No. 1
Most of the convicts sentenced to the Straits Settlements for short periods of transportation were, as we have said, usually retained in the convict jail at Malacca. Amongst these, in the sixties, was a very remarkable man, and known to both of us, of the name of "Tickery Banda," who was a native of Ceylon, and had received a sentence of seven years in transportation for a crime committed in that island, though of which he declared, like many of his congeners, he was perfectly innocent.
A story in connection with this man is given in Cameron's Tropical Possessions in Malayan India, which is quite worthy of repetition here.
When the English took possession of Kandy, Tickery Banda and two or three brothers, children of the first minister of the King of the Kandians, were taken and educated in English by the then Governor of the island. Tickery afterwards became manager of some coffee plantations, and was so employed on the arrival of a Siamese mission of priests in 1845, who came to see Buddha's tooth. It seems that he met the mission returning disconsolate, having spent some 5,000 rupees in presents and bribes in a vain endeavour to obtain a sight of the relic. Tickery learned their whole story, and at once ordered them to unload their carts and wait for three days longer, and that he would in due time obtain for them the desired view of the holy tooth. He had a cheque on a bank for £200 in his hands at the time, and this he offered to leave with the priests as a guarantee that he would fulfil his promise. He did not say whether the cheque was his own or his master's, or whether it was handed over or not; perhaps it was this cheque for the misappropriation of which he found his way to the convict lines of Malacca. The Siamese priests accepted his undertaking and unloaded their baggage, agreeing to wait for the three days. Tickery immediately placed himself in communication with the then Governor, and represented, as he says, forcibly, the impositions that must have been practised upon the King of Siam's holy mission, when they had expended all their gifts and had not yet obtained the desired view of the tooth. The Governor, who, Tickery says, was a great friend of his, appreciated the hardships of the priests, and agreed that the relic should be shown to them with as little delay as possible. It happened, however, that the keys of the temple where the relic was preserved were in the keeping of the then Resident Councillor, who was away some eight miles elephant shooting. But this difficulty was not long allowed to remain in the way, for Tickery immediately suggested that it was very improbable that the Resident Councillor would have included these keys in his hunting kit, and insisted that they must be in the Councillor's house. He therefore asked the Governor's leave to call upon Mrs. ——, the Resident Councillor's wife, and, presenting the Governor's compliments, to request that a search be made for the keys. Tickery was deputed accordingly, and by dint of his characteristic tact and force of language, carried the keys triumphantly to the Governor.
The Kandy priests were immediately notified that their presence was desired, as it was intended to exhibit the great relic, and that their guardian officer would be necessary. Accordingly, on the third day, the temple was opened, and in the building the Siamese priests and worshippers were assembled, with Tickery on the one side, and the Kandy or guardian priests on the other side, with the Governor and the Recorder in the centre.
After making all due offerings to the tooth of the great Buddha, the Siamese head priest, who had brought a golden jar filled with otto of roses, desired to have a small piece of cotton with some of the otto rubbed on the tooth, and then passed into the golden jar, thereby to consecrate the whole of the contents. To this process the Kandy priests objected, as being a liberty too great to be extended to foreigners. The Siamese priests, however, persisted in their request; and the Governor and Recorder, not knowing the cause of the altercation, asked Tickery to explain. Tickery, who had fairly espoused the cause of the Siamese, though knowing that in their request they had exceeded all precedent, resolved quietly to gratify their wish; so, in answer to the Governor's interrogatory, he took from the hands of the Siamese head priest a small piece of cotton and the golden jar of the volatile oil. "This is what they want, your Honour: they want to take this small piece of cotton, so—; and having dipped it in this oil, so—, they wish to rub it on the sacred tooth, so—; and having done this, to return it to the golden jar, so; thereby, your Honour, to consecrate the whole of the contents of the golden jar."
All the words of Tickery were accompanied by the corresponding action, and of course the desired ceremony had been performed in affording explanation. The whole thing was the work of a moment, and the Governor and Recorder did not know how to interfere in time, though they knew also that such a proceeding was against all precedent. The Kandy priests were quite taken aback, while the Siamese priests, having obtained their desired object, took from Tickery Banda's hands the now consecrated golden jar with every demonstration of fervent gratitude. The Kandy priests were, however, loud in their indignation, and subsequently the Governor, patting Tickery on the back, said, "You have indeed settled the question, and it is a pity you were not born in the precincts of St. James', for you would have made a splendid political agent."
The next morning Tickery received a douceur of 1,000 rupees from the Siamese priests, and has ever since been held in the highest esteem and respect by the King of Siam and his Buddhist priests, being considered quite a holy man, while periodically the King of Siam sends him substantial tokens of the Royal favour.
* * * * *