Chapter Nineteen.

Chapter Nineteen.A Visit to Java.We had won many a prize from the vasty deep with no little toil, and visited many strange people living under burning suns, when we found ourselves at anchor in the Roads of Batavia, the capital of the large and fertile island of Java. It was taken by the English in the year 1811 from the Dutch, or rather from the French, who had temporary possession of it. The British fleet employed on the occasion was under the command of Admiral Sir Robert Stopford, and the army under that of General Wetherall and Colonel Gillespie. That admirable and talented man, Sir Stamford Raffles—the greatest benefactor the islands of the East had ever known, till Sir James Brooke followed in his footsteps, was then appointed governor, and had his counsels and prayers been followed, it would still have been a bright jewel in the British crown. Unhappily neither were heeded. His letters describing the fertility and unbounded resources, when properly developed, of that immense territory, remained unread, unopened at the Colonial Office; and at the general peace Java was cast back as a worthless trifle into the heap to be enjoyed by others, which England had gained by so much blood and treasure. The Dutch took possession, and very speedily re-established the system of close monopoly and grinding tyranny which the enlightened policy of Sir Stamford Raffles had abolished.Newman had now so completely established himself in the good opinion of the captain, that he was treated more as an officer than a foremast-man, and whenever duty would allow, he was permitted to go on shore to visit whatever was worthy of notice. He looked upon me completely in the light of a pupil, in whose advancement he had the deepest interest. “Never mind how old you are,” he used to say; “you will outlive me yet by many a year, and will have plenty of use for all the information you can pick up before you die.” I little thought at the time how true his words would prove. He used in joke to call me hardy Old Jack; and certainly for many years I never had had an hour’s illness. The truth is, that I was gifted with a sound constitution, and had avoided playing tricks with it, as a great number of people do, and then complain of the sicknesses with which they are afflicted, shutting their eyes to the fact that they have brought them on themselves entirely in consequence of their own folly.While we lay at Batavia, I was constantly on shore with Newman. The Roads of Batavia are rather more than a quarter of a league from the city, and are guarded from the prevailing winds by a dozen small islands outside them. The ground on which the city stands bears evident signs of having been thrown up by the sea, but rises gradually to the mountains ten leagues off behind it. The River Jacatra runs through the city, and it is intersected likewise in all directions by canals. It has also a moat running round it, as likewise a wall of coral-rock. Its defences consist of twenty bastions, and a castle near the sea, with a mud-bank in front of it. It is, indeed, completely a Dutch city. But besides its numberless canals and ditches, as it is situated in a dead marshy flat, and is surrounded with dirty fens, bogs, and morasses, over which a tropical sun sends down its burning rays, drawing up noxious vapours of every description, it may be considered, taken all in all, as one of the most unhealthy cities of the civilised world. By care and proper drainage these defects might be amended, and, as the general temperature of the atmosphere is not excessive, it might become as healthy as any other place in those regions.Java is about two hundred miles long and forty broad, and has numerous deep inlets along the northern coast, where ships may anchor during the good or south-east monsoon. A chain of mountains, from which a number of rivers descend to the sea, runs down the centre, and divides the island into two parts. The air is cooled by the sea-breezes, which, as in the West Indies, set in every day. The soil is particularly rich. It is cultivated by buffaloes, and in some places one is sufficient to drag a plough. Java produces rice of a first-rate quality, sugar in abundance, cotton in considerable quantities, salt, timber, indigo, coffee, pepper, and various kinds of spices.Java is, in reality, governed by the Dutch East India Company; but it is divided into a number of provinces, ruled over by puppet princes with the title of Sultan. At the court of each, one of the Company’s chief officers, or head merchants, as they are called, resides. In some of the provinces these petty emperors have been deposed, and they are governed by one of the Company’s officers, under the title of Resident. The religion of these princes is Mohammedan, as is that of the natives generally, though intermixed with many superstitious observances. No government rules a country with a more despotic system, or is more jealous of foreign interference with its trade. I suspect, also, that none has done more injury to the advancement of civilisation in the East, from their readiness to submit to all the absurd customs and degrading ceremonies imposed on them by the Chinese and other semi-barbarous nations, for the purpose of advancing their mercantile interests. Taught by them, these people look upon all Europeans as tribes of mean and despicable traders, who have neither the power nor the spirit to resent any injuries inflicted on them.In the environs of Batavia are a number of villages, some inhabited by Malays, and others by Chinese, who visit the island in great numbers, and carry on a considerable trade, notwithstanding the persecutions to which they have at times been subject. In various beautiful spots, both near the city or the neighbouring hills, and along the sea-shore, are found the large and handsome country residences of the chief merchants and other authorities connected with the Company. There are five principal roads which lead from the city towards the country, and which are planted with high and shady trees. One of the most beautiful roads leading to the Port of Jacatra is closely planted with a double row of mango-trees, and both sides of it are embellished with large and pleasant gardens, and many fine and elegant buildings. All the roads are much of the same description, and give a character of finished cultivation to the neighbourhood of the city. Both sides of the streets, as well as of the numerous canals, are planted with fine trees, so that the country all round Batavia may well be characterised as a tropical Holland.The governor-general usually resides at his country-seat, called Weltevreeden, a superb mansion, about an hour and a quarter’s walk from the city. He there resides in great state, and never goes about without being attended by a body-guard, dressed in coats of scarlet cloth richly laced with gold.The ordinary habitations of the Europeans are of brick, run up in a light airy manner, and stuccoed on the outside. They have sash-windows. The interiors are all on the same plan. The fronts are in general narrow, and the houses extend back a long way from the street. Fronting the entrance, a narrow passage, with a parlour on one side, leads to a large long room, lighted from an inner court, into which it opens. This apartment is called the “gallery,” and here the family live and dine. The floors are of large, square, dark-red stones. No hangings are to be seen, but the walls are neatly stuccoed and whitened. The furniture consists of some arm-chairs and two or three sofas. On the walls are numerous looking-glasses, and chandeliers or lamps are hung in a row along the ceiling of the gallery, and are lighted up in the evening. The stairs leading to the upper rooms are generally at the end of the gallery. The upper parts of the houses are divided much as below. They are generally but scantily provided with furniture; indeed, from the heat of the climate but little is required. Behind the gallery are the lodgings for the slaves, the kitchen, and the out-houses. Instead of being glazed, the windows are often closed with a lath-work of rattans.Few of those in the city have gardens. In the country, on the contrary, the greatest attention is paid to them, many of which are very beautiful, though laid out in the formal Dutch style, as they are full of the choicest flowers and shrubs. Newman was especially struck with them.“Ah, this would indeed be a beautiful country to live in, if people could but manage not to die!” he exclaimed. Unhealthy as the country undoubtedly is, the city itself is far worse, so that, as a place of residence, it is almost abandoned by the more wealthy merchants, who only visit it as a place of business—their fine mansions being turned into stores or counting-houses.Europeans at Batavia, of whatever nation, live much in the same way. They rise at daybreak, and sit for some time cooling themselves in the thinnest dress in which they have passed the night; then they dress, and breakfast on coffee or tea, and are at their offices at eight. They work till nearly noon, when they dine, and take a nap till four, when they again attend to business till six. Afterwards they drive out, or mix in social intercourse in an informal way till nine, when they sup, and retire to bed at eleven. Newman, whose means of observation were greater than mine, told me that the men had their parties together, and the ladies theirs, which I should consider a very bad arrangement. The men of higher rank—the upper merchants—are each attended by a slave, holding an umbrella behind him; but a junior merchant must carry his umbrella himself.The women marry very young, are very ill-educated, and pass much of their time lolling on sofas, talking and laughing with their slaves, whom another moment they will order to be whipped for the slightest offence. Those born in the country have very supple joints, and can twist their fingers, hands, and arms in almost every direction. What can be expected from women who are abandoned, almost as soon as born, to the care of ignorant slaves—little or no care being taken to inculcate moral or religious principles into their plastic minds, till they have fully imbibed all the superstitious notions and prejudices which are held by their attendants? While saying this, I must urge parents at home never—if they value the eternal happiness of their children—if they wish them to imbibe right principles, and to avoid pernicious ones—to commit them to the charge of persons, however decent in their behaviour, who are not likely, from their want of education, to be able to instil them. Parents, children were given you by God; and at your hands he will require them. On your care, on your exertions, on your prayers, it depends whether they grow up a blessing to you and to themselves, or become miserable and lost. Still, children, nothing will exonerate you, when you become free agents, and understand good from evil, if you reject the good and choose the evil. You have more need for prayer, more need for exertion, more need for self-control, to conquer the vices which have grown up with you; and, believe Old Jack, however you may be weighed down with them, if you will buttry, if you will but cast all your burden on Him who is alone able to bear it, you will succeed.Provisions of all sorts we found abundant and cheap. The fruits are the cocoa, areca, banana, papaya, white and red shaddock, mangostan, rambootang, ananas, and betel. Saffron is collected there, and every description of allspice. The betel is a creeping-plant with an aromatic leaf. The natives spread over the leaf a little slaked-lime, and place at one end a small piece of areca-nut and cardamom. They then roll the leaf up, and masticate it for hours together. It blackens their teeth and reddens their lips, and gives an effect which the Chinese and Malays admire considerably.Java abounds in serpents—the smallest is the most dangerous. Its bite is said to cause death. It is scarcely thicker than a candle, and from two to three feet long. They are of various colours:—some grey, spotted with white; and others green, with bright red and white streaks. We heard of one twenty feet long, and of the thickness of a man’s arm; and saw another stuffed, as big round as the body of a man, and about fifteen feet long. The Javanese are likewise plagued with ants, and all sorts of creeping things.Having given a faint sketch of the mode of life of the rulers of this wealth-giving island, I must briefly describe the native inhabitants, as also some of the numerous tribes which flock there from other quarters.As I have already observed, the native princes, the nominal governors of the greater part of the country, are kept in the most perfect subjection by the Company; and the common Javanese are in the most abject state of slavery. The labourer is not only obliged, at fixed periods, to deliver a certain quantity of the fruits of his industry to the regent placed over him on behalf of the Company, for whatever price the latter chooses to allow him, and that price, moreover, paid in goods, which are charged to him at ten times their real value; but he likewise cannot consider what may remain as his own property, not being permitted to do with it what he may think fit, nor allowed to sell it to others at a higher or a lower rate; on the contrary, he is compelled to part with this also, as well as with what the Company claimed of him, to the same petty tyrant, at an arbitrary price, very much below its real value.The Javanese, like all people living under a torrid zone and a despotic government, are of an indolent disposition, and, it is said, require great excitement to make them work; but the real secret of their idleness is the certainty that they will not be allowed to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Possessing no certain property, they are satisfied with little. The food of those who inhabit the level country is rice and fish; but those who dwell in the mountains use a root calledtallas, with salt. This salt they make out of the ashes of wood. Their dwellings are little huts, constructed of bamboos, plastered with mud, and thatched with broad leaves. Their furniture consists of a bedstead made of bamboos, a block on which to pound their rice, two pots for boiling food, and a few cocoa-nut shells for drinking. They seldom live much beyond their fiftieth year. They were converted to Islamism about 1406, when the Arabian Chick-Ibn Molana came over, and, marrying the daughter of the king of Damak, received as her portion the province of Cheribon. Their mosques are generally of wood, and perfectly unadorned; but the tomb and mosque of the said Ibn Molana form a magnificent edifice. They do not place their dead in coffins, but wrap them in linen, and place a stone at the head and another at the foot of the grave, as seats for the two angels who, after their death, examine into their conduct while in this world.The Javanese are, in general, well-shaped; of a light-brown colour; with black eyes and hair, their eyes being much sunk in the head. They have flattish noses and large mouths. In figure, they are generally thin, though muscular; here and there only a corpulent person being seen. The women, when young, have softer features than the men; but when they grow old, it is difficult to conceive any human being more hideous than they become. A man’s dress consists of a pair of linen breeches, scarcely reaching half-way down the thighs, and over this a sort of shirt of blue or black coarse cotton cloth, which hangs loose below the knee. The hair of the head is bound up in a handkerchief, in the form of a turban. A woman’s dress consists of a coarse chintz cloth, wrapped twice round the body, fastened under the bosom, and hanging down to the calf of the leg; over this is a short jacket, which reaches to the waist. No covering is worn on the head, but the hair is bound up in a fillet, and fastened at the back of the head with large pins. Sometimes chaplets of flowers are worn. Children run about without clothes till they are eight years old. Of course, I have been speaking only of the lower classes. The upper generally dress with great magnificence.The Javanese are not much employed as domestic servants, but slaves have been brought from the coast of Bengal, Malabar, Sumatra, and other parts, as well as from Celebes, and often become very accomplished servants. They are generally well-treated, and behave well; but their great vice is gaming, to which they are tempted by the Chinese, who keep the gaming-houses, and are much too cunning to allow the poor slaves to regain what they may have lost. This vice, as is the case elsewhere, tempts them to rob their masters and to commit many other crimes, for the sake of supplying themselves with money to continue the practice, or to recover what they have lost.There are said to be a hundred thousand Chinese in and about Batavia, the whole population amounting only to a hundred and sixty thousand, made up of natives, Armenians, Persians, Arabs, Malays, Negroes, and Europeans. We were witnesses of a curious spectacle one day, when the Chinese assembled from far and near to visit the tombs of their ancestors at Jacatra, near the site of the capital of that ancient kingdom. The road from Batavia to Jacatra is a very fine one. On either side it is adorned with magnificent palaces, occupied by the councillors of the Indies, the principal persons in the Company’s service, and the richest merchants. In front of these palaces, parallel to the causeway, is a navigable canal crossed by bridges very ingeniously constructed of bamboo. On the opposite banks are numerous native villages, which are seen peeping through the cocoa, banana, papaya, and other bushy shrubs, with which every hut is surrounded. Near the ancient capital is the fortress to which the unhappy Prince of Genea withdrew when the Dutch conquered the kingdom, and where he lost his life fighting desperately.In the Chinese burying-place are great numbers of tombs, with inscriptions specifying the time of the death, age, name, and virtues of those whose remains are within. The tombs are much ornamented, and surrounded with cypresses; and on either side are benches on which the relatives and friends may rest when they come to perform their funeral duties. On the present occasion the tombs were ornamented with wreaths of paper or silk of different colours, and three wax tapers were burning on each. Provisions, also, were either sent or brought, and placed as offerings on the tombs. The most opulent were distinguished from the rest by the richness of their viands—fish, fruit, sweetmeats, and beverages. These provisions, having been left for some hours on the tombs, were partly consumed by the family of the deceased, some was offered to the spectators, and the rest carried away. Roasted fowls, which had been kept whole on purpose, were, however, left behind by some; for what purpose I could not ascertain. These travelled Chinese had got over many of their national prejudices, and very politely offered Newman and me some of the good things; of which we partook with no little satisfaction, though, as my companion observed, a cemetery was an odd place to pic-nic in.Movable theatres were erected on one side of the cemetery, and temples had been built on the plain below. These temples are large saloons, ornamented with grotesque and antique statues, especially those representing Josi in the midst of his family. Josi, a disciple of Confucius, and afterwards his most confidential friend, rose from the dregs of the people, and became the greatest legislator of his nation. After the death of Confucius, the emperor banished him; so he retired in the bosom of his family to the low state from which he had sprung, where he declared that he enjoyed far more true happiness than he had ever done in his exalted position. To him and his benignant laws the Chinese are indebted for the preservation of their manners, customs, and dress. He is always represented in his retirement after his labours for the public good were concluded. We had here, as Newman observed, an example of the way in which the ancients deified their great men, and learned to worship them.Opposite each idol were burning red wax tapers, of different sizes, and matches of incense. An altar or table covered with dainties stood in the middle of the temple, surrounded by idols; and in a room behind it was another altar, surmounted with a statue of Josi. An old bonze or priest of venerable aspect, with a long white beard, stood up, reciting some prayers in a low voice. He had on his head a white straw-hat, in the shape of a cone. On the top of it was a little ball of gold, and behind a small tuft of red silk. He kept continually bowing with great regularity, and every now and then let fall a piece of wood like a ruler, which he as often picked up again. He was habited in a tunic of transparent violet silk, with a girdle of twisted silk ornamented with gold; and to it were attached the instruments required for the ceremony. Over this he wore a gold-embroidered robe, with long sleeves turned up at the wrists. It was of violet colour, and a strong material; and, being closed all round, must have been put on over the head. On his breast and back were two plates of rich gold embroidery, representing an eagle, or a bird like one. In his hand he had a large fan, the case of which hung at his girdle like a knife-sheath. His slippers were square at the toes, and embroidered with gold; but his legs were bare.Under the vestibule of the temple, a hog and a goat, with the horns on, were killed as burnt-offerings, and placed on a stand, with their entrails before them. The interior of the temple was filled with tables covered with preserved fruits and tea, where the bonzes and rich people were sitting eating, drinking, and smoking; but none of the multitude ventured in. Many female bonzes, or bonzesses, were in the vestibule, dressed in violet silk robes, but without embroidery. Their hair was twisted and turned up behind, forming a round tuft, fastened with two diamond-headed pins. These tufts were stuck round with other very rich pins, forming the beams of a most brilliant sun. They took no part that we saw in the ceremonies.What I have described seemed to be a prelude to the ceremonies. The bonzes, fifteen in number, left the vestry to the sound of shrill, noisy music. They took their stations before the altar, where they made many genuflexions and gestures. They then presented to the high-priest, who had no distinguishing mark, many meats which were on the altar. On this he made various signs, pronouncing some words in a whining tone of lamentation. After having made various libations with several liquors, which he spread over the offerings, the other bonzes replaced them on the altar. One of them then took a card, containing characters, from which he sung. Judging from the loud laughter of part of the auditory, the words seemed to have little analogy to the ceremony. Every bonze held in his hand a box filled with incense matches, one of which he lighted as soon as its predecessor was extinguished. After a repetition of this ceremony, during which the music was never discontinued, they entered the side-room to take refreshment. Having drunk their tea, they went in procession to a second temple, where the same ceremony was gone through. Thence they repaired to the theatre. When they had reached the front of it they halted. “Are they going to act?” said I. “I should not be surprised,” observed Newman. “What are they but actors? The people, you see, have taken no part whatever in the matter.” The chief bonze mounted the theatre alone, and having made many violent gestures and exclamations, again descended, when the performances began. During these ceremonies the gates of the temples, and both sides of the theatres, were filled with common Chinese, a large number of whom were children, playing different games of chance. I never saw people so fond of gaming as they are.A part of the roasted poultry was left all night on the tombs, the common people imagining that at that period the dead assemble and eat it up. People in misfortune strew amulets over the graves of their ancestors, to obtain their favour. These amulets are bits of silk paper, on which are spread pieces of leaf silver, which they fancy passes current as a paper-money among the dead. I could not ascertain whether the hog and goat were actually offered up with any ceremony, or simply left to be devoured by the priests.