Mr Scott accompanied me to the house of the Resident, that I might
state my case; and on our way we met Captain Cloete, who volunteered to
join us. The Resident received me most kindly, and promised to do all
in his power to facilitate my object. He said that strict enquiries
should be made on board all vessels coming to the port, whether a brig
answering the description of the _Emu_ had been met with; and he also
engaged that the same inquiries should be made in Batavia and throughout
all the ports belonging to the Dutch.
I was much indebted to the influence of my friends, and the warm
interest they took in me, and for the alacrity displayed by the
Resident; but I felt that this was no reason why I should in any way
relax in my own exertions. The schooner could not be got ready for sea
in less than three weeks, in spite of all Fairburn's exertions; and I
considered how I could best employ the time to forward my object. It
must not be supposed that I had forgotten the widow Van Deck and little
Maria. Fairburn and I had still our duty to perform, in seeing them
placed in safety with their friends; but as his presence was essential
in attending to the fitting out of the vessel, I resolved to undertake
the office of their conductor, having already engaged to pay their
expenses. They were both now sufficiently recovered to undertake the
journey up the country, to a place where an uncle of the widow resided,
as Assistant Resident.
I was, however, very unwilling to leave Sourabaya in the chance of
obtaining any further news of the _Emu_, and had hopes of being able to
send to their relations to induce some one to come down and receive
them, when the point was decided for me. The heat and excitement of the
town was already telling on me, and Mr Scott made me consult a medical
man, who urged me at once to go up to the highlands of the interior, to
regain my strength before I went to sea.
The widow Van Deck expressed herself much satisfied with the
arrangement, and very grateful for the care taken of her, while little
Maria seemed highly delighted at finding that I was to accompany them on
the journey. Captain Cloete's first lieutenant, Mr Jeekel, also
arranged to join the party, of which I was very glad, as he was a very
well informed man, and a most amusing companion. We engaged a carriage,
with two inside seats for the widow and Maria, and two outside for Mr
Jeekel and me. Mr Scott kindly urged me to take care of myself and get
well. Fairburn promised to get on with the schooner's outfitting; and
just as we were starting, Captain Cloete came and put a sum of money
into the hands of the widow.
"There," he said, "sailors should always help each other; so I and a few
other friends have collected that little sum to defray the expenses of
your journey; so that you need not feel yourself a burden to your young
friend here, while you will have something in your purse when you
present yourself to your relatives."
The tears came into the widow's eyes as she received this unexpected
kindness, and her feelings almost checked her expressions of thanks.
The evening before our departure, as I was sitting with the widow and
little Maria, the former observed--"You may be surprised, Mr Seaworth,
at my thinking it necessary to give you so much trouble about my return
to my relations; but I must confess to you that I offended them very
much by marrying Captain Van Deck, whom they looked upon as my inferior
in rank, and I am full of doubts as to my reception. Had he been alive,
I should not have ventured to return; but now that he is in his grave, I
trust that their anger may be softened. I have no one else to depend
on. I cannot obtain my own livelihood; but they would not, I trust,
allow a relation to beg in the streets. If they will once receive me, I
hope, by my conduct, to gain their affection, which before I married I
did not, through my own fault, possess; and I therefore do not in any
way complain of their treatment of me. I have had, I assure you, a
great struggle with the rebellious spirit within me; but I have
conquered, and am happier even than I ever expected to be." In reply, I
assured her that I thought her relations would, after she had spent a
little time with them, rejoice at her return; for in the frame of mind
to which she had brought herself, I felt sure she would very soon gain
their regard; and I thought that little Maria could not fail of
attaching to herself every one who knew her.
I have not space to afford a full account of our journey. Indeed, I
cannot do more than give the general result of my observations. We had
passports, without which we could not have proceeded; and we were
obliged to obtain leave from each Resident to pass through his district.
