Wanderings in New South Wales, Batavia, Pedir Coast, Singapore, and China, Volume 2

Wanderings in New South Wales, Batavia, Pedir Co

George Bennett's second volume of Wanderings in New South Wales, Batavia, Pedir Coast, Singapore, and China opens on the Pedir coast of Sumatra, where the author describes the old rajah's former dominance over the Betel-nut trade and reproduces the 1819 treaty negotiated with the Acheenese by Sir Stamford Raffles and ratified by the Marquis of Hastings, quoting Raffles's own account of the anarchy following the death of the old rajah, the false sovereignty claims of the Penang merchant Syed Hussain, and the mission with Captain Coombs that secured a legitimate settlement. Bennett explains the local trade customs in Areka-nut, noting the errors made by traders who dealt with the rajah rather than merchants, or who purchased by pecul instead of the laxar. He visits the village of Gingham, describes the coastal villages of Ilbu, Buron, and Sawang, and recounts the seizure of a Penang brig by an Acheenese grab over allegations of arms trading, including the negotiations with Pungarang Ibrahim and the old queen, and the rajah's amulet inscribed with a Koranic verse. He records the departure of the queen and rajahs for Acheen, further details of the Areka-nut trade and prices at Gingham, and the ship's departure for Singapore and China with a cargo of nut. The narrative continues through the voyage to China: the Lemma Islands and their boat-dwelling fishing families, Hong Kong Island (including Dr. Abel's account of its geology and waterfall), the harbors of Cap-sing-moon and Cum-sing-moon, the opium trade conducted by "outlaw ships" and smuggling boats at Lintin, and Bennett's botanical excursions in the hills. At Macao he describes the town's streets, society, and harbor restrictions, the missionary work of the Rev. C. Gutzlaff, local fruits, the Wang-hee cane, and Camoens' Cave in the Casa Garden with J. Davies's Latin verses. A long section details the museum at Macao and T. Beale's aviary and gardens, with extensive natural-history observations of the Great Bird of Paradise, the Superb Magpie, Loris, Reeves's pheasant, golden and silver pheasants, the Mandarin Teal (including the anecdote of conjugal fidelity between two ducks), Nicobar pigeons, the Ounderou monkey "Jenny," and Beale's rare plants including tea shrubs, camellias, and the Nelumbium. Bennett then travels to Whampoa and Canton, describing the Bocca Tigris, the river scenery, the factories, the "Sailor's Coffee Shop," Chinese selling by weight, the Fa-tee gardens, tea cultivation, the crowded suburbs, and the sandal-wood trade, into which he inserts a detailed botanical and commercial account of Santalum species across the various island groups and coasts where it is found, including the New Hebrides, the Sandwich Islands, the Marquesa group, and the Malabar and Coromandel coasts. He visits the Temple of Honan with its colossal guardian figures, priesthood, and sacred pigs, the East India Company's factory hall, duck-boats at Whampoa, and a venomous snake specimen. Returning to Macao, he explores the Lappa Island valley, its sonorous granite rocks, Tanka boats, Chinese burial grounds, Cassilha's Bay, and the Jesuits' church and college of San José, then sails for Singapore, examining Pedro Blanco and a nearby calcareous rock formation en route. At Singapore he describes the settlement's founding treaty with the Sultan and Tumangung of Johore as recounted by Crawford, the town's commerce, population census of 1833, government hill, salubrity, and the Botanic Garden's camphor and cajeput trees. He gives an extended natural-history account of his pet Ungka ape (Hylobates syndactyla), covering its anatomy, habits, relationship with a Papuan child named Elau, conflicts with shipboard monkeys, and eventual death and dissection at sea. Bennett then recounts inland excursions to Chinese Gambir and pepper plantations, describing cultivation and boiling-house processes, the economics of Gambir at Rhio and Bintang, and Singapore's prohibitive land quit-rent system, quoting at length from the Singapore Chronicle on its effects. Further excursions cover dense forest and swamp botany, the Nepenthes pitcher plant, pineapple-fibre extraction, and a pearl sago manufactory. The volume proceeds to an account of a visit to the Rajah of Johore at Kampong Glam, contrasting his earlier 1830 impression of the rajah's modest residence and remarkable deformed appearance with a later visit to his improved, European-style house, where the rajah, further debilitated, received the party with a listless audience.

By George Bennett · First published 1834 · Genre: Travel Narrative, Natural History, Memoir · 20 chapters · 105,886 words

First lines

Pedir coast-Treaty with the Acheenese-Anarchy-Syed Hussain's claims-Trade in the Areka-nut-Visit to the Village of Gingham-Negociation for the restoration of a Penang brig-An amulet-Visit of the Rajahs to the Queen-Gingham-Trade of the coast.

Similar titles

Genres

Tags

travel narrative · maritime adventure · Southeast Asia · China · Sumatra · Singapore · Macao · Acheen · 19th century · natural history · botanical observations · zoology

What this Textopian page supports

Wanderings in New South Wales, Batavia, Pedir Coast, Singapore, and China, Volume 2 is listed on Textopian as a historical account by George Bennett, dated 1834 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

Good citation fit

Contents

More by George Bennett