CHAPTER II.

LEAVE PRINCE OF WALES’ ISLAND.--LUMINOUS APPEARANCE

OF THE SEA.--PULO DINDING.--MALACCA.--DESERTED

APPEARANCE.--SLAVES.--LITTLE CARIMON.--ISLANDS.--VEGETABLE

PHENOMENON.--SINGAPORE.--MILDNESS AND SALUBRITY OF THE CLIMATE.

_January 1st, 1822._--Visited mount Palmer, on the south coast of the

island. The scenery in the pass leading to it is beautiful, the finest

in the island. The whole tract abounds with a great variety of plants.

A road, practicable for horses, has been made across this pass; and

on the south coast, a tank has been constructed for the purpose of

affording water for ships that do not choose to enter the harbour.

4.--We returned on board the vessel, carrying with us two boxes of

nutmeg plants for the King of Siam.

5.--Sailed out by the south passage; for several days following we were

for the most part becalmed within sight of land; the great chain of

mountains still appearing bold, and many of the peaks of considerable

elevation.

Nothing is more singular in these seas than their phosphorescent

appearance by night, the ocean shewing like a vast lake of liquid

fire, melted sulphur, or phosphorus. In many of the bays, such as

the harbour at Prince of Wales’ Island, the bodies which emit this

singular light exist in such vast quantity, that a boat may readily

be distinguished at the distance of several miles by the brilliant

light, resembling that of a torch, proceeding from the water agitated

by her bow and oars. We have seen the sea rendered of a green colour

and slimy appearance, by day, so that it might have been taken for the

green vegetable matter common on stagnant pools. We have taken up a

quantity of this green-coloured water, and by keeping it till night,

have ascertained that the green colour by day, and the phosphorescent

appearance by night, were occasioned by the same substance.

The causes of this luminous appearance of the sea are doubtless various

in different parts of the ocean. We know that fish, when dead, afford

similar light, and experiments have shewn that dead fish immersed in

sea water, after a time, afford it also. The spawn of fishes is said

to afford it, and putrefaction is considered as a very common cause of

this appearance. In the present instance it appeared unequivocally to

proceed from innumerable small granular gelatinous bodies, about the

size of a pin’s head. These when taken upon the hand moved about with

great agility for a second or two, when they ceased to be luminous and

remained immoveable.

9.--Landed in the evening on Pulo Dinding, a beautiful granitic

island, like those we had hitherto seen, covered with thick, almost

impenetrable woods, from the margin of the sea to its summits. Its

altitude may be two or three hundred feet. Its vegetation is luxuriant

and varied. The soil is dense, black, and apparently very rich, held

_in situ_ by the density of the woods; the proportion of vegetable

mould is uncommonly great. Two species of Palm grow luxuriantly in the

ravines; and in moist places a species of Crinum, with leaves about

three feet long, covers considerable tracts. The hills are too steep

ever to afford a prospect of favourable cultivation, even for such

plants as Coffee. The arborescent vegetation is of much less altitude

than that of Prince of Wales’s Island. There is, however, no want of

irrigation. Several small rivulets were visible; but similar to many

parts of the Queda shore, the water here was rendered of a blackish

colour by the peculiar soil through which it percolates. It resembles

the water in pits from which peat-moss has been taken; the taste is

bitter and disagreeable.

At about half a mile distant north from an old and ruined fort, once

occupied by the Dutch, we found an Epidendrum of gigantic size, the

most elegant plant perhaps of the numerous tribe to which it belongs.

Nothing in the vegetable world could exceed in beauty the appearance

of this stately plant as it stood erect on the stem of an aged tree,

surrounded by its flowing leaves, rather resembling the frond of a

palm than the leaf of an herbaceous plant. The flowering spike alone

exceeded six feet in length, contained nearly one hundred flowers, and

was now in full blossom. The flowers exhaled a most grateful but mild

odour; they were about two inches and a half across, and upwards of

four, including the foot-stalk, in length.

It is only on the sea-coast that we have an opportunity of viewing

the materials which constitute the mass of this island, every other

part being covered with soil. We here see nothing but granite. This

granite, however, as will be seen by the specimens, is of different

structure from that of Prince of Wales’ Island, and the other varieties

we had observed. In many masses it is almost a pure feldspar, finely

crystallized and excessively hard. In other parts we find narrow

veins of gneiss traversing masses of the granite; and in other parts

the granite assumes a porphyritic appearance, containing, imbedded,

numerous small nodules of gneiss.

In this vicinity, the great continental chain of mountains gradually

diminishes in altitude, occasionally offering considerable interstitial

distance between their summits, which now become more rounded as

well as of lower elevation, whilst the whole chain bends more towards

the south-east, leaving an extensive flat land between its base and

the sea. This flat tract, however, is yet somewhat elevated above the

sea, and at several points, particularly on its oceanic border, as at

Parcelar Hill and Rachado Point, rises into solitary, isolated hills,

of a conical shape, rounded at top, but of inconsiderable height. The

general features of the country had now altered considerably; the hilly

eminences are probably constituted of sandstone or clay slate. The

country is everywhere covered with wood to the water’s edge.

_14th._--Arrived at Malacca.

On examination, we found the small hills about this place, and the

substratum of soil generally, to consist of a compact, nodular

iron-shot clay, used commonly in building. In its geologic locality

it is soft and easily cut into oblong masses like large bricks, which

become very hard by exposure to the air. The old and now ruined

fort, the Portuguese church, &c., are built of this material. It is

very heavy, and appears to contain a large proportion of iron. This

substance is common in Ceylon, and on the Malabar coast, it is used for

building and for making roads. It is there known by the name of kabouc.

No other mineral was here observable. In Ceylon it is found towards

the base of the mountains, in the vicinity of granite rocks.

At Malacca, the country is for the most part low, the small hills of

iron-shot clay being scarce an exception to this appearance. About a

mile inland it is swampy and covered with wood. The soil is a thick

and stiff clay, apparently very favourable for the cultivation of

rice. There appears to be no want of water; yet with these advantages,

the place does not raise rice for its own consumption. The Dutch,

who largely expatiate on the capacity of the country, attribute this

circumstance to the indolent habits of the Malayan race, who for the

most part are cultivators of the soil on the shores of this peninsula.

The cause more probably arises from the want of due encouragement to

agriculture; from mismanagement; from unfavourable terms in the tenure

of land; and in part perhaps from the existence of slavery amongst the

Dutch. Wherever this, the true cause, exists, it operates forcibly to

check the cultivation of the more valuable of the products of human

industry, under circumstances highly favourable to its development.

In vegetable products of less value, but that are reared with little

labour or care,--as fruit, the place abounds. The Mangosteen is here

found in the greatest perfection, a most delicious fruit, and justly

the boast of the east. The Plantain, the Durian, the Champada, the

Jack, &c., constitute a large proportion of the food of both natives

and Dutch, who may be considered as naturalized to the climate,

possessing similar tastes, and in some degree even the manners of the

native inhabitants. But fruit, however delicious or abundant, when it

constitutes the food of a people, must be considered as affording at

the best but a wretched subsistence, inferior to even the worst of the

Cerealia. For the existence of an abundant supply of excellent fish

upon their coasts, the inhabitants are still more indebted, than for

the produce of their fruit-trees.

On entering this place, we were forcibly struck with the contrast which

it afforded, in point of commercial importance, with the very beautiful

and interesting settlement at Prince of Wales’s Island. Here five or

six vessels at the utmost lay scattered and straggling in an extensive

bay. There hundreds of ships of all descriptions, sizes, and nations,

were seen crowded together, the sure indication of maritime prosperity.

In Malacca, every third house was shut up and appeared to be abandoned.

The streets were solitary and deserted. A lonely inhabitant sauntering

in his verandah, or idly lolling or smoking at his door, only served to

render the scene more dreary, sad, and melancholy. Even the Chinese,

of whom, however, but few now remain, seemed to have forsaken their

habits of industry, and afforded the discordant spectacle of reluctant

idleness. In Penang all was activity, and bustle, and zeal. The

population of the two places will not bear a comparison. Yet Malacca

possesses many advantages over the other settlement. In territorial

extent, it is unrestricted. The climate is mild, equable, salubrious,

and agreeable. Numerous tribes of Malays surround the settlement in

every direction, who it is to be supposed might, if encouraged by

proper management, be gradually brought to enter upon commercial

speculations, and to increase agricultural produce, to the mutual

advantage of both parties. The Dutch, however, it is to be feared, have

still to learn how to reconcile the native powers to their system of

government. A degree of suspicion and distrust is but too obvious in

the intercourse they entertain with each other.

Here we had but little opportunity of observing the mode of living and

manners of the Dutch people. In Malacca, as at the Cape, almost all

private families take lodgers into their houses. We, during our short

stay, resided at a house intermediate between an inn and a private

house. We here saw but little of that neatness and cleanliness said to

be inherent in Dutch people. A room, intended for dining in, and so

forth, is kept in tolerable order. The bed-rooms are wretched, small,

dirty, and ill-aired. The people generally appear to be very poor.

Their mode of life mean; their food coarse and indifferent, except

fish, which is excellent. Every necessary of life is extremely dear. A

fowl costs about half-a-crown, and other articles are in proportion.

Every family possesses a large number of slaves, who are mostly

employed in domestic affairs. There were upwards of thirty of different

ages and sexes belonging to the family in which we resided. Their

condition did not on the whole appear to be one of peculiar hardship.

