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diff --git a/38462.txt b/38462.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b531560 --- /dev/null +++ b/38462.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16671 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the +Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara, Volume II, by Karl Ritter von Scherzer + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara, Volume II + (Commodore B. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair,) Undertaken by Order + of the Imperial Government in the Years 1857, 1858, & 1859, + Under the Immediate Auspices of His I. and R. Highness the + Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, Commander-In-Chief of the + Austrian Navy. + +Author: Karl Ritter von Scherzer + +Release Date: January 1, 2012 [EBook #38462] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AUSTRIAN FRIGATE NOVARA, VOL II *** + + + + +Produced by Thorsten Kontowski, Henry Gardiner and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net +(This file made from scans of public domain material at +Austrian Literature Online.) + + + + + + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Note: The original publication has been replicated +faithfully except as shown in the List Of Corrections at the end of the +text. Words in italics are indicated like _this_. Footnotes are located +near the end of each chapter. [oe] represents the oe ligature. + + * * * * * + + + + + NARRATIVE + OF THE + Circumnavigation of the Globe + BY THE AUSTRIAN FRIGATE + NOVARA, + + (COMMODORE B. VON WULLERSTORF-URBAIR,) + _Undertaken by Order of the Imperial Government_, + + IN THE YEARS 1857, 1858, & 1859, + + UNDER THE IMMEDIATE AUSPICES OF HIS I. AND R. HIGHNESS + THE ARCHDUKE FERDINAND MAXIMILIAN, + COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE AUSTRIAN NAVY. + + BY + DR. KARL SCHERZER, + + MEMBER OF THE EXPEDITION, AUTHOR OF "TRAVELS IN CENTRAL AMERICA," ETC. + + VOL. II. + + [Illustration] + + LONDON: + _SAUNDERS, OTLEY, AND CO._, + 66, BROOK STREET, HANOVER SQUARE. + 1862. + + [THE RIGHT OF TRANSLATION IS RESERVED.] + + + JOHN CHILDS AND SON, PRINTERS. + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + CHAPTER X. + + THE NICOBAR ISLANDS. + + Historical details respecting this Archipelago.--Arrival at + Kar-Nicobar.--Communication with the Aborigines.--Village of + Saoui and "Captain John."--Meet with two white men.--Journey to + the south side of the Island.--Village of Komios.--Forest + Scenery.--Batte-Malve.--Tillangschong.--Arrival and stay at + Nangkauri Harbour.--Village of Itoe.--Peak Mongkata on Kamorta.-- + Villages of Enuang and Malacca.--Tripjet, the first settlement + of the Moravian Brothers.--Ulala Cove.--Voyage through the + Archipelago.--The Island of Treis.--Pulo Miu.--Pandanus Forest.-- + St. George's Channel.--Island of Kondul.--Departure for the + northern coast of Great Nicobar.--Mangrove Swamp.--Malay + traders.--Remarks upon the natives of Great Nicobar.--Disaster + to a boat dispatched to make Geodetical observations.--Visit to + the Southern Bay of Great Nicobar.--General results obtained + during the stay of the Expedition in this Archipelago.-- + Nautical, Climatic, and Geognostic observations.--Vegetation.-- + Animal Life.--Ethnography.--Prospects of this group of Islands + in the way of settlement and cultivation.--Voyage to the Straits + of Malacca.--Arrival at Singapore. 1 + + + CHAPTER XI. + + SINGAPORE. + + Position of the Island.--Its previous history.--Sir Stamford + Raffles' propositions to make it a port of the British + Government free to all sea-faring nations.--The Island becomes + part of the Crown property of England.--Extraordinary + development under the auspices of a Free Trade policy.--Our + stay shortened in consequence of the severity of the cholera.-- + Description of the city.--Tigers.--Gambir.--The Betel + plantations.--Inhabitants.--Chinese and European labour.-- + Climate.--Diamond merchants.--Preparation of Pearl Sago.--Opium + farms.--Opium manufacture.--Opium-smokers.--Intellectual + activity.--Journalism.--Logan's "Journal of the Indian + Archipelago."--School for Malay children.--Judicial procedure.-- + Visit to the penal settlement for coloured criminals.--A Chinese + provision-merchant at business and at home.--Fatal accident on + board.--Departure from Singapore.--Difficulty in passing through + Gaspar Straits.--Sporadic outbreak of cholera on board.--Death + of one of the ship's boys.--First burial at sea.--Sea-snakes.-- + Arrival in the Roads of Batavia. 137 + + + CHAPTER XII. + + JAVA. + + Old and New Batavia.--Splendid reception.--Scientific + societies.--Public institutions.--Natives.--A Malay embassy.-- + Excursion into the interior.--Buitenzorg.--The Botanic Garden.-- + The Negro.--Prince Aquasie Boachi.--Pondok-Gedeh.--The infirmary + at Gadok, and Dr. Bernstein.--Megamendoeng.--Javanese villages.-- + Tjipannas.--Ascent of Pangerango.--Forest scenery.--Javanese + resting-houses or Pasanggrahans.--Night and morning on the + summit of the volcano.--Visit to Gunung Gedeh.--The plantations + of Peruvian bark-trees in Tjipodas.--Their actual condition.-- + Conjectures as to the future.--Voyage to Bandong.--Spots where + edible swallows' nests are found.--Hospitable reception by a + Javanese prince.--Visit to Dr. Junghuhn in Lembang.--Coffee + cultivation.--Decay in value of the coffee bean of Java.-- + Professor Vriese and the coffee planters of Java.--Free trade + and monopoly.--Compulsory and free labour.--Ascent of the + volcano of Tangkuban Prahu.--Poison Crater and King's Crater.--A + geological excursion to a portion of the Preanger Regency.-- + Native fete given by the Javanese Regent of Tjiangoer.--A day at + the Governor-general's country-seat at Buitenzorg.--Return to + Batavia.--Ball given by the military club in honour of the + Novara.--Raden Saleh, a Javanese artist.--Barracks and prisons.-- + Meester Cornelis.--French opera.--Constant changes among the + European society.--Aims of the colonial government.--Departure + from Batavia.--Pleasant voyage.--An English ship with Chinese + Coolies.--Bay of Manila.--Arrival in Cavite harbour. 180 + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + MANILA. + + Historical notes relating to the Philippines.--From Cavite to + Manila.--The river Pasig.--First impressions of the city.--Its + inhabitants.--Tagales and Negritoes.--Preponderating influence + of monks.--Visit to the four chief monasteries.--Conversation + with an Augustine Monk.--Grammars and Dictionaries of the idioms + chiefly in use in Manila.--Reception by the Governor-general of + the Philippines.--Monument in honour of Magelhaens.--The + "Calzada."--Cock-fighting.--"Fiestas Reales."--Causes of + the languid trade with Europe hitherto.--Visit to the + Cigar-manufactories.--Tobacco cultivation in Luzon and at the + Havanna.--Abaca, or Manila hemp.--Excursion to the "Laguna de + Bay."--A row on the river Pasig.--The village of Patero.-- + Wild-duck breeding.--Sail on the Lagoon.--Plans for + canalization.--Arrival at Los Banos.--Canoe-trip on the + "enchanted sea."--Alligators.--Kalong Bats.--Gobernador and + Gobernadorcillo.--The Poll-tax.--A hunt in the swamps of + Calamba.--Padre Lorenzo.--Return to Manila.--The "Pebete."--The + military Library.--The civil and military Hospital.-- + Ecclesiastical processions.--Ave Maria.--Tagalian merriness.-- + Condiman.--Lunatic Asylum.--Gigantic serpent thirty-two years + old.--Departure.--Chinese pilots.--First glimpse of the coasts + of the Celestial Empire.--The Lemmas Channel.--Arrival in + Hong-kong Harbour. 281 + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + HONG-KONG. + + Rapid increase of the colony of Victoria or Hong-kong.-- + Disagreeables.--Public character.--The Comprador, or + "factotum."--A Chinese fortune-teller.--Curiosity-stalls.--The + To-stone.--Pictures on so-called "rice-paper."--Canton English.-- + Notices on the Chinese language and mode of writing.-- + Manufacture of ink.--Hospitality of German missionaries.--The + custom of exposing and murdering female children.--Method of + dwarfing the female foot.--Sir John Bowring.--Branch Institute + of the Royal Asiatic Society.--An ecclesiastical dignitary on + the study of natural sciences.--The Chinese in the East Indies.-- + Green indigo or Lu-Kao.--Kind reception by German countrymen.-- + Anthropometrical measurements.--Ramble to Little Hong-kong.-- + Excursion to Canton on board H.M. gun-boat _Algerine_.--A day at + the English head-quarters.--The Treaty of Tien-Tsin.--Visit to + the Portuguese settlement of Macao.--Herr von Carlowitz.-- + Camoens' Grotto.--Church for Protestants.--Pagoda Makok.--Dr. + Kane.--Present position of the colony.--Slave-trade revived + under the name of Chinese emigration.--Excursions round Macao.-- + The Isthmus.--Chinese graves.--Praya Granite.--A Chinese + physician.--Singing stones.--Departure.--Gutzlaff's Island.-- + Voyage up the Yang-tse-Kiang.--Wusung.--Arrival at Shanghai. 355 + + + CHAPTER XV. + + SHANGHAI. + + A stroll through the old Chinese quarter.--Book-stalls.--Public + Baths.--Chinese Pawnbrokers.--Foundling hospital.--The Hall of + Universal Benevolence.--Sacrificial Hall of Medical Faculty.-- + City prison.--Temple of the Goddess of the Sea.--Chinese + taverns.--Tea-garden.--Temple of Buddha.--Temple of Confucius.-- + Taouist convent.--Chinese nuns.--An apothecary's store, and what + is sold therein.--Public schools.--Christian places of worship.-- + Native industry.--Cenotaphs to the memory of beneficent + females.--A Chinese patrician family.--The villas of the foreign + merchants.--Activity of the London Missionary Society.--Dr. + Hobson.--Chinese medical works.--Leprosy.--The American + Missionary Society.--Dr. Bridgman.--Main-tze tribe.--Mission + schools for Chinese boys and girls.--The North China branch of + the Royal Asiatic Society.--Meeting in honour of the Members of + the _Novara_ Expedition.--Mons. de Montigny.--Baron Gros.-- + Interview with the Tau-Tai, or chief Chinese official of the + city.--The Jesuit mission at Sikkawei.--The Pagoda of Long-Sah.-- + A Chinese dinner.--Serenade by the German singing-club.--The + Germans in China.--Influence of the Treaties of Tien-Tsin and + Pekin upon commerce.--Silk.--Tea.--The Chinese sugar-cane.-- + Various species of Bamboos employed in the manufacture of + paper.--The varnish tree.--The tallow tree.--The wax-tree.-- + Mosquito tobacco.--Articles of import.--Opium.--The Tai-ping + rebels.--Departure from Shanghai.--A typhoon in the China sea.-- + Sight the island of Puynipet in the Caroline Archipelago. 416 + + + CHAPTER XVI. + + THE ISLAND OF PUYNIPET. + + Native boats in sight.--A pilot comes on board--Communications + of a white settler.--Another pilot.--Fruitless attempts to tack + for the island.--Roankiddi Harbour.--Extreme difficulty in + effecting a landing with the boats.--Settlement of Rei.--Dr. + Cook.--Stroll through the forest.--Excursions up the Roankiddi + River.--American missionaries.--Visit from the king of the + Roankiddi tribe.--Kawa as a beverage.--Interior of the royal + abode.--The Queen.--Mode of living, habits and customs of the + natives.--Their religion and mode of worship.--Their festivals + and dances.--Ancient monumental records and their probable + origin.--Importance of these in both a historical and geological + point of view.--Return on board.--Suspicious conduct of the + white settler.--An asylum for contented delinquents.--Under + weigh for Australia.--Belt of calms.--Simpson Island.--"It must + be a ghost!"--Bradley Reef.--A Comet.--The Solomon Islands.-- + Rencontre with the natives of Malayta.--In sight of Sikayana. 551 + + + CHAPTER XVII. + + THE CORAL ISLAND OF SIKAYANA. + + Natives on board.--Good prospects of fresh provisions.--An + interment on board.--A night scene.--Visit to the Island + Group.--Faole.--Trip ashore to Sikayana.--Narrative of an + English sailor.--Cruelty of merchantmen in the South Sea + Islands.--Tradition as to the origin of the inhabitants of + Sikayana.--A king.--Barter.--Religion of the natives.--Trepang.-- + Method of preparing this sea-slug for the Chinese market.-- + Dictionary of the native language.--Under sail.--Ile de + Contrariete.--Stormy weather.--Spring a leak.--Bampton Reef.-- + Smoky Cape.--Arrival in Port Jackson, the harbour of Sydney. 601 + + + + + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + VOL. II. + + + PAGE + + 1. A Landscape in the Nicobar Islands 1 + + 2. A Forest Scene in Singapore 137 + + 3. A Chinese Counting Board 170 + + 4. Javanese Weapons 180 + + 5. The Seal of Union of the Brotherhood + of the Heavens and the Earth 197 + + 6. Javanese Bee-hive 213 + + 7. View from the Battlements at Manila 281 + + 8. Life in Hong-kong 355 + + 9. Flower Boat on the Wusung at Shanghai 416 + + 10. Distant View of the Island of Puynipet 551 + + 11. Barrier Reef and Atoll of Sikayana 601 + + + [Illustration: A Landscape in the Nicobar Islands.] + + + + + X. + + The Nicobar Islands. + + Stay from 23rd February to 26th March, 1858. + + Historical details respecting this Archipelago.--Arrival at + Kar-Nicobar.--Communication with the Aborigines.--Village of + Saoui and "Captain John."--Meet with two white men.--Journey to + the south side of the island.--Village of Komios.--Forest + Scenery.--Batte-Malve.--Tillangschong.--Arrival and stay at + Nangkauri Harbour.--Village of Itoe.--Peak Mongkata on Kamorta.-- + Villages of Enuang and Malacca.--Tripjet, the first settlement + of the Moravian Brothers.--Ulala Cove.--Voyage through the + Archipelago.--The Island of Treis.--Pulo Milu--Pandanus Forest.-- + St. George's Channel.--Island of Kondul.--Departure for the + northern coast of Great Nicobar.--Mangrove Swamp.--Malay + traders.--Remarks upon the natives of Great Nicobar.--Disaster + to a boat dispatched to make Geodetical observations.--Visit to + the Southern Bay of Great Nicobar.--General results obtained + during the stay of the Expedition in this Archipelago.-- + Nautical, Climatic, and Geognostic observations.--Vegetation.-- + Animal Life.--Ethnography.--Prospects of this group of Islands + in the way of settlement and cultivation.--Voyage to the Straits + of Malacca.--Arrival at Singapore. + + +The earliest visitants of whom we have any certain information to this +cluster of islands (situated in the Bay of Bengal, between 6 deg. 50' and 9 deg. +10' N., and 93 deg. and 94 deg. E.), appear to have been Arabian traders, who, on +their voyages to Southern China, landed on these islands, then known as +Megabalu and Legabalu, on the first occasion in 851, and on the second in +877 of the Christian era. Abu-Zeyd-Hassan, one of these adventurers, gave +a circumstantial account of these voyages, which has been translated into +French, and published by Eusebius Renaudot.[1] + +After the Cape of Good Hope was doubled in 1497, the Nicobars were chiefly +frequented by voyagers in East Indian seas, but without any such visits +having in the least contributed to enlarge our information respecting a +group so important by geographical position. + +In 1602, Captain Lancaster, commander of an English ship, passed ten days +on the Nicobars, during which he hardly visited the southern islands, +Great and Little Nicobar, but kept to the small island of Sombrero, of the +northern cluster, now called Bampoka. He there found trees of such +circumference and height, as would serve for the construction of the +largest ships. Towards the middle of the seventeenth century, Koeping, a +Swede, made his appearance at the Nicobars. Happening to be on board a +Dutch vessel, which touched in 1647 at one of the islands, he thought he +perceived among the inhabitants certain men furnished with caudal +appendages, whereas it was their peculiar clothing, which consists of a +long narrow piece of woven stuff, wound round the body and then left to +hang loosely, which gave rise to such a report. With the arrival in Indian +waters of Dampier, that daring but most trustworthy of navigators, the +information respecting these islands first becomes more definite. He +landed in the north-western Bay of the largest of these, to which he +assigned the latitude 7 deg. 30' N., and gave a most extensive narrative of +his adventurous career from the moment he abandoned the corsair-craft he +had brought from Europe to seek for assistance on the Nicobars, to the +period when, after braving a tremendous storm in a canoe, along with seven +of his companions in misfortune he landed half dead on the northernmost +point of Sumatra about 1706. + +In 1708, Captain Owen, another English shipmaster, paid an involuntary +visit to this Archipelago, his ship having been stranded on the +uninhabited island of Tillangschong, whence he escaped with his crew to +the islands Ning and Souri, only four miles to the westward, apparently +what is now known as Nangkauri. For the first time history now records an +outrage of which the natives were guilty towards the strangers. + +It would appear that the captain, after having experienced an exceedingly +friendly reception, laid down his knife, upon which one of the islanders, +very possibly out of curiosity, laid hold of it, pushed the owner aside, +and ultimately possessed himself of the knife. On the following day, as +Owen was taking his mid-day meal under a tree, he was set upon and killed +by several of the natives, who shot him down with their arrows; on the +other hand the crew, consisting of sixteen persons, were furnished with +canoes and provisions, so that without experiencing any further +ill-treatment they were so fortunate as to reach Junkseilan. + +The first essay towards a settlement of the Nicobar Islands was made by +the Jesuits in 1711, upon the most northerly island of the group, +Kar-Nicobar. They succumbed however to the noxious influences of the +climate, and the few neophytes speedily sank back into heathendom. + +The second attempt at colonization by Europeans took place in 1756, when +Lieutenant Tanck, a Dane, after taking possession of the entire group in +the name of his sovereign, the King of Denmark, named the islands +"_Frederiks Oerne_" (Frederick Islands), and founded the first colony on +the northern side of Great Nicobar, or Sambellong. In the year 1760 this +was transferred by the followers of Tanck to the island of Kamorta, but +here too after a short time the experiment failed, owing to the +unhealthiness of the climate. + +In 1766, fourteen Moravian Brethren were settled on Nangkauri, with the +view of extending the influence of the Danish East India Company. The want +of information respecting the necessary conditions under which this colony +was called into existence, was in all probability the cause of its speedy +declension. Within less than two decades the majority of these settlers +had fallen under the baneful influence of the climate. + +On 1st April, 1778, the Austrian vessel _Joseph and Theresa_, commanded +by Captain Bennet, landed on the N.E. side of Kar-Nicobar, or New Denmark. +This vessel had been commissioned by the Imperial Government to select, in +the name of H.M. Joseph II., Austrian plantations and commercial stations +on the farther side of the Cape of Good Hope. Of this remarkable +expedition nothing more has been handed down to us than is related by +excellent Nicolas Fontana, who accompanied the expedition as surgeon, in +his book of travels, which was published at Leipzig in 1782.[2] + +Neither the libraries nor the archives of the empire seem capable of +furnishing more definite information respecting this interesting +undertaking. However, on the other hand, through the kind offices of +H.I.H. the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian with the Government of H.M. the +King of the Belgians, there have been found in the Royal Archives at +Brussels several highly important documents, bearing upon this expedition, +of which M. Gachard, keeper of the State Archives in that country, had the +kindness to furnish us with copies; and while we propose in the following +remarks to avail ourselves of the most interesting data, the more +particular consideration of this circumstance, so interesting in the +history of the development of our trade, will be deferred till the +appearance of the commercial section of the Novara publications. + +A Dutchman, named William Bolts, formerly in the service of the British +East India Company, in the year 1774 made to Count Belgiojoso, at that +period Ambassador in London of the Empress Maria Theresa, proposals for +direct commercial intercourse between the Netherlands and Trieste and +Persia, the East Indies, China, and Africa, with the object of supplying +the harbours of the Austrian dominions with the products of India and +China, without the costly intervention of other countries. This +proposition having been brought under the notice of the Imperial +Chancellor, Prince Kaunitz, at Vienna, was so cordially received by that +minister, that Bolts received an invitation to present himself at the +Empress's palace, in order to develope his plans more fully in person in +that august presence. Bolts arrived in Vienna in April, 1775, and very +shortly afterwards was invested by the Empress with all the requisite +privileges for facilitating the prosecution of his great project. The +imperial officials at Trieste were entrusted with the equipment and arming +of the vessel, the supreme military council were required to provide the +necessary pay for the soldiers and subaltern officers, and Bolts by +special commission was formally empowered in the name of the Empress +Queen, as also in that of her successors upon the throne, to take +possession of all the territories which he might succeed in getting ceded +by the princes of India, for the behoof of such of Her Imperial Majesty's +subjects as should purpose trading with the Indies. + +It was the wish of the Government that the first expedition should take +its departure from Trieste; Bolts however opposed this, for the reason +that his vessel must take part of its lading from London, but declared +himself prepared to make the most strenuous efforts to found a mercantile +house in Trieste, and to take such precautions as should result in the +second and all future expeditions being dispatched from Trieste. + +Bolts hereupon first proceeded to Amsterdam with his newly acquired +privileges, and thence to London, as yet without being more fortunate in +his attempt to set on foot the proposed association in the one locality +than in the other. At last, at Antwerp in the Netherlands, he succeeded in +interesting in his project a certain Baron von Proli, and two merchants, +by the name of Borrekens and Naegeles, and with these three persons he +entered into a contract of association, on 20th Sept. 1775. At the same +time a fund of L90,000 was raised for the armament of a second trading +vessel to the East Indies and China, and out of the same amount to +establish a mercantile house in Trieste. + +In possession of L25,000 sterling, which he had procured from his +associates, Bolts proceeded to London, where he purchased a vessel, which +he named the _Joseph and Theresa_, put a portion of her cargo on board, +and on 14th March, 1776, set sail thence for Leghorn. Here certain +articles were to be taken on board, which the Government had promised to +have ready, and which consisted of copper, iron, steel, and tools. Before +Bolts left harbour on his voyage to the Indies he was invested by the +Empress with the grade of Lieutenant-Colonel in their service, and for the +better prosecution of his objects was provided by the State Chancery with +comprehensive powers,[3] and a pass for barbarous countries, called a +"_Scontrino_."[4] The Empress at the same time provided the daring +adventurer with letters of introduction under her own hand to the Emperor +of China, the "King" of Persia, and the Indian satraps whose dominions he +was to visit. + +Baron Proli, one of the chief partners, went first of all to Vienna, and +thence to Leghorn, and concluded an agreement with Bolts to dispatch a +ship to the Indies in each of the years 1777, 1778, 1779, the cargoes of +which should be worth at least L30,000 each, while Bolts, on his part, +engaged to remain in the Indies three and a half years from the day of his +departure, there to found factories, and to lay out to the best advantage +the money realized by the sale of the merchandise consigned to him. The +Empress Maria Theresa rewarded Proli for services already rendered, as +also for those which he undertook to perform in the establishment of +trading-exchanges in Trieste and Bruges, for the support of the oversea +commerce of the Austrian and Belgian provinces, by raising him to the +dignity of Count. + +The ship _Joseph and Theresa_, bound for the east coast of Africa, as also +for the shores of Malabar, Coromandel, and Bengal, set sail from Leghorn +in September, 1776, with a crew of 155 men. Unfavourable winds compelled +Bolts to make the Brazilian coast, in order to take in fresh stores. +Thence he lay a course for Delagoa Bay, on the S.E. coast of Africa, +opposite the island of Madagascar, on which, on 30th March, 1777, he was +so unfortunate as to get stranded, when he was compelled to start a +portion of his cargo overboard. Bolts, however, turned to excellent +account his stay on this coast, having purchased from two African kings, +named Mohaar Capell, and Chibauraan Matola, a site of ground on both banks +of the river Masoumo, and, at a total expenditure of 126,267 florins +(about L12,600), in which was included the cost of constructing the +necessary vessels, founded a factory, for whose protection he also erected +two small forts, which he furnished with cannon, and named after his two +illustrious patrons, Joseph and Theresa. + +After a more protracted stay on the coast of Malabar, where he purchased +from the Nabob, the celebrated Hyder Ali Khan, a number of plots of +ground in the vicinity of Mangalore, Carwar, and Balliapatam, the very +centre of the pepper trade, and erected a factory at an expense of 28,074 +florins (L2800), this enterprising man set sail for the Coromandel Coast +and the Bay of Bengal, and about the commencement of 1778 visited the +Nicobar Islands, in order there also to found a factory. Unfortunately, of +this visit there nowhere survive any detailed particulars, and the only +document extant under Bolts' hand, which can throw any light on the +subject, is a statement of the expenditure incurred in erecting a fort on +the Nicobars, which, together with the purchase of a _goelette_, and a +snow, or two-masted vessel, for the coasting trade between Madras, Pegu, +and the group of islands, amounted to 47,659 fl. 48 kr. (about L4760). + +At the close of 1780 Bolts returned to Europe, and in May, 1781, cast +anchor in the harbour of Leghorn. His exertions and his speculation had +not been attended with the success anticipated, and despite fresh +assistance afforded by the Austrian Government to the Association, which +at first seemed to promise a more auspicious future for the undertaking, +yet the political complications of the period, and especially the sudden, +totally unlooked-for rupture of peace between France, England, and +Holland, ere long entailed utter ruin on the trading company, which, in +the year 1785, found itself compelled to stop payment.[5] Bolts died at +Paris in April, 1808, in utter destitution, and Michaud, in his +_Biographie Universelle_, dedicated an article to this hardy and +enterprising, rather than shrewd and prudent, adventurer.[6] + +About two years after the appearance of the Austrian ship in the Nicobar +Archipelago, the Danes endeavoured to found there a missionary station of +Moravian Brothers. Towards the close of 1778 the missionaries, Haensel and +Wangemann, sailed from Tranquebar to Nangkauri, where they arrived in +January, 1779. In 1787 the mission at Nangkauri was once more abandoned, +when the only surviving Moravian Brother returned to Tranquebar, and +shortly after to Europe. + +In 1795 an Englishman, Major Symes, touched at Kar-Nicobar, while on his +voyage as Envoy to Ava and Burmah. His observations there may be found in +the second volume of "Asiatic Researches," p. 344, in an article entitled +"Description of Carnicobar." + +In 1831, Denmark once more made an attempt to colonize, by means of a +missionary enterprise, the group formerly known as New Denmark, and +occasionally as Frederick Islands. Pastor Rosen landed in August of that +year on the island of Kamorta, and first set up his establishment on the +so-called Frederick Hill, then on the adjoining Mongkata Hill; somewhat +later on the island of Trinkut, and lastly on the shore immediately +beneath the Mongkata Hill. In December, 1834, after about a four years' +stay, Pastor Rosen left the islands, and in 1839 published, at Copenhagen, +his own experiences and personal observations, under the title: +"_Erindringen om mit Ophold paa de Nikobariske Oerne_" (Recollections of +my Residence on the Nicobar Islands). + +In 1835, the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Straits of Malacca dispatched to +Kar-Nicobar two French missionaries, the Fathers Chopard and Borie. But +after a certain lapse of time, during which their missionary efforts gave +promise of the most pleasing results, and when they had lived about a year +on the island, the pious work fell through, owing to the credulity and +prejudices of the natives, to whom the two missionaries were represented +by the crew of a ship from the adjacent shores of the continent as English +spies, whose object probably was to ascertain the products of the country, +which thereupon would speedily be annexed by the English Government. The +missionaries had to flee, and Borie expired in the arms of his companion +before he could get off the island. Chopard afterwards, in the year 1849, +published his adventures in this group of islands in the "Asiatic Journal +of the Indian Archipelago," under the title, "_A few Particulars +respecting the Nicobar Islands._" + +In March, 1845, Mr. Mackey, Danish Consul in Calcutta, set on foot a +small expedition to the Nicobar Archipelago. That gentleman hoped to find +amongst the southern islands strata of coal, and made a voyage thither in +prosecution of that object, on board the schooner _Espiegle_, commanded by +an Englishman named Lewis, and accompanied by two Danes, Mr. Busch, the +sole commander of the expedition, and a certain Mr. Lowert. By the end of +May the adventurers were once more in Calcutta. With the exception of a +few lumps they had not found coal-beds on any part of the island, while +they lacked the physical strength requisite for founding the agricultural +colony, which it had been intended to set on foot at the same time. The +scientific results of this voyage are comprised in a small _brochure_, "H. +Busch's Journal of a Cruise amongst the Nicobar Islands," (Calcutta, +1845). + +A further scientific exploration of the Nicobar group was made by the +naturalists attached to the Danish corvette _Galatea_ in the course of +their voyage round the world in the years 1845-7. A thorough examination +of the Nicobars was one of the chief objects of the expedition set on foot +under the auspices of the Danish Government. On the 25th January, 1846, at +Nangkauri, Captain Steen Bille took formal possession of this group of +islands in the name of H.M. the King of Denmark. Two natives, father and +son, named respectively Luha and Angre, the former resident in Malacca, +and the latter in Enuang, were on that occasion installed as chief +magistrates; each being at the same time provided with a staff bearing the +cypher of Christian VIII., and instructed, by means of a document drawn +up in the English and Danish languages, on the subject of their duties, +which consisted principally in hoisting the Danish Standard on the arrival +of foreign ships in the harbour of Nangkauri.[7] + +After the decease of Christian VIII., the Danish Government, in +consequence of the violent political agitations of the period, did not +show itself disposed to make practical use of their possession of the +Nicobar Islands by any lasting colonization, but on the contrary in the +year 1848 dispatched the royal corvette _Valkyrien_ to the Archipelago, to +bring away the flag and batons.[8] + +In consequence of this, according to "Thornton's Gazetteer of India," the +chiefs of the island of Kar-Nicobar hoisted the English flag, and through +certain English merchants resident in Moulmein, expressed a wish to be +permitted to place themselves under the protection of the British Crown. +This information, however, seems to be inaccurate, in so far as it +professes to describe the conduct of the native chiefs. The inhabitants, +it is true, hoist any flag given to them, because they are fond of +imitating European customs, and by so doing believe they secure themselves +against the pretensions of other nations; but there is nothing they so +much dread as a regular occupation of the islands, and on every appearance +of a war-ship are forthwith filled with alarm lest they should be about to +be deprived of their liberty, and--their cocoa-nuts. Indeed they have a +saying widely diffused among them, probably through the craft of some +smart chiefs, that whenever a European should settle among them all the +cocoa-nuts will drop from the trees, and they will thus see themselves +deprived for ever of their most important means of subsistence. It is, on +the contrary, more probable that the English ship captains, who trade with +these islands in order the better to secure their highly profitable trade +in cocoa-nuts, made some propositions to the East Indian Government to +take possession of this important group, by a similar procedure as that by +which the Andaman islands were annexed somewhat later. + +Since the unsuccessful attempt at the end of last century to extend +Austrian commerce with the Indies and the coast of Africa, by founding a +few colonies in those places, no vessel sailing under the Austrian flag +had again visited the Nicobar Islands, and accordingly, on the dispatch of +an Imperial ship-of-war to those waters, it was naturally wished that she +should on her voyage to China visit this group, on whose shores the +Austrian flag had once been unfurled as a symbol of possession. On this +occasion, however, the object was rather scientific than political. It was +intended, so far as the time allotted for visiting these islands and the +appliances at hand admitted, to undertake inquiries as to the most +important geodetical points, together with astronomical, magnetic, and +meteorological observations, and at the same time to make investigations +and collections of the various objects of natural science, and thus to +complete as it were the valuable labours carried out in 1846 by the Danish +Expedition to the Nicobar Islands. The following pages are simply limited +to giving a popular narrative of our own stay on this interesting island +group, while more circumstantial information of the various scientific +results obtained there will be deferred till the appearance of the special +works being drawn up by the members, each in his own special section. + +On 25th February, at 10 A.M., the naturalists, accompanied by the officers +in charge of the scientific apparatus, and the midshipmen, after very +considerable difficulty, succeeded in effecting a landing on the island of +Kar-Nicobar, in a bay protected by a coral reef (by observation 9 deg. 14' 8'' +N., and 92 deg. 44' 46'' E.), between the villages of Moose and Saoui. At this +point the surf beats incessantly over the huge reefs of coral upon a waste +of gleaming white sand, which stretches in graceful curves from one point +of rock to that next adjoining. The few fruits which have been thrown up, +or been carried hither, probably from some distant shore, have struck root +in this coral sand, and a coronal of luxuriant palms, with their slim +stems, and loaded with thousands of nuts, serves as food for man. + +In the vicinity of the spot where we disembarked was anchored a barque +from Moulmein, with a Malay crew, the majority of whom were tattooed on +the thigh with extraordinary skill. They had been for a considerable +period taking in a cargo of cocoa-nuts, which the natives had been +exchanging against various merchandise. About thirty dusky natives, almost +entirely naked, and for the most part without any head covering beyond the +splendid raven locks which hung down over their shoulders, some carrying +in their hands cutlasses, others long wooden lances tipped with bone, +stood near the beach, and while we were yet a little distance off, called +out to us in broken English, and with visible anxiety, "Good friend? No +fear!" apparently anxious, in the first place, to have confirmation from +us that we were really "good friends," and that they had nothing to dread, +before they ventured quite close to us. When they were no more than twenty +paces distant, they suddenly came to a halt, upon which some of their +number, who appeared to be chiefs, gave their spears and cutlasses to +those around, and advanced to us with a tolerably friendly air, at the +same time stretching out their hands by way of salutation. They were for +the most part large, well-proportioned men, of a dark bronze colour of +skin. + +The most disagreeable feature is the mouth, which, in consequence of the +loathsome custom of incessantly chewing the betel-nut, seems to have +become utterly distorted in shape. In a few cases this filthy habit had +resulted in such deformity among the teeth, that these were barely visible +between the thick swollen lips, like a malignant tumour! The apparel of +the natives is pretty universally entirely primitive, consisting of +nothing but a long very narrow strip of dark blue linen, which they wind +round the body, bringing it from the front between the legs backwards, +when it is made fast to the girdle, and the ends left to hang loosely +down. Some of the natives make a very singular use of the different +articles of old clothes which they receive in exchange from the ship +captains, or have had given as a present, as they appear now in a black +hat, now in a coat or a shirt, without a vestige of other clothing! + +Almost every native we saw brought to us a soiled, crumpled-up +testimonial, setting forth his good character, and his honesty in the +cocoa-nut trade, which he had received from various ship captains, who +bartered their merchandise for ripe cocoa-nuts, which they afterwards sold +in the East Indies or Ceylon at an immense profit. The greater number of +these testimonials were written in English; we found only one in German +from the skipper of a Bremen ship, and one in Dutch. In these certificates +are set forth the objects best worth enquiring for, as also a statement of +the articles bartered in the course of exchange for cocoa-nuts, a practice +which is not alone of the utmost utility for those who may afterwards +visit the islands for purposes of commerce, but also throw a most +interesting light upon the evidences of civilization among the natives.[9] + +These testimonials also frequently contain very humorous remarks about the +unsuspecting natives, who assuredly would be less eager in producing them +if they were acquainted with the contents. One of the earliest to extend +to us the hand of welcome was a native who called himself Captain Dickson, +a handsome, slim, dark brown figure, with very long, fine, glossy hair +hanging over his shoulders, and neatly gathered together with a bark +ribbon. In the document presented to us, which was dated 15th January, +and bore the signature of the captain of the ship _Arracan_, there was +written beneath, "Dickson, though a shabby-looking fellow, is a man of +substance." In a second testimonial, it was said of a native: "He will do +honour to England when she comes!" a remark which leaves plainly apparent +the hope of the ship captain that these islands will speedily be occupied +by the English. These certificates likewise contain a variety of important +hints, especially with reference to the method of dealing with the +natives, the most commodious anchorage, the difficulty encountered in +landing, &c.[10] + +Thus the most cursory communication with the natives convinced us that +they must already have repeatedly done business with English ship +captains, who had imparted to them a slight knowledge of the English +language, and a few of the simpler principles of humanity and religion. +When we gave them to understand that we visited them as friends, they +replied in their broken English: "Not merely friends--brothers! all +brothers! all only one father and one mother!" Hereupon each proceeded to +light one of the cigars that had been presented to them, while, for want +of any other receptacle, they secreted the remainder in the wide holes +transpiercing the lobes of the ears, after which they with the most frank +munificence, and in token of their hospitality, pulled a number of young +cocoa-nuts from the tree, and gave us their fluid contents to drink. Very +singular was the method in which this was effected. They tie their feet +together by the ankles with a loop of the same bast, or bark rope, which, +when employed in fastening their long black locks, usually forms such a +picturesque frontlet, and then clamber with the agility of cats to the +summit of the palm, throw to the bottom the separated fruit, and slide +swiftly down to the ground again. Holding in one hand a tolerably heavy +young nut, in the other a sharp cutlass, they proceed at one sure blow to +open the nut, in such manner that a small orifice is made, through which +the refreshing liquid contents can be conveniently quaffed. When this has +been evacuated the nut is usually split in half, in which form it serves +as a most nutritious food for the fowls and hogs. Despite their +hospitality, there was perceptible in all of them great anxiety, and the +upshot of all their conversation always resolved itself into the +stereotyped questions, "What did we really require? whether we wished to +purchase cocoa-nuts, and would soon be leaving?" + +Great and natural as our desire was to penetrate from the shore, thickly +covered with its belt of cocoa-nut palms, into the rather flat interior, +and thus obtain a nearer view of the hive-shaped, basket-formed huts which +were visible under the forest trees, we judged it much the better course +to endeavour first of all to make the natives more confiding, and for that +purpose invited them to accompany us on board. Eight of their number were +finally induced to follow us, and came alongside in their elegant canoes, +formed of the wood of the _Calophyllum inophyllum_, one of the most +splendid trees of the primeval forest of the islands. As soon as we +reached the frigate, only a single one, Captain Dickson, could be induced +to clamber up of the man-ropes; the rest did not venture to leave their +canoes, and one, who called himself Captain Charlie, a short, lank little +fellow of boyish appearance, who for all apparel wore a dirty cloth cap on +his head, trembled with terror through his whole frame when he saw our big +guns. Captain Dickson, too, did not seem to feel himself altogether +comfortable while on board, and although there was much to excite his +curiosity, he soon longed to get out of the large ship, back again into +his own frail skiff. Quite peculiar was the impression made upon him by a +pair of live cows; such large animals he gave us to understand were not +found upon his island. + +Meanwhile a number of natives had approached the frigate in their canoes, +bringing swine, fowls, plantains, yams, and eggs in hollowed-out cocoa-nut +shells, which they offered as presents, but at the same time inquired what +we intended giving them in return. They greatly wished for biscuit, +brandy, medicines, clothes, but above all else for black hats, which most +probably results from their having occasionally seen the captains of +English ships wearing round hats, whence they now seem to imagine that +such a head-gear is the insignia of captain's rank, or of a chief. + +Their knowledge of money was confined to Rupees, which they discriminated +into two sorts, viz. the ordinary East Indian coin, and the English +sixpenny-piece, which they called "small Rupees," covering with them, by +way of ornament, the ends of the small bits of bamboo which they usually +wear through the hole that transpierces the greatly distended lobe of the +ear. + +Of the two Catholic missionaries, Borie and Chopard, who in 1835 had +remained a short time on the island, not one of the natives could give us +any particulars; and likewise of the Danish corvette _Galatea_, which +visited the group in 1846, they had but a dim remembrance, and even this +of a far from complimentary character; the poor people having been +overwhelmed with the apprehensions that their island was about to be taken +possession of, and themselves exposed to a lingering death by hunger. +"Danish bad people," they exclaimed, "wanted to take our island. Suppose I +could come to your island and take it? Not good! no good people!" + +We returned on shore with the natives, who, in consequence of their +friendly reception on board, had already become somewhat more tranquil and +trustful. Tents were now pitched, the astronomical and geodetical +instruments, together with the barometer and thermometer, were adjusted, +the tide-gauge fixed at the most suitable point, and the island traversed +in all directions for scientific purposes, so far at least as the density +of the forest and the mistrust of the natives would permit. + +On the very same day we visited the Cove of Saoui, on which is situated +the village of the same name, whose chief is called "Captain John." This +worthy had received by way of present an old cast-off blue uniform frock, +and was now making strenuous exertions to squeeze his all too little +flexible limbs into this tight thick cloth coat, and to button it, despite +the tropical heat, round his naked body up to the very throat. He was +anxious it should not be reported of him that he did not sufficiently +value the distinction awarded him, or did not comprehend how to make a +proper use of it. Unlike the rest of his compatriots, Captain John also +wore shoes and pants, and in consequence openly claimed to belong to the +privileged classes. He was surrounded by a considerable number of natives, +who presented themselves to us, as Captain Morgan, Captain Douglas, Dr. +Crisp, Lord Nelson, Lord Byron, Lord Wellington, and so forth, having been +indebted to the singular whimsies of some English captains, who thought it +a good joke to confer on these filthy brown people the illustrious names +of the hereditary and intellectual aristocracy of Great Britain. + +Captain John accompanied us along the coast to his own domicile by an +exceedingly difficult and sunny path, having designedly concealed from us +the existence of a much more commodious track through the forest to the +village, which contains only seven houses. These are erected in a broad +open space, and in consequence of the great humidity of the soil during +the wet season, consist of eight or ten poles, from six to eight feet in +height, so that a man can easily pass under them. They comprise but one +large apartment, into which access is obtained by a neatly-carved ladder +of bamboo-reed, which during the night, or when the occupants leave the +hut, is usually taken away, so that, without using locks or bolts, it is +pretty difficult to get in. The flooring is constructed of bamboo planks, +bound together with Rotang (_Calamus Rotang_), in such a manner that the +air from beneath can circulate freely through, and, in a similar way, the +neat basket-work of the hive-shaped structure is vaulted. A dense straw +thatch serves as well to keep out the sun's rays as the rain. The internal +arrangements are very simple. In the rear is a sort of fire-place, a low +block of wood hollowed out, and the cavity filled with sand and stones, +upon which is placed a variety of utensils of clay, imported from the +adjoining island of Chowry, the only island of the entire Archipelago +where any industry is carried on. From the beams of the roof are suspended +hollowed-out cocoa-nuts, strung together in pairs, and serving as water +jars, as also elegantly plaited baskets and the few possessions of the +family, and, lastly, some fruits, betel-leaves, and tobacco, as offerings +to the Eewees, or evil spirits, in the event of their paying a visit, and +having an appetite for such fare. Further forward, opposite the entrance +of the hut, there are stuck on the side walls, as evidences of special +prosperity, numerous cutlasses, spears, javelins, and paddles. Besides, +there are laid on the floor plaited straw-mats, which, rolled up during +the day, are stretched out at night and, together with a small wooden +stool for a pillow, serve as couches on which to repose. The hut might +furnish sleeping quarters for about ten men. As, moreover, all the cookery +is carried on therein, and there is no means of ventilating from above, +the interior is completely saturated with smoke, and all articles are soon +begrimed with smoke and soot. The natives, however, apparently take no +precautions to get rid of the smoke, because it contributes to keep them +free of a far more subtle foe, the mosquito, who, especially during the +rainy season, becomes a formidable torment for their naked bodies. + +In the shady space beneath the hut, which sometimes serves as a +workshop,--if one may venture so to designate the industry of the +inhabitants of the Nicobars generally,--Captain John had suspended upon a +transverse beam a sort of swing, in which he occasionally rocked himself, +much to his own delight, while for his guests was provided a wooden +arm-chair, which had evidently come into his possession in the course of +some barter with the captain of a merchant vessel. + +The old chief spoke with marked predilection of the captain of the barque +_Rochester_ of London, a gentleman named Green, who, by his humane and +strictly conscientious dealings with the natives, seemed to stand in high +respect, and afforded a striking example of what beneficial influence is +exercised by individual English ship captains over the wild races with +whom they come in contact in the way of trade, and how much they have it +in their power to make their nation respected in all parts of the globe. +We venture to assert that these English merchantmen, during their cursory +visits, have done more towards paving the way for civilizing the Nicobars +than the Danish and French missionaries during their residence of years. +Not a single native understands one word of Danish or French, but almost +every one speaks English, sufficient, at all events, to make himself +understood in that language. The talkative old fellow next held forth an +English Bible, which had been carefully stowed away on one of the +cross-beams of his hut, and of which, as he told us, he had been made a +present by Captain Green, on that gentleman's last visit. "This is my +Jesus Christ," said Captain John, full of unquestioning faith in the +marvellous power of Holy Writ:--"when I feel ill, I lay this little book +under my head, and I get well again!" The worthy fellow could neither read +nor, so far as we could perceive, did he precisely comprehend what was +printed in the book, yet he seemed instinctively to feel that it was of no +ordinary purport, and accordingly held his present in high honour, as a +sort of talisman, whose power and efficacy one might confide in, without +his being able precisely to account for such a belief. We turned over the +leaves of the little volume, which had been issued by the renowned, +wide-spread, and beneficent London Bible Society, and found on the +fly-leaf some English verses in Green's handwriting, and some encomiums +upon the inhabitants of Kar-Nicobar, "The most virtuous people that +Captain Green had fallen in with during eight and thirty years' +sea-faring;" closing with the remark, "What a pity they have no +missionary!" + +In truth, the inhabitants of Kar-Nicobar are among the most perfect of +human-kind. In their commerce with us they showed themselves to be +child-like and ignorant, yet virtuous, trustworthy people, without +ambition or the thirst of knowledge, but also without jealousy or envy. If +ever any breach between themselves and the Europeans has been pushed the +length of violence, such has pretty certainly resulted rather from their +being in a measure suddenly incited to self-defence than from any open +predisposition to mischief. When we inquired of one of the natives in what +manner breach of faith is punished on the island, he replied with the +utmost _naivete_;--"We never have such--we are all good;--but in your +country there must be many evil men, else what for would you require so +many guns?" + +In company with some of the natives we had proceeded upon a stroll through +the magnificent cocoa forest along the beach, in the course of which we +reached several huts scattered at random through the thicket, the +inhabitants of which received us in the most cordial manner. Their wives +and children however had all retired in a body, and during our entire stay +never once made their appearance. Indeed the natives, in the hope of +hastening our departure, pretended that their families had in their panic +fled into the forest, and must starve of hunger if we should remain long, +and so prevent them from returning to their usual abodes. This however was +but a hoax. The natives knew well enough where their families were +lurking, and provided them with food and drink. This extreme shyness of +the female portion of the population arises apparently from the +incivilities of which the sailors of the merchant vessels were guilty +towards the natives, whose moral feelings and delicacy of mind, +considering their low state of civilization, becomes doubly extraordinary. + +An attempt to penetrate deeper into the interior of the island was baffled +through the obstacles which are interposed by the unchecked luxuriance of +tropical nature. The vegetation grows densely down to the very sea, which +is separated from the rich foliage above only by rocky reefs and narrow +dunes of sand, washed by the furious surf. A broad belt of _Rhizophorae_, +gigantic _Barringtonias_, _Pandanus_, _Areca_, and cocoa-palms, encircles +the island, to which succeeds a somewhat higher land grown with dense +grass and interspersed with groups of trees, from which, lastly, spring a +few thickly-wooded peaks of about 150 to 200 feet in height. Through this +girdle it requires the most violent efforts to force one's way, while, on +the other hand, it is wholly impossible, owing to the dense tangle of +climbing plants and bamboo, to advance further into the forest over the +grass flat, unless a path be previously cleared with hedge-knives, which, +even could more time be devoted, would call for immense exertion. Our +researches therefore were necessarily confined for the most part to the +coast region. + +After several hours of strolling about, collecting and examining as we +went on, the naturalists found themselves collected once more on the open +space facing Captain John's hut, where meanwhile a pig had been roasted by +our sailors in the open air, which we had purchased for three shillings of +our corpulent friend Dr. Crisp. The natives had at first protested against +this improvised hearthstone, being apprehensive lest the fire should reach +their huts, the roofs of which are thatched with dried palm-leaves. "It is +as inflammable as gunpowder," remarked the old chief in an anxious tone, +when our people had with great want of foresight lighted the fire too near +the buildings. Captain John and his kindred did not need to be invited +twice to partake of our meal, at which they proved themselves excellent +trenchermen. The inhabitants of these islands generally eat vegetables +only, the use of meat being for the most part restricted to festive +occasions. The use of salt is as yet unknown to them. They only use +sea-water for the purpose of seething their pigs and hens, by which +process the flesh gets a slight flavour of salt. During our luncheon, +which had made the natives yet more confiding than ever, we found an +opportunity of hearing something about the various festivals of the +Nicobar islanders. + +When a native falls down from a tree, or is bitten by a snake, or is +otherwise wounded or dies, the Nicobarians forthwith discontinue all work, +and institute a fast, which they term Uraka. With the commencement of the +S.W. monsoons or rainy season (when the wind comes from "yonder," quoth +Dr. Crisp, and pointed with his finger to the southward), the inhabitants +of Kar-Nicobar hold their chief festival, which lasts fourteen days, and +is called Oilere. + +They have a similar festival at the end of the damp season, or N.E. +monsoon, to which the pigs, which play quite a conspicuous part in it, +impart an entirely peculiar character. Several weeks before the +commencement of this _fete_, a large number of these unclean but useful +animals are confined in small stalls, whence they are released on the +feast-day, and set loose in a well-fenced space, where they are teased and +pricked with lances by all the courageous, or rather mischievous, youth of +the island. The Nicobarians seem to attach special importance to the swine +being driven wild, and themselves engaged in a regular struggle with the +infuriated animal, in the course of which severe wounds are by no means of +rare occurrence. We ourselves saw several young natives, who a few days +previously had been severely injured in a similar contest with some +enraged pigs. When this anything but aesthetic spectacle has lasted some +time, the pigs are killed, roasted on the fire, and devoured by the +combatants and spectators. + +A not less strange and even more barbarous festival is that which is held +about the same time as the one just mentioned. This consists in exhuming +the bones of all those who have died during the year elapsed since the +last N.E. monsoon, and have been interred in a sort of cemetery called +"_Cuyucupa_."[11] They next bring these bones into a hut, seat themselves +in a circle around the ghastly mementos, and shriek and howl as at the day +on which the relation died. While this scene of lamentation is going on, a +lighted cigar is usually stuck into the bony mouth of the grisly skull, +after which the latter is consigned to the grave again. The rest of the +bones however are either thrown into the deep sea or hid far in the +forest, while at the same moment, as a farther evidence of sorrow, a +number of cocoa-palms are cut down, and their fruit scattered to the +winds. By such symbols they apparently wish to express their overwhelming +grief, their weariness of existence, and their indifference to the most +valued gifts of nature, so that they would even deprive themselves of the +most universally necessary of the means of subsistence--were it not that, +owing to the readiness with which the sea-shore palm is propagated, the +nuts thus scattered at random, in all the indifference to sublunary +considerations incidental to a paroxysm of grief, speedily strike root, +and after a few years lift up their heads again in the forest, at once +ornamental and nutritious. + +At all these festivals the natives assemble in the various villages, and +at these seasons spend days and weeks with each other. Earlier visitors to +Kar-Nicobar estimate the number of villages on the island at about six or +seven only. The natives on the other hand gave us the names of the +following thirteen: Arrong (or Arrow), Saoui, Moose, Lapate, Kinmai, +Tapoimai, Chukchuitche, Kiukiuka, Tamalu, Paka, Malacca, Komios, and +Kankena, which all together would hardly number much above 100 huts, and +about 800 or 900 inhabitants. + +Southward of our anchorage we fell in with a small stream, which near its +embouchure on the beach was lost in a sand-bank. Some of the members of +the Expedition explored it in a very small flat-bottomed boat, a Venetian +gondola, which was transported across the bar in order to admit of its +being sculled up the river. At first it was found to be about 2-1/2 feet +deep, by about 12 to 14 yards in width; the general direction of its very +sinuous course being towards E.S.E. All around the forest presented a +scene to which perhaps only the fantastic whimsicality of certain +theatrical forest sceneries might furnish a dim resemblance. Along the +steep bank of the river rose to a height of nearly 100 feet the slender +Nibong palm, adorned with blossoms and clusters of fruit, and close +adjoining the graceful Catechu palm. Gigantic forest trees, with thick +squat trunks, extended their shady masses of foliage far over the stream; +screw-pines towering up from the scaffold-like arrangement of their +numerous roots, were reflected from the glassy bosom of the water; clumps +of bamboo, absolutely alive with butterflies; nymph-like aquatic plants, +mossy green banks, and tree-ferns with indescribably graceful corollae, all +combined here to form a landscape of the most enchanting richness, in the +water, on the shore, and in the air. Suspended over the whole scene, +partly in leaf, partly in bloom, a gigantic garland of climbing and +creeping plants, in living cords of every variety of thickness, rose in a +lofty arch above the limpid element, interlaced and girt round with +thousands of blooming and flourishing parasites! Then, too, from amid the +mysterious gloom started forth the strangest voices and cries, without our +being able to descry the animals themselves. In the water, which was +perfectly sweet to the taste, swarmed multitudes of fish of from one to +four inches in length. After rowing about one nautical mile and a half up +the stream, some rapids and rocks prevented our further progress, the +stream itself being but twelve feet wide. A little further to the east +occurs a similar small river, which however had even less water, and at +its mouth is yet more sanded up and inaccessible than that above +described. + +After we had lain for six days at anchor on the N.W. coast of Kar-Nicobar, +and were once more casting about how to make out our long-desired +excursion through its almost impermeable forests, we suddenly perceived in +the distance upon the beach two men in European dress, with muskets upon +their shoulders, who, conducted by some absolutely naked natives, speedily +approached us. One, a fine-looking, well-formed young man of about 20, +addressed us in French, saying he was supercargo of the Sardinian brig +_Giovannina_ of Singapore, and was occupied in taking in a cargo of +cocoa-nuts upon the southern shore of the island. The natives had been so +unsettled by the arrival of a war-ship, that they loudly affirmed a pirate +ship had made its appearance, which would rob and destroy them all; +whereupon the most anxious of their number entreated the few whites who +fortunately happened to be among them to start immediately for the north +side of the island, where the Colossus lay at anchor, so as at all events +to ascertain what was to be their fate. In the course of the conversation +which sprung up between ourselves and the two strangers, we found that the +supercargo was a Frenchman, born at St. Denis in the island of Bourbon, +and was named Auguste Tigard, while his companion was a Sardinian. They +were both singularly pale and embarrassed on first falling in with us, +apparently from surprise and delight at finding themselves so unexpectedly +in the society of white men at so solitary a spot; ere long however they +felt themselves more at their ease, visited the frigate, were provided +with clothes, medicines, and wine, and at a later period were of much use +to us in our intercourse with the natives. Tigard remarked that the +sugar-cane, which at present grows wild on the island, could, judging by +his own personal experience, be very profitably grown for the production +of sugar, as also that tobacco, cotton, and rice thrive in the most +conspicuous manner. + +At present the cocoa-palm is the sole plant which is cultivated by the +natives of Kar-Nicobar. It supplies them with all they require for food +and lodging, for house-furniture, or for commerce with foreign peoples. +The stem of this slender column, from 60 to 100 feet in height, by about +2-1/2 in thickness, with its heavy green thatch of leaves, is very porous +and slight looking, but is yet stiff and strong enough to furnish +cross-beams, laths, and masts for huts and boats. The fibres of the bark +and of the nut-shells (known in commerce as _Coir_) supply cordage and +line; the immense fan-shaped leaf (3 feet wide by 12 to 14 in length) of +the coronal serves as a covering for the roof, as also for plaited work +and baskets. The juice of the nut, shaped like an egg, yet somewhat +triangular, and about the size of the human head, prevents the native from +feeling even in the slightest degree the absence of available spring +water, and is the sole beverage which invigorates and refreshes the +wayfarer through these forest solitudes. Frequently did we experience a +glow of thankfulness to all-bounteous Nature, as often as some hospitable +native handed to us for our refreshment, exhausted and thirsty as we were +after our fatiguing wanderings, a green cocoa-nut, that vegetable spring +of the tropical forest.[12] The kernel of the ripe nut, thoroughly dried +and pressed, gives forth a strong, clear, tasteless oil, which is used by +the natives for anointing their skin and hair, and at the same time forms +so important an article in European commerce, that above 5,000,000 ripe +cocoa-nuts are annually exported through foreign mercantile houses in +exchange for European fabrics. The hard shell of the cocoa-nut is the sole +drinking cup of the Nicobar islanders, and the cooling, refreshing juice, +which is extracted by an incision in the sheath of the palm-blossom before +the latter has expanded, is the sole fermented beverage of which they make +use. When brought into a state of fermentation it possesses similar +intoxicating effects with the Chicha of the American Indian. Here, as +among other half-savage races, we had occasion to remark, that the chief +food of the aborigines is also made available for supplying them with +their favourite liquid stimulant, and just as the native of India effects +this purpose with rice, the African from the Yucca, or the Yam, the +South-Sea Islander with the Kawa, and the Mexican with the Maize or the +Agave, so the inhabitant of the Nicobars avails himself of the cocoa-nut +at once for the supply of the first necessities of his existence, and the +excitement of his brain by artificial stimulant. + +On 27th February, towards evening, after a stay of seven days on the north +side of Kar-Nicobar, which had been spent in scientific operations of the +most varied nature, we again set sail, and next morning cast anchor on the +south side of the same island, close to the village of Komios. The +current, which at this point sets to the E.S.E., runs about three miles an +hour, so long as the flood-tide continues, but as soon as the ebb-tide +sets in, it chops round, and runs with greatly diminished velocity. The +landings on the south side, which, on leaving the northern promontory, +shows a much richer vegetation, are somewhat difficult to discover, since +at almost all points reefs and coral banks project from the shore far into +the sea, so that after doubling the cape it is necessary to stop short a +pretty considerable distance from the land. + +While we were coasting along the eastern shore we could perceive through +the telescope, at the village of Lapate, consisting of some eight or ten +huts, a great number of women and children, who were rushing to and fro +among the huts in the utmost confusion, till suddenly all disappeared in +the forest. These were evidently fugitives from the north side, who were +now once more betaking themselves to the forest, accompanied by the native +females of the east and south sides, when they saw the dreaded floating +giant approaching them. A beach of dazzling white coral sand, sprinkled +over with thousands of living mussels, low melancholy-looking mangrove +swamps, and a superb forest of trees with lofty stems, through which lay a +beaten footpath, was all that the flat shore offered to our view. The +Frenchman already mentioned had indeed apprized the inhabitants of our +arrival, and had endeavoured to explain to them our friendly intention, +but it was in vain,--the greater portion of the population had taken to +flight, and only dogs and armed men were left behind. Here also we could +not see a single woman. However, we were informed by M. Tigard, who lived +several weeks in the village of Kankena, and had been treated by the +natives as one of themselves, that the Nicobar women have their hair cut +quite short, and simply wind round their dusky bodies, all smeared with +oil, a piece of white or red calico at the loins. They are generally ugly, +but strictly virtuous, and regard the Europeans as an inferior race, as +compared with their native lords. + +As we were making for the land in what is called Komios Bay, near the +village of the same name (situate according to our observations in 9 deg. 37' +32'' N. Lat. and 92 deg. 43' 42'' E. Long.), a number of stalwart natives +approached us from the forest, one of whom, who called himself Captain +Wilkinson, proved to be the most intelligent and graceful of their number. +He was extremely eager to give us a lot of information respecting the more +southerly islands of the Nicobar Archipelago, with which the inhabitants +of the southern coast appear to carry on more extensive commerce than +those on the northern shore. During the N.E. monsoons, canoes occasionally +start hence for the islands of Teressa, Bampoka, and Chowry. Wilkinson +himself once visited these islands in the barque _Cecilia_ of Moulmein, +with the view of fetching cocoa-nuts. The natives of Teressa, however, +showed such determined hostility to the captain of the vessel, that +Wilkinson advised him to abandon the island without further delay, ere the +intended shipment of cocoa-nuts was completed. + +Another English captain, named Iselwood, seems once to have carried over +some natives of Teressa to Kar-Nicobar, and afterwards taken them back +again. There does not exist, however, any regular commercial intercourse +between Kar-Nicobar and the remaining islands of the Archipelago. The +boats of the natives are much too small, and unsuitable to admit of their +undertaking voyages to any distance, unless for some very important +purpose, such, for instance, as bringing pottery ware from the island of +Chowry, or Chowra, where alone in the Archipelago that manufacture is +carried on. + +The Frenchman, Tigard, affirmed that the natives constantly spoke of +another race of men inhabiting the interior, who have but one eye in the +middle of the forehead, who possess no fixed habitation, but pass the +night among the trees like wild beasts, and subsist upon fruits and roots +dug up in the forest. This superstition meets with the more ready +acceptance among the natives, as not one of them has ever penetrated into +the interior. All their villages lie along the shore, as far as the tract +of coral sand reaches and the cocoa-nut is thriving. Here the frugal +native finds all that is necessary to satisfy his very limited +requirements. The cocoa-palm and the screw-pine (_Pandanus +odoratissima_), whose fruit forms his chief article of food, as also the +betel shrub and the Areca palm, which furnish their cherished masticatory, +grow here, and the coral sand, which can be worked into the most excellent +lime for building purposes, is only used by them for the purpose of +obtaining that ingredient so prejudicial to the teeth, which serves to +impart to the betel the proper relish. + +From a passing observation of Wilkinson's we gathered that occasionally, +during the S.W. monsoons, earthquakes are experienced at Kar-Nicobar, and +this volcanic indication is yet more strongly marked on the adjoining +island of Bampoka. Despite the almost stifling heat, which raised the +column of mercury to 99 deg. in the shade, some of the members of the +expedition endeavoured to penetrate, with indescribable toil, into the +swampy forest tract along the shore, and eventually succeeded in bringing +back several objects which, though few in number, were of the utmost +importance, and well repaid their labour. Among the animals knocked over, +there was a gigantic bat, or flying Maki (_Pterops_), the native name of +which is _Daiahm_. + +A foot-track led direct through the forest, cutting off the southern +corner of the island towards the western side. The natives had in vain +endeavoured, with their customary importunities, to deter us from +following this path, assuring us that we should land ourselves in the +thick of the jungle, which was full of poisonous serpents. However, +nothing would serve us but to penetrate for once a little deeper into the +forest. A youthful native, of the most elegant and symmetrical +proportions, followed us at a long interval, but disappeared finally in +the woods. We wandered along in deep shadow between lofty colossal banyan +trees with hundreds of stems, and trunks interlaced with enormous branches +of ivy, from whose summits hung down lianas of all sizes and dimensions, +by which one might have clambered to the top as though by a rope, between +trees with smooth and glossy, or scarred and rugged, bark, which were +thickly overgrown with parasitical plants. Enormous crabs, with fiery red +claws, and bodies of the most lovely blue-black, fled before us to their +lurking-places in the depth of the forest. On right and left amid the +parched foliage was heard the rustling of lizards, and from the summits of +the imposing forest trees resounded the musical hum of swarms of _cicadae_, +while green and rose-coloured parrots flew shrieking from branch to +branch, and from the boughs and tendrils was heard the call of the Mania, +or the cooing, murmuring love-note of the great Nicobar wood-pigeon. +Gradually the noise of the surf became once more audible, like distant +thunder, just where a few cocoa-nut palms and screw-pines mingled with the +laurel trees around. We had reached the beach again. + +The same day, towards 4 P.M., the frigate quitted the south coast of +Kar-Nicobar, and steered in a S.S.E. direction towards the little island +of Batte-Malve, about twenty-one miles distant, in the neighbourhood of +which we kept beating about the whole of the following day, without being +able, in consequence of a stiff breeze and strong contrary current, to +approach it sufficiently near for a boat to get to land, and thus enable +us to make a more complete examination. Batte-Malve is a small, entirely +uninhabited island, some two miles in length, and seems to be of a +quadrangular form; the upper portion is thickly wooded; the highest +elevation being from 150 to 200 feet. Towards the N.W. the island becomes +somewhat flattened when approaching the coast, whereas on the west side, +as also on the S. and S.E. shores, the rocks descend perpendicularly into +the sea. According to our observations, instituted on the spot, there is +in the longitude, as we ascertained it, when compared with that assigned +by the officers of the Galatea, a discrepancy of ten nautical miles. + +Early on the morning of the 3rd of March, while still to the N.W. of +Batte-Malve, but steering a S.E. course, the islands of Teressa, Chowry, +and Bampoka became visible at a distance of from eight to ten nautical +miles. From the main-mast-head we could also descry further to the +eastward the island of Tillangschong, to which we were now proceeding. + +Next morning we found ourselves close in with its N.E. promontory. Both +wind and weather were highly favourable, the look-out man was stationed +upon the fore-top, the lead line on being hove overboard with forty +fathoms found no bottom, and the water had the deep blue colour of the +open ocean. We were therefore able to approach the shore fearlessly, and +accordingly stood in till we were barely 100 feet distant from the steep +octagonal-shaped cliff, which rises like a bastion at the north extremity +of the island. We now edged off with the frigate and ran under the lee of +the land, coasting along the west side from north to south, never above +150 or 200 feet distant from the shore; so close, in short, that, standing +on the deck, it seemed almost possible to stretch out the hand and touch +the beetling shore-cliffs, every stone and shrub being perfectly +distinguishable. Only a narrow rocky belt overhanging the surf appeared +barren of vegetation, the entire island with that exception being covered +with dense forest to the very summits, from 400 to 600 feet in height, of +the steep, projecting, knob-like eminences. It was a delightful, +never-to-be-forgotten sail along this rock-bound coast, the romantic +beauties of which passed before us like green dissolving views. The sea +was so smooth and peaceful that we seemed to be sailing on a mill-pond. At +last we opened a small sandy cove, in which we perceived a few cocoa-nut +palms directly opposite. Here the lead promised us good holding ground, +and the anchor was accordingly let go. + +One of the side-boats conveyed to land the officers entrusted with the +astronomical operations, as also the naturalists. Only with the utmost +difficulty was it possible to make way through the surf, and get under the +lee of a reef, whence it was requisite to make a spring to get ashore. At +the spot at which we landed (named by us Morrock's Cove, and according to +observation in 8 deg. 32' 30'' N. and 93 deg. 34' 10'' E.) the island was almost +exclusively clothed with trees and brushwood. Only close to the shore did +any cocoa-nut palms present themselves to the view. Although quite +uninhabited at the period of our visit, it was evident, by the traces of +abandoned fire-places, split cocoa-nuts, and so forth, that human beings +occasionally make this island their abode, albeit the assertion repeated +by several writers, that Tillangschong is the Siberia of Nicobar +criminals, can only be set down to travellers' tales, or some utter +misapprehension of the meaning of the natives. It would seem that the +residents in Chowra and Bampoka come to this island from time to time, for +the purpose of collecting cocoa-nuts, and the fruit of the _pandanus_. By +dint of strenuous exertion we made our way along river-courses, which +during the rainy season must rush down as most violent torrents, through a +thick plantation of screw-pines, into the forest proper, which was +overgrown with the most majestic representatives of tropical vegetation. +To the botanist presented itself a great variety of interesting plants and +timber; to the lovers of sport numerous descriptions of birds, and more +especially pigeons, in such quantities that the various messes on board +ship were amply provided with them. + +Sundown saw us returned on board, when the anchor was once more weighed. +During the night we got so close in with the north side of the island +that, on the following morning, a boat well-manned and carefully equipped +was detached with one of the officers, who was instructed to round the +northernmost promontory, in order to examine the northern and eastern +sides of the island, and rejoin us on its southern shore. One of the +zoologists, conceiving this minor expedition would furnish him with an +excellent opportunity for examining some of the lower orders of marine +life, attached himself to it. The frigate now put about, and coasted down +the west side southwards. Seen from a distance the vegetation seemed quite +of a European character. The eminences varied in elevation from 250 to 300 +feet. Judging from the direction of the foliage on the trees, the S.W. +monsoon seems to commit great ravages. Everywhere along the coast, but +more especially on the south side, serpentine cropped out--giving little +promise of fertility. At many spots the cocoa-palms disappeared entirely; +a circumstance which must ever interfere materially with the settlement of +this island by a people to whom the most profuse natural treasures are +worthless and unknown, beyond wealth in cocoa-nuts. + +Near the southern point we were suddenly alarmed at noticing an alteration +in the colour of the sea, which led us to suspect the proximity of a +sand-bank. Nevertheless a boat, lowered to try for soundings, found no +bottom at 45 fathoms. In fact, the water was found to be transfused with +an enormous mass of _crustaceae_, and small brownish filaments of 1/48 to +1/12 of an inch in length, occasionally collected into a knot, which +rendered it cloudy and muddy, and at once explained a phenomenon at first +sight so unexpected. Towards 5 P.M. we passed the southern point of the +island, and somewhat later discovered a well-sheltered anchorage on the +S.E. side of the island. + +Considerable anxiety was felt as the sun went down, since the boat that +had been dispatched not only had not rejoined us but was not yet even +visible. As soon as darkness had fairly set in, blue lights were burnt on +board the frigate, of which the third was at last responded to by the crew +of the boat, which had been provided with port-fires for such a +contingency. It seemed to be steering for the frigate. Hour after hour, +however, flew by without its approaching us, and the rest of our signals +remained unanswered. Thus morning broke, and still no boat was visible. + +At length, about 7.30 A.M., the anxiously expected little wanderer hove in +sight at a little distance, and half an hour later she came alongside all +safe. The projected operations had been only partially successful, owing +to the extreme difficulty in making a landing. Surprised by nightfall, it +was no longer practicable to make out the ten nautical miles at least they +were still distant from the frigate, and the scanty crew consequently saw +nothing for it but to anchor close in with the shore, and await the light +of dawn in the boat. The cause of our later blue lights not being +answered, was partly the want of a sufficient supply of signal lights, +part having been already expended, and the rest having got damp. + +We now steered for Nangkauri harbour. Full in view lay the north shore of +the island of Kamorta, and, as we glided smoothly thither over the glassy +sea, it loomed gradually nearer; an island of flat-topped hills, which, +despite its rank vegetation, had a park-like aspect, consequent on the +alternations of forest and grass-slopes with the white coral beach, +crowned with cocoa-palms. Gradually the island of Tringkut came into view, +singularly level, and abounding in cocoa-palms and edible sea-slugs +(Trepang), lying directly facing the entrance of the harbour-like channel, +between Kamorta and Nangkauri. Our course, on which we were being +propelled on a beautiful evening by a gentle soft wind which wafted us +slowly but surely forwards, was indeed entrancingly delicious. Directly +ahead lay the low strand of Tringkut, shimmering whitely under the dark +green canopy of foliage, while the long swell, breaking on the coral reefs +like glancing walls of foam, sunk away in the distance into the smooth +mirror-like sea, which rose and fell almost imperceptibly, as though +peacefully breathing. On the left lay Nangkauri, with its forests. On both +sides of Kamorta and Nangkauri, huts and villages were visible sprinkled +along the shore, from which numerous natives put off in their canoes to +the frigate, but presently lay on their oars at a respectful distance, and +followed us like a sort of squadron of observation. On the right was +visible in mid-channel between Tringkut and Kamorta the solitary rocky +island of Tillangschong; the shores of all these islands, and indeed the +whole horizon, being lit up with a gorgeous Fata Morgana. The extreme +southernmost cliffs of Tillangschong seemed to be suspended entirely in +the air. The corners, at which jutted out the coast-lines of Tringkut and +Kamorta, seen along the horizon of the ocean resembled wedge-shaped +incisions into the domain of the atmosphere; while the tips of the waves, +lashed into foam as they broke upon them, seemed as if dancing in the air. +The canoes of the natives were reflected upside down, till the figures +seated in them were so enormously lengthened that one could almost fancy +they were gigantic 'genii' disporting on the surface of the sea. + +As we were sailing along in front of the village of Malacca into the +splendid harbour, and just as the lead had almost a moment before marked +23 fathoms, the look-out man suddenly descried a shoal. Notwithstanding +the man[oe]uvres that were at once put in execution, it was found +impossible to get entirely clear, and the frigate grounded forward of the +beam on the port-side. Although it was ebb-tide, yet deep water was +observable both ahead and astern, and accordingly an effort was made, by +running out the guns and laying out a spring for the frigate to haul upon, +to get the ship once more afloat, which accordingly speedily proved +successful, so that by sundown we were enabled to anchor in good holding +ground, opposite the village of Itoe, in the island of Nangkauri. + +Here we lay in a calm, tranquil sheet of water, such as we had not fallen +in with throughout our voyage hitherto, surrounded by dense forest, from +which were heard distinctly, on board ship, the disagreeable shrill sound +of innumerable crickets, and the deep coo of the great Nicobar +wood-pigeon. Except for these, the most profound stillness reigned. There +was not the smallest movement either in sea or sky. Although on our +excursion to Kar-Nicobar we had to endure great heat, it was here that for +the first time we experienced in all its discomfort the oppressive, +relaxing sultriness of the tropical atmosphere, when saturated with +vapour. The thermometer stood pretty regularly at 84 deg. to 86 deg. Fahr., nor +was it possible to find any relief by plunging into the water, which was +if anything even warmer than the air. Hemmed in on all sides, and with the +welcome beneficent sea-breeze frequently ceasing to blow for a week +together, it was speedily pronounced a riddle, impossible to be solved, +how this harbour came to be once and again selected by German and Danish +Missionaries for the purposes of colonization, unless the key to the +mystery be found in its secure situation, the exquisite beauty of the +mountain landscape, and the numerous clear spots around. + +The very morning after our arrival we set out on a small reconnoitring +excursion to examine the ground, in order to decide, among so many objects +claiming our attention at once, what, considering the brief time at our +disposal, we might hope to undertake successfully, and what must once for +all be abandoned. Our first visit was to the village of Itoe, which lay +directly opposite our frigate's anchorage. The natives had all fled into +the forest, only their dogs having remained behind, who saluted us with a +tremendous howl. The huts, six or eight in number, had a poor, miserable +appearance, and were built close to a cocoa forest, so that there was not +the slightest space to move about in between the huts, the forest, and +the luxuriant underwood, so that free circulation of air was entirely +prevented. In front of the village a number of Bamboo poles, with large +bunches of ribbons waving about from their upper end, were stuck into the +water, for the purpose of frightening away the evil spirit or Eewee, and +driving him into the sea! In the interior of these few huts built of +stakes, and of much inferior construction to those in Kar-Nicobar, was a +large number of rudely cut figures of all possible sizes, and every +variety of position, suspended by strings, and supplying the most +unmistakeable evidence of the superstitions of the natives. We had never +seen these kinds of charms against the evil spirit at Kar-Nicobar, nor had +even heard them spoken of. Quite close to the huts was the place of +interment. At one grave, apparently quite lately used, a large pole was +erected, which was adorned with innumerable white and blue stripes waving +in the wind, and from which had also been suspended axes, piles, bars, +nails, and other tools and implements of labour of the deceased, so that +the whole scene much more resembled a rag-shop than a grave heap. + +From Itoe we proceeded to the peak of Monghata, on the island of Kamorta, +lying just opposite Nangkauri. It was here that, in 1831, Pastor Rosen +wished to found the projected settlement. He could hardly have selected a +more unsuitable site, since all around is either dense forest or mangrove +swamp. The spots that had been cleared are now overgrown with _Saccharum +Konigii_ (Lalang grass), of the height of a man, which usually follows +here upon spots that have been once cultivated and are afterwards +abandoned, and which, if once taken root, can only with the utmost +difficulty be eradicated. From this peak, barely 200 feet in height, it is +practicable to descend by a small footpath to the cove of Ulala, whose +shores are entirely overrun with dense impassable mangrove swamp, and +accordingly present a most dreary, gloomy aspect. + +Our next excursion was to the village of Enuang or Enong, where lay at +anchor, under the British flag, two Malay prahus from Pulo Penang, manned +by Malay crews, and taking in cargoes of ripe cocoa-nuts, edible birds' +nests, and sea-slugs, or Trepang. The captain of one of these prahus and +the greater number of the crew were laid up with fever. The supercargo, a +Chinese named Owi-Bing-Hong, spoke English fluently, and was of the utmost +service to us in our communications with the natives. Enuang is larger +than Itoe, and has about a dozen huts, but these are one and all +half-ruinous, very filthy, and utterly neglected. In all the huts we found +numbers of figures, cut in white wood in the very rudest style in various +postures, mostly with a threatening, combative expression, intended to +drive away the evil spirit, of whom the natives seem to stand in great +dread; for it is the universal practice of these islanders to ascribe +whatever happens to them to the influence of an evil spirit, and probably +also the appearance of the _Novara_ in the harbour of Nangkauri was laid +to the account of the ill intentions of an Eewee. One constantly sees +fruit, tobacco, or betel-leaves, prepared with pearl-lime, strewed in +small portions at various spots in the interiors of the huts, or suspended +on the bamboo ladders by which they are entered, the object being to +propitiate the Eewee in the event of his being hungry on his arrival! In +one of the abandoned huts we discovered a figure resembling a cat, rudely +carved in wood, before which the natives had placed tobacco and +cocoa-nuts; almost all these figures were besmeared with soot, and daubed +with some red pigment, and their abdomens hung with long pendent dried +palm-leaves. + +Not one of the natives at Enuang understood English. Only a couple of old +men spoke a few words of Portuguese, of which they were not a little +conceited. The Portuguese, in the 17th and 18th centuries, seem to have +been the first European nations that had any commercial dealings with the +Nicobar islanders. A number of words of their language, all referring to +objects of civilization, and but little corrupted from the Portuguese, +such for instance as "pang" (for _pan_, the Portuguese for bread), +"zapato" (shoe), "cuchillo" (knife), and so forth, are evidences of this. +The natives here seemed to us yet more hideous than those of Kar-Nicobar, +especially as the everlasting betel-chewing had disfigured their mouths in +the most shocking manner. It is however incorrect to allege, as has been +the case hitherto, that they avail themselves of a particular substance +with which to discolour the teeth, and which it was supposed induced this +frightful distortion of the mouth; it is unquestionably only the abuse of +the betel (consisting of Areca-nut, betel-leaves, and coral chalk) which +causes these disgusting disfigurements. At this settlement also the women +and children had disappeared. Only one native woman, married to a Malay +from Pulo Penang, who was at the moment officiating as cook on board one +of the prahus lying at anchor in the bay, had the courage to present +herself before us. She was, according to the custom of the Malays, dressed +in silk, but bore on her body all the disagreeable traces of her Nicobar +origin. She showed no reluctance to talk with us, and, in her somewhat +scanty toilette, was the one solitary native woman with whom we found an +opportunity of communicating during our entire stay at the various +islands. + +From Enuang we visited the first settlement of the Moravian Brothers, +lying on the small neck of land between Enuang and Malacca, where +apparently the amiable Father Haensel seems to have lived, for whose +interesting memoir, narrating his many years' residence upon the Nicobar +Islands, we were indebted to the kindness of Dr. Rosen of the Moravian +Mission at Genaadendal in South Africa.[13] At present all is once more +thick majestic forest; a marvellous leafy dome, like a green pantheon, +encircles and overshadows the scene of the once benevolent activity of the +devoted missionary. Only a ruined well and a few brick fragments of what +was the oven, lying about, remain to show that a dwelling once stood +here. At the well there were a variety of beautiful flowers growing +between the stones. The place is still called, as then, Tripjet, or the +"Habitation of the Friends." Here in quick succession most of the Brethren +died, (no fewer than eleven out of the thirteen,) upon which the mission +was transferred to the opposite island of Kamorta, first of all to the +clearing at Kalaha, and ultimately to Kamut. But all these sites were as +ill-selected as the first. An abode located between swamp and forest, of +which latter only a space of barely 1000 feet in circumference was +cleared, could not but prove fatal in a very short space of time to the +unfortunate colonists. At the village of Enuang too it would seem to be +that the last attempt at founding a settlement was made in 1835 by the two +French missionaries; at least we were informed by several natives, who +seemed to be at present about 34 to 36 years of age, that they were +themselves but boys when the last missionaries lived at Nangkauri. They +also further recollected that the gigantic cocoa-palms, which at present +skirt the forest, were at that time quite small saplings, and the only +vegetation between the beach and the mission house. At present enormous +roots are stretching over the foundations of the earlier settlement. The +natives who accompanied us spoke with warm feeling of the missionaries, +and seemed to regret their departure. Many professed themselves with much +earnestness to be Christians, but they were so only in name. According to +what they reported, many natives must at that period have been baptized +in the islands of Chowra and Bampoka. + +During this visit to Enuang and Malacca, it had been one of the objects +aimed at by the members of the Expedition to draw up a small vocabulary of +the language of the natives, when it speedily appeared that, despite the +proximity of the two islands, the dialects used by the inhabitants were +entirely different. Even for trees and plants, for the feathered +inhabitants of the forests, as well as domestic animals, the inhabitants +of the central groups of islands have different names. The cocoa-palm and +its noble fruit, the betel and its ingredients, are here known by entirely +different names. The accurate transcription of each individual word into +German as pronounced by the native was hard work. It took us two days to +make a vocabulary of one hundred words! And even this slight success would +have been impossible but for our serviceable Chinese friend, Bing-Hong, +who had gone to school for two years at Pulo Penang, and could read and +write English with tolerable readiness and accuracy. The distortion of +their mouths is one main reason why the natives pronounce the greater +number of their words almost unintelligibly; it is more a lisping mutter +than a language. Hence, apparently, their ability to follow out the +concatenation of ideas is so slightly developed, that it is only with much +difficulty they can be made to comprehend the particular subject +respecting which the information was wanted. For example, if it was wished +to know the word in their language which expressed "_blue_," and in order +to make more intelligible what was required, a variety of objects of a +blue colour were pointed out, they almost invariably named the object +itself, and not the colour. Or again, one wanted to know what they called +"_leaf_" in their language, and indicated the leaf of a tree standing +near; the native, however, replies by giving the name of the tree +_itself_, instead of the word expressing leaf. It seems to us not +unimportant to call attention to this circumstance, in order more +completely to lay before the reader the great and manifold obstacles which +present themselves in drawing up vocabularies of the languages of +half-savage races, and thus more readily secure indulgence for the +discrepancies which are frequently to be met with in such works.[14] + +Bing-Hong invited us to pay him a visit on board his vessel, which had +already been lying for several months at anchor in Nangkauri harbour, +taking in a cargo of ripe cocoa-nuts, of which a _Picul_, or 133-1/3 +pounds, is worth in the Pulo Penang market 5-1/2 American dollars (L1 +3_s._ sterling). This hospitable Chinese informed us it was at the period +of our visit the least unhealthy season in Nangkauri harbour: that as soon +as the S.W. monsoon sets in, all foreign ships hurry away, through dread +of the illnesses that follow in its track. However, feverish attacks are +of daily occurrence throughout the year. Of the thirteen men who formed +the crew of the barque, ten were laid up with fever. The disorderly habits +of life, however, of foreign visitors are much more to blame for these +frequent attacks of disease than the unhealthiness of the climate. +Constantly they are guilty of excesses in diet and general negligence of +health, bathing during the utmost heat of the day without any covering to +the head, exposing themselves to the burning rays of the noonday sun, +drinking for the most part nothing but the fluid contents of the unripe +cocoa-nut, eating quantities of juicy fruits, the constant use of which +acts injuriously on the systems of strangers, and sleeping on the damp +soil under the open air, exposed to all the noxious influences of the +atmosphere of a tropical forest without the slightest shelter. Bing-Hong +showed us the dried edible nests of the _Hirundo esculenta_ (in Malay +_Salang_, in Nicobar _Hegai_), and presented us with a small packet of +about thirty nests. When properly dried, seventy-two of these tiny nests +weigh one catty, or 1-1/4 lb., and they are sold at two rupees (4_s._) for +three of the inferior sort. The best quality is far more expensive. We +caused some of these Chinese dainties to be prepared exactly as prescribed +by Bing-Hong, that is to say, they were boiled for one hour in hot water, +but we found the gelatinous mass quite tasteless, and, in fact, resembling +dissolved gum. The swallow which constructs these edible nests does not +however seem to be a regular visitant of the Nicobar Islands, and the +profits on this article of commerce, which is of such importance in Java +and the rest of the Sunda Islands, are here scarcely worth naming. + +It has been long disputed whence this industrious little warbler obtains +the material for his nest, and it was in all probability the circumstance +that it was generally believed to consist of particles of sea-weed, +fish-roe, and marine animalculae of the _medusa_ class, which secured for +these nests such a celebrity among Chinese gourmands. A German naturalist, +Professor Troschel of Bonn, affirms however, on the strength of an +analysis of these nests, that the notion hitherto prevalent as to the +component parts of these nests is entirely erroneous, as they consist of +nothing else than a thick, glutinous slime, secreted from the salivary +glands, which, at the period when the Indian swallow builds its nest, +swell out into large whitish masses. This slime, which is susceptible of +being drawn out in long filaments from the bill of the animal, is quite +analogous to gum Arabic. Whenever the bird is desirous of constructing its +nest, it causes this salivary substance, which at that period is copiously +secreted, to adhere to the crags, till its elegant nest is finished. + +One of the days during which the frigate lay in Nangkauri harbour, the +geologist of the Expedition made an excursion in a native canoe along the +coasts of Kamorta and Tringkut, as these islands at the points where the +shores are precipitous furnish the only possible geognostic facilities, +the forest or the thick covering of vegetation in the interior of the +island quite concealing the geological conformation. Our Chinese friend +Bing-Hong aforesaid accompanied him in the capacity of interpreter. When +the geologist had got some distance from the frigate, he found that the +natives had not abandoned their villages, and to this one alone of our +fellow-travellers, manned and rowed along by natives, did some of the +women become visible. They were as tall as the men, and quite as loathsome +in appearance, the mouth similarly disfigured by betel-chewing, but the +hair cut short. Around the body they wore a petticoat of red or blue +cloth, reaching from the loins to the knee. + +Another excursion was made to Ulala Cove, distant about four nautical +miles from our anchorage on the W. side of the island of Kamorta, on which +occasion our Venetian gondola, specially constructed for similar +expeditions, was pressed into the service. The entrance to the cove is +about 3/4 of a mile in breadth, after which it expands in an easterly +direction with varying width, at the same time sending off arms in every +direction. The vegetation is exceedingly luxuriant and plentiful, and +along the swampy shore consists mainly of mangrove bushes, which at most +points make it almost impracticable to disembark, and impart to the entire +bay a dreary, desolate appearance. At the few villages scattered along the +shore, most of the natives had taken to flight. On this occasion, however, +it was not child-like terror that had driven them away, but an evil +conscience, for among the other inhabitants this bay enjoys the sad +reputation of having on various occasions massacred the crews of small +vessels, after having plundered them of everything. So strong is this +feeling that the natives of the rest of the Nicobar group, according to +their own report, refuse to have anything to do with this ferocious set, +and could not by any means be induced to accompany us in their canoes as +far as Ulala Cove. + +The frigate lay five days in Nangkauri harbour, until the soundings and +general survey of this large bay with its numerous branches had been +completed, when, on the morning of the 11th March, she sailed, with a +fresh breeze from N.W., through the western entrance, which is scarcely a +hundred fathoms wide, by fourteen in depth, and is marked by two rocky +pinnacles. Directly opposite lies the island of Katchal, thickly wooded to +the water-edge, and stretching out long and low, without any marked +elevation above sea-level. We now sailed in between these islands of +Katchal and Kamorta in a northerly direction towards the islands of +Teressa and Bampoka. On the W. side of Kamorta a number of villages were +visible; on the N.W. we perceived at several spots natural meadows, while +hereabouts the land gradually culminated into the highest point of the +island,--a conical hill, rising not very far from the shore, almost +entirely without trees, except where near the summit a number of bushes +and shrubs nestled in a sort of hollow. Three days were now lost in +unsuccessful attempts to make head-way against wind and tide, so that for +four mortal days we were tossed about in full view of Bampoka, Teressa, +and Chowra, never indeed above twenty miles distant, yet utterly unable to +make any one of them. As the time at our disposal for visiting these was +exhausted in consequence of this unexpected difficulty, we were, very much +to our regret, compelled to forego the satisfaction of setting foot on +either of these islands, which, especially Chowra, would have presented a +rare opportunity of examining the effect upon tropical races of men of an +excess of population. That rather barren island possesses, it seems, more +inhabitants than it has the means of subsisting, and appears to be the +only spot of the entire Nicobar group where the natives follow industrial +avocations. All manner of pottery ware comes from Chowra, so that it would +almost seem as though the lamentable spectacle of a superabundant +population had given the natives the first impulse towards active +industry. + +In the island of Teressa the Austrian Expedition had a more special +interest, in so far as it is by no means improbable that the adventurous +Bolts, who in 1778 visited the Nicobar Archipelago in the Austrian ship +_Joseph and Theresa_, named this island, as he already had done in the +case of a fort on the coast of Africa, after the renowned Austrian +Empress, which, corrupted by the native dialect, had been gradually +transformed into Teressa or Terassa. + +At sunrise on the 17th March there loomed on the horizon in a S.E. +direction, first the island of Meroe, then the two small islands of Treis +and Track, and lastly the long mountain-chain of Little Nicobar, with the +beautiful island of Pulo Milu. The breeze was light, and a current of a +velocity of five miles an hour, which ran rushing and seething like a +mill-race through the calm sea, so completely checked our progress that +the anchor had to be let go. This procured us the very unexpected pleasure +of visiting these two small wooded islands. Owing to the heavy surf, we +only succeeded in effecting a landing by the assistance of some natives, +whom we happened to fall in with in their canoes off these all but +uninhabited islets. Treis is a veritable pigeon island, full of the most +various and beautiful species of that bird; nevertheless we could only +procure a single specimen of the exceedingly elegant Nicobar dove. Here +too it was that the geologist found the first traces of brown coal, which +however did not present itself in layers suitable for domestic use. + +The same afternoon, with the turn of the tide the current set in our +favour, and towards 10 P.M. we reached the roadstead protected to the +eastward by the northernmost point of Little Nicobar, to the westward by +the island of Pulo Milu, and southward by the mainland of Little Nicobar +itself. It is not very large, but it has excellent holding ground, and +would be available at all seasons as a harbour of refuge for vessels. As +most of the villages of Little Nicobar lie on the N.W. and S. sides of the +island, and were with difficulty accessible from our anchorage, it was +thought preferable to select the small but beautiful island of Pulo Milu +for our visit. Already, while we were lying at anchor in front of the +island of Treis, a few natives had come on board the frigate, and had +shown much confidence. They possessed all the characteristics of the +residents of Nangkauri, and they also spoke, with but slight variations, +the same idiom. Only for certain objects, and those, singular to say, +articles of the very first necessity, such as cocoa-nut trees, palms, +screw-pines, and the like, did they employ different expressions. + +The island of Pulo Milu, with its variety of forest-vegetation, and its +charming woodland-scenery, displays all the beauty and all the marvels of +the tropics. The screw-pine (of the family of _Pandaneae_), that peculiar +tree which imparts to the forests of Asia a character so different from +those of America, is seen here in exceptional size and majesty. Nowhere +have we met with this marvellous tree growing in such luxuriance as on +Pulo Milu, where it appears in such quantities as to resemble a forest, +and leaves an impression of such lonely wildness as makes one almost +imagine it a remnant of some earlier period of our earth. Wondering at the +capricious vagaries of nature, the traveller contemplates these +extraordinary trees, which have leaves arranged in spiral order like the +dragon trees, trunks like those of palms, boughs like those trees +presenting the ordinary characteristics of foliage, fruit-cones like the +_conifer[oe]_, and yet have nothing in common with all these plants, so +that they form a family by themselves. On Pulo Milu we saw some of these +trees with slim smooth stems 40 or 50 feet in height, which are nourished +by and supported upon a pile of roots of 10 to 12 feet high, resembling a +neatly-finished conical piece of wicker-work, composed of spindle-shaped +staves. Many of these roots do not reach the soil, and in this undeveloped +state these atmospheric roots assume the most peculiar shapes. Higher up +the same formation is repeated among the branches, from which depend +beautiful massy fruit-cones, a foot and a half in length, by one in +thickness, which, when ripe, are of a splendid orange hue. + +The screw-pine is not cultivated in the Nicobar Islands; it grows wild in +the utmost luxuriance, and, after the cocoa-nut, is for the natives the +most important plant that furnishes them with subsistence. The immense +fruit-cones borne by this tree consist of several single wedge-shaped +fruits, which when raw are uneatable, but boiled in water, and subjected +to pressure, give out a sort of mealy mass, the "Melori" of the +Portuguese, and called by the natives "Larohm," which is also occasionally +used with the fleshy interior of the ripe fruit, and forms the daily bread +of the islanders. The flavour of the mass thus prepared strongly resembles +that of apple-marmalade, and is by no means unpalatable to Europeans. The +woody, brush-like fibres of the fruit which remain behind, after the mealy +contents have been squeezed out, are made use of by the natives as natural +brooms and brushes, while the dried leaves of the Pandanus serve instead +of paper to surround their cigarettes. + +At Pulo Milu, as is yet more markedly the case among the southernmost +islands, the cocoa-palm does not grow so luxuriantly as on Kar-Nicobar, +and to this circumstance may be chiefly ascribed the fact that the +natives are not so liberal as at the last-named island. The Swedish +naturalist, Dr. Rink, who has so largely and valuably added to our stock +of information respecting the Nicobar group, resided here for a +considerable time with some forty Chinese labourers, and, with a view to +ultimate colonization, had caused to be cut through the forest several +paths, by means of which this island has been rendered much more permeable +than any other in the Archipelago. The selection was an extremely happy +one, and had the projected colonization of the island been carried into +effect, very different results would have been obtained than those of poor +Dr. Rosen in Nangkauri Harbour. Next to Kar-Nicobar, it has been clearly +decided that Pulo Milu is the most suitable spot for a first settlement, +in the event of any European power or any capitalist undertaking to solve +the problem of colonizing this Archipelago. + +In the cove at which we landed five huts stand upon the beach, much +similar to those at Nangkauri, and like them having before them a number +of lofty singularly ornamented poles emerging from the water, called by +the natives Handschuop, and intended to keep Davy Jones at a respectful +distance from the village,--not unlike the scarecrow with which we at home +seek to frighten from the ripening corn the rapacious troop of feathered +epicures. These banners for scaring away the Eewees are erected within the +sea limit by the Manluena, or exorcist, who in these islands, like the +medicine-man of the Red Indian of America, or the Ach-Itz of the Indian +races among the highlands of Guatemala, exercises the utmost influence +over all the affairs of life. Here, as elsewhere, most of the natives had +disappeared on our approach. We found but five men, who were all at least +partially clad; some wore shirts, trowsers, and caps; another had +enveloped his person in an immense, and by no means over-clean, piece of +linen. One of this number, who acted as our guide through the island, and +called himself "John Bull," was not a regular resident in Pulo Milu, but +in Lesser-Nicobar, and had only come over to the island for the purpose of +constructing canoes of trunks of trees hollowed out. He spoke English with +tolerable fluency, and displayed quite child-like satisfaction, as often +as any English word, no matter what, was recalled to his recollection, +which had slipped his memory from want of practice. John Bull soon became +very insinuating, and expressed a wish to accompany us to Great Nicobar, +where, as he assured us, at Hinkvala, one of the villages on the southern +shore, he had several relatives, among others one named "London," who +could be of the utmost service to us. For his kind offices we promised him +a present, upon which he asked with the most naive simplicity: "You not +talk lie?" from which we may conjecture that not every promise made to him +by a stranger was duly fulfilled. The huts of the natives were constructed +of beams, exactly like those in the central island; and the internal +arrangements were precisely identical. Here also are figures sculptured +in wood, Eewee-charms, which especially are found in the interiors of the +houses in such numbers and in such quaint costumes, that one is almost +tempted to imagine the inhabitants of these huts must be proprietors of +some Marionette-theatre. We also found here various objects carved in soft +wood, among others a large serpent, a tortoise, and several droll figures, +as also a seven-holed flute of bamboo-reed, the model for which had +evidently been supplied by some of the Malay sailors from Pulo Penang. + +The same evening we weighed anchor, and shaped our course along the +eastern shore of Lesser-Nicobar, which is thickly covered with swamp and +forest. On the morning of 19th March, we were abreast of the island of +Montial in St. George's Channel, and by evening had anchored on the +northern side of Great Nicobar, S.E. of the island of Kondul, which also +lies in the Channel. Already before sunrise the boats were lowered and +everything got in readiness for a visit to the small but delightful island +of Kondul, which, though on the N.W. side so lofty and rocky as to be +almost inaccessible, presents on its E. side a tolerably secure +landing-place, situated according to our observations in 7 deg. 12' 17'' N. +and 93 deg. 39' 57'' E. Here we found a number of huts, but not one single +native was visible. We now endeavoured, by following up a torrent bed, to +climb to the highest point of the island, which has an elevation of 350 to +400 feet. In this we only succeeded after most severe exertion, +occasionally having to avail ourselves at the steepest parts of the ascent +of the gigantic roots of trees, or of the climbing plants that hung +suspended like natural ropes, by means of which we swung ourselves among +the huge blocks of rock, till we could gain a secure footing. Instead, +however, of finding, as we had hoped, a small _plateau_ at the summit, or +at all events discovering some less difficult path by which to descend, we +were sorely disconcerted, on arriving thoroughly exhausted on the top, at +finding the rock descended so sheer and precipitous on the other side that +it was impossible to make one step further. However, we found here a +delicious refreshing breeze. With pleasure indescribable, our gaze +wandered to the island of Great Nicobar and the islet of Cabra, lying +immediately opposite us, their green luxuriant shores bathed on all sides +by the azure ripple of the ocean. Although no rain had fallen for more +than six months, the vegetation was on the whole wonderfully fresh and +abundant, the forest lovely and majestic as on "the first day of +Creation!" + +We found ourselves compelled to retrace our steps by the same break-neck +path by which we had ascended the peak. On the shore we encountered some +of the natives, whose curiosity had got the better of their apprehensions, +and who now slunk out of the forest, to discover what was our peculiar +object in landing on the island. Among their number was a native doctor, +and Eewee exorciser; he was however in no way distinguishable from the +rest of his brethren, unless by the inordinate length of his hair, which +flowed down far below his shoulders. One of the members of the Commission, +desirous of getting at the treatment pursued by these sly knaves when +they go to work with their poor credulous dupes of patients, promised this +dusky disciple of AEsculapius a present, if he would cure him by his own +method, and affected to have an intolerably severe pain in the left arm. +The Manluena displayed his treatment with a vengeance; he laid hold of the +supposed sufferer by the arm, which he pinched and punched, till there was +not a spot that had not received his attentions, while during the entire +process he now screamed aloud, now whistled, now blew vigorously upon the +bare skin, as though endeavouring to expel the Evil Spirit. According to +the belief of these poor people, every bodily pain is nothing other than a +demon magically introduced into the system through the evil influence of +an Eewee. The Manluena commenced to pinch the arm from above, performing +this anything but agreeable manipulation with his hands lubricated with +cocoa-nut oil, from above downwards, the object being to drive out the +Eewee from the arm by the finger points! Although the doctor had not used +his patient very tenderly, he nevertheless in the opinion of the natives +had not appeared to put forth all his powers, and had made use of far +fewer noises and contortions than had been usual with him when one of +themselves was undergoing treatment. Moreover his original confidence +seemed to fail him in his anxiety lest some mischance should befall him in +case this attempt at a cure should miscarry, and accordingly he speedily +made off, after he had been complimented with a few threepenny bits for +his trouble, nor did he again make his appearance the whole day. + +Some of the members of the Expedition had resolved to ramble quite round +the island; the circumference of which is little if at all more than eight +English miles. At early morning they had started with their guns and +botanical boxes on their shoulders full of the most buoyant expectation of +securing an ample store of curiosities, starting from the east coast and +thence to the north side of the island; and towards sunset they made their +appearance at the south side, foot-sore and nearly exhausted. In the +ardour of the chase and of collecting "specimens," they had plunged so +deep into the forest, thereby losing all trace of the direction by which +they had entered, that as the sun was already beginning to descend, they +had no alternative but to hew a path with their hatchets through the +thickest of the forest, so as to reach the beach once more. At times +hanging by creepers, at others swimming at various spots where the rocks +dipped perpendicularly into the sea, they at length arrived at the spot +where we were re-embarking, hungry, thirsty, and in a state of such +extreme exhaustion that we at first were really apprehensive for their +lives. Singularly enough these severe hardships were followed by no evil +consequences to any one of the party, though the recollection of them will +surely not fade out of their memory for the rest of their lives. + +The 21st March, being a Sunday, was duly observed, and was kept as a +much-needed day of rest, no boat going to shore. Towards noon a pretty +smart shower of rain fell, the first for six months. Several of the +natives came off in their canoes, and brought fowls, eggs, cocoa-nuts, and +various other fruits, as also monkeys and parrots. Rupees, English +shillings and sixpences, were evidently not unknown to them, as they +greatly preferred these in exchange to mere toys and showy articles. + +On the 22nd we made an excursion to a bay on the island of Great Nicobar +or Sambelong. All that portion of the coast lying opposite our anchorage +was quite uninhabited, evidently in consequence of the entire absence at +this point of the cocoa-palm, whereas on the west coast there are several +good-sized villages. Unfortunately, however, these lay at far too great a +distance from the frigate to permit of an excursion being made thither. As +our boat, after an hour's rowing, approached the little bay, we perceived +at the mouth of a small creek the singular spectacle of a dead mangrove +forest. Some great storm had apparently thrown up a sand-drive here, so as +to cut off the supply of sea-water even at full tide. As the mangrove only +flourishes in salt or brackish water, it had thus been deprived of its +vital element, and the trees had accordingly perished in the fresh water. +But the lofty stems still stood, withered and blighted, a ghastly garden +of death amidst delicious green peaks covered with forest. As the sun +rose, a white vapour lay like a winding-sheet over the dead swamp: one +felt the uncomfortable sensation of being in a place where miasmata were +poisoning the air, while the soil was generating death. The rigid +skeletons of these trees recall to the recollection of the stranger, who +stands marvelling at the all-powerful energies of Nature to create and +destroy in these regions, how many corpses of his fellow-Europeans are +mouldering beneath the damp soil of this island! Fortunately the river has +once more broken through the bar, and given access to the sea-water, so +that beneath the dead forest a fresh green vegetation was fast springing +up. + +The crew of a Malay prahu from Penang had selected this dull spot for a +regular settlement, in order to collect ripe cocoa-nuts, and Trepang, the +edible sea-slug (_Holothuria_) already mentioned, the latter for the +Chinese market. These people occupied a large wooden shed, and were +provisioned for a somewhat long stay. Except this shed there was not one +single hut here, all around being nothing but dense forest and swamp; but +some natives of the island of Kondul came over in their canoes to trade +hens and eggs with us. The Malay vessels which visit these islands almost +all come hither from Penang, about the beginning of the N.E. monsoon, and +remain during the whole of the dry season, so as to take in a full cargo +of the various natural produce of the island. They bring for barter fine +Chinese tobacco, calico, knives, axes, hatchets, cutlasses, clothes, and +black round hats. In former years they also imported the betel shrub into +Great Nicobar for propagation; where, in fact, it has been planted, and +has since then increased to such an extent that its importation is no +longer remunerative. With the commencement of the S.W. monsoons and the +rainy season, the Malay traders with their profitable cargoes make their +way back to Penang, and the other places along the coast of the peninsula +of Malacca. Thanks to the presence of these people, the members of the +Expedition were enabled to compare the Nicobar idiom with that of the +Malays, and could thus ascertain the exceeding discrepancies between these +two languages.