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A Voyage Round The World: A Book For Boys, a fiction by William H. G. Kingston |
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Chapter 21. Our Voyage To Japan |
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_ CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. OUR VOYAGE TO JAPAN. Our friend Hatchie Katsie belonged to the commercial town of Hakodadi, situated in the Straits of Saugar, on the south end of the Japanese island of Yesso, and before it we found ourselves one bright morning brought up. The harbour was full of junks of all sizes, coming and going, proving that a brisk trade must be carried on there. The town seemed of considerable extent, stretching along the sea-shore for a mile or more, while many of the streets ran up the sides of a lofty promontory, at the base of which it stands. The mountains rise directly behind to an elevation of a thousand feet, their bare summits often being covered with snow. The slopes are clothed with underwood, while on the plain below wide-spreading cypresses, maples, plum and peach trees grow in rich profusion. Altogether the scene is a very picturesque and beautiful one. From numerous stone quarries the Japanese have supplied themselves with an abundance of building materials. The appearance of the town, with its well-constructed sea walls, bridges, and dikes, showed us that the Japanese must be a very industrious people, and that they have made considerable advance in civilisation. One of the first things which struck us was a Japanese boat which came alongside, both from her model and the neat way in which she was put together. Her bows were very sharp, she had great beam, and she tapered slightly towards the stern. She was built of pine wood, and varnished without any paint. Her crew, almost naked, stood aft, and sculled her along instead of rowing, at a very great rate. The official personages she brought off sat in the fore-part; one of them, armed with two swords, a mark of rank, stood in the bows, and made a very good figure-head. We should probably have had to take our departure without holding any communication with the shore, so anxious were the Japanese government to prevent any communication of the people with foreigners, when Hatchie Katsie made his appearance on deck. The account he gave his countrymen soon changed the aspect of affairs, and we were told that the governor of the place would no doubt make an exception in our favour. Our friend having procured Japanese clothes for us, as he had done at Loo-Choo, told us that he might venture to take us on shore and show us something of the mode of life among his countrymen. I have no doubt that Chin Chi considered it far superior to that of the English, as far as he was able to judge of them. The Japanese gentlemen were, generally, finer men than those of Loo-Choo. Their dress also was different. One of the chief people in the place, if he was not the governor, wore a gaily-coloured robe of rich silk, with the back, sleeves, and breast, covered with armorial bearings. He wore a very short pair of trousers, with black socks and straw slippers. His hat, something like a reversed bowl, shone with lacquer and ornaments of gold. I must say, however, that Europeans have no right to quiz the head covering of any nation in the world, as ours far surpass all others in ugliness, and in the want of adaptation of means to an end. Our friend could not take us publicly into the town, so he had us conveyed to his country-house in kagos, such as were used at Loo-Choo. On every side, as we passed along, the people were busily employed; some were lading their packhorses with bags of meal, others with heavy mallets were pounding grain into flour, while others were hoeing in the rice grounds up to their knees in water. There was no sign of poverty, and even the lowest people were well and comfortably clad in coarse garments, shorter than those of the more wealthy classes. All wear the hair drawn up and fastened at the top in a knot. In rainy weather they wear cloaks made of straw, so that a person looks like a thatched roof. The same sort of garments, I hear, are used by the Portuguese peasantry. The upper classes cover their robes with a waterproof cloak of oiled-paper. All, like the Chinese, use the umbrella as a guard from the sun and rain. The streets are thoroughly drained, for not only are there surface gutters, but deep drains which carry all the filth into the sea. Here, again, they are in advance of many civilised people. Some of the best houses are built of stone, but they are usually constructed of a framework of bamboo and laths, which is covered with plaster painted black and white in diagonal lines. The roofs are composed of black and white tiles; the eaves extending low down to protect the interior from the sun, and the oiled-paper windows from the rain. They are, generally, of but one story. Some of the residences stand back from the street with a court-yard before them, and have gardens behind. The fronts of the shops have movable shutters, and behind these are sliding panels of oiled-paper or lattices of bamboo, to secure privacy when