palmer, on the
evening of the fifth day of her homeward voyage from Java.

SIXTH DAY.

THERE were eleven persons in all, who sailed in the Flirt for
Brazil. There was a young man in the cabin, who had done
much in the fitting of her out, and was now passenger for
Bahia. He had introduced a friend to the owner, once a
naval captain s clerk, afterwards a trader s mate, and now was
chosen master of the schooner.

The mate was a stout, gaunt man-o war s-man, who dropped
from the stern of the St. Lawrence frigate one night into a fish
ing boat, and joined the schooner. He shipped as seaman, but
took the place of a former mate, who ran away from the Flirt
on her leaving port.

There were five men before the mast ; three Americans, one
Italian, and one Chilian; besides these, an old Spanish cook;
then the owner and his servant, and these were all who sailed in
the Flirt for Brazil.

She had a small cargo, as ballast, some eighty tons of ice
had no armament, not one cannon, not a keg of powder, nor
any small arms, not a musket or rifle ; and there was nothing
except a small, breach-loading carbine, two small brass pistols,
which the master carried in his breeches pockets, two old rusty
war-pikes, and a harpoon ; nothing else but these for offence or
defence were on board of the Flirt, when she sailed from Ameri
ca in 1851.

She was soon in the fogs and squalls of the tepid Gulf
Stream, and the little craft being in bad trim, labored heavily.

THE MUTINEER. 37

The owner became very sick, and lay for many days in his berth.
His cabin companions were better seamen, and fed well and
drank well, whilst he was a prey to nausea.

He remained full a month below, with only a chance venture
on deck, and knew little of the ship s progress, or of the state
of affairs on board, except as reported to him. He began to hear
stories from his servant of dislike shown by the men for the
master ; the stories increased, the trouble grew greater ; and he
felt that he must arouse, if he would save his ship.

There was a man on board, who was the type of the tradi
tional mutineer : short, thickset, with a thick upturned nose, on
a mottled, gnarled face, hedged around with coarse, black, bushy
hair. He was the first to slight orders, and then with malicious
and wanton bravado, stood on the t gallant forecastle, with a
mock quadrant in his hand, mimicking, in an insulting way,
the action of the master in taking an observation of the sun.

This was unheeded for a while, till the master spoke in half
jeering half threatening words about the man s mimicry; to
which he replied ; and then the master unwisely bandied words
with the man for a time. The latter was ordered to be silent
and go forward, but he answered with effrontery, setting the
master s authority at defiance.

The spirit of mutiny was on board, and if not quelled the
vessel would be in danger. It was necessary to put the rebel
sailor in irons ; but he refused to yield to the master s order, and
the crew stood back, with an air that showed they were ready to
join whichever party should be conqueror.

By, the help of the owner and his Italian servant, the mu
tineer was secured in the forecastle, whither he had sullenly re
treated with the harpoon in his hand, he was brought up on

38 PRISON OF WELTEVKEDEN.

deck, manacled both hand and foot, and then put down into the
run of the cabin, over which a grating was placed.

After a few days stay in this close, dark hole, and being fed
on biscuit and water alone, the bull-dog pluck gave way, and the
sturdy rebel begged to be released, promising to ask the masters
pardon, and to do his duty better and quieter than before.

He was let loose, and there was quiet on board again ; but,
the peace was short. There -arose complaints about the food,
about the mode and filth of the cookery. The Spanish cook was
removed, and the Italian was installed in the caboose in his
stead : but the new cook pleased no better than the former. The
spirit of complaint was abroad in the ship. The master was
mocked more than before. His orders were disobeyed, and in
subordination reigned on board the Flirt.

On the morning of the 5th of July, whilst the master and the
owner were standing by the cabin companion-way hatch, all of
the crew came aft in a quiet manner, with the late mutineer at
their head.

He began to speak about the old grievance of the cookery,
and then of the need of water, and some fresh provisions. But
the chief complaint was that he and his shipmates did not know
where they were, and they did not believe that the master knew.
He then said that they had been six weeks at sea, with a sharp-
built, fast-sailing, stout and steady craft, lightly loaded ; and yet,
by reason of sailing by the wind nearly all the time, and taking
in sail at the sight of every cat s paw, they had not crossed tho
Line, a run of some twenty odd days from home ; but seemed
to be a long way off, baffling about in the "variables ".on the
skirt of the North Atlantic trade-winds.

lie went on to say, that he and the crew had lost all con
fidence in the seamanship of the master; and as they were

STEER FOR PORTO PRAYA. 39

about to run short of many stores, they demanded that the schoon
er should make for the nearest place, where a supply could be ob
tained.

During this harangue the master had gone down into the
cabin, and as he remained there when the man had ceased
speaking, the owner addressed the crew, saying, that the
master could have no object, either in going slowly, or in run
ning off his course ; and as he was the only one on board who
could make any pretensions to navigation, it was absolutely ne
cessary that they should still trust to his direction. The leader
of the crew then replied, that there was bad feeling and plotting
on board, and it was the interest of the owner and all concerned
to steer for the nearest port, so that ill-sorted people might part
company, as well as to get needed supplies.

It was resolved to do so; and that evening, in concert with the
master, the vessel was headed for Porto Praya, the nearest
place to get supplies ; although the distance was but a little less
than to the nearest port on the coast of South .America ; but
they counted upon a favoring wind all the Avay, and hoped to
make the run to Porto Praya in one third of the time that they
would be in reaching the nearest point of the coast of Brazil.
The vessel was now very much lightened : her ballast was
apparently all melted away: the schooner having risen con
siderably out of the water, and fresh water had been pumped
out of the hold for about two weeks.

Baffling winds followed the Flirt on her course to Porto Praya.
What had been supposed would be a run of about one week or
less, was lengthened to eighteen days. On her way thither,
she met the Sumter, commanded by Captain Reid, from Cork,
with 300 troops on board, bound for the Cape of Good Hope.

40 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

The owner and master went on board the transport ship, and
obtained several things of which they were in greatest need.

They entered the harbor of Porto Praya on the afternoon of the
22d of July. The owner immediately went ashore with the
master, and called at the American consulate : the consul was ab
sent from the island, and they found a young Americanized Por
tuguese, having been educated in the United States, acting in his
stead, and with him made arrangements to obtain some water, and
various ship stores.

On the third day after their arrival, when the owner thought
he had adjusted the various disagreements on board, and had
requested the master to go ashore to make some final purchases
prior to their departure, whilst he remained on board to make
ready for a start, the Captain of the Port came alongside the
Flirt to inform him, that, in compliance with the request of the
acting American consul, the commandant of the Fort of Porto
Praya desired the owner and the mate of the Flirt to appear
before him.

They were led into the presence of Major Morraes, the com
mandant of the troops, and acting Governor of the Island of St.
Jago, where they found the American consular representative,
the Captain of the Port, the master of the Flirt and his friend
in the cabin ; and then they learned that the master felt ag
grieved about his loss of authority at sea, and was anxious for
an official investigation of the matter.

The Governor had an authority from a U. S. naval commander
to examine the papers of American ships touching at Porto Praya,
and all evidences of the legality of their voyage. He instituted
a close and judicious inquiry, and in a short time he underwent a
very decided change of opinion in regard to the affair, to what
had been previously created in his mind.

COMMANDANT MORRAES. 41

The master s mind seemed also to have undergone a change
for before the audience closed, he fully concurred with Major Mor
raes, in the view that he had taken of the difficulties at sea , but
he wished to return home, and so the owner was constrained to
part with his navigator, whose friend left the schooner at the
same time.

What else ensued, the owner of the Flirt related thus to his
fellow-passengers on board the Palmer :

After this I stayed three more days at Porto Praya. Com
mandant Morraes pointed out to me what there was curious in
the island of St. Jago, of which Praya is the capital. This is a
crumbling ruin of old Portuguese power ; once a flourishing ren
dezvous for the ships of King John and Emmanuel, and the
great Prince Henry of Portugal, when Yasco de Gama doubled
Africa s farthest southern point ; and when bold Sequeira, the
conquering Albuquerque and heroic Galvan followed after him to
the conquest of the Indies, and of the islands of South-eastern
Asia.

A few old guns, many useless and dismounted, line the
edge of the rocky bluff upon which the ruin of Praya stands,
defended by some two or three hundred ragged negroes and con
vict Portuguese, who subsist on theft, and some scanty rations
of coarse food ; for the worthy Governor informed me, that he
had not received any pay, or any attention from the Home
Government, for about eighteen months ; but as he had spent
some twenty-two years of his life there, and elsewhere on the
coast of Africa, he felt some pride to keep up a show of power
as he best could.

Commandant Morraes seemed to be a disappointed man,
infirm and soul-weary. He had commanded at Mozambique, and
had dreamed of advancing the pillars of Portuguese dominion on

42 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

Madagascar, and to all the old landmarks in the East ; but the
spirit that founded empire in the Brazils, that girded Africa
with forts, and that built up Goa and conquered Malacca, was
dead in his country. A vicious and distracted court, and a cor
rupt aristocracy at home, needed every milrea of a lean ex
chequer for Braganza s dynastic struggles, and to revel in Lisbon s
hideous vice.

The Commandant seemed to wake up to some of his old ad
venturous fire, as we talked together, and as he listened to some
of my reveries and purposes. He glanced at the remnant of
Portuguese possessions, and hinted at what might be done with
them. The Cape de Verdes were an abandoned group of once
fair islands, in ruinous state, every now and then devoted to
famine. St. Jago lived on the visits of strangers, Mayo was a
mere salt-pan, and St. Vincent a foreign steamship station. At
Mozambique, a feeble, neglected garrison was cooped up by the
barbarian queen of Madagascar, and Portuguese power struggled
for an existence upon that island. The glory of Goa was gone ;
the trade of Macao had been drained by the thrifty Hong-Kong ;
and the turreted white flag waved no longer in the great East
ern Aichipelago, except at the penal ruin of Dhelli on Timor.

Portugal wanted some young and unvitiatcd energies to raise
up her scattered ruins, and turn them to profit. America had
ample means, abundant small capitals, controlled by young and
energetic heads, ready to embark in any hazard promiseful of
profit, and some national fame ; and why not buy the Cape de
Verdes, or Mozambique, or Timor ? for the Commandant spoke,
as though he thought the Anglo-American people were in the
market, for the purchase of every misgoverned, half-ruined spot
of earth, where any planting, or trading, or mining could be car
ried on.

THE INVALID DAUGHTER. 43

The worthy major dwelt especially upon the advantage of
the purchase of the Cape de Verde islands, to make good plan
tations out of their generous soil, with the plentiful black labor
which vagabonded over it in ragged uselessness, as bad as when in
the jungles of Africa ; and these might be obtained for the price of
one good estate in America.

But I felt no interest in the Cape de Verdes, with all the
profit and power that might be created out of their wastes, and
ruins, and their motley population of vagabonds. I would not
have been tempted by an offer of change of place with the wor
thy Governor, to give up my taut, trim, well-appointed little
Flirt, to lord it over the ruin-crowned bluffs of Porto Praya,
and its breechless black garrison.

I was soon eager to be at sea once more. The Commandant
wished me to change my course from Bahia to Lisbon. My
cargo for the former part was almost gone ; and in a few days
there would not be left on board the Flirt a diamond of the
Rockland Lake, of the size of one of the smallest brilliants of
Brazil. By going to Lisbon, I would most likely obtain a cargo
for South America, and I would see some interesting portion of
the old world.

Major Morraes had an only, a motherless child an inva
lid daughter just entering into womanhood whom he wished to
send away from her dreary home at Porto Praya, where she
drooped daily, to live with some relatives in the gay metropolis
of the home land ; and he proposed to charter my cabin for the
passage of his daughter and her domestics.

I could not have refused the surrender of my comforts to the
sick lady, had there been no other conveyance ; but there were
Portuguese vessels in port, homeward bound. I did not wish to
go then to the old world ; I did not wish to see Lisbon, and I

44 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

found a plea not to go, though much I desired to escort home
the fair child of Major Morraes.

On the sixth day after casting anchor at Porto Praya, I was
ready again for sea. The water casks were filled, and the
schooner s stern was garnished with plantains, and yams, and two
lean pigs. For these I was indebted to the poor Commandant,
and in return, I presented him with a piece of curtain tapestry,
two small silver cups, and some other trifles.

I appointed the mate to take the place of the sailing-master
who had left ; and found at Porto Praya a Swede, who filled the
berth of the promoted first officer. Both had no other know
ledge of seamanship but the commonest duty of a man before the
mast; and I, notwithstanding my many voyages at sea, was no
sailor, and I was not qualified then to take charge of the navi
gation of a vessel.

The Commandant came down to the beach, to wave me an
adieu, as I dashed through the heavy surf that rolls into Porto
Praya. He had just parted with his daughter, and was heavy-
hearted. The Flirt had her anchor apeak, her sails were un
furled, and I soon gladly welcomed the ocean heave and the ocean
air once more. As the crumbling ramparts, and the rocky crest
of Porto Praya faded to the view, we passed a brigantine, that had
left the roadstead some hours before us ; and this was the Rosa
de Lima, bearing to Lisbon the invalid daughter.

The chronometer had been ruined by some hand that had left
us at Porto Praya ; and all time tables and other guides for reck
oning at sea, were found gone, when the need of them arose,
and it seemed a wild risk to run a small ship across the ocean
without any guide of art, or a skilful hand on board; but I

SABBATH ON BOARD THE PALMER. 45

thought not of the risk, because I did not know, and could not
feel its full extent ; and so, with faith in a Hand that had led me
safe o er many a strange path before, I struck out with compass
alone to guide my little ship, across the ocean, for the coast of
Brazil.

SEVENTH DAY.

SABBATH ON BOARD THE PALMER.

A FLOOD of golden rays, gilding and shining through a pyramid
of soft fleecy clouds, reaching from the ocean line to the sky
vault s top, led in a Sabbath of calm and softened sunniness.

The crew had worked on the Lord s day before ; and the.
commander of the Flirt, and his fellow-passengers, had then
passed a day of painful turmoil and unrest; and all seemed
glad to give this one to still repose, and musing thoughts alone.

When the sun s rays no longer shot down from overhead be
tween the sails, but came slanting, and were caught by the can
vas fore and aft, leaving the polished deck in shade, the men
of the Palmer came with clean shirts and shining faces, and,
ranged in order, sat down against the bulwarks ; whilst the peo
ple of the cabin sat by, on the break of the quarter deck ; then the
young Missionary standing up in the midst, read from the word
of God, and spoke of the Redemption ; and this was the story on
board the Palmer on the seventh evening of her homeward voyage
from Java.

EIGHTH DAY.

A VISIT AT SEA.

THE tenth dayifter leaving Porto Praya we were some few
degrees south of the Line, and it was one of the blandest of those
gently breezy trade-wind latitudes. The light wafts of air over a
tranquil sea, barely filled the schooner s mainsail, and she glided on
an even keel; yet swiftly on, through the yielding flood of placid
blue; for this was her play, a light wind and a smooth sea;
and in it she could count sea knots, far faster, than the great
leviathan clippers of the ocean.

The wavelets rippling against her sides, the faint creak
ing of the spars aloft, the mainsail s lazy flap from time to time,
and the low murmur of the tropic breeze, wafting us so gently
on; these sounds, and the balmy air, the clear rose-tinted
sky, the ocean s blue and heaving breast, strewn with golden
threads and bulbs, the yellow weed from ocean s fields ; all this
these sights and sounds, and breezy kissings, filled my soul with
a gush of grateful feeling.

A sense of relief from cares and fears, just gone by, a spirit
of pride in treading the deck of my own swift and graceful craft,
and a feeling of glorious freedom, of unchecked power to range
the world at will, stole over my soul ; and I felt heedless, which
way my clipper headed on this bland, breezy, trade-wind sea.

There was a cry of, Sail ho ! a stirring sound at all times,

THE FRENCH BRIO. 47

and in all places ; but more so, amid the great wastes of the less
frequented parts of the ocean. I examined with my glass the
speck just visible to the sailor s eye, and made out a large brig,
some three points off our lee bow, and heading north-east.

I had been wishing to speak a vessel, on account of some little
wants and information which we needed ; and now ordered the
schooner to be headed so as to run athwart the path of the stranger ;
but, as with a slightly freshening breeze, we began to near him,
he bore away, going right before the wind, clapping on stu n-
sails, and every inch of canvas that his spars could bear.

The retreating brig played shy in vain, for the taut and
saucy schooner, with mainsail tilled, bore swiftly down upon the
clumsy merchantman. We ran up the stars and stripes, which
were answered by the tri-color of France ; but this time the
Frenchman was shy of the old ally of his country, and wishful to
give him a wide berth ; for here was a suspected portion of ocean
highway, between the two coasts of Brazil and Africa, where
lawless adventure had been so often met with under the starry
bunting of freedom, and on board of such craft as mine.

The long, dark hull, and sharpened bow, the range of ports,
the raking masts, the heavy spars, and great spread of canvas ;
all this coupled with the present course, a seeming chase, might
give indeed a suspicious look, and fill the trader s mind with some
fear of having met a lawless rover.

The Flirt sped on ; she was soon close upon the brig ; she ran
under his quarter ; then, to show the ease with which she could
walk around him, shot ahead, luffed in the wind s eye, backed
foresail, and came to, easy, graceful, and still, as a sea-bird rest
ing on the crest of a wave.

The Frenchman answered our manoeuvre, by coming to also.
Ere the Flirt had stayed her headway, my light and graceful gig

48 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

was loosened from the davits ; aiid ere the ripple was stilled by
the schooner s sides, I was afloat with my mate and four oarsmen,
pulling towards the stranger.

A lot of red caps and excited faces lined the bulwarks of the
brig. I mounted the sides, by help of a tasteful man-rope. As
I stepped over the gangway, I was met with bows and smiles, min
gled with an anxious, inquiring shade of look, from a short, stout
little man, who stood cap in hand, in the midst of an evidently
intensely excited and curious crew.

After giving a cheerful response to the little man s salute, he
led me, without premising with one word of parley, into a tasteful
marquee or cabin on the main deck. I was saluted, on entering,
with a shrill, harsh clamor, from macaws, parrots, monkeys and
marniozets, hung around in cages, or chained in the saloon. The
polite commander hastened to inform ine, that he had lately ob
tained them on the coast of Brazil, and had sailed from Para-
hiba, ten days ago, with a load of cotton and sugar; and then
went on to give me more details about his vessel, cargo, and
voyage ; but I interrupted him and said, smiling, that I thought
he mistook me and the object of my visit; as I had not boarded
him cither in the exercise of the right of search of a man-of-war ;
or in the spirit of plunder of a rover of the sea ; but to ask a few
things much needed by myself and men, which I hoped would be
an excuse for the liberty I had taken, to cause him to stay his
course.

At my words the face of the worthy Frenchman widened with a
look of relief, and shone with smiles; and he expressed himself as
being only too happy, if in his power to meet my small request. I
told my wants, how my chronometer had been ruined at Porto
Praya, that I had there lost my nautical almanac, and had
nothing but the unaided quadrant to help me find my way across

THE ROMANTIC COMMANDER. 49

the ocean ; and then there were some medicines much needed by
a sick man on board the Flirt.

My longitude was corrected, a spare almanac given me, and
the other small wants provided for, and more than I had asked,
with sailor-like alacrity and liberality ; and I was glad to have a
good Ohio cheese, half a dozen of Philadelphia ale, and a
lump of Rockland ice in my boat, which were gratefully received
as a most welcome treat. After this mutually pleasant inter
change of favors, as the sea was still calm, the commander would
have me taste of refreshment with him, and talk over the
news we brought from our different points of the world.

The ocean inspires a free range of thought ; and sunny placid
waters, with light breezes, lull and soothe the heart to a forgetful-
ness of the matter-of fact cares of the busy, wearying turmoil on
shore. Whenever harsh duty on board gives some small respite,
and when the sun and soft tropic wafts of air play upon the
gently swelling sea, then will sometimes the most soddened sin-
seared sailor-man, out of whom every vestige of faith and bright
hopes, and the young heart s adventurous romance, has seemingly
been storm-washed and toil-worn away a long time ago. often let
his thoughts wander from his filthy, comfortless forecastle, to the
shining seas and sunny isles of early dreams, where brave men
should win treasures and glory, and the smiles of gentle women
in a flowery land.

Much as steam, and the careful search of almost every nook
of the earth has taken away from the romance of the sea, yet
still there are few seamen, whose thoughts do not wander wild
at times : few who are not rovers at heart ; but rovers in quest
of bold and honest adventure, among strange people for trade or
travel in unknown isles ; and not rovers of the black flag, with the
death s head and the raw bones.
3

50 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

Such -was our theme, the pleasant sea-wander far off, where
ports, and tariffs, and tonnage were not known. We had talked
of my taut and stanch little ship, which we could see as we
talked, now rising with and heading to the ocean swell. I had
spoken of her strength and fleetuess, and comfort on board ; of
iny tastes, and untrammelled power to range ; and as I spoke
fcn, the fervid Frenchman followed me with glowing looks, and then
broke forth into glowing words, in being borne along with iny
gallant skiff among the islands of the Indian ocean.

He had ever longed for some such wide-world wander, on sea
and shore ; yet not ever idly strolling, but working while wan
dering. A hearty tilling of the soil for a time, and then with
the fruit of his health-braced limbs, to launch forth with his own
keel on the broad, free seas, to visit his brethren of all hues and
habits, scattered throughout the fair earth.

All his life at sea, as yet, before the mast and aft, had been
one unchanging course of soul-wearying drudge; at the behest of
dainty men on shore, who sickened at the smell of the sea. He
was now going for them this round of drudge in his clumsy craft,
with a freightage of the lash-wrought sugar, and ardent spirit of
Brazil, which life his soul abhorred.

The beautiful Flirt now wooed his roving heart ; and I, the
poor and cargoless sea-wanderer, loomed up a viking in his im
agination. And thus he viewed me, and my little ship ; his ro
ving fancies, warming him at last to such a pitch that he hinted
at, then urged outright, that I should head for France with him,
and there join means on board my clipper for a partnership of
congenial trade and travel all over the globe.

In the fast flow of words in a tongue to which my car was but
little, and my lips still less practised, I had no chance to inter
pose a wor J of my own thinking ; of wish for, or dissuasion from

ROMANCE AND REALITY. 51

his scheme. But I had felt some little borne away by the can
did, hearty warmth of the man ; though not so far as to dream
one moment of going bout-ship, to head for France, to join in
terests with the captain of the brig in a partnership of free sea
life, such as the polity of the chief governing powers of the world
do frown upon, however harmless it may be.

Yet as he spoke on, fanned as we were by the soft winds, and
rocking gently on the breast of the boundless sea, the wild scheme
did not seem so wild then, as to think of it ashore. And so I
listened, and let the roving skipper go his bent.

On we went, steering for that land, late rioting in the frolic
of tumbling down thrones. We were soon at anchor, and tread
ing the vine fields of republican France. Ere many days, we
were afloat again, on board the beauteous Flirt, with forecastle,
hold, and cabin, well filled with choice wares, and arms, and brave
men. We were wafted by gentle tropic gales, and gliding o er
the heaving bosom of the Indian sea : we were in the midst of
coral isles, of cocoa groves, and jewelled princes, and warriors
with brown skins, with whom we were about to enter into mag
nificent relations of friendship and trade when suddenly, we were
recalled to the old brig by an uproar of mingled volleys of
French and English oaths, and a clattering of feet and handspikes
on the main deck.

The active Graul leaped foremost out of his cabin; and
when I had joined him by the main hatch, I saw one of my sail
ors, a little bullet of a man, one from the land of steady habits,
standing over a prostrate Frenchman : he was holding a Porto
Praya monkey in one hand, and shaking defiance with the other
at the soup eaters, whom he bid come on : the rest of my men
were squaring away with their tar-blackened fists, at the crew of

52 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEX.

the ( Vs;i r ; who tlmu^li out muiilK riiig mine five-fold, were kept
at bay by the little band of Flirts.

The monkey, a great pet of the forecastle, who followed the
men daily to the crosstrees, and came down by the run on the
stays, had been smuggled into the boat, and was now the cause
of war. During the time of the entente cordiale, the tricks of
Blister had been shown off: a Frenchman had seized him with
c-arcless grasp, had been bitten, and being maddened with the
pain, had dashed poor Blister on deck with murderous force,
and stamped upon him, but had scarcely done so, when down he
lay, his own full length.

The struck man rose, furious to spring upon the one who
had dealt the blow ; and the little dark, knotty, gnarled Connec-
ticutcr stood ready for him. The French captain ordered his
men to stand back ; but they, with handspikes in hand, were ad
vancing with wicked looks. The wind had now freshened, and
my master was making signals to return. The brig was getting
stern way upon her, and not an instant was to be lost in regaining
the Flirt.

I said a word to the mate, who sprang into our boat, and made
all ready for shoving off. I pulled my chief fighting man back,
and said a few words of peace to the threatening Frenchmen ;
but they were not to be soothed by mild words ; one of their
shipmates had been struck down by one of my piratical crew;
and sacre and tonnerre, they felt insulted until he was avenged.

My men had backed at my order towards the gangway ; they
were passing over, the Frenchmen crowding on, gesticulating and
cursing, and giving and receiving blows. My men were all over
the ship s side, the sea was rising, the mate cries out, the boat
will swamp ; let go, I cry, and over I leap.

And now with hands to their oars, my crew give way, amid

ADIEU TO THE CESAR. 53

a yell of oaths and cries, of " pirates,"- " beasts," and of threats
to sink us ; but the wind is up, and there is a shout, to square
away the yards, silencing the motley din ; and they were the
last words I heard of my late partner, in imagined glory and
adventure.

The sea had risen fast indeed : the long, deep roll of mid-
ocean, was breaking in foaming surges ; and my little shell, awhile
o ertopped the schooner, and then it was lost to view. A few
hearty pulls from strong and willing hands ; and we were astern
of the buoyant Flirt, now lifting with, and heading to, defiant of
the ocean s roll. We could not run alongside, lines were hove,
and foot-ropes let down astern ; and quickening fear, and some
practice in rope-climbing, soon landed us safe on deck.

It was time ; for the sea was up, and the wind was straining
back the foremast to its utmost bend ; but soon the yards swing
round; the clipper pays off; and on she bowls before the whist
ling squall.

And where was the Cesar? far astern, and dimly seen
through the mist of the rising storm ; and there was the tri-color
of France, waving defiance or adieu. Up went the flag of
America, answering to either ; and thus we dipped and waved,
till the storm mist shrouded us from view.

NINTH DAY.

THE owner of the Flirt resumed the story of the voyage, in
his vessel from the Cape de Verde Islands, towards the port of
Bahia, telling of many mishaps and trials owing to the errors of
dead reckoning, and his own and officers unskilled hands, in
working a way to the

COAST OF BRAZIL.

We had been groping our way by compass and helm, aided
from time to time, by speaking a passing ship, until we had, by
the showing of the log, run down latitude and longitude enougli
to have reached the South American coast ; when, on the after
noon of the eighteenth day of our run from Porto Praya, a gleam
of fire was dimly seen to the westward.

On nearer approach, I descried a ship on fire, and glimpses
of land beyond. On approaching nearer still, I could see, by
the light of the column of flame that was licking the topmost
spars of the burning craft, a crowd of boats hauled up on the
beach of a deep, bluff-crowned cove, and from which there
seemed to have just landed a troop of sailors, and a host of-
naked and manacled black men ; and then I doubted not that I
beheld a burning slaver, abandoned after the safe lauding of ita
live African cargo.

RIOT ON BOARD THE FLIRT AT MACE1O. 55

We stood off and on till morning came, and then we beheld
the thick-wooded coast of Brazil ; but not knowing off what part
we were, though judging from the reckoning to be north of the
point to which we steered, we ran down the coast, till we came
to a bold reef, with an inlet leading into a roadstead, in which
were many ships riding at anchor ; and beyond this, a fort,
crowning commanding heights.

The port seemed too small for the one we sought ; but we
needed some refreshments and repairs, and entered the roadstead,
which proved to be that of Maceio ; here I resolved to make some
small purchases, and then go on my way again on the same day
of our arrival ; but there was a strange fate following the Flirt.
The Brazilian Custom-House required that I must enter my
vessel in what was called franquia, and afterwards must submit to
a routine of clearance, that required several days.

On the afternoon of the third day of our forced stay, all
hands- officers, crew, and my servant all, except a lad in
the forecastle, had been made drunk by some of the poison
ous aguardiente of the country, brought on board the vessel
whilst I was ashore. The master and mate, though steady and
sober men, drank freely : both mere sailors before the mast ;
but the mate, who had been obtained at Porto Praya, proving
to have more skill than the master, had necessarily taken
charge of the chief duty of sailing the vessel ; hence there was
a grudge between them, and they sought the first chance to
warm themselves into a fighting mood, in order to settle their ill
blood.

The master was tall, muscular and bony ; the mate short,
round-limbed, and the heavier of the two. Both were bold and
hardy alike. As they drank, they began their taunts, and

56 PRISON OF WELTKVREDEN.

quickly came to blows. The crew took sides, and a general
melee ensued on the quarter deck of the Flirt.

The battle between the two principals was long and obsti
nate. In their struggles, they rolled down the companion-vvny
into the cabin, the mate uppermost, and striving to choke his
foe, with all his might ; but the master, drawing a spring-knife
from his pocket, stabbed furiously at the mate, gashing his
hands, face, throat, and breast in the most horrible manner.

After the butchery of his antagonist, the master was seized
with a sudden revulsion of soberness and remorse ; accompanied
the wounded mate ashore, and surrendered himself to the police of
Maceio. The crew of the Flirt being in a wild and riotous state,
were made prisoners by some men brought from a neighboring
ship ; and they were sent ashore for confinement, till they should
become sober ; and to afford an opportunity to remove some
dangerous characters among them. The magistracy of Maceio
chose to see in this sailorly row, a design to disturb the peace of
Brazil, and issued orders for the arrest of the commander and
crew of the Flirt.

There was no American consul nor resident in the place. I
retreated to the house of the British Vice-Consul, where, after
some parley, I was allowed to remain on parole. The men were
called up severally before a Court of Instruction, and underwent
long and trivial interrogations. The Brazilian Government was
in want of a light, swift craft, to send down to Buenos Ayres,
which they were then blockading ; and merchants of Maceio said,
that there was a disposition to trump up some charge in order to
confiscate the trim and beautiful Flirt.

Many days had been passed in sham investigation. I had
been summoned to appear before the Fiscal and Judges of In
struction, but had refused. Nothing had been elicited from the

THE DELIVERER. 57

crew, to substantiate a shadow of a charge, and yet the Brazil
ians seemed determined to retain my vessel, and would have
done so, by sending her to Rio de Janeiro, there to await the
destructive delay of Brazilian law, or of my own Government s
interference ; but there was a prompt deliverer close at hand.

On the seventh day of my stay at Maceio, the lad, the lonely
keeper on board the Flirt, descried a war steamer passing down
the coast. He immediately hoisted the ensign, with the stars
union down. The steamer observed the signal of distress, ran
into the roadstead, proved to be the British steam sloop-of-
war " Conflict ; " and her commander, Captain Drake, on learn
ing the cause of the signal, came ashore, saw me, looked at my
papers, made some inquiries of other parties, satisfied himself,
and then, without remark, desired me to accompany him to
where they were holding the Court of Instruction.

We found a Presiding Judge, a Fiscal, or Solicitor, the Chief
of Police, and Captain of the Port, composing a tribunal of jus
tice, before whom one of my men was undergoing an interroga
tion. At the sight of the British officer, the Court showed much
emotion, and seemed disposed to disperse.

The commander of the Conflict hastened to say to the Court,
that he appeared before them in behalf of a citizen of a power
friendly with his own, and without representative or protection
at this place. He did not assume any right to interfere in the
behalf of the American captain ; but he would say to the Court
before him, judiciary, police, and prosecution, that he doubted
their sincerity in seeking any end of justice, since they, the
same men, had so lately connived at the landing of a large cargo
of slaves from the African coast, in sight of their port, the flames
of the abandoned slaver having illumined the buildings around
where he stood. He doubted not, they regretted the destruction
3*

58 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

of that American clipper, which must otherwise have fallen into
his hands; and now sought to replace it with the one then lying
in their port, which, according to their own rigid search, and all
evidence before them, carried not a cannon, or more than a single
small arm on board ; was manned by a feeble crew of seven men,
including officers ; her commander being evidently no seaman, but
a quiet gentleman, with some novel taste for travel. There was
not a shadow of evidence to imagine treason, or any other such
absurdity, under such circumstances; and therefore he would
advise the authorities to let the Flirt and her people go in peace.

The result showed that he was wont to utter, and they to lis
ten, to such dictation. They showed the craven spirit every
where seen in Spanish and Portuguese America, among the vi
cious stock of mingled race, now holding sway over the old mas
ters from the Peninsula, This court of mestizoes rose with
much trepidation, and said they were glad to learn from the
Senhor Capitfio that the American and his vessel were clear of
all suspicion, which would save them the trouble of further in
vestigation ; and they were ready to permit the schooner and her
people to depart.

The English captain not deigning to await the conclusion of
the Court s reply, turned on his heel, and left the Hall of Jus
tice along with me. We had not proceeded far, when the Cap
tain of the Port overtook us, with the papers of my vessel in his
hands, which my brave protector bid me refuse, until I had re
ceived ample compensation for my forced stay and expenditure.

I replenished my stores, I shipped a new officer, and a small
crew of coast hands, and then set sail for Pernambuco, the nearest
port where I would find an American Consul, and could ship a
good crew, and make a fresh and better start.

TENTH DAY.

THE commander of the Flirt began to give some account of
Pernambuco, the city of the Reef, built upon the islands
of Recife, Boa Vista and San Antonia, which rest in tranquil
waters, protected from the surges of the Atlantic by the most
wonderful breakwater in the world, a perfect dam of coral,
sloping seaward, and presenting a high wall face on the shore
side. He went on to speak of the observations that he had
made during a month s stay, in regard to the trade and
growth of the city, the manners and customs of its people, the
fertility and forest splendor of the surrounding country, its va
ried animal kingdom, of the Government, and social life, of the
clergy, women, and slaves, and much, besides, about Pernambuco
and the Empire of Brazil; but he was interrupted by the
young lady passenger, who observed that she doubted not, that
Brazil was a very wonderful country for sugar, logwood and dia
monds, and that it would be interesting at another time to hear
about its growth and progress, including the fortunes of the
Bragauzas, the imperial Pedros ; but at present she would prefer,
that the narrator would put to sea again with his Flirt, and
reach the Malays, the Dutch, and the Prison from whence he
had escaped, by the nearest route he could take.

This being the desire of the rest of his hearers, he turned
from Brazilian politics and statistics, to glance at some circuni-

GO PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN. .

Btances which preceded his departure from Pernambuco; his
shipment of a new crew ; the offers made to him to charter
his vessel for Buenos Ay res, prevented by the blockade ; for the
river Amazon, stopped by a Government prohibition ; then, find
ing no opportunity for such employment as he had hoped, his en
deavor to sell his vessel, but trade being dull, could find no pur
chaser ; but, in the midst of his strivings and lookings around for
something to do, his falling in with a Hamburgh captain, an old
cruiser in the East Indies, who told him news about the long
lost uncle, and revived the memories of Sumatra; but at this time,
the American Consul at Pernambuco, getting word of an Ame
rican ship being aghore on the Brazilian coast, off Cape St. Roque,
and needing help ; and the Flirt being the fleetest vessel and of
lightest draught in port, his engaging her to go to the rescue,
with instructions to take any cargo saved to Rio de Janeiro.

He went and found the stranded vessel abandoned and
stripped ; nothing to save, what should he then do, the wide ocean
being before him; there being nothing for him to do in Brazil;
the returning home, a fruitless sacrifice ; then thoughts of the
Eastern islands, of the uncle and his strange fate, rose up to
view; and there, while ^t sea, while beating down the Brazilian
coast, he resolved to steer for the East, and, with a bounding
heart, he headed for the Cape of Good Hope; and then, on his
way thither, he stopped to visit a curious island : and thus he
told of what he saw and heard of

We had passed the parallel of Africa s most southern lands,
and were midway in the South Atlantic, between those stormy
points of the Horn and Good Hope. The unwearying pigeon

APPROACH TO LAND. 61

of the Capo, and the heavy-winged albatros, were chasing us
with varied evolution ; now sweeping over, now darting under
the stern, or clustered together and fluttering on the water in
our wake, greedily picking up some garbage from the schooner.
Then came the long-tailed marline bird, screaming and flying to
and fro, high overhead ; these signs of birds, with thick masses
of white clouds in the south, bid us look out for land that must
be near.

We were, by our reckoning and observation, full sixteen
hundred miles from the nearest point of continental coast ; but
our chart showed some pin-point dots, the spots of land that we
were nearing, and which I had wished to see.

The vessel, urged on by a fresh south-western wind, fast ran
down the heavy cloud masses that embanked the horizon ahead ;
the birds came thicker, with more of the screaming marlines ;
we had got out of the ocean s roll, and the sea came chopping as
under the lee of a protecting shore ; but the man in the chains
still hove his lead, and felt no check to his line.

The day had been harsh, blustry, and lowering. We strained
our eyes at the piled-up hills of clouds that seemed to wall up
some shore from our view, which we feared we would not sight
before nightfall. Later on, the clouds began to break overhead,
though still enshrouding the horizon. In the break above, we
gazed with pleasure at the skyey blue, that had been veiled from
us for some time ; and then at a white, sun-gilded cloud, peer
ing above the dark mass that walled up half the sky. But the
glistening of this cloud was strange ; and while the dark mass
moved on, and broke, and lowered, there this dazzling cone re
mained, piercing like a mighty pyramid s peak the blue above ;
and as nearer we came, it larger grew ; and then the dark mass
broke away below, and we found ourselves at the base of a lofty,

PRISON OF WELTEVJli:!&gt;i:S.

enow-capped mount, within a few hundred yards of the shore of
Tristan d Acunha.

Though near enough to fire a musket-ball on shore, yet our
lead found no bottom ; and the steep, bold mount, that shot up
in sheer unbroken ascent, eleven thousand feet overhead, seemed
but a summit above the sea, of some mighty mountain, whose
base lay many a hundred fathom down below, on the ocean s
bed

This mountain island, some seven miles around, presented a
bald wall of rock sheer down to the water s edge, in all its cir
cumference, except a small patch, a cable s length of shingly
beach, backed by a ledge of green and level land, walled in
by the beetling black rock of the mountain s side, from which
there gleamed a shining silvery streak, and which a nearer view

THE GOVERNOR OF TRISTAN D ? ACUNIIA. 63

showed to be a great gushing spout of water, springing boldly
from a cleft in the rock s dark face, and thundering down upon
the beach, a flood of melted snow, convenient for, and most
grateful to thirsty crews.

The ledge of green was tilled, in terraced plats, around a
range of neat, snug mud huts ; and there were cattle browsing,
and further signs of man were seen, and then he soon appeared
himself. A whale-boat, like a large canoe, was launched from
the shingly beach it came bounding bravely through the surf
and the chopping sea, and when within hail of the Flirt, then
lying to, the words, " Schooner ahoy," came ringing across the
water in right good, pleasant-sounding Saxon.

Four men came over the gangway of the schooner ; a white-
haired patriarch, short, and bent with years ; a youth of twenty,
showing a mingling of the blood of some dark straight-haired race
with Saxon ; another youth, tall and ruddy ; and the fourth was
a short, thick, coarse-limbed, and a sailorly-looking man in the
face, though not in his garb ; for he, like all the rest, had goat
skin cap, and shoes, and coverings for the legs, with some other
things of savage dress ; and these men were, the old Governor
of the island, two grandsons, and a son-in-law, who came to wel
come us to the wild isle we saw.

I learned then, and partly since, that the old man was once a
sergeant in the British East India Army, and had left his ser
vice in 1810, to cast his lot on the then deserted Tristan d Acunha.
After some years of a rude and desolate life, with an old negro
and a boy, he went with a frail craft on an adventurous cruise to
the Cape of Good Hope, and brought back a partner, a woman
willing to leave all the world beside, to share with him the green
clefts and ledges of that lonely ocean peak.

64 THE PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

Their solitude was blessed with daughters, who grew up
lithe and strong-limbed, like the wild goats, which these damsels
chased with equal speed of foot ; and they were seen by hunters
of other game, adventurous men in search of whale, who were
willing to leave their huge prey, to join the Dianas of the moun
tain isle.

And then, from a wreck, that of the Blendenhall, a man
and woman were strangely saved, and cast upon this shore.
All of these, the founder of this lonely state, his wife, and old
retainers, the children and those they married, with their in
crease, along with that of the couple saved, numbered, at the
time of my visit there, eighty-four souls in all.

Old Governor Glass ruled by right of age, and a founder s
claims to chief suzerainty of the soil, and as yet there had been
no contending rival. He alone sat in judgment, to uphold the
laws of his own making; and with his simple code and prompt
administration, all legal lore and the delays of law were
there unheeded and unknown.

No custom-house, nor bank ; no factory, nor doctor s store of
drugs ; no traffickers, tax-gathers, nor deep-mouthed, purchased
politicians ; no strutting soldier, and no wranglers about unlov
ing dogmas, were there ; whilst the use of money was a myth of
other lands.

The islanders had some cattle and sheep, and grew barley
and potatoes on their narrow ledge of level land, which held not
more than two hundred acres of farming soil. What they had
to spare of their meat and esculent food, along with fresh milk
and eggs, they exchanged with whaling ships that chanced that
way, for a few ship s stores, but chiefly powder and shot, with
which to chase the goats and conies, that swarmed in the clefts
and up the steeps of their island mountain.

DEPARTURE FROM TRISTAN D ACUNHA. 65

On the summit of this mountain, a crater s mouth showed
where the earth s inner molten mass had been belched forth ; but
now, where the liquid lava once had boiled and raged, down some
hundred feet from the crater s brim, there flowed a cool, pellucid
lake, filled with strange fish, unlike to any of the many kinds
that swarm around the island.

We found no safe anchorage during our stay off the island,
part of two days and a night ; but there is a point about one
mile and a half southeast of the small patch of landing beach,
where there is a detached bank in twenty-five fathoms of water,
exposed to the ocean s roll from north to south by east ; and
as two ships have been lost there, from the wind veering round
to the northeast, while they were at anchor, no vessel should
trust to a hawser on that bank.

This absence of good anchorage has saved the islanders from
hurtful contact with ships crews, and thus has favored the
growth of simple tastes, of industrious habits and kindly inter
course ; and the culture of some knowledge of books, of which
they have a small stock, and prize most highly, and they were
eager for newspapers of any ancient date that we could spare.

Fain would I have stayed some time ashore, could I have
moored my vessel in safety; but the south winds blew; the
Flirt was tossed in a fretful sea, and seemed straining to start
on her eastern way. I returned some gifts, pleasing to the
islanders, for the fresh food they brought ; and after exchanging
kind words, gave the schooner the helm, and off she flew ; and
when the shingly beach, the green ledge, the rude hamlet, the
leaping stream, and the dark rocks of Tristan d Acunha had
faded from our view, still the glistening snow-peak was seen,
when far on our way to the Cape of Good Hope.

66 PRISON OF \VI:I.TI:YI;I:I&gt;I:\.

All the listeners to the story of Tristan d Acimha were eager
to learn more about these islanders, and their dot of dominion,
BO far away, alone in the great ocean ; more about their social
habits; their personal looks, especially of the women; their
liinusements, notions of property, and, above all, their ideas of
religious worship.

These queries could not well be answered ; for the visit had
been too short, and foul weather cut off that intercourse, which
otherwise would have taken place ; and furthermore, the com
mander of the Flirt had loft the islanders with the promise and
firm intention of paying a lengthened visit on his return from
the East, and still hoped to do so, and learn all that was inter
esting concerning the little insular state.

The boatswain had a word to say about Tristan d Acunha ;
lie had sighted it in many an East India voyage. A fight took
place off the island, some time during the last war, when Com
modore Biddle in the Hornet, sunk the British brig of war
Penguin. Seven years before that time, in 1803, an American
s -aman, Jonathan Lambert, of Salem, left his ship, along
with a boy and an old African, and settled on the island. He
went there to establish a station, to supply fresh provision and
water to whalers, and to ships going round the Cape. In
one of his cruisings with his boat, on a visit to the little
islands near by, called Nightingale and Inaccessible islands, he
was drowned ; but as Sergeant Glass appeared at Tristan
d Acunha shortly afterwards, with the companions of Lambert,
it has been suspected that the American settler met with foul
play. At any rate, the boatswain thought the Government at
Washington ought to look into the matter, as the island was
American by priority of settlement, was a good station for India-
bound ships, and would be of great use in time of war.

ELEVENTH DAY.

THE Flirt was upon the Agulhas banks, on the tenth day after
her departure from Tristan d Acunha, the dim outline of the
African sands, on the coast of the Cape, being just visible from
her decks ; and after three-and-twenty days sail in the Indian
Ocean, was in sight of the island of St. Paul. This island
shows a strong likeness at a distance to a spermaceti whale,
when approached from the southwest, there being near the ex
tremity, resembling the head, a lofty, natural column of rock,
which might .well be mistaken for the spout of the whale. This
natural minaret is honey-combed with innumerable holes, which
are filled with the nests, the eggs, and the young of sea birds,
who fly in screaming clouds round their grand columnar aviary.
This shaft stands in front of a deep cove, which forms almost
a circle ; the incomplete segment being partially filled up by the
base of the natural column, leaving between this and the horns
of the crescent a mere boat channel, for entrance into the cove.
This natural basin has steep, stony banks, like the walls of a
dock, and affords no convenient place for landing. Its waters,
and those surrounding the island, swarm with small fish of va
rious kinds, having fine, firm, white meat, sweet-tasted, and
free from small bones.

An adventurer from the Isle of France took possession of St.
Paul s many years ago, and resided on it for some time. He
was not at home when the Flirt paid a visit to the island, there

68 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

was no evidence of any human being then residing there. It is
about one mile and a half long, and half a mile wide on the
average ; covered with a coarse, stunted, -fern-like growth, and is
of volcanic origin, as there are several hot springs upon it, which
send forth steaming and scalding streams into the sea.

The next land that lay in the course of the Flirt, was the
small group of islands called Cocos, which are strung continu
ously together, by connecting shoals and coral banks, and lie on
the ocean like a Titanic necklace of emerald beads and coral
links, the land-locked sea within being inaccessible except to
small craft of the lightest draught. An enterprising trader
by the name of Ross, took possession of this group ; and as
his own Government had made a treaty with the Govern
ment of Holland, in which it had conceded a political and com
mercial monopoly to the latter, of all islands in the Indian
Archipelago, south of the equator, he courted the protection of
the authorities of the Netherlands at Batavia ; obtained the
privilege to hoist the Dutch flag, and took with him a large com
pany of poor natives of Java, to cultivate his insular dominions,
the chief production of which is the cocoa nut, whence cocoa nut
oil is obtained in great abundance ; and with which Governor
lloss freights his schooner twice a year for Batavia.

It was not the object of the commander of the Flirt to turn
aside or stop on his way across the Indian Ocean. Madagascar,
Mauritius, St. Paul s, and the Cocos had courted his curious eye
to take a passing glance, but he hastened on to the great Malay
Isle, whose mountain summits soon broke upon his view, and
thus he spoke to his friends on board the Palmer of his

ENTERING STRAITS OF SUNDA. G9

FIRST SIGHT OF SUMATRA.

On Christmas eve, we were sailing with a gentle wind over
a smooth sea. We were nearing thick masses of land-clouds,
when there came a faint aroma of sweet woody scents, wafted on
the breeze ; as we sped through the yielding vapory banks, the
fragrant air came strong and pleasurable, like distant strains of
song ; then the retreating clouds presented to our gaze a dark
blue peak, piercing the skyey blue above ; the wood, and blos
som, and gum-scented breeze came stronger and more thrilling,
rivalling in pleasure sweet melody on the waters ; and the
peak, and the odor-laden winds, were the first sight and first
welcome breath of the land of long dreams, the Island of Su
matra.

I shall not stop to speak of what I saw of the Straits, and
of the Islands of Sunda, through which we have just passed;
of Crockatoa and Anjier, of Thwart the Way, and Bessie, and
of all those pleasant spots which first greet the ocean traveller,
at this entrance of the Indian seas.

I felt a deep heart s thrill on entering the threshold of the
East Indian Archipelago : those islands of so much fabled
wealth and wonder, of so much real value and interest, and so
much less known than any other portion of the peopled earth.

To my right was the olden Jabadiv, the " land of barley,"
of the Alexandrian geographer, the sacred Isle of the Hindoos,
and the Java of English and Dutch dominion ; an island
rivalling Cuba in size and fertility, and sixfold its number
of souls ; once a land of great empires and oriental pomp,
sending forth its embattled fleets and hosts to the nations around
them, then warring with European power and skill, and falling

70 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

by the hands of the buccaneering men of Portugal, of England
and of Holland, and now yielding a coffee harvest, the chief sup
port of the almost bankrupt sovereignty of the last and the
meanest of its masters.

To my left was a greater island still, though less fruitful and
less peopled, and not so rich in historic lore and dynastic fame ;
but the chief seat of a great race, who without war, or prose
lyting zeal, had scattered their language, and customs, and tra
ditions among numberless nations around ; from Madagascar to
Polynesia, from Malacca to Papua, the teeming millions of the
many thousand isles within the Indian Ocean, all bear some
marks of the intellectual sway of the Malays of Sumatra.

Before me was the greatest of all, an island continent ; full
of hidden wonders, and unexplored rivers, and plains, and
mountain ranges ; where the human form with hairy skin lodged
in the trees ; where man sought the head of his fellow man, as
the best of gifts to lay at the feet of his bride ; and where an
adventurous gentleman had become the prince and civilizer of a
barbaric race, and filled the world with the fame of Brooke and
Borneo.

And around these were the countless smaller isles of the In
dian seas ; and many of them large, rich, and greatly peopled
states. There were the fragrant isles of spices, so rich in soil,
yet so poor in product, making Molucca another name for sordid
monopoly. There was Celebes, with its trading Bughis, and
their maritime laws ; then Magindinao, the Lanuns land, the
great pirate isle ; Papua, with its ferocious tribes, and birds of
paradise ; Banca, the great tin mine ; Bali, the little Bali with
its heroic race, twice conquerors of the Dutch ; Sumbawa, the
sandalwood island j Timor, the last remnant of Portugese do
minion in the Indian seas; and still thousands more of fair island

STRAITS OF BANCA. 71

Bpots, rich in a gorgeous animal and vegetable life, had wooed
many a fancy from the hard path of a toiling life in a cold land,
and might well produce a deep heart s thrill with their full charm
of verdure and fragrance, bursting upon weary and storm-tossed

senses.

It was my plan to steer direct for Singapore, the great central
point, and chief trading port for all nations in the Indian seas :
there I hoped to hear some tidings of my uncle ; and there I de
signed to refit for a short cruise to the northern part of Sumatra,
the north-eastern portion of Borneo, and to other points in the
Archipelago, where the native races of these islands are indepen
dent, and where I thought there was no risk of coming in contact
with European jealousy and power.

Calms and currents kept us lingering for many days in the
Java Sea, and creeping slowly through the Straits of Banca.
While the schooner was at anchor, waiting for a wind to stem the
adverse current that prevailed, I cruised in my boat among the
fairy dots of land, upon the Lampong coast ; roused up some of
the strange marine monsters that sport in the green slimy ooze
along those shores, which seems to be a deposit of decomposed
animalculce, took a good look at Lucepara, visited the Nanka
group, great and little, which my sailing-master explored in quest
of water, finding none ; and then when off Parmesang Hill, I
went with my boat to the opposite coast, pulled up a rapid creek,
explored the jungle, and it was there, on a New- Year s Day, I
first trod the soil of Sumatra.

We had reached, on a pleasant afternoon, the north-western
end of the Straits of Banca the Sumatra and Banca shore just to
be seen from either bow : one half hour more, and the Flirt would
have been out of sight of Manopin Hill, and beating up against

72 TIM SON or

the northwest monsoon in the China Sea ; but a black-arched bat-
tlcnient of cloud rose up to bar the way ; up sprang the dark disc,
and on it came with tropic speed and wrath, rolling with foam
over the waters. The Flirt was all snug in storm trim, as she
careened to a furious and blinding squall ; and drove on heed
less of the helm, among dangerous shoals, and upon an unknown
coast, with no other guide in the thick darkness that surrounded
us, but the lead line. The water rapidly shoaled, and when the
lead found bottom at three fathoms, though not knowing whether
on a bank or the coast, we let go our anchors, and rode out the
storm in safety.

When daylight came, we beheld the Banca shore, and the
fort of Minto, about two miles distant. Whilst I was scanning
with my glass the small craft and native boats at anchor, and
entering the roadstead of Minto, I observed a small Dutch cutter
standing in ; she had been hovering near the schooner in the
straits the day before : she now ran close alongside the Flirt, and
ladies were to be seen on board, whose deep brunette skins and fine
youthful forms, draped in novel and tasteful costume, could read
ily be distinguished. One hailed us in merry voice, and at the
same time a clear, shrill, pleasant feminine laughter from many
voices, came ringing over the waters : and then the ladies mocked
with their parasols my use of the telescope, levelled at them whilst
the cutter passed by, and came to anchor near the Fort. I
resolved to go ashore and take a glance at this noted Dutch depot
for tin ; leaving orders to be all ready to make sail in the after
noon, when I should come on board.

TWELFTH DAY.

WHEN the commander of the Flirt first stepped on shore at
Minto, he was surrounded by a crowd of half naked natives, who
made a great clamor, repeating very distinctly the word sliaban-
dar, and pointing to a low building near the beach, above which
the Dutch flag was flying. At the doorway of this building he
was met by a stout, portly man, in the early prime of life the
type of the old Dutch burgomaster in form, but not in complex
ion ; his skin being almost as deepjy shaded as the turbaned na
tives around him. This was the Shabandar or Haverineester
of Minto. After an exchange of salutations, he invited the
commander very cordially to partake of some refreshments, then
before them. The novelty of the visit was commented upon ;
the first American vessel that had ever anchored in the roadstead
of Minto, within the knowledge of the Havermeester. He was
gratified at the visit ; it was so rare to meet with a traveller of
any information upon the island of Banca. If he wanted wood
or water, or any thing to be done on board of his vessel, it should
be attended to, and he pressed him to delay his departure, say
ing, it might be no loss of time, to stay even several weeks.

The north-west monsoon was then blowing in the teeth of all

vessels proceeding to Singapore ; and no sailing craft, even one

as sharp built as the Flirt, could then reach this port in less than

twenty or twenty-five days ; whereas a few weeks later, on the

74 Mil SON OF WELTKVREDEN.

Betting in of the south-east monsoon, she might make the ruu in
less than three days. As the commander had no urgent business
at Singapore, had no cargo, and the vessel was his own, why
would he not rest awhile at Minto ? It was true, the Haver-
tnecster said, that the place had slight attractions to offer, there
being no other society except a few families of the officers of the
small garrison ; yet he was sure they would be highly gratified
by the visit, arid offer a hearty welcome. With these, and other
pressing words, the commander felt tempted to stay, and await
the change of the monsoon, which would take place in about
three weeks ; and he sent his boat back to the schooner, with
orders to countermand the preparation for departure that after
noon.

The Ilavermeester conducted the commander to the residence
of the Governor, or Resident, as the chief magistrate of all
islands or provinces is named in Netherland India : he after
wards led him to the quarters of the several officers of the garri
son ; and then to his own house to spend the evening. The
incidents and conversations during these visits, were thus related
by the commander of the Flirt, on board the Palmer, when he
ppoke of

THE VISIT TO MINTO*

I found the Resident in company with the commandant of
the fort, seated beneath a large tree, in the small park near the
esplanade of the fort ; some of the noted beverage of Schiedam
and of the gaseous fluid of Seltzer was before them, of which I
\v:ts invited to partake, immediately after my introduction by the
nneester.

The Resident seemed about thirty-five years of age, well

RESIDENT OF BANCA. 75

made, and of a handsome presence ; but lie had a cold eye, and
a skeptic s smile played upon his lips, as I spoke of my voyage
in my little ship, and visits to out-of-the way islands, without
cargo or freight, or any fixed haven in view. It will seem
strange, said the Resident, to our plain matter-of-fact, trading
Hollanders, to hear of a man sailing with a good vessel, fit for
valuable use, over the dull, wearisome sea, to visit the bleak
rock of Tristan d Acunha, a poor potato patch for whalers,
the bleaker one of St. Paul s a roosting and nesting-place for
gulls and boobies; or to visit the pestilential, morass coast of
Sumatra.

I observed that my cruise would not have seemed strange to
the plain, and trading Hollanders, of the sixteenth and seven
teenth century, when the roving Houtmans, and Heemskerks,
followed in the footsteps of Antonio de Afereu, and other rovers
of Portugal, over the same dull sea I had crossed, to seek out
what there was rich or rare, in desert or peopled islands ; but the
monopoly which some of those Hollanders founded, did think
strange of independent rovers who came after them ; and seized
the vessel of one the brave Roggcween who chose to stop in
these seas without leave.

But the roving Houtmans, and Hemskerks, as you term them,
came with sanctions from home, to seek in an open field of ad
venture, for new outlets and markets for the trade of the father
land; and they founded, and those who followed after them
reared up a power, which won the right to bid Roggeween, or
any one who should come now without leave, to depart from the
shores of any island in the Indian seas.

They went forth, I said, with that sanction only, which
every commander of a ship carries with him, who has sub
mitted to the marine police regulations of his country, and pro-

76 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

cceds in general quest of a market. They went, indeed, into an
open field of adventure, for the rich lands of the Malays and the
Javanese had been a common plundering ground for Arabs, Por
tuguese, and English, long before the coming of the present
power. The former had menaced the shores of the great islands
of the Archipelago with a shadowy and unsubstantial dominion,
and it did not seem that more than that was done now.

It will not seem so to you Americans, said the Hesident with
some warmth, who have deemed the Spanish territory of Cuba
an open field for adventure, which you have lately failed to an
nex, and fifty of your countrymen, with the son of one of your
statesmen at their head, have expiated at the garotte the penalty
of the failure (and as the Resident said this, he held up a
newspaper, containing the news of the ill-fated expedition of
Lopez).

My heart sickened as I heard for the first time and being
the first news from home the details, accompanied with bitter,
insulting comment in the Dutch official paper of Batavia, of the
scourging and strangulation of the misguided men, who were
slain at the Moro ; and therefore it was, perhaps, with some little
rising emotion, that I said to the Resident :

The community of the American people has not sought to
make an adventuring ground of any well-settled dominion. It
has placed those of its citizens who have done so, beyond the
pale of its protection. Some of these were led to believe, that
the great body of the natives of Cuba did not desire the pres
ence of twenty thousand alien soldiery for the protection of their
industry, and therefore they went, at their own hazard, to aid in
driving the oppressors away. They failed, and suffered the"pain
of their own individual failure, and not that of the American
people to annex the island of Cuba.

THE CREOLES AT MINTO. 77

And then other matters in relation to the East Indian Archi
pelago were discussed from our different points of view. After
a time, the subject was changed, the spirit of polite taunt was
laid aside, and the ill-suppressed scowl that had darkened the
face of the Resident, gave way to an official smile, as he led
the way to the Residency, and introduced me to his family.

Thus at the threshold of Netherland India, was I met with
a strong anti- American feeling, cloaked under a guise of dip
lomatic politeness; and this I believe to be the feeling of
Dutch officers generally in the East. England has been the for
mer cause of fear and jealousy; but now America, since the
movement towards Japan, takes her place as rival with Holland,
for a share of the monopoly of the East Indian Archipelago.

A warmer reception awaited me at the house of my Creole
friend, the Havermeester. I found there, with his fair wife, two
youthful ladies of fine features, and graceful forms, in whose
veins a shade of the finest Javanese tint was mingled. Their
eyes showed a glowing curiosity, and that my visit had been
looked for.

We knew no language in common ; they no English, French,
or Spanish, and I no Dutch or Malay, with which to make an
interchange of thought. But the younger of the Creole ladies,
closing her fan, and holding it at both ends with a forefinger and
thumb of each hand, brought it to her right eye like a telescope ;
and as this was followed by a burst of rich, loud-ringing laughter
from the other lady, I knew that I was in the presence of the
fair mockers on board the cruiser, in the morning.

The same graceful pantomimist talked on with her hands.
She pointed to" me, and pointed to the west, and making a large
circling sweep with her hands, and dilating her eyes, said,
" America ; " then her hands made a wave-like motion through

8^ PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

the air, as she said, den zee, den zee ; and saying, with a ques
tioning look and tone, Flirt? Minto? tin? I shook my head, to
say that I did not come to Minto with my vessel for a cargo of
tin. Java ? Koffy ? said the lady. Another shake of my head.
Then she held up her right hand to her mouth, with the thumb and
forefinger almost touching at their tips, seeming to bite at some
thing small and pungent, which caused her to put out the tip of
her tongue, draw up her face, and half close her eyes, saying,
Sumatra? as she did this. But I showed by another shake,
that I came not to seek pepper in Sumatra ; and to all the at
tempts of my questioner to know what had brought me to the
East, I smiled, and looked a negative.

AVI i at had taken me to the East ? a question wonderingly
asked by so many since, by curious friends, and by those who had
the power to question. What had, indeed, caused a man to go
with a small ship into regions of spices, flowers, and placid tropic
seas ? where none came but with great ships, to be quickly
laden with bitter berries, a nauseous weed, and foul drugs, re
jected of all beasts of the forest and fowls of the air, to pamper
the vicious stomachs of the temperate zone.

What had brought me to Java, Sumatra, or Borneo, if I
came not for coffee, pepper, arrack, and tobacco ? What was in
their woods and groves even the many-trunked banyan or warm-
gin, pillared, aisled, and vaulted, like fitting temples for Jehovah
on earth ; or the graceful tamarind, with arrowy leaf; or the
tough, dark teak, noblest timber for ships; and mysterious, dead
ly upas : or what was there of fruits the fragrant mango, the
mild, pulpy dookoo, and delicately luscious mangosteen : or what
of flowers the many parasitic pendants of evergreen boughs
the odorous champaka, and pigeon flower, and the kumbang me-
lati, the richly fragrant flower of love ; or of beasts the great

WEALTH AND WONDERS OF THE EAST. 79

elephant, the fierce tiger, the rhinoceros, tapir, and exquisite lit
tle musk deer : or winged creatures the huge vampire bats of
Java, stupefying the senses with their musky wings ; the swal
lows, casting out from their throats the glutinous nests, the so
much prized stimulant of sensual Chinese : and then those bright
bodies of mingled glistening hues of gold, ruby, silver, and tur
quoise, floating in the balmy air, and justly called the birds of
paradise ; what was there in all these, unfit for freight or traffic,
that a man should risk so much, and come so far to see ?

And what could I come to learn about the eleven millions of
docile, and industrious people, of the famed land of Madjapahit,
and Matarem, once faithful subjects of Rajahs, and Susunans,
and now of Governors General, ever laboring for all their cruel
and unrighteous masters with childlike zeal ; or the four millions
of Sumatra the wandering, fighting, romantic Malays the Scan
dinavians of the East, and vikings of modern times : or the
three millions of Borneo, the frank and loyal Dyaks, yet bloody
hunters of human heads ; or the two millions of Celebes, famous
for adventurous trade and female rule : or the one million of
Bali, brave little Bali -that dot on the eastern seas, that had
twice victoriously withstood the power of Holland : what was
there in all the twenty-five millions of human beings of the East
Indian Archipelago, in all the wonders of its islands and seas,
that I should come for, if I came not with calico and cutlery,
for coffee and tobacco ?

What could I come for ? said the dull Dutch guardian of tin
at Minto ; and, as he said, plain, trading Hollanders would, like
himself, wonder to learn. What did I see, to make such a cruise
to pay ? many an American friend wanted to know ; and what,
said the fingers and eyes of the graceful young Dutch Creole,
could bring you here, if coffee and pepper did not ?

80 PRISON OK wi:i/ri:vui:i&gt;KX.

I reached out my hand over tho rail of the verandah where
we sat, and drew towards me the limb of a jessamine bush, which
becomes a tree of twenty and thirty feet high in these islands.
I inhaled the sweet fragrance of its blossoms. I then pointed to
some banana and cocoa-nut trees, loaded with their fruit ; to a
tame musk deer, running about in the yard ; to a bird of bright
plumage, the pet of the lady of the Havermeester to many
other objects that were new to me , and then imitating her wav
ing and rocking motion with the hands, repeating her words of
den zee, and pointing alternately to the fruit, flowers and ani
mals, and to my eyes, nose and lips, gave her thus a pantomimic
answer to her wish to know what brought me to the East Indian
Archipelago.

The Havermeester, who had left us after introducing me, now
returned. The ladies asked to know more about what our fingers
and eyes had not fully explained. And then he said to them, as
he afterwards translated to me, that I came, more wishful to fill
my head with knowledge, than my vessel with merchandise; that
I saw more in these islands than cargoes for ships ; was more
desirous to know and be known to my fellow-men in the East,
than to trade with them : and something he added, causing the
ladies of the cruiser to smile, and look a little confused. And I
judged that he spoke of some especial curiosity which led me to
come ashore at Minto.

At a late hour, a Malay servant of the Havermeester, with a
cocoa-nut bark torch, led me through the grounds of the fort, and
along by the sentries in the pathway leading to it, and then
through the native town or kampong, to the boat landing. This
servant, or oppas, as he was called, then left me, whilst he went
to rouse up the boatmen of the Havermeester, to take me on
board my vessel.

THE BELGIAN DESERTER. 81

Whilst standing alone near a small embankment, where four

thirty-two pounder cannon are planted, and fixed at point-blank

range, a man started up from an embrasure in the embankment,

and spoke to me in French. He said that he was a soldier of

the garrison, and a Belgian ; and he wanted to desert and serve

me on board my vessel. He had been vilely beaten for a trifling

fault, with a loaded cane, on the soles of his feet and elsewhere,

most degrading to man ; he loathed the brutal Dutch service, and

would gladly serve me for nothing, until I should return to

America ; and then he went on to say, that my visit, and my

conversation with the Resident, had been that evening the gossip

of the garrison. He thought that Providence had sent me and

my ship to save him. He had crept out of the barracks after dark,

and had followed me from the house of the Havermeester. If

I would say the word, not only himself, but eleven other soldiers,

countrymen of his, were ready to come on board my vessel, this

night, or any other that I would be pleased to take them off and

receive them.

"Whilst these words were rapidly uttered, I could just dis
cern, by a clear starlight, the stout frame, yet thin, haggard face
of a young man, about twenty-five years of age. I had begun to
speak, when the glimmer of the torch of the returning oppas
caused the soldier to dart out of sight, within the embrasure of
the embankment, saying as he fled, he should watch for me when
I went ashore again.

Two lascars bore me on their shoulders over the slimy ooze
of a beach left bare by an ebbing tide, and eight lascars pulled
me alongside of the Flirt ; then, on board in my snug cabin, I
was soon forgetful of the polite Havermeester, the suspicious
Resident, the merry Creoles, the bastinadoed Belgian, and all
that happened to me on the day of my first visit at Minto.
4*

THIRTEENTH DAY.

DURING the second and third day after the arrival of the
Flirt in Minto Roads, there was a steady fall of rain, with gusty
weather, which deterred communication between the vessel and
shore. On the afternoon of the third day, a naval officer came
on board the schooner, to pay, as he said, a friendly visit to the
American captain ; but, as was afterwards shown, he came as a
s py&gt; by order of the Resident at Minto,

On the morning of the fourth day, two officers and the phy
sician of the garrison, came on board the Flirt, and invited the
commander to dinner on shore. He found a very agreeable and
instructive acquaintance in the doctor, who spoke very good
English, and had spent many years in India. His term of ser
vice had just expired, and he was preparing to return to his
native country. He expressed a desire to visit America, and
took much pains to gratify the wish of the American commander
for information, who thus spoke of him on board the Palmer,
and of his visit to

THE HOSPITAL AT MINTO.

After dinner, the doctor accompanied me to the sick ward,
where he had about forty patients, one half Chinese, one
third Malays, and other people of the Archipelago ; and the re-

HEALING OF WOUNDS. 83

maining portion were soldiers, all in a comfortable and cleanly
state. I was very much struck with the quiet and patience
of the native invalids as contrasted with the groaning and rest
lessness of the sick Dutchmen ; and this greater passivity under
suffering, of all colored races more than white, seems to prevail
throughout the world ; but this is most strikingly seen among
the islanders of the Eastern seas ; and they possess another phy
sical property, the ready healing of their bodies from wounds or
disease, which appears in strong contrast with the fevers, festers
and gangrenes, which attend any severe fleshly hurt received by
their European masters. The doctor pointed out the case of a
Malay woman, who had been fearfully mutilated with a hatchet ;
she had received a furious blow in the face, striking the cheek
bone, glancing down the jaw and slicing off the face, a large
flake of flesh which hung down upon her shoulder ; and whilst
attempting to ward off other blows, was struck between the fingers
of the right hand, which was split in two down to the wrist ; and
yet about a week s care, with simple bandages of linen and appli
cations of pure water alone, had restored the wounded flesh to a
healthy state, with every promise of recovery ; and the doctor
spoke of other native cases, who had been readily cured of
wounds, which would have been inevitably fatal to a European.
He ascribed this ready curability of the Malay and Javanese to
the simple diet of rice, birds and fish upon which they feed.

The doctor pointed out what was curious to observe in the
fort, barracks, and native town, and surrounding country, and this
was the substance of his discourse to me about

THE ISLAND OF BANG A.

This island is one hundred and twenty miles in length, and
will average forty in width, and there are between fifty and sixty

84 PRISON OF WELTEVHEPEX.

thousand people upon it ; one half of these arc the aborigines,
living in the forest and hilly fastnesses of the interior ; they are
like the Sundese of Java, the Dyaks of Borneo, and the Al-
furas of the more southern islands ; the rudest of savages, and
living in as wild a state as when the first European visited these
shores. They have no political organization of their own, and
offer nothing in their savage life that deserves particular mention.

One third of the population are the all-conquering Malays
living upon the coasts, who have invaded this, as they have every
other island in the East Indian Archipelago, with their language,
customs, and trade. The remaining portion are Chinese, the
workers of the tin mines, who vary in number between eight and
ten thousand. Junks full of these people arrive from China with
every change of the monsoon and the same junks return well
filled with thrifty Chinamen, carrying home the savings of their
labor in the mines : and thus there is a continual ebb and flow of
the Chinese population ; but the Government will not allow their
number to exceed ten thousand, on account of the turbulence of
their character ; for they are engaged in constant feuds ; and
are riotous, like the various factions of foreign laborers upon
your railroads and canals in America.

Tin, for which the island is famous, is found in pellets and
nuggets, of native ore, in surface deposits of alluvial soil; and
is extracted by a rude process of washing. The yearly quantity
obtained is about 70,000 piculs, or 4,500 tons of your weight.
Double or triple the quantity might be obtained, but the Govern
ment does not wish to glut the tin market, with the bounty of
metal which Banca is capable of yielding.

Is not this policy, I said, a remnant of that old unwise spirit
of monopoly, which destroyed great quantities of spices and spice
groves, to enhance the value of what remained ? The greater

ISLAND OF BAM -A. 85

abundance and cheaper price, would have caused a more general
use; and such would be the case with tin : were it cheaper and
mor plentiful, it would be largely used as a substitute for lead,
for water pipes and other purposes.

The Government thinks otherwise, said the doctor ; it owns
all the land of the island ; and no person, Dutchman or stranger,
can work the mines without its permission, and must deliver all
tin obtained to Government, at the fixed price of 13| florins per
picul, or five dollars and fifty cents of your money for 125 pounds ;
and as that weight of tin in your markets would be worth about
twenty three dollars, you will perceive that the Government of
Holland must derive a royal revenue from the tin mines of
Banca.

There is a neighboring island, a little more than one third the
size of Banca, called Billiton, upon which tin of a fine quality
has recently been discovered ; and this island has been granted
to Prince Henry of the Netherlands, to enable him to recruit his
diminished revenues. He has appointed two agents, who are
now about to commence the working of the mines.

Whilst walking upon the esplanade, the doctor observed ; You
will perceive that th means of defence of Minto, these simple
earthworks, with half a dozen cannon mounted upon them, hard
ly deserve the name of fort, and the little garrison is but little
more than the force of a guard-house. One hundred and twenty
soldiers are all the military force upon the island, to keep in
order the ten thousand turbulent foreign laborers; and more-
over there is an element of weakness in this garrison, as in all
others throughout Netherland India ; more than one half being
Belgians, who have been averse to the Dutch service, and ever
ready to desert from it, since the separation of their kingdom
from that of Holland.

86 I HISON OF AVKI/l KVKKm-IN.

But this Government, by its conciliatory management of the na
tive princes and chiefs throughout the Archipelago; and by its ad
mirable system of police surveillance, is enabled to control sixteen
millions of subjects, with less than ten thousand European troops.
The princes whilst they retain the veneration of their people, are
willing to resign their substantial power, and the direction
of their domains to the superior intelligence of their European
masters, from whom they receive a stipendiary revenue. The
want of energy of the unambitious princes, has long ceased to
threaten the disturbance of Netherland sovereignty; and that
is further maintained by the fidelity of natives, who constitute
the entire police force. The oppas, chief Malay or Javanese
attendant, whom you have seen accompany the Resident, Haver-
meester and other officers, is directly paid by the Government,
and reports instantly the slightest irregularity in the conduct of
his master.

You may call the subsidiary relation of the native princes
with the Government, a wicked conspiracy of sordid intelligence
with imbecile rank to fleece the simple masses ; and the police
surveillance, a base system of espionage ; but there has been
nothing in the history of other European dominations in the
East, or of Christian and civilized domination over weak and
ignorant aboriginal races upon your own continent, which would
furnish to Holland a more disinterested example.

When I returned on board the Flirt, after my visit to
the doctor, I found in my cabin a stranger, a man about thirty-
five years of age, with the complexion and features of mixed
European and native race. He informed me that he was master
of a barque; then lying in the roads, belonging to the island of
Bali, which had been chartered by the Dutch Government to
convey some troops from Batavia to Palembang in Sumatra,

THE CAPTAIN OF THE BALI BARQUE. 87

where the Government was at that time engaged in a war with
some native tribes.

He went on to say that he had called partly from curi
osity and partly to make an offer of services. He had met with
American commanders at Singapore, and other points in the
East Indies, from whom he had received many obliging favors,
and so felt anxious to avail himself of every chance to make
a return to their countrymen. He seemed to have much knowl
edge of the trade, manners, and customs throughout the Archi
pelago, and possessed of that general information most needed by
a stranger desiring to cruise in the Indian seas. It was his de
sign, after transporting the troops on board his vessel to Palem-
bang, to sail for Singapore, expecting to stop on the way at the
island of Linga, the Sultan of which he knew. He then spoke
of the remarkable floating town of Palembang ; and of the easy
navigation of the river upon which it was situated. My curi
osity was greatly excited, and I had a desire to accompany the
Balinese barque on its route to Singapore.

I told the Havermeester my wish to go to Palembang. He
said the risk was great, there was little to see, and nothing to be
gained. The water way thither was deep and swift in its flow :
at the mouth was a bar, not easily passed; and pirates, ever
ready to cut off a small, unarmed ship, lurked with their prahus
in many coves and islet channels near by ; the banks swarmed
with caymans, tigers, and serpents ; over the water hovered
clouds of fierce insects ; one dozen of which could drain the life-
blood of a man, and war raged not far from the town ; and the
law of war was there, among the people under the control of the
Dutch Governor, who was a cold, harsh man : and thus the Hav
ermeester warned, and said he wished me to spend the rest of
the northwest monsoon at Minto.

88 PRISON OF WELTKYREDEJt

1 *aw the Resident again. He was more cheerful and polite
than before. He had heard of my desire to follow the troops
on board the barque from Bali. He said I would behold the
Venice of the East, a city amid waters, whose people were
famed for their skill in rare filigree work in gold, and in curious
lacquered ware, richer than that of Japan. My light vessel
would easily pass the bar of the river ; and with the wind that
then prevailed, could stem the stream with ease, whilst her row
of ports and warlike rig would keep far off all prowling Malays ;
and so the Resident seemed to wish me to go.

My friend, the doctor, knew much about Palembang. It was
the largest town in Sumatra, and was well worth a visit to see ;
but he did not think, with the Resident or Havermeester, that
there was such peril or ease in going there. Knowing, said the
doctor, the Creole s frank and friendly nature, and knowing that
you have pleased him, you may look upon his opposition to your
going, as given with the best intent ; but knowing otherwise of
the other man, I would warn you to consider well what he sug
gests.

The opposing and encouraging counsel, and all that was said,
served but to strengthen my desire to go to Palembang. I was
not then prepared to visit Sumatra, as I had planned before ;
but I had found a good companion and a good escort. I had my
vessel in good repair, and my men were willing to go. The
great island of early dreams would now be seen ; and so I re
solved to follow the transport ship from Bali.

I had made known my wish to have a Malay servant to wait
in my cabin, and to help me learn his language. I said that I
wanted a simple man of the country, one who knew nothing of
European service. On the day I had made ready to leave
Minto, a man was brought to me, being furnished with a pass by

THE CHINESE SHIP CHANDLER. 89

the secretary of the Resident. He was a Malay, about thirty-
five years of age, of short size, with a broad, yellow face, which
had a look I did not like at first ^ but Bahdoo Rachman, as he
was called, thrusting his fingers like two combs together, placing
them with palm down upon his head, then crouching low at my
feet, and making other signs to show his submissive will to serve
me ; he thus chased away my first dislike, and I hired him for
fifteen Dutch East India rupees, or five dollars a month, out of
which he had to buy his own rice, fish, and curry his chief
food; and this was deemed good wages for a servant man in
Netherland India.

I had obtained some small stores from the chief ship-chan
dler at Minto, a shrewd, jocular, little old man, who had gotten
many a dollar of cumshaw from American and British captains
at Hongkong, and his native Whampoa. He spoke glibly the
few words of the mongrel Anglo-Portuguese lingua-franca of
the open ports of China ; and had learned, with the Chinese tra
der s aptitude, the many little courtesies which were most grateful
to the American and English customer. And Lim Boo Seng was
a good sample of his trading countrymen, every where thrifty
and successful in the East. I went to see him before leaving.

Whilst I ate of kirnlo, a Chinese chowder of chicken, tri-
pang, bamboo pith, and various herbs most tastefully seasoned,
along with a dish of shrimps and shredded cocoa-nut, the little
ship-chandler entertained me, in his jargon, with much gossip about
Minto, and the condition of his countrymen on the island of Banca.

The Government was bad to Chinamen ; they had to hide
their dollars, and look very poor. When a Chinaman came to
Minto, and when he went away, he had to pay money. When
he bought a wife, he had to pay for marrying her ; and when he
died, every day that his body lay in his own house, he had to pay

90 i-uisoN OF Avi:i/n:M!Ki&gt;r:\.

for the privik iro of staying above ground. The Chinaman works
all the gold and the tin, and. does all the trading; the Javanese
works the fields ; the Malay spies ; and all, said Lira Boo Seng,
are robbed by the Kumpany Wolanda.

Before leaving my host, he gave me a letter, several columns
of tea-chest marks upon a broad sheet of yellow rice paper ; and
this I was to deliver to his friend Oey Soch Tchay, at Palem-
bang, who would give me good pork, yams, chickens, milk, and
fruits for my ship, and entertain me with kimlo and tchoo as he
had done. He gave me some curious miniature blocks of best
Banca tin ; and with many pleasant words of good will, I and
Liin Boo Seng parted.

I then went, Bahdoo following me, to pay a last visit at the
house of the kindly Havermecster. In speaking of home, I
mentioned a name that caught the ear of his lady. She ques
tioned me, and then it seemed that I and her husband descended
from a common ancestry of not very ancient date, from a scion
of European nobility, awhile an exile in Holland, afterwards em
barked for the East, there found a faithful companion in a sim
ple, loving Javanese girl ; and the husband of my hostess was
the fruit of that love.

This was an exciting discovery to my Creole friend, and to
his fair European wife, who was eager to bring out all the
strong points of her husband s claim to European lineage, a
strong wish felt by every Creole, of white and colored race,
throughout the world. I had the miniature of one who bore the
name, and was a lineal descendant of him from whom we traced
our descent : the lady was curious to see the portrait, which I
\v;is glad to offer in return for pleasant attentions; and her
hu.-bnnd accompanied me on board my vessel to obtain it, and
there to bid me a final adieu.

TROUBLE ON LEAVING MINTO. 91

Whilst the Havermeester had stepped aside to order his
boat, and whilst I stood near the embankment where the guns at
point-blank range were planted, I saw a soldier lying face down
wards, and seeming to sleep, on the grass within the covert from
whence the Belgian had come, some nights before. He raised
his head, and I saw that it was the same man. He made a slight
beckoning motion. I went near, and heard him say, I will be
on board your vessel to-night, with eleven of my countrymen
well armed, who want to desert with me, and to serve you.

When we were ready to push off, my servant suddenly re
called to mind something he had left, and needed very much.
He piteously entreated the Havermeester to ask of me to let
him go to his house, promising to be on board before I had got
up my anchor. I left Bahdoo behind, and went with the
Havermeester to obtain the miniature, who returned with it on
shore. When I wished to get under way, I found that two of my
men were unfit for. duty, and having only four able men and a
boy, we could not get up the anchor, and so I went ashore again
to get some help, and to bring off Badhoo, who delayed his return.

Near where I landed, I saw a young native woman, dressed
like one of those poor unmarried followers called nyaces, who
are seen at all times at the heels of every Dutch trooper and
officer in the East. She was seated near where I had seen the
soldier lying two hours before, and was wringing her hands,
sobbing, and uttering accents of despair. I asked a Dutch
sailor the cause of her grief 5 and he said that her man, a Bel
gian soldier, had just been marched off to the guard house.

I saw the Havermeester again. He shook my hand with as
much warmth as before ; but he met me with a constrained look.
He could not explain, but expressed a hope to see me again at
Minto, when he could receive me as a relative, though so remote

92 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEX.

a one, but whom it was his delight to have met. He would send
me a boat s crew to help me get under way ; and as he bid me
God speed, there were marks of anxiety in his face.

I had sent one of my men to the store of Lim Boo Seng to
get some forgotten article of ship-chandlery. The man came
back, saying there was trouble at the Chinaman s shop ;
women and children were making an uproar ; and all the words
that my sailor could get out of the son of the old man, one who
helped his father in the store, was "Resident," and "papa."

I was struck with some vague fear : a blow seemed to have
been dealt out to every man with whom I had spoken, or who
had spoken to me freely. And yet I thought, how can that be ?
"\Vlio could have told what the Havermeester, or Chinaman, or
Belgian said to me ? You may see, as I group these facts to
gether, who was the spy ; but I, during the excitement and occu
pation of the time, did not then suspect the simple Bahdoo, but
took him gladly with me on board.

As soon as the longshoremen who had helped to get up the
anchor, had left the Flirt, the Dutch war cruiser in the road
stead loosed her sails, and followed in the wake of the schooner.
The Balinese barque, which had left some hours before, expect
ing me to follow, was still to be seen bearing towards the mouth
of the Palembang river. I had lost my desire to follow. The
late events, and the watching cruiser, led me to expect trouble,
for which I was not prepared. I felt a strong presentiment of
coming danger. A light squall came up, and the sun having
just set, the cruiser was soon lost to view ; and then I gave

orders to my sailing master to head the schooner for Singapore.

********

FOURTEENTH DAY.

SABBATH ON BOARD THE PALMER.

FIFTEENTH DAY.

