by G. A. Henty
Chapter 10: A Mission By Sea.
A Fortnight after Harry's return, he was again sent for by LordMornington.
"Captain Lindsay, I am about to employ you on a mission of asomewhat delicate character. There have been many complaints thatships trading among the islands have been attacked and, in somecases, captured and the crews massacred, by Malays. We recentlyreceived a communication from a native chief, or rajah, who ownsthe southern point of the Malay Peninsula. He says that the Dutch,in Java, greatly interfere with his trade; as all vessels tradingin the East are bound to touch at Batavia, on their way to Europe,and consequently very few of them visit the Peninsula, as to do sowould greatly lengthen their voyage to Batavia. He asks that weshould make a settlement at the end of the Peninsula, so that ourships may trade with him; and would be willing to place us inpossession of an island, two or three miles from the extremesouthern portion of his dominions.
"There can be no doubt that the position would be an extremelyvaluable one; lying, as it does, on our trade route to the East.But it is also certain that a settlement of that kind would beviewed with extreme jealousy by the Dutch; whose possessions, inJava and other islands, render them practically masters of thewhole Malay Archipelago.
"Certainly, at present, our hands are much too full here to permitof our engaging in any enterprise of this kind but, at the sametime, it is desirable that we should obtain some reliableinformation as to the situation there, the power of this rajah, andthe advantages that the island offers in the way of ports, thesalubrity of its climate, and other similar particulars. Itspossession would certainly be desirable, not only as a centre forfuture trade with Bankok and the East, but as a port from which ourvessels of war might suppress the piracy that prevails all alongthe Malay coast, and in the neighbouring island of Sumatra. Suchinformation may be extremely useful in the future, and when ourpower in this country is consolidated.
"But this is not the sole object of your mission. You will proceed,either before or after your visit to this rajah, as we willdetermine, to Batavia; bearing a despatch from me to the Dutchgovernor, narrating a number of acts of piracy that have takenplace among the islands, and requesting that, as they are theparamount power in that district, they will take steps, both fortheir own sake and ours, to suppress piracy; and offering, on ourpart, that two or three of our ships of war shall, if they think itdesirable, aid them in the punishment of the Malays. You will beaccompanied by an interpreter.
"There are several Malay traders established here; and some ofthem, no doubt, speak Hindustani fluently. I will have enquiriesmade among them, and will also procure you a Dutch interpreter.
"I do not propose that you shall go in a trading vessel to Java.The appearance of such a vessel, off Batavia, would be resented bythe Dutch. Of course, traders do go from here down to the islands,but only to those not under Dutch power. They used generally totrade, on their way down, with Burma and Siam; but the Burmese haveshown such hostility to us that it is no longer safe to enter theirrivers, and they have wrested the maritime provinces of Siam, onthis side of the Peninsula, from that power; so that trade thereis, for the present, at an end. I shall therefore send you down inone of our small sloops. A larger vessel might irritate the Dutch,and a small one would be sufficient to furnish you with an escortto this Rajah of Johore--not only for protection, but because thenative potentates have no respect for persons who do not arrivewith some sort of appearance of state.
"You will, of course, go as high commissioner, with full powers torepresent me. I do not anticipate that you will be able to concludeany formal treaty with the Rajah of Johore. He will, of course, askfor an equivalent, either in money or in protection against someneighbouring rajah. We have no money to spare at present, andcertainly no troops. Your commission therefore will be toacknowledge his communication, to assure him of our friendship, toascertain the suitability of the island that he offers, and to tellhim that, at present, being so fully occupied with wars here, weare scarcely in a position to extend our responsibility; but that,when matters are more settled, we shall be prepared to enter into atreaty with him, to open a trade with his dominions, to pay a fairsum for the possession of the island, if suitable, and to enterinto a treaty of alliance with him.
"Of the value of such a settlement there can be no doubt, whatever;for we may take it that, before very long, some of the Chineseports will be open to European traders."
A week later, Harry embarked on a brig mounting eight guns, andusually employed in police work along the coast. He was accompaniedby a Dutch interpreter, a Malay trader, Abdool, and four troopersof the Governor General's bodyguard, in the handsome uniform wornby that corps. The lieutenant in command of the brig receivedHarry, with the usual ceremony, as a Government commissioner. Hehimself was at the gangway to meet him, and twelve of the sailors,with drawn cutlasses, saluted as Harry stepped on to the deck.
