HAVING made a very fine and interesting collection of the birds of
Labuan Tring, I took leave of my kind host, Inchi Daud, and returned
to Ampanam to await an opportunity to reach Macassar. As no vessel had
arrived bound for that port, I determined to make an excursion into the
interior of the island, accompanied by Mr. Ross, an Englishman born in
the Keeling Islands, and now employed by the Dutch Government to settle
the affairs of a missionary who had unfortunately become bankrupt here.
Mr. Carter kindly lent me a horse, and Mr. Ross took his native groom.
Our route for some distance lay along a perfectly level country bearing
ample crops of rice. The road was straight and generally bordered with
lofty trees forming a fine avenue. It was at first sandy, afterwards
grassy, with occasional streams and mudholes. At a distance about four
miles we reached Mataram, the capital of the island and the residence
of the Rajah. It is a large village with wide streets bordered by a
magnificent avenue of trees, and low houses concealed behind mud walls.
Within this royal city no native of the lower orders is allowed to ride,
and our attendant, a Javanese, was obliged to dismount and lead his
horse while we rode slowly through. The abodes of the Rajah and of the
High Priest are distinguished by pillars of red brick constructed with
much taste; but the palace itself seemed to differ but little from
the ordinary houses of the country. Beyond Mataram and close to it is
Karangassam, the ancient residence of the native or Sassak Rajahs before
the conquest of the island by the Balinese.
Soon after passing Mataram the country began gradually to rise in
gentle undulations, swelling occasionally into low hills towards the two
mountainous tracts in the northern and southern parts of the island.
It was now that I first obtained an adequate idea of one of the most
wonderful systems of cultivation in the world, equalling all that is
related of Chinese industry, and as far as I know surpassing in the
labour that has been bestowed upon it any tract of equal extent in the
most civilized countries of Europe. I rode through this strange garden
utterly amazed and hardly able to realize the fact that in this remote
and little known island, from which all Europeans except a few traders
at the port are jealously excluded, many hundreds of square miles of
irregularly undulating country have been so skillfully terraced and
levelled, and so permeated by artificial channels, that every portion of
it can be irrigated and dried at pleasure. According as the slope of the
ground is more or less rapid, each terraced plot consists in some places
of many acres, in others of a few square yards. We saw them in every
state of cultivation; some in stubble, some being ploughed, some with
rice-crops in various stages of growth. Here were luxuriant patches of
tobacco; there, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, yams, beans or Indian-corn
varied the scene. In some places the ditches were dry, in others little
streams crossed our road and were distributed over lands about to be
sown or planted. The banks which bordered every terrace rose regularly
in horizontal lines above each other; sometimes rounding an abrupt knoll
and looking like a fortification, or sweeping around some deep hollow
and forming on a gigantic scale the seats of an amphitheatre. Every
brook and rivulet had been diverted from its bed, and instead of flowing
along the lowest ground, were to be found crossing our road half-way up
an ascent, yet bordered by ancient trees and moss-grown stones so as to
have all the appearance of a natural channel, and bearing testimony
to the remote period at which the work had been done. As we advanced
further into the country, the scene was diversified by abrupt rocky
hills, by steep ravines, and by clumps of bamboos and palm-trees near
houses or villages; while in the distance the fine range of mountains of
which Lombock Peak, eight thousand feet high, is the culminating point,
formed a fit background to a view scarcely to be surpassed either in
human interest or picturesque beauty.
Along the first part of our road we passed hundreds of women carrying
rice, fruit, and vegetables to market; and further on, an almost
uninterrupted line of horses laden with rice in bags or in the ear, on
their way to the port of Ampanam. At every few miles along the road,
seated under shady trees or slight sheds, were sellers of sugar-cane,
palm-wine, cooked rice, salted eggs, and fried plantains, with a few
other native delicacies. At these stalls a hearty meal may be made for a
penny, but we contented ourselves with drinking some sweet palm-wine, a
most delicious beverage in the heat of the day. After having travelled
about twenty miles we reached a higher and drier region, where, water
being scarce, cultivation was confined to the little flats bordering the
streams. Here the country was as beautiful as before, but of a different
character; consisting of undulating downs of short turf interspersed
with fine clumps of trees and bushes, sometimes the woodland, sometimes
the open ground predominating. We only passed through one small patch
of true forest, where we were shaded by lofty trees, and saw around us a
dark and dense vegetation, highly agreeable after the heat and glare of
the open country.