SOME spirit of storm, some genii of the Indian isles, seemed
to bar the way of the Flirt into the China sea. The same black-
arched wall of thunder cloud, that had before shut off" the way
from out the straits of Banca, again rose up. The schooner beat
up against it for a time amid thick darkness, strong wind, and
rain ; and when at last the storm wall was rent, and broke away ;
the transport barque was seen by a clear starlight, a cable s
length ahead, and riding at anchor within gunshot of the bar of
the Palembang river.

The wind and the current setting in from the sea of China
against the Sumatra shore, had driven the Flirt far to the west,
when her commander had hoped that he was north of Manopin
Hill, which overlooks Minto. He had not wished for this en
counter on leaving port, and fain would pass the barque ; but as
he began to stand off, he was hailed from the water , and then
beheld a boat right under the schooner s bows, and one minute
later, the master of the transport ship was on the quarter deck
of the Flirt.

The Balinese had some hint of the misgivings of his consort,
and he sought to remove his doubts ; spoke of his hopes of the
pleasant sail in company, and then reminded him that they had

94 PRISON OF WELTEVttEDEN.

agreed to bear an equal share of the expense of a skilful pilot,
familiar with the rivers and coast of Sumatra, with Linga and
the neighboring islets. An officer going to join the garrison
at Palembang, had come with the master of the barque. He
spoke of much that was rare and worthy to be seen ; and the
commander of the Flirt was induced to follow his friends in the
barque.

Whilst the commander and master, and the Dutch officer
were yet talking, they descried a large Malay prahu that had
shot out from behind a thick-wooded islet near the bar, bear
ing down towards the schooner. The manoeuvre and direct
approach seemed hostile. There was an anxious look-out on
board the schooner, for with her handful of men, and utterly de
fenceless state, she might be overpowered and plundered by the
nimble pirates, before succor from the barque could reach her.

As the crowded prahu neared with threatening aspect, and
the people on board the schooner made ready their small means
of defence, to beat off any piratical assault, the sailing master of
the Flirt, an experienced officer in the Indian seas, ordered the
ports to be thrown open, ends of blackened spars to be run out,
and lighted lanterns carried along the deck. The prahu checked
her course, and bore away, leaving the people on board the Flirt
much relieved.

The incident inspired a spirit of wakefulness, and led to a
discussion in the cabin of the Flirt, about piracy in the East
Indian seas. The master of the barque related many curious
incidents, and the substance of his discourse was told by the
commander of the Flirt, to his friends on board the Palmer, on
the afternoon of the fifteenth day of her homeward voyage from
Java, when he spoke of

THE PIRATE PRAHU. 95

PIRACY IN THE MALAYAN ARCHIPELAGO.

I have often had to deal with pirates, said the Balinese cap
tain, and there are plenty of them though many people think
not still to be met with, cruising about in these seas. Eight
years ago, I went with a small fore and aft schooner to Selwatti
and the coast of Papua, to collect a cargo of triparig to carry to
Banyarmassing in Borneo.

I had got my load and was making for home. I had run
through Morti Straits, between Pulo Morti and Gilolo, and was
coming in sight of Pulo Tagulanda, when I saw a large war
prahu, bearing down upon my little craft. This was my first
command, and I had not kept a sharp look-out, so that the
pirate was within gunshot, before I or any of my men had seen
him.

It was about sunset. The land breeze was going back, and
the sea had fallen almost a dead calm ; and it was the sound
of the pirate oars that first made us look out. The prahu was
one of the biggest ; was crowded with coolies at the oars, and
with tall fighting men on the split bamboo deck above. I
could now make out the scarlet jackets, always worn by the
Lanun pirates ; they twirled their limbs in battle postures, brand
ishing their long spears and golok swords; then a clang of gongs
broke forth mingled with shouts and yells, and all the fuss and
fury they put on, whether to cut off a boat or a big ship.

My whole force being twelve I)yak sailors and their wives,
and two Chinamen, cook and carpenter, the best policy was to
keep still and bide our fate, knowing that Lanuns do not kill
when no fight is made ; and so it was with us, when the pirates
had sprung over the schooner s sides, as they always do, all

96 PRISON OF WEI.TEYRKPr.N.

at once, by laying hold with a long, hooked bamboo upon the
bulwarks of any craft, whether of schooner or frigate size ; and
then with the muscles of arms and feet, jerking themselves
upward, turn somerset in air, and with a flying leap alight
on deck, and go to work with poisoned kriss, rushing first
at the cabin to slay the master ; but they did not do so
this time, for I knew their talk, hailed them as they cleared the
bulwarks ; and they, seeing me and my folks all quiet, and
crouched down on the quarter-deck, put up their krisses, ordered
us to get down into the prahu, plundered the schooner of what
they wanted to carry away ; the panglima, or chief captain and
his officers, taking the money, arms, and fine garments ; the men,
the coarser booty ; and then they set fire to the schooner.

I and all my men except the two Chinese, were stowed away
under the bamboo deck. We were made to squat down, with
knees raised up, our wrists were lashed down to our ancles ; and
then, putting us back to back, we were made fast in couples,
with thongs of cocoa-nut bark cord. In this hampered and tor
tured state, we lay all the time of our stay on board the pirate
craft. But my poor cook and carpenter fared worse. They
were kicked and beaten as dog-eating beasts, the moment they
reached the Lanun deck ; they were forced down on their backs,
with their hands lashed behind them ; their pig-tails were run
through a hole in the deck, and being hauled on with all the
strength of a man, so as to raise up the scalp from the skulls
of the tortured men, was made fast below ; and in this way the
wretched Chinamen passed the time on board.

The prahu was worked by forty coolies at the oar poor
naked slaves, mostly kidnapped from the small islands around
Timor. The fighting deck was manned by fifty men, tall La-
nuns, and some of tho Rayat Laut, or sea people, regular pirates

PIRATE RENDEZVOUS IN BORNEO. 97

of these seas ; and their craft was commanded by a half-breed
Malay Dyak, an old fierce villain, called Panglima Besar, the
Great Admiral, as his name signifies.

The fighting men never put a hand to an oar. They would
feel themselves disgraced by having any thing to do with work ;
and utterly degraded, if, in some desperate encounter, they
should owe their safety to any interference of the coolies, who
are allowed no part in the business of fighting and robbing.

We had a steady breeze after leaving Pulo Tagulanda. The
long, deep, sharp-built prahu made good time with its heavy mat
sail ; and after a run of five days, we came in sight of Tanjong
Oonsang, on the north-eastern coast of Borneo ; ran along shore
about one degree, put into Kinibatangan river, ascended one of
its branches a short distance, and came to anchor at a small
place called Kota Baroo, where we were put ashore, and sold the
same day, the women to some small chiefs living up the coun
try, and myself and men to several panglimas, or pirate captains,
then holding rendezvous at Kota Baroo.

My purchaser was called Panglima Djamaloodin, a young
chief from the Brunai country. In a few days after he bought
me, he put to sea with a complement of thirty coolies, myself
among the number, and thirty-five fighting men, chiefly Malays
and Dyaks. We steered south-east down the coast, doubling cape
Oonsang, and then struck out a course due south, until we came
to, off the island of Menimboora, which is near the most eastern
point of Borneo. The pirate had passed several trading prahus
without noticing them, and it was plain that there was some
especial expedition on foot.

We came into a small bay after sunset. Our sampan, or
canoe tender, was launched. The Panglima, with six men well
armed got down into it, each one having his kriss, a two-handed
-5

98 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

pedang sword, and a long seuapaiig, or musket of Dyak make ;
and I and three ceolies were ordered to paddle them ashore.
We went about a mile up a small creek, and pulled into a thick
rotan jungle, where Djamaloodin and four of the armed men got
out, leaving two in the sampan, with their senapangs pointed at
myself and companions, ready to fire at the first one who made a
suspicious move.

In about half an hour after the Panglima had left, -we heard
the firing of several shots ; then we heard faint sounds of screams
of women. Again we heard them nearer and louder, and in a little
while the commander appeared, bearing up the body of a woman,
whom he held around the neck and waist in a way to confine her
arms, whilst one of his men held up her feet. Two other women
were following, driven along with the muzzles of the senapangs,
by the three men behind them. All the time whilst in the sam
pan, and when we got on board the prahu, the woman in the
arms of the Panglima, whom I now saw by a clear moonlight to
be quite young and exceedingly pretty, continued to scream, and
to make violent efforts to get loose.

When on board the prahu, the Panglima tried very hard to
soothe his prize. She seemed to be quieted by his caresses, and
her struggles and sobbings had ceased altogether. I was just
thinking how foolish to make such a fuss at first, and then give
up so easily, when suddenly I heard a quick rush of feet over
head, a sharp cry of pain from a man, a plunge into the water,
then another and another, and by and by two good Dyak swim
mers came up on my side of the prahu with the Panglima s cap
tive in their arms.

When the resolute young woman was brought on deck, I
heard the Panglima, who, it seems, must have been wounded by
her, call out binatang, or wild beast, a common expression of

RESOLUTE VIRTUE IN THE ARCHIPELAGO. 99

spite and anger ; then I heard the sound of a heavy blow, and
the fall of a body just above me, and a scream from the same
voice that had shrieked in the jungle. A horrible order was
then given to all the pirates. Two crevices between the bamboo
splits just above my head were pried open with spears. I saw some
delicate little fingers passed through ; and the prises being taken
away, the bamboo splits tightened up, squeezing blood from those
fingers, and screams of agony from the poor girl, who, it seems,
was laid on her back, her hands stretched out and made fast in
the atrocious way I have told you.

The scene on the bamboo deck, had drawn off all attention
for a time from the coolies below. The bamboo vice had hardly
griped the girl s fingers, when I seized a pointed stick, pried
open the splits, and shoved out the fingers. The victim, on feel
ing herself loosened, sprang up, and I saw her plunge into the
water again, followed by a dozen of yelling pirates. She dove
right down. For a minute I looked on the water, whilst the
baffled pirates struck out in various directions ; but no girl was
to be seen, and I am sure the poor creature went resolutely
down, and perished beneath the waters.

I began to think of myself. I knew that some cowardly
cooly would tell of what I had done ; and then it would be folly
to hope for mercy. With the chance of a cruel death before me
on board the prahu, I thought I had better now make an effort
for my life, whilst confusion still prevailed. I was quickly in
the water, and being as good a swimmer as any of the race of
my mother, I felt that I might bid defiance to the pursuing
pirates, of whom I got several yards start before I was descried.
My limbs were almost free, whilst they had on their tight fight
ing clothes. As soon as I had got under shelter of a piece of
rotan jungle, I sank down, being a tolerably good diver, and

100 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

remained under water about half a minute, then rose up gradu
ally. As my head got above the surface, I could feel the lunge
in the water, from the heel of the last pirate who passed over
me.

I remained in the jungle a short while, till the pirates gave
up the search, and they returned on board the prahu. I then
got on to firm grousd, and walked up the creek bank, to the
point where we had pulled in with the sampan ; there I struck
into the path taken by the Panglima and his men; for with all
my suffering and state of apprehension, I felt a strong curiosity
to go to the place where the women had been captured, thinking
I had something to tell that might be of satisfaction to their
friends. I had not gone far, when I saw a gleam of light; by
and by, a red, smoking mass, at the edge of a small sawah, or
rice field : and going nearer, I beheld the burnt ruins of several
large cabins. Among the red embers, I saw the roasted bodies
of two human beings; and three more lay near by two men,
a boy and a girl, and an old woman ; the men with bullet-holes
in them, and all terribly gashed with ragged kriss wounds.

I turned sick at the sight of what I knew must have been the
pirates work. I felt afraid to stay any longer on the island, ex
pecting to be massacred by any of its people who should find me
near the scene of the bloody violence. I returned to the creek
bank, and remained there till daylight, hoping to find some fish
erman s sampan, with which I could put to sea. I found one as
I expected, and on the same day was picked up in a half-dead
state in the Straits of Macassar by a Chinese junk bound for
Samarang.

At the conclusion of the story of the Balir.ese captain, the
young Dutch officer who had accompanied him, an assistant

ENGLISH AND DUTCH MAK T ,lkli

surgeon going to join the garrison at Palcmbang, said to
me in French : You will hear a great many strong stories
about pirates in these seas, and especially in the yarns, as you
say in English, of your brother sailors ; but from my experience
on board of several of the cruisers of my Government in these
seas, I can vouch for the entire correctness of the captain s
story, as regards the actuality of piracy of such a character in
the Archipelago. The kind of vessels, weapons, habits, costume,
mode of attack, and all the particulars set forth in the narrative,
I know to be strictly correct.

Piracy continues to infest these seas, almost as much as be
fore the first European keel entered them. Great pirate commu
nities still exist in the islands of the sea of Mindoro, of Sulu,
and Molucca, issuing forth sometimes in fleets of prahus, carry
ing many hundreds and even thousands of warriors. They cut
off large ships that lie becalmed, make descents upon small
islands, and several times have dared to attack Government ships
of war, and not always without success. Holland has striven to
establish and maintain an efficient maritime police within the
Archipelago; and with that intent, stipulated with Great Britain
in the treaty of 1824, for a joint action in the suppression of
piracy in the Eastern seas. But England has been negligent in
doing her part in compliance with that article of the treaty, and
Holland alone is insufficient to accomplish the task.

I said to the Dutch officer that l l thought the insignifi
cance of British interests, situated on the outskirts of the
Archipelago, at Pulo Pinang, Malacca, Singapore, and Labuan,
bore such a slight proportion to the great treasure-fields of the
Netherlands, in Java, Sumatra, the Moluccas, and all throughout
the Archipelago, that the more negligent patrol of the less in
terested party ought not to be wondered at ; but the world had

162 PITIiSON OF WELTEVREDEN.

heard of the labors and wise policy of Sir James Brooke, who
with some aid from the British Government, seemed to have
done more towards breaking up great nests of piracy, and restor
ing a vitiated and dissolute people to the amenities of civilized
life, than all the power of Holland had accomplished during its
empire in India.

You derive your information, said the Dutch officer, from
British writers, who furnish you in America, with plentiful abuse
of every European nation that has braved the power or com
peted with the trade of England. Brooke was an adventurer,
who took advantage of the weakness and cupidity of a miserable
Malay Rajah, and secured a possession in Borneo. England
being prevented by treaty from gaining any possessions in any
part of the Archipelago, south of Singapore was eager to sus
tain one of her subjects in a territorial foothold upon this great
island ; and thus, under the cloak of his sovereignty, secure what
would be too gross a breach of national faith to attempt other
wise. Hence the support of Brooke in the so-called suppression
of piracy, which resulted in the cession to his government of the
island of Labuan.

The Balinese captain, who had not been a party to the con
versation that was carried on in the French language, roused up
at the mention of Sir James Brooke; and learning the state
ments of the Dutch officer, said with some warmth ; Rajah Brooke
has done more to break up the pirates in these seas, than the
Company (the Netherland India Trading Company) ever did or
will do ; and the British have spent ten times the value of La
buan in breaking up the bloody Serebas and Sakarran pirates.
I remember well the different times, when old Cochrane, and
Ki ppel, Mundy and Belcher, with the Dido, the Nemesis, the
Agincourt, the Spiteful, and Brooke s own little Iloyalist, pun-

RAJAH BROOKE VINDICATED. 103

ished the rascally Tunku AH Omar at Brune ; and broke up the
murdering, head-hunting Dyaks, all along the west coast of Bor
neo. Six months charter of any one of those ships, was worth
all the trashy coal that can ever be got out of Labuan ; and as
for Brooke being an adventurer, I can say, that there is not an
other government in all India, on the continent, or among these
islands, where so much has been done to raise up the people of
the country, as in Brooke s Rajahate of Serawak.

The Dutch officer replied by some allusion to Malacca, the
birth-place of the Balinese captain ; hence his British predilec
tions. The latter made a reply offensive to the Dutchman, who
muttered something in which the word liplap was heard, a con
temptuous designation of half-breeds in the Archipelago, as the
word cheechee is in continental India. The bronze-green skin
of the Dano-Malay turned of an ashy hue, with a dark mottled
shade, his dark eyes dilated with bitter ferocity, and with arms
thrown back, and fingers claw-like, curving and spread out, he
seemed about to make a wild-beast spring, when I stepped for
ward and interposed between the European and the infuriated
half-breed. A semblance of peace was restored ; and with ill-sup
pressed flashings of hate and vengeance, the Balinese captain
returned with his passenger, at a late hour, on board the barque.

I know something about those bloody pirates, said the Boat
swain. When a lad I was on board one of our Beverly whalers,
homeward bound, running through Gasper Straits. We were
hard up for grub, nothing but beans, which some Beverly skip
pers think is enough for men any time, but not so with ours.
He wanted to send a boat ashore, to get some yams, and other
small truck from the yellow scamps on Banca ; and running in

104 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

too close, we got becalmed under the lee of the land, and there
lay all night. A small prahu came alongside and wanted to ex
change some trade for powder, but we had none. Our old man
had been in these seas afore, and told us to keep a sharp look
out. It had just struck seven bells in the first watch after the
dog watches. I was lying on the booby hatch, thinking of the
folks in old Maine, and looking out landward ; all at once, I see
three dark looking things, low in the water, shoot out of a small
bight of a bay, and make towards our ship. The old man told
us to make ready for pirates, who were coming down upon us in
big, long prahus. We had some small arms, and two nine
pounders ; but our powder was run out. The chances were small
for us to beat off ten times our force, with handspikes, harpoons
and whale spears. Five minutes more, and all our throats would
be cut ; but quick as thought, the old man had all the bottles
brought out, smashed and strewn on deck, fore and aft, starboard
and larboard, and bid me and the cook to stand by the coppers,
that luck had full of boiling slush at the time. I had just got a
ladle in my hand, when over they came, the yellow varmint, just
as the Balinese skipper said, flying over the bulwarks; but
wasn t there a screech from a hundred yellow devils, as they lit
with naked feet on the broken glass, that lay pretty thick ; then
the old man let them have the few shots we had left, and charged
with the harpoon and whale spears. The villains were checked 5
they yelled with pain, and over they went, back to their prahus.
Now was our time, myself and the cook, and we let them have
it hot and fast, the scalding anointment ; and they struck out for
land with another kind of chorus to what they came down upon
us with. We had five bodies to throw overboard.

SIXTEENTH DAY.

WHEN morning came, the American schooner got under way,
and bore up close in the wake of the Balinese barque that stood
in towards the mouth of the Soonsang branch of the Palembang
River. They crossed the bar at about three-quarters flood tide
when there was three fathoms water upon it, and five fathoms
immediately within the bar. At some points there is no less
than four fathoms water on the bar at flood tide. In coming
in towards the bar, there are several beacons, which were all
passed to the south-east of them, except the two outside, which
were passed between bearings got : Tacked first with Eastern
apparent point of river bank, (but in reality, an islet in mid-
channel,) S. W. by S. I S. ; the W. point of entrance, N. W. by
N. close to outermost S. E. stake in two and a half fathoms :
northern point of land in sight after passing all the beacons north
by west. Steered up near the eastern bank of the stream, hav
ing a slack current of not more than one and a half knots an
hour; yet the wind falling to a dead calm, the barque was
obliged to launch all her boats, and haul on her head with oars,
at a creeping rate; whilst the schooner having sweeps long
oars to be handled by four men, and being fitted with rowlocks
in her ports, she glided with good speed up stream, with only two
sweeps out, her weak force preventing her from using her full
complement of six. The Flirt was making three knots against

106 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

the stream, and might have made a run of thirty and some odd
mill s before nightfall; but as her consort was dragged along
slowly, and her men in the boats becoming exhausted, the barque
and schooner came to anchor in eight fathoms water, in mid-
channel, about fifteen miles from the bar, where the river was
about half a mile wide. At this point, after coming to anchor,
they were visited by a Malay chieftain, and the commander
of the Flirt thus described to his friends on board the Palmer,
the visit, and his first observations upon

THE SOONSANG RIVER.

As with measured tread on deck, and sailor s song, the long
blades of the sweeps rose and dipped, the schooner glided on up
stream with rippling sound. On either bank, a thick cane jun
gle, overtopped here and there with the atap palm, came down
to the water s edge. Dark and shapeless caymans lay upon, and
mingled with muddy rafts of logs, lodged on bars, and by the
jungle border; and from the dark green, leafy, wooded shore,
there came thrilling wafts of flowery, woody aroma.

Towards nightfall, a gentle breeze from the eastern bank
brought sweeter quaffings of scented air, rich as the music swell
that first stole over me from off the island s ocean shore ; and
then, as the shade grew deeper, mingled sounds rose up, blend
ing with the bird-notes of the day ; but harsher, some hoarse
and ruttling; then distant, hollow boomings, and long-drawn
notes, cracklings in the brake, the monkey s chattering cry;
and the quick, strong tiger caterwaul.

On the western bank, some dwellings could be dimly seen
through openings in the jungle; low huts, on high posts of
small bamboo frames, with broad leaf roofs; and when off these

MOOHA SOONSANG.

107

signs of human habitation, we came to anchor, midway between
them and the wild conservatory and concert on the eastern side.
A skiff was seen to put off from the point where dwellings
were seen. It was urged quickly along by four paddle blades ;
and as it neared the schooner, a long bright skiff was made out,
some thirty feet in length, with both ends raking and tapering
off to points, like sharp gondola beaks; the sides and whole
body of the buoyant skiff were glistening with the hue and polish
of fine-dressed maple-wood; and this was a tambangan the Su-
matran canoe.

A young and rather handsome man stepped from the tam
bangan on board the schooner. His face of mingled gold and
olive tint, wore the look of a tasteful and inquiring mind. He
was all robed in silk; a long and flowing coat made of deep
green, hand-spun thread, flecked with gold ; a scarlet vest, but
toned from the throat down to the waist, around which the
ample girth of a fantastic figured skirt, was lapped and folded,
then under-tucked to hold it on the hips ; and from out these
laps and folds, a diamond crusted hilt and part of a golden
sheath were seen.

108 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

The movement of the young man was staid and easy ; and
he bowed and held forth his hand with a strongly impressive
grace. I should have listened in vain to the softly modulated
words that came from his mouth, had not an interpreter been
near. The Balinese captain had left his vessel simultaneously
with the approach of the young chieftain, and now stood beside
him on my quarter-deck.

When seated in my cabin, my Suinatran visitor said in very
soft-sounding words, that he was a Demang, or chief in authority
over the campong or village of which we beheld glimpses
through the jungle. It was called Moora Soonsang, whose people
were fishermen spending all the time in the using or in the
making of nets; and in the gathering and curing of atap (a
species of palm leaves) for the trade of Palembang.

His eyes, to use his own words as translated to me, had won
dered at a strange banner coming up the river, not like that of
Arab, English, or Company, or any other that he had seen ; and
he had looked with much heart-liking upon the little black ship,
like the ulang bird, with golden beak and proud swelling breast,
walking with dipping feet against the running waters; and he,
the slave, had presumed to come and see the pretty ship, and
him who ruled her ways.

After my reply to his complimentary words, we spoke of my
country, voyage, condition of my vessel and object in visiting
Palembang. When I came to speak of having no arms, no
means at all for defence or offence, the Demang shook his head
with a good-humored expression of disbelief. Many evil men
prowled about these waters, which the American captain must
know, said the Demang; and he is too wise to float on a sea-bird
that has no beak or talons.

The orang badjak pirates said he, lie in wait with prahus

DEMANG OF SOON8ANG. 109

near every quallah (a river mouth) ; all the length of Pulo Per-
cha (a native name of Sumatra). No towns are near the qual-
lalis, and the coast of Pulo Percha has no people except alone
the Moora Soonsang; which only is not burnt and harried, be
cause fish soon spoil ; atap is of great bulk and little worth ; and
poor fishers make poor slaves; but this pretty ship, this cabin
filled with rich things, would make good plunder, and the pirate
kriss would not spare the gentleman before me, if his ship s open
mouths, pointing to the ports, have no biting teeth.

The Deinang said that no man had ever entered the Malay coun
try before, without kriss or senapang, powder, and ball. The Por
tuguese, the English, ths Hollander, had all come with great guns
and much power. The people from the land of the starry flag he
saw must be betuah (meaning sacred, not to be hurt, as some
men are believed to be by Malays), if they went abroad without
arms, fearless of Dutchmen and pirates.

The Deniang had brought in his tambangan, to present to
me, some fine large trout shaped fish, called iJcan guramee, a
large bunch of bananas, some mangoes and a lot of fat snipes,
with which I was told the jungle abounded, and were caught by
scores in nets. For these I gave him a small can of French
preserved butter, and some fine cut Turkish tobacco, with which
he went his way well pleased.

You were much too polite to that Malay rascal, said my
Balinese friend, as soon as the silken robe of the Demang had
passed over the gangway. He is a spy of the Dutch very
likely a friend of the pirates ; and would sell you to either for
the price of the smallest of one of those sparklers on the handle
of his kriss. You must keep a sharper look out for the beastly
Dutch and the oily Malays.

I was unwilling to believe that the half-breed s caution was

110 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

called for on this occasion, and I could not think that the gen
tlemanly Oriental whom I had just seen, was no more than a
mean, petty, pensioned spy.

I think, said the commander of the Palmer, that the Bal-
inese captain was about right in his advice. I never met with
a Malay in all my cruisings, whether cooley, lasoar, trader or
rajah, who was not a treacherous scamp ; and I always made
short talk with them, and made them toe the mark pretty straight,
whenever any of the run-a-muck scoundrels came about me.

Alas ! said the lady of the younger missionary, is not that tho
echo of that harsh expression of mistrust uttered everywhere by
white civilization against its colored inferior ? The Indian of
our frontier, the Hindoo of the Ganges, the black man of Africa,
and the children of these isles are all esteemed inbornly evil
alike ; and ungrateful, for the good they receive ! at the hands
of their stronger and wiser white brethren.

SEVENTEENTH DAY.

ON the second day, the progress of the barque and schooner
was slow and labored as on the day before. After a toilsome
pull with boats and sweeps for about twenty miles up a stream,
averaging thus far six fathoms in depth, and 700 yards in width,
we came to anchor near the entrance into the Oopang, a broad,
deep channel, diverging from the Soonsang, and running south
westerly into the straits of Banca.

On the morning of the third day, we began early our toil
with boats and sweeps. After passing the Oopang, I learned
from Bahdoo, that the name of Soonsang ceased, and the main
stream received the name of Moosee, or Ayer Moosee, so called
from the Ulu Moosee, a wild hill country, near Bencoolen on
the west coast, in which it takes its rise. The current now be
came stronger : the oarsmen pulling at the head of the barque,
gave up with exhausted arms, and my small force, barely enough
to man two sweeps, could urge no longer the sharp-prowed clip
per onward ; and so ere noon, the barque and schooner let go
their anchors in the stream.

Here I resolved to take a peep at the jungle, that had so wooed
my curious gaze j and started on a cruise with my long-boat,
taking with me, Bahdoo, a sailor, the carbine, our only fire-arm,
a hatchet, a pike, some boiled rice, and a small keg of water.

PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

To avoid the hot rays pouring down upon the water at noon, we
ran under the thick overhanging shade that lined the banks, and
roused up the caymans, or buaya, as Bahdoo called them, which
he seemed to dread very much ; and gave me to understand, that
they have oftentimes seized people and dragged them out of their
tambangans, a story which I heard vouched for afterwards by
Europeans. The monkeys sprang from limb to limb, some with
young ones in their arms, and stopping at times to give us a
stare and chatter ; whilst birds of great beauty were roused, and
rose up with varied cry, from the thick brake and heavy-leafed
forest.

Some five miles from where we had started, we came to
another large divergent branch on the right bank, like the
Oopang on the left ; and this would lead us, said Bahdoo, to the
Banyoo-Assin, or Sour-River, a great stream like the Moosee, by
which large ships could ascend to Palembang. The splendor of
the leafy and flowery border of this branch, which seemed about
400 yards wide, and the gentleness of its current, tempted me to
a sail upon its waters.

On the left bank of the stream, a short way from the en
trance, I espied what seemed the dark entrance of a cavern ; and
on coining nearer, I found it was the mouth of a small creek
about forty feet wide, over which the limbs of lofty trees were
closely interlapped ; forming a thick tunnel roof above the un
sunned waters of the creek, that issued forth, cool as from out
of some Alpine cave.

I was wishful to explore this tree-roofed stream, but Bahdoo
implored me not to go ; he spoke of binatang, wild creatures
on the ground, in the trees, and in the air ; he made wild cries
like beasts ; and then his face changing to a deeper fear-stricken
look, he spoke of orany uian, fierce and hairy wild men, who lived

THE CANOPIED CREEK. 113

in the thick tree-tops, overhanging this creek, and would drop
into our boat, or pelt us with cocoanuts from overhead. Whilst
Bahdoo was on the point of crouching down in his usual way of
entreaty, the sailor, who was as curious as myself, and seeing
my wish to go on, seized both oars, and with a vigorous pull shot
the boat within the leafy tunnel.

Farther up this curious vaulted aisle, the air was chill, an
awful silence reigned, and things around were dimly seen,
although the hour was but little past noon-time. As we went
on, we came to where the arch widened, the green roof rose up,
and the air came warmer, and a few rays shot down from above ;
then further on again the arch narrowed, and the roof lowered,
so low in one place did the matted limbs come down, that we
were forced to stoop our heads, and pull the boat along by the
branches that brushed her gunwale.

After pulling about fifty yards, the woody vault of the cavern
enlarged again ; and we saw before us, a smooth glassy avenue,
lined with a close array of massive columns, whose tops were lost
to view within the enshrouding canopy of green ; the end of the
vista was lost in gloom, till, as we sped along, light began to
dawn, and a little further on, it came pouring in from a break in
the cavern wall.

We had come to an opening in the bank, leading into an open
plain of marshy grouud, thickly strewn with bodies of mighty
trees, thrown down by the fierce simoon a long time ago ; for they
lay covered with a coating of soily loam, and thickly matted,
creeping vegetation ; so that the sod-enwrapped corses of these
old giants of the forest, seemed like a net-work of raised path
ways, on which to thread a way through the yellow ooze of a
deadly looking swamp.

Wishing to take a nearer view of some gorgeous flowering

114 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

trees, that skirted the farthest side of this open ground, I stepped
out to try my feet upon the raised green paths, and ordered
Bahdoo to follow; but again the Malay uttered cries of entreaty,
pointing to the swamp and then to his legs, making hideous gri
maces of disgust and pain : but as his clamorous fear on entering
the creek seemed thus far to have no foundation, I thought his
alarm was feigned some trick of laziness and so paid no heed
for myself, yet let him stay with the boat, and took the sailor
with me.

The pathways rose and sloped, and were barred with crossing
paths in all directions, making most tedious and unsteady walk
ing ; so that we found great need of the pike and boat-hook we
had taken in our hands. As we went on, we felt a stinging sen
sation about the legs, but our uneasily balanced foothold pre
vented us from stooping to find out and remove the cause of the
annoyance. We saw around us, snipe in great abundance, a
species of blue stork, and other birds.

There was a portion of raised ground near the centre of the
swamp, which was a mound of the sod-covered logs. Down we
thrust our pike and boat-hook to their utmost length into some
open spaces, and still there seemed more crevice way down through
this piled up raft of huge timbers. I further saw, as I removed
the soddy coating, that the wood seemed of a brittle, stony con
sistence, and I was eager to make more thorough research ; when
I was aroused by a cry from the sailor, who pointed to blood
that stained his stocking I was at the same time recalled to
a sense of pain about the ankles; and I then thought of the
pantomime and reluctance to come of Bahdoo.

The stinging sensation increased, and as I continued to strike
and rub my pantaloons, I saw blood staining my own stockings.
We boat a retreat for the boat in order to find out and remove

GUARDIANS OF THE SUMATRAN JUNGLE. 115

this hidden enemy. The pain increased, the blood came faster ;
the sailor stamped and cursed, as he stumbled unsteadily along ;
and as we both approached the boat, walking as though on hot
plates, and striking our legs with our hands, I could see a broad,
chuckling grin on the face of the Malay.

Achih, achih, said Bahdoo, as he stooped down to roll up
my pantaloons, and held up to me a small red leech, about two
thirds of an inch long, which he had taken from my bleeding
limbs. When we had got rid of the enemy, and washed our
selves, my op pas showed me that this little leech could jump;
and thus got upon pedestrians like the troublesome, flesh-burrow
ing seed-ticks, I often suffered from in the forests of South Caro
lina ; but tenfold more hurtful and bloodthirsty.

Bahdoo now hoped that I was content to return; but I
wanted to see how much farther on this canopied creek extended ;
and so, after a lunch in the boat, we plied the oar along the
deep shaded waters, till again the light broke in and we came to
another open space, which was high and dry, and covered with
clumps of very lofty, and some beautiful, long-leafed flowering
trees. One tree with a large, thick varnished leaf arrested my
attention, and Bahdoo said, pooli n gatah percha ; and of this I
broke off a small branch.

My breaking of the twig seemed to rouse again some hostile
genii of these woods, for a moment after doing so I heard cries
from Bahdoo and curses from my sailor, who had followed
me into this inviting grove of beauty ; and then I saw them with
one hand buffeting the air, and with the other rubbing their faces,
whilst a swarm of large black insects buzzed around, and darted
violently at them, and then some of the vicious creatures flew
at me and I felt most keenly stung. The sailor and Malay
waved and fought with their hands ; they ran, and oft went the

116 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

Bwarra, leaving me, who bad stood still, without moving a hand,
for I had had some experience with mad bee swarms in our
western forests.

Bahdoo plunged into the creek, and the sailor followed ; and
when I reached the boat, they had set up such a splashing as to
disperse the winged enemy. I felt the stings I had received, two
on the hands and one in the face, most keenly more acute than
those of bees. I resorted to the simple remedy of pressing the
end of a key barrel over the pustule raised by the sting, and soon
obtained relief; and the Malay and sailor seemed to get relief
from the mud with which they had besmeared themselves.

In half an hour, we were all right again ; but now, my
sturdy Jack as well as Bahdoo, began to think we had better
bout ship : still I was loth to leave this caverned creek, and wanted
to see the end of it, for the sun was yet high ; and I agreed after
another half hour s pull, taking an oar myself, to turn back.

For a time, nothing but the sounds of the oars, the dip and
splash, and ruttle on the rowlocks, broke upon the still cool air
within the wood-caverned water-way. By and by Bahdoo, who
was steering, stooped his head, and held the back of his hand to
his ear : the oars were held in rest, and then we heard a crackle
in the leafy mass above, and a little ahead of us; a few
strokes more, and another rest; and then a loud rustle and shake
of limbs broke upon us, right overhead, and Bahdoo cried wildly,
moonyet besar, orang utan, orang utan, a great monkey ! a
wild man ! a wild man !

I heard gruff animal sounds mingled with rustles, jumps and
shakes amid the tree-top limbs; but as yet had seen nothing of
what caused them. I sprang out of the boat, and Bahdoo, with
out bidding, quickly followed, the sailor after him, with the car
bine in his hand : the heavy leaps and shakes continued, and after

THE ORANG KUBD. 117

some time gazing upward, I got a glimpse amid a thick bower of
foliage, at a height of about eighty feet, of a dark brown form
seeming to me as large as a human being ; and when Bahdoo saw
it, he cried out, Orang Kubu ! Orang Kubu !

I raised a shout, and we all cried out at the top of our voices.
I struck at some low drooping limbs with the pike in my
hand ; and then we heard rustles and leaping sounds at other
points in the great treetops near the form we had seen ; this
one shifted, slid down a limb, came nearer to view, and then we
could partly see a very human-like form, holding a little creature
with a very human-like face, peering down upon us.

The sailor had raised the carbine, and was about to fire, when
I bid him stop ; it seemed like murder to shoot at that human
face, for I had heard something of wild and hairy races, roaming
in the forests not far from the waters of Palembang. I again
raised a shout, Bahdoo made a peculiar piercing cry, and again
the creature moved ; it leaped, others leaped, and the huge tree
shook. Downward came the sounds, leaping, rustling, crashing,
then dark bodies shot before us, down, plunge into the creek.

We had stood with weapons grasped, expecting an attack ;
but after hearing a quick flounder and splash in the water, up
sprang five or six large creatures, for a moment but dimly seen,
then up the bank and away into the thick forest on the other
side.

Three fourths of the day was now gone, and I had seen
enough for one day s excursion. The boat was put about, and
rowed quickly down the canopied stream, pulled with hands
again through the narrow neck, where the leafy top brushed our
backs. Our fatigue felt lightened, when we shot out of the
leafy cavern into the warm daylight on the main stream we
had left ; and our increasing fatigue was all forgotten when,

118

miSON OF WELTEVREDEN.

upon turning the bend of the stream into the Moosee, we be
held the graceful, golden tipped spars of the Flirt walking up
among the towering tree-tops.

A light breeze had risen, filling the clipper s main and fore-
top sail, with which she walked away from the lumbering barque,
that crept slowly behind, with all sails set. It was sweet after
the day s fatigue and adventure, to sit upon my quarter-deck, and
feel the cool wafts of air, that blew perfume from the woods, and
played with the folds of the flag of America, which I felt proud
to think I was the first to bear up this noble Sumatran stream.

When we had come to anchor, while I sat eating my curry,
real, mild, savory East Indian curry, prepared by Balidoo ; and
while sipping the fragrant tea of my friend Lim Boo Seng, the
costliest leaf, brought from the centre of China, and gathered, as
he said, by monkeys on certain inaccessible rocky ledges on
mountain sides, and while proving the merits of the mangoes
brought by the Demang, a visitor was announced, and the young
surgeon from the Bali barque entered my cabin.

He was curious to know what I had seen and met with, and
expressed a regret, that I had not signified a desire to have com
pany in my excursion. And then I spoke of the diverging river
branch, the covered creek, the brittle stony woods, the gutta
percha limb, the leeches, the insects, and the orang utan.

I had entered, said my visitor, the Djarang, a strait or chan
nel, connecting the Moosee with the Rantoo Stenno, a branch of
the Palembang waters, which joins the Soonsang not far from
the Campong Soonsang. There are several of these channels,
diverging from the main branch of the Moosee; the Padang,
Kamoodec, Kombang, Oopang, Djarang, Troosang, Punchian,
Chctar and Rantoo Stenno, forming numerous deltas, which are
much subject to inundation during the north-western monsoon;

COAL AND GUTTA PERCIIA. 119

and that was why nearly all the cabins we had seen were deserted
at that time ; but, said he, they will be peopled again on the re
turn of the south-eastern monsoon, and a rice crop will be planted
and gathered, before the season of freshets has returned.

In other parts of Sumatra, said the intelligent officer, where
vegetation is even more exuberant than you behold it here, and
forest trees are grander and loftier, you will meet with many de-
liciously embowered lakelets, and canopied creeks like the one
you ascended; and in the interior there are large tracts of
country, thickly strewn with huge timbers of ancient date, some
half, and some wholly carbonized, according to the heat and
pressure of superincumbent soil, to which they have been sub
jected.

He had often suffered from the little swamp leech, called
achih, which deterred me from further miueralogical researches.
Europeans wore nether garments that could be drawn tight
around the ankles, whenever obliged to traverse swampy tracts of
country in Sumatra, and in Borneo. The natives pass marshes
with bare legs, so that they can quickly remove the leeches, as
they leap upon them ; which they can the more readily do, as
they look straight forward and downward as they go along,
and not staring right and left, and round about them, like Euro
peans.

He said that the gutta percha tree was found in great abun
dance on the western coast, especially in the territory of Ben-
coolen, where tracts of ten and twelve miles square were almost
entirely covered with this valuable gum tree. The native name,
gatah percha, signifies band or ribbon gum ; probably because it
is commonly formed into strips for various purposes ; but one of
the native names of this island being Percha, it may have been
the design to call it the gum of Sumatra. Traders, who care

120 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

little about names, have changed the gatah to gutta; as they
have cayu putee to cajcput, and orang utan to orang utang, which
latter signifies a debtor, instead of a wild man, to the ears of a
Malay. And then he commented upon the human-like creatures
that I had seen. He had heard much about a wild race of hu
man shaped beings, covered with hair, called orang kubu, or
brown men, who were to be found in the country north of Pa-
lernbang, between it and the territory of Jambee, living on the
streams that flow into the Banyoo Assin ; but he had never heard
of them upon the Moosee, or any of its own branches; yet it
need not be surprising that the Kubus should be found upon the
Moosee and its branches, as there was a direct communication by
cross channels, between it and the Banyoo Assin.

A great many extraordinary and improbable stories are told
about the Kubus and other wild aboriginal races, by the Malays,
who call them all by the general name of orang utan. Some
account of them was given by a lieutenant in the army of Ne-
therland India, who spent many years in Sumatra.

This lieutenant said that the orang kubu are to be found in
the large tracts of forest, watered by the Lakitan, Batang Lekoh,
Rawas Ulu, and Lalan, tributaries of the Moosee and the Ban
yoo Assin, and forming boundaries between the territory of Pal-
embang and the Sultanate of Jambee. He spoke of them as a
race of beings, living in a state of nature, as simple as wild
beasts. They were much stronger built than the civilized men
of the island; symmetrically formed, of powerful frame, and ca
pable of enduring any hardships incident to their brutish life.

Some of these creatures, he said, wore a small strip of bark
about the loins, and both sexes daub themselves with mud and
gum from trees, to avoid the bite of insects ; but they seem to
have no idea of the use of garments for a covering. The men

THE ORANG KUBU. 121

have long, shaggy beards (an appendage almost denied to the
civilized Sumatraus), and the bodies of males and females are
covered with long, flowing hair.

Their food consists of wild berries and fruits, and of fish, and
several species of reptiles which they eat raw. They do not cul
tivate the earth in any manner whatever. When traversing the
forests, they are accompanied by a species of large, wild dog,
who keep watch against the attack of tigers and bears, and also
serve as sentinels, to prevent the surprise of their masters by
the Malays, who hunt them for slaves. He said that the saga
city and fidelity of these dogs, almost indicate the possession of
greater reasoning faculties than shown by the Kubus.

These creatures make rude shelters of tree bark, while many
lodged in the tops and hollows of trees. Their only weapon
and tool is a pointed bamboo, of which even the orang utan
avail themselves. The bow and arrows, and surnpits, or bamboo
tubes for blowing out small darts, in use among the Dyaks, the
Alfuras, and other wild tribes of the East Indian Archipelago,
are unknown to these hairy men of Sumatra.

They have sometimes been known to approach the abodes of
civilized people, when pressed with hunger, or as, in some cases,
when pursued by wild beasts. The lieutenant gives an instance
of a Kubu female, who was induced to live with a Malay. At
first she rejected cooked meat; and when she began to partake
of it, she seemed to suffer much pain in her stomach. For some
time, she could not be prevailed upon to wash her body with
water, instead of smearing it with liquid guin from trees.

The greatest number of these beings are to be found in tho

country of the Batang Lekoh; and these appear to have some

slight traits of civilization, some of them being engaged in gathr

cring benzoin or frankincense; and in fact are the chief col-

122 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

lectors of that article of commerce, which they exchange for
some trinkets and pieces of colored cloth. They are extremely
cautious of approaching the Malays, for the purpose of trading,
for fear of being caught and retained as slaves, which very often
happens ; and it, said he, is doubtless the treachery of the civil
ized man which keeps those poor wild creatures more isolated
than they otherwise would be.

This mistrust of civilized man, has led to a very curious cus
tom of trading, somewhat resembling that described by Herodo
tus, between the Carthaginians and certain wild tribes in Africa ;
but more singular still, in the case of the Kubus, as described by
the Dutch lieutenant, and afterwards to me by many Arab and
Chinese traders I have met with. The Kubus deposit the gum
they collect, and other articles to exchange, in a certain place,
when traders are in the neighborhood ; then they strike with a
club upon a suspended hollow log, called taboh by the Malays,
making a loud, drum-sound and run off back into the recesses
of the forest. The traders come to the spot, take away the gum,
and leave what they think proper. After they have gone the
Kubus cautiously venture out of the thicket, and carry off what
has been left for them. Sometimes this mode of barter is re
versed the traders depositing trinkets and cloths then beat a
gong, and retire ; whilst the wild men come and take away what
has been offered, and honestly and generously leave all that
they have got of gum or other articles. Thus, the chief material
for the purifying incense used in the ceremonial of the church
of Rome is gathered by these rude hands.

Marsden, who resided many years on the western coast of
Sumatra, in his account of the aborigines of the island, says that
lie had heard of two species of people, dispersed in the woods,
and avoiding all communication with the other inhabitants:

THE ORANG KUBU, AND ORANG GUGUR. 123

these were the orang Kubu, and the orang Gugur : the former
being, as he understood, very numerous on the south-east coast
between the Palembang and Jambee territories. He speaks of
having heard of several that had been caught and put to work as
slaves ; and of a young Kubu female that was captured by a
man in the Laboon country. He says that the Gugurs are much
scarcer than the Kubus, differing in little, but the use of some
uncouth kind of speech, from the orang utan of Borneo, hey
being entirely covered with hair. But Marsden is rather skep
tical about the existence of these beings of doubtful humanity.

You will have an opportunity when at Palembang, said the
Dutch officer, to learn something more definite about these crea
tures ; and may probably see some of them in the possession of
the old pensioned Sultan, who resides there. I did learn much
more about these wild people at Palembang and at Batavia,
which I shall relate in the course of my narrative.

EIGHTEENTH DAY.

ON the fourth day after entering the Soonsang, the barque
and schooner were still toiling up stream towards Palenibang.
In the morning they passed the island of Kumbaroo on the
right, and the Pladjoo lliver on the left. On the banks of this
river s mouth, and on the island, are some vestiges of fortifica
tions ; the scene of a severe engagement between a Dutch na
val force, of five ships of war, and some troops of the late Sul
tan of Palembang.

The channel of the Moosee increased in depth, as the
branches outflowing from the main stream were passed; and
above the Pladjoo, it had deepened to ten fathoms in mid-chan
nel, with a width of stream of about five hundred yards. A
few miles from the mouth of the Pladjoo, the floating town burst
upon the view; and the commander of the Flirt thus described,
on board the Palmer, his

ARRIVAL AT PALEMBANG.

We began to see tambangans of many shapes and sizes, dart
ing past, or shooting athwart our bows ; some very plain the
rough, scooped log alone, half-filled by some lonely fisher, and he
half covered by his broad, bowl-shaped tudong hat ; others richer
with varnish gloss outside, and carpet within, where turbancd

DUTCH AUTHORITIES OF PALEMBANG. 125

men were seated ; and little boys in tasteful dress, with amber
skins, and sparkling eyes, paddled these gay skiffs along.

Large, laden prahus passed by, in which long ranks of row
ers, shaded by the broad banana leaf, sang as they rowed along :
one tuneful voice breaking on the ear awhile, with shrill and
pleasing strain ; and then a chorus rang out from those long
ranks, keeping time with the dipping dayong blades ; and thus,
amid song and forest splendor on either side, with thronging
oriental scenes upon the water, did we approach the Venice of
Sumatra.

A breeze sprang up, and the graceful clipper, with her stars
floating at the gaff, glided proudly up the thronged water broad-
way, amid the junks of China., the prahus of the Archipelago,
and the heavy craft of Holland ; and before thousands of curi
ous gazers, looking out from houses resting on rafts, that rose
and fell with the sink or swell of the tidal stream, which they
lined on either side.

After letting go my anchor in ten fathoms water, in the midst
of junks and prahus, at the lower end of the town, I went ashore
to call upon the Dutch authorities in the fort, about two miles
higher up. The Havermeester, or Shahbandar, as more commonly
called at Palembang, was a middle-aged Creole, with a mild and
kindly look of face, the son of an English trader of Padaug and a
Malay mother ; and he seemed heartily glad to welcome one who
spoke his father s tongue.

The Shahbandar introduced me to the Dutch lieutenant com
manding the Pylades, a small gun brig, then lying at Palem
bang. He was a man past the prime of life, with coarse
features marked with strong drink. After some conversation
about my voyage, and object in coming to the East, ho led me
to the fort, where he introduced me to a man about thirty-five

126 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

years of age, of short stature, with plain unmilitary features,
mild expression, and very slovenly dressed; and this was
Col. de Brauw, the Resident and Commander-in-chief, in the
territory of Palembang.

On returning to my vessel on the following day, from a visit
on shore, I found a stranger in my cabin ; a tall and venerable
man, of most noble and commanding presence. His dark fea
tures were pure Arab, of the finest type ; and were crowned
with a muslin turban of snowy whiteness ; from his shoulders
hung, down to his ankles, a green silk robe ; within this he wore a
yellow silken vest, and a pure white skirt, gracefully tucked and
folded ; and rich embroidered sandals on his feet, made up the
striking costume of him, who advanced to take my hand, and who
introduced himself, Seyd Scherriff Ali, Panyorang or Prince
of the Arabs of Palembang.

He had stood near, amid a group of Arab and Chinese mer
chants, when I talked with the Shahbandar. He had heard that
I came from America, a mighty country to him; of the great
ness of whose people he had heard much ; at Muscat, and even
here in Sumatra. He had learned from my words with the
Shahbandar, that I came with my beautiful vessel for no purpose
of trade ; but to see the beauty and wealth of the island, to tell
of to my countrymen. He was glad to see such a man, and he
had come to invite him to his house, to talk with him. And all
this I understood with the help of my list of Malay words
and sentences already learned from Bahdoo a few words of
English, which he knew, and much pantomime between us.

I stepped into his ornamented tambangan. "We sat down on
a rich carpet in the centre, and were shaded by a payong, or
huge parasol. Eight pretty little boys dressed in white and
green, between the ages of six and ten, plied the bright paddle

PANYORANG SCHERR1FF ALL 127

blades, one half forward and the others aft of us, whilst a
stout Malay sat on the tambangan s stern-peak, and with a large,
broad dayong, guided it along, swiftly down the stream ; then
gracefully rounding to, and shooting across an eddying current
into a calm canal, brought us to the steps of the house of the
Arab Panyorang.

We stepped on to a floor beneath a long verandah roof. A
second floor, raised a step higher, lay beyond this, and here my
stately companion stopped, and pointing to a graceful silk-cov
ered lounge, a petarana, invited me to rest, whilst he reposed
upon another. A small table richly japanned was placed be
tween us, on which were a profusion of small, varnished, wooden
plates, filled with sweetmeats, cakes and fruits of various kinds.

When we first sat down, several men and youths had assem
bled upon the verandah floor, and gazed at me with curious
looks. After a few minutes, when I had ceased to taste of the
dainties that were pressed upon me, a motion from the hand of
the Panyorang dispersed the curious throng, all save one, a youth
about seventeen, with fine features, the finest type of the comely
race of Yahman ; mild and mind-beaming eyes, which he fixed
with earnest look upon me, as he sat on a mat, and leaned on
the petarana, near the feet of the Panyorang. " My grandson
Abdallah bin Aboubaker bin Ali," said the old man, as he gazed
on the youth with wistful eyes.

Our discourse in Malay was a labored work of broken sen
tences and signs. I had a small blank book cut and lettered, in
which I had already a goodly vocabulary of words and sen
tences, gathered from Bahdoo, the Balinese captain, and every
one I had met with, who knew any thing of Malay, whom I had
always pressed into the service of teaching me. And now, with
vocabulary and pencil in hand, I talked with the Panyorang, as

128 PRISON OF WELTEVIIEDEN.

I had with all I had met with in the East ; learning more as I
talked on.

The Panyorang spoke of Raffles, the Tuan Besar Ingres,
the English Great man, as Sir Stamford Raffles, the famous
British Governor in the Archipelago, and enlightened founder
of Singapore, is called and remembered by the Malays of Pa-
lernbang. He said, that the people did not believe that the
great good man was dead, and looked for his coming again.

The Panyorang had taken part in the wars of Badroodin,
the late Sultan of Palembang. He had gone to meet the Eng
lish General Gillespie, near Pulo Burong, to capitulate for the
surrender of this town, when the Sultan had fled into the inte
rior. After that time the English had unwisely given up all
that the Tuan Raffles had gained, to the Dutch Company, who
grasped at all things for Holland, and wanted to make slaves of
Arabs, Malays, and Chinamen, all alike. The Panyorang said,
The Portuguese are gone ; the Spaniards are very weak ; the Eng
lish have abandoned the Archipelago by treaty ; and there is no
power to stay the all-devouring Dutch, unless it comes from
America. Was it coming ? Had I come to see, when and
where Americans should come ? he was anxious to hear.

I said, my ship is very small ; many prahus and junks upon
this river are larger. I have no arms. I have no merchandise,
no gifts, nor any thing to give me power. I have but a feeble
handful of poor sailors, and poor myself; then why should the
Panyorang suppose that I was sent by a great power to prepare
a way for conquest, or commerce ?

The Dutchmen near the lenteng (the fort) had said, that the
American was a spying bird; he had come with small show of
means, that none might suspect ; his vessel was a war-built ship,
and she might have a consort lurking near, or at Singapore, that

DUTCH IGNORANCE AND JEALOUSY. 129

could quickly fill her empty hold with men, and those gaping
ports with guns; and he, the Panyorang, must say, that he
should wonder to see a gentleman (tuan betul) come into these
dangerous and troubled countries, with an empty and unarmed
vessel, unless for some affairs of his Government, and with its
strong protection near by him.

An ill-founded suspicion as to the object of my visit to the
East, arising from ignorance and jealousy, had met me at the
threshold of Netherland India. An absurd importance at
tached to my untrader-like appearance and movements by Dutch
authorities, had already prompted overtures of desertion and
rebellion on the part of disaffected soldiers and vassals; and
this jealousy, ignorance, and suspicion, was soon to involve me
in a most extravagant charge of crime, and the Government of
the Netherlands in a vexatious and expensive prosecution.

I asked the Panyorang, had he not heard of curious and ad
venturous Arabs, who had in olden times come to Pulo Percha,
to Java, and other lands in these seas ; who had come without
power, trusting alone in God; and without armies or ships of
war, had grown great and rich in these Heaven-blessed lands.
Then why should he be surprised at my coming ?

The Panyorang said I spoke truly. The children of the pro
phet had indeed come without power ; without the power of war ;
but with the power of Allah, and they had conquered the land.
Every chieftain of Sumatra has some of the blood of the true
sons of Islam in his veins. And the children of Yahman and
their children s children, are many in the land of Pulo Percha ;
fifteen thousand in all ; of these, two thousand at Palembang,
over whom your slave is chief; said the Panyorang, bowing.

My brethren, and myself, said he, have some substance : we
have chiefly merchandise and ships ; there are eleven square-rigged
6*

130 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

ones, belonging to the Arabs of this town. My own, the Djelanie,
carries three hundred koyangs (about 900 tons), and the Maimoop,
Lachmady, Faid Alim, and others belonging to my brethren, are
fine ships. The Company is jealous of us; they wish to destroy
the commerce of the Arabs, and make us slaves like the Chinese
and Malays. We wish for a Company that would have more
power to keep the country that would have less jealousy and
fear, and would give more freedom to trade ; and I did think
that you might give us the promise of such a one.

These ideas and statements of the Panyorang, which I have
just uttered in plain English in the course of a couple of minutes,
cost in its original utterance, at the least, ten times that amount
of time, of mutual struggles with words and pantomime, between
myself and the venerable Arab. I was strongly impressed with
his extensive knowledge ; though amusingly vague as regarded
America; with his quickness of perception, and above all with
his polished and dignified manner; and I thought the title of
Panyorang, or Prince, well befitted the stately old man.

I had talked of America, of the America that was the child
of England, as he spoke of it, of the number and mighty size
of her ships, of the greatness of her cities, of her marvels of
steam and telegraph, of the wealth, of the happiness, of the num
bers of her people ; and as I spoke on with labored words, with
moving hands and animated face, the grandson had fixed his eyes
upon me with eager look ; and when I rose to depart, he said
some words to his grandfather ; and Abdallah returned with me
in the tambangan.

"When on board and in my cabin, I showed the young Arab
what I had of curious things ; books, pictures, dresses ; but he
was most curious about maps : he pointed to the colored divi
sions upon a map of the globe wi th inquiring look ; and when I

THE ADVENTUROUS YOUNG ARAB. 131

mentioned America, he pointed to it with dilated eyes, then to
me, and to himself, and taking hold of my hand, with many signs
and words gave me to understand that he wished to sail away
with me.

I had been at first sight much pleased with the fine, earnest,
intelligent look of Abdallah ; but now I felt touched with this
spirit of adventure to see the world, or his liking for me, I did
not know which the young Arab expressed. I spoke to try him.
I might not go back to America in one, two, or three years. But
would I not stay on the sea with my ship all that time ? if so,
he wished to serve me. His father, Aboubaker bin Ali, was the
captain of the Djelanie, and sailed to Singapore and Batavia ; but
Abdallah wished to sail much further. I was pleased. I promised
to speak with the Panyorang and the captain; and Abdallah left
me with a joyful countenance.

Whilst the Arab was taking leave, the Balinese captain
entered. Take care, said he, glancing at Abdallah, these Arabs
are greater rogues than the Malays, though not in so small a way.
They have an old Panyorang, called Scherriff Ali a swamp snake,
who has grown fat on English, Dutch, Chinese and Malays ; he
has about a dozen wives, and several dozen grandchildren, who pad
dle him about in his rambahya, or big tambangan. He deserted
old Sultan Badr Oodin, and gave up Palembang to the British ;
and when the Dutch got into possession of Palembang again,
by treaty, he tried to sell the place to the British governor Raffles,
who was then at Bencoolen. He is a cunning old fellow ; and if
the Dutch were not afraid, they would hang him up right off;
but the Malays half worship the Arabs, as being the true orang
Islam; and so the Arabs do as they please, and are the real
masters of the native people.

The Balinese captain did not know the person of the Pan-

132 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

yorang ; but he could assure me that he had a general idea of the
history of every body of any consequence in the Archipelago; and
I had had some occasion to believe that his general knowledge was
almost as extensive as he boasted. Yet I was inclined to think
that he viewed every thing native, from an ordinary European
false point of view ; the half native imitating his Caucasian
progenitor, in the East the same as the West; yet I could not
then refute the assertions about the Panyorang s motives in his
dealings with British, Dutch, Raffles, and the Sultan Badr Oodin ;
but one thing I had observed, that the little boys in the tamban-
gan were all Malays ; and not one of the little fellows, whom I
had examined very attentively, recalled to my mind the slightest
resemblance to the Panyorang, or any thing Arab, and so I re
ceived all the other assertions of the captain with an entire re
serve of judgment.

It is too true, said the elder Missionary, that this captain only
uttered the sentiments of all Europeans in the East ; who from the
beginning, deal with the natives in the spirit of dealing with rogues,
and never seem to wish to believe that a Malay, Javanese or
Chinaman, could possibly have a good or honorable sentiment.
These, like our Indians in America, like Africans, like every other
people not Caucasians, are looked upon as born bad designed by
Providence to remain so ; and to be used or abused, according to
the interest or whim of the superior race. When they shall be
treated with a parental kindness and forbearance, with some love
and patience, as though dealing with children ; acting firmly and
without suspicion ; showing that you seek their interest as well
as your own ; giving them no poison ; giving them good advice
and faithful protection ; then I am sure they would repay with the
love and fidelity of children ; for ail these races secin glad to

DUTCH POLICY IN THE ARCHIPELAGO. 133

look up to the white man. He is indeed their superior, and
should be their affectionate elder brother. But what has he been
throughout all India and China ? we will not look elsewhere.
Has it not been his sole object to come to the East to seek wealth,
wrung out of toiling simplicity and ignorance, with which he re
turns home to make a vulgar, barbaric display, whether in Eng
land, America or Holland ? What a mission has been here for
power and civilization ! For two hundred years and more, the
three millions of Christian Dutchmen have been the masters over
seven generations of about fifteen millions of Mahometan and
Pagan Malays, Javanese and other races of the Archipelago,
not less than one hundred millions in all ; and for what pur
pose ? to fill the plethoric coffers of stolid men of Amsterdam
and Rotterdam, the old Company of sordid monopolists ; and now
to support a poor royalty, a vicious younger branch of the once
energetic family of Nassau.

"What glory for Holland, if she had sent ten thousand of her
men from home, solely to teach and elevate the people of Java
and Sumatra; to teach them the hopes of immortality of her
church, the security of her laws, the advantages of her litera
ture, and the amenities of her civilization. The gratitude of
this people would surely have given more, than has been wrung
from them by ten thousand soldiers, and by systems of surveil
lance and order, for the sake of making easy the collection of
revenue, the sole object of European Government in the East.

That all sounds very well, said the Commander of the Palmer,
in his usual blunt way ; but when I hear of missionaries going
among Malays or Chinese, without scrip or purse, trusting to the
gratitude of the people, they go to teach for their subsistence,
and caring nothing for pay or honors, then it may be time for re
proaching governments for not carrying out missionary operations

134 PRISON OF WELTEVKEDEN.

on a grand scale. You will do far more good to the Chinese and
Malays by thrashing work out of them, and making them wide
awake to trade ; making them feel that they must do it honestly,
than by teaching them a lot of home stuff, which no more suits
these down-Easters, than pigtails and black teeth would ours at
home.

Both were extreme, the kindly old missionary with his
Utopian plans for bettering races of men the product of ages of
vitiation ; and the worthy captain, in thinking that there is not
enough humanity left in them, for philanthropy to go to work
upon, with any plan whatever. The Chinese, Hindus, Malays,
and other people of the East, may become wiser, stronger and
happier, when missionaries of the gospel shall go forth among
them, more zealous and unencumbered, and less as mere stipen
diary agents of a company ; and when merchants and ship captains
who go East, shall get some other ideas of a race, than what
they learn from lascars and coolies, the vicious offspring of
trade, the helots of commerce in all parts of the world.

NINETEENTH DAY.

On the day following his visit to the Arab Panyorang, the
commander of the Flirt took dinner with Governor de Brauw at
the Residency. He met a large, and fine-looking company of
ladies and officers at the Governor s table, where he was received
with marked attention, as the chief honored guest.

After some remark about the peculiar dainties of Palembang,
the Governor spoke of the warlike condition of the country.
Hostile parties of natives came into the neighborhood of the fort,
and with the pepper, cinnamon, dammar, and gold dust brought
from the interior, purchased firearms and ammunition from Arab
and Chinese traders, who affect a friendliness to the Europeans,
but secretly aid the native princes in their insidious warfare.

This state of brigandage, as he termed it, had continued since
the departure of the British forces from the Dutch possessions in
the Archipelago, which had been seized by England at the time
of the incorporation of Holland into the empire of Napoleon.
The Government of Great Britain had reluctantly complied with
an act of national justice, in restoring to the Netherlands their
possessions in the East, whilst the agents of that Government
sought by intrigue to render valueless the restoration, by inciting
the native princes to a maintenance of their independence.

This was especially true of Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder

136 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

of Singapore. He had kept up, whilst in power in Java and
Sumatra, a correspondence with every prince of note in the
Archipelago ; with no one more than with the fierce and bloody
Sultan Badr Oodin, who sat on the throne of Palembang at the
time of the restoration.

This cruel and treacherous prince, had ordered the massacre
of the people of the Dutch factory, established in his dominions.
The British Government affected to chastise him for this; took
his kraton, or palace at this place; but after obtaining from
him the tin mines of Banca, they allowed his sanguinary char
acter full license as before. When the Netherlands came into
power again in the Archipelago, the Sultan Badr Oodin was
deposed, and his younger brother, Nayem Oodin, a good prince
of easy nature, was elevated in his stead.

The British resumed their machinations. The quiet prince was
dethroned, and his elder brother recommenced a reign of terror
over Palembang. He waged a fierce, and for a time, a successful
warfare against the forces of the Netherlands. He drove every
European out of his dominions; but the General de Kock re
turned the ensuing year with a fleet and army, with which he
defeated the forces of the perfidious Sultan, and took him a
prisoner of war to Batavia.

The younger brother was reinstated Sultan of Palembang ;
but again a secret British influence began to incite this weak
prince to hostile acts ; he was deposed, and the Government of
the Netherlands assumed the protectorate of the Sultanate,
which it has endeavored to maintain up to this time ; but the
infatuated natives, regardless of the advantages of regularly
administered laws, increasing the security of life and property
and all the advantages of a well regulated trade, still clamor
for the return of the race of their tyrants, who made sport

137

with the lives, property, and female honor of their subjects;
they resist all our good intentions, and bite like their own tigers,
at the hand that would feed and help them. We point in vain
to the comfortable and contented Javanese, as an evidence of
the beneficence of our rule.

Sumatra and Java, said Major Van Blomrnestein, an officer
with a slightly Creole complexion, and a good-humored intelli
gent countenance, are like the wolf and the house-dog in the
fable. The Javanese mastiff will fatten with a chain around
his neck; but this gaunt, fierce Malay wolf of Sumatra, will
never be tamed or made profitable in any way. We must deal
with Sumatrans, as the Americans have dealt with the Iroquois
and the Mohawks, or let them alone altogether.

To this, the commander of the Flirt replied, that the Ame
rican Government had paid many millions of dollars for the
sovereignty of the Indian lands, and said that territory not
greater in extent than Sumatra, which he understood to be
upwards of eleven hundred miles long, and an average of one
hundred miles broad, had cost not less than forty millioce of
dollars; say ninety millions of guilders, more probably than
the net revenue of the whole Archipelago, since it had bce-n in
the possession of Holland. Was she willing to pay for sove
reignty at that rate ?

You Americans, said the naval commander, with a laugh of
apparent good humor, can beat all the world in telling a good
story, as well as in every thing else. How can you be so rich,
when your chief city of Washington was mortgaged to some
of our folks in Amsterdam, Hope and Company I believe,
arid was at one time about to be sold under the hammer, to
satisfy the claim of our poor Dutchmen: and would have been
sold, had not your terrible President, the one who defeated the

138 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

British by lying quiet behind some cotton bales, laid an embargo
upon the revenues of the country ; and unlike Camillus, saved the
capitol with hard money instead of the sword.

When the somewhat rude and prolonged laugh of the Dutch
officers had subsided, the American commander said : that it
was true, some portion of the small lot of ground, where the
American Legislature assembled, had been mortgaged by a city
corporation for money borrowed in Holland; and when the
Dutch creditors had sought to foreclose the mortgage, the then
President of the United States (General Jackson) had recom
mended to Congress to assist the municipality of Washington in
releasing itself from its obligation, which no more concerned the
credit and wealth of the country at large, or perhaps not as much,
as the credit of Holland was concerned, when her late king
sold her cabinets of rare paintings the work of her sons of
genius, never to be replaced to meet the expenses of a vicious
court life. It is true, that the same Hope & Co., who held
the mortgage on the town lots of Washington, also had a
claim upon William of Nassau : but there was no Congress,
holding the untold millions of a free people to help him; and
so, the capitol, the Valhalla of Netherlands art, was sacked
by an auctioneering Brennus, and carried off by the barbarian
dilettanti of Europe. And as for the cotton bales of New Or
leans, it might have been better for the Netherlands to have
had a few of them in the Archipelago, with some of the same
rifles that were planted behind them, when Lord Minto and Sir
Stamford Raffles went to Batavia.

Several officers sprang up to reply, or to make some other
kind of demonstration, when the Resident rose, with calm and
impressive dignity, proposed that the company should drink
to the health of the President of the United States, and of

THE CAPTIVES. 139

William the Third, of Nassau; which was done. The first one
heartily, by the ladies present ; and the latter received a bois
terous vociferation from the loyal Dutchmen. Afterwards
the Resident proposed, that the two gentlemen of the sea
his guest, and his naval friend of the guard ship should
pledge each other, which was done, and apparent cordiality was
restored, and continued at the whist parties of the gentlemen
and among the music of the ladies in the drawing-room ; and
when the guest took his leave, the Resident and his chief
officers present, accepted an invitation to dine on board the
American clipper.

After leaving the Residency, the commander not finding
his Malay servant at the gate of the Fort in waiting with a
torch, set off alone towards the boat landing. He took a con
trary direction and wandered off among the native campongs,
far beyond the precincts of the fort.

He was tempted by the soothing freshness of a tropic
night, which are ever cool and breezy at Palembang, like the
softest of Indian summer evenings in South Carolina. The
deep, ruttling roar of some wild elephants broke harshly upon
the stillness of the night : they were some just caught, chained
to trees outside the fort, their trunks drawn up and tethered
to a pendent limb; and in this irksome plight, tortured with
hunger and thirst by man, who wanted to get the benefit of
their labor, by destroying their native sense of liberty, the
poor huge brutes, with imbecile strength, broke the weary air
with wailings at the tyranny of the ruthless little animal that
had bound them.

These were not the only captives ; other poor children of
nature, were making softer lament against cruel jailors, the
godlike masters of brute and bird. A plaintive sound a soft,

140 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

moaning human-like note, said ku-whoo ku-kur ku-kuruboo,
then a deep gurgling bar of sound canie from the throat of
the burung kukur, (the Sumatran dove,) filling the night with
its taught, notes of a sad sounding melody.

But he soon had cause to think that it were well for man,
that the brute and bird were all he made to mourn. As he
followed a narrow way between lines of low bamboo huts, he
heard a pleading cry of female voices, drowned at times by
oaths and brutal words from coarse Dutch voices; and a
minute later, saw by the torch light of an oppas, three Dutch
officers, who were driving before them two weeping and sobbing
young Malay women ; the officers striking and thrusting at the
poor girls with their canes, as these stopped and turned round,
and uttered words of entreaty.

The officers looked amazed at the presence of the stranger.
One of them, who had been on board the Balinese barque,
recognized him, and asked in French what mad curiosity had
brought him wandering among the Malay carnpongs beyond
the protection of the fort, where a lonely European s life was
not worth an hour s purchase. You see we have a picket of
soldiers in our rear, as a necessary guard for a night frolic

The commander explained how he had lost his servant,
and his way; and that he was on no such errand as theirs.
He did not wonder that they needed guards, when the chil
dren of the country were driven thus like wretched cattle.
The officers, who were urging the poor girls with such brutality
forward, were coarse-looking men, half-drunk ; they growled in
Dutch about the stranger who was he what the blixem did he
want gave the girls a rude shove, and marched on.

The barque acquaintance, who was sober, walked a little in
the rear with the commander, to whom he promised to furnish

CONCUBINAGE IN THE ARMY OF NETHERLAND INDIA. 141

a tambangan, to put him on board his vessel. You may think
very hard of what you see; a case of abduction, kidnapping
a terrible outrage upon helpless innocence it is nothing of the
sort. These two officers, a lieutenant and adjutant in the mess
to which I belong, had bargained with an old Malay hadjy
a pilgrim as the rascal calls himself, having been to Mecca;
but you will meet with, in the Archipelago, more hadjys than
ever got sight of the mausoleum of Mahomet. They had
purchased of him two girls, said to be prawan, or virgins, just
brought from the Ulu or hill country.

You must know that the government does not want the
officers of the army in the East to be burdened with wives;
whoever takes one, must give security to the amount of ten
thousand florins, a fabulous sum for any poor devil of an
officer under the grade of colonel : but the benevolent govern
ment, though fearful of the disqualifying encumbrance of a
family, affords facilities for a general concubinage; and so
my friends here, wishing to obtain those allowable army fol
lowers, called nyahees, who are left behind at every station,
made a bargain with the hadjy as I have just told. He did
not bring the girls to the rakit, our floating barracks on the
river, at the appointed time. Some dodging was suspected;
and so, whilst the captain of our mess was gone to the Residency
to meet the American commodore (for some of our benighted
Dutchmen, and they of the highest at Minto and Palembang,
will have it that you are something of the sort in disguise),
along with the jolly Havermeester and our drunken admiral ;
these friends started off in search of their purchases, persuading
me to accompany them. We found the hadjy, who made piteous
protestation, that by no fault of his had he failed to come. He
had told some lying story to the .mother of the girls, who had

142 PRISON OP WELTEVREDEN.

come with her children to Palembang. When she found that
they were to be sold to soldiers, she set up a howl, and the
young ones along with her ; no doubt the hadjy wanted to keep
too much of the price of their virginity to himself. He could
not deliver his merchandise, but pointed it out. My friends
had swallowed enough of schiedam, not to be baulked : they
had some trouble with the old lady, and started up a wicked
looking crowd with krisses, which fortunately our bayonets kept
off from us. The girls make a rather unusual disturbance
which I don t understand; for the buying and selling of them
is as common as the traffic of snipes in the market; and
nothing more common, than for a mother to sell her own
children.

The party had now reached some large bamboo house frames
lined with fine matting and close wicker work ; they were afloat
on raft foundations, and moored by enormous twisted bamboo
cables to the river bank, which has no shoaling beach, but runs
steep down at the water s edge, like a canal embankment, there
being sixty feet depth of water, within less than that distance
from the shore.

The party stepped along a floating, mat covered causeway,
into the rakit, as the floating houses of Palembang are called.
The girls were thrust into a small verandah room, and left in
charge of an oppas ; whilst the officers and commander entered
upon another part of the rakit, filled with clouds of tobacco
smoke, and coarse sounds, in which the Dutch dom and blixein
prevailed.

The commander was quickly pledged with schiedam, and
with the haansche bier of Rotterdam, the chief Dutch guzzle
in the Archipelago. Gentlemen, said a lieutenant in very bad
French, with red hair and short nose, rising up unsteadily with

THE RESIDENT OF PALEMBANG. 143

tumbler in hand, let us drink to the health of the Governor s
guest at dinner, who has condescended to leave the parlor to
coine and take tea in the barracks. We can give him a heartier
bumper, and a warmer look and shake of the hand, than our
cold, smiling, fish-blooded chief.

Silence there, about the Resident ; said a dark-complexioned,
severe looking officer, in Dutch. I will not hear Col. de Brauw
spoken of disrespectfully by any one here. Yes, you shall by
me; said a pale, thin, slight-formed man, who had been ad
dressed as captain. I say, that De Brauw is a false-hearted
dog : he has played false with one half the officers in the gar
rison : he stole the credit of an action at the storming of Singa
Rajah in Bali, from a sergeant in his company, which got him
his promotion : he basely lied, as you all well know, to the chief,
Ferdano Mantri, promising to show him the beauties of a war
ship just arrived; and then confining the brave, confiding
native on board, to be sent to Batavia. You all know that
Ferdano Mantri was a noble and enlightened chief, feared by
us because loved by his people ; his bravery, and the fidelity
of his adherents, made him dangerous ; and so our government
needed a De Brauw to decoy a brave man into a base trap. I
know the Resident has power, more than common Residents ; he
has tried it on me ; he has put me under arrest for the unno
ticed peccadilloes of his own cringing clique. Go tell him that
I said so ; that he may ruin me sooner than he now intends; he
has power indeed; an adjutant of the King, a royal bastard of
the Hague.

The dark-complexioned officer made some retort in Dutch,
which was answered by a bottle hurled at his head. All the
revellers sprang to their feet, making wild din, with oaths and
drunken scuffle. The dark and the pale faced officer had thrown

14-4 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

down the table that stood between them, and locked arms in
hostile grapple; and all the rest were engaged in separating
them when their unexpected guest slipped away unseen from the
midst of the melee.

He went out, the way he entered, to the causeway leading
ashore; ho saw the oppas asleep on his guard at the verandah
room, and heard sobbing sounds coming from within. He had
thought of no plan to help these seeming victims ; but now these
moans smote upon his heart. He approached the door, undid
the fastenings, the sound of their removal being unheard amid
the din still going on within. The girls were seen by some faint
rays of moonlight, cowering in a corner Come out and run;
quick, quick, I am your friend ! said their liberator in Malay.

They rose up, they looked around them, then at the open door ;
they seemed to feel around with their hands ; they approached
the door with crouching movement ; they looked out fearfully ;
their friend stood aloof; the roar of voices, crashing bottles, and
breaking chairs, came from the mess-room ; out sprang the girls,
and with a few bounds, they crossed the causeway, and were lost
amid the gloom on shore.

The commander got ashore, without being seen by the
awakened oppas. He had now learned the way to the boat
landing. He reached it, and there he found his truant Bahdoo,
asleep in the tambangan, which brought him ashore, where the
fellow had been dozing at the time his master left the Residency.

The commander was surprised to see in his cabin, the next
morning, the Balinese skipper, in company with the pale-faced
captain of the- previous night s brawl. These two had met else
where, in the Archipelago, and were old friends. The Dutch
officer had taken an interest in what he had heard about the
American commander, who, with his vessel had become for tho

THR TERRITORY OF PALEMBANO. 145

time being the sole topic of conversation in the garrison and
among the native campongs. He had been sorry that the black
guardism of the night before had hindered his design to become
better acquainted ; that row, by the way, having ended with some
bruised bones and cut faces ; and he pointed to an ugly mark on his
right cheek ; but with the soberness of the morning, peace has
returned, and little damage has been done; except, the loss of two
girls, who broke prison in a most unaccountable way ; and our
lieutenant is now busy trying to discover how they got out, and
by what help, and where they have gone to.

The infantry captain went on to say that he had heard from
his friend of the barque, of the great desire of the American
gentleman to know something about the interior of Sumatra.
He was happy to have it in his power to gratify his curiosity to
a great extent. He had commanded a topographical corps and
surveyed all the up-country of Palembang, and all the head-waters
of the Moosie, fighting as he surveyed, having lost in the moun
tains during the last expedition, more than two hundred of his
men, slain by the lances of the Malays.

He drew a compact roll from a side pocket and showed a finely
executed map of the Palembang territory, including a portion of
the territory of Bencoolen on the ocean side, or north-western
coast; and of the Sultanate of Jambee and Kubu country on
the east ; and as he pointed to various localities on the map he
made the following comments in answer to various questions upon

THE TOPOGRAPHY OF THE TERRITORY OF PALEMBANG.

It comprises about one fourth of the surface of the island of
Sumatra; extending from 101 40 to 106 of longitude east
of Greenwich; (the Captain reckoned from the Meridian of
Paris) ; and from 6 40 to 3 30 South Latitude.

146 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

The boundaries are; on the north-west, a lofty range of
mountains called Bukit Barisan ; portion of a chain which runs
the whole length of the island near the ocean side on the west ;
precisely like the Cordilleras of South America. This Sumatran
range has an average elevation of 4,000 feet j there are several
volcanic peaks; the Gunung Planak; the Bukit Ulu-Moosie,
and the Gunung Dempoh; the latter attaining an eleva
tion of 9,000 feet. On the north, and north-east, are the terri
tories of the Sultan of Jambee, whom our Government chooses
to call a vassal; although not one of our people dare set foot
within the dominions of his Jambee Highness. On the east and
Bouth-east, the China Sea, and Straits of Banca ; on the south,
the Java Sea ; and south-west, the territory of the Lampongs,
who occupy all the southern end of Sumatra.

The rivers are numerous, and many of them navigable to a
great extent. You have seen, that the stream you have ascended
could be navigated by a line of battle ship up to this place. It is
of extraordinary depth, far deeper comparatively at Palembang,
than your Mississippi at New Orleans; and you could ascend with
your schooner, when not drawing more than ten feet of water, one
hundred and fifty miles higher up, as far as Moora Klingie on the
Moosie. For a hundred miles beyond that point, it is navigable
for penchalangs, long, freight tambangans, which will carry
thirty and forty tons weight. I should say that there was at
least 1,500 miles of good steamboat and ship navigation within
the territory. All these streams, about a dozen principal ones,
and numberless tributaries, run into a singular circle of water, like
BO many ribbons attached to a hoop ; and this central position
was most judiciously selected for a fort and palace by the old
Sultans.

The rivers of Palembang are like a bundle of serpents, grasped

GREEDINESS OF HOLLAND. 147

by the middle ; seven wildly-tossed necks stretch out towards the
coast, and seven jaws pour the floods of the interior into the China
Sea; behind the point where grasped, the coiling forms are
spread in wild contortion over the whole breadth of the land; and
at the grasped point, the deep neck of waters, between the island
of Kombaroo, and the mouth of the Pladjoo, the late Sultan, the
terrible Badr Oodin, a fitting holder of the serpents, gave us a
bloody reception in 1818, and 1821.

The roads are few ; there are hardly any other means of
communication between the different points in the territory ex
cept by water. A tambangan inland and a prahu at sea, is the
chief home of a Sumatran; I mean of course the Malays.
There are some pathways, through the great forests and swamps
of the interior, which are utterly impassable to European
troops. All our expeditions into the interior have been by water.

We have a bamboo fort, at a point on the head-waters of the
Moosie, called Tebing Tinggi, a corruption of Benteng Tinggi,
signifying, high fort ; and we have some small military posts,
at Lahat, Roopit, Klingi, and other places in the interior ; but
they cost an immense sacrifice of men and money to maintain
them ; and perhaps we will be forced to abandon them ; as we
did our posts in the Siak and Indraghiri territories, in the north
ern part of Sumatra. The rulers at the Hague, are like some of
yours in America ; ready to drop a thing, regardless of glory, when
it ceases to pay. They would leave Sumatra to itself; for it is
an expensive wild beast, that destroys a good deal of the sub
stance produced by the tame animal of Java ; but if we go away,
the British, or you Yankees will come in, and set on the Suma
tran tiger to worry the Javanese buffalo. We would grow rich
with those nice plantations, Java and the Moluccas alone ; but
little Holland is a grasping old fool, in trying to hold the great

148 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

wilderness of Sumatra, Borneo, Celebes, and all the Archipelago
besides. It is like one of your people, who owns a snug paying
plantation in the old States ; after increasing a little he becomes
ambitious to own big tracts of lands ; buys up small states of
Indian territory ; the little plantation is worn out to meet tho
tax bill for hunting grounds ; and by and by a lot of those no
madic gentlemen, you call squatters, set up a title with rifle in
hand to the unsettled dominions of the ruined planter ; which he
never enjoyed except on paper; as Holland enjoys Sumatra,
Borneo, and Papua on maps.

We have few reliable data, to determine the population of any
portion of Sumatra ; I should say, four millions of souls was the
lowest estimate, of which I would allow one third of a million
for this territory. The official report gives a much lower num
ber : but the official population estimates are all below the mark.
The government wishes to speak very moderately about the ex
tent and populousness of these great islands. The population of
this town is seventy thousand, of which two thousand are Arabs,
the oligarchs, that really rule the land, through the religion of
the people : four thousand are Chinese ; who here, as elsewhere
in the Archipelago, are like the Parsees of Hindustan, and the
Jews of Europe ; the ever thrifty and wealthy peddlers of the
east, the true men of trade, with about as little soul, and as much
cash, as the great and little peddlers of Amsterdam, London and
New York. And all the rest of the people of Palembang are
chiefly Malay; except some Javanese settlers induced to come
here by our government, in order to check a little the fierce Malay
element of the population.

Within the walls of this fort, and at other posts in the
territory, we have two thousand troops, two thirds of which are
Javanese and other natives. We have no foothold outside of

THE COVETED CARBINE. 149

tha fort, beyond the range of the guns. The Malays would give
us for food to the caymans, in one night, if our fortifications were
gone. We dare not wander in the campongs single-handed. The
Malay is quick with his kriss, and you would do well not to ven
ture on shore alone. The people are hospitable to strangers,
would no doubt receive you kindly, but they might mistake you
for a Dutchman, and give you a point of poisoned steel before
they had discovered their mistake. You would do well to apply
to the Resident for a couple of soldiers for an escort when going
ashore ; but be cautious in your intercourse with that man. He
has shown you great attention ; he has drawn in his claws, and
held out the velvety paw ; but mark that cold eye, and rigid face
which accompany the languid smile, and you will read the cold
est of treachery. He is now about to send me again into the
interior, and I expect to receive orders for the march at any hour.
Whilst I was making up my knapsack, this morning, our Balinese
friend spoke to me about an admirable little breech-loading car
bine which you possess, the very thing I want, and am willing to
give any price within my means that you will name.