“Have you ever seen anything like this before?” asked Newman, as we were on our way back to the ship.“Yes, I think I have,” I answered.“So have I,” he remarked, “in a Roman Catholic church. The priests of Rome—ancient and modern—and these bonzes are much alike. They have both copied their ceremonies from the Jews and the heathens of old, travestying them somewhat, to make them pass for their own. Depend on it Josi understood human nature, and knew what would suit the taste of the vulgar.”So numerous are the Chinese in Java, and so inclined to revolt, that the Dutch government are always careful to provide them with amusements. In each place there is a chief, with the title of “captain,” who is answerable for their good conduct. He is obliged to maintain, at his own cost, a troop of female actors, called Bayadeers. They perform, without exception, every night, from nine o’clock till daybreak, in a kind of theatre, in the middle of the street. The play, as far as we could make out, represents the wars of the Tartars against the Chinese. Various chiefs, in different costumes, with their faces smeared black or white, or masked, come to announce a new war, in which they anticipate great success. They harangue the soldiers with violent gestures. Then comes a general or emperor, and, making another speech, gets up on a table with a chair on the top of it, when he takes his seat at the back of the stage. The combatants then come in with long spears, and, fighting desperately, one party runs away, while the other has to listen to a long speech on their bravery. The Tartars are known by their short coats, large trousers, helmets, sabres, and great shields. The roaring music of gom-goms never stops during the performance.One day we visited the Chinese quarter, where there are an immense number of gaming and eating tables. The seats, as well as the tables, are made of bamboo. The Chinese eat with two little sticks, and use a spoon of china with a short crooked handle. Each article of food is served on a little dish like a saucer. The jelly, minced meats, and soup, are generally cold, while their beverages are hot. The chief is arrack, sugar, and hot water. The favourite dish is part of a dog, of a species with a smooth skin, which they carefully fatten. It is eaten with every kind of sauce. No people eat so much pork as the Chinese. The hundred thousand Chinese in Batavia are said to feed at least four hundred thousand pigs, which increase not a little the bad odours of the place. Whether they do it to keep the Jews at a distance, I do not know, but the two people do not get on well together.We used to meet in the Chinese company, or quarter, curious processions of men, with marked or painted faces, having kettle-drums, gom-goms, and tambourines. Some, grotesquely dressed, were carried on poles or in hampers, ornamented with paper, ribbons, and little bells; some were seated on monsters, like our representations of sea-horses. These processions are in honour of the spirit of evil. The reason they give for them is, that as the Divinity is infinitely good, it is not necessary to implore him; but the devil, on the contrary, must be feasted and amused, to prevent him from going about and committing mischief. In every Chinese house, in a sort of shrine, is a picture of Confucius, represented as a great fat man, with the devil at his side tempting him. On each side are pots of flowers and tapers of red wax, gilt, which are lighted on certain days, together with a little lamp in front, just as is seen in Romish chapels.Chinese girls are always shut up, and employed in sewing and embroidery; and parents arrange marriages without the couple having even seen each other. The poorer sort, however, are allowed to serve in their shops. We heard the people generally well spoken of, as being good fathers, sons, husbands, and friends. They carry on every art and traffic, and engross nearly all the house and ship building in Batavia, though they pay enormous annual duties to the Company on their industry and trade. Among other duties, they pay for being allowed to let their nails grow long, especially that of the little finger, as it is a proof that they do not work for their living. The twisted tail, which they wear extremely long, often down to their knees, pays in proportion to its length. It is measured every year at a fixed time. To cut off the tail of a Chinaman, or to pare his nails, is looked upon as a most severe punishment. Their dress consists of large trousers, and round coats, which reach to the middle of the thighs. It is either of black or very bright sky-blue. White is worn for mourning; and when for a very near relative, the collar has a rent in it. They have a custom of keeping their dead for some days in the house, which, in such a warm climate, frequently causes bad fevers. A Chinese house, where a death has happened, is known by a white cloth hung in lieu of the door.This information, through Newman’s help, I picked up during our visits on shore. The ship had been at anchor about a week, when we again went on shore, and had walked on for an hour or so, when, a little beyond Fort Ansol, we found ourselves in front of a Chinese temple, standing in a grove of cocoa-nut trees by the side of a rivulet, among very pretty scenery. The building was about twenty feet long, and twelve wide. The entrance was through a railing into a small area, and then into a hall, at the end of which was the sanctuary. In the middle of the hall, just within the door, was an altar, on which red wax tapers were burning. There was also an image of a lion, richly gilt. At the end of the hall was a picture of an old man and a woman, with crowns on their heads, and about two feet high. They were, I suppose, Josi and his wife. While we were there, several people came in, and prostrating themselves before the picture, knocked their heads continually against the ground. At last a man came in to consult the idols by divination. He had in his hand two small longitudinal pieces of wood, flat on one side, and round on the other. Holding these pieces of wood, with the flat sides toward each other, he let them fall on the ground. As they fell, with the flat or round side up, so he augured well or ill of some proposed enterprise or project. He let the sticks fall upwards of twenty times, but seemed as ill-contented as at first with the promises they made. Every time they prognosticated evil, he shook his head with a most disconsolate look. I could not help saying, “Try it again, Chinaman; don’t give in.” Whether he understood me or not I do not know, but down he went on the ground, and thumped his head very hard and often. Then he jumped up and threw the sticks, and I suppose the omen proved favourable, for with a joyful countenance he lighted a thick candle and placed it on the altar. As soon as he was gone, the cunning old bonze blew it out and sold it to the next comer.We must not be surprised to hear that the Chinese at times revolt against the authority of the Europeans among whom they live, and commit murders and other atrocities; and then to hear of a cruel massacre committed by the Dutch upon them in Batavia. On one occasion, many thousands had collected; and some of them having been guilty of murders and robberies, a considerable apprehension was excited against the whole body. The Council, therefore, determined that every Chinese who could not prove that he was obtaining an honest livelihood, should be transported to Ceylon, to be employed as a slave in the service of the Company. Among others, a number of Chinese of wealth were seized; and a report getting abroad that all were to be thus treated, they flew to arms, and quitting the city in great numbers, took up their quarters in the mountains, and strengthened themselves so much as to render the fate of Batavia itself precarious.In this dilemma the Council offered the rebels an amnesty; but this they refused, and marching towards the city, ravaged the country on every side. Here, however, they met with a severe repulse; and when the infuriated soldiers and sailors returned into the city, supposing that the Chinese who had remained quiet within their houses were about to revolt, they attacked them wherever they could be found. All the Chinese, men, women, and children, without distinction, were put to the sword; the prisoners in chains were slaughtered; and even some wealthy people, who had fled to Europeans for safety, were, through the violation of every principle of humanity and morality, delivered up to their sanguinary pursuers—the Europeans embezzling the property confided to them. Thus, all the Chinese, both innocent and guilty, were exterminated. Notwithstanding this, however, thousands rushed in soon after to supply their places! It was apprehended that this occurrence would excite the indignation of the Emperor of China, and, perhaps, induce him to stop their trade with his country; but when they sent deputies to apologise, their fears were shown to be groundless by his truly paternal reply,—to the effect that he was little solicitous for the fate of unworthy subjects, who, in the pursuit of lucre, had quitted their country, and abandoned the tombs of their ancestors!Notwithstanding the unhealthiness of the climate, and the impediments thrown in the way of commerce by the unwise restrictions of the Dutch, the Roads of Batavia are always full of the flags of all nations, attracted by the profit merchants are still able to make. As Batavia is, or rather was, before Singapore was established, the sole depot for the spices of the Moluccas and the productions of the island of Java, consisting of rice, coffee, sugar, arrack, and pepper, ships were coming continually from every part of India, Africa, and even Europe; and as they were not allowed to take away coin, they were compelled to fill up with some or other of the above-mentioned productions. The trade, indeed, was one almost exclusively of barter.Bengal sent drugs, patnas, blue cloths, different kinds of stuffs, and opium; which were exchanged for rice, sugar, coffee, tea, spices, arrack, a small quantity of silks, and china-ware. The kings of Achen and Natal, in the island of Sumatra, sent camphor—the best which is known—benzoin, birds’-nests, calin, and elephants’ teeth; and in return took opium, rice, patnas, and frocks, which were made at Java, Macassar, and the Moluccas. The princes of the Isle of Borneo sent gold dust, diamonds, and birds’-nests; and took opium, rice, patnas, frocks, gunpowder, and small guns, as they said, to defend themselves against pirates, but, in reality, for their own use as pirates.The Americans brought kerseymeres, cloths, hats, gold-wire, silver-galloon, stationery, wine, beer, Seltzer water, provisions, and piastres; in exchange for spices, sugar, arrack, tea, coffee, rice, rushes, and Chinese silk and porcelain. The Muscat ships brought piastres and gum-arabic; those from the Isle of France, wine, olive-oil, vinegar, hams, cheese, soap, common trinkets, and ebony.From the Cape of Good Hope were received kitchen-garden seeds, butter, Constantia and Madeira wines; while the Chinese brought immense quantities of porcelain and silks of every kind, taking in return opium, ebony, sandal-wood, spices, and birds’-nests. These nests are half the size of a woman’s hand. They are made by a very small sea-swallow, (Hirundo esculenta), and consist of a glutinous substance, interwoven with filaments. They are found in the cavities of steep rocks on the coast of all the Sunda Islands, on the northern shores of Australia, and in many other parts of the Indian Seas. The native way of procuring them is by fixing a stick on the summit of the precipice, with a rope-ladder secured to it, whence the hunters descend in their search into the most perilous situations. Although they have neither taste nor smell, yet, from being supposed to be both tonic and a powerful stimulant, they are an ingredient in all the ragouts of the most wealthy people in China. They make an excellent broth. The white nests are most in request. They are prepared by being first washed in three or four changes of lukewarm water. When they have been some time in it, they puff up like large vermicelli. Europeans, indeed, discover nothing more in this singular dish than an insipid jelly, very much indeed resembling vermicelli, when simply boiled.After Java was restored to the Dutch, England still carried on a considerable commerce with the island; but it is far smaller than it would be under a less restricted system.The Dutch were for long the only European nation who kept up any commercial communication with Japan, because no other would submit to the absurd restrictions and degrading ceremonies imposed by that barbarian power. Every year, the governor-general sent a ship of fifteen hundred tons, laden with kerseymeres, fine cloths, clock-work, and spices. These were chiefly exchanged for bars of copper, which were made into a very clumsy kind of coin for paying the native and European troops, as well as the people employed in the counting-houses of Java and the Moluccas. These ingots are of the finest red copper, and as thick as the finger. They are cut into two, four, six, and eight sous-pieces of Holland. The value is inscribed on them. This coin is termed in the Malay languagebaton, which signifies a stone. The captain, however, brings back furniture, fans, various articles of copper, and sabres—the temper of the blades of which equals the best workmanship of Turkey. The cargo always contains a present to the emperor; and he, in return, sends one to the Dutch governor-general.When the Batavian ship is seen, the emperor’s agent hails it, to demand whether the captain is a Christian. He replies that he is Dutch, when a signal is made for him to approach. From that moment he is boarded by innumerable armed boats. He is first boarded to see that he has neither women nor books; for the law is very severe against the introduction of either into the island. Were either found on board, the ship would be sent back without being allowed to anchor. This visit concluded, the merchandise is landed, the ship is disarmed and unrigged without the aid of the captain or crew, and the guns and rigging are carried on shore. The captain transmits the bill of lading to the emperor’s agent, with a note of what he desires in exchange, and waits quietly for the merchandise he is to have in return. Provisions are amply supplied in the meantime to the crew. When the return merchandise is ready on the beach, the emperor having notified what he chooses for the ensuing year, the Japanese themselves again load the vessel, replace her rigging, and restore her arms, papers, and effects, of which they took possession on her arrival. There is no instance of anything having been lost; indeed, the Dutch speak of the Japanese as a most honest people. They are said to leave their shops and stores without guards or clerks. If a Japanese goes to a shop, and finds no one there, he takes the article he wants, lays down the value marked on it, and goes out. All the streets of the towns are closed at night by iron gates, and each Japanese is responsible for his neighbour; so they are all interested that no harm should happen to one another. When a theft is committed in any quarter, and the author cannot be discovered, the crier, (who is a kind of police agent), the judge of the division, and the neighbours are compelled to make good the loss, and are subject to severe corporal punishment.Very little in those days was known of the interior of Japan, as the Dutch ambassadors were compelled to submit to the most humiliating conditions to keep up their intercourse with the country. On visiting the capital, they were conveyed in palanquins, well enclosed with fixed lattice-work, like prison-vans in England; and the bearers dared not, for fear of their lives, indulge them with a view of the country through which they passed. This information about Japan Newman gained from one of the officers of the ship trading there. To return to Java.One day when we were on shore, we saw a great confusion among the crowd, who were dispersing on every side, as if in mortal dread of something; and presently we saw a half-naked Malay with a long dagger in his hand, striking right and left at everybody he met, killing some and wounding others. As he ran on, crying out in his frenzy, “Amok—amok—amok! kill—kill—kill!” we saw some of the police dashing towards him with long poles, at the end of which was a fork of wood with iron spikes inside it. He dodged by several of them, killing one on his way, till at last a guard met him full in front, and he ran in on the fork, when he was immediately pinned to the ground; but even then he struck out on every side with his glittering weapon.This is what is called running amuck! from the word usedamok—kill! He had, as is the custom, taken a large quantity of opium, and thus excited himself to fury in consequence of some supposed or real injury he had received from his master! Most of these mucks are run by slaves brought from Celebes. Being mortally wounded, he was immediately broken alive on the wheel, in the presence of two councillors of justice.It is remarkable, that at Batavia, where the assassins, when taken alive, are broken on the wheel, the mucks are of great frequency; while at Bencoolen, where they are executed in the most simple and least cruel way, they seldom occur. Slaves who have murdered their masters, were executed with the most horrible barbarity by being impaled. An iron was passed down their backs, so as not to touch any vital part, and by it they were suspended, one end of the iron rod being fixed in a post ten feet from the ground. If the weather is dry, they may live on many days in that horrid position; but if water enters the wound, mortification ensues, and they quickly die.The Javanese emperors used till lately to throw their criminals to wild beasts, or compelled them to enter into combat with them. I heard a story of a Javanese who was condemned to be torn in pieces by tigers. On being thrown down from the top of a large cage, he fell across the back of the largest and fiercest of them, where he sat astride! So intimidated was the animal, that he did not attempt to injure him; while the others, awed by the unusual appearance, endeavoured to avoid him! The poor wretch, however, having been condemned to death, was shot dead in the cage. This custom was, however, prohibited by the French. Of course I have been speaking of a state of things as they existed some years ago, and I daresay some improvements have taken place; but at the same time the Dutch are of a very conservative disposition, and I suspect that most of my descriptions would be found correct even at the present day.