They, however, may be considered a wretched race, an appearance they

derive chiefly from the want of clothing, and the existence of other

marks of their mean and abject condition. Of the domestic slaves,

however, some are decently and even richly clad. Their owners, in such

cases, take a pride in dressing them even in costly ornaments, as of

gold, silk, _&c_. A considerable portion of their property is often

laid out in this way, and the slaves themselves are said to lay out

their small gains, if such fall to their lot, in the purchase of such

articles.

During our short stay at this place, we procured a considerable number

of birds. They were chiefly brought for sale by the Malay inhabitants.

Landed on the island of Little Carimon. We had here another proof

of the alteration of structure which the country had undergone. In

this vicinity, the islands become extremely numerous, forming perhaps

the most beautiful, as they do the most extensive, Archipelago in

the world. Of these innumerable islands, many, like that under

consideration, are of a hilly nature, but differ from those of

primitive countries, by exhibiting rather a moderate elevation, rounded

at top, and for the most part sloping gradually towards their base.

These numerous islands are as various in form, as in extent and

elevation. Some are simple masses of bare rock, scarcely appearing

above water; others extend several miles in length and breadth, often

forming safe bays and extensive inlets. Some are flat throughout

their whole extent, others consist of hilly masses only; of all it

may be remarked, that wherever any soil exists, however scanty or

however poor, and sometimes even where no soil is observable, they

are not found, as might be expected, covered with a scanty, stunted,

and impoverished vegetation; but everywhere planted with forests

of the loftiest trees, forests in appearance scarce less ancient

than the rugged soil on which they stand. The spectacle universally

afforded among these islands, is in such respects equally beautiful,

interesting, and curious. The singular form which many of the trees

assume, is not the least remarkable feature in the varied phenomena

displayed by the vegetable creation. I allude more particularly in the

present instance to a remarkable and very obvious disposition in the

roots and lower part of the stem of the larger trees, to form winged

appendages of great magnitude. These tabular compressed appendages are

generally three or four in number. They obviously serve as supports

to the weighty incumbent mass of stem and leaves; thus compensating

for the want of depth of soil, a few inches into which the roots can

penetrate, before they are obstructed by the surface of rock, they

are thus forced to extend horizontally. A tree of this description,

torn up by its roots, affords a singular spectacle, and one in which

the economy of vegetable life is peculiarly remarkable, inasmuch as

this economy is obviously exerted in overcoming the difficulties which

oppose its development. Every crevice in the rocky base, every chink,

has been occupied by the root; a thin, but hardy net work extends along

the ground, to a distance often equal to the noble altitude of the

tree itself. The thin winged appendages to the tree, or its supporting

walls, as they may justly be termed, partake more of the nature of

root than of trunk, though altogether out of the earth. They possess

generally a smooth, softish, and very thin cuticle, green underneath,

abounding in the vegetable juices of the tree, and are remarkably hard.

They sometimes extend horizontally, in a straight, but more commonly

in a curved, direction, fifteen or twenty feet, their edges being

six, eight, or more feet above the ground, gradually decreasing from

the stem to the earth. In some instances they are formed into walls,

resembling fortifications. Of this sort we saw a very fine specimen on

this island.

We had now passed from granite mountains to rocks of the secondary

formation, detecting but few of the connecting media which usually

accompany these formations, and give indications of the proximity of

either the one series or the other. At Malacca we observed extensive

beds of iron-shot clay. Here we discovered the masses which compose

these islands to be formed of a series of rocks of a different

description. Though at first sight they seemed to be of very various

structure, a more close inspection shewed them to consist of two

principal varieties, intimately associated, and often passing into

each other. Of these the principal rock was a horn-stone or flinty

slate, disposed in large masses or thick beds, of which perpendicular

sections, twenty feet or more in depth, are occasionally exposed to

view. The tabular masses are of great thickness, so as to render the

stratification somewhat indistinct. They form an angle of nearly 40°

with the horizon, and dip towards the east. The rock is extremely

indurated, for the most part of a dark red colour, especially

externally. It yields with the greatest difficulty to the hammer, but

its edges are as brittle almost as glass, and fly into numerous minute

splinters with sharp edges--fracture distinctly conchoidal, dull, and

rather earthy. In many parts, it bears a near resemblance to flint,

and readily emits fire when the hammer is applied to it. It is very

uniform in its structure, presents no traces of imbedded minerals, or

of organic remains. Is very extensive.

The next rock is a porphyritic horn-stone, and splintery horn-stone.

The most common substance imbedded in the former of these, is a white

or grayish, or greenish granular limestone. It also contains rounded

masses of flinty slate. On the surface it is often cellular, the

limestone in its decomposition having dropped, or been washed out. The

masses of limestone vary in dimensions from an inch to several feet

square.

_January 20th._--Arrived at the new settlement of Singapore. The

selection of this island, for the purpose of a commercial settlement,

has been extremely happy. It is placed in the direct route from Bengal

towards China, and the numerous islands in the eastern part of the

Archipelago. It is from its situation calculated to become the centre

of the trade carried on in the China Seas and neighbouring countries,

the kingdoms of Cochin China, Siam, _&c._, as well as of that of the

Malayan Peninsula, and the western parts of India. It affords a safe

and convenient anchorage at all seasons of the year; while from its

insular situation, and being surrounded on every hand by innumerable

islands, it is alike exempted from the destructive typhoons so common

in the China Seas, and the scarce less furious tempests that occur on

the coasts of India. Here indeed the atmosphere throughout the whole

circuit of the year is serene and placid, to a degree unknown perhaps

in any other part of our globe. The smooth expanse of the seas is

scarcely ruffled by the wind. We seem, as it were, to be coasting along

the banks of a lake. Storms are here felt as it were by reflection.

The commotion excited in the China Seas by the tempest, is propagated

to this distance, where it is seen to give a peculiar direction and

increased velocity to the tides, and even occasions a considerable

swell. A similar but less remarkable effect is produced by a tempest

in the Bay of Bengal. Subject to the opposite impulses derived from

these extensive seas, the tides amongst the islands become extremely

irregular. At times they are found to run in one direction for several

days successively, with the effect, in embayed places, of raising

the water to a considerable height. In the numerous narrow channels

which divide the lesser islands, this tide runs with very great

rapidity, resembling water issuing through a sluice. The regular and

periodical influence of the monsoons is but little, if at all, felt

in these islands, the winds partaking more of the nature of what have

been called sea and land breezes. Hence proceeds that uniformity of

temperature which prevails in the atmosphere throughout the year. Hence

also proceeds the more frequent fall of showers, and the absence of a

proper, continued, and periodical rainy season. Few days elapse without

the occurrence of showers, which thus produce the most agreeable effect

in reducing the temperature and cherishing vegetation. Without the

continued influence of moisture, these regions would certainly exhibit

a far less cheerful picture, and the climate prove much less congenial

to the human frame. Heat in the equatorial regions is thus benignly

attempered to the constitution of man. It will be found to prove

infinitely less pernicious to his system than it does some distance

beyond the tropics, particularly in dry and arid climates. It is thus

that the hot and dry winds of Upper India, to the extent of more than

ten degrees beyond the tropic, exert such powerful and destructive

influence on organized beings, and more particularly on the human

frame. Its effects are too well known to require description. Inanimate

life is not merely at a stand; it is threatened with total destruction,

and with difficulty preserves a scanty gleam of future existence.

Animated beings retire to the thickest shades, and even there pant for

existence. The loose frame and acclimated constitution of the native

inhabitant, is not proof against its baneful influence. What then must

be its influence on constitutions so highly susceptible of excitement

as that of the inhabitant of the North of Europe? The fatality amongst

European troops has given too ample testimony. The physiologist, who

has not witnessed the effect of high temperature on the human system,

will with difficulty believe it capable of extinguishing life, often

within the period of a single hour from the commencement of excitement.

Its effects are no less rapid than fearful to the spectator; the mind

in such cases partaking of the general excitement in a degree amounting

even to complete mania. Within the tropics such effects are of rare

occurrence.

The sandy shores of the ocean, offering a surface highly favourable for

the developement of heat by reflection, will often be found of high

and oppressive temperature during the day. Yet the temperature during

the night is even here agreeable. Moderation, in point of temperature,

is further attested by its benign effects on vegetable nature, which

obtains a degree of developement unknown, perhaps, in any other part

of the globe. We see trees encroaching even on the domain of the sea,

their roots and branches covered with marine shells, as oysters, &c.

The bare rocks, the stems of the smoothest trees, the most scanty

portions of soil, are covered with an endless variety of plants. In

point of adaptation, we observe situations equally favourable, and

generally much more so, for the production of plants in most other

parts of the globe. The single circumstance of a peculiarly modified

temperature, would alone appear to be wanting. We are often at a loss

to discover in what manner many of these vegetables derive nourishment,

under circumstances, to appearance, so unfavourable. Moisture alone

would seem to many to be their sole source of aliment; the elements

of water being separated and assimilated by the organs of the plant.

