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The adventures of John Smith In Malaya, 




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THE ADVENTURES OF 

JOHN SMITH IN MALAYA 

1600 — 1605 



THE ADVENTURES OF 

JOHN SMITH IN MALAYA 

1600—1605 



BY 



A. HALE. 



Late E. J. BEILL 

PUBIilSHBBS ANB PrINTBBB 

LEYDEN 1909 



A yer sa'gantang sa'lubok, 
Sa'dangkang yang ber-bunyi', 
Siamang ber-jawat-jawat, 
Tompat ungka ber-dayu-dayu ; 
Batin yang ampunya-nya. 



CHAPTER L 

In the beginning of the year 1600, James Neccy, a merchant 
and adventurer, whose house was famous in the city of 
Haarlem in Holland, obtained a charter from the States 
General which empowered him to trade in the Eastern seas, and 
at the same time to further Dutch interests and influence 
so far as layd in his power in that region. His charter also 
hinted that it would be well for him to go armed, as besides 
enemies of the State, there were sea robbers in those waters. 

In pursuance of his charter he laded two galleons and a 
crompster (kromsteven) with assorted merchandise, and set sail. 

It was his intention to get as quickly as possible to the 
Malay Peninsula, stopping only at certain ports for the purpose 
of taking in water and fresh provisions. If fortune favoured 
him, he intended loitering about in the Straits of Malacca 
and perhaps doing a little damage to the Portugals' trade 
there, either as a merchant, by legitimate sharp trading, or, 
seeing that he was armed, perhaps there might be some 
chance of a fight at sea with some of their ships, or better still, 
a richly laden galleon bringing home cloves from Amboyna, 
or gold from Ophir. 

His charter might, as he was privately told by the cunning 
old Burgomaster of Haarlem, be very liberally interpreted ; 
indeed, as the Burgomaster had himself invested no incon- 
siderable sum in the venture he felt entitled to give advice, 
and did not hesitate to say that perhaps the most profitable 



enterprise of all would be to gather pepper, and that the 
quickest harvest of that commodity would be found floating 
on the seas, under the Portuguese flag. This was not perhaps 
strictly moral advice, but the example set by England to 
the world in the West Indies, was fresh in men's minds; 
and Holland against Portugal in the East seemed an analogue 
of England against Spain in the West. 

After leaving the vicinity of Malacca, James Neccy proposed 
paying a visit to Johor, whose King had evinced a friendly 
disposition towards Hollanders; thence it was his intention 
to sail up the East Coast and visit Patani, another city said 
to be favourable to the Dutch trade; and perhaps he would 
get as far as the important kingdom of Siam itself. The 
times were dangerous, and because of that, as well as the 
fact that those who went down to the sea in ships, remem- 
bered that they took their lives into their own hands, by 
reason of their slight knowledge of far away seas, their 
currents and winds, and other horrors with which the super- 
stition of the times did not fail to describe them, it was 
customary for everybody on board, before they set sail, to 
make proper deposition of his property in the event of his 
death and the prognostications were so far favourable, that 
people expected one at least of the three ships that went 
away to return safely to port, and to come back deeply laden 
with gold ; for were they not going to that Golden Cher- 
sonesus of the Ancients, whence King Solomon got his gold 
to ornament the Temple? Did not peacocks also abound, 
and monkeys, and the far-famed bezoar stones the medical 
properties of which were greatly exercising the minds of 
philosophers at that period? All these articles took up little 
space, so that one ship-load, if it got back safely, would be 
a very adequate return for the three ships, laden with the 
showy but inexpensive cargoes sent out. 



Eggs were counted before they were hatched somewhat 
in this fashion. Three shiploads of cheap trade would sell 
for two cargoes of spices, and two cargoes of spices would 
go to purchase one of gold and precious ware ; especially 
when it was hoped that the Portugals — not only rival traders, 
but State enemies — might be persuaded to contribute a fair 
share of the profits. 

It is this venture, or rather the adventures of one member 
of the company, which will be detailed in the following 
chapters. 

John Smith, whose adventures are here recorded, at the 
time he sailed with James Neccy, was twenty-seven years 
of age, having been born — somewhat irregularly — in the 
year 1573, at the village of Tregony in Cornwall, to which 
place his mother had secretly retreated, when she found it 
the better policy to do so. 

His mother was an actress of some notoriety. Her name 
does not matter for the purpose of this story, nor does that 
of his father, who also was a person of some note, being 
in fact a clergyman, whose preaching had caused some 
considerable stir in the world of divinity, but who died at 
the early age of forty-five, two years after John Smith was 
born, having arranged that after his death a sum of five 
hundred pounds should be paid to a certain actress, named 
in his will, in token of his appreciation of her worth and 
good life. 

It was a strange parentage and well calculated to produce 
an unorthodox child. Up to the time of the death of the 
mother, who was twenty-four years old when her son was 
born, and who lived for nearly fifty years after, it was not 
known that she had had a child before her marriage with 
a rich London merchant, when she was thirty years old. 
She had two other sons after her marriage, but she carried 



the secret of her first-born to the grave with her, and even 
her husband, who died twenty years before her, had never 
learnt it. 

But when she was buried in the church-yard of Saint 
Mary-le-Strand, followed to the grave by her two legitimate 
sons, both prosperous merchants of the city of London, there 
stood by the grave-side also a third gentleman, who wore a 
mourning knot of black ribbon on the guard of his sword, 
and who seemed ■ — equallj'^ with her to sons — affected by 
the ceremony. Nobody knew the stranger, and when the 
brothers approached him when all was over and asked him 
why he wore mourning, he appointed to meet them at a 
later date, at a certain house near the village of Teddington. 
and there, a week later, he explained his relationship to 
them, producing such documentary evidence, in the shape 
of letters from his mother — who had always managed to 
keep in touch with her first child during his wanderings — 
that his half-brothers were convinced of the truth of his 
allegations, the more so perhaps when John Smith showed 
them his actual, authentic will, and desired them to take 
possession of and act on it, when they had proof of his 
death. 

This will, if the schedule of the properties dealt with was 
true, greatly surprised the brothers, especially when John 
Smith explained that it did not deal with more than half 
of his property. The other moiety, he told them, he had 
already disposed of by gift, to certain connections of his own 
in the East, not however, mentioning what those connections 
were. Some very valuable items were mentioned in the will, 
amongst them being a tin mine in Cornwall, where was also 
an estate estimated to contain over one thousand acres, and 
besides these a very considerable sum of money was said 
to be deposited at a low rate of interest with a Loridon 



5 

house of well-known fame for honest dealings. John Smith 
promised to travel to Cornwall and introduce his half-brothers 
to his agents and men of business there, as well as to the 
head of the house which held his moneys in London. 

All this he did in due course, when the staid City merchants 
were considerably astonished at beholding the evidences of 
such great wealth. It appeared that the money deposited in 
London was all profits made on the tin mine in Cornwall, wich 
was a very valuable business, worked somewhat differently from 
other mines in the vicinity. The Captain of the mine was a 
very bluff sailorlike old man, showing in his general bearing 
unbounded respect and affection for his master, who introduced 
his half-brothers to him as his heirs. 

The estate John Smith explained, was of no very particular 
value at present, he had purchased it for sentimental reasons 
chiefly; and he pointed out to his half-brothers the cottage 
in which he was born, which was in the charge of a very 
old woman, who addressed him as her foster-son. He told 
them that all his life, whenever he returned to England from 
the East, he had always managed to meet his mother here. 
This explained to the brothers certain mysterious journeys 
of their mother, which they had noticed. 

Their half-brother also told them that he had otherwise 
liberally provided for all his dependants in England ; but he 
strongly advised them to keep the tin mine in work, with 
the same staff of men, and on the same system as at present. 
Moreover, the Captain of the mine, as well as his son, a 
darkskinned, strong-looking man about thirty years of age, 
when they understood the position, readily agreed to work 
for the two City men, as faithfully as they had done for 
their own master. 

After spending three days in their company in Cornwall, 
John Smith took an affectionate farewell of his brothers. 



whom he said he had often before seen, and of whom he 
had often spoken with his mother. He said that he was about 
to sail once more from the port of Bristol to the East, whence 
it was most probable he would never return ; but he promised 
to communicate with them as often as opportunity offered, 
and especially to let them have certain knowledge of his 
death, whenever it occurred. 

Three years afterwards, the brothers heard of his death, 
and took possession of their inheritance, wich was richly 
augmented by a packet brought to them by a sea captain. 
This packet, which the captain said he knew was worth a 
king's ransom, was found to contain a bonanza, consisting 
of a very beautiful collection of emeralds, rubies and pearls, 
set in Eastern gold. It contained also a certificate of the 
death of John Smith, signed by the captains of two well-known 
merchantmen trading to the East, and sealed with the great 
seal of the Queen of Patani, under some Arabic writing, 
which, on translation, proved to be a panegyric, and a 
lamentation of the Great Queen of Patani on the death of 
her adopted son, John Smith. 

The package also contained a last letter, written by John 
Smith to his halfbrothers, in which he said he was at that 
time aware of the fact that he was peaceably and quietly 
dying in the city of Patani. He had arranged for a certificate 
of his death to be delivered to them, and begged their 
acceptance, as a last souvenir, of the ornaments, which would 
be delivered to them, and which, he said, would give them 
some idea of the East. He sent them also an account of his 
life and travels, feeling sure that they would rea.d with 
interest a true setting-forth of the wonders of the East, 
which, he said, had been to him a never-ending exposition 
of the wondrous GOD IN NATURE. 



He declared that now, at the ending of his life, he was 
convinced that all creeds and systems of religion were narrow 
and the work of men. Some were more instinct with good 
than others, and nearly all of them were of use in leading 
the human race to conduct their lives in accordance with 
certain laws, wich were necessary for the well-being of the 
human animal. He professed to find good in the Koran of 
the Arabians, equally with the Bible of the Christians. He 
commended to his half-brothers the precepts of Lao-tsze and 
Confucius, equally with the doctrines of Zoroaster and the 
Buddha; "but before all", wrote he, "reaHze that the whole 
Universe is GOD; worship him not only as in Heaven, or 
as present when a congregation meets in a church, but 
consider rather that your own individual bodies and souls, 
equally with every particle of matter, animate or inanimate, 
every thought engendered in your brain, and every aspiration 
of every living thing, is GOD, and GOD is it; and then 
shall you find reason for worship, and the observance of 
moral and necessary laws and rules of life." 

With these words John Smith concluded his last letter to 
his half-brothers. It is, however, from the leaves of his 
journals and writings, enclosed in the packet sent to them, 
that the following chapters have been taken. 

It has been thought inexpedient to reproduce the old- 
fashioned phraseology of the journals and essays, and also 
it hat not seemed as if the tale could be so well told in 
the first person as in the original, for the same cogent reasons. 
It may also be said at once that the name John Smith, is 
not that which was signed at the bottom of the letter and 
mentioned in the certificate of death. 



CHAPTER II. 

The trading expedition, commanded, and in a great measure 
owned, by James Neccy, sailed from the port of Haarlem in 
the Low Country, in February of the year 1600. It consisted 
of the two galleons, named respectively JOHANIS DE Hakluyt 
and Jacobus de Halle, with the crompster called Peter 
ASMODEUS, and was under the supreme command of James 
Neccy as Admiral. 

The English East India Company had just been started, 
with the avowed intention of spoiling the Portuguese trade 
in the East, which had indeed been now absorbed to a great 
extent by the Spaniards, in consequence of the amalgamation 
of the two states about twenty years previously. 

James Neccy had been urged to combine with other Dutch 
merchants and form a company, to rival the English one, 
but had not been persuaded, although he foresaw that such 
a combination would be necessary, if a share of the trade 
was to be retained by the Hollanders; but at that time he 
considered himself strong enough to hold his own, and was 
astute enough also to perceive that if he had a successful 
voyage this time, he would be in a much better position, 
after the lapse of two or three years, to join any company 
which might have been formed ; and in point of fact, the 
Dutch East India Company, when it was started in 1603, 
reserved a seat on the Directorate for him, and this he 
occupied on his return from the East. 

The JOHANiS DE Hakluyt carried the Admiral's house 



flag, bearing his warlike crest — for James Neccy came of good 
blood and an adventurous race. His crest was a mailed arm 
and hand holding a cross-bow elevated. His motto was an 
English one, for he was of Saxon-English descent. It seemed 
to refer to a trading spirit amongst his ancestors, although 
it might have had to do with the prowess of some leader 
in a fight, whose mailed fist was found to be heavy, for it 
consisted of the two words "Good weight." 

The JOHANIS carried a crew of one hundred men, under 
the immediate command of old Christian Lentholm, a Norwe- 
gian, who had all his life worked for the house of Neccy, 
gradually making his way upwards in the knowledge of 
seacraft, as well as in the confidence of the chiefs of the 
house, until he was considered not only the most expert 
sailing master in Holland, but almost the most travelled man 
of those parts. He was now making his third voyage to the 
East Indies. His crew, as well as the crews of the other 
ships, were carefully selected men, none under thirty years 
of age, and of many different nationalities. In the selection 
care was taken to procure those who had a good knowledge 
of the use of weapons of war, especially firearms; in fact a 
large majority of them had at one time or another served 
on ships of war, of the different European states. 

The master gunner was a Frenchman, Lewes de Havre he 
was called. Twenty men of the crew of the JOHANiS were 
to be under his immediate command as gunners, if chance 
should require their services in a fight, and he was very 
eager to pick out the most likely men to work his guns, as 
soon as the crew was mustered before the start. 

The other officer who shared the Admiral's saloon in the 
poop, was John Smith, the chief super-cargo of the venture. 
John Smith had already made one voyage to the East with 
old Christian Lentholm, reaching as far as Java, and touching 



lO 

at Pegu, Johor, and some ports in Sumatra and the islands. 
He had taken pains to acquire some knowledge of the Malayan 
language, the "lingua franca" of those seas, and of the trading 
customs of the natives. He had since his sixteenth year worked 
for the house of Neccy, where his mother had placed him; 
and as every man employed by that prosperous house, in 
whatever capacity, was paid according to the profits made, 
rather than a regular salary, he had already managed to get 
together a considerable sum, which he had loyally invested 
in the venture. 

But besides this, his mother who had called him to England 
to ■ see her before he started on this voyage, had put into 
his hands about a thousand pounds, telling him that it was 
his patrimony, and at the same time had explained to him 
the history of his birth. It appeared that his father, before 
he died, invested seven hundred pounds in his name, without 
stating the connection between them, and appointed his 
mother his guardian or trustee, with power to pay over the 
capital and profits to him at her own discretion, when she 
considered he would most require it. 

This was a most delightful surprise to the young man, who 
unfolded to his mother a plan which he had been considering 
for some time, which was to leave the house of Neccy and 
travel about the East and trade on his own account. His 
affectionate mother, whilst deploring the long separation 
which this would entail, could not combat her son's resolution, 
which, considering his birth and up-rearing, was most evidently 
the best path in life for him. 

With his mother's consent, he told his Master and Admiral 
what he wished to do. No objection was raised against his 
disire, on his agreeing not to leave the expedition, until the 
fleet had passed the end of the Malay Peninsula and sailed 
up the East coast. Then, he decided^ he. would leave the 



II 



ships at the most convenient port and start on his own 
particular venture, entrusting his share of the main enterprise 
to his Admiral. 

John Smith was at this time a healthy young man, well 
educated in all the wiles of commercial dealings, but with 
a strain of romance in him, and also a great liking for 
philosophical studies. He had read much, especially the 
doctrines of ancient teachers of all countries, and was profoundly 
imbued with a spirit of moral analysis. He was, besides, an 
expert man-at-arms, very clever with the Spanish rapier and 
dagger, with which weapons he was almost invulnerable, 
having trained himself in combats against opponents armed 
with other and unusual weapons, such as javelins, halberts, 
clubs, axes and the like. He had also a fair knowledge of 
the simple chemistry and surgery of the times. Thus equipped, 
it .seemed as if he had a very fair chance to hold his own 
in an adventurous life with a savage people, and this — as 
has already been shown — well proved to be the case. As 
to his work for the house of Neccy, the present trust reposed 
in him showed the estimation in which he was held. 

He was represented in each of the other ships of the 
expedition by an assistant supercargo, and he also had an 
assistant on the JoHANiS, who, when he left the ship, was 
to take his place as chief supercargo. 

The Jacobus was as nearly as possible a counterpart of 
the JOHANIS. She was commanded by a Fleming. 

The crompster Peter Asmodeus was equipped with a 
crew of seventy men, under the command of Paul Keyut, 
a true Dutchman of the sturdiest type, who had commenced 
life under the auspices of Neccy as a Northsea pilot. The 
Jacobus had twenty gunners and the PETER ASMODEUS 
fifteen, each company under the command of a master gunner. 
Lewes de Havre had been entrusted with the selection, not 



12 

only of the officers but of the gunners as well; and he 
arranged that each company, with its commander, should 
spend a month on the JoHANis, under his own instruction ; 
for it was well understood by all concerned that the time 
had come when artillery would play the most important 
part in any future sea-fight. 

The Peter Asmodeus indeed — which by reason of her 
lighter draught and superior sailing powers was destined to 
act as scout and tender to the heavier ships — carried 
amidships, elevated on a raised platform, a very unusual 
and expensive weapon, in the shape of long, bronze pivot 
gun, which would throw a ball, albeit of a small size, three 
times as far as an ordinary culverin. This gun had, after 
great persuasion on the part of Lewes de Havre, been only 
lately added to the. armament of the house of Neccy and 
had been cast and carefully tested under the master gunner's 
own eyes, at great cost and after many spoilt castings. It 
was composed of an amalgam, very carefully mixed after 
many consultations between John Smith and Lewes, the 
former of whom had made a study of this branch of science. 
The gun was with much ceremony christened "Anna", after 
a youthful daughter of James Neccy, and amongst much 
fanciful ornamentation, the Neccy arms appeared on the 
breech of the gun, with a quaint legend just behind the 
touch-hole which might be freely translated into English 
as follows; 

"Anna goes out to trade, 

Her heavy cost is paid. 
Her shot "Good weight" are made. 

Her foes shall all be laid". 

This unique gun was the especial charge of a young 
Englishrhan, named Rupert Saville, who had won the approval 



13 

of Lewes de Havre, as a good marksman and a reliable man. 
The crompster was banked for six great sweeps, or oars, a 
side. Besides the pivot gun, she carried eight eighteen-pounder 
culverins and two five-pounder sakers, the demi-culverins, 
which these ships usually carried amidships, being discarded 
in favour of the pivot gun. The two galleons each carried 
sixteen culverins, sixteen demi-culverins, and eight sakers 



CHAPTER III. 

John Smith's writings do not contain very full accounts 
of the voyage down the west coast of Africa, the only incident 
of which appears to have been a little fight with a Portuguese 
carrack, which was ultimately driven into the mouth of the 
Zaire river, badly damaged; but which, before her collapse 
and escape to the protection of the fort, succeeded in so 
badly mauling the JOHANiS, that for some time it was seriously 
thought it would be necessary to abandon her, she having 
been hit several times below the water line. The lower holds 
filled so fast with water that the pumps could not keep it 
under, but ultimately the old Dutch boatswain, an expert 
diver, succeeded in partially stopping the leaks by caulking 
them from the outside with oakum, so that the shipwright 
and his carpenters could get at the damage from the inside. 
But it was evident to everybody that the repairs could only 
be considered as good enough to take them on for a week 
or two. The Admiral therefore decided that it would be 
necessary to seek the mouth of some other river with all 
speed, so that the ship could be properly careened and put 
into good fettle again. 

The fight would have undoubtedly gone better for the 
Hollanders if the Peter Asmodeus had not been sent away 
two days previously on a scouting and exploring expedition 
down the coast, with instructions to await the other ships 
at the mouth of the Quanza, a well-known place of call for 



15 

ships sailiftg south,' and one where good water could be 
obtained. 

The JOHANIS was thus badly damaged by the first discharge 
from the Portuguese carrack, a much larger ship and carrying 
many more guns. She had attacked the Dutch ships, evidently 
supposing them to be merchants of the usual type, which, 
whilst they were always armed, were not generally so well 
equipped as James Neccy had wisely decided his ships should 
be for this expedition. Without doubt the Portuguese captain 
thought to obtain an easy victory, especially as he was not 
far from the strongly fortified port at the mouth of the 
Zaire, whence he might hope for assistance in an emergency, 
and to which he could always make for refuge. He was, 
however, taught a severe lesson, as he barely escaped into 
harbour, and even then did not save his ship. 

It was the better marksmanship of Lewes de Havre's 
gunners, and the excellent spirit of both crews under James 
Neccy's command, which assured to them the victory; and 
indeed the Admiral was vehemently urged by his ship's 
companies to allow the Portugals to be followed into harbour 
and finished ofi" under the guns of the fort ; but James Neccy 
said, "No! we are traders, not fighters. As this arrogant 
Portugal attacked me, I was obliged to fight ; but now it 
behoves us to meet our consort with all speed, and find a 
convenient place where we may repair our damages." 

This was so evidently the proper course to take, and it 
was also very apparent that more hard knocks than profit 
would be the result of following their enemy into port, under 
the guns of the fort, that it was at once adopted ; so sail 
was trimmed, and the two vessels made off as well as they 
were able on the course taken by the PETER ASMODEUS 
two days before. 

Except for the damage done to the JOHANlS, they had 



i6 

suffered but very little loss, two men killed and ten more 
or less wounded on both ships. The Portugals had evidently- 
suffered much more severely, for wen the JOHANIS and the 
Jacobus had succeeded in getting into place on either side 
of the great carrack, the superior training of Lewes' gunners 
got a chance, and nearly every discharge told, so that the 
upper deck of the carrack was seen to be crowded with 
dead and wounded. Moreover, the master gunner had ventured 
on an experiment, which he had long wished to try in 
warfare; he had fired some red-hot balls into the Portugal; 
and as they escaped, the result was seen to have been 
effective, for she burst into flames before she got into harbour. 
But the experiment was not quite successful, for after a cold 
shot had been rammed home in the first gun, and the gunner 
was pushing down the red-hot shot on the top of it, the 
charge ignited before the shot was rammed home, bursting 
the gun and wounding three men severely, one of whom 
died within an hour. 

It was John Smith who surmised that some gunpowder 
had been left in the tube of the gun, and had ignited when 
the red-hot shot was introduced, thus setting fire to the 
charge prematurely; and it was he who showed that this 
might be obviated, if the charge of powder was secured by 
double wadding and the tube carefully cleaned out with a 
damp mop, before the cold and then the hot shot were 
introduced. He volunteered to load the next gun himself, 
and Lewes de Havre, not to be outdone, offered to assist 
him. The opperation was successfully carried out, and several 
red-hot shots were fired into the enemy, without further 
damage, except to the Portugals. 

It was eight days before the Peter Asmodeus was found 
anchored at the mouth of the Quanza river. Her Master 
had, on his first arrival, taken her some miles up the river and 



found good water. He had also ascertained that there would 
be no difficulty about the larger vessels ascending as high, 
if not higher, than he had done. He had not seen any place 
fit to careen the JOHANis so far as he had gone, but he 
had no doubt that such a place could be found if search was 
made for it. He had been obliged to return, because his 
men had been frightened by the strange and unearthly 
noises heard in the forest proceeding apparently from a 
group of small hills, about two miles from the riverbank. 
It seemed as if a party of giants were calling to one another, 
from hill-top to hill-top, although the roaring certainly might 
have proceded from a troupe of lions, which were known 
to inhabit these parts, or perhaps from some other wild 
beasts which had not yet been heard of in Europe; for as 
in the time of the Roman Emperors, strange and unheard 
of things still came out of Africa. 

Old Paul Keyut was of opinion that the noises were of 
human agency, although so far nothing in the shape of a 
human being had been seen ; but when his crew understood 
that their commander held this opinion, they were only the 
more afraid and talked of giants, agreeing however, that as 
soon as the other ships arrived, they would willingly go 
and fight whatever was to be fought, were they giants or 
the very Sathanus himself, backed up with all his infernal 
hosts. This suited Master Paul very well, for he had made 
up his mind to do some trading with the natives, if they 
possessed anything worth having; and moreover he was 
obliged to move down the river again to meet his consorts, 
which, as has already been stated, he did. 

It was quickly decided that all three vessels should move 
up the river with the tides, as far as possible, until a good 
place to careen had been found, and if circumstances seemed 
favourable, to overhaul all three ships, and in the meanwhile 



to examine the country with a view to getting into touch 
with the natives, and trading with them if they had anything 
worth buying. 

It took the little fleet four days to get far enough up the 
river, before a proper place to careen was discovered. They 
drifted up with the tide for the most part, for there was 
but little wind to assist them, and what there was, was to 
a very great extent, owing to the high forests and the 
eccentric turns of the river, not very favourable to them. 
But the delays were not wasted, as during the times they 
were riding at anchor, when the tide was flowing out, 
opportunity was taken to explore the country on either bank 
of the river. For the first three days they were passing 
through dense swampy forest, which was very difficult to 
penetrate, and except on the second day, when they passed 
the point where the Peter Asmodeus had stopped, no signs 
of humanity were met with. Here they heard the noises which 
had frightened their consort, but the Admiral would not 
allow them to go inland to investigate, wisely deciding that 
no delay must be risked until a careening place had been 
found, but promising that, when he had discovered how 
much damage had been sustained, he would allow a party 
to try and discover if there were any natives, and to endeavour 
to trade with them. 

It took all hands more than a week to lighten the JOHANIS, 
by taking out her guns, top-masts, sails and other gear, 
before she could be dragged up onto a sandspit, which was 
covered by only a foot of water at low tide, but which was 
over six feet deep when the tide was in. 

Advantage was taken of a full tide, and by the help of cables 
and blocks attached to the huge forest trees, she was hauled 
up as far as possible, and then shored up with props, which 
had been previously prepared from saplings cut in the forest. 



t9 

This having been accomplished, everybody waited patiently 
for the out-going tide, in order that an examination of her 
hurts might be made. It was found that two strakes of her 
sheathing were so damaged and splintered that there seemed 
no alternative but to replace them by new ones also, the 
forecastle was very much knocked about, and a shot had 
pierced the fore-mast close- to its foot, so that this timber 
also hat to be replaced. In addition to this, general repairs 
were necessary all over the ship, as it was evident that she 
would not stand any very great strain of wind or sea. 

When these serious damages were realised, considerable 
consternation was expressed, as it was quickly understood 
that some time must elapse before timbers could be obtained 
which were sufficiently well seasoned to use for the repairs 
necessary. 

A general meeting of all the crews was called; for James 
Neccy, recognising, as he always did, that all were share- 
holders in the enterprise, considered that each individual 
should have a chance of expressing his opinion. There seemed 
to be four alternatives. First, for the two ships to proceed 
with the voyage, dividing the crew of the JOHANIS between 
them, and sacrificing the least valuable part of the cargo 
of the three ships to make room for the excess and the 
extra men, and leaving the JOHANis to her fate. Secondly, 
to patch up the JOHANiS sufficiently to take her back to 
Holland for repairs. Thirdly, to leave her crew where she 
lay, and for her crew to repair her properly there; the other 
two ships meanwhile to continue their voyage, and the 
JoHANIS to follow them, or return home, at their discretion 
when she was in good order. Or fourthly, for all the fleet 
to remain in the river until she was in order again, and 
then to proceed all together with the voyage. The last of 
these alternatives was adopted, with a very few dissentient 



20 

Votes, and was approved of by the Admiral; for even if six 
months had to be spent in this river, there seemed no 
especial reason to regret it, as food, in the shape of fish 
and fowl at any rate, was abundant, good water was handy, 
and moreover the spirit of adventure was strong amongst 
the crews, who were anxious to explore the country and 
get into touch with the natives, anticipating strange discoveries 
and, perhaps, profitable trade. 

John Smith was especially delighted with this decision, 
for he had read of enormous river-horses and wingless birds, 
giants and pigmies, anthropophagi, and wild, hairy men who 
lived in trees; he therefore hoped for much profitable explo- 
ration and a great fund of information to be acquired, to say 
nothing of a chance to verify or refute what he had read 
in books. 

He was convinced that the noises heard down the river 
were due to human agency, and that somewhere in the 
forest near at hand there were not a few natives, because 
as he was exploring the country with Lewes de Havre, about 
a mile inland from the right bank of the river, in the direc- 
tion of the hills from which the noises proceeded, they had 
discovered what was evidently the remains of a large camping 
place in an open space. Here they had counted over a dozen 
heaps of ashes and charred brands, and had noticed some 
very large bones lying about, which they thought must have 
originally belonged to elephants; but it was evident that 
the camp had been deserted for some weeks, as already the 
coarse grass was springing up through the ashes a foot high. 
What was also very significant was the discovery of two 
human skulls. They told nobody except the Admiral of 
their discovery, and for fear of alarming the men, it was 
agreed to keep the matter secret; but James Neccy gave 
strict orders that no party of less than twenty men was to 



21 

go into the forest out of sight of the ships, and that no 
straggling was to be allowed, alleging as a reason the danger 
from wild animals. 

The JOHANIS having been hauled up as high as she could 
be got, and strongly shored up, it was found possible for 
the shipwrights to work on her damaged side, and nothing 
was now wanted but timber properly seasoned. But first all 
hands were set to work to build a stockade and clear a 
space round it, for the better protection of the ships and 
also for a store-house for the material taken out of the 
JOHANIS. It took nearly all the available force of the three 
crews about a month to finish this to the satisfaction of the 
Admiral ; but when it was completed the position was clearly 
a very strong one. 

About one hundred acres were cleared round the fort and 
opposite the ships, which were moored as close to the shore 
as they could ride at anchor without touching bottom at 
low tide, the Peter Asmodeus lying about two hundred 
yards up stream from the sand-spit on which the JoHANiS 
was moored, and the JACOBUS about the same distance down 
stream. The fort was about one hundred yards inland from 
the JOHANIS, on a rising bank. The Peter Asmodeus and 
the Jacobus were further protected in the river by booms 
constructed of very light timber about a foot in diameter, 
joined together by iron links and staples, and armed with 
rows of iron spikes. These booms would be very difficult 
for naked savages to surmount, nor could canoes get by 
them, because, being very buoyant, they rolled easily in the 
water, and as they rolled still presented a fresh row of sharp ■ 
spikes to any one trying to climb over them. The fort was 
more properly speaking a stockade. It was constructed of 
strong palisadoes .set in the ground and forming a square 
twenty yards each way, the fence standing twelve feet out 



22 

of the ground and being provided with a banquette all round 
the inside four feet high, on which were mounted the guns 
taken out of the JOHANIS. A garrison of twenty men under 
Lewes de Havre was to occupy this structure. For their 
accommodation and for the protection of the stores taken 
out of the JOHANis, a warehouse roofed with palm leaves 
was built in the centre. Good water was supplied by a small 
stream running down the sloping ground close to the fort, 
and it was also found that water was easily obtainable by 
digging wells six feet deep near the edge of the river, and 
one was dug in the stockade itself. 

During the time these preparations were being made, indeed 
as soon as it was discovered that good timber would be 
required for the repairs of the JOHANiS, a party, consisting 
of the chief shipwright and his assistant carpenters, with ten 
armed men as escort, had been organised under the command 
of John Smith, to search the forest for three or four miles 
inland for good and suitable trees, out of which the timber 
required could be cut. Every day different samples of timber 
were brought in by this party, planks and baulks of suitable 
size being split out of the trees and adzed into suitable 
shape. These planks and baulks were carefully laid out where 
they would dry in the sun, so that they should be well 
seasoned; and the sorts which after careful examination 
proved to be the best for the purpose, were chosen for the 
work of repair. It was considered that no timber would be 
suitable until it had been drying for at least three months, 
either for the strakes required or for the masts. 

This party had very soon discovered signs of humanity 
in the forest, they found recently-used camping places, and 
after the first fortnight they had caught glimpses of black 
savages flitting about amongst the trees, evidently watching 
the working party. As days went on, these shy watchers 



23 

became more numerous and less afraid of the new arrivals 
in their forest though John Smith's workmen, as the savages 
became more daring, got to be somewhat nervous, and it 
was only by placing his men in a cordon round the carpenters 
when they were engaged on a special tree, and carefully 
guarding them on their journeys to and from the ships, that 
they could be persuaded to continue the necessary work, 
for bows and arrows had been seen in the hands of the 
savages, and the woodcutters, having heard of poisoned darts, 
did not relish working with their backs to an unknown danger. 

They did all they could, inviting and beckoning the savages 
in the most enticing way to come forward, but without avail, 
for the most they could ever see of them was a black head 
on a black torso, or perhaps a naked arm and hand grasping 
a bow elevated on high as the savage owner made his way 
trough the dense undergrowth of the forest in retreat, when 
they advanced in his direction. 

At last, acting on the advice of James Neccy, they used 
to make a practice of leaving small articles, such as strips 
of brightcoloured cloth, glass beads or buttons, on the stump 
of any tree which had been felled during the day. Invariably 
these articles disappeared by the next morning, but no other 
notice was taken of the presents. As yet, by the Admiral's 
orders, no gun had been fired, as he considered it unad- 
visable to frighten the savages by any display of that sort, 
although it probably would be no new thing to them, as the 
Portugals, who had been for some time established on the 
coast, had certainly used firearms, and had probably even 
killed some of the natives, for they were wellknown to be 
cruel and unscrupulous in their dealings with them. 

There ^had been no dearth of fresh food, for the rivers 
abounded in fine fish of many sorts, while some forest fruits 
had been carefully and gradually tasted and had been found 



24 

excellent eating. A palmnut especially, about the size of a 
small walnut with a very hard shell, was found to be full 
of oil and most useful in cooking. 

During the night time the forest was alive with noises of 
wild beasts, but nothing was ever seen in the day, except 
crocodiles in the river and a few monkeys and birds in the 
high trees. 



CHAPTER IV. 

It was many weeks before John Smith was able to persuade 
the natives to come near him. It was considered better to 
let them have as much time as they wanted to make up 
their minds, and to show as little anxiety for intercourse 
with them as possible. This policy bore excellent fruit. The 
first intimation of a desire to come to closer relations on the 
part of the savages was the finding one morning of a large 
basket full of manioc root, placed on the tree stump where the 
evening before a string of bright-coloured beads had been left. 
The manioc was known to several of the men, ast they had 
eaten it before on the African coast, and they considered 
it a most excellent article of food. After this something was 
found on the tree stumps every morning, in exchange for 
the valueless but showy articles placed there. 

John Smith hit on a plan to make this system of barter 
more useful, one evening he left an unusually large quantity 
of articles on the tree stump where his party had been 
working, and the next morning he found in exchange a 
much larger supply of fruit and vegetables. On that evening 
he left nothing, and the following morning nothing was left 
by the savages. It was thus proved that a trading spirit was 
rife amongst them, and after a few days he was able to 
improve on the system. He was certain that the working 
party was closely watched by the savages, who were now 
often seen flitting about amongst the trees and, from the 
fort, even on the edge of the large clearing. 



26 

One evening, after work was finished, he mounted the 
stump of the last tree cut down, and turning to the four 
points of the compass, by gesticulation and shouting invited 
the attention of any savages who might be in the vicinity. 
He then held up in his hands a dead fowl, which he had 
brought from the ship for the purpose, and pretending he 
was very hungry, he went through a pantomime of plucking, 
cooking and eating the chicken in a great hurry; but suddenly 
he cut it short, as if he remenbered his mates who were 
also hungry on board the ships; so he called his men around 
him and they all at his suggestion made a great hubbub, 
at which John Smith showed them the fowl. They then 
shouted for joy, as if at the sight of food greatly longed 
for. After this he ostentatiously displayed a woodman's axe 
and a small hatchet, which he flourished over his head and 
then stuck into the tree stump and left them there ; the 
whole party thereafter marching home to the stockade, with 
the fowl borne before them in triumph on a pole. 

Although during the whole of this little theatrical display not 
a single savage was seen to be on the watch, it was quite 
evident the next morning that it had not only been observed, 
but also well understood, as it had been intended, namely, 
to intimate that the white men would be glad of a change 
of diet, and could eat animal as well as vegetable food ; 
for on their arrival to start work, their larder was found to 
be well supplied, two large hogs of a most uncouth appearance, 
a fine ape and about a dozen birds, chiefly pigeons, being 
found deposited by the tree stump, — a very adequate 
return for the axe and hatchet. 

After this, animal food was always abundantly provided, 
but at some of the strange beasts the men took exception.- 
At first some were squeamish about eating monkey, but soon 
it was found to be most excellent. Nobody could, however, 



27 

be persuaded to eat the snakes and large lizard-like animals 
which were displayed sometimes as if they were more 
desirable than other animals. But absolute fright was the 
result of finding one morning the enormous head of what 
was recognised by John Smith as a river-horse or hippopo- 
tamus, set up on a tree stump with the mouth propped 
wide open and a human child's head, evidently freshly 
severed from the body, placed inside the enormous jaws. 

The child's head they left on the tree stump, but that of 
the hippopotamus was carried back to the fort. The teeth 
were very large, and this was considered to be the first 
legitimate trading transaction with the people. They hoped, 
however, that now they would be able to induce them to 
bring in elephants' tusks. 

The next evening, having had the teeth knocked out of 
the hippo's skull, John Smith exposed them from the top 
of a tree stump, and also a large drawing of an elephant 
with enormous tusks which he had prepared, and which he 
left behind with another axe and hatchet, but the next 
morning matters were forwarded in an unexpected way; for 
on arriving at the, place, the axe, hatchet and drawing were 
still where they were left, and at first sight they thought 
the place had not been visited, but on searching the ground 
in the neighbourhood, at a distance of about twenty yards 
from the tree, the party was struck with astonishment at 
seeing two little black children, as they appeared to be, 
standing securely bound to stakes with cords made of twisted 
woody creepers. As soon as the sailors had gathered round 
these two strangelooking creatures and had discovered that 
they were actually a full-grown man and woman, although 
less than four feet in height, they heard a discordant shout 
from the edge of the clearing, and saw a naked savage 
gesticulating, and flourishing on high something which one 



28 

of the sailors recognised as a flask, which he had left behind 
the day before, nearly full of schnapps. The savage seeing 
that he had drawn their attention to himself, proceeded to 
explain his wants after John Smith's own style; first he 
pretended to take a drink from the flask, then he grinned 
and rubbed his abdomen, and in this way expressed great 
satisfaction. He then took another drink, after^which he fell 
to dancing and shouting; a third, and his actions portrayed 
an advanced stage of drunkenness by grotesque antics and 
staggering; a fourth, and he incontinently tumbled over and 
apparently slept the heavy sleep of drunken unconsciousness. 
But his unconscious fit did not last long; he had more 
playacting to do, and shewed himself an adept pupil of the 
white man ; for after a few minutes he jumped up, rubbed 
his evidently sore head for a little while and then went on 
with his mummery. He pointed to the flask, then to the 
two poor creatures tied to the stakes, and turning to the 
stakes, and turning to the forest he shouted out what was 
apparently an order to somebody, for after a short interval 
another tall savage appeared, leading six little men and 
women similar to the two tied to the stakes. These were 
arranged in a line facing the white men. They were tied 
together by a long rope, with a loop round each neck. 
The playactor then went on to explain his desire: he elevated 
the flask, brought it down to opposite his breast, and then 
started off as is to take it to the forest, his companion in 
the meantime, detaching the first little man from the string, 
advanced a few paces and tied him up to a tree. Then the 
first savage returned from the forest, and exposing the 
flask as before, took it back to the forest, and his companion 
brought forward another slave. This pantomime was repeated, 
until all six of the dwarfs had been brought forward and 
tied to the stakes. Then the two tall savages untied them 



29 

all again, readjusted them to the long rope, and with them 
disappeared into the forest. There was no mistaking what 
was meant by this elaborate little comedy; the natives were 
indifferent to any form of trading, except that which would 
give them the especially good drink which they had acquired 
by accident; and this they were wiUing to buy at the rate 
of a slave for a flask. Slaves acquired at this rate would 
be cheap enough certainly, but it did not seem a very moral 
sort of trade to John Smith's sensitive conscience. The rest 
of the party had no compunction about it, and urged that 
six flasks of schnapps should be at once procured and 
deposited ; but there were many matters to be considered, 
and it was decided not to do anything until the Admiral 
and the other chiefs of the expedition had been consulted. 

The two dwarfs were therefore first secured by a rope 
round each of their necks, the ends of which were held by 
two sailors, and were then released from the stakes to which 
they had been tied. They were dreadfully frightened, and 
taking into consideration the incident of the child's head 
exposed in the jaws of the hippopotamus a few days before, 
John Smith thought perhaps they imagined they were going 
to be eaten by the white men, for he had heard that there 
were cannibals in Africa. He therefore did all he could to 
reassure them, by keeping all his company, except the two 
sailors who held them, at a distance, and by offering them 
water to drink and fruit and roasted manioc to eat, first 
drinking and eating of it himself, and by applying a soot- 
hing salve to their sores caused by the ropes which had 
bound them. He stroked and patted their naked backs, and 
ultimately succeeded in persuading them to eat and drink 
and stand on their feet, and at last to walk with him to 
the fort, where their arrival caused much amusement. 

They were very ugly indeed, although as they were quite 



30 

naked it was apparent that they were very young, in fact 
in the hey-day of their youth and beauty, but it was a 
different sort of beauty to what the white men had been 
accustomed, consisting chiefly of dwarfish stature, dirty, dark, 
tan-coloured skins, very big abdomens, monkey faces and 
heads of hair like mops ; moreover, their bodies were greatly 
disfigured by scars and some wounds which were not yet 
healed, evidently signs that, young as they were, their lives 
had been passed in a severe struggle, perhaps against the 
natural enemies of mankind in the forest, perhaps against 
their own kind ; in fact they did not seem very friendly 
the one with the other, as they walked out of the forest 
to the fort, hardly speaking to one another and when they 
did speak, if talking it was, frowning and snarling much 
like angry dogs. For the rest, they were naked and not 
ashamed, proving that it was their natural state, as indeed 
seemed to be the case with their masters, so far as could 
be judged by the two men who had shewn themselves that day. 

The other savages seemed to be fine, tall men, quite 
naked also, and of the same dark, tan colour. They wore 
necklaces and girdles of what looked like teeth and claws 
of some wild animals, and their heads also appeared to be 
very elaborately ornamented, the hair being made to stand 
up in bunches or crests, moreover they were wearing some 
of the articles deposited by the traders, such as beads and 
buttons, and had strips of bright-coloured stuffs a yard long 
flying from their girdles like tails. 

The two captive dwarfs were critically examined by the 
Admiral and his officers, who treated them kindly, offering 
them various things to eat and drink and shewing them 
their arms and clothes, but they were very much like animals 
and very suspicious, smelling each article of food before 
tasting it, and in their anxiety and suspicion of everything 



31 

offered to them, apparently becoming a little more friendly 
with each other, for they began to talk more, and ultimately 
seemed to come to a mutual understanding as to their course 
of action with regard to eating and drinking the strange 
things offered to them. 

The man first carefully smelled every article of food 
offered to them and then passed it over to the woman, who 
ate a little of it, apparently in great fear. After an interval, 
as she experienced no ill effects, the man ate also. It was 
thus seen that they were much afraid of poisons, and that 
they were not in the habit of trusting their fellow-men at 
all; and the subservience of the female to the male was 
also most evident, for the woman was made poison-tester 
to her more powerful mate. 

This kindness on the part of the Admiral and his officers 
seemed likely to have serious results to the savages, for 
after they had assured themselves that the food was not 
poisoned, there appeared to be no limit to their appetites, 
a stiff poorridge of barley meal, seasoned with small bits 
of salted pork especially finding favour with them. A wooden 
bowl containing about a quart was first given to them: the 
woman ate a little first, and after a due interval the man 
took the bowl from her and finished it, scooping it out with 
his hand and filling his mouth, at first slowly, but afterwards 
as fast he could, with the evident intention of leaving none for 
his mate. She was therefore supplied with a second bowl, 
but before she had half finished it, the man snatched it 
from her and ate it all up. The large porringer in which it 
was cooked was therefore ordered in, and the wooden bowls 
kept supplied as fast as they were emptied, until, as John 
Smith expressed it, in rather more forcible language than 
is quite advisable to use here, their abdomens were distended 
in a very remarkable manner, but obviously to their own 



52 

great satisfaction and contentment. When this end had been 
attained it seemed well to stop the supply of food, but the 
Admiral with his own hands gave first the woman and then 
the man a very small modicum of schnapps, remarking that 
"the feast certainly required a doctor to assist its digestion." 

The production of the flask of schnapps, similar to the 
one which had been acquired by the master savages the 
day before, gave unbounded delight to the dwarfs, who had 
apparently seen the effects produced on their masters by 
the drinking of its contents. They grinned and chattered 
and strained on their neck halters towards the Admiral 
until he gave them each their jorum. They sipped the 
spirit and held it in their mouths so as to enjoy it longer, 
rubbing their bellies and rolling their eyes in a very grotesque 
manner, waiting for the spirit to have the same effect on 
them as it had on their masters. But they were, to their 
great disappointment, only allowed a very small dose each, 
and were then led away to a corner of the chamber where 
the council was sitting, and there tied to a post in such 
a way that they could move a little, or lie down at their 
ease to recover from their large meal. Their guards were 
then dismissed, John Smith promising to watch them and 
frustrate any attempt on their part to escape or do damage. 

They seemed, however, to be very well contented with 
their position. The man lay down flat on his back, and the 
woman fell to rubbing his belly, which was very much 
distended and apparently somewhat painful. In this way 
they appeared to become somewhat more friendly with one 
another, until, as John Smith writes, he thought it better 
to procure an old sail and hang it across the corner of the 
room, so that they might sleep in greater comfort and 
privacy, for one of them was a woman, and from the way 
in which the man dominated her, he believed that she was 



33 

his wife, or at least lilcely to be, and their love-making 
would progress more satisfactorily in secret. 

Having thus properly disposed of the captives, the Admiral 
and his officers proceeded to discuss the affairs of the 
expedition. A large quantity of timber of different sorts 
had been collected, roughly hewn to meet the requirements 
of the shipwrights, and arranged in the best manner possible 
for drying and seasoning; but it was evident that at least 
another two months must elapse before the material would 
be fit for use, and up to the present the only articles of 
trade procured were some hippopotamus teeth and two slaves. 

The slaves, both John Smith and old Christian Lentholm 
assured the Admiral, would command a very high price 
amongst the Malay kings in the Far East, or could be 
judiciously used as gifts to them, in order to secure favourable 
countenance; and all the officers agreed that it would be 
well to procure a few more of them, if it could be done 
at such a cheap rate as a flask of schnapps for each slave. 
Also, they might even be made of some use, if they were 
trained to service, and could perhaps be utilised to fill up 
gaps in the muster roll of the expedition, for men would 
certainly die and become disabled before it was over, a 
contingency which no one ever lost sight of. 

But this was not the sort of commerce which the expedition 
had set out to engage in, and all the chief members of the 
council agreed that the time had now arrived to get into 
touch with the bigger race of savages who inhabited this 
region, and to start a trade of some description with them. 
They were evidently most willing to exchange slaves for 
flasks of schnapps, but only a few slaves could be accom- 
modated, and not many flasks of spirits might be spared. 
It was true, as John Smith pointed out, a still could easily 
be set up and some sort of spirit distilled from any grain 

3 



34 

that might be found, or even from the manioc roots, which 
would probably please the savages as well as the schnapps 
made in Holland ; for it seemed evident that the enjoyment 
to be got out of it by the savages was that of the drunkard 
rather than of the connoisseur. 

In furtherance of this, a clay furnace was at once built 
and a large ship's copper set in it. A wooden dome was 
made to fit it, and a worm with a water jacket was fixed 
into the top. The last, about which some difficulty was at 
first experienced, v/as ultimately supplied by nature, in the 
form of two stalks of bamboo, one about six inches in 
diameter for the water jacket, and another about two inches 
for the worm, the divisions at the joints being carefully 
cleaned out by the use of long-handled gouges, until two 
perfect tubes were made, the larger twelve feet and the 
smaller fourteen feet long. The smaller tube was then fitted 
into the centre of the larger one by caps, so that a foot 
of its length projected at either end. One end was next 
fitted with a wooden bend, so that it could be tightly fixed 
into the top of the dome, while the other was slightly 
depressed so that the condensed steam could run down the 
tube and escape as distilled spirit. The water jacket was 
supplied by a man continually pouring cold water into a 
hole at the top of the higher end, and letting it escape 
through a cavity at the bottom of the lower. When ultimately 
a supply of manioc was obtained, this apparatus answered 
the purpose excellently. It is true the spirit obtained did not 
taste good enough to induce the sailors to drink it: it was 
really very nasty, but it was much appreciated by the 
natives, whose palates did not require consideration, so long 
as they could get drunk on it. But the story of the spirit 
and its uses will be told hereafter. We left the chiefs of 
the expedition consulting as to the next move to take 



35 

towards trading for some useful commodity with the savages. 

It was decided that the best policy would be to ignore 
them for a time, as it was evident that they wanted the 
wares which the traders possessed, and that probably if 
they were left alone for a little while their desire for these 
wares, especially the spirit schnapps, would make them more 
venturesome. In the meantime the two dwarfs were to be 
treated very kindly and to be kept well fed, and after a 
day or two to be shewn the power for doing damage which 
the white men possessed in firearms; for up to the present, 
by the Admiral's orders, not a shot had been fired, for fear 
of frightening away the savages, who without doubt were 
hiding in the vicinity and slyly watching everything which 
took place. 

By this time also many of the men suffered considerably 
from calenture and a dangerous bloody flux, which weakened 
them very much, especially those who had been wounded 
in the fight with the Portuguese carrack. It was thought 
that if the Peter Asmodeus was sent down the river with 
the sick men, to lie off the mouth for a few days, the sea 
breezes would assist their recovery ; and it was also desirable 
to see if there were any ships near the mouth of te river, 
as their late adversary might have arranged for them to be 
pursued, and it was not advisable to be caught napping. 
Furthermore, if the savages saw the ship go away, they 
might become afraid that their visitors were leaving, and 
they would get no more of the fine drink which they 
craved; this desire and the risk of its non-fulfilment might 
perhaps tempt them to come forward. The sick men were 
therefore moved to the Peter Asmodeus, and she was 
unmoored and sent down the river. 

The greater part of the ships' companies were set to 
work to strengthen the stockade, which as well as the 



36 

JOHANIS was further defended by rings of caltrops made of 
split bamboo, sharpened and hardened in the fire, after a 
fashion which Christian Lentholm had seen practised by 
the Malays in Johor. The shipwrights meanwhile attended 
to the drying of the timber, paying particular attention to 
those sorts which were the least damaged by insects, "white 
emmets", according tho John Smith's notes, being especially 
destructive, timbers of the palisades and buildings often 
requiring to be renewed. 

Our hero seems to have made a sort of herbarium and 
so have kept leaves, flowers and fruits of each description 
of timber and to have referred to them by numbers, recording 
some very interesting facts about the different species. As 
might have been expected, the "white emmet" comes in for 
much abuse and appears to have been a thorn in the side 
of everybody concerned, and some timbers by reason of 
the damage done by these pests were immediately rejected, 
so that at last only about five species were left, and a 
working party was sent out to get a further supply of these. 

Lewes de Havre took the opportunity of this time of 
inaction to overhaul his artillery, to exercise his men in 
handling their weapons, and to dry some gunpowder which 
had got damaged by the water during the fight. John 
Smith also set his men to arrange the trade cargo, putting 
up special articles in separate packages, for convenience of 
barter or for presents to chiefs. 

He also took great pains to exercise picked men in the 
use of the Spanish rapier, arguing that, at close quarters, 
a few men wearing light defensive armour would do great 
damage and strike terror to the hearts of naked savages, 
by reason of the unusual mode of attack and the ease with 
which a good fencer evaded even longer weapons than 
his own. 



37 

Then one morning Lewes and John Smith, armed with 
matchlocks of heavy calibre, and accompanied by the pair 
of dwarfs, each guarded by a sailor, who led them by strong 
cords fastened to rings round their necks, went up the 
river bank, with the intention of showing the dwarfs the 
white man's power in offensive weapons. The savages had 
by this time become in some degree tame, though they 
had never been actually violent, seeming to accept their 
position as inevitable and as a natural consequence of life, 
probably being used to slavery and subjection to a superior 
race; but they were still very suspicious, always tasting 
their food carefully and waiting for the effects of possible 
poison before eventually eating it, John Smith, noticing this, 
won considerable influence over them by himself placing 
their food before them every day, and eating a little from 
each bowl, in order to show them that it was harmless; 
and by as often as he was able staying with them and 
letting them examine his clothes and weapons. He got the 
woman to wear a short sailor's petticoat, and the man to 
don a pair of thin breeches, to hide their nakedness. They 
were proud of these garments, although they evidently did 
not consider them essential from the same point of view 
as their master. The woman indeed, who had the habit of 
showing her affection after the manner of some apes and 
other animals, was very immodest, in spite of sundry slaps 
administered to her by her master for her naughtiness; but 
she apparently looked on her punishment in the light of a 
caress, and it was long before she could be broken of the 
habit. Both the man and the woman seemed more like 
half-domesticated animals than human beings, but as was 
shortly to be proved, the instincts of savagery were combined 
with a considerable modicum of intelligence, wich was also 
inherent in them. 



38 

The party went upstream along the river bank until they 
came to the edge of the clearing, where they were not 
ill-pleased to see a few savages watching their advance. 
These, however, quickly disappeared in the forest. At this 
point a small stream joined the river. When the tide was 
out this stream dwindled down to a mere trickle of water 
over a wide expanse of sand, which was a favourite place 
for crocodiles to bask in the sun. Several of these beasts 
had been caught on baited hooks by the sailors, and John 
Smith had commenced to tan their skins with a liquor 
made from the bark of a tree, which seemed to be suffi- 
ciently astringent. 

They were lucky enough to find three large crocodiles 
lying out in the sun fast asleep, with their mouths wide 
open. The two slaves were brought forward and shewn the 
crocodiles, at which they naturally did not evince much 
surprise, crocodiles being only common objects to them. 
John Smith then proceeded to explain to them by pantomime 
that .he would kill them by means of the weapons which 
Lewes and he carried. The savages appeared to understand 
what he meant, for the man picked up two sticks, which 
he arranged in his hands like a bow with the arrow drawn 
back to the string; then letting the arrow go, he immediately 
fell down as if dead ; but pointing to the gun he expressed 
his disbelief in its killing powers very emphatically, showing 
by his actions that the crocodiles would all run away to 
the river long before the hunters could get up close to 
them, thus proving that he knew nothing of the power of 
the weapon to do damage from a distance. John Smith 
however assured him that it would, and he and Lewes 
prepared their matchlocks, agreeing both of them to aim at 
one particularly large beast, in order to make sure of killing 
their quarry. They fired both together at a word of command 



39 

given by one of the sailors, and were gratified to see the 
great saurian roll over and die almost immediately, while 
the other two scampered down to the river. 

But what they were not prepared for was a chorus of 
yells and a rush, as of hundreds of people tearing through 
the forest, proving that they were being watched by large 
numbers of the savages, and that it behoved them to be 
very careful how they exposed themselves, or went into the 
forest except in sufficiently large parties. 

The effect on the captive dwarfs was also very extra- 
ordinary and somewhat amusing. At first they made a rush 
for the forest, and if they had not been securely held by 
the sailors would certainly have escaped. As it was, they 
soon realised that they only hurt their necks by straining 
against the collars which they wore, so they endeavoured 
to reach John Smith, but the sailors held them back, and 
perhaps rather rougly; at any rate the man dwarf at last 
turned on the sailor who held him and stuck a small thorn 
into the back of his hand, after which they both got quieter, 
and when John Smith went up to them they grovelled at 
his feet, embracing his legs and uttering piteous moans. 

Nothing more was thought of the thorn at the time, the 
man merely pulling it out, and in fact not realising that 
the dwarf had intentionally stuck it into his hand, thinking 
that perhaps it had been picked up whilst struggling in the 
bushes. Some more men were called from the stockade, and 
the crocodile was skinned and cut up, the bullets being 
carefully extracted and shewn to the dwarfs, and the match- 
locks reloaded in their presence, while at the same time it 
was explained to them that the bullets out of the guns had 
killed the crocodiles. This they easily understood, although 
it seemed that they thought the guns were endowed with 
life and killed of their own volition. In the meantime the 



40 

sailor who had been pricked with the thorn began to feel 
shooting pains in his hand and all up his arm. He called 
John Smith's attention to it, and even as he was speaking 
the pain became so violent, his hand and arm swelling so 
rapidly and turning black, that another sailor had to take 
charge of the dwarf, who all the time stood by grinning 
with satisfaction. The man explained the apparent cause of 
it, mentioning that he now believed the dwarf had inten- 
tionally stuck the thorn into his hand. 

However it was done, it seemed certain that the hand 
was badly poisoned and unless prompt and energetic measures 
were taken to stop the spread of the venom through the 
system, the man might die. John Smith therefore first bound 
a ligature tightly round his arm, as high above his elbow 
as possible, and then opened two or three veins in his arm, 
scratching the skin pretty deeply wherever it had turned 
black. The man was then carefully led back to the fort, 
with his wounded arm hanging down so that his blood 
could easily escape, and was there fomented with hot water, 
his arm being poulticed with some "soveraigne herbes", of 
which John Smith had a considerable stock ; he was also 
liberally dosed with schnapps, in order to keep him from 
fainting. 

It seemed advisable to the Admiral to determine if the 
dwarf was responsible for this, because if he was, extra 
precautions would have to be taken in guarding not only 
the slaves they already had, but any others afterwards 
acquired. The dwarfs were therefore brought into the room 
where the poor sailor was lying, apparently nearly moribund, 
on a bed place, and they endeavoured to elicit from them 
how the accident occurred. There was no difficulty about 
doing that, for the male dwarf immediately betrayed himself 
by his evident delight at seeing the poor man in the state 



41 

he was. The black imp fell to capering and grinning, pointing 
to the sailor and intimating by his actions that he would 
soon be dead, and then to the disgust and horror of his 
audience, he commenced to smack his lips and rub his 
belly, with the evident desire to intimate that he would 
make a good meal. 

This conduct so incensed the Admiral that he ordered 
him to be taken out and hung to the branch of a tree at 
once, as a warning to the other savages. But John Smith 
begged him off, not certainly from a merciful desire to 
save him from punishment, but he argued that if the savage 
could do so much damage by merely sticking a thorn into 
his enemy, it behoved them all to first investigate the 
matter with a view to their own protection in the future. 
As he said, it was well to find out if the critical state of 
the poor sailor was due to poison or witch-craft, and if 
they killed the person who inflicted the injury, they might 
never find out how he did it. The Admiral agreed with 
this view of the case and also suggested that the author 
of it should conduct the investigation. 



CHAPTER V. 

The poor sailor had all this time been suffering great 
torture of burning pains all up his arm, but not beyond 
the ligature which had been applied; nor did he lose cons- 
ciousness. He urged that they should cut his arm off at 
once, for he said that he was sure that it would never be 
of any more use to him, and he was strongly of the opinion 
that, not only by way of punishment for what he had 
already done, but in order to stop him doing any more 
harm, the dwarf should be burnt alive like any other wizard. 
But John Smith inclined more to the opinion that the 
mischief was caused by poison, and because of the present 
conduct and antics of the slave, he believed that he had 
used the thorn intentionally. The question which puzzled 
him however, was, how the thorn had chanced to be so 
handy and ready for use. If it grew on any plant in the 
vicinity, it was strange that not one of the working party 
had been wounded before, because they were continually 
getting their flesh pricked and torn, as they cut their way 
through the dense undergrowth of the forest. He therefore 
persuaded the man to be of good heart, promising to cure 
him, and at any rate to mete out such punishment to his 
assailant as he deserved, after the old fashion taught in the 
Bible, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or a life 
for a life. 

