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from tbe books of
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Cbancellor of tbe Tflniversftg of Toronto
(1876*1900)
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QU ED AH.
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2011 with funding from
University of Toronto
http://www.archive.org/details/quedahorstrayleaOOosbo
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JOURNAL IN MALAYAN WATERS.
BY
Captain SHERARD OSBORN, R.N., C.B.
OFFICIER DE LA LEGION D'HONNEUR.
" Sweet Memory ! wafted by thy gentle gale,
Oft up the stream of Time I turn my sail,
To view the fairy-haunts of long-lost hours,
Blest with far greener shades, far fresher flowers."
; Rogers.
f
"0>
V
LONDON:
LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN,
1857.
.
DATE
MAT 4 1987
The right of iranufntinJ ATWtrlWV} " ' """•■"■"
1
London :
Trinted by SpottiswootjF. and Co.
New-street-Square.
gUiruatefr
CAPTAIN WILLIAM WARREN,
ROYAL NAVY,
COMPANION OF THE MOST HONORABLE ORDER OF THE BATH, ETC. ETC.
AND FORMERLY COMMANDER OF H.M.S. " HYACINTH,"
WITH
THE WARMEST FEELINGS OF LOVE AND RESPECT,
BY
HIS NAVAL NOMINEE AND MIDSHIPMAN,
SHERARD OSBORN.
PREFACE.
The majority of naval officers are self-taught men :
the world their book — the midshipman's dingy berth
their " Alma Mater." The author is no exception to
the rule ; and as his confession may be profitable to
others, he makes the public sufficiently a confidant,
to say, that to a steady habit of journalising, noting
down all he saw, read, or felt, and, in spite of
defective spelling and worse grammar, still educating
himself with his journal, he is mainly indebted for
being able to fight his way up an arduous and emu-
lative profession.
This fact he would fain impress upon the younger
branches of the Royal Navy : it will cheer and
encourage the humble youth who dons the blue
jacket, relying on his head and hand to win those
VI PREFACE.
honours and advancement which, in the natural
course of things, appear only to have been created
for the influential ; and should the author have
thrown some bright lights on the character of a
people much maligned and misunderstood, he and
others will see that, in practising habits of obser-
vation, not onty does the officer discover a source
of amusement and instruction for himself, but that,
at some time or other, he may be able to serve his
fellow-man, or add, at any rate, in a humble way,
to the fund of human knowledge.
The general reader will be best able to judge
whether the author was justified in troubling them
with this second series of " Stray Leaves " from his
journals. In transcribing them, the original cha-
racter of the MS. has been adhered to as much as
possible ; and, as far as lay in his power, the author
has identified himself with that sunny period of life
in which the tale of the Blockade of Quedah was
originally written.
Some apology is perhaps due to those persons
whose names are introduced in the narrative ; but
TREFACE. Vll
forgiveness may be expected where no harm is said
of them.
And it is not less the author's grateful duty to
express his warm acknowledgments to the unknown
body of critics and reviewers who have so kindly
encouraged him by liberal praise in his past efforts.
Aspiring, however, to no lofty niche in the temple
of literary fame, the author launches the good ship
({ Quedah," confident that, while telling his sailor's
yarn in a sailor's way, he will be sure of sympathy
and kindly criticism from his countrymen and coun-
trywomen.
London :
January^ 1857.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
India Twenty Years ago. — Singapore jn the Month of May.
— Chinese Junks ready for Sea. — Prahus. — Singapore
Boats. — Miniature Junks. — Origin of the Form of Junks.
— Sound Reason for Junks having one Eye on each Side.
— Arab Boats. — Sampan-puchats. — Singapore of old. —
Commercial Singapore. — A Sepoy Martyr. — Court House. —
Churches with Steeples. — The " Hyacinth " in Port - Page 1
CHAP. II.
Internal Economy. — Fishing-Parties. — Rumours of Pirates. —
News of an Illanoon Squadron. — A floating Menagerie. —
An Encounter with Pirates. — The " Hyacinth " searches
for Pirates. — A War-fleet heard of. — Quedah Politics. —
We are required to aid the Siamese. — Rapid Equipment of
Pirate Fleet. — The Malays are warned of the coming
Retribution. — Captain Warren visits the Pirate Fleet. —
Arrangements are made to equip a Flotilla. — The "Hya-
cinth" and Gun-boats off Quedah. — My Gun- boat and
Crew. — The Coxswain's Excitability. — The Interpreter's
Appearance - - - - - -15
CHAP. III.
Commence to blockade Quedah Fort. — Jadee's imaginary
Fight with a Tonkoo. — My Malay Coxswain's Appearance.
X CONTENTS.
— His Attire and Character. — Jadee's piratical Propensities.
— Escapes Imprisonment by hanging a Man. — Quedah Fort
and Town. — The Appearance of the adjacent Country. —
A wet Night. — My Crew. — Jadee's Want of Bigotry. —
Primitive Mode of eating - Page 35
CHAP. IV.
The Blockade rendered more stringent. — The Bounting Is-
lands. — My Crew keeping Holiday. — "Hyacinths" poi-
soned with Ground-nuts. — We discover Wild Bees'-Nests.
— Arrangements made for robbing the Hives. — The Bees
quit their Hives and settle on me. — No Honey. — A
Malay Doctor. — The Koran and Chunam remedy for Bee
Stings - - - - - - »49
CHAP. V.
The North-east Monsoon. — Unsatisfactory News of our
Siamese Allies. — The Pelicans. — Alligators abound. — The
Cowardice of the Alligators. — Encounter and Capture an
Alligator. — Extraordinary Strength and Vitality of those
Reptiles. — A Strange Antidote against Fever. — The Rah-
madan and " Quedah Opera." — The Malays endeavour to
evade the Blockade. — The Watchfulness of my Native
Crew - - - - - - " - 59
CHAP. VI.
A Night Chase after a Prahu. — The Chase. — The Prahu
manoeuvres admirably. — Jadee volunteers to board her. —
The Capture. — A Piratical Saint. — The Saint at Prayers.
— The Saint's Deportment. — The Saint's Martyrdom. —
Defensive Measures. — Escape of Siamese Prisoners. — Suf-
ferings of the Siamese Prisoners. — A curious Mode of
Sketching - - - - - - 69
CONTENTS. XI
CHAP. VII.
The Anxiety of the Officer commanding the Blockade. — In-
telligence received of the Pirate Fleet. — My good Fortune
in sailing with so excellent a Captain. — A Tropical Thunder-
storm. — Jadee kills the Wind. — How Jadee learnt to kill
the Wind. — The Dutch generally disliked. — Jadee's Pira-
tical Friends attack a Junk. — The Defeat and Flight of
Jadee's Friends. — They are saved by the Rajah of Jehore.
— Killing the Wind ... - Page 81
CHAP. VIII.
Refreshing Effects of a Squall in the Tropics. — Scenery in the
Malay Archipelago. — My Gun-boat "The Emerald" joins
the Parlis Blockading Squadron. — The Malays try to
stockade us out of the River. — Haggi Loiing comes on an
Embassy. — Malayan Diplomacy. — Jadee's Disregard for a
Flag of Truce. — Jadee and the one-eyed Enemy. — A Spy.
— The Chase by Starlight. — The submerged Jungle. — An
Indian Night-Scene. — The Chase lost. — The Whip and
Mangrove Snakes - - - - - 94
CHAP. IX.
Mahomet Alee does not attack. — Start Crane-shooting. — Day-
break in Malayia.— The Adjutant. — The " old Soldier ! "—
The " old Soldier " fishing. — The " old Soldier " weathers a
young Sailor. — No Cranes. — Plenty of Monkeys. — Monkeys
in a Passion. — A sudden Chase of a Prahu. — Birds'-Nests and
Pulo Bras Manna. — The edible-nest-building Swallow, Hi-
rundo esculenta ; Food ; Habits. — Decide upon seeing the
Nests collected. — Difficulties in the way of doing so. — Jam-
boo enjoying Company's Pay. — Jamboo remonstrates. — A
scramble for Birds'-Nests. — The Malays descend the Face of
Xll CONTENTS.
the Cliff. — The Home of the edible-nest-building Swallow.
— The Birds'-Nest Trade. — The Nests composed of Ge-
latin Page 108
CHAP. X.
Return to Parlis. — Datoo Mahomet Alee's sanguinary Threat.
— Jadee has, we find, sent an abusive Message. — Jadee
reproved. — Jadee's feelings are hurt. — Character of my
Native Crew. — A Page about Native Prejudices. — One of
the Malays mutinous. — Cure for Native Prejudices. —
Malayan Jungle-Scenery by Daylight. — Black Monkeys. —
A Monkey Parody upon Human Life. — English Seamen
and the Monkeys. — Scarcity of Fresh Water. — The Village
of Tamelan. — A Malay Chieftainess. — Watering. — Snakes
disagreeably numerous. — Stories of large Snakes - 123
CHAP. XI.
Jadee declines to clean the Copper. — A Malay Prejudice. —
A Malay Mutiny. — The lost Sheep return. — The Dif-
ficulty surmounted. — Malayan mechanical Skill. — An
Impromptu Dock. — An Accident, and quick Repairs. —
Launch, and resume Station. — Loss of my Canoe. — A
Sampan constructed. — The Malayan Axe or Adze. — In-
genious mode of applying native Materials in Construction of
Boats - - - - - - - 137
CHAP. XII.
Return to Quedah. — Native Defences. — The " Teda bagoose."
— Scaring an Ally. — Difficulties which accounted for the
Delay of the Siamese. — Inchi Laa acknowledges the Effects
of our Blockade. — Severity towards the Malays. — A Prahu
full of Fugitives captured. — Intelligence suddenly gained
of Siamese Army. — Deserters. — The Malay Forces out-
CONTENTS. Xlll
manoeuvred. — Serious Losses of the Malays. — Inchi Laa. —
Shameful Atrocities of the Malays. — Exchange of Cour-
tesies. — Permission given for the Women to escape. — Pre-
parations for Flight - Page 150
CHAP. XIII.
The Lull before the Storm. — The Exodus. — A Scene of
Confusion and Distress. — The Malay Chieftain's Wife. —
Baju-Mira. — The Convoy. — An extraordinary Appeal. —
Midwifery simplified. — A Night-Scene. — A Midshipman's
Emotions. — A Malayan Houri. — Resign my Charge and
return. — An Attempt to enslave the Fugitives - 165
CHAP. XIV.
Malay Slave Trade fostered by the Dutch. — Brutal System
pursued by the Portuguese. — Slavery doubtless founded by
the Mahometans. — Retribution has overtaken the Portuguese.
— An enlightened Policy most likely to eradicate Slavery
and Piracy. — Close Blockade. — The Call of the Siamese
Sentries. — The Call of the Malay Sentries. — Deaths from
Want of Water. — Kling Cruelty. — The Trial and Verdict,
and Punishment. — Siamese Tortures. — Novel Mode of
impaling a Rebel. — Extraordinary Palm-spears. — Remarks
upon Native Governments - - < - - 179
CHAP. XV.
The Massacre of the Prisoners in Quedah Fort. — The alarmed
Barber. — Inchi Laa repudiates the Act. — The Vultures'
Feast. — Captain Warren visits the Siamese Camp. — The
Siamese Army. — Renewed Vigour in the Operations. —
The Capture of the Battery. — The Flight of the Harem. —
Fugitives no longer able to escape by Sea. — Narrow Escape
of my Crew. — Inchi Laa surrenders. — Struck by a Whirl-
wind. — The last Broadside. — The Chiefs escape. — Quedah
Fort abandoned - - - - - 195
XIV CONTENTS.
CHAP. XVI.
The Siamese in Possession of the Fort. — Description of the
Fort. — A Siamese Military Swell. — The Divan. — A
Naval Ambassador. — The Ambassador demands Beef. —
Curiosity of the Siamese Officials. — The Appearance of the
Soldiery. — Mobility of the Siamese Troops. — Arms and
Equipments. — The Buffalo of Malayia. — Mr. Airey, Master
of the " Hyacinth." — Siamese Ingratitude not singular. —
We proceed to Parlis - Page 211
CHAP. XVII.
Return to Parlis. — A Case of Cholera-morbus. — An Irish
Cure for Cholera. — Pat Conroy's Opinion of the Chinese. —
Tamelan. — Parlis. — The Flight from Tamelan. — The
Legacy of Queen Devi. — The Departure. — The Heart of
a Cocoa-nut Tree. — Proceed to shoot a Buffalo. — Discover
a Herd. — The Shot and the Chase. — Obtain plenty of
Buffalo Meat - - - - - -224
CHAP. XVIII.
Jamboo frightened by a River Spirit The Aborigines of
Malayia. — Malayan Superstitions. — An "Untoo," or Spirit,
seen. — My Credulity taxed. — The Spirits of the Jungle. —
On Superstitions in general. — The Charms of Superstition.
— Musquitoes and Sand-flies. — The Village on Fire. —
Flaming Cocoa-nut Trees. — Intentional Destruction. —
Traces of Man rapidly obliterated in the East - - 238
CHAP. XIX.
A Crew of wretched Fugitives. — " Orang-laut," or Sea
Gipsies. — Low Civilisation of the " Orang-laut." — Total
Absence of all Religious Feeling. — Their Mode of Living
CONTENTS. XV
— The personal Appearance of Orang-laut. — Dearth of
fresh Water. — Ordered to procure Water up the River. —
Parlis and Pirate Fleet. — Interview with Ilaggi Loung. —
Permission granted to procure Water. — Tom West's Address
to the Malays. — Paddle up the River. — Tropical Malayan
Scenery. — Pass Kangah. — Obtain Fresh Water - Page 253
CHAP. XX.
The Ladies of Kangah bathing. — Halt to lunch at Kangah.
— Kangah, its Situation. — Mode of constructing Malay
Houses. — The Mosque. — The Bazaar and its Occupants. —
Arrival of armed Men. — Return to the Boat. — Praise-
worthy Fidelity of the Malays. — Malay Independence of
Character. — The Pleasures of Memory. — A Malay Family
Scene. — Return to Parlis. — Pulo Quetam. — Trade during
Blockade - - - - - -270
CHAP. XXI.
Social Evenings. — Quaintness of English Seamen. — The
Adventures of Lucas. — Runs away to Liverpool. — Enters
on board of an African Trader. — The Voyage to the Bights.
— Fever. — Deaths. — Difficulty in leaving Port. — A new
Captain joins. — Voyage Home. — Sufferings from want of
Water. — Disorderly Scenes. — A Fight. — Villanous Be-
verage. — A Man flogged to Death. — A horrid post-
mortem Examination. — Temporary Relief. — Recklessness. —
Sufferings. — A second Case of Murder. — Lucas a Sailor,
nolens volens ------ 285
CHAP. XXII.
Jadee offers the Loan of a Love-Letter. — A Midshipman's
Scruples. — The "Emerald" ordered to Pouchou. — Enter
the River during the Night. — Jadee's Suggestions for ward-
XVI CONTENTS.
ing off Musquitoes. — Jadee foresees Trouble. — A nautical
Superstition of the olden Day. — The Flight. — The Sampan
repulsed. — The Chase. — A Prahu captured. — Proceed to
Tangong Gaboose. — Starving piratical Fugitives. — A Threat
of Cannibalism. — The Horrors of Asiatic Warfare. — Jam-
boo's View of the Malays' Position. — Reflections - Page 304
CHAP. XXIII.
A Surprise. — The Stratagem. — Escape of Mahomet Alee. —
Jadee indignant. — Disappointment and Consolation. — We
report the Escape. — Raising of the Blockade. — The
neglected Warning. — The Gig chases the Canoe. — The
" Laddas." — A Malayan Night- Scene. — Dream-Land. —
Return to Things earthly. — Unsuccessful Search for Prahus.
— The Sea-breeze. — The Race. — Short Rations. — Eat
Birds'-nests. — A long and distressing Pull. — Zeal and
cheerful Conduct of the Crew. — Reflections - - 323
CHAP. XXIV.
A tropical Shower. — Early Breakfast. — The Malay piratical
Soiree. — Jadee upbraids them for being surprised. — Pre-
paring for Action. — Demeanour of English and Malay Sea-
men. — Malay Charm for shooting straight. — My Coxswain ;
his Piety. — Burning, sinking, and destroying. — The Rene-
gade turns Traitor. — The large Reptiles of Langkawi. —
The Tale of the Oular-besar, or Great Snake. — The Snake
choked by a Holy Man. — A remarkable Fossil. — A Pirate's
Hiding-place. — Lovely Scenery. — The Anger of the Skies.
— Struck by Lightning. — Close of Operations against
Quedah. — Conclusion - 341
LIST OF ILLUSTKATIOINS.
The Hyacinth — Moonlight Frontispiece.
The Chart to face page 1
Junk, attacked by Malay Prahus .... „ „ 88
The Village and Jungle on fire „ „ 249
Tornado, Coast of Malayia „ „ 337
By the same Author
STRAY LEAVES from an ARCTIC JOURNAL. By
Lieutenant Sherard Osborn, R.N., Commanding: H.M.S.V. Pioneer in the
late Expedition, 1850-51, under Capt. Austin, to rescue Sir John Franklin.
With Map and 4 coloured Plates Post 8vo. 12s.
" Those who with the latest map in
hand like to follow the course of the navi-
gators, may learn in what directions a
search has been made, and where in all
human probability Franklin's expedition
is not. But these things are more readily
ascertainable from Lieutenant Osborn's
book and its companion map. It also
brings the daily life of the expedition
before us, not only in its details but its
feelings. The impressions produced by
the scenery— the hopes and fears as the
ice, that is as the weather, fluctuated— the
rivalry of the different squadrons, for four
or five expeditions were navigating those
seas— the amusements to vary the mono-
tony of the winter— the cordiality, and the
enthusiastic feelings that animated the
men for the objects" of the expedition — are
all vividly brought out." Spectator.
THE DISCOVERY of the NORTH-WEST PASSAGE
by H.M.S. Investigator, Captain R. M'Clure, 1850-54. Edited by Captain
Sherard Osborn, C.B., from the Log's and Journals of Capt. M'Clure.
With Chart, and coloured Illustrations from Sketches by Commander S. G.
Cresswell, R.N. Second Edition, thoroughly revised; with considerable
Additions to the Chapter on the Hybernation of Animals in the Arctic
Regions, a Geological Paper by Sir Roderick I. Murchison, and a Portrait of
Captain M'Clure 8vo. 15s.
" The history of this famous discovery
is well entitled to a special work ; and we
feel certain that among the numerous
volumes descriptive of Arctic enterprise,
which have swelled to the proportions of
a library, none will rank higher, or be
more generally read, than that now pub-
lished." Athenceum.
" This is one of the books which form
part of the nation's title-deeds to great-
ness. It commemorates the achievement
of one of the grandest exploits on record.
Sir Robert M'Clure and his crew were the
first men who ever passed from the Pacific
to the Atlantic." Saturday Review.
London : LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, LONGMANS, and ROBERTS.
Q U E D A H.
CHAPTEK I.
India Twenty Years ago. — Singapore in the Month of May.
— Chinese Junks ready for Sea. — Prahus. — Singapore
Boats. — Miniature Junks. — Origin of the Form of Junks.
— Sound Reason for Junks having one Eye on each Side.
— Arab Boats. — Sampan-puchats. — Singapore of old. —
Commercial Singapore. — A Sepoy Martyr. — Court House.
— Churches with Steeples. — The " Hyacinth " in Port.
On the 29th of May, 1838, the " Hyacinth," one of
Her Majesty's 18-gun ship-rigged corvettes, made
her number to the signal-staff over the Governor's
residence at Singapore, and, aided by the light airs
peculiar to that latitude, flapped, rather than sailed,
into the anchorage.
Twenty years have made vast improvements in
that great emporium of the Eastern Archipelago;
B
2 INDIA TWENTY YEARS AGO.
but even that most thoughtless of all human beings,
a British midshipman — for such I then was — could
not but remark the signs of vitality and active com-
mercial enterprise which have since borne such good
fruits. Perhaps this struck one all the more when
coming from Ceylon and Hindostan, as we had
done. There, it was true, the stranger from Europe
could not but observe the air of English comfort
and well-to-do which pervaded everything ; but,
somehow or other, it struck one as being wonder-
fully stagnated: the feeling that India was highly
respectable, highly conservative, but very much
mildewed and very much astern of the world, forced
itself equally on the mind. Steam was still an agent
which Indian quid-nuncs questioned the success of
in India, whatever it might do elsewhere. A soli-
tary steamer, the " Diana," was almost as much a
curiosity to the European residents of the Straits of
Malacca as she was to the Malays or Chinese ; and
poor Lieut. Waghorn, of our navy, had not yet
enlightened Leadenhall by showing them the ad-
vantages of the Overland Route ; indeed, it was
nothing unusual, even at that time, to receive letters
five months old, and to consider oneself remarkably
lucky in getting such late intelligence. Now, if a
letter was as many weeks old, the merchant of Sin-
SINGAPORE IN THE MONTH OF MAY. 3
gapore would complain of the irregularities of the
mail boats.
However, it is with Singapore of the past I have
to deal. Before the town, and at the distance of a
mile from it, lay numerous huge junks, all glittering
with white and red and green and black ; their
strange eyes staring with all the vacuity of a China-
man, and apparently w T ondering how they would
ever find their way to China. Thither they were
now bound, with the strength of the south-west
monsoon to blow them, "viento a popa," into the
ports of the provinces of Quantung and Fokien,
whence they bad come with clandestine emigrants,
teas, and silks, and sugars, aided by the north-east
monsoon of the previous winter. Many a goodly
yard of Manchester cottons, and manufactures by
the ton of English handicraft, now filled their capa-
cious holds. On their main-mast heads, which mast
was, as usual, one long spar of stupendous girth, a
most original arrangement in the shape of a dog-
vane had been fixed, and from it long heavy, silken
streamers waved in the hot sky. Around these ves-
sels floated "full many a rood" their long rattan
cables, and I began almost to believe in the sailor's
story of a Chinaman's anchor floating, when I saw
their cables do so, and that the anchors of their
B 2
4 PRAHUS. — SINGAPORE BOATS.
largest vessels were constructed of wood. Unearthly
cries, resembling swine in distress, issued from these
ponderous arks, and evidently meant for songs by
their sailors, as they hoisted in the long-boats pre-
paratory to going to sea.
Within these junks, in comparison with which we
looked uncommonly small, were thousands of prahus
of every size and form, stretching away into a narrow
and shoal harbour which lies to the right of the town.
They were traders from every port of the Archipe-
lago ; they had held a constant floating fair until very
lately, and had disposed of their wares, completed re-
turn cargoes, and would likewise shortly depart for
their different destinations. A merchant assured us,
that as many as 4000 of these vessels had arrived
during the past monsoon ; and, but for the Dutch
interference and jealousy, many more would visit
Singapore yearly. Skimming about amongst these
vessels of curious forms and still more curious rigs,
there were hundreds of boats in whose shape the in-
genuity of man seemed to be exhausted in inventing
bodies, intended for propulsion through the water,
which should differ as much as possible from each
other. The Singapore sampan decidedly carried off
the palm for beauty and fleetness, approaching, in
sharpness of outline and the chances of drowning
MINIATURE JUNKS. 5
the sitters, to one of our above-bridge racing wher-
ries on the Thames: two Malay rowers, each pulling a
single broad-bladed oar, could in these sampans beat
our fleetest gig. Then, in contradistinction to these,
came the Chinese boat — from which the name "sam-
pan" had, I believe, been derived — a perfect minia-
ture junk, except that she had no deck; painted with
ports along the side, and green, white, red, and black
eyes in the bow. In the large ones of this descrip-
tion, which evidently belonged to the junks in the
offing, the crews sometimes amounted to twelve or
sixteen persons ; but in those which belonged to
Singapore, and merely served as a means of com-
munication between the vessels and the shore — or in
some cases were owned by fishermen of the place —
the pigmy junk was invariably rowed by one man.
In all, however, whether big Chinese sampans or
small ones, the mode of rowing was alike. The de-
scendants of Confucius, differing from the Europeans
in that as in every other respect, instead of sitting
down to their oars, when rowing they always stand
up ; instead of being before their oars, they are always
abaft them ; and instead of the rowers facing aft,
they always face forward. The form of the sampan
and junk is, of course, that of the model, a slipper ;
B 3
6 CHINESE LEGEND.
and that not a lady's one either, but a good broad-
toed, broad-heeled, broad-soled one, — a good old-
fashioned list slipper, in short. In case the reader
should not have heard the legend upon the authority
of which rests the fact that the slipper became the
model for the Chinese ship-builders and waterman's
companies, I may as well tell him that, in the time
of that wise monarch who walled off China from the
rest of the world by land, — between two and three
hundred years before the birth of Christ, and about
the time Alexander the Great invaded Persia — I
like to be particular about dates ! — the Chinese ship-
builders gave a great deal of anxiety to the heaven-
descended monarch by introducing clippers, copper
bottomed ships, and other abominable innovations —
which quite threatened to subvert his wise intentions
of keeping the Flowery Land free from the con-
tamination of strangers. One day the monarch,
pressed down with anxiety as to how his plans for
the suppression of navigation in general were to be
carried out, sat in public divan at Pekin to hear, as
was the wont in those days, the petitions of his
people. There was a rush through the crowd, and a
subject with a wooden model under his arm threw
himself a f the monarch's feet, rapping his head most
devotedly upon the steps of the imperial throne ; he
ORIGIN OF TIIE FORM OF JUNKS. 7
was told to rise, and present his claim to heaven-born
consideration.
The wretch was a ship-builder of Southern China.
He held a perfect model of a sharp-keeled vessel in
his hands, such as barbarians two thousand years
afterwards are seen to sail in, and implored his
Majesty to patronise his improvement in the con-
struction of imperial ships ! Sacrilege of the deepest
dye ! Here, on the one hand, sat Inexpressible
Wisdom, who desired to make the earth stand still ;
on the other, Science, who wished to carry the people
of the Flowery Land — their arts and peaceful dis-
coveries, the printing-press, the magnet, the manu-
facture of silks and paper — to nations who employed
their leisure hours in butchering one another; and
maybe bring back their bloodthirstiness as return
cargoes. It was horrible — most horrible ! — but the
monarch, though he sat cross-legged, was a merciful
monarch : he grasped his slipper — for it was ready
to his hand. " Avaunt, monster ! " he shouted ; and,
with unerring aim, he hove his sacred slipper at the
miscreant's head. " Avaunt ! — from henceforth build
all thy vessels on the model of that old shoe ; and,
ministers," said he, addressing the Court, "let an
edict go forth that my slipper alone shall be the
type of every floating thing in the Flowery Land ;
B 4
8 REASON FOR JUNKS HAVING ONE EYE.
and " — lowering his voice to his prime minister and
favourite, the heaven-born deigned to close one eye
and leave the other open as he muttered — " and it's
devilish funny cruising at sea they will have, if they
adhere to that model, oh! Fan-tse!" Since that
day China has adhered steadily to the imperial fancy ;
and the royal act of winking is immortalised by the
solitary eye which stares from the bow of their
vessels ; the other one is supposed to be shut ; and
that solitary eye says, as audibly as a wooden eye
can say it, —
"It's devilish funny cruising we have at sea,
oh ! Fan-tse ! "
Whilst cogitating profoundly, as jolly-boat mid-
shipmen invariably do, on the profound wisdom of
Chinese legislators, and wondering whether there are
any more like them in the world at present, two
other queer craft appear on the scene.
The one is a boat built on English lines, though
rather round and full in form ; she is painted with
alternate streaks of every colour upon this earth,
and resembles, as they are reflected on the polished
surface of the calm sea and again re-reflected upon
her sides, a dying dolphin, though a very ugly
one. In her the crew — dressed in frocks of divers
gay colours — are rowing in a peculiar manner, by
AKAB BOATS. — SAMPAN-PUCHATS. 9
rising off their seats as they clip their oars in the
water, and then, when they throw their weight on
the oars, coming down upon their seats with a
" sough ! " which must have loosened the teeth in
their heads. Yet they sang a wild and plaintive air,
splashing the water about with their oars, and rap-
ping down with an energy upon the thwarts which
was charmingly original, and excited all my mirth —
a mirth which the sitters — very obese -looking Par-
sees from Bombay — looked very indignant at ; at
least, as much so as a ton of flesh can ever look.
These boats came from some Arab vessels which
adorned the anchorage, vessels called grabs, rigged
somewhat like brigs, but having a length of bow
which was perfectly astounding ; indeed, in some of
them, the long taper of the bow was one-third the
length of the whole vessel, and the bowsprit was
entirely inboard.
The other strange boat which attracted mv attention
was a craft, perhaps 120 feet long, with 20 feet beam,
looking like an overgrown Malay sampan, and pulling
50 or 80 oars : she resembled nothing so much in colour
and appearance as some huge centipede scrambling over
the sea ; these were the sampan-puchats — fast vessels,
owned by the merchants of Singapore and manned by
stalwart Chinese crews; they can outstrip the fleetest
10 SINGAPORE OF OLD.
prahus, and are able to sail or pull with equal facility.
By them, an immense smuggling trade is done with
the Dutch monopolists, and many a rich cargo of
spices and gold-dust, antimony and pepper, repays
the merchant of Singapore for his speculation in
Sheffield and Birmingham goods.
We pull into the little creek or river of Singapore,
which splits the good town in two, and here the same
Babel-like character is equally thrust upon the obser-
vation.
I am, however, to tell of the sea, and shall leave to
others the details of Singapore on shore — premising
that a good description has yet to be written of that
Queen of the Malayan Archipelago. It will suffice
for a sailor's narrative to say, that the whole town
stands upon a level of no very great extent, which
stretches along the base of gently swelling hills, on
the top of the highest of which stands Government
House, tenanted by the present Sir Samuel Bonham
— then governor of the Straits of Malacca — a most
able civil servant of the Hon. East India Company,
beloved by all classes, and always spoken of by the
Malays with a mixed feeling of awe and affection,
in consequence of the active part he took as a
commissioner in the suppression of piracy in the
Straits.
COMMERCIAL SINGAPORE. 11
The creek separated Singapore into two distinct parts.
The one was purely commercial, with its bazaar and
market-places, its native town, and overflowing stores,
a perfect commercial Babel, where, if a confusion of
tongues would induce men to cease building temples to
the goddess of wealth, they would have taken ship
and fled the spot. There was an energy, a life, a go-
aheadism about everything, that struck me much ;
everybody was in a hurry, everybody pushing with a
will. The boatmen condescended to tout for passen-
gers, and were blackguards enough, we heard, to
occasionally rap the passengers over the head if they
objected to pay them the fare — a proceeding the pas-
sengers in other parts of India often reverse by ill-
treating the cowardly boatmen ; then came along a
crowd of half-naked Chinese, staggering under some
huge bale of goods, and working with a will which
would put London porters or Turkish hammels to
the blush ; a crowd of black and oily Hindostanees,
screeching like jackdaws over a stack of bags of sugar,
and Arabs, Englishmen, Jews, Parsees, Armenians,
Cochin- Chinese, Siamese, half-castes, and Dutch-
men, each struggling who should coin dollars fastest ;
and as my coxswain, a Gosport boy, expressed himself,
on his return from making some humble purchases —
" Well, I thought they were a smart set on Common
12 A SEPOY MARTYR.
Hard, sir, but blest if they don't draw one's eye-
teeth in Sincumpo! "
It was pleasing to turn, from all these loud noises
and strong smells of the commercial part of Singa-
pore, to the opposite side of the river, where, nestling
amongst green trees, lay the residences of the
wealthy European merchants : all was as dreamy,
sleepy, quiet, and picturesque as anyone could
desire, and, I am bound to add, as hot; for there
the bright equatorial sun was pouring down with-
out shadow or breeze to take off its effects. The
Sepoy sentry seemed to be frizzling in his leathern
shako and hideous regimentals, and the sensation I
felt on regarding his scarlet coat was that he might
at any moment burst into flames. He was a military
martyr lashed to a British musket instead of a stake.
From that painful sight the eye instinctively sought
repose upon a mass of cold dark-green foliage, against
which the Court-House rose, — a long building, pos-
sibly commodious, but decidedly of the Composite
order of architecture. Within it, at stated periods,
the British embodiment of the Goddess of Justice
occasionally sat; whether in the classic pepper-and
salt coloured wig and black gown which that deity
disguises herself in on our own dear island, I know
not; but as Mars adheres in the East to leather
CHURCnES WITH STEErLES. 13
stocks, pipeclay, and black-ball, it is quite possible
that Astraea does not abandon horsehair and black
silk.
A pretty esplanade, and bungalows standing in
pleasant detached patches of ground, stretched away
until lost in the jungle and half-cleared country
beyond ; these, with a very commodious church,
constituted the west-end of Singapore : those who
built the church, built it to give sitting-room to
those who attended; heathens that they were, they
forgot the steeple ! The good bishop of Calcutta
could not — like the Chinese emperor with his old
shoe — throw a steeple at their heads; but he did
more : he preached a crusade against churches with-
out steeples, and laboured, preached, and subscribed
to have steeples put to all Protestant churches so
successfully, that steeples went up in the air wherever
he had trodden ; and I dare say by this time people
in Singapore when they build churches build steeples,
as they do in modern England, for birds to build in,
instead of aisles in which Christians may pray.
But what have I to do with the shore ? — Let us
return to the " Hyacinth," and busy ourselves,
painting and polishing, until every one belonging to
her begins to believe she is the most beautiful thino-
that ever floated. The first lieutenant has holy-
14 THE "HYACINTTl" IN PORT.
stoned the decks and scraped the masts, until both
are as bright as a hound's tooth; the boatswain has
been driven distracted by having to square and re-
square the yards, in consequence of some slight flaw
being detected in their parallelism, and confides to
me, as I steer him on board for the sixth time, that
" He'll be d — d if he doesn't think them yards are
enchanted, for, somehow, he used to square the
' Wapse's ' yards in five minutes ; " and the carpenter
has been " cutting out " the white streak here, and
" cutting in" the black paint of the hull there, until
he fancies he has brought the appearance of the old
sloop to as near perfection as it is possible for mortal
man to do.
INTERNAL ECONOMY. 15
CHAP. II.
Internal Economy. — Fishing-Parties. — Rumours of Pirates.
— News of an Illanoon Squadron. — A floating Menagerie.
— An Encounter with Pirates. — The " Hyacinth " searches
for Pirates. — A War-fleet heard of. — Quedah Politics. —
We are required to aid the Siamese. — Rapid Equipment of
Pirate Fleet. — The Malays are warned of the coming
Retribution. — Captain Warren visits the Pirate Fleet. —
Arrangements are made to equip a Flotilla. — The " Hya-
cinth " and Gun-boats off Quedah. — My Gun-boat and
Crew. — The Coxswain's Excitability. — The Interpreter's
Appearance.
The Captain has gone ashore to take up his quarters
with the Governor ; the second lieutenant says it is
his duty to be out of the ship as much as possible in
harbour, and has gone to carry his theory into prac-
tice. Those of the subordinate officers who are
blest with funds, go on shore to hire horses, and try
and ride their tails off; those that have not, calcu-
late the number of days that must intervene before
they have a right to inform their affectionate relatives,
through the Navy Agents, that they are alive, and of
course doing well, and are heard to assert that they
will commemorate the cashing of that prospective
16 FISHING-PARTIES.
bill by feats in horsemanship and gastronomy which
would make both steeds and poultry tremble could
they only hear them. Being of those whose happi-
ness was involved in a cheque not yet arrived at
maturity, I stayed on board ; and, by way of amuse-
ment, cricket and fishing parties were made up. Of
the former, I shall not speak : for any one can form
an idea of what cricketing must be at a distance of
sixty miles from the equator, the temperature at the
time we played, 3 p.m., being about 84° in the shadiest
part of Singapore. The seining-parties were decidedly
the most pleasant and healthy. The plan of pro-
ceedings usually consisted in either of the two seniors
of the midshipman's berth obtaining permission from
the first lieutenant to make up a fishing party; that
done, there was a selection of volunteers from the
seamen, marines, and boys, sufficient to man the cut-
ter and jolly-boat. Into the latter boat, the seine-
poles and lines were carefully placed, and in the
cutter a goodly store of biscuit and pork, tea, coffee,
and a little private stock of spirits. A couple of
good frying-pans and some lard were of course a
necessary addition, in order that we might enjoy a
supper upon fish fresh from the water — a gastronomic
treat in all climates, but doubly so in the East Indies.
After evening quarters, the fishermen repaired to
RUMOURS OF PIRATES. 17
their boats, clad in any old clothes they chose to put
on; and just as evening closed in wc would leave the
s!iip, repair to some beautiful sandy beaches among
the neighbouring islands, and there> through the
early part of the night, fish away to our hearts' con-
tent, then muster round a roaring fire, enjoy a merry
supper of fried fish, rashers of pork, and biscuit,
-..ashed down with tea or coffee made in a tea-kettle
in gipsy fashion. The supper over, a glass of grog
per man would be produced from the officers' private
store, pipes would be lit, songs would be sung,
and yarns told, until the small hours warned us
to return to our floating home, and the next day's
routine. These night parties, in after days, led us
into strange adventures and funny scenes; but I will
not forestall my narrative: suffice it that at that time
we were novices in the East, and all was charming,
strange, and exciting.
Eagerly believing, eagerly listening to all that
transpired around us, — it may be supposed that
nothing was more keenly sought for, by all on board
the " Hyacinth," than news about Malay pirates,
those ogres, those bogies of the Archipelago ; and just
then two events happened, sufficient to satiate the
appetite for the piratical for some time to come. The
one was of the past, but still not long since. The
c
18 NEWS OF A ILLANOON SQUADRON.
" Wolf/' a sister-sloop that we had come out to
relieve and send home, had twice fallen in with
piratical squadrons.
On the first occasion, her boats, consisting of a
pinnace and cutter, fell in with the pirates in a fine
bay near Cape Romania, the extreme southern point
of the Malayan peninsula. The prahus, some
twelve or thirteen in number, fought the boats and
escaped, the forces being very disproportionate. This
fact sharpened our eagerness, and we naturally
longed for an equally good opportunity, an anxiety
which was soon likely to be gratified, as the traders
from Cochin-China and Siam had reported that an
Illanoon squadron was cruising amongst the islands
which lie on the eastern side of the peninsula, and
intercepting prahus and junks bound to Singapore.
The " "Wolf " had been despatched after these
gentry, and the " Diana " steamer likewise, with a
gun-boat in tow, when the fact became undoubted
of the existence of Illanoons. We awaited intelli-
gence of their movements, and shortly afterwards
the " Diana ; ' arrived from a place called Tringanau,
about sixty miles to the northward, and reported
that an action had taken place, and the pirates, after
fighting like heroes, had, it was supposed, retreated
to their own country across the China Sea.
A FLOATING MENAGERIE. 19
One fine morning our gallant captain sent off to
express his astonishment that the arrival of H. M. S:
" Wolf" had not been reported to him. I hardly
fancy his astonishment^ was greater than our own,
on the fact being ascertained to be true ; for, al-
though a vessel had been seen to come in, no one
supposed she was a man-of-war. I fancy that it
was the skill displayed in disguising the "Wolf"
that had made her so successful in felling in with
Malay pirates ; and I must say the effort made to
give her the appearance of a merchantman was
carried to a wonderful extent; for even when on
board of her it was difficult to realise the fact that
a pennant flew overhead. She was a perfect floating
menagerie. Baboons flew playfully at your legs;
a loathsome orang-outang, or (( man of the woods,"
crawled up to shake hands, and made you thank
Providence that man, in the progressive theory,
had at any rate advanced a stride or two above the
creature before you ; pigs and peccaries, sheep,
fowls, a honey bear, and a black panther, formed a
scene Wombwell would have gloated over, whilst
Mr. Gould, or any other ornithologist, might have
found a week's work in classifying all the parrots,
louries, and screeching and whistling pets which
added to the riot below.
c 2
20 AN ENCOUNTER WITH PIRATES.
However, we went on board the "Wolf" to hear
about the pirates, and not to look at wild birds and
beasts.
They told us that, one day whilst cruising off
Tringanau, reports arrived of pirates being among the
neighbouring islands. Two Company's gun-boats
with the pinnace and cutter were detached to seek
them. The morning after the boats left, at day-
light, six large prahus were seen attacking a junk
about five miles to seaward of the ship. It was then
a stark calm, and the " Wolf" was perfectly power-
less to help the unfortunate junk ; the gun-boats and
large boats being nowhere in sight. While in the
greatest state of suspense, the steamer " Diana " was
seen approaching from the south with a gun-boat in
tow. The " Wolf " immediately sent every available
man and officer into the (( Diana " to fight her guns,
and she then steered for the junk, which was still
making a manful resistance.
Seeing her approach, the prahus formed in line
abreast, with their bows pointed towards her, their
guns, be it remembered, being always mounted for-
ward and directed ahead. The prahus, six in
number, were large-sized Illanoons, pulling two tiers
of oars, and full of slaves and fighting men. The
action was a severe one, but the " Diana " could not
"hyacinth" searches for pirates. 21
run the risk of attempting to board them, and had to
take care that they did not succeed in executing
that manoeuvre upon her, which they repeatedly
attempted to effect. Many of their fighting men,
creese in hand, were seen to leap into the water in
the hope of boarding the steamer ; one or two were
cut down as they actually had hold of the boats
towing astern of her; and, in short, though they
suffered tremendously, none of the prahus surren-
dered, though one sunk, and from her some twenty
wretches were taken : the other five prahus escaped,
and had eluded all further search by the " Wolf "
or her boats.
Shortly after this event we sailed in the "Hyacinth"
to seek the remnant of this piratical squadron. Our
cruise was a delightfully interesting one in every
revspect, and, although we picked up the trail of the
pirates in the islands they had retreated to after the
fight, we soon learnt from different sources that they
had there destroyed three more of their prahus as
being unfit for the voyage across the China or Sooloo
Sea, in consequence of injuries received from the
" Diana's" grape and canister,'and then embarking all
their crews in the two sound vessels, they had borne
up to return to their own homes — a sea voyage of
about twelve hundred miles.
c 3
22 A WAR-FLEET HEARD OF.
Returning empty handed and somewhat disap-
pointed to Singapore, about the end of July, we
were still further disgusted to learn] that Malay
war-prahus, to the number of forty, had made their
appearance at the opposite and western end of the
Straits.
They had, we learnt, fitted out on the Sumatran
coast, at a place called Battu-putih, or " White
Rocks," and carrying two thousand fighting men :
the pirates had taken advantage of our absence from
the Penang station to capture from the Siamese
Government the important province of Quedah.
This fleet of prahus, styled by us a piratical one,
sailed under the colours of the ex-rajah of Quedah ;
and although many of the leaders were known and
avowed pirates, still the strong European party at
Penang maintained that they were lawful belli-
gerents battling to regain their own.
The East India Company and Lord Auckland,
then Governor-General of India, took however an
adverse view of the Malay claim to Quedah, and
declared them pirates, though upon what grounds no
one seemed very well able to show.
Quedah had always, in olden time, been a Malay
state, though possibly tributary alternately to either
the Emperor of Siam or the Emperor of Malacca, as
QUEDAH POLITICS. 23
the power of either happened to be in the ascendant.
After the Portuguese crushed the Malay Empire by
the capture of Malacca in 1511, it is possible the
Rajah of Quedah presented his " golden flower" to
the Emperor of Siam, and in a way swore fealty to
that monarch. We, however, seem to have heeded
the suzerainty of the Siamese very little, when it
served the Honourable Company's interest ; for in
1786 we find them inducing the Rajah of Quedah,
on his own sole right and responsibility, to sell us the
island of Penang for the yearly sum of ten thousand
dollars, an annuity upon which the descendants of
the rulers of Quedah now exist in Malacca.
However, about the time we were engaged in the
first Burmese war, and when it became highly de-
sirable to keep the Siamese neutral in the fray, the
Emperor of Siam chose to invade Quedah, and after
committing unheard-of atrocities upon the Malay
inhabitants, he established his rule, and was con-
firmed in it by a treaty with us; with, I believe,
an offensive and defensive alliance clause, so far as
the respective boundaries of British and Siamese
rule were concerned. The Malay chieftains con-
sidered themselves aggrieved, and lost no opportunity
of harassing the Siamese, and the present attack had
been patiently conspired and prearranged at Malacca.
c 4
24 THE SIAMESE KEQUIRE OUR AID.
Money, arms, and prahus, had been secretly col-
lected at Battu-putih ; and then the chiefs raised
the old red flag of Quedah, and there was no
lack of enterprising and disaffected spirits to join
them.
A Prince Abdullah, a descendant of the ex-rajah,
was the nominal head of the insurrection ; he was a
wild, dissipated young man, but had around him a
very able body of chiefs or ministers, called " Ton-
koos," men of undoubted courage, and sons of that
race which had so manfully struggled against Al-
phonso Albuquerque and his powerful fleets in the
heyday of Portugal's glory. Their plan of opera-
tions was ably laid down by a Tonkoo Mahomet
Said; and owing to the absence of ourselves — the
" Diana," "Wolf," and gun-boats — there was no
one to interfere with its successful execution.
The Siamese, however, knew perfectly well how
to appeal to a treaty when it involved their own
interests, and a deputation from Bankok soon waited
upon the Governor of the Straits of Malacca, calling
upon the British to aid them in asserting their legal
yet unjust rights. British good faith to one party had
to be supported at the sacrifice of British justice
towards the other; and, as usual, the unfortunate
Malays were thrown overboard ; their rights ignored,
RAPID EQUIPMENT OF PIRATE FLEETS. 25
themselves declared pirates, and their leader, a rebel
escaped from British surveillance.
The Malays had, I have before said, calculated
their operations admirably. Their fleet was fitted
out on the Sumatran shore, near the province of
Acheen ; arms, powder, and other stores were liber-
ally, but covertly, supplied from European as well as
native traders at Penang; the payment to be here-
after made in rice and other products of the rich lands
of Quedah. In the height of the south-west mon-
soon, when the bad weather season prevails along the
western seaboard of the Malayan peninsula, and the
inhabitants naturally fancied themselves secure from
such a visit, the Malay Tonkoos, or chiefs, watched for
a good opportunity, crossed the Straits to a secure
place, not many miles from Pulo Penang, there con-
centrated their forces, and then like hawks pounced
upon their prey. Dashing at once into the rivers
with their light vessels, they stockaded the mouths ;
and knowing that at that season our men-of-war
could not approach close enough to injure them, and
that open ships' boats could not live off the coast, the
Malays felt that they had six months before them
to establish and fortify their positions before the
"white men" could commence operations, or the
Siamese troops advance from Bankok.
26 THE MALAYS ARE WARNED
Knowing this, and feeling we had been perfectly
checkmated, the " Hyacinth " was sent to warn the
Malays of the coming retribution, and to make such
observations as might serve for the forthcoming
season of operations.
Leaving Penang in September, we first proceeded
to the town of Quedah, lying at the mouth of a river
of the same name. On an old Portuguese fort which
commands the town and entrance to the river, the
Malayan colours were flying, and Tonkoo Mahomet
Said was found to be in command. Captain Warren
had a conference with that chief and Prince Ab-
dullah, in which they were duly warned to abstain
from a course which must bring down upon them the
wrath of the all-potent Company, and pardon was
promised in the event of their doing so immediately.
The chief made out a very good case, as seen from a
Malay point of view, and nothing but a sense of duty
could prevent one sympathising in the efforts made
by these gallant sea-rovers to regain their own.
" Tell the Company," said Prince Abdullah, with
that theatrical air and gesture so natural to the well-
born Asiatic, " that we shall brave all consequences :
we have reconquered Quedah, which was, and is,
ours by a right which no law can abrogate; and, so
long as we can wield a sword or hold a spear, we
OF THE COMING RETRIBUTION. 27
will maintain the heritage descended from our fore-
fathers ! " No prahus were in sight at this place ; and
it was not until after a long and arduous search
amongst dangerous and intricate channels, at a tem-
pestuous season of the year, that we discovered the
Malay fleet, they being then at a place called Trang,
on the northern boundary of the province of Quedah.
Here, as at the capital, the ship could not approach
the coast, and Captain Warren had to throw himself
amongst the Malays, in an open boat, with some
eight or ten English seamen. Passing a shallow
entrance to a river, which was carefully stockaded
and flanked with gingal * batteries, Captain Warren,
after a short pull, found himself amongst a formida-
ble fleet of fifty prahus, carrying guns and swivels,
or culverins, and with crews varying from twenty to
fifty men.
A guard of 100 armed men marched down to
receive the Rajah Lant, or sea-king, of the British
Queen ; and, with great ceremony and state, con-
ducted him to their admiral or leader, a noted old
pirate named Datoo Mahomet Alee, Datoo being
his title as chieftain or lord.
* A gingal is a long and heavy wall-piece, much used by
Asiatics, and very formidable in their hands.
28 CArT, WARREN VISITS PIRATE FLEET.
Had treachery been so common as it is generally-
supposed to be amongst the much vilified Malays,
assuredly it would have been an easy task to put to
death the British captain and his boat's crew, for
they were fairly in the lion's den, and the bearers oi
a hostile message, apart from Mahomet Alee knowing-
full well that a price had been fixed, for his capture
as a felon, by the Company. Yet, on the contrary,
they behaved with the utmost generosity and civility,
listened respectfully to the warning given of future
punishment, and, even here, as at Quedah, allowed a
proclamation to be posted up, calling on all these
pirates to disperse.
The conference over, Captain Warren learnt that
the Malay attack had been successful on every
point, and, apart from organising the means of pre-
serving their hold of the province, they intended in
the coming monsoon to assail the Siamese in such
strength as to prevent their detaching a force to re-
conquer Quedah. To a wish expressed by Captain
Warren, that they would come out and have a fair
fight in open water, Mahomet Alee replied, that
although he had never fought a British man-of-war,
he was one who could boast of having beaten off a
man-of-war's boats; and nothing would give him
greater pleasure than trying to do so again, if Captain
ARRANGEMENTS TO EQUIP A FLOTILLA. 29
Warren would come to fight him in the spot he then
was. With such mutual expressions of chivalrous
desire to meet again, the "Hyacinth" returned to
report proceedings to the Governor of the Straits of
Malacca.
During the month of November we went to
Singapore to arrange a plan of operations, in con-
junction with the Siamese, emissaries from his golden-
tufted Majesty having been sent there for that pur-
pose. Singapore was chosen as the place of outfit
for the flotilla, because the Malays were less likely
to glean information of our plans there than they
would undoubtedly have been from their agents and
sympathisers at Penang.
It was arranged that directly the north-east mon-
soon, or fine weather season, commenced, the British
Government were to closely blockade the coast of
Quedah, whilst a Siamese army of 30,000 men
marched down to reconquer the province; and we
were to treat as pirates all armed prahus fallen in
with.
The " Hyacinth," besides her own boats, had lent
to her for this service three lugger-rigged and decked
gun-boats, named, respectively, the " Diamond,"
" Pearl," and « Emerald," or Nos. 1, 2, and 3. They
were all manned by Malays, and the " Diamond "
30 THE " HYACINTH " AND GUN-BOATS
was commanded by a half-caste native gentleman in
the Company's service. A small steamer, the only
one that at that time had been seen in those
waters, was available in case of necessity; and the
very terror inspired by the " Diana," — or "fire-ship,"
as the Malays called her — was a host in itself.
When all was ready, we suddenly left Singapore ;
and giving Penang as a rendezvous, the corvette and
gun-boats made the best of their way there, com-
pleted water and provisions, and gleaned all necessary
information, prior to starting for Quedah ; off which
place the "Hyacinth" anchored on December 7tb,
with the gun-boats around her.