The lieutenant, a young man of about four or five and twenty,looked surprised when he found that the official, whom he was tocarry down to Java, was apparently younger than himself.
"I suppose, Captain Fairclough," Harry said with a smile, when theyentered the cabin, "that you expected to see a middle-aged man."
"Hardly that, Captain Lindsay. I heard that you were a youngofficer, who had rendered distinguished services on the Bombayside, and had just returned from an important mission in theDeccan; but I own that I had not at all expected to see an officeryounger than myself."
"I can quite understand that. I have been exceptionally fortunate,owing to the fact that I speak Mahratti as well as English. Well, Ihope that after your reception we have done with ceremony; and thatyou will forget that I am, at present, a civil official with thetemporary rank of commissioner, and regard and treat me as youmight any young officer who had been given a passage in your brig.I have led a pretty rough life, and hate anything like ceremony. Wemay be some weeks on board together, and should have a pleasanttime of it, especially as the whole country is new to me."
"And to me also," the lieutenant said. "I generally cruise from themouth of the Hooghly to Chittagong; and a dreary coast it is, withits low muddy shores and scores of creeks and streams. In thesunderbunds there is little to look after, the people are quiet andvery scattered; but farther east they are piratically inclined, andprey upon the native traders, and we occasionally catch them at it,and give them a lesson.
"Well, I shall be very glad to adopt your suggestion, and to dropall ceremony. I have not often had to carry civil officials in thiscraft, she is too small for any such dignified people; but when Iwas in the Tigris, we often carried civil and military officialsfrom Madras, and some of them were unmitigated nuisances--not themilitary men, but the civilians. The absurd airs they gavethemselves, as if heaven and earth belonged to them, weresickening; and they seemed to regard us as dust under their feet.Whenever we heard that we were to take a member of the Council fromCalcutta to Madras, or the other way, it was regarded as aninfliction of a serious kind."
"Well, I propose to begin with that, when we are down heretogether, we drop titles; you call me Lindsay, and I will call youFairclough."
"With all my heart," the other said.
"What officers have you?"
"A junior lieutenant, and two midshipmen. The lieutenant, when I amalone, always messes with me. We are not so strict, among our smallcraft in the Company's service, as they are in the royal navy; andI think, myself, that it would be ridiculous for me to dine here bymyself; Mr. Hardy, by himself; and the two midshipmen in a separatemess of their own. That of course they do, for they would not enjoytheir meals with Hardy and myself."
"I quite agree with you."
"This is your stateroom."
"But it is your private cabin, Fairclough, is it not?"
"Well, yes; but I am accustomed to turn out, whenever there arepassengers."
"Well, at any rate, I shall feel very much disgusted if you do sofor me. I should be most uncomfortable, so I must insist on youhaving your things moved back
here. When I tell you that, forsixteen years, I lived in the house of a small Mahratta cultivator,you may well imagine that I can make myself perfectly comfortable,anywhere."
"It will be quite contrary to the rules of our service," the otherbegan, hesitatingly.
"I can't help that," Harry replied. "There are no rules withoutexceptions, and mine is an altogether peculiar case. You willreally oblige me, very much, if you will have the change made.
"I see that you are surprised at what I told you about myself; itis too long a story to tell you now, but I will, after dinnertoday, repeat to you and Hardy some of my experiences; which youwill see have been curious, and account for my having the rank ofcaptain, and being employed in a responsible position, at my age.
"I suppose you will soon be getting up anchor?"
"Yes; the tide will be favourable now, and everything is ready fora start."
A few minutes later, the clank of the capstan was heard and, goingon deck, Harry found Lieutenant Hardy preparing to sail. As soon asthe vessel was under way he came aft, and was introduced to Harry.
The latter had enquired, of the chief of the Governor's staff, whatwas customary on these occasions, and whether he was to take onboard a stock of provisions.
"Not at all," was the reply; "Government makes an allowance formessing and wine. Sometimes an official will take a dozen or so ofchampagne with him, as the allowance, though liberal, wouldscarcely cover this; but it is quite sufficient to enable a captainto keep a good table, and provide port and sherry."