We had four good little horses; and for many miles proceeded along the
plain, on a fine broad hard road, raised two or three feet above the
level of the country. The post houses are about six miles apart, and at
each of them there is a large wooden shed, stretching completely across
the road, to shelter the horses and travellers from the sun while the
horses are changed. The country, as we proceeded, became very rich and
highly cultivated; and between the groves of cocoa-nuts and areca palms,
and other trees, which bordered the road, we got glimpses of a fine
range of mountains, which increased its interest. The crops were
sugar-cane, and maize and rice. The rice-fields are divided into many
small plats or pans, about ten yards square, with ridges of earth
eighteen inches high, for the purpose of retaining the water, which is
kept two or three inches deep over the roots of the grain, till it is
just ready to ripen. A number of little sheds stood in the fields, with
a boy or girl stationed in each, who kept moving a collection of
strings, radiating in every direction, with feathers attached to them,
for the purpose of keeping off the flights of those beautiful little
birds, called Java sparrows, hovering above. From these plots the rice,
or paddy, as it is called, is transplanted into the fields, each plant
being set separately. How our English farmers would stare at the idea
of transplanting some hundred acres of wheat! Yet these savages, as
they would call them, set them this worthy example of industry. We
passed a market crowded with people. There were long sheds, in some of
which were exposed European articles, such as cutlery and drapery; in
others, drugs or salt-fish, or fruit and confectionery; while at some
open stalls the visitors were regaling themselves with coffee, boiled
rice, hot meat, potatoes, fruit, and sweetmeats. We stopped at a large
town on the coast, called Probolingo, where there was an excellent
hotel. There was also a square in it, with a mosque on one side, the
house of the Resident on another, a range of barracks on the third, and
a good market-place, where I saw piles of magnificent melons, for which
the neighbourhood is celebrated. It is a place of some trade; and we
were told that there were in the storehouses coffee and sugar sufficient
to load twenty large ships. Broad roads, bordered by fine trees, with
native villages, and large European houses, surround the town.
As we continued our journey on the following day, we began to meet with
coffee plantations, which are neatly fenced in, and consist of some
twenty acres each. They are pleasant-looking spots, as the shrubs are
planted in rows, with tall trees between each row to shelter them from
the sun. Sometimes, too, we came upon a species of Banian tree, a
noble, wide-spreading tree, with drooping branches, under which might be
seen a waggon laden with paddy, and a group of people with their oxen
resting by its side. I remarked that coffee was carried in large
hampers on the backs of ponies. We used to lunch sometimes at the
bamboo provision stalls, under the shade of tall trees near the
kampongs, where we found hot tea and coffee, sweet potatoes, rice cakes,
and a kind of cold rice pudding.
The Javanese delight in a sort of summer-house, which is called a
pondap; it is built to the height of sixteen feet or so on stout
pillars, with a raised floor, and covered with a thatch made of the
leaves of the palm. It is open at the sides, except a railing of
netting three feet high, and sometimes blinds of split cane are rolled
up under the eaves, and can be let down to exclude the sun or rain.
I must describe a "passangerang," or guest-house, at several of which we
stopped for the night. It was a large bamboo-house, standing on a
raised terrace of brick, and with a broad verandah running all round it.
There was a centre hall to serve as the grand saloon, and several
well-furnished bedrooms on either side. The view was very beautiful.
The ground on every side undulated agreeably: on one side it sloped down
to a shining lake, bordered by a thick belt of wood, with a silvery
brook escaping from a narrow ravine, foaming and leaping into it; while
beyond arose the stately cone of the burning mountain of the Lamongan,
some four thousand feet in height, a wreath of white smoke curling from
its summit, from its base a green slope stretched off to the right,
whence, some twenty miles distant, shot up still more majestically the
lofty cone of the Semiru, a peak higher than that of Teneriffe; then,
again, another irregular ridge ran away to the north, among which is the
volcano of the Bromo. On another side could be seen the sea gleaming in
the far distant horizon, while over all the country near was a lovely
variety of cultivated fields, and patches of wood, and slopes of the
_alang-alang_, a long green grass with a very broad leaf, and here and
there a native kampong half concealed by its groves of fruit-trees.
Everything, both in form and colour, looked beautiful as it glittered in
the hot sunshine, while a fresh breeze from the south tempered the heat,
and reminded me of a summer day in England. A table was spread in the
verandah with a snow white tablecloth, and all the conveniences of
glass, plate, and cutlery, and covered with dishes of poultry, and
meats, and rice, and curries, pilaus, and soups, all well cooked, with
attendants doing their best to please us.
Little Maria was enchanted--she had seen nothing in her life before like
it; and all the sickness and perils she had gone through were forgotten.
