Tuesday, Dec. 22d.—At 9.30 A.M. the pilot came on board, and we ran up into New Harbour alongside of the coaling depôt, and commenced coaling. Singapore is quite a large town, with an air of prosperity—a large number of ships in the harbour. The country is beautiful, and green, with an abundance of fine fruit, &c.; the country around highly improved with tasteful houses and well-laid-out grounds. The English residents call it the Madeira of the East, in allusion to its healthfulness. Some twenty-two American merchant ships here, most of them laid up! The Wyoming was here twenty days ago, and left for Rhio Strait, where she remained for some days. Finished coaling last night, the operation having occupied no more than ten hours. Received provisions.
Wednesday, Dec. 23rd.—Weather variable, with occasional showers of rain—raining heavily in the afternoon. Visited the city, and was astonished at its amount of population and business. There are from eighty to one hundred thousand Chinese on Singapore island, nearly all of them in the city, from twelve to fifteen thousand Malays, and about fifteen hundred Europeans. Singapore being a free port, it is a great entrepôt of trade. Great quantities of Eastern produce reach it from all quarters, whence it is shipped to Europe.
The business is almost exclusively in the hands of the Chinese, who are also the artisans and labourers of the place. The streets are thronged with foot-passengers and vehicles, among which are prominent the ox, or rather the buffalo cart, and the hacks for hire, of which latter there are nine hundred licensed. The canal is filled with country boats of excellent model, and the warehouses are crammed with goods. Money seems to be abundant and things dear. They are just finishing a tasteful Gothic church, with a tall spire, which is a notable landmark as you approach; they are also completing officers' quarters on a hill which commands the town. Barracks for three or four regiments lie unoccupied a couple of miles outside the city, and a large court-house.
The moving multitude in the streets comprises every variety of the human race, every shade of colour, and every variety of dress, among which are prominent the gay turbans and fancy jackets of the Mahomedan, Hindu, &c. Almost all the artisans and labourers were naked, except a cloth or a pair of short trousers tucked about the waist. The finest dressed part of the population was decidedly the jet-black, with his white flowing mantle and spotted turban. The upper class of Chinese merchants are exceeding polite, and seem intelligent. I visited the establishment of Whampoa and Co. Whampoa was above the middle height, stout, and with a large, well-developed head. I was told that his profits some years amounted to forty or fifty thousand pounds! He was sitting in a small, dingy, ill-lighted little office on the ground floor, and had before him a Chinese calculating machine, over the numerous small balls of which, strung on wires, he was running his hands for amusement, as a gambler will sometimes do with his checks. At the suggestion of the gentleman who was with me, I requested him to multiply four places of figures by three places, naming the figures, and the operation was done about as rapidly as I could write down the result. Their shaved heads, and long queues, sometimes nearly touching the ground, are curious features of their personal appearance. The workshops front upon the streets, and in them busy, half-naked creatures may be seen, working away as industriously as so many beavers all day long, seeming never to tire of their ceaseless toil.
Amid all this busy population I saw but one female in the streets, and she was of the lower class. Dined in the country with Mr. Beaver. The ride out was over good roads flanked by large forests and ornamental trees, among which was the tall, slender, graceful palm of the betel-nut. The Botanical Gardens are on an elevation commanding a fine view of the town and the sea, and are laid out with taste, ornamented with flowering trees and shrubs, and flowers. Hither a band of music comes to play several times a week, when the townspeople turn out to enjoy the scene. A few miles beyond the town the whole island is a jungle, in which abounds the ferocious Bengal tiger. It is said that one man and a half per day is the average destruction of human life by these animals. Visited opium-preparation shop. It pays an enormous licence.
All this beauty fails to reconcile the European lady to this country, I was told. The eternal sameness of summer, and the heat and moisture, weigh upon them, and their husbands being away all day on business, they pine for their European homes. The life seems agreeable enough to the men. The Governor of the "Straits Settlement" is a Colonel.
Thursday, Dec. 24.—Cloudy; five of my men deserted last night. The Kwang-tung got under way at 8 1/2 A.M., and we followed her and steered for the strait of Malacca. Several sails in sight; Malay pilot on board. Passed the Kwang-tung very rapidly. At about 1 P.M. we fired a gun and hove to an American-looking barque, under English colours, with the name, "Martaban, of Maulmain," on her stern. Sent a boat on board; and the officer reporting that she was an American-built ship, with English register, and that the Master refused to come on board, I went on board myself to examine the case. There being no bill of sale, the transaction being recent, the Master and Mate, &c., being Americans, I had no doubt that the transfer was fraudulent, and captured and burned her. The cargo had no paper on board connected with it, except the ordinary bill of lading. It consisted of rice, and was shipped in Maulmain by a Mr. Cohen, and consigned to his order at Singapore, whither the ship was bound. Of course, the cargo followed the fate of the ship under such circumstances. Upon examination of the Master (Pike), under oath, he admitted that the transfer was a sham, and made to protect the ship from capture. At 11.30 P.M. came to anchor about four miles distant from Malacca, bearing N., in fifteen fathoms water, for the purpose of landing our prisoners.
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The boarding officer's journal furnishes the annexed description of the interview with the Master of the prize:—
I was sent on board to examine her papers. The barque was American built, had a new English flag, and on her stern was painted "Martaban, of Maulmain." We knew that many Yankee vessels had been transferred to English owners, and of course had to have an English flag; but the question arose—Was there not some jobbery in this case? Nearing the Martaban I saw that she was newly painted; pulling round and under the stern, I saw that a name had been painted over, but could not see what the name was. I further observed that the last four letters of Maulmain had been painted much more recently than the other ones, so I determined to most rigidly scrutinize her papers. Upon my arrival on board, I inquired after the Captain's health, and then expressed a wish to make a few inquiries respecting his vessel.