He then proceeded to try and find out what he could 



43 

from the dwarf; first as to whether he was the cause of the 
sailor's hurt. There was no doubc about the reply to this, 
the same antics expressive of satisfaction were gone through 
again, supplemented by the slave reproducing in pantomime 
the action of pressing something into the back of his left 
hand with the Ihumb of his right. The female slave also, 
by way of corroboration, pointed to her mate and nodded 
her head. Then he tried to ehcit from the culprit What 
chance there was of recovery. The answer to this was also 
quite certain, for the black imp first pointed to the sun, 
which was just past the meridian; then with his finger 
traced its course down to the horizon, pointed to the wounded 
sailor, and then himself went through a pantomime of dying. 
He then jumped up off the ground where he had prfetended 
to fall and die, and went through the action of eating the 
poor sailor with great gusto, pointing to the assembled 
white men as sharers in the feast, but carefully leaving out 
his savage mate, who, it seemed, was not worthy. 

So far then the matter was proved beyond cavil; this 
black devil not only confessed his guilt, but gloried in it, 
and even seemed to demand commendation for having 
provided the material for a feast. It was true the white 
men, and especially the poor victim, did not see things in 
the same light, and John Smith was urged by everyone to 
make an end and have the culprit hanged right off as he 
deserved. But this was not what the investigator wished for. 
He wanted to find out more about the poisoned thorn, and 
this he could not do if he killed the user of it at once. 

He spent some time trying to discover something, sending 
out men for several sorts of thorny plants, and shewing 
them to the dwarf; but he was only met with a sort of 
sullen defiance, although the woman seemed to urge the 
man to disclose what he knew. John Smith now thought it 



44 

time to take more vigorous measures, and taking hold of 
the dwarf's left hand, he drew his own dagger and made 
a pretence of cutting it off, at the same distance above the 
elbow that the ligature bound the sailor's arm, as if by 
way of recompense for the ill inflicted, yet without producing 
any impression. Certainly when he proceeded to score a 
pretty deep ring round the black arm, and blood flowed, 
the savage uttered an exclamation and snarled at him in a 
vicious manner; but the woman said something in their 
uncouth language, and he lapsed into sullen silence. 

He therefore sent for some ropes and a small cane which 
he had cut in the forest, intending to have him tied up and 
flogged, a punishment which he certainly deserved, even if 
the sailor recovered. When, however, the men returned 
with the ropes, and together with him advanced on the 
dwarf, with the intention of tying him up to a post of the 
house, he assumed a very threatening attitude, snarling and 
gnashing his teeth hke a dog; and John Smith, chancing 
to. look round at the girl who sat on the ground in charge 
of another sailor a little distance off, saw that she was 
striving to attract his attention by making a gesture as if 
to intimate secrecy, while with one hand she pretended to 
take something out of her mop of hair, at the same time 
pointing with her other hand to her mate's head. Unfortu- 
nately her meaning was not quite understood, and before 
the little savage could be overpowered, he succeeded in 
snatching another thorn out of -his hair and in sticking it 
into our hero's cheek. Realising when too late that the girl 
had intended to warn him of this, he immediately searched 
the savage's head and discovered several more of these 
thorns hidden in his hair. These were also undoubtedly 
poisoned. 

The girl was all this time struggling to get near the men. 



45 

who had now succeeded in throwing her mate to the ground 
and in holding him so securely that he could not move. 
John Smith ordered the men who held the girl to let her go, 
as from her previous endeavour to assist, by pointing out 
where the thorns were hidden, he thought that she meant 
to betray her mate. 

It was well that he did so, for she immediately ran up 
to the prostrate savage and pressing what looked like a 
small tumour or swelling on his right side, about opposite 
the nipple of his right breast, an object about as large as 
a hazel nut was squeezed out of a hole in his skin. Running 
to John Smith, she constrained him to sit down on the 
floor, and standing behind him she tried to squeeze the 
thorn out with her finger nails. Failing to do this, however, 
she applied her teeth to it, and actually bit a little piece 
of flesh out of his cheek, in which the thorn was embedded. 
The pain made our hero cry out, and the men were for 
holding back the girl, but he told them to refrain, as he 
believed that she was doing the right thing, and would 
most likely know best how to deal with the poison, which, 
as it was planted in a more dangerous place than in the 
case of the sailor, certainly required speedy action. This 
the girl also intimated as well as she was able. Being then 
allowed to have her own way, she applied her lips to the 
wound and sucked several mouthfuls of blood from it, which 
she spat out on the floor ; then taking from her ear — where 
she had placed it for safety, during the time she had been 
engaged on John Smith's cheek — the object which had 
been apparently stolen from her mate's body, she carefully 
opened it by forcing off a sort of lid with her thumb nail, 
and disclosed a sort of blackish salve with which it was 
filled. A little of this she rubbed into the wound with the 
tip of her finger, and giving him the box containing the 



46 

remainder, she smiled at him in a very delighted way, and 
by signs invited him to go away and sleep for a while. 
This he was very much inclined to do, the salve apparently 
having the property of a narcotic, as well as ■ — at least he 
hoped so — that of an antidote to the poison. 

The girl assured him, as well as she was able, that he 
would feel no ill effects;. and he did not, even the pain of 
the wound made by the girl's teeth being allayed by the 
salve. So, contenting himself by ordering the male dwarf 
to be tied up and the girl to be allowed to go free, except 
that she was not to leave the stockade, he went away 
to sleep. 

The girl in the meantime watched the process of securing 
her mate, apparently exulting over him, because of her release 
and his bonds. She waited until she found a favourable 
opportunity to steal the rest of the thorns, of which six 
more had been taken from the man's hair and laid aside. 

Then when the sailors had left him securely tied to a post, 
she went out and fetched some water in a cup, as if to give him 
to drink. The sailors allowing her to do this, as it seemed 
impossible for her to release him without a knife to cut 
his bonds. But her intention was not so kind as it seemed 
to be for whilst she was pretending to give him the water 
to drink, she deftly planted all six of the thorns is his neck, 
without the men perceiving it; and then, leaving the place, 
she went and sat down on the floor beside the bench on 
which John Smith was sleeping. 

The first knowledge the sailors had of what she had done, 
was about half an hour after she had left, when, one of 
them happening to glance round at the captive, saw that 
he was struggling in his bonds, and that his face was fright- 
fully contorted. The men crowded round him, and within 
five minutes his head fell forward and he was dead. The 



47 

cause of his death was evident, for there were the thorns 
sticking in his neck, carefully planted in a line along a main 
arteiry. There seemed no reason to regret his death, for in 
every body's opinion he richly deserved to die. The bodj 
was then unbound and laid on a bench, to await John Smith's 
recovery and the Admiral's order for its disposal. 

It was not thought safe, under the circumstances, to leave 
the girl at large; therefore her hands and feet were tied, 
so that she could do no damage. She submitted willingly 
to this discipline, but objected very much to being removed 
from the room where her patient was sleeping, and was 
therefore set down on the floor against the wall, from which 
position she could see his face. Lewes de Havre also stayed 
in the room in order to watch his friend and assist him 
when he awoke. 

The injured sailor, whose arm had been anointed with 
the salve, after the ligature had been taken off, was also 
sleeping comfortably by this time. 

After having slept for about three hours, John Smith awoke 
of his own accord, feeling very little the worse, except that 
his cheek felt stiff and sore, and that he was very thirsty. 

The girl seeing him awake, tried to release herself, and 
crawled over towards his bed. Lewes having explained why 
she was tied up, and all that had occurred, both he and 
our hero decided that it would be only fair to release her 
and let her go where she liked. The cords with which she 
was bound were therefore untied, when she immediately 
carefully examined John Smith's wound and seemed contented 
with its appearance. She then went out of the room to where 
her mate had been tied up, and seeing him dead, gave 
further vent to her satisfaction by making grimaces at him 
and slapping his face with her hand, after which she ran 
away into the forest, returning in a very short time with 



48 

a bundle of fresh leaves, like those of a small dock. These 
she bruised between two stones and applied to the wound 
on her patient's cheek, tying them on with some wilted 
strips of fibre taken from the leaf stalk of a wild plantain. 
On being taken to see the wounded sailor, she also very 
willingly fetched some more leaves and doctored his arm in 
the same way. This treatment after about a week cured both 
of them very effectually, the wounds healing with marvellous 
rapidity, so that, except for a scar on his face which John 
Smith bore all his life, by way of a souvenir, and as his 
friends told him, as a mark of his sweetheart's affection, no 
harm was done. The sailor's arm was, however, stiff and 
benumbed for several months, probably because the application 
of the antidote to the poison was not made so quickly. 

His hurt having been thus satisfactorily treated, our hero 
and Lewes made a careful examination of the body of the 
dwarf, the girl all the time watching them curiously, and 
evidently by her actions thinking that they intended to 
dress him for the table and eat him ; for she was careful 
to point out that he should be first cut in half transversely, 
and the upper half thrown in the river, because it had 
already become somewhat high, due most likely to the action 
of the poison. The legs and lower half of the trunk she 
explained could be cut into joints and roasted, when it 
would be excellent eating. But this did not quite meet the 
views of the white men, who were not anxious either to 
make a meal of their enemy or to try the flavour of black 
goat: they only wished to examine the curious scars on 
his body, and especially the pocket from which the poison 
medicine had been taken. 

This was situated on the left side, about five inches below 
the armpit. It appeared like a fold of the skin, having at 
the top a narrow slit, into which the little finger could be 



49 

pushed; and then, if pressed downwards, a small pocket 
about an inch deep was disclosed. It was a most extraordinary- 
appendage to the human body — ■ and these dwarfs were 
certainly human — and not only that, but to people used 
to going about without any clothes in which pockets could 
be arranged, it formed a most useful contrivance. The question 
was how it got there. Neither of our friends had ever seen 
a kangaroo, and so knew nothing about the useful pouch 
which she uses for a cradle for her babies, or they might 
have believed that kind Nature had also provided these 
wild people with pockets. A further examination of the body 
disclosed the fact that on the other side, in about the same 
position, there was another fold of the skin, which looked 
as if it had been intended for a pocket, but without success. 
On the chest, also, there were some long, raised scars and knobs 
of flesh, which were too regularly arranged to admit of the 
supposition that they were either the result of wounds received 
in fights, or of scratches from thorns in the forest. This led 
them to the conclusion that the pocket, as well as the scars, 
had been artificially made ; but although the scars could be 
easily accounted for, the little pockets remained a mystery, 
and our friends turned to the girl for an explanation of it. 

When she understood what they wanted to know, she 
tried to show them how the pocket was made, by picking 
up a little pebble as big as a pea and pinching up the skin 
of her own side round it; but seeing that they failed to 
follow her meaning, she illustrated it in quite an heroic manner 
the next day, when John Smith tried to find out more about it. 

Having provided herself with a rough bit of sandstone, 
a pebble, some fibres from the withered leaf stalk of the 
wild plantain, which she deftly rolled into a strong thread 
on her naked thigh, and a long, sharp and very strong thorn, 
all of which she had collected on the edge of the forest, 

4 



50 

she showed them to John Smith, and leading him to the 
small room in the fort where he generally slept, she made 
him sit down on the bed, and squatting down on the ground 
in front of him, she proceeded to give him a lesson in savage 
surgery. First she placed the smooth egg-shaped pebble 
against her body, midway between her breasts, then pressing 
the two mammae together, and enclosing the pebble between 
them, she carefully noted and marked the lines of impact, 
by painting them with a little of the salve which had been 
used on the poisoned wounds. Then with the sharp sandstone 
she abraded the skin until the blood flowed freely. When 
this was done to her satisfaction, and the two surfaces from 
which the skin had been rubbed off fitted together over the 
pebble, she took the long thorn — to which she had previously 
attached the thread — and anointing this needle and thread 
with the salve, she commenced to sew her breasts together 
over the pebble, piercing the skin just on the outside of 
the abraded parts, alternately of the right and left breasts, 
until, as John Smith writes, it looked as if she were lacing 
her stays. He attempted several times to stop her, thinking 
that she must be undergoing great torture; but she would 
not be stopped, and pointing to the vessel of salve, made 
him understand that it did not hurt at all, and this from 
his own experience he could well believe, as the salve 
appeared to have the property of allaying pain. 

Having thus completed the stitching, as far as was necessary 
for her purpose, she took John Smith's hands in her own, 
and placing them on either side of her breast, she made 
him press the two wounded surfaces together, whilst she 
drew the stitches tight and fastened the thread ; then, anointing 
the wounded surfaces with the salve, she lifted triumphantly 
to his, and showed him that she had constructed a pocket, even 
better than her dead mates, as it would hold a much larger article. 



51 

This, then, was how it was done, by rubbing the skin 
ofif two places on the body, and by approaching these two 
wounded surfaces and fastening them. After an interval they 
grew together. Probably this growth was assisted by the 
wonderful salve. The pebble was intended to give shape to 
the pocket whilst the seam was joining, after which it would 
be squeezed out to make room for some treasured possession. 
It seemed scarcely credible, but they were able to verify 
it afterwards; for when they got into communication with 
these dwarfs, they noticed that many of the women had 
their breasts fastened together, thus forming pockets in which 
small articles were kept. It was, however, significant that 
only old women were thus furnished, the operation apparently 
being only performed after they had passed the period of 
child-bearing, and when their breasts had become flaccid 
and pendulous. The reason of this was evident, even if the 
limitation was not expedient from an aesthetic point of view; 
for truly the human form divine was not improved by the 
application of this surgical corset, as was now plainly to be 
perceived in the present instance. Perhaps the girl thought 
so herself, for having understood that her master was satisfied 
with her performance, she proceeded to undress herself to 
the extent of taking off her stays, when, having applyed a 
little more of the salve, she seemed as well as ever she was. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The adventurers were now very anxious to start some 
sort of trading with the natives. They were too near the 
Portuguese settlement of Loanda and of those along the 
coast, north and south of the Zaire River, to be altogether 
safe; and they were anxious to get on to the East Indies 
before the combination of merchants, which was being formed 
in Holland, equalized the commerce and probably mono- 
polized all the trade, a contingency the Admiral felt certain 
would be the result, as soon as ever they were strong 
enough to rival the Portuguese ventures subsidized by the 
King of Portugal, who, indeed, at that time sold licences 
to merchants for large sums of money, besides monopolizing 
the trade in pepper himself. 

Moreover, the spirit of adventure was rife in England, 
where there were sea-captains who had inherited the spirit 
of the Drakes, Hawkins and Frobishers of a former generation, 
who were only too anxious to take pay from the merchants 
of the City of London or Bristol, and, if a strong enough 
expedition could be fitted out, to attack the trade of the 
Eastern empire in the Indian ocean which the Portuguese 
had succeeded in building up, and which, with Goa for its 
metropolis, was the ideal triumph of the great Albuquerque. 
But both Holland and England realised that the fight for 
mastery would ultimately lie between themselves; for it was 
evident that the Portugals had become effete and to the 



S3 

last degree corrupt. Honesty was a negligible quantity, and the 
worst vices of the Latin race had become intensified by habitual 
intercourse with the crafty and cruel Orientals. As with the 
Spanish in America, so with the Portugals in the East, the 
new race of mixed blood — resulting from their inter-marriage 
with native women, mostly of the lower class, the collective 
conscience of whom was held in the grip of the Roman 
priesthood -^ was lazy, cowardly, cruel, treacherous and 
dishonest to the last degree, and ripe to become subject to 
a strong master. It was to this mixed race the Portugals 
had to trust chiefly as agents, for the collection of merchandise 
from the native traders and the Arabian merchants. 

Strong, if cruel, chiefs like Albuquerque, Vasco da Gama, 
Magalhaens, Estavao and Christavao da Gama, had been 
succeeded by men like Duarte and Henrique de Menezes, 
Garcia de Norhona and Martim Afonso de Sousa. 

The preaching of the great missionary. Saint Francis 
Xavier, had also borne its fruits in a threatened crusade, 
not only against the Mohamadan inhabitants of India, but 
also against the followers of other faiths, while the mistake 
made by the earlier adventurers in considering the Hindus, 
Nairs and other cults of India, as merely uncultivated sects 
of Christianity had been rectified, and the councils of the 
Portuguese merchant princes and officials were too much 
influenced by the religious element to prosper as admini- 
strative parliaments. 

The English East India Company had already been founded. 
They had received their charter a year ago, and might be 
expected to prove formidable rivals ; but James Neccy hoped 
that they would confine their trading to India proper, and 
leave the Malay countries and the islands beyond the Bay 
of Bengal alone. He was therefore anxious to get on as 
fast as possible, and would willingly forego any chance 



54 

traffic in Africa, if only his ship-wrights could get to work on 
his damaged flag-ship. But it was plainly inadvisable to put 
unseasoned timber into his wooden walls. He saw, therefore, 
that it was hopeless to think of starting for another two 
months, which would carry him on to about October of the 
year 1600; at which time of the year the hot and rainy 
season of the West coast of Africa, as he was well aware, 
commenced, when it would be very unhealthy. Up to the 
present the weather had been cool and fine, and his people 
had suffered very little from the climate. 

The neighbourhood of the Portugals had made it a little 
unsafe, and there had been so far little chance of trade, 
owing to the shyness of the natives. It was therefore deter- 
mined to make an advance into the country, so soon as the 
Peter Asmodeus should come up river again, which she 
was expected to do, all being well, in a few days time. 

In the meantime, in order that the natives should get 
used to the noise of firearms, John Smith and Lewes with 
a few men went up river each day and shot crocodiles on 
the edge of the clearing. The slave girl was always taken 
with them, and she, being now quite docile and allowed to 
go where she pleased, soon got over her fright when a gun 
was fired, although she could not quite understand how it 
occurred that crocodiles died from the effects of it. 

In an honest endeavour to assist her new master, she 
took great pains to construct a small bow and some arrows, 
making the bow-string of a sinew taken from the tail of a 
large crocodile, and the barbed tips for her arrows from its 
teeth, which she laboriously ground to a point and the 
proper shape on a stone. She was, however, unable to dress 
the arrows with poison, and made John Smith understand 
that it could only be procured from her own people, a long 
way off in the forest. 



55- 

Now this poison and its antidote John Smith wished 
especially to acquire, and he tried all he knew to make the 
girl understand his wishes, offering her all sorts of articles 
if she would go into the forest and procure it ; but either 
she did not understand him, or perhaps was afraid to go 
alone into the forest: at any rate he could not persuade 
her to do what he wished. Indeed she had become so 
attached to him, following him about like a dog and refusing 
to leave him, day or night, that at last she became quite 
a nuisance, and he was often constrained to tie her up to 
a post in the stockade, in order to have any personal 
liberty at all. 

In due course the Peter Asmodeus came up the river, 
having seen no signs of the Portugals, her sick people being 
very much better for the change. Preparations were therefore 
hurried on for an expedition into the forest. 

It was decided to penetrate as far as the hills which had 
been passed coming up stream, and from which the mysterious 
noises had been heard. The plan to be adopted was to take 
a band of fifty men, forty of whom would be fully armed 
with matchlocks and swords, while the remaining ten would 
act as woodcutters and carriers of water and provisions for 
the march, as well as a few packets of cloth and beads, 
so that the expedition might be prepared at any moment 
to disarm hostility by gifts. Some flasks of schnapps and 
medicines also were not forgotten. 

The order of march was carefully arranged. First, two 
men with hatchets would cut 9. slight path through the 
undergrowth; then John Smith with a small compass would 
follow to direct the line, for a bearing had been taken to 
the highest hill from the clearing. Following close at his 
heels came the slave girl, who would not be left behind, 
and whose knowledge of the forest, besides her voluntary 



56 

presence with the party, would probably be useful. After 
her came in single file three picked matchlock men, to 
protect the head of the column. With these walked Lewes 
de Havre, who was in command of the whole of the men- 
at-arms; and then three more men with axes and wood-knives 
cleared and improved the path for the main body of the 
soldiers, who marched three abreast. The carriers were in 
the centre of this body. The rear-guard was commanded 
by old Christian Lentholm ; while two of the assistant super- 
cargoes and three other officers marched with the column 
at intervals along its formation, to keep a sharp look-out 
for enemies or anything of interest that might occur on 
the march. 

The distance to be traversed was about twenty miles, and 
it was hoped that by changing the band of woodcutters every 
hour, and working eight hours each day, the hills would be 
reached and a good path cleared in about ten days, unless 
unforseen obstacles, such as rivers or morasses, were encoun- 
tered, and if the advance was not molested by hostile natives. 

They started early in the morning, and after three days' 
work, in which no particular incident is recorded, and during 
which they reckoned they had cleared a path about seven 
miles long, they came to a swamp with deep mud and 
tangled creepers, which caused some delay, taking two whole 
days to bridge, even with an augmented force of wood- 
cutters, although it was only about half a mile across. They 
bridged this place by felling trees along the line of march, 
and by then making a platform of round logs cut from 
saplings, which they laid across the trees. Some very large 
bamboo which was found near by, also materially assisted 
the construction. 

They had, up to this, seen no signs of natives, but two 
days after, on getting to the other side of the swamp, the 



57 

slave girl pointed out to John Smith a slight track crossing 
their line of route, and set by the side of this track, 
a slight structure consisting of two small sticks planted in 
the ground, and each having a fork at the top, while resting 
in these forks was another straight stick with one end 
sharpened and pointing along the track. The girl picked 
this stick off its supports and shewed her master three 
notches out in it. What these notches meant he could not 
ascertain ; but the girl evidently knew, for she urged him 
to go along the track with her, but would not allow anyone 
to go with them. Against the advice of Lewes and the 
others he decided to go, feeling confidence in the girl's 
honesty, and contenting himself with taking a matchlock, 
and by warning Lewes to come to his assistance if he fired. 
The track was very much overgrown, and often they had 
to bend nearly double; indeed John Smith could not distin- 
guish that there was a path at all in some places, and 
found it very difficult to keep up with his guide. After 
struggling along for about two hundred yards the girl found 
another sign, the fruit of a tree about as big as a large 
orange on the point of a stick planted in the ground. Beside 
this was an irregular-shaped stone, about as large as a 
man's head, while lying on this stone was another sharpened 
stick pointing into the forest at right angles to the path. 
The fruit on being examined proved to be carved into the 
rude representation of a human face, with the mouth wide 
open and a slip cut from another fruit of the same descrip- 
tion inserted for a tongue. A small hole was bored through 
the tongue, and the face was turned in the same direction 
as the stick indicated. All these signs the girl pointed out 
to her master, and then turning to the direction indicated, 
she uttered a cry, first softly and then louder, which after 
an interval elicited a response from the forest. The girl then, 



58 

beckoning her master to follow, left the path and went in 
the direction of the voice. They both had to crawl now in 
the best way they could, for there was no path,' and it took 
them longer to travel the distance, about thirty yards, than 
it had done all the rest of the way. At the end of the 
thirty yards they found a great rock, standing apparently 
a hundred feet sheer out of the ground. Its sides were 
precipitous, and John Smith could follow it with his eye 
for about a bow-shot distance to the right and left. A small 
stream washed its base, and this, and the forest bordering 
it, was trampled in all directions, as if by a herd of beasts 
habitually coming there to drink, and from the enormous 
foot-prints it was evident to him that at last he had got 
within ken of elephants, perhaps too near them to be quite safe. 

As soon as the girl and he got to the stream, the same 
cry that had directed them was uttered again from the 
forest close to them on the right, and on the girl answering 
it, a short conversation was carried on between her and 
her invisible friend. Then, signing to him to remain where 
he was, she ran a little way down stream and darted into 
the forest. Our hero, although he trusted her himself, thought 
it better to be prepared for every emergency, so crossed 
the stream, placed himself with his back to the rock, saw 
that the match of his gun was smouldering and in good 
order, and that his rapier was loose in its sheath, and then, 
as calmly as he could, awaited the next event. 

He had not long to wait, for very soon the slave girl 
came towards him, leading by the hand what he at first 
took to be some sort of hideous ape, but which on drawing 
nearer he saw was an old woman. She was quite naked and 
very ugly. Her body was scarred with wounds in every 
direction, some recent and some looking as if they had been 
inflicted long before. Her forehead was ornamented with a 



59 

series of long scars, radiating from the centre of each eye to the 
edge of the hair, as if meant for rays, while the two flaccid 
bags of her breast were sown together, forming a good-sized 
pocket. Beside her the young girl looked almost pretty. 
She was apparently in great spirits, and from her peculiar 
gestures and actions when bringing forward the old woman 
to introduce her to John Smith, the latter gathered that 
she was her mother. Certainly she was not a parent to be 
proud of, but apparently she was regarded by her daughter 
with considerable affection. 

The old lady was shy, but not from modesty, for she was 
naked and dit not know it, while her daughter, when with 
her in the forest, had also discarded her petticoat, and now 
carried it in her hand; perhaps she intended bestowing it 
on her mother, or perhaps she did not want to shame her 
by appearing in society better dressed than she was. At 
any rate they both came up to John Smith as naked as 
they were born, and it was probably fear that made the 
old lady hang back. He wished now to return to the rest 
of the party, but this did not suit the two ladies, and he 
was constrained to sit down on the ground by the girl, 
who, for her mother's edification, and with a great assump- 
tion of pride, caressed and fawned on him in her usual 
manner; and then the two of them squatted down in 
front of him, and the girl commenced to fish in her mother's 
pocket. First she brought out some teeth, which looked 
very like human ones, and which the old lady promptly 
snatched from her and held tight in her own hand; then 
two pebbles, which John Smith thought were amulets, but 
which when the girl put them into his hand he determined 
to keep, if he was allowed to do so, and there seemed no 
particular objection to it. He noticed that they looked 
like rough water-worn glass and that they were shaped 



6o 

somewhat like irregular cubes, about as large as beech mast. 
He had heard that this was the appearance of diamonds in 
the rough, and thought that these might be the precious 
stones; so without showing any undue elation, as he did 
not wish to make the women think them of any great 
importance, he put them away in his pouch. 

The girl then produced six nuts which she showed by 
her smiles she considered of much greater value. She cracked 
one of them between two stones and offered it to her master; 
but then, perhaps thinking that he would be afraid it was 
poisonous, she ate it herself and prepared another one for 
him, which he did not hesitate to eat, feeling every confidence 
in her honesty. The other four she signed to him to put 
away in his pouch, without ■ any objection on the part of 
her mother. 

The nut had a peculiar aromatic flavour, and at first 
John Smith did not perceive why the girl should exhibit so 
much joy at finding them, but after a short time he experienced 
a warm glow all over his body, and a sensation which was 
new to him. The girl also was exited to a very high degree, 
and when he involuntarily smiled at her, for she appeared 
to him almost pretty and very happy, it did not require 
the slight push which her mother administered, to make her 
sidle over to him and commence to caress him. 

But our hero was not to be thus conquered, for he now 
understood that he had been given a powerful love philtre, 
and was offended thereat. He repulsed her amorous advances, 
and rose to his feet with the intention of going back to 
his friends at once, sternly signing to the girl to lead the 
way; but he was checked by the old woman, who said 
something quickly to her daughter, whose face suddenly 
expressed great fright, and who quickly made her master 
understand that there was danger. As he understood what 



6i 

she meant to impart to him by her signs and gesticulations, 
there were vast numbers of the big race of savages all 
round them, waiting to attack when an opportunity occurred. 
But she reassured him by explaining that her own people 
would assist them, and that she was not afraid of the result. 
She also made him understand that they would bring in 
elephant tusks after the big savages had been fought and 
beaten. 

She was now quite as anxious as he was to get back to 
their company, and after dismissing her mother, who carried 
off her petticoat with her — apparently to the girl's relief 
rather than otherwise — they went back to the edge of 
the swamp by the same path they had come, and there 
they found the others anxiously waiting for them. 

John Smith had by this time managed to learn some few 
words of the dialect spoken by the dwarfs; and with this 
knowledge and the use of many signs and gestures, when 
they got back to the stockade, he questioned the girl more 
closely, and made out that her people were always at war 
with the bigger race of savages, who were in the habit of 
keeping them as slaves when they could catch them, and 
of eating all those whom they killed. She admitted also 
that her people ate their enemies, but that in neither tribe 
were the women allowed to indulge in this food. Her people 
were armed with small bows and poisoned arrows, the poison 
for which, as well as its antidote, was prepared by old men 
far away in the forest, and was carefully guarded as an 
important secret from the other race. 

This other race was armed with throwing spears or javelins, 
having broad iron blades. Her people did not use spears; 
they were not physically strong enough. They tipped their 
arrows with ivory or fish bone, and carried little iron-headed 
axes. They had lately also taken to earring poisoned thorns 



62 

in their hair, to use if they found an opportunity when 
they were taken prisoners. 

Her mother had been lurking round the village of the 
big savages in the hopes of rescuing her, and had found 
out that it was their intention to attack the white men very 
soon, when all the young fighting men had returned to the 
village from the forest, and that they were confident of 
success. But the girl said that her people would help the 
white men to easily beat the others, and she made John Smith 
understand that she wanted to go into the forest and see 
her people, so as to tell them all about it. After the Admiral 
had been consulted, she was allowed to go, after having 
assured them that she would return the next morning. 



CHAPTER VII. 

The situation was now becoming serious. Neither James 
Neccy nor any of the other chiefs of the expedition were 
anxious to come to blows with the natives of either race ; 
they would much prefer peaceful trading; but if the big 
savages resented their presence in the country and meant 
to do them injury, there was of course nothing else to do 
but fight, under which circumstances it would be well to 
have the dwarfs as allies, because it seemed that there were 
a good many of the big savages, and considering the contempt 
in which human life was held by all such people, it might 
be that they would be able to overpower the white men 
by mere force of numbers. It was agreed, therefore, not to 
continue the cutting of the path the next morning, but to 
await the return of the girl, and then call a meeting of the 
whole expedition and deliberate as to what action to take next. 

The next morning John Smith — who as well as Lewes 
de Havre had small rooms to themselves in the stockade — 
when he awoke was astonished beyond measure to see the 
girl and two dwarf men squatting close beside his bed, and 
staring intently at him. He sat up on his bed-place, and 
the girl, first going to his side, crouched down close to him, 
and taking his hand placed it on her head, and then moving 
down to his feet, commenced to lick them like a dog. 

The men then came forward, and lying down on the bed, 



64 

each his bow and six arrows, together with the cords which 
they wore round their waists, and which supported small 
axes or tomahawks, proceeded first one and then the other 
to take his hand, lay it on his head, and then to hck his 
feet. Then, apparenly at a suggestion from the girl, they 
took from pockets in their skin little cases like that containing 
the antidote which had been taken from the dead dwarf, 
and presented them to him. Having thus done homage, and 
as it seemed to John Smith made themselves his men, they 
retired a little way. and squatted down on the ground whilst 
he dressed himself. 

Having dressed, he went and roused Lewes de Havre, 
and together they saw all the sentries posted at the corners 
of the stockade. They were all on the alert, and declared 
that they had kept careful watch, and as it was bright moon- 
light it seemed very strange that the girl and her companions 
had managed to enter the stockade without being perceived ; 
but at any rate there they were to be dealt with, so John 
Smith and Lewes returned to the former's room, taking with 
them three large bowls of porridge, which the cook was just 
preparing for the morning's meal. 

They found the dwarfs in the same position as they had 
left them in, so setting the bowls before them, they invited 
them to eat, and their hunger being satisfied, with the girl's 
assistance they started negotiations with them. They ascertained 
that the bigger race lived in a town in the hills, towards 
which the path was being cut, and that they meant to fight 
the white men and kill and eat all of them. 

It was found impossible to ascertain for certain how many 
fighting men they had, for the dwarfs seemed to have a 
very rudimentary idea of expressing numbers, at least so 
far as could be understood, although probably from their 
own point of view they explained to their hearers correctly 



6s 

how many men of both races would take part in the fight. 
Their method of counting consisted of opening and shutting 
their hands, and then at intervals drawing short lines in the 
dust of the floor, until at the end of their endeavours, to 
make the respective numbers of the three forces plain to 
their questioners, there appeared thirteen lines, headed by 
a long stick with the bark on, as opposed to eight lines 
headed by a short stick with the bark on, and two long 
and one short lines headed by a long peeled stick. To make 
their hosts understand that the two lines and a half with 
the peeled stick, meant the white men, the girl fetched a 
matchlock and laid it 'down beside that row, and she herself 
sat on the ground beside the short unpeeled stick, to emphasize 
that it meant the dwarf army. 

This was all very plain so far as it went, ind certainly 
was meant to express that the proportions were as thirteen 
to eight of the savage races, and that the white men were 
in much smaller numbars; but whether the numbers thirteen 
and eight represented hundreds, or fifties, or scores, or dozens 
was a moot point. Both the white men were of the opinion 
that they meant hundreds, for the lines drawn for their 
party thus indicated their correct number, the expedition 
consisting of between two hundred and fifty and two hundred 
and sixty men all told. Moreover, it seemed reasonable to 
reckon that there were over a thousand of the big savages 
if there was a town in the vicinity, and also when the crocodile 
was shot, the noise made by the stampede of the savages 
was certainly caused by a great quantity of people. 

They were unable to find out from the dwarfs when the 
attack was to^be made, or why the savages were angry 
with them. They could not, in fact, obtain any more infor- 
mation, for the two little men were evidently becoming 
uneasy, because the stockade was by this time beginning 

5 



66 

to get busy, as the men had all had their breakfasts and 
were going about their usual avocations. 

Lewes therefore went to fetch the Admiral and the Captains, 
to have a short consultation in John Smith's room, before 
the general conference of the adventurers, which was to be 
held that day; and after the position had been explained 
to the Admiral and Captains, the two dwarfs were cere- 
moniously given their weapons back again by the Admiral, 
and also a pair of breeches each and a coat, and were then 
taken round the stockade, where they were shown the armoury 
of matchlocks and the cannons mounted on their banquettes. 
These weapons they could not understand, so Lewes trained 
a demi-culverin next the river, aiming at a large crocodile 
which was floating down with the tide, and firing it he 
pointed out to them that he had certainly killed the beast, 
for it was floating on belly upwards, and was convulsively 
kicking, whilst the water was reddened by its blood. The 
noise made by the gun frightened all three of the dwarfs 
a good deal however, they soon got tover it, and took a 
great interest in the reloading; but they were evidently 
very nervous and were therefore allowed to depart, the girl 
staying behind. 

At the general conference which was held soon after, and 
which was attended by the whole of the expedition except 
the sentries on duty, it was decided to go on with the 
road-making as before, but at every interval of about four 
miles, small block-houses, capable of holding about ten 
matchlockmen, should be erected to guard the line of retreat, 
supposing that the working party should be attacked. These 
blockhouses were to be protected by clearing the under- 
growth all round them, so that the enemy could not come 
to close quarters without being for some time within range 
of the matchlocks; and it was ordered that as soon as the 



67 

working party heard firing at one of the blockhouses, it 
was immediately to come back as fast as possible to assist 
in beating off the savages, while a small force advanced at 
the same time from the fort to cover the retreat. John 
Smith was also quite sure that directly a fight began the 
dwarfs would come to their assistance, but of course this 
could not be depended on, for after all it might be that 
the dwarfs were in league with the other savages, and were 
only pretending to ally themselves with the white men in 
order to get a fair opportunity to attack them, when they 
could do so with the best chance of success. 

The first thing to do was to erect a little fort on the 
edge of the morass nearest the river. This took them three 
days, during which time nothing was seen of the enemy; 
but each day two fresh dwarfs were brought into the fort 
by the slave girl, and what was very satisfactory about 
these visits was that each pair of them brought in a fine 
elephant's tusk, so that at last the Admiral was gratified 
by the prospect of trade. The girl now began to be very 
useful and to show that she had the interests of the white 
men at heart, for whereas the Admiral when the first tusk 
was brought in, out of sheer happiness that his wishes were 
at last being fulfilled, presented each of the dwarfs with a 
boy's coat and pair of breeches, when the next day two 
more men brought in another tusk, and were about to be 
given a suit each in exchange, she quietly took one suit 
away from the man who brought it in, and laid it aside, 
and then with her own hands dressed one dwarf in the coat 
and the other in the breeches, sending them off thus strangely 
attired, to the great amusement of the men in the stockade. 

It also became a fashion directly the dwarfs arrived, to 
give each of them a large bowl of porridge with lumps of 
salted fat pork in it, which they seemed to enjoy very much. 



68 

Things went on like this for another ten days, until the 
road had been cut for about ten miles trough the forest, 
and two small stockades built, so that some of the men 
began to think that the savages dit not mean to attack them 
at all. But this was only what they hoped for and the hope 
was very short-lived. The dwarf girl began to show signs of 
great excitement, often crawling into the thick forest in 
advance of the line of march, apparently with the intention 
of spying; and one morning when the usual pair of dwarfs 
came in with the elephant's tusk, she kept them, and insisted 
on them accompanying the working party, whose progress 
was now of course very slow, as they had to march ten 
miles to and from the end of the cleared path to the fort, 
so that it was seriously considered whether it would not be 
better to build a stockade and place in it permanently a 
force of about fifty men, so that so much time need not be 
wasted in travelling to and fro; and this would most likely 
have been done, only on the day on which it was to have 
been started a most important discovery was made, and 
that was the end of the forest, which they reached about 
midday. The timber had gradually got thinner, and ultimately 
merged into an immense field of coarse grass, gradually 
rising to the summit of a low range of hills, which again 
was crowned with trees. The dwarf girl explained that the 
town of the big savages was on the other side of the trees, 
in a big field like the one in front of them, but with short 
grass. This prairie seemed a much more dangerous bit of 
country to traverse, in the face of a savage foe, than the 
forest was, because in the latter the javelins could not be 
used with effect, whereas here the savages could evidently 
creep up without being seen to withi^i throwing distance, 
and do much damage before they could be checked. 

The obvious thing to do was to burn the grass, so that 



69 

there should be no cover left, but to do this was tantamount 
to declaring war, for it was not to be imagined that the 
big savages would view with equanimity a force of strangers 
advancing towards their town. They would be bound to 
consider such an action as hostile; and they on their side 
had not as yet done anything to provoke hostility; indeed, 
for many days, since the episode of the shooting of the 
crocodile, hardly anything had been seen of them, although 
it was certain that they were watching the advance, because 
they were often heard in the forest on both sides of the 
path, while occasionly they were seen to pop up and then 
hide again in the undergrowth. Moreover, the dwarf girl 
and her companions were very excited and anxious. 

It was very difficult to know how to organise the advance, 
because they did not know how far off the town was from 
the edge of the prairie. This appeared to be about three 
miles across, and if it was so, and the town was near the 
other edge of it, or at any rate only a short distance trough 
the timber which they could see on the hill-top, it might 
be possible to reach it in one march from the fort in the 
morning and get back again at night; that was if they 
burnt the grass first and the savages did not resist them. 
If, on the other hand, they had to fight, there was very 
great uncertainty as to how it might turn out. It was 
possible, if they had good fortune, that they would be able 
to turn the savages out of the town, and take possession 
of it themselves so that they could rest the night of the 
fight in the stronghold of their vanquished enemies. This 
would be very satisfactory. Or if they could not do that, 
they might have to bivouac where they could, and protect 
themselves as well as possible under the circumstances, until 
the next day allowed them to resume the fight, or to retreat 
to the fort. 



70 

The three leaders discussed their chances very anxiously, 
and ultimately decided that the first thing to do at any 
rate was to burn the grass, and then go back to the fort 
and submit the matter to the Admiral and the others 
for advice. 

Now the grass was very dry. It consisted chiefly of a 
coarse species growing in tussocks, each with many stalks 
bearing splendid plumes of efflorescence, which made the 
whole plain appear like a waving sea of foam. Since the 
adventurers had been in the country, now nearly four months, 
there had been hardly any rain, and except the plants 
under the actual shade of the forest, everything was as dry 
as tinder. 

It was summer in this region: the forest trees were all 
bearing ripening fruit, and the streams and rivulets crossed 
on the march were nearly dried up, so that it was quite a 
common occurrence now to hear, and even see, wild beasts, 
which had come down from the higher land in search of 
water. Often their nerves were shaken by what they supposed 
to be the roar of the lion, and the noise made by huge 
beasts crashing through the forest to avoid their approach. 
The slow matches on their guns were attentively looked to 
and kept glowing for the nervous ones of the party were 
afraid of the chances of the forest; but they had a much 
greater superstitious dread of its fabled monsters, and the 
witchcraft of the giants and dwarfs with which, in their 
imagination it was filled, than they had of the actual prowess 
of the savages. Lions and elephants, mighty river cows and 
great serpents, were known only to the majority of the 
adventurers as terrible beasts that were prone to attack and 
rend and trample from mere viciousness. Little was actually 
understood of their real habits, and what was known only 
tended td frighten the men from its very vagueness, which 



71 

their sojourn of four months on the outskirts of the forest 
and immunity from attack had not as yet dispelled. 

It was agreed that the quickest and safest way to get 
across the intervening prairie between the forest and the 
hill-tops would be to first clear it by burning, as they would 
then be enabled to at least see any attacking party for 
some distance before they came to close quarters. Accordingly 
fire was set to the edge of the grass, which soon began to 
blaze up ; and as the slight wind which prevailed was blowing 
towards the hills, it gradually spread wider and wider, until 
it was a living wall of flame, retreating like a brilliant army 
up the slope towards the hills, and leaving in its track 
blackened devastation, typical of the course of a conque- 
ring horde. 

But it was doing something more, for its advance was at 
last disclosing plainly to the adventurers enemies and friends 
all at one time. 

None too soon did Lewes de Havre form his troop into 
a column of threes, to retreat along the homeward path; 
for as the fire spread to right and left, hundreds of dark 
warriors sprang up out of the grass, rushed back to the 
forest, and closed in on the little band on either flank. 
And as they ran they flourished over their heads sheaves 
of four or five javelines, broadbladed and dangerous looking. 
But as the big savages rushed back to cover, it was seen 
that they were followed by an undulating line in the tall 
grass, and the slave girl clutched John Smith's arm as she 
pointed to this phenomenon with great glee, and made him 
understand that this waving of the grass, at some distance 
in the rear of the rushing savages, was caused by her smaller 
tribesmen, whose heads were not high enough to show above 
the feathery plumes of the prairie. 

Then for the first time certainty of assistance from their 



72 

.ugly little allies was assured to the band of adventurers, 
and they were all of them greatly heartened by the knowledge, 
so that the retreat was begun in good spirits. It was led 
by old Christian Lentholm, while the rear was commanded 
by Lewes and John Smith. This was always the order of 
march of the column when returning to the fort, thus 
reversing the way it was led out to work in the forest 
each morning. 

Each man knew what he was to do in case of an attack 
by the savages; under no circumstances was a piece to be 
fired at random, but promptly on seeing an enemy, or even 
sufficient movement in the forest to make it plain that an 
enemy was behind a bush, the outside file of the column 
was to halt and fire, and then to pass his matchlock back 
to the centre file of the column for reloading. This centre 
file consisted, all along the line, of the men who had started 
out without matchlocks to do the cutting and clearing of 
the path, and the officers. All of these men, as well as the 
matchlockmen and the officers in command, besides their 
heavy weapons, carried pistols in their belts, so that the 
little force of about sixty men could deliver quickly over 
one hundred shots; and as they were ordered to fire indepen- 
dently and carefully, there seemed a reasonable hope that 
they could, as they marched along, keep a considerable 
crowd of savages, — who could not use their javelins very 
effectively in the dense forest, — at bay. 

But it was, to say the least of it, dangerous work to thus 
march in a long attenuated column, for nearly ten miles 
through the forest, with a savage enemy on either flank 
who might at any moment make a rush and commnece 
stabbing with the broad-bladed spears. 

For the first mile or two they were not interrupted, and 
they began to hope that they would get back without having 



73 

to fight; but, before they got to the swamp and its bridge 
of round timbers, the fun began. The first shot fired was, 
appropriately enough, an arro»v from the bow of one of the 
dwarfs, who proudly trotted along, one on either side of 
John Smith, and who, with the girl behind him, seemed as 
if they had constituted themselves his especial body-guard. 
Apparently one of the sharp-eyed little savages had detected 
a movement, or seen part of the body of a naked savage 
on the edge of the space, which had luckily been cleared 
of undergrowth for some distance back from the path, for 
suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks, and drawing back 
the arrow, which was carried adjusted to the string, to his 
ear, with a twang it flew across the comparatively clear 
space, and certainly hit its mark, for a big savage stumbled 
with a cry back into the cover, regardless of exposing himself. 

It seemed as if this acted like a signal, for suddenly, 
with a great shout, a crowd of warriors, brandishing their 
weapons, appeared at the edge of the cleared ground, and 
poising their javelins, threw them at the little band of white 
men; but they did hardly any harm, as the distance was 
too great, so that not one in fifty reached the path, and 
those few which did were too spent to penetrate the strong 
leather jerkins of the matchlockmen, who were also well 
protected with morions, breast and back plates, as well as 
with great boots, which, hot as they were for marchmg, 
were willingly worn as a protection against the thorns and 
other dangers of the forest, and now proved their usefulness 
as defensive armour in a fight. 

Not so easily did the savages escape from this first encounter, 
for the order to fire as soon as ever a savage became visible 
to a marksman, was very literally carried out. Within the 
space of two or three minutes, several hundreds of savages 
were all at once visible, and within point blank range; so, 



74 

promptly, between twenty and thirty guns spoke their message 
from either side of the long column, and with very deadly 
effect, for many of the enei^y were seen to bite the dust, 
some quite dead, some only wounded, but all who fell were 
left by their tribesmen where they lay. Frightened by the 
noise of the guns, the survivors rushed with a cry of terror 
back to the shelter of the forest. Their attack had never 
met with such a response before, and their knowledge of 
the white mens strength in weapons was bought dearly. 
The little band stood still in its tracks until the weapons 
were reloaden; then it marched on over the bridge, and 
picking up the garrison of the small blockhouse on its way, 
reached the fort without further incident. 

Long before they got home, the two dwarfs had left the 
column, and they did not return again until some time during 
the night; for next morning, when John Smith awoke, he 
found both of them and the girl squatting in his room. As 
soon as they saw he was awake, the two men came forward 
and each commenced to unroll a package wrapped in many 
coverings of green plantain leaves, until they disclosed the 
contents, which were gruesome enough and not calculated 
to favourably impress a white man early in the morning; 
for each package contained a choice assortment, of what, 
at the first glance, were recognisable as parts of the human 
body. Internal members, as well as small joints and organs, 
like fingers and ears, were all represented in the bill of 
fare, which had been carefully prepared for the delectation 
of our hero. It was a friendly tribute, and one could under- 
stand that if offered to a chief of the tribe would have 
been properly appreciated ; but as it was, it failed to arouse 
the enthusiasm which was evidently, at least by the male 
dwarfs, expected of it. The recipient's first care, after he 
had dressed himself, was to have the morsels of poor humanity 



75 

buried outside the stockade. This seemed to answer the 
purpose, from the dwarf's point of view, equally as well 
as if they had been eaten : probably they considered that 
the burial was an offering made to the earth god, instead 
of to the belly god, although it must have seemed a little 
wasteful to them. 

From the gesticulations of the dwarfs, and from the 
translation of their narrative made by the girl, he gathered 
that a great battle had been fought between the big savages 
and the dwarfs, and that the latter had the best of it. Both 
the men and the girl made him understand that the white 
men should now march on to the big savages' town, wit- 
hout further delay. 

This advice seemed good to the Admiral and the others 
when they heard of it, the only question was, how was it 
to be done. It was certain that they could not march out 
nearly twenty miles, fight a battle, — for nobody thought 
for a moment that the town would be surrendered without 
a fight, — and then march back another twenty miles to 
the fort. If they waited to build another stockade on the 
edge of the forest to retreat to, it was certain that what 
was built during the day-time, would be destroyed by their 
enemies during the night, so that their labour would only 
be lost. Therefore the proper thing to be done seemed to. 
be to make a dash for the town, take it, and stay there 
for the night, after driving the savages out of it; and the 
only question which remained, was whether they were strong 
enough to do this. 

That it would be worth doing, nobody doubted; for not 
only did the slave girl make John Smith understand that the 
big savages had great quantities of ivory, but so far as she 
could be understood, he believed she tried to explain that 
there were great quantities of food, probably grain of some 



76 

sort, in the town, as well as cows giving milk. If this were 
so, it would be a great God-send, as the salted beef and 
pork casks were beginning to get low, although vast quantities 
of fish had been caught and had latterly constituted a chief 
part of their diet. Fresh meat and a store of grain would 
compensate for much expense of labour in marching, and 
the prospective fight did not in the smallest degree discourage 
a single man, for they were quite prepared to risk their 
lives for gain, and the chance of sacking a town — even 
if it was only a savage one, and ivory and slaves the only 
booty besides good victuals — raised every ones spirits. 

Further encouragement of this design, resulted from a 
small expedition made by John Smith at his faithful attendant's 
instigation. She led him into the forest for about half a 
mile along very slight track, until she heard a peculiar call, 
more bird-like than human, and on her answering it, four dwarf 
men came out of the forest and, squatting down on the 
ground, proceeded to unload from their backs each a small 
carrying basket made of split canes. On these being emptied 
on to the ground, a pile of human ears, freshly severed 
from the heads, was disclosed. These the girl counted out 
into heaps of ten pairs each, until she had got eight heaps 
and six over. It was easy to see that these ears originally 
belonged to the enemy, for they were quite a differeni: shape 
to those growing on the heads of the dwarfs who had 
brought them in. If, therefore, eighty-six had been killed in 
the fight, it must have been continued in the forest by the 
dwarfs, who were probably numerous; and in answer to 
John Smith's enquiry, he was made to understand that only 
about thirty of the dwarfs had been killed. Probably the 
eighty-six included those killed and wounded by the match- 
lockmen in the first attack, but even then it proved that 
in the forest the dwarfs were as good fighters as the bigger 



77 

race; but it might be different in the open, where the 
javelins and the more athletic men would have an advantage. 
Also, because of their numbers the white men might find 
them dangerous under these circumstances. 

The girl then led her master along the new road until 
they got to the first block-house, and when within a few 
yards of it, she called out something in her own language, 
with the result that about twenty dwarfs, all armed with 
bows, filed out of the door and grouped themselves in front 
of the house for his inspection. So also on the return journey 
to the fort, in answer to her cries, at short intervals, small 
parties of from three to ten dwarfs were continually showing 
themselves along the route, both to the right and left of 
the path. 

This was very satisfactory, for it evidently meant that 
instead of being watched by a cordon of hostile savages, 
the camp and the road were both guarded by the friendly 
dwarfs. Also it meant that there was a state of war between 
the two races, that the dwarfs were eager to go on with 
the fight, and that they claimed the white men as their allies. 

When John Smith made his report to a general meeting 
the same evening, and told them all he had been shown, 
he volunteered the opinion that the big savages were most 
likely all driven out of the forest on the hither side of the 
grassy plain, which by this time was probably burned clear 
of cover. Everybody was most enthusiastically in favour of 
a dash for the hills the next day, before the enemy had 
time to prepare any systematic defence. It was decided to 
do this, and John Smith was instructed to let the dwarfs 
know of the intention at once. He therefore returned to his 
quarters and carefully explained to the slave girl what was 
intended, which was that a force of one hundred of the 
white men would start before sunrise the next morning and 



78 

make straight for the town of their enemy, kilHng all of 
them that they could. He also explained that he expected 
the dwarfs to help fight. When the girl understood what 
was contemplated, she shewed her joy by embracing his knees 
and licking his boots, after which she led him once more 
to the edge of the clearing, v/here, having called some of 
her friends, she explained to them the situation very care- 
fully, so that her master was satisfied that they understood 
all about it and would co-operate in the attack. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

As soon as John Smith got back to the stockade, the 
force designed to attack the village was chosen by the 
Admiral, and when all of the members were designated, 
they were enjoined to go to rest at once, so that they might 
be fresher for the start in the early morning, while those 
who were to be left behind for the defence of the Fort and 
ships, occupied themselves far into the night in preparing 
the arms and two days' provisions for every man who was 
going, as it was very uncertain what their luck might be. 

Two hours before sunrise the next morning, the force was 
mustered in the misty half light. It consisted of one hundred 
men carefully picked out by Lewes de Havre, who was in 
command of the expedition, and who was to be assisted by 
John Smith as his lieutenant. Each man was armed with a 
matchlock, a pistol and a sword, and carried in a bag at 
his back two days' provisions, as well as his ammunition. 
They all wore light steel morions and back and breast 
armour, as well as strong high boots, for it was wisely 
determined that, even at the risk of tiring the men, it would 
not be safe to go without this protection against the javelins 
of the savages. The men, who had all had a good breakfast 
of strong porridge before the muster, were in excellent 
spirits and knew exactly what they had to do. They would 
march to the end of the forest and, if not interrupted, rest 
for about an hour whilst they had another meal; then they 
would advance across the burnt plain, and when they found 



8o 

the town, or whatever the trees on the other side concealed, 
attack it, and make good a settlement for the night. The 
following morning would determine their future action, word 
of which they promised to send back to the fort if possible 
by the dwarfs. 

Exactly at four o'clock in the morning, James Neccy's 
trumpets sounded the advance, and the column, headed by 
Lewes de Havre and John Sniith, the latter closely attended 
by the dwarf girl, started to cross the clearing for the end 
of the path leading into the forest; and as if the notes of 
the trumpets had also summoned them from the forest, the 
edge of the timber was seen to be lined with hundreds of 
the dwarfs, who stepped out into the open, and flourishing 
their bows over their heads, set up a queer little yell, which, 
starting from the end of the path, rippled off to the right 
and left far beyond the point of vision in the misty early 
morning. It was like the front rank of a regiment of soldiers 
numbering off their files. The dwarfs stood steady until the 
head of the column entered the gloom of the forest, and 
then, with a final flourish of their bows, they too, sprang 
into the damp and lowering darkness. 

It was a good omen and raised everybody's spirits, for 
now all realised that the little band was to be supported 
in the enterprise by allies, who were especially well adapted 
to protect their flanks during the march through the forest, 
a part of the work which was the most trying to the temper 
and nerves of the men ; and as they gaily stepped out into 
the forest, they were cheered by the sight of three or four 
little black men keeping level with the head of the column 
on either side of the path through the cleared part of the 
forest, and doubted not but that the line was continued far 
out on either wing in the dense undergrowth, where it could 
not be seen. 



8r 

Two hours' march brought them to the first stockade on 
the path, and promptly on their approach, the twenty dwarfs 
who had occupied it came out, and going down right and 
left of the column prepared to follow on in the rear. But 
first they indulged in a short rest, and then the march was 
continued until the second block-house and the swamp had 
been passed. At the second block-house another little band 
of dwarfs was found and duly tacked on to the rear of 
the column. 

And now that they were approaching the end of the forest, 
some anxiety was felt by the leaders as to what might be 
the state of the plain, and whether they were to be allowed 
to cross it without interference. It was getting on towards 
mid-day and the time for a meal and a good rest before 
the attempt was made; so a halt was called. Haversacks 
were opened, and after two or three men had been posted 
fifty yards in advance, the whole party sat down on the 
ground for an hour's rest and a good repast. But John 
Smith's anxiety would not allow him to rest, so snatching 
a hasty mouthful, and getting the girl to call up ten of the 
dwarfs, he went cautiously forward over the intervening 
half mile to the edge of the forest to reconnoitre. He himself 
went very carefully, but he noticed that his escort took no 
particular precautions, chattering amongst themselves quite 
loudly; so he surmised that all the big savages were out of 
the forest, which indeed proved to be the case, for on his 
return to the troop, and when they finally advanced, nothing 
was seen of them until they had all got clear of the forest. 

When they were all out, the formation, from a column 
with three files marching abreast, as was necessary in the 
narrow path, was altered to that of a compact body having 
a front of twenty-five men, marching four deep, with the 
two commanders posted on either wing. 

6 



82 

As far as the eye could see, to right and left, and up to 
the trees on the other side of what was two days ago a 
waving sea of beautiful plumy grass, the whole ascending 
plain to the low timber-crowned hills was now a blackened 
field of ashes, with no cover for so much as a rabbit; and 
if the big savages were to attack them with anything like 
vigour and in their overwhalming numbers, both the leaders 
felt that their situation was desperate; but they made their 
arrangements for the best way to meet the danger, and, as 
the event proved, with success. 

When they had got well out into the plain, the dwarfs 
began to appear at the edge of the forest, so the white 
men halted for them to come up, and to see what formation 
they intended to assume. First, John Smith called up the 
girl, who was apparently the only woman in the force, and 
who, not to be behindhand in the fight, had armed herself 
with a bow and a tomahawk like her tribesmen. At her 
master's request for information as to the direction of the 
town to be assaulted, she pointed to a break in the line of 
trees in front of them, and to this point the march was 
directed. 

The dwarfs, to the number, as far as could be judged, of 
four or five hundred, had meanwhile all emerged and drawn 
up behind the matchlockmen, but without duplicating their 
ranks, so that they stretched out in a long thin line to 
right and left. In this formation the advance was commenced, 
but it did not continue for long, for either the dwarfs were 
afraid to meet the bigger race in the open, or the present 
formation did not suit their war tactics. At any rate, for 
some reason, they gradually closed in, until they were all 
marching in a compact crowd behind the matchlockmen. 
Then, when they had advanced for about a mile into the 
open, they first caught sight of the enemy, about three 



83 

miles off, as they were just emerging from the low place 
in the line of timber. Gradually their numbers increased, 
until it seemed to the leaders of the little band of white 
men that nearly a thousand must be in view; and these 
soon began to form into battle array. Slowly the mass took 
upon itself definite shape, and at last it assumed the appea- 
rance of a great compact triangle or wedge, with the apex 
directed to the exact centre of the band opposing it, and 
in this formation commenced to move deliberately down 
the hill. 

A few seconds sufficed for the quick miHtary intellect of 
Lewes de Havre to grasp the situation and devise the best 
means to meet it. It was evidently the intention of the 
savage enemy to advance deliberately, until within a short 
distance, and then with a rushing charge, to overwhelm 
them, probably without throwing a single javelin. It was a 
well-conceived idea, and under some circumstances might 
prove successful, if their enemies were foolish enough to 
stand still in a compact mass to be trodden under foot. 
But sharper intellects were at work, guided by a leader who 
had been trained in the open battle-fields of European 
warfare, and quickly John Smith understood his colleague's 
plan. None too soon did they commence to alter their 
formation, for the little dwarfs behind the rampart of white 
men were already beginning to show signs of fear. Perhaps 
they had before, when driven from their forests into the 
open, experienced the rush of such a wedge of athletic 
warriors, whose charge their feeble little arrows, however 
dangerous they might be ultimately by reason of the poison, 
could not stop; nor could they prove so effective within a 
short distance as the broad-bladed javelins; any more than 
their puny little tomahawks would be of any use to them 
at close quarters. Perhaps they meant to indicate this, when 



§4 

they started their advance behind the white men from the 
forest, in extended order. 

At any rate, when they saw their leaders take up positions 
exactly in the center of the front rank, and deploy their 
men, so that they ultimately assumed a long array of a 
single rank, they quickly extended their own party, so as 
to even oveVlap the front rank at either end, and they 
looked very much happier after the change had been made. 

All the time this change of formation was being made, 
the advance was not delayed, for it was held that any 
hesitation shewn would have a bad effect in encouraging 
the enemy, as well as in disheartening the dwarfs, so that, 
as the former still came on, the battle became every moment 
more imminent. 

Still either side continued to advance, until only about 
half a mile separated the opposing armies, and it could be 
seen from the agitation and waving of spears, as well as by 
the excited shouts in the ranks of the wedge of big savages, 
that they were preparing for their rush. It could be "felt" 
also from behind, for there was an agitation and a murmur, 
as well as a half-nervous turn to the rear amongst the 
dwarfs, who began to double and treble their files behind 
the "single line of white men. John Smith saw the flinching, 
and quickly turning round, he thrust the slave girl to the 
front, and adjusting her arrow to the bow-string, he left her 
two or three paces in advance of the line, from which position, 
as she continued to proudly advance, she shouted back 
some few words to her tribesmen that put heart into them; 
for they grasped their bows tightly, and flourishing them 
over their heads, answered her with the little cry, which 
rippled off to the right and left, by which they had once 
before expressed their readiness to fight with the white 
warriors. 