At length, about an hour after noon, we reached our destination--the
village of Coupang, situated nearly in the centre of the island--and
entered the outer court of a house belonging to one of the chiefs
with whom my friend Mr. Ross had a slight acquaintance. Here we were
requested to seat ourselves under an open shed with a raised floor of
bamboo, a place used to receive visitors and hold audiences. Turning our
horses to graze on the luxuriant grass of the courtyard, we waited until
the great man's Malay interpreter appeared, who inquired our business
and informed us that the Pumbuckle (chief) was at the Rajah's house, but
would soon be back. As we had not yet breakfasted, we begged he would
get us something to eat, which he promised to do as soon as possible. It
was however about two hours before anything appeared, when a small tray
was brought containing two saucers of rice, four small fried fish, and a
few vegetables. Having made as good a breakfast as we could, we strolled
about the village, and returning, amused ourselves by conversation
with a number of men and boys who gathered around us; and by exchanging
glances and smiles with a number of women and girls who peeped at us
through half-opened doors and other crevices. Two little boys named
Mousa and Isa (Moses and Jesus) were great friends with us, and an
impudent little rascal called Kachang (a bean) made us all laugh by his
mimicry and antics.
At length, about four o'clock, the Pumbuckle made his appearance, and we
informed him of our desire to stay with him a few days, to shoot birds
and see the country. At this he seemed somewhat disturbed, and asked if
we had brought a letter from the Anak Agong (Son of Heaven) which is the
title of the Rajah of Lombock. This we had not done, thinking it quite
unnecessary; and he then abruptly told us that he must go and speak to
his Rajah, to see if we could stay. Hours passed away, night came,
and he did not return. I began to think we were suspected of some evil
designs, for the Pumbuckle was evidently afraid of getting himself into
trouble. He is a Sassak prince, and, though a supporter of the present
Rajah, is related to some of the heads of a conspiracy which was quelled
a few years since.
About five o'clock a pack-horse bearing my guns and clothes arrived,
with my men Ali and Manuel, who had come on foot. The sun set, and it
soon became dark, and we got rather hungry as we sat wearily under the
shed and no one came. Still hour after hour we waited, until about nine
o'clock, the Pumbuckle, the Rajah, some priests, and a number of their
followers arrived and took their seats around us. We shook hands, and
for some minutes there was a dead silence. Then the Rajah asked what
we wanted; to which Mr. Ross replied by endeavouring to make them
understand who we were, and why we had come, and that we had no sinister
intentions whatever; and that we had not brought a letter from the
"Anak Agong," merely because we had thought it quite unnecessary. A long
conversation in the Bali language then took place, and questions were
asked about my guns, and what powder I had, and whether I used shot or
bullets; also what the birds were for, and how I preserved them, and
what was done with them in England. Each of my answers and explanations
was followed by a low and serious conversation which we could not
understand, but the purport of which we could guess. They were evidently
quite puzzled, and did not believe a word we had told them. They then
inquired if we were really English, and not Dutch; and although we
strongly asserted our nationality, they did not seem to believe us.
