CHAPTER XX.
NEW GUINEA.
Armed Boats sent on Shore.—Treacherous Attack of the Natives.—A Soldier killed.—Cowardly Conduct of the Officers in Charge of the Watering-Party.—The Author personally visits the Bay.—Causes of the Barbarism of the Natives of New Guinea.—Faithless and arbitrary Conduct of the Ceramese.—Profitable Nature of the Trade.—Departure from New Guinea.
Armed Boats sent on Shore.—Treacherous Attack of the Natives.—A Soldier killed.—Cowardly Conduct of the Officers in Charge of the Watering-Party.—The Author personally visits the Bay.—Causes of the Barbarism of the Natives of New Guinea.—Faithless and arbitrary Conduct of the Ceramese.—Profitable Nature of the Trade.—Departure from New Guinea.
Thefriendly meeting with the chiefs, coupled with the assurances of the interpreters, who had been in the habit of making yearly visits to the coast, determined me to obtain here a supply of water, this necessary of life having become scarce on board. On the morning of the 20th, therefore, I caused the empty casks to be put into the tender, which was armed with a one-pounder gun, and manned with an European warrant-officer and a seaman, eighteen rowers, and a corporal with sixsoldiers. The chief command was given to a midshipman, who, with six European and four native seamen, went in the jolly-boat in company with the tender.
The command of the armed party, who were to cover the waterers, was entrusted to the corporal, who had been highly recommended to me at Amboyna, and to whom I gave a written order to guide his proceedings. As I wished to superintend the watering in person, and also to visit the village, I caused another of the boats to be lowered, and sent, in the first place, to examine the depth of water to the north-east and north-west, the result proving the impossibility of approaching nearer to the land with the brig. An affection in the chest, with which I had been afflicted since my voyage to the Bay of Boni, being more than usually troublesome in the morning, forced me, however, to defer my visit to the afternoon.
About noon, hearing guns fired on shore, I sent an officer with an armed boat to enquire the cause, furnishing them with ammunition for the tender. When close to the island he encountered the boats returning, and remarked that great disorder prevailed among their crews, three of thenumber being badly wounded. They stated that all their cartridges being wet, and some of the soldiers having thrown away their arms, they had nothing remaining with which they could defend themselves. Although the officer sent to their assistance had with him a dozen good muskets, and cartridges both for them and for the small cannon, he thought it best to return on board, which I did not regret when I heard of the events that had occurred. It appeared that our people met with a friendly reception from the Papuas, who showed them the watering-place, while those who had visited the brig the previous night brought them presents of cocoa-nuts andsagoweer, or palm wine. On his first arrival the midshipman made arrangements according to his instructions, and had scarcely finished filling his casks in readiness to be put on board the tender, when the natives suddenly attacked our party with a shower of spears and arrows. The Javanese seamen, who had been stupid enough to leave their arms behind them, immediately left the water casks, and fled towards the tender, while the corporal, who should have been the last to retreat, left his post at the first shout of the Papuas, and throwing away his musket and sword, followed their example.The Javanese Mandor,[49]however, took up the musket and fired it at the attackers. The shameful flight of the corporal created great confusion among the covering party, to whom the former cried out that they were to follow him, which they did, after making a short stand. The Papuas naturally acquired fresh courage on seeing this, and fell on the hindmost, whom they could easily wound as they fled, while little opposition could be made on our side, as the tender had already shoved off, and the muskets of the people in the boat had become useless from their being wetted as their owners waded on board.
The soldiers and seamen made heavy complaints against the corporal, to whose cowardice the unfortunate result of the affair was to be attributed, he having caused the greatest confusion by cutting the grapnel rope of the tender, and shoving her off. Concerning the conduct of the midshipman I would rather be silent. On subsequent examination I discovered, alas! that my orders had not been followed, and that some had thoughtmore of amusing themselves than of executing the duty on which they had been sent.
At the commencement of the attack, H. Smit, a seaman who was sentry at the well, was wounded by two spears, and Ziengo, a soldier, who had stoutly maintained his post, was dreadfully injured, being pierced with no less than two-and-twenty wounds; while another of the seamen, Van Grieken, was wounded slightly by an arrow in the shin-bone. The courageous Ziengo died immediately after his arrival on board, while under the hands of the doctor.