The quantity of simple moisture, or rather of apparently pure water,

which some plants raise from the earth, is uncommonly great. This is

beautifully exemplified in the organization of some creeping plants,

in which the moisture is frequently conveyed the distance of forty,

fifty, or a hundred yards, before it reaches the leaves, or fruit, or

perhaps the assimilating organs of the vegetable. I have seen a plant

of this sort, that had been accidentally cut across, continue to pour

out pure, limpid, and tasteless water, in such quantity as to fill a

wine glass in about half an hour. The stem and bark of this plant were

quite green; there was no vestige of leaves, and it appeared that the

water was proceeding unchanged to the extreme branches of the plant, in

order to be assimilated. To other plants, even moisture, at least in

any obvious quantity, does not seem to be indispensable. These are to

be seen on bare rocks, without any ascertainable source of nutriment.

They probably derive it from the air itself, or perhaps they decompose

atmospheric air, and assimilate its elements.

This effect of equable though high temperature is not confined to the

varied forms of vegetable life. The lower orders of animal existence

attest its power no less strongly. The earth, the air, and the ocean,

teem with life. Myriads of insects succeed to each other, in their

labours at every varying period of the day and night. Some are busied

in removing dead animal matter; others prey upon the living; while,

to the great majority, the vegetable world affords an inexhaustible

source of nourishment. In the great ocean, we observe the economy of

nature directed to a similar purpose, in the habits of innumerable

Corals, Madrepores, and Molluscæ; here too, as in other departments of

nature, we observe the dependence which is established between animals

of more perfect organization, and those generally of the very simplest

structure, the operations of the latter being exerted in eliciting from

inorganic matter substances capable of maintaining the numerous tribes

of the former class. It is in this point of view, that a Coral bank

affords, perhaps, one of the most interesting spectacles in nature.

We scarce know which most to admire, the great beauty and variety of

their forms, the singularity and simplicity of their structure, or the

magnitude of effect, produced by means apparently so inadequate. The

analogy between them and plants is particularly impressive; nor can we

overlook the circumstance, that they are destined to perform analogous

operations.

Our residence at Singapore made us acquainted with several very curious

productions of this sort, among them, a singular species of Alcyonium

may be mentioned. It passes here, under the fanciful name of Neptunian

Goblet. It is in fact of the shape of a goblet, and its substance is

intermediate between that of a sponge and a madrepore. Its colour, when

fresh, is bright saffron, which becomes brown on drying. The body of

the cup, the stalk, &c., are very neatly formed. They vary from two to

five feet in height, and the cup is often three feet in diameter.

We obtained here a very singular species of Asteria, weighing from six

to eight pounds. Its back formed a regular pentagon, with numerous

round dots on its surface. The chasms on the lower surface are five

in number, narrow, proceeding from the centre, furnished, as in

other animals of this sort, with a double row of gelatinous, short,

whitish feelers. The teeth not very obvious, but placed at the angular

extremity of each flap. Its shell is of the consistence of very stout

leather. Its internal structure consists of innumerable series of

knotted threads. This was considered, in the place, as extremely rare,

and the Malays have no name by which to distinguish it.

Among the more rare animals of the Class Mammalia, to be found at

Singapore, we may reckon the following:

Halicora Dugong, called by the Malays, Duyong. The descriptions given

of this singular animal by systematic writers, though incorrect

and imperfect, sufficiently attest that it has been long known to

naturalists, and is therefore not to be considered as new in our

catalogues. It is found on various islands in the Archipelago, has been

seen at Malacca, and several times taken at Singapore. By report, it

is extremely inoffensive, grows to the length of ten or twelve feet,

and feeds on Fuci. Its flesh is esteemed, in flavour and delicacy, not

inferior to the best beef. The skin is remarkably thick and tough;

dried stripes of it are not to be distinguished from the thongs usually

made from the skin of the Hippopotamus. The structure of the stomach

is said to correspond in all respects with that of the ruminating

animals. In some crania, there are tusks and incisors in both jaws, but

in others neither, or the former only. The tusks scarce project beyond

the jaw, probably never beyond the lip. The absence of the teeth in

some may be owing to age. A single spiraculum opens near the top of

the head. The form of this canal is cylindrical. Seen in the skeleton,

it suggests the idea of its performing the office of a spiraculum. In

the living animal, however, it may possibly be clothed with skin. The

lips are said to be remarkably thick, and scantily covered with stout

bristles.

Unlike the Arctic Walrus, this animal appears to delight in solitude.

It is occasionally taken by surprise near the lone islands of the

Archipelago.

Flying squirrel, Pteromys Petaurista. This is of nearly the same size

as the Galeopithecus variegatus, also common in this place. It is of

a bright brown colour. Is seen towards evening flying from the tops

of trees, and generally alighting about the middle of other trees,

often at a considerable distance. In its flight, it merely expands

the membrane extended between its legs, and floats gently through the

air. When it has alighted on a tree, it quickly gains its summit, by a

succession of leaps.

And lastly, two undescribed animals, of different genera.

The productions of the vegetable world are here scarcely less

numerous, than in the beautiful and picturesque Island of Penang. Our

_herborisations_ in the neighbouring woods have already supplied us

with some rare, and a few new plants. There is on the whole, a very

obvious and striking difference between the plants of this island and

that just mentioned; but there is this important distinction, that

the difference refers for the most part to the individuals, and not

to the families, or even genera: thus the acotyledonous plants occur

in equal, if not greater, variety than in the latitude of the former

place, and the species are almost all different. Yet only the fifth

order of the acotyledones of Jussieu occurs in numbers; of the Fungi,

Algæ, Hepaticæ, and Musci, the individuals are remarkably infrequent.

The decayed woods of extensive forests are favourable to the production

of the Fungi, yet these are not numerous. We, however, met with some

singular plants of this description.

Of the Order Fuci, there is here a remarkable species, usually found

growing in isolated patches upon coral banks. It is pinnated, plumose,

elegant, about a foot and a half in length, and of a whitish colour.

It is endued with the property of stinging like nettles; the sensation

produced is more acute, and more penetrating--more instantaneous, but

somewhat less permanent. The hand is scarcely brought into contact with

it before the wound is inflicted. A small corrugated, granular bag,

filled with a transparent fluid, would seem to be the organ by which it

produces this effect. These are no sooner touched than they discharge

the fluid they contain. The plant soon loses this power, after having

been removed from the water. The comparative scantiness of the

Cryptogamiæ is amply compensated for by the number, variety, beauty,

and utility, of the more interesting order of Phænogamous plants. Of

the former, the abundance of a few individuals is considerable, whilst,

respecting the latter order, we are less impressed with the extent to

which individuals exist, than with the great variety which they offer,

a remark still more applicable to the zoology of this region than the

botany.

Among the vegetable productions applicable to economical, commercial,

and other purposes, is the Gambir; Nauclea Gambir and Aculeata, Linnæi,

or nat. ord. Rubiaceæ of Jussieu.

Gambir, Terra Japonica, or Catechu, is obtained in large quantities

from the leaves of this plant. The process is both simple and cheap.

The leaves are collected three or four times a year: they are thrown

into a large cauldron, the bottom of which is formed of iron, the

upper part of bark, and boiled for five or six hours, until a strong

decoction is obtained. The leaves are then withdrawn, and allowed to

strain over the vessel, which is kept boiling for as many hours more,

until the decoction is inspissated. It is then allowed to cool, when

the Catechu subsides. The water is drawn off; a soft soapy substance

remains, which is cut into large masses. These are further divided by

a knife into small cubes about an inch square, or into still smaller

pieces, which are laid on frames to dry. This Catechu has more of a

granular, uniform appearance than that of Bengal. It is perhaps also

less pure. The price in the market is four dollars per pecul, or

133-1/2 lbs. It is exported to Java and the other eastern islands,

where it is chiefly used for chewing with the betel leaf. The leaves

of the plant when chewed give a very astringent taste, which is soon

followed by a sweet, agreeable, and aromatic flavour.

We have already observed, that the most luxuriant vegetation of

spontaneous growth affords no certain proof that the soil which has

produced it will prove equally favourable for the production of the

usual objects of culture. The soil of Singapore, however, would seem

to be highly favourable for the cultivation of those products which

are confined to intertropical regions. The Malay race, accustomed to a

roving, unsettled life, have paid but little attention to agricultural

pursuits. In this respect they are much in the situation of the

Nomade tribes of northern Asia, or the more savage banditti of the

Arabian deserts. Their labours, therefore, afford no adequate means of

forming an estimate of the capacity of the soil. The skill and other

resources of Europeans have not yet been directed to this end; neither

has the well-proved industry of the Chinese had time to produce any

considerable effect. The experiments, however, which have been made

by the latter in the cultivation of pepper, and in the manufacture

of Terra japonica, have given good earnest of what may be expected

from agricultural operations of greater magnitude. Judging from the

natural appearance of the country, it may be presumed that the whole

island is susceptible of a high degree of culture. The soil is gently

undulating, here and there rising into low, mammated or rounded hills

of inconsiderable altitude; the temperature is favourable; irrigation

is abundant, and the soil of the interior parts is composed of sand and

stiff clay, mixed up with a large proportion of vegetable matter, which

gives it a very black appearance. There is a general tendency to the

formation of swamps; but never to the extent of forming lakes. Rivulets

and creeks abound in various parts of the island. The former are of

the greatest value in a commercial point of view, by the facilities,

as well as safety, which they afford for the transport and landing

of goods. The rivulets are but of inconsiderable size. Their waters

are almost always of a black colour, disagreeable taste, and peculiar

odour, properties which they would appear to derive from the peculiar

nature of the superficial soil over which they pass, in many parts

resembling peat-moss, as has been already observed. The water, however,

drawn from wells penetrating through the sandy base, is much less

sensibly marked by these disagreeable qualities.