We had won many a prize from the vasty deep with no little toil, and visited many strange people living under burning suns, when we found ourselves at anchor in the Roads of Batavia, the capital of the large and fertile island of Java. It was taken by the English in the year 1811 from the Dutch, or rather from the French, who had temporary possession of it. The British fleet employed on the occasion was under the command of Admiral Sir Robert Stopford, and the army under that of General Wetherall and Colonel Gillespie. That admirable and talented man, Sir Stamford Raffles—the greatest benefactor the islands of the East had ever known, till Sir James Brooke followed in his footsteps, was then appointed governor, and had his counsels and prayers been followed, it would still have been a bright jewel in the British crown. Unhappily neither were heeded. His letters describing the fertility and unbounded resources, when properly developed, of that immense territory, remained unread, unopened at the Colonial Office; and at the general peace Java was cast back as a worthless trifle into the heap to be enjoyed by others, which England had gained by so much blood and treasure. The Dutch took possession, and very speedily re-established the system of close monopoly and grinding tyranny which the enlightened policy of Sir Stamford Raffles had abolished.

Newman had now so completely established himself in the good opinion of the captain, that he was treated more as an officer than a foremast-man, and whenever duty would allow, he was permitted to go on shore to visit whatever was worthy of notice. He looked upon me completely in the light of a pupil, in whose advancement he had the deepest interest. “Never mind how old you are,” he used to say; “you will outlive me yet by many a year, and will have plenty of use for all the information you can pick up before you die.” I little thought at the time how true his words would prove. He used in joke to call me hardy Old Jack; and certainly for many years I never had had an hour’s illness. The truth is, that I was gifted with a sound constitution, and had avoided playing tricks with it, as a great number of people do, and then complain of the sicknesses with which they are afflicted, shutting their eyes to the fact that they have brought them on themselves entirely in consequence of their own folly.

While we lay at Batavia, I was constantly on shore with Newman. The Roads of Batavia are rather more than a quarter of a league from the city, and are guarded from the prevailing winds by a dozen small islands outside them. The ground on which the city stands bears evident signs of having been thrown up by the sea, but rises gradually to the mountains ten leagues off behind it. The River Jacatra runs through the city, and it is intersected likewise in all directions by canals. It has also a moat running round it, as likewise a wall of coral-rock. Its defences consist of twenty bastions, and a castle near the sea, with a mud-bank in front of it. It is, indeed, completely a Dutch city. But besides its numberless canals and ditches, as it is situated in a dead marshy flat, and is surrounded with dirty fens, bogs, and morasses, over which a tropical sun sends down its burning rays, drawing up noxious vapours of every description, it may be considered, taken all in all, as one of the most unhealthy cities of the civilised world. By care and proper drainage these defects might be amended, and, as the general temperature of the atmosphere is not excessive, it might become as healthy as any other place in those regions.

Java is about two hundred miles long and forty broad, and has numerous deep inlets along the northern coast, where ships may anchor during the good or south-east monsoon. A chain of mountains, from which a number of rivers descend to the sea, runs down the centre, and divides the island into two parts. The air is cooled by the sea-breezes, which, as in the West Indies, set in every day. The soil is particularly rich. It is cultivated by buffaloes, and in some places one is sufficient to drag a plough. Java produces rice of a first-rate quality, sugar in abundance, cotton in considerable quantities, salt, timber, indigo, coffee, pepper, and various kinds of spices.

Java is, in reality, governed by the Dutch East India Company; but it is divided into a number of provinces, ruled over by puppet princes with the title of Sultan. At the court of each, one of the Company’s chief officers, or head merchants, as they are called, resides. In some of the provinces these petty emperors have been deposed, and they are governed by one of the Company’s officers, under the title of Resident. The religion of these princes is Mohammedan, as is that of the natives generally, though intermixed with many superstitious observances. No government rules a country with a more despotic system, or is more jealous of foreign interference with its trade. I suspect, also, that none has done more injury to the advancement of civilisation in the East, from their readiness to submit to all the absurd customs and degrading ceremonies imposed on them by the Chinese and other semi-barbarous nations, for the purpose of advancing their mercantile interests. Taught by them, these people look upon all Europeans as tribes of mean and despicable traders, who have neither the power nor the spirit to resent any injuries inflicted on them.

In the environs of Batavia are a number of villages, some inhabited by Malays, and others by Chinese, who visit the island in great numbers, and carry on a considerable trade, notwithstanding the persecutions to which they have at times been subject. In various beautiful spots, both near the city or the neighbouring hills, and along the sea-shore, are found the large and handsome country residences of the chief merchants and other authorities connected with the Company. There are five principal roads which lead from the city towards the country, and which are planted with high and shady trees. One of the most beautiful roads leading to the Port of Jacatra is closely planted with a double row of mango-trees, and both sides of it are embellished with large and pleasant gardens, and many fine and elegant buildings. All the roads are much of the same description, and give a character of finished cultivation to the neighbourhood of the city. Both sides of the streets, as well as of the numerous canals, are planted with fine trees, so that the country all round Batavia may well be characterised as a tropical Holland.

The governor-general usually resides at his country-seat, called Weltevreeden, a superb mansion, about an hour and a quarter’s walk from the city. He there resides in great state, and never goes about without being attended by a body-guard, dressed in coats of scarlet cloth richly laced with gold.

The ordinary habitations of the Europeans are of brick, run up in a light airy manner, and stuccoed on the outside. They have sash-windows. The interiors are all on the same plan. The fronts are in general narrow, and the houses extend back a long way from the street. Fronting the entrance, a narrow passage, with a parlour on one side, leads to a large long room, lighted from an inner court, into which it opens. This apartment is called the “gallery,” and here the family live and dine. The floors are of large, square, dark-red stones. No hangings are to be seen, but the walls are neatly stuccoed and whitened. The furniture consists of some arm-chairs and two or three sofas. On the walls are numerous looking-glasses, and chandeliers or lamps are hung in a row along the ceiling of the gallery, and are lighted up in the evening. The stairs leading to the upper rooms are generally at the end of the gallery. The upper parts of the houses are divided much as below. They are generally but scantily provided with furniture; indeed, from the heat of the climate but little is required. Behind the gallery are the lodgings for the slaves, the kitchen, and the out-houses. Instead of being glazed, the windows are often closed with a lath-work of rattans.

Few of those in the city have gardens. In the country, on the contrary, the greatest attention is paid to them, many of which are very beautiful, though laid out in the formal Dutch style, as they are full of the choicest flowers and shrubs. Newman was especially struck with them.

“Ah, this would indeed be a beautiful country to live in, if people could but manage not to die!” he exclaimed. Unhealthy as the country undoubtedly is, the city itself is far worse, so that, as a place of residence, it is almost abandoned by the more wealthy merchants, who only visit it as a place of business—their fine mansions being turned into stores or counting-houses.

Europeans at Batavia, of whatever nation, live much in the same way. They rise at daybreak, and sit for some time cooling themselves in the thinnest dress in which they have passed the night; then they dress, and breakfast on coffee or tea, and are at their offices at eight. They work till nearly noon, when they dine, and take a nap till four, when they again attend to business till six. Afterwards they drive out, or mix in social intercourse in an informal way till nine, when they sup, and retire to bed at eleven. Newman, whose means of observation were greater than mine, told me that the men had their parties together, and the ladies theirs, which I should consider a very bad arrangement. The men of higher rank—the upper merchants—are each attended by a slave, holding an umbrella behind him; but a junior merchant must carry his umbrella himself.

The women marry very young, are very ill-educated, and pass much of their time lolling on sofas, talking and laughing with their slaves, whom another moment they will order to be whipped for the slightest offence. Those born in the country have very supple joints, and can twist their fingers, hands, and arms in almost every direction. What can be expected from women who are abandoned, almost as soon as born, to the care of ignorant slaves—little or no care being taken to inculcate moral or religious principles into their plastic minds, till they have fully imbibed all the superstitious notions and prejudices which are held by their attendants? While saying this, I must urge parents at home never—if they value the eternal happiness of their children—if they wish them to imbibe right principles, and to avoid pernicious ones—to commit them to the charge of persons, however decent in their behaviour, who are not likely, from their want of education, to be able to instil them. Parents, children were given you by God; and at your hands he will require them. On your care, on your exertions, on your prayers, it depends whether they grow up a blessing to you and to themselves, or become miserable and lost. Still, children, nothing will exonerate you, when you become free agents, and understand good from evil, if you reject the good and choose the evil. You have more need for prayer, more need for exertion, more need for self-control, to conquer the vices which have grown up with you; and, believe Old Jack, however you may be weighed down with them, if you will buttry, if you will but cast all your burden on Him who is alone able to bear it, you will succeed.

Provisions of all sorts we found abundant and cheap. The fruits are the cocoa, areca, banana, papaya, white and red shaddock, mangostan, rambootang, ananas, and betel. Saffron is collected there, and every description of allspice. The betel is a creeping-plant with an aromatic leaf. The natives spread over the leaf a little slaked-lime, and place at one end a small piece of areca-nut and cardamom. They then roll the leaf up, and masticate it for hours together. It blackens their teeth and reddens their lips, and gives an effect which the Chinese and Malays admire considerably.

Java abounds in serpents—the smallest is the most dangerous. Its bite is said to cause death. It is scarcely thicker than a candle, and from two to three feet long. They are of various colours:—some grey, spotted with white; and others green, with bright red and white streaks. We heard of one twenty feet long, and of the thickness of a man’s arm; and saw another stuffed, as big round as the body of a man, and about fifteen feet long. The Javanese are likewise plagued with ants, and all sorts of creeping things.

Having given a faint sketch of the mode of life of the rulers of this wealth-giving island, I must briefly describe the native inhabitants, as also some of the numerous tribes which flock there from other quarters.

As I have already observed, the native princes, the nominal governors of the greater part of the country, are kept in the most perfect subjection by the Company; and the common Javanese are in the most abject state of slavery. The labourer is not only obliged, at fixed periods, to deliver a certain quantity of the fruits of his industry to the regent placed over him on behalf of the Company, for whatever price the latter chooses to allow him, and that price, moreover, paid in goods, which are charged to him at ten times their real value; but he likewise cannot consider what may remain as his own property, not being permitted to do with it what he may think fit, nor allowed to sell it to others at a higher or a lower rate; on the contrary, he is compelled to part with this also, as well as with what the Company claimed of him, to the same petty tyrant, at an arbitrary price, very much below its real value.

The Javanese, like all people living under a torrid zone and a despotic government, are of an indolent disposition, and, it is said, require great excitement to make them work; but the real secret of their idleness is the certainty that they will not be allowed to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Possessing no certain property, they are satisfied with little. The food of those who inhabit the level country is rice and fish; but those who dwell in the mountains use a root calledtallas, with salt. This salt they make out of the ashes of wood. Their dwellings are little huts, constructed of bamboos, plastered with mud, and thatched with broad leaves. Their furniture consists of a bedstead made of bamboos, a block on which to pound their rice, two pots for boiling food, and a few cocoa-nut shells for drinking. They seldom live much beyond their fiftieth year. They were converted to Islamism about 1406, when the Arabian Chick-Ibn Molana came over, and, marrying the daughter of the king of Damak, received as her portion the province of Cheribon. Their mosques are generally of wood, and perfectly unadorned; but the tomb and mosque of the said Ibn Molana form a magnificent edifice. They do not place their dead in coffins, but wrap them in linen, and place a stone at the head and another at the foot of the grave, as seats for the two angels who, after their death, examine into their conduct while in this world.

The Javanese are, in general, well-shaped; of a light-brown colour; with black eyes and hair, their eyes being much sunk in the head. They have flattish noses and large mouths. In figure, they are generally thin, though muscular; here and there only a corpulent person being seen. The women, when young, have softer features than the men; but when they grow old, it is difficult to conceive any human being more hideous than they become. A man’s dress consists of a pair of linen breeches, scarcely reaching half-way down the thighs, and over this a sort of shirt of blue or black coarse cotton cloth, which hangs loose below the knee. The hair of the head is bound up in a handkerchief, in the form of a turban. A woman’s dress consists of a coarse chintz cloth, wrapped twice round the body, fastened under the bosom, and hanging down to the calf of the leg; over this is a short jacket, which reaches to the waist. No covering is worn on the head, but the hair is bound up in a fillet, and fastened at the back of the head with large pins. Sometimes chaplets of flowers are worn. Children run about without clothes till they are eight years old. Of course, I have been speaking only of the lower classes. The upper generally dress with great magnificence.