Great was the delight and excitement through the
ship when the fact of the boats being about to leave
for months, manned and armed, came to our know-
ledge. The pinnace and cutter were got out, and
provisioned. All our lieutenants having either gone
home on promotion, or died, the command of the
boats generally fell to a mate, Mr. George Drake,
in the pinnace ; the senior midshipman, Mr. Barclay,
had the cutter ; whilst the two gun-boats fell respec-
tively to Mr. Peter Halkett and myself. *"
Not a little proud of my command, at an early
hour on the 8th I found myself on board the Hon.
Company's gun-boat "Emerald." She was a fine
OFF QUEDAII. 31
wholesome boat, about forty- eight feet long, carrying
two large lugger sails, and with a crew of twenty-
five stout Malays, besides a serang*, or boatswain.
Completely decked over, she carried in her bow an
18-pounder carronade, on a traversing carriage, and
a brass 6-pounder gun on a pivot upon the quarter-
deck ; and had, moreover, an ample store of all arms
on board.
My swarthy crew received their new commander
in the height of Malay tenue. The gayest pocket-
handkerchiefs tied round their heads, and their
bodies wrapped in the tasteful cotton plaid of the
country, called a sarong, and their bare legs and
sinewy arms, with the warlike creese, gave them the
air of as many game-cocks. Not a soul of them
could speak a word of English ; and until I could
master enough Malay to be understood, my sole
means of communication lay through an individual
who introduced himself to me as " Jamboo, sir ! —
Interpreter, sir ! " " And a very dirty one too," I
mentally added.
The pantomime over, of passing a small valise, con-
taining my kit, into a little cabin, which I saw abaft
the mainmast, I desired Jamboo to direct the serang
* Seranjj is a native term for boatswain,
32 MY GUN-BOAT AND CREW.
to get under weigh and follow the pinnace, for she
was already pulling in for Quedah fort, whilst the
" Hyacinth," spreading her wings, was running north-
ward for another river called the Parlis. The crew in
a trice ran the anchor to the bows, and got out the
sweeps*, as there was no wind, and pulled so heartily
as to show me that we had, at any rate, the legs of all
our consorts. Checking the zeal of my serang, who,
standing amongst the rowers, was exciting them by
word and gesture to outstrip the senior officer, I
dropped astern into my place, and proceeded to make
myself acquainted with my strange shipmates and
vessel.
The interpreter Jamboo's history was a short one.
He was one of that numerous class who do not know
their own fathers. His mother, who was a Burmese
woman of Moulmein, averred that a British officer was
entitled to the honour of the parentage, though Jam-
boo, with a smile, said, 6 1 don't know sar, she say so !"
an assertion I was quite ready to believe. A half-
caste he undoubtedly was, and, as such, passed for
a Portuguese ! although his only reason for so saying
was, that the people of that country were about as
* Sweep is a nautical term applied to large oars used in
heavy vessels ; for instance, those used in barges are " sweeps,"
properly speaking.
THE INTERPRETER'S APPEARANCE. 33
dark as himself, and that Jamboo, finding himself
without a religion as well as a father, had, faute de
micux, become a Roman Catholic, his faith being
strongly mixed up with his poor mother's Buddhism
and the wild superstitions of his Malayan companions.
His face, of a dark olive colour, was perfectly beauti-
ful ; his figure, although effeminate, was graceful and
lithe to a degree ; his hands and feet might have
served Phidias as a model ; and he was not wanting
in intelligence. Weak and nervous in temperament,
he was as obedient as a child, and it was painful to
witness his cringing, fawning manner.
Jamboo's account of my worthy crew was some-
what startling: the majority of them had, I learnt, at
various times been imprisoned in Singapore jail as
pirates, the most notorious scamp being my serang,
Jadee. "Pleasant company!" I ejaculated, as I scanned
the rogues who, seated along the deck on either side,
were throwing themselves back with a shout at every
stroke of their " sweeps," and displaying twenty-five
as reckless, devil-may-care countenances as any equal
number of seamen ever exhibited. The serang, Jadee,
was, to my astonishment, standing on the main -hatch,
with a long Illanoon creese in his hand, which he
waved as he gave utterance to a series of expressions,
uttered with frantic energy and rapid pantomime,
D
34 THE COXSWAIN'S ORATION.
stopping every now and then to allow his crew to
express their approval of what he said, by a general
chorus of Ugh 1 which sounded like a groan, or an
exulting shout of Ya ! ya ! ya ! which was far more
musical. tl He is only telling them what fighting and
plunder is in store for them," said Jadee, " and point-
ing out the certainty of victory while fighting with
white men on their side, mixing it up with descrip-
tions of re veilings they will have when this war is
over."
COMMENCE TO BLOCKADE QUEDAH FORT. 35
CHAP. III.
Commence to blockade Quedah Fort. — Jadee's imaginary
Fight with a Tonkoo. — My Malay Coxswain's Appearance.
— His Attire and Character. — Jadee's piratical Propensities.
— Escapes Imprisonment by hanging a Man. — Quedah Fort
and Town. — The Appearance of the adjacent Country. —
A wet Night. — My Crew. — Jadee's Want of Bigotry. —
Primitive Mode of eating.
The pinnace, with the " Pearl " and " Emerald/' soon
reached the shallow bar which lies across the Quedah
river, a feature common to every river on this side of
the Malayan peninsula, and doubtless occasioned by
the action of the south-west monsoon against the
natural course of the rivers, causing the sediment to
be deposited at their entrances instead of being car-
ried out into the deeper parts of the sea. The fort
of Quedah hoisted its colours, and armed men showed
themselves along the battlements ; but we merely
placed ourselves in line across the entrance of the
river, out of gunshot, and anchored to commence the
blockade. The north-east monsoon, which is the
fine weather season of this coast, had scarcely set in
© 2
36 jadee's imaginary fight
yet, and flying showers, with occasional squalls, pro-
mised a wet and cheerless night. Rain-awnings were
spread at once, and after every preparation had been
made for a sudden action with war-prahus, I sat down
with Jamboo, and my serang, Jadee, to glean in-
formation and pick up Malay. To my inquiry,
through the interpreter, as to the opinion Jadee held
of the line of conduct likely to be pursued by the
occupants of Quedah, he assured me that the Malays
would never voluntarily fight the "white men, Orang-
putihs" as we, of all Europeans, are styled par ex-
cellence. It was quite possible, if we were very
careless, that they would try and capture Englishmen
as hostages for their own safety ; and that, by way of
inspiriting his men, a Malay chief might, if he found
one of the gun-boats alone, which was manned by
Malays, fight her in the hopes of an easier capture
than they would find in the pinnace. The very
prospect of such a piece of good fortune seemed to
arouse all Jadee's recollections of by-gone forays
and skirmishes ; for no sooner had Jamboo told him
that I only hoped Tonkoo Mahomet Said might take
it into his head to try the experiment upon the
" Emerald," or (i Numero Tega,"* as she was called
* " Tega " is Malay for u Three ;" the Malays preferred call-
ing the vessel by her number, instead of by her name of
" Emerald."
WITH A TONKOO. 37
by Jadee, than my serang sprang to his legs, and
shouted, quivering with passion, for Campar ! Cam-
par soon came : Campar being a swarthy giant, who
did the double duty of armourer and carpenter.
In reply to some order, he dived below, and brought
up a thick quilted red vest, without arms, which the
excited Jadee donned at once, girded up his loins,
gave his head-dress a still more ferocious cock, and
then baring his arms, with a long Illanoon creese in
one hand and a short " badi," or stabbing knife, in the
other, he enacted a savage pantomime of a supposed
mortal fight between himself and Mahomet Said, in
which he evidently conquered the Tonkoo ; and
finished off, after calling him, his mother, sisters, and
female relations, all sorts of unseemly names, by
launching at him, in a voice of thunder, his whole
stock of English : u Ah ! you d — d poul ! come along-
side ! " Poul, or fool, being supposed to be something
with which the white men emphatically cursed their
enemies.
Amused beyond measure, though somewhat dif-
ferently to my crew, who, holding Jadee in the
greatest awe, crowded aft and looked on, firmly be-
lieving that Tonkoo Mahomet Said would be so
treated, should his enterprise lead him to combat the
noted Jadee, I quietly told him that I only trusted
d 3
38 MY MALAY COXSWAIN.
he would do as well if the real fight ever came off,
and meantime would dispense with such a perform-
ance, especially as the row he made had caused
"Numero Tega" to be hailed from the pinnace to
know if anything was amiss. This piece of advice
Jadee took in such good part, that he constantly re-
hearsed the pantomime for my amusement whenever
he saw me low-spirited, or in want of occupation.
Jadee informed us that his cognomen amongst the
people of Singapore, and white men generally, was
Jack Ketch ; a nickname he pronounced so clippingly
that it sounded not unlike his real one : and from
Jambo I heard the following history of my re-
doubted serang ; but, previous to repeating it, let
me introduce the hero.
Jadee stood about five feet seven inches in height ;
his colour w T as of a light brown. His broad shoulders,
small waist, and fine hips, with well-formed arms and
legs covered with muscles in strong relief, denoted
great strength and activity. His delicate yet far
from effeminate hands and feet were but little re-
concilable to an Englishman's ideas with a man who
had lived from the cradle by the sweat of his brow.
A square w r ell-formed head, well placed on a strong
nervous neck, completed the man. The countenance,
although that of a pure Malay, had nothing so re-
HIS ATTIRE AND CHARACTER. 39
pulsive about it as people generally suppose; the
cheek-bones were high, and the face somewhat square,
but his eyes were good and expressive, without being
either deep set or with bloodshot eyeballs, as the
regular " property Malays " of novel-writers usually
are represented : a good nose and forehead, with a
massive but beardless chin, gave much character to
the face of Jadee, and his short black hair, brushed
up on end, with a sort of rollicking laughing air
about the man, required nothing to fill up the pic-
ture of a Malayan buccaneer. Jadee was a beau
withal. Round his waist, and falling to the knees
like a Highland kilt, he wore a circular piece of cot-
ton plaid, of a small blue and white pattern ; stiff
with starch, it stuck out, and half hid in its folds his
handsome creese, a weapon never from a Malay's
side. Over one shoulder and across to the opposite
hip, hung in an easy jaunty manner another sarong of
brighter hues, generally red and yellow tartan ; it
served as a covering to the upper part of the body
when necessary, or, wrapped round the arm, acted as
a shield in a skirmish. An ordinary red cotton hand-
kerchief served as a head-dress, great coquetry being
shown in the mode of wearing it. It was in the first
place starched until almost as stiff as pasteboard, then
folded across ; two ends were tied on one side of the
D 4
40 jadee's youth and antecedents.
head in a jaunty knot, whilst the others stuck up or
waved about in a very saucy manner. A mouthful
of cere leaf, penang nut, and chunam, with a small
quid of tobacco stuck under the upper lip, completed
the appearance of Jadee. Poor fellow ! he was ge-
nerous to a fault, and thoughtless as a child ; and
when I afterwards came to know him well, I often
thought how strong the similarity was between the
disposition of him and his companions and the ma-
jority of our untutored seamen.
He was by birth a "Batta," or else had been
stolen, at an early age, and carried off by that race
from some sea-coast village. These Battas inhabit
the hill country of Sumatra, and are reputed cannibals
— at least, such is the charge brought against them
by neighbours.
Jadee, whilst still a youth, happened to accom-
pany a party of Battas who visited the pepper
plantation of a sea-coast chieftain, for some hostile
and I fear no very reputable purpose ; the result was
that, in a skirmish which took place, Jadee was cap-
tured, and as a slave entered upon a different career
to that of living amongst the branches of trees and
eating fellow-men.
Some Sooloo slave-dealers and pirates visited the
district in which Jadee was detained, and he was ex-
HIS riRATICAL PROPENSITIES. 41
changed for various commodities that they disposed
of to his master. Made at first to row, and bale
water out of their prahus, he gave such proofs of
courage and address, that in a short time they ad-
vanced him to the rank of a fighting man. Jadee,
however, did not like his masters, although he had an
uncommon degree of respect for their enterprise and
skill as sea-rovers ; and after some years of strange
adventures against the Chinese, Spaniards, and
Dutch — the latter of whom he never spoke of
without execrating the memory of their mothers —
he escaped, and took service under the Rajah of
Jehore, or some chief who sailed prahus from the
neighbourhood of our then youthful colony of Singa-
pore.
After a little active service, our hero found himself
in possession of a perfect fortune in hard dollars and
sycee silver ; and to spend it in the most approved
manner, proceeded to Singapore. To take unto him-
self a fresh wife was an easy task for such a gallant ;
and Jadee kept open house in the neighbourhood of
Singapore, in one of those neat native huts which
may still be seen raised upon piles, although far
enough from the water.
The money flew fast, and, sailor-like, Jadee soon
found himself compelled to take to the sea for a sub-
42 JADEE ESCAPES IMPRISONMENT
sistence. For a few years he led a chequered career :
plenty one day — opium, curry and rice, and wives
galore ; then pulling at an oar like a galley-slave to
win more ; at last the white men spoilt his career.
An expedition in which Jadee was engaged was
attacked by a British man-of-war, and suffered a
severe defeat. Jadee never bargained for fighting
them: anything with a dark skin — let him be the
Old Gentleman himself — he felt himself a match
for. A Dutchman he did not mind, and a Spaniard
he had often seen run; but the Orang-putihs
— there was no charm, not even from the Koran,
which had ever been efficacious against pirates so
mighty as they. Jadee had sailed with distinguished
Malay " Rajah Lauts," or Kings of the Sea, but
their glory paled before the " Kajah Lauts" of the
white men ; they were indeed rovers whom Malay
men might envy but might not imitate.
Driven with many of his companions from follow-
ing up their profession in a wholesale way, Jadee and
one or two roving spirits struck up a new business.
They bought a fast-pulling sampan, lived at Singa-
pore, and apart from an occasional honest fare, used
at nights to waylay the market-boats and Chinese
petty traders, and frighten them into paying black
mail. Even this came to an end ; for, one day when
BY HANGING A MAN. 43
asleep in his sampan, Jadee was captured by a dozen
Chinese, who carried him before the authorities,
and swore, by all they could swear by, that he had
been caught in an act of piracy. Jadee was fairly
frightened ; he knew the English had a rapid way
of hanging up his countrymen, and vowed to him-
self that he would adopt the white men's mode of
living, if he escaped this present peril.
The judge, although a severe man, was a just
one, and happily in this case suspected the veracity
of the Chinese. Jadee was sent to jail to ruminate
over his evil practices, and had remained there some
time, when a reward was offered to anyone who
would hang a Chinese murderer, the executioner
having absconded. Oar friend was glad to earn his
liberty so easily, the more so that a Chinaman was
to be the unfortunate to be operated upon.
The murderer was duly hung, and Jadee, or Jack
Ketch, was free. Finding " the Company " too
strong for him, Jadee wisely determined to enlist
under their colours. He turned from pirate to
pirate-catcher, and a more zealous, intelligent servant
Governor Bonham, or the Touhan Besar*, did not
possess. Jadee soon brought himself into notice,
and, with one exception, on an occasion when
* ct
Touhan Besar," the great chief or officer.
44 QUEDAH TOWN AND FORT.
a jealous husband thrust a spear fourteen times
into Jadee's body, for certain attentions to his cava
sposa, he had maintained an unblemished character.
Such was his history.
Towards evening the rain ceased and the clouds
cleared away, enabling us to see the place we had
to starve into subjection.
Our gun-boats lay at the distance of about twelve
hundred yards from the mouth of the river, across
which a stout stockade had been formed, leaving only
one narrow outlet, and there the Malays had stationed
a look-out man to give an alarm in case of necessity.
Within the stockade, upon the north bank of the
river, stood the town and fort of Quedah.
The latter was a rectangular work built of stone,
and said to have been constructed in the days when
the Portuguese were in the zenith of their glory.
The parapet was now sadly dilapidated, and armed
with a few rusty guns, whilst on a bastion which, at
one of the angles, served to flank the sea face of the
works, and command the river entrance, several long
formidable looking pieces of cannon were pointed
threateningly at us. Beyond the fort, and on the
same side of the river, a long continuation of neat-
lookino; thatch-built houses constituted the town, and
off it lay numerous trading prahus, and several topes,
APPEARANCE OF ADJACENT COUNTRY. 45
a Malay o- Chinese vessel peculiar to the Straits of
Malacca. A dense and waving jungle of trees skirted
round the town and fort of Quedah, and spread away
on either hand in a monotonous line of green. The
country, which was said to be particularly rich in
the interior, was extremely flat towards the sea-
coast ; and the only thing that broke its sameness was
the remarkable hill which, under the name of Ele-
phant Mount, rose above the jungle like an island
from the sea. Far distant ranges of hills, the back-
bone of the peninsula, stretched however as a back-
ground to the scene. Slowly the setting sun tinged
their peaks with rosy and purple tints, and then they
gradually sank into darkness as the evening mists
gathered strength along the seaward edge of the
jungle, and, acted upon by light airs, sailed slowly
along like phantoms : it was then night with a dew-
laden atmosphere and a starlit sky.
The English seamen in the pinnace loaded the
air with noise, if not with melody, by singing their
sailor-songs ; and the Malays, in their own peculiar
way, amused themselves by singing extempore love-
songs, to the melancholy accompaniment of a native
drum played upon by the hand : gradually these
sounds ceased, men and officers sought the softest
planks, and, clad in blanket frocks and trousers, lay
46 A WET NIGHT. — MY CREW.
down to sleep, and the first day of the Quedah block-
ade was over. During the night it rained hard, and
the wet, in spite of our awnings being sloped, began
to encroach upon the dry portions of the deck. I
heard my men moving about ; but desirous of setting
an example of not being easily troubled with such a
discomfort as a wet bed, I kept my place, and was
not a little pleased to see Jadee bring a mat called a
hajang, and slope it carefully over me, evidently
thinking I was asleep, and then the poor fellow went
away to rough it as he best could. And this man is
a merciless pirate ! I thought ; and I felt a friendship
for my Malay coxswain from that moment, which
nothing will ever obliterate. With early dawn all
were awake, and shortly afterwards the usual man-of-
war operations of scrubbing and cleaning commenced,
Jadee exhibiting as much energy amongst buckets
and brooms, as if such peaceful articles were the only
things he knew how to use. Leaving him to do first
lieutenant's duty, I perched myself — I was but a lad
of seventeen — upon the pivot-gun, and, as the dif-
ferent men of my crew came in sight, asked their
names and characters of the interpreter. Jamboo's
account of them was, to say the least of it, very un-
satisfactory. One was a notorious pirate of Sumatra,
another of Tringanau; those that were not pirates*
jadee's want of bigotry. 47
Jamboo vowed, had fled from Java, or Acheen, for
acts of violence of one sort or another. Their looks
were not in their favour; and walking with the pecu-
liar strut of Malay seamen, I could not but repeat
FalstatF's soliloquy :
w Nay, and the villains march wide betwixt the
legs, as if they had gyves ; for indeed I had most of
them out of prison ! "
The fears, however, of the redoubted Jamboo had
much to do with the characters he gave the poor
fellows ; and I afterwards discovered it was rather
his opinion of what they must have been, than what
they really had been. I was debating in my mind
how my messing was to be carried on, in a vessel
manned with Mahometans, where pork was an
abomination and myself an unclean animal and an
infidel, when Jadee, with the most graceful bow he
could muster, came to announce that the ship's
company's rice and fish were cooked, and that in a
few minutes our curry and rice would be ready.
Through the interpreter, I expressed a hope that he
would not depart from any religious opinions as to
feeding with a Christian, because I was set in autho-
rity over him. To which the good fellow made a
very neat answer, in a very modest way, that he was
a servant of the same Great Rajah as the white officer,
48 PRIMITIVE MODE OF EATING.
and if I did not consider it beneath my dignity to
eat out of the same dish as an Orang Malayu, it was
not for him to do so.
This difficulty over, we sat down cross-legged to
our breakfast — a mountain of snow-white rice with
a curried fowl. I was at first very awkward in the
use of my right hand as a substitute for spoon and
fork, etiquette not allowing the left hand to be used ;
but I soon learnt how to pick up the rice, press it
gently together between the extended fingers, and
then by means of the thumb to slip what was taken
up into my mouth ; a drink of pure water finished
the repast, and then the ever useful Campar ap-
peared, with water and towel for us to wash our
hands and mouth. We had only two meals a day ;
breakfast at about seven or eight o'clock, and dinner
at three p.m. ; rice and salt fish, or rice and curry,
being the constant fare.
BLOCKADE RENDERED MORE STRINGENT. 49
CHAP. IV.
The Blockade rendered more Stringent. — The Bounting Is-
lands. — My Crew keeping Holiday. — "Hyacinths" poi-
soned with Ground-nuts. — We discover Wild Bees'-Nests.
— Arrangements made for robbing the Hives. — The Bees
quit their Hives and settle on me- — No Honey. — A Malay
Doctor. — The Koran and Chunam remedy for Bee Stings.
The first week or ten days was sadly monotonous :
we had to be very guarded in our movements, as the
policy intended to be pursued by the enemy had not
developed itself, and we were yet ignorant of the
force of armed prahus which they might possess up
the river; but I was not idle, and, under Jadee's
tuition, was fast learning the simple and beautiful
language of Malaya. The interest taken by my
serang, in repeating over for my information the
Malay for every article or object upon which he saw
my attention fixed for a moment, was a pretty con-
vincing proof of the anxiety he entertained for our
being able to understand one another without Jam-
boo's assistance.
About the middle of December, we had reason to
E
50 THE BOUNTING ISLANDS.
believe that small prahus escaped out of the river, or
entered it at top of high water, by keeping close in
to the jungle; and as we had ascertained that there
was deep water inside the bar, it was determined to
cross the bar at night, directly the tide rose high
enough to allow us to do so, and to remain close off
the stockade until the tide again fell, so as to compel
us to retreat rather than risk an action with fort and
war-prahus combined. This measure gave great
umbrage to " Tonkoo Mahomet Said," who sent to
warn us that we might get fired into by accident
during the night, if we persisted in such a manoeuvre.
The reply to this threat was a promise of returning
the compliment, if any such accident did occur; and
after a while we found the people of Quedah sub-
mitted quietly to this stricter blockade, and it was
evident that they were reserving their fighting
qualities for the Siamese army, of which we only
knew that it was to co-operate with us; how, or
when, none could guess. The want of wood arid
fresh water in our little squadron obliged the senior
officer to detach me to a group of islands, about
twenty miles distant, in quest of some ; and this job
I had regularly to execute every tenth day or so.
The three islands are known under the names of the
Bounting Group ; the Malays, with a playful fancy,
MY CREW KEEPING HOLIDAY. 51
having, in the outline of one of them, seen a resem-
blance to a woman in that t€ state in which ladies
wish to be who love their lords." That island is
called "Bounting," and, in carrying out the idea,
the next is named " Pangail" or "Call!" and the
other is "Bedan" the "Accoucheur!" — a strange
nomenclature, but the joke of which was evidently a
great source of fun to my scamps.
Having, then, no small boats, our mode of procuring
wood and water was primitive enough ; the gun-boat
used to be anchored in a convenient position, and then
all hands, myself included, jumped overboard, swam
ashore with casks and axes, and spent the day filling
the former, cutting wood, bathing, and washing our
clothing. It was a general holiday; and, like seamen
of our own country, my Malays skylarked, joked,
and played about with all the zest of schoolboys ;
and I observed, with no small pleasure, that, in their
practical jokes or witticisms, there w r as none of that
grossness or unbecoming language which European
sailors, be their nation what it may, would assuredly
have indulged in — a state of things which I imputed
to the knowledge they each had of the other's quick-
ness of temper, and the moral certainty of an appeal
to the creese should an insult be intentionally given.
The Bountings, though clothed with trees, and the
x 2
52 "HYACINTHS" POISONED
rankest vegetation of the East, were, like many other
islands of the Malayan Archipelago, unproductive of
a single wild fruit or vegetable capable of sustaining
life. If the wild cocoa-nut tree or plantain had ever
grown there, they had been eradicated to prevent
pirates procuring refreshment on the islands — a step
often pursued by the inhabitants of these buccaneer-
haunted shores. Beyond turtles and their eggs on
the beaches, and wild honey in the woods, nothing
edible was there procurable. Some short time after-
wards, however, our gallant corvette happened to be
at anchor off the Bountings, and those of the crew left
in her, asked permission to go on shore for a run.
Uninhabited as it was, there appeared to be no
reason why they should not go on shore ; and the
commanding officer cheerfully assented, with a self-
congratulatory feeling that, at any rate, as there were
there neither ladies nor grog, Jack could not get
himself into trouble. u Oh ! yes, by all means ; you
may all go," was the reply, and the jolly-boat and gig
soon landed every man but the sentry and quarter-
master ; a parting warning was given to the worthies
not to be tempted to touch any fruit, as they were
poisonous. Having bathed, and washed their clothes
over once or twice, by way of a jollification, and
walked up and down the beaches until tired, one of
WITn GROUND-NUTS. o3
the old sailors expressed it as his opinion, that "it
must be a d — d rum island, if there was nothing
eatable to be found on it," and ventured a surmise,
that the woods must have heaps of nuts in them, if
they only knew where to find them. A young mizen-
top-man jumped at the idea, and started away in
search of nuts : finding none on the trees, he next
sought for ground-nuts, and, as ill-luck would have
it, soon found plenty, in the form of something which
resembled strongly the common chesnut. Before
long, all hands had had what they graphically termed
'•a bowse-out," and soon afterwards became gene-
rally ill, being sick and griped to a ridiculous extent.
The officers who went to bring off the liberty- men
could hardly believe their senses when they found all
those so recently landed hearty and well, lying about
like so many sick monkeys, and almost as much
frightened as hurt by their thoughtlessness. They
were taken off, and strong emetics given, which
added still more to the general sickness, and all night
long there were ejaculations heard of " Those infernal
ground-nuts ! " and the unfortunate boy who had first
discovered them was promised more thrashings than,
it is hoped, he ever received.
My Malays, being either more experienced or less
enterprising than their English comrades, contented
E 3
54 WE DISCOVER WILD BEES'-NESTS.
themselves with the honey and turtle-eggs; and as
Jadee reported to me that a man called Alee had
discovered a splendid wild bees' nest on Pulo Bedan,
I expressed a strong desire to see the process by
which the bees were robbed of their store. We
happened to be standing in a wood on a part of that
island, and the bees were flying about us, when I
expressed this wish in my usual tone of voice.
" Hush ! " said Jadee, putting his finger to his lips,
"hush! speak low, or the bees will hear us!" And-
then, in a whispering voice, he informed me that the
honey would not be fit for capture for some time :
and that, at any rate, it was wrong to disturb the
bees except at the full of the moon. As he con-
sidered it necessary to wait for that auspicious period,
I assented, and only took care at the next full moon
to be there. Alee and four other Malay seamen
were told off to rob the bees'-nest, and they as well
as myself were soon stripped and swimming ashore.
I observed that each man carried with him a small
bundle of the husk of cocoa-nut shells, and directly
they landed they proceeded to cut branches of a
species of palm, and in the leaves enveloped the
husks they had brought with them, forming the
whole into articles resembling torches ; a fire was
then kindled upon the beach, fragments of the burn-
ARRANGEMENTS FOR ROBBING THE HIVES. 55
ing embers introduced into the heart of each torch,
and then by swinging them round so as to cause a
draught, the husk ignited, and, aided by the action of
the green leaves, poured out of one end of the torch
a solid column of smoke. The faithful Jamboo had
been left on board; but I understood, from the little
these Malays told me, that the torches were intended
for the purpose of driving the bees away from the
honey, but I did not understand that they were
essential to one's safety and therefore declined to
carry one when it was offered to me.
Holding the torches in their hands and standing
up, the Malays next enacted some mummery or
incantation, which concluded with the usual repeti-
tion of the Mahometan creed — one so beautiful and
concise, that it appears a pity we cannot produce
anything as graphic in our own faith.
" God he is God ! and Mahomet is his Prophet ! "
exclaimed we all ; and the torch-men leading the way,
we left the pleasant shade of the jungle, and walked
briskly along the shore until abreast of the bees'
nest, which lay some three-quarters of a mile inland.
Turning into the jungle, waving their smoke-torches,
and keeping a sharp look-out for snakes, which
appeared to me all the more dangerous from the
novelty of my attire, — for like my men I had only
E 4
56 THE BEES SETTLE ON ME.
one cloth round my hips and a handkerchief over my
head, — we soon sighted, up a small vista in the
forest, the aged trunk of a blighted tree, which was
alive with bees. Three of the Malays now sat down,
waved their torches gently, throwing a halo of smoke
round their tawny persons, and commenced to re-
cite, in a slow solemn manner, some verses from the
Koran, whether to keep the bees away, or to insure
there being honey in the nest, I don't know; for just
as I, half-laughing, was putting the question to them,
the fourth Malay, Mr. Alee, walked deliberately up
to the nest and applied his torch.
Thunder and lightning ! a thousand lancets were
suddenly plunged into my body, and a black cloud of
bees were around me. I shouted for Alee ; i( God
he is God ! and Mahomet is his Prophet ! " groaned
out the Malays, as they waved their torches, the bees
threatening them as well as myself. It was more
than I could bear ; with a yell of agony, I started
off like a deer for the sea : it seemed but a stride to
the rocks, and at once I plunged into the water, taking
down many a bee which adhered tenaciously to my
body and face. Keeping down as long as possible,
I rose in the hope of being clear from the little
brutes ; but, alas ! they were not so easily baffled, and
a cloud of them was ready to descend upon my
NO HONEY. — A MALAY DOCTOR. 57
devoted head: it might have ended seriously, had
not Alee found that there was no honey in the nest,
and he and his comrades then ran down to assist me,
frightening off the bees with their torches, and ac-
companying me to the gun-boat, which I reached
nearly blind, and rather disgusted with the result of
my first Asiatic bee-hunt ; the more so that, in addi-
tion to the lesson I had learnt upon the advisability
of using smoke preservers, we had disproved the
truth of the old axiom, that " Where there are bees,
there must be honey."
Jadee was in great distress at seeing me return in
such sad plight, and vowed that Alee and his com-
panions must have been lubbers at their work ; how-
ever, he promised me almost instantaneous relief, and
as I was willing to accept that on any terms, one of
the men, a leading hand, who, from his strict obser-
vance of his religious duties, was named the " Haggi,"
was sent for to cure me.
The Haggi, proud of an opportunity of displaying
his medical skill upon a white man, who are all sup-
posed to be born doctors, proceeded immediately to
roll up a quid of cere leaf, betel-nut, gambier, and
chunam, in the right proportions for chewing — such
a quid as a Malay so much delights in. Whilst I mas-
ticated this in the most approved manner, the Haggi
58 THE KORAN AND CHUNAM REMEDY.
opened a small box of fine white chunam, made from
the lime procured from burnt sea-shells; this chunam
he carefully applied to my skin wherever it had been
stung, muttering all the while, in a solemn strain,
select sentences from the Koran, the responses or
final portions of each chapter or sentence being taken
up and repeated by my faithful coxswain, who for
the time seemed desirous to entitle himself to a green
turban by the fervour of his prayers, varying them,
however, by shaking his tawny fist in the direction
of the unconscious bees, and saying, with the utmost
gravity, " Ah ! you d — d pouls ! "
Whether it was the chunam or the Koran cured
me, it would be ingratitude to my holy friend the
Haggi to say, for he stoutly maintained one to be
inefficacious without the other ; but this I can aver,
that in a very short time all inflammation had sub-
sided, and I was able to laugh over my adventure,
making, however, a vow to bridle my curiosity for
the future, where bees were in the question.
THE NORTH-EAST MONSOON. f>9
CHAP. V.
The North-east Monsoon. — Unsatisfactory News of our
Siamese Allies. — The Pelicans. — Alligators abound. — The
Cowardice of the Alligators. — Encounter and Capture an
Alligator. — Extraordinary Strength and Vitality of those
Reptiles. — A Strange Antidote against Fever. — The Rah-
madan and " Quedah Opera." — The Malays endeavour to
evade the Blockade. — The Watchfulness of my Native
Crew.
The north-east monsoon had fairly set in. All day long
we had a delightfully pleasant breeze off the land, for
the Malayan peninsula has so small a breadth, that
the winds which blow upon it from the China Sea
reached us before they were robbed of their moisture
or heated to an unpleasant degree by the action of
the land : occasionally the monsoon would freshen,
for a day or so, into a double reefed top-sail breeze,
or at other times become squally without rain, l?ut
our nights were invariably fine, with only just wind
enough to fill the mat sails of a prahu. The sea
was seldom ruffled, and more delightful weather for
boat-work cannot be conceived. All we were required
to do, was to guard against sleeping in the night-dews,
60 UNSATISFACTORY NEWS OF 0¥R ALLIES.
and by so doing, we all enjoyed better health than
those cooped up in the ship.
Our new position inside Quedah bar became at
last to be acknowledged by the Malays as our right,
and from that time we often had communications
with the fishermen who came out to visit their fishing-
weirs. Through them we learnt that fighting was
going on with the Siamese, a long distance off:
according to their version, the Malay rajahs were
everywhere victorious ; several large towns and many
slaves had fallen into their hands, and there was no
probability of a Siamese army being able to act upon
the offensive during that monsoon.
This was decidedly very cheerless news, but the
authority was a questionable one ; and we could see
slight defensive preparations taking place in the fort,
which betokened something else than entire confi-
dence and security.
Meantime, each day brought with it novelty and
amusement. Anchored as we now were, within the
river and close to the stockade, broad mud-banks ex-
tended themselves on either hand whenever the tide
was low. Asiatic birds and reptiles haunted these
banks ; some of the former, such as the snipe and
curlew, were well known to us, and, until scared
away, added to our daily fare. The pelicans, at first,
PELICANS. — ALLIGATORS ABOUND. 61
were the sole robbers of the fishing-weirs, but they
soon found themselves no match for the expert sea-
men of the pinnace and gun-boats, and left us for
some other spot. The alligators, however, were not
to be frightened, although they took uncommonly
good care not to enter into any of the personal com-
bats upon the mud which the Malays, and after them
the English sailors, were constantly trying to entrap
them into. The numbers of these loathsome brutes
to be seen at a time was extraordinary ; but what-
ever might be the danger of falling in with them, if
wading or swimming alone through these waters,
there was no doubt of their beinsj arrant cowards
when fallen in with on shore. With the rising tide,
the alligators generally found their way up to the
edge of the jungle, and there lay among the roots of
the trees (which they strongly resembled), as if wait-
ing for cattle, or wild animals, that might come down
to drink : we, however, never saw them catch any-
thing during a period of several months. The ebbing
tide would often thus leave the brutes several hun-
dred yards from the edge of the water, and very
much they appeared to enjoy themselves when so
left, with an Indian sun pouring down upon their
tough hides ; and, as if in the very height of the
clolce far niente, they would open back their hideous
62 COWARDICE OF THE ALLIGATORS.
jaws, and remain in that position for more than an
hour at a time. As to trying to shoot them, we soon
found it mere waste of time, as well as of powder and
ball ; for, mortally wounded or not, they invariably
carried themselves far beyond our reach. The Malay
sailors showed us how, at any rate, we could frighten
the alligators exceedingly, even if we could not cap-
ture them — by landing lightly equipped with a sharp
spear or boarding-pike, and thus obliging the reptile
to make a long detour to escape being assailed.
Occasionally I have seen the men, by dint of great
activity, get near enough to fling their weapon and
strike the alligators ; but as in such cases they in-
variably struck the upper part of the back, they
might as well have tried to spear a rock. The natives
showed the utmost indifference to the presence of
alligators in their neighbourhood, and, when ques-
tioned upon the subject, asserted that in salt or
brackish water, at the mouths of rivers, the alligator
was never dangerous to man ; and that it was only
up rivers, and in marshy places, where they lived, as
it were, amongst human beings, that they screwed up
their courage to indulge in such a dangerous luxury
as eating men or women.
Of the enormous strength and extraordinary
vitality of these reptiles, we had a pretty good
CArTUEE OF AN ALLIGATOR. 63
proof; for one evening, when the pinnace, as usual,
dropped alongside the weir to take out fish for the
evening meal, the men who went into the u pocket "
to see what had been caught, were obliged to move
their legs nimbly to escape the gin-like jaws of a
good-sized alligator which had got into the weir
after the fish, and, having devoured them, could not
escape. The pinnace-men cheered with delight,
and proceeded at once to capture the prisoner. It
was, however, a good tough job : the brute, some ten
or twelve feet long, lay in the bottom of an enclosed
space of about equal diameter ; the water was about
three feet deep, and extremely muddy, rendered more
so by the splashings and convulsions of the animal.
Attempts were at first made to thrust sharp boarding-
pikes down through his hide ; and from the height
the seamen stood over the creature, and the weight
they were able to bring to bear upon the pikes, it ap-
peared probable that some weak spot would be found.
But, no ; although sometimes eight or nine powerful
men pressed down with as many pikes, the brute did
not suffer a scratch ; and, incredible as it may ap-
pear, more than one of our boarding- pikes, strong as
they are, were bent in the neck. It was evident that
a soft spot must be sought for under his " calipash,"
as, in imitation of turtle, the men called his upper
64 STRENGTH AND VITALITY OF ALLIGATORS.
coat of armour. Every man armed himself with some
weapon or other, and stirred up the alligator with
a vengeance. He became perfectly furious, and lashed
about his tail and snapped his jaws in a very spiteful
manner: the fun waxed warm; the "click" of the
teeth as the mouth closed, sounded uncommonly un-
pleasant, apart from the cracking of boat-hook staffs,
and other articles, as if they were mere twigs. At
last a good noose was slipped over the creature's
head and hauled tight round his neck ; this enabled
the seamen to administer a multitude of wounds
which would have let its life out had it had more than
the usual number. But it was a long time before it
was deemed sufficiently safe to be hauled out of the
weir, and towed to one of the gun-boats to be dis-
sected and skinned : and even then the muscular
action of portions of the body, the tail especially,
whilst being cut into pieces, was something extra-
ordinary, and denoted how strong is the vitality of
all this reptile tribe. I, and others, tasted a cutlet of
alligator's flesh, and although it was not particularly
nice, still there was nothing about it disagreeable :
some compared it to very bad veal cutlets ; for my
part, it tasted very much as turtle collops would,
which is not saying much in its favour.
Observing the " Haggi " in quest of something,
STRANGE ANTIDOTE AGAINST FEVER. 65
I watched my surgical friend, and found him care-
fully cutting open the head, to extract the brain.
Through Jamboo, I asked what purpose it was to be
applied to, and was informed, with a solemn shake of
the head that would have qualified the Haggi for
the College of Physicians, that " it was an invaluable
remedy for all fevers ! " I need not say that, great
as my faith was in the Koran and chunam-box of the
holy mariner, I determined not to go through a
course of alligator brains, come what might. Prior
to our Christmas Day, the Mahometan fast*, or
Lent, took place. Our Malays kept it in a parti-
cularly lax manner; but our opponents in Quedah
appeared to be far more orthodox, their devotions
finding vent in a magnificent chaunt by male voices,
which, heard in all the lonely stillness of a tropical
night, was deeply impressive. Jadee assured me
that the performers were, men of undoubted sanctity,
having all made the pilgrimage to Mecca, and kissed
the tomb of their prophet, without which qualification
they could not take part in what the English seamen
sacrilegiously styled the " Quedah Opera." The
conclusion of the fast was a general holiday in the
* During the month of Rahmadan, the Mussulman abstains
from eating or drinking, smoking, or pleasure, from sunrise
to sunset.
66 CHRISTMAS-DAY.
town and fort; a constant saluting and cheering
took place, and men, women, and children were
dressed in holiday attire, giving a great deal more
animation to the tumble-down fort and the devoted
town than we were wont to see them assume.
Then came our Christmas. The " Hyacinth" ran
down to the Bountings, and captured some very fine
turtle. Turtle-soup and plum-pudding galore were
prepared ; and, like a hen gathering her chicks, we
all sailed off from our blockading posts, and tumbled
on board the dear old craft in time for an early
dinner.
The Malay sailors got a holiday and a double
allowance of rice and fish, and paid all due respect to
the u white man's feast," whilst we talked over our
adventures with shipmates and messmates, and hoped
and prophesied for the future. As the evening closed
in, all boat's crews were again piped away, and we
rowed into Quedah, keeping time to the tune of
some sentimental ditty, in which the lady of the
sailor's love
" Was a rich merchant's daughter,
From London she did come," &c. &c;
and winding up with a denouement far more comical
than moral.
EFFORTS TO EVADE THE BLOCKADE. 67
Yet was our duty not all play or sight-seeing.
The Malays in Quedah had to dispose of their pro-
duce at Penang, and procure, in return, arms, powder,
and salt, and our duty was to prevent them. When-
ever the night tides were high, combined with a
misty state of the atmosphere likely to cover their
escape through our cordon, prahus would push out,
and, by keeping close under the shadow of the jungle,
strive to escape our vigilance. Their lofty mat sails
caught the faintest breath of land-breeze, the beauti-
fully sharp bow of the prahus made hardly a ripple
as it cut through the water, and it required the
keenest eye to detect them when stealing thus along
in silence and shadow. The quick sight and hearing
of our Malays was in this respect invaluable : they
had themselves been engaged in similar feats, and
knew all the tricks of their compatriots. On more
than one occasion did the look-out man call me at
night, when, although a clear sky overhead, nothing
but the tops of the trees could be seen peering over
a white mist which poured like smoke out of the
unhealthy mangrove swamps. " A prahu !" the man
would say, pointing into the mist, making a sign at
the same time to listen. Holding my head low down
and horizontally, I could at last distinguish what had
caught the Malay's attention — a low creak occasion-
f 2
68 WATCHFULNESS OF MY NATIVE CKEW.
ally, which I most decidedly should have thought to
be the swaying of some branch in the forest, had he
not assured me that it was the action of a prahu's
oar in a rattan grummet.* At other times a rippling
sound, such as water will make when running past
any fixed object, was wafted on the night wind. " It
is merely the tide running past the fishing-weirs,
Jamboo," I might perhaps say. " Oh no, sir ! " he
would reply, "the look-out man assures me the
sound is altering its position, and that it 's the stem of
a prahu cutting through the water." Silently and
stealthily, but quickly, as men who had been all
their lives at such work, the crew would be on their
legs. " Baughan ! semoa-secalar, hancat sown ! "
in a low and distinct whisper, would run along the
deck ; or, in other words, " Arouse, ! hands up
anchor ! " The anchor would be run up gently, and
Numero Tega would be after her prey like a night-
hawk. We had to deal, however, with keen hands
and fast boats; and often have I chased to early
dawn before being sure of my prize.
* " Grummet," the piece of rope used for attaching an oar
to the rowing-pin.
A NIGHT CHASE AFTER A PRAHU. 69
CHAP. VI.
A Night Chase after a Prahu. — The Chase. — The Prahu
manoeuvres admirably. — Jadee volunteers to board her. —
The Capture. — A Piratical Saint. — The Saint at Prayers.
— The Saint's Deportment. — The Saint's Martyrdom. —
Defensive Measures. — Escape of Siamese Prisoners. — Suf-
ferings of the Siamese Prisoners. — A curious Mode of
Sketching.
The pluck and zeal of my crew often struck me,
but never perhaps more than on the occasion I am
about to relate.
We had had a long and unsuccessful chase one
day after a fast-pulling prahu, and the crew being
much exhausted, I anchored for the night at the
mouth of a small river called the Furlong, about two
miles north of Quedah fort. Heartily tired with the
past day's exertion, all my crew soon dropped asleep,
except the usual look-out man, and I donned my
blanket frock and trousers, and threw myself on the
deck to rest. About ten o'clock I was aroused
by a fine old one-eyed fellow called "Souboo,"
F 3
70 THE CHASE.
"Touhan!"* whispered he, "a large two-masted
prahu has just sailed past us !" " Where ? — in what
direction?" I asked. "To leeward, sir!" said
Souboo, as he dropped upon his knees and peered
along the water, over which the night mists were
moving; "there she is — a real c capel prahu,' and
sailing very fast." To up anchor and make sail to
the land-breeze did not take many minutes ; the
sweeps were manned, and the guns cleared for
action.
Whilst my little craft was flying through the
water, I questioned Souboo as to how it was he first
got sight of the prahu. " The wind was rather
along the land than off it," said he, " and I was
watching the mouth of the river, when suddenly
happening to turn my head to seaward, I saw a
prahu come out of the mist and almost tumble on
board of us, as she hauled in for the stream ; but in a
minute her course was changed, and she bore up for
the southward with flowing sheets."
"All right," exclaimed Jadee, " we will have her —
there is a twenty-mile run for her to the Bountings,
and before that ground is gone over the fog will
have cleared off and the wind fail." " How if she
* Touhan., in this sense, was equivalent to "Sir;" it is
generally used as Mr. would be in English.
THE PRAHU MANOEUVRES ADMIRABLY. 71
hauls up, and goes to the northward?" I suggested.
<( No Malay man tries to sail against the wind with
a prahu, when the white man is in chase of him,
Touhan!" said Jadee; " and if Souboo's description
of this vessel is correct, she is one of the war-prahus
of Mahomet Alee's fleet! "
Under this pleasing anticipation, Jadee got quite
excited ; and I must say I joined in the feeling, as
the gun-boat listed to the breeze, and her dashing
crew bent with a will to their oars. The zealous
Campar handed to Jadee the longest and ugliest
creese in his stock, and I observed all the men stick
their short knives in their girdles ready for a fray*
t( No prahu yet !" I exclaimed, after running two or
three miles through the mist. " We will catch
her ! " responded Jadee ; and almost as he said the
word, we seemed to be aboard of a large-sized
prahu, running the same way as ourselves. There
was a yell of delight from the Number Threes, as
my crew styled themselves, and one as of astonish-
ment from the prahu ; but in a moment she, what is
termed, jibbed her sails, and slipped out of sight
again before we could dip our heavy yards and
lug-sails. Altering our course so as to intercept her
in her evident intention to seek a hiding-place in the
Bounting Islands, the bow-gun was cleared away and
F 4
72 JADEE OFFERS TO BOARD THE PRAHU.
loaded with grape, ready to knock away her masts
when another opportunity offered. Again we ran
almost upon her, our sails being at the time boomed
out " wing and wing." " Lower your sails, and sur-
render!" Jadee shouted, as I fired, and brought
down her mainsail. For a minute her capture seemed
certain ; but we had to deal with no novice. As we
shot past the prahu, going nearly eight knots, she
dropped her foresail, put her helm hard down, and
long before our sails could be furled and the gun-
boat's head got round, the villanous prahu was out
of sight astern. I fancy I swore ; for Jadee called
the lost prize a " d — d poul," which she most de-
cidedly was not, and added that he evidently was
" a pig ! and would not fight."
We still determined to adhere to our original
course, confident of the prahu having no shelter
nearer than the islands, and were rewarded as the
mist cleared away by again sighting her. I soon
saw that we were by far the faster sailer with the
fresh breeze then blowing, and determined not to let
her escape me this time. I proposed, if three or
four men would follow me, to jump on board of her,
and prevent her escape, until the gun-boat got fairly
alongside. Jadee at once seized the idea, and only
so far altered it as to persuade me, through the
THE CAPTURE. 73
assistance of the interpreter, that the Malays in
the prahu would be more likely to surrender quietly
to a countryman who could assure them of quarter,
than they would be at the sight of a naval officer,
when fright alone mi^ht make them run a muck,
and cause a needless loss of life.
Accordingly, Jadee and his three boarders stood
ready at the bow, and, looking at them as they stood
on the gunwale, eagerly eyeing the prahu as we
rushed at her, they would have made a fine study for
a painter. They were nearly naked, with the ex-
ception of a sarong wrapped round the left arm, to
ward off such blows as might be aimed at them ; in
the waist-belt, across the small of their backs, each
had stuck his creese, and a sharp short cutlass
dangled from their wrists. Strange sights indeed do
travellers see ! but, for disinterested devotion and
bravery, I question whether a finer example could
be shown than that of these dark-skinned subjects of
Queen Victoria.
As we closed the prahu, no answer was returned
to our hail to surrender. " All ready ! " said Jadee,
swinging himself almost out of the rigging with
eagerness. " Look out ! " I shouted, and fired again
at the sails. The prahu repeated her old manoeuvre,
but we checkmated her this time, for as our side
74 THE CAPTURE.
scraped her stern, Jadee and his followers leapt into
her with a shout. Our sails were down in a trice,
and we swept alongside of the prize ; and, having heard
so much as I had done of the desperate character of
Malays, I was not a little delighted to find that they
had, in this case, surrendered without resistance,
directly Jadee made himself master of their helm,
and announced his intention, with a vicious wave of
his abominable creese, to maintain it against all
comers until the gun-boat got alongside.
The vessel had been a war-prahu ; but her breast-
work for the guns had been removed, and, in the
peaceful character of a trader, she was, we afterwards
found, employed to keep up the communication be-
tween the Malay chieftains in Quedah province and
their friends in Penang. The emissary upon this
occasion we made a prisoner of; the vessel we re-
spected as a trader, but forced her to return into
Quedah.
The prisoner was a Malay of good extraction, and,
having performed the pilgrimage to Mecca, wore the
distinguished decoration of a considerable quantity
of green calico about his head ; apart from his
sanctity, he was, as his able efforts to escape had
proved, an expert sailor, and, doubtless, a most
worthy member of his piratical fraternity. There
A PIRATICAL SAINT. 75
was something about the man particularly com-
manding. He was tall and slight for a Malay, and
bore, like many of the higher caste in Malaya do,
marks of Arab blood in his veins ; his face would
have been good looking but for the high and square
cheek-bones, and a fierce expression of the eye ; a
small Vandyke-shaped beard, which was a mark of
his holy rank, and a certain dignity of manner,
showed him one accustomed to command ; and it
amused me to see with what self-possession he was
prepared, although my prisoner, to exercise his au-
thority upon my men, who instinctively obeyed him
as they would do their master.
I did not, however, show any great awe for his
piratical saintship, much to Jadee's astonishment ; for
although my coxswain's knowledge of the creed of
the faithful was but a mere glimmering, still he had
vague superstitious fears about it, which would have
made me laugh had Jadee not been so much in
earnest about them. Out of consideration for Jadee's
fears as to the evil consequences likely to arise
through the imprisoned Haggi's influence with divers
demons, spirits, et cetera, I consented that, whenever
the position of the gun-boat brought the direction of
the prophet's tomb over the stern, the Haggi might,
in pursuance of the established form of Mahomet-
76 THE SAINT AT PRAYERS.
anism, bring his carpet on the quarter-deck, and
pray ; at other times he was to remain forward.
Accordingly, at the hour of prayer, the pirate-saint
would stalk along to the stern of the gun-boat,
spread his little carpet, turn towards Mecca, or,
rather, the direction in which it lay, and then, indif-
ferent to who were looking at him, or whatever might
be going on, enter upon his devotions with a zeal and
abstraction from the little world around him which
could not but command admiration from men of any
creed. His orisons finished, he returned to his place
with the dignity of a rajah.
He never made the slightest effort to conciliate
either my good -will or that of any of my crew. I
was evidently a Giaour, an infidel, and the Malays
around me renegades ; but I rather admired him for
this independence, and took good care nothing should
occur to offend his religious scruples, so far as he per-
sonally was concerned. Perhaps, in time, we should
have appreciated each other better ; for, on my one
day notifying to him that he was to proceed to
Penang, to stand upon his trial before Governor
Bonham, he relaxed for a few minutes, clasped
both hands together, made a low bow, and " Hoped
God would be with me, and that I should walk
in health ! " expressions which I cordially returned ;
DEFENSIVE MEASURES. 7 7
and so we parted. From what I afterwards heard, I
had reason to believe the " Company Sahib" had a
long account with this holy man, and that, with some
others, he was to be seen in after years innocently
employed sweeping and keeping in order the fortifi-
cations of Fort William at Calcutta. A bevy of houris
in the world to come will doubtless reward him for
the injury he has suffered from the infidel in this.