8T5 

And now the critical moment approached nearer and 
nearer when the struggle of the few, backed by the feeble 
little men of the forest, but armed with the science of 
civilization and governed by quick brains trained to war, 
was to be decided with the strong savages fighting on their 
favourite battle-field of the open plain, and doubly armed 
in their utter disregard of life. 

Suddenly a great savage springs ahead, a dozen paces 
before the apex of the wedge, and holding up his sheaf of 
javelins above his head, he shouts an order, which stops the 
phalanx dead in their tracks. Then he commences to slowly 
chant what is apparently a war song, beating time by 
raising his feet and stamping on the burnt ground, first 
with the right foot and then the left, all the time facing 
his own men and with his back to his enemies. Gradually 
the time of his chant increases and gradually, rank by rank, 
his followers join in the chorus, marking time in cadence 
with their chief, until at the end of five minutes or so there 
is a mighty roar of sound from the serried battle of naked, 
black, savage life, and a trembling of the earth, as, like one 
man, first their right feet and then their left fall with a 
thud to the ground. 

They are fast working themselves into a frenzy of valour 
and madness, and their rush when it comes will surely be 
irresistible : and come it will, for suddenly the great chief, 
without losing the rhythm of his chant, and without for an 
instant missing his step, . which is now fast and furious, turns 
to face his foes, and first uttering a great shout, he casts a 
javelin before him a full thirty fathoms, and then springing 
high into the air, he starts forward at a run, as if eager to 
embrace the unknown death which is awaiting him. And 
after him, with a mighty shout, dash his tribesmen in the 
headlong charge of fanatical enthusiasm or, may it be, the 



86 

patriotic ardour of a strong people eager to defend their 
heartiis and homes from the encroachment of an alien and 
calculating race, bent only on the sordid accumulation of 
wealth, and eager only to gain possession of a new market, 
before the traders of another nation discover it, and by 
offering their goods at a lower rate, spoil the great profits 
to be made by the first arrivals. No matter to the merchant 
the expense of savage life, if his beads and his cheap linens 
will bring him ivory and gold and slaves; his is not the 
conscience that will flinch or fear retributive justice, provided 
he lines his pockets with ducats. 

In such a strain as this does John Smith, the sentimental 
dreamer, interpolate his description of the fight; and so, as 
a true historian of his adventures, it behoves me to follow 
his example. But it would be well to return to the battle, 
and describe how the headlong charge of the big savages 
was met. 

Like the savages, Lewes de Havre and his men were 
marking time, but quietly, and with a fixed and definite 
purpose. First, the line was deployed, until an interval of 
about three yards was left vacant between the white men 
all along the line, while religiously the little coloured men 
followed the movement, sidling out to right and left, until 
the whole front overlapped at either end the width of the 
base of the compact triangle of the foe. Then John Smith 
and Lewes, who were stationed side by side in the centre 
of the line, deliberately commenced a retrograde movement 
by stepping backwards, whilst the extreme ends of the 
line continued to advance, with the result that the two 
halves of the force, working on the twenty-sixth man in 
the centre of each half as a pivot, swung half forward, 
and the other half back ; and by the time the savages started 
on their rushing charge, there was prepared for them a 



87 

funnel-shaped death-trap, exactly adapted to fit their wedge. 
And this owing to their frenzy, and to the fact that care 
had been taken that the movement was deliberately carried 
out, with every face turned to them, they had not perceived 
the full significance of, until the apex of their array had 
passed the widely-extended lips of the funnel; and then it 
was too late to stop, for the pressure from behind pushed 
forward the leading men, so that even if their commander 
wished to halt or to alter his formation, he could not do 
so. They were bound to go forward. Frantically their 
leader endeavoured to extend and open out the front of his 
regiment, and charge to the right and left to meet the two 
wings of his adversary; it was too late; and he was one of 
the first to fall, and to be trampled out of all semblance of 
humanity by his own people. 

So soon as Lewes saw that the wedge had entered the 
funnel, he gave the signal by a shrill whistle for firing to 
commence, and as the onrushing foemen advanced opposite 
each pair of matchlockmen to the right and left, the latter 
fired into the head of the mass, deliberately and with precision, 
for they were the picked marksmen of the expedition, and 
few shots were wasted. Indeed many of the heavy bullets 
did more than their allotted share of the havoc, by disabling 
more than one foeman ; until the point of the wedge became 
blunted and altogether disorganised, which speedily had the 
effect of demoralising the whole force, for the bravest of 
the savages were in the van. 

As the firing commenced, John Smith and Lewes clasped 
hands and said a last word of good-bye, for it was uncertain 
if they would come out of the fight ahve, and then separating 
again, they commenced to open out the funnel by swinging 
back the wings, now on the extreme ends as pivots, for it 
was quite certain that the one round from the matchlocks 



88 

Would not stop the mad rush; nor even when the enemy, 
by reason of their advance, became more involved and at 
closer quarters, so that the pistols and the bows of the 
dwarfs could be effectively used, would they be able to stop. 
A way must be made for them to pass trough, and then 
the crux of the whole battle would be the moment when, 
having passed trough between the ranks of the invaders, 
they might re-form in time to charge back again before the 
white men were able to re-load. 

It was a critical time, and there was some reason for the 
Captains to shake hands and commend one another to God's 
mercy, when they separated to swing their lines apart; for, 
if after the savages had passed, they turned back quickly 
and charged, before preparation could be made to receive 
them, the two leaders would be the first men to bear the 
brunt. But the savages were being badly stricken, for now 
the pistols were beginning to play on them, and the dwarfs, 
seeing the dire results of the matchlock fire on the head 
of the phalanx, where all the best men of their enemies 
Were concentrated, had plucked up courage and begun to 
pour their little dart-like arrows into the closely-packed 
ranks, so that the white men got a little breathing space 
to reload, and as the pistols were handier and quicker to 
manipulate, most of the men first turned their attention to 
them. But it was difficult, for the big savages, understanding 
by this time what sort of a trap they had got into, began 
now to throw in their javelins, and many of the dwarfs, 
who were entirely unprotected, went down as well as two 
or three of the white men, who got hit on the unprotected 
part of the thighs and the face; and once or twice small 
parties of the savages got together and attempted to charge, 
but their hearts failed them, and they got nearer the line 
than twenty paces, from which position, after throwing a 



89 

javelin each, they turned back, not being able to face the 
stinging little arrows which they knew meant death. Therefore 
the almost ridiculous — if it were not so tragic — • sight was seen 
of men in the act of poising their javelins, suddenly stop, 
snatch a little arrow from their flesh, and grotesquely contort 
themselves in attempts to get at wounds which were more 
often than not situated in parts of their bodies to which 
they could not get their mouths to suck the poison. But 
when they were able to reach the spot, they bit out great 
gobbits of flesh, so as to allow the blood to flow freely, for 
they were evidently well aware of the danger. Probably they 
had never before met the dwarfs in the open plain under 
such circumstances as the present, when the little men had 
found courage enough to face them ; for it was evident that, 
it was only owing to the support given by the white men, 
and even then reluctantly, that the little men plucked up 
heart the fight in the open. But now, when they saw the 
damage done by the firearms, they were only too eager, 
and if they had not been restrained, would have rushed oh 
to the enemy with their little tomahawks. 

And now the base of the phalanx having passed the 
extremities of the lines of white men and dwarfs, these lines 
began to approach each other in the rear of the enemy, 
with the intention of forming a barrier between them and 
the road to the town. Slowly and deliberately the manoeuvre 
was carried out, the white men loading their pistols and 
firing independently as opportunity offered, and the little 
savages, who intelligently followed every movement, raining 
in a flight of arrows whenever the. enemy got together in 
groups with the intention of charging the line. It became 
at last almost a massacre, for the big men had no chance, 
the pistols and bows carried further than they could cast 
their javelins, and early in the fight all their chiefs and 



90 

brave men had gone down, so that there was nobody to 
rally them and organise a decisive charge. 

It was with no little relief that the two wings of the 
adventurers joined up again and formed a continuous line 
behind the first battle ground. John Smith and Lewes 
simultaneously stepped out to the front from their respective 
ends and quickly ran along the line to meet in the centre, 
ordering their men to charge their matchlocks as quickly 
as they could, for the cowed enemy were retiring out of 
range of the pistols and bows, and seemed to be gathering 
together for another charge, which would be serious if there 
was no musketry fire to meet it. The little men too had 
used nearly all their arrows. 

Up to this point of the fight only two white men had 
been killed and six wounded, two seriously by javelins, one 
in the face and the other in the right; but many more of 
the dwarfs, who were unprotected by armour or clothes, had 
been killed and wounded ; but these little warriors were very 
jubilant, for certainly over a hundred of their enemies lay 
dead on the field, and many more were continually falling 
to the ground, as the poison of the arrows with which they 
were wounded had its effect. Moreover the enemy were 
evidently, and for the first time, showing fear of the dwarfs, 
or perhaps of their new allies. Before they were able to 
present a new front and prepare for a fresh charge all the 
matchlocks and pistols were reloaded, and the white leaders 
thought it better that they should commence the attack in 
their turn, and perhaps with one well-directed volley finish 
the rout of their foes, who were still within range of the 
matchlocks. 

Lewes therefore gave the word for every other man to 
drop his matchlock to the present and fire, and then, after 
an interval of a minute or two, for the other half of the 



91 

force to fire. The effect of these two volleys was disastrous 
for the enemy; they were fired right into their crowded 
array, and it may be safely said that every bullet, on 
the average, hit more than one man, so that the confusion 
in their ranks precluded any hopes of their being able to 
again rally for a charge. The word was then given for a 
counter charge, and the matchlocks were laid on the ground, 
as they would^ only encumber the men. The line moved 
steadily forward, with the intention of pouring in a volley 
from the pistols and bows as soon as they got within range, 
and then making a rush sword in hand, which could not 
fail to drive the remnant into the forest, even if they were 
not killed, every one of them. 

But first there was a serious obstacle to overcome, for as soon 
as the advancing line reached the ground which was thickly 
strewn with the dead and wounded enemy, these latter 
justified their savage instincts by fighting to the last, even 
the dying striving to stab their foes as they passed. 

It was cruel work killing these half-dead men, and the 
white men revolted from it: not so, however, their impish 
allies, for at a word from the girl, — who throughout the 
fight had acted intelligently as John Smith's lieutenant, and 
passed his orders on to her tribesmen, — about half the 
dwarfs sprang through the white men's line, and with their 
tomahawks pecked at the skulls of their wounded and dying 
enemies and enjoyed the sport, two or three of them dancing 
round a wounded man dodging his feeble efforts to use his 
javelin against them, and all the time taunting him, until a 
blow from behind finished him by splitting his skull, 

It was horrible and sickening work, this massacring wounded 
men, but after all it was the kindest in the end, even if 
there was not the necessity to do it in self-defence; for the 
poor savages were wounded to the death by the poisoned 



92 

arrows, and killing them was thus really only shortening 
their agony. Thus the advance progressed steadily until 
within twenty paces of the diminished army of hesitating 
and frightened savages, when a halt, was called, and in 
reply to the few and badly-aimed javelins wich were cast 
at them, a last volley from every pistol, and a flight of 
arrows was poured in, and then, with a shout, swords were 
drawn, and the line rushed on. Few of the enemy except 
the wounded waited for the impact : they were fleeter of 
foot than the heavily-armed whites or their little allies, and 
perhaps a hundred, all that was left of the fine regiment, 
numbering nearly a thousand, that had started the fight 
only about two hours before, escaped into the forest, hotly 
pursued by the exultant dwarfs, who would hold them at 
a disadvantage and probably account for most of them 
before nightfall. 

.John Smith succeeded, with the girl's help, in restraining 
about one hundred of the dwarfs from joining in the pursuit, 
and writing a short note to James Neccy describing the 
fight, he sent six of them back to the fort to let him know 
how they had fared. He could not as yet say how or when they 
would return, for they knew not what awaited them on the 
other side of the open ground. And so once more they went 
back over the battle-field, the dwarfs insulting their dead foes, 
assuring themselves that every man was dead and carefully 
picking up the spent arrows as they passed, until they got 
back to the place where their matchlocks were left. Here 
they rested for half-an-hour, and then buried their three 
dead comrades, deep enough to save them from the beaks 
and talons of the vultures, which were already hovering 
over the slain, and from the teeth pf wild beasts, which 
would without doubt congregate as soon as night fell. 
It was by this time the middle of the afternoon, and the 



93. 

men were so tired that it seemed inadvisable to go on any- 
further that day. They knew not whether more fighting 
awaited them when they got to the town, or whether they 
would find it deserted. All things taken into consideration, 
it was thought best to move up to the further edge of the 
plain and there bivouac for the night, as where they were 
there was no wood to make fires, hbr water to drink, and 
they made out' from the girl that there was a stream under 
the trees. The project was explained to the dwarfs, with 
the girl's assistance, and seemed to tally with their wishes ; 
so the word was given march. But the dwarfs hung back, 
and the reason was soon explained: good food was lying 
out there on the plain waiting to be eaten, and already the 
vultures had commenced the feast. The white men had eaten 
once before the fight and had with them more fdodto satisfy 
their craving appetites : why should not their allies follow their 
own custom and feast on their dead enemies, as they had 
always been in the habit of doing? The girl plainly explained 
this to her master, who, when he understood her argument, 
could not refute it; but when he signed to her to go with 
her own people, she refused, and expressed disgust at the 
thought of the contemplated feast of her tribesmen. And 
so the two races parted company, the whites marching on 
towards their bivouac under the trees, and the dwarfs back 
to their cannibal feast, only the girl followed like a dog 
close at the heels of her master. 

An hour's march brought them to the edge of the plain 
before nightfall, and there they found a broad but shallow 
stream, so that they were able to satisfy their thirst; and 
seeing no signs of an enemy, they decided to eat their meal 
on its banks. 

On the other side of the river the country appeared more 
open, with clumps of trees and single trees in a plain of 



94 

short green grass, which the girl made them understand was 
the pasturage of the herds belonging to the big savages, 
whose town was not far off. They indulged in a refreshing 
wash in the clear water which made them ravenous for their 
food, and having dispatched this, they collected a quantity 
of firewood, which was plentiful enough, the prairie fire 
having scorched and dried up the trees on the edge of the 
plain. They carried the firewood back half a mile and prepared 
to bivouac in the open. It was their intention to start again 
before daylight, so dividing the night into three watches, 
one-third of the men kept guard whilst the remainder slept. 
They slept in their harness, with their matchlocks and 
pistols loaded for fear of a surprise, but they were undisturbed 
except by the dwarfs, who came up in groups of twenty to 
fifty at a time all through the night, those who had persued 
the enemy into the forest, as well as those who had remained 
with the white men, looking as if they were gorged to 
repletion as they passed the bivouac, to sleep beside the 
stream under the shadow of the trees. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Before sunrise the next morning the white men had finished 
their meal of manioc cakes and dried fish, and were ready 
for a start. The army of dwarfs were also ready waiting for 
their allies beside the stream, and in the dim misty morning 
light they all splashed through the shallow water. They 
marched for about two miles, through beautiful park-like 
lands, over luxuriant grassy turf and amongst scattered 
clumps of beautiful trees, many of them bearing fruits which 
the dwarfs collected and offered to their white friends; until 
at last they came within sight of what was evidently the 
savages' town — a large circular enclosure, roughly fenced 
with bushes and boughs of trees, probably between two or 
three miles in diameter. Over the fence could be seen the 
tops of the round, thatched huts of the natives, and in the 
centre what from the distance looked like a citadel, or 
perhaps the chief's house, enclosed with a higher fence of 
upright stakes and built on a little hill or mound. 

It was uncertain what sort of a reception the conquering 
force would receive at the hands of the itihabitants, and 
every precaution was taken to avoid an ambush or surprise. 

And thus they advanced up to within half a mile of the 
enclosure and opposite to what appeared to be the entrance, 
when at last the inhabitants began to appear. Lewes halted 
his force to see what they meant to do, and every man 
had his gun ready and his match glowing. First an old 



96 

man came out of the gate, fantastically decked out like a 
Jack o'the green with a cloak made of grasses stained in 
different colours, and wearing on his head a huge bonnet 
made of the heads of what looked like some big sort of 
corn, with beautiful golden-coloured tassels waving in the 
wind and slung across his breast and back, like a sword- 
belt, a string of human skulls the end of which dragged on 
the ground, representing all that remained of over twenty 
men" or women. He was a hideous specimen of humanity, 
and the dwarf girl clung to John Smith shuddering when 
she saw him, in fact the whole company of dwarfs showed 
fear of him. He carried in his right hand a very long- 
handled spear, having a broad and long blade which glit- 
tered in the sun like gold. 

This hideous chief, or king, was followed out of the enclo- 
sure by about a hundred stalwart warriors, armed each 
with three or four javelins. These men drew up in a double 
Hne behind him, facing the invaders. When they were in 
position the old man began to chant a lugubrious sort of 
song, walking backwards and forwards the length of his 
line, and stopping every two or three yards to point with 
his spear at the white man who was then opposite him^ 
All the time this was going on the dwarfs were cowering 
behind the soldiers with fear, and even the latter began to 
think about enchantments and witchcraft, and to urge their 
leaders to give the word to fire ; but they restrained them, 
thinking that perhaps this was a preliminary to surrender. 
After he had finished his song, and pointed his spear at 
about half the white men in the whole length of the line, 
the old man returned to the centre of his own array, and 
two fine-looking girls came from behind the line of warriors, 
where they had been concealed, and delivered something 
into his hands, taking from him at the same time his spear 



97 

and necklace of skulls. The old wizard then stepped forward 
to the middle of the space between the opposing forces, 
and commenced to wave his arms about, holding in either 
hand what looked like a long sword. As he waved, first 
slowly and then faster, a sort of rumbling noise came from 
him which gradually increased in intensity, until it became 
a roar of noise like angry bulls bellowing; and then the 
line of warriors advanced with a sort of hissing scream, 
which was top much for the dwarfs, who as soon as the 
old man began his antics had commenced to slink off 
further and further to the rear, showing every symptom of 
flight. The charge of the warriors was the signal for a head- 
long flight on their part, and the line of white men was 
left to bear the brunt of it. As soon as the savages got 
within range, Lewes gave the word to fire, and the threatened 
charge collapsed, only about ten of the fine line of .men 
struggling forward, to be shot down by the pistols before 
they could cast a spear. The old wizard fell at the same 
time; as if dead, which both of the leaders regretted, as 
they had ordered their men not to fire at him, hoping to 
take him alive. Then, after waiting to reload their pieces, 
the white men advanced again, and — for it seemed the kindest 
thing to do — passed their swords through those of the war- 
riors who were not yet dead, except the old man, who, on 
being examined, proved to be unhurt and as well as ever. 
He was a very hideous old creature, when he was divested 
of all his finery and stood up naked for inspection. His 
body was scored all over with raised scars, and he compar 
red very badly with the clean-limbed and well-favoured girls, 
his attendants, one of whom had been killed outright. The 
other, who had only been wounded by a pistol ball through 
the fleshy part of her right arm, was now led forward by 
a matchlockman in all the statuesque beauty of her naked- 

7 



98 

ness, still clutching the long-handled spear the great blade 
of which John Smith at once pronounced to be of pure gold. 
The wands which the old man had flourished, proved to be 
peculiarly curved slats of a whitish wood, pierced with 
several holes and very elastic. These, together with the 
spear, were given in charge of a sailor, while others were 
told off to guard the old man and the girl. 

When the dwarf girl — who, true to her master, hat not 
run off with her tribesmen • — saw that the wizard had been 
stripped and rendered powerless, she went up to him, timidly 
at first, but soon gaining confidence, and began to jeer at 
him, pinching him and insulting him in many ways until 
her master was obliged to restrain her and order her off to 
call up her fellows, who had not retreated far. These coming 
up, were struck with wonderment at seeing the slaughtered 
enemy and the old savage wizard alive and a prisoner, for 
they evidently thought that he was invincible and certainly 
more of a god than a man, for they were, even now that 
he was a captive, almost afraid to approach him. But they 
showed no hesitation about advancing on the town, and 
would have rushed on in front of the white men if they 
had not been restrained. But this was not thought advisable 
by the leaders, as they were likely, in their excited state, to 
spare neither women nor children, if, as it seemed probable, 
the place was now undefended; so they ordered them to 
be kept back. But it was of no avail, for as soon as ever 
the white men had got through the opening in the hedge 
and entered the town, the dwarfs crowded after them, and 
scattering right and left amongst the huts, commenced to 
kill all they met, irrespective of age or sex, tearing down 
the frail walls of the huts and tomahawking every one who 
appeared. 

There were many young men, fine stalwart-looking fel- 



99 

lows, amongst the women and children in the town, probably 
malingerers who had no stomach for fighting and sick men. 
At any rate there was no more resistance. The loss of their 
chiefs, and in fact all their soldiers, had completely cowed 
the rest, and before the white men had traversed half the 
distance up the open space between the gate of the town 
and the enclosure in the centre, more than a hundred women 
and children and a few men rushed up to them and im- 
plored their protection from the fury of the dwarfs. These 
fugitives were placed in the middle of the troop and the 
dwarfs driven back with as little force as possible, for 
they had been such good allies that no one wished to 
anger them. 

But the white men saw that there was reason for their 
fury as soon as they got up to the fence of the inner 
enclosure, for there a horrible sight met their eyes. Right 
and left of there closed gate in the high palisade fence was 
a heap of butchered and fearfully mutilated bodies, all of 
the same race as the dwarfs. Festering in corruption, — at 
least the lower layers of the piles were — it looked as if 
for a month past two or three had been killed every day 
and cast on the heaps, for the bottom layers were almost 
unrecognisable as human beings. The flesh was rotting off 
the bones, whereas on the top of each heap lay bodies 
freshly killed and wqrst sight of all, on either side of the 
gate, securely tied to the palisades of the fence, appeared 
the bodies of two young dwarf girls, the trunks split open 
from the chin to below the navel, the viscerae dragged out 
and hanging down to the ground. Is was a horrible sight, 
and one well calculated to raise the worst passions of the 
dwarf army, which now, finding itself in the role of a con- 
quering force in a conquered town, could not be expected 
to cunduct itself with moderation in the hour of its triumph, 



lOO 

arid in the face of such evidence of the maltreatment of 
its kinsmen and kinswomen. 

The chief fury of the Httle men seemed to be directed 
against the old wizard, now a captive; so at the instigation 
of the slave girl, and in order to divert their allies from a 
general slaughter of all the women and children in the 
place, as well as by way of meting out fair punishment to 
him for the cruelty which they did not doubt had been 
practised at his instigation, John Smith and Lewes decided 
to abandon him to the dwarfs and his fate. He was there- 
fore passed over to them, to their intense gratification, and 
whilst they were deliberating as to the best way to deal 
with him, in order to make his death as distasteful to him, 
and in consequence as gratifying to themselves, as possible, 
the white men turned their attention to the citadel. They 
did not anticipate any resistance, nor did they experience 
any. When they broke in, the reason for this was obvious : 
there were no men there, only women. 

The enclosure was circular, having a diameter of about 
a thousand hundred yards, and was divided by concentric 
rings of strong fencing into three circles. The outermost of 
these was divided into roomy stalls, in each of which was 
a fine cow, some with young calves by their sides. The next 
was occupied by a large herd of she goats; while the 
third and innermost was divided into §mall enclosures. These 
were the homes of the ladies of the harem of the chief, or 
chiefs, of the tribe. Each little patch was carefully planted 
with vegetables, fruit trees and even flowers, and at the 
back of each was a little hut, occupied by a cowering and 
frightened girl, who seemed as if she thought that death 
was the least evil which she could expect. 

The adventurers entered the enclosure as they had the 
town itself, by the eastern gate, and followed a wide road, 



lOI 

which appeared to divide both the town and the citadel 
into two equal halves. Along the centre of this was led a 
fine canal of water, which gave off branches right and left, 
as well for the supply of the town as of the citadel. It was 
clean and limpid water until the centre of the citadel was 
reached, but thence it commenced to become contaminated, 
until it left the town as a sewer, carrying the filth from the 
place, which was not only inhabited by human beings, but 
was also crowded with cattle and goats. 

The inner circle of women's huts enclosed an open space 
of some considerable size, with the stream running through 
the centre from east to west. The exact centre of the enclosure 
was occupied by a hideously-carved wooden figure, or idol, 
double-fronted, with one face looking to the north and one 
to the south. This figure was grotesque in the extreme and 
represented two men standing back to back, more than 
double life-size, each provided with a large and sharp bull's 
horn sticking out in front of him. These were evidently 
used as instruments of execution; for a woman of the tribe 
of the big savages was hanging impaled and dead on the 
north figure, when it was first discovered. This idol, or 
whatever it was, was enclosed by a fence made of many 
splendid elephants' tusks, planted points upwards in the 
ground, and having openings facing the four cardinal points 
of the compass, where the stream passed through from east 
to west under the double figure, which was erected over 
the water, a^id north and south, giving access to the idol, 
so that the first contamination of the stream should be 
caused by the decomposition of the victims immolated. The 
whole of this temple enclosure and the fence of elephants' 
tusks were covered in by a huge shed thatched with palm 
leaves: the ivory was not therefore damaged by the sun, 
and was of great value. 



I02 

Outside the enclosure, on the north and south sides facing 
the idol, were built large beehive-shaped huts, apparently 
the official residences of the chief of the tribe who was 
killed in the battle on the plain, and of the old wizard. 
These huts also contained many fine elephants' tusks, but 
nothing else of value. Nowhere could the adventurers find 
any gold, nor could JoJin Smith, by questioning the dwarf 
girl, understand that any of it was used by the people, the 
blade of the spear and one other weapon being the only 
gold which they found. 

The women in the huts, nearly a hundred of them in all, 
were found to be in the full vigour of their youth, some 
with young babies and some without, but all appearing to 
be in a very healthy and clean condition, with smooth 
skins, rounded limbs, and generally a well-fed look about 
them ; which was explained by the dwarf girl, who intimated 
that they lived on the milk of the cows and goats. 

They were without exception as naked as they were born, 
without an ornament on their bodies of any sort, except 
that those living on the north side of the enclosure had two 
long horizontal scars on their foreheads, and those on the 
south side two vertical ones — seemingly the marks of the 
two different chiefs under whose protection they were living. 
It was afterwards found that every woman in the town 
bore either one or the other of these marks. 

John Smith and Lewes came to the conclusion that the 
two chiefs of the tribe exercised between them some sort 
of "droit de seigneur"; and that their citadel with its garrison 
of women and cows and she-goats, and with its hideous 
idol in the midst, was actually a temple devoted to the 
worship of sex. This supposition was further confirmed by 
finding in sheds behind the chief's houses, four fine-looking 
bulls and as many hegoats. They found also graneries con- 



I03 

taining several sorts of grain and manioc roots, besides large 
stores of dried plantains. 

It was by now midday, and the time had arrived to 
decide upon what the next proceeding was to be. There 
was a great store not only of cattle and corn, but also of 
slaves and ivory, all ready to their hands and indusputably 
theirs by right of conquest. The question now was how to 
get their newly acquired wealth, or a fair proportion of it, 
down to the ships. The dwarfs were also fairly entitled to 
a large share of the spoils, not only from the fact that 
they had fought well and earned it, but also in compen- 
sation for the oppression under which the stronger race had 
held them. It was greatly feared that they might be prompted 
to revenge themselves on the captive women and children 
for the wrongs they had suffered, to which the climax had 
been put by their not finding any of their friends alive in 
the town, but, instead, only bodies scattered about in all 
directions. Evidently, before the savage army had marched 
out to fight in the plain, all the slaves had been put to 
death, either to terrorise the dwarfs, or as a measure of 
safety. The women in the citadel, and in fact the whole of 
the people left in the town, were now submissive enough, 
for they seemed only to expect death at the hands of the 
conquerors, and therefore awaited their fate stoically. Life 
had few charms for them apparently; nor was it strange^ 
that it should be so, for death was so constantly before 
them that it must have seemed merely an incident to be 
endured. The dwarfs had, apparently, for the time glutted 
themselves with revenge, by ruthlessly killing many of the 
unresisting inhabitants and, finally, the wizard chief, whom 
they had literally divided among them. 

John Smith went with a guard of fifty matchlockmen to 
walk through the town, leaving the remainder with Lewes 



I04 

to kill some cows and goats and cook a meal in the citadel. 
He first passed through a crowd of fugitive women and 
children, with not a few fine-looking, but unarmed, men 
amongst them, cowering at the gate. These great men he 
gathered from the slave girl were the "husbands" of the 
community. They were much finer-looking fellows than the 
soldiers: they were fed up and pampered, but not allowed 
to risk their lives fighting, for they were the aristocracy of 
the place and were, like all the women, marked on the 
forehead with either the horizontal or vertical lines ; probably 
the two chiefs were chosen from their ranks. 

Beyond the fugitives, he discovered the dwarfs very happily 
engaged round great fires in the broad eastern street, roasting 
large pieces of meat cut from several dead bullocks and 
goats, which they had slaughtered. They were apparently 
quite free from any sense of danger. As he passed by, they 
held up for his inspection small bits of bone which they 
wore tied round their necks, and which, he soon discovered, 
were all that remained of the wizard chief, who had been 
torn and worried to death, his flesh eaten by whoever could 
get at him to snatch a morsel, and his joints divided, the 
larger bones being cut into many short lengths, so that all 
should have a memento of the important victory. 

John Smith and his company marched right round the 
town, keeping about equidistant between the citadel and 
the outer fences. He found a good many savages, mostly 
women and children, who were hiding in their huts. 

The dwellings of the inhabitants were low beehive-shaped 
huts, thatched with grass or palm leaves, having low doorways 
through which it was necessary to crawl on hands and knees. 
All of them faced due east, and it was noticable that the 
eastern half of the town was much better looked after than 
the western, where the huts were smaller and more squalid. 



105 

There, also, the inhabitants were older men and women, 
and their gardens were ill-kept. It therefore appeared as if 
the whole population was graded, from the young and 
vigorous men and women and cattle and goats, living in the 
east; to the worn 6ut and useless people in the west who 
gradually crawled to the edge of the stream and died at 
its point of exit from the town-, to be carried out of the 
way by its waters with the rest of the pollution of the city. 

Our sentimental hero has recorded some interesting thoughts 
of his own on the subject. He seemed to think that the 
arrangement had something to do with the worship of the 
sun. His imagination led him on to quite a long treatise 
about it. He considers the sun as the type of life for these- 
poor savages, rising young and vigorous in the morning in 
the east, and battling through his day of storm and shadow, 
or sailing serenely through a cloudless sky, only to sink at 
last, defeated and worn out, to disappear in the west, to go 
through a nightly rest and preparation for another life the 
next day — a course typical of the life of the poor savages, 
ignorant in everything else but the fact of living and rene- 
wing themselves. 

He imagines the girl child born, and passing her young 
life in the darkness and obscurity of an unheeded childhood, 
amongst the gardens and byways of the town, to be taken 
at the dawn of her woman's career to the high place in the 
temple of sex, there to undergo preparation for her journey 
through life; and thence one morning at sunrise, in the 
eastern gate of the city, full of hope and knowledge of 
herself, to be delivered into the hands of a husband, to 
fulfil with him her destiny in the scheme of the universe: 
then, after a period of active life, to drift with the sun 
slowly and surely to the west, where at last, like him, she 
dies and is lost, cast out of the City of Life to rottenness 



io6 

and corruption, until, in the fullness of time, from rottenness 
and corruption a new incarnation of life and energy rises 
like a Phoenix, and spreads its wings in another phase of 
vitality — disunited atoms from the waste heap of decom- 
position far in the west, which, after many cycles of change 
and travel, unite again in the east to evolve the newborn 
life of the babe, and like the Sun, again to rise to Life, 
and Light, and Power. 



CHAPTER X. 

They decided that it was better to spend another night 
in the town, as it was too late to make the return journey 
to the fort, and the dwarfs certainly were not in a fit state 
to travel, for they had gorged themselves with meat, and 
were sleeping as happily in the midst of their foes, as if 
the latter were all dead. But there still remained more than 
a hundred of the great men, to say nothing of women, and 
these might well be expected to feel revengeful for the loss 
of most of the manhood of their tribe. 

The adventurers were astonished beyond measure at the 
indifference to danger displayed by their iillies, until on a 
closer examination they discovered that, although the bulk 
of the dwarfs were sleeping on the ground, in the middle 
of the broad east road of the town, there was a row of 
watchful sentries posted just off the road on either side in 
the gardens, and that every sleeper grasped in his hand 
his little bow and bundle of arrows, ready to spring at once 
to the alert if the alarm were given. 

Their own men had eaten a hearty meal in the citadel, 
and had refreshed themselves with copious draughts of fresh 
and warm milk, they therefore proceeded to pick out about 
a hundred of the finest and strongest of the men, who, with 
the women, crowded round the gate of the citadel, and 
thrust them inside the gate by force, for they showed great 
reluctance to enter this, to them, apparently forbidden place. 



io8 

Having got them to the central open space around the 
sanctuary of the idol, they made them sit down in rows often, 
and tied them together to long cords by halters passed 
round their necks. A large supply of this cordage was found 
in the chiefs' hues: it had been used, most likely, by the 
big savages to secure their own slaves. They also tied each 
man's legs together at the ankles for better security, and 
then supplied them with the remains of their own meal of 
cow's meat and milk; but they took no trouble to secure 
the women of the citadel, who squatted about in their 
gardens, stupidly watching the proceedings. 

They then selected fifty of the finest of the elephants' 
tusks, filled fifty mat bags with the Indian corn and other 
grain, and deposited either a tusk- or a bag of corn beside 
each bound man, ready for an early start in the morning. 
They also intended to claim the assistance of the dwarfs 
to drive along a herd of cattle and goats, and if possible 
to make some of the strongest of the women carry loads 
with them down to the fort; for they saw no reason why 
they should not keep some of the, men, at least, as slaves, 
as they would, do excellently to work the oars of the PETER 
ASMODEUS, and each of the galleons could also take a few 
of them to do the dirty work of the ships. 

Having thus made everything ready for an early start, 
they, as on the night before, divided their force into three 
groups, so that one-third should be on guard whilst the 
other two-thirds slept, in the open space between the centre 
and the eastern gate. Thej;- kept large fires alight all night, 
as much to overpower the horrible stench of the place and 
drive away the persistent and venomous gnats, as to shed 
light on the surroundings so that they might quickly detect 
any suspicious movement. And thus they rested in the 
citadel of their conquered foes until daybreak of the next day. 



In the early dawn the sentries observed the savage women 
creeping out of their huts, and at once informed Lewes, so 
that if any treachery was contemplated they might be 
prepared ; but as it did not look as if any harm was intended, 
the two leaders contented themselves with watching the 
proceedings, and ordering the whole force to be awakened 
to prepare a meal, by cooking the meat of two cows which 
had been slaughtered the night before. 

They were much interested in watching the women's 
proceedings: first, they all assembled inside the elephants' 
tusk fence in two companies, facing the double-fronted idol, 
before which they performed a sort of slow-paced dance, 
not altogether modest. They then trooped down to the 
stream on the east side of the idol and washed their bodies 
carefully, which finished, , they all returned to their huts, 
fetched each of them a large empty calabash, and going 
amongst the goats and cows, quickly milked them, and 
brought their calabashes back on their heads, each company 
to the front of either the war chief's or the wizard's hut 
respectively. They there arranged the vessels of milk in a 
semi-circle on the ground, facing the hut to which each 
company belonged, and standing behind their calabashes, 
they attentively watched for the rising of the sun, which, 
after about a quarter of an hour, commenced to show his 
disc over the horizon. At this signal the women began to 
chant what seemed to be a morning hymn, and continued 
the singing, which was quite melodious, until the sun was 
well above the horizon. The women then turned their faces 
to the doors of the huts and uttered a shrill shout, undoubtedly 
with the intention of awakening the two great chiefs. 

Having thus finished their inorning salutation, each woman 
sat down, on the ground behind her calabash, apparently 
awaiting the appearance of the chiefs. But no chiefs came 



no 

forth, for they had already received and answered a sterner 
sumnaons, and gone down the stream towards the west and 
the setting sun, to add their measure to the grist for the 
ever-creating powers of Nature. Of this fact the women 
were only to surely aware, as they were also of the duty 
which devolved on them in such an emergency; for with 
one accord, as if by pre-conceived arrangement, they came 
in two bodies round to the east side of the elephants' tusk 
enclosure, where, as it chanced, John Smith and Lewes 
were standing to watch their proceedings, on either side 
of the stream, and by unmistakable gestures invited the 
white chiefs to pass on with them and enter the chiefs' houses. 
„To the victors the spoils." Thus were John Smith, the 
trader, and Lewes de Havre, the captain of the ordnance, 
proclaimed Priest, or Wizard, and Warchief respectively of 
this war-like tribe; albeit it was now depleted of its army 
and consisted mainly of women, and what they facetiously 
named the ^husbands" of the tribe. There was no doubt of 
the intention, nor did the white men for a moment think 
that the remnant of the tribe would fail to acknowledge 
their new chiefs; for even the dwarf slave girl acknowled- 
ged the fact in her own way, by grovelling at her masters 
feet and licking his boots, and then, as if recollecting that 
her own people had an interest in the instalment of the 
new chiefs, she ran to the gate of the citadel, and veheme- 
nently harangued her tribesmen, until they ceased from 
their occupation of devouring half-raw bullock meat, and at 
her invitation, crowded into the citadel, which before they 
had been afraid to enter. They arrived in front of the image 
just in time to see the last act of the installation and ele- 
vation of the two white captains to supreme power. Two 
thrones were brought out of the kings' houses by the 
women, these thrones were beautifully constructed of ivory 



Ill 

cunningly carved and joined together. Tliey were set in 
front of the two chiefs' huts, and the two white chiefs 
were induced to sit in them; the goldbladed spear was 
placed in John Smith's hands, and a staff with a knob of 
solid gold, as big as a man's two fists, which was brought 
out of the warchief's hut by the women, in the hands of 
Lewes de Havre. 

Behold, now, the two kings seated on their thrones be- 
fore the doors of their palaces and receiving the too affec- 
tionate homage of the ladies of their court! The sight 
raised the mirth of the stalwart matchlockmen, who could 
only see the amusing side of the matter; so they fell 
to congratulating their captains on their wholesale marriage. 
But John Smith excuses himself and his friend from the 
slur of being parties to such frivolity: albeit he admits that 
the ladies, except for their faces, which did not fulfil his 
ideal of beauty, were perfect as to form, with skins of satin, 
and limbs only comparable to those of the fabled Venus. 
He argues that by allowing themselves to be made chiefs 
of the tribe, they not only became heirs to the wealth of 
the former chiefs in ivory and cattle, to say nothing of the 
valuable insignia of royalty, represented by the ivory thrones 
and gold-headed spear and club, besides many other articles 
of value which they found in the huts; but they also 
inherited supreme power in the tribe, and it no longer 
mattered about making slaves of a few of them by force, 
because the whole tribe was at their mercy, absolutely, for 
life or death, to do with as they pleased. 

The installation had taken but a very short time, and it 
only now remained for the new kings to be introduced to 
the tribe. This was soon done. Four stalwart girls lifted 
each throne shoulder high, and bore their masters to the 
eastern gate of the citadel. Here all that were left of the 



112 

tribe were called together by a peculiar shout from the 
women of the citadel; and when they were assembled, the 
two new kings were anointed with mjlk from the breasts 
of two of the ladies; the lady who anointed John Smith 
being chosen from the ranks of Lewes' entourage, and 
Lewes being in like manner anointed by a lady from the 
other side. 

This interesting ceremony being finished, all the people 
of the tribe of big savages, and also the dwarfs, did homage 
by throwing themselves flat on the ground and grovelling 
with their faces in the dust, at the same time raising a 
chorus of salutation. 

Now they were indeed kings, duly nominated by the 
ladies who were the custodians of the royal insignia and 
crown property, enthroned, presented to the people', anoin- 
ted and accepted by popular acclamation, not only by the 
tribe of their former enemies, but also by the dwarfs, who 
it appeared, acknowledged to some extent the sovereignty 
of their bigger neighbours, and whose late acts of hostility 
were therefore more in the nature of a rebellion, than a 
war between independent tribes. 

The two white chiefs were conducted back to their respec- 
tive huts, and it was apparently expected that they would 
pass the rest of the day in some orthodox way proper to 
the occasion, perhaps by the sacrifice of victims, or by a 
feast, which would certainly be on the usual lines of all 
feasts of the anthropophagi. 

But this was not their intention ; they had done all they 
wished to do in conquering the tribe ; the rest was quite 
outside the programme of their wishes. Even the honour of 
kingship which had been thrust upon them was irksome, 
and was considered by them a waste of time. They were 
only anxious to get back to the ships as soon as possible 



113 

and with as large a quantity of booty as they could manage 
to take; so their first act had the significance of clemency 
properly observable on such an occasion. They ordered the 
hundred or more „husbands" of the tribe to be released 
from their bonds. 

They then prepared for departure. First they loaded the 
^husbands" each with a selected elephant's tusk or a bag 
of corn, and marched them out of the citadel, leaving them 
outside under charge of ten matchlockmen ; then, collecting 
about another hundred men and half grown lads, they 
loaded them also, but with lighter tusks. They then called 
in the dwarfs and commenced to collect the cows and 
goats with the intention of driving them out of the citadel, 
but they found great trouble in accomplishing this, as neither 
the dwarfs nor the white men could manage them at all ; 
but on a hint from the dwarf girl they at last got out of 
the difficulty by ordering the women of the citadel to move 
them. They found that each woman had a certain number 
under her charge, and that these followed her without any 
hesitation. 

They had now a very considerable and valuable booty. 
The thrones, gold-headed spear and club and the other 
royal appurtenances were not, of course, left behind, but 
were given in charge of the proper custodians, and the 
march was then commenced. 

First, half the matchlockmen went on under Lewes as an 
advance guard; then the ^husbands" and other carriers 
with the ivory and grain, followed by the women with the 
cattle and goats; and then a rear-guard of matchlockmen 
under John Smith. The dwarfs were divided into two bodies 
and marched on either side. It was quite nine o'clock in 
the morning before the start was made, and they did not 
arrive at their destination before nightfall, although the 

8 



114 

distance was certainly not over fifteen miles; but a great 
deal of delay was caused in getting the cattle and goats 
over the swamp. 

The two gallant Captains were very much joked about 
their new dignity and their many wives, but the Admiral 
was very well pleased with the ivory, and immediately 
decided that he would keep about thirty of the "husbands" 
and train them to work the oars of the Peter AsmodeuS, 
as well as to do the dirty work of the two galleons. The 
cattle, goats, and corn were especially welcome, and it 
was immediately resolved to replenish all the salt meat 
casks so far as the stock of salt would allow, and also to 
dry a lot of the meat in the sun and over fires. 

At a general conference held during the evening, they 
decided to make another excursion up to the town and 
bring down more cattle and ivory, but that the next day 
should be given up to rejoicing, feasting, and making much 
of their allies, the dwarfs, without whose assistance they 
would certainly not have succeded so well in the fight with 
the big savages. 



CHAPTER XI. 

The tribes made no difficulty at all in [arranging their 
camps for the night. The women, as soon as they arrived 
in the open ground around the fort, immediatly started to 
milk the cows and goats, filling the calabashes they had 
brought with them, and in proper order advancing in two 
groups to present the milk to their newly-appointed chiefs, 
and then, when it had been divided amongst the seamen, 
to whom, as may be imagined it was a great treat, herding 
their cows and goats in a great circle around them, with 
a broad lane through the centre leading east and west. 
When this was finished they commenced to build two huts 
for their chiefs in the midst, with material which their 
tribesmen — except the „husbands" — brought from the forest ; 
the „husbands" in the meantime, after having been made 
to deposit their loads in the fort, arranging themselves in 
a ring on the outside of the cattle, to guard the herd and 
keep them from straying. 

The dwarfs, true to their instincts, after getting their share 
of cow and goat meat took to the forest, all except the 
slave girl, who would not leave her master. 

Soon the camp and fort were quiet, and except for the 
sentries, all were asleep. The two new kings of the savage 
tribes were constrained by the women to spend the night 
in the huts prepared for them. It seemed better for them 
to exhibit perfect trust in the honesty of their people, but 
they took the precaution to both occupy the same hut and 



ii6 

the dwarf girl, who was at first very jealously regarded by 
the other ladies, insisted on sharing the hut with them. She 
seemed to have no fear pf treachery on the part of the 
remnant of the tribe of big savages, for, as she very expli- 
citly explained, the „ husbands" were only like women and 
could not fight, and the women, who were now the most 
important members of the tribe remaining, had of their own 
free will accepted the white men as chiefs, and would cer- 
tainly protect them. Moreover, she proudly pointed to the 
forest, where her own people — who now held the mastership 
of the country — had retired to guard the whole community. 

John Smith wrote a long and very interesting disquisition 
on the manners and customs of these two peculiar tribes ; 
he observed their habits very carefully, and after the fleet 
left the coast, carrying with it some of them as slaves, 
together with the dwarf girl, he diligently learned both 
languages, which were used interchangeably by the tribes, 
and got to understand very well their system of gover- 
ment and ethics. 

Both tribes were cannibals, eating their slain enemies, as 
well as those of their own tribes who were convicted of any 
crime. The dwarfs were of a much lower type of humanity 
than the others, having no fixed towns or villages, but cam- 
ping in the forest, some times for a few weeks together in 
the same place, in groups of a few families; but generally 
they moved about from place to place every day. They 
appeared to have no-religious belief at all, but they acknow- 
ledged the bigger race of men as their masters, not willing- 
ly, but because they could not help it, and they took 
every opportunity to injure them when they could do so 
with impunity, slyly killing and eating them whenever they 
could in the depths of the forest, but making no attempt 
to keep them as slaves. 



117 

Ihey had no laws of marriage or divorce, merely mating 
and separating like animals, nor did they seem to have any 
kings or chiefs. The mothers of children were the only 
members of the community who exercised any sway or 
governance, and that sway was exercised only over their 
own children until they were old enough to fend for them- 
selves. True, there were far in the depths of the forest old 
men and women, of whom the slave girl spoke with great 
reverence, who prepared the poison for their arrows and 
also the antidote; but these wise men and women held no 
real power over the tribe; they merely worked for pay, 
and sometimes gave advice on matters relating to the wel- 
fare of the tribe. 

Not so the other race, a much higher grade of thought 
was theirs. John Smith records it as his conviction that 
their system of ethics, simple and plainly discernible as it 
was in the life of the people, was a good system, and one 
well adapted to the requirements of such a people in such 
a country, and even perhaps worthy of imitation by more 
civilised races. It was, as he understood it, the practical 
worship of the race, for the good of the race, by the race 
itself. The sun as the origin of light and heat was honoured 
as the first principle of fertilization; and sex, not only in 
the abstract, was worshipped as the regenerator and power- 
ful friend of the tribe, to forward its power and greatness 
by increase, and in the right direction of strong and heal- 
thy progeny, not only of its men and women, but of its 
flocks and herds also. In furtherance of this object, the 
selection of the fittst subjects for the continuance of the 
tribe was entrusted to two chiefs; one, a strong man in the 
fight, because such strength was necessary to enforce their 
mandates; and the other a cunning man of parts, skilled in 
physiology. 



ii8 

A reasonable, and, says the observer in his record of it, 
not an unworthy cult, even though he ascertained that such 
drastic measures as the slaying of mal-formed children and 
sickly persons and animals, and the mating of men and 
women with or without their consent, as well as the seve- 
rance of already mated couples, were within the arbitrary 
powers of the chiefs. He does not even condemn the savage 
execution of the poor woman found impaled on the idol, 
but finds a fair and good reason for it; nor can he cease 
to admire a system, which, as he says, was the cause of 
the laying out of a town on such good principles, for the 
maintainence of health and cleanliness, that it would put 
to the blush many towns known to him in Europe; nor 
yet did he for a moment regret that he had restrained the 
religious fervour of some of his men, which would have 
led them to demolish the hideous double-fronted idol. He 
was glad to leave it as a monument of a savage cult, which 
was, even if savage, perhaps able to teach a lesson to 
civilization ; and it would also serve as a rallying point 
about which the tribe might re-assemble and continue its 
life after they themselves had left the country. 

The day after they returned from the expedition was 
given up to rest and feasting, as well as to a great distri- 
bution of presents to the dwarfs, who were each given either 
a strip of coloured cloth, or some beads or other finery, and 
with these gifts they were much delighted. The heroic little 
slave girl was dressed up in resplendent colours, and proudly 
marched about behind her master, carrying his gold-bladed 
spear. The "husbands" and the other men of the big race 
of savages were constrained to build rough shelters for the 
cattle women, and to make a yard for the cattle. The herd 
was tended by the women and allowed to graze the herbage 
in the clearing. 



119 

A small quantity of the spirit which had been distilled 
from manioc was also given to the people of both tribes, 
but was not much appreciated by the dwarfs, who were 
during the afternoon joined by many of their women; and 
very fascinating little ladies some of them were, with bright 
intelligent eyes, sharp as needles, light tan-coloured skins, 
and well-proportioned limbs and bodies. Lewes de Havre 
was quite pleased when John Smith's slave led up to him 
a pretty little girl, and giving into her charge his knobbed 
stick of office, installed her as his mace-bearer. 

The big savages had had their day, they were no longer 
masters of the district, but would now have to submit to 
the over-lordship of the dwarfs, and John Smith trembled 
for the future of their comparativly advanced state of civili- 
zation. Many of the sailors looked upon the cattle women 
and saw that they were fine healthy creatures, but James 
Neccy promptly suppressed any improper interference with 
them as likely to cause trouble, and he decided that both 
the women and their flocks and herds had better go back 
to their own place, and that cattle other than this herd 
of mothers should be brought down for the requirements of 
his ships. 

The next day, therefore, a hundred men escorted the 
ladies and their charges back to the town, leaving fifty of 
the "husbands" only at the fort as hostages, and to finish 
the yard and camp for a supply of cattle, of a different 
and less particular description. 

James Neccy himself went up with this second expedition, 
^eaving Lewes de Havre behind in charge of the fort. All 
the remainder of the savages were taken back to bring 
down the cattle and goats in exchange for the cows, and 
also more ivory. The dwarf army without being ordered, 
fell into their usual position on either side of the cavalcade. 



I20 

John Smith and his faithful slave went up with them, as he 
was the only person in the company who had learned enough 
of the language to make himself understood. It was their 
intention to spend two or three nights at the town, in order 
to thoroughly search it and bring away anything of value 
that might have been overlooked on the first visit. 

They had a very successful journey, and having replaced 
the ladies, and their cows and goats, in their proper habita- 
tions, they proceeded to collect a large herd of cattle and 
goats from the outer town, and to ransack the place for 
other treasures; but except ivory, of which they procured 
a goodly store, nothing of importance was found ; so after 
two nights rest in the town they returned to the river with 
their booty. 

It was now the middle of September, and the Admiral 
was anxious to get away and continue his journey eastwards. 
His shipwrights had finished patching up the JOHANIS and 
she was ready for re-launching. It only remained now to 
re-victual the ships, by drying and salting a lot of the beef 
and goat mutton, and getting on board the grain and the 
ivory. They reckoned that another week would suffice for 
this, so that they would be able to leave before the rainy 
season started in October. 

They had up to this time lost altogether eleven men; 
four were killed or died of their wounds during the fight 
with the carrack; two were killed in the battle with the big 
savages, and five others had died of disease during their 
stay on the river. They proposed to take away with them 
twenty-five of the "husbands", fifteen for the Peter Asmodeus 
as galley slaves, to work the oars and lodge in the oar-deck, 
and five each on the other ships. To wait on these men 
and prepare their food they also shipped five women on 
the crompster, and two each on the galleons, so that their 



121 

ships' companies were more than made up; and to the 
great contentment of the sailors, there would no longer be 
any necessity for them to work the oars, a job which was 
particularly distasteful to them, associated as it was with 
the degradation v/hich no free man would willingly accept. 

Galleys and the use of oars in the propulsion of ships 
were fast going out of fashion. The Italian Spinola had 
tried to revive it, and did in fact man a fleet of six galleys 
to assist the Spaniards; but when they were cut to pieces 
a few years after by the English and Dutch, as they attemp- 
ted to enter the mouth of the Thames, they disappeared for 
ever from naval warfare, and oars on other ships soon 
followed suit. James Neccy, however, found the Peter 
ASMODEUS very useful in this expedition when in shallow 
waters, and also in the open sea, by reason of her ability 
to stop an enemy from, getting the weather gauge, and by 
keeping herself out of the range of guns which could not 
respond effectively to the fire of her long swivel gun, which 
was the forerunner of the famous long guns of the buccaneers 
and the latter pirates. 

For the next week the river bank was a scene of great 
activity. The JoHANis, having been warped out into deep 
water, was reloaded with the material which had been taken 
out to lighten her; her guns were reshipped, the ivory 
stowed away in the holds of all three vessels, and the grain 
and meat disposed of while accommodation was also found 
for ten live cows and as many goats. Quarters were also 
prepared for the slaves. These latter seemed to accept their 
fate quite cheerfully; and when the preparations going 
forward made it obvious to the dwarfs that the white men 
intended leaving, many of them came forward, and through 
the medium of the slave girl, offered to go too, but John 
Smith took great pains to point out to them the dangers 



122 

of the voyage and the great uncertainty of their ever seeing 
their native land again, if they did go; so they reluctantly 
agreed to stay behind. But by no means could he persuade 
his own dwarf girl, or the girl who had attached herself to 
Lewes to follow their example: they both insisted strenu- 
ously on accompanying their masters; and when it was 
evident that, if if they were not allowed to do so, they 
would certainly kill themselves, it was proposed that they 
should, each of them, choose a husband to go with them 
from the men who had wished to embark; but this idea 
they laughed to scorn, intimating very plainly that they 
would have no other husbands than their own masters; and 
truly, so good and faithful had one of them proved herself 
to be, that her master could not find it in his heart to 
deny her. The girls were therefore, to their great delight, 
duly entered on the ship's books as „Meseh, slave of John 
Smith" and „Meleh, slave of Lewes de Havre", names which 
were understood to apply to them and by which they were 
always after known. 

It was a sorrowful day for the dwarfs when the great 
ships unmoored and began to drop down the river with the 
tide. They had been told the day before that the white 
men were going to leave them, and had been given a great 
feast with some of the fire-water, as they had learned to 
call it, and had also been given presents of bright-coloured 
cloth and beads. In return they had brought in many 
beautiful birds and some apes, besides a large supply of the 
poison antidote, which John Smith had been very anxious 
to procure, as he was sure that it would be a useful medi- 
cine for snake bite, as well as a protection against poiso- 
ned arrows. At his suggestion, also, four more of the 
stones which he believed to be diamonds had been found 
in the hands, or rather "breast pockets" of as many 



123 

old ladies, who apparently looked upon them as charms. 

And so they drifted down the river, [the Peter Asmodeus 
leadmg the way, and for the first two days many of the 
dwarfs followed down the river batiks, for they were loath 
to lose sight of their friends, who, they recognised, had 
conferred on them a lasting obligation, by breaking the 
power of their sometime masters and reversing the old 
order of things. It was to be hoped that they would use 
their newly-acquired preponderance of strength leniently, 
and would not destroy the particularly well laid out town, 
or ruthlessly stamp out the system whereby the finer race 
had certainly raised the standard of the physique of their tribe. 

James Neccy and his captains were well contented with 
the results of the voyage so far. They had seriously dama- 
ged, if not utterly destroyed, a carrack belonging to the 
enemy, certainly it might have been better if they had 
taken it and transferred the richest part of its cargo to their 
own ships, they would not have troubled about the pepper. 
They had established friendly relations with an important 
tribe on a fine river, a fact which might be useful in the 
future; and they had acquired over four hundred fine tusks 
of ivory, besides a lot of slaves who would in time relieve 
the crews of much arduous and disagreeable work. The 
eight months which had elapsed since they had started 
had not on the whole been ill spent, and if they could slip 
away from this coast without encountering enemies' ships 
with metal too heavy for them, they would be well content. 

In four days they reached the mouth of the river, where 
they had to wait over a week for a favourable tide to take 
them over the bar and out to sea. It was their hope to 
beat out to the island of Ascension, in order to catch the 
prevailing wind from the north-west, and slant down with 
it to round the dangerous Cabo Tormentoso, or as it had 



124 

been re-named, the Cape of Good Hopes. They were very 
successful in this, and also in making a harbour on the 
other side of the cape known to old Chiristian Lentholm, 
where he had once before called for water and made friends 
with the natives. Here they obtained some cattle and water 
by barter, as well as some ostrich feathers and ivory; but 
after a stay of two weeks for refreshment, they again got 
their anchor up and shaped a course for Ceylon. But be- 
fore they got near the island they had had a brush with 
two Portuguese ships; one, the PETER ASMODEUS sank be- 
fore she could get her guns into action, while the other 
hauled down her flag and surrendered at discretion, being 
quite unable to cope with such long odds. The Admiral, in 
consideration of her having surrendered, merely relieved 
her of all her powder, cannon balls and small arms, and 
thus helpless allowed her to make the best of her way to 
some friendly port. Being a ship of war — she was a small 
galleon, which, together with her consort, had formed part 
of a fleet destined for an expedition to the Red sea, but 
which had been shattered and driven out of its course by 
bad weather — she bad only a small amount of money on 
board, or at any rate only a small sum was produced, even 
in answer to pretty severe threats. This sum was of course 
confiscated. 

On the east coast of Ceylon they found all they required 
for refreshment, and also secured some pearls from the 
natives, who quickly understood that they did not belong 
to the same nation as the hated Portuguese, who were at 
this time making themselves very objectionable in the island; 
for the zeal of the priests in proselytizing had reached the 
limit of endurance, and more. Indeed, a year after, owing 
to a letter sent home by James Neccy, Admiral Spilberg 
sought an alliance with the King of Kandy, which did not. 



125 

however, bear fruit until the year 1638, when the Dutch 
finally turned the Portuguese out of the island. 

From Ceylon they shaped a course for the northern most 
point of Sumatra, intending to call .at Achi, where five 
years before John Smith had landed with Christian Lent- 
holm, and where they hoped, in spite of the intrigues and 
' hostility of the Arab merchants, to secure some pepper for 
the Chinese traders, whom they expected to meet at Johor, 
or on the east coast of the Peninsula. They hoped also to 
get a good rest at Achi, and to be able to prepare them- 
selves for the dangerous passage down the narrow sea be- 
tween the Peninsula and Sumutra by overhauling their 
armament and practising their men with their weapons. 

Their slaves had by this time got used to the sea. The 
„husbands" had been carefully trained to the oars on board 
the Peter Asmodeus, and had developed into fine strong 
men, very different from the soft, fat and indolent crea- 
tures who were pampered and fed up in their native town, 
and whose only use in the community was to assist in 
increasing the numerical strength of the tribe. Two of the 
men and one of the women had died on board, apparently 
from sea-sickness, with which they were terribly afflicted; in 
fact for the first month after leaving Dongo it was thought 
that many of them would succumb, and the white sailors 
got quite tired of attending to them and keeping them and 
their quarters clean ; for if left to their own devices they 
would have wallowed in filth, until probably they would 
not only have died of disease themselves, but the PETER 
Asmodeus would have become no better than a pig-stye. 
Old Paul Keyut, her commander, however, very soon took 
measures to obviate that. Twice a day he had the deck in 
the waist — where they worked and slept and in fact 
lived, except when they were allowed on the upper deck 



126 

for exercise — thoroughly washed out, by casting buckets 
of water on to the savages as they sat or lay about the 
floor. It was an heroic cure for sea-sickness, as well as for 
uncleanliness, but it was effective; and after a time, when 
they got used to it, the savages enjoyed going through 
the performance themselves, half of them working the buckets, 
whilst the other half scrubbed the deck, the women enjoying 
the fun as well as the men. By the Admiral's orders the 
marital arrangments of these people were to be left entirely 
in their own hands. The women were given a galley and a 
cabin adjoining the open space where the oar-benches were, 
and here they prepared the food for themselves and the 
men. The only thing that James Neccy insisted on was that 
none of the white men were to interfere with them, but 
events afterwards proved that this order was not very 
implicitly obeyed. The small parties of savages in the galleons 
were treated in the same way. 