The Javanese are not much employed as domestic servants, but slaves have been brought from the coast of Bengal, Malabar, Sumatra, and other parts, as well as from Celebes, and often become very accomplished servants. They are generally well-treated, and behave well; but their great vice is gaming, to which they are tempted by the Chinese, who keep the gaming-houses, and are much too cunning to allow the poor slaves to regain what they may have lost. This vice, as is the case elsewhere, tempts them to rob their masters and to commit many other crimes, for the sake of supplying themselves with money to continue the practice, or to recover what they have lost.

There are said to be a hundred thousand Chinese in and about Batavia, the whole population amounting only to a hundred and sixty thousand, made up of natives, Armenians, Persians, Arabs, Malays, Negroes, and Europeans. We were witnesses of a curious spectacle one day, when the Chinese assembled from far and near to visit the tombs of their ancestors at Jacatra, near the site of the capital of that ancient kingdom. The road from Batavia to Jacatra is a very fine one. On either side it is adorned with magnificent palaces, occupied by the councillors of the Indies, the principal persons in the Company’s service, and the richest merchants. In front of these palaces, parallel to the causeway, is a navigable canal crossed by bridges very ingeniously constructed of bamboo. On the opposite banks are numerous native villages, which are seen peeping through the cocoa, banana, papaya, and other bushy shrubs, with which every hut is surrounded. Near the ancient capital is the fortress to which the unhappy Prince of Genea withdrew when the Dutch conquered the kingdom, and where he lost his life fighting desperately.

In the Chinese burying-place are great numbers of tombs, with inscriptions specifying the time of the death, age, name, and virtues of those whose remains are within. The tombs are much ornamented, and surrounded with cypresses; and on either side are benches on which the relatives and friends may rest when they come to perform their funeral duties. On the present occasion the tombs were ornamented with wreaths of paper or silk of different colours, and three wax tapers were burning on each. Provisions, also, were either sent or brought, and placed as offerings on the tombs. The most opulent were distinguished from the rest by the richness of their viands—fish, fruit, sweetmeats, and beverages. These provisions, having been left for some hours on the tombs, were partly consumed by the family of the deceased, some was offered to the spectators, and the rest carried away. Roasted fowls, which had been kept whole on purpose, were, however, left behind by some; for what purpose I could not ascertain. These travelled Chinese had got over many of their national prejudices, and very politely offered Newman and me some of the good things; of which we partook with no little satisfaction, though, as my companion observed, a cemetery was an odd place to pic-nic in.

Movable theatres were erected on one side of the cemetery, and temples had been built on the plain below. These temples are large saloons, ornamented with grotesque and antique statues, especially those representing Josi in the midst of his family. Josi, a disciple of Confucius, and afterwards his most confidential friend, rose from the dregs of the people, and became the greatest legislator of his nation. After the death of Confucius, the emperor banished him; so he retired in the bosom of his family to the low state from which he had sprung, where he declared that he enjoyed far more true happiness than he had ever done in his exalted position. To him and his benignant laws the Chinese are indebted for the preservation of their manners, customs, and dress. He is always represented in his retirement after his labours for the public good were concluded. We had here, as Newman observed, an example of the way in which the ancients deified their great men, and learned to worship them.

Opposite each idol were burning red wax tapers, of different sizes, and matches of incense. An altar or table covered with dainties stood in the middle of the temple, surrounded by idols; and in a room behind it was another altar, surmounted with a statue of Josi. An old bonze or priest of venerable aspect, with a long white beard, stood up, reciting some prayers in a low voice. He had on his head a white straw-hat, in the shape of a cone. On the top of it was a little ball of gold, and behind a small tuft of red silk. He kept continually bowing with great regularity, and every now and then let fall a piece of wood like a ruler, which he as often picked up again. He was habited in a tunic of transparent violet silk, with a girdle of twisted silk ornamented with gold; and to it were attached the instruments required for the ceremony. Over this he wore a gold-embroidered robe, with long sleeves turned up at the wrists. It was of violet colour, and a strong material; and, being closed all round, must have been put on over the head. On his breast and back were two plates of rich gold embroidery, representing an eagle, or a bird like one. In his hand he had a large fan, the case of which hung at his girdle like a knife-sheath. His slippers were square at the toes, and embroidered with gold; but his legs were bare.

Under the vestibule of the temple, a hog and a goat, with the horns on, were killed as burnt-offerings, and placed on a stand, with their entrails before them. The interior of the temple was filled with tables covered with preserved fruits and tea, where the bonzes and rich people were sitting eating, drinking, and smoking; but none of the multitude ventured in. Many female bonzes, or bonzesses, were in the vestibule, dressed in violet silk robes, but without embroidery. Their hair was twisted and turned up behind, forming a round tuft, fastened with two diamond-headed pins. These tufts were stuck round with other very rich pins, forming the beams of a most brilliant sun. They took no part that we saw in the ceremonies.

What I have described seemed to be a prelude to the ceremonies. The bonzes, fifteen in number, left the vestry to the sound of shrill, noisy music. They took their stations before the altar, where they made many genuflexions and gestures. They then presented to the high-priest, who had no distinguishing mark, many meats which were on the altar. On this he made various signs, pronouncing some words in a whining tone of lamentation. After having made various libations with several liquors, which he spread over the offerings, the other bonzes replaced them on the altar. One of them then took a card, containing characters, from which he sung. Judging from the loud laughter of part of the auditory, the words seemed to have little analogy to the ceremony. Every bonze held in his hand a box filled with incense matches, one of which he lighted as soon as its predecessor was extinguished. After a repetition of this ceremony, during which the music was never discontinued, they entered the side-room to take refreshment. Having drunk their tea, they went in procession to a second temple, where the same ceremony was gone through. Thence they repaired to the theatre. When they had reached the front of it they halted. “Are they going to act?” said I. “I should not be surprised,” observed Newman. “What are they but actors? The people, you see, have taken no part whatever in the matter.” The chief bonze mounted the theatre alone, and having made many violent gestures and exclamations, again descended, when the performances began. During these ceremonies the gates of the temples, and both sides of the theatres, were filled with common Chinese, a large number of whom were children, playing different games of chance. I never saw people so fond of gaming as they are.

A part of the roasted poultry was left all night on the tombs, the common people imagining that at that period the dead assemble and eat it up. People in misfortune strew amulets over the graves of their ancestors, to obtain their favour. These amulets are bits of silk paper, on which are spread pieces of leaf silver, which they fancy passes current as a paper-money among the dead. I could not ascertain whether the hog and goat were actually offered up with any ceremony, or simply left to be devoured by the priests.

“Have you ever seen anything like this before?” asked Newman, as we were on our way back to the ship.

“Yes, I think I have,” I answered.

“So have I,” he remarked, “in a Roman Catholic church. The priests of Rome—ancient and modern—and these bonzes are much alike. They have both copied their ceremonies from the Jews and the heathens of old, travestying them somewhat, to make them pass for their own. Depend on it Josi understood human nature, and knew what would suit the taste of the vulgar.”

So numerous are the Chinese in Java, and so inclined to revolt, that the Dutch government are always careful to provide them with amusements. In each place there is a chief, with the title of “captain,” who is answerable for their good conduct. He is obliged to maintain, at his own cost, a troop of female actors, called Bayadeers. They perform, without exception, every night, from nine o’clock till daybreak, in a kind of theatre, in the middle of the street. The play, as far as we could make out, represents the wars of the Tartars against the Chinese. Various chiefs, in different costumes, with their faces smeared black or white, or masked, come to announce a new war, in which they anticipate great success. They harangue the soldiers with violent gestures. Then comes a general or emperor, and, making another speech, gets up on a table with a chair on the top of it, when he takes his seat at the back of the stage. The combatants then come in with long spears, and, fighting desperately, one party runs away, while the other has to listen to a long speech on their bravery. The Tartars are known by their short coats, large trousers, helmets, sabres, and great shields. The roaring music of gom-goms never stops during the performance.

One day we visited the Chinese quarter, where there are an immense number of gaming and eating tables. The seats, as well as the tables, are made of bamboo. The Chinese eat with two little sticks, and use a spoon of china with a short crooked handle. Each article of food is served on a little dish like a saucer. The jelly, minced meats, and soup, are generally cold, while their beverages are hot. The chief is arrack, sugar, and hot water. The favourite dish is part of a dog, of a species with a smooth skin, which they carefully fatten. It is eaten with every kind of sauce. No people eat so much pork as the Chinese. The hundred thousand Chinese in Batavia are said to feed at least four hundred thousand pigs, which increase not a little the bad odours of the place. Whether they do it to keep the Jews at a distance, I do not know, but the two people do not get on well together.

We used to meet in the Chinese company, or quarter, curious processions of men, with marked or painted faces, having kettle-drums, gom-goms, and tambourines. Some, grotesquely dressed, were carried on poles or in hampers, ornamented with paper, ribbons, and little bells; some were seated on monsters, like our representations of sea-horses. These processions are in honour of the spirit of evil. The reason they give for them is, that as the Divinity is infinitely good, it is not necessary to implore him; but the devil, on the contrary, must be feasted and amused, to prevent him from going about and committing mischief. In every Chinese house, in a sort of shrine, is a picture of Confucius, represented as a great fat man, with the devil at his side tempting him. On each side are pots of flowers and tapers of red wax, gilt, which are lighted on certain days, together with a little lamp in front, just as is seen in Romish chapels.

Chinese girls are always shut up, and employed in sewing and embroidery; and parents arrange marriages without the couple having even seen each other. The poorer sort, however, are allowed to serve in their shops. We heard the people generally well spoken of, as being good fathers, sons, husbands, and friends. They carry on every art and traffic, and engross nearly all the house and ship building in Batavia, though they pay enormous annual duties to the Company on their industry and trade. Among other duties, they pay for being allowed to let their nails grow long, especially that of the little finger, as it is a proof that they do not work for their living. The twisted tail, which they wear extremely long, often down to their knees, pays in proportion to its length. It is measured every year at a fixed time. To cut off the tail of a Chinaman, or to pare his nails, is looked upon as a most severe punishment. Their dress consists of large trousers, and round coats, which reach to the middle of the thighs. It is either of black or very bright sky-blue. White is worn for mourning; and when for a very near relative, the collar has a rent in it. They have a custom of keeping their dead for some days in the house, which, in such a warm climate, frequently causes bad fevers. A Chinese house, where a death has happened, is known by a white cloth hung in lieu of the door.

This information, through Newman’s help, I picked up during our visits on shore. The ship had been at anchor about a week, when we again went on shore, and had walked on for an hour or so, when, a little beyond Fort Ansol, we found ourselves in front of a Chinese temple, standing in a grove of cocoa-nut trees by the side of a rivulet, among very pretty scenery. The building was about twenty feet long, and twelve wide. The entrance was through a railing into a small area, and then into a hall, at the end of which was the sanctuary. In the middle of the hall, just within the door, was an altar, on which red wax tapers were burning. There was also an image of a lion, richly gilt. At the end of the hall was a picture of an old man and a woman, with crowns on their heads, and about two feet high. They were, I suppose, Josi and his wife. While we were there, several people came in, and prostrating themselves before the picture, knocked their heads continually against the ground. At last a man came in to consult the idols by divination. He had in his hand two small longitudinal pieces of wood, flat on one side, and round on the other. Holding these pieces of wood, with the flat sides toward each other, he let them fall on the ground. As they fell, with the flat or round side up, so he augured well or ill of some proposed enterprise or project. He let the sticks fall upwards of twenty times, but seemed as ill-contented as at first with the promises they made. Every time they prognosticated evil, he shook his head with a most disconsolate look. I could not help saying, “Try it again, Chinaman; don’t give in.” Whether he understood me or not I do not know, but down he went on the ground, and thumped his head very hard and often. Then he jumped up and threw the sticks, and I suppose the omen proved favourable, for with a joyful countenance he lighted a thick candle and placed it on the altar. As soon as he was gone, the cunning old bonze blew it out and sold it to the next comer.

We must not be surprised to hear that the Chinese at times revolt against the authority of the Europeans among whom they live, and commit murders and other atrocities; and then to hear of a cruel massacre committed by the Dutch upon them in Batavia. On one occasion, many thousands had collected; and some of them having been guilty of murders and robberies, a considerable apprehension was excited against the whole body. The Council, therefore, determined that every Chinese who could not prove that he was obtaining an honest livelihood, should be transported to Ceylon, to be employed as a slave in the service of the Company. Among others, a number of Chinese of wealth were seized; and a report getting abroad that all were to be thus treated, they flew to arms, and quitting the city in great numbers, took up their quarters in the mountains, and strengthened themselves so much as to render the fate of Batavia itself precarious.

In this dilemma the Council offered the rebels an amnesty; but this they refused, and marching towards the city, ravaged the country on every side. Here, however, they met with a severe repulse; and when the infuriated soldiers and sailors returned into the city, supposing that the Chinese who had remained quiet within their houses were about to revolt, they attacked them wherever they could be found. All the Chinese, men, women, and children, without distinction, were put to the sword; the prisoners in chains were slaughtered; and even some wealthy people, who had fled to Europeans for safety, were, through the violation of every principle of humanity and morality, delivered up to their sanguinary pursuers—the Europeans embezzling the property confided to them. Thus, all the Chinese, both innocent and guilty, were exterminated. Notwithstanding this, however, thousands rushed in soon after to supply their places! It was apprehended that this occurrence would excite the indignation of the Emperor of China, and, perhaps, induce him to stop their trade with his country; but when they sent deputies to apologise, their fears were shown to be groundless by his truly paternal reply,—to the effect that he was little solicitous for the fate of unworthy subjects, who, in the pursuit of lucre, had quitted their country, and abandoned the tombs of their ancestors!

Notwithstanding the unhealthiness of the climate, and the impediments thrown in the way of commerce by the unwise restrictions of the Dutch, the Roads of Batavia are always full of the flags of all nations, attracted by the profit merchants are still able to make. As Batavia is, or rather was, before Singapore was established, the sole depot for the spices of the Moluccas and the productions of the island of Java, consisting of rice, coffee, sugar, arrack, and pepper, ships were coming continually from every part of India, Africa, and even Europe; and as they were not allowed to take away coin, they were compelled to fill up with some or other of the above-mentioned productions. The trade, indeed, was one almost exclusively of barter.

Bengal sent drugs, patnas, blue cloths, different kinds of stuffs, and opium; which were exchanged for rice, sugar, coffee, tea, spices, arrack, a small quantity of silks, and china-ware. The kings of Achen and Natal, in the island of Sumatra, sent camphor—the best which is known—benzoin, birds’-nests, calin, and elephants’ teeth; and in return took opium, rice, patnas, and frocks, which were made at Java, Macassar, and the Moluccas. The princes of the Isle of Borneo sent gold dust, diamonds, and birds’-nests; and took opium, rice, patnas, frocks, gunpowder, and small guns, as they said, to defend themselves against pirates, but, in reality, for their own use as pirates.

The Americans brought kerseymeres, cloths, hats, gold-wire, silver-galloon, stationery, wine, beer, Seltzer water, provisions, and piastres; in exchange for spices, sugar, arrack, tea, coffee, rice, rushes, and Chinese silk and porcelain. The Muscat ships brought piastres and gum-arabic; those from the Isle of France, wine, olive-oil, vinegar, hams, cheese, soap, common trinkets, and ebony.