required. In the interior of the houses is a framework raised two feet from the ground, divided by sliding panels into several compartments, and spread with stuffed mats; it is the guest, dining, and sleeping-room of private houses, and the usual workshop of handicraftsmen--a house within a house. When a nobleman travelling stops at a lodging-house, his banner is conspicuously displayed outside, while the names of inferior guests are fastened to the door-posts. The doctor made a capital sketch of a scene we saw when looking into the interior of a Japanese house--a servant apparently feeding two children. A Japanese has only one wife, consequently women stand far higher in the social scale than among other Eastern people. They have evening parties, when tea is handed round; and the guests amuse themselves with music and cards. Japanese ladies have an ugly custom of dyeing their teeth black, by a process which at the same time destroys the gums. The more wealthy people have suburban villas, the gardens of which are surrounded by a wall, and laid out in the Chinese style, with fish-ponds, containing gold and silver fish, bridges, pagoda-shaped summer-houses and chapels, beds of gay-coloured flowers, and dwarf fruit-trees. A large portion of the people profess the Buddhist religion. We visited a large temple at Hakodadi, full sixty feet high. The tiled roof is supported on an arrangement of girders, posts, and tie-beams, resting upon large lacquered pillars. The ornaments in the interior, consisting of dragons, phoenixes, cranes, tortoises, all connected with the worship of Buddha, are elaborately carved and richly gilt. There are three shrines, each containing an image, and the raised floor is thickly covered with mats. We were shown a curious praying machine covered with inscriptions. At about the height easily reached by a person was a wheel with three spokes, and on each spoke a ring: turning the wheel once round is considered equivalent to saying a prayer, and the jingle of the ring is supposed to call the attention of the divinity to the presence of the person paying his devotions. The Sintoo worship is practised also among the Japanese, but its temples are less resorted to than those of Buddha. We saw a number of junks building. In shape they were like the Chinese, but none were more than a hundred tons burden. Canvas instead of bamboo is used for sails. The Japanese are decidedly a literary people. All classes can read and write; and works of light reading appear from their presses almost with the same rapidity that they do with us. They print from wooden blocks, and have wooden type. They have also long been accustomed to print in colours. The paper they employ is manufactured from the bark of the mulberry, but is so thin that only one side can be used. They have sorts of games, some like our chess, and cards, and lotto, and we saw the lads in the streets playing ball very much as boys do in an English country village. As we did not go to the capital, I cannot describe it. We understood that there are two emperors of Japan--one acts as the civil governor, and the other as the head of all ecclesiastical affairs, a sort of pope or patriarch. The laws are very strict, especially with regard to all communication with foreigners. If a person of rank transgresses them and he is discovered, notice is sent to him, and he instantly cuts himself open with his sword, and thus prevents the confiscation of his property. The people exhibit an extraordinary mixture of civilisation and barbarism; the latter being the result of their gross superstitious faith, and their seclusion from the rest of the world; the former shows how acute and ingenious must be their minds to triumph over such difficulties. Our friend Hatchie Katsie accompanied us to the shore when we embarked. Chin Chi parted with us most unwillingly. He longed to see more of the wonders of the world; but even had his father been ready to let him go, we could not have ventured to carry him away publicly in opposition to the laws of the country. Once more we were at sea. "Homeward! homeward!" was the cry; but we had still a long way to sail and many places to visit before we could get there. Steering south, we came to an anchor before the city of Manilla, the capital of the Philippine Islands, the largest of which is Lujon. They belong to Spain, having been taken possession of in 1565. They are inhabited by a variety of savage tribes, most of whom have been converted by their conquerors to the Roman Catholic faith. The capital stands on a low plain near a large lake, which has numerous branches, now converted into canals. Hills rise in the distance, and behind them ranges of lofty mountains, clothed to their summits with luxuriant vegetation. The number of Europeans is very small compared to that of the half-castes and aborigines. There are said to be forty thousand of those industrious people, the Chinese, who appear now to be finding their way into every country on the shores of the Pacific where employment can be procured. The largest manufactory at Manilla is that of cigars. The city appeared to be in a somewhat dilapidated condition, the churches and