Meseh and Meleh, the dwarf girls, were rather better 
treated, and after they got over their sea-sickness became 
very happy indeed.. They were given a small cabin which 
had been used by two servants of the poop, and they soon 
did the work of looking after their masters' rooms and 
furniture, thus relieving a man, who was only too pleased 
to exchange his work of a menial for that of a mariner. 
They were affectionate little creatures, and soon became 
great pets of the whole ship's company, so far as they were 
allowed, for they were restricted to the after part of the 
ship, and were not allowed to go amongst the men. They 
were given proper women's clothes to wear, instead of the 
short breeches and smocks in which the other savage women, 
as well as the men, were dressed ; and it was most amusing 
to see the airs and graces with which they also clothed 
themselves. Their masters assiduously taught them each his 



127 

own language, which was also most amusing to everybody, 
as after carefully learning a little lesson they would essay 
to parade their knowledge, and thus fall into mistakes and 
disputes which created much enjoyment, not only to them- 
selves, but to the Admiral and his officers. The final triumph 
was, however, attained when Lewes, who was an accom- 
plished gallant, taught them to dance a saraband, which 
they soon did very cleverly, Meseh being dressed up as a 
gallant in a special suit made for her by the tailor, and 
Meleh as his lady. It was very pretty to see them, after 
they had finished their dance, run to their masters like two 
children who had done a lesson well, to be petted and 
fondled. They soon became, when the weather was fine, 
the regular entertainers of the company in the Admiral's 
saloon. 

The adventurers were not very successful at Achi, for as 
soon as they arrived they found that the country was hostile 
to them, and a crowd of prahus came round the ships. The 
Shah Bandar, or Captain of the port, a most dignified old 
person, who was received on board with all the honours 
due to him, and who was most polite when receiving the 
present which was offered, at first held out hopes that they 
would be allowed to land ; but after keeping them waiting 
for four days and letting it be seen that several of his 
officers would like presents as well, at last tired their patience 
out, and on being asked bluntly if the King would receive 
a deputation and a rich present, intimated that the King 
never left his palace, nor would he allow any men to enter 
it: it was against the law for him. to do so; but "at the 
same time, if the white men wished to send him a present, 
he, the Shah Bandar, would be pleased to take charge of it, 
and perhaps the King might be so condescending as to 
speak to them through the gate." 



128 

But James Neccy got impatient, and having secured some 
fresh fish and vegetables from the numerous boats which 
hung about, would not trouble to wait longer for the remote 
chance of a few bags of pepper, although he saw the Arab 
merchants loading their ships every day. He therefore weighed 
anchor suddenly before dawn one morning, and had dis- 
appeared before the Achinese were about. 

But they were not to be left off so easily. The Achinese 
were a strong, warlike people, and had imbided a very deep 
and fanatical faith in the teaching of the Arab priests, who 
came with the traders for pepper, and meant, if possible, 
to keep the white men out of their country. 



CHAPTER XII. 

The two galleons and the crompster had got up their 
anchors and taken advantage of a favourable breeze to stand 
in for the Straits^ intending to hug the coast of Sumatra in 
preference to the other side, in order to avoid the many 
Portuguese ships which were always to be met with, travelling 
up or down the other coast from Pegu to Malacca, or from 
Malacca across to Goa. James Neccy did not consider himself 
strong enough to encounter the Portuguese power in the 
narrow seas. He well knew that, if he did chance to meet 
a weaker squadron, the probability was that, before he had 
captured or sunk it and got past Malacca to the friendly 
port of Johor, he would have to pay dearly for his temerity ; 
because at Malacca there were always some Portuguese 
great ships lying, besides several galleys, which would sally 
out after him. He preferred to avoid an encounter rather 
than to court it. But in endeavouring to avoid Scylla he 
fell into Charybdis. He had not long left his anchorage 
and, following the Sumatran coast with light breezes, proceeded 
on his voyage, before he noticed three large prahus working 
out to windward of him. There was nothing extra-ordinary 
about this, for Malay prahus, and even Chinese junks, 
were fairly common in these seas, but they were not looked 
upon as pleasant neighbours, for it was well known that, 
if opportunity occurred, they were neither more nor less 
than sea-robbers. But they were also timid, and would think 

9 



130 

twice before they attacked so strong a force as was repre- 
sented by the two galleons and the crompster, so that the 
Admiral did not feel any alarm, at least not until late in 
the afternoon. Then he began to think that some agency 
hostile to him was at work, for all through the day, at 
intervals of an hour or so, he noticed these craft stealing 
quietly away from the Sumatran coast in twos or threes, 
from the mouths of streams, and from white stretches of 
sand, sometimes seeming to simply detach themselves from 
the apparently unbroken line of the mangrove swamp, but 
always tacking across his course either before or behind 
him, and when they had got to windward some little distance, 
altering their course so as to keep parallel with the fleet. 
By four o'clock in the afternoon there were over twenty 
of these craft sailing along on the same course as the 
Dutch ships, and only separated from them by about a mile 
interval. 

It had a very suspicious look, and certainly seemed as 
if the Malays had, for purposes of their own, taken, and 
meant to keep, the weather gage, a proceeding which was 
almost equal to a challenge, in that it was a menace to the 
fleet to the leeward; and only in this light, could James 
Neccy and his captains look upon it. 

Of course there was the possibility that this fleet of prahus 
had some other object in sailing down the narrow sea be- 
tween Sumatra and Malacca and knowing — as all the Malay 
kings, did by this time know — that the Dutch were at enmity 
with the Portugals, they perhaps wished to take advan- 
tage of the convoy offered by three well-armed Dutch ships 
to get past the Portuguese stronghold and fort at Malacca; 
■but to believe this it was also necessary to credit the 
Malays with the excessive politeness of assuming the post 
of danger between the Dutch ships and the course always 



131 

taken by those of the Portuguese, which was along the 
eastern half of the Straits, as close as was safe to the coast 
of the Peninsula. It was difficult to believe this, for it 
meant a very considerable alteration in th.e known habits 
of the astute sea-faring Malays, and neither old Christian 
Lentholm nor John Smith would accept this theory. It only 
remained then to look upon the Malay fleet as hostile; and 
the three Dutch ships, which had drawn clos^ together in 
order to confer on the matter, were quickly prepared for 
action, for it was decided that if a fight was td take place, 
it would be better to start it at once, so as to get it over 
if possible before dark, and also before more prahus came 
out from the Siintatran coast to make the odds too heavy. 
Already there were twenty prahus to windward, each pro- 
bably holding twenty fighting Malays. 

The Malay tactics of naval warfare were well known to 
several members of the expedition who had travelled in 
these seas before, especially the captain of the Admiral's 
ship. They never attacked until they had an overwhelming 
superiority in numbers, and then they bore down on their 
prey — generally a single trading ship of small size — in the 
night, and captured her by boarding, perhaps without even 
firing a shot from their lelas, or little cannons, until they 
were close aboard ; for their biggest guns were very feeble, 
none of them carrying a ball over a pound in weight; in- 
deed, the clumsy brass blunderbusses, which they had fixed 
to the sides of their prahus, were the rhore dangerous 
weapons, as they were heavily charged with all sorts of 
rough bits of iron, tin bullets, and even pebbles, which did 
much damage at close quarters. Their habit was to get as 
close to their prey as possible, and then, with much "shou- 
ting and a great display of fury, to fire one round frorti 
all their fire-arms and climb on board, when their reckless 



132 

disregard of life and overwhelming numbers generally made 
them irresistible. 

In order to make certain of their intentions, the Peter 
ASMODEUS got. out her oars and beat up against the wind 
towards the prahus, the galleons at the same time slanting 
out from the Sumatran coast as much as they were able 
without tacking. This proceeding evidently took the Achinese 
by surprise, for they quickly clustered together, and as the 
Peter Asmodeus got up to within half a mile of them, it 
was plain also that they were prepared for action, for they 
could be seen clustered round their lelas with lighted 
linstocks. 

Old Paul Keyut stole a little closer, and then steadying 
his ship, enabled Rupert Saville, the master gunner in 
charge of the long gun „Anna", to send a ball into the 
midst of the clump of prahus — a proceeding which evidently 
caused great consternation, for they had never before been 
shot at with such heavy metal and at such long range. The 
crompster was able to keep her position and get in another 
shot before the Achinese recovered from their fright, but 
then they came down on her, at least those which could 
do so, for two large prahus were so disabled that they 
could not join in the movement and seemed in danger of 
sinking. 

The two galleons had in the meantime forged ahead on 
their slant out from the Sumatran coast, whence several 
other craft could be seen straining out to join their friends ; 
and unless the Peter Asmodeus could join her consorts 
before the prahus reached her, her situation was certainly 
grave. Old Paul Keyut would not, however, hurry himself, 
trusting to his savage oarsmen to make as good, if not 
better speed than the prahus, the savages were now so 
well used to their work and were so well trusted, that they 



133 

were no longer chained to their benches, as was customary 
with galley slaves. He quietly put his ship about, and the 
great gun „Anna" was slued round on her pivot until she 
pointed astern, in the hopes of getttng in another shot be- 
fore the prahus got close enough for the culverins in the 
stern castle to come into action; and thus, well maintaining 
liis distance, he steered a course to meet the galleons, 
which were gradually forging out to sea and drawing after 
them the prahus from the Sumatran coast; for they also 
saw that the fight had commenced, and tried all they 
could to get out in time to join in. 

Rupert Saville got in two more shots from the "Anna" 
before the crompster joined company with the galleons, but 
one, owing to the unsteady motion of the ship was a miss, 
while the other stopped a prahu ; so that of the fleet from 
the outside only seventeen were now coming up; but from 
the coast three more would arrive at the same time, with six 
more coming on at intervals afterwards — quite a formidable 
enough company to deal with, especially as night was fast 
approaching. 

The most important thing was to stop the Malays from 
boarding if possible, as their superior numbers and reckless- 
ness would certainly make them dangerous if once they 
gained a footing on deck. The Admiral, therefore, ordered 
the same course to be maintained, in order to draw the 
prahus farther and farther away from the coast, and to 
keep up a running fight with the culverins in the stern 
castles of the ships as long as possible. In this way four 
more prahus were sunk or disabled, but the rest kept gaining 
ground. The crompster could have easily got away from 
them, but it was inevitable that the galleons should be 
caught; and it was now nearly dark. There seemed no chance 
but that it would come to a hand-to-hand struggle oft the 



134 

decks of the ships, and the prospect was not relished by 
the Admiral, who, well as he could trust his men, knew 
that they were at a great dis-advantage in numbers, and 
also in fighting in the dark against such reckless and fanatical 
foes as the men of Achi were. Besides their piratical love 
of plunder, these Malays more than any others were very 
much under the influence of their Arabian teachers, and 
had imbibed to the full the belief that to die for the religion 
of the Prophet Mohamad, was to there and then enter the 
alluring Paradise of Islam. 

The three ships were sailing down the wind abreast, with 
the Peter Asmodeus on the outside, the Johanis in the 
centre, and the JACOBUS nearest the Sumatran coast. As a 
last chance of stopping the prahus from boarding, the 
Admiral ordered the helms of all three ships to be put 
hard a-port, as if he meant to make for Sumatra, thus 
bringing his ships broadside on to the advancing fleet; and 
then, as the prahus came up, they were met first with a 
salvo from every gun in the port batteries, and then, imme- 
diately after, with a rain of bullets from the matchlocks. 
But it only checked them for a few minutes, and decided 
them to alter their advance. Instead of making for all three 
ships, as they appeared to intend at first, all the prahus 
bunched together and dashed for the Admiral's ship, which 
was in the centre. When within fifty yards of the JOHANiS, 
the Malays commenced to fire their lelas and great blunder- 
busses, and many shots were embedded in the galleon's 
thick sides. Luckily she was staunchly built, and well coated 
with good threeinch oak, on which the lela balls and not 
very powerful powder made but very little impression; and 
lucky also was it that the Admiral's great voice made itself 
heard at the critical moment, wlien the miscellaneous contents 
of the great swivel blunderbusses, aimed at the row of heads 



135 

appearing above the bulwarks of the JoHANis, were poured 
into his ship; for if the heads and shoulders had not ducked 
to the cover of the bulwarks, many of them would never 
have ached again. Then, a very few minutes after this escape, 
the prahus began to bump against her sides, and the cheerful 
order to "repel boarders" brought everyone to his feet again, 
and heads and hands and pistols were quickly over the side 
for one more shot at the climbing Malays before they were 
thrown on deck for the readier sword, pike and axe. Then 
the grim hand-to-hand fight commenced in earnest, For 
half an hour or more they struggled and strained and clam- 
bered up the sides • of the ship from every point and all 
round ; sometimes half a dozen or more would gain a footing 
on deck, only to be slaughtered there, and many a staunch 
man fell on the side of the defenders also, pierced by the 
longhandled "lembing", slashed with the keen "klawang", 
or more often stabbed from behind with the wavy-bladed 
"kris", wielded by some cunning Malay who had not lost 
his head in the ardour of attack, but had seduously watched 
his opportunity, favoured by the increasing gloom of evening, 
to slip through the ranks, by passing between two men as 
they were busily engaged in defending themselves from an 
attack in front. Fearful were the wounds made by the waved 
blade and serrated edge of the kris when wielded by these 
men, who knew how to use it, and who could deliberately 
stab their victims from behind as they were engaged with 
another enemy in front. With a sibilant "Bismillah" the 
thrust was delivered, and the wound was enlarged and made 
more deadly by a turn of the wrist and blade, accompanied 
by the rest of the abjuration, "al-rahman-i-rahim" ! 

Too niamerous were the enemy, and so utterly reckless 
of life were they, that it is not surprising they should have 
gained a footing at last, in spite of the strenuous valour 



136 

displayed by the white men. They won the forecastle, and 
quickly more than a hundred of them filled the forepart 
of the ship; then, sweeping before them the sailors, they 
bade fair to soon overwhelm the whole ship. 

With shrill cries of "Allah!" and "Amok!" they rushed 
down the two ladders, and even dropped off the high edge 
of the forecastle on to the main deck. But here they met 
with a check, for John Smith and his ten rapier men, — who 
had constituted themselves a body-guard for the Admiral, 
on the poop — by his orders now rushed to the defence 
of the waist, and quickly turned the tide of battle. Like 
lightning the long, lithe blades played amongst the half-naked 
bodies of the Malays, who could not by any means defend 
themselves from the novel attack, any more than they could 
harm the swordsmen, whose blades were a perfect defence, 
and whose bodies seemed invulnerable. At last this idea 
seemed to impress itself on the Malays, and seized with a 
panic, they began to give way. This was the end of their 
advantage, for soon they were in full retreat and scrambling 
over the bulwarks, to drop, some into their boats, and some 
into the sea. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

All this time the JACOBUS and the PETER ASMODEUS 
were unable to do anything towards helping their consort. 
It was dangerous work firing on the prahus clustered round 
the JOHANIS in the uncertain light, while an attack with 
the small boats would have been quickly overpowered ; so the 
only thing to do was to bring the PETER AsMODEUS, with 
the assistance of her oars, close to the JOHANiS, and then 
join in the hand-to-hand fight, but this wanted some very 
careful manoeuvring, in order to avoid interlacing the yards 
of the ships, and thus doing a lot of damage. By the time 
the crompster was close enough to join in the fight by 
fixing on to the side of the JOHANiS, the Malays had 
already been repulsed and were dropping back into their 
prahus, not cowed and beaten, but being literally shoved 
overboard and fighting every inch of the way like wild cats. 
The crompster therefore sheared off again to a safer distance. 

It was now quite dark, and the Admiral would have been 
well pleased if he could have put out all his lights, in 
order to get away without the Malays knowing which way 
he went; but this was out of the question, because there 
was so much to do to clean up his ship and attend to his 
wounded, work which could not be done without plenty of 
light. He therefore ordered his two consorts to keep as 
close to him as possible, and continued his course towards 
the Straits, but keeping out as far from the coast as he 
could. The fight had been a severe one, and had not been 



138 

productive of any compensating profit, like the struggle 
with the African savages. Is was all very well to fight for 
the sake of some tangible return in the way of valuable 
merchandise; this appealed to the trader spirit of every 
member of the expedition; but to fight merely for the sake 
of saving their own lives, was a thing to be avoided at any 
risk of loss of dignity, if by any other means they could 
accomplish that end. 

In this fight they had lost nine valuable men killed 
outright, besides many others wounded, some dangerously; 
and the only result had been to prove that the people of 
Achi were averse to any intercourse with the outside world, 
at any rate insomuch as it was represented by the Dutch 
flag. The fight was therefore to be regretted, and every 
soul hoped that the Malays had had a sufficiently severe 
lesson to make them avoid another encounter. But the next 
morning, as soon as it was light enough to see, this did 
not look as if it was going to be the case; for a very great 
number of prahus were visible between the Sumatran coast 
and the Dutch ships. Owing to the Admiral's care in drawing 
away from the coast as much as possible, they had not 
succeeded this time in getting the weather gauge of him; 
but they evidently meant another attack if they could 
manage it, and the only chance of avoiding this seemed to 
lie in bearing out to the open sea, because the prahus would 
be afraid to follow too far out. 

But by evening the prospect of avoiding a fight looked 
very poor. More than thirty prahus were in view just out 
of range of the crompster's gun, and it could not be doub- 
ted but that as soon as it was dark enough they would try 
again, unless by some stratagem they could be avoided. 
Luckily the nights were very dark, and by carefully cove- 
ring up all his lights the Admiral hoped to be able to do 



139 

this, the only trouble being that the Malays might perhaps 
attack before it got dark enough to carry out his design. 

By seven o'clock it was dark, and no forward movement 
of the prahus had been observed. They were spread out 
within easy speaking distance of each other, about a mile 
away from the ships, and perhaps five miles from the coast ; 
and as it got darker it could be seen that each of them 
carried a small light, probably the fire of their cooking 
places or the common smoky torches made of wood, oil 
and resin which were used by the people of that region; 
consequently their whereabouts was easily discerned. 

By eight o'clock the Admiral's design to evade them was 
ready for execution. Three long rafts had been prepared 
on board the ships, all except fastening them together. 
They consisted, each of them, of about a dozen empty 
casks, which were to be joined together with a double row 
of stout planks. Two small masts were ready for each raft, 
carrying sails and also several posts to be fixed at inter- 
vals to carry lanthorns and a rudder for each raft. All this 
material having been lowered ' over the sides of the ships, 
the rafts were quickly put together. All sail was then taken 
in on board the ships, so that they rode under bare masts 
and made no progress through the water. Then all the lant- 
horns on board the rafts were lighted, and the rudders 
being fastened hard a-starboard, they were pushed away 
from the ships, and as each light on the rafts passed the 
bows, corresponding lights on board the ships were ex- 
tinguished: so the ships rode easily as if at anchor, and the 
lighted rafts sailed on to take their place. 

It was a simple trick, but it easily deceived the Malays, 
as could be plainly discerned by the fact that the prahus 
continued to keep pace with the lighted rafts, and soon 
their lights all disappeared. It was, of course, impossible, to 



I40 

tell at what hour the Malays would decide to attack the 
supposed ships and so discover the trick; but it would 
probably not be for some time, as they would certainly 
wait until more prahus joined them from the coast. Their 
previous experience had taught them caution, so that it 
was even within the bounds of possibility that they would 
not attack that night at all, but wait until the next night, 
in which case, of course, as soon as day dawned, they 
would find nothing to attack but some useless tubs and 
planks. After the lights had disappeared for about an hour 
the Admiral's three ships got laboriously under weigh again 
and by tacking in short stretches, succeeded before daylight 
in getting about twelve miles away from the coast, before 
they again resumed their course towards the straits, which 
they at last entered about midway between Sumatra and 
Penang Island. They never saw any more of the Achinese 
prahus, and easily imagined that there was a good deal of 
cursing when the trick played by them on the Malays was 
discovered. 

They had now to travel over the most dangerous part 
of their voyage. In the narrow seas between Sumatra and 
Malacca, there were generally to be found two or three 
Portuguese ships of war, guarding the trading craft which 
were continually going to Europe from the Spice Islands. 
The great carracks did not come so far eastwards; they 
were generally loaded at Goa; but ships of very consider- 
able size, and with valuable cargoes of spices, came from 
the Moluccas and called at Malacca, where they generally 
picked up an escort to see them well out into the Indian Ocean. 
James Neccy determined to make for the island of Pangkor, 
and there lay up for a few days, in a good natural harbour 
which Christian Lentholm knew of on the side next the 
mainland. He could thus give his wounded men a better 



141 

chance of recovery, and also fill his water casks, as well as 
take in a supply of coconuts and other fresh vegetables. 
They got there safely without further adventure, spent ten 
days at anchor under the island, and thoroughly explored 
it. Christian Lentholm had visited it before, and thought 
it might make a convenient stopping place for Dutch tra- 
ders to the Far East. The Portugals had not as yet made 
any attempt to use it; but there was a small colony of 
Malays from the opposite coast living on the island, engaged 
chiefly in fishing, and seemingly disposed to be friendly ; at 
least they professed to detest the Portugals, whose methods 
were too much those of a conquering race to suit the 
proud Malays, these men for instance, agreed to do any- 
thing to help the Dutch, if only they would fight the 
„Saranies". 

Christian Lentholm and John Smith discovered two or 
three people who remembered their previous visit, and had 
many interesting conversations with them about the politics 
of that district. Finally this ended in the Admiral agreeing 
to accept the pilotage of a prahu to take him into the 
mouth of the Perak River, where he was assured he could 
get some tin in exchange for his cloth, and certainly might 
expect to meet friendly people, who would be quite prepared 
to trade with him and also assist him in any attempt against 
the Portugals. 

Accordingly, on the tenth day after their arrival, they 
got up anchor, and following the lead of the Malay prahu, 
sailed down the coast until they found the mouth of a fine 
broad river. Here the Malay pilot was persuaded to come 
on board the Admiral'.? ship, which led the way up the 
stream. It took them two tides to reach a place called Kota 
Stia, where they found a considerable village, with coconut 
trees and many clumsy-looking domestic buffaloes. They 



142 

were detained here for three days, awaiting the arrival of a 
chief called Dato' Bandar, without whom the people would 
not commence to trade for anything except fish, coconuts 
and fruit. 

This chief was said to be up the river, but messengers 
were immediately sent to fetch him; and on the third day 
he arrived, coming down with six very long canoes, each 
having ten paddles a side, and being armed with small lelas 
throwing balls of less than half a pound in weight: children's 
cannon they seemed to be, but in reality very effective at 
short range, owing to the ease with which they were turned 
in any direction on their single pivots. 

The Dato' Bandar proved to be a very affable old gentleman, 
most polite and anxious to assist the white men. Except 
that his mouth was large and somewhat misshapen by the 
habit of chewing pepper leaves, which also stained his lips 
and teeth a bright red, he was not at all bad looking, and 
appeared very dignified and imposing in a suit of dull black 
linen and a very extraordinary starched black turban, arranged 
so as to exhibit points or corners sticking out in all directions. 
In front of his own prahu, a man stood up holding a small 
black flag, on which was emblazoned the double-bladed 
sword of the Prophet of Islam. 

By the intervention of the Dato' Bandar, the Admiral 
was able to supply his ships with a goodly lot of buffalo 
meat and some rice in mat bags, with which he hoped to 
get his men familiar, as no wheat or other corn except a 
little, maize was obtainable in the country. The Dato' Bandar 
had also about two hundred ingots of tin, which he was 
anxious to sell; but he wanted, in exchange, either some 
of the African slaves or some tusks of ivory, which were 
much finer than those of the native elephants. However, 
neither the Admiral nor his partners were anxious to get 



143 

rid of either of these commodities at present ; but when 
the Malay chief, who was entertained in the Adniiral's 
cabin, saw the two dwarf girls and understood that they 
were also slaves, he was struck with astonishment arid delight, 
and incontinently offered the whole two hundred ingots of 
tin for them ; but they also were not for sale. They spent 
three whole days bargaining for this, tin, and had at last 
settled what was to be given for it, namely, one of the 
slaves from the Peter Asmodeus and one large tusk, 
besides a heterogeneous lot of other small articles in the 
shape of beads and cloth, when it suddenly struck one of 
the super-cargoes that some of the' ingots were lighter than 
others. This led them to weigh it, and it was found that, 
although they were apparently all cast in moulds of the 
same size, the weights were very diverse ; and one of the 
lightest, being chiselled in half, was found to contain a large 
piece of iron embedded in the middle of it. 

The Dato' Bandar, when his attention was called to it, 
professed to be very astonished and grieved, protesting that 
he had been cheated , by his people who had spld the tin 
to him, and offering to take back all the light ingots and 
make a fresh bargain for the heavy ones. So another two 
days were spent in bargaining, the Chief preserving his 
politeness through it all, and leaving the Admiral and his 
traders under the impression that they had done an excellent 
stroke of business; which undoubtedly they had, for tin was 
at that time a very rare and valuable metal, although this 
was not quite so valuable a lot as they expected it to be. 
One lesson, however, they learnt, and a very useful one 
too, was not to trust the Malays, in spite of their apparent 
honesty. The Admiral summed up the character of the Dato' 
Bandar very concisely, by, saying that he was "a gentleman, 
but a dishonest trader." 



144 

Nearly two weeks were spent very happily with these 
people, who showed very evident regret when the time 
came for the ships to heave anchor, so that the Admiral, 
persuaded thereto by John Smith, offered to take two or 
three of them on with him as far as Johor and bring them 
back on his return journey, if the Dato' Bandar would 
agree to get ready for him some more tin without adulterating 
it with iron; and this being agreed to, they went down the 
river, taking with them three young Malay men of good 
birth, who professed to be willing to work as common 
sailors during the voyage; and very handy and useful they 
proved to be, whilst their knowledge of the coast, as far as 
Malacca, assisted the sailing masters a good deal. 

It was on account of what these men said about the 
great number of turtles which frequented the islands, that 
the Admiral was induced to touch at a small group of nine 
little islands just off the mouth of the Perak River; and 
through that, by one lucky turn of Fortune's wheel, he amply 
repaid himself and his expedition for the losses and dangers 
which they had already experienced. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Very lovely indeed were these little islands ; resting places 
fit for fairies, John Smith declares them to be. They were 
uninhabited, and clothed up to the top of their precipitous 
rocky sides with perennial green. Blue water ran right up 
to the shores, and on one side of the largest island stretched 
a beautiful sandy beach, divided by a tiny stream of fresh, 
limpid water, rippling down a rocky gorge to join the blue 
waters of the sea after attempting to lose itself by filtering 
through the bright yellow sand. Here it was, the Malays 
declared, that on moonlight nights, and during certain 
seasons of the year, the great turtles crawled up on the 
sands to lay their eggs. It was off these sands, and within 
a hundred yards of the land, that the ships dropped their 
anchors, which did not touch bottom until full thirty fathoms 
of hempen cable had been paid out. And then, regardless 
of sharks, scores of the sailors threw off their clothes and 
dashed into the water, to swim to land and search for 
turtles' eggs under the guidance of the Malays. But these . 
latter were very uncertain if any would be found, for they 
said the "hantus" or spirits of the place should first have 
been propitiated by incantations and a burning censor of 
sweet-smelling woods and gums: at any rate, if they found 
eggs already laid, certainly the turtles would not come up 
that night, nor for many succeeding nights, to lay any more, 
because of the omission. John Smith says he quite believed 
that, but thought that perhaps the noise and tumult made 



146 

by the sailors might have had quite as much to do with 
keeping them away. 

Very delicious was the fresh, cool water of the little 
stream, after the tainted liquid which was doled out to the 
men on board, and on which the brackish water they had 
obtained at Kota Stia was not much improvement. The 
men amused themselves by hunting amongst the rocks and 
diving for shells, of which many very beautiful ones were 
found, having a fine pearly lustre inside. These were care- 
fully cleaned and stored away in their boxes to delight 
their children at home. They found also great oysters with 
shells two feet across, which the Malays showed them how 
to roast in the fire, until the shells opened and the deli- 
cious flesh was disclosed ready cooked and fit to be eaten. 

But the Malays themselves spent all their time collecting 
hideous black crawling creatures, which looked Hke animated 
cucumbers, and which, they said, the Chinese traders at 
Johor would buy at a good price, as they considered them 
a great delicacy. 

The anchorage was too dangerous for a long stay at this 
place, and the Admiral would certainly not have waited 
more than one night, even if he had not been interrupted, 
as he was about an hour before dawn, by the sound ^of 
cannon firing out at sea on the other side of the islands. 
James Neccy did not think of waiting to enquire what the 
firing was about, nor whether it was friend or foe, but 
immediately got up his anchors and sailed out to investi- 
gate. As soon as he had got out beyond the islands, about 
a mile distant, they saw in the quickly coming daylight a 
great ship, which was recognised by many of the crew, as 
well as by the officers, to be Portuguese by her rig, and 
they soon saw that she was flying the Portuguese flag; so 
there could be no doubt concerning her nationality. She 



147 

was doing her best to keep off about twenty-five or thirty- 
Malay prahus, which were clustered round her; and which, 
even as the three Dutch ships came up, boarded the Portu- 
gal and continued the fight on his decks. 

Now here was a three-cornered quarrel which might require 
delicate management, but which could not under any cir- 
cumstances end otherwise than favourably for the Dutch, 
as they had the great advantage of the weather gauge, and 
were quite strong enough with that position to whip the 
prahus and the Portuguese ship altogether. It was, however, 
evidently the best policy not to be in a hurry, so that 
both their enemies should have time to weaken themselves 
before they joined in the fight. The prahus were undoub- 
tedly the same which they had fought with before. They 
had missed the Admiral's ships owing to the trick played 
on them, and apparently had picked up the Portgal instead, 
and deeming her an easy prize, had forthwith attacked her. 

Deliberately the Admiral made his arrangments to move 
down his galleons one on either side of the Portugal's great 
ship, the crompster going on in advance with her oars all 
in readiness to make a dash if required, and her long gun 
loaded with several small balls to commence the game by 
firing on the prahus. As soon as she was near enough, she 
sent a dozen small cannon balls into the prahus lying the 
farthest from the Portugal's ship on the port side, then 
quickly reloading, and sluing her gun, she sent another 
shower into those on the starboard side, and still steadily 
advancing until she got within range for her bow culverins, 
she fired them simultaneously into the prahus on either 
side of the Portugal with deadly effect; for the Malays had 
now taken fright, and were crowding into them from the 
ship's deck. It was one thing to board a single white man's 
ship, but quite another matter to be pounded from such a 



148 

distance as this tremendous gun carried, so the pirates 
had no other option but to make off as fast as they could. 
But old Paul Keyut was not disposed to let them off so 
lightly. He had not had a chance at them when they attac- 
ked the JOHANis before, for fear of injuring his consort; 
so he determined now to teach them a lesson. Steering a 
wide course to avoid the Portugal's great ship, he chased 
them for two or three miles down the wind, keeping well 
within the range of his two bow culverins and continually 
firing on them, until, for safety, they so scattered that he 
could not do them much harm without greatly wasting his 
time; so then he turned, and getting his oars to work, re- 
joined his consorts. 

James Neccy in the meantime, leaving old Paul Keyut 
to deal with the Malay pirates, dropped down slowly and 
with mathematical precision, one galleon on either side of 
the Portuguese great ship, and when he had manoeuvred into 
position within easy speaking distance, he backed his own 
sails and ordered his Portuguese interpreter — John Smith's 
assistant super-cargo on the JOHANIS — to hail her and 
demand her instant surrender at discretion, or he would 
sink her with a broadside from each of his galleons. 

The poor Portugal had no choice but to obey, for he 
was in too dangerous a plight to think of resisting ; So very 
soon the royal flag of Portugal fluttered down from the 
masthead. James Neccy then ordered her Commander to 
come on board his ship, bringing with him his commission 
and all information about his ship. A boat was lowered and 
two Fidalgoes in splendid armour and plumed helmets 
stepped into her and were rowed to the Dutch galleon, 
where, on the main deck, they proudly drew their swords 
and offered them to the Admiral, declaring themselves 
prisoners of war and at the mercy of their captors. 



149 

One of the officers represented himself to be the General 
in command of the soldiers, of which there were originally 
one hundred oh board the great ship; while the other said 
he was the second in command of the vessel. He explained 
that their Commander had been killed in the fight with the 
Achinese, and that in point of fact they had suffered very 
severely, not less than one hundred soldiers and sailors 
being either killed or badly wounded; otherwise, he obser- 
ved with a sardonic smile, the renowned Admiral would not 
have been able to make such an easy prize of His Portu- 
guese Majesty's ship. 

He was aware that the „great captain, James Neccy", 
was before all things a trader, and pointing out that his 
ship, being a man-of-war, had not of course any cargo that 
would be useful to „so important and magnanimous a mer- 
chant as their present captor", he expressed a hope that 
he would be allowed to proceed on his way to Malacca, of 
course after paying a fair and sufficient ransom for the 
privilege of doing so. 

He explained that, except for the General, whom he 
introduced as Don Guzman da Silva-y-Ampulvida, there 
was not .another live man of Fidalgo rank on board, now 
that the Commander was killed. He hoped, therefore, that 
the „ Magnanimous Admiral would condescend to fix their 
ransom at so moderate a figure as to make it possible for 
them to pay it at once, but at the same time he must not 
be considered as infringing on the dignity of Don Guzman, 
who being of Fidalgo rank must without doubt pay a com- 
mensurate sum." 

With this and many other compliments couched in most 
florid language, on the splendid seamanship displayed by 
his sailing masters, and on the extraordinary gun on the 
crompster, while not forgetting the marksmanship also, he 



ISO 

proceeded to tender his own thanks, and those of the 
General, for the timely aid vouchsafed to them in driving 
off the Malay pirates, without which he could not say but 
what they would have been compelled to blow up the ship; 
for they could not have borne to surrender it; and he con- 
cluded by offering ten thousand crowns as ransom, five 
thousand on the part of the General, Don Guzman, — who 
seemed to flinch at being valued so high, — and the other 
five thousand to redeem the great ship, her crew and arma- 
ment. It was, he averred, lucky that they had just about 
so much money on board, which they were taking to Malacca 
to pay the salaries and other charges of the garrison of 
that port. 

The Admiral at once made them understand that ten 
thousand crowns could not be considered an adequate ran- 
som ; and after much chaffering and a reluctant admission 
that perhaps there might be found another five thousand 
on board, the Lieutenant offered to go and fetch the money, 
whilst the General stayed on board the Admiral's ship; but 
this also was not accepted, and the Admiral, prompted by 
his assistant super-cargo, who had detected something suspi- 
cious in a half-heard whisper between the two Portugals, 
declared his intention of going on board their ship with a 
party, to judge for himself what would be a fair ransom to 
exact, and to bring it back. 

This determination seemed to stagger the two Portuguese 
gentlemen, and they rapidly raised their offer to twenty 
and, ultimately, twenty-five thousand crowns, urging that 
they could not think of troubling their captors to fetch the 
money, and pointing out the disorder of their ship; the 
angry passions which their presence might engender amongst 
their people, who might be prompted to discourtesy; the 
impossibility of getting at the money unless the General or 



151 

his companion, the now virtual commander of the ship, 
went to order its production and many other trivial ex- 
cuses; but James Neccy only smiled and persisted in his 
expressed intention, shewing them that it would be absurd 
for him, as their successful opponent, to let their ship go 
free until he had made quite sure of her value for ransom 
and also the object of her present voyage. He further ex- 
plained that he held a charter from the States General of 
Holland, not only to trade, but to do damage to all State 
enemies wherever found, which charter he would willingly 
show to his prisoners, who had not fulfilled his demand by 
bringing with them on board his ship, their own commis- 
sion. Moreover, he informed them that what he had done 
was merely retaliation and quite fair, as he had been attac- 
ked on his way out and had suffered severely at the hands 
of their countrymen. He therefore very politely requested 
them to descend to his own state room, where they should 
be properly entertained until he returned from his visit to 
their ship. 

At this the Portugals commenced to talk together, but 
being excited they failed to lower their voices to a whis- 
per, so that the assistant super-cargo heard what they were 
saying, as he was standing near them by virtue of his 
office of interpreter. Suddenly, to the astonishment of every- 
body, he trew his arms round the man who professed to 
be the Lieutenant of the Portuguese ship, and pressing one 
hand over his mouth, shouted out. 

^Treachery! gag them, they are going to order their ship 
to be blown up." Willing hands quickly secured both the 
Portuguese gentlemen, and scarves were tied over their 
mouths, before James Neccy could demand of his officious 
officer what he meant by his action. The latter replied that 
he had all the time had an opinion that the man who 



152 

represented himself^ to be the Lieutenant to the dead Com- 
mander of the Portuguese ship was not what he pretended 
to be, because his companion deferred to him in everything, 
and in fact seemed to have no authority as to the diffe- 
rent amounts of ransom to be offered, or on any other 
point of the negociations, always also addressing him in 
terms of respect, which certainly were not proper from a 
Fidalgo to a man of an inferior class; and that on the 
question of the Admiral's visit to their ship being pressed, 
the pretended Lieutenant had declared that his papers and 
property must not by any means fall into the hands of the 
„heretics", but that the ship should first be blown up; and 
they had arranged that he should go to the side, and whilst 
pretending to give instructions as to the entertainment of 
the Admiral on board, he would order the Captain — who by 
this seemed after all to be alive — to lay a train to the 
magazine with a slow match, and then as James Neccy and 
his party stepped on board over one side of the ship, the 
Captain and certain others were to get into a boat on the 
other side, firing the slow match at the same time, and so 
to send the ship, the Dutch Admiral and all the ship con- 
tained to perdition. When the Admiral and his officers 
heard this explanation, it was quite evident to them that 
they had something more than a mere Lieutenant to the 
Commander of a war-ship to deal with. 

The two gentlemen were therefore assisted into the Ad- 
miral's state room, and a careful watch was put on the 
men in the boat which brought them on board. The Admi- 
ral, in the meantime, ordered twenty-five men from each 
of his ships to prepare to escort him on board the prize, 
and he with his interpreter and his chief officers went into 
his state-room to further question his prisoners. 



CHAPTER XV. 

On entering the state-room, the Admiral ordered the 
Portuguese gentlemen to be unbound and the scarves to be 
taken from their mouths, then courteously asking them to 
be seated he apologised for their rough treatment, and 
informing them that he now intended visiting their ship, he 
asked them if they wished to say anything further to him 
before he went. He further offered them wine and food and 
assured them that, although he intended to detain them in 
that room until he returned, it was his wish to treat them 
with every consideration and respect, because he was convinced 
that they held a higher position than they had acknowledged. 

Don Guzman, in reply, merely said that they would probably 
be convinced of the truth of their statment after they had 
visited the ship; as for the rest, they were prisoners, and 
of course at the mercy of their captors; but as it was not 
usual for cavaliers to be treated in the way they had been, 
he supposed it was owing to a different level of etiquette 
in use amongst merchant traders. His companion did not 
open his mouth, but preserving a sullen silence, satisfied 
himself by glaring at the interpreter as if he wished to eat him. 

James Neccy therefore, having collected his boats from 
the other ships, and having seen that all his men were 
properly armed and their matchlocks charged, rowed over 
to the Portuguese great ship, and with fifty of his men 
climbed on board, leaving the others to guard the boats. 
Marching his men to the after part of the ship, he drew 



154 

them up on the upper deck of the poop, and then, with 
his officers moving to the front, he first, through his inter- 
preter, proclaimed the ship his lawful prize, and required 
all her officers to come forward and surrender their swords. 
When this was done, and the officers, fifteen men in all, 
had been grouped on the upper deck, he asked' them to 
depute one of their number to go and bring the ship's 
papers and commission to him; but this, they said, was 
impossible, as their commander had taken with him the 
key of the strong chest, in which all the documents were 
kept. The Admiral therefore waived that point for the 
present, and ordered the whole ship's company to be mustered 
in the waist on the main deck, and all the hand guns, 
pistols and other arms to be piled up in front of the muster, 
at the same time bringing his own men forward to the 
edge of the orlop and ordering them to blow up their 
matches, so that they should overawe the Portuguese into 
quick obedience. 

But the crew, already cowed, hastened to the muster to 
deliver up their arms. There appeared to be about one 
hundred and twenty of them able to do duty, although 
many of these were slightly wounded. On enquiry, James 
Neccy ascertained that the original ship's company consisted 
of two hundred and thirty all told, but of these at least 
seventy had been killed in the fight with the Malays and 
cast overboard; while the remainder, ten of whom were 
priests, and the rest seriously wounded men, were stil below, 
unable to move. 

The Admiral then, stepping to the front, called out in 
the Dutch language, and enquired if there were any Hollanders 
on board, as he was disposed to take into his own service, 
any such as were inclined to accept his terms and promise 
fidelity. In response two men stepped out from the group 



. 155 

and came forward, then John Smith and Lewes de Havre 
repeated the question in Enghsh and French, and two of 
the former and one of the latter nation stepped forward. 

These men, on being questioned as to why they were on 
board a man-of-war belonging to an enemy of their respective 
countries, replied that they were prisoners taken from different 
ships by the Portugals, and that they had been given the 
choice, either to serve on board their captor's ship or to 
be hanged. They had elected to save their lives, but they 
begged now to be taken into the service of the Dutch 
merchant, more especially as they were all Protestants and 
had been for that reason very badly treated by their masters, 
and especially by the priests, who had threatened them 
with the Inquisition and its terrors if they did not recant 
and be baptised as Romanists, which they protested they 
would rather die than do. 

They were forthwith ordered to pick out arms from the 
heap on the deck, and range themselves in rank with their 
new comrades; but first they were cross-examined as to the 
Portuguese ship, what her mission was, where bound to and 
whence last. 

Their replies were very astonishing and also gratifying to 
the Admiral and his men, for it appeared that the ship 
they had taken was the great ship Sa7Z Salvadore, and that 
she was one of a fleet of five men-of-war, under Andre 
Furtado de Mendoga, the Captain-General of Malacca, who 
was returning from an expedition to Amboina and Sunda, 
from which islands he had expelled some Dutch settlers 
who were trading with the natives, and whose property 
and valuables he had confiscated. His ship had got separated 
from her companions, and was searching for them when the 
Achinese attacked her. Moreover, the men said that Dom 
Andre Furtado was actually at that present moment on 



156 

board the Dutch ship JOHANIS, whither he had gone in 
masquerade as the Lieutenant to the Commander of the 
San Salvadore, in order to judge for himself as to the best 
chance of getting out of the difficulty in which he was 
involved. The actual Commander of the San Salvadore was 
alive and well amongst the group of officers who had 
surrendered their swords, and he, when pointed out, acknow- 
ledged the fact. James Neccy was further informed that he 
had taken a very rich prize, for besides a large treasure in 
coined money which she was taking to Malacca, she had 
on board a splendid collection of jewels, gold and silver 
plate, belonging to the Captain-General and the Romish 
priests, as well as many other articles of great value which 
Dom Andre Furtado intended to present to native princes 
and others whom he might find it politic to conciliate in 
the interests of the Government of his Province. 

It appeared that the fleet had been dispersed by a terrific 
gale, and the San Salvadore had not seen any of her consorts 
since. She had, in fact, been very much damaged herself 
by the wind, and this accounted in a great measure for the 
poor resistance she had offered to the Achinese pirates, 
many of her guns being unshipped and some gone overboard. 
James Neccy decided, if possible, to keep the San Salvadore, 
to divide the survivors of her crew amongst all the ships, 
and by not allowing them to wear any arms, and keeping 
them at work and well watched, to render them powerless 
to do any harm, replacing the men he took from the San 
Salvadore by a crew drafted from his own ships. The wounded 
he proposed to leave on their own ship under charge of 
the priests, who would thus, by having plenty of work to 
do, be also kept out of mischief. 

Then courteously approaching the Portuguese officers, he 
asked the Captain to conduct him over the ship and especially 



157 

to point out to him tlie place where the treasure was kept. 
The crestfallen Portugals had no other choice but to obey, 
and contented themselves by begging that their wounded 
comrades and the priests might be treated as kindly as 
circumstances would permit: for their own part, they were 
prisoners, and must submit to their illfortune as well as 
they were able. It took some time to count all the money 
in the chests, and to make an accurate list of the gold, 
silver, plate and jewels; but when it was done, and all 
tranferred to the Dutch ships, those of the crew who were 
fit for work were exchanged for one hundred men from the 
Dutch ships to take charge of the prize. The ship's papers 
were then carefully read over, and were discovered to be 
of such great poHtical value that James Neccy decided to 
send them back to Europe as soon as possible, if he could 
find a Dutch trader homeward bound. Everything was found 
to be as the new recruits stated, and the prize was really 
a rich one. 

It was evening before all the arrangments were made and 
James Neccy returned to his own ship, where he delivered his 
commission into Dom Andre Furtado's hands, thus informing 
him that he was aware of his position. He also informed 
him that it was his intention to at once proceed to Johor, 
avoiding Malacca, and, if possible, any chance of falling 
in with other Portuguese ships. From Johor he intended 
sending back to Malacca the Captain-General and all his 
prisoners, after having taken guarantees for a fair ransom, 
but at their own charges. 

Dom Andre Furtado professed himself satisfied with this 
anrangment, and excused himself for having endeavoured to 
deceive the Admiral by calling his action merely a ruse of 
war, which was quite justifiable under the circumstances; 
it had not succeeded, and there was an end of it. He only 



iS8 

hoped that he might be able to persuade his captors to 
send him straight to Malacca without taking him to Johor. 
This James Neccy promised to do if he found it possible, 
but he could not agree to go in very close to Malacca for 
the purpose, because of the danger of meeting with an 
overpowering Portuguese force. AH these arrangements having 
been made, the Dutch flag was hoisted on board the San 
Salvadore, and the four ships proceeded down the Straits, 
keeping well towards the Sumatran coast. For two days 
they saw nothing, but on the third day, after they had 
passed the latitude of Malacca, they sighted a ship, which 
proved to be a Portuguese frigate of about seventy tons 
burthen, which had been sent over to Sumatra, with a 
present from the Government of Malacca to a Malay king, 
who had promised to ally himself with the Portugals. 

The frigate was returning to Malacca with a cargo of 
pepper, and after an exciting chase by the Peter Asmodeus, 
was captured, and her cargo having been transferred to the 
Dutch ships, the wounded men and priests were first moved 
in, and then Dom Andre Furtado, his officers and some of 
the other prisoners also embarked ; but eighty of the best 
of the men were detained by the Admiral to assist in 
working his ships, and as a guarantee for the payment of the 
ramson. 

The unfortunate Portuguese Captain-General was presented 
by James Neccy with his credentials and five thousand 
crowns, besides some of his personal effects in the way of 
jewellery and clothes; but the important political documents 
which had been found were kept, and Dom Andre congra- 
tulated himself that, considering all the circumstances of his 
capture and helplessness, he had been very leniently treated, 
perhaps much more easily than he would have served a 
Dutch or English vessel captured in the same way. 



159 

The property which was restored to him, the value of 
the great-ship and the frigate, and a fair ransom for his 
officers and men were carefully appraised, the priests being 
quaintly enough rated at five crowns for each man, the 
same value for ransom as was placed on the wounded men 
and sailors. To this was added ten thousand crowns, the 
amount which Dom Andre himself fixed as the proper 
amount to be paid for the enfranchisement of his own person ; 
and a document of agreement, fairly inscribed in Dutch and 
Portuguese, was drawn up, whereby Dom Adre Furtado de 
Mendoga promised, "as soon after his arrival in Malacca as 
possible, to send to Johor, sixty-five thousand five hundred 
and ten crowns to The Most Excellent and Honourable 
Merchant, James Neccy, or to any person having authority 
from him to receive it, in compensation for help vouchsafed 
by the said merchant to the Government of Malacca." 
James Neccy on his part promised, on receipt of the 
said monies, to release the eighty men he held as prisoners 
without further ransom," or as many of them as should 
then be alive." 

This document was signed by James Neccy and his 
Captains on the part of the Dutch, and by Dom Andre 
Furtado, his Captain and the General of his soldiers, on the 
part of the Portuguese, each party to the agreement keeping 
a copy of it. To a suggestion made by Dom Andre that a 
clause should be inserted prohibiting the Dutch merchants 
of that expedition from attacking Portuguese ships, the Admiral 
felt himself unable to agree ; and even when the Captain- 
General promised to bind himself not to do anything to 
hamper his movements east of Malacca, James Neccy sturdily 
declared that the two countries were at war, and he could 
not by any means agree to refrain from upholding the 
dignity of his nation's flag. He must, he said, meet any 



i6o 

attempt to molest his ships or commerce in the best way 
he could, but, in his own interests, he should try all he 
could to avoid an encounter, naively adding, "especially if 
he was met by a force equal or superior to his own". With 
this equivocal answer to his pacific proposals Dom Andre 
was constrained to be contented ; and then, with many 
professions of mutual admiration, they parted company, the 
crest-fallen Captain-General going on board the Portuguese 
frigate with his officers, to make the best of their way to 
Malacca, and there explain his disaster, and the soberly 
triumphant Dutchmen filling their sails for the Farther East, 
conscious of a most successful episode in their voyage of 
adventurous commerce. 

The Portuguese power in the East, which had for some 
years now been showing signs of decadence, had been treated 
to a severe lesson and punished by a reverse, which it 
would feel more severely than any other, as it tended to 
lower the inordinate pride and arrogance with which its 
Eastern polity was conducted; and not only that, but with 
the adveiit of such a sturdy trading community as the Dutch 
in the Far E,astern seas, the cherished monopoly in pepper, 
which the King of Portugal had for so long enjoyed, bade 
fair to receive its death-blow. 

The old policy of Prince Henry the Navigator, who 
encouraged his captains to bring home captives from the 
countries they visited, and the encouragement of marriages 
between Portuguese and these captives, had born its fruit in 
a mixed race, the character of which did not tend towards 
excellence. It has been written that "The Portuguese have 
shown an alacrity not found in other European nations 
to mix their race with others differing entirely in status 
from themselves." This was a main factor in the decadence 
of their power in the Orient, while the growing influence 



i6i 

of the Romish priests was another cause, and the edifice 
of Albuquerque's "Empire of the East", like the Spanish' 
"Empire of the West," tottered to its fall. 

Not only did the events of the past month raise the 
prestige of the Dutch a flag by this blow to the Portuguese 
power, but the Malay pirates from Achi, fostered as they 
were by rich Arab traders, and persuaded that the "Faith" 
must triumph, had also learned a lesson, and were made to 
confess that the new white men were powerful and not to 
be attacked with impunity. 

John Smith in recording the history of this part of the 
voyage and the tale of the fighting in the narrow sea, 
indulges in day dreams and prognostications of a bright 
future for trade, in which the Portugals were to take a second 
and very inferior place. If only there were a few more ships, 
either Dutch or of his own nation, he would gladly join in 
an attack on the Portugal's stronghold of Malacca, and he 
had very little doubt but that it would be an easy conquest. 
But it was not yet to be : the English Company had only 
just started to get a foot-hold in India, and that was much 
too large a matter to allow them for some time to go farther 
eastwards. The Dutch were to be the pioneers in these 
waters and James Neccy one of the first to make an impression 
there, to cause his influence to be felt by native princes, 
as well as by the Latin race which had op to that period 
dominated the region. 

Three more days found them in the narrow strait dividing 
the island of Singhapura from the end of the Peninsula, and 
at anchor in the mouth of the Johor River, where they were 
after a very short time visited by the King of Johor in 
person, and given a very cordial welcome; for this important 
chief was personally acqainted with both John Smith and 
Christian Lentholm, who five years before had spent three 



l62 

or four months trading in his river, and had then won his 
confidence by their fair dealing. 

The King invited James Neccy and his officers to go up 
the river to his capital, called Batu Sabar, which was situated 
about six leagues from the sea, and together with its suburb 
of Kota Sabarang, on the opposite side of the river, was 
quite an important town. It was found impossible to get 
the galleons and the great ship so far up the river, but the 
crompster was with little difficulty rowed up on one tide, 
and the Admiral, taking with him John Srnith and the three 
Malays from Perak, whorn he could trust to give a good 
account of the fight with the Achinese pirates and the 
capture of the Portuguese man-of-war, very gladly followed 
the royal canoe until she stopped at the King's landing-place. 

Here they spent some very enjoyable days, being most 
honorably entertained by the King Regale, who was most 
anxious to gajn their friendship, and who had come to 
understand that this particular sort of white man was not 
connected in any way with those who held authority at 
Malacca, but was, on the contrary, at enmity with them, 
and quite willing to fight them on very slight provocation. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

About a month was spent in the Johor River, and some 
profitable trading, was done with King Regale, who was 
very anxious to obtain all the merchandise that he could, 
as he was able to retail it by means of his large sailing 
prahus to the islands within reach at a very large profit, 
and also to the Chinese merchants who frequented his town. 
The traders got in exchange for their merchandise a con- 
siderable amount of gold dust and nuggets, which had been 
collected for King Regale by some Malay settlers whom he 
and his predecessors had introduced from Menangkabau in 
Sumatra, and who had gradually spread all over the districts 
called Gamencheh and Segamat, round the base of Gunong 
Ladang, which the Portuguese called Mount Ophir, believing 
that King Solomon got his gold to embellish the Temple 
from this region. 

These settlers from Sumatra had become a considerable 
power in the interior. They had fraternised with the aboriginal 
tribes, converting many of them to Islam, and had covered 
much of the country which had formerly owned allegiance 
to the Malay kings of Malacca. They had recognised that 
they had no rights to the soil, and as they brought no 
women with them from Sumatra, they took the native 
women for wives, or slaves — the terms, in John Smith's 
opinion, were synonymous all over the East — and flattered 
the native men by pretending to accept chiefs of their 



164 

nomination. They called the women "owners of the soil", 
in exchange for which flattering appellation they very willingly 
did all the work of cultivating it for their husbands delectation, 
and the latter thus had all their time at their own command, 
to hunt and fish, and get rich by collecting the produce of 
the forests and gold from the streams, which last, even if 
they had to sell it to their King at Johor for a very small 
price, meant profit to them, because their wives did all the 
work required to find the family in food. 

James Neccy also got from Johor a good deal of merchandise 
in the way of sweet-smelling gums and resins, as well as 
eagle wood, which, although a Protestant, he saw no sin in 
selling to the Romanists for incense and at a very large 
profit. He got no quantity of tin from Johor, as the country 
did not produce it, and the King, who was also anxiously 
looking for it for the Chinese merchants, had. only what he 
could get from some islands towards Java. 

After the Dutch ships had been about three weeks in the 
Johor River, the Captain-General of Malacca sent for his 
men with the full ransom agreed upon. A large Chinese 
junk had been chartered to bring them away, and had 
brought two Portuguese officers with letters from Dom Andre 
as well as the money. But when all had been settled, it 
was found that of the eighty men who had been brought 
to Johor, only sixty-two wished to go to Malacca, the other 
eighteen protesting that they would no longer serve under 
the Portuguese flag. They were not Portuguese, but natives 
of other countries, Italians, Germans, Scandinavians and 
others. Ater they had been carefully cross-examined, James 
Neccy agreed to keep them in his own employ at a fair 
wage, and the amount of their ransom was deducted from 
the monies sent by Dom Andre Furtado and returned to him. 

The King Regale, when he came to understand that these 



i65 

men were to be sent back to Malacca, was greatly troubled, 
and proposed that they should there and then be all krissed, 
for, as he said, it was only keeping alive more enemies. 
He could not understand the Admiral's obligation to keep 
to the terms of his agreement, and was greatly surprised 
when he refused to sell them to him as slaves for twice or 
even thrice the amount fixed for their ransom. But the 
Admiral was firm, and for fear any accident should befall 
the junk which was to take them to Malacca, he sent the 
Peter Asmodeus to escort them well on their way. After 
they had gone. King Regale disclosed to James Neccy that 
one of the officers had been tempting him to attack the 
Dutch ships, and had promised in the Captain-General's 
name that, if he did so, the Captain-General would enter 
into an alliance with him, and together they would wage 
war against all Dutch ships that came into the narrow seas. 
"But," said the King, "I told him that I was afraid, and 
that I was not strong enough to take your ships; and 
moreover, I think that the great Admiral would be a better 
ally for me than the Saranies." 

Furthermore he proposed to James Neccy that they should 
join together and attack Malacca itself, assuring him that 
all his Menangkabau people would assist from the land side, 
and that the town and fort could be easily taken. But the 
Admiral — incensed as he was by the attempt made by 
the officer to excite the King of Johor against him — proved 
to Kirig Regale that they could not get together a sufficient 
force and artillery enough to do much damage to the strong 
Portuguese walls, nor would his charter authorise him to 
engage in such an act of warfare as bombarding an enemy's 
town; he promised, however, that when he returned to 
Europe he would endeavour to engage his Government in 
the enterprise, because he felt certain that, if Portugal was 



i66 

allowed to remain in possession of such a strong position, 
Dutch trade could never prosper in the Far East. 

And thus a month or more went by, some trading, some 
politics, a very great deal of indulgence in eating the delicious 
food prepared by the King's cook, and a lot of amusement 
in the way of cock fighting, encounters between great water 
buffaloes and indeed anything that would fight, for this sort 
of sport was greatly enjoyed by the Malays, who trained 
not only cocks and buffaloes, but doves and quails, little 
fishes and even locusts, beetles and cockroaches to fight and 
wagered heavy stakes on the issue. 

All night long the town was alive with the music of drums 
and gongs, screaming fifes and flageolets, so that sleep was 
difficult to attain, and John Smith and the Admiral were 
asked to first one chief's house and then anothers, to eat 
their evening meal and witness some performance of dancing 
girls, conjuring or sword play, to hear a famous story-teller, 
or a lot of reverend Hajis chant a long religious exercise, 
which was not generally finished before dawn. 

In return, the Admiral took the King and all his chifefs 
over his ships, entertaining them as well as he was able. 
On this occasion the little dwarf girls dressed up in their 
finery and danced, while John Smith and his rapier men 
showed how they cleared the decks of the Achinese pirates, 
and the African savages, who were now a very stalwart 
and contented lot of men, went thorough a war dance. But 
that which interested the King most was the artillery, and 
especially the long gun "Young Anna" on board the PETER 
ASMODEUS; he was astonished at the distance she would 
carry and at the accuracy of her shooting; and when he 
hit a target himself after only three trials, he was delighted 
beyond measure, and offered to buy her for anything the 
Admiral demanded in exchange, but she was not for sale. 



167 

And then one day the Peter Asmodeus slipped down 
the river to join her consorts, and they all sailed out of 
the eastern end of the Straits, followed by the good wishes 
of King Regale and the Johor chiefs. The Admiral took 
with him a letter to the King of Pahang, whom the King 
of Johor claimed as a vassal. But it was not proposed to 
stop at Pahang unless they were obliged to do so, as the 
mouth of that river was known to be very dangerous, by 
reason of the sand bar over which the breakers rolled with 
tremendous force. The intention was to go on at once to 
Patani and there leave John Smith according to agreement, 
do some trading, and then return to Europe as soon as 
possible, calling at the same places as on the outward journey, 
and making up the cargoes with spices and pepper, if more 
valuable merchandise was not obtainable. 

The voyage up the east coast was a fairly prosperous 
one, and no particular incident occurred. Some Chinese junks 
were seen and passed without speaking; and except for 
that, the fleet arrived off the mouth of the Patani River 
without anything occurring to break the monotony of the 
voyage. 