It is at the point where the fresh water of rivers and rivulets

intermixes with that of the sea, that we find Mangroves chiefly to

abound. The economy of these plants is so strikingly peculiar in

character, that they claim great attention from every observer. The

species most common on the banks of rivers, in these climates, is the

Rhizophora Gymnorhiza, a tall, handsome tree, often growing to the

height of forty feet, covered with a thick profusion of large, oblong,

fleshy leaves, disposed in tufts at the extremities of the branches.

The singular form of the fruit in this tree is too well known to

require description. The descriptions of botanists are, however, but

indifferent.

The stem would seem to perform the usual functions of leaves, being

covered with a remarkably thin epidermis. It is frequently submerged

to the height of twelve feet or more, on which occasions it doubtless

performs different functions. Numerous roots are thrown down from the

branches, and in this manner a single tree is often conducted, as it

were on props, over a great extent of ground, rendered intricate and

impervious to animals.

Another species, the Rhizophora Mangle, is more independent of the

presence of fresh water; often extending laterally along the sea-beach,

or growing entirely in sea-water. Other species are possessed of

similar habits.

The shade of these plants is the favoured abode of innumerable tribes

of insects, particularly of mosquitoes. Inhospitable, therefore, is

the shade or shelter they afford to man[3].

One great purpose which these plants serve, is that of preventing

the encroachment of the sea upon the land. They even overcome this

tendency, and produce the opposite effect, as the coasts of Singapore

manifestly evince. It may readily be conceived, therefore, how

ill judged is the practice of destroying barriers of this sort.

In many parts they extend for miles into the country, until the

soil on which they grow has been raised above the water, when they

gradually give place to trees of another description; and in this

manner lands favourable for the cultivation of rice are produced.

Of this description extensive tracts exist in the neighbourhood of

the settlement. A slight embankment would prevent the ingress of

salt water along the banks of the creeks, and retain a supply of

fresh water favourable for this species of culture. As yet, however,

the pepper-vine, and nauclea, which require a dry and exposed soil,

are almost the sole objects of culture. The neatness, the industry,

the ingenuity displayed in plantations of this sort, afford a very

gratifying spectacle, and attest the great progress which the Chinese

nation has made in agricultural science. The Chinese may be considered

as the sole cultivators of the soil. The woods are for the most part

cut down by the Malays. The Chinese clear away the incumbent wreck,

selecting the best woods for domestic purposes, converting the refuse

into charcoal, palings, fences, &c., and enriching the soil with

the ashes of the remainder. I have not observed the manufacture of

the vegetable fixed alkali, potash, to be an object of attention

with them. Their plantations, whether of pepper-vines or of gambir,

are uncommonly neat, well trimmed, and healthy. Their habitations

are slight and temporary, inferior in many respects even to those

of the Malays. They are constructed of bamboos, twigs, and rattans,

and thatched with leaves of the Pandanus lævis, sewed together. They

are always surrounded by a few garden shrubs, esculent roots, and

vegetables. Several varieties of Musa and Amomum; several species of

Arum; sometimes small plantations of Jatropha manihot, are of the

most common occurrence. There is a manifest air of poverty in the

dwelling of the Chinaman, and of negligence, slovenliness, and even

meanness in his dress. He has scarce a stool or a bench to sit on. His

furniture is scanty,--of the simplest kind, and constructed of the

cheapest materials. In his culinary operations alone we observe an air

of neatness and of cleanliness. It is here indeed that the Chinaman

shines superior to all other Asiatics. Negligent of personal ornament,

insensible to the advantages of comfortable lodging, he appears to

entertain a just, nay, we may say, an exalted sense of the pleasures

of good eating. To this end and aim are directed all his industry

and ingenuity. The traveller who would judge of the comforts of the

Chinese planter, must see him at his meals. How erroneous his judgment,

were he to infer, from the sordid appearance of the labourer’s hut, a

corresponding degree of penury in all other comforts. The peasant,

thus indifferent to the advantages of comfortable lodging, will be

found to live on the richest, though not always the most delicate fare.

Pork, ducks, geese, the best kinds of fish, the rarest delicacies, are

purchased at any price by the Chinese. The proportion of animal food

consumed by them would appear to be incomparably greater than that used

by any other description of labourers on the face of the globe. They

seem to regard the quality of animal food less than the quantity or

richness. The only point of consideration is, whether the alimentary

mass will afford rich nutriment, or as Cobbett says, whether it will

lay fat on their bones.

Hence the flesh of dogs, of rats, of monkies, of alligators, and other

reptiles, afford in their turn, a savoury meal. The marine gelatinous

fishes, Holothuria, Sepia, &c., and bird’s nests, are ranked amongst

the most delicate of Chinese dishes, for the most part reserved for the

luxurious gratification of the epicurean palates of the wealthy. The

abomination in which dog’s flesh is held by the various tribes of the

Archipelago has rendered the eating of it a reproach even amongst the

Chinese emigrants, who will not always confess their propensity to feed

on this social, but unclean animal.

The most prominent feature in the character of the Chinese emigrant,

is industry,--the best and highest endowment which he has attained. He

is mechanically uniform and steady in the pursuit of what he conceives

to be his immediate and personal interest; in the prosecution of which

he exerts a degree of ingenuity and of bodily labour and exertion,

which leave all other Asiatics at a distance. He labours with a

strong arm, and is capable of great and continued exertion. He is not

satisfied to bestow the quantity of labour necessary for the mere

gratification of his immediate wants. Profusion and indulgence claim a

share of the produce of his toils.

Next in the catalogue of his virtues, may be reckoned general sobriety,

honesty, a quiet, orderly conduct, obedience to the laws of the country

in which he resides; and, as is affirmed, a strong and unalterable

sense of the important duties which parental affection inculcates. To

this we may add a strong attachment to his native country, and the

very questionable virtue of blind, undistinguishing admiration of, and

submission to, all its laws.

Notwithstanding this fair exterior, we shall find on examination that

the Chinese have but little real pretension to moral distinction

amongst nations; of the sublime, soothing, and pathetic duties

of religion they are as ignorant as they are regardless; a mean,

senseless, and unworthy superstition, the offspring of fear alone,

has usurped its place amongst the many; while the learned affect a

cold-hearted and scarcely intelligible theism. In all that regards

the more amiable feelings of our nature, and that tends to unite

the great family of the human race in closer union, they are still

more deficient. A disgusting and culpable apathy, an involved and

concentrated selfishness of gratification, a total disregard of the

wants, and necessities, and helplessness of their fellow-creatures,

marks the Chinese in their conduct through life. They know not the

pleasure of doing good for its own sake. They not only talk of, but

witness the misfortunes and distresses of their fellow-men, with an

apathy of feeling little short of mockery. They will stipulate for

reward with the wretch who is sinking in the water, before they will

extend a saving arm. They will talk of the greatest scourges to which

the human race is subject, famine, pestilence, war, as catastrophes

almost to be wished for,--considering the survivors as benefited by the

destruction of so many of their fellow-creatures. Their industry is the

result of the quick sense of gratification which they derive from the

indulgence of the more grovelling passions and animal appetites, and

where these can be indulged without labour, the Chinese will be found

to indicate their full share of Asiatic indolence.

It must be confessed however that the Chinese are, in a political point

of view at least, by far the most useful class of people to be found in

the Indian Seas or Archipelago. Their robust frames, their industrious

habits, and their moderate conduct, place them beyond competition. They

furnish the best artisans, the most useful labourers, and the most

extensive traders. Their commercial speculations are often extensive,

often of the most adventurous nature; and we may remark by the way,

that they are often immoderately fond of games of chance, as cards,

dice, cock-fighting. Inebriety is a vice of which they are but rarely

guilty. At their meals they indulge in the use of ardent spirits,

undiluted, but never use them to excess.

In point of mental capacity, they would appear to be inferior to many

other Asiatic tribes. They are chiefly distinguished by a certain

mechanical turn in all they do; and even their mental operations

partake of this distinction.

Notwithstanding the prohibitory laws of the Celestial Empire, there

would appear to be no other limit to the extent of emigration than

the capacity of individuals to procure a passage to the neighbouring

countries, modified in some degree by the greater or less demand for

industry. It must be recollected however, that this emigration is to

be considered as temporary, the majority of the Chinese calculating

upon returning after a time to their respective provinces. Their

wives,--or females of any description, are not permitted to accompany

them abroad, to which circumstance it is perhaps chiefly owing,

that the Chinese have formed no colonies or settlements; for the

establishment of which their situation is peculiarly favourable.

Superior in point of civilization, industry, and physical strength to

the nations around them, they neither aim at conquest nor power over

their weaker neighbours. They are content to be permitted to follow

their respective occupations, and are satisfied with the fair returns

of their labour. Yet in many of the commercial settlements of the

Archipelago, they constitute the majority of the population; whilst in

many of the Malay states, their proportion to the latter is so great as

three to one, or even more. This is particularly the case in the mining

districts of Borneo, as at Sambas, Pontiana, and more particularly

in the surrounding country, where it is said that upwards of 30,000

Chinese are occupied in searching for gold dust. Their masters are

here little better than savages; than whom none are more cruel or more

despotic. Mild and just laws are unknown to people in this state of

society, and therefore cannot be urged as the cause of the unpretending

conduct of the Chinese. This instance of general submission to a

people so greatly inferior to themselves, stands so much in opposition

to the ordinary conduct of man under similar circumstances, that we

may be permitted to doubt whether it is to be reckoned a virtue or

its opposite in the character of the Chinese; whether as affording a

proof of their love of peace and horror of aggression, or rather as

a demonstration of unparalleled pusillanimity and the total want of

military ardour. Certain it is that the Malays hold them in contempt

as opponents. The emigrant Chinese are almost exclusively from the

provinces of Canton and Fokien, chiefly from the latter. It is this

last also which furnishes the principal maritime population of China.

