After the inhabitants of Nagasaki, too, had given us a grand parting feast, at which speeches were spoken in j.a.panese, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Danish, and Swedish, a proof of the mixture of nationalities which prevailed there, the _Vega_ again weighed anchor on the 27th October, in order to continue her voyage. We now left j.a.pan to commence in earnest our return, and on our departure we were saluted by the crews of two English gun-boats anch.o.r.ed in the harbour, the _Hornet_ and the _Sylvia_, manning the yards and bulwarks. It was natural that the hour of departure, after fifteen months" absence from home, should be looked forward to with joy. But our joy was mixed with a regretful feeling that we were so soon compelled to leave--without the hope of ever returning--the magnificent country and n.o.ble people among whom a development is now going on which probably will not only give a new awakening to the old cultured races of Eastern Asia, but will also prepare a new soil for European science, industry, and art. It is difficult to foresee what new undreamed-of blossoms and fruit this soil will yield. But the Europeans are perhaps much mistaken who believe that the question here is only that of clothing an Asiatic feudal state in a modern European dress. Rather the day appears to me to dawn of a time in which the countries round the Mediterranean of eastern Asia will come to play a great part in the further development of the human race.
[Footnote 383: The number of the works which the collection of j.a.panese books contains is somewhat over a thousand. The number of volumes amounts to five or six thousand, most of the volumes, however, are not larger than one of our books of a hundred pages. So far as can be judged by the j.a.panese t.i.tles, which are often little distinctive, the works may be distributed among the various branches of knowledge in the following way:
Number of Works
History 176 On Buddhism and Education 161 On Shintoism 38 On Christianity (printed in 1715) 1 Manners and Customs 33 The Drama 13 Laws 5 Politics, Political argumentative writings, partly new and privately printed against the recent statues 24 Poetry and Prose fiction 137 Heraldry, Antiquities, Ceremonies 27 The Art of War and the Use of Weapons 41 Chess 1 Coining 4 Dictionaries, Grammars 18 Geography, Maps 76 Natural History 68 The Science of Medicine 13 Arithmetic, Astronomy, Astrology 39 Handicrafts, Agriculture 43 Notebooks 73 The art of making bouquets (Horticulture?) 16 Bibliography 9 Various 20 ----- Total 1036 ]
[Footnote 384: Further information on this point is given by Henry Gribble in "The Preparation of Vegetable Wax" (_Transactions of the Asiatic Society of j.a.pan_, vol. iii. part. i. p. 94. Yokohama, 1875). ]
CHAPTER XIX.
Hong Kong and Canton--Stone-polishing Establishments at Canton--Political Relations in an English Colony-- Treatment of the Natives--Voyage to Labuan--Coal Mines there --Excursion to the sh.o.r.e of Borneo--Malay Villages--Singapore --Voyage to Ceylon--Point de Galle--The Gem Mines at Ratnapoora --Visit to a Temple--Purchase of Ma.n.u.scripts--The Population of Ceylon--Dr. Almquist"s Excursion to the Interior of the Island.
Some days after our arrival at Yokohama the _Vega_ was removed to the dock at Yokosuka, there to be protected by coppering against the boring mussels of the warm seas, so injurious to the vessel"s hull; the opportunity being also taken advantage of by me to subject the vessel to some trifling repairs and alterations in the fitting up, which were desirable because during the remainder of our voyage we were to sail not in a cold but in a tropical climate. The work took somewhat longer time than was reckoned on, so that it was not until the 21st September that the _Vega_ could leave the dock and return to Yokohama. It had originally been my intention to remain in j.a.pan only so long as was necessary for the finishing of this work, during which time opportunity could be given to the officers and crew of the _Vega_ to rest after the labours and sufferings of the long winter, to receive and answer letters from home, and to gather from the newspapers the most important occurrences that had taken place during our fourteen months" absence from the regions which are affected by what takes place in the world. But as appears from the foregoing narrative, the delay was longer than had been intended.
