Our friend Hatchie Katsie belonged to the commercial town of Hakodadi,
situated in the Straits of Saugar, on the south end of the Japanese
island of Yesso, and before it we found ourselves one bright morning
brought up. The harbour was full of junks of all sizes, coming and
going, proving that a brisk trade must be carried on there. The town
seemed of considerable extent, stretching along the sea-shore for a mile
or more, while many of the streets ran up the sides of a lofty
promontory, at the base of which it stands. The mountains rise directly
behind to an elevation of a thousand feet, their bare summits often
being covered with snow. The slopes are clothed with underwood, while
on the plain below wide-spreading cypresses, maples, plum and peach
trees grow in rich profusion. Altogether the scene is a very
picturesque and beautiful one. From numerous stone quarries the
Japanese have supplied themselves with an abundance of building
materials. The appearance of the town, with its well-constructed sea
walls, bridges, and dikes, showed us that the Japanese must be a very
industrious people, and that they have made considerable advance in
civilisation.
One of the first things which struck us was a Japanese boat which came
alongside, both from her model and the neat way in which she was put
together. Her bows were very sharp, she had great beam, and she tapered
slightly towards the stern. She was built of pine wood, and varnished
without any paint. Her crew, almost naked, stood aft, and sculled her
along instead of rowing, at a very great rate. The official personages
she brought off sat in the fore-part; one of them, armed with two
swords, a mark of rank, stood in the bows, and made a very good
figure-head. We should probably have had to take our departure without
holding any communication with the shore, so anxious were the Japanese
government to prevent any communication of the people with foreigners,
when Hatchie Katsie made his appearance on deck. The account he gave
his countrymen soon changed the aspect of affairs, and we were told that
the governor of the place would no doubt make an exception in our
favour.
Our friend having procured Japanese clothes for us, as he had done at
Loo-Choo, told us that he might venture to take us on shore and show us
something of the mode of life among his countrymen. I have no doubt
that Chin Chi considered it far superior to that of the English, as far
as he was able to judge of them. The Japanese gentlemen were,
generally, finer men than those of Loo-Choo. Their dress also was
different. One of the chief people in the place, if he was not the
governor, wore a gaily-coloured robe of rich silk, with the back,
sleeves, and breast, covered with armorial bearings. He wore a very
short pair of trousers, with black socks and straw slippers. His hat,
something like a reversed bowl, shone with lacquer and ornaments of
gold. I must say, however, that Europeans have no right to quiz the
head covering of any nation in the world, as ours far surpass all others
in ugliness, and in the want of adaptation of means to an end.
Our friend could not take us publicly into the town, so he had us
conveyed to his country-house in kagos, such as were used at Loo-Choo.
On every side, as we passed along, the people were busily employed; some
were lading their packhorses with bags of meal, others with heavy
mallets were pounding grain into flour, while others were hoeing in the
rice grounds up to their knees in water. There was no sign of poverty,
and even the lowest people were well and comfortably clad in coarse
garments, shorter than those of the more wealthy classes. All wear the
hair drawn up and fastened at the top in a knot. In rainy weather they
wear cloaks made of straw, so that a person looks like a thatched roof.
The same sort of garments, I hear, are used by the Portuguese peasantry.
The upper classes cover their robes with a waterproof cloak of
oiled-paper. All, like the Chinese, use the umbrella as a guard from
the sun and rain.
The streets are thoroughly drained, for not only are there surface
gutters, but deep drains which carry all the filth into the sea. Here,
again, they are in advance of many civilised people. Some of the best
houses are built of stone, but they are usually constructed of a
framework of bamboo and laths, which is covered with plaster painted
black and white in diagonal lines. The roofs are composed of black and
white tiles; the eaves extending low down to protect the interior from
the sun, and the oiled-paper windows from the rain. They are,
generally, of but one story. Some of the residences stand back from the
street with a court-yard before them, and have gardens behind. The
fronts of the shops have movable shutters, and behind these are sliding
panels of oiled-paper or lattices of bamboo, to secure privacy when
required. In the interior of the houses is a framework raised two feet
from the ground, divided by sliding panels into several compartments,
and spread with stuffed mats; it is the guest, dining, and sleeping-room
of private houses, and the usual workshop of handicraftsmen--a house
within a house. When a nobleman travelling stops at a lodging-house,
his banner is conspicuously displayed outside, while the names of
inferior guests are fastened to the door-posts. The doctor made a
capital sketch of a scene we saw when looking into the interior of a
Japanese house--a servant apparently feeding two children.