public buildings, especially, were fast falling into decay. We, as usual, were fortunate, and got a trip, through the kindness of an English merchant, up the lake and a good way into the interior, when we could not help wondering at the magnificent display of tropical vegetation which we beheld. We also saw three of the most ferocious animals of the country. Scarcely had we landed when, as with our friend and several Indian attendants we were proceeding along the hanks of the stream, our friend wished to send a message to a cottage on the opposite side to desire the attendance of the master as a guide. There was a ford near, but the Indian who was told to go said he would swim his horse across. "Take care of the cayman," was the warning given by all. "Oh, I care not for caymans; I would fight with a dozen of them!" was the answer given, we were told. The lake and rivers running into it abound with these savage monsters, a species of alligator or crocodile. The man forced his horse into the stream and swam on some way. Suddenly we were startled with the cry of "A cayman! a cayman! Take care, man!" The Indian threw himself from his horse and swam boldly to the bank, leaving his poor steed to become the prey of the monster. The cayman made directly for the horse, and seized him with his huge jaws by the body. The poor steed's shriek of agony sounded in our ears, but fortunately for him the saddle-girth gave way, and he struggled free, leaving the tough leather alone in the brute's mouth, and swam off to shore. The cayman, not liking the morsel, looked about for something more to his taste. The Indian had reached the bank, but instead of getting out of the water, he stood in a shallow place behind a tree, and, drawing his sword, declared that he was ready to fight the cayman. The monster open-mouthed made at him; but the man in his folly struck at its head. He might as well have tried to cut through a suit of ancient armour. The next instant, to our horror, the cayman had him shrieking in his jaws, and with his writhing body disappeared beneath the surface of the stream! After this our journey was enlivened by all sorts of horrible accounts of adventures with caymans, till we neared the spot where we expected to find some buffaloes. As we rode along we heard an extraordinary cry. "It is a wild boar," exclaimed our friend; "but I suspect a boa has got hold of him--a great _bore_ for him, I suspect." We rode to the spot whence the sound came. There, sure enough, suspended from the low branch of a tree was a huge boa-constrictor, some twenty feet long, perhaps, which had just enclosed a wild pig in its monstrous folds. While we looked he descended, and lubricating the animal with the saliva from his mouth, and placing himself before it, took the snout in his jaws and began to suck it in. We had not time to wait, as our friend told us it would take a couple of hours before he got the morsel into his stomach. This process is performed by wonderful muscular action and power of distension. In half an hour we reached a plain bordered by a forest. "Here we shall find buffaloes in abundance," exclaimed our friend; "but, my lads, be cautious; keep behind me, and watch my movements, or you may be seriously injured, or lose your lives. Buffalo-hunting is no child's play, remember." We had with us a number of Indians on horseback armed with rifles, and a pack of dogs of high and low degree. Our chief hunter was a remarkably fine-looking man, a half-caste. He was dressed in something like a bull-fighter's costume. He dismounted and approached the wood, rifle in hand. Two of the Indians threw off most of their clothes, and kept only their swords by their sides. Thus lightly clad, they were able to climb the trees to get out of harm's way. The Indians beat the woods, and the dogs barked and yelped, till at length a huge buffalo came out to ascertain what all the noise was about. He stood pawing the ground and tossing up the grass with his horns, as if working himself into a rage, looking round that he might single out an object on which to vent his rage. Though we were at some distance, we felt the scene excessively trying. His eye soon fell on the bold huntsman, who stood rifle in hand ready to hit him on the head as he approached. If his hand trembled, if his rifle missed fire, his fate was sealed. The excitement, as I watched the result, was so great, that I could scarcely breathe. The huntsman stood like a statue, so calm and unmoved, with his eye fixed on the monstrous brute. The buffalo got within a dozen paces of him. I almost shrieked out, for I expected every moment to see the man tossed in the air, or trampled and gored to death with those formidable horns. On came the buffalo--there was a report--a cloud of smoke--and as it cleared away, he was seen with his knees bent and his head as it were ploughing the ground; yet another moment, and his huge body rolled over a lifeless mass; and the hunter advancing, placed his foot proudly between his horns, as a sign that he was the victor. Loud shouts rent the air from all the Indians, for the feat their leader had performed was no easy one, and which few are capable of