This indeed was caused in some degree by the difficulty of tearing ourselves away after only a few days" stay from a people so remarkable, so lovable, and so hospitable as the j.a.panese, and from a land so magnificently endowed by nature. Besides, when the _Vega_ was again ready for sea, it was so near the time for the change of the monsoon, that it was not advisable, and would not have been attended with any saving of time, to sail immediately. For at that season furious storms are wont to rage in these seas, and the wind then prevailing is so unfavourable for sailing from j.a.pan to the southward, that a vessel with the weak steam-power of the _Vega_ cruising between j.a.pan and Hong Kong in a head-wind might readily have lost the days saved by an earner departure. On the other hand, in the end of October and the beginning of November we could, during our pa.s.sage to Hong Kong, count on a fresh and always favourable breeze. This took place too, so that, leaving Nagasaki on the 27th October, we were able to anchor in the harbour of Hong Kong as early as the 2nd November.
There was of course no prospect of being able to accomplish anything for the benefit of science during a few days" stay in a region which had been examined by naturalists innumerable times before, but I at all events touched at this harbour that I might meet the expressed wish of one of the members of the expedition not to leave eastern Asia without having, during the voyage of the _Vega_, seen something of the so much talked of "heavenly kingdom" so different from all other lands.
For this purpose, however, Hong Kong is an unsuitable place. This rich and flourishing commercial town, which has been created by England"s Chinese politics and opium trade, is a British colony with a European stamp, which has little to show of the original Chinese folk-life, although the princ.i.p.al part of its population consists of Chinese. But at the distance of a few hours by steamer from Hong Kong lies the large old commercial city of Canton, which, though it has long been open to Europeans, is still purely Chinese, with its peatstack-like architecture, its countless population, its temples, prisons, flower-junks, mandarins, pig-tailed street-boys, &c. Most of the members of the expedition made an excursion thither, and were rewarded with innumerable indescribable impressions from Chinese city life. We were everywhere received by the natives in a friendly way,[385] and short as our visit was, it was yet sufficient to dissipate the erroneous impressions which a number of European authors have been pleased to give of the most populous nation. One soon saw that he has to do with an earnest and industrious people, who, indeed, apprehend much--virtue and vice, joy and sorrow--in quite a different way from us, but towards whom we, on that account, by no means have the right to a.s.sume the position of superiority which the European is so ready to claim towards coloured races.
The greater portion of my short stay in Canton I employed in wandering about, carried in a sedan-chair--horses cannot be used in the city itself--through the streets, which are partly covered and are lined with open shops, forming, undoubtedly, the most remarkable of the many remarkable things that are to be seen here. The recollection I have of these hours forms, as often happens when one sees much that is new at once, a variegated confusion in which I can now only with difficulty distinguish a connected picture or two. But even if the impressions were clearer and sharper it would be out of the question to occupy s.p.a.ce with a statement of my own superficial observations. If any one wishes to acquire a knowledge of Chinese manners and customs, he will not want for books on the country, his studies will rather be impeded by their enormous number, and often enough by the inferior nature of their contents. Here I shall only touch upon a single subject, because it especially interested me as a mineralogist, namely, the stone-polishing works of Canton.
It is natural that in a country so populous and rich as China, in which home and home life play so great a _role_, much money should be spent on ornaments. We might therefore have expected that precious stones cut and polished would be used here on a great scale, but from what I saw at Canton, the Chinese appear to set much less value on them than either the Hindoo or the European. It appears besides as if the Chinese still set greater value on stones with old "oriental polishing," _i.e._ with polished _rounded_ surfaces, than on stones formed according to the mode of polishing now common in Europe with plane facets. Instead the Chinese have a great liking for peculiar, often very well executed, carvings in a great number of different kinds of stones, among which they set the greatest value on nephrite, or, as they themselves call it, "Yii."
It is made into rings, bracelets, ornaments of all kinds, vases, small vessels for the table, &c. In Canton there are numerous lapidaries and merchants, whose main business is to make and sell ornaments of this species of stone, which is often valued higher than true precious stones. It was long so important an article of commerce that the place where it was found formed the goal of special caravan roads which entered China by the Yii gate. Amber also appears to have a high value put upon it, especially pieces which inclose insects. Amber is not found in China, but is brought from Europe, is often fict.i.tious, and contains large Chinese beetles with marks of the needles on which they have been impaled. Other less valuable minerals, native or foreign, are also used, among others, compact varieties of talc or soap-stone and of pyrophyllite.