A Japanese has only one wife, consequently women stand far higher in the
social scale than among other Eastern people. They have evening
parties, when tea is handed round; and the guests amuse themselves with
music and cards. Japanese ladies have an ugly custom of dyeing their
teeth black, by a process which at the same time destroys the gums. The
more wealthy people have suburban villas, the gardens of which are
surrounded by a wall, and laid out in the Chinese style, with
fish-ponds, containing gold and silver fish, bridges, pagoda-shaped
summer-houses and chapels, beds of gay-coloured flowers, and dwarf
fruit-trees.
A large portion of the people profess the Buddhist religion. We visited
a large temple at Hakodadi, full sixty feet high. The tiled roof is
supported on an arrangement of girders, posts, and tie-beams, resting
upon large lacquered pillars. The ornaments in the interior, consisting
of dragons, phoenixes, cranes, tortoises, all connected with the worship
of Buddha, are elaborately carved and richly gilt. There are three
shrines, each containing an image, and the raised floor is thickly
covered with mats. We were shown a curious praying machine covered with
inscriptions. At about the height easily reached by a person was a
wheel with three spokes, and on each spoke a ring: turning the wheel
once round is considered equivalent to saying a prayer, and the jingle
of the ring is supposed to call the attention of the divinity to the
presence of the person paying his devotions. The Sintoo worship is
practised also among the Japanese, but its temples are less resorted to
than those of Buddha.
We saw a number of junks building. In shape they were like the Chinese,
but none were more than a hundred tons burden. Canvas instead of bamboo
is used for sails.
The Japanese are decidedly a literary people. All classes can read and
write; and works of light reading appear from their presses almost with
the same rapidity that they do with us. They print from wooden blocks,
and have wooden type. They have also long been accustomed to print in
colours. The paper they employ is manufactured from the bark of the
mulberry, but is so thin that only one side can be used. They have
sorts of games, some like our chess, and cards, and lotto, and we saw
the lads in the streets playing ball very much as boys do in an English
country village.
As we did not go to the capital, I cannot describe it. We understood
that there are two emperors of Japan--one acts as the civil governor,
and the other as the head of all ecclesiastical affairs, a sort of pope
or patriarch. The laws are very strict, especially with regard to all
communication with foreigners. If a person of rank transgresses them
and he is discovered, notice is sent to him, and he instantly cuts
himself open with his sword, and thus prevents the confiscation of his
property. The people exhibit an extraordinary mixture of civilisation
and barbarism; the latter being the result of their gross superstitious
faith, and their seclusion from the rest of the world; the former shows
how acute and ingenious must be their minds to triumph over such
difficulties.
Our friend Hatchie Katsie accompanied us to the shore when we embarked.
Chin Chi parted with us most unwillingly. He longed to see more of the
wonders of the world; but even had his father been ready to let him go,
we could not have ventured to carry him away publicly in opposition to
the laws of the country.
Once more we were at sea. "Homeward! homeward!" was the cry; but we had
still a long way to sail and many places to visit before we could get
there. Steering south, we came to an anchor before the city of Manilla,
the capital of the Philippine Islands, the largest of which is Lujon.
They belong to Spain, having been taken possession of in 1565. They are
inhabited by a variety of savage tribes, most of whom have been
converted by their conquerors to the Roman Catholic faith. The capital
stands on a low plain near a large lake, which has numerous branches,
now converted into canals. Hills rise in the distance, and behind them
ranges of lofty mountains, clothed to their summits with luxuriant
vegetation. The number of Europeans is very small compared to that of
the half-castes and aborigines. There are said to be forty thousand of
those industrious people, the Chinese, who appear now to be finding
their way into every country on the shores of the Pacific where
employment can be procured. The largest manufactory at Manilla is that
of cigars. The city appeared to be in a somewhat dilapidated condition,
the churches and public buildings, especially, were fast falling into
decay.