Towards the commencement of the new year, our
attention was called to a strong working party being
seen every day to leave the fort, and proceed to clear
away the jungle which had grown up close round
the works ; this done, they commenced the construc-
tion of an admirable battery, which flanked our
anchorage as well as the landward side of Quedah
fort. Observing that this working party was strongly
guarded, we learnt, on inquiry from the fishermen,
that the labourers were unfortunate Siamese — men,
women, and children — who had been captured when
the province was conquered by the Malays, and that
the work they were now doing was merely to keep
them out of mischief. We, however, plainly saw
that the chiefs had some cause for anxiety, and anti-
cipated an attack, though how or whence we had as
yet no certain intelligence. We took some pains to
get information carried to these poor creatures of
78 ESCAPE OF SIAMESE PRISONERS.
our readiness to give them shelter, and shortly after-
wards two Siamese effected their escape under diffi-
cult circumstances. The musquito squadron were
just on the point of separating to take up their
stations for the night — a step we always took care
to carry out after dark, in order that the enemy
might not know our position — when a voice was
heard to hail us from a long tongue of mud which
ran out to seaward from the northern point of the
river. At first it was supposed to be the whoop of
a night-hawk, but it was repeated, and our men
declared it to be the voice of either Chinese or
Siamese. Mr. Jamboo was called for, and, in a
dialect which was so unmusical as to resemble the
sounds emitted by knocking two hard pieces of
wood together, he soon ascertained that they were
two Siamese men who had escaped from the Malays,
and in an attempt to cross the mud-flat had sunk into
it exhausted, and unless we could reach them would
assuredly be drowned or devoured by the alligators
upon the return of the tide. The pinnace was now
forced in as near as possible to the mud-bank, and three
or four of the English seamen having volunteered
to assist the unfortunates, they stripped themselves,
and aided by oars and boards slipped over the mud
to where the Siamese were fairly bogged, pulled
THEIR SUFFERINGS. 79
them out by sheer strength and activity, and brought
them off amidst the cheers of all our party. The
blue-jackets washed them, and clothed their shiver-
ing frames in sailors' frocks and trousers, persuaded
them to drink a glass of raw Jamaica rum each, and
then, with considerable truth, said, half-laughing,
" Why, Jack, your mother would not know you!"
— a remark the Siamese would probably have ac-
quiesced in, had they understood the rough but
good-natured fellows.
The tale of the Siamese was soon told : they were
father and son, and had originally entered the pro-
vince of Quedah from the neighbourhood of Bankok.
At the time of the Malay inroad, the father was a
petty merchant, barber, and painter, at an island
called Lancavi. They were made prisoners, or
rather slaves ; worked like horses, starved, and con-
stantly saw their countrymen creesed before their
eyes. They escaped, stole a boat, and sailed with
her across to the mainland, by following the coast
of which they knew they must reach English terri-
tory. At last they observed our ship in the offing,
and rightly conjecturing that some of her boats
would be found off Quedah, had happily succeeded in
reaching us without being seen by the lynx-eyed
look-outs of Quedah.
80 CURIOUS MODE OF SKETCHING.
They stayed some clays with us, and appeared
anxious to evince their gratitude in every possible
way. The old man, as a Siamese artist, presented
each officer with specimens of his skill ; the most
remarkable point in his sketches being the fact of
his wonderful departure from all our preconceived,
notions of drawing.
For instance, in a pencil sketch of Buddha, drawn
for me, in which that divinity is represented reposing
upon one leg, and looking uncommonly like Canova's
famed figure of a dancing-girl reposing, and almost
as unnatural, the draughtsman commenced with the
toes and worked gradually up to the gorgeous head-
dress, yet preserving a just proportion in all the
parts of the figure ; as a whole, the result may be
said to have been more curious than pleasing. When
the Siamese eventually proceeded to Penang, they
left us favourably impressed with their disposition
and ability, although they evidently lacked the
energy of character which marked the Malays about
us.
ANXIETY OF COMMANDING OFFICER. 81
CHAP. VII.
The Anxiety of the Officer commanding the Blockade. — In-
telligence received of the Pirate Fleet. — My good Fortune
in sailing with so excellent a Captain. — A Tropical Thunder-
storm. — Jadee kills the Wind. — How Jadee learnt to kill
the Wind. — The Dutch generally disliked. — Jadee's Pira-
tical Friends attack a Junk. — The Defeat and Flight of
Jadee's Friends. — They are saved by the Rajah of Jehore.
— Killing the Wind.
Our enterprising captain in the " Hyacinth" had, as
it may be supposed, a very anxious time. The extent
of coast to be blockaded was not less than fifty or sixty
miles in extent much of it but little known ; nu-
merous islands, rivers, and creeks existed of which
charts and surveyors had no cognizance. He knew
well that a large force of prahus and armed men
were in the province ; their exact whereabouts, how-
ever, was preserved a perfect secret, and Captain
Warren's fear was, lest they should fall upon his boats
or the gun-boats with vastly superior forces, and
carry off an easy victory. The " Hyacinth" there-
fore, like a troubled spirit, was ever flitting up and
G
82 INTELLIGENCE OF PIRATE FLEET.
down between Quedah and a spot of equal impor-
tance called the Parlis River, situated twenty miles
farther north, and in the entrance of which the ship's
cutter and No. 1. gun-boat, the Diamond, were sta-
tioned. In the second week of January, information
was received that a considerable number of the war-
prahus seen by us at Trang during the previous
autumn, had succeeded, under their renowned leader,
Datoo Mahomet Alee, in getting into the Parlis River,
and were employed in the defence of that neighbour-
hood. It became therefore necessary to reinforce
the Parlis blockading force, and I was ordered to
proceed there for that purpose. Delighted at the
prospect of seeing more of this interesting country,
my craft was soon under weigh and spinning along
the coast, which, to the northward of Quedah River,
rapidly improved in appearance ; the picturesque
group of islands known as the Lancavas, and
beyond them the Laddas, lying to seaward, and
spurs of mountain land from the central chain ap-
proaching close to the coast of the mainland.
All, at any rate, was bright and beautiful to me :
placed, young as I was, in a position of trust and
responsibility ; enjoying all the sweets of command,
and still too young to feel its anxieties, it was indeed
the sunny side of the world that I was then enjoying;
MY EXCELLENT CAPTAIN. 83
and as, with a throbbing pulse and zealous heart, I
walked my own quarter-deck, how earnest, in all the
honesty of youth, were my resolutions to deserve
well of my profession, and those set in authority over
me. Fortunate are those boys who, like me, sail
their first trip as embryo admirals with such a cap-
tain as mine was ; a gentleman in all things ; labour-
ing in his profession quietly and earnestly ; not, upon
the one hand, scorning it as being beneath his birth
or abilities ; or, upon the other, degrading himself
into a mere menial, and working for the dirty pounds,
shillings, and pence it would yield him. The mid-
shipman who sails and learns his profession with such
a man may perhaps, in after life, suffer when he
happens to be under the tyrant, schemer, or bully —
for, alas ! such will be found in every noble profession ;
but those principles early acquired will ever be a
solace to him, and the love and recollection of such a
man console him and cheer him in the hope of emu-
lating his example.
As we approached a long low point named Tan-
gong Bouloo, or the Cape of Bamboos, from the
numbers of those canes which were waving gracefully
over it, my attention w T as called to the necessity of
preparing for a heavy squall which was rapidly
sweeping down towards us from the distant hill«„
Q 2
84 A TROPICAL THUNDERSTORM.
As the wind freshened, we reduced canvass until
the " Emerald" was flying along under a close-reefed
foresail, everything cracking withal. The squall
swept on ; a dense black mass of clouds, charged with
electricity, a burst of thunder which seemed to make
the gun-boat tremble to her very keel, and a vivid
flash of lightning which blinded one for a minute,
showed how close it was. The tall trees bent to the
gale, the bamboos were swept down like a long row of
feathers, and a white streak of foam rushed towards
us as we took in our sail, and prepared to receive
it under bare poles. With a shriek it struck us ; the
little " Emerald" lay down to it for a moment, the
helm was put up, and away she flew before the storm
like a snow-flake. Jadee stood by my side, (t A bad
wind, Touhan ; we must kill it! " " Kill away ! Jadee,"
I replied, laughing at the idea of so fickle a personage
as the Clerk of the Weather getting into a scrape with
a Malay pirate, — " kill away, by all means !" " Cam-
par !" shouted Jadee — poor Campar ! he had to be
everywhere — "oh! Campar, thou son of a burnt
mother, hand here the rice-spoon !" shouted Jadee,
looking as solemn as a quaker or a haggi. This rice-
spoon, by the way, was the only one in the vessel ; it
was made of wood, and used for stirring the rice
whilst cooking over the fire ; its value to us may-be
JADEE KILLS THE WIND ! 85
invested it with a certain degree of sanctity. The
spoon was brought, and I tried to look as solemn as
Jadee, who, calling to his aid the sanctimonious
Alee, placed the spoon upon the deck between him
and the wind, and the pair of true believers repeated
some verses over it — bound themselves, by a vow, to
sacrifice several game-cocks* upon a favourable occa-
sion, and then the precious spoon was stuck through
the lanyards of the main rigging, with the handle to
leeward. I think I should have died from the effects
of suppressed mirth, had not the fury of the squall
and the quantity of water thrown on board of us
given me enough to do to look after the safety of the
craft. Jadee, however, sat quietly watching and
waiting for the effect of his incantation : at last,
down came the rain, not in drops, but in bucketsful,
and, as usual, the wind fell entirely. Hastening
to <ret under the rain-awnings and mats until the
weather cleared up, I remarked to Jadee that " the
wind was fairly killed." " Yes !" he replied, with a
sly expression of countenance, " I never saw that
charm fail; I never saw the wind that could long
stand its effect. The Rajah of Jehore was the first
man who taught it to me, and I have found it infal-
* I fancy from game-cocks being introduced into this super-
stitious observance, that it is purely of Malay origin.
g 3
86 HOW JADEE LEARNT TO KILL THE WIND.
lible. If Jamboo was here, Touhan, I'd tell you
how it happened." Jamboo was at once sent for; and
making a proviso that my coxswain should speak
slowly and distinctly, so as to enable me to call in the
interpreter's aid as little as possible, he proceeded to
tell his tale, somewhat as follows : —
" Long before that action with the English man-of-
war which drove me to Singapore, I sailed in a fine
fleet of prahus belonging to the Rajah of Jehore.*
We were all then very rich — ah ! such numbers of
beautiful wives, and such feasting ! — but, above all,
we had a great many most holy men in our force !
When the proper monsoon came, we proceeded to
sea to fight the Bugismen and Chinamen bound from
Borneo and the Celebes to Java ; for you must re-
member our Rajah was at war with them (Jadee
always maintained that the proceedings in which
he had been engaged partook of a purely warlike,
and not of a piratical character).
" Our thirteen prahus had all been fitted out in and
about Singapore. I wish you could have seen them,
Touhan ! These prahus we see here are nothing to
* I have said the Rajah of Jehore ; but Jadee called the in-
dividual by some peculiar term not easily spelt, and described
his place of abode and hiding-place as being near Cape Romania,
in the Jehore district.
THE DUTCH GENERALLY DISLIKED. 87
them ; — such brass guns; such long pendants ; such
creeses ! Allah-il- Allah ! our Datoos were indeed
great men !
" Sailing along the coast up as high as Patani, we
then crossed over to Borneo, two Illanoon prahus act-
ing as pilots, and reached a place called Sambas : there
we fought the Chinese and Dutchmen, who ill-treat
our countrymen, and are trying to drive the Malays
out of that country. Gold-dust and slaves in large
quantities were here taken ; most of the latter being
our countrymen of Sumatra and Java, who are cap-
tured and sold to the planters and miners of the
Dutch settlements."
" Do you mean to say," I asked, " that the Dutch
countenance such traffic ? "
" The Hollanders," replied Jadee, fi have been the
bane of the Malay race ; no one knows the amount of
villany, the bloody cruelty of their system towards
us. They drive us into our prahus to escape their
taxes and their laws, and then declare us pirates,
and put us to death. There are natives in our
crew, Touhan, of Sumatra and Java, of Bianca and
Borneo ; ask them why they hate the Dutchmen ;
why they would kill a Dutchman. It is because
the Dutchman is a false man, not like the white man
(English). The Hollander stabs in the dark : he
G 4
88 jadee's pirate fleet
is a liar ! However, from Borneo we sailed to Bi~
liton and Bianca, and there waited for some large
junks that were expected. Our cruise had been so
far successful, and we feasted away, — fighting cocks,
smoking opium, and eating white rice. At last our
scouts told us that a junk was in sight. She came ;
a lofty-sided one of Fokien. We knew those Amoy
men would fight like tiger-cats for their sugar and
silks ; and, as the breeze was fresh, we only kept her
in sight by keeping close in shore and following her.
Not to frighten the Chinamen, we did not hoist
sail, but made our slaves pull. Oh !" said Jadee,
warming up with the recollection of the event, —
" oh ! it was fine to feel what brave fellows we
then were !
" Towards night we made sail, and closed upon the
junk, and at daylight it fell a stark calm, and we
went at our prize like sharks. All our fighting men
put on their war dresses ; the Illanoons danced their
war dance, and all our gongs sounded, as we opened
out to attack her on different sides.
" But those Amoy men are pigs ! They burnt joss-
paper, sounded their gongs, and received us with
such showers of stones, hot water, long pikes, and
one or two well-directed shots, that we hauled off to
try the effect of our guns ; sorry though we were to
.
■Kt-
ATTACK A JUNK. 89
do it; for it was sure to bring down the Dutchmen
upon us. Bang ! bang ! we fired at them, and they
at us ; three hours did we persevere, and whenever
we tried to board, the Chinese beat us back every
time, for her side was as high and smooth as a wall,
with galleries overhanging. We had several men
O DO
killed and hurt ; a council was called ; a certain
charm was performed by one of our holy men, a
famous chief, and twenty of our best men devoted
themselves to effecting a landing on the junk's deck,
when our look-out prahus made the signal that the
Dutchmen were coming ; and sure enough some
Dutch gun-boats came sweeping round a headland.
In a moment we were round and pulling like demons
for the shores of Biliton, the gun-boats in chase of
us, and the Chinese howling with delight. The sea-
breeze freshened, and brought up a schooner-rigged
boat very fast : we had been at work twenty-four
hours, and were heartily tired ; our slaves could
work no longer, so we prepared for the Hollanders ;
they were afraid to close upon us, and commenced
firing at a distance. This was just what we wanted ;
we had guns as well as they, and, by keeping up the
fight until dark, we felt sure of escape. The Dutch-
men, however, knew this too, and kept closing gra-
dually upon us, and when they saw our prahus
90 PIRATES ENGAGE A DUTCH FLOTILLA.
baling out water and blood, they knew we were
suffering, and cheered like devils. We were despe-
rate ; surrender to Dutchmen we never would : we
closed together for mutual support, and determined
at last, if all hope ceased of escape, to run our
prahus ashore, burn them, and lie hid in the jungle
until a future day. But a brave Datoo, with his shat-
tered prahu, saved us ; he proposed to let the Dutch-
men board her, creese all that did so, and then trust
to Allah for his escape.
" It was done immediately ; we all pulled a short
distance away, and left the brave Datoo's prahu like
a wreck abandoned. How the Dutchmen yelled,
and fired into her ! The slaves and cowards jumped
out of the prahu, but our braves kept quiet ; at last,
as we expected, one gun-boat dashed alongside of
their prize, and boarded her in a crowd : then was
the time to see how the Malay man could fight ; the
creese was worth twenty swords, and the Dutchmen
went down like sheep. We fired to cover our coun-
trymen, who, as soon as their work was done, jumped
overboard, and swam to us; but the brave Datoo,
with many more, died, as brave Malays should do,
running a muck against a host of enemies.
u The gun-boats were quite scared by this punish-
ment, and we lost no time in getting as rapidly away
FLIGHT OP JADEE'S COMPANIONS. 91
as possible ; but the accursed schooner, by keeping
more in the offing, held the wind, and preserved her
position, signalling all the while for the gun-boats
to follow her. We did not want to fight any more ;
it was evidently an unlucky day. On the opposite
side of the channel to that we were on, the coral reefs
and shoals would prevent the Hollanders following us:
it was determined at all risks to get there in spite of
the schooner. With the first of the land-wind in the
evening, we set sail before it, and steered across for
Bianca. The schooner placed herself in our way like
a clever sailor, so as to turn us back ; but we were
determined to push on, take her fire, and run all
risks.
" It was a sight to see us meeting one another ;
but we were desperate : we had killed plenty of
Dutchmen ; it was their turn now. I was in the
second prahu, and well it was so; for when the head-
most one got close to the schooner, the Dutchman
fired all his guns into her, and knocked her at once
into a wrecked condition. We gave one cheer, fired
our guns, and then pushed on for our lives. Ah !
sir, it was a dark night indeed for us. Three prahus
in all were sunk, and the whole force dispersed. To
add to our misfortunes, a strong gale sprang up. We
were obliged to carry canvass ; our prahu leaked from
92 THE PIRATES SAVED BY THE RAJAH.
shot-holes ; the sea continually broke into her ; we
dared not run into the coral reefs on such a night,
and bore up for the Straits of Malacca. The
wounded writhed and shrieked in their agony, and
we had to pump, we fighting men, and bale like
black fellows I By two in the morning, we were all
worn out. I felt indifferent whether I was drowned
or not, and many threw down their buckets, and sat
down to die. The wind increased, and at last, as if
to put us out of our misery, just such a squall as
this came down upon us. I saw it was folly con-
tending against our fate, and followed the general
example. s God is great ! ' we exclaimed ; but the
Rajah of Jehore came and reproved us : ( Work
until daylight,' he said, ' and I will ensure your
safety.' We pointed at the black storm which was
approaching. 'Is that what you fear?' he replied,
and, going below, he produced just such a wooden
spoon, and did what you have seen me do ; and I
tell you, my captain, as I would if the f Company
Sahib ? stood before me, that the storm was nothing,
and that we had a dead calm one hour afterwards,
and were saved. God is great, and Mahomet is his
Prophet ! — but there is no charm like the Jehore one
for killing the wind ! "
It did not take as long to tell as it does to write
KILLING THE WIND ! 93
this odd tale ; and it would be impossible to try to
give an idea of how my coxswain's feelings were
carried away with the recital of his narrative, or
how genuine and child-like the credulity of the old
pirate. I Avrote it down as a strange episode in
Malay life, and possibly the prescription may get me
a medal from the College of Physicians, even if it
should be declared valueless by European navigators
in general.
94 KEFRESHING EFFECTS OF A SQUALL.
CHAP. VIII.
Refreshing effects of a Squall in the Tropics. — Scenery in the
Malay Archipelago. — My Gun-boat "The Emerald" joins
the Parlis Blockading Squadron. — The Malays try to
Stockade us out of the River. — Haggi Loung comes on an
Embassy. — Malayan Diplomacy. — Jadee's disregard for a
Flao- of Truce. — Jadee and the one-eyed Enemy. — A Spy.
— The Chase by Starlight. — The submerged Jungle. — An
Indian Night-Scene. — The Chase lost. — The Whip and
Mangrove Snakes.
Again we made sail and sped on our way. How
nature revives in those equatorial climes, after the
revivifying effect of such a squall as we had just
experienced ! Animate and inanimate objects gain
fresh life as it were from the action of the passing
storm ; the very sea glittered in the sunlight with a
brighter and a deeper blue, and the forest-clad sides
of the surrounding mountains looked even more
gorgeous than was their wont, as they shone in all
the thousand shades of which green and gold are
susceptible. Away to the northward stretched a
labyrinth of islands of every size and shape — some
SCENERY IN MALAYAN ARCHIPELAGO. 95
still wrapt in storm-clouds, others bathed in refulgent
light, or softened by distance into u summer isles of
Eden lying in dark purple spheres of sea." In
short, it realised at such a moment all one's brightest
dreams of the East ; and it required but little imagi-
nation to people it with bloody pirates and fleet-
footed prahus, in warring with whom I amongst
others was to win bright honour.
At the base of a range of hills which bound the
broad valley of Quedah on the north, the river Parlis
discharges itself over a bar into the Indian Ocean.
I hauled in for it, and soon had the satisfaction of
shaking the gallant Barclay by the hand.
The river at its mouth was divided, by a small
island half a mile long, into two branches. This
island, called " Pulo Quetam," or Crab Island, by
the natives, served for a dockyard, drying- ground,
and place of recreation to our little force, and, to-
gether with the fact of a large fleet of war-prahus
being up the river, under the command of one of the
most enterprising of pirates, gave to the blockade
here a degree of interest which Quedah did not
possess.
Our force consisted of two gun-boats and a ship's
cutter, carrying altogether four guns, and about
seventy men. The Malays far outnumbered us,
96 MY GUN-BOAT JOINS IN
and Datoo Mahomet Alee had sent a derisive mes-
sage, to say he could and should go in or out of
the river whenever it suited his convenience. The
consequence was, we lived in momentary expectation
of a tousrti action with a set of heroes who had
already fought the boats of H. M. S. "Zebra" and
"Rose" on former occasions, and allowed them no
decided advantage.
During the day we used to lie together in the
northern entrance of the river, but at night I was
detached to blockade the southern branch, and pre-
vent all ingress and egress by even the fishermen.
Until the arrival of the " Emerald " this measure
had been impracticable, and it gave great umbrage to
the enemy. A pangleman, or petty chief, was
therefore sent down from the town of Parlis, situated
twelve miles up the stream, to try and induce us to
desist. The ambassador was not wanting in skill.
He said that Mahomet Alee sent all health to the
officer in command of the English gun-boats, and
begged to assure him that the presence of a vessel in
the south branch of the river was an unnecessary
measure, and an act of discourtesy which he hoped
would cease. He knew from experience that white
men (Orang-putihsv) never wantonly frightened women
or children, but that my vessel rowing round to her
THE BLOCKADE OF PARLIS. 97
station every night had only that effect ! The pan-
gleman alluded here to the inhabitants of a small
village, situated in the fork of the river, which I had
to pass nightly.
Lastly, Mahomet Ali begged to remind us that
such a ridiculous force as we were, was merely
tolerated, and that we should not do as we liked.
Mr. Barclay, our senior officer, gave a concise
answer. That he should do his duty as he pleased,
and that the women and children would cease to fear
when they found we did them no harm ; and lastly,
the sooner Datoo Mahomet Ali put his threat into
execution the better pleased we should all be.
We never understood what Mahomet Ali's real
motive was ; but as if to show us that he did not care
about the south channel being open or not, he took
advantage of my absence one night, whilst chasing a
prahu, to send a strong party of men down, who
actually stockaded that branch entirely across, much
to the astonishment of my brother officer, who
found it completed in the morning. I was told of
it on my return, and he gave me full permission
to do what I pleased, to show our indifference to
the authority or temper of "Mahomet Ali." I
accordingly went round, and finding we could not
easily otherwise remove the stakes, I lashed the
H
08 ATTEMPT TO STOCKADE THE RIVER.
gun-boat to them at dead low water, and as the tide
rose she lifted them out as easily as feathers, and on
the ebb-tide we sent them floating to sea. Again
did the enemy watch for an opportunity, and again
did I uproot their stockade ; the expenditure of
labour being but slight on our side, whilst with them
the skill, energy, and labour necessary to construct
such a work, although merely formed of the stems of
young trees from the neighbouring jungle, were very
remarkable.
Several messages of a very uncivil nature came
to our commanding officer, to which equally un-
courteous answers were returned.
One day the other gun-boat, the " Diamond," and
the cutter had been obliged to weigh and proceed
to sea in chase of piahus, leaving my vessel alone in
the river. About noon two long row-boats, called
sampans, with ten or twelve persons in each, swept
suddenly round the point ahead, and made direct for
us. Jadee saw them immediately, and his eyes
glistened at the prospect of their intentions being
warlike. Whatever their original purpose was, they
were peaceable enough when they saw us all under
arms ; Jadee, however, as a precautionary measure,
putting on his fighting jacket, a long sleeveless one
of red cloth, sufficiently quilted to turn the edge of
IIAGOI loung's embassy. 99
a " badi." * The leading canoe was hailed at pistol-
shot distance, and called upon to state her mission.
We were informed that they came with a communi-
cation from Datoo Mahomet Ali, the bearer being no
less a personage than his second in command, a man
called " Haggi Loung."
The canoe in which the Haggi was seated, was per-
mitted to come alongside, and she had evidently a
picked crew, armed to the teeth ; and I had no doubt
that my serang was right in saying that, had they
found the gun-boat with half a crew on shore, as was
usually the case about noon, the reverend Haggi and
his comrades were to have essayed her capture.
However, I received the gentleman with all the
dignity a youth could muster, although I was some-
what piqued at the supercilious smile which played
on the face of Haggi Loung as he eyed the pocket
edition of the white man before him.
Loung was rather tall, with square shoulders and
bony limbs, evincing undoubted capability for en-
forcing those maxims of the Koran which his high
forehead and intellectual countenance showed he
possessed mental capacity for acquiring and incul-
cating.
* A "badi" is a small stabbing-knife, used in a close fight
or to administer a coup de grace to an enemy,
H 2
100 MALAY DIPLOMACY.
Seating ourselves in a circle, consisting of Haggi
Loung and his secretary, with Jadee on one side of
me and the interpreter on the other, we proceeded to
business. The message — if ever one was sent, which
I strongly question — when divested of Eastern orna-
ment and circumlocution, amounted merely to an
attempt to persuade me to believe that the blockade
of the southern branch of the river was totally need-
less, and that the best proof that it was so, consisted
in the fact of their having stockaded it across them-
selves ; and they begged I would not touch that
stockade.
I told him, " He had already received an an-
swer from my superior officer upon these points ;
I had nothing to add ; and that Mahomet Ali
must remember that, as English officers merely acted
from a sense of duty, and in obedience to orders, I
hoped the next time he asked me a favour it would
be one that I could grant."
The Haggi wanted to discuss the point; but as
the arguments passed for the most part through the
medium of Jadee and the interpreter, I suppose they
lost their point, for I kept my ground.
Failing in this respect, he gradually turned the
conversation to the prospect of the Siamese regaining
the province of Quedah, and with much finesse led
JADEE AND A FLAG OF TRUCE. 101
me into the error of believing that the Siamese army
had been repulsed at all points. I now sent for
boiled rice and fish, which I ordered to be set before
the Haggi ; and Jadee proceeded, by my desire, to
see that the Malays in the canoes had food supplied
to them, though, from the expression of his face whilst
so employed, I could plainly observe that he would
have far preferred blowing them from the muzzle of
the bow gun. Watching his opportunity, Jadee
made a quiet sign that he wished to speak to me,
and when I went to him, hurriedly said, " Now, sir,
now is our opportunity ; capture this man ; send his
canoes away to say so, and tell Mahomet Ali we are
alone this afternoon, and that Numero Tega will
fight him at once ! " I pointed out to Jadee that the
challenge might be very well, but that the capture of
Loung was out of the question, as he had come to us
in the sacred character of a messenger. Jadee could
not understand it at all, and walked away muttering
something in which I heard, " Mahomet Ali — pigs
— and poltroons " generally mixed up.
Haggi Loiing was all smiles and civility, little
thinking how hostile a proposition had just been made
against him, and shortly afterwards rose to depart ;
an event I rather hastened, as it was impossible, with
such inflammable materials as his crews and mine
H 3
102 JADEE AND THE ONE-EYED ENEMY.
were composed of, to tell the moment a disturbance
might take place. Jadee was rustling about like a
game-cock ready for a row ; and I saw him, and a
wild-looking Malay who steered one of the canoes,
exchanging glances and curls of the lip which be-
tokened anything but amity. Desiring Jadee to do
something at the other side of the gun-boat, I wished
Haggi Loung " Good-bye," and had just lost sight
of them round the point when my serang came
aft, all smiles and sunshine : to my queries he only
smiled mysteriously, and replied I should soon know ;
and as this evidently referred to something connected
with our late visitors, I began to have my fears lest
a pleasant divertissement, in the shape of a creese fight,
had been arranged between him and the Orson from
Parlis.
Directly it fell dark, our consorts rejoined us ; and
whilst all the vessels were lashed together, prior to
taking up their night positions, one of the look-out
men maintained that a long canoe had crossed the river
above us, his quick eye having sighted her as she
darted over the bright streak of light which gleamed
between the gloomy shadows of either side. From
one of our prizes we had captured a long fairy-like
canoe, scooped out of the trunk of a tree : with six
paddles she would fly through the water. Barclay
A SPY. — TIIE CHASE BY STARLIGHT. 103
and I jumped into her at once, and, with a mixed
crew of Malays and Englishmen, gave chase to the
stranger. It was top of high water, or nearly so ; the
tide as usual had overflowed all the neighbouring
land (except the high patch of ground on which stood
the little village previously referred to), and the dark
stems of the mangrove and other trees, which seemed
to flourish in an amphibious life, stretched away on
cither hand from the river in a black and endless
labyrinth.
A few deep and silent strokes brought us up almost
noiselessly to the spot where the stranger had been
seen to cross, although we were in the shadow on
the opposite side of the river ; the paddles were laid
across our boat, and the steersman alone kept her
going gently up the stream. We were all eyes ;
now looking in among the dark waters, out of which
rose the black and solemn trunks of the trees ;
now eagerly gazing across to the opposite side of
the river. Almost instinctively, we all pointed, with-
out speaking a word, to a canoe twice as long as our
own, which had evidently seen us, and was apparently
waiting to see whether we were in search of her, or
for us to show our intentions. We did not keep them
long in suspense.
H 4
104 THE SUBMERGED JUNGLE.
" Give way," exclaimed Barclay, " and get above
them ! " In a moment our paddles struck the water,
and our craft seemed to lift and jump at every
stroke. The other canoe was not idle ; for a few
minutes it was doubtful which would win, and we
could hear the men cheering one another on to
exertion. " A scout ! a scout ! " exclaimed our Ma-
lays ; " the prahus will be down when the ebb-tide
makes ! " I told Barclay this. " I hope to God
they will ! " he exclaimed ; " we shall be ready for
them ! " We now began to head the canoe : as
soon as we saw we could do that, Barclay got his
musket ready, and gave orders, directly he fired, for
the helmsman to steer diagonally across the stream,
so as to get on the same side as the craft we were in
chase of.
Taking a deliberate aim at the scout canoe he
fired, and we with a shout struck across for her,
hoping either to lay her alongside or drive her back
upon the gun-boats ; but we had counted without
our host, and the Malays of our party gave a yell of
disgust as the enemy disappeared as it were into the
jungle. We were soon on her heels, and guided by
the sound she made in forcing through the mangrove
swamp, held our course: now aground upon the
straddling legs of a mangrove tree; then pushing
AN INDIAN NIGHT-SCENE. 105
through a thicket, out of which the affrighted birds
flew shrieking ; then listening to try and distinguish
the sound of the flying canoe from all the shrill
whistles, chirrups, and drumming noises, which render
an Indian jungle far more lively by night than by
day. Once or twice we thought we were fast catch-
ing her, when suddenly our canoe passed from the
mangrove swamp into an open forest of trees, which
rose in all their solemn majesty from the dark
waters. We saw our chance of success was now
hopeless, for the scout canoe had fifty avenues by
which to baffle us, and terra Jirma was, w T e knew,
not far distant. It was a strange and beautiful
scene. The water was as smooth as burnished steel,
and reflected, wherever the trees left an opening,
the thousand stars which strewed the sky : the tall
stems of the forest trees rose from this glittering
surface, and waved their sable plumes over our
heads ; whilst the fire-fly, or some equally luminous
insect, occasionally lit up first one tree and then
another, as if sparks of liquid gold were being
emitted from the rustling leaves.
Silently we lay on our oars, or rather pad-
dles ; not a sound of the flying canoe could be
heard : it w T as evident that the scout had escaped,
and it only remained for us to make the best of
106 THE WHIP AND MANGROVE SNAKES.
our way back again — a task which, in the ab-
sence of all excitement, we found an extremely
tough one ; indeed, we grounded so often on the
roots of the mangrove trees, that I proposed to
wade through the mud and water, dragging the
canoe after us. To this, however, the Malays would
in nowise listen, and spoke so earnestly of the
danger arising from a particular kind of snake, that
we thought it better to listen to them — a piece of
wisdom upon our part which gave rise to some con-
gratulations on the morrow, when, in company with
our advisers, we visited the mangrove swamp, and
found in the fork of many of the trees a perfect nest
of snakes. These, the Malays assured us, were
very venomous, yet the reptiles were not above a
foot or eighteen inches long, and about the girth of
a man's little finger ; the greatest peculiarity being
strong black markings about the body, which gave
them an appearance somewhat in keeping with their
bad reputation. Having, like most youths, read
every book which I could get hold of, descriptive of
wild beast, bird, and reptile, I, from my reading,
had been led to believe that the whip-snake was
everywhere most dangerous; and I must say — when
I observed a number of these long green-coloured
creatures hanging like tendrils from the trees we
THE WHIP AND MANGROVE SNAKES. 107
had in the darkness of the previous night been
pushing our way through — I felt thankful for our
escape. Touching one of the Malays who were
with me, I pointed at them and said, " They are
very bad." He smiled, and assured me they were
not by any means so dangerous as those in the
forks of the trees in the mangrove swamps.
103 MAHOMET ALEE DOES NOT ATTACK.
CHAP. IX.
Mahomet Alee does not attack. — Start Crane shooting. — Day-
break in Malay ia.— The Adjutant. — The " old Soldier ! "—
The "old Soldier" fishing. — The "old Soldier " weathers a
young Sailor. — No Cranes. — Plenty of Monkeys. — Monkeys
in a Passion. — A sudden Chase of a Prahu. — Birds'-Nests and
Pulo Bras Manna. — The edible-nest-building Swallow, Hi-
rundo esculenta ; Food ; Habits. — Decide upon seeing the
Nests collected. — Difficulties in the way of doing so. — Jam-
boo enjoying Company's pay. — Jamboo remonstrates. — A
scramble for Birds'-Nests. — The Malays descend the Face of
the Cliff. — The Home of the edible-nest-building Swallow.
— The Birds'-Nest Trade. — The Nests composed of Ge-
latin.
The chase by night was followed by no general
attack from the piratical fleet, and we surmised that
the scouts, having found us on the " qui vive" had
reported unfavourably of the probability of sur-
prising the blockading squadron, — a surmise which
the inhabitants of the neighbouring village after-
wards confirmed.
One middle watch in January, the look-out man
awoke me, and told me my sampan and gun were
ready as I had desired.
START CRANE-SHOOTING. 109
I could hardly conceive it possible to feel so cold
and cheerless at the short distance of 200 miles
from the equator as I then did. The mist of the
early night had fallen in the shape of dew, wetting
the decks and awnings as if it had been raining
heavily ; and a light breeze blowing down from the
Patani Hills struck a chill into my bones, already
stiffened by sleeping upon a hard and damp deck.
Day had as yet hardly dawned, but I was anxious
to try and get a shot at some flocks of elegant white
cranes of a small size which nightly roosted on a
clump of trees about a mile distant from my
anchorage ; and my only chance of being able to get
sufficiently near, was to be there before they flew
off to their feeding-grounds. Half lamenting I had
troubled myself with any such sporting mania, yet
unwilling to let the Malay see what a lazy individual
his captain was, I threw myself into the canoe,
grasped the paddle, and by a stroke or two awoke
to the interest of the spot before me, and the beau-
ties of a morning in Malaya.
The day dawn had already chased the stars away
from one half the bright heaven overhead ; the insect
world, so noisy from set of sun on the previous day,
had ceased their shrill note, whilst the gloomy forest
shook off its sombre hue, and, dripping with dew*
110 THE ADJUTANT.
glistened in many a varied tint, as the morning beams
played upon it, or streamed down through the
mountain gorges beyond. The Indian Sea laughed
with a thousand rippling smiles, and the distant
isles seemed floating on clouds of purple and gold as
the night mists rose from their level sea-boards,
and encircled the base of their picturesque peaks.
One could have cheered with joy and heartfelt
healthful appreciation of the glorious East ; but no !
not far beyond me, on a projecting shoal, stands the
tall adjutant, who had as yet baffled all our attempts
to shoot him — a very king of fishing-birds. He
formerly used to fish in the Parlis river, but our
seamen in the cutter, who would brook no competi-
tors in their poaching pursuits, fired and fired at the
poor adjutant without hitting it, until, by way of re-
venge, they nicknamed it the "old soldier" — a term
which in their estimation comprised all that was wary,
and difficult to catch at a disadvantage. " The old
soldier " loomed like a giant in the grey mist flowing
from the forest, and he evidently saw me as soon as
I did him ; but knowing from experience the distance
to which his enemies might be allowed to approach
with safety, he strutted out a pace or two into
deeper mud or water and pursued his fishing. I,
however, did not intend to fire until I reached the
THE "OLD SOLDIER" FISHING. Ill
crane?, which I could see clustering in some trees
ahead ; and the adjutant, as if fathoming my inten-
tions, or, what is more likely, taking me for a Malay
(who never disturbed him), let me pass within mo-
derate shot distance.
I was interested in seeing how he captured his
prey, and watched him narrowly. The bird stood
like a statue, in a foot of water and mud, the long
legs admirably supporting the comparatively small
body, a long neck, and such a bill ! It looked as
if it could cut a man in two and swallow him. Pre-
sently, from a perfect state of quietude, the adjutant
was all animation, the head moving rapidly about as
if watching its unconscious prey ; a rapid stride
or two into a deep gully of water, a dive with the
prodigious beak, and then the adjutant held in the
air what looked like a moderate-sized conger-eel.
Poor fish ! it made a noble fight ; but what chance
had it against an " old soldier " who stood ten feet
without stockings, and rejoiced in a bill as big as
one's thigh and some four feet long? The last I
saw of the poor conger-eel was a lively kick in
the air, as " the soldier " lifted his beak and shook
his breakfast down.
My resolution to shoot cranes alone was not proof
against the temptation. I saw before me, not only
112 "OLD SOLDIER" V. YOUNG SAILOR.
a thumping bird, but — alas ! for the frailty of a mid-
shipman's appetite! — a jolly good breakfast in the
contents of his maw. A more convincing proof of
my not being a thorough-bred sportsman could not
be adduced, than my allowing such base feelings to
actuate me. I stealthily laid my paddle into the
boat, capped my fowling-piece before lifting it from
between my feet ; but the " old soldier " had his eye
upon me, and directly I stopped paddling, com-
menced to walk away from his old position. By the
time I took aim, a long range intervened between us,
and, of course, all I did was to ruffle his feathers,
and send the " old soldier" off, as usual, at "the
double," — thus losing adjutant and fish, as well as
the cranes, which took flight when the echoes of the
forest carried the report to them.
My firing had, however, disturbed more than
cranes ; for a screeching and chattering noise in the
jungle on my right made me load again rapidly, and
paddle with all my strength for a nullah or water-
course, from which these sounds were, I felt certain,
coming. On obtaining a view of it, I saw at once
what was the matter — a school of black monkeys
had been alarmed ; and when I turned my canoe so
as to go up the narrow creek of water which led
into the forest, the fighting monkeys of the little
MONKEYS IN A PASSION. 113
party seemed determined to frighten me out of it.
I never saw anything so comical : the ladies and
babies retired, whilst about a dozen large monkeys,
perfectly black except their faces — which were grey
or white, giving them the appearance of so many
old men — sprang along the branches, that reached
across over my head. They worked themselves up
into a perfect fury, shrieking, leaping, and grinning
with rage. Once or twice they swung so close over
my head, that I expected they were going to touch
me ; but, amused beyond measure, I was determined
not to fire at the poor creatures. Whether, as in the
case of the " old soldier," my resolution was proof
against all temptation, I had not time to prove ;
for the sullen boom of a gun from Parlis river
rolled along the forest ; and being the signal for an
enemy in sight to seaward, I left the monkeys for
a future day, and hurried back to my vessel, just
reaching her in time to start in chase of a prahu that
had been seen running for an island called Pulo Bras
Manna. The breeze sprang up fresh and fair, and
my little vessel soon rattled over the eight miles of
distance which intervened, but not before the prahu
had disappeared behind the island. Skirting the
rocky shores of Pulo Bras Manna, we discovered the
prahu at anchor in a pretty little sandy bay, the only
I
114 EDIBLE BIIIDS'-NESTS.
one in the island. The nicodar, or master of the
prahu, hailed to say he was a friend; and, on my
getting alongside of him, showed proofs of her being
a peaceful trader, employed in collecting the edible
birds'-nests constructed by the " Hirundo esculenta?'
of naturalists, with which all these islands abound.
I was right glad to have an opportunity of gleaning
any information about an article of commerce so
novel and strange to all Europeans. The nicodar
informed me that all the adjacent islands yielded
birds'-nests for the Chinese market in a greater or
less degree, the more rocky and precipitous islands
yielding the larger quantity. The right of taking
them was for the time vested in Tonkoo Maho-
met Said of Quedah, on behalf of his sovereign ;
but he had farmed them out for a year to some
Penang merchant, who paid a certain rent, and
screwed as much more as he could out of the birds'-
nests. The nicodar of the prahu had entered into a
speculation by which he promised a certain number
of nests to the merchant, provided he might have the
surplus — an engagement which he assured me would
this year be a very losing one.
My attention had often been previously called to
the little birds which construct these curious nests.
They might be constantly seen skimming about the
EDIBLE-NEST-BUILDING SWALLOW. 115
surface of the sea in the neighbourhood of the Ma-
layan Islands. In form and feather they looked like
a connecting link between the common swallow and
the smallest of the petrel tribe — the Mother Carey's
chicken — -ever restless, ever in motion. Sometimes
they appeared to skim the water as if taking up
some substance with the bill from the surface ; at
other times darting, turning, and twisting in the air,
as if after fleet-winged insects. Yet neither in the
air nor on the water could the keenest eye amongst us
detect anything upon which they really fed. How-
ever, the Malays asserted that they fed upon insects
and upon minute creatures floating upon the surface
of the sea; and that, by some arrangement of the
digestive organs, the bird, from its bill, produced
the glutinous and clear-looking substance of which
its nest was constructed — an opinion in some manner
substantiated by the appearance of the nests, which
in structure resembled long filaments of very fine
vermicelli, coiled one part over the other, without
much regularity, and glued together by transverse
rows of the same material.
In form, the edible nests resemble the bowl of a
large gravy-spoon split in half longitudinally, and
are, in all respects, much smaller than the common
swallow's nest. The bird fixes the straight ed°-e
I 2
116 HABITS OF THE "HIRUNDO ESCULENTA."
against the rocks, generally preferring some dark
and shady crevice in a cliff, or a cave formed by the
wash of the waves of the sea. I am rather inclined
to believe that the swallow which constructs these
edible nests is a night bird, and that the day is by
no means its usual time for feeding ; indeed, I hardly
ever remember observing them, except early in the
morning, late in the evening, or in the deep shadow
afforded by some tall and overhanging cliff, and they
appeared to avoid sunlight or the broad glare of
day.
Although the nicodar of the prahu was necessarily
very civil, he did not willingly assent to my proposal
to accompany his men on their excursion to collect
nests ; but Jadee recommended me to wait quietly
until we saw his party starting, and then to proceed
and join them, nolens volens ; though he warned me
that curiosity would hardly induce me to undergo,
a second time, the risk the nest-gatherers went
through for large profits.
In a couple of hours' time we saw a party land
from the prahu and join some half-dozen Malays
who lived in a hut on the beach. Awakening my
interpreter, Jamboo, who being upon Company's pay
gave way to sleeping and rice-eating with a degree
of perseverance which astonished me, I hastened
JAMDOO REMONSTRATES. 117
uway with him, and before his eyes were well open
we were scrambling through brake and jungle, at a
headlong pace, the Malays having evidently deter-
mined to shake us off by hard walking. The conse-
quence was that poor Jamboo, with a howl, went
rolling over the rocks, and tried hard to detain me.
I saw only one remedy, and started off to catch the
nearest party of nest-gatherers, and keep them until
my worthy interpreter was able to join. I soon suc-
ceeded in showing them that a young sailor's legs
were as good as theirs ; and having a pistol with me,
there was no difficulty in making two Malays sit
down until Jamboo, in reply to my repeated hail,
came up, muttering at the hardships his duty as
a midshipman's interpreter was ever leading him into.
Laughingly consoling him by the strong doubts I
entertained of his ever again seeing his dear Penang,
I added : " Now, then, Jamboo, tell these fellows we
are going birds'-nesting with them."
" By Gad, sar ! you kill me, sar ! Me poor man,
sar ! What my mother do?" remonstrated poor
Jamboo.
" Never mind about the old lady," I replied ; "do
what I tell you, and come along. — Why, Jamboo, you,
the son of an Englishman, and not ashamed to talk
in that strain!" I continued; "fancy if your father
i 3
118 A SCRAMBLE FOR BIRDS'-NESTS.
could only see you, and hear that his son was afraid
of going birds'-nesting ! "
" Ah, sar !" replied Jamboo, " you only make play
now. My father very brave man — so my mother
say ; but I never see him ; and my mother never
teach me to go down dark holes with a little bit of
rope, and swing about in the air, all the same as
one bird."
I had at last to promise Jamboo that he should not
have to ce swing about in the air, all the same as one
bird," and thereupon he informed the two Malays
they w r ere to go on in the execution of their voca-
tion, but that we would keep with them.
The Malays had on little if any clothing: each
man carried a sharp bill hook, with which to cut
his way through the underwood, with an iron spike
of considerable length; and a torch made of bark
and the resins exuded from forest trees. A small
bag for containing the nests, and a coil of roughly-
made rope strong enough to support their weight,
together with a flint and steel, completed the equip-
ment.
We climbed a long though steep ascent which
led to some precipitous cliffs on the opposite side of
the little island. Our way led through a pretty close
jungle, with much underwood overgrowing rocks,
THE MALAYS DESCEND THE CLIFFS. 119
fissures, and boulders, in all directions : a more
break-neck walk I had never before undertaken ; and
as we went straight across country, over and through
everything, Jamboo's clothes, as well as mine, were
torn into shreds and decorated every thorn, or ragged
stump ; to add to the excitement, the Malays kept a
sharp eye about them in the hollows or where the
vegetation was very dank, and muttered the ominous
word " Oular ! " snake, as a warning to us. How-
ever, I felt that it was out of the question to depend
upon one's keenness of vision for security against
such reptiles, when the creepers and grass were up
to my waist, and sought a little consolation in my
friend the Haggi's creed of predestination.
At last we reached the edge of the cliff, which
stood about 200 feet above the sea, having many
deep fissures in its face and several caves at its base.
After sitting down to rest for a short time, the
Malays went to work. Each man drove his spike
very carefully in the ground, secured his rope to it,
slung his bag and torch across his back, and, after
repeating a Mahometan Pater-noster, lowered him-
self down the cliff by means of his rope, and pro-
ceeded to search the caves and crannies for birds'-
nests. Accustomed though I was, as a sailor, to see
great activity and much ri^k run, still it fell far short,
i 4
120 EDIBLE-NEST-BUILDING SWALLOW.
in my estimation, of that undergone by these Malays :
in some places they had to vibrate in the air like a
pendulum, to gather sufficient momentum to swing
in under some overhanging portion of the cliff, the
wretched rope by w T hich the man was suspended a
hundred feet above the chafing sea and rocks below,
cutting against the sharp edge of the cliff, to use
a nautical simile, " like a rope-yarn over a nail."
Here and there the men picked up a nest or two, but
at last one of them who had lowered himself down
to within ten or twelve feet of the water, shouted out
that he had discovered a cave thickly tenanted with
the birds, of which we had ocular demonstration by
the numbers that flew out when they heard his voice.
Leaving Jamboo to help me, should 1 fail in climb-
ing up as the Malays did, I slid down to the newly-
discovered cave of nests. The nest-seekers smiled at
my curiosity, and pointed into a cave with a narrow
entrance, out of which a smell was issuing which
partook neither of frankincense nor myrrh, and of an
inky darkness which the keenest eye could not pene-
trate. There was a narrow ledge of rock which led
into the cave, and on this w T e advanced until out of
the wind and daylight : the Malay now struck a light
and lit his torch, and his doing so was the signal for
the most infernal din mortal ears were ever pained
THE BIRDS'-NEST TRADE. 121
with ; the tiny chirp of the swallows being taken up
and multiplied a thousandfold by the beautiful echoes
of the cave, whilst huge bats flitted round us, and
threatened not only to put our light out, but to knock
us off the narrow ledge on which we stood, by a
rap on the head, into the black cleft below, which
seemed to descend to the very foundations of the
cliffs. Holding both hands to my ears, I asked the
Malay to show me the nests: he waved his torch about,
and pointed some of them out in spots overhead,
where it appeared as if only a gnome could have
gathered them; the poor Malay, however, explained
to me that he must go up and cut some saplings and
branches to form a ladder by which he could reach
those apparently inaccessible nests, though not, I
could well see, without considerable risk. Satisfied
with what I had seen, I returned to the top of
the cliff aided materially by the Malay, who, like a
goat, found footing where gulls could only have
roosted, and, joining Jamboo, we returned alone
through the forest to my little craft.
Then and afterwards I gleaned, from different
sources, that the trade in birds'-nests employed a
very large amount of capital and men. The loss of
life arising from accidents and exposure was ex-
traordinarily large ; but the high prices obtained
122 THE NESTS COMPOSED OF GELATIN.
insured no lack of labour. One person largely en-
gaged in the trade assured me that, on an average,
two out of five men employed in birds' -nesting met
with a violent death ; and, under those circum-
stances, it is not to be wondered at that a catty
(or pound and a quarter English) of the best nests
cost generally forty dollars, or about nine pounds
sterling !
The value of the nests depends upon their trans-
lucent whiteness and freedom from feathers or dirt ;
the first quality being those which evidently have
not been lined, or used, by the unfortunate little
swallows. Such nests are nothing but a morsel of
pure gelatin ; and having often eaten them in their
native state, I can vouch for their perfect tasteless-
ness; indeed, upon one occasion, after being twenty-
four hours without food, I enjoyed birds'-nests boiled
down in cocoa-nut milk.
The Chinese employ them largely, as well as beche
de mer, shark-fins, and other gelatinous substances, in
thickening their soups and rich ragouts.
DATOO MAHOMET ALEE S THREAT. 123
CHAP. X.
.Return to Parlis. — Datoo Mahomet Alee's sanguinary Threat.
— Jadee has, we find, sent an abusive Message. — Jadee
reproved. — Jadee's feelings are hurt. — Character of my
Native Crew. — A Page about Native Prejudices. — One of
the Malays mutinous. — Cure for Native Prejudices. —
Malayan Jungle-Scenery by Daylight. — Black Monkeys. —
A Monkey Parody upon Human Life. — English Seamen
and the Monkeys. — Scarcity of Fresh Water. — The Village
of Tamelan. — A Malay Chieftainess. — Watering. — Snakes
disagreeably numerous. — Stories of large Snakes.
