"Gambier," Doctor Bronson answered, "is a vegetable product that is largely used in dyeing and tanning, and is sometimes called Japan earth, for the reason that when it was first introduced it was supposed to be a species of earth, and to come from Japan. The tree or bush that produces it is of the same family as the Peruvian bark trees, and is a native of the East Indian Archipelago. The leaves and small shrubs are boiled in water, and a thick decoction is formed, which is finally poured into moulds and allowed to harden in the sun. A great quantity of gambier is produced in the Malay Peninsula, and if we went on shore we could visit the plantations where it is cultivated. They would remind us of the tea-plantations we saw in Java, as the bush is six or eight feet high, and looks not unlike the largest tea-shrubs."
COAST SCENE IN THE STRAITS OF MALACCA.
Occasionally the steamer came quite near to the shore, and gave them charming glimpses of the scenery of the Malayan Peninsula. Everywhere there was an abundant vegetation, and the principal trees in the landscape were palms and their kindred. Villages were scattered here and there, and the captain of the steamer pointed out several establishments that he said were the residences of local chiefs, acting under the authority of the British Government. Several provinces along this part of the peninsula are under British control, though nominally ruled by their own sultans; as long as the sultan remains friendly to the English he is allowed to do pretty much as he pleases, but when he defies their authority, they speedily chastise him into obedience. Step by step the English have increased their power in this part of the world, and the movements on the political chess-board indicate that they will not be satisfied until they have secured all the territory between their Indian possessions and the frontier of China.
It is three hundred and ninety miles from Singapore to Penang, and as the steamer was not of the highest speed, she did not reach there until the morning of the second day from the former port. In fact, the departure from Singapore had been timed so that they should arrive early in the morning, and have the day before them. Frank and Fred were on deck as the vessel swung into the harbor and came to anchor, and their eyes were busily engaged in contemplating the novel sights of the place. Doctor Bronson joined them a little later, and arranged with some boatmen to take them on shore as soon as breakfast was over. The boatmen were similar to those that surrounded the ship on their arrival at Singapore when they came from Siam—Klings, Chinese, Malays, and Arabs, with a sprinkling of negroes from the coast of Africa.
Penang is an island containing about a hundred square miles in all, and is separated from the main-land of the Malay peninsula by a strait from two to seven miles in width; it is sometimes called Prince of Wales Island, and by the natives is known as Pulo Penang, "pulo" being the Malay word for island. It is an important English possession, and was under the British flag long before Singapore. The history of its transfer to the English is somewhat romantic, and is told as follows:
It formerly belonged to the King or Sultan of Quedah, in Malacca, and was given by him to his daughter on the occasion of her marriage with Captain Light in 1785. Light was master of an English ship trading in the Straits, and a few years after his marriage he sold the island to the East India Company, on condition of being appointed governor. Afterward he negotiated with his father-in-law to give the English authority over the whole province of Quedah on payment of an annual subsidy; the sultan consented, and since that time the English have had complete possession.
We will let the boys tell the story of their sight-seeing in Penang during the day the ship remained there:
"We had no trouble in going ashore, as the boatmen were in competition with each other, and did not demand as high prices as at Singapore; for a dollar apiece we were brought on shore and taken back to the ship again at the end of the day, and the captain says we might have done better than that if we had bargained a little longer. The harbor is at the northern end of the strait that separates Penang from the main-land, and a very nice harbor it is. The capital is called Georgetown, and we are told that it has about 100,000 inhabitants; such a mixture you never saw in America, and we don't believe there are a dozen places in the world with such an odd population. The English are the masters, but there are not more than a thousand of them, not counting the garrison of soldiers; and there are a few Germans, French, Italians, Greeks, and other Europeans. The rest are Malays, Chinese, Parsees, Klings, Bengalees, Arabs, and descendants of the early Portuguese settlers, together with a few other sorts and kinds 'too numerous to mention.'