“Ghazeepore, August 27th, 1833.—On the evening of the 26th of August, two distinct shocks of an earthquake were sensibly felt here; the first at eleven o’clock, the second at half-past eleven. The former lasted about a minute, the latter about two minutes, and was so serious that the furniture in the houses began to rock, and the doors to shake, as if done by some strong man attempting to force them. The thermometer had risen a good deal through the day, which was closer and more sultry than usual. The natives say there has been nothing of the kind since 1820. It is worth remarking that, in that year, an epidemic raged among the stud horses, and carried off a great many. This year (June 1833) the dreadful disease again broke out among them, and carried off about fifty noble steeds. The obituary also for Europeans fills a much larger space than usual, particularly as regards the children; and of cholera cases not a few.”
In another paragraph in the same paper, is another extract. “A letter from Monghyr reports that, on the 26th ult. a smart shock of an earthquake was felt a little before nine o’clock; and that in the night of the following day a large flight of locusts passed over the station: the direction whence they came is not mentioned. We understand that a flight of locusts was seen at Jubalpore about a fortnight before.”
CHAPTER XI.
Sail for England—Crowned Pigeons—Straits of Dryan—Banca Straits—Zutphen Islands—Escape and re-capture of a crowned pigeon—Death of one of those birds—Dissection—Pass the Cape of Good Hope—Fine weather—The trumpet weed—Volcanic rocks—St. Helena—Buttermilk Point—James’s Town—Ficus Religiosa—Over-population of James’s Town—Visit to the late residence of Napoleon.
On the 15th of December, I sailed from Singapore for England, having on board three of those magnificent birds, the Crowned or Dampier’s pigeons, the Columba coronata of Linnæus, which I took under my care for my friend, T. Rawson, Esq., of Dulwich. The bird is nearly as large as a turkey; the body is of a leaden hue; scapulars ferruginous, with a white band on each wing: the head is adorned with a crest of delicate and beautiful feathers, expanded in a crescentic form, which, although always erect, the bird has the power of still further elevating and bringing down to the base of the bill: the irides are bright red; feet and legs speckled with black.
These birds inhabit the Eastern Archipelago, and the present specimens had been brought from the island of Ternate. I saw at Batavia two living specimens, which had been just brought in a vessel from Amboyna; but they were regarded as a very delicate bird, and difficult to keep alive; yet I observed, in a newspaper, (April 15th, 1832,) that a pair of these birds had been landed in England from the Kingsdown: they had been brought from New Guinea. “It was the mournful notes of this bird,” as therein stated, “that greatly alarmed the crew of the Bougainville, on landing at some of the Molucca Islands, which they took to be the cries of distress of the human species.” It was further stated, that they had been presented to the Surrey Zoological Gardens, by Captain Underwood.
“At Tomoguy,” says Captain Forrest, “I bought three of the large crowned pigeons, very well represented by Dampier. The Molucca people call them Múlutu, and the Papuas Manipi. My pigeons grew tame, and eat Indian corn called Jaggon. They strike hard with their wings, on which is a kind of horn. One of the three escaped at Dory Harbour; (New Guinea;) the other two I carried to Mindanao, where they died.”[79]
We passed through the Straits of Dryan, with a fine breeze from the north-east. On the morning of the 20th, we spoke the Honourable Company’s ship, Marquis of Huntley, about the entrance of the Banca Straits, from China, bound to the Cape, and England. We passed the Banca Straits, and Lucepara Shoals, and entered the Java Sea on the 22nd, having experienced much rain during our passage from Singapore.
On the 26th, we passed the beautifully picturesque and umbrageous Zutphen Islands; the adjacent coast of Sumatra had also a rich wooded appearance: the grand and majestic peaked mountain of Rajah Bassa rose from the forest land, towering to the clouds, and clothed in verdure, but was sometimes concealed by the fleecy mists which passed over it, as well as over the lower land, discharging themselves in occasional light and refreshing showers. The moisture of the atmosphere occasioned a delightful fragrance to visit us from the shore. The island of Thwart-the-way was passed about eight A.M.; and in the afternoon we were becalmed off the lofty-peaked Crokatoa Island, which was densely wooded from the base to the summit; and, from the very close view we had, displayed a rich and beautiful appearance.