From Pulo Bras Manna and birds'-nests we re-
turned again to Parlis, just saving daylight enough
to find our way over the bar and its shallows. On
reporting myself to the senior officer, I was not a
little astonished to learn that, in consequence of the
wanton insult received from me and my gun-boat, Da-
too Mahomet Alee had sent down an uncivil message,
declaring the (t Numero Tegas" hors de hi, and had
sworn by his beard, that so surely as he caught me,
or any of my crew, from the valiant Jadee to the
toiling Cam par, no mercy would be shown. Quite
at a loss to understand the origin of so sanguinary a
124 JADEE SENDS AN ABUSIVE MESSAGE.
threat — for I and Haggi Loang had parted the best
of friends — I guessed that Jadee had been at some
nefarious tricks. At first he pretended to suppose
that the wrath of the pirate arose from my destruc-
tion of his stockades ; but this I felt sure was not
the sole offence, and at last he acknowledged that
the Polyphemus who steered the canoe had jeered
at him, and insinuated that it was unbecoming for
Malay men to be commanded by a white boy, al-
luding to myself. To which Jadee had replied
by stating, it was his opinion that the mother of
not only the one-eyed gentleman, but those of the
gentry up the river in general, were no better than
they should be, — that their fathers were dogs, and
their chiefs pigs ! and the sooner they all came down
to try the strength of the Company's powder, the
better pleased he should be. I saw at once what
had excited Datoo Mahomet Alee's ire, and that he no
doubt identified me with Jadee. All my efforts to
point out to my worthy coxswain the impropriety of
his conduct failed: he was satisfied with having
brought about a state of feeling which added mate-
rially to the excitement of himself and crew ; and
although, whilst I was speaking to him, he seemed as
repentant as possible, I saw in a minute afterwards he
had forgotten my admonition, and would be a Malay
JADEE RE PROVED. — HIS FEELINGS IIURT. 125
in spite of me. With any other than an Asiatic, such
abuse and challenges would have partaken of the cha-
racter of mere bravado ; but it was not so in Jadee's
case ; and I had to be careful not to let him think I
fancied it was so : for on one occasion, when he asked
me what the Rajah Laut (Captain Warren) would
think of it, I said I feared he would be very angry,
and would rather doubt his courage than otherwise.
Jadee, I saw, was sadly hurt at this, sulked for a
day or two, and when I quietly got him into conver-
sation, he said if Captain Warren should really
express such an opinion, he had but one course, and
that at any rate would prove he did not fear Mahomet
Alee and all his crew put together. I knew what he
meant — to run a muck amongst the pirates, a des-
perate resource of every Malay when he fancies him-
self irredeemably injured in character, or when ren-
dered reckless by misery. Armed with his creese, one
man will, in such a mood, throw himself upon any
number of foes or friends, and stab right and left until
himself shot down or creesed as a mad dog would be.
With a little kindness, and a gentle introduction
to my small store of grog, of which Jadee had not a
Mahometan horror, I gradually brought him round
to a better frame of mind ; indeed, by the end of
the second month, I perfectly understood the cha-
12G CHARACTER OF MY NATIVE CREW.
racter and disposition of all my crew. Secure in the
feeling of awe for a white master which the native of
India and Malayia cannot shake off, I was enabled
to treat them far more familiarly than I could have
done English seamen, without subverting the disci-
pline of a man-of-war. I found them all obedient to
a degree, so far as I was personally concerned : but
there were sometimes irregularities arising from Ja-
dee's imperious treatment of them, or from the feel-
ing of utter contempt in which they (the seamen)
held my interpreter, the worthy Jamboo — a feeling
arising purely, I fancy, from his being an unfortunate
half-caste, a man of no nation nor blood.
Whenever these cases did occur, I punished the
Malays exactly as we were in the habit of doing
Englishmen ; and although they sometimes stared at
the novelty, the system answered admirably, notwith-
standing that the native gentleman in the "Diamond"
gun-boat assured me it must end in mutiny and
danger to my person. Like all Asiatics, the Malay,
if he finds you will listen to what are termed national
prejudices, will produce an endless store of them, to
avoid doing anything but what happens to please
him. He sees a Sepoy soldier encouraged in all
sorts of prejudices ; he sees a fellow who would
quiver under your very look, were you alone with
A TAGE ABOUT NATIVE PREJUDICES. 127
him in an open field, allowed to be grossly abusive
and insolent to an English officer, if the latter should
by accident touch his water-jar, or cross the magic
circle drawn round his cooking-place, under the plea
that his Brahmin or Mahometan prejudices, forsooth,
have been infringed upon; and the Malay, very
naturally, would like to have some recognised pre-
judices likewise.
The one they wished to establish in our little
squadron was the right of treating the wretched
half-caste interpreter with contumely. I determined
to dispute the prejudice; and although the affair
occurred later in the blockade than the period I am
now referring to, still I shall relate it now, as illus-
trative of one of the many misapprehensions people
labour under with respect to Malays. A prahu had
escaped me one night, owing to the want of vigilance
in the look-out men, and I, in consequence, made ar-
rangements for Jadee, the interpreter, and myself, to
take the watch in turn, besides stationing a look-out
man as usual. One night, after Jamboo had re-
lieved me at twelve o'clock, I lay upon deck, but
could not sleep, fancying I heard some unusual
noises in our neighbourhood. Jamboo went forward
in a quarter of an hour's time, and found the look-
out man sound asleep. On rousing him, the fellow
128 OXE OF THE MALAYS MUTINOUS.
• — a young, smart, but excessively saucy Malay — in-
stead of thanking him, called him an abusive name.
I desired Jamboo to give him an extra hour as
sentry. Shortly afterwards, the Malay was again off
his post, and again abusive. I got up, and spoke to
him, assured him of a severe punishment if he per-
sisted in such conduct and language ; but it was of
no avail, and, about two o'clock, a, fracas took place,
in which I heard the Malay apply the foulest epithet
in his language to the interpreter ; and he persisted
in repeating it when I ordered him to be silent ; in
short, he became so violent and threatening, I had
to iron and lash him down.
I saw that there would be an end to my authority,
if the fellow was not punished by a severe flogging ;
and I sought Mr. B 's authority for carrying it
into execution. He advised me to see the native
officer, who commanded the senior gun-boat, in the
first place, but fully sanctioned a severe punishment.
Mr. S was very averse to any such thing, and
wanted to stop the prisoner's rice or his pay. I
was obstinate, however, and carried my point, al-
though he warned me of all sorts of fatal conse-
quences likely to ensue.
Next day, with all due formalities, I carried the
law into execution, lashing the culprit to the bow
CURE FOR NATIVE PREJUDICES. 129
gun. He could hardly believe his senses ; and when
the first lash was laid on, shouted for a rescue, and
appealed to his countrymen not to look on and
see him beaten like a dog : he altered his tone,
nevertheless, when he found no rescue likely to come,
and vowed never to disobey me again — a promise
he afterwards faithfully kept ; and from that time I
had no more trouble in " No. 3." with that national
prejudice, at any rate, and slept just as soundly, and
placed just as much faith in my swarthy crew, as
ever I had done, without having any cause to rue it,
the culprit eventually becoming one of my right hand
men.
I had not forgotten the fact that monkeys abounded
in our neighbourhood; and although both my bro-
ther-midshipman and myself perpetrated all sorts of
atrocities at first in shooting the poor creatures, we
soon desisted, and satisfied ourselves with wasting
pow T der and shot on less interesting creatures. Mon-
key Creek, as we termed the place which they most
frequented, was our usual afternoon lounge ; and
after our light and necessarily wholesome dinner
(consisting of Her Majesty's rations adorned with a
little rice, and occasionally a plate of fish), Bar-
clay and I did not, of course, feel a siesta by any
means necessary, but jumping into the sampan, we
K
130 INDIAN JUNGLE-SCENERY.
would paddle gently up Monkey Creek, to enjoy the
cool shade of the forest and amuse ourselves. Pass-
ing clear of the belt of mangrove, we soon floated
amongst the luxuriant vegetation of an Indian
jungle ; the underwood here and there giving place
to small patches of grass or weed. Large alligators
which had been ashore on either bank launched them-
selves slowly into the creek, or turned round and
kept a steady watch with their cruel-looking yellow
eyes. Bright-coloured iguanas and strange-shaped
lizards shuffled along the banks, or lay on the branches
of trees, puffing themselves up so as to look like
nothing earthly; the shrill call of the pea-hen and the
eternal chattering of monkeys gave life and ani-
mation to a scene which did not lack interest or
beauty. Pushing our canoe in amongst the over-
hanging wild vines and creepers so as to hide her,
we sat quietly smoking our cigars to await the
curiosity of the monkeys : it was not long before
they commenced their gambols or attempts to frighten
us. A string of black ones, whose glossy coats would
have vied in beauty with that of a black bear, came
breaking through the trees with frantic cries, and
threw themselves across the creek, and back again,
with amazing energy ; then a hoarse sound made us
turn suddenly, with a flashing suspicion of Malay
A MONKEY TAKODY UrON HUMAN LIFE. 131
treachery, to meet the gaze of a face almost human,
with a long grey beard, which was earnestly watch-
ing us through the foliage of a withered tree ; bring
a gun to the shoulder, and the old man's head would
be seen to leap away upon the disproportionate body
of some ape. But nothing could equal in ludicrous
interest a family monkey-scene taking place in some
clear spot at the base of a tree. There a respectable
papa might be seen seated against the roots, stretch-
ing out his legs, enjoying the luxury of a scratch,
and overlooking with patriarchal pride, and no small
degree of watchfulness, the gambols of his son or
daughter ; while with fond solicitude his better
half, a graceful female monkey, was employed
turning aside the tufts of grass, as if seeking nuts
or berries for the little one ; then she would clutch
the little rascal, and roll over with him, in all
the joyousness of a young mother, and he, the tiny
scamp, shrieked, pouted, and caressed her, like any
master Johnny or dear Billy would have done. The
whole scene was a burlesque upon human na-
ture : unable to contain ourselves any longer, we
burst into roars of laughter. The father leapt at
once on a neighbouring branch, and shaking it with
rage, whoo-whoo'd ! at us through a very spiteful
set of teeth ; the lady screamed, the baby squealed
K 2
132 ENGLISH SEAMEN AND THE MONKEYS.
and jumped to her breast, clasped its little arms round
her neck, and its legs round her chest, and then with
a bound she was off and away with her " tootsy
pootsy;" papa following, and covering her retreat
with venomous grins at us, whom he evidently con-
sidered only a superior breed of apes.
Such scenes we often witnessed ; and, to the En-
glishmen in the cutter, the monkeys afforded an
endless source of mirth ; and the quaint comparisons
they drew between some of these sylvans in the
forests of Quedah, and sundry Daddies Brown, or
Mothers Jones, at Portsmouth or Plymouth, though
extremely laughable and witty, would, I fancy, have
been thought far from flattering, had they been heard
by the old people in question.
The main difficulty experienced in maintaining a
close blockade of a coast such as Quedah, arose from
the want of fresh water with which to supply the
daily wants of our men. On Crab Island, all the
wells we dug yielded only salt water; the river was
always brackish ; and as the dry season advanced,
the wells upon the islands to which we usually re-
sorted began to fail us. We were despatched in
quest of water, and, at the suggestion of one of
the men, who knew this neighbourhood, proceeded
to a place called Tamelan.
THE VILLAGE OF TAMELAN. 133
This village was about twenty miles distant, and
situated on a small river called the " Setoue," which
discharges itself into a very picturesque but shallow
bay.
After some difficulty, we discovered the " Setoue,"
and proceeded up it a few miles, and alarmed the
inhabitants of Tamelan not a little by our sudden
arrival. The village was prettily situated on a high
bank, and consisted of about a hundred neatly-built
mat houses, scattered through a grove of cocoa-nut
trees, which extended for a mile in a line along the
Setoue river ; either end of the cocoa-nut grove
rested on a dense jungle, which swept, with a large
semicircular curve, behind the village, leaving ample
clearance for the rice-fields and wells of the inha-
bitants. Tamelan, strangely enough for a country
where women are not held in high repute, was under
the rule of a petty chieftainess, called "Nicodar
Devi ; " her title of Nicodar arising from her pos-
sessing the prahus which had carried these Malay
settlers to the reconquered village.
We of course gave her brevet rank, and christened
her Queen Devi; and a perfect little queen she was.
A messenger immediately waited upon me, offering
all she had, and trusting we would not molest her
people. I immediately visited the Malay queen, and
k 3
134 A MALAY CHIEFTIANESS.
soon set her mind at rest by stating that we merely
wanted water. She sent men to deepen the wells
ready for the morrow, and, in short, did all that
was possible to assist me. Nothing could exceed the
respect and deference paid to this lady by her clan ;
and we soon learnt to appreciate the kind and hos-
pitable chieftainess — the first Indian woman I had
as yet seen treated otherwise than as a drudge or a
toy.
She was not more than five-and -thirty, and still
very good looking ; her manner was extremely lady-
like and authoritative, and I took good care she
should be treated with the utmost respect by all my
people. The inhabitants of Tamelan and Numero
Tega soon became great friends, and they willingly
sold us all they could spare of fruit or fowl.
While my crew filled the water-casks and embarked
them, I generally employed myself butchering doves,
wild pigeons, and orange-coloured orioles, which fed
in large numbers in the open grounds or amongst the
houses.
There was only one serious drawback to sporting
such as mine, and that consisted in the great number of
snakes which were to be found in the cleared grounds,
especially in the neighbourhood of the many holes dug
as wells by the Malays. I fancy the great heats an
SNAKES. 135
long droughts had caused these reptiles to congre-
gate where water was only to be found. The
Malays killed them in numbers ; I counted on one
occasion no less than eight of these reptiles lying
together, all crushed in the head, and although not
large in girth, they varied in length from five to seven
feet
The natives of Tamelan declared most of them to
be of the boa-constrictor species, not dangerous in
their bite, but, when large, capable of killing a man
or a strong deer by enveloping him in their folds :
they said it was their poultry which principally suf-
fered, but spoke of monsters in the deep forests,
which might, if they came out, clear off the whole
village — a pleasant feat for which Jadee, with a wag
of his sagacious head, assured me that an " Oular
Bessar," or big snake, was quite competent.
It was strange but interesting to find amongst all
Malays a strong belief in the extraordinary size to
which the boa-constrictors or Pythons would grow :
they all maintained, that in the secluded forests of
Sumatra or Borneo, as well as on some of the smaller
islands which w T ere not inhabited, these snakes were
occasionally found of forty or fifty feet in length ;
and the vice of incredulity not being so strong in
me then as it is now, I gave full credence to their
K 4
136 STORIES OF LARGE SNAKES.
tales, and consoled myself by remembering, when my
faith was taxed by some tougher tale than usual, that
my respected schoolmaster in the village of Chud-
leigh had birched into me the fact, attested by even a
Pliny, that a snake 120 feet long had disputed the
passage of a Roman army on the banks of the Ba-
grada, and killed numbers of legionaries before its
skin could be secured to adorn the Capitol.
JADEE DECLINES TO CLEAN THE COPPER. 137
CHAP. XL
Jadee declines to clean the Copper. — A Malay Prejudice.
— A Malay Mutiny. — The lost Sheep return. — The Dif-
ficulty surmounted. — Malayan mechanical Skill. — An
Impromptu Dock. — An Accident, and quick Repairs. —
Launch, and resume Station. — Loss of my Canoe. — A
Sampan constructed. — The Malayan Axe or Adze. — In-
genious mode of applying native Materials in Construction of
Boats.
I HAD but one fracas in my gun-boat with my
Malays, which, considering how young and inexpe-
rienced I was as a commander, was less than might
have been expected ; but as it assumed a rather
serious character at one time, and showed the dispo-
sition of my men, it may be worth relating.
I had repeatedly pointed out to the coxswain,
Jadee, that it was highly necessary, with a view to
preserving the speed of the " Emerald," that the
copper with which her bottom was covered should be
kept as clean as possible, and where it was visible
that it should shine like that of the "Hyacinth" — a
vessel I naturally looked upon as my model in every
nautical respect.
138 A MALAY PREJUDICE.
Jadee, however, shirked the question, and the
copper did not improve. I then ordered him to
clean it on the morrow, employing the whole crew
for the purpose. He began a long rigmarole story
about Malaymen not liking to clean copper.
I cut him short by saying white men did not
much like doing it, either ; but it was our principle to
clean every part of a vessel, and that at 9 o'clock
in the forenoon on the morrow I expected to see
that the work had been done. I dined with Barclay
on board the cutter, and paddled myself back in the
evening in my canoe, and although Jadee received
me respectfully, I saw he was sulky : like more
civilised first-lieutenants, he wanted to have his own
way ; but I took no notice of that until next morning,
when at the proper time I looked over the side and
found the copper still very dirty. I need scarcely
say I was very angry.
Jadee caught a thorough good wigging, and said
something about being afraid of ordering the men to
do it. I immediately desired him to pipe " Hands
clean copper ! " He did so. <e Every man in a
bowling knot and over the side ! " I next directed ;
and then, seeing that they knew what I wanted
done, and were at work, I said, in all the Malay I
could muster, that the copper was to be cleaned
A MALAY MUTINY. 139
daily, and pointed out the necessity of a clean
bottom to catch fast prahus — a truism I could see
they were perfectly aware of. All hands were soon
splashing about cleaning the copper, and I fancied
my difficulties at an end ; addressing Jadee, I told
him that I had had to do at 9 o'clock what he
should have commenced at 5 o'clock ; but that
when the copper was clean, he could call his people
out of the water, and meantime I was going to shoot
in my canoe. He bowed silently, as if accepting my
reproof, and I left the " Emerald." Firing at alli-
gators and kingfishers, cranes, fishhawks, and wild
pigeons, I did not return for three or four hours.
As I was paddling past the cutter, my friend Barclay
hailed me, to say I had better go and see what had
happened, as Mr. Jadee and all the crew had just
passed him, swimming and wading towards the senior
gun-boat, the " Diamond," but he could not under-
stand what they said. On reaching the " Emerald,"
I found no one on board of her but the cook and
Jamboo. The latter was in a great fright, and
vowed he did not know what would next happen, as
all the crew »had struck work after cleaning the
copper, and, with Jadee at their head, had gone to
the half-caste officer on board the " Diamond " to
say so. Much amused at the novelty of a man-of-
140 THE LOST SHEEP RETURN.
war's crew swimming away from her, I disguised
my anger, and leaving word with Jamboo to say,
when they returned, that they should not have
gone out of the " Emerald " without my permission,
I proceeded to explain to Barclay all that had
occurred.
He of course was very indignant at what with
Englishmen would have been accounted mutiny. I
begged him, however, not to be too severe, and to
give Jadee and his men an opportunity of coming
round quietly. Leaving me, therefore, on board
the cutter, he went to the "Diamond," and there
found Mr. S in a state of great excitement at
what had taken place, and vowing some direful acci-
dent would occur to me, if I did not study the native
character a little more, instead of carrying out my
orders in so strict a manner. Barclay, however, was
an excellent clear-headed officer, and he knew I
was generally considerate to the men ; he there-
fore desired Mr. S to point out to Jadee that
he had committed a sad breach of discipline, and
that so surely as I reported him or others officially,
for deserting their colours in the face of an enemy,
he would be put in irons and sent off for Captain
Warren to adjudicate upon ; and, as an only alter-
native, the best thing they could do was to hurry
TIIE DIFFICULTY SURMOUNTED. 141
back before I discovered that they were absent upon
anything but amusement.
Finding his little scheme fail, Jadee, like a wise
man. yielded at once, swam ashore, crossed Pulo
Quetam with his men, and went off to the gun-
boat, resuming their usual avocations as if nothing
had happened.
About a couple of hours afterwards I returned
on board, reprimanded him for going to collect shell-
fish (a common employment during the day) with-
out my sanction, and then, raising my voice, said,
" Clean the copper again to-morrow morning, and
give me the name of the first man who hesitates to
doit!"
Next morning Jadee reported all ready for quarters
at nine o'clock ; and, with a roguish twinkle in his
eye, asked if I was satisfied with the copper. I
found it as bright as a new penny. Through the
interpreter, I then quietly told the men that I had
heard some of them did not like cleaning the copper.
I was sorry for it ; and, in order that they might es-
cape from it, I should, the very first opportunity I
had, take to Captain Warren all those that objected.
The copper soon became so bright that I had to
check their polishing ardour; and some days after-
wards I intentionally ran upon a sandbank, and was
142 MALAYAN MECHANICAL SKILL.
left high and dry by the ebbing tide, spending the
whole of a tide cleaning every part of my gun-boat's
bottom ; and found the crew work as if there never
had been a difficulty upon the subject, Jadee setting
the most zealous example. Henceforth the swim of
Master Jadee became a joke ; and when I saw him
looking sulky, I used generally to put all smooth
again by saying, " Don't go swimming again, Jadee ;
tell me what your reasons are for not liking what I
have said, and I will give you a white man's reasons
for desiring it should be done."
The general skill of the Malays as handicraftsmen
often struck me ; and they were in nowise inferior
to our English seamen in that invaluable quality
of finding expedients in a time of need where none
appeared to exist — a quality known among sailors
under the general term nous. No difficulty ever
arose, in the shape of carpentering, sail-making,
or seamanship, that I did not find among my thirty
men some one capable of meeting it, although none
of them were professed artificers.
My gun-boat's rudder had become slightly injured
at the lower part, in crossing the bar during a squally
dark night, and I determined to construct a tidal
dock on the mud-bank which ran out from Pulo
Quetam, and there remedy the defect.
AN IMPROMPTU DOCK. 143
Directly I explained to Jadee what I wanted, he
and a quarter-master said it could easily be done,
and offered to construct it in such a way that, with
a little trouble, we could launch into the river off the
bank at any time of tide. I willingly assented, and
next day all hands went to work. A spot was chosen
at low water, and an excavation made, until good
firm clay was reached ; the shovels and pickaxes
being for the most part impromptu ones, made by
the Malays out of the hard wood of the neighbour-
ing jungle. Small trees were then cut in lengths
the width of the dock, all the branches neatly lopped
off, and the trunks were laid across, to form sleepers,
secured firmly in their places by wooden pegs, driven
down through them at either end into the clay ;
these sleepers were carried down in a line reaching
well into the water when the tide was at its lowest ;
and then two stringers of squared-out timber were
laid down longitudinally on the aforesaid sleepers,
so as to take the gun-boat's bilge, should she incline
on one side or the other ; and they likewise extended
from the dock down to dead low-water mark.
The object of these stringers was to form a way
upon which the gun-boat might be launched at any
time into the river without waiting for the tide to
rise and float her. In six tides everything was as
144 AN IMPROMPTU DOCK.
neatly and cleverly finished as if I had had a body
of English shipwrights. At high water we placed
the " Emerald " over our dock, which was carefully
marked out with poles; and as the water fell,
although it was night time, the vessel was admirably
squared and shored up : the whole strength of a
British dockyard could have done no better.
At low water we repaired the rudder ; and, as
every movable article had been shifted out of the
gun-boat, to make her as light as possible, we ad-
journed under the trees of Pulo Quetam, to eat our
breakfast, and listen to the various tales of my men,
of how the natives of the different parts of the archi-
pelago clock their prahus or secrete them in their
low and tide-flooded jungles.
Suddenly the " Hyacinth " hove in sight from
Parlis, with the signal up, " I wish to commu-
nicate ; " and Mr. Barclay sent me word that if
I could get afloat at once I was to do so, as he
was going off to the ship. I had my doubts;
for the " Emerald " was built very solidly, and of
heavy teak ; but Jadee smiled at my doubts, and
although he acknowledged he had never played the
prank before, still he felt confident of being able to
launch her now.
The plan was to ease her bilge down upon the
AN ACCIDENT QUICKLY REPAIRED. 145
longitudinal sleeper on one side, knock away the
stern shores, and then, aided by the natural inclina-
tion of the bank, let her slip down to the water, so
as to float with the first of the flood-tide instead
of at high water. We secured the masts carefully,
lashed the stoutest tackles and hawsers half-way
up them for easing the vessel down, drove two
stout Sampson-posts into the mud to secure the
easing-down tackles, and when all was done, the
shores on one side were cut away, and the strain
allowed to come on the posts and tackles ; unhappily,
one of the latter got foul, jerked, and carried away,
and in a moment my poor craft fell on her side
with a heavy surge, and, as ill-luck would have it,
a piece of one of the shores, left accidentally, stove
a plank very badly between two of the floor-
timbers.
There was no time to be lost ; the tide would soon
make, and if my gun- boat filled, I knew I should, in
midshipman's phraseology, " catch it." My men set at
once to work. Jadee and two good hands started off
to cut wood to repair the damage, whilst I superin"
tended the wedging-up of the gun-boat, so as to take
the strain off the injured part, and disengage the
piece of wood on which the vessel was impaled. By
the time we were ready, Jadee returned with a piece
L
146 LOSS OF MY CANOE.
of green but hard wood, cut out of a felled tree, and
this formed an admirable patch. In a short time, the
" Emerald " was as sound as ever ; and two hours
after the accident had happened, we resumed our
station off Parlis.
Another example of their skilful handling of the
raw materials the jungle afforded, was in the con-
struction of a sampan, or native boat. I had lost my
little canoe ; but on one of the islands called Pulo
Pangang, or Long Island, good fortune threw in our
way two long planks, of a wood named p on, about
two inches thick, and maybe each was thirty feet
long. Jadee exclaimed immediately, " Ah ! Sutoo
(the quarter-master) will build you a sampan now,
Touhan." I gave him full permission to do so, won-
dering withal how it was to be done, for we had not,
I knew, a handful of nails in the gun-boat, and our
stock of carpenter's tools consisted of two native
axes and an old hammer, which latter article, named
a toukel4)esee, was, by the bye, always in Jadee's
hands, for he delighted in noise ; and, when not
better employed, his pleasure consisted in hammering
home, for the hundred and fortieth time, all the un-
fortunate nails in my argosy.
Next day, the quarter- master (Sutoo) and his two
assistants landed on Pulo Quetam, with the said tools
THE MALAYAN AXE OR ADZE. 147
and the quantity of plank I have mentioned : three
weeks afterwards, a nice little boat, about twenty-
two feet long, capable of containing ten persons, and
pulling four ours, was launched ! The only expense
or trouble I was put to consisted in the purchase of
a rupee's worth of damar, a resinous substance
applied generally in Malay ia to the same purposes
for which we use pitch and tar.
The little Malay axe, in the hands of these
ingenious fellows, had done all the work, and, as a
tool, it is unique. The handle is about two and a
half feet long, light and tough, and capable of being
used in one hand ; moreover, it has a curve in it like
the handle of an English adze. Over the tool end
of this handle, a neat rattan grafting is worked in
such a manner that the haft of the tool may be held
firmly in its place. This tool is in form very like a
broad ripping-chisel, except that the blade is not more
than three and a half inches long. The workman
uses it as an axe or an adze, as he may wish, by
simply turning the blade one way or the other in the
groove of the handle ; and, when necessary, he can
take it out of the long handle, fit it temporarily into
any rough piece of wood, and make a chisel.
No tree is too big, no wood too hard, for this little
tool in the hands of these dexterous fellows : with it
iu 2
148 MODE OF APPLYING NATIVE MATERIALS.
my men had cut out a keel, stern, and stern-post for
my sampan, dove-tailed them together, and secured
them with strong pegs. The planks were then
bevelled and countersunk into the keel, secured
there with more wooden pegs, which seemed to do
as well as nails in their hands; and, by means of
dowell-pins, the two planks were brought carver
fashion on each side, one edge on top of the other,
the interstices filled up w T ith damar and a felt-like
substance collected from palm trees.
The boat was still too low on each side to float,
and as cutting a plank of two inches thick out of
a tree with an adze would have been a tedious job, I
was curious to see how that difficulty was to be sur-
mounted. They did not keep me long in suspense.
Long bamboo dowell-pins were let into the edge of
the upper plank by means of a red-hot ramrod which
was used as an auger. The stems (or, botanically
speaking, the midribs) of the leaves of a dwarf palm
were next collected, and driven down longitudinally
one on top of another on these dowell-pins, until the
gunwale had been raised to the necessary height, and
then a neat rattan work secured all down to the
slight timbers. The thwarts w T ere soon put in, de-
pendent solely upon the timbers and a light sort of
stringer of bamboo, which ran round the interior
MODE OF APPLYING NATIVE MATERIALS. 149
of the sampan, and served to bind all firmly in a
longitudinal direction. A primitive species of thole-
pin was next secured, and then the paddles cut out ;
and thus the "Emerald junior" was built. On an
emergency, such a simply constructed craft might
have carried a crew from Quedah to Singapore ;
and, at any rate, I hardly think we can say of a
people capable of exhibiting such skill in the
adaptation of the crude materials at hand to nautical
purposes, that they are an unintelligent race or de-
ficient in mechanical ingenuity ; and that we should
allow them a higher place amongst Eastern nations
than the earlier writers seem inclined to yield to
them. The Portuguese historian, De Barros, for
example, sums them up as " a vile people, whose
dwelling was more on the sea than the land." If
this be a crime in the Malay, I may say there are
other nations of the present day most certainly to be
included in the same category,
c 3
150 BETURN TO QUEDAH.
CHAP. XII.
Keturn to Quedah. — Native Defences. — The "Teda bagoose."
— Scaring an Ally. — Difficulties which accounted for the
Delay of the Siamese. — Inchi Laa acknowledges the Effects
of our Blockade. — Severity towards the Malays. — A Prahu
full of Fugitives captured. — Intelligence suddenly gained
of Siamese Army. — Deserters. — The Malay Forces out-
manoeuvred. — Serious Losses of the Malays. — Inchi Laa.
Shameful Atrocities of the Malays. — Exchange of Cour-
tesies. — Permission given for the Women to escape. — Pre-
parations for Flight.
About February the 20th, I returned to my old
station oil Quedah, the two blockading divisions of
boats changing their posts. The only perceptible
alteration was the completion of a fascine battery
we had remarked the Siamese prisoners to be at work
upon in December, and that a few more guns had
been placed in defensive positions around the old fort.
A gingal battery, constructed for overlooking the ap-
proaches of an enemy, was an interesting specimen of
Malayan woodcraft and ingenuity. When clearing
away the jungle to construct the fascine battery, we
observed that they spared four or five lofty trees
NATIVE DEFENCES. 151
which were growing near together ; these trees now
served as supports to a platform of bamboos, which
was hoisted up and lashed as high as possible
in a level position ; all superfluous branches were
lopped off, and the whole well frapped* together
with cords, so that the cutting away of one tree
alone would not endanger the structure. A cross-
piece, or breastwork, was built upon the platform,
overlooking the landward side, and then a long and
ugly swivel-gun was mounted, such as we, in the
<lays of good Queen Bess, should have styled a demi-
culverin ; and the whole was lightly thatched over
to shelter the wardours, a light ladder of twisted
withies enabling them to communicate with the bat-
tery below. A more formidable obstacle in the way
of scouting parties and skirmishers, or to prevent
a sudden assault, could not, in a closely wooded
country, have been extemporised.
Our rigid blockade had evidently pressed sadly
upon the Quedah folks : they looked big, but were
low-spirited; the fishermen had ceased to visit their
weirs ; few canoes were to be seen pulling about off
the town, and when we inquired where they had all
* " Frapping " is a term used when two spars, or stout
ropes, are bound together by a cord which drags them out of
their natural position or right lines.
l 4
152 THE "TEDA BAGOOSE."
gone, we were informed that the fighting men had
marched to ravage the Siamese territory. As yet no
signs of our allies, and in a few weeks' time the dry
season would be drawing to a close. To be sure, a
queer-looking brig had joined us, under Siamese
colours, and commanded by two captains ! the fight-
ing captain a Siamese, the sailing one a Penang
half-caste; but the care they took to keep out of gun-
shot of Quedah fort argued but little for the pluck
or enterprise of our allies. We gun-boats, unknown
to Captain Warren, used often to run alongside the
brig, which rejoiced in at least a dozen guns of dif-
ferent size and calibre, and try hard to get the
skippers to move sufficiently close in to draw the
Malay fire ; but it was no use : the worthy fighting
captain would only shake his head, and say, " Teda
bagoose ! teda bagoose ! " or, No good ! no good ! We
therefore named the brig the " Teda Bagoose,"
a sobriquet which, to say the least of it, was not
complimentary to His Majesty of Siam.
The skipper, however, was a man of a forgiving
disposition, and evidently held me in great respect,
after I presented him with a gold cap- band in token
of our alliance ; and he often came to listen to
Jadee's glowing death's-head and marrow-bone stories
of what a thorough-bred Malay pirate would do with
SCARING AN ALLY. 153
the brig and her crew, if it should be her good for-
tune to fall into the hands of such gentry. Jadee
was sore that the Siamese should appear in the
character of conquerors over his countrymen, and
evidently took a malicious delight in frightening
them, when he found we could not hope to draw
them into a scrape — an amiable amusement in
which I believe he perfectly succeeded. The brig,
however, moved off to about half-way to where the
" Hyacinth " usually anchored, and remained there
until, one day, in a fit of heroism, they attacked and
captured a messenger, called Inchi Laa, who used
to pass, under a flag of truce, from the Malayan
authorities to Captain Warren; and as they got a
severe snubbing for doing so, and Jadee playfully
informed them that our Rajah Laut was not unlikely,
if they committed similar breaches of etiquette on
the high seas (which, of course, all belonged to the
Company), to blow them and their brig out of
water, she weighed one fine morning, and was not
again seen until the close of the blockade.
" Hope deferred maketh the heart sick;" and when
March came in without any appearance of the army
of 30,000 Siamese that were on the 1st of December
to have marched from Siam against Quedah province,
we began to hold our dark-skinned allies uncommonly
154 DIFFICULTIES OF THE SIAMESE ARMY.
cheap as belligerents, whatever they might be in
other respects. Looking, however, at a map of the
Malayan peninsula., and taking into consideration the
wild and, in many places, pathless jungle which covers
it, it did appear to be an undertaking of some
magnitude for any Asiatic army, unsupported with all
the European appurtenances of war, to march from
Bankok to Quedah, crossing numbers of deep and
rapid, though short, streams which flow from the
central mountains to the sea on either side, and by
which the active and amphibious Malays could always
threaten their flanks or throw themselves on their
line of communication. To check this manoeuvre,
however, was our purpose in blockading the piratical
squadrons, and, as the result proved, we were per-
fectly successful. On March 4th, the Secretary to
Tonkoo Mahomet Said, a Malay gentleman in every
acceptance of the word, named Inchi Laa, whom I
have before mentioned, came off from Quedah to
communicate with Captain Warren. We all ob-
served an expression of anxiety in the generally calm
and handsome face of the Inchi; and as he was
detained some time on board the blockading boats,
we had an opportunity of asking him a few questions.
He owned that our rigid blockade of the coast was
a sad calamity to the Malays; the more so that it
THE EFFECT OF OUR BLOCKADE. 155
showed we were determined to support the Siamese
in their unjust sovereignty of Quedah. We pre-
vented the Malays, he said, availing themselves of
the sea and rivers, for carrying out the tactics of a
race who had no equals upon the water except the
" Orang-putihs ; " and that, apart from stopping rein-
forcements and supplies of powder and arms, we
distressed them sorely from the stoppage of supplies
of salt, without which they could not live, and all
of which had to be imported.
To our queries about the present position of the
Siamese forces Inchi Laa was more reserved, ex-
cept that he said, with exultation, that the Siamese
fled before Tonkoo Mahomet Type-etam, and that
the latter — a distinguished Malay warrior, whom
we all knew by ill-repute — had, after severe fight-
ing, taken and destroyed the town of Sangorah,
on the shores of the opposite sea.
Sangorah we knew to be an important town, the
seat of government in the Malay u- Siamese province
of Ligor, and the authorities charged with the ad-
ministration of the tributary Malay states — such as
Patani, Calantan, and Quedah— usually resided there.
It did not deserve the sounding term of " the great,
the beautiful Sangorah ! " applied to it. by an editor
of a local journal, in the Straits of Malacca; but
156 SEVERITY TOWARDS THE MALAYS.
it was, doubtless, a severe loss to the Siamese, and
likely to raise the whole of the tributary states, in
the hope of shaking off an allegiance at all times
irksome. We naturally were disappointed at the
news, in so far as our hopes of a brush with Quedah
fort were concerned ; but, somehow or other, one
could not help feeling admiration for the Malays — a
people without a nation or dwelling-place — driven
out of the peninsula by the Siamese and Portuguese
in days long, long gone by ; persecuted and harassed
into piracy, by the practice and example of the Spa-
niard and Dutchman ; and then, in our day, hunted
down, shot, and hung as felons, unless they would,
on the instant, eschew evil practices which had been
bred in their very nature by the rapacity and in-
justice of European nations.
The Inchi, however, left us impressed with the
belief that there was a reservation in what he had
told us — but what that reservation was, no one could
guess until the morrow, when the facts came to us
by mere accident. I had gone off with my gun-
boat to the "Hyacinth," for the purpose of obtaining
permission to practise my crew at firing at a target,
when, from the ship, a prahu was seen to come out
of the jungle some three or four miles south of Que-
dah. We were sent after it, and, after a long chase,
(JAPTUKE OF FUGITIVES. 157
we caught and brought her to. She was full of women
and children, packed as close as they could be stowed,
to the fearful number of forty souls, in a craft of
about the capacity of an ordinary pinnace. Unable
to get any coherent account of who they were, owing
to their fright and their evident desire to mislead us,
I began to believe Jadee was right in asserting that
she was a native slaver, and consequently made a
prisoner of her nicodar, proceeding with him and my
prize to the " Hyacinth."
Jadee entered into conversation with my prisoner,
and after a long harangue, in which I could perfectly
understand that he was calling upon the man to
speak the truth, and holding out, as an inducement
to do so, the possible contingency of being blown
away from our bow-gun, or hung at a yard-arm, or,
as the mildest of all punishment, working in chains
for the term of his natural life. The unfortunate
nicodar, aghast at such threats, clasped him round
the legs, and implored him to do anything rather
than send him back to Quedah. He then briefly
explained that all the poor creatures in his beat
were fugitives from the province, on their way to
Penang, or some other spot under the British flag ;
that a numerous Siamese army had crossed the
frontier, and was destroying every man, woman,
158 INTELLIGENCE OF THE SIAMESE ARMY.
and child ; and, pointing to long columns of smoke
which we had been under the impression were
distant jungle fires, the nicodar assured us they
were caused by the ravages of our faithful allies,
as well as by the Malay chieftains, to place a desert
between the frontier and Quedah fort.
I hastened on board the " Hyacinth " with what I
knew would be grateful intelligence to my gallant
captain, who was labouring under a severe attack of
fever and ague, contracted in long and arduous ser-
vice on the West Indian station many years pre-
viously. The excitement on board the ship was in-
tense, for they had long been heartily tired of lying
off a coast at the distance of three or four miles, see-
ing nothing and hearing little. The mast-heads
were soon covered with men, who however could see
nothing but a distant column of smoke rising here
and there in the calm and hot atmosphere. I was
desired to take the prahu close in off the fort, so as
to let the garrison and inhabitants know that we had
at last ascertained facts, and then to dismiss her
on her way to Penang. This was done : the poor
creatures went on their road rejoicing, whilst the
English musquito squadron cheered heartily on
learning the intelligence I had to communicate to
them.
DESERTERS. 159
There was considerable excitement among the good
folks of Quedah, at such an unwonted degree of mer-
riment upon our part ; and Inchi Laa soon came off,
under some pretext, but evidently to ascertain " what
was up."
We soon told him ; and he calmly replied, as he
left us, that he thought it must be something far
more important than the fact of a Siamese army ap-
proaching, which would make us so joyful. But we
saw, after he landed, that there was a great com-
motion in the town; and towards dusk a small canoe
sneaked out, under the plea of fishing, but eventually
ran alongside our boats.
The natives in her said that Mahomet Said had
ill-treated them, and that they wished to desert from
Quedah, carrying off their women and children ; we
did not believe their excuse for u ratting," and there-
fore detained them for the night, and next day sent
them off to the ship for a permit.
During the night we gleaned from them further
particulars of the state of affairs in the interior ; and
their tale fully accounted for the sudden arrival of
the Siamese army. It appeared that, in execution of
the plan of operations which Haggi Loving, at Par-
lis, had told us was going to be pursued, the Malays
organised an army, and sent it under their best sol-
160 SERIOUS LOSSES OF THE MALAYS.
dier, Tonkoo Mahomet Type-etam, to attack the
province of Ligor, and so keep the Siamese acting
on the defensive. Great success for awhile attended
the Malays : they swept through the tributary state
of Patani, gained numbers of adherents, put all of
the enemy to the sword and eventually, as we al-
ready knew, captured and sacked Sangorah.
Meanwhile, a division of the Siamese forces, tan
thousand strong, under the Rajah of Ligor, threw
themselves across the Quedah frontier, intercepted
all Type-etam's communications, cut him off from
home, and, by forced marches and admirable gene-
ralship, surprised an important military position
called " Allegagou ; " stormed two batteries, which
commanded it, and put to death the entire garrison
of six hundred Malays. The unfortunate force un-
der Type-etam, in Sangorah, was thus cut off and
destroyed in detail; he and a few desperate men
only escaped by cutting their way through the
Siamese army, and rejoined their compatriots at
Quedah.
Until the capture of Si Allegagou," the Siamese
army had been without cannon of any sort, either
field or siege pieces, but there they had succeeded in
capturing one of the former, besides several others
fitted for position-guns ; and this, of course, rendered
INCH I LA A. 161
them all the more formidable to the Malays. The
atrocities the Malays accused them of perpetrating
were truly fearful, and a war of extermination was
evidently their policy. A panic had consequently
taken place in Quedah : and not only were the wo-
men and children of the pirates connected with the
late inroad anxious to escape, but we learned that
the Malays who had formerly submitted to the Sia-
mese rule, and lived in the province until Prince
Abdullah made his rash attempt to repossess himself
of it, were now flying before the irritated army of
His Golden-tufted Majesty.*
Hardly had we despatched our communicative
friends to the " Hyacinth," when the emissary, Inchi
Laa, was again seen coming off. He had ceased to
be as reserved as of yore, returned very warmly
our English salutation of shaking hands, and smiled
with good-natured incredulity at our sanguine hopes
of soon having possession of Quedah. He assured
us that every mile the Siamese advanced into the
disputed territory only rendered their perfect de-
feat more certain ; and he explained away the loss
of Allegagou, and the body of men under Tonkoo
Mahomet Type-etam, by saying that the enemy far
*
" Golden- tufted Majesty," one of the many titles of the
Emperor of Siam.
M
162 ATROCITIES OF THE MALAYS.
outnumbered the Malays, and that the wisdom of
attacking Sangorah, although it had cost many va-
luable men, was proved by the long delay of the
Siamese forces.
The Inchi was most indignant — and we all cor-
dially joined him in that feeling — at the fearful
atrocities which, he told us, had been perpetrated
by our Siamese allies ; and he swore by Allah no
Malay man had ever been known to wantonly tor-
ture women and children, as those devils did. "If,"
said Inchi Laa, " the woman and the child, because
they are our country people, deserve death — let
them die ! but, beyond death or slavery, there should
be no punishment for those who cannot help them-
selves." An opinion to which we all uttered an
u Amen." He then craved permission to proceed
to the " Hyacinth," to make arrangements for the
departure of a number of defenceless creatures whom
Mahomet Said wished to send to Penang and Pro-
vince Welleslev, to save them from the wrath of
the Siamese.
We smiled at the cool confidence betokened by
such a request ; and on asking Inchi Laa " Why he
thought it probable the English would allow r the
women and offspring of men declared to be pirates,
to escape and seek an asylum under the very flag
EXCHANGE OF COURTESIES. 163
they had abused?" his reply was characteristic:
"Every Malay-man knows, Tuhan, that the white
men (Orang-putihs) can fight ; but every Malay-
man knows that they war with men, and not against
women and children ! "
We accepted his neatly-turned compliment, politic
though it might be at such a time, and determined
not to do aught unworthy of so high a reputation.
Inchi Laa returned a few hours afterwards, looking
supremely happy, and delivered to the senior officer
of the boats, Mr. Barclay, an order to allow all
unarmed vessels to pass out, provided they only
carried women and children ; but on no account to
permit more than just men enough to navigate the
craft to Penang, and they also to be unarmed.
In the evening a message came from Tonkoo Ma-
homet Said, to express his grateful thanks for the
humanity extended to the defenceless portion of the
population, and to warn us that they would start at
midnight !
It was too late to remonstrate at the choice of an
hour which looked very like an attempt to evade
the necessary search by our boats, so we merely
gave notice, that all vessels trying to pass would
be sunk, and that they were to come alongside, to
m 2
164 PREPARATIONS FOR FLIGHT.
enable us to assure ourselves of no breach In the
agreement.
For several days past we had observed that great
numbers of canoes, small prahus, and native craft
had accumulated along the face of the unfortunate
town. These, doubtless, had been driven down from
the upper part of the river by the progress of the
enemy. As the day advanced, the signs of an ap-
proaching exodus gave us some cause for anxiety
lest, under the plea of a flight, a large body of men
should be brought down to board the two gun-boats
and cutter — which was all the force we had. We
therefore took every precaution : cleared for action ;
loaded our guns; placed one gun for sweeping the
deck with musket-balls, and the other to command
the narrow gap through the stockade, by which,
whether as fugitives or foes, the pirates must come
out. Sunset and the brief twilight of an Asiatic
evening soon passed into a calm but very dark
night, adding still more to the difficulties of our
position ; and the obscurity, for a while, was so little
broken by unusual appearances, that we began to
fancy the Malays had postponed their flight.
THE LULL BEFORE THE STORM. 165
CHAP. XIII.
The Lull before the Storm. — The Exodus. — A Scene of
Confusion and Distress. — The Malay Chieftain's Wife. —
Baju-Mira. — The Convoy. — An extraordinary Appeal. —
Midwifery simplified. — A Night-scene. — A Midshipman's
Emotions. — A Malayan Houri. — Resign my Charge and
return. — An Attempt to enslave the Fugitives.
The flood-tide continued to flow into the Quedah
river until about ten o'clock, and beyond the hum of
voices from the town, and the melancholy wailing
noise made by the sentries in "calling their posts" —
there was not until top of high water anything to
denote the scene of activity which so soon ensued.
But just after the ebb-tide commenced to run out, at
eleven o'clock, the whole population of fort and
town rose as if it were one man. The hoarse
shouts of men, the shrill cries of womankind, and the
bleating of goats, with many a shrill crow from the
everlasting game cocks, betokened some unusual com-
motion. Torches in great numbers soon threw their
glare of light over a perfect multitude on the banks
M 3
166 THE EXODUS.
of the stream beyond the fort, and evidently em-
barking for the projected flight.
The splash of oars and paddles was next heard,
and then a perfect debacle took place, for out of
the narrow opening of the stockade, where the pent-
up tide caused the stream to shoot through like a
rapid, flowed out upon us prahus of all sizes, ca-
noes, topes, and even rafts, laden as heavily as they
could be with human beings.
It was indeed a wild and wretched scene, strange
and exciting though it might be to us. The torches
carried in some of the canoes threw a vivid light
over the black river and jungle, and brought out
in strong relief the groups of excited men and
women. "Anchor! anchor! " we shouted, "or we
must fire." " Mercy ! mercy ! " shrieked the women
and old grey-bearded men. The nicodars yelled out
orders, invoking all the saints of Islam. Babies
struck in with their shrill piccolos, and the wifeless,
womanless garrison left in Quedah seemed deter-
mined to show what good heart they were still in, by
the wild, yet not unmusical cry of " Jagga, jag-gaa !"
or, " Watch there ! watch !" We, the blockaders, got
under weigh, and slashed to and fro across the en-
trance of the stream, firing an occasional blank cart-
ridge at some craft that tried to escape being searched,
SCENE OF CONFUSION AND DISTRESS. 167
haying perhaps on board more than the proper com-
plement of men, or, as in one case, because some
notorious pirate who had rendered himself amenable
to our laws, was desirous of escaping an interview
with a petty jury and a British recorder at Penang.
By four o'clock in the morning the exodus was
over, and we lay at anchor with a black mass of native
vessels of every size and shape around us : many of
the canoes threatening to sink alongside, we were
forced to take the unfortunates upon our decks, add-
ing still more to the scene of confusion. My boat's
crew, bloodthirsty Malays though they were, employed
themselves from midnight to day-dawn boiling and
serving out rice to the half-starved women and
children.
The sun rose upon the strange scene, just as all
were falling to rest from an anxious and sleepless
night. On counting the fugitive vessels we found one
junk, one tope, five large prahus, and one hundred and
fifteen smaller craft, the whole of them containing pro-
bably three thousand souls, of which two-thirds were
women and the remainder made up of children, old
decrepit men, and a few adult Malays, to convoy the
whole and navigate the different vessels to a place of
safety. Two births took place during this sad night of
confusion.
M 4
168 THE MALAY CHIEFTAIN'S WIFE.
During the day we were employed thinning out the
people embarked in some of the most unsafe canoes.
We searched and discovered some secreted arms, and
forced several men (where we found their numbers
more than sufficient) to land and take their chance,
instead of endangering the lives of the women and
children. In the junk, independent of a mob of
women and children of every shade and class, we
discovered the wife and family of Tonkoo Mahomet
Said. He had evidently been afraid to avow his
intention of sending them, and merely trusted to
the promise that had been given to respect all women
and children. The Tonkoo was not disappointed;
and Captain Warren ordered me to embark the
chieftainess and family, and convoy them, as well as
the junk and larger prahus, to Penang, not only to
ensure them against shipwreck, but to guard against
the dashing enterprise of His Siamese Majesty's
brig, the " Teda Bagoose," which to our sorrow made
her appearance off Quedah just at this juncture.
She had ascertained that the Malay boats only con-
tained women and children, and her captain was, to
use our English seamen's phrase, " full of fight."
Towards evening a fine fair wind sprang up off the
land, and we prepared to start. I placed two trust-
worthy men on board each of the junks, and in two
THE MALAY CHIEFTAIN'S WIFE. 169
of the largest prahus, and receiving on board Mahomet
Said's family, we all weighed and made sail just at
dark, the canoes, rafts, and other frail craft proceeding
close along the jungle's edge.
The largest junk sailed so badly that I had to take
her in tow; and the breeze freshened so much as to
make me feel very anxious for all my deeply-laden
convoy, and so far as a youth of seventeen can feel
the responsibility of his position, I think I did mine.
The chieftainess was a slight graceful-looking
woman, almost as fair as a Spaniard, with a very
sweet expression of countenance, though it was not
youthful, and bore deep traces of care stamped upon
it. She was neatly clad in shawl-pattern materials.
Her family consisted of a lovely girl, of perhaps
twelve years old, and two babies in arms, attended
by a nurse. Midshipmen are a susceptible race, and
I was no exception to the rule. I felt as an embryo
Nelson should do — a perfect knight errant, and I, in
quest of a lady-love, had, by a freak of good fortune,
lighted on a pirate's beautiful daughter : the whole
thing was delightful, and I should like to have seen
" John Company" dare to touch a hair of the head
of Baju-Mira while I was by. Poor Baju-Mira, or
Red-jacket, as I at once christened the object of my
admiration, in consequence of her wearing the pret-
170 BAJU-MIRA.
tiest Indian-shawl jacket that ever was seen, was
perfectly unconscious of the sudden attachment she
had awakened in one who, from her frightened fawn-
like ways, she evidently supposed was only one of
the ruthless destroyers of the amiable fraternity to
which her parents belonged. However, that was
perfectly immaterial to me. I had made up my
mind to be her slave ; that was enough for any-
one whose poetry had not been, so to speak, knocked
out of him by fair Dulcineas. We cleared out
my cabin, removed all the hatches, put a screen
across the deck, to give the party as much privacy
as possible, and indeed did all we could to make
our passengers at their ease. The lady descended
into the cabin with her infants and nurse, and Baju-
Mira had a couch formed upon deck on one side of
the hatchway, whilst two of the chieftainess's retainers,
most grim-looking Malays, squatted themselves down
near at hand, evidently for the purpose of watching
over the party — an arrangement I willingly assented
to, though, Heaven knows, nothing could have been
more kind or respectful to them than all my crew
were, from Jadee downwards.