[15] These merchants ordinarily bring with them a few +individuals who have a slight knowledge of the Nicobar language, as the +Malay tongue is not understood anywhere in this archipelago. + +One of the Malay seamen, named Tschingi, from Penang, whose caste was +indicated by the long stripes of a bluish green colour painted upon his +dark brown forehead, peculiar to the Hindu god Siva, told us that he +recollected being employed as a boy in the service of Pastor Rosen on the +island of Kamorta, with whom he remained till his return to Europe. He +spoke with much admiration of that estimable and thoroughly deserving +gentleman, and remarked that many Chinese and other settlers had +accompanied him to Kamorta, all of whom speedily succumbed to the fever. + +The native known as John Bull, who had followed us hither from Pulo Milu, +made his appearance at the bay, accompanied by some of his kindred, and +brought us some provisions. He seemed firmly to believe that in the +interior of the island of Sambelong, in its southern part, there existed +some wild inhabitants of a different race, Baju-oal-Tschua (or junglemen, +as he called them), who lived entirely in the woods, in small huts +erected upon the banks of the streams, and were so timid that they took to +flight so soon as any one endeavoured to approach them. He also told us +that in the S. and S.W. sides of Sambelong there were eleven villages: +viz. Hinkoata, Changanhei, Hinhaha, Haengangloeh, Kanalla, Taeingha, +Dayak, Kanchingtong, Dagoak, Hinlawua, and Kalemma. + +In the course of the day, not only was a highly successful onslaught made +on the denizens of the woodland, but even the fishes in bay were not +exempted from our attentions;--a net, which was flung over the side and +retained there barely half an hour, being hauled ashore with upwards of a +hundred weight of small fish. Of this the entire ship's company partook, +and sufficient was left over for the next day. Our quarry in the swamps +and forest consisted of snipes, of a splendidly plumed Maina bird +(_Gracula Indica_), eagles, and apes; unfortunately a number of the +animals shot were lost by their retreating into the thicket, where they +could not be recovered. + +On the morning of the 23rd of March the frigate again made sail and +steered along the west coast of Great Nicobar, while two boats' crews were +despatched with the requisite instruments to examine this quite unexplored +coast. This plan, however, proved only half successful. The tremendous +surf, into which the long swell setting in from the S.W. is broken +hereabouts, hurled the larger boat upon the beach with such violence that +it was capsized, by which a great portion of her freight was utterly lost, +and her crew could only escape to shore by swimming. The smaller, or +jolly-boat, returned to the ship with two of her crew to fetch assistance +for these woe-begone wights. One of the latter, who coolly spoke of the +accident as a "_piccola disgrazietta_,"[16] with the same breath informed +us that almost all the instruments, note-books, and implements of the +chase which had been taken on board, were irretrievably gone. Another +quarter-boat was despatched to bring off our shipwrecked companions, who +meanwhile remained on the shore in anything but enviable plight, soaked to +the skin, hungry and thirsty, and busily employed in fishing up some few +of the articles that had been overturned into the water. At last both +boats got safely back in company about midnight, but under such +circumstances that it was out of the question to think of prosecuting the +examination that had been commenced. We now lay a course for the southern +bay of Great Nicobar, where, shortly after 9 P.M. of the 24th March, we +cast anchor near the little stream called "Galatea" by the Danish +expedition. The midshipman intrusted with the commission of selecting the +most suitable spot to disembark, returned after several hours' absence, +with the little consolatory intelligence, that along the entire reach of +coast which he had examined, there was but one solitary spot at which it +was possible to land without danger from a boat of European construction. +In the course of the day we received numbers of natives on board; among +the rest, one man still young, with immense spectacles, which undoubtedly +were worn much more for personal adornment than for use. They brought off +for sale a few apes, parrots, hens, swine, cocoa-nuts, as also some rosin, +tortoise-shell, amber, and a few large eggs of a species of wood-pigeon, +called by the natives Mekeni, of which unfortunately we did not succeed in +seeing a single specimen, despite our utmost exertions. + +The following morning, 26th March, amid occasional premonitory symptoms of +the approach of the rainy season, the naturalists and some officers +endeavoured to effect a landing at a place where alone it seemed possible +for the broad, clumsy boats of our western waters. In this we succeeded. +Again we were able, although drenched to the skin, to set foot on Nicobar +soil. It was for the last time we did so. Not a single vestige could be +discerned along the beach of any human habitations:--all was thick +tropical forest, fringed with enormous _Barringtoni[oe] Gigante[oe]_, +which in all their primeval weirdness flung their branches over the water, +interlaced in wild confusion. After half an hour's wandering along the hot +beach, we came unexpectedly, at a point somewhat south of our point of +disembarkation, upon a couple of wretched disconsolate-looking huts. Not a +human being was visible,--only a pair of hens and a pig, which were +parading about untended; the bamboo poles, which usually figure in front +of the native huts, had been carried away. However, in their absence it +did not cost us much trouble to penetrate into the interior. A few weapons +of war or the chase, a number of hollowed-out perfumed cocoa-nut shells +suspended above the fire-place, a pair of elegantly plaited baskets, a +boat's sail made of pandanus leaves, some straw mats, and a couple of +marvellously finished figures, formed the very miscellaneous inventory of +this Nicobar household. The figures (cut in wood) and a very +neatly-executed basket attracted to themselves our special attention as +interesting specimens of the industry and taste of the natives of Nicobar. +We could not resist possessing ourselves of these, at the same time +leaving in recompense a quantity of shining six-penny pieces, fully twenty +times the utmost possible value of what had been taken away, depositing +them in one of the baskets which was suspended in a conspicuous position +in the middle of the hut. + +Adjoining this hamlet was a forest of cocoa-palms. We penetrated into it, +and suddenly found ourselves, to our great astonishment, on the track of a +well-worn footpath, which was probably, with the exception of the paths in +Great Nicobar and Pulo Milu, in better condition than any other we had +hitherto encountered in the Nicobar Islands. What more natural than to +suppose that a path so well worn must necessarily lead to an important +settlement? It passed first through an extensive and splendid +palm-plantation, and afterwards through a very beautiful clump of leafy +trees, fringing a little brook, whose channel, it being then the end of +the dry season, was quite dried up. Frequently we were obliged to clamber +over steep blocks of rock, with footsteps hewn in them by the hand of man, +for facilitating the passage, and at last, after a scramble of several +hours, highly interesting, but exceedingly fatiguing, we reached a cleared +spot on the sea-beach, but without being able to discern the remotest +trace of any human habitations. On the contrary, it seemed to admit of no +doubt that this path, as also some spots that had been cleared, were +nothing but the preparations for an intended settlement, which can only be +successfully carried out here where the cocoa-palm and screw-pine have +first struck root. Some of the sailors, who accompanied us as porters and +escort, went forward as far as the extreme point of the bay, but there +also they found no trace of any human abode. After a brief rest we +returned by the same track, to the spot at which we had disembarked, where +we were joined by some of the officers, who, more fortunate than +ourselves, had encountered some of the natives, and had even seen them in +their dwellings. They spoke of the interiors of the huts they visited as +being quite as wretched as those on the other islands, only the +inhabitants did not seem so shy or timorous. Far from this, they had +regaled our lucky companions with palm-wine, and had accompanied them till +they fell in with us. With this visit ended the thirty-second day of our +stay in the Nicobar Archipelago, only one half of that period having been +spent on land, the rest having been occupied in beating about against +unfavourable winds. + +Before, however, we take our departure from this most interesting group of +islands, _en route_ for the Sunda Islands and China, we shall be excused +for briefly recapitulating the main results of our observations and +investigations, while referring the reader for a more detailed +specification of our labours to the various special divisions yet to +appear. + +The Nicobar Islands, situated right in the most important highway of +commerce, which is destined to acquire yet greater importance, so soon as +the projected opening of the Suez Canal has been carried out, and +extending in their general direction from S.S.E. to N.N.W., seem like an +extension of the main central mountain-chain of Sumatra, which is +prolonged yet further to the northward through the Andaman group, and in +its crescent-shaped arrangement, with the convexity towards the westward, +corresponds with Cape Negrais in the peninsula of Malacca. If from this +Archipelago, as a centre, a circle be described of about 1200 nautical +miles of radius, it will include the most important commercial cities of +India, as well as Ceylon, the majority of the Sunda Islands, and Cochin +China. The winds usually prevalent here greatly facilitate the passage of +vessels from the adjoining islands and coasts of _terra firma_, and +proportionately enhance the importance of this Archipelago. + +With but few exceptions, the shores of the whole group of islands consist +of coral sand, or are fringed with coral banks, which latter extend +seaward to a depth of thirty fathoms. In like manner almost all the bays +seem to be edged with coral reefs, if indeed they are not actually studded +with them. The promontories frequently present cliffs both above and below +the level of the ocean, extending a couple of miles into the sea, which, +what with the occasional rapid currents and light breezes, are not always +very easily weathered. The prevailing winds are the two monsoons, the N.E. +in the months of November, December, January, February, and March, the +S.W. in May, June, July, August, and September. During the months of April +and October, there are variable winds and calms, extending more or less +into the adjoining months. The currents vary in direction with the +passages between the islands, and depend upon the ebb and flow of the +tide, varying in force and direction with the tidal phenomena. Ordinarily +these make themselves felt during the making of the tide from S.W. to +N.E., and in a contrary direction during the ebb. + +Due south of Kar-Nicobar, we found while lying at anchor a current running +3-1/2 miles an hour, two days after the full moon; north of Little +Nicobar, near the small island of Treis, where the current compelled us to +anchor, its velocity, as we experienced two days after new moon, is as +high as 4-1/2 miles an hour. These observations refer to a period when the +velocity of the current was at its maximum. In light winds, and when near +the coast, one must always let go the anchor, or at least lay out a kedge, +the latter however being barely sufficient at several spots immediately +after the full or the new moon. According to observations made during five +days about the period of full moon, the course of tide at Kar-Nicobar may +be assumed at 9h. 40m., and the difference in height between ebb and flood +at five feet. + +In these waters, and in a still more marked degree in the latitude of +Sumatra, occurs a belt within which the wave-currents form what is known +to English navigators as "The Ripples." The sea here is ranged +zone-fashion, so to speak, as though in fact in a state of ebullition, and +makes a considerable noise, yet without there being anything to indicate +an increased strength of current; since, on the contrary, we found when +reaching these tracts, that the velocity of current was if anything rather +diminished. We conceive this phenomenon may be attributed to the agitation +caused by partial tidal currents, crossing each others' course, and +occasionally even running counter to each other, as also to certain +special conditions of ocean temperature at varying depths. The changes of +the tides at points of the coast, proportionally speaking so near each +other, are so widely different in point of time, and the height reached by +the waves is so little uniform, that any such phenomenon as the above must +naturally make itself perceptible at the surface in the open sea. + +While the change of tide at Kar-Nicobar takes place every 9h. 40m., that +of Cape Diamond in Sumatra is laid down in the English chart at 12h., and +on the sand-banks in the Straits of Malacca at only 5h. 30m. The +difference in elevation assigned exhibits a similar discrepancy in the +estimates; that for Kar-Nicobar being stated at five feet, that for Cape +Diamond at 10 feet, and on the sand-banks already mentioned at 15 feet. +The hurricanes of the Bay of Bengal never visit the Nicobars; they seem to +originate part in or about the Andaman Islands, part from the west coast +of Sumatra, proceeding in the former case towards the northern portions of +the gulf, and in the latter towards the Coromandel coast and Ceylon. + +During the S.W. monsoon, in which occurs the rainy season, frequent +thunder-storms and even gales of wind occur, especially in the vicinity of +Great Nicobar. The dry N.E. monsoon again brings fine weather, but +sometimes blows with considerable strength. + +Kar-Nicobar has no regular harbour, but presents on its north side a +spacious land-locked bay nearly rectangular, the holding ground of which +is a coral sand of from 10 to 16 fathoms, and is thoroughly sheltered to +the S.W. and N.E. During the N.E. monsoon it is advisable to lie somewhat +closer in with the northern promontory of the island. At this season it is +difficult to find any spot at which small boats can disembark. However, +near the northern point it is possible to reach the shore in a small cove, +the western boundary of which presents an open space of coral sand, where +it is possible to lie to in deep water with even a good-sized boat. The +village of Saoui, which gives its name to the roadstead, is not readily +accessible during the N.E. monsoon in consequence of the surf, but the +very next indentation of the coast facing eastwards, which is protected +seaward by a coral reef, offers a well-sheltered point of disembarkation, +where the boats can be beached on the smooth coral sand, and thereafter +drawn up high and dry. + +During the N.E. monsoon it is also practicable to avail oneself of the bay +on the S. side of Kar-Nicobar, or to anchor anywhere along the W. side of +the island, but such anchorages possess no other protection than is +afforded by long points of land projecting far into the ocean, and usually +protracted by coral reefs. + +Both in the bay of Saoui, and on the south side of Kar-Nicobar, are found +small brooks, which run with water even during the dry season. It is +difficult however to water hereabouts, because these rivulets are blocked +up with sand-bars, not to speak of the obstacles interposed to the landing +of boats, by the tremendous surf and the low swampy shore at most periods +of the year. In cases of extreme necessity, however, the little rivulet +called the Areca might with some difficulty be made available. + +Chowra, Kamorta, and Bampoka, have no regular anchorages; a vessel must be +content to ride to leeward of that coast, which will act as a shelter +against whichever monsoon happens to be blowing. Disembarkation by means +of boats is extremely difficult, and it is much better to make use of a +native canoe, which, after transporting the visitor through the surf to +the land, can be more easily drawn up on the beach. + +Tillangschong possesses a beautiful harbour on the S. side, which however +is open to the S.E., but during the greater part of the year affords an +excellent anchorage. The most southerly point has numerous cliffs and +needles of rock where it projects into the sea, but it is possible to +approach within a few fathoms of the southernmost of these with vessels +of any size. + +On the west side of the island, at the spot where its two halves may be +said to blend, the northernmost rugged, the more southerly flat, a pretty +good anchorage will be found, which seems to be sheltered towards the S.W. +by several solitary projecting rocks. Generally speaking, but more +especially to the N. and E., this island presents a steep precipitous +shore, so that, with the exception here and there of a few solitary rocks, +close in to the shore, there is nothing but clear deep water around almost +the entire island to within about 10 fathoms of the land. + +The harbour of Nangkauri is rather roomy, but of very unequal though for +the most part considerable depth; the soundings in its midst giving +between 20 and 30 fathoms. The promontories are all more or less +low-lying, and thickly beset with coral reefs, and caution is the more +necessary, since it is far from unusual after working in from 20 to 16 +fathoms, to find the water shoal suddenly to four or even three fathoms. +The anchorage formed by the two islands of Kamorta and Nangkauri has two +entrances, from the east and from the west, the navigation of which by +large ships demands the utmost vigilance. The western entrance is barely a +cable's length in width, while the island of Nangkauri has hardly any +fair-way for vessels along its exterior coast-line. In consequence of the +two islands trending towards each other at that point, the harbour near +its middle is greatly narrowed, so that there may almost be said to be +two harbours. In either of them a vessel is quite safe, being in fact so +thoroughly sheltered from all winds that the heat is occasionally +overpowering. + +On the west side of Kamorta, six or seven miles north of the western +entrance of the harbour, will be found a large sheet of water, called +Ulala Bay, in the first half of which there is excellent anchorage; but +the vapours emanating from the abundant mangrove swamps render residence +here extremely unhealthy. As Ulala Cove runs for the most part parallel +with Nangkauri Harbour, and is separated from the latter only by a range +of low eminences, the near proximity of these mangrove swamps likewise +imparts their baleful influence to the air of Nangkauri Harbour. There is +absolutely no water here fit for drinking. + +Katchal has large bays on both its west and its east sides, but they are +almost entirely silted up with coral sand. The channel between Katchal and +Kamorta is clear. Here we made short tacks in passing through, approaching +the shores on either side within half a mile. + +Little Nicobar has a good harbour on the north side, formed by the island +of Pulo Milu and the N. coast of Little Nicobar, which is bent almost at a +right angle. This anchorage is accessible in all winds, and is well +sheltered, but a considerable portion adjoining the shore of Little +Nicobar is rendered useless by banks of coral. + +Notwithstanding the most careful examination of this part of the coast, +we could not discover the spot, which in the Danish charts is marked as +furnishing water fit for drinking, but perceived nothing save mangrove +swamps, with numerous water-courses filled with brackish water, the two +largest of which we navigated in our gondola as far as was practicable. + +The island of Kondul in St. George's Channel forms another very fair +anchorage; and similarly on the N. side of Great Nicobar, one finds +several suitable bays, the most easterly of which, called Ganges Harbour, +is fringed with coral banks, rendering it proportionately difficult of +access. The anchorage of Kondul may be selected for one reason, namely, +that it is land-locked towards both N.E. and S.W., besides having the +additional advantage of being airy, and distant from the mangrove swamps, +whereas in the bays on the N. coast of Great Nicobar these are of immense +extent. One of these mangrove swamps in the central cove was traversed by +one of the naturalists, the result of which was that he found a river +debouching into the sea through the very heart of the swamp, which, +however, so long as the sea-water could find entrance, was not of course +drinkable. + +On the west side of Great Nicobar, along the whole length of which we +sailed, but which we could not visit more carefully, owing to want of time +and the heavy S.W. swell of the ocean, several other promontories and +coves are apparently available as harbours, and moreover may be supposed +to be the embouchures of rivers. At the south point of Great Nicobar there +is a large bay, which however being quite exposed from S.W. to S.E. must +be anything but a safe anchorage during the S.W. monsoon. During the +prevalence of the N.E. monsoon it seems tolerably well suited for an +anchorage, if the eastern promontory be kept S.E. by S., and the anchor be +cast in soundings of from 10 to 13 fathoms. Landing, however, is at all +times a matter of difficulty, as the surf is very boisterous and the swell +of the sea pretty heavy. Its most remote point is the mouth of the river +Galatea, which, however, is closed by a sand-bar, and for that reason +cannot be easily reached. This bay, owing to its configuration, is +excessively hot and sweltering, and with reference to its salubrity cannot +be recommended as a suitable abode. + +The climate of the Archipelago, though tropical, is not nevertheless to be +ranked among the hottest, in consequence of its insular position, and of +the whole of the islands being thickly clothed with forest. Hence the +quantity of rain, which, as has been seen, is sufficient to keep the +rivers full even in the dry season. According to the meteorological +observations made on these islands by various observers at different +periods of the year, the average temperature does not exceed 77 deg. Fahr., +much about the temperature of the fluid found in the fresh unripe +cocoa-nut. But during the months of April and October respectively, at +which period calms prevail in these islands, the maximum temperature of +86 deg. to 88 deg. Fahr. is reached. + +Considering the violence with which rain falls, and that the dry season of +the N.E. monsoon from November to March, and the damp season of the S.W. +monsoon from April to October, are by no means so sharply defined on these +islands as on the adjoining coasts of the mainland, the quantity of annual +rainfall must be enormous. At certain times it is not much less than 100 +or even 150 inches, and yet it probably is not so high as that presented +by other localities, which experience the regular changes of the monsoons, +as for instance, in the Straits of Malacca, where the annual rainfall is +208 inches, or Mahableshwur south of Bombay, where it amounts to no less +than 254 inches! March is the dryest month in the year. During the whole +of the month, which we spent on the islands or in their immediate +vicinity, we only had three sharp thunder-storms. These become more +frequent and severe during April, until about May or June the S.W. monsoon +sets in and envelopes the islands in rain-clouds. Where some special +physical configuration of the soil does not admit of the rapid carrying +off of the redundant deluge of rain, the island must necessarily be +unusually well off for water. Of the correctness of this theory we were +enabled thoroughly to satisfy ourselves, since the close of the dry season +is necessarily unfavourable to there being any water remaining in the +streams and brooks; notwithstanding which even the smallest of the +islands, Pulo Milu and Kondul, although their rivulets had ceased to flow, +possessed a sufficient supply of sweet drinkable water among the numerous +basin-shaped pools that occur in the beds of the various streams. From the +forest-covered slopes of Tillangschong also, small streams of fresh water +are continually trickling. The insignificant brooks and rivers of the +large well-wooded islands lying further to the south of Great and Little +Nicobar, are in like manner kept full the whole year by the blessed +abundance of the watery element. On the other hand, the northern islands, +so far at least as the marl-formation extends, seem to be but scantily +supplied with water, especially on Kamorta, Nangkauri, Tringkut, and +apparently Teressa and Bampoka as well. All the small streams on the two +first-named islands, which fall into the Nangkauri harbour, were found to +be very nearly dried up. + +The principal beverage of the natives of these islands is the fluid +contents of the unripe cocoa-nut, while it should seem that they fetch the +water required for house purposes from the pools of sweet water, which +they find scattered here and there among the river-courses. Springs we saw +none, with the exception of the old ruined one of the Moravian Brethren +near the village of Malacca on the island of Nangkauri. Kar-Nicobar, +although likewise belonging to the same marl-formation as the +before-mentioned islands, has nevertheless no lack of drinkable water, +since the expanse of land raised from eight to twelve feet above the level +of the ocean constitutes the site of those singular springs, the sweet +water in which rises and falls with the ebb and flow of the tide. The +explanation of this singular phenomenon must not be sought for in the +filtration of the sea-water by the coral rock, but is simply due to the +rain-water, being the lighter, floating upon the surface of the +sea-water, which is heavier, while the porous coral rock prevents the +complete intermixture of the salt and fresh water. In the villages of +Moose and Saoui on Kar-Nicobar we saw several such cisterns, which always +had eight or ten feet good fresh water. Of rivers, properly so called, we +found but two, one falling into the northern Bay of Kar-Nicobar, the other +at the southern point of Great Nicobar. The former, which from the +luxuriant growth of the cabbage tree along its banks we named +"Areca-river," is navigable for flat-boats for about two miles from its +mouth, at which point further progress is arrested by some small rapids. +Here the water is quite sweet, holding but a very little chalk in +solution. + +We found no mineral waters or warm springs. The hardened marl deposits of +Nangkauri harbour we perceived however to be encased in a crust an inch +thick of sulphate of magnesia, and fine silk-like glistening fibres; this +results from the clay-marl containing sulphate of magnesia, so that very +possibly by digging cistern-shaped cavities, a bitter saline solution +might be obtained similar to that at present obtained under similar +circumstances at Billin in Bohemia. + +In consequence of the extraordinarily rich vegetation, the dampness of the +soil, and the numerous mangrove swamps all along the coast, the climate, +as may readily be conceived, is at present anything but salubrious. During +the changes of the monsoons especially, a fever breaks out of so malignant +a type that it is very frequently fatal to Europeans. + +But, so long as dense forest, creeping plants, and swamps encumber the +soil, there can be no country within the tropics favourable to the health +of man, and all immigrants or other persons who make a sufficiently long +stay in such localities, prepare themselves for being visited by maladies +of the most formidable nature, among which fever and dysentery play the +most conspicuous part. + +Similar conditions are occasionally met with in certain parts of Europe +where swamp and uncultivated land are exposed to the influences of a high +temperature, of which examples enough are furnished in the malaria of +Italy, and the marsh fever of the lagoons of Venice and along the coasts +of Istria. And if such visitations make less impression upon us in Europe, +it is not that there is little danger, but simply because, as habit is +second nature, the regularity of their return has ceased to attract +attention. + +This is precisely what the English have experienced in the East Indies, it +is what the German emigrant is now going through on the banks of the +Mississippi and Ohio, in Brazil and in Peru, until the forests are cleared +and rendered productive, until, in short, advancing cultivation has +dispelled those miasmata, which are inevitably developed amid the +undisturbed voluptuousness of nature. + +When at certain seasons of the year the vital principles of millions upon +millions of organisms begin to be active, they throw off oxygen into the +atmosphere, replacing it by absorbing carbonic acid; while, on the other +hand, different organisms, in conformity with known chemical laws, are +destroyed under similar conditions, and, under the influence of the +atmosphere co-operating with humidity, ferment and become decomposed. From +all which processes result products of emanation, which, caught up into +the atmosphere and whirled away by the wind, become in their turn the +means of nutriment and fertilization to other plants, thus imparting to +tropical vegetation that marvellous rankness and super-abundance so fatal +to the human frame. But the conditions which produce this tendency in the +atmosphere to generate fever are not peculiar to certain localities, or +strictly confined to these; they can be averted, and with them the vapours +so prejudicial to health may be removed. We have but to raise up a barrier +against that mighty all-devouring process of life and vegetation, which +imperils our own conditions of existence, we have but to withdraw from the +powerful agencies of chemical action the substances undergoing +decomposition, to constrain the waters of heaven to follow certain +definite directions, to drain every swamp, to clear the forest, to sweep +away the dense underwood in order that the wind may wander unchecked over +the now fertilized soil, and a wondrous alteration will take place in the +climatic conditions of the Nicobar Islands. Of what may be achieved under +such circumstances by energy and perseverance, the island of Penang, some +350 nautical miles distant, furnishes the most striking example, which +within a very few decades has, by dint of the progressive clearing and +cultivation of the soil, been converted from a den of fever and malaria, +a spot shunned by all men as a residence, into one of the most healthy +localities in the East, so much so indeed that it has been made a resort +for invalids! + +Seduced by the attractive beauty of the harbour of Nangkauri, the various +attempts at founding a settlement have almost without exception been +confined to that site. Upon a more close examination however of the +precise spot selected for these settlements, it becomes at once apparent +that they were for the most part pitched upon the neck of land which +divides the land-locked ill-ventilated harbour of Nangkauri from the Bay +of Ulala, surrounded as it is on all sides by thick mangrove swamps. + +On such a site did the settlers erect their huts, and there, often at but +a short interval after their arrival, did they find their grave; and if a +very few of their number resisted the deadly influence of the miasmatic +vapours, if even they were able for several years to drag along a +miserable existence in such a scene, these can only be regarded as +striking examples of an unusual vigour of constitution. It is true that +most of these missionaries who founded settlements here were by no means +properly housed and fed, which in such a climate is a matter of absolute +prime necessity for the preservation of health. Often when already +attacked with fever they toiled, spade in hand, delving the ground amid +the exhausting heat of a tropical day in order to secure the means of +subsistence, or gathered shell-fish along the beach, or hunted for +reptiles or birds through the swamps and forest, in order to provide +themselves, by the sale of these natural curiosities in Europe, with the +means of existence in those distant regions. Not without feelings of the +keenest emotion and deepest sympathy is it possible to peruse the +description given by one of these missionaries, Father Haensel, of his mode +of life on the island of Nangkauri, where he lived for seven years amidst +the greatest privations and hardships. "On my frequent excursions along +the sea-coast," says the noble, high-souled missionary, "it sometimes +happened that I was benighted, and I could not with convenience return to +our dwelling; but I was never at a loss for a bed. The greater part of the +beach consists of a remarkably fine white sand, which above high-water +mark is perfectly clean and dry. Into this I dug with ease a hole large +enough to contain my body, forming a mound as a pillow for my head; I then +lay down, and by collecting the sand over me buried myself in it up to the +neck. My faithful dog always laid across my body, ready to give the alarm +in case of disturbance from any quarter. However, I was under no +apprehensions from wild animals; crocodiles and caimans never haunt the +open coast, but keep in creeks and lagoons; and there are no other +ravenous beasts on the island. The only annoyance I suffered, was from the +nocturnal perambulations of an immense variety of crabs of all sizes, the +crackling noise of whose armour would sometimes keep me awake. But they +were well watched by my dog, and if any one ventured to approach too near, +he was sure to be suddenly seized and thrown to a more respectful +distance. Or if a crab of a more tremendous appearance would deter my dog +from exposing his nose to its claws, he would bark and frighten it away, +by which however I was sometimes more seriously alarmed than the occasion +required. Many a comfortable night's rest have I had in these sepulchral +dormitories when the nights were clear and dry, and the heavens spangled +with stars."[17] + +After such a description, one cannot but feel astonished that any of these +men, jealous for the faith, should have been able to linger on for years +in such a plight, and assuredly no one will refuse to these heroes of +Christianity their meed of the deepest admiration and gratitude, which +they merit none the less that their labours among these natives were +almost entirely unattended by any permanent good results. + +It seems specially worthy of remark that the crew of the Austrian ship +_Joseph and Theresa_, which spent as much as five months here, and that +too during the rainy season (April to September), almost entirely escaped +fever. This fact sufficiently proves that the rainy season is by no means +the most unhealthy, but that the periods of transition from the dry to the +wet season, and _vice versa_, must be considered as invariably +prejudicial. At these times light variable winds alternate with +thunder-showers, after which there is usually experienced great heat by +solar radiation, which at once liberates the noxious emanations of the +humid soil. Further on, during the actual rainy season, when the heavens +are almost continually veiled, and the condition of the atmosphere and the +soil is alike one of complete saturation, this phenomenon appears much +less marked, and becomes in a corresponding degree less dangerous to human +organization. + +We are also of opinion that the time from the end of March to the end of +April, as also the months of September and October, are the most +insalubrious parts of the year, although on the Nicobars a man may be +struck down with fever at any season, so soon as those precautions have +been neglected, which are so necessary to observe in the uncultivated +regions of the tropics. An instance on this point is furnished in the case +of the crew of the Danish corvette _Galatea_. Of thirty individuals +engaged in an exploring expedition up what is known as the Galatea river, +in the southern Bay of Great Nicobar, and caught one night in a +thunder-storm, which compelled them to remain in the forest wringing wet, +no fewer than twenty-one fell ill of fever, which ultimately proved fatal +in four cases. + +So far as our own experience goes, the state of health on board the +frigate during a stay of thirty-two days was highly satisfactory. During +that entire period, out of 350 men only six took ill with fever, which +number, however, at a later period during our passage to the straits of +Malacca, was increased to 21. Singular to say, those of the ship's +company, who during our stay had _never set foot_ on the Nicobar Islands, +furnished the largest contingent of cases of fever, while of both officers +and naturalists, who spent the whole day together among the swamps and the +forest, and were exposed to all manner of fatigue, only three got upon the +sick list. On the whole, however, even the few severer cases made an +excellent recovery, and by the time we had anchored in the harbour of +Singapore, all the fever patients were once more either quite well, or in +a fair way towards convalescence. + +As the examination of this Archipelago was, in consequence of the all but +impenetrable forests, confined to the narrow strip of land along the +shore, we had almost said to the region of cocoa-palms exclusively, its +various geognostic features were very inadequately, yet withal +approximately, ascertained. If we admit that a covering of vegetation of +the utmost variety and primeval luxuriance, untouched by the hand of man, +and entirely unreclaimed by cultivation, may be considered as the +expressive feature by which an estimate could be arrived at of the +different geognostic conditions of soil beneath, we may succeed in our +attempt from the characteristics of this primeval vegetation, to come to +some definite conclusion as to the quality and the greater or lesser +productiveness of the ground. According to this method of computing, it +would seem that, + +I. The forest, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, includes 70/100 +of the entire surface of the island:--the soil being limestone, rich in +alkalies, spungy, with clay-sand, and exceedingly fertile. + +II. On the other hand, the grass vegetation proper may be set down at +15/100 of the surface: a barren, clay soil. + +III. The cocoa forest may be estimated at 5/100 of the entire area; upon a +fruitful soil of coral conglomerate, coral sand, and dried alluvium. + +IV. In like manner the screw-pine forests cover 5/100 of the entire +insular surface, the soil marshy but well suited for cultivation, with +fresh-water bogs, and moist fresh-water alluvium. + +V. Lastly, the mangrove forest in like manner may be roughly estimated at +5/100 of the superficial area, and is a swampy soil, unfitted for +cultivation, consisting of salt-water marshes, and alluvium, moistened by +salt-water. + +The entire superficial area of the islands may be computed at about 627 +square miles. Reckoning only 7/10 therefore of the surface as consisting +of soil suitable for culture, which may undoubtedly be assumed as a fair +approximation, we have a surface of 439 square miles capable of being made +productive. But even the very ground now exclusively covered with grass, +might be made productive with a more numerous population and a +corresponding improvement in cultivation, so that these islands, now the +abode of about 5000 savages, could easily support in comfort a population +of over 100,000 industrious men. + +At present the chief product of the islands is the cocoa-nut palm, which +grows for the most part on the sea-shore, so far as the coral sand +reaches. Within the same limits is the existence of the inhabitants +confined, destitute as they are of industry or the capacity to cultivate +the soil. This invaluable plant seldom extends far into the interior, and +from this circumstance was named by a celebrated German traveller and +botanist, Martius, the "Sea-shore palm." It is, however, as yet undecided +whether the cocoa-palm is indigenous to the Nicobar Islands, or whether, +cast on these shores by the waves, it has, by virtue of its well-known +property of putting forth shoots even in salt-water, gradually propagated +itself without any assistance from man. + +It is said that the profit realized by those engaged in the trade in these +nuts, amounts to from 20 to 40 per cent., and could greatly be increased, +if, as for example in Ceylon, oil-presses were erected, by means of which +the expense of transporting the heavy bulky loads of nuts would be +economised, the oil being exported direct. On the more northerly islands +the cocoa forest embraces proportionately a far larger area, those more to +the south being much less abundantly supplied, especially Greater Nicobar, +where there is hardly any. Accordingly the more northerly islands are much +the more densely peopled, and the cocoa-palms are there subdivided as +property, while on the southern islands they seem to be freely enjoyed in +common. + +Next in importance to the cocoa-nut palm, as a means of subsistence to +the inhabitants, is the _Pandanus Melori_, of the family of the Pandaneae, +the fruit of which (Melori or Caldevia of the Portuguese, the Larohm of +the natives) supplies the place of rice and Indian corn, neither of which +are grown on the island, owing to the ignorance of the islanders of the +principles of cultivation, although the nature of the soil seems eminently +suited to the production of both. From the huge fruit of this Pandanus, a +species of bread is prepared, very similar to apple-marmalade, which is +eaten by the natives along with the soft white kernel of the ripe +cocoa-nut. The leaves are prepared as mats of every sort and description, +and are occasionally used for the manufacture of sails. + +The Bread-fruit tree (_Podocarpus incisa_), which furnishes such excellent +nutriment, that, according to Cook,[18] three trees suffice to support a +man during eight months, is found on the islands in single individuals, +and we never happened to see its fruit used by the natives. The plantain +too seemed but sparingly planted, although the elegant leafy green canopy +of this the most important and nutritious plant, after the cocoa-nut, +requires but little care in cultivation. The sugar-cane, the muscat-nut +tree (_Myristia Moschatea_), and the _Cardamum Elettaria_,[19] grow and +flourish on most of the islands, and orange and lemon trees of the most +stupendous proportions may be met with, growing wild in the immediate +vicinity of the native dwellings. + +Of tubers we only found the yam growing in considerable quantities, but it +seems to be cultivated by the natives more as an article of exchange with +the ships visiting the islands, than for their own use. So far however as +we could ascertain the capabilities of the soil, the Jucca (_Jakopha +Manihot_), the sweet potato (the _Camote_ of the Spanish colonies), and +other American tuberous roots, might flourish here at least as well as on +the hot damp coasts of the western continent. + +The number of plants collected by our botanists throughout this group of +islands, amounts to 280 different species; however by a more thorough +exploration of the Archipelago, the _Phanerogamous_ species may be +increased one half in number. + +There are also two plants, which, although they cannot be included among +the vegetable products suited for the sustenance of man, must nevertheless +be taken into account as contributing in an important degree to the +subsistence of the natives. These are the Areca palm, and the Betel shrub. + +The nut of the _Areca Cateehu_, and the green leaf of the _Piper Betle_, +constitute as already mentioned, together with coral lime, the chief +ingredients of _Betel_, that singular salivatory compound, which has +become a prime luxury for the inhabitants of the Indies, and the adjacent +islands. The Areca palm, with its graceful straight stem and elegant tuft +of leaves, is indigenous to the entire group, and is found in considerable +quantities. With the enormous demand for it as a salivatory, as also as an +article of medicine, it might, had the natives the slightest turn for +cultivation, yield a large profit as an article of commerce. The Betel +shrub is also found in large quantities in these islands, and needs but +little looking after. + +The wealth of the forest in ornamental timber, and wood fit for building +purposes, is so great that, if carefully surveyed and judiciously thinned, +they would not only furnish the settler with cleared soil suitable for +cultivation, but would likewise permit an immense profit to be +realized.[20] + +The Nicobar Islands had been recommended by a learned member of the +Society of Physicians of Vienna, as a special subject of inquiry as to +whether this group were not by position, conditions of soil, and climate, +particularly suitable for the cultivation of the Peruvian bark tree, whose +importance for medical purposes is daily increasing. So far as our brief +stay admitted, we did not lose sight of this object, but the practical +observations we made in the course of our voyage led us to conclusions +widely different from those which, representing the quinquina tree as in +danger of being extirpated on its native soil, South America, by the +carelessness of the Indians, regarded its transplantation into other +countries as a question of the utmost importance for the interests of the +human race. The China tree, very far from becoming extinct, is carefully +cultivated in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. The bark is systematically +cropped in most of these localities, and consequently there is no occasion +to anticipate any considerable increase in price, or failure in the supply +of this precious drug. We shall have an opportunity, when describing our +stay at Java and at the west coast of America, to revert at length to this +question, and shall have only to add the remark, that the great expense of +such an attempt, and the extraordinary watchfulness and care which must be +bestowed on the China tree for a number of years before the slightest +profit can be derived from it, seem alone to render hopeless such an +undertaking as its introduction in the Nicobar Islands, even were the +climatic conditions better suited to such an experiment than we have +reason to believe that they are. + +As for the zoology of these islands, it seems to be much less developed, +whether as regards numbers, or size, than might be expected, considering +the luxuriance of the vegetation. The forests are by their very nature +poor in living denizens, the majority of these consisting of various +species of birds. In like manner the sea is but little productive, and the +nets which we cast over the ship's side at Kar-Nicobar, Pulo Milu, and +Ganges Harbour, like the hook and line, brought up but few specimens, and +those hardly deserving of notice. The natives have no nets of any sort, +their mode of fishing consisting simply of raising a succession of weirs, +in which they can harpoon or take their prey. + +Of domestic animals we saw only swine, hens, dogs, and cats, all of which +live upon cocoa-nut. The dog, a smooth-haired cur of a light +brownish-yellow colour, with pointed ears, is a sad coward, and his bark +rather resembles a prolonged howl. The cats and the hens are exactly like +those of Europe. Cattle for draught or the dairy, are as yet entirely +unknown to the natives; yet they might easily be introduced from the +adjoining shores of India. The zebra breed especially, already +acclimatized in the tropics, would be of conspicuous utility as beasts of +draught, supposing any attempt made at cultivation of the soil. + +Judging by the experiments made at Pulo Milu, the introduction of goats +and sheep could only be accomplished with much difficulty. On the other +hand all manner of poultry would be found to thrive in these islands. + +In passing from this very cursory consideration of the natural history of +these islands[21] to the race of man who inhabit them, we find ourselves +confronted with a people, who, on account of the primitive manner in which +they live, attract our interest in the highest degree. The natives of the +Nicobar group, whose entire number may be estimated at from 5000 to 6000 +souls, are, as we have already remarked, large and well formed, the skin +of a dark brown, bronze-like hue, and owing to the prevailing custom of +anointing their bodies with cocoa-nut oil, usually presenting a glancing +appearance, and emitting a peculiar odour. This inunction is apparently +intended to obviate superabundant perspiration, as also any skin diseases, +just as the Indian races west of the Mississippi are accustomed to protect +their naked bodies against the direct influences of the cold, by rubbing +in the fat of animals. The practice of daubing the face does not seem to +be so extensively resorted to, as previous descriptions of the Nicobar +islanders had led us to believe. We saw only one solitary native, at the +village of Malacca in the island of Nangkauri, who had painted his +forehead and cheeks with the red pigment obtained from the seeds of the +_Bixa Orellana_ (the well-known Annatto dye). Instances of tattooing we +never fell in with, nor do these islanders seem to have any desire to +imitate the beautiful, sometimes absolutely artistic, designs punctured on +the hands and feet of the Malays and Burmese who occasionally visit them. +Moles and blotches on the breast and arms are of frequent occurrence. The +forehead of the Nicobar islander is slightly rounded, and in many cases +may even be said to be well formed, but it falls away somewhat suddenly; +the face is usually broad, and if we except the rather prominent zygomatic +process, approaches the oval type; the hinder portion of the head is flat +and seems as though crushed inwards, a circumstance of which Fontana, in +his well-known journal already mentioned, takes special notice, and which +deserves the more attention, that we think we are in a position, by means +of actual measurement, and inquiries made on the spot, to say with +certainty that this modification of the normal form of the skull is not +natural to this race, but is artificially produced. We especially rely +upon the circumstance, that among the natives of Nangkauri and others of +the islands, the custom prevails of pressing quite flat the head of the +newly-born infant, probably in conformity with Nicobar laws of taste and +beauty: in order to make the result more certain, they keep continually +repeating this experiment by a variety of different means during a +considerable time. The nose is of ordinary dimensions, but is always of +unusual breadth, and coarse of outline; we found a few individuals with +noses of exorbitant length. Owing to the incredible extent to which the +disgusting practice of chewing the betel-nut is carried, their mouth, +naturally large, is hideously distorted. On the island of Treis we saw an +aged native, whose tongue, in consequence of the incessant betel-chewing, +had been attacked in a similar manner as his teeth. The chin is for the +most part without any marked characteristic, and is usually rather +retreating. The maxillary bones are broad and projecting, and the zygoma +has a rather bold curve. The ears are small, but the flaps on the other +hand are so broad, that when pierced they are ornamented with a piece of +bamboo an inch thick. + +Some of the natives make use of this broad aperture to store away cigars. +The thin eye-brows do not curve over the whole of the superior arch of the +eye. The hair for the most part is beautiful, thick, black, and soft, in +many instances depending low on both sides. The beard is universally very +thin, and instances of mustachios or goatees are very rarely encountered. +However a beard does not seem to be classed among those objects which add +to the Nicobar ideal of beauty. At least, as often as they found an +opportunity of seizing a pair of scissors from our dressing-cases, we used +always to see the natives eagerly setting about extirpating the few hairs, +which despite all their endeavours would persist in appearing upon the +upper lip on either side of the mouth. The expression of their face is +grave, tranquil, and rather _insouciant_. We never saw in their features +any expression of emotion, such for instance as might have been imparted +by delight at having obtained some coveted object, not even when they had +manifested the utmost eagerness to possess it. The only excitement which +their ordinarily impassive countenances were however many a time called on +to indicate, took the form of an expression of pain and anxiety, as often +as they saw a number of strangers make a descent upon their islands. The +singularly marked similarity of feature in each and every individual, may +safely be ascribed to the similarity of condition universally prevalent, +to the small scope given to the play of their affections, and to the +frequent intermarriage, which must necessarily be the case where, as in +these islands, a couple of hundred human beings form the whole population +of an island, and where intercommunication with the adjoining islands is +so confined. + +The assertion by Fontana, that the natives never cut their nails, but on +the other hand shave off their eye-brows, we have never found confirmed in +any of the islands we visited, although very possibly some few +individuals, certainly so far as we could find very scanty in number, may +ape the customs of their Malay and Chinese visitors, by letting their +nails grow. Of cripples, or at all events of individuals stunted in their +growth, we saw but two, the first case being that of a native of +Kar-Nicobar, who in consequence of a dislocation of the _radius_ at the +wrist joint was entirely powerless of the left arm; while the second, a +sort of dwarf, who was likewise an inhabitant of that island, presented a +well-marked corpulence in the extremities, and fingers so swelled up and +short, that he was known among his neighbours by the nickname of +_Kiutakunti_ (short finger). + +Hitherto the natives seem to have escaped the ravages of syphilitic +diseases. As to any instances of visitations of virulent though temporary +epidemics, we could not get any information of such having occurred; they +have however in their language a word (Mallok) for the small-pox, of the +existence of which we had convinced ourselves by personal demonstration +in the case of a Malay, whose face was frightfully disfigured by the marks +of this appalling disease. + +Although in a climate the annual average of which is 81 deg. Fahr., clothes +are all but unnecessary, the natives nevertheless manifest an +extraordinary passion for European clothing, and when it seemed +impracticable by any other means to elicit an expression of pleasure on +their calm, indifferent, emotionless countenances, it was always possible +to succeed by presenting them with a shirt, a coat, or a black silk round +hat. As however the natives have seldom been presented with more than one +such article at a time, and many a year is apt to elapse ere he gets +another, by which he might succeed in gradually completing his dress, the +Nicobarian makes his appearance before strangers attired in the most +extraordinary fashion, almost entirely naked, sometimes with only a black +hat on his head, or pluming himself on being spruced up in a frock coat +(but without shirt, stockings, or head-gear), which on the plump naked +brown skin of this child of nature has far more the appearance of a +straight-waistcoat than a comfortable article of dress. + +The natives show infinitely more vanity in the selection of a piece of +clothing, than calculation as to its real necessity or suitability. A +large low-crowned white hat with broad rim, which we presented to one +native, gained not the slightest approval, although both in form and +colour it was far better suited to protecting the wearer against the rays +of the tropical sun than a high, narrow-brimmed, fashionable black silk +hat, to the possession of which the natives of Kar-Nicobar and Nangkauri +attach quite an inordinate value. For such an article, in the course of +barter, they offer 1600 ripe cocoa-nuts, while for a long piece of wide +dark-coloured muslin, in which they are wont to envelope their dead, they +will give only 1200 such fruits. But the most characteristic head-gear of +the Nicobarians is a bandeau made of dried leaves of the cocoa-nut palm, +which gives them quite a picturesque appearance. We saw but few ornaments +worn, such as necklaces, bracelets, &c., only one or two of the younger +men having their hands and their necks adorned with massive rings of +silver and iron wire. + +The dwellings of the natives are usually round, beehive-shaped huts, +resting on a number of stakes of from six to eight feet in height. Simple +as is the construction of these huts, it nevertheless, especially on the +island of Kar-Nicobar, possesses a certain degree of ornament, we might +almost say elegance, while the thatching of dried palm-leaves, as also the +beams and the walls constructed of reeds (_Calamus Rotang_), are a branch +of industry which would do honour even to civilized races of the world. +The natives usually cower or squat on the ground, or seat themselves upon +some cocoa-nut that has chanced to fall, while at night, stretched out +upon the flowers shed by the Areca palm, and with their heads elevated by +a piece of hard wood, they find anywhere a sufficiently comfortable couch. + +The means of subsistence of the Nicobar islanders are anything but +abundant. As they are utterly ignorant of cultivation, they are entirely +indebted for the very first necessaries of life to the provision which a +bountiful nature has supplied to them, without the assistance of man's +labour. Their chief articles of food are the cocoa-nut and the pandanus +fruit. As with the natives of India, so among the natives of the Nicobar +group, the cocoa-palm is applied to the most various purposes, although it +would be difficult to make it fulfil all the ninety and nine useful +purposes which the Hindoo proverb assigns to this noble individual of the +royal race of palms. The cocoa-palm likewise constitutes the chief article +of export of the entire group, while the profit from the Trepang (Biche de +Mar of the English, a sort of cockle), edible swallows' nests, +tortoise-shell, amber, and so forth, is of the highest importance in the +interchange of commerce. + +The betel shrub (_Piper Betle_), next to the cocoa-nut and pandanus fruit, +one of the most important necessities of the inhabitants of these islands, +is not indigenous, but has been introduced hither from the peninsula of +Malacca, and formed for a long time an article of commerce and exchange. +At present this creeper, which spreads with hardly any particular care, is +found in such quantities that only a small proportion of the leafy produce +can be consumed by the sparse population. It was always incomprehensible +to us in what could consist the great charm of betel-chewing, that a habit +so loathsome should be so extensively practised by the very lowest slaves +of the princes of India, by poor as well as rich, nay, should fling its +chains, as it actually does, even over women and children. A lucky chance, +however, threw in our way a Sanscrit poem (_Hytopedesa_) which celebrates +as follows the thirteen cardinal virtues of the betel-leaf:--"Betel is +pungent, bitter, aromatic, sweet, alkaline, astringent, a carminative, a +dispeller of phlegm, a vermifuge, a sweetener of the breath, an ornament +of the mouth, a remover of impurities, and a kindler of the flame of love! +O friend! these thirteen properties of betel are hard to be met with, even +in heaven!"[22] + +It would be an inquiry of considerable interest to trace the influence +which the incessant betel-chewing exercises over the longevity of the +inhabitants, and the changes caused in the masticatory organs, which are +so constantly exposed to these pernicious practices. + +That which most deeply struck us throughout the Nicobars, was the +frightful decomposition of the teeth, whereas in other betel-chewing races +these were stained only of the same deep crimson as the lips and the gums. +We at first ascribed this difference to some variation in the mixture of +the ingredients, but we repeatedly perceived afterwards that the betel +used on the Nicobar group consisted of nothing else than a small piece of +Areca-nut, which, sprinkled with a little chalk, was enveloped in a green +aromatic betel-leaf, and so was popped into the mouth. The Hindoos, on +the other hand, add to these ingredients, which they always carry about +with them in elegant cases, a certain astringent substance (formerly +called _Terra Japonica_, because it was long supposed to be a mineral +product) made out of the pith of the _Acacia Catechu_, a species of +Mimosa; or occasionally add to the usual masticatory composition a species +of resin obtained from the _Melaleuca Cajeputi_, as also a little tobacco. + +The frightfully destructive effects of the betel on the teeth and lips of +the Nicobar natives, is apparently attributable only to some difference in +the proportions of the ingredients used, very probably to the use of a +larger quantity of coral lime. What is alleged of a custom the Nicobarians +have of filing down their teeth and rubbing them with some corrosive +substance, rests exclusively upon conjecture, and is confirmed neither by +personal observation nor by the account given by the natives themselves, +nor by the Malay traders who frequent Great Nicobar and Nangkauri. + +In social as well as in religious matters, we must consider the +inhabitants of this Archipelago as among the child-races of the world. +They consider it a duty to marry very young and take but one wife, but +they age with uncommon rapidity. Of about 100 natives with whom during our +stay on the various islands we were in communication, hardly one was above +forty, and the majority may be roughly estimated at from twenty to thirty. +If, moreover, we set it down as improbable that all the aged men should +have taken to flight like the women and children, it should seem that +these natives never attain a very extended duration of life. + +Of the therapeutic powers of various plants that are found in their +forests, the natives have but little knowledge. All that they have ever +had of drugs have been almost entirely supplied from Europe by captains of +English vessels. Although they attach the most extravagant importance to +the possession of these, these medicines are, if anything, more +prejudicial than beneficial to them, as they of course understand nothing +of their use, and often apply them in the most absurd manner. It seems +that once some ship captain in order to get quit of their importunities +made over to them all the articles he could most conveniently spare, such +as castor-oil, Epsom salts, spirit of camphor, turpentine, peppermint, eau +de Cologne, &c. &c., and ever since they pester each visitor for medicine! +A native once urgently begged us to give him a little spirit of +turpentine; on our asking him to what purpose he wished to apply it, he +answered that he wanted to rub himself with it, and take a few drops +internally, because he believed it was an excellent preservative against +ague and pain in the chest! + +The maladies with which the natives are most commonly afflicted, are +intermittent fever, phthisis, and rheumatism. In some cases we remarked +_Elephantiasis Arabica_ (the Juzam of Arab writers), called by the +Nicobarians _Kelloidy_, attacking the bones, and several different forms +of cuticular eruption. The severity of these diseases must be ascribed +less to the insalubrity of the climate than to the unwholesome mode of +existence of the natives. Can we feel surprised that naked men, who do not +inhabit the more favourably situated spots ventilated by regular winds, +but live on the swampy coast, in the sandy bays that are fringed with a +forest belt, where they can grow their cocoa-palms with the least labour +to themselves, who leave their bodies exposed now to the violence of +tropical rains, now to the fiery rays of a tropical sun, and whose food +consists almost exclusively of cocoa-nuts and the fruit of the +_pandanus_,--can we wonder that they should be in an especial degree +subject to disease? It is a mistake to suppose that the food of +inhabitants of the tropics is that assigned by Nature herself, and +therefore the most beneficial and suitable. For, despite all theory, which +for residents in the tropics chiefly prescribes substances with plenty of +carbon and nitrogen as the proper articles of food, we see Europeans, more +especially Englishmen, in the hottest climate in the world, with a +thermometer that rarely falls below 86 deg. Fahr., devouring, just as in a +more northern climate, strong soups, gigantic beef-steaks, and mutton +cutlets to any extent, contemptuously turning up their noses at mere +vegetable diet, and barely touching marmalade or sweetmeats; yet there +they are blooming in the best of health, far better even than that of the +natives. Indeed, it is a fact full of interest, and confirmed by +observations carried on for years, that in the Presidency of Madras, for +example, the Hindoos and Mahmudas, so widely different in their customs +and mode of life, were much more seriously attacked by fever than the +Europeans resident there, in such entirely different conditions of climate +than they were accustomed to. On the other hand, so far as regards +sanitary measures, that portion of the aboriginal population presents the +most favourable results which is most intimately allied to the Europeans, +and applies in its own case the precepts of modern civilization. + +So soon as the natives are attacked by fever with any severity, they +rapidly succumb. However, we have never heard tell of any of that +barbarous inhumanity which any medicine-man, whose treatment is +unsuccessful, is said to experience at the hands of the relatives and +friends of the patient, which indeed is all the more improbable as, were +such really the case, considering the small advantages and scrimp fees +likely to be picked up by a smart medicine-man among such an impoverished +race, there would hardly be met with one Manluena in the entire group! The +head-mark of a doctor in the southern islands is his unusually long +floating hair. On our inquiring of a native what qualifications were +requisite in order to become a doctor, he replied with the most charming +naivete: "One must be the son of a doctor!" From this reply we may gather +that in the Nicobar Islands medical skill and knowledge of the healing art +are confined to certain families! We afterwards found this information +confirmed, upon our discovering that the youthful Manluena of Great +Nicobar, who so severely kneaded and twisted the arm of one of the +associates of the Expedition, was the son of an aged doctor of the island +of Kondul, and owed his reputation solely to the circumstance of his +kindred. Besides cases of sickness, the advice, the adroitness, and the +zeal of the Manluena are held in special repute for the driving out of the +evil spirit or _Eewees_, by which, as already mentioned, the inhabitants +of the Nicobar Islands believe themselves to be incessantly surrounded. + +Of idols proper, such as barbarous tribes construct and honour, and to +whom they dedicate temples, they have none; nor have they any object in +nature, as, for instance, a lofty tree, a huge rock or a hill, to which +they attach a certain charm, like some of the Central American tribes. +They have not even a word for the Divine idea in their language, nor for +Godhead, nor for any Beneficent Principle or Being, and the rudely carved +figures, which are found set up in all sorts of comical postures within +their huts, are intended to serve no higher purpose, than to frighten away +those evil spirits which even the Manluena has been unable to see, though +he sets himself forward as able to hold converse with them. + +The notion of a Being, whose wisdom and whose love rule the world, is +quite as foreign to their minds as the conception of a spiritual life in +the future after death. We repeatedly asked one of their most intelligent +leaders, who also spoke a little English, whether he believed he should +ever again recognize his dead friends and relatives? But he replied +invariably with a cold, indifferent, "Never, never!" All that we told them +of the privileges of a believing Christian, of a Divine Being, of the +belief in a future state of existence after death, served only to fill +them with astonishment, but they seemed ready enough to listen to such +subjects. What little they had heard upon these truths from missionaries +and ship captains, appeared however to have left them with very confused +notions. + +From all that came under our notice, the mode of life of these islanders +is singularly uniform and indolent, its most important events consisting +probably of the alterations necessary by the interchange of the seasons. +They know of no other method of computing time than the change of the moon +and of the monsoons. At the beginning of the wet season or S.W. monsoon, +and at the corresponding period of the dry season or N.E. monsoon, there +are certain festivals, which somewhat resemble the "sowing feasts" and +"harvest homes" of the American aboriginal stocks. They have however no +appointed day of rest, corresponding to the sabbath of the Christian +Church, nor indeed do they need such, seeing that in their mode of life +every day is a holiday! They have no measure for time, nor indeed for +anything else: not a single native could give us any idea of his own age, +nor could count above 20.[23] Time has for them not the slightest value: +the watchword "_Time is money!_" which first given by England, is at +present resounding throughout the world, falls voiceless and ineffectual +on their insensible ears. Their reckoning of time is as limited as their +capacity for recollecting by-gone occurrences. The presence of Christian +missionaries at various periods, as also the visit of the Danish corvette +_Galatea_ in 1847, had already almost entirely disappeared from their +memory. Only among a very few of their numbers have some of the names +clung to the recollection, such as _Galatea_, and _Steene Bille_ (which +they pronounced _Piller_). + +We could not find anything that bore the least resemblance to any settled +form of government, to any distribution upon fixed principles of the +possessions of the general community, to any recognition of individual +right, to any tribunal for settling quarrels, &c. &c. They recognize the +relations of family and of property; on the other hand, the power of the +captain, one of whom the greater number of villages has each for itself, +and whom they call _Mah_ or _Umiaha_ (old), extends no further than giving +him the right to be the first to trade with such foreign ships as make +their appearance, and to inaugurate the barter-system. Indeed this very +institution of captainship, although much liked by the natives, does not +at all seem as though it were part of their own system, but to date from +the period when English merchant vessels began to visit these islands +regularly. + +As to the social life of the natives, their family relations, and so +forth, we could get such scanty and uncertain data to go upon, what with +the cursory visits we paid to the various islands, and considering the +women and children had everywhere fled, while the men regarded us simply +as intruders, that we do not venture to publish any special information +upon this point. Be it however permitted to express our opinion, that, +judging by the tendency to a decent style of dress and the extreme +elegance of the decorations of the canoes and the huts of the islanders of +Kar-Nicobar, as contrasted with the destitution, nakedness, and wretched +condition of the natives of the southern islands of the group, +civilization seems to be advancing from north to south with slow but sure +steps. And it will probably interest the philologist to be informed that +both in Kar-Nicobar and Nangkauri, the most important settlement bears the +same name, Malacca, as the chief city on the adjoining Malay peninsula. As +the natives in this delicious _far niente_ existence live exclusively upon +the precious gifts of an all-bountiful Nature, which provides them at once +with food and drink, one naturally finds among them few implements of +labour, indeed only such as are indispensably necessary in erecting their +huts, in preparing their canoes, and in enabling them readily to open the +cocoa-nuts. And even these tools, as, for instance, hatchets, cutlasses, +files, &c., were first procured through intercourse with civilization. + +Their weapons consist merely of lances or javelins with points of iron or +hardened wood, by the number of which, it is presumed, the wealth of a +Nicobar islander is estimated. A cross-bow, which we saw in the possession +of a native of Kar-Nicobar, although made on the island, was manifestly of +European design originally, and merely an imitation. + +Of musical instruments we did not find a single specimen in Kar-Nicobar, +whereas on the southern islands there is a six, sometimes a seven-holed +flute in use, made of bamboo-cane, which, as we afterwards discovered, had +been brought hither by the Malays; and also a kind of guitar about two or +three feet in length, hollowed out, and with sound-holes in the side, and +made of thick bamboo and reed strings. On the whole, however, the +Nicobarians seem to be much too apathetic and indifferent a race to have +any special predilection for music, singing, or dancing. Accordingly at +their monsoon festivals and other holiday-times, their notion of dancing +is limited to hopping round in a circle with arms entwined, while they at +the same time keep up a listless humming noise. + +In the case of such a race, which has no civilization or industry of its +own, it is out of the question to speak of their having any regular +industrial occupation in the strict sense of the word. The particular and +to them most beneficent plant, which supplies them at once with enough to +eat and to drink, at the same time brings them, very reluctantly, into +contact with civilization, and will yet become a main agent in introducing +a knowledge of those necessities and acquaintance with those articles +which are the product of a higher grade of civilization alone. The ripe +nuts of the cocoa-palm constitute the chief article of export of the +Nicobar Islands, and, what is even more important, supply the stimulus, +which already arouses the native to a certain degree of activity, although +most of the nuts that are put on ship-board are collected not by the +natives, but by the crews of the Malay vessels. All other articles of +export, such as _Biche de mar_, edible birds' nests, tortoise-shell, +amber, &c., are of very inferior importance, and are only taken as +by-freight. According to published documents the northern islands can +supply 10,000,000 cocoa-nuts, of which however, at present, not much more +than 5,000,000, to wit, 3,000,000 from Kar-Nicobar alone, and 2,000,000 +from the rest of the islands, are exported in all. As this fruit is +one-sixth of the price it bears on the coasts of Bengal, the concourse of +English and Malay vessels, especially from Pulo Penang, increases every +year.[24] The trade is carried on by way of barter instead of money +payments, although silver is highly valued too; for here also, despite all +that is reported of the inordinate longing of the Nicobar natives for +tobacco, glass beads, and such like rubbish, the truth of the adage is +fully borne out that "Money is the most _universal merchandise_." Of +silver coins, the natives are only acquainted with rupees, Spanish +dollars, and English threepenny pieces, which latter they call "small +rupees." Gold is as yet unknown among the southern islands, and therefore +is valueless in the eyes of the natives. + +So long as the relations of the natives with foreign nations were +exclusively confined to barter with some couple of dozen English and Malay +vessels, which latter visited the islands with the N.E. monsoon and left +with the S.W. monsoon, thus making but one voyage in the course of the +year, the natives of the various islands kept up among themselves quite a +frequent and regular communication. This favourable trait was undoubtedly +owing in great measure to the defectiveness of their otherwise very +elegant, but small, slight-built canoes, which are but ill adapted for +voyaging to any remote distance. + +Respecting that other swarthy, crisp-haired, savage race, widely different +from that inhabiting the coasts of Nicobar, which, according to a legend, +dwells in the forests of Great Nicobar, and lives upon snakes, vermin, +roots, and leaves of plants, and in the Nicobar idiom called +_Baju-oal-Tschua_, we could only add to our stock of information by +recitals that obviously pertained to the domain of Fable-land. When, +however, we remember that not a single traveller or author who has +indulged such gossiping, nay, that not even the natives who tell such +stories of them, have ever seen one of this race, we shall be excused for +suggesting in reply to the numberless conjectures afloat respecting these +mysterious inhabitants, that the alleged denizens of the interior of Great +Nicobar are neither a widely different race of men from the coast-natives, +nor yet an offshoot of the crisp-haired swarthy race of Papuas from New +Guinea, but that, dispossessed and degraded by a conjuncture of various +hostile influences, they hold, with respect to the inhabitants of the +sea-board, a similar position to that occupied by the Bushmen of +Namaqualand to the Hottentots of Cape Colony. + +In the circumstances in which the inhabitants of this group of islands at +present find themselves, without traditions, without proverbs, without +songs, without monuments, and especially without any characteristic +peculiarity in their habits and customs which could possibly throw a ray +of light upon the obscurity of their origin, it is a bold undertaking to +express any decided opinion as to the derivation and genealogy of this +people. By far the most probable theory, as is also admitted by Dr. Rink, +who visited these islands with the Danish Expedition, would represent them +as an offshoot from the north-westerly boundary of the Malay race, as a +people which, while possessing much in common with the Indo-Chinese stock, +nevertheless in its physical characteristics seems to hold a middle rank +between the Malay and the Burmese. + +Considering the study _of language_ as a most important and reliable +source of information, the members of the Expedition made it their main +object to draw up, in conformity with what is known as Gallatin's method, +so extensively used by all American and English travellers, a vocabulary +of about 200 words in both languages, viz. that used by the inhabitants of +Nicobar, and that (widely different in all respects except the numerals) +in use among the natives of the more southern islands. As a Malay barque +from Pulo Penang was lying at anchor during our stay on the northern +shores of Great Nicobar, so favourable an opportunity was of course made +use of to prepare a similar vocabulary of the Malay idiom spoken at that +port, which will give the philologist the advantage of being able to judge +for himself as to the similarity existing between these two idioms, and +thence, by analogy, between the two races, and discriminate whether those +scholars, such as Vatu, come nearer the truth who maintain that the +Nicobar language is of Malay derivation with an admixture of foreign +words, principally European, or those other students of philology who, as +for instance Adelung, hold that the idiom used by these islanders is +identical with some of the languages of the Indo-Chinese peninsula. + +At the same time the ethnographer of the Expedition had endeavoured to +ascertain by means of a new system of measurements of the human frame, +drawn up by himself in concert with Dr. Edward Schwarz, one of the +physicians of the Expedition, and with the co-operation and assistance of +the latter, various data, such as, when applied to the various races +inhabiting the earth, might justify many new and striking conclusions, and +ultimately result in definitely fixing the relation, resemblance, or +physical dissimilarity of the various races of man. Such a plan makes it +much more easy by means of figures, those most undeniable evidences of the +results of investigations, to get speedily and accurately at the required +results, than by all the most specious theories laid down in the less +certain domain of philosophic speculation. + +These measurements, applied at three chief regions of the body, namely, +the head, the trunk, and the upper and lower extremities, are intended to +be scientifically discussed in a special memoir,[25] and we accordingly +confine ourselves here to remarking that the various points of +measurements were not only determined in an anthropological point of view, +but that among the 68 different categories, into which these measurements +are naturally distributed, there occur some which supply many curious +points of inquiry, as also considerable assistance not merely to national +economics, the result of the light thrown upon the subject of the average +of muscular strength of the various races as found by the dynamometer, but +also to the graphic art, with respect to a more accurate acquaintance with +the human skeleton as well as the entire figure. + +In like manner we never omitted to collect some of the hair of the head +from as many as possible of the various individuals measured, since the +laborious researches of Peter Brown of Philadelphia on the human hair, +have elevated it into a very remarkable means of tracing the origin of the +various disparities of race. + +It must also be considered as an especial boon for the science of +comparative anatomy, as well as universal ethnography, that we succeeded +in bringing away with us from the Nicobar Islands the skulls of two of the +natives. + +Lastly, a small collection of twenty-three subjects of ethnographical +inquiry, collected from the various islands, will be found useful, partly +as illustrating the information already obtained, partly as affording +evidence of the amount of culture of the inhabitants of the Nicobar +Archipelago. + +We are still called upon to answer the question already propounded, +whether the Nicobar Islands are suited as the site of a colony, and +whether the numerous attempts already made in this direction did not +probably fall through for other reasons than those of climate. + +According to inquiries instituted by the members of the Austrian +Expedition, this insular group, by its geographical position in one of the +very chiefest commercial routes of the world, and by the richness and +abundance of the products of its soil, offers sufficient points of +attraction to interest any leading commercial or maritime power, in +securing possession of it. With regard to any colonization or cultivation +of the soil by free European immigrants, there is as little to be said as +of almost any other islands in the tropics. In order to make such spots +aids to the extension of civilization, the utmost certainty of rule is +imperatively necessary, such as was instituted with such marvellous +results by England in Pulo Penang, Singapore, Sydney, &c. The climate of +the Nicobars is very far from being so deadly, that mere residence upon +them must speedily prove fatal to Europeans, and it will undoubtedly be +signally ameliorated by a partial clearing of the forests, cultivation of +the soil, channelling of the rivers, and drainage of the swamps. All such +works however must be executed by Malay or Indian labourers, under the +superintendence of Europeans. From what we have learned by personal +observation of the surprising influence which the transportation system +has exercised in Australia upon the cultivation and development of the +soil, as also upon the social condition of the convicts themselves, we do +not hesitate, despite the distrust of experiments of such a nature which +prevails in certain philosophic circles of Europe, to express our opinion, +that with a little prudence and forbearance convict labourers in abundance +could be imported, who would be at once better off, more contented, and +more disposed to do honour to their man's estate than as at present +confined at home in their dreary prison cells.[26] + +If the various experiments hitherto made have all fallen through, the +"effect defective" undoubtedly arises from the deficiency of means +requisite for such an undertaking, and in the limited number of men, +merely humanly speaking, who were engaged in such enterprises. The mere +prime cost of clearing and cultivation, so as to enable them to anticipate +a good return for their labour, must be set down as at the lowest +computation between L100,000 and L150,000; the number of labourers +employed in the undertaking at from 300 to 400; of whom all skilled +artisans, such as carpenters, joiners, locksmiths, blacksmiths, +bricklayers, masons, &c., must accompany the settlers from Europe. + +The sums expended for the first outlay must not however be set down as +entirely thrown away, since the fertility of the islands in those +colonial products that are most valuable, and the enormous quantity of +cocoa-nut palms, must, under the impulse of cultivation and industrious +habits, speedily make returns in countless tides of prosperity. So far as +regards the aboriginal population, of whom there are not above 5000 or +6000 on all the islands, they would experience but little annoyance from +the carrying out of such an enterprise. In fact, morally and materially +they could only gain from the introduction of a foreign element. At +present they are confined to the narrow belt of shore, where grows the +cocoa-palm, their sole support. The interior of the island, so prolific in +natural wealth of the most varied description, and which would become +infinitely more valuable under a proper development of its capabilities, +is utterly unknown and valueless to the native. + +Once a settlement were fairly set a-going on the above-mentioned +principles, the inhabitants of the Nicobar Archipelago would be placed +under the tutelage of European civilization, and in their transactions +would no longer be exposed to the knavery and caprices of ships' captains. +It would be necessary to watch over the natives as over minors, so as not +alone to secure for them material benefits, but by liberal sympathetic +treatment as the groundwork of their education, gradually to establish +that faith whose introduction hitherto, despite numerous praiseworthy +endeavours in the past as well as the present century, has been doomed to +be unsuccessful through a variety of extraneous circumstances. Moreover, +the Nicobar Archipelago would be a most convenient central station whence +to impart the blessings of Christianity to the pagans of the adjoining +groups of islands. + + * * * * * + +MEMORANDUM + +Relating to those points of the Nicobar Archipelago whose geographical +position was ascertained by the _Novara_ Expedition. + + +--------------+-----------------+-----------------+ + | PLACE OF | Latitude North. | Longitude East | + | OBSERVATION. | | from Greenwich. | + +--------------+-----------------+-----------------+ + | Saui Cove | 9 deg. 14' 8''| 92 deg. 44' 46'' | + | Komios | 9 7 32 | 92 43 42 | + | Morrock Bay | 8 32 30 | 93 34 10 | + | Kaulaha | 8 2 10 | 93 29 40 | + | Kondul | 7 12 17 | 93 39 57 | + | Galatea Cove | 6 48 26 | 93 49 51 | + +--------------+-----------------+-----------------+ + +A very careful measurement, made at the point of observation in Saui, of +the Moon's distance from Jupiter, gave 6 h. 11 min. 2 sec., or 92 deg. 45' +30'' East. + + * * * * * + +Our voyage from the south side of Great Nicobar to Singapore occupied +twenty days. This time the fine weather seemed to have entirely abandoned +us. Day and night, at almost all hours and from all parts of the sky, we +encountered severe thunder-storms, with water-spouts, lightning, thunder, +and the most tremendous rain-squalls. We could thoroughly realize that we +were in the tropics at the beginning of the rainy season. One day during +the prevalence of one of those floods, five tons during the first half +hour, and in the course of an hour and a half eight tons, or 32,000 pints +of water, were collected by the sailors in buckets and other similar +utensils. These storms came now from the coast of Sumatra, now from the +Malay peninsula, or yet again from the Straits of Malacca, and gave our +jolly tars not a moment of repose. These tempests alternated with calms +accompanied by a most oppressive sweltering hot temperature, and if by +chance a breeze sprang up, it was sure to come out of the straits dead +against us, and, coupled with the strong contrary current, fairly arrested +our progress. Thus tacking about for 14 days between the north shore of +Sumatra and Junk-Ceylon, we made as much way in that time as a fast +steamer would have done in as many hours, and it was but poor consolation +to us that several ships close to us, perhaps six or eight, shared the +same adverse destiny. + +An incident of a very singular nature suddenly gave us all plenty of +excitement. As our deeply respected chaplain was sitting reading one +evening in his cabin, he became sensible of a peculiar pressure on his +foot; the servant being called, made his appearance with a candle, and on +examining the floor was horror-struck at perceiving a pretty large +sea-snake (_Chorsydrus fasciatus_), coiled round the foot of the priest. +In the same instant this gentleman instinctively rid himself of the +poisonous reptile by a vigorous kick, while the various persons who +hurried to the spot were resolved they would secure this dangerous +assailant dead or alive. Within the narrow limits of a ship's state-room, +a campaign is speedily brought to a close. His snakeship was forthwith +routed out of his asylum, and hacked into more pieces than was exactly +agreeable to the zoologists, who had been extremely anxious, and even +expected, to preserve this now doubly interesting reptile almost uninjured +in spirits of wine. It was a tolerably large specimen, one inch thick, and +about three feet long, and had apparently either wriggled up the cable, or +had been washed on board by a wave through the open sky-light of the +cabin. + +At length on the 9th of April wind and weather changed, and, in company +with the entire squadron of companions in misfortune, we sailed gaily into +the Straits of Malacca, with all sail set, and dead before the wind. On +the 11th of April, early in the morning, we found Pulo Penang (also called +Areca, or Prince of Wales' Island) lying broad on our port beam. Its +chains of forest-clad mountains, gloomy, and overcast with dense masses of +cloud, prevented our realizing the charms of this possession of England, +such as they have been described by all who have visited it. + +On the 12th of April we steered between the Sambelongs, or Nine Islands, +and the island of Djara, and caught a glimpse of the lofty well-wooded +mountains of the kingdom of Perah. The channel through these straits is +becoming more and more contracted owing to the _debouche_ at this point of +the river Perah. Shallow sand-banks and small rocky islands impede the +navigation, and it is a common precaution for ships to cast anchor at the +least approach of foul weather, an operation which is the more readily set +about that the water is nowhere above twenty fathoms, but good holding +ground throughout the straits. Moreover, the charts of these regions are +thoroughly reliable and accurate, while at the most dangerous spot, where +a sand-bank with only one fathom of water over it lies right in the tracks +of vessels, a light-ship is moored, which we passed on the 13th of April, +and continued our voyage through the night in perfect safety. + +On the morning of the 14th April, the hill of Ophir (called also Ledang or +Pudang), 5700 feet high, lay fair before us. We now found ourselves +opposite the town of Malacca. The channel at this point approaches so +close to the mainland, that we could easily distinguish churches and +houses, and the frigate exchanged signals with the neighbouring semaphore. + +Malacca, once the Malay capital, has at present altogether lost its former +importance, and of the three English colonies in the Straits of Malacca, +usually known as the _Straits Settlements_, is the least important in +either a political or a commercial sense. The entire region was, until +within these few years, in most evil repute for the atrocious piracies +perpetrated here. Natives used to lie in wait in small canoes filled with +merchandise of all sorts, with which they boarded the passing ships, and +while these were supplying themselves with fruit and fresh provisions, the +former were spying the number of crew, as also the means of defence of the +unfortunate vessel; after which it usually happened, that during the night +the more defenceless of them, while becalmed or lying at anchor, would be +attacked by an overwhelming force of pirates and ruthlessly plundered. +Captain Steen Bille relates, that even so late as 1846, he loaded his +cannon with shot, and maintained extra vigilance during the night. + +We now sped along, still favoured by the wind, during the ensuing night, +and on the morning of the 15th April had the satisfaction of reaching the +entrance of the bay of Singapore, without once having to lie at anchor in +the straits. The landscape that lay outstretched before us was +splendid,--lofty wooded islands on the coast of Sumatra, and a whole +archipelago of islets lay around us, in the channels between which prahus +were sailing about, while Chinese junks, full-rigged ships and barques, +were working in or out as the case might be, all intimating the proximity +of a great mart of commerce. Equally fortunate as in the straits was our +passage through the labyrinth of islands, through which a vessel must wind +in order to reach Singapore. And this roadstead itself, what a contrast it +presented to the lovely beach of the Nicobar Islands! Here were thousands +of ships of all sizes and rigs, and the flags of nearly all sea-faring +nations in the world. We found at anchor the English frigate _Amethyst_, +and the screw corvette _Niger_; and having warped ourselves into their +vicinity, by 2 P.M. we had cast anchor in 13 fathoms water. Almost +immediately afterwards an officer came off from the _Amethyst_ to welcome +us, and to impart to us the unpleasant intelligence that cholera had been +raging in the city for some weeks past, and had also committed great havoc +among the shipping in harbour. Even the captain and one of the crew of an +English merchantman had succumbed but a few hours previously to this fell +scourge, and the vessel had her flag half-mast high as a signal of +mourning. This information at once deranged all our plans and projects +with respect to Singapore, and had we not been compelled to victual here, +we should at once have set sail. However, under the circumstances there +was nothing to do but to spend five or six days at Singapore, and this +breathing-space we availed ourselves of to obtain as much information as +possible both by eye and ear touching this very remarkable colony, and its +not less interesting inhabitants. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Anciennes relations des Indes et de la Chine de deux voyageurs +Mahometans, qui y allerent dans le IXeme siecle. Traduit de l'Arabe avec +des remarques par Eus. Renaudot. Paris, chez Coignard, 1718. 8vo. + +[2] Journal of the Voyage of the I.R. Ship _Joseph and Theresa_ to the new +Austrian plantations in Asia and Africa, by Nicolas Fontana, ship-surgeon +to Mr. Brambilla, body physician to the Emperor, assistant surgeon in the +army. Translated from the Italian MS. by Joseph-Eyerle. Dessau and +Leipzig,--"_Buch-handlung der Gelehrten._" + +[3] "I have drawn up these documents," writes Prince Kaunitz, in a state +paper addressed to the Empress, dated 27th March, 1776, "in such manner as +to advance the objects of your Majesty in establishing commercial +intercourse between Austria and the Indies, without incurring disagreeable +results, which might accrue from the conferring of unrestricted +authority." + +[4] A piece of parchment, cut out of a book in zig-zag fashion, which in +former times was necessary in all commerce with barbarians, the captains +of privateers, when unable to read, being enabled, by comparing the +torn-out leaf (_scontrino_) with the counterfoil, which it was customary +to give to all trading persons, to determine to what nationality the +vessel belonged. + +[5] A few years previous, in 1782, a certain C. F. von Brocktroff, of +Kiel, had addressed a memorial to the Emperor Joseph II., in the course of +which he warmly advocated the annexation, settlement, and reclamation of +the Nicobar Islands, and, on the strength of fifteen years' experience in +the East Indies, promised immense profits to the Austrian-German trade by +this method of procedure. This interesting treatise will be found among +the Government Archives at Vienna, and will be published in full in +another section. + +[6] Bolts had several times come before the public as an author. In 1771 +he issued in London a work in two volumes 4to, entitled, "Considerations +on Indian Affairs," which was also translated into French. Further, he +published a "_Recueil des pieces authentiques relatives aux affaires de la +ci-devant societe Imperiale-Asiatique de Trieste, gerees a Anvers_," which +appeared in 4to (116 pages) at Paris, in 1787. + +[7] The results of this voyage of discovery are embodied partly in a work +in two volumes: "Steen Bille's account of the voyage of the corvette +_Galatea_, round the world" (Copenhagen, Leipzig, 1852), partly in a +Geographical sketch of the Nicobar Islands, with special remarks upon +Geology, by Dr. H. Rink (Copenhagen, 1847): there will be likewise found +in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, under the heading +"Nicobar Islands," and at p. 261 of the third volume of the "Journal of +the Indian Archipelago," under the title "Sketches at the Nicobars," a +variety of valuable contributions to our stock of knowledge respecting +this island group. In addition, Mr. A. E. Zhishmann, Professor in the +Imperial Royal Academy of Commerce and Navigation at Trieste, published, +in anticipation of the projected visit of the _Novara_ to this +Archipelago, a valuable historico-geographical sketch, entitled, "The +Nicobar Islands" (Trieste, Printing Office of the Austrian Lloyds, 1857), +which appeared at the same time in the Transactions of the Imp. Roy. +Geographical Society for 1857. + +[8] Vide, "Indian Political Dispatches," of 1st February, 1848: also the +"Hamburger Correspondent," of 30th August, 1848, and "Friend of India," +for 1853, p. 455. + +[9] Thus, for example, we find on the island of Kar-Nicobar the following +specimens of barter:-- + + For Pair of ripe cocoa-nuts. + + a sort of hunting-knife or + cutlass, worth about $1-1/2 300 + a small knife-blade 100 + six table knife-blades 300 + an American knife 50 + a hatchet 300 + a musket 500 + a double-barrelled gun 2500 + a large spoon 150 + thirty feet of silver-wire 2500 + a small cask of rum 2500 + a flask of arrack 10 + three "sticks" of (negro-heads) tobacco 100 + a flask of castor-oil 50 + a cabin lamp 500 + a sack of rice 300 + a piece of blue calico (about 6 to 8 ells) 100 + a neck-cloth 100 + +Epsom salts, turpentine, spirit of camphor, eau-de-Cologne, and +peppermint, are also much-prized articles of barter, and bring a large +profit, being exchanged for old clothes, salt meat, onions, and biscuit. + +[10] Thus, for instance, there occurred in one of these documents:--"In +the village of Aurong, or Arrow, the best anchorage is opposite Capt. +Marshall's hut, in from 13 to 15 fathoms water. At many points the coast +is so dangerous, that one ship lost two of her men, who were endeavouring +to land in a boat." In another certificate it was announced that the +barque _Batavia_ of Rotterdam, freighted with rice, of 442 tons burthen, +while on her voyage from Rangoon to Europe, was wrecked in Danson's +passage, 7th April, 1857, and her crew was very hospitably treated by the +natives of Kar-Nicobar. Almost every one of these certificates concludes +with the remark that whoever wishes to be on friendly terms with the +natives must play no pranks with their women, nor shoot their fowls or +hogs in the forest. + +[11] This place of interment is situated close to a small village on the +north-east side of the island, where the graves are visible in the shape +of a number of round stakes sunk about three or four feet into the earth, +which are adorned with all sorts of variegated cloths and ribbons. + +[12] It is customary to call the liquid contents of the green, unripe +cocoa-nut by the name of _cocoa-nut milk_; but it is rather a clear, +delightfully palatable water, which neither in colour nor taste at all +resembles milk. This is obtained or pressed from the white, sweet, rather +hard kernel, which is itself extraordinarily nutritive, and forms the +daily food of the inhabitants. For an entire month, during which we could +procure neither cows' nor goats' milk, we experimented on the use of the +fluid obtained from the ripe cocoa-nut in our tea and coffee, and found it +so excellent that we hardly felt the privation of animal milk. + +[13] See Vol. I., p. 240. + +[14] This vocabulary, which probably will not be found altogether +valueless for the purposes of comparative philology, as also for the +assistance of future travellers, will appear at the end of this volume as +an Appendix. + +[15] See Appendix. + +[16] Most of the Austrian sailors are from the Adriatic coast, and +accordingly speak an Italian patois. + +[17] "Letters on the Nicobar Islands, etc. Addressed by the Rev. I. +Gottfried Haensel, the only surviving missionary, to the Rev. C. J. +Latrobe. London, 1812." We are indebted for these rare pamphlets to the +kindness of Dr. Rosen of the community of the Moravian Brethren at +Genaadendal in South Africa, and do not think, despite its deep interest +in the history of missions, that it has ever been translated into another +language. Brown in his "History of Missions" has made a few brief extracts +from it. + +[18] "If an inhabitant of the South Sea Islands have planted during his +life but ten bread-fruit trees," says Cook, "he has fulfilled his duties +towards his own and his grand-children as fully and effectually as the +denizen of our rougher clime, who during his life-long endures the +severity of winter, and exhausts his energies in the heats of summer, in +order to provide his household with bread, and to save up some trifle for +his family to inherit." + +[19] From the Malabar word Elettari. This is the common seed so well known +in the pharmacopeia in the form of a carminative tincture, and is usually +known as Alpinia Cardamomia. + +[20] With respect to the resemblance if not indeed identity of the +vegetation of the Nicobar Archipelago, with that of the surrounding +islands, and the mainland, we beg to refer here to the excellent work of +an Austrian naturalist, the learned Dr. Helfer, who, stricken in the +flower of his days by the poisoned arrow of a native of the Andaman +Islands, fell a victim to his zeal for travel. To the Imperial Royal +Geographical Society of Vienna, science is indebted for the German edition +of this important information, under the title of the Published and +Unpublished Works of Dr. J. W. Helfer upon the Tenasserm Provinces, the +Mergins Archipelago, and the Andaman Islands, in the third volume of its +Proceedings for 1859. + +[21] An extensive description of the zoology of these islands is reserved +for the zoological part of the Novara publications, published at the +expense of the Austrian government, at the Imperial Printing-office in +Vienna. + +[22] The Tagali maidens of Luzon regard it as a special proof of the +honourable intentions and eagerness of passion of their admirers, if these +latter take the betel quid from their mouths! + +[23] We did fall in with some few individuals on these islands who by dint +of much exertion could count as high as 100. + +[24] At Pulo Penang the _picul_ of ripe cocoa-nuts, 300, is worth 5-1/2 +dollars. + +[25] "On measurements as a diagnostic means for distinguishing the human +races, being a systematic plan established and investigated by Dr. Karl +Scherzer and Dr. Edward Schwarz, for the purpose of taking measurements on +individuals of different races, during the voyage of H. I. M.'s frigate +_Novara_ round the world." Vide Proceedings of the I.R. Geographical +Society of Vienna, vol. II. of 1859, p. 11. + +[26] In the Sydney chapter the reader will find the Transportation +question pretty fully discussed. + + + [Illustration: A Forest Scene in Singapore.] + + + + + XI. + + Singapore. + + Stay from 15th to 21st April, 1858. + + Position of the Island.--Its previous history.--Sir Stamford + Raffles' propositions to make it a port of the British + Government free to all sea-faring nations.--The Island becomes + part of the Crown property of England.--Extraordinary + development under the auspices of a Free Trade policy.--Our stay + shortened in consequence of the severity of the cholera.-- + Description of the city.--Tigers.--Gambir.--The Betel + plantations.--Inhabitants.--Chinese and European labour.-- + Climate.--Diamond merchants.--Preparation of Pearl Sago.--Opium + farms.--Opium manufacture.--Opium-smokers.--Intellectual + activity.--Journalism.--Logan's "Journal of the Indian + Archipelago."--School for Malay children.--Judicial procedure.-- + Visit to the penal settlement for coloured criminals.--A Chinese + provision-merchant at business and at home.--Fatal accident on + board.--Departure from Singapore.--Difficulty in passing through + Caspar Straits.--Sporadic outbreak of cholera on board.--Death + of one of the ship's boys.--First burial at sea.--Sea-snakes.-- + Arrival in the Roads of Batavia. + + +The island of Singapore or Singhapura[27] is situated at the southernmost +point of the peninsula of Malacca, from which it is only separated by a +strait nowhere above a mile in breadth. It is about 29-1/3 statute miles +in length from east to west, by 16-3/5 in breadth from north to south. The +superficial area of the island is estimated at 206 square geographical +miles, which will make it about one half larger than the Isle of Wight. + +Up to the year 1819, Singapore was a howling wilderness, and the only +settlement upon its shores was a couple of wretched Malay fishermen's +huts; a lurking-place for the pirates, who at that period made it +dangerous to navigate those waters. After the rendition of the Dutch +colonies in the Indian Archipelago, which it will be remembered were the +property of England throughout the great continental war up to the year +1814, Sir Stamford Raffles, the former Governor of Java, was intrusted +with the office of founding on it, as the most suitable spot in all the +Malay seas, a free emporium where the general trade in those seas of all +the sea-faring nations of the world might be concentrated and exchanged. +England had further in view to leave not a single foot to stand on to the +Dutch, whose interests in those seas clashed with her own, to obtain an +emporium in which to collect all the more important products of the +Archipelago for exchange against the teas and silks of China; and, lastly, +to procure for the reception and repairs of the ships of war and +merchantmen, a suitable harbour, such as, being in the vicinity of the +teak-growing countries, would also have the advantage of supplying timber +for her ships at any period when there might be in England a deficient +supply of oak. + +Sir Stamford, having previously examined several other localities, +ultimately selected Singapore, and on 6th February, 1819, the English flag +was hoisted on this solitary island, thus unsuspectedly inaugurating the +beginning of a new era for the sea-faring world! At last, in 1824, came +the Treaty of Cerum, by which Holland withdrew her pretensions in favour +of England, and Singapore became an inalienable possession of the British +Crown for a sum of 60,000 Spanish dollars paid over to its previous owner +the Sultan of Djohore, together with a life-rent of 24,000 dollars +annually payable to the same Malay chief. The slaves on the island were +set at liberty, slavery was entirely abolished, and Singapore proclaimed a +Free Port. The importance of Singapore as a site for a colony had already +been pointed out and justified a century since by Captain Alexander +Hamilton, who visited these seas at the beginning of the 18th century, and +in a work entitled "A New Account of the East Indies," describes most +circumstantially his stay at Djohore in 1703 on his voyage to China. In +that work Hamilton narrates how the Sultan of Djohore wished to make him a +present of the island, and how he declined this proposal with the remark +that this island could be of no use to a private man, but would be +eminently suitable for a colony and an emporium of trade,[28] because the +winds were at all seasons favourable for egress from and entrance into +these waters on every side. A hundred years later, the choice of Sir +Stamford Raffles, to whom this relation of Hamilton seems to have been +entirely unknown, fell upon the same locality, thus testifying alike to +the eligibility of its position, and to the wise forecast of the founder +of this British settlement. + +Before the arrival of the Europeans in India round the Cape of Good Hope, +towards the commencement of the 16th century, the trade of these countries +was exclusively confined to the Arabs and Hindoos, who acted as a medium +between the far East and Europe. Every island in the Archipelago, in +proportion to the abundance and value of its vegetable produce and its +foreign intercourse, had one or more harbours, at which the products of +the surrounding districts and islands were gathered and heaped up until +the monsoon permitted the arrival of the merchant vessels from the West. +At the beginning of the fine season, Arabs and Indians entered these +harbours in their ships, and brought Indian and other manufactures and +merchandise, which they were in the habit of exchanging for gold, gum, +spices, tortoise-shell, rosin, jewels, and such like. Acheen in the north +of Sumatra, Bantam in Java, Goa in Celebes, Bruni in Borneo, and Malacca +in the peninsula of the same name, were the most important of these depots +for merchandise and centres of trade. At present the importance of all +these places has faded into history, whereas Singapore, from its +singularly favourable geographical position, and the liberality of its +political institutions, has made such a stride, as is entirely without +parallel in the history of the world's trade. From a desolate haunt of +piratical foes, the island has been converted into a flourishing emporium; +about 1000 foreign vessels, and fully 3000 Malay prahus and Chinese junks, +flit backwards and forwards annually with all sorts of merchandise and +produce, while the value of the goods annually exchanged here amounts to +about L11,000,000. Such is the change that has come over the old +unhealthy, ill-omened Malay pirate abode: thanks to a clearly defined Free +Trade policy! If a doubt should still obtrude itself as to these brilliant +results of the utmost freedom and absence of restriction upon trade, it +must give way before the spectacle presented to the view of the astonished +beholder in the harbour of Singapore, the Alexandria of the 19th century! + +Unfortunately, however, our stay in this harbour, so interesting in a +scientific as well as in a commercial point of view, was sensibly +curtailed by the prevalence of such exceedingly unfavourable conditions of +the public health. Hardly had we cast anchor ere an officer of the English +frigate _Amethyst_ came on board to salute, and to inform us that for +several weeks past the cholera had been ravaging the city, especially what +is known as the Chinese quarter. In another war-ship then in the harbour, +the screw corvette _Niger_, several of the crew had already succumbed to +the pestilence; and even in our own immediate neighbourhood was anchored a +ship with flag half-mast high, a melancholy signal that the angel of death +was once more seeking victims. Our original plan of passing several weeks +at Singapore had of course to be abandoned, and we determined at once to +get under weigh, so soon as the ship had been re-victualled and sundry +other matters of imperative necessity carefully looked to. Meanwhile the +naturalist corps landed, and proceeded to see and examine as much as they +possibly could. + +The town of Singapore, situated at the southern extremity of the island of +the same name, is divided by the river Singapore, on whose banks it is +built, into two parts, in the northernmost of which are the churches, the +law courts, the residences of the European settlers, and a little further +away the native dwellings, as also the Kampong-Klam or Bugis quarter, so +called from the number of Bugis from Celebes who congregate there to do +business; while on the south bank of the river, only a few feet above the +level of the sea, are the warehouses and offices of the various European +and Chinese merchants. Still farther to the southward and in another small +cove, called New Harbour, are the buildings and docks of the Peninsular +and Oriental Steam-Ship Company. + +Behind the city are visible three hills of inconsiderable height, called +Pearl Hill, Government Hill, and Sophia Hill. The middle one, on which +stands Government House, rises on the left bank of the river, about half a +mile from the sea-shore, to a height of about 156 feet above sea-level. On +Pearl Hill, which commands the Chinese and mercantile quarters of the +town, a citadel has been constructed. The environs of the town on every +side consist of a rolling sweep of hilly country, diversified in outline +by about 70 different eminences varying in height from 60 to 170 feet, +crowned with the elegant villas of the European merchants or government +officials, or the residences of wealthy Chinese or Malays. The loftiest +point is Bukit Turiah or Tin Hill, lying about the centre of the island, +and 519 feet in height. Although accessible in a few hours from the city, +it is very rarely made the scene of any excursions, in consequence of the +forests which encircle it having for long been frequented by great numbers +of tigers. These animals, eager for prey, cross from the mainland by +swimming the narrow strait, hardly more than half a nautical mile in +width, which separates it from the island. Dr. Logan, the excellent editor +of the Singapore Free Press, assured us that till within the last six or +seven years, 360 natives had annually been carried off by the tigers! Even +at present, over 100 persons a year are killed in the forest by the tigers +that prowl there. Shortly before our arrival, in the month of March, four +persons had perished by these voracious animals. For an explanation of +such horrible occurrences, we must consider the heedlessness of the +natives, and the peculiar conditions affecting the mode of agriculture +followed on the island. The soil of Singapore is not sufficiently fertile +to make the cultivation of land a customary occupation. Even for +rice-growing it is found to be unsuitable, so that the greater part of +that chief staple of subsistence has to be imported from the neighbouring +islands. So far as the island has been cleared, viz. to a distance of +about five miles round the city, attempts have been made to plant nutmeg, +clove, and fruit-trees. But the majority of the natives busy themselves +with sowing the Gambir and Betel shrubs in the jungle, the leaves of which +are readily disposed of at a good profit among the betel-chewing +inhabitants of the Indian Archipelago for an ingredient of their beloved +masticatory. The mode of cultivating these, however, is very peculiar. As +Gambir speedily exhausts the soil in which it is planted, and renders it +quite barren, the cultivators find themselves compelled to advance as +though by a sort of perpetual emigration. They hew their way into the +jungle, where they plant the Gambir (_Nauclea Gambir_),[29] the withered +branches and leaves of which, after it has served their purpose, are used +as manure for the _next_ shrub planted, the Betel (_Piper methysticum_). +After a short time the soil becomes unsuited for this also, and needs +several years' rest before it can again be made to produce any crop. + +In the prosecution of this thriftless cultivation the natives are +compelled to penetrate deeper and deeper into the forest, in order to +clear away with the axe spots of virgin soil for the planting of the +Gambir. They frequently pass months at a time in the jungle, and with the +carelessness characteristic of all southern races, constantly allow +themselves to be surprised by wild beasts. Government, however, does not +neglect publishing ordinances, by which as far as possible to discourage +these formidable invaders. They have offered a reward of 50 dollars for +every tiger killed. So soon as the track of a tiger has been struck, the +natives usually dig a pit fifteen or twenty feet deep, which they cover +slightly with grass and brushwood, and fasten close by a goat, a dog, or +some other living creature. As soon as the tiger, eager for his prey, +seeks to seize the poor animal, the brushwood gives way under him and he +falls into the pit, where he is speedily finished with muskets. + +The entire population of the island amounts to about 100,000 souls, of +which the greater number, say 60,000, inhabit the town itself or the +surrounding villages. One meets here with a singular mixture of races, +Europeans, Malays, Chinese, Klings (as the natives of the Coromandel coast +are called), Arabs, Armenians, Parsees (Fire-worshippers), Bengalees, +Burmese, Siamese, Bugis (from Celebes), Javanese, and from time to time +visitors from every corner of the Archipelago. Of these the Europeans, +although exercising far the largest and most preponderating influence upon +the trade of the place, are much the weakest in point of numbers, the +entire community not exceeding 300 or 400 on the whole island. On the +other hand, the Chinese out-number all the rest, and are still constantly +on the increase. Every year, as the N.E. monsoon sets in, in December and +January, vast swarms of Chinese flock hither, fleeing from the poverty and +distress of their native land. There are individuals, who make a regular +trade of importing into Singapore coolies from China and the Coromandel +coast. At the port of embarkation, each coolie engages with the captain, +to serve one year after his arrival in Singapore with a European or native +master, and to repay the cost of his passage out of his monthly wages. He +usually receives at first 3 dollars a month (about 12_s._ 6_d._), out of +which he lays aside 1-1/2 dol., and so gradually pays off his indebtedness +to the ship captain. The passage-money, which a few years back was only +about 10 or 12 Rs. (L1 to L1 4_s._), is at present as high as 20 Rs., or +L2. After the first year his earnings may amount to about 4 or 5 dols. a +month. If, however, the coolie have repaid his debt, he is free, and may +either earn a very good wage as a servant, or start in any business for +himself. The facilities for earning money are so great here for men of +industry and steadiness, that a few years' stay suffices to convert these +naked, filthy, hang-dog looking wretches into clean well-to-do workmen, +and some of them even attain a certain status in the community, as +planters and merchants. Many a Chinese, who is now an important and +wealthy man, possessed not a farthing when he landed on the hospitable +shore of the English colony. The number of Chinese resident in Singapore +is estimated at 60,000, or nearly two-thirds of the entire population of +the island. + +We need not feel surprised therefore to find that the long-tailed children +of the Flowery Land living in Singapore have begun to develope a certain +taste for luxury. They already boast a theatre of their own, a wooden +booth, like a gigantic dolls' house, in which actors from China yell out +their "sing-song," while the auditory, penned in within a +carefully-locked court-yard, chant a vociferous accompaniment to this +somewhat monotonous exhibition. Moreover, Singapore possesses a Chinese +temple of such splendour, that one would hardly find its match in the +Flowery Land itself. This is called the Telloh-Ayer, situated in the +street of the same name, and is decorated with handsome carvings, +innumerable mysterious inscriptions, and grotesque figures of stone and +wood. The Chinese who conducted us all round were exceedingly friendly, +and when, at parting, we slid a few pieces of silver into their hands as a +recompense for their trouble, they gave vent to their feelings in repeated +chin-chins, a mode of greeting which corresponds to the Salaam of the +Mahometan races. + +Many of the Chinese of Singapore belong to secret societies (Hoes), the +members of which seem banded together for both good and bad objects and +for mutual protection. Their rules are so strict, and their slightest +infraction is so fearfully punished, that hardly an instance has ever been +known of an associate having been denounced or proved a traitor. In the +British possessions, where the government attaches no sort of importance +to these associations, and suffers them to pass unmolested so long as the +laws of the country are not violated, these societies are unimportant, and +are productive of no evil consequences; but in the Dutch East Indies, +where the government has always kept their subjects in a state of +tutelage, and is in a marked degree adverse to the Chinese settled in +their colonies, these secret societies assume a far more dangerous +character, and murders on purely political grounds are far from +infrequent. + +The natives proper of Singapore are Malays, and their language is that +most in use for general intercourse and trade. But as open-air labourers +they are far inferior to the Chinese, who are much more enduring, more +contented, and more sociable. In this connection the following comparative +statement, prepared a few years since by W. J. Thompson, Esq., government +engineer in Singapore, of the relative values of English and Chinese +labour, will be found of much interest. To build a wall in England +containing 306 cubic feet would, according to Mr. Thompson's estimate, +employ one bricklayer and one ordinary labourer 4-44/100 days, the former +receiving 5_s._ 6_d._ per day, the latter 3_s._ 6_d._, the total expense +amounting to 30_s._ In Singapore a similar piece of work, executed by +Chinese labourers, would require 8-54/100 days, and the daily wage would +amount to 2_s._ 9-3/5_d._ for the bricklayer and 1_s._ 7-3/5_d._ for his +assistant, the total expense amounting to 37_s._ 6_d._ Thus, English +labour shows an economy over Chinese in the proportion of 52 to 100 in +time, and of 4 to 5 in actual expense. The following is also interesting +by way of confirmation. It had been resolved to fill up a swamp in +Singapore, the material for which was at hand at either extremity. The +swamp was 1200 feet long, 1 foot deep, and 21 feet wide. The contract was +allotted to the Chinese, and completed in 326 working days, at 13 cents or +11-1/2_d._ a day. An English, or indeed any other European labourer, +would have completed the same in 187 days, so that here also English or +European labour in general is more valuable than Chinese or any other +Asiatic labour in the proportion of 100 to 57. + +These results must not however be held to indicate that the Chinese +labourer possesses less physical strength than the European, nor must we +leave out of view this element in the calculation, that the one executes +his work in a temperate, the other in an excessively hot climate, to which +European labourers speedily succumb, or at all events lose their powers +and their strength in a very marked degree. Indeed it seems to decide the +question in favour of the Chinese over the European labourer, that the +former can work without taking any heed for his health in even the most +variable temperatures. These instructive comparisons seem to be in so far +especially valuable and useful, wherever it is projected to carry out +certain undertakings, the cost of which may be estimated, due reference +being had to the well-ascertained expense of constructing similar works in +Europe. + +Next to the Chinese, the Klings, or natives of the Coromandel coast, are +in the greatest request as boatmen, coachmen, pedlars, porters, and +house-servants, by Europeans as well as by their own successful +fellow-countrymen. From their habits of extreme sobriety, they speedily +save money, and generally return home, although a certain number continue +permanent settlers in Singapore. The Armenians resident here are the most +like the European mercantile community; the Arabs are the descendants of +those Mahometan priests and merchants whom the Portuguese found here when +they first visited this quarter of the globe, and are recruited from time +to time, but on the whole rarely, by fresh arrivals from their mother +country. + +One very marked peculiarity of the population of Singapore is the enormous +disparity between the numbers of the sexes. The proportion of females to +males is as one to seven. The most probable explanation of this phenomenon +is the circumstance that hitherto the emigration of females from China has +been entirely prohibited, and consequently almost all the Chinese +residents, who constitute by far the majority of the whole population, are +unmarried. Among them the proportion of females to males is as one to +thirteen. + +The health of Singapore is not always so bad as at the period of our +visit; indeed, judging by perquisitions made for the purpose, the climate +may rather be regarded as salubrious, particularly since the immediate +vicinity of the town has been so extensively cleared. The outbreak of +cholera was entirely new, and on that account an all the more appalling +visitation. The temperature is tolerably equal throughout the year. +Observations carried on uninterruptedly during five years give an average +of 81 deg. 3. Fahr. for the hottest month (May), and of 79 deg. 5. Fahr. for the +coldest (January). Once only during the five years (in June) did the +thermometer attain a height of 87 deg. 2. Fahr. and once only in January did +it fall as low as 74 deg. 8. Fahr. By comparing the present range of +temperature with that of thirty years since, it appears that since the +foundation of the settlement it has gained three degrees in temperature, a +phenomenon which may be ascribed to the increase of buildings, and to the +large clearings for a distance of five miles round the town, and perhaps +also to the spot itself where these observations were made being exposed. + +There is no regular rainy season in Singapore. Rain falls every month +throughout the year, the heaviest falls occurring in August and December. +According to observations carried on during four years, the annual +rainfall averaged 93 inches. The tolerably regular distribution of the +rain throughout the year imparts to the vegetation a freshness that makes +the change of seasons pass almost unheeded. + +In Singapore as elsewhere the members of the _Novara_ Expedition +experienced from all classes of society the most cordial and hospitable +reception. Every one bestirred himself to point out to us everything that +was worth knowing, or that the city could present of interest or deserving +special attention. After a cursory stroll through the most frequented +streets, with their dense crowds of people, which sufficiently proved to +us that trade was in fact the chief occupation of the inhabitants, we +turned our attention to the shops of some of the Mahometan merchants, when +our eyes were dazzled with all the most various products of India. + +In one of these we were shown some exceedingly valuable diamonds from +Borneo, one of which weighed 17 carats, and was worth L4000 sterling, +while another of 19 carats, but less pure and brilliant, was for sale for +L2000. The seller, a Mahometan, himself wore on his finger a diamond-ring +which our companion estimated at L1000. In the stores of several other +merchants we saw the Malay servants sitting cross-legged on the bare floor +of the porch, with huge heaps of Spanish dollars before them, which they +were busy counting. The Spanish or Mexican dollar is here almost the only +medium of exchange, payments being made all but exclusively in that +currency, whereas gold, even English, is but sparingly used, and then with +ill-concealed reluctance! The utter want of any other recognized medium of +exchange than silver makes all extensive money transactions exceedingly +onerous, owing to the expense of transmitting the precious metals, in +consequence of which any one wishing to pay in a certain sum of a few +thousand dollars in cash, must employ a convoy for the purpose of +transporting the money![30] + +Although, as already remarked, the chief business of the island is purely +commercial, and although, ordinarily speaking, every branch of industry +merges in that predominant occupation, there is yet one manufacture in +Singapore which calls for most special notice. This consists in the +preparation of pearl, or white sago, from the raw state, which is brought +from the N.E. coast of Sumatra, and the N.W. coast of Borneo. Almost the +whole of the sago of commerce is prepared here, and all but exclusively by +Chinese labour. Sago is chiefly obtained from the pith of several species +of palm, but more particularly from the _Sagus Rumphii_ and the _Sagus +Laevii_, both of which are rather limited in their area of cultivation, +and are not, like the cosmopolitan cocoa-nut palm, found in every quarter +of the tropical zone, both in the Old and New World, but are indigenous to +the Indian Archipelago alone. The trunk of the sago-palm, when felled, is +a cylinder of about 20 inches in diameter, and from 15 to 20 feet in +length, which, when the woody fibres have been separated, contains about +700 lbs of clear fine fecula. One may form some conception of its +extraordinary productiveness on learning that three sago-palms contain as +much nutritious matter as an acre of land grown with wheat! One piece of +ground of the extent of an English acre planted with sago-palms +occasionally yields 313,000 lbs of sago, or as much food as 163 acres of +wheat. The sago however is neither as palatable nor as nutritious as it is +productive, and nowhere, where rice is in common use, will it be displaced +by this article of food. We visited the largest sago manufacture in +Singapore, in which the sago, as it comes in the raw state from Borneo and +Sumatra, is washed and roasted, when it becomes the pearl sago of +commerce. The quantity thus prepared annually amounts to about 100,000 +cwt. + +Singapore was also the first place where we found an opportunity of +becoming acquainted with opium-smokers, and of observing the noxious +effects of this custom, which was forced upon the Chinese for the purpose +of compelling commercial relations. Although in almost every street in +Singapore there are houses in which opium is sold and can be smoked (the +so-called "Licensed opium shops"), there is, in order to keep more control +over it, only one single place where the opium is prepared for smoking +from the raw material, called by the English the "Opium farm," from which +all retail dealers must purchase their supplies of stock. + +Before describing our visit to this curious factory we shall indulge in a +few observations upon a plant whose intoxicating, poisonous milky sap +produces such singular effects upon the human system. The poppy (_papaver +somniferum_), is chiefly grown in Hindostan in the districts of Benares, +Patna, and Malwa. Its cultivation is exceedingly arduous, and very +precarious, since the tender young plants require constant care and +attention in the way of repeated watering, as well as weeding and turning +up the soil, besides which there is the ever-present danger of its +destruction by insects, or its loss through storm, or hail, or untimely +rains. The plant blooms in the month of February, and three months later +the seed is ripe. The incision into the capsule however is made three or +four weeks earlier, so soon, in short, as it is covered with a fine white +mealy dust. The instrument employed in this operation has three prongs +with very sharp points, with which the plant is carefully scratched. Each +plant is thus tapped for three consecutive days, the operation beginning +with the first warm beams of the morning sun; the milky sap is scraped off +in the cool of the next morning, and on the fourth morning each plant is +again tried as to whether it still exudes sap, but usually it proves to +have been exhausted. The juice as scraped off in its coagulated form, is +put into a cask along with linseed oil, in order not to get too quickly +dry, and then is made by hand-kneading into round flat cakes, of about +four pounds' weight, and about five inches in diameter, which, enveloped +in poppy and tobacco leaves, are spread out to dry in earthen dishes, till +ready for purposes of commerce. In this stage the opium is packed in boxes +of ten cakes or about 40 lbs, and thus passes from the hands of the grower +or the speculator at certain fixed prices into those of the agents of the +East India Company. The very anxious and precarious cultivation of the +poppy must prove far less remunerative to the proprietor of the land than +the much easier task of raising tobacco or sugar-cane, and it is only the +long-established but most impoverishing system of payments in advance, +pursued by the agents of the East India Company, that keeps the Hindoos +engaged in opium cultivation.