












  TRADE AND TRAVEL
  IN THE
  FAR EAST;

  OR
  RECOLLECTIONS OF TWENTY-ONE YEARS
  PASSED IN
  JAVA, SINGAPORE, AUSTRALIA,
  AND CHINA.


  BY G. F. DAVIDSON.


  LONDON:
  MADDEN AND MALCOLM,
  LEADENHALL STREET.
  1846.


  LONDON:
  PRINTED BY MADDEN AND MALCOLM,
  8 LEADENHALL STREET.




PREFACE.


The following pages were written to beguile the tediousness of a long
voyage from Hong Kong to England, during the spring and summer of 1844.
When I state, that the whole was written with the paper on my knee, for
want of a desk, amid continual interruptions from three young children
lacking amusement during their long confinement on ship-board, and with
a perpetual liability to be pitched to leeward, paper and all,--I shall
have said enough to bespeak from every good-natured reader a candid
allowance for whatever defects may attach to the composition. It is
necessary, however, that I should also premise, that the sketches are
drawn entirely from memory, and that the incidents referred to in the
earlier chapters, took place some twenty years ago. That my recollection
may have proved treacherous on some minor points, is very possible; but,
whatever may be the merits or demerits of the work in other respects, it
contains, to the best of my knowledge and belief, nothing but truth in
the strictest sense of that term; and, as imbodying the result of my own
personal observations in the countries visited, it may possess an
interest on that account, not always attaching to volumes of higher
pretensions.

My wanderings have been neither few nor short, and, perhaps, verify the
old proverb, that a rolling stone gathers no moss. I have crossed the
Ocean in forty different square-rigged vessels; have trod the plains of
Hindostan, the wilds of Sumatra, and the mountains of Java; have
strolled among the beautiful hills and dales of Singapore and Penang;
have had many a gallop amid the forests and plains of Australia; have
passed through the labyrinth of reefs forming Torres' Straits; and have
visited the far-famed Celestial Empire. My first idea, in endeavouring
to retrace my journeyings and adventures, was, that the personal
narrative might serve to amuse a circle of private friends. But the
notices relating to the openings for Trade in the Far East, and to the
subject of Emigration, together with the free strictures upon the causes
of the recent depression in our Australian colonies, will, I venture to
hope, be not unacceptable to those who are interested in the extension
of British commerce, and in the well-being of the rising communities
which form an integral part of the mighty Empire now encircling the
Globe.

Some parts of the work refer to coming events as probable, which have
since become matters of fact; but I have not deemed it necessary to
suppress or to alter what I had written. I am more especially happy to
find that my suggestions respecting Borneo have, to some extent, been
anticipated; and that the important discovery of its coal-mines has been
taken advantage of by Her Majesty's Government in the very way pointed
out in observations written at sea fifteen months ago. Since my arrival
in England, I have learned also, that the feasibility of the navigation
of Torres' Straits from west to east, has struck others more competent
to form a correct judgment than myself. Captain T. Blackwood, commander
of Her Majesty's ship, Fly, at present employed in surveying the coast
of New Holland, the Straits, and parts adjacent, has expressed his
determination, after refitting at Singapore, to endeavour to enter the
Pacific Ocean, during the north-west monsoon, by sailing through Torres'
Straits from the westward. I trust that this enterprising Officer will
succeed in the attempt, and thereby put beyond question the
practicability of the passage; which would not only shorten the distance
between Australia and our Indian territories, but contribute, more than
any thing else could do, to facilitate the transit of the Overland Mail
to Sydney. The Australians, I find, are still sanguinely bent upon
discovering an overland route from the present frontiers of the Colony
to Port Essington; but, although I heartily wish them success, my
opinion, as expressed in the subsequent pages, remains unaltered.

I observe, that the Singaporeans are already complaining of the
decrease of the number of square-rigged vessels that have visited their
port during the recent season, and of the falling-off of the
Chinese-junk trade, which they correctly attribute to the opening of the
trade with China; thereby verifying my predictions. I fear that they
will have still greater cause for complaint before twelve months shall
have rolled away. But the merchants of Singapore, it gives me pleasure
to add, are taking advantage of the times, by entering upon the China
trade, and seem determined not to suffer loss, if they can help it, by
the effect of Sir Henry Pottinger's famous Treaty. This is as it should
be.

With these few remarks on the motives which have induced me to write and
give to the world the following sketches, I now commit them to their
fate; trusting that they may serve to beguile an hour, to some of my
numerous friends in the different parts of the world they refer to, and
that, to the reader unacquainted with those countries, they may prove
both useful and entertaining. Before taking leave of the reader,
however, I must apologize for an unfortunate error my printer has fallen
into, (at p. 3 note), in misprinting the name of Mr. Mercus, one of the
best men that ever ruled a Colony, whether Dutch or English. This name
has been converted into Minns; and the error was not detected, till the
sheet had passed through the press.

As for the critics.--for any kind or friendly remarks they may make, I
shall feel grateful; while any of a contrary nature will neither
surprise nor displease me.


  HULL, _January 1846_.




  CONTENTS.


  PREFACE                                               P. i


  CHAPTER I.

  JAVA.

  FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF BATAVIA--NARROW POLICY OF
  THE GOVERNMENT--DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN AND
  NEIGHBOURHOOD--ROADS AND POSTING SYSTEM--STATE
  OF SOCIETY--CLIMATE AND SEASONS--TROPICAL FRUITS         1


  CHAPTER II.

  JAVA.

  SAM