EARL'S INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO

Is a book of twofold nature ; the first division containing a narra- tive of the author's voyages in the Eastern Seas ; the second, some speculations on the capabilities which the Indian Archipelago offers for British commerce, and the Northern coast of Australia for new colonies and new discoveries, together with some sugges- tions as to the best modes of carrying the two first-named objects into effect. In our notice of the book, we will follow the natural order, and begin with the travels.

In the summer of 1832, Mr. EARL found himself at Swan River; and, getting weary, we suppose, departed on the 5th August for the swamp-placed and fever-breeding Batavia; which he reached in about a month. He then, opportunities offering, made a sea tour round Java; landing at the different ports, and noting. such peculiarities in the characters of the natives, the habits of the European residents, and the productions of the country, as a short sojurn permitted him to perceive. Returning to Batavia, our author embarked for Singapore, the free sea-port founded by RAFFLES on his own responsibility, to counterbalance Lord CAS'. TLEREAGH'S ignorant and gentlemanly restoration of Java to the Dutch ; and sailed thence to Bankok, the principal port of Siam ; whence he came away rapidly, through the rudeness of the people. Again, from Singapore, Mr. EARL went to Borneo, charged with the command of a mercantile adventure, the object of which was to open a trade with a Chinese colony settled there. After some difficulties, arising from the interposition of the Governor of a petty Dutch settlement, Mr. EARL succeeded in advantageously disposing of his cargo, and collecting, or making, it good many valuable observations regarding this rich and fertile island. In the ultimate object of his voyage, however, he was unsuccessful ; for such measures were adopted after his departure, and such rigid instructions transmitted from Batavia to the rather friendly resident, that he considers it useless for private bodies or individuals to attempt, under existing circumstances, any further communication with the Chinese settlers at Borneo, although they are anxious for the trade, and indeed suggested Mr. EARL'S 'image. An elaborate account of Singapore, and of its trade and motley inhabitants—the materials for which were collected (luring frequent residences of some duration—concludes the narrative part of the volume.

We have said it often, but the recurrence of the fact compels the reiteration, that evidence of English misgovernment—sins of omis- sion or sins of commission—constantly beset us go where we will ; and there are pretty numerous instances of this in Mr. EARL'S book. Passing over the folly of the unconditional surrender of Java to the Dutch, the neglect with which their encroachments are re- Farded, and the loeg submission to their violation of the treaty (if It be even yet remedied) by which British goods were to be ad- mitted at a certain rate of duty,—the manner in which the common- est precautions to protect our commerce and to enforce the respect due to our power in those remote seas are neglected, is very striking, and contrasts painfully with the active vigour of the Americans. They have not a single settlement in those regions—not even, we believe, a resident official ; their commerce is far less than ours ; and their navy, so far as regards the number of ships, out of all comparison. But whilst our Government do, or at least did, allow our trade throughout the Indian Archipelago to take care of itself, brother Jonathan has frigates constantly cruising there, sailing from port to port wherever an American traffics—to impress the natives with an opinion of the national power—to show them that a force is ready to inflict punishment in case of aggression—and to keep up, by means, it would appear, of a kind of liniment nego- tiator, friendly relations with all, and in the case of the more established governments, such as Siam, to negotiate treaties. If Singapore were in the possession of America, or even of France, swarms of pirates wonid not be allowed to beset its approaches, so as to injure, and eventually perhaps to destroy, the native trade. If America had our possessions in that quarter, native piracy would Lace been put down. But what is such a vulgar thing as trade to the gentlemen of the Admiralty or the Colonial Office ?

The distinguishing character of Mr. EARL'S unpretending book, is reality and distinctness. Its literary merit is greater than it seems; for, without any extraordinary incidents, or any artist-like power of giving effect to common occurrences, his narrative carries the reader agreeably along to the end of his volume ; reminding one, in its manner, of the simplicity of the old navigators, but refined by the higher education of the present time. A style like this, when not too bald, is well adapted to reflect the striking novelty of the original subjects ; and they are well worth descrip- tion, whether we regard the old and yet unworn popular visions of the wealth and beauty of the Spice Islands—or the tropical mix- ture of rankness and richnesa which they actually exhibit—or the animated nature living amongst them—or the barbarous, but in Mr. EARL'S opinion far from irreclaimable native races, which inhabit them.