They carry on a considerable commerce in junks throughout the China

Seas and Archipelago, from Manilla to Penang, the boundaries of their

maritime excursions on the east and west. Nothing can be conceived more

rude, awkward, and unmanageable, than the vessels they navigate, called

junks; except indeed we bring into the comparison their great ignorance

of the science of navigation. A Chinese junk gives no bad idea of

what one might suppose the ark to have been. She resembles more an

oblong substantial wooden house than a ship. In maritime affairs, the

Chinese appear to have derived little or rather no benefit from their

intercourse with Europeans. The immutable laws of the Celestial Empire

forbid alteration: yet these laws could never have checked improvement

for so many centuries; and we find that all vessels built by the

Chinese, in the dominions of foreign powers, as at Siam, Cambodia,

&c., as well as in their own country, are invariably of this form. The

Malay race on the contrary, eagerly adopt improvements. We may observe

a marked superiority in the naval architecture of the Buggis people for

instance, a superiority which is daily increasing, in proportion as

they become better acquainted with Europeans.

The junks which visited Singapore during our stay there, were from

Canton Amoy, Cochin China, and the islands to the east. The larger

vessels carried from two to three hundred tons burden. They had neither

chart nor book of any description on board, nor any written document

to point out their route. They had no means even of ascertaining

the ship’s way, neither did it appear that they kept any account

of transactions on board. They had a rude compass, set in a wooden

frame, and divided into twenty-four points, which they did not appear

to put great dependence on, and this was probably the only nautical

instrument on board. Their mode of proceeding, is to set out with the

favourable monsoon. After reaching a certain point without losing sight

of land, they stand across the China Sea, calculating that they will,

as they generally do, reach the opposite side in ten or twelve days.

They make but one voyage across the China Sea in a year; on their

return, they sometimes make a short coasting voyage in addition, after

which the junk is hauled up, covered with straw, and laid aside till

the following season. The owner generally voyages in his own junk, but

does not always navigate it, another individual attending to that duty.

The crew have a share in the cargo.

Their provision consists of pork, fowls, rice, and abundant store of

pickled greens in large tubs; the latter strongly reminds one of the

sour crout of the northern nations of Europe, from which it probably

differs but little. Tea is their favourite beverage; they use it at all

hours of the day, making it in small quantities at a time; their cups

contain little more than two or three drachms.

In a small recess in the poop, there is always to be found a sort of

temple, ornamented with shreds of gold-leaf, or painted paper, and

containing three or four small images of porcelain or wood, dressed in

a tawdry and clumsy manner. These are regarded as tutelary deities, to

whom offerings of meat, rice, &c., are daily made. Their attributes,

as far as we could comprehend their nature, seemed to be analogous to

those of the Grecian deities that directed the winds and the rains.

Similar temples are to be seen in all the houses of the Chinese.

Inferior to these in the knowledge of all the arts of civilized life,

as well as in industry, stature, strength, and general appearance;

but their superiors in point of courage and military enterprise, and

above all in the possession of an ardent mind and exalted imagination,

stand the Malays, a race of people whose origin, still involved in

obscurity, would seem to be of no remote date. The most favoured of

their tribes, have as yet made but little progress in civilization,

whilst the majority would appear to be enthusiastically attached to

the unrestrained condition of savage life. The Malays constitute the

principal maritime population of the Archipelago and neighbouring

continent, in the different settlements of which they present

themselves to the traveller under very different aspects. They are by

nature less adapted to commercial pursuits than the Chinese, or the

Chuliahs, or other natives of India, and are therefore easily beaten

out of the field by them at the stations frequented by Europeans. They

are passionately attached to a sea-faring life, and their principal

occupation is that of fishing.

Bold and enterprising in their maritime excursions, they hold the

peaceful arts of civilized life almost in contempt. Negligent,

slothful, and listless in their moments of ease, they display in

the hour of danger and of enterprise, the most daring courage and

intrepidity. They enjoy neither the good nor ills of life with the

calm sobriety and moderation of other men. In action fierce, cruel,

and immoderate, their leisure is passed in a sleepy indifference that

approaches to the apathy of brute life.

Their character for treachery, though founded in truth, appears to be

much exaggerated. This vice would appear to attach more to the state

of society in which they are found to exist, than to any inherent

propensity towards it in Malays generally. It must be confessed,

however, that many of their practices are shocking to humanity. Their

laws regarding the right acquired over property and persons falling

into their hands at sea, by shipwreck or otherwise, shew them to be

possessed of as little of the milk of human kindness as any other

description of Asiatics[4].

The condition of the lower class of Malays in these parts, is wretched

beyond what we should conceive to be the lot of humanity in an

intertropical climate; almost the whole of their life is spent upon the

water, in a wretched little canoe, in which they can scarce stretch

themselves for repose. A man and his wife, and one or two children are

usually found in these miserable sampans. For subsistence, they depend

upon their success in fishing. They have all the thoughtlessness of

to-morrow that characterizes savage life. Their tackling is so rude

and scanty, that they are often reduced to the most urgent want. When

they have made a meal, they lay basking in the sun, or repose under the

dense shade of the mangrove, till hunger again calls them into action.

They have scarce a rag of cloth to secure them from the scorching

noon-day sun, or to shelter them from the damp and noisome dews and

exhalations of night. Their women are not less dexterous than the men

in managing their boats. Their only furniture consists of one or two

cooking pots, an earthen jar and a mat made of leaves of the Pandanus

lævis, which serves to protect them from the rain.

In the numerous bays, inlets, and creeks, that surround Singapore, an

inconceivable number of families live in this wretched manner, who have

never possessed a house nor any sort of abode on the land. They are

constantly roving about from place to place in pursuit of fish. What

they have succeeded in taking more than is required for immediate use,

they dispose of to the fixed inhabitants, taking rice, sago, betel, and

cloth, in return. We are struck with the analogy between such a life

and that of the tribes which subsist by hunting. The Malay is equally

attached to his mode of life, nor can he be persuaded by the example of

those around him to relinquish it. This description of Malays goes by

the appellation of Orang Laut, or men who live on the sea.

Others of the Malays have proceeded a step beyond this rude state; they

possess houses and a fixed abode; they use garments and cultivate small

spots of ground: their agricultural skill, however, has rarely extended

to the cultivation of rice or other of the Cerealia. They surround

their houses with a wooden paling, of sufficient extent to admit the

culture of the plantain, the yam, the betel, and a few other useful

plants for their own use.

They possess but little skill in the mechanical arts, and are employed

as labourers almost exclusively for the purpose of cutting down wood in

the forests, and clearing ground for culture. We neither find amongst

them a carpenter, a mason, a taylor, or a blacksmith.

We are told that in the interior of Sumatra, the Malays are found in a

still more civilized state; that of an agricultural people.

How tenacious is man of the savage state, and how slow and

imperceptible are the steps by which he emerges from it. The Malays

of the peninsula and of the straits of Malacca are at the present day

scarce to be distinguished from their rude ancestors of many centuries

back, as may be seen by the descriptions which our early navigators

have given of them.

A number of the people called Orang Laut were brought to us for

inspection. They were superior in condition; in appearance more

civilized than many whom we had seen in the bays and creeks remote from

the haunts of man. A portrait was taken of one of them, illustrative

of the physiognomy and general appearance of the Malay race. Six of

these men were more minutely examined. Their average height was five

feet three inches; average weight nine stone eight pounds; average

circumference of the chest, two feet ten inches; circumference of the

clenched fist about eleven inches; average of facial angle 66-1/2°;

average temperature under the tongue 100°.02.

The other tribes of people that frequent the commercial settlements of

the straits of Malacca, are Chuliahs, from the Malabar and Coromandel

coasts, Buggis from Celebes, Siamese, Burmans, a few Arab merchants, &c.

The situation of the new settlement of Singapore may be described in

few words. A plain, nearly two miles in length, but of inconsiderable

breadth in most parts extends along an elevated sandy beach, terminated

on the west by an extensive creek, about a hundred yards in breadth,

and running up into the land several miles.

The soil on the western bank of this creek is broken, consisting of

low, rounded, sandstone hills, interspersed with level ground. The

Chinese part of the population, and a few Malays, occupy this part of

the settlement. Their campong is the workshop of industry, and affords

at all hours a busy scene. The creek is navigable to boats of every

description, and even to small ships at low water. On its banks are

the store-houses, warehouses, &c., of the European and other principal

merchants. The convenience for commerce is such that they can at all

times, and in all weathers, land goods at their respective doors.

Several parallel and cross roads extend from this line of houses over

the plain, which is chiefly occupied as a military cantonment. A small

stream of water divides this plain, which is surrounded by a mud wall,

probably the remains of an ancient fortification, towards the east from

another of greater extent, but only partially cleared of wood. In this

last the Malays principally reside.