The carbine was produced, and examined, the officer was in
raptures ; he had never seen any thing more efficient than the
clumsy muskets of the service. This small arm was loaded by
raising the chambered breech with a spring, which closed again
by the first pull of the trigger. The. Dutchman handled it with
delight. But the owner regretted to have to say, that it was the
only firearm fit for use, that he had on board his vessel, and he
did not wish to part with it. A couple of good muskets, as well
as a liberal price, were offered ; but no, the carbine must stay on
board the Flirt ; and the topographical captain, failing to secure
the object of his visit, went ashore disappointed and in a bad
humor.

150 PRISON OP WELTEVREDEN.

After the departure of the Dutch officer, the Balinese pro
posed a visit to the Chinese quarters ; he knew a wealthy China
man, who possessed one of the improvising verse singers of the
country, a curiosity to hear and see ; they went, and the circum
stances of this visit were thus related on board the Palmer, on
the nineteenth day of her homeward voyage from Java.

TWENTIETH DAY.

I WENT with the captain of the barque in a large tambangan
manned by his own lascars, quick-handed Buginese boatmen, who
threaded a way with nimble skill, among the thronging, bright-
polished proas, upon the Moosie, and the many canals of the
Chinese campong. "We sped with well-plied dayong, past a
Chinese josh with curving roof, beyond this beneath a high-
springing bridge, like a crescent over the water; then darting
under a curiously fashioned house, floating on two rafts, ran along
between these, beneath the house floor, till we came to steps
which led us at once within the chief room.

A fat, smiling, pleasant-looking little man, with close-shaved
shining skull, and long plaited queue, in sack of purple silk, and
white silk trowsers of Chinese cut and fulness, met us at the top
of the steps ; and I was introduced to Teo Chan Beng, one of the
wealthy men of Palembang. When seated, on fantastic rattan
chairs ; fruits, sweetmeats, and warm tchoo were placed before
us. In a little dainty pot, of the measure of a cup of our own
table, was tea, that filled the room with fragrance, when poured
into the tiny bowls, which Chinamen poise on thumb and fore
finger, and tipping over to the lip, thus love to quaff in dainty
drops the soothing drink of their country.

Our host spoke a few words of the trading jargon of Canton,

152 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

and a few Chinafied English words; I met none in the East
who did not. I had my vocabulary in hand, and with blunders
and pantomime, I talked with Chan Beng, as I had done with
Arab and Malay, laughing and learning, as I blundered along.

The Balinese spoke to his friend : he smiled, and called
Sedap, Sedap ; we heard a shrill, sweet voice, then a bound, and
in sprang, into the room, with a panther-like leap, a pretty, lithe
young creature, a Malay girl, with soft skin, bright eyes, and
limbs, that moved and played, and lifted her up like wings,
around which a bright scarlet silk sarong her only dress, was
gracefully folded.

The master stilled the bounding of the nymph-like slave;
for after staying a moment, she was about to leap out again ; he
drew her gently towards him like a father ; he spoke of me ;
and then my companion said many things; she shook her head;
they seemed to urge, and after a time, she stepped out into an
open space, the Chinaman took up a kcchapi, a small guitar,
and tuned forth a simple melody, which Sedap followed with
swaying head, with twining arms, and twirling, fingers ; and with
her soft piping voice.

When the song had ceased, I spoke to her, asking her name,
age; the simple things, we ask of a child. She was called
Sedap Malam, or Pleasant Night; and she looked like the soft
starry sky of her own clime ; she had seen twice fourteen mon
soons, or fourteen years ; she came from the Ulu, far away, where
her mother had sung pantuns, the songs of her country, before
her, Tuan Beng was mother now, and father too ; he was a good
papa, and she sang for him all the day.

And what was my name ? and much more the emboldened
nymph now asked, urged on by the jovial host, who laughed with
Sedap at the blunders I made. She repeated names, and many

A MALAY IMPROVISATRICE.

153

English words, with a justness of accent most surprising, which
I thought was owing to a musical ear ; but I met with many a
Malay afterwards, who uttered the words of our language, though
not knowing it, with the utmost truthfulness of tone.

I had heard of Malay minstrels, pouring out pantuns, made
as they sang. Sedap was of the inspired race, a Malay impro-
visatrice. I asked her to sing for me ; something never sang be
fore ; and what about, said she ; some story of Laksamana ; ah,
no, there was nothing new to be said of him ; then of herself :
what of the Fair Night ? its stars were always the same ; then
choose yourself ; yes, I will sing of something new, of a juro
mudi, a captain, of kappal hitam kecheel, the little black ship.
And then with a monotone, yet soft and pleasing, she sang these
words as I then partly understood, and were afterwards more
fully explained.

154 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

THE PANGLIMA OF THE LONG BLACK PRAHU.

1. A black cloud* comes up the Moosie ;
White clouds 3 are floating above ;
The bangu 4 in the swamp,

Flies away with swift wing.

2. Blue eyes 8 shine from the black cloud,
Like machang" fierce, like kukur 7 soft.
The moon fades away,

Behind bukit Iskander. 8

3. A beard floats o er the black cloud ;
Brown like the kandidi s 9 wing.
The hills of the Urn"

Roll down into the Moosie.

4. A voice thunders from the black cloud ;
The white ones roll away. 11

The coolies stay the daytmg,"
By the Moora Klingie. 13

5. Tuan besar 14 is eating nassee ; JB
Blue eyes and brown beard by his side.
The nyonya 16 is eating her heart ; "
Kasih-an 18 the tuan besar.

6. The Wolanda 19 darkens his brow ;
Merika, 20 is betuah. 21

The claws of the Alang 22 are strong,
The rajah-walie 23 has stronger.

7. Who comes with tambangan of Bali ;
Brown beard floating o er the black cloud.
Soft, and breezy days,

Of musim tunggara"

8. Sedap Malam is eating her heart ;
Blue eyes are shining.

The Panglima of the long black prahu
Must never go down the Moosie. 25 .

ALEXANDER THE GREAT IN SUMATRA. 155

The songstress sang the last verse with a mirthful look, and
as she uttered the last word, sprang with a laugh out of the
room. You will understand but little of the spirit of the song
from the words I have just given ; but I have endeavored to
conform as much as possible to the original measure, in which I
am aided by retaining many of the Malay words. I will now
give you a few notes of explanation which will help you to a
better idea of the meaning of the improvised song.

I need hardly tell you that the panglima and the prahu were
myself and my schooner ; and the black, and white clouds, her
hull 2 and sails. 3 The bangu is a large stork. 4 You will observe
in this verse, as in the others, little or no apparent connection
between the first and second couplet. The great art of the Malay
pantun is to conceal a certain subtle connection between the first
and second part, which, as in this case, is sometimes skilfully
done ; but I must say, I could never discover it in many of the
Malay pantuns I have heard, which were often unmeaning and
absurd.

It will not be necessary to say, whose eyes were compli
mented, as shining from the cloud; like a tiger fierce, and a tur
tle dove, 7 soft. The Bukit Iskander, or Hill of Alexander, 8 is
a hill about three miles north-east of the town of Palembang,
upon which there is a stone shrine, surrounded by a thick grove,
which is filled with apes and tupei or squirrels, who feed on
offerings of fruits and nuts brought to the shrine by superstitious
Malays.

This hill is but one among a great number of places in Su
matra which are named after the Grecian conqueror of India.
Frequent mention is made in Malay history, traditions, and po
etry, of Alexander the Great, of ZiCl karnain, the two-horned,
as he is called in the East. It is said that he crossed the Straits

156 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

of Malacca, and performed many wonderful exploits in Sumatra.
All noted places of doubtful origin, are associated with the name
of Iskander ; the same as in Mexico, where all remarkable places,
whose true history is not known, are honored with the name of
Montezuma. It is stated in the chronicles of the old empire of
Menangkabau that a Malay princess, Sindang Beedok, married a
descendant of Alexander, called Patee ; and all the early Sul
tans of Palembaug prefixed Iskander to their other names. Of
course, the presence of Alexander in Sumatra must be regarded
as fabulous.

But id there not a possibility, said the elder missionary, in
terrupting the narrator, that Nearchus, the admiral of Alexan
der, who sailed into the Indian Ocean, and touched at Serendib or
Ceylon, also touched upon Sumatra, and left those traditions of
the conqueror ; or that probably some of his galleys were blown
by the Etesian winds, as the Greek admiral called the monsoons,
upon the Golden Chersonesus, a name by which Sumatra was
known to the ancients ?

The commander did not suppose that any Greek galley ever
got half the way from the mouth of the Indus to Sumatra. He
supposed that the stories about Alexander in the Archipelago,
were entirely Hindoo traditions. A large portion of the litera
ture of the Malays, were translations from the Hindoo.

But, said he, I am wandering from the song. The improvis-
atrice speaks of a kandidi, a kind of snipe 9 which I found ex
ceedingly fat and plentiful at Palembang, and then of the Ulu, or
up-country, 10 which tarnishes the waters of the Moosie with its
brown soil, during the wet monsoon. The white clouds roll
away, the sails are furled; 11 and the schooner comes to anchor;
as when the paddle blade, 12 broadside to the stream, checks the
boats, at the trading head-quarters on the Klingie.

CHINESE LETTER OF INTRODUCTION. 157

The "great man," 14 as all residents arc called, is eating rice. 18
By the way, rice claims three names among the Malays ; pahdee,
when rough; berass, when cleaned; and nassee, when cooked.
And as rice is the chief food with them ; so to take nassee, is
equivalent to taking soup with us, that is to say, dinner. The
lady of the great man, the nyonya, as a married woman 10 is
called, is eating her heart, in love and pity on 18 the husband.
The allusion to such speedy conquests, are but the common com
pliments of the Malay language.

The Dutchman 19 of course is angry; but America 20 is not
afraid, he is invulnerable ; 21 and if the hawk" has strong claws,
the eagle 23 has stronger. The presence of the stranger that ar
rived at the house of Chan Beng, was pleasant like the delightful
days of the south east monsoon, 24 and Sedap Malam is in love
too, like the nyonya, with the captain of the long black ship, who
must stay for ever at Palembang. 25

My interpreting companion informed me, that his friend Beng
had bought the girl, when a child, a helpless orphan, from a mer
cenary relative into whose hands she had fallen. At the age of
eight she showed a taste for song, and verse ; and when twelve
years pf age, she had become so much noted, that several pan-
yorangs, Arab, and Malay, had offered large sums for her; but
Teo Chan Beng was rich, he loved Sedap Malam as his own
child, was careful and watchful over her like a father, for she is
not like the common pantun singers and dancers of the country,
of doubtful character ; he had a merry, honest, good heart en
tirely unlike nearly all his gross countrymen ; and would not lis
ten to the offer of the sultanate of Palembang, in exchange for
his rare singing bird.

I spoke of a letter I had for one Oey Soch Tchay, whom 3
had not yet been able to find. My host knew him ; and in half

158 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

an hour I was face to face, with a dark, pockmarked, very fat,
and very merry Chinaman; and this was Soch Tchay. He was
accompanied by a young friend called Pood Djang.

The letter of Lim Boo Seng, which I had carried about me,
was now brought forth ; and three bare necks with glossy heads
and oblique eyes were craned over the long columns of tea chest
marks; whilst various sounds, short bell-like grunts, chah
hey wong, mixed with smiles and nods at me, showed that
friend Lim Boo Seng had spoken like a cordial, good reference
in his letter of introduction.

My new Chinese friends were urgent that I should visit their
own rakit, and after a cordial shake of the hand and assurance
of welcome at all times from Teo Chan Beng, I was again thread
ing a way along the canals and among the floating houses on the
western side of the Moosie.

Oey Soch Tchay lived in a huge ark, sixty feet long and
thirty wide, afloat in a rapid and eddying part of the stream; it
was made fast with bamboo cables to bamboo piles, driven into
the shoal water, a short way off from the main channel ; whilst
the end of the dwelling, that lay river-ward, rose and fell like a
steamboat ferry bridge, when moved by the swelling or sinking
waters.

The raft foundation on which it floated, was like an open
logged pen. Around and within this pen, in the water beneath
the house and outside, were to be seen a crowd of light yellow and
dark brown bodies, plunging and splashing, thrusting arms be
tween the open bamboos, clambering upon them ladder-like, and
then leaping back into the stream that rushed beneath the rakit.
This was the afternoon hour, when men and boys thus publicly
bathed in Palenibang s Broadway.

Oey Soch Tchay was wishful to show me his large junk,
which made sea voyages ; and I learned that his countrymen at
Palembang owned eleven square-rigged, European-built ships,
barques, and schooners, besides a great many junks and prahus.
He sent cargoes of rattans, also tiles, which are well made near
this town ; also benzoin, damar, pepper, and other merchandise,
to Singapore and Batavia.

He had plentiful stores to supply me, as Lim Boo Seng had
said, and all needful things of provision, cheap and good. You
will not care, at this time, to listen to lists of prices, and other
minute particulars of trade ; but it may not be dull matter to tell,
that I could get a hundredweight of rice for sixty cents, four
teen fat fowls for a dollar, plump snipes and very plentiful, at
five Dutch doits, or one cent and a half a-piece ; large yams, one
hundred for two reals; and fruits mangosteens, mangos, doo-

160 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

koos, rambutans, and durians, for almost nothing, a few coppers
for the supply of my ship for a day.

Whilst I talked, with a group of curious and good-humored
Chinamen around me, who are by no means the dull animals at
home they seem abroad ; of a sudden, we heard a floundering
in the water, screams, shouts, and the cry of buayai buaya! I
saw affrighted yellow skins clinging to the bamboos, then I saw a
movement and whirl in the water stained with blood, at a point
at which the scared bathers were gazing ; then a bubble and
plunge, and up rose a yellow body with a torn and bleeding leg,
and making weakly arm strokes to reach the rakit s side.

The wounded bather, a Chinese youth, about fifteen years of
age, was brought into the verandah of Soch Tchay. He had been
seized by a large buaya or Sumatran alligator, which are very
dangerous to natives, on all rivers, creeks, and lakes of the island,
and in among the canals of the town of Palembang ; yet rarely,
as in this case, venturing to disturb a party of bathers. They
said he had tasted of man before ; and, like the tiger who had
once feasted on human flesh, ever afterwards made more desperate
efforts than usual to taste again this new and delicate relish, so
much superior to fishes, snakes, monkeys, and water-birds, their
usual food.

The youth was fearfully torn from the hip to the knee. Being
strong and active, he had struggled hard, and loosened the hold of
the monster s jaw, which however had gripped again, at each
loosening jerk, and at last had only let go, when a tambangan s
prow was launched for the rescue of the struggling victim. The
wounded limb was swathed in wetted cloths, as I had observed at
the hospital of Minto ; and I was told that the mangled flesh I had
seen, torn to the bone, would be well and sound in two or three
weeks

DINNER ON BOARD THE FLIRT.

161

I took kimlo, tchoo, and tea, with Oey Soch Tchay, and his
friend, Pood Djang, and passed a pleasant and entertaining even
ing with my Chinese friends.

DINNER ON BOARD THE FLIRT AT PALEMBANG.

According to invitation, the Resident of Palembang came to
dine on board the Flirt. He was accompanied by the Assistant
Resident, the Shahbandar, the commander of the brig of war, the
Chief of Commissariat, Major Commandant, and other officers
of the garrison.

The schooner was dressed very handsomely for the occasion.
A profusion of flags, red, yellow, and tricolored, borrowed from
Dutchmen, Arabs and Chinamen, were strung from jib-boom to
maintop, whilst the stars and stripes floated from the flag-staff
astern.

The white pine main and quarter deck, was holystoned, and
made clean and shining like a housewife s cake board ; the
shrouds newly set up and tarred ; the bulwarks fresh painted ;
the brass mountings of binnacle, and companion way hatch, and
the fancy woods of tiller, rail, and skylights, all rubbed and
scoured to their highest polish and lustre.

But the cabin was a work of art, an ocean boudoir, rarely
seen. When on the coast of Brazil, that land of rare woods, the
commander had shipped a lot of mahogany, amarilla, and other
finely grained, and fine-colored timber for decoration ; also a roll
of rich scarlet brocatelle, received as a present for the remnant of
ice : and during the many days passed on the Atlantic, and the In
dian Ocean, the taste and fancy of the commander and the skill of
a Portuguese carpenter, a choice cabinet workman, were busy in
beautifying that cabin.

162 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

The state-room, and ward-room of the old man-of-war, now
made a saloon of elegant space. The bulkhead, berth stanchions,
and sides, were elaborately wrought in woods of various hues, and
with tasteful scroll-work and devices. The scarlet brocatclle
hung in heavy valence folds around the saloon, and was drawn
up at the berths by silken tassels and cords : brocatelle covered
cushions lay on the transom ; and the flowered silken drapery
hung in rich folds around mirrors and pictures, that completed
the decoration of the cabin of the Flirt.

This ornament and beauty of the vessel has been dwelt upon,
on account of its having been a cause of such a crowding of
visitors to admire it, and had much to do with the after fate of
the commander and crew.

The Resident and his officers examined the vessel with critical
look. The naval commander pointed out her strength as a bat
tery, and said that such a craft was never meant to sail without
guns. The host then led his company into the hold ; it was a
great empty space, except a few tons of iron lying along the kel
son. The naval commander pried about in the forecastle, and
under the run of the cabin, but nothing of what he sought was to
be seen ; yet, still he searched with eager eyes, and struck about
with his cane as though he hoped to find some pistols and bowie
knives stowed away in the hollow timbers.

Whilst at dinner, the Resident was lavish in praise of the trim
and decoration of the schooner. He had often heard how Ameri
cans loved to beautify their ocean homes, and make of them float
ing palaces ; and now his conception was more than realized by
the tasteful beauty of the Flirt. He wished that his countrymen
would trim their broad bowed galliots into somewhat more elegant
shape ; and po.y some attention to decorative naval architecture.

The commander of the guard ship said, that the broad-bowed

AMERICAN CLIPPERS AND DUTCH GALLIOTS. 163

galliots were typical of the square and sturdy character of their
makers ; whilst the American clippers, and these words he said
in English, with a coarse leer on his face, owed perhaps " their
sharpness to sharpers."

The idea of Dutch grossness is commonly associated with
their fleshly build; their breadth of beam, their heavy chops,
and protuberance of paunch : the people of Holland have been
usually pictured, as gross built, smoking, sleeping burgomasters ;
but this is rarely true of the outward man, the grossness is
within. These officers on board the Flirt, were all of short or
slender make, and had all the outward seeming of gentlemanly
propriety of person ; but their first acts after greeting the host,
were to feel the stuffing of the cushions, to examine the curtains,
to scrutinize the table-cloth ; and finally to examine the quality
and ask the price of every article that he wore.

But none carried this display of vulgar and offensive curios
ity so far as the naval commander: his prying and insulting
search of a vessel, on board of which he came as a guest, was not
noticed ; nor some insulting allusions to his host ; but when he
made the insulting remark about the countrymen of him who
had invited him, he lost the privilege and forbearance due to a
guest : he was met as he had been met before, and thus was
harmony once more broken up by this man ; and his taunting
demeanor was shown on other occasions, until at last, he had an
opportunity of gratifying his malignant hatred of every thing
American by trampling upon an American flag.

After the visit of the Resident, the commander moved his ves
sel higher up the river, near where the Ogan, a deep bold stream,
pours into the Moosie. Great numbers of the men of note among
the Malays of the interior, who had before feared to pass the
fort, came to visit the schooner. She was surrounded at times

164 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

with a fleet of tambangans, penchalangs, and small river craft of
all kinds ; whilst her decks were covered, and her cabin filled with
curious natives.

Men of all ranks, and representatives from all parts of the
territory of Palembang, and even of Sumatra, came to see the
beautiful American ship ; and her commander talked with Pan-
yorangs, Demangs, Tumungungs and other chieftains of the
country, with men from Jambee, Siak, Indraghiri, and with
some of the warlike Passumese. Every day of his stay at Palem*
bang was crowded with novelty and incident, among a strange,
curious and interesting oriental people. A narrative of the ob
servations made, the conversations held, notes of which being
most industriously taken, would embrace much, not only of the
history, art, trade, manners, customs, and riches of the territory
of Palembang, but of the island of Sumatra. But this book is to
be confined chiefly to those incidents of personal adventure related
on board the Palmer, which aiford a glance at the East Indian
Archipelago. One of these incidents, a visit to a Malay chieftain,
some of whose friends had been entertained on board the Flirt,
was thus related on board the Palmer.

TWENTY-FIRST DAY.

ACCORDING to the word of a messenger, the day before, a ram
bayah, or long covered barge, came to bear me to the house of the
chieftain, who had sent me some presents of varnished ware and a
message of strong desire to see me.

Twelve young men plied the propellers, half paddle, half oar of
the rambayah. The song of the steersman with long dayong in
hand, followed by the chorus of the coolies, with their dipping
blades, fell with a pleasant charm upon my ears, surrounded by
Sumatran forests, and gliding over Sumatran waters. On the left
bank of the Moosie, we entered a narrow creek, bordered by a dense
wall of festooned and matted foliage that rose up from the water s
brink some fifty feet on either side. The cocoanut, banana, and
mango, spread their limbs in shade overhead and dropped their
fruit in the stream. The thick, dropping bounty, the clustering
bouquet of beauty ; the lavish waste of thrilling aroma ; and the
babel concert of birds, mingled with the song of the rambayah
men, pressed upon every sense, and prepared me with enthusiasm
to meet the Malay lord of this jungle beauty and profusion.

On a little bamboo jetty, I beheld a group of many colored
silken robes, and large sunshades ; and when I could discern the
forms and faces of those they robed and shaded, I singled out a
chief-like form, a stately old man, with mild and venerable
expression on his light bronze face. He bowed low, when I stood

166 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

before him, took my right hand between both of his, called me
his son, most welcome to his house, and thus was I received by
Panyoraug Osinan Laksana.

A large company surrounded the Panyorang ; young men of
his family, some men wielding lances, and a number of coolies ;
one bearing a huge payung, walked with his broad shade, close
behind the chieftain and myself, as we moved, side by side, to
wards his house.

We came in sight of a group of low buildings ; some plaster
and bamboo villas, surrounding a central court, and forming a
Malayan serai. There were some novel sights to me of atap
roofs, of verandahs strung thick with lamps, and other features
of a rich Sumatran abode ; but one thing chiefly fixed my gaze,
something that had been dimly seen from the water ; a lofty
pole, a clean cocoa tree trunk stripped of its broad leafed tuft ;
there on the top of this mast reared up by nature, floated the
flag of America.

The Panyorang looked with mirthful pleasure at my surprise.
I was curious to know where it came from, and ventured many
surmises ; but the Panyorang said, that cloth of silk and cotton,
and of all colors, was plenty in his country ; and skilful hands
were not wanting to fashion it into curious flags, as well as hand
some robes. Thus I beheld, and I doubt not, for the first time
beheld by any one, an American ensign, made by Malay hands
unfurled upon Sumatran soil.

As I entered the main dwelling, a salute was fired from some
small brass pieces called lelahs, which have flaring mouths, like
blunderbusses. The Panyorang said that Sumatra gave selamat
sampeh, the welcome to America.

I found, as in the house of the Arab Panyorang, a succession
of floors, ascending from the verandah floor in front. On the inner

THE VOCABULARY. 167

and upper one, he seated me, and then himself upon a silk covered
settee ; the young men and lance bearing followers, sat upon mats,
a step below us ; whilst the coolies crouched down, with their
beads between their knees, on the bare verandah floor.

The walls of the inner room were adorned with inlaid arabesque
work, and showed a rich lacquered surface. The bountiful gums
of the island, are skilfully applied to dwelling walls, to water skiffs,
to wardrobes, and vessels for food of all kinds. They are covered
with curious devices, and the lacquer applied with heat, has a fine
porcelain surface, long resisting weather and water, and glisten
ing with metallic lustre, as did the chamber walls of this Suma
tran dwelling.

The Panyorang was curious to have me explain the use of the
vocabulary in my hand. I showed him the alphabetic arrange
ment ; the a, b, c, corresponding with the ailf, ba, ta, of Arabs
and Malays. He pointed out various common objects, which I
happened to have noted down ; and referring to the letter, read
out to him the Malay word ; and other things he pointed out, the
name of which I had not ; and then he repeated it, and I wrote
it down ; the old chieftain looking on with curious eyes, as I in
scribed the words he said.

An hour and more he spent, with eager relish, in teaching me.
Then he repeated the names and ages of all his people present,
and seemed wishful that I should have a record of them. He
called, and a young man approached, crouching low, with a reed,
ink, and some Chinese rice paper ; and as the Panyorang repeated
the names of persons, the young man wrote them in Arabic letters
alongside of my own writing.

My name was written in various ways, with the peculiar titles
of the country prefixed to various portions. Besides names of
persons, the names of places were spoken of, towns and territo-

168

PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

ries in America. The Panyorang was wishful to know if it was as
large as Holland.

I took a large piece of paper, and with a reed traced a rude
outline of the globe in hemispheres ; and as I marked out the
continents and countries, the young man, ihejuro-tulis, or scribe,
as he was called, wrote in Malay the names of the places I had
traced. Beginning with Sumatra, and the other large islands of
the Eastern seas, I went on, mapping the countries of Asia, and
Africa ; and then Europe, the land, I said, of the English, Por
tuguese, Spanish and Dutch ; then after pointing out the Atlantic
space of ocean, I drew the outline of the western continent ; and
showed the Panyorang how great was America.

After tracing the outlines of portions of the world, as far as
the curiosity of the Panyorang extended, I presented to him,
this rude draft of a map. He received it with a look of much
pleasure : he called to some one in an inner room, and an aged
woman appeared. This was Nemastiapa, his wife ; she held a

A SACRED SUMATRAN KRISS. 169

kriss in her hand, which the old chief took from her and presented
to me. He said that no man could hurt me whilst I wore it 5 the
point of a hostile kriss would be blunted against me ; this one
had been made of besi malela, of hardest steel, by a cunning hadjy
in the sacred city of Menangkabau. I heard afterwards that
some krisses acquired such a reputation on account of some lucky
escape from death of the owner, attributed to the influence of the
kriss, that they were frequently valued at two and three thousand
rupees.

A repast was served up, in dishes of finest wood richly lac
quered. Rice and birds were the staple of the meal, the flesh
stewed in cocoanut milk, and the rasped nut mingled with rice,
both sweet and salt seasoned. There were savory dishes of beans
and bamboo pith ; and fruits were served before me, the mangos-
teen, the nannas, and manga minyala, in their natural state as I
thought ; but when I took them by their stem, they came apart ;
and I found their substance finely jellied, and re-enclosed within
the original rind. . ,

As we eat, I heard a rude, though pleasantly plaintive music.
A troop of matronly women appeared, with Nemastiapa at their
head ; they all sat down on mats behind the Panyorang ; they
were followed by three young girls, who placed themselves on the
floor, a step below us. These wore a scarlet sarong or skirt, held
in its fold and position by a silver girdle,, curiously made of many
joints, called a tali pendeng ; the arms and bust were bare, except
the partial covering of wreaths of white odorous flowers, the
fragrant kumbang melati, or flower of love, which were twined in
rich clusters, among plaits of their glossy, jewel-bedecked hair ;
and these were menyanyee, the singing girls of the country.

They stood forth in postures, their flexible arms doubling
backward almost as far as forward ; and their fingers, tipped with

170 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

curved silver points, played with fantastic motion ; and thus
without any movement of feet, except, from time to time, a change
of position, they swayed their bodies, they twined their arms, and
twirled their fingers in all the mazes of the Sumatran ronggeng
dance.

This posturing was accompanied by the kechapi, and the
karonchong, a gingle of small bells ; and after a while the voices
of the girls, chanting songs of love and war, kept time with the
mazy play of their limbs. The voices sounded shrill and sharp,
the usual tone of these singing girls of the Malays ; and not soft
and tuneful like the notes of Seedap Malam, who gave forth a
melody I heard nowhere else in the East.

Two men stepped forward, their heads covered with a yellow
cloth, that hung down like a veil. They joined in song with the
girls ; they all took parts in some story of warriors, evil genii, or
djins, and princesses ; a palawan, or hero loved ; and a tuanputroe,
a royal Malay lady was won ; a magician scowled upon the happy
state ; by evil spells he seized and bore away, through air, tho
hapless lady; the hero finds a widadiri (or bidiyadiri), a Malay
wood nymph ; he obtains a charm, regains the beauteous putree,
and thus the wayang, or Sumatran opera is performed.

"When the play and song had ceased, I took some money to
present to the girls, having heard from my Bali friend, that it
was expected of guests to pay for all such entertainment, by gifts
to these wandering minstrel performers; but the Panyor ang,
observing the movement of my hand, motioned with earnest and
dignified expression of face, to put back my gift. He had invited
his son as a friend. lie was not an Arab, or Chinese trader.

Whilst we sipped tea, and eat of manisan^ various sweetmeats,
at the close of the repast, the young man, the juro tulis, took the
place of the ronggengs, and sat down crosslegged upon a mat,

CHRONICLES AND MYTHOLOGY OF SUMATRA. 171

with a manuscript in his hand, from which he read with a drawling
monotone, yet a somewhat pleasing sound. He read of ancient
wars, heroes and princesses ; of which I understood but little
then ; but afterwards learned that it was concerning the Javanese
conquest of Palembang.

Browijoyo, one of the most powerful Sultans of the great
Empire of Madjapahit in Java, made war upon the people of
Palembang and conquered them ; and his son Aria Damar became
Sultan of the country. One of his race married Patee, the de
scendant of Alexander and of an Indian princess, who had gone
in quest of the conqueror to ask the honor of being the mother
of a race of heroes ; these were Patee and his descendants down
to Badr Oodin, and many princes and princesses, who now wan
dered in the Ulu ; but a day of deliverance was near, a Secunder
Zulkaram ; some tradition promised hero was coming, the Wolanda
would be driven out, the royal race would return to the astana
malaghay , the palace of their forefathers, and the blood of
Iskander and Browijoyo would sit enthroned once more by the
waters of the Moosie.

Then the juro tulis recited some verse in a quicker, more song
like tone. His story was about rakshashas, or huge, hairy giants;
of wicked djins; and of dewi and ividadiri, the lovely forest and
mountain nymphs of the beautiful olden Malay mythology, which,
like the Greek, peopled the streams, and caves and tree-tops with
young virgin forms, who faithfully watched over mankind to
defend them from the foul spirits of the sea and air.

The juro tulis told of a rajah, Chindeh Balang, a prince of the
Passumah, who had three daughters : Sareena, gracious ; Chayah,
light ; and Seenee, delicate limbed ; who were married to three
Panyorangs of hideous form and evil mind, called Kandung, hump
backed; Berbulu, hairy; and Binchee, the hateful; whom the

172

PRISON OF WELTEVREDEX.

father dared not to refuse, by reason of their power and ferocity.
The good rajah died, and his sons-in-law went to war, the one with
the other, in dividing the lands and the people of Chindeh Balang ;
and after a time, these wicked princes called in the aid of some
hideous djins of the sea to whom each one promised the gold,
cinnamon and other precious things of the country, if they might
have the strongest youths and fairest maidens of the Passumah.

These djins came and took the gold and cinnamon and other
precious things ; and made slaves of all the people themselves ;
and the evil Panyorangs too, who were shut up in iron cages and
sent across the sea to Ternate. The sea djins drove far away all
of the race of Chindeh Balang, and said ; our rajah shall be rajah
instead ; but the people of the Passumah loved the memory of
Chindeh Balang, they groaned under the rod of the sea devils, and
they fled to the cave of the Bukit Dempoh for a refuge.

A widadiri, resplendent as din ari, and softly lovely as silam
(the morning and evening twilight), appeared before the people of
the Passumah, upon a white elephant, bearing a beautiful child in
her arms, which she said was the daughter of the princess Retna
Komala, the Precious Gem of the Redjang Tinga (a district on
the head waters of the Moosie), and of a long-lost son of Rajah
Chindeh Balang. Its life had been sought by the three bad
Panyorangs ; but the princess had confided her daughter to an old
woman, a dukun, who lived at the foot of Pemalang Kambing,
where the widadiri had watched the growth of the child ; and she
now brought jier to strengthen the hearts of the people of the
Passumah Ulu Manna ; and that they might now take charge of
their rightful sovereign, Zaydee Komala, the Flawless Gem.

This grand-daughter of Chindeh Balang grew up more lovely
than all the virgins of the Passumah ; and the people watched over
her in the Ulu that she might not fall into the hands of the dark-

THE PRINCESS OF TASSUMAH. 173

minded djins of the sea. Whilst she lived, the pirates would have
no peace in the lands of the Passumese ; for these loved their
royal race, and would give tribute and service to no other, and
thus the minstrel sang of this fair princess.

ZAYDEE KAMALA

Illustrious Princess ; Flawless Gem ;
Beautiful Night in the Ulu :
Bright Rays of morning light,
Shining on Gunung 1 Dempoh.

Face of the moon, fourteen days old ;
Hue of gold, ten times refined, 3
Hearts of men of Passumah,
Fuller than coffers of Company.

The kancheel 3 gave its form ;
The melati stem its bend ;
Melati 4 blooms no fragrance,
By the Flower of Ulu.

Flawless Gem of Passumah ;
Dazzling eyes of men,
Modest eyelash drooping,
Like the Waringin 6 shade.

Tender voice of the laweet 6
Moaning the absent mate :
Proud voice of white-maned waves,
Lashing Karang 7 Nagosurie.

Light of eyes; Substance of heart 8 ;
Life of the fainting soul ;
Allah blesses; men adore
Flawless Gem of Passumah.

174 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

The mountain 1 of Dempoli, where the princess resided, being
so lofty, rugged and inaccessible, is a favorite asylum for mythic
nymphs and persecuted ladies, whose highest standard of beauty
in the estimation of Malay poets is the round face and the golden
skin. 2 The little musk deer, 3 a perfect one, not larger than a
rabbit, when full grown, bounds among the crags of Dempoh ;
whilst the smooth slopes are fragrant with the small cream white,
festival flower 4 of the Malays ; flourishing under the Sumatran
banyan, 6 whose drooping limbs, touching earth or rock, put forth
roots where leaves once grew, and other columns appear, support
ing the great forest temple roof.

The sea swallow, 6 which collects a certain weedy gum, exuding
from ocean rocks, to build those nests eaten by the people of China,
utters a sweet plaintive note, when parted from its mate ; and
the coral ledges 7 of Nagosurie, are said to be a favorite resort of
these industrious little victims of the sensual Chinese appetite.

The minstrel pitched his voice to harsh or plaintive tone, as
he read of love or war : he rocked his body, he waved his hand ;
and men and women, youths and coolies, slid off their mats, and
drawing near, with swaying heads, and moving hands, kept pace
with limb and sympathetic look to the songs of their land, the
sagas of Sumatra.

When he had ceased, I wished to see .the manuscript from
which he read. I saw an old scroll in Arabic script ; and these
were the chronicles of Browijoyo, Madjapahit and Palembang ; but
where was the story of the princess of the Passumah ? The min
strel had it in his head alone, to which he pointed. Zaydee Ko-
mala is not yet dead ; and wherefore should her hakiyat, history,
be written. She wanders upon the white elephant in the Ulu ;

CHARACTER OF MALAY POETRY. 175

she sails in the rambayah on the Moosie, whilst her mantri, min
ister, the rajah Tiang Alam, Pillar of the World, fights the foul
djins of the sea, the Wolanda of Palembang.

What was all this story of seeming fact mingled with fable ?
I could not learn from Panyorang or pantun singer ; but from all
their words, I learned that the princess was not a Malay myth,
although the widadiri and elephant might be. Somewhere in the
forests there roamed one of the royal race of the princes of the
Passumah.

The Panyorang rose, and motioned me to follow him. As we
retired, the company fell upon the food we had left. My host led
me into a small chamber, with richly varnished walls, and floor
made of bamboo slats, fine polished and well jointed ; in which for
only furniture, I saw a thick, soft mat and a pillow, by which lay
a loose cotton coat or kabyah, loose striped trowsers, and em
broidered slippers ; pointing to these, the Panyorang said, take a

little sleep ; and left me to enjoy the eastern siesta.
###*##*

I have heard, said the younger Missionary to the commander,
frequent mention of the pantuns and improvised songs of the
Malays; but that the subjects of them were generally lewd and
very puerile.

Such an opinion, it was said in reply, might be formed from
what was generally seen and heard of Malays, in Singapore, Ba-
tavia, Pinang, and all other places where European influence was
felt, and European habits prevailed. There the Malay was never
called upon, except for impure dance and silly song. All Euro
peans had the same desire, the ship owner and the captain, as
well as the drunken sailor, to bid the Malay man fight his beasts
and his fowls ; and the Malay woman, like Hindoo and Hawaian,
to transcend the license of their pagan life ; as in our own great

176 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

marts of commerce, the countrymen and the stranger, were the
chief patrons of the city vice.

But the highest races of the Malays of Sumatra, the Battahs,
the people of the north-western coast, and of the Passumah, were
a people that possessed much virtue ; remarkable in the women,
who in many a recorded instance, had defended their honor with
kriss in hand. Among them, the history of wars and noble loves ;
of heroes, and fair and faithful women, were the common themes
of their wandering minstrels. Sumatra, that is only thought of
along with tigers, pirates, and pepper, is perhaps the last refuge
of romance on earth.

The pantuns, or proverbial expressions in rhyme, are what
their poets take most pride in producing. They generally show
but very little logical connection ; and, the same as in all their
writings, there is a tedious repetition of names ; but they abound
in poetical descriptions and comparisons.

The rest of the incidents that occurred at the house of the
Panyorang, were tho subject of the narration of another day.

TWENTY-SECOND DAY.

As I lay in the siesta room, thinking over early dreams of the
land I now lived in, I heard a low plaintive sound of women s
voices, a wailing, mourning tone, that struck with touching pathos
on my ear. Although I felt imprisoned till my host should
return, I stepped a little forth from an outer door, to listen to the
soft womanly chant, that seemed like some song of woe over a
dead or dying child.

The wail changed to a lullaby tone, brisker, livelier and hap
pier ; that still drew me on nearer, to hear the notes of joy or
woe, that broke on the siesta hour. I sat down beneath a cluster
of the odorous burung darah, its blooms like their name, white
doves on the wing. The fragrance of flower, the melody of voice,
the strangeness of scene, flowed over my heart with stirring power :
I bowed my head in revery, I heard the word, anak, my son ; I
looked up ; and the majestic Panyorang stood before me.

Thinking of eastern etiquette and seclusion, I feared that I
had stepped beyond the privilege of hospitality. My son is
curious, said the old man ; but his heart is white : does he come
to smell the pigeon flower ; or listen to the prayers of my women
and children, who chant the ngasar, the afternoon prayer, to
Allah?

178 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

I had thought I heard a lament for sickness, or a lament for
death : it was not less pleasing to listen to a lament for sin, and
a song of praise. The Panyorang said, follow, my son ; you shall
see as well as hear. He paused at the door of the room, from
whence the sounds came forth ; and I heard that solemn refrain of
every moslem prayer ; Oh God, the merciful, and the loving kind.

The Panyorang paused till the chant had ceased ; and then he
opened the door ; and we stood in an oblong chamber, without
ornament, besides its varnished walls, some lamps, a mirror, and
eleven mats, upon all of which, but one, women of various ages
were seated. Nemastiapa was there, and several matrons whom
I had seen before ; but there were younger forms and faces : three
whom the Panyorang called his grandchildren; beautiful girls;
beautiful as sun-browned children of Sumatra; eyes with soft,
tender and modest expression; and complexion of a mingled
lustre of gold and bronze, soft and most pleasing to look upon.

The Panyorang bid them rise and called them by name ; and
he bade me take my vocabulary and pencil in hand.

Sareena, the gracious, was tall like a palm ; and had large
drooping eyelashes ; Oombah, the swell of the sea, was plump, and
merry in expression ; Ledah manis, sweet lip, was so timid, that
she hid her face, all the time that I turned my eyes towards her.

When he had repeated these names, with the ages of each, he
looked around the room for some one else. Where was the kambing
utan, the little wild rock deer. Afraid, said Nemastiapa : she
fled when she heard the footsteps of the lord Captain, with my
lord at the door : she had watched from the window : the wild
rock deer is very mischievous.

The Panyorang called : a sliding sound was heard of the
charpoo, the Malay lady s gold and bead embroidered slipper, with
sole of soft, woody pith. A rustle of silk, and then I saw a

A MALAY LADY IN FULL DRESS. 179

pliant figure, small and graceful, moving with wave-like motion :
the face of a maiden was before me, not so youthful, not so pretty
and not so delicate in its outline, as the three I have named ; but
lively, curious, and beams of soul touched those plainer lines,
such as I had seen in no Malay face before.

Her dress, and I describe the others in hers, was the kain
sarong, or skirt, of salmon colored silk, held in its folds by a tali
pendeng, or girdle of gold, of pure gold, and commonly worn by
Malay women of wealth, some weighing fifteen, and even twenty
ounces : an oval plate, of korangan, filagree work, for which Su-
matrans are famous, adorned it in front ; the bust was veiled by
a choolee, or scarlet bodice, bound by glistening gems ; the kabyah,
or outer robe, of flowered muslin, fell half way between the -waist
and feet : diamonds, not pendent, but stuck to the lobe of the ear,
and long, diamond-headed pins, completed the toilette of Sahyoop,
or Sahyeepah, the winged one, the grand-daughter of Panyorang
Djaya Laksana. The Panyorang said that the antelope was not
so beautiful as the palm tree, the wave, or the sweet lip ; because
she has the blood of Java, Her father, Wirojoyo, was of Cheribon,
whither he had now gone with merchandise.

The old chieftain spoke for some time to the women about my
ship, my country ; and then he took pains to explain the use
of my vocabulary. Again he asked me to say words and sen
tences in my own language, which he desired his grand- daughters
to repeat ; and all, like Seedap Malam, pronounced them well ;
but best of all by Sahyeepah ; who was cunning and skilful, said
Nemastiapa.

I asked the names of each article of dress, which Sahyeepah
quickly gave me ; and as all the others ceded to her in answering,
a dialogue sprang up, between me and the skilful one alone : the

180

PRISON OF WBLTKVREDEN.

Panyorang, and the women, looking on with curious and admiring
interest.

Had I a mother, sister, wife or daughter ? these were now, as
often with Malay and Javanese women, the first questions asked.
Then my questioner spoke of Wolanda, Dutchmen ; were they
strong in my country, and did they invade the land, as in Pulo
Percha ; they were hateful and ugly : they treated the people of
Islam like dogs ; they were ugly as orang kubu.

The mention of orang kubu recalled to mind the creatures of
the covered creek ; and I spoke to the Panyorang about them.
He stepped out of the room, making sign to me to follow. We

/ mam

ORANG KUBU. 181

approached some outer sheds, kandang, or stables for buffalo. I
saw coolies at work, some digging pits and trenches ; others trim
ming and sharpening bamboo poles, and engaged in other labor
for the erection of an addition to the kandang.

I heard some one cry lakass, quick and harsh, as though
urging a beast ; yuli ! a grunt from a gruff voice in reply. An
orarig kubu, said the Panyorang ; and I saw a dark brown form,
tall as a middle- sized man, covered with hair, that looked soft and
flowing ; the arms, hands, legs and feet, seemed well formed like
the Malays ; the body was straight ; and easily bore, on the right
shoulder, the yoke of two heavy panniers, filled with material for
the building that was going on.

The Panyorang gave me some of the same particulars about
the orang kubu, that were told to me by the Dutch officer on the
Soonsang, to which he added some of the fable, that surrounds
every eastern, and especially Malay account of any thing.

These were tai orang, the refuse of men : they were the descend
ants of some slaves of Alexander, who had fled from their mas
ter. They could tell nothing of their forefathers ; they could only
speak some short grunting words ; and one syllable only of Malay
words they could repeat : nassee, rice, being nass with them ;
and yan for orang. They were brutes, they had no worship, no
marriage, no law, no clothing, no idea of its use ; they were the
accursed of Allah, companions of djins on earth ; fit only to be
beasts of burden ; and the Malays hunted them and caught them
in pits and tree tops ; and made slaves of them, as of right, said
the Panyorang, all beings ought to be, who are inferior to men.

The eyes of this Kubu were clearer, the nose fuller, and the
lips were thinner than those of the common Malay, but the mouth
was wide, lips protruding, and chin formed no part of the hairy
face ; yet it was pleasantly human in its expression ; more so

182 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

than the dirty, mottle-skinned lascars and coolies I had seen at
Minto and Palembang.

Was this then some lower grade of human being, some con
necting link, between man and beast, more human than orang utan,
or chimpanze ; and less so than Papuan or Hottentot ? I could
not say so from what I saw, nor from all the strange stories I
heard. But that beings of well made human form, covered with
hair, almost without speech, and living on raw food, dwell in
the caves and tree tops of the forests of Sumatra, are facts that
are well established.

The Panyorang said that the Sultan of Jambee had a great
many Kubu slaves. They were to be found in the rich gold region
of .Korinchee, as well as in the gum benzoin forests, on the Batang
Lekoh. Jambee and Kubu, had become leading objects of curi
osity with me; and I questioned the Panyorang much about
them.

The old Sultan of Jambee, Mohamed Pachroodin, and his
brother, the Panyorang Ratoo Marta Ningrat, had made a con
tract with the Dutch company, which secured to the latter the
monopoly of suit, and in which provision was made for the return
of the fugitive slaves of either party ; and stipulating for the
establishment of a trading post at Moorah Kompeh, near the
mouth of the Jambee River; but the son of Pachroodin, the
present Sultan, Ratoo Abduhl Nasroodin, was opposed to the con
tract of his father, disliked the Dutch, and would have no trade
or friendship wth them.

The river Jambee was navigable as far as the kraton of the
Sultan, about seventy miles from the mouth, for vessels of three
or four hundred tons burthen. The country abounded in gold,
pepper, camphor, cinnamon, nutmegs, benzoin and other rich com
modities, which the Sultan and the traders of his country wished

" THE DOG IN THE MANGER." 183

to exchange in freedom with Americans or English ; but the Dutch
had planted some guns at Moora Kompeh ; and although they
could not get the trade themselves, they would not let it descend
the river to go to Singapore ; or let traders ascend to take it at
Jambee. They were ravenous beasts, over-gorged with the plun
der of tanah Jawa, the land of Java ; yet they would not allow
another to touch in Pulo Percha, what they could not devour.
The Sultan of Jambee was independent, and any one might go to
see him, who was not afraid of the Dutch at Moora Kompeh.

Jambee was on the way to Singapore. I wanted to go and
see a Prince, who was not surrounded by the trammels of Euro
pean power. I wanted to see the Malay, the ruling race of the
Archipelago, in his highest state of independence ; and I wanted
to see more of the Kubu, and Gugur, the lowest of human kind
in those islands, or in the world ; and far more than to get gold
and spices, did I want to find out, what were their claims to the
family of man ; and on which side of the line of demarkation be
tween man and brute, did they stand.

I took my leave of the Panyorang Djaya Laksana. I have
given the pleasantest picture of all that I observed of him and his
family. I have not spoken of what I saw of lazy or dirty habits :
more to be seen than among enlightened and wealthy Europeans,
but far less than among poor ones. I have wished to introduce
you to the Malay mind, taste and imagination ; you have heard
enough from others about their gambling and treachery, their
filthy betel chewing, and their black teeth.

I saw something of this, at the house of the Panyorang, to
spoil a good deal of interest ; but I saw pleasant smiles of wel
come all the time of my stay. I saw a row of pleasant faces on
the verandah on leaving ; and when I turned to depart, I heard
the selamat djalan, safety on the way, sent from the mouth of

184 PRIKON OF WELTEVREDEN.

Sahyeepah, and as I stood in the raiubayah, the Panyorang pointed
to the flag that still floated from the cocoanut tree top ; and said,

Think of ine, iny son, in America.

* * * * * * *

The elder missionary felt an unsatisfied curiosity about the
orang Kubu, and the orang Gugur, beings, whose existence gave
rise to one of the most profoundly interesting questions for human
ity. The commander had felt deeply interested in obtaining a
thorough enlightenment, with regard to the habits and condition
of these hairy men ; he had resolved to visit the haunts of the
Kubu on the Eawas and the Batang Lekoh. And with this
resolve in view, he had not taken that pains to observe the few
specimens of these beings to be found at Palembang, which he
would have done, had he not had in view a farther and better
opportunity to study them.

It would be useless to repeat, except as amusing fable, the
extravagant stories related by Malays and Arabs, about many
savage, aboriginal races, to be found in Sumatra, and disputing
the jungle with the elephant, the tiger, and the innumerable fam
ily of monkeys ; but it is singular, that on this great island, where
nature has displayed herself most magnificent, beautiful and luxu
riant in vegetation ; most terrible and powerful in the brute crea
tion, she should have made the original lords of this soil, the
most abject on earth ; and of doubtful superiority over many of
man s wild vassals of the forest.

The Malays are not the aboriginals of Sumatra ; although it
is known as the chief seat of their race; for within a period com
mencing many hundred years after the beginning of our era, the
first Mai-ayes, mountaineers, or Mal-ayans, wanderers, set foot on
the great island, to which, owing to the course it lay, they desig
nated as barat sama utara, N. N. West ; and the latter words

FABLED MONSTERS IN THE EAST. 185

have been readily corrupted into Samatara, and Semantara, by
natives ; and to Sumatra by Europeans. Pulo Percha, the strip,
or ribbon island, is a name now generally used by the common
people ; and Indalas is another name of the island to be met with
in poetry.

Innumerable stories are told of giants, dragons, and nations of
apes, who disputed with lower beasts the dominion of the soil,
before the arrival of the great Polynesian wanderers : and Arab
merchants, who probably traded on the coasts of Sumatra during
the classic ages, seeking to guard their monopoly by cunning,
which has been done later by force, carried to Europe those stories
of fabulous monsters, who guarded the cinnamon and frankin
cense ; which gave such an exaggerated value to those commodi
ties in the estimation of the credulous western world ; and led
the historians and geographers of ancient Greece to people many
islands of the eastern ocean with anthropophagi and hideous
cyclopean forms.

The Greeks have been blamed for their proneness to invest
the Eastern world with the fictions of eastern imagination. All
accounts of the west, wore the simple garb of truth ; and even
the fabled Hesperidean isles, were the abodes of a fair, simple and
happy race ; whilst the East, the cradle of humanity, was filled
with the distortions of inventive brains, wrought out of the myths
of Eastern imagination. But was the so-called fable of Ctesias
about the dog-faced people of Budtan, who eat raw flesh and
rubbed their bodies with oil, stranger than that of the hairy and
chinless kubus, who rub themselves with gum ?

The Greeks were perhaps too easily influenced by the Hindoos,
in. yielding credence to a belief in the existence of lower grades
of mankind, connecting links between the human and brute crea
tion, but however repulsive such an idea, and however much ap-

186 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

parently disproven by ethnological research ; yet the contempla
tion of such hideous, mindless abortions of humanity, as the beastly,
herding Papuans, the wow-wows of Borneo, like the Cynocephali
of the Macedonian traveller, the woolly Semangs of Malacca, and
lower still the Kubus and Gugurs of Sumatra, is well calculated
to humiliate the mind of the philosopher, and make him think
of the possibility of the existence of varieties of the human

form, where the existence of a reasoning soul is problematical.

*******

When the commander returned to his vessel, he learned from
his sailing-master many interesting particulars, confirming pre
vious accounts about the Sultan and territory of Jambee. He
had met with the master of the Arab ship Maimoon, who was
formerly a sailor on board the Royalist, the yacht of Sir James
Brooke, and was in his service, when rajah of Serawak.

This man had visited Jambee ; and had spoken with the Sul
tan, who disliked Hollanders, and was friendly to the English of
Singapore. An American ship would be welcomed the same as
an English one ; and as the monsoon was about to change, the Flirt
might make the run down the Moosee and Soonsang, and ascend
the Jambee, in less than four days. But it would be advisable
to send a messenger with a friendly note, and some small compli
mentary gift before going there.

A good Malay scribe was wanted to write a proper message ;
and one had been wanted, for some time, to read Malay manu
script, history and verse, and to teach correctly the high Malay,
for which the man Bahdoo was found to be entirely unfit. To ob
tain one, the commander had spoken to several officers of the gar
rison of Palembang, the same as he had done to obtain a servant
at Minto.

He went ashore, and met the Major Blommcstein, to whom he

THE MALAY SECRETARY. 187

mentioned his wish to engage a good Malay writer and scholar in
his service. The Major would inquire. The commander went a
second day, and the scribe he wanted was found ; but he was sur
prised to see in the young man brought before him, the reader
and pantun singer he had met at the house of the Panyorang.
Yet it was not to be considered strange ; the man wandered about
to write and relate pantuns and stories for the rich : he had come
to sing for the officers of the fort, and so the juro tulis, Kiagoos
Lanang, was engaged to teach high Malay, to write messages to
princes and chieftains, and to go if he wished to Singapore.

Bahdoo had brought one of his countrymen on board the
schooner, a man from Padang, called Moonchwa ; he was a foster
brother of Bahdoo, and they wished so much to be together : he
wanted but little pay, enough for daily rice and a new sarong ; so
the commander added Moonchwa to his two other Malay retainers.

The commander became intimate with many officers of the
garrison of the fort at Palembang. He visited them in their
quarters, and they spent a great deal of time on board his vessel ;
and Dutch officers were daily intermingled with natives of rank,
coming to admire the beauty of the Flirt, but the Major Blom-
mestein was most frequently associated with the commander.
This officer was born in the East Indies ; and had strong sympa
thies with the native races of the Archipelago : he was frank and
intelligent, and spoke freely about his Government and the state
of affairs in the East.

Some of these Malay men of rank, these Panyorangs whom you
meet with, said the Major to the commander, are courteous and
agreeable men; but the greater portion are lazy and vicious.
Some cultivate a taste for letters : they all read the Koran, and
have a respectable knowledge of Arabic, which is their classic lan
guage, as with all other Mahometans. They are of the sect of

188 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

Alidcs; but you must have observed that Islamism merely exists
in forin, and is mingled with a great deal of the old pagan super
stition, so much like the mythology of the Greeks. The Ma
lays of Palembang repeat the formal prayers of the Koran at the
prescribed times, and observe the fast of the Ilamazan very
rigidly; but they seldom frequent their messigheet or mosque,
which is chiefly attended by Arabs. They drink wine and beer free
ly with Europeans; and the Malay gentleman for there are
many who would realize that character in the best European so
ciety is a good liver, and a free thinker ; and a very pleasant and
hospitable entertainer.

POSITION OF THE WOMEN OF SUMATRA.

There are no social, nor any other kind of restrictions imposed
upon the women : they are as free as the men, to go abroad pub
licly, to see and be seen, to transact business, to travel, to marry
when and whom they choose, and more than all to become sover
eigns in many states of Sumatra, and elsewhere in the Archipelago.

The rayat } or masses of the Malay people, have ever manifested
a decided preference for female rule. Malay women have furnished
instances for history, of a lofty patriotism. The uniform mild
ness and prosperity, attendant upon their sway, as contrasted with
the cruelty and rapacity of the male rulers ; ever ready to sell
their country for a few gewgaws of ornament and parade, has
resulted in a decided preference in various portions of the Archi
pelago for the elevation of women, especially maidens, to the sov
ereignty ; and this beautiful and chivalrous homage to women and
&gt; iririnity has been chiefly maintained by Boni in Celebes; and by
Achin in Sumatra, that once proud state, which received an am
bassador from a sovereign of England, and sent its hundred thou-

FEMALE SUPREMACY IN SUMATRA. 189

Band warriors under Laksamana against Malacca ; and is now the
only truly independent state on the island.

Female divinities, for all that is good is feminine among
Suniatrans, still people the forests and mountain recesses. Every
deep-shaded waringin, or thick-tufted bamboo, every glen and
cleft and cool recess, is tenanted by a widadiri, those celestial
maidens, the nymph, the sylph, the dryad, and houri of the
Malay.

Although the machinery of good and evil genii belong to a
system of belief long abolished ; yet they still exist in the legends
of the land. In the superstition of the people, every person of
note has some spiritual agency attending their birth ; and what
ever is surrounded with the slightest mystery, or whatever it is
desired to invest with any especial interest, has been the object of
the protection of the widadiri.

With stories of this kind, the chieftains who oppose us rally
the people around them. The rajah Tiang Alam, who has stirred
up the tribes of the Ampat Lawang in the territory of the Passu-
mah against the Dutch Government, was of the condition of a slave
not more than three years ago ; yet by ingenious stories, making
himself the protected of the good spirits of the country, and the
protector of some pretended offspring of their old princes, he has
gained the sympathies and support of the people ; and been ena
bled to carry on a warfare that has been highly destructive to our
interests in Sumatra, and threatened the stability of our hitherto
strong position on the island.

One of the stories of Tiang Alam, is about a certain prin
cess, called Zaydee, or Sahdeeah Komala ; common names in
Malay romance, and often given to wandering singers and dancers ;
for I have met with two Sahdeeahs at Palembang of that class.
But the people firmly believe that some of the descendants of

190 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

the old Madjapahit dynasty, and of the family of the late Sultan
Badroodin, still wander in the fastnesses of the Ulu ; and will be
restored to the ancient throne by Tiang Alam, when he shall have
driven us away.

I have often heard of this princess Zaydee Komala, and if the
Malays did not mingle so much fable with every thing they relate,
I should be inclined to think, from report, that she was a very in
teresting personage, and worthy of the homage so often accorded
to their royal women ; but from my own knowledge, I could not
say whether this Zaydee is a pantun singer or a princess.

After leaving the Major, the commander spoke with Kiagoos
Lauang about the lady of his song : she was indeed, he said, a reel
princess; and lived not far off; but a slave like him dare not
approach her presence ; and thus he had not seen her ; but if the
tuan, his master, should desire to behold the Flower of the Pas-
sumah, he would speak with a hadjy, who was a slave of the
princess.

Some time afterwards, this hadjy, a very dark complexioned
Malay Arab, whose name was Zenodeen, came on board the Flirt
to signify the wish of Mantri, the Minister of the princess, who
wished to see the American Commander, and speak with him
about his mistress. A rambayah would be sent down the river ;
he must trust himself alone; and .this visit to the wandering
Malay young lady was thus related on board the Palmer, on the
twenty-third day of her homeward voyage from Java.

TWENTY THIRD DAY.

AGAIN, with song and dipping blades, I sped along the waters
of the Moosee, whither led, and to whom, I knew not; "but urged
by many stories of seeming fact and fiction ; so strangely mingled,
that I wished to see what ground there was for the pleasant
Malay romance ; or the Dutchman s plainer story.

The sun had set when I came in sight of two large rambayahs
at anchor in the stream ; each of size to carry one hundred men.
They were covered with an atap awning roof; and curtains of
dark cloth enclosed the sides around : a gong gave signal of our
approach ; a portion of curtain at the forward end of the largest
barge, was raised up ; I saw Zenodeen in gay scarlet dress, with
a huge kriss in his girdle ; and could hardly recognize the dirty
hadjy I had seen before, in the armed and jewelled warrior I now
beheld.

These first sights, the warlike barges, and the armed pilgrim,
made me think that I had been led into a pirate trap, where I
should be held to ransom ; but Zenodeen gave me little time to
dwell on suspicions of evil design. A cloth-covered plank was
placed for me to step on board the large rambayah ; the hadjy led
the way aft, through a number of oarsmen and women : we ap
proached a scarlet curtain ; he clapped his hands; it parted;
and then I beheld a scene of curious pomp and beauty.

Amid many pendant lamps, like lighted lotus cups, softly
shaded with an odorous incense cloud from burning benzoin ; amid

192 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

yellow and scarlet robes, of glittering gems, and many pretty
bright, golden-hued faces, was one more soft and noble 5 of fine
Arab type in many lines, of curving nose, thin lips, rounded chin,
and proud setting of the neck; but softer ones, of Passumah
poesy, marked the swelling brow with its downy border, at the
base of the massive mount of glossy hair, that rose with magnifi
cent sweep, crowning a noble domain of beauty, and dignified
womanly grace, which had fittingly been named the Flawless
Gem.

In words of most pleasant tone, she gave me the usual words
of welcome : she spoke of my long voyage, coming so far without
merchandise, alone to see the people of Pulo Percha ; and did
many men in my country feel good will to this land ; and wish to
give happiness to Malays ? she had heard from the hadjy, that
my country was very great, greater than Holland ; and that I
stood near the rajah of America when at home.

I had ceased to marvel at Malay magnification of my position
and purposes after meeting with Dutch exaggeration of the objects
of my presence in the Archipelago. So fanciful a personage, with
such a pretty little ship, had never been seen in these seas before ;
and if the Dutch would have me to be a commodore in disguise,
I could not bo surprised that this Malay lady should suppose,
that I was some high courtier, an American Mantri, or secre
tary of state, and confidential envoy of the rajah of America.

A tall and venerable man, with white beard, and robed in
black and green, wished to know if American ships would not go
up the Moosee and the Jambee rivers to buy spices, and cotton,
which grew plentiful in the Passumah : the people would not sell
to the Dutch ; then would not American merchants come here,
and make good trade, and wealth for themselves ; the same as at
Singapore ? And of course, I told him that I should tell my

VISIT TO THE PRINCESS KOMALA. 193

countrymen, who loved trade very much, all about what he said
when I returned home This was Mantri Wira Menggala.

Zenodeen had received some sign of command ; he clapped
his hands, a space was cleared, and three girls came forward to
improvise some words of compliment, about my visit ; and at the
same time, some vessels of the peculiar manufacture of Palern-
bang, were placed before me, made of fine wood and of richest
lacquer work ; spherical, oval, and oblong, shaped and colored like
fruit ; and when I touched the fruit-like stems, I discovered lids
and then receptacles full of jellied pulp of fruits, and spiced
cakes of rice and cocoanut of great variety.

The minstrels were dressed as I had seen before, but I saw
no adornment of flower wreaths, chaplets, and crowns of the kum-
bang melati. The glossy black hair, well combed back, left full to
view the round, swelling forehead, bordered with a fringe of fine
downy curls ; the small thin ear ; and all of the mild and expressive
face of the well-favored Malay female. One of these I now saw,
struck me as having been seen before ; but I could not remember
where, and a glance of recognition seemed to flash from the eyes
of the singing girl.

Of all that was sung, the greater part was lost to me this time ;
for I did not afterwards, as I had on the occasion of other singing,
meet with any explaining interpreter. The smiles at certain parts,
the nodding looks towards me, and a few understood words, told
that compliment mingled largely in the song.

Then one sung alone, the one whose looks spoke of some past
meeting, I knew not where. Her words, repeated slowly, and
in the common Malay, I understood better. She sang some
thing of Dutchmen, of officers with burning eyes ; and faces,
red and swollen with strong water, as a storm-setting sun. They
uttered big words, they bellowed like devils, they struck poor
9

194 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEJT.

slaves, helpless women, whose souls were gone, there was no heart
of life left in them ; as they lay in an evil abode ; when Allah
opened a door ; his face was like a man ; not like Wolanda, not
like Arab, nor any seen before : like the grey cloud and blue sky,
hanging over Dempoh.

At the first words of the song I recalled to mind the prisoners
of the rakit. But the princess gazed with inquiring look ; and
the hadjy scowled, as the song went on. When it ceased, the
princess spoke, and Zenodeen replied in words I could not under
stand. The singing girl fell prostrate, and seemed to implore
protection from the anger of the hadjy.

"What mystery was here : the hapless and innocent maidens,
the shrinking victims of the night scene by the fort ; now public
players : the procuring hadjy then told of; and the disturbed and
angry hadjy now before me. What foul play, left unrevealed until
my presence brought it forth ; and what part in this, had Zaydee
Komala ; and what was there true or feigned, in all this scene of
hadjys and mautris, pantun singers and the princess? were
thoughts that arose, whilst the singing girl plead, the hadjy ex
plained and the princess frowned.

The hadjy retired ; and the Mantri spoke again, he talked of
battles in the Ampat Lawang between Tiang Alam, and the troops
of the company ; of men and forts in the interior, and of great
stores of trade for American merchants, who would ascend the
Moosee : to which I could only reply as before, that I would report
his words on my return to America.

I had brought with me a Mexican topaz, large and of fine
color, a piece of scarlet brocatelle, some vials of essences, and
an engraving of Lady Blessington in a gilt frame : these were
laid before the princess ; she smiled on looking at the picture ;
it must be my wife, no ; the wife of the rajah of America ; not

FILAGREE OF GOLD IN SUMATRA. 195

BO ; then it must be some princess I designed to take to my house,
by and by ; and as I did not wish to say that I had no knowledge
of the original, I was willing for her to remain so near the truth,
that it was the likeness of a princess whom I admired.

Wira Menggala received from the hands of the princess, what
seemed at first to be a mangosteen, with purple rind and a few
thick leaves near the stem, a real fruit to the eye, at a little
distance; but nearer, I saw that it was a piece of the curious
lacquered work of Palcmbang. The Mantri lifted up the stem
and disclosed a beautiful flower of korangan, filigree work of
gold, in which Sumatrans have given patterns to the most skilful
artists of Paris. The flower was a blending on the same stem
of jessamine cups, and of white-doves on the wing : the leaves
were shaped like those of the tamarind, but of gossamer texture ;
a single leaf showing many hundred of the most minute gauze-
like filaments and fibres, wrought out with the ductile gold.

This flower would be more fragrant than all the blooms of
the forest : it was brightened by the sunshine of beauty, and
perfumed with friendship. It would dazzle among the flowers
of America. I tried to say almost as much as this as I held the
gift in my hand. The princess said that there were many flowers in
the Passumah more beautiful than this ; the Dutchmen sought
them, but they could not find them. They would be found by
those who were not djins, who had cleaner souls.

I rose to retire ; the Mantri clapped his hands ; after a while, a
gong sounded ; the princess said safety on the way, and safety
to return, and visit the Ulu : when I stood in the rambayah to
bear me back, a clang of gongs broke forth, and down the stream
I sped again. We passed an ascending boat ; and by the star
light, I thought I beheld a glistening epaulette.

TWENTY-FOURTH DAY.

WHEN on board iny vessel, I found the Balinese Captain, who
had many stories to tell, and some warnings to give. The Dutch
men at the fort were greatly disturbed by the daily levees of na
tives and Arabs, held on board my vessel : my visits unarmed and
alone ; my reception by Malays of rank in a way never shown to
any European before, had given rise to the most extravagant sto
ries in the fort, that I had a concealed treasure of dollars and
gems, which I was distributing with a profuse hand, to prepare the
way for a more extended American influence in Sumatra.

The Balinese was puzzled himself to account for my rapid
progress in winning the native confidence ; and was, I dare say,
annoyed to find that his ciceronage was in so short a time no
longer needed. He did not, nor did any of the Dutchmen under
stand, that there were avenues of taste leading to the confidence
of this people, even quicker than those of trade ; and far less did
he or they understand, that Malays, like all of the eastern world,
were to be reached through their moral, rather than their intellec
tual convictions ; and that confidence was to be won by bestowing
it.

The Captain warned me, as he had done so often before, but
I had ceased to pay any attention to his stories of Dutch jealousy
and Malay treachery ; which thus far had received no confirma
tion. And whilst he talked, one of the subjects of his warnings,

SUMATRAN LOVE OF ADVENTURE. 197

the young Arab, Abdallah, the grandson of Scherriff Ali, came to
see me ; and with joy in his face, said that his grandfather and
father had consented to let him go with me.

Since the first proposal of Abdallali to enter my service, I
had received a great number of similar offers ; but none so interest
ing as his. The sailing-master was receiving daily applications
from Malays, who wished to join the vessel as sailors, having
received not less than a hundred such, from men, who only
asked for rice and three dollars a month, whilst they could earn
four times that amount at Palembang. But the Malay is a genu
ine lover of adventure ; and my ship and myself having been mag
nified by so many stories, promised some cmir-l of romantic
interest ; for which he was willing to forego greater profit ashore.

I had got, as I thought, the complement of natives I wanted,
Moonchwa, Bahdoo, and Kiagoos Lanang, the cook, the valet, and
the poet ; but Abdallah urged, and I liked the youth ; and I
resolved to take the young Arab gentleman, as company for my
cabin. He wished to have the parental consent at once con
firmed ; and took me in his tambangan to the house of the chief
of the Arabs.

The Panyorang received me with warm and kindly interest :
he had heard my name in the mouth of every man : spoken with
friendship by Arabs, Malays and Chinese ; but evil lurked under
the tongue of the Dutchmen. I must go to Jambee, where all
would be friends, Abdallah would be a faithful younger brother,
and would help me to speak all my thoughts in the presence of
princes.

Abdallah had retired to prepare for departing with me : after
a while, he returned with a dejected look ; his grandfather in
quired the cause, then entered an inner chamber. I heard the
voices of women, and a sobbing sound. The Panyorang came

198 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

back, and said, the mother has become little-hearted, and cannot
part with her last born, with Abdallah, who is a tender kid in his
mother s eyes.

Whilst the Panyorang talked, the father of Abdallah arrived,
Captain Aboubakr, with two of his sons, who assisted him on
board the Djelanie. The Captain was a stout, handsome Arab,
who manifested great pleasure on seeing me. He went to talk
with his wife ; his father joined him, but again the Panyorang
returned, and shook his head, saying, it was hard to deal with
women ; he did not deceive me, but as he wished me, his son, to
know that he spoke truth, he would break Arab custom, and let
me hear his perverse daughter myself.

He led forth a female, dressed in garments of sober hue. A
^carf like a Mexican riboso, covered her head, and was fastened
under her chin, partially concealing features more oval than
those of any female I had yet seen in Sumatra ; the nose was
aquiline, the mouth small, the lips thin, the teeth pure and white,
and I saw a fine matronly face, that bore the marks of about forty
years of age.

The voice of the Arab lady sounded deeper, more sonorous
than the Malays. She was happy that her son, her youngest, her
smallest, and her weakest one, had appeared so pleasing in the
eyes of the American Tuan, that he would make her son his younger
brother ; but Abdallah was too weak to walk among strangers
alone ; he had not the teachings of the prophet, nor the customs
of his people, very deep in his heart ; he would neglect the ngasar,
and the mahrib, the daily prayers in a strange land : and thus this
mother, like all others in the world, Christian, Jew, and Moslem,
i ..r&lt; (l chiefly on account of risk to the religion of her child.

Captain Aboubakr, said it was well ; that Abdallah should
remain; he had an older son, one bold and skilful on the sea;

ANTICIPATIONS OF A SUMATRAN HEROINE. 199

Hussein, his second born ; and he pointed out one of the young
men, who had come with him ; but Hussein had not the expres
sive face of the younger brother ; and I said that I would return
to Palembang, when Abdallah had got the lessons of his mother
deeper in his heart.

This was only one of many instances I met with and heard of,
which confirmed the words of the Major in regard to the position
of women in Sumatra, even among Arab and Chinese, as well
as Malay ; though no women are so free as those of the latter ;
the rights of the Malay ladies are equal in every particular to
those of the Malay lords.

I had seen interesting evidence of it, in the position and state
that surrounded the young Z ay dee Kornala, and in the social
freedom, and forward part taken by the women of the household
of Panyorang Djaya Laksana; of one of those, of her womanly
grace and intelligence, of her courage, enthusiasm, refinement,
and tenderness ; and of all that could constitute a noble and in
teresting woman, in any part of the world, I shall speak again,
when we shall meet her amid other scenes, and taking a part that
will show the exalted character of the Sumatran woman.

And that one, said the young lady on board the Palmer, is, I
presume, the courageous visitant of your prison, of whom I heard
such vague and contradictory rumors in Batavia; and even in
China.

But the Commander observed, smiling, that he wished to give
the greatest possible effect to the introduction of his Malay friends ;
and would not satisfy any fair lady s curiosity by anticipating
their presentation in the due course of his story.

TWENTY-FIFTH DAY.

I prepared to depart. I had already far exceeded the stay I
first designed, yet wishful to make it longer : to see more of the
people ; the panyorangs, and other nobles of Palembang ; to roam
in the gutta-percha, cinnamon and camphor forests ; to rouse up
the elephant and tiger that I had heard warring in the jungle, and
to follow the hairy Kubu to his haunt ; but I began to feel myself
surrounded by the espionage of a power, that could see no good
purpose outside of the pursuits of trade ; and though not all pow
erful here, had the force and the ill will to put me in peril at any
time.

Had I shown a liking for the coarse jokes, and the beer and
tobacco fumes of the mess room ; had I been content to interest
and enlighten my mind by daily games of billiards, and by a
nightly display of dollars on the card table ; had I studied Palem
bang behind the guns of the fort, in idly watching the swarthy
skins that plied the paddle on the river ; and amused myself by
kicking the yellow-skinned coolies, and calling them thieving and
treacherous dogs, because they did not understand some uncouth
jargon that I should bellow in their ears ; had I sought thus to
please, amuse and edify myself, I might have revelled on at Pa
lembang in peace, till I had gambled away my ship ; or given
away my health to Dutch debauch in the East.

But I had done otherwise, and after a time, the Resident met

DUTCH DISLIKE AT PALEMBANG. 201

me with a constrained look, the naval commander with a frowning
brow ; and all the officers of the garrison had become more or less
shy ; all except my friend, the Major, who met me as usual, with
cordial manner, and words ; and thus, at one time, spoke of the
state of feeling towards me in the fort.

I had raised up a bitter enemy in the person of the Assistant
Resident of Palembang. He was a mulatto, the son of the late
General Storm S Gravcsande, and a negress of Surinam : a very
dark man, was the Assistant ; with the woolly head, and marked
features of the maternal side of his family. The Major reminded
me of some remarks that I had made when dining with the Resi
dent, about the condition of the African race in South Carolina ;
some simple statements about their moral and physical state;
neither advocating nor condemning it, nor in any way reflecting
upon people of color ; yet the conversation afterward called forth
from Storm most vindictive language, expressive of a very decided
hate to Americans in general; which feeling at last, said the
Major, settled down upon you in particular.

The Resident has placed the Captain commanding the topo
graphical corps under arrest, for having shown you a map, indica
ting the military routes and posts in the interior ; and he has
become greatly alarmed at the daily levees of natives on board
your vessel ; and at the manner you are received by the chief
tains of the surrounding country.

Born as I am and reared in the Archipelago, said the Major,
I cannot view these things, these doings of yours, in the same
light that those do who come from the land of my fathers. The
instinctive jealousy of the Dutchmen about all that is English,
whether of Old or New England, will grow only in the polders of
the Netherlands, in sight of Doggerbank and the Thames. The
prejudices of the fatherland do not flourish in Creole soil.

202 PRISON OF WELTEVKEDEN.

I have not ventured to remonstrate with the Resident about
his suspicions; but I have endeavored to reason with my brother
officers upon the absurdity of supposing, that a mighty and en
lightened republic, like the United States of America, where
every thing diplomatic is done so openly, because strength is
always straightforward and open, should resort to the petty
espionage once practised between states of old Europe.

My brother officers from Holland, I am sorry to say, are far
from being equal to the standard of British officers in India, in
point of education and general information ; and this ignorance
is accompanied with strong prejudices, strong as their steadfast
character. Now one of these prejudices, strengthened by all
Dutch journals, is that the government and people of the United
States of America, are watching intently to get possession, not
only of Cuba, but of Java, Sumatra, Borneo ; and every other
island, rich or valueless, which is the property of any one else.

These are absurdities ; but you must expect to be disturbed
by their influence, wherever Dutchmen have any sway or influence
in these islands ; therefore, if you wish to study the people of the
Archipelago undisturbed, you must go farther north on the island ;
or to the north-eastern coast of Borneo.

I had resolved to go a little farther north, to the Sultanate of
Jambee ; but the remarks of the Major, and all that I had heard
from others, led me to think that it would be my best policy to
proceed directly to Singapore, and there arrange, according to
my early plan, for my future cruisings in the Archipelago.

When I gave orders to make ready for departure, my sailing
master had further news about Jambee to communicate : he had
seen one of the petty officers of the fort, the adjutant Van Steen-
dercn, who had been to Jambee, who spoke much of the wealth

JOURNEY TO JAMBEE RESOLVED UPON. 203

and curious interest about the place, and of the facility of the
route thither.

My chief officer had become deeply interested in the account
of the country ; he wanted to go himself, to visit the land of the
Korinchee, the Sultanate of Jambee, proceed farther north, through
the territories of the Sultans of Siak, Indraghiri, and Achin ; and
then join me again at Singapore.

A little more knowledge of the topography of Sumatra, would
have convinced us that such a land route was utterly impracti
cable, except with a good force of men, familiar with the swamp
and the jungle; and that such a force could not reach Achin in less
than four months ; but the officer was adventurous, and sanguine
of a gratifying success ; and I became wishful to have my future
movements in Sumatra determined by the observations of an in
telligent man.

My second having resolved upon the adventurous embassy,
made every preparation for the journey. It was necessary to
obtain a guide, a tambangan and two coolies ; the latter were easily
procured ; but there was difficulty in finding a man familiar with
any land route to Jambee. Kiagoos Lanang spoke of the hadjy
Zenodeen, who had a wife in Jambee ; and as he now dreaded the
anger of the Mantri Wira Menggala, on account of some transac
tion relating to the sale of Aleema, the pantun singer, and her
sister, to the Dutch officers he would be glad to offer his services
for the bare means of reaching the abode of his wife.

The hadjy, who had undergone a great metamorphosis for the
worse since last seen on board the rambayah of the princess, was
retained as a guide ; but when that matter was arranged, the
coolies to work the tambangan objected to go ; they were afraid of
tigers, who often sprang from the banks of creeks, whose streams
were narrow, into passing tambangans. Bahdoo and Moonchwa

204 PRISON OF WELTEYltEDEN.

volunteered to join the expedition. I did not wish to part with
them, but they begged to go ; the master desired to have them ;
and I reluctantly consented to part with my Malay followers.

Some introduction or passport was required, and I instructed
my Malay secretary to prepare a general letter, addressed to the
chief sovereign princes of the north of Sumatra ; and one in par
ticular to the Sultan of Jambee ; and with vocabulary in hand, I
endeavored to communicate these words to Kiagoos Lanang, which
was designed to be the substance of both.

" I , residing in the great land of America, send greetings

to the lord Sultan who rules over the empire of Jambee. This
writing will be brought into your presence, by the chief officer
commanding my vessel ; a man of truth and skill, in whose words
and knowledge I have great confidence. He will speak of the great
land from whence I come ; of the wealth and power of America,
and of the friendly dispositions of the American people towards
his Highness of Jambee. He will inform my lord Sultan of my
wish to visit the Kraton at Jambee, that I may present some gifts,
and sentiments of friendship to his Highness. Therefore my lord
Sultan will be pleased to give orders to his officers, that the bearer
of this may be allowed to dwell for a time with peace and com
fort in the territory of Jambee; and afterwards, when he shall
have accomplished his desire, to be permitted to go his way with
out molestation."

Whilst engaged in my cabin with Kiagoos Lanang, and be
fore the dictation of the letter was completed, the Balinese captain
came on board to remind me of an engagement to attend a great
Chinese wedding feast, that afternoon, which I had forgotten ;
for I was invited daily to many feasts by the natives of rank.
The Balinese urged immediate departure with him in his boat.
The Chinaman was very wealthy, and distinguished among his

LETTER TO THE SULTAN OP JAMBEE. 205

countrymen : he had made large preparations for a feast that would
show the abundance and luxury of Palembang ; and he had spoken
to the Balinese about his great desire to have the American
captain for a guest.

The master had wished to start that afternoon ; but I request
ed him to delay his departure till early the next morning. I gave
directions to the secretary to complete the letter with all the appro
priate preamble and style, which I could not dictate, to be ready
for my signature at an early hour in the evening, when I expected
to return from the Chinese wedding.

TWENTY-SIXTH DAY.

Rows of little balloon tops and paper globes, pictured with
out, lighted within, and dancing about in the evening breeze, or
swung to and fro, by the rising and falling stream, pointed out
the wealthy Chinese rakit on the river ; and the clang of gongs,
and the ding dong of bells, told of the Chinese feast within. I
met my merry, fat friend, Oey Soch Tchay, as I stepped from the
tarnbangan : he was a relative of the* host, whom I saw behind
him, a thin intelligent-looking Chinaman, standing in the doorway
of the rakit, bowing and smiling ; and I was introduced to Oey
Tsee Yang, who celebrated the marriage of a daughter.

The feasting room was large : two hundred persons, and more,
moved about within it : and not Chinese alone ; for mingled with
the glossy heads and pigtails, were to be seen the Malay kabyah
and golden kriss sheath ; and even two or three Arab turbans.
The profusion of colored lights, dancing amid clouds of burning
frankincense, gave a softer shade to swarthy skins, and threw a
mantle of peculiar Eastern pomp over the festive scene.

A number of Malay women, old and young, handsome and
ugly, and all richly dressed, sat in a row upon mats on one side of
the room, immediately behind a band of musicians, also seated
on the floor, who struck little bells on boards like a dulcimer,
touched the strings of the kechapee, tingled the triangle, and
beat on the gandaarang a noisy thrum, whilst the women with

ORDER OF THE CHINESE FEAST. 207

lively good humor nodded and smiled to male friends, that moved
about on the floor.

The doorway, and other open parts of the room, were crowded
with the peering faces of coolies of the house, and servants .of the
guests. After I had entered, the master of the feast gave an order ;
a rush was made by outsiders, men and women, who quickly re
turned with small round tables, eight placed in two rows, and a
ninth at the head : low stools were arranged, smoking bowls
brought in, and Oey Tsce Yang approached, and invited me to a
seat at the table, at the head of the room.

Choose your friends ; he said. The Balinese explained, that
certain especial guests presided at each table, and they chose their
own company. I placed Oey Soch Tchay to my right ; his friend
Pood Djang next to him : on my left I placed a Chino-Malay, a
stout middle-aged man, called Tchoon Long, who had come sev
eral times to speak with me on board the Flirt : next to him was
Teo Chan Beng, whose singing Fair Night sat with the row of
women, and two other Chinamen, the owners of ships and junks in
the river, filled the circle of my table.

The Malays of rank, who would not eat with the Chinese,
moved about among the tables, with a great deal of good humor,
chatting with those who were seated. The master of the house
walked among his promenading guests ; young Chinamen, richly
dressed, and evidently relatives of those seated, waited upon the
tables ; and whilst we eat, the musicians played livelier and louder
strains ; and before them stood up a group of men and women to
perform the wayang.

The viands, mostly fowls, birds and fish, cooked into shreds,
and mingled with rice, sago, tripang, beans, and fruits, were
brought in course, one large bowl at a time, out of which each
guest with a small porcelain ladle, filled the bowl or saucer in his

208 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

hand ; and then with chopsticks of ivory, silver tipped, made rapid
disposition of rice and bean, grain by grain ; and the minutest
fragment of shredded meat, tripang, or fruit.

Between each dish the mild, warm, fragrant tchoo was poured
by assiduous Ganymedes, in pigtails, into small, thimble-top gob
lets of excessive thinness, like the half of a bubble upon a tulip
stem ; and as Soch Tchay explained, it would seem that the Chi
nese of Palembang had made some study of the natural philoso
phy involved in the mode of taking, as well as in the manner of
preparing their diet and drink. Every bowl and cup was reputed
to have peculiar properties for giving a higher zest to the solids
and fluids of food.

When the chief dish, the kimlo, the olla podrida of Chinamen
was brought, Pood Djang, who was the wag of the company, first
tasted of it; and giving a smack of approval, assured me that
there was only a little of dog in it, but very young and very black ;
and young black dog was good. Not so, said Soch Tchay, frown
ing upon his friend at his joke ; we eat no dog in Palembang : too
great a plenty of chicken and bird. And I do not think that
canine steaks or chops form any portion of " celestial " diet in that
city.