From the Cape of Good Hope were received kitchen-garden seeds, butter, Constantia and Madeira wines; while the Chinese brought immense quantities of porcelain and silks of every kind, taking in return opium, ebony, sandal-wood, spices, and birds’-nests. These nests are half the size of a woman’s hand. They are made by a very small sea-swallow, (Hirundo esculenta), and consist of a glutinous substance, interwoven with filaments. They are found in the cavities of steep rocks on the coast of all the Sunda Islands, on the northern shores of Australia, and in many other parts of the Indian Seas. The native way of procuring them is by fixing a stick on the summit of the precipice, with a rope-ladder secured to it, whence the hunters descend in their search into the most perilous situations. Although they have neither taste nor smell, yet, from being supposed to be both tonic and a powerful stimulant, they are an ingredient in all the ragouts of the most wealthy people in China. They make an excellent broth. The white nests are most in request. They are prepared by being first washed in three or four changes of lukewarm water. When they have been some time in it, they puff up like large vermicelli. Europeans, indeed, discover nothing more in this singular dish than an insipid jelly, very much indeed resembling vermicelli, when simply boiled.

After Java was restored to the Dutch, England still carried on a considerable commerce with the island; but it is far smaller than it would be under a less restricted system.

The Dutch were for long the only European nation who kept up any commercial communication with Japan, because no other would submit to the absurd restrictions and degrading ceremonies imposed by that barbarian power. Every year, the governor-general sent a ship of fifteen hundred tons, laden with kerseymeres, fine cloths, clock-work, and spices. These were chiefly exchanged for bars of copper, which were made into a very clumsy kind of coin for paying the native and European troops, as well as the people employed in the counting-houses of Java and the Moluccas. These ingots are of the finest red copper, and as thick as the finger. They are cut into two, four, six, and eight sous-pieces of Holland. The value is inscribed on them. This coin is termed in the Malay languagebaton, which signifies a stone. The captain, however, brings back furniture, fans, various articles of copper, and sabres—the temper of the blades of which equals the best workmanship of Turkey. The cargo always contains a present to the emperor; and he, in return, sends one to the Dutch governor-general.

When the Batavian ship is seen, the emperor’s agent hails it, to demand whether the captain is a Christian. He replies that he is Dutch, when a signal is made for him to approach. From that moment he is boarded by innumerable armed boats. He is first boarded to see that he has neither women nor books; for the law is very severe against the introduction of either into the island. Were either found on board, the ship would be sent back without being allowed to anchor. This visit concluded, the merchandise is landed, the ship is disarmed and unrigged without the aid of the captain or crew, and the guns and rigging are carried on shore. The captain transmits the bill of lading to the emperor’s agent, with a note of what he desires in exchange, and waits quietly for the merchandise he is to have in return. Provisions are amply supplied in the meantime to the crew. When the return merchandise is ready on the beach, the emperor having notified what he chooses for the ensuing year, the Japanese themselves again load the vessel, replace her rigging, and restore her arms, papers, and effects, of which they took possession on her arrival. There is no instance of anything having been lost; indeed, the Dutch speak of the Japanese as a most honest people. They are said to leave their shops and stores without guards or clerks. If a Japanese goes to a shop, and finds no one there, he takes the article he wants, lays down the value marked on it, and goes out. All the streets of the towns are closed at night by iron gates, and each Japanese is responsible for his neighbour; so they are all interested that no harm should happen to one another. When a theft is committed in any quarter, and the author cannot be discovered, the crier, (who is a kind of police agent), the judge of the division, and the neighbours are compelled to make good the loss, and are subject to severe corporal punishment.

Very little in those days was known of the interior of Japan, as the Dutch ambassadors were compelled to submit to the most humiliating conditions to keep up their intercourse with the country. On visiting the capital, they were conveyed in palanquins, well enclosed with fixed lattice-work, like prison-vans in England; and the bearers dared not, for fear of their lives, indulge them with a view of the country through which they passed. This information about Japan Newman gained from one of the officers of the ship trading there. To return to Java.

One day when we were on shore, we saw a great confusion among the crowd, who were dispersing on every side, as if in mortal dread of something; and presently we saw a half-naked Malay with a long dagger in his hand, striking right and left at everybody he met, killing some and wounding others. As he ran on, crying out in his frenzy, “Amok—amok—amok! kill—kill—kill!” we saw some of the police dashing towards him with long poles, at the end of which was a fork of wood with iron spikes inside it. He dodged by several of them, killing one on his way, till at last a guard met him full in front, and he ran in on the fork, when he was immediately pinned to the ground; but even then he struck out on every side with his glittering weapon.

This is what is called running amuck! from the word usedamok—kill! He had, as is the custom, taken a large quantity of opium, and thus excited himself to fury in consequence of some supposed or real injury he had received from his master! Most of these mucks are run by slaves brought from Celebes. Being mortally wounded, he was immediately broken alive on the wheel, in the presence of two councillors of justice.

It is remarkable, that at Batavia, where the assassins, when taken alive, are broken on the wheel, the mucks are of great frequency; while at Bencoolen, where they are executed in the most simple and least cruel way, they seldom occur. Slaves who have murdered their masters, were executed with the most horrible barbarity by being impaled. An iron was passed down their backs, so as not to touch any vital part, and by it they were suspended, one end of the iron rod being fixed in a post ten feet from the ground. If the weather is dry, they may live on many days in that horrid position; but if water enters the wound, mortification ensues, and they quickly die.

The Javanese emperors used till lately to throw their criminals to wild beasts, or compelled them to enter into combat with them. I heard a story of a Javanese who was condemned to be torn in pieces by tigers. On being thrown down from the top of a large cage, he fell across the back of the largest and fiercest of them, where he sat astride! So intimidated was the animal, that he did not attempt to injure him; while the others, awed by the unusual appearance, endeavoured to avoid him! The poor wretch, however, having been condemned to death, was shot dead in the cage. This custom was, however, prohibited by the French. Of course I have been speaking of a state of things as they existed some years ago, and I daresay some improvements have taken place; but at the same time the Dutch are of a very conservative disposition, and I suspect that most of my descriptions would be found correct even at the present day.