accomplishing. In some parts of the island, buffaloes are taken with the lasso, as we had seen it employed in Mexico. The animal was cut up and transferred to a cart, to be carried down to the lake, by which it was to be conveyed to Manilla. Tame buffaloes are used for agricultural purposes. The vegetable productions of the Philippines are very numerous. Rice is grown in great quantities. What is known as Manilla hemp is an article of much value. It is obtained from the fibre of a species of plantain. It, can only be exported from the port of Manilla. Indigo, coffee, sugar, cotton, and tobacco, are grown in abundance; indeed, were the resources of the islands fully developed, they would prove some of the richest in the world. But it may truly be said, that where Spaniards rule there a blight is sure to fall. On leaving the Philippines, we sighted the coast of Borneo, and looked in at Sarawak, a province which the talent, the energy, the perseverance, and the philanthropy of Sir James Brooke, have brought from the depths of barbarism and disorder to a high state of civilisation. Those who are incapable of appreciating his noble qualities seem inclined to allow it to return to the same condition in which he found it. I heard Captain Frankland speak very strongly on the subject, and he said it would be a disgrace to England, and the most shortsighted policy, if she withdraws her support from the province, and refuses to recompense Sir James for the fortune which he has expended on it. We next touched at Singapore, which was founded by a man of very similar character and talents to Sir James Brooke. That man was Sir Stamford Raffles, whose life is well worthy of attentive study. When, in 1819, the English took possession of the island at the end of the Malay peninsula, on which Singapore now stands, it contained but a few huts, the remnants of an old city, once the capital of the Malayan kingdom, and was then the resort of all the pirates who swarmed in the neighbouring seas. It is now a free port, resorted to by ships of all nations. It is the head-quarters of many wealthy mercantile houses, whose managers live in handsome houses facing the bay, while its working population is made up of Arabs, Malays, Chinese, and, indeed, by people from all parts of the East. Singapore is another example of what the talent and energy of one man can effect. The next harbour in which we found ourselves was that of Port Louis in the Mauritius. The town stands at the head of the bay, and is enclosed on the east, and north, and south, by mountains rising but a short distance from the shore. The most lofty is the Pouce, which towers up 2800 feet immediately behind the town, and is a remarkable and picturesque object. The Mauritius is one of the most flourishing of England's dependencies, and the French inhabitants seem perfectly contented with her rule, and appreciate the numerous advantages they possess from being under it. Since the abolition of slavery, coolies have been brought over to cultivate sugar, rice, tobacco, and to engage in other labours, formerly performed by the negro slaves. Port Louis is a well-built town, and has a bustling and gay appearance, from the number of traders from all parts of the East, who appear in their various and picturesque costumes. Our stay here was short. We were next bound to the coast of Madagascar, Captain Frankland having instructions to endeavour to open up a trade with the people, and to gain all the information he could collect regarding them. Madagascar is larger than Great Britain and Ireland combined, and contains three millions of inhabitants. In 1817, a treaty was entered into between the governor of the Mauritius and Radama, who was king of part of the country. The king consented to the abolition of the slave trade; and in return, he was supplied with arms and ammunition, and military instructors were sent to drill his army. The London Missionary Society also sent over a body of highly intelligent men, some to instruct the people in Christianity, and others more particularly in a variety of useful arts. A considerable number of Malagasy youths were sent on board English ships of war to be instructed in seamanship, while others were carried to England to receive a more finished education. It is a remarkable fact, that, although when the missionaries arrived in 1818 letters were totally unknown, in ten years from 10,000 to 15,000 natives had learned to read, many of them to write, and several had made some progress in English. This speaks well for the zeal and excellence of the system employed by the missionaries, and for the talent of the natives. King Radama, after considerably extending his dominions, died in 1828, when the policy of his successor towards the English considerably changed. The Malagasy government having resolved to impose their own laws on foreign residents at the port of Tamatave, an English and two French ships of war went there to try and settle the questions at issue. Failing to do so, they attacked the port, which, however, was so well defended, that they were compelled to retire, leaving several of their number behind, whose heads were stuck upon poles on the