A youth approached with a large golden goblet, a dish of
especial compliment, accompanied by the host. This was quah, a
thick pottage, which contained some of the famous bird-nest, the
wax-like cells prepared by the little laweet in ocean caves, chiefly
of Java. Memories of mutton chops ! what was here ! the bed
where eggs were laid, and hatched, and which gaping fledglings
had fouled many a day before, to be offered to my civilized stomach
as the chief luxury of an oriental feast !

But Oey Tsee Yang explained ; he had a piece of raw nest to
show ; clean, white, and waxy, of a dim shade like opium : this was

BIRD-NEST EATEN BY CHINESE. 209

from a nest just built : rich Chinamen did not eat of those, that
had been soiled by a single egg ; these new ones were very costly,
worth more than their weight in silver, one dollar and a half an
ounce ; and the older kind, those stained by a brood of young,
were worth one half that price. The Dutch gain great revenues,
many hundred thousands of dollars, from the nest of the ocean
swallow. The raw nest, I tasted of it, was almost tasteless
on the tongue, like any unseasoned gelatine.

Poor little laweet, why was it robbed of the home so carefully
wrought ; made of the weedy gum sought in clefts of storm-washed
coral, dissolved and wrought in the throat, disgorged, and then,
with plastic bill, made into the spheric cell beneath the rocky eave
of some deep wave-beaten cave, where the little young should
lay ; why was this, the home of the myriad laweets of the Java
shore, so cruelly stolen away ?

Chinaman is made strong by bird-nest, said Oey Soch Tchay :
it makes him fat, it makes him live a long time. I saw a quizzi
cal look in the face of Pood Djang : he leaned back, and motion
ing to me to approach my ear, he whispered, casting a side wink
at his friend Tchay ; that bird-nest was good to give old man
handsome face to please young wife.

The ronggengs postured, sang and raged in the wayang ; and
while tchoo was sipped, all eyes and ears were turned towards the
music and the dance, all but those of Tchoon Long : he looked
grave and thoughtful ; he had none of the sensual, Chinese look,
and his thick hair was not plaited into the long queue ; but club
bed up behind. He asked me about my departure, and the port
to which I designed to steer.

He had wished to speak to me often ; but so many people had
always surrounded me, when he approached. He went on to speak
about a great man in Palembang, Ferdano Mantri Krama Djaya,

210 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

the former vizier of the Sultan Badrooclin ; and had fought bravely
against the Dutch, till the capture of his master, when he made
peace, and became a steadfast friend of the Company.

The people loved him very much ; the people of Palembang,
an&lt;l the people of Passumah. His body was tall and strong; his
face was clean (open), and his heart was white (true) : he fed two
thousand poor men, women and children every day : they sang his
praises ; his fame was very great ; and from the eastern sea to the
western sea, the people of Pulo Percha said, how great and how
good is Ferdano Mantri.

The Company did not like to hear this : they wanted no one to
be great, but those whom they made great. They wished to make
Ferdano Mautri very little, to make him their slave ; but they
had not strength enough to bend his proud neck. The ular
girang, the great serpent could not seize the alaug in the air : he
lured him into his den.

Ferdano Mantri received presents and compliments from Resi
dent de Brauw ; who wished to see the good chief at the fort, to
show him a beautiful fire ship, the Arjuuo, which the rajah of Hol
land had sent to Pulo Percha. The confiding man came, some
friends said beware ; " what have I to fear," said the brave Man
tri, " beneath the flag of the Company, which I have served with
good faith and good service so many years."

He saw the great iron bowels of the ship : the mighty limbs
whirling round and rising up, the fire and the smoke, the huge
cannon, and the smaller things of war. He went into the chamber
of the chief captain : he admired the carving and the varnish of
the workmen of Holland. He came on deck to depart ; the great
&lt;l:i \ougs were beating the water, the Arjuno walked down the
stream ; and the chief captain said, that the great man at Batavia
wished to see Ferdauo Mantri

TREACIIEJIY OF DE BRAUW TO FERDANO MANTRI. 211

Great and good man, beloved of the people of Palembang and
the Passumah : the Dutch have put chains upon him at Krawang
in Java. His children, his relations, and a hundred thousand
people pray to Allah for his return. Prayers alone will not bring
him back, but there are many hundred thousand rupees placed in
safe hands at Singapore, to be paid to him, who will go with a ship,
and some brave men, and bring Ferdano Mantri back to Palem
bang.

Tchoon Long had whispered these last words into my ear,
although all the company at my table had moved beyond hearing ;
as he raised his head he looked intently at a burly Malay chieftain :
he spoke of him ; he was a Tumunggung, a chieftain of the third
rank, called Nora "Wangsa, a man with a bad heart, who spoke
fair words to strangers ; but . was a spy for the Company, and
would report all that I did or said to the Resident. This man
had not been looking at the wayaug ; he had often come very near,
and tried to hear our words.

Tchoon Long had seen both of my servants, Bahdoo and
Moonchwa, at the house of Nora Wangsa. But why should the
Tumunggung spy, since I had such great confidence in the Resi
dent ? I had taken into my cabin the servant and the oppas, of
the house of De Brauw at Padang. I was startled at these state
ments of Tchoon Long ; I asked him to explain. He then said,
that Bahdoo was formerly a servant of De Brauw, and a police
man at Padang ; and that Moonchwa was the valet of De Brauw,
during his late expedition to the Ampat Lawang. Bahdoo and
Moonchwa were plotting a bad deed.

I was astounded at this latter news ; after a while, I moved
to look at the play, and spoke to the Balinese captain about what
I heard concerning my servants : he scouted at the story ; said
those half-breed Chinamen were the greatest thieves in the place :

212 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

this one wanted to rob or cheat me ; or perhaps would be on board
my vessel next day, to beg a little American pork and potatoes ;
as a present, in exchange for something promised by him, which he
would forget to send. The Balinese captain knew that Bahdoo
had been living for the last ten years at Minto.

I had paid little attention before, to the Captain s general
denunciations of every one, Dutch, Malay or half-breed ; but some
of his remarks in this case striking me as very just, I felt disposed
to doubt the stories of Tchoon Long; and when he came to speak
to me again about Tumunggung, Moonchwa and Bahdoo, I turned
from him and joined my Chinese friends.

Oey Tsee Yang was told of my wish to see the bride and her
groom. None but the nearest male relatives were allowed such a
privilege ; he wished to do me all possible honor ; and I should
see his daughter. This was the third day of a festivity, that
lasted as many days more ; the ceremonial had been performed ;
the young people were joined together ; but still were strangers
to each other ; they had a grievous ritual of fasting and silence to
perform, before being left to their happiness alone.

I was led to a curtained doorway : the yellow folds were part
ed, and I passed at the threshold between two old women, seated
on mats; then I saw before me, in the centre of the room, seated
beneath rich canopies, the bride and her groom : she was covered
with jewels ; her head, ears, neck, arms and waist, was a mass
of rich lace, ribbon, and silken fringe, obscuring a very pleasing
half Malay, half Chinese face of good race.

The groom was dressed in a rich fantastic costume, not com
monly worn ; he was half Malay, and a handsome youth. They were
a well matched, interesting-looking couple ; but the pleasure of
beholding them was greatly spoiled, by seeing their pained looks,
as they sat still as the dead, and knowing that they had sat thus all

ALEEMA, THE RONGGENG. 213

day, without eating a mouthful, without stirring, without speaking,
and not daring even to take a glance upward ; for there the old
women watched lynx-eyed, to prevent the slightest relaxation of
the painful ritual ; like the sex every where, Christian, Moslem, or
Pagan, conservative guardians of all ceremony, religious or social.

When I returned to the main room, the music and song was
loud and lively. I drew near to the performers of the wayang ; I
now saw that Aleema, whom I had met at the fort, and on board
the rambayah, was one of the number. I was a little disappointed.
I had seen her at first, as the hapless innocent victim, next as a
retainer of the princess, and now, as a hired ronggeng, at a China
man s house.

I spoke to Teo Chan Beng, who was a great musical and
dramatic authority at Palembang. He had not seen the ronggeng,
pointing to Aleema, before. She was a stranger in Palembang :
she had fled from some one in the interior, and had lately entered
the house of Tumunggung Nora Wangsa ; who was patron, also,
of another singing girl present, called Sahdeeah. He received a
large portion of their gains at festivals, for the protection, he
afforded them, as Chief. A Malay impresario.

When the wayang had ceased, the young girls, who sang, ap
proached the chief guests, and presented them with portions of
the wreaths of the small fragrant white flowers which had adorned
their head and neck ; and then received a gift in return. Aleema
came to me ; and as she removed some flowers from her hair, and
arranged them to hand to me, she said in a whisper : " Hadjy is
bad, will hurt Tuan, his servants are bad, saying bad things of
Tuan at house of Tumunggung."

The young girl stepped quickly away, and the wayang began
again. I could stay no longer. I felt a cold chill creep over my
heart. Old stories of Malay treachery and assassination came to

214 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

inind : I had not heeded the words of Tclioon Long, I had often
met with treason in men, but would not believe that it existed in
woman ; and I was aroused by the warning of Alccnia.

I broke away from the pressings to stay, of my host and his
friends, and returned with the Balinese Captain on board my ves
sel. I had greatly overstayed the time I proposed. Midnight was
past. Kiagoos Lanang was alone in the cabin ; he met me with
a letter in his hand, the one prepared for the mate. I had forgot
ten all about it, and the journey to Jambee; absorbed by thoughts
of what I had just seen and heard, I paid little heed to the paper
in his hand, except to glance at its general appearance ; I begun
to think that the Malay missive would not be needed, as I was
inclined to suggest to my officer to abandon his contemplated expe
dition ; but he not being there when. I came on board, I sat down
at the request of my secretray to listen to what he had written.

I could not then read the Arab-Malay script, in which the
letter was written ; I knew not a single character of its alphabet ;
and even when read, I could only distinguish a few common Ma
lay words among the high Court Malay of the communication.
Kiagoos Lanang was very anxious to explain that he had followed
my dictation exactly. Whilst thus engaged, the sailing master
came on board : he had been calling upon some friends, mates of
vessels in the river, to obtain two or three cutlasses and muskets,
and a little ammunition for his defence on the journey.

I spoke of my suspicions ; of what I had heard : he was incredu
lous ; what could be the plot ? to murder him on the way ? that
was not reasonable, as he would have no money, no presents, and
nothing to pay for the trouble of killing him : did I apprehend the
cutting out of my vessel by a piratical party, aided by traitors on
bourd ? Then my best plan was to get rid of my suspected ser
vants by letting them go with him : wait till the Bali barque was

THE PARTY THAT STARTED FOR JAMBEE. 215

ready to start; or better still, propose to take some passengers,
officers and soldiers, who were waiting for a vessel to go to Minto.

Thus we had no supposition of evil, except from the natives.
I felt somewhat rallied again, and began to recall my good opinion
of Bahdoo, whom I had treated very kindly, and taught to con
sider himself a man, an equal with any one on board my ship,
and not a crouching slave. I had indeed, perhaps unwisely, be
stowed too freely my Suniatran sympathies upon Bahdoo Moon-
chwa, and Kiagoos Lanang.

Whilst we talked, my cook and cabin waiter along with the
hadjy, returned in the tambangan. I asked Bahdoo if he wished
to rejoin me at Singapore : he said vehemently that he would go
away with a little heart,, if he thought he should not meet with
his master again. I was moved by the fellow s earnestness, my
suspicions were dispelled, and I began to feel loth to part with
him ; but my officer had set his heart upon going to Jambee, to
start that morning ; and other guides and aids could not then be
obtained.

When getting ready to start, I observed something sinister in
the looks of Moonchwa and the hadjy, as they whispered together.
My suspicions were a little aroused, I thought of the helpless state
of a man one of my own race, who had been a faithful navigator
and an intelligent companion, in my cabin, during a long and
most interesting cruise. I thought of his helpless state, if de
serted by the natives in the forest, swarming with wild beasts.

I proposed that a sailor, if willing, should go with the officer :
he would be heartily glad of such an addition to his company.
The men in the forecastle were roused up : the expedition was
explained ; this was the first time they had heard of it. A stout
active young sailor, known on board as Yankee Jim, quickly
volunteered to go ; he had run away from his ship, on th e coast of

216 PRISON OP WELTEVREDEN.

Brazil, and crossed the continent to Peru : he was just made for
a cruise in the brush, he said ; and the brave, adventurous fellow
was ready, kit and all, in twenty minutes, for the exploration of
the jungles of Sumatra. If I had had only two dozen of such
men, I should not now have been telling you this story.

The tambangan was ready ; the provision, and the accoutre
ments for the journey, were on board. Bahdoo became faint-heart
ed ; he did not wish to go ; but Moonchwa urged him : and the
Malays got into the little craft. I felt some emotion on parting
with my faithful officer, and brave sailor. Should we meet on the
deck of our gallant little ship again ? God bless you, Captain.
God bless you, old Flirt, said the sailor with choked words.

The tambangan shoved off; I entered my cabin with a heavy
heart, and lay down on the transom, to take a little rest, without
undressing, for it was near the dawn of day.

TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY.

I was aroused from my sleep on the transom by one of my
people, saying that a man-of-war s boat was alongside. I sprang
up the companion way, and saw the commander of the Pylades
coming over the gangway, backed by a dozen marines. He hailed
me gruffly, wanting to know where my mate had gone ; which I
did not think a matter with which he had any thing to do ; but
he would convince me, he said, that he had ; and ordered me and
my men, who had gathered on the quarter deck, to get down into
his boat.

I asked him to tell the cause ; and to show his warrant for
what he did. He replied with coarse words. Yankee brigands
should be strung up, without the trouble of showing cause. He
roared out again with oaths at my men, to get into his boat. I
bade them stay. The three Brazilians I had shipped at Pernam-
buco slunk away. Two men stood by me ; and two lads, one of
these the lonely keeper of the Flirt at Maceio ; and the other, tho
black boy who had come to rouse me ; a brave and faithful fellow,
of whom I shall have much more to say, who now peered his head
above the companion-way hatch, the old carbine in hand, levelled
at the commander, and asking for the word to fire.

The lieutenant went away with my Brazilians, saying, ho
10

218 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEV.

would return soon to put me in irons, and my vessel under the
guns of the fort. All this time, I was bewildered to know why
was all this ; and what cause of offence had been given to Dutch
authorities by the departure of my sailing master to visit a prince,
entirely independent of their authority.

Right or wrong, I was in the power of the Dutch ; I was
above the fort, and my force of hands reduced, yet feeble as that
was, with a swift current, and the fresh breezes then blowing, if
I had been at my first anchorage, I would have slipped my
anchor, and with small spread of sail, have bid defiance to the
swiftest pursuit from Palembang : but now I had to pass a battery
that afforded no hope of escape ; and why should I try ? I would
go and see the Resident ; learn why I was molested ; and surren
der myself, if required, a prisoner to him.

Whilst on my way to the fort, I was met by a message from
the commander-in-chief, desiring me to remain on board my ves
sel, until I should hear from him again. On my return, I found
Tchoon Long in my cabin. Tuan will now see that I have
spoken truth, he said. But how, I wished to know ; what had
the action of the Dutch lieutenant to do with the treachery of
Bahdoo and Moonchwa ? :

Look yonder, said the Chino-Malay ; and he pointed to a largo
rambayah, rapidly descending the stream, full of armed men ; and
with a glass I could distinguish my officer and sailor, fast bound
in their midst. And what was the meaning of this ? how had it
happened ? Adah ! said Tchoon Long, European man was very
proud and strong of heart ; and would not hear council of colored
skin.

I told Tuan last night, that Bahdoo and Moonchwa were
bad ; would do evil thing. Tuan speaks with Balinese captain ;
and closes ear to Tchoon Long. Why should your slave speak

REFUGE OFFERED BY ARAB AND MALAY. 219

with double heart ? He asked no profit, he asks none now. But,
what was the evil plan of Bahdoo and Moonchwa ? Tchoon Long
did not, does not know ; but this he knows ; they went to the
house of Tumunggung, to the house of the Assistant Resident
many times, yesterday afternoon; to betray the commander, to
betray his officer; how, he could not tell. And I could not
conceive what was the nature of the betrayal, or why it should
have been done ; as I had made no secret of the departure of the
mate for Jambee.

Tchoon Long said that Dutchmen hung quick ; justice talked
about the hanging afterwards. "When Col. Poland commanded in
Sumatra, a Chinese son came to offer himself to be hung in the
place of his father. As you like hanging so much, said the
Colonel, you shall hang with him; and father and son dangled
on the same gallows. Col. de Brauw will hang as quickly.
Tuan come ashore, among the people of Ferdano Mantri to-night,
they will take Tuan down the river ; they will get a prahu on the
Banyoo Assin ; take Tuan to Singapore ; and then he can return
with a fire-ship, and many of his countrymen, to release Fer
dano Mantri, and regain his vessel and men at Palembang.

I could not imagine a cause, why I should resort to any des
perate measures to escape with my person, and abandon my vessel.
I still unjustly suspected Tchoon Long. Whilst I talked with
him, a large, tambangan came alongside, manned by eight stout
Malays, and two young Arabs heavily armed, and as these two
stepped on deok, I recognized a man I had seen at the house
of Panyorang Scherriff Ali, called Seyd Rachman Alkhaaf,
the commander of a small vessel, and his companion was Seyd Ali
Saghaaf bin Bafadal, who had visited me on board the schooner,
and received a present of some Turkish tobacco.

Rachman had heard from the Panyorang, that the Tumung-

220 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEX.

guug was plotting something bad, against the American Captain,
lie did not know what it was yesterday ; but he saw this morning.
Rachman and Saghaaf desired me to get into their tambangan,
and go to the Arab quarter. Tchoon Long now spoke, and said I
would be safer with the friends of Ferdano Mantri.

I could not yet see a reason to join Arab or Malay. Whilst
talking in the cabin, we heard a shout from the Malays in the
tambangan. Ali Saghaaf was first on deck, and I saw him leap
over the schooner s hammock nettings into the large tamban
gan, that was shooting by the quarter. Tchoon Long and
Rachman looked wild and fearful, as they saw their tamban-
gans speeding away ; and saw marines, who had lain concealed, as
their boat approached, pouring over the schooner s sides. Sandals
and upper robes flew off, and they leaped into the stream. The
marines on deck cried out, others in a boat pursued. Arab and
half-breed struck out lustily towards the swift current of mid
channel. Fire ! said a brutal voice, I knew. A volley from
marines ; but when the smoke cleared away, I still saw Arab and
half-breed, rapidly gaining the left bank of the Moosie.

Whilst still looking at this exciting scene, I heard a hoarse,
harsh voice, cry out with fury, in bad English ; " Ha ll down that
flag, you dam Yankee insurrectionnaire." I turned round; and
confronted the coarse face of the lieutenant commanding the Py-
lades, red with passion, and behind him, scowled and leered the
foul dark face of the Assistant Resident of Palembang.

Again the Dutch officer roared out his insulting order ; point
ing to the ensign that fluttered with the breeze, on the flagstaff
astern. I had no desire to show a useless pride or defiance in my
helpless state ; but the savage fury of the man, and the memory
of his past taunts, made me unmindful of the risk of provoking
him to greater brutality. I said that having been accustomed to
give orders to lieutenants, I bade him haul down the flag himselC

ARREST ON BOARD THE FLIRT. 221

" Lieutenant ! " said lie, with fury ; " I will show you, I com
mand here." He drew his sword. I stood by the cabin companion-
way hatch ; I seized a portion of its sliding top ; I dropped it
after a moment s thought, folded my arms, and made no attempt to
parry his lunge ; but his sword arm was seized by a dark hand,
and then I saw the friendly face of the Shabandar. Again the
lieutenant drew back; the Assistant Resident stood before him,
and said that he must take his prisoner alive before the Resident.

The fury of the drunken officer, he was partly intoxicated,
must expend itself. He rushed towards the flag-staif, he pulled
at the signal halyards, but the flag was fast. Why, I then knew
not, but the trusty black boy had driven a few tacks into staff and
bunting ; he seized a drooping corner, hauled upon it till it came
from the staff, and flung it overboard astern, where it hung by a
shred, trailing in the water, and was afterwards brought on board.

This did not satisfy the furious man; he rushed down into the
cabin ; there was a brass gold-plated eagle, that was on the blue
velvet of the curtain board of my berth, where it had been placed
when the vessel was a man-of-war ; he tore it from the velvet ;
he came on deck ; and with insulting words about the " Ameri
can bird of plunder," flung it into the water in the presence of
thousands of natives, now assembled around the schooner in
various river craft.

The drunken man seemed to become sober after these exploits.
The Assistant Resident expressed great regret, that he was com
pelled to desire me to accompany him as a prisoner on shore. I
had addressed a letter to the Sultan of Jambee, proposing a
scheme to destroy the Dutch. I said, that I had certainly dictated
and signed a letter, addressed to the Malay prince he mentioned ;
but there surely must be some other cause than the contents of
that letter for these high-handed proceedings.

222 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

Into the boat," said the lieutenant, rising up again into fury;
you shall be shot in two hours from this time." I paid no more
heed to the drunken man. The Assistant Resident bade me direct
my cabin boy to select a few articles of dress, and some bed
clothes for my use. Pirez, or the Peri, as called by my men,
went below ; he delayed a little, apparently looking for something.
I was reckless in those troublous moments about what he got for
change of toilette. I bade him hasten again and again, with harsh
voice ; but little did I think he was doing me one of the most grate
ful services of my life ; of which I shall tell you another time.

Pirez flung up carelessly, through the sky-light, on to the
quarter deck, some bed-clothes, and a pillow, which along with a
small trunk, were handed by marines into the boat of the Assist
ant Resident, who desired me to follow. My remaining trusty
followers were ordered into the boat of the lieutenant ; who, as he
pulled off towards his vessel, said he would have me shot that
afternoon, or he would throw away his epaulettes.

As the boat of the Assistant Resident shoved off from the
schooner, I heard the heave and paul of the windlass, and the
hoarse rustle of the chain through the hawser hole, getting up
the anchor to move her under the guns of the fort. I saw through
the stern lights coarse Dutch faces in my cabin, and some peering
over the bulwarks. My beautiful ocean home was despoiled and
plundered ; but as I sped through the crowded craft of natives,
among whom I had lately moved so proudly, I felt then my
humbled, helpless state too much, to think of the despoiling and
loss of my beautiful Flirt.

TWENTY-EIGHTH DAY.

SABBATH ON BOaRD THE PALMER.

TWENTY-NINTH DAY.

I PASSED the same portal as a prisoner, which a few days before I
had entered as a distinguished guest ; but the spirit which had
entertained, was no less hostile than that which imprisoned ; for
the latter did no more than carry out the work of espionage,
devised by the former.

Captain Kress, commandant of the garrison of the fort, met
me and my captors at the gate ; he asked in a harsh, gruff voice,
if any weapons or papers were among the baggage, which some
coolits were bearing along behind me. There was a great change
in the tone of this infantry captain, who had received me so
blandly, often before. It was the insulting one of a tyrant of
small soul, feeling triumph over a disarmed foe. I felt reckless
at that moment, and even something of the spirit of banter. The
day s experience of excitement and brutality, made the surliness
of this man fall upon me without force. I told the captain, that
I had the chief armament of my cabin in my trunk ; and a few
private papers about my person, which I hoped to be allowed to
retain.

The Dutch officer looked at me with an evil scowl upon his
face. It was a grave offence, a proof of my piratical character,
to attempt to enter prison with concealed weapons, which ought to
have been handed to the magistrate who arrested me. The

224 PRISON OF WELTEVKEDEN.

Assistant Resident, -who was reflected upon by this remark, said
that he had examined the trunk before leaving the vessel, and was
sure that it contained no weapon of any kind ; he could not under
stand the prisoner s motive for saying so : he had discovered no
weapon whatever on board, except an old rusty carbine.

Captain Kress would examine the baggage himself: he
ordered the trunk to be opened. Pirez had forgotten to give
me the key, and a sneer was added to the scowl on the face of the
officer, as I fumbled anxiously in my pockets. Captain Kress did
not need keys when overhauling the traps of pirates ; the lock of
my trunk was forced, the lid wrenched open ; and the contents
taken out, and fingered and scrutinized with the keen eye of an
old jailer, adept in the arts of prisoners, who often hide papers
and tools, in the hem of a garment, or the sole of a shoe.

Piece after piece, of clothing and articles of toilette are
brought forth ; and gazed at with curious eyes, by Dutch soldiers
and Malay coolies, who stand grouped around the trunk. The
bottom of it is reached, and yet nothing in the shape of comtra-
band of war yet found. Captain Kress scowls darker and uglier
than before ; he is about to speak, but checks himself, and his face
lightens up; the searching soldier has discovered something a
crack, a sliding piece at one end ; he pushes, he prizes, he presses,
at last it opens, and several pieces of coal, rock, and other min
eral tumble out, and there is something in a dirty, rusty linen
cloth. It is heavy, he unfolds, iron appears, and behold a pistol,
a real revolver pistol.

All stand back at the sight of this. Dutch soldiers, coolies
and magistrate, all, except the prisoner and Captain Kress. The
latter takes the weapon in his hand, with severe solemnity of look.
He handles it carefully, and rather daintily : carefully, perhaps,
owing to a fear of sonic hidden spring in the formidable six-

EXAMINATION OF BAGGAGE. 225

shooter, of which he had heard, but never before had seen, and
daintily, on account of its being in a very filthy and rusty condi
tion. He draws back the hammer, and the chambered breech
moves slightly ; he wants to pull trigger, and see how it works,
the man of arms has become interested. But the revolving tubes
have not moved into right position for the hammer to strike. He
tries various ways, but the thing won t work. He knits his brows,
then turns towards the prisoner, his countenance relaxes : he says
not a word, but it is plain to be seen, that he would descend
awhile from his official severity, and ask the prisoner to explain
the working of the weapon.

, I took the revolver in my hand. It was one of the smallest
of the manufacture of Colt, and had been given to me at Per-
nambuco. I had amused myself awhile with it shortly after leav
ing Brazil, shooting at sea birds. I laid it aside for awhile, and
when I wished to use it again, I found it so much impeded with
rust, as not to be fit for use. I took it apart, and after much
labor of cleaning, restored it again to its former condition* An
other short neglect, rendered it useless again, and then I abandoned
all further attempts to keep it in order, and preserved it alone for
show. The presentation of it, had served to quell an unruly
demonstration on board my vessel, when off the Cape of Good
Hope; but I had not had since, any other such occasion to
parade it.

I removed the breech from the mandril upon which it turned,
to show the spring and catch, and principle of working, but the
hammer made only a partial movement. I saw that the pistol
was hopelessly rusty and ruined. I told Captain Kress that such
was its condition, that I had not attempted to fire it, for a long
time ; and expected not to have any use for it, or any other pistol,
while I remained in the Archipelago.
10*

226 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

" What then did you mean, sir," said he, resuming his stern
ness, " when you said that the chief armament of your cabin was
to be found in your baggage." I explained, that I had another
weapon, a short, breech-loading carbine, which had been acci
dentally left on board my vessel. I did not have a single fire-arm
of any description, nor did one belong to my vessel when I left
home; and no other but the two mentioned, had been held by me,
or belonged to the vessel, whilst I had owned and sailed her.

I then stated, that while on the coast of Brazil, I had shot
with the pistol, a small sea bird on the wing, and this good hit
had established my skill as a marksman among my crew. But
another timCj whilst ascending the Soonsang, I had fired with the
carbine at a large alligator, and missed : I did not disturb him on
his log. In the opinion of my men, the failure was the fault of
the carbine, and not of my hand or eye. With the pistol I could
not have missed, even at the same distance. I was a sure shot
with that in hand, so thought my men; and therefore I con
sidered it the chief defence of my cabin against riot on board.

The commandant eyed me with a mingled look of scrutiny and
incredulity. He turned to the examining soldier and said, " Any
powder, ball, or caps ? " A few caps, green with verdigris, but
not a grain of powder, not a single ball. He looked puzzled, and
frowned more than before, and turned his head aside, as in deep
thought, then suddenly fixed a searching gaze upon me. He
seemed to debate in his mind, whether I had been playing with
him or not. He spoke in an undertone with the Assistant Resi
dent, then turned quickly upon me and said, " Those papers, pro
duce them." I hesitated, I wished to explain ; no parley, I must
produce them at once.

I drew forth a little silk bag, hung around my neck, in which
during the excitement of the day I had put a few relics of dear

HOME MEMORIES.

227

ties, some fragments of home ; and chief of these was a slip of
paper worn and stained, on which was a dim red print of the hand
and foot of a child and these words : " The hand and foot of my
Lucy sent from home in South Carolina, to show me how much
my child had grown."

Captain Kress took the slip from my hand ; he read the words ;
he scrutinized the print like the plan of a fortress; he looked at
the creases and lines of the small fat foot, the plump, round, baby
palm, and the little taper fingers. That harsh face relaxed : per
haps there were memories of a home by the Schclde, and of some
precious baby feet and hands, beating against his heart.

Captain Kress handed the slip of paper with the print, to me,
and the pistol to the assistant Resident. He said a word to the
.guard, they moved forward, and led me to the prison cells of the
fort.

THIRTIETH DAY.

I WAS placed in the hospital ward of the fort, in a small room,
about thirteen feet long, by ten wide. What a change from my
good little ship, from 1 my commodious cabin, with its many plea
sant comforts, from the prospect of an untrammelled range among
lovely isles, and shining tranquil seas, and from many cher
ished hopes and purposes. What a change from all this, to four
narrow, dreary walls, a damp tile floor, a grated aperture for light
and air, a sentry at the door, and in the hands of dull, gloomy
Dutch despotism.

The sun had gone down, darkness had set in, and a soldier
entered my room with a rude lamp in his hand, a small burning
wick of white pith floating in a tin cup, filled with cocoa-nut oil,
and he had some rice, beans, a yam, and a little fish curry for my
evening meal. This man s face had a pleasant expression. Whilst
arranging the articles he had brought, he gave me a look that said
he had something to say ; but the sentinel was standing in the
doorway, and observing us closely. A sound of voices was heard
in the outer court, which drew off the attention of the sentinel
for a moment, and instantly, the soldier whispered to me in
French : " There are friends about ; lie down soon, but don t
undress. Trust in me, I am a Frenchman."

There was comfort in the voice of the Frenchman, whom the
sentinel called Bois, and shortly after he left I had fully recovered
my composure of mind, as the Resident and the Assistant Resi-

IN PRISON AT TALEMBANG. 229

dent were announced. Col. de Brauw met me with an expression
of regret, that he should have been compelled to change his late
character of my host to that of my jailer; a change brought about
by my own doing. He had understood that I wished to speak
with him ; and had come to hear what I had to say.

I had wished to speak with him when free on board my vessel :
now I had no longer to deal with the Resident of Palembang,
but with the supreme authority of Netherland India, which would
have to deal with my Government.

The Resident assumed a very friendly tone. What could I
have hoped to have effected with the Sultan of Jambee ? He
was a vicious Malay slave, who would have robbed and assassi
nated me, as soon as I had come within his power. I answered
nothing ; and the Resident and Assistant Resident left me.

The guard was relieved, and the man placed at my door, was
disposed to converse. An oppas came, he whispered to the sentinel ;
and after a little parley, a small basket was handed to me : sent
by one I may never see again ; and whom I thank at this moment.
There was a dainty feast inside, a roasted bird, fried plantains, some
mangosteens and dookoos, most refreshing at that time ; and a bottle
of wine, with which I allowed the sentinel to make free; and
this made us very good friends, whilst he was on guard.

He told me, that my sailing master, and the sailor who went
with him, were confined in an opposite quarter of the fort ; the
rest of my sailors were on board the Pylades. The commander
of the gun brig was desperate against me. He had urged the
Resident to have me shot ; the Assistant Resident was said to be
willing; but Major Blommestien had stood up for me against the
lieutenant, who had sworn that he would tear off his epaulettes,
if I was not shot. There was a whispering about among the
officers, that the trouble with the lieutenant was about some wan-

230 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

dering young Malay woman of rank. He had made many excur
sions on the river to meet with her, but in vain, and had become
furious on learning that the American Captain had been received
with so much state and attention.

Whilst we talked, footsteps approached; the sentinel chal
lenged; the door of my room was opened, and Col. de Brauw
walked in alone. He came to say a few words to me as a friend ;
and not as a magistrate. His manner was very frank and cordial.
I began to be touched by it, and conversed freely with him. He
asked for some explanations about my voyage, and my object in
coming to the East, which I gave.

He spoke of Dutch power in Sumatra ; the precariousness of
its position in the territory of Palembang, which would have been
seriously affected, had such a letter as mine, with its overtures of
friendship, reached any of the interior princes ; so readily inflamed
to acts of hostility. I wondered indeed ; it would be thought too
ridiculous in my country, to suppose that the power of Holland
could be jeopardized in Sumatra by the proffers of friendship to
a Malay chieftain, by a man with an unarmed vessel, and seven
empty-handed followers like myself.

Col. de Brauw thought that the American Government would
be equally jealous, and watchful of any attempt, however feeble,
to tamper with the Indian tribes on the Hudson River. Yes, on
the Hudson River, and oftentimes, while in the Archipelago, I
heard remarks, equally expressive of the grossest ignorance about
America. I could not point out the Resident s sad deficiency in
geographical knowledge; and allowed him to think, that the
case he supposed, was parallel to that of a man, who should
attempt a friendly intercourse with independent princes in the
interior of Sumatra without consulting the authorities of the fort
of Palembang ; who exercise from that point about the same juris-

DE BRAUW IN PRISON. 231

diction over Sumatra, that the British Government does over
Spain at Gibraltar.

During all this time, I supposed that my great offence con
sisted in attempting to form an acquaintanceship with the chieftains
in the interior of Sumatra, without consulting the officials of
Holland in India. I had some idea upon entering the Archipelago,
of an outrageous assumption of a governmental control where
there was no territorial foothold ; but as yet had not seen nor
heard any evidence to warrant it ; and felt that I had a right to
send a message to the Sultan of Jambee without consulting the
Dutch ; yet, knowing that there was some such assumption, I felt
also at the time, that they would wish to thwart me in the send
ing of such message, and thus, though my messenger made his
preparations, and went away in an open manner, with men late
in the service of the Government ; yet I took no pains to make
an official announcement of my design at the fort, and for this in
fringement of assumed rights and claims, I supposed that my
vessel was seized, and I was imprisoned.

After my arrest, I realized more forcibly the arbitrary, mili
tary dominion of the Dutch in the East, and recalled to mind the
massacres of Amboyna and Batavia, the summary hangings of
natives, and incarceration of Europeans without a shadow of law.
I was led to suppose that the Eesident of Palembang, as guard
ian of the extravagant assumptions of sovereignty of the Nether
lands in Sumatra, was compelled to arrest me for the mere fact of
trying to become acquainted with a distinguished native, without
leave ; and had been forced to harsh measures by reason of the
violent hostility towards me of many of his officers.

I was led to feel during this interview that De Brauw enter
tained kindly feelings towards me. I had paid no attention to
the denunciations of a drunken officer, I had doubted in the face

232 I ltlSON OF AVELTEVREDEN.

of many evidences to the contrary, that the Resident had had,
formerly or lately, any relations with Bahdoo and Moonchwa, and
I had not paid much heed to the story about Ferdano Mantri ;
though I observed that the Resident was much startled when I
made allusion to that chieftain, and eagerly asked, who had ever
spoken to me about him ; yet he made such explanation about the
position and suspected treachery of this distinguished native, as
satisfied my mind at the time.

Wr did not discuss the nature or contents of the letter that I
had designed to send to the Sultan of Jambee. The character of
this prince and the difficulties that lay in the route, to his kraton
and fort, were spoken of by De Brauw. Had the letter been pro
duced and read to me, that was a year afterwards brought forward,
in a court of justice, as the one dictated by me, how different
would have been what afterwards took place ; and how different
would have been my conversation with De Brauw.

I began to think that he was indeed a friend, and had saved
me from the violence of the naval commander, and other officers,
and would be compelled to send me to Batavia, a measure he
could not avoid. We exchanged many friendly remarks, and as
he rose to depart, I pointed to a Mexican scrape, a very rare one,
of the best Saltillo manufacture ; that had been much admired by
a member of his family. I begged that he would accept of it.
He could not, situated as we were, accept of any thing of so much
consequence some trifling memento he would be happy to receive.
I had a few Mexican silver reliquiae, composing an Indian chaplet
of small medals, and curious charms, among which was a heart,
this the Resident took in his hand, and said, " qu il soit un coour,"
let it be a heart, the memento of friendship between us.

Let it be a heart, said the * kind friend, Col. de Brauw, who
came to visit me in prison ; and on the same night, the Resident

THE SILVER HEART, AND THE FALSE ON6. 233

of Palembang wrote to the Governor General of Netherland In
dia, that the commander of the Flirt was a dangerous man, that
during his visit at Palembang, " the police was ordered to keep
a vigilant eye upon him," that he " wanted to act the part of
James Brook," that Moonchwa and Bahdoo, his servants, and
Kiagoos Lanang, a young man of rank, his master of the Malay
language, had early given information, some time before the de
parture of the mate of the Flirt, that this American might have
caused " disastrous results among a people prone to rebellion, and
remarkably superstitious; " and therefore he considered that the
acts of " this stranger should be regarded as treason, and pun
ished with death."

That despatch afterwards fell into the hands of him who
gave the silver heart.

Whilst the Resident was leaving, during the opening and clos
ing of my door, I heard my name whispered. I looked up,
and by my dim lamplight, could discern a human face, peering
through an aperture near the tile roof, and after a while could
make out the features of the friendly French soldier. The senti
nel had begun to pace to and fro in the passage before the door,
and each time he turned his back, the soldier whispered from
above. I must lie down apparently to sleep, and put out my
light ; then a rope ladder would be let down to me ; I must
clamber up silently ; he could easily pass me outside the fort ;
there I would find the Balinese Captain, the adjutant Van Steen-
deren, and the sailing master of the Maimoon, and some native
friends, who would take me down the river that night. He and
Van Steenderen both wanted to desert, and would go with me. I
would soon get another ship at Singapore, and could give them
employment.

234 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

I did not want to escape. I had at one time felt some appre
hensions for my personal safety, on account of the fury of the
naval commander, but otherwise, I could not imagine any reason
for my attempting to break prison like a felon. 13ut there was
another reason for not wanting to go. It was plain that the
friends who wished to assist me, and to escape with me, expected
that I would appear as a man of wealth and influence when I
reached any place where the authorities of the United States were
to be found, and that I then could reward them for any sacrifice
made in my behalf. I declined with many regrets to attempt to
go. The soldier deemed me mad ; he urged, I would not consent
to make the attempt. He drew in his head, and at a late hour I
laid down to sleep, well wearied with the excitements of the day.

THIRTY-FIRST DAY.

ON the morning of the third day of my imprisonment, I was
aroused by the Balinese Captain, hailing me through the grating
of my door. He had obtained permission from Captain Kress, to
speak with me a few minutes. He came to express his surprise
and the disappointment he had felt on learning that I did not wish
to escape. My life was really in danger. The Major and the
topographical Captain had both assured him so, and had thrown
out hints that I would do well to escape. He would sail the next
day, and lay to for me off the mouth of the Banyoo Assin, if I
would agree to get out that night. He knew a foster brother of
the Demang of Soonsang, and a devoted follower of Ferdano
Mantri, who were eager to help me, and would take me to a safe
retreat till I could get on board his vessel.

Whilst I thanked the Balinese Captain for his desire to serve
me, I still could not see the necessity for what he urged me to do.
I had many enemies, no doubt, in the fort, but the commander in
chief was friendly ; and I doubted not but that he would make
such a representation to the Governor General of what had taken
place, that I would soon be at liberty again, after paying a fine
perhaps, for my infringement of a police regulation.

The Balinese was surprised to hear me talk so. I was not
accused of any mere finable misdemeanor, but of " high treason,"
as the Assistant Resident says to every body, and punishable with

236 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

death. I was deceiving myself most lamentably in supposing the
Resident was friendly, or even open and candid with me. The
topographical Captain had said, " Tell the American commander
not to put any trust in De Brauw, who is greatly excited about
something said in relation to Ferdano Mantri, and never wants the
commander to leave prison alive ; " and put no trust in any Dutch
man, said the Balinese. He had been cheated out of a great deal
of freight money ; he had been insulted, and he wanted to have
revenge upon the Resident, and a great many of the officers of the
fort. He would go with me any where, sacrifice his ship, time and
money to help me in any scheme, by which he would have a chance
to be revenged on De Brauw, Kress, and other officers he named.

I had now still less reason to wish to escape, even if it were
true, that I was accused of a capital crime. I did not wish to
escape for the sake of aiding soldiers to desert, and the Balinese
Captain to gratify his revenge. "Whilst we spoke, a native ser
vant, the same who had brought me food and wine the first day, in
addition to the prison fare, now came with another small basket
full of dainties, and was readily admitted into my room. As he
removed the articles from his basket and arranged them for me,
he slipped a piece of paper into my hand, and as he went out and
for a few moments engaged the sentinel in conversation, I had an
opportunity to read these words : " Every word of your conversa
tion with De Brauw has been made the subject matter of a verbal
process, drawn up by Storm. The Resident hates you for many
reasons, he hates every thing American ; but it is your knowledge
of the Ferdano Mantri affair, that excites him so much against
you. He will do all in his power to have you put to death. Your
case is aggravated by the circumstance of your mate firing upon
the Tumungung who went to arrest him. Escape if you can."

1 recognized the handwriting of one whom I thought was true

ON BOARD THE ARJUNO. 237

and good-hearted. I began to feel disposed to think of escaping.
I said so to the Balinese who still stood outside my door. He
was rejoiced at my change of mind, and he left me, saying that
some one would be at the hole in the tile roof again that night.

But there was no occasion to go to the hole in the roof. An
officer came to inform me that a war steamer, which had arrived
from Batavia, would return immediately. I must depart within
an hour. Plans of escape from Palembang were hopeless, but
there was full hope of soon being free again, and these words were
cut into the plaster of my prison wall : " I will return," and
whilst cutting the last letter, the Assistant Resident came with a
guard of soldiers, to conduct me on board the steamer.

The mulatto Assistant led the way from the fort to the boat
landing, through a lane of troops. We entered a barge, and were
rapidly pulled through a throng of small native craft on the river.
I observed a hand raised in a tambangan, and got a glimpse of the
faces of Abdallah, the grandson of Panyorang Scheriff Ali, and of
Seyd Raehman Alkhaaf. A minute afterwards, I was upon the
deck of the steam sloop of war, Arjuno.

The commander ordered me to be placed in a state-room below.
As I descended the companion-way, my hand was seized with a
friendly grasp. The light was dim below, and it was not easy to
discern any face, but the friendly voice of the Shahbandar was
heard whispering a few friendly and comforting words. In a few
moments the surging and buffeting of paddle wheels were heard,
and the Arjuno was rapidly speeding away from the floating
town of Palembang.

A marine, with cutlass in hand, stood at my little state-room
door. He was talkative, said that a midshipman had been mur
dered in the berth I occupied, a few days previous. The midship
man had a Javanese servant, whom he had kicked and called out-

238 PRISON OF WKLTKVUKPF.X.

rageous names on one occasion. The Javanese feel very keenly
any personal indignity, and this one took a fearful vengeance, of
which there was some bloody evidence, left on the rail of the
berth, that I had to occupy. No one on board would sleep in it
since the murder had occurred, but the friendly marine hoped that
no thoughts of the matter would disturb my slumbers.

It was night when we came to anchor at Minto. I obtained
It-avu to take a walk with the marine; and when on the quarter
deck I received a pressure of the hand from the good-hearted
Havermeester, and the friendly intelligent Doctor. The latter,
who was an old friend of the commander of the war steamer,
obtained leave to talk with me alone; and as we stood by
one of the gangways looking at my vessel lashed alongside, we
dwelt upon the contrast between the present and our former meet
ing on the quarter deck of the Flirt in the roadstead of Minto.

The Doctor was deeply grieved, not only on account of meet
ing me under such changed circumstances, but on account of the
folly which he believed the officers of his government at Palern-
baiig had committed. I was the victim of that absurd spirit of
jealousy towards all foreigners, of which it was time for his coun
trymen in the East to get rid. The spirit of the old illiberal
spice-destroying company still seems to exist, although the Dutch
monarchy, in assuming complete sovereignty over the Archipelago,
inaugurated a more liberal and wiser policy. It was his opinion,
that I owed all my troubles to an absurdly exaggerated idea of
the object of my presence in the East. He had understood my
motives and my tastes, and had endeavored to combat some of the
extravagancies that had continued to be manufactured about me,
since my first arrival at Minto. I had gone to Palembang with
an exaggerated character, the authorities there and natives of rank
had fallen in with the idea and he would not be surprised if it

ANTI-AMERICAN FEELING IN N. INDIA. 239

were a fact, that I had got my head turned, and with princely
consequence wished to enter into a warlike alliance with the Sultan
of Jambee.

He listened to my account of the matter, and when I spoke
of my confident hopes of speedy liberation at Batavia, where I
would have no personal hostility, and no ignorant military preju
dice to combat with, and where I should find an American consul,
who would see that I had fair play ; he shook his head with a
doubtful expression of countenance. He advised me to prepare
my mind for more serious consequences. The Resident of Minto
and the Resident of Palembang were both known to be singu
larly anti- American in their feelings. They were noted alarmists
on the subject of the American spirit of annexation, about to
.stretch across the Pacific, from the Sandwich to the Malayan
Archipelago. The destructive and expensive warfare waged in
the Palembang territory, would make the government very severe
upon the attempt of any foreigner to establish without their leave
any kind of relation, however harmless, with the natives; for
it does not recognize the sovereign independence of any prince
in Sumatra ; even those who are not immediately controlled by
the presence of its authority. The Government of Netherland In
dia is now presided over by a very severe man, a gloomy, religious
fanatic, and a cold-hearted financier, just sent out to regulate the
Indian treasury ; and of him you may expect the severest possible
construction of the representations of De Brauw. And hope
nothing from any representative of your country at Batavia ; no
consul or other official agent is recognized in Netherland India,
and the two or three Americans who live in Batavia, are all Dutch
burghers, hold property, and would not dare to open their mouths
in your behalf. Your chief hope is in the appearance at Batavia

240 PRISON OF WKLTRVUEPEN.

of your commodore commanding the East India squadron, and he
will soon hear of your condition by the mail steamer, which passes
here on its way to Singapore.

I felt that the Doctor spoke sincerely, and I began to feel, per
haps oppressively, a gravity in my situation, and this I felt the
more, the day following my conversation with him. Whilst the
Arjuno was traversing the Java sea, I was talking with the officer
of the watch on deck. I saw marines standing in the gangways,
starboard and larboard, and two accompanied me in my walk.
What was the meaning of this unusual display of vigilance?
The commander had received some especial instructions at Minto,
to guard me like a man charged with a capital offence, who might
attempt to jump overboard whilst passing the small islands, strewn
on the way to Batavia.

Beautiful isles ! with leaf and flower clustering down to the
kissing wavelets of Java s placid sea. How I had looked upon
them with loving and longing eye, wishing to court their deep
shade and sweet solitude, when I had glided happily by them in
my own pleasant little ship ; but what were those longings now as
I hurried past in this grimy ship of war, in the grip of men, who
counted my tastes all folly, my curiosity dangerous, and my
sympathies treason.

My longing eye gazed wistfully at the Watcher and the Broth
ers, as some who hear me once had done. The Arjuno safely
passing those Brower shoals, which wrecked the Palmer, and broke
your quiet revery amid these tranquil waters, and mine soon was
to be broken in upon ; and in as unlocked for a way by the ar
resting hand of Brower the sheriff of Batavia.

The ascending slopes, the terraced hills of Java, burst upon
the sight. The towering shade of Dapoor and Edam, and of tho

ARRIVAL AT BAT A VIA. 241

last of the thousand isles has sunk below the ocean line, and a
thick forest of masts rises up to view. Yonder flies the common
( mblem of a score of nations, copyists of republican France, the
tricolored, horizontal stripes of Holland, floating above ramparts,
and in the roadstead of Batavia.
11

THIRTY-SECOND DAY.

I SAT one weary day, within my narrow cage, to meet the gaze
of curious men. The next day, I was put on board another man-
of-war, the corvette Boreas, the guard-ship of the port. As I
walked along the gun-deck to the berth assigned to me, I saw my
sailor Jim, with hands manacled and chained to a gun. The
brave fellow said some words of cheer, and something about
weathering our captors. Further words were interrupted by a
blow from a marine, and as I was hurried away by the two ma
rines on either side of me, I saw my brave sailor vainly struggling
to loose his manacled hands, to return the blows of the brutal
and cowardly Dutchman.

I felt my imprisoned state very severely on board the Boreas.
1 was thrust into a close, dark, foul smelling den on the berth
deck. When night came, an overspreading cloud of hammocks
covered every beam : one hundred and twenty reeking bodies
within the space for twenty, sent up a rank, animal steam. I
choked, I begged for air ; but I sat for many days in the fetid
steams, down in the hold of the Boreas.

On the fourth day, I was marched into the cabin of the com
mander, into the presence of a short, stout gentleman, with a mild
and benevolent-looking face, who asked me many questions about
my late vo) age, which I answered ; and many more about what I
had seen, said, and heard, in Sumatra, which I refused to answer.

SHERIFF BROWER. 243

I had sent for a countryman, an attorney, some kind of counsel ;
but no one had come near me. I wanted the fair play and open
justice I expected to meet with in a Christian and enlightened
country.

But my questioner said it was the law of Netherland India to
be questioned by the prosecution, before receiving counsel of any
kind. I thought that it was an unjust and inquisitorial law. I
would remain silent. One more question my interrogator urged
me to answer, and he held up a bundle of papers, among which I
had a momentary glimpse of one, marked with strange characters.
Had I dictated and sent this letter to the Sultan of Jambee ? I
had ordered a letter to be prepared and sent to that Prince. I
thought, and he thought, that the document he held in his hand,
was the letter sent by me. How different, as when De Brauw spoke
with me, might have been the after proceedings, had that letter
then been read to me ; or the paper been put into my hand.

The next clay, on a Sunday morning, an order came to remove
me to prison on shore, to a prison in the sultry grave of Euro
peans, into a dismal cell, where faint rays of blessed light, and a
stifled breath of still more blessed air, struggled through close
woven bars ; and yet this picture seemed pleasanter than the nau
seous berth, the bad fare, and the hideous society of the guard-
ship. . ;

I was placed in a boat between two marines ; and eight oars,
plied by stout arms, sped us swiftly through the throng of ships
lying at anchor in the roads. At the landing near the Custom-
House steps, I was politely greeted by a man wearing a gold-laced
cap ; he was in the early prime of life, with fresh complexion, and
good-humored expression of countenance. With a smiling face he
said, pointing to a small covered wagon, that he would have the
honor to accompany me to my new lodgings. This invitation

244 PRISON OF WELTEVKKDEN.

sounded smoother than the gruff order just lately heard, to get
down into a boat; but as perhaps this shore suavity was to
be followed by a harder lot than had been met with in prison
afloat, it was not easy to appreciate the good-hearted politeness of
Jan Brower, the duurwarder and sheriff of the Court of Justice
of Batavia.

The ground was deserted when I had landed ; no one stood near
me but Brower. On entering the van, I paused for a moment on
the steps, and looked around. I saw in the verandah of a tiffin
house, or tavern, a young man, a well-dressed sailor, like the mate
of a ship, who had such a look of home in his face, that I hailed
him to know if he were an American. " Yes, by the Lord ! what s
to pay, countryman ? " was the hearty and cheery reply, and I
hurriedly shouted out some words, the unjust imprisonment of
myself and crew, to tell of it to an American Commodore or Con
sul. At my first word the wagon started, the young man ran to
catch up, I heard the words aye, aye ; the horses were whipped
into a brisker pace, and I lost sight of the American.

There was chance for but a slight glimpse of the " queen city
of the East," whilst hurried along the banks of canals, and be
neath the deep shade of long rows of trees of rare foliage and
flowers ; huge bouquets, swaying to the breeze, and loading it
with a rich burden of sweets ; but I saw enough, and was not in
too gloomy a mood to feel, that I had never seen such a city of
fair villas, as stood on the site of the old Jacatra, the foundation
of Picter Both, the metropolis of Netherland India,

"We stopped at a small gate, in a crumbling wall, that is to be
seen no longer. Brower led the way, and a barefooted native,
with a drawn sword in his hand, brought up the rear. Blue
coats, yellow leather belts, and glistening bayonets thronged
around a doorway. We entered a small whitewashed room, bare

JAILER OF WELTEVREDEN. 245

of every thing, but some police truncheons, three heavy, leather
arm-chairs ; and a desk covered with black cloth The little room
looked very chill and gloomy, amid all the sunshine of Java ; and
while waiting to see a jailer, with hard-lined, dungeon-like
face, I saw a little ruddy man, a very Santa Klaus of early fan
cies, bounce into the room ; Brower introduced Mynheer Pieters,
who gave me a hearty shake of the hand ; and pouring out Bel
gian French very rapidly, said that he had heard of me, as being a
very bad subject ; he always liked bad subjects ; they were the
best of customers at his hotel ; and to have an American, he had a
great liking for them too ; the first he had ever had ; it was an
era in his establishment.

The little man s good humor, and volubility and jollity, were
not at all cheering, in the midst of bayonets, truncheons, thick
walls, and heavy, iron-studded doors. There seemed to be a
Jack Ketch jocularity about him, that I did not relish. I felt, as
I looked into the little, cold, watchful gray eyes, that he would in
the same tone, apologize for any rough adjustment of a halter ;
and compliment me upon being one of the best-looking subjects
that he had ever hung.

Sheriff Brower bid me adieu ; and Mynheer Pieters request
ed me to have the kindness to take a look at my apartment. We
passed some rows of doors, with little gratings, behind which dirty,
bearded faces, stared at me. We stopped at one of the doors ;
Pieters looked around, and called some one. A tall, lank, low
browed, hard-lined, livid-faced man, the one I had looked for at
first, appeared. He singled out from a huge bunch of quaint old
keys, the one needed for the door, where we had stopped ; and
we entered a small, high-walled court, with a row of four grated
doors, along one side.

I saw bearded faces, and half-naked figures, at three of the

246

PRISON OF WELTEVIiEDEN.

doors, and Mynheer Pietcrs introduced them as I approached.
At the end door, on the right, stood a low, slender figure, with a
very yellow beardless young face, dressed only in a long cotton
sarong ; and this was a native schoolmaster. At the end door,
on the left, stood a tall, thin young man, pockmarked; with
yellow skin, and scant of dress like the other ; and this was a
native merchant.

At one of the middle doors, I saw a man of another type. A
fine, open, fresh, Caucasian face. A tall, military figure; but
bare as the natives ; and a broad chest, an arm of fine muscle, and

THE BARON IN PRISON.

247

a well set neck, were fully exposed to view by this half nude
prison costume. Mynheer Pieters bowed low, as he approached
this man ; he stood silent as in the presence of a superior, whilst
this personage thus spoke to me :

Prisoners need no introductions; especially from this old-
pensioned adjutant, Pieters, who dares to turn a key upon me, his
old master. I am a captain like yourself; but a sword s man, in
stead of a rope s man. They say you are a pirate ; but you do
not look like one, and if so, it may not prevent you from being a
good comrade in jail. You are to tenant this little den of Pieters
alongside of me, and if Baron Van Norden, late captain of in
fantry in the Netherlands army, can be of service, command him
during your stay in the Prison of Weltevreden.

THIRTY-THIRD DAY.

IT was dusk when I was locked np ; and I saw little of what
was around me ; and soon gave way to sleep which no hopes nor
fears could ever take from me ; and in the morning, I found none
of the prison horrors I had looked for, no den of torment in some
Castle keep ; but I could not boast of the comforts of my abode.
I had a room, ten feet wide, by thirteen long, with coarse, plaster
walls ; scraped, cut, and gouged, by weary prisoners before me ;
the floor was of tile, and wet all the time, from the oozings of the
prison moat that washed the outer wall ; but I was provided with
Chinese clogs; rude, wooden soles, with a leather strap for the in-
Btep, that raised me one inch and a quarter from my wet floor.

From a grating in my rear wall, I could get a whiff of Java
breeze, and a glimpse of a bayonet, passing along the edge of the
green, slimy moat, and beyond this I could see a piece of marsh
ground, in the centre of which stood a gallows for the use of the
prison. The prospect from the grating in front was not of so
wide a range ; but somewhat like, in the bayonet, the dreary pri
son court, in the centre of which stood a platform, for the appli
cation of the bastinado to men, who showed too much discontent
for the comforts of the prison life.

I had a wooden bench and platform to serve for seat, bed, table,
and washstand, and all other purposes of furniture. I had a stone
pitcher and bowl, and had been furnished with a horn spoon, and

THIS SOCIETY IN PRISON. 249

a tin platter ; for which I found an early use on the first morning
of my stay in Weltevreden.

At seven o clock, I heard the grating of rusty bolts, and then
saw the dead-man s face of the turnkey in the doorway. Be
hind him, came a tall, stout native, with light brown skin; he
had a heavy iron collar, fast rivetted on his neck ; and wore no
other garment, but a pair of short, blue, coarse cotton drawers.
He entered my cell, with a large wooden tray poised on the palm
of his right hand ; and then placed on my platform, alongside of
where I had slept, a small bowl of brown rice, some fish curry,
and some red pepper pods and beans.

Whilst eyeing my small mess of meagre food, I heard the
voice of the Baron, who appeared before me, robed like the Ju
piter of Phidias. Rice, fish, and red pepper diet, would save
me from Java fever ; but before I had eaten, he would have me
go to the door of our small court, and take a look at the prison.
At feeding time, and the relieving of guards, there was a short
privilege for prisoners, to step to the doorways of their several
courts ; and then could see their neighbors at other doorways of the
several wards or blocks of the prison.

I had heard during the night, fearful shrieks, and howls, and
sounds like the dying rattle in a strong man s throat. I heard
them again, followed by a grating and lumbering sound, as I step
ped to the gate of the outer court. One of our madmen ; said
the Baron, confined in a room of the first block, to the right of
the jailer s house, as you enter.

This is a strange, and fearful maniac. He has not left his
room, foul like a wild beast s den, for one moment in eight years.
He is hairy and hideous like an orang utan ; and naked, except
some foul shreds only, of the garments which he wore when he
entered, hanging to bands around his neck and waist. He
IP

250 ritltiON OF WELTEVREDEN.

raves most terrible thoughts, of evil designs upon him ; and barri
cades at night his door, with marvellous, clock-like regularity,
removing with the same punctuality the barricades in the morning,
the lumbering and grating of which you have just heard ; as he
removed the platform upon which he sleeps, from his door.

But the strangest feature of his madness, is an extraordinary
concealment of his face. Nobody has seen it exposed to view,
since he entered his den. He has the filthy blackened fragment
of an old straw hat, which he holds before his face at all times.
When he paces his floor, he shifts the dirty mask from hand to
hand, so as to keep the side turned towards the door, always hid
den ; when he eats, he conceals his face with the hat ; and when
he sleeps, the same everlasting screen is found firmly pressed with
his clasped hands, upon the hideous, wilted, maniac face.

I cannot tell you his history, nobody knows ; the government
put him here, that has so many dark ways of dealing with people
who may give cause for fear or trouble ; and all talent and free
dom of expression soon qualify a man for these walls, wherein
are to be found better material for the formation of a govern
ment, than the one that put them here; and strange as it may seem,
a large part of the headwork of the government is carried on
here.

You see in the gateway of the block next to that of the mad
man, a short, stout-built man, about fifty years of age, who was
lately condemned to two years of prison. His broad, heavy, sal
low face, show lines of a highly gifted mind. He was the private
secretary of a late governor-general, and a chief magistrate of the
island of Banca. The Besident, as we call him, is daily consulted
in matters pertaining to the courts, and the affairs of executive
administration ; and the strong head, for the sake of an extra pit
tance in prison, willingly uses his brains for the advantage of those

TALENT OF N. INDIA IN PRISON. 251

weaker ones, wielding the sword and the purse, who have en
caged him.

The slender, deadly pale, and haggard-looking man, who stands
near to the Resident, is the most skilful artist with pencil and en
graving tools, in Netherland India. He was the government
draughtsman, and has been lodged here for ten years, on account
of draughting some papers for his own especial use. But he
works in his cell, the same as in the topographical bureau, and is
at present engaged upon a new map of Japan for the Govern
ment, which contains the recent observations of Dr. Meunicher,
who accompanied our embassy to Jeddo.

You see another man, standing in the gateway of block No 3.,
and the block companion of the Resident and Topographer. That
broad Tartar forehead, and fine-shaped nose, is of Russian origin;
and it might seem strange to see him here, since my Government
has courted every thing Russian so much, since the time, our late
William courted the Anna Paulowna of Rusland ; but alas for
this man, with all his Russian prestige, he caused my Government
some loss of guilders, which merits jail so much in Dutch eyes;
and from which no Russian Dowager could save him. Yet he
works in his cell for some government functionary; and every
day, a liveried slave brings a roll of documents to the Russian
secretary.

Whilst the Baron was speaking, a tall, thin, haggard man
passed before us. This was another madman, allowed the privilege
of walking in the main court. He had been the most eminent law
yer in Netherland India. He prosecuted a case for the recovery
of some two millions of guilders from the Government. He was
seized with a little fever ; and in spite of his own, and the pro
testations of his friends, was pronounced a subject for hospital

252 PRISON OF WELTEVIIEDEN.

treatment and confinement ; and plentiful blood-letting soon sent
him a raving lunatic, to be confined in jail.

He had a strange whim of playing upon words, with childish
comparisons of sounds and meanings. He would converse some
times with great ability and display of learning ; at other times,
according to the phases of the moon, he dwelt only upon the most
incoherent fancies ; but ever ended every discourse with one per
petual refrain : " there is no law in India"

The crazy man passed us again. The Baron spoke to him ;
the lunatic scanned me with a lengthened stare ; and when my
name and country were mentioned, he shook my hand heartily, and
expressing himself in good English, was delighted to see one from
the land, where the African race abounded. He had been studying
the tubular, cellular, and capillary distinctions between hair and
wool ; which my countrymen could not do without bitterness,
hence the name amer, mara, bitter, which we have to put into
gcnever, your gin, but how unfit for a can, the milk cup of a
child ; you make amer, with a can ; that is brutal, like our"
council, but " there is no law in India."

The learned lunatic walked away, muttering about the bru
tality of putting bitters into a child s milk can. He occupied a
chamber in block No. 2, the first one on the left, on entering the
prison. There was one more tenant of the block, in a chamber
next to the crazy lawyer. Ho was a bankrupt merchant, confined
for a bad disposition of assets. He had failed with ample funds
in the hands of friends outside, who smuggled liquors and wines
to him in prison, of which block No. 4, the one in which I was
confined, got ample share, from the defaulting merchant.

In our block, said the Baron, wo have but a small share of
the governmental talent of the prison. However, my next door
neighbor, the little schoolmaster, the son of an Englishman of

CHARACTERS IN TIIK PRISON.

Bencoolen, is a rare scholar in the language, literature, manners,
customs, and antiquities of the Javanese and Malays; but the go
vernment sets but little value on all that; nay, look upon it as the
next thing to treason, to teach such stuff ; and have fastened up
the poor little scholar, to prevent his teaching or writing books ;
and keep him busy, drawing up contracts with the natives for
coffee and pepper.

You have a great rogue, in the trader next to you ; but he has
travelled with his packs into every corner of Java; he knows the
routes, throughout the native states of Surakarta, and Yugya-
karta, better than any man in Batavia; and many an exploring
party, lias received their instructions for the route from your
neighbor the trader.

Before passing from our block, I will say a word about my
self, and show what part I play in the governmental talent of the
prison. I was four years, commander of the small military post
of Lahat on the Lamatang River, one of the Western branches of
the Moosie, in the territory of Palembaug. I thought I had
given satisfaction to my government, which I think was the case;
but I had displeased De Brauw, the same cold traitor, who sent
us both here.

The royal adjutant who rules our Dutchmen at Palcmbang,
could be heard against any one, when the late Governor-general
Roehussen ruled at Batavia ; but a new man has come out, who
sat on the same benches, where I had learning beaten into me, in
the High School of Utrecht ; and I hope soon to have a backer
against the Resident of Palembang, in the person of an eld
schoolmate, the new Governor-general, Puymaer Van Twist.

We were speaking of this coincidence of experience, and dis
cussing the character of the Resident of Palembang. The lugu
brious faca-of the turnkey appeared. His hand wielded a huge

254 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

key; and from the lank, wilted, dead face, there came a voice,
that bade us fall back, get in, Hold, you smccrlop, roared
the Baron, with voice of command; you gallows-cheating dra
goon; touch your cap, and speak as an old foraging lancer
should, to gentlemen.

Blixem, growled the turnkey; giving the Baron a shove,
butt against me; and as we staggered into our quarters, rusty
bolts rolled gratingly into their sockets.

The Baron, after some mutterings of anger; spoke, with re
turning good humor, about the fortune of war : the jailer, once a
petty officer; a non-commissioned adjutant, had served under
him ; and Beckers, an old dragoon, in a regiment of lancers, who
had often curried the horse of the Captain, after being invalided
by the bite of a serpent, which gave him his dead snake skin,
had been made lieutenant-jailer.

My fellow prisoner spoke of the mean economy of the govern
ment, in giving to such refuse of the army, the direction of so
large a prison, containing so many gentlemen, who had filled high
military and civil stations. But the same government that wants
a jailer for its chief prison, who will accept of 600 recepissen
(about $200), wishes to feed gentlemen prisoners with twenty
cents a day, which furnished the rice and fish curry that now in
vited our prison appetites.

Whilst we eat our coarse meal together, the Baron continued
his description of our fellow-prisoners; along with a running
commentary upon the governmental talent, that took so large a
part in the direction of the affairs of Netherland India, at the
jail head-quarters of Weltevreden.

The late administrator of the army of Java, was in the next
block, to our left. A venerable military officer of high rank, who
had enjoyed the favor of the late king; and was decorated with

CAUSES OF MADNESS. 255

the royal orders of William of Nassau; and of the Lion of the
Netherlands; but the new king, who "knew not Joseph,"
listened to councillors, who were hostile to the distinguished old
servant of his father ; and permits the gray hairs of Col. Joseph
Timmermans to remain in one of the felon cells of Weltevreden.

The Colonel, by which title, he is best known in prison, was
at the head of the civil direction of the affairs of the army of
the Netherlands in Java, during the five years war, between 1 825
and 1830, against Deepo Negoro, and Sintot; those celebrated
Princes of Yugyakerta, and though he holds no longer any
official portfolio of war, though he can serve his country no
longer openly, and is stripped of his honors, still the gray-headed,
outraged old veteran, serves in his cell with his great experience,
the military administration of Java.

You wonder that the Colonel, the Resident, and others con
fined here, should render service for any consideration to a gov
ernment, that holds them like felons. They felt as you do, at
first. The military chief entered prison like a stern, indignant
old Roman. He trusted that when his countrymen heard of the
indignity that had fallen upon his decorated gray hairs, that they
would lay siege to the Palace, and the Chambers of Deputies at
the Hague, and demand his triumphant restoration.

But time wore on : day after day, of many months and years
of the deadly gloom of jail; the dirt, the coarse fare, the brutal
keepers, the weakening, wilting heat of Java; all common wants
uncared for, and all lack of soothing, soon sapped the pride of
heart; and then memory fades in this eternal heat, in close, damp
cells ; the old brain wandered at times ; the diseased old body,
sick, craved some comforts of its keepers, and by and by, had
lost sight of pride, and was willing to work with plodding pa
tience for men, on whom the faded pride once spat upon.

lioO riutiON OF WELTEVUEDEN.

This is the course of every one, who stay a time, the course
to madness, or hopeless imbecility, that steals with fatal certainty
over all, the old after the third or fourth year, and men at our
time, in a little while more. I have been here but one year, and
even now I feel a drooping of soul, a wasting of my former strong
self, that appals me ; and I seek refuge in strong drink, the refuge
of all.

You think that helps the shattering of the mind. But what
shall stay up the weary, fainting agony of a man, worn out with
daily hope or apprehension. There is no certain and open course
of law; the decision of one court, that might give liberty and
property to. day, may be reversed to-morrow, by a secret tribunal,
which you have never seen; decreeing death and confiscation
You must seek refuge in drink, till madness comes to your help ;
and you cry out with the lawyer, " There is no law in India."

Whilst combatting the gloomy and hopeless views of prison
life, of the Baron, and as I endeavored to rally him from the
sombre state into which he had fallen, we heard a shrill, painful,
feminine laughter. Another mad creature in prison : a little more
of the daily music, mingled with the yells of the mask maniac ;
and the occasional shrieks from the bastinado, that is better ac
companied with brandy than philosophy, said the Baron.

You will hear that laughter half the night, if you are not a
sound sleeper. It comes from the daughter of a very pretty
woman of Pulo Nias, so famous for fair women; and of an
English officer of Bencoolen : when this daughter was quite young,
and she is not more than twenty-five now, the beautiful Creole
received the protection of the President of the Netherlands
Trading Company, who is now about to retire to Europe with an
enormous fortune. With the loss of a child, she lost her reason,

THE PRISON WAITERS. 257

and the protector put her here, paying the Government the price
of our luxurious board.

I do not know her name, nor that of her father. Mynheer
Pieters says that he does not know them himself. She is lodged
in the servants ward, in the rear of the cell of mad Grunewald.
I have not seen her, but am told that although she has a sharp,
litful maniac look, yet her face is pretty, her figure exceedingly
graceful, and has most magnificent glossy brown hair, flowing
down to her feet, when uncombed; in the care of which, she
spends her time, all day.

This delicate creature, this lonely woman tenant of the prison,
is waited upon by the same iron-collared convicts, who bring us
our rice and fish. Those coolies with the scant blue pantaloon,
the penitential dress, are all condemned pirates and assassins.
That stout fellow, who brought our breakfast, was a Dyak pirate,
and convicted of lopping off several human heads, and government
has made him waiter for life, at the Hotel of Weltevreden.

Why don t they hang such chaps ? Their lives are valuable
good hands for mines, and public works, as well as to wait on
government guests ; only hang Dutchmen, and other white sub
jects, who should happen to amuse themselves with throat-cutting;
it would have a bad effect upon the native mind, to see Europeans
doing drudgery; it is better to hang them, or make poor crazy
wretches of them, lock them up, and feed them at the cost of six
cents a day.

We expect an addition to our corps of waiters, a Javanese
young gentleman, just condemned to a life of light employment,
for having taken the life of a midshipman on board the steamship
Arjuno. You say that you slept in the berth of the murdered
man. You may again take the place of the unfortunate naval
officer, in the matter of waiting. I hope that the exploits of the

1258 PRISON OF WKLTEVUKDKX.

cooly, in the ward-room of the steamship, may not be repeated in
block No. 4 of the Prison of Weltevreden.

You think that there is something horrible in all this; the
mingling of state prisoners, or suspected gentlemen like yourself
along with many vile, half-bred felons, whom you see here ; the
mad raving amid the sane ; and the employment of convicted cut
throats, to wait upon gentlemen prisoners of state, and upon a
lonely, delicate, crazy lady.

You have probably thought of preparing an indignation
article for some morning newspaper, the usual vent of an English
man, and I believe of you Americans, also. You will find one
little journal here, the Javaasche Courant, that has all its matter,
leaders and correspondence revised at the palace of llyswick ; and
you will find a public opinion regulated by various governmental
grades and amounts of guilders; the public opinion of all govern
ment clients.

You must have patience, for my countrymen move ver}
slowly. Our justice will think of you two or three months hence;
will inquire into your case a few months later; a year hence, yon
may bo acquitted by the court of justice; you wait for months
to see the door open to let you out; and by and by you learn thai
some other court has condemned you a month ago to three, five,
or ten years. Such has been the fato of numbers here ; if it be
yours, and you lose patience and hope, try a little brandy.

Wines and liquors are not allowed in prison; but moro ex
eluded by the thirsty guard ever watchful for drinkables, that arc
more confiscated by them, than by any force of law. My bankrupt
friend, in the open, or debtor s ward, receives supplies of com
forting liquids from adroit friends outside ; and he, with some of
the same adroitness passes a portion to me, and it is about the
hour I should hear from my bankrupt Bacchus.

THE BAMBOO. 259

The Baron approached the wall of our little court, that separated
us from block No. 2, the ward of the rnad lawyer, and bankrupt
merchant. He stooped low down, with ear inclined to listen.
N"o expected sound ; he paced to and fro our narrow, wet, high-
walled enclosure. The fine face looked anxious ; the handsome
features frowned : the Baron muttered, cursed, and lost his tem
per and politeness.

It was noon-time; hot, stifling air filled the cells, and the
narrow court; the trader and schoolmaster were asleep in their
cells ; the sentinel had leaned his musket against the grating of
our outer door, and had sat down, with face turned to the wall, to
get a bit of shade from the coping stones above. The stillness
was very great, broken now and then, by a mad laugh, or a soft
note from a burung kukur, under the verandah of the jailer.

The surly mood of my fellow-prisoner had increased : he paced
restlessly, and listened at the wall from time to time I heard a
low grating sound. The face of the Baron lighted up ; he stepped
with stealthy and nervous step to the wall, bidding me in a whisper
to keep a look out on the sentinel. He stooped down to a drain
that ran before our doors, carrying off the moisture of the cells
and the yard, and passed beneath the wall : he thrust his hand
into the filth of the drain ; his arm passed as far as he could reach,
under the wall; and after groping awhile, withdrew it with
triumphant look, with a bamboo, like a walking stick in his hand.

He beckoned me to follow him, and when beyond observation,
lie pointed with great glee to a plug in the small end of the bam
boo ; he pulled it out, and after cleaning and wiping it offered the
open end to me, which sent forth a decided smell of brandy. I
did not neen any ; never had, at any time in life. Better
begin to think you do now; said the Baron, as he tipped up the
bamboo, and took a long draught, from the long goblet.

260 PRISON "OF WELTEVREDEN.

My comrade pronounced his bamboo, the staff of life; and
leaned lovingly upon it, till the pith and sap began to fail, as the
Baron observed; and then the staff proved a broken reed to his
tottering steps, and left the trusting man prostrate on the wet floor
of his cell. I raised him up, and put him on his sleeping plat
form. He sang joyously; he raved amusingly of the schelms,
Tdadddkers, and smeerlops, the rogues, scamps and beasts, and Pie-
ters the prince of rogues ; who entered the cell, as I tried to per
suade the Baron to sleep.

How had he got the drink, the little red-faced jailer asked
with great energy. He must not seek information of me ; although
to prevent such sad havoc on so fine a man as this, I might have
done well to have informed, and prevented it. The half-breeds
knew nothing, and Mynheer Pieters locked up the Baron, and
then left, with a threat to report to Mynheer Van Rees, the Resi
dent of Batavia.

Whilst the Baron prolonged his maudlin chant ; and hickuped
his abuse of the two adjutants; the royal, and the petty one; the
bastard Belgian, and the bastard of the Hague; thieves of
honors, and drink ; and princes of rogues and jail birds at Palem-
bang and Weltevreden : whilst thus he sang and raved, I sat
down in my cell, and passed the rest of the afternoon alone
musing upon my situation, and the experience of my first day in
the Prison of Weltevreden.

In answer to the inquiry of the lady of the Elder Missionary,
the late prisoner of Weltevreden said, that an afternoon meal, a
dinner, at 4 o clock, was served out to the prisoners ; the same rice
and fish as in the morning, with the addition of a small piece of
pork, from which a thick soup, with more rice and beans, had
been prepared. There were other prisoners in the block, described

CHARACTER OF IMPRISONMENT.

261

by the Baron ; and four large blocks, beyond these, the gloomiest,
closest and filthiest portion of the prison, which held from fifty
to a hundred soldiers, common felons, and men condemned to
death or life imprisonment. The prison was called the civil and
military prison of Weltevreden. The imprisonment was not
severe, as compared with many European and American prisons;
for with their close and silent systems, a man would sink down
within a month, in the climate of Java. As it was, the cries
of maniacs sounding daily in the ears, the wet floors of the
cells, the hot, stifling air, and the uncertainty of law in Java,
made the Prison of Weltevreden tolerably uncomfortable.

THIRTY-FOURTH DAY.

I WAS roused up early, on the morning after iny first night in
the prison of Weltevrcden, by a loud tattoo, the reveille of the
troops stationed at Batavia, whose barracks were ranged behind
and adjoining the prison. I heard the measured tramp of feet,
entering the main court of the prison, then some loud, quick, and
long rolling words of command; the tramp stopped, another loud,
and long rolling sound of voice ; the butts of muskets thundered
on the ground ; and I could see through the grating in the doorway,
that led into the main court, a file of soldiers, formed in line near
the platform where the bastinado was applied.

An officer in the uniform of a colonel, and who held a paper
in his hand, conversed with the jailer the turnkey appeared with
his keys; he went towards the gloomy cells, accompanied by four
soldiers, and returned with two men, stripped to a pair of short
drawers; both soldiers, the one short and fleshy; and the other
very spare made. They were bade to lay themselves, face down
wards, on the platform; their feet were made fast in stocks; and
a soldier, at the arm of each man, held him firmly upon the plat
form.

Two huge-built Africans wielded thick rattans, whose leaded
ends sprang to and fro, with lengthened sweep, as they swung

THE BASTINADO. 263

them in the air, with nervous play of hand, eager to hit something
more solid than to be striking at space. The officer spoke in
command ; the negroes stepped forward, and drew the garment of
the prostrate men below their loins, the rattans were raised, and
fell with a dull, deadly sound upon human flesh.

The stout man groaned, and the thin man shrieked; again
&gt;md again, the torturing rods fell upon the quivering flesh ; and
us I counted the strokes, I could count the raised ridges, the
bloody wales, that corded the flesh of the unfortunate men. They
had received four and twenty murderous blows; a man in civil
dress, a surgeon, stepped forward, looked at the work of the
blacks, he spoke to the officer, who spoke again in command; the
i eet and hands were loosened, the stout man stood up, the thin
one lay still; they turned up his face, it was ghastly pale, the
surgeon felt the thin man s pulse ; he had only fainted ; two iron-
collared convicts took him by the arms and feet, and bore him off
to his cell ; after this, there was another hoarse rattle of voice,
muskets clattered ; and whilst listening to the retiring tramp, the
bolts grated in the doorway, the dead snake face of the dragoon
iippeared, and after him, the Dyak pirate, bringing my rice and
iish for the morning.

The bastinado had taken away my appetite ; and while I sat
in my cell, thinking with gloomy thoughts upon the courtyard
scene, the Baron entered. He hailed me with a groaned good
morning; his head was tied up, his eyes were bloodshot; I spoke
of what I had seen ; such savage blows upon a man of small
frame; but I thought that he had suffered as much from the
brandy loaded bamboo, his " staff of life," as the poor wretches
1; ad from lead-loaded canes.

He laughed at my loss of appetite ; another bamboo would
put him all right again ; some things were cured by the cause,

2(54 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

fire was good for burns, iron rust for spear wounds; see the case
of the Greek hero at Troy ; but bastinado bruises were not cured
by a little more of the cane. My stomach would be stronger, by
and by ; bastinado was the morning recreation of the prison ; he
had felt too much invalided to turn out, but had I not seen the
other gratings, all crowded with dirty beards and eyes? Why,
nine tenths of the fashionable world would give the price of an
opera season ticket for these grating privileges ; and of our block
in particular; for besides the bastinado in the main court, we of
this ward alone, can enjoy the hangings that come off, about once
a month in the marsh, of which you have such fine prospect,
through the bars of your rear wall window.

His humor and flow of spirits began to rally me, and with
amusing philosophic comment, we went to work with our fingers
upon our rice and fish rations. We were scooping out the bottoms
of our bowls, when I heard a soft, clear voice, cry out, Papa
Koptyne, Papa Captain. My little girl, said the Baron, she wan
sick yesterday, and did not come. She is too late, and cannot get
in now. I looked out, and saw a little face, jumping up to the
grating, in the doorway of the main court, and crying out, Papa,
Papa Captain.

The Baron went to the grating and spoke to the sentinel, who
growled a dissent to what was said. The Baron turned to me, to
ask if I had any small coins; I handed him one: the sentinel
received it, and immediately stepped away from his post to call
the turnkey ; that functionary needed a coaxing coin as well a,s
the sentinel. The great door grated on its hinges, and in jumped
a very pretty, graceful, bright-eyed creature, a little native girl,
between ten and eleven years of age, and followed by a stout,
coarse Malay woman in servile dress.

The face of the child was like amber, or a beautiful blending

THE FOSTER CHILD. 265

of burnished gold and olive, tinting the fine lines of high Suma-
tran race. A slender little figure was dressed in a yellow sarong,
:md a white kabyah ; her little feet were bare, and she held in her
hand some bunches of fruits, which she laid down on the ground,
as she ran forward, with outstretched arms to embrace the Baron.

The little girl drew back, she frowned, and muttered in Malay,
that her papa captain was bad ; she smelt strong water, and she
.^aw the fire of it, burning in his eyes ; she would not kiss such a
"bad, ugly papa captain. The Baron approached her with coaxing
look and words, but the indignant little maiden ran away, and as
he chased, she slipped with swift foot from side to side, and when
the battled and panting Baron gave up the chase, she sat down
and laughed merrily in a corner.

My moral reformer, said he to me, when he had recovered
his breath; she lectures me like a curate; but she is to me like my
own child. A poor little foundling : A very curious story I ha.ve
to tell about her; and whilst we eat some of the fruit she has
brought, I will give you the history of my little Umbah.

The Baron picked up the fruits that had been thrown down ;
there were some mangosteens, dookoos, and rambutans. We
burst open with our fingers the purple globe-shaped rind of the
mangosteen, it being soft, like a green walnut hull, when fresh
pulled, and becoming hard as wood after a couple of days. The
delicate white pulp, in five clove-shaped compartments, was
thrilling to the palate and nostril, like the blending of honey,
cream, roses, and all that is best and finest of sweet and acid, in
the best of fruits; of melon, peach and cheremoya; such is the
custard pulp of this imperial luxury of the oriental orchard.

One can afford to eat rice and fish with our fingers, with such
dessert, said the Baron with smothered words, and mouth half-
buried in one of the fruity hemispheres just burst open. I should
12

266 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

be underground now, were it not for mangosteens ; they are the
only things that can make true the saying, of raising an appetite
under the ribs of death. I have been twice at my last gasp,
broken down by long marches in the swamps of Sumatra; my
bamboo failed, but a taste of mangosteen raised me up from tho
grave.

I thought he had better stick to mangosteen and drop the bam
boo : not so, said the Baron ; they had their appropriate spheres,
the one to cure fever, and the other low spirits. But fever and
mangosteen reminds me of the story that I promised you. By
this time the little girl had stolen into the cell, and taking a place,
at an end of the platform farthest from us, sat in her own eastern
way, watching me with earnest eyes; as the Baron talked on,
making frequent mention of her name.

HISTORY OF UMBAII.

I was at one time, on a march with a company of men, in the
territory of the Ampat Lawang, in Sumatra. We were in pur
suit of some plundering marauders from the country of the Ren-
tjon Tingga; who made forays upon those dusuiis, or villages,
whose people were well affected towards the garrison at Laliat.
We approached a dusun, late in the afternoon, where I wished to
halt, being feverish, and unable to go any farther.

We heard shouts and shrieks, as we drew near, and saw thick
clouds of smoke rising up : I felt roused ; and gave the word to go
forward with quickened pace. As we entered, some marauding
lancers of the mountains were running out; the place was sacked,
every house was in flames; and dead bodies of men, women, and
children were strewn around. We gave the brigands a volley as
they fled, and charged in pursuit.