The night was clear and starlit, but the north-east
monsoon blew fresh, as it often does towards its close ;
the prahus, which I had ordered to keep close tome,
AN EXTRAORDINARY APPEAL. 171
laboured heavily in the sea, and leaked so as to require
constant baling, the women and children working for
their lives with a very primitive sort of bucket, made
from the bark of a species of palm-tree. In the middle
watch one of the prahus sailed close alongside of us,
and the men I had put in her hailed to say that
one of the women was about to bless her lord with
an addition to the family. I desired the fellows to
hold their tongues and proceed on their course ; the
nicodar, or captain of the prahu, would hear of no
such thing, and begged to be allowed to speak to
me.
I lowered our sails, and consented that he should
jump on board the gun-boat; and in a trice I found
a Malay clutching me round the legs, and, with tears
in his eyes, imploring me to go on board the prahu to
help his wife. I assured the man I was no doctor,
and could do no good, and desired Jadee to tell him
as much, for by ill-luck I had left Jamboo on board
the cutter with Mr. Barclay. My assurances were
thrown away upon the husband ; I was a white man,
and must be a doctor. Even Jadee seemed to think it
purely false modesty upon my part, and argued, from
my skill in curing slight derangements in the health
of my crew (thanks to a few pills and some salts
in the medicine-chest), that a knowledge of surgery
172 MIDWIFERY SIMPLIFIED.
in all its branches was the natural inheritance of his
commander. I never was so puzzled in all my life ;
and finding escape from their importunities impossible,
I consented to give the only assistance in my power.
The husband, delighted, shouted for the prahu to come
alongside, and I heard him jump on board of her,
shouting that the white doctor was coming, while I
went below for my prayer-book. Jadee and I then
went on board, and after much squeezing reached a
miserable little cabin, inside which, behind a screen,
and surrounded by a crowd of women, the poor suf-
ferer lay. Jadee, fully impressed with the idea that I
was about to perform some incantation only second
to his recipe for " killing the wind," looked as solemn
and nervous as if he expected a demon to be instantly
raised. My medicine was, however, a very simple
one: I made Jadee hold a lantern, and desiring all
around me to be silent, I proceeded to read a few
prayers from my prayer-book, addressed to Him who is
the merciful God alike of Malay and white man; and
then ordering the woman a good cup of tea from my
little stock, I told the husband that God was great,
and that, if He pleased, all would be well, and returned
to my own vessel, leaving those in the prahu evidently
much impressed with my value as a Bedan. In due
time, about day-break, one of my scampish crew held
A NIGHT -SCENE. 173
up on board the prahu a diminutive reddish-looking
morsel of humanity, and assured me the lady was
" as well as could be expected," the wag informing
me that he recommended the baby to be called after
our gun-boat, " Numero Tega I " a name almost as
characteristic as that of the sailor's child, who, to
insure having a long one — none of your Jems and
Bills — was christened " Ten Thousand Topsail-
sheetblocks I "
It was about three in the morning, just after my first
essay in the surgical way, and as dawn was breaking,
that I seated myself on the deck, close aft against the
taffrail on the lee quarter of my vessel, and, heartily
tired with six-and-thirty hours' work, dropped into
a sort of dog-sleep, my head resting on the sheet of
the mainsail, which was set. My thoughts, however,
would not sleep, but continued to skip in all the
odd jumble of a dream over the scenes which had
been thrust upon me within so short a space of time.
Inchi Lai came chasing the " Teda Bagoose " with
thousands of torches ! Baju-Mira creesed me in the
most approved style of Malay romance ! old Ton-
koo Said made me read prayers to a whole hareem-
ful of women in an interesting condition ! and the
Lords of the Admiralty were busy trying me by a
court-martial, for having women on board a vessel fly-
174 A midshipman's emotions.
ing Her Majesty's pendant ! when a cry on the quar-
ter-deck suddenly awoke me to the realities of what
my good- hearted first lieutenant used to call this
" sublunary vale of tears." I saw poor little Baju-
Mira standing up and rubbing her eyes, uttering
that plaintive, subdued cry which children make when
awakened suddenly from a sound sleep. I fancied
she had awakened in alarm, and so did the helmsman,
who was close by me ; but in another moment, as the
gun-boat bent over to the breeze, she gave another
sharp sob, and then, to my horror, walked or rather
sprang overboard ; but happily the mainsail stopped
her, and as it touched her breast she started on
one side with a shriek, and awoke as I caught hold
of her.
Now would be the moment for a romantic climax,
but, alas ! there was only a general hubbub. The
two sleeping Malays on guard, and the mother,
nurse, and poor weeping Baju-Mira, had to be
soothed, and to have explained to them that the
latter had in her sleep nearly walked overboard;
and to complete the riot, Jadee, who had been
sleeping forward, rushed aft waving his abomi-
nable creese, followed by a dozen of his men. When
Baju-Mira had had a good cry, — don't laugh reader, I
kept the pocket-handkerchief in which the little Hebe
A MALAYAN IIOURI. 175
wept for a long, long time, and only sent it to the
wash when I was equally bad about an ox-eyed peri
of Ceylon — the good chieftainess said, "Ah ! Touhan,
my poor child has seen and suffered enough these
last few days to make her mad, much more to cause
her to walk in her sleep ; " and I have no doubt she
had. Badinage apart, Baju-Mira was lovely enough
to have touched a tougher heart than mine: at her
age, an Indian girl is just blooming into woman-
hood, and as lovely and as fresh as a flower can be
.whose beauty in that fiery clime is but of a day.
The child, the woman, mother, and old age tread on
one another's heels, under an equatorial sun, with
painful rapidity ; perhaps it is on that account that
the short heyday of an Indian or Malay girl is all
the more romantic and lovable. Baju-Mira was
not tall, but beautifully proportioned, and her slight
waist seemed too small to support her exquisitely
rounded bust; the neck and head were perfectly
classical, and betokened Arab rather than Malay
blood — an intermixture which was all the more
evident in her oval face and beautiful features. Be-
sides the usual quantity of petticoats, made in her
case of very fine Indian shawls or Cashmeres, she had
an under vest of red silk, fitting tightly to her figure,
and over this another loose one of the same bright
176 A MALAYAN HOTJRI.
and becoming hue, not unlike an Albanian jacket.
Her
" ebon locks,
As glossy as a heron's wing
Upon the turban of a king,"
were gathered off her face by the edge of a silk tartan
scarf of native manufact are, which she wrapped round
her head or person as was necessary ; perfect feet and
hands, strongly stained with henna, completed the
picture of the little belle of Quedah ; though I feel
my attempt to delineate her falls short, far short, o£
the pretty trembling dream-like creature.
At sunrise, Jadee reported to me that one of the
prahus was missing, and, strangely enough, one of
those in which, for better security, I had stationed
two of my own Malays. Desiring all the convoy to
proceed to a spot called Quala Morbu, or Dove River,
we altered course for the Bounting Islands, thinking
the missing vessel might have parted company by
accident, and gone there in the hope of meeting me.
After four hours' search I discovered the truant quietly
at anchor in a secluded cove. The men I had put
into her did not give a very intelligible reason for
having parted company, and I therefore removed
them, and warned the master that martial law would
be summarily applied if I saw any further attempt
RESIGN MY CIIARGE AND RETURN. 177
to evade my surveillance. Hardly had I again
got my convoy together, and before a fine breeze all
of us were rapidly nearing Penang, when I met the
" Diamond" gun-boat, and in obedience to the orders
I had received, handed over my charge to her,
parting from the chieftainess and my angelic Baju-
Mira with mutual expressions of kindness and good-
will.
The "Emerald," taut on a wind, began to make
the best of her way back again, and after I had had
a good rest, Jadee came to tell me that my two men
(in the prahu which had parted company during the
night, and given me so much trouble) had come aft
to make a confession and beg forgiveness. It ap-
peared that the nicodar, and three natives left in
the prahu to navigate her, had during the night
pointed out to my men an easy mode of realising
a large sum of money, and escaping the drudgery
of their present life: it was simply to give me
the slip, and carry the prahu, with its freight of
women and children, to the coast of Sumatra, where
they might be sold at highly remunerative prices!
My men, it appears, were afraid to accede at once
to the proposal, but I fear they expressed a willing-
ness to share in the profits and risk if the ni-
codar could succeed in shaking off the society of the
N
178 ATTEMPT TO ENSLAVE FUGITIVES.
gun-boat. I had, however, stopped their cruise by
seeking them amongst the " Bountings." I must say
I was very angry at my Malays for not giving me
information of the treachery of the nicodar in time to
have handed over that worthy to the mercy of the Sia-
mese brig " Teda Bagoose," whose gallant captains
were like raging lions at the escape of all the fugitives:
but for the men themselves, I merely tried to point
out the villany of selling poor creatures into slavery
who were going under their escort to what they sup-
posed a place of safety. They, however, were rather
obtuse upon this point, and evidently looked upon
the women and children as merely amounting to a
certain total, at from forty to fifty dollars a head, and
only sent into the world to minister to man's plea-
sures, or to be sold for his especial benefit.
MALAY SLAVE TRADE. 179
CHAP. XIV.
Malay Slave Trade fostered by the Dutch. — Brutal System
pursued by the Portuguese. — Slavery doubtless founded by
the Mahometans. — Retribution has overtaken the Portuguese.
— An enlightened Policy most likely to eradicate Slavery
and Piracy. — Close Blockade. — The Call of the Siamese
Sentries. — The Call of the Malay Sentries. — Deaths from
Want of Water. — Kling Cruelty. — The Trial and Verdict,
and Punishment. — Siamese Tortures. — Novel Mode of
impaling a Rebel. — Extraordinary Palm-spears. — Remarks
upon Native Governments.
There can be no doubt that slavery and the slave
trade exist to a very serious extent throughout the
Malayan archipelago : it is carried on in a petty way,
but still with all the miseries of the middle passage.
The great mart for the disposal of the slaves is the
pepper plantations of Sumatra, which are in the
hands of the natives, although the Dutch claim a
sovereignty over them; and the native and Dutch
planters on the coast of Borneo readily take the
slaves off the hands of the Malay slave-catcher, and
work them to death in the plantations and gold or
N 2
180 SLATE TRADE FOSTERED BY THE DUTCH.
antimony mines of those countries. The Dutch
say they discountenance the slave trade; they do
so, however, merely in outward show. The first law
they lay down for their Eastern subjects is, implicit
submission to their cold-blooded system of political
and commercial monopoly ; the next thing is, the
Lowland motto of " Mak' money; honestly if you
can, but mak' money ; " and I was told by both
English and French captains of merchantmen em-
ployed collecting cargoes of pepper, that boats full
of slaves used to arrive as constantly for sale at the
different places they had visited on the Sumatran
coast, as they formerly did in Rio de Janeiro har-
bour or the Havannah. We can understand, under
such circumstances, what a harvest the slave-trader
would reap in a province like Quedah, where the
unhappy inhabitants were placed with the alternative
of being impaled as rebels by Siamese, on the one
hand, or hanged as pirates by Europeans, upon the
other. To sell themselves, or fly for life and limb
to the nicodar of a prahu, who would carry them
elsewhere, and dispose of them for so much a head,
was merely, in such a case, a happy alternative ; and
in this, as in much else connected with the habits of
the unfortunate Malay, we have incurred no small
amount of responsibility,
SYSTEM TURSUED BY PORTUGUESE. 181
Much, however, as the Dutch are to blame for
their present spirit of aggression and selfish monopoly,
in awakening the reckless spirit of retaliation, tur-
moil, and disorganisation of the Malays in the Eastern
Archipelago, it falls far short of their former policy ;
and it is a question whether they or the Portuguese
did most for two centuries, by a cold-blooded system
of cruelty, towards demoralising the unhappy Malays ;
and assuredly, but for their warlike and nautical
habits, the race would have been exterminated.
A history of the system they pursued, I am not
now purposing to write ; but inasmuch as it bears
upon the Malay's present character of pirates and
slave dealers, I may point out that, before European
ships had as yet entered the Indian ocean, fleets of
Chinese junks, as well as the un warlike traders of
Indostan, used to carry on a brisk commercial traffic
with, and through, the Malayan archipelago, which,
had piracy been as rife in the thirteenth century as
it was in the early part of the present one, would
have been utterly impossible ; and slavery was, we
know, unknown in Java at that time ; and that is
the only Malayan state of which authentic historical
records have been preserved.
Doubtless with the introduction of the Mahometan
creed into the Archipelago, slavery became a funda-
n 3
182 SLAVERY FOUNDED BY MAHOMET.
mental institution of the Malays ; but the slavery-
allowed by Mahomet is of the mildest form, and
the Koran especially enjoins kindness to the slave.
But the Pope and Mahomet had a hard race to
win the souls of the Malays ; indeed, many native
states only embraced Islamism after the conquest of
Malacca by the Christians! God save the mark!
The houris carried the point, maybe, against Pur-
gatory. Indeed, the important group of islands
known in the present day as the Celebes only ac-
cepted Mahomet in 1495, and that was nine years
after Bartolemo Diaz rounded the Cape of Tem-
pests, as he honestly styled the southern promontory
of Africa. The Portuguese treated the Malays as
infidels; and, as one writer, De Conto, observes of
them, " they are well made and handsome, but foul
in their lives, and much addicted to heinous sin ; "
ergo, the Portuguese robbed, shot down, and con-
quered them, just as the Spaniards, more success-
fully, did the Mexican and Peruvian.
Resistance to this iniquity has, I believe, made
the Malay what he now is ; and one can only rejoice
in the decay, and pray for the total annihilation of a
people who, like the Portuguese, so sadly abused the
glorious mission the Almighty called upon them to
fulfil, when to them were first given the keys of
RETRIBUTION TO THE PORTUGUESE. 183
the golden East — its docile millions and untold
riches.
When an Englishman, in the Straits of Malacca,
sees a man with European features but dark skinned
as the natives, wanting in courage, energy, or cha-
racter — a pariah whom the very Indostanee con-
temns, — and hears that that man is a Portuguese, he
recognises the just retribution of an avenging God;
and on reading such a paragraph as the follow-
ing, — " All these people (Malays) that have fallen
into the hands of the Portuguese have been made
prisoners of war. Every year there is taken of
them for sale a great number to Malacca."* He
naturally exclaims, the Malays have had their re-
venge !
One example of the Dutch policy may be quoted,
and it is no singular instance of their phlegmatic
cruelty: — John Peterson Koen, their most illustrious
Governor-General of the Indies, exterminated the
original inhabitants of the Banda, or Spice Islands,
and replaced them by slaves. With such examples
before them, can it be felony in the Malay to imitate
the boasted civilisation of the white man? The
piratical acts now committed in the Malayan archi-
* The Decade, v. book vii.
n 4
184 POLICY LIKELY TO ERADICATE SLAVERY.
pelago are, I firmly believe, the result of the iniquities
practised upon the inhabitants in the olden day; and
the Dutch, Spaniards, and English, even at the
present time, are too prone to shoot down indiscri-
minately any poor devils who, for the first time in
their lives, are told, with powder and shot arguments,
that war, as carried on by them, is piracy by our
laws. We shall never eradicate by the sword an evil
which has become the second nature of every Malay
who is, or who aspires to be, a free man. For three
centuries the Dutch and Spaniards have been fighting
with the Hydra which their tyrannical despotism and
commercial policy are ever fostering ; and our exten-
sion of a free and enlightened system of government
through the Straits of Malacca has done more to
quell piracy and slavery there — by leading the
naturally mercantile Malay to legitimate sources of
emolument and occupation — than all the ball-car-
tridge and grape-shot which have been so ruthlessly
lavished upon them.
Of slavery as it exists or existed amongst the
Malays themselves, though it does not apply, I fear,
to the poor creatures under Chinese, Dutch, or Spa-
nish masters, we have the testimony of Mr. Craufurd,
one of our best authorities. He says : " The distinc-
tion between the slave and freeman, though it exists
CLOSE BLOCKADE. 185
amongst the Malays, is not offensively drawn : the
slave is not a mere chattel ; he may possess or inherit
property, purchase his freedom, and has in other
respects his prescribed rights."
Many of my crew in the gun-boat had in their
youth been bought or sold as slaves ; Jadee himself
had been one, and none of them appeared to think
much of their sufferings whilst in that condition; —
but I have dwelt long enough upon this subject,
and will pass on to my tale.
After reporting to Captain Warren the fulfilment
of my task, I again returned to Quedah river,
and anchored alongside my old friend the cutter.
The Siamese advanced parties had already closed
down upon the unlucky fortress, and throughout the
night a constant fire between the respective outposts
was kept up. Our friend the "Dove-cot" (described
at page 151.) was rattling away at everything which
moved along the edge of the jungle, and now and then
the heavy boom of a gun, and the crashing sound of
the grape-shot through the trees, gave testimony to
the fact that the Siamese had indeed arrived. The
night-calls of the opposing forces were peculiar, and
seemed to be used as much for the purpose of
cheering on their respective parties, as for the purpose
of showing where they were.
186 CALL OF THE SIAMESE SENTRIES.
The Siamese used an instrument like a pair of
castanets, made, I fancy, of two pieces of bamboo ;
and admirably it answered its purpose. At certain
intervals it would be sounded so faintly as to imitate
some of the thousand insects of the jungle, then a
long repetition of the same note would die faintly
away in the distance ; after that came a sharp short
note, taken up in the same way, followed by a ge-
neral rattle, as if all the <s gamins" of London were
playing upon pieces of slate. Hardly had the line
of Siamese outposts ceased to show they were
wide awake, when the Malay sentries would begin.
Their cry consisted of the word " Jagga," each
man taking up the cry before his comrade to the
right or left had finished, and then with one long-
drawn cry the whole of the sentries cried Jag-ga-a-a
together in a very musical manner; a moment's silence,
and again a popping commenced at one another, with
an occasional melee, in which the sharp rattle of the
Siamese castanets would be heard from right to left,
showing how perfectly their skirmishers were belea-
guering the poor fort. Towards day-break all the
fighting would cease ; and we learnt that the Sia-
mese light troops always then fell back upon the
main body, still fifteen miles distant, near Elephant
Mount.
SUFFERINGS OF TIIE FUGITIVES. 187
Every night fresh parties of Malays passed out
of the river in prahus, and canoes, and topes, which
had been carefully hidden away in the tide-flooded
jungle, ready for such an occasion, and to avoid de-
struction, should we have been called upon to make an
attack by sea. The sufferings of these fugitives were
truly harrowing; many of them had come down from
distant parts of the peninsula, flying before the wrath
of the Siamese, and finding but little sympathy
from the Quedah Malays. Starved and wayworn,
having lived for sad periods in constant dread of death
and slavery, their appearance and the stories they told,
realised a picture of such utter misery, that one almost
wondered how life could be sweet enough to them to
make it worth their while to flee onwards. Penang
and Province Wellesley were however their Goshen,
and all we could do for the poor creatures was to wish
them God speed. One day, amongst the fugitive
vessels, a large tope came out densely crowded with
men, women, and children, of different nations: there
were Chinese, Indostanees, and Malays; and the
men were mostly shop-keepers and vagrants who
followed on the heels of the Malayan pirates to
buy and sell. Some delay naturally arose in ascer-
taining that there were no known pirates amongst
them, and next morning we were shocked to learn,
188 KLING CRUELTY.
on inquiring how all were on board of her, that
several children and two women had died during the
night from want of water! — a want not onlv we in
the boats suffered from to some extent, but which we
found to be very general with the people of Quedah;
for the long-continued droughts had dried up all the
wells, and obliged them to depend alone upon the
river — a precarious means of supply now that the
Siamese were at hand, and fired on all the watering
parties. Going on board to relieve the sufferings of
the unfortunate women, so far as our small stock of
water would admit, we were informed by a Malay
that there were two private jars of water in the
(i tope," and after some search we discovered two fat
Bengalee merchants, or rather Klines* — a race who
live on the seaboard of the Madras Presidency, and
form a large portion of the Straits population — actu-
* Mr. Craufurd, in his valuable work upon the Archipelago,
says Kling is a Malay term given to the natives of the Telinga
nation, in Southern India. The trade and intercourse of the
Telingas with the Archipelago is of great but unascertained
antiquity, and still goes on. Many have settled in Malayia,
and their mixed descendants are tolerably numerous. In
the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Portuguese speak
of them as carrying on trade at Malacca ; and Barbosa de-
scribes them as " wealthy merchants of Coromandel, who
traded in large ships."
TRIAL AND VERDICT. — PUNISHMENT. 189
ally seated upon water-jars, and refusing to share
it amongst the dying creatures at their feet. They
had been Ions: enough anions: Englishmen to know
that we should not approve of their conduct, and had
artfully arranged their robes and personal property
so as to aid in concealing the water.
I hardly know who was most indignant amongst
us at this discovery ; but Barclay and I held a drum-
head court-martial upon the two brutes, and decided,
coute qui coute, to give the black villains a lesson in
humanity. TY~e declared them guilty, and passed
sentence of death, to be commuted for personal
correction. The two culprits turned perfectly livid
with fear ; for Jadee, as usual, had his creese at
hand, and a great big-boned coxswain of the cutter
tucked up his sleeves, and requested permission to,
what he called, " polish them off."
Barclay and I, however, did not want to figure in
the Penang courts of law, and decided therefore on
applying a correction to the Indian merchants where
no bones would be broken, and where they would be
very unwilling to produce proofs in open court of our
illegal proceedings. Keeping our countenances like
a pair of Solons, we had administered to them four
dozen strokes with a piece of flat wood like a sleeve-
190 SIAMESE TORTURES.
board, to the extreme delight of all our seamen, and
the astonishment of the fugitives, who had resigned
themselves to the idea that the Klings were merely
men of strong religious principles, who would not
share their water with heretics.
Inchi Laa paid us a long visit one evening, and,
unsought by us, proceeded to detail fearful stories of
the cruelties exercised by the Siamese. At the time,
I gave him credit for magnifying facts ; but from other
sources, such as Jamboo 3 who knew a good deal of the
Siamese habits, and a Malay man in my crew, who
had served in a Siamese naval force equipped at
Bankok, I heard sufficient to verify some of the
horrid atrocities committed. Many of their cruelties
will not bear repetition ; but two refined modes of
torture I will venture to describe ; and the Inchi
assured me that some of their unhappy countrymen
and women had been subjected to them.
One was cooking a human being alive : a hollow
tree, either naturally so, or scooped out by manual
labour, was left with merely its bare stem standing ;
into it a prisoner was put naked, his hands tied be-
hind his back, and a large piece of fat lashed on his
head ; the tree was then carefully coated with an unc-
tuous mud, to prevent its ignition, or, if it did ignite,
MODE OF IMPALING A REBEL. 191
that it might merely smoulder, and then a slow steady
fire was maintained round it, the unfortunate victim's
sufferings being by these means terribly prolonged,
his shrieks and exclamations being responded to by
the exultant shouts of his executioners.
Another torture was that of carrying the pirate
or rebel down to the banks of a river where a peculiar
species of palm-tree grows, and choosing a spot in the
mud where the sprout of a young plant was just
found shooting upwards, which it does at the rate
of several inches in twenty-four hours, they would
construct a platform around it, and lash their miser-
able victim in a sitting posture over the young tree,
so that its lance-like point should enter his body,
and bring on mortification and death by piercing
the intestines — in short, a slow mode of im-
paling.
Of the possibility of this last torture being per-
formed, I can almost vouch; for although not botanist
enough to name the peculiar species of palm tree
which is used, I have often seen it growing both on
the banks of the Setoue and Parlis rivers. I believe
it to be the Nipa palm, but I am by no means cer-
tain. It grows to no great height, and when full
grown has little if any stem, the large and handsome
192 EXTRAORDINARY PALM-SPEARS.
leaves waving over the banks of the Malayan stream
like a bunch of green feathers springing from the
mud. The young plant springs up from the earth in
a peculiar manner ; the embryo leaves are wrapped in
solid mass together, round their own stems, forming
one solid green triangular-shaped stick, ranging in
length from four to six feet, and having a point as
hard and sharp as a bayonet.
These palm-spears, if I may use the term, the
Malays pluck before the leaves attempt to expand,
and in such a state they make a formidable lance.
Jadee assured me, sufficiently so to enable a man
to pierce the tough under cuticle of an alligator.
I have often amused myself throwing them like a
dart. The rapidity with which these young plants
shoot up in the rich vegetation and sweltering heats
of an equatorial jungle is almost inconceivable: the
Malays declared that they might be seen growing, but
Jamboo told me that he had often known a sprout to
shoot an inch and a half in a night, from which we
may picture to ourselves the sufferings of the unfor-
tunate Malay impaled on one of them.
The well-known torture of rubbing people over
with wild honey, and lashing them to trees near the
large venomous ants' nests of the country, until bit-
REMARKS UPON NATIVE GOVERNMENTS. 193
ten to death by them and other insects, was, we were
told, commonly practised, but the climax to the tale
of horror was the gambling which took place upon
the capture of an unfortunate Malay woman who
happened to be enceinte, the stakes depending upon
whether the infant was a boy or a girl, the diabolical
game concluding with the death of the mother, to
decide who were winners.
Such are the cruelties perpetrated by these wretched
native monarchies; such have been the miseries which
throughout Pegu, Birmah, Siam, and Malayia, first
one master and then another has practised upon their
unhappy subjects ; and yet philanthropists and poli-
ticians at home maunder about the unjust invasion
of native rights, and preach against the extension of
our rule, as if our Government, in its most corrupt
form, would not be a blessing in such a region, and as
much, if not more, our duty to extend, as a Christian
people, than to allow them to remain under native
rulers, and then to shoot them for following native
habits. In later years, it has been my sorrow to
observe among another branch of this ill-starred
Malayan race — the poor Otaheitians — the evil ef-
fects of winning them from warlike habits without
giving them British protection, for in that case our
zeal in teaching them to turn their swords into
o
194 REMARKS UPON NATIVE GOVERNMENTS.
pruning-hooks, has caused them to fall an easy
prey to piratical Frenchmen.
It is possible that Inchi Laa's sad tale of Malay
suffering was purposely told us to prepare our minds
for the bloody scene enacted upon the morrow, and
to justify the horrid retaliation.
THE ntlSOKEliS IN QUEDAII FORT. 195
CHAP. XV.
The Massacre of the Prisoners in Quedah Fort. — The alarmed
Barber. — Inchi Laa repudiates the Act. — The Vultures'
Feast. — Captain "Warren visits the Siamese Camp. — The
Siamese Army. — llenewed Vigour in the Operations. —
The Capture of the Battery. — The Flight of the Harem. —
Fugitives no longer able to escape by Sea. — Narrow Escape
of my Crew. — Inchi Laa surrenders. — Struck by a Whirl-
wind. — The last Broadside. — The Chiefs escape. — Quedah
Fort abandoned.
The Siamese prisoners in the hands of the Malay
chieftains had, after the completion of the defences
of Quedah fort, been employed digging a reservoir,
called, in India, a tank, for the purpose of collect-
ing rain. Every day these wretches were marched
out to their tasks and brought back again ; but on
the day after the visit of the Inchi, we observed
that a more than usual number of Malays accom-
panied them, and that several chiefs of importance
were among the escort.
The spot was too distant for us to see all that took
place, but our attention was attracted by piteous cries
and loud shouts, and the rush and confusion of an
o 2
196 THE ALARMED BARBER,
evident melee : the Malays in the garrison crowded
upon the parapet, and appeared very excited in voice
and gesture. Suddenly, a Chinaman from the town
was seen running towards our anchorage, followed,
directly his object was observed, by a couple of Ma-
lays; several shots were fired at the fugitive, but
when under cover of our vessels, we discharged a
musket over his head, to show we claimed him, and
his pursuers resigned him to our custody. I never,
before or since, saw a man so horror-stricken as
this poor Chinese barber was — for he had all the
instruments of his trade about him, and had, appa-
rently, dropped his razor and fled, stricken by some
sudden fear. With much ado the man was soothed
into telling us, crying all the while with nervous ex-
citement, that the noise which was just subsiding on
shore, had been the death-shrieks of all the ill-fated
Siamese prisoners; that Tonkoo Mahomet Type-
etam had been burning for revenge ever since his
late discomfiture at Allegagou, and the Malays gene-
rally were frantic at the horrors perpetrated on their
countrymen : in retaliation, therefore, they had that
morning marched out three hundred Siamese (all
they had in their hands) to the margin of the
tank, and there drawing his creese, Type-etam had
given the signal to fall on, by plunging it into the
MASSACRE OF THE PRISONERS. 197
body of a prisoner; and the bodies were thrown into
the tank, which lay in the road over which the Sia-
mese troops must advance to the capture of Quedah.
The Chinaman happened to be a witness of the mas-
sacre, and not knowing whether Type-etam might
not take it into his head to clear off the Chinese
likewise, he, like a prudent barber, decamped at
once.
The murderers marched back soon afterwards, and
lying, as we now did, close to the stockade, we did
not think, from their appearance, they looked very
elated with their bloody achievement ; still one or
two ruffians were very excited, and waved their
spears and muskets, as if promising us a similar
fate should we fall into their hands. I need hardly
say we were most indignant at such a cold-blooded
act of cruelty, and it would have been an evil hour
for Type-etam, had he fallen into the hands of our
people : even Jadee declared it unmanly, and, as
usual, took great care to explain to me, that the gen-
tlemanly dogs by whom he had been brought up
would have acted very differently.
I upbraided Inchi Laa, the next time he visited
us, for such an inhuman return to our captain's
generous treatment of their defenceless women and
children, and reminded him that, as pirates, there
o 3
198 THE vultures' feast.
was an English law which entitled us to twenty
pounds a head for every one of his countrymen we
sent out of the world.* The Inchi, I was glad to
see, blushed, and vowed that Mahomet Said pro-
tested against the act, whilst Type-etam tried to
justify it, on the ground of the dearth of provisions
and water, the cruelty of the Siamese, and the bad
policy of liberating such a body of enemies.
The keen sight of the vulture, or possibly its
power of scent, was wonderfully exemplified on the
day of the massacre ; for although none of us had ever
seen a vulture here before, within a few hours after
it had taken place a number of those repulsive crea-
tures were wheeling round and round over the bodies,
and soon settled down to their filthy repast ; only to
rise for a short and lazy flight, when startled by some
exchange of shots between the besiegers and besieged.
Habit reconciles many a disgusting sight to our
ideas of what is natural ; but I know nothing that, to
a European as yet unhardened to it, seems so repul-
sive as that of a large bird feeding upon the corpse
of a human being. Yet this soon became a common
sight, for many a body floated down the stream, and,
directly it grounded on the mud-flats, vultures would
* The head-money for pirates has been most wisely done away
with very lately, after having been sadly abused.
VISIT TO THE SIAMESE CAMP. 199
be seen napping their wings over their loathsome
food.
A week passed away : the Malays still spoke con-
fidently of being able to hold out in the fort until
the bad weather should force the Siamese to retreat,
and ourselves to abandon the blockade ; and, more-
over, they allowed it to leak out, that Datoo Ma-
homet Alee, from Parlis, was operating against the
flank of the Siamese army, and prevented them
making an assault upon Quedah.
On March 16th, a Siamese flag was seen waving
on a tree at the mouth of the Jurlong river, north
of Quedah river ; and with a view to hastening the
Siamese operations, Captain Warren decided upon
visiting their head-quarters, and a message was soon
sent to the Siamese general, informing him of his
wish to do so.
Next day, elephants and a guard of honour were
in waiting at the Jurlong. Captain Warren as-
cended it as far as possible, and then, accompanied
by his gig's crew and an interpreter, mounted
the elephants, and proceeded to Allegagou, where
the general still was, although a division of his
army was closely blockading Quedah fort by land.
Captain Warren was received with the greatest ho-
nour, and had a house placed at his disposal, as well
o 4
200 THE SIAMESE ARMY.
as necessary food. The general informed him, that
the diversion attempted by Datoo Mahomet Alee had
been a perfect failure ; the Datoo experiencing a
total defeat, and losing a field-piece and abundance
of powder and shot, which were now in the hands
of the Siamese, to be used against the Quedah
garrison.
The forces seen by Captain Warren, forming the
main division of the army, were at least 15,000
strong, and consisted almost entirely of infantry and
some elephants. Nearly 10,000 men were armed
with good Tower flint muskets, which the General
informed him had all been purchased from the
Honourable Company, when they adopted the per-
cussion-lock throughout the Indian army.
On the whole, Captain Warren was favourably
impressed with the materiel and personnel of the
native army co-operating with us, though very
different from what a European one would have
been. With a promise from the General to push
on operations with all possible energy, Captain
Warren embarked, with his gig's crew, in one of the
native canoes, descended Quedah river, and, much
to all our astonishment, passed the town and fort of
Quedah without having his right to do so even chal-
lenged by the Malays; proving, at any rate, the
SIAMESE ATTACK THE BATTERY. 201
respect they entertained for the officer who had
behaved so generously towards their wives and fa-
milies.
The day after Captain Warren's return, the Sia-
mese appeared to be about to carry their promise
into execution with a hearty will ; a heavy and con-
tinuous fire was kept up by the outposts, and the
Malays were evidently falling back : the scrub and
jungle prevented us seeing much, except the wounded
as they were carried to the rear. The Siamese light
guns commenced to range over the fort, and were
fiercely replied to by the heavy eighteen-pounders
on the bastions. News was obtained by Mahomet
Said at the same time, from a prisoner, that the
Siamese had beaten back Mahomet Alee ; and the
defence was thus rendered almost hopeless.
The Malays in the fascine battery were suffering
very much, and the Siamese, with their field-pieces
andjpnusketry, were punishing the defenders terribly.
We had to move a little out of range, so as to let
these gentry fight out the duel. It soon became
evident that the Siamese, sheltered by the jungle,
had a great advantage over the Malays, who were in
open ground ; the three or four guns in the battery
soon became silent, but the gingal battery fired away
manfully, under a perfect storm of musket-balls —
202 THE CAPTURE OF THE BATTERY.
fresh Malays ascending to take the place of those
who were lowered down wounded. The Siamese
dared not storm the battery, for it was commanded
by the fort ; but, at last, a lucky shot from our allies
struck the " Dove-cot," and, I fancy, dismounted the
culverin, for, in a minute or two afterwards, we saw
the Malays roll it off the platform, and let it fall into
the battery below ; and then the whole garrison of
the battery retreated into Quedah fort, carrying off
their wounded and a couple of light guns.
The Siamese shouted with delight, and rattled
their castanets : we cheered them on ; and the Ma-
lays slashed away grape and canister into the jungle,
sweeping down all that dared to step on the open
ground, which formed a glacis round the old fort.
A cessation of firing took place in the afternoon,
and that evening, the last instalment of women and
children, and the last canoes in the river, escaped
from Quedah. Amongst these fugitives were some
fifteen damsels, the harem of Prince Abdullah ; and
they showed, by their good looks, that His Royal
Highness was not deficient in taste. We declared
all veils contrary to a our national prejudices" and
the ladies, with a little giggling, resigned themselves
very good-naturedly to our white men's ideas, and
repaid us for a liberal repast of curry and rice, to
THE FLIGHT OF THE HAREM. 203
which they were immediately invited, by the kindest
of smiles and the warmest thanks. Poor souls ! the
villanous " Teda Ba2;oose" had. in the name of His
Siamese Majesty, protested against rebels being al-
lowed to escape so easily, and had been placed in
a commanding position, between Quedah and Penang,
to intercept all the canoes and prahus. We, in con-
sequence, had to refuse this last party a guarantee
against capture, and recommended them to land, and
walk down the coast into Province Wellesley — a
journey of some forty or fifty miles. They willingly
adopted our suggestion, but besought permission to
encamp under shelter of our guns, until sufficient
men could be got together to secure them an escort.
The younger ladies, I may, without scandal, say, ap-
peared far from unwilling to take advantage of the
holiday they were now enjoying from the strict se-
clusion of the harem; and, in spite of the prudish
reprovals of some of the older ladies of the party,
became upon such good terms with some of the Ma-
lays who volunteered to protect them, that I fancy
it was very doubtful whether Prince Abdullah would
ever again recover the whole of the ladies of his
household. An impromptu camp was rapidly formed
on the southern point of the river, and we furnished
them with sufficient food for present consumption.
204 NARROW ESCAPE OF MY CREW.
These last fugitives assured us, that the fort now
only contained about two hundred fighting men,
under the two chiefs, Mahomet Said and Type-etam,
and that they had sworn not to surrender.
All next day the firing was incessant on the land
side of the works, and the Siamese were evidently
taking advantage of the cover offered by the town,
to make their approaches sufficiently close to try an
escalade or assault. The excitement of being even
spectators of the fight was naturally very great,
and, as either party gained or lost an advantage, we
cheered and shouted from the gun-boat and cutter.
Occasionally, a round-shot or two, and then a shower
of musket-balls, would oblige us to move out of im-
mediate range, but only one attempt was fairly made
to sink us, and this was the act of a desperate cut-
throat in Quedah fort, called "Jaffa." He pointed
a heavy twenty-four-pounder at my craft, only eight
hundred yards distant, and, having loaded it with
grape and canister, discharged it at us whilst we were
seated at our afternoon meal of rice and fish. How
all hands escaped seemed a miracle: the awnings
were cut through in several places, the hull struck
and grazed a good deal, but not one man was
wounded. We cleared away our guns, and keenly
watched all pieces pointed in our direction. The
THE SALLY. 205
attempt was not, however, repeated ; and as from
the angle of the fort which fired at us, we saw
three or four men lower themselves down, jump
into the river, and swim across so as to escape by-
land to the southward, we were led to anticipate,
what we afterwards heard, that Jaffa and his friends,
who had fired upon us, had been reproved by the
chiefs, and made to fly the fort.
Just as the night was closing in, the Malays fired
several smart salvos of artillery, and with loud cheers
sallied out upon the Siamese, who had already com-
menced to occupy the town. Volumes of fire and
smoke soon rolled over the unfortunate habitations,
and the fight waxed hot and furious; reinforcements,
however, soon arrived to our allies, and the Malays
were beaten back with loss. To our astonishment,
our old friend Inchi Laa, or " Gentleman Laa,"
as the sailors nicknamed him, came alongside, in
a wretched canoe, and surrendered his sword. It
bore marks of having been used to some purpose;
but out of respect for the man's misfortunes, we
did not ask many questions. He merely said,
that they had made a sally from the fort, and
been beaten back with loss; he had found himself
cut off from the gate, and happily discovered a de-
206 1NCHI LAA SURRENDERS.
cayed canoe before the enemy had observed him. He
did not wish to return to Quedah. Poor Inchi ! he
seemed so alive to the kindness shown him ; his mild
and gentlemanly countenance spoke volumes in its
sadness ; and as he pressed us by the hand, bowing
his head to touch it in token of gratitude, and in the
same garb, and with his own sword in hand, swore to
escort his countrywomen safely into Province Wel-
lesley, and then surrender to our authorities if called
upon. There was not a single soul of our party who
did not sincerely regret that political expediency
should have set us against a race which can produce
such men.
That night and next day the firing of the fort
and Siamese was constant ; the Siamese were evi-
dently puzzled ; their six-pounders were not likely
to breach the walls, and scaling a fort full of Malays
w r as a disagreeable contingency which they required
time to think about.
The north-east wind had now almost ceased to blow
during the day-time, and the heat of the calm days
was most oppressive ; its disagreeables considerably
increased by the smoke of fires, and the foul smell
arising from the tank full of slaughtered prisoners,
and many bodies of Malays and Siamese which had
floated down the stream, and become either fixed in
STRUCK BY A WHIRLWIND. 207
the interstices of the stockade, or grounded upon the
mud-banks.
In the afternoon, I experienced in the " Emerald "
the first and only " white squall " which it has been
my good fortune to fall in with — but "whirlwind"
would be the more proper term. It was calm, and
sultry to a degree, and we were listlessly lying about
the decks, watching the desultory fight, when the
town was suddenly enveloped in a storm of dust,
straw, sticks, rags, and flags, flying up almost ver-
tically in the air, as if enchanted ; and before we
could take a single precaution, such as battening
down, we were struck by a squall. With one
furious gust it threw us over on our beam-ends —
for we lay across its path, tore away awnings and
awning stanchions, and whisked them out of the gun-
boat, carried away the weather shrouds, blew the
sails out of the gaskets, and half swamped us with
w T ater. Happily, it went as quickly as it came, and
made one rub one's head, and wonder whether the
whole affair had really taken place. Having to send
men away to fetch the awning back was, however,
a pretty good proof of the extraordinary violence of
such a whirlwind ; and the Malays assured me, that
through the jungle such a violent squall will cut a
lane, felling trees, as if so many woodmen had been
208 THE LAST BROADSIDE.
at work. The best term for it, though somewhat
more French than English in character, was that
used to me some years afterwards by a French naval
officer, who, describing the horrors and dangers
of a campaign dans les iles de l'Archipel, said,
" Ah ! mais nous avons eu des vents la ! par ex-
emple! des coups de vent effrayants — des vents du
diable mon ami ! "
We sat over our cup of tea discussing whether we
should not, after all, have to take an active part in
the fall of Quedah, when the black outline of the
fort was illumined by flashes of artillery ; they lasted
some few minutes, and were followed by a dead si-
lence. That volley was the knell of Quedah ; for, in a
short time, we heard cries, as of men drowning, near
the stockade, and a number of my Malays, as well as
some of Mr. Barclay's seamen, jumped into the water
and swam to the rescue. They happily succeeded
in saving six out of a dozen or fourteen men who
had tried to swim across the river, but had failed.
These men that we had saved were all natives of
Upper India, and a fine six-foot fellow, directly he
was able to speak, said, u We are the last of the
garrison ! "
Their tale was this: — Two nights ago, under
cover of an attempt made by us against the Siamese,
THE CHIEFS ESCAPE. 209
Tonkoo Mahomet Said, Prince Abdullah, and Type-
etam, with a select body of men, marched along the
low-water mark of the sea, as far as the mouth of
the Jurlong river, unseen by us or the Siamese ;
there they were met by Datoo Mahomet Alee and
Haggi Loung, who had marched from Parlis with
some elephants to meet them ; and the united chiefs
had thus escaped, to renew their resistance in another
quarter.
In order that the Siamese might still be detained
off Quedah, a petty chieftain, whose name did not
transpire, promised, with two hundred chosen men,
to hold out for forty- eight hours : this he faithfully
performed ; and he directed the desperate sally in
which Inchi Laa had been cut off from re-entering
the fort.
Shortly afterwards, that chief, afraid to surrender
to us after the treacherous attempt of one Jaffa to
sink the gun-boat (an act all had disapproved of),
swam across to the south side with the remaining
men of his party, leaving fifteen Rajpoots, who were
in the fort, to cover his escape by holding out, as they
promised, for the space of two hours.
They it was who had fired the last broadsides,
and then endeavoured to make good their retreat as
the others had done ; but not being as amphibious
p
210 QUEDAH FOKT ABANDONED.
as the Malays, they had been swept down by the tide
upon the stockade, and the majority were drowned,
or killed by alligators.
We respected these brave fellows; and although
there was some suspicion of their being deserters
from the Company's army, we gave them the benefit
of the doubt ; and, having made them swear to escort
the women with all speed to Province Wellesley, we
put them all under charge of Inchi Laa, and has-
tened their departure before the Siamese entered
Quedah fort and observed their movements.
Barclay and I crawled through the mud, aroused
all the fair ladies from their al fresco slumbers, told
Inchi Laa he must be off — a piece of advice which
needed no repetition, — and in a few minutes we were
left alone, the stars and a young moon shining on
the grey walls of the deserted stronghold.
SIAMESE IN POSSESSION OF THE FORT. 211
CHAP. XVI.
The Siamese in Possession of the Fort. — Description of the
Fort. — A Siamese Military Swell. — The Divan. — A
Naval Ambassador. — The Ambassador demands Beef. —
Curiosity of the Siamese Officials. — The Appearance of the
Soldiery. — Mobility of the Siamese Troops. — Arms and
Equipments. — The Buffalo of Malayia. — Mr. Airey, Master
of the " Hyacinth." — Siamese Ingratitude not singular. —
We proceed to Parlis.
At daybreak on March 20th, we observed the Sia-
mese to be in possession of the fort, and shortly
afterwards our Captain visited, and congratulated the
authorities, who, however, did not appear to under-
stand the immense moral aid we had afforded to his
Golden-tufted Majesty of Siam, as well as the fatal
hindrance we had been to fresh supplies being thrown
into the unfortunate province.
In the course of the day, I visited Quedah, accompa-
nied by Jadee, Jamboo, and a guard of honour of four
of my own Malays, who my worthy coxswain insisted
should be armed to the teeth, lest a fray should arise
p 2
212 DESCRIPTION OF THE FORT.
with any of the Siamese irregulars. The gun-boat
passed through the stockade, and from her I landed
at the river end of a moat, which we found flanked
the fort on its landward side. Neglect and ruin
were everywhere apparent; the moat was half filled
with rubbish, and evidently was left dry at low water:
across it, opposite the only gateway not built up
with stones, a temporary bridge had been thrown by
the Siamese ; this gateway faced the one long row of
mat-built houses which constituted the once important
town of Quedah ; and as we passed through it, we
could not help stopping to admire two magnificent
brass guns, of Portuguese manufacture, which pointed
down the road. The arms of the House of Bra-
ganza were still comparatively fresh upon the metal:
but how have they, the descendants of Alfonso Albu-
querque, degenerated !
The fort itself was of a rectangular form, and
partook more of the character of a factory such as
the Portuguese and Dutch, as well as ourselves, used
to construct in the early days of Eastern discovery,
than that of a place intended purely as a fortification.
On the parapet, there were many handsome and
heavy guns, mounted on very barbaric carriages ; and
within the walls, besides an old mosque or temple,
and one or two stone-built houses, there was no lack
DESCRIPTION OF THE FORT. 213
of mat residences of the usual Malay order of archi-
tecture.
It was a sad and ruinous scene : the robber and
robbed had each been there in their turn ; their
handiwork lay before me, and standing upon the
battlements looking over the rich land and luxuriant
forest, on the one side, and the fine river with the
blue Indian Ocean upon the other, I could not help
feeling that man had sadly abused God's bounty.
Yet Quedah had not always been what it then
was. When the first European visitor wrote of
it, in 1516, he had occasion to say, that it was "a
seaport to which an infinite number of ships resorted,
trading in all kinds of merchandise ; here come," he
adds, " many Moorish* ships from all quarters ; here,
too, grows much pepper, very good and fine, which is
conveyed to Malacca, and thence to China." And
the province adjacent is still noted for the immense
productiveness of its rice-fields, and the mountains
are still rich in gold and tin. I was not left Ions; to
cogitate upon what Quedah had been, and what it could
now be, if in better hands ; for the Siamese soldiery
were still ransacking every hole and corner for plunder,
and failing in discovering much, some of them, who
looked a little excited with " fighting water," or
* Moor was the term applied to the Mahometan traders.
p 3
214 A SIAMESE MILITARY SWELL.
" bang" ruffled up their feathers at my no less pug-
nacious Malays.
I therefore proceeded at once to pay my respects
to the Siamese commandant, my interpreter addressing
himself to a Siamese officer, or petty chief, who
seemed to have charge of a guard at the gate. The
worthy was leaning listlessly on some planks, and,
when first addressed, gave himself as many airs as
the most thoroughbred British subaltern in charge of
three rank and file could have done. It made me smile
to see how small the stride between the extremes of
civilised and savage life: the listless apathy of fashion
and the stoicism of the Indian are very, very close
akin. Jamboo, however, understood the art of being
a dragoman ; and I fancy stirred up the subaltern
by a glowing description of who and what I was, and
by his gesticulation and apparent solemnity of bear-
ing when addressing me, moved the spirit of the sol-
dier, and he got up, and conducted me to the pre-
sence of the Siamese chief.
Passing through a crowd of very uncivil officers,
who could only be distinguished from the men by
wearing silk tartans of a blue and white pattern, I
was presented to a tall intelligent person, the com-
mandant. Jamboo made, in a disagreeably abject
manner, a long speech on my behalf; in which
A NAVAL AMBASSADOR. 215
the Siamese tongue grated harshly on the ear after
the soft and harmonious language of Malayia. The
hall of audience was in one of the bastions, and was
evidently the proper Divan. The courtier-like super-
ciliousness of all the officers in the chiefs retinue was
deliciously amusing; and the great man was evidently
wrath at something : maybe he was not struck with
the importance of a British midshipman in his ambas-
sadorial character; but I enjoyed the joke amazingly;
for I had been ordered to give a message, and I deter-
mined to give it to no one but the chief, were he
the Rajah of Ligor himself. I got it from my chief;
I intended it should go to theirs. Jamboo passed
several compliments between us, almost going
through the form of paying idolatrous worship to
a Siamese general and a midshipman of H.M.S.
" Hyacinth." I then said, in the most serious
and formal manner, " Tell the general that I have
a message from my rajah ! " and, added Jadee, " Re-
member, oh Jamboo ! that these men are swine, and
would never have been here but for us ; explain that
to these sons of burnt mothers!" Requesting Jamboo
to do no such thing, and desiring Jadee to hold his
tongue, my message was duly delivered.
" He says," said Jamboo, "that he is ready to hear.
But, dear me, sir, this not Siamese fashion ; nobody
p 4
216 THE AMBASSADOR DEMANDS BEEF.
can send a message to a great chief like this without
a present ; suppose no got present, can do no good ! "
" Never mind, Jamboo," I replied ; " you fire away
as I tell you. Tell this old gentleman that my cap-
tain wishes him to put the two bullocks he promised
for the ship, on board my boat."
Jamboo collapsed ; and I saw he was going to
remonstrate at having to give such an unimportant
message to so big a man, therefore checked it at
once, by ordering him to do as he was told.
The message was delivered, and its effect was richly
comical on the audience around us: they stared open-
mouthed at the impertinence of the whole affair,
though I knew perfectly well I had done right ; for
the devil a bullock should I have got from anyone
but the chief, and to go off without two of them was
not my intention. The chief seemed to divine my
motive ; for though he stared at first, he soon smiled,
and with becoming dignity replied that he did not
look after bullocks, but that we should have two.
"Will his Excellency be good enough to order one
of these officers to go with me, and point them out ?
I asked through Jamboo. And, wonderful to relate !
his Excellency did please to do so, and I put the
gentleman under Jadee's especial care, and told him
not to part from him until he had the two animals
CUKIOSITY OF THE SIAMESE OFFICIALS. 217
safe in his own custody. Jadee went away with
him, looking as if any breach of contract would cause
the Siamese officer to join the hecatomb in the
tank.
I was now retiring, when the small spyglass in
my hand attracted the Siamese chief's attention ; and
on inquiring if it was a pistol, its proper use was ex-
plained to him, and very much delighted his Excel-
lency was with a sight through the little Dollond ; and
children at a peep-show were never more excited
than were his attendants in their desire to be allowed
to look through it. I need hardly say that I was
not over liberal in that respect to those who had
given themselves airs, and I soon beat a retreat.
The crowd and the heat made the Divan disagreeable
amongst people with whom fresh water had become
a scarce commodity.
The excessive self-conceit I observed amongst these
officers is a national characteristic of the Siamese
people: they style themselves, -par excellence, "Thai,"
or freemen; the Franks, in short, of the great penin-
sula embraced by the Indian Ocean and China Sea —
a title they most decidedly do not deserve as a body ;
for the stick is in more common use amongst them
than the bamboo is with the Chinese, as an arbitrator
between master and man.