shore. In consequence of this untoward event, all intercourse with the English ceased for eight years. Before that time the government had commenced a cruel persecution of the Christian natives, and numbers were put to death. The effect, however, was very different from what was expected. Attention was drawn to the subject of Christianity. Many of all ranks began to study the Bible and to acknowledge the truth, and among them was the queen's son, then only seventeen years old. The queen was greatly averse to the new religion; and this, probably, was one of the causes which made her break off all intercourse with strangers, while she carried on the persecution against her own subjects who had become converts. The patient way in which the Christians bore their sufferings induced many others to inquire into the truth of their doctrines, and ultimately to embrace them. At last a reaction took place; the queen began to discover the ill effects of the restrictive system she had been endeavouring to establish, and once more showed an inclination to renew her intercourse with civilised nations. Friendly relations with the British had again been established when we anchored before Tamatave. The roadstead before Tamatave offers a good anchorage, except when the wind is from the north or east. Several species of pandanus and some tall cocoa-nut trees gave a tropical character to the scenery. Soon after anchoring, a large but rather clumsy canoe came alongside, with an officer who spoke a little English, and said he was the harbour-master, and a number of attendants. They wore neatly plaited straw hats, white shirts bound round the loins with cloths, and large white scarfs thrown gracefully over the shoulders like the Scotch plaid. The harbour-master entered in a book the name of the ship and other particulars, and we then accompanied him to his house on shore--that is, the captain, the doctor, and Jerry and I. It was built of wood, nearly fifty feet long and twenty-five high, a verandah running all round; a door in the centre, and windows on either side; the floor of the veranda well planked, so as to form an outer apartment. The whole was thatched with the leaves of the traveller's-tree. The walls were covered with tofia, or native cloth, and the floor with a large fine mat. A well-made bedstead stood in one corner with sleeping mats on it, and in the centre a table covered with a white cloth. In different parts of the room were chairs and ottomans covered with mats; cooking utensils, arms, machines for making mats, bags of rice, and other articles for consumption, were arranged against the sides of the room. It was a fair specimen of a native house, and in the essentials showed a considerable advancement in civilisation and notions of comfort, as it was admirably adapted to the climate. Captain Frankland's object in coming to Madagascar was to open up a commercial intercourse with the people, and to advance this object he had resolved to visit the capital. He had been supplied with several letters of introduction to facilitate this object. This brought us in contact with a number of people. One of our first visitors was a fine-looking man, an officer of government. He wore a gold-lace cloth cap, a shirt with an elaborately worked collar and cuffs, and over it a lamba, the native scarf or plaid, the centre of which consisted of broad stripes of yellow, pink, scarlet, and purple, with the border of open work of yellow and scarlet lace. He had, however, neither shoes nor stockings. He was accompanied by two men bearing swords, the badges of his office. One of our visitors took snuff (a usual custom), by jerking it from a richly ornamented tube of cane which his servant handed to him, on to his tongue, when he swallowed it! Tamatave, where we landed, is a large village, but the houses, or rather huts, have generally a dilapidated appearance. There are a few good houses, belonging to foreigners and to the government officers. We were amused by seeing slaves filling thick bamboos six or seven feet long with water from a well. The water is pulled up in a cow horn instead of a bucket, while the bamboo takes the place of a pitcher. We visited the market. The vendors sat in the centre, or at the side of platforms made of sand or mud, on which the articles were piled up. We found rice, maize, millet, mandioc, plantains, oranges, pine-apples, and many other fruits. All sorts of poultry were to be seen, and the butchers had their meat arranged before them cut up into pieces on broad plantain leaves. The women were dressed very much in articles of European manufacture; their hair, which is jet black, was arranged frequently in light curls or knots, which has a far from picturesque effect. Nothing is more wonderful in Madagascar than the great strides education has made. Thirty years ago the language was unwritten. Only one person, who had been educated in the Mauritius, could write, and that was in a foreign language. Now, all the government officers can write, and all the business is transacted by writing, while all classes are greedy for instruction; indeed, we had great reason to believe that there are few more intelligent people