THE FOUNDLING OF PASSUMAII. 267

I was now very faint, and in the confusion and smoke, fell
without being noticed by my men. I struck my head against
a stone, and lay senseless for a time; and when I returned to
consciousness, I still lay helpless, and raging with fever ; no help
was near, my men were gone, would suppose me killed ; they would
not return that way. I began to think of the future world, and
as I groaned for mercy and a little water, I heard a cry, a sad,
plaintive baby cry.

A baby alone with me, amid these burnt ruins; the wailing
little voice rose up again on the air, it roused me, I got up on my
feet, and staggered towards the sound. It came from near the
chief dwelling of the place, as I judged from the size of the
ruin. I approached a group of bananas; the cry sounded louder,
but the smoke prevented me from seeing, and whilst stag
gering, with eyes closed from time to time, I heard the cry
right under my feet, and then saw a baby, upon which I had
almost stumbled, lying upon its back.

A little girl baby, not more than six or eight months old.
Poor little thing, I forgot my fever for a time; I took it up in my
arms, and wiped the blinding tears out of its little bright eyes;
and as I fondled, and rocked it in my arms, it ceased its crying,
and turned its face, sobbing, towards my breast. What was to be
done now ? a baby could not be much help for a sick man ; nor a
sick man for a baby. I felt fever and faintness coming over me.
I could die alone, but could not listen to the moans of a dying
child.

I began to think of crawling away; and thought somehow,
as I had been forced to leave many a dying comrade, to leave the
little innocent to the mercy of God. My body raged, and my
head swam : but this abandonment seemed too horrible. I would
try to crawl beyond the smoke , and try to find water, that I knew

268 PRISON OP WELTEVREDEN.

must be near. I had not staggered many paces, when I saw fruits
on the ground, almost such a lot as we have before us, with
mangosteens among them.

I had just strength enough left to burst one of the purple
rinds; the fragrance inspirited me; the delicious pulp went straight
to my heart, and, as I quaffed down this rich cordial of nature, my
strength came, and raised me right up; and baby was not forgot
ten, for at each pulp draught I took, I moistened a little gaping
mouth, close by my breast.

I was not well, I was not fully strong; but the noble fruit
had restored much of my strength ; and all my hope and energy.
I followed the track of my men ; I knew they would not camp
far off; and would waste no time in running after the nimble
scamps, who were already in the mountain. I was not mistaken ;
I came up with their encampment, after two hours weary march
ing : about to lie down in despair in the dark, I heard the com
pany s dog, found my men, fainted away, and lay in a tent,
delirious for a couple of days.

I had said a word about the child before dropping down; and
had handed it to the wife of my servant, to take care of. The
little girl was brought safe to Lahat. She grew fat and strong :
she soon ran after me ; a real " child of the regiment," began to
call me, Papa Captain. I came to Batavia; my troubles com
menced ; after a time, entered prison, where the little foundling
of the Passumah comes to scold me about the use of the bamboo;
and to bring me mangosteens.

I had given her an elegant European name ; but my servants
have called her Urnbah, the wave ; and perhaps suits the little
Malay better than Mathildc or Louise. She was probably the
daughter of the Kapala, or chief of the dusun that was sacked.
She had some rich trinkets of gold and pearl around her neck ;

SUNSHINE IN THE PRISON. 269

and had a heavy band of gold round her right wrist. But with
out those little trinkets of aristocracy, the fine lines of her face,
of the highest Sunaatran Malay type, would show that she was of
high race.

She comes to see me every day, accompanied by one or both
of my old servants, who still cling to me in misfortune ; and now,
whilst I am stripped of every thing, they work for their own
living, and furnish me with all the comforts they can obtain for
me. Umbah, who has the freedom of the prison, at certain
hours, brings me a daily addition of fruits and flowers, to the
coarse ration of the jail.

I spoke to Umbah; she came towards me with open face and
confiding manner. I spoke of Lahat, and the land of Passumah:
she remembered the Lamatang, the top of Gunung Dempoh, and
tho rambahya on the Moosie ; her mother lived in the Ulu ; and
when her Papa Captain had left the house of care (rumah susah),
as Malays call a prison, he would take her in a prahu to Lahat ;
and then she would ride upon an elephant to go and meet her
mother at the foot of Dempoh.

I had lost my vocabulary, and all the rest of my papers;
fallen, as I then thought, into the hands of my captors ; and I
needed the aid of the Baron, to understand Umbah. He had a
Dutch and Malay vocabulary, and with my knowledge of the
former, I tried to talk with the little Malay maiden, whilst her
papa captain went to look through the grating at some military
prisoners just brought into the main court.

Umbah could not read nor write ; but she had in her head
many pantuns, and stories of the wayang : a hadjy began to teach
her the Arab letters and the koran ; and her papa captain had
taught her letters in a book of the orang Wolanda ; but she did

270 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

not like the hadjy ; and her papa captain \vas BO often crazy with
strong water, that she had but a very little piece of the koran and
"Wolanda book in her head : she would like so much to have more.

I discovered that she knew the Roman alphabet : with my
help, she joined some letters together in syllables, and with
repeated efforts made out some simple Malay words in the book.
She was delighted, she wanted to be able to read books, like the
European ladies of Batavia, when she had grown up to be a
woman. Then she would become rich ; and buy a beautiful horse,
and a fine sword for her papa captain, he would be happy, and he
would drink strong water no more.

I was charmed with the quickness of perception, assiduity,
patience and ambition of the little Malay; and still more with
her hopeful, earnest, and affectionate heart. The gloom of the
prison was chased away by the light of her presence. My late
troubled experience was forgotten in the interest of her story;
and I began to feel a pleasure in the contemplation of the devel
opment of this little Malay mind, that made me, for the time,
unmindful of the discomfort of the close cell, the wet floor, and
the coarse fare that had sickened my soul the day before.

As we conned over some words of the vocabulary, we heard
the voice of the Baron, in loud, obstreperous and drunken tones,
vociferating all the coarse and emphatic words of the language
of Holland; so pithy and foul in its slang and blasphemy. I
stepped forth, and saw my cell neighbor stripped to his waist, and
flourishing a fresh bamboo in his right hand ; whilst with his left,
he held the half-breed trader by the throat, backed up against the
gateway of the main court, and was about to dose him, as he
said, with the outside of his bamboo.

I saw, through the grating, the red face of tho jailer, seeming
to make struggling exertion to force the door, which opened
inside; but was held closed by the pressure of the choking

DISCIPLINE OF THE PRISON. 271

trader, held against it by the infuriated Baron. But, strange
.sight for a prison scene, I saw the turnkey inside, squatted on the
ground with back against the door, and heels dug into the ground,
struggling to keep the jailer out; and looking up with drunken
leering glee at the belaboring of the trader by the Baron.

I ran to keep the peace, and to help the chief authority of the
jail. I seized the uplifted bamboo, and drew back the Baron.
Mynheer Pieters entered : he kicked his lieutenant, who struggled
on all-fours to get upon his feet : the trader made piteous appeal
and protestation ; the Baron cursed louder and lustier than before,
little Umbah cried out, pattered with her feet, and beat the air
with her hands; whilst myself and the great stolid face of the
grinning, listless Dutch sentinel, stood for a time, wondering spec
tators of this scene in the prison of Weltevreden.

After a quarter of an hour of the mingled din, of Dutch and
Malay outcries, I began to learn that the turnkey occasionally
tasted of the small end of the Baron s bamboo ; he had been seen
to totter after these leanings upon the " staff of life : " the gover
nor had suspected the Baron, and instructed the half-breed spy
in our ward to watch ; he, whilst supposed to be sleeping, had seen
through a crevice in his cell door, the bamboo obtained through
the drain had seen the turnkey enter, at a signal made by the
Baron ; and then he, in a concerted manner, had thrown over the
wall, a note attached to a stone, and gave the information which
brought the jailer.

The turnkey had been denouncing the trader as a spy; who
had been suspected before, and when the head jailer was seen to
approach, the Baron had no doubt about the informant, and
began to belabor him as I have described.

If I had not seen the glistening bayonets, the gloomy senti
nels, in front and rear, and all around ; who with frowning looks,

272 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

bid me stay within a narrow limit of high-walled barriers, and
iron-barred doors ; and in a close, wet resting-place, I should have
thought that I was in some riotous quarter of the city of Batavia,
where drunken riots were the common scenes of the day.

I was in a large and dreary prison, filled with military officers
and common soldiers, with gentlemen and coolies, with state
prisoners and the meanest of felons; with suspected and con
victed men; with maniacs; men and women, all jumbled
together; guarded by a troop of stolid brutes of soldiers; and
directed by a vulgar, pensioned petty officer, and still more
vulgar, bestial old dragoon.

I had wondered at a great many things ; at the bold language
of the Baron, at the repulse of the dragoon; and their after
guzzling companionship. I wondered at such riotous disturbance
of the peace of the prison, so lightly passed over, when appeased,
by the authorities of the prison, but I began to perceive some
thing of the many influences that affected the discipline and
direction of the jail.

The Baron had many friends, with position and power. The
President of the Court of justice at Batavia, had been his fellow
schoolmate at Utrecht; and the new Governor-General was ex
pected to extend to him executive favor, on account of similar
scholastic reminiscences ; and many of the officers, who were quar
tered around the prison, and controlled a great deal its internal
economy, were haters of De Brauw, and his connection at Bata
via, and were sympathizers with the Baron.

The consciousness of these influences made the jailer obsequi
ous at times ; but as there were others, equally powerful, who
would expect greater severity and closer discipline ; he ma
noeuvred as he best could, to wink at all excess, where winking
was safe, in order to plea,se the military influence ; and yet keep

THE FRIENDLY FISKAAL. 273

the disorders of his charge concealed from the civil influence that
appointed and paid him, which he failed to do at times, as on this
occasion.

I had entered the cell of the Baron, to quiet IJmbah, whilst
the din of voices was still prolonged. It was suddenly hushed;
I looked and saw the benevolent face of him who had questioned
me on board the Boreas. The jailer with face very pale, stood
before me, and said the Fiskaal wished to see me in my room.
The turnkey had slunk away ; the Baron stood with defiant air,
:md folded arms in the centre of our little court; and the trader,
with fawning, suppliant look, was making explanation to the
Fiskaal and pointing to me ; but that functionary bade him enter
his cell, motioned to the Baron to enter his, and ordered the
jailer to lock the doors.

The officer of justice said that it was his unpleasant duty to
.search my person and cell, for any papers that I might have
secreted. I had no personal effects with me, nothing but a few
sheets and a pillow for my sleeping accommodation. My baggage
had been left on board my own vessel, and the Boreas. I was
then suffering for want of a change of linen. The benevolent
functionary was indignant at the neglect, and would send an order
to the commander of the guard-ship to have my effects sent ashore.

The oppas, and the secretary or translator, who accompanied
the Fiskaal, began to inspect my cell : one began to handle and
examine the mattress on my platform, the other had my pillow in
his hand, which was closed with a running cord like a sailor s
sack ; he had opened the mouth, and was thrusting his hand into
some stuffing moss, with which it seemed to be filled, when the
magistrate made a motion with his hand to desist, and asked me
to give my word of honor, that I had no papers, concealed about
my person or in my room, which I did, and the inspection ceased.
12*

274 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

The Fiskaal went to speak with the Baron, and bade the
jailer, who stood at my door, cap in hand, to lead me to tho
Chamber of Instruction, to await his coming. At the doorway
of the main court, I found Umbah seated on the ground, her
hands covering her face and sobbing bitterly; her papa captain
was shut up, the servant had not come to take her home, and she
was afraid to go out alone to-day, to pass some drunken soldiers, who
stood at the great gate; she was not always afraid of them; but
afraid of the drunken dragoon, who would come into the court,
when the Fiskaal, and jailer and myself were gone.

I told Umbah to follow me; the jailer bade her go away, to
go out of the prison; she cowered with fear; I took her by the;
hand, intending to ask the Fiskaal, to allow his servant to
accompany her beyond the precincts of the prison: the jailer
seized another hand, the child clung to me; the Officer of Justice
appeared, the jailer began to explain, he was requested to bo
silent, and Umbah followed me to the Chamber of Instruction.

THE HALL OF INSTRUCTION.

I entered the little room, where Sheriff Brower had intro
duced me to Mynheer Pieters. A functionary in black sat at
the desk with a large bundle of papers before him ; the Fiskaal
and the translator occupied the other two leather-covered arm
chairs, and a seat was placed for me. The formality of asking
name, age, birthplace and so forth, was gone through; and then
the Fiskaal addressed to me some questions about the conduct of
my fellow-prisoners and the discipline of the prison.

I had hoped to learn what was the foundation for the charge
alleged against me, which had led the authorities of Holland at
Palembang to seize me, my crew and vessel ; and which caused

275

the authorities of Holland at Batavia to subject me to confinement
in a vile prison, without allowing me an opportunity to communi
cate with any countryman or counsel of any kind, and I did not
expect to be called upon to act the part of an informer ; a vocation
as unfamiliar and detestable in my country, as was the crime
with the commission of which I was charged.

The Fiskaal was authorized to seek instruction or information
from every source in order to subserve justice, and the proper
administration of the laws : I must not think that every question
was put to me in the spirit of espionage ; or that the course of
law was inquisitorial in Netherland India, because I had not been
allowed to consult with legal counsel; why should I need any
advice, to prepare my answers, if I felt a conviction of my inno
cence, and that a simple statement of facts would establish it.

I felt surprised that I should be subjected to any interrogation
whatever. I was arrested for having caused to be written, and
sent, a letter addressed to the sultan of Jambee. I had acknow
ledged, did now acknowledge the dictation and signing of such a
letter. Let the tribunals of justice of Netherland India adjudi
cate upon that fact ; nothing else, no hostile speech, or action,
nothing else in the remotest way opposed to the sovereignty of
the Netherland government, had been alleged against me; then
why these interrogations, which I must regard as unjust, and in
quisitorial in the highest degree.

The Fiskaal spoke of my sudden intimacy with an officer of
the government, the Havermeester of Minto ; I had given him a
miniature ; and he had supplied me with government stores ; and
otherwise aided me at the time of my departure. It was said that
I held conversations hostile to the government of the country with
a Chinaman at Minto ; with one of that turbulent race who had
given the government so much trouble in Banca and Borneo;

276 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

and it was alleged I had agreed to receive a dozen deserting
Belgian soldiers on board my vessel.

Then at Paleinbang I had after the first days of my stay kept
company with the natives; and went off upon several expeditious
without consulting my guests at the fort, who believed that I held
intercourse with their enemies, and although a hostile solution to
all this strange conduct, was manifest in the letter to the sultan
of Jambee ; yet still there was much that was mysterious, that
affected the conduct of officers, and native vassals of the govern
ment; and the justiciary of the country desired to be informed
of the whole matter.

I then said; if the justiciary of Netherland India wished
to be fully enlightened about all that had taken place between
me and officers and vassals of the government ; let those persons,
including the Residents of Palembang and Banca; their assistants,
the Havermeesters of both places; my late Malay servant; a
naval commander, and several officers of the garrison of Palemi-
bang ; let them be brought to Batavia, and confronted with me in
an open court, and then I would speak.

It would probably be seen that I had been furnished with
private police from the household of the two Residents to be my
confidential servants; that the stories about deserters, and trea
sonable conversation, had been manufactured out of innocent
occurrences, by these spies imposed upon me ; and that throughout
my stay at Minto and Palembang a most disgraceful spirit of
jealousy had been shown, and espionage had been practised towards
a stranger, and had thrown upon the hands of the government a
very troublesome affair, that must necessarily involve it in un
pleasant relations with the government of the oppressed party.

The Fiskaal asked me with some surprise, if I was not
hazarding some remarks when I spoke of private police; men in

A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE CASE. 277

the employment of the two Residents of Palembang and Banca,
having been imposed upon me as confidential servants. I ex
pressed my convictions that such was the case; spoke of the
motives for the hostility of the assistant Resident and naval com
mander at Palembang. The Fiskaal said it was a strange affair ;
he must see into the root of the matter; he had been acting upon
the report of the Residents of Palembang and Banca.

The Fiskaal promised to send me some things that I wanted
from my vessel, and bade the jailer lead me back to my cell.
As I stepped out of the Chamber of Instruction my hand was
seized by little fingers, and Umbah was by my side ; she had sat
crouched behind the door, and I had forgotten her during the
long and pre-occupying interrogation and conversation that had
been taking place.

Poor little Umbah trembled as she walked beside me; and
began to weep bitterly, when we entered my prison ward, and she
saw that her papa captain was locked up. He was sober and sad
now, and the little foundling did not scold as she had done, when he
was riotous and unrestrained ; she put her lips between the bars
of his window, and wept over her dear papa captain, who was so
good till bad men gave him strong water; then he forgot his
little Umbah, and made himself sick, and made her heart sad.

The Baron felt that there was no lowness of spirits so painful
as the state he imposed upon himself by attempting a cure. He
caused grief to his best friends; he retarded his liberation; he
forgot that he was a gentleman and an officer ; he colluded with a
swindler to bestialize himself; and then drank and rioted with
a vile turnkey. He would reform; he would for the sake of
Unibah, if nothing else. I must help him ; and there by the pri
son bars he promised reformation; he spoke to Umbah in an
altered tone; her little face shone with hope and joy; and it

278 PRISON OF WELTEV11EDEN.

seemed that one might be more useful and happy in a prison,
than wandering uselessly through the world at our will.

The servant who accompanied Umbah came; the wife of the
old follower of the Baron, a stout little Javanese woman called
Tayrah : she had been reared in the camp, and was a bold and re
solute personage. As she talked with her master, the turnkey
bade her hasten, as he wanted to close the gate : she called him
some offensive name ; and then took Umbah by the hand ; who had
said adieu to her papa captain, and uncle captain, as she called
me. As Tayrah passed out, the turnkey took hold of her rudely
by the arm ; she let go the hand of Umbah ; and instantly I saw
a little blade, gleaming before the face of the brutal turnkey who
slunk back, muttered some doms and blixems. Umbah laughed
and merrily kissed her hand to me, and darted off" with her reso
lute protectress, and I retired to my cell to muse over the events

of my second day in the prison of Weltevreden.

**#***#

On the morning of the third day of the confinement of the
commander of the Flirt in the prison of Weltevreden, he re
ceived a visit from the commercial agent of the United States at
Batavia. The agent had not called upon the commander sooner,
because he had heard such atrocious stories of piracy charged
upon the commander; of sales of arms to rebel chiefs; of scut
tling defenceless vessels in various parts of the Archipelago ; and
such rumors of the most daring buccaneering, that he had said
to the Resident of Batavia, when conversing about the Americans
in prison, " Hang them, there are too many such filibustering fana
tics in America; hang them at once." Some further information
and a visit to the Flirt had led him to doubt the truth of the ex
travagant stories he had heard. He resolved to call, and now he
was astonished to see an unsailor-like landsman, in the stead of

THE REPRESENTATIVE OF AMERICA IN JAVA. 279

the rugged buccaneer he had expected to confront. Tie knew some
thing of the anti- American feelings of the Resident of Banca ; he
did not doubt that most absurd jealous fears had been excited,
and that the spies who had been placed about the commander had
overdone their part. The agent did not believe that the present
governor-general of Netherland India, would approve of the ex
traordinary display of zeal on the part of Resident De Brauw.
It would be advisable to address a plain statement of facts, a me
morial to the governor-general : the agent was on the eve of de
parture for America ; he would remain if he thought his presence
could be of any service to his countryman; but as his official
position was not recognized, he could make no effective interference.
The agent took his leave and was seen no more in the prison.

THIRTY-FIFTH DAY.

SABBATH ON BOARD THE PALMER.

THIRTY-SIXTH DAY.

A BETTER state of discipline was observed in Weltcvreden; the
Baron was restricted from our little court yard privileges, the
passage of the drain under the wall was closely grated to check
for ever the growth of any more bamboos. Umbah came and
conned a Malay lesson in which her teacher learned as he taught;
the daily rice and fish came in the morning and afternoon ; the
mad lady laughed ; the maniac howled and told the hour by the
making and undoing of his barricades; and the lunatic lawyer
paced the main court, muttering about the lack of law in India;
on the fourth day of my stay in the prison of Weltevreden.

On the morning of the fifth day, the good-humored face of
Sheriff Brower, appeared at the cell door, of him, whom he had
lately introduced to the prison. He had an order from the
Fiskaal, to conduct me on board my vessel, so that I might assist
at an inspection of it and obtain such articles as I needed.

Another drive through the city of gardens and villas; a
guarded boat was in readiness at the steps of the " boom," the
custom house; and in half an hour after leaving, I trod once
more the decks of my gallant little craft : a sad sight for me to
see upon her decks the bloated scowling Dutch faces that leered
in surly watchfulness ; but sadder sight awaited me below.

The beautiful cabin, the work of art and pride; and the taste
ful hall of state, of a floating home of beauty, was sacked and

PLUNDER OF THE FLIRT. 281

plundered, and vilely befouled; the brocatelle was rent from
curtain and cushion ; the mirrors smashed; gilding torn off; the
floor blotched and streaked with the drippings of coarse feasting;
the air rank, with beer, tobacco, gin, and grease defilement ; and
heavy breeched vandals, sweltering in drunken riot, lay lumpishly
on the transom, and glowered at the late lord of this cabin home.

Official scrutiny pried into recesses that had been better probed
and searched by the hand of private plunder : canisters, boxes and
bottles were emptied in quest of powder ; planks were ripped up
and spaces between timbers were searched for shot and small
arms; ballast was pitched to and fro; sails were spread out;
sailors kits were emptied ; and my already well ransacked, culled
and picked baggage, was shook and handled ; but not a fragment
of war-making material, or of piracy was to be found.

And the needful things I sought also were not to be found :
boots, shirts, hats, trinkets, stationery, and some comforting
cordials, were as scarce as powder, cannon, blunderbusses, and
bullets ; the latter had only existed in Dutch minds ; but some of
the former were to be seen figuring on Dutch forms; and the
cordial bottles were all like the sapless bamboos of the Baron.

The verbal process was drawn up; the good condition of the
vessel verified ; she was afloat ; her contents all in order ; kept by
the proper guardians of the law ; kept never to be returned ; no
arms or evidence of hostile design, to be found as yet ; might be
found by and by, in some hollow spar, or the shank of an anchor ;
so the verbal process was signed ; I got some of the remnants of a
once ample wardrobe, and was led back to my cabin ashore.

The events of the sixth day, were the visit of a Dutch Baron,
and an English merchant, agents for Prince Henry of Holland,
the brother of the present king : they were his agents for the
working of some tin mines, in the little island of Billiton. The

282 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

prince was bankrupt, and he had received from the government
of his royal brother the appanage of the island to afford him
an opportunity to pay off his debts with its plentiful supply
of tin; as princes are expected to pay up as well as peasants in
Holland. The agents wanted a small vessel to carry rice, coolies
and ore between Billfton and Batavia. The Flirt was just the
size they wanted, and it was expected that the commander would
soon be at liberty; he no doubt was tired of cruising; would he
not sell it at a moderate price, as the prince could not afford a
large one ? I would not then part with my vessel, not for all of
Billiton, for all the hopes of future solvency of the bankrupt
prince.

On the seventh day Sheriff Brower appeared again at the pri
son of Weltevreden; he had a paper in his hand, and this time
his good honest face was shining with smiles, as he took my hand
with some warmth; he had a long document for me, and what,
did it say? among other things, that the Resident of Palem-
bang had seized and sent to Batavia, certain persons without
communicating with any officers of justice, but had held corres
pondence with the governor-general alone, who " has the power to
order the imprisonment of such persons as he may think proper,
by a warrant signed by himself personally; yet notwithstanding
this, and considering many other points enumerated, "this affair
had not been managed by the ordinary course of law," and tho
court of justice of Batavia ordered the enlargement of the com
mander, mate, and crew of the Flirt.

Free and soon to be afloat once more. The bitter past wan
all forgotten. In sight of freedom, blessed freedom, the interests
of the prison ceased to charm no more sights of the bastinado,
i) or startling sounds in the night watches, of hoarse voices and
heavy feet; and shrieks, and howls and laughs, and drunken

REGRETS ON LEAVING PRISON. 283

revelry from cells within and barracks without; rice and fish
wooed the appetite in vain ; the close damp cell, the prison cell
of Weltevreden had lost its romance, and I turned my back upon
all this with a very complacent eye.

But I meet at the gate a little form, little hands bearing
bunches of fruit, and a little mouth says, Uncle captain, where
are you going ? Who shall teach me my lesson now, who shall
help papa captain to be good ? The liberated prisoner began to
regret his liberty : little lost flower of the Sumatran mountains,
poor little foundling of Passumah, he could have staid in prison
for the sake of this motherless child to teach and to save ; but he
thought of another one, far away, and he went with wetted eyes
from out of the prison of Weltevreden.

I went to the house of a relative of the American agent,
then acting in his stead. A company were at dinner ; and among
others, I was introduced to a fine looking man in early prime of
life, who was one of the judges of the Court that ordered my libe
ration. He gave some explanations about the regulation of the
judiciary in Netherland India. He was member of the local
court of justice of Batavia, other Residencies had similar
courts ; but this was the chief one ; and many of the remote posses
sions of the Government in Sumatra, and Borneo, were subjected
to its jurisdiction in all criminal matters. It was the duty of the
Resident of Palembang to have communicated my case at once to
the Fiskaal, or prosecuting officer of the Court of Justice of Ba
tavia, instead of which, he had entered into correspondence about
the matter with the Executive alone. The Court had declared
my detention illegal; and he doubted not but that the High
Court of Netherland India, a superior tribunal of nine judges ap
pointed by the crown, would not interfere with this decision ; and

284 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

he had not heard that the Attorney General had entered any
opposition.

I was an object of very especial curiosity in the city of Bata-
via; I had lately furnished so much material for the gossip of the
place ; I was feasted, I visited the notable things of the city ; the
parks, the palace, the opera; thus spent some rejoicing hourc,
whilst awaiting the restoration of the papers of my -vessel, after
receiving which I would go on board the Flirt, get some need
ful supplies, and quickly make sail direct for Singapore.

But in the midst of my rejoicing, I was called upon by the
Dutch baron, who had wished to purchase the Flirt on account
of the Prince Henry of Holland. This baron had travelled
much in the United States, and expressed great friendliness
towards Americans: he did not like to see me, he said, de
ceiving myself 5 my enlargement was only temporary on account
of the informality of the seizure by the Resident of Palembang.
The Attorney General had sent a requisition to the Court of Jus
tice demanding an order of re-arrest against the commander and
crew of the Flirt ; the Court was then deliberating ; would cer
tainly grant the order ; and I might expect to see the Sheriff at
any moment, coming to conduct me back to prison.

There were others at the hotel, who joined the baron in his
view of the case ; they all recommended a speedy flight. There
was little hope, they said, for me: I had two powerful enemies;
the Residents of Palembang, and Banca; they must be supported
in their action towards me ; my liberation was their condemna
tion ; the Attorney General, a dyspeptic, ruthless old man, was
determined to support De Brauw, and to have the dictator and
bearer of a certain letter addressed to the sultan of Jambec,
punished with death.

ADVISED TO ESCAPE. 285

If the act of enlargement was final, and not to be followed by
other process, the commander would certainly have received his
t hip papers, and other property seized by the government. This
had not been the case. The Court of Justice had demanded the
.surrender of the Flirt into their hands, in order to restore the
vessel to its owner ; but the demand was refused, and the vessel
\s r as still held by order of the admiral of the port; acting in
{Accordance with the instructions from the high prosecutor of the
government.

In view of all these facts a flight was strongly urged, flight on
board a fishing prahu, which would reach the straits of Sunda
(luring the night ; there the fugitive might await, within many
(lose islet hiding-places, the passing of some China bound ship.
I would soon find the commodore commanding the squadron
of the United States in the East Indies, and could return with
him to Batavia; to demand the restoration of my vessel, and in
demnity for the false imprisonment, and losses I had sustained.

One of the advisers would order a prahu to be ready at a
certain point, another would get some necessary provisions and
equipment, and the baron would take the fugitive in his carriage
to the place of embarkation. But I had not consented to this
flight. Why should I run away, and by so doing, convict my
self of the false charge of attempting to incite insurrection against
a power friendly with my own government ; and at the same time
abandon a fine vessel and valuable property ? There seemed to
bo powerful reasons not to think of flight; and yet there were
some weighty ones, to weigh the other way.

A return to prison was imminent ; and before innocence was
established, a delay of many months might elapse, enough time in
the foul atmosphere of a jail in a tropic climate to destroy the
constitution of one, whose health was already affected. It

286 PRISON OP WELTEVREDEN.

would be easier to establish innocence with the counsel and pro
tection of countrymen, backed with power and official authority,
than in the hands of a despotic government, surrounded by hostile
influences, and denied the aid of counsel.

In the midst of this debate, a new adviser appeared, a stout,
powerful-built man, with a dark bronzed face, and a firm, bold
look ; who addressed me in the pleasant vernacular of home ; and
in the rough, hearty dialect of the sea.

Look out, said the bluff sea captain, as he led me aside,
there are more sharks about here than afloat in the bay. I ve
been a cruiser in these seas, among Dutch and Malay, and
have run into this port off and on, for the last sixteen years, and
it s an even tie of treacherous rascality, between the run-a-mucks,
and the Van B reeks. These fellows want you to run away so as
to get your vessel : the agents of their beggarly Prince Henry
have interest enough to get hold of it, as soon as you are gone.
Yours is a hard case I know, but the scamps dare not hurt you ;
they know that Uncle Sam has a few big keels in these seas ; and
enough of paixhans to blow every burgher of this Dutch settle
ment into the middle of next week. Stand em out; and I ll
stand by you; and here s the hand of Gorham Bassett of tho
ship Rambler, just from the old Bay State.

I was indeed well disposed to stand by the counsel and ex
perience of this frank-spoken countryman. We sat down to din
ner, to talk of home memories, of Empire, Bay, and Palmetto
States. Another American captain and his lady had joined us;
the four talked of voyages and adventures ; we had met with mu
tual friends; we were drawn together by a fast-increasing interest;
we were wandering back o er oceans, amid happy scenes on the
banks of the Hudson and the Chesapeake, when Sheriff Browor
appeared, and with a sad face this time.

LOOKING FOR A JAIL. 287

Another paper in his hand, a warrant for the re-arrest of the
late lodger in Weltevreden, not to return to that prison ; a coll in
the Stad or City Jail awaited him. The kind heart of the lady
betrayed emotion : the two captains were indignant, but it was no
fault of honest Brower. If his prisoner wished to stay a little
longer with his friends, and would give his word to be at the pri
son before the hour of nine that evening, the sheriff would leave
him. I gave my word, and Brower departed.

After dinner, a drive, to get some last quaffings of ocean
breeze ; among the beautiful grounds of Cramat, around Konings-
plcin, and through the square of Waterloo, where the lion of the
Netherlands was seen, rampant upon a small column with a green
bush growing out of its head, nourished by the fecundating, moist
air of Java, which covers rocks with luxuriant vegetation ; and
the sprouting antlers give the look of a rampant goat to the stone
beast, that commemorates the victory of Waterloo, gained by
William of Nassau !

Some glimpses of the bay, some parting looks at the despoiled
little craft that lay hampered beneath the guns of the rude Boreas
of Batavia. A last shake of the hands of friends at the hotel,
and then Captain Bassett went with the prisoner in quest of his
new lodgings.

We took the wrong route ; we lost our way ; then we retraced
our steps, and a little after the appointed time, we knocked at the
gate of the City Prison. The sentinel, a Javanese soldier, bade
us go away ; the hour was past for visiting : but it was a prisoner
who wished to enter ; the sentinel had nothing to do with that,
we must go away ; the Captain was about to knock again at the
gate, a bayonet was presented, and was instantly knocked out of
the hands of the feeble native soldier, by the sturdy Captain, who
thundered at the gate, and roared out to wake the sleeping keeper,

288 PRISON OF WELTEVREPEN.

at that pitch of voice wherewith oftentimes, he startled a slug
gish crew on t gallant yards in a gale of wind.

The heavy gate rolled on its hinges ; a tall, dark half-breed came
forth in night-cap, with lamp in hand, and stood before the Cap
tain and the prisoner ; at the same time a tramp of feet was heard
behind, soldiers appeared, a file of the guard, brought by the dis
comfited sentinel, who had, fled on losing his firelock. The ser
geant of the guard wished to know of the alarmed keeper what,
was the matter ; and the alarmed keeper wished to know of the
sergeant of the guard, what indeed was the matter.

The Captain, who with his companion had not been observed,
stepped forth from the obscurity of the wall, and growled out in
mingled bad Dutch and Malay : Blixem, you kladdakers ; nothing
at all the matter, trada apapa, except my friend here has been
beating the gamelan, on the gateway of this old hotel, for the last
hour, trying to get in ; he has a room here ; open your establish
ment, and let us see your accommodations.

The half-breed muttered with inquiring look, something about
Brower and American captain; All right, letul; said Bassett
here is your man, and giving me a shove forward, walked in with
me. The gate was closed upon the staring and bewildered ser
geant of the guard, and the astonished jailer led the way to show
the apartment of his guest, so unceremoniously introduced at eo
late an hour.

The keeper opened several doors, and went through passages
and passed sentinels, and tenfold more gloomy indications of
prison than at Weltevredcn. The air was foul and suffocating,
within these walls; and even the best air in that old pestilential
quarter of the old town of Batavia was bad enough. We cairn;
to a side door in a dimly lighted passage ; we entered a gallery,
which ran along by six gloomy cell doors; we stopped at tho

THE STAD PRISON. 289

first one, the jailer opened, and showed the lodging designed for
his new guest.

A narrow den, a foul sweltering oven ; ten feet in length and
eight in width, half filled by a coarse platform, its only furniture.
No light or air, but from one double-barred grating in front.
The cell stank, the air was dead and still; I sat down with
sickened feeling, on the platform ; the foulness and heat of that
place was fearful. The Captain raged at this murdering Dutch
villany ; his countryman should not be put in there ; but the pri-
Honer must go in, and the jailer could not now let him out without an
order from the Fiskaal ; the Captain bade the keeper let him out
({uick, crying out to me as he left, that he would have me out, or
be put in there also before twelve hours had passed away.

The door was closed, the dead air felt deadlier and stiller, one
quaff alone of the breezy air of the morning was prayed for j and
then water, not thought of when the keeper was in the cell, water,
water, I called for between those bars, but the brutal sentinel
paid no heed ; a little water, and a little air, were the craving
wants of a dreadful night passed in the Stad prison of Batavia.

And where was the Captain of the Kambler? He had gone,
driving furiously towards the house of the Fiskaal. He roused
the oppas at the door, and bade him wake the sleeping function
ary. The aifrighted native could not think of such a thing, Tuan
must be mad ; Tuan was indeed mad ; he roared at the quaking
copper skin, who glared with his eyes, who dropped his jaw, who
shook and groaned, and was being shaken by the mad Tuan, when
a candle, a night shirt, and the benevolent face of the Fiskaal ap
peared.

Had he given the order to confine the commander of the Flirt
in the Stadhuis jail ? the vilest den of the old deadly quarter of
the city, where none but Chinese., and native cut- throats and
13

290 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

thieves were confined ? Was that a fit place for the detention of an
American gentleman, merely suspected of a crime, which it was
an absurdity to suppose he had committed ? The Fiskaal had
not given the order for removal to the Stad prison ; he had nov,
nothing to do with his disposition in prison; a judge commissary
of the Court of Justice of Batavia, acting in accordance with
the instruction of the Attorney General of Netherland India, had
given the order. The Fiskaal had hoped that the prosecution
would be dropped, after the liberation of the American captain ;
he could see no grounds for the Government to proceed upon ; and
should recommend to the Court of Justice, the final enlargement
of the Commander and crew of the Flirt.

But, meanwhile, the prisoner might die of stench and suffoca
tion. The Captain would not lie in the den he had just left, dur
ing four and twenty hours, for all the coffee in Java. He inquired
the way to the house of the judge commissary; and after an
other furious drive, was again rousing sleeping guardians, and dis
turbing the repose of a slumbering Dutchman. A head sprin
kled with gray, and a pale and sinister face came to the door ; and
a thick Dutch voice, speaking in bad English, wished to kno\v,
what business brought a man thundering at doors, kicking
servants, and waking up an affrighted family in such a drunken,
brigand-like way.

Softly there, Mr. Judge; said the puffing and blowing, yet
self-restrained Bassett. I am sorry to make you turn out of
your nice, wide berth, with plenty of fresh air; I regret the
kicks given to the boy at the door which ought to have been given
elsewhere; and I did not mean to scare you or your family, but I
do talk loud, when I get excited, and I am a little so now. You
have locked up a friend of mine, in a hole not fit for a beast; I

BELEAGUERED JUSTICE. 291

want him out, this very night, and put where he can have a
chance for his life.

And was this the errand of a man, who dared to break the
rest of a judge ; to ask him to disturb himself about the comforts
of a pirate, lodged but too well already? That s just my errand,
said Bassett, and pirate or no pirate, I want an order to have that
man removed to better quarters, or I don t leave you, Mr. Judge.
I m a fixture, and I give you the word of Gorham Bassett for
that.

The judge, as he stood in his night garments, stared hard at
the broad, heavy-built American ; he looked with an appreciating
eye, at two ponderous fists, and massive arms, thick with muscle
springing out of the chest of a war horse ; perhaps he counted
over his coolies, the oppas, and his own force to put the ugly-look
ing fixture out of doors, but he evidently did not think his com
bined forces equal to the task, and spoke in a milder tone to the
disturber of his rest.

What he had done, was in accordance with a requisition
emanating from the high prosecuting office of the Government.
He would consult with him, the next day. But that would not
satisfy the Captain of the Rambler ; he wanted an order then, he
knew that the judge had the power to give it. The judge remon
strated; it was absurd, at such an hour, the sheriff would not
turn out, the keeper of the jail would not open a door : the Cap
tain wanted the order, he would look after the sheriff, and see to
the opening of the prison.

The judge became indignant, to be dictated to in such a man
ner, on such a matter, in his own house, at that time of night : he
would send for a file of men, of the city guard, and have the in
truder lodged in jail himself. All ready for the guard, or the jail
either, were words uttered doggedly in reply. Gorham Bassett

202 PRISON OP WELTEVREDEN.

had sworn to have that man out of the infernal black hole into
which he had been stuck; or go in himself. The judge, and the
Government should have two American cases on hand ; and then .
look out for young America when he heard of all this, on board
the Susquehanna.

The judge bit his lips; he muttered something about American
audacity ; he walked nervously to and fro ; he stood before the
Captain, and confronted a fixed unblenching face ; there was not a
shadow of back out, of compromise, or put off, in those dark,
bronzed features. It was a hard case for judicial pride, and
Dutch obstinacy, to give up to this dogged sea captain, but some
American commodore might present a harder one, and something
must be done.

Some rays of dawning day began to stream across a starry
Javan sky, when the scowling judge, handed to the resolute
Captain a document of writing, with which he issued forth from
the dwelling of beleagured justice, and once more roused the
still streets of Batavia; horses hoofs resounding, and carriage
wheels rattling and rumbling, on the way to the house of the
sheriff of Batavia.

The prisoner had groaned on his platform all night, or sought
at times, to get some quaffs of air through his grating; but it
came foul and rank, from a close yard, devoted to vilest use.
The odor within was a deadlike smell, rising up from his coarso
couch, like the rank fetor of the decaying matter of a slaughter
house; and after a night of suffocating misery, as some few rays
of morning began to stream through the grating, in the cell door,
the prisoner began to discern on his platform, some dark streaks
of putrefying blood.

The honest face of Brower once more appeared, and brave

THE BLOODY CELL. 293

Bassett was shaking the exhausted and haggard prisoner by the
hand. The sheriff was indignant at the sight of the cell. He
was not aware that such quarters had been designed for his pris
oner, or he would have protested himself. He spoke of the good
heart of the Fiskaal, who wished to liberate the American Cap
tain altogether, but this judge commissary, who now had charge
of the "instruction," or preliminary investigation of the case,
was an avowed friend of Resident De Brauw.

The sheriff explained the cause of the blood on the platform.
A young man, about twenty years of age, had been suspected of
crime ; he was lodged in this cell, whilst awaiting a trial. His
case was overlooked; eight months passed away. The prisoner
loved a young lady, with strong attachment ; he hoped soon to be
with her again; and this hope sustained his spirits; but time
rolled on, many months had passed away ; his case seemed hope
less, and the father of the girl, wished her to marry some one
else. The lover heard of this, he clamored for a trial ; he became
delirious ; attention was called to his case ; it was discovered that
there were no grounds for prosecution ; an order for his liberation
was handed to Sheriff Brower, who came, and found a dead body
on this platform. The young man had attempted to cut his throat
with a piece of glass; but shrinking from that task, he had
strangled himself with his handkerchief. It was his blood upon
my sleeping place, which the neglectful jailer had not yet cleansed
away.

Harsh and unmusical they would have been to Dutch ears,
the words that rolled out with hissing sound between the gritting
teeth of Captain Bassett. Short work with the Stad prison, and
the city of Batavia, if the Captain had been commodore, and lay
off in the harbor, with a steam frigate, and a few sixty-four
pounders ; there would have been no more blunderings of a gov-

294 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

eminent of suspicious and sordid men ; there would have been no
complicated "case of the Flirt," nor " Prison of Weltevreden."

RETURN TO WELTEVREDEN.

But back to the prison of Weltevreden, Sheriff Brower leads
his prisoner, back to the barracks, to the country retreat of Adju
tant Pieters. The red-faced jailer was happy to welcome his late
lodger back again. The little cell in the little court was vacant
still. It was wet and close, and the air passed through it with
sluggish sultriness; but there was some air, without privy or
charnel smell; and there was company, the Baron, the trader, the
schoolmaster, and little Urnbah.

Honest-hearted Baron, he stood in the gateway to welcome
his cell neighbor : he too had been in closer durance, suffering
dreadully for the want of a bamboo; and Umbah had been
gone, she could not enter prison whilst his cell had been closed :
the mad lawyer passed by, was glad to see the American captain
back again; and though still affirming there was no law in India;
yet there was a pleasant welcome back to the prison of Weltevre
den.

One night of horrors had made a dreary house of care look
bright; it was not a change from a beautiful little ship, and a
happy, free sea life, to that of loss of property, and the restraint
of confining walls. That feeling was past. It was now joy to
change from a cell of death, rank with decaying drippings of self-
slaughter, to one where the air came freely; and human compan
ionship was near at hand.

But the night of horrors had done some hurtful work, on the
health of the returned prisoner. When the sheriff and jailer, and

A CHANGE FOll THE BETTER. 295

his brave defender had left, he sank down on his platform, and
passed a feverish day and night. The kind-hearted Baron sat up
with ministering hands. The invalid found repose as day began
to dawn, and when he awoke bright rays of light were streaming
like golden shafts through his grating ; and little bright eyes were
shining on him, from the golden face of Umbah.

She had mangosteens in her hand; mangosteens for her uncle
Captain. Purple rinds were burst, rich pulp was quaffed; and
the sick uncle Captain was refreshed and revived, like the papa
Captain, who when feverish and faint, had seen little bright eyes and
restoring fruit at the same time. Umbah s cure would have
sufficed, but the generous Bassett had sent cordials, and tasteful
provisions, for the entry of which another order had been ob
tained.

The invalid was soon restored by a ministering little presence,
and the fruity medicine. The lessons in Malay, of reading and
writing, were begun again. The half-breed schoolmaster helped
both to trace the straight alif, the many curved sim, the looped
lam, the cup-like nun; and all the intricate sinuosities of the
Arab script. The student and traveller traced them not more
quickly than the foundling Malay child.

He had a love to learn of all that belonged to the East; which
no alarms could disturb; no weight of woe could destroy. In
struments of oppression were sought for knowledge ; sentinels and
marines, when they would talk, were made to tell of their country,
of the fleet or the fort, to which they belonged ; and no place had
been so wretched, but he had thought as much about its history
as its horrors.

In Weltevreden, there was nothing that a free man should
wish for ; unless one should be found, that would covet a close
cell, with a wet, paved floor, the fare of eastern slaves, the com-

296 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

panionship of mongrel felons ; and howls of torture and madness
resounding daily in the ears. All this, and other striking fea
tures of a prison life, may be curious and interesting to tell ; but
soul and body sickening to him who felt them.

There was one, however, in Weltevreden, who felt them not too
much, to stop his love of study, instead of seeking refuge in
stimulant or unavailing complaint ; and by so doing, he preserved
his health and the even temper of his mind. He was not unmind
ful of liberty, he deplored the loss of a beautiful ship, the inter
ruption of a delightful cruise ; and more than all, he bitterly de
plored the loss of a choice gathering of notes for history, poetry,
science; and the art and romance of a curious people; a rare lot
of Malay manuscript fallen into the hands of his captors.

All his choice papers; many manuscripts given by Panyorang
Osman, some by Panyorang Scheriff Ali, by Demang Sapediu,
by the Panghulu of Palembang and others; as he had parted with
all that he could spare from his vessel for evey scrap of know
ledge about Sumatra. All this was left in his cabin; perhaps
destroyed by the plundering keepers; or in the hands of his
judges never to be returned.

Thus he thought, and often so painfully after his capture;
and he sought with the material around him in prison, to make up
some little of the loss. There were other masses of papers, the
gathering of past years, mere personal memoranda, in the hands
of his jailers : he could part with them without pain; but his Su-
matran collection, loss more felt, almost than loss of liberty;
but it was a loss sooner restored. Strange experience had that
man then and afterwards in the recovery of lost papers, from out
of the hands of his Dutch captors.

How his Sumatran notes were found, he thus told on board
the Palmer on the thirty-seventh day of her homeward voyage
from Java.

THIRTY-SEVENTH DAY.

I HAD lain in prison two weeks, and had not heard a word
about my men. My late navigator had been brought to "VVelte-
vredcn, and placed in the block No. 3 of the prison, in company
with the Resident, the Topographer, and the Russian secretary.
I heard news of preparation for the reception of my sailors, and
on the afternoon of the same day, I heard the unsubdued voice
of sturdy Jim, raised in song, mingled with the cursings of Dutch
soldiers, the clatter of bayonets; as the prisoners and escort
entered the main court of the prison.

I looked out through the bars, at my men, as they stood in
the court, waiting for the opening of doors : some joyous greetings
were exchanged with rough glad faces, even with the deserting
Brazilians ; past weakness and neglect of duty forgotten ; and the
difference between the cabin and the forecastle being overlooked
in a common lot. One more forward than the rest, the poor, half-
savage, faithful Pirez, ran up to the grating and after some
quick words of salutation, asked if I had found any thing in my
pillow. Before I had time to speak, a soldier of the guard pulled
the faithful fellow away, and with a brutal kick, urged him on
towards his quarters in the prison.

I must now speak of Pirez more fully ; as he acts an inter
esting part, in my after experience in prison. I found him at
13*

298 PRISON OF WELTEV11EDEN.

Pernambuco, where he sculled a little boat, and oftentimes, he
alone, had glided me along through the channels between Recife,
Boa Vista, and Olinda. I had been struck with the strange
ugliness of the boy; and stranger jargon of his speech; said to
be known to no one but his African mother.

His thick lips, and wide mouth a very wide one, stretched out
far beyond forehead and chin ; little yellow eyes seemed straining
to start out of a dirty yellow skin ; blotched and mottled like
the back of a toad. The narrow, pointed, pear-shaped head, was
dotted with scattering stunted tufts of coarsest and kinkiest of
wool; the body, short, fat, and shapeless, the legs bowing out,
heels large, and great teeth ever grinning. Such was the Peri,
as called by the crew of the Flirt.

Speech was more brutal than form; a thick, ruttling voice
that came forth with grunting jerks; a wild jargon of Portugese
and some African dialect. People sought to speak with him in
vain; they made signs in bargaining for his boat; but oftener the
hideous and unintelligible boatman was passed by, whilst I became
a frequent patron, and tested largely those powers of pantomime,
that became famous in Sumatra.

One day, I wanted him and his boat; and I saw him pushing
off from the landing, with a passenger, an old black woman, his
mother, and she was about to give place to me ; but learning that
her destination was near the same point as mine, I insisted that he
should take us both. The woman, a pleasant-looking old African,
with some likeness, but none of the hideousness of her son, spoke
some Portuguese and Spanish which I could understand.

She talked of her rude son; as true and honest, as he was
rough and ugly. His father, a Cape de Verde Portuguese, was
one of the bravest men she had known or seen. He was a sailor,
and had saved her life on board a slaver, when she was dead sick,

THE BOATMAN OF PP^RNAMBUCO. 299

and about to be thrown overboard as worthless cargo. She
wanted to do nothing else, but give him all her life after that.
He took her to Brazil ; where he left her from time to time, on
many a long cruise, whilst she worked for him and their children
ashore.

He went to Mozambique, to Goa, Malacca, Macao ; and then
had sailed many a time with an adventurous captain, between
Arabia and Sumatra ; and who was he ? who but the uncle, the
mysterious wanderer, and story-teller of the East. The father of
Pirez had sailed with him many years, and was lost or killed,
she knew not how, in his service.

This was fresh cause for interest in Pirez. I always sought
his boat, he lingered daily, more and more about my vessel ; and
when ready to sail, he wanted to go with me; and his
mother being quite willing, I took him, more as a servant than a
sailor ; and though he liked the ropes, and to run out on the yards,
with the best and boldest on board ; yet his chief duty was in my
cabin; and he enjoyed a confidence which Bahdoo had not
superseded.

I learned to understand all the words, or articulated grunts,
and signs of this wild creature. No one else had learned to talk
with him on board. I took a fancy to teach him to read and
write, during idle hours at sea, for which he had much aptitude.
He had the daily handling of my literary labors, in putting away
papers, left loosely on my table, and he learned to know the place
for note, memoranda, or letter, by being able to read their con
tents.

And now you will be prepared to listen to what I have to tell
you about my pillow. As soon as Pirez had spoken in his wild
way, at the grating, I stepped into my cell, I took up my pillow,
and with trembling hands I undid the cord, as the oppas had done

300 PRISON OP WELTEVREDEN.

a few days before ; but thrust my hand down deeper, pulled out
the stuffing, and felt something hard ; you can guess what it was,
better than I could then. In a compact roll, well packed round
with moss stuffing of the cushions of my cabin, were my much
prized papers.

Before my arrest at Palembang, I had never supposed
that the authorities would venture upon so high-handed a mea
sure, and had had no thought of trying to make any disposition
of personal valuables or private papers; which lay loosely in
lockers, and on my table, when the invading marines poured in
upon my deck ; and when I gave the order to Pirez to pack up
the few things I was allowed to take, I had no idea of a chance
to save any thing of valuables or papers.

I did long to say a word to the boy, to give him one look, as
he went below ; but he did not need it ; whilst I complained of
his delay, he had quickly seized papers, he believed to be the
most especial, the most important to conceal from my captors ;
those that told about Dutch and Malays, also some interesting
Mexican reliques ; he packed the pillow case, and trusting to good
fortune, flung it carelessly up through the skylight on deck.

The same faithful hands had driven the tacks into the ensign,
that was afterwards torn from its staff by the hands of a drunken
Dutch naval commander ; and that flag was not lost ; hardly less
strange was its preservation and reappearance, than the recovery
of the lost papers; but I shall tell of that farther on in my
story.

After rejoicing over the recovery of my papers, I rejoiced
over my escape, when the Fiskaal came to examine my cell ; an
escape from the stain of dishonor in the eyes of that functionary,
for had the hands of the oppas gone a little deeper, at the moment
I gave my word I had no papers in my cell, I should have made

FAITHFUL HANDS. 301

an enemy where I afterwards found a just and kind man, an able
and intelligent friend.

But that visit reminded me that I might receive many more,
from less gentlemanly inquisitors ; and I made speedy disposition
of my papers ; in small packages that were delivered to Captain
Bassett, and other American captains, who came to see me ; and
of all the scraps I accumulated, and memoranda I made during
my long stay in prison, I sent from time to time by various hands,
I know not to this day, if one package ever safely reached home in
America.

The prisoner knew not, when he spoke with his friends on
board the Palmer ; but he could have told them afterwards, that
of all that the faithful Pirez saved, and all of a collection of
rare notes, gathered in prison, all fell into faithful hands, those
of Bassett, Bursley of the Izaak Walton, Smith of the Raja
"Walie, and the worthy Shaw of Singapore ; some wandering round
by China, some by California, and some by Australia; yet all
brought safely to hand, the untouched trust of the prisoner of
Weltevreden.

The brave Bassett went with the coming of the faithful Pirez.
Daily had the kind, bold-hearted captain, invaded the prison with
pockets stuffed, and hands filled with good things for me, and for
little Umbah, and the Baron, who had become sharers of his kind
ly regards. He had sympathized with the tastes of the latter, and
one day came with a little bamboo in his pocket.

The guard wished to fumble pockets, and feel coat laps, as he
did with all incomers ; but away flew bayonet, and soldier fled, as
at the gateway of the Stad. The jailer ran to the Resident of the
city, and to judges to complain ; and the colonel at the barracks,

302 PRISON OP WELTEVREDEN.

demanded an order for the arrest of this knocker down of sol
diers, this bullier of judges, this prison invader, this great filibus
tering Bassett.

The judiciary and magistracy of Batavia, knew too well this
man ; they did not want to have him on their hands ; worse than
a score of such " pirates," as they had already caged. Give him a
wide berth, no order for the colonel ; and jailer is desired to with
hold liis complaint. Give the captain a free run, and only watch,
and have guard enough not to let him carry the prisoner out.

Brave Bassett came to go away ; the Rambler has her hold
filled with the berry of Java (fragrant promoter of sick liver
and sick headaches) ; and he came for the last time, to visit his
friends in prison. He could go away with comfort now ; he had
seen me through the worst; now more comfortably lodged, having
promise of a speedy trial ; feeling safe in a happy issue from the
kindly disposition of the Fiskaal, and from the avowed opinions
of judges of the Court of Justice.

Bassett took a message to deliver to the commodore, com
manding the American squadron in the East India seas ; he pro
mised to rouse up American functionaries, wherever found, in
behalf of the commander and crew of the Flirt. But we looked
long, in vain, for the coming of the commodore, who never came ;
though we doubted not the brave Bassett was true to the promise
he gave, when he bid adieu, in the prison of Weltevreden.

He kept it; said the Boatswain on board the Palmer;
we heard of the Flirt and her folks, being all foul among the
Dutchies at Batavia, when I was with the fleet at Hong Kong.
The people on board the Susquehanna, from first luff down to
captain of chain gang, were charged to the muzzle with fight ; they
wanted to go right off, and have a brush with Dutchy s tubs, if he

OPINION OF BOATSWAIN OF HIS GOVERNMENT. 303

didn t let go the Flirt and pay up handsome for his frolic. But
the old man didn t pass the word to get up anchor ; the Susque-
hanna lay quietly grinning at Hong Kong rocks, and Chinaman
Joshes ; day after day, week after week she lay ; by and by, we
heard more stories about Flirt and yourself; hardest sort of a case ;
but old Susquehanna, didn t move, and the old man walking the
decks, surly as sick thunder. One of the ward-room mess,
said that the commodore wanted to give the Dutch lubbers a
broadside of fits ; but he couldn t move ; he d got a small scrap
of paper, and six lines, from the Department fogy at home, that
said, don t move out of sight of Hong Kong till farther orders ;
and all on account of some fuss with a beggarly Brazilian plenipo,
and one of our people going minister to Rio, who charged the old
man, with having charged the Brazilian for his board, when on
board the Susquehanna, going to Brazil. There, Uncle Sam s big
ship was stuck ; or steaming back and forth to Macao, burning
coal at forty dollars a ton; and Uncle Sam s people, and flag, and
honor, and interests, were getting jugged, trod on, befouled, and
swamped ; but the big ship couldn t budge, waiting for another
order from another fogy, which she did for a year and more.

By gracious king ! said the Boatswain, warming up, our
people has got grit enough, real Kennebec grit ; we have lots of
Bassetts afloat, enough for a thousand commodores, that would
make every beggarly nation, in the world, think a thou
sand times, before they dared to lay a crooked finger upon an
American citizen or an American flag ; but we have an everlasting
lot of sharks at Washington, all the time, and of all stripes;
whether whig or t other, tis all the same, a scramble for votes and
plunder. What do they care about honor abroad ? they are only
thinking of keeping on the soft side of the pork-raisers, nigger-
drivers, and timber-choppers who put them where they are. You

304 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

go borne, and ask them to back you up in asking damages of tbe
Dutch ; and they ll wait to see whether tbe pork-raisers, nigger-
drivers, and timber-choppers, care any thing about it first; if so,
and you can get up a breeze among the people, all well ; and you ll
sail in. But just get foul of the sharks at Washington; and
their bloodsucking, piratical papers, will give you worse fits than
you ever got from the Dutch. I would rather go abroad, any
time, with a British passport, than one from my own government ;
and I am not the first one that has said it.

THIRTY-EIGHTH DAY.

MANY days were passed away, looking for help that never
came. Many times had I been summoned to the Chamber of
Instruction, to appear before the harsh judge, made harsher by
the rough handling of the hero of the Rambler. The hopes of
quick trial, and of leave to go in peace, were daily made less, by
this commissary judge, working like a lawyer of small scope with
the quirks of the law, to give some form and proportion to a base
less case.

The prisoner was led forth at all hours ; at early dawn, at
noon, at night, often in the midst of a meal, or repose, the rusty
bolts rolled and grated ; and the livid snake face of the lock up
dragoon, called the hungry or unrested man to come to the little
black hall, to meet the frowning commissary, who, with quick
questions about matters spoken of a week, two weeks before,
sought to entrap a weary and unaided man, having no counsel but
in his own head, and no strength but in his own heart.

And- through what winding ways, this judge of the Chamber,
the Star tribunal of Netherland India law, through what winding
ways, with hints, and threats, and made-up tales, he strove to
worm out some words of weakness that might be dressed up into
a phantom of crime. Such tales of what some servant, sailor, or
other one had said; such cajolery about the clemency of Dutch
rule in the East ; and such warnings of its power, and threats of

306 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

its vengeance ; and such insulting demands to confess, he knew
not what.

Let them be brought before me, said the prisoner ; the men,
who speak of evil words and deeds, that they have heard and
seen. Let them come ; governors and soldiers, servants and
sailors, and tell their tale before the face of him they speak
against. But this would be too great expense, trouble and de
rangement for the government to do. Then the prisoner would
be silent; if justice rules, they will be brought, and he will speak;
but if power rules undei* a form of law, then further words are
vain.

The judge threatened ; and spoke of crime seeking safety in
silence. With him, it was a sign of guilt to ask fair play and
open justice ; he would be thwarted in the working of so many
nicely contrived entrapments, that afford such triumphs to small
legal minds, versed alone in the letter, and knowing nothing of
the spirit of law. This judge had no screws or racks for a silent
victim; he surely would have used them; he must consult a
court, men who controlled him ; and they looked with a better
eye upon the prisoner.

It was decreed that accusers and accused should meet ; and
should be heard, face to face. The government, whose strength
lay in meting out justice to all, should lend its ships of war, its
army ; nay stop the functions of every servant in its pay, to have
justice quick and faithful, for the meanest of its subjects; and
how much more for a stranger, whose health, whose property,
whose time was wasting, and made painful by slow and uncertain
justice, the greatest wrong of all he had to undergo.

Back to Palcmbang, went the Arjuno; the decoying trap of
tlu- Sumatran chief, the blood-stained prison of a confiding guest,
back it went to bring the decoyer and false host; and more

THE KING S BIRTHDAY. 307

besides ; the mulatto of Surinam ; the naval captor of the Flirt,
the friendly Shahbandar ; the courteous Major 5 the examining"
Kress, the topographical Captain, wishful to sell the secrets of his
service for a carbine ; and with these to bring the suspicious
Resident, the courteous Doctor, and related Havermeester of
Minto.

And why should I indeed wish for the presence of these
men in Batavia ? The private spies of one were my betrayers ;
I had another s hate, for coming from a land where that man s
race were slaves; a third, with a brutal nature and drunken
delusion, beheld in me a rival; a fourth, hating me for being
thwarted in an ungentlemanly covetousness ; and all feeling some
Dutch ill will, and jealousy of America ; and yet I would have
them all to come ; and give the better chance that the whole of a
dark story might be known at home.

But no tale shall be told by many of these men, no tale of
truth or fiction, of what they saw, or what they were persuaded
to see. The Arjuno speeds in vain up the Moosie ; she stems not
the stream so swiftly as those have gone down, whom she goes to
bring ; they shall tell nothing of the Flirt or her commander ;
their story mingled with the melody of the rambahya song, and
went with a gurgle down the Moosie.

It is the King s birthday. There are rejoicings at Batavia
and Palembang ; and wherever the Dutch flag floats, they celebrate
the birth of a coarse bad man ; the hero of many a vile deed of
night in the Binnenhof, and by the Koekamp in the Bois de la
Haye ; the grandson of him called William the worst. Hahnshche
bier and schiedam flow freely even in Weltevreden ; and there is
hope and rejoicing among prisoners of state and manacled felons;
two prisoners shall go free on the King s birthday.

And who shall they be ? The Colonel and the Baron ? or

308 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

Resident and Topographer; or perhaps the Commander and mato
of the Flirt ? The patriotism of strong drink rises up in song ;
the man has beer who will have the bastinado on the morrow ;
the convict clanks his chains with maudlin joy on the nineteenth
day of February ; for then a king was born ; and on this day,
there is a jubilee of gin in the prison of Weltcvreden.

There is revelry in the rakits on the waters of the Moosie ;
men are zealous to be drunk, drinking hard, and singing loud ;
and " Willem s bluid " is mingled largely with patriotic beer in
the barracks of Palembang. The red-headed lieutenant and the
adjutant, brave with schiedam once more, would honor the birth
day of William the Third by exploits like his own ; and go in
quest of hadjys again who have helpless women to sell.

But they have better escort than a picket of men this time.
There is the bloated lieutenant of the sea, for this is a fitting ex
pedition for him ; and for the mulatto of Surinam ; but what is
the haughty chief doing here, the cold-hearted De Brauw, and
the courtly Blommestein ; the rude yet soldierly Kress ; the
worthy Shahbander, the hospitable Van Ochsee ; Buckel, the Sec
retary; and Poolman, van Hemskerk and Schmidt; all aroused
by the inspiring swill of schiedam, are going to do fitting honor to
the birthday of the debauchee of the Hague.

They are going in a barge, to cross the Moosie ; they are thir
teen in all, besides the steersman ; the trusty helmsman of the
Resident ; but where is he ? the barge is ready, he is not to be
found, and there is no one to steer ; a skilful hand is needed in the
swift current of the stream; and one is standing near, a half-
breed, well skilled with the dayong, oar or rudder on the waters
of the Moosie ; and the Resident accepts the service of the master
of the barque from Bali, to steer them safely across the stream.

DROWNING OF WITNESSES. 309

It was on the day after the birthday of the King of Holland,
on the 20th of February, 1852, that this excursion took place;
this day happening to be the feast of the Chinese New Year, the
Chap-Go-Meh; a day of great license and debauch among China
men in Sumatra. As the officers of the garrison wished to take
a part in this revelry, the Resident had deferred the leave of frolic
for the royal anniversary until the following day, when an excur
sion was proposed among the Chinese, and certain Malay cam-
pongs. The Resident had business in view in connection with this
excursion ; he had already received instructions to obtain every
particle of evidence relating to the visit of the Flirt, and the inter
course of her commander with the natives of all ranks. He de
signed to visit in particular the houses of those Chinamen, who
had entertained the American commander ; and he took with him
those officers, who had been the most in his company, and could
testify to the greater portion of his conversation during his stay
at Palembang. These officers were to be called upon for their
testimony ; they were the principal witnesses for the government.
They had noted down words, said in friendly and confidential
moments, the same as certain officers of the Arjuno and the Boreas ;
as part of the service of every Dutch military and naval officer in
Netherland India, is that of a spy for his government.

The absence of the regular steersman of the cutter or barge,
was probably accidental, as also the presence of the Balinese Cap
tain, who stood ready to take his place. But no doubt the half-
breed thought at once of gratifying his revenge for the insults
that had been heaped upon him by these Europeans. He was at
home, like a fish in the water ; the river was swollen, the wind was
blowing fresh ; it would require skill to cross, and there was no
safety, but in a faithful, as well as a skilful hand:

Plenteous gin had made the European officers affable with the

310 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

hull-breed; debauchery is democratic; and soldierly pride and
magisterial dignity, reeling with beer, were willing to follow the
Creole to a Chinese serai. They followed the dancing lantern
lights, and the ding dong of bells, that had guided the American
commander on the last evening of his freedom at Palembaug. They
visit the rakits of Tchoo-Kee-Lin, the chief of the Chinamen, of
Oey Soch Tchay, and of Oey Tsce Yang; the latter shows the
seat of his late American guest, and mentions all that he had ob
served him do, and with whom he had spoken. Tumungung
Nora Wangsa has related the conversations with Tchoon Long,
the Resident always startles at the mention of the name of Fcrdano
Mantri; the Chino Malay is sought for, and found, and with
him they proceed to return to the Fort. Plentiful tchoo having
been added to gin, made the barge unsteady with reeling epau
lettes. The two half-breeds were seen to speak together, before
they left the shore ; they were seen to exchange looks on reaching
the mid-current of the stream ; the waters were rolling fast, and
the barge for a time was held firmly with her head to the stream ;
her sail fluttered in the wind, she began to pay off, she is broach
ing too, broadside to the stream ; some one rushed towards the
Balinese, but ere his hand could be stayed, the waters of the
Moosic were sweeping over the barge.

When the first surge had entered the boat, the half-breeds
were out, and breasting their way towards the native campongs
on the left bank of the river. Many of the Dutchmen, who were
in a little state cabin, were seen no more ; some uplifted arms,
and epaulettes were seen for a time, but the waters soon roll over,
and all were gone but three; two dark faces stemmed away
towards the fort, and a last struggling arm was seized by a native
Bwimmer. The Resident, the Assistant Resident, and the Sha-

EFFECT OF THE DROWNING. 311

bandar, were all who returned to the fort of Palembang, and
there were no witnesses to return with the Arjuno to Batavia.

Some brave and courteous men, and some rude and brutal
soldiers were food for the caymans. Some portion of the re
mains of Major Van Blommestein, afterwards found far down the
stream, were only recognizable by a fragment of uniform and
button attached ; and a skull with an obliterated face was found, but
some remnants of deep red hair, told that this was part of the
once stern Kress. There are other details of this event, that
need not be dwelt on here, which are recorded in the Javaasche
Courant, the official journal of Batavia, also in the English jour
nals of Singapore, of the 9th March, 1852.
* ******

The drowning of the ten officers at Palembang ; the suspicions
resting upon the Balinese Captain, and the half-breed Chinaman ;
their former relations with the commander of the Flirt ; all these
circumstances gave rise to many extravagant rumors and suppo
sitions at the time ; and caused the American prisoners at Welte-
vreden to be subjected to a more rigid surveillance. Wild stories
of strange-looking piratical craft, having been seen lurking among
the islands of the Straits of Simda, were in the mouths of all the
gossipers of Batavia; there were rumors of an armed expedition,
hovering near the coast of Java, watching an opportunity to carry
off from Krawang, the chieftain Ferdano Mantri, and a prisoner
of Weltevreden.

The chieftain was confined more closely in Poorwacarta ; and
the prisoner was for a time subjected to closer discipline in his
cell. He could see no one, he had no books to read and no means
to write. He suffered with bad air and bad food ; he had no re
lief from cheerful companionship, and the little child whom he
had taught, and from whom he had learned, could come no more

312 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

with a pretty smiling face, and with refreshing, health preserving
mangosteens.

He began to feel more fully, the desolation of four close, bare
walls ; of a wet tile floor, of a rude platform, of rusty iron bars.
He wanted to be tried; but his judges wanted to find out the
foundation for the wild rumors they had listened to. The Arjuiio
went back again to Palembang, with peremptory orders to bring
the Resident, with all his surviving officers, and all natives that
could be secured, who had spoken with the commander of the
Flirt. Two other steamers, the Phoenix and the Borneo, were
sent to visit Engano, to cruise in the Straits of Sunda, in those of
Gaspar Straits, to visit Bali, Linga, and many more islands said
to have been visited by the Flirt, before she touched at Minto.

The Flying Dutchman that had so often disturbed the dreams
of sailors in the times of Drake and Tromp, had emigrated to
America, and had appeared with the stars and stripes at the gaflf
of the Flirt, among the islands of Mynheer in the East. He had
been seen at anchor, among a pirate fleet in some bay of Bali ; or
scuttling a ship in Gaspar Straits ; selling cargoes of arms to the
people of Jambee, Siak, and Indraghiri; and doing many other
piratical feats; and as the Pylades had captured him, and the
Arjuno had brought him safely to jail, it remained for the
Phoenix and the Borneo to look up the evidences of his exploits
in various quarters, since no witnesses from Palembang could bo
obtained ; and thus the naval forces of Netherland India were in
very active service throughout the Archipelago in 1852.

The efforts that were made by the Netherland India Govern
ment, to hunt up evidence against the people of the Flirt, were
strangely disproportioned to the cause of the exertion. No man
in Netherland India had seen more than nine feeble men; and
not a cannon, nor keg of powder, on board the little schooner;

THE SHADOW BEHIND THE FLIRT. 313

and yet, why had she caused such alarm at Palembang; and so
much "disturbed the peace of Netherland India;" as Col. De
Brauw said in his despatch to the Governor General. It was not
the little Flirt; but there was a shadow of something behind her ;
a largely looming shadow of a presence,- coming to disturb a
peaceful monopoly of more than two hundred years. The shadow
of a power fast coming, was there; that would know why great
empires of land, and forest and mineral wealth, were to remain
embargoed by a petty power, that had only the force to menace,
and not the means to develop and control.

THIRTY-NINTH DAY.

FOR a time it was a hard struggle even with some help of philo
sophy of soul, and a good constitution, to bear up against hope
deferred, uncertainty of law, badgering in the judgment seat, bad
quarters, bad air, worse food, and nothing to do. This, the hardest
fate of all for a prisoner, to have nothing to do, but to prey upon
himself; to dream of home, of bright firesides, of shady groves,
of sunny fields, and glistening spring streams; and then of love-
in its best and brightest garb, of love without motive, love with
out thought of gain; beside it in the quiet home, beside it in the
fields, and by the sea shore; and then to think of lapse of time,
of the gulf of space ; of the good forgotten, and evil only grow
ing by absence; to feel the world rolling over us, alive in a gravo;
no one heeding, no one coming; not a voice through those bars,
but the voice of demons, aye, demons of cells, who come alone to
lonely men, and blow, foul staining breaths, on mirrors of home,
blotting out love, and hope, and peace from the self-eating heart

But there was work for the prisoner to do; something to rouse
the self-preying soul; work for his jailers, work for the Govern
ment ; that had put all its talent into prison.

The Government wanted many millions of bricks, to build
uoinc store-houses, some barracks, and some more walls and ct lls

THE UNHUNG MARSHAL OP NAPOLEON. 315

in the prison of Weltevreden. The government, like all other
governments, gave its good jobs for public service or public plun
der to favorites of the governing ones, without much regard to the
interest of the governed.

The contract for bricks was given to the grandson of a stout
supporter of the Netherland India monopoly. A terrible man,
by the way, was that grandfather, who took large contracts to slay
men ; a marshal of the great contractor, Napoleon ; the Marshal
Dacndels, of whom the imperial warrior said, that if he had two
Daondels in his army, he must hang one; so terrible for hanging
his own people, as well as for slaying the enemy, was that old
Dutch marshal.

He was sent during the imperial sway of his commander in
chief, to be Governor General of the late Dutch empire in the
East, now merged into the empire of the French. He gave out
contracts to build forts and roads. He said to one, make ten mil
lions of bricks, and to build a fort within six months, and if not
finished, the man should hang on the top of his work. He bade
the people of Java, to make a road the whole length of the
island, from Anjer to Banjoowangie, on which he might roll his
carriages and his cannon, and for every portion not finished in a
given time, he hung those who directed the labor; such a fort-
builder and road-maker was the terrible Marshal Daendels.

But this was not all; whilst he demanded the labor of the
men, and hucg when not promptly performed, he demanded the
favors of the women; and was as ruthless when thwarted in the
favor of the one, as by a failure in the labor of the other. He
burst through the wilderness of Java, with his great military
road; and he burst into many a Javan home, with his great
soldierly lust. At every relay on his highway march, there was

316 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEV.

a virgin sacrifice offered to this Blue Beard, this great devouring
Dutch Moloch of Java.

And a grandson of this man, this marshal of Napoleon, this
chief devil of the Javanese, had a contract for bricks; but had
none of the grandfather s way of getting the job done. Bricks
were no longer to be made, as in the old man s time, when tho
clay of Java might have been mixed with Javan virgins tears,
and worked with the fettered feet of Javan princes. The grand
son must content himself with the sweat of Chinese coolies, and
the working feet of Javanese buffaloes.

Hand-working and beast-tramping were too slow for the wants
of the Government, but what was to be done? there was DO
marshal now, to demand the unwilling labor of five thousand
men ; for just so many were wanted to do the work as fast as re
quired; and these could not be got, nor paid when obtained. Tho
government need of bricks was talked of in Batavia. A great
many Dutch labor-saving ideas were suggested; but all, very
little faster than Chinese feet and buffalo hoofs.

There was one, who had travelled in America ; he had heard
of machines in that country, that turned out their thousand of
brick, whilst a buffalo could turn round. Where was tho
American that could tell the contractor something about such ;i
brick-making machine ? Two men then lived in Java, wanderers
from the land of notions, who could tell something, give some
idea of a plan ; but they had been thirty years absent from home ;
thirty years behindhand with the progress- of their country; and
the American burghers of Batavia could not start any ideas for
making bricks any faster than their Dutch fellow-subjects.

But these are not all the Americans in Java; we have somo
c.igcd in Weltevreden. The contractor and his friends speak
whimperingly about them. They must be cautious how they mix

A GOVERNMENT CONTRACTOR IN PRISON. 317

up treason with bricks. The marshal s grandson has a friend, a
fine, generous, brave young fellow, whose father was the noted
friend of Americans, at a time when there was no heavy export
duty on coffee, and the roadstead of Batavia was often filled with
American sails; that father, though not in trade, kept open house
for Americans, whom he loved to see ; and now the son had often
called on the American prisoners in Weltevreden, and had been
active to soften their condition.

The contractor spoke with his young friend about the Ameri
can prisoners ; were they all ruffianly sailors, captain and crew ?
or was there a gentleman among them, one having some knowledge
of the art and science of his country ? The young friend thought
there was more than one ; men who seemed to know a little of
books as well as of ropes. The one he knew best, was the com
mander ; he spoke of him in the kindness of his generous young
heart, with some partiality. The contractor became interested, he
wanted to see him ; he had a friend in the court of justice, and
obtained permission to visit the prison of Weltevreden.

The contractor and his friend came together ; they found a
prisoner much sick and worn out ; the young friend brought some
smuggled trifles to refresh him, and spoke words of hope and
encouragement; and the contractor spoke of the machine that
was wanted. The prisoner knew but little of such things; he
did not say so; for a hope dawned on his mind; his memory
was busy with what he had seen in his visits to workshops, and
at fairs of mechanics at home; thoughts were busy, and he felt
in a mood to attempt impossibilities; it would be something to
do, and he might raise up means and friends outside, by the
attempt.

The prisoner said, that he had seen such a machine as was
wanted ; one that would save the labor of hundreds of men ; ho

318 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

believed that such a one could be made in Java, that Javanpse
mechanics had skill enough to follow a good plan, and he could
make that plan. The contractor was taken aback, this was far
more than he had dreamed of; to get some idea of the nature and
cost of one, to be sent for, was all that he had hoped for ; but to
have one made in Batavia, why, it would be a colonial invention,
and he would get an octroi or patent from the Government.

The prisoner was pressed with eager questions. Could he
indeed do such a thing ? make a brick machine ? He would try.
The contractor was in ecstasies ; he would give ten thousand reci-
pessen (about $3,000), for such a plan; for a good drawing from
which a machine might be made. The prisoner boldly pledged
himself to produce the plan; his young friend and prison com
forter became his guarantee ; and the contract for the brick ma
chine was made in the prison of Weltevreden.

The contractor and his friend had influence to obtain from the
Court of Justice, many relaxations of the surveillance and disci
pline that had been imposed on the commander of the Flirt. He
now saw his prison friends again, the Baron, the Trader, the
Schoolmaster, and the interesting little Umbah. He received
paper, pencils, and instruments, all that he wanted; and was
busily and happily at work for the Government of Netherland
India, like the Resident, the Colonel, the Baron, the Topographer,
the Russian, and the rest of the talent which that government
had locked up in jail.

But in the case of the brick machine, the fact as to who was
the planner, was to be concealed from the authorities. The pay
ment for the plan would depend on the preservation of secrecy ;
as no octroi could be obtained for the work of a foreigner, much
less a prisoner, and such a prisoner; treason would be suspected in
a machine from him, that might turn out to be when made some

THE BRICK MACHINE. 319

self-acting catapult to pelt the Dutch out of Java, instead of a
peaceful grinder and moulder of clay.

The draftsman affected to be occupied with various small
sketches for his patrons; but during the siesta hour, and other
undisturbed periods, he was busy with combinations of clay-work
ers and brick-moulders. It was perhaps a rashly undertaken task
for one who had dealt so little in bricks, who had never seen a brick
machine, except to gaze at it as a curiosity, who had never bought a
brick, nor sold a brick, nor ever thought particularly about bricks
before.

He had a confused picture in his brain of revolving cogs, of a
huge clay hopper, and then of little sliding boxes and scrapers, and
of brown bricks shoved out on a platform, like brown bread from
a Dutch oven. But this picture was like some few notes of a
rare song, that chime on the ear, that flit through the air ; but the
untaught throat can make no melody of it ; nor could the drafts
man get his cogs, moulds, and scrapers, into feasible shape for
making bricks.

He spoiled sheet after sheet of good drawing-board he made
cogs to revolve horizontal and perpendicular ; he made bricks to
slide out, to be shoved out, to drop out ; but still the way was not
clear how they got in, got started ; or how they came out at all.
He devoured every page of a few old Dutch books, having some
meagre details of mechanics ; now more harmonious to him than
the graceful postures and pantun songs of Pleasant Night of the
Ulu.

He strove in vain for a time, to work out a principle into the
details of a working plan ; and oftentimes he paused to think that
he might be like a forger of his own chains ; or like the maker
of the brazen bull of Phalaris for roasting men ; or the French

320

PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

chopper off of heads ; the first use of his machine, might be to
make bricks to strengthen his jail.

But he thought of the guilders, he thought of home, and all
the bright world outside ; and ideas began to dawn, the idea of
the brick machine ; and the idea to get out, before his own skill
had strengthened his jail. He had got a hopper reared up, and
revolving buckets to feed it, some troughs leading the clay into
an endless chain of moulds, and buffaloes hitched to levers like
arms of a cotton press; when the contractor called to see the
progress of the work.

The grandson of Napoleon s marshal was in raptures, he did
not know why ; he knew little of mechanics ; but he saw a ma
chine, though little knowing where the clay went in, and where

, AN OCTROI OBTAINED. 321

the bricks came out. The young friend was proud to see the
work done, as though it were the achievement of a brother ; his
guarantee was made good ; and in the joy of his generous heart
he drew forth a gold watch of costly make, which is worn by that
draftsman to this day.

The grandson of the marshal, had a copy of the plan made
by a skilful Chinese artist ; who though so little inventive, are so
famed for copying painting, plan, or writing, with the minute
fidelity of the copying sun. Plan and papers were laid before the
grave Council of India, Yan Nes, Hogendorp, R/uloffs, and
Visscher, the four advisers of his Excellency, the Minister of
State, and Governor General of Netherland India, Mynheer
Albertus Jacob Duymaer Van Twist.

The skill of Tromp, the chief of Dutch engineers in the East,
and chief examiner of the Government patent office at Batavia,
was called in to judge the work of the grandson of the glorious
marshal of road-making memory. His triumphs of war, in forts,
roads and rapes, were counted dim by the side of the grandson s
triumph in peace ; who would pour out bricks, and rear forts,
and jails with so little cost of guilders, blood and virtue.

The octroi was obtained, " voor een machine tot het vervaar-
digen van muursteenen en dakpannen" for a brick and tile
machine, granted to the grandson of Napoleon s marshal, for the
exclusive making of bricks, throughout Java, Sumatra, Borneo,
and Papua, whenever bricks should be needed there by Dutch
burghers, throughout in fact all of Netherland India, which in
the eyes of that Governor, Council, and the Government at the
Hague, is all land south of the equator, and all east of the Cape
of Good Hope, in the Indian Ocean.

The contractor got his octroi, quicker than the inventor got
his money. He had to wait for the most of it, till a machine and
13*

322 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

bricks were made; but the money did come, after a long lapse of
prison life; it came in good time, when the prison walls began to
grow thicker and to rise higher, when hope of help from home,
and hope of justice began to fail; then the brick machine that
WMS helping to strengthen the prison, did good service for the
prisoner of Wdtevreden.

But this was not the only plan of machine that was made ,
nor the only octroi granted by the Government of Nethcrland
India, for the work of the " high traitor," they held in their civil
and military jail. They had no good means to cut joints, tenons,
and knees for ship timber; nor any contrivance with fine saws to
rip up in veneering flakes, the sandalwood, camphor, and other fine
woods of the Archipelago.

The late commander of the Flirt was more at home in ship
timbers, than in bricks; he had less difficulty with the arrange
ment of round and upright saw blades, than in the arranging of
brick moulds and clay scrapers ; he arranged gear to make sloping
cuts for knees ; and curving ones for fellies ; and the plan was
octroied ; for they had need of great improvement in ships and
cart wheels in Netherland India.

The labors of the prisoner did not cease with his plans to fash
ion useful things out of the earth and the forest, for his jailers;
they had work for him in the water; not in the grand old ocean
to guide some ship he had made, over its broad bosom, to search
for what had slipped the eye of Hanno, Columbus, De Gama, Cook,
La Peyrouse, and Van Dieman ; no, they wanted him to make a
ptcam washing machine.

This prisoner might think no more of vying with those old
navigators of Carthage, Spain, Portugal, England, France, and
Holland. He had launched his last keel, he had buffeted his last
wave with the bows of the Flirt; but he might still win glory

VARIOUS EMPLOYMENT IN PRISON. 323

and gold, with steam, soap, dashers, driers, and mangles; in pro
viding a means for the speedy cleansing of the linen of the great
unwashed army and navy of Netherland India.

Boilers were contrived, with pipes leading into vats, pipes
with punctured ends like garden cans from whence the hot steam
was to issue, into the cold water bubbling and clattering, like
jostled plates of metal; dashers were produced, like the fuller s
buffeting pedals, a drying drum, then mangling rollers for smooth
ing the Dutchmen s shirts; and even crimpers and fluters for
Dutch dames collars and caps; thus the steam washing machine
was made ; and another octroi was granted to two Hebrew Ger
man merchants of Batavia, who hold their patent to this day.

These labors extended over a lengthened period of the stay of
the prisoner in Weltevreden, about the half of a year ; and dur
ing the time, he had seen many changes, many strange scenes,
many new faces. He had seen the Baron reformed ; and Umbah
reading Malay; he had gained the privilege of a walk in the
court ; and had talked with the Colonel about the army, with the
Resident about the jurisprudence; and with the mad lawyer,
about the absence of all law in Netherland India.

He had talked with the Dyak pirate about Borneo ; and he
had seen a later fellow prisoner, a director of mines of coal near
Banyarmassin, from whom he had obtained copies of the great
tortuous river of Banjer or Barito ; and from other sources, he
mapped the Kahajan, the Moorung, the Kuteh, the Kapooas, the
Sambas, and other waters, and of the interior of the great con
tinent island of the Archipelago.