Chapter Twenty.Strange Adventures and Naval Exploits.Not very long before we sailed, Newman and I had gone on shore, he taking a large sketch-book under his arm; and striking up into the country, we reached a beautiful spot, the outlines of which he wished to commit to paper. We sat ourselves down under the shade of a wide-spreading palm, not far from the road. While Newman took the sketch with his pencil, and in a masterly way threw in the colours, I read to him from a volume, I think, of the “Spectator.” During this time a gentleman, attended by two servants in handsome liveries rode by. Seeing two common sailors, as our dresses showed we were, employed in a way so unusual, he dismounted, and, prompted by curiosity, came to see what the draughtsman had produced. He had been watching us for more than a minute before Newman observed him. Newman had a quick, prompt manner in addressing people, which arose somewhat from pride, I suspect, lest they should look down upon him; and seeing a stranger, he at once spoke to him in German, remarking on the beauty of the scenery. The gentleman stared at being thus addressed, but replied in the same language, asking leave to look at the sketch he had just finished. Newman frankly showed him that and several others, which the stranger admired.“You are a German, I presume?” said the gentleman.Newman replied that he was an Englishman.“You speak Dutch also, perhaps?” asked the stranger.“Slightly,” said Newman; “but I prefer German, though I am more fluent in French.”“Ah, that is a tongue I am fond of,” remarked the gentleman. “But may I ask where you picked up your knowledge of languages?”“In the world,” replied Newman, carelessly. “’Tis a large book, and its leaves are never closed.”“I am afraid that you will think me impertinent if I continue to ask questions,” said the stranger; “but I shall be glad to know to what ship you belong?”Newman told him.“Ah, I know your captain—an honest man. I am under great obligations to him. Are many of his crew able to amuse themselves as you two appear to be doing?”“Some have lately taken to drawing and singing, and a few who could not read when the voyage began are now apt scholars,” answered Newman, carelessly. “We have occasionally a good deal of spare time on board a whaler, though we often have to work hard enough.”A little further conversation passed. “I must not longer detain you from your task,” said the gentleman. “I hope that we shall meet again.”He bowed to Newman, and nodded good-naturedly to me. He saw that I was but a common sailor, at the same time that he evidently discerned the educated gentleman in my friend. When I speak of Newman as a gentleman, it must be understood that he was not particularly polished or refined in his manners or habits, though more so far than were those with whom he associated forward. His manners were too blunt and independent to be called polished, and he could rough it as well as any of us, eating the same coarse food and wearing the same rough clothes as we did, without inconvenience.When the gentleman had gone, Newman and I discussed who he could be. “Rather an inquisitive old fellow, I suspect,” said Newman. “He is a Dutchman, I judge, by the way he pronounced both German and French, though he spoke them well.”“How are you so well able to distinguish the difference in pronunciation?” I asked.“I was educated in Germany,” he answered. “I learned a good many things there besides what my tutors intended to teach me. You must not suppose that I could have picked up the various bits of information I possess in any English place of education. As it is, we beat most other nations in whatever we set our hands to; but if English lads had the same style of instruction given in most of the countries in Europe, modified to suit our characters, we should beat them all hollow, wherever we encountered them abroad.”It must be remembered that this conversation took place many years ago, and that very considerable improvements have since taken place in the style of education afforded to boys in many of our schools in England.We thought very little at the time of our encounter with the Dutch gentleman, though, as it proved, it had a very great influence on Newman’s fate.When we got on board, we found that the ship was likely to remain some time longer in the Roads, and that we might have a chance of seeing something more of the country. As Malays, or natives, are employed in those hot climates to do the hard work on board ship, as Kroomen are on the coast of Africa—such as wooding and watering—we had more leisure time than we should otherwise have enjoyed. That evening a number of us, among whom was Tom Knowles, were sitting on the forecastle spinning yarns, when he told us what I did not know before—that he had served aboard a man-of-war at the taking of Java.“You must know, mates,” he began, taking out his quid and stowing it away in his waistcoat-pocket, “I belonged to a whaler which was lost out here, when those of her crew who escaped were picked up by an Indiaman and carried to Madras. I with others was there pressed on board theCarolinefrigate. I didn’t much like it at first; but when I had shaken myself, and looked about me, and heard that the captain was a fine sort of a fellow, I thought it was just as well to do my duty like a man, and to make myself happy. Captain Cole, that was his name, wasn’t a chap to let the grass grow under the ship’s bottom. Directly after I joined, we were ordered off to Amboyna, in company with thePiemontaise, Captain Foote; the 18-gun brigBarracouta; and transportMandarin, with a hundred European soldiers. We heard that when the captain went to take his leave of the admiral—Drury was his name—he asked leave just to knock up some of the Dutch settlements on the way.“‘Well,’ says the admiral, ‘there’s no harm just frightening them a little, and you may be able to surprise a port or two; but don’t go and get into mischief, now, and hurt yourselves. There are several impregnable places, such as Banda, for instance, which it would be out of the question for you to attack. Vast heaps of wealth are stored up there, so the Dutch will take precious good care that you don’t get into the place.’“‘We’ll see about that,’ thought the captain to himself, winking with the eye which was turned away from the admiral. ‘Of course, sir, we’ll do nothing rash,’ says he. ‘It isn’t the way of English sailors. We are always steady, sure sort of fellows.’“‘That’s right,’ says the admiral; and away went the captain, having made up his mind to a thing or two.“We reached Palo-Penang on the 30th May, in the year 1810. There the captain persuaded the governor to let him have about twenty artillery-men and a lot of scaling-ladders; and having learned something more about the chief place in Banda, called Banda-Neira, he kept to the resolution he had all along in his mind, to try and get possession of it. In spite of the south-east monsoon, away we sailed, therefore, for the Java Sea. As it would not have done to let the Dutchmen in other places guess what we were about to do, he determined to take the ship through the passage between the big island of Borneo and Malwalli. It was a touch-and-go matter to get through, for in every direction there were coral-reefs, which would pretty soon have brought us up if we had run on them; but we had look-outs at the jib-boom-end and the topsail-yard-arms, and as the water was clear, and the weather fine, we escaped all danger.“Early in the morning, on the 8th of July, we made the Banda Islands, and by night were up with the place called Banda-Neira. As we stood in, the guns from the fort opened on us; but seeing they did us no harm, they soon left off throwing away their powder. That very evening there was a sudden change in the weather, and it came on to blow and rain very hard.“‘Too good a chance to be thrown away,’ thought the captain. ‘We shall never be able to take this place in common ship-shape fashion; but as the Mynheers won’t be expecting us on such a bad night as this, and what’s more, won’t hear us coming, I’ll just see if we can’t get on shore in the boats and give them a surprise.’“Now, anyone looking at Banda-Neira would have thought that it would be quite impossible to take it with the small force we had got with us; but, as I said, our captain wasn’t a man to trouble his head about impossibilities.“The place was two miles long and half a mile wide, and protected by no less than ten sea-batteries and two strong forts—one called Belgica, and the other Nassau. They commanded each other, as they did the ten sea-batteries. The first alone mounted fifty-two heavy guns; and altogether there were no less than one hundred and thirty-eight guns in the place. Having run in within two cables’ length of the shore, we dropped our anchors, and at 11 p.m. the boats under the command of Captain Cole shoved off with three hundred and ninety men, including officers. The place we were to pull for was the east point of Banda. What a night it was—blowing and raining like fury and dark as pitch! but that, in many respects, was all the better for us. Captains Cole and Kenah arrived first at the appointed spot in their gigs, and only by degrees did some of the other boats get up there—it was so difficult to find our way. The boat I was in, with several others, grounded on a coral-reef, not a hundred yards from a sea-battery, which we found mounted no less than ten long 18-pounders; and as they pointed directly on the reef, they could very soon have knocked us all to pieces. Fortunately, the garrison slept so soundly, or the rain and wind made such a clatter, that they did not discover us. Overboard we all jumped, and soon had the boats afloat, and pulling on, we reached a snug little sandy cove, surrounded by trees or jungle. Here the captain mustered us, and found that he had only got about a hundred and forty seamen and marines, and forty red jackets, with Captain Kenah, five lieutenants, and some soldier officers. Among the lieutenants was one called Lieutenant Edmund Lyons, with whom I afterwards was at the taking of another place, of which I’ll tell you presently. Well, as I was saying, it was pelting and blowing and as black as pitch; and though we had little more than half our force on shore, our captain did not like to give up the enterprise, so says he, ‘My lads, I should just like to take possession of some of these forts, but we are a small number to do it, I own; yet, if I thought all would follow, I’d lead the way.’“We didn’t shout, but we told him that, to a man, we were ready to go wherever he thought fit to lead us.“‘Then,’ said he, ‘we’ll just walk into the Dutchmen’s castles before they’ve time to rub their eyes.’“Captain Kenah, with a party of us armed with pikes, on this at once advanced to the rear of the nearest battery. Not a word was spoken, and the noise of the storm drowned the sound of our footsteps. We got close up to the fort—a sentry was marching up and down—a pike was into him before he could discharge his musket—and in an instant we were over the ramparts. We could see the Dutchmen, match in hand, at their guns on the sea side, and very much surprised were they to find us in their rear, knocking them down right and left, before they had time to fire a shot. They cried for quarter, and we had sixty of them prisoners in a few minutes. Leaving a few men to take charge of the battery, Captain Kenah was pushing on to take possession of the next, when Captain Cole sent to say he had got hold of a guide, and was going to take Fort Belgica itself.“Away we went along a narrow winding path, towards the castle. The Dutchmen’s bugles were sounding in all directions, showing us that they were awake; but probably they didn’t know where their enemies were to be found. We had got close up to the citadel before we were discovered; and then, though they began firing away pretty briskly, as they could not see us, and were, I guess, in a mortal fright, none of us were hit. Those in front had the scaling-ladders, and, with their help, we managed to climb up the steep bank on which the castle stood; and in no time, it seemed, we were in possession of all the lower works. We were not in though yet; but we soon hauled up the scaling-ladders, and began to place them against the wall of the citadel, when we found out that they were too short—more’s the shame to the fellows who made them! The enemy discovering this, began peppering away at us with musketry, and fired several round-shot into the bargain. Here was a sell! We began to think that we should have to be about-ship, when what should we see, but the gates open to let in the governor and some other officers who had been sleeping outside the walls. The opportunity was not to be lost. Led by our gallant captain, we made a dash at the gate. The colonel defended it bravely, but he and several of his men were killed in a minute, and on we rushed into the very centre of the fort. Never were fellows in such a mortal fright as were the Dutchmen. Daylight just then breaking, we saw them scrambling and leaping, like a flock of sheep, over the walls. However, some of the officers, and forty artillery-men, gave themselves up as prisoners.“We now had the British Jack flying away on the flagstaff above our heads. Still, we were a very small band to hold the forts we had conquered, and we looked out with no little anxiety for the arrival of the rest of our force. What had become of the boats we could not tell; but as the sun rose, we saw theCarolineand the other ships standing in towards the town.“The Dutchmen did not know our numbers, probably; so the captain, putting a bold face on the matter, sent a flag of truce to Fort Nassau, to say that if the troops didn’t behave themselves, and cease firing, he would fire into them with a vengeance, and into the city to boot. Now, from what we had done, the Dutchmen, having no doubt that he would keep his word, hauled down their flag; and before many hours were out, thinking discretion the best part of valour, their whole force, regulars and militia, to the number of one thousand and five hundred, laid down their arms on the glacis of Fort Nassau. Thus you see what a few brave men, when well led, can do.“Of our one hundred and eighty men, we lost very few. Our less fortunate shipmates in the boats, after knocking about all night, got alongside the transportMandarin. Captain Foote was left as governor of the island with a garrison, while we went on to Amboyna. Our captain was a fine fellow. The ship’s company afterwards presented him with a sword worth a hundred guineas, to show their love and estimation of his bravery. Several cups and swords were presented to him by the officers and soldiers. I can’t tell you what loads of prize-money we got from that place, but I can tell you that it very soon found its way out of the pockets of most of us.“Well, as I was saying, I afterwards joined theMinden74, to which ship Lieutenant Edmund Lyons belonged. We had been cruising with a squadron off this place, Batavia. Now there was at the north-eastern end of Java, not far from the Straits of Madura, a very strong fort or castle on Pauka Point, lately erected, called Fort Marrack. It was a considerable annoyance to all ships passing that way, and it was therefore deemed important to destroy it. However, as only between four and five hundred men could be spared for the enterprise, it was given up, as that number was looked upon as insufficient for the undertaking. However, theMinden, having on board a number of Dutch prisoners, Lieutenant Lyons was directed to land them in the launch and cutter at Batavia. I was in the launch. After we had put the Mynheers on shore, we stood along the coast to the eastward, for the lieutenant was in no hurry to get back to the ship. He had got something in his head, do you see? He remembered what he had helped to do with Captain Cole; so says he to himself, ‘I’ll just see if we can’t play the Dutchmen just such another trick with regard to this here Fort Marrack.’ When he had got a thing into his head to do, which he thought could be done, it was no easy matter for anyone else to knock it out again, till he had tried whether he was right or wrong.“Two days after landing the prisoners, we got up to the fort just at dark. The lieutenant had a look at it, just to arrange his plan; and we then ran under a point of land, where we lay snug out of sight till the darkest part of the night. At first the moon was up, and would have discovered us to the enemy. The fort mounted fifty-four heavy guns, and had a garrison of one hundred and eighty regulars; but what did we care for that! We waited eagerly for the moon to go down, and then we both pulled away with muffled oars for the fort. There was a good deal of surf on the shore, but we hoped its noise, aided by the darkness, would prevent our approach being discovered. However, the Dutchmen had learned to be more awake than when we took Fort Belgica, and as we got close under the land, the sentinels let off their muskets to give the alarm. No time was to be lost. Lieutenant Lyons ordered us to run the boats through the surf right on to the shore, under the very muzzles of the guns in the lower tier. ‘On, my lads!—on!’ he exclaimed, leading us, sword in hand, right up over the embankment into the lower battery before the Dutchmen had time to look round them. We found the gunners as before, with their matches in their hands, and had to kill three of them to prevent their firing. Having knocked down every man we found, we did not stop to look around, but followed our gallant leader into the upper battery, which, in as little time as I have taken to describe, was in our possession. It was ‘Hurrah, my boys!—at them!’ and after a minute’s cutting, and slashing, and firing of pistols, and dashing them at each other’s heads, the place was ours. That’s the way we used to do things in the war, when once a plan had been determined on by our officers!“But we had still plenty of work to do, for when we went on and reached the highest part of the fort, we found a large body of Dutch troops drawn up to receive us. Nothing daunted by this, our gallant lieutenant, singing in Dutch, and French, and English, and all sorts of languages, that he had got four hundred men at his back, and would give no quarter if any opposition was offered, we fired a volley, and at them again we went, cutlass, and pike, and bayonet in hand. Whether they had Dutch courage in them or not, I don’t know, but certainly they did not like our appearance; and as we came up with them they turned tail, and off they went helter-skelter through a gateway in the rear of the fort. After them we went, and sent the last man out with a hearty good kick, and shut the gate after him!“No sooner had we got the fort to ourselves than the enemy began peppering away at us from a fort in the rear, and from a couple of gun-boats; and considering that we hadn’t the four hundred men the lieutenant talked of, but only just the two boats’ crews, we had enough to do to spike the guns, and to keep up a brisk fire in return. You may be sure, mates, we were as busy as ants doing all the mischief we could in a short time. We had a young midshipman with us, Mr Franks, not fifteen years old; and while the fire was at the hottest, in the middle of it he hoisted the British ensign on the flagstaff on the top of the fort.“While we were busy spiking the gnus, and firing away right and left, we made out, through the darkness, what we took to be a large body of Dutch troops. There were plenty of light carriage guns in the fort; and when information was brought him, Lieutenant Lyons ordered us to slue round two of them, and bring them close up to the gate. When we had done so, he and Mr Langton loaded them up to the muzzles with grape and musket balls. On came the enemy. He let them get close up to the gate, and then he and the midshipman fired slap in among them. It was much more than they expected, and lest they should get another dose, they put about in a great hurry, and off they went as fast as they could pelt, we hallooing and hurrahing after them. You may be sure we didn’t follow them, or they would soon have found out the trick we had played them. All the time no one had been killed, and only Mr Langton and three men slightly wounded; but from the number of troops brought against him, Mr Lyons saw that we could not hope to hold the fort; so while the Dutch troops were scampering off in one direction, we bolted over the ramparts in the other. When we got down to the beach, we were not a little taken aback by finding that the surf had driven the barge right up on the shore and bilged her; but, fortunately, the cutter was still afloat. So we all got into her as silently as mice, and shoved off, leaving the fort to take care of itself. We were much amused by seeing the Dutchmen outside firing away into it as hard as ever. When they discovered their mistake, I don’t know; but whenever they did, they must have found all the guns spiked, and the British ensign flying triumphantly over their heads, to show them who had done all the mischief.“We got safely back to theMindennext day, none of us much the worse for the exploit. Soon after that, the whole of Java and its dependencies capitulated to Sir Robert Stopford and General Wetherall. This was the only service I saw in the navy—for within a year of that time I got my discharge, and once more joined a whaler.”Old Tom’s account of these two gallant exploits was received by all hands with great applause, for that is just the sort of work in which seamen delight, and I know that all of us wished we had been with him. I need scarcely say that the Lieutenant Edmund Lyons of those days was afterwards the well-known Admiral Lord Lyons, who, from that commencement, won his way up to his well-deserved honours.Two days after our encounter with the Dutch gentleman on shore, the captain sent for Newman into his cabin. He was some time away; and when he came forward, I saw that his countenance wore an unusually pleased expression.“What has happened?” I asked.“Why, the captain tells me that the stranger we met the other day is a Mr Von Kniper, some great man or other, with whom he has long been acquainted; and that he has sent to request the captain to bring me to dine with him. The captain is very good-natured about it, and says that he shall be very happy to take me. But it will be difficult to find a dress to go in. It will never do to appear in a round jacket. So, taking all things into consideration, I think that I shall decline the honour.”“That would be a pity,” said I. “You don’t know to what the visit may lead.”“To be stared at and patronised as the common sailor who can draw and talk German; and then to have the cold shoulder turned towards me the next day, or to be passed unrecognised!” he answered, with no little bitterness. “I am more independent, and safer from annoyance, in the position I have chosen to occupy. I’ll not go out of it.”I tried to reason him out of his resolution.“It may be a turning-point in your fortune,” I observed.“There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune,” he repeated. “You don’t suppose that the flood will ever set in for me. The current has been too long running the other way for me ever to expect it to change. I am content to let it continue its old course, and swim merrily with it.”Had Newman been left to himself, I do not know that he would have altered his opinion; but soon after this the captain again sent to see him.“Well, Jack, I must needs go where the wind drives,” he remarked, as he came forward. “Our skipper is certainly a very good-natured fellow. He not only insists on my going with him to the house of Mynheer Von Kniper, but tells me that he has made arrangements for rigging me out in full fig for the occasion. It will be very good fun, I daresay; and I only wish that you could be there to enjoy it.”“If I saw you happy, I should be happy; but I could not enjoy such a scene as that myself. I should feel so completely like a fish out of water.”“Oh, nonsense!” he answered; “a man has only quietly to observe what others do, and not to attempt to show himself off, or to broach any subject, and he will generally pass muster as a well-behaved person. However, as Mr Von Kniper did not ask you to come, of course you cannot go. Well, I dare say that I shall have enough to make you laugh when I come back.”I am not at all certain that Newman was right in his last observation. Practice and experience are absolutely necessary to fit a person for any station of life; and no wise man will ever wish to step into one for which he is not fitted by education or habit, or to associate with those with whom he has no ideas or associations in common. The great mistake numbers of well-intentioned people make, is the wish to rise in the world themselves, or that their children may rise in it to a superior station to that in which they were themselves born. They forget that the reason why they were sent into the world was to prepare them for another and a better existence; that this world is no abiding-place; and that, therefore, it is worse than folly to take toil and trouble to climb up a few steps in the ladder which will enable us to look down on our fellow-worms still crawling below us. There is one most important thing parents should teach their children—one most important thing children should desire—“To do their duty in that station of life in which it has pleased God to call them.” Their sole motive should be love to their Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, who thus commanded them to act. At the same time, they may be well assured that if they do their duty with all their heart—if they do diligently whatever their hand finds to do—they will not fail to be placed in those posts of honour and responsibility which even worldly men are always anxious to get such persons to fill. We see how Joseph was raised to honour in Egypt, how Daniel was respected at the court of Babylon. The Bible is full of such examples, and those examples were given for our instruction. Those men rose, not because they wished to rise, but because they strove to do their duty—to worship the Lord their God with singleness of heart.Poor Newman! I saw that under his pretended indifference there was no little satisfaction at the thought of occupying, even for a day, a position in which he probably had once been accustomed to shine. My only fear was, that when he got back to the forepeak, and our rough manners and rougher conversation, he would remark the contrast, and become discontented with the lot he had chosen.The next day he and the captain went on shore to the dinner-party. As he stepped into the boat, and took his seat in the stern-sheets, I could not help remarking how completely the gentleman he looked. I must own that I waited with no little anxiety for his return, to hear what had occurred. I never before had been so intimate with any man as with Newman. I told him without reserve all that was in my heart, and he spoke freely to me, at the same time that he never once, even in the most remote manner, alluded to his past history. It was merely casually, when speaking of Mynheer Von Kniper, that he mentioned having been educated in Germany, or probably he would never even have told me that. On religious subjects, also, he never uttered an opinion; but from his very silence I had reason to believe that he entertained notions which were very far removed from the truth. Among all his books he had no Bible, and no works bearing on religion. He appeared to have studiously kept all such out of his library, as he did religion itself out of his thoughts. If I ever alluded to it, even in the remotest degree, he instantly turned the conversation; and whenever it was mentioned in the berth, which was, indeed, very seldom, his countenance assumed a look of cold, callous indifference, or a marked expression of scorn, which indicated too plainly what were his real opinions on the subject.With regard to myself, I had always been a believer, though a sadly cold and careless one, except when roused by some particular occurrences, as I have mentioned in the course of my history. I still at this time continued much in the same dangerous state, but in other respects a great change had occurred. Deeply, indeed, was I indebted to Newman for it. He had awakened my mind out of its long sleep, and if I could not call myself an educated man, I at least had learned to prize the advantages of education, and was endeavouring to improve myself, and was greedy to gain knowledge wherever I could obtain it. No person could have devoted himself more earnestly to my instruction than did my friend. He seemed never to weary in helping me over difficulties; and if I took a pleasure in learning, he certainly took a still greater in teaching me. Without his aid I could not have made a tenth part of the progress I had done. I now read fluently, and even wrote tolerably. I had read through and mastered even more than the outlines of ancient and modern history, and with several periods I was tolerably conversant. I knew something of the past and present state of every country in the world, though I could not boast of knowing much about the mere names of the chief towns and rivers. I had read the lives of several men who had stood forward prominently in the world, and I had mastered some of the important facts of natural science. I need not further describe the amount of my knowledge. I could not have attained half I have mentioned had I not read on steadily, and carefully eschewed anything like desultory reading—that is to say, as far as the limited library to which I had access would allow. I did not always read the books I might have desired, but I diligently read the best I could obtain. If I, therefore, did so much in a short time with indifferent means, how much might be done with all the advantages possessed by those on shore!Late in the evening Newman came back. The first thing he did on getting on board was to go below and shift his clothes. He then sat himself down on the windlass, with his arms folded across his bosom; and when I went up to him, he burst into aloud fit of laughter.“I thought it would be so!” he exclaimed, when he recovered himself. “Mynheer Von Kniper was very polite, and so was his wife; and they introduced me to all their company. I believe the governor-general was there, or some great person. They paid me much more attention than they did the captain, who, if he had not been a right honest, good-natured fellow, might have been not a little jealous. First one person talked to me in one language, then another would come up with a different tongue in his mouth, and I had to show off in great style. Then I was asked to exhibit my drawings, and they were handed about and held up to the light, and admired by all hands as wonderful productions of art. In fact, I saw clearly I was the lion of the evening. I thought that sort of thing was only done in civilised, polite England; but I suppose lion hunters and lion exhibiters are to be found in all parts of the world. To do Mynheer Von Kniper justice, I must say that he had no hand in the work. During dinner nothing could be pleasanter or kinder than his conversation and manner; and certainly I had reason to believe that he wished me well. At length people got weary of hearing me roar, and all had had a look at the wonderful common sailor, and so the skipper seemed to think that it was time to be off; but our host would not allow us, and insisted that after the rest of the guests were gone, we should stop to have some supper. During the meal, Mynheer Von Kniper introduced the subject of drawing, and telling me that he longed to have all the scenes of whale catching and killing fully illustrated, asked if I would undertake to do a set of drawings for him on that subject. I could not refuse to do as he wished, after all the civilities he had shown me; so I told him that I should be very happy; but he then gently hinted that he wished me to undertake the task as a regular commission, and he begged that I would put what price I thought fit on my productions. I have made up my mind, at all events, to do them. I think every man has a perfect right to make a profit of his talents, especially if he requires money. I do not. I have now got a profession—a right noble one too! I am now a more independent man than had I been toiling on for years at a desk, or dancing attendance in some great man’s ante-chamber for some of the patronage he may have to bestow. You think that I have benefited you by teaching you to read and write. Now, in reality, I have merely given you the implements of a trade—the means of gaining knowledge. You have given me knowledge—you have taught me a trade itself. Therefore, Williams, you see that I am still your debtor.”For some time he talked on in this strain. I clearly saw that he was pleased with the attention shown him, in spite of his belief to the contrary. I would not for one moment exhibit Newman as an example, or hold him up as a fine character. He had very great faults and many weaknesses. I do not know that he had strength of character. He had an independent spirit in some respects, a clear perception, and considerable talent. His greatly superior education raised him much above the associates among whom he had thrown himself.Soon after this the ship was ready for sea, and as we had not above a couple of hundred barrels to fill, we hoped soon to be on our homeward voyage. It was the winter season, and we were bound for the coast of Japan. We were, however, several months before we got a full ship; and then, with joyful hearts to most on board, we once more made sail for Old England.During all the time, Newman was busily employed in finishing up the sketches of whale catching, and very beautiful productions they were. Nothing could be more correct or truth-like. Very different they were, indeed, from the drawings I have since often seen, where the whale has had its flukes put on the wrong way, and boats are represented as being tossed high up in the air, some thirty feet, at least, and broken in two, while the crews are seen tumbling down like snowflakes, with arms and legs sprawling out right over the whale. I have seen many a boat smashed, but never one sent up in that fashion into the air. Newman was anxious to send these sketches to Mynheer Von Kniper; but as no opportunity occurred, he was afraid that he would be compelled to wait till another voyage to present them himself. Captain Carr promised, as soon as the ship could be refitted, to return on another voyage to those seas.We had a quick passage home. I remained, as I had often before done, to look after the ship. Newman, when he had received his share of profits, which was very considerable, went on shore. What became of him I do not know. Not seeing anything of him, I was afraid that he was not going to return. Something there evidently was very mysterious about his history. I had a great desire to discover it; still, I saw no chance of doing so.Hitherto I had always squandered away my money in the most foolish manner. I now got Captain Carr to invest some of it for me, and, retaining a little for pocket-money, with the rest I purchased the best books I could find, and other articles which I thought likely to be useful to me in a three years’ voyage. At last the ship was ready again for sea. Tom Knowles and most of the other old hands had joined; for, being wise men, when they had found a good captain they liked to stick by him. We hauled out into the stream; but still, greatly to my disappointment, Newman did not appear.