But works executed in these minerals do not fetch a price at all comparable to that of nephrite. In the same shop in which I purchased pieces of nephrite carefully placed in separate boxes, I found at the bottom of a dusty chest, along with pieces of quartz and old refuse of various kinds, large crystals, some of which were exceedingly well formed, of translucent topaz. They were sold as quartz for a trifle. I bought besides two pieces of carved topaz, one of which was a large and very fine natural crystal, with a Chinese inscription engraved on its terminal surface, which when translated runs thus: "Literary studies confer honour and distinction and render a man suitable for the court." The other was a somewhat bluish inch-long crystal, at one end of which a human figure, perhaps some Buddhist saint, was sculptured. The polishing of stones is carried on as a home industry, princ.i.p.ally in a special part of the town. The workshop is commonly at the side of a small sale counter, in a room on the ground-floor, open to the street. The cutting and polishing of the stones is done, as at home, with metal discs and emery or comminuted corundum, which is said to be found in large quant.i.ties in the neighbourhood of Canton.
Large, commodious, well fitted up, but in their exterior very unwieldy river steamers, built after American designs, now run between Hong Kong and Canton. They are commanded by Europeans. The dietary on board is European, and exceedingly good. There are separate saloons for Europeans and Chinese. All over the p.o.o.p and the after-saloon weapons are hung up so as to be at hand, in case the vessel should be attacked by pirates, or, as happened some years ago, a number of them should mix themselves up with the Chinese pa.s.sengers with the intention of plundering the vessel.
Hong Kong was ceded to England in consequence of the war of 1842.
The then inconsiderable fishing village is now one of the most important commercial cities of the globe. The harbour is s.p.a.cious, affording good anchorage, and is well protected by a number of large and small granite islands. The city is built on the largest of these on slopes which rise from the sh.o.r.e towards the interior of the island. On the highest points the wealthiest foreign residents have built their summer houses which are surrounded by beautiful gardens.
In winter they live in the city. We here met with a very gratifying reception both from the Governor, Mr. POPE HENNESSY, and from the other inhabitants of the town. The former invited Captain Palander and me to live in the beautiful Governor"s residence, gave a dinner, arranged a stately official reception in our honour, and presented to the Expedition a fine collection of dried plants from the exceedingly well-kept botanical garden of the city, which is under the charge of Mr. CHARLES FORD, the latter presented me with an address of welcome at a festive meeting in the City Hall, specially arranged for the purpose and numerously attended by the princ.i.p.al men of the town. The meeting was opened by the Chairman, Mr.
KESWICK, with a speech of welcome, after which Mr. J.B. COUGHTRIE read and presented the address, bound in red silk and beautifully illuminated in black; gold, and red, with 414 signatures, among which many were by Chinese. The address ended with a hearty congratulation to us all and a promise of a memorial of our visit to Hong Kong which should indicate the way in which the _Vega_ expedition was appreciated there. Some time after our return home Palander and I received from members of the community of Hong Kong a splendid silver vase each.
I here embraced with great interest the opportunity, which my coming in contact with the princ.i.p.al men of the place afforded, of getting a glance into the political relations which prevailed in this vigorous and promising colony. At first sight they appeared to be by no means satisfactory. Peace and unanimity evidently did not prevail; for dissatisfaction with the Governor was loudly expressed by many of the Europeans settled in Hong Kong. He favoured, they said, the Chinese in an exceedingly partial way, and mitigated their punishments to such a degree that Hong Kong would soon become a place of refuge for all the robbers and thieves of Canton. At the time of our visit an instructive parliamentary debate on a small scale was proceeding in the Legislative Council of the city. The controversy was carried on with a certain bitterness, but with a proper observance of the parliamentary procedure customary in the mother country. The eloquent leader of the opposition had evidently, as is usual in such cases, the general feeling of the Europeans on his side. For they appeared to be pretty well agreed that the only means of protecting themselves against the evil-doers from the great heavenly empire would be to punish them in an inhuman way when they were taken in the act.