218 APPEARANCE OF THE SOLDIERY.
Great numbers of their soldiery were in both fort
and town, and struck me as being a fine soldierlike
body of men if measured by an Asiatic standard,
and minus pipeclay, black-ball, and leather stocks, I
might also add, regimental clothing. A cloth round
their hips, falling to the knee, and another fashioned
like a Malay sarang, hanging across the shoulders,
formed their sole attire. In appearance, they struck
me as a composite race, and betrayed strong signs of
a mixed origin. They were taller than the Malays,
long-backed, and better developed about the legs and
hips, as a race should be who live more ashore than
afloat. The features partook of the Burmese cast of
countenance, with the eye just enough Chinese in
outline to show that the sons of Ham were numerous
on the banks of the deep Menam. In colour 3 they
were a shade or two darker than the Malay and Chi-
nese, exhibiting in that respect an affinity to the races
of the Peninsula of Indostan, and substantiating
their sacred traditions, that their religion was derived,
as well as their earliest civilisation, from the banks of
the Ganges. The power of endurance of these sol-
diery I had often heard my Malays extol ; and look-
ing at the spare athletic limbs, in which there was
more bone than flesh, I could easily understand that
they were capable of making long marches ; indeed,
MOBILITY OF THE SIAMESE TROOPS. 219
whilst I stood at the gate, two men, clothed as I have
before described, marched in with a spring in their
gait which betokened that they had still plenty of
work le/t in them ; and on inquiring where they had
come from, I was informed that they had marched
from a place thirty miles distant. Beside their
arms, these men each carried a slip of bamboo on
his shoulder, at either extremity of which was sus-
pended all their baggage, cooking-gear, and several
days' rice tied up in a bag with a little salt. The
celerity with which an army that thus carried its
equipage and commissariat upon the men's shoulders,
could move from point to point of an extensive em-
pire like Siam, must be very remarkable, and fully
supported the Malay acknowledgment of their being
excellent soldiers.
All those I saw had firearms of some description
or other : the majority had flint muskets with the
Tower mark ; round the waist of the soldiery was se-
cured a primitive cartouche-box containing, in little
movable reeds, the charges of powder, and in the
same belt a bag was suspended filled with musket-
balls and pieces of a felt-like vegetable substance for
wads.
The martial appearance of these Siamese was
heightened by a very peculiar mode of wearing the
220 THE BUFFALO OF MALAYIA.
hair. Naturally jet black, and somewhat harsh in
texture, the hair was cut to an equal length all over
the head, leaving it about three and a half inches
long, the object being to make each particular hair to
stand on end, u like quills upon the fretful porcupine,"
and to ensure this, a fillet, of an inch and a half
wide, of rattan, or some stiff substance, carefully
covered with white linen, encircled the head, passing
across the forehead close to the roots of the hair, and
served to force it all into an erect position.
It decidedly gave them a singularly fearless air,
but, whether a national custom, or merely adopted by
the Siamese general to make a marked distinction
between his followers and the long-haired Malays, I
am unable to say.
I passed Jadee and his crew of twenty men, en-
gaged in getting the two bullocks on board the {e Eme-
rald," and they had had a pretty tough hour's work
in doing so : for the animals, like most of the native
cattle in Malayia, were only-half tamed buffalos — a
set of savage long-horned brutes that will not turn
from the tiger so common in those jungles. Indeed
in many of the native states, the favourite sport
of the chiefs is to capture a tiger alive, and turn
him loose into an enclosed arena with a buffalo-bull,
and in nine cases out of ten the latter will, in spite
MR. AIREY, Ol' THE ""HYACINTH.'' 221
of the fearful wounds it receives, kill the tiger with
a blow or two of its horns, and then toss it about
as an English bull would a dog.
We had some difficulty in lashing down our freight
of fresh beef, and taking it safely off to the " Hya-
cinth ;" and the commanding officer, the kind and
gallant Airey, laughed immoderately when I told him
of my mode of carrying out his injunction, "not to
return without the bullocks." " A midshipman's im-
pertinence must," as he observed, (< have astonished
the Rajah of Ligor !" for he it was, and no one less,
that I had thus played the ambassador with !
Airey was the master of the " Hyacinth ;" but
owing to the death of the second lieutenant, and the
promotion of the first lieutenant*, he was now doing
commanding officer's duty. He was a charming
specimen of a generous, gallant sailor. Poor fellow !
he now lies in a humble grave on the pestilential
shores of Labuan, having fallen a victim to fever
and dysentery, so rife at the commencement of our
settlement on that island. Heaven rest his soul ! a
better, kinder man, or more zealous officer, never
* The late Captain Giffard, who was mortally wounded,
and his vessel, H.M.S. " Tiger," captured by the Russians off
Odessa, in the commencement of the late war.
222 SIAMESE INGRATITUDE.
adorned our profession, although it never was his luck,
in piping days of peace, to have sufficient opportunity
for a display of his abilities, and the canker of dis-
appointment and a worn-out constitution laid him
under the turf.
Arrangements were now made to proceed north-
ward, so as to promote the rapid reduction of the rest
of the province, a great portion of which was still in
the hands of the Tonkoos and their adherents. The
Siamese, as I have said, did not appear to understand
the value of our passive form of co-operation, though it
was undoubtedly very efficacious; and Jamboo assured
me he had,, whilst in Quedah fort, heard many insult-
ing inuendoes cast upon the British mode of block-
ading. " Oh ! you have been eating white rice while
we have starved upon black," was one of their expres-
sions equivalent " to lying in clover " whilst they
worked hard. Others wanted to know, " Why
we allowed a set of Malay vermin to escape, that
they might return, to harass the Siamese at a future
day ? " In short, had Captain Warren expected much
gratitude for all his hard work and anxious days and
nights, he would have been bitterly disappointed, and
we may say that our unhandsome treatment by the
Siamese was only of a piece with the conduct of
some other countries which we could mention in more
WE PROCEED TO PAKLIS. 223
civilised parts of the world, where policy, or gene-
rosity, or Quixotism has caused Old England to
lavish her treasure and her still more precious blood.
It was with no small satisfaction that we saw the
ls Hyacinth " weigh on the 22nd of March, and pro-
ceed towards Parlis, leaving the Siamese and the
" Teda Bagoose" to fulfil their mission, whatever
that might be. By the bye, the fighting captain of
the " Teda Bagoose " had vowed to report me offi-
cially for giving such a name to his Imperial Ma-
jesty's brig, and that added to my desire to see her a
long way astern.
224 KETUKN TO PARLIS.
CHAP. XVII.
Return to Pariis. — A Case of Cholera-morbus. — An Irish
Cure for Cholera. — Pat Conroy's Opinion of the Chinese. —
Tamelan. — Pariis. — The Flight from Tamelan. — The
Legacy of Queen Devi. — The Departure. — The Heart of
a Cocoa-nut Tree. — Proceed to shoot a Buffalo. — Discover
a Herd. — The Shot and the Chase. — Obtain Plenty of
Buffalo Meat.
The cutter and gun-boat proceeded along the shore,
whilst the " Hyacinth " made a straight course ; and
the lack of wind in both cases caused the passage to
Pariis to be longer than usual. Unable to continue
at the oars and sweeps during the heat of the day, we
anchored off Bamboo Point, whilst the "Hyacinth,"
in the distance, flapped lazily along with light airs
and cats'-paws which never reached us. Towards
sunset we weighed, and had not gone far before a
small prahu was detected endeavouring to hide
herself in the jungle : we of course made her come
alongside ; and a wretched sight she was ! The crew
on board consisted for the most part of Chinese
settlers who were flying the province: they came
A CASE OF CHOLERA-MORBUS. 225
from Trang, and gave us the first intimation
that that place was already in Siamese possession ;
but on the way down, cholera and fever had broken
out in the prahu, and many had died.
Whilst with us, one poor creature was seized with
Asiatic cholera. It was a sad sight, to see one in a
sound healthy state suddenly seized with a mortal
malady. After one or two rapidly successive cramps
the very appearance of the man seemed to alter ; he
became livid and looked collapsed. We had no medi-
cine, and beyond rubbing his cramped muscles, could
do nothing, until Barclay's stroke oarsman, a fine spe-
cimen of "a boy" from Kinsale, called Paddy Conroy,
said it was u a pithy to say a hathen dhoi in such a
manner," and volunteered to cure him, if the officers
would only give him five minutes' run of their spirits.
Pat Conroy, we knew, looked on spirits — in a nate
state> as he called it — as a sovereign remedy for every
trouble flesh is heir to ; and it was necessary to keep
an eye to his physicking, as in his zeal he might have
administered counteractives to himself, whilst doing
the good Samaritan to the cholera-stricken China-
man. We opened our private store of spirits, which
was kept in a box containing our stock of cayenne
pepper, salt, chilies, pickles, and chutney. (( Be dad !
sir," said Conroy, as his Milesian nose disappeared
Q
226 AN IRISH CURE FOR CHOLERA.
in the smiles which wreathed his honest countenance,
" here is the rale physic here; the devil a sowl dies of
cholera while there is all this whisky to be had," —
and as he said so, he started a wine-glass of it into a
tumbler. " And then there 's the beauthiful Jamaicy
rhum too, — by the mother of Moses ! what is better
than that too for cramps?" so saying, he added some
of it. " Ah, now, sir, if you plaise, the smallest
taste of gin; oh! it's wonderful what a power there
is in that same, if so be there is plenty of it ; not
that Paddy Conroy would exchange Kinsale harbour
full of it for a bucketful of the rale crathur — but
what can these hathens know about it ? Now for a
spoonful of chili vinegar and a pinch of cayenne." So
suiting the action to the word, he mixed up a dia-
bolical potion, which would have horrified a horse-
doctor.
I remonstrated, but Barclay truly enough said, it
gave the Chinaman one chance more of surviving,
and accordingly a seaman forced the poor creature's
mouth open with an iron spoon-handle, — for the teeth
were set close together with spasms, — and Dr. Conroy
poured his cure for cholera down the man's throat.
" You have killed that man ! " I said.
"The divil a fear, sir," replied Conroy; "good
whisky never killed any man ; " a rash assertion
CONROY S OPINION OF THE CHINESE. 227
of his faith in his national liquor, which seemed
somewhat supported by the rapid improvement
which took place in the patient, who had perfectly
shaken off his malady before we reached Parlis.
Chinaman-like, the wretch seemed incapable of
gratitude, and neither he nor his friend said, thank
you! to Pat Conroy, who, when I remarked to him
that I thought they might have done so, replied that
" Nothing good ever came of men who wore tails,
the dirty hathens ! and it was almost a pithy to have
wasted good liquor on such bastes."
Conroy was one of those light-hearted, devil-may-
care Irishmen, one or two of whom are so invaluable
on a man-of-war, just to keep up fun and light-
headedness ; more than that is always a source of
trouble, for they are seldom good sailors, and often
troublesome and drunken. But wherever a good
joke would lighten heavy work, or dispel monotony or
care, such a diverting vagabond as Paddy Conroy was
invaluable ; and though Paddy was bad at steering
or seamanship, he could handle a musket with all the
innate love of soldiering of an Irishman, and where
dash or pluck was required, " Paddy Conroy," to
use his own expression, "would be all there, your
honour !" His love for being " all there" eventually
led him into a powder-magazine in China, where
q 2
228 PAKLIS. — TAMELAN.
firing a pistol at a retreating Tartar, he blew up
the whole edifice, and himself with it. Paddy es-
caped with serious injury to his hands and ears, and
a general shake of the constitution from which he
has not yet recovered. I am, however, going ahead
too fast, and must return to Parlis, where we made
all our sister gun-boats extremely happy by the in-
formation we had to communicate of the fall of
Quedah fort.
Little change had taken place in the state of
affairs in the river since my last visit ; but the diffi-
culty of maintaining the blockade was not small, in
consequence of the extraordinary distance we had to
send for fresh water. In proof of this, I was next
day despatched to Tamelan, to fill all the water-
casks of the flotilla from the water-holes of that
village.
The good little Queen Devi was most anxious
to assist me, and gave every gallon of water she
could spare ; but her villagers were themselves some-
what straitened for supplies, there having only
been a couple of showers of rain during the last two
months ; and the parched earth gaped everywhere in
wide fissures, and looked as if longing for that rainy
season which was not then far distant. Already had
parties of her people been obliged to forage up the
THE FLIGHT FROM TAMELAN. 229
stream for fresh water, and been fired at by what
they described as " orang-jahat" or bad people —
evidently a sort of banditti, which, called into exist-
ence by the hostilities in the province, waged war
alike on either side. The news we brought the good
folks of Tamelan of the fall of Quedah and Trang,
decided the chieftainess upon taking a step for which
it was evident she had some time made preparations.
She therefore waited upon me next morning, and
informed me that her people intended embarking
all their movable property in their prahus, and to
proceed to a more secure spot within the jurisdic-
tion of the English Government. I tried hard to
persuade her to remain, and that I was sure Captain
Warren would explain to the Siamese how neutral
her conduct had been, and would secure good terms
for herself and followers, provided they submitted
willingly to the new order of things.
She assured me, however, that it was hopeless to ex-
pect that the Siamese soldiery would obey their chiefs
in showing any forbearance to the Malay inhabitants,
and that if I refused her leave to depart, or she
attempted to prevent her people doing so, they w r ould
assuredly disperse into the neighbouring jungle, and
escape as they best could from the sea-shore. Under
these circumstances, I wished them God-speed, and
q 3
230 THE FLIGHT FROM TAMELAN.
promised her a safe conduct to the ship, whence I
knew she would be allowed to proceed to Penang.
All th6 day was spent in hasty preparation ; the
more so, that two or three fugitives from the upper
part of the Setoue arrived with some horrid tale of
atrocities committed by the invaders. Children and
women were staggering under loads of household
goods ; weeping and squalling going on on all sides ;
and many of the prahus in which they were embark-
ing were so leaky that the people were already baling.
One could only think with a shudder, as visions of
blue sharks and alligators floated before the imagina-
tion, what it would be when on the high seas. Queen
Devi, poor soul ! cried bitterly all day, and told me
of some old hereditary right she had to the land
hereabouts; that some eighteen or twenty years be-
fore, the wrath of the Emperor of Siam had fallen
with a fiftyfold greater force upon the Quedah
Malays, because it was less expected than at present ;
and that her family had been fugitives from that
time until she had returned in the previous autumn,
hoping to live quietly in the land of her birth — a
hope which, of course, had now proved to be
fallacious.
As nearly all her best men had gone with their
countrymen into the interior to fight in defence of
THE LEGACY OF QUEEN DEVI. 231
their rights, there was a sad want of hands to perform
the necessary manual labour for the equipment of
their prahus. I therefore ordered my crew to lend a
hand in getting the sails, oars, and rudders of their
vessels into order for their voyage. The gratitude
of the poor souls for this piece of assistance knew
no bounds; and the chieftainess, in return, told
me that she gave me a legacy of all the cocoa-nut
trees and mangoes in the village, and informed me
that there were a number of half-wild buffaloes in
the clearance, which we might shoot and eat if we
liked to do so.
In consequence of this information, I determined
to wait and secure such a treat for my poor crew,
who had not tasted a morsel of animal food during
the four months I had been with them ; and for
how much longer previously, they alone knew.
During the night and morning the chieftainess
and her followers left, in ten prahus, laden as
deep as they would swim, and crammed like slavers
with human beings. We gave them a parting
cheer, and soon afterwards landed, to see what was
to be picked up in the shape of food. Our search
was not successful, and even fruit was scarce upon
the cocoa-nut trees. My crew, however, soon struck
upon a method of obtaining something to eat, in
Q 4
232 THE HEART OF A COCOA-NUT TREE.
the shape of the heart of a cocoa-nut tree. This
luxury could only have been enjoyed under the
peculiar circumstances through which the trees had
become our property, for they had to be cut down ;
and then, on splitting open the gorgeous crown of
leaves which forms the capital of that useful species
of palm, a white vegetable substance was obtained,
about three feet long and as thick as a woman's
arm. Eaten raw, it tasted like a delicious nut, and
when boiled it formed an excellent vegetable.
The vandalism of destroying a noble tree for the
sake of one dish of fruit or vegetable was, however,
too great to be carried to any extent. I only allowed
three or four to be cut down, and consoled the men
by assuring them of beef ad lib. in the evening.
Jadee reconnoitred the rice-fields for the bullocks
or buffaloes, and reported to me that during the heat
of the day they had naturally retreated into the
shady depths of the jungle, and would only come out
to feed in the clearings when the sun declined from
the zenith. We therefore went on board to burnish
up our arms, and get some salt ready for curing
our anticipated surplus of beef. I found Jamboo
anxious to proceed up the river, to procure from a
certain bank a peculiar species of very delicious
shellfish, which I never have tasted anywhere but in
rilOCEED TO SHOOT A BUFFALO. 233
the Setoue, although it is, I believe, common to the
Straits of Malacca. I gave him permission, warning
him to retreat immediately should war parties of
Siamese or the orang-jahat fire upon him — an injunc-
tion which I believe I might have well spared my-
self the trouble of giving to the unwarlike descendant
of the British Mars. About three o'clock Jadee and
I started for our foray against the buffaloes, with
a single barrel each, and two active men as beaters.
As we went along, Jadee explained to me that the
animals were perfectly wild, and all that the Malays
knew of them in Tamelan was, that their young
rice-fields had been sadly ravaged by them, and that
we should have to be, in the first place, very 'cute to
get within shot of them ; and in the next, it would
require some generalship, if we hit them in the open
ground, to escape their wrath ; for, as he sagely ob-
served, " They don't care about tigers or snakes ; and
a very wise man who I once knew, who understood
all the buffaloes say to one another, told me that
they don't care for a man either."
" All right ! " I said to Jadee ; " but don't you
know of any charm for getting near them, or, if we
get near them, for being sure of killing them?" —
Nothing, I knew, pleased Jadee so much as appealing
to his powers of necromancy.
234 AVE DISCOVER A HERD.
" Well, Tuhan," he replied, " I do know an infal-
lible charm for bringing down man or animal ; and
that is, putting a small piece of pork-flesh (here he
spat, and cursed the unclean animal) down a gun-
barrel. I intend to practise it on Mahomet Alee ;
but, Inshallah ! we will get these buffaloes without."
" God is great ! " I reverentially replied ; " and it
is lucky we are able to do without the flesh of swine
on this occasion; but if it is a charm, may it be
plentiful, oh, Jadee! when you meet the pirate
Mahomet Alee ! "
Thus chatting, we strolled rapidly along, skirting
the western edge of the jungle, so that the strong
shadow might in some measure serve to conceal us,
and to keep to leeward of every animal in the
cleared ground, the wind being from the eastward.
At last the quick eyes of the Malays detected four
or five animals feeding in a hollow ; and we com-
menced to stalk them up as if they had been red deer.
Aided by the wind and shadow, we at last reached a
small knoll unobserved ; and there, through a mass
of brushwood, had a good view of the brutes, and
were well within range of them. Jadee peered over,
and whispered that we were in a bad place, but no
better could be had. There was a fine tree lying on
its broadside not far off; its branches would have
THE SHOT AND THE CHARGE. 235
given a cover against any charge, for it formed a
natural " abattis ; " but it was impossible to get there
without being seen by the cattle, who would either
charge us, or bolt immediately. I therefore arranged
that our two beaters should at once fall back again
into the jungle, out of which we had advanced some
four hundred yards. When they were safe, Jadee
and I were to single out a bull and fire, then run
for the fallen tree, to obtain shelter before the rest of
the herd were upon us. We accordingly carried this
into execution, levelling our muskets at a great black
bull buffalo, who was on the look-out whilst the rest
fed. Something alarmed the brute : he evidently
caught sight of the beaters retiring to the jungle,
and, as if by magic, seemed to communicate an alarm
to the herd, which contained not more than four or
five cows with calves and another bull. Seeing by his
vicious look that he was going to charge my men, I
sang out " Fire !" Both our barrels went off together,
and down dropped the look-out bull. I was so en-
chanted that I looked only at him. " Lari-lacasse !"
screamed Jadee, suiting the action to the word, by
starting on his legs and running as fast as he could
for the fallen tree. It required no repetition of the
admonition for me to follow suit, and the more so
as one glance showed me the other bull was in chase.
236 DESCRIPTION OF A BUFFALO.
The fifty yards I had to go over were done like
lightning, and I leapt the stem and dashed after
Jadee amongst the branches as the brute crashed
against them. After trotting briskly round to see
if there was an opening, it pawed the earth fiercely;
and taking another volley from us, of which one
ball alone wounded it, the bull beat a retreat, at
which I was not sorry, for a more spiteful-looking
beast than an enraged buffalo, I do not suppose the
whole range of the animal kingdom can produce.
It has none of that beauty of form which strikes
one in looking at a European bull. Its black smooth
skin is thinly covered with hair, not unlike that
of an English pig; its frame is long, bony, and
rather angular ; the feet or hoofs clumsy and mas-
sive ; the head long, with an appearance of cunning
ferocity about the eye, very unlike the fearless look of
our British bull. The horns are long and sharp,
thick as a man's arm close to the head, and forming
so open a curve that they can be laid almost close
back in the hollow of the shoulder; and their
efficiency I was very ready to believe in, without
further proof than Jadee's assurance. We now left
our fortress and joined the beaters, who told us that
the wounded bull had retreated into the jungle, but
was bleeding too profusely to go far; we followed
OBTAIN PLENTY OF BUFFALO-MEAT. 237
up his trail, and soon found him in the centre of a
thicket. After some trouble we dislodged him and
administered the coup de grace, much to our delight,
for neither Jadee nor I were sportsmen in the proper
acceptance of the word ; and as we cheered over our
trophy, I own to the soft impeachment of allowing
my mind to recur to beefsteaks and marrow-bones,
to which my rice-famished palate had been long a
stranger. Ripping open the bull, we cut off as much
meat as we could shoulder, and proceeded to the
" Emerald," to send all hands up for the rest of the
carcase.
238 JAMBOO AND THE RIVER SPIRIT.
CHAP. XVIII.
Jamboo frightened by a River Spirit. — The Aborigines of
Malayia. — Malayan Superstitions. — An " Untoo," or Spirit,
seen. — My Credulity taxed. — The Spirits of the Jungle. —
On Superstitions in general. — The Charms of Superstition.
— Musquitoes and Sand-flies. — The Village on Fire. —
Flaming Cocoa-nut Trees. — Intentional Destruction. —
Traces of Man rapidly obliterated in the East.
The men soon brought off all the meat from the
dead buffalo, and as there was much more than we
could eat at once, the surplus was cut into thin shreds
and hung up about the vessel, so that on the mor-
row the action of the sun should convert it into v
what, in South America, is styled " charqui," or
dried beef.
Towards sunset, the sampan returned down the
river with only half a load of shell-fish, Jamboo
and his crew having been frightened off the
fishing-ground by what Sutoo, the quarter-master,
assured me was an Untoo, or evil spirit. He ex-
plained to me, that while busy up to their knees in
water, an odd noise had been heard under the over-
JAMBOO AND THE RIVER SPIRIT. 239
hanging trees on the opposite bank : looking in that
direction, they saw a man's head come up out of the
water ; the face was covered with hair, and it eyed
them in a fierce, threatening manner ; they shouted,
jumped into the sampan, and fired at the creature;
it dived for a minute, and then appeared again, grin-
ning horribly. Jamboo and his men decided that it
was a demon, and thought it better to decamp whilst
their skins were whole. I laughed heartily at their
fears, and tried to explain to them that it might be a
seal. Jamboo, however, stoutly insisted that no seals
were ever seen in Malayia ; and as I found myself in
the minority, I quietly acquiesced in the supposition
that it was an unclean spirit. Jadee said, if not the
Old Gentleman, that it must be one of the wild men
who could imitate the appearance of monkeys or apes,
the cry of birds, or the howlings of wild beasts, so as
even to deceive animals.
These wild men are the sad remnants of an ab-
original race of diminutive negroes, who, at one time,
were more numerous, but are now only found in
small isolated parties, in the most inaccessible fast-
nesses of Malayia, living amongst the branches of
trees, to avoid the snakes and beasts of prey. They
are human beings in their most cjegraded form —
without religion, without any acknowledged form of
240 ABORIGINES OF MALAYIA.
government, and only gifted with animal instincts
and passions. When found or caught by the Malays,
they are tied up or caged just as we should treat
chimpanzees.
I argued that it was very unlikely such creatures
should be down so close to the sea, and, least of all,
would they voluntarily show themselves to our men.
Jadee, however, suggested that the movements of
large bodies of armed men had disturbed them in
their haunts ; besides, that at one season of the year
they were known to wander towards the sea-shore,
either for the sake of procuring salt, or because
shell-fish was easily procurable. Under these circum-
stances, I was not sorry Jamboo had returned ; for
these wild men use the sumpit, or blow- pipe, with
fearful skill, and blow small poisoned arrows, a few
inches long, with sufficient force to destroy even
birds upon the wing.
Sailors of every part of the world have a strong
spice of the romantic and superstitious in their com-
position, and the Malays are decidedly no exception
to the rule. Indeed, the wild and enterprising life
the majority of them lead, and the many curious phe-
nomena peculiar to the seas and islands of their
beautiful archipelago, could never be accounted for by
an uneducated but observant and highly imaginative
MALAYAN SUPERSTITIONS. 241
race, by any other than supernatural agency. Often,
during the evenings of the blockade, had Jamboo
recounted to me strange tales of Malayian history:
in all of them fiction and myth were deliciously
blended with truth, and facts could be easily appealed
to in corroboration of all he recounted. The natural
and supernatural, the miracles of the Romish church,
Hindoo mythology, and Mahometan fables were
rolled one into the other, making tales of thrilling
interest, which I cared not to unravel even had I
been able to do so.
There were proofs by the thousand amongst these
poor fellows of that connection with the world of
spirits which it seems to be the desire of man in
every stage of civilisation to assure himself of; and
I must say, I half began to believe in their assertions
upon that head; their faith was so earnest and
child like, that it worked strongly upon even my
own tutored convictions to the contrary. Children
never clustered round a winter fire at home with
more intense credulity and anxious sympathy, than
did my poor Malays to listen to some woful legend,
derived from the blood-stained annals of the Por-
tuguese or Dutch rule in Malayia and its islands.
As an instance of their childlike belief in spirits, and
of the strange way in which such an idea is sup-
it
242 MALAYAN SUPERSTITIONS.
ported by optical delusions common to these latitudes,
I may here recount an event which no more than
amused me at the time, although the strange way in
which Jamboo and his men swore to having this day
seen an " Untoo" brought it back forcibly to my
mind.
Just after the blockade commenced, in December
of the previous year, my gun-boat was lying one
night close to the southern point of Quedah river.
The mist fell for awhile like small rain upon us, but
afterwards, at about ten o'clock, changed into fine
weather, with heavy murky clouds overhead, through
the intervals of which we had momentary gleams of
light from a young moon. The air was cold and
damp, and I naturally sought shelter under my tent-
shaped mat, although until midnight I considered
myself responsible for a vigilant look-out being kept.
About eleven o'clock, my attention was called to the
look-out man, who, seated upon the bow-gun, was
spitting violently, and uttering some expressions as
if in reproof or defiance, and continued to do so very
frequently. Ignorant at that time of the character
of my crew, such a peculiar proceeding made me
restless. Presently I saw another man go up to
him ; he pointed in the direction of the jungle, and
both repeated the conduct which had attracted my
AN UNTOO, OR SriKIT, SEEN. 243
attention : the second man then walked below, as if
glad to get off deck. Fairly puzzled, I walked for-
ward. The look-out man had got his back turned
to the jungle, but was every now and then casting
glances over his shoulder in a very furtive manner,
and muttering sentences in which Allah was in-
voked very earnestly. He seemed glad to see me,
and jumped up to salute me.
" Anything new ? " I asked. " Prahus ? "
" Teda, Touhan ; No, sir ! " was the answer ; and
then seeing me looking towards the jungle, he made
signs with his head that it was better to look else-
where.
I immediately called Jamboo, the interpreter,
and desired him to ask what the Malay saw in the
jungle.
Jamboo, as usual, sat down, black-fellow fashion,
on his hams, and, half asleep, drawled out my ques-
tion, and then coolly said —
et He says he saw a spirit, sir."
iS Nonsense ! " I replied. " Ask him how ? or
where ? It may be some Malay scouts."
Again Jamboo made an effort, and the oracle in-
formed me, that the man had distinctly seen an Un-
too, or spirit, moving about among the trees close to
the water's edge : he assured me he had seen it ever
R 2
244 MY CREDULITY TAXED.
since the mist cleared off, and that he had been
praying and expectorating, to prevent it approaching
the gun-boat, as it was a very bad sort of spirit,
very dangerous, and robed in a long dress.
I expostulated with Jamboo for repeating such a
nonsensical tale, and said, " Explain to the man it
is impossible; and that, if anything, it must be an
animal, or a man.
Jamboo, however, assured me, very earnestly, that
Malays often saw (( Untoos ; " that they were
some of them dangerous, some harmless ; and that
if I looked, the Malay said, I could see it as well
as himself.
I accordingly sat down by the man, and looked
intently in the same direction. We were about one
hundred and fifty yards off the jungle; the water was
just up to its edge ; among the roots of trees, and
for a few yards in, there were small ridges of white
shingle and broken shells, which receded into dark-
ness, or shone out in distinct relief as the moonlight
struck upon them.
When these patches of white shone out, I pointed
immediately, and asked if that was what he saw.
" No, no ! " said the Malay ; and Jamboo added,
u He says he will tell you when he sees it."
THE SPIRITS OF THE JUNGLE. 245
Suddenly he touched me, and pointing earnestly,
exclaimed, " Look ! look ! "
I did so, and an odd tremor, I am not ashamed to
say, ran through my frame, as I caught sight of what
looked like the figure of a female with drapery
thrown around her, as worn by Hindoo women : it
moved out from the shade of the forest, and halted at
one of the hillocks of white sand, not more than 300
yards distant. I rubbed my eyes ! whilst the inter-
preter called on a Romish saint, and the Malay spat
vigorously, as if an unclean animal had crossed his
path. Again I looked, and again I saw the same
form : it had passed a dark patch, and was slowly
crossing another opening in the forest.
Feeling the folly of yielding to the impression of
reality which the illusion was certainly creating on
my mind, I walked away, and kept the Malay em-
ployed in different ways until midnight : he, however,
every now and then spat vehemently, and cursed all
evil spirits with true Mahometan fervour.
In the middle- watch the " Untoo " was again seen,
but as it did not board us, — as Jadee assured me
" Untoos " of a wicked description had been known
to do, — I conjectured it was some good fairy, and at
any rate we were not again troubled with an Untoo
b 3
246 ON SUPERSTITIONS IN GENERAL.
until it appeared to the fishing party in the Setoue
river.
These spectral illusions are not peculiar to the
jungles of Malayia; there is no part of the world
where they do not exist in some form or other; and
I, for my part, am not desirous of robbing them of
their mystery : there is a poetry, a romance, about
them which invests with awe or interest some wild
spot or lonely scene that otherwise would be un-
heeded.
The phantom-ship which will not furl her royals
to the storms of the Cape of Good Hope, and
astonishes the tempest-tossed seaman as she glimmers
amidst the clouds, sea, and mist of the great Southern
Ocean, is too charming a spirit for us to be easily
robbed of ; nay, where is the sailor who has long sailed
in those seas, and not seen her ! The spirit of the
old pirate is still observed, in stormy nights when
the sea-bird cannot even keep the sea, to row his
tiny skiff through the combing waves, visiting his
hidden treasures in Nantucket bay. Among the sun-
burnt reefs and on the lonely mangrove-covered
isles of the West Indies and Gulf of Mexico, the
restless bodies of the buccaneers of old are still
8een to haunt the scenes of their former crimes.
The broken-spirited Peruvian and the degenerate
TIIE CHARMS OF SUPERSTITION. 247
Spaniard attest that on the lofty table -lands of the
Bolivian Andes, east of Lake Titicaca, the phantom
forms of her departed kings still march by night, and
watch over the vast treasures that they there con-
cealed from the avarice of their conquerors. These
are a few of the many examples which might be
adduced of a general belief in the supernatural, of a
belief in the connection between this gross earth and
the world of spirits, whether bad or blessed. I care
not to explain them away; for there is far more
pleasure than fear in the very possibility that such
things may be.
Cold philosophy and the sceptic's science may
build up walls of impossibilities, and steel our hearts
to the belief that those who have laboured for good
or evil upon earth shall return no more to encourage
or to warn us in our wayfaring here. Who will
believe them, but those that are of them? Rather
let us rejoice that, even if it be an infirmity of
imaginative minds, we are blest in believing that
" the beloved and true-hearted come to visit us once
more."
" Mortal," they softly say,
" Peace to thy heart !
We, too, yes, Mortal,
Have been as thou art ;
b 4
248 MUSQUITOES AND SAND-FLIES.
Hope-lifted, doubt-depressed
Seeing in part ;
Tried, troubled, tempted,
Sustained, as thou art."
The closing shades of night brought off from the
adjacent jungle such clouds of musquitoes and sand-
flies, that we, at any rate, were soon recalled from
dreams of spirits and " Untoos," to the vile realities
of mother earth. The crew lighted pans of cocoa-
nut husks, and set them along the windward side of
the vessel, so that we were enveloped in a pungent
smoke which threatened to bring on ophthalmia ; but
still I was a thin-skinned treat the wretches had not
perhaps ever before partaken of: they pierced through
my light cotton garments, and I felt morally certain
Jadee would only discover the husk of a midshipman
by the morning, as all that was succulent was fast
being abstracted. I had promised to wait until the
morrow, for the purpose of shooting some peacocks
which had been seen, but my resolution failed me,
and I determined to start at once if the night-breeze,
which was fast freshening, did not mend matters.
My attention was, however, soon attracted to a more
important object. The land-breeze, as usual, came
THE VILLAGE ON FIRE. 249
with a smart gust, and almost simultaneously the
deserted village burst into flames in two or three
places. AVe went immediately to quarters, and pre-
pared for an attack, fancying, from the sudden way
in which the fire commenced, that it was the act of
some of the banditti of whom the chieftainess had
warned me.
The flames spread with awful rapidity: everything
was well calculated to promote ignition — houses, grass,
leaves were as dry as three months of a broiling sun
could make them ; in fifteen minutes, one broad
wave of fire had enveloped the whole village, and
being to windward of the gun-boat, we had to get
the night awnings down, and drop the vessel very
expeditiously out of the way. This done, I landed
two parties of men, ten in number each ; one party
to try and stay the fire, the other, armed, to resist
any of the " Orang-jahat," if they were about.
Sad as the scene was at first, it became truly ter-
rible when the flames extended themselves to the
tops of the cocoa-nut trees ! — the felt-like substance
between the roots of the leaves, as well as the leaves
themselves, catching fire, and communicating from
one to the other, until the whole plantation resembled
a row of gigantic torches flaming and waving in the
250 FLAMING COCOA-NUT TREES.
air. We were of course unable to make any further
attempt to stay the conflagration, and some had
narrow escapes of their lives from the fierce rapidity
with which the fire leapt from one object to the
other, and licked up with its fiery tongue everything
as it went.
No natives nor Siamese were to be seen in any
direction ; and I afterwards pretty correctly ascer-
tained the origin of the fire. Under every one of
the houses, which, as usual, were raised some three
feet from the earth, the natives of Tamelan had been
in the habit of throwing the husks of the rice used
daily in their families, forming, on the day they
left, very moderate-sized heaps, and when they de-
parted, the embers from their hearths had been
thrown on those heaps of husks. So long as it
was calm, the ignited husks of rice had merely
smouldered, but directly the breeze sprang up, they
were fanned into flames, and in a few minutes, as I
have described, wrapt the whole village in a sheet of
fire.
The people of Tamelan had evidently determined
that their conquerors should not dwell in the houses
their industry had constructed; and my Malays
seconded them, by not pointing out to me the conse-
TRACES OF MAN RAPIDLY OBLITERATED. 251
quencc likely to arise from leaving the smouldering
fires in the deserted village. Next day, the sun rose
on a row of calcined trees, and a patch of burnt
fragments. Tamelan no longer existed, and the next
monsoon, with its rains, would hand over to the do-
minion of the jungle the very spot on which it stood.
The footsteps of man are readily obliterated by the
rapid growth of Eastern vegetation : its action is to
be compared to nothing but that of the ocean, which
bears but the impress of the stamp of the steamship
for a minute, and then laughs and rolls on, scorning
the pigmy that has crossed its surface. So the green
forests of these lands of rank vegetation close in and
wave over race after race of men, who battle with it
for awhile, and pass away, leaving no more traces
of their existence in the perishable records of this
earth, than does the keel of the ship over the sur-
face of the waters.
In the forests of Malayia, the traveller already
finds remains of temples and inscriptions, hidden in
creepers, vines, and jungle-grass: they have not even
a tradition attached to them, and the best-read
Eastern historian cannot decide whether the once
great kingdom of Pegu extended its boundaries thus
far, or whether these ruins are those of some ancient
252 TEACES OF MAN RAPIDLY OBLITERATED.
Malay nation, winch held a sway in this peninsula
before a pressure from the north forced them to push
throughout the archipelago, nay, even Polynesia, for
a resting-place, extinguishing, in their character of
conquerors, the negro race which undoubtedly was
the aboriginal one of those islands.
A CREW OF WUETCIIED FUGITIVES. 253
CHAP. XIX.
A Crew of wretched Fugitives. — " Orang-laut," or Sea
Gipsies. — Low Civilisation of the " Orang-laut." — Total
Absence of all Religious Feeling. — Their Mode of Living.
— The personal Appearance of Orang-laut. — Dearth of
fresh Water. — Ordered to procure Water up the River. —
Parlis and Pirate Fleet. — Interview with Haggi Loung. —
Permission granted to procure Water. — Tom West's Ad-
dress to the Malays. — Paddle up the River. — Tropical
Malayan Scenery. — Pass Kanah. — Obtain fresh Water.
Let us return, however, to Taraelan. I filled my
water-casks with all the water that was procurable,
and started out of the river. When crossing Setoue
Bay a prahu was seen coasting along the edge of the
jungle, and after a short chase we caught her. The
people in her were devoid of the usual Malay
clothing, and in a most abject condition ; they de-
scribed themselves as Orang-Patani, or people of
Patani (a Malayu- Siamese province on the opposite
coast), and said they were flying before the Siamese
army.
My Malays owned they were countrymen, but
254 ORANG-LAUT, OR SEA GIPSIES.
spoke of them as barbarians of the lowest caste,
pariahs of Malay ia, and summed them up by the
title of Bad People, or Gipsies, who make war alike
by petty theft upon Malays or Siamese.
The specimens before us were decidedly very
objectionable in every way : they were dirty to a
degree, with a most villanou3 expression of coun-
tenance. After their first fear wore off, the women
exhibited a most shameless want of modesty, and the
men evinced a total absence of all jealous feeling for
their wives or regard for their children ; and yet, when
one poor wretch offered me his two children for a
half-bushel measure of rice, I could not help thinking
their vices were the result of their sad, sad load of
want and misery ; and, giving them rice without
taking their unfortunate offspring, we sent them on
their way rejoicing.
These fugitives I believe to be identical with
the Orang-laut, or Men of the Sea, spoken of by the
earliest as well as modern writers when describing
the different Malay races. Their proper home is in
prahus, or canoes, although some of them occasionally
settle upon the borders of the sea. Like the sons of
Ishmael, their hand is against every man, and every
man's hand against them. The Malay of more
civilised communities holds them in contempt ; and
ORANG-LAUT, OR SEA GIPSIES. 255
he is the only man who can be expected to have any
sympathies with them. They are found haunting in
small groups — for their numbers do not entitle them
to the appellation of tribes — the neighbourhood of
our flourishing colonies, as well as the most secluded
and barren places in Malayia. They are usually
found east of the Straits of Malacca, although, as I
have just shown, they reach the western side some-
times. Under fifty different names, they are known
to the inhabitants of Siam, Java, Sumatra, Borneo,
and the Moluccas, and in all cases bear a bad reputa-
tion.
The best description of them is given by a Mr.
Thomson, a gentleman who has written on the archi-
pelago. I take the liberty of transcribing it entire,
and can testify to the truth of the account, in so far
as they came under my own observation.
" This tribe takes its name, Salatar, from a creek
in the island of Singapore, on the narrow strait
which divides it from the mainland, not above eight
miles distant from that flourishing and civilised
British emporium. Its numbers are about 200, living
in forty boats or canoes ; and their range in quest of
subsistence does not exceed thirty square miles.
Their language is the Malayan, and considerable
pains were taken to elicit any words foreign to that
256 STATE OF CIVILISATION.
language, but without success. As a proof of their
possessing the same language as the Malays, I may
mention that the children were heard, when playing,
to converse in this language, and were perfectly
understood by the Malays amongst our crew.
" They are possessed of no weapons, either offen-
sive or defensive. Their minds do not find a higher
range than necessity compels : the satisfying of hunger
is their only pursuit. Of water they have abun-
dance without search. With the sarkab, or fish-
spear, and the parang, or chopper, as their only
implements, they eke out a miserable subsistence
from the stores of the rivers and forests. They
neither dig nor plant, and yet live nearly independent
of their fellow-men ; for to them, the staple of life in
the East, rice, is a luxury. Tobacco they procure
by the barter of fish, and a few marketables collected
from the forests and coral reefs. Of esculent roots,
they have the prion and kalana, both bulbous, and
not unlike coarse yams. Of fruits, they eat the
tampii, kledang, and buroh, when they come in
season ; and of animals, they hunt the wild hog, but
refrain from snakes, ignanas, and monkeys.
" On their manners and customs I must need be
short, as only long acquaintance with their prejudices
and domestic feelings could afford a clue to the im-
ORANG-LAUTS HAVE NO RELIGION. 257
pulse of their actions. Of a Creator they have not
the slightest comprehension, a fact so difficult to
believe, when we find that the most degraded of the
human race, in other quarters of the globe, have an
intuitive idea of this unerring and primary truth im-
printed on their minds, that I took the greatest care
to find a slight image of the Deity within the chaos
of their thoughts, however degraded such might be,
but was disappointed. They knew neither the God
nor the devil of the Christians or Mahometans, al-
though they confessed they had been told of such ;
nor any of the demi-gods of Hindoo mythology, many
of whom were recounted to them.
" In the three great epochs of their individual life,
we consequently found no rites nor ceremonies en-
acted. At birth, the child is only welcomed to the
world by the mother's joy : at marriage, a mouthful of
tobacco and one chupah (gallon) handed to one another
confirm the hymeneal tie : at death, the deceased are
wrapped in their garments, and committed to the
parent earth, c The women weep a little, and then
leave the spot,' were the words of our simple nar-
rator. Of paris, dewas, mambangs, and other light
spirits that haunt each mountain, rock, and tree, in
the Malayan imagination, they did not know the
names, nor had they anything to be afraid of, as
S
258 ORANG-LAUTS' MODE OF LIVING.
they themselves said, than * the pirates of Galang,
who are men like themselves.' With this I was
forced to be contented, and teased them no more on
the subject.
* They do not practise circumcision, nor any
other Mohammedan rite. Their women intermarry
with the Malays not unfrequently : they also give
their women to the Chinese; and an old wo-
man told us of her having been united to in-
dividuals of both nations at an early period of her
life. Their tribe, though confining its range within
the limits of thirty square miles, may still be con-
sidered of a very wandering kind. In their sampans
(canoes), barely sufficient to float their loads, they
skirt the mangroves, collecting their food from the
shores and forests as they proceed, exhausting one
spot and then searching for another. To one accus-
tomed to the comforts and artificial wants of civilised
life, theirs, as a contrast, appears to be extreme.
Huddled up in a small boat hardly measuring twenty
feet in length, they find all the domestic comforts
they are in want of. At one end is seen the fire-
place ; in the middle are the few utensils they may
be in possession of, and at the other end, beneath a
mat not exceeding six feet in length, is found the
sleeping apartment of a family often counting five
PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF ORANG-LAUTS. 259
or six, together with a cat and a dog. Under this
they find shelter from the dews and rains of the
night and heat of the day. Even the Malays, in
pointing out these stinted quarters, cried out, ' How
miserable!' But of this the objects of their com-
miseration were not aware. In these canoes they
have enough for all their wants.
" Their children sport on the shore in search of
shell-fish at low water ; and, during high water, they
may be seen climbing the mangrove branches, and
dashing from thence into the water with all the
life and energy of children of a colder clime, at
once affording us proof that even they have their
joys.
" The personal appearance of these people is un-
prepossessing, and their deportment lazy and slovenly,
united to much filthiness of person. The middle
portion of the body of men and women is generally
covered by a coarse wrapper made from the bark of
the trap tree (a species of Atrocarpus), which extends
from the navel to the knee. The women affected a
slight degree of modesty at first approach, which
soon gave way. The locks of the men are bound
up with a tie of cloth, and sometimes by the Malay
sapu-tangan (kerchief) ; those of the women fall
in wild luxuriance over their face and shoulders.
s 2
260 DEARTH OF FRESH WATER.
Their children go entirely naked until the age of
puberty."
That I should return empty handed to Parlis,
in so far as a large supply of water was concerned,
gave great cause of uneasiness to the officer in
charge of the blockading flotilla; for it was self-
evident that, without water, it would be utterly
impossible for us to maintain a rigid blockade, and
just now it became highly important to the safety
and success of our allies that we should do so.
Mr. Drake*, the senior mate, sent me off imme-
diately to tell Captain Warren, who was then in the
" Hyacinth, " watching the channel which exists
between the Lancavas islands and Parlis, and to
beg a little water from him. The ship was, how-
ever, running short, and Captain Warren was deter-
mined not to be foiled, by having to quit his post
at such an important moment for water. He there-
fore desired me to tell Mr. Drake that we must not
come again to the ship for water ; it must be foraged
for, and that water must be taken if it could not
be obtained in any other manner.
One of the other gun-boats was despatched to seek
water elsewhere, and I was ordered to start next
* The present Commander Thomas G. Drake, R.N".
ORDERED TO TROCURE WATER. 261
morning in a large sampan, with a couple of empty
casks, to procure fresh water above the reach of the
tide in Parlis river. My perfect confidence in the
Malays, in spite of Mahomet Alee's threats, enabled
me to look forward to my cruise into the very heart
of their territory without any feeling but that of
great curiosity, and a pardonable degree of pride at
being the first to see all the war-prahus.
Early in the forenoon I started, in a good sampan,
with one English sailor, an interpreter, and six
picked Malays, all well armed ; but their muskets
and pistols were placed where they would be ready
for use without attracting attention. The flood-tide
ran strong, and we swept with it rapidly up the
stream ; the first mile or two was very monotonous,
the banks being for the most part mangrove, and
another tree which seems to delight in an equally
amphibious life. At a curve in the river we came
suddenly on a stockade, and, being hailed imme-
diately by some men on guard, I felt to what
a thorough test we were going to put Malay
chivalrv.
The stockade across the stream was well and
neatly constructed, having a couple of tidal booms
fitted in such a way that the guard could at any
s 3
262 PARLIS AND THE PIRATE FLEET.
moment, during either flood or ebb tide, stop up the
only passage ; and on either hand, some hundred
yards back from the river, rose conical-shaped hills,
on whose summits formidable batteries, constructed
of heavy timber, commanded the stream in every
direction.
The pangleman, or officer, at the guard-house
smiled when I told him I was going up the river for
water, and said he had no objection to my pro-
ceeding to Parlis to ask for permission ; but, as to
obtaining it, he laughed, and said all would depend
upon the humour I should find Datoo Mahomet Alee
in. Another three miles of fine open forest replete
with Oriental interest now occurred, and the country
improved in appearance after we had passed a spur
of picturesque hills, through which the river had
forced its way. Our approach to Parlis town was
proclaimed by a line of war-prahus moored to either
bank. The rapidity of the current, as well as my
anxiety to reach the fresh-water point of the river,
gave us but a flying glance at this much-talked-of
and long-wished- for pirate fleet; and, besides which,
I felt it desirable not to appear as if on a recon-
noitring expedition.
They were handsome-looking craft, not very nu-
INTERVIEW WITH IIAGGI LOUNG. 263
mcrous, but with fine long guns mounted in their
bows: they had but few men in each of them,
though otherwise ready for sea.
Of Parlis we could not see much beyond that it
was situated upon a plain on the south side of the
river, and appeared capable of containing four or
five thousand inhabitants. AYe pulled in for a light
wharf constructed of bamboos, whereon an armed
Malay had hailed to know what we wanted ; and
he, in reply to my answer that we wished to see
the Datoo, said that was his house. I landed with
two or three men, and, surrounded by a crowd of
armed Malays, who hastened from all sides, was
escorted to Haggi Loung.
That worthy received me, and said that Datoo
Mahomet Alee was absent with his men fio;htino; the
Siamese : but what might be my errand ?
I told him I was sent by my senior officer for
water.
The Haggi laughed heartily for so holy a man,
and having, much to my disgust, recalled to my un-
willing recollection the visit he made me on a former
occasion, asked how Mr. Barclay and Mr. Stewart
were ?
Bother the fellow's memory I I thought : he will
s 4
264 PERMISSION TO PROCURE WATER.
next remember Jadec, and then, maybe, his aubsive
opinion of Mahomet Alee's mother. The Haggi
was inclined to be satirical, and asked if it was
the custom of " white men " to cut off salt and
powder from their enemies, and then to go to them
for water?
I said I did not know ; but that I supposed my
senior officer had been given to believe no difficulty
would be made, or otherwise I should not, assuredly,
have been sent. And then I pointed to the tide,
and asked him not to detain me, for I wanted to
return with my load of water upon the ebb.
The Haggi with good humour told me to go : he
would not stop me, but warned me to be careful,
as all the country was in arms, and neither he or
Datoo Mahomet Alee could be responsible for our
safety.
That was all 1 wanted: so I bowed, and started
back to the boat. Numbers of armed Malays — some
of them, from their beautiful creeses and spears,
doubtless men of importance — thronged the Haggi's
anteroom and the pier; a few of them scowled in
an unfriendly maimer, and some of the younger
game-cocks ruffled up, as if anxious to throw a
feather with my men. I kept an eye upon them,
however, and got all safe down, without any farther
TOM WEST'S ADDRESS TO THE MALAYS. 265
interchange of civilities than a short address, which
my English bodyguard made them off the end of the
pier.
Turning round upon the crowd, and eyeing them
with a look which made those nearest to him back a
little, as if wishing to increase the intervening dis-
tance, he said —
" Hah ! you 're mighty sarcy, you yellow-faced
beggars ; but just you come down, Jack, with your
prahus to the mouth of this here river of your'n "
(here my bodyguard performed a pantomime, point-
ing at their vessels), " and then, as sure as my name 's
Tom West, if we do not give you plenty to eat "
(here he added the Malay for eating), " darn me, say
I'm a Dutchman."
" Get in the boat, sir, immediately ! " I shouted.
" Hi, hi !" said Tom West, as he jumped into the
boat ; " but I likes to give a set of sarcy beggars
a bit of my mind, sir. — Lor' bless you!" continued
he, smiling derisively at the young Malays who
were crowing on the pier ; " Lor' bless you ! you are
nice young men indeed ! Please God and Lord
Mount Edgecumbe, one of these days I'll have some
of you by the scruff of the neck, and, if I don't
give you a hug, say I never hailed from the west
country !"
266 PADDLE UP THE RIVER.
Tom West, like all sailors, evidently took it for
granted they must understand English, or, if they
did not, that they ought to do so ; and, when I ex-
plained to him that it was folly speaking to people
who could not comprehend a word he said, he re-
plied, " Ah ! sir, they are like their country mon-
keys ; they never understands you until you thrashes
them : give me a dozen shipmates with our pin-
nace's stretchers* in Parlis, and I'm blest if we
w r ould not soon make them understand English, and
talk it too!"