He saw prisoners and visitors from without, from Celebes, the
Moluccas, Timor, Papua, and from all parts of the Archipelago.
He used all his small chances, to take notes, sketches, and plans ;
and why ? to prepare some plan of invasion ? to get afloat once

324 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

more, and to start for Jambce with some machine in the Flirt,
that should save the work of hands and guns, and knock down
Dutchmen, as he had turned out bricks ?

There were Dutchmen willing to believe such things as that;
Dutchmen in the Government, and Dutchmen in the courts of
Netherland India. They got some hint of his doings, and paid
him a domiciliary visit of justice ; although they found nothing,
but some rude and rejected tracings ; yet they saw little else but
treason in river and coast lines; and in sketchings of cogs,
buckets, saw teeth, flowers, brick moulds, kriss blades, mangos-
teens, wash tubs, and Malay women.

They curtailed his liberty again; his walks in the court, his
talks with the prisoners ; he was called often to the Hall of In
struction, to that weary little black hall, whither he went ; and
elsewhere before judges in Batavia; altogether two and fifty
times did he appear before a judicial tribunal, during his strango
fluctuating life, of hopes and fears, of teaching and learning, of
inventing and laboring ; and of misery and plenty ; and of bitter
sorrow and pleasant interest in the prison of Weltevreden.

The weary prisoner denied his former use of books, paper,
pencils, and pens, made charts and vocabularies on his bare walls.
He studied a little of language from every sentinel, and every
convict, that would talk to him through his bars ; learning of
Dyak language habits and piracy from his waiter; and much
about the common life of the masses of these islands from other
waiters and soldiers; a piece of charcoal transmitted what he
learned to his broad pages of plaster; and by and by, when
scrawled all full in columns from top to bottom, the cells were
whitewashed, and that gave him a new supply of stationery.

THE WRITING ON THE WALL.

325

Yes, with charcoal, and on his bare walls, he wrought out
many, a fancy, many a thought; they fled with the whitewash
brush ; but the record on the wall for a time, helped memory the
better to hold them till now. And those thoughts and fancies
were all wrought out and treasured for the instruction or enter
tainment, and none for the hurt of his fellow-man; and his jailers
might have seen this, and spared him some misery, and themselves
some shame.

" Hang him or let him go free," were wise words, said by one
old judge ; but he spoke in vain to his younger colleagues, like
the Samnite Senator to his compatriots, when they had caught
the Romans in the Caudine forks. " Let them go untouched, and
make a great people your fast friends;" said the Samnite. " Let

326 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

him go, restored to all he had ; and make the citizen of a great
people, your praiser amoiig them; " said the Bataviau judge.

But the other judges, councillors, and Government of Batavia,
would fain try the timid policy of the younger Samuites ; pursue
a middle course, use the yoke and the prison, delighting to tor
ment ; but not having nerve to kill. And did not the one reap a
harvest of war and utter ruin for this wavering, unworthy policy
for a nation ? and what has the Government of Netherland India
reaped, by the policy it pursued ?

It may have reaped only this ; a slight unveiling, perhaps the
slight awakening of an interest, nothing more, among the great
people of America, to inquire into the monopoly of Holland in
the East. And that inquiry may not be stilled, till the monopoly
of nations that cannot be controlled, of lands that cannot be tilled, of
mines that cannot be worked, and of spices that cannot be gath
ered, shall have ceased in the East Indian Archipelago.

The Romans went under the yoke; the prisoner is in his
prison ; and he is weak and weary, and wanting many things at
this time. He has made machines for bricks ; but he needs a few
dry ones for his floor ; he has set many saws in whirling motion ;
but not one will cut through those iron-studded doors ; and he
has contrived a plan for washing an army in a day ; but he sadly
needs some washing ; and even some linen to be washed.

He has now money to buy ; but he cannot have all he wants ;
some proper hands to prepare some of the under garments of ci
vilized life ; he was not fastidious, he knew rough life and rough
fare ; but it was harsher than coarse fare, to go with unwashed
linen; or to roam his cell like the Phidian Jupiter, or like his
iH-i^hbor the Baron, who had been fifteen years a soldier;
and had a good tough Dutch skin.

His young friend, the solace of his prison, came to his aid; he

WOMAN S DUTIES IN JAVA. 327

had a relative in one of the judges of the Court, the one the prisoner
had met, during his first hours of liberty in Batavia ; the young
man plead with his relative ; the judge came to see the prisoner;
he spoke with him kindly, he had wished him to go free, long time
ago. He spoke with the jailer to relax agian, despite the orders
of the Attorney General ; the prisoner received many comforts ;
and he should not wash clothes in his yard any more ; but should
have the service of a washerman.

Washing, sewing, cooking, waiting, and the most of domestic
work done by women in the western world, is performed by men
in the East. In the Archipelago, as in Hindustan and China,
men milliners cut and make the dresses of European and native
ladies ; chambermen make up the beds instead of chambermaids ;
and male hands dash and rub and soap soiled linen ; wringing,
drying, starching, and ironing, and doing all the duty of a wash
erwoman.

Women have not much to do of housework in Java, they do
the most of the responsible labor of men, except the fighting,
the gambling, opium smoking and drinking of arrack; they set
up shop, a toko, and like grass widows of Paris, do all the small
counter transfers of trade, the small peddling of wares, and
changing of coin; gain little freeholds and cabins of their own;
and often generously support some returning, recreant lord, con
tent to live ingloriously on the gains of woman s saving and
skill.

A washerman came to the prison, to help the washing-machine
maker wash his own clothes. This orang chuchee, this washer
man, had another privileged client in prison ; the two made some
bulk of clothes to carry ; and Clmchee s wife came to help ; but
not always; there came another to bear the burden of one pri
soner s clothes, a help that bore away the burden of many a prison

328 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

care ; and sent him garments once that helped him to walk forth
from those prison walls.

Who was that help, that aided the Chuchee, that cheered the
prison, that bore away clothes and cares ? A help without hire,
a liberator without ransom; who was that help, that came to
Wrltevreden? The story was told by one when fresh from its
walls, by him who was helped, when grateful memories of the
helper were fresh, warm in his heart, not warmer than now ; but
brighter and livelier, as he bounded homeward on rolling waters.

The warm words of his fancies then, the fancies that danced
with the waves, are fitter for the theme, than the heavy thoughts of
these after years, made weary by much hard tilting with harsh
souled men. Let us listen to the story, along with the mission
aries and their spouses, the young lady, the nurse, the baby,
the Boatswain, the Captain and his lady, on board the Palmer, on
her homeward voyage from Java.

FORTIETH DAY.

I HAD passed five months in prison; the first of these, full of
startling change ; from a yacht to a fort ; two valets in a dainty
cabin ; two marines guarding me in a kennel in a ship s hold ;
and then passing from a bloody berth to a bloody cell ; from a
steamship to a guardship, and from amid sailor cursings to ma
niac ravings. I had passed through a painful ebb and flow of hope ;
two days I had been free, then back to my cell ; worried with
examinations before a prosecution where I had no aid of coun
sel ; asking for trial, asking for confrontation with my accusers ;
but justice delaying; and Providence interposing, making my
complex case still more complicated, and then at last getting
up an interest in the companionship of my prison, in the Baron,
Uinbah, and my neighbor felons ; and thus passed the first month
in Weltevreden.

I had become well used to the fare, to the rice and curry ; I
found indeed my stomach strengthening ; for it had been a little
ailing in years past, as it is with nearly all at home in America,
feeding on fats and sweet and pasty compounds ; I no longer
awoke with the accustomed clammy tongue and dizzy head, that
followed the richer fare of home. Rice, the chief grain food of
two thirds of the people of the earth, when cooked dry and soft,
as in the East, is an open, porous mass in the stomach, allow
ing the ready action of digesting juices, far better for the seden-

330 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

tary, women, pcnsmcn, artists ; than the more concentrated fari
naceous grains. I must thank the Dutch for forcing me to
appreciate the health-preserving diet of rice and fruits.

I had become used to a wet floor, an oozing sweat from the
moat; I had dreaded cramps and aching joints, the fate of others
in the cells ; but they never came. I kept always on my stilt-
like clogs; and took as much care to dress, with what I had, as
when among society outside. The prisoners who abandoned
themselves to a half nude state, to an unkept face, to unshod
feet; seeking ease and an escape from the heat; seemed to suffer
the more. Their feet swelled, their bodies became blotched and
festered with exposure ; and Java fever, that scourge which had
given to Batavia the name of the grave of Europeans, was almost
daily thinning out the prison.

I hud obtained the privilege of a walk in the main court, half
an hour in the morning, and half an hour in the afternoon. I had
become acquainted with the Resident, the Topographer, and the
Colonel, at their several gratings ; I had talked with the mad law
yer, I had studied Dutch and Sumatra with the Baron ; the Malay
and Arabic writing with Umbah and the Schoolmaster ; and thus
passed away my second month in prison.

I had counted my stay by days, then by weeks ; but now I
began to count by months ; and hopes of liberty or escape, that
had at first seemed painful, when a week ahead, now seemed more
tolerable, if likely to happen in a month to come. The pain of
the prison had not become less, but I had begun to enter into a world
within these confining walls; and I found opportunities there, bet
ter, perhaps, than if I had been some well comforted guest in a
hotel outside, for obtaining a thorough knowledge of the people,
and resources of the East Indian Archipelago.

I seemed to be forgotten ; there was but little incident in con-

LIBERATION OF THE CREW OF THE FLIRT. 331

nection with my judges and jailers, after the drowning of the wit
nesses at Palembang. I learned afterwards of the busy search
for evidence, but during the time, I heard nothing of what was
doing in my case ; heard no word from home, from Commodore,
or Americans any where, in reply to all the messages that I sent
forth, and so it was, that with studies and machine making I passed
very quietly all of the third month in prison.

At the commencement of the fourth, my late crew were set
free. The men were liberated in order to make witnesses of
them ; and it had been supposed from some peevish words of a
few, that they would testify against their commander ; but never
was prosecution more disappointed in a set of witnesses, than
the attorney-general and Government in my sailors. They were
all true, even the Brazilians ; not one word, but what most tri
umphantly vindicated me ; as I had an opportunity to learn from
the record of their testimony at a later day.

But prison life had made sad havoc on the stout frames of my
men; they were lodged in closer cells, had fared even coarser
than I had done; and being without any store of thought, or
occupation of the mind, the body had wasted and wilted away in
the damps and heat of the prison. Two had already gone to the
hospital, stricken down with Java fever, before the order came
for the release of all ; and as I never heard of those two again, I
believe that they found a grave on Javan soil.

The stout Jim was a woful sight ; that hardy bullet of a
man, with rugged face, and thick muscle ; as I had seen him enter
the prison three months before. He now drooped his haggard
face ; he walked with wavering step ; and his voice could barely
be heard ; and yet, poor fellow, hopeful and stanch to the last,
proffering words of cheer and encouragement to me, that was so

332 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

well. I would stand by the ship, would I not? The Dutch
would have their turn, and we our " innings," some day.

I never felt the prison till I saw my men go out of it ; more
my men now, since we had suffered together, than when a crew on
board the Flirt. Great children they were, in the matter of self-
control, that knew not their right hand from their left, whom I had
only known before at the cold distance of command at sea, to
work and to correct, to feed and to physic them ; but in the prison,
the barrier between the cabin and the forecastle had been broken
down ; by me, and not by them. I had sent them counsel, and
equal shares of all the luxuries that came to my hand; and when
free, they all wished to stay and await the day of my liberation,
hoping that we would all sail in the good little Flirt again.

But they could not stay ashore in Batavia. No stranger can
stay in Java without the permission of the Dutch Government ;
no person can go there to reside, without providing two bonds
men, to be his security to a large amount ; and as my sailors
proved to be of no value as witnesses, the Government wanted to
be rid of them ; yet would afford them no means to enable them
to go away, if they had wished to leave.

At this juncture, the generous young friend of Americans,
came forward to take my men to his house ; he had already taken
two under his roof; but the Government forbade his offering this
shelter and comfort to American seamen ; they were removed by
the police, and all my men were sent on board the guard ship.
There they remained in a worse condition than in prison; they
prayed to be sent back to their cells in Weltevreden ; by and by, as
they lost health, and all hope of sailing with me again, they wanted
to ship, and get to sea again; but no shipmaster would take such
emaciated men ; the Government would not pay their passage to
SingajK)re, where a United States Consul might take care of

VACILLATION OP JUDGES AND JAILERS. 333

them ; and thus these men lingered at Batavia ; the victims of
a government and jurisprudence, that had blundered into a case
they did not know how to dispose of.

There is no doubt, that for a time, the Government of Nether-
land India, would have rejoiced to have got rid of us, by our
escaping ; or in any other way, that would make us appear self-
convicted of the crime that they alleged ; whereby the action of
their officers at Palembang would be sustained, and the Govern
ment would be relieved from all liability to a reclamation for
damages. But the men would not go away ; and I would not try
to escape. Dutch justice stood waiting for something to turn up ;
and that was the state of affairs during my fourth month in
prison.

During the fifth, a stricter discipline had tightened upon me,
in consequence of the discovery of my mapping and sketching. I
had been subjected to most extraordinary fluctuations of treat
ment, since the first day of my arrest. For a time in the fort of
Palembang, I was guarded by a sentinel, who had to watch every
movement I made ; the following day the sentinel paced to and
fro, and allowed any person to speak with me. On board the
Arjuno, I was closely watched to prevent my attempting suicide;
but allowed to converse as I pleased ; on board the Boreas, the
orders were to arrest any one, who attempted to speak to me ; but
I had every opportunity to drown, to choke myself, or cut my
throat, which ever way I felt inclined. I was carried in a van
with guarded secrecy to Weltevreden ; but went and hunted up the
Stad prison, in an open carriage, along with a friend. Then there
had been a continued tightening and relaxing of my confinement ;
then a sudden stirring up of my judges ; examinations and worry-
ings in the little black star chamber ; followed by a long dead
calm. The simple fact was, that Government and judges did not

334 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

know what to do. They had been put by the excess of zeal and
treachery combined of their officers at Puleinbang, upon the high
horse of treason, " hoofd vcrraad" and did not know how to ride
him, or how to get down. A trial for such a stately crime, was a
novelty in Netherland India. They had been accustomed to hang
men at once, who had become troublesome to the Government ;
and then send a report of the matter to the Hague. They had
without, any molestation, or after reclamations, massacred a num
ber of Englishmen at Amboyna ; then, in the time of Valckenier,
they had made a second St. Bartholomew s day in Batavia;
slaughtered in cold blood ten thousand Chinese men, women, and
children, without a shadow of the excuse of the Turkish Sultan
for slaying his janissaries. There was no fear of reclamations on
the part of a Chinese emperor, who can afford to sell one hundred
thousand people every year, to labor or to die as slaves.

Thus the monopolists and taskmasters of these Eastern
islands, had hung and quartered on several occasions, without the
troublesome and expensive inconveniences of a trial; but there
was that shadow behind the Flirt, an ominous shadow, that had
flitted from time to time, across the Archipelagian waters; it
might be of some very ferocious, it might be of some very gentle,
placable monster, but evidently one that could devour the Archi
pelago in a trice ; and it would be well not to rouse it, by de
vouring the little Flirt and her people in too unceremonious a
manner ; and so they fluctuated between the fear of letting me go
to stir up disturbance by my denouncing tongue ; and the fear of
destroying me, which might stir up worse.

One of these tightening fits had come over my jailers, during
the closo of the fifth month. I was denied the walk in the yard.
I was out of employment, except the scrawling and sketching

A CHANGE OF EVENTS. 335

upon my walls. I was beginning to feel the oppression of my
prison very much. Hope in my Government, hope in friends ;
and with the common weakness of mortality, hope in God began
to fail. I felt nothing but a dark and dogged resolution to defy
my jailers to the last ; but this dark state, was that deepening
gloom that precedes the dawn.

Three stirring events were about to break in upon the dreary
monotony of my prison life ; and to make all its after experience
a drama of intense interest and strange variety. These events were,
a visit, the celebration of a day, and the advent of a ship of war.
And as first in order of time, and first in interest, I will tell you
of the visit.

FORTY-FIRST DAY.

THE VISIT.

IT was one of the last days of the fifth month of my stay in
prison ; and on the first day of July, at the honr of noon, the
siesta hour, when all doors were locked ; keepers and prisoners
generally were asleep, sentinels were dozing ; and I was stepping
over my narrow cell floor, back and forth, with unsteady and
clattering footsteps in my Chinese clogs. As I looked through
the bars of my window, I saw the grating in the doorway that
leads into the main court, darkened from time to time, by a peer
ing woman s face.

I was surprised to see any one, but the sentinel, in the main
court at that hour ; but sometimes Chuchee, the washerman, or
his wife, had come a little while before the hour of admission, and
were allowed, if a good-natured sentinel was on guard, to pass the
outer gate, and enter the main court; where they would sit,
quietly chewing their siri, or betel nut, until the cell doors were
opened for the entrance of visitors, and the attending coolies ; and
this was now the case, as I observed, very soon, the livid face of
the turnkey at the door of the court ; and behind him came the lank,
shrivelled figure of the wife of Chuchee, followed by two young
females, who carried between them the basket of clothes.

GRAND-DAUGHTER OF PANYORANQ OSMAN IN PRISON. 337

For a time, I did not observe these helps, who stood outside
of my cell, whilst the hideous face of the turnkey stared in at my
door, watching the old crone, as she sorted out my portion of
clothes. He asked gruffly, who these women were, that had fol
lowed her into the block ; what did they want ? They were two
young women, from the country near Samarang, staying a while
in Batavia with their brother, who was now with them ; but the
guard would not let him pass the outer gate. They were curious
to see the prison, and had come with her to help her ; they had
good letters to the Kapalla campong (the native portion of
Batavia, being divided into campongs, over which a Kapalla, or
native alderman, presides); they were not nyahees; but people
of good character ; and would not give Tuan Tutup, Mister Lock
up, as the natives called the turnkey, any cause for complaint.

The turnkey went off to open some other doors, growling to
the old woman as he turned away, for her to clear out quick, as
he would be there in a minute to close the door.

As soon as he had turned his back ; and whilst the old woman
was stooped down, arranging the basket, my doorway was dark
ened ; I saw a pleasant face that I had seen before ; but a coarse
dress, hair tied up in a common knot, ears, neck, and arms with
out ornament, and other indications of the coarse toilette of the
inferior class of Javanese women, prevented me, for a time, from
recognizing the graceful and intelligent grand-daughter, the kam-
bing utan, the antelope of Panyorang Djaya Laksana.

Her hand on her lips, and an expressive look, checked some
exclamations of surprise. The old woman had arranged her
basket, and stepped to the door. The other person, whom I had
not seen, stepped forward; a stout, handsome, matronly young
woman, of pure Javanese type of features ; she took one handle
of the basket, and she and the old woman moved off; and, when
15

338 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

they had turned their backs, I learned from a few words rapidly
uttered by the remaining one, that after my arrest, the Pan-
yorang had felt great distress about me ; but he had believed that
I was betuah, invulnerable, that the Dutch satans could not hurt
me ; he wanted to help, but Allah only could help ; he had prayed
to Allah ; then Wirojoyo came, and took his daughter back to
Cheribon; the Panyorang said, to send him much news of the
American tuan, when in Java. Wirojoyo had come to Batavia ;
his two daughters and a son with him ; they had heard of the
American tuan in the house of care ; they wanted to see him, but
were afraid ; every body spoke with little hearts about the Tuan ;
afraid of the Company. Wirojoyo was afraid to ask at the gate ;
he and his daughters had often passed by, and looked sadly at the
prison walls ; they spoke with an old woman that came out ; she
saw the American tuan, she washed for him; they then put
on dress like little people, affected poverty ; and made friendly
face to the old woman; they pretended also to have big
eyes; curiosity to see the house of care; and offered to help;
their hearts were very little, trembling with fear, as they passed
the gate, and saw the fierce soldiers, like tigers ; but Allah was
good, and great indeed, they had seen the American tuan ; and
the Panyorang would have heart joy, so much, so much, to know
that Tuan was well. Papa Wirojoyo would help the Tuan ; and
what could Sayeepa, and her sister and brother do ?

I had begun to speak in reply, when I heard the beast voice
of the turnkey calling out some offensive words to my visitor ;
she started with affright, and fled; he rushed forward, and
Beized the terrified young woman. I had reached him, almost as
Boon as he had laid hands upon her ; and yet I found hands upon
him, even quicker than mine. The Baron seized the ex-dragoon
by his shaggy hair, applied his foot to his back, and laid the

PRISONERS rUNISIIING A TURNKEY. 339

brutal turnkey sprawling in the court-yard, whilst my visitor fled,
with her sister, out of prison.

The outcry of the belabored Tutup, roused the prison from
its noonday torpor ; the stolid sentinel having no orders to inter
pose, or shoot any body, looked on the scene with quiet glee. The
jailer appeared ; and listened to the groans and charges of his
lugubrious subordinate.

Mynheer Pieters seemed to think that Baron Van Norden had
carried his audacity, and his presumption upon judicial and
governmental favor too far. The American Captain had no favor
to presume upon ; and he had taken a step that would qualify
him for irons and a close cell in one of the back blocks. Mynheer
Pieters was determined to know if he was the jailer, or a prisoner;
also if the Baron had received the commission to hold the keys
of Weltevreden. He would have this question decided at once
by Mynheer Van Rees, the Resident of Batavia.

The turnkey slunk away; and the jailer bustled off to the
Stadhuis to make his report, leaving myself and the Baron at
liberty in the court-yard.

The Baron laughed heartily for a time ; then spoke somewhat
seriously. It was lucky for us, that these brutes did not have
supreme control of the jail ; but were obliged to get the orders
of the Resident before making a change in the condition of a pri
soner ; were it not so, this old adjutant and dragoon would give
us irons, the bastinado, and the close jug very frequently.

This is probably one of the most loosely managed prisons in
the world. The Resident, the chief magistrate of the city, has,
according to law, the chief direction of it. But the attorney-
general has an influence superior to him ; and the jailer would not
venture to liberate a prisoner, even with an order from the High
Court in the hands of the Sheriff, unless he had a private note

340 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

from the chief prosecutor that all was right. The Court of
Justice or Low Court of Batavia, has something to do with the
payment of Pieters ; and, of course, he must pay court to that
important branch of his patrons.

The result is, that you see almost as many different prison-
treatments as there are prisoners. One has friends, and another one
has enemies, who have influence with one or more of these patrons;
and his condition varies accordingly; and then he sometimes
has a friend in one court, and an enemy in another, and he fluc
tuates as you have done, between a close cell, bad fare, and ugly
looks ; and an open court, with promenades, and a good deal of
smiling obsequiousness. Several men have been driven to despair
and strychnine ; and others have gone mad with license and de
bauch within these prison walls; just according as he stood per
sonally with Government or Justiciary. By the way, this place
has rather a singular name : on this site once -stood the villa of a
burgher of the time of Van Imhoff Weltevreden signifies good
comfort, or contentment, in Dutch.

But let us turn to a pleasanter theme than the Prison
of "VVeltevreden. I was struck with the graceful appearance
of those two young women, who came with your washerwoman to
day ; especially the one who stopped behind to talk with you.
Though dressed like the nyahees of soldiers, they looked more
like fitting inmates for the kraton of the emperor of Surakerta,
than for this prison. Relatives of that old woman, from the in
terior near Bogor ; perhaps so ; but I doubt it ; and the smaller
one looks half Malay, and of a type I have seen in the Pas-
sumah.

Now, what training of Europe could give greater style, more
dignity of bearing, and ease of movement ; and such a graceful
adjustment of a coarse dress, as these two young women exhibit;

GRACE AND BEAUTY IN THE ARCHIPELAGO. 341

and as you see in almost every woman in Sumatra and Java, that
is elevated above the common coolie class. They are equal to the
finest standard of European aristocracy in person and habits.
They are not more remarkable for their grace and elegance, than
for their cleanliness ; in one particular especially ; the right hand
which is used for eating, for saluting, and for embroidering flowers
on their fine clothes, is never allowed to touch a vessel, or raw food
in cooking, or any other defilement; but is preserved by the
Javanese woman, as sacredly cleanly as a sacramental chalice.

These two are evidently of a higher race, than their dress
would indicate; but such disguisements are the common practice
of every native woman of any quality above the lowest class.
Any comeliness of person, or elegance of garments would expose
her at once to deliberate, open brutalities by our civilized
brethren ; against which the Malay or Javanese woman has no
protection, but her own personal courage, and nerve to use
pointed steel; which, by the way, is common enough, and saves
them to a great extent from one universal assault upon their vir
tue; for which Netherland India law affords not a shadow of
protection.

This oriental grace, and symmetry of person, I have spoken of,
is certainly not monopolized by the women of the Archipelago ;
there are the same fine moulded limbs on the banks of the Indus ;
but nowhere in Continental India, or in all Asia, will you meet
with such courtly grace ; and nowhere, except among the better
classes of the European race, can you meet with such goodness of
temper, such fidelity, vivacity, and domestic affection. They will
at times show great violence of temper ; but chiefly on account
of jealousy, and they are quickly appeased; it maybe said also
against them, that they readily form new attachments; but they
are devoted to their actual husband or lover ; and are ever ready

342 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

to make all those sacrifices for the man they love, which are only
heard of in works of romance in Europe.

The Javanese women, in particular, make the best of wives,
for men who do not require any very intellectual companionship,
which is the case with the most of our Dutchmen ; and I should
judge such to be the case with the rest of the European race ; as
I think I am safe in saying that of nearly every one, the exception is
a rarity I have not yet met with ; and so I will say, every Dutch,
English, and American trader, who has come here in his youth to
amass a fortune out of coffee and pepper has, during his early
struggles, found a devoted friend in a faithful Javanese woman.

Intelligent ladies of Europe wonder at this preference of the
society of simple, half civilized creatures, as they think, to their
more elevated companionship ; but there is no cause for wonder
in a knowledge of the facts. The Javanese woman has no caprice,
no weak nerves, no pride of family, no exactions of any thing,
especially due to her wealth, connection, or any thing else ; no flirta
tions, no intrigues, so common among our European women here ;
she is the devoted slave ; yet pleasant, talkative, witty, cheering
companion of him she loves ; and how does the European trader
repay this sacrifice of self, this devotion to him ?

After that the trader, who has formed these relations, has ac
cumulated a fortune, he is then generally of a mature age ; he
is ambitious to make a display in the home country ; he wants a
position there, a wife that will grace his fortune. But what is to
be done with the faithful friend, and mother of many Creole chil
dren ? She is provided for as a mad woman in this prison ; or, she
is furnished with a servant s half pay ; and her children grow up out
of the pale of Christianity in the campongs ; now this is true of
nearly all, and many of your own countrymen among the number,
that have made fortunes in Java ; I have seen their Creole children

HEARTLESSNESS OF EUROPEAN FATHERS. 343

playing among the Mahometans ; whilst the Christian father is
receiving honors with his new bride at home. Do you wonder,
then, that the Creole of these islands should hate and curse the
race of his father ?

Sometimes a soldier commits a foolish piece of justice ; when
promoted, and retiring on half pay, he will marry the faithful
companion of his marches, and the mother of his children,
though become old and ugly. I have many stains on my soul ;
I have led but a useless life ; and am now in the condition of a de
graded felon ; but it seems to me, that it would require a much
greater experience of evil, a more thorough hardening of heart,
than any known to my soldier life : and I should need the soci
ety of some devils to keep me in countenance, before I could
put a good face upon the heartless abandonment so commonly
committed by European traders in the East.

The lady of the Elder Missionary remarked on this occasion,
that she had heard such a statement confirmed in every particular,
during her stay in Batavia.

FORTY-SECOND DAY.

SABBATH ON BOARD THE PALMER.

FORTY-THIRD DAY.

THE Baron had become engaged in the discussion of another
subject ; we heard the rattle of wheels ; saw in the court, the run
ning to and fro of oppassers with long scarlet kabyahs, leather
belts and sabres; and the usual accompaniments of an official
visit. The Baron stood with arms akimbo, in posture of defiance,
expecting the Resident or Fiskaal; but another man appeared,
the good-hearted young judge ; and the Baron lowered his arms
and assumed a more courteous attitude.

This judge was now the examining commissary, in the place
of the one who had so harshly dealt with me. It had become his
duty to hear the complaints made by prisoners, or made against
them ; he had heard some very strong charges against us, from
the jailer ; and now had come to hear us speak for ourselves.

The Baron, as usual, was chief spokesman ; he could make a
good speech in the vernacular of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and
Dort. He put forth more defence for me than for himself; he
expressed some indignation that a stranger and a gentleman should
be subjected to the brutalities of speech and behavior of the
villainous old lancer, who opened and shut the doors. His speech
told better than the explanations of the jailer or the turnkey.
In the midst of the pleadings and contention, the young friend

CHINESE SUPERSTITION ABOUT ECLIPSES. 345

of Americans appeared ; came apparently by accident, to pay
a visit to me ; but had been led to do so on account of having
heard of the prison visit of his kinsman, the judge. This power
ful advocate gave such an explanation of his knowledge of my
habits and occupations, as completely turned the fluctuating tide
of judicial favor in our behalf.

The judge sat down with his relative in my cell ; and spoke
with me in friendly tone. He had been greatly amused on being
let into the secret of my machine making ; but this was not in
my presence, nor supposed to be known to me. His voice had
always been in my favor, in all the deliberations of his court upon
my case, but his favorable opinion had been hitherto based on the
belief, that there were no sufficient grounds for the prosecution to
go to work upon. He would now give the matter a closer inves
tigation after this personal acquaintance with the principal de
fendant. He went away, after giving order to the jailer, to allow
me all the privileges of the most favored prisoner ; a promenade in
the main court, morning and evening ; and to allow the free in
gress of visitors to see me.

That evening was a season of holiday for myself and the
Baron. It was an evening marked, also, by a total eclipse of the
moon, and a peculiar exhibition of the superstition of the Chinese.
As the white disc became broken by the dark shadow, we heard a
confused clamor of bells, drums, gongs, kettles, and hideous
human voices ; the bedlam roar rose up higher from the campongs,
that surrounded the prison, as the bloody shadow increased; and
when the fair moon was completely engulfed in the jaws of the
celestial monster of Chinese imagination, the calm, starry night
was made frantic with a tempest of unearthly roars, shrieks, and
a warring clangor of every harsh, loud sounding thing.

Stupid people ; said the Dyak pirate, as he entered our block
15*

346 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

with lamps for the night. Yes, observed the Baron, these China
men, who are the shrewdest business men in the world, for we
have scores of them in Batavia, who have accumulated many
millions of guilders, are certainly among the most stupid speci
mens of humanity ; and are even looked upon with contempt by
this savage Dyak. These yells, to scare the monster away from
the moon, are on a par of good sense with their writing prayers
on gilt paper, and burning them in the belief, that the written re
quest will reach heaven in smoke. What a small amount of
brains is needed to make a nation of good traders.

Among other privileges obtained by the intercession of my
young friend, was permission for Pirez to remain one month ashore,
to call upon me morning and afternoon, and discharge little com
missions for me in the city. My faitiiful savage was overjoyed to
wait upon me once more ; he had grown fat on prison fare and
prison discipline ; and he and myself, the highest and lowest of
the Flirt s company; the chief thinker, and the one of no thought
at all, had borne prison life the best ; but the black tough skin
and sleepy head, had borne it better than philosophy.

On the third morning after being allowed the liberty of the
prison, Pirez appeared at my cell door with a rather extraordi
nary appearance of increased bulk of body ; he gave me to under
stand, that he had something very curious to show me, by and
by. He spoke with the huge Dyak, who came with the break
fast. Pirez had, from his first entrance as a prisoner, been a
noted character in the jail ; and was now intimate and on good
terms with all its officials. I had made several little distribu
tions of presents to the iron collared convicts ; and they made a
return of good will to my man.

He was active and mysterious this morning ; and the gleeful
Baron seemed to have some knowledge of the object of his ma-

CELEBRATION OF THE FOURTH OF JULY. 347

noeuvres. When the breakfast had been served, and the turnkey
had retired to his room, I saw Pirez watching intently at the
egress of the drain under the wall ; where the Baron had sought
his invigorating staff of life. The grating that had partially
blocked it up, had been removed from the other side. Once more a
bamboo appeared ; but this one was six inches in diameter ; it was
pushed through the opening, and as some one shoved on the end
without, Pirez hauled on his inside ; till he drew forth some forty
odd feet of bamboo, almost the length of our small court.
This surely was not a mammoth brandy bottle.

Pirez lashed a small ring to the end of this spar; then
uncoiled a small cord from round his waist, that had been hidden
by his dress ; he rove this cord through the ring, like signal hal
yards ; and then the stalwart boatman of Pernambuco reared up
the pole against a ketapan, a species of almond tree that grew
in the centre of our court ; he quickly mounted the tree, and
with the help of the Baron at the foot, he drew up the pole, so
that it overtopped the ketapan some twenty feet clear ; and with
the butt resting in a crotch, there made it well and fast, and then
slid down.

I was astounded and mystified with these preparations.
Pirez entered my cell ; he seemed to be in agony with the encum
brance of a great superfluity of clothing ; he removed a thin,
loose, jacket ; and showed folds of red and white stuff wrapped
around his chest and waist ; he uncoiled, and I beheld stripes,
then stars ; I recognized the ensign of the Flirt ; and this was the
Fourth of July.

THE CELEBRATION.

One of the sailors of the Pylades, left on board the Flirt, to
guard her, had saved the ensign from the water, after being torn

348 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

from the staff and cast overboard by the commander of the gun-
brig. The sailor had made use of the flag in his hammock ; it had
served as curtain, coverlet, and other useful purposes to this
Dutchman, for many days, till passing from ship to ship, he was
drafted on board the Boreas, about the time that my men returned
from Weltevreden. They heard of their old banner ; they resolved
to rescue it, at all hazards ; but no great sacrifices were needed.
The Dutchman was willing to sell it for thirty rupees.

Poor fellows, they had not so much money among them ; not
six dollars in cash at the time : but, one parting with a finger ring,
another with a fancy tobacco-box, and one Brazilian with a pair
of ear-rings ; they made up the requisite sum, and purchased the
flag ; they recovered, as they felt, some of the honor of their noble
little ship ; a signal to them of an ultimate retribution upon their
oppressors. The flag of America, that had been vilely treated by
the Dutch and sold for thirty pieces of silver, was to be elevated
on the soil of Java.

My men had hoped to surprise me with a display of the flag
at some future day. Fourth of July approached ; they saw Pirez,
and heard of his permission to visit me. It occurred to their
minds, that it would be a treat to me, to learn of its recovery on
that day. The still feeble Jim suggested a bold idea to Pirez,
who was eager to carry it out ; he had spoken with the Dyak, who
had passed through the drain the bamboo, used as a scantling in
some repairs on the house of the jailer ; and he wanted to run up
the flag, if only for one minute, to wave a defiance to Dutchmen.

This was an extravagant feat ; it seems so, to think of now ;
an unwise kind of bravado, well calculated to compromise me,
to H^irnivate my situation. But I did not take that view of the
mutter in prison. I was highly gratified at the sight of the flag;
it seemed a precursor of hope, of far off hopes, lying beyond those

-f-

AMERICAN FLAG HOISTED IN JAVA. 349

prison walls. I wanted just one moment s exultation, one thrill
of triumph, to relieve the stagnation of my heart ; and so I re
solved, at all hazards, to raise up that flag above the walls of the
prison of Weltevreden.

Pirez only needed a look, to bend the ensign on to the hal
yards ; not with him for the gratification of any Fourth of July
glorification ; he knew nothing about it ; he thought only of the
chance for a crow over the beer-drinking burghers of Batavia ;
he had learned to feel with his shipmates, that a Dutchman was
a good butt for game, in peace or war. The stars and stripes ran
up the bamboo ; floated above the ketapan tree, and many feet
above the highest wall of Weltevreden.

There they floated, full one hour, from 8 o clock till 9 o clock
in the morning, in sight of thousands of the troops of the sur
rounding barracks, and of the people of Batavia, assembled in
Waterloo plain. The jailer had gone to the Resident to make
his usual morning report ; the turnkey had been tampered with
by the Baron, with a portion of a smuggled bottle of liquor, and
he had retired to one of the back wards, to attend to some espe
cial duty ; so as not to be supposed to have known any thing of
what had taken place ; and the stolid sentinel, who generally had
no other idea of the object of his presence in prison, except
to shoot down any one attempting to escape, stared lazily at the
floating bunting. The officers and soldiers in the barracks, and
the people in the plain, stared in stupid wonderment ; they could
not make up their minds as to what it all meant ; and no one
seemed moved to endeavor to find out.

I could observe from my rear grating the road by which the
jailer returned ; and the way to the government palace. A crowd
began to assemble in the marsh, the field of execution; an order
ly was seen to gallop across the plain. I heard the turn, out of

350 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

the guard at the main gate to receive an officer ; and at the same
time saw Mynheer Pieters coursing at a furious pace towards the
prison.

It was time to think of a capitulation ; the flag was hauled
down, and rapidly disposed again around the body of Pirez. Tu-
tup came into our court, demanding, with feigned fury, the hauling
down of the vanished flag ; at the same time the jailer appeared.
Some military officers entered along with him ; a number of curi
ous people had slipped in amid the excitement at the gate ; and
our little court was crowded, when the good judge commissary
appeared.

The Baron met his comrades in arms, and I the judge. The
former were soon persuaded out of their indignation, and became
disposed to laugh at the celebration of the American great day
of Independence in prison. The latter was sorry; the matter
would compromise him, on account of the relaxation he had or
dered. He would probably be compelled to have me placed in
much closer confinement ; and to prohibit all further visits to my
cell, without special permission from himself.

But where was the flag ? It certainly should never be hoisted
again on the. soil of Java. It was not in my cell; nor in that of
the Baron ; nor in any other in our block. Four oppassers were
ordered to make immediate search ; as they ransacked our mat
tresses and trunks, some one, probably the spying trader, had
spoken of Pirez ; he had brought it, and he had taken it away ;
but where was he ? Gone, upon the opening of the court gate by
the turnkey. An orderly is quickly in his saddle, and coursing
over the plain towards the house of the young friend of Ameri
cans.

The judge left, after stating that the subject of a greater re
striction^ of my confinement, would necessarily have to be laid

THE FLAG SAFELY STOWED AWAY. 351

before the Court, the second day after this, their next regular day
of meeting ; and he regretted what he knew must inevitably be
the consequence. I made the acquaintance of several cavalry and
infantry officers, who were not at all displeased at this frolic of
the flag, by the alleged ally of Perdano Mantri and the Sultan
of Jambee, which would be told at the expense of De Brauw.

The orderly galloped in vain after Pirez ; the faithful fellow
had counted upon a quick and hot pursuit, and a close search.
He was not long in reaching the house of his patron ; he had
became familiar, as a prying monkey, with all its out of the way
nooks and corners ; the flag was soon stowed away, and when the
orderly arrived, my cabin boy stood ready at the gate, to hold the
horse of the trooper. Pirez was a simple, honest fellow, but he
possessed the instincts of stratagem of the savage, and at the
same time, greater coolness, than his whiter shipmates.

The flag was sought for in vain ; that day and many more ;
and was not disturbed in its hiding-place, till some months after
wards. Pirez took it, according to my directions, to place it in
the hands of an Australian gentleman ; a warm friend to me ; of
America 5 and a friend to the greater extension of American in
fluence in the East Indian Archipelago.

A REMOVAL.

The Court held its deliberation on the sixth day of July. I
was led to suppose from the remarks of the judge commissary,
and from some rumors from without, that I might expect to be
removed to a cell by myself; probably in the Stad Prison again.
I passed the evening of that day in a state of unpleasant sus
pense, but the day went by and the morning of another day came,
and still no change.

About noon of this day, the fussy, little red-faced jaifbr, came

352 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

into our court. lie had an order for my removal ; and where ?
I never would go back to that Stad Prison, unless dragged there
by force. The little jailer laughed ; he had no orders to Bend
me to the Stad; coolies were now preparing an apartment, in
near neighborship with him. I was to be removed from the bad
company of my block, and placed in a commodious room in the
(U l)tors ward; where I would have the free range of a court,
and could see as much company at certain hours, as I pleased.

What was the meaning of this ? Mynheer Pieters could not
explain. The Baron and myself were confounded; but I was
not backward in accepting of the new lodgings. I had not much
to pack up. I turned with pleasant musing to take a last look
at my labors on the walls. The Baron presumed that the Ameri
cans had taken Java ; or that my steam washing-machine had
been cleansing the eyes of the Governor General ; or the Sultan of
Jainbee had made some powerful demonstration in behalf of his
ally. Whatever tho- influence, I was certainly in luck. I must
not feel elevated above the ragamuffin society of block No. 4. I
would find Baron van Norden always the same ; and Uiubah
should come and study Arabic and English, the Bible or Koran;
and poetry or treason, with her uncle captain ; as much as he
pleased.

I took possession of a fine establishment; the best in the
prison ; a room about fourteen feet long, by twelve wide ; a tile
floor, but not quite so damp as the apartment I had just left. I
had a good strong iron bedstead, a small teak table, two split
bamboo chairs, and a wash bowl. I certainly felt rich, as I
tried the luxury of a seat with a back to it. I sat down in one
chair, and put my feet on the other ; and leaning back complacent
ly, surveyed my enlarged domain and newly acquired possessions.

I was musing upon the probable causes of this change. The

CAUSE OF REMOVAL. 353

grandson of the marshal of Napoleon had given one of the
judges an interest in the brick machine. There was a speculat
ing judge in the Court of Justice of Batavia; he had a friend
in whose affairs he was pecuniarily interested, who was about to
import a large quantity of water-coolers from Boston. It had
been whispered by my young friend, that I could make something ;
a double case with space between, and a lamp furnace on top,
to produce a strong evaporation : a great improvement on the Bos-
tonian article.

Severity was calculated to cool down invention ; a little relax
ation would thaw it into most successful development. The
Resident of Palembang, the Mulatto of Surinam, and other
zealous anti- Americans, were probably satisfied with my being
five months in jail. The Court and Government must be easing off;
by and by, I would be lodged in the house of Mynheer Pieters ;
and when I had got very tired of the climate of Java, I might
run off at my leisure ; some afternoon when the jailer, judges and
Governor General were at dinner, and not expected to see me. In
the midst of my musings I thought I heard the boom of a gun ;
then more; thirteen quite quick, with American rapidity ; followed
by thirteen rather slower booms from the Dutch fort.

Whilst musing upon the cause of this cannonade, a panting
messenger, a servant of the young friend of Americans, enters
the debtors ward ; he has a note in his hand, which Mynheer Pie
ters takes, and hands to me with great suavity of manner. It
had not been read more than five minutes, when another mes
senger arrived, the servant of the friend who took charge of the
flag ; the note of this one was still in my hand, when the servant
of him, with whom I had dined on leaving prison, came with a
third note ; and all three said, " An American man-of-war was

354 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

signalized in the offing this morning at 10 o clock, and proves to
be the sloop of war, St. Mary s."

ARRIVAL OF AN AMERICAN MAN-OF-1VAK.

The stars and stripes hoisted above the walls of Weltevrcden,
were about to put me into some close felon s cell ; but the stars
and stripes, floating above twenty-eight long, heavy paixhans,
had procured me an improvement in my lodgings. Had I heard
those cannon an hour earlier, I should not have moved. It might
have been interesting, to the commander of an American ship of
war, to have seen how the authorities of Netherland India were
disposed to lodge a citizen of the United States, suspected of
having done something, when they were not influenced by the
approach and presence of that man-of-war.

I heard all the circumstances connected with the arrival of
the St. Mary s; the coming ashore of the Commander and iirst
lieutenant ; and many little particulars of their conversation at
the hotel where they put up, from the polite Mynheer Pieters.

The Commander and first lieutenant came to see me. It was
pleasant to see the epaulettes, the brass buttons, the eagles and
the anchors ; and a little talk made me think, that I should ob
tain help from the wearers of them. The Commander was deter
mined to see me out of this place. He expressed himself still
more determined after taking a look at my old quarters ; at the
block where the men had been lodged ; and after paying a visit
to the cell of my officer, who, from the fact of being a subject
of the Queen of Great Britain ; though in American service, did
not share in the advantages attending the arrival of the American
ship of war.

The Commander, in the midst of his indignation, on listening
to my statement of the case against my jailers, spoke however of

DUTCH DIPLOMATIC POLITENESS. 355

their politeness, of his reception, and so forth. The Admiral had
received him with marked courtesy. Politeness was very cheap, it
was true ; but so much had not been expected from Dutchmen.
Then the attentions at the hotel; the Rotterdamsche hotel, I
said. How did I know ? no matter. The proprietor had said ; I
repeated what proprietor and Admiral had said. The Commander
was as much astonished at my particular knowledge of his recent
words and movements, as the burghers in Waterloo plain, on the
morning of the Fourth of July, at the sight of the old ensign of
the Flirt.

I could explain in a few words. The jailer had gone with his
report to the Resident, which is a minute account of every visit,
speech, and movement, that could possibly be observed by ever
so many prying eyes in prison; he happened at the Stadhuis,
when the police report of the movements ashore of the American
officers came ; he had the opportunity and the curiosity to look
over it ; and now that I was in favor, he felt interested in giving
me the particulars on his return home. You who listen to me,
and any one else who has resided in Batavia, know well that every
hotel proprietor of the city, is an official spy upon his guests.

The Commander was disposed to believe that official politeness
at Batavia, covers perhaps a great deal of the meanest of espion
age. He now seemed to have formed a resolution, more than
before, that I should be a very little while longer the victim of
exaggerated fears, spyings, and jealousy. He had known little or
nothing of the case ; he had come from the Pacific, with some ed
ucated Japanese from America on board a present to offer to
the Syogun of Japan, to induce him to open his ports to our
whale ships, clocks and hardware. The Commander had deliver
ed these coaxers to a treaty, on board the flag ship of the Ameri
can Commodore in the waters of China. The Commodore spoke

356 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

of my case ; he was bound, hard and fast, by an order from the
Secretary of War, on account of some old affair ; the St. Mary s
could call and see what the Dutch were about ; and now, said the
Commander, I am going to have you out.

But Dutch politeness had more attentions to offer to our
naval officers. The Governor General sent a carriage, with two
of his aides from his palace at Buitenzorg ; which is thirty miles
distant from Batavia. It was proper to go and receive the hos
pitalities of the head of the government at once ; notwithstanding
the unadjusted cause of grievance that stood between an American
naval Commander and a Dutch Governor. Buffaloes and wretch
ed human vassals of the polite lords of Java, dragged the
carriage and our naval officers up the bold steeps on the way to
Bogor. They arrive and are received with an excess of polite
ness by the Governor General, Mynheer Duymacr Van Twist.

In the grounds surrounding the elevated palace of Buitenzorg,
the Commander of the St. Mary s found all the productions of
the temperate zone. The apples and plums of home ; and tulips
and hyacinths outvying the dainty flower cups and petals of
Harlaem ; he found breeding tanks for rare fishes ; and tanks of
marble for baths ; he found curious beasts and birds, many large
serpents and baboons ; Javanese statuary, relics of the old empires
of the island ; he saw other evidences of the skill of Dutch hands
in plundering, and gardening ; he tasted of their skill in the pre
paration of the bountiful food of Java ; he enjoyed an unlimited
lavish of politeness ; and thus three days were spent very agree
ably by the Commander of the St. Mary s at the Dutch palace at
Buitenzorg.

I was not forgotten ; of course not. The Governor General
had a great deal to say, about my curious voyage; he thought as
strangely of it, as did the Resident of Banca. The Governor

A SPURIOUS DOCUMENT. 357

General would never have thought of undertaking such a wild
voyage. The Commander also thought it was a curious one ; what
business had any one to go to the East ; or any where else, on
business which the most of people could not understand. The con
nection of my cruise with " high treason," and the Sultan of Jam-
bee, was not very clear, but the cruise was a very curious one ;
and although I had written a long letter to explain it, the Com
mander and Van Twist could not fully understand the object of
my sailing in the Flkt.

The translation of a letter, said to have been addressed to a
Sumatran prince, was shown to the Commander. This one spoke
of powder, bullets, and blunderbusses ; of lelahs, or Sumatran blun
derbusses, and several ships of war ; to be presented on the part
of the United States of America to his Highness ; and this letter,
this offer, was the chief, nay sole foundation for the charge of
high treason.

The common sense of the Commander, nothwithstanding the
excess of politeness of his host, was aroused at this. If the Gov
ernor General could suppose that the United States was cogni
zant of, and consenting to such an offer, it was an insult to the old
ally of Holland; if, on the other hand, the Commander of the
Flirt had done so, of his own will, it must be regarded as the
act of a madman. No American, no European in his senses could
have dictated that letter.

The letter was certainly more incomprehensible than the
cruise. But there were other circumstances to be considered;
associations with disaffected native chiefs in Sumatra; with
other people hostile to the Government ; studies of the languages
of the Archipelago ; what business had I to study Malay, Java
nese or Dutch, without the permission of the Dutch Govern
ment ? and so many maps, and plans of something made in prison.

358 PRISON OF WELTEVUEDEX.

I had too great a passion for languages and geography to be a
peaceful man ; and then more than all, I had hoisted the American
flag on the Fourth of July.

The Commander of the St. Mary s did not sec as much treason
as the Governor General in these charges. There was a very pre
valent habit amoDg the American people, to learn as much as
possible about all nooks and corners of this earth, and even of
the moon. They pursued geographical studies to a very danger
ous extent ; and had some taste for philology ; though the fancy to
study Dutch, was not very prevalent. Moreover, there was a
great disposition among them, to distinguish the Fourth of July
by the burning of powder, and the fluttering of bunting ; and if
this disposition broke out, even in a prison, it must be regarded
as the effect of American education ; of an instinctive, inveterate
habit of bidding defiance to bondage in every shape.

The Governor General was glad to be assured from an official
source, that the Flirt no longer belonged to the navy ; and that
her commander had no connection with the naval service of the
United States. The Governor General was disposed to take a
very lenient view of the case. There had been unexpected
delays ; the sudden death of all the principal witnesses had greatly
retarded the progress of justice ; and had led to a minute research
for evidence of all the circumstances of the cruisings of the Flirt
in the Archipelago. No hostile steps, except those that were
about to be taken in the direction of the Sultanate of Jambee,
bad as yet been discovered. The Governor General would inter
pose with the executive influence, and the American Commander
might expect to see his countrymen at liberty within a few days.
An official of the Governor, one of his aides, or a secretary, hint
ed that if the prisoners were set at liberty, during the stay of the
St. Mary s in port, it might seem like yielding to a threat. For

SUCCESS OF DUTCH POLITENESS 359

the sake then of saving Dutch pride, the Commander would do
well not to determine upon remaining, till he saw his countryman
out of prison. He would hear of his liberation almost as soon as
he should reach Singapore, to make his report to the Commodore.

During the absence of the Commander at Buitenzorg, I re
ceived visits from the rest of the officers ; second and third lieu
tenants, purser, master, and passed midshipmen of the St. Mary s.
One lieutenant, in particular, I must remember ; an outspoken,
dauntless American; another Bassett, who wanted to have me
taken out of prison without parley; considered the St Mary s
equal to the task of bombarding the town if necessary. I rank
him with Bassett and Drake in my memory ; but I must say, that
he was somewhat abrupt in his way, like the former, and did not
appreciate Dutch politeness.

Again the Commander and the first lieutenant paid a visit
to the prison. The propriety of a concession to Dutch pride
was discussed. American pride must give way in this case. The
Governor General was very polite ; and had actually expressed
himself as feeling lenient towards me ; he had stated that my case
would be disposed of in a very short time ; an official had said
confidentially, in fifteen days. There was no doubt about it ;
the Commander believed that it would be just so ; and I was
anxious to feel persuaded that such would be the case, although
I had my doubts ; yet I acquiesced in the propriety of the depart
ure of the St. Mary s, whilst I remained in prison ; especially as
I had not that naval authority attributed to me by the Dutch, to
enable me to retain her, to put her alongside of the Boreas, and
to wake up the Dutchmen that were defiling the Flirt.

The Boatswain on board the Palmer said that the St. Mary s
had been on a long cruise, was homeward bound ; and that might

3GO PRISON OF WELTEVREDEtf.

be one cause for not wanting to hold on any longer at Batavia.
He had heard this visit spoken of at Hongkong; also whilst he
staid at Batavia ; and there the general opinion was, among the
foreign residents, that the Dutch laughed over their pipes about
the matter ; saying that in this, as in a good many other cases, a
good deal of American bluster had turned out to be a bag of
wind. They considered that the Commander of the St. Mary s,
and the Commander of the Flirt, had been thoroughly bam
boozled.

FORTY-FOURTH DAY.

THE fifteen days expired, and no word was heard about libera
tion ; or that any thing was being done in my case. During these
days of anxious hope, and all the time since the coming of the
St. Mary s, my usual labors in the prison had been laid aside;
I had been arranging plans for my movements when free ; had
written out a list of stores for the Flirt ; transmitted plans for some
repairs of the vessel to my officer ; and had sent orders to my
men, to make ready for duty on board the schooner again ; but
the period fixed for liberation passed away ; many days ; and as the
hope of getting out of prison began to wane, I turned to my old
interests and labors within.

I might have been a very wretched prisoner ; drooping down
on that wet floor ; sickening on coarse fare ; and filling my cell
with moans, and with curses against my jailers ; for the imprison
ment was hard for one who had always known the comforts of
America, and the freedom of its great mountains, valleys and
wild woods. But it is not my wish to tell any tale of woe; rather
to say, that the prison was turned to good account ; and it may
not be that you, or others who may hear my story, will, by reason of
the advantage that I gained, think any differently of the right or
wrong of my imprisonment ; or of the justice, or injustice of my

jailers.

302 PRISON OF WELTEVHEDEN.

I had been removed to a larger cell ; the size perhaps would
give it the rank of a room. I had a little more liberty of move
ment ; but there were some associations connected with my new
lodging, which were not observed at first, and which were calcu
lated to diminish very much an appreciation of the advantages of
the removal. The turnkey was my neighbor on the left, and on
my right was the maniac; who told the hour by the barricad
ing of his door; and daily and nightly masked his face with
the fragment of a hat.

For several days ; during all the time of the visit of the St.
Mary s, he had remained very quiet ; giving no sign of his ex
istence but the usual barricading sounds, to which I had become
accustomed, and to which I paid no heed ; not even thinking of
his neighborhood.

One night my sleep was broken by a fearful howl, with hor
rid moans, and strange rattlings of the throat. Some fainter
sounds like these, I had heard before ; but now they were painful
ly close, within six feet of where I lay. They seemed like the
sounds of intense anguish, of struggles, of dying agony. I called
loudly for the turnkey ; it was pleasant to see his hideous live
face ; he laughed at my alarm ; the madman had been a little
sick and quiet ; but now he was getting strong again, and bellowed
in his usual tone.

I wanted to see him, even then ; my rest was broken, and my
curiosity was excited. Tutup accompanied me with his lamp.
The bars of the window of the cell of the maniac were covered
with a piece of coarse cloth, which the crazy man kept jealously
closed at all points. The turnkey raised up a corner, and let his
lamp pour in a stream of a light ; and I applied my eye to an
other raised aperture, and beheld my fearful neighbor.

A terrible looking human being, was in that cell. A man of

THE MASK MANIAC.

363

small frame, without covering, except some filthy tatters of de
cayed cloth, hanging from a belt round his waist and what seemed
to be a cord or iron collar round his neck; these foul shreds
of garment concealed but little of a squalid, hairy body, of a
shrunken and livid skin ; but there was a blackened, filthy frag
ment of straw plaited work, in an upraised hand, that shut out
from view what must have been a horrible face, to fit so horrible
a body.

Nothing but a bare platform for his sleeping place, and noth-

364 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

ing for covering. Ho slept very little, and walked in his cell
very much at night ; he had been walking, but stood still whilst
we looked at him. He asked in a thick, and almost indistinct
voice, what did the rogues, the foul beasts want; he was profuse
in vile epithets ; did we want to rob him of three hundred thou
sand guilders ; and then go and laugh with his brother at Buiten-
zorg ? "We were thieves and drunkards, leagued with his brother
and the Council of Justice; we were beasts, seeking his hurt,

robbing him of a woman s name he mentioned ; and of three

hundred thousand guilders.

This was his daily raving, about a brother who lived at Buiten-
zorg ; who had married an heiress with three hundred thousand
guilders, to whom the madman had been engaged ; and this was
indeed the cause of his insanity. Surely the brother and his
wife had a right to suit themselves as they pleased ; and were not
to blame for the madness of this man ; but they ought to have
made better provision than this den, and wild-beast condition, for
the former brother, and lover ; although I must say, that this
Dutch madman raved more about the loss of the guilders than
the lady.

This was a neighborhood, that you would suppose would have
made me clamorous for another change of lodging ; but there were
advantages that made tolerable the howls of a crazy man, and of
a crazy woman too ; there were greater chances for freedom, when
the free granting of it should become doubtful ; greater chances
to see more of human faces ; and besides, some mad cries and tho
sight of poor harmless wretches, were not worse neighborship of
sight and sound, than the gallows in the marsh, the bastinado
block in the court; and the howls of sound men, who had their
live, healthy flesh ridged and bloodied with loaded canes.

There were greater chances to sec more of human faces; and

POLITENESS OP THE TURNKEY. 365

those who wished to visit my cell, could come more freely and
stay much longer. Many strangers, foreign and native, could
at certain hours pass the outer gate (where a new building with
an archway passage now stands), and walk into the debtors ward,
and the main court ; and speak with the prisoners in these wards
and there were visitors I hoped to see, who would have feared to en
ter my old quarters.

One day, a young Javanese, whose dress showed some rank,
entered the court ; he sauntered about with curious look ; stop
ping to exchange some words with the mad lawyer , then made u,
halt at the door of the bankrupt merchant; chatted awhile with
Tutup, who stood by the gate of my old block; took a glance
through the several gratings, at the Colonel, the military prisoners,
the Resident, the Topographer, and the Russian; then sauntered
back towards my ward, along with Tutup, who had followed him,
to show him, as he often did to well-dressed visitors, the lions of
the prison ; not failing on these occasions to throw out some hints
about the smallness of his pay.

The visitor took a long stare at the man, who raved about
beasts, guilders and a lost lover ; after seeing him, he seemed to
have his curiosity satisfied, presuming that there was nothing more
of interest to be seen ; but Tutup had not shown him his greatest
lion, the American animal, who took precedence in the estimation
of Tutup, over the barricading time-piece, and him who had de
voted the rest of his life to the very sound and truthful asser
tion, that there is no law, but the law of might, in India.

The turnkey had become very polite to me in my new lodg
ings ; he had wiped out the memory of past brutalities ; indeed,
a certain neighborly good feeling had sprung up between us. He
had told the story of many of his old griefs, when a dragoon ;
and he made it appear that Dutch dragooning in the East was not

PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

a very happy life ; and could not be stood there, no more than
elsewhere, except by a man, who had a very thick head and a
very tough skin. And then my sympathies had been moved by
the suiallness of his pay, which was not much more than doubled
by black mail ; to which I contributed a few modest guilders.

Tuan Tutup introduced the Javanese young gentleman, who
was the son of a Raden, he said ; one of the small chiefs of the
island. The worthy dragoon knew that I was curious about the
language of the natives, and a great many useless things, which
led him to regard me as very little stronger in the brain depart
ment, than my right-hand neighbor. He was willing, however, to
help me gratify my whim, for the sake of the guilders, that I did
not want ; and so left the visitor to talk with me about Java.

My visitor was a young man, about twenty-five years of age ,
dressed in a rich sarong covered with prints of turtle and deer ;
lie wore a short silk jacket instead of the kabyah ; his long hair
was bound in a knot, and fastened behind with a comb, in the
style of European women, which is the custom of the men of
Java; his features were pure Javanese, which are more elongated
than the Malay, and more expressive of candor and mildness.
His complexion was a mingled bronze and cream, bright and soft ;
his movement easy, his manner dignified ; and his countenance
expressing a polite, and careless curiosity, till the turnkey had
turned his back.

My visitor then approached with a friendly smile ; he took
one of my hands between both of his. He was Diporo Kasumo,
the son of Wirojoyo; and grandson of Panyorang Osman Jaya
Laksana, He had come with his sisters, Sahyeepah and Sareena, to
the gateway of the house ; they had all come like little people, at
that time. The daughters of Java have fear of the satans, the
soldiers and other Dutchmen ; they fear to wear the tali pendeng

A JAVANESE DISCOURSE. 367

and best battek cloth ; fine dress, which might add to the comeli
ness of the person. The hearts of his poor sisters had become
very small indeed ; the heart of Sahyeepah is not always weak ;
but strong and wise ; it was little then, when in the hands of an
evil man; but his elder brother was strong in the arms, and
strong in heart; the djin had no power to hurt her. Then beating
hearts made quick steps ; Sahyeepah could only speak when safe
in the campong; the house of care was full of djins; but their
elder brother was there ; him, whom the Panyorang loved ; they
had a message to give him, they had words to say ; but their
hearts were too little to go again. Then they see the old woman ;
and Chuchee speaks. Their elder brother has more room in the
house of care ; no Tutup locks him up, and no djin with a bay
onet stands by his door. Sahyeepah remembers our elder brother,
and his wise words on the Moosie. Sahyeepah is skilful; has
the heart of the daughter of Europe; knows the science of
Arabs, and Malays, their history, and the Koran. The words of
our elder brother on the Moosie were good and true ; they are
treasures in the heart of the Panyorang ; they are treasures in
the heart of Sahyeepah ; other hearts are not so large ; but they
will hear and find treasure too. Our sisters had wish again to
enter the house of care ; they came with the younger brother ;
adoh ! their hearts are little at sight of red faces, fiery eyes,
and bayonets ; they go back to the campong ; they come again,
but our sisters have fear of bad men. Sahyeepah has no fear of
a tiger; she has fear of a Dutchman. Diporo Kasumo then
will come alone, and not with the garments of a coolie ; but with
the dress of the son of Wirojoyo, a demang of Cheribon.

Diporo ceased speaking, and drew from beneath his sarong a
piece of polished bamboo, about six inches long and two in diame
ter, ornamented with an ivory rim at both ends, which were closed ;

368 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

and I saw that it was contrived into a cigar case ; but when ho
had handed it to me, and I had examined it closely, I observed
fine scratches on the surface, some words of Arab script, and a
letter to me from Panyorang Laksaua,

This is a common mode of writing, in the interior of Sumatra ;
on pieces of bamboo tube ; many of the Passumah tribes who uso
the angular Rentjon script, employ no other material for the pre
servation of their pantuns and chronicles ; they use a leaf of pe
culiar shape, with many dents and points for their private corre
spondence, which when folded up, cannot be opened without tear
ing the leaf. But the Panyorang, who knew the use of European
material for writing, had only resorted to the polished bamboo,
as a compliment to me, on account of the interest I took in all
genuine Malay customs ; and besides, a message upon an article of
common use about the person, and legible only upon close inspection,
was more likely to escape official scrutiny than if written on paper,
and protected with a seal.

I was then a student of Malay writing ; but not so far advan
ced as to be enabled to decipher the bamboo, without the help of
Diporo. It is a good sample of a great many Malay letters, that
I have read and translated ; and shall repeat it, with all its for
mula of compliment, multiplicity of epithets, and repetitions of
names.

"A TRUSTY MESSAGE.

" Now these are the words of Panyorang Osman Jaya Laksana,
dweller on the Moosie, and the Ogan Ilcer, and a chief by tho
help of the great Lord of Hosts over many children of Pulo
Percha; a message from a clean heart, a straight hand, a gray
head, from a father to his son; who is faithful, wise, devout,
brave, who loves the children of Pulo Percha, who comes from
the lands beneath the wind, from the great land of America ; now

A MALAY LETTER.

in the hands of the djins of Wolanda, at their kraton in the land
of Java. Therefore this is to say, that Panyorang Osman Jay a
Laksana has felt great grief of heart, that it has been the will of
the Almighty and Loving One, to tie the feet of his son, to close
his mouth, to shut up his hand. Panyorang Laksana has grief,
no fear ; his son is betuah, and Allah wa taala is good. Moreover
the heart of Panyorang Laksana is one with the heart of his
son; will Bookit Sebookinking change its place? the heart of
Panyorang Laksana will never change. Wirojoyo has come in his
prahu to Pula Percha; Wirojoyo has gone back to the land of
Java ; the wild rock deer, the morning light in the heart of her
grandfather has gone, Sahyeepah has a heart of Europe, with a
face of Java ; the words of the prophet, great is his name and
to be ever praised, are in her heart, in her head, and drop from
her tongue. Sahyeepah remembers the good words of her brother
from the great land beneath the winds. Sahyeepah will go with
Wirojoyo and bear this message. Allah wa taala, grant that it
shall come into his presence ; and he shall be well. Panyorang
Laksana will rejoice, Nemastiapa, Sareena, Chayah, Umbah, Wid-
jahyah, Wira Menggala will rejoice.

Wirojoyo and Sahyeepah will tell much news of Tuan Besaar,
his officers, and of many things at Palembang. Salutation and
heart s wish, to our son, many, many years. Written this day of
good fortune, tho thirteenth Dyoomadi l achir 1268 of the Flight,
(15th April, 1852)."

The friendship of the noble old Sumatran Chieftain, and the
interest shown by all his family, led me to look upon my visitor
with some warmth of regard ; the presence of his sister, the let
ter of his grandfather, had filled my prison with brightness and
hope. Diporo Kasumo was indeed a younger brother. After a

370 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

perusal of the letter, I took the hand of the young Javanese, as
he had done mine ; he raised the other, and looking upwards with
Javanese reverence, said, the great Lord of Hosts Eternal is good ;
his might and mercy be with our elder brother.

The turnkey came to interrupt our conversation. He was
glad, that I had been so much pleased with the son of the Raden.
The Javanese were not all stupid ; said the old dragoon to me
confidentially in Dutch ; there were some who had a little sense ;
this seemed to be one of them. I returned the confidence of the
turnkey by whispering that I had, as he knew, a desperate fancy
to learn the Javanese language; the Schoolmaster in my old
block, who was not a Javanese, had made me pay very dearly for
what he had taught me of Arabic, Malay, and Javanese. I had
learned more in a short conversation with the young Raden, than
in half a dozen lessons with the Schoolmaster ; and if this young
man could be persuaded to pay occasional visits to the prison, as
he had done to day, and call on me, I should learn very fast ;
and as it was certain that the Raden would be offended to have
any pay offered to him ; I could do something else with those
spare guilders ; and I looked earnestly at Tutup.

This worthy functionary entered into a lively sympathy with
my tastes ; he became quite alive to the progress of my studies
in the Javanese language ; and put on all the Dutch politeness
that his old dragooning habits would permit, when he accom
panied Diporo to the outer gate; and as far as I could see them,
the hideous Tutup was talking very earnestly with the visitor,
expatiating upon the many interests of the prison that had not
yet been seen ; the mad lady, a real white skin, and young too,
not generally to be seen by visitors ; but Tutup would gratify
Mynheer Raden with a sight ; also a Javanese soldier, that was
to be hung; a musician of one of the band, to be shot; and two

THE TARIFF OF GRACE. 371

mornings after this, three men were to receive the bastinado.
The Raden was not proof against this bill of attractions, as Tu-
tup came to tell me with great glee. However, he had in his
zeal to serve me made three out of only one, that was to receive
the bastinado ; but I could explain that the triple flogging was
postponed ; and that would secure him for another day.

About this time, the Baron was liberated from prison. He
had not calculated in vain upon the fact of having been a student
at the same Institution in Utrecht, where the Governor General
and President of the Court of Justice had received their educa
tion. The prejudices and hostile influences of one man had un
justly lodged him in a prison ; and the partialities of two others
had with equal injustice taken him out. It was an injustice to
others in prison, lodged there upon the same indefinite charge of
a maladministration of affairs, who were not lucky enough to have
an old schoolmate in power.

The Baron was a brave, honest, good-hearted man, with some
bad, soldierlike habits, which had left him in such a condition
that the boon of freedom was almost a misfortune to him. He
had lain in prison two days after the jailer had received the order
for his discharge ; because that order was written upon a stamped
paper worth one hundred and ten guilders ; a pardon for a man
about to be hung being worth five hundred ; and so in propor
tion to the crime ; the petitions costing the same, whether answered
or not ; and the good-hearted Baron, so ready to help others,
and to share freely every thing he received in prison ; money, pro
visions, or drinkables, had not wherewith to pay off the incum-
brance, which his old schoolmate, with one hundred and fifty
thousand guilders a year, thought proper to send along with his
liberty.

372 PRISON OF WELTEVKEDEN.

A fellow prisoner heard of the strait of the Baron, and sent
him the needed sum ; and as much more, to help him to a good
appearance when outside. After his liberation, the Baron came
almost daily to visit his old neighbor in Block No. 4 : and
Umbah, the dear child, came also with gifts of mangosteens and
many little luxuries ; which would not excite the greediness of
the brutal guard, ever ready to seize upon every thing dainty or
drinkable which happened to be in the hands of a woman or
a child.

Umbah had been watched over with great care, by a noble -
hearted protector, during her early years, until prison life had
begun to produce its sad effects upon him. She had a good
honest nurse ; and with the watchfulness and care of this woman,
and some little instruction from the Baron, the little foundling
had grown up with all the grace and playfulness of a Malay
child, and at the same time had acquired much of the character
of the European. She had also been reared in a camp, was cool
and resolute ; though she showed some little timidity, on my first
day in prison ; but in general knew how to avoid the soldiers ;
and upon any rude attempt to stop or to teaze her at the gate,
would show a high Surnatran fierceness in her little face, that
made great brutes with bayonets in their hands, stand back ; who
knew that Malay maidens carry steel ; and are quick to use it.

She oftentimes took under her protection timid women, the
wives, relatives or friends of prisoners, who on their first visit,
would be afraid of the guard, and loiter in the road outside.
Umbah would see them, would bid them follow her ; and many
grown up women had felt themselves safe with the escort of the
little foundling of Passumah ; as occurred a few days after the
visit of Diporo Kasumo.

FORTY-FIFTH DAY.

IN the midst of my machine making ; being engaged upon the
saw-mill, when I moved into my new quarters, I also continued
my studies with Umbah ; having better opportunity to do so, and
learning myself as I taught her. I felt a pleasant stimulus in prac
tising the Arabic letters ; and in writing Malay pan tuns and verses
of the Koran, to learn in advance of my scholar. We sat unmo
lested, except by the uncouth noises of the prison; during an
hour in the forenoon, and two in the afternoon.

My interest in the child was all the greater j that she was a
motherless one. She spoke, as orphans often do, about a mother
they have never seen ; who becomes a bright being with wings,
stealing upon their dreams or waking fancies. They have seen
that bright mother ; they are sure of it ; sho sat by their couch
one night ; they heard music, and the air was full of fragrance ;
and they remember a lady with flowers in her hair, who sang
sweet songs and talked about God by their bedside, till they fell
asleep. Such was one re very I had heard from a child in a
Christian land. This was the revery of the little Malay.

She had a kukur, that said mari-lah, Umbah ! Umbah come ;
and the bird had once flown in the woods, near the foot of Dem-
poh; there, Kayroom had caught it; Mamma had spoken with the
bird, had said, Umbah come, all the day. She saw her when she

374 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

was little, near the woods of Lahat ; she sat in a wariugin tree,
her face was shining like the eye of day ; her hair was twined
with the flowers, white-doves-on-the-wing. Umbah went to her,
Mamma smiled, her face grew little ; the gold changed to white,
and then she had wings, and flew away to Gunung Dempoh.
When Umbah was a woman she would go back to Lahat ; and
look for her Mamma, who was held by some djins, and could not
come to her.

And Malays, old and young, like this child, see visions of
beings upon the earth, and in the air ; they have a vividness of
fancy, that soon changes any imagination that is dwelt upon into
(act, to them. But I found the European common sense, that
Umbah had acquired from her foster father, quite disposed to listen
to my reasonings upon her visions.

She looked upon pictures of her mother in a bright space,
where spirits lived ; they were with Him who had made sun,
moon, stars and earth ; and Umbah knew more about the God
of her foster father ; than the Allah of her nurse. Her mother
was above the earth, and would live for ever ; she would not live
in trees, nor tell birds to speak to her child ; she spoke in the
heart of Umbah; and if Umbah learned many things, to make
her wise and good, her mother would often come into her heart,
and fill it with music, and she would, by and by, hear stories of
the other world.

How the Malay child listened, and wished for the music
every day in her heart ; and by and by, she did a nice little piece of
work for her papa captain, with which he had been so much
pleased ; and then she took a little money, some copper doits to a
poor sick woman, who called her a little princess ; and then one
time she had been very spiteful with her old nurse, and called
her a bad name, giving much pain ; and then she had been per-

MUSIC IN THE HEART. 375

suaded to go and kiss and ask forgiveness ; and nurse was happy ;
and Umbah was happy ; and having no idleness like little girls
in the campongs, to make her weary, she was joyous, she sang;
and young as she was, that Malay child began to understand what
was meant by music in the heart.

After she had begun to understand about music in the heart ;
she began to learn from many stories, how that certain kind of
evil spirits, never to be seen, could live in the heart too. She
wanted her own way sometimes, she had done some foolish things,
she had wanted to do them again after once being sorry ; that
was the work of a real djin in her heart ; they would grow very
strong when she had nothing to do ; she had seen them strong
in the heart of her papa captain when the fire was in his eyes;
he was good, he was brave, Umbah knew it ; but he did no labor,
he wrote with no pen, looked in no book ; the djins came, he had
nothing to do ; his heart was empty, he wanted to fill it, and
they would fill it ; and then he felt good, for a little while, only
a little ; and then he was sick ; there was no music ; and so Um
bah began to see something of the mystery of evil.

Such was my pupil and my teacher, during many months in
prison. Many strange things passed over me during those months
which have not been, which need not be told now. What will you
care for lengthy stories of the workings of Dutch justice with me ;
to know all the circumstances of the two-and-fifty times that
I appeared before a functionary of Dutch jurisprudence, to be
examined and cross-examined by a tedious intermediary of an
interpreter ; and all the brow-beating and worrying during a
space of one year and more ? It is not so much my purpose to
tell you of all that I underwent ; as of all that I saw and learned
during my stay in the prison of Weltevreden.

It was a great college for the study of humanity in some of

376 PRISON OF WELTEV11EDEN.

its most interesting forms and characters. Children of these isles
were books and professors both ; filling my soul with a new and
a lightsome lore. There were some coarse, heavy Dutch tomes and
teachers; judges, jailers, soldiers, convicts and madmen; these
were the drudgery of my studies ; the pleasanter themes were in
the bright pages of Umbah ; and yet these were but elementary ;
there was a volume of richer lore, a deeper study of the Malay
and Javanese soul. You shall now read it with me, as I turn back
to think over my studies in the College of Weltevreden.

Umbah entered the main court, one day ; turning round after
passing the gate, and beckoning to some persons to come forward.
Two young women in Javanese dress appeared, who stepped along
timidly, under the escort of the little girl. Beckers approached ;
the women stopped, and were about to fly ; the turnkey called to
them to enter, with an assuring voice ; they had been told before
coming, that he would not molest them. It was Sahyeepah and
her sister who came to pay mo a visit.

Umbah was at home, and did the honors ; she placed the two
chairs for the visitors, sat down herself in her own oriental way,
on the top of my little table, a favorite perch for her, and left me
to accommodate myself on the top of my trunk. My visitors were
better dressed than when I had seen them at my former lodging;
yet still the costume of one showed a great contrast to the rich
apparel I had seen in Sumatra.

Sahyeepah spoke ; her voice had sounded pleasantly at tho
house of her grandfather ; but so much more so now that I un
derstood so clearly what she said. Iler brother, Diporo Kasumo,
had gone away quickly to Cheribon ; some news that had been
received from an uncle, required his sudden going ; if he had been
here, he would have come with his sisters ; and her father could not
leave his prahu, which was a large vessel of several hundred tons,

HOW THE SPURIOUS LETTER WAB WRITTEN. 377

managed by thirty six men, and was commanded by his son-in-
law, the husbaud of the sister of Sahyeepah; but who was, at
that time, attending to some business in Samarang.

The sister became engaged with Umbah, in looking at some
sketches, pictures and maps that lay on a shelf; and Sahyeepah
talked with me in a lower tone about Sumatra. When Panyorang
Osman had heard, that Kiagoos Lanang had a place by the side
of our brother in his ship, he had sent a faithful messenger to
warn his son, to have nothing to do with him : Kiagoos Lanang had
been with the Company, upon an expedition into Ampat Lawang ;
he was skilful in all the customs of the country ; he knew the
laws ; sang pantuns ; and recited history ; he was wonderfully
skilful ; and Panyorang Osman sent for him to come to his house,
to give pleasure to his son ; but if our brother had asked, did
Kiagoos Lanang possess a white heart, and a clean face ; the
Panyorang would have said no ; he sent the messenger to say so ;
but he came too late ; our brother was in the hands of the djins
of Palembang.

Kiagoos Lanang said with a big mouth, to the people of Pa
lembang, that he had received money from the Company to write
a false letter for the Sultan of Jambee. The people of Palem
bang speak of it to this day. Kiagoos Lanang said, that when
the American Captain was at the marriage feast of the Chinaman,
his servants, Bahdoo and Moonchwa, went to the houses of
Karanga Kerta Negara, and Tumungung Nora Wangsa; two
chieftains in the service of the Company ; the servants were sent
to the house of the Mantri, who stood by the side of Tuan Besar ;
a man with a black skin, the Assistant Resident, who gave them
instructions to tell them what Kiagoos Lanang should write ; they
went to the house of the Assistant Resident twice, before the
letter was finished.

378 PRISON OF WELTEVflEDEN.

Panyorang Osnian had felt great grief for his son who had
fallen into the hands of the djins of the Company; but he felt
greater that the hands of children of Pulo Percha should have
helped to put his son into the house of care.

It was well, I said ; that it is so ; her brother had come to
know the tongue and the heart of the people of Pulo Percha.
Allah had sent him to the house of care ; his eyes had become
strong, his ears were opened wide ; ho saw deep into the wicked
ness of the Company ; and deep into the hearts of the people of
Pulo Percha, and of the land of Java. Without this trouble, he
would not have known the great and good friends that he possessed.
Allah would take him out of the hands of the satans of Batavia ;
Sahycepah need have no fear.

Sahyeepah spoke of her grandmother, of Nemastiapa, of her
cousins, Chayah, Sareena and Umbah ; the namesake present,
turned round on hearing her name mentioned ; were we speaking
about her ? She had a map in her hand, a map of the globe in
hemispheres, drawn with some care, and colored ; but without the
parallel and meridian lines, which were calculated to confuse the
unmathematical Malay mind, and one so young as Umbah ; the
map was zoological and botanical ; as some particular beast, bird
and plant, that belonged to each region was drawn upon it. Um
bah was proud of her knowledge, and eager to point out to Sah
yeepah, as she had been showing to her sister, the land of the
kangaroo, of the lion, and of the eagle, or America.

The names of every country were written in Arabic ; also
various notes and explanations upon spaces in the different oceans,
upon the deserts of Africa, the steppes of Asia, and the prairies
of America. Each one was read ; Umbah explaining ; and Sah
ycepah and her sister looking on ; they learned about a cold ocean,
where the water turned to rock; and where fish as large aa

MALAY TA8TE FOR GEOGRAPHY. 379

prahus, sported among the floating mountains of crystal ; they
saw Pulo Percha, and Palembang, and the river Moosie; and
followed the way they had come, along by Banca, Lucepara, and
other islands, they knew in the Java sea ; then they watched the
little fingers of Umbah, as she pointed out the track of the ship
of her Uncle Captain ; leading them through the Straits of Sunda,
across the great waters, where those great fish were to be found,
then round the extreme point of the land of lions, across another
great stretch of water ; and so on to the land of eagles.

What expressions of delight and wonder at this glimpse of
the world. How Panyorang Osman had been delighted at the
rude pen sketch ; the Malay mind, prone to adventure, seems to
have an innate desire for a knowledge of the surface of the earth ;
they have among their writings some extravagant poetic notions
of geography, like what is found in the dwipas of the Hindoos ;
having but little knowledge of lands, besides China, Siam, and
the country of Adjem, or Persia ; they believe that the Dutch
control nearly all the land of the West; and that the English,
Portuguese, and Americans live perpetually on the waves, wan
dering about for trade or plunder.

The Panyorang and his granddaughter had some such rude
ideas about geography ; though so well versed in the Koran ;
and in the history and poetry of their country. Knowledge on
this subject seemed to break in upon them like strains of new
music ; knowledge coming with all the picturing and stories, that
would gain for it an entrance into the minds of children ; and the
Panyorang, his granddaughter Sahyeepah, and Umbah, were three
children very much alike ; they stood about equal at the thres
hold of civilized lore ; perhaps the little foundling, the farther
advanced of the three ; and I was moved by a desire, more than
ever created before by interests of this world, to teach them.

380 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

I do not speak of the sister of Sahyeepah ; a half sister rath
er, a daughter of a Javanese mother ; who was also the mother
of Diporo. The sister looked on with quiet, simple good nature,
chiefly occupied in preparing her betel nut, siri leaf, lime, and
gambier, or cardamus; which she chewed with the sleepy con
tentment of an inveterate tobacco chewer, or smoker at home.
The vermilion saliva that oozed out of her mouth, and, as it
dried, formed dark streaks upon her lips, was certainly not quite
so offensive, having a pleasanter color; as the mahogany ooze from
the tobacco-leaf, copperas and molasses, chewed at home. She
was a wife and a young mother ; and cared as little about dirty
streaks of siri on her lips, as some young American wives do
about a tobacco pipe between theirs by the home fireside ; and
caring just as little about geography, when the dressing of baby
happened to be the chief care.

Perhaps the sister did not feel so much interest in the teacher,
as the other two ; there was nothing said that would betray any
feeling of any one in that way. Sahyeepah had brought a message
from her grandfather ; a part of which her brother had brought,
and he might have brought it all ; but perhaps the skilfulness and
good memory of Sahyeepah were more relied upon ; and so she
came, that I might receive the message more fully, having also a
great curiosity, despite her fears, to see a prison ; or perhaps she
had listened with great interest to some stories told in broken
Malay; as ladies in other countries are often pleased with persons,
who speak their language in broken words ; and she had wished
to hear the same person again, and the stories continued ; and
came on that account to see him.

There was one who speculated thus ; but Sahyeepah, the sim
ple child of nature, spoke only to the friend of her grandfather;
she had been interested in his words, when she had seen him

MALAY HORROR OF THE NEGRO RACE. 381

before ; she was now interested ; she had a lively curiosity and a
love for knowledge, which all Malays possess to a greater extent
than other Orientals; she listened eagerly, like the people of
Sumatra, to chronicles of Malay states ; she could repeat some
herself, many young women of Sumatra can ; she was eager to
follow the footsteps of the Malay race ; and she was more Malay
than Javanese ; leaning to the race of the grandfather who claimed
an admixture with the sacred race of Mahomet, of which
Sumatrans are so proud. She had been getting a glimpse of
great lands and seas beyond Pulo Percha ; a great world of won
der for every young, curious, well developed mind of any race ;
she wanted to know more ; and who would not have been eager
to have told her more? all they knew. She would study the
world I had made on paper ; she could not in prison ; but she
could take it away to bring back again, and another one should
be made for Umbah.