We, as usual, were fortunate, and got a trip, through the kindness of an
English merchant, up the lake and a good way into the interior, when we
could not help wondering at the magnificent display of tropical
vegetation which we beheld. We also saw three of the most ferocious
animals of the country. Scarcely had we landed when, as with our friend
and several Indian attendants we were proceeding along the hanks of the
stream, our friend wished to send a message to a cottage on the opposite
side to desire the attendance of the master as a guide. There was a
ford near, but the Indian who was told to go said he would swim his
horse across.
"Take care of the cayman," was the warning given by all.
"Oh, I care not for caymans; I would fight with a dozen of them!" was
the answer given, we were told.
The lake and rivers running into it abound with these savage monsters, a
species of alligator or crocodile. The man forced his horse into the
stream and swam on some way. Suddenly we were startled with the cry of
"A cayman! a cayman! Take care, man!" The Indian threw himself from
his horse and swam boldly to the bank, leaving his poor steed to become
the prey of the monster. The cayman made directly for the horse, and
seized him with his huge jaws by the body. The poor steed's shriek of
agony sounded in our ears, but fortunately for him the saddle-girth gave
way, and he struggled free, leaving the tough leather alone in the
brute's mouth, and swam off to shore. The cayman, not liking the
morsel, looked about for something more to his taste.
The Indian had reached the bank, but instead of getting out of the
water, he stood in a shallow place behind a tree, and, drawing his
sword, declared that he was ready to fight the cayman. The monster
open-mouthed made at him; but the man in his folly struck at its head.
He might as well have tried to cut through a suit of ancient armour.
The next instant, to our horror, the cayman had him shrieking in his
jaws, and with his writhing body disappeared beneath the surface of the
stream!
After this our journey was enlivened by all sorts of horrible accounts
of adventures with caymans, till we neared the spot where we expected to
find some buffaloes. As we rode along we heard an extraordinary cry.
"It is a wild boar," exclaimed our friend; "but I suspect a boa has got
hold of him--a great _bore_ for him, I suspect." We rode to the spot
whence the sound came. There, sure enough, suspended from the low
branch of a tree was a huge boa-constrictor, some twenty feet long,
perhaps, which had just enclosed a wild pig in its monstrous folds.
While we looked he descended, and lubricating the animal with the saliva
from his mouth, and placing himself before it, took the snout in his
jaws and began to suck it in. We had not time to wait, as our friend
told us it would take a couple of hours before he got the morsel into
his stomach. This process is performed by wonderful muscular action and
power of distension.
In half an hour we reached a plain bordered by a forest. "Here we shall
find buffaloes in abundance," exclaimed our friend; "but, my lads, be
cautious; keep behind me, and watch my movements, or you may be
seriously injured, or lose your lives. Buffalo-hunting is no child's
play, remember." We had with us a number of Indians on horseback armed
with rifles, and a pack of dogs of high and low degree. Our chief
hunter was a remarkably fine-looking man, a half-caste. He was dressed
in something like a bull-fighter's costume. He dismounted and
approached the wood, rifle in hand. Two of the Indians threw off most
of their clothes, and kept only their swords by their sides. Thus
lightly clad, they were able to climb the trees to get out of harm's
way. The Indians beat the woods, and the dogs barked and yelped, till
at length a huge buffalo came out to ascertain what all the noise was
about. He stood pawing the ground and tossing up the grass with his
horns, as if working himself into a rage, looking round that he might
single out an object on which to vent his rage. Though we were at some
distance, we felt the scene excessively trying. His eye soon fell on
the bold huntsman, who stood rifle in hand ready to hit him on the head
as he approached. If his hand trembled, if his rifle missed fire, his
fate was sealed. The excitement, as I watched the result, was so great,
that I could scarcely breathe. The huntsman stood like a statue, so
calm and unmoved, with his eye fixed on the monstrous brute. The
buffalo got within a dozen paces of him. I almost shrieked out, for I
expected every moment to see the man tossed in the air, or trampled and
gored to death with those formidable horns. On came the buffalo--there
was a report--a cloud of smoke--and as it cleared away, he was seen with
his knees bent and his head as it were ploughing the ground; yet another
moment, and his huge body rolled over a lifeless mass; and the hunter
advancing, placed his foot proudly between his horns, as a sign that he
was the victor. Loud shouts rent the air from all the Indians, for the
feat their leader had performed was no easy one, and which few are
capable of accomplishing. In some parts of the island, buffaloes are
taken with the lasso, as we had seen it employed in Mexico. The animal
was cut up and transferred to a cart, to be carried down to the lake, by
which it was to be conveyed to Manilla. Tame buffaloes are used for
agricultural purposes.