[31] + +At the opium farm in Singapore we saw this same coagulated juice, as +obtained from the poppy, converted into opium suitable for smoking, which +is called _chandu_, the process consisting in its being exposed to the +action of heat in large semicircular brass pans, strained through filters, +and once more exposed to a low heat, until it finally coagulates into a +consistency strongly resembling treacle or syrup. The whole manipulation +occupies from four to five days. A cattie or ball of this thickened +poppy-juice costs the manufacturer about 20 dols. From ten such balls of +the raw sap, or about 40 lbs, which is the usual weight of each "chest," +as imported from Hindostan, 216 "tiles" or about 18 lbs of opium are +obtained upon an average. We saw the Chinese dealer place in one of the +scales a Spanish dollar, instead of a regular weight, and measure off a +corresponding weight of opium in the other, A _Chi_, weighing about 1/16 +oz., the ordinary quantity consumed by an opium-smoker, costs 17-1/2 +cents, or nine-pence. The duty levied upon this manufacture gives the +government a revenue of L3000 a month, for the exclusive right of +preparing opium fit for smoking, _chandu_, for consumption on the island. + +As often as the apparatus is called into activity, the Chinese employed in +the preparation of the opium, in pursuance of what seems with them a +regular custom at the commencement of any spell of work, commit to the +flames, after repeating a certain set of formulas of prayer, a number of +octavo-sized leaves (_Tschni-tschni-soa_) of paper printed upon one side +only, and occasionally provided in very large quantities: on these fabrics +of the roughest material are printed sometimes prayers in Chinese, +sometimes all kinds of drawings, intended to express the wishes of those +making the offering, and which ordinarily represent in very sketchy +outline those objects which they pray their deities to bestow on them. In +thus burning, in a copper vessel specially prepared for the purpose, not +unlike the baptismal font in a Christian church, these small slips of +paper, the Chinese operative believes that his petition ascends to heaven +as smoke, and so comes under the cognizance of his protecting gods. +Similarly in all temples and pagodas, large quantities may be found stored +away of these paper intercessors with the Chinese gods, intended for the +use of believers, or rather of those who make profession of faith. + +The workmen of the opium farm have a part of their wages paid in opium. +The greater number are themselves opium-smokers, and thus are all the more +surely attached to the manufacture. We saw a number of these fellows lying +stretched out on straw mats, in wretched filthy-looking dens of rooms, +with blue curtains barely concealing them from view, and the spirit-lamp +placed conveniently near to enable them from time to time to heat the +_chandu_, the smoke of which they inhale through a peculiarly constructed +pipe (_Yeu-tsiang_). The quantity of opium taken up at each dip by the +instrument used, a three-cornered, flat-headed sort of needle specially +adapted for the purpose, is about the size of a pea. The practised +opium-smoker holds his breath for a considerable time, and passes the +smoke through the nostrils. The taste of the half-fluid juice of the +poppy is sweetish and oily, but the odour of the _chandu_ when heated, +which one of the workmen addicted to smoking insisted on our regarding as +one of the most valuable of perfumes, is so disagreeable as almost to +cause nausea. We saw numbers of smokers, athwart the filthy gossamer-like +curtains, utterly stupefied, and lying carelessly stretched out on the +hard bedsteads, the pipe fallen out of their hands, and the lamp on the +table in front of their couch extinguished. They, however, did not want +the curtain for the purpose of preventing their being disturbed in the +luxurious enjoyment of their beatific dreams; for they continued in a +state resembling death itself, from which hardly anything could possibly +rouse them so long as the effects of the poisonous drug lasted. Others of +the smokers were so affected by it as to have utterly lost their senses, +and seemed on the whole entirely indifferent to all that was passing +around them. One of the workmen, who was in a high state of excitement, +and was uncommonly talkative, informed us however that he had to smoke +about one shilling's worth of opium ere he could feel its effect, that +there was nothing more annoying or insupportable than mere partial +stupefaction, when one had no more money wherewith to buy opium so as to +be able to get into a proper state of somnolence. The entire system at +such times gets into a frightful state of irritation; there is severe +headache, a sensation of pressure on the stomach, nausea, in a word all +the ill-effects of the use of opium, without any of its more agreeable +sensations. The state of intoxication and drowsiness usually lasts from +forty to sixty minutes, when consciousness gradually returns, without any +ill-effects being experienced at the moment from the inhalation of the +poison. + +In Singapore, where comparatively high wages are paid, and the Chinese +population is the most numerous, the annual consumption of opium amounts +to about 330 grains per head. In the Island of Java, where, in consequence +of certain limits prescribed by government, the Chinese element amounts to +but 1/100th of the entire population, the consumption is hardly forty +grains per head. Even in China, where this perilous narcotic is consumed +in such enormous quantities, the amount sold only indicates 140 grains for +each smoker, which however is chiefly attributable to the poverty of the +populace, by whom this luxury is unattainable. Unfortunately we could get +no reliable information as to the number of opium-smokers, and the +quantity of opium consumed, in Singapore. Mr. Allen, a North American +missionary, estimates the number of persons who surrender themselves to +this practice throughout the Chinese Empire, at from 4-5,000,000, who +annually consume about 50,000 chests of opium. The quantity consumed by +each smoker daily varies in an extraordinary degree. At first the beginner +cannot inhale above two or three grains at a time, but gradually, as he +becomes habituated, the dose increases, till the confirmed smokers +consume as much as 100 grains daily!! Many Chinese spend two-thirds of +their earnings in the purchase of this drug, which has become for them a +necessity of life. + +The practice of eating opium in the form of pills, which prevails in every +Mahometan country in the East, and has in a special degree been readily +adopted by the disciples of the Koran, in consequence of the prohibition +of wine, would seem, judging by the researches of physicians, to be much +less injurious and much slower in affecting the human system than smoking +the opium, or otherwise bringing it directly in contact with the lungs, +while the effects of the former practice is likewise different. + +We shall have an opportunity, when describing our stay in Chinese waters, +to revert to this most remarkable and most profitable, but at the same +time most iniquitous, monopoly of the (late) East India Company, which +crushes millions of human beings in the most appalling and hopeless of all +slaveries, and against the continuance of which the Chinese government has +repeatedly but ineffectually set its face. The words of the +idol-worshipping Emperor of China, when in 1840 he was solicited to +convert the importation of opium into a source of revenue to the state, +were worthy of a Christian monarch: "It is true," said the Chinese ruler, +"I cannot hinder the importation of this subtle poison; infamous men in +the lust for gain will out of covetousness or sensuality set at nought the +fulfilment of my wishes;--but they shall never induce me to enrich myself +by the vices and the wretchedness of my people!" + +Despite the very small proportion of Europeans resident in Singapore, and +that almost the entire time of those few seems to be absorbed in business, +there is nevertheless considerable intellectual activity. Several +newspapers in the English language, among which the "Singapore Free +Press," edited by Mr. A. Logan, occupies the foremost rank, supply +information as to all that is worth knowing in every part of the East +Indies, while the "Journal of the Indian Archipelago," which has been for +many years so ably and carefully conducted by the well-known and +widely-famous J. H. Logan (brother of the editor of the "Press"), is a +veritable mine of information for the naturalist, who wishes to make the +history of the Indian Archipelago and its inhabitants the object of his +study. It contains exceedingly useful data for extending our knowledge of +these very remarkable countries, susceptible as they are of such +extraordinary development. + +The colony also boasts a Museum of Natural History adjoining a library +with several thousand volumes, and a reading-room, copiously supplied with +newspapers and periodicals, the whole forming what is called the +"Singapore Institution." This enterprise was founded by shares of 40 +dollars each, and is supported by an annual subscription of 24 dollars by +each member, which confers the privilege of using the well-selected +library of books, and a great number of English and French papers and +periodicals. The small ethnographic collection consists chiefly of +specimens from Borneo, Sumatra, and the adjoining islands. + +Among the educational institutions most deserving of attention and +recognition must be specially noticed the school for the instruction of +Malay boys and girls, under the management and preceptorship of that most +deserving missionary, Mr. B. P. Keasberry, who has pursued a career of +useful activity in this Archipelago during thirty years past. The parents +of the children taken in here have to contribute to their support, and to +leave them there for at least ten years, under the affectionate spiritual +care of the missionary, and must not remove them till after the expiry of +that period. This condition was rendered necessary by the fickleness of +the Malay nature, which otherwise would frequently withdraw the children +from the supervision of the missionary at the very moment when they were +beginning to become amenable to the influences of instruction in +Christianity and civilization. The Institution is supported partly by +voluntary contributions, partly by the profits of a printing business, in +which, however, hardly anything is printed except educational and +religious works in the Malay language. Mr. Keasberry was so kind as to +present us with a small collection of the works thus published during the +past year, comprising among others a dictionary of the English and Malay +languages, the New Testament, a volume of Natural History, a Manual of +Geography, a Universal History, a Biblical History, and numerous +educational works in Malay for the use of the pupils. + +In the course of a visit we paid to the Police Court we had the pleasure +of becoming acquainted with Mr. Windsor Carl, the well-known author of +numerous valuable works relating to the Indian Archipelago and the Papuan +Negroes, a gentleman whose career in life has been of the strangest, at +present holding the position of magistrate in Singapore, where his great +experience and his thorough acquaintance with the Malay language must be +of the utmost service to government. The audience assembled in the Court +room, in which only causes under 50 Rs. are tried, consisted for the most +part of Chinese. Almost all the officials, clerks, inspectors, and +policemen were coloured. In one month 414 causes came on for trial, of +which 315 were disposed of by the imposition on the culprits of fines +amounting in the aggregate to 5975 Rs., but of this sum only 5105 Rs. were +realized. The largest number of sentences are passed in March, because the +Chinese celebrate the New Year on the first day of that month, and +accordingly the largest number of cases of assault, &c., occur at that +period. The police _employes_ registered in that period above 100 cases of +transgressions of the law. The New Year is however, as must be remembered, +the solitary festival which John Chinaman takes out of his appointed work, +since recognizing as they do neither Sunday nor feast-day they continue +hard at work for all the rest of the year. The majority of decisions refer +to prohibited games; and whoever knows the inextinguishable love of the +Chinese populace for spending their time in gambling, will readily +comprehend how in a single year there occurred above 2000 cases in which +the law was violated. While we were in the justice-room, a paper was +handed in to the presiding magistrate, in which an English sailor, at that +moment in hospital, urgently requested that he might leave the same, +inasmuch as he felt no longer sure of his life, owing to the numbers daily +brought thither to die of cholera. In fact the hospital, and the +localities adjacent, seemed to be the spots most seriously visited by the +pestilence, so that the prayer of the petitioner to be removed from that +neighbourhood was not altogether unfounded. + +One highly interesting establishment, deserving of universal imitation, is +the penal colony for criminals sentenced to transportation for life from +all parts of India, and known as "The Convict Settlement." In order to +comprehend the object and tendency of this institution, it seems necessary +to premise certain remarks upon the political relation of Singapore to +India at large. Singapore in conjunction with the colony of Malacca, which +gives its name to the entire peninsula, and the island of Penang, +including the district of Wellesley, form that range of British +settlements in the Straits of Malacca which is usually known to the +English as "The Straits Settlements." Up to quite a recent date, these +colonies, founded almost exclusively in the interests of British commerce, +were under the authority of the Indian government, and were in fact +controlled from Calcutta. To the Directors of the East India Company, +however, these settlements, of whose future destiny the mother country has +hitherto taken but little heed, notwithstanding their enormous political +and commercial importance, appeared to be specially adapted as a place for +maintaining common criminals, as also the more dangerous class of +political offenders, and accordingly converted these settlements into +penal colonies for the Indies, of which that of Singapore is the most +important. + +The director of this institution, Captain McNair, had the kindness to +accompany the members of the Novara expedition through the extensive +buildings, for the most part only one storey high, but well adapted for +this purpose, and to furnish us with much information on the various +particulars and special matters of interest relating to the establishment. +Ever since the year 1854, the wretched, confined, wooden huts thatched +with straw, in which up to that period the unfortunate criminals were +confined, have been removed, and in their stead lofty, airy, good-sized +apartments have been substituted. At the period of our visit in April +1858, there were over 2000 transported for life, and 245 sentenced to +various terms of from five to ten years, confined here. All the public +buildings of the island, churches, hospitals, barracks, works in the +streets, sometimes constructions of a most expensive nature, were executed +throughout by criminals. After sixteen years' good conduct, the prisoner +was entitled to a "ticket of leave," authorising him to settle within the +jurisdiction of the island as a free colonist, coupled with the condition +of presenting himself once a month before the superintendent of the +settlement. In case of bad conduct, or failure, or irregularity in +fulfilling such stipulations, these concessions are revoked. All the +overseers of the convict settlement, who receive monthly pay at the rate +of from one to two dollars, are prisoners who have already given proof of +their desire to return to a better mode of life, and it is well worth +remark, that the 2000 convicts, consisting for the most part of the very +dregs of the various Indian races, and condemned for grave crimes to +perpetual imprisonment, are under the charge of a single white turnkey, +and by him maintained in perfect order and propriety of demeanour. Besides +this one official there is only a small detachment of Indian soldiers, +from twelve to fifteen in number, stationed at the settlement as a measure +of precaution. The best evidence of the excellent system on which this +institution is administered, will be found in the published reports of its +health, from which it appears that of the 2000 there confined, there were +but forty sick at the very period when the cholera was committing such +terrific ravages in the town among the poorer classes, and the change of +the monsoon had been accompanied by great sickness and general +unhealthiness. The convicts go to work at six every morning, and return to +the barracks about 4 P.M., the rest of the day being spent in preparing +their victuals, consisting of rice, vegetables, cayenne-pepper, and fruit. +As most of those confined are Hindoos and profess Brahminism, they bathe +several times a day, in a large tank filled with excellent water. This +wise religious custom must in such a sultry climate conduce in a marked +degree to the preservation of their health, by its beneficial and +refreshing action upon the frame. + +Some of the convicts are also employed in manufacturing cordage, ropes, +twine, &c., of the fibres of the wild plantain (_Musa textilis_), the +Rame-shrub (_Boehmeria nivea_), and the wild pine-apple (_Bromelia Ananas_ +or _Ananassa Sativa_). All these textures are of excellent quality, and +possess all the best properties of Russian hemp-fabrics, at a considerable +reduction of cost. + +In the dormitories the convicts are not classified by nationalities as +during the labours of the day, but according to the nature of the offences +for which they are incarcerated, so that in one division all the thieves +are together, in another all the homicides, in a third all those convicted +of arson, &c. Although from a psychological point of view much might be +urged against the judiciousness of such a system, yet, as we were +informed, this method of confinement by classification of offences +exercises no prejudicial effect upon the moral amelioration of the +convicts, but on the contrary most encouraging results have been observed +to arise from its operation. Among others we were told of a Hindoo from +the Malabar coast, a convict for life, who after sixteen years' +confinement received permission to settle on the island as a free +colonist. By industry, ability, and some fortunate speculations, this man +in the course of years acquired a large fortune. He now felt an intense +yearning to revisit his own home, and expressed his willingness to present +a large portion of his newly acquired wealth for such a permission. But +the law was explicit upon this point. Only a free pardon from the +Governor-general of India can as a rule avail to make such an exception, +which is of but rare occurrence. This he actually succeeded in obtaining +after repeated supplications, and this "fortunate unfortunate" was at last +permitted to return to his longed-for home. It is worth noting that of the +2245 prisoners, only fifty are of the female sex, chiefly Hindoo women +from Bengal. Among those imprisoned while we were there, we remarked three +white men, who had been sentenced to several months' confinement for +riotous conduct and drunkenness. Surrounded as they were by these bronzed +half-savage Hindoo offenders, these men made a doubly painful impression +upon Europeans. + +As the prevalence of disease in the town and harbour made it especially +desirable that we should as speedily as possible change our quarters, in +order not to be surprised by a visit on board from a guest so formidable, +we made all possible efforts to complete with the utmost dispatch the +revictualling of the ship, and transact whatever other business was +necessary. For this purpose we were recommended in several quarters to +employ a Chinese merchant, whose name is already favourably mentioned by +Commodore Wilks on the occasion of his visiting Singapore in 1842. This +was Whampoa, a ship-chandler, who indeed in similar departments of trade +carries on by no means insignificant competition with the long-established +English firms. His business is unquestionably the most extensive in this +line in Singapore, and furnishes a striking example of what Chinese +industry, economy, and perseverance are capable of. Immense quantities of +provisions and ship-stores are accumulated in his extensive warehouses, so +that he can supply orders to any extent in an incredibly short space of +time. Within two days, Whampoa had completely victualled the ship for six +months, besides supplying her from the adjoining stream with 100 tons of +good water, which was brought alongside in boats specially constructed for +the purpose, and thence pumped through hose into the iron water-tanks in +the hold, an operation which in any European port would have taken thrice +the time required here. Moreover all the articles supplied by Whampoa were +of the best quality, and proportionally moderate in price. He employs none +but Chinese, with long tails, and black silk apparel. All the books are +kept in the Chinese language, and even the additions and subtractions are +not made in the European method, but by the Chinese _counting_ board, that +is, by shifting a number of wooden beads or rings, which run in different +rows, and have a variety of values. This reckoning-board consists of an +oblong frame, divided in its length by a partition into unequal divisions, +in the larger of which are hung five, in the smaller two, beads upon metal +cross wires. Each wire with the seven beads running upon it constitutes a +single row, and in each such row, a single bead of the smaller division is +equal in value to the five corresponding beads in the larger compartment; +while, just as in the Russian reckoning-board, each row represents a +value tenfold greater or less with reference to the two arms adjoining it +on either side. On the Chinese board the number of cross wires is not +always the same, but depends upon the extent of the calculations intended +to be made upon it.[32] + + [Illustration: A Chinese Counting Board.] + +Accordingly when a Chinese wishes to make a calculation upon his +reckoning-board, he lays it crosswise before him, with the large +compartment next himself, pushes the beads of the two divisions to the +edge of the frame, whence, as the process of calculation may require, he +shifts them into the middle against the partition-wire, or pushes them +back again. In the former case the beads are said to "count on the +board," in the latter to be "off the board." Consequently, in order to +have 1, 2, 3, and 4 "counting," a corresponding number of beads in the +larger compartment must be pushed away from himself till they reach the +partition; to mark 5, he similarly draws towards himself a bead in the +smaller compartment, and as 6, 7, 8, and 9 are formed by the addition of 5 +and 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively, these will be marked by adding one bead +from the lesser compartment to the requisite number of beads in the +greater. The tens are indicated by the beads of the next wire to the left; +the hundreds by the next again to that, &c. + +Within his own house, Whampoa lives entirely in the European fashion. +Plentifully blessed with this world's goods, he displays a degree of +luxury such as we are unaccustomed to see save in the most elevated +circles of society. One of his properties, which is several miles in +circumference, has a spacious, elegantly furnished mansion with a splendid +colonnade, a beautiful flower-garden, and a perfect menagery of useful +domestic animals. Within the house all the arrangements are European, with +the exception of the oval doors, communicating between the great saloon +and the antechambers, which are pushed into the wall on either side, and +have a very surprising effect. In the evening, especially when the saloon +is illuminated, if a person passes through this oval entrance, the effect +is as of a life-size portrait set in a golden frame. It would not be a bad +idea to introduce this Chinese form of door-way into our European +residences and country-seats, and it is assuredly not the only improvement +in the decorative art which we could borrow with advantage from the +Chinese. Whampoa's own favourite habitation is about four miles outside +the town, and presents a curious admixture of European comfort and taste +with Chinese notions of ornament. In the saloons, adorned with a quantity +of neat fancy ornaments, are suspended from the walls verses and proverbs +of the most renowned Chinese poets, all written on long elegantly +illustrated rolls of paper. Our host also showed us a variety of objects +which had been presented to him by foreign ship captains, officers of the +navy, and even singers, as the late Mrs. Catherine Hayes Bushnell, whom he +had shown much attention to. A banquet, to which we were invited by this +hospitable Chinese to meet a number of the most prominent commercial +magnates of the colony, was served entirely in the European style. The +viands were cooked by a Chinese cook, in the English and French styles, +only the dessert came part from Japan, part from China, and consisted of a +variety of fruits, which were utterly unknown to the eye and the palate of +the European guests. Our Chinese host seemed quite at home in doing the +honours. Although outwardly a Chinese of the most orthodox stamp, with +shaven head, (except the long tail reaching almost to the earth,) and his +body robed in a black silken stuff, he drank to each of his guests in good +old English style, and seemed as little afraid of Sherry as of Champagne. +Indeed, we even had toasts, in the course of which this Chinese friend to +foreigners remarked in English, that any amelioration of the present +critical condition of his native land, can only be effected by the +progressive influence of the British government. Whampoa is in all +probability the first Chinese who has sent his son to Europe. + +On the very last day of our stay in Singapore, a melancholy accident +occurred on board. One of our sailors named Rossi, while unbending a sail +for the purpose of repair, fell from the fore-yard on the forecastle, +where he lay insensible, and died a few hours afterwards. Latterly +repeated instances had occurred at short intervals, of the sailors, while +working at various elevations, losing hold and falling on deck, but none +of these had had such a tragical result as the present, and a few slight +injuries was all the penalty the sufferers received for their +carelessness. Singularly enough, such accidents mostly occur to the able +seamen, because that class usually feel themselves as secure while resting +on the foot-ropes, and working among the masts and sails, as on the ground +itself, and from their carelessness come much more frequently to grief, +than their comrades less experienced in man[oe]uvring among the cordage. +Rossi was reverently committed to the earth in the Catholic burying-ground +of Singapore, and arrangements were at the same time made for the erection +of a small grave-stone over his distant resting-place, informing the +visitors to this "Court of Peace," that below reposes a member of the +_Novara_ Expedition, who had lost his life in the discharge of his duties. + +As we were now at the season of the change of monsoon, at which period the +always difficult navigation of the narrow seas between Singapore and +Batavia demands an unusual degree of carefulness, in consequence of +frequent squalls, we engaged a pilot, who for a stipulated sum of 175 +dollars was to convoy us to the next station on our voyage. Captain +Burrows, as our pilot was named, had the reputation of being a specially +competent, thoroughly trustworthy person, who for a long period had +navigated these waters in his own ship, and, as we were informed, had, +owing to some unfortunate speculations, been compelled to become a pilot +of other vessels, after having for years sailed in command of his own +ship. He had already come on board with his traps, but, as wind and tide +were both unfavourable, he obtained permission to return to shore till +sunset. This however the pilot did not do, and on the following morning, +finding he did not come off despite our signals, we set sail without him +about 9 A.M. with favourable wind and tide. No one could account for the +default of a pilot so strongly recommended on all hands, particularly as +all his baggage had remained on board, and must now of course make the +voyage to Batavia. For a moment we conjectured that he had immediately on +landing been seized by the dread distemper, only it seemed improbable we +should not have been informed of such a catastrophe. And in fact it +afterwards appeared that his having missed us was entirely due to his own +inattention. + +We at first had intended to pass through the narrow strait of Rhio,[33] by +which the route is materially shortened, but as the squally weather had +fairly set in, while the breeze had crept round to the S.E., and the tide +set strong to the northwards, we abandoned this plan, and decided on +sailing through the channel between Horsburgh light-house and Bintang, so +as to pass to the eastward of this island as far as Graspar Straits, which +however we only reached the following day, owing to light fitful breezes +from the northwards. So soon as we entered Gaspar Straits we found the +sea, which is here of no great depth, never exceeding 25 fathoms, partly +covered with trunks of trees and sea-weed, while the water had lost its +transparency and was of a dirty green colour. + +At 10 A.M. of the 25th April, we crossed the equator for the third time, +and the same day about 11 P.M. were in sight of the rocky island of Tothy, +a rain-squall from the N.E. blowing at the time. We passed between this +island and the dangerous because invisible Vega Rock, just below the +surface of the sea, and found ourselves in an archipelago of islands and +shoals requiring the utmost vigilance in navigating ships of large size. +But the moon, "the seaman's friend," shone brightly at night, and the +well-known transparency of the air in tropical countries enabled us even +during the hours of darkness to make out with perfect distinctness islands +lying 25 to 30 miles distant, so that we were by these means, coupled with +occasional casts of the lead, enabled on every occasion to make out with +sufficient exactness at what point we had arrived. We were so lucky as to +have never once throughout this intricate navigation been compelled to +cast anchor (as is so frequently the case here), and thus succeeded in +overhauling in Gaspar Straits more than one merchantman, that was a far +better sailer than the _Novara_. + +On 30th April in 2 deg. 48' S., and 107 deg. 16' E., we celebrated the anniversary +of our departure from Trieste, with hearts filled with gratitude to the +illustrious projector of an expedition devoted to such lofty aims. + +Although during our stay in Singapore the cholera had not alone carried +off its victims in the town, but also in the harbour, especially in the +screw corvette _Niger_, anchored in our immediate vicinity, which lost at +the rate of about a man daily till she changed her moorings, and +ultimately had to put to sea (which under such circumstances gives hope +from the very first for a change for the better in the requisite sanitary +conditions for restoring to health), yet the crew of the _Novara_ seemed +destined to escape the slightest evil effects from our six days' stay in +this plague-stricken harbour. But the result did not justify these +expectations. Five days after our departure from Singapore, just as we +were entering Gaspar Straits, one of the ship's boys fell ill with all +the symptoms of the Asiatic pestilence, and two days after the man +appointed to attend him was similarly seized. Every necessary precaution +was taken, the crew were kept as much as possible on deck, the band played +frequently, in order to keep up cheerfulness, and thus by great good +fortune the malady was confined to the two individuals seized. The +attendant ere long recovered, but the lad, after the choleraic symptoms +had subsided, gradually fell into a typhoid state, under which, despite +the utmost medical skill, he succumbed on the afternoon of May 4th. Owing +to the rapidity with which decomposition sets in in organic structures in +these hot latitudes, it was at once arranged that the body should be +committed to the deep the same evening. It was the first occasion +throughout the voyage that we had to perform this sad but most impressive +ceremony. The officers and crew mustered on the deck. The body wrapped in +an ensign lay upon a platform, close to the man-ropes on the starboard +side. The chaplain prayed over the corpse of one so young, about to rest +in the bosom of ocean far from friends and family, after which there was a +dull hollow sound; the sea had got his prey, the waves closed with sullen +glee over their booty,--and all was over! + +In the course of the passage we also celebrated a funeral service on board +for Austria's great, never-to-be-forgotten commander, Field-marshal +Radetzky, of whose death we had shortly before been apprized. As far as +circumstances admitted, everything was done to celebrate this solemn duty +in a befitting manner. + +Several times during this part of our voyage, owing to the slight depth, +averaging only 14 fathoms, of the Gaspar Strait, we observed sea-snakes +basking on the surface of the sea, and letting the waves roll them lazily +forward, several of which, about four feet long, were caught in a common +insect-net. + +At last, on the afternoon of May 5, we anchored in the roads of Batavia, +in 6-1/2 fathoms, mud bottom. The aspect of the roads, especially in bad +weather, is rather melancholy, the coast being low and swampy, and densely +covered with mangrove-bushes, through which glittered a portion of the +red-tiled roofs of the lower ancient city of Batavia, now abandoned on +account of its insalubrity. Under a more cheerful sky the country round +would of course assume a more agreeable and even imposing appearance, when +the outline of the gigantic volcanoes of Java come into view in the +background, with their heavenward towering peaks, partly covered with +snow, permitting us to form some faint conception of the prodigality of +Nature in this, the most beautiful island of the Malay Archipelago. + +In the roads of Batavia we found much less bustle and animation than one +could anticipate, considering the favourable situation and immense +importance of the place. A short distance from us lay the Dutch frigate +_Palembang_, carrying the flag of a Vice-admiral, and the steam-corvette +_Groeningen_, besides which we counted some sixty foreign merchantmen, and +over a hundred native boats and coasting vessels. This rather small +evidence of commercial activity is the more noticeable when one has just +come from the free port of Singapore, where several hundred ships are +always lying at anchor, sporting the flags of every sea-faring nation, +without taking account of the almost innumerable Chinese and Malay +coasters, trading between Singapore and the other islands of the Sunda +Archipelago. Moreover, there are here no small boats plying to and fro, +because the communications between the city and the roadstead being over a +space requiring an hour and a half to traverse, the transit is necessarily +dear, and remains therefore confined within as small limits as possible. +For a small boat with two rowers from the roads to the landing-place the +charge is from four to five florins (6_s._ 8_d._ to 8_s._ 4_d._), and +3-1/2 florins (5_s._ 10_d._) more for a vehicle to transport them to the +town. For this reason no artisans, trades-people, or washerwomen will come +off to where the shipping is at anchor, to take orders--every commission +of whatever nature must be executed in the city itself. Here we lay at +anchor, an Austrian frigate, surely a most unwonted visitant, from the +afternoon till the following morning without one single boat coming off to +visit us! + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[27] City of Lions, from Singha, the Sanscrit for Lion, a title of Indian +princes, which we again meet with in Singhala, the kingdom of Lions, as +Ceylon is called in ancient records and histories. + +[28] Captain Alexander Hamilton's "New Account of the East Indies, +1688-1723." Edinburgh, 1727. 8vo, Vol. II., p. 63. + +[29] From this shrub is prepared the drug _Kino_, once much used in the +Pharmacop[oe]ia, but now displaced by _catechu_. + +[30] A similar system prevails to this day throughout Hindostan, where the +necessity for convoy of specie forms one of the most important items of +expense in the maintenance of local police, outlying military stations, +&c. And unfortunately such a policy reacts upon the respect of the natives +for British rule, for seeing that even the government requires such +convoys, they naturally presume that government feels itself insecure, and +hence refuse to co-operate in the development of Indian resources. + +[31] The net produce of an acre of land grown with poppy amounts to about +20 or 30 rupees, producing about 30 lbs of opium. The oil extracted from +the seed-vessels of the plant gives a return of from 2 to 3 rupees per +acre. + +[32] Among the valuable contributions of the Russian Embassy to Pekin, +respecting China, its people, its religion, its political institutions, +its social peculiarities, &c., there is one long and very copious treatise +upon the Chinese reckoning-board, and the method of using it. See the +German translation of the work by Dr. Karl Abel, and F. T. Mecklenburg. +Berlin, F. Heinicke, 1856, vol. i. p. 295. + +[33] The Rhio group of islands is about 50 miles S.E. of Singapore, the +most important of which is Bintang, with a town of the same name. + + + [Illustration: Javanese Weapons.] + + + + + XII. + + Java. + + Stay from 5th to 29th May, 1858. + + Old and New Batavia.--Splendid reception.--Scientific + societies.--Public institutions.--Natives.--A Malay embassy.-- + Excursion into the interior.--Buitenzorg.--The Botanic Garden.-- + The Negro.--Prince Aquasie Boachi.--Pondok-Gedeh.--The infirmary + at Gadok, and Dr. Bernstein.--Megamendoeng.--Javanese villages.-- + Tjipannas.--Ascent of Pangerango.--Forest scenery.--Javanese + resting-houses or Pasanggrahans.--Night and morning on the + summit of the volcano.--Visit to Gunung Gedeh.--The plantations + of Peruvian bark-trees in Tjipodas.--Their actual condition.-- + Conjectures as to the future.--Voyage to Bandong.--Spots where + edible swallows'-nests are found.--Hospitable reception by a + Javanese prince.--Visit to Dr. Junghuhn in Lembang.--Coffee + cultivation.--Decay in value of the coffee bean of Java.-- + Professor Vriese and the coffee planters of Java.--Free trade + and monopoly.--Compulsory and free labour.--Ascent of the + volcano of Tangkuban Prahu.--Poison Crater and King's Crater.--A + geological excursion to a portion of the Preanger Regency.-- + Native fete given by the Javanese Regent of Tjiangoer.--A day at + the Governor-general's country-seat at Buitenzorg.--Return to + Batavia.--Ball given by the military club in honour of the + _Novara_.--Raden Saleh, a Javanese artist.--Barracks and + prisons.--Meester Cornelis.--French opera.--Constant changes + among the European society.--Aims of the colonial government.-- + Departure from Batavia.--Pleasant voyage.--An English ship with + Chinese Coolies.--Bay of Manila.--Arrival in Cavite harbour. + + +In order to get from the roadstead of Batavia to the "Stad Herberg," the +sole landing-place for boats, distant some miles from the open sea, it is +necessary to steer for some distance up the canal-like channel of the +Tjiliwoeng (pronounced _Chili-wung_) River. Old Batavia (Jacatra), built +by the Dutch in 1619, on an extremely swampy and most unhealthy spot, is +at present entirely abandoned by the white population, and the numerous +handsome edifices still standing there are now only used as warehouses, +counting-houses, and offices generally. Where in days of yore a hundred +thousand human beings bustled to and fro, there are at present dwelling +but a couple of thousand wretched, poverty-stricken Portuguese and +Javanese. The Dutch in selecting such a site undoubtedly took their own +Amsterdam for a model, and the houses were accordingly built as close as +possible to each other, and several storeys high, a mode of building +eminently unsuited to a tropical climate, and accordingly adding another +element of insalubrity. The thick fog, which every evening at sundown +spreads over the city, situate as it is hardly above the level of the sea, +is not only very injurious to Europeans, but proves quite frequently +fatal, so that by 5 P.M. old Batavia assumes the appearance of a city of +the dead, and a regular emigration takes place in waggons, on horseback, +or on foot, to the more elevated and therefore more healthy parts of the +town, to Ryswick, Molenvliet, Weltevreden, &c., where during the last +twenty years an entirely new and very elegant settlement has sprung up. +Handsome villas rise amid the blooming fragrant gardens, and everything is +arranged in accordance with the requirements of a tropical climate; and +of an evening, when the low verandahs and beautifully furnished +drawing-rooms of these airy, well-ventilated mansions are profusely lit +up, and filled with a gaily-dressed social circle, while numbers of +equipages, carrying torches, flit through the wide streets, the whole +scene has quite a fairyland appearance. The gloom without makes the +dazzling brightness within-doors still more marked, and renders the law a +perfect boon, by which no native, so soon as it becomes dark, is permitted +to walk through the streets unless he carries a lighted torch (_obor_). +Owing to the distance intervening between each house, Batavia, although +numbering only 70,000 inhabitants, apparently covers a larger area than +Paris, and as the wealthy classes are concentrated in the upper quarters +of the town, just as they are in the West End of London, it is there that +one may see all that Batavia has to show of luxury, comfort, and elegance. +The old haughty, aristocratic capital of the Netherland Indies, whose +beauty once obtained for her the title of "Queen of the East," is found +here in more than pristine freshness, and not alone in wealth and +splendour, but even in social stiffness and pedantic etiquette, vies with +the most ultra-refined centres of fashion in Europe. + +The _Novara_ had long been expected in Batavia, and months beforehand +orders had been issued by the Governor-general to all the Dutch colonies +in the East Indies, for the courteous reception of the Expedition, and +energetically assisting its members. A German merchant from Celebes, whom +we happened to meet the day of our arrival, informed us that in Macassar +the entire population had been for several months past looking for the +arrival of the foreign man-of-war, and those on the look-out at the +signal-station, as often as a large ship made its appearance on the +horizon, were continually hoping that it might prove to be the +long-expected visitor. + +All that the resources of a mighty and generous power, such as is that of +Holland in Java, could furnish to make our short stay at the island as +agreeable and instructive as possible was exhibited on the most lavish +scale, and all that could be done to promote our objects in view by men of +science, of which Java possesses a considerable number, and even some of +European celebrity, was offered with the most praiseworthy alacrity. +Several eminent scholars and naturalists, headed by the renowned +ichthyologist, Dr. Bleeker, who shortly before had been decorated with an +Austrian order of merit for his valuable contributions to our knowledge of +the natural history of the Sunda Islands, did the honours, so to speak, +for the members of the scientific commission, of whom they became the +constant companions. + +The very day we landed we visited the Museum, in the company of our new +friends, where we found an extremely interesting and most valuable +collection, principally of ethnographic objects. Here we saw idols of the +palmy days of Buddhism, made of bronze and silver, beautifully carved, +which came from the interior of Java, as also from Sumatra and the Engano +Islands; clothes of the bark of trees, garments of fish-scales, of a +species of _Scarus_ (probably _Scarus Schlosserii_), head-gear, armlets, +and necklaces of the teeth of men and wild animals, richly adorned +"creeses" or Malay daggers, lances and arrows of bamboo, whose iron heads +were poisoned by a wash of arsenic mixed with lemon-juice; a great variety +of musical instruments, among which were specimens of the well-known and +singular _Gamelang_, which consists of a row of bells of all sizes and +tones, which are struck with slender pieces of bamboo, and makes a regular +orchestra of bells. There was also a very singular-looking collection of +parasols, which as used by the natives are emblems of rank, and of which +there are no less than thirty different kinds. Any one may carry a simple +green, or blue, or black parasol, but those with gold thread or gold +tassels are only permitted to be used by persons of a certain social +standing, so that one may always know the social position of a Javanese by +the parasol he carries, just as among the Chinese, rank is indicated by +the number of peacock feathers, and the colour of the button on the +bonnet. The higher the rank, the broader is the gilded fringe, so that the +parasol of a Javanese prince of the highest rank is all gold together, and +when fully expanded consists of three parasols, one above the other, which +open by one and the same movement. Most of these parasols, prepared from +the leaves of the screw-pine, are imported hither from China. + +In one of the rooms is a statue of Durga, one of the goddesses of the old +Hindoo mythology, moulded in metal, a present from the Sultan of +Surakarta in the centre of Java to one of the former governors of the +island, who presented this fine specimen of native art to the Museum. A +large number of Javanese and Sunda MSS., written on palm-leaves, have been +placed by, and at the expense of, the government in the hands of Dr. +Friedrich, a German philologist, to be deciphered and translated. In the +same apartment we saw a large number of trachytes, with very beautiful +sculptures and inscriptions, as also several figures from the island of +Bali, quite modern in aspect, carved in wood and coarsely painted, +representing some beautiful female figures; other hideous caricatures, +which are used by the natives as decorations of their household altar, but +without any religious significance being attached to them. The fact that +these sculptures are no longer, as formerly, executed in stone, but are +carved in wood, may be held to evidence the decay of this branch of art. A +rather considerable craniological collection, comprising some 60 heads of +the various types of races inhabiting the Malay Archipelago and the +adjoining continent, was in the most handsome manner presented to the +Expedition, and must, considering the many difficulties which stand in the +way of our acquiring correct scientific knowledge of this interesting +question, especially among races inhabiting uncivilized countries, be +regarded as an exceedingly valuable addition to our collections of objects +of natural history at home. + +The Ethnographic Museum and the library attached are, however, only +branches thrown out by the indefatigable activity of the oldest +scientific society in Java, the _Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en +Wetenschappen_, which, founded in 1778 by the Europeans then resident in +Batavia, has since that period published some thirty volumes of valuable +statistics of the various objects of which it takes cognizance, and is in +correspondence with upwards of 150 learned societies. Since 1852 there has +also appeared under the auspices of this Society, conducted by three +members of the direction, Dr. Bleeker, Mr. Netscher, and Mr. Munnich, a +monthly journal of Indian History, as also of physical and ethnographic +statistics (the "_Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal Land en Volkenkunde_"), +of which seven volumes have already appeared, published in 8vo. Not less +valuable, especially in the interests of natural science, is the +Association known as the "_Natuurkundige Vereeniging_," which has been in +existence since 1850, and, under the superintendence of that indefatigably +active scholar Dr. Bleeker, has within that period published a +considerable number of most interesting memoirs, while the Society for the +advancement of Medical Science (_Vereeniging tot Bevordering der +Geneeskundige Wetenschappen in Nederlandsch Indie_), under the guidance of +the distinguished Dr. G. Wassink, has given to the world through its +annual publications a large variety of experiences and observations on the +study of Medicine.[34] All these scientific institutions are the more +deserving of commendation, when we reflect that there are but 6000 +emigrants from Holland, scattered abroad throughout the Netherland +Indies, of whom only some 3000 are in Batavia, and that the white +population is for the most part constantly changing. It is obvious this +latter condition must have this prejudicial effect, that the various +branches of scientific inquiry cannot always enjoy a uniform degree of +attention, and that the task of maintaining them in a proper degree of +efficiency must depend almost exclusively upon the continuance in office +and constant attention of individuals. Owing to this frequency of change +the active prosecution of scientific inquiry has undergone marked +fluctuations in Batavia, and while occasionally it was at the lowest ebb, +so to speak, at another time, as happily was the case at the period of our +visit, it presents, in the convergence of numerous powerful minds devoted +to the pursuit of knowledge, the imposing spectacle of a strong set of +public opinion towards intellectual enjoyment and cultivation. + +Accompanied by Dr. Bleeker the members of the Expedition visited several +of the most interesting of the public institutions, the establishment of +which reflects the greatest honour on the government, as well as the +public-spirited individuals who projected them. The Military and Civil +Hospital at Tjiliwoeng, or Great River, does not indeed present the +palace-like appearance of the Misericordia Hospital at Rio, but the small +neat buildings, one storey high, scattered among beautiful flower-gardens, +and occupying a flat space of great extent, are kept scrupulously clean, +and are arranged with great comfort. Six physicians are on duty here, and +the most exemplary care and attention are bestowed on patients. Officers +and public servants who fall sick have, in particular, large, light, airy, +elegantly furnished apartments; other patients are received into lofty, +well-ventilated, spacious halls, usually holding from 50 to 60 beds. +Altogether the hospital can accommodate 600 patients. The most common +diseases are dysentery, intermittent fever, and heart and liver +complaints. Here we saw numerous cases of _Beri-Beri_ (the Barbiers of +English medical writers), that singular, usually incurable disease which +begins with intermittent fever, and generally ends with paralysis of the +spinal chord. In the year 1857, of 500 patients at Batavia no fewer than +348 were attacked with this frightful complaint, of whom 249 died within a +brief space. In the medical section of the _Novara_ publications will be +found a complete account of this most interesting malady, which +fortunately is very limited in its ravages, and hitherto has been almost +exclusively confined to the natives. + +In one of the wards we were shown a Dutch sailor labouring under an +asthmatic attack, whose hands and feet had been shockingly mutilated in +1846 by pirates in the Straits of Malacca. We also found among the +patients several German sailors and soldiers, whose transports of joy were +unmistakeable on hearing once more the sound of their native language, and +at the opportunity of conversing with a fellow-countryman. + +The heavy expense of building in Batavia, and the anxious vigilance +exercised over those of the community who are sick, will best be +understood from the fact that one single new ward, making up from 60 to 80 +beds, cost the government about 60,000 guilders (L5000). One of the +buildings, at a little distance from the rest, is set apart for female +invalids, as also for lunatics and sick prisoners. Attached to this +hospital is a school of midwifery for the instruction of native women in +obstetrics, which at the period of our visit was attended by sixteen women +from various islands in the Malay Archipelago, and which, in a land where +the birth of a child is accompanied by so many superstitious and hideous +ceremonies, cannot fail to be followed by most beneficial results. + +One very important and useful establishment is the Javanese medical school +(_Geneeskundige School voor Inlanders_), which, founded in 1851 by Mr. +Bosch, at that period chief of the medical staff, is intended to supply +the sons of the more prominent natives of Java and the adjacent islands +with a thorough training in and acquaintance with the art of medicine as +practised in Europe. Government defrays the travelling expenses of these +youths, as also all expenses of maintenance and education. Among the +four-and-twenty scholars here, we saw sons of native princes of Java, +Palembang, Celebes, Amboina, Ceram, Sumatra, and Borneo, who intended +following up the profession; and it is worthy of remark that two natives +of Menado in the island of Celebes of the savage cannibal race of the +Alfuras, were pointed out to us as among the most apt and docile of the +scholars! Those of the students who are Christians, are clothed in the +dress of Europeans, the rest, chiefly Mahometans, wear Oriental attire. +Instruction is imparted in Malay, since as a rule not one of the students +on entering the college understands a word of Dutch. For the same reason +the books usually employed in instruction cannot be made use of, while, +owing to the poverty of the Malay language, any translation into it must +be fraught with difficulty. All technical names are therefore converted +into Latin. The course of instruction is carried on the first year in the +class-room, the second by the bed-side of the patient, or the dead body. +After strict and thorough examination each pupil receives a diploma as a +"Doctor--Java," besides a monthly salary of from L2 2_s._ to L2 10_s._, +and an outfit of the most important drugs and surgical instruments. By +this system some fifty young men have already returned to their homes as +physicians and government officials, and thus greatly contribute to the +extension of European civilization. + +In the chief streets of Batavia the stranger comes upon some small open +watch-houses, or rather huts, consisting simply of four poles and a roof +of palm thatch, in which is suspended a long, slender piece of wood +(_Tong-tong_), which is used for three different objects. The Javanese who +in this little hut is watching over the property and personal safety of +the inhabitants, strikes the _Tong-tong_ with a sort of drum-stick, in +order to announce the hours of the night, or to give notice of the +outbreak of a fire, or in case of any one _running a-muck_. This singular +phenomenon, in which a Malay with open knife or drawn dagger rushes madly +through the streets, and seeks to kill every one he encounters, occurs +perhaps a dozen times a year. The first murder is very probably +intentional, the offspring of hate or revenge, but that once accomplished, +the murderer, usually under the influence of opium, runs recklessly +forward through the streets, with the wild cry of "Amok"--"Amok" +(Kill!--Kill!), knocking down and stabbing whoever he encounters. As one +can only approach the miscreant at the peril of one's life, there is kept +in these watch-houses a peculiarly constructed weapon of long wooden +staves, and shaped at the upper end not unlike a hay-fork, with which the +desperate wretch can be seized. The various methods in which the Tong-tong +is struck at once conveys notice as to which one of the three +announcements conveyed by the instrument it is the watchman's object to +make. + +The natives, although they divide themselves into the Java and Sunda +nations, belong nevertheless to the same race, viz. the Malay, and are +readily recognizable by their short thickset form, round face, wide mouth, +short narrow nose, small black eyes, by their brown complexion, verging on +yellow, and their luxuriant but always rough and coarse hair. As to their +moral characteristics, the Javanese are a mild, easily contented, +temperate, simple, industrious people. The principal occupation of the +10,000,000 inhabitants of Java and Madura, is agriculture, which with +them is at least equally, if not in a much higher degree, understood by +them than by any other Asiatic community, with the exception of the +Chinese. This is apparent from the neatness and careful cultivation of +their fields, the excellent condition of their farm-stock, the careful +observance of seed-time and harvest, and above all by their regular +irrigation of the soil. When Java first became known to Europeans, the +chief produce of the island consisted of rice, leguminous vegetables, +indigo, and cotton. Intercourse with Europe has superadded to these two +American products, maize and tobacco, and one African, coffee.[35] The +Javanese have even less time for the mechanical arts than for agricultural +pursuits, yet in the construction of boats and dwelling-houses, as also in +making agricultural implements, shields and weapons of war, they have more +aptitude than the majority of the people of the Malay Archipelago.[36] The +only other stuff, except cotton, of which they make clothing is silk, +chiefly the raw, coarse, Chinese silk; all endeavours to naturalize the +silk production in these islands having failed hitherto. + +In addition to the ordinary language used for communication and every-day +purposes there are in Java two special idioms,--Javanese in the centre and +east of the island, and Sunda in the west of the island. The small river +Losari in the province of Cheribon on the north side of the island +indicates the boundary line of the two languages. Owing to the +circumstance that both the idioms are used in Cheribon, many writers have +deduced thence the origin of the name of that province, which signifies in +Javanese "mingled," or mixed. The Javanese tongue, which of the two is far +the more highly cultivated, has been a written language for untold ages, +and its alphabet is universally used among the Sunda groups as well as in +the adjoining Malay groups. Various inscriptions in stone and brass carry +us back in the history of Java to the 12th century, and it would almost +seem that the Javanese at that period had already attained the same degree +of civilization as when four centuries later the Europeans for the first +time landed on their soil. + +Of the original Javanese language there are three dialects,--the language +of the populace (Ngoko), or low Javanese, the ceremonial language (Kromo), +known as high Javanese, and the old mystical dialect, or _Kawi_. + +Javanese has borrowed a number of words from Sanscrit, Arabic, and +Telingu, especially since the introduction of religion and commerce. + +One of the most important events in the history of the Javanese was their +conversion to Brahmanism, and still later to Mahometanism. The precise +period at which the first of these took place seems to be as yet quite +uncertain, but this much is known, that from the 13th to the 15th century +Brahmanism prevailed in Java. The conversion of the Javanese to Islam, +whose religion is at present professed by the great majority of the +inhabitants,[37] took place in 1478 under the ruler of Salivana, after +Arabian, Persian, Malay, and Mahometan Hindoos had since the year 1358 +vainly endeavoured to introduce that faith.[38] + +In addition to the native population there is also a large number of +foreign settlers in Java, of whom the Chinese constitute far the largest +contingent. Their number is above 140,000, and would be much greater were +their attempts at colonization not kept down by numerous limitations, and +heavy taxes and imposts. The Chinese, who in more than one respect may be +regarded as the Jews of India, are only admitted by the Indian Government +at certain points of the coast, and in many of the Regencies must not +transgress those limits. Although they are extraordinarily industrious, +ingenious, and well suited for hard labour, yet the government is of +opinion that their unchecked intercourse with the natives would inevitably +prove prejudicial to the latter, who are plundered by the Chinese in every +possible manner. Their main, indeed sole, object is to make money, and at +all public auctions it is they who chiefly buy at a small price, and +directly afterwards succeed in getting off their purchases at an enormous +advance. One can purchase of these Chinese dealers at prices almost +unheard of for cheapness, but quality and lasting capabilities are not +guaranteed. A German writer compares the Kampong or Chinese quarter to a +Polish country town on a fair day. Every house and store is crammed with +all manner of useless trash, and everywhere there is the utmost bustle. +The most various articles are exposed for sale in each magazine. Here too +are found the Chinese theatrical booths, in which at various hours +throughout the day Chinese comedians, richly dressed in Chinese fashion, +perform Chinese plays, which are applauded by a numerous ragged auditory, +collected in the open space in front! + +Each Chinese colony, or _Kampong_, has a chief, appointed by government, +with the title of lieutenant, captain, or major, available within the +limits of the Kampong, but which, it is needless to say, confers no +military privileges. Those of the Chinese residing in Java belong to +mutual societies, whose members assist each other, and which have not +merely humanitarian, but also political tendencies. + +We are in possession of the affiliation-ticket of a member of the native +Chinese society of Hoei, or Tuite-Huy (Brotherhood of the Heavens and the +Earth), printed on a fabric of reddish cotton, which bears 91 various +written characters, for the following translation of which, as also for +the accompanying particulars respecting the objects of this very +remarkable society, we are indebted to the kindness of the renowned +Chinese scholar, Professor J. Neumann of Munich:-- + +"The Brotherhood of the Heavens and the Earth frankly declares that it +considers itself called on by the Supreme Being to put an end to the +frightful contrast between wealth and poverty. In its view the possessors +of earthly power and wealth have come into this world under the same +ceremonies, and leave it in the same manner, as their defrauded brothers, +the poor and oppressed. The Supreme Being never willed that millions +should be held in slavery by a few thousands. Father Heaven and Mother +Earth have never conferred on the few thousands the right to swallow up +the property of millions of their brethren for the mere satiating their +own luxury. To the rich and powerful their fortunes were never bestowed by +the Supreme Being as an exceptional right; it consists rather in the +labour and the 'sweat of the brow' of the millions of their oppressed +brethren. The sun with his beaming face, the earth with her treasures of +wealth, the universe with all its joys, are boons common to all, and must +be seized from the grasp of the few thousands for the satisfaction of the +necessities of the naked millions. The world must ultimately be purged of +all oppression and woe; this must be initiated in brotherly unity, must +be steadily followed up with mind and hand, and must be completed. The +good seed of this brotherhood must not be stifled beneath noxious weeds, +rather is it our duty to root up these noxious weeds, that overshadow all +things, to the benefit and advancement of the good seed. The problem, be +it frankly confessed, is a mighty and a difficult one, but let each man +bethink him, that there is no victory, no redemption without storm and +strife. Until the great majority of the dwellers of all the cities of each +province have taken the oath of fidelity, each man may continue outwardly +to obey the mandarins, and ingratiate himself with the police by presents. +Ill-timed demonstrations will injure the plan. So soon as the majority of +the inhabitants in each city and province has acceded to the bond of our +union, the old monarchy must fall to the ground, and we shall be able to +found the new reign upon the ruins of the old. Millions of grateful +brethren shall honour the founders of our brotherhood after they shall +have gone to the grave, mindful of the mighty benefit they have +conferred;--the redemption from chains and bondage of a ruined social +system." + +[Illustration: The Seal of Union of the Brotherhood of the Heavens and the +Earth.] + +The seal of union of this Brotherhood of the Heavens and the Earth is +engraved with numerous hieroglyphics, and many-cornered in its inner +circumference, emblematic of the supreme states of felicity, according to +Chinese notions, viz. wisdom, justice, posterity, honour, and riches. +These five states of felicity correspond to their five elements, earth, +wood, water, metal, fire, whose symbols figure at the corner of the seal. +Immediately below are seen certain other engraved emblems, indicating +mighty undaunted leaders, ancient heroes of China, who are standing +closely together with unshaken front. Then follow a number of proverbs, +partly of symbolic significance, and in rhythmical sayings, such as:-- + + In close array the ranks of heroes stand, + Obedient to the master-mind's command. + +One tie unites the old and the young brethren; in order of battle old and +young are intermingled. Each man stands ready to obey the smallest signal +of his immediate commander. As the swollen mountain torrent spreads itself +over the level ground, innumerable bands of these pour forth on all sides: + + Mingle brown, and white, and red, + And strike till ev'ry foe lie dead. + +The by-laws of this secret society are so strict that there is hardly an +example on record of a member incurring a denunciation, or being guilty of +treason. In consequence of the cloud of mystery which envelopes these +societies, they are the more dangerous, because unassailable by the +government. And accordingly, all precautions hitherto taken for +suppressing these secret societies of the Chinese population have proved +unavailing. Secret societies however are anything but forbidden under +Dutch rule in Java,--on the contrary, it is rather _bon ton_ to belong to +some one of the lodges of freemasonry existent out there. + +Before setting out on our excursion into the interior of Java, we had an +opportunity of being present at the festivities which it is customary to +get up on the occasion of the reception of an embassy from one of the +native princes. On the present occasion it was the ministers of the Kings +of the Island of Lombok,[39] eastward of Java, who had to deliver on +behalf of their illustrious masters letters for H. E. the Governor-general +of the Dutch East Indies. During the whole of their stay they were +maintained at the expense of government in the house of a specially +appointed master of the ceremonies, a native of the Island of Borneo, and +nephew of the Sultan of Pontianab, whose official position imposes upon +him the duty of showing all that is worth seeing in the city to these +occasional illustrious Malay guests. Both ministers were accompanied +everywhere by a Malay dolmetsch, although they spoke Javanese with the +utmost fluency, in addition to their mother tongue. + +On the day of the reception they made their appearance in ceremonial +dress, and in gala "turn-outs," at the government palace, where they were +presented to the Governor-general by the Resident of Batavia, the highest +authority in the city. The master of the ceremonies took charge of the +letters of the Kings of Lombok, as also of two immense spears, at least +twelve feet long, each richly gilt and gaily bedecked with yellow +tissue,[40] which were presented by the ambassadors as presents from the +Kings of Lombok to the Governor-general. It is however strictly forbidden +to the Dutch employes to accept any presents of the most trifling nature, +and even in cases such as the present, where the refusal of the gifts +would be an insult to the donor, all such must be sold for the benefit of +the treasury, or at least a corresponding amount must be returned by the +receiver out of the state treasury. Accordingly, it is the custom to +recompense all presents made by the various regents with others of far +greater value.[41] + +At the entrance to the palace a guard of honour of European soldiers was +drawn up in full uniform, between whose ranks the ambassadors were ushered +into the hall of reception. One of the attendants now held a large +rich-looking, highly-gilt parasol above the letter of the Kings of Lombok, +which was borne along by the master of the ceremonies on a silver waiter. +A similar mark of distinction was conferred on the two ambassadors and the +resident. The Governor-general in full official uniform, and surrounded by +a number of government officials, received the embassy on a platform, +where he sat on a beautifully covered gilt chair, canopied with costly +tapestry. The elder of the two ambassadors, having been introduced by the +resident, thereupon proceeded to say that he was charged to present the +homage of his master to the Dutch Government, and to remit a letter. On a +formal sign by the Governor-general, the government interpreter, Mr. +Nitscher, took the letter off the silver waiter, at which moment a salute +of nine cannon-shot was fired in the garden behind the palace, to announce +to the people outdoors the moment at which the king's letter had been +received. The letter, enveloped in yellow silk, and written in Malay with +Arabic characters, was thereupon opened by the government interpreter, and +read with a loud voice, after which it was translated into Dutch. In a +similar manner the reply of the Governor-general was translated for the +two ambassadors into the Malay language. + +At last, after these stiff and wearisome formalities had been gone +through, the ambassadors were invited to occupy chairs that had been +specially prepared for them next the Governor-general, when a short +exchange took place of civilities and commonplace phrases, until the +Governor-general gave the signal for breaking up, by rising from his seat. +The ambassadors were thereupon ushered forth in the same ceremonious +manner in which they had entered. + +The occasion of the present embassy was a dispute with the Sultan of +Sumbawa, in which the Kings of Lombok invoked the mediation of the Dutch +Government. The Sultan of Sumbawa had in fact refused to restore two +subjects of the Kings of Lombok who had fled to Sumbawa. But for the +preponderating influence of the Dutch Government the two disputants would +long before have resorted to war. + +On the 13th May we set forth in two large and very comfortable coaches for +Buitenzorg (signifying in Dutch "on the farther side of sorrow"), the +usual residence of the Governor-general, who only comes to Batavia on +certain days in the month to give audiences. He had not alone invited the +members of the Expedition to visit the Preanger Regencies as guests of the +government, and caused arrangements to be made for their ascending with as +little trouble as possible the volcanic peak of Gunung Pangerango (10,194 +feet), but likewise detached one of his adjutants, M. de Kock, and Dr. +Bleeker, both well acquainted with the natural history of the country, to +accompany us upon this excursion. Messengers were sent in advance, to +announce our approach at each station, so as to secure us a comfortable +and courteous reception wherever we wished to pass a few hours, or to take +a night's rest. + +Buitenzorg is distant from the capital 39 paals or Javanese miles,[42] +which distance, thanks to the excellence of the roads and the horses in +Java, is traversed in about three hours, two "loopers," or runners, as is +the custom here, as elsewhere in the East, accompanying each coach, who +are incessantly on and off the waggon, yelling and cracking their long +whips at the horses to keep them to their speed. About every five paals, +or 4-3/4 miles (English), the cattle and the runners are changed, so that +an unvarying speed is attained. All along the roads stretches the +telegraphic wire, which unites Batavia in one direction with Angier (75 +miles) and Surabaya (543 miles).[43] The wood of which each post is +constructed is the _Kapok_ tree, a species of _Gossypium_, or cotton tree, +and here for the first time we saw the slender, tightly-strained wires +suspended on the stem of a luxuriant green tree. Thus, if the experiment +succeeds, the elsewhere naked, dead telegraph-poles will here be made at +once useful and productive, as each post that supports the wire will +produce a small quantity of cotton. + +Buitenzorg possesses one of the finest and most extensive botanical +gardens in the world. It was laid out as far back as 1817, during the +vice-royalty of Baron van Capellen. The distribution of the various orders +is contrived equally to assist and promote the instruction of the general +observer, and to accustom the naturalist to the phenomena of Eastern +vegetation. Each order of plants has its own area. The various species of +palms are the most extensively represented, and there is scarcely one of +the genus, whether ornamental or useful, found in the Netherland Indies +or Australia, of which a representative is not to be found here. The +superintendence of this garden has been intrusted to that indefatigable +_hortulanus_, Mr. J. C. Teijsmann, who in his department assisted to the +utmost the objects of the _Novara_ Expedition. He not only presented us +with duplicates of all the more valuable plants in his very extensive +collection, but also with valuable seeds. By such kind co-operation we +found ourselves provided with some twenty various species of fibrous +plants, amongst others the well-known Rame-shrub (_Boehmeria utilis_), and +that useful species of wild plantain, the _Musa textilis_ (from the leaves +of which is manufactured Manila hemp), as also twenty-four different +species of rice. Of these latter two were of special interest, one needing +no watering, but flourishing best in mountainous, dry soil, the other +being chiefly used by the natives for the preparation of a dye. + +Mr. Teijsmann has the great merit of having been the first to introduce +into Java the cultivation of the valuable and costly Vanilla plant +(_Vanilla planifolia_), by using artificial means of fructification, after +all the many expensive experiments previously made had failed, because the +insect which effects the fructification of the plant in its original +climate, the West Indies, is not found in Java. At present the yield is so +great, that not alone does Mr. Teijsmann annually secure and send to +market several hundredweights of this aromatic pod, but several other +landowners have applied themselves to the laying out of Vanilla +plantations. The fruit, from six to ten inches in length, by three to five +lines in width, of a dark brown colour, flexible, and somewhat unctuous to +the touch, requires about five months to ripen. They are carefully dried, +first in the shade and afterwards in the sun, and are then packed away in +bundles in air-tight metal cases. One hundred pounds of fresh pods yield +about one pound of the Vanilla of commerce. Formerly the value of a pound +of Vanilla was as high as L6 sterling, but it is at present sold at about +L4. + +In the beautifully situated Hotel Bellevue, where we lived while at +Buitenzorg, we chanced to become acquainted with a curious individual, a +young negro named Aquasie Boachi, son of an African prince of Coomassie, +the chief city of the kingdom of Ashantee on the Gold Coast,[44] who, +while a child of nine years, had been sent by the colonial government to +Europe, in order to be educated in Germany. It was the intention to make +apparent what early education and instruction can do for the negro, and +how the present low state of the black race is principally attributable to +their oppression hitherto, and to the limited application, in their case, +of European civilization. The experiment proved most satisfactory. Aquasie +Boachi speaks German, English, Dutch, and French quite fluently, and holds +a diploma, as mining engineer, from the mining academy of Freiberg in +Saxony. He is a pupil of the celebrated Professor Bernhard Cotta, whom he +still remembers with affection and gratitude. As Aquasie had become a +Christian he could not, save at the risk of his life, return to his +heathenish native land, to the bosom of his own family. The Dutch +Government accordingly, regarding him in the light of a victim to +philanthropical experiments, at present pays the young miner out of the +state funds about L400 per ann., and occasionally employs him on mining +researches. Aquasie had resolved to settle for life in Germany, where, as +he told us, he felt himself thoroughly at home, but the climate did not +agree with him, upon which he returned to Java, and had since occupied +himself in coffee-culture. + +From the terrace of the hotel one enjoys a magnificent prospect bounded by +the mountains around. On the right rises a lofty peak, whose summit-cone +has been cloven into three pinnacles, the Gunung Salak 7204 feet +(English), an extinct volcano, from which, however, in 1699 issued immense +volumes of sand and mud, accompanied by columns of flames, tremendous +bellowings, and convulsions of the soil. The torrent of liquid mud hurried +along trunks of trees, carcasses of animals, tame as well as wild, +crocodiles and fish, and, still preserving its character of a mud torrent, +rushed into the sea near Batavia, stopping up the mouths of several rivers +and brooks. Since then this colossal hill, torn to its innermost core by +this fearful eruption, has remained silent, and peaceful fields, +alternating with luxuriant forest, stretch upwards to the very flanks of +its once dreaded summit. To the left of Gunung Salak, and in appearance +and elevation far more imposing, stands out the Gedee Range. Its highest +point is the tapering regular cone of Gunung Pangerango, still further to +the left of which rises, almost equal in height, the bare rocky wall of +the still active crater of Gunung Gedeh, from the abyss of which there +occasionally issued light clouds of vapour. But this exquisite landscape +unveils itself to the ravished view of the beholder only during the early +hours of morning. By 10 A.M. thin vapours have gathered round those lofty +summits, which gradually accumulate as noon approaches, until by 3 P.M. +there is almost invariably a dense mass of clouds resting over the entire +range, which very frequently dissolve with fearful violence in the shape +of tremendous tropical thunder-storms. The annual rainfall at Buitenzorg +would seem to be higher than at any other spot on the face of the earth. +During some years it occasionally attains the depth of 200 inches +(English), which is far beyond the utmost known in Central or Southern +America.[45] + +The evening we spent at the residence of M. Van de Groote, inspector of +the tin-mines of Banka and Borneo, who was of very great use to the +geologist of the Expedition, and at whose hospitable house we met a number +of personages of distinction. + +On the following morning (14th May), before prosecuting our journey, we +made an excursion to the neighbouring Batoetoelis (pronounced +Batootoolis), as a number of trachytic rocks are called, to which young +Javanese wives, who wish to become mothers, ascribe the most marvellous +virtues. The inscriptions hewn on the stones have been deciphered by the +German philologist, Dr. Friedrich. There is also shown a stone with a +depression like a human foot, which tradition asserts to be the footstep +of a native prophet, who is supposed to have stood thereon at a time when +the mass was not yet solid and hardened. There evidently is some +association of ideas similar to that of the Cingalese respecting Adam's +Peak, but without the poetic colouring of the latter. + +From Buitenzorg we went to Tjipannas,[46] a country-seat of the +Governor-general, at the foot of Pangerango. The road from Buitenzorg to +Tjipannas is part of the great post-road from Batavia to Surabaya, which +just at this point traverses the mountain pass of Mengamendoeng, 4925 +feet high, an outlier of the Gedeh range. It passes at first through +richly-cultivated properties, with splendid rice-crops, and a little +further on through coffee plantations, after which comes uninhabited +wilderness, when the road becomes so steep that a pair of buffalos are +harnessed in front of the horses of each carriage. _En route_ we visited +at Pondok-Gedeh the beautiful property of the family of Van den Bosch, +whose founder greatly distinguished himself in promoting the agricultural +prosperity of the island, while Governor-general of the colony, 1830-33. +In the extensive gardens here we saw several large species of _Vanilla_ +and _Cactus_ (_Nopal_), the latter of which are devoted to the propagation +and gathering of the diminutive cochineal insect, from which is procured +such a valuable dye. In 1826, a pair of this very fecund insect were +brought from Spain to Java, and at present[47] there are in Pondok-Gedeh +alone 500,000 plants, from which between 10,000 and 20,000 pounds of +cochineal are obtained annually, while other gardens of Nopal of equal +size occur elsewhere throughout the island. We were also filled with +astonishment at the variety and richness of the brushwood and forest +trees, which the European is accustomed to see only as diminutive, tender +specimens, the rare plants of a hot-house! Under the influence of a +tropical climate, and a fruitful soil, the tea plant, the nutmeg, the +cinnamon, the sugar-cane, the coffee bean, and the indigo, all flourish +in wildest profusion, and the various warehouses are as crammed with the +splendid produce of these valuable colonial staples as our northern +granaries are with the necessaries of subsistence in the shape of dried +fruits.[48] + +Quite close to Pondok-Gedeh, amid the majestic mountain scenery of Gadok, +is the _maison de Sante_ of Dr. Steenstra Toussaint, which enjoys a +well-earned reputation under the management of Dr. Bernstein, a German +physician and naturalist. Invalid residents of the coast, when recovering +from climatic diseases, make a point of hurrying to this institution, in +order to benefit by the keen, bracing mountain air. Dr. Bernstein is, as +far as his professional engagements will admit, at once a zealous +collector, and a skilful preparer, who has already made some very +beautiful collections, and who, if he stay here any length of time, will +be in a position to enrich considerably the museums of natural history in +Europe, with numerous rare and valuable specimens. + +Just at the summit of the pass of Megamendoeng (dark cloud), begin the +Preanger Regencies. This pass moreover forms a boundary line between the +Malay language, chiefly used for commercial transactions along the coast, +and that of Sunda, the difference between which two idioms, as regards the +uninformed stranger is only so far important, that in asking a native for +a light for his cigar, he must now say "Sono," instead of "Api," as +hitherto, always supposing that he is a smoker, a qualification which +rarely fails to appertain to the inhabitants of the Dutch East Indies. + +Here, in a wooden building open on all sides, and commanding an exquisite +panoramic view, we partook of a _dejeuner a la fourchette_, prepared quite +in the European style, after which, amidst a drenching thunder-plump, we +pursued our course to Tjipannas, which lies about 1000 feet below the +level of the pass. + +At every village we passed, the authorities, as is the custom of the +country, provided us with an escort. Thus we almost constantly had some 20 +or 30 persons riding behind our carriages. The poor people had indued +themselves in their best apparel, and looked very pretty in their varied +fantastic attire. Even the rain, which still continued to descend in +torrents, did not prevent them from following us, in order to do justice +to the requirements of Javanese etiquette. So too, every one whom we met +on the road assumed a respectful attitude, resting on the knees in a +half-kneeling position, and cowering down in the road with folded hands, +till our vehicle had rolled by. All the villages we saw had a very neat, +clean, cheerful appearance. The houses of the Javanese (with the exception +of those of the native authorities) are as a rule built entirely of +bamboo, part being of wicker-work, part of the cane placed either side by +side, or above each other, the whole roofed in with palm-leaves, or +Allang grass (_Imperata Allang_), or narrow shingles of cut bamboo, and +with a flooring raised two or three feet above the level of the soil. The +beautiful yellow wicker-work is usually stained in alternate squares of so +black a colour that the walls of a Javanese hut resemble nothing so much +as a gigantic draught-board. Under the eaves of the dwelling, which +project five or six feet, and is supported in front upon poles, so that +there is a sort of verandah beneath, are suspended cages with various +feathered inhabitants, which the Javanese cherish with much tenderness, or +else a very peculiarly constructed bee-hive, consisting of a bamboo-cane, +six or nine inches thick by three or four feet in length, which is split +through the centre, hollowed out, and fastened together again on the upper +side. + +Through a small orifice left in front, this artificial cavity is within a +week or two peopled with a swarm of tiny stingless bees (_Meliporia +minuta_) which in the wild state inhabit the holes and cavities of the +calcareous cliffs, and provide the Javanese with honey and wax. The latter +product is blackish, slimy, and adhesive, and is employed in the +delineation of the beautifully coloured figures in the gowns (_Sarongs_) +of the native women. + + [Illustration: Javanese Bee-hive.] + +At the station of Tjianjawar, we were saluted, while changing horses, by a +Javanese chief, from Tjiangoer, named Radben Rangga Padma Negara, who, +despite the tremendous tropical rains, accompanied us on horseback in his +rich uniform, overlaid with gold lace, as far as Tjipannas, where we were +received by two government officials, and welcomed with the utmost +cordiality. Here it was arranged we were to pass the night, so as, early +the following morning, to make the ascent of Gunung Pangerango. We also +found awaiting us a letter from Dr. Junghuhn, the renowned geologist and +writer on the natural history of Java, who for years has resided about a +day's journey from Tjipannas, at Lembang, at the foot of Tankuban-Prahu, +and has latterly been engaged by government to superintend the china-plant +cultivation. Dr. Junghuhn had come to meet us as far as Tjipodas, where +the first attempts at cultivation of the china plant were being made with +roots imported from South America, but, owing to a press of important +business, was compelled to return to his own station before we reached the +Preanger Regencies. This estimable German gentleman urgently besought us, +by letter, to visit him in his forest abode, and painted in the most +glowing colours the wonders of Nature, and the interest in a scientific +point of view of his mighty mountain neighbour. At the same time he sent +over his learned assistant, Dr. de Vrij, to welcome in his name the +Austrian travellers, to explain to them in all their detail the +Cinchona-plantations at the foot of Pangerango, and to enlighten them as +to the present condition and prospects of this very important branch of +cultivation. + +On the morning of 15th May we set off on horseback for the Pangerango, +which was covered with dense vapours, which wholly concealed it from view, +and rather damped our hopes of enjoying a fine view from the summit. A +path for horses has been made to the very top, and although at certain +points this passes over exceedingly steep ground, yet the Javanese horses +climb with such safety and dogged perseverance, even in the most dangerous +spots, that one may leave these small but powerful animals to choose their +way, with as much confidence as in the case of that most sure-footed of +animals, the mule of South America. Our cavalcade consisted of thirty +riders, while an immense number of natives took on themselves the duties +of an honorary body-guard. The forests, usually so lonely, were now alive +with hundreds of men, busy transporting our horses, provisions, couches, +tables, and stores, which were all to be conveyed to the highest peak of +the mountain, where we intended to spend the evening. After we had +attained a considerable distance from Tjipannas, constantly ascending till +we were about 4000 feet above it, we found the flanks of the mountain +quite free of wood. The traveller sees a few villages scattered at random, +and rides over grass pasturages, on which are feeding troops of buffalos, +alternating with plantations of tobacco or coffee. But at the very point +where the forest gradually begins, where gigantic trees have been left +standing like so many sentinels, there it is that the amazed European +falls in with most luxuriant beds of artichokes and strawberries, and is +welcomed on this distant soil by all the well-known fruits of his remote +home. The path leads past Tjipodas, into a deep narrow valley, overgrown +with the most luxuriant vegetation, and thence through a forest of +indescribable majesty, filled with the straight, tapering, pillar-shaped +trunks, 80 to 100 feet in height, of the imposing Rasamala +(_Liquidambar-Altingiana_), and a thoroughly tropical underwood of wild +_Musaceae_, and splendid tree-ferns, till finally the broad plateau-shaped +Tjiburum (red-water) is reached. Here at an elevation of 5100 feet we +found some Pasanggrahans, or resting-houses, erected by government for the +shelter and accommodation of all travellers through these mountain +solitudes, who may happen to be surprised by night, or inclement weather. +Such hostelries are found everywhere in the interior of Java, especially +in those districts where they are most likely to be needed by European +travellers, or by government employes, during their frequent tours of +inspection, in which they occasionally undergo severe privations. At +Tjiburum, lying far above the regions inhabited by man, there is a small +nursery of useful plants of colder climes, bearing ample testimony to the +indefatigable activity of Mr. Teijsmann of Buitenzorg, to whom the +community is moreover chiefly indebted for the laying out of the entire +road to the summit of the mountain. As there was every indication of a +severe storm coming on, and as we hoped by pressing forward to get to our +goal before it should burst, we halted here only long enough to change +horses. This done we again resumed the ascent, much refreshed by the +delay, which imparted renewed vigour to climb the steep zig-zag pathway, +which now led through a gloomy, silent forest, whence not a sound issued +except the _blowing_ of our cattle, as they breasted the steep, and far +below us the hollow roar of the mountain brook, which swept through the +valley beneath. We then found ourselves approaching nearer and nearer to +some resounding torrent, which went on increasing, till to our amazement +we suddenly perceived amid the keen cool mountain breezes a smoking +cascade of hot water!! (_Tji-olok_, or Sulphur spring). This warm spring, +with a temperature of 113 deg. Fahr., which even at its source forms a +tolerable-sized brook, issues with much spluttering from a trachytic rock +close by the way-side, and rushes, brawling and foaming, down a narrow +defile, overgrown with splendid tree-ferns, and which is crossed by means +of a slight rustic bridge. Scarcely is it possible to conceive a richer +landscape, recalling as it were the primeval days of earth in all the +luxuriance of Nature in the flush of youth, than this forest of +tree-ferns, enveloped in clouds of warm vapour, which rise from this +volcanic spring, close alongside of a clear, cold mountain torrent, which +just here leaps into the same chasm! This hot spring thus early indicates +the presence of volcanic fires, which is further evidenced by a tract of +volcanic debris, over which it is necessary to clamber, and which has been +ejected by the destructive energies of the neighbouring active crater of +Gedeh, from which the subterranean forces usually throw up, not red-hot +lava-streams, but from time to time tremendous stone and mud currents, +which, rushing down the steep flanks of the mountain, overrun and destroy +everything around. + +About 10 A.M. we reached Kandang Badak, or the spot where rhinoceroses +assemble, which is the second station, 7200 feet above sea-level. Solitary +specimens of the formidable animals which have given their name to this +place are still met with here; but a troop of some hundred men, +accompanied by almost as many horses, must necessarily make such a din in +the usually solitary forest, as at once to account for our being unable by +personal observation to speak as to whether it deserves the name it has +received. The rhinoceros, despite his immense size, is a shy, timid +animal, who flees before man, and only attacks him when fairly compelled +to do so in self-defence. The Pasanggrahan erected at this spot has +several times already been burnt down by red-hot stones ejected from +Gedeh. Here the path divides, one branch leading to the still active +crater of Gedeh, which can only be reached on foot, the other leading to +the summit of Pangerango. For the second time we changed horses, and now +had the last bit of the way before us--the steep, almost precipitous, cone +of Pangerango. It was enveloped in thick clouds, and it was only by the +short windings of the path we could realize that we were riding up an +isolated cone of regular form, the slope of which was between 25 and 30 +degrees. The cool air of these elevated regions now began to make itself +felt, while our sensations bodily testified to the northern character of +the vegetation around us. The tree-ferns indeed continued to grow up to +the very highest point, but long ere reaching the summit they ceased to be +found among the gigantic forest-pillars of the _Liquid-ambar_, but grew +between dwarfish, knotted, stunted trees, whose trunks were overrun with a +bright green moss, while from the branches hung festoons of greyish-green +beard-moss (_Tillandsia usnioides_), greatly resembling hair. The trees, +instead of stretching out their brown limbs to the air and light above, +left them to droop sullenly to the ground, turning themselves, as though +in pain, away from the rude wind which swept through their branches, and, +as it were, seeking for warmth and sustenance from mother Earth alone. All +the plants here showed a tendency to become creepers, as also to a +circumscribed growth and extent of foliage, as well as uniformity of +species. By 3 P.M. the whole party, including a rear-guard of irregular +naturalists and sharp-shooters, had finally reached the summit of the +mountain. When Dr. Junghuhn, the first man who trod this solitude, made +the earliest ascent of this mountain in 1839, he found not a trace of a +human step, and had painfully to make his way by rhinoceros-paths, beneath +a thick overhanging canopy of leaves, and through dense underwood. Thus he +finally succeeded in forcing a passage through the forest, till he emerged +upon a naked patch in the middle of the peak, where a rhinoceros was +lying in the middle of the stream, while another was browsing on the edge +of the forest: they fled snorting away on beholding him. How different was +what we now witnessed on the same spot! + +The flat space on the summit, somewhat concave in shape, and sinking +gradually away, the deepest part being towards the S.W., whence issues the +highest spring in Java, now resembled the bivouac of a detachment of +troops. Everywhere were men and horses, with cheerful blazing fires for +cooking and warming, while immediately adjoining a strawberry garden +filled with delicious fruit, rose a hut for shelter against wind and +weather, in which we found a surprising degree of comfort. Tables, chairs, +beds, excellent provisions and drinkables, were ready for us at an +elevation of more than 9000 feet above the level of the sea, so that there +was nothing wanting which could in any way contribute to our comfort. Even +the necessary warmth was supplied by a huge iron stove, constantly kept +supplied with fresh fuel by a Javanese servant, cowering on the ground. +This was the more necessary that our systems, accustomed of late to +tropical temperature, were unusually susceptible to this sudden and +extreme change. In the morning when we left Tjipannas the thermometer even +at that early hour marked 70 deg., while the mercury had now sunk to 48 deg.22 +Fahr. The longings we so often expressed, during a sojourn for months +together on the bosom of the ocean, amid the moist, sultry strata of the +lower atmosphere, in an almost unvarying Turkish-bath-like temperature of +86 deg., of being once more re-invigorated by a little cold, were now being +gratified to the letter. + +Unfortunately our anticipated enjoyment of the view from the summit was +entirely frustrated by rain and cloud: we could hardly see anything a +hundred yards distant, and the only idea we could form of the gigantic +mountains and splendid hill-scenery that we knew surrounded us on all +hands, had to be derived chiefly from the topographical charts we found in +the hut. It was only during the occasional fleeting glimpses, when the +S.E. trade-wind of the upper atmosphere, generally the chief ruler of +these lofty regions, and almost always accompanied by a pure, blue sky, +overpowered the N.W. trade (which blew from beneath; and, trending upwards +along the cleft in the western side of the crater of Mondolawangi, +continually enveloped anew in clouds the summit of the Pangerango), that +it was permitted us to descry, now here, now there, small stretches of the +country lying spread out at our feet, or to perceive closer at hand the +inner slope of the crater of Gedeh, lying exposed to our wondering vision. +We did what we could to secure a few thermometrical and barometrical +observations, as also to shoot, to geologize, to botanize; and many a +valuable discovery was made ere night set in and compelled us to seek +shelter against the raw, cold night air, in the Pasanggrahan, which had +been so carefully fitted up for our accommodation. On the summit we found +quite an accumulation of various elegant little plants, which recalled to +us the Alpine districts of our own land, one of which, first discovered +by Junghuhn, and named by him _Primula Imperialis_,[49] is one of the +loveliest flowers in Nature, and which has never yet been found in any +other part of the globe; while in the brushwood around we heard the cooing +of a bird of the thrush species (_Turdus fumidus_), which, with the +exception of a small, very elegant little fellow, somewhat resembling the +willow-wren, was the sole representative of the feathered tribe in these +elevated regions. + +All our hopes were now directed towards the ensuing morning, which it was +hoped would bring us better weather. By five in the morning every one was +on foot, watching with anxious look the advent of the star of day. But +alas! ere long all was once more enveloped for us in a dense but fine +vapour, and the thermometer indicated only 47 deg.33 Fahr. + +About fifty feet higher than the two huts for shelter erected on the +plateau rises a trigonometrical pole, which, visible from a great +distance, serves as a land-mark for the government surveyors during their +labours in this neighbourhood. Any clear morning, when the sky is free +from clouds, one must enjoy from this free, airy out-look a splendid +distant view over a large portion of the Preanger Regency. As for +ourselves our panorama continued to be lamentably circumscribed, and all +we could do was, to watch for those fleeting moments during which the +clouds lifted and gave us a brief yet comprehensive glimpse of the +wondrous natural beauty of the surrounding landscape. + +Pangerango, 9326 Paris, or 9940 English, feet in height, is the loftiest +of the extinct volcanic cones of Java, rising on the eastern slope of an +enormous crater-gulf, likewise extinct. Close in the vicinity, not above a +mile distant to the S.E., and communicating with it by the ridge of Pasce +Alang, 7000 (Paris) feet in height, rises another volcanic peak, Gunung +Gedeh, of almost precisely identical height (9323 Paris, or 9937 English, +feet). Its summit has fallen in, and from amid the debris on the floor of +this ruined crater rises a second cone far less in height, but in full +activity, with a deep crater, which is the true fiery gorge of the still +active Gedeh. Towards 7 A.M. the clouds dispersed for a considerable +space, when directly opposite us we saw the beautifully regular cone of +Gedeh, with its perpendicular precipitous crater-wall, some 600 or 700 +feet high. So near, indeed, did it appear to the eye that we could almost +fancy it possible to throw a stone from the one summit to the other, so +that it should fall exactly into the crater, from amid whose rents and +cavities thick volumes of smoke were bursting forth at several points. + +By 10 A.M. our caravan was once more under weigh on our return to +Tjipannas. The geologist of the Expedition, however, accompanied by Dr. +Vrij and one of the government employes, set off upon a rather dangerous +adventure, viz. the ascent of the Gedeh. Of this interesting excursion, +Dr. Hochstetter gives the following interesting details:-- + +"A short distance before reaching the station of Kandung Badak, the path +leaves the road by which we had come thus far. Here we had to clamber +upwards as best we might, by a narrow path densely overgrown, and +evidently but rarely traversed, till presently we emerged from the forest +upon a tract of loose stone and scoriae, which, sparsely covered with low +bushes and grass, forms the upper portion of the peak of Gedeh. A strong +odour of sulphuretted hydrogen greeted us here, issuing from a Solfatara, +which nestled under the true crater in a deep savage cleft of rock. Hot +sulphureous and watery vapours were emitted from among the dark crannies +of the rock, the upper edges of which were coloured yellow with pure +sulphur: with much difficulty we still pressed on, and finally reached the +edge of the ruined crater. What a contrast presented itself here in the +view before us and the landscape behind! + +"Behind we could see from base to summit clear and unbroken the beautiful +luxuriantly-green well-wooded peak of Pangerango, on whose highest point +stood out near and distinct the trigonometrical pole, or land-mark, while +from the forest was heard an occasional musket-shot, sure sign that the +company of travellers from the ship were on their way down. On the other +hand, when we cast our eyes forward we saw but dismal desolate groups of +grey rock, around the lofty amphitheatre-shaped rock wall of the +broken-down lip of a crater, regularly constructed of pillar-like masses +of trachyte, each sundered from the column immediately adjoining, beneath +which was the smoking cone of the active region of the crater, a bare heap +of stone and scoriae, of the utmost variety of colour. Stretching from the +vast abyss of the crater-ruins, on whose bald slope is situated the cone +of the new eruption, there is visible at intervals on either side, far +down, until indeed it is lost in the dark gloom of the forest, a bare +rocky ravine, full of stones and debris, which the active vent of the +crater has from time to time vomited forth. We had on the previous day +passed the lower extremity of this stream while riding to Pangerango. + +"But we were not yet at the goal of our wanderings. We still had to climb +from this point, and afterwards to scramble up to the summit of the active +cone. This, however, proved to be much more easy than we had thought when +looking at it from below, and we arrived without any disaster at the +summit. + +"Here then we were standing upon the edge of a yawning crater, in full +activity! Not a single step forward was it possible for us to make. In +front of us lay a funnel-shaped slope, 250 feet in depth, the floor of +which was covered with mud, in which stood frequent pools of boiling water +of a yellow tinge. The Javanese who accompanied us stated that they had +never before seen it so quiet, the crater having always been quite full +of steam and vapour. On the present occasion the steam only escaped in +small volumes through a few fissures in the sides of the inverted cone, +and more particularly from the cracks and crevices on the exterior of the +cone of scoriae. We could perceive only water, steam, mud, and +sharp-cornered fragments of rock, the debris and rubbish formed by the +disintegration of the rocky masses thrown up by the crater, but not a +trace, not a vestige, of any molten stream of lava, heaped up by the +present crater of Gedeh. The whole history of the activity of this volcano +may be compared to the explosions of a vapour cauldron in the interior of +the earth, which has been heated by the masses of old trachytic lava +currents in an incandescent state, but not yet thoroughly cooled, whose +eruptions formed the principal means of erecting the volcanic cone. +Repeatedly up to our own times has the mountain thrown up water, mud, and +stones, together with fine powdered sand and volcanic ashes, which have +travelled as far as Batavia, as also masses of melted stone cemented by +liquefied sand, while marvellous volumes of flame were visible to an +immense distance; but at no period within the memory of man has the Gedeh +poured forth the hot liquid lava, or thrown up into the air melted +volcanic matter. We must regard it as in its last stage, as about to +become extinct, like all the other volcanoes of Java. It is the last +reaction of the internal fires against the atmosphere penetrating from +without. Even the most active volcanoes of Java, such as Gunung Guntur and +Gunung Lamengan eject only masses of liquefied rock and scoriae, cemented +by the heat, but the regular lava currents have never been observed." + +While Dr. Hochstetter was occupied with this excursion to the active +crater of Gedeh, the remaining members of the Expedition had reached +Tjipodas at the foot of this fire-mountain, where, at an elevation of 4400 +feet above sea-level, and at an annual average temperature of 63 deg.5 Fahr., +the first attempts were made to acclimatize in Java the valuable quinquina +tree (_Cinchona sp._). + +Although for twenty years past the introduction into Java of the +cultivation of the quinquina tree, the bark of which is of such +superlative importance for suffering humanity, had been repeatedly tried, +this praiseworthy intention was only successfully carried into effect in +1852, through the purchase of a specimen of _Cinchona Calisaya_ from the +_Jardin des Plantes_ at Paris by the then colonial minister of the kingdom +of the Netherlands, M. Pahud, afterwards Governor-general of the Dutch +East Indies. M. Pahud had the plant brought to Leyden with the utmost +care, whence it was conveyed to Rotterdam for shipment to Batavia. +Immediately on its arrival this plant, the progenitor of all that have +been grown since, was placed in what is called the Governor-general's +strawberry garden in Tjipodas, where it was protected by a bamboo shed +from rain and sun, and at the time of our visit was 16 feet high. Dr. +Hasskarl, widely renowned as a botanist, was, on the recommendation of Dr. +Junghuhn, who had himself been urgently requested to undertake the duty, +entrusted with a mission to Peru, whence he was to bring back offshoots, +and germinating seeds, of the various species of Cinchona from which +quinine is obtainable. Two years later, a Dutch man-of-war was specially +despatched to Callao, the harbour of Lima, to convey Hasskarl with his +valuable booty. That gentleman accordingly brought away with him four +well-rooted young trees, and the seeds of four species of Cinchona,[50] +but only the saplings gave promise of success, whereas the greater part of +the seeds, on being sown, were lost. M. Hasskarl has had the reproach cast +upon him, that during his expensive residence of two years' duration in +Peru, he should have collected such few data of the higher and lower +limits of vegetation of the China plant, and the conditions of soil and +mountain temperature under which it best flourishes, of the general +influence exercised on it by storm and humidity, as also upon the annual +quantity of rain it requires, whether a shady or sunny place of growth be +best adapted to it, the period of flowering and fructification, the +alterations which may be rendered necessary by its habits of growth at +various points, as to what are its natural enemies, and how far its +alkaloid properties are affected by the greater or less elevation above +the sea of the spot in which it is growing, &c., &c. Nay, some persons +went so far as to allege that the botanist had never seen one single +China plantation, and had never personally selected either the plants or +the seed, but had made arrangements for being supplied with the specimens +he brought by means of the native bark-collectors (_Cascarilleros_). As +though still further to enhance the public discontent with Hasskarl, and +the failure of his expensive mission, fate unhappily willed that his wife, +who was said to be bringing with her his papers and memoranda of his stay +in Peru, was lost, together with the vessel which, after several years' +separation from her husband, was about restoring her to his arms, in +consequence of which many questions relating to the cultivation of the +China plant in northern and southern Peru remained unanswered! Hasskarl +ere long returned to Europe "for his health," and the superintendence of +the China cultivation was in June, 1858, committed to Dr. Junghuhn, in +whose careful charge it now is, and has taken a start which leaves no room +to doubt its ultimate and permanent success. + +In October, 1856, there were in Tjipodas 105 China trees of 2 feet 6 +inches high (41 of _C. Calisaya_, 64 of _C. Condanimea_). On 31st October, +1857, there were only 95 about 4 feet 11-1/2 inches in height, all in +flourishing condition, while 10 had died. The cause of this lamentable +phenomenon could not long escape the piercing glance of Junghuhn. The +first tender shoots had been planted in a Tufa soil, the fertile covering +of which barely exceeded 6 to 9 inches in thickness, and were surrounded +by roots and stumps of immense forest trees that had been cut down, which +of course prevented anything like expansion, and, in a word, completely +stifled their growth. + +In the case of the earlier plants, there was far too little attention paid +to the requisite amount of shade. The timber had been entirely cleared +away, and the young plants were consequently exposed during the whole day +to the fierce heat of the tropics. Unless people were prepared to see the +whole plantation go to ruin it was necessary at once to take protecting +measures against it. Junghuhn was a man fit for any emergency, as he had +already shown on the banks of his native Rhine, when the very cells of +Ehrenbreitstein, with which a chivalric adventure had made him acquainted +in his youth, had for once been found too narrow to hold him. So in +Tjipodas, the man of resources was able at once to devise a remedy. With +incredible toil, and the most fostering care and attention, nearly all the +trees were, without detriment to one single twig, transplanted from a soil +so little congenial to them to the adjoining Rasamala-wood, in which the +proud, slight _Liquid-ambar Altingiana_ imparts its own peculiar character +to the primeval forest, where they were transferred to spots partly +shaded, which had already been prepared for their special reception, the +sites having been surrounded with trenches to carry off the superfluous +water. In October, 1857, some of the trees had already attained a height +of 14-1/2 feet; by 31st March of the following year they were already +15-1/2 feet, while their stems were 3.44 inches thick. Many of the trees +planted near the forest had within three months grown from 9 to 21 +inches, while the few that remained on their old site had only gained 9 or +10 inches in height, a fact which seemed incontestably to prove that the +new site was the better adapted to them. In June, 1857, the first blossom +had made its appearance on one of the _Condanimea_, but it was not till +May, 1858, that the majority of the trees were in full bloom, or that the +ripening fruit began to make its appearance. When all the fruits ripen, +Dr. Junghuhn told us he was in hopes he would secure 80,000 fruit, which, +as each fruit contains about 40 seeds, would provide him with 3,200,000 +seedlings. It is not indeed a question merely of ripe and at the same time +fertilized seeds, but chiefly whether the bark of this plant contains in +the land of its adoption, and under different conditions, that costly +alkaloid quinine, which seems daily to become more indispensable in the +science of medicine. + +Despite the most anxious solicitude there had long been remarked in +Tjipodas a gradual decay of some of the shoots, but it was only a few days +before our arrival that after a most minute zealous inquiry the cause of +this phenomenon was discovered. A minute insect, scarcely 1/25 of an inch +in length, of the _Bostrichus_ species, proved to be the foe of these +plants. The holes which are burrowed by this insect, are drilled quite +through the wood of the stem and branches into the very pith, in which it +finally stops and lays its eggs. The Cinchona trees thus bored through are +irremediably ruined, but there is always the hope that, as the roots +remain sound, they may afterwards put forth new shoots. However, the +appearance of this insect does not seem to be the primary cause of the +disease of the trees,--on the contrary, disease is the cause of the +appearance of the insect. If the other trees prove to be successfully +reared, the insect will disappear, since it was convincingly proved by one +of our zoologists that it had not come to the country with the Cinchona +seeds and plants, but was undoubtedly indigenous to Java. + +Altogether there were, in May, 1858, upon the whole island three quinquina +plantations, which have been specially established with a view to the +solution of certain questions of climate at various elevations, and are +situated in the following localities:-- + +1. In Tjipodas at the foot of Gunung Gedeh (4400 to 4800 feet above +sea-level), in a beautiful Liquid-ambar forest, and containing 80 plants. + +2. In Bengalenzong, on the declivities of the Malabar Range (4000 to 7000 +feet in height), in the midst of a considerable oak forest (_Quercus +fagifolia_), containing 600 plants. + +3. South of Besuki on the Ajang Range (about 6800 feet above sea-level), +in a plantation[51] containing 21 plants, to which Dr. Junghuhn gave the +name of Wono Djampie, i. e. Forest of medicines. + +The Dutch Government has spared neither trouble nor expense, and has made +considerable sacrifices, to bring over the quinquina plant from its native +country, where it was believed to be threatened with utter destruction, to +Java, there to be acclimatized. The chances in favour of an adequate +return are very great, and the attainment of this object has been secured +within certain limits. Of all the tropical regions we visited, the Island +of Java seems by its natural advantages to be the best capable of +affording to the tree which produces the febrifuge bark, so invaluable a +boon of nature to suffering humanity, a second home, amid the magnificent +scenery of its mountain ranges. + +However, the wide-spread idea that the China plant is exposed to utter +extinction in its native land of Peru has proved to be quite unfounded. We +shall revert to this subject when we come to treat of our visit to the +western coast of South America, and shall take pains to solve at least +some portion of the question in dispute, as to certain necessary +conditions being requisite to be observed in the case of the quinquina +plant in its original home, the investigation of which, the superintendent +of the quinquina tree culture in Java, Dr. Franz Junghuhn, so earnestly +commended to the attention of the scientific members of the _Novara_ +Expedition. + +However, our interest was not confined to these China-tree plantations; +our attention was riveted by the marvellous Rasamala (Liquid-ambar) forest +in which we now found ourselves, while those fond of the chase were not +less amazed and gratified, at bringing down a splendid specimen of what +is known as the Kalong or Roussette Bat (_Pteropus vulgaris_). These +singular nocturnal animals hang in enormous quantities throughout the +entire day from the branches of the trees, amid the profoundest stillness, +till evening sets in and dismisses them to their nightly evolutions. They +are then visible flying through the air like gigantic bats, or flying +foxes. + +While riding back to Tjipannas we remarked amid the smiling rice fields +several poles with hangings of various kinds, resembling those erected on +the shore in front of their huts by the superstitious natives of the +Nicobar Islands, in order to keep his Satanic Majesty at a distance. The +natives call these poles Tundang-Setan (talisman against the devil), and +believe they can by their aid frighten away the evil spirits, while they +are gathering the crop from their rice fields. + +From Tjipodas the excursionists proceeded to Tjiangoer,[52] the present +capital of the Preanger Regency, containing about 15,000 inhabitants, +where some days were to be spent in excursions, collections, hunting, and +other amusements, after which we were compelled by the limited time +available to return to Buitenzorg and Batavia. Two members of the +Expedition, Drs. Hochstetter and Scherzer, penetrated a little further +into the interior, with the purpose of paying a visit to Dr. Junghuhn, to +whose researches in the Natural History of Java we are so much indebted. +The following few pages are devoted to an account of this interesting +excursion. + +Towards 5 P.M. we arrived at Tjiangoer, in company with Dr. de Vrij and M. +Vollenhoven, and immediately set out on our journey to Bandong, so as to +reach the same evening that neat little town, whose singularly favourable +position, almost exactly in the centre of the Regency, makes it a +dangerous rival to Tjiangoer as the seat of government. _En route_ we +passed Tjisokan, a small village, most of whose inhabitants are engaged in +procuring edible swallows'-nests, which are found in great quantities at a +chalk mountain about twelve miles distant, known as Radjamandula.[53] The +spots at which the edible nests of the _Hirundo esculenta_ are found are +anything but grottoes peculiar to this product, as is usually alleged, but +steep, almost inaccessible, cliffs, crannies, and fissures in the rock, in +which the swallows build their nests, and which can only be reached by the +utmost exertion, frequently accompanied by danger to life. They are met +with partly upon the south coast, close above the raging surf, partly deep +in the interior, about 2000 feet above the level of the sea, distant +several hundred English miles from the nearest part of the sea-shore; and +while the inhabitants of Karangbolong have to scale the almost +perpendicular coast-wall by means of ladders[54] of Rotang (_Calamus +Rotang_) and Bamboo, ere they can reach the entrance of the cavern, the +natives of Bandong, on the contrary, are compelled to climb up to a yet +greater elevation among the precipices and rocks, ere they are able to +reach the openings that lead to the various hollows. + +While the birds are breeding, or if they have their young, which happens +four times each year, one half remain in the cavities, and both males and +females take their turns in sitting to brood, every six hours. Each nest +is inhabited by a pair of swallows, so that if 1000 nests are found in a +cave, they are inhabited by 2000 grown swallows (half male, half female). +The fecundity of this bird is so great, that, although the nests are +gathered four times a year, and that somewhere about a million of their +progeny is at each plucking wasted or destroyed by the collectors, they +never seem to diminish. The six caves at Bandong give yearly about 14,000 +nests, that at Karangbolong about 500,000: one hundred nests weigh about +one _catty_ (1-1/4 lb.), and one hundred catties (125 lbs.) make one +_picul_.[55] For each picul of these nests, which they look upon as a +special delicacy, the Chinese pay from 4000 to 5000 guilders (L350 to +L420). The nest-gatherers are apparently a special class, whose occupation +is handed down from father to son. + +Close to the village of Tjisokan, a very elegant wooden bridge, +constructed on the American system, but entirely erected out of the +resources of the colony, has been thrown over the Tjisokan river. The +roads, although broad and kept in excellent order, nevertheless lead +occasionally over hills so steep, that to descend them in a heavy +carriage, especially considering the rapidity with which the Javanese +drive, is exceedingly uncomfortable, and even dangerous, although the +wheels are in such cases provided with a solid "_sabot_," and where this +seems likely to prove inadequate, a number of natives hang on to the +wheels behind, who for a small gratuity control the rate of descent by +means of ropes. + +At last, about midnight, shortly before which we passed the river +Tji-Tarum by a ferry, we reached Bandong, and on gaining the residence of +the Javanese Regent, Raden Adipati Wira Nata Kusuma (spelt by the Dutch +_Koesoema_, but pronounced as spelt in the text), were received, +notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, in the most hospitable and +friendly manner. Here we found everything, even to the minutest detail, +managed in the European fashion; and no guest would imagine that he was in +the house of one of the Mahometan princes of Java, were he not reminded of +the fact by the rich Oriental costume of his host and his family, as also +by the Javanese domestics, bearing elegant richly-adorned Siri, or +betel-boxes, of gold or silver, and invariably tendering their services to +their masters in a stooping posture, or rather sliding after them upon +their knees. For the Javanese, too, greatly affect the leaf of the betel, +mingled with powdered areca-nut, powdered coral, or pearl chalk, and +Gambir (_Nauclea Gambir_); however, this mixture is not chewed, but +placed between the lips and the front teeth, where it is barely kept long +enough to admit of the saliva collecting in the mouth of a blood-red +colour, which they spit out, the poor in their huts into cocoa-nut shells, +the wealthier classes into copper vessels, but princes and rich people +into golden spittoons. Even the ladies have given way to this custom, and +the native belles make use occasionally of this filthy juice in order to +keep importunate admirers at a distance! + +Supper, which, in anticipation of our arrival, had been made ready for us, +was served entirely in the European mode, and our Mahometan host went so +far in his assimilation to Western ideas as to overcome certain religious +scruples, and himself join us at table. As we sat round the board long +after midnight the Assistant Resident of the district made his appearance, +M. Visscher van Gaasbeek, a Hanoverian by birth, who however has lived +twenty-five years in this country, and immediately placed himself entirely +at our disposal. We now proceeded to chalk out our plan of operations for +the ensuing day, and the Regent gave orders in advance to have in +readiness his own coach and several saddle-horses for an excursion to +Lembang, the residence of M. Junghuhn. Before we separated, the Regent, +with whom unfortunately we could only communicate through a Malay +interpreter, with much condescension produced out of a leathern case his +own elegantly-engraved _carte-de-visite_, and expressed his desire to +exchange with ourselves. The Javanese princes seem to attach especial +importance to anticipating the Europeans in good-breeding, and +forestalling the desires and wishes of strangers. At last, towards 2 A.M., +we went to rest, and despite the fatigue of the previous day, were by 5 +A.M. seated in the carriage of the Regent, _en route_ to the residence of +Dr. Junghuhn. We drove the two first posts, about 10 _paals_, when we +exchanged that mode of conveyance for our horses, which in less than an +hour brought us to Lembang, situated about 4000 feet above sea-level, in +an almost European climate. Standing alone close to this village is the +beautiful dwelling of Junghuhn, at the foot of the volcano Tangkuban +Prahu, and surrounded on all sides by beautifully-laid-out gardens, in +which, cut off from the scientific world, he lives with his family. +Everything around gives to the stranger a thoroughly home-feeling; in +every countenance is visible content, in every glance the most heart-felt +cheerfulness. + +Franz Junghuhn, a German by birth, from the district of Mansfeld in the +Harz-mountains, saw many years hard service as a military surgeon in the +service of the Dutch Government, and at present holds the appointments of +Inspector of Scientific Explorations, and Director of the entire +China-tree cultivation of the Island of Java, with ample means for the +solution of this problem. This indefatigable naturalist (of whom there is +an excellent engraving at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew), to whom +science is indebted for the most comprehensive information relating to +Java, has himself ascended 45 different volcanic peaks, and that at a +period when there were no bridle-roads leading to their foot, but only +those singular zig-zag paths which the rhinoceros has worn for himself, in +order to browse at his leisure and undisturbed on the roots and rich grass +of these lofty pastures. His imposing exterior and expression of +countenance all betoken the indefatigable perseverance and gigantic +powers, both physical and intellectual, which find expression in his +incomparable work upon Java, and his great chart of that island. + +The renowned _savant_ received us like old friends, with the most +delightful fervent hospitality, related to us his very latest experiments +and observations with respect to the cultivation of the quinquina plant, +and presented us with his last work,[56] to which he seemed exclusively to +devote his entire activity. For our own part, we in return promised Dr. +Junghuhn to make most special inquiries upon the subject during the period +of our stay in the native country of the Cinchona, and to endeavour to be +able to answer to the questions we were charged with; as by so doing we +hoped to repay in some degree our tribute of gratitude, for the countless +instances of personal interest and attention which had been shown us by +the scientific gentlemen in Java, as well as by all the government +officials. + +Adjoining Junghuhn's dwelling, a large proportion of the coffee beans +raised in the Preanger district are prepared for the European market. The +Government has farmed the process to one M. Phlippan, and first deals with +the beans when, packed in sacks, they are ready for exportation. The +entire coffee crop of the environs of Bandong, averaging about 80,000 +piculs (or 10,000,000 lbs.), is conveyed annually over the hills to +Lembang, where the fleshy berries are first shelled and made ready. For +this purpose they use the Brazilian or moist mode of treatment, by which +process, however, according to the opinion of connoisseurs in coffee +beans, much of their flavour must be lost. But, instead of attributing the +well-marked decrease of flavour of the Java coffee bean to this mode of +preparation,[57] others are disposed to find the cause of this +deterioration in degeneration of the coffee-shrub itself, and accordingly +the Dutch Government sent out to Java the well-known botanist Professor +Vriese (with appointments[58] which must appear almost fabulous to a +German botanist), in order to determine upon scientific data the cause of +the falling off of the coffee bean. The sending out to Java a Professor of +the University of Leyden, who had never before been in the Dutch East +Indies, in order to enlighten the practical coffee planters, already on +the spot, as to the deterioration of that plant, made anything but a +favourable impression. Some bitter wags, indeed, of whom there is no lack +in Java, any more than of Punches or Charivari at home, said that the +mission of Professor Vriese was as singular as if a native Javanese had +been despatched to Holland in order to teach the farmers there how to make +_cheese_. + +Nevertheless, the solution of this question of the degeneracy of the +coffee is of the very highest importance to the country, as it produces +annually about 800,000 piculs (100,000,000 lbs.) coffee beans,[59] and as +its climate and soil are eminently suitable for a far more extended +development of that branch of cultivation, which was first introduced from +Mocha into Java, about 1718, by the then Governor, Hendrik +Zwoardecroon.