A good deal of ceremony was displayed on their arrival, 
many officers visiting them in highly-decorated barges deman- 
ding presents, but offering nothing beyond empty compliments 
in return, and holding out no hopes of their being able to 
see the Ruler of the country, who was a widowed Queen, 
who, according to the custom of the country, did not show 
herself to the male sex. This was not quite what the Admiral 
liked, as he felt that he would have a much better chance 
to trade if he had an interview with the actual Head of 
the State. He therefore refused to send her any considerable 
present, as he was urged to do by her ministers, and contented 
himself by sending messages of deep respect, intimating 



i68 

that he had a rich present to offer as soon as he was 
received in audience. He adopted this course because he 
was credibly informed that she had received rich Chinese 
merchants on several occasions. 

His obstinacy had the desired effect, and one day a 
message was brought to him that he would be received 
that evening by the Great Queen. Preparations were therefore 
immediately made for the visit. The present, consisting of 
samples of all the merchandise which they had to dispose 
of, two fine large elephant's tusks and several bags of spices 
and pepper, was given in charge of ten African slaves, who 
when they landed from the Queen's royal barges, which 
were sent to fetch them, marched in procession guarded by 
twice as many matchlockmen and headed by James Neccy 
in a rich dress, with John Smith as his interpreter. Some 
more of the officers also went with their Admiral to the 
Queen's palace, where they were received first by her 
Chamberlains, and hospitably regaled with a very elaborate 
meal of rice and many tiny dishes of meat, fish and vegetables, 
cooked with spices and pungent herbs. After this they were 
served with a warm liquor in cups, which they were given 
to understand was made by scalding some dried leaves in 
water, the leaves being procured from the Chinese merchants, 
who habitually drank it with their meals. When this was 
finished, the materials for chewing pepper leaves smeared 
with slaked lime, and taken together with a sort of astringent 
nut, were passed round, arid the business of the visit was 
discussed whilst they masticated this useful digestive, which 
the Admiral had learned to appreciate whilst staying with 
the King of Johor. 

Some considerable delay, and a great deal of talking as 
to the proper etiquette to be observed, took place before 
the Queen was prepared to receive them. The Chamberlains 



169 

were very anxious that the white men should do homage 
in the same way as they made the Chinese, which was by 
crawh'ng into the presence and at intervals stopping and 
lifting their hands in adoration; but James Neccy refused 
to do this, and after much journeying to and fro between 
the outer hall of the Palace, where they had been enter- 
tained, and the inner chamber, where they were to be 
received, this point was waived. Then came the question 
of a salute by firing cannon. This the Admiral, sorry as he was 
to waste his gunpowder, agreed to, chiefly because he thought 
the noise of the guns would greatly enhance his own dignity 
and also serve to awe the people; but when the Chamberlain 
urged that he should fire fifty rounds, being one for each 
year of the Queen's hfe, he demurred, and finally it was 
settled that he was to fire fourteen rounds, being one for 
each year of her reign, the first and last rounds to be fired 
from the long gun on board the Peter Asmodeus, and 
the others from the culverins. This knotty point having 
been settled, a messenger had to be sent off to the ships, 
to order the firing to start as soon as a shot was heard 
from a matchlock in front of the Palace. 

All these delays were rather trying to the patience ; but 
the Admiral, who anticipated great profits from his trading 
in this new field of adventure, and who also was most 
anxious to secure a favourable reception for his protege, 
John Smith, willipgly submitted to the inconvenience. They 
laughed very heartily at the tawdry, not to say dirty, 
appearance of the Palace, which was merely a series of large 
palm-thatched houses, joined together by broad covered 
ways, with wooden walls and floors composed of split palm 
tree trunks, over which was a mat of split bamboo. This 
floor was so slight and, apparently, insecure, that at the 
outset the visitors made no trouble at all about taking off 



170 

their heavy boots in accordance with the request of the 
Palace officers, for they were actually afraid to wear them 
for fear of breaking through the floor. 

At last everything was arranged, and the procession started 
from the receptionhall at the first roar of "Young Anna". 
They slowly traversed three other halls and passage-ways 
until they came to the audience chamber and into the 
presence of this mighty Queen, who exacted twice as much 
ceremonious attention as the King of Johor, who ruled a 
much larger and more important country. They found the 
august lady seated on a small square mattress, elevated only 
a few inches off the floor; while grouped behind her were 
several women and girls; and in two lines down either side 
of the hall were seated her officers of state. 

The dresses of the Queen and all her people were parti- 
cularly handsome, being made of the brightest silks, and the 
handles and sheathes of the men's weapons, krises and 
daggers, were of gold. There were also many gold articles 
in the way of drinking vessels, cuspidons and richly-ornamented 
weapons reverently held by the officers near the Queen, 
and boxes for the chewing materials, without which it was 
impossible for a Malay to move a hundred yards, be he 
prince or peasant ; and to crown all, over the Queen's head 
was suspended a not very clean canopy. The lady herself 
was middle-aged, rather fat, but fairly comely, having a 
benevolent expression, which was not belied by her speech, 
when she spoke, as she did so soon as her visitors were 
seated on mats spread for them before her throne. 

First the presents designed for her were displayed to 
their best advantage, and she made a careful examination 
of them, showing a very considerable knowledge of the 
quality of the stuffs, and comparing them not very favourably 
with the material supplied by her Chinese merchants. She 



171 

was, however, very pleased indeed with the glass beads, 
buttons and other ornaments provided, declaring that they were 
much superior to the jade ornaments which she had obtained 
from China, or the precious stones from Siam and Burma. 
But what pleased her most of all was an elaborately-ornamented 
wheel-lock dag or pistol. This she immediately ordered to 
be loaded and fired in her presence; and John Sniith having 
explained to her the action of it, she passed it over to her 
chief executioner, remarking that it would serve to kill 
malefactors with. 

After the presents had been sufficiently discussed, James 
Neccy, through his interpreter, asked formal permission to 
be allowed to trade in the Queen's dominions for a month; 
and if at the end of that time the Queen considered that 
it was to her advantage and to the advantage of her people, 
he proposed to leave his agent, John Smith, in Patani for 
perhaps a year or two, in order to establish a regular tra- 
ding station there, which he and other Dutch merchants 
would keep supplied with articles useful to the people, to 
be exchanged for the produce of the country. 

The Queen was very pleased that this should be done, 
declaring that she herself would become a partner in the 
business, and that the agent should have a house built for 
him at once, close to her Palace walls, so that his goods 
should be safe. She also promised to provide him with 
servants and watchmen as her share of the speculation; and 
as to a wife, if he was not able to choose one he liked 
from the girls who would undoubtedly at once offer them- 
selves, she would find him one from her own family. This 
last proposition, made by the Queen quite as if it was a 
natural part of the business, was rather startling to John 
Smith, who had with some difficulty arranged that the little 
savage dwarf, Mesah, should return to her own country 



1/2 

when the ships went home, and who was not thinking of 
linking himself in another alliance again so soon. With this the 
audience ended, and after accepting from_the Queen's hands 
some "siri" for chewing, the Admiral and his party with- 
drew, well contented with the result; except that in John 
Smith's case the matter of the threatened wife was a little 
embarrassing. 

After about a month's stay at this place, the Admiral, 
with all his ships, sailed for Siam, leaving his agent establis- 
hed in a convenient house close to the Palace. The fleet 
did not return again to Patani until two months had elapsed, 
having had a most successfull time in Siam, where they 
got rid of nearly all their merchandise in exchange for pep- 
per and many precious stones. The Admiral was now ready 
to return to Europe, and what little of the original mer- 
chandise was left was entrusted to John Smith to dispose 
of at the best advantage he could, and it was agreed that 
he should stay at Patani, if possible, until James Neccy 
should i"eturn to the East and bring him away, but if the 
Admiral himself did not return, or if he found it difficult 
to stay at Patani, he was to charter either a native ship or 
a Chinese junk to take him to Johor, whence he would 
without doubt soon get a passage home, Johor being some- 
times visited by Dutch merchants. 

He was to aim at reducing the merchandise in bulk as 
much as possible, by judicious exchange, so that ultimately 
his trading should all resolve itself into the acquirement of 
gold, either coined or as gold dust, and thus he would be 
in a position to move about without much inconvenience. 

The expedition as a whole had so far been very success- 
ful; a large amount of money and a fine ship had been 
acquired by a lucky chance; much very valuable cargo had 
been obtained by legitimate trading and by the conquest 



173 

of an aggressive and savage enemy; the inevitable loss of 
life by disease and in fighting had been replaced by valu- 
able slaves, and by men who had elected to desert the 
Portuguese flag in favour of the Dutch, and the extra cargo 
space in the great ship captured from the Portugals had 
been nearly filled with pepper and spices, in spite of the 
monopoly in that commodity claimed by the King of Portugal. 

The Admiral considered that he would be able to com- 
plete his lading at Johor; but, if he failed to do so, he 
would put into the Perak River and get some more tin. 
He would also, if circumstances seemed to warrant it, put 
in at Ceylon, Algoa and the Quanza River, at all of which 
places he might hope to get cargo, at the same time that 
he provisioned and watered his ships. 

Not the least useful result of his voyage was the chain 
of calling-places whiclj he had established, and the friendly 
relations which he had entered into with the natives; for 
the good work done in this direction would give him a 
very powerful voice on the board of the new company of 
merchants, which, he expected, was by this time formed, 
or at least only awaiting his return from the East to come 
into existence. 

And so commending John Smith to the kind keeping of 
Providence, they sailed out of the mouth of the Patani 
River, leaving him, a solitary white man, in a city the 
population of which was half professedly friendly Malays, 
and the other half Chinese, who, to say the least of it, 
were rival traders and not too well disposed towards him. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Sadly John Smith watched the ships out of sight. He 
confesses in his journal that if it were not for very shame 
he would have re-embarked his merchandise and gone with 
them ; and a letter to his mother, sent home by the Admiral's 
hand, shows that he was afraid he had done a foolish thing 
in trusting himself to the unknown chances of an indefinite 
sojourn alone with these people, who, friendly as they might 
appear at first, and when he was under the protection of 
the guns and power of the four great ships in the river, 
would perhaps alter their minds now thas he was alone and 
unprotected, and all his valuable property was to be had 
for the taking. 

Small wonder was it that, in spite of his endeavours to 
distract his thoughts by arranging and making inventories 
of his goods, deep depression gradually stole over him, and 
before he had been alone a week he fell sick of a bad 
attack of fever and ague. In vain did the Queen do her 
best to awaken him from his state of lethargy, by urging him 
to commence to trade. Every day she either went to his 
house or had him conducted to her own presence, and took 
the kindliest interest in his health, supplying him with 
remedies of the most incongruous descriptions, all warranted 
to be infallible by her medicine men, although she herself 
insisted that the only true and certain remedy was for him 
to take to wife one, or even two, of the many damsels who 



175 

offered themselves for his delectation. But he would have none 
of them. He was too miserable and enervated in mind, as well 
as body, to care for such things. It was in vain that the 
Queen had the prettiest girls searched for, and persuaded, them 
to offer themselves to him, for he would not even glance at 
their bared charms, while their timidly amorous glances only 
disgusted him, 'and the ihsiduous whisperings of the kind 
old Queen, who urged him to take this or that beautifully- 
formed and warm-tinted girl to his arms, for his comfort, 
made his headache even worse than it did before. 

He religiously doctored himself by chewing the bitter 
Jesuit's bark, which he, like all travellers of those times, 
was never without, for it was even then considered the most 
efficacious remedy for fever; and this perhaps saved his 
life, or perhaps, after all, the kind nursing of the good old 
Queen did it. At any rate John Smith himself gives quite 
as much credit to one as the other, for he evidently was 
in the greatest danger for some time. 

There is an interval in his diary about this time of over 
six weeks. For some days the entries are hardly intelligible 
on account of their incoherency and the poorness of the 
writing, until at last, on the fourth of March, 1603, the 
climax is reached, and the astounding statement is found 
that "two horrible black arid ugly she-devils had commenced 
to. feed on him and had gnawed all the flesh off his face, 
snorting and breathing fire from their nostrils as they buried 
their teeth in his flesh"; at least this is so far as could be 
understood from the blurred and uncertain writing. 

The next entry is dated the 24th April. It is sufficiently 
coherent, and perhaps explains the delusion under which 
he was labouring when he last wrote in his diary. He says 
that he awoke to consciousness two days before, and at 
first imagined that he was in the Paradise of the Prophet 



176 

Mohamad, and that two houris were ministering to him; 
but soon he realised that he was an inhabitant of this earth, 
and that the feeling of etherial buoyancy which pervaded 
him, resulted from the fact that he was free from the pain 
of the dreadful headaches which had rendered him uncon- 
scious and unable to define his surroundings, except through 
the distorted focus of the most horrible nightmare. But he 
was so thin and weak that he could not move his body, 
owing to the pressure of many thicknesses of silk coverlets 
under which he lay, and which, together with the warm 
embracings of two beautiful damsels, had induced the flow 
of sweat which was driving the fever out of his system. 
Truly it was no wonder that he thought he had realised 
"Shurga" at last, when he met the smiling faces which 
welcomed him back to consciousness. 

The wise old Queen perhaps heard from reverend Haji 
how the physicians tried to restore vitality to the moribund 
Nabi Daud, and had thought the prescription worth a trial. 
At any rate her patient was inclined to attribute his cure 
as much to the Queen's mejdicine as to his own; and there 
was no further difficulty in persuading him to take wives 
of the people of the country, according to the Queen's wish. 

But oh ! the joy of convalescense ! many pages of his diary 
does he devote to describing his feelings and experiences 
during the month after he awoke again to a knowledge .of 
life. It is like the happy recital by a mother of her baby's 
developing powers, and seems at first sight unworthy of a 
grown man. One almost marvels that he left it in his diary 
for other people to read, after he had fully regained his 
strength and mental faculties. 

He minutely describes the pleasure he felt when he first 
realised that he could taste the flavour of fruits, and the 
feeling of extraordinary strength which seemed to surge 



177 

through him after slowly swallowing a small cup of chicken 
broth; while it only provokes in him an amused feeling and 
no disappointment to find that, whereas he thought the 
acquired strength would certainly carry him for a walk the 
length of the house, it scarsely served to allow him to 
stand upright. 

Then the exquisite delight of repose which was induced 
when his handmaidens sponged his body with warm water, 
in which some fragrant herbs had been steeped, and gently 
assisted him to a fresh couch, after he had laid languidly 
perspiring away the remnants of the fever. And when at 
last he was able to be dressed in the easy garments of the 
country, and walked with assistance down to the river, 
-where, lying on a brightly-decorated mat, supported by 
luxurious cushions, he inhaled the fresh warm breezes from 
the sea, he breaks out into a rhapsody of thankfulness to 
beneficent Nature for the goodness of the world and the 
sweet delight of living. Quickly, then, his strength returns 
to him, every day his walks get longer and longer, and his 
ambition urges him to test his strength by exercising his 
body, — ■ which has, to his mind, acquired a new youth- 
fulness, — by rapier play, until at last he can lunge as 
actively, and every time deliver his point at full stretch 
within a circle of less than an inch in diameter, execute 
his reposte and flaconade, and spring his demi-voltes and 
his voltes as alertly as he did when he was a recognised 
master of fence in England and Holland. 

Following the advice of his clever doctress, he made a 
habit of going with the fishing fleet out to sea every third 
day, and this also did much to invigorate him, not only 
by inhaling the fresh salt air, but by providing his mind 
with a healthy excitement. Much has he written of the 
strange and beautiful fish which were caught, and very 

12 



178 

learnedly does he discourse of the rival merits of the ekan 
merah and the ekan lang, of the boniness of the ekan 
parang and of the delicious roe of the ekan terbu. And 
then the rush and scramble of rival boats to get in first 
to the market, and the beauty of the scene as the crowd 
of sails seem to fly up the river on the incoming tide, with 
a fair wind from the sea. 

All these things quickly restored him to his usual health, 
and the gratitude which he felt in his heart towards the 
good Queen, who not only nursed him back to life, but 
also to an appreciation of the delight of living, easyly 
reconciled him to the prospect of a long stay in the country. 

The Queen's fondness for her guest also increased, as such 
attachments always do when a motherly woman has success- 
fully nursed a patient through a severe illness. She gave 
him the title of "Dato' Dagang", or Minister of Immigrants, 
thus making him the Aloran Sembah, or Presenter of Petitions, 
through whom all strangers were authorised to lay their 
business before the Throne. 

This appointment caused no ill-feeling amongst her subjects, 
as in a Malay state it is always held by a prominent stranger, 
who might be expected to encourage the immigration of his 
own countrymen to the State. The office, though not entitling 
the holder to a regular salary, is a very profitable one in 
the hands of a shrewd Malay, who would know how to 
exact payment in recompense for assistance given to strangers. 
Needless to say that John Smith did not personally get any 
direct benefit from it, although Chinese merchants and others 
learned to look to him for assistance, and were not disappointed. 

It was the durien season, and, in accordance with custom, 
the Queen and all her household prepared to go up country 
for two weeks holiday, to feast on the fruit. The royal 
elephants were, after much difficulty and delay, brought in 



1/9 

from their feeding places, twenty-four great beasts of burthen, 
some of them easy of temper and docile, but others with 
every disposition to make matters uncomfortable, and even 
dangerous, for their loads of pretty girls. It was the first 
time that John Smith had ever ridden on an elephant, and 
it took him a little while to get used to the hard seat on 
the rough cane basket which served for a saddle. It could 
not by any .stretch of courtesy be called a howdah. He 
had to sit perched in a corner of this uncomfortable affair 
in as little space as possible, cross-legged and cramped, 
fearing that at every lurch of his clumsy steed he would 
be thrown to the ground. The, Queen's beast was the only 
one which carried a properly constructed and covered howdah, 
in which she sat in solitary grande,ur. The rest were supplied 
with the rough, open, double baskets, which were used to 
carry loads, and which made but indifferent seats. 

John Smith had long since discarded his trunk hose and 
tight doublet: they were impossible garments for such an 
expedition and for the life he now led amongst the. natives; 
and except for the colour of his skin and his greater height, 
he would have passed well for a native, as he not only 
wore their dress, but, so far as he knew how, imitated their 
habits and speech. 

Each elephant was allotted to a member of the Queen's 
household, or to some favoured guest, who was allowed to 
bring not more than two of his wives and one unmarried 
girl, a relation of his house, while the bachelors were made 
to travel on foot. These expeditions were always looked 
•upon as especially good opportunities for match-making, and 
. one of the chief games indulged in was for the young men to 
change places with the gambalas, or elephant drivers, in 
order to carry on flirtations, not always, as John Smith soon 
discovered, of the most innocent description, with the girls. 



i8o 

Indeed, he realised before he had been very long in the 
country, that whereas the virtue of married women was 
very strictly looked after, and any lapse therefrom punis- 
hed with death, the sentence being carried into effect by 
the fathers of the guilty man and woman, unmarried girls 
were allowed the utmost degree of liberty as to their con- 
duct, without any fear of punishment or of even shocking 
the conventionalities. Chastity with them would be consi- 
dered absurd, for children of nature as they were, the idea 
of refraining from the indulgence of their instinctive desires, 
in order to meet the convention of a religious system, was 
far beyond their capabilities. Good Mohamadans as they 
professed to be, the Arabian teachers who tried to force 
them to a stricter code of moral ethics were fain to accept 
this, as well as many other customs of the country which 
they could not alter in conformity with the Law of the 
Prophet, with the best grace they could, and call it all 
halal, or lawful. 

It was like a party of youths and maidens going a-maying, 
this expedition into the forest to eat duriens, and the 
stranger, whose lot was cast with them, felt like a boy not 
yet out of his teens in his enjoyment of the games indul- 
ged in by the young men and damsels, to say nothing of 
the more staid and responsible heads of families, and even 
the great Queen herself, who laid aside her dignity for the 
time, and played with her people. 

She called up John Smith's elephant close to her own, 
pretending that she wished to consult him about a cam- 
ping place for the night; and then, as he approached, sud- 
denly the sides of her howdah were thrown open, and it 
was seen that she had taken up three young and beautiful 
girls, who commenced to pelt his party with berries and 
fruits of the forest which they had collected. So amidst 



i8i 

screams of laughter and delight at his endeavours to screen 
himself from the shower of missiles, they so drubbed him 
that he was forced to seek safety in flight. 

This was the signal for a general engagement ; the elephants 
were goaded to excitement, and dashes were made into the 
forest to find suitable berries and fruit for ammunition. 
Fierce old war captains and staid and reverend Hajis joined 
in the game of war as joyously as the laughing girls and 
young wives, and many a young man, following the elephants 
on foot, earned the promise of a sweet recompense from 
the girl of his desire, in exchange for a supply of ammu- 
nition, adroitly thrown up to her, when she and her party 
were hard pressed and in want of it. 

And so they frolicked on through the gloomy and cool 
forest and over open fields of coarse grass, the scene of the 
spasmodic agriculture of the forest tribes, following some- 
times the dry bed of a stream and at other regular elephant 
tracks, connecting villages and orchards, or leading to some 
famous pool in the river. Thus they travelled from early 
morning to noon, when they prepared a camp, either be- 
side a river, or on the edge of an orchard of durien trees. 
If they camped by a stream, the young men would set to 
work to bruise between stones a certain root, of which a 
supply was carried. The juice of this root when thrown 
into the water had the effect of stupifying the fish, and of 
making them rise to the surface; and then, when it had 
been immersed for a short time in the stream above a pool 
known to be full of fish, and when they began to rise and 
flounder about on the surface, with a shout men and women 
would take to the water, swimming and diving after the 
finny tribe, almost as if they also were denizens of the 
rivers; and soon the banks of the river were dotted with 
busy groups of women, cleaning and splitting the catch 



1»2 

ready to broil over the hot cinders of their fires, whilst the 
young men prepared sheds and arbours thatched with palm 
leaves, for the night's accommodation. 

The next night they would camp by an orchard where 
the durien fruit was ripe and fast dropping with resounding 
thuds to the ground. Woe to the unlucky youth who should 
by chance be hit by a falling fruit, for if he escaped with 
his life he might thank his stars. It was no joke to be 
underneath and to have a heavy fruit as big as a man's 
head, armed with hard points all over it, fall on one from 
a branch fifty or sixty feet from the ground ; such accidents 
did happen sometimes, and with fatal results. 

And then, when a lot of duriens were collected, they sat 
down to feast, until they were helpless with repletion. John 
Smith soon got over the feeling of repulsion which the 
first acquaintance with the fruit always fills newcomers to 
the country; the especially foetid odour, and the spicy, 
aromatic flavour of the creamy pulp, seemed a part of the 
warm, sensuous life of the tropical forest, and completed 
the charm of the lotus-eating and irresponsible evenings 
which they spent in the gloomy shade, serving as a foil 
and enjoyable contrast to the energetic and strenuous fun 
of the camps on the river bank, when everybody was so 
thoroughly tired out that they were asleep almost before 
they had time to crawl into their leafy arbours. 

For more than a fortnight they thus travelled about the 
country, and then they returned to the town of Patani, 
near the mouth of the river, to their usual avocations there. 
The journey had been of the greatest value to our mer- 
chant, not only in showing him how to travel and arrange 
his affairs according to the habits of the people, but also by 
introducing him to the chiefs as a favoured protege of the Queen, 
who, he found, was very deeply reverenced by her people. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

John Smith found on his return a letter from the Admi- 
ral, who had sent it from Johor by one of the King's trading 
prahus. It was written just before the fleet left Johor on 
its homeward voyage, and he was thus unable to send a 
reply to it. The Admiral wrote that, except for a severe 
storm which had done some little damage to his ships, he 
had had a fairly successful voyage so far, having succeeded 
in getting some more valuable cargo, and finally agreeing 
with King Regale of Johor to return in two years time 
with a force strong enough to attack Malacca in conjunc- 
tion with him, and with authority to conclude a formal 
treaty with him. 

The kindly old Admiral wrote much in the way of encou- 
ragement to his young friend, and promised that, directly 
he returned to Johor, he would send either one of his own 
ships, or if that was impossible, a King's prahu to Patani 
to fetch him and all his property to Johor, in time to join 
the expedition to Malacca which, he felt sure, the Dutch 
Government would authorise, in furtherance of the interests 
of the Company which was being formed. 

John Smith now spent some weeks in quiet trading and 
in making friends with the merchants from Siam and China, 
as well as in exercising his powers and fulfilling the duties 
appertaining to his post of Dato' Dagang which he found, 
if he was to act conscientiously, were by no means light 



1 84 

and unimportant. All disputes between the foreigners who 
frequented the port and the natives were referred to him. 
It war. his business also to see that the ships were allowed 
proper moorings. There was no specified salary attached to 
his appointment, but it was recognised that he might make 
what he could out of it. 

The Royal Treasurer first collected an export duty of 
ten per cent and an import duty of equal value on all 
goods, and not all of this went to the Queen's treasury, it 
is to be feared. Sundry other officials also collected small 
amounts for services, or at least what they said were 
services, rendered, although in point of fact, it might 
rather be said that they exacted payment by dint of threats 
of violence and trade hinderance, if the payments were not 
forthcoming. 

John Smith was more honest than this, and scarcely 
required to ask for payment for the substantial help which 
he gave, and thus got to be very friendly with the foreign 
merchants, albeit at the cost of a little animosity from the 
native chiefs, whose system differed from his. 

The Queen, who through her agents, the girls of her 
household, easily learned all that was going on, at least in 
her capital town, soon saw that she had a valuable officer 
in the white man, and proposed to him to give him a more 
important post; even going so far as to hint that, if he 
would become a Mohamadan she would take him for her 
husband, and as she was getting on in years, would show 
no jealousy if he exercised the privilege of all good followers 
of the Prophet, and had other younger wives besides, plainly 
declaring that her idea was not so much a passionate longing 
for him, as a wish to advance him and, at the same time, 
the well-being of her kingdom. This proposed kindness 
rather overpowered John Smith, and he has recorded his 



i8s 

thoughts on the subject at some considerable length ; carefully 
weighing, first the material benefit of such an alliance, against 
the possible dangers in which it might involve him, and 
then the spiritual aspect of apostacy, balancing the merits 
of the Cross against the Crescent. 

It seemed very certain that, if he allied himself to the 
Queen, he would incur the enmity of all the great chiefs 
of the country, and it might almost be taken for granted 
that they would intrigue for his downfall, even if they did 
not make certain of getting rid of him altogether. Murder 
was of almost daily occurrence in the city, and was so little 
thought of, that even the spectacle of the dead body of a 
white man in the street some morning would not shock 
people to an enormous extent. It was the fashion to attribute 
such mischances to fate, and the expression, "Hukum sudah 
sampei", meaning that the unlucky man had met his ordained 
fate, was considered quite sufficient reason for such a death, 
unless some busy-body should think it ivorth while to make 
enquiry, when perhaps the murderer, if caught, would be 
fined a certain weight of smelted tin, and be ordered to 
provide a buffalo and some rice for a reconciliation feast 
between himself and the relatives of the murdered man ; or 
it might be that he would be ordered to give a live slave 
in exchange for the life he had taken. These Mohamadan 
Malays, whilst they were sticklers for the old Mosaic law 
of a life for a life, and the rest of it, were not so wasteful 
as to kill a man because he had killed another, and thus 
lose two subjects of the State at one coup: that was not 
their reading of the Law. A man was part, first, of the 
assets of the State, and secondly, an item of value to his 
clan and family; and if the State was reimbursed by the 
recovery of half the fine imposed, the State was satisfied. 
The clan and family were, for the same reason, more contented 



1 86 

with the other half of the fine, or perhaps a live and able- 
bodied slave, than they would have been with an equal 
weight of carrion. That was the Law and the Prophets, and 
was reasonable as well, in Malay estimation. True, sometimes 
an irresistible and foolish desire for vengeance would stir 
up an avenger of blood, and then one murder would lead 
to many ; but this was not often the case, unless the aggrieved 
clan was not strong enough to enforce the payment of the 
fine ordered by the Judge. There was another phase of the 
material side of the question which he gave his careful 
consideration to; and that was his domestic arrangnients. 
He was very well contented with his life as it was: his two 
young wives were affectionate and attentive to him; they 
were not jealous, the one of the other; nor was there any 
cause for jealousy, for their husband — or as the fashion 
of the time and place decreed it, their master, — was 
equally fond of both of them. They were by no means 
meek and gentle creatures, for they ruled the house with 
much spirit and with a great deal of cleverness, nor did 
they spare their master altogether, often forcing him to 
obey their behests against his own judgement, but doing 
it with so much playfulness and acumen that he seemed 
to be following more his own inclination than their orders. 
And then, when it is remembered that they were amongst 
the most beautiful and highly-connected young ladies of the 
country, it may be guessed that John Smith was not disposed 
to take even the great Queen herself into his harem, full 
of gratitude towards her though he felt, and fond of her as 
he was, but with an affection more filial than lover-like. 

The two young ladies who already shared his affections 
so amiably, when they found out, as they very soon did, 
what was taking place, also strongly advised him to refuse 
the honour; and they did so quite disinterestedly, for they 



1 8; 

declared themselves to be quite willing that he should take 
other and younger wives, but said they," If you marry the 
Queen, every chief in the country will be envious, and envy 
soon unsheathes the kris." 

John Smith was not a bigoted Christian. He had care- 
fully, examined the articles of faith in Jesus of Nazareth as 
the Christ, both from the point of view of Rome and also 
as a Protestant, and he found in the broadest Christianity 
something wanting, some more evidence necessary. Like 
Thomas he almost thought that, before the dogmas enunciated 
by the Teachers could be accepted, he must actually see 
and feel the wounded side. He would not allow himself to 
absolutely drift away from the religion of his race, but it 
is plain from his writings that his faith was weak, and his 
hope not altogether stedfast. Charity, on the other hand, 
abounded in him to an overwhelming degree, for he loved 
his neighbours, meaning not only all mankind, but also all 
animated nature, with a comprehensive and absorbing passion 
which often led him into eccentricities that surprised his 
friends. He was a good fighter, and loved to fight in what 
he considered a legitimate cause, but in the midst of the 
hottest quarrel his impulse always led him rather to bind 
up wounds than to inflict them; and it grieved him less to 
lose his substance than to forfeit the affection of his friends ; 
so perhaps his Christianity was saved by his charity after all. 

He had carefully read and had expounded to him the 
Koran of Mohamad, the Prophet of Islam, and in his heart 
he approved of it, except its dogmas. He found its precepts 
as worthy of acceptance as the lessons of the Christian 
testaments, and certainly more adaptable to human life in 
the tropics, where the people are more childlike and under 
the sway of the emotions and natural cravings, than are the 
inhabitants of colder climes. After careful study of the 



i88 

religions, and the methods of their exponents in all ages, 
he could only determine to himself that Christianity and 
Islam were each of them but paraphrases of the same great 
code of law and morality, the first enunciation of which is 
attributed to Moses, or Musa, one of the greatest leaders 
of men the world has ever held. 

Of what avail is it to argue as to the greater efficacy of 
baptism by water or circumcision ? Both rites are only 
symbols of the entry of a child into religious life. 

Why argue for polygamy or monogamy ? The rich man 
and the strong arm in every creed will always, if it pleases 
him to do so, possess a larger harem than his poorer and 
weaker brother, even although he may with his lips declare 
that to do so is immoral; and even polyandry, either as an 
institution or as a secret indulgence is not so very rare, 
showing that, with both sexes, no tenets of religion, nor 
any teaching of moral or legal codes, is of avail, as against 
the promptings of the passions in the natural healthy body. 
Who shall say that the religious sects of Christianity are 
more blood-thirsty in the propagation of their diversified 
creeds than the Mohamadans ? Is there any difference between 
a crusade and a Jehad ? Was the spread of Crescent in 
India by the first Mughal emperors carried on with greater 
cruelty than the Inquisition was using at the very time 
John Smith was writing his diaries? 

And as to the Sectarian differences in both great religions, 
he could find nothing to discriminate between the quarrels 
and sanguinary contests of Romanists against Protestants 
and Sunis against Shiahs. 

The world of men and women, given the leadership of 
eloquent preachers to gather followers into antagonistic 
camps, teaching Faith in an Abstraction as a matter of vital 
importance to the human race, but teaching it from two 



iSg 

different lines of thought, is ever ready to shed blood and 
sacrifice human life in the upholding of the efficacy of a 
superstition to insure either happiness in the natural life, 
or bliss in a super-natural life. And for such matters will 
the peoples fight to the death, although the very tenets of 
the religions for which they fight inculcate peace and charity 
and love for one another as their leading principles. 

John Smith doubted whether the simple religion of sani- 
tary cleanliness and improvement of the breed of the tribe, 
which he found on the Quanza River in Dongo land, was 
not perhaps better, as being more in accord with Nature 
and free from the element of dogma. One day, by chance, 
when he was in Johor and wandering about King Regale's 
city, he had come upon an ancient Haji, evidently an 
Arabian, who professed to be teaching a few disciples the 
real tenets of the Islamic faith. He listened to his preaching, 
but at first was only disgusted by the coarse sensuality of 
the symbols the old man used to explain the points and 
doctrines which he wished to elucidate; but when he had 
heard him through; and had come to understand the creed 
which he upheld, "La-Alla-ha-illa-lah, Aku Allah, ya Allah 
Aku, Alla-Hu Aku," "God is one God, I am God, God is Me, 
I am God the victorious", he pondered the matter greatly in 
his mind, and comparing it with much that he remembered 
of the writings of religious teachers of all ages, he almost 
thought that here was a universal first principle, which 
might reconcile all conflicting arguments into one Pantheon 
acceptable to the whole world ; and thus would be elimi- 
nated the greatest factor for discord which prevailed and 
torn the human race in an endless embroglio of turbulent 
strife and bloodshed in the name of peace, love and good-will. 

With these thoughts in his mind, John Smith might reason- 
ably be considered capable of changing his religion from 



I go 

Christianity to Islamism without much straining of his con- 
science; but he could not bring his mind to do it under 
any circumstances. Illegitimate child of such an incongruous 
attachment as he knew himself to be, the frivolous and gay 
nature which he had inherited in a slight degree from his 
actress mother was dominated in him by the earnest Chris- 
tianity of love and charity — err though it did, and fail 
him before the fascination and seduction of the actress, — 
which his father, the priest, possessed and passed on to 
him. This leaven of earnestness would not allow him lightly 
to change in himself that which had become a habit of 
life earlier than his mother's teaching. The preceptors to 
whom she gave him in charge had moulded his mind to an 
unconscious belief in a certain formula, and he felt that to 
preserve that belief he would undoubtedly throw away his 
own life, although he just as certainly would do nothing to 
try and induce another human mind to accept the same 
faith, even if it were the mind of his own child. 

On the two counts of material benefit and spiritual change, 
he decided that he could not become the good Queen's 
consort, and as tenderly and affectionately as possible he 
made her understand this, and also that he was not in any 
way desirous of increasing the number of the inmates of 
his harem. However, she was so little offended at his denial 
of herself, that she offered to provide him with more young 
ladies if he wished for them. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

For some months after this momentous matter was sett- 
led, John Smith lived an interesting and successful life, atten- 
ding to his official duties and, as opportunity offered, barter- 
ing his inexpensive stuffs and cheap ornaments for produce 
of the country, chiefify tin and gold. The gold he kept; it 
was the ultimate aim and object of his trading; but the tin 
he passed on again to the Chinese merchants, getting in 
exchange rich silks and other miscellaneous articles with 
which he traded again, turning over his stock many times; 
and as he was never anxious to hurry business, he was able to 
command profits, which merchants who came in ships and 
only waited for a short time in the port, could not hope for. 
The Queen, who had considerable interests in tin mining 
in the interior, was most anxious that he should go up the 
river and spend some time visiting her mines, so that he 
could tell her whether she was being fairly treated by her 
agents, and also to suggest any improvements in the system 
of working which he considered advisable. 

At this time there were several small states dependent 
OQ Patani, and it was customary for the princes governing 
them to come once in every three years to Patani to do 
homage to the Queen as their overlord; and when they 
were assembled, there was always one particular matter to 
be discussed which caused some quarrelling; this was the 
homage which the King of Siam exacted once every three 
years from Patani. 



192 

Siam was a very powerful state, and laid claim to most 
of the Peninsula. True, she did nothing to enforce her claim, 
and except for sometimes taking sides in the wars which 
were continually being waged between rival states in the 
southern half of the Peninsula, she was hardly known there. 
It was different, however, in the northern hali, where she 
insisted on a tribute being paid to her. This took the form 
of an ornament made of gold and silver, which was forwar- 
ded once every three years with much ceremony. A care- 
fully selected envoy was always intrivsted with the mission 
from Patani, and most minute directions were given to him 
as to his behaviour and policy when in Siam. The Queen 
was for John Smith to undertake this mission, but she was 
persuaded by her Counsellors that he was too young and 
inexperienced in intrigue to be trusted with such a delicate 
matter; and in fact he did not wish it himself, for he felt 
sure that if by chance any mistake or contretemps occur- 
red, he would be blamed, and his enemies would use it to 
his disadvantage. He therefore contented himself with beiing 
a looker-on only of the preparations for the dispatch of the 
mission, which took place soon after the tributary princes 
had done homage. 

These princes, heads of the small states called Legeh, 
Jering, Sai, Jalor and Telubin, as usual had much to say 
about the form of message and the value of the gold and 
silver flower of tribute to be sent. They did not see the 
use of it, and urged that the Queen should boldly declare 
herself independent of Siam ; threatening indeed, that if she 
did not, they would follow the example of the Prince of 
Raman, and enter into alliance with, or become vassals of, 
the King of Perak, who had some time before refused to 
send an embassy with tribute to the King of Siam. 

Perak had vacillated a good deal in this matter, some- 



193 

times acknowledging her vassalage and at others repudiat- 
ing it; and the small inland state of Raman, having no 
seaboard to tempt a Siamese naval commander to harry, 
escaped altogether the obligation of contributing towards 
an embassy, by transferring her allegiance from Patani to 
Perak. But then, as John Smith found out, the people of 
Raman had overstepped their boundaries, and taking advan- 
tage of unoccupied territory, had migrated two or three 
generations before into the Perak watershed, and had there 
established themselves, in spite of efforts on the part of 
Perak to dislodge them. 

The particular reason why the King of Perak had on 
this occasion refused to send an embassy to Siam, was a 
demand made by the latter for the delivery of a white 
elephant, which was said to be roaming the Perak forests. 
Now white elephants had been from time immemorial espe- 
cial adjuncts of the Royalty of Siam, for it had been a 
tradition that, wherever discovered in the world, they were 
the property of the King of Siam. This tradition, and the 
endeavours of the Siamese to give it effect, by laying claim 
to every specimen as it was discovered, had often led to 
serious quarrels, and even war, with their neighbours of 
Pegu, and the states of Burma and India beyond, who did 
not quite see the force of thus acknowledging Siam's right 
to claim an animal the denizen of forests which did not 
appertain to Siam, There was another thing about this 
white elephant which complicated matters a great deal. The 
animal, according to tradition, need not necessarily be white, 
but he must be a beast having certain points or characteristics 
which marked him out from the rest of the herd as extra- 
ordinary. Amongst these points one was that he should 
have six toes on each foot, and another, that when standing 
on level ground, the tip of his trunk and the tip of his tail 

13 



194 

should reach the ground. It may be imagined, therefore, 
that a great deal of ambiguity arose as to the exactness of 
the demands of Siam, namely, that a white elephant which 
was running at large in the forests of Perak, should forthwith 
be captured and delivered up. 

The matter had been under discussion now for nearly 
four years, and nothing had come of it, at least nothing 
satisfactory to Siam. Perak had denied that there was such 
an animal, or if there were, she required Siam to at least 
point it out, if not catch it. Then Perak said that the 
animal talked of was not a real white elephant. So its points 
were combatted one by one, until it did not appear to have 
a leg to stand on, a tail to swish, or a trunk worth con- 
sidering: it was a myth, a hantu, or ghost; and finally, if 
there were such an elephant in the forest, the pawangs, or 
medicine men, all declared that it must be kramat (sacred), 
and on no account to be interfered with, save at the risk 
of awful calamities befalling the State. 

The King of Perak and his chiefs thus evaded the question 
for three or four years, until the failure of Siam to enforce 
her demands by invading the country, or taking some other 
strong measures to compel obedience, ultimately destroyed 
her prestige, so that the Perak chiefs refused to do homage, 
or pay the triennial tribute of an ornamental tree with silver 
leaves and golden fruit; and Raman eagerly declared herself 
vassal to Perak in preference to Patani. 

This had made Patani's other vassals restive and inclined 
to revolt, but the astute old Queen was too clever to let 
them fall away. She declared that if other and more peaceable 
means failed to bring back the Prince of Raman to his 
allegiance, she would not hesitate to go to war with Perak 
and at least reconquer Raman, with the territory which her 
subjects had colonised, if she did not actually lower Perak's 



195 

pride by taking more territory from her. Then again, as 
she pointed out to her vassals, she was much nearer to 
Siam than Perak and more open to attack, so it behoved 
her to be wary. Siam had for some time been in alliance 
with Portugal, and had acquired many muskets and some 
heavy artillery; whereas she and her people, up to now, 
were chiefly armed with javelins and the bows of the wild 
Semangs. She drew on her imagination a little and declared 
that she was in treaty with the other sort of white men, 
represented by John Smith, and that through them she 
would shortly be supplied with as many matchlocks as she 
wanted ; then, when her army was strong enough, she would 
think about Siam's claim to be her overlord, as well as 
some other matters which she and her faithful allies might 
enquire into. There was the rich city of Sengora for instance, 
which had lately dared to assert herself as a rival of Patani, 
and might therefore merit some slight rebuff, to teach her 
a lesson. 

In the meantime her friend, the white man, had asked 
to be allowed to present each of the princes with a matchlock, 
in token of the friendship which his nation felt for hers; 
and for her part, there were five young and beautiful ladies, 
daughters of chiefs, who were dependent on her and lived 
in her house: these young ladies had each of them fallen 
desperately in love with one of her faithful allies, and 
nothing would content them but speedy marriage to the 
men of their choice. And thus, with many cajoleries and 
much flattery, the good Queen brought her vassals to a 
proper sense of their dependence on her, and withal saddled 
them each with a bride who had been trained under her own 
eye as a perfect spy and a clever secret agent, and who would 
keep her mistress well informed of every slight change in the 
political atmosphere of the small court to which she was sent ; 



196 

and moreover, she would, incidentally to her duties in that 
direction, bring up children to be loyal vassals of Patani. 

And so the vassal princes, provided with brand new 
brides, soon became contented with their own importance, 
and they admired the astuteness of their great Queen in 
obtaining an alliance with this other sort of white men, 
who were at enmity with the arrogant Feringhes of Malacca. 
They soon felt inclined to pity the Prince of Raman for 
his folly in throwing off his allegiance to such a beneficent 
ruler; but then the glamour of their brides and the wonderful 
new guns still held them enthralled, for they were very 
children, and only just elevated to barbarism from the 
savagery of their primitive forest clanship, and not the least 
important lesson they would have to learn from their 
complacent brides was how to behave when taking their 
rice and the proper Court etiquette of passing the siri-stand 
to a guest. As it was, the Abentaras kanan and kiri (Heralds 
of the right and left hand) had spent some long and anxious 
hours teaching them how to advance up the long verandah 
of the Palace, when they were called up to do homage to 
the great Queen. 

It was a great and gorgeous function as described by 
John Smith, this doing of homage. Preparations had been 
made which covered over a month of the time before the 
vassal princes arrived, and then, when every thing was 
ready, the city gave itself up to another month's pleasure. 
Buffaloes and goats without number were slaughtered; and 
not only the Queen, but all her ministers and the rich 
merchants of the city, vied with one another in giving great 
feasts and entertainments; so that in many houses, as was 
the custom to express it, "the noise of the drums and 
cymbals, the flageolets and the string instruments, and the 
chanting of the Koran did not cease day and night for the 



197 

space between two Fridays." There, a chief's greatness was 
measured by the number of buffaloes he slaughtered, and 
the cost of the entertainments he provided for his guests. 

The rich Chinese merchants furnished splendidly-dressed 
theatrical companies of their own people, and gave free 
performances of ancient dramas, on platforms erected in the 
open streets. These performances were characterised chiefly 
by the gorgeous embroidery displayed in the dresses of the 
actors, by their shrill voices, and most of all, by the incessant 
clapping of huge brass cymbals with which the dialogue 
was eked out. The Siamese merchants had presented the 
Queen with a troupe of Siamese performers equally gorgeous 
in dress; these played within the precincts of the Palace. 

A troupe of acrobats and dancers was also provided by 
the Queen for the amusement of her guests. They were 
Peguans from the Mon States, at the mouth of the great 
river which runs through the Burmese kingdoms into the 
sea of Bengal. Clever and agile performers and dancers they 
were, but the ladies of the troupe were regarded by the 
Patani ladies with considerable disfavour, because their dress 
was, in the opinion of the latter, far too scanty to be decent. 
It consisted of a single piece of cloth, or perhaps silk, but 
always of the most beautiful quality. It was wide enough 
to reach from the ladies' waists to their knees; but then, 
as it was only long enough to just go round their waists 
without being sewn together, and as the largest muscles in 
the human body, were, amongst the Peguan ladies, particularly 
well developed, it may be imagined that the wearers, in a 
high wind, did not appear to be extravagantly clothed, nor 
were they in difficulties about arranging a train when they 
sat on the floor ; in fact, their appearence was, it seemed, 
more designed to inflame the hearts of the youth of Patani, 
than was quite agreeable to the young ladies of that place. 



198 

But then, as John Smith remarked, it was altogether a 
question of the point of view from which modesty and 
morals were regarded. 

In Pegu, young ladies found their charms lightly considered 
by the young men, and were therefore obliged to assert 
themselves in the best way they could, or their sex would 
have been neglected. In Patani, on the other hand, the 
young ladies led lives which were comparable in their license 
to the Roman Saturnalia ; and it was only after the experience 
gained by a few years of indulgence, in what we may 
politely describe as free love, that they settled down to 
married life and the thoughts of a family. As John Smith 
writes in his diary, it did seem a little unfair that they 
should blame the Peguan ladies for immodesty under the 
circumstances, when, although more carefully clothed, they 
were themselves so excessively free in their intercourse with 
the opposite sex, that not one of them was contented to 
wait for marriage, but must needs reverse the generally 
accepted order, by first indulging in a term of profligacy 
and then taking a husband and settling down to the staid 
cares of bringing up a family. 

Verily it seemed even to the citizen of emancipated 
Europe that these Eastern ladies were more advanced than 
he hoped ever to see white women, but again he thought 
that perhaps after all it was not so much a matter of im- 
propriety in the East, as of a slavish adherence to conven- 
tionality in the West. For there in Patani, as on the Quanza 
River in Afrika, and in civilized Europe, Fashion, the all- 
powerful, had decreed a certain code of morals to be obser- 
ved in connection with the religion which the people pro- 
fessed ; and really, taking it altogether, he considered that 
perhaps the African savage had adopted the best system 
of them all, and the one most in accord with the well-being 



199 

of the human race. It was a great question, and one which 
he thought about continually, and which made him fill his 
journals with speculative theories and eloquent disquisitions. 
Our friend was evidenly at this time going through a phase 
of considerable religious uncertainty; the only point on which 
he was quite decided being a profound disgust and contempt 
for the Portuguese Romanists, whose religion, morals and 
general treatment of their neighbours he found to be far 
less satisfactory than even the peculiar ways of the African 
savages. 

After about two weeks of feasting and amusements, the 
important day for the grand ceremony of doing homage 
arrived, and the tributary princes, surrounded by groups of 
their own officers of state, marched with great pomp to the 
Palace where the ceremony was to take place. 

Patani being at this time under the rule of a Queen, some 
.slight alteration in the customary observances of doing 
homage had to be arranged. It was usual for the vassal to 
approach the Presence by, as it were, a side entrance, 
where they were first received by the Palace ladies and 
some one or more of the chief wives of the King, and were 
by them regaled with gossip and siri until the time came 
for them to go into an anteroom and there await the offi- 
cial summons to the Presence, which was given by one of 
the Heralds in a loud voice, in which he reiterated all the 
titles and stiles of the vassal lord, and called him to do 
homage. It was then the duty of the vassal to reply from 
the anteroom, and commence his progress up the long 
verandah to the Throne at the top end of it. It was this 
progress which was the stumblingblock in the career of 
many an aspirant to the honour of being considered an 
adept in Court etiquette. 

The new customs dependent on the sex of the Ruler of 



200 

the State did not tend to help the chiefs much. In the first 
place, they did not much enjoy doing abject homage to a 
woman. This difficulty, however, had to a certain extent 
been overcome by the Queen's own thoughtfulness, for she 
had elected not to sit on the throne herself, but on the 
floor beside it, filling the seat with the insignia of royalty, 
so that the pride of her chiefs should not be hurt; and 
instead of making them kiss her hand, — for kiss, John 
Smith says, we must understand smell — she prepared for 
each lordly vassal a little packet of siri, ready for chewing. 
This was very diplomatic of her indeed, for the giving of 
a chew of siri to a man by a woman amongst the Malays, 
meant, either that she was in love with him, or that she 
claimed brotherhood with him; so, however the recipient 
might choose to translate it to himself, he could not fail to 
be greatly flattered. But the worst part of the whole cere- 
mony, whether o man or a woman were the occupant of 
the throne, was the progress up the long verandah; for 
instead of a Royal lady to receive them and start them on 
the voyage with a little encouragement, the chiefs found a 
troupe of laughing girls, amongst them being their own 
brides and, of course, John Smith's two wives. These young 
ladies did all they could to upset the gravity of the procee- 
dings and put the chiefs out of countenance, trying to per- 
suade them to all sorts of queer antics, on the plea that 
they were the newest fashion, arranging and re-arranging 
their coats and headdresses for them, until the poor men 
were beside themselves with nervousness. 

The proper way to do homage was for the vassal, as 
soon as he got out of the anteroom into the long verandah 
facing the throne, to seat himself on the floor cross-legged, 
and in that position shufiie up the whole length of the hall 
to the throne, between a double row of Court officials and 



201 

guests of the Court. Three times during this progress he 
had to stop; once at the far end of the hall, once in the 
centre, and the third time at the foot of the throne; and 
at each stoppage it was his duty to give the Royal salute 
three times. Now this Royal salute, as given by a man, 
consisted in first closing each hand in the lap, then raising 
the two fists pressed together to the level of the breast, 
there opening the hands and pressing the palms together 
so that the fingers pointed outwards; then, from this posi- 
tion, raising the joined hands to the face until the tips of 
the thumbs rested on the bridge of the nose, and thence 
the hands were dropped again to the lap. This manoeuvre 
was repeated three times. 

But the mischievous young ladies started one poor man 
on his career with the impression that, as it was a Queen 
and not a King, to whome he was going to do homage, it 
was proper that he should adopt the deportment and salute 
appertaining to women; the difference being that, instead 
of sitting crosslegged, he should sit with his legs doubled 
back under him ; and instead of raising his closed fists from 
his lap to his breast, he should draw his open hands from 
his knees right up the length of his thighs and body to 
the position opposite his face for the salute. Luckily for 
the perpretrators of this joke, the Chief was told of his 
mistake at the far end of the hall, after he had done his 
first salute, where he was hardly within sight of the Queen, 
and he corrected himself by the time he got to the middle 
salute, so that the Queen did not really know anything 
about it at the time, or she would probably have visited 
her anger pretty severely on somebody, for she was very 
little disposed to allow such an important function as this 
doing of homage to be made game of. She knew too well 
how difficult it was to get her vassals to acknowledge her 



202 

overlordship, to run any risk of putting them off by ridicule. 
After the vassal princes, the Queen's own ministers, amongst 
them John Smith, did homage in their turn; after which 
the day finished with a great feast in the Palace, the per- 
formance of a comedy by the Queen's own native players, 
and some dancing by the girls of the Palace. 



CHAPTER XX. 

It was not long after this that the vassal chiefs took 
their departure for their own provinces, to the last urging 
that there was no necessity to pay tribute to Siam, and 
that they were quite willing to fight, if the great Queen 
would make up her mind to refuse to continue the practice. 
But the Queen knew better; she knew that she was not 
strong enough to fight, and therefore hurried on her embassy 
to Siam, with the tribute of a wonderful flower wrought in 
gold and silver. Nearly all of her counsellors agreed that 
it was not advisable to come to a disagreement with Siam, 
and John Smith saw very plainly that, numerous as were 
the subjects of his patroness, they were far from warlike, 
preferring rather an easy life of sloth and leaving not only 
the rice cultivation, but nearly all the trading with Chinese 
and Siamese merchants to their wives, who were certainly 
much more capable and enterprising than the men. 

The Queen now decided that she wished John Smith to 
go up river and inspect her tin mines ; and also she thought 
it would be well if he continued his journey right into the 
State of Raman, and endeavoured by persuasion and some 
judiciously-placed gifts to induce the Prince and people of 
that State to return to their allegiance. She recognised that 
the expedition was not entirely free from danger to her 
favourite minister, and pointed this out to him, but he was 
himself most eager to go; and so it was decided that, as 
so soon as proper preparations could be made, he should start. 



204 

He would probably be away five or six months. His 
young wives were anxious to accompany him, but the Queen 
forbade it, as it was not an expedition suited for women 
at all : and so they had to stay behind. The Queen also 
took charge of all his property, and appointed an officer 
to fulfil his post as Dato' Dagang. 

The Queen also turned her attention to his equipment for 
the journey, the whole expense of which she, of course, 
sustained herself In the first place, two large river prahus 
were provided, with six men and a steerer for each as crew. 
It was intended to pole up the river as far as possible, and 
then to lay up the prahus and proceed overland on foot, 
taking to the river and the prahus again on the return journey. 
Four of the little savages called Semangs were sent as a 
bodyguard for John Smith, and also to act as hunters and 
guides for the expedition. These Semangs were looked up 
to by the Patani people as the original owners of the land, 
and were always consulted by the Queen in matters of state. 
They were in reality mere savages, and could easily have 
been exterminated by the Siamese and Malays, who between 
them had created the kingdom of Patani, but such a policy 
was not in accordance with the ways of the East; and long 
years before, when Siamese and Malays had colonized the 
rivers and spread, the first from the North and the others 
from the South, all over the Peninsula, they had recognised 
the rights of the savages whom they had found on the land, 
and had conciliated instead of coercing them. They had 
inter-married with them also, until the typical inhabitant of 
Patani was one-third Malay, one-third Semang, and one-third 
Siamese; and it was only by searching deep in the forest 
that the pure Semang could now be found. 

Such were the four men who promised the Queen to 
guide her minister right through Patani and Raman into 



205 

the Perak watershed. They were men of importance amongst 
their own people, expert woodmen and hunters, and very 
clever with the bow, with which weapon they were armed. 
These bows were very different from the little bows and 
poisoned arrows of the African savages. They reminded 
John Smith of the formidable bows which were only just going 
out of fashion in Europe, especially in England. They were 
nearly as tall as the men who wielded them, and the arrows 
were very formidable, being over two feet long, and tipped 
with keen, leaf-shaped iron heads and poisoned. These savages 
were very simply clothed, as they only wore a strip of 
cloth made from the bark of a tree, and this they passed 
between their legs and fastened to a cord which they wore 
round their waists. 

Two Siamese and a Chinese merchant also went with the 
expedition, intending to buy tin from the miners, if they 
could get it carried down the river, and also canes and 
other produce of the forests, for which Patani was a very 
important mart. There were also four slaves whose duty it 
was to help generally in the work of the prahus, and who 
would assist to carry the rice and dried fish, which were 
the main provisions for the journey. 

John Smith, being in the position of a special agent of 
the Queen, and being empowered to treat with the Prince 
and people of Raman, was provided with a staff of office, 
whereby he should be known and his authority recognised. 
This mark of authority was a peculiar spear, like a trident 
with one of the points missing. It was called changi putri, 
(Nails of the Princess) and was always sent by the Queen 
when she intended to bear the responsibility of her minister's 
acts and promises. 

For twenty days they made slow progress up stream, 
monotonously poling all day against the strong current, and 



206 

generally finding a convenient bank on which to camp at 
night. Sometimes, however, they were obliged to sleep in 
the boats, and on a few occasions they were entertained 
by people living on the river side. 

John Smith and his mission were received everywhere 
with the greatest respect, and the village chiefs, called 
Penghulus, along the river side, did all they could to assist 
him. It was after twelve days of this journey up river that 
they arrived at the landing-place for the mines, which they 
had been instructed to visit. They found a considerable 
village on the river bank, with some Siamese shopkeepers 
and many Malays from Sumatra. Much gambling and 
quarreling were going on, for it seemed that people soon 
got rich, and as quickly gambled away their gains. 

They spent nearly a week here, and John Smith made a 
very careful study of the customs of the miners, as well as 
of the mining business from a commercial point of view . . . 
He felt convinced that very handsome profits could be 
made if the mining was properly managed; but as he found 
it, he was afraid that the Queen, who advanced all the 
provisions for the miners, was not getting a fair return for 
her participation in the business, any more than, as head 
of the State, she was getting the royalty of ten per cent., 
which was the state share of the tin produced. 

There were two classes of work going on. The Malays 
were getting the tin sand out of the hill-side, by conducting 
water from the streams in the hills to places which were 
known to be rich in ore, and by washing down the sides 
of the hills into a long water race, which carried away the 
soil and left the heavier tin sand at the head of the race. 
The Siamese, on the other hand, were digging deep wells 
down to the stratum bearing tin ore, fifty to seventy feet 
deep. These wells were gradually enlarged as they descended, 



207 

until they became like huge inverted funnels in the earth, 
very dangerous indeed to work in, and also liable to fall in 
and leave deep, open pits. The whole business was, however, 
as John Smith could very quickly perceive, so hedged round 
by superstition and roguery, that instead of the profits being 
divided between the Queen, as owner of the mine and 
supplier of all necessaries to the miners, and the miners 
themselves, they were all absorbed by a lot of unscrupulous 
people, who neither worked nor assisted in the working by 
supplying material or food to the miners. At the head of 
these was a man who declared himself to be an agent of 
the King of Siam. This individual required every miner to 
give six days' service each year in what he called the King 
of Siam's mine. But he would accept a certain quantity of 
tin ore in lieu of the service, in fact rather prefered it, for 
the King of Siam's mine was not a very profitable one: in 
fact it was little more than a name used as a stalking-horse 
by way of reason to make people pay instead of doing the 
six days' work. 

There was another man who said he was the Queen's 
agent, who made a good living out of certain commissions 
paid to him by a company of Chinese who conducted the 
public gaming tables; and it was very much to be doubted 
if any of the commission found its way to the Royal trea- 
sury. Many others practised equally ingenious ways of inter- 
cepting the legitimate profits of the miners. One man decla- 
red that he was empowered to collect payment for the 
right to burn charcoal for smelting the tin; and another 
would not allow smelting furnaces to be built without his 
authority, for which he demanded payment in the name of 
the Queen. 

John Smith took careful note of everything he saw, with 
the intent to report it to his mistress, as he was sure that 



208 

all this squeezing was unauthorised, or if not, that at any 
rate neither the Queen nor her State treasury were any the 
richer for it. He would much have liked to suppress the 
man who called himself the agent for the King of Siam, as 
he was sure that he was a fraud, but he thought it better 
not to attempt anything in the matter, as he had no force 
to back up his orders; and after all, the most important 
part of his work was his mission to Raman, which he did 
not wish to jeopardise by any action that might damage 
his prestige at the outset. So he contented himself with 
merely taking notice of all that was going on. 

A matter which greatly interested him was the extraor- 
dinary and peculiar superstitions of the miners, a cult which 
was assiduously fostered by the pawangs, or wise men. 
These pawangs taught the people that the ore was alive 
and grew, that it had power to move from place to place, 
was sensitive to correct or incorrect treatment, and could 
only be obtained, and when obtained, smelted into metalic 
tin, if certain rites and observances were fulfilled. In furthe- 
rance of this cult, the pawangs had invented a language to 
be used on the mines in which the names of many things 
were altered, in order that the spirit of the tin ore should 
not be offended by undue familiarity. In the same way as 
when talking with people of royal descent, a respectful and 
uncommon form of address and different expressions ought 
to be used. 