As a specimen of the author's description, we might take a picture of the dreary and unbroken solitude of the coast of Su- matra, or the flat mud levels which mark the embouchure of the Meinan in Siam and the coast of Borneo. We will, however, choose the approach to a more renowned place—the fatal Batavia ; and commence with the original of the image of the

" Sabean odours from the spicy shore

Of Araby the blest."

We weighed anchor with the sea breeze in the afternoon, and proceeded on our voyage to Batavia. The wind soon fell light, and we made but little pro- gress until towards midnight, when the land wind came off, bringing with it an aromatic smell of decaying vegetation, to which the ancient navigators probably alluded when speaking of the "spicy gales of India." It created u chilly,

damp sensationaand was doubtless pregnant with malaria. * • • The sea near Batavia is covered with innumerable little islets, all of which are clothed with luxuriant. vegetation. Native praline, with their yellow mat sails, are occasionally seen to shoot from behind one of them, to be shielded from view immediately afterwards by the green foliage of another ; and over the tops of the trees may often be descried the white sails of sonic stately ship threading the mazes of this little Archipelago. Otte group, appropriately named the Thou. sand Islands, has never yet been explored ; and its intricacies ;tilled concealment to petty pirates, who prey epee the small prabus and fishing. boat,. We rounded Untaug Java point on the of September, and bore up fur Batavia roads, occasionally having a view of the shipping between the islands. A num- ber of large fishing boats were coming in from sea, and standing with us into the roads; and although we were running at the rate of seven knots an hour, they passed us with great rapidity. They had a most graceful appearance: many of them were fourteen or fifteen totes burden, and each boat carried one immense square sail. As the breeze was strong, a thick plank was thrust out to windward for an out-rigger, on which several of the numerous crew sat, or stood, to prevent the press of sail they were carrying from capsizing the boat. They were occasionally hidden from our view by their passing behind some of the small islets; but in a few seconds they would appeal on the other side, bay- ing shot past so rapidly that we could scarcely fancy that we bad lost sight of them at all. • • * * The objects that met my view on our way to the town were by no means cal- culated to give a favourable impression of the place. We first overtook a boat carrying ti see sick Europeans to the hospital ; and a little father we passed a large lighter, in whirl: a nmnber of native convicts were busily employed in clearing the mud from the bottom of the river. Many of them were heavily ironed, and being nearly naked and covered with mud, had a very unpreposses- sing appearance. A short distance below the town, a large alligator, of a light brown colour, was Boating in the centre of the river devouring some garbage; he did not deem it necessary to move out of our way, and we passed close to him without interrupting his meal. The tameness of the alligators is accounted fur by their being protected from injury by the authorities, as they devour the refuse of the slaughterhouses, which might otherwise be injurious to the health of the inhabitants. The natives appeared to have no fear of them, for several children were bathing on the bank• near the spot where the monster was feed- ing. During the period of (am which elapses between the land and sea breezes, the alligators sometimes take an exclusion m the roads arming the shipping ; and as they are rarely seen when the sea breeze prevails, it is probable that they then retire into the river. • • • *

The westerly monsoon was now blowing in full strength ; and as the captain had determined to make for the coast of Sumatra before he ran to the north- ward, we had several days' beating among the numerous small islands which are scattered over this part of the Java sea. These islands, or rather islets, for few are more than two or three miles im circumference, are of coral fur illation, and so thickly wooded that it is absolutely impossible to penetrate the jungle ; while the decay of vegetable matter upon them is so great as to tender the atmosphere actually poisonous. During the British occupation of Java, sickness prevailed among the troops at Batavia to such an extent. that it was considered necessary to remove the patients; and a considerable number were seer to one of the islands off the made as an ex- perintest : the increased mortality, however, which ensued, caused the place to be immediately abandoned. Tile seamen who die on board the ships are not buried near the town, but are interred by their shipmates on one of these islands, and the noxious exhalations are so dreaded, that after depositing the body in a shallow grave, and reading a few hurried prayers, the mourners are glad to hasten away from the pestiferous neighbourhood.