To an outsider it appeared, however, that the Governor not only had humanity and justice on his side, but also acted with a true insight into the future. When he came to the colony the corporal punishments to which the Chinese were condemned were exceeding barbarous, although mild in comparison with those common in China--a state of things which the opposition brought forward in defence of the severer punishments. Prisoners were repeatedly flogged with "the cat," often with the result that they were attacked by incurable consumption, they were prepared for the punishment by being subjected for some time to a starvation-diet of rice and water; they were branded when they left the prison, &c. Proceeding on the view that the greatest security for a colony such as Hong Kong lies in the affection which is cherished for it by the numerous native population, the Governor had sought to protect it from unjust attacks by Europeans. Considering that too barbarous punishments are likely rather to promote than to deter from the commission of crimes, in consequence of the protection the criminal in such a case may reckon upon from sympathising fellow-creatures, and that mild punishments are the first condition of a good protective police, the Governor had diminished the floggings, forbidden the public infliction of the punishment, given a reprimand in cases where "by mistake" or by an evasion of the letter of the law extra strokes had been given to criminals, exchanged "the regulation cat" for the rattan, abolished the preliminary starvation-diet and the branding, improved the prisons, &c. All this was now loudly complained of by the European merchants, but was approved by the Chinese subjects in the colony, who were however dissuaded from making any contrary demonstrations.
When we came afterwards to other English possessions, we found that the inhabitants were often more or less in conflict with the authorities, but nowhere was there anything to prevent the opposition from endeavouring to promote their views by public meetings, by addresses in newspapers and pamphlets. In this way a pretty active political life arises early, and this is probably one of the main conditions of the capacity of the English colonies for self-government, and of their vigour and influence on the surrounding country.
It will in truth be highly interesting to see what influence will be exerted on the great neighbouring empire if Mr. Hennessy"s politics with reference to the Chinese settled in Hong Kong be carried out, and they be converted into fellow-citizens conscious that they are protected by law in person and property, that they do not require to crawl in the dust before any authority, and that so long as they keep within the limits of the law they are quite safe from the oppressions of all officials, and in the enjoyment of all the rights and privileges which the English law confers upon the citizen.
Many of the Europeans settled at Hong Kong were convinced that for another thousand years one would be justified in using the expression regarding China: "Thou art what thou wast, and thou wilt be what thou art." Others again stated that contact with Europeans at Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore, and the accounts given by the emigrants returning to China in thousands from California and Australia are by slow degrees changing the aspect of the world in the "heavenly empire," and thereby preparing for a revolution less violent, but as thorough as that which has recently taken place in j.a.pan. If this comes about, China will be a state that must enter into the calculation when the affairs of the world are settled, and whose power will weigh very heavy in the scales, at least when the fate of Asia is concerned. At Hong Kong and Canton the report was current that the far-sighted Chancellor of the German Empire had taken this factor into calculation in settling his plans for the future.
Already the Chinese took part in the European life. A number of Chinese names, as I have already said, were attached to the address that was presented to me; at the Governor"s reception many stout, smiling heads provided with pigtails were seen; and Chinese had taken part in the meetings at which the Governor"s scheme of reform was under discussion. There have also existed in the country from time immemorial secret societies, which are said only to wait for a favourable opportunity to endeavour to link their fates to the new paths.[386] The observations that I made at Hong Kong and Canton are, however, too superficial for me to wish to detain my reader with these matters. I accordingly point to the numerous works on these cities published by authors who have lived there as many months or years as I have days, and proceed to sketch the continuation of the voyage of the _Vega_.
Accompanied by the good wishes of many newly acquired friends, we left the harbour of Hong Kong on the morning of the 9th November. It was my original intention to steer our course to Manilla, but the loss of time during our long stay in j.a.pan compelled me to give up that plan. The course was shaped, however, not directly for Singapore, but for Labuan, a small English possession on the north side of Borneo. Its northern extremity (the coal mine) lies in 5 33" N.L. and 115 12" E.L. England took possession of Labuan on account of the coal-seams which are found there, which are of special importance on account of the situation of the island nearly in the midst of the large, numerous, and fertile islands of south-eastern Asia. It was the coal-seams too that attracted me to the place. For I wished to see whether I could not, in the neighbourhood of the equator itself, collect valuable contributions towards ascertaining the nature of the former equatorial climate.