than the inhabitants of that magnificent island. Before starting on our journey we were invited to a dinner by one of the chiefs. Our surprise was great, when we approached the house, to find two lines of soldiers drawn up, dressed in white kilts with white belts across their naked shoulders, with a musket or spear. We were ushered into a handsome hall full of officers in every variety of European uniform, the chiefs having cocked hats, feathers, and gold epaulets. The lady of the house and several other ladies were present, dressed in English fashion; and the feast, which was abundant, was served much in the English style. Several of the officers spoke English, and toasts were drunk and speeches made, while a band played very well both when we entered and after dinner. Some female slaves stood behind the ladies, and two afterwards came in and made some very excellent coffee. We were very much interested as well as surprised to find so much civilisation among those whom we had supposed barbarians. I have spoken of slaves. Although the government has abolished the exportation of slaves, slavery is still allowed in the country. The slaves are generally people taken in war from among the inhabitants of the northern provinces. People are also condemned to perpetual slavery for crimes by the government. The Hovas, the name of the dominant tribe, of whom Radama was chief, have made slaves of great numbers of the tribes whom they have conquered. We heard, however, that they are generally kindly treated. Many of the Christians were condemned to slavery during the late persecutions; but the conditions made with those who took charge of them was, that they were to be kept constantly at hard labour. We heard much of the admirable conduct of the Christians under all their persecutions. Their heathen masters declared that they could be intrusted with any matter of importance, and were scrupulously exact with regard to all property placed under their charge, while among themselves they kept up the pure and simple doctrines which they had learned from the Bible itself. We now got ready for our journey. We had a guide who had been in England, and some years at the Cape of Good Hope, and spoke English perfectly. Our palanquins were something like cots slung on a long pole, with a roof of native cloth, which could be rolled up or let down to keep off the rain or sun. The machine was borne by four bearers, two before and two behind, while four others walked by the side ready to relieve them. No wheeled carriages are used in Madagascar, so that the only roads are the paths made by the unshod feet of the natives, or by the bullocks' hoofs; and there is no water-carriage--all goods are conveyed on men's shoulders from one part of the country to the other; so that we had quite an army with us, what with our relays of bearers, and those who carried our baggage and presents. Up and down hills we travelled, through the wildest scenery we could imagine. It is difficult to describe it. Sometimes we had to wind up and down over rugged heights; then through forests, frequently turning aside to avoid the huge trees which had fallen across our path; then across swamps and plots of slippery mud; and often we had to force our way through dense jungle, or through miles of primeval forests. We saw many interesting trees and plants. One of the most beautiful is the bamboo. Some of the canes, nearly a foot in circumference at the base, rise to the height of forty or fifty feet, their slight, feathery-looking points, like huge plumes, waving with the slightest breeze, and assisting to keep up a circulation of the air. They are fringed at their joints with short branches of long, lance-shaped leaves. We saw bamboos of all sizes, some with the cane as delicate as a small quill, yet fully ten feet long; and these were also exceedingly graceful. So also were the tree-ferns, which grew in great profusion and beauty on the sides of the hills. But the most curious and valuable tree we saw was the traveller's-tree. It has a thick succulent stem like the plantain. From ten to thirty feet from the ground it sends out from the stem, not all round, but on opposite sides, like a fan, ten or a dozen huge bright green leaves; so that facing it, it has the appearance of a vast fan. The stalk of the leaf is six or eight feet long, and the leaf itself four or six more. In each head were four or five branches of seed-pods, in appearance something like the fruit of the plantain. When they burst each pod was found to contain thirty or more seeds, in shape like a small bean, covered up with a very fine fibre of a brilliant purple or blue colour. The most singular arrangement, which gains this tree the name it bears, is the pure water which it contains. This is found in the thick part of the stem of each leaf, at the spot where it rises from the stem, where there is a cavity formed by nature. The water is evidently collected by the broad leaf, and carried down a groove in the stem to the bowl, which holds a quart or more, perhaps, at a time. The traveller's-tree is of great use for other purposes to the natives. With the leaves they thatch their houses; the stems serve