Unprepared to dispute this theory, I allowed the
subject to drop, and we soon swept out of sight of
Parlis, the Malays in my crew striking up their
usual paddle song, each in turn repeating a short
verse in a high key, sentimental or witty, and the
whole breaking into a chorus which ran somewhat
thus —
Ah ! ya-no — nasi, na no
Ah ! ya no!
and sounded very prettily, while the movements of
* A boat's stretcher is a piece of wood which goes across
the bottom of a boat, to enable the rowers to throw a greater
weight on their oars. It is a favourite weapon of offence with
English boats' crews.
TItOPICAL MALAYAN SCENERY. 267
their bodies and stroke of their paddles kept time to
the tune.
The scenery improved rapidly. We appeared to
be approaching a range of bills which would bar our
farther ascent, and I expected every moment to
come to a fall or a rapid ; instead of which we
swept through another gapway in the hills, similar
to the one where the stockade had been erected,
and then we entered into the broad valley of
Quedah ; for in the far distance the lofty and pic-
turesque peaks of the Malayan Ghauts stretched in
a north and south direction, with nothing interven-
ing. The forest was open, and, although the long
drought had told somewhat on the leaves of the trees
as well as the grass and underwood, the varied and
mellowed tint of withered vegetation softened and
added to the beautiful variety of the scene.
Birds were in places very numerous, and a species
of pheasant ran along the banks of the river as if it
was never fired at. Schools of monkeys and nume-
rous alligators, with the glimpse of a couple of deer,
showed what abundance of sport there was to be had.
I had, however, too anxious a duty to perform to wait
for shooting bird or beast, except in one instance,
when I observed a large female alligator, with two
young ones, not two feet long, lying by her, close to
208 WE PASS KANGAIT.
the bank. Desirous of shooting the dam, so as to
capture the babies alive, I fired and struck her, as
I fancied, mortally, for she sprang half round, and
there lay champing her teeth together in a savage
manner, as if in agony. There were several other
alligators about, and I proposed to the men in my
boat to get out and chase them away, as I had often
seen them do at the mouth of the river. But they
would not hear of it, and assured me it was a very
different thing to attack alligators that were accus-
tomed to men, as these brutes were ; besides which,
fresh water always made them more savage and dan-
gerous. Unwilling to be detained, I pushed on as
hurriedly as possible; and when we had gone, by
my calculation, a distance of sixteen miles from the
entrance of the river, another town, called "Kangah,"
hove in sight.
Desirous of making the most of the favourable
tide, I determined, at all risks, to visit Kangah
on my way down ; and except that a few children
ran out and gazed upon us, our appearance at-
tracted little curiosity. A mile or so above the
town, we arrived opposite some powder-mills, where
a Malay sentry hailed us, and having told him
we had Haggi Loung's permission to go for water,
he did not detain us.
WE OBTAIN FRESH WATER. 269
This fellow's confidence in his chief amused me. I
asked him if Datoo Mahomet Alee was at Kangah.
" No," he replied, "he is on his march to Quedah!"
" How about the Siamese?" my interpreter asked.
"Pish!" said the sentinel; "the Siamese! they
will all be destroyed ! "
We did not wait for further information, and,
shortly afterwards, finding the water perfectly fresh,
we being then about eighteen miles from the sea,
we laid on our paddles, and filled our casks, bathed,
washed, and drank w r ater, with all the abandon of
men who had long been strangers to the luxury of
fresh water in large quantities.
270 THE LADIES OF KANGAH BATHING.
CHAP. XX.
The Ladles of Kangak bathing. — Halt to lunch at Kangah.
— Kangah, its Situation. — Mode of constructing Malay
Houses. — The Mosque. — The Bazaar and its Occupants. —
Arrival of armed Men. — Return to the Boat. — Praise-
worthy Fidelity of the Malays. — Malay Independence of
Character. — The Pleasures of Memory. — A Malay Family
Scene. — Return to Parlis. — Pulo Quetam. ~ Trade during
Blockade.
Our casks filled, we turned our head down the
stream and dropped down to Kangah, where I pur-
posed having our noon- day meal, and waiting for the
tide to have ebbed sufficiently to ensure us a rapid
passage down to the gun-boats. At a point just
above the town, where some lofty trees threw a plea-
sant shade half across the stream, all the female
population of Kangah, as well as the children, were
enjoying a bath. We passed through the scene of
their enjoyment ; and, to say the least of it, it was
amazingly novel, and carried one back to the days of
Captain Cook in a very abrupt manner. The mar-
ried women had on dark-blue cotton dresses, but the
THE LADIES OF KANGAII BATHING. 271
rest were in that cool attire which artists usually
represent our first parents to have indulged in in
Paradise. Gallantry compels me to allow that con-
scious innocence formed a very charming mantle to
the young ladies. A contrary and depraved state
was fully exemplified in Tom West, who actually
blushed through his bronzed cheeks, and expressed
his opinion with "Dang ye! you're a rum lot. I
wonder what my old mother would say, if she could
only see ye. I wish Parson Hawker* was here!"
My Malays, however, paddled through these water-
nymphs, without uttering a word or making a gesture
which could be construed into anything like disre-
spect. Whether this propriety arose from a proper
and generous feeling at intruding upon the privacy
of the women, or from a knowledge that any insult,
real or imaginary, would be quickly resented by the
ready creeses of the kinsmen of these ladies, I know
not ; but whatever the motive, it was equally a
source of gratification to myself, and the comparison
I drew in my own mind as to w T hat would have been
the conduct, under similar circumstances, of six of
* Parson Hawker is an imaginary clergyman, who, the west-
country sailors assert used to marry them, per force, to the
Devonport lasses, and exact his fee in savings out of their naval
rations — such as flour, pork, &c.
272 KANGAH, ITS SITUATION.
our own English seamen, was not in favour of the
latter. Choosing a convenient part of the river bank
opposite " Kangah," we made our sampan fast, and
proceeded to cook rice for lunch. A moderate crowd
collected to look at the white men, who were Tom
West and myself; but they were civil, and behaved
very differently from those of Parlis.
Some person in the town sent me down a basket
of delicious mangoes, and others lent us some mats
to shield ourselves from the rays of the sun, which
poured down with equatorial fierceness upon our ex-
posed boat. All the inhabitants were most anxious
to know how they would be treated by our block-
ading force, if obliged to fly before the Siamese ; and
it was very evident, the description my Malays gave
them of our kindness to those who fled from Quedah
and Tamelan made a favourable impression.
Kangah stands on the north bank of the Parlis
river, and, like other towns in this country, has only
just enough clear ground round it, to afford room for
the growth of such rice, fruit, and vegetables as were
required for the consumption of the inhabitants —
the unreclaimed jungle sweeping round the cultivated
land and orchards in a great curve, whose radius might
possibly be a mile and a half.
The houses were for the most part detached,
INSTRUCTION OF MALAY HOUSES. 273
standing in little gardens, or amongst pretty clusters
of cocoa-nut and Penang (or beetle-nut) palms, as
well as many other trees peculiar to this country :
not the least pleasing of these was the graceful ban-
nana which overshadowed almost every abode, and
its deliciously cold-looking dark-green leaf was very
grateful to the sight.
It is almost impossible to convey a good idea of
the beauty and neatness of abodes entirely con-
structed of wood, bamboo, and matting or leaves.
Those of Kangah, although far above the river, were,
according to the constant rule, built upon piles three
to four feet high; possibly this might be a necessary
measure for the rainy season, but at that time,
when the earth was baked as hard as rock, it seemed
an act of supererogation. They, however, were ge-
nerally oblong in the ground-plan, having a gallery
extending along each of the long sides, to which a
primitive ladder gave access from the ground. The
floor (for each house was only one story high) con-
sisted of strips of bamboo, sufficiently strong to bear
the weight, but giving a pleasant spring to the
tread ; over these bamboos, which were perhaps
an inch apart, and kept so by a tranverse " snaking"'
of strips of rat an, neat mats were spread, their
number, fineness, and beauty depending upon th<
T
274 MODE OF CONSTRUCTING MALAY HOUSES.
wealth of the owner and the skill of his women.
The walls were constructed of cocoa-nut and other
palm leaves, secured with such cunning and neatness
as to be perfectly wind and water tight, and at the
same time pleasing to the eye. The roofs were
somewhat high and peaked, betokening heavy rains,
and with broad, overhanging eaves, which added
to the picturesque appearance of the buildings, and
reminded me strongly of the "chalets" in Switzer-
land. In some cases the houses were divided into
two or more apartments, and the balcony then served
as a means of communication between one room and
the other, besides being at all times the favourite
lounge of the inhabitants. In the centre of the
town a mosquelike building rose amongst the trees,
and proved that, although the many pretty houses
scattered about might be as evanescent as their
fragile construction indicated, nevertheless, the site
of Kangah had, both in Siamese as well as in
Malay annals, been always considered that of a
town.
Whilst the rice was cooking, I thought I might as
well run up and see the town : a boy volunteered to
show Jamboo and me the bazaar and Datoo Ma-
homet Alee's elephants, and we accordingly started
with a couple of followers.
THE BAZAAR, AND ITS OCCUPANTS. 275
The bazaar consisted of one narrow street, running
at right angles to the river. Each shop had a
sloping and open front, well shielded from the heat of
the sun, on which was displayed the thousand strong-
smelling fruits and vegetables, the gaudy Man-
chester prints, glaring red and yellow handkerchiefs,
pretty mats and neat kagangs, piles of rice and tubs
of ghee, handsome creeses, and formidable swords
or choppers, which may be seen in all bazaars of
Singapore, Malacca, or Penang. There were Ma-
hometan natives of the Madras Presidency, swathed
in turbans and robes of calico — the embodied forms of
the Great Moguls which figure on our playing-cards ;
greasy, black, and very strong-smelling Klings chat-
tered, lied, and cheated as Klings only can do ;
Malays swaggered about, decked out in gay attire,
and sporting beautiful arms and silver-mounted
spears, looking so saucy and bold, that one felt half
inclined to pat them on the back, and say, " Well
done ! " for they knew as well as we did that their
hour had struck, and all the scene would soon be
dissipated like a dream, and they be pirating else-
where. A few Chinese, the Jews of the Eastern
Archipelago*, were there also. They were so ob-
* It is but justice to these industrious emigrants to say that
they have been invaluable as labourers, agriculturists, artisans,
t 2
276 THE BAZAAR, AND ITS OCCUPANTS.
sequious, so anxious to attract the attention of a
British midshipman, that he, with all the dignity of
that proud caste, allowed them to change a dollar for
him. The Chinese were mostly money-changers.
The insolent contumely they endured at the hands of
the Malays struck me much. The natives of India,
when ill-treated, chattered like a nest of rooks. Not
so the Chinese : they bore it with cringing and
shrinking ; but one could see, by the twinkle of their
little glittering eyes, that they only abided their
time to bite the heel that bruised them. No one
could have supposed, from the scene in the bazaar,
that fifteen thousand Siamese were close at hand,
ready to impale, disembowel, or play any of the
many pranks I have elsewhere related, upon each or
all of those before me.
People, however, in the East, live with their lives
in their hands ; and, most of all, such a floating popu-
lation as that of Kangah, consisting of pirates and
those bloodsuckers who lived upon them, wretches
who fattened alike upon them and their prey.
I now proposed to go to the elephants, which, from
our guide's description, were at the other end of the
town. We had just disengaged ourselves from the
and merchants, throughout our colonies ; and better-conducted
subjects Her Majesty Queen Victoria no where possesses.
ARRIVAL OF ARMED MEN. 277
crowd, heat, and strong smells of the bazaar, when a
general commotion occurred in the town, which had
hitherto exhibited no signs of life except in the
bazaar. Boys ran along screaming, women ran out
in the balconies, and appeared very excited ; and soon
afterwards a large body of Malays, armed to the
teeth, covered with dust, and looking much wayworn,
passed rapidly along, marching, however, without
order or military array.
I was informed through Jamboo, that it was
impossible for me to visit the royal stables to-day,
as some important event had evidently just taken
place, and a great chief — possibly the redoubted
Datoo himself — had arrived. I did not much care
about pushing the point, as I was on shore on my
own responsibility ; and Haggi Loung's warning left
me no excuse but that of curiosity, if we got into a
scrape. One of my men now sidled up to me, and
said that some of the natives were getting up a
report that I was a spy, and that one of them had
threatened him. I decided to return to my boat ;
and, from expressions which were uttered by those
around, found it was high time I did so. Indeed,
I am not sure we should have escaped without a
scuffle, had not a venerable-looking man joined
us, and, by his authority, enforced a little more re-
t 3
278 FIDELITY OF THE MALAYS.
spect from the rabble. He, however, though ex-
tremely civil to me, told a deliberate falsehold, and said
that the excitement arose from " the Malays under
Datoo Mahomet Alee having retaken Quedah ! ,!
whereas the truth was, that the Siamese were again
victorious, and marching down on the good town of
Kangah.
The fidelity of the Malays generally to their chiefs
was, in my opinion, most praiseworthy : they never
betrayed any secrets, and never were otherwise than
sanguine of eventual success. The most unfortunate,
and even those apparently discontented, never prof-
fered intelligence ; and if cross-examined, invariably
told us tales which we afterwards would discover
had been invented to satisfy our inquisitiveness, with-
out betraying their countrymen or chiefs. Men who
had escaped from the surprise and massacre of Alle-
gagou, or the horrors of the march upon Sangorah,
never upbraided their general, Mahomet Type-etam,
but spoke of him as a very brave although harsh
man ; and one could not help recognising this valu-
able trait of fidelity in the Malays, and expressing a
hope that in time we should find a way of enlisting
that feeling generally on the side of their British
rulers.* That they were hot-blooded and impetuous,
* The Ceylon rifle regiments are a most valuable corps
composed of Malays famous for their fidelity to their British
MALAY INDEPENDENCE OF CHARACTER. 279
there is no need to deny ; but that fiery indepen-
dence of character could have been favourably moulded
to their own advantage, had Europeans tried to con-
ciliate the Malays instead of crushing them.
Like spaniels, the natives of the whole sea-board
of the Indian peninsula lick the hand that chastises
them : not so the Orang-Malayau ; and we English-
men should be the first to honour a race who will not
basely submit to abuse or tyranny.
The ebb-tide was running strong as I jumped
into my boat, and casting off from the shore, we
were soon "spinning" — to use a seaman's phrase —
down the stream ; and Kangah, like a bright and
sunny picture which one has seen but once in a life-
time, left a pleasant impression on my youthful mind
not easily eftaceable: one of those bright spots in the
expanse of memory, which carry one back from man-
hood, worldly struggles, and withered aspirations, to
that blest time —
" When the breeze of a joyful dawn blew free
In the silken sail of infancy."
It is, I think, still a question which is the happier
man of the two; he who loving the beautiful in all
officers, and have, during the war in Kandy, done right good
service. Their present boast is, that if a pin is lost in the
forests of Ceylon, they can find it.
t 4
280 THE PLEASURES OF MEMORY.
its varied forms, finds it in some narrow spot, where
his lot in life may have fixed him, some petty area in
which he is born, exists, and dies; — or the wanderer,
who for awhile is being pushed on from one gorgeous
scene to the other, his recollection glowing with the
memory of the exceeding beautiful — of the golden
East, its flood of glowing light and depth of purple
shade, the waving palms, and gloomy forests peopled
by races who have borrowed their passions and
feelings from the burning sun ; and then returns to
some quiet nook in the gloomy north, to await the
" canker and the worm," cheering his latter days
by the reminiscences of the bright and beautiful he
has elsewhere enjoyed.
Some miles below Kangah the ebbing tide had
rendered a spot in the river fordable, and we had
some difficulty in passing it : whilst detained for this
purpose, a Malay and his family crossed it. He,
from his dress, was evidently of the better class,
and armed like a very Rustan. The Asiatic indiffer-
ence of this hero to the safety of his wives and
family amused me : on reaching the water, he stalked
across the ford, without even deigning to look behind
to see how his three or four children fared. The two
women were very modestly clad in blue sarangs, one
of which crossed the chest close under the arms, and
A MALAY FAMILY SCENE. 281
the other hung like a petticoat from the hips to the
ancles. They, poor souls ! were loaded with all the
household goods of their lord, as well as those of
their children, who, following at their heels, had few
garments to boast of: indeed, the two youngest were
perfectly naked, with the exception of a silver fig-
leaf, or heart, which hung in front, and an amulet
tied round the neck by a bit of string. These imps
were not tall enough to ford the river, but took the
water, to my astonishment, like fish, and gambolled
across the stream.
No interruption took place at Parlis, and, aided by
a rapid tide, we reached the boats in good time ; no
one being more cordial in his reception of me than
my coxswain, the worthy Jadee. I slept soundly
that night, and my lullaby was the voice of Jadee,
holding forth to Jamboo on my good fortune in
having found Mahomet Alee absent, for he could not
be brought to believe that he would have allowed me
to procure water. In this idea, however, Jadee was
mistaken; for we afterwards knew that the Datoo
had been perfectly aware of my visit to Kangah,
but his policy was now to try and establish amicable
relations with the white men in his rear, as the ten
thousand muskets of His Bankokian Majesty pressed
him sadly in his front.
282 DESPERATE POSITION OF MALAY CHIEFS.
Indeed, affairs were now in a desperate position
with the Malay chieftains ; yet they determined to
play the game out to the last card, in the hope of
some lucky turn of chances in their favour. Eastern
armies, they knew, were readily assembled and as
quickly dispersed : famine or pestilence had, on a
former occasion, swept away in a few days a Siamese
host : it might do so again ; and, worse come to the
worst, they had always their home — the sea — open
to them, provided they could give us the slip.
Intelligence now reached us that prahus had as-
sembled in some part of the Lancavas, or Laddas,
preparatory to covering the flight of the chiefs, and
redoubled the anxieties of our captain's position.
He despatched the Siamese brig, which had joined
from Quedah, with two armed prahus under Siamese
colours, to cruise about and endeavour to discover
the position of the secreted prahus, and enjoined the
utmost vigilance on all our parts. Anxiety for the
denouement to take place lengthened out the last few
days of March to an intolerable extent, and, per-
haps, the torment we endured from the incessant on-
slaught of musquitoes and sand-flies added lo our
impatience. At night, all sleep was out of the
question, until, worn with watchfulness and the
painful irritation of thousands of bites, we dropped
PTJLO QUETAM, OR CRAB ISLAKD. 283
into a short and feverish slumber. Nothing served
to keep the sand-flies off: they were smoke-proof and
fire-proof; they bled you just as freely if the skin
was rubbed over with oil or vinegar, lime or treacle :
nothing seemed to check their abominable thirst for
blood. Happily, this fearful pest had only lately
commenced, and we could look forward to a speedy
termination of it, not only from the end of the block-
ade being at hand, but because, in April, the heavy
squalls of wind and rain which mark the close of the
north-east monsoon would destroy them, by blowing
their hosts to sea.
Pulo Quetam, or Crab Island, was now becoming
quite a gay scene ; fugitives from the province com-
menced to pass down, and many found their canoes
so unsafe as to be obliged to stay there for repairs- — ■
forming little encampments, under temporary huts
of boughs and branches, in which the curious might
study the manners and customs of the Malays with
the greatest facility. The inhabitants of the neigh-
bouring village drove a roaring trade with the block-
ading force in the sale of anything that was eatable,
— whether flesh, fish, or fowl. The variety, how 7 ever,
was not great ; poultry being the principal article
they had for sale, and rice, which was of a very
excellent quality, and still so cheap as to prove that
28-i TRADE DURING BLOCKADE.
the assertion was not without some foundation, that
Quedah province is capable of growing rice enough
to support all the population of the Straits of
Malacca. There were no less than four different
species of common rice — all excellent in quality;
but there was a naturally sweet description, which
could be converted into sweetmeats without the aid
of sugar, and, if imported into England, would be
invaluable for household purposes to pastrycooks.
SOCIAL EVENINGS. 285
CHAP. XXL
Social Evenings. — Quaintness of English Seamen. — The
Adventures of Lucas. — Runs away to Liverpool. — Enters
on board of an African Trader. — The Voyage to the Bights.
— Fever. — Deaths. — Difficulty in leaving Port. — A new
Captain joins. — Voyage Home. — Sufferings from want of
Water. — Disorderly Scenes. — A Fight. — Villanous Be-
verage. — A Man flogged to Death. — A horrid post-
mortem Examination. — Temporary Relief. — Recklessness. —
Sufferings. — A second Case of Murder. — Lucas a Sailor,
nolens volens.
As the majority of the boats were now together,
there was more sociability among the crews than we
had ever before had ; and the dear old " Hyacinth "
being notoriously one of the most united and smartest
crews on the East India Station, everything that
could relieve monotony was done by both seamen
and officers in the best spirit of unselfishness. The
crews of the pinnace and cutter had been re-
markably healthy, although living in open boats for
four months, and their spirits were proportionately
light. For several hours in the evening, songs
would be sung and yarns would be told over the
286 QUAINTNESS OF ENGLISH SEAMEN.
suppei pipe, or grog, and the loud chorus to the de-
liciously quaint melodies of
" On Gosport beach I landed, that place of noted fame,
And I called for a bottle of good brandy,
To treat my lovely, lovely dame ! " &c,
or,
" She gave unto me a gay gold ring,
And a locket fill'd with hair," &c. &c,
would roll through the jungles of Parlis, and put to
flight all things earthly and unearthly ; but if the
honest fellows' melodies partook of the rudely har-
monious, their yarns were decidedly well worth
hearing. In all cases, they merely related their own
adventures ; and it required no fiction to make them
deeply interesting. The hand is now cold which
could truly tell a sailor's narrative, in all its original
phraseology and strong characteristics — the naval
Fielding, Captain Marryat ; and it is only in having
sailors' histories told in their own way, that the ge-
neral reader can ever form a correct idea of all their
peculiarities of character. They have changed some-
what from Marryat's day, but still preserve all the
originality of character for which their forefathers
were famous: they do not drink quite so hard, nor
swear so much, but they are just as overflowing with
THE ADVENTURES OF LUCAS. 287
wit and humour ; and the smattering of education
which enables the majority to read and the few to
write, has in no way injured — on the contrary, im-
proved — the original view they always take of what
passes under their notice. I shall not attempt to
repeat any one of their yarns in its original clothing ;
but perhaps, whilst we are waiting for the closing
scene in the blockade of Quedah, I may be pardoned
for relating a strange tale, which I wrote down as it
was told to me, by a young seaman ; and, as it is
somewhat startling, I may assure the reader that I
have reason to believe every word to be true.
We had lately entered a young sailor, called Lucas,
from a merchantman : he evidently was educated far
beyond his station in life, and I heard some of the
men remark that he had boasted of being the son of
a gentleman. Watching for a good opportunity, I
persuaded him to tell me who he was, and how he
came to be in such a situation.
" My father," he said, " was a respectable tenant-
farmer living near one of the sea-ports in the north of
Ireland. His family consisted of several daughters,
and myself, his only son. He spent a good deal of
money upon my education, and tried hard to stifle in
me a strong and early inclination for the sea • — a taste
2S8 THE ADVENTURES OF LUCAS.
I had acquired by my visit to the shipping in the
harbour.
"I was sent to an inland school, to more effectu-
ally wean me from salt-water. I was in one con-
tinual row with my Dominie, and finding me very
unruly, he reported me to my father, who caused me
to be more severely punished and lectured. I deter-
mined to escape from what I regarded as cruelty
and oppression, and, in spite of father and schoolmas-
ter, to go to sea. Watching a good opportunity, I left
school, reached Belfast, got on board a billyboy*
bound for Liverpool, and landed there with a few
shillings in my pocket. The master of the lodging-
house that I put up at introduced me to the en-
gineer of a steamer running between Glasgow and
Liverpool, and I shipped with him as engine-room
boy. This life I soon became tired of: the engineer
seemed to consider it his privilege to thrash me
whenever anything went wrong in the engine-room.
All day — and all night too, if we were under weigh —
there was one incessant call for Boy Lucas ! 'Boy, oil
that bearing !' 'Boy, wipe down this !' and, 'Clean
up that ! ' In short, I became a perfect white slave :
there was but one way of escape — I again ran away.
* A small description of coasting vessel, common to the
British Isles.
LUCAS RUNS AWAY TO LIVERPOOL. 289
" The abominable Scotch engineer and the steamer
had not, however, sickened me of the sea ; I was de-
termined to get out to foreign countries, and to avoid
the coasting trade, which is all very well for grown-
up sailors, but bitter work for boys or novices. I
was afraid to go back to my old lodgings, for the
master of the house would have handed me over to
the engineer again, so I lived about as I best could :
some of my poor Irish countrymen and women often
gave me a bit of food, when I had starved through
a long day, going from ship to ship, asking captains
to take me to the East Indies.
" I was almost despairing of success, and just on the
point of returning to my father, when the master of
an African trader offered to ship me as a boy. I
jumped at the chance, and joined immediately. She
was a large heavy -looking brig, bound to the Bonny*
for palm oil. I afterwards had good cause to know
that she was a crazy old craft that had been con-
demned as being even unfit for the Quebec timber
trade. I and one or two ship-keepers were only at
first on board of the brig in the river : we had to
pump her out every two hours, which I thought
* The Bonny, a nautical phrase for the Bights of Benin, into
which the river Bonny flows.
U
290 LUCAS ENTERS AN AFRICAN TRADER.
rather strange ; the more so that the chief mate
warned me, that he would break my neck if he
heard me say it was necessary to do so to any of
the seamen who came on board to enter. Starvation
had humbled me, and I held my tongue, although I
saw that during the day the mate kept the working
pump-bolt *, which was as bright as silver, in his
pocket, and substituted for it a rusty stiff bolt, which
gave the pump the appearance of never being worked.
This was done to prevent the men being afraid of
entering on board a vessel in which the extra work
of pumping would necessarily be very harassing.
" The day came for the crew to sign the articles of
agreement upon which they were to sail in the brig.
Besides the captain and mate, there were a cooper anl
thirteen hands; each of the latter before signing the
articles, examined the pump-bolt, to see if it was
bright, and expressed gratification at finding it as
rusty as a tight ship's ought to be : they little thought
how my arms were aching from labouring at the
handle — or what rogues the ship-keepers and mate
were ! A few days afterwards, we dropped to the
fair-way buoy ; and one fine day all our men were
* The pump-bolt is the pin or fulcrum upon which the
handle of a ship's pump works. Of course, the more the pump
is worked, the brighter the pump-bolt becomes.
THE VOYAGE TO THE BIGHTS. 291
brought off, the majority so dead drunk as to suffer
afterwards from delirium tremens; and a steam -tug
took us outside the river, and let us go to find our way
as best we could. The captain, mate, cooper, and I
set all the sails, and lived on deck for about six-and-
thirty hours, until some of the sailors came to their
senses, which they did not do until they had fought
and wallowed like wild beasts in a miserable hole
called the 'fore- peak,' where the seamen had to eat
and sleep. We had a pretty good passage, although
the men soon found out that the brig would neither
sail nor steer very well, and was uncommonly leaky :
they seemed, however, accustomed to being so en-
trapped into bad vessels, and only abused the captain,
who enjoyed the whole affair as a capital joke. The
mate fell dangerously ill with some loathsome disease ;
there was no doctor, and he soon became such a nui-
sance that no one would help him. The captain let
him take anything be liked out of the small medicine-
chest, and at last death released the poor fellow from his
miseries, though not before he had begged and prayed
that he might die. His coffin was an original one :
it consisted of his chest, into which they put him in a
doubled-up posture, and launched him into the sea
without so much as a prayer. Indeed, the crew
were as bad a collection of men as could well be
u 2
292 FEVER. — DEATHS.
brought together. Although a ship's boy, I did not
like them ; their language was at all times gross, and
they appeared for the most part to be — what they
occasionally boasted they were — the scrapings of
Hell, Bedlam, and Newgate!
tt ^r e g j. directions at the Bonny from a ship's
agent to go to a river, of which I forget the name :
we went there, and laid the ship up, collecting palm
oil by driblets. The fever soon broke out among
the crew, which was not to be wondered at, consider-
ing the dirt and the want of air in the horrid hole they
lived in. Some of the men would go to bed in the
standing bunks, of which each man had one, and
remain there for a couple of days at a time without
getting up : they died like sheep, and were pitched
overboard to the sharks. The captain likewise was
attacked by fever; and although a drunken wretch
of a doctor, who was kicked out of another vessel,
joined us, he could not save the poor skipper, who
followed the major part of his crew.
"Kroomen were entered to get on loading the ship,
and, in time, we were ready for sea, with a full cargo
of heavy wood and oil. But how to get the ship home
would have puzzled anybody but the rascally agent
who was employed by our owners ; for, in addition
to the want of captain and mate, the former had,
A NEW CAPTAIN JOINS. 293
in his delirium, thrown overboard all our nautical
instruments and charts.
" Not far from us there was another vessel, belong-
ing to different owners : her mate was a notorious
ruffian in the African trade, and our agent promised
him, if he would, on his own responsibility and risk,
get our brig home to Liverpool, he should, over and
above his just recompense, receive a bonus of £100
sterling. Meantime, one or two seamen of bad
character, and seven Kroomen, were shipped for the
passage home. One evening, late, the new captain
joined: he had stolen some instruments from his
former ship, and, at day-dawn, we weighed and put
to sea, having actually at that time only six casks
of provisions ; and the greediness of the agent to fill
us with oil had barely left in the brig twelve days'
water. Some of the crew growled about it, and
the new captain was evidently frightened, when he
learnt how little there w r as in the vessel; but the
agent knew he dare not now stay, and said, ' Never
mind ; beg your way home ! you will soon be on the
track of the homeward-bound ships.' Hardly were
we clear of the mouth of the river, when the skipper
who had been robbed came off in a boat to recover
his property ; our hero swore he would knock the
first man's brains out who tried to board us, and,
u 3
294 THE VOYAGE HOME.
with an axe in his hand, seemed likely to do it. The
boat satisfied herself with firing musketry at us ;
we merely kept under cover, and escaped without
injury, through the breeze freshening. So far as I
was concerned, my joy was too great at the prospect
of returning home, to care a fig who was injured by
our doing so.
" Next day we were put upon an allowance of
water, and we all soon discovered that we had a
perfect fiend to deal with in the skipper. Three
weeks of foul wind now occurred, at the end of
which time only a few gallons of water remained,
and a horrible death threatened us.
" The captain now kept the ship away for some
island; but he ought to have done so sooner; and on
the second day, he came on deck with a small pot of
water, called all hands aft, and served out the last
drop of water by spoonfuls at a time. A dreadful
week now followed : the wind was scant, and our
deep-laden leaky craft did not move through the
water; we ceased to speak to each other; we seemed
like so many dumb creatures, and sometimes ruffians
who had long been strangers to tears would be seen
weeping like so many children, and praying to God
for mercy. It became dead calm, with a scorching
sun, and the clouds, which sometimes mustered on
the horizon, brought neither rain nor wind!"
SUFFERINGS FROM WANT OF WATER. 295
Lucas's description of the horrors they then en-
dured, brought vividly to my mind the lines of
Coleridge: —
"Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down, —
' Twas sad as sad could be ;
And we did speak only to break
The silence of the sea !
All in a hot and copper sky
The bloody sun at noon
Right up above the mast did stand,
No bigger than the moon.
Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath, nor motion ;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.
Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink ;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink."
" How," said he, " we used to sit and watch the
setting sun, and darkness closing in upon us; for
then the dew would fall, and all night long the un-
fortunate crew crawled about, licking the moisture
from the spars, decks, and paintwork of the ship's
side ! We all became hideously selfish. 1 remember
that I had, by good chance, a strong iron kettle. I
set to work to boil sea-water, and condense the va-
u 4
296 DISORDERLY SCENES.
pour; but I hardly made a pint of fresh water in
twenty-four hours. However, I succeeded in sup-
porting myself, without having recourse, as the ma-
jority of the crew had, to drinking salt water, and
thus avoided being attacked with dysentery, as those
poor creatures were.
" A Frenchman whom we had shipped in Africa
discovered that the captain had secreted several
bottles of vinegar for his own consumption ; and, as
discipline was now totally at an end, he purloined
some of the bottles, and ran forward with them,
chased by the captain, who fired several shots at him
with his pistols, but was afraid to descend into the
'fore-peak' after the culprit, or to otherwise call
him to account. This prize was, of course, a great
boon to us all, and had it been diamond-dust we
could not have husbanded it more carefully than
we did.
" The skipper, at all times of a most unreasonable
temperament, seemed now to have lost all restraint
over his passions, and seldom did a day pass with-
out an act of wanton cruelty. One first watch,
the Frenchman happened to be licking the dew off
the capstan on the quarter-deck ; this the skipper
usually appropriated as his perquisite, and, in a fury
at what he considered the Frenchman's insolence, he
A FIGHT. 297
took up a heavy piece of wood which happened to be
at hand, and, as the sailor leaned over the capstan,
struck him with full force on the back of the head.
The Frenchman's cap saved his life, but his lips were
cut through and his front teeth loosened ; he gave a
yell of rage, and rushed into the cook's caboose for a
knife. The captain, at the same time, got a pistol out
of the cabin ; a scuffle ensued, in which the pistol
was fired without effect, but the Frenchman gave
the captain an ugly cut across the ear with his knife.
The men then interfered, and they were separated.
" The cabin-boy having been attacked with dy-
sentery, I was ordered to take his place. It struck
me that if all the empty wine and beer bottles in
the store-room were drained out, a little liquid might
be procured for us all. I mentioned this to the crew,
and they adopted my suggestion, obtaining, in all,
about two quarts of what, under other circumstances,
would have been considered a villanous compound.
The captain took charge of it, and gave us a spoonful
apiece ; the remainder he placed below, on the cabin
table, ready for a similar issue on the morrow.
" Unhappily, a young man who was at the helm,
half-delirious with fever and thirst, observed it, and
fancying no one would detect him, he watched an
opportunity, left the helm, ran down below, and
298 A MAN FLOGGED TO DEATH.
drank every drop of what was left. He was not
quick enough to escape our lynx-eyed captain, who
knocked him down, and, calling for his Kroomen,
they lashed the poor wretch up to the rigging,
stripped for a flogging. The captain first beat him
unmercifully with a rope's end, and then made the
Kroomen, in turn, do the same: the rest of the crew,
myself included, were too broken down to interfere ;
indeed, some of them never came on deck at all. I
went to the man after he was cut down: he was
almost flayed on the back, and insensible. I threw
sea-water over him, and, after a while, he came-to,
but he was evidently dying, and begged me, when I
got to England, to remember how he had been mur-
dered : that night he died. The captain seemed a
little frightened ; the more so, that the crew became
rather excited, and the Frenchman, as a ringleader,
called him, murderer, and vowed he should be hung
if God spared them to reach home.
" His fears, however, seemed to render him the
more insensible to humanity ; for, on the morrow, he
insisted upon the drunken creature who called him-
self a doctor, dissecting the corpse, and holding a
post-mortem examination. Anything more horribly
revolting than the whole scene, I defy the world to
produce : the instruments used were the knives and
TEMPORARY RELIEF. 299
saws in daily use on board the ship, for, I need
hardly say, such a doctor had none of his own. All
hands were sent for, much nonsense was spoken by
the captain and doctor, to prove the man died from
natural causes; and the poor dead man's entrails and
brains were handled as if they were those of an
animal ; and then they were hove overboard, after
which the body was thrown, just as it was, into the
sea, for the sharks that were cruising about to fight
over and gorge upon. It was enough to make one
go mad to see such horrors perpetrated, and the
feeling of utter misery was something I cannot
describe.
" Several men died : the poor Frenchman was of
the number, and we were in the last stage of ex-
haustion, when God sent us assistance, in the shape
of a foreign vessel, that very humanely gave us a
quantity of water and a little biscuit. Had she
been a countryman, we should one and all have
abandoned the brig; but we could not explain to
them what we wanted : indeed, they did not appear
to wish to have us as shipmates, which was not to
be wondered at, considering what a cut-throat set of
diseased villains all the crew looked. After utter
want, we had now, with care, sufficient water and
food to reach the chops of the Channel, where a
300 RECKLESSNESS.
man-of-war would be found, to help us if the winds
were foul; and I must do our rascally skipper the
justice to say, that be pointed this out to the crew,
and begged them to refrain from taking more than
a certain small allowance.
"But no! they had been starved. We had a
fair breeze, and provisions, and they determined to
feast ; the consequence was, as had been foretold,
we met foul winds after passing the Western
Islands, which, through bad navigation, could not
be sighted, and again did we run short of water; and
although in a higher latitude and cooler climate,
still we suffered terribly. The cabin-boy died, and
nearly all the English seamen, and the cooper be-
came dangerously ill ; and I was so weak as to
be hardly able to walk, while the captain, though
looking rather distressed at times, was, if possible,
more brutal than ever. A fresh west wind sprang
up : we squared yards to it ; but could not make
much sail, for who was to reduce it if a gale came
on ? Ships seemed to avoid us, for we wore all the
signs of a ship with the plague — our yards and sails
looking what sailors call 'no how,' and the vessel
wallowed in, rather than sailed over the sea.
" We had even ceased to go aloft to look for vessels
in sight, and our crew, now reduced to six men, were
SUFFERINGS. 301
just keeping body and soul together by means of
condensed steam caught in a swab that we sucked in
turn. Scurvy, fever, and thirst had reduced us to
perfect scarecrows; we no longer heeded the cruel-
ties or curses of our skipper, and had only sense
enough left to go to the helm in turn, and keep the
brig's head upon her course. No help came until we
were in soundings, and then merely through getting
so close to a ship in the night that she could not in
common humanity run away from us, when at day-
light we hoisted the colours union downwards.
" She bore down ; and when we saw her do so, I
ran to the fore-peak, and said, ( We are saved ! here
comes a ship! ' Only four men appeared upon our
deck ! A cask was necessary, and as we were not
strong enough to unstow and get up one from the hold,
the cooper, who was very ill, was brought on deck
to tighten up the hoops of the two scuttle-butts
which were on the upper-deck. The poor wretch
had to sit down, and hammer home the hoops whilst
we turned the casks round. The work naturally did
not proceed as fast as the rapid approach of the ship
required. This so infuriated our insane skipper
(for I believe he was mad at times), that he com-
menced abusing the unfortunate man, who in reply
telling him to go to the devil — whither he was most
302 A SECOND CASE OF MURDER.
undoubtedly bound — worked him into a fury. He
struck the cooper several violent blows, and at his
last one the man rolled over into the lee-scuppers,
and in a few minutes was a corpse — the captain, a
murderer twice !
" The strange ship was an American one : the
master came on board, supplied us with water and
some provisions, sent a mate and one or two men
to help the brig into port, we being then only 150
miles off Cape Clear, and then the American bore up
on her course to New York.
" We arrived at Liverpool without further accident,
and the authorities there took charge of the case
against the captain. There were sufficient witnesses
without me ; and beyond having my deposition taken
in writing, I was not troubled by the lawyers. The
captain, I believe, was transported for life, or con*
fined in a mad-house.
" This cruise had thoroughly sickened me of the
African trade, and I might add of the sea likewise.
I started off to Belfast: my father had died, and
my sisters, having raised all the ready cash they
could upon his property, had with an uncle of mine
started for Australia, and were supposed to have
settled in Port Adelaide. The sea was now my only
resource. I shipped in a vessel bound to India, and
LUCAS A SEAMAN, NOLENS VOLENS. 303
you know the rest, sir. I fancy I shall end, if I am
lucky, in being a warrant-officer one of these days."
Such was the tale of the sailor Lucas : the reader
will allow it to be a strange one. It happened twenty
years ago: yet strange things are still done where the
blue sea and silent stars are the sole witnesses ; and
the skippers of palm oil traders are not the only ones
who act upon the Muscovite principle, that " the
Heavens are high, and the Czar afar off."
304 THE LOAN OF A LOVE-LETTER.
CHAP. XXII.
Jadee offers the Loan of a Love-Letter. — A Midshipman's
Scruples. — The " Emerald " ordered to Pouchou. —
Enter the River during the Night. — Jadee's Suggestions
for warding off Musquitoes. — Jadee foresees Trouble. — A
nautical Superstition of the olden Day. — The Flight. — The
Sampan repulsed. — The Chase. — A Prahu captured. —
Proceed to Tangong Gaboose. — Starving piratical Fugi-
tives. — A Threat of Cannibalism. — The Horrors of Asiatic
Warfare. — Jamboo's View of the Malays' Position. — Re-
flections.
About this time, we received from Tonkoo Mahomet
Said formal expressions of his gratitude for the kind-
ness shown to his wife and family. From them he
had somehow received intelligence direct from Pe-
nang. Of the lovely little Baju-Mira I did not
again hear ; and Jadee proposed that I should send
her a letter written by my interpreter. Amused at
the idea, I suggested that he should compose one for
me, as, by his own acknowledgment, he had been a
perfect lady-killer at Singapore. Jadee was not easily
abashed where his vanity was involved, and very
handsomely placed at my disposal a love-letter which
a midshipman's scruples. 305
he was about to address to his Dulcinea at Penang.
Before accepting it, however, I thought it as well to
make Jamboo translate the document word for word
to me — a measure which soon showed me the im-
propriety of sending any such billet doux ; although
it indulged in the usual amount of poetical allusions
to the beauty of the fair one's eyes, nose, lips,
teeth, and hair, with graceful compliments about
her figure, her walk, and her voice, it wound up
with an abrupt proposal of marriage, entering rather
freely into the charms of that blessed state of
bondage; and as a further inducement to overcome
any scruples the young lady might entertain on the
score of Jadee's matrimonial inexperience, he assured
her that seven wives were already placed on his list,
though she should alone be his Penang sultaness.
These were lengths to which I, as a midshipman
in the receipt of ten sovereigns a quarter, did not
feel justified in going ; "alas, for the social wants that
sin against the strength of youth!" But Jadee, like
an evil spirit, whispered that an anna a day (three
half-pence) would equip and support even such a
Peri as Baju-Mira, in a style of princely magnifi-
cence, only to be read of in the " Arabian Nights'
Entertainments." Possibly, recollections of a stern-
faced captain, and the " Pll stop your leave, sir," of
x
306 "emerald" ordered away.
a ruthless first-lieutenant, kept me from disturbing
the peace of mind of the fair Malay, and then other
affairs distracted my attention.
April the 2nd found us surrounded by a flying
multitude, and a repetition of the wretched scenes
enacted at Quedah. The Siamese were finally vic-
torious, and Sauve qui peut ! was the cry. Ru-
mours were flying about that the war prahus were
going to make a dash out ; one or two threatening
messages were sent, and it became every moment
more certain that the Tonkoos must fly, or fall into
Siamese hands. The excitement was intense, and
no one knew the minute that the pirates might
swoop down upon the little blockading squadron,
and make us fight for our very lives.
In the middle of all this, while, youngster-like, I
was longing to " flesh my maiden sword," some in-
structions arrived from Captain Warren to the
officer commanding the boats (the present Captain
G. Drake), ordering a gun-boat to be detached to
watch another river called the " Pouchou," about
four miles to the northward. As the junior officer,
it fell to my lot to go ; and I own I left with the
morr.l conviction that there would be a bloody fray,
and the little " Emerald " would be left out of it ; a
feeling not assuaged by my waggish brother officer
THE RIVER POUCHOU. 307
Ilalkett, who made a pen-and-ink caricature of a
sulky midshipman tied by the leg at a distance,
while he and others were slaying whole hecatombs
of enemies.
My gun-boat was soon off the mouth of the
Pouchou : like all the western Malayan rivers, it
had a tidal bar across its mouth, though abundance
of water within. The tide being then on the ebb,
we hauled to seaward for an Island called Pulo
Pangang, or Long Island. We found it full of
Malay fugitives — men, women, and children ; their
sufferings from want of water were something hideous
to contemplate. Some had already died, others were
perishing; yet, what could we do ? The " Hyacinth "
and her boats had long been on a rigid allowance ;
every drop of water we could spare I ordered to be
given away ; and a few days afterwards, as will be
seen, we were reduced in consequence to great
straits.
How all these people had reached the island, we
could not learn ; but they owned that they came from
the neighbourhood of Parlis ; and some of the families
remembered seeing me on the occasion of my visit to
Kangah. From them we learnt that the Pouchou
ran parallel to the Parlis river, and close past the
town of that name. These fugitives had, I suspect,
x 2
308 ENTER THE RIVER DURING THE NIGHT.
availed themselves of the former stream as a means
of escape. All expressed sorrow and anxiety when
they heard I was going to blockade it ; indeed, one
man of superior aspect was evidently distressed when
he learnt that it was to be so, and tried hard to per-
suade me not to go there until the morrow ; e( for,"
said he, "there will be a number of women and
children down to-night, and if frightened back by
you, they will fall into the hands of the cruel
Siamese."
A beautiful night with a bright moon lighted up
the sea and forest-clad shores, as with the first of the
land-wind I sought my way into the Pouchou river.
The rippling music of my gun-boat's stem, as she
cut through the phosphorescent sea, the whirling
eddies of molten silver, which in a long line astern
showed our trail, and the low call of the leads-
man, were the only signs of life. As we approached
the bar in the shoal water, the fish, affrighted at our
intrusion, darted singly away, leaving a long fiery
streak behind them in the sea, such as a rocket leaves
in its path through the air, and the night-hawk and
other nocturnal birds swept round us, and uttered
their characteristic cries.
With some difficulty — for the tide only just afforded
water enough for us to float over the shoals of the
jadee's suggestions. 309
bar — we got into the river, which I was sorry to find
was very deep towards either bank, as this would
entail a loss of time in getting under weigh to chase.
However, there was nothing for it but to anchor ; for
when I suggested the propriety of merely fastening
to the trunks of some tall peon* trees, Jadee protested
earnestly, assuring me that such a proceeding was
contrary to all Malayan tactics ; "if," said he,
pointing to the black water which flowed in amongst
the jungle, enveloped in a darkness that the keenest
eye could not penetrate, " if you would desire to see
the sun rise, oh Tuhan, never secure the craft so close
to a place where all the fighting men of Parlis might
lie hid in canoes, and see us without our seeing
them. Besides, did you not hear the cry of that
night-bird ? — may it be cursed ! and assuredly it is so,
being but the restless soul of an unbeliever! — that
cry, my officer, denotes trouble !"
Knowing that there was always some sound sense
mixed up with my worthy subordinate's supersti-
tions, I at once proceeded to the south side of the
river, and anchored the vessel in the deep shadow
thrown over the stream by the lofty jungle trees.
* Peon, a tree common to the Malayan forests, and much used
for masts and spars.
x 3
310 jadee's remedy eor musquitoes.
We were close to a point, beyond which there was a
pretty bend in the river now strongly lit up by the
moon, so that we should have a few minutes' warning
in the event of the pirates coming down. The guns
were cleared away, the powder-magazine opened, the
sweeps placed ready, and then each man at his post
lay down to rest as best he might. For my part,
had I been inclined, it would have been impossible
to close an eye. Ye gods ! how the musquitoes and
sand-flies fed upon me ! Surrounded with burning
cocoa-nut husks, the pungent smoke threatening
ophthalmia, I underwent a torture only to be com-
pared to the Mexican warrior's bed of burning
coals.
My tender-hearted coxswain felt for me, and
suggested many modes of relief. " Could I read
Arabic?" "No." "It was a pity, for some re-
freshing chapter of the Koran, which he named,
would prevent anything harming me."
" How, if I am not a believer, Jadee ? " I in-
quired.
" God is merciful !" he exclaimed, devoutly and
cleverly. " Would I allow him to tie an amulet on
my arm?" "For what purpose?" " To keep off
all evil, and assuredly the musquitoes come under
that denomination."
JADEE FORESEES TROUBLE. 311
Accordingly, an amulet was tied on. Like most
others, it consisted, I fancy, of some extract from the
Koran, stitched up in linen ; at any rate, as I antici-
pated, the musquitoes did not respect it. " Jadee,"
I said, " I see that cry of the night-hawk was indeed
a forewarning of my fate : you will only find in the
morning the skin and bones of what was a tolerably
fat midshipman ; take them to the big ship, and you
shall be rewarded."
For a moment the scamp laughed. " Hush ! oh,
my officer," he said, " you white men laugh at what
the poor Malay man says ; but if you lived like
us in these great forests, and for years had no
other home than a sampan, and no associates but
the birds and beasts, you would know, as we
do, what they wish to say to us." Honest old
Jadee ! why should I ridicule thee ? How long is it
since we could afford to laugh at others' supersti-
tion ? Here, before me, lies the history of a voyage
made by English sailors, and not very long ago
either : let me transcribe a paragraph of it.
A Captain Cowley is going a voyage round the
world. It is the 29th June, 1686, and his ship is in
19° 45' south latitude, longitude 21° 26' west. These
facts assure us of the worthy sailor's exactness. " We
had," he says, " this day great feasting on board us,
x 4
312 SUPERSTITIONS OF THE OLDEN DAY.
and the commanders of the other two ships returning
on board their vessels, we gave them some guns
(that \s,jired), which they returned again. But it
is strangely observable, that whilst they were loading
their guns, they heard a voice in the sea, crying
out, s Come, help ! come, help ! a man overboard !
come, help ! ' This made them forthwith bring their
ship to the wind, thinking to take the man up, but
heard no more of him. Then they came on board of
us, to see if we had lost a man : but we, nor the
other ship, had not a man w T anting ; for, upon strict
examination, we found that in all three ships we had
our complement of men, which made them all to
conclude, that it was the spirit of some man that
had been drowned in that latitude by accident !"*
Hour after hour passed ; the dew fell cold, and the
chilled crew sat drawn up in their sarongs, with their
chins resting on their knees, sleeping a dog's sleep.
The moon had sloped towards her setting, the flood
tide was done, and my gun-boat had just canted to
the ebb, when the look-out man and Jadee pointed
towards a mere shell of a canoe with two men in it,
which was already on our beam, but on the opposite
* Capt. William Hacke's " Collection of Original Voyages,"
1699. Dedicated to John, Lord Somers, Lord High Chan-
cellor of England.
THE FLIGHT. 313
side of the river. " Stop that canoe ! " I said im-
patiently.
" Hark ! " said Jadee. " Prahus ! In the name of
Allah! don't make a noise: that is only a spy, to see
the coast is all clear."
The blood leapt through my veins, as I now dis-
tinctly heard, borne on the faint land-wind, the
creaking noise made by the ratan^ fastenings used
for a Malay prahu's oars. Before the men could be
roused, and our cable shortened-in, the strangers
swept round the point ahead ; and as the light struck
on them, I saw distinctly two fine large prahus, pull-
ing eight or ten oars of a side, and a very long low
canoe full of men.
My plucky little quarter-master, Sutoo, asked
permission to take two hands in the sampan, and to
head them at once, whilst we got under weigh. The
tide soon brought them close to.
"Stop, O prahus, to be searched!" shouted
Jamboo. They were evidently taken by surprise,
and for a minute every oar and paddle ceased to
ply ; but it was only for a minute : they saw us, and,
determined to push by, gave way with vigour ;
whilst female voices cried out, " Do not fire ; we are
women — only women!"
u Anchor, or we fire ! " Jamboo and I shouted ;
314 THE SAMPAN REPULSED.
whilst Jadee and his crew rattled in the cable like
seamen.
At that moment Sutoo with our sampan grappled
one of the prahus, and gallantly tried to stop one
of them at least ; there was a gleam of steel, and
then a shout from Sutoo to fire away a for that they
were armed.
As the gun-bfcat swung round upon her heel, Sutoo
came alongside with a spear sticking in his boat
that had been aimed at him. A small ratan shield,
which the man fortunately had on his arm when
lie grasped the prahu's gunwale, showed a deep mark
where a parang, the Malay sword, had come down
on it.
