The Penang Pirate | Page 9

the surrounding floor to be depressed; but when it is learned that
the whole island of Krakatoa, containing about 8000 million cubic

yards of material, has fallen in, and the greater part of it disappeared
below the sea, the magnitude of the convulsion becomes more apparent,
and it is the easier to realise the formation of the destructive volcanic
wave that was thrown on the neighbouring shores. It is almost
inconceivable that this island, with a mountain summit which rose
nearly 2700 feet above the sea-level, should have been so extensively
submerged; but it seems to have been in the very centre of the area of
this vast earthquake, which convulsed the whole basin of the sea
between Lampong Bay, on the south coast of Sumatra, and the opposite
shores of Java, extending across a diameter of more than sixty
geographical miles. The disturbance of the sea and consequent flooding
of the shores, both those of Sumatra to the north and those of Java to
the east of the volcanic outbreak, had the most destructive effects upon
the Dutch settlements at Telok Betong, at the head of the bay in
Sumatra, and likewise in Java, at the well-known commercial port of
Anjer, where all homeward-bound ships of every nation were
accustomed to call in passing the straits to obtain needful supplies for
the voyage across the Indian Ocean; and where also, it may be
mentioned, Java sparrows, those delicate little feathered creatures that
might teach wiser humanity a lesson in their touching fondness for each
other, used to be purchased by sailors for presents to their friends at
home--though few, alas, of the poor "sparrows" ever reached England
alive of the thousands brought away from their native clime, the
majority dying at sea on the first cold night!
The homeward-bound voyager, too, who passes the Straits of Sunda, is
sometimes fortunate enough to witness, at the western extremity of the
channel, a strange yet beautiful optical illusion, probably akin to the
mirage of the desert. It presents a magnificent display of natural
architecture, commencing at one particular point--always at the same
place--off the coast of Sumatra. Huge granite pillars tower to the sky at
nearly regular intervals, beginning at the outlet of one of the valleys,
and extending five miles out to sea. So solid and massive is the aspect
of the apparent structure that the eye refuses to accept its unreality;
binoculars are involuntarily seized, questions are poured into the ear of
the captain; or, if no ship's officer be near, such guidebooks or sailing
directions as may be within reach are consulted for a solution of the

splendid sight. But, before the pages can be turned the gigantic
columns begin to waver and vibrate in the intensely heated air: now
they come nearer, and the sun glances upon their crystalline sides, anon
they retreat and fade, until the whole fabric is transformed into, or lost
in, a luxuriant expanse partly covered with enormous trees. It is
probably while the feeling of disappointment is rankling in his mind,
and the traveller averts his gaze from Sumatra as altogether a delusion
and a snare, that he obtains his first glimpse of the opposite shore to the
left hand, and sees the romantic island of Java appearing
simultaneously from the waves and from the clouds. As he looks at the
vast panorama of jagged peaks--some of them, perhaps, emitting a thin,
scarcely-visible thread of vapour, his train of thought may wander to
the thrilling fireside tale of how the despairing Dutch criminals used to
rush, inclosed in leathern hoods, across the "Poison Valley," to gather
the deadly drippings from the terrible Upas-tree.
But none of these thoughts occurred to those on board the Hankow Lin
as she neared the straits and the group of islands; for, in the first place,
the terrible earthquake of Krakatoa which has so convulsed the face of
nature in the vicinity, had not then occurred, and, secondly, instead of
the fabled Upas-tree being uppermost in their minds, all were thinking,
with a far keener apprehension, of the much more deadly "pirates of the
isles," who were reported to haunt the channel-way and rendezvous in
the neighbourhood, just keeping out of the reach of the men-of-war
cruising in search of them, so as to pounce on unwary merchantmen
whenever they had the chance.
Towards sunset on the same day that the captain had remarked on their
being close to the Thousand Islands, the nor'-east monsoon, which had
accompanied the vessel so far, suddenly failed, and the wind shifted to
the southward and westward. A strange sail was sighted--not ahead, but
coming up astern, and gaining on them fast as if in pursuit, although the
light failed before they could distinctly make her out.
The captain had a conference on