[60] The entire coffee crop must be delivered by the coffee +planters to the Government at a fixed price, and while paying in the +interior 3-1/2 guilders (5_s._ 10_d._) per picul (125 lbs.), it fetches in +Batavia, where the people are far more heavily taxed, 9 guilders (15_s._) +per picul. The Netherlands Trading Company (_Nederlandsche +Handels-Maatschappy_), which possesses the sole right of shipment, pays +the Dutch Government from 28 to 30 guilders (46_s._ 8_d._ to 50_s._) per +picul of coffee, which it sells in the European market for its own +account. How thoroughly such a monopoly must check the growth of trade and +commerce may be best seen in the stagnation of haughty old Batavia, as +compared with the youthful, flourishing free port of Singapore. The Dutch +Government has, however, within the last few years taken a stride in the +direction of liberalism, and has thrown open a portion of the products of +the Island (as, for example, sugar, the whole of which Government itself +had hitherto sent to Holland) to public auction on the spot; and it is +hoped this system may ultimately be extended to other colonial products, +especially coffee, and that a little later, not alone Batavia, Samarang, +and Soerabaya may be declared free, but that all the harbours may be +thrown open to free trade. With this question of free interchange of +commodities is intimately bound up that of compulsory labour, which +consists in the natives of the interior being compelled to work for the +Government at certain fixed rates. In all districts where the Government +owns coffee or other plantations, the cultivation of these must be +attended to by the natives of the nearest villages, for a remuneration +fixed by the Government. The coolies or porters must, for the fixed price +of 2-1/2 or 3 doits per paal, carry goods or do service as runners or +messengers, while free labour is at least four times as dear. A party, +strongly supported at home, has arisen in Java, advocating the doing away +with compulsory labour throughout the island, but, owing to the many +important interests imperilled by such a policy, it has been very +generally repudiated. It is impossible in Java to broach the topic of +doing away with compulsory servitude without inaugurating an envenomed +discussion. For this question concerns many planters and Government +officials not less closely than that of the abolition of slavery does the +planters of the southern States of America. On this point we have heard +such widely different opinions pronounced by experienced, thoughtful, +impartial men, that we are the less disposed to express, on the occasion +of so short a visit as ours, any decided sentiments, since such would have +probably been entirely changed, or at all events modified, if we had lived +all our lives among the natives, and had become better acquainted with +their customs and peculiarities of character. + +It is believed--such at least is the general impression--that in a land so +favoured by Nature as Java there is but little to be hoped for from free +labour, as the requirements of the natives are very limited, and easily +satisfied. Abandoned to his own impulses of activity, the Javanese would +only work sufficiently to supply what was necessary for his mere +subsistence, or would only perform any extra duties so long as the +imposition of regular labour does not set itself in direct antagonism with +his docile, gentle disposition. The manners and customs of the country, +the condition of the populace relative to their princes and chiefs, are +favourable to the condition of forced labour, in which they have been +confirmed by their Dutch conquerors, thus rendering it less perceptible +and intolerable. It is patent to all that since the introduction in 1830 +by General Van den Bosch of the Culture system, or system of compulsory +labour, the internal state of the colony has enormously benefited,[61] and +the revenues of the Government increased in a most extraordinary degree. +In fact, what is known as the _Batig Stal_, or balance of the colonial +administration for the past year (1859), gave a total of 41,000,000 +guilders (L3,416,000). But the pecuniary profits which the State Treasury +wrings from the labour of its subjects are, unfortunately (as was amply +proved in the South American colonies during the days of Spanish +ascendency), not always a correct standard of the prosperity of a country +or of the felicity of its inhabitants. + +In company of Dr. Vrij the geologist of our Expedition ascended from +Lembang the volcano of Tangkuban Prahu, whence, following an excellent +route of travel drawn up by Dr. Junghuhn, he was enabled to visit all the +more important points of geological interest in the Preanger Regency. Of +these two highly interesting excursions, which derived an additional charm +from the cordial hospitality of the Javanese princes, we borrow from Dr. +Hochstetter's memoranda the following particulars:-- + +"On the northern side of the table-land of Bandong, which is a veritable +garden of Eden, hemmed in by roaring volcanic mountains, there rises a +mountain-chain 6000 feet above the level of the sea, and 4000 above the +lofty plateau of Bandong. In this range three peaks are conspicuous. The +native, accustomed to indicate each majestic natural feature of his lovely +native land by some name which gives a clear idea of its peculiar +character, or expresses the emotion it makes upon his senses, has named +the easternmost truncated conical peak Gunung Tungul (7800 feet), that is, +the Broken Stump or Tree, and affirms that the long central ridge of +Tangkuban Prahu (6427 feet), or the Inverted Boat, was formed by the +overturned trunk of the tree, while the third very serrated peak, the +Buranguang (5690 feet), or Boughs of the Tree, forms the crown of the tree +with its branches and twigs. Only the long central ridge, the actual hill, +though its shape would not readily lead us to suppose so, is at this day +an active volcano. Its crater is one of the most extraordinary spectacles +in the volcanic system of Java. Formerly it was necessary to follow in the +tracks of the rhinoceroses up the sides of this mountain, and the ascent +was not indeed without danger, since it occasionally happened that the +traveller, while treading some of these funnel-shaped, narrow, tremendous +defiles, unexpectedly found himself at some sudden turn face to face with +one of these gigantic animals, and that, with a precipice on one hand and +a wall of rock on the other, there was no visible means of escaping. Under +such circumstances there was nothing for it but to fight for life and +death, until the stronger marched over the corpse of the weaker. At +present an excellent bridle-path leads from Lembang to the summit of the +mountain, for the construction of which the community is indebted to Dr. +Junghuhn. + +"On the morning of 18th May we set out from Lembang for the summit of +Tangkuban Prahu, in company with Dr. de Vrij. The Regent of Bandong had +sent us capital horses of the pure Macassar race, and, followed by a crowd +of well-disciplined Sundanese, we at length after a two hours' ride stood +at the edge of the crater. + +"Dense clouds of vapour filled the abyss below, from which at a +considerable depth and in various directions issued the most appalling +sounds, as though hundreds of steam engines were sobbing at work far +beneath us, or like the broken sound of water falling in spray from a +great height upon the rocks. Some dead trees standing on the brink of the +abyss had a blackened appearance as though they had been charred, which we +ascribed to the sulphureous vapours, that must be evolved with most +destructive power when the crater is in full activity. Into this hideous +abyss we now prepared to descend, by a narrow, steep ledge of the rock, +which gradually lost itself among the vapour between two perpendicular, +precipitous walls. We followed the Javanese, who were scrambling down +before us, having ourselves given orders to be conducted if possible to +the bottom of the crater, and therefore continued on as best we could, +confident that those people had already often descended into the depths to +get themselves sulphur. + +"Fortunately the vapours dispersed during our arduous clamber, and there +at one view lay plain before us the fearful chasm from its floor to the +rim running round it. With amazement and surprise, we perceived that the +ledge on which we stood was but a narrow central ridge, separating two +deep nearly circular volcanic cauldrons, which were both surrounded by a +lofty ellipse-shaped crater-wall! There was also a singular double or twin +crater. In both cavities, right and left, white clouds of steam rose +hissing and sputtering to the height of the rim. In the left-hand or +western crater, which the natives called _Kawah Upas_, or the Poison +Crater, we perceived in the midst of the smoking _solfataras_ a tranquil +pool of water of a sulphur-yellow hue, while the lofty internal slopes of +the crater, nearly 1000 feet high, were densely covered with brushwood, +down almost to the bottom. Very different was the eastern crater, _Kawah +Ratu_, or King's Crater; its floor seemed to consist of dried mud, from +the clefts and springs in which steam and sulphureous vapours were +constantly bursting impetuously forth. The wall of this crater, not above +500 or 600 feet high, was naked and bare to the very summit. At the first +glance one could almost fancy he gazed on an expanse of snow amid a green +forest, so bleached and greyish-white did everything look, owing to the +rocks being pulverized and changed by the vapours which continually issued +from the soil. Above these white desolate masses of rock were +distinguishable the blackened, charred, knotted stems of bushes and trunks +of trees, the relics of the vegetation formerly here, tokens of the last +eruption in 1846, in which this King's Crater threw up boiling mud, +impregnated with sulphur, besides sand and stones, till throughout an +extended area the green forests on every side were killed or desolated. +Already however the rich green of the fern, and the _Thibaudia_ (not +unlike our own whortleberry), is seen shooting up amidst the bare stones, +in close proximity to the blackened trees and shrubs, charred and altered +by the action of the sulphureous vapours and the soil, impregnated as it +is with sulphur. + +"Continuing to scramble forward, we reached in safety the floor of the +Poison Crater, and had to observe the greatest vigilance, for the entire +ground around the boiling lake in the crater to the steep walls consists +of nothing but smoking solfataras, or a dense crust of sulphur, full of +holes and fissures, over the cooled surface of which the traveller walks, +constantly in danger of breaking through, not indeed into a fathomless +abyss, but into boiling hot, bitter water, in which we would counsel no +one to take a foot-bath. If the crust be broken off, there are seen +shining beneath the most exquisite lustrous crystals of sulphur. This +sulphur, which is exhibited here piled up in immense masses like small +hills, is the same as that which occasionally entices the Javanese into +these appalling abysses. The most powerful solfatara, which lies exactly +in the middle ridge, and like a geyser throws up to a height apparently of +one or two feet a column of boiling water, consisting in part of sulphur, +is for that reason unapproachable by man. + +"From the Poison Crater we climbed over into the King's Crater. The hard +masses of rubbish thrown out during the last eruption afforded firm +footing here, until we got near the sputtering solfataras, when the hot +yielding mud made further progress impracticable. + +"The visit to these two craters, which change features from year to year, +furnished much material for observation. It was long past noon when we +retraced our steps upwards along the precipitous path by which we had +descended. Ere long we found ourselves once more on the summit, protected +from the sun's vertical rays by the grateful shelter of the hut which +Junghuhn had erected here, and from which we could take in at one glance, +in all its vast proportions, the entire abyss, with its two smoking +craters in all their horrid sublimity. The oval of the exterior rim +measures not less than 6000 feet in length by 3000 in breadth, and from +the upper wall the descent sheer into the abyss is not less than 800 feet +perpendicular. + +"This was the last crater which we had an opportunity of visiting while +in Java--our further peregrinations being directed towards the schistose +formation abounding in petrifactions, which is found in the S.W. mountain +range of the table-land of Bandong. + +"On the evening of the 18th, after we had returned from Tangkuban Prahu, +we left Lembang, still in the company of Dr. de Vrij, who sacrificed his +own convenience to accompany us throughout our interesting tour, and +returned to Bandong. + +"Junghuhn had sketched out a second _carte de voyage_, which he had sent +to the Resident of Bandong, with a request that this gentleman would make +all necessary preparations to enable the projected excursion to be made in +the shortest possible time, and for our comfort while on the road. We thus +found everything prepared beforehand, and, after passing a most agreeable +evening with the Resident and the Regent of Bandong, the latter of whom +caused his dancing-girls to execute in our presence some of their most +characteristic national dances, we were enabled to start early the +following morning to prosecute our journey further among the mountains. + +"Gratitude to M. Visscher, the Assistant Resident, and to Raden Adipata +Wira Nata Kusuma, the Regent of Bandong,[62] makes it an imperative duty +that we should make the most ample acknowledgment for the great pains +taken by both those gentlemen to enable us, without losing time consulting +about other cares, to devote our entire attention to scientific +examination. Indeed, the whole arrangements of this trip may be held to +indicate what the Dutch Government is able to attain by the astute policy +of leaving the executive power entirely in the hands of the native chiefs, +and with what admirable exactness the despotic orders of these two united +powers are carried into execution. + +"The brother of the Regent of Bandong, a truly chivalrous soul, but +imperious and full of aristocratic hauteur in his deportment towards the +peasantry, was our companion and guard of honour. All our material +requirements had been cared for by the Regent in the most luxurious +profusion. Four servants and a special cook, together with a number of +coolies, were sent in advance to our next designated resting-place, +sometimes in the heart of a forest, or upon a hill, or in a narrow defile, +so that on our arrival we found our table already set for us. On these +occasions, when there was no Pasanggrahan or comfortable hut at hand for +our mid-day siesta, or for our accommodation at night, we found an elegant +hut of bamboo and palm-leaves (of which materials the Javanese construct +a thousand articles of every-day use) newly erected, and containing +dining-room, sleeping-apartment, and bath-room. In order to travel with as +much celerity as possible, our riding horses were changed three or four +times a day. The fresh animals were everywhere ready for us to mount. At +those points where petrifactions were likely to be found collected +together natives would be sent forward, and that not by twos and threes, +but by dozens and twenties, who were charged to dig and collect together +whatever was found, so that all we had to do was to select what we +required, when we found we had a splendid collection without trouble or +loss of time. Even on roads seldom frequented, in outlying districts among +the mountains, we found everything arranged anew, and we do not exaggerate +when we say that between forty and fifty small bridges and narrow stiles +made of bamboo and with bamboo balustrades must have been constructed +solely to make this path passable. But still more particularly we had +occasion to remark, that when it was necessary to descend into the +defiles, which would naturally be of special interest to a geologist on +account of their explanations of the phenomena of nature, fresh paths had +been made, and all obstacles presented by the rocky soil overcome by means +of steps cut in the rock or bamboo ladders! And all this had been planned +and executed after the Regent had been informed of the day fixed for our +departure from Bandong on our projected tour. + +"No fewer than thirty-eight mounted Sundanese, all gaily dressed in their +national costume, being in fact the chiefs and magistrates of the +district, had attached themselves to us with all their retinue, besides a +number of porters to attend upon the cavalcade, by all of whom we were +cordially welcomed. Towards evening we entered amid music and dancing into +the village, which it had been arranged was to be our quarters for the +night, and amid more music, and a general gathering of the population, we +once more, in the grey dawn of the next morning, mounted our horses. Such +is the mode of travel in Java when a Junghuhn prescribes the route, when a +Dutch Government official issues the requisite orders, and when a native +Regent carries them out. + +"On the 19th May we set off in an easterly direction from Bandong for the +river Tji-Tarum. Our object was to explore the beautiful natural defile +which is presented by the deep chasm which forms the bed of that stream, +where it has forced a passage in a northerly direction through a +round-backed range of green-stone and porphyritic mountains which spring +from the table-land of Bandong, forming in this part of its course the +beautiful water-falls of Tjuruk-Kapek, Tjuruk-Lanong, and Tjuruk-Djombong. +In close proximity to the very oldest volcanic formations of Java, one +sees here, laid bare by the river, lofty walls of the latest fresh-water +strata of the plateau of Bandong. We now rode through the porphyritic +ridge to the rocky cone of Batu-Susun, on the flank of the Gunung Bulut, +formed of vast columns of a sort of porphyritic green-stone, and the same +evening reached Tjililui, the chief town of the district named Rongga, +owing to its richness in petrifactions. Not greater was our surprise at +our exceedingly hospitable reception, than at beholding, as we sat down to +our evening meal in the Pasanggrahan where we were stopping, a huge table +drawn forth, loaded with petrifactions and geological specimens, which the +Wedanah had collected, and which, classified according to a chart of the +district which he had himself prepared, he now placed at our disposal. The +name of this spirited Sundanese is Mas Djaja Bradja, Wedanah of Tjililui. + +"On the 20th we inspected the spot itself where these are found. By +daybreak we were _en route_ for the chalk-kilns of Liotji Tjangkang, where +a coral bank, abounding in petrifactions, lies full in view from the +summit of an adjoining eminence. Hence we directed our steps in a S.E. +direction, getting deeper into the mountains, in the neighbourhood of +Gonnong Gatu, renowned for the numbers of tigers which range the immense +wilderness of _allang_ grass (_Imperata Allang_), which now forms the +covering of these mountains, utterly denuded as they are of their original +vegetation, and in which they find plenty of prey among the stags, wild +boars, and buffaloes. Hunting however was not our object, but the +succession of chasms, 100 feet deep, worn through the soft pumice and +trachytic tufas by the action of the Tji-Lanang and its little tributary +streams. First we had to scramble down to the confluence of the Tji-Burial +and the Tji-Tangkil, where, in close proximity to the dykes of trachyte, +several well-preserved _conchylia_ were found amid the rubbish that had +been detached from the sides of this cavity, which are composed of a sort +of muddy tufa. After riding at full speed through a thinly-inhabited +mountain district, in order to avoid an impending thunder-storm, we +luckily reached the little mountain village of Gunung-Alu, lying on the +Tji-Dadass, at the foot of a mountain ridge, which forms the water-shed +between the northern and southern coasts of Java. + +"On 21st May we set off for the valley of the Tji-Lanang, which stretches +beneath the steep sandstone acclivities of the Gunung Sela, another spot +where petrifactions are exceedingly abundant, and where the remains of the +fossils may be observed in the position they originally occupied, imbedded +in the strata of mud and sandstone. A species of fossil resin is also +frequently found there, in juxtaposition with other beautiful fossils. +From this point we followed the valley of the Tji-Lanang in a northerly +direction, and on quitting it we came upon a little traversed road leading +to the valley of the Tji-Tjamotha, at the calcareous-brecciose rocks of +Batu-Kakapa, and still further on reached the mountainous village of +Tji-Jabang, whence we descended once more to the river Tji-Tarum, which at +this point passes through a narrow cleft in the rock, more than a thousand +feet deep, forming thus the grandest waterfall in Java, as it breaks +through the western barrier range of the plateau of Bandong, consisting +of porphyritic green-stone, trachytic-basalt, and perpendicular cliffs of +chalk. Below this, after a series of splendid cascades, it becomes a +navigable stream, flowing gently over the terrace of Radjamandala. + +"The majestic scale of the natural scenery of Java is seen fully developed +in these savage, awful rocky defiles, shaded by primeval forest, and +haunted by every description of wild animal. There are three points of +special interest, Tjukang-Raon, Tjuruk-Almion, and Sangjang-Holut, at any +of which one may study in the very bowels of the earth the geognostical +structure of the Lanang chain, where the river has burst through. These +points lie quite near to each other on the edge of the stream which here +frets in its channel, hemmed closely by the rocks, but in order to reach +any one of them it is always necessary to retrace one's steps to the +village of Tji-jabang, on the plateau of the mountain, and thence scramble +down and up again the precipitous rocky wall in height from 1000 to 1600 +feet! One can readily believe what Junghuhn writes in 1854, that 'although +Tjurak-Almion' (dust or vapour fall) 'is the grandest waterfall in Java, +no European had, as yet, visited the spot but himself.' It was here +especially that we had occasion to notice what pains the natives had taken +to render the various localities more accessible. We found fresh-hewn +steps, ladders, and Rotang ropes, and thus we were enabled, so to speak, +to tread in the footsteps of Junghuhn. + +"On the 21st we could only visit the Tjuruk-Baon, where the Tji-Tarum, +raging along in its entire volume, is compelled to pass through a gate of +rock not above 12 feet wide. A frail-looking bamboo ladder, with Rotang +ropes suspended on either side at a dizzy elevation above, leads down the +perpendicular walls of this stone portal. + +"On the morning of the 22nd we visited Tjuruk-Almion, the finest waterfall +of the Tji-Tarum, which is here precipitated over a precipice of +green-stone forty feet in height, and thence, after passing the steep +basaltic chain of Gunung-Lanang, we descended from a height of 2653 Paris +feet, into the deepest part (990 Paris feet above sea-level) of the chasm +formed by volcanic eruption in the mountain Sangjang-Holut, where close to +the steep broken rim, and in juxtaposition to the tertiary formations on +the level of Radjamandala, the perpendicular sandstone banks of the river +leave a passage only 10 feet in width. + +"The same day we reached the little village of Gua, at the foot of the +northern side of Gunung Nungnang, an enormous mass of limestone, whose +steep sides form a portion of the extensive limestone barrier, which +bounds the table-land of Radjamandala to the southward. Gunung Nungnang is +traversed by fissures and clefts from top to bottom, in which the Salangan +swallow builds edible nests, which the natives gather for the Regent, not +without peril to life. + +"On the 23rd May we carefully explored Sangjang Tji-Koro, a +limestone-hill, through which one arm of the Tji-Tarum, after it has +burst through the barrier-ridge, flows in a subterranean channel; +interesting in a geological point of view, because at this point we find +the very same limestone rocks which in an upright position form the +structure of the hill, lying horizontally on the flat plain of +Radjamandala, on the opposite bank of this brook. At Radjamandala we once +more struck the main road, and found our travelling chaise ready, which +conveyed us to Tjiandjur, and thence back to Batavia." + +While the geologist of our Expedition was occupied in the excursion above +described, the commodore and his companions witnessed a most interesting +spectacle in an ethnographical point of view. The Javanese Regent of +Tjiandjur prepared a great fete, to which all the populace were invited, +in the great hall of the palace, where a variety of entertainments, games, +and dramatic representations took place. Here, as at Bandong, the interior +of the house was entirely furnished in the European fashion, and only the +ear-splitting, deafening tones of the gamelong,[63] the stout, bustling +female house-keeper, who, richly apparelled and wearing yellow +unmentionables, did the honours with a somewhat waddling gait, and the +Oriental dress of the Regent, behind whom a couple of Javanese servants, +crouched on their hams, carrying a neatly-carved silver box of exquisite +workmanship, containing the ingredients for the betel, recalled to our +recollection that we were in Java, in the residence of a native prince. +The stiff, troublesome formalities of the Dutch were outdone by those of +the Javanese: nay, so great is the observance of etiquette by these +people, that even the nearest relatives of the house are fain to take up +their place in the verandah or colonnade which runs round the house, but +do not dare venture into the saloon itself. In this latter, besides the +Regent and his consort, there were only the European guests invited, while +the people thronged the doors and windows as spectators of what was going +on. The fete began with some very monotonous, infinitely tedious dances +executed by the _Bayaderes_. In the choreographic art, despite the +important part which dancing plays in their religious worship, the +Javanese, like all the other populations of Asia, lag far behind the +natives of the north. True, the dance with them has a widely different +meaning, compared with that which we attach to it, who waltz and polka +away in joyous, frolicsome mood, whereas the Asiatics, the Malay and the +Hindoo, also dance during seasons of grief and anguish; with them dancing +is nothing but a mode of expressing their feelings, whether these be grave +or gay, joyous or sad. And so deeply is this custom implanted among the +coloured races, that we have ourselves seen in Costa Rica Indian parents, +who had been converted to Christianity, dancing before the dead body of +their child, which was about being committed to consecrated earth.[64] + +The figures of the dance performed by the Javanese dancing-girls were +nothing but a series of very slow rigid movements of advance and retreat, +in the course of which they went through all sorts of attitudes and +contortions with their hands and fingers. We were informed that these +dancers were representing four sisters who were searching for their lost +mother, and by their various postures and figuring hoped to obtain her +again from the deity. This exhibition was succeeded by a war-dance, +performed by eight maidens clothed as warriors, which however scarcely +differed from the former, and was not less tedious. These dancers all +appeared in extremely elegant richly-appointed dresses, which +unfortunately only made the ugliness of their features more disagreeably +conspicuous. Amid all these representations the deep boom of the gamelong +almost unceasingly resounded in our ears, being struck, evidently for the +purpose of stunning the senses, by a crowd of Javanese cowering on the +ground with their feet crossed beneath them, while from without there fell +on our ear the tunes of a brass band, especially noticeable by its +overpowering penetrating sound. About 10 P.M. a number of rockets and +fire-wheels were let off, and a disorderly crowd of maskers, on horse and +foot, to the great delight of the assembled populace, made their +appearance and marched about a dozen times round the great room. The chief +honours of the entire procession were reserved for a transparent serpent, +at least 20 feet long, which was borne along in the air by six or eight +youths, who imitated with surprising address the wriggling motions of that +lithe reptile. + +To a European observer, however, what was going on in one corner of the +great room seemed far more extraordinary and surprising. A number of +native fanatics were standing here round a heap of red-hot coals and +ashes, before which a Mahometan priest, holding in his hand a small open +book, was murmuring a prayer, accompanied by doleful cries and +unintelligible groans. Several natives sprang barefooted into the fire, +and turned about several times in its midst. The priest also, singing and +praying the while, skipped upon the red-hot floor, apparently with the +intention of inciting the by-standers to yet further exertions. The whole +exhibition bore the character of being a form of religious expiation, +although it was carried on amid all the noise and fun of a popular +festival. + +A still more painful impression was made by several Javanese, who placed +iron circlets set with fine sharp points on the cheeks, forehead, and +eyes, and thus accoutred, twisted their bodies about in every conceivable +direction, as though they were striving all they could to drill deep into +their flesh with this heavy iron instrument. The leading idea contemplated +in this rude fearsome exhibition, seems, however, to have been simply to +amuse a circle of curious spectators, and gain their applause. + +The Javanese Regent, Radhen Adhipati Aria Kusuma Ningrat, who gave this +fete, a tall, robust man, of about fifty years of age, is held in high +esteem by the inhabitants of his district, not alone for his political +worth, but also for his intellectual qualities. He is an author and a +poet, and availed himself of the opportunity to present to the foreign +guests his last poem, an epic. + +Early on the morning of the 17th the entire company of travellers set out +from Tjiandjur on their return to Batavia by the Java road, by which they +had come. The naturalists, too, did not leave the capital of the Preanger +Residency without substantial tokens of amity, since a medical gentleman +settled there, Dr. I. Ch. Ploem, presented them with a number of +interesting specimens, botanical and zoological, and not alone enriched +their collections in natural history with many new objects, but also +promised in future to maintain an active interchange of objects of +scientific interest with the museum of the Empire-city on the Danube. + +The journey back to Buitenzorg, despite a tremendous thunder-storm, +accompanied by such a shower as is only encountered in the tropics, was +nevertheless pretty quickly got over, and even one trifling adventure +which was encountered on the way--in the course of which one of the +travelling carriages fell into a ditch on one side of the road, near +Megamendung, in consequence of which the coachman and attendants were +somewhat injured by their sudden precipitation from the box--had no more +serious ulterior consequences than that we had to get out of the carriage +for a short space under a deluge of rain, so as to admit of its being more +readily put into running order again. Despite the inclemency of the +weather we were on this occasion accompanied on horseback by the +magistrates of the villages through which we passed, and although many of +these were shivering and chattering with the wet and cold, they were +nevertheless inexorable in assisting to send us forward, and though not +required to do so, accompanied us to our next station, where their place +was supplied by others not less attentive. + +While still on the road, the commodore and several members of the +Expedition received an invitation from the Governor-general to stop at his +summer residence of Buitenzorg, and to make it for some days their +resting-place. It was unfortunate, that this display of hospitality was +somewhat weakened in cordiality by a too rigid observance of those minor +matters of etiquette, which his Excellency seemed to think he could not +afford to dispense with even in his quiet, unostentatious country-seat. +The stringent observance of such unbending measured ceremony is the more +remarkable, in the case of a man who has raised himself from an obscure +grade of citizenship to this lofty post, and who does not even indulge in +that lavish expense or profuse luxury, which would at least be in harmony +with the ceremonial usages with which he surrounds himself. M. Van Pahud +came to Batavia about twenty years before, as a school-master, and ere +long, having become an employe in the civil service, secured through his +administrative capacity, and restless activity, the confidence and +sympathies of the Government, was somewhat later appointed Colonial +Minister in Holland, and finally, in 1856, Governor-general of the Dutch +East Indies. The introduction of the _quinquina_ plant from Peru and its +present extension throughout Java, are his chief claims to recognition. + +As M. Van Pahud is a widower, the honours of his mansion were performed by +his daughter, a lady in delicate health, who a few years previously had +the distressing trial of beholding her husband, who filled one of the most +important posts as Resident at a Regency in the interior, cut down before +her eyes by a Malay! + +We spent a couple of days in this charming retreat of Buitenzorg, whose +botanical garden ever unfolded fresh beauties, and had the pleasure on +this, as on the occasion of our first visit, to make several most +agreeable acquaintances. A deep interest attaches to our visit to Madame +Hartmann, the widow of a former Resident in Borneo, who possesses a small +but every way remarkable collection of ethnographic objects illustrative +of that island, and who not alone had the thoughtful courtesy to show us +all these treasures of natural history, but even presented us with a +considerable portion of them. The writer of this account felt himself in +an especial degree under obligation to this excellent lady for a number of +skeletons of the various races of men inhabiting that island, which it +would have been exceedingly difficult to procure otherwise. There existed +but one object in this anthropological collection with which Madame +Hartmann would not part: this was the skull of a Chinaman, who, during the +fearful insurrection of these emigrants in Borneo in 1819, made a +murderous onslaught on her husband, whose servants fortunately succeeded +in rendering timely aid by cutting the miscreant down. + +Early on 20th May we quitted Buitenzorg. On the same morning two criminals +accused of murder and robbery were brought thither. Although the +punishment of death is only inflicted in cases of extreme atrocity, yet we +were informed that in the capital scarcely a month passes without the +infliction of this last penalty. + +On our return to Batavia we once more found ourselves the objects of that +charming hospitality, to which we are indebted for the memory of many most +agreeable hours. + +There was one gentleman in particular, a German countryman, Colonel Von +Schierbrand, who has lived nearly thirty years in Java, and at present +holds the high position of head of the Engineer department and President +of the Topographical Institute, who most hospitably entertained the +voyagers of the _Novara_ in his elegant, comfortable dwelling, and +arranged a variety of amusements and agreeable receptions.[65] Among +these, the gentlemen who took part in it will long have a special +recollection of a hunting party, which, owing to the great interest taken +by all classes of the community near the seat of action, abounding in +antelopes and wild hogs, became ultimately a regular ovation and popular +festival. At various points arches covered with leaves were erected, flags +fluttered to the breeze on every side, and all along our path the +inhabitants, gaily attired, formed a dense array lining the road; while +the evening was whiled away in the elegantly furnished mansion of a +Chinese, the Mayor of his district, by Javanese dancing-girls, who +performed a variety of national dances to the monotonous, lugubrious sound +of the gamelong and other musical instruments, after which there was a +comedy, the whole winding up with Chinese fire-works on the grandest +scale. + +Another splendid entertainment was got up in honour of the _Novara_ +Expedition by the military "Concordia" society, in their large, handsome +assembly-room in Weltevreden. The dancing-hall was tastefully fitted up, +adorned with blue and green hangings and parti-coloured flags, while over +the entrance was suspended a portrait of our Emperor. In the background of +the saloon there was set up in front of a transparency an elegant boat, +with an Austrian flag at the gaff, and carrying a cannon crowned with +flowers and nautical emblems, all artistically designed and executed. The +stewards all wore red and white ribbons round their dress, while the rich +attire of the ladies consisted principally of stuffs in the Austrian +colours. When the commander of the Expedition entered the saloon with his +staff, the band struck up the Austrian National Hymn. The whole festivity +went off most agreeably, and the majority of the company, which numbered +about 800 guests, kept it up till daybreak. Both Dutch and Austrian +officers vied with each other in making this a truly fraternal feast. +Still as the band played on, there seemed no end to the fun and frolic, +and one pair of joyous spirits suddenly bethought them of the droll idea +of hauling the cannon "with all its honours thick upon it" through the +apartment, with a not less frolicsome comrade sitting astride it, singing +and shouting! Unluckily, during this peregrination one of the Dutch +officers fell under the wheel, and had his thigh broken near the knee. The +unfortunate had to be conveyed to the hospital forthwith, where for weeks +he could ruminate upon the consequences of a moment's misplaced revelry. +This gentleman, singularly enough, had just retired home and gone to bed, +when a couple of his comrades insisted on his accompanying them, amid much +cheering and noise, back to the apartment, where the accident happened to +him! + +One remarkable character in Batavia, whose acquaintance we only made +during the latter days of our stay, is Raden Saleh, a Javanese of high +birth, and princely descent, who, born in 1816 at Djokjokarta in the +interior of the island, was at the expense of the Dutch Government brought +to Europe when a boy of 14, where he lived for a long time at the Hague, +and afterwards in Dresden and Paris, turning his attention chiefly to +painting, and who, after 23 years' absence, had returned to Java shortly +before our arrival. Raden Saleh, who speaks and writes several European +languages with fluency, draws a not inconsiderable sum yearly from the +Colonial Government, by way of remuneration for pictures which he is from +time to time commissioned to paint for Government House. At the period of +our visit the artist was busy engaged in executing for the King of Holland +a large oil-painting, representing a stag-hunt on the plain of Mundschul, +in the Preanger Regency, at the foot of the Malabar range. The +composition, the landscape, the aerial perspective, the attitudes and +grouping of the mounted huntsmen, gave evidence of uncommon talent, which +unfortunately, however, has not been cultivated to that extent as to +enable him to stamp all his performances with the impress of artistic +perfection. Raden Saleh cherishes a warm feeling for Germany, which even +his placid, delightful residence among the Eden-like landscapes of his own +native land has not been able to weaken. "I owe so much to Germany," he +would say to us; "my thoughts and my feelings ever revert to Germany!" It +seemed that in his case, as in that of the young negro prince, Aquasie +Boachi, of the Gold Coast, considerations of health were the main reason +for his return to the Dutch East Indies. + +The last days of our stay at Batavia we devoted to an inspection of +various public institutions. First of all we carefully examined the +barracks, which present several points of special interest. Major Smits +was so kind as to accompany us over the extensive grounds, in which were +at the time some 800 men. The soldiers are all volunteers, and consist of +about 250 whites, and 600 of the various coloured races of the Malay +Archipelago. The white troops sleep in beds, the coloured upon wooden +settles covered with mosquito-nets. Each soldier is allowed to have his +wife beside him, and it is affirmed that this extraordinary practice tends +to make them more orderly and regular, by accustoming them more speedily +to life in the barrack, which thus becomes for them a sort of small town! +The women for their part prove highly serviceable as cooks, washerwomen, +vendors of edibles, &c., and manage a sort of small market for each +company, where the soldier can find everything he may require for +satisfying his usually very moderate wants. + +Major Smits ordered a number of the soldiers, representatives of the most +important Malay types, to be submitted to a series of anthropometrical +measurements, and made a present to the Expedition of a number of objects +of ethnographical interest. + +In company with Dr. Steenstra Toussaint, an ardent and amiable companion, +we visited the various prisons, and the Loar-Badang,[66] of evil repute, +which will be discussed in the medical section of the _Novara_ +publications. + +The prisons of Batavia stand in much need of reform, especially as regards +construction, management, and treatment. The humane sentiments that +characterize our century, have more care even for a robber or murderer +than to load him with chains, and make him still more dangerous to +society, by lengthened confinement within the thick lofty walls of a +prison. There are two categories, into which all criminals in Java are +divided, those who during the entire term of their sentence are to remain +within the prison, and those who during the day are employed outside the +prison on the public works, most of whom wear an iron ring round their +neck, or chains on their hands or feet, whence they are usually termed +"chain-gang" prisoners. + +In the city Bridewell, where the criminals serve their sentences in cells, +there is room for 200, and at the time of our visit there were 70 male and +two female prisoners in confinement. The disagreeable impression made at +finding such an establishment located in an exceedingly unhealthy site, is +anything but diminished when the visitor perceives that it consists mainly +of a large number of narrow corridors and high walls running parallel +with each other at short distances, between which the prisoners, in +divisions of from six to ten, are confined in small cells, two +occasionally inhabiting the same cell. Those condemned to imprisonment for +debt are shut up in a special compartment, apart from the common run of +criminals, but in respect of accommodation and general treatment are in no +respect better off than the latter. The law permits the incarceration of a +debtor for three years, but the creditor is compelled to pay 10 guilders a +month (L10 per annum), to defray the cost of his maintenance. It is +illustrative of the Chinese character, and its speculative propensities, +that hardly any of that nation are to be found on the criminal side, +whereas they furnish the longest quota of those imprisoned for debt. We +saw one Javanese woman, who of her own free will submitted to be +imprisoned with her husband who had been condemned to several years' +incarceration, although she could only communicate with him in the +presence of witnesses, and had to live in an entirely different part of +the building. + +In the prison where the "chain-gangers" were confined, there were 170 +prisoners.[67] Owing to the circumstance that those committed in Batavia +are draughted off to the prisons in the interior, while those sentenced in +the provinces are sent to fulfil their sentences in the prisons of +Batavia, the stranger encounters in these latter numerous peculiar types +of natives from the various districts of Java and the adjoining islands, +and this rare opportunity was made use of by myself and Dr. Schwarz to +obtain some corporeal measurements of individuals presenting the +characteristics of their respective races, as had already been done in the +barracks. + +Dr. Toussaint presented the Expedition with several pathological +preparations, as also with one curiosity rather of historical than +scientific interest, namely, the skull of a man, found a few years before +in the maw of a shark which had been picked up dead at sea! + +A very singular impression was left on us by a visit we paid to "Meester +Cornelis," a sort of bazaar in the outskirts of Batavia, where a singular +phase of life may be seen nightly in full activity. On a wide open square +are a large number of booths, in which are sold all sorts of eatables and +drinkables, while there is at the same time no lack of dancing-girls, +Javanese musicians, opium-dens, gambling "hells," and other +breeding-places of human depravity. The majority of its frequenters are +Chinese, who spend here in the most extravagant manner what they have +earned during the day. They especially affect the filthy little closets, +where for a couple of doits (a halfpenny English) they can lie stretched +out in a pitiable state of stupefaction, the result of opium-smoking, but +are likewise by no means backward in patronizing the gambling booths. A +group of these half-naked children of the Celestial Empire, seated in a +circle on the ground amid the flare of torches and lamps, each holding in +his lean hand a pair of greasy, well-worn cards, and with a little heap of +copper or silver pieces spread out before him, following the chances of +the game with a wild eagerness that makes him utterly heedless of what is +passing around him, presents a spectacle of such powerful interest, that +the beholder, especially if a foreigner, likes to remain amid a scene so +peculiar, despite its repulsiveness. The most melancholy consideration +perhaps of all is that this form of dissipation seems by no means +indigenous to Java, but was first introduced with many other forms of vice +under the influence of foreign civilization. + +For the observant traveller, a visit to such so-called "places of +amusement" possesses a far deeper interest than theatres or operas, which +one may see and hear among the various settlements in this Archipelago. +Such wandering companies, even those which are as highly remunerated as +the "troupes" who minister to the aesthetic tastes of the wealthy +inhabitants of the countries beyond sea,[68] or rather to an indispensable +fashion, must awaken among European visitors melancholy reminiscences of +vanished triumphs of art. Thus Batavia, during our stay, could boast a +French operatic company. The theatre, lofty and airy, though of but one +storey, without either boxes or gallery, had far more the appearance of a +concert-room than a regular theatre. The rather heavy cost was defrayed by +lotteries, which were set on foot by the Colonial Government from time to +time for the behoof of the funds of the theatre. Several of the +"cantatrices" carry on simultaneously with their engagements a lucrative +business in French articles for the toilette, while the men-singers give +instruction in vocalization, by which they not merely eke out their +living, but contribute handsomely to the annoyance of their next-door +neighbours. + +There is but little sociability in Batavia. The people live in a +thoroughly retired manner, each usually receiving only a small circle of +friends in his own house. On this point, as on many others, our _own_ +experience is _directly contrary_ to the actual state of matters, seeing +that during our entire stay one invitation followed on the heels of +another;--but those who live here for years together, even under the most +favourable auspices, have repeatedly assured us that life in Batavia is +unsociable and tedious. + +This is the misfortune of all countries "beyond sea," where Europeans do +not settle permanently, but flock thither with the intention, after a +certain number of years of industry and activity, of returning home with a +fortune made by their own personal exertions. We see this in Brazil, in +the West Indies, in the Western coast of South America; in a word, in all +tropical or sub-tropical countries where, on account of climatic +considerations, the greater part of the European population is changed +every ten years, and is recruited by fresh arrivals from Europe. How out +of place, accordingly, does social or intellectual life appear in such +countries, as compared with the colonies settled in temperate climates, in +North America, at the Cape, in Australia, in New Zealand, in all of which +the immigrant population is of a fixed character, building up for +themselves a second home, and clinging with love and gratitude to the soil +that gives them sustenance, and on which their sons will grow up, under +the invigorating influences of free institutions, into free, prosperous, +self-relying men! + +Even in Batavia the majority of the European residents change every eight +or ten years; instances such as that of Colonel von Schierbrand, of men +who during 30 years have never once left the island, never yet seen a +railroad, being of rare occurrence. + +Of the numerous friends whom we were so fortunate as to make during our +stay in Java, and to whom such heart-felt thanks are due for their +hospitality and the warm interest they took in the objects of our +Expedition,[69] many have since left the island for ever, and by their +return to Europe left many a lamentable vacancy.[70] The more deserving +of acknowledgment is the constant endeavour of the present Colonial +Government to attract to itself fresh intelligence, and so not alone +stimulate the scientific activity of the present, but also provide for the +filling up of the various posts by properly qualified persons. The +magnificent and expensive works which have been published of late years in +Java by men of science, are the splendid fruit of that noble-minded +support, and it is much to be regretted that the Government does not +extend this liberality to their _political_ system,--that despite the +glorious example in their own immediate neighbourhood of the results of +English Free Trade, Government still cramps the energies of the colony +with monopolies and privileges, and thereby checks the development of a +country, which, alike by its position and its manifold natural advantages, +bids fair to be one of the wealthiest and most prosperous countries in the +world. + +At seven A.M. on the 29th May, the _Novara_ weighed anchor in the roads of +Batavia, after a stay of 23 days. Our next visit was to be paid to the +Philippine Archipelago,--to the flourishing island of Luzon, or rather to +Manila, the most important settlement in the entire group. This was the +pleasantest trip throughout the whole voyage. The distance, some 1800 +nautical miles, was achieved in 17 days, with delightful weather, and +balmy south-west monsoons.[71] By the 14th June we were in sight of the +coast of Luzon, and on the following day we ran on before the freshening +monsoon into the broad, beautiful gulf of Manila. As we passed between the +rock La Monja (the Nun) and "El Corregidor," or Governor's Island, which +lie right in the channel, we met the _Cleopatra_, a large English +screw-steamer, which had a freight of 1150 Chinese, who were to be +imported into the Havanna as so-called "free" labourers. These poor +wretches came from Amoy, and, as we afterwards learned, had been put on +board so scantily provided, and so little cared for by the authorities, +that thus early, during the voyage from Amoy to Manila, only 700 miles, +eleven of these "passengers" had died, and the captain found himself +compelled to bear up for the nearest harbour in consequence of a sort of +malignant fever having broken out on board, so virulent that there were +deaths occurring almost every day. We shall treat more particularly of +this hideous trade in men, which is chiefly carried on by the Portuguese, +when describing our visit to Macao. + +The Bay of Manila is a beautiful land-locked basin, of such splendid +proportions that when we had passed Governor's Island the city of Manila +was still below the horizon. We anchored on the afternoon of 18th June in +the harbour of Cavite (seven nautical miles south of Manila), because +during the S.W. monsoon this harbour is more sheltered, and therefore +safer for ships, than the shallow open roadstead of the capital. Cavite, +which boasts a fort, an arsenal, a dockyard, and a cigar manufactory, lies +on a low, narrow tongue of land projecting into the bay. Whoever may have +first set foot at Cavite, on the soil of the Island of Luzon, so renowned +for its natural magnificence of scenery, must involuntarily feel that his +anticipations have been sorely disappointed; he will with all possible +diligence make the best of his way from the glaring white sands and black +walls of the fortress here to Manila, the next object of our hopes. A +small screw plies daily between Cavite and the last-named city, and this +vessel also conveyed the Expeditionists from Cavite to the capital of the +Philippine Archipelago. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[34] Several copies of these various publications of the different +scientific societies of Java were presented to the Expedition by the +members of these learned bodies. + +[35] Still the chief article of cultivation is rice, which constitutes +almost the sole bread-stuff of the Javanese. Crauford in his admirably +digested dictionary of the Indian Archipelago calculates that the annual +rice crop is about 500,000,000 lbs., and that each individual consumes +annually one quarter, or 480 lbs.! + +[36] For some extremely beautiful and costly weapons used by the Malay +races we are especially indebted to Mr. J. Netscher, one of the directors +of the Society of Arts and Sciences, a profound scholar in the various +idioms spoken in Java, and who on the same occasion enriched our +collections with some of his own valuable numismatic specimens and +philological researches, and to this day neglects no opportunity of +advancing the special objects of our Expedition. + +[37] Only two of the various races of Java have remained constant to the +belief of their fathers, and still honour, some of them Buddha, some +Brahma. Among these are the Badawis, who constitute all that remain of a +once mighty race at the east end of the island, among the hills of Kendang +in the Residency of Bandang, on the Tenggers, also at the east of the +island in the Residency of Passeruwan, the former numbering 1500, the +latter about 4000 souls. + +[38] Garsick, the Grisse of modern days, was the first spot where these +jealous sectaries settled about the year 1374, and the two Arabic sheikhs +Dulla and Moellana are usually cited by later historians as the +introducers of the Mahometan worship into Java. + +[39] There are at present two kings reigning on the Island of Lombok: Ratu +Agong Agong Suede Carang-assem, and Ratu Agong Agong Made Carang-assem. +These had submitted under special treaties to the Dutch Government, whose +vassals they now are. + +[40] Yellow is the royal colour of the Ruler of Lombok. According to the +prevalent custom, no one but the king and members of his family is +permitted to use that colour in their dress or ornaments. + +[41] This peculiarity of Eastern manners is universally prevalent wherever +Oriental nations have come in contact with Europeans. It is of course as +entirely unlike the genuine hospitality of the rude Bedouin or Tartar as +it is possible to imagine, and seems to belong to an early and very +imperfect notion of true refinement. Traces of it will be found in all +countries, even in Europe, and in its original form of making a present in +the expectation of receiving something more valuable in return, which lies +at the bottom of all this pseudo-generosity. The astuteness of the Scotch +Highlanders, themselves a race remarkably free from such meannesses, has +hitched the system into a pithy proverb, the sense of which is to "send a +hen's egg in order to get a goose's in exchange." + +[42] 73.75 paals (posts) are equal to one degree of the equator, whence +one paal = within a small fraction of 4943 feet 6 inches. This method of +indicating land-measure originated in the circumstance that on every road +intersecting Java from west to east, the respective distances from the +three chief places, Batavia, Samarang, and Surabaya, are marked up upon +wooden "paale" or posts. + +[43] As yet there are no railroads on the island. But a company has been +formed with the intention of uniting the more important and productive +districts of the island, an enterprise which will extend to about 1000 +miles (English), and will cost about L8,500,000. + +[44] It is well known that Holland in former days recruited her black +regiments of the Netherland Indies by men from the Gold Coast, and in fact +had set on foot a sort of traffic in men with the king of Ashantee. + +[45] Dr. Junghuhn, in his admirable work upon Java, describes the rainy +season--which usually has fairly set in by the month of January, when the +westerly and north-westerly winds are driving the rain-clouds before +them--in the following spirited language:--"The floods stream from the +clouds often for four-and-twenty hours at a stretch without the slightest +interruption, and with such violence that the noise of the plash of the +falling element drowns the voices of the inhabitants, compelled as they +are to keep to their houses. Every brook and river overflows its banks, +covering with a tide of muddy brown water the alluvial soil wrested from +the bed of ocean, while the frogs croak incessantly day and night, and the +lizards and snakes emerge from their holes, and creep into every corner of +the dwellings of every man; all through the hours of darkness is heard the +loud thousand-voiced hum of insects, of myriads of mosquitoes, till it is +hardly possible to find a dry place throughout the house. The hot, sultry +air is saturated with moisture, so that everything becomes damp, in +consequence of the fine particles of the rain-vapour penetrating into the +inmost corners of the house." + +[46] Pronounced _Chipannas_ (hot stream), from _Tji_, water, and _Pannas_, +hot. _Tji_ is always pronounced like _chi_, and _oe_ like _oo_. + +[47] One can form some idea of the enormous fecundity of this insect, if +we mention that it takes 200,000 in a dried state to make one pound of the +cochineal of commerce. + +[48] Two Vanilla plants, imported in 1841 from the Botanical Garden of +Leyden, remained barren for nine years, till recourse was at last had to +the system of artificial fructification, upon which these plants increased +so rapidly that the plants at present under cultivation at Pondok-Gedeh +amount to 700,000! + +[49] Now named _Cankrienia Chrysantha_. The plant most characteristic of +this region was the _gnaphalium arboreum_. + +[50] These four species were _Cinchona Calisaya_, _C. Condanimea_, _C. +Lanceolata_, and _C. Ovata_. + +[51] According to our latest advices from Java, which extend to November, +1860, there are at present in the Preanger Regency upwards of 100,000 +China plants in the very best order, so that this valuable commodity not +only may be regarded as fully naturalized in that island, but the Dutch +Government even complied with the request of the British Government for a +certain number of seedlings for introduction into India. + +[52] Pronounce _Tschipodas_ and _Tschangschoor_ (Sweet Water) +respectively. + +[53] Called in the Sunda dialect Gunung Masigit, or Hill of the Mosque, in +consequence of the chalk, of which it is composed, being broken into +pinnacles of remarkable uniformity, and strongly resembling the appearance +presented by the minarets of a mosque. + +[54] As these edible swallows'-nests form a very important article of +commerce among the Colonial products, and their collection provides the +means of subsistence to a considerable section of the population of Java, +we shall follow here the description given by Dr. Junghuhn, in his truly +classic Monograph upon Java, in which (Book I. p. 468) he speaks as +follows respecting the marvellous abodes selected by this species of +swallow, and the perils dared by the native in obtaining their nests. "In +Karangbolong, a portion of the entrance to the holes where the swallows +breed is on a level with the surface of the water, and at times covered by +the sea. In one of these cavities, the Gua Gede, the edge of the +coast-wall rises 80 Paris feet above low water, in a concave form, so that +it actually overhangs; however, at an elevation of about 25 feet there +occurs a projection, which the Rotang-ladder reaches by being suspended +perpendicularly. The ladder is made by two side ropes of reed, which every +inch-and-a-half, or two inches, are bound to each other by cross-bars of +wood. The roof of the entrance to the cave is only 10 feet above the sea, +which even at ebb-tide washes the flow throughout its extent, while at +flood-tide the mouth of the cave is entirely closed by the sweep of the +rollers. Only during ebb-tide therefore, and with perfectly smooth water, +is it possible for any one to penetrate into the interior. Even then this +would be impossible, were not the rocky vault, or roof of the cavern, +pierced through, eaten away, and corroded into innumerable holes. By the +projecting angles of these holes it is that the strongest and most daring +gatherer who first makes his way in, has to hold on, while he attaches to +them ropes made of Rotang, which thus hang from the roof to a length of +four or five feet. At their lower extremities other Rotang ropes are +securely fastened crosswise, thus running, rather more horizontally, +parallel with the roof, so that they form a hanging bridge as it were +along the whole length of the roof. The roof is about 100 feet wide, and +from the entrance at the south to the deepest recess in the north end, the +cave is about 150 feet in length. Although only 10 feet high at the +entrance, the roof becomes gradually more and more lofty as the cavern +retreats, till at the farthest extremity it is about 20 to 25 feet above +the sea-level. Before any one of the nest-hunters proceeds to erect his +ladder, and again before proceeding to climb up upon it in such fearful +proximity to the thundering swell, a solemn prayer is proffered to the +goddess or queen of the sea-coast, whose blessing is invoked. At this +place she bears the name of _Njai-Ratu-Segor-Kidul_, or sometimes +_Ratu-Loro-Djunggrang_, and has dedicated to her in the village of +Karangbolong a temple, which is kept scrupulously clean. Occasionally the +gatherers make also a solemn sacrifice at the tomb of _Serot_, who, +according to a Javanese legend, is revered as the first discoverer of the +bird-nest caves." (The meaning of the above Javanese words is as follows: +_Njai_, the title of honour of a female, corresponding to our +"Madame:"--_Ratu_, Queen:--_Segoro_, ocean:--_Kidul_, south:--_Lero_, +maiden:--_Djunggrang_ is a surname.) Compare "Java, its physical Features, +Vegetation, and internal Structure," by Franz Junghuhn. Leipsig, Arnold, +1842. + +[55] The picul varies in weight between 125 and 133-1/3 pounds. + +[56] Toestand der aangeweekete Kinabomen op het eiland Java in het laatst +der Maand Julij, en het begni van Augustus, 1857. Kort beschreven door F. +Junghuhn, 116 pp. + +[57] At all events, among the planters up the country the opinion prevails +that the coffee beans prepared by the native population on what is called +the parching method are of far finer and more durable quality than those +prepared by the former process. + +[58] Professor Vriese, besides having all expenses paid, drew a salary of +L1000 per annum, besides 10 guilders (16_s._ 8_d._) a day for every day +passed by him in the interior of the island while engaged in its +explorations. + +[59] The commercial and statistical particulars of Java, for which we are +mainly indebted to the kindness of Mr. Fraser, the Austrian Consul in +Batavia, will be specially considered in a different part of the work. + +[60] The Javanese agriculturist, especially the coffee planter, is sadly +tormented by three kinds of grass, which Dr. Junghuhn has named the +Javanese Trinity, and which are invariably found with the coffee +plant--_Erichthitas Valerianifolia_ (which was introduced from Mocha with +the coffee-shrub, and was never before known in Java), _Agerahun +Conisoides_, and _Bideus Sundaica_. The civet-cat, too (called _Luah_ in +Javanese, Jjaruh in the Sunda language), does great damage to the coffee +plantations, just as the crop is being collected. It eats only the fleshy +part of the brown berry, the beans, at least according to what the +Javanese say, actually gaining a flavour by the process to which they are +subjected in the maw of the animal! + +[61] In 1859 the most important of the colonial products, grown for +account of the Government, presented the following quantities:-- + + Coffee piculs 727,000 (of 125 lbs. each) + Sugar " 901,000. + Indigo 558,800 lbs. + Cassia 256,000 " + Cochineal (a failure in the crops owing to incessant rains) 6,700 " + Tea 2,057,400 " + Pepper 45,000 " + +The duties on imports and exports for that year in the islands of Java and +Madura alone amounted to 7,440,579 guilders, or L620,048. + +N.B. The picul of 125 lbs. = 136 lbs. 10 ounces avoirdupois. + +[62] Since this was written a number of the Dutch officials and _savans_ +at Java, who showed so many civilities to the Austrian travellers, were +decorated by our Government with Austrian orders, among whom was also the +Raden Adipata Wira Nata Kusuma, the first native Javanese Regent ever +decorated by a foreign power. The prince was extremely delighted when he +was informed of it, and said he longed for the hour when the imperial +decoration was to arrive that he might put it on and wear it. Singularly +enough the presents and letters of acknowledgment sent to the Dutch +Government in the Hague for remittance, were not forwarded direct by the +mail steamer, but as customary by sailing vessels, so that they only +arrived six months after they were presented! + +[63] A genuine Javanese musical instrument, consisting of a number of +bells all differently tuned, which are struck with two small +bamboo-sticks. + +[64] Die Republic Costa Rica, in Central-America, mit besonderer +Beruecksichtigung der Naturverhaeltnisse, und der frage der deutschen +Answanderung und Colonisation. Reisestudien und Reiseskizzen aus den +Jahren 1853 und 1854. Von Dr. M. Wagner and Dr. Karl Scherzer. Leipzig, +Arnold'sche Buchhandlung. 1856. S. 196-197. + +[65] Colonel Von Schierbrand, to whom natural science is already under +deep obligations for acquiring a variety of valuable objects, is +constantly and indefatigably endeavouring, both as a friend of knowledge +and a zealous sportsman, to procure, sometimes by personal exertion, +sometimes by employing natives engaged at his own expense, a series of +rare geological specimens. He appears to be, like so many other of our +excellent friends in Java, a living contradiction to the proverb, "Out of +sight, out of mind," as he has since the return of the Expedition already +sent over as presents to the museums of our native country, valuable +selections of curious objects of natural history from the Indian +Archipelago. + +[66] The Loar-Badang (Public Market) is an immense building, a sort of +brothel on a large scale, kept by a Frenchman, who pays a handsome annual +sum to Government for the privilege of his infamous traffic. Here, among +others, are some 40 or 50 wretched outcasts, whom he sends off in boats +every evening to the merchantmen in the port, for the accommodation of +their crews!!! + +[67] According to official return, the number of criminals, in the year +1857, convicted in the islands of Java and Madura, was 3864, of whom 198 +were females and 955 were sentenced to the chain-gang. In the year 1857 +alone, 2525 coloured criminals were sentenced to hard labour, with or +without chains. The number of convictions in the Dutch East Indies, +exclusive of Java and Madura, amounted in the same year to 4430. + +[68] Thus the "Prima donna" receives for tragic opera 1500 guilders +(L125), and for comic opera 1800 guilders (L150) per month during the +season. The "troupe" is usually engaged for a year and a half or two years +together. + +[69] Of these we cannot refrain from mentioning Dr. Van den Broek, who +shortly before our arrival had returned from Japan, where he had resided +seven years as physician and Government agent. Dr. Van den Broek, who is +at present engaged in the editing a dictionary of the Dutch and Japanese +languages, presented us with a botanical work in Japanese with numerous +woodcuts, and at the same time was so exceedingly kind as to present us +with a small vocabulary of the Court and the popular dialects used in +Japan. + +[70] Among scientific circles in Batavia the recent departure of the +renowned ichthyologist, Dr. Bleeker, who intends to settle in Holland or +Germany, will be the more appreciated, that this resolve will be regarded +by his numerous European friends as a satisfactory assurance that the +valuable materials relating to natural history which he has collected will +ere long make their appearance in a suitable form. + +[71] Voyagers between Batavia and Manila must not, however, always expect +to make so rapid a voyage. In Manila we fell in with a ship captain, who +had left Batavia in April, and, owing to the prevalence of calms and +contrary winds, had been 59 days on the passage! + + + [Illustration: View from the Battlements at Manila.] + + + + + XIII. + + Manila. + + Stay from 15th to 25th June, 1858. + + Historical notes relating to the Philippines.--From Cavite to + Manila.--The river Pasig.--First impressions of the city.--Its + inhabitants.--Tagales and Negritoes.--Preponderating influence + of Monks.--Visit to the four chief monasteries.--Conversation + with an Augustine Monk.--Grammars and Dictionaries of the idioms + chiefly in use in Manila.--Reception by the Governor-general of + the Philippines.--Monument in honour of Magelhaens.--The + "Calzada."--Cock-fighting.--"Fiestas Reales."--Causes of the + languid trade with Europe hitherto.--Visit to the + Cigar-manufactories.--Tobacco cultivation in Luzon and at the + Havanna.--Abaca, or Manila hemp.--Excursion to the "Laguna de + Bay."--A row on the river Pasig.--The village of Patero.-- + Wild-duck breeding.--Sail on the Lagoon.--Plans for + canalization.--Arrival at Los Banos.--Canoe-trip on the + "enchanted sea."--Alligators.--Kalong Bats.--Gobernador and + Gobernadorcillo.--The Poll-tax.--A hunt in the swamps of + Calamba.--Padre Lorenzo.--Return to Manila.--The "Pebete."--The + military Library.--The civil and military Hospital.-- + Ecclesiastical processions.--Ave Maria.--Tagalian merriness.-- + Condiman.--Lunatic Asylum.--Gigantic serpent thirty-two years + old.--Departure.--Chinese pilots.--First glimpse of the coasts + of the Celestial Empire.--The Lemmas Channel.--Arrival in + Hong-kong Harbour. + + +Luzon, or Manila, the largest and most important island, politically +speaking, of the Philippine Archipelago, is the sole possession of the +Spanish Crown which was visited by the _Novara_ during her numerous +traverses and diagonal tracks on her voyage round the world. As we had +hitherto come into contact for the most part with the Anglo-Saxon race and +its colonies, it was naturally doubly interesting to have an opportunity +of becoming likewise acquainted with the results of civilization and +colonization as exemplified by what are called the Romaic or Latin +branches of the great Caucasian family, and by personal examination to +satisfy ourselves in what fashion the Castilians have succeeded in +identifying their own advantages with those of the natives of these +islands. True it is, that the history of the earlier Spanish dependencies +is by no means calculated to heighten our regard for the wisdom and +mildness of the colonial policy of Spain, or to give a particularly +favourable impression of the political and social condition of the +Philippine Islands. A state, whose power at the commencement of the +present century was still beaming in all its lustre, who has lost the +fairest and most fertile lands on the face of the earth, which it had +possessed for above three hundred years, without the slightest attempt to +defend them, whose Government, through its inflexible adherence to +obsolete forms and ordinances, after the dizzy pre-eminence of ruling the +world has dwindled into a power of the third class,--leaves nothing to +hope that any part of its organization should have remained intact, that +the canker in its political and social proclivities, which so suddenly and +so disastrously brought about the downfal of one of the mightiest and +most extended empires in the world, should not likewise have made its +appearance in the Philippines. However, it is precisely these +considerations which make the contrast between the colonies founded by the +Anglo-Saxon race in remote regions of the globe, and those of the Spanish, +Portuguese, Dutch, and so forth, so valuable and instructive, although a +rigid analysis of the causes which have conduced to the present condition +of the majority of the countries conquered and ruled by races of Latin +origin, must necessarily impress the unprejudiced inquirer in a sense +little flattering to these latter, namely, that the history of every +quarter of the globe would have assumed an entirely different aspect had +these countries been first discovered and colonized by the Anglo-Saxon +race, with its watchwords of freedom and religious toleration, instead of +the Spaniard or Portuguese, with tyranny and fanaticism inscribed on its +banners. + +The Archipelago of the Philippines comprises those numerous islands and +islets between the parallels of 5 deg. and 21 deg. N., and which are scattered +between the North Pacific Ocean on the east and the Chinese Sea on the +west. The entire group, which, according to the Spanish account, consists +of not fewer than 408 islands, extends over 16 deg. of latitude by 9 deg. of +longitude, covering a superficial area of 91,000 square miles, or about +the dimensions of England, Ireland, and Wales, exclusive of Scotland. Only +two islands however of the whole cluster are of considerable dimensions, +viz. Luzon, or Manila, which is about the same size as Galicia, Moravia, +and Silesia taken together, and Mindanao, which, in superficial area, is +about equal to Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola. + +As in size, so in fertility, natural advantages, and commerce, Luzon is +the most important island in the Archipelago, as it is likewise one of the +most delightful spots in the tropics. The climate is adapted to the +cultivation of all the plants and various forms of vegetation alike of the +torrid and the temperate zones. On the coast the thermometer never falls +below 71 deg.6 Fahr., nor rises above 95 deg. Fahr. In the highland valley of +Banjanao, 6000 feet above the level of the sea, albeit not above 36 miles +distant from Manila, the thermometer frequently descends as low as 44 deg.6 +Fahr. The highest register of the thermometer is during the rainy +months,[72] from May to September; but we were assured over and over again +that in Manila the heat is very equably distributed over the entire year, +and never attains such a high degree as many summer days in Madrid. The +most valuable and most extensively used plants of the tropical and +sub-tropical zones, suck as sugar, coffee, cocoa, cotton, bananas, maize, +tobacco, and rice, flourish here. The forests abound in all the most +valuable descriptions of cabinet-wood, but the narrow-minded illiberality +that has always characterized the colonial policy of Spain, the +numberless restrictions to which her commerce is subjected, do not admit +of that magnificent development of which this insular cluster, so +abounding in natural wealth, would be susceptible under a more free-souled +rule. The Spaniards have conquered and have subjugated the islands, +fanatical monks have what they call Christianized the people, but, during +the three hundred years that the Castilian has held the supremacy here, +little if anything has been done for the prosperity and development of the +country, or the intellectual and moral advancement of the people. + +The Philippine Islands were discovered by Magelhaens and Pigafetta on the +17th March, 1521, nearly twenty-nine years after the discovery of America +by Columbus, and two years after the conquest of Mexico by Fernando +Cortez. In consonance with the religious customs of that age, the group +was named by Magelhaens "The Archipelago of St. Lazarus," because the day +on which it was discovered corresponded with the fete-day of that saint in +the calendar. But the discovery did not imply the conquest of the +Archipelago. Four expeditions were dispatched at various intervals, +without their succeeding in subduing the natives. The solitary result +obtained thence was, that the commander of the fourth expedition, that of +1542, Don Ruy Lopez de Villalobos by name, changed the Scriptural name of +the Archipelago for that by which it is at present known, in honour of the +prince of Asturias (then 15 years old), afterwards Philip II. + +It was not till a fifth expedition had started in 1565, forty-one years +after the first discovery of the Archipelago by Magelhaens, that the +conquest was finally completed. The leader of this was Miguel Lopez de +Legaspi, a man noways inferior to a Cortez or a Pizarro in venturesomeness +of spirit, inflexible perseverance, and brilliant courage, and in humanity +far exceeding either. His squadron consisted of five ships, and his entire +force, including soldiers and mariners, was but 400 men. + +On 21st November, 1564, Legaspi sailed from Port Natividad in Spain, and +on 16th February, 1565, hove in sight of the Philippines. The hardy +navigator was accompanied by a number of Augustinian monks, who in the +subsequent subjugation of the islands proved far more serviceable than his +soldiers. The superior of these monks, Fray Andres de Urdaneta, a very +remarkable man, had commanded a ship in the first expedition, and had +afterwards been admitted into the order of St. Augustine. + +Four years after their arrival at the Philippines, and after they had +subdued the native inhabitants of the fertile islands of Cebu and Panay, +Legaspi first discovered Luzon, and there in the year 1571 founded the +city of Manila. Since this first conquest the Spaniards have by no means +been permitted to retain undisturbed possession of this smiling cluster of +islands. Not alone the Portuguese and the Dutch bestirred themselves at +various intervals to drive the Spaniards out of the Archipelago, but the +English likewise, in 1762, towards the close of the Seven Years' War, +invaded these settlements.[73] + +The area conquered, however, did not extend further inland than to a +distance of ten miles from the walls of the city, and after an occupation +of ten months, Manila was restored to the Crown of Spain by the Peace of +Paris, 1763. Since that memorable period, the Philippine group has +remained uninterruptedly under the dominion of the Spaniards, and has up +to the present day been a faithful dependent of the Royal House of +Castile. In fact, with the exception of Cuba and Porto Rico, the +Philippine and Marianne Archipelagoes are the sole colonies that Spain +still retains of her once so enormous possessions in the distant portions +of the globe, although in Manila even in our own day, as will be more +fully detailed presently, despite her honourable distinction of "_La +Siempre real ciudad_" (The Ever Loyal city), there is no lack of +discontent, and the generally prevailing "loyal tranquillity" is, none the +less, boding many serious perils for the Spanish supremacy. + +The most striking peculiarity of the natural configuration of Luzon[74] +is its strongly-marked separation into two peninsulas, a northern, which +comprises the larger portion, and a southern, smaller island; the former +named Luzon by the Spanish, the latter Camarinas. The length of the entire +island, including its numerous curves, is about 550 miles, and its +greatest width about 135 miles, but in many places it is little more than +thirty miles in breadth. The chain of the Caraballos mountains traverse +Luzon from north to south, and sends off spurs in various directions, +which impart an exceeding hilly aspect to the entire island. + +The Spaniards divide Luzon into three main divisions; Costa, Contra-Costa, +and Centro, corresponding pretty nearly with the western side, the eastern +side, and the interior of the island, and formerly indicating in what +order these different sections of the country had been subjected to the +Spanish dominion. The latest distribution is into 35 provinces and 12 +districts. + +Manila, the capital of Luzon, as also of the whole Archipelago, and the +oldest European settlement in this region of the globe, lies at the mouth +of a small but rather rapid river, the Pasig, which after a course of +about 30 miles, draws off to the sea the waters of the great Bay-Lake +(_Laguna de Bay_). In consequence of a not very conveniently situated +mole, the Pasig is forming a bar close to its own embouchure, which makes +it somewhat dangerous for boats to attempt an entrance in bad weather. +Ships, however, can anchor about 1-1/2 miles below the fortified walls of +the city, which, though impregnable to the attack of a native force, would +probably be found powerless to repel a European force attacking from +seaward. + +The members of the Scientific Commission started from Cavite, where the +frigate lay at anchor, in the small steamer which plies daily to the +capital, which, when beheld from a distance, with its gloomy, lofty, +defiant fortifications, and its dense clusters of monastic buildings and +church towers, gives the impression rather of some great Catholic Mission +than a place of commerce. In the roads there were not above 16 ships lying +at anchor, whereas we counted 165 in Singapore, a disproportion which, +considering the favourable site of Manila and its wealth in all manner of +valuable produce, can only be accounted for by the pressure of political +and administrative regulations, which weigh like a mountain upon trade and +commerce. + +On pulling up the river from its mouth, where it is about 300 feet wide, +we find ourselves in the vicinity of the light-house, in front of a dense +mass of the inevitable filthy bamboo huts, which being inhabited by the +very poorest section of the population, increase the dismal, gloomy +impression left by the first view of the city. We land in the +neighbourhood of the harbour-master's office, and have to pick our steps +through a dirty quarter of the town in order to reach the focus of public +activity. + +The river Pasig divides Manila Proper from its sister city of Binondo. Two +handsome bridges, one an old-fashioned stone one, the other a modern +suspension bridge of imposing dimensions, form the communication between +the two cities. Manila, situate on the southern or left bank, and enclosed +on all sides with ditches and fortifications, has all the peculiar +features of a Spanish town of the ancient type. It consists of eight +straight, narrow streets, all running in one direction. Within these are +most of the public buildings; the Governor-general's Palace and that of +the Archbishop, the Municipality, the Supreme Courts, the Cathedral, the +Arsenal, the Barracks. Profound silence reigns in the grass-grown streets, +between the gloomy masses of stone, of which at least one-third are Church +property. There is no evidence anywhere of joyous life or social progress, +and the variegated, charming flower-garden, lately laid out in the square +in front of the Cathedral, stands out like a solitary gay picture, amid +austere, sombre, historical paintings of vanished might and faded +splendour. Within the walls of this melancholy old city only Spaniards and +their descendants may dwell, all other races being excluded from this +privilege. The number of inhabitants within the fortifications does not +probably exceed 10,000 souls. + +On the other hand, Binondo, on the northern or right bank of the river, is +the true business city and head-quarters of trade. Here Europeans, +Chinese, Malays, and their endless intermixtures of blood, amounting in +all to more than 140,000 souls, reside in the most perfect harmony with +each other; here are all the warehouses, shops, and manufactories; here +prevails from morning till night a perpetual whirl of busy, cheerful +crowds circulating through the streets, of which that called the Escolta +is the most frequented, as it is the handsomest and most attractive. The +houses, on account of the frequency of earthquakes, are usually one storey +high, enclosing large courts (_patios_), and very frequently with a sort +of terrace on the roof. The interiors of the houses have an unusually +spacious appearance, owing to their almost universally having but little +furniture, in many cases simply a number of chairs ranged along the walls. +But the most singular aspect of these houses is to be found in the +windows, the panes of most of them being made, not of glass, but of the +shell of a species of oyster (_Placuna Placenta_), ground down to the +requisite thinness! The subdued light which is thus obtained is +exceedingly grateful, and these mussel-shells have been found to be +cheaper and more lasting than panes of glass, which, in a country so +frequently visited by earthquakes and hurricanes, could only be replaced +when injured at an immense expense. The streets are rather narrow, so much +so that linen awnings are stretched across the streets from one row of +shops to that opposite, thus securing to the foot-passenger the +inestimable boon of being able during the hottest hours of the day to +traverse almost every street in Binondo under shade. + +That which the stranger understands by the emphatic word "comfort" is only +to be found in the houses of European residents, and is not obtainable by +money. The two hotels lately started to levy, unchallenged, Californian +prices for even the most moderate requirements, and so far as cleanliness +and orderliness are concerned, lag far behind the commonest country inn in +North America or the British colonies.[75] + +Despite the various races that meet the stranger's gaze, Manila has, +beyond any other colony in the East, the appearance of a European town. +One remarks here, that the colonists are more completely amalgamated with +the natives, and that with the religion these latter have also adopted a +considerable proportion of the customs of Europeans. + +Among the populace of Manila belonging to the coloured races, that most +prevalent in the capital is the Tagal, or Tagalag, on whose territory the +Spaniards founded their first settlement. The obscurity that envelopes +their origin has never been dispelled, although some of the older +religious writers thought they found on Borneo and other islands of the +Sunda Archipelago some traces of their stock. They were confirmed in this +impression by the fact, that in the most cultivated dialects and idioms +of the Tagal is to be found an unusually great number of Malay and +Javanese words. The majority of the plants cultivated here, such as rice, +sugar-cane, yam, indigo, cocoa-palm, as also all domestic animals, many of +the metals, and even the digits used in enumeration, are, although greatly +corrupted, directly traceable to the corresponding words or names in +Malay. Moreover, there is a tradition very prevalent throughout Luzon, +that the Spaniards, at their first arrival in this Archipelago, found +certain Bornese officials here, who were levying taxes and tithes for the +Rajahs resident in that island. + +Next in number to the Tagals rank the Chinese with their descendants, and +to these succeed the Spaniards, with their offspring born in the country, +who amount together to barely 5000, or about a 28th of the whole +population of the capital; of Spaniards of pure descent, there are not +above 300 in Manila.[76] + +Besides the Tagal there is in this Archipelago yet another race, the +_Negritos_, who only inhabit the mountain districts of the islands of +Luzon, Mindoro, Panay, Negros, and Mindanao, and are estimated at about +25,000 souls. These Negritos del Monte, or Negrillos, also called Aeta, +Aigta, Ite, Inapta, and Igorote, are small in physical conformation as +compared with their African congeners. The characteristic features of the +negro are less strongly marked, the colour of their skin and their +complexion are both less black. For this reason old Spanish authors speak +of them as "_menos negro y menos feo_" (less negro-like and less hideous). +Owing to their small stature, which does not average above 4 feet 8 inches +English, they have received the appellation of Negritos (diminutive +Negroes). By Spanish writers upon the Philippines they have been described +as a still existent branch of the lowest type of humanity, without fixed +dwellings, without regular employment, eking out a bare subsistence on +roots and wild fruits, and such animals as they could bring down with the +bow and arrow, their only weapon. Through the kind offices of Mr. Grahame, +we had an opportunity of gratifying our curiosity to see an individual of +this singular race of Negritos. This was a girl of about 12 or 14 years of +age, of dwarf-like figure, with woolly hair, broad nostrils, but without +the dark skin and wide everted lips which characterize the negro type. +This pleasing-looking, symmetrically formed girl had been brought up in +the house of a Spaniard, apparently with the pious object of rescuing her +soul from heathenism. The poor little Negrilla hardly understood her own +mother tongue, besides a very little Tagal, so that we had considerable +difficulty in understanding each other. The received opinion that the +Negrillos and the Igorotes are of a distinct race, but having some +affinity with the Papuans of New Guinea, seems to us for many reasons very +problematical. We are as yet far too little acquainted with the races +inhabiting the most inaccessible parts of the island, to be able to +pronounce a correct opinion upon such a point. The probabilities are not +less that the Negritos and Igorotes stand in the same relation to the +dwellers on the coast as the Bushmen to the Hottentots, the Weddahs to the +Cingalese, or the savages of Sambalong to the natives of the rest of the +Nicobars. + +The Spanish language is only available in Manila and the vicinity;--a few +miles in the interior, even in places which hold almost daily +communication with Manila, Tagal is much more commonly used. At present +Tagal is written and printed exclusively in the Roman character. While in +Manila, we never once saw a book or MS. in which the ancient character had +been used. Even the oldest printed matter, such as, for instance, a Tagal +grammar, published in Manila in 1610, contains only a few samples of the +native alphabet, while as to its original arrangement, as also the form of +the numerals, the utmost uncertainty prevails. The entire alphabet, which, +including the three vowels, consists of but 17 letters, comprises the +following characters: + +[Transcriber's Note: Each of the italicized character groups below +designate the Roman equivalent to a Tagal character. The Tagal character +can not be rendered here. It is available in the .html version of this +book.] + + Vowels. + + _a_ _e_ and _i_ _o_ and _u_ + + Consonants. + + _ba_ _ca_ _da_ a. _ra_ _ga_ _nga_ + + _ha_ _la_ _ma_ _na_ _pa_ a. _fa_ + + _sa_ _ta_ _va_ _ya_ + +A dot _above_ the character changes the vowel sound _a_ of the original +consonants into _e_ and _i_. + + _be_ _ke_ _de_ a. _re_ _ge_ _nge_ _he_ _le_ _me_ _ne_ + + [Line of Tagal characters] + + _bi_ _ki_ _di_ a. _ri_ _gi_ _ngi_ _hi_ _li_ _mi_ _ni_ + + _pe_ a. _fe_ _se_ _te_ _ve_ _ye_ + + [Line of Tagal characters] + + _pi_ a. _fi_ _si_ _ti_ _vi_ _yi_ + +A dot _below_ the character changes the vowel sound _a_ of the original +consonant into _o_ and _u_. + + _bo_ _co_ _do_ a. _ro_ _go_ _ngo_ _ho_ _lo_ _mo_ _no_ + + [Line of Tagal characters] + + _bu_ _cu_ _du_ a. _ru_ _gu_ _ngu_ _hu_ _lu_ _mu_ _nu_ + + _po_ a. _fo_ _so_ _to_ _vo_ _yo_ + + [Line of Tagal characters] + + _pu_ a. _fu_ _su_ _tu_ _vu_ _yu_ + +From the foregoing characters it would appear that _a_ and _o_, as also +_e_ and _i_, _da_ and _ra_, _pa_ and _fa_, had each but one and the same +character.[77]--Besides the Tagal, five other different idioms are used by +the civilized races of Luzon, namely, Bisaya, Pangasinana (the same as +Ilocano), Tbanac (same as Cagayana), Bicol, and Pampanya. + +The Tagals are a small race, of a clear yellow complexion, and, +notwithstanding their broad flat noses and thick lips, are by no means of +unpleasing appearance. The hair of the head is rigid, bristly, and black; +the beard very sparse. They all wear European clothes more or less, +although the fashion in which they wear them is quite peculiar and +ludicrously odd. Not merely do the lower orders and servants wear the +shirt ironed perfectly smooth and unwrinkled, instead of a coat, above +their continuations, but the Tagal dandy prides himself on his +well-lacquered boots, his white stockings, his new Paris silk hat worn +with a jaunty cock to one side, and above all his carefully plaited +resplendent white shirt, as he struts through the streets of Manila, +cigaret in his mouth, and swinging an elegant little cane! The women wear, +like the Javanese women, the "Sarong," a parti-coloured striped cotton +dress, rolled round the loins, and a close-fitting very short jacket, so +short indeed that between it and the gown a space about an inch wide +intervenes through which the naked body is visible, while the fine +transparent gauze-like stuff of which the jacket is made is much better +calculated to show off than to conceal their attractions. This universal +fashion of dress is the more surprising, as the various orders of monks +exercise in all other respects an almost despotic control over the +natives, and as it is much more attributable to their influence than to +that of the secular authorities that the speech, manners, and customs of +old Castile have taken firm and extensive root in the Philippines. It +seems, however, unjust to compare this group of islands, as has been done +by modern writers, on account of the all-pervading influence of the +Spanish element, with a province of Spain, in contradistinction to the +colonies of other nations, where the Europeans have always been regarded +by the natives as the lords of a conquered country. The English in India, +Ceylon, and New Zealand, and the Dutch in Java, all appear to have a much +firmer and more secure footing than the Spaniards, despite their having +mingled with the people. How little can be effected by forced amalgamation +of speech and manners, is best illustrated by the late separation of +Central and Southern America from the Spanish rule, although in most of +these countries the majority of the people speak only Spanish, and are +governed entirely in accordance with Spanish customs. Much better founded +seems to us the observation that it was less the sword than the cross of +Spain which brought the Philippines under the throne of Castile, and that +the natives have become Spanish Christians, without being Spanish +subjects. The entire Archipelago is nothing but one rich church domain, a +safe retreat for the legion of Spanish monks, who are able to lord it here +with unrestrained power. There is a Governor-general of the Philippines +only so long as it pleases the Augustinian, Dominican, and Franciscan +friars; and if ever an insurrection breaks out in the Archipelago, +designed to shake off the Spanish yoke, there will be more than one monk +to head the movement. + +In a country where the cloister and its denizens interfere so arbitrarily +in all the concerns of life, and impart to the capital itself, as indeed +to the entire Archipelago, a character entirely peculiar to itself, +religious establishments and their zealous occupants call for special +consideration, and the reader need assuredly feel no surprise that we +should begin the narrative of our visit to the capital of the Philippines +by a description of its monasteries. In Manila these unfortunately are +not, as they were in the middle ages, the nurseries of culture and +civilization, of science and art, but rather give the impression of being +simply huge establishments for the maintenance of zealous souls, weary of +life, who wish to close their days of labour in tranquil contemplation, +exempt from all anxiety. + +The four orders of monks to whose hands are confided the entire spiritual +and very much of the secular well-being of the inhabitants of the +Philippines, are the Augustines (_Agustinos Calzados_--sandalled friars), +the Franciscans, the Dominicans, and the barefoot Augustinian mendicants +(_Agustinos descalzados_ or _Recoletos_). + +The monastery of the Bare-Foot Friars, lying close to the wall of the +fortifications, consists of a number of spacious buildings, some of which +date from the 17th century. Everything here tells of former power and +splendour. From the billiard-room and parlour on the first storey, the eye +is charmed by a marvellous landscape commanding the Bay of Manila and the +mountains that surround it. How delightful must it be in the evening +twilight to pace these airy chambers in the society of congenial souls, +and, while the brow is fanned by the cool sea-breeze, to give free scope +to the reins of fancy, as it swept far away over the Bay of Manila! For +what privations must not such a source of pure exquisite enjoyment +indemnify the ascetic brethren of the cloister! That spiritual meditation +and converse however do not form the sole topics discussed in these +departments, was abundantly evidenced by the hints let fall by several of +the monks who conducted us through the various corridors and apartments, +and who were constantly indulging in visions of Carlist supremacy and a +return of the halcyon days of monasticism. On our remarking that so far as +worldly consideration was concerned, the cloister enjoyed far more cordial +support in Manila than either in Spain or Cuba, one of the Augustinians +who was accompanying us, a tall commanding figure, attired in the plain +garb of the order, replied: "The Government knows that it has need of us, +that it could not get on a day without us, therefore it leaves us in +peace, and places no impediments in our path as in Spain."[78] And he was +right. Whensoever the monks lift the finger, Spain has ceased to rule in +the Philippines. The spiritual reins have ever bridled the secular +authority, and such a state of things is the severest impediment to the +development of the country and its intellectual growth. + +Of the various monastic orders resident in Manila the Augustinians are by +far the best educated. They have made the various dialects of the native +races their study far more deeply than the other orders. The "_Flora de +las Filipinas_," the _only_ botanical work which has ever been published +in the Spanish language, treating of this interesting Archipelago, was +compiled by an Augustinian monk, Fray Manuel Blanco.[79] + +The number of monks resident in the monastery of Manila when we were there +was 48, but there was room enough for three times as many. Altogether +there were of the Augustinian order 58 monasteries and parishes in the +island of Luzon, extending from one end of the island to the other. In the +entire Archipelago there are, according to public documents, 145 +Augustinian monks, whose authority extends over 14 provinces and 153 +villages, numbering 1,615,051 souls.[80] + +The monastery of the Dominicans is kept clean and comfortable, and its +wide spacious apartments leave a less vivid impression of decay and human +indifference than the majority of the monastic edifices. Here also the +lofty, light chambers in the upper storeys command a magnificent prospect. +The Prior, Padre Vellinchon, received the Austrian travellers with much +cordiality, and conducted them in person round all the apartments of the +very extensive building. He spoke Latin pretty fluently, and without the +peculiar Spanish accent, besides possessing a slight acquaintance with +French; and was somewhat better informed upon European matters than his +spiritual _confreres_. The library of the order is not kept in the +convent, but in one of the buildings of the University of St. Thomas also +used by the Dominicans, but it is quite unimportant, whether as regards +the number of works it contains or their scientific value. + +The spiritual jurisdiction of the Dominicans extends over eight provinces +of the Archipelago, including 76 villages, with in all 427,593 souls, +whose eternal interests are watched over by 76 brethren of the order.[81] + +A Dominican friar, Joaquin Fonseca, is president of the permanent +commission of Censorship of Books, consisting in all of nine members, five +of whom are nominated by Government and four by the Archbishop of +Manila.[82] We had the pleasure of being made acquainted with Fray +Joaquin Fonseca, who also holds the appointment of Professor of Theology +in the University of St. Thomas, and were presented by him with a copy of +an imperfect epic poem composed in Spanish, which had for subject the +history of the island of Luzon and its inhabitants.[83] Of this +interesting fragment we shall publish a translation in another place. + +Just as we were leaving the Dominican monastery, its worthy Prior begged +our acceptance, by way of souvenir of our visit, of a copy of Dante's +Divina Commedia in the original text, and a dictionary of the Ybanac, one +of the idioms most extensively used throughout the Archipelago. + +The monastery of the Franciscans presents no other feature of interest, +than in so far as it is an emblem of the melancholy spiritual decay in +which the members of this order at present find themselves in Manila. The +dirt and untidiness which were not merely apparent in the various +apartments, but which were even but too obvious in the external appearance +of the brothers of the order, make a most disagreeable impression; for +poverty and necessity, these two cardinal principles of the mendicant +orders, are by no means incompatible with cleanliness and neatness. + +The Franciscans possess 16 missions in 14 of the provinces, comprising +159 villages and 749,804 inhabitants.[84] The spiritual instruction of +these is intrusted to 184 brethren of the order, 74 priests, and 43 +_Clerigos Interinos_ (occasional preachers). + +The monastery of the _Recoletos_, or Reformed Augustinians, offers a not +less impressive prospect than that of the Franciscans. Here, too, the +occupants permit to appear a careless indifference utterly destructive of +the value of their ghostly ministration. As we entered, the brethren of +the order had finished their mid-day repast. Some of the monks were still +sitting in a dirty, gloomy verandah round a table on which was spread a +table-cloth stained with food and drink, while in front of each stood a +half-empty wineglass. A lay brother announced us, upon which one of the +monks rose to bid us welcome. From his rather jovial appearance, and the +suspicious colour of his nose, we presumed he was the cellarer, and were +not a little surprised when, in the course of conversation, he announced +that it was the Prior himself who was speaking with us. + +We had the utmost difficulty in making the brethren, whose information was +of a most limited extent, comprehend from what country we came. The +circumstance that the original German name _Oesterreich_ is pronounced +Austria in Spanish, puzzled still more hopelessly the comprehension of +the monks, whose geographical knowledge did not seem to extend much +beyond the sphere of their vision. At first they confounded Austria with +Australia, and fancied we must have come direct from the fifth quarter of +the globe, but when the _Novara_ voyagers, proud of their Fatherland, +refused to permit this opinion to pass current, and gave a more clear +explanation, one of the younger monks thought he had at last found out our +_habitat_, and evidently priding himself on having solved the riddle, gave +his less ingenious brethren to understand that we came, not from +Australia, but from Asturias, and were consequently fellow-countrymen! The +limited intelligence of the Franciscan mistook Austria for Asturias, and +made of the Austrian Empire a Spanish province! Lest the hypothesis should +suggest itself to the reader, that this confusion of foreign empires with +domestic provinces might possibly have originated in our not being +acquainted with the language of the country, it is necessary that we +should inform him that one member of the Expedition was thoroughly versed +in Spanish, so as to be able to maintain fluent conversation, and that he +was perfectly comprehended upon all other topics. Just as little must it +be supposed that the above anecdote is but an ill-natured imputation, or +the expression of a long-vanished national jealousy, or anything else than +a proof of the present state of education among the present occupants of +the monasteries of Manila. + +The Recoletos watch over the spiritual weal of 567,416[85] children +belonging to parishes in the various islands of the Archipelago, and +number 127 brethren. + +In each monastery there is what is called a _Procuracion_, where the +various printed books published by the order (almost exclusively +dictionaries and grammars of the native languages and dialects) are sold +for the behoof of the funds of the monastery. The members of our +Expedition exerted themselves to form a very complete collection of all +such publications; and while thus engaged they also succeeded in getting +several MS. treatises on language.[86] Works and memoirs on the history of +the island and the state of its inhabitants are scarcely met with in the +wretchedly deficient libraries of the monasteries, which consist of not +more than 500 or 600 volumes, mostly works of theology and philosophy. +Whatever of valuable literary material may once have belonged to these +institutions has apparently been removed to Spain, whose libraries have +also gradually absorbed the literary treasures of the monasteries of +Central and Southern America. + +Besides the monasteries, Government Square (Plaza de Gobierno), in the +inner portion of the city, possesses some little interest for strangers. +It has the shape of a large oblong, surrounded on each of its four sides +by the palace of the Governor-general, that of the archbishop, the +cathedral, and the law offices, with a well-kept garden-plot in the +centre, in which is a handsome statue of Charles IV., the whole strongly +recalling the principal square in the Havanna. The cathedral is equally as +remarkable for the clumsiness of its exterior as for the profusion of +perishable gold and silver within. The first edifice was erected by +Legaspi, the conqueror of Luzon, in 1571, and was composed of bamboo-cane +thatched with palm-leaves. The present temple was built in 1654 during the +papacy of Innocent X., after several previous buildings had been +destroyed, some by fire, others by earthquake. The palace of the +Captain-general is an extensive but very simple building, with long wide +corridors internally, but which can make no pretensions to architectural +magnificence externally. In one of its saloons our Commodore and his +companions were received by the Captain-general of the Philippines, Don +Fernando Narzagaray, who had held this elevated post since 1857. Formerly +Governor of the island of Porto Rico, in the West Indies, Don Fernando +was, in consequence of his openly avowed Carlist proclivities, sent into +honourable exile to the Philippines, and by a lucky chance is at present +once more invested with the dignity of one of the highest officials of +Queen Isabel II. of Spain. This gentleman received the voyagers of the +_Novara_ with the proverbial lofty courtesy of the Spaniards, yet not +without suffering to appear in his address a certain embarrassment and +hesitation, which however may have been due to his not being sufficiently +acquainted with any other tongue than the Spanish, to enable him to use it +in giving fluent expression to his thoughts. The conversation turned +chiefly upon the scene of our latest visit, Java. Notwithstanding the not +very formidable distance, and the constant communication existing between +the two islands, the Captain-general seemed to have but a very vague +conception of the political and social condition of Java, and framed his +questions as though they related to some remote island, in some entirely +different section of the globe, rather than an island in all but immediate +vicinity. As we prepared to return to our vehicles, Don Fernando made use +of the usual unmeaning compliment "_Usted[87] sabe que mi casa es a la +disposicion de Usted!_" (You know you may consider my house as entirely at +your disposal):[88] it would rather have astonished him though, had his +visitors taken him at his word! + +Passports, which are absolutely necessary in Manila to make the very +shortest excursion into the interior, are given with the utmost alacrity +to strangers, without any one thenceforward paying the slightest attention +to enabling any expedition to carry out its objects. This cold, utterly +indifferent treatment was doubly felt by travellers fresh from Batavia, +where they had been overwhelmed with every sort of attention. + +In the office of the Captain-general we saw several large sheets of +printed matter in columns, suspended on the walls, which we presumed were +the annual statistics of the commerce of the Archipelago, and accordingly +requested one of the officials to provide us with one. It was only when +unfolding a little later the documents which had been so readily given to +us that we discovered our error, and became aware that these tables +printed with such care and elegance did not in any way refer to what we +had supposed, but were the statistics of the various monasteries, and +their inhabitant brethren throughout the Philippines. We had far greater +trouble and difficulty ere we could get at the particulars of the natural +productions and state of trade of Manila. + +When the visitor passes through the St. Domingo gate to the suburb of +Binondo, on the N.E. side of the inner city, we traverse what is called +the Isthmus, a narrow strip of meadow-land, surrounded by water on both +sides, on which has been erected within these few years a simple monument +in honour of Magelhaens, the discoverer of the Philippines, who, wounded +by a native with a poisoned arrow, breathed his last, 15th April, 1521, on +the small island of Mactan, lying opposite Cebu. A Doric column of black +marble, 76 feet high, with inscriptions engraven on the four sides of the +pedestal, lifts its head here since 1854,[89] and is altogether a more +appropriate monument than that which the Spaniards erected at Havanna to +the greatest navigator of any age, Christopher Columbus, to whom they owe +all their after power and greatness, on the spot where his ashes reposed +for many a long year in the cathedral before they were conveyed back to +Spain. A poor insignificant votive tablet, built into a recess near the +altar, is all that intimates that there once reposed there for a season +the mortal remains of the man who, to use the words of a German poet, +"bestowed on the world another world."[90] + +On this isthmus are situated the most delightful pleasure grounds in +Manila; the esplanade, with its simple, shady walks, and benches on which +to repose, and further on, nearer the sea on the left bank of the river, +the "Calzada" dam (causeway). Hither every evening comes the gay world of +Manila, in long rows of carriages, to be fanned by the delicious cool +sea-breeze. Arrived at the farther extremity of the promenade, the +coachman, resplendent in gorgeous livery and large shining top-boots, for +he does not drive from the box but rides postilion, is usually ordered to +stop, and the gentlemen leave the carriage in order to chat with the +ladies in the surrounding vehicles, just as we accost our fair friends in +the theatre, and pay our visits in the boxes. For in Manila there are +neither theatres nor concert-rooms, and the public promenade is therefore +the only rendezvous of the "beau monde." + +Unfortunately we reached Manila in the height of the rainy season, when +even the attractiveness of nature can only be guessed at by occasional +glimpses, and the delightful outdoor life which enlivens the streets and +the front porch of the private residences of the inhabitants, is utterly +arrested. Here, as in Batavia, the tropical rains fall with a violence of +which a native of the northern climates, who has never lived in the +tropics, and knows only the rainfall of his own country, can hardly form +any conception. In July, 1857, it rained here for fourteen days +uninterruptedly, so that the Pasig overflowed its banks, and people were +ferried about the streets of Manila, as in the city of Lagoons, by means +of small boats, called here _bancas_. This inundation was converted into a +merry-making, and visits were paid on all sides in elegant little boats. + +The one sole amusement with which even the rainy season cannot interfere, +is cock-fighting. So soon as the bad weather has fairly set in, universal +recourse is had to this, the most popular of amusements, whose cruel, +murderous issue is strangely in contrast with the mild, soft, timid +character of the natives. These "_Gallos_," as they are called, are a +monopoly of Government, that is to say, they can only be held with their +permission, and upon payment of a fee for such license. The revenue which +Government derives from this anything but civilized amusement is very +considerable,[91] and the fee paid by the owners of the cocks and the +spectators is at any rate the least objectionable part of the spectacle, +for far larger sums are lost in the betting. What cards and hazard are for +_blasee_ Europe, cock-fighting is for the simple native of Manila. Such is +their passionate excitement, that several days elapse before their +ordinary apathy subsides into its state of chronic contentment. It is +singular that, with the exception of the Spaniards and the mixed race +founded by them in various distant parts of the world, there is not now +one single civilized nation that can find any pleasure in such brutal +amusements as cock-fights and bull-fights. + +The scene of action is a small building, built of bamboo, and thatched +with palm-leaves, in the interior of which the benches for the spectators +rise behind each other in form of an amphitheatre, while the arena, or +pit, is filled with the owners of cocks and betting-men, until the signal +for the commencement of the combat is given. Each owner caresses or +incites once more his champion, or to prove his courage flings him against +one of the other cocks. At last the spectators have decided to back one or +the other of the cocks, red or white, the flat comb or the round comb; the +bets are "on," and the "spur," a sharp-pointed weapon above two inches in +length, and provided with a sheath, is firmly attached to the right foot. +Then the two cocks are simultaneously swung against each other, and a few +feathers are plucked from their necks to excite their fury. The bell in +the hand of the director gives the signal for the commencement of the +"main." The spectators retire from the "pit," the sheaths are taken off +the trenchant spurs, and the encounter commences. Most marvellous is the +eagerness for the fray, the dogged valour, which these two knightly +antagonists display to the very last gasp; how even wounded, bleeding, and +sorely fatigued, they will not give up the contest! Occasionally it +happens that neither of the combatants is hailed the victor. The +extraordinary keen, sharp "spur" sometimes wounds both warriors with +terrible severity, till with severed limbs, and bleeding from every pore, +both lie dead on the field of battle.[92] + +Very comical is the method hit upon in those places of amusements to +supply the places of the return tickets in use amongst ourselves, and at +the same time render it impossible for any different person to make use of +them. When a native wishes to leave the apartment with the intention of +returning he has his naked fore arm, near the wrist, stamped as he goes +out with a black die, which secures his re-admission, and at the same time +obviates all anxiety as to his losing his return ticket! On his return +this mark is easily wiped out. + +During our stay occurred the "_Fiestas Reales_," or royal fetes, which +were given by the Colonial Government in honour of the birth of an heir to +the Spanish throne, Don Alfonso, Prince of the Asturias. The little +heir-apparent had, in fact, seen the light in the month of November +preceding, at Madrid, but when the news reached the Philippines it was +Lent; respect for the tenets of the Catholic Church deferred the +festivities, and afterwards the various fire-works, triumphal arches, +illuminations, &c., took so long a preparation that the month of June and +the rainy season were again at hand before the fete could be held, which +owing to the latter circumstance fell through, and excited hardly any +interest. That intelligence should be so many months in arriving at the +Philippines is due less to their great distance, than to the little care +taken by Government to promote the public interests. Until 1857, all +letters to Europe were for the most part dispatched by sailing vessels, so +that letters remained four or five months on the way, and owing to the +uncertainties of the length of passage made by the various vessels, it was +constantly happening that the last letters sent came to hand before those +dispatched several weeks earlier. This irregularity and uncertainty +weighed so heavily upon commerce, that since March, 1858, there has been +established regular communication by steam between Manila and Europe, the +epistolary matter from Europe, for the residents throughout the +Archipelago, being conveyed by a Spanish steamer from Hong-kong, which is +distant only 600 miles, while all letters for Europe are conveyed to the +latter port in time for the mails of the 1st and 15th of each month, +whence they are forwarded together with the English correspondence via +Singapore and Suez. + +On the other hand there is up to this moment no regular communication with +any of the adjacent islands in the Archipelago, even the Government only +availing itself of such sailing vessels as private adventurers may from +time to time charter. When any change of officials takes place, the new +appointment must often remain vacant for months till the occupant reach +his post; indeed, during our stay in Manila we witnessed a case in which +the consort of the Governor of the Marianne Archipelago had been vainly +waiting for months for an opportunity to return to her husband.[93] Some +foreign merchants settled at Manila had made an offer to the Government, +in consideration of a fixed subsidy, to establish regular communication +between the various islands of the Archipelago, and to keep it on foot by +means of five steam vessels. But the Colonial Government did not see its +way to giving the company a larger subsidy than 43,000 Spanish piasters +(L6763 at par), and thus the whole plan once more fell through, the +carrying out of which would so greatly tend to the development of these +islands. + +Notwithstanding the fertility of the islands in all manner of natural +wealth, there are at present but three products of the soil which are +exported in anything like large quantities to the European and North +American markets, and which thus give this group any importance in the +eyes of the commercial world, viz. tobacco, Abaca, or Manila hemp, and +sugar. The amount of all other articles exported, such as coffee, indigo, +Sapan wood (_Caesalpinia sapan_), straw-plait,[94] hides and skins of +animals, &c., is proportionately but small. We visited the great +manufactories of Binondo, as also that of Arroceros, where _cigarillos_, +or paper-covered cigarettes, are exclusively manufactured. The former +gives employment to about 8000 work-people, mostly women. In the long +workshops, where it is common to see 800 females sitting at work on low +wooden benches in front of a narrow table, there prevails a most +disagreeable deafening hubbub. Some are busy moistening the leaves, and +cutting off the requisite lengths, or are sorting the fragments and +smaller pieces, of which inferior cigars will be made; others hold in +their right hand a flat smoothed stone, with which they keep continually +pounding each single leaf, in order to make these more susceptible of +being rolled up. This drumming noise, and the cries of several hundreds of +workwomen, who, on the appearance of foreign visitors, handle their +implements of stone with yet more energy, apparently out of sheer +wantonness, the strong odour of the tobacco, and the disagreeable +exhalations from the bodies of so many human beings shut up together in +one close apartment, in a tropical temperature, have such an unpleasant, +uncomfortable effect that one hastens to exchange the damp sultry vapours +of the workshops for the fresh air without. + +In the _Cigarillo_ manufactory about 2000 workmen find employment. Here +also there is felt in the workshops the same clammy, sultry atmosphere. A +workman can make about 150 packages of 25 cigarettes, or 3750, per diem, +for which he is paid four reals[95] (1_s._ 7_d._ English). Most +extraordinary is the rapidity, bordering almost upon the magical, with +which the cigarillos are counted, divided into packages, bound up, and +stamped. The unpractised vision of the visitor is hardly able to follow +the celerity of motion of the workman's hands and fingers. + +Besides the two factories already mentioned, there is yet a third +cigarillo manufactory in Cavite, which employs 4000, and a fourth in +Malabon, employing 5000, workwomen. The quantities annually produced by +these various manufactories amount to about 1,200,000,000 cigarillos. If +we deduct the numerous holidays of the Church, on which no work is done, +we shall find that about 5,000,000 must be made daily. Government buys up +each year from the planters the entire crop of tobacco at a fixed price, +and exports it partly in leaf, but for the most part in cigars, the right +to manufacture which no one possesses but the Government. The monopoly of +tobacco was, after great difficulties had been encountered, first +introduced into the Philippines in 1787 by Don Jose Basco, the then +Governor-general. + +The greater part of the cigars are shipped to the East Indies, the islands +of the Malay Archipelago, and North America, only a small quantity in +proportion coming to Europe for sale. + +The principal tobacco-growing districts of the island of Luzon are Cagayan +and Bisayx, in which on an average 180,000 cwt. of tobacco are grown +annually; of these about 80,000 cwt. are sent annually in the leaf to +Spain, while the surplus are worked up into cigars in Luzon itself, sold +at auction (_al martillo_) every month, and knocked down to the highest +bidder. The average price is 8 to 10 dollars per 1000 _Costados_. There is +but one species of tobacco grown in Manila, and the size of the leaf is +the sole element that regulates the value. The Manila tobacco is a very +strong narcotic; there is, notwithstanding the prevailing opinion in +Europe, no opium mingled with it; one end being simply dipped in rice +juice to glue it together. Indeed, the enormous cost of that liquid drug, +which plays so important a part in the history of the Chinese empire, +would alone prevent its being used. As cigars are greatly in request by +both sexes in Manila, and it is necessary first to provide for the supply +of the country itself, it occasionally happens that the stocks are not +sufficiently large at once to supply all demands for exportation. Except +during the public sales by auction, no one is permitted to buy of +Government more than 1000 cigars at once, a regulation most vicious in +principle and useless in practice, as persons who wish to possess larger +quantities of cigars have simply to send round to any number of persons in +the tobacco trade, in order to provide themselves with what they require. +We ourselves experienced how any one, who was desirous of buying 45,000 +cigars, sent 45 different individuals to the bonded magazine, from which +each brought 1000 cigars without any further interference. + +Although altogether more tobacco is raised on the island of Luzon than in +Cuba, yet the exportation from the former is far less in quantity, for the +reason already commented upon, that a large portion of the tobacco so +grown is consumed in the country itself. Luzon provides 1/10th, and Cuba +1/12th of the entire production of tobacco on the earth, which amounts to +4,000,000 cwt.[96] There are indeed two countries which produce a far +larger quantity of tobacco than either Luzon or Cuba,[97] but in no other +country does the tobacco leaf attain such superior quality, owing to +favourable climate and congenial soil, as in the Spanish possessions +already named. + +Another chief product of the Philippines, which first found its way into +the markets of the world from these islands, is what is called Manila +hemp. This, however, is not the common hemp plant (_Cannabis sativa_), but +is procured from the fibres of the "_Musa textilis_," a species of +banana, and is called by the Tagals _abaca_. The plant comes in great +quantities from almost every one of the Philippines, from Luzon to +Mindanao, so that the area over which it extends stretches between the +equator and 20 deg. N. This seems, however, to be the most northerly limit of +vegetation of the _Musa textilis_, and consequently it is out of question +to attempt to introduce into Europe the cultivation of this most useful +plant, which, ere it can be profitably grown, requires a temperature of +77 deg. Fahr. The stem of this _musacea_ grows in the Philippines to a height +of from 9 to 12 feet, by about 6 inches in thickness, its leaves being of +an exceedingly dark green colour, 8 feet in length by 1-1/2 feet in width. +The fruit is smaller, and neither so yellow nor so palatable as that of +the common banana. To procure the hemp, the trunk, so soon as the fleshy +bulbous fruit makes its appearance, is stripped of its splendid leaves, +which serve as fodder for the oxen, and is left about three days to +ferment. It is then peeled off in pieces, which by the application of a +corresponding pressure are drawn between two knives, not too sharp, in +order to separate the hemp, which now begins to be visible, from the bast, +which, owing to the fermentation, has become rather brittle. This process +is continued until the hemp is sufficiently cleaned to admit of its being +spread out and dried in the sun. A skilful workman may make extract from 8 +to 10 feet of hemp a day. There are 450,000 cwt. of hemp produced +annually, of the value of L520,000, the greater part of which is sent to +the United States of North America, while from 30,000 to 60,000 cwt. is +manufactured into rigging for ships in the country itself, at the splendid +factory of Messrs. Russell and Sturgis, an American firm, by whom it is +exported to Singapore, Australia, and China. This raw material, as well as +the various products manufactured from it, has a magnificent future +opening to it, and will ere long compete advantageously with English and +Russian hemp in the European markets. The principal objection as yet made +to the use of the Manila hemp for rigging, viz. its contracting in wet +weather, can easily be obviated by more careful treatment of the fibres in +the process of manufacture. On the other hand, in strength and elasticity +the abaca surpasses its rival, as has been proved by repeated experiments, +especially over common European, and even Russian, hemp.