Several small casks, a couple of muskets, some cartridge-boxes, and a quantity of clothing, having been left on shore, I determined to send the tender (into which a carronade had now been placed) and an armed boat to bring them off, and to efface the shame which our people had brought upon them. Being still too unwell to leave the brig, I entrusted the command of the boats to one of the officers, with orders to obtain the last articles if possible; but should circumstances render this unadvisable, he was to keep the natives in check during the night, and await my arrival in the morning with additional force. A strong easterly wind, accompaniedby heavy showers of rain, prevented them, however, from reaching the island; and at daylight the signal for their return to the brig was made, and they came alongside. The carronade was now taken out of the tender, and two one-pounder guns placed on board her in its stead, when we stood towards the island, the tender and the boat carrying in all thirty men. We soon reached the shore, when the spot on which the encounter had taken place was pointed out to me. I landed with a portion of the men, and reached the thick forest that bounded the path to the well, this being about a pistol-shot distant from the beach. Every thing that our party left on shore was found, but several of the casks were in pieces. Much blood was seen scattered about, especially near the well, where the natives had probably washed their wounds.
From the information I could collect concerning this unfortunate occurrence, it appeared that the Papuas, who were probably unacquainted with the deadly effect of our weapons, attacked our people in great numbers when the latter were off their guard, and probably without arms.[50]Several shots werefired at them from the muskets, and from the one-pounder loaded with grape-shot, which must have done great execution. The courageous Javanese Mandor, who had remained ashore with the jolly-boat for some time after the midshipman had retreated with the tender, in order to bring off the wounded men, had kept up a constant fire at the natives with two muskets, and declared that he had seen three fall, who were carried into the forest by their companions. The unfortunate soldier, Ziengo, had been set upon by a number at once, and had received the most deadly of his numerous wounds from an axe that had been thrown away by some of our party. The natives would not have left him but for the continued fire from the jolly-boat. Notwithstanding the superior numbers of the natives, our people would never have been routed had they been on their guard. Unfortunately, my orders were not followed, and they separated from each other, thinking more of amusing themselves by bathing and walking, than of preparing against attack, which gave the natives an opportunity of fallingupon them unawares, and had the latter known how to avail themselves of the confusion they had created, our loss must have been much greater than it was. The conduct of my countrymen grieved me deeply.
At the watering-place we could find no traces of people having been there since the previous night. The arms that had been thrown away, and the clothes left by the bathers, remained untouched. The ground, from the beach to the forest, was strewed with arrows and spears, among which were two intended for striking fish; these were provided with iron points, but the others were merely bamboos, the ends of which had been pointed and hardened in the fire. The arrows had wooden points and barbs; the bows, by which they were discharged, being formed merely of a bamboo-stick with a string of rattan. The force with which these arrows were shot was so small, that even from a short distance they scarcely did more than penetrate the clothes of our people, many of whom found the wooden points of the arrows sticking in their garments after the affair was over.
As the cocoa-nut trees are not numerous on the coast, while their produce forms an indispensablearticle of subsistence, I caused those scattered along the coast to be cut down, partly to show that we had not been driven away by fear, and partly to deter them from committing similar misdeeds in future. The interpreters assured me this would be a severe chastisement, and that they were in the habit of killing the relatives of those who injured the cocoa-nut trees.
We now went further into the bay to Kayu Merah, and pulled down some huts we found standing at the bottom of the heights, immediately behind the island. Men were occasionally seen, who took flight on our approach, and climbed into the trees, the better to observe our motions. Having rowed round the bay without meeting with any occurrence we turned towards the brig, on which a number of the natives made their appearance on the beach, who took flight, however, when we turned the boats' heads to the shore.
