Borneo and the Indian Archipelago

I wish the readers of these pages to understand that it has been with no desire to appear before the public as an author that I have published this Narrative of the Proceedings of Her Majesty's ship Samarang during her last Surveying Cruise.

During the time that I was in the ship, I made a large collection of drawings, representing, I hope faithfully, the costumes of the natives and the scenery of a country so new to Europeans. They were considered, on my return, as worthy to be presented to the public, as being more voluminous and more characteristic than drawings made in haste usually are.

I may here observe, that it has been a great error on the part of the Admiralty, considering the great expense incurred in fitting out vessels for survey, that a little additional outlay is not made in supplying every vessel with a professional draughtsman, as was invariably the case in the first vessels sent out on discovery. The duties of officers in surveying vessels are much too fatiguing and severe to allow them the time to make anything but hasty sketches, and they require that practice with the pencil without which natural talent is of little avail; the consequence is, that the engravings, which have appeared in too many of the Narratives of Journeys and Expeditions, give not only an imperfect, but even an erroneous, idea of what they would describe.

A hasty pencil sketch, from an unpractised hand, is made over to an artist to reduce to proportion; from him it passes over to the hand of an engraver, and an interesting plate is produced by their joint labours. But, in this making up, the character and features of the individual are lost, or the scenery is composed of foliage not indigenous to the country, but introduced by the artist to make a good picture.

In describing people and countries hitherto unknown, no description given by the pen will equal one correct drawing. How far I may have succeeded must be decided by those who have, with me, visited the same places and mixed with the people delineated. How I found time to complete the drawings is explained by my not doing any duty on board at one time, and at another by my having been discharged into the hospital-ship at Hong Kong.

It was my intention to have published these drawings without letter-press, but in this I have been overruled. I have therefore been compelled to have recourse to my own private journal, which certainly was never intended for publication. As I proceeded, I found that, as I was not on board during the whole of the time, it would be better, and make the work more perfect, if I published the whole of the cruise, which I could easily do by referring to the journals of my messmates.

I would gladly mention their names, and publicly acknowledge their assistance; but, all things considered, I think it as well to withhold them, and I take this opportunity of thanking them for their kindness.

FRANK S. MARRYAT.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

LITHOGRAPHIC PLATES.

Chinese Joss House Frontispiece

Bornese Vessel Title-page

Loondoo Dyak To face page 5

River Sarawak and Town of Kuchin 6

Keeney-Ballo 59

Serebis Dyak 79

Saghai Dyak 80

War Dance of the Dyaks 85

Malay Chief (Sooloo) 101

Bruni 106

Court of the Sultan of Borneo 109

West Point, Hong Kong 142

View on the Island of Poo-too 151

Chinese Joss House at Ningpo 156

Quelpartians 182

Mandarin of Quelpart (Corea) 183

Japanese 185

Natives of Luzon (Philippines) 199

View in Samboangan 201

Illanoan Pirate 207

Dusum 210

Port Louis 220

WOODCUTS.

Mr. Brooke's House 7

Dyak Head 13

Malays of Kuchin 23

Native of Batan 27

Native of Pa-tchu-san 31

Sooloo Village 42

Native Boat--Borneo 63

Dyak War Prahu 64

Dyak Women in Canoe 74

Teeth of Dyaks 79

Costumes of Dyak Women 80

Sum-pi-tan--Blow-pipe, with poisoned Arrows 80

Dyak Village 82

Obtaining Fire 89

View of Sincapore 93

Malay Woman 100