After about an hour, however, they brought us some supper (which was
the same as the breakfast, but without the fish), and after it some very
weak coffee and pumpkins boiled with sugar. Having discussed this,
a second conference took place; questions were again asked, and
the answers again commented on. Between whiles lighter topics were
discussed. My spectacles (concave glasses) were tried in succession by
three or four old men, who could not make out why they could not see
through them, and the fact no doubt was another item of suspicion
against me. My beard, too, was the subject of some admiration, and many
questions were asked about personal peculiarities which it is not the
custom to allude to in European society. At length, about one in the
morning, the whole party rose to depart, and, after conversing some time
at the gate, all went away. We now begged the interpreter, who with a
few boys and men remained about us, to show us a place to sleep in, at
which he seemed very much surprised, saying he thought we were very well
accommodated where we were. It was quite chilly, and we were very thinly
clad and had brought no blankets, but all we could get after another
hour's talk was a native mat and pillow, and a few old curtains to hang
round three sides of the open shed and protect us a little from the
cold breeze. We passed the rest of the night very uncomfortably, and
determined to return in the morning and not submit any longer to such
shabby treatment.
We rose at daybreak, but it was near an hour before the interpreter
made his appearance. We then asked to have some coffee and to see the
Pumbuckle, as we wanted a horse for Ali, who was lame, and wished to
bid him adieu. The man looked puzzled at such unheard-of demands and
vanished into the inner court, locking the door behind him and leaving
us again to our meditations. An hour passed and no one came, so I
ordered the horses to be saddled and the pack-horse to be loaded, and
prepared to start. Just then the interpreter came up on horse back, and
looked aghast at our preparations. "Where is the Pumbuckle?" we asked.
"Gone to the Rajah's," said he. "We are going," said I. "Oh! pray
don't," said he; "wait a little; they are having a consultation, and
some priests are coming to see you, and a chief is going off to Mataram
to ask the permission of the Anak Agong for you to stay." This settled
the matter. More talk, more delay, and another eight or ten hours'
consultation were not to be endured; so we started at once, the poor
interpreter almost weeping at our obstinacy and hurry, and assuring us
"the Pumbuckle would be very sorry, and the Rajah would be very sorry,
and if we would but wait all would be right." I gave Ali my horse, and
started on foot, but he afterwards mounted behind Mr. Ross's groom, and
we got home very well, though rather hot and tired.
At Mataram we called at the house of Gusti Gadioca, one of the princes
of Lombock, who was a friend of Mr. Carter's, and who had promised to
show me the guns made by native workmen. Two guns were exhibited, one
six, the other seven feet long, and of a proportionably large bore. The
barrels were twisted and well finished, though not so finely worked as
ours. The stock was well made, and extended to the end of the barrel.
Silver and gold ornament was inlaid over most of the surface, but the
locks were taken from English muskets. The Gusti assured me, however,
that the Rajah had a man who made locks and also rifled barrels. The
workshop where these guns are made and the tools used were next shown
us, and were very remarkable. An open shed with a couple of small mud
forges were the chief objects visible. The bellows consisted of two
bamboo cylinders, with pistons worked by hand. They move very easily,
having a loose stuffing of feathers thickly set round the piston so
as to act as a valve, and produce a regular blast. Both cylinders
communicate with the same nozzle, one piston rising while the other
falls. An oblong piece of iron on the ground was the anvil, and a small
vice was fixed on the projecting root of a tree outside. These, with a
few files and hammers, were literally the only tools with which an old
man makes these fine guns, finishing then himself from the rough iron
and wood.
I was anxious to know how they bored these long barrels, which seemed
perfectly true and are said to shoot admirably; and, on asking the
Gusti, received the enigmatical answer: "We use a basket full of
stones." Being utterly unable to imagine what he could mean, I asked if
I could see how they did it, and one of the dozen little boys around
us was sent to fetch the basket. He soon returned with this most
extraordinary boring-machine, the mode of using which the Gusti then
explained to me. It was simply a strong bamboo basket, through the
bottom of which was stuck upright a pole about three feet long, kept in
its place by a few sticks tied across the top with rattans.