Not very long before we sailed, Newman and I had gone on shore, he taking a large sketch-book under his arm; and striking up into the country, we reached a beautiful spot, the outlines of which he wished to commit to paper. We sat ourselves down under the shade of a wide-spreading palm, not far from the road. While Newman took the sketch with his pencil, and in a masterly way threw in the colours, I read to him from a volume, I think, of the “Spectator.” During this time a gentleman, attended by two servants in handsome liveries rode by. Seeing two common sailors, as our dresses showed we were, employed in a way so unusual, he dismounted, and, prompted by curiosity, came to see what the draughtsman had produced. He had been watching us for more than a minute before Newman observed him. Newman had a quick, prompt manner in addressing people, which arose somewhat from pride, I suspect, lest they should look down upon him; and seeing a stranger, he at once spoke to him in German, remarking on the beauty of the scenery. The gentleman stared at being thus addressed, but replied in the same language, asking leave to look at the sketch he had just finished. Newman frankly showed him that and several others, which the stranger admired.

“You are a German, I presume?” said the gentleman.

Newman replied that he was an Englishman.

“You speak Dutch also, perhaps?” asked the stranger.

“Slightly,” said Newman; “but I prefer German, though I am more fluent in French.”

“Ah, that is a tongue I am fond of,” remarked the gentleman. “But may I ask where you picked up your knowledge of languages?”

“In the world,” replied Newman, carelessly. “’Tis a large book, and its leaves are never closed.”

“I am afraid that you will think me impertinent if I continue to ask questions,” said the stranger; “but I shall be glad to know to what ship you belong?”

Newman told him.

“Ah, I know your captain—an honest man. I am under great obligations to him. Are many of his crew able to amuse themselves as you two appear to be doing?”

“Some have lately taken to drawing and singing, and a few who could not read when the voyage began are now apt scholars,” answered Newman, carelessly. “We have occasionally a good deal of spare time on board a whaler, though we often have to work hard enough.”

A little further conversation passed. “I must not longer detain you from your task,” said the gentleman. “I hope that we shall meet again.”

He bowed to Newman, and nodded good-naturedly to me. He saw that I was but a common sailor, at the same time that he evidently discerned the educated gentleman in my friend. When I speak of Newman as a gentleman, it must be understood that he was not particularly polished or refined in his manners or habits, though more so far than were those with whom he associated forward. His manners were too blunt and independent to be called polished, and he could rough it as well as any of us, eating the same coarse food and wearing the same rough clothes as we did, without inconvenience.

When the gentleman had gone, Newman and I discussed who he could be. “Rather an inquisitive old fellow, I suspect,” said Newman. “He is a Dutchman, I judge, by the way he pronounced both German and French, though he spoke them well.”

“How are you so well able to distinguish the difference in pronunciation?” I asked.

“I was educated in Germany,” he answered. “I learned a good many things there besides what my tutors intended to teach me. You must not suppose that I could have picked up the various bits of information I possess in any English place of education. As it is, we beat most other nations in whatever we set our hands to; but if English lads had the same style of instruction given in most of the countries in Europe, modified to suit our characters, we should beat them all hollow, wherever we encountered them abroad.”

It must be remembered that this conversation took place many years ago, and that very considerable improvements have since taken place in the style of education afforded to boys in many of our schools in England.

We thought very little at the time of our encounter with the Dutch gentleman, though, as it proved, it had a very great influence on Newman’s fate.

When we got on board, we found that the ship was likely to remain some time longer in the Roads, and that we might have a chance of seeing something more of the country. As Malays, or natives, are employed in those hot climates to do the hard work on board ship, as Kroomen are on the coast of Africa—such as wooding and watering—we had more leisure time than we should otherwise have enjoyed. That evening a number of us, among whom was Tom Knowles, were sitting on the forecastle spinning yarns, when he told us what I did not know before—that he had served aboard a man-of-war at the taking of Java.

“You must know, mates,” he began, taking out his quid and stowing it away in his waistcoat-pocket, “I belonged to a whaler which was lost out here, when those of her crew who escaped were picked up by an Indiaman and carried to Madras. I with others was there pressed on board theCarolinefrigate. I didn’t much like it at first; but when I had shaken myself, and looked about me, and heard that the captain was a fine sort of a fellow, I thought it was just as well to do my duty like a man, and to make myself happy. Captain Cole, that was his name, wasn’t a chap to let the grass grow under the ship’s bottom. Directly after I joined, we were ordered off to Amboyna, in company with thePiemontaise, Captain Foote; the 18-gun brigBarracouta; and transportMandarin, with a hundred European soldiers. We heard that when the captain went to take his leave of the admiral—Drury was his name—he asked leave just to knock up some of the Dutch settlements on the way.

“‘Well,’ says the admiral, ‘there’s no harm just frightening them a little, and you may be able to surprise a port or two; but don’t go and get into mischief, now, and hurt yourselves. There are several impregnable places, such as Banda, for instance, which it would be out of the question for you to attack. Vast heaps of wealth are stored up there, so the Dutch will take precious good care that you don’t get into the place.’

“‘We’ll see about that,’ thought the captain to himself, winking with the eye which was turned away from the admiral. ‘Of course, sir, we’ll do nothing rash,’ says he. ‘It isn’t the way of English sailors. We are always steady, sure sort of fellows.’

“‘That’s right,’ says the admiral; and away went the captain, having made up his mind to a thing or two.

“We reached Palo-Penang on the 30th May, in the year 1810. There the captain persuaded the governor to let him have about twenty artillery-men and a lot of scaling-ladders; and having learned something more about the chief place in Banda, called Banda-Neira, he kept to the resolution he had all along in his mind, to try and get possession of it. In spite of the south-east monsoon, away we sailed, therefore, for the Java Sea. As it would not have done to let the Dutchmen in other places guess what we were about to do, he determined to take the ship through the passage between the big island of Borneo and Malwalli. It was a touch-and-go matter to get through, for in every direction there were coral-reefs, which would pretty soon have brought us up if we had run on them; but we had look-outs at the jib-boom-end and the topsail-yard-arms, and as the water was clear, and the weather fine, we escaped all danger.

“Early in the morning, on the 8th of July, we made the Banda Islands, and by night were up with the place called Banda-Neira. As we stood in, the guns from the fort opened on us; but seeing they did us no harm, they soon left off throwing away their powder. That very evening there was a sudden change in the weather, and it came on to blow and rain very hard.

“‘Too good a chance to be thrown away,’ thought the captain. ‘We shall never be able to take this place in common ship-shape fashion; but as the Mynheers won’t be expecting us on such a bad night as this, and what’s more, won’t hear us coming, I’ll just see if we can’t get on shore in the boats and give them a surprise.’

“Now, anyone looking at Banda-Neira would have thought that it would be quite impossible to take it with the small force we had got with us; but, as I said, our captain wasn’t a man to trouble his head about impossibilities.

“The place was two miles long and half a mile wide, and protected by no less than ten sea-batteries and two strong forts—one called Belgica, and the other Nassau. They commanded each other, as they did the ten sea-batteries. The first alone mounted fifty-two heavy guns; and altogether there were no less than one hundred and thirty-eight guns in the place. Having run in within two cables’ length of the shore, we dropped our anchors, and at 11 p.m. the boats under the command of Captain Cole shoved off with three hundred and ninety men, including officers. The place we were to pull for was the east point of Banda. What a night it was—blowing and raining like fury and dark as pitch! but that, in many respects, was all the better for us. Captains Cole and Kenah arrived first at the appointed spot in their gigs, and only by degrees did some of the other boats get up there—it was so difficult to find our way. The boat I was in, with several others, grounded on a coral-reef, not a hundred yards from a sea-battery, which we found mounted no less than ten long 18-pounders; and as they pointed directly on the reef, they could very soon have knocked us all to pieces. Fortunately, the garrison slept so soundly, or the rain and wind made such a clatter, that they did not discover us. Overboard we all jumped, and soon had the boats afloat, and pulling on, we reached a snug little sandy cove, surrounded by trees or jungle. Here the captain mustered us, and found that he had only got about a hundred and forty seamen and marines, and forty red jackets, with Captain Kenah, five lieutenants, and some soldier officers. Among the lieutenants was one called Lieutenant Edmund Lyons, with whom I afterwards was at the taking of another place, of which I’ll tell you presently. Well, as I was saying, it was pelting and blowing and as black as pitch; and though we had little more than half our force on shore, our captain did not like to give up the enterprise, so says he, ‘My lads, I should just like to take possession of some of these forts, but we are a small number to do it, I own; yet, if I thought all would follow, I’d lead the way.’

“We didn’t shout, but we told him that, to a man, we were ready to go wherever he thought fit to lead us.

“‘Then,’ said he, ‘we’ll just walk into the Dutchmen’s castles before they’ve time to rub their eyes.’

“Captain Kenah, with a party of us armed with pikes, on this at once advanced to the rear of the nearest battery. Not a word was spoken, and the noise of the storm drowned the sound of our footsteps. We got close up to the fort—a sentry was marching up and down—a pike was into him before he could discharge his musket—and in an instant we were over the ramparts. We could see the Dutchmen, match in hand, at their guns on the sea side, and very much surprised were they to find us in their rear, knocking them down right and left, before they had time to fire a shot. They cried for quarter, and we had sixty of them prisoners in a few minutes. Leaving a few men to take charge of the battery, Captain Kenah was pushing on to take possession of the next, when Captain Cole sent to say he had got hold of a guide, and was going to take Fort Belgica itself.

“Away we went along a narrow winding path, towards the castle. The Dutchmen’s bugles were sounding in all directions, showing us that they were awake; but probably they didn’t know where their enemies were to be found. We had got close up to the citadel before we were discovered; and then, though they began firing away pretty briskly, as they could not see us, and were, I guess, in a mortal fright, none of us were hit. Those in front had the scaling-ladders, and, with their help, we managed to climb up the steep bank on which the castle stood; and in no time, it seemed, we were in possession of all the lower works. We were not in though yet; but we soon hauled up the scaling-ladders, and began to place them against the wall of the citadel, when we found out that they were too short—more’s the shame to the fellows who made them! The enemy discovering this, began peppering away at us with musketry, and fired several round-shot into the bargain. Here was a sell! We began to think that we should have to be about-ship, when what should we see, but the gates open to let in the governor and some other officers who had been sleeping outside the walls. The opportunity was not to be lost. Led by our gallant captain, we made a dash at the gate. The colonel defended it bravely, but he and several of his men were killed in a minute, and on we rushed into the very centre of the fort. Never were fellows in such a mortal fright as were the Dutchmen. Daylight just then breaking, we saw them scrambling and leaping, like a flock of sheep, over the walls. However, some of the officers, and forty artillery-men, gave themselves up as prisoners.

“We now had the British Jack flying away on the flagstaff above our heads. Still, we were a very small band to hold the forts we had conquered, and we looked out with no little anxiety for the arrival of the rest of our force. What had become of the boats we could not tell; but as the sun rose, we saw theCarolineand the other ships standing in towards the town.

“The Dutchmen did not know our numbers, probably; so the captain, putting a bold face on the matter, sent a flag of truce to Fort Nassau, to say that if the troops didn’t behave themselves, and cease firing, he would fire into them with a vengeance, and into the city to boot. Now, from what we had done, the Dutchmen, having no doubt that he would keep his word, hauled down their flag; and before many hours were out, thinking discretion the best part of valour, their whole force, regulars and militia, to the number of one thousand and five hundred, laid down their arms on the glacis of Fort Nassau. Thus you see what a few brave men, when well led, can do.

“Of our one hundred and eighty men, we lost very few. Our less fortunate shipmates in the boats, after knocking about all night, got alongside the transportMandarin. Captain Foote was left as governor of the island with a garrison, while we went on to Amboyna. Our captain was a fine fellow. The ship’s company afterwards presented him with a sword worth a hundred guineas, to show their love and estimation of his bravery. Several cups and swords were presented to him by the officers and soldiers. I can’t tell you what loads of prize-money we got from that place, but I can tell you that it very soon found its way out of the pockets of most of us.