Harry, seeing that the voyage might be much longer than usual, hadsent on board four dozen of champagne; some of which he thoughtmight be useful at the table, if the Rajah of Johore came on boardwith a number of his chiefs, or if the ship was visited by Dutchofficials.
The Dutch interpreter was to mess with the petty officers. TheMalay preferred to prepare his victuals for himself.
The wind was light, and the brig drifted quietly down the riverand, when evening came on, anchored as, on account of the sandbanksand the lightness of the wind, Fairclough had thought itunadvisable to continue his voyage at night. As soon as the sailshad been taken in, the two officers went down to the cabin, wheredinner was ready for them.
It was a pleasant one, for the two naval men were in high spiritsover this change from their ordinary routine, and the prospect ofsailing on a strange voyage. Abdool, as usual, had placed himselfbehind his master's chair, but Harry said:
"I sha'n't want you to wait on me during the voyage, Abdool; thecaptain's steward will do that."
After the meal was over, cheroots lighted, and a decanter of portplaced on the table, Fairclough asked Harry for the story he hadpromised him; and the latter accordingly gave them a sketch of hislife and adventures.
"I no longer wonder, Lindsay, at your having attained the rank ofcaptain so young. That old nurse of yours must have been a trump,indeed; but certainly it is wonderful that you should have lived,first as a peasant and then at the Peishwa's court, so long withoutanyone having had a suspicion that you were an Englishman. Fancyyour meddling in politics, being regarded as a friend of thePeishwa and this minister of his, and being the means of gettingthe latter out of prison, and so perhaps averting a war between theMahrattas and Bombay! That was a ticklish business, too, atNagpore; and you were lucky in coming so well out of it.
"But after all, I think the most wonderful part is that a boy ofsixteen should have been a shikaree, and killed no end of tigers,leopards, and bears and, after that, have risen so soon to the rankof captain in the Company's service. Why, you have seen and donemore than most men double your age!"
"Yes, I have had great luck, and it is all owing to my old nursehaving taken such pains; first to enable me to pass as a Mahratta,and in the next place to teach me the English language and Englishways.
"Well, the story has been an unconscionably long one. I think Iwill go on deck and smoke a last cheroot, and then turn in."
"If you were a new hand from England, I should say that you hadbetter smoke it here," Fairclough said; "for the mists from thewater and swamps are apt to give fresh hands a touch of fever."
The time passed pleasantly, as they made direct for the mouth ofthe straits between the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra. There was alight but steady breeze and, on the morning of the eighth day aftersailing, Harry, on going on deck, saw land on the port side. As thelieutenant, on the evening before, said that they should next daysight the Great Andaman, he was not surprised.
On looking at the chart, he said to Fairclough:
"I should have thought that it would have been shorter to go on theother side of the islands."
"It would have been rather shorter; but there are four or fiveislands to the north of the Andaman, and another very small onehalfway between it and Negrais, so I preferred going outside. Whenwe get south of the Little Andaman Island, we shall pass between itand the Nicobar Islands. I fancy that they, and perhaps theAndamans, once formed a part of Sumatra. They are scattered almostin a line from its northern point. The land has probably sunk; andthese islands were, no doubt, the summits of mountains forming partof the chain that runs through Sumatra.
"Once through the passage south of Little Andaman, we shall saildue east for a day or two; and then lay her course nearlysoutheast, which will take us right up the straits between Sumatraand the Malay Peninsula."
"Are there any islands scattered about there?"
"There is one nasty little group, called the Arroa Islands, nearlyin mid-channel. I shall take care to pass them in daylight. Fartherdown there are several largish islands near the Sumatra coast but,as the passage is some sixty miles wide, there is little fear ofour running foul of them."
"Have the Dutch any settlements at Sumatra?"
"Two or three. Palembang is the principal. It is on a river thatruns down into the Banca Straits. I believe that they have tradingstations at Jambi and Siak."
A fortnight later the brig anchored off the coast of Singapore.During the voyage, Harry had had many conversations with theMalayan interpreter. The latter told him that the chief who hadwritten might not be in a position to carry out his offer. Not onlywere the small Malay states frequently engaged in wars with eachother, but there were constant internal insurrections andstruggles, the various petty chiefs frequently endeavouring to setup as independent powers. At the present time the tumangong, orchief justice, had obtained possession of the island of Singapore,and the adjacent district of the mainland; while other chiefs hadalso thrown off their allegiance to the Rajah of Johore, whohimself had usurped the power from the former reigning family.
