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 allo

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. Early in the year 1823, I left England, quite a youngster, full of life and spirits, bound for that so-called grave of Europeans, Batavia. Of my passage out, I shall say nothing more, than that it lasted exactly five months, and was, in point of wind and weather, similar to nine-tenths of the voyages made to th

SAMARANG—​A TIGER FIGHT—​JAVA PONEYS—​EXCURSION TO SOLO—​WILD SPORTS—​DJOCKDJOCARTA—​REMAINS OF THE ANCIENT PALACE—​IMPERIAL ELEPHANTS—​EXPERIMENT IN INDIGO-PLANTING—​JAVANESE EXECUTION—​A PET BOA—​ALLIGATORS—​FOREST LABOUR—​SLAVERY IN JAVA—​OPIUM-​SMOKING—​TEA—​THE UPAS-TREE. Between three and four hundred miles eastward of Batavia, on the north coast of Java, is the small, neat, old-fashioned town of Samarang, which, when I visited it in 1824, was the residence of several English merchants: no

ADVANTAGEOUS POSITION OF SINGAPORE—​CULTIVATION OF THE NUTMEG AND COCOA-NUT—​ROADS AND SCENERY—​ MOTLEY POPULATION—​EUROPEAN RESIDENTS—​CHINESE EMIGRANTS—​KLINGS—​SAMPAN-MEN—​PLACES OF WORSHIP—​TIGERS. In the month of May 1824, I returned from my trip to the eastward, and was kept tightly at work in Batavia, till fate sent me wandering in July 1826. Singapore was the first place I visited; and to it, therefore, I must devote the next few pages of these retrospective lucubrations. Sir Thomas Stam

TRADE OF SINGAPORE—​CHINESE TRADERS—​BUGIS TRADERS—​SIAMESE AND COCHIN CHINESE—​ARAB SMUGGLERS—​BORNEO—​TRADE WITH CALCUTTA—​COMMERCIAL PROSPECTS. The trade of Singapore has, until within the last three years, gone on increasing; but it has now, in the opinion of many people, reached its ultimatum. The harbour is visited regularly by native vessels from all the neighbouring islands, as well as from the Continent; and I shall proceed to notice the nature and value of their trade, respectively, cl

DUTCH SETTLEMENT OF RHIO—​ISLAND OF BANCA—​ BENCOOLEN—​PADANG—​CHINESE SLAVE-​TRADE—​NATIVE TRIBES OF SUMATRA—​PEPPER TRADE. In September 1826, I visited China for the first time; but, having recently paid that country a much more extended visit, I shall reserve for a future chapter my observations upon Chinese affairs; and shall now proceed to give an account of some of the smaller Dutch colonies or settlements which I visited about this time. About forty miles to the eastward of Singapore, on

Malacca, which I first visited in 1829, and have repeatedly revisited, is completely shorn of its ancient glory, and is no longer of the slightest importance, either as a military position or as a trading mart. Penang, at one end of the Straits, and Singapore at the other, have destroyed its prosperity; and it is now a poverty-stricken place, with little or no trade. The town is built in the old Dutch fashion, each house with its out-offices forming a square with a yard in the centre. The Govern

FIRST VIEW OF CALCUTTA—​STATE OF SOCIETY—​ MERCANTILE CHANGES—​UNPLEASANT CLIMATE—​SIGHTS AT AND NEAR CALCUTTA—​IMPROVEMENTS IN TRANSIT AND NAVIGATION—​CUSTOM-HOUSE NUISANCE—​PILOT SERVICE—​CHARACTER OF THE BENGALEES—​RIVER STEAMERS. In 1829, I visited for the first time the far-famed city of Calcutta, and have since then paid it four visits. So much, however, has been written about the "City of Palaces," that it must be nearly as well known to the English reader as London itself; and I shall th

VOYAGE FROM SINGAPORE TO SYDNEY—​PORT JACKSON—​ FIRST IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY SYDNEY—​THE PUBLIC-​HOUSE NUISANCE—​SYDNEY JURIES—​CATTLE DEALERS—​TOWN IMPROVEMENTS—​LAWYERS, DOCTORS, AND CLERGY. Circumstances induced me, in the early part of 1836, to proceed to New South Wales, where I passed three years; at the expiration of which I returned to the Straits in much better health than I had enjoyed for years before. The voyage from Singapore to Sydney, viâ Java Head and Bass's Straits, occupies ge

TOWNSHIP OF MAITLAND—​THE PATERSON DISTRICT—​WINTER SPORTS—​THE KANGAROO—​AUSTRALIAN HUSBANDRY—​CONVICT SERVANTS—​BENEFIT OF ENFORCING AN OBSERVANCE OF SUNDAY—​THE HOT SEASON. From Sydney, I proceeded northward, by steam, to Maitland, on the river Hunter, and thence up the country bordering on those pretty little rivers, the Paterson and the Allyn. Maitland puts a Scotchman in mind of the "lang toon of Kirkaldy," consisting of merely one long street. From its situation, at the head of the naviga

BUSH-RANGERS—​THE DROUGHT OF 1838-9—​THE SETTLER'S TROUBLES—​ORNITHOLOGY OF AUSTRALIA—​ABORIGINAL TRIBES. On the Paterson, we were never troubled with those dangerous characters called in the Colony, Bush-rangers. I can give no reason for their avoiding this neighbourhood, but know that they did avoid it, and that none of the residents in the district ever gave them a thought. Other parts of the Colony are not so fortunate; and loud complaints are constantly being made, of want of protection aga