The treacherous conduct of the Ceramese cannot be sufficiently reprehended. It was related to me, and I afterwards had evidence of its truth, that these people, on their arrival with their prahus at New Guinea, endeavoured to picka quarrel with the natives. If the Ceramese Raja has two or three men killed, it will be of little consequence, as they will probably be Papua slaves, and even if the natives take and plunder one of his vessels the loss will still be trifling. The Raja will be rejoiced at having an excuse for chastising the natives, and will not only attack and plunder the village, but also catch as many of the inhabitants as he can, whom he will carry away, under the plea of taking satisfaction for the injury that has been done to his people. Similar transactions occur but too often.
Be this as it may, it grieved me deeply to meet with so unfavourable a reception, as I had so anxiously wished to bring these people under our Government, and to show them, by the distribution of presents, that we entertained none but the most peaceable and friendly intentions towards them. Their barbarism is mainly to be attributed to the sinister dealings of the Ceramese, who, to retain their exclusive trade with the coast, inspire them with hatred and aversion to all foreigners but themselves. Until the rapacious and inhuman people of Kilwari, Keffing, and the Goram Islands are stopped in their arbitrary career, and are taught in an impressive manner to pay a proper respect tothe Dutch Government, the coast of New Guinea will never be available to us for commercial purposes. Traders would gladly visit these parts could they do so with safety, for the productions, as massoy-bark, nutmegs, trepang, tortoise-shell, pearls, edible birds'-nests, birds of paradise, and other articles of value, would support an important commerce. The quantity of these rich productions purchased by the Ceramese on the coast for an almost nominal price, and carried by them to Bali and Singapore, is incredible. It may appear surprising that under these circumstances the Ceramese are not in a more flourishing state, but it must be taken into consideration that a restless people, constantly at war, do not hoard their riches, but squander it in leading a luxurious life. I have often been assured that traders, who have left their homes with a valuable cargo, have returned without sufficient property to pay their men, the whole having been lost by gambling, or similar modes of getting rid of wealth.
The people of Kilwari visit the bay of Lakahia regularly once or twice a year, with coarse white calico, arrack, tobacco, iron ware, &c., to give in exchange for the productions of the country. The natives of this part of the coast bearmuch resemblance in stature and complexion to those of the easternmost of the Arrus. According to the account of the interpreters they lead a wild and idle life.
The east monsoon now drawing to a close rendered it inadvisable to trace the coast to the westward, which should be examined during the other season; for the coast lies open to the southerly winds, while the steep nature of the shore affords but insecure anchorage. My opinions on this point were confirmed by those of intelligent natives.
As one of the principal objects of the present expedition was to visit the Tenimber Islands, so important to the native trade, during the return voyage, (while, were I to remain longer on the coast of New Guinea, this could not be effected,) I determined to take my departure, being encouraged in my decision by having already fulfilled, to the best of my power, the instructions furnished me by the Government, and at the same time being convinced that the coast to the eastward of the spot where we found ourselves was not visited by foreign traders.
FOOTNOTES:[49]The Mandor is the head of the native seamen on board ships navigating these seas, his duties according somewhat with those of boatswains of European ships, but from various causes their authority and responsibility are greater than those of the latter.—Translator.[50]When the Dutch corvetteTritonfounded the settlement in the adjacent harbour two years subsequently to this occurrence, the Raja of Lakahia stated, that his people had not attacked the Dutch until the latter had commenced cutting down a cocoa-nut-tree.—Translator.
[49]The Mandor is the head of the native seamen on board ships navigating these seas, his duties according somewhat with those of boatswains of European ships, but from various causes their authority and responsibility are greater than those of the latter.—Translator.
[49]The Mandor is the head of the native seamen on board ships navigating these seas, his duties according somewhat with those of boatswains of European ships, but from various causes their authority and responsibility are greater than those of the latter.—Translator.
[50]When the Dutch corvetteTritonfounded the settlement in the adjacent harbour two years subsequently to this occurrence, the Raja of Lakahia stated, that his people had not attacked the Dutch until the latter had commenced cutting down a cocoa-nut-tree.—Translator.
[50]When the Dutch corvetteTritonfounded the settlement in the adjacent harbour two years subsequently to this occurrence, the Raja of Lakahia stated, that his people had not attacked the Dutch until the latter had commenced cutting down a cocoa-nut-tree.—Translator.