"If," he said, "you want only to obtain a place for trade, thetumangong is no doubt the person from whom you must obtain it; butif you wanted the whole island, you would have to treat not onlywith him but with the rajah as, in case the latter should defeatand overthrow the tumangong, he certainly would not recognize thecession of the island to you."
"Is there a good port?"
"No; but it is not needed. They do not have hurricanes, here, asthey do in the Bay of Bengal and in the China Seas, and indeedamong the islands; so vessels can anchor off the coast, in safety,at all times of the year."
"What is the island like?"
"It is covered with forest and jungle," the Malay replied. "Thereare but few inhabitants, a hundred and fifty or so. Most of theseare my people, but there are a few Chinese and Bugis. The Malaysare not cultivators. They live by piracy, attacking small nativevessels passing through the narrow passages between Singapore andthe mainland. The Chinese cultivate patches of land."
"Is it fertile?"
"Very. Rain falls there more than half the days in the year. If theChinese had it, they would make a garden of it. It is better, even,than the land on that part of Sumatra where they produce spices andgrains of all sorts. The Malay Peninsula would be very wealthy,were it not split up into several kingdoms, that are always at warwith each other.
"Singapore was a great place, once. Seven hundred years ago it w
asthe capital of the whole Malay kingdom; but it was taken, a hundredyears afterwards, by the King of Java, and Malacca then became theMalay capital."
"The affair does not seem very promising," Harry said, afterrepeating to Fairclough what he had heard from the Malay. "From myexperience of the Indian princes, there is very little trust to beplaced in any agreement made with them. They keep it just as longas it suits them, and then break it; without the slightest sense ofhaving done anything dishonourable. It seems to me that theposition here is very much like that in the Deccan. Scindia,Holkar, and the Rajahs of Berar and Kolapoore are practicallyindependent of the Peishwa, who maintains only a semblance ofauthority. From what the interpreter tells me, there seems to beonly a puppet rajah who, today, possesses no authority whatever;but who, tomorrow, may excite a quarrel among the other chiefs, andagain become their master.
"I think that, in the first place, I shall have to see thissemi-independent chief, whose possessions Singapore forms part of;and afterwards the Rajah of Johore, his nominal master.
"The latter may view the matter in one of two ways. In the firstplace, he may consider the island of no importance, whatever;seeing that, even were he again its master, no revenue could beobtained from the handful of people living there; and wouldtherefore be glad to ratify the cession to us, for a small sum. Onthe other hand, he may consider that the elevation of the island,into the position of a great European trading port, would addgreatly to the power and importance of the tumangong, and mightenable him to make himself master of the whole of Johore."
"It seems a complicated business, certainly," the sailor replied."You see, though this rebel chap, having written to Calcutta, maybe trusted to receive you hospitably; there is no saying what therajah may think of it."
"Nor is it clear how I am to get at the rajah," Harry remarked."The tumangong would, no doubt, object to my going beyond what heconsiders as his territory; as it might seem that, did he let me doso, he would be recognizing the power of the rajah to interfere inhis business. However, it is certain that I must carry home a clearreport on the situation; and to do that I must, at any rate,attempt to see the rajah.
"Of course we must endeavour to learn, from the Malays on theisland, whether Johore still holds any territory running down tothe sea, or whether the coast chiefs have also revolted againsthim. In the first case, I will send up a native, to say that I havea mission from the Governor General of India to visit his court;but if he is cut off from the sea, I must endeavour to make my waythrough, somehow. It would never do to return with only half astory. I do not suppose the Governor General is at all aware of thestate of things here, or that the chief who communicated with himis not the acknowledged Rajah of Johore.
"There can be no doubt that the possession of this island would beof great value to us, as it would become a centre of trade, notonly with the East, but with all the islands round; except, ofcourse, those belonging to Holland. Therefore, the first essentialpoint is to ascertain whether the old rajah is likely to regain hisformer authority; and whether, if so, he will recognize, and onwhat terms, the cession of the island to us."
"Well, I am glad, Lindsay, that it is your business and not mine;for it seems a very difficult affair, and a somewhat dangerousone."