This account of a native entertainment, at a remote and petty settlement on the Southern coast of ,lava, is curious, as showing at how early a stage in civilization the drama makes its appear- ance, and what an effect it has over uncultivated minds.

The commandant and his party retired about nine o'clock, and at their de- parture I went down to the main-deck to witness the dramatic entertainment, being by virtue of toy office admitted behind the scenes. A transit:treat screen of considerable dimensions wit, hung up to the beams, behind which a large lamp had been suspended. The puppets, about a hundred iu number, were grotesque figures of men and women, with dragons' heads and cloven feet, to- gether with bulls and alligatens, all most hideous to behold. They were about a foot high, cut out of pieces of buffalo hide, and painted and gilded, each having a piece of bamboo attached wit, by which it was stuck into a large plan- tain stem to be ready fur use. The play consisted of a recitation of the adventures of one of the ancient Javanese princes; and upon each character being mentioned, the figure which represented it was held before the lamp, so that its shadow' thus thrown upon the transparent screen, became visible to the audience. The recitation was made in a dull, monotonous tone'; but the speaker raised his voice occasionally, when the adventures became particularly interesting. The audience, without the exception of is single individual, listened with intense interest to the narra- tion, nothing attracting their attention from it for an instant. During the evening we had occasion for the butler, and after some difliculty the gunner succeeded in getting him on deck ; but his mind was so occupied with the ad- ventures of the prince while attacking the fiery buffalo, or while rescuing the princess from the jaws of the alligator, that we could not make him understand what we wanted ; and I was eventually obliged to take the key' from hint and Reared' for it myself, sending him down again to the 'twang. The legend was very long ; and daylight found the audience, with few exceptions, listening as attentively as at the commencement.

MALAY BARGAINING.

In their communications with each other, the Malays are always polite, abu- sive language never being employed amongst them. Every man carries a kris at his side, ready to avenge an insult should it be offered to hint ; and the cer- tainty of instant recourse to this weapon, no doubt, tends in a great measure to prevent the occurrence of any event that might call for its use. In trading with the Malays, an European should always endeavour to keep his temper ; which an individual not accustomed to these will sometimes find a matter of difficulty. In making a purchase, they will frequently offer five dollars for an article worth twenty ; and, should the vender put I self in a passion, they will teaze him with like offers, in the hope that he will give them the gouda at the cheapest rate for the sake of getting away.

Their commercial transact' being generally conducted in places in which a number of individuate are collected together,—as, fur instance, in the court of the Sultan, or at the residence of the Capitan China,—if secrecy should be re- quired, they adopt a tootle of bargaining by means of the fingers, which pre- cludes the bystanders from discovering what is going on. The parties grasp each other's hands, and the purchaser makes an offer by pressing one of the joints of the vender's finger', there being to each joint a number attached, from one to ten; and touching a certain part of the hand will show whether the offer is in tens, hundreds, or thousands. The hands of the dealers are covered with a handkerchief, so that none of the people present can see what is going forward. When the purchaser has made his otter, the vender, by another grip, lets him know what price he will take ; and thus they continue, one increasing Iris offer and the other lowering his demand, until the bargain is concluded or broken off. This custom has, I think, been introduced by the Arabs ; for they were always the greatest adepts at it, while the Javanese and other natives who have little communication with them, arc unacquainted with the method.