THE HOT WINDS—​PROJECTED MAIL-​ROAD FROM SYDNEY TO PORT ESSINGTON—​SHEEP-​FARMS—​GRAZING IN AUSTRALIA—​HORSE-STOCK. I have often heard the question raised in Australia, Whence proceed the hot winds? Hitherto, this inquiry has not, to my knowledge, been satisfactorily answered. These winds invariably blow from the north-west; but the question is, Whence do they derive the heat they are charged with? In the months during which they prevail, the north-west monsoon is blowing in the Java sea, and th

CAUSES OF THE RECENT DISTRESSES—​CONDUCT OF THE BANKS—​MANIA FOR SPECULATION—​LONG-​ACCOUNT SYSTEM—​BAD SEASONS. I will now proceed to offer a few remarks on the causes of the late terrible distresses in New South Wales, and on what I consider as the best means of preventing the recurrence of such lamentable scenes. The three main causes of those distresses were, undoubtedly:— First, Harsh and illiberal conduct on the part of the Banks. Secondly, A wild speculation-mania that took possession of

ELEMENTS OF PROSPERITY STILL EXISTING—​HINTS TO THE COLONISTS—​FUTURE PROSPECTS. Notwithstanding the terrible shock from which Australia has been suffering ever since 1839, I still retain a high opinion of the Colony as an advantageous field for the employment of the spare capital of the mother country. The elements of prosperity still exist, and require only a little nursing in order to effect its recovery from the recent depression. The emigrant with a capital of three or four thousand pounds,

CLASSES OF SOCIETY IN SYDNEY—​DISAPPOINTMENT OF EMIGRANTS—​CHARACTERISTICS OF IRISH AND BRITISH EMIGRANTS—​AVAILABLENESS OF CHINESE LABOURERS—​AUSTRALIAN COAL MONOPOLY—​TORRES' STRAITS THE BEST PASSAGE FOR STEAMERS—​BOTANY BAY—​PASSAGE FROM SYDNEY TO BATAVIA. To obtain admission to good society in Sydney, when my family first arrived there, was no easy matter. Not that there was any lack of it in the place, but the residents were, very properly, shy of strangers, unless provided with testimonial

DESCRIPTION OF MACAO—​ITS MONGREL POPULATION—​ FREQUENCY OF ROBBERIES—​PIRACIES—​COMPRADORE SYSTEM—​PAPUAN SLAVE-TRADE—​MARKET OF MACAO—​ NUISANCES—​SIR HENRY POTTINGER'S REGULATION DEFENDED—​ILLIBERAL POLICY OF THE PORTUGUESE, AND ITS RESULT—​BOAT-GIRLS—​BEGGARS—​PICTURESQUE SCENERY. I have referred, in a former chapter, to the occasion of my first visit to the Celestial Empire. My last visit took place shortly after Sir Henry Pottinger had brought the Chinese to terms, off the city of Nankin,

ADVANTAGEOUS POSITION OF HONG KONG—​THE OPIUM TRADE—​IMPORTANCE OF THE STATION IN THE EVENT OF A FRESH WAR—​CHUSAN—​HOW TO RAISE A REVENUE—​CAUSES OF ALLEGED INSALUBRITY—​RAPID PROGRESS OF THE SETTLEMENT—​PORTUGUESE PENURY—​MARKETS—​SANATORY HINTS. Having spent twelve months in Hong Kong, I will now endeavour to give an impartial sketch of its situation as to trade, its importance in the event of another Chinese war, and of its climate, general appearance, and commercial progress. Situated as th

FIRST VIEW OF CANTON—​DESCRIPTION OF THE EUROPEAN QUARTER—​HOSTILE FEELINGS OF THE PEOPLE—​COMMERCIAL PROSPECTS OF CANTON—​AMOY—​FOO CHOW—​NINGPO—​ SHANG-HAE—​MR. MEDHURST—​RESULTS OF THE TREATY WITH CHINA. The sail from Hong Kong to Canton is very interesting, particularly to a stranger. The numerous islands he passes, and the entirely new scenes that everywhere attract his eye, cannot fail to delight and amuse him. Here, the unwieldy Chinese junk; there, the fast-sailing Chinese passage-boat;

NECESSITY OF APPOINTING BRITISH CONSULS IN THE SPANISH AND DUTCH COLONIES—​NEW SETTLEMENT ON THE WESTERN COAST OF BORNEO—​IMPORTANT DISCOVERY OF COAL ON THE NORTH-WEST COAST—​CONCLUDING REMARKS. It appears to me, that British commerce in the East, requires somewhat more care and attention from the Authorities in the mother country, than they have hitherto bestowed upon it. The trade carried on by British subjects with the Philippines, Siam, and the Dutch Colonies, is both extensive and important

( See p. 295 .) PLAN FOR THE ACCELERATION OF THE CHINA MAILS ( i. e. THEIR CONVEYANCE FROM SUEZ , viâ CEYLON TO HONG KONG DIRECT ) SUBMITTED BY MR. HENRY WISE TO HER MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT SEPT. 14, 1843, ADOPTED JUNE 20, 1845, AND NOW IN ACTIVE AND SUCCESSFUL OPERATION.   [A] Receiving at Ceylon, the Outward Overland Mail from England, and returning therewith to China. [B] The Borneo Coal Mines would also serve to keep the Hong-Kong, Singapore, and Penang Stations supplied with Fuel for Steam Ves

MEMORANDUM ON BORNEO, AND MR. BROOK'S SETTLEMENT ON THAT ISLAND. Mr. Brook has no warmer admirer than myself; and I trust the territory of Sarawak, which has been ceded to him by the Sultan of Borneo, will eventually become a flourishing British Colony. The Government of this country cannot but be fully alive to the value of such a point on the north-west coast of Borneo with reference to the protection and security of the vast trade carried on by British subjects to and from China; not to menti