The Mate of the Lily | Page 7

As soon as I could I went to see how the first mate was getting on. He
had swallowed a cup of hot tea, for we were just going to breakfast, and
this had greatly restored him; and though the captain had advised him
to be still, he was putting on his dry clothes, and in a short time joined
us at table.
Uncle Jack said that he had felt the tips of the bird's wing pass over his
head each time that it swooped down, but that he had taken off his shoe
and attempted to defend himself, until the bird had seized upon it and
carried it off. "It will find the shoe a tough morsel to digest," he added,
laughing; "but truly I have reason to thank God that it did not strike
either little Jem or me with its sharp beak, and I was so exhausted that
if the boat hadn't come up when she did, I should have been unable to
keep him longer at bay."
Either Mr Blyth or I stayed by "Little Jem" all day, the captain and first
mate every now and then looking in. By night he was well enough to be
removed to his own berth forward, where the men promised to look
after him.
The captain and Mr Blyth complimented the first mate on his gallant
conduct, but he seemed to think he had done nothing out of the way.
"There is one thing a man should consider before he jumps overboard,
and that is, whether there is too much sea on to allow of a boat being
lowered, for if there is he will not only lose his own life, but cause the
loss of others," observed the captain. "It is a hard matter, however, to
lay down a rule. Still it is very certain that we should do our best to
save the lives of our fellow-creatures."

We once sighted an island, which I believe was one of the Crozet group.
In rather over three months we entered the Straits of Sunda, when, as
we were approaching shores the inhabitants of which were addicted to
piracy, we got up our guns from the hold and mounted them, and
overhauled our firearms. Before long we had a good chance of
requiring them, for when running through the Straits of Banca, between
that island and Sumatra--while nearly becalmed--we made out three
large prahus full of people, pulling towards us. Whether their intentions
were friendly or the reverse we could not ascertain, but we certainly did
not like their looks; a breeze, however, sprang up and we stood on our
course. Soon afterwards we came in sight of the fine town of Singapore,
founded in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles, who made it a free port. At
that period a wretched village stood on its site, the neighbouring
harbour being the rendezvous only of a few trading prahus. It is now a
magnificent city, and upwards of a thousand square-rigged vessels
anchor annually in the roads. On the hills beyond it can be seen the
residences of the merchants, surrounded by plantations of spice-trees,
while excellent roads with bridges over the streams run in all
directions.
Besides English churches and chapels, there are Chinese Joss houses,
Hindoo temples, and Mohammedan mosques, while large numbers of
Chinese and Malay cottages form the suburbs. The Chinese are here
seen in considerable numbers, being the most industrious part of the
population, and include many wealthy merchants. There are Klings
from Western India; Arabs, chiefly shop-keepers; Parsee merchants;
Bengalese, mostly grooms and washmen; Japanese sailors, many of
whom are also domestic servants; Portuguese clerks, and traders from
Celebes, Boli, and other islands of the vast archipelago.
Having discharged part of our cargo, we took on board such articles as
we heard were in demand among the natives with whom we hoped to
open up a trade. In the interval Mr Blyth proposed that he and I should
make a trip into the interior. We could not, however, go far, for the
island is only about twenty-seven miles in length and eleven in breadth.
We were particularly warned not to venture into the forest, as we
should run a great risk of being carried off by tigers, large numbers of

which infest the jungles, and, it is said, kill a Chinaman a day, they
being the chief workers in the plantations. The captain gave me leave to
accompany the supercargo, and we hired two small Timor ponies for
our excursion. We had not got far when we met a party of men carrying
between them the skin of a large tiger, propped up on a sort of platform
formed of bamboos, looking very fierce, with its mouth open and tail
on end. They were on their way