The vegetable productions of the Philippines are very numerous. Rice is
grown in great quantities. What is known as Manilla hemp is an article
of much value. It is obtained from the fibre of a species of plantain.
It, can only be exported from the port of Manilla. Indigo, coffee,
sugar, cotton, and tobacco, are grown in abundance; indeed, were the
resources of the islands fully developed, they would prove some of the
richest in the world. But it may truly be said, that where Spaniards
rule there a blight is sure to fall.
On leaving the Philippines, we sighted the coast of Borneo, and looked
in at Sarawak, a province which the talent, the energy, the
perseverance, and the philanthropy of Sir James Brooke, have brought
from the depths of barbarism and disorder to a high state of
civilisation. Those who are incapable of appreciating his noble
qualities seem inclined to allow it to return to the same condition in
which he found it. I heard Captain Frankland speak very strongly on the
subject, and he said it would be a disgrace to England, and the most
shortsighted policy, if she withdraws her support from the province, and
refuses to recompense Sir James for the fortune which he has expended on
it.
We next touched at Singapore, which was founded by a man of very similar
character and talents to Sir James Brooke. That man was Sir Stamford
Raffles, whose life is well worthy of attentive study. When, in 1819,
the English took possession of the island at the end of the Malay
peninsula, on which Singapore now stands, it contained but a few huts,
the remnants of an old city, once the capital of the Malayan kingdom,
and was then the resort of all the pirates who swarmed in the
neighbouring seas. It is now a free port, resorted to by ships of all
nations. It is the head-quarters of many wealthy mercantile houses,
whose managers live in handsome houses facing the bay, while its working
population is made up of Arabs, Malays, Chinese, and, indeed, by people
from all parts of the East. Singapore is another example of what the
talent and energy of one man can effect.
The next harbour in which we found ourselves was that of Port Louis in
the Mauritius. The town stands at the head of the bay, and is enclosed
on the east, and north, and south, by mountains rising but a short
distance from the shore. The most lofty is the Pouce, which towers up
2800 feet immediately behind the town, and is a remarkable and
picturesque object. The Mauritius is one of the most flourishing of
England's dependencies, and the French inhabitants seem perfectly
contented with her rule, and appreciate the numerous advantages they
possess from being under it. Since the abolition of slavery, coolies
have been brought over to cultivate sugar, rice, tobacco, and to engage
in other labours, formerly performed by the negro slaves. Port Louis is
a well-built town, and has a bustling and gay appearance, from the
number of traders from all parts of the East, who appear in their
various and picturesque costumes. Our stay here was short.
We were next bound to the coast of Madagascar, Captain Frankland having
instructions to endeavour to open up a trade with the people, and to
gain all the information he could collect regarding them. Madagascar is
larger than Great Britain and Ireland combined, and contains three
millions of inhabitants. In 1817, a treaty was entered into between the
governor of the Mauritius and Radama, who was king of part of the
country. The king consented to the abolition of the slave trade; and in
return, he was supplied with arms and ammunition, and military
instructors were sent to drill his army. The London Missionary Society
also sent over a body of highly intelligent men, some to instruct the
people in Christianity, and others more particularly in a variety of
useful arts. A considerable number of Malagasy youths were sent on
board English ships of war to be instructed in seamanship, while others
were carried to England to receive a more finished education. It is a
remarkable fact, that, although when the missionaries arrived in 1818
letters were totally unknown, in ten years from 10,000 to 15,000 natives
had learned to read, many of them to write, and several had made some
progress in English. This speaks well for the zeal and excellence of
the system employed by the missionaries, and for the talent of the
natives.
King Radama, after considerably extending his dominions, died in 1828,
when the policy of his successor towards the English considerably
changed. The Malagasy government having resolved to impose their own
laws on foreign residents at the port of Tamatave, an English and two
French ships of war went there to try and settle the questions at issue.
