The Expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido | Page 4

for China in 1830. In
this voyage, while going up the China seas, he saw for the first time the
islands of the Asiatic Archipelago--islands of vast importance and
unparalleled beauty--lying neglected, and almost unknown. He inquired
and read, and became convinced that Borneo and the Eastern Isles
afforded an open field for enterprise and research. To carry to the
Malay races, so long the terror of the European merchant-vessels, the
blessings of civilization, to suppress piracy, and extirpate the
slave-trade, became his humane and generous objects; and from that
hour the energies of his powerful mind were devoted to this one pursuit.
Often foiled, often disappointed, but animated with a perseverance and
enthusiasm which defied all obstacle, he was not until 1838 enabled to
set sail from England on his darling project. The intervening years had
been devoted to preparation and inquiry; a year spent in the
Mediterranean had tested his vessel, the Royalist, and his crew; and so
completely had he studied his subject and calculated on contingencies,
that the least sanguine of his friends felt as he left the shore, hazardous
and unusual as the enterprise appeared to be, that he had omitted
nothing to insure a successful issue. 'I go,' said he, 'to awake the spirit
of slumbering philanthropy with regard to these islands; to carry Sir

Stamford Raffles' views in Java over the whole archipelago. Fortune
and life I give freely; and if I fail in the attempt, I shall not have lived
wholly in vain.'
"In the admiration I feel for him, I may farther be permitted to add, that
if any man ever possessed in himself the resources and means by which
such noble designs were to be achieved, that man was James Brooke!
Of the most enlarged views; truthful and generous; quick to acquire and
appreciate; excelling in every manly sport and exercise; elegant and
accomplished; ever accessible; and above all, prompt and determined to
redress injury and relieve misfortune, he was of all others the best
qualified to impress the native mind with the highest opinion of the
English character. How he has succeeded, the influence he has acquired,
and the benefits he has conferred, his own uncolored narrative,
contained in the following pages, best declares, and impresses on the
world a lasting lesson of the good that attends individual enterprise,
when well directed, of which every Englishman may feel justly proud."
Such is the sketch of Mr. Brooke by one well competent to judge of
that to which he bears witness. In pursuance of the mission thus
eloquently and truly described, that gentleman left his native shores in
the year 1838, in his yacht the Royalist schooner, of 142 tons,
belonging to the Royal Yacht Squadron, with a crew of upward of
twenty men. His general views were distinct and certain; but the details
into which they shaped themselves have been so entirely guided by
unforeseen occurrences, that it is necessary to look to his first visit to
Borneo for their explanation; and in order to do so, I must refer to his
private journal, which he kindly confided to me, after I had in vain tried
to persuade him to take upon himself the publication of its contents, so
rich in new and interesting intelligence.

EXTRACTS FROM Mr. BROOKE'S JOURNAL.
"I had for some years turned my mind to the geography of the Indian
Archipelago, and cherished an ardent desire to become better
acquainted with a country combining the richest natural productions

with an unrivaled degree of luxuriant beauty. Circumstances for a time
prevented my entering on this field for enterprise and research; and
when the barriers were removed, I had many preparations to make and
some difficulties to overcome.
"In an expedition conducted by government, the line of discipline is so
distinctly understood, and its infringement so strictly punished, that
small hazard is incurred of any inconvenience arising from such a
source. With an individual, however, there is no such assurance, for he
cannot appeal to the articles of war; and the ordinary legal enactments
for the protection of the mariner will not enable him to effect objects so
far removed beyond the scope of the laws. I was fully aware that many
would go, but that few might stay; for while a voyage of discovery in
prospectu possesses great attractions for the imagination, the hardship,
danger, and thousand other rude realities, soon dissipate the illusion,
and leave the aspirant longing for that home he should never have
quitted. In like manner, seamen can be procured in abundance, but
cannot be kept from desertion whenever any matter goes wrong; and
the total previous ignorance of their characters and dispositions renders
this more likely, as the admission of one 'black sheep' goes far to taint
the entire crew.
"These considerations