“Well, one night, after weeks of confinement, Surapati succeeded in releasing himself and countrymen, and, having slain the Dutch sentinels, they fled to the mountains near Batavia, upon which town, from time to time, the band made such fierce raids that it became the terror of the inhabitants, who began to put the city in a state of defense, and armed themselves to their very teeth. Surapati now, finding the place too strong and well prepared, led his small band eastward, aye, to the very capital of the Susunan in Casard. Ever bold and fearless, he one day alone entered the palace of the Susunan, and dared to shame the monarch upon his throne for his great amity with the rapacious foreigners, whose puppet he had become. And the Susunan—who, although he feared the power of the Dutch, at heart was disgusted at the thraldom in which they had placed him—agreed to give secret aid and countenance to any design that Surapati and his patriot band might form against them.
“When the Hollanders discovered in whose dominions their now terrible enemy was hiding, they sent an ambassador, demanding that he should be given up to them; but the Susunan evaded the request, upon the plea of respecting the laws of hospitality; at the same time, however, he told them they might search any or every part of his dominions. Having obtained this concession, the Dutch, to capture this little band, sent one thousand men, in addition to those they had already in the Susunan’s dominions. So great a force would have compelled Surapati to flee, but, then, his patriotic designs against the hated Hollanders had obtained for him the friendship of the prime minister, who not only gave him his daughter in marriage, but, with the permission of his royal master, espoused his son-in-law’s cause.
“Thus, at the head of a comparatively small force, Surapati met the foreigners in the field successfully, defeating and killing them to a man. After this victory, Surapati retired still further eastward, and, seizing upon several provinces, established an independent kingdom, which, for twenty years, was happy and prosperous under his rule; although, during all that period, he never lost an opportunity of meeting and harassing the enemy. Sahibs, had he lived a few more years, that great man would have hunted the pirates from the island; and in that very attempt he died, for although conquering place after place, he never lost one, and at length fell in battle with the Dutch.”
“Well, Prabu,” said Martin, “he was a plucky fellow, and deserved all he got but his death.”
“Aye,” said I, “and deserved a monument to his memory.”
“His monument is the hatred in the hearts of his countrymen—a hatred never to be appeased, if only in memory of the dastardly treatment of his corpse,” replied Prabu. “For a long time after the battle,” he added, “the Dutch were sorely grieved, for they could not find the body of the hero: they were afraid that the soul would re-inhabit it, and bring back their enemy—so they offered a large reward for its discovery. The reward was tempting to some degenerate Javans, for, forgetting their lord, they showed the Dutch chief the grave; but it was level—no one could discern a tomb. The body was, however, dug for and found. It was still entire as when alive, and shed a perfume like a flower-garden. The Hollanders bore it away to their camp, and, placing it in a sitting posture in a chair, the officers took the corpse by the hand, saluting it according to the custom of their country, and tauntingly exclaiming, ‘This is the hero Surapati, the mighty warrior, the enemy of the Dutch!’ After this they threw the body into a great fire and burned it to ashes. For this,” concluded Prabu, in a greatly excited state, “do I hate the Dutch; and for thousands of acts, still worse, do my countrymen abhor them!”
“And I do not wonder,” said I; “but why should the Chinese, foreigners like themselves, and equally as money-loving, share in that hatred?”
“For numberless deeds of cruelty and oppression, and not the least the great and cold-blooded massacre of their countrymen in 1740, when in Batavia alone, on that one occasion, more than ten thousand were slain.”
“But surely, Prabu, the brutes must have made some show of an excuse for such butchery!”
“Yes—that the Celestials were meditating a conspiracy to drive them from Java; but the truth was, that the Chinese had flocked into Batavia to a number that alarmed the Dutch. Jealous also of their intelligence and wealth, they goaded the Celestials by excessive taxation, arbitrary punishments, and frightful executions, until the latter could bear no more, and threatened to rise in rebellion. This was sufficient for the European rulers, who commenced a system of persecution; still, it was not until 1740 that the revolt commenced.