Failing to do so, they attacked the port, which, however, was so well
defended, that they were compelled to retire, leaving several of their
number behind, whose heads were stuck upon poles on the shore. In
consequence of this untoward event, all intercourse with the English
ceased for eight years. Before that time the government had commenced a
cruel persecution of the Christian natives, and numbers were put to
death. The effect, however, was very different from what was expected.
Attention was drawn to the subject of Christianity. Many of all ranks
began to study the Bible and to acknowledge the truth, and among them
was the queen's son, then only seventeen years old. The queen was
greatly averse to the new religion; and this, probably, was one of the
causes which made her break off all intercourse with strangers, while
she carried on the persecution against her own subjects who had become
converts. The patient way in which the Christians bore their sufferings
induced many others to inquire into the truth of their doctrines, and
ultimately to embrace them. At last a reaction took place; the queen
began to discover the ill effects of the restrictive system she had been
endeavouring to establish, and once more showed an inclination to renew
her intercourse with civilised nations. Friendly relations with the
British had again been established when we anchored before Tamatave.
The roadstead before Tamatave offers a good anchorage, except when the
wind is from the north or east. Several species of pandanus and some
tall cocoa-nut trees gave a tropical character to the scenery. Soon
after anchoring, a large but rather clumsy canoe came alongside, with an
officer who spoke a little English, and said he was the harbour-master,
and a number of attendants. They wore neatly plaited straw hats, white
shirts bound round the loins with cloths, and large white scarfs thrown
gracefully over the shoulders like the Scotch plaid. The harbour-master
entered in a book the name of the ship and other particulars, and we
then accompanied him to his house on shore--that is, the captain, the
doctor, and Jerry and I. It was built of wood, nearly fifty feet long
and twenty-five high, a verandah running all round; a door in the
centre, and windows on either side; the floor of the veranda well
planked, so as to form an outer apartment. The whole was thatched with
the leaves of the traveller's-tree. The walls were covered with tofia,
or native cloth, and the floor with a large fine mat. A well-made
bedstead stood in one corner with sleeping mats on it, and in the centre
a table covered with a white cloth. In different parts of the room were
chairs and ottomans covered with mats; cooking utensils, arms, machines
for making mats, bags of rice, and other articles for consumption, were
arranged against the sides of the room. It was a fair specimen of a
native house, and in the essentials showed a considerable advancement in
civilisation and notions of comfort, as it was admirably adapted to the
climate.
Captain Frankland's object in coming to Madagascar was to open up a
commercial intercourse with the people, and to advance this object he
had resolved to visit the capital. He had been supplied with several
letters of introduction to facilitate this object. This brought us in
contact with a number of people. One of our first visitors was a
fine-looking man, an officer of government. He wore a gold-lace cloth
cap, a shirt with an elaborately worked collar and cuffs, and over it a
lamba, the native scarf or plaid, the centre of which consisted of broad
stripes of yellow, pink, scarlet, and purple, with the border of open
work of yellow and scarlet lace. He had, however, neither shoes nor
stockings. He was accompanied by two men bearing swords, the badges of
his office. One of our visitors took snuff (a usual custom), by jerking
it from a richly ornamented tube of cane which his servant handed to
him, on to his tongue, when he swallowed it!
Tamatave, where we landed, is a large village, but the houses, or rather
huts, have generally a dilapidated appearance. There are a few good
houses, belonging to foreigners and to the government officers. We were
amused by seeing slaves filling thick bamboos six or seven feet long
with water from a well. The water is pulled up in a cow horn instead of
a bucket, while the bamboo takes the place of a pitcher. We visited the
market. The vendors sat in the centre, or at the side of platforms made
of sand or mud, on which the articles were piled up. We found rice,
maize, millet, mandioc, plantains, oranges, pine-apples, and many other
fruits. All sorts of poultry were to be seen, and the butchers had
their meat arranged before them cut up into pieces on broad plantain
leaves. The women were dressed very much in articles of European
manufacture; their hair, which is jet black, was arranged frequently in
light curls or knots, which has a far from picturesque effect.
Nothing is more wonderful in Madagascar than the great strides education
has made. Thirty years ago the language was unwritten. Only one
person, who had been educated in the Mauritius, could write, and that
was in a foreign language. Now, all the government officers can write,
and all the business is transacted by writing, while all classes are
greedy for instruction; indeed, we had great reason to believe that
there are few more intelligent people than the inhabitants of that
magnificent island.