We were roused by a start and an exclamation of terror
from the sister ; and the next moment I saw my ugly Peri stand
ing in the doorway. He was hideous enough to frighten a timid
lady any where ; but the people of the Archipelago have a pecu
liar horror of the negro race, to such an extent, that the Dutch
Government endeavored to profit by this dread, in the subjuga
tion of the different islands. Great numbers of Africans were
sent from the Dutch possessions of St George d Elmina, and
several companies of black troops formed ; but this Africaniza
tion of the Netherland Indian army was suddenly stopped by the
British Government, which would not allow negroes to be kidnap
ped and sold for killing Malays, any more than for working sugar
and cotton plantations. The few Papuans ; the name that Malaya
give to all black skins and woolly heads, that were brought to
the Archipelago, inspired more horror than the sight of the

382 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

orang-utan; hence the start at the sight of my poor, honest,
brave-hearted, faithful Pirez.

This dark, distorted young monster was diffident and confused ;
he stood in the doorway, turning his woolly plaid cap in his
hand; grinning, and looking disposed to retreat. I bade him
come in ; as he entered, the sisters cowered with looks of fear ;
but Umbah, the little heroine, the valiant escort, had seen this
black djin, this rakshasha before ; she went up to him ; saying,
nobody was afraid of Peri, any more than of Bassett ; and gave
a dab with her little fist at the monster ; which he endeavored to
dodge with awkward, grinning good humor.

You will perhaps wonder, that nearly six months after the
departure of the brave Commander of the Rambler, Umbah should
make such familiar use of his name ; as though she had been playing
with him the day before ; such was indeed the case, with the Bas
sett that she spoke of; a little chunky, sturdy, black and white dog
that had belonged to one Captain Duckers of the Navy, confined
on account of a duel, in the same block with the Colonel, when I
first came to prison. During my early promenades I had become
acquainted with him ; shortly afterwards he was pardoned out ;
and on leaving, he presented to me his little dog, then called
Pompey ; which he gave me the more particularly, as it was one
of a litter obtained from an American ship ; and though not
born on the soil, was essentially a native American dog.

Pompey was a well-made, brave little fellow ; he manifested
after belonging to me a decided antipathy to a stump-tailed dog
of the turnkey, and towards Dutch soldiers, in which display of
hostility, he was certainly encouraged by Umbah. She had made
for him a collar, to which she sometimes attached a patchwork of
Bilk, that bore a striking resemblance to a miniature American
flag; this had given umbrage, on one occasion, to a great red-

BA88ETT.

383

faced, red-headed, Dutch sentinel ; he told Umbah to take it off
the dog; she was not disposed to comply; he made a rush to
seize her ; but the nimble little nymph slipped away ; the more
easily, as Pompey had seized the soldier by his leg, and made a
considerable rent in his trowsers ; the Dutchman turned furiously ;

Pompey faced him ; several bayonet thrus ts were made, which
the dog continued to dodge ; whilst the trooper was making an
other charge, he received an assault in the rear, a stone thrown
by Umbah, whc then beat a rapid retreat ; Pompey joining his
mistress, amid roars of laughter, that came from the gratings of
the several blocks. After this event, the Baron decided that the
name of Pompey should be changed to that of Bassett, in remem-

884 PRISON OF WELTEV11EDEN.

brance of, and out of compliment to the gallant Captain of the
Rambler.

Urnbah was on equally as good terms with Peri as with Bassett ;
she made various demonstrations to prove that he was a very harm
less, good-natured animal, except when roused in defence of his
friends ; and I made such remarks, as induced my visitors to look
upon my faithful follower, with curiosity, unmingled with alarm.
And when about to depart, I had so well set forth his bravery
and trustiness, as made them willing to accept his escort, along
with Umbah and Bassett, back to the campong.

FORTY-SIXTH DAY.

IN the afternoon of the same day that I had received the visit
of Sahyeepah and her sister, I was called upon by a Catholio
priest of Batavia ; one of his colleagues made a weekly round of
the prison, and celebrated mass, and preached twice a month, in
the little hall of instruction; it was not a government regula
tion, but a voluntary act on the part of the Catholic clergy;
who were the only ones that ever paid any visits of mercy and
charity, during my stay in prison.

A man was condemned to be hung ; a native soldier, of the
Bughis race of Ceylon ; he had been removed from the military
quarter, and on this afternoon, was placed in a cell in the debtors
ward, where he was to be closely guarded for three days, previous
to execution. This condemned cell was nearly opposite to mine,
adjoining that of the mad lawyer. The priest wished to speak
with the condemned man ; and although the Government forbids
all missionary operations beyond the precincts of Batavia, and
some other European towns of the Archipelago, yet has no ob
jections to the consolation, or conversion of dying men ; who will
have no opportunity in this world, to make any pernicious use of
their Christian enlightenment ; and so the priest was allowed free
intercourse with the man whose moments of life were num
bered.

386 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEX.

It was a late hour, when ordinary visitors were not allowed
to enter ; and I obtained leave to accompany the priest on his
visit of mercy. A sergeant sat in the doorway ; and another ser
geant sat in the cell, with the condemned man ; who was not to be
left alone, or unobserved for one instant. He was a stout, well-
made man, in early prime of life, perhaps thirty years of age.
His complexion was like that of the Javanese, which is a shade
deeper than the Malay of Sumatra. He had the broad forehead,
round head, and bold expression of the Bughis race ; one of the
bravest, and most industrious in the Archipelago ; and so justly
famed for their enlarged commercial enterprise.

This man was condemned to be hung for a deliberate act of
murder ; he had expressed a desire to speak with the panghulu,
or Mussulman priest ; but not being satisfied with his visit, he had
signified a wish to see a Christian teacher. He had met with a
Christian missionary of Amboyna ; one of the native converts of
that island, who had given him a few exceedingly rude notions of
Christianity, which were mingled with some strange notions about
the transmigration of souls, a belief entertained by a large por
tion of the people of the Archipelago ; especially of Celebes, and
of the Molucca group. He wished to know if the " prophet Jesus"
would help him to pass out of his body, without pain when stran
gled ; and would if he prayed to him, place him in the same class
of bodies, along with one, a young woman, whom he had loved,
and who had been killed by a tiger.

The priest spoke of man, after his death, after his heart had
ceased to beat, and his body had grown cold ; he had nothing
more to do on this earth ; he went to meet God, who had caused
him to live, who had made his soul ; who had sent His Son, God
like himself, to suffer great torment ; to die on this earth ; so
that evil, and pain, might not always have power over the hearts

THE MALAY METEMPSYCHOSIS. 887

of men. To slay our fellow man to gratify our own bad wishes,
was a terrible bad deed ; and caused by the spirit of evil ; he had
felt its power, making him do wrong often in spite of good thoughts
not to do so ; if the condemned man now felt great grief for what
he had done ; and would believe in Christ, that Son of God,
who suffered to save him from the pain of evil doing; if he
would believe in Him, he would die in peace, and go to a world
where pain and evil were never felt. But this Bughis soldier
understood nothing of all this.

He believed that when his spirit was forced out of his body
at the gallows, it would then take flight across the seas, and re
turn to the haunts that it loved best ; perhaps to enter the body
of a tiger, or a bird of paradise ; or perhaps to pass into the body
of a new-born child; and thus have an opportunity to act a
better part in life again, by the help of his past experience. If for
the present, he passed into the body of an animal, it was on ac
count of some anger, some machinations of djins, which he wished
to circumvent ; but this animal condition was only a purgatory,
which would prepare him for a triumphant career at last, in hu
man form. The Bughis soldier was steadfast in the belief in
his idea of purgatory ; and the priest had to leave him after a
fruitless visit, as the panghulu had done. On leaving, my clerical
visitor presented me with a copy of the New Testament, in the
Malay language.

I felt desirous to talk with the soldier, myself; he was an
interesting-looking man ; I wished to hear something of his
history ; also more about that curious notion of the passage of
the soul into a beast, or another human form ; and I thought to
try and satisfy some of the inquiries of his mind. The solicita
tion of the turnkey obtained for me permission to visit the con
demned cell at a late hour ; and this was granted the more readily

388 PRISON OF WELTEVREPEX.

by the application of a few guilders to the palms of the ser
geants.

The criminal did not appear in the least dejected on account
of his approaching fate ; yet notwithstanding his confidence in his
continuation upon the earth in another state of being, he seemed
to regret some memories of what belonged to the present ; some
memories of an early love, the chief thought and anxiety of this
murderer. I had spoken to him of his home, his family, his
country, and his pursuits ; he had drawn near to me, and both the
sergeants preferring the cool air outside, and heedless of the regula
tion, left us to talk undisturbed by their presence. All the mem
ories and interests of the barbarian soul of the Bughis, had been
stirred up by words that took him to his early play, and hunting
grounds, and beneath the waringin groves, where he first had
loved.

His name was Wongso ; and the son of a small chieftain in
the service of Arong Datu, queen of Boni, a kingdom of Celebes.
This princess made vigorous war against the English in 1814;
and afterwards against the Dutch under Van der Cappelen. The
sovereignty of Boni is the ruling state among the nations of Ce
lebes ; its sovereigns are elected by the chieftains of the country ;
and since the time of the Portuguese, when an act of cowardice and
treason was committed by one of their kings, they have almost
invariably elected a queen, in preference to kings ; for at the time
of the elevation of Arong Datu, she had an elder brother, and a
man of great experience in war.

Young Wongso played with Nawah, a granddaughter of Arong
Datu ; he spoke of her as man speaks every where of his fondest
memory of womanly loveliness. He had when arrived at the age
of manhood, taken part in some hostilities against Goa, the rival
state of Boui ; when he returned, he could take Nawah to his

GIRL CARRIED OFF BY A TIGER.

389

own campong ; he would own a ship, like many of his country
men, and take rich freights to Batavia and to Singapore.

He came back, a warrior ; he could give the bridal gift her
father asked ; but he must not see his love, till the women had
prepared a feast ; nor before the panghulu had spoken the conse
crating words. Wongso was impatient ; he knew that his lover
went with a company of young women, and servants, to a certain
shaded creek to bathe ; he went to watch ; though he placed his
life in danger. Nawah wandered a little way from her company,
she ascended the creek bank ; she was looking for rare wild flow
ers ; she stopped, she stooped to gather a bloom. Wongso was
near; he heard a fearful squall, a bound, and then beheld his
Nawah borne away in the jaws of a tiger.

390 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

He rushed forward with wild outcries, the tiger bounding
through the thicket, and Wongso following. The beast was not
full grown ; he had too heavy a burden for his strength, he bounded
with difficulty; Wongso gained upon him, he pressed on and shout
ed, till the cowardly creature let go his prey, as he will often
do, when resolutely met or pursued ; and the lover regained the
body of his bride ; but life was gone, and no doubt had fled at
the first grip of the cruel beast.

To be devoured by a tiger is a common fate in the Archi
pelago ; not less than two such deaths occur every week in the
neighborhood of Paleinbang, according to Dutch official report ;
and many such take place in the vicinity of the British settle
ment of Singapore. Tigers have been known to spring upon
wayfarers within an hour s walk of the city of Batavia; and
Baron Van Norden affirmed, that this terrible beast had, on
several occasions, at Lahat leaped sheer over an enclosure, ten
feet high, into a court-yard, and bounded off with a coolie, who
was at work inside.

His tigership manifests a decided preference for the native
brown skins. If a European and Malay or Javanese happen to
be together, he will invariably spring upon the native ; but -he is
said by some to prefer a good fat monkey to either ; whilst others
contend for his greater partiality to man. Yet no effort has ever
been made by the people of the Archipelago, of Sumatra in par
ticular, to make war upon this fearful enemy of their race ; they
will attack, and endeavor to kill, any individual tiger, who has
slain a relative or friend, looking upon such a tiger as a mur
derer, and th eir private enemy ; but they will make no indiscrim
inate war upon the blood-thirsty felines, for fear that they
might perchance kill an ancestor ; tigers being spoken of with
great respect ; and commonly called neneh, or ancestors, by the

ORIENTAL APATHY TO TAKE OR LOSE LIFE. 391

Malays. Europeans being on good terms with the tigers, do
not choose to interfere in behalf of the natives.

Wongso buried Nawab ; he had eaten all his heart, had given
all his soul for her ; and there was no more joy of life for Wong
so. He hated life, and hated men ; he went away from Boni ; he
joined some pirates of Saleyer ; he helped to kill the crew of a
Chinese junk ; after a time, he was captured by a cruiser of the
Dutch Company ; they would not put him to death, though a
pirate ; he would make a good soldier ; he served in the campaign
against Bali ; he returned with his company to Java ; then a
Dutch corporal struck him; and he cut his throat; for which
deed he must hang, because a soldier. Had he been out of the
army, he would probably have been sent to the prison as a waiter.

Wongso did not speak of deeds of blood with the dogged in
difference, or hardened ferocity of the more civilized assassin.
He did not feel that he had done very terrible things ; he had
put to death some dogs of Chinamen, and slain the man who had
dishonored him with a blow; he felt very keenly that sense of
honor, felt by men of other races, who hardly consider the rob
bery of a man, or any lack of honesty, a stain upon honor ; but
conceive a tarnish on character from the slightest hostile touch,
or a crooked word, which only blood can cleanse away. Wongso
entertained orthodox notions, in accordance with the European
code of honor. And his notions about the future condition and
final disposition of his soul ; if barbarous and absurd ; if so widely
at variance with orthodox Christian belief; yet he believed them
earnestly, and felt, however strangely, that the life to be realized
beyond this one, was now his chief concern.

We talked about Celebes; about Kings, Queens, and Chief
tains ; about great wars, ships, temples ; and all that man could
be and do ; about love, and far-reaching schemes ; about friend-

392 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

ship, courage and honor; and all that man could think and feel;
we talked about the earth, the forests, the water ; and all that
man controlled or used ; then about the sun, moon, stars ; the
pathways traced on the sea by skymarks in the heavens ; the sure
knowledge beforehand, of the darkenings of the great lights of
day and night ; and other things to show, how far beyond this
earth, how far above the brutes the mind of man did reach.

We had talked with simplest words ; the innermost recess of
the barbarian soul of Wongso was entered ; ideas, for which even
his language had no words, began to dawn ; he had been met on
his own ground, with his own rude fashion of thought; he stepped
out to a wider circle; he went on himself; he felt that he was
not taught, he was only awakened. He was not told that his
belief was absurd ; nor told any thing, equally absurd to him ;
but he felt a growth, a greater worth of soul ; his thought went
on, stretched out into the mystery of being, into a consciousness
of immortality ; and he began to feel that it was inconsistent that
:i man s soul should enter into the existence of a tiger.

It had grown late, I was obliged to retire; but Wongso beg
ged that I would come and talk with him, the next evening;
his last on this side of his grave. The following day, my mind
was busy with thoughts about this oriental belief in the change of
body of souls.

A belief, said the lady of the elder missionary, interrupting
the narrator, the idea of which, western philosophers no doubt
got from the Archipelago; and not these islanders from the
western philosophers; it is a belief that one might think was con
genial to the primitive and poetic minds of the people of those
islands; and there arc many minds, in the midst of our civiliza
tion and enlightenment, who cherish the idea of an anterior state

AN ORIENTAL MIND AWAKENED. 393

of being on this earth ; the many mysterious thrills and indistinct
memories, so often awakened, like echoes from a hidden world
within, from a state of being gone by ; seem to tell the soul of
some other condition of being it has passed through, and would
make plausible to some the Malay metempsychosis.

But the elder missionary hoped that the narrator had not
been alone interested in speculations upon this belief. This would
be explained in the continuation of the story of Wongso.

When the time of visiting was over, and the gates were closed
for the night, I again obtained leave to talk with the condemned
man. He met me with an anxious look ; he had been thinking
of life and death, all day ; and death seemed more fearful now,
than before we had talked about the value of man s soul; he
thought of the men whose blood he had shed ; their cry and
agony was in his ear ; their shortened life, their defrauded being,
seemed to stand to his charge ; and he was afraid to meet them
in death ; where perhaps they might have power over him ; where
perhaps the Ruler of life might meet him, and make him a slave
to those he had robbed; he had conjured up a hell, and he was
terribly afraid of it.

But he was led on to think ; by the progress alone, almost, of
his newly developed reasoning ; that even if he could restore the
life, the peace, and the property he had taken away, he would
still have the bad heart, to do more evil of the same kind ; it did
not seem to require any tedious, trained exercise of reason, to ar
rive at that conclusion ; he felt it, even with his feeble oriental
mind ; then he began to conceive wants, and feel wants, that be
gan to startle my own thoughts, and to baffle my own reason, to
satisfy ; and I was led to think of helps, perhaps like many a one
else, that I never thought of applying to for myself.
17*

894 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

We had reasoned about a soul ; he had been led to feel that
he had a soul ; and that it was in a bad condition for his present
idi-a of a future existence. He seemed to appeal to me, to help
him further on ; but the civilized was as helpless as the unciviliz
ed. What more could I do for Wongso? Nothing, nothing.
He had been led to think, to feel, that immortality and a future,
elevated state of being, was a better belief than that he should go
into another bad mortal like himself, or a tiger ; but what hope
of happiness was there with this immortality ? I knew not ;
though I had listened to many proclamations of what was the
best foundation for that hope. There was no one to proclaim
it now ; a few hours only remained to Wongso ; and there was
no more hope of helps or counsel from man, than what he had
with him ; and I felt that all further reasoning was in vain. But
there was the authority from whence men derived the founda
tion of a hope of future bliss ; the Testament, that had been
given to me by the priest; the Malay Testament, which I had
prized so much, as an aid in my future studies of the Malay
language ; might there not be something in it, that would satisfy
the heart of Wongso ?

I certainly had no idea of disturbing the mind of the doomed
man, with discussions of the mysteries of the scheme of
Christian salvation ; and I went for the Testament, as a kind of
refuge from the responsibility that I had imposed upon myself,
of satisfying the mind of this awakened man, in some way. I
first glanced at some passages, that spoke of the evil nature of
man, the deceitful, desperate nature of sin ; what was sin, and its
wages; the power of sin, and man s need of help to contend
against it ; then the history of the birth of Christ was read His
sermon on the mount ; His remarkable life, so different from
any other man before or since; His power, His miracles, His

A WONDERFUL CHANGE. 395

meekness, and ardent love for man; His suffering, His death, and
resurrection ; then I read some of the words of the followers of
Christ ; their testimony as to all the facts of the Saviour s life, the
testimony of ages and ages, the belief of all the most powerful
nations of the European race, perhaps the great cause of their
strength, and superiority over the disbelieving portion of the
world.

Wongso cared not to know about all the after proofs, and
substantiations of the existence and mission of Christ ; he wanted
to hear more about what He said and did. I read His life from
another evangelist ; then the words by which He called little chil
dren; the weary and heavy laden; the sinners in their sins; hopeless,
helpess bad men, like Wongso. I was treading paths that were
strange to myself. I had wanted to lighten up a curious receptacle
of uncivilized darkness, but there was a far different light dawn
ing, than what I had conceived of shedding upon it. The night
was far advanced, far on into the morning of the last day of Wong
so. I had been urged, nay, ordered to leave ; but he clung to
me ; and the sergeants were persuaded to let me stay ; they had
to keep awake ; this talking helped to drive away their drowsi
ness ; and one became interested, and relieved me at times by
reading to his fellow-soldier.

Wongso begged us to read again, and again. I had come
with some enthusiasm to rouse up a dull, barbarian mind, an
apathetic, semi-pagan, Mahometan soul; but the savage showed
an ardor, an eagerness to find a something to satisfy his soul,
in launching into the future, that shamed my weariness. He
wanted to hear, more, more ; and all about Christ, that called
bad men to come unto Him with broken hearts. The sergeant
who read, became roused up ; ho wept, he wished the good
dominie he had so often listened to when a boy, were here ; he

396 PRFRON OF WELTEVRKDEN.

proposed that we should do, what he had often done before ho
became a soldier ; that we should pray ; and the soldier and the
two prisoners knelt down ; and the soldier raised up his voice,
appealing to a throne of grace, for mercy upon his own sinfulness,
and praying that the man whom he was guarding unto his death
in this world, might be raised up unto eternal life in another and
a better one.

Wongso wept, as the sergeant wept ; he continued to weep ;
he thought not of his soon being raised on a gallows for his
crimes ; but of One, who had been raised up ignominiously, for
what such as he had done. It was a terrible scene, the agitation,
the weeping of that murderer. But he was becoming calmer;
was his animal nerve giving way ? was this a reaction of mental
excitement ? perhaps so ; but Wongso said that he believed in
Christ ; not the " prophet Jesus ; " but Him, who died for sin
ners ; and now Wongso was not afraid to die.

The sergeant said something about baptism; a necessary
stamp of Christianity; that could not be complied with now.
Wongso had heard of it, and his mind was disturbed ; but still
lost no hope ; nor felt that all would be lost, if he died without
it. The sergeant had read, and I had read, that many earnest
Christians believed that unconsecrated, and even hands of sinful
and unregeneratcd men, might, in extremity, perform for a dying
fellow-being the formula of this sacrament. If it was not so;
yet still the unsatisfied point in the mind of Wongso, would be
relieved. A bowl of water was obtained, was poured on to the
head of Wongso ; and he was baptized by a follow sinner, in the
name of the Holy, Almighty and Everlasting Trinity.

It was now nearly daybreak ; at six o clock, the sun rose ;
and at seven, the guard would come for the prisoner. I left the
Testament with the sergeant ; Wongso wished to hear something

THE BARBARIAN S HOPE. 397

read to the last. I said some parting words, he wept again ; but
seemed to possess a joy, that I did not understand. All that I
had done, was to help to ease the mind of an unfortunate man.
He had given some directions that were to be communicated to
the judge advocate, that all the little property he possessed should
be given to the family of the man he had murdered ; he gave
eleven rupees to the sergeant to buy two Testaments in the
Malay language ; the same, as the one from which I had read, to
be given to two of his comrades in prison, who could read. He
begged of me to go and talk to them. The time came to part ;
I asked him to raise up his right hand to heaven the moment
before they pinioned him, under the gallows, as a sign that his
heart felt strong to the last ; and with profound emotion I parted
with Wongso.

A solemn roll of the drum ; and harsh voices of command,
roused up the prison at sunrise. A guard entered the court ; the
sergeants delivered up their charge ; and I saw one wipe his eyes,
with his sleeve, as he turned away from the man, whose moments
were counted. The turnkey afforded me an opportunity to see
through the grating, that overlooked the field of death. Long
lines of troops were formed into a hollow square, the bayonets
glistened in the sun, the horses of a commanding officer and his
staff pranced about the field, loud voices resounded ; and there
was great stir and pride of warlike array.

In the centre of all this, was the gloomy gallows ; a man, in
a dark robe, the judge advocate, stood with a roll, the death
warrant in his hand ; he read it to "Wongso, who stood near him ;
then a man in uniform, a military sheriff, took the regimental
coat, and cap, from off Wongso ; he was degraded as a soldier
upon earth; and was given up to the hangman; then Wongso
mounted steps ; and before the cords were passed around him, he

398

PHISON OF WELTEVKEDEN.

made the sign, lie raised up his right hand towards heaven, affirm
ing, at his last moments on earth, that he was a steadfast soldier
of the Cross.

I saw no more ; I could not look upon the horrible mode of
Dutch hanging. It is not enough to kill a man ; hut he must
realize the most excruciating agony that is possible to be felt by
the body of man, before he is strangled. I cannot give the de
tails, but look into their laws upon death ; a man to be hung is
so foully bound, that ere his neck is broken his bowels are torn,
I heard a signal tap, a solemn roll of the drum ; a man had gone
to the land of souls ; and then the band struck up a lively tune
as the troops marched back to their quarters.

The elder missionary after some comments upon the probable
salvation of Wongso; and the fitness of the instrumentality em-

THE SOULS AND TRADE OF THE EAST. 399

ployed ; went on to say, that the mind of the western world
seemed to have been beating in vain against the externals of
Oriental prejudice ; we had been continually battling with our
common sense against their absurdities, without the pains to con
sider these absurdities, which were comprehension to them ; we
missionaries, I am afraid, have acted like the people seeking gain ;
we have sat down at the outskirts, the outports of the Oriental
mind and character; where we have been content to erect the
stiff forms of our own rigid, common-sense temperate clime, wait
ing for the dreamy, imaginative Oriental to come round to us.
He has not come ; he has felt nothing at the hands of the Eu
ropean, but a harsh manifestation of supremacy of skill and in
tellectual power, his sympathetic nature has revolted at this ; the
avenues, which reach him, through his moral convictions, have
been closed ; and the millions and hundreds of millions in the
East pass away, uninfluenced to the slightest extent by European
dominion and enlightenment.

Surely, the souls of men should be esteemed worth some
thing, even to a trader ; but certain millions of pounds of pepper in
Sumatra, are more zealously sought after and considered, than
the millions of Malays on the island ; and yet the Malay seems to
have a destiny, that will affect all the relations of trade, in the
great treasure ground of commerce. He advances ; we have abun
dant evidence that he is taking possession of every outpost and
highway, that lies between the Pacific and the Indian Ocean, in
the great trading centre of the world ; he flourishes in a region
in which the European wastes away, after the second generation,
a third being rarely ever perpetuated ; the European, who can
never colonize the Archipelago, but must always look forward to
the Malay, as the chief instrument in the production of what he
so much covets ; might it not be, even to the interest of his
pocket, to stoop to closer relations, to enter with some fraternal

400 riMSM\ ol WKLTEVREDEN.

touch into the sympathies of those, who must be the perpetual
producers of spices and other precious things of the commerce of
the East.

What is the glory of a so-called merchant prince, who has
gathered a great hoard of money ? who has reared a huge pile of
brick and stone, who has filled it with mere pamperings of the
body ; who has fenced himself around, and sat down, content to
gaze for the rest of his days at his sordid substance, made out of
advantageous barter with simple pepper growers, coffee planters,
and gum gatherers ; who are herding in the forest, and brutified
with the vile belief, that their soul will pass into a tiger ; whilst
the intelligent European, who is glorying in the substance wrung
out of their feeble hands for a small, and often hurtful exchange,
is looking forward complacently in a cushioned pew, in some
church, partly of his building, to the heaven that his hired
preacher promises him.

The world is not to be all Caucasian ; it needs the contrast of
stronger and weaker brethren ; of the practical and the intel
lectual; with the sympathetic and imaginative; the Caucasian
ceases to be such within the tropics ; his superiority is only a little
more oxygen, that belongs to his temperate latitude. That man
is a vulger egotist, who exults in the accidental advantage of his
greater strength over his weaker brother ; the fancies and dreams
of the one, should have a place as well as the bold conceptions of
the other ; flowers fill the eye, as much as great trees, and repay as
much by their cultivation. The European should cultivate the
friendship of the Malay ! whilst seeking out routes for trade, he
should look for pathways into the sympathies of his soul., and call
forth all his pleasant fancies and dreams ; or shall he be always
met with the sordid selfishnes of the trader ; and be left to his
viciousness and piracy, instead of encouraged to bring forth the
and songs of his laud !

FORTY-SEVENTH DAY.

The seventh month of my stay in prison had come ; and with
it, the arrival of Resident De Brauw and his Assistant. The
Phoenix and the Borneo had sought in vain for evidence against
me, throughout the Archipelago. To have a witness, some one
besides my Malay servants, some one, who could testify to some
thing; it was necessary to send for the Royal Adjutant; the
proud Governor of Palembang. He must have met his late
guest and prisoner with chagrined feelings ; after dooming him
to death, still to find him, after a lapse of more than half a year,
disturbing his government ; and disturbing him in his quiet at
Palembang, far more than any number of successfully transmitted
letters to all the Sultans of Sumatra could have done.

We met at the Stadhuis, whither I was carried by the friendly
Sheriff Brower; we met for confrontation, the late guest and
host ; the prisoner of Weltevreden, and the witness De Brauw.
There was no occasion for much courtesy of feeling ; perhaps a
spirit of vindictiveness ruled at the time, and charity was all for
gotten. De Brauw was led to believe, that the brutality of a
naval Commander, and the natural treachery of some of his own
Malay police, were not held in such low estimation as the part he
had acted ; he was led to believe that he was looked upon as a false
hearted man, notwithstanding the romantic incident of the silver

402 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

heart; and it so happened that he stood before a judge, the good
judge, who permitted him to hear all this.

The mulatto Assistant had an evil-looking face, traced deep
with treachery ; yet he was but a small man, this son of the ne-
grcss of Surinam ; though so useful to the Dutch Government
at Palembang. It could not be made manifest, how far he had
been serviceable in the production of a certain hostile letter ad
dressed to a Sumatran prince ; but enough was said, to assure
him that more than one of those who spoke with him during the
confrontation, believed that he had taken a large share in the
dictation ; and the assurance seemed to give a deeper shade to
his dark face.

The crew of the Flirt were re-examined. Some time was
spent in trying to find an interpreter ; who could understand
Pirez. They found a Portuguese, who had lived on the western
coast of Africa. Great efforts were made, not by the examining
judge, but by an underling of the Attorney General, to draw out
the boy : he had been so much near me ; he must know a great
deal of what I had said and done. He had been badgered for a
time, in vain ; but he was getting weary ; he seemed about to
yield ; and had something to tell, that would gratify the inquisi
tors ; he had heard his master say, one night at Palembang, a
dark night, standing by the starboard shrouds, on board the
Flirt ; yes, standing by the starboard shrouds ; that, well what
was it ? that his master said that his Dutch visitors wanted to
drink too much beer; more than he cared to supply.

All this examining was carried on in a loose and irregular
way ; the usual mode is, that a commissary judge takes the place
of a grand jury at home, to examine accused and witnesses, to
determine the probabilities of guilt ; and the result would be, a
report whether the case should be brought into judicature, made

ANOTHER LIBERATION. 403

the subject of a public trial, or not ; but in my case, the chief
solicitor of the government, not the Fiskaal attached to the Court
of Justice, took an active part to ferret out some little circum
stance, some little peg upon which to rest the charge of " high
treason;" first made by De Brauw in his despatch to the
Governor General, and afterwards maintained by the Government
of Netherland India.

Notwithstanding the zeal, and the prolonged efforts of the
Government officers ; the Court of Justice of Batavia, after
numberless examinations, after a long deliberation, arrived at the
conclusion, that there were " no grounds for prosecution in the
case," no foundation for a trial ; that the accused should be im
mediately set at liberty, and restored to his property ; and this
decision was recorded, and a copy served upon me, on the 25th
August 1852. In this decision, the Court of Justice had been
assisted by the Fiskaal, or prosecutor, who in a requisition, a doc
ument of the date of the 18th of the month, fully set forth that
there were no grounds for the charge of misdemeanor, as alleged
against the late commander of the Flirt.

I thought that I would surely go free ; and to return no more
this time. I had packed up the slight baggage of my prison ;
and was awaiting the carriage of my young friend ; when Brower
came with an unwelcome, look, with a decree from the High
Court, the tribunal of appointees of the Crown, that deliberates
in secret, and gives no man a chance to speak for himself; which
reversed the decision of the Court of Justice, and decreed my
continued detention in prison. The friendly Fiskaal was removed,
and the underling of the Attorney General, a clerk of his
bureau, was appointed instead of the former lenient prosecutor ;
some changes were made in the Court of Justice; and it was

40 t PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

moreover decreed that the inquisition that had been going on for
seven months, should be all gone over again.

The examinations were held at intervals, during a period of
four months more. What I was questioned about, what others
had to say concerning my case, during all this time ; during this
rclabor of such well-wrought ground, is now a matter of wonder
ment to think of; how all the petty details of past life and
habits, were hunted out of some imagined admissions, out of some
old papers, and many people s fancies ; how the politics and social
state of America were brought forth ; the proneness of its people
to association, to adventure, to study, and to do as they pleased,
how all this questioning, about every thing, but the matter in
point, whether I dictated and sent a certain seditious letter to
the Sultan of Jambee, or not; how all this grew daily into great
volumes of judicial docket, is still a wonderment to my thought ;
and may be looked upon by some after inquirer, as a remarkable
monument of labor, stupidity, espionage and perversion of justice
in Netherland India.

But I shall pass over the circumstances of these questionings ;
pass over a description of the attempted brow-beating exploits of
a lawyer ; and of all that was done to meet them. The arrogance
and craft of the one ; or the caution and tact of the other, will
add nothing to the interest, which it is desired to call forth ;
an interest in a race of which there were some opportunities to
gain a deeper and more startling knowledge, during the intervals
of the harassing of the law and of law s delays in Weltevreden.

Sahyeepah came to the prison with her sister to return the
map she had taken away ; she had studied all the colored com
partments, knew all the names of countries, as linked with beast
or bird ; had read all the notes ; and was prepared to give her
grandfather great gladness with her knowledge, when she returned

A REMARKABLE MALAY MIND. 405

to Sumatra. But such love for study was rare in any woman, in
any region of the world ; and still more to seek to pursue it in a
prison ; there surely must have been some interest beyond the
study, to such a mind, to a tropic-born heathen girl, to a Malay
young woman s soul ; and something there was, no doubt, disturb
ing the artless thought of one and puzzling the mind of the other.
But a desire to learn European wisdom, had been a ruling
thought before the Flirt went to Palembang; for this was no com
mon mind, a remarkable one to be met with among Caucasian,
as well as Malay.

I had taken rambles far upon many strange paths into the
native Oriental mind ; I had entered many curious regions of
fancy and feelings ; and I, who had often regretted that the world
was so small, so quickly explored, so thoroughly known, wishing
at one time for young adventure s sake, that its girth were one
hundred thousand miles, instead of twenty-five ; I now began to
feel that there were rarer fields of exploration in the un
measured, unexplored human soul ; in many strange varieties of
race, than all that might meet the eye in a limitless space of mere
earth and sea.

I had contemplated with some interest a quick and marvel
lous Malay mind, and a fervent young Malay heart ; but I had
become wrought up by late scenes, touched with sympathies for a
race, and moved to the maintenance of a character, that inspired
me with a feeling to save myself; if not before the rest of the
world, at least from any sign of weakness before them. Some
enthusiasm, the offspring of a strange experience, caused me to
meet the love of learning of Sahyeepah, as the sole ground upon
which we might stand together ; and further events, a further
growth of the thought in the one, and observation in the other,

406 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEX.

made it desirable to maintain the relative position, the teacher and
pupil, the master and disciple, in which we had met.

And Sahyeepah came and sat down in prison, and listened to
talk of many things ; beginning with some of the absurdities of
the dreams of her own race, and then advancing to the region of
reason ; and thus on to an enlarged consciousness of soul. It was
not so strange for her to listen to all this now ; as it was for the
other to so unfold himself in such a place, to such a person ; all
had been strange to her, the first word, the first thought, coming
from what seemed to her and her people, a superior and wonder
working race ; and her object in coming to listen, was childlike
curiosity and wonder; whilst the other, though not seeking this
encounter, now sought in the curious interest of it, a study of a
remarkable Oriental character, the analysis, never to be re
alized in the midst of civilization, of a woman s nature; and
some antidote against the lethargy and stagnation of some prison
hours.

We went over some of the same ground, that had been gone
over with Wongso ; and in regard to the worth of the human
soul, the granddaughter of Panyorang Laksana, conceived as
quickly, some enlarged and Christian conceptions, as the Celebes
soldier ; but she felt no anxiety, expressed no curiosity with re
gard to any future disposition of soul; and none for a. time was
discussed.

Curiosity was led on from the map to various other studies ;
the Book that had proven of so much consolation to Wongso ;
a Malay story, the romance of Ghralaam ; some chapters of the
Bidyasari ; a Malay translation of the Kamaina ; some chron
icles of Madjapahit; the exploits of Panji; a Javanese metric
legend of the wars of Browijoyo ; and a collection of Malay pan-
tuns in manuscript ; these afforded themes, of such novelty and

THE FAMILY OF SAIIYEEPAH. 407

interest, as won the curiosity, and some labor of study, from Um-
bah, Sahyecpah, and their fellow-student in Weltevreden.

Sahyeepah came a second time with her sister, then with her
brother, who had returned from Cheribon ; and then I saw the
father. Wirojoyo was a man of some little rank in Java; he
had been a deniang of a dessa, or small town near Samarang;
ho had been suspected in earlier years, of favoring the cause of
Deepo Negoro, who threatened the existence of Dutch dominion
in Java, at one time ; at a later period, he had been again sus
pected of a*hostile disposition to the Grovernment, and of selling
arms to the insurgent people of Bali ; and this led to a deposi
tion from the authority and emoluments of his native rank. He
engaged in commerce ; he owned several prahus ; and was an ac
tive successful man in trade. He was married for the third time,
the mothers of Diporo Kasumo, Sareena, and Sahyeepah, being
both dead. Wirojoyo was a quiet, honest, incurious character;
submissive and truthful like the rest of his countrymen ; and the
son and daughter by the first, the Javanese wife, resembled him ;
but Sahyeepah, the child of the Sumatran mother, was curious,
sensitive, proud, high-toned, like the old Sumatran aristocrat , her
grandfather

Wirojoyo and his Javanese son and daughter came, and smiled
with good-humored indifference at what was talked about, and
studied along with Sahyeepah in prison. They had liked me at
first, because their old relative in Sumatra had taken such an in
terest ; by and by, their Javanese sympathies were touched, and
then they liked me on my own account. It was a curious thing
to have a European, one of the race of their masters, for a
friend ; it was a matter of novel interest to have him commune
with them ; to have him as they thought come down to them ;
and then they to go up to him ; to hear no talk but of their

408 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

pleasantest fancies and sympathies ; no want for their service ,
but rather to serve them. They clothed me with the extravagant
attire of their active fancies ; there was nothing too strange for me
to propose, too .curious to happen. It was not too great a wonder
ment- to these oriental minds, that their daughter and sister should
like a man, and show it ; it was perfectly consistent with their
customs that she should go abroad, even more freely than in
European countries ; and so, after the novelty of the first ad
ventures to the prison, the after visits became matter of every
day incident ; and Wirojoyo and his Javanese son ajjd daughter
seemed only to think, that when the house of care should open
its gates for the American Tuan ; there would be rejoicing on the
Moosie and the Ogan ; but what part their curious, studious, en
thusiastic daughter and sister might take in that rejoicing,
never entered their unmanoevering, uuspeculating, simple Javanese
minds.

And Sahyeepah, the unsophisticated child of Sumatra, un
trained and unskilled in the art of civilization, though so graced
with the finest manifestations of humanity ; she knew nothing of
possible compromise of position ; she was of an age it is true to
feel the full extent of all of woman s relations in life ; and they
are supposed to be so quickly realized in the East ; but not so
much, when undisturbed, as in the sentiment-stimulated souls of
women of the West. The Malay young woman, whilst left to
herself in the quiet of her paternal home, dreams of no adven
ture beyond the achievements in dyeing and embroidery within
the walls of that home ; and it did seem that Sahyeepah had
dreamed of none that had relation to an interest in another sex, be
yond this; she had listened to stirring tales of the ancestry of her
grandfather, Arab and Malay ; she had listened to his hate of the
Dutch, and wild hope of restoration of the royal race of the sacred

MALAY ENTHUSIASM AND AMBITION. 409

city, of the once mighty Menangkabau ; she had heard read in
her grandfather s house, so many legends and pantuns, that
spoke of renown and power to come for the Malay people ; of
royal women who ruled, of princesses, young maidens like herself,
reverenced, and obeyed by a whole people ; she had thought of
these things, her grandfather had watched her dreamings ; and
some of my words, when in Sumatra, touched some of the secret
dreams of the ambitious grandfather and the enthusiastic grand
daughter.

This unsophisticated daughter of Sumatra was perhaps am
bitious too ; a feeling that has been shown by many Malay
women ; and rarely ever by a single Malay man ; never to the
extent of any heroic exertion or sacrifice ; but the women of the
Archipelago have shown it to the extent of disdaining the common
weaknesses of their sex ; or rather overlooking them, not feeling
their force, not having been acted upon by any nature of their
own race, who could awaken an interest superior to this strange
enthusiasm, as in the case of Sahyeepah.

She had no thought of compromise of womanly position ; and
her feelings had evidently been too indeterminate to disturb her,
or to make her think that there was a relation in life to be cared
for ; she had had thoughts and curious dreams of a pomp and
royal state, that had belonged to some one of her ancestors, of its
restoration again ; and perhaps in her person ; when the Dutch
should be driven out of Sumatra ; and then she would ride upon
a white elephant, and thousands of people would touch their fore
heads to the ground before her ; then whilst dreaming of this, she
had heard words about European skill and power, from one whom
she and her grandfather thought of a superior race to the one they
feared and hated ; they had listened with wonderment, they had
longed to hear more, they wanted to believe that the visit of that
18

410 PRISON OP WELTEVREDEN.

American ship and her commander was not a dream ; they followed
him in sympathy ; and then one did in person, even to a prison.

Sahyeepah came with her father, brother, and sister ; but they
could not come as often as she wished, nor stay to hear talk about
things for which the poor people of Java could have no use. By
and by, an old nurse of Sahyeepah, called Ayum, came from
Cheribon, and accompanied her young mistress ; and they always
had the escort of Pirez ; and sometimes of Umbah and Bassett.
The jailer was easy in his prison discipline towards me, for several
months after the visit of the " St. Mary s ; " he had been curious
about the visits of the Javanese family ; and he had evidently
been much questioned about them at head-quarters ; but the curi
ous dyed cloths in which I had taken an interest, for articles of
dress, the sewing that was done for me ; and all the commonplace,
business appearances that were put upon these native visitings,
fully satisfied the jailer and his employers.

The turnkey was completely bought over to my interest ;
though I knew that the brutal old dragoon watched me as keenly
as ever, for any false move on my part, the report of which would
insure him reward and favor from those he served. But in the
matter of little privileges which a turnkey controlled ; and all
that he could sell, were entirely at my disposal ; he fully under
stood when he might show up his chief lion to visitors, and when not
to do so ; he was careful not to have my Javanese calls intruded
upon ; he would sometimes open a door, and make a satisfactory
explanation to an obstinate sentinel at an unseasonable hour ; he
managed the introduction of visitors with all the tact and profit
to himself, of a well-skilled flunkey, who manages the avenues,
the ante-chamber leading to an employer s presence.

There was a class of visitors, the Malay and Chinese peddlers,
who came at certain hours, and could sell certain small permitted

THE PEDDLER AND THE MESSAGE. 411

articles to the prisoners ; these did not occupy any of Tutup s
care ; except to levy a heavy black mail upon tobacco, whenever
any new trader unfamiliar with the tariffs of the prison, made an
unwise outward show of a stock of that article. One of these, a
Javanese, came one day, and interrupted some study with Umbah
and Sahyeepah. Nothing was wanted; and the peddler was
told to go away ; still he importuned more than usual, to have
me only look at something he had to show; he said he had
very curious articles of the manufacture of Poorwacarta in Kraw-
ang ; Sahyeepah spoke, at the mention of this ; what did they
make in Krawang, that was not made in all Java ? they made
most marvellous little boxes from buffalo horn ; but I had no use
for such a thing ; still I would find this one very curious, if I
would only look at it. The importunity of the man made me look
at him ; he did not seem like a peddler, and he looked at me, as
though he had something to communicate. I went near him ; he
had his finger upon a letter among his wares ; he put it into the
little box ; which I bought ; and he immediately left the prison.

When my company had gone, I inspected the contents of my
purchase. A message of deepest interest, from a man whom I
wished to see above all others in Java. It is not necessary that
I should say what was that message, or from whom it came ; my
only object in alluding to it, was to mention the cause that gave
rise to an incident of peculiar adventure and heroism, the details
of which will introduce you a little into the heart of the great
island of Java ; as far as the imperial residence of Solo or Sura-
karta a vestige of the once great empires of Madjapahit and
Matarem.

I had a great desire to find a faithful messenger, who would
carry a message to the Javanese imperial city. There was Pirez,
faithful and courageous enough ; but the Government would never

412 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

give him a passport to go into the interior ; and his fear-inspir
ing physiognomy would attract too much attention, if he at
tempted a clandestine expedition ; the rest of my sailors were
still more unfitted ; the Baron was disposed to do most extraordina
ry things for me ; but he was wholly unsuited to aid me now, to do
this, I sounded the temper and adventurous spirit of Wirojoyo
and his son ; but I learned from them, without making any allu
sion to a message which I had to send, that to accomplish a visit
to the great city, without the escort and facilities furnished by
Government to visitors going into the interior, would require one
month of time, the employment of six coolies well armed, two
horses, and the expenditure of one thousand five hundred ru
pees ; and then he must be a bold man to face all the dangers of
the route without the government protection. The risk of such
a journey would never be incurred by Wirojoyo or Diporo
Kasumo.

I sought in vain for a messenger, whilst all the particulars of the
route to Surakarta became the chief study for the time. Umbah
was soon tired of the study of the geography of Java, but Sah-
yeepah never flagged in attention to all that related to the im
perial island, that once wielded an absolute sway over all the rest
of the Archipelago. She was familiar with the early dynasties of
Susuhunans or emperors ; and could chant some of their exploits
in the heroic lines of the Bratah Yudha, the great epic of Java ;
she often heard of the glories of the Kraton of Surakarta, no
mean relic of the Madjapahit splendor ; as it contained not less
than two hundred thousand people within its lofty walls. She
had longed to see the Kraton ; but I reminded her that she must
never hope to see it, unless with some rich and powerful pro
tector. That was true, she thought ; a poor weak woman, would
be assaulted by robbers and evil men, or devoured by tigers ;

THE INSPIRED MESSENGER. 413

and if escaping all these, would be made a slave by some of the
people of the Susuhunan.

I manifested a profound regret in contemplating all these
difficulties ; and why should I care, why should I regret so much ?
I could not tell Sahyeepah ; but by and by, she heard from her
father and her brother, of my earnest and particular inquiries of
them ; her courageous and enthusiastic soul was moved ; you
hardly need be told in what way ; and what she was about to say
and propose ; as you have a better knowledge of her extraordi
nary character than I had then. She spoke of my inquiries of
her father and her brother; of the deep interest shown before
her. What was wanted at Surakarta ? What message to send, what
commission to execute ? Sahyeepah would do it. But where
were the robbers, tigers, and slave-makers she would meet on the
road ? She did not see them now ; she would go vilely clad, and
take her old servant and a boy ; and they would travel as poor
peddlers. I listened as to the wild whims of adventure of a child.
The father would, no doubt, as soon entertain the idea of her
swimming back to Sumatra ; and so I shook my head at all the
volunteer heroism of Sahyeepah.

She came one day with a look of fixed purpose ; Allah had
spoken to her in the night-time ; she had heard her name called ;
she had trembled till her soul was almost gone ; and she had
heard a voice say, that, she had a great work to do for Tuan.
She felt the heart to do it ; she feared no more the tigers, rob
bers, and other evil men ; she had heard of a renowned suwang-
gee, a magician, who lived near Gunung Gedeh ; she would get
from him some charmed things, that would secure her against all
danger.

It is common to hear among the Malays and Javanese, of
communings with spirits. I have heard several simple, earnest

414 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

characters, assert such experience with the utmost earnestness
and particularity of detail ; it is easy to be believed of highly
imaginative, simple, uncultivated minds in tropic regions ; but Su
matra is noted for instances of remarkable spiritual manifesta
tions to women, remarkable in the estimation of the Sumatran peo
ple, who, in one instance, built a great broadway, straight up to the
top of a high mountain, some ten or twelve thousand feet high,
because a certain supposed communicant with the spirit land, had
declared with much enthusiasm, that the body, the relics of a
certain holy personage were buried on the summit of the mount ;
and many other instances are recorded in authentic history of the
effect of spiritual manifestations in Sumatra.

Sahyeepah was of a character to become one of these noted
spirit mediums ; an earnest, enthusiastic, imaginative creature,
with all the devotion of a perfect woman, yet only a child in
point of cultivated reason. She urged her desire to undertake
the hazardous expedition; and urged so resolutely, that I be
gan to think it possible, that the interesting young enthusiast
was perhaps the surest, and no doubt the safest messenger to
send. But it seemed impossible to suppose that the father would
consent, that his daughter should undertake such a wild adven
ture. Wirojoyo came, he had heard of the resolution of his
daughter ; it was the will of Allah, Sahyeepah was marvellous
beyond all her people ; she could accomplish what one hundred
men would not do ; his daughter would obtain charms from the
renowned suwanggee ; his son, the American Tuan, would soon
be free ; and he was willing to let Sahyeepah go.

Wirojoyo and Diporo Kasumo, were both impressed with the
idea, of some supernatural commission being imparted to Sah
yeepah ; they no longer imagined risk to her, in undertaking a fuar-
ful journey of several hundreds of miles ; whilst they would bo

THE CONCEALED MESSAGE. 415

filled with alarm if her sister Sareena should walk half a mile in
the campongs alone. There seemed to be no longer any opposi
tion for me to make ; except my want of faith in the charms, and
supernatural influences to protect a young girl against BO many
risks to which she would be exposed ; but if the wonderful art of
the suwanggee and of the spiritual manifestations did not inspire
any faith in their efficiency ; yet I doubted not that some poor
lonely woman, would be the safest bearer of a message, through
such a region ; and better protected by her poverty and loneli
ness, than by any safeguards she could take; she needed no
passport ; and would be subjected to none of the interruptions and
official stoppages to which men would be exposed ; and so it was
resolved that Sahyeepah should go to Surakarta.

Preparations were made for the journey ; a little native built
cart, and a Java pony were got ready, coarse dresses prepared
like those worn by women who peddle little articles of or
nament, and charms for the credulous ; a small stock of these were
obtained; and Sahyeepah, Ayum, and a little boy, called Ambon,
were ready for the journey. I prepared my message, and had
been puzzled how to contrive for its greatest safety; how the
most effectually to conceal it in the event of a search. Sah
yeepah had an idea ; the message was written on the finest tissue
paper ; she rolled it into a ball, the size of a pea ; she placed it
on the head of a large pin, like a little skewer, used by the com
mon people for fastening their hair ; the head of the pin had an
eye, by which the paper top was securely fastened ; then with a
liquid preparation, one of the lacquers of Palembang, the head,
after being oiled, was coated over with the lacquer, layer after
layer ; which, as it stiffened, was pressed into a resemblance
to the horn head of another pin; and was painted red like it;

416 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

and thus Sahyeepah was all prepared to carry my message to
Surakarta.

I parted from my remarkable pupil. Diporo Kasumo accom
panied his sister to the confines of the Residency of Batavia,
where he had to stop for the want of a passport ; and it was not
advisable that he should go any farther. He left his sister at
Bogor, to pursue her way with Ayum, the boy, and her own
courageous heart ; and before we shall hear her account of her
journey, I shall tell you meanwhile of some incidents that took
place with me during her absence.

FORTY-EIGHT DAY.

SABBATH ON BOARD THE PALMER.

FORTY-NINTH DAY.

THE Baron had received, with his liberty, the restoration of
his sword, and his rank in the army ; he had been discharged
from prison, as a guiltless man, who had been deprived of his
liberty nearly two years, without any foundation of crime, or mis
demeanor, whatever. The Executive did not pardon the Baron ;
but declared the decision of the Court of Justice, that had con
demned him, as null and void. So much ; said he to me, one
day, for having sat on the same school bench with a man in
power ; but, though the restoration to liberty, rank, and an un-
impeached character, was simply a portion of what was due to
an injured man in this case; yet it illustrates, as much as
my own strangely protracted proceedings, the insignificancy of the
judiciary ; and the irresponsibility and arbitrary position of the
chief of the military despotism that controls the possessions of
Holland in the East Indies.

The Baron continued to be my most constant visitor, and ad
viser in prison, and my faithful ally outside. The well-dressed,
elegant-looking officer, that came to see me, presented a marked
contrast to the half-nude, reckless, riotous, carousing prison
neighbor ; and after showing to you the effect that a prison can
produce upon a fine man, I am anxious to present him before you
in his restored and natural state. But the prison life had broken
up his career; he could not join again his comrades in arms,
and had tendered his resignation. He had no longer any voca-
18*

418 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

tion in Netherland India ; he had no wife, no near relations in
Holland ; and wished to retire to America.

He was talking with me, the day after the departure of Sah-
yeepah ; he had come to consult about Umbah. She was now
within a few months of being twelve years of age, the dawn of
womanhood in these islands ; he could not take care of her much
longer, he did not think himself fit even now. He could not
and he would not take her to Europe ; the delicate Oriental did
not bear transplanting to the rude north-west. I now occupied a
relationship towards the interesting foundling ; and I had been
her teacher ; and must take a part in the family consultation,
concerning her future settlement in life.

Sometimes, said the Baron, it has seemed to me, that you
were developing ideas and tastes, that may prove a source of dis
contentment and unhappiness. You think that the old Dutch
spirit, that destroyed spice groves in all but one spot, in order to
get the greatest possible advantage from the small quantity pro
duced, might very well have dictated my words; but Umbah must
remain a Malay woman ; and as you would deplore the possibility
of her becoming the mistress of an European ; she cannot look
forward to any other lot, than to fall into the hands of a Malay
or Javanese lord ; and of what use will geography, the knowledge
of books, the use of the pen, the science of numbers, and some
inkling of philosophy be to her in such a relation ?

These acquirements might be of no more use, no more called
into play, than in the case of nineteen twentieths of the young
females of our race, who generally make such little application of
a long, scholastic experience in the matrimonial state ; that is to
say, there is no evidence of the application of geography in house
keeping, of natural philosophy in cookery ; or of any heavy de
mand being made upon the science of numbers in keeping accounts

SETTLEMENT OF UMBAH. 419

with shopkeepers ; yet after all, the training of study, the disci
pline of arts and letters however slight, renders more simple, easy
and purposeful, the exercise of every duty ; and thus, it is the
merest truism to say of Umbah, that she will not make the battek
cloth ; and prepare the kimlo, and the sambol goreng, any the
worse for knowing more of civilized learning than her uncivilized
lord.

Umbah has learned by the little exercise of her Malay mind,
she has gone through, to look with horror upon the use of strong
drink ; to despise a chewer of opium, to consider a man, who does
little else but train chickens, lizards, and cockroaches to combat,
as many Malays do, to show for amusement and profit, as of no
more use on earth, than a trained dancing dog; or one of their
own self-destroying beasts and reptiles ; she has got by all this
reading and worrying of her little head, some idea that a Malay
has a soul ; and that she has one ; and there is no fear that she
will surrender up any control of her being to any one ; European
or native, who is not a companion of her spiritual nature. There
was no reason to fear that our resolute, thinking, little foster child
must necessarily fall so soon into the hands of a master ; she was
of a character, to be her own mistress ; and the only important
consideration was, to provide for her a suitable home asylum, a
family protection, the association of influences that would help to
sustain her fine womanly instincts. This course was decided
upon ; to find a suitable European family, over which an intelli
gent and refined lady presided ; such a one, I may say here, was
found ; and when I last heard from Umbah, she was under the
roof of a Christian family ; and pursuing the studies she had
commenced in the prison of Weltevreden.

The Baron always brought a great deal of gossip from the
city ; and among other matters on this occasion, he could tell me

420

PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

something of the history of the crazy lady, who was confined in a
room in the court, immediately behind mine. I had often seen
her from the grating of my back wall ; and had often spoken to
her ; but she had only replied with peevish mutterings ; and
would continue many hours in succession, seated on her door
step, and engaged in her usual occupation of combing her hair.

r L.

He had learned that her name was Virgina Smell, and he
wished to see what effect would be produced by repeating her
name to her ; and speaking of some matters of her early history,
which he supposed might affect her. By standing upon niy table,

INFANTICIDE AND MADNESS. 421

we could have a good view through the bars of the small window
of my back wall, into the court behind ; and the room of the
crazy young woman, was not more than thirty feet distant from
my window. She had not yet come to her door ; although it was
the usual hour, about sunset. A few rays of departing beams
still gilded the tops of the tamarind and almond-trees, that over
looked the court. The Baron called out softly ; Virgina, Virgina.

A movement was heard in the chamber of the crazy one, the
door opened quickly, and a pale face was thrust out ; she looked
around wildly ; her shrunken hand grasped nervously the door
post, as she uttered in piteous voice, Louis, Louis ; where are
you ? do you call Virgina ? The Baron was hardly prepared
for this ; he was stirred up a little ; and then he mingled with
some low words of anger, the name of one, who had been her
protector. He spoke again, with accents of tenderness. Where
is baby ; where is Mawar ? poor little Mawar ; Virgina, where
is our Mawar ?

She had not looked towards my window before ; she now
stepped forth into the small space before her door ; she seemed to
search for the one who had spoken to her ; speaking in low tone,
as it were to herself; Louis wants Mawar, where is Mawar ? and
then she laughed and looked piteous in turns; and mumbled
something about Mawar, a Chinaman, and the big canal.

The Baron seemed to have heard enough ; he jumped down
from the table, and paced my floor, with quick, nervous step.
He spoke of an honorable, wealthy and distinguished gentleman,
once a protector of this young woman ; he had retired to Europe,
overcharged with wealth and honors ; he would solace his declin
ing days with a companion and domestic peace in the fatherland ;
he would not wish to have the home circle he contemplated, in
terrupted by any voice, that should cry out, father, from the cam-

422 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

pongs of Batavia ; and so, Mawar, little Mawar ; listen to that
name, old man, went perhaps, as Virgina seemed to say, with
some ruffian Chinaman, to the big canal ; and yet the crazy
woman rouses at the name spoken in some old tones of love, and
says ; Louis, where are you ? Wherever you are, indeed, come
before death overtakes you, and take her out of this jail, she who
once clung to you, still clinging in her madness, despite the stealing
and murder of her child.

"Whilst the Baron continued to talk, we still heard the inquir
ing voice of the crazy woman. He thought, as I had been led
to believe, that this was an easily curable case of insanity ; one
of those which so frequently occur in early maternity. Representa
tions were made to the Court of Justice ; and I think that she is
now cared for with a proper nurse, and in a more comfortable es
tablishment.

This reminds me to give you some little account of the chief
attendant of the crazy young woman, whilst in Weltevreden ;
the huge Dyak pirate, the same who had always waited upon
me ; he was a monster in size, and in dark, ugly features ; but
there was a simple, good nature in the expression of his counte
nance, that did not correspond with the character of pirate, for
which crimes he had been doomed to perpetual imprisonment. I
had felt an interest to talk with him, he being a native of the vast
insular continent of Borneo, stretching nine hundred miles from
north to south ; and eight hundred from east to west, a great
empire of fertile soil, of rich mines; and gorgeous forests, teem
ing with life ; of rare birds, strange beasts, and wild men ; un
touched as yet by civilization, otherwise than in the way of trade ;
except at one small point, by the regenerating hand of Brooke.

The Dyaks, the aborigines of Borneo, exhibit in general the
traits of a frank and docile nature, which appear in strong contrast

DYAK SUPERSTITION. 423

with the crafty, restless character of the Malays, who have taken
possession of all the coast of the great island ; and are overrun
ning it, like the rest of the Archipelago, with their language.
However, nothwithstanding the general fine traits in the character
of the Dyaks, several of their tribes are led on by a horrible
superstition, to an atrocious system of assassination. The good-
natured Dyak, who is frank and hospitable at one time, will, on
another occasion, go in quest of his fellow-man, in order to cut
off his head, believing that whoever holds the head during life,
and has it buried with him in his grave, will hold as a slave in
another world, the soul of the beheaded one. My waiter had
entertained this belief, when in Borneo, and on the occasion of
getting married, he joined a party on a head hunting expedition,
wishful to get one to present to his bride. He had been captured
during the expedition by a Dutch cruiser ; had been drafted into
the Dutch army ; had deserted, and engaged in some act of piracy ;
was recaptured, and sent to Weltevreden to wait on his fellow-
men there, without losing his head ; and Conan, as he was called,
was led to believe, after some conversations with me, that the
decapitation of his fellow-men was a very bad practice.

Conan, was a Kahajan Dyak, from the southern portion of
Borneo ; born at Kota Moowara Rawa on the Kahajan River ; he
told many singular incidents of his Bornese life ; about piracy,
and some adventures with orang utan ; one of the stories relating
to the wild men having been confirmed, as to the facts of the in
cident, by the Baron and others, I shall endeavor to relate it in
the words of Conan, as a further illustration of the wild beings in
human form, that roam through the jungles of the Archipelago.

ABDUCTION BY AN ORANG UTAN OF BORNEO.

This happened to Conan when he carried a firelock for the

424 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

Company. His Commander Tuan Lieutenant, was marching with
a troop of soldiers and some coolies from Kota Marabahan on the
Banjer River, to a post on the Murung. The Commander had a
child with him ; a daughter, tho substance of his heart, the bright
light of his eye ; the child of a Malay mother, who was dead ; and
Ledah, the little girl, was like Umbah, the joy of Tuan, who comes
to the house of care. The servants of Ledah were with her, to
wait on her, and watch that she got no hurt.

The sun was hot one day, and Tuan Lieutenant said, halt,
under some waringin trees, near a stream of water. The soldiers
and coolies ate rice, they drank arrack, Conan too ; and all lay
down to sleep, while the sun was hot. But Ledah, silly child, did
not sleep ; she had big eyes to look into the deep shade of waringin
trees; she heard sounds, they were little beasts in the forests;
Ledah thought they were beautiful children of the country of
the Bekumpay, that is full of devils only ; but Ledah must know ;
must see with her eyes ; women must know every thing, Conan
says it.

Tuan Lieutenant, and servants of Ledah sleep ; she takes off
the charpoo, and walks softly with little bare feet, away from the
encampment. Ledah walks down where the earth was hollow,
the waringin shade is thick ; there is a dim light down in tho
hollow ; but Ledah sees beautiful flowers ; she fills her hands ;
the air is still and hot under the shade, she takes off her kabyah
and fills it with flowers. Ledah has gathered a great many, and
she sits down, at the foot of a great tree, to make some garlands
to give to her father when he awakes.

Great eyes are staring at Ledah ; eyes of a wild man. Ho
creeps nearer, softly along the ground like a tiger ; the wild man
does not eat Malays, or Dyaks ; but wild men carry off Malay and
Dyak girls when they walk outside the cainpongs. The wild man

ABDUCTION BY AN ORANG UTAN. 425

has come behind the waringin tree ; the pretty child is twining
her flowers ; she is thinking of her papa ; he won t be angry because
she ran away from her nurse, when she brings such nice flowers ;
he will take his Ledah in his lap ; and she will twine her wreaths
round his neck. Aachh ! the wild man cries ; Ledah is seized ;
arms of a beast, strong and hairy are around her ; and she sees
great eyes burning in a hairy, beast face.

Ledah does not faint ; she is a Malay girl ; and screams as
Malay girl can; her screams fill the hollow glen, they pierce
through the forest, they ring in the ears of the sleepers on the
creek bank, in the ears of the father, who cries aloud for his
child. Some heard the voice of Ledah very quick ; Conan heard
the first scream ; he ran, all the soldiers and coolies ran ; all ran
to where they heard the voice of Ledah, the substance of the
heart of the father, and the joy of the company ; they have entered
the forest ; and hear cries in a tree, high up in a great tree-top,
they see their favorite in the grasp of a great, hideous orang utan,
who springs from limb to limb, body of little Ledah no trouble,

Orang utan are strong ; far stronger than Malay or Dyak ;
they carry a big Dyak in one arm, easy like a child ; and easily
this one, leaped along with Ledah. The soldiers could shoot him ;
but where would be Ledah ? Conan ran to one tree ; other soldiers
and coolies ran to other trees ; some climbed up, and all shouted ;
and the father shouting out ; a thouand rupees, to him who will
save his child alive. The orang utan is pressed ; he approaches
the creek bank ; the orang utan always takes to water, when pur
sued. There is a great tree, it has high limbs, that overhang the
water ; the orang utan has sprung into this ; and Ledah is bleed
ing, her arms and feet are torn, her voice is still ; she is surely
dead ; but Conan is in the tree ; he sees her struggle again, he
climbs swift as the orang utan ; others are climbing, coolies are

426 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

on the edge of the stream ; they see above them, on a limb, high
up and far over the water, they see the monster, and Ledah ; Co-
nan is near ; the wild man cries, aachh ! looks down, raises up, and
springs ; Conan after, pluoge into the water, others have plunged,
the creek is full, they have hold of Ledah, the monster bites strong
and fierce, he dives, he escapes ; but Ledah is safe, and in the
arms of her father.

This abduction of the little girl, was a story of which I heard
some particulars from officers at Palembang and Minto, and from
several persons at Batavia. I heard many different accounts;
but have preferred to give you the version of an eye witness.
There are many well authenticated instances of the abduction of
young girls, who have strayed beyond the safe limits of their vil
lage. Ledah recovered from the effects of her fearful excursion
in the tree-tops ; and is said to be married, and now living near
Amboyna.

Conan not only entertained me with stories ; but became one
of my pupils ; when the gates were closed at noon, Conan would
come ; and sometimes at night, he had a chance to get out of his
block, and come into mine unobserved ; for he was not confined
to a cell at night ; the fast-riveted iron bands being considered suffi
cient protection against any attempt at escape of a native ; when
ever he could thus get away, he would come and sit on the door
step of my room, and with the docility of Umbah, would listen
with simple credulity to whatever was told to him. He had a com
rade, a Javanese robber, called Gedeh; another great childlike
creature, docile and good-natured, who had warred against a por
tion of his fellow-beings, from superstition, and with sheer brute
unconsciousness of crime.

These encaged wild creatures, had begun to take pleasure in
listening, first to the stories, and then to a little reasoning of

CIVILIZATION APPROACHING BARBARISM. 427

civilization. In a short while, they did not seem so far off from
it ; and they wished to come nearer ; nearer to the knowledge of
the European ; and all their brethren would wish to come nearer,
even to civilization ; if civilization would study their weak na
tures, and go nearer to them. But I have more to say on this
subject, when I speak of the chief representative of the ruling
races of the Archipelago. The Java Malay enthusiast who went
on a bold journey to Surakarta.

FIFTIETH DAY.

IT was in the beginning of the eleventh month of my stay in
prison, that Sahyeepah went upon her adventurous journey ; and
her return was expected within six weeks at the farthest, from
the time of her starting.

This eleventh month is made notable to me, by the occurrence
of three events, of very different, though of equally imposing
character ; and the more notable to me, and the more vividly re
membered, on account of having occurred, so quickly following
after each other.

There are many little particulars connected with my prison
life, of which I have made no mention ; there were many visits,
many anecdotes about fellow-prisoners ; many curious characters
coming in, and going out ; many little matters occurring between
me, the jailer and his family ; with my sailors, judges, friends ;
some changes in living, diet, health ; and all the detail of a pri
son life, daily full of incident, to which I have not even alluded.
But one of these unmentioned particulars of my prison experi
ence, I will now speak of; and that was the annoyance from rep
tiles, of numberless frogs in the court, of lizards in my cell.
The latter are not unfamiliar in well-kept houses, even in Bata-
via ; they run upon the wall and the ceiling after flies ; and some
times their feet lose their power of holding on; and oftentimes
drop into beds, where there are no overhangings, as was in my

SERPENT IN A CELL. 429

case, and startle a sleeper, with their cold, glassy bodies on his
breast. But I was roused one night, by a more alarming visi
tant than a lizard.

I awoke from a painful dream, and perceived an oppressive,
sickening odor in my room ; I raised up ; there was a fluttering in
a cage, from a little crimson-streaked dove, that I had; there
was a sliding sound ; and by the starlight of a Javan sky, that
shed some faint rays through the bars of my window, I could see
a large serpent on the floor.

Any one who has lived in a log cabin in the upper districts
of South Carolina or Georgia; or perhaps anywhere in the
Southern back woods of America, would not be surprised at the
sight of a snake in his room ; there are even tolerated house
snakes in Georgia, on account of being such good mousers ; snakes
are met with in very strange places in a backwoods home ; and
oftentimes have to be turned out of a bed before a man can turn
in himself; but they are small snakes of harmless bite. I might
have heeded them no more than the lizards ; but this was one of
the great, venomous reptiles of Java.

He could not get the bird ; he raised his head, he moved it
around, seeming to survey the room ; I could see his glittering
eyes ; he slid a little towards me ; he raised his head again with
dancing motion, as though smelling in the air; he slid nearer;
his head was within five feet of mine ; and I thought he was
going to spring. My right hand was upon a gooling, a tightly
stuffed little bolster, that is universally used in the Archipelago,
to place between the knees ; a means of coolness to the limbs ;
which I hurled with fear inspired energy at the monster ; there was
a horrible hissing, a beating of the floor ; the serpent wound round
the bolster, quickly coiling and uncoiling, and biting at it for a
few moments ; and then the great constrictor slid away, leaving

430 PRISON OP WELTEVREDEN.

behind a suffocating, nauseous odor ; which with some apprehen
sion of his return, made me pass an uneasy night

Conan, when he came with my breakfast, told me that such
visits were not uncommon in some of the blocks next to the
moat ; this was the great ular sawah, that came from the canal
through the drains ; it had entered my room through a hole in a
corner, which was made by a singular burrowing creature, a
species of Java mole. I discovered outside a distinct trail fully
five inches across, and the serpent must have been nine feet in
length. This was the first of the events, that marked my
eleventh month in prison.

The third night after this occurrence, was very sultry, even
for Java ; it was impossible to sleep ; there was oppression and
sickening languor in the air ; and it was exhaustion to attempt
any relief; the enfeebled brain filled the hot night air with foul
shapes ; the demons that come to the Javan mind, and even to
any mind, that is sweltering in the heat of Java. The drapery
of the night sky droops its glittering folds down closer to the
earth, shutting out the winds, and shutting in the heat. There
are murinurings in the air, like the tremulous signal sounds of a
Thug; and waf-wamngs of the great vampire bats with musky
wings, fanning deadly odors upon a heat-enfeebled sleeper ; who
reaches feebly forth with unnerved limbs to cast off the thrall of
Javan nightmare.

I heard a murmur of sound ; it was not the rustle in the al
mond-tree tops, from the breath of a rising breeze ; the murmur
became a rumble, a march of dread sound, that rolled from the
east to the west; it rolled on louder, it rushed upon the city,
and then the earth heaved, walls shook, tiles rattled from the roofs ;
the heaving rocked and sickened me, like a rolling at sea ; and

AN EARTHQUAKE IN PRISON. 431

the whole length of Java, and many distant isles, were shaken by
a great earthquake.

There are twenty-one volcanoes on the island; smoking,
flaming, and belching forth, at frequent intervals, the hot liquid
matter of the earth s bowels. The great Tomboro on the island
of Sumbawa, has burst forth at times, with heavings, that have
shaken the farthest verge of the Archipelago. The sea has risen
up in the Moluccas, and carried vessels many miles inland ; it
was so this time ; and Arjuno or Merapi were making a grand
pyrotechnic display on the hot night, that I was tossed about on
the floor of my cell ; and this was the second notable thing, that
marked the eleventh month of my stay in Weltevreden.

You have learned, that one Fiskaal, well disposed towards
me, was removed; and another one, a clerk in the office of the
chief prosecutor of the Government, appointed in his stead. You
have learned also, that some changes were made on the bench of
the Court of Justice, that witnesses were brought from Sumatra ;
all that remained ; the chief ones in fact ; that the Residents of
Palembang and Banca ; that the Havermeesters of these two places,
an assistant Resident, some naval and military officers, my sailors,
and my treacherous servants in the pay of the Government, had
all been examined ; the whole instruction, or preliminary investiga
tion gone over again ; pressed by an active, unscrupulous Fiskaal
this time ; followed up by a strenuous requisition, demanding that
I should be tried and punished for high treason. And the Court
of Justice deliberated upon all this ; looked over the piles of
docket, of reports, correspondence, and private papers, that had
accumulated during the progress of the case ; they had my whole
history, late cruise, and smallest transaction during my stay in
the Archipelago, all before them ; and on the twenty-second of
December, 1852, they recorded their solemn decision, that there

432 PRISON OP WELTEVREDEN.

were "no grounds" whatever, for the charge of "Light reason,"
alleged against the Commander and mate of the Flirt ; refusing
to bring the case into a public court ; and ordering the immediate
liberaton, and restoration of the property of the prisoners ; and
this was the third notable event, during the eleventh month of
my stay in prison.

Thus, this Court had thrice ordered my liberation ; the first
time, on account of the illegality of the manner of my arrest;
and a second, and a third time, had declared solemnly, that there
was no foundation for the crime alleged against me; and now
again, this decree of liberation was opposed by the chief pro
secutor of the Government, and he obtained another decree from
the secret high tribunal, peremptorily ordering the Court of Jus
tice, to hold a public trial of the Commander and the mate of
the Flirt, in the Stadhuis of Batavia ; and this event, this order
of re-arrest, which I did not learn till some time afterwards, dur
ing the twelfth month of my stay in prison ; this was the order,
that was handed to me by Sheriff Brower, and cast me from
brightest hope, into darkest gloom, on the same evening that the
Palmer struck on Brewer s shoals

Shortly after this, I heard of you, and saw some of my
friends who now listen to me. You found me busy with my
notes, making preparation for the grand trial that was to take
place the following month. The Arjuno and the Borneo had
Bailed again, to bring a second time all the civil, military and
naval officers of the Government, that had any knowledge of my
case; and besides these, to bring every native chieftain; and
Arab, Malay, or Chinaman, with whom I had spoken ; there was
the stir and rumor of a grand preparation; of such a trial, as
had never been seen under Dutch East Indian rule ; a trial, that
would afford an opportunity to bring out many appearances against

MOTIVES FOR A TRIAL. 433

me, even if I could not be convicted of high treason ; that would
show some excuse for the protracted, blundering management of
the case ; that would impress America, with the idea of the de
liberation and fairness of Dutch justice; but above all, that
would afford an opportunity to strengthen the prestige of Dutch
power in the native mind ; that had seen the flag of a great na
tion trampled upon ; its citizens cast ignominiously into prison; and
then had heard of one of their ships of war coming to their rescue,
and going ingloriously away ; they had seen and heard all this ;
and now they should see the citizen of that great power, ar
raigned before their judges, questioned, browbeaten, and perhaps
condemned and begging for his life.

I did not think much of this, during the excitement of that
period ; there was another matter that weighed upon my mind.
The eleventh month had passed away; and no tidings of Sah-
yeepah. As the days of the twelfth rolled on, the father, and
brother, and sister came to see me, with anxious looks ; looking
for assurance and hope in my words. I had plenty to give them ;
although I began to lose it fast myself. I felt a keen self-re
proach for having consented to such an adventure, by such a per
son, on my account. There was no longer the excitement of the cir
cumstance that led to it ; her own enthusiasm, and the ready acquies
cence of the simple relatives. Wirojoyo, and his son and daughter,
like simple, credulous, confiding children of Java, seemed to look
up to me, to some powers I possessed, they knew not what, for the
restoration of the absent one. And as time rolled on ; the seventh
week having gone, since the departure of Sahyeepah, I began to
realize the first view, that Wirojoyo had taken of the expedition ;
the great distance, about four hundred miles ; the steep moun
tains to ascend ; the rivers to cross ; the almost impassable roada
to labor through in some places; and then the tigers and aer?

434 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

pents swarming in the jungle, and along the path ; the robbers ;
and worse than all, the evil men, who ever lurk in every land,
to rob what is more precious than treasure or life, from every de
fenceless woman.

The twelfth month had passed away; some days of the
thirteenth ; and the time was near at hand for the great trial.
I had to summon memory, resolution, hope, patience, and the
pride of country, to enable me to meet the array of opposing in
fluences, that, I supposed, an unscrupulous power was about to
bring and to wield against me. I felt no shrinking to meet all
that; but I shrank from meeting Wirojoyo, who came with de
solate, and tearful face, to tell me that there were no tidings of
his child.

FIFTY-FIRST DAY.

MY trial commenced on the anniversary of my entrance into
the prison of Weltevreden. Twelve months of diligent prepara
tion on the part of the prosecution ; and twelve months of dili
gent study on my part for the acquisition of the very knowledge ;
the pursuit of which, was, in truth, the real cause of the hostility
of the power that had seized and held me. It sought to
punish me for spying out the land ; and yet had placed me in the
midst of the best, and most zealous of instructors, eager to teach
me all its means of strength, and all its sources of weakness.
In seeking to punish me for entertaining feelings of hostility to
the Government, I had been placed in the rankest atmosphere of
treason in Netherland India ; and now, the consummation of all
this was to be shown, in a public display of executive domination,
of judicial incapacity, of a confusion of all laws, and in a most
imbecile decision of justice.

The forces of the Government were marshalled at the Stad-
huis; a grim old fabric, consecrated to injustice by Speelinan,
Valckeneir and Daendels, the chief hall of which was still gar
nished with the pincers, thumbscrews, and the brodequins for
crushing tender feet; the relics of less responsible times. In
that hall were assembled four judges ; a president and three as
sociates ; and there was the chief prosecutor of the Government
and his aids ; there was the Resident, and Havermeester of Ban-

436 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

ca ; there was the Assistant Resident of Palembang ; the chief
did not corue, the Government had some reasons for allowing him
to stay away ; the Shahbander, the Topographical Captain, two
lieutenants of the army, three officers of the navy, Bois, the
French soldier; and with these were the Panyorangs Scherriff All,
and Osnian Bin Kassim Barkaba, the Demang Sapeedin, some
binaller chieftains, Kiagoos Lanang, Bahdoo, and Moonchwa ; and
the Chief of the Chinamen at Palembang, the host of the wed
ding feast, Oey Soch Tchay and Lim Boo Seng ; this was the
array of judges, prosecutors and witnesses marshalled against me
by the Government of Netherland India, on the morning of the
fourteenth of February, 1852.

On the part of the defence ; an American naval Commander,
who had been begged to come, an American functionary whose
presence had been solicited from the American Commissioner to
China, and an American Consular agent at Batavia, did not ap
pear. Of the crew of the Flirt, four had gone to the hospital,
and were no more heard of; stout Jim had been taken, out of
charity, on board a homeward bound ship ; the second mate, the
lonely keeper of the vessel at Maceio, had gone to Singapore, to
seek some diversion in my favor; and besides the mate, a prisoner
with myself, there only remained poor, faithful, uncouth Pirez,
as sole witness for the defence.

Some of you witnessed the management of that prosecution
and defence. You know what influences were brought to bear ;
what leading questions, used to lead on a treacherous and hos
tile witness ; what ready recording of an answer when favorable,
and what delays and suggestions when doubtful ; what gross in
justice manifested by the one, and what skill or self possession,
manifested by the other.

PERSONNEL OF A COURT IN N. INDIA. 437

Yes, said the boatswain, interrupting, and explaining to the lady
passengers. I saw it all ; from the first day to the last ; and they
were a long time at it, ten whole days ; from early in the morning,
till late in the afternoon. There was the red-faced old president,
whom I saw several times rather unsteady on his timbers, at the
Kotterdamsche Hotel ; and I was told that he got that way every
day after dinner, like a good many of our judges at home. The
bench is pretty strong on grog generally. There was one of the
black gowns, as dark looking in the face, as that nice man Storm,
related to the King of Dahomey ; and the two mulattoes seemed
to be pretty thick ; in another black gown, was a man they called
a Baron, and brother to the Adjutant of the Governor General ;
and in the fourth was an old fellow, past eighty, who could not
hold his head up, and slept all the time. They did not look very
imposing ; a lot of hard Dutch faces, all but the mulatto ; and
the head government man was the hardest- looking one of the lot.

But those old chiefs from Sumatra, in speckled coats, blazing
with diamonds, and holding their crooked daggers ; they looked
grand. It was a curious sight to see them stand up, sway their
hands, sing a kind of song, and raise and lower the Koran three
times on their heads, when they took an oath ; and a funny sight
to see a Chinaman lay hold of the head of a rooster, and another
one cut it off, when a chin-chin was sworn ; but from what I saw
and heard all along, I think that Chinaman, Malay, and Arab,
can swallow the rooster and the Koran, and swear black is white,
about as easy as some of our folks can gulp down the gospel, and
as many lies with it as you please.

By gracious king ! I never heard of such swearing in all my
life before. I knew nothing what the Dutchies or the chaps with
the turbans said ; but our ship-chandler at Batavia, was with me
all the time ; and gave me the run of their yarns as they spun

438 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

cm out. One Dutchman swore, that he had heard the Captain of
the Flirt say, that ho belonged to an association of young men in
America, whose object was to set all uncivilized people a going on
their own hook; this association had ten frigates armed with
paixhan guns, unbeknown to the United States government ; but
where these frigates might be hid ; whether moored to the North
or the South pole, he did not say ; and then the government man
got up and showed to the Court a little piece of ribbon, that had
on *it in English ; " member of the American institute ; " and a
paper, a travelling pass of some American order ; and this was to
confirm the story of the man, who swore about the frigates and
the paixhans. I would not have believed such a stupid story
could have been listened to, even by Dutchmen ; but they spent
half a day about it, in that Court ; and it will be found in black
and white, in their big pile of papers.

But the big gun of all, was a letter, which the government
man took out of a strong copper box ; it was a sheet of fancy
white paper, all covered over with what looked like mice tracks,
and this he handled as gingerly, as if it were the real original
Declaration of Independence, written by Washington. He carried
it with both hands, like a parson would the sacrament, and laid it
before the chief judge. Then the Captain was called up to the
desk ; the paper was laid before him ; the government man, watch
ing, ready to spring ; as though he expected a grab at the precious
document. The Captain was told to look at it close ; and to say,
did he sign that paper or not. He plumped right out, no ; he
had never seen it before, never had such a piece of paper in his
possession ; never had authorized any such words, as were then
translated ; which said ; that he would assist some Sultan there
over in Sumatra with powder, balls, cannon and blunderbusses;
that he would lend him the use of the United States Navy ; that

EVIDENCE IN A DUTCH COURT. 439

he would use up all the Dutchmen round about in those parts gen
erally, and make the Sultan of Jambee a present of the territory
of Palembang. The Captain said that he knew nothing of such
stuff; he had ordered a letter to be sent, he had signed one ; he had
been asked if he had done so, when he came to Batavia ; but
never, till now, had he looked at the document. The one he had
signed was on blue paper ; this one was a miserable forgery.

Never did you see such a lot of Dutchmen, all struck of a
heap. The tippling president pitched clean back in his seat ; the
old judge put on his spectacles wrongways up ; and every body
stared at the government man to see what he would have to say.
He jawed and puckered up his mouth a while, and then he made
a dive into the copper box again ; and brought out a little yellow-
covered book, knotched with the alphabet along the edges ; and
he turned over, and showed the Malay words for guns, cannon,
ships ; and a good many of the words found in the letter ; this
book was the vocabulary of the Captain, when at Palembang;
and proved that he knew Malay words enough to make up the
letter. The Captain said he had never put down such words in
the blank book ; he looked at it ; and then pointed out to the
Court, that all these ugly words were at the end of each list, and
written in quite a different hand to those that had gone before
them. The judges looked puzzled; and the government man
seemed to be taken aback again, till he made another dive into the
copper box ; and brought out a cord of old papers belonging to
the Captain ; begging notes from school to a certain old governor
for supplies ; old love letters, tailors bills ; and something of that
sort, I suppose, although I did not see ; at any rate, they were
brought out to show that there was writing, among them, that
looked mightily like the signature of the mouse-track letter ; and
these papers were handed over to two schoolmasters, and they

440 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

were to report, and they did so, the next day ; saying that some
pothooks and down strokes were like the signing of that Jambee
declaration of Independence ; but they could not swear that the
same fist that signed it, had written all the schoolboy duns, lovo
letters, and tailors bills, they had been looking over.

The government man did not seem to make much out of the
big gun ; and then he tried some smaller ones, in overhauling the
turbaned chaps. Every body that was looking on in Court ; and
every American, English, German and French resident of Batavia
was there, all the time ; every body I heard talk, said that the
Government would get just such talk as they wanted out of the
natives. But there never was such a lot of forgetful witnesses ;
they beat shy old salts at that game ; except the two rascally ser
vants, well known at Batavia as government policemen; all
the rest did not say ono word, that could be turned against
the Captain ; they all swore, they could not understand one word
he said. But the government man had got some hook on to one,
the grand old Arab Panyorang ; he had let out somehow, to some
Dutch officers, about some conversation with the Captain ; and
when he said that he did not understand the language of the
Captain, the Dutch officers swore that he had said he did, and
must be lying.