Three weeks after leaving Calcutta the brig reached the island and,at Harry's request, sailed round it, taking soundings veryfrequently, in order to obtain knowledge of the depth of the waterand the nature of the sea bottom. Finally they anchored in thestraits between it and the mainland. This varied, in width, fromtwo miles to a quarter of a mile; and the depth of water, at theeastern extremity of the straits, was found to be insufficient forvessels of a large tonnage, though navigable for ordinary nativecraft.
The island itself was some twenty-five miles long and fifteen mileswide; being, as Fairclough calculated, about a third larger thanthe Isle of Wight. No high hills were seen; but the whole islandwas undulating, and everywhere covered with forest and jungle.
Several small Malay canoes had put off to them with fruit; and as,from what the interpreter had told them of the smallness of thepopulation, there was clearly no chance of any attack being made onthe brig, they were allowed to come alongside. The supply of fruitwas very welcome, and the interpreter learned something from thenatives as to the state of things on the mainland.
As to this, however, they appeared to take but little interest.They admitted that the tumangong was their lord but, as they weretoo poor for him to levy any contributions from them, hismastership was merely a nominal one, and they did not troublethemselves about him. If he should at any time send an officer andtroops, to exact tribute money, they would simply retire into theinterior, where they could defy pursuit. They had heard reportsthat there were wars on the mainland but, beyond the fact that therajah possessed very little authority, they were unable to give anyinformation. They had vaguely heard that some of the chiefssupported the family of the former rajah.
On the day after their anchoring, a large canoe put off from themainland. In the stern sat two men, whose gay dresses showed themto be minor chiefs or officials. Harry, who had throughout thevoyage worn only civilian costume of white drill, now put on hisfull uniform; as did the sowars of his escort. The ladder waslowered for the accommodation of the visitors; and these, onreaching the deck, were received by Fairclough, his officers, and aguard of honour. The Malay interpreter stood by the captain's side.
"Why do you come here?" was their first question.
"We bring a high officer of the Governor General at Calcutta, toconfer with the lord of Singapore," Fairclough answered, throughthe interpreter.
"Our lord thought that it might be so," one of the officials said,"and therefore sent us off to enquire."
Fairclough led the Malays to the quarterdeck, where Harry wasstanding, with his four troopers as a bodyguard behind him.
"This is the official whom the Governor General has sent to you."
The Malays, struck with Harry's uniform, and still more with thatof his guard--all of which were new to them, and impressed themdeeply--salaamed profoundly to him.
"I have arrived," Harry said, "as the agent of our great governor;and in answer to a request of your lord, the tumangong, that heshould send an officer of rank here, to treat with him."
"Seeing this vessel of war," the Malay said, when Harry's speechhad been translated to him, "our lord hoped that it might be so;and directed us, should this prove correct, to inform you that hewill himself come off to see you, in three days' time. He has heardof the might of your lord in India, that he has conquered greatkingdoms, that the rule is a wise one, and that the people are wellcontented. We love not the Dutch, who are hard masters, and makethe people labour for them; and he desires to be on terms offriendship with the power which, as he understands, has taken theirstrong places in India, so that they have no longer any importancethere."
"He has done wisely," Harry said, "and I shall be glad to see yourlord, and to tell him what is in the mind of our governor."
The envoys were then invited to the cabin, where they were offeredrefreshments. They ate sparingly, but greatly appreciated thechampagne; and asked, through the interpreter, if they could beinstructed how to make this liquor; and were much disappointed onlearning it could only be made from the juice of the grape, thatgrew in a certain land in Europe, and could not be manufacturedelsewhere, though other wines which were equally good could bemade--that as the fruits grown in a hot country like theirs couldnot be grown in Europe, where the climate was much colder, so thegrape could not flourish in their hot country.
Three days later the tumangong came off, in a canoe gaily decoratedby flags, attended by several smaller craft. As he set foot on thedeck, a salute was fired. He appeared much disturbed when the firstgun went off; but the interpreter explained to him that it was amark of honour, always granted to native princes of importance.Seeing that no harm was done by the fire, the Malay approachedHarry, whose escort had been rendered more imposing by a line ofblue jackets,
with musket and cutlass, drawn up behind them.
Harry advanced to meet him, and friendly greetings were exchanged.He then invited him down into the cabin, where he was accompaniedby one of his chief officers. Harry, the captain, and theinterpreter went down with them. The Malay commenced theconversation.