Before starting on our journey we were invited to a dinner by one of the
chiefs. Our surprise was great, when we approached the house, to find
two lines of soldiers drawn up, dressed in white kilts with white belts
across their naked shoulders, with a musket or spear. We were ushered
into a handsome hall full of officers in every variety of European
uniform, the chiefs having cocked hats, feathers, and gold epaulets.
The lady of the house and several other ladies were present, dressed in
English fashion; and the feast, which was abundant, was served much in
the English style. Several of the officers spoke English, and toasts
were drunk and speeches made, while a band played very well both when we
entered and after dinner. Some female slaves stood behind the ladies,
and two afterwards came in and made some very excellent coffee. We were
very much interested as well as surprised to find so much civilisation
among those whom we had supposed barbarians.
I have spoken of slaves. Although the government has abolished the
exportation of slaves, slavery is still allowed in the country. The
slaves are generally people taken in war from among the inhabitants of
the northern provinces. People are also condemned to perpetual slavery
for crimes by the government. The Hovas, the name of the dominant
tribe, of whom Radama was chief, have made slaves of great numbers of
the tribes whom they have conquered. We heard, however, that they are
generally kindly treated. Many of the Christians were condemned to
slavery during the late persecutions; but the conditions made with those
who took charge of them was, that they were to be kept constantly at
hard labour. We heard much of the admirable conduct of the Christians
under all their persecutions. Their heathen masters declared that they
could be intrusted with any matter of importance, and were scrupulously
exact with regard to all property placed under their charge, while among
themselves they kept up the pure and simple doctrines which they had
learned from the Bible itself.
We now got ready for our journey. We had a guide who had been in
England, and some years at the Cape of Good Hope, and spoke English
perfectly. Our palanquins were something like cots slung on a long
pole, with a roof of native cloth, which could be rolled up or let down
to keep off the rain or sun. The machine was borne by four bearers, two
before and two behind, while four others walked by the side ready to
relieve them. No wheeled carriages are used in Madagascar, so that the
only roads are the paths made by the unshod feet of the natives, or by
the bullocks' hoofs; and there is no water-carriage--all goods are
conveyed on men's shoulders from one part of the country to the other;
so that we had quite an army with us, what with our relays of bearers,
and those who carried our baggage and presents. Up and down hills we
travelled, through the wildest scenery we could imagine. It is
difficult to describe it. Sometimes we had to wind up and down over
rugged heights; then through forests, frequently turning aside to avoid
the huge trees which had fallen across our path; then across swamps and
plots of slippery mud; and often we had to force our way through dense
jungle, or through miles of primeval forests.
We saw many interesting trees and plants. One of the most beautiful is
the bamboo. Some of the canes, nearly a foot in circumference at the
base, rise to the height of forty or fifty feet, their slight,
feathery-looking points, like huge plumes, waving with the slightest
breeze, and assisting to keep up a circulation of the air. They are
fringed at their joints with short branches of long, lance-shaped
leaves. We saw bamboos of all sizes, some with the cane as delicate as
a small quill, yet fully ten feet long; and these were also exceedingly
graceful. So also were the tree-ferns, which grew in great profusion
and beauty on the sides of the hills. But the most curious and valuable
tree we saw was the traveller's-tree. It has a thick succulent stem
like the plantain. From ten to thirty feet from the ground it sends out
from the stem, not all round, but on opposite sides, like a fan, ten or
a dozen huge bright green leaves; so that facing it, it has the
appearance of a vast fan. The stalk of the leaf is six or eight feet
long, and the leaf itself four or six more. In each head were four or
five branches of seed-pods, in appearance something like the fruit of
the plantain. When they burst each pod was found to contain thirty or
more seeds, in shape like a small bean, covered up with a very fine
fibre of a brilliant purple or blue colour. The most singular
arrangement, which gains this tree the name it bears, is the pure water
which it contains. This is found in the thick part of the stem of each
leaf, at the spot where it rises from the stem, where there is a cavity
formed by nature. The water is evidently collected by the broad leaf,
and carried down a groove in the stem to the bowl, which holds a quart
or more, perhaps, at a time. The traveller's-tree is of great use for
other purposes to the natives. With the leaves they thatch their
houses; the stems serve to portion off the rooms; and the hard outside
bark is beaten flat, and is used for flooring. The green leaves are
used to envelop packages, and sometimes a table is covered with them
instead of a tablecloth, while they are also folded into various shapes,
to be employed as plates, bowls, and even spoons.