Directly the bow-gun would bear on the nearest
prahu, I fired at her with grape, and a shriek rang in
our ears which convinced me that there were women
on board, for the purpose, as it was immediately
suggested, of preventing us firing at them. I felt
that to tow a boat-load of wounded Malay women
alongside the "Hyacinth" was not likely to con-
duce to my professional reputation, and I therefore
ceased firing. There was nothing for it now but
to chase and catch them ; no easy job, I knew well,
for the channels were intricate, and the night mist
hung heavy to seaward.
THE CHASE. 315
" Give way, my Malay men ; we must catch and
board them." "Ya! ya ! ya!" shouted the crew
as they bent to their sweeps. The excitement was
gloriously intense : we could just see the prahus ;
but the canoe, which Sutoo assured me was a very
fine one, pulling at least twenty paddles, was gone.
I naturally looked to the prahus alone. At first
they made sail as if for the Lancavas Islands, keeping
the wind abeam ; but we soon began to close with
them : they then altered their course, and bore up
among some small islands and shallows in Setoue
Bay. At last, by a lucky accident, we cut off
one prahu, and got her in a bight out of which she
could not escape : an effort to push past we checked
with a round of grape, which she replied to with
some blunderbusses without doing any harm ; and
then her crew put the helm up, and ran her over
the shoals towards the jungle until she fairly stuck
in the mud.
Daylight was now breaking, and we could see the
Malays of the prahu decamp with their arms to
the shore. Leaving Jadee to cover me with the
" Emerald's " guns, and to keep her in deep water, I
took six hands and boarded the prahu. She was
a fine vessel, with no guns mounted ; but doubt-
less had had them at one time. Half a dozen old
316 A PRAHU CAPTURED.
women, and two men wounded by our fire, were all
we found in her. Everything that would lighten the
prahu was now thrown overboard, mainly bags of
rice and salt, and we soon had the satisfaction of
getting her afloat. We did all we could for the
wounded men : they were neither of them seriously
hurt, and I left two men in charge of the prize, whilst
we made sail in search of the other craft. After
cruising for three hours without sighting her, I re-
turned to my prize, and took her to the island which
I had, on the previous day, found peopled with starv-
ing refugees. I told the poor creatures, that as
many as liked might go on board of her, and proceed
to the British settlements for shelter. The wounded
men requested to be landed at the northern part of
the Pouchou river, called Tangong Gaboose, where,
they assured us, the woods were full of unfortunate
Malays like themselves — pirates by our laws.
Having seen the prahu off, we went over to
Tangong Gaboose, to await for the tide to rise suffi-
ciently to enable me to get back into my station in
the river.
All I could glean from the wounded men was,
that they and the other vessel, as well as a canoe
pulling many paddles, had left the neighbourhood of
Parlis together. They owned to having fought with
PROCEED TO TANGONG GABOOSE. 317
Siamese more than once, and that they hoped to do
so again : but more than that we could not learn ; for
of the movements of their chiefs, or Tonkoos, they
knew nothing, or would tell nothing.
On landing at the spot indicated by these men, I
was utterly astonished, after walking a few hundred
yards into the jungle, to find myself amongst a per-
fect crowd of fugitives. At first they showed signs of
distrust ; but Jadee soon soothed them with the
assurance, that provided Tonkoo Mahomet Alee was
not there, he and I did not wish to maltreat the un-
fortunates. The majority of the men were armed,
carrying handsome spears, creeses, and parangs,
or long chopper-shaped swords. There could not
have been less than 700 souls in these woods, in-
cluding women and children; an estimate verified by
the assertion of a venerable Moolah or Islam divine.
They gathered round and besought aid. I never
was very hard-hearted, thank God ! but the scene was
sufficient to have brought tears into the eyes of even
the stern legislators who had declared every pirate,
dead or alive, worth 20/. to the captor; for here
they were, young and old, born and suckled in
piracy ; knowing no better, and wishing for nothing
better, than to be allowed to fight it out fairly with
their present foes.
318 THE STARVING PIRATICAL FUGITIVES.
Poor creatures ! starvation and thirst were pinch-
ing them fearfully, yet there was no escape : the sea
behind them, and a ruthless enemy in front. The
jungle yielded no fruit ; the earth, parched by the
long drought, no water. I advised them to send and
make terms of surrender to the Siamese. An old
man said, " It was certain they must do it, or starve
to death ; " another, who was by, said Ci He would as
soon eat his own children, as run the risk of handing
them over to the enemy's soldiery, who," he said,
(l were composed of all the outcasts of the peninsula,
and cared no more for the Siamese authorities — ex-
cept in so far as they legitimised their villanies —
than they did for the Governor of the Straits, Touhan
Bonham." I took leave of these poor creatures with
a heavy heart, and struck by the threat of cannibalism,
asked both Jadee and my interpreter whether such
a crime was ever committed amongst the Malays or
Siamese. Jadee fought shy of the question, and
merely said that there was one tribe in Sumatra
who indulged in man-eating; but that if ever an
Orang Malayu did it, it must be out of sheer
necessity.
My interpreter informed me, that it was a usual
term of reproach between one tribe of wild Malays
and another to say they were cannibals ; and that if
HORRORS OF ASIATIC WARFARE. 319
it was remembered what devastating wars were car-
ried on, and had been for centuries, by the Birmese,
Siamese, and Malays, and the fearful sufferings
entailed upon the conquered, in a country where
the jungles yielded little fitted to support life, it
would seem more than likely that cannibalism was
often committed.
On this subject, quaint, earnest old Purchas tells
us of a sad tale in the unparalleled extermination of
the old Peguan race and kingdom by the Birmese,
in about 1598. I will give his words: "But of all
this wealth, then wanting no store, and of so many
millions people, were scarcely left seven thousand
persons. Men, women, and children had to par-
ticipate in the king's siege, and those feeding on
man's flesh ; the parents requiring of the children
the life which before they had given to sustain their
own ; and now laid them not in their bosoms, but in
their bowels : — the children oftentimes becoming
living sepulchres of their scarce-dead parents ! The
stronger preyed upon the weaker ; and if their flesh
was eaten up by their own hunger, leaving nothing
but skin and bones to the hungry assaults of these
ravenous creatures, they ripped the belly and de-
voured their inward parts, and breaking the skull
sucked out the brains. Yea, the weaker sex was,
320 HORRORS OF ASIATIC WARFARE.
by the strength of famine, armed with no less
butcherly despight against whomsoever they could
meet in the streets of the city, with their knives
which they carried about them as harbingers to
their teeth in these inhuman human banquets.
" Pardon me, reader," adds the good parson of St.
Martin's, by Ludgate Hill, (l if upon this spectacle
I cause thee, with myself, to stay awhile and
wonder. The sun, in his daily journey round about
this vast globe, saw then few equal to this Pagan
greatnesse, and yet in how short a space He that
is Higher than the highest hath abated and abashed
this magnificence lower than the lowest of his
princes ! "
A veritable dish of horrors ending with a fine
moral, the reader will say ; but I fear the horrors are
still not of uncommon occurrence in those parts of
Asia, as well as Polynesia, where Mahometanism or
Christianity have not yet spread their civilising in-
fluence. The former, with all its faults and impu-
rities, was a vast stride in the right direction for the
Malayan races of the Archipelago and Polynesia, as
any one who has wandered in those localities can
attest.
" I wonder," I said to Jamboo, " what will be-
come of these poor wretches?"
JAMBOO ON THE MALAYS' POSITION. 321
" Perhaps all be dead in a few days' time, sar ! This
very new to you ; but Malay man always go on this
way ; no got no friends. Dutchmen hunt them and kill,
because he don't want them to carry trade to Singa-
pore. Englishmen don't like him, because he say, he
d — d lazy rascal, always ready for a fight, but will not
dig in the fields ; too much of a gentleman, sir, for
the Company ; the Company want fellows, all the
same Hindoo, he can kick when he got bad temper.
And now come the Siamese. He not bad man, the
Siamese, suppose true Siamese ; but when he go to
war, he get hundred other sort of fellows, who say,
'Come along, let us go rob these Malay pirates!'
And so you see all the same you see to-day."
I have no doubt Jamboo was right to a certain
extent, though, living as he had done in our Anglo-
Malayan settlements, there might be a certain degree
of partiality in his heart for the Malayan people.
We soon afterwards re-entered the Pouchou river,
and I lent the perishing multitude my sampan to go
up the river, and try and procure some water, and
we gave them every grain of rice we could spare,
poor unfortunates ! And I could not help thinking
how sad it was, though, maybe, they had inflicted
equal if not greater sufferings upon those they had
forced to fly from the province of Quedah into the
Y
322 REFLECTIONS.
forest of Patani during the previous year. One
could sympathise with the sufferings of the conquerors
as well as the conquered in these wretched native
wars, and commiserate the thousands who had been
victims to the wickedness of the few, repeating the
words of an English poetess —
" Yet not less terrible because unknown
Is the last hour of thousands : they retire
From life's throng' d path unnoticed to expire.
As the light leaf, whose fall to ruin bears
Some trembling insect's little world of cares,
Descends in silence, while around waves on
The mighty forest, reckless what is gone ! "
* # #
A SURPRISE. 323
CHAP. XXIIL
A Surprise. — The Stratagem. — Escape of Mahomet Alee. —
Jadee indignant. — Disappointment and Consolation. — We
report the Escape. — Raising of the Blockade. — The
neglected Warning. — The Gig chases the Canoe. — The
" Laddas." — A Malayan Night-Scene. — Dream- Land. —
Return to Things earthly. — Unsuccessful Search for Prahus.
— The Sea-breeze. — The Race. — Short Rations. — Eat
Birds'-nests.— A long and distressing Pull. — Zeal and cheer-
ful Conduct of the Crew. — Reflections.
Hardly had the anchor reached the bottom, before
we sought the rest which it had been impossible
hitherto to get ; and it is needless to say, that after
such a night and morning of excitement, I, and I
believe all my people except the look-out men, slept
soundly for some hours.
The sun had passed the zenith, and all lay hushed
in that death-like day-sleep in which nature, as well
as man, seems to seek repose during the fervid
heat of an equatorial afternoon, when I was roused
and told that a boat full of men and women was
coming down the river. On being hailed, they
t 2
324 THE STRATAGEM.
came alongside, gave up their arms, which we broke
and tossed overboard, and then to their joy we told
them to go in health, — " Salamat gelan !"
As they pushed off, I said in joke, " You may go,
for we have caught the Tonkoos ! "
"What !" exclaimed an old Malay who was steering
the boat, " have you caught Datoo Mahomet Alee ?
Did he not then escape last night ? God is merciful
and great," continued he, throwing up his hands, and
looking the picture of sorrow.
A feather might have knocked me down ; and the
old man's astonishment, at being abruptly called back
and pulled by the neck and heels out of his canoe by
the excited Jadee, was not small.
"We told him that he evidently knew all about
Mahomet Alee's movements, and unless he wished to
be blown away from the bow gun, hung at the ensign-
staff, boiled in the coppers — Heaven only knows what
Jadee did not vow would be done to him ! — he must
tell all.
He soon enlightened us : it was simply, that on the
previous night, Datoo Mahomet Alee, finding all fur-
ther resistance against the Siamese unavailing, had
embarked in a long low canoe, pulling a number of
paddles, and, accompanied by two prahus filled with
women and armed men, to screen his movements,
ESCAPE OF MAHOMET ALEE. 325
had with the first ebb of the tide pushed down. My
guns had been heard, and it was supposed we had
captured the prahus ; but all felt confident that the
Datoo would escape from us, though he might be
drowned, if the breeze freshened whilst he was
crossing over to the Lancavas Islands, amongst which
group a fleet of prahus was secreted.
My disappointment and chagrin were beyond the
power of language to express. I had been fairly out-
witted ; my only consolation was in the fact that I
was yet a novice in the art of war, and could not be
expected to be a match for all the stratagems of so
accomplished an adept as Mahomet Alee ; and in the
next place, I felt that in chasing the prahus instead
of the sampan, I had done my duty, for they would
naturally be the war-boats.
There was nothing for it now, but to go and tell
my gallant captain. " Up anchor !" I said. " Jadee, I
must go and tell the Rajah Laut, that ' Numero
Tega' has had dirt thrown on her by Mahomet Alee."
Jadee had been in a perfect state of frenzy since
the intelligence was verified by some other men in
the boat : he stamped, he swore, called every Maho-
metan and pagan saint to witness, that such an act as
the Datoo had committed was contrary to all ideas of
Malay chivalry. Pie appealed to the crew, asked them,
y 3
326 JADEE INDIGNANT.
in all their cruises — I ought perhaps to say villanies
— had ever they heard of a Datoo who escaped a fight
under the petticoats of a woman ? If there was,
Jadee with his creese was ready to send that man to
Jehanum, or some other pleasant spot rejoicing in
intense heat or cold; consequently, all swore they
had never heard of such a thino-.
However, when the poor fellow saw how cut up I
was at my misfortune, he calmed down, and tried
hard to afford consolation.
" Steer for the ship's usual position between Lan-
cava and Parlis," I said. " Jadee, I am disgraced,"
and, youngster-like, I really felt as if I was ; and a
vision that it would be necessary for me to run away
and join an opium clipper as soon as possible already
haunted me.
" How could you be so ignorant of a Malay stra-
tagem?" I said petulantly to Jadee.
His unaffected efforts to take all the blame on his
own shoulders, and to cheer me, were quite delightful.
" Tell the Rajah Laut (Captain Warren) it was my
fault, my officer !" said the honest fellow. <c I ought to
have guessed the manoeuvre when the women screamed
out ; of a surety, they are the source of all mischief,
and limbs of the evil one!" Then he proceeded
to anathematise his bronze-cheeked countrywomen
DISAPPOINTMENT AND CONSOLATION. 327
in rather strong terms, but wound up with saying —
what was true enough, — " The Rajah Laut will not
be angry, Tuhan ! He would have done the same,
had he been there. Who would chase a eanoe when
a prahu — a capel praham* — was in sight ?" " Give
way! Numero Tegas " (No. 3.'s) — he shouted —
" Mahomet Alee may be caught yet : he shall not
escape us in a canoe next time !" (t Hurrah ! "
shouted the poor fellows, and away flew the little
" Number Three " under sails and sweeps towards
the " Hyacinth ; " and by the time we reached her,
I had begun to fancy that the chances were yet in
favour of catching not only Mahomet Alee, but his
reported fleet likewise.
The ship soon hove in sight, and we altered course
for her. Jadee seeing me somewhat consoled, edged
to me, sat down at a respectful distance, and catching
my eye, quietly remarked, "It was a pity we joked
about the warning that bird gave us last night,
Tuhan ! Allah be praised, worse has not befallen
us. One should never laugh at the warnings he sends
by the mouths of unclean creatures ; " here he expec-
torated, to purify himself. " I ought to have known
* " Capel praham'''' is a fighting prabu; they generally have
a breast-work in the bows for the guns.
t 4
328 THE NEGLECTED WARNING.
better," said he, with a self-upbraiding air : " after
the number of times that accursed bird has warned
me of evil, to think of my not heeding it ! " He con-
tinued, u Allah be praised, it was no worse ! " It
was evident that I might have had a tale of un-
limited length, had I sought it ; but such was not
then my humour, so I left Jadee to soliloquize
away, until we anchored close to the " Hyacinth."
My worthy captain heard my tale, and then very
kindly said that it was unfortunate, but could not be
helped, and that the escape had been cleverly effected
by a simple but well-laid manoeuvre ; it would be
a wrinkle to me for the future ; and I amused my
dear friend the first lieutenant extremely, by vowing
that in future, all the ladies in Quedah screaming
should not stop my 18-pounder, if I had another
chance at the rascally Datoo.
The description we gave of the canoe excited no
small interest on board the " Hyacinth ; " for it ap-
peared that that same morning, directly it was day-
light, the signal-man had descried from the masthead
a boat paddling towards the Lancavas, answering
exactly to the description of the one in which the
pirate chieftain had escaped from the Pouchou.
The captain's five-oared gig had been at once de-
spatched in chase of her, in charge of Mr. Major,
RAISING OF THE BLOCKADE. 329
the gunner, a very gallant and determined officer.
The canoe and gig had both run out of sight, and
there being no wind, the " Hyacinth " could not weigh
to go in chase and support her gig, against which
the canoe had long odds in her 20 men. Just at
this juncture, the "Diana" steamer had arrived from
Penang with despatches from Governor Bonham, and
she was immediately sent after the gig; and we all
now were most anxious to see the upshot of the chase.
Only one good had resulted from my pursuit and
dispersion of the Datoo's attendant prahus on the
previous night : it was that of compelling the canoe
to make the traverse of the Strait so far to the
southward as to bring her in sight of the " Hyacinth,"
which she otherwise would most decidedly not have
done.
There was just light enough left to make the " ge-
neral recall" for all the blockading force off Parlis.
It was certain from the intelligence I brought,
as well as from what had reached the captain from
other quarters, that the chiefs had all escaped over
to the Lancavas, and that a persistence in the
blockade would do no earthly good, but might
cause a host of unfortunates to fall into the hands
of the Siamese, who were now completely masters of
the province.
330 THE GIG CHASES THE CANOE.
Dunns; the nis;ht the steamer ct Diana " returned
with the gig in tow. The gunner had had a severe
chase, and at one time had considerably gained upon
the canoe, her crew being apparently much exhausted.
The intense heat and several hours' pulling had, how-
ever, distressed the <n°:'s crew likewise: the canoe
was not caught ; and perhaps it was as well that the
odds of a personal conflict of four to one had not to
be risked, although the gallant gunner spoke of it as
a fair fight, when Englishmen and black fellows
were concerned.
Directly the canoe reached the wonderful labyrinth
of islands of which the Lancavas and Laddas are
composed, she was safe, for it would have been diffi-
cult there to have kept in sight of a friend even. At
a sudden turn amongst the tortuous channels, through
which the gig still dogged the heels of the canoe,
the latter suddenly disappeared " like magic, "
to use the gunner's phrase, and neither she nor her
crew could again be seen. She was doubtless
whipped out of sight into the jungle, and the Malays
hid her and themselves where all the eyes of an
Argus would not have discovered them.
No one could help admiring the skill and pluck
exhibited in this escape of the redoubted Datoo, and
he had fully supported his high reputation in the
A MALAYAN NIGHT-SCENE. 331
cleverness with which he and his pious confrere the
Haggi Loung had evaded us all. Of the Tonkoos we
could learn nothing.
By dark the <e Hyacinth " had all her Musquito
squadron around her, three gun-boats and a pinnace
and cutter. A rumour was afloat that Captain
Warren had information of the position of the pira-
tical nest on the Lancavas, and that the morrow would
be a great day. All was curiosity and excitement,
mixed with that pleasant dream-like feeling, that
the coming day would bring something striking and
novel; with the consciousness, come what might,
that it would be acceptable, for one had health and
strength to make it welcome and enjoy it — without
one corroding thought, one anxiety to mar it.
I see it now, that calm and beautiful Malayan
night, robed in silence and Godlike majesty — the
vast heaven over-head, resplendent with glitter-
ing suns of other systems ; that stream of glorious
stars, the Milky Way, which renders the blue vault
about it of so intense and immeasurably deep a hue
— an eternity of blue ; the young moon the while
faintly sprinkling land and sea with a silvery light,
tenfold more refreshing from the recollection of
the past day of fervid, blazing sunlight ; the calm
unruffled ocean, like a highly polished blade, reflect-
332 A MALAYAN NIGHT-SCENE.
ing stars and planets, ship and boats, in perfect but
trembling outline — if touched by oar, or disturbed
by the splash of fish feeding on the night-moths, it
gleamed in many a whirl of lovely phosphorescent
light, as if it were the surface of some huge crater
of molten lava, iridescent where exposed to the air,
but liquid fire beneath.
The low long hull of the rakish corvette ; her lofty
tapering spars ; the apertures in her sides, through
which glistened the reflected light from her polished
guns, and the long pendant which quivered as the
night air touched it, — told of my country's naval
power ; while around her lay, in the little gun-boats
of the East India Company and their swarthy but
loyal crews, evidences of that commercial greatness
which had acquired for us tiie empire of the East,
and made its many nations seek protection under the
shadow of our old red ensigns. The Saxon cry of
" All's well ! " and the Malay sentry's " Jagga jagga !"
struck strangely on the ear; and then all the crowd
of hopes for the "great to-morrow" of sweet seven-
teen made the pulse throb wildly : you felt, indeed,
it was a bright and glorious world we live in — a fig
for those who say otherwise!
It was a scene well calculated to impress any one,
— even a thoughtless young seaman could appreciate
DREAM-LAND. 333
all its poetry and loveliness; and it gratified all
those strange longings for the wonderful which God
implants, for His own good reasons, in the bosom of
restless yonth.
Amid such scenes the mind realises all those
strange aspirations and mysterious cravings which
perhaps in earlier years may have crowded into the
mind when musing, as I am not ashamed to own I
have done, over such lines as these : —
" There is a magnet-like attraction
That links the viewless with the visible,
And pictures things unseen. To realms beyond
Yon highway of the world my fancy flies.
When by her tall and triple masts we know
Some noble voyager that has to woo
The trade winds, and to stem th' ecliptic surge,
The coral groves, the shores of conch and pearl,
Where she will cast her anchor, and reflect
Her cabin-window lights on warmer waves ;
The nights of palmy isles that she will see
Lit boundless by the fire-fly — all
The pomp of nature, and the inspiriting
Varieties of life she has to greet,
Come swarming o'er the meditative mind." *
Campbell. " Lines from St. Leonard's."
334 RETURN TO THINGS EARTHLY.
Yet, O reader ! by my beard I swear, that if thou
hast not felt this, poetry and prose are alike
lost upon thee ; and all I can say is, Heaven help
thee ! Thou hadst need be sad if thou canst not quit
this dull earth awhile and revel in the ideal, even as
a light-hearted midshipman may.
How much longer I should have given way to this
vein, deponent knoweth not ; but, to my discomfiture
— though possibly to the joy of those who may
peruse these pages — the interpreter and Jadee in-
terrupted me. They said I had given away all the rice
and water, and that there was hardly enough left to
give the people their breakfasts next morning. It was
sad information to receive at such a juncture. I knew
all the boats, as well as the ship, were at the end of
their provisions and stores, consequently unable to
replenish our wants ; and that if I made any appli-
cation upon that head, we should be assuredly sent
down to Penang, and lose our share in the closing
scenes.
I explained all this to Jadee : he fully entered into
my feelings, begged me to say nothing about it ;
assured me, if I did not mind it, that a few days of
nothing to eat and nothing to drink were of very
common occurrence for himself and his countrymen ;
and that although it was his full intention to marry
UNSUCCESSFUL SEARCH FOR PRAHUS. 335
a certain lovely " Tedia " on his arrival at Penang,
and that she was impatient for his return, he could
not think of doing so before the operations against
Quedah were finally and perfectly finished; " and as,"
said Jadee, " we have some cocoa-nuts, and birds'-
nests on board, we shall not> at any rate, starve,
Tuhan."
Accordingly, it was decided that I should say
nothing about the want of provisions, and that we
were to trust in Providence for a wind-fall of rice
and water, which, together with an occasional bite of
salt fish, had long been mine as well as the crew's
victualling.
At cockcrow next morning — and in Malayia he
must be a clever man who can escape the melody of
chanticleer — the steamer " Diana" took all the gun-
boats in tow, and we proceeded towards a small river
called the Lungo, north of Setoue Bay. Casting off
from her when she could not approach nearer from
want of water, we pulled in for the place, expecting
to find a squadron of seven war prahus : but here
again the birds had flown ; we only found the nests.
The Lancavas were still reported to hide the prahus
of Mahomet Alee, and the Siamese brig had been
beaten off from a place called Malacca, on those
islands. Towards Malacca, therefore — or rather for
335 THE RACE.
the Lancavas Islands — we now rowed all that long
scorching-hot afternoon, and anchored in the evening
at 7 o'clock, after a heavy but unsuccessful day's
search, our position then being on the eastern shores
of the Lancavas Islands.
The steamer and "Hyacinth" parted company,
going to the southward, and we were next day to
proceed northward, examining alongshore for pra-
hus, and to join the ship off the town of Malacca.
We had only had this day one meal of rice, and a
couple of drinks of water each man, on board the "Eme-
rald ;" fatigue, however, enabled us to sleep soundly
until about one o'clock on the following morning,
when I was ordered to weigh, in chase of a vessel
that was seen to the southward. By daylight I had
got sufficiently close to ascertain that it was No. 1.
gun-boat, and then turned back, catching the Mus-
quito squadron just as it had finished sweeping
along the eastern shores of the Islands, and had made
sail to a fine rattling sea-breeze which was rushing
in between the Islands of Lancavas — or Langkawi,
as the Malays called them — and Pulo Trotto.
With the tacks of our sails well down and sheets
fiat aft, we slashed our boats up against the fiery
breeze (fiery only in the sailor's acceptation of that
term), hatches on, and green seas flying four reefs
SHORT RATIONS. 337
high ! it was glorious excitement to feel every plank
quivering with the momentum given by the sails.
"One reef, and no more, Jadee, as you love me !
There's Halkett in the * Ruby ' carrying canvass as
if he had ' the little cherub ' stowed away in his
fore-peak, and knew no harm could come to masts
or hull. Barclay in the cutter and Drake in the
pinnace are just as bad as we, boys! they are fairly
smothering themselves in spray.
" Whew ! The gusts freshen, let fly the sheets for
a minute, and then haul aft again. Talk of the
excitement of Newmarket! it's nothing; to a chase to
windward when the breeze is fresh and the sails
are large ! "
As my little craft passed the pinnace, Mr. Drake
hailed, and desired me to proceed, make the best of
my way to Malacca, prevent all egress until his
arrival, and to look out for his signals durino- the
night. We weathered the Islands in the afternoon,
and then proceeded to see what could be scraped
together in the shape of food. Not a drop of water
or grain of rice was left, and first the night chase
and then the breeze had prevented us procuring
any from the other gun-boats. It was now that I
saw the edible birds'-nests first eaten 5 — Jadee had
got a bag of them out of some prahu ; and there
z
338 A LONG AND DISTRESSING PULL.
were, moreover, some green cocoa-nuts : each man
was given one of the latter, and any that liked might
help themselves to the nests !
I partook of both, the nests tasting very like
isinglass, but serving to stay the cravings of a very
keen appetite. The wind now fell, which distressed me
much, for my men, though not complaining, were very
exhausted : however, lest we should be thrown upon
an iron-bound coast, the oars had again to be manned,
and with difficulty we made our way along, for the
sea on the beam caused the vessel to roll so much
that the men could hardly keep their seats.
Night came on, and the coast was still a sheer cliff:
however, my Malays behaved admirably, and pulled
cheerily, encouraging one another with the prospect
of plenty of rice and fish on the morrow. At last,
after three long and anxious hours, a bay showed
itself on our left hand : fancying it was that in
which the hostile prahus and battery were situated,
we loaded the guns afresh, and pulled carefully
in, but made the circuit of it without finding any-
thing. I almost had decided on awaiting daylight,
when a dip in the land gave promise of another bay,
and as we swept round a rocky point, numerous
lights afloat and on shore showed we had reached
our destination. The oars were now rapidly muffled,
ZEAL OF MY MALAYS. 339
my crew zealously wrapping part of their wearing
apparel round the looms of their oars ; and thus we
swept in, pulling a quiet minute-stroke.
Directly we could distinctly make out the hulls of
the prahus, the oars were laid in, and when the gun-
boat had lost her way through the water, an anchor
was bent to a hawser, and lowered cleverly down to
the bottom, so as to make no noise in anchoring ; all
lights were carefully hidden, the decks cleared for
action, and thus we lay, watching the enemy's two
outer vessels, a large schooner and a prahu, without
their being aware of our presence in the bay, a light
mist serving still further to conceal us.
I have been thus minute in the last two days'
operations, to show the reader how zealous, docile,
and cheerful the Malays could be when the occasion
required it. They had had no rations since the
previous day at about 8 a.m, and no water since the
previous night ; they had been twenty-four hours
upon their oars during the last forty hours, yet not a
murmur escaped them ; and I would defy seamen of
any nation to have excelled them in any quality
which renders a sailor valuable. I cannot but feel
that, in a nation like ours, possessing a vast colonial
empire, which, in the event of a war, either for our
commercial supremacy with America, or for our civil
z 2
340 REFLECTIONS.
and religious liberties with despotic Europe, we
might be sorely pressed to defend, it behoves every
loyal man to cherish and uphold a race of sailors
who combine, with all their faults and all their
vices, many of the finest attributes of a seafaring
people.
They may be pirates ; they may be buccaneers :
so were we ; and we still pride ourselves upon the
naval glories of men who founded our reputation
as a naval nation upon what was nothing less than
robbery upon the high seas. Restrain, and bring
the Malays under our rule gently, and they will
serve us heartily and zealously in the hour of
England's need ; they are the best race of colonial
sailors we possess: grind them down, shoot them
down, paddle over them, and they will join the first
enemy, and be their own avengers.
A TROriCAL SHOWER, 341
CHAP. XXIV.
A tropical Shower. — Early Breakfast. — The Malay piratical
Soiree. — Jadee upbraids them for being surprised. — Pre-
paring for Action. — Demeanour of English and Malay Sea-
men. — Malay Charm for shooting straight. — My Coxswain •
his Piety. — Burning, sinking, and destroying. — The Rene-
gade turns Traitor. — The large Reptiles of Langkawi. — The
Tale of the Oular-besar, or Great Snake. — The Snake choked
by a holy Man. — A remarkable Fossil. — A Pirate's Hiding-
place. — Lovely Scenery. — The Anger of the Skies. — Struck
by Lightning. — Close of Operations against Quedah. — Con-
clusion.
About midnight, down came the rain — vertically,
mercilessly, as it only can and does in the tropics.
We got up, for sleep was impossible, and drank and
washed, washed and drank, of the water like veri-
table ducks. Flashes of vivid lightning lighted up
the bay occasionally, and showed us, not only that a
considerable force of Malay vessels had at last been
caught, but that our own flotilla was pulling in
from to seaward.
z 3
342 EARLY BREAKFAST.
That they too saw us was very evident from the
occasional noise which was heard, and the number
of lights dancing about on shore. At about three
o'clock in the morning, we sent away to the " Dia-
mond" gunboat, and got a bag of rice and some
fish, as well as a cask of water : the fire was lighted
at once, and I gave an order for " carte-blanche"
in the gastronomic way. It was indeed a delightful
breakfast, though an early one, for the dawn was
only just breaking. Let any one fast eight-and-forty
hours, and he will think the same, even supposing
that he should have had, like ourselves, one green
'cocoa-nut, and an unlimited quantity of birds'-nests
to refresh himself with meanwhile.
When the sun rose, and the night-mists rolled
back from the lands around us, our little flotilla lay
at anchor in the northern part of a beautiful bay,
which revelled in all the loveliness of Malayan
scenery. The " Hyacinth" was just appearing at
the opposite extreme of the bay, having passed
round the south end of the Lancavas as we had
done by the north.
The pirates were fairly caught. Their vessels
consisted of two queer-looking schooners, mounting
ten small guns cr.ch ; one of them had 12-pounder
carronades, the other, 3-pounder and 6-pounder
THE PIRATICAL MALAY FORCE. 343
guns. Three large and handsome prahus and a
tope constituted the rest of their force, the prahus
showing three or four guns, and the tope a 32-
pounder carronade. These vessels were all covered
by an eight-gun battery, situated on a small conical
hill in the elbow of the bay ; this battery it was
that had so roughly handled the " Teda Bagoose,"
or " Good-for- Nothing, " the slashing brig of our
imperial allies. There was much excitement on
shore ; armed men were passing and repassing rapidly
amongst the cocoa-nut trees that lined the beach,
boats were paddling to and fro, but there was no
village to be seen. The pirates were evidently sur-
prised. They had doubtless counted upon the grace
of another day or two, when this rear-guard would
have escaped, as most of the forty prahus did that
we had seen at Trang in the previous year.
It was necessary to await Captain Warren's arrival
in the gig of the "Hyacinth," before we could do
anything against the enemy ; and I had plenty of
time to hear Jadee descant in flowery terms upon the
beauty and advantages of the Lancavas Islands over
Quedah proper, of which, however, in the good old
days, it formed a part. One of its chief merits in my
sea-king of a coxswain's eyes, was the wonderful
z 4
344 PREPARING FOR ACTION.
facilities its labyrinth of islands and channels offered
for the safe hiding of a fleet of a thousand prahus.
(i D — pouls ! " said Jadee, anglicising his opinion
of the enemy's prahus now cut off. " Ah ! you d —
pouls ! Had I been their captain, Tuhan, do you
think I would have anchored in such a place as this,
whilst Orang-putihs were cruising about ? Ah ! you
d — pouls ! The Datoo cannot be here," added
Jadee — for my coxswain did him the justice to
believe that so experienced a tactician would not be
caught in an open bay. Then my worthy Jadee
proceeded to point out some localities famous in his
recollection for Love and War, the onlv two deities
he believed in, and of sundry foiled chases he had
had of prahus in and amongst these Lancavas since
he took Company's pay.
Captain Warren was seen to be approaching, and
the word was now passed to clear for action ! Jadee
and his crew did so with extreme alacrity. He
adorned himself according to the most approved
rules of Malay military etiquette. His sarong
was wrapped tighter round the waist, and brought
round the thighs, so as to leave his nervous little
legs more than usually free ; a red sleeveless waist-
coat, quilted so as to resist a knife-cut, hung slack
round his person, leaving his muscular chest and
PREPARING FOR ACTION. 345
arms ready for any exertion ; whilst a stiff and
cocksy-looking handkerchief fluttered around his
glossy and erect hair, and in combination with his
square chin, high cheek-bones, and an enormous
quid of tobacco stuck under his upper lip, made him
look as ferocious an individual as ever figured in
the character of a bloodthirsty Malay in a three-
volume romance, even supposing that he had not
bristled, as he did, with no less than three creeses.
He had, first, his badi, or small knife, answering to
the Highland skene-dhu, then the regular waving
bladed creese of about a foot or fourteen inches long,
and, lastly, a heavy straight double-edged Illanoon
creese, resembling somewhat an old Roman sword.
The rest of the crew were got up in a very
similar manner, and strutted about with a martial
ardour quite comical, in so far as it was a demon-
strative mode of exhibiting the same feelings which
fluttered in the breasts of our more stoical English
seamen and marines. These were quietly examining
percussion caps, or seeing the nipples of their mus-
kets all clear, and indulging in some rough jest ;
such as that of Joe Hutchinson, the marine, who,
taking an imaginary aim at some object on shore,
apostrophises his musket thus: — -"Well, this old
gal (his musket) never misses fire at practice ; and
346 MALAY CHARM
if she only shoots straight to-day, and pitches my
sixty rounds into them precious Malays, I'll cut a
notch in the stock, and give her my grog, if she
likes ; " or the light-hearted foretop-men, or skylark-
ing flaxen-headed Lambies*, who, polishing their cut-
lasses, wonder if they will be able to play the fifth-
stick practice on the head of some unfortunate pirate
with " this here cutlash," or suggest innocently to
some old petty-officer, that they felt jolly well sure
there were both grog-shops and women ashore, and
hanged, if they had a chance, if they wouldn't look
for them !
A playful tendency, or moral weakness, which of
course the petty-officer mentally resolves they shall
not indulge in, if a sharp pair of eyes can prevent
these frolicsome individuals carrying out their in-
tions.
" Tuhan ! " said Jadee, looking the picture of mys-
tery, " have you got a piece of pork that you could
spare ? "
" No ; but I can get a bit in a minute," I replied.
" What are you going to do with the unclean
animal?"
" It 's a great charm," said Jadee. u I forgot it
* Lambies, or lambs, a nickname for the youngest seamen in
a man-of-war, generally the mizentop-men.
FOR SHOOTING STRAIGHT. 347
until the captain of the bow-gun reminded me; but
it's invaluable against an enemy."
" What ? How ? In what way, oh Jadee ? "
" Simply by cutting it up into small pieces, and
putting it into a gun upon the first round it fires."
" Botheration !" I said, " why, you are like an old
Malay lady, Jadee ! firing fids of pork at a man
won't hurt him."
He coloured up, and walked away ; but Jamboo
came and said, ct Do get a bit of pork, sir ; these
Malay men think it a charm to make a gun shoot
straight ; they have some tradition about it, and it
will not do any harm, at any rate." Accordingly, I
got them a bit of pork, and Jamboo cut it up, and
J adee loaded the bow-gun with grape, canister, and
chopped pork, — a villanous compound to say the
least about it, — and then resumed his station,
perfectly ready for what Allah might in his wisdom
send him.
Captain Warren now joined us, inspected the boats
to see that all were ready, of which he would have
entertained no doubt, could he have only known
the charge in my 18-pounder, — and then a message
was sent in to the pirates, giving them five minutes
for an unconditional surrender of their vessels.
It is a great five minutes in a man's lifetime, that
348 THE coxswain; his piety.
five minutes before an action is commenced ;
especially when, as was the case with us, there
happens to be a disparity of forces on his side.
" Jadee," I said, " Datoo Mahomet Alee will send
you to join the houris to-night."
He was not in a jocular mood : he drew his hand
across his throat, and pointed his fingers upward, as
if he felt perfectly certain his virtues would lead
him that way, and said " his life was in the hand of
Allah," adding that beautiful verse from the Koran,
which is so often used as the war-chaunt of the true
believer : " Exult not, and despond not, so shall ye
prevail." *
Jadee's chances of a heavenward flight were, how-
ever, dashed to the ground, for the Malays showed
evident intentions of surrendering their vessels ; in-
deed, they decamped as fast as possible from them
and the battery, before the expiration of the five
minutes. The nicodar of one of the vessels, a
tope, came to Captain Warren, and prayed for
mercy, with the excuse that he was only an armed
trader; and rather than be unjust, the very doubtful
proof of his assertions were allowed to have weight,
and he was ordered to be off as fast as the wind
would let him. This hero was the renegade son of
* The Koran, 3rd chapter.
BURNING, SINKING, AND DESTROYING. 3 49
an old English soldier, who lived at Penang ; he had
adopted Mahometanism as his creed, and could not
have been distinguished from a Malay in any respect.
Orders were now given to pull in, and burn, sink,
and destroy : this was done with no small good-will.
The prahus and schooners were soon wrapt in flames,
their guns being first thrown overboard, then the
battery was dismantled, and the guns disabled most
effectually. In a small creek we discovered two more
very handsome prahus, just off the stocks, and a
couple of long brass 9-pounders ; furthermore, we
found abundant proofs that the Malay chieftains had
been winding up their affairs, and that, had we been
a few days later, they would have flitted back to
their native haunts in Sumatra.
As it was, there w T as still a possibility that their
escape from the island would be now prevented, and
that they might eventually fall into Siamese hands.
As every fresh explosion took place, or a fresh
outbreak of fire and smoke betokened the success of
our work of destruction, loud cheers and shouts rose
from the English and Malay seamen, and one could
hardly recognise, in the excited actors of this scene,
the men who a short week previously had been
ministering to the wants of the fugitive pirates of
Quedah fort and Parlis town, or dry-nursing their
350 THE EENEGADE TURNS TRAITOR.
infants. Funny fellows are sailors, whether English
or Malay — a strange mixture of the tiger and the
lamb.
When everything was wrapt in flames beyond all
possibility of the conflagration being quenched, we
had a hasty noonday meal, and were then ordered
to " make sail and man the oars," the renegade
having offered to conduct us to a spot where he
said there were fifteen prahus concealed.
Yah ! Yah ! Yah ! responded the gun-boat's crew,
to the Englishmen's hurrah at the joyful news ; and
away we dashed for a place amongst the Laddas,
called Bass Harbour, and, turning into lovely and
tortuous channels, rushed on like bloodhounds after
our prey. " Now," said my coxswain, " you will see
Malay scenery and Malay men's haunts ! "
The island of Lancavas — or islands, for there
may be more than one — is surrounded by a host of
islets, called the Grains of Pepper (from their num-
ber), like an emerald set in seed pearls. Lancavas
island is mountainous, but has broad valleys in its
interior, and a considerable quantity of flat land
bordering the eastern and southern shores. While
the plains and rice-fields of Quedah are parched by
a drought of many months' duration, the hills of
Lancavi collect around their summits the vapours
LARGE REPTILES OF LANGKAWI. 351
of the sea, which, as they condense, fall in refreshing
showers upon the thirsty vegetation at the base.
It is not therefore to be wondered at that, even
amongst the naturally dense jungles of Malayia, those
of the valleys of the Lancavas are pre-eminent, and
that in those dank and hot forests reptiles abound
of enormous size. The great boa-constrictor here
grows to a size which it will not do to talk of without
being able to produce the original, though I am
morally convinced that the skin of one which I
saw, without its head, must have been from 25 to
30 feet long, when complete. However, if I wanted
to get a true and faithful account of a very father of
snakes, I had only to refer to Jadee : he had a stock
on hand which would have satisfied the most credu-
lous glutton.
Whilst crossing Malacca Bay, I suggested that
he had spoken of a famous snake, which was only
got rid of by a very devout Haggi, — perhaps Jadee
would favour me with the history ? but mind, I
wanted it unadorned — a really faithful tale which
I could swear to.
Jadee looked serious, put his hand upon his breast,
and trusted his veracity was beyond all suspicion,
and that, at any rate, I might swear to receiving all
information just as unadulterated as it came to him :
what more could I expect?
352 THE TALE OF THE OULAR-BESAR.
Crossing his legs, renewing his quid, and shout-
ing to his men to " give way ! " and beat Number
Two gun-boat, he then proceeded to relate how, in
former days, the Rajahs of Quedah were bound by a
law, whenever a new king ascended the throne, or
when war was declared with another state, to sacri-
fice a virgin daughter of the Royal family to an
enormous boa-constrictor, or Oular-besar, that dwelt
on the Lancavas, though it would occasionally visit
the Malay continent. In return for this delicate
tribute, the Oular-besar abstained from feeding
largely on the Quedah folk, confining its attention to
Siamese, or people of Mergui, and suchlike canaille;
and it even extended its good offices to watching
over the homes and wives of its Malay friends, who
were absent upon little innocent cruises at sea. In-
deed, so far had they succeeded in propitiating its
good- will, that on a hostile fleet of prahus appear-
ing suddenly off this very bay, the generous boa-
constrictor stretched itself across from one point of
it to the other as a boom, and defied all the efforts
of the enemy to enter. Jadee pointed first to one
horn of Malacca Bay and then the other, and though
they were a couple of miles apart, I 'm bound to
say Jadee did not blush, as he added, " and that will
give you, oh ! my officer, some idea of its length ! "
1 coughed, and said I should like to have seen that
THE TALE OF THE OULAK-BESAR. 353
snake's mother ! My coxswain's feelings were hurt,
he was silent, until I gently smoothed down his
feathers by asking what might have been the end
of this very amiable monster. He continued, " When
Mahomet, — may his tomb exhale unceasingly the
odour of holiness ! — sent holy men to show the poor
Malays the road to Paradise, the Haggis said it was
wrong to sacrifice, even to such a big snake, and
the Kings' daughters were not sent to feed the
Oular-besar.
u The creature became very annoyed, and the con-
sequence was, he almost cleared the Island of Lan-
cavas of its population and cattle. All schemes
failed to check its wrath, prayers were offered up in
all the mosques, but for our previous sins the Oular-
besar still lived, and still kept swallowing up Malays,
until the fields were left untilled, and the country
was fast becoming one great forest. At last Allah
sent relief, as he always does to the faithful.
" One day, a most holy man, an Arab Sheik,
famous for his piety and knowledge of the word of
God, arrived at Quedah ; he exhorted all the people
to remain firm in their new faith, for some of them
were backsliders, and thought of the good old times.
He pointed out to them, that the wrath of the Oular-
besar was only a means to test their faith ; but that
A A
354 THE SNAKE CHOKED BY A HOLY MAN.
now Allah was satisfied, and had sent him to put
a stop to their sorrows. The holy man now prayed,
and all the people with him, and then he took ship,
and proceeded to the Lancavas, — anchoring near the
place where we destroyed the prahus. The holy
man performed his ablutions, said his prayers, put on
his green turban, and balancing the Koran on his
head, landed at once either to drive the Oular-besar
away or to die.
" Down came the snake from those distant valleys,
and looked wistfully at the high-dried, tough old
Arab ; and the poor boa-constrictor no doubt sighed
at the remembrance of bygone tit-bits. The holy
man spread his carpet, and began to pray ; the
Oular-besar wrapt him in one fold of its deadly
grasp, and a shriek of * God is great ! ' rang in the
ears of his shipmates, as he disappeared down the
throat of the monster — turban, Koran, and all!
" Instead of the Oular-besar reposing, as was to
be expected, while it digested the venerable Haggi,
a violent fury seemed to seize it ; its whole body
writhed in a perfect frenzy, it raised its head high
above the loftiest trees, its eyes flashed lightning,
and for a few minutes the creature seemed upon the
point of dashing into the sea ; then, with a hiss that
made the beholders' blood curdle in their veins, it
shot swiftly away in the direction of the mountains,
A REMARKABLE FOSSIL. 355
and since that day the Oular-besar has never been
seen, and its brethren generally prefer pigs, poultry,
and game to true believers ! "
" Wonderful ! " I exclaimed ; " and so no one has
ever seen the big snake since ? "
° No one, Tuhan ! The words of the holy man
came true; for when did a Haggi tell a lie ? — but
some of the gold-seekers who scale those mountains
you see in the direction of Patani, report that in a
deep and narrow valley, there is to be seen the vast
bones of a big snake around a long green stone,
which doubtless, as Allah is great, are the remains of
the Oular-besar and that most virtuous priest."
" Ah ! I see, Jadee," added I, " the priest, in English
sailors' phrase, ' choked the luff' * of that snake."
" Very probably," said Jadee, to whom I had not
interpreted the expression. " Very probably, Tuhan ;
but it was a happy day for Quedah when that holy
man came to it."
Meantime the boats had entered a wonderful laby-
rinth of islands and deep water-channels : not only,
as Jadee had said, might a thousand prahus have
* "Choking the luff" is done by placing a piece of wood or
rope in a block or pulley, in such a way, that the rope which
is rove through the block will not run. The term is often
applied to a tough story not easily swallowed.
a a 2
356 LOVELY SCENERY.
been hidden away, bat a fleet of line-of-battle ships
might as easily have been secreted in the tortuous
channels and hundred creeks around us. It was
a sight to make the heart leap, and the blood to
flow fast, to be thus surrounded by such gorgeous
Eastern scenery ; it was exactly the haunt one had
imagined ought to exist for dashing pirates and
fleet-footed prahus.
Now we are passing through that heavenly blue
water, — bright and clear as woman's eye, — which
shows, over a coral bed, a diminutive and wonderful
submarine forest of every fantastic form and colour,
over which we are swiftly passing. On the one
hand lies a long and picturesque mountain, clothed
with luxuriant vegetation, aslant which the Western
sun is casting a million tints of warm and luscious
colouring; on the other, some fantastic islet throws
its sharp outline up against the sky, whilst the
graceful palm, the plantain, and pandanus, hang
round it, here clinging to some grey rock, like old
age in the arms of beauty, or feathering over the
edge of a beetling cliff, as if they were ostrich-plumes
round some grim warrior's head.
A little farther, the trail winds through a maze
of islets, and fe lustrous woodlands " each unlike its
neighbour, and strangely beautiful, and just when all
farther progress seems hopeless in such a tangled
SUPERSTITION OF THE CREW. 357
web, there bursts upon us a broad expanse of water,
laughing in sunlight and breeze. It might be a
lake, except that between the islets on the seaward
side, the light of a declining sun streams in, in a
flood of gold which contrasts richly with the deep
purple of their shaded sides.
On, on we went, now sailing, now rowing, —
narrow channels, over which the trees appeared to
arch, led away as if to the base of the tall peaks of
the interior, around whose crests were fast mustering
heavy clouds, which portended one of those fierce
squalls for which the Straits of Malacca are famous,
and generally known under the name of Sumatrans ;
and then we swept along a beach so white, so glitter-
ing, — flowers and coral, vegetation and sea, — it
seemed as if Neptune and Flora were striving for
mastery.
At 9 o'clock that evening, the squall which threat-
ened at sunset swept over the beautiful scene I have
made a feeble effort to pourtray. As the thunder
pealed over our heads, and the forked lightning
crackled through the refreshing gale, we came to
anchor, and rested after another long day's labour.
I was surprised to observe the superstitious horror
betrayed by my crew at the thunder and lightning ;
for I thought these would have been to them very
ordinary phenomena.
358 THE ANGER OF THE SKIES.
During the storm, some portion of the electric
fluid, on its passage to the water, took a fancy to
make a conductor of a chain-cable and an anchor
that were hanging to the bows ; there was imme-
diately a general appeal to Mahomet and the Koran ;
and one man, more devout or more wealthy than the
rest, made a vow to sacrifice sundry game-cocks and
certain rice : be it said to the Malay's honour, that
a few days after, when, as he believed, his prayers
had been granted, and all danger over, his promise
was faithfully performed.
Jadee remarked, in a serious tone, to me during
the squall, and referring to the thunder, (( that the
skies were angry." I ventured jestingly to reply,
that perhaps it was the Oular-besar suffering from
indigestion, brought on by the Haggi ! Jadee was
horrified, and said that Malay men knew too well
what thunder and lightning were, to joke of them.
I believe he began now to think me a scoffer — for,
like all Malays, he held local legends and super-
stitions in equal reverence with Mahomet's doctrines.
Perhaps, too, it occurred to him that though he was
no Haggi, yet his chances of entertainment amongst
the houris would be smaller still if he was not more
guarded in communications upon religious subjects
with an Infidel like myself.
The next morning, at early break of day, we were
OPERATIONS AGAINST QUEDAH CLOSED. 359
again pulling and sailing under the guidance of our
renegade guide ; but after searching every spot he
suggested, and chasing sundry imaginary prahus
which, on close approach, resolved themselves into
the stems of old trees, or rocks, it became certain
that the birds, if there ever had been any, had flown,
and our captain decided on returning to the ship.
In obedience to our orders, and with a fair wind,
we commenced to thread our way back again through
the Laddas, reaching the " Hyacinth " late the same
afternoon.
The next day saw the close of our operations
against the Malays of Quedah ; it was very evident
that all those that could fly had done so ; those who
remained, had no resource but to give their allegiance
to the Siamese Government or stand the conse-
quences. Numero Tega and the other gun-boats
were ordered to proceed to Penang, whilst their
quondam commanders returned to the " Hyacinth,"
after an absence of one hundred and fourteen days.
It was not without regret I bid my crew good-bye ;
for my first essay as a captain had been a very very
happy one; and if ever a set of poor fellows tried to
show that the feeling was mutual, it was exhibited
in the warm good-bye of Jadee and his swarthy crew.
My tale is told ; the " Hyacinth " remained on the
coast only a few days longer, and Captain Warren
360 CONCLUSION.
communicated with the new Siamese authorities of
Parlis and Quedah. He damped their military-
ardour at Quedah fort, by obliging them to liberate
very expeditiously a British subject whom they had
captured, and upon whom they were about to practise
some original cruelties. The Rajah of Ligor, Com-
mander-in-chief of the Siamese forces, sent to express
his gratitude for all the able assistance that had been
received from us, accompanying it by a token of his
Imperial master's favour in the shape of a valuable
gold tea-pot for our gallant Captain, which he re-
ceived official permission to retain, together with a
most cordial letter of thanks for his able services
from the Governor General of British India, the
Earl of Auckland.
Dear reader, fare \\ ell ! If, in my attempt to give
you a fair impression of the much-abused Malay, I
have succeeded in removing from your mind one
prejudice against that people, I shall not have written
in vain, and I shall have done my part towards
making you think, as I would fain do, that
" God framed mankind to be one mighty family,
Himself our Father, and the world our home."
THE END.
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