Of the characters and capabilities of the different native popu- lations, especially as sailors and labourers, Mr. EARL gives many interesting particulars ; but we must confine ourselves to one, and that a partial one—the improvement of the Malay watermen. Ilse may however remark, such is the effect of equal laws, that at Singapore a Malay no longer runs a-muck. After this, who- need despair of the Irish? The influence which constant intercourse with the British has exercised upon the habits of the Malays, is shown to great advantage in the case of the water- men, or sampan-boys, in whom it has worked a complete change, almost amounting to regeneration. This improvement is rendered the more apparent from the boatmen in the adjacent creeks (who are chiefly employed in ferrying natives) remaining much in the same state as that in which they were foued on the arrival of the British. The latter are to be seen lazily paddling about in short clumsy sampans, crouched with their knees up to their chins, wearing no other clothing than a small piece of cloth round the waist, and a conical-shaped hat on their heads' the rims of which project far out, almost concealing the countenance. The boatmen in the Singapore river, however—perhaps the bro- thers and relatives of these very men—are full of life and activity, managing their long and "trim-built" sampans with a skill not excelled by that of the smartest Thames waterman. Their dress also is changed : they have !whited themselves neatly in shirt and pantaloons, and throwing off the palm-leaf hat, have adopted in its stead a gay handkerchief, which does not impede their mo- tions while managing the canoe. This salutary change has been cffectel chiefly in consequence of the taste for aquatic spurts displayed by many of the Europeans, who, perhaps on account of the dearth of amusements during the infancy of the settlement, laid wagers with each other on the capabilities of the different boats, and induced the boatmen In pull, in order to decide their beta. 'f he Malaya soon entered into the spirit of the thing, taking even a stronger degree of interest in the respective races than their barkers themselves. Those who were defeated, endeavoured to gain their Inq ground by improving the construction of their boats; which, from -short tubs pulled by a single man, became, in the cour,.e of a few years, perfect Ismael* for swiftness; and which, when manned with five active Malaya, have bevel yet been beaten by any boats, European. or native, that have been brought .against them.

The second subject of Mr. EARL'S work is handled in two appen- dixes, and may be generally slated thus. He considers the In- dian Archipelago, including the large islands of Borneo, Ce- lebes, and New Guinea, to be a favourable market for the intro- duction of British manufactures; because the natives are enter- prising, unprejudiced, fond of novelty and display, have already productions which are commercially valuable, possess in their soil

and their seas a fruitful source of many more, and are moreover industrious with a sufficient object in view, and tractable. At pre- sent these capabilities are dormant, for want of the means of develop- ment. Singapore is too distant from most of the islands; the track is be-et by pirates ; and over Borneo, the nearest to that settlement,

the Dutch exercise a mischievous but illegitimate sway, and impede by every obstacle the circulation of our manufactures. Mr. EARL therefore proposes to establish settlements on the Northern coasts

of New Holland, which should serve at once as commercial de- pots and agricultural colonies ; the labourers being supplied, as at Singapore, from China, natives of which already frequent the adjacent markets. The fitness of the country in question for settlements is known from various sources,—indeed, two have been already established, but abandoned in consequence of some bungling on the part of the Colonial Office and the Colonial Go- vernment of New South Wales. The immediate market, however, likely to be found in the Indian Archipelago, especially at Cele- bes and New Guinea, is to us a matter of greater doubt, as well as the safety of the navigation,—at least between Timor and New Holland, for there is little doubt about the dangers of New Guinea. An account of these seas and lands, at once popular and scientific, is a great desideratum. As a mere matter of information, it is disgraceful to the Government to allow such a state of ignorance about places so closely connected with our possessions, and not creditable in the nation to permit such supineness on the part of the Government. But when we consider the tendency of over- flowing British capital and population to seek an outlet in those parts, creating new trade, founding new colonies of the British race, and having a disposition to strengthen our sway in India, the apathy is extraordinary.

The discoveries which Mr. EARL alludes to, and which it appears a vessel is now fitting out in this country to effect, are, a great river

at the bottom of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and a great inland sea in New Holland, communicating with the ocean on the Western coast just by the Buccaneer's Archipelago. The reasons alleged for the existence of the latter are, the reports of the natives, the phcenomena of winds, tides, &c., the circumstantial evidence of

navigators, and the opinion of FLINDERS; all which look well

upon paper, but still will not make an Australian Mediterra- nean unless Nature has done her part. However, let the adven-

turers go, and come back to tell us of their success—or, what is sometimes more interesting, their failure ; and if Mr. EARL is going with them, so much the better.