The bottom of the pole has an iron ring, and a hole in which
four-cornered borers of hardened iron can be fitted. The barrel to be
bored is buried upright in the ground, the borer is inserted into it,
the top of the stick or vertical shaft is held by a cross-piece of
bamboo with a hole in it, and the basket is filled with stones to get
the required weight. Two boys turn the bamboo round. The barrels are
made in pieces of about eighteen inches long, which are first bored
small, and then welded together upon a straight iron rod. The whole
barrel is then worked with borers of gradually increasing size, and in
three days the boring is finished. The whole matter was explained in
such a straightforward manner that I have no doubt the process described
to me was that actually used; although, when examining one of the
handsome, well-finished, and serviceable guns, it was very hard to
realize the fact that they had been made from first to last with tools
hardly sufficient for an English blacksmith to make a horseshoe.
The day after we returned from our excursion, the Rajah came to Ampanam
to a feast given by Gusti Gadioca, who resides there; and soon after his
arrival we went to have an audience. We found him in a large courtyard
sitting on a mat under a shady tree; and all his followers, to the
number of three or four hundred, squatting on the ground in a large
circle round him. He wore a sarong or Malay petticoat and a green
jacket. He was a man about thirty-five years of age, and of a pleasing
countenance, with some appearance of intellect combined with indecision.
We bowed, and took our seats on the ground near some chiefs we were
acquainted with, for while the Rajah sits no one can stand or sit
higher. He first inquired who I was, and what I was doing in Lombock,
and then requested to see some of my birds. I accordingly sent for
one of my boxes of bird-skins and one of insects, which he examined
carefully, and seemed much surprised that they could be so well
preserved. We then had a little conversation about Europe and the
Russian war, in which all natives take an interest. Having heard much of
a country-seat of the Rajah's called Gunong Sari, I took the opportunity
to ask permission to visit it and shoot a few birds there which he
immediately granted. I then thanked him, and we took our leave.
An hour after, his son came to visit Mr. Carter accompanied by about a
hundred followers, who all sat on the ground while he came into the open
shed where Manuel was skinning birds. After some time he went into the
house, had a bed arranged to sleep a little, then drank some wine, and
after an hour or two had dinner brought him from the Gusti's house,
which he ate with eight of the principal priests and princes, he
pronounced a blessing over the rice and commenced eating first, after
which the rest fell to. They rolled up balls of rice in their hands,
dipped them in the gravy and swallowed them rapidly, with little pieces
of meat and fowl cooked in a variety of ways. A boy fanned the young
Rajah while eating. He was a youth of about fifteen, and had already
three wives. All wore the kris, or Malay crooked dagger, on the beauty
and value of which they greatly pride themselves. A companion of the
Rajah's had one with a golden handle, in which were set twenty-eight
diamonds and several other jewels. He said it had cost him £700. The
sheaths are of ornamental wood and ivory, often covered on one side with
gold. The blades are beautifully veined with white metal worked into
the iron, and they are kept very carefully. Every man without exception
carries a kris, stuck behind into the large waist-cloth which all wear,
and it is generally the most valuable piece of property he possesses.
A few days afterwards our long-talked-of excursion to Gunong Sari
took place. Our party was increased by the captain and supercargo of
a Hamburg ship loading with rice for China. We were mounted on a very
miscellaneous lot of Lombock ponies, which we had some difficulty in
supplying with the necessary saddles, etc.; and most of us had to patch
up our girths, bridles, or stirrup-leathers as best we could. We passed
through Mataram, where we were joined by our friend Gusti Gadioca,
mounted on a handsome black horse, and riding as all the natives do,
without saddle or stirrups, using only a handsome saddlecloth and very
ornamental bridle.
About three miles further, along pleasant byways, brought us to the
place. We entered through a rather handsome brick gateway supported by
hideous Hindu deities in stone. Within was an enclosure with two square
fish-ponds and some fine trees; then another gateway through which we
entered into a park. On the right was a brick house, built somewhat in
the Hindu style, and placed on a high terrace or platform; on the left
a large fish-pond, supplied by a little rivulet which entered it out of
the mouth of a gigantic crocodile well executed in brick and stone. The
edges of the pond were bricked, and in the centre rose a fantastic and
picturesque pavilion ornamented with grotesque statues. The pond was
well stocked with fine fish, which come every morning to be fed at the
sound of a wooden gong which is hung near for the purpose. On striking
it a number of fish immediately came out of the masses of weed with
which the pond abounds, and followed us along the margin expecting food.