[98] Messrs. +Russell and Sturgis have, it is true, monopolized the hemp product of the +entire Archipelago, but under their fostering care it must sensibly +increase and become perceptibly improved. From the leaves of _Musa +textilis_, like those of all other species of the banana tribe, very +excellent paper can be made, and by the increasing cultivation of the +_musaceae_ in the tropics, two main objects could be attained, viz. +providing a plentiful subsistence for the natives, and extending and +cheapening the medium that mainly contributes to widen the circle of +knowledge of mankind.[99] + +Next to _Musa textilis_, the Rame-shrub (_Boehmeria tenacissima_) +especially deserves the attention of business men. The fibre of this +member of the _urticaceae_, which unites extraordinary toughness with much +beauty and fineness, is stronger and more durable than that of Russian +hemp, and with careful preparation would make into finer thread than the +very expensive material which is used in Europe at the present day for +making the world-famous Brussels point-lace. The variety of purposes to +which this useful plant may be applied has hitherto been less fully +recognized than those of the Manila hemp. In Europe the _Boehmeria +tenacissima_ is but found in botanical gardens, or herbariums, and as yet +not the slightest use is made of it for industrial purposes. And yet the +introduction on a large scale of Manila hemp and Rame fibre into the +European markets in place of Russian hemp, would have more than merely a +commercial and industrial importance![100] + +We may also notice in this connection another description of fabrics made +from fibrous material, which, though but little known beyond the limits of +the Archipelago, seems to us to deserve to be more extensively known, and, +it would seem, may be most profitably taken up. These are the delicate +almost transparent tissues prepared from the fibres of one of the +_Bromeliaceae_ (_ananassa sativa_), which are used by the natives for +ornamental shirts, _chemisettes_, and necklaces, and are known in commerce +by the names of _Pina_ or grass-cloths.[101] The threads of these textures +are so thin, that they can only be woven in apartments where there is not +the slightest breath of air. The natives contrive to weave them into the +most beautiful designs, and were they submitted to some chemical process +which should impart to the web a clearer colour, less of a dirty yellow, +the world of taste would be enriched by the addition of one of the most +exquisite materials that could be presented to adorn the graceful form of +woman, and while seeming to conceal her charms, would but render them more +conspicuously attractive. + +Although the rainy season, during which we visited Manila, was but little +inviting for excursions, we yet could not resist the temptation to make an +excursion to the celebrated _Laguna de Bay_, a short distance in the +interior. Mr. J. Steffan, consul for Bremen, a Swiss by birth, and a +partner in one of the most eminent mercantile houses in Manila (Jenny and +Co.), who from the moment the Austrian expeditionaries set foot in the +Philippines manifested to them the most delightful hospitality, was on +this occasion also our companion and cicerone. Two other foreigners, an +English artist and a merchant from Amsterdam, joined our party. The +first-named had lived for long on the island, and had already visited all +its most accessible spots, whence he had returned with some very accurate +sketches; the latter had been sent out by his firm to Manila, in 1857, +when the price of sugar had fallen, for the purpose of purchasing, at the +price to which he was limited, a large quantity of that important article +of colonial produce. By the time, however, he had reached the capital of +the Philippines, the value of the sugar had already, in consequence of a +favourable crop, exceeded the limit assigned him, and has since then +advanced 300 per cent. Still the Amsterdam agent held on, awaiting a fall, +and meanwhile did his best to wile away his time of exile by feasting his +eyes with all the various beauties of the island. + +On a grey, dreary morning we found ourselves pulling up the Pasig in small +covered boats, till we reached the Lagune, where a larger craft was +awaiting us, to take the entire company of pilgrims on board and transport +them to the opposite shore of this inland lake, as far as Los Banos. In +clear sunny weather a row in a _banca_ upon the river Pasig, the aorta of +Manila, which forms the communication between the city and the Lagune, +together with all the various settlements along the shores of that +internal sea, must be exceedingly pleasant. The banks of the river, +indeed, are flat and unsightly, but the vegetation rejoices in a +marvellous profusion of the most beautiful forms and colours. The +_Bambusaceae_ are the chief ornament of the shores, on which there are but +few palms to be seen, while the banana, the sugar-cane, or the rice-plant +are only exceptionally met with at certain points. The delicate-leaved +bamboo accordingly presents hereabouts an elegance and variety of form, +which at first sight seems to mark out its individual representatives as +belonging to so many different families of plants. Wherever the subjacent +rock is visible along the banks it presents beds of an ashen-grey +pumice-stone, which constitutes the chief building material of Manila. On +the shores of the river, near the city, are situate the various factories +and iron-foundries, above which are the residences of the wealthy +Mestizoes and foreign settlers, as also the country-seat of the +Governor-general, whence, still ascending the stream, are Tagal villages +of wretched cane huts, grouped round stately churches and parsonages, +which peep picturesquely through lovely groves of bamboo. + +There are three modes of boating on the Pasig and through the Lagune, +namely, the _banca_, consisting of a large trunk of a tree hollowed out +and covered with an awning of bamboo; the _lorcha_ or _falua_ (corruption +of felucca), large, comfortable, but exceedingly clumsy row-boats, which, +particularly during the rainy season when there is a heavy sea running, +are those chiefly used in this navigation; and finally, the _casco_, which +is of equal breadth at either end, and has more the appearance of a raft. +The last-named is principally made use of for the transport of heavy +merchandise, and is in especial favour with the natives, for the reason +that it is practicable to hoist sail upon it as well as to row. On the +Lagune there is also found yet a fourth kind of boat, the Paraho, the +principle of which, as well as the name, has obviously been borrowed from +the Malay _Prahu_, which it closely resembles in form and mode of +steering. + +On the Pasig there is a constant and amazing tide of human activity. +Numberless boats pass and repass, some bound for the city, to supply it +with provisions and other necessary articles, even to drinking-water, +which has to be shipped in casks at a considerable distance, others +returning with all sorts of purchases made in Manila, for the supply of +the various residents on the shores of the Lagune with the necessaries of +life. On this voyage we got a sight of numbers of grackles (_Pastor +Rosen_), the well-known grasshopper-destroyer, which, about five years +before, had been introduced from China at considerable expense, with the +view of extirpating this formidable locust. But since these birds, to kill +which is punishable by imprisonment, have become acclimatized, they seem +to have lost all relish for grasshoppers, sitting quiet and unmoved on the +trees and roofs of the houses, while swarms of locusts are disporting +under their very eyes. Apparently the number of these destructive insects +is less great in China than in Manila, where these voracious wanderers +often appear in dense swarms, which, in the shape of black clouds, +absolutely obscure the daylight! Probably, too, their means of sustenance +is much more limited in China than in the Philippines, where these birds, +being in fact treated as tame animals, and fairly domesticated, find +frequent opportunities of satisfying their hunger otherwise. + +At the village of Patero (from _Pato_, duck), which is situated five miles +from the capital on the left bank, the inhabitants are mainly employed in +breeding ducks. In front of each hut, and near the river, there is a large +area fenced in, where these birds can bask in the sun or bathe at +pleasure. The floor of the little poultry house is carefully cleaned every +morning with river-water, and the ground dug up and plentifully filled +daily with shell-fish for the use of the ducks, which the natives bring in +their small canoes from the sea, where they thrive by millions in the mud. +The spectacle of the gently-sloping assembling-places of these cackling +denizens of the watery element, and the clamours with which we were +saluted, strongly recalled to us the penguins of the Island of St. Paul. +In Patero millions of ducks are annually reared as articles of trade, as +the Tagalese look upon the half-hatched eggs and the new-born chickens as +special dainties. + +The natives whom we met on the way all wore large round hats, made of +plaited straw or bamboo, white hose, and above these the invariable shirt, +a custom so singular, that it is but very gradually the eye of the +foreigner becomes reconciled to it. The farther we got from the capital +the more the use of Spanish seemed to diminish, till at the Lagune the +natives only speak Tagal and Bisay. + +Our original intention had been to row up in _bancas_ as far as the +entrance to the Lagune, where it had been arranged that the _lorcha_, +which had started from Manila a day or two before, was to await our +arrival. But when little more than half way beyond the village of Pasig we +overtook the great clumsy concern, and it was forthwith resolved to remove +into it bag and baggage, not forgetting the "provant," and endeavour to +make ourselves as comfortable as we could for a few days and nights. + +As it was perfectly calm, and the _lorcha_ had to be poled along, we were +a considerable time before reaching the entrance to the Lagune, where the +industrious natives had erected a variety of nets and other fishing +apparatus of very peculiar nature. The banks of the Lagune are for some +distance from the shore thickly studded with thousands of what are called +_corals_, or fish-runs, and a special pilot is required to enable the +_lorcha_ to thread this labyrinth of fishing apparatus of every +conceivable form, so as to reach the open water. Singularly enough, it is +for the most part the Tagalese women who manipulate the fishing +instruments, while the men, as we were told, sit in the house and +embroider. Near the entrance is stationed a sort of guardship. A Tagalese +overseer overhauled our passports, turned them over in his hands two or +three times with much official importance, and then returned them to us. +The worthy officer of the law was obviously ignorant of the art of +reading, but for that very reason he looked doubly massy, for fear of +exposing his weak side to the Europeans. + +The Lagune de Bay is a fresh-water lake of such dimensions, that even on +a clear day it is impossible, from the entrance, to see the coast on the +further side, much less, of course, in the wretched rainy weather which +stuck by us throughout our trip. Nevertheless, it is far inferior in size +to the great lakes of North America. Its greatest breadth is little more +than 30 miles.[102] All around the fertile shores of this charming lake +nestle little villages, and the daily intercourse with the capital is so +extensive that a steam-boat company would pay well. While on the one hand +the Colonial Government objects to the expense of entering upon an +undertaking so important for developing the general trade, engineers, on +the other hand, have for the last 14 years been busily engaged projecting +the immense work of connecting the Lagune with the ocean by means of a +canal, in such manner as would enable ships approaching Luzon from the +southwards to reach Manila easily, and with great saving in time, instead +of having to sail all round the island. This short cut through the tongue +of land would, it may well be supposed, be in other respects of +incalculable benefit for the country, for the shipping and for trade +generally, especially were the execution of this splendid project to be +carried out hand in hand with a liberal policy, that should shake off that +despotism which at present weighs like a mountain upon every sort of +intellectual and political activity. Let Manila be declared a free port, +let the ships of all mercantile nations visit unrestrictedly the various +harbours of the Archipelago, and Spain will under such relaxations reap +far more profit than from her present retrograde colonial policy, which +can only result in permanent discontent and impoverishment. A thoroughly +unprejudiced Spanish statesman might make most valuable observations by a +brief visit to the neighbouring colony of Singapore, that marvellous +British settlement, which, owing to a commercial policy conceived in the +free, liberal spirit that characterizes the 19th century, has sprung up +from a nest of pirates into the most flourishing and the wealthiest +emporium in the entire Malay Archipelago. The situation of Manila, as also +its numerous natural advantages and resources, would soon make it a rival +to Singapore. But of what avail are the choicest treasures of nature, if +the mind be wanting which can turn them to their proper use, and elicit +their real value? + +The continued bad weather compelled us to pass the night most +uncomfortably on board the _lorcha_; however, the morning after our +departure from Manila we arrived at the village of Los Banos on the +southern shore of the Lagune, where we were most courteously received by +Padre Lorenzo, a Tagalese (only the monks being of Spanish blood, whereas +among the secular clergy there are numbers of coloured persons). The +parsonage, formerly an hospital, is an extensive edifice, with covered +terraces, from whence the visitor enjoys the most splendid views of the +neighbouring hills, as also over the village. Here we were rejoined by +those members of the Expedition who, there not being room for all on board +the _lorcha_, had made out the voyage to Los Banos in a small boat. The +Government officer of the village of Pasig was so kind as to provide for +our exploration of the lake a well-appointed, thoroughly armed and +equipped war-galley; by no means a superfluous precaution when making an +excursion upon the lake, as it has not unfrequently happened that +unprotected strangers have returned to Manila robbed of everything. + +We had great difficulty in making our kind Father Lorenzo, whose +wanderings had been rather limited, comprehend from what country we came, +and to what nation we belonged. The natives of Luzon for the most part +believe that all mankind consists of but two nations, Spaniards and +English; the former they regard as their own masters, while the political +and commercial power of the latter impress them with more terror than +sympathy, and this feeling is still further deepened by that spiritual +teaching, which makes everything seem to their untutored minds of the most +terrible criminality, which does not strictly accord with Roman +Catholicism. + +Los Banos (the baths), so named on account of the numerous hot springs, +whose source is close at hand at the foot of the now extinct volcanic cone +of Maquilui, thickly wooded to its very summit, was so far back as the end +of the 16th century a place of resort for invalids, who hoped here to find +a cure for their various maladies. In the interests of suffering +humanity, the Franciscans of those days, then in the height of their +influence, built over the baths a sort of hut, and a hospital dedicated to +"_Nuestra Senora de las Aguas santas de Maynit_" (our Lady of the Holy +waters of Maynit, the latter name expressing _hot_ in Tagal). Although at +present in a very forlorn and dilapidated condition, there is still in +existence, quite near to the edge of the Lake, an apartment enclosed +within a wall, within which there boils up from a considerable depth a +spring of hot water of a temperature of 186 deg.8 Fahr.; which is +occasionally used, both by natives and foreigners, as a vapour bath, +although these _Thermae_ are more used to scald poultry than for their +original purpose of curing disease. The entire neighbourhood is volcanic. +Behind Maquilui, which is about 3400 feet high, lies, surrounded by a deep +lake, the active crater of the renowned volcano of Taal, while to one side +of the first-named mountain rises in the blue distance, to a height of +from 6000 to 7000 feet, the gigantic mass of the Majayjay[103] range, a +volcanic system long since extinct. An oppressive sultriness in the +atmosphere, such as we had never before experienced, and a drenching +thunder-storm, put a complete stopper on our projected excursion to make a +closer acquaintance with the hills. Somewhat of the terrific heat +experienced here, may, with much justice, be attributed to the great +number of almost boiling springs which issue from the foot of the +Maquilui, so that even on entirely clear days, when the mountain-top is +quite free of clouds, the country about Los Banos seems enveloped in an +atmosphere of mist. + +The main object and ever-memorable result of our excursion was the _Laguna +Encantada_ (or Enchanted Lake,--the _Socol_ of the Tagalese), distant not +much more than a mile from Los Banos. Volcanic agency and tropical beauty +have combined to prepare here one of the most singular and mysterious +phenomena that the eye of man may ever behold. Although this small lake is +only separated by a low hill from the larger basin, yet the approach to it +is extremely troublesome and arduous. It is necessary here and there to +use one's hands, in order to creep through the brushwood along the steep +wall of rock, till the shore of the lake is at last reached. Even the very +"dug-outs," in which the lake is to be navigated, have to be transported +over this lonely inhospitable hill. As the Lagune enjoys the unenviable +reputation of being the haunt of numbers of ravenous crocodiles, which +have on several occasions overturned the light canoes navigating it at the +time, and without further ceremony devoured their crews, the natives had +learned to take the precaution of binding two or three canoes close +together with bamboos and cords, in order to diminish the risk of being +overturned while boating on this dreary haunt of "caymano." + +While the natives were getting ready this handsome specimen of a craft, we +stood on the shore, every one absorbed in gazing at this singular natural +picture. Calm and mysterious-looking the lake lay before us, a circular +basin, of a deep green from innumerable almost microscopic water plants, +unfathomable, if we may trust common report, and enclosed by a crater-like +wall of lava-blocks. All along the shore grew the tropical forest; +gigantic primeval trunks, wildly festooned with wondrously luxuriant +creepers, raised their towering crests, their splendid coronets of leaves +reflected in the calm mirror below, and casting the lake in every corner +into a dusky, shadowy obscurity of outline. From the topmost branches of +the trees were suspended huge brown, indistinct-looking fruits. There was +death-like silence all around. Only at fitful intervals might be +distinguished the note of a bird, or the muttered growl of distant +thunder. We now got into our canoes and rowed silently over the waters of +the lake. As though to add to the interest of the adventure, it came on to +rain pretty heavily. Some of the party followed the very practical custom +of the natives, who forthwith divested themselves of their clothing, and +left the rain to beat upon their naked bodies, while they put their +dresses under the seats of the boat to prevent their being soaked. +Fortunately the alligators at no time made their appearance in such +numbers as the tales of the natives had led us to anticipate. We saw but +one of these monsters, apparently about 15 feet long, who however speedily +dived out of our sight.[104] Our guides maintained it would be advisable +to take a dog with us, whose howl would have aroused the alligators and +brought them up to the surface in hope as of prey. Indeed people +frequently sacrifice dogs in order to entice these rapacious monsters from +their haunts for the purpose of hunting them. + +If however disappointed in this spectacle, we were recompensed by another +not less peculiar. For hardly had a shot been fired at one of the +water-fowls which were skimming to and fro over the lake, than at once +tree and thicket seemed filled with life. Birds of all kinds, screaming +and whirring, fluttered about or dashed wildly against each other on every +side. Thousands that had been sitting on the beach concealed in the deep +shade, wood-pigeons and legions of gigantic bats, which had been suddenly +frightened out of their listless repose, now flew about directly before +the murderous fowling-pieces. The singular-looking fruits which seemed to +be so strangely dependent from the trees, were transformed into Kalong +bats (_Pteropus edulis_), and flew about in immense flocks that obscured +the light of day, directly over our heads, hastily seeking a shelter in +the forest, which should hide them from the gaze of the sportsmen. +Probably we should have brought down some of these singular animals, had +not our fowling-pieces, owing to the incessant pour of rain, got so +thoroughly out of order that we had to content ourselves with getting a +very few specimens for our zoological collection. + +On returning to the parsonage from this interesting excursion, we found +the _Alcalde Mayor_, who had come to Los Banos from the adjacent small +town of Santa Cruz, to welcome the foreigners, and be of service to them. +The _Alcalde Mayor_, or _Gobernador_, is the highest official, the chief +both of administration and justice in the province, a sort of prefect, +under whom are the _Gobernadorcillos_, or departmental administrators, +beneath whom again the Cabezas,[105] or parish justices, form yet a lower +grade. The chief duties of these native officials consist in seeing that +the proper amount of tribute or head-money is duly collected. This impost +is divided into three parts: the duty for defraying the State expenses +amounting to five reals, that for supporting the Church amounts to three +reals, and that for the wants of the community amounting to one real, so +that the whole taxation levied upon each individual liable is about nine +reals (4_s._ 9_d._ English). In addition to the natives, the Chinese +resident in Manila and the half-breed Chinese are subject to a poll-tax, +the pure Chinese being rated according to their social position and the +nature of their calling. They pay on the average about 17 dollars, or +about 15 times as much as the native. The poll-tax of the Chinese Mestizo +amounts to 18 reals, or about twice as much as that on the native. All +males are liable to be rated for the poll-tax, as also all females when +married, or when they have attained the age of 25. Those exempted from +the poll-tax are all Spaniards and their half-caste children, all foreign +residents except the Chinese, as also all natives above 60, and a few +native families, whose ancestors had performed certain services for the +Spaniards at the period of the conquest; and, lastly, all native +authorities during their tenure of office (usually six years).[106] + +The morning after our excursion to the Enchanted Lake, a hunt of +water-fowl was organized among the swamps surrounding Calamba, which +furnished us with plenty of sport, as well as important scientific +results, in which it would have been yet more productive, had it not been +suddenly brought to a close by the acute illness of one of the canoe-men. +As some cases of cholera had occurred during the few days immediately +preceding, it seemed to be only a wise precaution to exercise some little +prudence on the present occasion. Strange to say, however, the man +attacked, despite his sickness, rowed resolutely till the party reached +Los Banos, during all which period he showed the most lively interest in +the hunt, constantly calling our attention to birds which his keen eye +detected at a distance, or which were moving softly over the water without +being observed. + +Meanwhile one of the zoologists was busy at the parsonage, making +preparations of the most interesting specimens procured. Padre Lorenzo +could hardly believe his eyes when he beheld the naturalist engaged in +such a bloody business, apparently on precisely the most agreeable spot of +the whole terrace, and performing the various dissections requisite upon +the dead bodies of some couple of dozen of birds. In whatever direction +one turned in the apartment, the eye encountered nothing but birds of +variegated plumage, gigantic Kalong bats, monkeys, or else barrels filled +with spirits of wine, in which were preserved snakes, fish, and other +small inhabitants of the deep. The poor padre, accustomed to peaceful +meditation and full of simplicity, appeared quite convinced he must have +sinned grievously that such a visitation should have overtaken him, as +that this horde of foreigners should have disturbed the repose of his +peaceful asylum with such appalling practices. The youths of the village, +encouraged by the promise of remuneration, busied themselves with yet +further increasing our zoological collection, and made their appearance, +breathless with running, each with some still more curious and important +object to show to the strange gentleman, who found such interest in snakes +and insects, that he even paid money down for them! + +Padre Lorenzo, however, was ere long rid of his singular guests, with whom +he could even not get upon an intelligible footing. On the same day on +which the hunt among the swamps of Calamba took place in the morning, the +Expeditionary party returned from Los Banos, and by way of recompense to +the obliging padre for the discomfort inflicted, they presented him with +some provisions and some bottles of claret, which filled the worthy +gentleman with delight, and seemed completely to reconcile him to the +"Estranjeros." Some of the members of our Expedition also visited the two +villages of Jalla-jalla and Binangonan, lying close to the shore of the +lake, places of great interest in a geographical sense, while the +remainder of the party returned to Manila in the same way they had come. +Unfortunately throughout the entire distance the rain fell worse than +ever. It never ceased pouring in deluges, so that for hours together we +could not get upon deck, but had to remain below in the small bleak, +comfortless cabin. Here there was nothing for it but to wile away the time +as best we might. We talked "_de omnibus rebus, et quibusdam aliis_," we +laughed, we sang, and we--SMOKED, a habit, be it remarked incidentally, so +constant and universal here, that the _Pebete_ with its glowing top is +constantly circulating from hand to hand. This is a sort of tinder in the +shape of small thin rods, a cubit long, which is prepared in China from a +mixture of fine dried sawdust, fir, and clay, and forms a by no means +insignificant article of commerce, the greater part coming from +Macao.[107] A chest of eight cubic feet, filled with _Pebete_ or +"joss-sticks," as the English call this tinder, the use of which pervades +the entire Malay Archipelago as far as Madras, costs from 10_s._ to 16_s._ +6_d._ sterling. + +By 11 P.M. we had got back to Manila. The weather had cleared up somewhat, +the rain had ceased, and the city and environs were gay with the gleam of +innumerable variegated lamps, intended to represent the illuminations +expressive of the joy of the people at the birth of a prince of the +Asturias. This did not however continue long; the enthusiasm that was +finding vent through the glitter of the lamps was drowned in another +deluge of rain, and as the exhibition had now lasted for several nights in +succession, people at last had got weary of the trouble of constantly +relighting them; the gaudy triumphal arches were decomposed into their +constituent atoms--rough boards, wooden pegs, nails, and filthy little +oil-lamps. + +The continuance of the wet weather put more distant excursions out of the +question. We had to content ourselves with having seen all that was really +worth seeing in the city and environs during our limited stay. + +Many additional visits were paid to the interior of the city, to the fort, +to the monasteries, and the various public institutions. Of these latter, +two call for a more particular notice: the "_Biblioteca Militar_," and the +immense hospital of San Juan de Dios, under the charge of the Charitable +Friars. + +The attraction of the Military Library, which is situated in one portion +of the cloister of the Jesuits which had been almost entirely +destroyed[108] by a former earthquake, consisted far less in its +bibliographic treasures, than in a small collection of objects +illustrative of natural history, of which the first beginning had been +made but a few months before our arrival. It deserves the more notice that +it was not the project of a professed naturalist, but solely of an +"aficimado," or friend to scientific inquiry, Colonel Miguel Creus. +Although very deficient, still the bare experiment has paved the way to a +better and more complete collection, which at present comprises, besides +about 100 species of birds and a few mammalia, a number of objects +illustrative of ethnography, geological specimens, and the various +manufactures and natural products of the Archipelago (among which are 37 +species of rice). Considering the natural resources of this Archipelago, +(some of which, especially the Conchylia,[109] far surpass in richness of +colour, beauty, and gracefulness of form anything that has yet been met +with in any part of the globe,) the inauguration of this small collection +may yet prove the foundation of one of the most magnificent and marvellous +museums of natural history, provided the laudable intention of the +founder receive adequate support; and the work, commenced as a labour of +love, be continued and promoted with energy and perseverance.[110] + +The great Civil Hospital, to which Dr. Fullerton, a Scotchman settled in +Manila, was so kind as to accompany us, is a very extensive range of +buildings, with large airy rooms, but so unclean and ill-kept, that it is +no wonder if the report be true, that many natives in bad health prefer to +run the chance of death without, to being brought to this infirmary. +Indeed most of the rooms are empty and unoccupied, there being in the +whole building but 30 confined to their beds, which in a city of not less +than 130,000 souls, with but _one_ hospital, is at all events a remarkable +phenomenon. Every year on St. John's day the brethren of the order give a +fete, when all the different rooms are scoured, swept, and garnished, and +the sick in the hospital are present at the festivities, and, unrestricted +by considerations of diet, are regaled with food and wine to their heart's +content. This is likewise the period at which the hospital is most +extensively patronized, and not only by those actually sick, but far more +by those who qualify for a residence in the hospital by a too great +devotion to the plentiful viands provided on St. John's day. When the +English were in possession of Manila during the Seven Years' War, this +range of buildings was used as a barrack, for which reason the church was +considered as desecrated for 90 years, and only in 1857 consecrated once +more as a temple of God. + +There is also in the _Calle de Hospicio_ a Military Hospital, somewhat +better kept, and not like the former under the charge of a brotherhood, +but of a medical staff. Unfortunately the arrangements here leave very +much to be desired. The rooms, insufficiently ventilated, are in the +immediate vicinity of the kitchen, the smoke and odours from which cannot +but be very prejudicial to the patients. In the various wards there were +about 150 to 200 sick, whose lot called for redoubled sympathy, +considering the little attention paid them. + +Unfortunately no opportunity presented itself during our stay at Manila of +witnessing any of those processions of the Church, which are necessarily +so frequent in the course of the year. This was the more to be regretted, +as we were told of many peculiarities of these costly processions. Here +apparently, as in the earlier dependencies of Spain, in Central and +Southern America, the Roman Catholic ritual has become mingled in the most +extraordinary manner with ceremonies borrowed from paganism. The earliest +Spanish missionaries were especially prone to believe that by retaining +some of the former ceremonies they would facilitate the work of +conversion, and increase the number of neophytes. They saw no scandal in +the native, attired sometimes as a giant twelve feet high, sometimes as a +Malay warrior, sometimes as an aboriginal savage, fantastically painted, +and accoutred with bow and arrow, in a word, in all sorts of masquerading +costume, frolicking in the very midst of the sacred procession, and +performing all manner of buffoonery in front of the life-sized and +gaily-adorned images of saints; but appeared rather to contemplate with +pleasure that these wild beings, who had resisted the Spaniards on their +first arrival on the island, were now subjected to the Holy Church, and +rejoiced in her service! There are also numbers of natives dressed up as +animals, and girls gaily decorated with flowers and in robes of spotless +white, as also a fantastically-attired jester, who from time to time gives +national dances and sings national songs, to the best of his ability, all +in one long procession, accompanied by monks singing chorals and carrying +wax tapers, while a promiscuous crowd of the faithful bring up the rear. + +The sight of such processions have anything but an edifying influence upon +a European, but on the mind of the masses they seem to make a deep +impression, and for weeks after, when smoking a cigarette in the privacy +of the family circle, they will talk of the splendour of such solemnities, +and the motley episodes that accompanied it. If it were admissible to +judge of the religious mind of a people by their outward observances, the +Tagalese would be the most devout race in the world. Wherever the natives +come in contact with the Church, they put on an extraordinary stern and +reverential deportment, and even in the most trivial matters the great +influence of the priesthood upon the masses becomes abundantly apparent. +This is the most conspicuous every evening as the clock tolls for the Ave +Maria. The tones work like enchantment upon the people at whatever +distance they may be audible, and for a few moments a profound silence +succeeds to the noise and bustle. The labourer and the promenader, the +ladies and gentlemen of the upper ranks in their elegant carriages, as +well as the poor Tagale returning homeward from his hard day's work, and +driving his laden mule before him, are for the space of an instant awed by +the solemn sounds. All vehicles stop suddenly short, the gentlemen and +servants uncover their heads, the restless masses stand as though nailed +to the ground, and then sink gradually on their knees in prayer, their +heads bared and their cigars extinguished; no one would venture to break +in upon the universal stillness so long as the bell continues to toll. But +as soon as it is silent, each jumps to his feet, and proceeds on again, +believing he may now in safety give way to his frolicsomeness and pursue +his pleasures. + +Life in Manila during the dry season was described to us as exceedingly +agreeable and gay. Then almost every evening joyous groups thread the city +singing and joking, while from every hut resounds some snatch of melody +accompanied by the guitar. We had a slight foretaste of the joviality +which must prevail in Manila during the delicious summer evenings from the +joyous disposition manifested by the various Tagal families, even during +the wet season, when the almost incessant rain, and the swampy state of +the streets, compelled the natives to remain crowded in the narrow rooms +of their poor little huts. In St. Miguel, a hamlet in the immediate +neighbourhood of Manila, with a number of country-seats of wealthy +foreigners and natives, we repeatedly heard the sweet plaintive notes of +the native women singing Tagal ditties, which for pathos and thrilling +tenderness surpassed all we had hitherto heard or read of the talents of +the coloured races for song and melody. We shall be able in the Appendix +to give the notes of a very characteristic melody, the words of which form +a very favourite popular song (Condiman), which we ultimately succeeded in +taking down through the kindness of Senor Balthasar Girandier of Manila. + +It was at San Miguel that we had not alone the most agreeable, but also +the most melancholy, experience of our entire stay in the capital of the +Philippines. On an island opposite the handsome, beautifully situate +residence of our hospitable friend Mr. Steffan, the Bremen Consul, is the +Poorhouse, in which the insane as well as the sick are confined together, +the whole being, like all the other humane institutions of Manila, under +the superintendence of an ecclesiastic, in the present case a Mestizo. It +appeared there was no proper or regular medical attendance. Without +assistance, or any one responsible for their proper care, these miserable +beings, left in an indescribably desolate and neglected condition, cower +down upon the bare stone floor in the damp, filthy rooms, staring vacantly +before them, or slink about among the cool corridors, murmuring +unintelligibly to themselves. The padre, habituated to such a state of +matters, seems never to give it a moment's thought, but rather to make it +his amusement to conduct strangers through the dismal, horrible wards, +where at each step one encounters some fresh form of misery. We felt most +pity at the sight of a female, whose features and whole appearance spoke +of a happier lot in by-gone days. It seemed a mystery crying aloud for +reparation, that this unhappy being, an orphan, worthy of all compassion, +should for a slight attack of melancholy be liable to be sent to the +asylum for the insane by her unscrupulous relations, that they might with +the greater security possess themselves of her property. So deep and so +permanent was the impression made by this melancholy spectacle, that even +now, after the lapse of years of varied experience, since our visit to the +lunatic asylum of Manila, the ill-fated being, with her wan yet striking +features, her large, melancholy black eyes, and her wavy, shining black +hair, her dress neglected and half torn into pieces, stands out life-like +before us, as an embodiment of misery. + +Early on the day on which we bade adieu to Manila we found an opportunity +of seeing a live boa-constrictor, said to be 48 feet long and seven +inches thick, at the house of a secular ecclesiastic in the suburb of +Santa Cruz. This gigantic reptile had been confined for 32 years in a +large wooden cage, where it had enjoyed such a carefully tended existence +that it had fairly outlived the good padre, and was now for sale by his +heirs. The indolent animal, constantly lying almost motionless among the +sand, is fed only once in every four weeks, when it is usually presented +with a young pig. + +On the 24th of June the members of our Expedition went on board the small +steamer plying to Cavite, where lay the frigate, on board which all +necessary preparations had been made. Now, on the eve of departure, almost +every one of our number mourned the disappointment of cherished +expectations. The inclemency of the weather had not alone precluded our +undertaking the more distant excursions which would have repaid our +researches in the natural history of the islands, but had even interposed +serious obstacles to our wanderings in the immediate neighbourhood; +moreover, up to the very moment of our departure the Government manifested +the utmost indifference to the objects of the Expedition, while even the +educated portion of the Spanish residents never took the slightest notice. +The more reason therefore is it, under such circumstances, that we should +not be unmindful of the few, such as Messrs. Steffan, Schmidt, Wegener, +Wood, Fullerton, Fonseca, Girandier, and Creus, who, with warm interest in +our plans, furnished us with new material relating to the Philippines and +their inhabitants, and left us with the agreeable prospect of a permanent +exchange of literary and scientific labours. + +At one A.M. of the 25th June we weighed anchor in the harbour of Cavite, +on our voyage to the Empire of China. The land breeze, which sets in +regularly every night, carried us clear out of the Bay of Manila, but in +the open sea outside we found, contrary to expectation, instead of the +S.W. monsoon, light variable winds and calms, which materially interfered +with our progress. At last, when we were about mid-way across the China +Sea, we fell in with the long-looked for S.W. wind, which speedily wafted +us to the next station we were to visit, the British colony of Hong-kong, +or Victoria. With favourable winds the voyage from Manila to Hong-kong, a +distance of about 700 nautical miles, is four or five days' sail; owing to +the constant contrary winds we were double that time. + +Already, before we came in sight of land, a Chinese fishing vessel had put +a pilot on board in the shape of a long-tailed son of the Celestial +Empire, who jabbered English in a fashion to set the hair on end, and was +lost in wonder at our flag, which he had never before seen. We afterwards +found that the dialect used by our pilot was what is called +Canton-English, such as is spoken by all Chinese who have dealings with +the British, and consisting exclusively of a most ludicrous distortion of +the commonest English phrases. + +About noon on the 4th July we sighted the Chinese coast; and before +sundown we had passed the Lemmas islands, and found ourselves in the +island-studded, many-bayed archipelago at the mouth of the Canton River, +where the English have selected Hong-kong, with its admirable harbour, for +the site of their colony. Thousands of fishing-boats covered the surface +of the ocean all around us, always sailing parallel with each other, in +fact, quite a fleet of fishermen, who, on a favourable opportunity, add a +little buccaneering, and have numerous secure retreats among the thousands +of coves all around, so that even up to the present day they can carry on +almost unpunished their piratical attempts upon their own +fellow-countrymen, as well as upon foreigners ignorant of their danger. It +was the first time we had seen in any numbers the Chinese Junk, with its +strange-looking rigging. On most of these small but clumsy vessels there +was cut or painted on either side of the forecastle a huge eye, as though +the crew were anxious to increase the power of vision of their vessel, so +that it might more readily pick its way through the numerous dangerous +reefs and coral banks. On the other hand the superstitious sea-faring +Chinese sometimes veil and cover up the eyes of their vessels, in order +that they should not behold certain strange things passing by, as, for +instance, a dead body, or an approaching thunder-storm, and not be +frightened by them.[111] + +The nearer we approached the coast, the more was our gaze rivetted by a +landscape of the most imposing character, and now not owing to the +altitude of the hills (for the highest peak is only 3000 feet), but to the +grandeur of their form and their contour. Here are sharp, needle-shaped +pinnacles, their steep rocky cones reminding one of the Sugar Loaf at Rio, +and then round shoulders of hills, and far-extending ranges, penetrated by +deep defiles, all nearly perpendicular, and without any extent of level +land, and rising sheer out of the sea. These mountain ranges are almost +entirely naked, or covered only with a scanty grass or bush vegetation: no +tree, no forest hides the majestic groups of rocks and stones, and when +the setting sun picked out with dark, well-defined shadows the sharp +outline of the granite rock, it was as though there lay before us a "bit" +of the Swiss Alps, bathed in the sea as far as the limit of +forest-vegetation, and our sailors contemplated with redoubled enjoyment a +scene which reminded them of their native Dalmatia. + +As the night was dark, with neither moonlight nor light-house (of which +latter there is unfortunately an utter lack here), we could not venture to +wind our way through the narrow channel into the harbour of Hong-kong, on +the north side of the island, and we anchored therefore about 9 P.M. on +the west side, in the Lemmas Channel; and with the first beams of the sun, +on the morning of the 5th July, we stood in to the enchanting harbour of +Hong-kong. Where the previous day we could descry from seaward hardly any +traces of human activity in the hills and rocks along the coast, so that +the land seemed desolate and deserted, there now smiled upon us, as we +doubled Green Island, the city of Victoria, rising amphitheatre-like; and, +lying invitingly before us, its harbour, all alive with numbers of stately +ships and steamers, looking like an inland lake,--in fact, entirely +land-locked. Several old ships of the line, which the English use as +hospitals and coal depots, filled the background, among which was the +Royal Charlotte, 130 guns, the first three-decker that has passed the +Equator. + +At 10 A.M. we cast anchor directly opposite the town; and amid the flags +of England, America, France, Holland, and Russia, there now flaunted +proudly forth the flag of Austria! + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[72] In Manila the minimum annual rainfall is 84 inches, the maximum 102 +inches. + +[73] The expedition sailed from Madras with about 2300 men; the squadron +consisted of 13 ships of war and transports. The English landed without +any opposition, laid siege to Manila, stormed and captured the city proper +within ten days after their arrival. The Citadel capitulated; the +Governor, an Archbishop, binding himself to pay a contribution of +4,000,000 dollars (L833,000), in order to save the city from being sacked. +This expedition was always looked on by the Spaniards of the Philippines +as a very rash adventure, which by no means tended to diminish the +national antipathy to the English race, although after such freebooting +expeditions as have within these last two years been witnessed on the part +of civilized states in law-abiding Europe, this invasion by an army of +declared enemies must be viewed in an entirely different light. + +[74] Spanish writers, treating of the Philippines, derive this name from +"Losong," which in the native language means the wooden mortar in which +the rice, which forms the chief subsistence of the inhabitants, is shelled +and pounded. The first strangers who came to this island, and found in +every hut one of these very peculiar clumsy-looking implements, spoke of +the newly discovered island as "Isle de los Losenes" (island of wooden +mortars), whence in process of time it became transformed into Luzon. + +[75] One of these hotels, the Hotel Francais, was, at the time of our +visit, kept by a Frenchman named Dubosse, a man of a most adventurous +disposition, who afterwards accompanied the French army to China as a +mess-man, and was one of the victims seized by Sang-ko-lin-sin's soldiers, +near Pekin, in September, 1860, who met with such a horrible fate. The +other inn, the Hotel Fernando, kept by a North American, is yet more +filthy and noisy than the first-named, since, being situated on the +harbour, it serves for a rendezvous for the various ships' captains. In +neither of these is the charge less than 4 to 5 Spanish dollars a day, or +about L1 sterling. + +[76] The Stranger's Guide to the Philippines (_Guia de Forasteros_) for +the year 1859 gives the names of 61 commercial houses established by +Spaniards in Manila. Besides these, there are in the capital of the +Philippines, seven English, three North American, two French, one German, +and two Swiss trading firms. + +[77] We borrow this alphabet from the valuable work of Baron von Huegel, +entitled the Pacific Ocean and the Spanish Colonies of the Indian +Archipelago (Vienna, printed at the Imperial Press, 1860), and believe the +reader will the more gratefully welcome it that only a small number of +copies of Baron von Huegel's interesting journal were printed in manuscript +for private circulation. + +[78] This opinion of our Augustinian guide is not shared out there. An +Austrian traveller, as widely renowned as highly cultivated, Baron Von +Huegel, relates, in his Diary already alluded to, the following singular +revelations by a friar in Manila: "The Philippine Islands belong to the +Augustine monks; in Manila, Don Pasquale (the then Governor) or another +may ruffle it and talk large,--in the interior we are the true masters. +Tell me where you want to go and everything shall be laid open for you!... +Police in the interior? It is laughable to hear of such an idea! As if +such were possible! and I should be glad to make the acquaintance of that +official who would venture to ask even the simple question of who any man +is, who is under the protection of our order!... Should you like to ascend +the Majayjay, the highest hill in the interior? An Augustinian friar shall +accompany you thither. Should you care to make an excursion to the Lagoons +and thence proceed to the Pacific Ocean? An Augustinian friar shall be +your guide. Have you a hankering to visit the forests of Ilocos, northward +from Manila, or to sail down the great river Lanatin? An Augustinian shall +arrange all that for you. In one word, say what you wish to do!" + +[79] Fray Manuel Blanco, whose portrait, the size of life, but by no means +artistically executed, adorns one of the corridors, was born 24th +November, 1778, at Navianos, in the province of Zamora in Spain, and died +in the convent of Manila 1st April, 1845. + +[80] Of these there were in 1857, 373,569 liable to taxation. Within the +same year there were 85,629 persons baptized, 16,768 married, and 49,999 +buried with the rites of the Church. + +[81] In 1857 there were baptized in these 76 villages 21,604 children, +4512 couples were united in wedlock, and 12,002 were buried. + +[82] In the entire Archipelago there is but _one_ newspaper, "El Boletin +Oficial," published under the auspices of Government, and which treats +much more of religious than of political topics. There are but two +printing and publishing houses in Manila, one of which is in the hands of +the Dominicans, and prints almost exclusively Prayer-books and religious +works. + +[83] This historical poem is entitled "_Luzonia, o sea Los Genios del +Pasig_." + +[84] Of this number of souls there were in 1857, 188,509 amenable to +taxation, while during the year there occurred 31,285 births, 21,029 +deaths, and 5713 marriages. + +[85] In 1857, the order baptized 23,227, joined in marriage 4830 couples, +and buried 15,627. + +[86] The printed works obtained in the various monasteries of Manila +consist of dictionaries and small grammars of the Togala, Bisaya, Ilocana, +Tbanac, Bicol, and Pampangu dialects. The MSS. embrace vocabularies of the +Igorotes and Ilongotes languages of Luzon, as also the idiom used by the +natives of the Marianne Archipelago, together with a short treatise on the +Marianne group written in Spanish by a missionary. All these works will be +thoroughly and exhaustively treated of in the ethnological portion, where +also the manuscripts will be published. + +[87] _Usted_--contraction for "_Vuestra Merced_" (your Grace). + +[88] The fair speeches and amiable phrases of the Spaniards lose all their +value when one finds upon nearer acquaintance with this courteous nation, +that the heart and the feelings take no part therein. There is nothing +which a Spaniard will not offer to a stranger--but it is always on the +clear understanding that the latter will with equal politeness refuse the +proffer. We on one occasion, however, saw a Yankee take these professions +at their apparent value, and by so doing put his Spanish host to no small +confusion. The Spaniard wore a very costly diamond breast-pin, for which +the American could not find words sufficient to express his admiration. To +his exclamations of delight, the Spaniard kept repeating his nauseous "_a +la disposicion de Usted_," till at last the American fairly took the pin +out of the Spaniard's scarf and transferred it to his own. The latter felt +so ashamed and dumbfounded that he could not utter a word. The following +day the American, who had only taken it by way of joke, returned the +costly bauble to the agonized Spaniard, but took occasion in so doing to +remark that he now knew what was meant by Spanish courtesy. + +[89] On the island of Mactan (10 deg. 20' N., 124 deg. 10' E.) there was also +erected on the promontory of Sugano, a monument to the memory of +Magelhaens, and the happy idea was entertained of making it also into a +light-house, to warn ships of the danger in approaching the immense +numbers of reefs that are found here. + +[90] V. Heinrich Heine's "Romanzero." + +[91] It was estimated, we were told, at from $35,000 to $40,000 annually. + +[92] Cock-fighting has been so long disused in England, that to most +persons it only lingers as a grim tradition, mainly authenticated by +Hogarth's well-known painting. The degrading associations which a +cock-fight generated are sufficiently well illustrated by the prince of +pictorial satirists. The "betting-ring" still brings together in England +the same intermingling of grades of society, and consequent utter +disruption of all social respect, but with all its faults it never has, +nor can have, the same brutalizing effects of cock-fighting, which are +instanced by the following anecdote, extracted from the _Gentleman's +Magazine_ for April, 1789, and which may even now be found to repay +perusal:--"Died at Tottenham, John Ardesoif, Esq., a young man of large +fortune, ... who if he had his foibles, had also his merits (!) that far +outweighed them. Mr. Ardesoif was very fond of cock-fighting, and had a +favourite cock, upon which he won many very profitable matches. The last +bet he laid upon this cock, he lost; which so enraged him that he had the +bird tied to a spit, and roasted alive before a large fire. The screams of +the miserable animal were so affecting that some gentlemen who were +present attempted to interfere, at which Mr. Ardesoif was so enraged that +he seized a poker, and with the most furious vehemence declared that he +would kill the first man that interfered, but in the midst of his +asseveration he fell dead upon the spot! Such we are assured were the +circumstances attending the death of this great pillar of humanity!" + +[93] This unhappy lady died a melancholy death, having, what rarely occurs +among Spanish women, committed suicide at her hotel by swallowing Prussic +acid. It was rumoured that an unhappy attachment led to this fatal +resolve. + +[94] Of these straw-plait manufactories the cigar-holders are especially +noticeable for their fine texture and elegance. These are usually sold at +very high prices; some of the more elegant of these fetching from 40 to 50 +dollars (L8 to L10). Straw mats and hats, not inferior in fineness of +texture to those of Panama, are made here of palm fibre, and form a not +unimportant article of exportation. + +[95] 8 reals = 1 Spanish piastre = 3_s._ 1-3/4_d._ at par; hence 1 real = +4.71875_d._ English. + +[96] Owing to the universal interest felt in tobacco, the use of which has +spread over the globe, till it has become a necessary of life to the +civilized man as well as the half-savage races of mankind, we subjoin by +way of completing the information above attained, the following remarks +upon the tobacco culture in other possessions of Spain, extracted from an +unpublished journal, kept by a member of the Expedition, during a visit +previously paid to the West Indies. + +"The best sites for growing tobacco in Cuba lie to the westward of the +capital in what is called the _Vuelta abajo_, between Rio Hondo and San +Juan de Martinez, and is about ten English miles in circumference; the +tobacco grown on the _Vuelta arriba_ is usually of inferior quality. In +1856 there were in Cuba 10,000 plantations or _Vegas_, with a superficial +area of 8000 _Caballerias_, (about 414 square miles, 1 Caballeria being +equal to 160,371,041 English square yards, or 33,134 acres), cultivated by +from 14,000 to 16,000 negro slaves. The total value of the capital +employed in this branch of culture (including manual labour, building +utensils, draught animals, &c.) may be estimated at 13,000,000 piasters +(L2,730,000), and the average weight of tobacco produced at a million and +a half _arrobas_, or 37,500,000 lbs. annually. Of this quantity 400,000 +_arrobas_, or 10,000,000 lbs., are consumed in Cuba itself, while the rest +is exported partly in the leaf, partly in the manufactured state. One +_Caballeria_ of ground can produce on the average about 360 _arrobas_, or +9000 lbs., of which however only 1/20th will be of superior quality. + +"A '_vega_' usually consists of three _Caballerias_, which are in regular +succession devoted to the tobacco cultivation, so that while two are +devoted to maize and other vegetables for human subsistence, only the +remaining third is under tobacco. The season for sowing is in October or +November, and the crop is got in in January or February. On one +_Caballeria_ there are usually found under favourable circumstances +500,000 plants or _Matas_. Hence it results, that as the tobacco culture +of Cuba extends over 8000 _Caballerias_, there are throughout the island +4,000,000,000 plants. Each plant has from 8 to 10 suitable leaves. They +are collected together in bundles, called _manojos_ (handfuls), of from +120 to 130 leaves each, and 80 _manojos_ make one _tercio_, or 150 lbs. of +tobacco. One _manojo_ weighs about 1-1/4 lbs., and when prepared +makes into about 400 cigars. There are in Cuba altogether 600 +cigar-manufactories, of which above 400 are in the capital alone. A +workman can make about 150 cigars a day; the rate of pay is about 10 +Spanish piasters or _duros_ for 1000. The manufacture of cigars gives +employment to about 20,000 workmen, chiefly males. Under the designation +of _Tabagueros_, they constitute almost an exclusive class, and owing to +their improvidence are usually in wretched plight. In Cuba (as in Luzon) +there is but one species of tobacco raised, but more attention seems to be +paid to its cultivation in the former island. The leaves are sorted in +Cuba according to colour and 'vein' (_venas_), and their quality fixed +accordingly. In commerce there are three sorts, viz.-- + + No. I. 42 to 45 Spanish piasters (L6 15_s._ to L7 5_s._) per 1000. + II. 32 " " (L5) " + III. 28 " " (L4 10_s._) " + +The number of cigars annually exported from the Havanna averages from +200,000,000 to 250,000,000, without including the _ramos_, or tobacco +exported in the leaf. The cedar-tree (_Cedrela odorata_), of which the +cigar-boxes are chiefly made, is occasionally prejudicial to the contents, +in consequence of the slight dampness still remaining in the wood bringing +out white spots of decay upon the tips of the cigars." + +[97] The United States of North America produce above 200,000 cwt., or +more than one half the whole supply. The annual consumption of tobacco by +the individual is in the United States 3-1/2 lbs., in England 1 lb. and +1/2 oz., in France 1 lb. 1-1/2 oz., and in Germany 2 lbs. + +[98] The experiments made at Fort St. George near Madras in July, 1850, +with lines and rigging made of abaca and European hemp, with the view of +testing their respective availability, gave the following interesting +results: a rope of Manila hemp, 12 feet long, 3-1/4 inches in +circumference, and weighing 28-11/16 oz., required a strain of 4460 lbs. +to break it: on the other hand a rope of English hemp of similar +dimensions, weighing 39 oz., broke with a strain of only 3885 lbs. A +second smaller rope of Manila hemp, 1-3/4 inches thick, and 9-1/2 oz. +weight, also 12 feet in length, required 1490 lbs. to break it, while an +exactly similar cord of English and Russian hemp, weighing 13 oz. per +fathom, broke with 1184 lbs., so that in the first instance the abaca line +was 13 per cent., and in the second nearly 22 per cent. stronger than +ropes of similar size of European hemp. + +[99] Compare with Forbes Royle's valuable treatise upon Manila hemp, +entitled "The Fibrous Plants of India fitted for cordage, clothing, and +paper." London, 1855. + +[100] The best Manila hemp is worth from 4-1/2 to 6 dollars per Spanish +_picul_=140 lbs. Cordage made by steam power of the various dimensions, +from half to one inch thick, sells at 25, and from one to five inches +thick, at 10, piasters per _picul_. + +[101] The fabrics known by the name of _Sinamay_ are on the other hand +made of the fibres of the _Musa textilis_. They are of less gossamer +tissue, but almost transparent, and far more durable than the fabrics made +from the Pina. + +[102] According to Buzeta the Lagoon is 36 Spanish leagues in +circumference, by an average depth of 15 to 16 _brazos_ (fathoms). While +thirteen rivers of various dimensions flow into the lake, the Pasig alone +issues from it, to carry off its waters to the sea. + +[103] Pronounce Mahayhay. + +[104] The size attained by the alligator or cayman in the Laguna de Bay +borders on the incredible. Baron Von Huegel, in his work already referred +to, tells of a French settler in _Jalla-Jalla_ (pronounce Halla-Halla), +who assured him that he had once killed an alligator, whose head alone +weighed 250 lbs., while the body was 10 feet in circumference! It lay +buried in the sluice at the mouth of a river, and it proved so difficult +to get it brought to land and cut up, that only the head was severed by +way of trophy, and brought home to his house. + +[105] Cabeza, the head, whence it is further applied to express "chief," +or "chieftain." + +[106] Another description of tax is the compulsory labour exacted from the +natives, which is expended in the construction of roads and bridges, +transmission of mail matter, transport of military baggage, luggage of +travellers, &c. &c. + +[107] These joss-sticks, by the Chinese called "shi-shin-hiang," burn, +when lighted, so slowly and regularly, that the Chinese often use them to +mark the divisions of time. + +[108] The church was utterly ruined, and a large portion of the buildings +are similarly in a most desolate, neglected condition. A hope was however +expressed that in the following year, 1859, members of the Society of +Jesus would come from Europe to settle in the Philippines, who would +include among their other labours that of rebuilding their own cloister. + +[109] The graceful elegance of the Conchylia brought from Manila is so +remarkable that an English ship captain, who, without a special knowledge +of the matter, brought on speculation a freight of mussels from the +Philippines to Europe, not only made by their sale an enormous profit, but +even attained in consequence to a certain degree of celebrity in the +scientific world! + +[110] Unfortunately the students of Natural Science have met with but +little encouragement or support from Government, and many parts of the +interior still remain a sealed book to them, or are only accessible under +great difficulties. The deficiency of definite information respecting the +island attracts foreign naturalists thither, and of late there have been +exploring it, M. M. Feodor Jagor of Berlin, Dr. Karl Semper of Hamburg, +and La Porte of Paris, all intent on matters connected with the natural +history of this Archipelago, but the majority of such visitants come back +discontented and thoroughly undeceived to land, where all activity of +scientific inquiry is allowed reluctantly, and regarded by the Government +and the priests with an envious eye. + +[111] A Chinese sailor, on being asked why his vessel had an eye painted +on its bulwark, replied in Canton-English, "Suppose no hab eye, how can +see?" + + + [Illustration: Life in Hong-kong.] + + + + + XIV. + + Hong-kong. + + Duration of Stay from 5th to 18th July, 1858. + + Rapid increase of the colony of Victoria or Hong-kong.-- + Disagreeables.--Public character.--The Comprador, or + "fac-totum."--A Chinese fortune-teller.--Curiosity-stalls.--The + To-stone.--Pictures on so-called rice-paper.--Canton-English.-- + Notices on the Chinese language and mode of writing.-- + Manufacture of ink.--Hospitality of German missionaries.--The + custom of exposing and murdering female children.--Method of + dwarfing the female foot.--Sir John Bowring.--Branch Institute + of the Royal Asiatic Society.--An ecclesiastical dignitary on + the study of natural sciences.--The Chinese in the East Indies.-- + Green indigo or Lu-Kao.--Kind reception by German countrymen.-- + Anthropometrical measurements.--Ramble to Little Hong-kong.-- + Excursion to Canton on board H.M. gun-boat Algerine.--A day at + the English head-quarters.--The Treaty of Tien-Tsin.--Visit to + the Portuguese settlement of Macao.--Herr von Carlowitz.-- + Camoens' Grotto.--Church for Protestants.--Pagoda Makok.--Dr. + Kane.--Present position of the colony.--Slave-trade revived + under the name of Chinese emigration.--Excursions round Macao.-- + The Isthmus.--Chinese graves.--Praya Granite.--A Chinese + physician.--Singing stones.--Departure.--Gutzlaff's Island.-- + Voyage to the Yang-tse-Kiang.--Wusung.--Arrival at Shanghai. + + +Victoria, the name by which the settlement situate on the north side of +the island of Hong-kong is known in official documents, strongly recalls +another renowned British possession, Gibraltar. A mere uninviting granite +rock of about 9 miles in length, 8 in breadth, and 26 in circumference, +Hong-kong, situate as it is at the mouth of the Canton River, is one of +the best harbours in the Chinese Empire. Owing to the barren, treeless +surface, which consists for the most part of chains of hills, the highest +point of which is 1825 feet above sea-level, with narrow valleys between, +and a small extent of level ground around the bay, hardly a twentieth part +of its surface is adapted to agriculture. The modern cheerful town, +thoroughly European in character, has within these few years rapidly +attained large dimensions, and its numerous palatial structures speak +volumes for the wealth and prosperity of the residents. The buildings of +the colony rise terrace-like one above another, and extend in rows all +along the steep slope of the granite, for a distance of nearly three +miles. Besides the population inhabiting the town, many thousand Chinese +of the very lowest class with their wives and children live here in small +boats year after year, so that the total population of the island amounts +to about 80,000 souls. + +Twenty years back Hong-kong was but an insignificant place. Only since the +peace of Nangking in 1842, which shook to its foundation the exclusive +system till then prevalent, and among other important advantages secured +the island of Hong-kong to the English, besides bringing into the +community of nations the huge unwieldy empire with its 400,000,000, +occupying 78 degrees of longitude and 38 of latitude, has it been +developed into the most important business centre of China. It became an +emporium for all European manufactures, as well as for all produce from +the interior, which is shipped hence to the various marts of the world. +Unfortunately the period at which the flag of the great Mandjing, or +Double Eagle, as the Chinese call Austria, was for the first time unfurled +on the shores of the Celestial Kingdom proved most unsuitable for +scientific observation. While in the interior a variety of circumstances +seriously threatened the stability of the throne of the reigning dynasty, +the flames of war were once more breaking out along the coast also, and +adding to the confusion and distress of the Chinese diplomatists. In the +present war the English were for the first time in these waters fighting +side by side with the French, while the Russians and North Americans were +cautiously maintaining an observant, but none the less on that account +menacing attitude. The hatred and animosity of the Chinese populace, +stirred up by their own authorities, was continually goaded to increasing +fury with each new victory of the "red-haired barbarians." The Chinese +bakers in Hong-kong had devised the cruel expedient of poisoning the bread +purchased by the English, and thus avenging themselves on the foe more +fatally and more certainly than by Chinese weapons. Even while walking in +the neighbourhood one's life was not safe, and even the usually not very +easily terrified Englishman was now begirt with "revolvers," when he rode +forth of an afternoon with his wife, or was taken in a sedan-chair to a +friend's house of an evening. + +Shortly before our arrival, the captain of a merchantman, while taking a +walk outside the city, was set upon by some Chinese, robbed, and so +severely maltreated that he expired of the injuries he received. So too +the clerk of a mercantile house had been picked up just outside the city +weltering in his blood and pierced with a number of wounds from a dagger, +the murderer in this case also evading detection. An attempt was even made +against the life of the Governor, Sir John Bowring, which was only +frustrated through the vigilance of the sentinel, who discharged his piece +at the scoundrels just as, favoured by night, they were stealing over the +walls of the Government-house, with the view of creeping through the +garden as far as Sir John's cabinet. + +Even in the most ordinary domestic matters might be traced the same +relentless hostility on the part of the Chinese, and the state of affairs +was becoming every day more intolerable to the European residents. All the +domestic servants at Hong-kong are Chinese, who come hither from the +nearest provinces of the mainland, in order to benefit by the rate of +wages paid by the "foreign barbarian." The Chinese officials, vying with +each other in every possible method of showing their implacable hatred to +the strangers and to embitter their life in China, now issued an order to +all the Chinese resident in Hong-kong to quit the island and return to +their native country. This ordinance would assuredly have been disregarded +by most of the resident Chinese of the Middle Empire, had not any +violation of the Imperial rescripts been visited with such appalling +consequences. For by the Draconic laws of the Empire, the family of the +criminal expiate his offence, should he take to flight and get beyond the +reach of the arm of Chinese justice. For any such absentee from justice, +some other member of the family is substituted, who may be still on the +spot; as for instance, the father, mother, or brother, who is punished +exactly as though he had in person been guilty of the crime or +misdemeanour. With such terrific means of repressing disobedience +impending over him, no Chinese would venture to set at defiance the orders +of the Mandarins; and accordingly, during the summer of 1858, 10,000 +Chinese returned home at once; others, who did not dare to return, but +could not endure that the ruthless doom should be executed upon their +relatives, committed suicide. The position of European ladies in Hong-kong +became anything but enviable, as they had at a moment's notice to take up +the pot-ladle for themselves, and get through the various fatiguing +details of their households with what skill they could. Moreover there was +good ground for apprehension that the Mandarins might cut off all +communications with the neighbouring provinces, which move, as the greater +part of the every-day necessaries of life are supplied from the mainland, +might have exposed the population of Hong-kong to the severest straits. + +Under these circumstances any more remote excursions, or visits to the +adjacent mainland, were of course impossible. We had to confine our +investigations to the island itself, there to collect what memoranda we +could, and see as much of the island and its inhabitants as the shortness +of our stay and the prevailing disorders might admit. + +Life in Hong-kong has already a strong leaven of western civilization. +Only in the narrowest streets does the visitor come upon examples of the +genuine Chinese type. Most of the natives even inhabit houses built in the +European style, so that one feels as though in a European city inhabited +by a Chinese population, the latter having however greatly altered from +its originality. Only very few types of Chinese popular life are met with +in this English colony. Of these characters the most interesting and +unique is the _Comprador_ (_Mai-pau_), a sort of factotum, whom no +household can dispense with, and whose importance only those can +adequately do justice to who have lived some time in the country. The +Comprador, or _shroff_, is the soul, the good or evil genius, of the +house: he sees to all sorts of purchases, manages the domestic economy, +and maintains order and discipline in the house and household. The entire +domestic control is exclusively lodged in his hands, to that extent that +even the master and mistress of the house may not, without consulting the +Comprador, dismiss one of the servants or engage a new one. For all that +goes on, the latter is responsible. He has to answer for the honesty of +the servants, and must replace anything that may have gone amissing from +the house inventory. If the family leave their house for any time, the +Comprador is informed of the place where the most valuable articles are +deposited, where they are more likely to be found in proper order on their +return than by any other device. Even during the late war, in which the +feeling of the Chinese to the Europeans was anything but friendly, the +Comprador held to his fidelity, and was as useful as ever. In view of the +actual state of matters, a traveller must feel no little astonishment at +beholding the doors and windows of the private dwelling-houses everywhere +wide open, and valuable articles lying exposed in the various apartments. +As however the Comprador himself must get a number of bails to become +responsible for him, and as the post is a very profitable one, it follows +that there are but few cases of dishonesty in this singular profession. It +is especially remarkable that few of the populace seem to be as hostile to +the strangers as the Mandarins, and all the numerous annoyances inflicted +on the latter are invariably to be traced to the intrigues of the Chinese +authorities. How else would it be possible for a couple of hundred +Europeans to rule a colony in which are 80,000 Chinese, and which moreover +is dependent upon the mainland for the very first necessities of life? + +The Comprador receives for all his services and attentions no higher pay +than from 12 to 15 dollars a month, besides support for himself and +family. This however is not his sole income, as every tradesman must give +the Comprador a per-centage upon everything, even the most insignificant +article that enters the house, and this custom even extends to any +purchases made by a Chinese in the warehouses of the foreign merchant. + +Another "public character," whom one frequently meets in the lower parts +of the city in the public streets of the Chinese quarter, is the +"soothsayer." On a small table before him stands an open draught-board +with a number of squares, on which are inscribed a variety of proverbs and +oracular sayings. In each square is a grain of rice, and quite close to +the board is a bird-cage with a tame canary. Presently some good-humoured +gaping rustic comes up, who wishes to learn his destiny, upon which the +soothsayer suffers the canary to hop out of his cage upon one of the +squares, and pick up a grain of rice _ad libitum_. The sentences and +interpretations, which are inscribed on each square from which the canary +snaps up his food serve for a reply and decision to the curious +questioner, who hands over a small _honorarium_. The apparatus is simple +and ingenious, but the proverbs are excessively silly, and recall much +less the land of Confucius than the dream-books of certain countries +standing high in European civilization. + +The stores which seem most to attract the attention of a stranger are the +"Curiosity-shops," in which are heaped up those innumerable articles of +Chinese industry and Chinese taste which are so characteristic of the +country and its inhabitants. Here the eye rests upon objects of the most +bizarre shapes, which in material design and execution are totally unlike +anything the European sees elsewhere; workmanship in wood and stone, that +illustrates in a remarkable manner the extraordinary patience of the +artisan, such as drinking-cups, barrels, frames, cut all in one piece, and +beautifully carved, elegant fancy articles of horn, stone, +mother-of-pearl, ivory, roots of trees, metal, or wood, vases and dishes, +statuettes in copper and clay, woven portraits, embroidery, &c. &c. + +Among all these various manufactures, one especially remarks those +prepared from a leek-green, slimy-feeling stone (nephrite), which is in +much request among the Chinese, and is highly valued. The Chinese name, +Yo, from which in all probability is derived the French name _Jade_, does +not indicate however a peculiar species, but is used for all sorts of +carved stone-work and gems, while the most valuable one is called by the +Chinese the "mutton-fat" stone. The articles prepared of what is named +steatite, or soap-stone, are largely used in commerce, but are of very +small value, and usually cut only in very clumsy figures. + +But these manufactures make much less impression upon the stranger than +the beautiful pictures of the Chinese artists upon rice-paper, a peculiar +branch of art, cultivated by the Chinese alone, and which as yet has never +been successfully imitated in any other country. The most exquisite +specimens of these are sent to Canton, but among the Chinese in Hong-kong +we saw several beautiful works in this style of painting. The common +designation of rice-paper has led to the erroneous idea that the substance +of which these pictures are made is manufactured from the leaves of the +rice-plant, whereas it is prepared from the pith of an entirely different +plant (_Aralia papyrifera_), which grows in Funan and Tukun. The marrow is +steeped for some time in water, after which it is split by means of very +keen sharp knives into thin leaves, which are then subjected to gentle +pressure. The largest are about a foot square, and are reserved almost +exclusively for pictures, the shreds and inferior sorts alone being used +for the manufacture of artificial flowers. We saw portraits of the Emperor +and Empress, of the rebel leader, Tai-ping, of the notorious Yeh, +ex-governor of Canton, and other well-known or conspicuous personages. +Latterly there has sprung up a strong tendency among the Chinese artists +to daguerreotypes and photographs in miniature upon ivory; and in the +_ateliers_ of Hong-kong a number of artists were engaged in this, at +present the most profitable branch of Chinese artistic skill. + +In all these shops the medium of trade is what is called Canton-English, +less a dialect than a confused jargon of English and Chinese words, +consisting of concessions made on either side to the grammar and idiom of +the other, so as the more readily to comprehend each other. A few Spanish +and Portuguese words have also crept in, recalling the former relations of +these countries with China. All English words ending in _e_ mute have in +this gibberish an _i_ attached to them, as also all other words whatever. +Thus they say _timi_, _housi_, _pieci_, _coachi_, _cooki_, &c. &c. There +are certain Chinese, especially in Canton, who pick up a living by +initiating young country folks, who are about entering service in English +mercantile houses, in this singular language. Curious and unpleasant as +this Chinese English dialect sounds in the ears of strangers, it is found +greatly to facilitate intercourse with the Chinese, in consequence of the +immense difficulties attending the study of Chinese, so that most +Europeans find it far more comfortable to master this jargon, which is not +without some influence on the spread of English in the chief commercial +cities, than to occupy themselves with mastering Chinese. The language +spoken by the sons of the "middle kingdom" consists of 450 monosyllabic +sounds, which by various delicate differences in accentuation may increase +to about 1600. The slight, and to unaccustomed ears almost inappreciable, +shades of aspiration and accentuation, are the main difficulty in the way +of foreigners desirous of learning the Chinese language. + +To learn the written characters is equally arduous, and requires not less +time and perseverance; for this does not consist of a number of letters, +the varying arrangement of which constitutes words, but of 40,000 more or +less complicated signs, each of which expresses a whole word. They are +rude forms, representing most imperfectly ideas and material objects;[112] +however, the knowledge of 4000 to 6000 such signs, with their various +significations, suffices to understand most of the common Chinese books. +These singular hieroglyphics are not written horizontally but vertically. +Moreover, the Chinese begin from the right side, so that, directly the +reverse of the European custom, the title of a Chinese book is found on +the first page, the leaf furthest to the right hand. Long ago, the +Chinese, like most other Asiatic nations at the present day, wrote with +metal _styli_ upon split leaves of bamboo. Ever since the third century +before Christ, however, when the art was invented of making paper from the +rind of the mulberry tree and the bamboo-cane, and preparing pin-soot, +glair, musk, glue, Indian ink[113] (meh), and other substances, the +pencil has taken the place of the graver. The hieroglyphics now made on +paper are softer, more elegant, and in distinctness of outline admit +greater varieties of form. Most of the Chinese whom we saw engaged in +writing formed the most complicated characters with great celerity and +ease upon the thin paper, and without the firm strokes losing anything of +their neatness and clearness of outline. + +Among the various scientific objects recommended as important objects of +inquiry to the members of the Expedition, during their visit to China, by +the renowned sinologue Dr. Pfitzmaier, was the obtaining of rare Chinese +books, and the elucidation of certain ethnographic and linguistic +questions. Whatever was achieved by us in throwing light upon these +matters is due in great measure to the cordial reception with which we +were received by men of science resident at Hong-kong. Especially we would +name in this respect Dr. M. Lobscheid, a German by birth, a missionary and +inspector of schools, who, thoroughly conversant with the Chinese +language, exerted himself to the utmost in forwarding the objects of the +scientific corps, besides assisting us in the purchase of a variety of the +most valuable Chinese works, and giving us much interesting information +respecting the country and the inhabitants. Dr. Lobscheid himself has a +well-selected, valuable, and extensive library of rare Chinese works on +geography, natural science, history, philology, and numismatics, and +presented a number of valuable gifts to the Expedition. One of his +colleagues, Dr. Ph. Winnes, also a German, and a missionary from the +Mission Society of Bale, compiled for us a list of words of the Hakka +dialect, as spoken in the interior of the province of Quang-Tung, hitherto +so little known philologically. It is indeed astonishing what English, and +German, and American missionaries have effected as publicists, during the +short period they have been resident here. The educational and religious +works published in Chinese at the expense of the various religious +societies form already quite a respectable literature of themselves, +although the Chinese language puts as many obstacles in the way of mere +Christian civilization as in that of the propagation of the Evangile +itself. Most of the missionaries consider any attempt to substitute Romish +for Chinese characters as being quite vain. The indistinctness of Chinese +signs has already been fruitful of much controversy among the missionaries +themselves. Thus, for example, those engaged in promulgating the Christian +faith are not as yet agreed by what Chinese word the God of Christianity +may best be indicated. The Roman Catholic missionaries write _Tientschu_ +(the Highest of all things); the English and German Protestants use the +sign _Schang-Ti_ (the Most High); the American Protestants make use of the +word _Schin_ (Spirit). These varieties of opinion as to the mode of +expressing the idea of "God," have given rise to a vast number of +publications, which however have unfortunately tended rather to envenom +the dispute than smooth the way to a common understanding. + +Conspicuous, however, as are the services of the missionaries in the +publication and diffusion of useful and moral books in the Chinese +language, their direct efforts have, on the other hand, been attended with +but limited results hitherto, and although it is always laid down as an +axiom in the books and manifestoes of the Tai-Ping insurgents, that the +doctrines of Christianity, as deduced from the writings of the Missionary +Societies, are the leading principle of the movement, yet, as set forth +and promulgated by the insurgent chiefs, they cannot be said to deserve +recognition by any known form of Christianity. + +As in their religion, so in their mode of life, and their national +customs, the Chinese remain stiff-necked and obstinate, and in this +direction also Christianity is in but few cases capable of mitigating +their frequently barbarous customs. Children in China are constantly +exposed in large numbers, and that not owing to poverty, but from +indifference to the female children. One Chinese woman who at present +professes Christianity, and is a member of the Bale missionary community, +has herself killed eight female children whom she had herself carried in +her womb! Dr. Lobscheid informed us that he was personally cognizant of +one case, where a Chinese mother-in-law, irritated at the birth of a +female child, murdered it before its mother's eyes, almost immediately +after it had come into the world, and this in a rather well-to-do family! +Young mothers often lay their children down in the open field, or on the +sea-beach, watching anxiously if any one takes it away, or till a wave +mercifully sweeps it off. One such infant, accidentally found by some of +the crew of the English frigate _Nankin_, and tended with all the +tender-heartedness of Jack when he finds an object of compassion, is at +present in the German Mission House at Hong-kong, and was baptized in the +cathedral by the chaplain of the frigate, who gave her the name of +Victoria Nankin. Other mothers endeavour to choke the new-born girl with +moistened ashes, which, not unfrequently with caressing hand, they lay +upon the mouth of the little unconscious innocent. Male children, on the +other hand, even such as are crippled or deformed, are very seldom, indeed +quite exceptionally, exposed or put to death. In proportion to the harsh +treatment which the female offspring experience, is the pride and anxious +carefulness which wait on the male children. Indeed the Chinese are very +much in the habit of having several wives, simply because by so doing they +of course have a better chance of a number of male offspring, and it very +frequently happens that the lawful wife of a Chinaman, if she has +continued any length of time childless, will even seek out and bring to +her husband a concubine by whom he may have heirs, that is, _sons_.[114] +In such cases the two wives usually continue on the best of terms, which +cannot be said of those instances where the second or third wife is +introduced into the family by the husband, without the intervention of his +wife. According to the old Chinese law, the man had to be thirty, the +woman twenty, before marriage. At present marriages, as a rule, are made +between sixteen and twenty years of age. It may be assumed that one in +every fifteen Chinese has more than one wife; the first, usually known as +"number one," is generally taken from inclination, whereas the rest are +usually bought, the price varying, according to their youth and beauty, +from 100 to 600 dollars. This custom gives rise to quite a peculiar trade. +Chinese women make a practice of purchasing for themselves from the poorer +classes such of the female children as are of good health and well formed, +whom they bring up with great care, with the view of selling them, when +grown up, to the wealthy Chinese, and even sometimes to--European +residents.[115] The custom of child-murder is most prevalent in the coast +districts of the province of Fo-kien, so that latterly there was a +positive scarcity of women, and marriageable girls had to be imported from +the northern part of the province. The prevalence of this custom of +child-murder in these localities is to be ascribed to the enormous +migration of the male population to Siam, to the islands of the Malay +Archipelago, and other points. These emigrants supply the labour market in +foreign countries, and but seldom return to their families. Numerous +placards and pamphlets, pointing out the enormity of child-murder, and +dissuading from its commission, are printed annually, partly at the cost +of philanthropists, partly at that of the Chinese Government, and widely +diffused, yet without producing any diminution in the practice of this +appalling custom. + +The custom of distorting the feet of the better class of women at the +period of their birth, seems to have arisen from the jealousy of the +husbands, who in thus preventing the possibility of gadding about, think +they have secured an additional guarantee for the fidelity and chastity of +their wives. However, one occasionally hears the first introduction of +this singular and cruel custom ascribed to a Chinese empress having once +been born with such distortion of the feet, and that in consequence it not +only became the fashion among the females of the higher class in those +days, out of pure obsequiousness, to imitate by artificial means a +disfiguration accidentally arising from a freak of Nature, but even to +recognize it as a necessary concomitant of the Chinese ideal of beauty. + +The Governor of Hong-kong, Sir John Bowring, a distinguished _savant_, who +received the members of the Expedition with the utmost consideration, +invited them to his house and endeavoured to bring them into personal +communication with those residents in the colony most interested in +scientific pursuits, so that each one of us could consult with the +gentleman best able to advise him in his own department, and thus attain +in the shortest time the most satisfactory results. Sir John, moreover, as +President of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, admitted the +members of the Expedition to the honours of an extraordinary session. He +welcomed the Austrian naturalists in the heartiest manner, and expressed +the most flattering anticipations from their visit. Very deserving of +remark was the speech made on this occasion by the Lord Bishop of +Hong-kong. In his capacity of a dignitary of the Church, he too bade us +welcome in the warmest manner, and expressed his conviction that +Christianity had nothing to fear, but only to hope, from the study of +natural sciences! What would certain ultramontanists, had they been +present, have replied to this remark of a high ecclesiastical +dignitary?--they who consider government impossible without restricting +the study of the natural sciences! + +Among the various subjects discussed at this meeting were several of great +interest, which sufficiently evidenced what a thorough disposition to +mental activity the English show, even in a place where material interests +are necessarily the main objects of attention, and where they, moreover, +are continually exposed to great personal danger. + +One of the communications received by the Society was a memoir by Mr. W. +Alabaster, who had accompanied ex-governor Yeh to Calcutta as interpreter, +treating of the Chinese population there, and its influence on the state +of society. The memoir contained the very remarkable statement that the +Chinese colony in Calcutta, which in 1858 counted little more than 500 +souls, had not alone monopolized several employments, such as shoemakers, +tailors, &c., but had, even when thousands of miles distant from home, +jealously maintained several of their customs and rites intact. This +Chinese community, so inconsiderable in point of mere numbers, already +possesses its own temple, its own priests, and its own teachers, who guard +any Chinese immigrants from the perils of proselytism; it has founded a +special association, whose object it is to transmit to their native land +the bodies of such as die abroad, while their luxury is beginning to +develope itself to the extent of ordering from China at considerable +expense troops of actors, so as even at this distance to provide +themselves with the national amusement of a genuine Sing-Song. This +peculiarity is of great importance, inasmuch as the emigration from China +is ever assuming more extended dimensions, and already embraces several +portions of the world. We find Chinese scattered throughout Eastern Asia, +in Australia, in California, in Peru, in Brazil, in the West Indies, and, +what is very astonishing they thrive and prosper at most places they +visit, despite the not very humane treatment they receive, and the +wretched, desolate state in which they leave their homes. This enormous +emigration of the sons of the Flowery Land seems destined to be of immense +importance, and to be fraught with momentous influence upon the future of +the other Asiatic populations, whom the Chinese greatly excel in capacity +for work, mechanical dexterity, and dogged perseverance. Even the +religious movement gives the Chinese certain advantages over all other +nations of the Asiatic type of civilization. The Hindoo, like the +Catholic, has numbers of festivals, which greatly diminish the number of +his actual working days; the daily ceremonies prescribed by Brahminism +further curtail the most precious hours of labour; his exclusively +vegetarian food not alone prevents the proper development of his muscular +power, but also by its ostentatiously morbid delicacy, brings him +constantly into collision with the social order of a Christian household. +The Chinese, on the other hand, keeps but one holiday-time, the beginning +of the new year, which he celebrates for fourteen days without +intermission. But the remaining 11-1/2 months of the year are for him but +one long day of work. Moreover, the Chinese has no fastidious notions +about his food. He eats pork, and drinks wine, and prefers fat meat to +meagre fruit diet, thoroughly unrestrained by any considerations as to +whether such a mode of life accords with the institutes of Brahma and +Menu, or the teaching of Confucius. Their sobriety, their capacity, their +industry, their frugal mode of life, and their numbers, all seem to +indicate the Chinese as destined to play an important part, not alone in +the development of the Oriental nations, but also in the history of +mankind. They are, as a German philosopher has profoundly remarked, the +Greeks and Romans of Eastern Asia, and they will, if once hurried onwards +by the great tide of Christian civilization, perform such feats as to +fill even the nations of the old world with wonder and amazement. + +Another communication, made during the same meeting of this meritorious +branch of the Royal Asiatic Society in Hong-kong, related to that singular +plant, which has within the last few years excited so much attention in +industrial circles throughout Europe under the name of "Green dye," or +"Vert Chinois." Notwithstanding the experiments hitherto made with this +valuable dye, and the excellent use which has been made of it, more +especially by the Chamber of Commerce at Lyons, the first in Europe to +make application of the new colour, there was yet much to be learned +respecting the mode of raising and manufacturing it, in order to render +its employment entirely practicable. The elegant pamphlet of the Lyons +Chamber of Commerce[116] had just arrived from Europe, and led to a +variety of interesting investigations. Nothing was known in Hong-kong +respecting the plant beyond what was already contained in Robert Fortune's +excellent work and Rondot's treatise. Somewhat later, we were furnished +with more accurate and circumstantial information respecting the Lu-Kao, +the well-known "Green dye" of the English (a species of _Rhamnus_ or +buckthorn), which we shall here transcribe pretty fully.[117] + +Lu-Kao is grown chiefly in the northern provinces, extensive plantations +of this valuable plant existing in the country around Foo-Chow and the +environs of the city of Haening. The valuable green dye matter is +obtained, however, from the rind, not of one but of two species _Rhamnus_, +of which the "yellow" grows on the flats, the "white" on the high-grounds +in a wild state. The preparation of the substance, which does not differ +much in appearance from common indigo, is exceedingly primitive. Both +plants are boiled for a considerable time in iron kettles, the yellow +deposit or _residuum_ being suffered to remain undisturbed for several +days. Transferred thence into earthen vessels, a piece of cotton cloth is +steeped into it five or six times, after which the adherent dye is wrung +out, and exposed a second time to the process of boiling in iron pans. The +next step in the manipulation consists in permitting the dye stuff, which +now has much more consistence, to be soaked up by some pieces of cotton, +when it is once more washed, sprinkled upon thin paper, and, lastly, +exposed for some time to the sun. + +The Chinese have as yet only used the dye for colouring cloths of coarse +texture; all attempts hitherto to apply it to silks, &c., have proved +fruitless. But the great development of chemical science in Europe +justifies us in expecting that a method will ere long be devised for +fixing this beautiful, durable light green tint, which does not alter even +in candlelight, upon fabrics of fine smooth texture, and thus greatly +enhance its value in the industrial arts. The Lu-Kao has from time +immemorial been used by the Chinese in watercolour paintings, but its use +in industrial processes only dates from about 20 years back. The very +price charged for the small quantities hitherto brought from China, is by +no means natural, but seems to have been artificially forced up by +speculation, apparently in consequence of an unusual demand. In Foo-Chow +the price of one Catti, about 1-3/4 lbs., is 20 _Taels_, or about L6 +10_s._ Were the production of this dye stuff really so expensive, we may +be sure it would not be made use of by the Chinese for their ordinary +stuffs, nor could these be sold as cheap as they are. We have found our +opinion confirmed by competent observers in various parts of China, that +this valuable product is susceptible of being acclimatized in Europe, and +of being cultivated with profit, especially in those places where, +together with favourable conditions of temperature and soil, the wages of +labour are not too high. + +Like the English authorities and Government officials, our German +fellow-countrymen, resident in Hong-kong, did not fail to exercise their +hospitality for the benefit of the associates of the Expedition, and we +cannot sufficiently express our obligations to the Austrian Consul, Mr. G. +Wiener, and the Prussian vice-consul, Mr. Gustav Oberbeck, for their +delicate attention. The latter presented the Expedition with a number of +articles interesting as illustrating the advances of civilization, which +he had obtained during the siege of Canton, in Dec. 1857, and of which the +greater part have since been deposited at the Imperial Cabinet of +Antiquities at Vienna. + +Through the kindness and interest of Dr. Harland (since deceased), +surgeon-in-chief of the colony, some of the members of the Expedition were +enabled to make corporeal measurements in the great prison, the inmates of +which come from the most various parts of the empire, as well as in the +hospital, upon a number of individuals of either sex, all "fair specimens +of the Chinese race," as Dr. Harland assured them, the results of which +will be found in the anthropological section of the _Novara_ publications. + +Before the frigate left Hong-kong, despite the insecurity of public +affairs, several excursions were made to the south side of the island, to +Canton, and to the Portuguese settlement of Macao, which proved as +interesting as they were satisfactory. + +In the course of their peregrinations about the mountains on the island, +as far as the fishing village on the south side of the island, known as +Little Hong-kong (sweet-waters), the naturalists of the Expedition were +accompanied by Dr. Hance, the botanist, and the missionary, Dr. Lobscheid, +both thoroughly acquainted with the Chinese language. Little as the pretty +name of this small settlement, founded so far back as 1668, is applicable +to the entire island, it yet corresponds well, and is eminently suitable, +to the smiling valley, entirely shut in by lofty rocks, in which lies +wretched Little Hong-kong. A beautiful wood filled with tufts of flowers, +forming for the labours of the botanist a rich supply of the most splendid +plants, and refreshed by copious springs of water from the mountains, +constitute a lovely landscape. Above the limit of vegetation of the +foliage trees, are seen on the slopes of the mountain groups of pines, +while the level ground at the bottom of the valley is laid out in smiling +rice fields. The miserable inhabitants of the village, which looks +gloomily out from among the trees, are not safe from the predatory +onslaughts of ferocious pirates, even among the recesses of the valley. +The streets of the village, hidden between trees, are uncommonly narrow, +so that two men can scarcely pass each other, and the huts are all placed +on purpose close against each other, in order, we were told, to be able +more easily to admit of defence. Our rambles were rewarded with an +abundant collection of specimens, and were particularly instructive in a +geognostical point of view, as satisfying us that the island does not +consist entirely of granite, but that a large proportion of the mountain +is porphyritic. + +Another excursion was made by the Commodore and some of his staff as far +as Canton. The Commandant of the station, Commodore Stewart, had for this +purpose placed the gun-boat _Algerine_ at our disposal. The distance from +Hong-kong to Canton is about 87 nautical miles (100 statute miles), and +the voyage took full eleven hours, viz. from 6.30 A.M. to 5.30 P.M. + +Canton, the third capital of the Chinese Empire, and its most flourishing +commercial city, which but a short time before had numbered about +1,000,000 inhabitants, was at this period a desolate, almost entirely +abandoned mass of houses, half in ruins, half burnt. The stately European +factories, which had adorned the banks of the river up to the walls of the +Chinese city, were heaps of ashes. The floating town upon the river +itself, the renowned flower-boats of Canton, with their marvellous +splendour and their luxurious beauty, had entirely disappeared, leaving no +trace. Whoever had anything to lose had fled the country. English +sentinels patrolled the walls and occupied the streets of the interior of +the city, and only the very poorest of the mob remained behind, watching +every opportunity of getting the "head-money," which the Mandarins of the +province of Kuang-Tung had offered for every head of a "barbarian" brought +in. "The state of matters in Canton gets worse and worse every day," said +the latest issue of the Hong-kong journals. Since the Americans and +Russians had concluded private treaties with the Imperial Government, and +the English and French allied fleet had gone north to the Gulf of +Pe-Cheli, to treat at Tien-Tsin with the Imperial commissioners, the +Chinese of Canton had been plucking up courage. They conceived the allies +to be isolated; the Russians and the Americans they held to be hostile to +them. The Mandarins and Imperial commissioners launched proclamations by +the dozen at the "foreign devils,"[118] set on foot organized Guerilla +bands, which were called "Braves," who every night discharged rockets +into the city, murdered and pillaged, and kept the allied troops, who were +only 3500 strong (800 of whom were in hospital) almost continually on the +alert. + +When the gun-boat _Algerine_ arrived off Canton, the Commodore, although +it was late in the evening, was accompanied by a military escort to the +head-quarters of General Straubenzee, commander of the allied troops. A +stillness as of a grave-yard reigned throughout the city, and not a light +was to be seen. By 10.30 P.M. the Commodore reached the post, and was +most hospitably received by the General. The head-quarters were situated +on a hillock commanding the city, surrounded by the numerous buildings of +a country-seat or _Yamun_, which had been the property of the father of +Governor Yeh, who had acquired such notoriety during the recent warlike +troubles. The ostentatious splendour of the apartments, the splendid ebony +carved work, gave such an idea of the magnificence, the luxury, the +gorgeousness of the Chinese princes, as can only be paralleled by what we +read of the palaces of the emperors of ancient Rome. Yeh himself had by +this time been removed from the political scene, and was a state prisoner +in Calcutta, where he lived in more than monastic seclusion. To judge by +his portrait, which was for sale in all the print-shops of Hong-kong, Yeh +was a fine-looking man with energetic features, and an expression full of +intellect, and, so far as his physical appearance went, seemed to take +after his father, who in his ninety-second year was still tasting joys of +paternity. In his own country, even among the Europeans, Yeh enjoys the +reputation of being not only an able diplomatist, but a man of varied +information as well. While at Hong-kong we were shown some large +anatomical woodcuts, which Yeh had himself borrowed from a European work +on anatomy, and published at his own cost on an enlarged scale, +accompanied by a preface from his pen.[119] + +Even more extensive and elegant in its outward aspect than that of Yeh, +was the palace of the Tartar general Pihkwei, now employed for barracks +and the officers of the English and French commissariat, while a much less +pretentious building had been assigned to the Tartar general for his +present residence. + +The Commodore had reached head-quarters and was sitting at the tea-table +with General Straubenzee, when an alarm of fire was heard. The "Braves" +had fired a house close by in the hope, it should seem, that the flames +would catch the barracks as well as the powder depot, or at all events +compel the English to withdraw their troops from the post, and give an +opportunity for inflicting some loss on them. Fortunately, however, what +had been set on fire burned quite out, without fulfilling the +anticipations of the "Braves." + +In the course of a stroll, which our Commodore took with the General +somewhat later in the night, they perceived that the Chinese kept up a +continual flight of rockets against the sentries and buildings of the +post, from a small eminence not two hundred yards distant, which was +provided with ramparts and cannon, and the Austrian guests greatly +marvelled that no energetic steps were taken to obviate the disorders +produced by these guerilla bands of Chinese, who every night with their +incendiarism and fire-balls kept the city, the head-quarters, and the +pickets in constant alarm, seeing that their inactivity only tended to +animate the courage of the Chinese, while in such harassing service, +unattended as it was with any results, their own forces, already very much +reduced, were proportionately weakened. + +The morning after their arrival the Austrian officers, accompanied by the +English commissioner Mr. Parkes, whose imprisonment near Pekin has since +made his name widely and universally known, paid a visit to the sole +Chinese authority still remaining in the town, the Tartar General and +Mandarin, Pi-Kwei. An immense crowd had assembled in the streets through +which the foreigners wended their way, and their reception by the Tartar +General was accompanied by all the ceremonial of Chinese etiquette: three +howitzer salvo-shots, and ear-splitting Chinese music, the General's +body-guard, disarmed, drawn up on the staircase, the General himself, +wearing his Mandarin cap on his head, nodding and laughing more or less to +the foreigners presented, according to their higher or lower rank. The +Commodore was provided with a raised seat. In the course of conversation, +during which Mr. Parkes kindly acted as interpreter, tea was served. +Pi-Kwei inquired as to the objects of the Expedition, and asked the names +of the officers, which, owing to the symbolic nature of Chinese writing, +could not be done but after much difficulty. Pi-Kwei, a man of colossal +proportions, behaved and spoke like a lamb in presence of the small +physically insignificant-looking Mr. Parkes. Like the regents appointed by +the Dutch Government in Java, he was nothing more than the agent to carry +out the orders of the English. + +Our departure was not less ceremonious and noisy than our reception: a +number of fire-balls were let off in front of the building, the noise of +which gave much more the impression of an infernal machine than a salute. +The rest of the day the officers spent in reconnoitring various parts of +the city, as far as circumstances admitted, and all returned in the +evening to Hong-kong in the same gun-boat which had conveyed them to +Canton. + +While we were lying at anchor in Hong-kong, an extra sheet of the "_North +China Herald_," published at Shanghai, brought intelligence of a treaty of +peace having been signed at Tien-Tsin, by Lord Elgin, on the part of +England, and the Imperial Commissioners, and that it had been dispatched +to Pekin for the purpose of being ratified by the imperial autograph. This +treaty, which contained 56 clauses, invested England with far more +extensive rights than she had hitherto possessed. Especially it was +stipulated that an English ambassador should reside in a palace at Pekin, +and be accorded all the honours due to his rank, and that the Christian +religion should be professed and taught without any restrictions. British +subjects, provided with passes from their own consuls, to be countersigned +by the local Chinese authorities, were to be permitted to traverse the +empire in every direction on business or pleasure; the navigation of the +Yang-tse-Kiang, or Blue River, was also declared free; and in addition to +the five harbours already opened to foreign commerce by the treaty of +Nankin, the English were now to be at liberty to trade with New-Chwang, +Tang-Char, Tai-Wan (on the island of Formosa), Chau-Chow, and Kiung-Chow +(in Hainan), to settle in any of these, to buy and sell house property, +as also to erect churches and hospitals, and lay out cemeteries. Chinese +subjects guilty of crimes or offences against the English, to be punished +by the native authorities in conformity with the law of the land. English +subjects, on the other hand, to be subject to the jurisdiction of the +British authorities, in similar circumstances, and treated according to +British law. All official communications on the part of the English +authorities to be drawn up in English for presentation to the Chinese +Government, and although, for the present, accompanied by a translation, +shall in the event of uncertainty be construed according to the text of +the English original. Article L provides that the symbol [Chinese +character(s)] (Barbarian) shall be discontinued in all official documents, +whether in the capital or the provinces, and the term "English" or +"English Government" be substituted. On the other hand, the Treaty of +Tien-Tsin is silent on the subject of the opium trade, the main point in +dispute, the prime cause of the various wars hitherto broken out! There +was mention made of a revision of the tariff only. Obviously the British +plenipotentiaries thought they would more readily attain their object if +they endeavoured to get this difficult question solved in some less +conspicuous manner. The opium merchants, as well as their antagonists the +London philanthropists, seemed equally dissatisfied that the opium matter +was still left a "pending question." On the whole, however, this was one +of the most marked diplomatic peculiarities of the Treaty of Tien-Tsin. +Instead of rousing anew the passions of the Chinese, and, by wringing such +an open and public concession from that Government, weakening still more +the hold of the Emperor over his own people, and, whatever their +professions of amity, rendering the authorities yet more hostile and +rancorous against the foreigners, the wily English ambassador preferred +quietly to include opium amongst the other articles of import under the +revised tariff, and thus convert it into a common article of import. +Accordingly, opium, like cotton, hides, and stockfish, may now be imported +at a fixed duty of 30 _taels_ (L8 15_s._) per _picul_ of 100 _catties_ +(133-1/2 lbs.). + +The events of which China was the scene shortly after the signature of the +treaty, the hostilities of the troops in the Taku forts, the desperate +resistance which was made to the advance of the British ambassador, when +the latter, agreeably to the stipulations in the new treaty, was preparing +to travel to Pekin, all combine to prove that, in their professions of +peace and friendliness, the Chinese were not in earnest. + +Since that period an army of 20,000 Europeans has dictated a peace to +400,000,000 Asiatics, and their till then deemed impregnable capital; and +on 24th October, 1860, Lord Elgin countersigned a new treaty, which, +together with the clauses contained in the previous Treaty of Tien-Tsin +drawn up two years before, provides for the permanent residence of a +British ambassador in the capital of the Chinese Empire, as also for a war +indemnity of 8,000,000 _taels_ (L2,333,333); throws open the harbour of +Tien-Tsin to foreign commerce, permits Chinese subjects to emigrate, +without any restrictions, to any part of the British colonies, and to take +service there; assigns to Great Britain a portion of the district of +Kow-loang or Cow-loon on the mainland opposite Hong-kong; and, finally, +ordains that the original treaty, and all the various additional articles, +shall be published by placard in every part of the Empire. Never before +had the Middle Kingdom sustained such a humiliation. True, during the rule +of the former dynasty, Tao-Kwang (Light of Reason), an end was put to a +system that had endured for a thousand years, but conditions such as those +that had been imposed by the western nations in the treaties of Tien-Tsin +and Pekin, were altogether unheard of in the history of China, and afford +convincing proof of its weakness and approaching downfal, the more so, as +the late Emperor Hien-fung was a jealous upholder of the old Asiatic +doctrines and state craft. Only the utmost necessity and unceasing +pressure could have induced him to lower his arms before the barbarians of +the west, and to endure that an enemy should have dictated conditions of +peace in his own capital, hitherto inaccessible to foreign nations. +English, French, and American ships of war hold possession of the most +important forts of China. In several provinces of the interior, a rebel +emperor has set up his camp, while on the banks of the Amoor, on the north +of the Empire, Russia is building fortresses, and acting as if she were +quite at home in that region. But all these phenomena, however divergent +the interests, may at present point to one stupendous result,--rousing +the immense Chinese Empire from its thousand years' lethargy, and forcing +the natives who populate it to follow in the great onward career of +civilization, which in our days is rushing with the rapidity of a tempest +through the world! + +While the Commodore and some of his staff were proceeding to Canton in the +gun-boat, the naturalists made an excursion to the Portuguese settlement +of Macao, about 35 miles distant from Hong-kong, with which there is +bi-weekly communication by an English steamer. Usually this voyage +occupies from four to five hours, but the _Sir Charles Forbes_ was a small +slow-going tub, and as our departure was delayed several hours in +consequence of a large shipment of chests of opium, for which it was hoped +a better price would be obtained at Macao, and as we had on our way +thither to contend with rain, squalls, and contrary winds, it was dark ere +we reached Macao. + +We were not a little taken aback at finding several of the passengers +armed with revolvers. However, these seemingly superfluous precautions +against danger in a pleasure sail of a few hours were well founded. Not +long before, it had happened that the European passengers to Macao had +been assailed by the Chinese on board, and all murdered in cold blood! the +Chinese had stealthily watched for the moment when the captain and +passengers were at table in the confined cabin of the little craft, took +possession of the vessel, and murdered every European on board. The +captain and some of the passengers sprang overboard to save their lives, +but only one man, an Englishman, succeeded in effecting his escape, and +giving intelligence of this terrible affair. After they had possessed +themselves of a considerable booty, the pirates set the vessel on fire, +and set at nought all efforts to bring them to punishment by escaping into +the interior of the country. + +The arrangements for paying passage-money, expenses, &c., are apt to +strike a stranger as singular. Gold is absolutely out of use, and the +current coins, such as Mexican dollars, and copper money, or cash, are too +bulky to admit of their being lugged about to pay large amounts. In order +to provide for the expenses of a pleasure party of a couple of days it +would be necessary to take a large bag, which there was the further danger +might disappear somewhere without hands. An excellent arrangement has +accordingly been introduced, by which each passenger pays his fare and +other expenses, by means of a check on any one of the mercantile houses in +Macao or Hong-kong, which is filled up with the entire amount for +collection by the controller, and is cashed on his return. This custom is +also a remarkable example of mutual confidence in public life, even if it +be explained by the fact that the majority of the passengers are well +known, and that China has as yet only been frequented by well-off +foreigners. + +The passage from Hong-kong to Macao is not entirely devoid of interest. +The course of the steamer lies at first among narrow canals, between +lofty granite rocks: so soon as she emerges from these, the muddy +disturbed colour of the water indicates that she is now crossing the mouth +of the Canton River proper. Stately ships are seen passing up or down, +while junks and fishing-boats are plying on every side. The majestic +conical peak, 3000 feet high, of the island of Lantao, and the Castle Peak +scarred with a deep furrow from top to bottom, on the mainland of the +province of Quang-tong directly opposite, form the background. The +regularity of the conical shape in these peaks, which seems to point to +their being of volcanic origin, renders it probable that they are either +granite or porphyritic in structure. The mouth of the Canton River is so +wide, that the opposing shores only gradually become visible, the wide +expanse of water, extending on every side till lost in the horizon, giving +the traveller the impression that he is on the open sea. + +Already, before the houses of Macao could be very easily made out, we +passed the merchant ships lying in the roads, which cannot approach within +from six to eight nautical miles. The small thoroughly land-locked "inner +harbour," as it is called, lying on the other side of the narrow tongue of +land on which Macao is situate, is only accessible for small vessels and +Chinese junks, which visit it in large numbers. + +The first view of the city of Macao is not less charming than that of +Victoria. The long ranges of houses are picturesquely grouped around the +numerous little hills surmounted by forts, which form the greater part of +the isthmus; while the beautiful Praya Grande, where palaces and imposing +mansions are disposed in long array close along the shore, in order to get +the benefit of the refreshing sea-breezes, makes a deep and lasting +impression upon the stranger. Churches with lofty double towers shooting +into the air, and the vast dome of the Jesuit College, at once single the +city out as Catholic, and impart to its external aspect a strong contrast +with the adjoining English colony. + +Macao is a favourite resort of the foreigners settled in Hong-kong for +change of air, which in these latitudes seems to be even more necessary +than in Europe. So long as Canton was the chief seat of the European +traders, the Portuguese settlement was used by them as a summer residence +for their families, whither they could themselves occasionally retire from +the bustle of Canton, and the attendant insecurity of life, to spend a few +days of calm enjoyment with their families. On account of the alarms of +war of the previous year, most of the Canton merchants had come down to +Hong-kong and Macao to settle, in consequence of which the latter town has +an unusually lively appearance, while its trade, which had previously been +in a rather languishing condition, has materially improved. + +When the steamer makes its appearance in the roads of Macao, it is +immediately surrounded by an innumerable swarm of what are called +Tanka-boats, mostly propelled by women, who with yells and shrieks bid for +the privilege of conveying the passengers to shore. As there is no +suitable landing-place on the eastern side of the roads, the traveller is +conveyed to the shore through the lash of the waves in a small +cockle-shaped boat, just as at Madeira or Madras, and equally +uncomfortably; but although the boat and the mode in which it is navigated +are anything but calculated to inspire confidence, such a thing as an +accident is of rare occurrence. + +The naturalists of the _Novara_ found an exceedingly friendly and hearty +reception at the beautiful residence of the Russian Consul, M. Von +Carlowitz, who shortly before had come from Canton to settle in Macao, +with his excellent wife, a very beautiful lady of Altenburg in Germany, +there to await the upshot of the war. + +Our first visit the following morning--a bright and beautiful Sabbath +morning--was to the renowned Camoens Grotto, situated in a large +well-wooded park, partly covered with primeval forest, the property of a +Portuguese family of the name of Marquez. All around there reigned utter, +almost sacred silence. Here it was that Camoens, banished from his native +land, wrote his Lusiad. The park with its fragrant shady aisles, its +majestic leafy domes, impervious even to the rays of the tropical sun, its +huge piles of rock round which clamber the immense roots of gigantic +fig-trees, its deliciously cool atmosphere, its soft green velvet paths, +its heaps of ruined walls, and its death-like quietness, seems as though +destined for the asylum of an exiled poet, who, instead of lamenting his +destiny like common men in sullen silence, felt his spirit roused amid +this wonderful tropical beauty to fresh sublime efforts,--"Things +unattempted yet in prose or rhyme!" In an ill-contrived niche in the +substructure of the grotto is a bust, in terra-cotta, of the great poet, +with the inscription, "Louis de Camoens, born 1524, died 1579." On the +broad marble pedestal whereon stands this bust, which savours but little +of artistic taste, various verses from the Lusiad have been engraved with +an iron stylus.[120] Formerly this grotto must have had a much more +agreeable appearance, but the present proprietor thought to beautify it by +making an addition to it, which has resulted in its having almost entirely +lost its original character. From one point within the grotto, called the +observatory, and traditionally used as such by Camoens, there is a +beautiful peep over the inner harbour, with its throng of busy human ants. +Quite close to this singular abode for a poet, is the meeting-house of an +evangelical Christian community, numbering about 200 souls, with a +cemetery attached, which, with its handsome stone monuments and +beautifully laid-out gardens, constitutes one of the most interesting +places of outdoor resort in the colony. + +The most extensive and important edifice in the settlement of Macao, +founded in 1563 by the Portuguese, on a peninsula of the same name, about +five square miles in extent, is the Pagoda of Makok and its different +temples, situate on the slope of a hill between picturesque groups of +granite rocks, studded with gigantic Chinese inscriptions and splendid +clumps of trees. At the entrance of this retreat for the gods, is a large +fantastically-adorned Buddhist temple, surrounded by a large number of +apartments, in which reside the priests, and where they carry on their +household duties, and prepare tapers and sycee-paper for the worship of +their deities, and where are also a few private altars to divinities, +whose influence and protection the Chinese ladies of doubtful reputation +do not, it seems, venture publicly to invoke. + +Steps cut in the granite rock conduct to the highest point, about 200 feet +above sea-level, on which there is likewise a temple. At the time of our +visit, a number of Buddhist priests in long yellow plaited garments were +ascending to the summit, preceded by flute-players, there to perform their +devotions. On their return they distributed among the poor Chinese +congregated in the chief apartment of the temple, a large quantity of +fruit and other eatables. + +While at Macao we visited one of the most respected of the foreigners +settled there, Dr. Kane, an English physician, who has for years resided +in the colony. This gentleman was so kind as to present us with the head +of a statue from the renowned nine-storied or Flower Pagoda (Hwa-tah) near +Canton, which during a visit he paid to that half-ruined edifice in March, +1857, he had found lying on the ground, a fragment from a sandstone figure +on the seventh story, representing a pupil of Buddha. This Pagoda, 160 +feet high, was constructed upwards of a thousand years since, which must +accordingly be the age of the relic in question. + +The number of inhabitants at present in Macao amounts to about 97,000, of +whom 90,000 are Chinese and 7000 Portuguese and Mestizoes. Of other +foreign nations there are but a very few in the peninsula. The chief +article of commerce in the colony is opium, which finds its way hence into +the interior in large quantities. Hong-kong is in too close proximity, is +too favourably situated, and is inhabited by too energetic a race, to +admit of Macao, especially so long as it remains in the hands of the +Portuguese, recovering its former commercial importance. Portugal derives +but little profit from her colonies, and it is only national pride that +will not hear of this possession, which is more a burden than a source of +aid to the mother country, being disposed of by way of sale to either the +English or the North Americans. However, the maintenance of this colony +costs the Portuguese home Government but little, as the colonists support +the chief expenses themselves. Thus the pay of the Governor, who receives +L1260 per annum, as also that of the military force of about 400 men, and +of a small ship stationed in the harbour, are all defrayed by the +colonists. + +Macao is at present the chief point for the shipment of Chinese labourers +or coolies to the West Indies. There are above 10,000 Chinese annually +whom hunger and want drive to sell themselves virtually as slaves to the +traders in human flesh, to drag out a miserable existence far from home. +They are chiefly sent from Macao to the Havanna. We visited the house in +which these pitiable objects are confined till the departure of the ship; +we saw the haggard, reckless look of these wretched beings, who, despite +the dreadful fate that awaits them, hire themselves out to Portuguese and +Spanish kidnappers. In return for a free passage to Havanna, they bind +themselves to work for eight years after their arrival with whatever +master is found for them at four dollars a month,[121] a rate of wage very +much lower than that paid to the labourer of the country, or even to the +manumitted slave. This immense difference however does not accrue so much +to the West India planter as to the speculators who are engaged in the +importation of Chinese, for each of whom a large premium is paid. The +voyage, which usually lasts from four to five months and costs about L70 a +head, is chiefly carried on in French, Portuguese, and--alas! that it +should be so--English and German ships. What sufferings the unhappy +emigrants are exposed to during the voyage, appears from the fact that a +number of them not unfrequently jump overboard, to seek a refuge from +their misery under the waves. Cases have been known in which, owing to +hard fare and mismanagement, 38 per cent. of the emigrants have died on +the passage![122] + +The society which takes charge of this trade in exporting men is known as +the _Colonisadora_, and has its head-quarters in the Havanna. Each Chinese +must before leaving Macao subscribe a contract which is for the exclusive +benefit of the society, and by which the poor emigrants explicitly +renounce all the advantage they might derive from certain paragraphs in +the Spanish Emigration Act, passed in 1854, which bear upon the +interpretation of such contracts. As it is usually only the very poorest, +most shiftless, and most ignorant class that emigrates, the contract is +enforced without the smallest scruple, and if afterwards the emigrant in +the foreign country becomes aware of the privations and oppression he has +to submit to in comparison with other workers, the obligations he has +entered into are made use of to invoke the protection of the Spanish +authorities.