We at first made rapid progress, thanks to a fresh and favourable monsoon wind. But when we reached the so-called belt of calms, the wind ceased completely, and we had now to avail ourselves of steam, which, in consequence of the low power of the _Vega"s_ engine and a strong counter current, carried us forward so slowly that it was not until the 17th November that we could anchor in the harbour of Labuan.
The largest of the islands belonging to the colony has, with a pretty considerable breadth, a length of 10" from N.E. to S.W. It is inhabited by some thousands (3,300 in 1863) of Chinese and Malays, together with a few Englishmen, who are either crown officials or employed at the coal mine. The north part of the island has a height of 140 metres above the sea, but towards the south the land sinks to an extensive sandy plain, closely overgrown with bushy thickets and traversed by low marshes. Most of the inhabitants live along the sh.o.r.e of the harbour which bears the now, or perhaps only for the present, indispensable name for English colonies (which on that account conveys little information) of Victoria. The Governor"s fine residence lies at a little distance from the harbour town in the interior of the island, the coal mine on its north side. At the time of our visit the coal company had recently gone into liquidation, and work had therefore been stopped at the mine, but it was hoped that it would soon be resumed. The sandy plain is of little fertility in comparison with the neighbouring tropical lands.
It had recently been burned, and was therefore for the most part covered only with bushes, among which stems of high, dried-up, half-burned trees raised themselves, giving to the landscape a resemblance to a northern forest devastated by an accidental fire.
In consequence of the fire which had thus pa.s.sed over the island the plain which, when looked at from a distance appeared to be completely even, was seen everywhere to be studded with crater-formed depressions in the sand, quite similar to the _os_-pits in the _osar_ of Scandinavia.[387] On the north side there was sandstone rock rising from the sea with a steep slope six to fifteen metres high. Here tropical nature appeared in all its luxuriance, princ.i.p.ally in the valleys which the small streams had excavated in the sandstone strata.
The coal mine is sunk on coal-seams, which come to the surface on the north side of the island. The seams, according to the information I received on the spot, are four in number, with a thickness of 3.3, 0.9, 0.4 and 1.0 metre. They dip at an angle of 30 towards the horizon, and are separated from each other by strata of clay and hard sandstone, which together have a thickness of about fifty metres. Above the uppermost coal-seam there are besides very thick strata of black clay-slate, white hard sandstone with bands of clay, loose sandstone, sandstone mixed with coal, and finally considerable layers of clay-slate and sandstone, which contain fossil marine crustacea, resembling those of the present time. The strata which lie between or in the immediate neighbourhood of the coal seams do not contain any other fossils than those vegetable remains, which are to be described farther on. Thirty kilometres south of the mine a nearly vertical coal-seam comes to the surface near the harbour, probably belonging to a much older period than that referred to above; and out in the sea, eighteen kilometres from the sh.o.r.e north of the harbour, petroleum rises from the sea-bottom. The manager of the mine supposed from this that the coal-seams came to the surface again at this place. The coal-seams of Labuan are besides, notwithstanding their position in the middle of an enormous, circular, volcanic chain, remarkably free from faults, which shows that the region, during the immense time which has elapsed since these strata have been deposited, has been protected from earthquakes. Even now, according to Wallace, earthquakes are scarcely known in this part of Borneo.
From what has been stated above we may conclude that the coal, sand, and clay strata were deposited in a valley-depression occupied by luxuriant marshy grounds, cut off from the sea, in the extensive land which formerly occupied considerable s.p.a.ces of the sea between the Australian Islands and the continent of Asia. A similar state of things must besides have prevailed over a considerable portion of Borneo. On that island there are coal-seams under approximately similar circ.u.mstances to those on Labuan. So far as I know, however, they have not hitherto been closely examined with respect to vegetable palaeontology.
At Labuan fossil plants are found, though very sparingly, imbedded in b.a.l.l.s of clay ironstone from strata above the two lowermost coal-seams. The upper coal-seams are besides exceedingly rich in resin, which crosses the coal in large veins. From the thickness and conversion into a hard sandstone of the layers of sand lying between and above the coal-seams we may conclude that a very long time, probably hundreds of thousands or millions of years have pa.s.sed since these coal-seams were formed. They also belong to a quite recent period, during which the vegetation in these regions varied perhaps only to a slight extent from that of the present time. It is, however, too early to express one"s self on this subject, before the fossils which we brought home have been examined by Dr.