At the same time some deer came out of as adjacent wood, which, from
being seldom shot at and regularly fed, are almost tame. The jungle and
woods which surrounded the park appearing to abound in birds, I went to
shoot a few, and was rewarded by getting several specimens of the fine
new kingfisher, Halcyon fulgidus, and the curious and handsome
ground thrush, Zoothera andromeda. The former belies its name by not
frequenting water or feeding on fish. It lives constantly in low damp
thickets picking up ground insects, centipedes, and small mollusca.
Altogether I was much pleased with my visit to this place, and it gave
me a higher opinion than I had before entertained of the taste of these
people, although the style of the buildings and of the sculpture is very
much inferior to those of the magnificent ruins in Java.
I must now say a few words about the character, manners, and customs of
these interesting people.
The aborigines of Lombock are termed Sassaks. They are a Malay race
hardly differing in appearance from the people of Malacca or Borneo.
They are Mahometans and form the bulk of the population. The ruling
classes, on the other hand, are natives of the adjacent island of Bali,
and are of the Brahminical religion. The government is an absolute
monarchy, but it seems to be conducted with more wisdom and moderation
than is usual in Malay countries. The father of the present Rajah
conquered the island, and the people seem now quite reconciled to their
new rulers, who do not interfere with their religion, and probably
do not tax them any heavier than did the native chiefs they have
supplanted. The laws now in force in Lombock are very severe. Theft is
punished by death. Mr. Carter informed me that a man once stole a metal
coffee-pot from his house. He was caught, the pot restored, and the
man brought to Mr. Carter to punish as he thought fit. All the natives
recommended Mr. Carter to have him "krissed" on the spot; "for if you
don't," said they, "he will rob you again." Mr. Carter, however, let him
off with a warning, that if he ever came inside his premises again he
would certainly be shot. A few months afterwards the same man stole a
horse from Mr. Carter. The horse was recovered, but the thief was not
caught. It is an established rule, that anyone found in a house after
dark, unless with the owner's knowledge, may be stabbed, his body thrown
out into the street or upon the beach, and no questions will be asked.
The men are exceedingly jealous and very strict with their wives. A
married woman may not accept a cigar or a sirih leaf from a stranger
under pain of death. I was informed that some years ago one of the
English traders had a Balinese woman of good family living with him--the
connection being considered quite honourable by the natives. During some
festival this girl offended against the law by accepting a flower or
some such trifle from another man. This was reported to the Rajah (to
some of whose wives the girl was related), and he immediately sent to
the Englishman's house ordering him to give the woman up as she must be
"krissed." In vain he begged and prayed, and offered to pay any fine
the Rajah might impose, and finally refused to give her up unless he
was forced to do so. This the Rajah did not wish to resort to, as he no
doubt thought he was acting as much for the Englishman's honour as for
his own; so he appeared to let the matter drop. But some time afterwards
he sent one of his followers to the house, who beckoned the girl to the
door, and then saying, "The Rajah sends you this," stabbed her to the
heart. More serious infidelity is punished still more cruelly, the woman
and her paramour being tied back to back and thrown into the sea, where
some large crocodiles are always on the watch to devour the bodies. One
such execution took place while I was at Ampanam, but I took a long
walk into the country to be out of the way until it was all over, thus
missing the opportunity of having a horrible narrative to enliven my
somewhat tedious story.