Lieutenant Jeekel and I were much pleased also; and had I not had my
important enterprise in view, I should have liked to have spent many
days there. As we strolled out in the evening at dusk, we found two men
following us with spears; and when we inquired the reason of their
attendance, they said that they came to defend us from tigers. We
laughed at this, but they assured us that tigers were very abundant, and
that they often carried off men to eat them, and sometimes even came
into the houses when hard pressed by hunger. No one will venture out at
night without torches to keep them at a distance. We afterwards found
that their fears were not exaggerated, for a man from a village close to
us going out to work before daybreak was carried off by a tiger from
between two companions, who in vain endeavoured to save him. After this
we took care not to expose ourselves to the chance of forming a supper
for a tiger. The next evening I was nearly stepping on a snake, the
bite of which is said to be certain death. I mention these
circumstances merely to show that, fertile as is the country and
magnificent the scenery, it has its drawbacks. While we were in the
high country, it rained generally from two till four o'clock, and then
the weather became as fine as ever. It always rained in earnest, and
never have I seen more downright heavy pours. The inhabitants of the
mountains are far superior in stature and independence of manners to
those of the plains. Their houses are, however, inferior in many
respects; they are built of planks roughly split from trees with a
wedge, while their posts are formed of the camarina equally roughly
squared. The roof is composed of reeds or shingles. The interior
consists of but one room, with a square fireplace of brick at one end,
and seats round it; the bed-places of the family are on either side; and
overhead are racks to hold spears and agricultural instruments, the
whole blackened with the constant smoke, which has no other outlet
besides the door and window. The houses of the peasantry on the plains
are composed almost entirely of bamboo; the posts and beams of the
stoutest pieces of that plant, and the walls of split bamboo woven into
mats, the roof being covered with leaves of the _hissah_ palm.
We were now approaching the end of our journey, and the widow began to
be very nervous as to the reception she was likely to meet with from her
relations. The lieutenant, especially, tried to keep up her spirits;
and it appeared to me, whatever the arguments he used, that he succeeded
very well.
I am afraid that, in my descriptions, I have not done full justice to
the beauty of the scenery, the high state of cultivation of the country,
the excessive politeness of the people--I might almost call it slavish,
were not the natural impulses of the Javanese so kind--the luxurious
provisions, the comfort of the passangerangs or guest-houses, the purity
of the air, and the deliciousness of the climate of the hills. We did
not encounter a beggar of any description, and we saw no people in a
state of what could be called poverty; so, although the Dutch rule most
despotically, this system apparently tends to secure the creature
comforts of the lower orders. But, as I have already observed, it does
no more--it regards these frail bodies, but totally neglects their
immortal souls.
One day we turned off from the high road, and took a path apparently but
little used, as it was a complete carpet of short green turf, which led
us across a gently undulating champaign country; passing now through
patches of beautiful forest, now through open rice-fields or small
plains of alang-alang. Here and there was a rocky isolated hill crowned
with clumps of noble trees, while sparkling brooks and rills seemed to
cool the air, while they refreshed our sight, their murmuring sound
reaching constantly our ears. Many of the rills were artificial,
leading from one rice field to another. The industrious inhabitants
were guiding their ploughs or otherwise in their fields, while here and
there a grove of fruit-trees, with cocoa-nuts, areca palms, and clusters
of bamboos rising among them, showed the situation of the villages.
Nearly surrounding this beautiful country swept a semicircle of
magnificent mountains of the most picturesque description, one
out-topping the other, while in the far distance the stately Semiru
raised his lofty cone into the blue sky.
As we had now arrived close to the residence of the widow's relations,
we thought it advisable to forward a letter, which the lieutenant
undertook to write, giving an outline of what had occurred, and
announcing our arrival. The letter was composed, but we were not quite
satisfied with it; and at last our worthy friend volunteered to ride
forward himself to prepare the way, suggesting that his rank, and his
acquaintance with a large number of people, might have some little
influence in softening matters. We in the meantime remained at the
passangerang awaiting his return. Two hours passed away and he did not
appear, and the widow began to be anxious; a third had elapsed, and no
Lieutenant Jeekel was to be seen.