to portion off the rooms; and the hard outside bark is beaten flat, and is used for flooring. The green leaves are used to envelop packages, and sometimes a table is covered with them instead of a tablecloth, while they are also folded into various shapes, to be employed as plates, bowls, and even spoons. We had to cross a river said to be infested by crocodiles. The natives walked close to us on either side, beating the water with long sticks to keep them away. The natives look on them with great dread, and attempt to propitiate them by charms or sacrifices, instead of endeavouring to destroy them. They, however, take their eggs in great numbers, and dry them for food. Locusts in great numbers infest some of the provinces; but the people do not allow them to pass without paying a heavy tribute, and eat them as one of their chief luxuries, dressed in fat. They fly about two or three feet from the ground. As soon as they appear, men, women, and children rush out--the men catch them in sheets, the women and children pick them from the ground, and then shake them in sacks till the wings and legs are knocked off. The lighter parts are then winnowed away, and the bodies are dried in the sun and sold in the markets. The natives seem to have the same dread of serpents that they have of crocodiles. The doctor found one, ten feet long, coiled away on the mat where he had slept one morning, on going back to look for something he had left there; but it escaped before it could be killed. We slept during our journey sometimes at the habitations of chiefs, sometimes at peasants' huts, and sometimes at houses in villages provided for our accommodation. The chiefs' houses were small, but compactly built. We remarked that the water was kept in large earthen jars--like those used in the Holy Land, I conclude. The sleeping-places were neatly arranged round the rooms, and there was a general air of comfort and respectability perceptible in most of them. Very different was a peasant's hut when we entered. It was not more than twenty feet square, divided into two compartments. In the outer were calves, lambs, and fowls. In the inner, at one end was a bed, and at the foot of it a fireplace, over which a man was cooking a pot of rice. His wife sat before a loom, consisting of four upright sticks fixed in the ground, with rods across. At the distance of seven feet were two short sticks driven into the ground, connected by a bar, over which was stretched the woof of silk to be woven. On this simple apparatus the most beautiful and rich patterns are worked. Silk-worms abound in some of the provinces, and a very large amount might be produced and form an important article of trade. As we approached the capital we found the villages of the Hovas all strongly fortified on the summits of hills or rocks. They have but one narrow and difficult entrance, and are surrounded by one or more deep ditches, every ridge at the side of the hill being cut through. Great care, indeed, has been shown in their construction, showing that they were a warlike and marauding people, and found it necessary to guard against reprisals from the neighbours they have attacked. Antananarivo, the capital, at which we at length arrived, after a journey of three hundred miles, is a very curious place. It is built on an oval hill, nearly two miles in length, rising four or five hundred feet above the surrounding country, and is seven thousand feet higher than the level of the sea. On the highest part of the hill, and forming a conspicuous object, is the palace of the queen. It is sixty feet high, with a lofty and steep roof, with attic windows, and is surrounded by balconies, one above, the other. The top is surmounted by a huge golden eagle, with outspread wings, which looks as if able to have a tough fight with the one which overshadowed the articles from the United States at, the Great Exhibition. The palace of the prince, which is smaller, is on one side, and has also a golden eagle over it. The dwellings of other members of the royal family and chief nobility are on either side, while the rest of the houses, which are only of one story, clothe the sides of the hill, standing generally on small terraces, wherever the ground has allowed their formation. The houses are of plain unpainted wood, which gives them a somewhat sombre and dilapidated appearance. The interiors are, however, very comfortable, and admirably suited to the climate. Captain Frankland had the honour of an audience with the queen, who received him very graciously, and seemed much pleased with the object of his visit to the country. Still more interested were we with the prince royal and the princess Rabodo, his wife, who had for some time become consistent Christians. We were much struck with the kind and courteous way in which the prince invariably treated his wife whenever they appeared in public. We always saw him dressed in a handsome uniform, and she always appeared in the costume of an English lady. All the officers of the court were well dressed, either in European uniforms, or in full native costume, which is very becoming. We had a very comfortable house appropriated to us. We found the