Nathorst.
Coal mining was stopped for the time, but orders were expected by every post to resume work. The road between the mine and the harbour town was at all events pretty well kept, and Mr. COOKE, one of the directors of the company, still lived at the place. He showed me all possible hospitality during the time I remained on the north side of the island for the purpose of collecting fossils. The rest of the time I was the guest of the acting Governor, Mr. TREACHER, a young and amiable man, who showed me several collections in natural history from Labuan and the neighbouring parts of Borneo, and after our return to Europe sent me a collection of leaves and fruit of the kinds of trees which now grow on the island. I expect that this collection will be very instructive in the study of the fossil plants we brought home with us.
At the steep sh.o.r.e banks on the north coast very fine sections of the sandstone strata, which lie under and above the coal, are visible. While I went along the sh.o.r.e in order to examine these, I visited some Malay huts built on poles. They were surrounded at flood tide by water, at ebb by the dry beach, bare of all vegetation. In order to get inside these huts one must climb a ladder two to two and a half metres high, standing towards the sea.
The houses have the same appearance as a warehouse by the seaside at home, and are built very slightly. The floor consisted of a few rattling bamboo splints lying loose, and so thin that I feared they would give way when I stepped upon them. The household articles consisted only of some mats and a pair of cooking vessels. I saw no fireplace; probably fire was lighted on the beach. I could see no reason why this place should be chosen as a dwelling in preference to the neighbouring sh.o.r.e with its luxuriant vegetation, which at the same time was not at all swampy, unless it was for the coolness which arises from the any situation on the beach, and the protection which the poles give from the thousands of crawling animals which swarm in the gra.s.sy meadows of tropical regions. It is probable also that the mosquitos are less troublesome along the sea-sh.o.r.e than farther into the interior of the country.
Some of my companions saw similar huts during an excursion, which they undertook in the steam launch, to the mouth of a large river debouching on the neighbouring coast of Borneo. Regarding this exclusion Dr. Stuxberg gives the following report:
"On the 19th November Palander, Bove, and I, together with two men, undertook an excursion in the steam launch of the _Vega_ to the river Kalias debouching right opposite to Labuan. We started at dawn, a little after six o"clock. The course was shaped first north of Pappan Island, then between the many shoals that lie between it and the considerably larger Daat Island, and finally south of the latter island.
"Pappan Island is a small beautiful island, clothed down to high-water mark with a dark green primeval forest. On Daat Island, on the contrary, the primeval forest on the east side has been cut down, and has given place to a new plantation of cocoa-nut trees, the work of a former physician on Labuan, which yields its present owner a considerable revenue.
"We had no little difficulty in finding a way over the sandy bar, which is deposited in front of the river mouth at a distance of a nautical mile and a half to three miles from the coast of Borneo. After several attempts in the course of an hour we at last succeeded in finding the deep channel which leads to the river. It runs close to the mainland on the north side, from Kalias Point to the river mouth proper. At the bar the depth was only a metre, in the deep channel, it varied between 3.5 and 7 metres, in the river mouth it was fourteen to eighteen metres and sometimes more.
"On the south side of the tongue of land, which projects north of the mouth of the Kalias, were found two Malay villages, whose inhabitants appeared to view our pa.s.sage up the river with curious glances. A crowd of half or wholly naked children began a race along the sh.o.r.e, as soon as they set eyes upon the fast steam launch, probably in order to keep us in sight as long as possible. We now had deep water and steamed up the river without delay. The longed-for visit to some of the Malay villages we thus reserved till our return.