"My uncle and his family are away, or he may be dead, or he will not
listen to our friend," sighed the widow.
We were sitting in a sort of raised summer-house, in the shape of a
tower, built of bamboo. From our elevated perch we commanded a view of
the road.
"No, I feel that I am discarded for ever, and must be content to live on
the charity of strangers," continued the widow, soliloquising. "For
myself I care not; but for you, my sweet child, it is a hard lot."
"Do not vex yourself about me, my dear aunt," answered little Maria.
"But ah! see, who is that coming along the road?"
We all looked out of the balcony, and observed two horsemen, with long
spears glittering in the sun, advancing slowly towards us. A little
beyond them was a larger party, one of whom was evidently a chief with
his officers, from the turbans on their heads, their blue cloth jackets,
and rich shawls round their waists, with highly ornamented krisses stuck
in them; the blue and red cloth over their saddles, and the silver
trappings to their horses. Two Europeans were with them: one we soon
recognised as the lieutenant; the other, a middle-aged,
gentlemanly-looking man, was a stranger to me; but the widow, as she
watched him, exclaimed--
"It is--yes, it must be my uncle!"
The Javanese seemed to pay him great respect. He threw himself from his
horse, which one of them held, and with the lieutenant ascended the
stairs. On entering the room he hurried up to the widow, and to her no
little surprise gave her a warm embrace.
"Well, my dear niece, I am glad to hear from your friend here, that you
placed reliance on the affection of your relatives," he began, as he
handed her to a chair in an affectionate manner. "Let the past be
forgotten; and now let me ask you to make me known to the young
gentleman who has acted so generously to you. Mr Seaworth, I
understand."
Whereupon I shook hands, and made a suitable answer; and then little
Maria was introduced, and we were all in a few minutes on the best terms
possible. I thought Mr Jeekel's eye twinkled, but he said nothing; and
I was somewhat surprised, after all the difficulties we expected to
experience, at the facility with which the reconciliation had been
accomplished. But the cause was soon explained.
"I conclude, my dear niece," said her uncle to her on a sudden, "you
have received due notice of the good fortune which has befallen you."
"No!" answered the widow, surprised, as well she might. "I have been
prepared only for misfortunes. What do you mean?"
"Allow me then to congratulate you sincerely," he replied. "I have
great satisfaction in being the first to announce to you that your
great-uncle, M. Deikman, who died a year ago, has left you heiress to
all his property, amounting to twenty thousand rupees a year; and you
may at once take possession of it."
I will not stop to describe the contentment of the widow at her change
of fortune, the joy of little Maria, and the satisfaction of the
lieutenant. I spent four days at the house of her uncle, who was very
attentive to me; and I need scarcely say that, when the time for my
departure arrived, I was very sorry to leave her with the prospect of
never again seeing her; and still more so my young friend Maria. I am
happy to say that prosperity did not appear to have made the widow
forget the good resolutions she had formed in adversity. She insisted
on repaying me the money I had spent on her account; and I had reason
afterwards to know that she was not ungrateful. It was arranged that
Lieutenant Jeekel was to accompany me, and that we were to travel on
horseback, by which mode we should be able to diverge oftener from the
high road, and to see more of the country than we had been able to do
coming. Little Maria cried very much as I wished her good-bye.
"You are going away, and I shall never--never--see you again, my dear,
dear Mr Seaworth!" she exclaimed, as she held my hands, and looked up
affectionately into my face. "Now, promise me, if you succeed in
finding your dear little Eva--and I am sure you will find her--that you
will come back and show her to me. I so long to see her, and to love
her, and to tell her how kind you have been to me. I will pray every
night and morning that she may be restored to you, and that she may live
to reward you for all your trouble in looking after her. You will
promise then, my dear Mr Seaworth; I know you will."
"Indeed, I should be very sorry if I thought I was not to see you
again," I replied, completely won by her artless manner. "If I possibly
can--if I am so blessed as to find my sister--I will come and introduce
her to you."
With this answer the little girl was satisfied. At length we started.
I had a very pleasant journey, and collected a great deal of information
as to the manners and customs of the Javanese. We saw several tigers,
and deer, and wild hogs, and monkeys innumerable, and snakes and other
reptiles; but had no adventure worth recording, and reached Sourabaya in
safety.