We had to cross a river said to be infested by crocodiles. The natives
walked close to us on either side, beating the water with long sticks to
keep them away. The natives look on them with great dread, and attempt
to propitiate them by charms or sacrifices, instead of endeavouring to
destroy them. They, however, take their eggs in great numbers, and dry
them for food.
Locusts in great numbers infest some of the provinces; but the people do
not allow them to pass without paying a heavy tribute, and eat them as
one of their chief luxuries, dressed in fat. They fly about two or
three feet from the ground. As soon as they appear, men, women, and
children rush out--the men catch them in sheets, the women and children
pick them from the ground, and then shake them in sacks till the wings
and legs are knocked off. The lighter parts are then winnowed away, and
the bodies are dried in the sun and sold in the markets.
The natives seem to have the same dread of serpents that they have of
crocodiles. The doctor found one, ten feet long, coiled away on the mat
where he had slept one morning, on going back to look for something he
had left there; but it escaped before it could be killed.
We slept during our journey sometimes at the habitations of chiefs,
sometimes at peasants' huts, and sometimes at houses in villages
provided for our accommodation. The chiefs' houses were small, but
compactly built. We remarked that the water was kept in large earthen
jars--like those used in the Holy Land, I conclude. The sleeping-places
were neatly arranged round the rooms, and there was a general air of
comfort and respectability perceptible in most of them. Very different
was a peasant's hut when we entered. It was not more than twenty feet
square, divided into two compartments. In the outer were calves, lambs,
and fowls. In the inner, at one end was a bed, and at the foot of it a
fireplace, over which a man was cooking a pot of rice. His wife sat
before a loom, consisting of four upright sticks fixed in the ground,
with rods across. At the distance of seven feet were two short sticks
driven into the ground, connected by a bar, over which was stretched the
woof of silk to be woven. On this simple apparatus the most beautiful
and rich patterns are worked. Silk-worms abound in some of the
provinces, and a very large amount might be produced and form an
important article of trade.
As we approached the capital we found the villages of the Hovas all
strongly fortified on the summits of hills or rocks. They have but one
narrow and difficult entrance, and are surrounded by one or more deep
ditches, every ridge at the side of the hill being cut through. Great
care, indeed, has been shown in their construction, showing that they
were a warlike and marauding people, and found it necessary to guard
against reprisals from the neighbours they have attacked.
Antananarivo, the capital, at which we at length arrived, after a
journey of three hundred miles, is a very curious place. It is built on
an oval hill, nearly two miles in length, rising four or five hundred
feet above the surrounding country, and is seven thousand feet higher
than the level of the sea. On the highest part of the hill, and forming
a conspicuous object, is the palace of the queen. It is sixty feet
high, with a lofty and steep roof, with attic windows, and is surrounded
by balconies, one above, the other. The top is surmounted by a huge
golden eagle, with outspread wings, which looks as if able to have a
tough fight with the one which overshadowed the articles from the United
States at, the Great Exhibition.
The palace of the prince, which is smaller, is on one side, and has also
a golden eagle over it. The dwellings of other members of the royal
family and chief nobility are on either side, while the rest of the
houses, which are only of one story, clothe the sides of the hill,
standing generally on small terraces, wherever the ground has allowed
their formation. The houses are of plain unpainted wood, which gives
them a somewhat sombre and dilapidated appearance. The interiors are,
however, very comfortable, and admirably suited to the climate.
Captain Frankland had the honour of an audience with the queen, who
received him very graciously, and seemed much pleased with the object of
his visit to the country. Still more interested were we with the prince
royal and the princess Rabodo, his wife, who had for some time become
consistent Christians. We were much struck with the kind and courteous
way in which the prince invariably treated his wife whenever they
appeared in public. We always saw him dressed in a handsome uniform,
and she always appeared in the costume of an English lady. All the
officers of the court were well dressed, either in European uniforms, or
in full native costume, which is very becoming.