"We steamed about ten or twelve English miles up one of the many winding river arms, when the limited depth compelled us to turn. The vegetation on the mainland, as on the sh.o.r.es of the islands lying near the river-mouth, was everywhere so close that it was nearly impossible to find a place where we could land; everywhere there was the impenetrable primeval forest. Next the mouth of the river this consisted of tall, shady broad-leaved trees, which all had dark green, l.u.s.trous, large leaves. Some were in flower, others bore fruit. The greater number consisted of fig trees, whose numerous air-roots twining close on each other formed an impenetrable fence at the river bank. These air-root-bearing trees play an important _role_ in increasing the area of the land and diminishing that of the water. They send their strong air-roots from the branches and stem far out into the water, and when the roots have reached the bottom, and pushed their way into the mud, they make, by the close basket-work they form, an excellent binding medium for all the new mud which the river carries with it from the higher ground in the interior. It has struck me that the air-root-bearing trees form one of the most important means for the rapid increase of the alluvial land on Borneo. Farther up the river there commenced large stretches of a species of palm, which with its somewhat lighter green and its long sheath-formed leaves was sharply distinguished from the rest of the forest. Sometimes the banks on one side were covered with palms only, on the other with fig-trees only. The palm jungles were not so impenetrable as the fig-tree thickets, the latter preferred the more swampy hollows, while the palms on the other hand grew on the more sandy and less marshy places. Of herbs and underwood there was nowhere any trace.
"During the river voyage we saw now and then single green-coloured kingfishers flying about, and a honeysucker or two, but they were not nearly so numerous as might have been expected in this purely tropical zone. We saw some apes leaping in pairs among the trees, and Palander succeeded in shooting a male. Alligators from one to one and a half metre in length, frightened by the noise of the propeller, throw themselves suddenly into the water. Small land lizards with web-feet jumped forward with surprising rapidity on the water near the banks. This was all we saw of the higher animals.
"After a run of two hours, during which we examined the banks carefully in order to find a landing place, we lay to at the best possible place for seeing what the lower fauna had to offer. It was no easy matter to get to land. The ground was so muddy that we sank to the knees, and could make our way through the wood only by walking on an intermediate layer of palm leaves and fallen branches. The search for evertebrates did not yield very much. A half-score mollusca, among them a very remarkable naked leech of quite the same colour-marking and raggedness as the bark of tree on which it lived, was all that we could find here. It struck me as very peculiar not to find a single insect group represented. The remarkable poverty in animals must be ascribed, I believe, to the complete absence of herbs and underwood. Animal life was as poor as vegetation was luxuriant and various in different places.
Over the landscape a peculiar quietness and stillness rested.
"During our return we visited one of the two Malay villages mentioned above. It consisted of ten different houses, which were built on tall and stout poles out in the water at the mouth of the river, about six to ten metres from the sh.o.r.e. All the houses were built on a common large platform of thick bamboo, which was about a man"s height above the water. At right angles to the beach there floated long beams, one end being connected with the land, while the other was anch.o.r.ed close to the platform. From this anch.o.r.ed end a plank rose at a steep angle to the platform.
Communication with land was kept up in this way. The houses were nearly all quadrangular, and contained a single room, had raised, not flat roofs, and were provided at one of the shorter sides, near one corner, with a high rectangular door opening, which certainly was not intended to be closed, and on one of the long sides with a square window-opening. The building material was bamboo, from eight to eleven centimetres in thickness, mostly whole, but sometimes cleft. The roof had a thin layer of palm leaves upon it to keep out the rain. The house in its entirety resembled a cage of spills to which the least puff of wind had always free entrance. The floor bent and yielded much, and at the same time was so weak that one could not walk upon it without being afraid of falling through. One half, right opposite the door opening, was overlaid with a thin mat of some plant; it was evidently the sleeping place of the family. Some pieces of cloth was all the clothing we could discover. Of household articles there was scarcely any trace. Nor were there any weapons, arrows, or bows. The fireplace was in one corner of the room; it consisted of an immense ash-heap on some low stones. Beside it stood a rather dirty iron pot. All refuse from meals, bones and mollusc-sh.e.l.ls, had been thrown into the water under the floor; there lay now a regular culture-layer, a couple of feet higher than the surrounding sea-bottom, consisting for the most part of mussel sh.e.l.ls. The floor of the room was very dirty and black; it looked as if it had never been in contact with a drop of water. The interior of the whole house struck one as being as poor and wretched as that of a Chukch tent. Its inhabitants appeared scarcely to own more than they stood or walked in, _i.e._ for every person a large piece of cloth round the waist. Small boats lay moored to the platform. They were nothing else than tree-stems hollowed out, without any separate planks at the sides, at most two to two and a half metres long, and capable of carrying only two men. We had met such a boat a little way up the river, rowed by two youths, and laden with palm-leaves, it was not more than five to eight centimetres above the water, and appeared as if it would capsize with the least indiscreet movement on the part of the boatmen. Some dogs of middle size went about loose on the platform; they were at first shy and suspicious of us, and growled a little, but soon allowed themselves to be caressed.