"I hope that you bring a favourable answer to my letter?"
"The Governor bids me say that he willingly accepts your offer offriendship, and would readily establish a trading station on theisland of Singapore; but that, being now engaged in a serious warin India, it is not in his power, at present, to engage in analliance that might involve him in war here, since he might beunable to fulfil his obligations. With us, obligations under atreaty are regarded as sacred, and to be upheld at all sacrifices.Later on, when affairs are more settled in India, he will gladlyform an alliance with you.
"Here is a despatch, in your language, stating his reasons morefully but, in order to show his friendship, he has sent me down inthis ship of war to explain matters to you, and to assure you thathe appreciates your offer, and will later on accept it; but that hecannot enter into such a treaty now as, being engaged in war, hemight not be able to protect you from all enemies, should you callupon him to do so. I am the bearer of several presents from him,which he has sent as a proof of his friendship towards you."
He touched a bell and, at the signal, some sailors brought in thepresents; consisting of a handsome double-barrelled gun, a brace ofpistols, some embroidered robes, and some bales of English clothand other manufactures; also a dinner service of pottery, an ormuluclock, and other articles. The rajah, whose face had at firstexpressed disappointment, was evidently much pleased with thesepresents and, after perusing the letter, expressed himself as wellcontented with its terms.
"I value them all the more," he said, "because they are a proofthat the English do not make treaties, unless able to fulfil theconditions. This is far better than accepting treaties, and thenwithdrawing from them. You can assure the great lord of Calcutta,although I regret much that he cannot at present form an alliancewith me, that I shall be ready to renew the negotiations with him,whenever he notifies me that he can do so."
The champagne was then produced. The tumangong had evidently heard,from his officers, how delicious was the strange drink, whichbubbled as if it was boiling and was yet quite cold. Two bottleswere put upon the table; and the Malays, after tasting itcautiously at first, consumed the greater portion--the two officersonly sipping theirs occasionally, and filling up their glasses, soas to keep the others in countenance. Accustomed to more fierybeverages, obtained from traders in the Dutch possessions, theMalays were in no way affected by their potations; although theseevidently impressed them with the superiority of the English overtheir Dutch rivals, for the tumangong remarked:
"Truly the English must be a great people, to make such liquors.The Dutch sell us fiery drinks, but their flavour is not to becompared with these. I hope that your lord, when he again sends aship down to me, will forward me some of this drink."
"I have, fortunately, a case of it with me," Harry said. "Itcontains two dozen bottles. I will give orders for it to be placedin your boat."
He could see, by the Malay's face, that he was greatly gratified,and he added:
"I have no doubt, Tumangong, that when I inform the GovernorGeneral that you were pleased with this drink, he will order someof it to be sent down, when there is an opportunity; so that thefriendship between you and him can be maintained, until the timecomes when he can arrange with you for the concession of a tradingstation on the island of Singapore."
"The offer shall be always open to him; there is no occasion forhaste."
The conversation continued for some time longer, and then the Malayand his officers took their places in their canoe and rowed off,under a salute similar to that which had greeted their arrival.
"That is quite satisfactory," Harry said to the commander.
"Yes; there is no doubt that he thought more of your present ofchampagne, than of the gifts sent him by the Governor; and yourpromise to let him have a consignment, occasionally, will keep himin good temper.
"Now, what is your next move?"
"I think it would be best to finish with the Dutch, first. If therewere any delay in the other matter, they might get news, fromMalacca or some of their trading stations in Sumatra, that the shiphas been here and, in that case, they would guess that we arethinking of establishing a trading station, and might send and maketheir own terms with the tumangong. There can be no doubt that, ifwe open a free port here, it will do great damage to them, anddivert a large portion of the eastern trade here; being so muchmore handy for all the country craft trading with Siam and China,besides having the advantage of avoiding the heavy dues demanded bythe Dutch."
"No doubt that will be the best way," Fairclough said. "We will getup anchor, tomorrow morning."
In the course of the afternoon a large canoe came off, loaded withpresents of fresh meat, fruit, and vegetable; sent by thetumangong, together with some handsomely-mounted krises for Harryand the officers of the ship.
They continued their voyage, without incident, to Batavia. Arrivingthere, they dropped anchor and saluted the Dutch flag. The salutewas returned from the shore; and, shortly afterwards a large boat,flying the flag of Holland and carrying several persons, rowed outto them.