climate at this elevation far pleasanter than near the coast, the thermometer, in the morning, not being higher than 56 degrees to 58 degrees. A number of the chiefs visited Captain Frankland, to talk about the productions of the country and the best methods for improving its resources. Jerry and I meantime made several excursions into the surrounding country with the doctor, accompanied by a young chief, who spoke English very well. We one day passed a body of troops, and he told us that there were forty thousand men forming an army round the capital besides artillery. Among other places we visited was the country palace of Radama, called Isoaierana. The top of a hill had been removed to clear a space for the edifice. It is a wonderful building, considering the means at the disposal of the architect, but it wants height to give it grandeur. It is composed entirely of wood, the timber having been brought from a forest fifty miles off. Rows of balconies run round it. One hall we entered was a hundred feet long and forty wide; but that also wanted height to make it appear to advantage. From the very slight description I have given of the country, it will be seen that considerable advances have of late years been made in civilisation. The prince royal is a most excellently disposed young man, but his education is defective. Should his life be spared, there can be no doubt that he will exert himself to carry on the improvements commenced under the auspices of Radama. Unhappily, his mother and most of the chief nobility still are heathens, while the severe edicts against the Christians yet remain in force. However, all must believe that Christianity will ultimately triumph, and a happy future be in store for that interesting country. We were very sorry when, the captain having concluded his business, we had once more to get into our palanquins, and to commence our return journey to the coast. We met with no adventure worthy of being noted, though we saw a number of curious and interesting plants and shrubs. At length once more we trod the deck of the _Triton_. The anchor was hove up, the topsails hoisted, and with a fair breeze we stood to the southward. We touched at Cape Town, but I will not describe it or the Table Mountain, of which every one has heard over and over again. One day we were all on deck, when the Captain and mates and Jerry and I were taking observations. "I thought so," exclaimed Captain Frankland; "we have just put a girdle round the world; and now, lads, you will have spare time enough to tie the knot." In a few weeks after this we reached the shores of Old England in safety, and though we had heartily enjoyed our voyage, right glad and thankful too were we to see once more its snow-white cliffs. I spent three days with Captain Frankland's family, and then Jerry and old Surley, who must not be forgotten, accompanied me to my own home. All were there for the Christmas holidays, and what between my dear father and mother's embraces, and my sisters pulling me here and there to get another and another kiss at my well-browned cheeks, and my brother's reiterated and hearty thumps on the back, I was almost in as much danger of being pulled to pieces as I had during any time of the voyage, and had not Jerry been there to draw off the attention of some of the party, I do not know what would have been the result. Cousin Silas soon afterwards joined us, and remained while the ship was refitting. We spent a very merry Christmas, and no one seemed tired of hearing us recount our adventures. Old Surley used to sit at our feet, and he nodded his head and winked his eyes, as much as to say "It is all true, and if I could but speak I would tell you the same story." I hope that my readers will receive it in as favourable a way as did my family. We had learned many lessons during our trip. We had been taught to respect other people, their manners, and even their prejudices, and to reflect what we ourselves should have been had we laboured under similar disadvantages, while at the same time we had seen every reason to love Old England more and more, and to be deeply grateful for the numberless inestimable blessings she enjoys. We had been taught, too, to observe the finger of the Almighty in his wondrous works, and to remark how he has scattered his precious gifts far and wide over the face of the globe for the benefit of his creatures. Our midnight watches have not been unprofitable. Often and often in the calm night we have gazed upward at the starlit sky and thought upon God. We have had time for reflection. We have felt our own unworthiness. We have asked ourselves the serious question, Do we make a good and complete use of the advantages we possess--of the instruction afforded us--of the great examples set before us--of the Word of God laid freely open for us? But I might go on for ever asking similar questions. Happy are those who can make satisfactory answers. I must conclude by expressing a hope that those who have gone through these pages will have found some of the amusement and instruction which Jerry and I obtained in our-- Voyage round the World.
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