APPEARANCE OF ADJACENT COUNTRY. 45

a Malayo-Chinese vessel peculiar to the Straits of Malacca. A dense and waving jungle of trees skirted round the town and fort of Quedah, and spread away on either hand in a monotonous line of green. The country, which was said to be particularly rich in the interior, was extremely flat towards the seacoast; and the only thing that broke its sameness was the remarkable hill which, under the name of Elephant Mount, rose above the jungle like an island from the sea. Far distant ranges of hills, the backbone of the peninsula, stretched however as a background to the scene. Slowly the setting sun tinged their peaks with rosy and purple tints, and then they gradually sank into darkness as the evening mists gathered strength along the seaward edge of the jungle, and, acted upon by light airs, sailed slowly along like phantoms: it was then night with a dewladen atmosphere and a starlit sky.

The English seamen in the pinnace loaded the air with noise, if not with melody, by singing their sailor-songs; and the Malays, in their own peculiar way, amused themselves by singing extempore lovesongs, to the melancholy accompaniment of a native drum played upon by the hand: gradually these sounds ceased, men and officers sought the softest planks, and, clad in blanket frocks and trousers, lay

down to sleep, and the first day of the Quedah blockade was over. During the night it rained hard, and the wet, in spite of our awnings being sloped, began to encroach upon the dry portions of the deck. I heard my men moving about; but desirous of setting an example of not being easily troubled with such a discomfort as a wet bed, I kept my place, and was not a little pleased to see Jadee bring a mat called a kajang, and slope it carefully over me, evidently thinking I was asleep, and then the poor fellow went away to rough it as he best could. And this man is a merciless pirate! I thought; and I felt a friendship for my Malay coxswain from that moment, which nothing will ever obliterate. With early dawn all were awake, and shortly afterwards the usual man-ofwar operations of scrubbing and cleaning commenced, Jadee exhibiting as much energy amongst buckets and brooms, as if such peaceful articles were the only things he knew how to use. Leaving him to do first lieutenant's duty, I perched myself—I was but a lad of seventeen-upon the pivot-gun, and, as the different men of my crew came in sight, asked their names and characters of the interpreter. Jamboo's account of them was, to say the least of it, very unsatisfactory. One was a notorious pirate of Sumatra, another of Tringanau; those that were not pirates,

JADEE'S WANT OF BIGOTRY.

47

Jamboo vowed, had fled from Java, or Acheen, for acts of violence of one sort or another. Their looks were not in their favour; and walking with the peculiar strut of Malay seamen, I could not but repeat Falstaff's soliloquy :

"Nay, and the villains march wide betwixt the legs, as if they had gyves; for indeed I had most of them out of prison!"

The fears, however, of the redoubted Jamboo had much to do with the characters he gave the poor fellows; and I afterwards discovered it was rather his opinion of what they must have been, than what they really had been. I was debating in my mind how my messing was to be carried on, in a vessel manned with Mahometans, where pork was an abomination and myself an unclean animal and an infidel, when Jadee, with the most graceful bow he could muster, came to announce that the ship's company's rice and fish were cooked, and that in a few minutes our curry and rice would be ready. Through the interpreter, I expressed a hope that he would not depart from any religious opinions as to feeding with a Christian, because I was set in authority over him. To which the good fellow made a modest that he was

very

neat answer,

in a very

way,

a servant of the same Great Rajah as the white officer,

48

PRIMITIVE MODE OF EATING.

and if I did not consider it beneath my dignity to eat out of the same dish as an Orang Malayu, it was not for him to do so.

This difficulty over, we sat down cross-legged to our breakfast - a mountain of snow-white rice with a curried fowl. I was at first very awkward in the use of my right hand as a substitute for spoon and fork, etiquette not allowing the left hand to be used; but I soon learnt how to pick up the rice, press it gently together between the extended fingers, and then by means of the thumb to slip what was taken up into my mouth; a drink of pure water finished the repast, and then the ever useful Campar appeared, with water and towel for us to wash our hands and mouth. We had only two meals a day; breakfast at about seven or eight o'clock, and dinner at three P.M.; rice and salt fish, or rice and curry, being the constant fare.

BLOCKADE RENDERED MORE STRINGENT. 49

CHAP. IV.

The Blockade rendered more Stringent. - The Bounting Islands. My Crew keeping Holiday.-"Hyacinths" poisoned with Ground-nuts. We discover Wild Bees'-Nests. -Arrangements made for robbing the Hives. - The Bees quit their Hives and settle on me. No Honey. - A Malay Doctor. The Koran and Chunam remedy for Bee Stings.

THE first week or ten days was sadly monotonous : we had to be very guarded in our movements, as the policy intended to be pursued by the enemy had not developed itself, and we were yet ignorant of the force of armed prahus which they might possess up the river; but I was not idle, and, under Jadee's tuition, was fast learning the simple and beautiful language of Malaya. The interest taken by my serang, in repeating over for my information the Malay for every article or object upon which he saw my attention fixed for a moment, was a pretty convincing proof of the anxiety he entertained for our being able to understand one another without Jamboo's assistance.

About the middle of December, we had reason to

E