Besides the language to be used, the pawangs had inven- 
ted a code of regulations to be observed on the mines; and 
any breach of these rules, or the omission to use the dialect 
prescribed, was punished *by a fine to be "pdUd to \he pawang. 
John Smith was not very much against the pawangs, for in 
spite of the fact that the superstition which they upheld 
and by which they got their living was more or less absurd, 



209 

they were evidently doing useful work in keeping some 
sort of order amongst the miners; and moreover, the faith 
of the people in their power had to be kept alive by some 
means, and the most efficacious was showing them where 
to find good deposits of ore; so that the Pawangs in their 
own interests became the prospectors for the community, 
and thus did good work for their share of the profits, even 
if some of their teaching was rather silly. 

There were no women in this village or on the mines, 
for it was one of the rules made by the pawangs that 
women should not be allowed there. It was, perhaps, 
a salutary rule, for it was obvious that if a few women 
were to take up their abode amongst such a mixed lot of 
men, they would cause endless quarrelling. The community 
did not consist of staid married men so much as of young 
bachelors, who came up to the mines for a few month.s, 
with the intention of earning some money, and of then 
returning down river, perhaps to buy a bit of land or a 
wife, or to embark in some other undertaking. Too often 
it happened that when they had got a little tin sand and 
had made a start for home, they lost it all at the gambling 
tables, or at a cock-fight in the village on the river, and 
had to go back to the mines again to earn some more. 

John Smith first realised the use of opium during his stay 
at this mining place. He had on a few occasions smoked 
the drug in the Queen's Palace and at her invitation, for 
she was a profound believer in the good properties which 
it possessed, and occasionally used it herself. It was evident 
that if in the Palace, where life was easy and comfortable, 
opium was useful as a tranquilliser, here in the forest where 
life was hard, between the rough work of mining by day 
and gambling by night, without the comfort of woman's 
presence, men became indiff'erent as to how they lived and 

14 



210 

what they ate, until hard fare and squalid living would 
have killed them with disease but for opium, which had 
here a still greater use, for its soothing influence made the 
rough and exciting life just bearable'. It was truly a magic 
drug, and John Smith seemed unable to write enough in 
its praise whether it was taken as one lay on the beautiful 
mats and supported by the elaborately-embroidered bolsters 
in the Queen's Palace, surrounded by all the Eastern luxu- 
riance of beautiful attendants and voluptuous accessories, 
or whether it was rendered even more entrancing by the 
presence of the witty and kindly Queen herself, who, in her 
anxiety that her protege should appreciate to the full the 
good qualities of the drug, often invited him to smoke 
with her, when she prepared the pipe for him herself, 
arranging his cushions at just the right angle, and supplying 
him with delicious little cups of tea or sweetmeats in the 
intervals of smoking, the while she kept him amused with 
her witty and clever conversation. 

Or perhaps they would listen to the adventures of some 
famous chieftain of the country, as recounted by a clever 
story-teller, whose imagination and knowledge of the his- 
tory and traditions of the people enabled him to weave a 
long epic poem, describing the most astounding adventures 
in which human beings, jins, sheitans and peris all played 
their parts, and which, whilst it kept the group of atten- 
dant girls spell-bound and open-mouthed listening to its 
recital, amused the Queen and caused John Smith to feel 
an ever-increasing respect for the race, which could pro- 
duce and appreciate such beautiful thoughts and such deli- 
cate imagery, as the "Soother of cares" gave utterance to. 

Or perhaps the Queen would order the Palace girls to 
dance and sing to them; and generally there was some 
business of the State to do, for when a minister asked for 



211 

an audience he was always admitted, and after his affair 
had been discussed, he also, if his rank admitted him to 
intimacy, joined the Queen's party and spent the rest of 
the evening in the Palace. 

It was not all voluptuous lotus-eating, for the Queen was 
too clever a ruler to allow her ministers to neglect their 
work and fall into indolence. It was only that the way of 
living in the East was easier than it could ever be in the 
West; and generally speaking, if affairs were consistently 
put off until to-morrow, they righted themselves without 
actual intervention on the part of persons in authority. 

Or whether in the rough shed on the tin mine inhabited 
by the old pawang, after a long day's work walking over 
the mines, and under the influence of the delightful lassitude 
and tiredness caused by an ice-cold bath, taken standing 
under the end of a bamboo conduit, he stretched himself 
on his mat spread on the rough splitbamboo floor of the 
hut, and had his frugal meal of rice and salt fish; then the 
wise old pawang produced his primitive lamp and opium 
pipe, which John Smith supplied with opium from the 
Queen's Palace, and the smoke then enjoyed was of a 
different sort; it was the real soother of the tired body, 
and the medicine which kept off the dreaded fever and 
ague. The old pawang's tales and conversation, in the 
meantime, were most entertaining, and the advice which he 
gave as to the journey over the hills into the Perak watershed, 
where the Prince of Raman was, came in very useful. 

Six days' poling up the river from the mines found John 
Smith's party at the end of their journey by water. They 
had now to cross a range of hills which divided the Patani 
River basin from that of Perak. The Semangs said it was 
a seven nights' journey, and that they would have to make 
their own camps each night, because there were no inhabitants 



212 

in the hills except a few Semangs, and the guides did not 
seem to wish to take the party near their clearings, because, 
they said, of the Siamese and Chinese traders with them, 
but probably because they objected equally as much to 
the white man. 

They promised to guide them to a river where bamboo 
rafts could be constructed, on which they might float down 
to the country inhabited by the Raman Malays; and the 
old pawang at the mines had told John Smith that if he 
found a man called Alang Pekan, who was a trader on 
the river, he would through him, get to know the Raman 
chiefs. 

It was toilsome work, but most interesting, walking through 
the forest. John Smith hoped to be able to shoot some 
wild animals. He had brought with him a beautiful new- 
fashioned gun, which had lately been invented, and which 
would most likely take the place of the old matchlock. 
This gun was fired by a spark produced by striking a 
sharp-edged bit of pyrites on a little steel anvil, and was 
much more convenient than the clumsy matchlock. But he 
found no chance to use this weapon. True tracks of 
elephants, tigers, and many other animals were everywhere, 
but almost the only animals he saw were the leeches which 
fixed on his legs, and the mosquitoes which devoured him 
by night. 

It was a rest for the party, or at least a change of work, 
when they arrived at the river, and having spent a day 
constructing bamboo rafts, at last launched themselves on 
its waters and started their downstream journey. 

It was not without its pleasurable excitement and its 
spice of danger, this raft voyage. In the first place, the 
rafts were of the frailest construction, consisting of a double 
layer of bamboo poles about four feet wide and fifteen feet 



213 

long. The passenger or pile of baggage was placed in the 
centre of these, and a raftsmah at either end. It was all 
easy enough in smooth water, but sometimes they had to 
shoot down rather steep rapids, and then it was a case of 
holding on, and that pretty tightly. As it was, there were 
two or three shipwrecks, but luckily no one was drowned, 
and the accidents only provoked laughter. 

It took them three days rafting to get down to the 
kampong, or place where Inchi Alang Pekan lived. There 
they found a prosperous community. Both banks of the 
river were lined with nice houses, each standing in its own 
grove of coconut and fruit trees, and each having its floating 
bath-house on the river. There were probably over two 
hundred of these houses. As soon as the travellers arrived, 
the Penghulu, or Chief of the place, was called. This gentleman 
immediatly offered to entertain the party; but on John 
Smith enquiring for the house of Inchi Alang Pekan, and 
stating that he thought of building a small house for himself, 
the Penghulu showed considerable relief, and it came out 
that, although he would have done his best, it would have 
certainly been a little awkward for him to entertain them, 
as he had already a guest, and a very important one too, 
namely, a high official sent by the King of Perak to find 
out all about the country. He therefore conducted him along 
the river bank to the house of the trader, Alang Pekan, 
and passed him over to the jatter with evident relief. 

Inchi Alang was a Perak man who had migrated to Raman 
some years before with his wife and three daughters; or 
rather one daughter and two adopted ones, these latter 
being the children of his dead sister, who, with her husband, 
had died when the girls were little more than babies. 'Che 
Alang's own daughter had mysteriously disappeared a few 
months before this time. He was himself a small trader, but 



214 

a person of some considerable influence in the place, as he 
was known to be well off. 

The men from Patani. were sent off to find temporary 
quarters in the mosque ; the Semangs expressed their intention 
of going to the forest until their services were again required ; 
while a very dirty Chinese shopkeeper promised to put up 
the Chinese and Siamese. So 'Che Alang only had to provide 
room for John Smith himself, which he seemed to have 
great pleasure in doing. The Penghulu retired with many 
professions of eagerness to be of service in the future, and 
the white man's baggage was moved up to the end of the 
verandah of the house farthest away from the steps which 
led up to the raised floor; and he, hastily finding a sarong 
and jacket, ran off down to the river to indulge in a 
comfortable bath in the floating bath-house. 

He was some time over his bath, and on his return to 
the house he first hung up his wet clothes to dry, and 
then went up into the verandah with the intention of making 
some arrangments about food, as he was very hungry. But 
passing on to the inner end he found all his packages 
neatly arranged against the wall, and a nice clean mat and 
bolsters spread out ready for him, with a stand containing 
the materials for chewing siri set beside it. Now siri was 
the thing that John Smith wanted most, to stimulate him 
after his cold bath, so he proceeded to arrange a mouthful 
for himself, and as he was masticating it the door of the 
house was opened, and a very pleasantlooking young girl 
walked up the verandah towards him. When she arrived 
within a few feet of the edge of his mat, she sat down on 
the floor in a modest attitude, and saluting him with the 
same homage as was proper for a woman towards her chief, 
she said that she was the eldest daughter of the house, and 
it was therefore her duty to wait on her father's guests. 



215 

,, She then asked him if he would be pleased to eat rice, and 
on his saying that he was ready, she went into the house 
again and brought out a little cooking pot full of steaming 
rice, and some small cups of fish and vegetables cooked 
with spices, to eat with it. These things she arranged near 
her, and seating herself, she gravely served the food on to 
her guest's plate; and then, after he had finished eating, 
she poured water over his fingers to cleanse them, and 
prepared a packet of siri for him to chew. 

John Smith noticed that she still wore the gold-wire ear- 
rings with a round loop at the end, denoting maidenhood. 
She was very shy and went through her duties as hostess with 
some considerable hesitation, but he ascertained that her 
name was Si Andak, that she had a younger sister. Si Uteh, 
and that they were not the real daughters of 'Che Alang 
Pekan. His real daughter, 'Che Long, • had gone away about 
two months before, nobody knew wither, and that this was 
therefore the first time the duty had divolved on her to 
entertain her father's guest; and as she told him this, she 
lifted her eyes to his face in a very appealing and frightened 
way, and then asked his permission to take away the remnants 
of the meal. 

He was by this time well aware of the hospitable customs 
of the Malays of these parts, but he decided that he would 
the next morning get his men together, and build a little 
house for himself somewhere in 'Che Alang's land down by 
the river pretending that he intended to stay a long time 
and wished to do a little trading. Thinking over these 
things made him sleepy, and he knew nothing more until 
he awoke the next morning, to find Si Andak watching 
him from a respectful distance, and waiting to conduct him 
to his morning bath. 

He found his men, and set them to work building a- small 



2l6 

house on a spot which 'Che Alang pointed out to him. The 
house was finished in four days, for 'Che Alang found many 
wilHng helpers to build it, but moving into it was quite 
another matter. Old 'Che Alang protested against it. He 
said he would for ever be disgraced in his own eyes and 
in the opinion of his neighbours, if his guest left him to 
live by himself. Was not his house and all that it contained 
at his guest's disposal? Why, therefore, should he attempt 
to put this slight on his slave, and cause him to punish 
his daughter with blows, and perhaps worse, for surely it 
could only be her fault and neglect of his guest, which 
should cause him to wish to leave? 

The next time John Smith saw Si Andak, she looked 
most unhappy and as if she had been crying; he therefore 
told her that he would not move into the house he had 
built, and she showed him that she was delighted with his 
decision. But he himself was not so happy about it: he 
remembered the proverb which compared such a situation 
to placing tinder near fire. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

LA-alla-ha-illa-lah ! LA-alla-ha-illa-lah ! monotonously the 
chant went on; La-alla-ha-ILLA-lah ! with a different inflection, 
and again another and another inflection, until the band of 
Korinchipedlars, wljp were exercising their vocal organs and 
indulging in what they considered to be a meritorious act 
of worship, had worked themselves up into an ecstasy 'of 
religious fervour almost maniacal in its symptoms; eyes 
rolling, hands pressed into their sides, and toes twitching, 
as they sat cros-legged on the mats spread over the bamboo 
floor of the little shop which they had honoured by their 
presence for the night, and the master of which, staid old 
Alang Pekan, sat by in awed wonderment at their antics. 

Far into the night they sat and chanted and swayed, 
taking no notice of old 'Che Alang's respectful offers of 
food and water, his tentative, pushing over of the siri stand, 
or his timidly offered nipah cigarettes. 

Poor old 'Che Alang was nonplussed, he had rarely met 
Korinchi men, and had never been present at a seance 
such as was taking place now in his little shop. His old 
and faithful wife and their two adopted daughters peeped 
through the holes in the palm-leaf wall, which divided his 
raised house from the small shop on the ground, and watched 
the movements and listened to the voices of these strangers 
with awe and misgiving; at least the old lady and Si Uteh 
did; for Si Andak, since slie had known John Smith, had 
acquired more courage, and had learnt from him more of 



2l8 

the ways of the world. She was therefore less subject to 
surprise and fear, when she experienced a new sensation 
for the first time, and besides, was she not aware that her 
new friend was himself all the time only a few yards away 
from her at the end of the enclosed verandah, lying on the 
best and whitest rr»ats, which she, in the exercise of her 
duties as hostess, had spread for him. 

She wondered what he was doing whilst all this hubbub 
was going on. Was he sleeping through it all ? But perhaps 
he was reading, or with great difficulty writing, as he always 
seemed to be doing when he was in the house, continually 
having to sharpen his splendid pen, made from a tail feather 
of the argus pheasant he had shot two days before, and 
which she thought looked so fine and noble as it trailed 
over his shoulder and gently waved about as he moved the 
butt-end of it in his writing. 

Poor Andak ! she was fast becoming foolish with love for 
this stranger, who had been staying with them now for 
nearly a fortnight, and who, although he had a little difficulty 
in making himself understood, by reason of his imperfect 
knowledge of the particular patois spoken by these Raman 
people, still seemed to her so gentle and kind, and so very 
unlike the other men she had seen, that her instincts were 
stirred to the utmost, and as she expressed it to herself, 
"her liver yearned for him". 

It was the first time that she had ever had to take her 
position as the eldest daughter of the house, although she 
was nearly seventeen years old, because the real daughter 
of the old couple, the only child they had ever had, and 
who had been almost like a twin sister to Andak, had 
lately been spirited away; some said by the orang bunyi 
(echo spirits), but others, who were more sophisticated, 
hinted at budak raja (Raja's followers). However it was. 



219 

'Che Long was gone, and Andak was now the customary- 
hostess of the house and must fulfil her duties. 

She was glad that the white marj arrived before this 
band of Korinchis, who seemed to look as if they were 
bold, hard men and the leader of whom she would have 
been obliged to entertain, if she had not already a guest 
of her own. As it was, the old mother would make the 
Korinchis free of the well and kitchen, and they would 
sleep where they sat, on the raised floor of the little shop, 
after they had finished their rehgious exercises and eaten 
their rice and scrap of salt fish, seasoned with the kemumu 
shoots, which so disgusted Si Andak, because they smelt 
just like the stinking house bug, but without which the very 
highly civilized Korinchi seems never to enjoy his food. 

Still the monotonous chaunt went on, LA-alla-ha-illa-lah ! 
but the cadence was altered, it had become more ecstatic, 
for the syllables were panted out, rather than sung, as fast 
as the tongue could articulate them. The half dozen bodies, 
now stripped of everything except the travel-stained white 
trowsers, swayed from side to side, the heads dropped from 
shoulder to shoulder in an ecstatic hysteria, the sweat rolled 
off the smooth faces on to the glistening shoulders, and the 
end seemed to be near, when Nature would not be able to 
much longer bear the strain of the violent emotions which 
the exercise called forth. Already a close observer might 
have seen little brass boxes stolen out of waist- belt pockets, 
and pills of opium surreptitiously slipped into the gaping 
animal mouths, in order to stimulate the flagging energies 
for prolonged exertion ; but it was of little avail. The verve 
and life had gone out of the song, and one by one the 
singers dropped over on to their sides, huddled up into 
separate balls of humanity, their arms clasped round their knees, 
and their muscles still twitching in the rhythm of the chant. 



220 

The end was hastened a good deal by the detection of 
one of their number when in the act of slipping an opium 
pill into his mouth. Although each knew that every one of 
his companions took the stimulant, detection in the act of 
doing it was disgraceful; so that when the culprit was taken 
red-handed, the man who found him out — although he had 
himself only just swallowed a pill — sat bolt upright, changed 
the cadence of the chant to a loud and long-drawn-out — 
"LA-ALLA-HA-ILLA-LAH?" — and pointed with the 
forefinger of his left hand to the delinquent. The others, 
perceiving the action, immediatly knew what was meant, 
joined in the new tune, and literally chanted the shamed 
one out of countenance, so that after a few feeble efforts 
he collapsed and rolled over on to the floor. The end was 
not then long, for the extra exertion of the accusing chant 
exhausted the accusers, and one after another they dropped 
over into a recumbent position and passed into a trance-like 
sleep. 

True, for about ten minutes, at intervals, first one and 
then another would rouse himself, like an unbeaten cock in 
the cock-pit, and with more or less energy shout out the 
well-known refrain ; but it was only spasmodic and of no 
avail, for it merely set the inert limbs of the others twitching 
for a minute or two. They were too exhausted even to eat 
the rice which had been duly prepared before the seance 
began, and it must now be left until the morrow, when 
probably it would be found insufficient to recoup them after 
their night's orgie. 

Si Andak still contemplated the strange scene from the 
other side of the thin palm-leaf wall and poor little Uteh 
clung to her in fear and trembling. She was not yet fifteen 
years old, and was very frightened. When it was all over, 
and silence reigned in the house, the old mother, who had 



221 

long ceased to take any interest in the singing, said to 
Si Andak : 

"You must now go and see if the Tuan (Master) is asleep ; 
but you must come back immediately, as these strangers 
are in the house. If the Tuan asleep, you may be allowed 
today to bend over him and smell his breath; and if he is 
awake, you may give him these three packets of siri, whfch 
I have prepared, and you may stay by him whilst he enjoys 
one of them. But first press the siri to your forehead, and 
say "Bismillah!"; then to your lips, saying "Inshallah!" 
and lastly to your liver, under your right breast, and say 
"AUa-hu-akbar!" If you do this, and if he eats the siri, 
good fortune will come to the house, because we shall have 
exercised the sacred rites of hospitahty, even to the giving 
our daughter to the guest sent to us by Allah." 

Si Andak did as her foster-mother ordered her, fully 
believing in the efficacy of a particular charm which the 
old lady had recited as she carefully wrapped up the pinang 
(areca nut), kapar (slaked lime) and gambler in the siri 
(betel) leaf, making a neat little three-cornered packet, with 
the stem of the leaf for a handle. Had not this love charm 
been taught her by Pawang Onak, the clever old fetish 
doctor? And did it not commence with the mystic OM! 
and consist of the carefully recorded genealogy of Tuan 
Putri Gunong Ladang, (the fairy Princess of Mount Ophir) ? 
And was not the old lady word perfect in her recitation of it ? 

How could it therefore, fail to excite passion, even in an 
Orang puteh (white man) ? 

The added Mohamadan charm, which a knowing Perak 
haji had sold to the old lady for six fine fowls and a gold 
nugget as big as the top joint of her thumb, seemed almost 
superfluous; but the latter was also recommended to Si 
Andak in this case, as perhaps being necessary, because the 



222 

old lady had heard John Smith talking to her husband 
about Nabi Isa, (Jesus) and the Prophet Mohamad, and she 
would lose no chance of making Si Andak happy, for she 
loved her as much as her own lost daughter; and it was 
plain to her that Si Andak was deeply moved by this 
stranger, who, the old lady had long since made up her 
mind, was the most gentle and polite male of her species 
she had ever seen. 

So with a few more instructions and a little more whispered 
advice, couched in that mysterious bhasa dalam (secret 
language used in the feminine freemasonry of that part of 
the Peninsula) the old lady sent Si Andak on her mission; 
blessing herself fervently, in that she was able to equip her 
darling so well with charms, added to her own natural 
attractions, as to give her a fair chance of attaining her 
dearest desire. 

Si Andak herself, too, felt happy and confident, as she 
lightly stepped over the gangway between the house and 
the kitchen, traversed the kitchen, and crept down the 
back stairs of the house, in order to go round to the front 
ladder and up into the verandah, where she knew she would 
find her guest, asleep or awake. She could not decide which 
to hope for. She only knew that she wished to be with 
him. Strangely her heart fluttered, and her blood seemed 
to warm her face, shoulders and breast, as she slowly and 
carefully went round the house, in order not to awaken 
her foster-father and his guests. Not that the former would 
have disapproved of her errand, but because it seemed to 
her that to night, more than on any of the other nights, 
when she had gone into the verandah of the house to see 
if their God-sent guest required anything more for his 
comfort, somehow great events were to happen, and it 
behoved her to act secretly, and preserve the mystery of 



233 

whatever might take place in the train of the charms which 
had been spoken, as a sacred thing between herself and 
him whom she hoped soon to recognise as her worshipped 
lover. 

Because of this, when in the bright moonlight, which 
seemed also to her an added charm, — for the moon was 
at the full and glistened through the leaves of the coconut 
trees, making strange patterns on the walls of the house, 
like enormous centipedes with moving fingers, • — she stopped 
at the foot of the front ladder and once more pressed the 
packets of siri to her" forehead, lips and body, forgetting the 
difficult Arabic abjurations, but instead uttering the mystic 
OM! three times, before she climbed up into the house 
and passed along to the end of the verandah, where John 
Smith was lying asleep. She was glad of this, for she felt 
that she would have been confused and awkward if he had 
been awake. She now knew what she had to do: it was 
very simpje ; she had only to place her charmed siri packets 
close to his shoulder, where he must find them when he 
awoke, just once lean over him, inhale his breath, then go 
back to her own mat beside her young sister and wait 
until morning before she saw her hero again. Then she 
would accompany him to the river, and perhaps he would 
allow her to shampoo him after he had bathed, an attention 
to which he had up to the present raised some objection. 

Very simple seemed her programme, and she proceeded 
to carry it out. She placed the siri in its appointed place, 
and then sat down close to his head in the proper maidenly 
attitude, with her legs bent under her towards the left, and 
leant over him to inhale his breath into her own nostrils. 
She felt glad that the torch was nearly out, for somehow, 
as her face approached his, she felt that strange fluttering 
of her pulses again, and her eyes seemed to grow bigger 



234 

and to comprehend more the object at which she was 
gazing, his face, calm and undisturbed in sleep. 

She could not linger, but hurridly and without noise rose 
to her feet, with the intention of leaving him; indeed she 
had gone half the length of the verandah on her journey 
back to her own part of the house, when suddenly she 
remembered that the torch would soon go out, and that it 
was not safe to sleep without a light in a verandah which, 
though supposed to be closed, was practically open, as all 
the flaps of palm leaves were strutted out with sticks to 
make it more airy. Black panthers had been known to get 
into house verandahs, and there were always the hantiis 
(malignant spirits) to fear. She shuddered at the thought, 
and felt her face go white with fear: she must do something 
to protect her beloved. 

It was easy to shift the torch-stand farther away from 
his face, and stir up the burning end so that it showed a 
good light, which could be shaded from the sleeper's face. 
It was soon arranged so far as making the torch burn 
brightly, but unfortunately for her resolutions, when the 
light burnt up brighter it showed up his face more clearly. 
Long she stood and watched him in his sleep, afraid to 
stay for fear he should awake, perhaps from a lucky dream, 
.of which awakening she would be the guilty cause; yet 
unable to tear herself away, because she so much desired 
to see him open his eyes and to hear his voice speaking to 
her, always kind and courteous, though distantly polite, as 
he had been to her. She thought that during the last two 
days, as she had attended to his wants, he had been slightly 
more attentive to her. She remembered that he had admired 
the maiden's jacket, which she wore the previous evening, 
and which for that reason she wore again to night. Perhaps 
if he awoke now and saw her, he might think that she was 



225 

at least as pretty as the other girls of the kampong, and 
be still more kind to her. 

A truly beautiful picture she made as she stood there 
dressed in her soft Batik sarong, (the usual peticoat made 
of fine hand-painted linen, and brought from Java or Sulu) 
and her short virgin's jacket. Prettily worked was this, made 
of a thin, light-blue silk from Kelantan, and ornamented 
round the collar and wrists with tiny filigree gold buttons. 
It was worn generally in the evenings, not from a sense of 
modesty to cover Si Andak's firm and round little breasts, 
but because it was considered more beautiful than uncovered 
Nature; for indeed, during the heat of the day. Si Andak, 
like all her neighbours, wore only the one garment, which 
was supposed to be fastened over her bosom, high up under 
her arms, but which had an indiscreet habit of slipping 
down to her waist, and being fastened there. 

She stood and gazed on the sleeping man, and at last it 
seemed impossible to her to leave him thus without once 
more gazing closely into his face; so she again approached 
his mat with the intention of once again putting her nose 
and lips near his, but alas for her resolution ! she remembered 
that he had told her that in his country people did not 
smell each others mouths, but actually pressed their lips 
together, as she had seen holy men kiss their own hands 
after they had finished their prayers, surely it would not 
be very wrong if she just lightly pressed her lips to his 
before she went away from him. 

Softly once more she sat down near his head, leant over 
him and gently kissed him on the mouth. As quietly John 
Smith suddenly raised himself to a sitting position and 
gazed at her as she crouched covered with confusion, so 
close to him. Her kiss had awakened him, and at last he 
was conscious that she loved him; and she knew now that 

15 



226 

he knew she loved him; and in spite of the terrible state 
of confusion this knowledge threw her into, she was happy. 
And her guest, what of him? He had learnt from the 
merchants of Patani, and indeed on his long journey up the 
river and across into Raman he had been importuned to 
accept the hospitality of the country, which withholds 
nothing from the Heaven-sent guest, not even the most 
prized daughter of the house, but because of his natural 
modesty, and perhaps also from a diplomatic desire not to 
offend the people amongst whom his lot was cast, from this 
extreme hospitality he had refrained. The two girls bestowed 
on him by the good Queen were different ; they were merely 
slaves of the Palace, and many such odalisques were always 
found in the houses of Eastern potentates, and were habitually 
given to favoured guests and friends, by way of compliment. 

But he was a human animal, and sincere searcher after 
the truth and right as his writings prove him to have been, 
his walk in life was now amongst this gentle if passionate 
and unsophisticated people, and he felt that it behoved him 
no longer to refrain from answering the love appeal, which 
he had for the last few days seen light up Si Andak's eyes 
whenever he had looked into her face. Gently he took her 
two little hands into his own right hand, and with his left 
arm round her shoulders, drew her towards him, and then 
returned to her on her own mouth the sweet little kiss 
which she had given to him in his sleep. 

He would have spoken to her and asked her what made 
her come to him, but she placed her hand on his mouth 
and motioned him not to speak for fear of waking the 
Korinchis, who were just on the other side of the thin 
palm-leaf wall. She slipped from his embrace, and taking 
with her his kain preh, (a heavy black silk coverlet), went 
towards the top of the ladder, where she stood and beckoned 



227 

him. At last he understood her meaning, and picking up 
another coverlet he followed her. At the bottom of the 
steps she again awaited him, and led him across the laman 
(open cleared space in front of the house), towards the 
jungle path down to the river, holding his left thumb in 
her right hand. 

"Would you walk in the forest during the bright moon- 
light. Si Andak?" he asked her. 

"No", replied Si Andak. "No, crown of my heart; only 
so far as the little house you have built by the river." 

And so they passed on their way, for it was towards the 
middle of the night. And Si Uteh, when she went down to 
the river the next morning, found John Smith and her 
sister already there; and she noticed, also, that at last he 
had allowed Si Andak to shampoo his shoulders. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

John Smith's host, old 'Che Alang Pekan, was a Perak 
man, and the Penghulu of the district was entertaining a 
Perak official, who had evidently been sent by the King of 
Perak to find out what this country which the Raman 
people had colonized was worth, and the Prince of Raman 
was said to be allied to Perak. It seemed to the Queen of 
Patani's emissary that he was in rather a dangerous place, 
and that it behoved him to be a little careful of his 
proceedings. 

The Korinchi traders who had been stopping for two or 
three days in 'Che Alang's house, had come from Perak, 
following the river right up from its mouth, where James 
Neccy's fleet had called two years before-. These Raman 
people were therefore living on the main Perak River or a 
branch of it. This perhaps seemed a reason why they 
should owe allegiance to Perak rather than to Patani, for 
John Smith had noticed that these small states nearly all 
took their names from rivers. 

He had many talks with the Korinchi traders, who by 
virtue of their roving life gathered much gossip, which they 
retailed with their wares as they journeyed from place to 
place; and he ascertained that the transference of the 
allegiance of the Prince of Raman had come about in quite 
a natural way, hardly requiring the extra incentive of the 
quarrel about paying tribute to Siam to bring it about. 

The people were without doubt more closely allied to 



229 

Patani than to Perak, and had only accepted the overlordship 
of the latter by compulsion, if indeed they were at one 
with their Prince in throwing off their allegiance to Patani; 
but the reason was evident, aild it seemed a good one 
according to what he had learned of the politics of the 
Malays, which required that the boundaries between states 
should follow the hnes of division between the areas drained 
by different rivers, and these Raman people had certainly 
migrated from their own country drained by the Patani 
River, to a district which belonged to the Perak. So perhaps 
he was on the wrong side of the dispute, if he tried to 
negotiate the return of the Raman people to Patani tutelage. 
The other side of the question was that he was an officer 
in the service of the Queen of Patani, and therefore was 
bound to work for her, whether the case was good or bad; 
and that argument was conclusive. 

The Prince of Raman lived some two days' journey down 
the river. John Smith did not consider it well to visit him 
until he had found out more about his character, and also 
until he was a little more certain that his people preferred 
Patani to Perak, as he imagined they did. It was a game 
of intrigue which had to be played, and it was without 
doubt a rather difficult one, for the Perak emissary had 
been on the ground some time before him, and had thus 
been able to tell his tale first. The Malay character being 
what it was, this was an immense advantage to Perak. 

Malays, as John Smith had already found, were very 
children, and would believe anything that was told them. 
They would make all sorts of promises to the first comer, 
and then the second man who wished to influence them 
had a poor chance, for be his case ever so good, he would 
find it most difficult to make the Malay alter what he had 
committed himself to. Malay pride was never more manifest 



230 

than in the dread of losing a good name, or being made 
to look ridiculous before the world. 

Another factor in the matter was the great loyalty 
displayed by all Malays towards their chiefs. It was thus 
not an easy task which he had to attempt, and he was 
very dubious as to the result. 

He had several times met the Perak officer, and had 
endeavoured to throw dust in his eyes by declaring himself 
to be a merchant, who was merely visiting the country in 
the way of business; but it was not likely that he had 
succeeded; and indeed, now that he had become more 
intimate with Si Andak, he was fast finding out more about 
the situation, and began to think that perhaps after all he 
had better return to Patani, and see if the Queen was 
inclined to regain her control over her revolted vassal by force 
of arms, for he felt nearly certain that would be the only way. 

He spent some more days doing as little as he could to 
make himself conspicuous except as a trader, but then in 
that character he was somewhat handicapped, as he had no 
goods to sell, and nothing except some gold dust where 
with to purchase, and gold dust was not wanted by the 
people any more than he wanted what they had to sell, so 
that his trading could not but look peculiar to the onlookers. 

The chief produce of the country seemed to be heavy 
merchandise, like canes, wood oils and other natural forest 
produce, which might be profitable to export through Perak 
by the river, but would hardly pay to carry over the hills 
into Patani. Whilst he was thus considering what was best 
to be done, and was carefully trying to find out how the 
people liked the idea of being in the grasp of Perak instead 
of Patani, an incident occurred, which at any rate made 
him popular personally, and in the same degree caused the 
Perak man to lose favour. 



231 

A man was brought home to his house from the forest 
who had been badly hurt by a tiger. Now the Perak man 
had been boasting a great deal about his prowess as a 
hunter, so naturally, when this man was attacked, the people 
immediately went to him proposing that he should show 
them how to kill the tiger, which had been prowling about 
the houses for some time, and had done a good deal of 
damage amongst the goats and poultry, but which had 
never before attacked a human being. The gentleman from 
Perak did not, however, show any alacrity in bestirring 
himself in the matter. He gave very good reasons for not 
doing so, such as that he had not got his proper spear 
with him, and that he required some charms which he had 
unfortunately left behind in Perak, etc., reasons which made 
it impossible for him to go out and fight the tiger. But the 
people all seemed to think that perhaps the most important 
item was that he was afraid; and when old 'Che Alang 
Pekan told his guest about it, he made him see very plainly 
that he thought very little of his compatriot's courage, or 
of his chance of gaining the goodwill of the people amongst 
whom he had been sent as an emissary, charged to impress 
them with the greatness of Perak. 

Now John Smith had long wished to meet some wild 
animal in its native forest, and to try his strength and 
cunning in an encounter with a beast that other people 
were afraid of. He had a good deal of confidence in his 
new-fashioned gun, having killed several crocodiles with it 
in the Patani River, as well as in Africa; and he did not 
see, therefore, why it should not be good enough to kill a 
tiger with. So he broached the subject to 'Che Alang, and 
asked him the best way to set about getting within shooting 
distance of this one, which was in the habit of visiting the 
neighbourhood; and in order to find out all they could 



232 

about it they first visited the man who had been hurt. 
This was also a lucky chance for John Smith, as the man 
was found to be a great deal torn about by the tiger's 
claws and in danger of dying, because the native doctors 
were apparently unable to stop the bleeding from a bad 
wound in the calf of the leg. This was soon set right, and the pain 
being deadened with some of the African salve, the new 
doctor proceeded to sow up the worst wounds, and in fact 
attended to him so well and made him feel so very much 
better by the application of the African salve to his sore 
places, that the cure seemed miraculous, both to the patient 
and his neighbours. Whilst binding up the man's wounds, 
they were enabled to find out all about the habits and 
haunts of the tiger, and lay their plans to secure him. 

'Che Alang was in favour of setting a trap for him baited 
with a live goat, but this did not meet with his guest's 
views: for it was his wish to prove himself a better man 
than the gentleman from Perak, and to do that he was 
willing to run some risks. He explained to 'Che Alang that 
if he got a good view of the beast, he felt sure of killing 
him with one shot from his musket; but of course the 
difficulty was to get into such a position as to be able to 
see the tiger before it saw him. 

They made a careful examination of the ground about 
the place where the man had been attacked, and found 
that the tiger had been in the habit of coming from the 
forest and crossing a narrow but deep branch of the river — 
which ran behind the cultivated land and the houses — by 
a fallen tree which was lying from bank to bank and made 
a bridge, constantly used by the people when they wished 
to go to the forest. 

The wounded man had been attacked on the forest side 
of this stream just as he was about to cross the natural 



233 

bridge and he had only escaped with his life by the assistance 
of some people who were going fishing in the stream by 
torch-light, and who ran across the bridge and frightened 
the tiger by flourishing their torches in its face. Now John 
Smith conceived the idea of enticing the tiger to the forest 
bank of the river, within view of the opposite bank, and 
near the bridge, by tying up a goat on the spot where the 
man had been attacked. It was the time of full moon, and 
it would be almost as light as day, so that if he kept watch 
on the goat from the opposite side, himself hidden in some 
bushes on the river bank, he should be able to get a shot 
and seriously wound the tiger, even if he did not kill it 
outright. 

He made special provision also for the tiger if he missed 
it, or only wounded it slightly, in which event it would 
probably be angry enough to cross the river by the fallen 
tree to attack, when of course he would only have his 
pistol and sword to defend himself with, for it was unlikely 
that he would have time to reload his musket. He provided 
for this contingency, then, by sawing the tree bridge almost 
asunder, so that as soon as the tiger got to the center it 
must indubitably fall into the river, bridge and all, when 
it would be at such disadvantage that it would be safe to 
attack it with the sword. 

They made all their preparations, cut the tree through 
all but just sufficient to support, it tied up the goat, and 
prepared a hiding-place for both of them, left a little boy 
to warn people not to cross the bridge, and then returned 
to 'Che Alang's house and ate their evening rice together. 
Si Andak felt no misgivings about the safety of her guest, 
for she was quite confident that he could kill giants if 
they came in his way. But instead she gravely asked 
her father if it was part of her duty to attend her 



234 

guest when he went to fight the tiger, and old 'Che 
Alang as gravely replied that it was not necessary, as he 
intended going with him himself and would see that he 
came to no harm. 

So when it began to get dusk the two hunters took up 
their position on the side of the river near the end of the 
bridge. They were carefully concealed behind some bushes, 
and could plainly see the goat tied to an areca-nut palm 
on the other side of the stream. The poor beast was evidently 
in a great fright already, and did not cease to cry and 
struggle to get away from its cord. 

The sportsmen, also, were not very happy, for the mos- 
quitoes seemed determined to do their duty by keeping 
them awake, an attention with which they could have very 
well dispensed. But it was out of the question to light a 
fire and make a smoke to keep them off, as was the usual 
custom. This custom, by the way, John Smith had got so 
used to, sitting and sleeping in an atmosphere full of pungent 
smoke, that id did not now trouble him any more than it 
did the Malays. 

Now, however, it was a good deal worse, crouching behind 
a screen of bushes for hours with no defence against the 
blood-thirsty little beasts, whose buzzing was not the least 
disagreeable part of their attack, for they dared not use 
their hands to beat them off, nor did they feel justified in 
swearing at them, at least only inwardly, for fear of letting 
the tiger know that they were waiting for him. Many hours 
they, thus sat in discomfort and patiently awaited events, 
and many times 'Che Alang ventured to hint that perhaps 
their friend did not mean to come that night. Berollah 
dapor, (Revered one of the kitchen) and other affectionate 
names he called the tiger, instead of using the real 
name of the beast, "for why" he asked, should they 



235 

incense him unnecessarily even if they were going to try 
to kill him?" 

'Che Alang kept himself awake and alert by assiduously 
chewing siri. He kept an account of how many quids he 
used during the night, by placing in a lump little bits of 
stick, one for each quid. John Smith was also provided 
with a supply calculated to last him the night through 
which Si Andak had prepared them for him, made up into 
nice little three-cornered packets, like those she had used 
as love charms when the Korinchi traders were in the house. 
She had reminded him of the incident when she gave them 
to him, and had said she knew that they would be as 
potent to bring him back safe and sound to her as the first 
ones had been to make him love her, and in his presence 
she recited the love-compelling charm, all about the Fairy 
princess, commencing with the mystic OM! 

He had plenty of time during the night of patient waiting 
to remember his sweet little hostess and her constant care 
for his comfort, though his thoughts were a good deal mixed 
up with cursings addressed to the mosquitoes. It was nearly 
dawn before their patience was rewarded, and they were 
both of them heartily tired of the lengthy vigil long before 
it was over. 

The first intimation they had of the tiger's opproach was 
hearing the poor goat commence to cry very piteously. She 
had apparently been asleep for the last two or three hours 
when she suddenly started to her feet and commenced to 
bleat in a most distressful way, not struggling to get away 
from her tether, as she did when she was first tied up, but 
turning herself round restlessly in every direction and uttering 
heart-rending cries, as if she knew there was danger some- 
where and she could not locate it. This went on for some 
little time until she stopped in the middle of a prolonged 



236 

"Baa-a", and facing the forest, stood as if transfixed with 
horror and fright. And well she might, for what she saw 
was enough to try the nerves of something stronger than 
a poor half-starved she-goat, tied up and helpless. 

The watchers on the other side of the river saw it almost 
as soon as the goat did, and the sight was not calculated 
to fill them with confidence. Between the edge of the river 
and the forest, there was a stretch of about fifty yards of 
short green turf, which had been grazed close by the domestic 
water buffaloes, and across this was creeping a large tiger, 
with eyes gleaming and fixed on its prey, and crouching 
with its belly touching the ground as it gradually advanced 
foot by foot, like a cruel and inexorable fate. And all the 
time the poor goat stood still, shivering and awaiting the 
coming doom. 

The moon rode high in the heavens in a clear and cloudless 
sky, and the whole scene was like a picture displayed before 
the watchers, whose excitement was so intense that John 
Smith has recorded since that he wondered they ever had 
power to take part in the forest drama which was being 
enacted. Slowly and, as it seemed to the watchers, with 
more and more deliberation, the great cat came on, until 
it seemed as if it would never compass the distance between 
the forest and the goat. Surely it was playing with its 
victim ! There never could be any need to so cruelly delay 
the spring, which meant death and a release from agony 
for the poor destined breakfast of this lord of the forest. 
It made John Smith angry to contemplate the sights but 
it braced him effectually for his part in the play. 'Che 
Alang, too, now grasped his broad-bladed spear with deter- 
mination. 

And then, suddenly, the end came. The tiger was within 
twenty feet of its quarry, crouching as rigidly as if turned 



237 

to stone; and the poor goat was still in the same attitude 
as if she too was petrified. They could fancy that her mouth 
was still open to emit the "Baa-a" which was arrested half 
uttered. Next they saw the tiger's tail wave once from side 
to side, and then the lithe body was launched through the 
air, to fall with a soft thud to the ground, with the goat 
somewhere underneath. Another "Baa-a" was half uttered 
but not finished; and then they heard another noise, half 
purr, half gurgle, as the great beast buried its teeth in the 
throat and breast of its victim and sucked the warm blood 
as it lacerated the flesh and tore open the chest to get at 
the still palpitating heart. 

'Che Alang nudged his companion: now was the time. 
John Smith took a most careful aim. There were not more 
than twenty yards between the muzzle of his gun and the 
tiger, so it seemed almost certain that he could plant a 
bullet direct in the brain. But he did not: he missed the 
head altogether. But his shot took effect in the shoulder. 
This only stirred the tiger to anger without severely wounding 
it. It immediately perceived where its assailants were, and 
with a bound and a savage snarl sprang on to the bridge 
to get at them; but the bridge collapsed with its weight 
and fell with it into the stream. This fall and the wound 
as well perhaps confused the brute, for instead of making 
for the bank on which its enemies stood prepared to receive 
it, it proceeded to climb the other bank, thus exposing to 
view the whole of its back. John Smith prayed for better 
luck, and got it, for his pistol bullet sped so well that the 
tiger tumbled back into the river with a broken spine, and 
there it floated helplessly until it managed to claw the 
bank with its front paws and hold itself there, for its 
hind legs were useless, and it could not climb. So it clung 
. there long enough for the pistol to be reloaded, and 



238 

for John Smith to get a bullet into its brain, giving it its 
quietus. 

The noise of the firing brought several people to the 
spot, and they promised to get the dead tiger ashore. So 
the tired hunters gladly left them in charge, and went 
home to get some sleep after their night of watching and 
final triumph. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

John Smith got, as we say now, great kudos for this 
exploit, and the Perak man sank proportionately in the 
estimation of the people. Old 'Che Alang, Perak man though 
he was, declared that if his master, the King of Perak, 
could not send a more courageous man to look after his 
interests in the province of his new vassal, he would certainly 
not remain Suzerain long, as the people would persuade 
their chief to go back to his old allegiance to Patani, and 
rightly too. 

John Smith's fame as a mighty hunter soon got about 
the country, and he began to hear of other exploits to 
perform, but he did not propose to risk either his life or 
his reputation by a too eager rush after adventures. He had 
done well in this first one, but the next might not turn 
out so successfully. So he spent the next few days quietly, 
and by way of improving the good opinion the people had 
of him, he set himself to assiduously nurse and doctor the 
man whom the tiger had wounded. 

About this time there was news brought up river that an 
extraordinary beast had been seen in the forest at a place 
a day's journey down stream, called Bendang Tuan Putri 
Ayer Angat. (The padi fields of the Princess of the hot 
springs.) 

The beast was said to be a fiery-horned rhinoceros and 



240 

most extraordinary tales were told about it. Some said that 
its horn spouted fire; others merely that the horn glowed 
like a live brand in the dark; but all agreed that it was of 
enormous size and that it was invulnerable. It had been 
seen by several people, and one man had been killed by 
it, trampled to death and torn to bits by the terrible horn, 
and it was averred that the poor man's flesh was scorched 
as if with fire, or seared by a red-hot iron. Another man 
had been chased, and had only escaped with his life by 
climbing up a big tree, where the furious beast had kept 
him for a whole day and night, guarding his prisoner with 
extraordinary assiduity, and using at the same time the 
most cunning devices to induce him to descend so that he 
could attack him, sometimes pretending to sleep, and at 
others going away a short distance. Luckily the man was 
not deceived, and stuck tight to his tree. This man also 
declared that the base of the tree was all scorched by the 
fiery horn of the beast, .when, in its rage at not being able 
to get at its prey, it charged the tree again and again and 
scored the bark with its horn. 

The invulnerability of the beast was not so well authen- 
ticated, as nobody seemed to have had courage enough to 
attack it; but then, as John Smith very well knew, the 
skin of a rhinoceros is so thick that it wants a good deal 
of killing. 

He was very anxious to go after this beast, and persuaded 
'Che Alang to find out all about it. The latter, however, 
was much averse to the expedition, by reason of its danger, 
but being over-ruled by his guest, he made arrangments for 
the journey, first sending a quick messenger down-stream 
to the chief of the district where the rhinoceros was said 
to ,be, to get everything ready, so that they could go after 
it the same night they arrived, otherwise the moon 



241 

would be too old to give enough light for their purpose. 

'Che Alang was most particular about keeping this expedition 
secret especially from the Penghulu of his own village. He 
did not say so openly, but John Smith could see very plainly 
that he was suspicious of the Perak officer, who had extra 
reason now to consider him his enemy. 'Che Alang very 
much regretted that the Queen of Patani's token of authority, 
the changi putri, had been seen in his guest's hands although 
it had not been used officially, for he was afraid that there 
was little chance of hiding the fact that his guest was there 
with the Queen's authority, and Perak Malay though he 
was, he evidently rather favoured Patani rule, and especially 
was he proud and fond of his guest. 

They started before daylight the next morning in 'Che 
Alang's trading boat, as if they were merely going down- 
stream with a load of canes, and the changi putri was 
carefully hidden under the floor of the boat. 'Che Alang 
and his men, however, were all well armed, and the little 
swivel guns, called lelas, which the prahu carried, were 
placed ready for emergency with a good supply of powder 
and ball. It was, of course, an unheard-of thing to travel 
about in those days unarmed, but 'Che Alang seemed to 
make a point of being particularly well prepared for this 
journey, and when he took his place beside his guest in 
the covered part of the prahu which served for a cabin, 
he told him that he was suspicious that perhaps the Perak 
officer might attempt to do him some injury, although he 
thought it would be difficult for him to persuade any of 
the people of the village they had just left to attack him. 
He was, however, certain of one thing, and that was 
that a messenger had been sent down-river, probably for 
instructions. 

They got down te stream safely, landed at the Penghulu's 

i6 



242 

bath-house early in the afternoon, and were escorted by 
him to his house, where arrangements were made for them 
to start for the hot springs almost at once, as they wanted 
to get there and send back the elephant on which they 
were to travel, before dark. 'Che Alang, the Penghulu, John 
Smith and one of the Penghulu's followers were to be the 
party to wait for the rhinoceros. They got to their destination 
well before dark, and then proceeded to make their arran- 
gements for the night. 

First, the elephant was taken along the edge of the open 
space where the hot springs had killed all vegetation, and 
from the top of his back they saw the track made by the 
rhinoceros as he came nightly to wallow in the hot water. 
It was a well-beaten path, and from the freshly-broken twigs 
it was plain that it had been used only the night before. 
The Penghulu pointed out the great size of the footprints 
in the soft clay. They were, as he said, almost as large as 
the marks made by the elephant they were riding. It was 
a lovely spot, an open glade in the dense forest, perhaps 
five acres in extent. On two sides it was bounded by a 
high limestone bluff, rising like a gigantic white wall two 
hundred feet sheer from the level of the ground, with great 
creepers and shrubs springing out of its crevices and clinging 
to its precipitous face. 

The hot water bubbled up all over this open space, 
which was indeed neither more nor less than a small lake 
of hot mud only slightly covered with water, from the 
surface of which light clouds of steam continually rose and 
floated in the air. The only signs of life were some splendid 
green-and-black-striped butterflies, skimming from side to 
side of the glade, now soaring to the tree tops and then 
darting after one another in insect warfare. 

Their elephant stepped gingerly along the edge of this 



243 

hot mud lake. He evidently enjoyed the warm feeling in 
his feet, for he expressed his satisfaction by pleased guttural 
pufrings in his trunk, and by sucking up through it the 
warm water, with which he bathed his sides and belly; but 
sometimes he inadvertently dipped his trunk into a pool 
which was especially hot; his disgust and astonishment were 
then very amusing. 

The elephant was ultimately drawn up close to the limestone 
wall, and then they became aware of an irregular hole in 
the face of it into which they all scrambled. They found 
themselves in a small cave overlooking the glade. The 
elephant was sent back to the kampongs, and its driver 
was instructed to come for them early the next morning. 
Then they made their arrangements for their night watch. 
It was just getting dusk when they scrambled into the cave, 
the entrance to which was about twelve feet from the ground. 
It appeared from the outside just like an irregular hole in 
a sheer white wall of nearly two hundred feet in height. 
The cave was small, sloped downwards, and twisted like a 
spiral staircase to another opening level with the ground, 
behind an irregular buttress-like projection. The floor was 
strewn with boulders and broken stalactites, so that it was 
not a very comfortable place to abide in. The hole by which 
they got in was screened by some bushes and hanging 
lianas. 

John Smith had his flintlock musket, and he had lent old 
'Che Alang a fine matchlock which he had brought with 
him from Patani. The Penghulu and his follower had no 
arms except the inevitable kris and a strong, broad-bladed 
spear each. They were astonished at the firearms; and even 
:'Che Alang, although he handled the matchlock with a good 
deal of reverence and some pretended knowledge, only held 
it by way of compliment to his guest. He confessed that 



244 

he was afraid to fire it and had refused to have anything 
to do with it when they went after the tiger. They ate 
their meal of cold rice and dried fish which they had 
brought with them, and settled down as comfortably as they 
could for their night watch, with plenty of siri to chew, 
and nothing else to do but wait. 

But oh ! the beauty of the scene and the enthralling 
interest of the surroundings, as the shadows of evening 
quickly gathered over the lovely glade ! The sun went down, 
almost, it seemed, a dusky curtain was drawn across the 
scene; and as the gloom gathered, John Smith fancied he 
could see the Fairy Princess, the mythical mistress of the 
imaginary padi fields, gliding out of the forest shadows with 
her troupe of attendant fays and sprites to disport themselves 
in the warm waters of the spring. He could, in his mind's 
eye, follow their fairy footsteps as they tripped over the 
soft, warm mud, never sinking into it, nor leaving any track 
on its surface. Not wanting, either, was music for their 
revels, for the schrill cicada piped out a high-toned measure, 
accompanied by the deep bass notes of the great bull-frogs, 
which rived in the cooler mud on the outskirts of the glade, 
where vegetation commenced to assert itself. The great 
mantis, also, which lurked in the hollow bamboos, out its 
diapason at intervals, and the intermittent twitterings and 
contented cries of birds going to roost mingled with the 
„tipta-bau" of the goat-sucker, as he started on his nightly 
hawking amongst the insects, — a bird which at the exact 
and proper moment calls the good Mohamadan to his 
„menghrib" prayers, as punctually as the cry of the muezzin 
from the tall minaret in some Eastern city of palaces, or 
as in that very country the mungkim of the Malay mosque 
beats the slackened skin of the great drum, first with 
measured beats and then with muffled, confused taps, that 



24S 

sound far and wide in earnest appeal to the nonchalant 
worshippers of Malaya. 

And then it was almost dark; the sun had disappeared, 
and his consort of the night had not yet risen above the 
horizon; stars started into light like huge glow-worms, but 
not with sufficient power to conquer the gloom. It was not 
twilight, for there was too marked a change between the 
garish light of the day and the sudden fall of night. Seeming 
as though there was no time for animated Nature to sink 
to repose, the afterglow of the setting sun had faded out 
almost in a minute, and the pall of night had closed down, 
pricked out only with the innumerable stars of the tropics. 
And so passed two hours, short ones enough to the interested 
watcher and listener in the forest. And then the glory and 
splendour of the moon forest-glade ! All in a moment it 
came. First the white light filtered through the trees on the 
opposite side of the open space, causing ghostly shadows 
to move with ghostly quiet and slowness over the shimmering 
water and mud of the hot lake, and twisting into fantastic 
shape the wreaths of white steam which ever rose and 
drifted about over the level surface, from points where the 
hot water bubbled up from the depths and spread out to 
make the quaking lake of water and mud. Truly the poetic 
trend always present in the imagination of the indolent and 
lotus-eating Malay, was justified in peopling this lovely 
scene with fairies and sprites, and in picturing a fairy 
princess as their leader and quite in accordance also with 
their practical common-sense, was it for them to attribute 
her presence and being to the necessary requirements of 
life ; she was there to plant padi for food, for life and poetry 
could not exist without animal sustenance. Higher and higher 
rose the white moon, until, in almost an incredibly short 
space of time, she overtopped the trees and looked down 



246 

on the open glade, bathing everything in light, and 
causing ugly logs of fallen timber to appear lovely, and 
mud and slime to glisten Hke shot silk, spread out like 
a floor of irridescent glass on which fairies might dance 
with propriety. The white wreaths of steam hardly showed 
now, the whiter light of the moon seeming to absorb 
them, and only their attenuated and ghostly remains could 
be distinguished. Soon animated Nature, as if awakened 
by the increasing light, reasserted and disported itself, 
following these ghostly harbingers of the drama in the 
tropical forest. 

First came a pair of porcupines. A mighty monarch of 
the forest, a tree with a straight and branchless bole of 
near a hundred feet had fallen from the edge of the glade 
and stretched out over the moonlit, glittering mud. It looked 
like a white and ghostly bridge, for it ended abruptly where 
its crown had decayed away and disappeared under the 
mud, succumbing to the disintegration of time and to the 
powerful jaws of white ants. Along this white bridge the 
porcupines advanced. Timidly and in short runs they came, 
stopping at intervals, and sometimes retreating to the forest ; 
but finally, reaching the end of the great log and squatting 
on their haunches like two great squirrels, they sat in the 
full moonlight some ten feet above the surface and ate their 
evening meal of hard-shelled-jungle nuts, which each had 
brought along in its mouth. The sound of their gnawing 
teeth reached the listeners in the cave, and ever and anon 
could be distinguished the faint skirl of their tails, as they 
caused their quills to vibrate, either in warning each to the 
other, or in anger at the thought of interruption, for they 
often stopped to listen to some fancied indication of danger. 

Soon they were joined by a family of sambhur deer. First 
the lordly stag stepped out of the shadow of the forest, 



247 

elevating his muzzle until his horns lay back on his shoulders. 
He sniffed the warm air for any sign of danger, and then 
with stately steps advanced farther out into the moonlight. 
Again, throwing up his head he uttered his barking, bell- 
hke note of invitation, to call his family to the enjoyment 
of a wallow in the soft, warm mud. Timidly they appeared, 
two does, each with a fawn at her heels; and carefully 
they searched about for a convenient place, not too hot 
and not too cold, until, satisfied with their choice, they 
sank down in a group and rolled and wallowed in delightful 
abandonment. 

A long interval passed, until presently there was a cracking 
of branches and the sound of a heavy advance, which made 
John Smith clutch his gun with nervous fingers. But no ! 
not yet was the expected quarry to come into view, although 
the sound came from the direction from whence he was 
expected. This time it was a mighty bison, with his harem 
of three cows and two calves, that burst out of the trees 
and tangled undergrowth. Great and truculent-looking beasts 
they were, and twice the size of the heavy black-and-white 
domestic cattle of Holland, John Smith thought they must be. 
With a snort and a roar the angry-looking bull first dug 
his horns into the mud, and then, taking no riotice of the 
herd of deer, he chose a wallowing-place for himself and 
his family; and the soft, warm mud soothed them also to 
rest and contentment. And all the time an interminable 
line of great fruit bats sailed across the open sky to some 
distant feeding-place, away far in the forest. Thousands must 
have passed, because for hours, each time John Smith Hfted 
his eyes to the heavens, still they came and disappeared 
in the distance. Two huge white owls with great staring 
eyes twice or thrice essayed to fly into the cave, but with 
their night-sharpened vision they perceived the occupants, 



248 

and retreated to an ancient adjacent tree, where they perched 
and hooted indignantly. They were the only visitors to the 
glade that became aware of the presence of unwonted 
intruders, and they told not the news to the rest, but at 
last sat and discussed it between themselves in soft purrings 
and subdued hootings. Most likely they had a nest with 
young somewhere in the darkness of the cave. 

Long ere this, the three Malays, who had not felt the 
charm of the night so keenly, and to whom each incident 
of the forest drama was but a customary thing, had curled 
up in sleep, and John Smith alone, with eager eyes and 
strained senses, watched each ensuing event, and waited 
patiently for the expected other visitor to the glade. Easily 
he could have shot a bison or a stag, but he would not; 
and indeed so entrancing was it to watch these strange 
denizens of the forest as they lived in their own natural 
place, and as no white man had ever watched them before, 
that he doubted, even if the fiery-horned rhinoceros wallowed 
before him within easy range, whether he could find it in 
his heart to disturb the natural order of events by firing 
at him. 

And thus well on towards dawn he waited and watched 
before the mighty beast arrived on the scene ; and then he 
saw it not. There was a heavy tread and a crunching of 
small branches as it slowly advanced, cropping the tender 
shoots as it came. John Smith awoke his comrades, the 
smouldering match of 'Che Alang's gun was coaxed into a 
glow, and they had time, to train their guns on the track 
by which at other visits the beast had entered the glade. 
Then, with finger on trigger and with poised muskets, they 
waited whilst one might count three hundred slowly, and 
then — well then they laid aside their guns and stared 
each other in the face, for there was nothing to fire at. 



249 

They heard the slow approach, nearer and nearer, until 
their nerves were strained to the utmost pitch of excitment, 
and their fingers grasped the guns so hard that the flesh 
seemed one with the iron, but they saw nothing. Nearer 
and too near came the unwieldy tread, until it passed right 
under their well-chosen post of observation ; and as if in 
derision, the great beast rubbed its rough side along the 
solid wall under the mouth of the cave, gave utterance 
to a satisfied grunt, and passed on round the corner of the 
buttress to wallow there out of sight of its enemies. 

Easily, if they had had time to change their positions, 
could they have stretched their bodies out of the hole in 
the wall, and have thrust their broad-bladed spears into 
its back, and with safety, for it could not climb up to 
them ; but it passed by and they did not even see it. Gravely 
the Penghulu and 'Che Alang agreed that he was kramat 
and ber-tua (sacred and invulnerable), and that it was useless 
to try to harm such a beast; so they curled up again to 
finish their sleep, and the eager white man was left to 
watch and hope that he would come out again into the 
open mentally promising himself that if he did he would 
not fire at him, nor awaken his friends, but just watch him 
as another incident of that eventful night. 