Behind the cantonment there is a hill of considerable height, on which

it appears that it is intended to erect a government-house, if the

place be retained.

During our stay here, we made several interesting excursions to various

points on the coast, and to the neighbouring islands, for the purpose

of ascertaining the geological structure of the group. These were

highly satisfactory. The result of our examinations I must relate

on a future occasion. From the accuracy, experience, and extensive

knowledge of Captain Dangerfield, we derived the most essential

assistance. Without his aid we might have had occasional difficulty in

discriminating the rocks and minerals that fell in our way.

On the 23d February, we re-embarked, and on the 25th left Singapore

harbour, and stood out towards the extreme point of the Malay

Peninsula, the wind blowing strong against us, but the sea, as usual,

being little agitated.

On the 26th we gained the mouth of the straits at the distance of a few

miles only from the shore. We had cloudy and rather damp weather, but

the temperature exceedingly agreeable, and almost invariable during

the day and night, at least the variation did not exceed three or four

degrees. It seemed in every respect congenial to the human frame. We

had again to remark the unaccountable paucity of sea-fowl in these

latitudes. At noon we fell in with His Majesty’s frigate Topaze,

Captain Richardson, from Canton and Manilla. The Captain sent a polite

invitation to such of us as might choose to visit his ship. I went on

board, accompanied by Rutherfurd.

During the period of his stay in China, the natives of that country

had, as usual, assumed a tone of insolence and presumption too marked

and too humiliating to be quietly submitted to by a commander in his

majesty’s navy. This led to representations on the part of Captain

Richardson, which were as bold as they were displeasing to the Chinese.

At length the Chinese in a tumultuous manner made a wanton and

unprovoked attack upon his men on shore in their boat unarmed, drove

them into the sea, and wounded a considerable number of them. The first

lieutenant seeing the disturbance from the ship, immediately beat to

arms, fired grape shot amongst the Chinese, and sent armed boats to

the assistance of the men in the water; on the approach of which the

Chinese speedily dispersed. The lieutenant thought that the Chinese

were beyond the reach of the shot. It appears, however, that at least

five persons were killed, and several wounded.

This affair was no sooner made known to the Chinese in authority, than

they put an immediate stop to the trade with the English, and demanded

from the frigate a number of men equal to that of the Chinese who had

been killed.

The captain resisted the proposal with indignation, and in his turn

demanded of them justice and an apology for the unprovoked affront

and unwarrantable attack on his men. In proportion as he remained

firm and resolute, they became the less urgent in their demands. They

even proposed to make the matter up, by suggesting that the captain

should sign a paper which they brought ready prepared, to the effect

that those who had actually killed the Chinese had either died of

wounds, had fallen overboard, or otherwise perished. As he would not

incur certain disgrace to himself and to his country, by asserting a

palpable falsehood, the matter remained still unsettled, and the trade

suspended, when he set out for Manilla.

In the evening, it being calm, mild, and agreeable, we landed in a

spacious bay, with a sandy beach, interspersed with rocks, within a

few miles of the extreme point of the peninsula. We found the rocks to

consist entirely of horn-stone porphyry. We traced this rock to the

extent of upwards of two miles, in the course of which it presents

no appreciable difference. Large surfaces, divided into innumerable

irregular masses, for the most part oblong, and occasionally

brick-shaped, with an ochry fracture, presented themselves. The rock is

extremely hard.

The land was, as usual, thickly covered with wood.

Forest, on the coast, formed chiefly of the following trees:--

Casuarina.

Hibiscus, two arborescent species.

Scævola.

Calophyllum inophyllum. This generally grows close by the sea-side, its

roots being washed by the tide at high water.

Cycas revoluta. Very abundant; a more handsome palm than the C.

circinalis. It was now in flower. The quantity of pollen discharged by

the stameniferous plant was uncommonly great, and of an oppressively

powerful odour. It appeared to us, on examining their structure, not

at all extraordinary that this plant should long have been taken for a

fern of gigantic size. A large, yellow-coloured, pine-shaped, squamate

cone terminates the stameniferous plant. Each scale is somewhat of

a triangular shape, the apex joining the central stem. On the under

surface of the scale are innumerable sessile and minute globules, which

burst exactly in the manner of many of the ferns, and discharge a

fine, strong-scented, yellow pollen. This palm rarely exceeds ten or

twelve feet in height.

Besides these we observed a species of slender Caryota.

Also Nipa fruticans,

And a species of Calamus; and another of Urtica.

We caught several fish in the seine on the 27th and 28th February.

We stood over towards the coast of Borneo, with the wind strong, and

quite against us. We now had a heavy swell and rough sea, which soon

affected the less experienced amongst us with sickness to a distressing

degree.

On the first of March we had sight of a lofty conical hill in Borneo,

and on the 2d we came in view of the coast of that island. The wind,

which had hitherto been steady and strong, sunk into a gentle breeze as

we approached the land, passing from the N.E. to N.W. and N.N.W. with a

calm sea.

On the 3d we were off the point called Tanjung api, and on the

following day stood over in the direction of the islands called

Natunas, the more southern of which we were in sight of, and even

close to. Their vegetation seemed to be quite peculiar. We were at

one time within two hundred yards of one of these islands; and could

observe along the beach several handsome scitamineous plants, and a

considerable number of Palms. In this part of our passage, we found the

weather, though rather damp, and for the most part cloudy, remarkably

agreeable. The thermometer did not rise above 80°, nor sink below 78°,

in the course of twenty-four hours, during our passage from the coast

of Borneo to that of Cambodia.

An hourly register of the barometer, kept day and night, indicated a

double tide in the column of mercury. At ten A.M., it was generally at

its height, which on successive days, varied at this hour from 29.98

inches, to 30.1 inches, the barometer being suspended about eighteen

feet above the sea. From five to six P.M., it had attained its lowest

level, varying on successive days from 29.86 inches to 29.95. From this

period it continued to rise till about midnight, when it had again

obtained its maximum, and from four to five a.m. was at its minimum.

About three P.M. on the 11th of March, we came abreast of the island

of Pulo Ubi, in lat. 8° 25´ N., long. 104° 50´ E., off the southern

extremity of Cambodia, and cast anchor in a bay on the N.E. side of it,

and prepared to land. In the same bay a Chinese junk lay at anchor.

As we approached the beach, we could observe one or two huts in a

plot of tall grass, overshadowed by a solitary cocoa-nut tree, and

several persons walking about. Our books had stated the place to be

inhabited, but the dreary appearance of the island, the stunted form

of its vegetation, its steril and forbidding aspect, and above all,

the total absence of every thing calculated to remind us of humanity,

soon destroyed the hopes we had cherished of mingling so soon in the

concerns of our fellow-creatures, and of observing society under

circumstances which might be supposed to confer on it a peculiar

interest. We were therefore not a little gratified to observe these

traces. We were still more pleased to observe one of the inhabitants

walk towards the point we were approaching, and thence concluded

that they must have been in some degree accustomed to the advent of

strangers. This person proved to be a slender, but healthy and active

old man. He wore a blue cloak, and an ample blue turban, and had a

thin, scanty, long beard. His appearance was not unlike that of an

Arab. He saluted us with respect, and though none of our party could

understand his language, we could easily perceive that he was not

displeased with our visit. We accompanied him to his house close by,

which we found to be a sort of temple. On a rude altar of wood, raised

about three feet from the ground, and covered with mats, was placed a

small earthen image, of a reverend, though rather grotesque looking

old man, in a contemplative attitude, his countenance not altogether

destitute of a certain air of benignity and conscious innocence. He

wore a long flowing beard and loose garments. On his left stood a

smaller figure of more humble pretensions; probably the attendant of

the former, or minister of his will. The first was different from the

figure or image (Joss,) the more common object of the worship of the

lower orders of Chinese.

Before them were placed various offerings of fruit, sugar and

sweet-meats. The altar was tawdrily ornamented with pieces of tinsel,

shreds of gilt paper, and painted silks.

Before the shrine was placed a low platform over which a mat was

thrown, on which the old man invited us to sit down. In one end of

the room were placed baskets of rice, a few small wax tapers, and

some yams. We found that two families lived on this spot, and one or

two Chinese. The latter had come for the purpose of collecting the

gelatinous Fucus, agar-agar. The former had, it would appear, lived

here for several years. Their subsistence had probably been chiefly

obtained from Chinese mariners, to whom this lofty island affords an

admirable land-mark, for which they always make in their coasting

voyages. They look upon the place as peculiarly sacred, and never pass

it without offering up prayers and praises for their success in having

made it. On this occasion they leave behind them a painted board, on

which is written the name of their junk, the date of their arrival,

the port they have left, &c. At this time several boards of this

description were in the keeping of the old man.

If we were pleased with the civility and attention of our first

acquaintance, we had reason to be no less so with the other members of

this little community. It was altogether an interesting spectacle to

see them crowd round, without the least fear or apprehension, and only

anxious to shew us kindness, and to treat us with hospitality. A middle

aged woman, of rather handsome appearance, after she had gratified her

curiosity by a hasty glance at the strangers, made us some excellent

tea, which she gave to us in small cups, in the usual manner of the

Chinese. A man, about her own age, and apparently her husband, lay

the wretched victim of that most distressing and horrible disease,

elephantiasis. Our appearance for a moment seemed to rouse him from the

moody melancholy which accompanies this complaint. Two handsome boys

and a girl made up the family.