[123] The fact however that these latter secretly favour the +objections of the colonization society, sufficiently proves that the +interests of a social class and the extension of the labour market in the +island are considered by them as of far higher importance than the good of +mankind. + +To the English Government is due the credit of having initiated an +energetic protest against this trade in human beings, and of having taken +such steps as tend to mitigate the evil consequences which cannot but +result from such a system of deportation. Its representative at the +Havanna, Mr. Crawford, was the first and indeed only individual who +ventured to make representations to the Spanish Government as to the +little humanity shown for these poor Chinese emigrants, and to draw public +attention to the system.[124] Under a humane and well-managed +administration of the emigration system in China, it might prove of +immense service to those countries which are eager to absorb labour, as, +owing to the super-abundance of labour in China, a far larger supply as +well as a much higher class of labourers might be procured. + +M. de Carlowitz was so kind as to accompany us in our various rambles to +the more interesting sights and points of view, and more especially when +we were busied "doing" the "lines" of the city. On an eminence in the +suburbs, about 200 feet high, is what is known as Monte fort, garrisoned +by 150 men, whence there is a charming panorama, and the eye catches sight +of the Chinese village of Whang-hia, at the period of our visit most +hostilely disposed, and where on July 3rd, 1844, the first treaty of +peace, friendship, and commerce, was drawn up and signed between China and +the United States. Another hill, about 300 feet high, at the outer +extremity of the peninsula, on which many years ago the Portuguese had +erected a fort, of which only the foundations can now be traced, commands +the tongue of land on which stands the city, as well as all the eastern +portion of the island, and amply repays the trouble of ascent. On the road +thither, by which the communication with the mainland of China is mainly +carried on, we came upon the corpse of a coolie, which had apparently lain +for several days in the very middle of the road. A part of the head and +the right hand had been already stripped of the flesh by the +carrion-crows, and enormous swarms of insects had fastened on the upper +portions of the naked horribly swollen dead body. The miserable being had +obviously fallen a victim to want and destitution. His strength seemed to +have failed him while he was earning his miserable subsistence, as two +empty broken panniers were lying close beside him. Crowds of people were +passing daily, men, women, children, even Portuguese taking their +customary promenade on foot or on horseback, without any person giving +himself the least trouble to remove the shocking spectacle. Even the +representations of the foreign consuls seem to have but little influence +on the Portuguese authorities in these matters, and it appears that it is +by no means an infrequent occurrence to see dead bodies lying about. A +hardly less sickening spectacle was presented on the slope of the hill, +where were erected a couple of dozen of small, wretched, filthy huts of +palm-straw, which served for the reception of a number of sick and lepers, +who, shunned and abandoned by all the world, were sinking in their misery +into the grave. Leprosy is regarded by the Chinese as a punishment for +secret sins, and those visited with it are accordingly deprived of all +assistance or attention. Very probably this coolie, whose body we thus saw +lying on the road, was one of those unfortunates who were here digging, as +it were, their own graves. + +The isthmus which unites the Portuguese settlement on the peninsula with +the mainland, is barely a quarter of a mile in length by 500 feet in +breadth. Formerly there was a wall built right across the centre of this +tongue of land, which marked the limit of the colony. Here Chinese +sentinels used to march to and fro to protect the Flowery Kingdom. This, +however, did not prevent the "_Macaoistas_," as the inhabitants of Macao +are accustomed to call themselves, from making frequent excursions and +pic-nic parties to the mainland and the adjacent Chinese villages. On 22nd +August, 1848, however, when the then governor of Macao, Dom Joao Maria +Ferreira do Amaral, while riding along the narrow part of the isthmus, was +set upon by a couple of armed Chinese, torn from his horse, and beheaded, +his skull and hand being carried off by the murderers, the Portuguese +pulled down the wall and destroyed the adjoining Chinese fort, so that not +a vestige of either now remains. The government of Macao insisted on the +murderers being delivered up, as also on the restitution of the head and +hand of the victim, but after the lapse of a year the authorities received +an official notification that the murderers had been discovered, and on +confession of the crime had been executed at Shunteh. The head and hand of +the unhappy Amaral were delivered to the Portuguese officials by two +Chinese commissioners, and solemnly interred with the other remains. In +the course of the correspondence with reference to this matter[125] +between the Chinese and Portuguese authorities, it appeared that, owing to +certain stringent regulations he had laid down, Governor Amaral had long +been marked out for destruction by the Chinese population of Macao. The +chief complaint against him was that he had profaned the graves of their +ancestors in the suburbs of Macao, and had constructed new streets right +through them. Every attack of illness, every unlucky speculation, every +unexpected mischance, which happened to any of the Chinese residents in +Macao, was ascribed to the vengeance of those spirits, whose repose had +been so wantonly violated for such an insignificant purpose. The Chinese +have no regular cemeteries for their dead. They inter them anywhere about +the township, simply marking the spot with a stone or an inscription. At +the new-year's festival these graves are adorned in the most gaudy manner, +none, not even of the poorest, being neglected in this respect. This pious +feeling for the dead is in singular and rude contrast with the +indifference with which the Chinese regard the misfortunes of their +neighbours, and the cruelty with which mothers expose their new-born +children, or even leave them to die. + +The trade between Macao and the mainland is very active: in the quarter of +an hour that we were upon the isthmus there passed at least 60 men loaded +with goods or provisions, moving to and fro to the settlement. Among these +there were also sedan-chairmen, conveying back to the neighbouring +villages such of the better class of Chinese as had been doing business in +the city. The effect of warlike rumours from Canton and the Pei-ho had +meanwhile become apparent among the European population of Macao. The +insecurity of life and property increased daily. No one could venture to +go a mile or two beyond the city. Even a beautiful pic-nic house, erected +by the foreigners on "Green Island," close by the town, whither during +peaceful times frequent excursions were made by European residents with +their families, had been for months empty and gutted. + +The Praya Grande, or rather the shady promenade, at its eastern extremity +serves as a rendezvous for the gay world, and on Sundays, when a band of +music plays here, one can scarcely pass through the crowd. + +The Portuguese, who even in their native country are not a handsome race, +lose still more in their physical qualities by the unscrupulous manner in +which they cross with the native races. This circumstance makes the +contrast still more apparent of simple, graceful, pale ladies of the +Anglo-Saxon race, who now and then appear between the ugly dark natives. +In the evening, towards sunset, these lovely creatures make their +appearance in their sedan or other chairs in the Campo San Francisco, +there to enjoy the cool evening sea-breezes. A great number of sedan +porters halt here with their precious burdens, and elegantly-attired +cavaliers saunter about, striving by amiable phrases and flattering +remarks to elicit a smile. While these vehicles form the commonest mode of +conveyance, we also saw there but few saddle-horses, and only one single +carriage, the property of a rich brownish native, baronized for the amount +of 40,000 dollars, and who thought by this means to display his taste, +his luxury, and his nobility! + +We had heard so much of certain wonderful singing stones, on a large +island opposite the inner part of the harbour, that several of our party +made an excursion thither. Neither natives nor indeed Europeans could give +us any explanation of this singular phenomenon, but all hold that the +stones must contain metal in some certain proportion, while electricity +and magnetism would do the rest. The naturalists were accompanied to this +mysterious spot by M. Von Carlowitz, Dr. Kane, and a Chinese physician, +Dr. Wong-fun. The estimable and highly-educated Wong-fun had graduated as +Doctor of Medicine in the University of Edinburgh, and had afterwards +enlarged his experience by practising some time in the United States, +since which he had practised the healing art with great success upon his +own countrymen. A European in intelligence and education, he was still a +Chinese in external appearance, and wore, as formerly, a long tail. +Probably Wong-fun adhered to this ancient custom in order the more readily +to indoctrinate his fellow-countrymen with European ideas. + +Some small Tanka-boats, in which, as already mentioned, only two persons +can be accommodated at once, and which are exclusively managed by women, +conveyed our party over the bosom of the inner harbour to the opposite +shore. We then proceeded through a beautiful valley, covered with rice +fields, and traversed in its entire extent by a mountain torrent, which +is dammed off, and drives a number of Chinese mills with the small +water-courses. In the background of this valley lies the mysterious spot. +The marvel itself presently became visible in a large expanse of syenite +rock, greatly resembling that in the Oderwald of Hesse. Some of these have +been tilted on the others, and the hard syenite resounds when struck with +a hammer, just as a block of marble or basalt vibrates when struck, with a +bell-like sound. These musical blocks therefore are but little +interesting, unless that the Chinese make use of them to sculpture the +figures of lions and tigers to adorn the entrances of their temples. + +After a stay of two days in Macao, the naturalists returned to Hong-kong, +where they had to devote the little time that would elapse ere the frigate +sailed to sorting and packing the collections, and arranging for their +transmission: for the manipulation of packing is, as Humboldt well +remarked, as important as actual science in such undertakings. That +naturalist confers but a small boon on science, whose only care is to +collect, but who takes no pains to preserve, the fruits of his labour, by +an exact indication of the place where found, and such special particulars +as may prevent mistakes, and by carefully guarding against damage to the +objects about to be sent, while on their way. + +The kind reception and hospitality of our new friends in Hong-kong +remained undiminished to the very last moment of our stay. We were fairly +overwhelmed with attentions of all sorts, each apparently striving to +make us forget the unfavourable circumstances under which we visited the +Empire of China. + +The steamer _Hong-kong_, early on the morning of 18th July, towed us out +through the narrow Eastern Straits, the Ly-e-num Pass, and the +Ta-thong-wun Channel, into the open sea. As we passed alongside the +English frigate _Nankin_, carrying the broad pendant of the amiable and +excellent Commodore Stewart, our band played "God save the Queen," while +the English ensign was dipped, by way of parting salute. A little further +on the Chinese Comprador, who had supplied the _Novara_ with provisions +daily during her stay, had stationed himself in his boat to give us a +parting farewell with a roar of gong-gong, while innumerable rockets +whizzed and exploded in the air. + +We found a tolerably high sea outside, but a fine fresh S.W. breeze, under +which we rapidly increased our distance from the shore. In like manner as +when we entered, we had now in getting out to thread our way among +thousands of fishing-boats sailing about in couples, which cruise about to +a distance of even 50 and 60 miles to sea. The steamer which towed us +through the narrow Eastern Channel, and had us just four hours and twenty +minutes in tow, charged the amount of 300 dollars (L63), so that each +minute of towing cost rather over one dollar. After making a tack towards +Lemma Island, in order to avoid the dangerous Nine-pin rock, the wind +sprung up from E.S.E., so that we were enabled to lie our proper course, +and by sundown had cleared _Piedra bianca_. + +With fine weather and a fresh S.W. monsoon our voyage was so speedy, that +by 2nd July we were in the latitude of Formosa, but without being able to +distinguish the high land, either on the Chinese coast or on that island, +and by 23rd July we were off the Saddle Islands, at the mouth of the +Yang-tse-Kiang. + +Just as we reached this, the door, as it were, through which we had to +enter, the weather chose to change with the utmost suddenness. Calms and +contrary winds, coupled with the powerful current of the mighty river, +sweeping through the islands, prevented our further advance, and on the +24th we had to cast anchor near the easternmost Saddle Island. Close to us +on every side were numbers of other ships equally unfortunate with +ourselves, while the spectacle of the steamers, pursuing their course +without feeling any obstruction, filled us with envy. We had taken a +Chinese pilot on board, and by 25th July were in sight of Gutzlaff, a +small islet of rock 210 feet high, the best land-mark of the "Son of +Ocean," and just before sunset anchored off the outer bar. We now had fair +breezes, and without further obstacles passed over the bar in from 30 to +33 feet water, which in bad weather, however, is exceedingly dangerous. We +were still out of sight of land; even the islands we had already passed +sank below the horizon, and still there was nothing visible but an +unbroken expanse of yellowish-red water, which reflected with the utmost +brilliancy the rays of the sun. A light-ship moored to a sand-bank, and a +wreck on another sand-bank, are, after leaving Gutzlaff Island, the sole +land-marks by which the pilot can hope to keep the channel, which is only +from one to two miles wide in this vast shoreless river estuary. Indeed +the entrance of the Yang-tse-Kiang is regarded as one of the most +difficult feats for a large ship. With favourable wind and weather, the +_Novara_ cleared without accident the 47 miles between the bar and the +place where the Wusung falls into the Yang-tse-Kiang, and on the evening +of the 26th July dropped anchor in front of Wusung. The navigation +presented little that was interesting, yet each man involuntarily felt a +thrill as he reflected that he was sailing in the current of the longest +river in China, whose source lies thousands of miles inland at Khukkunor, +among the Mangolians. + +As we neared Wusung, signs of life began to be visible on the river +itself; tall three-masters were passing, bound in or out, and scores of +Chinese junks with their peculiar rig and build. Far above the light-ship +the shore first became visible, low, flat, scarcely above the level of the +river, but green and fertile. A Pagoda of the well-known form of the +Porcelain tower of Nankin and a few lofty trees enable the pilot to take +the bearings of the channel at this point. Only the land on the left is +actual mainland, the shore on the right being the coast of the island of +Tsuning, lying at the mouth of the river. At the mouth of the Wusung, this +southern arm of the Yang-tse-Kiang, as formed by the above-named island, +is about six and a half nautical miles in width, and a little higher up is +further narrowed by Bush Island to a width of four miles. + +The first inhabited spot at the junction of the Wusung and Yang-tse-Kiang +is the wretched filthy village of Wusung, which owes its importance solely +and exclusively to the opium boats, which the merchants of Hong-kong and +Shanghai used to station here in the stream, in order more readily to sell +and deliver to the Chinese that forbidden article. Thus the natives took +on themselves the responsibility of opium smuggling, while the foreign +merchants became thereby involved in a conflict with the Chinese +Government. The opium sold per month from the ships stationed at Wusung +amounts to from 2500 to 2800 chests, in value about 500 _taels_ (L150) per +chest (L375,000 to L420,000). + +The mouth of the Wusung is the entrance to Shanghai, which lies about 12 +miles up the Wusung or Shanghai river, but in consequence of a mud-bank is +only accessible to large ships at spring-tide. Nankin lies up the +Yang-tse-Kiang 180 miles from Shanghai, the channel being so deep that +even a frigate may sail close up under its walls. Six hundred miles +distant from the embouchure of the Wusung lie the three immense cities of +Wu-chang, Hang-iang, and Shan-Keu, containing 8,000,000 inhabitants, the +central point of the internal commerce of China; and about 400 miles +further up are the first rapids of the Yang-tse-Kiang, which completely +prevent all further navigation. Up to this point the mighty river, like +the Mississippi, the Rhine, or the Danube, may be navigated by river +steamers, without the slightest danger or difficulty. What an enormous +trade, what a tremendous development, will ere long be witnessed here, so +soon as, in accordance with the stipulations of the Tien-Tsin and Pekin +treaties, English ships, freighted with goods and necessaries of all +sorts, shall steam up this most splendid of rivers and its tributaries, +and the inhabitants of the far interior shall become acquainted with the +products of European industry, and in exchange shall export to Europe +innumerable articles of new and valuable trade. For it is the greatest +service of the merchant that he not alone opens new channels of commerce, +and by increased exportation of the fabrics of his native land tends to +build up his power, but that he civilizes foreign nations, and enriches +science and industry with innumerable fresh acquisitions. + +The larger ships usually lie at anchor at the little Chinese village of +Wusung on the river of that name, just where it falls into the +Yang-tse-Kiang, and here accordingly, owing to the hostilities, we found +upwards of twenty ships of war of various nationalities at anchor. Among +others the powerful American steam-ship _Minnesota_, and the French +frigates _Audacieuse_ and _Nemesis_, an imposing spectacle in these +distant regions, and to which the half-ruined Chinese fort on the tongue +of land between the Wusung and the Yang-tse-Kiang, with its couple of +wretched cannon, presented a tragi-comic contrast. Numbers of Chinese +boats, from the smallest cloth-awning _sampan_ propelled by one man with a +paddle to the large junk with fifteen masts, and sentences painted along +the bends, were cruising in every direction. Ere long a Comprador found +his way on board, who according to custom undertook to provide the frigate +with everything she required. + +Commodore Wuellerstorff purposed proceeding with the frigate to Shanghai; +but as it would be necessary to wait for a fair wind, or else to engage +another steam-tug, implying a delay of several days, the naturalists were +permitted to avail themselves of the opportunity offered by the +Comprador's boat to proceed at once to Shanghai, which voyage we were two +hours and a half in performing. + +While the number of European merchantmen that we passed, some lying at +anchor in front of Wusung, others sailing up or down stream, was quite +surprising, yet the sight of the river at Shanghai far surpassed all +expectation. Here, close packed together in a channel rather narrower than +elsewhere, was drawn up tier after tier of shipping, a quite impervious +forest of masts, athwart which at intervals the large warehouses of the +European merchants indistinctly loomed, lining the banks on either side. +The newspaper lists at the time of our visit gave the names of no less +than 102 large American and European merchantmen in the Shanghai River, in +addition to which there were upwards of a thousand native junks lying in +the stream with their short crooked masts, the most convincing evidence of +the commercial importance which this place has attained within the short +space of time that has elapsed since by the Treaty of Nankin in 1842 +foreign factories were authorized to be erected here. + +On the shore the flags of the Consulates of the more important sea-faring +nations fluttered gaily in the breeze from lofty flag-staffs on the top of +the imposing buildings. Hardly had we landed ere we were surrounded by an +ungainly crowd of Chinese coolies, who with their bamboo staves began such +a serious battle among themselves for the right of carrying our baggage, +that it was only by the interposition of the police that several were not +left on the spot severely wounded. + +The intelligence that there was in Shanghai not a single house of +entertainment, such as we understand by the name of "hotel" in Europe, was +the less agreeable, as the dwellings of the resident Europeans, where, +under ordinary circumstances, strangers are received with the utmost +hospitality, happened at present to be occupied by the officers of the +numerous war-ships, as well as by members of the two embassies. The only +place where we could be received was what is known as the Union Hotel, a +den in the fullest sense of the word, in which we passed one of the most +uncomfortable nights we ever remember. Myriads of mosquitoes, the true +blood-thirsty "gallinipper," loud-shouting drunken seamen, dogs howling, +intolerable heat, which not even a tremendous thunder-storm that broke +forth during the night could assuage,--such were some of the amenities of +our reception, which, despite our exhaustion, utterly precluded sleep. +With unspeakable longing we watched for the dawn of the morning, and, +thanks to the hospitality of our new friends, we were in the course of the +day fortunate enough to be released from this hideous abode. + +The _Novara_ did not remain long behind us. A few days later, on 29th +July, she sailed gallantly up in an hour and a half, from Wusung, on the +top of a spring-tide, and with favourable breezes, and on reaching +Shanghai was welcomed with pride and delight by the German residents +here--the first ship-of-war of a first-class German power that had ever +been seen in the river Wusung. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[112] The analysis of these hieroglyphics, by which abstract ideas are +sought to be expressed, is extremely interesting. Thus a heart with the +badge of slavery over it represents "anger;" a hand, and the sign for the +middle, signifies an "historian," because it is his duty not to lean to +either side; by the sign of uprightness and motion is represented +"government," because it must always observe probity in the transaction of +affairs; to indicate the idea of a "friend" two pearls are represented +side by side, because friendship is as rare as two pearls, exactly +resembling each other! The well-known French missionary Huc, in his +valuable work on the Chinese Empire, gives a variety of most interesting +particulars respecting the Chinese language. + +[113] A very abstruse treatise upon the preparation of the Chinese ink is +contained in the important labours of the Russian Embassy at Pekin, +relating to China, published in German by Dr. Abel and Mecklenburg, +Berlin, F. Heinike, 1858, vol. ii. p. 481. The information is borrowed +from a small treatise which was written in 1398 by a certain +Scheu-zsi-Sun, who had been for thirty years engaged in the fabrication of +the India ink. The author therein mentions how, after he had tried every +known method, and every substance usually employed, without attaining any +result, he at last put them all on one side, mingling only pin-soot with +glue together, and diluting this mixture with but hot water, again kneaded +it thoroughly, and thus succeeded in getting an ink "black and lustrous as +a child's eyes." According to another method, India ink is prepared, +besides pin-soot and lime, of a sort of tincture, consisting of the +following various pigments,--pomegranate-rind, sandal-wood, sulphate of +iron and copper, gamboge, cinnobar, dragon's-blood, gold-leaf, musk, and +glair. This tint is said to be remarkable for preventing the glue from +getting spoiled by age, or the colour changing, and may be thus kept for +any length of time. 1/2 lb. of glue and 1/4 lb. of this colouring matter +are the proportions for one pound of pin-soot. However, only a very small +portion of the different materials used seems to possess the power +ascribed to them, and many are used out of mere prejudice, and not at all +to the advantage of the ink prepared. + +[114] This custom is of remote antiquity in Oriental countries, as witness +the circumstances attending the birth of Ishmael, and also of several of +the children of Israel. + +[115] Many European residents at Hong-kong and Shanghai have Chinese +mistresses _bought_ in this way, who are bound to live with them only so +long as their masters choose. + +[116] The title of this work is:--"_Notices sur le vert de Chine et de la +teinture en vert chez les Chinois, par Natalis Rondot, imprime aux frais +de la Chambre de Commerce de Lyon, a Paris, 1858._" + +[117] The Chinese of Shanghai called the plant _Li-lu-schu_, and the +substance obtained from it _Gah-schik_. + +[118] We give the following translation of one of these proclamations: +"Listen, O listen, ye detestable barbarians! We, patriots and honourable +subjects of the reigning dynasty, wish to hold up a mirror to you, that ye +may see what ye are doing, and what like you are! Only in speech, and in +no other respect, do ye differ from wild beasts! We have understanding, we +observe laws and commandments; but you are blind and dumb, and will not +receive advice. You must--there is nothing else for it--you _must_ be cut +off to the very last man!... Since you first came to the MIDDLE KINGDOM, +you have done all that you can to destroy us; you have shot at us from +your ships; you have poisoned us with opium, you have erected devils' +houses (churches) within the walls of the city! Nay more, in order to hold +your horse-races, you have profaned graves, and not suffered the dead to +rest in peace! Insatiable as sharks, greedy as a set of silk-worms upon a +mulberry tree, the more you get the more you want. Even our most trifling +profit you have taken to yourselves. Now, however, the cup is full, Heaven +in its wrath has decreed your destruction,--our people shall cut you off +with divine weapons of fire. Hearken now, O people, to the four following +rules for the extermination of the barbarians: All barbarians must be +beheaded, that our reproach may be removed, and our Middle Kingdom be no +longer insulted. So runs the order of the leader!--To none other shall any +disaster happen, no one shall be molested. Whoever strikes back, shall +himself be struck.... The day of vengeance shall be secretly appointed. We +shall circumvent the barbarians with treachery, we shall fall on them +unawares, and destroy them. Natives who are in the habit of attending +their schools, or of serving them, or of trading with them, must leave +them and return to their old pursuits. If they remain, then the subjects +of the exceedingly beneficent dynasty as well as the barbarians, the +diamonds and the hailstones, shall be destroyed together.... After the +destruction of these hideous hordes, their possessions shall be +distributed among those who have distinguished themselves on the day of +battle. So runs the order of the leader!" + +[119] Yeh, as is well known, has since died in imprisonment at Calcutta. + +[120] In front, Canto X. v. 25; XII. vv. 79-80. On the back, Canto VI. vv. +95, 131, and Canto VIII. v. 42. + +[121] Even these four dollars sustain a reduction during the first year, +since the emigrant must for the first year pay one dollar a month to +defray necessaries, partly provisions, partly clothes, supplied to him to +the amount of $12, before his departure. + +[122] J. F. Crawford, Esq., British Consul-General at the Havanna, in an +official document respecting the number of Chinese imported in the course +of one year into Havanna proves that in the case of the Peruvian ship +_Cora_, 117 out of 292 coolies perished owing to bad water. In one single +year (1857) 63 ships, of 43,933 tons, cleared from Chinese ports for the +Havanna, with 23,928 Chinese labourers, of whom 3842, or above 16 per +cent., died during the voyage. + +[123] We give in the Appendix the original text of one of these contracts, +which the Chinese emigrants have to sign preparatory to their going on +ship-board, together with a translation, and shall leave the reader to +judge whether those are very far wrong who denounce the system as but +another form of slave-trade. + +[124] The cruelty and injustice with which the poor Chinese emigrants are +treated, have repeatedly had the most appalling consequences. The "_China +Overland Trade Report_," published at Hong-kong, under date 28th February, +1861, gives the particulars of one such tragedy, which had shortly before +occurred on board of one of these emigrant ships. On 22nd February, the +American ship _Leonidas_ sailed from Canton for the Havanna with a number +of coolies on board. Near what is known as the Macao passage, a tremendous +noise was suddenly heard in the between-decks. Two of the mates, on +descending to inquire into the cause of the disturbance, were attacked +with knives and severely wounded. Meanwhile some of the coolies had +overpowered the captain and his wife, and had inflicted on them several +dangerous wounds. However, the crew ultimately succeeded in driving all +the coolies into the hold, though not till after the 29th had been passed +in constant fighting. In their desperation they sought to set fire to the +ship, by preparing a regular pyre of combustibles, to which they set fire. +Ere long, however, the smoke became so intolerable in the hold, that they +themselves speedily made every effort to extinguish the fire. The ship +returned to Canton. Out of 250 coolies, 94 were dead, of whom some were +shot, some were drowned, some suffocated. Singular to say the French +man-of-war _Durance_ refused to render any assistance. Other accounts +speak in the highest terms of the efforts of a German missionary to put a +stop to this practice of kidnapping, dignified by the name of emigration, +it having not unfrequently happened that young Chinese were openly carried +off to Macao, and there as openly sold. This is the more readily credible, +inasmuch as the Chinese are most desperate gamblers, and after they have +lost all they possess, think nothing of staking their personal liberty. +Thus, a short time since, the son of respectable parents in Sunon was sold +by the Emigration Society at Macao for 40 dols., and it was only by the +most unremitting efforts of the German missionary already mentioned that +the wretched lad was re-purchased for L60, and thus escaped a terrible +destiny. Two other Chinese were shipped at the same time, the bargain in +their case being recognized. + +[125] See "Chinese Repository," vol. x., of October, 1849. + + + [Illustration: Flower Boat on the Wusung at Shanghai.] + + + + + XV. + + Shanghai. + + Duration of Stay from 25th July to 11th August, 1858. + + A stroll through the old Chinese quarter.--Book-stalls.--Public + Baths.--Chinese Pawnbrokers.--Foundling hospital.--The Hall of + Universal Benevolence.--Sacrificial Hall of Medical Faculty.-- + City prison.--Temple of the Goddess of the Sea.--Chinese + taverns.--Tea-garden.--Temple of Buddha.--Temple of Confucius.-- + Taouist convent.--Chinese nuns.--An apothecary's store, and what + is sold therein.--Public schools.--Christian places of worship.-- + Native industry.--Cenotaphs to the memory of beneficent + females.--A Chinese patrician family.--The villas of the foreign + merchants.--Activity of the London Missionary Society.--Dr. + Hobson.--Chinese medical works.--Leprosy.--The American + Missionary Society.--Dr. Bridgman.--Main-tze tribe.--Mission + schools for Chinese boys and girls.--The North China branch of + the Royal Asiatic Society.--Meeting in honour of the Members of + the _Novara_ Expedition.--Mons. de Montigny.--Baron Gros.-- + Interview with the Tau-Tai, or chief Chinese official of the + city.--The Jesuit mission at Sikkawei.--The Pagoda of Long-Sah.-- + A Chinese dinner.--Serenade by the German singing-club.--The + Germans in China.--Influence of the Treaties of Tien-Tsin and + Pekin upon commerce.--Silk.--Tea.--The Chinese sugar-cane.-- + Various species of Bamboos employed in the manufacture of + paper.--The varnish tree.--The tallow tree.--The wax-tree.-- + Mosquito tobacco.--Articles of import.--Opium.--The Tai-ping + rebels.--Departure from Shanghai.--A typhoon in the China sea.-- + Sight the island of Puynipet in the Caroline Archipelago. + + +Shanghai, or Shanghai-Hein (the city near the sea), is divided into the +Chinese city proper, enclosed within walls twenty-four feet in height, +and the foreign quarter, which has been laid out beyond the walls since +the year 1843, and is as much distinguished by elegance as by comfort. Old +Shanghai, only accessible by three of the six gates with which it is +furnished, contains 250,000 inhabitants in a superficial area of nine Li, +or about two and one-third English miles, and, including the population of +neighbouring towns, who are constantly flocking to and fro, about 400,000. +The streets are filthy and singularly narrow, so much so that occasionally +it is difficult for two men to pass each other, the small cross streets +vividly recalling Venice, or the "lanes" of London. It is with difficulty, +and only by a constant succession of cries and hearty buffets, that the +bearers of merchandise can force their way through these intricate +passages, and find their way to their destination. The houses, for the +most part one and two storeys in height, usually consist of shops on the +ground-floor, each with a flaming superscription in gigantic characters, +which, the better to arrest the curiosity of the passers-by, is generally +hung diagonally across the narrow street. The living throng, which +throughout the entire day surges to and fro here, is so immense and so +various that it leaves upon a stranger an impression even deeper than that +made by the crowds and bustle of Piccadilly or Regent Street, on a fine +day in the height of "the season." The grotesqueness and filth of almost +everything that meets the eye rather adds to the singularity of the +spectacle, and while the visitor on the one hand speedily finds ample +justification for extricating himself from the din and confusion, he +nevertheless encounters at every step some new object of attraction and +absorbing interest. + +Entering the city through the east gate, on whose walls, by way of example +to the multitude, are suspended in sacks and wicker-work numerous skulls +of rebels and murderers, on whom justice has been done, we find ourselves +in China street, one of the principal streets of Shanghai, and in which +are most of the best class of native shops. It is however no wider or +cleaner than the other streets of the city, and might be termed a "lane" +with far more propriety than a street. We were conveyed within the lofty, +gloomy "enceinte" of the walls in the sedan-chair of the country, after +which, under the guidance of Mr. Muirhead, an English missionary, who in +the kindest manner had offered to be our _cicerone_, we proceeded to +stroll through the town. + +Close to the east gate we entered a book-stall, in which were heaped up +immense piles of stitched books. A number of Chinese in white nankeen +jackets, their foreheads smooth shaved, and each with a "tail" behind +dependent to the heels, started forward to inquire the strangers' wants, +and minister to them. Our inquiries however were by no means merely +dictated by the desire to gratify a silly curiosity. A learned countryman, +Dr. Pfizmaier, one of the profoundest of Chinese scholars, had intrusted +us with a list of fourteen rare Chinese books, the purchase of which +seemed to us specially desirable, and we accordingly made every exertion, +with the assistance of our companion, himself well acquainted with +Chinese, to crown our search with success. With one exception we succeeded +in purchasing the entire catalogue, and therewith gladly brought to an end +our wearisome stay of upwards of an hour in the close steaming book-shop, +exposed the while to a more than tropical temperature. + +Chinese authors are, it must be allowed, terribly prolix in the treatment +of their subjects, and instances are by no means uncommon in China of +works, especially those of an historical nature, extending to from forty +to fifty volumes! Thus, for example, the "Seventeen Historical classics" +consists of 337 parts:--"Mingschintschuen" (History of the most renowned +ministers and statesmen), of thirty volumes:--"Singpu" (Lives of +remarkable persons), of 122 parts:--the "Encyclopedia of Matuanlin," with +its additions, even reaches the immense number of six hundred +volumes!![126] Books are generally far from expensive in China; for a few +dollars, comparatively, one may, owing to the cheapness of labour and of +cost of production, purchase quite a large supply of ordinary literature. + +Adjoining this book-shop is a public bath establishment, where for 16 +copper cash[127] (rather less than 1_d._ sterling), one may get a vapour +bath, while six cash more are paid for keeping custody of the habiliments. +The bath is far from being elegant or comfortable, but when one reflects +on such extraordinary cheapness, it seems as though the very utmost had +been attained. It consists of a large apartment, filled with steam, which +is from time to time renewed, by dashing hot water upon stones, maintained +at a high temperature, while ranged in readiness all round are a number of +tubs of cold water for cooling the bather. In one of these establishments +about thirty persons may bathe at once, and as John Chinaman, despite his +filthy manners, is passably clean about the body, as testified by the +pains he is at with his head and hands, these places are as extensively +patronized as they are greatly needed. + +Our next stoppage was at a pawnbroker's, an institution which, to all +appearance, has been far longer in vogue in China than in Europe, and is +made great use of by the wealthy as well as the poorer classes. In the +Celestial Kingdom, the same custom prevails as with us of pawning the +winter habiliments in summer, and summer apparel in winter; and this not +so much for the sake of the money borrowed upon them, as to have them kept +in safety and carefully preserved, especially in the case of costly furs. +In China the usual advance is of one half the value, upon a very low +computation of the article pledged, for which the monthly charge is ten +cash per 500, or twenty-four per cent. per annum. Whatever has not been +redeemed at the end of three years, or of which the interest has not been +paid, is put up to auction and knocked down to the highest bidder, the +proceeds going to the benefit of the establishment. The utmost per-centage +allowed by law is three per cent. a month; but it must not exceed two per +cent. in winter, in order that the poor may be enabled to redeem the +articles pledged. The broker gives a ticket for the articles pledged, +which have a definite value, and may be sold in the street. Thieves find +these establishments very handy for disposing of their plunder, as they +deface or destroy the pawn-ticket so as to prevent the rightful owner from +regaining possession of the stolen articles. When a pawnbroker sustains +any loss through theft, or the outbreak of fire on his premises, he must +make good to his customers the value of the destroyed articles that had +been left with him as pledges. If, however, the fire has broken out in the +house of a neighbour, he is only bound to pay one half of the loss he may +sustain. The establishment is managed by fifty individuals, whom the +concourse of people flocking in to pledge or redeem property keeps in +constant activity. + +Considering the notorious and openly avowed indifference everywhere +manifested throughout China for the poor, the sick, and the unfortunate, +the number of charitable institutions to be found in all parts of China is +very surprising, all which, as has lately been proved, do not owe their +origin to the introduction of Christianity, but had been in a flourishing +condition for a long time previously. Thus in several of the streets of +Shanghai, we came upon hospitals for children and foundlings ([Chinese +character(s)]), of the latter of which the one we visited was founded by +voluntary contribution so far back as 1710. This humane institution has a +landed property of about 30 acres, by the produce of which, as well as +frequent public collections, it is supported. In 1783, this orphan +hospital was amalgamated with an asylum for old and decrepit persons, and +others incapacitated for labour, and one wealthy Chinese gentleman +provided 3000 taels[128] for this praiseworthy object, but somewhat later +this joint plan was abandoned, and the Orphan Asylum remains to this day +self-supporting, while the poor, the sick, and the aged are relieved every +month at the Custom-house out of funds specially set apart. + +At the period of our visit we found thirty infants in the building, who +had been deposited by their mothers in a basket suspended in a recess at +the entrance. After the new-born child has been deposited, a signal is +given with a bamboo-stick, after which the receptacle is turned inwards +and the innocent without delay taken charge of. Each child has its own +wet-nurse or attendant. + +The building is lofty, roomy, and passably clean, but the children, one +and all without exception, have a sickly appearance, and seem to suffer +much from eruptions and affections of the eye. There was not one child +above two years of age. It is worth recording that every one of these +children was of the female sex; their male offspring, even when +illegitimate, the mothers seem much less disposed to part from. It +frequently happens, moreover, owing to the low considerations in which the +female sex are held, that even legitimate children of that sex are +occasionally committed to the silent receptacle of the foundling's basket. + +We inquired of one of the overseers what was the destiny of these unhappy +children when they grew up, but could get no satisfactory reply. We were +informed that they were occasionally adopted as children by those who had +no family. But more extended inquiries leave us rather inclined to believe +that these poor waifs of humanity constitute a not inconsiderable +contingent to that unhappy class of beings who, carefully brought up, +clothed, and fed by speculative foster-mothers, are at a suitable age sold +for concubines to the well-to-do Chinese. + +One very remarkable charitable institution, for which there is no +parallel in Europe, is the Tung-jin-tang ([Chinese character(s)]) or Hall +of United Benevolence, founded by a number of philanthropists in 1804, for +the interment of the poor. This establishment, through its legacies, +donations, and voluntary contributions, speedily became so wealthy that it +has been enabled to take up, in addition to its original business, other +objects of a not less humane nature. It pensions poor widows of +respectable families with 700 cash (about L1 8_s._) per month; it presents +persons above 60 years of age, if sickly and unable to work, with 600 cash +(about L1 4_s._) a month, and provides, free of charge, wooden coffins, as +also digging implements, for those who are too poor to inter their dead +relatives. Another humane occupation of the society is the interment of +coffins containing dead bodies, which used to be exposed on the bare +ground in various parts of the city. Finally, it was the intention of the +founder of this charitable institution, so soon as the money should +permit, to erect schools for the poor, to provide warm clothing in winter +for the helpless, as also to buy up animals destined for the +slaughter-house, and set them at liberty again. + +The proceedings connected with the direction of the institution are +transacted in public, and the managers for the time being are bound to +furnish for each year a detailed report[129] of the management. This +humane institution has since its foundation undergone many reforms, and +at the period of our visit was confining its sphere of usefulness to three +main objects: 1st, The pensioning aged and broken-down persons of both +sexes, with 600 cash a month. These however were not supplied with the +money, but were for the most part taken into the house itself, or at least +supported through it. 2nd, The dispensing free of charge of various +so-called universal medicines, for headache, stomach-complaints, fever, +diarrh[oe]a, spasms during the unhealthy season (June to October). On the +3rd, 8th, 13th, 18th, 23rd, and 28th of each month (that is, on every date +ending with a 3 or an 8), during the continuance of the sultry, damp, +unhealthy season there was also provided for the sick and poor, gratis, +advice from Chinese physicians in the great hall. 3rd, The furnishing +coffins for the interment of those who died without means, or on payment +in part by families not altogether penniless. In one of these extensive +magazines we saw a coffin bearing the number 1084, which was just coming +into requisition. During 36 months 1000 coffins and upwards had been +supplied to poor families for the interment of their dead! As we were +leaving the building, we remarked in the principal apartment a large +quantity of paper, partly written upon, partly in shreds, all heaped up. +On inquiry as to the object of this collection, we were informed that it +was for no industrial purpose, but solely to be ascribed to the profound +respect the Chinese have for every sort of writing. They regard written +leaves as positively holy, and are particularly careful that no written +paper shall chance to fall into improper hands, that might make a wrong +use of it. For this reason the society pays for every pound of old waste +paper which the poor of Shanghai pick up in the street and bring to the +Institution three copper cash, and when the pile has attained a sufficient +height it is set on fire at a particular season. + +Built in close proximity to this "Hall of United Benevolence" is the +sanctuary of the medical profession, or, as Mr. Muirhead translated for +our benefit the gigantic Chinese inscription over the portal, "the +sacrificial hall of the medical faculty." This is a temple erected at the +expense of the nation to a celebrated Chinese physician, whose stature, in +an easy, erect attitude, cut in wood the size of life and richly gilt, is +erected upon a platform somewhat resembling an altar. Part of the drapery +consists of gigantic leaves, while his folded hands clasp a lotos-flower. +In front of the image is placed the inscription: "The shrine of the spirit +of the King of Medicine." Above the idol are the following words in +Chinese, cut in the stone and gilt, "The divine husbandman and sacred +ruler!" and thereafter, "For all ages the instructive teacher." + +This renowned physician had, it seems, instituted many experiments on +himself with new healing remedies, and according to popular belief had +attained to an exact knowledge of all that was going on in the human +frame, so that he could point out the seat of the malady by simply placing +a piece of common window-glass upon the pit of the patient's stomach, and +looking into it! + +Adjoining this College of Health is the city prison, or Tschi-hin, in +which, when we saw it, were confined about 100 prisoners in the various +wards. In that set apart for the worst class of criminals, we saw about +40, heavily shackled and manacled. Three of these were confined in low +wooden cages, about three feet in height and width, and four feet in +length, and fastened to each other by iron chains running through. These +men also wore iron rings on their feet. One of these unfortunates was +sentenced to 70, and each of the other two to 60, days of such durance, +without being suffered for one moment to come out from the cage, which was +placed on the ground, and like a hen-roost, was provided with perches +running through it, so as to interfere still further with freedom of +movement. Their food consisted of rice and vegetables. According to their +own showing, these three were sentenced to this terrible punishment in +consequence of some affray, but we had reason to believe that some more +serious matter was the real cause of their having this penalty inflicted +on them. We gave the unhappy wretches a few pieces of silver. Each hastily +secured the donation in a corner of his cage, and seemed in his forlorn +condition doubly sensible of the value of a metal whose influence, +especially in China, is so powerful, so all-pervading, and so infallible. + +One very peculiar institution is the Wei-kwan, a sort of Council Chamber, +situated on the N.E. side of the city between the walls and the river, in +which all matters in dispute between mercantile men are adjusted, and in +conjunction with which is a temple in honour of the goddess of the seas +(Tien-Mu). In the centre of the council-room is a large elegantly-shaped +iron pan (Schang-Lu), in which the merchants and seamen frequenting the +hall burn slips of paper, on which are written the wishes of those making +their offerings. Also money, fruit, &c., are here sacrificed, and Chinese +mariners, whose "junks" have come unscathed through a storm, or have been +preserved, make their thank-offerings in the shape of elegant little +models of their ships, which are placed in various parts of the building. +This hall was founded in 1270 by the Sung dynasty, on a site where certain +Chinese believed they had observed that the tumultuous tide of the Whampoa +river gradually lost its violence, as it approached the spot, a phenomenon +which to them seemed of marvellous significance. Under the Yuen and Mui +dynasties the temple was repeatedly plundered and burnt to the ground, but +was rebuilt through the influence of a Tao-priest. In 1735, an imperial +edict ordered the observance of certain religious ceremonies from time to +time, an example which has been followed to the present day. + +Directly facing the goddess of the sea (called also Kwan-Yin, Queen of +Heaven),[130] who is represented by a life-size figure placed at the +bottom of the apartment, a large stage is erected, on which Chinese dramas +are represented for their entertainment from 10 o'clock in the morning +till nightfall. + +In one part of the immense pile of buildings there are also provided +dwellings for such Chinese merchants as visit Shanghai from the interior +of the kingdom, and have neither friends nor relatives in the city with +whom they can take up their residence, for public taverns are in China +only frequented by the very lowest classes. We entered one of these +Chinese hotels, which we had come upon during our ramble, and inspected +the eating-rooms and bed-rooms, which are usually situated on the first +floor. The usual charge is from 100 to 140 cash a day for board (4_d._ to +6_d._), and from 20 to 40 cash for lodging (1_d._ to 2_d._). The gloomy, +filthy, cavernous aspect of each room makes even a moment's stay +intolerable. The victuals supplied consist chiefly of rice, vegetables, +and fish. In the interior, board and lodging in these taverns is very much +cheaper, and the well-known and highly meritorious English missionary Dr. +Medhurst, who, in 1845, traversed, in the dress of a Chinese, a large +portion of the silk and tea districts, relates that the customary charge +for supper, bed, and breakfast next morning altogether amounted to 80 cash +only, or about 3-3/8_d._![131] In the streets of Shanghai, the +eating-houses are greatly out-numbered by the tea-houses, where one gets a +cup of tea for 6 cash (1/4_d._). These, like our own cafes, are laid out +with little tables, stools, and benches. As soon as a guest enters and +takes his seat, a Chinese attendant brings a cup, throws into it the +proper quantity of tea-leaves, and pours boiling water upon it. After the +lapse of a few minutes the hot light yellow liquid is hastily swallowed, +but avoiding the leaves which are swimming on the surface, and usually +serve for a second or even a third infusion. These tea-houses are crowded +with visitors throughout the day, who sometimes transact business here +over a cup of tea and a pipe of oiled tobacco, sometimes resort hither to +wile the time listlessly away. + +The chief place of amusement, however, of the native population of +Shanghai is the Tea-Garden (Tschin-Huang-Mian), or temple of the Emperor, +which contains numerous gardens laid out in Chinese fashion, and booths of +all sorts, besides the attractions of jugglers, singers, actors, +soothsayers, musicians, and mountebanks, all driving their respective +avocations. The whole scene is eminently characteristic of the +grotesqueness of Chinese taste. Artificial canals and tanks filled with +green stagnant water, redolent of miasmatic effluvia, amid which the Lotos +opens its lovely white blossoms, quantities of zig-zag bridges with +beautifully carved balustrades, islands with artificially constructed +rocks and grottoes, subterranean passages, flags of all shapes and sizes, +bearing the most bombastic inscriptions--such are the chief attractions of +a Chinese People's Garden, every large town boasting one such, erected at +the expense of the State, in which from early morning till late in the +evening a vast crowd of human beings is incessantly surging to and fro, +intent on pleasure, dissipation, or profit. The rabble, however, have not +access to every part of the Tea-Garden, a certain portion being set apart +for the recreation of the chief officials of the city (Tau-Tai). This +portion, shut off by a lofty wall, is elegantly laid out, and is made +attractive with all manner of dwarf trees nursed with great care and +expense, besides the usual grottoes, artificial hills and precipices, +pavilions, &c. Hither the head magistrate occasionally resorts to pass the +warmest hours of the day, and dozes away undisturbed by the cares of his +onerous responsibilities. All the public gardens of China present almost +the identical features of the one we visited; a park without artificial +islands and wooden bridges, without canals (in lieu of paths), without +pools of stagnant water thickly covered with the broad leaves of the +_Nelumbium_, would, in the eyes of a Chinese, be deprived of its chief +pleasure and its greatest attraction. + +Close to the Tea-Garden is the largest Buddhist Temple within the city +walls, in which throughout the day the over-credulous Chinese kneel before +their idols, and with many reverences murmur their set formulas of +prayers. Like everything else in China, even religious observances are +regarded from the most practical point of view. They think they have done +enough when they have gone through a certain round of outward ceremonies. +The condition of most of the temples, the utter neglect of some, and the +various employments of others, indicate that the Chinese either has no +sense of the sanctity attaching to such places of devotion, or else +attaches but little value to the act itself. The men rarely enter the +temples. It is only the women who, to satisfy the cravings of the heart, +have recourse to invoking the Deity. Frequently one sees a worshipper +approach the attendant sitting in the porch of the temple, in order to get +their horoscope calculated by him for a few cash. For this purpose she +shakes with eager devotion a box of bamboo-cane filled with thin wands, +until one of these wands springs out. The words inscribed on each wand +furnish the oracle-expounder with an infallible sign, by which, after +consulting one of the books of Chinese wisdom spread out before him, he is +enabled to pronounce the answer of the divinity to the prayers preferred +by the poor dupe. The most prolific source of revenue of the temple and +its ministrants, consists, however, in the sale of the gold and silver +tissue paper,[132] which plays so important a part in the worship of the +Chinese, and owing to their zealous and frequent use are heaped up in +immense piles, for consumption by fire in a gigantic furnace. + +Much more edifying than the interior of the great Buddhist temple with its +troops of swag-bellied idols in their parti-coloured apparel, some with a +good-humoured leer, others sulkily scowling on the beholder, is the +appearance of the temple of Confucius[133] in a remote quarter of the +city. In this extensive building, at once elegant and simple, and with +numerous halls and corridors, the scholars undergo their examination for +the service of the state; here the Government officials at stated seasons +perform certain religious ceremonies, and here all the _literati_ assemble +for the discussion of grave questions of debate. The main hall has its +red-tinted walls covered with Chinese and Tartar inscriptions, all of +which refer to Confucius, his doctrines and his wisdom. At intervals, a +number of tablets let into the wall inform the visitor that this edifice +is devoted to the instruction of the virtuous, and the cultivation of the +endowments. At the same time every person who passes this in a sedan-chair +or on horseback, whether an official or one of the people, is compelled +to quit his vehicle and traverse the consecrated space on foot. Over the +entrance to the right is written: "His virtue is comparable to Heaven and +Earth;" and above the door to the left we read, "His teachings comprise +all the wisdom of ancient and modern days." Behind the temple is a smaller +edifice, dedicated to the five progenitors of Confucius. The temple itself +is similarly surrounded with various apartments, all, as their bombastic +inscriptions announce, devoted to the honour and advancement of knowledge. +One of these chambers is dedicated to the god of Literature, another to +the guardian spirit of Science. The latter is curiously represented as a +figure holding in one hand a _stylus_, in the other a lump of silver, +emblematic, we presume, of "man through wisdom attaining unto riches." + +In every city throughout China there is, as well as a tea-garden, a temple +in honour of the great teacher Kong-fu-tse, whose knowledge and whose +moral system, 2400 years after his mortal pilgrimage, instruct and gladden +not merely his own countrymen, but all admirers throughout the world of +what is noble and virtuous. + +Among the various monasteries of the city, we visited one of the Taouists, +called the Du-Kung or Great Mirror (probably of Virtue), where strangers +provided with introductions are received and entertained at 150 cash +(6_d._ per diem). This cloister, whose sole inhabitants are some five or +six Chinese monks, is situated close to the wall, and forms one of the +best points whence to obtain a view of the entire city. + +The Taouists, who follow the Tao, the "way of knowledge," and arrogate to +themselves a more profound insight into the mysterious powers of nature, +as well as more special acquaintance with and definite powers over good +and evil spirits, are disciples of the doctrines of Lao-tse,[134] and are +extensively scattered throughout the country, although at present, in +consequence of their losing themselves deeper and deeper in a slothful, +sensual mode of existence, their proselytism is proceeding at a much +slower ratio than formerly. It is purely accidental that there is +immediately adjoining the Taoui monastery a convent known as that of the +"White nuns," a small one-storey building, kept however singularly neat +and clean. Here we saw six Buddhist nuns, with close-shaven heads and in +long white dresses, which gave them quite a masculine aspect. They +received us with much courtesy, and escorted us round the various +apartments with considerable _empressement_. They were mostly widows, who +pass their lives here in calm retrospective contemplation, and occupy +themselves with preparing little articles for the Buddhist ritual, such as +censers, tapers, printed sacrificial papers, &c., with which apparently +they contrive to support themselves. These associations (Ni-koo) were +usually founded by legacies and donations by pious Chinese, and are +exceedingly useful as providing an asylum for poor, helpless women, weary +of life. Many widows withdraw into these abodes of peace, there to pass +the rest of their lives, free from the tumult of the world, in the +exercise of devotion and of works of neighbourly love and charity. +Nevertheless, if we are to believe common report, works of piety are not +the only objects occasionally pursued in these Buddhist convents, and the +web of intrigue and amorous adventure, of which they have frequently been +the scene, has not a little tended to lower the estimate in which these +religious societies are held, and even threatens to cut short their +existence. A people of such a materialistic mode of life, and such +ant-like industry, as the Chinese, who rarely know what it is to have one +holiday in the entire year, must involuntarily look with argus-like eye on +all religious communities, which pass their time in luxurious ease and +exemption from care, without in any way advancing the well-being of their +fellow-creatures by either mental or physical labour. + +In the course of our peregrinations through the streets of Shanghai we +also came upon the shop of a Chinese apothecary (Yak-Tien), which +externally bears a considerable resemblance to a similar establishment in +Europe, but widely differs in respect of details. The Chinese Materia +Medica is especially abundant in patent medicines, the use and application +of which, it must be allowed, is frequently of the most extraordinary +nature. + +According to the latest researches of Dr. Hobson, of whose important +services in the diffusion of European medical science in China we shall +have much to say in a future page, we are acquainted with 442 drugs from +among the three great kingdoms of Nature, which must be kept in every +well-stocked Chinese drug-store, of which 314 belong to the botanical, 78 +to the animal, and 50 to the mineral world. We shall, however, in this +place only indicate those of which Chinese physicians avail themselves +most frequently in the preparation of their medicines, such, for example, +as birds' nests, dried red-spotted lizard, the fresh tips of stags' +antlers, the shell of the tortoise, dogs' flesh, bones of animals, +preparations from various parts of the human body, whale-bone, +oyster-shells, skins of snakes, shark's maw and fin, tendons of deer and +buffalo, dried silk-worms, their larvae and excrement, bamboo shavings, the +bear's gall, preparations from human _faeces_, scraped rhinoceros and +antelope horn, rabbit dung, cuttle-fish bone, dried varnish, dried leeches +and earthworms, red marble, refuse of ivory, preparations from toads, +petrifactions, old copper money,[135] snow-water,[136] human milk,[137] +&c. &c. + +These pharmaceutics are brought from various parts of China, as well as +from Japan, Siam, and the Straits of Malacca, and constitute an important +and profitable branch of commerce. Many of them are sold at the druggist's +in the raw state, when they are used as sympathetic remedies, amulets, or +generally for external use. The Chinese druggists sell their medicaments +for the most part in the form of powders or pills. These latter are +usually made up in a capsule of bees-wax for greater facility of +administration, so that the dose as it comes from the shop resembles +those small wax-cakes used by house-wives for waxing their thread. One +such cake contains four or six pills, called _Tzi-pau-tan_, or very costly +pills, which are used as a sort of universal specific against fevers, +affections of the digestive organs, headaches, &c. &c. + +The most valuable and costly article in the Chinese pharmacop[oe]ia is, +however, the Ginseng (_Panax Ginseng_, or _Panax Quinquefolia_), which is +chiefly found in Mantchooria and the deserts to the north of the peninsula +of Corea. The circumstance that the Ginseng is still a monopoly of the +Chinese Government, only a few privileged individuals being annually +permitted to purchase a certain quantity for its weight in pure gold, has +much more to do with its efficacy as a panacea than the benefits conferred +by its curative powers. The roots are about the size and thickness of a +man's little finger, and break short off when bent. When cleaned they are +transparent, and of a dark amber colour. + +Of the Ginseng there are three qualities sold in the Chinese drug-stores. +One leang or ounce of the best (the largest and finest) costs 50 dollars, +of the medium quality five dollars, and of the most inferior quality one +dollar. The Ginseng root is also found in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and +Canada, and is thence exported to China, but the Chinese prefer that of +their native forests, even though these are very much dearer, and there is +hardly any difference to remark between them. As the plant is only found +in the wild state, and obstinately resists all attempts to cultivate it, +its collection among the forests of North America is attended with great +hardship and expense, and whereas in former years the profit realized on +this article of commerce by English and American merchantmen amounted to +from 500 to 600 per cent., it is now reduced to a very moderate +proportion. + +A more general subject of interest is presented by the shops where is sold +the porcelain-ware, the manufacture of which dates from a very remote +period of Chinese history, and was already a flourishing trade at the +commencement of our historic epoch. Indeed we may reasonably assume, +notwithstanding the beautiful specimens of the art which from time to time +are brought to light, that this special branch of industry is at present +in a state of decline, while of many kinds of porcelain manufacture no +examples can now be shown, as the secret of their manipulation has +perished. What usually interests Europeans in these shops is what is known +as "crackle" porcelain,[138] the upper surface of which everywhere +presents broken lines, so that the entire vessel appears as though it +consisted of numbers of small pieces cemented to each other, the whole +having very much the appearance of Mosaic. But this description also is no +longer manufactured of the first quality in the present day. Antique +porcelain is of extraordinary value, but specimens of modern manufacture, +such as small figures, mannikins, &c., are very cheap, and are much the +same as those imported to Europe. + +One marked partiality of the Chinese is their fondness for suspending +grasshoppers in small elegant baskets of bamboo strips, or twisted wire, +in which, whatever the season or the weather, these little captives keep +up a constant pleasant chirping. This custom is of great antiquity, and +while one even now finds among the populace of the present day some of +these chirpers thus carefully tended, there once was a time when the +grasshopper was the object of universal adoration, and enjoyed all the +honours of Fashion. They were indebted for this singular good fortune, +according to the abbe Grosier,[139] to a poor scholar under the Thang +dynasty, in the 7th century of our era, who to relieve his poverty fell +upon the singular expedient of trading in these insects. He went into the +country, selected the most beautiful insects he could find, constructed +elegant little cages for them, and returning to the city offered them for +sale in the most frequented streets of Tschang-gan. The idea was novel, +and the wealthy upper classes speedily found a charm in having the music +of the fields thus transplanted into their houses. The Empress, the +Queens, the ladies of the Palace, in a word, every one was eager to +possess these songsters of the meadow. There was actually an enactment +passed for the supply of the Imperial Palace with the requisite number of +these insects. The fashion rose to a perfect mania--the little Zirperu was +encountered at every corner--it was taken out whenever a call was +paid--the whole city resounded with its shrill cry. The fine arts, and +every branch of industry, felt its impulse. There was no textile fabric, +no embroidery, no design, no vessel, on which it did not conspicuously +figure. It was represented in metal and in jewellery, and no handsome lady +thought her toilette complete, unless she sported a grasshopper among her +hair. This mania has died out in China, but the buzz of the insect still +continues to furnish matter of amusement for the populace and children of +all classes, and they are still caught in large quantities, and exposed +for sale in the streets. Singular to say, all ancient and modern writers, +if we are to judge by their delineations, describe these insects as +_cicadae_, whereas it was shown and proved by the researches of one of the +zoologists of the Expedition, that the insect is no _cicada_, but a +species of grasshopper (_Decticus_), which, so far as appears, has never +hitherto been described. Very probably the circumstance that the noise +made by each of these insects is very similar, gave circulation to this +error of upwards of a thousand years' standing, whence people would +without further examination take it for granted that the insect confined +in the cage belonged to that species whose place in natural history, and +whose special musical qualifications, mankind had so long been familiar +with. One of these grasshoppers was kept for months in such a cage on +board our ship, and chirped away lustily, fair weather or foul, even when +confined in a close cupboard. On the other hand, some _cicadae_, with +which similar experiments were made, lived only two or three days in +captivity. None sang, unless when teased, or when a number more were +introduced into the vessel, thereby incommoding them, and none took +nourishment. It was obvious that the _cicadae_ possessed none of those +characteristics which would enable them to be kept in captivity as pets, +whereas, on the other hand, the grasshoppers and crickets were especially +adapted for that purpose. + +We were anxious to visit a variety of other interesting places, ere +quitting the sultry, gloomy Chinese city on our return to the more genial +European quarter. But evening was already setting in, and after sunset the +gates of the city are closed, and neither Chinese nor European can after +that hour obtain access to the city. Whoever is belated must find shelter +for the night in the house of some hospitable friend, until with the first +break of morning the gates are re-opened, communication is restored with +the foreign quarter, and the previous day's scene of bustle is renewed. + +The next object which excited our interest was a Chinese school. Ascending +a wooden staircase, we enter a room, quite empty but for a table and +stools, in which a haggard woe-begone Chinese, with long tail and rod in +hand, is walking to and fro, while at a table some dozen of boys of from +eight to twelve are engaged in reading. Their loud accents may be heard +down in the street outside. The cost of the schools for the people is +chiefly defrayed by voluntary subscriptions, foundations, &c. &c. The +children of the middle classes pay for nine months' instruction, three +Spanish dollars. Many teachers have more than a hundred scholars, and thus +earn about 1000 dollars per annum. These, it is true, are exceptions, but +teaching as a profession seems on the whole to be fully better remunerated +in China than in European countries. There it is in much higher +estimation, and receives better recompense. The wealthy Chinese usually +engage private tutors for their children, who, as among ourselves, usually +form part of the family. Elementary education is almost universal +throughout China. There are but few Chinese who are not at least able to +read and write. One very gratifying instance of the prevailing religious +toleration, well worthy of example in the Christian states of Europe, is +the presence of Protestant and Catholic places of worship in the midst of +Buddhist temples, and other edifices dedicated to heathen worship. The +American Episcopal church, erected in 1850, at the expense of a wealthy +merchant and ship-owner of Boston named Appleton, at a cost of 6000 +dollars, already numbers eighty converts. It is an extremely simple yet +neat-looking place of worship, quite in the style of the chapels in the +Western portion of the American Union, and has in connection with it a +school numbering about forty native scholars. Every Sunday morning at ten, +a sermon is preached, which is attended by most of the foreign community. +Far grander and more imposing in plan and fittings is the Catholic +cathedral of Tong-Kadu, confessedly the finest place of Christian worship +throughout China. The construction of this building was commenced by +voluntary subscription in 1846, and completed in 1852, the total cost +amounting to 230,000 _leangs_, or about L65,000. Within there is a large +organ, constructed by one of the lay brothers of bamboo pipes, whose +saddening yet inspiring notes, heard in the festivals of the Church, +invite the Christian community far and wide to devotion and instruction. +At present this cathedral is under the charge of a bishop of the Order of +the Jesuits. + +Our road from the Chinese city to the European quarter led us past an +establishment which bore interesting testimony to the industrial activity +of the Chinese. It is an oil factory worked exclusively by natives, and +giving employment to about 400 workmen, besides 80 draught oxen. The oil +is extracted from indigenous beans, and is so copious, that 1400 _catties_ +(1750 lbs.) of oil are procured daily, which is worth 74 _cash_ per +_catty_ (about 3-3/4_d._ per lb.), and is used both for cooking and for +light. The residuary oil-cake, after expression of the oily matter, is +used as manure.[140] A workman may earn at this description of labour from +100 to 200 _cash_ a day (4_d._ to 8_d._). + +As we left the manufactory, and were bending our stops towards the little +Eastern gate, our gaze was suddenly attracted by a spacious and elegant +mansion, evidently the property of a well-to-do Chinese. This, as we were +informed by our companion, proved to be the residence of the Wuong family, +which ranks among the five oldest and most distinguished families in +Shanghai. There is to be seen in the neighbourhood a small stone memorial +shaped like a mausoleum, which, with the Emperor's permission, was erected +by the inhabitants of the district in which she lived, to commemorate the +benevolence and philanthropic exertions of the mother of Wuong. The custom +of honouring ladies distinguished by their virtues and benevolence, by the +erection of temples, cenotaphs, &c., is by no means unusual in China, and +is in marvellous contrast to the almost slavish treatment which the female +sex usually meets with. Nevertheless, in the city and environs of Shanghai +alone there are ninety such triumphal arches and memorials to as many +exemplary and philanthropic ladies. The majority of these were married, +and some had attained a very great age, one having died at 104 years, and +another at 115 years of age![141] + +In the house of Wuong, who stands in high repute among the Europeans as a +merchant and ship-owner, we were received with the most gratifying +hospitality. As soon as we entered the house, an attendant immediately +presented tea in small cups, which, in conformity with the usages of the +country, had to be swallowed in all its native bitterness without +admixture of sugar or milk. Immediately after an old nurse made her +appearance, and struck up with our excellent conductor, Mr. Syles, who +seemed to be everywhere welcomed by the Chinese, and was well acquainted +with the family, a long conversation upon the most diverse subjects. At +length the master of the house himself made his appearance, a dignified, +stately man, arrayed in a light elegant grey silk frock, but in deportment +and externals not differing in the very least from his Chinese attendants, +and himself conducted us round the house. He seemed to feel pleasure in +the opportunity of baring to the view of a stranger the very penetralia +of his beautiful abode. We wandered through numerous apartments simply +yet elegantly furnished, with various antechambers and corridors, among +which were interspersed little plots laid out with dwarf plantations, +artistically-designed grottoes, and "rookeries." In one of the rooms was a +"punkah," an article of furniture rarely met with in a Chinese household. +On reaching the library or study, our host bade us be seated, while he +again ordered tea to be served. This small but pretty apartment was +covered all round with inscriptions in Chinese (chiefly maxims from +Confucius), which, written on rolls of white paper, were suspended on the +walls. While sipping our tea, and engrossed in conversation, an attendant +appeared with somewhat thick cloths, steeped in hot water, with which to +wipe our faces and hands. The evaporation of the moisture lowers the +temperature of the skin, and has so refreshing an effect, that one cannot +but feel surprised that this custom is not more extensively patronized in +hot countries, or put in practice by ourselves during our hot sultry +summers. + +With respect to ourselves, what appeared most to interest our Chinese host +in his silken attire was our apparel. He felt over and over again the +black alpaca coat, which was worn by one of the members of our Expedition, +and remarked, "these Western races are truly marvellous people; they wear +far more clothes than we do, yet they perspire less." And thereupon Wuong +mopped his face twice with the towel, which in the mean time the attendant +had again dipped in the hot water, and thoroughly wrung out. As we were +taking our departure, our courteous host accompanied us to the threshold. + +In the portico were a number of wooden tables lacquered with red varnish, +on which were inscribed in large golden letters of the Chinese character +the titles of honour of the family of Wuong, which on festive occasions +were drawn in front of the head of the family as he sat on his sofa. + +After this ramble through the Chinese town, we returned to the "Strangers' +Quarter," where we came upon a widely different mode of life. Here +everything is arranged upon the European model, and the attention is only +diverted by those minor accessories, in which the climatic conditions have +necessitated some variation. The houses are universally lofty, roomy, and +agreeable, usually surrounded by a garden, and many of them present an +almost palace-like aspect. More even than to the merchants in Broadway is +the designation of "merchant princes" applicable to the foreign merchants +of China and the East Indies, for it is among them beyond any other class +on the globe, that there prevails a luxury almost princely in its +magnificence. In such a place as Shanghai, which can present to the +educated foreigner such a meagre equivalent for his numerous intellectual +privations, each man endeavours in the readiest possible way to render his +material existence as comfortable and agreeable as he possibly can. This +leading principle one sees illustrated and carried out in practice in the +splendid designs of their residences, and the exquisite refinement and +comfort of their internal arrangements, as well as in the scrupulous +attention paid to the cellar and the "cuisine." + +On the ground-floors are the counting-house and stores, on the first floor +the drawing-room, the dining-room, and the sleeping-apartments. All these +various chambers are decorated with as much attention to comfort as good +taste, and almost every single article bears on it the solid, +unmistakeable impress of its English origin. Even into the most minute +details all the genuine comfort of an English drawing-room is introduced, +increased even, if that be possible, by the adoption of a few customs +peculiar to the peoples of Asia, such as mats of fragrant materials placed +before the doors and windows, Punkahs, which, kept in motion by Chinese +servants, keep up a constant current of fresh air, while through the +verandah, or the open glass casement, where the family sit swinging to and +fro in an American rocking-chair, a delicious cool breeze blows in the +mornings and evenings. A well-appointed numerous household is constantly +hovering around, eagerly intent to anticipate the slightest wish of their +employers. Probably in no part of the world are there more intelligent or +punctual servants than the Chinese. They get through the utmost variety of +work with consummate tact, method, and facility. Everything is done +rapidly and noiselessly, and one is served with the utmost regularity, +without being pestered with too much attention. + +The members of the _Novara_ Expedition experienced in Shanghai the most +hearty hospitality. Even the presence of the various embassies, and the +momentous nature of the operations of which the Gulf of Petcheli was the +scene, proved no barrier to a most flattering reception being accorded to +this the first maritime Expedition of a German power. Foreigners of the +most widely divergent races and standing,--consuls, missionaries, +merchants, naturalists, journalists,--each in his own way vied with the +rest in ministering to our comfort, and in aiding us in the prosecution of +our objects. + +One of the most distinguished of the physicians and missionaries of the +London Missionary Society, Dr. B. Hobson, who since 1838 has resided at +Canton in the honourable capacity of a "medical missionary,"[142] and who, +a few months before our arrival, had, in consequence of the outbreak of +hostilities, removed to Shanghai, was so kind as to furnish us, out of his +own rich treasures of Chinese lore, with much valuable information, and +acquainted us with the various objects aimed at by the praiseworthy +activity of the London Board of Missions. This body by no means confines +its operations to the diffusion of tracts and works relating to +Christianity published in the Chinese language, but combines +simultaneously with that sphere of action the excellent idea of +ministering to the physical necessities of the poor and sick Chinese, and +of helping them in their need. While able, eloquent Dr. Muirhead presides +over the missionary schools, and the not less zealous Mr. Wylie +superintends the printing of the books, our highly-educated friend Dr. +Hobson takes charge of the hospital, the cost of which is defrayed partly +by the Missionary Society, partly by the European community. + +The building itself is rather small and unpretending, and can at most +accommodate only thirty patients. But it was erected chiefly for those +cases which in England it is customary to classify in the general category +of "accidents," injuries, that is, sustained unexpectedly, or in a riot, +&c. &c. Every day between twelve and one o'clock a consultation is held, +and treatment provided gratuitously. Hither flock hundreds of invalids, to +avail themselves of this benevolent arrangement, and while Dr. Hobson is +busy giving orders and dispensing drugs in his small apartment, a native +convert in the waiting-room is preaching the Living Word to those who come +for advice. + +We passed an entire hour in the dispensary, not merely for the purpose of +witnessing the various descriptions of cases, mostly of a surgical nature, +but also to catch many an instructive remark from the lips of Dr. Hobson. +Thus he remarked, as the result of a medical practice of more than sixteen +years, that the Chinese are uncommonly soon affected by the use of mercury +and quinine. A very small dose of either of these drugs very speedily +shows a marked effect. Oddly enough, quinine, as a tonic and febrifuge, is +unknown in the Chinese pharmacop[oe]ia, and is almost exclusively +prescribed for the cure of the opium-smoking form of mania. + +In China, a physician is treated with great distinction, and is usually +designated as szi-yay (the honourable teacher). Of late years cholera +(tschan-kan-tschui, literally "the contracting of the tendons") and +small-pox had committed fearful ravages among the populace, and the +appalling havoc committed by the latter-named disease gave occasion for +the publication by the English missionaries of a short treatise translated +into Chinese, on the importance of vaccination. Among children especially +the mortality caused by this fell scourge was very great, and the +instances of _leucoma_ and loss of sight resulting from the disease appear +to have been very numerous. + +Dr. Hobson, who in 1851 had published a volume of Physiology in the Canton +dialect, has also completed a handbook of Practical Surgery, with 400 +woodcuts, and, like the preceding, had had it printed by native workmen. +Even the drawings were drawn on the wood and cut by native artists after +English originals. Many of the scientific phrases contained in these works +must have required to be entirely reconstructed, or else expressed by a +circumlocution. Dr. Hobson intended to follow up these two splendid +undertakings with a fresh work upon Pharmacology, as also a treatise upon +the diseases of women and children, both, like their predecessors, to be +in the Canton dialect, as that most universally used. + +The Chinese, however, possess themselves a pretty comprehensive medical +literature, whence we may infer that from the earliest times they paid +special attention to the science of medicine. According to a Chinese +tradition, the Emperor Schi-nung, 3200 years before our era, collected a +"Materia Medica," and 570 years later, the Emperor Hwang-te is said to +have written a work with the title "Sonwan" (open questions in medicine). +The celebrated work, "the Doctrine of the Pulse," by Wang-shu-fo, was +written in the reign of Tsche-Hwang-te (the book-burner), about 510 B.C. A +second edition of this work was published in the reign of Kang-he, in the +year 1693 of our era. About A.D. 229 the Chinese physician Tschang-kae-pin +wrote the first Chinese work which, in addition to the theory of medicine, +also contained prescriptions. The great "_Materia Medica_" of China was +compiled by Li-tschi-kan, and was published by his son during the reign of +Wan-Leih, about A.D. 1600. The most important medical work in Chinese is +the E-tsang-kin-ksen, or "the Golden Mirror of Medical Authors," collated +by Imperial authority from the best works of earlier native authors, +especially from the "Nan-king," and the writings of Dr. Tschang-kae-pin. +This was published in 1743 (the seventh year of the reign of Keen-lung), +and consists of thirty-two volumes 8vo, with upwards of 400 woodcuts.[143] + +The information furnished us by Dr. Hobson with reference to the terrible +forms of leprosy in China are of so much interest, general as well as +special, that we believe we shall not transcend the scope of this work, if +we give in these pages the valuable data upon the subject in all their +completeness. + +The Chinese consider leprosy as the most appalling of diseases, since, +while resisting all means of cure itself, it attacks others, and they +accordingly avoid in the greatest terror all those who are smitten with +it. Like the people whom Moses brought out, the Chinese regard leprosy as +a direct consequence of impiety, an expiation for sin committed. For this +reason those afflicted with leprosy are rarely regarded with pity. No hand +of sympathy is stretched forth to give aid, no heart feels itself impelled +to alleviate their hopeless condition, and thus the most wretched of all +are in the eyes of the masses simply objects of disgust and of horror. +Leprosy is called Lae in Chinese. In the Imperial dictionary of Kang-he +Lae, is described as a very evil kind of disease, which breaks out upon +the skin in the form of blotches and pustules. Gutzlaff and others +acquainted with Chinese make use however of the words Ma-fung to express +leprosy, which is also used by native writers to indicate the disease. + +The Chinese physicians consider leprosy as a subtle, penetrating, +poisonous effluvium which has infected the blood. They profess to +recognize 36 different kinds of leprosy, among which they enumerate every +form and variety of Lichen, Scabies, Psoriasis, and Syphilis. Common as +the disease is in Southern China, it is unknown in the North; its area of +manifestation seems to be confined within the tropics. It is, however, +related of many Chinese in good circumstances, that when attacked by +leprosy they have removed to Pekin, where after a two years' residence +they have lost all trace of the infection, which, however, broke out anew +immediately on their return to the South. + +Leprosy does not seem by its physical effects to shorten life. There are +in China numbers of aged people attacked with this disease, and in the +Lazar-house at Canton there is still living an old leper upwards of +eighty, who has long found an asylum in that hospital as an incurable. +Suicide is not uncommon among those thus sorely smitten, when they usually +poison themselves with an over-dose of opium, hang themselves, or drown +themselves, for death, they say, makes them once more clean. Although the +Chinese believe in the hereditary transmission of leprosy, they +nevertheless think that the disease becomes of a milder type in the third +generation, and entirely disappears in the fourth. Marriages never take +place with the offspring of leprous parents or grand-parents, but on the +other hand the lepers and their children intermarry among themselves. A +leper however of the fourth generation would only ally himself with a girl +of the same degree of exemption. The children of such a union would be +considered sound and free from leprosy, and would no longer be excluded in +any way from social rights. + +But the Chinese believe leprosy not alone hereditary, but also infectious +through the very slightest contact. Hence the father abandons his own +child; the children flee from their parents: they will not eat and drink +with them, will not sit in their company, will not use the chairs which +have been sat upon by the leper, until at least the surrounding atmosphere +has been fumigated with a torch. Even the law declares leprosy to be a +contagious disease. A wealthy leper durst not venture to leave his own +room, where he is excluded from all communication with the outer world, +without exposing himself to the danger of being arrested by the police, +and mulcted in a heavy fine, or else sent to what is called the Leper +village near Canton, an abode of human woe and misery, which even the +leprous regard with horror.[144] + +As the Chinese physicians regard leprosy as a taint of the blood, and in +their treatment adopt Hahnemann's principle of _similia similibus +curantur_, they prescribe by way of remedies the most repulsive and +disgusting substances which they can select from their _Materia Medica_, +such as the saliva of the toad, beetles, snakes, worms, scorpions, +centipedes, &c. &c. + +Dr. Hobson considers leprosy, when once fully developed, to be incurable. +Such remedies as arsenic, salts, acids, in short alteratives, occasionally +prove efficacious at an early stage of the malady, as also Iodine baths, +and mercurial friction. External remedies however are usually found to be +unavailing in reaching the root of the disorder, its seat lying deeper +than an ordinary affection of the skin. + +Of late years the seeds of the Tschaul or Tscharul Mugra (one of the order +of _Flacourtiaceae_), have been administered for leprosy by several English +physicians in India, and certainly, in some instances, with such results +that the most sanguine hopes were entertained of its efficacy in all cases +of leprosy. Dr. Hobson informed us that Dr. Mouatt, of the Medical +College, Calcutta, who was the first to discover the remarkable properties +of this plant, sent him, when he was at Canton, a considerable quantity of +these seeds for the purpose of experimenting with them.[145] They were +ground into a coarse powder, and in that state administered twice a day +at considerable intervals in doses of about 60 grains, the external sores +being at the same time rubbed with the oil pressed out of the seeds. The +cure must be persevered in without interruption for six months, and must +be from time to time aided by saline purgatives. The first symptom of +improvement shows itself in an abatement of the prominence and redness of +the eruption, and the appearance of white scales all round it. This remedy +has long been known to the Chinese, but those who are acquainted with the +active curative principle contained in the seeds of the Tscharul Mugra, +keep the secret to themselves in their own interest.[146] Dr. Hobson +assured us that he had cured two cases of leprosy taken early, and in a +very mild form, by the administration of these seeds, and had seen several +greatly improved by their use; but this experienced physician is, like +others, distrustful of the efficacy of the seeds of Tscharul Mugra in +cases of fully developed leprosy, which, according to his view, is +pre-eminently a taint of the blood,--a poison which can never again be +eradicated from the system. In cases of scrofula, these seeds have been +found serviceable. + +Like their brethren of the London Missionary Association, the various +missions of the United States of North America display the most +praiseworthy zeal and activity of co-operation upon every question. + +That eminent philanthropist, Dr. Bridgman, who had, for more than a +quarter of a century, been an active and highly esteemed missionary, was +in 1858 at the head of the American Episcopal Mission, and was one of the +oldest, as also among the most highly respected, denizens of the little +foreign settlement. This meritorious citizen died at Shanghai, on the 29th +of November, 1861, after having spent upwards of thirty years in China in +the promotion of the Christian faith and the advancement of knowledge, +deeply lamented by foreigners, as well as by the Chinese, who always found +him their true and confident friend. This gentleman had the kindness to +assemble under his simple but kindly roof the various members of his +mission, who are no less useful in increasing our acquaintance with the +Chinese language and literature than in diffusing the blessings of the +gospel, thus furnishing the members of the _Novara_ Expedition with an +opportunity of personal intercourse with these gentlemen. We here became +acquainted with Mr. Wells Williams, so highly esteemed and so widely known +for his profound historical and philological works[147] respecting China, +as also with Messrs. Syle, Aichison, Macy, Jones, and Blodgett, +missionaries distinguished for their extensive acquirements in Chinese; +and in the course of this agreeable and interesting intercourse were so +fortunate as to obtain information respecting a variety of topics, many of +them suggested by Dr. Pfitzmaier, and recommended by him to our +investigation. On most of these topics accurate intelligence was in the +course of our voyage transmitted to the Imperial Academy of Sciences; of +the remainder elaborate and comprehensive particulars are reserved for the +scientific publications of the Expedition. + +We may, however, more closely investigate here one topic of universal +interest, namely, the latest researches respecting the very remarkable, +little known, half-savage tribe, known as the Miau-Tze. + +These extraordinary human beings are usually encountered in the provinces +of Kwei-chan, Yun-nan, Szechuen, Hunan, Kwang-si, and the western part of +Kwang-tung. The wild tribes of the island of Formosa belong, on the +contrary, to an entirely different race. In the Imperial Dictionary of +Kang-hi, the sign [Chinese character(s)], _miau_ (a compound of the words +"flower" and "meadow"), signifies "germinating seeds," "blades of grass +springing from the seed-vessels." The sign [Chinese character(s)], _tsz_, +on the other hand, is that usually employed to express son, or descendant. +In accordance with this explanation, the Chinese also seem to consider the +Miau-tze as children of the soil, as aborigines, or indigenous inhabitants +of the country. In their descriptions of this singular people they divide +them into "Sang" and "Schuh." _Sang_, ordinarily used when speaking of +fruit, signifies "green, unripe,"--_schuh_ again means "ripe," or, when +speaking of food, the former signifies "raw," the latter "thoroughly +cooked." By these means they discriminate them into the savage independent +"green" Miau-tze, and the subjugated more civilized "ripe" Miau-tze. The +subjection and civilization of these latter are however as yet very +problematical. As in days long gone by, so up to the present hour, the +Miau-tze are restless and troublesome neighbours to the Chinese. Dr. +Bridgman has lately translated into English the sketches made by a Chinese +scholar upon the Miau-tze, during his travels in the province of +Kwei-chan, by which he has added greatly to our stock of information +respecting those "children of the soil;" the work consists of two volumes +in 8vo, containing about 82 sketches or delineations. Each of these fills +one page, the handwriting being condensed or expanded according to the +amount of the contents, while that opposite contains an illustration +elucidatory of the text. This very rare work divides the Miau-tze into 82 +tribes according to their customs, more or less savage, very few of whom +possess any trace of a written language, recording the most important +events simply by certain marks on a stick, or by what are called +"tallies," and subsisting upon wild fruit, fish, and the flesh of wild +animals. They usually go about barefooted, are very scantily clad, lead a +life full of privation and hardship, and in all their troubles have +recourse to the invocation of the evil spirits. Only very few of their +race follow agriculture, or any branch of industry, or worship Buddha in +their festivals.[148] Some of these however seem to be more or less +crossed with Chinese blood, as, for example, the Tsche-Tsai-Miau, in the +district of Kutschan, whither the rebel Ma-san-pai formerly fled with 600 +of his followers, when his attempt, under his feudal leader, Mu-san-Kwei, +to overthrow the reigning dynasty, failed of success. Many of these +fugitives formed connections with the native women, and their descendants +are now known by the name of the six hundred savage Miau families. + +Adjoining Dr. Bridgman's residence, is a school maintained at the expense +of the mission, in which twenty-four Chinese girls are during five years +instructed in reading and writing their mother tongue, in arithmetic, and +in the rudiments of Christianity, after which they are provided with a +small portion and married to Chinese Christians of good character. +Selected under the idea that very favourable results may be anticipated, +if the various subjects in which the scholars are instructed are imparted +to them in their native language, English is entirely omitted. Interesting +and extraordinary, however, as it is to hear American ladies imparting +instruction in the Chinese language, this method of teaching has many +drawbacks, and the mission itself and society in general would derive far +more advantage, if these poor females should be instructed in English, +thus widening the horizon of their knowledge. + +In the boys' school, also supported by the mission, another method of +teaching is in use. The children learn an epistle first in Chinese, +afterwards in English, when they are called upon to translate the Chinese +into English. Thus we heard one lad rehearse the Book of Ruth, first in +Chinese, and then in English. He was then examined in English upon the +meaning of certain passages, when he replied with great accuracy in the +same language. Education in these schools is mainly intrusted to ladies. +Two of these, Miss Jones and Miss Conover, displayed remarkable +attainments in Chinese, besides their really marvellous store of +information. None of the teachers are married, while none of the wives of +the missionaries interfere with the school, but employ themselves in +superintending the education of their own children. We found forty Chinese +boys receiving their education at the expense of the mission, whose +parents have to sign a written engagement that they will not withdraw +their children from the institution for a period of ten years, in fact, +till the completion of their education. This precaution is absolutely +necessary, owing to the fickle nature of the Chinese, else it would be a +by no means rare occurrence for the parents to insist on the child +returning home, possibly just at the critical moment when the beneficent +influence of Christian culture is beginning to spring up in the soul. On +the whole, this mission has splendid results to show. We saw one scholar, +who at present forms one of the staff of teachers, and speaks and writes +English absolutely better than his native language. Another young Chinese, +sent out at the expense of the mission, spent eight years at Yale College +in Massachusetts, and at present earns his maintenance by translating +English documents into Chinese and _vice versa_, for the mercantile houses +of the place. + +Dr. Bridgman is at once founder and president of the first scientific +association in Shanghai, the "North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic +Society," including among its members almost all the foreigners resident +in Shanghai, who assemble regularly every winter for intellectual and +literary recreation, and publish from time to time in a periodical of +their own, details of the efforts, adventures, and experiences of their +colleagues in promoting the objects of the association. + +An extraordinary meeting was held in honour of the _Novara_ voyagers, at +which about forty persons were present. The President, Dr. Bridgman, +welcomed our commander and his subordinates with a few cordial remarks, +which was responded to by Commodore Wuellerstorff, after which the writer +of these lines had the honour to deliver in English a brief address, +touching on the chief aims of the Expedition and its scientific objects, +stating that its chief purpose was less the promotion of purely scientific +knowledge, than by ample, long-continued practice to provide material of +suitable quality for our youthful budding navy, to unfurl the standard of +Austria in localities where it had never before been seen, to effect +treaties of commerce with foreign nations, to knit the various capitals +which we should visit in our cruise by the tie of science, to open +correspondence with their various institutes, and to make collections, +chiefly of those objects of natural history, the acquisition of which, +owing to their great value or the difficulty of transport, is almost +impossible to the single traveller. The hearty reception which had been +accorded the Expedition in Shanghai rendered it doubly incumbent on us to +explain the various purposes we had in view, and the original points of +inquiry to which we were restricted by the track definitely assigned to +us, as also to account for the shortness of our stay in each port, and the +fact that our prescribed route led us sometimes to visit places either +politically or nautically well known. + +After the close of this short lecture, several of those present rose to +speak, amongst others the United States Plenipotentiary, Mr. Reed, who +expressed his sincere pleasure at having been privileged during his stay +in China to meet with the commander of an Austrian frigate engaged with +his gallant companions in so grand a mission. + +Mr. Reed spoke in high terms of the scientific exertions being made by +Germany, and recalled in animated terms the splendid services of A. von +Humboldt, whom the news of the death of Washington (14th Dec. 1799) found +already occupied in scientific research in the primeval forests of South +America, and who still (August, 1858) continued to display such marvellous +intellectual activity. + +Besides Mr. Reed, we also made the personal acquaintance of the French +Plenipotentiary, Baron Gros; the ambassadors of England and Russia were +already gone, the former to Japan, the latter to the Amur. We were +introduced to Baron Gros at the house of M. de Montigny, the French +Consul, who during a residence of many years in China has occupied himself +not alone with upholding the prestige and influence of "_la grande +nation_," but has also rendered conspicuous services to science and +agriculture. To him is due the credit of having in 1847 dispatched to +Europe the first seeds of what is called the Chinese sugar-cane (_Sorghum +saccharatum_), and of having introduced to agriculturists that remarkable +species of grass, with which, in consequence of its many useful qualities, +hundreds of thousands of acres have since that period been planted in +various parts of the globe. M. de Montigny distinguished the members of +our Expedition in every way, and presented them with numerous specimens of +seeds from Northern China.[149] + +The visit paid to Baron Gros by two of the naturalists left by no means an +agreeable impression. The French ambassador is a tall, commanding, +powerfully-built man, about fifty years of age, with a full, round, +beardless face covered with freckles, and hair of a light colour. He +seemed pleased to speak of himself and his connections, and repeatedly +proclaimed himself an admirer of German men of science, who was in +correspondence with M. von Humboldt. "You know," quoth the Baron, +apparently desirous of explaining his meaning, "he that wrote the Kosmos." +The two members of our Expedition coloured up; to pronounce the name of +Humboldt to German men of science, and deem it necessary to state his +literary claims, was sufficiently embarrassing. One of them endeavoured to +turn the conversation to the gulf of Petchi-li, whence Baron Gros had just +returned after the ratification of the treaty of peace. He showed them a +hasty sketch of a portion of the great wall of China, to which he had paid +a visit when in the gulf of Petchi-li, and had made the sketch on the +spot. The natives with whom he came in contact during his stay in the +North he described as destitute and poor to an extraordinary degree, but +anything but hostile to foreigners. They asked for with eagerness and +seized with avidity the entrails of animals which the sailors were about +to throw away; on empty bottles being thrown overboard, they swam a +considerable distance to rescue them. With respect to the political events +in the Pei-ho and Tien-Tsin, his Excellency, whether out of diplomatic +reserve or for other reasons we do not know, preserved profound +silence.[150] + +A variety of circumstances, however, may have contributed to make the +Baron less susceptible to every other thing than his everlasting "I." +Baron Gros had in fact been subjected to the very great inconvenience of +the Propellor _Audacieuse_, which had been brought from France, having +suddenly become unseaworthy, so that he had to abandon her. She was making +from 100 to 140 tons of water per diem, and there was nothing for it but +to have the vessel taken with all speed to the docks at Whampoa for +repairs, while the envoy had to return to Europe by another opportunity. +Moreover, the Baron had been attacked by a disorder of common occurrence +in hot countries, namely, a furuncle, which is exceedingly painful, and +obstinately resists every remedy. Whoever is of a constitution liable to +such attacks is never free from them till he gains a colder climate. In +the case of the unfortunate Baron, these went on continually increasing, +and on one of his compatriots being asked in society what was the cause of +the absence of the French ambassador, replied with an arch look, "_le +pauvre baron a quatre-vingt cloux_." In fact, the annoyance caused by this +malady is redoubled by the little sympathy accorded to those afflicted +with it, who are only rallied or laughed at. + +Another personage who, at the period of our stay in Shanghai, attained a +rather unenviable notoriety by his strange conduct, and did but little to +raise the reputation of France in these latitudes, was the Marquis de +Chassiron. By his marriage with one of the Princesses Murat (since dead), +he was allied to the Emperor of the French, whom he occasionally spoke of +in an off-hand way as "mon neveu, l'Empereur." Meagre, wizen, +spindle-shanked, and ringletted, in coloured check pantaloons, blue +frock, open-work cravat of Gros de Naples, and dancing-master's pumps, +resembling much more a second-rate Paris dandy than a diplomatist, it +seemed as though he must have been dispatched to this out-of-the-way part +of the world for quite other than a diplomatic object, although he took +great pains to spread the report that he had been appointed the successor +of Baron Gros in the Embassy. + +One day the Commodore and some members of the Expedition received an +invitation from the kind and hospitable English Consul, Mr. Brook +Robertson, to be present at a reception at the Consulate of the Tau-Tai, +or highest Chinese official of the city.[151] + +We the more readily congratulated ourselves on this invitation, as, owing +to the sudden departure of the Tau-Tai, we missed the opportunity of +paying him a visit in his own palace in the city. Punctually at the +appointed hour, 2 P.M., a formal procession was seen approaching the +buildings of the English Consulate. In front were carried numerous titles +and insignia, then the Tau-Tai in a large and handsome sedan-chair, and +finally a noisy "following," in the shape of a rabble of servants. Mr. +Robertson received the Tau-Tai at the threshold of his house, and greeted +him with the customary Tschin-Tschin, moving the hands closely folded a +few times over the breast. + +All present kept the head covered, making in like manner a few +Tschin-tschins, and then accompanied the visitor to the reception-room, in +which were five stools, the seat of honour being on the left. As soon as +the Tau-Tai was seated, the rest took their seats, and a proposition was +made in consequence of the truly tropical heat, contrary to Chinese +notions of courtesy, to divest one's self of one's head-gear. The +Mandarin, at all events, seemed as little loth to lay aside his +funnel-shaped straw-cap, with its blue button and peacock's feather, as +the Europeans present to doff their uniform caps. + +The presentation of the commander and the author of this narrative by Mr. +Meadows, who acted as interpreter, gave the Tau-Tai an opportunity of +inquiring of the English Consul whether our frigate had been at the gulf +of Petcheli. Mr. Robertson replied that the _Novara_ was the first +war-ship of a German power which had ever visited the Yang-tse-Kiang and +Wusung rivers, and that the frigate was bound on a voyage of scientific +discovery. This led to a running fire of questions and answers, during the +course of which two attendants were engaged alternately in filling a small +pipe with tobacco, which they handed to the Tau-Tai. The latter drew a few +puffs, permitted the smoke to escape through his nostrils, after which +his pipe was again replenished with a small supply of tobacco. + +We next had an example of the custom, already mentioned, of wiping the +face with a hot damp towel, one of the attendants dipping a rather thick +piece of linen cloth in a tub of hot water, which was then wrung out, when +the cloth was presented to the Mandarin, who, without in any way +interrupting the conversation, from time to time wiped the perspiration +from his brow. + +The Tau-Tai had a well-made, handsome figure, pleasing, rather +intelligent, features, a round, smooth, delicate face, without any trace +of beard, eyes as usual drawn up at the outer corner, small elegant hands, +and beautifully tapered fingers, with very long nails. His dress was very +simple; he wore, for the sake of coolness, a shirt made of thin bamboo +shoots, with a long, yellowish, loose surcoat, white drawers, and, instead +of the usual Chinese shoe with its high cork soles, or white thick +gaiters, he wore light shoes of European make. His head was covered with a +cone-shaped straw-hat of very fine texture, with a red tassel and blue +knot in the midst, and a dark green peacock's feather, extending +horizontally backwards. + +Business over, a table was covered, and the Tau-Tai invited to partake. +According to the Chinese custom, only confectionery, preserves, and fruit +were handed round. The liquids consisted of sherry, liqueurs, Chinese wine +or Samschoo (made from rice and imbibed from cups in lieu of glasses), and +green and almond tea. The Mandarin drank to all present, and seemed to +take more to sherry and Maraschino than to his own native drinks. The slim +liqueur bottle, with its neat gilt label and the thick cork stopper, +seemed especially to attract his attention. + +After a few commonplace observations, the Tau-Tai once more turned the +conversation upon Austria, and remarked he had never before heard of that +power. Mr. Meadows endeavoured to prompt the memory of the Chinese +official, produced Muirhead's universal geography translated into Chinese, +turned up therein the section relating to Austria, and handed the book to +the Tau-Tai, who had the entire passage read to him by one of his +attendants, that he might "get up" the country from which the strangers +had come who were seated on his left and right hands. + +The inquisitiveness of every Chinese now displayed itself in a series of +inquiries as to the principal products and articles of export of the +Empire, and he expressed a hope he should ere long see more of the +"Austrian Mandarins" in Shanghai. The _Novara_ travellers on their side +with a patriotic pride, readily pardonable under the circumstances, +endeavoured through the medium of the Government interpreter to leave the +best possible impression of their native country upon the mind of the +Tau-Tai, by giving a glowing description of the Austrian Empire, its +natural advantages, and its people. Of numbers the worthy man seemed to +have no definite idea, for the remark that the Empire contained (1st +August, 1858) very nearly 40,000,000 inhabitants seemed greatly to +astonish him, although this is probably barely one-tenth of the population +of the Chinese Empire.[152] + +Just as the Tau-Tai was preparing to set out on his return, a tremendous +tumult was suddenly heard in the street. It seemed like a popular +insurrection, and servants were forthwith sent out to ascertain the cause +of this unexpected shindy, who came back presently with the intelligence +that an English sailor had struck a coolie of the suite a blow on the face +with his fist, so violent that he was seriously injured, and was bleeding +profusely. The Tau-Tai made his appearance on the portico. As soon as the +injured man saw his master approaching, he flung himself before him +imploring aid, and exhibiting his face streaming with blood, and the wound +gaping open. The Tau-Tai ordered the man to rise, and delivered him to the +Chinese police. Occasionally when a Chinese receives a wound in a quarrel +of this nature he will abstain from wiping off the blood-stains from his +face for weeks together, finding, it should seem, some satisfaction in +being able to exhibit them. This done, the procession resumed its march. +In front strode a man who from time to time administered a sounding thwack +to the gong, after which he rushed through the streets bawling like a +Stentor, that the people might crowd on one side and leave the Tau-Tai +space to pass unobstructed. The rear was brought up with police, +catch-poles with long bamboo poles, and the executioner with his axe--the +never-failing attendant on such occasions,--who accompanies it, however, +only as a sort of allegorical personage, to impress upon the yelling +crowds around the consequences of disobedience, and of rebellion against +constituted authority. + +The only important excursion we made from Shanghai was to the Jesuit +Mission of Sikkawei, twelve miles distant. Our excellent host, Mr. James +Hogg, of the well-known firm of Lindsay and Co.,[153] and Consul for the +Hanse towns, to whose great kindness we are deeply indebted, was so kind +as to order his pretty little yacht _Flirt_ to be got ready for our +accommodation, and we set off, accompanied by the heroic Mr. Gray, of the +American house of Russell and Co., who lost one foot while fighting +against the Tai-ping rebels before the very gates of Shanghai. As the +Europeans are in the habit of using these pleasure-boats as residences +during their visit to the interior, so as not to be dependent upon the +somewhat uncertain hospitality of the Chinese, they are provided with +every accessory to comfort, being fitted with a neat cabin, a small +library, boudoir, berth-cabin, &c. They usually carry an immense spread of +canvas, and during calms are propelled like the native boats with one big +oar from the stern, which serves at the same time as a rudder. The sail up +the Wusung, in which upwards of a hundred sail of merchantmen, and above a +thousand junks, were lying at anchor, was very interesting. Many of the +junks lying off the Catholic cathedral of Tonka-du displayed a flag with a +white cross on a black ground, in token of the religious faith of the +crew. Here also we saw for the first time some Siamese ships, built in +Siam, for the most part on European models. Of these we counted eleven. By +way of ensign, they had an elephant rather nicely drawn, sometimes on a +red, sometimes on a blue field, according to the fancy or the taste of the +owner. These vessels have Siamese crews and English captains, and are +armed with ten or twelve cannon, so that his Siamese Majesty can at a +moment's notice use his little fleet of merchantmen for warlike purposes. + +The channel, 200 or 300 fathoms wide, which unites the Wusung with the +internal network of small rivers, is called the Wuang-Po, a designation +which some authorities assume to be the name of its constructor, while +others maintain that it is derived from _wong_, yellow, and applies to the +colour of the water, just as Whampoa, near Canton, signifies the yellow +anchorage. Nothing has so much contributed to that immense activity of +commerce, which we marvel at among the Chinese, as their vast canal +system, the introduction of which was pursued with such energy in the 7th +century.[154] The innumerable artificial canals, with which the whole +north of China is intersected, and which by their admirably planned system +of arrangement unite all the lakes and navigable rivers of the Empire with +each other, make it possible to voyage through every province of the +Empire without having once to leave the boat. They atone for the great +want of good roads, and even make the absence of railroads less +perceptible in a country where the value of labour is so unprecedentedly +low. + +As soon as we leave Shanghai behind, with its immense commercial fleet, +the scenery beyond becomes tame. The banks on either side are low, and far +as the eye can reach not a single hill is to be seen, not even a rising +slope--nothing but a flat alluvial soil, every inch of which seems +diligently tilled, or otherwise made useful. + +After we had sailed several miles in the _Flirt_ we came to a branch of +the great canal, where we shifted into a smaller but not less elegant +boat, the property of Mr. Gray, which drew less water, and in which we +were to reach the Jesuit mission. At this season, however, owing to the +lowness of the water, navigation was only continued with great difficulty, +and notwithstanding the astonishing dexterity with which our worthy Lau-tu +(the old chief) conned our craft through the sharp bends of the river, we +were at last compelled to halt, and perform the rest of the distance, +about two miles, on foot. + +We now found ourselves strolling through fields planted with rice and +cotton, through cabbage and vegetable gardens, occasionally even over +graves, which rose in mounds here and there along our path. Sometimes in +the distance we could descry small villages and solitary farm-houses. + +In Sikkawei we found about twenty Jesuits, French and Italians, all of +genuine Chinese appearance, with heads half-shaved, long queues stretching +to the ground, loose yellow clothes, and velvet shoes with thick cork +soles. This had a striking, almost theatrical effect. We were ushered into +the reception-room, and there offered refreshment. The conversation soon +became brisk, which added to the singularity of the scene, as the seeming +Chinese, sitting in a circle round the table, and smoking perfumed tobacco +out of small long-stemmed pipes, began, in fluent French or liquid +Italian, to discuss Paris, Naples, Vienna, or politics and art. + +This Mission is supported by the Propaganda of Rome, as also by voluntary +contributions. About 80 pupils, chiefly children of poor parents, are +instructed in the Chinese language and literature, in reading, writing, +arithmetic, and drawing, and in the tenets of the Roman Catholic faith; on +the other hand, little anxiety is manifested for their instruction in +French or English, or in providing them with any practical mechanical +instruction. In this mode of education the main object seems to be to +enable the students more readily to reach the highest offices in the state +by imparting to them a thorough grounding in Chinese literature, and by +these means to ensure for them religious influence and protection. +Accordingly, strenuous efforts are made to increase the number of +scholars, and in order to facilitate this aim, as in the case of the +Indians of Central and Southern America, their observance of various +heathen rites is connived at, as, for example, the worship of their +ancestors, the ceremonies at the death of a relation, &c. &c. + +One branch of art, in which some of the scholars have, owing to their +having naturally a turn for it, attained considerable proficiency, is +wood-engraving. In the church attached to the Mission are shown a number +of altar-ornaments, chiefly figures very beautifully carved in wood, the +work of a Jesuit of Spanish extraction, whose talent and enthusiasm seem +to have laid the foundation of this school of image-carvers. In what is +called the model-room are numbers of figures and busts designed by the +practised hand of the brother alluded to. Here too are some heads of the +Saviour, very beautifully executed in clay by the Chinese scholars, as +also Madonnas, busts of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and the Emperor +Napoleon III. These are doubly extraordinary, when we remember the slight +instruction and very scanty assistance bestowed on them while in course of +execution; their actual value however is small, for at present, as none of +the Jesuits in the Mission have any very decided taste for the art, +instruction in it has almost entirely ceased. + +The achievements of the present members of the Society of Jesus, in China, +suffer greatly, measured by the standard of what was accomplished by their +renowned brethren in previous centuries; one looks in vain for the high +attainments, the self-sacrificing zeal, the practical talents of other +times, and Sikkawei, with its present spiritual occupants, cannot leave a +very pleasing impression on any unprejudiced Catholic. There is an utter +lack of all those qualities which once formed the renown and the title to +admiration of the Jesuits in China. One looks for, but fails to find, a +library corresponding to the dignity of the Mission, or mathematical or +medical instruments, or a chemical laboratory: in lieu of these there seem +to prevail a deficiency of Christian toleration for these unmistakeable +adjuncts of true education and enlightenment. At all events, we judged as +much from a remark made by the brother who accompanied us round the +building, who spoke some words in Chinese to the gaping crowd of +long-tailed scholars, who kept pressing upon us, and then turning to us, +observed in French,--"I have informed our pupils that our present guests +are Roman Catholics, and therefore _true_ Christians, because we +occasionally have English visitors at the Mission, and they are heretics." +Apparently the intolerant padre was reckoning without his host, for there +were several Protestants among the party! + +Throughout the province of Kaing-su there are at present 80,000 Chinese +Catholics, that is to say, who profess Catholicism, though having but a +very superficial idea of its spirit and its reality. + +In returning to our boat we availed ourselves of the mode of conveyance in +most common use in China, the sedan-chair, or couch. The ordinary +sedan-chair differs little in exterior form and interior arrangement from +those still occasionally used in some of the out-of-the-way, old-fashioned +towns, both of Germany and England. Owing to the extreme cheapness of +labour, the least well-to-do classes of Chinese are able to avail +themselves of these convenient conveyances, the use of which is doubly +agreeable in such a hot climate. Indeed, long journeys are very frequently +made by this mode of transport. As a rule, the sedan-bearers get over from +twenty to twenty-five miles per diem, charging for that distance one +dollar, in addition to their food, consisting of tea, rice, vegetables, +and cakes. Baggage and merchandise of all sorts are conveyed by coolies, +each carrying with ease 110 _catties_, equal to 146 lbs. With such a +burthen he will trudge over lofty mountain passes, and without much effort +will cover thirteen miles a day. If special dispatch is required, the +burthen must be reduced one-half, when the coolie, keeping at the trot, +will get over double the distance in one day; what is gained in speed +being lost in power. + +On our return to Shanghai, we visited the celebrated six-storied Pagoda, +Long-Sah, which is traditionally said to have been erected about A.D. 250, +during the period of the Three Empires. Of all the Pagodas hitherto known, +not even excepting the well-known specimen at Canton, it is the best +preserved, and forms one massive, wide quadrangular tower, about 150 feet +high, arranged in six stories, one of which has running around it a richly +carved balcony. The pyramidal roof has turned-up angles, to which are +suspended bells, which when agitated by the wind give forth their music. +From the highest story, to which access is obtained by a stone staircase, +there is a rather agreeable, pretty extensive view over the country, and +its cultivated surface, stretching away till, at 200 miles from Shanghai, +to the north and north-west, rises a range of mountains, of which of +course not a glimpse is to be seen hence, the prospect in this direction +having no defined limit. This panoramic view gives an excellent idea of +the characteristics of a Chinese landscape, the various methods of +cultivation, the situation of the valleys, and, above all, the ceaseless +tide of traffic, as evidenced by the almost innumerable artificial +water-channels which intersect the country in every direction. Quite close +to the Pagoda is a Buddha temple, the well-known Lung-hwo, erected A.D. +230. Of the seventy Buddhist and Taouist temples of the province this is +the largest and most beautiful. The rear of the edifice is adorned with +countless figures, sometimes of colossal dimensions, in wood, plaster, and +porcelain, richly carved and gilt. There is also a female statue among +these Chinese saints, the attitude strongly suggestive of a Madonna. + +This temple is plainly in connection with the Pagoda, and the various +small chambers behind it seem to have been destined for the accommodation +of priests and devout pilgrims. According to an old Chinese tradition this +temple owes its erection to the following circumstance:--a queen from the +south, who had anchored her boat one night in the Whampoa Channel near +Wusung, suddenly beheld a light shoot up amid the tall grass, and rise +towards heaven, in consequence of which she gave orders for a temple to be +built on the site. + +One of the most interesting episodes of our stay at Shanghai consisted in +a genuine Chinese banquet, given by a wealthy native merchant, named +Ta-ki, a warm friend of all foreigners, in honour of the Austrian +Expedition. The huge invitation cards, written, according to the usual +practice of the country, in Chinese characters upon blood-red paper, and +folded in envelopes of the same brilliant hue, were sent round to the +residences of the guests some days beforehand. + +At 8 P.M. the feast began. Ta-ki's house, like those of all the wealthy +Chinese, is surrounded by a massive wall, six or seven feet in height, and +painted white. After passing through a narrow gateway, the visitor finds +himself at once in the usual apartments. These were adorned for the +occasion with large coloured lanterns, which despite their numbers shed a +mild and most agreeable light.