But he did not come forth, and soon dawn came instead, 
and with it a great awakening of birds and insects. One 
by one, in the order in which they had arrived, the different 
groups stole off into the depths of the forest; and long 
before the sun was near enough to his rising to quench the 
moonlight, the glade was once more clear of its nocturnal 
visitors, and with the first rays of the rising sun their 
elephant drew up under the mouth of the cave. 

The disappointed hunters descended and easily found the 
wallow where their escaped quarry had spent two or three 



250 

hours. There they saw his track into the forest, and still 
another evidence of his supernatural affinity was then forth- 
coming, for his wallow was a double one, and his tracks 
showed that he had as a companion a sambhur deer. Once 
more 'Che Alang and the Penghulu looked wise and asserted 
the awful character of the beast; but a sneering remark of 
the elephant driver, to the effect that the women would 
laugh at the return empty-handed of the great white hunter, 
was enough to set both John Smith and his faithful friend, 
'Che Alang, thinking what should be their next proceeding. 
John Smith proposed following the track until they came 
up with their game, while 'Che Alang rather favoured 
digging pit-falls in the track by which it had entered the 
glade that night and previously. The Penghulu, on his part, 
agreed to do whatever his visitors wished, so long as they 
killed the beast, of which his people were now in the 
greatest fear and dread. So both alternatives were agreed to. 
The elephant was sent back for a party of diggers and 
tools; and the hunters, after eating a few handfuls of rice, 
started to follow the trail. And now the white hunter writes 
that he was not quite so pleased with the reputation which 
he had established, for it was obvious that he must be the 
leader of the little string of four, who were to follow the 
trail single file through the forest. He was consoled a little 
by 'Che Alang, who said that the rhinoceros would certainly 
only have gone a short distance, and would be found in a 
wallow in a thick, shady part of the forest, certainly 
within half a mile of the hot springs. This was a little 
consoling; but half a mile of tracking with naked feet — 
for quiet was absolutely necessary — over ground which 
was not entirely destitute of thorns, with the constant 
expectation of being charged by a ferocious beast, and the 
improbabihty of being able either to get out of his way or 



2SI 

to shoot quickly enough to stop his headlong rush, was not 
calculated to make a man who had had little experience of 
the work exactly comfortable, and he takes some credit to 
himself that he went through with it without allowing the 
others to see his nervousness. Very slowly and cautiously 
they crept along the track, stopping to listen and to peer 
into the forest at every few steps, and prepared to dash 
behind trees to avoid a sudden charge. Before they had 
gone half a mile they came up with their quarry, or at 
least nearly so. There was a sudden rush in the forest in 
front of them, as the heavy beast got to his feet and bolted, 
luckily perhaps for the hunters, not in their direction. 

John Smith records that he thinks he might have fired 
his gun if he had seen the brute; but perhaps he would 
have thrown it away and provided only for his own safety 
by getting behind the nearest tree. At any rate he was 
devoutly thankful that the rhinoceros, by going the other 
way, saved him from running the risk of lowering 'his 
prestige before the others. 

Well ! the quarry was gone, and it was hopeless to think of 
going further after it now that it had been once disturbed. 
However, they followed the trail up to the wallow, where 
it had lain back to back with its friend, the sambhur deer. 
The impression of both their bodies was quite distinct, and 
its cowardice in running away, instead of attacking its 
enemies, was accounted for by the two wise Malays, who 
were both quite certain that it had become timid because 
it feared for the safety of its friend. 

So far it was not so very unsatisfactory to our friend : he 
was never a great hunter, and was perhaps more pleased 
with what he had seen than if he had killed the rhinoceros, 
and especially so as his friends were quite content to applaud 
his courage in making the attempt. 



252 

By the time they had returned to the cave and had 
eaten a more substantial meal, the elephant came back 
again from the kampong with a party of men and with 
some tools; so they at once proceeded to dig and prepare 
four pitfalls in the most likely places; after which they 
returned to the Penghulu's house, where they spent three 
days, John Smith in ingratiating himself with the people, 
and 'Che Alang in forwarding that praiseworthy object. 

On the second morning of their stay word was brought 
in that the rhinoceros was in one of the pitfalls, and they 
went out to secure it. A single shot carefully planted in its 
brain through the ear dispatched it, and all the credit was 
given to the white man for the kill. The horn was even 
hacked off and presented to him. Now this was no mean 
concession, for rhionceros horns were in all Malay states a 
royal perquisite and were be supposed to be immediately 
taken to the King, the Penghulu or chief of the district 
being responsible for their safe delivery. In this case, the 
chief, when he presented the horn to John Smith, eased 
his conscience by saying he gave him. the horn to forward 
to the throne, diplomatically refraining from saying which 
throne. But this was to cause trouble hereafter. 

The rhinoceros was not, after all, such an important beast 
as was stated, for it was not more than the average size 
and certainly possessed no supernatural attributes; but as 
with the tiger, the slaying of it gained the slayer great 
credit, and when it was cut up to be divided amongst the 
people, the skin and fitesh of the face, properly the portion 
of the local chief, were carefully smoke-dried and presented 
to the white man with the customary homage due to chief. 
This special portion was considered the pick of all the meat, 
and the recipient ate broth made from it for several weeks, 
and found it most nourishing. 



253 

There was no Perak agent at this place, and the people 
openly said that they were as willing to accept Patani as Perak 
for their overlord, so here at any rate the Queen's agent 
was able to congratulate himself that he could report favou- 
rably to his mistress. It took them two days to pole up the 
river again to 'Che Alang's house, where they were cordially 
welcomed home and a good deal applauded as brave hunters. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

On arrival they found the Perak official still staying with 
the Penghulu and now most anxious to ingratiate himself 
with John Smith. He ignored the fact that the latter was 
an accredited agent of the Queen of Patani, and pretended 
to believe the account that .he gave of himself, namely, 
that he was a merchant travelling about to trade and 
establish mercantile connections with the chiefs of the 
country, for their mutual benefit. This was, of course, only 
pretence, because the Penghulu, who had received him at 
first and had seen the changi putri which he carried, had, 
because of that, apologised for not entertaining him, giving 
as his reason that he was entertaining a Perak agent and 
was afraid that there might be difficulties; and in fact 
everybody in the place knew all about it: indeed it was 
the real reason why the gentleman from Perak had not 
attempted to become friendly with him. 

But now all was altered, and every day Inche Ahmad — 
as the gentleman was called — made a point of spending 
as much time as possible with his rival, trying to persuade 
him to go down the river to visit the King of Perak. He 
extolled his country to the utmost, and enlarged upon the 
power and glory of his King, whom he represented to be 
one of the most potent monarchs of the earth, a lineal 
descendant of Iskander-al-Zekernain (Alexander the Great); 
or rather he ascribed to him a much more miraculous ancestry. 



255 

He told the history of the first Malay kings from whom 
the King of Perak claimed descent. It was an interesting 
tale, and John Smith took the pains to write it down 
shortly in his notes. 

It appeared, from Inche Ahmad's tale, that Alexander 
the Great once made a descent on to a hill, called Bukit 
Maha Meru, in the State of Menangkabau in Sumatra. He 
was riding on a white cow which flew through the air. At 
the time of his descent, the country which was governed 
by patriarchal chiefs, not by kings, was very prosperous, 
being noted for its fine rice crops; and two daughters of 
the chief of the district were engaged in reaping the padi. 
His arrival caused miraculous manifestations to take place. 
The corn turned to gold and the leaves and padi stalks to 
silver all over the hill padi fields. The two young women 
also were especially honoured, for as soon as the cow touched 
earth, she vomited, and from the vomit sprang two young 
and handsome men, beautiful as fairies. 

These strangely-born men were immediately dubbed princes 
by the puissant monarch who rode on the cow, and were 
ordered to take the two women to wife, which they did, 
and from them have sprung the long line of Perak Kings, 
even down to this day. Much more did 'Che Ahmad tell 
John Smith of the glories of Perak, its monarch and his riches. 

He said that tin could be had in any quantity and at a 
very cheap rate, and instanced the fact that two years 
before some white men in great ships — a different race 
from the Feringhis who held Malacca, and who were detested 
by all Malays — had sailed up the Perak River from the 
sea and had started trading; but they had had to buy their 
tin very dear, as the chief of the port was a very shrewd 
trader, and also because the tin passed through so many 
hands that of course it was dear at the mouth of the river. 



2S6 

But if, on the other hand, a trader bought the tin up country, 
he could take prahu loads of it down river and store it 
until his ships arrived to take it away. 

John Smith took the opportunity to let 'Che Ahmad 
know that it was his own friends who went up the Perak 
River, and that he also was with them. It was a good 
opportunity to forward the interests of the house of Neccy, 
and to impress him with the an idea of the importance of 
the white race, in exchange for the tales he had told of 
Perak's greatness. 

He had no intention at all of wavering in his loyalty to 
the Queen of Patani, but at the same time he did not see 
any use in openly declaring his mission, as, if he did so, 
'Che Ahmad would have no choice but to declare his enmity, 
and use his influence with the Prince of Raman to have 
him arrested, or even killed. Che Alang had already ascer- 
tained that the messenger, who had been sent down river 
by 'Che Ahmad on John Smith's first arrival, had returned, 
and had brought some word from the Prince of Raman, 
what it was 'Che Alang could not find out; but at any rate, 
to it might probably be ascribed the altered behaviour of 
'Che Ahmad. 

'Che Ahmad, finding that all his endeavours to induce 
John Smith to go downriver and visit the King of Perak 
were without avail, now proposed that he should send the 
rhinoceros horn down to the King, hinting pretty plainly 
that it was of course necessary for him to do so, because 
the King of Perak was now supreme in Raman, and the 
royalties all belonged to him. 

For a long time he evaded this question in different ways, 
urging at last that he wished to keep it himself as a trophy 
of the first rhinoceros he had ever had a hand in killing; 
but he said that, if it was really due to the King of Perak, 



257 

he would, when he visited that State, most certainly deliver 
it up, and at the same time ask for permission to purchase 
it from the King. With this promise 'Che Ahmad professed 
to be content; but they found out that he had sent other 
messages down the river, and 'Che Alang did not disguise 
his anxiety from his guest. He told him that 'Che Ahmad 
had been sounding him as to his own loyalty to the King 
of Perak, and hinting that, as the white man came from 
Patani, it was his duty to keep a watch on him and report 
to the King's agent if he found him doing anything to 
damage the King's .authority. 'Che Alang declared that he 
was quite indifferent himself whether the Queen of Patani 
or the King of Perak held sway in Raman ; he was a trader 
and had nothing to do with questions of state, but of one 
thing he assured John Smith, and that was his loyalty to 
him personally. He was his guest sent by God, was therefore 
under his protection, and his honour required that he should 
defend him with his life, which he would certainly do, 
whether he was attacked by common robbers, the wild 
beasts of the forest, or even by the King of Perak himself. 
His life was more sacred to him than the lives of his wife 
or his children, and besides all that, he had cause to love 
him as a son, as also had his wife; and as for Si Andak, 
the child of his adoption, his guest could judge for himself 
whether she would easily brook any injury being done to 
her friend, whom she now looked upon as her own guest; 
while even the little maid Si Uteh would fight tooth and 
nail in defence of her comrade in many a forest ramble and 
expedition in search of fish or mussels or water snails, when 
she and her sister had playfully compelled him to assist 
them to bail out some hole in a stream. On these occasions 
they had got their bodies and scanty clothing saturated 
with water and so be — plastered with mud, that the frolic 

17 



always ended in a plunge in the clear river, and such a 
frank washing-up in company as would probably have 
greatly shocked the prim Duch maidens and their mothers 
whom John Smith used to know, and who seemed to him 
now to be but poor and insipid members of the great human 
family, compared with the children of Nature with whom 
for the last two or three years of his life he had associated. 

Who would live in cities and cumber himself with the 
stiff doublet and hose of so-called civilization, when the 
forest and the tropical warmth invited him to its umbrageous 
shades, and when he need only don the scanty clothing 
which would allow free and unrestrained use of his limbs? 

Who would worship his God in the most gorgeous cathedral 
built by man's hands, in set terms and phrases, in prescribed 
attitudes, and using gestures and genuflexions according to 
the dogmatic ordering of self-appointed religious leaders, 
when the forest glade and the open plain, the margins of 
the most beautiful rivers, or the groves of mighty trees on 
the tops of tropical hills, invited him to be still, and in 
lonely contemplation to worship the All God of Nature? 

How compare the busy and dishonest traffic of Europe, 
its crude and selfish race for supremacy, and its disregard 
for anything except getting the better of one's neighbours 
with the suave and polite intercourse of Asia, where the 
defeated in a game of intrigue, or even of a trade rivalry, 
can console himself that no insult was exchanged in the 
contest, nor anything said or done to make either side 
regret, except the loss of the game ? 

Where is the modesty of behaviour or apparel, in the 
suggestiveness with which the civilized man or woman — often 
by deforming the human body — directs attention to some 
particular point of his or her personal beauty of form or 
feature, as compared with the almost unclothedness of the 



259 

child of Nature, in the warm zone of the earth, whose 
scanty drapery is carelessly and frankly disposed about her 
person, with no thought of anything except to cover the 
body a little, because other people do so ? 

And it is quite certain that the law of marriage, whereby 
one man and one woman are irrevocably tied together for 
their natural lives,, be they suitable or unsuitable for such 
a thraldom, is better than the easy and flexible rule of less 
highly cultured peoples, who know no constraint, but join 
and part as freely and frankly as the birds? 
Where in all Europe would he find the man who was 
willing to sacrifice not only his life, but his family also in 
defence of his guest? The touchy and punctilious honour of 
the West, which could take fire at a sneer, would perhaps 
flinch at the prospect of such a sacrifice in defence of the 
"stranger within the gates." 

The proud Castilian might offer the keys of his house to 
his guest — a ceremony which he had adopted from the 
Moors who had over-run his country — but which both he 
and his guest, even while the offer was made, knew was 
only an empty form; yet how much more thoroughly had 
the unsophisticated Malay caught the spirit of the custom 
from his Arabian teachers. 

It only wanted the spice of danger which realised now 
threatened him, to make his present life perfect, and willingly 
would he have stayed to see it through; but there was the 
danger to his friends to consider. It is true that not a hint 
of this fell from the lips of old 'Che Alang Pekan, but it 
was very evident that it was there and imminent; and so 
he made up his mind to leave his pleasant quarters and 
seek some other village. Indeed, if he was to effectively 
continue his mission, it was now quite time that he did so. 
He had as yet only tried the temper of two places, and 



26o 

they had pretty unanimously declared for his mistress, for 
'Che Alang was quite certain the Penghulu was more in 
his favour than 'Che Ahmad's, whatever he might think of 
the merits of the two States; but of course he was unable 
to declare himself all the time the latter was staying in his 
house, where he had taken up his abode apparently more 
or less permanently and as if by right, living, he and his 
followers, free of charge, and behaving in too arrogant a 
manner to quite please his host. 

'Che Alang was of the opininion that it would be safer 
for his guest to absent himself for a while and await events 
a little. He did not think that 'Che Ahmad would venture 
to use violent measures to coerce his rival in any way, 
because there was too strong a party against him, and also 
he had probably got his orders to try and persuade the 
white man to go to Perak. 

There was a high officer of state from Perak stationed 
at the Court of the Prince of Raman, under whom 'Che 
Ahmad and two other Perak officials were acting in different 
parts of the province; but 'Che Alang was quite certain 
that even he would not dare to offer violence to one whom 
he could not help knowing was a friend of the Queen of 
Patani. What he was afraid of was that, as soon as he had 
had time to get a messenger to the King of Perak, the 
latter would order him to arrest, if not to kill, John Smith, 
and would send a sufficient force to over-awe his friends. 
Therefore the best way to avoid this was by leaving the 
field clear to 'Che Ahmad. 

'Che Alang, it wil be remembered, had grave suspicions 
that his daughter, 'Che Long, had been stolen by somebody 
in the service of the Prince of Raman; and he thought 
that if he could get away from the village he would be 
able to institute something in the way of a search for her. 



,26 1 

If the Prince had got her, she was without doubt in his 
palace and safely guarded; but even safely guarded captives 
are sometimes rescued, and 'Che Alang was very much in 
hopes that the Semangs who came from Patani would assist 
in the work of searching for her. There were also the 
Patani men, but some of these men had to be sent back 
to Patani with a letter to the Queen, explaining how the 
mission was getting on. 

So John Smith wrote a long letter to the Queen, giving 
her all the news, and assuring her of the friendly feeling of 
the Malays in two important parts of the province. Also he 
told her all he could about the Perak agents, and advised 
that she should send two or three officers of some standing 
to assist him in counter-acting the Perak influence. He 
thought she should send a mission at least twice as strong 
as the Perak one. He finished his letter by assuring the 
.Queen that he held the rhinoceros horn — which he would 
not trust to his messenger — on her behalf, and would 
defend it with his life until he was able to deliver it into 
her own hands. 

Then one morning, having previously informed 'Che Ahmad 
that they were going on a trading expedition to a tribe of 
Semangs, who had collected a lot of rattans and wood oil 
in the hills four days' journey away, they started on two 
elephants, with a third loaded with rice for the wild men 
,and for their own food. Probably 'Che Ahmad did not 
believe that they were only going to trade, but he said 
nothing, and did not even express surprise when he heard 
that 'Che Alang's wife and two daughters were going with 
the expedition. It was, after all, a fairly common thing for 
women to travel with their husbands on such journeys, and 
'Che Alang certainly thought that his family would be 
safef with him. than left at home in charge of his slaves. 



262 

Si Uteh was now getting on towards marriageable age 
and was safer under the personal care of her foster-parents, 
for one child had disappeared because she was more than 
ordinarily pretty, and both Si Andak and Si Uteh bid fair 
to be very attractive magnets. 

Si Andak, of course, had now an efficient protector, but 
as she was not a married woman there would be no crime 
in enticing her away or even abducting her. She was mistress 
of her own person, and not the property, of a man. A 
father's claim was small. He was supposed to be paid a 
prescribed amount when his daughter was married; but the 
fee was never paid. It was called a debt, and nothing more 
was ever heard of it unless the man divorced his wife, when 
it would cause a quarrel perhaps, and even then would not 
be paid. At their first camping-place they met by appoint- 
ment the Patani boatmen, and the following morning three 
of them were sent off with the letter to the Queen of Patani. 
For two more days they travelled into the forest and slept 
in camps hastily prepared for them by their remaining 
boatmen. Then, about the middle of the fourth day, they 
came to a Semang camp, and found their Patani Semangs 
amongst a tribe with which they were friendly. John Smith 
found these people very pleased to see him, as soon as 
they got to understand that he was a friend of the Queen 
of Patani. 

They were real savages, living on the snialler aninials, 
birds and reptiles, which, they snared in the forest, with an 
occasional feast of fish, and now and then a pig or deer 
brought down by their very efficient bows and arrows; but 
flesh food of any sort was not very common with them, 
and they mostly subsisted on wild fruits, roots and leaves 
found in the jungle. 

They were brisk and active little people, not nearly so 



263 

small as the African dwarfs, but much shorter than the 
Malays, brownish black in colour and with curly woolly 
hair. Dress was almost absent amongst them, consisting 
perhaps of a girdle of leaves or grass, and in some instances 
of a chawat, or loin cloth, of beaten bark. They had no 
houses, because they never seemed to stay more than two 
or three days in one place, and they slept under overhanging 
rocks, in caves, or when such places were not available, 
they built slight shelters with boughs or palm leaves. But 
they were proud and quite self-satisfied. A few of them 
knew a little Malay, but except the four who came from 
Patani, they could not converse with any fluency. They 
claimed all the country as their own, but admitted that 
they had allowed the Malays to have the use of it. They 
were friendly with the Patani Malays, as well as with the 
Siamese; but they expressed great detestation of the Perak 
Malays, because they were connected with the Senoi or 
Sakais, who were their hereditary enemies, and with whom 
they were always at war, pitting their bows and arrows 
against the others' blow-pipes and poisoned darts, which 
weapons they disdained, declaring them to be cowardly 
and unfair. 

Under these circumstances, when the Semangs understood 
that the Prince of Raman was negotiating with the King 
of Perak to deliver his country over to that potentate and 
repudiate his vassalage to the Queen of Patani, they were 
very angry indeed, and declared that it should not be; for 
it seemed that they claimed not only to have a voice in 
the administration of the country, but also in the appoint- 
ment of the Prince who ruled it. Here was, then, perhaps 
the best way of all to counteract the influence of the Perak 
agents, who were trying to coax over the Malay chiefs and 
people. After consulting 'Che Alang on this phase of the 



264 

question, John Smith determined to take the Semangs into 
his confidence, and endeavour to use their influence to 
further his object, so far as he was able. 

'Che Alang himself was not so much interested in that 
part of their expedition as he was in the recovery of his 
daughter, and he thought he saw a means of attaining his 
end in the bad feeling which the Prince's present action 
would cause between himself and his Semang subjects. 

The chief of the little clan of wild men with whom they 
were staying was called up, together with the four Semangs 
from Patani, and the bundle containing the changi putri 
was solemnly unrolled in their presence. The four Patani 
Semangs were called to witness that they had been ordered 
by the great Queen to guide the white man to Raman and 
thereafter do his bidding, defending him with their lives; 
and they also witnessed that the changi putri had been 
delivered into his hands by the Queen herself, in full council 
of her ministers, and that she had there and then delegated 
her authority in the province of Raman to him. 

When the Semang chief understood that the reason of 
this mission was to bring the Prince of Raman to his 
proper sences, and make him return to his allegiance to 
the Queen, he expressed his entire approval, and said he 
was sure all the Semang tribes would agree with him. He 
therefore proposed that they should move farther into the 
forest and hills, to a more convenient and central place 
and there call all the Semang Chiefs together and consult 
on the matter. As it happened, it was nearing the time of 
their annual fruit feast, and it would therefore be a good 
opportunity to get the people together. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

Accordingly, the next morning the elephants were early 
picked up and loaded with their human freight, and then 
the company, augmented by the little clan of Semangs and 
their chief, moved off to find the head chief af all the 
Semangs in that district. For three days they travelled, 
picking up small parties on the road whose whereabouts 
had been discovered by observing the position of their fires 
at night time. As each party was found, John Smith was 
formally introduced and his changi putri displayed. 

Little Si Uteh and Si Andak were intensely interested 
and pleased with the journey. They would, if their foster- 
mother had allowed them, have cast off their clothes and 
have emulated the Semang girls in their savage games and 
pursuits, but 'Che Alang considered that it was necessary 
to sustain the dignity of the superior race by a somewhat 
distant and careful demeanour. As for, the white man, he 
was by 'Che Alang accredited with almost superhuman 
attributes, and the wild people were in consequence a little 
afraid of him. 

They ultimately found the camp of the head chief of the 
Raman Semangs, and on understanding the object of John 
Smith's mission, this important personage fell in entirely 
with the view that the Prince of Raman was acting beyond 
his powers in transferring his allegiance from Patani to Perak, 
without first consulting the Semang chiefs. 



266 

The chief promised that, when all his people had assem- 
bled for the annual fruit festival, and to do honour to their 
gods, Kei and Pie, he would hold a council and see what 
was best in the opinion of his people to be done under 
the circumstances; but for his own part he promised John 
Smith that, if the Prince persisted in his present policy, the 
Semang tribes would certainly refuse to acknowledge him, 
and as they were the real owners of the soil, he would 
quickly find himself a Prince without any land, and not 
that only, but as the Semangs greatly outnumbered his 
Malay subjects and paid him a large tribute in produce of 
the forest, he would also find that he had a greatly reduced 
revenue and very few subjects left. 

'Che Alang, however, told him that he must not depend 
too much on the Semangs, as their power was very limited. 
He remembered once the Sakais in Perak had tried to 
assert themselves, but had been very easily quelled; and he 
explained that these wild tribes were only tolerated because 
they were useful to make slaves of, and to do the rough 
work for the Malays in the forest; their assertion that they 
were the proper owners of the soil might be true, but the 
fact was not taken much notice of, and certainly it never 
deterred a Malay Raja from doing what he pleased. 

That might all be true and probably was, but John Smith 
thought the experiment worth trying, and at any rate it 
-would be interesting. The Semangs seemed a strong and 
well-armed people, and if they had pluck enough, their fine 
bows and arrows would make no mean mark in a pitched 
battle. Then there was the fact which he had learned in 
Patani, and found confirmed here, that they certainly had 
a voice in the election of the subsidiary princes, even if 
not in that of the Ruler of Patani. The latter was not 
perhaps quite so closely allied to ,the wild people as the 



267 

former, but from the great Queen herself down to the meanest 
peasant there was a strain of Semang blood leavening the 
Malay-Siamese stock, and that could not be quite ignored. 
He therefore malde up his mind to follow up this oppor- 
tunity, at any fate to some further development, and 
jdecided to settle at some future period how far he would 
encourage the wild men to rebel ; it would depend greatly 
on what chance there seemed of success. 

The place chosen for the fruit festival was a moderately 
_high hill, standing in the centre of an elevated table-land, 
.which in its turn was surrounded by higher hills. John 
Smith understood that this particular site was always used 
if the head Chief of the district wished to call his clans 
together, because its central position allowed the signal 
.fires to be seen from every direction, and moreover it was 
.an ancient rallying place of the people. 

The first night after their arrival a large fire was. lit on 
the hilltop, and was kept blazing for about an hour. It was 
then put out, and no light was shown for an interval of an 
hour. Then it was re-lit for another hour, after which it was 
put out permanently. This was done for three consecutive 
.nights, which was the signal that the clans were to assemble. 

The signal was well obeyed, for very soon the people 
began to gather. Everybody, man or woman, arrived laden 
with fruit or vegetables, which they carried in baskets on their 
backs supported by strips of bark across their foreheads. 
Only the able-bodied men and women came as a rule, 
especially from a distance, as the children and old people 
were left behind, with perhaps one or two strong men or 
. women of each clan to look after them, but even these in 
some cases followed on and arrived at the trysting-place a 
day or two after their stronger clansmen. 

The festival was to be held on the . site of an old hill 



268 

clearing, which as on every similar occasion, was carefully 

prepared by cutting down all the young growth and grass. 

This clearing was about ten acres in extent. The people 

laughingly alluded to it as the place where they sunned 

themselves once a year, and this was about true, for they 

were shade-loving folk, and very rarely came out into the 

open country; and even now, as they gathered to the 

meeting, they established themselves under the trees round 

the clearing. The first comers got places nearest their chief, 

and the later ones gradually filled up the circle, until the 

clearing was at last ringed round with little camps. The 

people slept and sheltered under the merest screen of boughs 

and palmleaves, and kept fires alight all night. They 

seemed to be always cooking and eating during the night, 

and all day they were away in the forest collecting food. 

By the Chief's orders, a house was built for John Smith's 

party. It was a queer, ramshackle-looking place, but the 

best the wild men could manage, and it was greatly appreciated; 

for whatever the wild men thought about it, certainly the 

more civilized Malays did like a little privacy, and were 

not accustomed to carry on all their domestic life quite so 

openly and devoid of shame as these others, who in that 

respect were not much more modest than goats or buffaloes. 

The changi putri was displayed at the door of John 

Smith's house, and was in charge of old 'Che Alang, who 

constituted himself Chief Herald for the occasion, and each 

petty chief as he arrived was brought by the head chief to 

do homage to the insignia of royalty and to see the strange 

white man who was the great Queen's agent. 

So far as could be estimated, there were certainly a 
thousand people present, of whom the greater half were 
able-bodied men armed with bows, a few of them also 
having wood knives of good steel obtained from the Malays ; 



269 

but the majority carried small spears with blades of sharp- 
pointed bamboo hardeneded in the fire. If there was any 
courage amongst them, this was not an insignificant fighting 
force, and was one that might be expected to move about 
very easily, with the hard-working women to follow behind 
and keep it supplied with food collected fom the forest. 

The time had now come for the culminating dance and 
great fruit feast to take place to each clan built a large 
fire out in the open before its camping ground, and every 
man, woman and child spent the whole day away in the 
forest collecting fruit, which was deposited in heaps between 
the fires and the camps. There was also a great dressing 
up of the young men and women for the night's performance. 
The head chiefs's fire was first lighted about ten o'clock at 
night, after which all te other fires were started, and then 
the great dance began. Each clan was provided with a 
clumsy drum, made out of the hollowed section of a tree 
about two feet long, and one in diameter. Across one end 
of this was stretched the skin of a wild goat or monkey. 
These drums and some wooden clappers supplied all their music. 

The young people belonging to the head chief's clan 
commenced the game. They had dressed themselves fantas* 
tically in crowns and kilts of leaves and grasses, both sexes 
about the same, and as they had discarded their chdwats, 
or loin cloths of beaten bark, they appeared more undressed 
than usual. They came out of the camp and drew up in 
groups before the elders of the clan and the visitors. Then 
first the young men danced energetically for a short time, 
to the monotonous beating of the drum and a sort of chant 
sung by the young women ; and after this the young women 
took their place and did their share to the same accom- 
paniment. Their dance consisted chiefly in swaying, their 
bodies and arms in time to the music, not altogether ungrace- 



2/0 

fully, but their posturing was perhaps not quite so modest' 
as it might have been. John Smith learnt that the dance 
was chiefly responsible for the marriages in the tribe, and 
was perhaps instituted for that purpose. His httle friend Si 
Uteh had begged to be allowed to join the head chief's 
troupe of girls, and had indeed dressed, or rather undressed, 
herself for the purpose, but when she showed herself to her 
foster parents, her sister and her friend the white man, she 
was quickly smacked and ordered to resume her proper 
clothes, for she certainly made much too pretty a savage 
to be trusted amongst the others. 

It was the rule for dancing parties from the different 
clans to visit one anothers camps, indulge in a short dance 
for their hosts' amusement, eat some fruit and then go on 
to another camp; and this lasted nearly all night. Marriages 
within the clan were not allowed, and young men had to 
select their brides from clans other than their own : the 
penalty for breaking this law was death. 

John Smith and the two Malay girls visited all the camps 
under the guidance of the head chief. It was very interesting 
to watch the love-making of the young people. As seemed 
to be the custom in this part of the world, the girls always 
made the first advances, and the advances made were 
certainly quite unmistakable; there was no false modesty 
displayed by either sex : the intention was the finding of 
suitable mates, and when the affinity was thought to have 
been discovered, it was the maiden, not the man, who was 
the wooer, and her wooing was done quite openly, and was 
openly reciprocated. 

It was well on towards dawn before the fires dwindled 
out and the camps became quiet, but the savages were all 
alert again before the sun was above the horizon. For two 
more nights the tribe feasted and danced, and ispent what 



271 

part of the day could be spared from the search for food 
in sunning themselves in the clearing. 

During all this time the head chief was very busy, con- 
sulting the different clans as to the proper measures to be 
taken to bring the Prince of Raman to reason and to a 
proper sence of his obligation to take counsel with the 
Semang chiefs before he gave away his country. There was 
no doubt about the opinion of the clans on this point. 
Perhaps the very fact of finding themselves all together 
and in such large numbers, gave these wild men an undue 
idea of their own importance, but certainly when the head 
chief told his visitors that his people had determined to 
make the Prince give up his plan of becoming a vassal of 
Perak, and return to his allegiance to Patani, even 'Che 
Alang, little trust as he put in the power of the savages, 
thought that perhaps they might exercise some slight influence, 
especially if there was a chance of the Queen of Patani 
backing them up. But he believed that it would be very 
difficult to persuade them to actually fight real Malays. If 
the King of Perak ordered his Sakai subjects to fight, 
probably the Semangs would give a good account of those 
foes, but they would be afraid of the Malays. 

They awoke one morning to find the place deserted, 
except for the head chief's clan, for before daylight had 
quite taken the place of darkness they had gone away, and 
the busy camps were only indicated by the vacant hearths 
and the squalid-looking shelters which had been erected. It 
was very depressing to walk round the clearing and see 
none of the picturesque groups of savages squatting round 
their fires and finding employment in a hundred trivial 
occupations, which, though they seemed of hardly any 
account, yet made up the whole sum of existence to these 
denizens of the forest. The young men would be laboriously 



272 

fashioning combs of bamboo, or stringing rows of bright- 
hued seeds to please their brown brides, who in their turn 
were plaiting strips of rattan or a black thread-like creepeV, 
to make belts for the husbands they had won. The old 
men would be mending bows, or with excessive expenditure 
of energy, and with infinite pains, forging iron arrow heads 
with stones for anvil and hammer, while the old women 
were beating out cloth from the fibrous inner bark of the 
upas and the bread-fruit trees. 

Their primeval forest, the mother who bore them and 
nourished them in her leafy shades and gloom, had again 
taken them to herself; her children had gone back to her 
protection, to continue their restless nomadic existence, in 
a never-ending struggle for the preservation of what, at 
first sight seemed a life so poor that it was hardly worth 
maintaining, and for the continuance of a race which, if it 
were wiped out of the scheme of the Universe, would 
hardly be missed, so unimportant seemed it to be. 

They had gone to work their way gradually through many 
miles of forest, where only they could find a path. They 
had agreed to travel by many different routes, so that they 
should not interfere with one another in the important 
search for food, and then to meet again at a place within 
one day's journey of the Prince's kampong, where each clan, 
with a supply of rattans, resin or wood oil, should wait 
in its camp, as if prepared to pay a tribute to the Prince. 
That was the agreed upon programme, which the Prince 
would undoubtedly have no cause to suspect meant anything 
more than the usual payment of tribute after the fruit 
festival of his wild subjects, for he had often before been 
gratified by such a contribution, which constituted a large 
item in his revenue. 

And now the head chief proposed to his guests that they 



2;'3 

should move on to the rendezvous by slow stages; so the 
elephants were caught, and a start was made. As the rice 
was all eaten, the rest of the journey would have to be 
performed on the same food as the Semangs were used to, 
and the Semang chief was gratified by being given the 
provision elephant for the use of himself, his wife and his 
family. He was a proud man, travelling thus in state, for 
it had been a rule never to let the wild men ride on 
elephants for fear it should make them think they were as 
good as the Malays. 

Slowly and carefully the great beasts plodded on through 
the forest day by day with the head chief's clan of about 
fifty men and women, some of whom kept behind, and 
some in front of the elephants, searching for food for the 
night's camp. Every day John Smith was regaled with some 
new dish, sometimes it was a monkey, dropped from the 
top of a high tree by an expert bowman, or the white 
meat of the tail of a great lizard, while now and then a 
wild pig would be brought in. All these things were haran 
(forbidden) to 'Che Alang and his family, and even the 
omniverous white man could not quite manage to share a 
great feast the wild men once made off a twenty-foot-long 
python. 

Then sometimes the good Mohamadans had their innings, 
mouse deer were caught in snares, and often they had 
peacocks and other beautiful game birds that it seemed a 
shame to eat; and then at times fresh-water snails or mussels 
would be brought in, and these 'Che Alang's old wife and 
the two girls would industriously extract from their shells 
and stew with spices and sour fruits, making a delicious 
dish. All these things were halal (allowed) to the follower 
of the Prophet. 

Sometimes 'Che Alang and John Smith would have long 

i8 



274 

arid interesting arguments as to those ariimals which ''^splft 
the hoof but do not chew the cud", forbidden by the 
Mosaic law or concerning certain birds like woodpeckers, 
which are makro (inexpedient) according to Mohamadan 
law; but generally in these cases, if hunger was sufficiently 
pressing, and nothing but wild roots and leaves were found 
to satisfy it, the law of the Prophet was set aside; indeed, 
in John Smith's experience, more than once in such cases 
the forbidden pig itself had been re-christened "the short- 
legged goat", in an attempt to quiet the sensitive conscience 
of a hungry Mohamadan. 

Nine days they thus travelled through the forest, not 
making long journeys, for they did not wish to arrive 
before the rest of the tribe, who would possiby be delayed 
because of collecting the produce of the forest for the 
pretended tribute to the Prince. 

On the tenth day, instead of continuing their journey, 
the Semang chief desired his friends to stay in camp and 
allow him to go forward without them. He expected, he 
said, to meet his people one day's journey ahead, and when 
he had done this he would arrange for the best way to 
deal with the Prince of Raman, whose kampong was only 
about thirty miles away. It was certainly better under these 
circumstances that John Smith's presence should not be 
known, or perhaps the Perak Commissioner, who was known 
to be staying with the Prince, might arrange to do some 
mischief. 

The chief and half his followers therefore went forward 
for another march, leaving the other half of the people in 
camp. The chief promised to inveigle the Prince into the 
forest with as few followers as possible; and 'Che Alang 
made him understand that the women of his harem were 
also, if possible, to be decoyed out; for he felt certain that 



275 

his daughter, 'Che Long, would be found amongst them. 
This also the chief promised to do his best to bring about. 

After the Semang chief had started, the rest of the party- 
proceeded to arrange their camp, as it was probable that 
they would have to stay some days before the arrangements 
for receiving the Prince could be made. It was not decided 
when the chief left exactly what was to be done, because 
it was not certain how many followers the Prince would 
bring into the forest with him, or even if he would be 
persuaded to leave his kampong at all, while if he did come, 
the Perak officer might insist on coming with him. Everything, 
therefore, had to be left to chance, and the only arrangement 
which could be made was to choose several of the most 
intelligent Malay-speaking Semangs to carry messages between 
the two camps, so that John Smith and his party might 
know exactly what to do and be prepared to act on an 
emergency. 

After six days' waiting, a messenger came from the Semang 
chief at the Prince's kampong, to say that the Prince of 
Raman with some of his women and the Perak commissioner 
intended to pay a visit to the Semang camp the next day, 
and that the chief meant to inveigle him out to the smaller 
camp where the Patani mission was. The messenger also 
said that his chief was very angry with the Perak man 
because he had laughed at him, and that he was going to 
send another messenger on the morrow. 

Accordingly the next morning a second messenger arrived, 
and reported that the Prince with his four wives, some 
other women and six followers, and the Perak officer with 
two followers, had arrived at the maiij camp with four 
elephants; that they intended spending some days there 
taking account of the tribute brought in by the Semangs 
and that the Prince had ordered the Semang chief to make 



2/6 

liis people arrange for a dance in three nights' time, in 
order to amuse the Perak officer. The messenger also said 
that his chief was very angry about this. On being questioned, 
he could not tell whether 'Che Alang's daughter was with 
the Prince's party or not. 

John Smith now conceived the idea of capturing both 
the Prince and the Perak officer and taking them prisoners 
over to Patani for the Queen to deal with. It would probably 
lead to a war between Perak and Patani, but this he thought, 
would be sure to occur sooner or later, and he knew that 
two important Raman kanipongs, as well as all the Semangs, 
were in favour of Patani, so he had very little fear for 
the result. 

'Che Alang was willing to assist in anything, if only he 
could get back his daughter, and he wanted before anything 
else to ascertain if she was with the Prince's party. The 
messenger was therefore sent back at once to the Semang 
chief, to make arrangments to meet John Smith and 'Che 
Alang secretly in the forest, not very far from the large 
camp, so that they could have a conference and try to 
arrange some way of carrying out this project. About four 
hours after this messenger had returned, they started them- 
selves with half-a-dozen Semangs, taking with them one of 
the former messengers to show them the most convenient 
place to wait for the Semang chief. After travelling all 
night through the forest by torch-light, they arrived within 
what was understood to be about a mile of the big camp, 
and there halted, whilst a man went forward to call the 
chief. The latter came out to see them at once. He was 
quite willing to fall in with their views, except that he 
wanted to kill the Perak man because he had treated him 
so contemptuously; but he wanted to make him understand 
first that even if in Perak the Malays had so far mastered 



277 

the Sakais as to take no notice of their claims to conside- 
ration, the Semangs of Patani were more powerful, and 
would hold their own as heirs of the soil, even to fighting 
for their rights. 

They agreed that the Prince and the Perak agent, with 
their women and followers, should be enticed out to the 
smaller camp to see a dance and inspect "some more tribute, 
which, the Chief would persuade them, could not be brought 
down to the large camp. 'Che Alang, however, was most 
anxious to make certain if his daughter was with the Prince's 
other women, and so, after they had made all their preparations 
for the capture of the Prince and the Commissioner, with 
their people, he went back with the chief to his camp, and 
by hiding in the forest near the place where the Prince's 
people went down to the river to bathe, he at last caught 
sight of her as she came along with the other women, and 
his suspicions as to her whereabouts being now confirmed, 
he was content to return to his own party and patiently 
await the development of the plan they had agreed upon. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

As soon as they got back to their camp, they made 
preparations for the reception and capture of their proposed 
visitors. The elephants were sent back a day's march, and 
the whole camp was moved forward a little off the old site, 
so that on the arrival of the Prince's elephants there should 
be no suspicious signs to show that anybody but Semangs 
had used the place. Two huts were hastily built, one, a 
fairly large one, for the Prince, and a smaller one for the 
Perak Commissioner. John Smith and 'Che Alang arranged 
to stay with their family in the old camp, and only come 
forward, either to help effect the capture, or after it had 
been made, as might appear best. Things were arranged only 
just in time for their reception. A cordon of Semangs was 
posted round the open space before the huts which had 
been built, for feer any of the visitors should escape, for it 
was evidently imperative that the Prince's capture should 
not be made known any sooner than was absolutely necessary, 
because, as soon as his own immediate followers knew it, 
they might be expected to move Heaven and earth to find 
him again; and of course the taking prisoner of the Perak 
Commissioner was a deliberate act of war. 

For this reason precautions had been taken to account 
for the Prince's absence from his own kampong for at least 
a fortnight : this would give them a good start before even 
search was thought of, and they hoped to get their captives 
past all the inhabited country, and well on their journey 
towards Patani, before people were awake to the fact that 



279 

their ruler had been abducted. 'Che Alang was for letting 
the Semangs actually make the capture, and it seemed 
better that it should be so, because they would thus have 
committed themselves to an act hostile to Perak, and could 
not thereafter draw back from the responsibility. 

'Che Alang's wife could not resist the temptation of hiding 
at the edge of the small cleared space in front of the hut 
built for the Prince, in order to watch the arrival of her 
daughter and wen the time came, she was perhaps a little 
gratified to see that 'Che Long was seated on the same 
elephant as the Prince, and was thus given precedence over 
his other four legitimate wives, who were all packed together 
on a second elephant. But that was, as the old lady well 
knew, always the way, for even legitimate wives had to 
give place to the last new favourite. She would have been 
very much happier if her daughter had attained to the 
more orthodox position of a legitimate wife. 

The anxious old mother had seen the Prince's elephant 
drawn up to the hut prepared for his reception, and her 
experienced eyes had detected the fact that her daughter's 
appearance was that of a woman, who, if she were a legitimate 
wife, would have no reason to dread the gaze of the world ; 
but she was only a concubine, and her condition was therefore 
not quite so satisfactory. 

The Prince and his followers disappeared into the hut, 
and his followers proceeded to make it more comfortable 
and fit for a few days' occupation. The Perak chief also 
alighted, and was apparently about to arrange his own hut, 
by putting into it his own sleeping mats and pillows, 
together with the very few other articles which make 
up the small amount of impedimenta with which a Malay 
always travels. Amongst these was the spear with a fringe 
of white horse hair fixed just under the socket of the blade, 



28o 

which was his token of authority from the King of Perak. 
Unluckily for the chief, as he was attending to his arrang- 
ments, a troupe of young girls, fancifully dressed up in the 
lightest of grass and leaf kilts, as if prepared for the dance, 
passed close beside his hut, and the poor man — perhaps 
envious at seeing the Prince with so well-filled a harem, 
whilst he was wifeless — seized the arm of the nearest girl 
and tried to pull her into his hut. It was an almost unprece- 
dented thing for a Malay to do, and swiftly did punishment 
follow on his wrong doing. The girl called out something, 
and immediately an alert Semang, armed with a strong spear 
having a hardened bamboo blade, jumped out of the forest 
and remonstrated with the Malay, but unavailingly, for the 
latter passed his arm round the girl's waist and drew her 
towards him. This was, perhaps more than the Semang 
could endure, for he suddenly shouted out something in his 
own tongue and stabbed the Perak man in the abdomen 
with his bamboo-headed spear ; then, as if at a prearranged 
signal, the little cleared space and the huts prepared for 
the visitors were surrounded by armed Semangs, who promptly 
laid hands on every soul of the Prince's party, and disarmed 
and bound them with rattan cords, which were by some 
rhysterious m'feans forthcoming just at the right moment. 

The poor Perak man was killed almost immediately, for 
as soon as his assailant stabbed him, two or three other 
young men rushed at him also and thrust their bamboo 
spears into his body as he fell. 

The head chief of the Semangs, with a party of his most 
important chiefs of clans, called to the Prince to come out 
from his hut with all his women and followers, and on his 
doing so, his followers were promptly bound, elephant drivers 
and all. It was lucky for all parties that before the fracas 
occurred the elephants had been hobbled, or perhaps they 



28l 

might have got away, when they could only have been 
caught again by their own drivers, who would have been 
sure to have thus escaped and probably gone back to the 
Prince's own kampong, and informed the people of what 
had taken place. 

The ladies were grouped together with a guard placed 
over them. But not until everything had been made secure 
did the wily old Semang chief send a messenger to call. 
John Smith and his friends, and explain to him what had^ 
been done, and why the Perak chief had been killed. 

The Queen of Patani's agent, having ascertained from the 
messenger exactly how matters stood, thought it better now 
to disclose the object of his mission. He therefore carefully 
dressed himself in his European dress, buckled on his trusty 
Spanish rapier, and taking his changi putri in his hand, 
went back to the camp with the messenger, and approached 
the captive Prince of Raman. 

He found that chief tremendously surprised at the course 
of events and also very indignant, but when a man with a 
white skin, a beard and a moustache, and dressed in out- 
landish clothes appeared, his surprise was changed to real 
anger; and on that apparition addressing him in his own 
language, and informing him that he was a prisoner and 
must prepare forthwith to start on a journey to Patani, to 
answer certain charges of rebelling against his Suzerain, the 
great Queen, his indignation gave place to temporary madness, 
and drawing his kris he suddenly plunged it into the naked 
body of a Semang who stood close beside him ; then, shouting 
out the name of Allah, he sprang forward in the direction 
of his group of wives, and would, without doubt, have soon 
justified himself as a true Malay by providing a sacrifice as 
a fit preparation for his own death. He did indeed do some- 
thing towards attaining this end, for as he rushed, the 



282 

Semangs who were guarding the women gave way, frightened 
at his appearance. 

Truly a terrible sight he was, as he frantically dashed at 
the horrified group of women, shouting, "I am the King of 
the jungle! I am the Great Bull Elephant, and the wild 
Sheitan of the forest!" 

In one hand he flourished a wavy kris, and in the other 
a little sickleshaped dagger, designed for ripping up the 
abdomen of an adversary. Already he had reached one of 
the women, who, hoping to escape, had left the group and 
was starting away towards John Smith; but it was not to 
be her fortune to avoid her fate, for in two or three springs, 
her husband, gnashing his teeth and shouting inarticulate 
curses as he advanced, stabbed her in the back with his 
kris, and as she fell backwards into his arms, plunged his 
little crooked dagger into her abdomen and literally disem- 
bowelled her, leaving his weapon fast fixed in her breast, 
bone, where it had becomed jammed as he sharply drew 
his hand upwards in the act of inflicting this horrible second. 
and unnecessary wound. 

He cast her aside, and drawing out his kris, stood glaring 
around for the next victim, a horrible and maniacal figure, 
covered from head to foot with the freshly-shed blood. It 
was almost as much as John Smith's nerves, weakened by 
his rough life and the tropical influences, could stand; but 
feeling unlimited trust in his own powers, and perhaps being 
encouraged by the feel of his clothes, which he had not for 
some time worn, he drew his sword and steadily advanced 
on the maddened chief, calling on him at the same time to 
throw down his weapon and surrender himself a prisoner, 
when his life would be spared. At first the Prince seemed 
a little cowed, but then perhaps suddenly remembering that 
this new opponent was an Unbeliever, whom at least it was. 



283 

meritorious to kill, he crouched, and warily watched for an 
opportunity to make a successful attack. It was a real duel, 
but the odds were certainly in favour of the more civilised 
fighter, for his long sword gave him an immense advantage, 
and he could easily have finished the fight within a very 
short time if he had wished; but it was not his intention 
to kill the Prince unless it was inevitable; he would much 
prefer taking him a prisoner to Patani for the Queen to 
deal with. He therefore followed each movement and feint 
of his adversary with the greatest care, hoping to disarm 
him and so take him prisoner. 

For some few minutes they circled round one another, 
each intent on finding an opening, until at last John Smith 
was able to accomplish what he wanted, and the Prince 
stood disarmed before him with the blood trickling from a 
wound in the back of his hand. But it was not after all 
so much the death of his adversary that the Prince desired, 
as it was to get rid of his own existence. The Malay, when 
he runs a-muck,. seeks to give his neighbours an opportunity 
and a fair reason for taking. his hfe because it is, in his 
opinion, a disgraceful thing to commit suicide, even if his 
troubles make it impossible for him to live. 

That this was the Prince's desire was soon very evident, 
for no sooner had his opponent pricked the back of his 
hand, thus causing him to drop his kris, than, finding that 
he could not recover it, he promptly endeavoured to impale 
himself on the sword which menaced him, and was only 
prevented from thus ending his life by the , promptitude 
with which his opponent dropped the hilt, and clasped him 
in his arms. The Semang chief, who had been watching the 
duel, now ordered some of his young men to assist, and 
the Prince was soon sitting on the ground, bound like his 
followers. The whole of the Prince's party was now secured, 



284 

and the four elephants were also prevented from getting 
away by the double rattan rings which confined their fore 
feet, so that they could only move about by lifting both 
feet, so that they could only move about by lifting both 
feet at a time, and thus could not escape. 

It was time now to call a council and decide what to 
do next; so John Smith, with 'Che Alang and the Semang 
chief, sat down to discuss the matter. 

After much deliberation it was determined to start at 
once up-country with the captives, and go right through to 
Patani as fast as possible, for it was quite certain that 
before many days were past the Prince and his party would 
be missed,_ and search would be made for them. It might 
be some time before what actually took place became known, 
but when the elephant tracks were traced going straight 
up-country, suspicion would be aroused and enquiries made, 
and the facts would leak out. 

It was, perhaps, unfortunate that the Perak officer had 
been killed, as it would certainly cause the King of Perak 
to carry war into Raman, eyen if he did not consider it 
sufficient reason to send an expedition right into Patani; 
but then it had proved the loyalty of the wild tribes, who 
were, it was now quite evident, no inconsiderable factor in 
the State. 

It grieved them all that the Prince of Raman took his 
captivity so much to heart. He was, apparently, a man of 
considerable intelligence and much influence in the district. 
His slightly curled hair showed the Semang blood in his 
veins, and even now as he sat in his bonds, his face distorted 
with passion, it could be seen that he was a- man of some 
presence and with claims to be called good-looking, according 
to Malay taste. He was apparently about middle age and 
in the full vigour qf life. 



285 

His three remaining wives were all youngish women, but 
none of them could be compared with 'Che Long as regards 
beauty or youth, and like the Prince himself, they all shewed 
traces of the Semang blood. 'Che Long, on the other hand, 
was of lighter build and prettier colour, and the brown of her 
skin seemed as if it was mixed with a little warm yellow, 
whereas the other ladies, like the Semangs who had captui^ed 
them, had their brown dulled and deepened with a considerable 
tinge of black; also, 'Che Long's hair was long and wavy, 
and did not tend to twist up into tight curls as did that of 
the others. 

The Semang blood was distinctly visible in these Raman 
natives, as it was right down the Patani River, and the 
difference between these people and the people who came 
from Perak, 'Che Alang's family, 'Che Ahmad and his chief 
the Perak Commissioner who had been killed, was so very 
marked that it set John Smith wondering whether this 
district, which the Raman people had occupied, should not 
after all properly go to Patani, as it was inhabited by the 
same race, in spite of the fact that the country drained 
into the Perak River basin. 

In reviewing the occurrences of the last few days, he was 
especially struck with the acumen displayed by the Semang 
chief in laying his ambush and capturing the Prince of 
Raman; but what was more astonishing still was the way 
in which he had betrayed the Perak commissioner to his 
death. It was quite evident to old 'Che Alang also that, 
either because of some insult to him and his people, or 
because he looked upon Perak State officers in Raman as 
national enemies, the Semang chief had made up his mind 
to kill the man, and the way in which it had been done had 
been carefully planned : the man's character had been studied, 
and his predilection for women noted. Therefore the appearance 



286 

of the troupe of young girls just as he was going into his 
hut was not mere chance, any more than it was by accident 
that the bravest and most reckless of the young men were 
posted at the same place, and so were handy to avenge 
the insult offered to the girl. But nobody could blame the 
Semang chief under the circumstances for the Perak man's 
death, for he had obviously brought it on himself. When 
John Smith regretted it in speaking to 'Che Alang and 
the Semang chief, the latter carefully explained that he 
also was sorry, but that, as cOuld be seen, he had no 
control over it, nor was the deed in any way done by 
his orders; it was the hasty act of a man who saw his 
wife insulted. But they saw an amused expression pass 
over the wild man's face as he gave the explanation, and 
they did not alter their opinion about the astuteness of 
the race. 

'Che Long was happy in being resorted to her family, 
but she evidently also had some affection for the Prince. 
This was, after all, natural, for by whatever means she first 
fell into his hands, the fact remained that he was the father 
of her unborn child, and this gave him a claim to all the 
love a Malay woman has to bestow on a man. Devoted 
mothers and loving, as these women often proved themselves 
to be, it was most evident that the feeling subsisting between 
man and woman was always merely sensual and had to do 
entirely with sex; there was no real passion of love, as it 
is understood amongst more highly civilised peoples. Besides 
this, poor 'Che Long had for some time being trying to 
persuade the Prince to divorce one of his wives and marry 
her, instead of keeping her in the inferior position of a 
mere concubine, and now that one of his wives was dead, 
there seemed every chance of her wishes being fulfilled, if 
only she played her cards aright; and in furtherance of her 



28; 

plan she begged to be' allowed to attend to his hurt and 
comfort him generally. 

John Smith saw no objection to this, if 'Che Alang thought 
she could be trusted not to assist him to escape, and as 
her loyalty to her own people was declared to be beyond 
doubt, he gave her some of the African salve to apply to 
the Prince's wound, and himself went with her and her 
mother to attend to him. 

They found him very sullen, but he ultimately became a 
little less so, after his late adversary had explained his 
position to him and had apologised for wounding him. He 
said that he had no very great leaning to Perak more than 
he had to Patani, and had merely transferred his allegiance 
because he thought the Queen had neglected him, and that 
he should get more out of the King of Perak, who, he said, 
had sent him some very rich presents and had promised 
him more if he would swear allegiance to him. Finally, he 
asked that his hands might be unbound; but 'Che Alang 
advised that this should not be done, as he would probably 
do some further mischief if he were allowed to go free: at 
any rate it was not advisable to untie him at present, but 
in a day or two's time they might, perhaps, hit upon a 
plan to so guard him unbound as to make it safe. 

And here the native cunning and the inherent politeness 
of the race was again exemplified. 'Che Alang brought 
forward the Semang chief, and together they did homage, 
to the bound Prince and assured him that it was their wish 
to liberate him at once, but that the chiefs of the different 
clans restrained them, declaring that they must first take 
guarantees from the Prince that he would not give their 
country to the King of Perak, whom they declared to be 
descended from their mortal enemies, the Sakais. 

Then, after the other elephants had been found, they 



2,88 

started on their long journey, the Semang chief leading the 
way, as he had promised to take them to the upper kampong 
where 'Che Alang lived in five days, which was half the 
time it had taken them to come down. The Prince's followers, 
as well as the two Perak men, were given in charge of a 
clan of Semangs, who were ordered to take them far into 
the forest, whence they could not hope to find their way 
home without the help of their captors. They were to be 
guarded until further orders from the Semang chief The 
second elephant was loaded with the Prince's three remaining 
wives, none of whom seemed very anxious to attend to 
their husband. Perhaps they were frightened because of the 
very unceremonious way in which he had got rid of one of 
their number, or perhaps, since 'Che Long had been an 
inmate of his harem, they had had but little attention from 
him, and were accordingly disposed to sulk. 

The third elephant carried 'Che Alang, his wife and the 
child, Si Uteh; the fourth, the Prince, who was carefully 
secured in his seat by rattan cords, but was made as comfortable 
as circumstances permitted, with 'Che Long, who was most 
assiduous in attending to his wants. John Smith and Si 
Andak shared the fifth elephant, and the other two were 
loaded with provisions. 

They were careful to put the Prince on one of their -own 
elephants and use his themselves, for fear any of them 
should make a dash to escape; but even if this had been 
attempted it is doubtful if they could have got away, because 
the party was escorted through the forest by the larger 
half of the Semang tribe, who were to travel with them 
until they found found the prahus which John Smith had 
hidden on his journey across from Patani, and which would 
take some of them down the Patani River. 

They determined to stop at the kampong where 'Che 



289 

Alang lived, and, if possible, secure the Perak agent, 'Che 
Ahmad, who was living there, and take him with them a 
prisoner to Patani. Sometimes John Smith changed places 
with 'Che Long and tried to make friends with the Prince, 
in hopes of persuading him before he left his own province 
to declare himself still a vassal of Patani. He told him that 
the two kampongs were, in spite of 'Che Ahmad's endeavours, 
still against the Perak alliance, and that if he would now 
declare himself true to Patani, without doubt the Queen 
would forgive him and take him back to her favour. The 
Prince promised that he would do this, and of his own 
accord promised to marry 'Che Long at the kampong when 
they stopped there. This was very gratifying news to 'Che 
Alang and his wife, but it was still a question whether 
they could trust him at liberty and with arms in his hands. 
The old Semang chief, who knew him best, would not take 
the responsibility of deciding, as he thought it probable 
that he would again try to wipe out the shame which had 
been forced on him by throwing his life away, as he had 
tried to do before. 

They decided to take the risk, and as it was better when 
they had so decided that he should be at once released, 
'Che Alang first asked him if he would take an oath that 
he would return to return to his allegiance to Patani, that 
he would not make any attempt on his own life, and lastly, 
that he would marry 'Che Long. All these things he promised 
.faithfully, so he was at once released, and his weapons were 
restored to him. But the wily Semang chief did not trust 
him, and was careful to keep the best of his young men in 
close attendance on him. Moreover, he waS not quite pleased 
with the proposed marriage, for he recognised that 'Che 
Long and her people were not of the true Semang descent ; 
but he consoled himself with the recollection that the Prince 

19 



290 

had already several heirs by his former wives, and it was 
not very probable that 'Che Long's child or its descendants 
would ever be Princes of Raman. 

Two days after this they arrived at the kampong where 
'Che Alang had so hospitably entertained John Smith, and 
it was with very considerable satisfaction that the good old 
trader welcomed his guests to his house. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

The Prince was ceremoniously received and installed in 
the end of the verandah, where John Smith had once been 
the honoured guest of the house. The Penghulu was called 
and did homage. The Prince informed him that he had 
come to the kampong on purpose to celebrate his marriage 
with 'Che Long, the daughter of 'Che Alang, and ordered 
him to have a water buffalo killed at once for a feast in 
the evening, and to command the attendance of the Khatib 
and several hajis to be witnesses of the marriage. 

The Prince then enquired where 'Che Ahmad of Perak 
was, and on his coming forward, the Prince told him that 
he was very sorry indeed, but he had to let him know 
that his chief, the agent sent to him by the King of Perak, 
had met with an unfortunate accident in the forest and lost 
his life ; he had been attacked by some strange wild animals ; 
and at the same time one of his own wives had also been 
killed, and he himself had been wounded in the hand. This 
was a most diplomatic and far-seeing statement for the 
Prince to make, and was well calculated to stop further 
enquiry. The natural inference to be drawn from what was 
evidently a fable, would be that the Petak chief had been 
too familiar with one of the ladies and they had both been 
killed in the forest, probably by the Prince himself, as his 
hand was wounded. 