It was apparent, at once, when they ascended to the deck, that thevisit of the British ship of war was not a welcome one. Thejealousy of the Dutch of any attempt, on our part, to obtain afooting among the islands was intense; and the opinion on shore, onseeing the brig, would be that she had come to announce thatpossession had been taken of some unoccupied island. Their manner,therefore, was cold when Harry informed them, through his Dutchinterpreter, that he was the bearer of a despatch to the DutchGovernor from the Governor General.
"I may say that it refers," he said, "to the numerous outrages,committed by the Malays, upon vessels owned by British subjectstrading among the islands; and that he suggests that the Dutchauthorities should join in an attempt to punish these marauders,from whom they suffer equally with the British."
"The Governor will receive you, at three o'clock this afternoon.You will, of course, wish to deliver your despatch personally tohim and, as we shall acquaint him with its import, he will no doubtbe prepared to give you an answer, forthwith."
Without further words, the officials returned to their boats.
"They are a surly set of beggars," Fairclough said, as they rowedoff. "I don't think there is much chance of cooperation in thatquarter. Indeed, I am by no means sure that, at heart, they do notapprove of these Malay attacks. At present, they monopolize thetrade in spice. The native craft from all the islands bring theirproductions here; and there can be no doubt that the piracies ofthe Malays act as a great deterrent, both to the native traders,and our own from Calcutta and Madras."
"I think that, very likely, that is so," Harry agreed. "I do notthink that the Governor had any belief that they would cooperate inthe matter, and really only invited them to do so because it wouldexplain the presence of a ship of war in these waters; so I shallbe in no way concerned, if this part of my business turns out afailure."
At the appointed time, the captain's gig was lowered, and Harry andFairclough took their places in it. Another boat carried the Dutchinterpreter and the four troopers. They were received, on landing,by an official and a guard of honour; and were conducted to theGovernor's residence. Another guard of honour was drawn up at theentrance. They were shown into a large room, where the Governor wasseated, surrounded by the members of his council.
He rose and advanced a few paces, shook hands with the twoofficers, and begged them to be seated, on two chairs next to him.Harry handed the despatch to him.
"It is very short, sir," he said, "and perhaps, as you are aware ofits import, you will just glance through it."
The Governor did so and, afterwards, handed it to one of themembers of the council, and it was passed f
rom hand to hand.
"I am quite in accord," the Governor said, "with Lord Mornington,that the attacks of the Malays which we, as well as yourselves,suffer from are deplorable; and it is greatly to be wished thatthey could be suppressed. But I think that Lord Mornington couldhardly have been informed as to the great number of islandsinhabited by the Malays, and the great naval force that would berequired to overawe and punish these freebooters; who are so boldthat they do not hesitate to attack our traders, even when largeships, and carrying guns for their protection. Nothing short of agreat fleet of cruisers would suffice.
"In the next place, did we undertake any operations on a largescale against the Malays throughout the islands, they would uniteagainst us; and might, in revenge, assail many of our ports, and dous enormous damage. Even if your fleet performed half the work, itis we, only, who would be the sufferers. Certainly we have notsufficient vessels of war to attempt such an operation and, evenwere the Governor General of India to send down as many vessels aswe have at our disposal, the force would be altogether inadequatefor such extensive operations. These islands are counted by hundredsand, on the approach of ships of war, the people would desert theirvillages by the seashore and take to the interior--where it would,in most cases, be impossible to follow them--and all the damage wecould inflict would be to burn their villages, which could be rebuiltafter the ships had sailed away. To exterminate piracy would be thework, not of months, but of many years. However, I shall consult mycouncil, and will draft a reply to the despatch, tomorrow.
"You have had a pleasant voyage down, I hope?"
"Very much so," Harry replied. "We have had fine weather, and lightbreezes."
The conversation was continued for a few minutes, and then thelittle party returned to their boats.
"There is not much doubt what the reply will be," Fairclough said.
"No; and on the whole, I don't see that the Governor is to beblamed; though of course, he has not given us the principal reason,which is his objection to our flag being seen flying beside theDutch among the islands. Still, there is a good deal in what hesays."
"I think so, too. You see, they are going to send their answertomorrow, which may be taken as a proof that they are anxious toget rid of us, as soon as possible."