Middy and Ensign, by George Manville Fenn.
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This was the first Manville Fenn book I ever encountered, and I loved it
at first sight. So much so that I had put nearly fifty of his books on
the website within a couple of years, although, writing in 2005, two
years ago I had never heard of Manville Fenn.
HMS Startler is on patrol up the Parang River in the Malay peninsula.
On board are the midshipman, Bob Roberts, and the ensign, Tom Long.
Their friendly bickering goes on throughout the book. Various tropical
indispositions trouble them, and also of course the insect life in the
air and saurian life in the river is of no help. It is hard to know
which of the natives are on their side, and which not, and there is a
great deal of two-facedness. We are introduced to various fruits. A
soldier on their own side is prone to fall asleep when on sentry duty,
and the little fort they build to give the womenfolk a little more room
than aboard ship, is very nearly captured and destroyed.
There are various trips for fishing and shooting purposes, and we learn
a great deal about the natural history of the area while these
expeditions are in progress.
One of the reasons why some of the natives do not like the British
Protectorate is that normally any traffic passing up and down the river
does so only on payment of a toll to the local chieftains, who in turn
are at loggerheads with each other in dispute of the right to exact
tolls.
It's a very exciting book, and you'll probably learn a lot by reading
it.
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