Che Ahmad was well aware that his chief was greatly 
given to laxity of behaviour with regard to women, and 
when the Prince turned to 'Che Alang and John Smith 



292 

with a sardonic smile and asked them to corroborate his story, 
they were so impressed with its cleverness that they both 
immediately vouched for its truth. And after all, the facts 
might be so twisted as to make it true; the Prince was a 
despotic monarch, and the Semang woman whom the Perak 
man had insulted was, if not his wife, at any rate so much 
his slave that he could have added her to his harem without 
any one daring to prevent him. Also, he was certainly in 
a maddened state when he attempted to run a-muck, analagous 
to a wild animal, and the wild Semangs were commonly 
considered by Malays only equal to the beasts of the forest. 
Moreover, this sort of sophistry was commonly practised 
amongst Malays to hide the shame of domestic crime. Of 
course the whole story would ultimately come out, but only 
after some time, and then it would be so garbled and mixed 
up with the fable that people would not know what to 
believe, and so it would sink into oblivion. 

That matter being settled, the Prince went on to tell the 
assembly that, as it was evidently by the command of God 
Almighty, (Firman AUa-ta' Allah) that the Perak Commis- 
sioner had lost his life, he felt sure that the project of trans- 
ferring his allegiance to Perak would be contrary to Divine 
command, and he had therefore finally decided to return to 
his proper Overlord, the Queen of Patani, and was in fact 
now on his way to do homage to her and ask pardon for 
not having attended her Dewan, with the other Princes her 
vassals. Then turning to 'Che Ahmad, he said it would be 
very well, he thought, under the circumstances, if he went 
with him. John Smith caught the Prince's meaning, so quietly 
going through the house he found the Semang chief, who 
was being entertained at the back, and told him to have 
some young men ready to take 'Che Ahmad prisoner, the 
moment he went down out of the house, and by no means 



293 

to let him have any communication with anybody, for fear 
he should send a message off to Perak. 

When he returned to the verandah he brought with him 
both his own insignia of office, the changi putri, and also 
the ornamental spear which had been the token of authority 
brought from Perak; and first asking the Prince's permission 
to speak, he told the assembly that he had been deputed 
by the Queen to visit this her province of Raman, and to 
ascertain whether the Prince and the people did actually 
wish to repudiate her overlordship. He said that he was 
convinced they did not, but had been perhaps persuaded 
by the King of Perak's agents. He would now go back at 
once to Patani with the Prince, and tell the Queen that 
her province had returned to its allegiance. He intended 
taking with him to Patani the Perak Commissioner's spear 
as a sign that the people of Raman wished to have nothing 
to do with Perak, and he was very glad to find that 'Che 
Ahmad was going with the Prince. If anybody could persuade 
the other Perak agents who were in the province to go to 
Patani as well, he was sure the Queen would be very pleased 
indeed, and he knew also that the Semangs would arrange 
to help them on their journey. 

'Che Ahmad looked very blank whilst all this was going 
on and soon after asked permission to retire, in order that 
he might make his preparations for the morrow's journey. 
The Prince accorded him leave, and 'Che Ahmad, went 
down the steps, but at the bottom he was met by the 
Semang chief with ten well-armed young men, who politely 
persuaded him to go to John Smiths little house by the 
river, which, they assured him, had been prepared for him, 
and to which all his property had been removed from the 
Penghulu's house. 

It was a heavy blow for 'Che Ahmad, who saw very plainly 



294 

that the chance of Perak was gone, and that Raman would 
have to be conquered by force of arms, if his master was 
desirous of obtaining the sovereign rights over it. 

By the time all this had been done, it was getting on 
towards evening, and an appetizing smell was wafted into 
the house from about a dozen large, open iron pots, which 
had been set on furnaces hastily made of sods, and which 
were now briskly bubbling away and giving the company 
indications of good things to come. John Smith had several 
times passed through the house to the kitchen, and had 
been very interested in watching the process of converting 
the buffalo into the several different dishes which appeal to 
Malay taste. 

Of course the Penghulu's head wife was installed as 
manager-in-chief of all the cooks, and she was ably assisted 
by several other gorgeously-dressed ladies of the place. 
These all sat in conclave at the back door of the kitchen, 
while on the ground below, a party of elephant-drivers and 
other men slaves cut the meat off the bones into convenient 
collops, which were taken down to the river to be washed, 
a very necessary process, for the meat had been thrown 
about in the dirt a good deal. When brought back from the 
river in baskets it was delivered over to a set of young women, 
who cut it up into little bits, separating the different sorts 
of meat into heaps for treatment: the solid meat of the 
hind legs was cut into long, thin strips to hang up in the 
sun for future use as jerked meat, "sun fruit," as the Malays 
called it; the cheeks and lips and some other tit-bits were 
salted down in jars, also for future use, for the good ladies 
had a considerable idea of providing for the future, and 
buffaloes were not killed every day; the liver and heart and 
some other pieces were cut into nice little square dice, to 
be converted into dry curry, and the intestines and the 



29S 

fatter and more tender meat were laid aside for the curries, 
served with gravy and seasoned with green ginger. 

Another set of more experienced and older women then 
received the meat into the kitchen, and rubbed into it the 
hot chillies, salt, shredded onion, garlic and spices, and put 
it into the great pots with the milky coconut emulsion, and 
at last the cooking vessels and their contents were handed 
down again to the ground and set on the fires to simmer 
and boil, until the aromatic odour filled the air and called 
in the neighbours to the feast. Special parts of the buffalo 
were cooked in different ways for chiefs and others according 
to their rank. A .particularly soft stew of intestines and fat, 
considered good for the voice, was prepared for the hcCjis, 
who would chant the Koran presently, and the breast-bone, 
with the scanty meat and fat attached, was arranged in a 
bamboo frame and slanted over a heap of live coals, to be 
carefully grilled; this is the "Raja's meat", and it is eaten 
very hot, with a sauce of chillies and salt mixed with green 
lime juice. 

Just before sunset the order came from the kitchen that 
everybody was to sit down, and the long rows of mats 
arranged on the bare, beaten ground in front of 'Che Alang's 
house were soon filled with hungry guests. Then a procession 
of slaves appeared from the back with heaped-up wooden 
trays of smoking rice, and brass trays full of coconut shells, 
containing the differently cooked meats. These were arranged 
alternately down the space between the rows of seated 
guests, each of whom had provided himself with a clean 
square of banana leaf for a plate; and then, when all the 
dishes were set out, a reverend haji, „In the Name of God 
the Merciful and Compassionate", asked for a blessing on 
the food, after which they set to work to eat it. 

In the meantime, 'Che Long, the bride, was being dressed 



296 

and adorned by her mother in the house, and her sisters 
were being prepared to sit beside her as her supporters. 
Rich silks and jewels had been borrowed from all the 
neighbours to deck her with, and when she was placed on 
the nuptial throne beside the chief post of the house, and 
against a great pile of bolsters with gold and silver ends, 
she looked quite a lovely bride. Her sister wives were 
grouped behind her, trying to look as if they welcomed 
her to a share of their husband, his power and goods; but 
the prettiest item of the whole picture was dear little Uteh, 
who sat demurely at her foster-sister's side, a step lower on 
the throne, holding in her hands a silver box containing 
some packets of betel leaf prepared for chewing, which 
presently it would be the duty of the newly-wed wife to 
eat with her husband, the Prince. 

Si Uteh stared in front of her, with wide-open, great* 
black eyes, her sweet pouting lips a little parted, showing 
her as yet undamaged white teeth — a most enticing little 
figure, and one well calculated to play havoc -with the hearts 
of the young men who would presently file in to do homage 
to the bride and bridegroom. A very old lady sat on the 
left of 'Che Long, holding an open fan before her face. A 
vacant seat on her right was left for the coming bridegroom. 

Word was sent out to the verandah that the bride was 
enthroned and waiting, and the Prince, who, with John 
Smith, the Penghulu and 'Che Alang, had eaten his own 
wedding feast in state, passed into the house and took his 
seat beside the bride. The Prince, probably because he was 
the Prince, had not been constrained to adorn himself, but 
sat down as he was in his travel-stained clothes; but he 
was a fine-looking man for a Malay, and of a martial 
appearance. He was in the prime of life, shorter in stature 
even than most of his subjects, but thick-set, with curly 



297 

hair and quick, black eyes, which never appeared to rest 
for more than a moment on any object, but continually 
seemed to search for a meaning in everything at which 
they glanced. John Smith surmised that the mania which 
had such a disastrous outbreak a few days before was 
perhaps not quite quieted, and trembled for fear of another 
catastrophe; but whatever thoughts were passing in the 
Prince's mind, the ceremonies of the marriage proceeded 
with due decorum. 

The customary questions as to the property of the con- 
tracting parties were duly answered before the witnesses; 
the little fingers of the bride and bridegroom were linked 
together; the fan was lowered; Si Uteh passed up her box 
of siri, which the bride and bridegroom partook of together, 
and the actual ceremony was finished. It only remained for 
the people to come in, pay their homage, and deposit their 
offerings on the mat before the throne. 

John Smith headed the procession. He laid down one of 
his guns for the Prince, and for the bride, who was a sort 
of a sister-in-law of his own, he put down a beautiful 
necklace of gold beads made in Patani, exactly similar to 
one he had given to Si Andak, and a roll of Chinese silk. 
His generous gifts were applauded by the group round the 
throne, and the Prince was evidently touched by the delicacy 
displayed in giving him such as fine weapon, and that only 
a few days after the late occurrence, when the donor had 
fought and disarmed him. After him came the Penghulu, 
and then the rest of the community. Some gave further 
lengths of cloth or silk; some, little nuggets of gold, and 
even small mat bags containing a gallon or so of rice. 

When the ceremony of offering the gifts was over, the 
Penghulu wished for the usual dances and games to be 
performed, but the Prince refused to allow even the candle 



298 

dance to be executed; for he fell in with the view that 
they should start early the next morning on their journey 
to Patani, as it was essential that the Queen should be 
warned in time to prepare for an invasion from Perak, 
which the Prince anticipated, as indeed did all the rest who 
knew of what had taken place. 

The string of seven elephants started early with their 
loads, after a good deal of rather angry talk on the part of 
the Prince's three older wives, whom he decided to leave 
behind, taking only 'Che Long. This was made a great 
grievance of, and it was only after he had threatened to 
divorce them that the poor ladies at last became a little 
quiet. They were then left in charge of the Penghulu, who 
had strict orders to keep a careful watch that they did not 
send a message to Perak, in revenge for the slight' put 
upon them. 

All 'Che Alang's family went, and also the Semang chief, 
whom John Smith wished to present to the Queen in order 
to ask her to reward him for his loyalty, the Perak officer, 
in charge of two of the Patani boatmen, occupied one 
elephant, and two were loaded with provisions and other 
articles. The commercial venture had not produced much 
in the way of elephant loads, but the merchant was returning 
with a prisoner, a captured staff of office, and a vassal of 
the crown, who had seen the error of his ways and was 
coming in to sue for pardon; so that his expedition had 
been fairly successful; and so far as he was personally 
concerned, not the least important item of his home coming 
was the new inmate for his own harem, who, although she 
was a little sorrowful at the thought that her undivided 
claim to her lord's affections was now nearly over, consoled 
herself with the remembrance that at least he had spent 
some months with her alone, and that after all she would 



299 

be as well off, and better, than most other women, for her 
master was a man of high rank, and would now, it was 
quite certain, be still more favoured by the great Queen. 

Si Andak had known that her lord was already the 
master of two damsels, even before that night soon after 
his arrival, when they went together to commence their 
love story in the little house which he had built by the 
river, by way of a futile attempt to escape his fate — a 
circumstance which he was often playfully reminded of by 
his loving mistress. 

They had a four days' elephant ride over to the Patani 
River, which they struck some distance above the place 
where the prahus had been hidden. They then followed the 
river down until they found the prahus, and John Smith 
and the Prince, with their respective wives, embarked. There 
was no room for any more, so the others continued their 
journey by elephant until they arrived at the tin mines. 
There they got two other prahus, paying for them by 
loading the tin — which they were going to take down 
river — on their elephants, which followed on more slowly 
by the regular elephant track. 

And so in a very short time they got to the Queen's 
city of Patani, where they were received with great rejoicing. 
Si Andak's reception by her sister wives was quite cordial, 
for these sensible girls looked at it from the point of view 
that, if it had not been for her attention to his comfort, he 
would certainly not have returned so well and happy as 
he did. 

Plurality of wives and facility of divorce make for the 
good morals of the East, and especially does this apply to 
those races which profess the creed of Mohamad. The gentle- 
mannered and conservative Malay has mixed up with his 
creed many old traditions and customs which are, perhaps, 



300 

not quite orthodox, and perhaps also he has some vices 
which are not found in the West; but taking it altogether' 
John Smith records that vice and immorality were not 
flaunted so openly in the streets of Patani as they were in 
those of London or Paris, and he shrewdly gave it as his 
opinion that abstinence from strong drink was chiefly the 
cause of the greater decorum apparent in the Eastern city. 

The Queen called a council of all her notable chiefs in 
order to ascertain whether she might rely on their help to 
maintain her authority in Raman, and in order that her 
agent might explain what he had found out about the feeling 
of the people. 

The Prince of Raman was called before the council, and 
had to answer for his action in allowing the Perak agents 
in his province. He was looked upon as a rebel, and most 
of the council considered that he deserved death, as also 
did the Queen herself; but John Smith begged for his life, 
saying that he was sure the Prince was not a rebel at heart, 
but that perhaps, living as he did, nearer the centre of 
Perak government than Patani, and in fact in territory that 
might be fairly claimed by Perak, he was unduly subject 
to Perak influence. Moreover, he had perhaps been rather 
neglected by his proper overlord ; in fact, he told the Queen 
and her council very plainly that if they hoped to retain 
their authority in the distant provinces, they must do some- 
thing more than require the chiefs to come in periodically 
to do homage and pay tribute. He also told the Queen and 
her council that great help had been given to him by the 
Chief of the Semangs, and advised that, if ever there was 
any fighting with Perak, these tribes should be encouraged 
in every way, as he was quite sure they would make most 
excellent 'forest fighters ; nor did he forget to say a good 
word for old 'Che Alang; so that when these worthies 



301 

arrived a few days after with the elephants, they were 
treated with great honour. The Semang chief was accorded 
a fine fighting dress, the same as that worn by a Malay 
chief of high rank, with a spear and a kris profusely ornamented 
with gold, and he was also given the title of Stia Raja 
Balantara, or The faithful Prince of the Desert. 

'Che Alang was also made an officer of the Queen's 
household, and together with his wife and Si Uteh was 
given a house within the Royal compound. The State council 
finally decided that the Prince of Raman should be punished 
by a fine of the four elephants which had been brought to 
Patani, together with their drivers, who were, of course, his 
slaves. Two of these elephants were claimed by the Queen 
as her share of the fine, one was given to John Smith, and 
the other to 'Che Alang; this was according to Malay 
custom, by which the half of all fines imposed by the King 
is claimed by him, and the other half is divided amongst 
the aggrieved parties and those who are instrumental in 
bringing the culprit to justice. The Prince was also deprived 
of his province and ordered to reside in Patani. 

The Queen was very anxious to appoint John Smith 
Prince of Raman, and the ex-Prince also begged that he 
might be given the post, but some of the councillors were 
against this, as he was an alien and not of The Faith ; and 
he himself also persuaded the Queen that he could not 
accept the post, because, as he reminded her, he could not 
take up a position which must be held permanently, and 
which it would be against the traditions of the country for 
an alien to fill. Moreover he said he felt convinced that the 
Raman people could only be properly governed by a Prince 
having Semang blood in his veins. He had now been nearly 
a year in Patani, and probably before the end of a second 
year James Neccy would return to the East, and would 



302 

want him to rejoin him, either in the proposed expedition 
against Malacca, if it was undertaken, or perhaps after an 
interval spent in trading, the ships would return to Europe; 
but, as he assured the Queen, he did not mean to stay- 
there, for he had by this time quite made up his mind 
that he would spend most of his life in the East. 

It was finally decided that the Semang chief should spend 
a month travelling about the different provinces, and sending 
drafts of the young men from the different clans of Semangs 
into Raman, with orders to his own people to move with 
them down to te present Perak frontier, so as to be in 
readiness to repel any invasion from that State, and also 
to send word back to Patani of everything which took place. 

John Smith would, in the meantime, rest for a month or 
six weeks in Patani, and then, armed with the Queen's 
authority, and accompanied by about fifty fighting men, 
who were to form the nucleus of an army, he would also 
move down into Raman and be prepared to repel invasion. 
Besides this, in conjunction with the Semang and Raman 
chiefs, he was to proceed to find out the proper person to 
succeed as Prince of Raman ; and when that man was found, 
he was empowered by the Queen to proclaim him, and put 
him in possession of the throne. 

Old 'Che Alang was offered the post of Dato' Dagang by 
the Queen, in place of John Smith, who would be absent 
perhaps for another year, if not in Raman, then in the 
other provinces; but 'Che Alang asked to be excused from 
accepting the Queen's offer, as he had already agreed that, 
during his absence, he would look after his friends trading 
business, and endeavour to reduce the bulk by bartering 
the heavy and cumbersome goods for more compact and 
valuable merchandise. 'Che Alang was very capable of 
carrying on this sort of trade as he had been used to it all 



303 

his life, and being devoted to John Smith, the latter was 
quite sure that his interests would be safe-guarded. The old 
man would also be left in charge of his friend's household 
and family — not a light responsibihty by any means — 
but he was thankful' that the three young ladies were disposed 
to be good friends, and were all of them light-hearted, so 
that they were after all only like children, and with sweet 
little Si Uteh, they all soon looked up to 'Che Alang and 
his wife as equal to foster parents. 

There was another household to stay in Patani which was 
not perhaps quite so contented; this was the very much 
reduced establishment of the ex-Prince ; 'Che Long was very 
devoted to him, and did all she could to make him happy ; 
but without doubt he brooded over his disgrace, and it was 
very probable that at some future time his homicidal mania 
would reassert itself and he would once more run a-muck. 
John Smith offered to take him back to Raman and see if 
the Semangs and Raman chiefs would have him again as 
Prince, but the Queen would not agree to this, and it was 
ultimately decided to send him to Siam with the embassy, 
to report that it was expected Perak was about to invade 
Raman, but that the Queen had made arrangements to 
repel the attack and would not require any assistance from 
her Suzerain. 

The State council advised that this report should be made, 
so as not to seem to repudiate the Siamese rule and over- 
lordship entirely; but at the same time neither the Queen 
nor her advisers wished to ask for assistance, and so lay 
the State under an obligation, if it could be avoided. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

The Semang chief had been about a month travelling 
through the provinces dependent on the great Queen, and 
had come back to Patani to report that he had persuaded 
the Semang chiefs whom he had visited, to send parties of 
their different clans into Raman to assist in repelling an 
expected invasion of the Perak Sakais. The Semangs, it 
must be remembered, did not recognise the Malays of either 
Perak or Patani, as races distinct from the aborigines, for 
the Perak Malays were Sakais, and the Patani Malays, 
Semangs. 

The chief told the Queen and her councillors that at least 
five hundred men, besides women and children, were gradually 
moving down into Raman. They would travel slowly and 
as they moved from place to place they would steadily 
increase their store of preserved food, roots — macerated 
in water and grated with rattans to make them fit for 
human food, and then packed in joints of bamboo for ease 

of transport the flesh of wild animals and fish dried in 

the sun, hard-shelled nuts, and others like chestnuts — 
all were collected ; so that when they formed a junction 
with the Raman Semangs on the Perak frontier, there should 
not at any rate be a lack of food at first, in consequence 
of the assemblage of so large a quantity of people in a 
confined district. 

The chief talked very proudly of going over into Perak 



30S 

territory and not waiting for the Sakais to make their 
invasion, but the Queen gave him strict orders not to do 
so, and John Smith seeing that he was so bellicose and 
likely to start the fighting too soon, hurried on his own 
preparations and started a week after the Semang chief for 
Raman, after agreeing to meet him near the Prince's kampong, 
and the Chief promising to send back messengers if he 
found that the Perak people had started the war by coming 
into Raman territory. 

The first thing to be done was to capture the other 
Perak agents, if they were still in Raman. The Semang 
chief was to rouse his tribesmen, and John Smith was to 
stir up the Malays, as each of them passed through the 
country. The lesser chiefs of the Malays, with as many 
followers as they could bring, and the Semangs were to 
collect in as large numbers as possible at the , Place of the 
Prince's palace," in order, ostensibly, to elect a new Prince; 
and when they were gathered there and the new Prince 
elected, the Queen's Commissioner would use his discretion 
as to carrying war into Perak, or merely providing means 
for the defence of the frontier. 

Very proud were the three young ladies when they saw 
their lord and master mounted on his own elephant, and 
supported by the most famous war captain in Patani, take 
his ceremonious leave of the Queen, who came to the gate 
of her Palace richly attired and veiled, and attended by 
all her chamberlains and ladies to see him start — an 
honour which she had never before accorded to one of her 
officers. 

Perhaps Si Andak's lips quivered a little, and her eyes 
grew moist, as he rode away. Poor Andak, she was fated 
never to see him again ! Hers was a more romantic liason 
•than the coming together of the white man and the other 



3o0 

two girls, which was more or less by order of the- Queen, 
although that connection had also turned out happily. 

But the worst leave-taking had been in his own house 
before he went to see the Queen. Poor httle Uteh ! She 
was almost broken-hearted, for she had got to love her 
sister's lord with a passion which, in her innocence, she 
could not disguise. She was now over the age when girls 
are generally either married, or have entered into alliances, 
which, if they are not real marriages according to law, are 
the same thing made in Nature's own court of love. She 
clung to her hero, and vowed she would not let him go 
until he had promised to marry her on his return. She 
cared not that he had other concubines, nor that one of 
them was her own sister; she declared that if he did not 
take her as well she would kill herself. 

John Smith did what he could to soothe her and to 
explain that it would be wrong for him to marry her as 
well as her sister, but nothing would satisfy her; and at last, 
instigated by her mother, he gave the desired promise. It was 
not at all an unusual thing for a man to marry two sisters, 
especially if the first one he had married proved childless; 
and it was expected of him, if the first wife died, for her 
sister then naturally took her place, without it being obligatory 
to provide a marriage feast. As the Malays put it, he merely 
"changed his sleeping-mat". 

All these matters being at last settled, the little army 
made its start. All but about ten of the fifty soldiers went 
up-river in prahus, taking with them a quantity of rice, 
which was to be deposited at the landing-place for the tin 
mines. With John Smith went ten elephants, carrying, besides 
the ten soldiers and the Queen's most trusted war captain, 
a further supply of rice. It was intended that the Queen 
should keep sending up rice in prahus to the mines, whence 



307 

the elephants would carry it on to Raman. By this means, 
also, communication would be kept up between the Queen 
and her small army. 

They hoped to be able to get more Malays from Raman 
for the fighting line, but if they found that Perak put too 
many men into the field for them to cope with, the Queen 
promised to send more regular soldiers. John Smith's men 
were all armed with guns of one sort or another. There 
were a few matchlocks, which the Queen had purchased of 
him, and she had also some of her own ; but nearly half of 
the fifty men were armed with what were called hand guns, 
these were simply straight tubes of iron closed at one end 
and provided with a touchhole; very small canon in fact, 
about three feet long and carrying a bullet one ounce in 
weight. They were lashed to a stout pole and fired with a 
linstock, the end of the pole being held under the arm and 
the gun resting on anything which was handy. They were 
not very effective weapons, for there was no chance of taking 
aim; but the noise they made was calculated to frighten 
the enemy a little. 

The elephants arrived at the mines a few days before the 
prahus, and John Smith took the opportunity to make 
arrangements for the Queen's prahus to go back down river 
laden with tin, and also to recruit a few more soldiers from 
amongst the foreign Malays who were working on the mines. 
When the prahus arrived, he had all his elephants loaded 
. with rice, and made all his men walk, setting the example 
himself. He was thus enabled to get a large supply of rice 
forward. He knew that the sight of plenty of food would 
be the very best means of inducing recruits to join his 
ranks; for it was a very common thing for the rice crop to 
fail, and for the people to be obliged to live for a whole 
season on tapioca root and maize, even if they did not 



3o8 

come down to the Semang diet of wild roots and fruits. 
A certain supply of rice had its attractions, therefore, for 
the people. 

It was a tiresome march over into the territory occupied 
by the Raman people, and everybody was heartily sick of 
it before they arrived at the kampong where John Smith 
had stayed previously. The Penghulu was overjoyed to see 
them. He had been apprised of their coming by the Semang 
chief, who had, two weeks before, gone on towards Perak, 
and was very busy getting his men moved forward. 

The Penghulu had heard that, the other Perak agents had 
gone back to their own State, and that they had of course 
reported the death of their chief. The country generally 
was in a great state of excitement about the disappearance 
of the Prince, and had only just found out that he was in 
Patani; but what was of the most importance was that 
parties of Perak Malays had moved up to within a day's 
march of the Prince's palace, had there built stockades, and 
had sent word to all the chiefs that they were only the 
vanguard of a large army, which would be shortly on its 
way to devastate the country, unless due submission was 
made and tribute given by the chiefs to the King of Perak, 
who would then appoint a Prince to govern the country 
for him. 

This was, after all, only the news which John Smith had 
expected, but he thought that most likely the great army 
talked about was a good deal exaggerated; still, the fact 
that stockades had been built was evidence that the King 
of Perak meant to do something. He therefore sent the 
elephants back to Patani with a request that about two 
hundred soldiers, and a further supply of rice should be 
sent on as soon as possible, and advising that more elephants 
should be procured, so as to augment the supplies of food, 



309 

for he realised that this would be the most important weapon 
to fight with. 

He sent out messengers to all the chiefs to meet him at 
the Prince's palace as soon as possible, with as many fighting 
men as they could muster; engaged prahus to take his 
stock of rice down the river, and went down himself with 
his fifty fighting men, to take possession of the palace, 
which he intended using as his own headquarters, at any 
rate until the new Prince was appointed. 

He found the palace, and in fact the whole district, almost 
deserted, but the few people who were still about had made 
up their minds to accept the King of Perak's ultimatum, 
and were already arranging to send their submission and 
tribute down the river. The Penghulu, or subordinate chief 
of the place, had been forced, he said, by the people to 
this course, but there was a whisper that it was not much 
against his inclination; in fact, from what people said, they 
were very much of the opinion that it was this chief who 
in the first instance instigated the Prince to offer allegiance 
to Perak. 

John Smith found a goodly quantity of rice belonging to 
the late ex-Prince in his granary, and adding that which 
he had brought to the stock, he put a guard over it, and 
started to administer the country as Governor, pending the 
appointment of a properly elected chief. 

He was not as yet strong enough to attempt even to get 
into touch with the enemy; but after less than a week 
three chiefs came in with about one hundred followers, and 
what was still more gratifying, his old friend the Semang 
chief arrived and reported that he had nearly a thousand 
men in the forest, along a line which could be communicated 
with by signal fires. The new arrival was quite sure that 
they could keep the whole of Perak out of Raman. He had 



3IO 

ascertained, he said, that there were three parties of Perak 
men, about one hundred strong, posted at different places, 
and that they had protected themselves by building stockades; 
and he gave it as his opinion that the King of Perak did 
really mean to invade the country, otherwise he would not 
have sent on these parties to entrench themselves. Meanwhile 
he strongly advised that the Queen be asked to send on 
more men at once, with plenty of rice. His own men, he 
remarked, were self-supporting, for they were attended by 
their women, who did all the providing. Finally he said 
that he wanted now to go right on into Perak territory and 
thus cut off the three stockades from their base. 

This was wise advice undoubtedly, and as soon as more 
Raman Malays had collected and the election of the new 
Prince was finished, John Smith thought he would act on 
it; but the first thing to do was to provide for an actual 
and responsible head of the province, whom both Malays 
and Semangs would recognise and obey. 

Not much difficulty was experienced in selecting the 
proper man, for a cousin of the ex-Prince was chosen by 
the Malay chiefs, approved of by the Semangs, and quickly 
installed in the palace as governing Prince. He took an 
oath of fealty to the Queen of Patani, as his overlord, before 
John Smith, as her representative, and the Raman and 
Semang chiefs. In addition, they made him swear not to 
admit any agent from the King of Perak into his province, 
and to do his utmost to stop the present invasion. When 
this was done he was installed in the seat of honour at the 
inner end of the palace, and all the chiefs did homage to 
him. John Smith now changed his quarters and went to 
live in a house near by. 

It seemed advisable that the newly-installed Prince should 
not take the field personally agaihst the invaders, at any 



311 

fate not for the present. He was therefore put in charge of 
the rice supply and the communications with Patani. He 
Was himself a man of some considerable property, owning 
four elephants and a great herd of water buffaloes. His 
elephants were immediately sent off after rice, and he 
offered of his own free will to kill his buffaloes, two or 
three every week, to keep the fighting men supplied with 
sun-dried meat. This was a very great help, because, although 
the Queen of Patani sent over bundles of dried fish, it 
would be difficult, if the campaign lasted any length of 
time, to keep the men contented on dried fish and rice 
with the scanty vegetables which they were able to procure. 

Having thus disposed of the business of installing the 
Prince and providing for supplies and communications, John 
Smith was now anxious to take the field; so he arranged 
with the Semang chief to make a move and, if on examination 
it seemed practicable, to attack the stockade which was 
nearest to the Prince's palace. 

He took out with him twenty-five of the Patani soldiers 
and one hundred Raman men. These latter were armed 
only with spears, swords and krises, and of course were 
useles except at clos^ quarters. But he depended a great 
deal more on the bows and arrows of the Semangs than 
he did on them. He himself went unarmed, except for his 
sword, for the sake of travelling light, but his musket was 
carried behind him by a man so as to be ready for an 
emergency. The stockade was said to be close to the river, 
and the expedition therefore embarked in prahus, which 
carried many of the little swivel guns common all over the 
Peninsula. 

When they got to within about five miles of the fort, 
John Smith landed and met the Semang chief, who had 
agreed to wait for him with about one hundred men. With 



312 

these forest warriors he made a detour, and after a hard 
march through the forest, struck the river some distance 
below the fort, in order to cut off the retreat of the Perak 
men, supposing that the Malays, who were to attack from 
the prahus, succeeded in driving them out. 

Carefully they crept up to the fort under cover of the 
trees, until they were within two hundred yards, and then 
the Semang chief and John Smith went forward alone and 
got so close that by climbing a tree they could look right 
over the palisades and see what was going on inside. 

The Semang chief was for calling up his men and pouring 
in a flight of arrows from the tree tops, but that would have 
been very dangerous, as the Perak men seemed to be well 
supplied with fire-arms, and would easily pick off the bowmen 
from such exposed situations. It seemed better therefore, to 
await the attack from the prahus, and then, when the 
defenders were engaged on that side, perhaps in the confusion 
a few Semangs might get into the trees without being 
noticed, and do a good deal of damage ; but if the fort was 
attacked from both sides, there would be no apparent way 
of escape for the inmates, who would thus become desperate 
and be sure to do much damage before they succumbed to 
numbers. They had prahus on the river, and would, without 
doubt, take to them if they found themselves hard pressed, 
and if they could get to them. Then, again, they might 
make a sally to attack the Raman prahus when they would 
be exposed to the Semang bowmen, and would inevitably 
be caught at a great disadvantage. He persuaded the old 
chief, therefore, to stay quiet in the tree and watch how 
they bore the attack from the river, before he summoned 
his men. The cunning old man had, however, a scheme of 
his own, and slipping down from his perch he went back 
to his men and arranged that twenty of them should come 



313 

forward into the trees if he called them. He had time to 
do this and to get back to his post of observation before 
the attack began. 

They waited patiently for another hour before anything 
occurred, and then they saw a small prahu, with three men in 
it, coming round a bend of the river as fast as the paddles 
could make her move through the water. As she came on, 
the men shouted out a warning, which sent into the fort 
about twenty other men, who were fishing along the bank 
of the river and getting timber to strengthen the fences. 
These all rushed into the stockade, which was soon alive 
with them manning the walls and handling their weapons. 
It was not long before the Raman prahus came in sight, 
and then the firing commenced ; but it was very plainly to 
be seen that both sides were more intent on fireworks than 
real fighting, for the prahus stopped at such a distance off, 
in order to keep out of range of the hand-guns and little 
cannons used by the defenders of the fort, that their own 
artillery was equally ineffective. John Smith quickly saw 
that if the fight, or rather the pretence of a fight, was to 
keep on longer in this style, the only effect would be to 
waste his precious ammunition; so he asked the chief to 
call up his bowmen. 

Three times the old man uttered the long-drawn-out "kiiau" 
of the argus pheasant, and in response a score of naked 
men, with bows as tall as themselves, stealthily crept up 
until they were under the grove of big durien trees, in one 
of which John Smith and the chief were hidden. Quietly 
and as agilely as the long-armed apes of the forest, these 
dusky warriors swarmed up the trees, two or three in each, 
until- they were all in position, hidden in the thick leafy 
branches, but every one of them having a good view of 
the backs of the Perak men, who were too intent on their 



314 

artillery duel with the prahus to notice what was going on 
behind and above them. 

So far not a man either in the boats or the fort had 
been hit, but a most interesting lot of gun practise had 
taken place, and many shouts of defiance had been exchanged, 
for each side had freely cursed the other, collectively and 
individually, and with much obscene vituperation had referred 
to the progenitors of these brave warriors. But the defenders 
of the fort did not seem inclined to sally forth and chase 
their assailants, which they might easily have done, as their 
prahus were all in the river close to the fort, and so far as 
they knew they exceeded them in number, besides being 
better armed; nor did the attacking party dare get any 
nearer, apparently for fear of their lives. And so, probably, 
the laughable battle would have gone on until all the 
ammunition was expended, if the Malays had been allowed 
to conduct it on their own lines. But John Smith was getting 
tired of it, and so was the old Semang chief; so at a hint 
from the former, the latter uttered an immitation of the 
sharp discordant scream of the great brown hawk which 
was everywhere so common, and twenty bow-strings twanged 
almost together, for the intent little warriors were all alert 
waiting for the signal. Then the Perak men knew what 
fighting meant, for ten of them went down, and five or six 
more staggered about, but they all knew that they had 
their death wound, for the arrows were poisoned with the 
juice of the deadly ipoh, and not one of those who .saw 
them doubted for a moment but that the dreaded Semang 
bowmen had come into the fight. A second flight of arrows 
struck down more of them before they realised where the 
assault came from, and that it was not now an affair of 
splintering off chips from their palisades with half-spent 
bullets fired from a safe distance. Then with one accord 



3IS 

they left the walls, to seek shelter in the huts which were 
built in the centre of the stockade. 

Seeing this, John Smith shouted to the assailants to dash 
in and storm the stockade; but he could not persuade them 
to desist from their futile fireworks, although it was not now 
even replied to — afterwards the famous Patani war captain 
said they never heard him; — so he scrambled down the 
tree and ran along the river bank until he got to where 
the Perak prahus were moored, and getting into a Httle 
dug-out he paddled up to his own force, at the imminent 
risk of his life from the Raman bullets, which seemed to be 
aimed at anything rather than the fort. By dint of shouting 
and gesticulating he at letigth succeeded in stopping the 
waste of powder, and when he got up to them and told 
them how little damage they had done, the Patani captain 
did not seem at all astonished, but triumphantly pointed to 
his own force and showed him that not one of his men 
had received a scratch. 

This was all very well, but it certainly was not war, as 
the white man uilderstood it; so he called the boats together 
and told the men how the wild Semangs had already killed 
over twenty of the enemy, and had got the garrison penned 
up in the huts. Thus he made them ashamed of the little 
they had done compared with what the wild men had 
accomplished, and urged them to discard their guns entirely 
and storm the place spear and kris in hand, promising 
them that he would lead them, and that the Semang bowmen 
in the trees and in the forest round the fort would support them. 

He had not much difficulty in getting them excited, for 
the fact was, they were more used to hand-to-hand fighting 
than they were to firearms, and if they were properly led, 
would go a long way and fight a good fight to the finish. 
Seeing that they now looked determined, he shouted to 



3i6 

them to follow, and starting his little dug-out down stream, 
it was soon a race to see which prahu would get there first. 
The clamour they made brought the Perak men to the 
walls again, and in spite of the galling arrows from the 
trees they made a good stand , but they were demoralised, 
and when the Raman and Patani men grounded their prahus 
and jumped ashore, John Smith with his long rapier pointing 
out to them the way to the gate, it did not require the 
loud and reiterated cries of "Amok! Amok!" to thoroughly 
frighten them. It was then only a question of how strong 
the gate was, and whether the attacking party could be kept 
at work hewing a way through it, should the defenders 
make a serious attempt to stop them by firing through 
the bars. 

They made a rush across the two hundred yards of cleared 
ground between the river and the gate, but not without 
loss, for if they could do no harm at long range, the clumsy 
guns could kill well enough at close quarters, and four men 
bit the dust before they reached the wall. But the attacking 
party were now excited and their blood' was boiling. The 
Patani war captain also showed his quality by taking a 
lead and shouting "Amok!" louder than anyone else, as he 
also hacked away at the gate; but as he did really behave 
himself something like a soldier, his shouts and bombast did 
not matter so much. Soon a hole was made big enough 
for a man to get through, and John Smith, quickly followed 
by others, got in. It was then a hand-to-hand fight for a 
while, until the fast-increasing numbers of the assailants 
drove the Perak men before them across the square enclosure, 
where they made for another gate, hoping to get to their 
prahus. But as soon as they got out, the Semang arrows 
from the trees struck them; and as they made for the 
river — about twenty only of them that were left — the 



317 

other party of Semangs met them, and all except two fell, 
pierced by arrows or stabbed with bamboo-bladed spears. 
The two who did manage to push ofif in a small dugout 
were also dead men before they reached the middle of the 
river, and thus the arrows which stuck in their bodies and 
in the sides of the canoe would tell the tale as they drifted 
down stream, and when the rumour of it reached the ears 
of the King of Perak, he would realise that at least some 
of his soldiers had met with disaster. 

It was a very complete victory, and had been won at 
small cost, for only ten Malays and six Semangs had been 
killed on the side of the attacking .force ; but every one of 
the Perak men went under. The Patani captain boasted not 
a little of his share in the fight; and the victory, if he was 
to be believed, was entirely due to his own prowess; but 
then, as he was never tired of telling people, he was invul- 
nerable, so that the credit of bravery was not so much his 
due, because it was impossible to win a fight against his 
leadership. 

The Semangs were for throwing the dead bodies in the 
river, but the Raman Malays insisted on giving them proper 
burial, for although they might be enemies, at least they 
were Mohamadans, and it would be disgraceful not to bury 
them. So dead foeman and gallant friend were laid side by 
side in the same grave, and the same prayer for their quiet 
and undisturbed rest was said over each body as it was 
committed to the earth. 

The Patani captain then wanted to move on to the other 
forts and take them in detail; but John Smith was afraid 
to risk this with the men he had; so fifty Malays were left 
in the captured fort, with about as many Semangs to camp 
in the adjacent forest, and the remainder of the force went 
back up-stream to the Prince's palace, to await a more 



318 

favourable chance and the arrival of more men from Patani. 
The captured weapons — except the guns, which they 
did not want — • were all distributed amongst the Semangs, 
who were greatly gratified by John Smith's thoughtfulness 
in seeing that they got possession of them. There was a 
good store of rice in the fort which came in handy for the 
new garrison, who were a little nervous about being left, 
but who did not for a moment question John Smith's orders, 
for they realised that he knew best what to do, and ultimately 
went into their new quarters cheerfully enough. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

When they got back to the Prince's palace they found 
that he was energetically engaged in recruiting, and had 
already got together over a hundred men of his own people. 
They also found that twelve elephants had arrived from 
Patani with rice and bundles of salt fish, and in addition, 
the Queen had sent some gunpowder and bullets, as well 
as a very affectionate letter to her adopted son, John Smith. 
She had not, of course, heard anything as yet about the 
election of the new Prince, nor what was being done about 
the defence of the country against Perak aggression, but 
she said that she was shortly sending on two hundred 
soldiers, but advised that they should not invade Perak 
territory, unless they thought that it was absolutely necessary. 

The ex-Prince of Raman had not as yet started on his 
journey to Siam, and the Queen was afraid that he was 
likely to become dangerous, as he had seemed very sick 
at heart lately. All John Smith's household were flourishing, 
and she quite approved of his taking little Uteh to wife on 
his return. This was all very satisfactory news and made 
things easy, for the arrival of the elephant loads of rice 
showed the people that the Queen was in earnest about 
defending her people against Perak, and meant to bear her 
share of the expense. 

They waited three days at the Prince's kampong, sending 
down twenty-five more men with four elephant loads of rice 
.to the captured fort; and then when the two hundred 



320 

soldiers came down the river and had rested for another 
tvyo days, they organised expeditions against the other two 
forts. John Smith was so pleased with the conduct of the 
Semangs that he wished to see how they would fight alone, 
and therefore persuaded the Patani captain to lead a party 
of Malays, half Patani and half Raman men, against one 
fort, whilst he attacked the other with Semangs only. 

The old Semang chief had personally examined both the 

forts, and had found them situated on different streams 

running into the Perak River. Both streams were navigable 

for small prahus; but neither of the forts was so easy to 

attack as the one they had taken, because they were situated 

in open glades of the forest, with no trees near enough to 

afford cover. The open land was, however, overgrown with 

thick coarse grass, which might perhaps afford cover if the 

assailants crept through it on their bellies; but as this grass 

was very inflammable, without doubt the garrison had cut 

down a wide belt of it round the fort for their own protection. 

The Patani captain said that he should lead his men 

straight on and take his stockade by storm, without any 

hesitation. He did not want any cover, not he! He was not 

afraid of any Perak soldiers ; and he offered to lay a wager 

of his share of the booty against John Smith's that he took 

his fort and returned triumphantly to the Prince's palace 

before the white man and his savages. John Smith was very 

pleased to observe this spirit, and encouraged it all he 

could by accepting the wager, and by adding to it, by way 

of odds in the Captain's favour, his new flint-lock musket, 

which the gallant Captain had coveted a good deal. 

The two forts were about equi-distant from the Prince's 
place, on streams on either side of the Perak River. They 
•were two days' journey from the palace. The two parties 
started at the same time. The savage army consisted of 



321 

three hundred Semangs with the head chief; and the Patani 
captain had two hundred and fifty Malays, about half Raman 
men and the rest Queen's soldiers, and nearly one hundred 
of these were armed with guns of different descriptions, 
while the Semangs, of course, only had bows. The Malay 
force was also accompanied by six elephants laden with 
rice, and the wild men were followed by about a hundred 
women who would forage for them. It was the first time John 
Smith had trusted himself entirely to the wild men, and 
the experience was very interesting to him. His forest 
warriors were entirely devoted to him and did all they 
could to make him as comfortable as possible, so that he 
greatly enjoyed his two days' march and two nights' camping 
out. On the third morning the main body of the force 
halted on the river, some distance below the Perak stockade, 
and he went forward with the Semang chief and half-a-dozen 
men to reconnoitre. 

Two hours' scrambling through the forest brought them 
to the edge of the open ground, at wich point they were 
able to see the stockade on the river bank. The grassy 
open ground seemed to be about three-quarters of a mile 
in diameter. It was evidently an old clearing, and had in 
course of time become overgrown with coarse grass, which 
the forest growths had not succeeded in killing. Probably 
from one cause or another, and at different times, the grass 
had been burnt, and young trees, which had sprung up from 
seeds blown or carried out of the forest, had thus been 
periodically destroyed, and the grass had again sprung up 
from the unkilled roots, thus demonstrating its power to 
hold the soil even against the mighty trees of the forest. 

Often had the white adventurer in these remote jungles 
pondered and been struck with amazement at the wonderful 
battle of the plants for ascendency, and at the strenuous 



322 

and apparently almost intelligent struggle with which each 
species strove against its neighbour for a share of the best 
soil and a modicum of sunshine. Each tree seemed to strive 
to attain a greater height than the others, in order to escape 
from the gloomy shadows and develop its flowers and young 
shoots in the warmer atmosphere above. In some places 
creepers and climbing palms would entirely master and, by 
sheer excessive . growth, strangle the biggest monarchs of 
the forest; in others creeping ferns would do the deed; or 
perhaps, as in the instance which now met his gaze, it 
would be a coarse grass, the growth of which would be only 
augmented by periodical burnings. 

Truly it seemed as if the monkeys and birds living in the 
tree-tops were really better treated than the members of the 
human race who were condemned to live on the ground, 
for these denizens of the upper zone moved about in a 
profuse garden of flowers and fruits; whilst the latter were 
constrained to be contented with the brown earth and the 
fallen and decayed timber with which it was strewn, and 
which was destined to be the meat for a thousand different 
insects, which thus, instead of the more highly organised 
and beautiful tenants of the tree tops, were the companions 
of their walk in life. But there was not time for this sort 
of moralizing; there was the fort, and the question was how 
it was to be taken. 

The little band of scouts crept round the glade, under 
cover of the edge of the forest, and examined it from every 
side. They climbed into tall trees and looked down into 
the stockade, but they were too far off to attack it from 
the tree tops, as they had so successfully done with the 
other one. Once they heard some one chopping wood, and 
creeping quietly up, they discovered two Malays engaged 
in trimming a long pole, probably intended for the post of 



323 

a hut. They dare not let them escape, so four arrows brought 
them down, but it seemed almost Hke murder, for they 
were not given a chance to defend themselves. But if they 
had, there would have been an outcry, or perhaps the 
struggle might have been seen from the fort if they had 
escaped into the open. The risk of this was too great, so 
they were killed and left to rot in their tracks. 

From the tree-tops they could see that there were prahus 
on the river; these were probably used to supply the fort 
with provisions. They also saw that, as had been surmised, 
the grass had been carefully cut down in a ring of about 
twenty yards wide all round the fott, to protect it if the 
lalang — as the coarse grass was called — caught fire. 
Having seen all they could, they returned to the camp, 
which was pitched in the forest some five miles away from 
the fort. 

John Smith tried to get a suggestion from the chief as 
to the best way to attack the fort, but the cautious old 
man would give no opinion. He seemed to think that it 
was no business of his: there was the white man, who must 
certainly know best what to do, and for his part he and 
his men only awaited orders, and whatever they were told 
to do, that should be done, and it did not matter how 
many died in doing it. 

After thinking the matter out, their white chief hit upon 
a plan which he thought would answer, and which the 
Semang chief — Stia Raja Balantara, as he must now be 
called — when he understood it, quite fell in with. The 
preparations to carry out the project would take at least 
two days, but neither of them thought that the wager with 
the Patani captain would be lost because of the delay. 

They first retired another five miles away into the forest, 
so as to be out of reach of any chance interruption by men 



324 

who might stray from the stockade, or go into the forest 
for game or other matters. 

They then sent out a party of fifty men to tap some 
oil-bearing trees which were known to them. This wood 
oil was a regular article of commerce, and one of the natural 
productions of the forest which the wild men collected for 
the Malay chiefs by way of tribute. It was obtained by 
cutting a deep notch in the tree, with a cup-like depression 
at the base. This cup, after an interval of a day or two, 
became filled with a valuable oil, which exuded from the 
wound, and it was then collected by the Semangs in bamboo 
receptacles. 

Another party was sent back to an abandoned clearing — 
once a Perak Malay kampong — on the river, to fetch a 
quantity of raw cotton from some trees which were now 
full of ripened pods. Others were engaged in searching for 
a supply of tinder, and in providing little bamboo cases to 
carry it in alight. These also selected suitable bits of dry 
wood and bamboo for producing fire by friction. 

All these preparations took some time, and it was three 
whole days before they were ready to advance. By that 
time each man was supplied with tinder in a small bamboo 
case, perforated so as to create a draught through it and 
keep the fuel smouldering, and two suitable bits of hard 
wood or bamboo to produce fire by friction. In addition he 
had fixed balls of raw cotton, soaked in inflammable oil, 
on to two of his arrows just below the heads. 

Everything was now ready for a start, and the men were 
given their final instructions. First they marched up to 
within a mile of the clearing in a body, and then separating" 
into two parties, one went to the right and the other to 
the left. That to the right was led by John Smith, and the 
other by Stia Raja; and thus they travelled round the clearing, 



325 

dropping a man at intervals of about every fifty yards, until 
they arrived at the river bank with about twenty men left 
of each party. It was now just getting dusk, and the men 
were warned by a call of the argus pheasant, repeated from 
man to man, to close up to the edge of the clearing; and 
as they closed up, the intervals between them became 
naturally less, so that by the time they were at the edge 
of the timber they were within easy speaking distance. 

It was now necessary to wait awhile, as it was not thought 
advisable to attack until after mid-night, when the Perak 
men would be fast asleep and taken at greater disadvantage. 
So the word was passed round for all to stop where they 
were and eat their evening meal of prepared tapioca root. 
It was weary waiting for the white man, who was not so 
innured to sitting still and being eaten by mosquitoes and 
sand flies, as were his comrades, the wild men; but at last 
he heard the welcome signal from Stia Raja, who had 
agreed to decide on the proper moment for the advance. 

Two quick calls of the argus pheasant, and then after a 
short interval a third. At this signal each man was to 
commence the not very easy task of obtaining a spark from 
his fire sticks and to ignite his tinder; the tinderbox was 
then to be stuck in the back of his belt, his naked back 
being protected from possible burns by a sheet of green 
bark. As soon as his tinder was well alight, each warrior 
commenced to creep forward on his belly through the long 
grass, the small points of light, even if they were seen 
from the fort, would be taken for fireflies, which were 
everywhere dancing about in the air, myriads of them, 
simultaneously flashing and shutting off their lamps as if 
by an automatic process or by word of command. It took 
them more than an hour to crawl through the grass up to 
the edge of the belt which had been cut down, and it was 



326 

anxious work for the last two hundred yards; in fact John 
Smith was tormented all the time for fear a spark should 
set light to the grass as his men moved through it: but at 
last they all arrived, and every man as he got to his 
position gave the call of the goat-sucker, "tip-ta-bau," — 
the note which each evening told the good Mohamadan 
that it was time for prayers. The sentries in the stockade, 
if they heard the calls, must have thought that the forest 
was full of the feathered muezzins, and that they had by 
some strange chance agreed to wake people to prayers at 
an unprecedented hour. 

But the poor sentries had Httle time to speculate, for 
suddenly the harsh scream of the great hawk was heard, 
an unusual and disturbing note at that hour, and the harbinger 
of evil to come. Immediately following this call, the fort 
was encircled with a ring of points of fire, which glowed 
and increased in power and strength for a few short 
minutes, then hurtled through the air and alighted on the 
palm-leaf thatch and stuck into the bark walls and dry 
palisades. 

There was no need for the sentries to awake their sleeping 
comrades, for the glare of over two hundred fire balls, 
burning all over the stockade, and setting fire to the dry 
thatch and palisades effectually aroused the sleepers, who 
rushed out of the huts into the open yard of the fort in a 
panic of consternation, which was changed to downright 
shuddering horror and fright when they were assailed by 
a second flight of fiery arrows. These seemed to fall straight 
down from the sky, and many a man was hit and rushed 
screaming about the enclosure with a fiery dart sticking 
into his shoulders; for the wily old Semang chief had antici- 
pated what would occur, and had ordered that the second 
flight of arrows, to be fired after an interval of about five 



327 

minutes, should be shot up into the air, so that they fell 
down straight into the stockade. 

By this time the huts in the centre of the enclosure, as 
well as the palisade fence, were beginning to burn in many 
places, and the garrison realised that, if they wished to 
escape being scorched to death between the two fires, they 
must get away, and that quickly. They therefore made a 
rush for the gate nearest the river, and made for the prahus ; 
but they were there exposed to a cross fire from the Semangs 
who were stationed on the river bank, and who, whilst they 
were invisible to the Malays, could plainly see their enemies 
by reason of the fire light. 

John Smith and Stia Raja shouted to their men to con- 
centrate on the bank, and every minute more and more of 
them came running up, until there were fifty or sixty in 
each group. They then kept sending arrows into the mob 
of fugitives, who were frantically scrambling into the prahus 
and pushing off into midstream. 

Very few of them escaped down the river to tell the 
tale of another disaster to the Perak cause, and in less than 
an hour the fort with its barracks and high palisade fence 
had burnt out, and only a few smouldering brands remained 
to show where it stood. The little Semang army gradually 
gathered and bivouacked on the bank of the river, every 
dark little soldier, as well as the white chief, stretching 
himself on the bare ground to snatch two or three hours' 
sleep before daylight. 

It was a horrid sight that the morning sun disclosed, for 
the ground was strewn with dead bodies. Those men who 
had been only wounded had crawled down to the river for 
water to allay the torturing thirst induced by the poisoned 
arrows, and had died there; perhaps self-drowned to escape 
the agony, for several were found with their faces buried 



328 

in the water at the edge of the stream, as if they had 
deliberately kept their heads under water until they were 
suffocated. There was no chance of burying them, so most 
of them were cast into the river, but some were so badly 
burnt that it seemed better to collect brands and other 
timber from the stockade and make a pile on which to 
throw them and so finish the burning. Nearly one hundred 
bodies were counted, so not many could have escaped down 
the river. 

Many weapons were collected, and with these as trophies 
they returned to the Prince's palace and heard that the 
other stockade had not yet been taken. 

But besides that, John Smith heard most distressing news 
from Patani, brought over by the elephants which had just 
arrived with a consignment of rice. 

The Queen's letter told him that the ex-Prince had once 
more run a-muck, and this time had succeeded in getting 
himself killed, but not before he had done much slaughter. 
One of the elephant-drivers who had witnessed the affray 
told the tale. 

He said that Si Andak had been staying with 'Che Long, 
who was expecting her confinement; when, in the evening, 
just as it was getting dusk, the ex-Prince started up suddenly, 
and drawing his weapons, stabbed first his wife and then 
Si Andak and an old lady who was staying in the house; 
after which he rushed out into the town and commenced 
to run through the main street, striking at everybody he 
met, and killing five more people, besides wounding several 
others, before he himself was overpowered and killed. 

The queen urged John Smith to return as soon as pos- 
sible, as she now wished him to go to Siam, because she 
thought it better to get her Overlord on her side. She well 
knew that she had no business in the Perak watershed, and 



329 

could not with any show of reason claim the territory for 
which she was fighting, although it had been colonized by 
her own people, who had gradually moved further and 
further down the Perak River. But right or wrong, the 
State was now committed to the war and was bound to 
proceed. So far as could be ascertained, Perak was not 
sending up any more man and it only remained, therefore, 
to turn out the garrison of the other fort, and after that 
to arrange for the safe-guarding of the advanced frontier 
thus won by force of arms. 

The Patani war captain did not seem in any very parti- 
cular hurry to take his fort by direct assault. He had sent 
back for more ammunition, but this was refused him; and 
John Smith sent word that if he did not at once leave off 
shooting, and attack the stockade in earnest, he would him- 
self come to help. 

This threat stirred up the valour of the brave captain, 
and he led an attack personally, but it never reached the 
walls of the stockade. Up to that time only five men had 
been killed on the Patani side, and probably none in the 
fort, but as they charged across the open and got within 
point-blank range of the enemy's guns, many of the storming 
party got bowled over; and the war captain seeing this, 
ordered his men to retire. He was brave enough to face 
death himself, but he could not bear to see his men killed. 

This was the news that was brought back, with a message 
from the great warrior to the effect that he intended waiting 
until the Perak men had exhausted all their ammunition 
before he dilivered another attack. This evidently meant a 
prolonged siege; so John Smith chose fifty of the Patani 
men from the force aft the Prince's place, and taking one 
hundred Semangs with Stia Raja went to- his assistance, 
and pretending to place himself and his men under the 



330 

command of the Patani captain, he persuaded him to attack 
once more. This second attack soon decided the fate of the 
fort, which was rushed at once and the Perak men driven 
out, when those who were not killed, and they were only 
a small moiety, escaped down-stream in their prahus. 

Having th;js accomplished what he went down to Raman 
to do, John Smith returned to Patani, were he was received 
with great honour; and after an interval, he proceeded to 
Siam as the special envoy of the Queen. 

When he returned from that journey he found letters 
awaiting him from James Neccy, who had got back to Johor. 
James Neccy wrote that he was about to send a ship up 
to Patani to fetch him and his belongings, as he wanted 
him to join in the attack on Malacca which was soon to 
start, and an honorable post in this expedition awaited 
his friend and late supercargo. 

Further journals of the English adventurer give a very 
graphic and interesting description of this expedition, which 
was not very successful, owing to the fact that at the last 
moment the King of Johor did not fulfil his engagements. 
The expedition started from Johor in 1606, and after making 
an unsuccessful demonstration before the city of Malacca, 
returned, and the ships then dispersed. John Smith's share 
consisted of organising an attack from the land side. He 
had a very interesting and adventurous time travelling up 
the Moar River amongst the Menangkabau subjects of the 
King of Johor, who were colonizing the country behind 
Malacca and about Mount Ophir. 

He lived for many years after in Malay countries, going 
back to Europe and seeing his mother in England every 
few years. He was in England at the time of her death, 
but would not come forward until her funeral took place, 
because he would not cause her the pain of acknowledging 



331 

< • him, which he knew would have greatly distressed her. 

He was an English pioneer, although he sailed and fought 

chiefly under the Dutch flag, his birth and parentage making 

it diflicult for him to assert himself under the sanction and 

protection of his own country. 

THE END. 



rag. 





ERRATA. 


4 to 


read: 


two 


6 wich. 


11 


which 


7 hat 


11 


has 


1 6 weD 


ji 


when 


19 hat 


■>i 


had 


19 omit: crew 






23 trough 


n 


through 


25 ast 


:i 


as 


28 omit: and turning 


to -the stakes 


28 is 


read: 


if 


30 poorridge 


11 


porridge 


35 te 


« 


the 


36 tho 


11 


to 


36 so 


n 


to 


37 wich 


n 


which 


40 was 


15 


were 


50 she lifted 


n 


she lifted her face 


57 out 


11 


cut 


69 trough 


n 


through 


74 reloaden 


11 


reloaded 


88 trough 


11 


through 


88 they got nearer 


11 


they got no nearer 


89 plucked up heart 


11 


plucked up heart to 


90 right 


11 


thigh 


92 wich 


11 


which 


93 given march 


11 


given to march 



334 



Pag. 



98 hat 


read 


,■ had 


99 there 


11 


the 


99 cunduct 


11 


conduct 


100 thousand hundred 


n 


thousand 


121 latter 


« 


later 


128 lett 


51 


let 


138 is ■ 


^1 


it 


151 trew 


ri 


threw 


161 op 


11 


up 


172 successfull 


11 


successful 


178 easyly 


11 


easily 


188 crescent 


11 


the Crescent 


189 torn 


•>•> 


tore 


198 Afrika 


11 


Africa 


200 man 


n 


a man 


201 whome 


n 


whom 


206 were 


n 


was 


215 wither 


15 


whither 


215 divolved 


11 


devolved 


221 asleep 


11 


sleeps 


234 id 


11 


it 


235 had prepared then 


n 


had prepared 


241 te stream 


11 


the river 


244 rived 


n 


lived 


244 schrill 


11 


shrill 


244 out 


11 


shouted 


245 moon 


11 


moon-lit 


247 does 


n 


hinds 


247 awajr far 


n 


far away 


252 and were be supposed 


11 


and were supposed 


252 to chief 


11 


to the chief 


257 and hinting 


11 


hinting 


258 Duch 


31 


Dutch 


259 it is 


11 


is it 


259 realised 


i> 


he realised 


260 opininion 


11 


opinion 


264 sences 


11 


senses 


264 therefore • 


11 


therefor 



335 



Pag. 267 as the children read: the children 



269 hardeneded 
269 to each clan 
269 te 
273 haran 

278 feer 

279 wen 



„ hardened 
,, each clan 
„ the 
„ haram 
„ fear 
„ when 
284 omit: so that they could only move about by lifting both feet 

288 „ found ■ 

289 „ return to 

295 ha'jis read: hajis 

303 to present „ to the present