“Well, as I was saying, I afterwards joined theMinden74, to which ship Lieutenant Edmund Lyons belonged. We had been cruising with a squadron off this place, Batavia. Now there was at the north-eastern end of Java, not far from the Straits of Madura, a very strong fort or castle on Pauka Point, lately erected, called Fort Marrack. It was a considerable annoyance to all ships passing that way, and it was therefore deemed important to destroy it. However, as only between four and five hundred men could be spared for the enterprise, it was given up, as that number was looked upon as insufficient for the undertaking. However, theMinden, having on board a number of Dutch prisoners, Lieutenant Lyons was directed to land them in the launch and cutter at Batavia. I was in the launch. After we had put the Mynheers on shore, we stood along the coast to the eastward, for the lieutenant was in no hurry to get back to the ship. He had got something in his head, do you see? He remembered what he had helped to do with Captain Cole; so says he to himself, ‘I’ll just see if we can’t play the Dutchmen just such another trick with regard to this here Fort Marrack.’ When he had got a thing into his head to do, which he thought could be done, it was no easy matter for anyone else to knock it out again, till he had tried whether he was right or wrong.

“Two days after landing the prisoners, we got up to the fort just at dark. The lieutenant had a look at it, just to arrange his plan; and we then ran under a point of land, where we lay snug out of sight till the darkest part of the night. At first the moon was up, and would have discovered us to the enemy. The fort mounted fifty-four heavy guns, and had a garrison of one hundred and eighty regulars; but what did we care for that! We waited eagerly for the moon to go down, and then we both pulled away with muffled oars for the fort. There was a good deal of surf on the shore, but we hoped its noise, aided by the darkness, would prevent our approach being discovered. However, the Dutchmen had learned to be more awake than when we took Fort Belgica, and as we got close under the land, the sentinels let off their muskets to give the alarm. No time was to be lost. Lieutenant Lyons ordered us to run the boats through the surf right on to the shore, under the very muzzles of the guns in the lower tier. ‘On, my lads!—on!’ he exclaimed, leading us, sword in hand, right up over the embankment into the lower battery before the Dutchmen had time to look round them. We found the gunners as before, with their matches in their hands, and had to kill three of them to prevent their firing. Having knocked down every man we found, we did not stop to look around, but followed our gallant leader into the upper battery, which, in as little time as I have taken to describe, was in our possession. It was ‘Hurrah, my boys!—at them!’ and after a minute’s cutting, and slashing, and firing of pistols, and dashing them at each other’s heads, the place was ours. That’s the way we used to do things in the war, when once a plan had been determined on by our officers!

“But we had still plenty of work to do, for when we went on and reached the highest part of the fort, we found a large body of Dutch troops drawn up to receive us. Nothing daunted by this, our gallant lieutenant, singing in Dutch, and French, and English, and all sorts of languages, that he had got four hundred men at his back, and would give no quarter if any opposition was offered, we fired a volley, and at them again we went, cutlass, and pike, and bayonet in hand. Whether they had Dutch courage in them or not, I don’t know, but certainly they did not like our appearance; and as we came up with them they turned tail, and off they went helter-skelter through a gateway in the rear of the fort. After them we went, and sent the last man out with a hearty good kick, and shut the gate after him!

“No sooner had we got the fort to ourselves than the enemy began peppering away at us from a fort in the rear, and from a couple of gun-boats; and considering that we hadn’t the four hundred men the lieutenant talked of, but only just the two boats’ crews, we had enough to do to spike the guns, and to keep up a brisk fire in return. You may be sure, mates, we were as busy as ants doing all the mischief we could in a short time. We had a young midshipman with us, Mr Franks, not fifteen years old; and while the fire was at the hottest, in the middle of it he hoisted the British ensign on the flagstaff on the top of the fort.

“While we were busy spiking the gnus, and firing away right and left, we made out, through the darkness, what we took to be a large body of Dutch troops. There were plenty of light carriage guns in the fort; and when information was brought him, Lieutenant Lyons ordered us to slue round two of them, and bring them close up to the gate. When we had done so, he and Mr Langton loaded them up to the muzzles with grape and musket balls. On came the enemy. He let them get close up to the gate, and then he and the midshipman fired slap in among them. It was much more than they expected, and lest they should get another dose, they put about in a great hurry, and off they went as fast as they could pelt, we hallooing and hurrahing after them. You may be sure we didn’t follow them, or they would soon have found out the trick we had played them. All the time no one had been killed, and only Mr Langton and three men slightly wounded; but from the number of troops brought against him, Mr Lyons saw that we could not hope to hold the fort; so while the Dutch troops were scampering off in one direction, we bolted over the ramparts in the other. When we got down to the beach, we were not a little taken aback by finding that the surf had driven the barge right up on the shore and bilged her; but, fortunately, the cutter was still afloat. So we all got into her as silently as mice, and shoved off, leaving the fort to take care of itself. We were much amused by seeing the Dutchmen outside firing away into it as hard as ever. When they discovered their mistake, I don’t know; but whenever they did, they must have found all the guns spiked, and the British ensign flying triumphantly over their heads, to show them who had done all the mischief.

“We got safely back to theMindennext day, none of us much the worse for the exploit. Soon after that, the whole of Java and its dependencies capitulated to Sir Robert Stopford and General Wetherall. This was the only service I saw in the navy—for within a year of that time I got my discharge, and once more joined a whaler.”

Old Tom’s account of these two gallant exploits was received by all hands with great applause, for that is just the sort of work in which seamen delight, and I know that all of us wished we had been with him. I need scarcely say that the Lieutenant Edmund Lyons of those days was afterwards the well-known Admiral Lord Lyons, who, from that commencement, won his way up to his well-deserved honours.

Two days after our encounter with the Dutch gentleman on shore, the captain sent for Newman into his cabin. He was some time away; and when he came forward, I saw that his countenance wore an unusually pleased expression.

“What has happened?” I asked.

“Why, the captain tells me that the stranger we met the other day is a Mr Von Kniper, some great man or other, with whom he has long been acquainted; and that he has sent to request the captain to bring me to dine with him. The captain is very good-natured about it, and says that he shall be very happy to take me. But it will be difficult to find a dress to go in. It will never do to appear in a round jacket. So, taking all things into consideration, I think that I shall decline the honour.”

“That would be a pity,” said I. “You don’t know to what the visit may lead.”

“To be stared at and patronised as the common sailor who can draw and talk German; and then to have the cold shoulder turned towards me the next day, or to be passed unrecognised!” he answered, with no little bitterness. “I am more independent, and safer from annoyance, in the position I have chosen to occupy. I’ll not go out of it.”

I tried to reason him out of his resolution.

“It may be a turning-point in your fortune,” I observed.

“There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune,” he repeated. “You don’t suppose that the flood will ever set in for me. The current has been too long running the other way for me ever to expect it to change. I am content to let it continue its old course, and swim merrily with it.”

Had Newman been left to himself, I do not know that he would have altered his opinion; but soon after this the captain again sent to see him.

“Well, Jack, I must needs go where the wind drives,” he remarked, as he came forward. “Our skipper is certainly a very good-natured fellow. He not only insists on my going with him to the house of Mynheer Von Kniper, but tells me that he has made arrangements for rigging me out in full fig for the occasion. It will be very good fun, I daresay; and I only wish that you could be there to enjoy it.”

“If I saw you happy, I should be happy; but I could not enjoy such a scene as that myself. I should feel so completely like a fish out of water.”

“Oh, nonsense!” he answered; “a man has only quietly to observe what others do, and not to attempt to show himself off, or to broach any subject, and he will generally pass muster as a well-behaved person. However, as Mr Von Kniper did not ask you to come, of course you cannot go. Well, I dare say that I shall have enough to make you laugh when I come back.”

I am not at all certain that Newman was right in his last observation. Practice and experience are absolutely necessary to fit a person for any station of life; and no wise man will ever wish to step into one for which he is not fitted by education or habit, or to associate with those with whom he has no ideas or associations in common. The great mistake numbers of well-intentioned people make, is the wish to rise in the world themselves, or that their children may rise in it to a superior station to that in which they were themselves born. They forget that the reason why they were sent into the world was to prepare them for another and a better existence; that this world is no abiding-place; and that, therefore, it is worse than folly to take toil and trouble to climb up a few steps in the ladder which will enable us to look down on our fellow-worms still crawling below us. There is one most important thing parents should teach their children—one most important thing children should desire—“To do their duty in that station of life in which it has pleased God to call them.” Their sole motive should be love to their Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, who thus commanded them to act. At the same time, they may be well assured that if they do their duty with all their heart—if they do diligently whatever their hand finds to do—they will not fail to be placed in those posts of honour and responsibility which even worldly men are always anxious to get such persons to fill. We see how Joseph was raised to honour in Egypt, how Daniel was respected at the court of Babylon. The Bible is full of such examples, and those examples were given for our instruction. Those men rose, not because they wished to rise, but because they strove to do their duty—to worship the Lord their God with singleness of heart.

Poor Newman! I saw that under his pretended indifference there was no little satisfaction at the thought of occupying, even for a day, a position in which he probably had once been accustomed to shine. My only fear was, that when he got back to the forepeak, and our rough manners and rougher conversation, he would remark the contrast, and become discontented with the lot he had chosen.

The next day he and the captain went on shore to the dinner-party. As he stepped into the boat, and took his seat in the stern-sheets, I could not help remarking how completely the gentleman he looked. I must own that I waited with no little anxiety for his return, to hear what had occurred. I never before had been so intimate with any man as with Newman. I told him without reserve all that was in my heart, and he spoke freely to me, at the same time that he never once, even in the most remote manner, alluded to his past history. It was merely casually, when speaking of Mynheer Von Kniper, that he mentioned having been educated in Germany, or probably he would never even have told me that. On religious subjects, also, he never uttered an opinion; but from his very silence I had reason to believe that he entertained notions which were very far removed from the truth. Among all his books he had no Bible, and no works bearing on religion. He appeared to have studiously kept all such out of his library, as he did religion itself out of his thoughts. If I ever alluded to it, even in the remotest degree, he instantly turned the conversation; and whenever it was mentioned in the berth, which was, indeed, very seldom, his countenance assumed a look of cold, callous indifference, or a marked expression of scorn, which indicated too plainly what were his real opinions on the subject.

With regard to myself, I had always been a believer, though a sadly cold and careless one, except when roused by some particular occurrences, as I have mentioned in the course of my history. I still at this time continued much in the same dangerous state, but in other respects a great change had occurred. Deeply, indeed, was I indebted to Newman for it. He had awakened my mind out of its long sleep, and if I could not call myself an educated man, I at least had learned to prize the advantages of education, and was endeavouring to improve myself, and was greedy to gain knowledge wherever I could obtain it. No person could have devoted himself more earnestly to my instruction than did my friend. He seemed never to weary in helping me over difficulties; and if I took a pleasure in learning, he certainly took a still greater in teaching me. Without his aid I could not have made a tenth part of the progress I had done. I now read fluently, and even wrote tolerably. I had read through and mastered even more than the outlines of ancient and modern history, and with several periods I was tolerably conversant. I knew something of the past and present state of every country in the world, though I could not boast of knowing much about the mere names of the chief towns and rivers. I had read the lives of several men who had stood forward prominently in the world, and I had mastered some of the important facts of natural science. I need not further describe the amount of my knowledge. I could not have attained half I have mentioned had I not read on steadily, and carefully eschewed anything like desultory reading—that is to say, as far as the limited library to which I had access would allow. I did not always read the books I might have desired, but I diligently read the best I could obtain. If I, therefore, did so much in a short time with indifferent means, how much might be done with all the advantages possessed by those on shore!

Late in the evening Newman came back. The first thing he did on getting on board was to go below and shift his clothes. He then sat himself down on the windlass, with his arms folded across his bosom; and when I went up to him, he burst into aloud fit of laughter.

“I thought it would be so!” he exclaimed, when he recovered himself. “Mynheer Von Kniper was very polite, and so was his wife; and they introduced me to all their company. I believe the governor-general was there, or some great person. They paid me much more attention than they did the captain, who, if he had not been a right honest, good-natured fellow, might have been not a little jealous. First one person talked to me in one language, then another would come up with a different tongue in his mouth, and I had to show off in great style. Then I was asked to exhibit my drawings, and they were handed about and held up to the light, and admired by all hands as wonderful productions of art. In fact, I saw clearly I was the lion of the evening. I thought that sort of thing was only done in civilised, polite England; but I suppose lion hunters and lion exhibiters are to be found in all parts of the world. To do Mynheer Von Kniper justice, I must say that he had no hand in the work. During dinner nothing could be pleasanter or kinder than his conversation and manner; and certainly I had reason to believe that he wished me well. At length people got weary of hearing me roar, and all had had a look at the wonderful common sailor, and so the skipper seemed to think that it was time to be off; but our host would not allow us, and insisted that after the rest of the guests were gone, we should stop to have some supper. During the meal, Mynheer Von Kniper introduced the subject of drawing, and telling me that he longed to have all the scenes of whale catching and killing fully illustrated, asked if I would undertake to do a set of drawings for him on that subject. I could not refuse to do as he wished, after all the civilities he had shown me; so I told him that I should be very happy; but he then gently hinted that he wished me to undertake the task as a regular commission, and he begged that I would put what price I thought fit on my productions. I have made up my mind, at all events, to do them. I think every man has a perfect right to make a profit of his talents, especially if he requires money. I do not. I have now got a profession—a right noble one too! I am now a more independent man than had I been toiling on for years at a desk, or dancing attendance in some great man’s ante-chamber for some of the patronage he may have to bestow. You think that I have benefited you by teaching you to read and write. Now, in reality, I have merely given you the implements of a trade—the means of gaining knowledge. You have given me knowledge—you have taught me a trade itself. Therefore, Williams, you see that I am still your debtor.”

For some time he talked on in this strain. I clearly saw that he was pleased with the attention shown him, in spite of his belief to the contrary. I would not for one moment exhibit Newman as an example, or hold him up as a fine character. He had very great faults and many weaknesses. I do not know that he had strength of character. He had an independent spirit in some respects, a clear perception, and considerable talent. His greatly superior education raised him much above the associates among whom he had thrown himself.

Soon after this the ship was ready for sea, and as we had not above a couple of hundred barrels to fill, we hoped soon to be on our homeward voyage. It was the winter season, and we were bound for the coast of Japan. We were, however, several months before we got a full ship; and then, with joyful hearts to most on board, we once more made sail for Old England.

During all the time, Newman was busily employed in finishing up the sketches of whale catching, and very beautiful productions they were. Nothing could be more correct or truth-like. Very different they were, indeed, from the drawings I have since often seen, where the whale has had its flukes put on the wrong way, and boats are represented as being tossed high up in the air, some thirty feet, at least, and broken in two, while the crews are seen tumbling down like snowflakes, with arms and legs sprawling out right over the whale. I have seen many a boat smashed, but never one sent up in that fashion into the air. Newman was anxious to send these sketches to Mynheer Von Kniper; but as no opportunity occurred, he was afraid that he would be compelled to wait till another voyage to present them himself. Captain Carr promised, as soon as the ship could be refitted, to return on another voyage to those seas.

We had a quick passage home. I remained, as I had often before done, to look after the ship. Newman, when he had received his share of profits, which was very considerable, went on shore. What became of him I do not know. Not seeing anything of him, I was afraid that he was not going to return. Something there evidently was very mysterious about his history. I had a great desire to discover it; still, I saw no chance of doing so.

Hitherto I had always squandered away my money in the most foolish manner. I now got Captain Carr to invest some of it for me, and, retaining a little for pocket-money, with the rest I purchased the best books I could find, and other articles which I thought likely to be useful to me in a three years’ voyage. At last the ship was ready again for sea. Tom Knowles and most of the other old hands had joined; for, being wise men, when they had found a good captain they liked to stick by him. We hauled out into the stream; but still, greatly to my disappointment, Newman did not appear.

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