Then old turban stood up ; the dark eyes of the Arab flashed ;
but there was not the move of a muscle in the face, nor a single
quivering hair, in that splendid long white beard ; he said that
he had understood something of the thoughts of the American
Tuan, but not by words; they had spoken with their hands,
their eyes, and their brains. He was a splendid old man ; and rose
up and spoke, and sat down like the President of the United
States of Arabia. The rliiof nown of the Court spoke to the
venerable Chief; he said that he and his fellow-judges could not

PANTOMIME IN A DUTCH COURT. 441

well believe such a story. The old man rose again, with a quiet-
look of contempt at the whole Court; he was sure that the
American Tuan could prove his words true, on the spot ; he was
skilful, let them try him.

Old toper whispered awhile to the mulatto, the Baron, and
old sleepy head ; then they called a translator to the desk ; he
wrote down something and handed it to the Captain, who was to
repeat the contents with his hands to the Arab President ; and
he afterwards should repeat it to the Court. I have been to those
French shows, where they do nothing but talk with hands ; and
never could make any thing out of their winking, and clawing and
sawing of the air ; but I never expected to see a show of panto
mime in a Dutch court, by an American skipper.

The Captain faced the worthy old venerable, with the turban
and the long beard ; both looked hard at each other ; but never
moved a muscle ; every body in the pit was crawding up to the
foot-lights to see ; and as I can make tracks in a crowd, I got a
front seat. Our Captain pointed to the turban of the Panyorang ;
made little circles with his thumb and forefinger ; counted fifty
with his fingers; he pointed to the turban again, and then to his
coat pocket, he waved his hands, and made all sorts of motions
to make out that he went a sailing ; he worked his feet like on a
treadle, he swayed something with the left hand ; and pitched
something with the right, that looked mighty like weaving ; and
then he went a waving again, and looked like a man coming back
from somewhere ; and he seemed to pull something out of his
pocket, he counted twenty with his fingers ; and then looked at
the Panyorang sort o smiling, like one of our down-easters, ask
ing a man to trade for a horse or a quintal of cod fish.

The old patriarch rose up and said ; that the American Tuan
proposed to give him fifty dollars for his turban; saying also,
19*

442 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

that he would take it home, and have others made like it, which
he would sell him for twenty. The old man asked if he had
spoken right ; and wanted to know, if the judges had something
besides propositions for buying and selling to try the skill of the
American Tuan ; but they were satisfied ; and the show ended.
All of this doing was written down by two quilldrivers in front
of the chief bigwig s scat.

The next thing in the programme of this curious trial, was
the hauling up of the Captain s nigger, who was not the hand
somest Cuffee I ever saw; but the fellow looked as if he was
made of some good stuff, far better than his cousin from Palem-
bang, the relation of the King of Dahomey. A Portugue man
spoke to him, and he blubbered out some awful crotchety words,
that set judges, and all of the crowd around me, in full grin.
Cuffee jerked out something pretty hard, and looked marline
spikes at the Van Breeks, and the bad do, or do bad man of the
Captain. Old president wanted to know what he was driving at ;
Portugue man could not tell ; other chaps, sharp on lingo, trans
lators of the Court, they tried and could do nothing ; somebody
said, let his master interpret ; and then the Captain stood up,
and looking solemn, said that the witness, Pirez, had seen upon
the person of Bahdoo, who was present, a sash which had be
longed to him ; he had called him a thief; said that he had
helped Dutch soldiers to plunder the cabin of the Flirt; and
that such thieves, who wore combs in their hair like women,
wouldn t eat pork, and didn t believe in Christ and San Antonio,
ought not be let say one word against his master.

There was a break down after this, the grin went off into a
galloping laugh ; a man with a gilt stick pounded away awhile,
old president looked sober, and asked Portugue man to try Cuffee
again ; as he seemed to think that the Captain had been dressing
a Ittle, but nothing could be done with Cuffee by the Portugue

A VERDICT OF ACQUITTAL. 443

man; then all the blackgowns put noses together, whispered
awhile ; and after a time, old three sheets in the wind said, that
the witness must be dismissed ; as the Court was without a com
petent translator. The Captain protested against this ; and said
he was his only witness ; it would not do ; Cuffee was not wanted,
and he stepped out.

And half the time was taken up by some more farces like this ;
all kinds of funny stories were told, that never would be believed
in America. The Captain was chief lawyer all the time, over
hauling every witness in his own lingo ; and keeping up a run
ning fight with the government man. They kept at it for nine
days, and on the tenth, the government man made a pretty long
yarn, asking that the Captain have permission to stand in the pil
lory two hours, and then work twelve years for the Dutch Govern
ment to pay for his board in prison ; which modest request was
answered by two lawyers, who had not opened their mouths, but
a chance time or two, all the days before. Then you know there
was another grand sitting ; every body in Batavia was crowding
round the old Court House ; the black gowns were in their places,
the Captain standing up, whilst old president read off a long paper ;
saying, that the Captain did not come out East with the best of
feelings to the Dutch, that if he hadn t taken Palembang, it was
not for the want of the will to try ; that they might thank their
stars, that the old Flirt was not as in old times, when off in the
Gulf with brave Nicholson, with seventy men and eight long
twelve-pounders aboard ; that it was clear that the Captain wanted
to scrape up an acquaintance with them ragers and Sultans in
Sumatra, that he had got some one to write a letter, and might
have written it himself, if he had known how ; and it was kind
of insinuated that he did know how, and a good deal more than
he had a right to, for the good of the Dutch ; but after all, that

444 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

this was not exactly high treason against Holland ; he was not
guilty of that crime ; and it was decreed that he should have his
vessel, and go on his way rejoicing. And then you know, we had
a jubilee ; and I whipped that big boxer at the Rotterdamsche
hotel. But why the Captain did not get away ; he can tell bet
ter himself.

Our friend, the Boatswain, said the Commander, resuming his
narrative, has given you the chief features of the trial, with some
of his own peculiar coloring. The test of the pantomime was an
undignified proceeding for a Court of Justice, and was contemp
tuously proposed by the old Arab Chieftain, whose veracity had
been so grossly doubted. The refusal to send for an interpreter
who had understood Pirez on a former occasion, and thus depriving
me of my only witness, was an act of wanton injustice. The
alleged treasonable letter ; and the words of hostile import, added
to the vocabulary, were manifest forgeries, and so pronounced by
my counsel, by many judges ; and excepting the officers of the
Government, by all who saw them there.

And fifteen months after that trial, the then arraigned pris
oner was in the capital city of the country of his judges in Europe.
He went there, though an alleged fugitive from justice ; and the
same spirit of blundering, that seized him in Sumatra, that
did not know what to do with him during fifteen months
in prison, that acquitted and condemned him four times, that could
not keep him when he was ready to go ; did there at the Hague,
in the person of a Minister of Foreign Affairs, did in the eagerness
of fear, at a time, when the government of the United States had
assumed an attitude of decision to have wrongs redressed, did send
to the late prisoner of Weltevreden, the convict of Dutch justice,
walking abroad in the capital of Holland, did send to him defer-

MOTIVES FOR QUALIFYING A VERDICT. 445

entially, thinking it to be some other worthless matter, the

famous Jambee letter, all his own much deplored papers, his vocab
ulary ; and voluminous evidences of the infamous policy of the
Netherland India Government

You will have been led to suppose, that I had none but friends
in the local Court of Justice of Batavia ; and such was the case,
during the first proceedings instituted against me ; the declaration
of the absurdity of the charge alleged against me was then un
qualified ; it was repeated a second, and a third time ; but prior to
this public trial, the court had undergone some changes in its compo
sition; it had been coerced so often, and driven into further action
by a superior secret tribunal, acting under the direct influence of
the Government, and holding a precarious judicial tenure under
the absolute military government, which controls Java ; it is per
haps not to be wondered at, that this Court in its last decision of
acquittal, should this time have thought proper to make a con
cession to Government, by qualifying their decision, with many
unfounded charges of evil intent alleged against me.

The mad lawyer uttered an unquestionable truth in his daily
refrain : there is no law in Netherland India ; not that there is
no law administered ; but no code that belongs to the country.
A confusion of all law was jumbled up in my case ; the jurispru
dence of old Rome, the pandects, the Julian law of majesty, old
English larws of attainder, the code of Napoleon, and German,
and Italian codes ; a medley of the laws of all nations, adminis
tered by a servile bench of judicial pensioners.

The Government had not obtained a condemnation, but some
portion of their array of witnesses had given some color of excuse
for my seizure, and thus one object of the trial was secured; but
was the other, the influence on the native mind, realized ? Who

446 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

shall tell, what impressions were produced upon the stately Arab
prince, and the Malay chieftains. Him whom they had seen fall
into the hands of their hated oppressors, and then carried away
in the ship, that was the decoy and prison of their great chief
tain, whom they might have expected to see wasted in strength
and broken in spirit, they now saw in the midst of his jailers,
with the same front that they saw in Sumatra.

The native mind could not form any high conception of
Dutch power, when they saw an unaided man magnified into a gov
ernment foe; they could not have been much impressed with the
dignity of Dutch justice, after witnessing the proceedings, which
have been truthfully, though somewhat humorously described by
our friend the Boatswain. The same power and the same justice,
that was there, has been wielding a sway and exercising a jurisdic
tion in the Archipelago for upwards of two hundred years ; and
yet the native mind remains the same ; unchanged as the native
costume ; the same ignorance of the religion that their masters
profess to believe ; the same indifference to the civilization they
boast ; for what has it done for them ? And what single act can
be pointed out in the whole history of Dutch rule in the East,
that should cause the native mind to respect their religion, their
laws, or their civilization ?

But the people of the Archipelago are not so weak and
base in character ; so helplessly besotted in bigotry of supersti
tion, as to prevent them from realizing an ameliorating change.
No Asiatic races are so quick in perception as the Malay; none
so truthful, industrious and docile as the Javanese ; no Mahom-
medan or pagan nations, so entirely free from any cruel or de
grading superstitions ; and no people so willing to listen to dif
ferences of creed or opinion; yet they have learned nothing
from one representation of European civilization, during upwards

FRIENDLY GREETINGS AND REMEMBRANCES. 447

of two hundred years. And what might they learn from any
other? Let us look a little farther into the native mind, as
developed by my experience, and see.

On the last day of the trial, on the breaking up of the Court,
there was a thronging around me of persons, and a good deal
of inquiry and congratulation. Friend Brower, contrary to the
strict injunction of the Fiskaal, allowed me a little liberty to
range about, before returning to the prison. After talking awhile
with some of you my friends, as you will remember, and other
Americans, English, French and Dutch friends present, I then
exchanged a few hurried greetings and cordial words of goodwill
with my native friends from Palembang and Banca.

The venerable Scherriff Ali, was rejoiced to hear me speak
like one of the sons of Pulo Percha ; I had the tongue now, as
well as the heart ; all the people of Palembang were prepared to
meet me with heart s wish and salutation. Abdallah should join
me, when I came with my ship again ; his mother would oppose
no more. Captain Aboubakr was there, and grasped one hand,
whilst the Panyorang his father grasped the other. A very old
Malay chieftain stepped forward, the Demang Sapeedin, about
seventy-six years of age ; he had given me some old chronicles of
Menangkabau, and a collection of pantuns. My son looks strong
he said ; he has been singing pantuns, he has not been weeping in
the house of care. It is well ; my children on the Ileer Keed-
ookan will rejoice. Soch Tchay met me with his usual merry
laugh, Company had spent much money to bring Chinaman,
Arab and Malay from Palembang; but all got lock on their
mouths. His friend Pood Djang had said, lock mouth fast, and
leave key at home. When Tuan come to Palembang, Chinaman,
Arab and Malay will open mouth again. Poor Lim Boo Seng
looked rather dispirited ; there was not the same cause to fear

448 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

the Chinamen and natives at Banca as at Palembang; he had
been very roughly treated by the Resident ; and forced to come
to Batavia, and leave his business without compensation ; whilst
those who came from Palembang had secured a good guaranty
for their payment ; and for their safe return before they left,
which was the greatest, and most profitless expenditure that the
Government had incurred in the case. I give no more kimlo to
American Captain at Minto, said poor Lim Boo Seng.

The pleasant words of good will, so eagerly, though some
what timidly, uttered by my native friends, were most grateful to
my feelings, which I sought to return with full warmth and
strongest expressions of regard for their welfare. Think of mo
in America, were the last words, that Panyorang Laksana had
said ; and such were the last I heard from the mouth of Panyo
rang ScherrifF Ali.

Brower had come to hasten me ; the prison carriage was wait
ing. In coming away, I saw in a recess in a passage way, part
of a native dress ; Brower passed by, and then it came forth ; and
Kiagoos Lanang came before me; he crouched down; he wanted
to take my hand, I bade him stand up. He had felt heart sick
ness, ever since the night that he wrote the letter for the Sultan
of Jambee. Moonchwa had told him the words he must put in
that letter ; he was afraid ; Moonchwa was an oppas of the Com
pany, and Kiagoos did as he said. Kiagoos was a dog; and
his heart was sick ; but he wanted to tell Tuan that his heart was
not all bad. I was happy to hear him speak, I did not feel angry
with him, or even with Bahdoo or Moonchwa; they were but
weak children in the hands of a bad master. If I were free, he
should eat rice with me, the same as before. Kiagoos grasped
both my hands, Brower called; I hurried away from my late

A JURO TULI8, OR MALAY SECRETARY. 449

secretary ; and this was my last and a gratifying experience
with those whom I knew at Palembang

An old man stood at the main entrance of the Stadhuis ; the
sorrowful uncomplaining face of Wirojoyo was before me, that
said in every line, no news of iny poor child, no news of Sahyeepah ;
and I returned to prison with an oppressed mind, to await the
decision of the great Star Chamber tribunal of Netherlands
India.

FIFTY-SECOND DAY.

THE thirteenth month of my stay in prison was gone ; the four
teenth entered upon, and half passed away; and still no decision
of the Star Chamber. Judges delaying, having a bad case ; but
Government pressing hard, fearful of rebukes and reclamations.
Justice at Batavia, was waiting more than ever, for something to
turn up ; but there was nothing more than a very badly devised
piece of Malay writing; some free words, the every day out
spoken language of America, spoken to some Malay ears, there
was nothing more for a government to urge ; no other material,
for the much needed conviction of higli treason ; and thus, many
weary, anxious, hoping, doubting days were passed ; waiting for
the decision of the High Court of Netherland India; and in
looking, also, even till I had ceased to look, for the return of
Sahyeepah.

You will feel, that I am not going to say, that she never
returned; but have sought to make you feel some of my own
anxiety at that time ; that you might the better appreciate my
sense of relief, when I saw one day, at my cell door, all radiant
with joy, beaming with good news, the simple, glad face of
Wirojoyo.

Sahyeepah had come ; had come alone ; the old woman was
gone, the boy was gone ; and little horse, and cart, and all
but Sahyeepah, all were gone, by the will of Allah. And she,
poor child, was weary, was sick ; her face was thin ; she had

THE JOYFUL RETURN. 451

come from a land of death, but was strong in heart; a brave
child was Sahyeepah ; would come to see Tuan his son, very
soon. Such were the news of Wirojoyo.

And the day after this, I saw him again, more joyous in face
than the day before. He felt that there was a pleasanter pres
ence than his own, along with him. The faithful messenger was
before me. Much altered indeed; two years of change had
been produced by two months of fatigues and fears ; the tracings
of stronger feeling, of more enlarged intelligence, and of a
deeper enthusiasm were to be seen in the wasted face. She had
a strange, and a long story to tell ; she did not tell it all on this
first visit ; but in the course of many more, after her return. I
will put those separate tellings together, and some notes of hers,
as she had learned from me to keep ; and relate to you, in the
words that I listened to, and read,

THE JOURNEY OF SAHYEEPAH.

When Diporo turned back at Bogor; Sahyeepah was alone,
without father, without brother ; the path was dark before her ;
but she did not look back on the lighter path behind. Her heart
was little ; but she would carry the message of great value on
the dark road. Sahyeepah was a poor, weak slave to do this thing ;
but the voice of Panyorang Djaya Laksana, said in her heart ;
my little daughter, the wild rock deer can do the wish of Tuan,
his son ; and she would do it.

Ayum and the boy, had no voice whispering in their hearts ;
they wanted to follow the road that had light upon it, back to
Batavia; but Djala, the little horse, has his head turned to the
East, and they move on ; they go along the great road of the
Shetan Wolanda (the Dutch satan Dacndels) ; Sahyeepah sees a

452 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

great cloud from a hill top, she loses it in a valley ; but from an
other hill top, she sees the same cloud ; it is greater now ; ayah !
it is not a cloud ; it is the great mountain Gedeh ; higher than
the clouds ; and Suwanggee, the magician, who knows the will of
Allah, lives at the foot of Gedeh; and she will speak with Su
wanggee.

Sahyeepah speaks with a good woman, with a friendly face ;
she tells her of Suwanggee ; he is like a man of the air ; the eyes
would see through him ; he lives in a tchandy, one of the works
of Raden Panji, a hero of the old times ; of the days of Mata-
rem. Sahyeepah enters the tchandy alone ; she comes to a door,
as the good woman had said ; she calls out ; Tuan Suwanggee,
who is great, who has all knowledge in his heart, who knows the
will of Allah, your slave, a poor woman, wants the fine ointment
from the burning heart of Gedeh, to light her path on a great
journey ; and bring her back safe to her father and her brothers.
She has spoken all her wish. A small voice, very little in
deed ; like the voice of a child, speaking through a reed ; said,
why did the woman speak with a crooked tongue ; she was not
poor, she had many rupees, and curious things of the rich city of
Batavia ; she must speak truth, all her thought, if she would
get the help of Suwanggee, and the fine ointment from the burn
ing heart of Gedeh.

Sahyeepah trembled, she had offended the man of air, who saw
all her thought. She said, she had some little things of silver
filigree, made by poor people of Pulo Percha ; and she had some
oil of fine herbs to sell. And she had only one hundred rupees
to travel to Surakarta. The voice said it was well ; she must
place ten silver rupees in the buffalo s horn at the door ; and sho
would find the fine ointment in the shell of a ketapan nut lying in
her path, as she went out; with part of which she must anoint

CREDULITY AND COURAGE. 453

the palms of her hands and the soles of her feet ; and the rest
she must bury in the valley out of sight of Gredeh. Sahyeepah
placed the money as commanded ; and found a ketapan shell fitted
very curious ; and full of oil, that had the smell of fire, and of
flowers ; and she did as directed by Suwanggee.

Then Sahyeepah went forward with a stronger heart ; she did
not fear the night shade that came quick, hiding the top of
Gredeh; as she went down into a deep valley, on the way to
Tchanjore, there burying the ketapan nut. She had seen the roof
poles of a dessa, from the hill top, near the tchandy of Suwanggee ;
she would soon pass the shade of the valley, and rest with some
good people of the dessa. Djala puts down his feet very fast ;
Java pony knows where the dessa is, and the pahdee, and nice
herb and water. Djala wants rest like Sahyeepah, Ayum, and
Ambon. Adah 1 there is much grief, much woe, before Djala has
rest. . ";

Quick from the road border where thickest and darkest,
sprang two men of Satan ; their eyes burning in the night shade.
Djala is stopped, Ambon falls from his seat; Ayum screams,
Sahyeepah trembles. Where was the cunning work to sell, of the
peddlers, and where were the rupees of the Company ; quick, they
cry; and Sahyeepah sees the klewang knife flash in the dark
shade in the valley. Ayum gives the wallet of leather, that
holds the money and the filigree; the robbers look, and cry;
there are more rupees, only fifty in the wallet. Ayum has no
more, her mistress has the rest fastened beneath her sarong.
The foul men approach Sahyeepah ; they will lay hands upon her ;
they will remove her sarong. Sahyeepah is the granddaughter of
Panyorang Djaya Laksana ; she carries the kriss of the daughters
of Pulo Percha ; the point is in the face of the djins ; the point
that never fails ; Allah, the little hearts of evil draw back ; there

454 PRISON OF WELTEVHEDEN.

are the sound of steps in the valley ; and the sons of Satan flee
with the wallet.

Sahyeepah had thrown back her head proudly, imitating the
action of drawing the kriss, as she uttered the last words ; her
eyes lighted up with the pride of womanhood, and the pride of
race ; but I was thinking at the time, how that she, who had so
boldly met two robbers, had trembled at the anger of the ma
gician ; who I doubted not was one of the two, and was as I heard
afterwards from other sources, one of those impostors, rather com
mon in Java, as well as in more enlightened countries ; who learn
from the simple souls, who come to consult them, the weight of
their purse and the way to it, and then rob them of it, by clair
voyance, astrology, spiritualism, or some ointment from the centre
of Mount Gedeh. This I explained to Sahyeepah, who was
quite ready to believe that she, and all the people of Java, were
very silly to believe that Allah, who made the sun, moon, stars
and the earth, should talk to his children in old ruins, in curious
voices ; and then ask ten rupees ; what did Allah want with ru
pees when he made all rupees, and mount Gedeh too ? Tuan, my
brother speaks words that are good, said Sahyeepah ; and resumed
her story.

The sounds the robbers heard, were feet of buffaloes; a
coolie was driving them, returning from the rice field, and going
to the dessa of Tugu, near by. Poor women weeping, the coolie
pitied them ; he would have struck hard with the pachul, hoe, on
his shoulder ; but his feet were short ; it was too late now. Ka-
sih-an, poor women, come to the dessa; eat rice with his master,
wash weary feet, and go and speak their grief to the Jaksa, the

COST OP JUSTICE IN JAVA. 455

village justice ; and he will send spearmen to follow the men of
Satan, who have robbed poor travellers.

Djala was eating his pahdee, and Sahyeepah had eaten her rice ;
she goes to speak with the Jaksa. She speaks of the evil men in
the valley ; one was stout and old ; the younger one was tall ;
and more Sahyeepah tells. Well told, my child, says the Jaksa,
the spearmen shall find them, in all the road to Bogor ; in all the
great mountain Gedeh ; but my child must give thirty rupees for
the spearmen. Adah ! the Suwanggee has ten, the robbers have
taken fifty; and Sahyeepah has only forty to go to Surakarta.
The spearmen must have the rupees ; Sahyeepah cannot give, and
leaves the Jaksa with a heavy heart.

I did not wish to tell her, that the cost and the delays of jus
tice, was the same in my own enlightened country, as in simple,
ignorant Java ; that any one, half ruined by wrong, must complete
that ruin, by giving up all he has to secure the aid of justice ;
and then too often he makes the sacrifice in vain.

Sahyeepah was on the road, early the next day with Djala,
Ayum, and Ambon ; her heart was full of trouble, how can it be
well, when the sack has no rupees ; but she did not look on the
road behind ; she looks before her ; and there was Chipanas, the
Hot mountain ; like Gedeh ; great towers of Allah, to guide her
steps to Surakarta. She sees Chipanas in the clouds no more ;
the third, the fourth, and the fifth day of travel have passed ;
without loss, without grief; and lodging in peace, in the dessas
on the way. The great tchandies of Tchanjore are passed ; far
on, the great hill of Tankuban Prahu is seen, where Panji sailed
in the forest.

456 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

There is a petrifaction in this region of country, resembling a
prahu; a huge stone ship in fact, in the forest, with which,
as with the most of noted things in Java, the name of the hero
Panji is associated.

Bukit Tunggil is another great tower of Allah ; it guides the
steps of Sahyeepah to Bandong. She draws near the town, and
hears a mighty roar of feet and voices coming to meet her on the
road. Ambon pulls back the head of Djala with fear. Adah !
what terror is coming ; clouds of dust, hiding the mountains,
hiding the forest; shouts of men, eating the voice of Ambon,
who cries to Djala; that hears not, that sees buffaloes foaming,
rushing on ; coolies striking, shouting ; great wheels rolling be
hind; on they come, and Djala runs; his heart is in his eyes,
and they see devils on the road; and Djala rushes to hide in the
forest ; rushes with Sahyeepah, Ayum, and Ambon. Allah, have
mercy ! they are all on the ground.

The clouds and the roar pass by ; Djala is held by the hands
of Ambon ; but the cart is broken ; one wheel in little pieces,
Ambon cannot mend it ; Ayum and Sahyeepah cannot. Weh !
kasih-an ! poor women must walk on foot to Bandong Sick feet
and sick hearts they have in Bandong. It will take all their
money to mend the cart ; they must leave it ; Sahyeepah sells it
for a little sum; five times more was given for it in Batavia.
This is great sorrow, great loss, and Sahyeepah learned at Bandong,
that a Tuan, from the land of her brother, an American Tuan
was in the carriage, with the buffaloes and coolies; he drank
strong water, like the Dutchmen, he beat poor coolies; he beat
them to give wings to buffaloes on the road.

This great loss of the poor travellers, was indeed caused by a

AMERICA DISGRACED IN JAVA. 457

fast driving American ; who came to Batavia on some business
for parties elsewhere in the East ; obtained a privilege to visit
the interior; and unfortunately for the good fame of America,
was a representative only of some of her pot-house vices. Hard
drinking, smoking, swearing, and mad driving, fit for the beer
cellar and the race-course, were enacted by an old American debau
chee at Bandong, and elsewhere in Java. This kicker of coolies,
this beater of buffaloes, was a great admirer of the paternal rule
of Holland in Netherland India.

What must Sahyeepah do ? no cart, and so little money ; she
will not turn back, and it will be hard to go on. Ayuni and
Ambon are little of heart; how can they travel now ? Sahyeepah
thinks; Cheribon is not far off; her father has a foster brother
there, a good old man, who will help her. They will reach there in
a short time ; the weak one shall ride Djala, not Sahyeepah alone ;
and so they travel ; Ayum rides, and Ambon rides on Djala ; a
good little horse, not afraid of steep hills, stony paths, and dark
waters rushing across them; he is only afraid of djins in the
clouds of dust on the road ; he takes them safe to Samedang ;
and safe, all the way to Cheribon.

Old Mas Prawiro has heart s joy to see the daughter of his
foster brother, but where is Wirojoyo ? where is Diporo Kasumo ?
where is Sareena ? And what is Sahyeepah doing in Cheribon,
without father, without friends ? He must not ask all ; he must
help his niece to travel a long journey; he must not ask why; he
must not ask where. Mas Prawiro wondered greatly, his wife,
his children wondered; but Sahyeepah held close mouth; and
Prawiro was good, all the same. He was not rich, he could not
help much ; he could not buy a new cart ; but there is a saddle
put on Djala, fit for nonna to ride ; the sack of Sahyeepah has
M

458 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

fifty more rupees in it ; Ayum has many nice things in a new
wallet ; and they go with strong hearts again, on the way to
Surakarta.

The road is now by the sea, the great sea of Java. Sahyeepah
saw its waters, she knew its voice ; she had slept, she had dreamed
by the sound ; Pulo Percha was beyond, on the other side ; she
heard the rambahya songs of the Moosie ; she heard the sound
of the waters of the Ogan ; Panyorang Djaya Laksaua was lis
tening too, and thinking of his little daughter ; thinking that she
must never be little in heart ; she must ride on the white elephant
to Menangkabau. Now she must ride with a strong heart on the
back of Djala; many days, foot sick and body sick, on she rides
and walks, amid sunshine, amid darkness, in daylight and twi
light ; through stones and through waters in the path ; on the
way through Tegal, Pekalongan, stopping at Batang and Kandal,
and for a time at the great city of Samarang.

Ayum was sick; she was old; she could chew sirih in the
shade, no more. Three days, Ayum has the cold in her bones ;
she takes much medicine, from a cunning dukun, a doctress of
Java, who knows all the herbs of life and death ; she gives Ayum
of the herb of life; she makes her strong again. Allah, she
makes Sahyeepah pay twenty rupees for taking the cold out of
Ayum.

Tho practice of medicine; as well the chief part of the
small trading, peddling, and money changing, is mainly confined
to women in Java. They are famed, even among Europeans,
to possess a skill for the preparation of the most subtle distillations
and concoctions of herbs, ever known to the world. They have poi
sons more prompt than those so well known in Rome, that gave
death in a pinch of snuff; they have others that only act six months

SUBTLE POISONS OF JAVA. 459

after being taken ; some that produce madness, some that produce
strange effects, yet leaving the mind and body apparently well;
such are the common beliefs among Europeans as well as natives
at Batavia, of the skill of the women doctors of Java ; who it
seems, from the story of Sahyeepah, understand making large
bills, as well as the profession elsewhere.

Djala is walking on the road, feet fast stepping ; Ayum on
his back ; he pulls at the herb, he bites at Ambon ; Djala is merry
on Gunung Ungarang, the Mountain of Horses and Chariots.
Proud necks are curving, hoofs pawing the air, manes flying in
the wind; and chariots rolling; chariots of Chandra Kirana;
the same in the days of Panji ; the same on the day Sahyeepah is
walking foot sore, on the road to the battle grounds of Dipo Ne-
goro ; where he fought with the Wolanda at Salatiga.

Sculptures in stone of beautiful horses and chariots; like
Olympic triumphal cars, are to be seen in this neighborhood.
Chandra Kirana was the wife of Panji ; and a chief heroine of
the wayang in Java,

Djala is stopped at Salatiga ; and officers of the Company
want to see the pass of Sahyeepah; they want to know why she
goes to Surakarta ; to see a cousin who lived in Cheribon ; the
officers won t believe, they talk loud, they talk to Ayum ; she
trembles, her heart is little, a foolish old woman, and tells about
Batavia, and a Tuan in the house of care. The officers say hor
rid words of Satan ; Sahyeepah must go before the Jaksa.

Ayum speaks one way, Ambon speaks another; the Jaksa
says Sahyeepah has a crooked tongue ; she is shut up in a kan-
dang, in a close room, like Tuan her brother, at Batavia. Two

460 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

women come ; they search all her dress ; every little cloth ; the
sarong, the choolee, the scarf and koleeling ; all but the pins in
the hair ; there is nothing that the officer wants, who stands out
side the door. Sahyeepah goes free the next morning ; but must
pay the Jaksa for the trouble of the law, ten rupees ; and she
turns away from Salatiga, with a lighter purse and a heavier
heart.

Sahyeepah stops at Karang Salan she stops at Boyolalee ;
she is on sacred ground ; lands of old Matarem, where Browijoyo
ruled, and sent his Flowers of Victory, his mighty hosts to con
quer lands on the Moosie, where Aria Darnar reigned. Gunung
Mcrapi ; the mighty mountain of Red Fire ; smoking top, be
tween the clouds and the Eye of Day, Gunung Merapi will light
the way to the imperial city near by ; but there is more woe, more
loss for Sahyeepah, before she rests foot in Surakarta.

Allah is rolling the sun about above the clouds; there is
thunder on the top of Merapi ; and the sounds of rushing wings ;
and the hissings of lied Fire in the cloud tanks, eat up the voice
of the king bird ; and of Ambon speaking to Djala. The eye
of day is shut ; the face of Heaven is dark, and weeping ; adoh !
such torrents ; the swelling Sunggee in the path. Tongues of Red
Fire, show the rolling waters upon the bridge of the Sunggee.

Djala must bear Sahyeepah, Ayum and Ambon over ; feet aro
too little for the deep water on the bridge. Two on the back of
Djala, Ayum and Ambon. He has crossed, he has come back ;
Djala is strong ; but Ambon shakes with a little heart to cross
again. Sahyeepah will hold the rein. Merapi bellows, tongues of
Red Fire darting, and Sunggee swelling. Djala has stiff ears, eyes
glaring ; the rolling waters touch the feet of Sahyeepah. Djala
beats against the water ; the bridge groans ; adah ! it is going

ARRIVAL AT THE IMPERIAL CITY. 461

down the Sunggee. Djala plunges; the brave little horse and
Sahyeepah are safe, but Ambon has gone down the Sunggee.

Poor Ambon is seen no more ; and the wallet of Ayum with
many rupees is gone. What sick, what poor, what desolate
women to enter the city of the Susuhunan. They find rest for
the night in a dessa. On the road early, the next morning, they
see the waters of Solo ; but Sahyeepah is heart sick, head sick ; the
cold is in her bones ; and she has faint eyes to behold the tops of
the walls of the Kraton ; pain of body kills her joy, on entering
the city of Surakarta.

She will be brave, yet a little longer ; the message in the hair
knot has to be given ; she searches, she asks ; but the friend of Tuan
her brother, is not in Surakarta ; he has gone many days journey
in the lands of Preanger. No one can say, where he shall be
found ; Sahyeepah must wait ; the pain of the body is now strong ;
head sick, heart sick, cold in the bones; the eyes see no more; and
Sahyeepah lies many days, forgetting all things, in the house of a
good woman of Surakarta.

Allah is good ; the eyes of Sahyeepah open ; she thinks of
father and brothers ; the cold is gone ; her feet are strong ; she
is walking in the Kraton, and it is pasar senen, the gala day.
She hears the gongs, and drums, and long trumpets ; she sees the
Flowers of Victory, the spearmen and the guards ; the noble Ra-
dens, the golden sirih box, the mat of state, the great payung ;
and beneath it the son of wonder and brightness, Pakoo Boowono
Senopati, Susuhunan of Surakarta.

This ruler over the relics of the ancient empire of Matarem,
possesses but a nominal political power in Java ; although still rever
enced, or almost worshipped by the patriotic Javanese, so fondly
clinging to all that belongs to the ancient state of their sovereigns,

462 PRISON OF WKI/f liVUEDEN.

who once wielded an imperial sway in the Archipelago. The
present emperor is the seventh of a dynasty, that has sold the
best part of its power to the Dutch ; yet the people of Java,
think that the Europeans are mere farmers of the revenue for the
advantage of the Susuhunan ; as they understand the management
of trade and rupees, better than he or his Radens. When the Susu
hunan does not want the Dutchmen, said Wirojoyo to me, the
people of Java, will drive them out of the island with bananas in
their hands. And so they could, if they were roused to try ;
eleven millions against two or three thousand Europeans; they
might indeed smother them with fruit. The Dutch force is all on
the coast; it does not come much in contact with the great
mass of the natives in the interior : half-breeds, and a few pen
sioned small chieftains, are the intermediaries of communication ;
and prevent the collisions that might take place between the rough,
matter of fact of the European, and the sensitive etiquette of the
Orientals; which rightly managed leads to a ready access to the
native mind. In the East, everywhere, etiquette is power The
emperor, who is absolute over about one million and a half of sub
jects, receives a large revenue from the Dutch Government, for
allowing them the monopoly of all the coffee and sugar that can
be produced in his lands. The neighboring independent State,
the Sultanate of Yugya K-arta, holds the same stipendiary rela
tions with the Dutch ; the princes selling the labor of their people,
and their own political power, that they may enjoy, undisturbed
with the cares of State, their oriental pomp and luxury ; which is
said to be most tastefully displayed at the imperial city of
Surakarta.

Sahyeepah looks at the barungan, the great show of her
; and she sees the combat of the tiger and the buffalo.

COMBAT OF TIGER AND BUFFALO. 463

The gamelan salindro, the kumpul, and the chelempung, musical
instruments, call the people, men, women and little children, to
sec the chief show of Java. The buffalo that will let none
but Javanese ride on his back, is the champion of the people;
and the tiger, that will not kill the Europeans, is champion for
them. The tiger is made hungry and weak ; the buffalo bows his
strong neck ; the sharp claws are in the neck ; Allah ! that squall,
that bellow ; again the neck is bowed ; weh ! the horns are in the
yellow skin, they drip with blood ; Sahyeepah is sick ; the people
shout ; the tiger is dead.

Malays and Javanese are inveterate show goers ; the highest
and the lowest; lone women boldly crowding their way; and
taking places with the foremost. Besides combats with tigers,
there are the topeng, or masked shows ; the wayang, wherein are
illustrated the wars and loves of the great heroes and heroines
of Javanese history and fable ; of Panji, Chandra Kirana, Raja-
inala, Dewa Kesuma, and Arjuna.

Sahyeepah walks in the Kraton ; she looks at shows ; but she
is not happy. He who must receive the message does not return ;
and the rupees are all gone. What must Sahyeepah do ? she can
not eat the rice of the good woman for nothing ; she can make
wax printed cloths, and embroidery for the daughters of Radens ;
she makes the fine boddice, the scarf, the lace of the long bajoo ;
and the flowered sarong for the bride, and the lady of the court.

The Javanese or Malay woman, young or old, thus readily en
ters into business, and will support herself with a resolution, that
may be equalled, but cannot be surpassed by the most self-reliant
of the sex in any other part of the world. As I have said, they

464 ruisoN OF WELTEVREDEN.

do all the small traffic of Java, except what is carried on by
Chinamen. Wirojoyo said a Javan man, is a fool with money,
he cannot take care of it ; he gives it to his wife. The women
are the chief bankers of Java.

The friend of Tuan her brother, comes to Surakarta ; what
wonder, when the coat of lacquer is torn from the head of the
pin ; what joy when the words are read. Other words arc writ
ten, as Tuan, my brother, has received. His friend says; the
way is bad to ride on Djala back to Samarang to Batavia, must
go in oar prahu down the Solo, to Gresik, on the sea ; to Soora-
bayah ; and in prahu with masts to Batavia. Djala is sold,
good, brave, strong, little Djala ; she wept when he went away,
Sahyeepah will never ride on the back of brave little Djala again ;
but she is on the prahu, laden with rice ; and Ayum is with her ;
and some women, who have merchandise for Soorabayah.

Tuan, her brother, has seen the Moosie, the Ogan, the Soon-
sang, and the Opang; let him look on them again, and he will
see the Solo ; but more houses, more people, more rice fields.
Java is full of people, working hard for the Company; who keep
a fort with cannon at Gresik, near the mouth of Solo ; not far is
Soorabayah, a great Dutch city, full of houses of merchandise,
many ships in the still water, and Sahyeepah saw the star flag of
the country of Tuan, her brother.

There is a fire ship, of the Company going to Batavia. Sah
yeepah has not many of the rupees, given by the friend of Tuan
at Surakarta ; she must give all for herself and Ayum in the
fire ship. The sea of Java again ; Sahyeepah loves the sea, like
her grandfather, like Tuan her brother ; she has heart joy, to hear
the sound of the waters ; and returning to father and brothers ;
but Ayum is sick, very sick ; her sight is gone, the cold is in her

SUFFERINGS AND SUCCESS. 465

bones ; there is no dukun near ; the chief of the fire ship gives
medicine ; the sight won t come back again, the cold will not go
away, Sahyeepah rubs the poor old servant, and gives warm things ;
but the soul of Ayum goes to speak with Allah.

Adoh ! Sahyeepah is alone ; she weeps ; the men of the fire
ship drink strong water, and look at her with burning eyes ; she
shuts the door of her little room, she will not go out to eat ; for
two days shut up with fear, and hunger, and then she hears the
roll of the anchor chain ; the great dayongs have stopped beat
ing the water ; there are the ships of the Company, and of all
nations ; there is Batavia ; and Sahyeepah is in a boat ; she walks
with weak step ; she can see no more ; she feels only the arms of
her father.

20*

FIFTY-THIRD DAY.

MY faithful messenger had but slight opinion of her own
heroic exertions, as having contributed to the accomplishment of
her mission. She had regarded her successful arrival at Sur*
karta, notwithstanding all her struggles and losses, as owing to
the influence of the charmed ointment of the magician of Gedeh.
This faith had led her to consult another man of charmed drugs
at Surakarta ; who for twenty rupees had given her an ointment
to assist her return to Batavia ; and also one to effect the enlarge
ment of her brother from prison.

I had received the magic compound, enclosed in a nutshell,
curiously carved and fastened, with which I must perform many
minute, mystifying little ceremonials ; and then the eyes of my
jailers would become very heavy, and I should find no obstacle in
going out. The pomatum emitted an odor, of many scents blended ;
and I thought I could distinguish some of the simples of the com
pound. I obtained them, and after many experiments produced
an ointment of the color and aroma of the reputed charmed one.
I thus sought to make a practical appeal to the common sense of
Sahyeepah, to convince her of the folly of supposing that this pre
paration was some mystic extract from the centre of a mountain ;
but I found that I was running a risk of simply proving myself

THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD IN JAVA. 467

to be a magician, equal to suwanggee; and in this belief, I
dare say that Wirojoyo remains fixed to this day.

The daughter listened, however, with more earnestness of
thought, and with some exercise of reasoning powers ; she was led
to think of the influence of faith ; and led to believe that Djala,
and her sack of rupees, were the most effectual talismans, along
with the resolution of her own heart, which enabled her to accom
plish her journey. And talking of charms, and their reputed
virtues, we were naturally led on to contemplate the source of
the power that was ascribed to them.

It was not a hackneyed subject for Sahyeepah ; it would not
be for any simple, docile, inquiring heathen, to talk about the
Author and Controller of life and death ; it had never been a
wearying class study upon her brain of childhood ; it was a won
derful, and interesting thing to contemplate, the probabilities of a
providence, a divine power, the same that controlled the universe,
as watching over the life, and directing the foosteps of a weak,
simple girl of Java.

The idea seemed to break upon the mind of Sahyeepah, with
startling force, that the Ruler of Heaven would speak to her
heart ; and be her friend ; true, she had some ideas at first, of
gaining thereby the powers of a suwanggee ; but her mind soon
cast away the contemplation of such a character ; a petty trader
of the favor, which was pretended to be received from Allah.
She began to feel, that the friend of the Maker of Heaven and
earth, would feel but little interest in gathering rupees from poor
people, seeking help and consolation.

There were some words in my mouth, about needy ones being
called to come to the Source of abundance without money and
without price ; and I turned to the place in a large Malay Bible,
which I had lately obtained ; and as we followed down the page,

468 PRISON OF WELTK\Ui:i&gt;i:\.

the finger of my fellow inquirer stopped at the words, " Incline
your ear, and come unto me ; hear, and your soul shall live ; and
I will make an everlasting covenant with you." Who was speak
ing thus ? And to whom ? The Maker of all things, even unto
Sahyeepah. Was it so indeed ? That I affirmed with all positive-
ness, even more than I felt. The experience with Wongso had
not developed more than an inquiring curiosity. I was to be
startled again by the uncivilized mind, from uncheering specula
tions upon laws of necessity, of fitness of things , of progressions,
developments, and harmonies. I was overwhelmed again with
questions, that I was helpless fittingly to meet ; but I must find
some answer.

How was it that Javanese remained weak and poor so long,
living and dying, the slaves of bad men ? Had not the Maker of
all things made the Javanese ? We were turning over pages of
the Bible ; the Malay language is so well adapted to its simple,
poetic style in some parts ; more than all to the grand poetry of
Job ; and the Psalms and Isaiah speak in familiar figures to the
Malay and Javanese mind. We were running over the pages of
the latter prophet. I paused at words that struck me, that I
had not seen before ; messengers were spoken of, that were to be
sent to " Javan and the isles afar off, that have not heard my
fame, neither have seen my glory;" a startling answer put into
my mouth ; of moving power upon the mind of Sahyeepah ; the
great Book of the Christians promised the mighty things of their
religion unto her brethren and sisters in these isles afar off.

I was led to believe, from some after reading, that the Javan
here referred to, was the land of a son of Japhet, situated in Asia ;
but I thought, at the time of first reading about it with Sahyeepah,
that it referred to the sacred isle of the Hindoos, the modern Java
of the Archipelago ; and my earnest prison visitor thought so. The

THE LOVE OF CHRIST IN JAVA. 469

enthusiastic young mind, that had dreamed of some marvellous
destiny for her race, the restoration of Menangkabau and Mata-
reni ; of some part that she might take ; the riding on the white
elephant ; thought the time come, when the Satans of the Com
pany should be driven out ; and Flowers of Victory should per
fume the banks of the Moosie and the Solo with Glory.

Earnest enthusiast of a child-like race ; fitting instrument for
the fanaticism of Brahma, the dark rites of Bohwanee, or the
deadly imposture of Islam ; how it turned after a time with its
enthusiasm, and woman s instinctive love of peace, to the con
templation of the life, character, and mission of the Son of Mary.
What a wonderful story ; so much power, so much poverty ; so
much love for hate, so much pain and suffering, paying for the
lack of poor aching hearts ; Sahyeepah one of these ; and so much
glory, to share even with her ; the glory of one in white robes en
tering triumphant into a city, gorgeous with gems, and resplendent
with the light of the beautiful face of the great Brother. Won
derful words of Revelations, speaking more to oriental imagination
than to western intelligence, how they moved the heart and tears
of this earnest soul of the Archipelago.

Where was the insignificant Malay city, with its bamboo and
palm leaf, and paltry barbaric splendor ? where was the pomp of
riding upon an unwieldy beast after reading all this ? What was
the tawdry mat of state, the sirih box, the tinsel payung, the
spearmen, and the guards ; and all the pride of state of the vi
cious, indolent descendant of Browirjoyo, when reading of the
throne of the King of Kings, and the Heavenly Host of winged
ones ; and Sahyeepah their names, even like the one on earth, who
wished to be one of their number ?

Gloomy walls of Weltevreden, heart-aching sounds of human
woe and darkness ; they chilled the spirit at times ; but they were

470 I HISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

good ; they had given seasons of reflection to thoughtlessness ;
they had quickened fellow feeling 5 they had widened the narrow
scope of selfish aims ; they had opened the way to new worlds of
human souls, to undiscovered regions of thought and sympathy.
Walls of Weltevreden; Hotel of involuntary lodgers; College
for the study of Humanity ; unhonored Bureau of Governmental
talent; and now, and since the jubilant words of the dying
murderer, a Temple for the worship of the Most High.

How was I led into new paths by an inquiring pupil ? My
judges and jailers were forgotten, in following them; but the
pupil outstripped the teacher, not having the same encumbrance,
of pride of knowledge, of self-sufficiency, of the speculation of a
more presumptuous brain, of much contact with evil, and doubting
at times of all things good and true ; the pupil, the fellow inquirer
rather, had none of these weights on the wings of enthusiasm, none
of these blinds upon the eyes of simple, childlike faith, that read
eagerly of the Word of Life ; and said, Sahycepah would wash the
bleeding feet of her Great Brother, who was killed for the sake
of poor weak children of the world, of Java, and Pulo Percha ;
Sahyeepah would be a Christian.

How much of that wish was owing to some sympathy with
what was supposed to be, my belief and feeling? It matters
not ; but only to show to you the workings of this guileless soul ;
brightening the prison; chasing away the demons of idle and
hopeless moments; shaming the cold and skeptical spirit of
civilization, and acting a part of earnest heroism, which only
such prison influences could have developed; and perhaps
might be met in few, but in enthusiastic, simple children of
these isles.

And how the influence of the Redeeming Word had wrought
upon the character and temper of Sahyeepah ; even the Dutch

DUTCH PATRIOTISM AND OPPRESSION. 471

were no longer children of Satan ; but even of the same Good
Maker who had made all. We talked of them, what they were
in the past and the present ; I had a copy of Tacitus, the single
book I was allowed and had asked for, on one occasion of tighten
ing of prison discipline. Many a page of the Annals were trans
lated into Malay ; the brave stand of the Batavi, after whom
this city was named ; and their great struggles in their swamps,
when led by Arminius against the mighty power of Rome,
mightier than that of Iskander, of whom Sahyeepah had heard
many a wonderful story.

We left the story of the Romans, and came down to later
times, when the children of the Batavi fought against and con
quered another great empire; that of the rajah, who sends ships
to Manilla ; and fought still a stronger one, the rajah of France ;
and when he pressed hard, they opened banks to let in the sea ;
and all resolved to leave their homes, to come and live in Java ;
and why ? That they might have no master over them, and might
worship God as they pleased; but they soon forgot their own
struggles ; and put forth all their skill and strength, to make
slaves of Malay and Javanese ; as Roman, Spaniard, and French
man wished to make of them.

But Sahyeepah must remember that the Susuhunan of Sura-
karta, the Sultan, and the Radens of Java ; the Sultans of Su
matra, all made slaves of their people ; many were more cruel
masters than the Dutch ; though the people love their own tyrants
best. The Susuhunans, Sultans, and Radens have no religion
of peace and good will in their hearts ; they have no Word of
Life in their palaces; the men of Holland have; but they have
hardened their hearts against its teachings ; they shut out benevo
lence, brotherhood, and mercy; they worship a gloomy god,
no other but that one god. What ! not the God of the Chris-

472 PRISON OP WELTEV11EDEN.

tians? No. They worship one whose name we looked for in
the Testament ; and we read of stories of those who had some
thought of a treasure in Heaven ; and others who had no thought
but of treasures on earth; and these worshippers, and all Dutch
men were of the number, had no god but mammon.

Every effort of an industrious, skilful, and energetic govern
ment, has been put forth during more than two hundred years, to
obtain by persuasion, force, cunning and fraud, whatever they
could get of the fruits of the labor of a simple, industrious
people, without making a single sacrifice for the moral welfare, or
the intellectual advancement of these ; nay, doing all in their
power to prevent any such advantage being imparted by others.
The people of Java seem of no more consequence in the estimation
of the Government of Holland, than the soil of Java, and if the
orang utan, and the baboons in the forest, could be trained to
produce coffee and sugar, to greater profit than the human beings
of these islands, there is no doubt but that the latter would be
driven as ruthlessly into the sea, as once was done to many of the
useless inhabitants of the Moluccas.

And if Susuhunan is bad ; and Sultan, Rajah, and Raden, all
bad as Company ; what hope is there for poor people of Java ;
of Pulo Percha ; and all the brethren and sisters of Sahyeepah ?
The eyes of the inquirer looked eager and sad. What hope for
our brethren and sisters of these islands. What hope had Sah
yeepah of the cold days of age, and sickness yet to come ? were
they of the pomp of fine robes, and music and applause ? what
was her joy in going the rugged way to Surakarta ? the joy of
pleasing some one, the joy of doing a good deed ; and what was
the hope, on the road she had been travelling in the Great Book ;
was there any honor, power, or glory in this world to be found in
that ? What has she found ?

THE HOPE OF THE ARCHIPELAGO. 473

Sahyeepah spoke as a very little child ; she forgot the wonder
ful words of the Great Book ; she would hold them better in her
heart. She had seen the prospect of better hopes, than in wealth
and power ; hopes of peace ; hopes of constant songs, when the soul
had wings ; and they who would see all that, must not wish for
the best that the world can give. The Great Brother, the Son
of Mary, was very poor. Ayah ! children of Susuhunans, who
must be rocked in gold ; He lay in the trough of a beast s poor
shelter. What poor people who believed! What great people
who did not believe ! The rajahs and panghulus of Juda mocked
Him, whom fishermen and poor women followed, and Sahyeepah
will follow ; and her brethren and sisters must follow ; and let the
Wolanda, let the Dutchmen ; kasih-an, pity on them ; let them
have all the power of Java and Pulo Percha, and hearts with
out love and without hope, if they will not follow. Such were
the words of Sahyeepah.

Great change had come over the heart of the enthusiast ; a
change that startled my own ; and carried me onward in paths I
had never trodden before ; but the dreams on the Moosie could
not be all cast aside ; some of the world s pomp and power must
mingle with calmer hopes of the future. Sahyeepah with curious
finger had paused on every island in the Indian and Pacific oceans,
and questioned me about their people and their history; and
above all, about the great island of the kangaroo, filled with the
sons of England, who had often beaten the Dutchmen ; one of
whom was the great, good man Raffles, whom many children of Java
and Pulo Percha. hoped to see again ; would not the children of
England in the island of the kangaroo, which was great, and they
were many ; would not they come and be masters in Java ; and
one like Tuan Besar Raffles, rule over them ?

It seems indeed likely, even as occurred to this simple mind,

474

ruisoN OF \VELTEVUKIH-:N.

that the great Anglo-Saxon race of Australia, founders of an
Oceanican empire, will be the future arbiters of the destinies of
these beautiful islands; and when it shall be BO, perhaps it may
not be happier for Malay and Javanese than now ; yet better, in
a thousand chances for their moral and Christian development,
better in the hands of Anglo-Saxons, who love a little fair play,
who have some regard for their fellow-beings as well as trade ;
and could such minds as Raffles preside, and a Xavier and Judson
teach, then might the abundance of these isles be converted unto
grateful tributes to the Redeemer of the world.

FIFTY-FOURTH DAY

THE fifteenth month of my imprisonment was passing away ;
two months since the public trial ; six weeks, since it had been
declared in open court that I was not guilty of the crime for
which I had been held in jail ; and yet I had been waiting all
this time, to learn the decision of the great secret tribunal, or
rather the will of the Government. It seemed impossible, that
after four deliberate decisions for my enlargement, by the court
that had gone througli the labor of searching out all the particu
lars of my history, cruise, associations, habits, thoughts, and con
versations ; impossible to suppose, that the Government could still
try to sift out some plea, on this fourth occasion ; and condemn
me, even in spite of Netherland law and justice.

There was nothing else but a sense of justice to deter them
from doing so ; they felt that they had nothing to fear of retribu
tion or reclamation. An American agent had said, it was better
to hang troublesome men from America, of whom there were too
many, than to run the risk of getting into trouble by dallying
with any tedious formalities of justice. An American Com
mander had talked largely, got his eyes well dusted with Dutch
suavity, and had done nothing. An American Commodore had
passed out of the way of Batavia, saying that he had a treaty on
hand that was to secure some Japanese trade ; and he had no
time to waste upon American citizens in jail in Java; and fif-

476 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

teen months had passed away, without receiving any notice from
an American Secretary of State ; so that there was nothing to
fear from an American official interference ; and though Dutch
guards were knocked down, and their palace gates invaded by
American Bassetts, and Smiths, and terrible American Boat
swains ; yet there was nothing to fear from the rulers at Wash
ington, or their servants abroad ; and they might do what they
pleased with the American prisoners in Weltevreden.

At one time, there were some rumors that the American
Japan squadron, was about to visit Batavia; I received visits
and congratulations ; it was coming no doubt to look after the
Flirt and her people. There were rumors that I would be at
liberty in a few days ; one of my counsellors had learned from
official sources that the High Court had come to a decision,
after an incessant discussion of one month, overhauling the moun
tain of documents ; five judges being against, and four in favor, for
some time ; at last one had yielded in spite of the Government ; the
decision was in my favor, I would be afloat soon in my own Flirt,
if her timbers still held together; I must say nothing about this
matter to any body ; as my counsellor would be suspected of dis
closing judicial secrets. Of course, I would not tell ; and yet I
could not keep the secret out of my face ; there were &lt;juick eyes
to read it. Old Wirojoyo came to embrace me ; every body said,
the American Tuan was coming out of the house of care ; and
there would be jubilee in the campongs.

My Javanese friends came to offer me selamat, the saluta
tions of their simple customs, by which they notice every little
event of joy. Wirojoyo, his son, and Sahyeepah, came; the other
daughter having returned with her husband to Cheribon. Sah
yeepah had come to surprise me ; when she entered my room, she
threw off the outer coarse dress, she usually wore ; and disclosed

BAHYEEPAH. 477

the rich, graceful costume, I had seen in Sumatra ; the same fine,
lace-bordered Japanese kabyah; the richly embroidered boddice;
the curiously colored sarong, the golden girdle, the filigree clasp,
the pearls, the studded slippers, the brilliants like buttons in the
ear; and the same womanly tastes were all there; but how
changed the face; the wild mischievous rock deer no longer
laughed, but smiled so earnestly ; the round merry face was
lengthened with the lines of womanhood ; not much of that daz
zling prettiness, like many of her sisters of Java and Sumatra,
of noble race ; but European intelligence, and more than Euro
pean enthusiasm beamed from her face ; she asked, would her
grandfather think she had grown uglier ? he never thought her
beautiful like the Palm Tree, the Wave, and the Sweet Lip. I
spoke of the comeliness of the heart ; he must look into her new
born thoughts and feelings ; and look as her brother looked ; then
he would see more beauty than possessed by the most dazzling
daughters of Passumah.

Sahyeepah quickly replaced the coarse dress; saying, Sah-
yeepah is but a child still, when will she be a woman ; when
will the fine batek cloth, the flowered sarongs and the golden tali
pendeng cease to please more than the white spot ess robes that
she must wear, to go and offer sclamat to her Great Brother ?
She looked sad ; did she feel reproached for having come in her
bright garments, to remind her brother of his days of freedom,
soon to come again ? when he should sail on the waters of Java,
when he should sail up the Moosie ; to remind him of scones that
might woo him from sailing away to his own great land beneath
the winds where the sun reposed. But Sahyeepah must not think
thus ; I would not sail away ; I would eat rice again, by the will
of the Almighty and the Loving One, with Panyorang Daman
Djaya Laksana; we would tell him the stories wo had talked

478 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

over ; and to many people on the Moosie ; and in the lands of
the Passuinah. We would tell the story of the journey to Sura-
karta, to the Kraton of the Susuhunan ; and that other journey
of the soul, with hope and fear; in strength and weeping;
through paths of meekness and humiliation ; through a garden of
agony, to a dire hill of execution ; and beyond that to the ever
lasting city of gems, to the throne of the Great Brother. Sah-
yeepah would remember the robes to be worn, and would strive
for no other.

The salutation of departure was given; the clasped hands;
and the tchoom on the cheek ; and I parted from my Javanese
friends and they with me, with overflowing joy at the prospect of
my speedy release

I packed up once more, my small wardrobe, my books, and
papers, and all the little things that were to remind me of the
strange days of my life within these walls ; of my reveries and
inventions; of my troubles and joys; of my studyings, teachings,
and worryings at the hands of justice. I had seen new walls be
gin to rise, and a new hall of Instruction added to Weltevreden ;
but I should be wearied no more with questioning in that Hall ;
and those walls, the first creations of my machine, were not to
add to the closer durance of the inventor. I thought all this,
as I watched the finishing of the archway of the main entrance ;
awhile after my Javanese friends had left me : Tutup showed me
in the afternoon the increased height and strength of the walls ;
the increase of the guard ; and all the circumstances that now
rendered hopeless any escape ; as had lately been attempted by
a wretch* d soldier about to be shot.

I saw the liveried oppas of the Attorney General enter the
house of the jailer; no doubt with the ratification of my release,
the assurance to the jailer, that he might let me go free, as soon

SENTINEL AT THE CELL DOOR. 479

as he had received the order for my discharge, from the Grefficr
of the High Court. I finished my packing. I amused myself
with some last charcoal scrawls, some valedictory words, upon
the walls of my cell ; and then when weary, I went to look out
on a magnificent sky of Java ; the clear deep blue, the thick
studded glitter, and the soft shine of the great white face of th*
heavens, wrapping dull walls, and barred doors and gratings in s
mantle of sphery beauty. I never saw such a lovely night ; bu&lt;
never one so quickly changed to darkness ; not the darkness of
storm clouds, but there was a shape of dread, that turned hope
almost to despair. I saw in the shade of the ketapan tree, right
before my door, a form moving, and something glistening in
the moonbeams ; a sentinel on especial guard before my door.

What was the meaning of this ? some order from the Attor
ney General ; he had demanded that I should be put to death ;
the High Court had so decided ; the decision would be declared
in a few days ; the Attorney General apprehended some designs
of my friends to effect my escape, and had ordered an extra
guard : when the decree of condemnation should arrive, I would
then be placed in a condemned cell. All this I partly learned
from the turnkey, who came to speak to me at my door, and was
confirmed the next day, by my counsellor from the city.

For the first time I felt the grip of ruthless power. I had
not felt much of the fury and denunciation that accompanied my
first imprisonment ; and I had felt that my after sufferings from
close confinement, bad food, and other hurtful circumstances of life
in prison, were merely a test of my mental and physical constitu
tion; which I would have to bear awhile; but sooner or later
must be let out, or taken out. I had kept mind and body too busy
to realize very forcibly my prison condition ; but now, there was
a change, a determination to end all this blundering, and tedious

480 PRISON OP WELTEVREPEN.

workings of law. I must never be allowed to go free among the
people of the Archipelago ; it would be too much risk to hold
me imprisoned. I must be put to death; no government will
interfere to stay their hands; American officials in the East In
dies are too much occupied with other matters. Hang him,
said the American agent; it is your safest course; and the
Government has resolved to follow his advice.

I thought of the many cruel and bloody scenes, I had wit
nessed within these walls the hangings, the bastinado, the chain-
ings of a man s wrist down to his ankle for many days, till he
roared with the agony of an excruciating back ; the torture that
preceded execution; and then the pitiless jailer, the brutal
turnkey, the stolid guards, and the hard ruthless character of the
men of Holland was all before me ; there was no hope ; the Gov
ernment feared no intervention from America, and furthermore,
had received from thence some cowardly denunciations of a piti
ful enemy : I would surely die, if I did not escape.

I had thought of leaving prison before, at a time when it
would have been easy to get away, to get beyond the walls at least ;
but then, all Java is a jail for an European, unless there is some
friendly ship ready to take him away ; and there were few cap
tains willing to run the risk of imprisonment and a fine of ten
thousand rupees, for taking any one away from Batavia without
a passport. I could not hope to find a ship ready to sail, when I
was prepared to leave, and so had planned to have a certain means
in readiness, to aid me in my flight, when it became necessary to

I had become intimate with one of the translators of the

Court of Justice, a man of much talent, and pleasant conversa
tion, who became a frequent visitor in prison. I began to place
confidence in him, placed in his hands a large portion of the pro-

THE TRAITOROUS AND FRAUDULENT TRANSLATOR. 481

ceeds of my machine making ; and he was to purchase a small
swift-sailing prahu to be left in charge of a native in my confidence ;
this prahu was to cruise along the coast, apparently engaged in
fishing, and to be ready at any point I should name; when I
should be ready to leave.. But I had trusted to a traitor,
who had a hand with Storm in making spurious documents and
many false things. My funds were applied to other purposes;
I lost them and other trusts confided to the hands of that trans
lator of the court of Justice of Batavia.

There was another visitor, a singular character, a reputed ex
iled count of Russia ; his father, a wealthy boyard ; a sister, com
panion of the princess Dolgorouky ; and he had been obliged to
flee in consequence of some wrong to a lady of the court of St.
Petersburg. A relative at the Hague had furnished him the
means to go to the East Indies ; the usual field selected for the
expenditure of the exuberant vice and energy of the youth of
Europe. He came to see me, became interested in my fate;
and as he showed many bold and generous qualities, won my con
fidence, and another investment of my funds.

He was, for a time, a protege" of the Resident of Batavia;
he had the run of the city, without fear of being called up at the
Stadhuis : he used government servants, and government horses
at his will ; and after a time took a fancy to make use of a small
government cruiser, one of the gun prahus for the revenue ser
vice ; this was done in my interest ; to take a survey of all the
creeks and bays in the neighborhood of the roads ; to find a sure
place for a rendezvous ; and to prepare the way for the rescue of
another, when I myself should get out. He cruised thus freely
with a government boat, till a note was intercepted ; he was to be
arrested ; he ran the cruiser upon Onrust Island, drowned seven

482 PRISON OF WELTEVREPrv.

of his crew, and escaped to Singapore with the connivance of a
high functionary at Batavia.

At Singapore he joined my second mate ; communicated with
me ; and I was led to forward money ; nearly all of my prison
earnings, to purchase a small cutter. A craft of forty tons, witli
a crew of twelve men, mostly Spaniards, was soon under his com
mand. He went to Liugen, to the mouth of the Soonsang, to
Banca ; and then to points on the coast of Java, according to my
direction ; he ran into a creek near Cramat, and communicated
with a friend in Batavia; he was discovered by a Dutch cruiser,
was chased, got away; and when last I heard of him, tho day
after the sentinel had been placed at my door, he had been seen
from the telegraph station, standing off and on, near the point of
Ontong Java, and a cruiser had been sent in pursuit of the bold
Russian count.

There was no hope of help at this hour of need from that
quarter : fearful rumors came to my ears, from turnkey and
sentinel ; the fate of Wongso rose up before me ; and I felt that
no philosophy or spirit of resignation of mine could ever consent
to that ; any desperate measures, even a frenzied, hopeless run in
daylight, a run-armuck indeed, rather than that; but whatever was
to be done, must be done quickly ; any moment might bring the
decree of death, and then I would at once be fastenel in the con
demned cell. Where were my friends, my faithful Javanese
friend.-, find the faithful Pirez ? the gates were shut upon them,
although I know it not : the prospect looked dark ami desperate;
when a ray of hope burst in, the presence of my friends here,
the Captain and the Boatswain.

Breakers ahead there, said the Boatswain, interrupting;
heard it was a bad case with the Captain ; and thought I would

AMERICAN FEELING UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 483

ask leave to go and see a dying countryman. By gracious king, I
never meant to look at a dying codfish, much less a countryman in
the hands of a Dutchman : I went to see how to scatter those bricks
that your machine had been piling up about the jail; never
went to preach any sermon, or any talk of give-up of any kind.
Our friend looked a bit worried ; observed the Boatswain, turning
to the ladies ; and it was time to be getting up some sort of
anxiety : I had heard every where about Batavia, that the Gov
ernment never meant to let him out alive ; he had made himself
too agreeable to the yellow skins; and old Dutchy thought he
might wake up some morning, and see the skipper of the Flirt
riding through the streets of Batavia on top of an elephant,
with a hundred thousand or so, of Malay run-a-mucks in his
wake ; so he thought it best to put those dreams out of his head,
by giving the neck of the Captain a twist. But he said he did not
mean to wait for that experience of Dutch justice in the East In
dies ; he thought he had seen enough, and had waited long enough ;
and was bound to get out ; and if his heels couldn t save him to
die a kicking with his neck clear at least That was the talk I
wanted to hear : The " old man," who was along, told him, there
was a berth on board the Palmer for him ; she was all repaired,
ready for sea ; would lay in the outer Roads, waiting for him ; but
he must get out of the walls himself; and I, and the mate, and
whole crew of the Palmer, were to be ready with the long-boat
to take him on board. I hated to leave him then in prison, but
could do nothing ; he had to get help on shore to get out ; but we
kept a sharp look out, myself and mate, and the crew; forty two
of em, I had every night in that long-boat ; all armed from the
boots up to the coat collar ; and as crooked a lot to handle of
tough, good fellows, as ever sailed out of the port of New York ;
every man full charged with fight, and ready to make a rush on

484 PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

the jail ; which, by gracious king, I meant to do, if they got
you into the close jug. Now let s have the full yarn how you
got out, which I have been getting along in bits.

I had studied well the topography of the prison ; and all the
chances of a night evasion, of getting over its walls; and all
seemed hopeless : a round of sentinels, and a broad ditch, guard
ed every outer wall ; sentinels were in each court, and especially
on the alert at night ; and then there was risk of being challenged
at all points by the numerous police, that swarm in the streets of
Batavia after dark. I needed a horse to take me swiftly to the
boat-landing ; my counsellor agreed to come with one, his heart
failed him, and the arrangements failed for that night ; another
one agreed to come ; and he also failed ; the prospect was darker
than ever, notwithstanding the assurance that my friends of the
Palmer were waiting for me every night with a boat and stout
&lt;Tf\v ; all the sure means and friends I had counted upon, failed ;
and the chances of escape grew more desperate than before.

It was rumored that the decree of death was issued, and prob
ably was in the hands of Brower ; the next day, there would no
longer be any hope. After the sun had set, I made prepara
tion to leave. There were two bars in my rear window, which I
had weakened by many well-concealed drillings and cuttings,
made during the unobserved leisure of less perilous times, when
making preparation for some possible future need ; which I could
easily remove now. When out, I would have to pass the door of
the room of the crazy lady, and run the risk of raising a cry from
her ; and then the door of the turnkey ; with the risk of rousing
his ever watchful dog ; if safely passing these without disturb
ance, I had to cross an outer wall, on the side of the great canal ;
and then I could not hope to clear that without drawing upon

FAITHFUL JAVANESE: FAITHFUL AFRICAN. 485

me the attention of the sentinel ; but there was the deep-shaded
park, behind the palace for a refuge ; and after running the risk
of a shot, I then had a clear run before me of four miles, to
reach the boat.

I had taken a look at the sentinel in front, under the ketapan
tree : he was indulging in a forbidden pipe, and a gaze at the
moon. I was at work upon the rear bars : I heard a sliding sound
upon the outer wall, and a slight thump on the ground ; there
was a dark object, moving under the shadow of the wall inside ;
it crossed the court stealthily, and came near my window ; and
then I could distinguish the rude outline of brave, faithful Pirez.

My joy to see him was hardly so great as my surprise. He
soon had his feet in the crevices of the wall, and holding on to
the bars of my window, told me as follows, in that wild jargon,
so incomprehensible to the Court of Justice of Batavia, which
if understood, would have told rather too strongly in my favor.
He had been locked up at a police station ; no doubt, immediate
ly after the resolve upon severe measures towards me ; he could
not come to me, he could not send ; and had been in despair
about his master. People came into the yard of the police sta
tion to speak with friends fastened up for a day or two ; he could
speak with them ; but there was no one could tell him any thing.
This morning he saw a young peddler woman, with filigree of
silver work from Palembang to sell ; the good face that his cap
tain knew; who was no longer afraid of Pirez because he was
ugly; but was kind like a good Christian lady, San Antonio bless
her : she put her finger to her lips ; Pirez looked only at the things
to sell: he handled the silver filigree, whilst the good peddler
said; Pirez, help master; papa Wirojoyo sampan sunggee An-
chol, prahu Pulo Edam.

Faithful Javanese hearts needed no message, no advices.

486 PRISON OF WELTEVBEDEIC.

The prahu of the old demang was then lying off that little island
on the border of the outer roadstead, which contains some curi
ous haunted ruins; relics of the old Dutch company; and his
little boat was waiting for me that night, at a rendezvous on An-
chol Creek. I was prepared for any act of generous devotion
from the brave daughter ; but had not expected such risk of per
son and property from the timid old Javanese father. Pirez was
then told, where he could easily leap a back wall of the police sta
tion, to get out that night ; and trust to the Great Helper, and
his own stout heart and limbs, to join me, in Weltevreden, and
help me out. My Javanese friends had some strange ideas about
this poor fellow, that he was a kind of djin, which I had confined
to earth, and mortal labor ; and could make him help me in mo
ments of extreme necessity : they firmly believed that Pirez could
jump out of one prison and get into another, whenever it was
absolutely necessary that he should do so in my behalf; and that
faith has no doubt been fully confirmed, in the mind of Wirojoyo
at least, by the exploits of my follower.

Pirez was not locked up in his room ; and he who could out
run a monkey up the straight stem of a palm-tree, was quickly
over the police station walls ; he passed the house of my noble
young friend ; he startled him in his bed, without having roused
any one else in the house. Few words were needed to explain
what he was about : much was said, which Pirez could not under
stand, who continued to reiterate my name and that of the prison ;
but after some parley he received a note, some money, and certain
things from my friend ; which he began to remove from his person,
after letting himself down from my window. Under his clothes
wa? another suit; a loose hunting coat, and other garments,
such as worn by gentlemen on excursions in the neighborhood of
the palace of the Governor General at Buitenzorg; an officer s

THE NOBLE YOUNG FRIEND OF AMERICANS. 487

uniform cap, some false hair, a wig and moustaches, a dye for
the face, a dirk, and some money. The note explained, that the
writer had not dared to come near me, on account of so much
suspicion resting upon him ; the court had not decided, but would
the following day : his relative, the judge of the court, had told
him that Brower would hold the decree four and twenty hours,
before serving it at the prison ; the good-hearted sheriff believing
that my friends were taking measures for my escape : the boat of
the Palmer had come regularly every night ; and would come
twice more ; after that, she must sail ; my chance was this night ;
(the writer supposed that this note would be delivered the fol
lowing morning;) a little after sunset, when the guard was
about to be relieved, and just before placing a sentinel at my
door ; a friend would enter the court ; and then I must trust to
my own ingenuity and good fortune to find a chance to walk
out with him.

From some other remarks it was evident, that the writer had
not supposed that Pirez was going that night with the intention
of breaking into prison, and of getting me out ; but had supposed
that he would come to see me in a regular way the next morning :
it was indeed a difficult matter to understand the faithful fellow s
dialect of uncouth sounds ; and perhaps because I had succeeded
so well in understanding, that he was there ready to carry me out
forthwith upon his back, to scale walls, to fight the guard ; and
swim to the Palmer if necessary.

He was grieved to hear me say, that I would stay in prison
that night ; but a few words soon persuaded him that it was best.
I had a while ago resolved to try ; because it seemed too great
risk to defer ; but the next day the chances would be better. At
this hour the boat of the Palmer would be gone, no longer ex
pecting my coming. He must return as he came ; take some

488 PRISON OF WELTEVUEDEN.

messages to iny friends this night, and then get off with some
boat before morning, on board the Palmer.

Pircz retreated with tiger stealth across the yard. I could
dimly see his shadowy form approach a piece of new wall, near a
building then designed for the insane. This portion was not
quite finished, and easy to be scaled by such as Pircz, at least.

The dark form is ascending the wall ; but no movement to be
observed ; mounting with invisible rise like the moon. It is on
the wall : the head cranes over ; it is disappearing ; there is a
rumble of something falling from the wall ; a loud challenge ; a
rush of feet ; bang ! a musket fire ; a heavy thump ; a cry and
groan ; a clatter of a bayonet upon stones ; and the last sounds
heard were fast-running feet, soon lost in the park behind the
palace, long ere the alarmed guard of the prison had turned out.

I learned the next morning from the turnkey, that a sentinel
had been found at his post, lying bleeding and senseless ; struck
on the head with a brick. When recovered a little, he swore
that a great black fiend, like an enormous bat with wings, had
leaped down upon him from the top of the new mad-house. He
could give no better account ; stuck to it that it was no mortal ;
had just swept by him and he fell after firing, without knowing
what hurt him. He had, in fact, pulled trigger in his fear with
out taking aim. Pirez has not joined me as I hoped ; and I am
often grieved to think what accident could have befallen the
faithful steward of the Flirt.

I have not spoken of my other follower, and fellow-prisoner ;
my late navigator on board the Flirt. He had some British
friends in the city ; although British authorities had made no
interference; expecting that the government of the flag under
which he had been serving, was the proper party to take cogni
zance of his case. He had found employment like myself; being

SAFETY OF THE MATE OF THE FLIRT. 489

very skilful with pencil, in mapping and drafting ; though not in
my more profitable, inventive way ; and he did not partake of
any of my sympathies in regard to the people of the Archipelago ;
looking upon the entire race, as being generally, despite certain
good appearances, all after the fashion of Babdoo and Moonchwa ;
natural born traitors, thieves and cut-throats. These sentiments
caused my officer to be regarded in a much more favorable light
by Dutch officials ; also " in consideration of his youth, and the per
nicious influences that had been exercised over him," as a Dutch
minister afterwards said ; although there was only the difference
of a year and a half in our ages. There was no doubt that if I,
the principal, was out of the way, the Government would let him
go ; he and his friends felt assured of this ; and I was well
assured, from his own mouth, that it was not necessary to have any
anxiety about his safety, when it should become necessary for
me to escape.

(And such has been the case ; he having been pardoned,
shortly after condemnation ; and that condemnation was unques
tionably changed after the escape of the commander from sen
tence of death, to the one demanded by the Fiskaal at the trial ; to
stand in the pillory ; and afterwards undergo twelve years of hard
labor in the mines of Banca, or at the penal fortress of Sooraba-
yah 5 which sentence now hangs over the head of the unpardoned
commander of the Flirt, to be put into execution, whenever he
can be captured upon Dutch territory.)

A bright, still cloudless Sabbath morning dawned ; the 24th
day of April, 1853. It wore away with moments of deep emo
tion with me ; some emotion to think I was looking for the last
time upon walls that were traced deep upon memory, even as I
had traced on them ; they would soon be lost to my sight, flying
away with the wings of a ship ; or lost to sight within the walla
21*

490 I RIKON OF WELTEVKEDEN.

of my last cell. There was some emotion in thinking of leaving
for ever, my prison pupils, Conan, Gedeh and others ; the visits of
Umbah, the fruits and the teachings; and those more earnest
and interesting associations with another pupil, might never be
repeated with such interest, as in this prison ; but then there-
was home, liberty, country ; and then thoughts rose up of possi
bly following the footsteps of Wongso, to that horrible field of
death ; oh ! rather death in warm blood, in a thousand other cruel
shapes than that,

And one came to propose an evasion out of the hands of the
hangman, if other chances failed; my good-hearted friend, the
Baron, had got leave to see me : he believed my case to be des
perate, knowing nothing of my plans : safe enough he was to be
trusted ; but the fewer in the secret of such matters, the better ;
he had some propositions to make, but not feasible ; and I might
have told him not necessary to try; he had a last resort for me
in his pocket ; one of the subtle poisons of Java, quick and cer
tain, and leaving no evidence of the cause. It was not strange
for the rough soldier to propose such a thing; it was an act of
friendship, the same as to aid in a duel ; but I declined to retain
the poison, however desperate might be the future.

He had a little written message from Umbah ; some words
of sorrow and affection from the true-hearted child, most grateful
to my heart, in those troubled moments. In thinking of her, I
recalled Bassett to mind : he was then with me : his presence at
my heels would betray me ; he must go with the Baron, whom
he often followed ; but now he crouched close in a corner ; he
would not stir, and snarled at my friend, who approached him
with caressing voice and action : he could not be carried out ;
I must trust to other chances during the day, to prevent the
faithful animal from following my steps; but much I regret-

THE CRI8I8 OF ESCAPE. 491

ted that I could not put on board the Palmer the courageous,
faithful namesake of the brave and generous friend, I hoped to
meet at home.

With words of warmest friendship I parted with my honest-
hearted late fellow-prisoner; words warmer than his; though
would not have been, had he known my resolve for that evening;
and that evening was near at hand ; the last rays of a glorious
Java sun were streaming through the tops of the almond, the
tamarind, and the waringin trees before the great gate. The
disguise was on, beneath an outer thin dress, ready to be thrown
off at a moment ; my long beard, well softened from time to
time, to be ready for the razor at the last minute; the last
thing to be done, when ready to step forth. Minutes are counted;
not many before the guard would go the rounds ; and a sentinel
be placed at my door for the night. I had stained beneath my
eyes, to alter the expression of my face ; the dark, well-fitting
wig covered my lighter-colored hair; Tutup opens my door; I
am in bed, concealed by a small curtain, affecting illness and surli
ness ; do not wish to talk ; and Tutup, who had sometimes found
me in silent moods, passed on ; but would return in five minutes
to close my door, after going tho round of other rooms. Conan
deposits the evening meal ; the guard has assembled in the arch
way ; twilight, the quick coming twilight of the tropics has set in ;
but no friend is in the court ; still I must go now ; the beard is
off in one minute, and false hair fastened on the upper lip ; the
outer garments are thrown off; my supper put on the floor, for
poor little Bassett, fastening him under the bed, as he devours
the food. And now all was ready ; I saw some visitors, coming
from other blocks, leaving on account of closing gates ; and I
stepped forth and marched straight for the archway leading out
side.

492 PRISON OF WELTEVUEDEN.

What moments were those. The air was full of dancing
shapes ; and buzzing sounds were in my ears for a while ; only a
little while ; the rush of fresh air, the sight of free ground be
yond that gateway. The guard was drawn up in file, with the
sergeant at their head ; just about to start on the rounds. This
sergeant had seen me a hundred times ; but I, trusting to my
altered face, and garb, and a well practised change of gait,
looked him straight in the face ; and carelessly acknowledged a
salute as I passed. I had made one step, and heard him wheel
around. I dare say he had some doubts about the person he
saw by that dim twilight ; he might bid me stop, and then all
was lost, but the chances of a desperate rush for the park ; or to
strive for a death in hot blood, at the hands of the guard ; there
was a large cigar in my mouth ; I did not smoke ; but put there as
additional means of concealment ; I paused before a soldier not on
duty, seated under the archway, smoking his pipe ; I stooped for a
light ; puffed a moment with my cigar ; it seemed to draw bad
ly ; bit an end, muttered, and growled some Dutch words ; it was
time for the guard to move ; the sergeant wheeled around and faced
the court again ; the man with the cigar must be all right. With
what emotion I then stepped from beneath that archway ; I
passed the outer walls and moat ; and was in the free highway ;
but where was the horse ? there is a low sound in the park ; the
friend is there; and the horse, a little way off; and then how
shall I tell how fast I went ; or how I passed the by-lanes and
suburbs of Batavia on the way to the rendezvous for the boat of
the Palmer.

It had not come : it was indeed a little before the time.
There were moments of intense anxiety and of deep interest
in the little wood near the rendezvous ; friends were waiting to
see me ; there was Diporo Kasumo, three stout Javanese prahu

FAREWELL TO NOBLE, FAITHFUL HEARTS. 493

men, and his sister. I had a few words alone with Sahyeepah ;
she was readily convinced, that it was best that I should go on
board the ship of my country ; but would I not get on board some
other one in the Straits of Sunda, and proceed to Singapore as I
intended to do ? her father would go there with his prahu, when
they heard from me ; and we would all meet again ; and if not
here, surely in the bright city of the Great Brother.

The sound of oars was heard, the dipping blades of the well-
manned boat of the Palmer. Some last warm words and tokens
of affection of simple, Javanese hearts; and then I heard the
voice of our gallant Boatswain; what a sound was that; and
what a sight, the well-armed, brave crew, and the home faces. I
feared no longer all the garrison of "Weltevreden at my heels.

But it was a close rub; said the Boatswain, interrupting,
not a moment had we to lose. All hands ready for fight, the
boys were really primed for a brush, our mate especially : I being
in command, and having strict orders from the Captain, thought
it best to wait for the Dutchies on board the Palmer, if they
were going to come on. "We were off, and dashing across that
still bay ; and not a word till we passed close by the Flirt ; then
our friend broke out ; taking on about his gallant little craft. I
believe he wanted to go on board of her, and persuade our men
to cut her out from under the guns of the Boreas. I had thought
of that often afore. But there was not the shadow of a chance,
and it made my heart real sore too, as we passed her, lying hard
and fast in the roadstead of Batavia.

Yes, said the Commander, I felt a keen pain of regret on pass
ing my stout little ship, that had been such a pleasant home, on
many a delightful day s sail ; but my last thoughts were certainly
not with the Flirt; nor busied with schemes for cutting her
ou t but thinking at that moment of the people I was leaving

494

PRISON OF WELTEVREDEN.

behind me, who had 30 won upon my sympathies ; and one
more than all, who could still be dimly seen on the farthest
reaching point of the shore of Java ; and with upraised waving
hands seemed to say, Forget not me, and all the words and re
solves made about my people in the prison of Weltevreden,

The Palmer had her anchor apeak ; her sails all loosened ;
and soon after the fugitive had received the warm greetings of her
commander and the passengers on board, the noble ship began
to move through the waters of the bay. The sturdy boatswain,
mate and crew were in a high state of excitement ; they seemed
wishful to wait for pursuit; the two long twelve-pounders, the
ship s armament, were run out, all the small arms were on d--l; ;

FREEDOM, BLESSED FREEDOM.

495

signal lights went up from the shore ; the commander could not
risk his vessel in any wild adventure of fight ; orders are given
to hoist every sail ; the breeze freshens, and onward she surges.
There is a flash, and the Boreas has fired a gun ; the men of the
Palmer are frantic, and her twelve-pounders hurl back defiance
to the Dutchmen. But there is success and glory enough ; better
now to catch every breath of that freshening breeze. The
smoke of a pursuing steamer is seen ; the Palmer must keep on
her way ; and the next morning beholds the clipper, as we have
seen; threading her rapid way through the lovely isles of the
Straits of Sunda; whilst the fugitive, grateful to God for
glorious freedom, yet with sadness in his joy, turns a last look
towards the Island of Java.

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