The Mission to Siam, and Hué the Capital of Cochin China, in the Years 1821-2

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 Asiatics⁴.

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 66½°; 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.