We were forcibly struck with the difference in the vegetation of this

island from any that we had hitherto seen; a difference which, as it

is not easily to be accounted for by its geographical position, is

more probably owing to an unusually scanty supply of moisture, and

perhaps in part also to the peculiar nature of the soil, which being

very thin, and not retentive of moisture, must be unfavourable. The

vegetation here could scarcely be termed arborescent. It was low,

scanty and bushy. The Erythrina corallodendrum was among its stoutest,

and the Caryota mitis, of Loureiro, among its tallest, trees. Various

species of Dioscorea were common on the sloping sides of the hills,

where also the wild plantain (Musa sapientum) grew in abundance. We

had the good fortune to find this splendid herbaceous plant in flower.

Unlike, however, to that luscious and most delicious fruit raised by

the hand of man, the fruit of the wild plantain contains scarce any

pulp whatever. Its leathery sheath encloses numerous series of large

black seeds, attached to a pithy central stem, and immersed in a gummy

substance resembling birdlime. It appeared by our systematic works,

that the seeds of this most useful plant have been but rarely seen by

botanists. Hence doubts had been expressed upon the subject. In none

of the cultivated varieties are there any seeds discoverable, though

at times we may observe minute black points in the pulp, disposed in

longitudinal rows. These are probably the feeble traces of seeds not

yet quite extinguished by cultivation, the black perisperm being the

last to disappear.

We had now, therefore, a favourable opportunity of examining this

matter. The seeds were numerous, covered with a thick, black, brittle

shell, and as large as those of the custard-apple, but of a more

irregular shape. We collected numbers of them. There is no necessity

to refer, as Willdenow does, the origin of all the cultivated

varieties, and of all the species enumerated by botanists, to the Musa

troglodytarum, a native of the Molucca Islands, as the parent stock.

Our specimens accorded with the descriptions given of Musa sapientum.

The seeds were in all respects perfect, and apparently capable of

propagating the plant. Indeed its existence on these islands, so

rarely frequented by man, and altogether unfit for cultivation, can be

accounted for on no other principle than the fertility of the seeds.

It appears, therefore, that we ought to refer to this plant the origin

of the cultivated species, which are probably no other than simple

varieties of it.

The Yams found on this island are remarkably large. The green

tuberosities commonly found on the stem of the plant were eagerly

sought after by our Chinese followers, who regard them as a valuable

medicine. The Erythrina mentioned above was now in flower, and made a

handsome, shewy appearance. It was frequented by considerable numbers

of a large and beautiful species of pigeon, a circumstance the more

remarkable, as the birds we had hitherto seen in these latitudes were

of solitary habits, few in number, and not gregarious. This bird was

extremely handsome; its body was of a snow-white colour; its wings, and

the extremity of its tail, tipped with black. It appeared to be about

twice the size of our domestic pigeon. Though we shot one, we were not

so fortunate as to procure it.

The only Palm found here was that already mentioned, the Caryota mitis,

a species not enumerated in Persoon’s Synopsis, nor in the Species

Plantarum of Willdenow, for what reason it does not appear. It is very

well described by Loureiro; and it appears to be totally different from

the Caryota urens.

On the sea-coast there is a species of Pandanus extremely common. It

throws up a simple stem to the height of ten feet or more, in which

respect only it seems to differ from the Pandanus odoratissimus, the

habit of which is to extend along the ground, throwing down straight

and stout roots into the earth for its support, as it extends.

The Scævola, already mentioned, is common here as on the Malacca coast.

The form, distribution, and peculiar appearance of the land we had now

made were calculated to excite our attention, particularly in relation

to the contiguous continent. We were entering amidst innumerable groups

of islands, composing for the most part mountain masses, and all of

them much elevated. They were as various in form and dimension, as they

were numerous and picturesque. They were all covered with vegetation,

which, after we had passed their southern boundary, assumed a more

luxuriant appearance. They each might be imagined to be the abode of

an innocent, a happy, an undisturbed people. Nature, arrayed in her

most attractive colours, appeared to smile upon the scene. The sea was

calm and unruffled; the sky serene and unclouded. Nothing could be more

deceitful than this apparent fitness for the abode of man. There seemed

little reason to believe that any of them had ever been occupied. The

want of a constant supply of water must ever be a principal objection,

while their steep forms and scanty soil forbid every attempt at

cultivation. In many, the summits of the islands are rounded, in others

peaked and rugged. In fact, we here appear to have ascended the tops of

a range of mountains, in structure partaking of the nature of rocks

both of the primitive and secondary kind. The direction of this partly

submerged range is like that on the peninsula of Malacca, from north to

south, bending a little from east to west. The breadth of the range is

considerable. The islands form a continuous narrow belt extending along

the coast, in this respect somewhat similar to those on the east coast

of the bay of Bengal. There, however, we observe a stupendous parallel

chain of mountains extending from one extremity of the peninsula to the

other; whilst here the most remarkable circumstance was the extreme

lowness of the continental land. It is an extensive alluvion on a

level with the sea; on which we look in vain for hill or elevation of

any sort. At the distance of a few miles, the trees only, and not the

ground, are visible from the deck, whilst the islands, many of them

rising above 1,000 feet, are to be seen many miles off.

The occurrence of granite on this, the first of the series, was rather

unexpected.

This granite presents several varieties. It is less perfectly

crystallized, and more granular, than that we found on the west coast

of the peninsula of Malacca. Many of the specimens contain hornblende;

and on the summit of the hill there is a red granite, which breaks into

brick-like fragments. The lower granite is uncommonly hard, and breaks

with much difficulty.

_March 13th._--We had now got amongst innumerable groups of islands,

for the most part of small dimensions, all of them lofty, abrupt on

their sides, and almost invariably without any level ground attached.

We remarked, however, that in proportion as we advanced towards the

north, the vegetation had, as has already been observed, assumed a more

luxuriant appearance. Vegetable life again assumed that vigour which

had so often already attracted our admiration, and the intertropical

forest again displayed its unparalleled riches. This sensible

improvement in the forms of vegetation is probably owing to the genial

influence of a milder climate, and perhaps still more to the change

which has perceptibly taken place in the geological structure of the

country. But feeble traces of granite, as rolled masses, were now to

be seen. This series of rock had been substituted by various others of

later formation.

In the course of the day we visited two of these islands. They were

each about a mile in circumference, and from 200 to 300 feet high in

the centre; the first lies in lat. 9° 58´ N., and long. 104° 37´ E.,

about ninety-three miles from Pulo Ubi: the other lies about three

miles north of the last. In the first, the lowest rock is composed of

compact feldspar, of an iron-brown colour, intersected by narrow seams

of quartz. This rock is abundant along the base of the island, near to

the sea-mark.

The bulk of the island appears to be composed of a compound rock,

formed of clay-stone and potstone intermixed. This rock is rather soft,

and its fracture resembles that of some fine grained sandstones. It

occurs both on the top and towards the base of the hill.

Considerable beds of pure potstone, in a somewhat foliated form, occur

in the last.

The other island is formed almost entirely of potstone, and the

compound of potstone and claystone, mentioned as forming the bulk of

the other island, is here comparatively in small quantity. The potstone

contains imbedded small masses of clay slate.

In our excursions to-day we were so fortunate as to procure two of

the pigeons seen for the first time on Pulo Ubi. They were here very

numerous. Those we caught weighed about a pound each. This is to be

reckoned amongst the handsomest of this handsome genus, and if ever

domesticated, must prove a valuable acquisition to our aviaries.

_March 14._--Arrived at Fu-kok or Pau-kok, a large island, a little

to the north of the river of Can-cau. We cast anchor in an open

roadstead, nearly off the middle of the island, in lat. 10° 17´

N., and long. 104° 16´ E. This and several other islands in the

neighbourhood attain a considerable altitude towards the centre,

where the hills, disposed in ridges running north and south, appear

upwards of 2,000 feet in height. The eminences are continuous and

gently undulating, rarely abrupt in their forms, or exposing much rocky

surface. The island is everywhere covered with the thickest woods. We

had no where seen more luxuriant vegetation than this place afforded.

Both on the preceding night and this morning, we observed a number of

Praus sailing along the shores, but none of them could be enticed to

come alongside. It was imagined that they had been unaccustomed to see

a ship, and we afterwards learnt that our conjecture was correct. In

the course of the morning, a prau, after repeated solicitations, came

so near as to speak to us, but the people would not come on board.

Some time after this a native accompanied one of the ship’s officers

on board, and was followed by his prau. From this man, who spoke

the language of Cochin China, we learned that the place was partly

inhabited, and that at certain periods of the year, Cochin Chinese

and Chinese fishermen came hither for the purpose of pursuing their

calling; the latter chiefly for the purpose of collecting trepang,

a black species of Holothuria. Though the spoken language of the

people who now visited us was unknown to our Chinese followers, yet

by having recourse to the use of a common character, to which the

same ideas are attached, they were enabled to communicate with each

other. This was the character commonly used by the Chinese, which they

write by distinct letters, in straight lines from top to bottom. We

thus learned that the island belonged to the king of Cochin-China,

and that its most valuable production was Agila wood, the aquillaria

agallocha, Roxb. (Aloxylum agallochium, Lour.) The fair promises of

our vivacious and semibarbarous visitor excited hopes which were not

destined to be realized. After the most particular inquiry, and the

offer of considerable rewards for specimens of the fresh plant, we were

reluctantly compelled to give up the search. It appeared that this wood

is a royal monopoly, and that even to point it out to strangers is a

crime never to be forgiven. In the course of the forenoon, we landed in

two parties, followed at some distance by the native prau. The approach

is over an extensive shallow bank, on which we observed great numbers

of Asteriæ, Medusæ, Echini, and some corals. On the fishing stakes, in

front of the village, we shot two sea-fowl of the genus Sterna.