One morning, as we were sitting at breakfast, Mr. Carter's servant
informed us that there was an "Amok" in the village--in other words,
that a man was "running a muck." Orders were immediately given to shut
and fasten the gates of our enclosure; but hearing nothing for some
time, we went out, and found there had been a false alarm, owing to a
slave having run away, declaring he would "amok," because his master
wanted to sell him. A short time before, a man had been killed at a
gaming-table because, having lost half-a-dollar more than he possessed,
he was going to "amok." Another had killed or wounded seventeen people
before he could be destroyed. In their wars a whole regiment of these
people will sometimes agree to "amok," and then rush on with such
energetic desperation as to be very formidable to men not so excited
as themselves. Among the ancients these would have been looked upon as
heroes or demigods who sacrificed themselves for their country. Here it
is simply said--they made "amok."
Macassar is the most celebrated place in the East for "running a muck."
There are said to be one or two a month on the average, and five, ten,
or twenty persons are sometimes killed or wounded at one of them. It is
the national, and therefore the honourable, mode of committing suicide
among the natives of Celebes, and is the fashionable way of escaping
from their difficulties. A Roman fell upon his sword, a Japanese rips up
his stomach, and an Englishman blows out his brains with a pistol.
The Bugis mode has many advantages to one suicidically inclined. A man
thinks himself wronged by society--he is in debt and cannot pay--he is
taken for a slave or has gambled away his wife or child into slavery--he
sees no way of recovering what he has lost, and becomes desperate. He
will not put up with such cruel wrongs, but will be revenged on mankind
and die like a hero. He grasps his kris-handle, and the next moment
draws out the weapon and stabs a man to the heart. He runs on, with
bloody kris in his hand, stabbing at everyone he meets. "Amok! Amok!"
then resounds through the streets. Spears, krisses, knives and guns are
brought out against him. He rushes madly forward, kills all he can--men,
women, and children--and dies overwhelmed by numbers amid all the
excitement of a battle. And what that excitement is those who have been
in one best know, but all who have ever given way to violent passions,
or even indulged in violent and exciting exercises, may form a very good
idea. It is a delirious intoxication, a temporary madness that absorbs
every thought and every energy. And can we wonder at the kris-bearing,
untaught, brooding Malay preferring such a death, looked upon as almost
honourable to the cold-blooded details of suicide, if he wishes to
escape from overwhelming troubles, or the merciless clutches of the
hangman and the disgrace of a public execution, when he has taken the
law into his own hands and too hastily revenged himself upon his enemy?
In either case he chooses rather to "amok."
The great staples of the trade of Lombock as well as of Bali are rice
and coffee; the former grown on the plains, the latter on the hills. The
rice is exported very largely to other islands of the Archipelago,
to Singapore, and even to China, and there are generally one or more
vessels loading in the port. It is brought into Ampanam on pack-horses,
and almost every day a string of these would come into Mr. Carter's
yard. The only money the natives will take for their rice is Chinese
copper cash, twelve hundred of which go to a dollar. Every morning two
large sacks of this money had to be counted out into convenient sums for
payment. From Bali quantities of dried beef and ox-tongues are exported,
and from Lombock a good many ducks and ponies. The ducks are a peculiar
breed, which have very long flat bodies, and walk erect almost like
penguins. They are generally of a pale reddish ash colour, and are kept
in large flocks. They are very cheap and are largely consumed by the
crews of the rice ships, by whom they are called Baly-soldiers, but are
more generally known elsewhere as penguin-ducks.
My Portuguese bird-stuffer Fernandez now insisted on breaking his
agreement and returning to Singapore; partly from homesickness, but
more I believe from the idea that his life was not worth many months'
purchase among such bloodthirsty and uncivilized peoples. It was a
considerable loss to me, as I had paid him full three times the usual
wages for three months in advance, half of which was occupied in the
voyage and the rest in a place where I could have done without him,
owing to there being so few insects that I could devote my own time
to shooting and skinning. A few days after Fernandez had left, a small
schooner came in bound for Macassar, to which place I took a passage. As
a fitting conclusion to my sketch of these interesting islands, I will
narrate an anecdote which I heard of the present Rajah; and which,
whether altogether true or not, well illustrates native character, and
will serve as a means of introducing some details of the manners and
customs of the country to which I have not yet alluded.