[155] Along the walls, which were richly +gilt, hung quantities of sententious native maxims, written with Indian +ink, sometimes in Chinese characters, sometimes in Tartar, on white or +yellow rolls of paper. The greatest attention appeared to have been paid +to the preparation of the reception-room, whose form was a rather narrow +oblong, in which at the far end was erected a platform, where a strolling +company acted Chinese theatricals. The musicians sat on the stage. The +company belonged to one of those innumerable wandering troops which are +engaged for a day or two now by the community, now by wealthy Mandarins, +to give some theatrical representations, which it seems must in China +form the accompaniment of every important event, whether joyous or +sorrowful. + +At those performances which are given in public, the multitude is admitted +gratis, and of this privilege they avail themselves to the utmost. Each +man selects the best seat for himself, on the street, in a tree, or on a +roof. Mandarins, however, and rich private individuals have their own +little stage scenes in the interior of their usually spacious mansions, in +which from time to time they have theatrical representations for the +amusement of a small circle of friends. Some Mandarins even go the length +of having their own players, who receive regular annual pay, and form part +of the household. + +Notwithstanding the very extensive collections of Chinese plays, with +several of which the learned classes of Europe have been made acquainted +by the valuable labours of Julien, Bazin, Remusat, and others, there are +but a very few of true literary value. The plot of most of them is +exceedingly simple, the actors themselves specify the characters they are +to play; between each scene there is usually a lack of connection, and +frequently the most telling scenes and situations are marred by the most +arrant trash, or the coarsest jests. Only a very small number of these +rise above the level of the buffoonery of former ages, and judging by the +accounts given by travellers, who have been present at such entertainments +in even the large cities, including Pekin itself, the dramatic art would +as yet seem to be in its infancy in China.[156] The company which was +assembled in the hospitable mansion of Ta-ki, to do honour to the members +of the _Novara_ Expedition, was not calculated to impress them favourably +with the scope of the Chinese drama. The piece appointed consisted of +events in the ancient history of China, for which Chinese dramatic poets +have a special predilection, owing to the abundance of material from which +to choose, although the multitude seem to have but little sympathy with +it. Even our host, who spoke the Canton-English, as it is called, could +give us but little explanation or enlightenment as to the plot, and +contented himself with repeatedly remarking that the piece related to +"old, old times!" + +Notwithstanding the universal custom, according to which women are not +permitted to enter a theatre, so that even the female characters have to +be played by men dressed to represent the part, the majority of the +present troupe were girls of from 14 to 20 years of age, who, stained red +or white, and elegantly arrayed, appeared mostly in Mandarin dresses on +the stage. The most outrageously absurd of the scenes were those most in +favour with the numerous domestics who, besides the invited guests, formed +the audience. Thus, there was a roar of laughter when a nurse entered with +a child in her arms, which had the face of an old soldier, with grey +beard, whiskers, and moustachios. They sang a long, rather melancholious +ditty, and then retired, without there appearing to be the slightest +connection between this and the following scene. We noted the evident +predilection of the Chinese actors for a high-pitched falsetto tone of +voice when speaking, which, by the way, must render their assumption of +female parts much more easy, and on the present occasion they probably +were desirous of giving us a specimen of their skill in this +accomplishment. The music on such occasions is, if possible, even more +discordant and monotonous than the delivery, and is not confined to merely +accompanying the couplets, but continues to play during the intervals till +the ear is utterly wearied. + +At the close of each act a large board covered with a red cloth was +brought on the stage and placed beneath the feet of the actors; on this +the steward of the house placed a present for the troupe about four +dollars' worth of copper _cash_, which was forthwith carried away. This +was apparently the only intimation to most of the spectators that a piece +was ended, and a fresh one about to begin. + +After these theatrical representations had lasted about an hour and a half +a long pause ensued. One longed to escape outside into the fresh air, to +get rid of the wearying sensation of the performances, and the stifling +heat which prevailed in the room. The guests were at liberty to walk +without obstruction through the various apartments of the extensive +residence, and accordingly stumbled upon rooms which are usually, as it +were, hermetically sealed to a foreigner, viz. the apartments of the +women. Ta-ki carried his hospitality even this length, and presented us to +his wives, as also to his grey-haired mother, seventy years old, for whom +he showed the utmost love and respect. Ta-ki's wives, four or five in +number, had "assisted" at the theatrical performances, each seated on +elevated seats expressly prepared for them, and behaved with the greatest +courtesy and ease of manner. They seemed not to have the slightest thought +of showing off, or of tittering or joking with the strangers. All were +attired in silk, and most tastefully decorated with jewels; all had the +usual painfully distorted small feet, which greatly interfered with their +powers of locomotion. They did not attend at the banquet, but had their +food served in the private apartments. + +For supper the quondam theatre was converted into a banqueting-hall. But +there was no long wide table set out as in Europe, only small +four-cornered tables covered with red cloth, at each of which three +Europeans and one Chinese took their seats; the duty of the latter being +to do the honours to his companions in the name of the host, who took his +seat beside the Commodore, and to minister to their comfort. + +As it was the object to give us the most accurate idea possible of a +genuine Chinese repast, everything was eliminated which could in any way +interfere with the design, and we had accordingly to begin with dessert +and conclude with the soup, as also to convey the various descriptions of +food to our mouths with thin strips of ivory ("chop-sticks"), instead of +knives and forks. + +The peculiarity of Chinese usages, so directly opposed to those of Europe, +became likewise strikingly apparent in the course of the meal. And as in +China the mark of courtesy is to keep the head covered instead of removing +the hat, so the place of honour is on the left hand; the ancestors are +ennobled instead of the descendants (which is at once more sensible and +more economical); the characters in writing run from right to left instead +of the reverse; the mourning colour is white instead of black; the natives +carefully extirpate every sign of a beard, instead of cherishing it as a +symbol of mature, dignified manhood; thus also meals begin with the food +with which we terminate ours, confectionery and fruit. When we were all +seated, each table was forthwith covered with a profusion of the most +varied dishes on beautiful plates of stained porcelain, and while we were +still engaged in attempting to discover the mysterious ingredients of +these, the Chinese who was doing the honours at our table was exerting +himself to select and lay before us the most dainty morsels of each dish. +In performing this part of his functions he thought only to act with more +care and attention, in drawing each of the twain chop-sticks between his +own lips and withdrawing them before he fished up a fresh piece and laid +it on our plate! The dexterity with which all Chinese use these +chop-sticks, which are usually made of ivory, ebony, or bamboo, borders +on the marvellous. In their hands, held between their fingers, they become +like a pair of pincers, with which they can pick up the smallest objects, +and can eat rice-grains, beans, or peas as easily as they can separate the +flakes of a fish from its skin, or remove the shell of a hard-boiled egg. + +As to the ingredients of the dishes presented, we must frankly avow that +by far the greater number were utterly unknown to us, for the Chinese +cuisine, oddly enough, sets great store on making the materials +unrecognizable, and altering their natural flavour by various recipes and +culinary mysteries. According to the inquiries which we made of our +carver, our host seemed so anxious to fulfil to the letter his promise to +give us a real Chinese repast, that he had resolved on not sparing us a +single one of the rarer dainties of Chinese epicures. Thus we not only had +swallows' nests, lapwings' eggs, and steamed frogs, but also roasted +silk-worms, shark-fins, stag and buffalo tendons, biche-de-mar, bamboo +roots, sea-weed, half-fledged chickens, and various other natural +delicacies. The table was supplied at least three times with fresh +delicacies, and we believe we do not exaggerate when we estimate the +number of different dishes at not less than half a hundred. Meat of all +sorts was at a discount, and was served up in small morsels ready +carved;[157] on the other hand, rice and vegetables were presented in +every imaginable form. During the meal one young girl, who had played a +part in the dramas, was incessantly occupied with filling for each guest a +very small cup with a warm beverage distilled from millet, thus carrying +out the code of Chinese civility, that the cup should never be suffered to +be empty, and therefore, that however little has once been drunk it must +forthwith be replenished. Of the juice of the grape the Chinese make no +use, although there are many districts in the country which are eminently +adapted to the growth of the vine. All the native drinks consist of +nothing but poor-flavoured, highly-perfumed drinks, chiefly distilled from +millet and rice, and known by the general name of Samshoo, although this +name is solely applicable to that obtained from rice, which somewhat +resembles arrack. After the meal is over there are no spirits presented, +but only tea, usually the common green tea, or else a tea prepared from +almonds. The Chinese are, on the whole, a very temperate people, and even +their passion for smoking opium is rather a vice among the masses of the +coast provinces and the large towns, than of the interior of the kingdom. +During the banquet, as well as after it, there were further theatrical +exhibitions, but the guests, who had been sufficiently wearied with the +first of these, preferred to retire quietly to their own residences, and, +seated in a rocking-chair on the delicious verandah, to recall all the +peculiarities of the entertainment at which they had been present. + +The rites of hospitality to strangers were not, however, limited in +fulfilment to Ta-ki, since the various consuls settled at Shanghai, as +well as several of the English, American, and German merchants, invited +the members of the Expedition to dinner-parties given in their honour, +each vying with the rest in refined courtesy. An especially pleasant +memory attaches to one indication of this feeling, the spontaneous +offering of a number of Germans to our commander and his associates. We +were sitting in the house of Mr. James Hogg, the Hanseatic Consul, when +from the garden there suddenly arose a serenade of men's voices, singing +German melodies. Surprised and deeply affected, the entire company rose +from table and strolled into the garden, but the serenaders were concealed +behind a group of trees, and as they withdrew, singing, the last cadence +of a thrilling patriotic song was heard melting in the distance! + +The Germans already constitute a by no means inconsiderable portion of the +foreign community of China, and it is painful to observe what slender +encouragement and support their energy and industry have as yet met with +from the various governments of Germany. The number of Bremen ships which +visited the harbour of Shanghai has of late years equalled that of the +United States, and would be very greatly increased if the German +mercantile community and the home-shippers to the Chinese market could +depend upon protection such as the English and French can rely upon. The +German States, such, for instance, as the Hanseatic Towns, Prussia, +Oldenburg, have indeed unsalaried Consuls here, but the shrewd, material +Chinese people require something more than an empty intercession--they +require to be convinced by an unmistakeable physical ability to back these +representatives. Many a crying injustice, which the helpless German +merchants and ship captains have to put up with without hope of redress in +the various ports of China, would not and dare not occur if but a single +German ship-of-war were stationed in Chinese waters. What the effect is, +under similar circumstances, of even one single small boat was well +illustrated by Mr. Alcock, formerly the English Consul at Shanghai,[158] +who with a small English brig blocked the mouth of the Yang-tse-kiang, and +did not suffer one single "junk" of the many hundreds stationed in the +river to put to sea under threat of firing into them until the Chinese +Government had paid attention to his demands, and surrendered for trial by +an English tribunal the murderers of an English missionary. The bare +menace of closing the river sufficed to secure the Consul in his rights, +and he speedily saw his various demands complied with. Only a month or two +later a Bremen captain sustained such severe losses through the wilful act +of the Chinese Government that he had to sell his ship, the energetic +protest of his Consul to the native authorities meeting no other +attention than an insulting chuckle over the powerlessness of the German +empire. + +In consequence of the Treaty of Pekin securing to Europeans the +unobstructed navigation of all canals and rivers throughout the Celestial +Empire, the trade with China is becoming so rapidly developed, that some +remedy of this sort is imperatively needed,--if German commerce and +industry would avoid receiving a serious check, if she would not be +supplanted by other and more fortunate nations, in the endeavour to avail +herself of the great alteration for the better in the facilities for trade +in China. + +The activity and energy of the English in opening up new outlets for their +native manufactures were here astonishingly visible. Hardly are the +ratifications of peace exchanged, opening the most important rivers and +harbours of the Empire to free commerce with the subjects of England, ere +the country has been surveyed and explored in every direction. A number of +English merchants ascended the Yang-tse-kiang as far as Hang-kow[159] +(mouth of trade), a city containing several millions of inhabitants, +which, in consequence of its extraordinarily advantageous site, has +already been described by Huc as the chief emporium of the 18 Provinces, +and whence all the foreign trade radiates into the interior. Others +undertook a land journey from Canton to Hang-kow; a third company ascended +the Pei-ho and visited Tien-Tsin, while yet a fourth were contemplating +the formidable undertaking of boating it up the Yang-tse-kiang from +Shanghai to Hang-kow, whence they thought of penetrating via Thibet into +British India.[160] Already information has been obtained from a variety +of these excursions, which were undertaken specially in the interests of +commerce, such as justify the most glowing expectations as to the trade +with the Yang-tse-kiang and the Pei-ho.[161] Hang-kow promises to be a +most important depot for the exportation of tea, while Tien-Tsin promises +to be not less important as an entrepot for the importation of +manufactures of every description. By the opening of these two additional +harbours, Shanghai and Canton will fall off in their ratio of increase +hitherto, but general commerce will on the whole receive a new impulse. + +To the merchant and shipper, the latest intelligence from China as to the +enormous development of commerce and trade at numerous spots of the +Central Empire, hitherto undisturbed by European civilization, must be +positively astounding. It is a rich mine of the most valuable material, +which the _China Overland Trade Report_ and the _North China Herald_ +presents to its readers, rendered doubly valuable through the influence +of that Freedom of Speech, which makes every mercantile nation participate +in the very latest information as to these experiments and their results. +For, so far as concerns our present direct intercourse with China, a time +must come, when more accurate notions will penetrate into even Austrian +commercial circles as to the wants of a population, and the natural wealth +of an empire, which embraces a superficial area of 3,000,000 square miles, +with a population of 400,000,000 souls, and whose entire foreign commerce +already amounts to L36,000,000, apart from the impulse which recent events +must lend it. + +Notwithstanding the immense variety of natural products of the Chinese +Empire, the chief articles of export hitherto have been tea and silk, and +we shall therefore confine our attention to a few important particulars as +to those two articles. + +The introduction of silk cultivation into China, one of the most ancient +industrial pursuits of the Empire, is due, if we are to believe a native +legend, to the consort of the Emperor Hwang-te, who reigned B.C. 2640. The +first mention of the mulberry tree and of silk occurs in the +Schoo-kiu,[162] "the Book of exalted solid learning--the Book of Books," +as it were, a collection of the most ancient historical annals of the +Chinese Empire, which was compiled B.C. 484, by Confucius, from the +memoranda of former writers of history, as well as from the information +furnished by ancient monuments. Even empresses in those halcyon times did +not deem it beneath their dignity to collect mulberry-leaves and feed the +silk-worms, while various treatises were composed by imperial pens, +respecting the cultivation of that most useful plant. The interest taken +in silk-rearing by these the highest personages in the Empire, has +remained unbroken to our own day, and quite recently a Chinese governor +enriched the already copious literature upon this subject with a +comprehensive work, written with the laudable object of stimulating the +inhabitants of the silk-producing districts to a more extensive and +improved system of silk cultivating. + +The two best species of mulberry, those which are best adapted for the +consumption of the worm, are: "Loo" (_Morus alba_), with long leaves, +little fruit, and firm roots, which flourishes chiefly in North China, and +"King" (_Morus nigra_), with narrow leaves, more abundant fruit, and +altogether a hardier plant, which grows chiefly in the South. + +According to old Chinese notions, there are eight different species of +silk-worm, which spin their cocoons at various periods[163] of the year +between April and November. + +The chief silk districts lie in the northern part of the province of +Tsche-Kiang, and the principal silk marts are the following cities: +Hoo-chow-foo, Hang-chow-foo, Keahing-fu, Nantsin, and Shoo-hing, which lie +in a sort of semi-circle about 150 miles from Shanghai. + +The silk is not grown in China by wealthy landed proprietors, and "thrown" +in huge establishments, but by millions of husbandmen, each of whom calls +but a small patch of land his own, and plants it with mulberry trees, +thus, like the bee, contributing his own share towards increasing the +universal stock. During the season specially devoted to the silk-worm, old +and young, lofty and lowly, throughout the silk districts, are busily and +earnestly engaged night and day in tending the worms and winding off the +silk. When the crop is being gathered in, the chief merchants send their +agents to all parts of the chief silk districts, in order to collect and +buy up these small quantities (varying greatly in value, as may be readily +imagined), and depositing them in regularly assigned warehouses, where +they can be sorted according to quality. This done, the silk is packed in +bales of 80 _catties_, or about 106 lbs. weight, and conveyed to Shanghai +for sale, where it is once more subjected in each mercantile house to the +examination of the special "silk Inspectors," or "Testers," after passing +through whose hands, it is sorted according to quality for shipment to +Europe. + +Three distinct qualities of raw silk are known in commerce, viz. Tsatli +[Chinese character(s)], Taysam [Chinese character(s)] (the big worm), and +Yuen-wha, or Yuen-fa [Chinese character(s)] (the flower of the garden). +These three leading descriptions are again subdivided into a great number +of sorts, which are usually known by the name of the trader, or his "hong" +(business). + +The annual production of silk in China is estimated to amount to from +200,000 to 250,000 bales, or from 20,000,000 to 25,000,000 pounds' weight. +This, however, is a very superficial estimate; that silk cultivation, +however, must be enormously developed in China is obvious, not alone from +the immense home consumption of the article, but also from the +circumstance that, notwithstanding the immense increase in exports during +the last ten years, the price of silk has not merely remained stationary, +but is on an average absolutely less than at a period when barely +one-fourth of the quantity now exported found its way to England and +France. The price of silk is usually reckoned in Taels,[164] on the +estimate of a bale averaging 100 lbs. English. Between Shanghai and London +the bale loses on the average three per cent. in weight. There is also +usually an allowance made of 15 per cent. for cost of transport and +incidental charges from Shanghai to any English port. + +On the average only one-fourth of the entire quantity of silk produced in +China, or about 6,000,000 lbs., is exported annually, of which by far the +largest quantity, perhaps as much as nine-tenths, goes to England and +France. In 1843-44, the total export from all China was only 5100 bales. +In 1859, the export of raw silk from Shanghai alone was 75,652 bales! + +Besides the raw silk there are annually exported from China a large +quantity of silk-stuffs manufactured in China, crape shawls, &c. &c., to +the value of from L400,000 to L500,000, the majority of which find a +market in the United States. + +The social condition of the Chinese silk-spinner is not less deplorable +and poverty-stricken than that of the workmen of Europe, who are similarly +engaged in the preparation of this costly article of luxury. As in Lyons, +in Spitalfields, or among the Silesian Mountains, the Chinese silk-weaver +lives and dies in the most abject misery, and the delicate and beautiful +fabrics of his loom are produced in a wretched hut of such mean +dimensions, that he is sometimes compelled to dig a hole in the soil in +order to find room for the treadle. However, the Chinese weaver appears in +so far better off than the same handicraftsman in Europe, that he has less +to dread from the severity of the climate, and can purchase more food, +even though his remuneration be smaller, than the weaver can possibly do +in Europe, owing to the much higher price of even the commonest +necessities of life. + +The recent revolution in Chinese foreign relations will exercise a +permanent influence on the silk culture of China, and, considering the +exceedingly low rate of wages in that country, the time cannot be far +distant, when one may purchase Chinese silk in Europe more cheaply than +home-grown silk, when manufacturers will find it more profitable to +purchase this most important raw material in China, than in Italy or the +South of France. Acute business men in Hong-kong and Shanghai assured us +that it only needed an impulse from without to increase the silk +manufacture of China tenfold, and supply the annual demand for silk of the +entire globe, which, if we are to believe encyclopedias and such like +authorities, amounts to from 12,000,000 to 15,000,000 lbs. What makes +Chinese silk especially suitable for the European market is its possessing +in great perfection the two chief qualities of substance and colour, +while, on the other hand, it is inferior to that of Europe in the fineness +and glossy feel of its fibre. In Europe the silk is wound off from a +limited number of cocoons, whereas in China it is left to the discretion +of the workman to spin it from few or many cocoons as he pleases. Hence +results that inequality and unevenness in the texture of the thread, a +defect which cannot possibly be remedied by after-manipulation, and which +accordingly completely prevents its employment in the manufacture of the +more costly fabrics. This drawback, which is the main reason why Chinese +silk does not rule the European market, will however admit of being +remedied without any difficulty, so soon as the silk districts become more +easily accessible, by the introduction of European labour and machinery, +when this valuable and costly product will gain materially both in +fineness and suitability. + +Only a few years since German and Austrian merchants attached but a small +value to Chinese silk as suited to our market, and it seemed to them a +positive absurdity, when any one spoke, as we ourselves repeatedly have +done from a profound conviction of its truth, of the future influence +exercised over the silk markets of the world by the influence of this +Chinese raw material. Now-a-days we hear that there is scarcely one single +silk factory which can hold its ground, unless, in addition to French and +Italian silk, it imports Chinese silk, while the demand for that material +increases from year to year, and has very probably not yet attained the +one-hundredth part of the development of which it is susceptible. + +Tea (_Cha_[165]) ranks next to silk among the articles which have raised +the trade with China to such an importance. The cultivation of the tea +plant is of far later date than that of the mulberry tree, and its leaves, +although used by the Chinese as a curative from the third century of our +era, only came into general use, as providing a universal drink, towards +the end of the sixth century.[166] Statesmen and poets sounded the +praises of the new beverage, and while the one employed this excellent and +beneficial gift of nature to fill the treasury by the imposition of a tax, +the others chanted the praise of the plant in their hymns and songs, and +thus, probably without intending it, contributed to increase the revenue +of the Government. + +"Tea," writes one of the older Chinese authors, "soothes the spirit, +softens the heart, dispels languor, restores from fatigue, stimulates the +intellect, and arouses from indolence; it makes the body lighter and more +brisk, and quickens the faculty of observation." + +The tea plant first attracted the attention of Chinese naturalists in +Wu-yi, or, as the English term it, the Bohea[167] district, which enjoys +to this day a great reputation for the exquisite quality which grows on +its hills. + +At present the cultivation of the tea plant extends northward as far as +Tang-tschao, in the province of Shantung, southward as far as Canton and +Kuang-si, and westward as far as the province of Yun-nan. As, moreover, +the tea plant likewise abounds in Japan, the Corea, and the Loo-Choo +Islands, as also in Chusan, Tonquin, and Cochin China, we may assume that +it flourishes over about 28 deg. of latitude and 30 deg. of longitude, within +which it can be cultivated without being affected by severe alternations +of temperature. That part of North China, however, which lies between 27 deg. +and 33 deg. N., seems on the whole to furnish the finest sorts,[168] where the +mean annual temperature ranges between 61 deg.7 and 68 deg., and in which fine +weather with a rise of temperature follows upon a heavy rainfall; the +latter being as necessary for the speedy and luxuriant growth of the +leaves, as the former is for eliciting their fragrance and other valuable +qualities. + +To form an idea of the enormous amount of tea which is annually cultivated +in China, it suffices to remark that, after deducting the immense quantity +consumed, there are more than 70,000,000 lbs. exported annually. + +It is not our intention to give a disquisition upon the cultivation and +preparation of the tea, the drying (_poey_), roasting (_tschoo_), +perfuming and colouring of the leaves, in short, the long tedious process +to which this valuable article of commerce is subjected from its +collection on the fertile green slopes of the bush-covered hills of Bohea, +till its arrival at the port of shipment in a form suited for exportation. +We prefer here to confine our attention to a consideration of those +experiments which have recently been made in China with respect to tea +cultivation. + +There are of the tea plant an almost endless variety of qualities, but +only two species, viz. _Thea viridis_ (green tea), and _Thea Bohea_,[169] +and even these two have such few points of difference, that quite lately +they were described by Fortune as one and the same species. Thus, too, it +has been asserted in our own day that the green and black varieties of tea +sold in Europe do not, as is universally supposed, belong to two different +species of tea, but that the difference of colour, shape of leaf, flavour, +&c., is exclusively due to varieties in the mode of preparing them for the +market, and that the manufacturer is able to make from the leaves every +description, black or green, which is required in commerce. Thus in the +celebrated tea district of Ning-tschan, where in former days black tea was +exclusively grown, there is now procured green tea from the same species +of plant, apparently because its cultivation pays better, while the +quality remains in its olden repute. + +The black tea, which constitutes four-fifths of the entire export to +England, is grown of a particularly fine quality in the district of +Kien-ning-foo in the province of Fo-kien, and is known to commerce by a +variety of names, chiefly derived from the localities in which it is +grown, or those of their proprietors. On the other hand, the green sort +selected for exportation is chiefly met with on the slopes of the chain +of hills between Che-kiang and Ngan-hwui. Besides those descriptions +actually prepared on the spot where they grow, there are also an immense +variety of teas manufactured in Canton from all sorts of black and green +tea. The tea-growers of Canton are reputed to colour their green teas +artificially, by sprinkling them with a mixture of Prussian blue and +pulverized chalk, after which they subject them to a rolling motion for a +considerable time in heated copper pans.[170] + +One most important element in tea cultivation is the method adopted to +impart a certain bloom, an artificial fragrance, which it does not possess +in the natural state. This process of "scenting," as it is called, which +is practised exclusively for the foreign market, is termed by the Chinese +_Hwa-hiang_. The flowers which are used for imparting this fragrance, and +the growth of which, like the invisible fields of odoriferous herbs near +Cannes, in the South of France, forms a most important branch of +cultivation near Canton, are chiefly _Jasminum sambac_, _Jasminum +paniculatum_, _Aglaia odorata_, _Olea fragrans_, _Sardenia florida_, +orange-blossom, and roses. The method of "scenting" consists simply in +placing a definite quantity of the flower-blossoms, varying according to +the strength or feebleness of the odour, in juxtaposition with about 100 +lbs. of dried tea-leaves, where they are suffered to remain from 24 to 48 +hours. Thus 40 lbs. of orange-blossom, 50 lbs. of Jasmin, 100 lbs. of +_Aglaia odorata_, are reckoned the equivalent respectively of 100 lbs. of +tea-leaves. The extraordinary costliness of these fragrant blossoms[171] +has caused a very general suspicion to prevail, that the leaves thus +"scented" are afterwards adulterated with large quantities of the common +teas. And as it is an ascertained fact that 60 lbs. of such tea can impart +a similar fragrance to 100 lbs. additional by merely mixing the two +together, without any apparent diminution of fragrance, it seems more than +probable that similar admixtures, very possibly in a still more profitable +proportion, are being silently carried on every day in the warehouses of +the tea districts. + +Since the suppression of the East India Company's monopoly, and the +opening of the Five Ports, tea has somewhat fallen in price, but has in +consequence gained in far greater ratio in respect of quantity shipped. +The value of a picul of tea is at present about 18 or 20 taels (L5 12_s._ +6_d._ to L6 5_s._), so that the pound costs 1_s._ 1_d._ to 1_s._ 2_d._ +Notwithstanding the unexampled cheapness of hand labour (60 to 70 cash, or +2-1/2_d._ to 3_d._, per diem), it is not possible to procure _good tea_ +below this limit, although the various descriptions vary extraordinarily +in price according to their quality and the districts they come from. The +lower classes in the tea districts purchase for themselves the raw +unprepared leaves just as they are plucked, for about 1_d._ per pound, +and as it takes about 4 lbs. of the fresh leaves to make 1 lb. of dry +leaves, it may be calculated that the tea, as drunk by this class, must +cost from 4_d._ to 5_d._ per lb. Moreover, it is customary to add some of +the less costly descriptions, more especially in districts at some little +distance where the tea plant is cultivated. + +The first historical document referring to the introduction into England +of tea as a beverage, is an Act of Parliament in the year 1660 (the year +of the Restoration). At that period China tea cost sixty shillings the +pound, which of course limited its use to a very narrow circle. At present +there are 30,000,000 lbs. imported into England[172] annually, or more +than one half of the entire export from the Central Empire, the consumer +in London paying about 3_s._ per pound on the average. + +Of late years attempts have been made to cultivate the tea plant at the +foot of the Himalayas, in Java, and in the United States. In Hindustan, +whither only a few years ago that well-known and enlightened gentleman, +Mr. Robert Fortune, dispatched 24,000 plants, selected from among the +finest tea districts, the experiment has already proved successful, and +even remunerative. The cost of growing is about 10-1/2_d._ per lb. for +one description, which fetches 2_s._ per lb. in the London market. That +grown in Java has hitherto been viewed with disfavour in Europe, but in a +few years more it must make its way. The result of the experiments in the +United States we have yet to learn. Mr. Fortune, who was intrusted by the +Patent Office at Washington with superintending the introduction of the +tea cultivation into the Southern States, and who in virtue of many years' +scientific researches in China may be regarded as an authority upon this +subject, is of opinion that the possibility of cultivating tea in the +United States does not admit of a doubt, since the plant not only +successfully resists frosts, but even, in a measure, benefits by them, it +being a well-known fact that it flourishes better in the northern than the +southern climates of China. It is questionable, however, whether its +cultivation can prove remunerative in a country where labour is still so +exceptionally high. Will the tea plant repay the immense cost of +cultivation, and compete successfully with the product of China? The next +few years will settle this question, if it be not choked by this unholy +fratricidal war, which is raging within the freest and most glorious +confederacy of modern times. + +We enjoyed the good "fortune" while at Shanghai of becoming personally +acquainted with Mr. Fortune, and of gathering these valuable particulars +from the very lips of that distinguished naturalist and traveller. While +reserving for consideration elsewhere the subject of various little known, +but most important, articles of export from the vast Empire of China, we +cannot refrain from indulging in a few remarks upon some useful products +of that country, which seem to us of more than merely commercial +importance. Among these we shall notice first one of the most valuable +rewards bestowed by Nature on human industry, the so-called Chinese +sugar-cane (_Sorghum_, or _Holcus saccharatus_), which deserves the +earnest attention of all European proprietors of land, as it grows in its +native country quite in the northern districts, in fact in latitudes where +the ordinary cane (_Saccharum officinale_) no longer flourishes; because +frost and cold are much more conducive to its growth than the opposite +extreme, so that it would seem to be specially adapted for cultivation in +Southern Europe. + +The first attempt to cultivate this cane in Europe was made, if we are +rightly informed, at the Hyeres islands by Count David de Beauregard, from +seeds which M. de Montigny had sent home to the Geographical Society of +Paris, while other attempts were made at the same time in various parts of +France by the _Societe d' Acclimatisation_. The results surpassed the most +sanguine expectations. From the stem there was obtained a juice from which +sugar and alcohol, syrup and brandy, can be easily made. The abundant +leaves, five or six feet long, furnished a considerable quantity of cattle +with most nutritive food; the seeds were used as food for poultry, and +were even substituted with advantage for barley in the provender supplied +to horses, so that the experiment at once repaid its cost, while in +addition to the foregoing, the flour obtained from the seeds was found to +furnish a highly nutritive, wholesome article of diet for man. Dr. Adrian +Sicard, to whom the agricultural world is indebted for a very exhaustive +analysis of the Chinese sugar-cane, has established, by conclusive +researches, that its leaves are also specially adapted for the manufacture +of paper, as well as for various colours or dye stuffs. As to the +remunerative value of the _Sorgho_, it is more than 230 per cent. more +productive than beet-root, which in France produces on the average 2160 +kilogrammes per hectare, while the _Sorgho_ makes a return of 5000 +kilogrammes. + +The mode of cultivating this useful plant differs in no respect, as we +repeatedly had occasion to observe, from that of maize or Indian corn. The +season for sowing varies with the temperature of the country, between the +months April and July. The seed when sown in the beginning of April will +be ripe about the middle of August, or in 135 days, while that sown in +mid-July will not be ripe before the end of November, or about 140 days. +In France the experiment has been made of bathing the seeds in tepid water +for periods varying from 24 to 48 hours before sowing, which resulted in a +much more speedy bringing forward of the plant. In like manner experiments +were made of sowing the seeds with and without their husk, the result of +which was that the former took 15 days, and the latter only 10 days to +sprout. It is recommended to plant the seeds in furrows sufficiently +separated from each other according to the conditions of soil and +irrigation, so far as is possible. + +The period of germination of the _Sorgho_ is rather long, but once that +period is passed, the most favourable results are sure to follow, even +should the most unusual alternations of temperature ensue, provided the +thermometer does not descend below 27 deg.5 Fahr. The _Sorgho_ requires about +five months to attain its full ripeness, when it is usually of a +pale-yellow colour, streaked with red. It is occasionally subject to +different maladies, some of which attack the root, others the pith. In +like manner the larvae of certain noxious insects have been remarked on +occasional specimens. But the origin of all these drawbacks has been as +yet far too little inquired into, and they are of too rare occurrence to +permit of any definite information respecting them being as yet available. + +On the whole, the cultivation of the _Sorgho_ may be regarded as eminently +successful in the South of France, as well as in Pennsylvania, U. S. +(which has a much severer climate than Venetia, Dalmatia, or the lower +course of the Danube). Very probably we may also succeed in naturalizing +the _Sorgho_ in suitable parts of Austria, and introducing there the +cultivation on a commensurate scale[173] of a plant, which bids fair not +merely to prove far more profitable in cultivation than any other member +of the vegetable kingdom in any part of the earth, but at the same time +seems destined at no distant period to be the means of supplying the +civilized world with one of its most vitally necessary articles of food, +by means of free white labour, without the assistance of slavery![174] + +Another plant, which it seems likely might be advantageously introduced +into the southern districts of Europe, is the _Mo-chok_, one of the most +graceful kinds of bamboo found in the forests of China, which grows in +greatest luxuriance on the limestone slopes of the province of +Tschi-Kiang, in a climate ranging between 90 deg.5 in summer, and 20 deg.3 +(Fahr.) in winter. The erect, smooth, elegant stem shoots up to a height +of from 60 to 80 feet. The lower part of the tree is usually free from +branches, which usually begin to spring from the trunk about 20 feet from +the ground, and are very delicately leaved. These and two other species, +the _Long-sin-chok_ and the _Hu-chok_, are used in the manufacture of +sieves, baskets, furniture, &c., while the tender shoots form a most +nutritious and delicately flavoured vegetable. The stem of the plant is +moreover available for the manufacture of paper.[175] + +Writing paper is manufactured from it as well as packing paper, and one +very coarse quality is mingled with the mortar by the Chinese masons. Mr. +Fortune has introduced the Mo-chok into China, where, especially in the +north-west provinces, it promises to come on well upon the slopes of the +Himalaya. + +Of the other plants which grow in China, which are not indeed suited for +transplanting to a colder climate, yet merit attention on account of +their produce, we shall briefly notice the varnish tree, the tallow tree, +and the wax shrub. + +The varnish tree (_Vernix vernicia_), a sort of sumach, which grows in +greatest luxuriance in the provinces of Kiang-si, Chi-kiang, and Szechuen, +furnishes that varnish which, partly in a semi-fluid, partly in a dry +state, comes to market in whitish cakes, and is worth, according to +quality and demand, from 40 to 100 dollars per picul of 133 lbs. In the +preparation of this lacquer, the reputation of which has extended over the +globe, 6-2/3 lbs. varnish, 13-1/2 lbs. water, 41-2/3 lbs. nut-oil, 16-2/3 +lbs. of pigs' gall, and 33-1/3 lbs. of vinegar, are mixed together till +the whole assumes the consistence and appearance of a shining black paste. +The fact that many Chinese lacquered wares, especially those prepared in +Foo-chow, vie with the renowned manufactures of Japan in beauty and +lustre, leaves room to suspect that the Chinese workmen have received some +instruction from their Japanese fellow-craftsmen. + +Vegetable tallow (_Schulah_, or _Schu-kau_, tree fat) is obtained from the +_Stillingia sebifera_, the so-called tallow tree, and, judging by the +experiments made with it, promises under an extended system of cultivation +to become a tolerably profitable article of export. The tallow tree +flourishes throughout the southern provinces, but is chiefly found in the +island of Chusan and the coasts adjacent. The tallowy substance procured +from the seeds, which externally resemble nuts, is sold in cakes of from +90 to 130 lbs. at from 7 to 12 dollars. + +Vegetable or tree wax (_peh-lah_) is a waxy substance, which the _coccus +pela_ or _flata limitata_ deposits, apparently as a protection to its +eggs, on a sort of ash tree, on whose twigs and boughs it is deposited +like snow-flakes. It is gathered after the first frost, and purified by +melting it in a cloth held over hot water. Apparently the process is +varied by dipping what has been collected in a silken sack into hot water. +It melts at 81 deg. Fahr., and in consequence of its unusual stiffness is much +used for admixture with bees-wax and other descriptions of fats used in +the manufacture of tapers. The candles hitherto made in England of this +substance have commanded a large sale, and only the circumstance that as +yet but a small quantity has found its way into commerce, prevents its +being much more extensively cultivated. The price of _Peh-lah_ is rather +high, as it fetches about L11 10_s._ per 133 lbs. + +Passing from the various natural products furnished for export by China to +a consideration of those articles[176] of European industry, for which the +Chinese market supplies an ample demand, we find that their number is +considerable, while they represent a value of upwards of L5,000,000. In +these pages, however, we propose to notice only that article which is the +most profitable, and undoubtedly forms the chief staple of import in all +the harbours opened to foreign commerce, viz. opium. Opium (_a-pien_), the +solidified sap of _Papaver somniferum_, was, as every one knows, up to +quite a recent period, a monopoly of the Anglo-Indian Government, by whom +it was cultivated under the superintendence of agents in the various +provinces of Hindostan, and sold to the trade by public auction in large +quantities at a time in the markets of Calcutta and Bombay. It seems to +fulfil among the Chinese the function of the various spirituous liquors of +Europe; at least every attempt to introduce among the Chinese a taste for +ale, whisky, sherry, port, champagne, and claret, has hitherto entirely +failed. Indeed there is probably no country of the globe where, in +proportion to population, there is so little spirituous liquor introduced +as into China, what is imported being almost exclusively for the +consumption of foreigners. The Chinese is emphatically a born +"tea-totaller," or friend of abstemiousness, for the native drinks, +substitutes for wine, which are obtained chiefly from rice and millet, are +only used on special occasions, and then only in small quantities. During +our entire stay in Chinese waters, we never saw one single Chinese drunk, +and heard in every quarter that any such cases are rare and quite +exceptional. On the other hand, the consumption of opium is continually +increasing, and the quantity of solidified poppy-juice annually imported +amounts to from 75,000 to 80,000 chests, which at current rates represent +a value of from L7,500,000 to L10,000,000. There are four descriptions of +opium that come to the Chinese market, viz. Benares (_Ku-ni_), Patna +(_Kung-ni_), Malwa (_Peh-pi_), and Turkish (_Kiu-ni_ or golden dung). Of +these the Patna and Benares are reckoned of finer quality, and +consequently are more sought after, than that imported from Malwa, but +both descriptions are preferred by the Chinese to the Turkish, and even to +that produced at home.[177] + +The custom of opium-smoking is of comparatively modern introduction among +the Chinese. It was about the commencement of the 18th century,[178] that +the practice of mingling opium with tobacco as an antidote against +toothache, headache, and pains in the body first began to prevail. Chinese +sailors and merchantmen, returning from the islands of the Bornese +Archipelago, had learned from the natives to inhale it as an anaesthetic, +which, depriving them of all activity, brought the most delightful visions +before their eyes. It is unquestionably the prohibition of wine to the +believers in the Koran which first directed their attention to this +narcotic substance, which the Western Asiatics swallow in pills, the +Hindoos chew, and the Chinese smoke. In 1750, there were imported into +China from Turkey, Persia, and Bengal, chiefly by Portuguese merchants, +some 200 to 250 chests according to official return (of 140 lbs. each), +ostensibly for medical use. Nothing could be more welcome to the entire +Empire than a means of passing the intervals of relaxation from the hurry +of business, in a state of absolute exemption from all anxiety, rocked in +the most delightful slumbers! In 1773 the East India Company sent a small +portion of opium to China by way of speculation. Seven years later they +founded an Opium Depot in Larke's Bay. In 1781 the Company sent 2800 +chests (of 140 lbs. each) at one single shipment to Canton, where it was +purchased by a "Hong," or Association,[179] for trading purposes. The +Company found itself compelled, however, to re-export a quantity, as at +that period there was not in China a sufficient demand for such a supply. +The first regular shipments began in 1798, when 4170 chests were sent to +the account of the Association in China, and then sold at Rs. 415 (about +L41 10_s._) per chest.[180] Since that period the import and consumption +have been steadily increasing at a geometric ratio, and a table now before +us, drawn up with great labour and industry by Dr. Medhurst, informs us +that between 1798 and 1855 there were imported altogether 1,197,041 chests +of opium from Bengal, which, after deducting all expenses of cultivation +and shipment, represented a net gain to the East India Company of +L67,851,853.[181] + +Relying on the splendid profits secured to the East India Company, and its +colleagues settled in China, by the opium traffic, no one troubled himself +in the slightest with the many protests of the Chinese Government, any +more than the anathemas launched at opium dealers and opium-smokers by +English missionaries and philanthropists. The dealers, growing richer day +by day, contented themselves with laconic replies to the more virulent of +their antagonists, to the effect that they were but supplying a want +originating in a national custom, and that it was as futile to attempt to +prevent the Chinese from smoking as to restrain Europeans from the use of +spirituous liquors. Both when abused are productive of much evil, and even +then opium was productive of far less destructive ravages on the human +organism, and was never followed by such appalling catastrophes as those +resulting from alcohol. The dark side of the opium traffic has since been +so fully exposed, that but little more remains to be said, and although +even the most sanguine persons have ceased to hope that the trade can +ever be entirely suppressed, yet it is at least consolatory to know that, +according to the best calculations, the number of opium smokers throughout +China, in a population that is to say of 420,000,000, is not above +4,000,000 to 5,000,000, and that an ordinary smoker does not on an average +consume more than one mace or about one drachm[182] of opium, worth about +90 cash, or 3-1/2_d._ The provisions of the new tariff, by which opium may +be imported unrestrictedly on payment of a fixed duty of 30 taels (about +L10) per chest when water-borne, and 20 taels (about L6 10_s._) when +imported by land, must materially effect the opium trade as hitherto +carried on, and may very possibly alter the views at present entertained +by the Chinese Government with reference to this important article of +commerce, in proportion as its treasury begins to be replenished by such a +high rate of duty. + +Although for European readers the chief interest of China is to be found +in its relations with foreign countries, we yet cannot take leave of it +without a few remarks on the momentous political movement which has been +on foot since 1849 in several provinces of China, and claims, in +consequence of its peculiar religious nature, universal interest. + +Hung-sin-Tsuen, the originator and head of this rebellion, was born in +1813, in a village near Canton, and while yet in his early youth was, in +consequence of his precocity, removed from tending his father's flocks to +be a scholar in the village, where he pursued his studies with such zeal, +that a year later he took several degrees as a teacher. On one of his +visits to Canton, he made the acquaintance of a Protestant missionary, +with whom he long corresponded, and from whom he received a variety of +tracts translated into Chinese, and books, by way of presents. In the +course of a serious illness with which he was assailed about this period, +he had numerous visions, and is said in his delirium to have insisted on +being hailed Emperor of China. Gradually Hung and his friend and zealous +adherent Fung-Yun-San became, through erroneous or wilful +misinterpretation of the works of various missionary societies, the +founders of a new creed, a sort of free, semi-Christian sect, which, as it +could not long subsist without coming into collision with the reigning +Government, very speedily assumed a political character. It is an +indubitable fact that at first the religious movement was supported by the +Protestant missionaries, and the views of its founders forwarded by every +means in their power, with the object of using it to prepare the soil for +the promulgation of Christianity. When about entering his forty-first +year, Hung formed an alliance with American missionaries stationed at +Canton, studied their books, after which he returned to the province of +Kuang-si, where he published writings descriptive of the alleged +manifestations of the Deity, gave himself forth as a poet,[183] and at +the same time issued proclamations under the designation of the "Heavenly +King." The severity with which the regular Government treated the +insurgents, and all who consorted with them, only served to augment their +ranks, to which the mysticism of their doctrine contributed in no small +degree; for the credulous masses have in all lands the same love of the +marvellous and unintelligible. Such a result only increased the courage, +the energy, the arrogance of Hung. He no longer was content to announce +himself as "the mouth through which God the Father, and Jesus the Elder +Brother, declared their will;" he now proclaimed boldly the intention of +himself and his followers to overthrow the unworthy Mantchoo dynasty, and +raise to the throne a new native dynasty, that of the Tai-ping, or +universal peace. Although stigmatized by the official _Pekin Gazette_ as +"local banditti," they were nevertheless strong enough in March, 1852, to +storm even such a populous city as Nankin, where they set up a +provisional government, and have since fortified it as their +head-quarters. At the time the Tai-ping rebellion first broke out, Yeh, +the then Governor of Canton, thought he would readily be able to suppress +it by the summary process of chopping off the heads of all who were +supposed to be in correspondence with them, and thus had as many as 800 +executed daily.[184] It was no longer quite safe for a native to show +himself in the streets of Canton, unless provided with a paper of +identification. For this purpose, four-cornered pieces of a sort of white +cotton fabric were worn, on which was printed a sign in red. These cotton +strips served as countersigns for those friendly to the reigning dynasty, +and were worn concealed from view, but so as to admit of being at once +shown in case of need. Dr. Pfitzmaier, who has examined this sign, is of +opinion that it is simply a union of the three signs [Chinese +character(s)] which, so far as the two last are concerned, seem to have +been compressed together and abbreviated, so that only the initiated could +understand its significance. The learned sinologue is of opinion that this +hieroglyphic, signifying "to offer hand and heart," or "to offer the +original (own) heart," has nevertheless no meaning apart from the centre +figure, which, however, is unusually distorted, so that the whole may +also mean [Chinese character(s)] Kia-hoei, "to yield grace and +benevolence," or may be applicable to him who wears it, "one who enjoys +the all-embracing Imperial clemency." + +The religious direction of the Tai-ping movement, coupled with its +apparent Christian tendencies, its results, and, above all, the last +hostile proclamation of the Pekin Government against foreigners, roused +the sympathies of both Europeans and Americans in favour of the +insurgents; and in the English papers of Hong-kong and Shanghai, the +policy was vigorously and repeatedly advocated of turning the insurrection +to their own advantage; while in a religious point of view it was +recommended to avail themselves of the favour shown to the Scriptures by +the Christian sect of the Tai-ping, which was also so amicably disposed to +foreigners, who at all events were more likely to prove a bulwark and +support to English Protestantism than the deceitful, promise-breaking, +idol-worshipping Mantchoos. Letters and communications, which from time to +time were published on the visit of Protestant missionaries in the +insurgent camp, were apt to propound the most favourable ideas about the +insurgents and their strivings after religious truth, and to attach to +their victories and successes the most glorious hopes with respect to the +spreading of Christianity in China. Fortunately the English Government did +not suffer its policy to be affected thereby, but continued to observe the +strictest neutrality. Only in those cases where, owing to the advance of +the rebels, the interests of British subjects or of universal commerce +seemed to be endangered, communications were held with the "Heavenly King" +or his ministers, or to protest against the injury and limitation of trade +with the earnestness and depth of impression which Armstrong guns are apt +to impart to diplomatic dispatches. Thus the insurgents were prohibited +from approaching within 10 Li of the city of Hang-kow, by this measure +protecting not alone their own property, but the entire city from pillage +and destruction. During the last war the interests of the insurgents were +kept entirely in the background, and during the stay of the _Novara_ at +Shanghai, which had likewise been repeatedly threatened by the insurgents, +we could gain but little enlightenment as to the nature and direction of +the movement. + +However, since the Treaty of Pekin has thrown open the navigation of the +most important rivers, and thus facilitated communication with the +interior, there has been a better opportunity than hitherto for +intercourse with the Tai-ping, as also for obtaining a clearer insight +into its present condition, as well as the object and inevitable +consequences of their tenets. People are beginning to consider it more +calmly, and even the missionaries seem gradually abandoning the +expectations they had formed, of finding in it a means of helping the +cause of Christianity, albeit a former missionary, Rev. J. C. Roberts, who +in 1847 had spent several months with Hung, is at the present moment a +sort of minister of foreign affairs in the insurgents' camp at Nankin. The +latest information respecting the Tai-ping enters so fully into the +character of the whole movement, and so clearly develops its tendency, +that no apology is needed for laying before the readers of every class a +brief sketch of the more important and significant dogmas. + +The Tai-ping translations of the Old and New Testament, though in the +whole tolerably correct, yet are in certain parts so imperfect that they +implanted the most erroneous ideas in the head of the "Celestial King." He +conceived his own visions and revelations as far more important, and of +far higher authority, than those of Holy Writ. His mission, as he himself +states it, is to be followed by a new revelation, accompanied by numerous +miracles, and a third book will be given to the world, which is to +supersede the Old and New Testaments, and be called the "_True_ +Testament." According to Hung, both God and Christ have appeared in the +human form. Christ is not equal to the Father, that is solely God; he is +also brought into connection with other redeemers, and has a wife and +children in heaven. + +The Celestial King and his son form with God and Christ a Quaternity in +Unity. The corporeal presence of the Celestial King is that of the +Godhead, and in the distempered imagination of the Tai-ping the government +now existing in Nankin is assuredly that of heaven itself! + +The Tai-ping suffer no one to preach against their creed, because that +would be to diminish the authority of their chief, and damp the ardour of +their hopes. In their various proclamations it is expressly declared that +Hung-sin-Tsuen is the brother of the Saviour, the Son of God, without any +other distinction than such as must exist between an elder and a younger +brother. They maintain that there is a celestial mother as well as Father, +a heavenly sister as well as a heavenly Brother, and that the recently +defunct King of the West, Fung-yun-san, one of Hung's oldest adherents, is +now married to the heavenly sister. They hold to the opinion that not one +of such of their revelations as clash with the Old and New Testaments, can +be decided by such ancient books of religion. Their revelations being the +newest, are on that account the most entitled to belief. + +In a letter of greeting addressed by Hung to Roberts[185] the missionary, +on the occasion of the arrival of the latter at Nankin, in October, 1860, +Hung narrates his heavenly journey in 1837, the repeated miraculous +interference of the Father and the Son in his favour, as also the +revelations made to the Eastern King. He professes to have seen the Father +and Christ, the heavenly mother and the heavenly sister. He is himself +"the Way, the Truth, and the Life," just as Christ is. He warns Roberts +repeatedly, that implicit belief in this is of the highest importance, as +otherwise he can neither be useful in this world nor blest in the next. +After such an exposition, Christian missionaries will scarcely be suffered +in the insurgent's camp if they dare to preach against such errors, not to +say blasphemies. + +There are but few religious ceremonies. The Tai-ping, indeed, call one +day of the week the day of prayer, and it happens more through oversight +than intention to be fixed upon the Saturday, but so far as external +sanctity goes there seems to be no special attention paid to it. They buy, +and sell, and delve just as on other days. On the previous night about ten +o'clock two or three cannon-shot are fired to announce the approach of the +hour of prayer, and that the day of worship is at hand. Every family is +engaged for an hour in devotion and praise. All strangers who have been in +communication with the Tai-ping in Nankin state that, even in the capital +where he has been resident for seven years past, that dignitary does not +observe the Sabbath in any way, either by preaching, prayer, or expounding +of the Scripture; there are no exhortations or pious admonitions; they +have neither church nor temple; their sole divine service consists in each +one reciting in his own house English hymns, and repeating a few prayers, +while divers offerings are made, such as tea, rice, and the flesh of slain +animals. They offer their prayers kneeling, after which they close the +proceedings by singing a hymn standing. An English missionary, who arrived +at Nankin with the conviction that the insurgents were genuine sincere +Christians, made, after a short stay, the following severe but just remark +concerning them: "I found to my regret no trace of Christianity, but a +system of the grossest idolatry substituted for it, and arrogating its +name. Their notion of God is so distorted, that it is, if possible, still +more erroneous than that entertained of the Supreme Being by other +idol-worshipping Chinese. Their conception of the Redeemer, to whom they +pay equal honours, is crude, and thoroughly material. Their prayers, far +from giving the impression of a true reverence of God, have much more the +appearance of an idolatrous mockery of sacred things!" + +An English merchant, who accompanied Sir Hope Grant on his reconnoitring +excursion up the Yang-tse-Kiang, and spent a week in what used to be +called Nankin, now the celestial capital of the Tai-ping, gives the +following characteristic sketch of them: "The insurgents take no interest +in and do not encourage trade, except in muskets and ammunition. To our +representations how unwise it was to lay waste towns and villages, and +shut out commerce, they promised, after peace was concluded, to erect +schools and other similar institutions, and professed their willingness to +promote trade, but 'for the present,' they went on, 'we must, before +anything else, make the hills and the rivers subject to our power.' On the +whole I found the condition of the rebels far better than I had expected. +They are comfortably clothed and well fed. The population of Nankin +consists exclusively of officials. No one not connected with the +administration of the army is admitted within the gates of the city. The +majority of the inhabitants, who number about 20,000, are prisoners and +slaves from every part of the empire. Although employed in most arduous +work, they get no pay, but are simply clothed and fed. I remarked an +extraordinary number of beautiful young women in elegant silken stuffs +from Sutschan. There were also prisoners of war from Sutschan and other +places, who, however, were by no means inclined to lead a very Christian +and moral life in the celestial capital. The city of Nankin, as well as +its suburb, the beautiful ancient cemetery of the Ning dynasty, and the +far-famed porcelain Pagoda, are all utterly destroyed; instead of the +broad well-paved streets of former times the stranger has now to pick his +steps through heaps of bricks and rubbish. The palaces of the kings of the +Tai-ping dynasty are glaringly conspicuous among all these ruins. They +must have been entirely rebuilt, for the old Yamuns and temples, like the +whole of the Tau-Tai City, have been demolished utterly. + +"The rebel chief inhabits a large palace. His household consists of 300 +female attendants. He also, in virtue of his rank, has 68 wives supported +for him. No one but the kings (of whom there are 11 or 12, but only two +are resident in Nankin) is permitted to approach his sacred person. +Probably Hung is little more than a mere puppet in the hands of his +ministers. It is he who mainly keeps the rebellion on foot. Discipline is +far better maintained among the long-haired insurgents than the imperial +troops, and many of the younger soldiers have pleasing manners. + +"The kings or Wangs, on the other hand, seem exceedingly lazy and +vicious, and when they make their appearance, with a theatrical attempt at +assuming a dignified deportment, clad in the yellow costume of a +mountebank, and with a tinsel crown upon their heads, they present a most +ludicrous aspect. Not one of these so-called kings understands the +Mandarin dialect, so widely diffused among the educated classes;--not one, +except Hung himself and Kan-wang, has a better education than one of his +coolies.[186] They have linguists at their elbow, who do their reading and +writing for them. + +"The arms of the Tai-ping are very wretched, and the bare fact that they +are able to make head against the Imperial troops, speak volumes for the +utter helplessness and incapacity of the Imperial Government. I have not +the slightest expectation that any advantage will accrue to civilization +or Christianity from the religio-political movement of the Tai-ping. No +Chinese will have anything to do with them. Their whole activity consists +in burning, murdering, and devastating. They are universally detested by +the people; even those inhabitants of the city who do not belong to the +'Brotherhood' detest them. For eight years their head-quarters have been +at Nankin, which they destroyed, nor have they as yet made the slightest +attempt to rebuild it. Trade and industry are forbidden. Their taxes are +three times higher than those of the regular Government. They take no +measures to staunch the wounds which they have inflicted on the people, +nor do they occupy it as though they had any permanent interest in the +land. They take no pains to tap those slow but sure springs of revenue, or +to increase the resources of the state. They lay themselves out to +maintain themselves by plunder. Nothing in their organization gives hope +for any amelioration of the present or consolidation of power in the +future; there is nothing in the entire history of the Tai-ping to enlist +sympathy or compel confidence in a movement which, under the mask of +religious reform, conceals the most hateful self-interest and terrorism, +and under the pretext of spreading peace amongst men, brandishes the +scourge of destruction and desolation among the provinces through which it +has passed."[187] + +On the 11th of August the _Novara_ quitted her anchorage off Shanghai, and +with the steam-tug _Meteor_[188] fastened to her side availed herself of a +spring-tide to make her way into the Yang-tse-Kiang. Off Wusung we awaited +the arrival of the post, after receiving which we were on 14th August +towed as far as Gutzlaff's Island. Here we had once more to lay to, owing +to calms and currents, till at last on the 15th August a fresh breeze +sprang up from the S.E., and enabled us to make an offing. + +The temperature had materially altered during the last few days. After a +cycle of oppressive heat the weather had suddenly changed to severe +squalls, with a marked fall in the barometric column. The thermometer, +which while we were lying off Shanghai marked from 86 deg. to 93 deg.2 Fahr., now +indicated in the morning only 68 deg. Fahr., and during the day never rose +above 77 deg. Fahr. The number of fever cases, which had reached the number of +seventy, began gradually to fall off. Several cases of dysentery forthwith +began to show symptoms of amendment. + +Considering the latitude we were in, and the season of the year, the +barometer stood unusually high (30 deg.100), and although this might be +attributable to the constant prevalence of easterly winds, we nevertheless +knew we were approaching the period when the monsoon changes, and little +reliance was to be placed on the steadiness of that from the S.E. +Accordingly on the 17th the wind shifted round to N.E. by E., while our +course was due S.E. This however rendered it necessary to tack, if we +wished to pass to the northward of the Loo-Choo group, whereas we could +run free and with a fair wind through the southern channel. The sun set +behind a bank of dense clouds on the horizon. The western sky was tinged a +deep red, and the stars shone out with uncommon brilliancy, but with a +sort of trembling ray. The barometer fell slowly but steadily; the sea +began to heave perceptibly. Our course was now changed to S.E. by S. + +The following morning the breeze freshened, and drew somewhat further aft; +the sky was covered with clouds massed together, those to the N.E. of a +very dark, almost black, colour. Wind and sea were now rising, the sky +became more and more obscure, the barometer kept falling--there was every +indication of the approach of heavy weather. + +The 18th August, the birthday of our Emperor, was duly celebrated far on +the open ocean, in the middle of the China Sea. All was prepared for +Divine worship, which was to be celebrated at 10 A.M. on the gun-deck, in +presence of the staff and the entire crew. The Commodore had invited +several gentlemen of the staff to dinner. On land no one thinks of +consulting the elements, when such a festival is to be observed, nor do +the guests waste many thoughts on wind, rain, and heavy seas, as they +assemble in their comfortable chambers. At sea, on the other hand, the +conditions are altered. Wind and weather are the masters here, whose +behests the sea-farer must attend to. This was our case on this 18th of +August. + +First, Divine service had to be dispensed with, because the sea became too +heavy, rendering it necessary to close the port-holes in the gun-deck, +where, as already mentioned, the service was to be performed. As the hour +for the festival drew nigh, the elements gave unmistakeable evidence of +their determined hostility; there was no room any longer to doubt that we +were about to do battle with a regular Typhoon.[189] This species of +storm, which is very customary at the change of the monsoons in August, +September, and October, when the N.E. trade suddenly veers round and +becomes the S.W. monsoon, is, like the tornado of the West Indies, the +Pampero of the eastern coast of South America, and the hurricane of the +Mauritius, a whirlwind of the most colossal proportions and most +tremendous fury, by which the atmosphere is swept in a circle at an +astonishing velocity around a central point more or less calm, which does +not, however, remain stationary, but is continually progressing, and hence +they are usually termed _cyclones_, or circular storms, to distinguish +them from those other storms in which the wind moves in a straight line. +It has been reserved for scientific investigation to explain the +extraordinary regularity of the laws in obedience to which the masses of +air, in the case of such storms occurring in the Southern hemisphere, move +in the direction of the hands of a clock, whereas in the Northern +hemisphere they are rotated in an opposite direction. In like manner, the +direction of the centre round which the _cyclone_ is raging has been +definitely ascertained, so that, provided with these data, it is not +merely possible for the navigator to hold aloof from the dangerous +central point of these circular storms, where the best and stoutest ship +that ever floated must almost to a certainty be swallowed up, but even to +avail himself of the wind to reach the edge of the _cyclone_ (the breadth +of whose path is from 300 to 1000 miles), and thus make a rapid and +prosperous passage. By mid-day the wind had increased to such an extent +that we had to take in most of our sails, and reef the rest. The sea now +rose, and many of its waves came thundering upon our decks. The vessel was +tossed to and fro with such violence that everything which had not been +made fast, or was attached to the vessel, began to lurch from side to +side. Nevertheless, the invited guests sat down to table, made the seats +and the table fast, and, such at least whom the violent rocking did not +make sea-sick, partook of a pleasant and joyous meal. But even these +precautions did not prevent numerous unpleasant accidents. One tremendous +lurch of the ship, which took us unawares, suddenly set adrift a number of +our mess, who rolled over and over each other upon that unstable floor, +amid a hideous chaos of tumblers, bottles, plates, and crockery. Chairs +and _fauteuils_ had their legs broken, everything breakable went into +irretrievable smash, the convives escaping serious injury only by a +marvel. Once more they took their seats at table, where only the bare +cloth gave promise of security, and endeavoured to anchor themselves more +firmly. When, at the conclusion of the meal, our Commodore gave the usual +toast, and his guests emptied their glasses to the health of the reigning +monarch, the band attempted to strike up the National Anthem, and a hearty +cheer resounded above the groaning of the ship, the howling of the wind, +and the sullen roar of the ever-increasing waves, as they lashed against +the ship's sides. + +The sun went down behind clouds, as we went careering along under +close-reefed main sail and storm stay-sail over a confused sea, running +mountains high, and with huge heavy grey masses of cloud and mist close +overhead; the barometer was still falling, and as night closed in the wind +sung mournfully, yet with almost deafening noise, through the masts and +rigging. The wind now shifted and sprung up from N.E. by N., which being +an additional sign that the centre of the _cyclone_ was receding, we felt +assured that we were on the right side to keep clear of it. By midnight +the wind came still further round, till it stood steadily at N.E., when it +acquired fresh strength, and blew a most violent hurricane. The centre of +the _cyclone_ had once more altered its course, and begun to move in our +direction. + +Our position at noon (27 deg. 25' N. and 125 deg. 23' E.) was the most +unfavourable possible. We had a N.E. wind, and were in the N.E. section of +the typhoon, whose centre, as is customary in these storms, was moving in +a N.W. or W. direction, and therefore threatened the more readily to +overtake us, that our course lay S.E. through the wide channel, which +leads from the Chinese Sea into the open ocean between the Loo-Choo +Islands and the Meiaco-sima group. There was now no other egress possible +than by steering W. by S. to get away from the advancing centre of the +whirlwind, on which course we would have to steer for the N. extremity of +the Island of Formosa. + +The night of 18th and 19th of August was, in the fullest sense of the +word, a night of storms. Towards midnight we once more set double-reefed +foresail in order to lie our course of west by south. Had we calculated +aright the course of the centre of the _cyclone_, the wind as we advanced +should have drawn ahead, as we were now keeping it on our larboard beam. + +Daybreak of the 19th found us beneath a gloomy, angry-looking, cloudy grey +canopy on every side, the clouds hanging quite low, till they seemed to +brood upon the surface of the sea, now lashed into fury by the violence of +the storm. The look-out could scarcely see a cable's length clear of the +ship. Deluges of rain, lashes of spray, driven on board by the tremendous +violence of the wind, enveloped us in a strange, half-mysterious +obscurity. Towards the N.E. a compact bank of bluish grey clouds indicated +the centre of the _cyclone_. The motion of the ship was so violent that +one of her quarter-boats got filled with water, which at every lurch was +washed upon the frigate's quarter-deck like a small cascade. Sometimes +they became so full that they threatened to wrench the davits from their +fastenings. The gun-deck was afloat with spray lashed on board with each +pitch of the ship, while the foam flew high up upon the mast. The waves +crossed each other in every direction, huge conical masses rising suddenly +to a height of 25 or 30 feet, as far as one might guess, and then as +suddenly subsiding. It was the genuine pyramidal sea of the true +_cyclone_, of which vessels caught in these furious circular storms are +even more apprehensive than the fury and strength of the hurricane. + +The wind, which now began to draw to the westward, indicated that thus far +we had shaped a proper course, and that the course of the _cyclone_ lay +towards the N.W. Under these circumstances it was deemed most prudent to +make the Marianne Islands, and to avail ourselves even of the hurricane in +order to perform a rapid voyage. We accordingly now laid our course to +steer S.E. by S., through the centre of the channel south of the Loo-Choo +Islands. Considering the width, 120 nautical miles, of this channel, there +was reason to hope that, despite the errors in reckoning which were to be +expected amid so many man[oe]uvres, and considering the impossibility of +getting astronomical observations, and the influence of the sort of +currents which those hurricanes usually set in motion for a short period, +we might make our way through it in safety. + +The wind remained steadily in the N.W., and at first was on our port +quarter. Towards noon, however, it came round to N.W. by W., so that we +were now running dead before it. We now set double-reefed foresail so as +to make quicker progress. Towards 6 P.M. the hurricane woke up to its full +strength; squall followed squall, the universal covering of cloud in +which the heavens seemed wrapped looked as though it reached to the very +waters, and the air was quite filled with spray, till when standing at the +ship's stern it was barely possible to distinguish the forecastle. The +storm, sweeping along above the seething water, had a singular piercing, +almost metallic, note, quite unlike the singing and whistling made among +the sails and cordage. Staggering along under close-reefed fore and main +sail, and double-reefed top-sail, the frigate pressed on through the thick +night, going 14 miles an hour, through the strait between Loo-Choo and +Meiaco-sima, out of the China Sea into the Pacific Ocean, whither she was +being hurried along with such impetuous, irresistible violence by the +wind, that not even the most experienced seaman could make head against +it, but had, when passing from one part of the ship to the other, to warp +himself along by means of a rope made fast fore and aft.[190] At 4 P.M. +the barometer stood at its lowest (29 deg.302, the temperature at the same +period being 66 deg.02 Fahr.), where it remained without sensible alteration +for several hours. At last, towards 9 P.M., it began slowly to rise, the +surest indication, and therefore most welcome one, that we were increasing +our distance from the central point of the storm. About 11 P.M. the +clouds suddenly lifted on S.S.E., the horizon began to widen; there was no +longer a doubt that the worst was over. + +At dawn on the 20th the masts and cordage showed a thick incrustation of +salt, thus giving unmistakable evidence of the great height to which the +spray had been driven. The wind was now W.S.W., and the barometer had +risen to 29 deg.5, so that we had now merely an ordinary gale to deal with, +and might look upon the _cyclone_ as expended. Science had indicated the +method of evading the centre of the circular storm, and even of making the +very hurricane subservient to our ends in driving us along our destined +course! + +At 8 A.M. the sun began to be visible by fits and starts, long enough, +however, to permit us to make an occasional observation. According to this +we were only one mile out of our position by dead-reckoning. During the 24 +hours, inclusive of the period during which we lay to, we had run 218 +miles in a general direction of S.E. by E. During the afternoon the sky +cleared. The sea was still high, but the atmosphere gradually became +clearer and more transparent, till by sundown even the large banks of +clouds on the N.E. which continued to mark the centre of the _cyclone_ had +entirely disappeared. The _Novara_ during this tremendous storm had proved +herself a thorough sea-boat, nor was there any particular damage +noticeable on the occasion of the careful inspection to which her sails, +masts, and rigging were subjected, immediately that the weather became +more favourable. Her masts and sails, which in such a warfare of the +elements she might so readily have had carried away, were all found to be +uninjured, and only a few plates of her copper sheeting had been loosened +by the fury of the waves, while those still clinging to the ship had been +rolled up like so much paper, by the tremendous pitching of the good ship. +The quarter gallery too, which when the frigate was running before the +wind was exposed to considerable danger, had sustained but little damage. +Such unfortunately was not the case with a small menagerie of rare birds +and monkeys, which had been placed in cages carefully covered with linen +in this, ordinarily the most sheltered, part of the vessel. The covering +had been torn away by the hurricane, and the wind had so tossed the poor +things about, that all their feathers were knocked off, and they presented +a most pitiable appearance. The quadrupeds too, whose cries and lowings +during the storm had already testified to their misery, were found to have +suffered severely. Two oxen and several sheep died on the 19th. All the +surviving animals lost flesh terribly during 48 hours, while those that +had been the wildest and most untameable were now quite tame and docile. + +An analysis of the phenomena observed during the continuation of the +_cyclone_, shows that on the 18th it formed its vortex, being then about +opposite the rather lofty and tolerable-sized island of Dkinawasmia of the +Loo-Choo group, which must have occasioned an alteration in the direction +of the wind. Owing in part to the influence of the N.E. trade, which +enters the northern part of the China Sea, and at this season is gradually +veering round till it completely displaces the S.W. monsoon, as also +during the S.W. monsoon itself, which blows from Formosa on the south, +there appears to exist to the northward of the latter-named island, +favoured probably by its natural configuration and physical features, a +well-defined space within which the barometer is always depressed, and in +which the atmosphere in immediate contact with these N.E. and S.W. winds +is compelled to assume a sort of whirling motion, like that of the hands +of a clock, thus forming the germ as it were of a _cyclone_. + +So long as the S.W. wind was blowing strongly, the centre of the _cyclone_ +moved in an easterly direction, or in other words, in the direction of +least resistance. But arrested in its advance by the various island +groups, as also by the gradually increasing pressure of the S.E. and E. +winds, the _cyclone_ must, in consequence of the obstacles opposed to its +path, have swung round with a sort of whirl, which once more impressed +upon it a N.W. direction to the coasts of China, there to expend itself, +apparently in consequence of the ever-increasing pressure of the +surrounding atmosphere. During forty-eight hours, namely from 6 P.M. of +the 18th to the same hour on the 20th, we were within the range of the +typhoon itself, and on the 19th were at the nearest point to its vortex; +nevertheless, judging by our lowest barometrical reading, we must have +been at least 100 miles distant from the centre. It was the first typhoon +that visited Chinese waters in 1858, and had been predicted weeks before +in the "North China Herald," while the Thousand Years Almanac of the +Chinese calendar assigned its date for the 10th of August. + +Our course was now shaped for the Marianne Archipelago. For several days +after the typhoon, the weather remained unsettled, and the swell was both +heavy and broken, when on 26th August we came in sight of the island of +Guam or Guaham, the most southerly of the Marianne group. In twelve days +we had run 1860 miles, with the aid of the typhoon it is true, but there +was the fact, the distance had been accomplished, and as to the How? Jack +gives himself little concern, so long as he reaches his goal swiftly and +in safety. + +On the morning of the 27th we stood into the Bay of Umata, although it was +very doubtful whether we should find a secure anchorage here, considering +the S.W. wind that was blowing full into the roadstead, which is quite +un-sheltered in that point of the compass. In fact, as we came nearer the +land, we speedily became aware of the impracticability of anchoring here +even in the best weather; while, on the other hand, it did not seem very +advisable, owing to the difficulty of getting in, to make for the +excellent harbour of San Louis de Apra, it being by no means easy, during +the prevalence of the S.W. monsoons, for a large ship to beat out, so that +they are occasionally detained there for several weeks. The order was +accordingly given to luff up, so as to make tacks against the freshening +west wind, out of this bay, studded as it is with numerous coral reefs. +This proved to be a work of much time and trouble, ere we succeeded, +after many hours of anxious care, in weathering the reef. + +The island of Guam, with its lofty green mountain-ridges, numberless +valleys, and thickly-wooded glades, had a cheerful and friendly aspect, +but seems but little cultivated. At Umata, where we perceived a few +houses, the Spanish flag was waving from a small fort adjoining the +settlement, which had been hoisted on the approach of the frigate. + +On 30th August, in 149 deg. 53' E., we reached the eastern limit of the S.W. +monsoon, and--although not more than four days' sail from the object of +our next visit, the island of Puynipet, had we met with favourable winds +to waft us a little further--it was 15th September ere we came in sight of +that lovely island, for, stormy and boisterous as the beginning of this +section of our cruise had proved, not less annoying were the fickle calms, +which kept us lying for weeks motionless, our sails idly flapping with the +roll of the ship. It is a wretched depressing state of inactivity and +discomfort, of which only those can form an idea who have been caught in a +calm on the open ocean, on board of a sailing ship,-- + + "Wenn Welle ruht und jedes Luftgefluester; Wenn Meer und + Himmel schweigend sich umschlingen, Und fromm, fast wie zwei + betende Geschwister." + +Which may be freely translated as follows: + + "When ocean smooths his wrinkled face, + And sea and sky in pray'rful silence bend, + As when, in mutual fond embrace, + Two loving sisters' vows on high ascend!" + +The original is by Nicolas Lenau. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[126] Compare Gutzlaff's "History of the Chinese Empire," published by K. +Neumann; Stuttgart and Tuebingen, 1847. + +[127] The copper cash is the sole currency in use, and consists of a +mixture of copper, iron, and tin. Its value, reckoned by the string of +100, is variable, and is calculated according to the proportional traffic +in foreign merchandise. On the average, from 1250-1300 cash are about +equal to $1.00 American, or 4_s._ 2_d._ English. + +[128] In Shanghai the medium of exchange in common use is not as at +Hong-kong reckoned in dollars, but in taels, an imaginary currency of the +value of about $1.33, so that 100 taels = $133-1/3, or about L27 15_s._ +Most accounts are rendered in taels, whence they are reduced into Mexican +dollars, the only foreign silver that is current. When European merchants +first came in contact with the children of the Flowery Land, the latter +used to pay a sort of premium for American dollars, while for those +bearing the effigies of Charles III. (known as the Karolus dollar), quite +a special price was paid. Gradually, however, the value sank till, as +already mentioned, 75 taels=$100. What has so often been reported of a +special Shanghai dollar coinage is quite erroneous. There are neither gold +nor silver coins struck in China, but solely of copper, and in some +provinces of iron. The term Shanghai dollar is equivalent to tael, which, +as already remarked, is, like the guinea in England, unknown to commerce. +1 tael=5_s._ 7_d._ English, but in trade it is taken as 6_s._ It +occasionally rises as high as 6_s._ 6_d._, when the proportion between the +dollar and the tael is as 100 to 72. + +[129] An English translation of one of these reports will be found in the +1845 number of Morrison's admirably edited, but now rather rarely met +with, monthly periodical, "The Chinese Repository." + +[130] We occasionally saw the Queen of Heaven (Kwan-Yin) represented with +a child in her arms, and have in our possession a piece of carved work +representing such a group, which we purchased in a shop at Shanghai. This +elegant figure seems to be a favourite deity with the Chinese, as it +frequently adorns their little domestic altars, and is especially +reverenced by the women who are desirous of the honours of maternity. The +striking similarity between this exhibition and that of the Holy Virgin, +as we see her represented in Catholic Churches, with the infant Jesus in +her arms, must involuntarily suggest the idea that there has been an +infusion of Catholicism intermingled here with the rites of Buddha. If the +resemblance between the two is not accidental, it may readily be assumed +that the same thing has occurred here as in the case of certain Christian +legends, which the traveller encounters among various races, on whom the +beams of Christian civilization have never been shed. + +[131] The price of each meal is as follows:-- + + 1 bowl of rice, 12 cash (1/2 _d._) + 1 " vegetables, " " (1/2 _d._) + 1 cup of tea, 6 " (1/4 _d._) + Breakfast, consisting usually of rice, + vegetables, and tea, 30 " (1-1/4 _d._) + Bed, fire, and attendance, 20 " (7/8 _d._) + +[132] This sacrificial paper, coloured and written upon, is usually called +"Joss" or "Sycee"-paper in Canton-English, because the prayers addressed +to the Divinity are usually for riches and silver ingots (_Sycee_), which +the suppliants hope to obtain by entreaty. + +[133] Properly spelt _Kong-fu-tseu_, from which the Europeans have +constructed the Latinized name Confucius. _Kong-fu-tseu_ (sometimes also +written _Kong-tse_) was born 550 B.C. in the city of Kio-siu-bien, in the +modern province of Shantung. + +[134] Lao-tse (Lao-tseu), born B.C. 504, in the village of Knio-schin, in +the kingdom of Thsu, held the post of keeper of the archives of the palace +under the Tscheu dynasty. In his Book of Philosophy (Tao-te-king) the +following remarkable words occur: "The rule of antiquity has been, not to +shed light on the people, but to keep them in ignorance. A people that +comprehends is difficult to govern. On this subject men say, Whoso governs +a kingdom in knowledge, the same is the destroyer of that kingdom; whoso +governs a kingdom assigning no reason, the same maintains that kingdom. In +the family, in the school, children are brought up among idols. When they +enter school in the morning they are taught to do honour to the image of +Kong-tse. This custom must be forthwith dispensed with." (Compare J. R. +Kaeuffer's History of Eastern Asia, for "Friends of the History of +Mankind," Leipzig, Brockhaus, 1859, vol. ii. p. 64, and K. F. Neumann's +Eastern Asiatic History, Leipzig, W. Engilmann, 1861, p. 129.) + +[135] Copper coins, struck by a ruler with whose reign any memorable +occurrences are associated, command a high price as health-giving amulets. +Some of these, those, for instance, of the Ming and Sing dynasties, have +very special healing virtues attributed to them. The currency of +Tsching-ta (1506-1522) are unfailing preservatives against the perils of +pregnancy, and the illnesses consequent thereon. Others are held in great +honour as prophylactics. The mode of application consists in the invalid +dragging them by a cord over various parts of his body in a certain +prescribed order. + +[136] The Chinese attribute the most marvellous healing powers to water, +and accordingly apply it in a variety of forms, in numbers of maladies of +the most dissimilar character. Water, cold, tepid, warm, and hot, as also +snow and iced-water, figure among the list of medicaments, as do also +rain-water, well and river-water, brackish water, dew, water from any eddy +or whirlpool, or a stream, boiling water, and steam. + +[137] The Chinese women are for this reason anxious to keep their children +at the breast for two or three years and even longer, partly by way of +speculating upon their having a constant breast of milk, and in this +singular manner make up for any deficiency of cow's milk, between the +market demand and the actual supply. A Chinese who possesses five or six +concubines in addition to his legitimate spouse, may thus boast of a +regular dairy farm. As sailors on arriving in port are usually excessively +fond of milk, which they drink in large quantities, we were not a little +amazed on learning from a physician at Hong-kong the source whence in all +probability had been derived the milk that was so plentifully supplied! + +[138] In German _Bruch-porzellan_, in French _porcelaine-craquelee_. + +[139] _Description generale de la Chine._ + +[140] Not alone this oil-cake, but ground horns and bones, hair from the +beard, and nail-parings, rust, ashes, and even human excrement are used as +manure. And it is a singular fact that the price of the latter varies +according to the race of men by whom it has been evacuated. The +succulently nourished flesh-eating English and Americans are in this +respect in far greater demand than the more sparely-fed cross-breeds; +while the Chinese, subsisting almost exclusively upon fish and vegetables, +are in respect to the value of their _faeces_ as manure, behind every other +race inhabiting the country. The price of this manure varies with the +quality from one dollar to three dollars the _picul_. This custom of +collecting and disposing of human excrement for manure is much more +extensively observed in the interior of the Empire than in the provinces +along the coast. "If," writes M. Huc, the well-known missionary,--"if we +were not aware to what perfection the denizens of the Celestial Empire +have carried the art of manuring, one would be at a loss how to reconcile +the fondness of John Chinaman for making money with the conveniences free +of all charge which the proprietors of the soil everywhere erect for the +comfort of travellers. There is not a city nor a village in which this is +not universally the case. In the most crowded streets, or the most +out-of-the-way abandoned spot, one frequently marvels to find these +"cabinets" in cane-work, earth, or even masonry. One is almost tempted to +believe he is in a country where the care to provide plenty of public +latrines is pushed to the extreme. Utilization, however, furnishes a +sufficient explanation of all these edifices." + +[141] In every part of this extensive empire, travellers encounter these +national tributes to the memory of distinguished women, and Dr. Medhurst, +as also Fortune and other authorities upon China, relate numerous +instances of these remarkable memorials. One of these, an archway of +stone, is spoken of by Medhurst as of singular beauty. It is half a mile +from the city of Kwang-Tib, and was erected by the community of that +region, with the approval of the Emperor, in honour of a lady of that +city, of singular piety and benevolence. Over the portico are inscribed +the words "Kin-sin-tsae-tschung" (a golden and perfect heart precisely in +the middle). + +[142] In the hospital, in what is called the western suburb of Canton, +which was under the charge of Dr. Hobson from 1848 to 1858, the annual +number of patients of both sexes under treatment averaged upwards of +20,000. During the most unhealthy season (May and June) the number +imploring assistance frequently amounted to from 3000 to 3400. In the +dispensary there were, moreover, from 200 to 250 patients, who received +medical advice three times a week, and were supplied with medicaments +gratuitously. + +[143] We saw this huge work in the private library of the chief of the +medical staff at Hong-kong, Dr. W. A. Harland, who had conceived the idea +of publishing a more important work upon Chinese drugs, when death struck +down this distinguished and most industrious gentleman while in the active +discharge of his duties. + +[144] In the Leper village near Canton, which is under the superintendence +of a Chinese physician, there are about 100 lepers of both sexes, each of +whom receives about 20 cash (not quite one penny) daily for his support. +The superintendents stated to Dr. Hobson, who repeatedly visited the +village, as the result of their many years' experience and observations, +that leprosy is not in every case transmitted from parents to children; +that several wives of leprous persons have no trace whatever of the +disease, but that these women in all probability belong to those of the +third and fourth generation, who wholly escape. The Chinese overseers and +attendants, however, can have had as little opportunity for remarking upon +the breaking out of leprosy among the children of those whose parents were +entirely exempt from it as they had of informing themselves with accuracy +as to the various forms and rapid diffusion of the disease in the case of +the one, or its mild type and gradual disappearance in the other. +Perspiration or suppuration in the diseased parts are never remarked in +these patients. + +[145] At the Refuge for the Destitute (_Monegu choultry_) at Madras, where +Dr. Mudge was at the same time instituting experiments lasting over two +years, exhibiting these same remedies in every form and shape of +elephantiasis, to which cases a special ward had been set apart, rarely +entertaining fewer than 100 patients, that gentleman found it to be +perfectly inoperative, and he accordingly entirely ceased prescribing it. +In lieu of the Tscharul Mugra, the Hindoos in cases of leprosy make use of +what are known as the "Asiatic pills," consisting of arsenic, pepper, and +the root of the _Asclepia gigantea_. + +[146] In an old Chinese medical work occurs the following remarks upon the +plant: "Tae-fung-tzi. Taste, acrid and burning: imported from the South +(this obviously alludes to the Straits of Malacca). Acts as an alterative +on the blood, and is accordingly useful in cases of leprosy, when the +blood is corrupted. The oil pressed from the seeds is also used as a +remedy in ulcers, eruptions, and psoriasis, and for killing worms. This +drug must be exhibited in the form of pills." + +[147] Geography, Statistics, and Natural History of the Chinese +Empire--New York, 1847; Tonic Dictionary of the Chinese language--Canton, +1856; Chinese Commercial Guide. Fourth edition--Canton, 1856. + +[148] In the figures of the Chinese original, which represents the +Lo-hau-miau or Buddhist aboriginal, Buddha is represented in a cavity of a +rock. Two burning lamps are standing beside him, one on each side, and in +front are two worshippers in devotional attitudes, while at a short +distance one perceives a woman with a little child, who is approaching the +divinity. The men wear fox-tails as ornaments to the head, and their long +locks hang loose and dishevelled, far below the shoulders. Every year on +the third day of the third moon, our Chinese traveller goes on to state, +old and young, man, woman, and child, bring offerings of fruit to Buddha, +and for that and the three next succeeding days, they sing and dance, and +at the same time make offerings of all manner of _cooked_ food. From their +custom of wearing a fox-tail on their heads, which was also common among +the ancestors of the present Mantchoos, and that these wild tribes +reverence the image of Buddha, Dr. Bridgman is disposed to class them +amongst foreign nations. + +[149] Among these there were, besides a small quantity of Sorghum, several +species of vegetables, which are suited for cultivation in temperate +climates, such, for example, as Poussen, Pa-tse, Pon-ta-tse, with which +since our return experiments have been instituted in various parts of the +Austrian Empire. M. de Montigny has also since our return sent, quite +lately, a large quantity of Chinese seeds by way of souvenir, and despite +illness, is so much interested in forwarding the objects of the Imperial +Expedition, that he was a short time ago decorated with an Austrian order. + +[150] We are however in a position to furnish an extract from the +note-book of an English sailor, left in charge of the yacht of an English +merchant at Shanghai, who accompanied the expedition of Lord Elgin to the +Pei-ho as coxswain. Notwithstanding the occasional _naive_ expressions +made use of, it is a valuable narrative, such as may call up many strange +reflections in the mind of the reader:-- + +"1858. May 30th.--The river Pei-ho is about 150 yards wide at its mouth, +and at dead low water varies from 1-1/2 to 4-1/2 fathoms in depth. On the +bar, which is two miles wide, the difference between the ebb and the flood +is from 9 to 10 feet. Easterly winds cause the highest tides. In the +interior, near Tien-Tsin, the river is from 3 to 6 fathoms deep, and from +50 to 100 fathoms wide. Countless villages stud the banks. The houses are +built of clay or straw. The boys run about naked to an age of eight years. +It is a very wretched population. The coolies plunge into the water after +the empty bottles which are swimming about. They seem exceedingly willing +to be serviceable to foreigners. At Tien-Tsin, ten and a half hours from +the mouth of the river, the thermometer marks 89 deg. Fahr. in the shade. Lord +Elgin is living in a private house on shore. The interpreters live in a +passenger-junk. Provisions are on the whole cheaper than at Shanghai. An +immense number of natives keep crowding open-mouthed round the +"barbarians" and their ship during the entire day, hundreds following us +at every step. Almost all the shops are shut, through dread of the +barbarians." + +"4th June.--Thermometer 95 deg. The people very willing to supply the +strangers with water, tea, &c. The natives are on the average from five to +five feet three and well-proportioned. Some of them are "tremendously" +fat, with huge heads. Among the entire lot I could not see one single +woman. The streets are narrow, filthy, and uneven. Saw several hand-carts, +which were used to convey water from the river to the village. On each +barrow there could be from six to eight buckets of water. There were also +plenty of mules and donkeys, but very few horses." + +"June 18.--This day the Russian minister concluded his treaty. A Russian +courier starts to-morrow for St. Petersburg with dispatches." + +"June 26th.--At 6 P.M. to-day the treaty with England was signed. Went in +procession to the town. All the shipping dressed with flags, and manned +yards. The festivities went off in the Yamun. Lord Elgin sat at the middle +table, with a Mandarin on each side of him. I hear their names were +Wa-schu-nau and Kwei-liang. The first-named is a strong, corpulent man of +about 45; the latter is much older, and seemed very much dejected; he has +however just recovered from sickness, which may account for it. After the +ceremonies of signing and sealing had been gone through, they all partook +of refreshments provided by the Mandarin. Lord Elgin proposed a toast to +the health of the Emperor of China, and to the future friendship of the +two nations, which was responded to by the Mandarins. Shortly after the +assembly broke up, and we all marched home to the excellent music of the +flag-ship's band and the bugles of the marines. The whole affair lasted +about three hours and a half. It was full moon, and a splendid night. + +"June 27th.--This afternoon the treaty with the French was signed. +Returned to their ships by torch-light, port-fires, &c. &c. Ki-ying, the +Mandarin who assisted in bringing about the treaty, was sentenced to be +decapitated, as he was blamed for opening the door to the barbarians, but +he has since been pardoned." + +"July 3rd.--News came from Pekin that Ki-ying has committed suicide by +cutting his throat." + +"July 4th.--Thermometer 96 deg. on board, despite awnings and sprinkling the +roof of the wheel-house with water!" + +"July 6th.--Left Tien-Tsin. After a long, tedious, and tiresome passage of +15 days we reached Shanghai once more on 21st July, all well. + +"Price of provisions at Tien-Tsin, as contracted for on 28th May, for the +supply of the English fleet:-- + + Oxen (average weight 4 piculs, or 533 lbs.), the carcase $10 + Sheep, " 2 + Hens, per dozen 1 + Geese and ducks, " 2 + Eggs, per thousand 3 + Vegetables, picul=133-1/2 lbs. 1.50 + Rice, " 5 + Sugar, " 6 + Yams, per dozen 1 + Pears, per hundred 1 + Apples, " 1.50 + Ice, per lb. 16 + +"All articles to be delivered of the best quality. The prices are reckoned +in American dollars. Every morning a boat was sent off to the +_Coromandel_, on board which the purchases took place." + +[151] The Tau-Tai, whose authority extends over the three prefectures of +Soo-Chow, Sung-Kiang, and Tai-tsing in the north-east of the province of +Kiang-ti, is under the governor of Soo-chow, and has resided at Shanghai +ever since that port was thrown open to trade. His salary by law is only +4000 _taels_ (L1445), but the various perquisites and emolument attached +to it make his actual income about 365,000 _taels_ or L105,000 per annum; +out of which he has, however, to defray all expenses of subordinates, &c.; +so that the net annual income of this post is estimated at from 25,000 to +30,000 _taels_ (L7000 to L8700). Besides the Tau-Tai there is only the +Tschi-hien, a sort of magistrate who lives in Shanghai, and trades with +the foreigners. + +[152] As another example of an interview with the highest class of Chinese +officials, we must briefly describe one enjoyed by some of our Expedition +with a Mandarin named Li-hoi-wan. He received them in a chamber of his +house, in which were a few small tables and chairs, while at the other end +was an elevated cushioned seat on which sate Li-hoi-wan, a large stout +man. He wore a Mandarin hat, with a blue button, and a greyish blue coat +reaching to the ground. He saluted the foreigners by folding his palms +across his breast, invited them to be seated on the dais beside him, and +ordered cigars and tea to be brought. Afterwards sweetmeats of every +description, confectionery, and fruit were served, as also Chinese wines, +the latter, to judge by their flavour and their fragrance, seeming as +though they must have hailed from a perfumery store rather than a wine +cellar. Two days after the Chinese, with delicate courtesy, returned the +visit at their quarters in the residence of M. Probst, the Consul for +Oldenburg. Punctually at the appointed hour three far-resounding taps of +the gong were heard, a foot-soldier of police presented a flaming red +"_carte de viste_," bearing the name and titles of Li-hoi-wan, who +forthwith was received by the travellers at the threshold, in compliance +with Chinese customs. He was attired in heavy silk clothes, his fan in an +elegantly worked sheath, a gold lever watch in his girdle, and was in +excellent spirits. The hospitable host had, according to the custom of the +country, prepared a chow-chow, or collation, at which, however, instead of +Samschoo, champagne was the prevailing beverage. A few days later the +Mandarin visited his newly acquired friends on board the frigate, and +begged their acceptance of a variety of presents, such as silks, nuts, +tea, dried fruits, and Chinese maxims and proverbs, written on long rolls +of paper, that, as he naively expressed it, we might think of him "as a +brother." + +[153] Mr. Hogg has since left that firm, and with his brother, Mr. Edward +J. Hogg, has established the firm of Hogg Brothers, in Shanghai. + +[154] Under the Emperor Yang-ti of the Tsin dynasty, which filled the +throne during the 6th century, more than 1600 miles of canals were partly +constructed, partly rebuilt and repaired, the immense works being +distributed among the soldiery and the inhabitants of the cities and +villages. Each family was bound to furnish one man, between the ages of 15 +and 20, whom the Government only found in provisions. The soldiers, on +whom devolved the heaviest portion of the work, received higher pay. Some +of these canals, which were the making of the commerce of the interior, +and thus were of the utmost service to the welfare of the Empire, were +forty feet wide, and were planted on either bank with elms and willows. + +[155] These lanterns, often beautifully carved and otherwise adorned, are +among the most characteristic furniture of a Chinese room. Into their +manufacture enter not alone glass, horn, silk, paper, &c., but also the +glutinous matter derived from a species of sea-tangle (_Gigartina +tenax_--called by the Malays _Agar-Agar_), with which the paper employed +in covering the sides of the lantern is fastened on. In the silk and paper +manufactures too this omnipresent Agar-Agar paste plays so important a +part, that above 500 piculs at $2 a picul, are annually imported from the +Indian Archipelago. + +[156] Vide Huc's Chinese Empire, Vol. I. + +[157] The Chinese find it not less inexplicable that we use such +murderous-looking instruments to divide and convey our food to our mouths, +with which they think we must every moment be in danger of wounding our +lips or putting our eyes out, than that we should remove the bones from +the flesh, or crack the shells of nuts and almonds, both which operations +seem to them excessively absurd. In fact, it is no mere bon-mot which +represents a Chinese gazing in astonishment at Europeans playing +billiards, or nine-pins, waltzing, or "polking," and remarking, with an +ill-concealed assumption of superiority, that wealthy people ought to +leave such fatiguing things to be done by their servants!! + +[158] Since the well-known minister and envoy to Japan. + +[159] Since sacked by the Tai-ping rebels. + +[160] Abandoned after a large part of the course of the Yang-tse had been +explored. Lieutenant-Colonel Sarel published lately a most interesting and +valuable pamphlet on this expedition, of which he was the leader, under +the title, "Notes on the River Yang-tse-kiang from Hankow to Ping-Shan. +Hong-kong, Printed at Noronka's office." + +[161] Report of the deputation, appointed by the British Chamber of +Commerce in Shanghai, on the commercial capabilities of ports and places +on the Yang-tse-kiang visited by the expedition under Vice-Admiral Sir +James Hope, K.C.B., in February and March, 1861. Supplement to the China +Overland Trade Report of 28th Feb. and 27th May, 1861, and Supplement to +the Overland China Mail, No. 237 of 12th June, 1861. + +[162] According to Dr. W. H. Medhurst's translation of this rare work, for +a copy of which, rescued from the last great conflagration at Canton, we +are indebted to the kindness of Mr. Wylie, the portion especially +referring to this runs as follows: "The mulberry ground having been +supplied with silk-worms, the people descended from the hills and dwelt in +the plains," (p. 91,) and further on, "their tribute baskets were filled +with black silks and checkered sarsenets" (p. 96). See Ancient China, +[Chinese character(s)] The Shookin, or the Historical Classic. Being the +most ancient authentic Records of the Annals of the Chinese Empire. +Illustrated by later commentators. Translated by Dr. W. H. Medhurst, Sen. +Shanghai, 1846. + +[163] Thus Yuen-tschin in the third month (April of our calendar), Chay +and Yuen in the fourth month (May), Gae-tschin in the fifth month (June), +Sai in the sixth month (July), Han-tschin in the seventh month (August), +Sze-tschan in the ninth month (October), and Hau in the tenth month +(November). + +[164] The value of a tael, as already stated, varies from 6_s._ to 6_s._ +6_d._ It is estimated that a bale of silk, until it is shipped at Shanghai +for England, has cost from L80 to L100 sterling. + +[165] The word _Cha_ is, however, used by the Chinese to designate not the +tea plant alone, but every description of _Camelia_. + +[166] Arabian travellers who visited China in the 9th century, A.D. 850, +speak thus early of tea, as of a beverage in universal use. According to +Kaempfer tea was introduced from China into Japan about A.D. 519, by a +native prince named Daeme, who, during his residence in China, had learned +its invaluable properties. The Japanese, however, do not drink their tea +as an infusion, but grind the leaves into powder, pour hot water upon +them, and stir them with a bamboo-stick till they are thoroughly mingled +together, when they swallow the decoction and the powder together, as is +done with coffee in some parts of Asia. + +[167] The term "Bohea" is in fact only a corruption of the Chinese Wu-yi, +which again is derived from Wu-i-kien, a well-known Chinese divinity. + +[168] In Java, where the tea plant has been cultivated for a series of +years, the mountain region from 4000 to 5000 feet above the sea, and with +an average temperature of from 58 deg.1 to 73 deg.7, Fahr., has been found best +adapted for the growth of the plant. + +[169] The first scientific arrangement of the tea plant according to dried +specimens was made in 1753 by Linnaeus, who in his _Species Plantarum_ +included among these one species, which he called _Thea Sinensis_. But by +the time the second edition of his renowned work made its appearance in +1762, Linnaeus found himself compelled to make two species of it, and to +assign them the names by which they are known to the present day. The +first living tea plant was brought to Europe in October, 1763, by a ship +captain named Ekeberg, and planted in the Botanic Garden of Upsala. + +[170] According to Fortune ("A Residence among the Chinese." London, 1857. +Murray), the various sorts of tea have added to them from two to four +spoonfuls of a mixture in which the plant _ma-ki-holy_ largely enters, as +also indigo and pulverized _gypsum_, in order to increase the green tinge +of the leaves. + +[171] A picul, 133-1/3 lbs., of these leaves costs on the average 15 to 18 +dollars, though it occasionally ranges as high as 30 dollars. + +[172] In the year 1859, the exports into England were 30,988,598 lbs. +(viz. 22,292,702 lbs. black, and 8,695,896 lbs. green), out of a total +export of 55,328,731 lbs. Within the same period 19,952,147 lbs. went to +the United States, 1,879,584 lbs. to Australia; to Hong-kong, and other +ports along the coast of China, 1,261,347 lbs.; to Montreal, 510,600 lbs., +and to the entire continent of Europe 736,455 lbs. + +[173] Some experiments on a small scale were made with the _Sorgho_ at +Aquileia near Goerz, by M. Karl Ritter, a well-known merchant and sugar +refiner, of Trieste. We were shown samples of refined sugar, extracted +from the _Sorgho_, which promised the best results. A large quantity of +seeds which were sent a year ago to one of the members of the _Novara_ +Expedition by M. de Montigny, had been made use of to institute a series +of experiments in cultivation, in those parts of the Empire, the climatic +conditions of which promised to be most favourable for the growth of the +_Sorgho_. + +[174] During our stay at Shanghai we also made inquiries as to an alleged +new species of potato, concerning which there have been current for years +such contradictory accounts in the European and American journals, that +the foreign community of Shanghai was beset with inquiries from all parts +of the world, begging for more accurate information as to this newly +discovered tuber, which promised to supply a much-needed substitute for +the apparently effete, worn-out, disease-smitten potato of Peru. No one, +however, could furnish us with the slightest information on the subject, +and ultimately it became apparent that the rumours hitherto current were +founded on an erroneous impression. It would seem, according to the +opinion of Mr. Fortune, that the rumour first arose from mistaking for a +new sort of potato, the _Calladium esculentum_, which is quite commonly +exposed for sale in the streets of Shanghai, and the small tubers of +which, both in flavour and external appearance, resemble those of the +potato, when, without taking the slightest further trouble to inquire into +the matter, the pretended new discovery, fraught with such important +results for the poorer classes, was duly trumpeted to the entire world. In +no part of China hitherto accessible was there at the time of our visit +any other description of potato in use than the common Peruvian. Officers +of the English and American navies, who at the time of the first Peace of +Tien-Tsin were eating potatoes in the Gulf of Petcheli, assured us that +they were precisely identical with those that have so long been +acclimatized in Europe. Of edible tubers there are at Shanghai, besides +potatoes, the yam (_Dioscorea_ sp.) and the Yucca (_Jatropha_ sp.). + +[175] The following is the process as we observed it: the bamboo strips +are first soaked for a considerable period in water, after which they are +peeled, and again saturated with lime-water, until they are perfectly +flexible. After this, they are converted, according to the method in use +at that special locality, either by water power or hand labour, into a +fluid of a pap-like viscosity, after which it is boiled till it has +attained the requisite fineness and consistency for conversion into paper. + +[176] These consist chiefly of cotton and woollen goods of every +description, steel cutlery, iron-ware, glass, clocks, watches, musical +clocks, tin-ware, &c. + +[177] The quantity of home-grown opium, chiefly produced in the province +of Yun-nan, cannot be accurately ascertained, as the returns are not made +at certain points; but the quantity must fall far short of the amount +imported from India. + +[178] According to MacCulloch's Commercial Dictionary, opium had been +introduced into China and India by the commencement of the 16th century by +Mahometan merchants, and it sounds like an apology when the learned and +patriotic author, in treating of the part taken by England in the +much-to-be-lamented traffic in this noxious drug, adds by way of +palliation--"A century and a half before the English had _anything_ +whatever to do with its _cultivation_."--(Latest edition, p. 939.) + +[179] Only a certain number (originally twelve) of wealthy Chinese +merchants, "Hong," were permitted by law to trade with foreigners at +Canton. They had not only to account to Government for all duties and +taxes, but were likewise responsible for the good behaviour of the +strangers! + +[180] It is a coincidence worthy of notice, that simultaneously with the +rise of the opium trade with China, the importation of slaves into America +began to increase, and that European commerce in these two infamous +traffics seemed to be ever increasing and gaining ground in Eastern Asia +and in America! At the end of last century the number of slaves in the +Southern States of the Union was little greater than that of opium-smokers +in China: at present the number of the former is about 4,000,000, and the +latter may be put at about the same figure; the latter, slaves of their +own intemperate passions,--the former, of the covetousness and cold +calculating selfishness of their masters. The opium question and the slave +question--these two seem destined to be solved simultaneously! + +[181] A very similar result is arrived at by MacCulloch, who calculates +that the Company cleared 7_s._ 6_d._ per lb. on opium, which they bought +by their agents from the Bengal ryots at 3_s._ 6_d._ per pound, and +retailed at 11_s._ per pound. + +[182] There are indeed smokers who smoke their two, four, five, and even +eight drachms per diem, but these are solitary instances, while the very +costliness of the article forbids the use of the narcotic to the great +mass of the population, except in the very smallest quantities. + +[183] One poem of the Chinese Imperial Pretender, which is not included in +Dr. Medhurst's collection of the writings published by the insurgent press +at Nankin, and for a copy of which we have to thank Mr. Meadows, +Government interpreter at Shanghai, has lately been translated by our +learned countryman, Dr. Pfitzmaier. The splendidly got up binding of this +little book is of a golden yellow on the title page, and red on the +reverse; the river Yang-tse-kiang appears to pay homage to the Tai-ping, +whose residence it surrounds. The title printed on the exterior of the +wrapper runs as follows: "Imperial announcements in theses upon the words +of the Heavenly Father, the Most High Ruler." The title within is: "Ten +poems upon Supreme Felicity," although these so-called poems are simply +strophes, never exceeding four verses of seven feet. The writing bears +date the number _Kuei-hao_ (50), corresponding to A.D. 1853, the third +year of the reign of the Heavenly King, Tai-ping. The whole production is, +if that be possible, yet more bombastic, unintelligible, and stupid than +Chinese poems usually are to Western readers. + +[184] Between February and September, 1855, there were executed in Canton +70,000 persons all told. Many of the rebel leaders were, in conformity +with the _penal laws_, hewed in numerous pieces while yet living; a +certain Kausin in 108! See K. F. Neumann's History of Eastern Asia, from +the first Chinese war to the Treaty of Pekin, 1840-1860. Leipzig, +Engelmann, 1861. + +[185] We extract from the _London and China Telegraph_ of 31st March, +1862, the following severe but just criticism on this gentleman, whose +letter, which we also quote, shows him to be a person of but limited +education:--"Even the Rev. J. Roberts, who, as our readers are aware, has +lived with the rebels at Nankin, and has to his discredit defended their +conduct in the strongest possible manner, has at length discovered that +they are nothing better than robbers and murderers. This change of opinion +in a man who on all occasions so confidently urged the claims of the +Tai-pings, arose from a very simple cause:--he at length suffered, +personally, from their barbarity. A servant to whom he was attached was +killed before his eyes; and considering his life in danger, he fled to +Shanghai, and wrote the following letter, dated 22nd January, 1862, +reprobating the conduct of his former friends:--'From having been the +religious teacher of Hung Sow-chuen in 1847, and hoping that +good--religious, commercial, and political--would result to the nation +from his elevation, I have hitherto been a friend to his revolutionary +movement, sustaining it by word and deed, as far as a missionary +consistently could, without vitiating his higher character as an +ambassador of Christ. But after living among them fifteen months, and +closely observing their proceedings--political, commercial, and +religious--I have turned over entirely a new leaf, and am now as much +opposed to them, for good reasons, I think, as I was ever in favour of +them. Not that I have aught personally against Hung Sow-chuen, he has been +exceedingly kind to me. But I believe him to be a crazy man, entirely +unfit to rule, without any organized government, nor is he, with his +coolie-kings, capable of organizing a government of equal benefit to the +people of even the old Imperial Government. He is violent in his temper, +and lets his wrath fall heavily upon his people, making a man or woman 'an +offender for a word,' and ordering such instantly to be murdered without +'judge or jury.' He is opposed to commerce, having had more than a dozen +of his own people murdered since I have been here, for no other crime than +trading in the city, and has promptly repelled every foreign effort to +establish lawful commerce here among them, whether inside of the city or +out. His religious toleration and multiplicity of chapels turn out to be a +farce, of no avail in the spread of Christianity, worse than useless. It +only amounts to a machinery for the promotion and spread of his own +political religion, making himself equal with Jesus Christ, who, with God +the Father, himself, and his own son constitute one Lord over all! Nor is +any missionary, who will not believe in his divine appointment to this +high equality, and promulgate his political religion accordingly, safe +among these rebels, in life, servants, or property. He told me soon after +I arrived that if I did not believe in him, I would perish, like the Jews +did for not believing in the Saviour. But little did I then think that I +should ever come so near it, by the sword of one of his own miscreants, in +his own capital, as I did the other day. Kan-Wang, moved by his elder +brother (literally a coolie at Hong-kong) and the devil, without the fear +of God before his eyes, did, on Monday the 13th inst., come into the house +in which I was living, then and there most wilfully, maliciously, and with +malice aforethought, murder one of my servants with a large sword in his +own hand in my presence, without a moment's warning or any just cause. And +after having slain my poor harmless, helpless boy, he jumped on his head +most fiend-like and stamped it with his foot; notwithstanding I besought +him most entreatingly from the commencement of his murderous attack to +spare my poor boy's life. And not only so, but he insulted me myself in +every possible way he could think of, to provoke me to do or say something +which would give him an apology, as I then thought and I think yet, to +kill me, as well as my dear boy, whom I loved like a son. He stormed at +me, seized the bench on which I sat with the violence of a madman, threw +the dregs of a cup of tea in my face, seized hold of me personally, and +shook me violently, struck me on my right cheek with his open hand; then, +according to the instruction of my King for whom I am ambassador, I turned +the other, and he struck me quite a sounder blow on my left cheek with his +right hand, making my ear ring again; and then perceiving that he could +not provoke me to offend him in word or deed, he seemed to get the more +outrageous, and stormed at me like a dog, to be gone out of his presence. +'If they will do these things in a green tree, what will they do in the +dry?'