We had a very comfortable house appropriated to us. We found the
climate at this elevation far pleasanter than near the coast, the
thermometer, in the morning, not being higher than 56 degrees to 58
degrees. A number of the chiefs visited Captain Frankland, to talk
about the productions of the country and the best methods for improving
its resources. Jerry and I meantime made several excursions into the
surrounding country with the doctor, accompanied by a young chief, who
spoke English very well. We one day passed a body of troops, and he
told us that there were forty thousand men forming an army round the
capital besides artillery. Among other places we visited was the
country palace of Radama, called Isoaierana. The top of a hill had been
removed to clear a space for the edifice. It is a wonderful building,
considering the means at the disposal of the architect, but it wants
height to give it grandeur. It is composed entirely of wood, the timber
having been brought from a forest fifty miles off. Rows of balconies
run round it. One hall we entered was a hundred feet long and forty
wide; but that also wanted height to make it appear to advantage.
From the very slight description I have given of the country, it will be
seen that considerable advances have of late years been made in
civilisation. The prince royal is a most excellently disposed young
man, but his education is defective. Should his life be spared, there
can be no doubt that he will exert himself to carry on the improvements
commenced under the auspices of Radama. Unhappily, his mother and most
of the chief nobility still are heathens, while the severe edicts
against the Christians yet remain in force. However, all must believe
that Christianity will ultimately triumph, and a happy future be in
store for that interesting country.
We were very sorry when, the captain having concluded his business, we
had once more to get into our palanquins, and to commence our return
journey to the coast. We met with no adventure worthy of being noted,
though we saw a number of curious and interesting plants and shrubs. At
length once more we trod the deck of the _Triton_. The anchor was hove
up, the topsails hoisted, and with a fair breeze we stood to the
southward. We touched at Cape Town, but I will not describe it or the
Table Mountain, of which every one has heard over and over again. One
day we were all on deck, when the Captain and mates and Jerry and I were
taking observations. "I thought so," exclaimed Captain Frankland; "we
have just put a girdle round the world; and now, lads, you will have
spare time enough to tie the knot." In a few weeks after this we
reached the shores of Old England in safety, and though we had heartily
enjoyed our voyage, right glad and thankful too were we to see once more
its snow-white cliffs.
I spent three days with Captain Frankland's family, and then Jerry and
old Surley, who must not be forgotten, accompanied me to my own home.
All were there for the Christmas holidays, and what between my dear
father and mother's embraces, and my sisters pulling me here and there
to get another and another kiss at my well-browned cheeks, and my
brother's reiterated and hearty thumps on the back, I was almost in as
much danger of being pulled to pieces as I had during any time of the
voyage, and had not Jerry been there to draw off the attention of some
of the party, I do not know what would have been the result. Cousin
Silas soon afterwards joined us, and remained while the ship was
refitting. We spent a very merry Christmas, and no one seemed tired of
hearing us recount our adventures. Old Surley used to sit at our feet,
and he nodded his head and winked his eyes, as much as to say "It is all
true, and if I could but speak I would tell you the same story." I hope
that my readers will receive it in as favourable a way as did my family.
We had learned many lessons during our trip. We had been taught to
respect other people, their manners, and even their prejudices, and to
reflect what we ourselves should have been had we laboured under similar
disadvantages, while at the same time we had seen every reason to love
Old England more and more, and to be deeply grateful for the numberless
inestimable blessings she enjoys. We had been taught, too, to observe
the finger of the Almighty in his wondrous works, and to remark how he
has scattered his precious gifts far and wide over the face of the globe
for the benefit of his creatures. Our midnight watches have not been
unprofitable. Often and often in the calm night we have gazed upward at
the starlit sky and thought upon God. We have had time for reflection.
We have felt our own unworthiness. We have asked ourselves the serious
question, Do we make a good and complete use of the advantages we
possess--of the instruction afforded us--of the great examples set
before us--of the Word of God laid freely open for us? But I might go
on for ever asking similar questions. Happy are those who can make
satisfactory answers. I must conclude by expressing a hope that those
who have gone through these pages will have found some of the amusement
and instruction which Jerry and I obtained in our--
Voyage round the World.