On reaching the shore, about six or seven men, armed with spears, came

down from the village, used threatening attitudes towards the party in

the first boat, and appeared desirous of opposing our landing. Capt.

M’Donnel, however, leaving his arms behind, leapt on shore, and went

up to them with the greatest confidence, shewing them at the same

time that he had no hostile intention towards them. Astonished at his

boldness, or doubting of their own valour, they immediately changed

their line of conduct, and appeared to welcome him with sincerity.

We were the less surprised at this inhospitable reception, on learning

that the persons in question were not inhabitants of the island,

but natives of China, who having enjoyed here a profitable fishing,

without interruption, had their jealousy awakened by the appearance of

strangers. Their accustomed insolence towards Europeans was visible

even here. The Chinese now seemed anxious only to derive advantage

from our visit; they followed us everywhere, and promised largely. We

had soon reason to regret that we had made their acquaintance, for the

Cochin-Chinese, who were remarkably civil and polite to us, seemed

to be somewhat jealous of our attention towards the former, and kept

themselves at a greater distance than at first. As we passed through

their village, they invited us to enter their houses, and spread a mat

for us to sit upon. Like all other Asiatics, they seat themselves on

the floor, or recline on cushions while they converse. They offered

us betel, and gave us pipes to smoke tobacco. It did not appear that

they had tea amongst them. They were good-natured and polite; examined

us very attentively, were much amused with our watches, laughing

immoderately when they were held up to their ear. They had abundance of

Agila wood in their houses, of which they offered us some. The coarser

parts of this wood they beat up in a mortar till it has attained the

consistence of saw-dust. This dust is then made into a paste with which

they cover small reeds. The party had great quantities of these reeds

in their possession. They are used by the Chinese, chiefly for sacred

purposes, being placed before the images of their idols, on account of

the perfume they give out when lighted. They burn with a slow smothered

flame, somewhat like that of tinder. These reeds are known in English

by the appellation of Joss sticks. Yet we looked in vain for any image

of this deity. Here and there, however, in front of their houses,

small wooden cells, raised on poles, were to be seen, which cells were

abundantly provided with Joss sticks.

The island of Fu-kok is of very considerable extent, situated in a

mild and equable climate, at no great distance from the mouth of the

river Can-cau, and surrounded by numerous islands which shelter it from

storms in either monsoon. The height of its mountains is such as to

attract a constant supply of moisture, and the soil would appear to be

of good quality, probably formed from a base of decomposed clay-slate;

though this is mere conjecture, as we were not so fortunate as to

discover a single point of rock, or even a stone, during our visit.

Hence the vegetation of this island is extremely rich and luxuriant,

and its general appearance exceedingly beautiful. Were it not for the

extreme scantiness of low, or rather level, land, it would be reckoned

admirably calculated for the habitation of man.

It is nearly of a triangular form, and broadest towards the northern

extremity. Its utmost length is thirty-four miles, and its greatest

breadth sixteen miles. The most southern point lies in lat. 9° 58´ N.,

and long. 104° 14´ E.

There are villages on several parts of the coast, and some of them

are said to be populous. That which we visited might consist of

about twenty families, who appeared to live comfortably, and in a

friendly, social, and peaceable manner. The men were of a stout, but

short make, intelligent, and rather good looking. Their houses were

constructed on poles, and covered on the roof and sides with a thick,

coarse bark, which split into numerous layers. They were raised about

three feet from the ground. We saw but few signs of cultivation, and

those only of recent date. The cocoa-nut and the plantain appeared to

have been planted but a very short time, yet were thriving with great

luxuriance. A small garden was attached to most of the habitations, in

which onions and culinary herbs were cultivated. The island abounds in

wild hogs, and we observed skins of the Rusa. Shell fish is abundant;

and considerable quantities of Holothuria were drying in the sun.

For a dollar, I purchased from a native, two dried skins of a very

singular species of Ray. We shot five species of birds in the woods.

For the plants which we found, I refer to the catalogue. Amongst them

will be found a species of Mr. Brown’s new genus Haya, natural order

Asclepiadeæ. The species is probably also new. It is extremely elegant.

It grows on bare rocks, or climbs on trees, in thick, convoluted

patches. The leaves are thick and fleshy, and the whole plant abounds

in an acrid milky juice. We here procured specimens of the Casuarina

equisetifolia, in flower. The tree is common along the beach here

as well as on the west coast of the peninsula of Malacca. It is a

very tall, handsome tree, somewhat resembling our pine. The wood is

remarkably hard, yet the tree grows with great rapidity. All the trees

here were Dioeceous; and this seems to be the true habit of this plant.

It ought therefore to be removed to that class.

Towards evening we got into our boats, intending to visit a point of

land which promised to afford us specimens of rock, but we found that

we were not able to reach it, especially as we were at a great distance

from the ship, and were threatened with a storm.

On the following morning we sailed round the island, and thus

ascertained the dimensions stated above.

We continued to proceed northwards among innumerable islands, many of

which, by their position with regard to each other, would seem to form

extensive bays and well-sheltered harbours. The tides in some places

are very strong and irregular. They rise to a very uncommon height for

these latitudes. In some places the sea was observed to be not less

than fifteen feet below high water-mark.

On the following day we landed on several small, rocky islands, off the

southern extremity of Fu-kok. We found them composed of huge masses of

sandstone. The surface of this sandstone was hollowed out into numerous

shallow cavities; it presented considerable varieties in granular

aspect and contained nodules of flint, quartz, &c.

We had been much exposed to a powerful sun during this day, the bad

effect of which I soon after was destined to experience, having been

laid up for some days with fever, which rendered me totally incapable

of attending to any thing. We continued our course through the islands,

sometimes keeping to the windward of them altogether, and at other

times passing through narrow straits, with fine deep passages between

the islands. Nothing could be more picturesque than the prospect which

these islands afforded on such occasions. Mr. Crawfurd went on shore on

one of them, and brought off specimens of granite and quartz-rock, of

which it was entirely composed. The islands, however, immediately near

to this were composed of variegated sand-stone.

On the _21st_ of _March_, about sun-set, some Chinese junks were seen

riding at anchor in the harbour of Siam, and there, the same evening,

we cast anchor. On the _22d_, the pilot of a Chinese junk came on

board, and represented that it would be necessary to send to Packnam, a

village at the mouth of the river, for a pilot; he was doubtful whether

the ship could pass the bar. The chief mate set out for this place in

the morning, with a letter from Mr. Crawfurd for the chief person of

the place. He was hospitably entertained during the night by the chief,

and returned on the following day, with a small present of fruit from

him, but no letter. In the meanwhile they had referred to Bankok, and a

pilot was ordered to attend us.

_25th._--We weighed anchor, with a light, fair wind, and attempted to

pass the bar, but stuck on a bank of mud, after clearing the principal

bar, which is of sand. Here the ship lay quite easy and upright,

supported on one side by props till next tide. At low water there were

but six feet on the bar. About 5 p.m. the ship begun to float again,

and after touching now and then, got over without much difficulty as

the tide made. The entrance is tolerably well marked out by lines of

fishing-stakes. The mouth of the river forms an angle with the entrance

from the harbour, so that the former is not perceptible until you are

close to it. The river gradually opens upon the view; it is called

Menam: it is about a mile and a half in breadth at its mouth. After

passing two or three short reaches, we anchored opposite to the town of

Packnam. The river is here about three-quarters of a mile in breadth,

and very deep; the banks are low, and covered with woods.

FOOTNOTES:

[3] Much stress has been laid on the apparent insalubrity of marshes

of this sort; and it has been maintained that in many parts they are

the chief, if not the sole, cause of the most fatal of intertropical

diseases, remittent fever. Humboldt, in his Essay on New Spain, lays

great stress on the effect produced by the growth of Rhizophora Mangle,

Pothos, Arum, and of the other plants which flourish in a marshy soil

charged with saline particles, in the production of yellow fever.

Without calling into question the insalubrity of marshy situations

in general, there appears great reason to believe that we are still

ignorant of the actual causes of this frightful disease. The settlement

of Singapore is possessed in an eminent degree of the circumstances

which are thought to be most conducive in producing the disease. Yet

here it is as yet unknown. An intertropical climate on the margin of

the sea, a continually high temperature, rapid and intense evaporation,

a humid and extensive series of saline and fresh water marshes exposed

to a burning sun, the vegetative impulse in a degree of activity

unequalled perhaps in any other part of the globe, the occasional

suspension of herbaceous vegetation by long-continued heat, accompanied

by drought, profusion of vegetable matter, as leaves, felled wood,

fruits, &c., intermixed with animal matter, forming fomites in every

stage of the putrefactive process, are amongst the more conspicuous

of the causes to which the occurrence of this disease is usually

attributed; and here all the causes enumerated operate with tenfold

force.

[4] See _Raffles, in Asiatic Researches_. Vol. XII.