--to a favourite of Teen Wang's, who can trust himself among them, +either as a missionary or a merchant? I then despaired of missionary +success among them, or any good coming out of the movement--religious, +commercial, or political--and determined to leave them, which I did on +Monday, Jan. 20th, 1862.' Mr. Roberts adds that Kan-Wang had refused to +give up his clothes, books, and journals, and that he had been left in a +state of destitution. Most persons will agree that he fully deserves any +amount of suffering that may be inflicted on him. Mr. Roberts has done his +utmost to delude Europeans as to the true character of the Tai-pings; he +has kept back some facts, has falsified others, and has acted throughout +in a manner utterly inconsistent with his assumed character of a Christian +missionary. On such conduct no comment can be too severe." + +[186] Nankin accordingly is usually called now-a-days the "City of the +Coolie-Kings." + +[187] Very similar are the reports made by the English who, in Dec. 1858, +accompanied Lord Elgin on his voyage of discovery up the Kiang, and +remained a considerable period among the Tai-ping. "The tenets of their +religion," says Mr. Laurence Oliphant (vide Earl of Elgin's Mission to +China and Japan, vol. ii. p. 463), "consist of a singular jumbling of +Jewish ordinances, Christian theology, and Chinese philosophy. Like the +Jews in the Old Testament they wage wars of extermination, they live like +the worst professing Christians, and they believe like--Chinese." + +[188] The charges forwarded by the owners of the little _Meteor_ for +towing, and which are calculated according to the draught of water of the +ship towed, was as follows:-- + + +--------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+-----------+ + |Itinerary or |15 feet |15 to |17 to |18 to |19 ft. & | + |vice versa. |and under.|17 feet. |18 feet. |19 feet. |all beyond.| + +--------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+-----------+ + | | | | | | | + |From Shanghai |300 taels,|350 taels,|450 taels,|450 taels,|500 taels, | + |to Gutzlaff's |or |or |or |or |or | + |Island. |L90. |L105. |L135. |L135. |L150. | + | | | | | | | + |Shanghai to |150 taels,|175 taels,|200 taels,|225 taels,|250 taels, | + |Wusung. |or |or |or |or |or | + | |L45. |L52 10_s._|L60. |L62 10_s._|L75. | + | | | | | | | + |From Wusung |225 taels,|250 taels,|275 taels,|300 taels,|350 taels, | + |to Gutzlaff's |or |or |or |or |or | + |Island. |L62 10_s._|L75. |L82 10_s._|L90. |L105. | + +--------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+-----------+ + +[189] Typhoon, or _Tei-fun_, a strong wind. While some authors derive this +word from the Arabic _Tufan_, a violent wind, others see in it the giant +_Typhos_ of Greek mythology, who was begotten by Tartarus of Earth, and +from whom proceeded all that was disastrous and destructive. Whoever has +experienced a typhoon will most readily acquiesce in the latter +derivation. + +[190] During this storm, we made the not uninteresting observation in a +physiological point of view, that when the gale was at its worst, even the +least hard-a-weather of us seemed quite free from sea-sickness, apparently +the result of extreme excitement. For similar reasons, men who have been +bitten by a snake, and who have had raw spirits administered as an +antidote, seem able to take four or five times the quantity which they can +on ordinary occasions. + + + [Illustration: Distant View of the Island of Puynipet.] + + + + + XVI. + + The Island of Puynipet. + + 18th September, 1858. + + Native boats in sight.--A pilot comes on board.--Communications + of a white settler.--Another pilot.--Fruitless attempts to tack + for the island.--Roankiddi Harbour.--Extreme difficulty in + effecting a landing with the boats.--Settlement of Rei.--Dr. + Cook.--Stroll through the forest.--Excursions up the Roankiddi + River.--American missionaries.--Visit from the king of the + Roankiddi tribe.--Kawa as a beverage.--Interior of the royal + abode.--The Queen.--Mode of living, habits and customs of the + natives.--Their religion and mode of worship.--Their festivals + and dances.--Ancient monumental records and their probable + origin.--Importance of these in both a historical and geological + point of view.--Return on board.--Suspicious conduct of the + white settler.--An asylum for contented delinquents.--Under + weigh for Australia.--Belt of calms.--Simpson Island.--"It must + be a ghost!"--Bradley Reef.--A Comet.--The Salmon Islands.-- + Rencontre with the natives of Malayta.--In sight of Sikayana. + + +While yet, on 16th September, 1858, five or six knots distant from the +island of Puynipet,[191] first discovered in 1828 by the Russian Admiral +Luetke, and just as we found ourselves off what is called "Middle Harbour," +we remarked a boat of European construction making for the frigate. Two +hours later it came alongside, with four natives and a white man, the +latter of whom came on deck and offered his services to the Commodore as +pilot. He proved to be a Yankee named Alexander Tellet, who had lived 20 +years on the island as smith and carpenter, to which he added the +functions of pilot for the harbour in which he lived. Presently we were +surrounded by a considerable number of natives in elegant canoes streaked +with red, and formed of hollowed-out trunks of trees with outriggers, +which have very peculiar scaffold-like supports, so that there is a kind +of platform formed in the centre of the canoe, whereon the master usually +seats himself, but which serves on occasion for festive meetings, and even +for a small dance! The sails, made of mats, are triangular, the most acute +angle being confined between two long bamboos, while a third serves as a +mast, the whole capable of being shifted to either end of the boat by one +of the crew, according to the direction of the wind. While some were doing +what they could in their small boats to keep within the speed of the +frigate, though we were going pretty fast, just as parasites make fast to +the shark, others followed us a little distance, like dolphins, those +faithful companions of ships, as far as the nearest harbour. With the +exception of a short apron of cocoa-palm leaves, the natives were quite +naked, and seemed pretty well made. On their heads they wore a sort of +projecting pent-hat, also of palm-leaves, obviously intended to shield +the eyes from the vertical rays of the sun, and in form most resembling +those lamp shades which old men or youths with weak eyesight are with us +in the habit of using to ward off the full glare of artificial light. +Among the natives who favoured us with their escort, there were two who +from their personal grace, their light colour of skin, and thoroughly +European cast of features, especially attracted our attention. They were +the sons of an Englishman named Hadley, who had been for many years +resident on Mudock island, E. of Puynipet, where he supported himself by +fishing and pilotage, and had married a native woman. Shortly before our +arrival, Hadley had started with several hundred pounds of tortoise-shell +for Hong-kong, whence he intended to sail for England. He had intrusted +his two sons to the care of a European settler, who succeeded him as pilot +on Mudock island. According to all appearance, however, Hadley had little +intention of returning to this island, notwithstanding the family tie that +should have bound him to it. + +As we were coasting along the west side of the island about 1 to 17 miles +from the reefs, Tellet was overwhelmed with questions on every hand and on +every possible subject, and among other subjects of information we +presently found that the chief intercourse of foreign ships was carried on +with Roankiddi or Lee Harbour, some 15 or 20 miles distant, and Metetemai +or Foul-weather Harbour, which lies six or seven miles E. of Roankiddi. +During the N.E. trade (November to April), from 50 to 60 American whalers +put in to Puynipet to take in wood and water, and fresh provisions, +chiefly yams, taro, sweet potato, poultry, and pigs. Many ships, moreover, +bound from Sydney for China prefer at that season the voyage through the +Pacific to passing round the south of Australia, and thence through the +Straits of Sunda, or the yet more dangerous passage through Torres +Straits, and usually make a tolerably fast run. Thus the Swedish corvette +_Eugenie_, on her voyage round the globe, performed in November, 1852, the +astonishing feat of making the passage from Sydney to Hong-kong, 5000 +miles, in the unprecedentedly short space of 37 days! + +The number of aborigines on this island, which is about 60 miles in +circumference, was estimated by Tellet at about 2000. Formerly it was as +many as 5000,[192] but the small-pox had since then committed fearful +ravages among the population. The circumstances under which this frightful +scourge was first introduced into Puynipet, throw considerable light upon +the history of the spread of that disease, as well as much useful +information upon the question of vaccination. + +In 1854, the English barque _Delta_ arrived at Roankiddi Harbour, with +one of her crew ill with small-pox. The white settlers then on the island, +who were well acquainted with the virulence of the disease, implored the +native chief to forbid the captain's remaining, and insist on his putting +to sea forthwith. The latter, however, seemed determined to leave the +patient on the island. When he learned the hostile feeling of the +population to himself and the crew, and found that they would neither take +his sick man off his hands, nor supply himself and ship's company with +provisions, he availed himself of the silence and obscurity of night to +deposit the sick man on the shore with all his property, and at daybreak +made off under full sail. Next morning the natives found the unfortunate +wretch stretched suffering and utterly helpless on the strand, while the +barque was no longer in sight. Hostility to the captain was now converted +into sympathy with, and active compassion for, the sick man; a couch was +prepared in an adjacent hut, and as much attention lavished on him as was +possible under the circumstances; but his effects, consisting chiefly of +linen and upper clothing, were speedily appropriated by the thievish +natives. A few weeks later the small-pox broke out with frightful +violence, and raged five months with undiminished severity all over the +island. Almost every one of the natives was attacked, and of 5000 +inhabitants 3000 succumbed to the virulence of the epidemic. The sailor, +however, with whom first originated this terrible fatality, completely +recovered. His clothing, scattered through every part of the island, had +no doubt essentially contributed to the speedy diffusion of the malady. Of +the thirty white settlers, who had all been inoculated, only one was +attacked, and he soon got well again. In August, 1854, the destroyer +disappeared almost as suddenly as he came, and has since then spared +Puynipet a second visit, but wherever one goes the traces of the disease +are visible in the faces and on the bodies of the natives. + +While picking up this information, we were getting nearer and nearer to +Roankiddi Harbour on the S.W. of the island, and Tellet now stated he +could not undertake to conduct us further, as there resided a pilot in the +harbour whom he was not unwilling to give a job to. Another boat was now +approaching the frigate, which had on board the regular pilot of Roankiddi +Harbour, a Virginia Negro, named Johnson. Our man Tellet now took his +leave, and set out in his boat on his return to Middle Harbour. Many a +longing glance did we cast at the spot, where for the first time we were +to be privileged to examine the wonders of the coral beds of the South +Sea. For Puynipet is one of the finest examples known of a lofty island of +the great ocean regularly hemmed in by wall-like reefs, by far the +majority of the other islands being mere low "atolls." Unfortunately the +breeze was unsteady and very light; the sky looked so gloomy and +threatening that we had to haul off again from the island, and steer to +the S.E., so as not to approach the reef too closely during the night. In +the morning we once more neared the island, under the influence of a +gentle west wind, having run 15 miles out during the night. Gradually the +small wooded or rocky islets hove in sight again, which, stretching +northward from the great central mass, 2860 feet in height, surround the +lofty island like a ring, inside of the wall-reef, which encompasses it at +a distance of from one to two miles. We tacked about during the whole day +with light variable winds from the west, and by evening had got +sufficiently near our anchorage, that every one expected by a last tack to +fetch it ere night set in, when the breeze suddenly shifted, died away, +and once more compelled us to withdraw to a safe distance from the island, +and pass the night under easy sail. At length, on 18th September, a fresh +leading wind from the westward promised to carry us in without further +delay. + +Right in front of us, and with not a cloud to interrupt the view, lay this +extinct volcano of an island, densely covered with the most luxuriant +verdure. Only at its N.E. corner there sprang suddenly into the air a +naked, castellated rock, about 1000 feet high or so, cut off horizontally +above, and with perpendicular sides, which we were informed was a small +island (Dochokoits), separated by a narrow channel from the main island. +Gradually, on either side of the isle, several rocky points became +visible, which steadily increased in dimension, and began to stretch +towards each other, till they looked like a row of pearls densely +sprinkled in the air above the horizon; after which a number of thin, +small, white clouds suddenly rose and disappeared above the dark blue +surface of the sea, flickering here and there like flames. This was our +first glimpse of the island-reef and the surf-beaten coral, seen under the +influence of a mirage, when, as is very frequently the case in tropical +climates, the temperature of the surface of the water, and consequently of +the immediately adjacent strata of atmosphere, is higher than those next +above. Having got within about a couple of miles, the dark points resolved +themselves into verdant cocoa-groves, patches of which adorn the outermost +reef, while the small clouds now proved to be the tumultuous lash of a +tremendous blinding surf, on the reef which separated the rise and fall of +the ocean outside from the smooth placid surface of the broad channel, +which inside the ring-shaped coral reef forms those singular natural +canals, on which the natives in their frail canoes can sail right round +the island, sheltered from the violence of the waves, and which, at those +places where there is sufficient depth, and a breach in the line of reef +admits of ingress from without, affords for even large-sized ships a +secure harbour, according to observation in 6 deg. 47' N., 158 deg. 13' 3'' E. + +We now endeavoured to enter between Nahlap Island on the west, covered +with cocoa-palms and bread-fruit, and Sandy Island on the east, surrounded +with a belt of raging foam, its coral masses clothed with low scanty +brushwood. But almost immediately "Halt" was once more the order. In order +to get into the harbour proper, which lay between two majestic banks of +coral rising from the level of the sea like an elegantly hewn dock, we +had to pass through a very narrow channel in the reef, barely 50 fathoms +wide, which indeed was pretty plainly indicated by the colour of the +smooth water, besides being well marked out by regular buoys, but winds in +a direction first westerly and then northwards, and accordingly was +inaccessible to us with a west wind blowing. There was no alternative but +to let the anchor go among the naked coral rocks forming the sub-marine +plateau over which we now lay. But anxiety for the safety of the ship did +not admit of her being suffered to remain in circumstances so dangerous. +While therefore the frigate once more made sail, a survey of the island +and harbour was ordered by a boat expedition. + +About 9 A.M. the Commodore, accompanied by some of the scientific staff, +set off for land in a slim, flat-floored, Venetian gondola, admirably +adapted for such purposes. When we had passed the twin Nahlap Islands and +Sandy Island, we found ourselves in a channel about 100 fathoms in length +by not quite 80 in width, which led directly into the interior of this +huge basin constructed exclusively by insects, and surrounded by a triple +wall of coral, an unfathomable, mirror-like pool, in which a ship lies +calm and motionless as though in a dock. A buoy at the S.W. angle of the +channel indicates some sunken rocks. On the further side of the coral reef +one perceives the low-lying group of the Ants' Islands, thickly covered +with trees. Although our Venetian boat drew hardly any water, we +nevertheless found great difficulty in advancing in proportion as we +approached the shore. The fact too that it was ebb-tide served to increase +the obstacles that beset our progress. Every moment the gondola touched +upon sand-bank or rock. The utmost caution had therefore to be exercised, +as we steered for some huts which were visible under the cocoa-palms quite +close to the shore. Following the deeper more navigable channels, we +reached the mouth of a river running from N.E., the low swampy soil on +either side being covered with dense mangrove bushes, but all our efforts +to push through the thickets so as to reach the huts proved unavailing, +while the whole soil seemed to be beset with the stumps of the mangrove, +like so many sharp stakes. After pushing a short distance up this mangrove +channel, from which on either side smaller channels diverged, we retraced +our steps, as there was no appearance of the scene changing, nor any +appearance of human habitation, and endeavoured to reach the land near the +huts already mentioned, by some of the deeper channels. Just then a white +settler came to our assistance, who, standing on the shore, indicated to +us by manual signs the clue out of this labyrinth of coral, and enabled us +by a less shallow channel to reach one of the few points at which a +landing is practicable. For at almost every point of the shore the +mangroves, by the tenacity of their roots, prevent, or at any rate impede, +the approach of boats, the natives themselves being confined to the use of +those few spots where rivers or other natural channels afford means of +access. Close to the shore appeared three wooden huts thatched with +bamboo and palm-leaves. This was a small colony of whites, whom a singular +freak of destiny seemed to have cast away upon these islands, where they +earned their subsistence as wood-cutters, smiths, fishermen, &c. They call +their settlement Rei. The first hut we entered was inhabited by a +Scotchman, who called himself "Dr. Cook," and practised as a physician. He +had lived 26 years on the island. His dwelling consisted of three large +apartments, which up to a certain height were shut off from each other by +thin wooden walls, so that the air could circulate freely overhead +throughout the entire length of the hut. Everything was neat and orderly: +in the first room, which apparently was used as a surgery, stood a number +of medicine bottles duly labelled, and crucibles, which at the very first +glance revealed the avocation of the possessor. Cook, who seemed far past +the half century, with pale, faded, expressionless features, and a long +silver-grey beard, clothed in a coarse woollen jacket, and with the huge, +broad-brimmed, worn-out straw-hat pulled low upon his wrinkled forehead, +had quite caught the listless, motionless deportment of the natives. +Nothing roused him, nothing surprised him; it took considerable time to +elicit from him any reply to our questions. The other white settlers in +the adjoining islands were not much more communicative; all showed in +their conduct a certain embarrassment, which left little doubt that theirs +had not been an altogether blameless life in former days. Most of them +were surrounded by a number of native wives, who had covered their bodies +with a powder of an intense yellow, prepared from the _Curcuma longa_, +and wore merely a piece of calico round the loins, while splendid yellow +blossoms set off the raven blackness of their long hair. + +We now followed up a narrow footpath, which led to a gently-sloping +eminence behind the huts, and soon found ourselves surrounded by +bread-fruit trees and banana, while from time to time a black basaltic +rock cropped out from among the red, marl-like soil, and beautiful small +lizards with sapphire-blue tails that shone with a metallic lustre, shot +about with the velocity of an arrow among the stones. The prevailing +formation, as in almost all the volcanic islands of the Pacific, is an +amorphous basalt-lava, full of olivin and porphyry. On gaining the summit +of the hill, we found there a solitary, wretched-looking hut. A dog, a few +hens, and a phlegmatic native worn away to a shadow, whom the sudden +appearance of a number of European strangers hardly seemed to rouse from +his apathy, were the only living creatures visible. On our requesting to +be furnished with a light, a wrinkled old hag crept out of the hut, and +handed us a piece of lighted wood. The dusky old woman was presented with +a cigar, which she forthwith lit, and proceeded to smoke with +unmistakeable satisfaction. To our request for fresh cocoa-nuts with which +to quench our thirst, the man, without moving from his place, shouted a +few words in the direction of the forest, which was speedily replied to, +when some young girls came forth giggling and romping, who brought us what +we had asked for, fresh plucked from the slender cocoa-stem, as well as a +sugar-cane, and some ginger (_Zingiber officinalis_); all these +refreshments were handed us amid much hilarity by a lot of daughters of +Eve, young, not the least shy, but by no means attractive, whom a present +of two small mirrors in return sent away in a state of enthusiastic +delight. On our return to Dr. Cook's hut on the shore, several natives had +approached who bartered mussels and fresh fruit for tobacco, which they +preferred to everything, besides a number of young females, who were +retailing, from small bags hung round their persons, the different animals +they had collected the same morning at ebb-tide among the coral reefs. + +One of the white settlers offered his services as guide, to pilot us up +the Roankiddi river as far as a village of the natives about two miles +inland, where the chief of the nation dwelt, and several American +missionaries had formed a settlement. Before reaching the main stream, +which is about 100 feet wide and is densely wooded on either side, we had +to pass various small branches and canals, which appeared to be +artificially constructed, and wind about in a succession of extraordinary +meanderings beneath an elastic covering of conical mangrove roots. For +about a mile inwards there was nothing but dreary, swampy, unlovely +mangrove forest, after which the vegetation on either shore began to +assume an unusually variegated but thoroughly tropical appearance. Palms, +bread-fruit trees, pandanus trees, papayas, caladias, Barringtonias, were +the chief representatives of this abounding forest flora. The animals on +this island seem to be less numerous and less varied; there are no large +ones at all. Of doves, as also of sand-pipers and parrots, we saw some +very beautiful species, of which the fowling-pieces of our sportsmen +furnished numerous specimens for our zoological collection. All along the +bank of the river and around the hills lay scattered at will, under the +shade of the most beautiful and abundant vegetation, the dwellings of the +natives. Near where the pretty Roankiddi falls into the sea, rises on the +left bank the handsome mission house built of wood, which serves the +missionaries for school, church, and residence in one. Close by is a stone +building, which serves as a larder. Unfortunately, the sole missionary, +Mr. Sturges of Pennsylvania, was absent on a tour of inspection, and only +his assistant (a native of the Sandwich Islands, who had received his +education in the States) was at home with his family. A third missionary, +also a native of the Sandwich Islands, lives at what is called +Foul-weather Harbour, where he also occupies his time with meteorological +observations. + +The mission, which has been in the island since 1851, is supported at +considerable expense. A schooner, the property of the American Missionary +Society, keeps up regular communication with the neighbouring islands and +the Sandwich Islands, and supplies the missionaries with provisions and +other necessaries. These industrious, energetic men have quite recently +made experiments in planting several sorts of vegetables, as also tobacco +and sugar-cane, nearer their houses, in the hope, if successful, of +inciting the natives to similar exertions. The great resources at the +disposal of the Protestant missionaries, and the circumstance that they +attend to the temporal as well as the eternal weal of their dusky +neophytes, exhausting their medical skill in illness, educating their +children, ministering to their wants both by advice and co-operation, must +be regarded as the main causes of the rapid spread of Protestantism +throughout the races of the Pacific Ocean. We have seen missions, of which +the schools, places of worship, and dwelling-houses, constructed of iron, +were imported from the United States ready made, while the expenses of +maintenance were defrayed by an annual grant of 20,000 dollars. What a +gratifying contrast to the wretched appliances with which Catholic oversea +missions are compelled to eke out a precarious existence! + +We landed at a spot where the Roankiddi promised to be navigable for +vessels of a better class than the hollowed-out canoes of the natives, and +for the remainder of the distance to the chief's residence we followed a +footpath through the forest. Close to the landing-place is a large, +hall-like building, which is used as an assembly-room by the natives on +the occasion of their festivities. Around the interior of this are ranged +couches stuffed with straw for families of rank, not unlike berths round a +ship's cabin. The centre of the hall is set apart for slaves and servants, +who during these rude reunions are busily employed preparing food and +drink for strangers. As often as a meeting is deemed necessary, +invitations are sent off to the various chiefs requesting their +co-operation. On very important occasions these are intoned through a +conk. As soon as all are assembled the king lays the subject-matter of the +debate before them, when every one present is at liberty to express his +opinion. Frequently these discussions become very animated, especially +when the orators happen to have partaken too freely of Kawa, when only the +interference of the less excited chiefs can prevent the disputants from +coming to blows. When we saw it, there were in the hall of justice, as it +might be termed, a number of huge, lengthy, but elegant canoes, painted +red, which gave it rather the appearance of a shed than a festive hall. + +The footpath to the chief's residence led through a most beautiful +tropical landscape. The estate of the Nannekin (as the natives designate a +king in their own language) was laid out quite in the European fashion, +and the entrance was indicated by a wooden gateway. The house itself, a +lengthy oblong of wood and cane-work, with a roof of palm-leaves, and +built upon a sort of platform of two or three courses of stone, and +furnished in every part with numerous large apertures serving as windows, +presented from without a very comfortable, even imposing appearance; but +the interior was bare, ill-equipped, and sadly out of order. A row of +wooden columns, irregularly cut, and partially covered with gay-coloured +stuffs, running parallel with the thin exterior walls, formed a narrow +passage, a closer view of which was, however, shut off by cotton hangings +stretching across. The clothes and other property of the family hung here +at random, suspended from pegs and lines all round the wide hall, and in +the middle a hole had been excavated, which apparently was intended for a +fire-place. Among the articles of furniture we specially noticed a large +iron chest, with iron clampings, and a very singular-looking loom, on +which a fabric was being woven in variegated colours. The chief was not at +home, and had to be summoned, his timely absence affording an excellent +opportunity for examining the environs of the palace a little more +closely. In immediate proximity were a number of bread-fruit trees +(_Dong-dong_), the fruit of which forms the staple diet of the natives, +and has long been prepared by them in quite a unique manner. + +The bread-fruit, so soon as it is ripe, is stripped of its husk, and cut +into small pieces. These the natives place in pits dug for the purpose +about three feet deep, in which they are placed in layers carefully +wrapped in banana leaves so as to prevent moisture reaching them. Thus +prepared, the pits are filled up to within a few inches of the surface, +covered with leaves, and weighted with heavy stones so distributed as to +diffuse an equal pressure throughout. Thus each pit is both air and water +tight. After a short time fermentation sets in, till the whole is +converted into a substance resembling cheese. The original idea of thus +storing the bread-fruit is said, according to tradition, to have been +suggested to the natives by a violent hurricane having at a remote period +levelled all the bread-fruit trees on the island, thus causing a great +famine. The fruit thus treated continues fit for consumption for years, +and, despite its sour taste and nauseous odour when exhumed, it is +regarded by the natives as a most palatable and nutritive dish, when well +kneaded, placed between two banana leaves, and baked between two hot +stones. Besides the bread-fruit, the principal articles of food in use +among the natives are cocoa-nuts, sugar-cane, yams, pigeons, turtle, fish, +and trepang, the sort of sea-cucumber of which we have already given a +description, and which the natives eat in the raw state. + +They also eat taro (_Caladium esculentum_), a beautiful bulbous-rooted +plant of the _Aroidea_ tribe, with its broad elegant leaves, which, +together with wild ginger and turmeric (which is used sometimes for food, +sometimes for anointing the person, or dyeing their dresses) and the plant +they call Kawa (_Piper Methysticum_), grow in great profusion on the +property of the Nannekin. + +As in all the South Sea Islands, the juice of the Kawa is used in Puynipet +for distilling an intoxicating beverage, which indeed plays a conspicuous +part in all their solemnities. But the mode of preparing it is somewhat +better calculated to tempt the palate, since it is not, as elsewhere, +first chewed by the women, but rubbed between two large stones, wetted, +and then drawn off in cocoa-nut shells. The leading chief is entitled to +the first shells of the prepared Kawa, or, if he is not present, the chief +priest, who mutters a few prayers over it ere drinking it. + +The liquid, as thus procured from this species of pepper, is of a +brownish-yellow colour, somewhat like that of coffee into which milk has +been poured. The taste is sweet and agreeable, producing a glow in the +stomach, and induces a sort of intoxication, widely different however from +the form that alcoholic inebriations assume with us. Men in the habit of +drinking Kawa neither stagger about, nor speak thick and loud, when under +its influence. A sort of shiver affects the whole frame, and their gait +becomes listless and slow, but they never lose consciousness. In its last +stage, the person affected feels an extraordinary weakness in all his +joints; headache and an irresistible inclination to go to sleep supervene, +and a state of most complete repose becomes an absolute necessity. + +The custom of Kawa drinking is diffused over the whole of the islands of +the Pacific. It even appears to have become a necessary of life among the +natives of Polynesia, just as betel-chewing and palm-wine are to the +Malays and Hindoos, opium-smoking and samchoo to the Chinese, chicha to +the Mexican races, and coca to the South American Indians. + +In former times, on certain of the islands, the chiefs had regular +watchers, whose duty it was to guard their monarchs from being disturbed +when thus reposing. A dog which dared to bark, a cock that was venturesome +enough to crow, were forthwith put to death. The too liberal or +long-continued indulgence in Kawa seems to generate a peculiar cuticular +disease. Inveterate Kawa drinkers seem haggard or melancholy, their eyes +are sunk, their teeth of a bright yellow, their skin dry and chopped, and +the whole body is covered with boils; but those in whom such sores heal up +again, point with pride to the cicatrices that mark where they occurred. +The more of these scars a Kawa drinker can show, the higher is his +character. Besides producing unconsciousness, Kawa also induces +exceedingly erotic dreams. + +According to the information which the white settlers gave us respecting +the method of cultivation of the soil of Puynipet and its climate, it +seems that sugar-cane, coffee, cotton, rice, tobacco, &c., would be +certain to succeed. Sugar-cane is found even now in the wild state; and to +a certain extent it forms an article of food of the natives, who suck the +juice. + +The chief of Roankiddi is a handsome young man of lofty stature, strong +frame, of dark brown almost bronze skin, and agreeable, winning +expression. With the exception of the usual apron of palm-leaves, and a +bright red belt, he was naked, and wore a green circlet on his fine, +lustrous black hair, and a piece of sugar-cane in his right hand. His arms +and legs were very neatly tattooed. He seemed quite to understand the use +of a red Turkish fez with blue tassel, which we presented to him, and took +from his head its own exceedingly picturesque covering. Having been +apprized of the friendly nature of our visit, he begged us to enter his +house, which was not so easy a process as it seems, since the only access +was by one of the windows, about three feet from the ground. The Nannekin, +however, set us the example, and we followed. He first invited us to sit +upon European chairs, and ordered his pretty young wife to fetch us +cocoa-nut milk. It was the first time we had ever tasted this drink of the +natural man in the goblet of civilization! How differently did this +invaluable drink taste, when quaffed from the fresh green shell, than in +the artificial vessel of human manufacture! The natives of Puynipet did +not, like those of Nicobar, show their dexterity in opening the young +cocoa-nut by means of a slash. Here the husk is peeled off, and an opening +bored with much trouble till the fluid contents gush out--a process so +tedious, and manifesting so little ingenuity, that one would rather expect +it to be adopted by a European, who for the first time in his life was +opening a cocoa-nut, than from a child of the tropics. After the queen had +presented with her dainty little hands the cocoa-nut drink to the foreign +guests, she squatted herself smiling and laughing on the earth beside the +monarch, occasionally hiding herself with much natural grace behind her +youthful husband, when she could not restrain a burst of mirth at the +interest with which we seemed to regard many of the objects in her simple +household. Nothing surprised her more than that we should attach such +value to some baskets, plaited work, boxes, &c., as to be willing to +exchange articles of European make for them. Like all the other females +we saw, the young queen wore nothing but a piece of yellow linen (_liku_), +about five feet long, round her loins, which reached to her knees, and was +attached by one extremity to the haunch. Her splendid black hair was +adorned with a chaplet of yellow flowers, and her body, smeared with +cocoa-nut oil, was plentifully besprinkled with turmeric (called by the +natives _Kitschi-neang_). Her legs and forearms were beautifully tattooed. + +The gown, or rather apron, worn by the men is made of the fresh leaves of +the cocoa-palm, which, bleached and cut into narrow strips, are fastened +at the upper end with a string, and then adorned with numerous flaps of +red cloth. This gown stretches from the hips to about the knees, and is +about two feet long. To be in the fashion at Puynipet, a dandy must wear +at least six of these round his body! The ladies of the island stain white +calico with turmeric, yellow being apparently the favourite colour of the +country. A bright-coloured light handkerchief usually covers the upper +part of the body, and they adorn their long beautiful black tresses with +the delicate flowers of the cocoa-palm. On high days the ladies wear red +clothes hemmed with white calico. Such of the natives, however, as are +converted to Christianity, appear in clothes made after the European +fashion, although many a part of dress would still have to be remedied, +ere a native of Puynipet or his better half would be presentable in a +saloon. + +Men and women alike are tattooed from the loins to the ancles, and from +the elbows to the wrist. This curious practice is performed on both sexes +at from ten to twelve years of age by old women, with whom it is a regular +profession. The blue colouring matter used is obtained from the abundant +nut-like fruit of the _Aleurites triloba_, which they heat on the fire, +and then peel off the hard crust which forms upon it. The operation is +performed with the sharp point of a species of pine, or with a pointed +instrument[193] made from fish-bone, which is placed upon the skin, when +it is driven in with a slight blow, till the whole design comes out upon +the body. Besides the turmeric already mentioned, we saw but one colouring +stuff, dyeing red, which seemed to be obtained from _Bixa Orellana_, and +is used by the natives to paint their canoes with. + +Many of the natives are subject to a very disgusting scaly eruption of the +skin (_Ichthyosis_), but do not seem to feel any discomfort from it. Some +travellers ascribe this to the immoderate use as an article of diet of raw +uncooked fish. It is singular that this malady is found on all the islands +near the equator, and was also found by Captain Cheyne among the Pellew +Islanders. That shrewd observer once had on board for four months a native +of Puynipet as servant, whose whole body was covered with this eruption, +but who speedily lost every trace of it as soon as his chief diet was salt +meat and vegetables. Beside this cuticular malady, the natives are +greatly afflicted with scurvy and intermittent fever. Most of their +infants too suffer from Yaws[194] (_Framboesia_), a disgusting eruption, +called by the natives "_Keutsch_," which, however, disappears when the +child has attained about its third or fourth year. The marks left by this +malady when cicatrized might easily be mistaken for those of inoculation. + +The Nannekin, although the king of his tribe, nevertheless seemed on the +whole to exercise but little influence over his subjects. Thus, for +example, we were eye-witnesses of how he vainly attempted to induce two +native boys to carry our bananas as far as our place of disembarkation. On +the other hand, in all that concerned trading with foreigners he seemed to +be thoroughly alive to his own interest. One native who was driving a +bargain with us for something, was informed forthwith of the value which +the Nannekin assigned to it. + +Money is as yet but little used at Puynipet as a medium of exchange, only +the whites resident there and the chiefs take a few English and United +States coins; and many a native would generally not part for a silver +dollar from an object which he will readily give for a piece of chewing +tobacco or a common knife. The most useful articles for barter are pieces +of bright-coloured calico, red shirts, hatchets, knives, axes, straight +swords, muskets, ammunition, biscuit, old clothes, and tobacco.[195] + +Of the latter article American Cavendish or negro-head in longish pieces +is the most in repute. The Puynipetanese have no special fondness for +cigars, nor do they use pipes, but only chew passionately tobacco. As they +are unacquainted with the use of the Betel, their teeth are universally +beautiful, and of a brilliant white. + +There are on the island five tribes, wholly independent of each +other,--the Roankiddi, the Metelemia, the Not, the Tchokoits, and the +Awnak, none, however, numbering much above 1500 souls, the most numerous +and important being the Roankiddi. + +Each king, we are told, has a minister whose power almost rivals his own. +Next in rank to the minister are the nobles, who bear the following +strange-sounding titles: Talk, Washy, Nane-by, Noatch, Shoe-Shabut, and +Groen-wani; after these come such as are not of noble birth, but have +earned them through illustrious deeds, and have been rewarded with +estates. On the death of the king he is succeeded by whichever of his +nobles has the title of Talk, the others rising one grade. The monarch +has the right of freely disposing of his property. As a rule he leaves it +to his sons, but if he have none he usually bequeaths it to the next +sovereign. Between the monarch and his courtiers some quaint patriarchal +customs prevail. Thus the first ripe bread-fruit is brought to the king. +Whenever a chief uses a new turtle or fish net, the prey during a certain +number of days is sent to the king. Another mark of the respect paid to +the king, as also by all ranks to their superiors, is to be found in the +custom for a native who meets another of higher rank in a canoe,--he +cowers down in his own boat till the other has passed by, the two canoes +approaching on the side opposite the outrigger, so that the person of +superior condition may, if he see fit, satisfy himself of the identity of +the other. + +The Awnaks and Tchokoits had, at the period of our visit, been at war with +each other for six months, and it is significant of the ferocity and +courage of both parties, that not a single combatant had thus far been +wounded on either side! Their weapons are chiefly spears of hard wood, six +feet long, the barb, instead of iron, being made of fish-bones, thorns, or +ground mussel-shells, which they throw with great dexterity; also +hatchets, long knives, and old muskets, obtained from the whale-fishers in +return for yams and tortoise-shell. At present there are about 1500 +muskets in all on the island, and each native possesses at least one, some +of the chiefs having as many as three, besides ample ammunition. Singular +to say, these formidable auxiliaries are rarely called into play in any +of their wars, the fatal effect of fire-arms having contributed not a +little to the promotion of harmony and peace between the various tribes! +Their warriors are selected from among the most powerful men of the tribe, +and as a rule they behave with much consideration to the women and +children, whom they almost always spare. When either party sues for peace, +a neutral party is sent to the monarch of the opposite tribe with a few +Kawa roots. If these are accepted, the struggle is considered over, and a +succession of friendly visits are thereupon exchanged between the chiefs +of the two tribes, which are usually followed up by festivities and much +consumption of Kawa. + +As to the narratives of most earlier travellers that the island is +inhabited by two entirely distinct races, the one yellow the other black, +we could neither see nor hear of anything which would confirm such a +statement. It seemed more probable that the diversity of skin and hair +among the various tribes was exclusively caused by a variety of crosses, +which are still frequent, and in former times must have been still more +prevalent. The present population consists of whites, negroes, and +yellow-coloured aborigines, who, as speaking a dialect allied to that of +Polynesia, seem to belong to the Malay-Polynesian _stirps_. The present +white settlers are English and North Americans; formerly they were chiefly +Spanish and Portuguese who traded with the natives. Negro slaves and free +blacks have also occasionally visited the island, or been left there for +good and all. These considerations alone suffice to explain certain +appearances among the natives, such as brown or yellow skins, with crisp +woolly hair, and very full lips, without any more marked characteristics +of the Ethiopian race. We noticed one native with woolly hair of a reddish +hue, but otherwise of strongly-marked Malay features, and on inquiring +into his ancestry, were informed in reply that his father was a Portuguese +(negro understood), and his mother a native. + +The daughter of Doctor Cook, the Scotchman already mentioned, of whose +union with a native woman of the island there was issue a handsome +well-shaped _mestiza_ of a light yellow colour, strongly recalling the +stately, elegant quadroons of New Orleans and St. Domingo, had +intermarried with a full-blooded negro of the district of Columbia, U. S., +from which resulted a new and entirely dissimilar admixture. Their +children had the face of the mother, with the woolly head of the father. + +At all events it may be laid down with some degree of certainty, that the +aboriginal races, especially those inhabiting the Caroline Archipelago, +are not of the Pelagian Mongols, nor are they an offshoot of the Mongolian +race of the Asiatic continent, as Lesson maintained; also that Puynipet +has not been peopled by the Papuan negroes; that the woolly crisp hair of +so many of its inhabitants is mainly explained by the intimacy between the +black crews of the whalers (it being well known that a large proportion of +the crews of the American whalers are negroes), some 50 or 60 of which +visit the island every year, and often remain for several weeks taking in +provisions and other stores. + +Puynipet has been for some years past the chief rendezvous of the whalers +in the Caroline Archipelago, because it is of all the islands the most +accessible, has the best and safest harbours, and because fuel and water +are procurable thence in unlimited quantities. + +The complexion of the natives is of a clear copper hue, and the average +height of the males is 5 feet 8 in.; the women are much smaller than the +men, with delicate features and flexible forms. The sons of the chiefs are +usually well formed, and lighter in colour than the majority of the +population, the consequence of their being less exposed to the weather, +and in any part of the world would pass for elegant men. The nose is +arched, the mouth wide with full lips and dazzling teeth. The flap of the +ear is bored in both sexes, but is rarely much enlarged by artificial +means. Both men and women have beautiful black hair, which they take great +care of. + +The men have neither beard nor mustachios. They eradicate the hair so soon +as it makes its appearance on the cheeks by means of mussel-shells, or two +little pieces of tortoise-shell sharpened. The women are usually pretty, +but as the girls marry very young they soon lose the freshness of youth. +Their complexion is much fairer than that of the men. The cause of this is +to be found in their wearing a sort of upper robe of calico; a large +piece of stuff with a hole in the centre through which to put the head, +which thus protects their bodies somewhat from the direct rays of the sun. + +The natives are said to be very temperate and methodical in their habits +of life. They rise at daybreak, bathe in the river, take a little +vegetable food, anoint their bodies with cocoa-nut oil, after which they +sprinkle themselves plentifully with powdered turmeric. This done, they +address themselves to some simple avocation, which they prosecute till +noon, when they once more withdraw to their huts, bathe, and partake of +another equally frugal repast. The rest of the day is spent in amusements +and mutual visiting. Towards sunset they take a third meal, and as they +have neither torches nor artificial light of any sort, they usually retire +early to rest, unless fishing or dancing by moonlight. + +Much respect and consideration is paid to the weaker sex throughout the +island, they not being put to any work which does not come within their +regular sphere of duty. All outdoor work is done by the men, who build the +huts and canoes, plant yams and Kawa, fish, transport the food from the +plantation to the house, and even cook it. + +The women are chiefly occupied within-doors, in fishing, or cleaning the +vegetables, most of their time being taken up with preparing head-dresses, +weaving girdles, sewing together palm or pandanus leaves for clothes, +plaiting elegant baskets, and looking after the house and children. + +Never at any time patterns of virtue and chastity, the importation of +European trinkets and luxuries of all sorts has greatly increased the +spread of immorality among the native women, who are actuated by an +insatiate, irresistible craving to possess articles of European +manufacture. + +When a native wishes to marry, he makes a present to the father of the +girl he wishes to marry; if not returned, it is understood his addresses +are accepted. Thereupon invitations are issued to a merry-making, with +feast, and dance, and revel, after which the bridegroom conducts his bride +to his dwelling. When she dies the widower marries her sister, the brother +in like manner being required to marry his widowed sister-in-law in the +case of the death of the husband, even though he may happen to be already +married. Under certain circumstances a man is at liberty to divorce his +wife and take another; a woman, on the other hand, enjoys no such +privilege, unless she happen to be of higher rank. The chiefs usually have +several wives, polygamy, as among the Mormons, being only limited by the +means of providing subsistence. The women are of an unusually gossiping, +talkative turn, they are quite incapable of keeping their own secrets, and +many a delinquency is generally known at the very moment of its +commission. + +The funeral ceremonies seem to have undergone some modification since the +natives began to have intercourse with Europeans. In former times the dead +were enveloped in straw mats, and kept for a considerable time in the +huts: through the influence of the missionaries, apparently, they have +adopted the European custom of interring their dead in certain special +places. On the death of a chief or any exalted person, the female +relatives of the deceased assemble to mourn for a specific period, and +betray their sorrow by loud sobs and lamentations by day and dances by +night. The connections of the deceased cut off their hair as a mark of +their sorrow. All the goods and clothes of the defunct are carried away by +whoever is nearest or first possesses himself of them, and this custom is +so universal that objects thus obtained are thenceforth considered as +lawful property. + +The natives usually pray to the spirits of their departed chiefs, whom +they implore to grant them success in fishing, rich harvests in +bread-fruit and yams, the arrival of numerous foreign ships with beautiful +articles for barter, and a variety of similar matters. The priests of +their idols profess to be able to read the future, and the natives place +the most implicit confidence in these predictions. They believe that the +priest is inspired with the spirit of a deceased chief, and that every +word they utter when in this excited state is dictated by the departed. +When any of these prophecies fail, as is often enough the case, the +cunning priest pretends that another more powerful spirit has interfered, +and forcibly prevented the accomplishment of what they had foretold. + +The religion of this primitive people is very simple. They have neither +idols nor temple, and although they believe in a future state after death, +they seem to have no religious customs or festivals of any sort. Their +notion of a future state is under such circumstances exceedingly +extraordinary. + +Their abode after death they believe to be surrounded by a colossal wall +amid a fathomless abyss, in fact a sort of fortress. The only portal into +this Elysian abode is guarded by an old woman, whose duty it is to hurl +back into the yawning deep the shadows of the departed, who are compelled +to spring upwards from the abyss. Such of the shadows as succeed in +eluding the evil spirit and effecting an entrance are for ever happy; on +the other hand, those whom the malicious female demon succeeds in +precipitating into the abyss sink into the region of endless woe and +torture. + +The native festivals, as a rule, take precedence of every other business, +no matter how pressing. Every year the king visits the various villages +and settlements of those of his tribe, at which period the chief +festivities take place, the chiefs vieing with each other in entertaining +him. Enormous quantities of yam and bread-fruit are on such occasions +cooked two days previous, and Kawa is drunk to excess. + +Their dances are far from unbecoming, and are quite free from those +lascivious gestures which are so often seen at the festivals of the other +inhabitants of the South Sea. The dancers are usually unmarried lads and +girls, who stand opposite each other in long rows. While keeping time with +their feet to the music, they accompany the dance with graceful motions of +the arms and upper part of the body. Occasionally they throw their arms +out, snap their fingers, and then clap the hands together. Every movement +is performed with extraordinary precision, and at the same moment by all +the dancers. Their sole musical instrument is a small flute made of +bamboo-cane, the notes of which they draw forth by inserting one end in +the nostril and blowing gently, while their hands are busy fingering the +holes in the usual way. + +Their drum is a piece of hollowed-out wood with the skin of a shark +stretched over it, of the shape of a sand-glass. This is struck with the +fingers of the right hand, the instrument being hung on the left side. The +sound somewhat resembles the Tom-tom of the Hindoos. The drummer sits +cross-legged on the ground, and accompanies the beat of the drum with +apposite words. + +As to the monumental ruins of the interior of Puynipet which have never +yet been visited and described by scientific travellers, we were informed +that they consisted of nothing more than a large number of colossal +rough-hewn blocks of basalt in the heart of the forest, near Metelenia +harbour. The simplicity of the native, in the absence of all means of +accounting for them naturally, sees in these the grand forms of the +spirits of departed chiefs. Experienced travellers, on the other hand, are +of opinion that in this primeval forest, where now only rocky debris lie +scattered about, there once stood strong fortifications, such as indeed no +savage people could have erected, and that the character of the ruins +evidences a high state of civilization in those who erected them. Some of +the blocks are 8 or 10 feet long, hexagonal, and must evidently have been +brought from some other country, since, with the exception of these, there +are no other stones of a similar description found in any part of the +island. Streets are laid out at various points, and the whole settlement +seems to have consisted of a range of strongly fortified dwellings.[196] + +These columns and blocks, however, possess a special interest not merely +in the history of civilization, but of geology, as a part is at present +under water, and can only be reached in canoes, a difficulty which cannot +have been in existence at the period of their erection. What once were +streets are now passages for canoes, and were the walls, built of massive +basalt blocks, to be pulled up, the water would obtain access to the +inclosed space. This has induced later geologists to refer this phenomenon +to a sinking of the entire group, so that Puynipet is perhaps the only +spot on the earth where Darwin's ingenious theory of the construction of +perpendicular reefs and atolls being the result of a sinking of the soil +on which the coral-animal had begun to erect his edifice, receives +confirmation from the existence of the remains of man's handiwork within +the historic period. + +As even the "oldest inhabitants" could give us not the slightest +information as to these ruins, and their origin and history are plunged +in the utmost obscurity, it seems not improbable that these stone masses +were once the fortified retreat of pirates, and were built by Spanish +corsairs 200 or 300 years back. This hypothesis receives confirmation in +the fact that in 1838 or 1840, a small brass cannon was found on a hill in +the interior, which was brought home as a curiosity by H.M.S. _Larne_. +Occasionally, too, at various parts of the island clearings are found, +some of which are several acres in extent. In one of these, still in +existence near the harbour of Roankiddi, the traveller is shown an +artificial mound of about 20 feet wide, 8 feet high, and a quarter of a +mile long, which has obviously been thrown up as a defence, or else has +been the place of interment for such as have fallen in a severe contest. + +This conjecture adopted, it follows that the present population is of +quite recent introduction, and the rumour of a black race inhabiting the +interior must necessarily be treated as a myth. + +While we were asking questions and getting up information, evening was +beginning to draw on, and we could not remain longer on the island, as it +was necessary to return on ship-board before nightfall, the frigate having +meanwhile been kept cruising under easy sail, about three or four miles +off the island. Another reason for our immediate departure was to be found +in our narrow flat-bottomed craft, which in any sort of sea-way would have +some difficulty in escaping swamping. Had the wind during our return +voyage freshened ever so little, we should have found ourselves in a +serious dilemma. Numbers of herons, white, black, and mottled, were +fishing in the shallow water along the edge of the reefs, the sea-raven +flew in vast flights among the lagoons, while high overhead the graceful +frigate-bird swept along, every now and then darting rapidly down to +secure his booty. + +One of the whites whom we employed as our guide in the island, accompanied +us on board, and asked as his reward some tobacco and clothes, with which +he departed much satisfied. In him, too, we observed a marked and quite +peculiar shyness, especially when on board the frigate. He seemed as +though he dreaded some avenging hand. His glance was timid, his gait and +motions betrayed a sense of insecurity, and he might have readily been +mistaken for some repentant sinner, who in consequence of some evil deed +had fled from civilized society and sought out this distant asylum, where +he had scarcely to fear any other persecution than that of his own +conscience! Hardly any spot, indeed, can be named more suitable for thus +expiating crime than this remote island, where the white man, face to face +with nature in a new and unwonted aspect, and at the mercy of a savage +people, often deprived for months of the consolations and support of +civilization, finds in his solitude ample opportunity to reflect upon the +enormity of his guilt, and to mourn over his own evil fortune. + +As the west wind, which still blew, effectually prevented the frigate +from entering the harbour of Roankiddi, and there was no reason to hope +for any speedy change, our original intention of spending several days +there was abandoned, and the same evening we resumed our course for +Australia. + +As our brief stay of barely five hours on the island of Puynipet +necessarily led to our observations and remarks being of the most +superficial nature, whereas the island has of late years begun to acquire +an unusual importance both in a maritime and a commercial sense, we must +content ourselves with referring the reader for a more detailed account to +Captain Cheyne's admirable and comprehensive account of the island. + +"The Ant Islands (called also Fraser's Islands) lie in a S.W. direction +from the harbour of Roankiddi, from which they are about 12 nautical miles +distant. + +"They consist of a group of low coral islets covered with cocoa-palms and +bread-fruit trees, and surrounded by a coral reef, which makes a lagoon in +the centre. Between the two longer islands at the east end of the group +there is a channel. The entire group from N.W. to S.E. measures seven +miles in width, is only inhabited from May to September, during the period +when the cuttle-fish are caught, and is the property of the chief of the +Roankiddi tribe. However the islands are frequented at all seasons by the +natives of Puynipet, who procure here cocoa-nuts and bread-fruit. The most +north-easterly point lies in 6 deg. 42' N., 158 deg. 3' E. + +"Next the Ant Island is Pakeen, the sole adjoining island. It lies about +22 miles W. of Tschokoits, its central point lying in 7 deg. 10' N. and 157 deg. +43' E. It consists of five small coral islets, completely inclosed in a +reef, which forms an inaccessible lagoon in the interior. + +"The entire group is about five miles in length from west to east, and +from north to south three miles in width. The islands are very low, but +produce an enormous quantity of cocoa-nuts and bread-fruit, while the +lagoon abounds with excellent fish. The westernmost island is inhabited by +about thirty persons in all, mainly of the family and attendants of the +Chief of Puynipet, who claims proprietorship of the whole group. This +scanty population is chiefly engaged in the construction of mats and +canoe-sails made of the leaves of the _pandanus_. In fine weather the +denizens of Pakeen are fond of running over to Puynipet to exchange their +own products for tobacco and other foreign articles. + +"What are marked on the charts as Bottomless Group and St. Augustine's +Islands have no existence. Pakeen and Ant's Islands are the same groups +adjoining each other to the westward of Puynipet." + +Our progress now began to be very slow, and the equatorial zones with +their vexatious calms, and variable light breezes alternating with violent +squalls, became a sore trial for our patience. An unusual and most +oppressive heat, from which we vainly sought shelter; tropical rains, +which often fell in unbroken torrents for hours at a time, and obscured +the daylight with clouds almost as suddenly at times as though there were +an eclipse; a long heavy swell, which knocked the good ship about with an +unceasing and most disagreeable motion, without nevertheless our being +able to advance one single mile in the twenty-four hours; the depressing +monotonous flapping and filling of the sails, which, with the rolling and +pitching of the ship, now bellied out and then fell idly back against the +masts and yards, straining the rigging and cordage, and keeping a constant +indescribable but most irritating noise--such is a faint sketch of the +miseries of voyagers caught by an equatorial calm in a sailing vessel! How +one longs for a good hearty storm, if only to drive us out of this truly +dismal plight! How in the monotony of such an existence does a quite +insignificant circumstance at once assume the proportions of an important +event! The most trifling incident on board, the most imperceptible object +which becomes visible in either atmosphere or water, attracts universal +attention, and gives rise to discussions by the hour. One day some one +perceived a dark object floating in the distance; when the frigate got +near this proved to be the trunk of a tree, almost 100 feet long, and +though at best we could only have used it as firewood, a boat was +forthwith manned and dispatched to tow it alongside. A few black +Albatrosses suffered themselves to be hauled contentedly along upon the +floating trunk, somewhat astonishing us by their being found so near the +equator. Only by dint of considerable exertion was the huge unwieldy +piece of wood brought on board, when the zoologists got a famous lesson in +conchology, from the shell-fish that had fastened on it, and the sailors +chuckled with delight at finding some occupation in cutting up the +vegetable colossus into sizeable pieces. + +At 6.30 P.M. on the 29th Sept., we crossed the equator for the sixth time +in 161 deg. 57' E., and in the Southern hemisphere found we still had to +contend with calms and contrary winds. + + "To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, + Crept in this petty pace from day to day," + +without our making any perceptible progress. When we had reached 4 deg. 15' +S., and 160 deg. 24' E., a circumstance occurred to break the uniformity of +our existence, as according to the charts we were using of the +Hydrographic Institute of England for the year 1856,[197] we must have +been quite close to some coral reefs, known as Simpson's Island. But +although by our observations, after due allowance made for currents, we +were, about 4 P.M. of the 5th October, off the N.W. extremity of the +islands, there was no land of any sort visible on either side even from +the royals, and we accordingly had to conjecture that Captain Simpson, +after whom these islands were named, must have sighted one of the Le Maire +or Tasman group, which lie 40 miles further to the west and 10 miles +further to the north, and had, owing to false reckoning, imagined to have +discovered a new cluster; for on the following day at 6 P.M., when by our +course, which was south-easterly, the island ought to have lain W.N.W. ten +miles distant, not a vestige of land could be descried from the deck, nor +even from the mast-head, so that we felt positive the Simpson group were +neither at the spot laid in the general chart of the English Admiralty, +nor within ten miles of it in either an easterly or westerly +direction.[198] + +A few days after this interlude, an incident of a very peculiar character +took place, which excited universal attention, and more especially greatly +exercised the souls of the superstitious. The occasion was nothing less +than a dread whisper that there was a ghost on board. From time to time, +in fact, dull rumbling sounds were said to be audible, which some +professed to hear above them, others below, some in the fore part of the +ship, others aft. It was a noise like the roll of thunder, or of +cannon-balls that had got loose. The shot-racks were carefully examined, +but everything there appeared to be in its usual order. The sound was +repeated the following days, when there was hanging over us a sky as black +and murky, accompanied by heavy pelts of rain, as though all the clouds +of heaven were lavishing their contents upon us. All on board indulged in +every possible hypothesis that could explain these sounds, and exhausted +themselves in conjectures. Some maintained that one of the volcanoes of +the Solomon group, in the vicinity of which we were at the time, was in a +state of activity, and was the cause of these sub-marine thunders; but the +sailors, sailor-like, insisted it was ghosts playing pranks, and the +attendants refused any longer to remain in the cock-pit, alleging it was +haunted! However, when a second examination was made of the shot-racks, it +was found that no fewer than eighty thirty-pound iron shots had broken +through the wooden bulk-head of the ordnance room, whence they had made +their way into the bread-depot, as it was called, and on its metal floor +had produced the resonance peculiar to the impact of metal against metal. +The mystery was at once solved in the most natural manner, and the +"each-particular-hair-on-end" ghost stories which during the last few days +had been flying from mouth to mouth, forthwith dropped. Thus might many a +"marvel" prove to be the result of some very ordinary cause, if people +would but take the trouble to examine its natural causes, instead of +ascribing everything which they cannot understand or explain to some +supernatural influence. + +At noon of the 7th October, in 6 deg. 37' S., 161 deg. 8' E., we were, according +to chart, 12 miles distant from Bradley's Reef. But although both seamen +and midshipmen were stationed at the mast-heads, in order the more +readily to make it out with the advantage of such an elevation, there was +not the slightest trace perceptible of rocks or shoals, and we sailed +without obstruction over the very spot at which, according to the English +charts, Bradley's Reef rises from the waves. This reef was discovered by +Captain Hunter in May, 1791, two days after he had passed Stewart's Island +(Sikayana), and is doubly dangerous in a climate where the sea rarely runs +so high as to make it easily observed by the surf breaking over it. +According to our observations, collated with those of Captain Cheyne, +Bradley's Reef must lie in about 160 deg. 48' E.[199] + +The same day about 7 P.M., when we were about 120 miles distant from the +N.W. part of the Solomon group, there suddenly and altogether unexpectedly +blazed forth in the western sky an immense and most brilliant comet, with +a yellow, rather bright nucleus, and an enormous tail, sweeping over some +15 deg. or 20 deg. It was about 8 deg. or 10 deg. above the horizon when we observed it. + +This rare phenomenon, during the fourteen days it continued visible, +presented a most excellent opportunity for astronomical observations. Upon +the sailors, usually so superstitious, this splendid celestial visitor +made a much less profound impression than we had anticipated. But few were +apprehensive that the end of the world was at hand, while the majority +seemed quietly to indulge the pleasing anticipation that the wine of the +present year would be good and plentiful. + +At last, on the 8th of October, we sighted the Solomon Islands. Some reefs +which were said to lie a little to the north, adjoining Ontong-Java, we +looked for in vain in the positions assigned them on the charts. On the +other hand we could see the lofty, forest-covered Carteret Island directly +before us. Gower Island lay nearly due west, about four miles distant. +This flat low island, which also is not quite accurately laid down on the +English chart, appears to be about eight miles long, the highest point of +its ridge not exceeding 180 feet above the sea. Its S.E. and N.W. points, +upon which beats a furious surf, extend a full half mile into the sea. We +could nowhere perceive any huts of natives. Nevertheless it is highly +probable, if the island is inhabited at all, that the population would +have settled on the W. side, which is more sheltered against wind and +weather. + +From the hills on Carteret Island smoke was issuing at different points, +but the natives did not put off in their boats, although on the afternoon +of 8th October the frigate was becalmed off the land. When it was found +that in consequence of the violence of the S.E. winds, which alternated +with calms and N.E. squalls accompanied by rain, it would be impossible +for us to pass through "Indispensable Straits," fringed as they are with +coral reefs, it was resolved to range along the N.E. side of the entire +chain of islands, so as to fetch the open passage between San Christoval +(the most south-easterly of the Solomon Islands) and the Nitendi group. We +thus had to beat with much difficulty against a S.E. wind and a strong +current, so that we barely made 15 miles a day. + +On the 13th October, towards evening, we found ourselves about opposite +the large mountainous island of Malayta. This island presents fine +richly-wooded mountain scenery, but without any traces of volcanic +contours. The natives do not appear to dwell near the shore, but among the +hills we could observe cleared spots and huts. Curiously enough the +highest peak of the island, 3900 feet high, is named Kolowrat, a renowned +Austrian name, although it could hardly have been an Austrian navigator +who gave it to this mountain. Many others of these islands, however, have +German names, though the majority indicate their discovery by the French +navigators, Bougainville, Senville, and Dumont d'Urville, to whom the +sea-faring world are indebted for their first acquaintance with this +interesting group. During the afternoon a heavy blow came on from the +S.S.E., upon which we put about and steered E. by S., but had hardly made +the alteration, ere it came on to blow from N.N.E., with such fearful +violence that the cross-jack-yard, which was already sprung, broke in two, +and the sheet of the main try-sail gave way. It was the heaviest squall we +encountered during the voyage. Fortunately the cross-jack-yard had as a +precaution been firmly lashed, so that the two ends continued to hang in +the air. Consequently what might have been a serious calamity was avoided, +and the result of the accident was confined to the difficult task of +disengaging the unwieldy shattered yard. Towards evening a heavy rain +fell, and the wind went down. In the course of the profoundly calm night +which followed, the current swept us so close in shore, that by morning we +were not more than two or three miles distant. A few small boats with +natives were about, which endeavoured to approach us, but only one of +their number succeeded. These boats were not ordinary canoes, but +regularly decked and deep-waisted boats, with high stem and stern, not +unlike the boats in use at the Island of Madeira. + +The one which came alongside was manned by five brownish-black men, +perfectly naked, with thick crisp hair resembling a wig, which seemed to +be stained red with ochre. By way of special adornment, some wore in their +side hair a yellowish-red tuft, something like a tassel, and apparently +made of strips of stained bast. One wore a wild boar's tooth in the tip of +the ear, two others had small cylinders neatly carved out of mussel-shells +passed through the nostrils, as well as rings of the same material around +the upper arm and below the knee. When the boat had got within about a +pistol shot from us, one of the natives rose, and in clear strong tones +shouted to us some unintelligible words, while at the same time he pointed +towards the land with very eager, energetic gestures. He seemed desirous +of inviting us to come on shore and visit the islands. At the close of +his address there arose those peculiar reverberating shouts, such as one +would have expected rather to hear among the Styrian Alps than from a +Papuan of the Solomon Islands! Upon this the rest of his companions rose +likewise, and waving in their long arms a piece of tortoise-shell, they +kept shrieking Matte-Matte! for an indefinite period. Not one of them knew +a single word of English, nor could we make ourselves intelligible even +with a vocabulary of the dialects used in the adjoining islands. Although +distant in a direct line N.W. only 60 miles from Stewart's Island and its +inhabitants, they spoke an entirely different idiom, and were likewise +distinguished widely from any of the latter in colour, make, and +physiognomy. Notwithstanding a repeated and pressing invitation to come on +board, they could not be induced to mount the frigate's side, even by the +most tempting promises, nor even by presents of linen-stuffs, tobacco, +articles of clothing, &c. They seemed to have had but little intercourse +with vessels. At length, on our repeated signs, they slowly and shyly came +so near that we could throw a rope on board. The most courageous of their +number planted his foot on the side rope, but made no attempt to proceed +one step further. But we were by this means at all events able to examine +these singular beings more closely. They all had oval faces, and broad, +flat, long noses. Two were full-grown men, of tall powerful frame, while +the rest seemed not above from fourteen to sixteen years old. None of +them were tattooed, but the practice of anointing the body and the want of +cleanliness left many coloured marks upon the skin. One of the lads had a +sort of scaly eruption all over his skin. Beyond the pieces of +tortoise-shell already mentioned, and the ornaments they wore upon their +bodies, they had absolutely nothing in their boats, not even fruit or +other natural products. They rowed a considerable distance after empty +bottles which were pitched into the sea, and one of them seemed to attach +such importance to the possession of these, that he plunged into the water +to swim after them, and thus secure them the more readily. + +Unfortunately our intercourse with these islanders of the Solomon group +was confined to the little episode above related, and as a favourable +breeze once more sprang up, we soon lost sight of these simple savages and +their island. On this occasion the members of the Expedition were +unanimously of opinion (which is not always the case in matters of +personal impressions), that the inhabitants of Malayta were the wildest, +most uncivilized race of men we had as yet encountered in our voyaging to +and fro round the globe. + +During the night numerous watch-fires were visible on the peaks of the +island. Were they lit for the protection of the slumbering inhabitants +against the cold and damp of the night, or were they alarm signals for the +entire population of the island, warning them against dangers that menaced +them? If any apprehensions were entertained by the natives of Malayta +that we had visited their shores with hostile intent, they must have been +of short duration, for the same wind which prevented our making Port Adam, +wafted us the following morning--it was the 16th October, 1858--in sight +of Sikayana. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[191] Occasionally called Bonabe, Bonibet, Funopet (by the French, +Ascension). It lies in 6 deg. 58' N., and 158 deg. 20' E., and, with the two low +atolls adjacent of Andema and Paphenemo (called by the English Ant's +Island and Pakeen respectively) were named by their discoverer, Admiral +Luetke, the Senjawin group, after the name of his ship. + +[192] Captain Andrew Cheyne, of the English mercantile service, to whom +the sea-faring world is indebted for a very complete and excellent account +of the islands of the West Pacific, and who last visited Puynipet in 1846, +reckoned the population of the island at that period at from 7000 to 8000. +See a description of islands in the Western Pacific Ocean, North and South +of the Equator, with sailing Directions, &c. p. 94. London, J. D. Potter. +1852.--Sailing Directions from New South Wales to China and Japan. +Compiled from the most Authentic Sources. By Andrew Cheyne, first Class +Master, Mercantile Navy. p. 136. London, J. D. Potter. 1855. + +[193] The natives of the Engano Islands, to the west of Sumatra, use +precisely similar instruments for the same purpose. + +[194] Yaws is a very common disease among the lower class of the western +and eastern _coast_-population of England. It is unknown almost in +Ireland, where the poorer classes rarely eat fish. + +[195] Captain Cheyne adds to the foregoing lists the following articles; +fish-hooks, butcher's-knives, chisels, hand-saws, bill-hooks, planes, +augers, piles, iron-pots, razors, needles, twine, drills, gay +parti-coloured cotton cloths, cotton hose, woollen cloths, trinkets, glass +beads, straw-hats, chests with lock, key, and handles, spirits. The +equivalents as laid down by Captain Cheyne are as follows:-- + + 12 hens = 24 sticks of negro-head tobacco, or 4 ells + 100 yams = 10 " " " of calico. + 100 bread-fruit = 10 " " " + 100 cocoa-nuts = 10 " " " + 1 cluster of bananas = 2 " " " + +[196] Similar ruins are described by Captain Cheyne as having been also +found in the forests of Nalan (Strong Island) in the Caroline Archipelago, +5 deg. 21' 30'' N., 163 deg. 0' 42'' E. + +[197] From 1st October, 1856, upon which were marked all the improvements +known up to 1857. + +[198] Compare Captain Cheyne's sailing directions, p. 68: "Captain Simpson +of Sydney reported to me in 1845, that a group of low coral islands, +covered with cocoa-nut trees and inhabited, had been seen in 4 deg. 52' S., +and 160 deg. 12' E. This may probably be the same group seen by Captain +Wellings in 1824, which is laid down in Mr. Arrowsmith's chart in latitude +4 deg. 29' S., 159 deg. 28' E." It is matter of surprise in any case that +considering the uncertainty which prevails as to the precise locality of +the reef, its position on the English Admiralty Charts should not at least +be marked _doubtful_. + +[199] A. Cheyne--Sailing Directions from New South Wales to China and +Japan. London, 1855, page 68. + + + [Illustration: Barrier Reef and Atoll of Sikayana.] + + + + + XVII. + + The Coral Island of Sikayana. + + 17th October, 1858. + + Natives on board.--Good prospects of fresh provisions.--An + interment on board.--A night scene.--Visit to the Island Group.-- + Faole.--Voyage trip to Sikayana.--Narrative of an English + sailor.--Cruelty of merchantmen in the South Sea Islands.-- + Tradition as to the origin of the inhabitants of Sikayana.--A + king.--Barter.--Religion of the natives.--Trepang.--Method of + preparing this sea-slug for the Chinese market.--Dictionary of + the native language.--Under sail.--Ile de Contrariete.--Stormy + weather.--Spring a leak.--Bampton Reef.--Smoky Cape.--Arrival in + Port Jackson, the harbour of Sydney. + + +The short distance at which we found ourselves from Sikayana, called +Stewart's Island by the English, as also the prospect of procuring there +fresh provisions for the crew, among whom after 66 days' confinement on +board ship, some symptoms of scurvy began to appear, determined our +Commodore on spending a day there, and effecting a landing. Towards +afternoon, when we were about four or five miles distant from the western +island, two splendid large canoes approached the ship, in which were +fifteen men stark naked, except for a piece of linen round their loins. +They were all tall, robust, powerful men, five and a half to six feet +high, some with long, others broad faces, all having long noses, of a +light brown colour, and the greater number with glossy black hair. With +the exception of one who had whiskers, they were beardless; almost all +being tattooed from the elbow to the shoulder. They spoke broken English, +and even had English names. We never saw among the savage races such +finely built, well-proportioned, healthy-looking men, as these inhabitants +of the coral reef of Sikayana. Their free, unaccustomed, familiar +deportment was something surprising. But our astonishment reached its +height when one of these apparently savage children of nature, happening +to find on a table on the gun-deck a draught-board lying open, immediately +challenged one of the by-standers to a game, which it seems he understood +so well that he beat his antagonist two games out of three. We afterwards +heard that the natives at Sikayana have learned draughts, as also an +English game at cards known as "odd fourth," of which they seemed +passionately fond, from some English sailors, who several years before had +spent five months on these islands, preparing Trepang, or _biche-de-mar_, +for the Chinese market, those sea-slugs having formerly been found here in +large quantities. + +To our question whether they had fresh provisions for sale, and of what +description, they replied that they possess on the island plenty of Taro, +cocoa-nuts, bananas, pigs, and poultry, which they would willingly +exchange for fish-hooks, tobacco, calico, gunpowder, ammunition, biscuit, +playing-cards, and ornaments for their wives. For money they did not show +the slightest desire, and of the value of gold they seemed to be utterly +ignorant. They showed the utmost eagerness for playing-cards and trinkets. + +We now also learned that there was on the island one white settler, an +English sailor. This man attempted to come off to the frigate in a small +canoe, but owing to night setting in, he could not reach her. As these +hearty people were taking their leave, we promised to pay them a visit +early next morning, with which they seemed highly delighted. + +There still remained the same evening one mournful duty for those on board +the _Novara_. During the afternoon one of our sailors had died after +protracted sufferings consequent on dysentery, and we had now, for +sanitary reasons, to commit his remains to the deep the very evening of +his death. It was already dark when the officers and crew were mustered on +deck, to pay the last honours to the departed. The captain gave the +customary orders, the ship's bell tolled, the narrow plank, on which lay +the body of the deceased sewn up in his hammock, was brought to the +gangway, where an iron weight was attached to the body by the feet, and +last of all the plank being tilted up, the heavy body plunged into the +waves with a hollow splash, and the watery tomb closed over him. + +We looked down into the abyss and beheld myriads of stars reflected in +all their lustre in the smooth mirror of the ocean; the deep, blue, +unfathomable ocean appearing like a second firmament beneath our feet! +Nothing in the gay scene around seemed out of harmony with the mournful +act which the community of Christians on board the _Novara_ had been +celebrating. Everything about us--the brightly glistening stars, the +whispering ripple of the waves, the balmy atmosphere, all left an +impression of a higher state of felicity and tranquil happiness, and +seemed to remind us that everything in the universe, even the poor remains +we had just committed to the waves, obeyed but one eternal, immutable law! + +On the morning of 17th October, three boats put off from the _Novara_ with +some of the officers and all the naturalists of the Expedition, bound for +Sikayana, between three and four miles distant, while the frigate cruised +about in the vicinity. + +Stewart's Atoll (8 deg. 22' S., 162 deg. 58' E.) is a semi-lunar coral reef of +about sixteen miles in circumference, with a deep lagoon in its centre, +and five small wooded islands on the reef itself, which are visible from +the deck of a ship about twelve miles away, and were first discovered by +Captain Hunter, in May, 1791. These islands are named Sikayana, Faole, +Manduiloto, Barena, and Maduawe, and are so overgrown with cocoa-nut +palms, that they appear capable of supporting a population of about 1000 +souls (with the wants and requirements of men in the tropics). + +The two largest islands, Sikayana and Faole, lie exactly at the sharp +horns of the lune-shaped atoll. Here we again had an opportunity of +observing the configuration of which all known atolls furnish examples, +viz. that the islands found adjoining these reefs are almost invariably at +the projecting extremities, where the surf rages on either side, and where +consequently the conditions are most favourable for the heaping up of +detached fragments of coral. The area of habitable dry land is to the +extent of the reef in the proportion of 1 : 21. As may readily be assumed +from the physical conditions of the islands, there is no drinkable water +to be found upon them; the liquid contents of the cocoa-nut when fresh is +almost the only beverage of the inhabitants, and hence the first thing the +natives asked for when they came on board was for some "drinking-water," +since, except of course during the wet season, when they catch the +rain-water, this is a rarity with them--we might almost say an article of +luxury. + +Sikayana, the Big Island of the English, the most easterly and largest of +the islands, is about 1 1/6th statute mile in length, and lies in 8 deg. 22' +24'' S., and 163 deg. 1' E. The reef which surrounds the island sinks at +certain points sheer downwards, so that a ship may in perfect safety +approach within a cable's length. We had to sail for a considerable time +along this line of reef, on which the sea beat with a thundering surf, ere +we came to one of those spots on the N.W. side where it is practicable in +a boat to pass the atoll reef into the tranquil lagoon, which it encloses. +At all times, even in the calmest weather, a tremendous surf roars against +the reef, and even this point is inaccessible when there is a fresh breeze +blowing. Here we found some of the canoes of the natives awaiting our +approach, who now, as though they had been on the look-out for our +arrival, came off to us, some in their boats, others swimming, to inform +us that, it being ebb-tide, the entry into the lagoon was not very easy, +but that at high-water one could pass right over the reef, in even larger +boats than ours. It was accordingly arranged that two of the boats should +anchor outside the reef, and only one should be hauled inside the lagoon +with a rope for our further use. But even this could not be managed until +by removing all baggage and transhipping almost her entire crew, she had +been made sufficiently light. + +The passage between the coral reefs and the lagoon is at high-water about +three feet deep, but at lowest ebb it is barely a foot in depth, and three +to four feet wide, and then the reef juts up at most points to such +extent, that a skilled equilibrist may (although not to the advantage of +his soles) easily reach the interior of the lagoon without wetting his +shoes. As soon, however, as this narrow entrance, which is about 300 feet +long, has been passed, the navigation becomes easier. The appearance of +the reef was very peculiar. Corals of every description, _Astraeae_, +_Maeandrinae_, _Madriporae_, form a sort of series of clusters of +stone-bushes, among which beautifully mottled fish swim about, while +starfish of an exquisite indigo blue, and mussels of the most +extraordinary forms, people the ground. + +The atoll presents some very remarkable geological features. At its N.W. +side, close to the reef and as it were growing to it, stand two singular +vase-shaped rocks, from 8 to 10 feet in height. While their base is +bathed by the sea, their upper portions, which are about 20 feet in +diameter, present the spectacle of luxuriant grass, brushwood, and one or +two fruit-bearing cocoa-nut palms, so that the two crags looked like two +gigantic flower-pots attached to the reef. They seem to be all that +remains of an island which Ocean had first thrown up, and was now busy +wearing away. + +Another geological peculiarity is the occurrence of heaps of pumice-stone. +These are found about the size of walnuts over the entire interior of the +island of Faole at those places which the swell of the waves cannot reach +even in the stormiest weather, where they occur in such immense quantities +(though there are no traces of them on the sand or shingle of the actual +beach) that we may take for granted that the convulsion which brought them +here must have occurred in times long gone by, the more so as this +superposed pumice-stone exercises a marked and obvious influence upon the +vegetation of the island. So far as its soil consists of heaps of +fragments of coral and mussel-shells, the cocoa-nut palm reigns almost +alone, whereas as soon as the pumice-stone region is reached, there begins +an exceedingly luxuriant growth of lofty forest trees with huge trunks and +umbrageous foliage, and an astonishingly abundant _flora_ of species +apparently peculiar to these Atoll islands. The English naturalist Jukes, +who accompanied Captain Blackwood on his survey of Torres Straits, found +beds of pumice along the entire east and north coasts of Australia, over +an extent of 2000 miles, and under numerous special conditions, but most +frequently on flat grounds elevated about ten feet above high-water mark +and more or less distant from the beach--never upon the beach itself. The +occurrence of pumice in such vast quantities is of no slight interest in a +geological point of view. It must have been some tremendous natural +convulsions, an earthquake wave of enormous lateral dimensions, which +threw up this pumice-stone, and deposited it throughout this entire region +at the same height above high-water mark. Since this phenomenon occurred, +the general level of the coasts and islands on which this deposit of +pumice is found, can scarcely have undergone any considerable alteration, +if one is not inclined to assume for the entire region a perfectly equal +elevation or depression. + +The whole party of Excursionists had wandered along the reef to a spot at +which we could embark once more, so as to row over to the next island, +Faole, which, however, the natives do not much frequent, except +occasionally to collect cocoa-nuts and pandanus fruits. But as one main +object had to be accomplished, namely, the supply of the ship with fresh +provisions, which were not found here, some of the party went off to the +principal settlement on the island of Sikayana, to barter some goods they +had brought, against as much private supplies for themselves as could be +conveniently conveyed to the boats and so taken on board. + +While the natives were paddling along in their elegant canoes, escorting +us as far as Sikayana, we offered a seat in our boat to the only white man +on the island, the English sailor already mentioned. This man was named +John Davis, about forty years of age, a native of Greenwich, and was, +according to his own story, left behind against his will by Captain Ross, +a "sandal-wooder," who had visited this group in 1858. He stated he had +just before been with Captain Ross at the Tonga Islands, where the captain +sent two sailors on shore to fell sandal-wood. These men, however, got +into a quarrel with the natives, who would not permit them to rob them of +their property, in the course of which they lost their lives. The captain +immediately proceeded to the islands himself with some of his crew well +armed, attacked the unfortunate natives, shot five, and then sailed off. +Davis had become obnoxious to the captain, because in consequence of +over-work he had fallen ill with intermittent fever, and could not work, +upon which his remorseless superior cast about how to get rid of the now +useless seaman, and resolved to put him ashore by force on the next island +which came in sight. What a fearful doom! To be abandoned, sick and +helpless, on a lone island far from the highways of the world, where ships +but seldom touched, and amid savages with whose tongue he was +unacquainted! If even one were disposed to doubt the possibility of such +inhuman cruelty, it would find mournful confirmation in many similar +instances. To this charge the "sandal-wooders" are especially amenable, +who visit the islands of the South Sea to collect the costly sandal-wood, +and in the prosecution of their enterprise seem to go upon the exclusive +principle that the coloured man has no property over the natural wealth +of these islands, and has no right to resist the wishes of the white man! + +Commander Erskine of H.M.S. _Savannah_, mentions a case in which an +English merchantman, engaged in the sandal-wood traffic, entered into an +engagement to employ his whole crew in assisting one native tribe to +overpower its neighbour, in return for which timely assistance certain +places were pointed out where the coveted sandal-wood was found in great +abundance. A battle took place, and a number of prisoners were carried on +board the ship, of whom, during the passage to the sandal-wood-producing +islands, several were in the presence of the European crew coolly +slaughtered and eaten by their cannibal foes of the Fee-jee Islands!! + +Davis, whom the natives for distinction's sake called simply "the white +man," could not expatiate enough on the cordiality and kind treatment he +received from the poor inhabitants of Sikayana during his stay. Since +April no ship had called at the island, or even been visible from it. He +begged the favour of a passage to Sydney, which was readily accorded him +on condition he would first repay all his obligations to the natives, and +that on their side there should be no objections made to his leaving. On +our arrival in Sydney we learned that Captain Ross, who had put Davis +ashore at Sikayana, had been tried for another still greater atrocity; he +had inflicted Lynch-law, by hanging some of the natives of New Caledonia +at his yard-arm. Ross was somewhat later acquitted by the judges at +Sydney, but public opinion reversed the verdict. + +After a row of an hour and a half we at last reached the island of +Sikayana, having previously met three canoes, one of which was manned by +twelve rowers, who now entered on a sort of regatta contest with us. These +canoes, not more than a foot and a half wide, glide with uncommon velocity +through the water, but despite their outriggers, they are not adapted for +carrying much provisions. We found it quite easy to land at the place, and +drew up our boat upon the sandy beach. + +The world of these islanders, the entire area of dry habitable land upon +this coral reef, is about one-eighth of an English square mile; no stream, +no mountain, no eminence adorns the island, the highest part of which is +just sufficiently elevated to enable the winds and waves to heap up sand +and debris; around it on every side is the boundless ocean, and its +mineral wealth is reduced to one single mineral, carbonated chalk, +deposited in the brine by thousands of millions of coral-animals. Hither +too the ocean in some extraordinary cases wafts pumice and other stones +lighter than water, which somewhat improve the soil, or occasionally +stones are transported, entangled in the roots of floating trees, with +which the denizens of this little place can grind the mussel-shells, of +which they make all their tools, as well as knives and hatchets. + +The immense vegetable kingdom has but 20 or 30 representatives here, whose +seeds have been transported hither by the sea from richer and more +congenial soils, and thrown up by it upon the strand. Animals are still +more scarce. A few sea-swallows and insects form the whole Fauna of the +group. The sea furnishes the only supply of animal food, in the shape of +fish, crabs, and shell-fish. One may well ask, what degree of moral or +spiritual development can be attained by a race of men whose sphere of +action is confined to a solitary coral reef! Yet the mode of existence of +the inhabitants of Stewart's Islands is by no means of the most primitive +or simple nature; through the occasional visits of ships they have +obtained much, by which they have sensibly improved their condition. They +now possess swine, poultry, and various tubers, which seem greatly to +thrive on the island, and which they can now exchange for other articles +of prime necessity. + +Sikayana is the only member of the group which is permanently inhabited, +and that by a sincerely hospitable, most friendly race. Their origin is +variously accounted for. + +Among the natives themselves there is a dim tradition that Captain Cook +transported hither the first settlers. Another version is, that the first +inhabitants came from South Island, 130 miles W. of Stewart's Islands, and +that they were brought hither by whalers, which latter, when they no +longer needed the services of these poor people, sought how most easily to +get rid of them. At the same time several English and American sailors, +who at various times have been left in these islands in consequence of +sickness, want of further employment, love of adventure, or quarrels with +their captains, must have largely contributed to the present quite +peculiar mixture. The practice of leaving upon any suitable island such +natives of the South Sea groups as may take service with English or +American whalers, is very common, and sufficiently explains the mode of +first settling many of these islands of Oceania. + +When Captain Cheyne, who has greatly contributed to our more intimate +knowledge of the islands of the West Pacific, visited Sikayana in +September, 1847, the population amounted to 48 men, 73 women, and 50 +children, who inhabited a small village lying on the lagoon at the eastern +end of the island. Although eleven years had elapsed ere we visited this +simple community, their numbers did not appear materially to have +increased. + +Considering the powerful, healthy appearance of the natives, it should +seem that we must ascribe this stagnation in amount of population less to +the influence of climate, than to the ravages of the various diseases +which are from time to time introduced by foreign ships. Thus we saw one +woman whose whole body was deeply marked with small-pox, and presented a +living example that the fell scourge of all uncivilized races is no longer +unknown in Sikayana. + +At the landing-place we were received by the king of the island, a very +aged man with grey hair and silver beard. He sat on the grass close to the +shore under the shade of cocoa-nut palms, driving away with his hand the +flies which were stinging his naked body. After a brief welcome he +invited us to be seated beside him on Nature's own soft green carpet. + +The natives whom we met here were all tall handsome men, with good +features, decidedly of a European cast. The hair was black, very crisp, +but not the slightest appearance of being woolly. Many had shaved it till +there only remained a long tail; most of them had their arms and legs +tattooed, but wore no ear or nose ornaments like the Solomon Islanders. +Round the loins they wore a sort of girdle, four or five inches wide, of +strips of plants plaited by the women. In addition to this, most of them +wore some piece of European clothing; drawers, old caps, but most commonly +a sort of jacket without sleeves made of calico, which only covered the +back and chest. Like the natives of the Nicobars, they showed great +curiosity to learn our names, and kept repeating them over and over, +apparently to impress them upon their memory. They had beyond a doubt +taken their own names from sailors and ship captains, with whom they had +once been in communication. + +Close to the shore, among some scattered palm-trees, stood a few wretched +huts, compared with which the bee-hive huts of the Nicobar Islanders +appear like palaces. They consisted of a roofing woven of cocoa-nut +palm-leaves, planted upon the naked soil which serves as a floor, and +closed in front and rear with mats of similar texture. The interior was no +less poverty-stricken than the exterior. We could see no articles of +furniture beyond a few baskets and battered boxes, in which the islanders +stow away their small property. + +A crowd of eager expectants had gathered round the crates of merchandise +which our sailors had brought on shore, and the barter began. + +The natives had swine, poultry, a few eggs, papayas, Taro, cocoa-nuts, and +bananas to offer, while we had an assortment of knives, hatchets, saws, +flints, fish-hooks, calico, linen, blue cloth, ribbons, linen-thread, +needles, coarse tobacco, biscuit, red coral, glass beads, empty bottles, +&c. &c. + +This commerce was something higher than a mere barter--it had also a +psychological interest of its own. Useful goods and tools found a much +less demand than baubles and objects of personal adornment; and for a +string of glass beads only fit to hang round the neck of a wife, or to put +as a bracelet upon the arm of some little dusky daughter, provisions +enough were given away to have supported an entire family for days. + +Red and green seemed the colours most in demand, and the small beads were +in far more request than the larger and heavier descriptions, even if +these latter were more costly and neat. It seemed the women were not +permitted to show themselves at market, which must have been a sore enough +disappointment for many; but the men earnestly requested before closing +with an offer to be permitted to carry off the coveted prizes, leaving +their own articles of barter in pledge, apparently with the gallant +attention of first of all obtaining the advice and consent of their +better halves. Hence it frequently happened that the article first +selected was exchanged for some other widely different, or the whole +bargain given up. + +The women whom we afterwards saw in their huts were all tall and +powerfully built, but very unattractive, the majority appearing +prematurely old. The sole covering was a piece of gay-coloured calico +tolerably wide, which they wore around their loins. Their lower limbs and +faces were tattooed, the latter however with only a few cross-bars. + +The two hampers of assorted articles, which was our stock in trade, were +ere long nearly emptied, and as the sailors would have found it hard work +to bring off the provisions we had purchased in our small boat, it was +agreed to break up our improvised exchange, and return to Faole with our +valuable cargo of fresh provisions.[200] + +While the barter was going on, the author of this narrative occupied +himself with making some anthropometrical measurements, and at the same +time noting down a few cursory remarks respecting these interesting +people. + +The chief food of these islanders consists of fish, cocoa-nuts, taro, and +the fruit of the pandanus (_dawa_); only at rare intervals do they taste +pork or poultry. The rearing of pigs and poultry is chiefly carried on for +the purpose of trading with foreign vessels, so as to obtain in return the +products of a higher civilization. Their fish-nets are prepared from the +rind of their trees. A few looms which they also possess have been given +them by whale-fishers. The cincture round the loins, which is their sole +article of apparel, is also prepared from the inner bark of the tree. + +When the king dies, the oldest member of the community is elected his +successor. At their festivals they sing in a sort of monotonous drone, and +blow at the same time through mussel-shells. + +When mourning for the dead, they stain their faces red with the seeds of +the _Bixa orellana_, and wear a piece of white calico, shaped something +like a capuchin's hood, which reaches down till it covers the shoulder. +One native, who was wearing one of these head coverings, could not be +induced to traffic, nor even to approach the place where our improvised +market was being held, because, as he made us understand, one of his near +relatives had lately died. Altogether the inhabitants of Sikayana struck +us as a primitive, very moral, and honourable race, and it made us almost +melancholy to think that these excellent people should be without the +blessings of Christianity. To our great amazement, however, we learned +that the natives themselves strenuously opposed the settlement in their +midst of any missionaries of any Christian denomination,--"Because," said +they, "all their Kai-kai (i. e. their food) would belong to the +missionaries." This naive reply reminds us of a similar remark on the part +of the Quiche Indians, which we once overheard in the highlands of +Guatemala, in whose language a missionary or priest is known as +Ki-sol-re-le-ak-uch, which being interpreted means "devourer of all hens!" +And just as among the Mormons every care is taken to keep certain +professions out of their community, as, for instance, the physician, in +order to prevent illness, or the lawyer, with the intent to keep away +law-suits, thus in their simplicity the natives of Sikayana have fallen +into the error of viewing the missionary, that moral physician, as only of +importance or of necessity in those places where there are really +spiritual and moral evils to cure! + +The liquors of Europe are as yet but little known to the inhabitants of +Sikayana. In none of the huts could we discern any sort of spirituous +fluids, nor was any offered to us. Even during the trading, amid the +demands for every sort of article, no desire was expressed for them, not a +question even was asked respecting them, whereas hitherto all the wild or +semi-savage races with which we came in contact at once clamoured for +"Brandy," and not seldom presented themselves in a riotous condition. +That there is as yet no demand for spirits at Sikayana shows how little +intercourse they can as yet have had with civilization. In former years +this group was occasionally visited by American and English merchantmen, +owing to the abundance of Trepang. Since the year 1845, however, when one +American captain collected 250 Chinese piculs[201] (about 15 tons), and +ten years later when Captain Cheyne in the course of nine months gathered +265 piculs (about 16-3/4 tons), the business is no longer profitable and +at present years sometimes slip by without a ship lying to off Sikayana. + +As these worm-like animals,[202] which in the dried state command, like +the Salangan swallows' nests, a high price as a costly delicacy in China +and Japan, form an important article of commerce and employ a considerable +number of ships annually, we shall indulge in a few remarks on the very +laborious operations of preparing the Trepang. + +Of the large number of varieties of Trepang which are found among the +coral reefs of the Pacific, there are only ten suited to the Chinese +market, which are accurately distinguished by their special names. As they +fetch a price according to quality of from 6 to 35 dollars per picul, it +is a matter of great importance to obtain the very highest qualities. + +The four species most in demand are known in China by the following +names,--_Bangkolungan_, _Kiskisan_, _Talipan_, and _Munang_, each of which +has a distinctive appearance, and is found at various depths on the coral +reefs. + +_Bangkolungan_, when captured, is from 11 to 15 inches in length, of an +oval form, brown on the back, white on the belly, incrusted with chalk, +and with a row of papillae or warts along the side. This species is hard, +stiff, and possesses hardly any means of progression beyond expanding and +contracting at will. They are found on the inner edge of the coral reef in +coral-sandy ground, under water of from 2 to 10 fathoms, and are difficult +to get at without diving. Kiskisan is from 6 to 12 inches long, oval, very +black, smooth on the back, dark grey belly, and with a row of papillae +along its side. This description is found in shallow water near the +highest portion of the reef, and on a bottom of coral and sand. _Talipan_ +varies in length from 9 inches to 2 feet, and is the most peculiar-looking +of all the Trepang species. This sort is found in all parts of the reef, +but chiefly in water of from 2 to 3 fathoms. It is of a dark red colour, +and less bulky than either of the sorts already described. The back is +covered with large red spots, which readily distinguish it from all other +species. It is more flexible than the black sort, and more difficult to +prepare. _Munang_ is oval, small, quite black, and rarely measures above +eight inches in length. It has neither warts nor other excrescences, and +is found in shallow water on the coral flats, and frequently also among +the sea-tangle along the shore. It is this sort which the Americans +usually catch at the Fee-jee Islands. In the Chinese markets, a picul of +_Munang_ is worth 15 to 25 dollars. Besides these four principal species, +there are a variety of less valuable descriptions, such as Zapatos-China, +Lowlowan, Balati-blanco, Matan, Hangenan, and Zapatos-Grande. + +In order to prepare these four sorts of Trepang for commerce, they are +first soaked in a large iron kettle for from 5 to 10 minutes in boiling +water, and when thoroughly heated through, are taken out. The portion of +the animal which is cut off, when well boiled, should be of an amber +colour tinged with blue, and feel somewhat like Indian rubber. + +A certain degree of dexterity and practice are requisite for boiling +Trepang to the proper point and afterwards drying it. While it becomes +puffed out through too sudden an application of heat, and porous like +sponge, too low a temperature or too short a time destroys it on the other +hand, and in 24 hours it becomes quite tainted. Trepang dried in the sun +is more valuable than that dried on the island, nor does the native ever +care for those he dries over his wood fire. Probably the former mode of +preparing it would not pay for a ship, since at least twenty days are +necessary to dry Trepang in the sun, whereas over a wood fire the same +end is attained in four days. + +On the whole, the precautions requisite properly to prepare Trepang are so +manifold and require such an expenditure of time, that only those who for +years have been exclusively devoted to the business can secure a +successful result. Consequently the trade is exceedingly remunerative, and +numbers of captains have within a very few years realized a competency and +even affluence by preparing Trepang for the Chinese market. + +We employed our time, when sailing back to the island of Faole, in +finishing a small vocabulary of the language in use by the inhabitants of +the Stewart Island group, which we accomplished with the last stroke of +the oar that brought our heavily-laden boat back to Faole, where the rest +of our companions already anxiously awaited our return. We had occasion to +remark with surprise the perseverance and readiness of comprehension of +one native named Karosi, to whose assistance we are entirely indebted for +the preparation of this vocabulary. + +After a stay of about four hours on the island, we returned to the ship +about 4.30 P.M., and by sundown were again under weigh for Sydney.[203] If +the inhabitants of the Solomon group were the most savage race of men we +encountered throughout our cruise, these amiable Sikayanese left on us the +impression of being the most moral and peacefully disposed race of +aborigines that we became acquainted with, and even to this day the few +fleeting but highly suggestive hours we spent with these primitive people +are among the most singular, yet delightful, on which memory rests, when +recalling the incidents of our circumnavigation.[204] + +A fresh breeze hurried us rapidly to the southward during the 18th, but we +soon entered once more upon the region of squalls[205] and calms, and on +19th and 20th October we were lying listlessly about 15 miles E., by +chart, from Sesarga,[206] called also _Ile de Contrariete_ (9 deg. 49' S., +162 deg. 13' E.), condemned to inactivity to the northward of San Christoval. +We could now satisfy ourselves that it is quite erroneous to identify this +island with that seen by Pedro de Ortega in 1567, round in shape, and with +a lofty volcano in its midst continually throwing up smoke and steam. _Ile +de Contrariete_, as seen from the deck of our frigate, presented the +appearance of a long wooded ridge, averaging about 800 feet in height, +whereas some of the peaks of San Christoval, 3000 or 4000 feet in height, +presented all the configuration peculiar to a volcanic island; this was +especially the case with one remarkably regular cone of about 2000 feet in +height, which rises quite close to Cape Surville. So that Burney's theory +seems the most probable, that Ortega's Sesarga is no other than Mount +Lammot, 8000 feet high, on Guadalcanar (9 deg. 50' S., 160 deg. 20' E.). + +At last, on 21st October, we succeeded in weathering Cape Surville. Thus +the Solomon's group too were what seamen call "hull-down," and we might +look forward to a speedy termination to this most tedious and unpropitious +voyage. For a long month we had, while to the northward of the Solomon's +Islands, vainly sighed for a fresh breeze, and now all at once the S.E. +trade was blowing so strong that the ship could only lay her course to the +southward under reduced sail, close-hauled, and had now to plunge +laboriously through the heavy seas, which the stiff breeze was knocking +up. On the 25th and 26th October it blew a regular storm from the S.E., we +forging along under double-reefed square-sails, till it almost seemed that +the end of our voyage was destined to be as stormy as its commencement +"away in the China seas." The ship's timbers creaked and groaned, as +though they would break into a thousand pieces, while the whistling and +moaning of the wind, the raging and roaring of the sea, the tremendous +crash of the waves against our bulwarks, left no peace night or day for +the "non-effectives," as all passengers not regularly borne upon the +ship's books are called on board a man-of-war. As though to increase the +discomfort of their position, it happened that the frigate began to make +water to such an extent, that in what was fortunately but a very small +portion of the hold, the water rose to fifty inches within four hours! It +was supposed that during the typhoon on the China sea, some of the copper +plates had been wrenched off, and that the water was finding entrance +through some leak in her outer timbers, but the most rigid examination +failed to discover its whereabouts. At all events it must have been at or +above the water line, as when the sea rose higher than usual, or the ship +lurched much, the water was sure to gain. We were compelled consequently +to vary from our original course by the open sea-way along the west coast +of New Caledonia, and steer for the coral sea, thickly studded with +reefs, which lies between New Caledonia and "Sandy Cape" on the shores of +Australia, as by adopting this dangerous route we should at least have +smoother water and more favourable winds. Meanwhile, every possible +precaution was taken in handling the ship, so as not to increase the leak, +and a sail was kept ready to be fothered from without over the leaky part +in case of necessity. + +On 28th October we had expected to be in sight of the great +horse-shoe-shaped Bampton Reef. But there was no surf discernible from the +mast-head, only the change to smooth water, which we at once felt, proving +that the reef really existed, and that we were to leeward of it. Its +position is so variously laid down on the charts, that while by one chart +we must have been upon the very reef itself, we were, according to a +second, four miles, and, according to a third, fourteen miles to the +eastward of it! The last-mentioned seemed to be the most correct, since at +four miles the surf must have been visible, whereas it would be impossible +to see it at fourteen miles. + +By 30th October we had passed the latitude of Sandy Cape, and could now +steer direct for Sydney, the capital of the colony of New South Wales. The +same day we also crossed the tropic of Capricorn. The temperature, which +had been falling regularly ever since we left the Solomon Islands, in 28 deg. +S., was as low as 64 deg.4 Fahr., so that we found it advisable to resume our +woollen clothing. + +Ten months we had now spent in the tropics, in the hottest seas of the +globe, and we now felt, on a beautiful November morning in the southern +tropics, as on a clear spring morning at home. On 4th November we had our +first peep of the coast of Australia at Smoky Cape, a fresh easterly +breeze filling our sails, as we bowled along at 10 knots an hour, +constantly nearing the next station of our voyage. On the 5th, at 2 P.M., +the not very high land round Port Jackson came in sight, and we had not to +alter her course by one spoke, so that our chronometer had given +unmistakeable proof of its accuracy. The coast is for the most part rather +flat and monotonous, but we soon recognized the entrance by North Cape, +which rises sheer out of the water at the harbour mouth, where we also +took a pilot on board. The light-house here, 420 feet above sea-level, had +been visible from the deck of the frigate 15 miles away! During the whole +voyage we had only seen one vessel, an American clipper off the Marianne +Archipelago, and were greatly amazed to find not a single sail in the +vicinity of the port. At last, just as we got abreast of the entrance, we +saw a steamer and some small boats making for the land. At 6 P.M., after a +voyage of 82 days, during which we had sailed 5930 miles, the anchor was +let go in the magnificent harbour of Port Jackson, off Garden Island, to +the N.E. of the city of Sydney. We had reached in safety the fifth quarter +of the globe! + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[200] As it is not uninteresting to know the course of exchange at +Sikayana existing between the products of European industry and its native +products, we subjoin a few of the most important equivalents: + + For 5 lbs. tobacco one pig. + " 20 Steel fish-hooks " + " 5 Strings of red corals " + " 5 Strings of green and red glass beads " + " 5 Packets of needles and thread " + " 10 Ells of calico " + " 5 Fish-hooks ten eggs. + " 5 Fish-hooks two hens. + " 10 Fish-hooks 30 pieces of Taro. + " 2 Packets needles and threads 30 pieces of Taro. + " 1 Packet old playing-cards 4 hens. + +[201] One Chinese picul = 133-1/2 lbs. English, whereas one Dutch picul = +135-3/5 lbs. English. + +[202] Called Trepang by the Malays, _hai-schni_ by the Chinese, and +_Biche-de-mar_ by both English and French. Of this _holothuria_ or +sea-cucumber (_Holothuria edulis_), there are about 400 tons annually +imported into China from the various islands of the Southern Ocean. + +[203] During our excursion, there were taken on board the frigate, which +cruised to and fro in short tacks off the island, about 200 readings of +the temperature, at depths of every 50 fathoms. It was also intended to +experiment as to soundings, but the state of the weather prevented this, +as there were continual squalls, and the threatening state of the weather +did not admit of a boat being launched. However at a distance of half a +mile from the reef, no bottom was found with 200 fathoms of line. + +[204] It is perhaps a duty to our gallant companions of every grade to +vindicate the Expedition once more, and finally, from certain malignant +calumnies which, upwards of a year after we had left Australian waters, +were circulated in the columns of even respectable newspapers, accusing +the crew of the _Novara_ of having been guilty of most scandalous excesses +and wanton robbery while at Sikayana. It seems however needless to insist +that not the slightest pretext for such infamous aspersions was furnished +by any of the party who spent these few hours in Sikayana, of which we +have sketched the details in the present chapter. But the fact that they +could be circulated without its being possible to contradict them on +official authority points to a serious defect in our diplomatic position +abroad. True, that no respectable member of the community accredited the +idle mischievous report; true that the leading inhabitants, English, +American, and German, strenuously combated it on every possible occasion, +and in every possible manner. Yet had Austria been a recognized power, +instead of a friendly guest, it needs but little acquaintance with the +etiquette of public and official life to know that the calumny must have +been stifled in its birth, by the prompt action of those specially +appointed to protect the fair fame of their country in these distant +waters. Not till her flag floats regularly to the breeze in the most +distant countries, instead of being that of a casual visitor, will +Austria, and through her the entire German nation, receive that respect, +and occupy that position among the family of nations, to which her +intelligence, her energy, and her important influence upon the progress of +civilization alike entitle her. + +[205] The quantity of rain that falls in these latitudes is something +almost incredible. One single squall from the N.W. was accompanied by a +rainfall of _three_ inches, in the course of _five hours_, whereas the +_entire rainfall_ for the _year_ in London, for instance, is only 18.07 +inches. + +[206] The native name is Ulatua. + + + END OF VOL. II. + + + JOHN CHILDS AND SON, PRINTERS. + + * * * * * + + + List of Modifications + +Transcriber's Note: Blank pages have been deleted. Captions indicated in +the original publication's list of illustrations have been added to the +illustrations themselves. Illustrations omitted from the list of +illustrations have been added there. To these illustrations, new captions +have been added. Illustrations may have been moved. The footnotes have +been moved. We have rendered consistent on a per-word-pair basis the +hyphenation or spacing of such pairs when repeated in the same grammatical +context. We have corrected inconsistencies in the application of accents +to the same word when repeated. The publisher's inadvertent omissions of +punctuation have been corrected. Some wide tables have been re-formatted +to narrower equivalents with some words replaced with commonly known +abbreviations and possibly a key. Some ditto marks have been replaced with +the words represented. The publisher's corrections listed at the end of +Volume III have been applied. Duplicative front matter has been removed. +Other changes were made as listed below: + + 23: the poor people having been over whelmed[overwhelmed] + 62: first the island of Meroe, than[then] the two + 193: Javanese was their conversion to Brahmaism[Brahmanism] + 205: of which is manufactured Manilla[Manila] hemp) + 205: the plant in its orginal[original] climate, + 206: beautifully situated Hotel Belleuve[Bellevue], + 226: such as Gunnug[Gunung] Guntur and Gunung + 236: caves.["] (The meaning of the above Javanese words is + 236: name of _Njai[Njai]-Ratu-Segor-Kidul_, + 270: Radhen[Raden] Saleh cherishes + 281: Plans for canalization.--Arrival at Los Banos[Banos]. + 292: The two hotels lately started [to] levy, + 301: was born 24th November, 1778, at Navianos[Navianos], + 320: Athough[although] altogether more tobacco + 345: the church was considered as descerated[desecrated] + 353: owing to the attitude[altitude] of the hills + 418: and wicker[-]work numerous skulls of rebels + 451: In the dispensary there were, morever[moreover], + 508: impart a certain bloom, an artificial fragrancy[fragrance], + 529: clearly developes[develops] its tendency, + 543: the centre of the _cylone[cyclone]_, + 550: Wenn Welle ruht und jedes Luft gefluester[Luftgefluester] + 550: Und fromm, fast wie zwei betende Geschwester[Geschwister]. + 617: with the seeds of the _Bixa ocellana[orellana]_, + + * * * * * + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Narrative of the Circumnavigation of +the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara, Volume II, by Karl Ritter von Scherzer + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AUSTRIAN FRIGATE NOVARA, VOL II *** + +***** This file should be named 38462.txt or 38462.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/4/6/38462/ + +Produced by Thorsten Kontowski, Henry Gardiner and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net +(This file made from scans of public domain material at +Austrian Literature Online.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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