"Of the natives, the Malays, unfortunately we saw at close quarters only some middle-aged men. When we approached the long floating beams which led to the platform, the women and children fled precipitately out of the nearest houses, and by the time we got to the platform, they had fortified themselves in a distant house, where they sat motionless and cast curious glances at us through a hole. The children showed their fear of us by loud crying, kept up the whole time. When we attempted to approach the fugitives, they hastened farther away. We won their favour with some cigarettes, which Palander distributed among them, and with which they were evidently delighted. They had a serious, reserved, perhaps rather indifferent appearance. A physiognomist would perhaps have had difficulty in saying whether their countenances expressed ferocity, determination, or indifference. It appeared as if it would not be easy to bring forth a look of mirth or gladness on their faces.
"At the Malay villages which we visited, some Chinese had a sago plantation. With some Malays as workmen in their service, they were now employed in loading a vessel of light draught with sago meal, of which they appeared to have a large quant.i.ty in store. Another vessel had just taken on board its cargo and was starting. The Chinese here made the same favourable impression on me as their countrymen, whom I had seen before in j.a.pan and Hong Kong, and whom I was afterwards to see at Singapore--the impression of an exceedingly industrious, thriving, contented, and cleanly race."
Labuan strikes me as a very suitable starting-point for a naturalist who may wish to explore Borneo. Surrounded by Europeans, but undisturbed by the distractions of a large city, he would have an opportunity of accustoming himself to the climate, which, though rather warm for a dweller in the North, is by no means unhealthy, to get acquainted with the manners and customs of the natives, to acquire a knowledge of the commonest forms of the luxuriant nature, which would otherwise be apt to overwhelm the northern naturalist, in a word, to make such preparations for the journey as are necessary to secure its success. This region of Borneo appears to be one of the least known parts of the Indian Archipelago, and one need not go far from the coast to come to places which are never visited by Europeans. Labuan itself and its immediate neighbourhood have much that is interesting to offer to the observer, and from thence short excursions may be made with ease and without excessive cost to the territory of the Sultan of Bruni, who is favourable to foreigners, and to the mountain Kini Balu, near the northern extremity of Borneo, which is 4,175 metres high, and visible from Labuan. When, before our arrival at j.a.pan, I arranged the plan of our voyage home, I included in it a visit to this mountain, at whose summit a comparatively severe climate must prevail, and whose flora and fauna, therefore, notwithstanding its equatorial position, must offer many points of comparison with those of the lands of the north. But when I was told that the excursion would require weeks, I had to give it up.
On the 12th November, the _Vega_ again weighed anchor to continue her voyage by Singapore to Point de Galle in Ceylon. Between Labuan and Singapore our progress was but slow, in consequence of the calm which, as might have been foreseen, prevailed in the sea west of Borneo.
Singapore is situated exactly halfway, when a vessel, starting from Sweden, circ.u.mnavigates Asia and Europe. We staid here from the 28th November to the 4th December, very hospitably received by the citizens of the town, both European and Asiatic, who seemed to vie with the inhabitants of Hong Kong in enthusiasm for the voyage of the _Vega_. A Babel-like confusion of speech prevails in the town from the men of so many different nationalities who live here: Chinese, Malays, Klings, Bengalees, Pa.r.s.ees, Singhalese, Negroes, Arabs, &c. But our stay was all too short for independent studies of the customs and mode of life of these different races, or of the rich vegetable and animal worlds in the neighbourhood of the town. I must refer those who are interested in these subjects to previous descriptions of that region, and to the abundant contributions to a knowledge of it which have been published by the Straits Branch of the Asiatic Society, which was founded here on the 4th November, 1877.