The Mission to Siam, and Hué, the Capital of Cochin China, in the Years 1821-2. Finlayson George

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СКАЧАТЬ broad and obvious principles of religion and morality,—as simple as they are sacred,—instilled into their youthful minds with their earliest recollections, and confirmed by the pastor’s authority and blessing, according to the practice in Scotland. This foundation was equal to any superstructure, and on it, as on a rock of adamant, they built their hopes, their fortunes, and their happiness,—and their reward was a feeling of content and gratitude for the unexpected benefits they enjoyed, and the esteem and respect of all who knew them.

      The following observations collected from the author’s loose memoranda were probably intended by him as the outline of an introduction to the publication which he projected, and may be advantageously introduced in this place as a preface to the Journal. They will shew his turn of mind, and the objects he had in view.

      In a greater or less degree, there is, perhaps, inherent in the minds of most men, a desire to visit foreign countries,—desire which neither storms nor tempests, deserts, wilds, nor precipices, with all their appalling fears, have been able to counteract or to check. Cast naked and helpless on this earth, man has aspired to scan its limits, to ascertain its bounds, and even to scrutinize its nature: he has risen superior to the contending elements, which might seem to have opposed an insuperable barrier to his restless ambition, to his ever-active, never-satisfied curiosity; and even the great globe itself no longer seems to offer a theatre too great or too extensive for the exertion of his activity.

      Insatiable ambition, boundless curiosity, are to be reckoned among the more prominent of the attributes with which man is endowed. To what mighty ends have they not led? If they have brought upon him, and upon the race, unnumbered evils, they have also had their attendant good. His share of peace, perhaps of happiness, had been greater had he indulged these propensities less; but it is not in his power to resist the unalterable impulse, conferred upon him, doubtless, for the best of purposes. The curiosity that is gratified with inquiring into the laws implanted in organized beings, or into the general phenomena which characterize the material world at large, admits of, and is usually attended by gratification as permanent as it is unmixed; every step is attended with unalloyed pleasure, every new acquisition leads and stimulates to further discovery.

      This disposition of the mind is particularly observable in those who have made nature and natural objects their study. Hence the eagerness with which men engage in them: no one capable of reflection but has at one time or other experienced this laudable curiosity, and wished for the power to gratify it. To this source we must refer the encouragement held forth in the present day to voyagers and travellers, and in general to every one engaged in matters of discovery. It is not extraordinary, therefore, that persons should readily be found eager to enter upon the investigation of new and distant countries, and of the various objects of knowledge which they contain. It is the lot of few to indulge their inclinations this way; and of these few, how scanty is the proportion of individuals qualified for the important task, either by original endowment, by previous pursuits and habits, or by the necessary education, or by a proper train and temper of mind! Fortunately, however, the objects of pursuit are as numerous as the taste of man is various, and something is left even to the most humble intentions. A proper consideration of this matter would lead to the most important acquirements both on the part of the most humbly endowed, and for the benefit of science and knowledge in general. The principle need not be enforced by argument: let us follow it, if possible, with alacrity, and make the most of the opportunities which fall in our way. Let us devote to the task those abilities, however moderate, with which the Almighty has endowed us, and we shall rarely fail altogether of deriving benefit from our exertions. We may rest secure that the labours so bestowed will seldom fail to be duly appreciated; that our observations will be received with candour, and our alignments, if urged with modesty, will rarely fail to be listened to by the circle of our friends and acquaintances, to the approbation of whom no one can be altogether indifferent. It is in this temper of mind that we may hope to avoid a two-fold evil; that of exaggerating the importance of the feeble exertions of an individual on the one hand, and of thinking too meanly of his capacity on the other,—since both are alike hurtful, and alike oppose the acquisition of useful knowledge.

CHAPTER I.

       Table of Contents

      Voyage from Calcutta to Prince of Wales’ Island.—Islands of Preparis, Narcondam, Seyer, and Prince of Wales.

      On the 21st November we embarked on the John Adam, nearly opposite to Fort William, and dropped gradually down the river to the sand-heads. We had but one opportunity of going on shore, and this was at some distance above Sauger Island. The land was here eight or ten feet above high-water mark; soil, a very deep, black, light mould, and densely covered with low jungle. Numerous traces of deer, and one very conspicuous track of a tiger, which appeared to have been of enormous size. Carried off a species of Boletus, a species of Laurus, and one of Calamus.

      The pilot left us, in smooth water, near to a moored ship allotted for the reception of pilots, and out of sight of land. On the following morning we sailed, with a fair and tolerably strong wind, attended with a sea sufficiently rough to occasion sickness in persons so little accustomed to this dread element. In this manner we arrived off Cape Negrais. While off this point, but still far from being within sight, our ship was visited by two or three birds, one a species of dove, the next another of the Linnean Passeres, and a third a species of Sterna. The latter, as usually happens with others of the same family, either from natural stupidity or from exhaustion, allowed itself to be taken without difficulty.

      December 3.—Early in the morning, the island of Preparis, the first land we had yet seen since we left the pilot, was in sight. We stood towards it with the view of landing upon it, and examining its structure; but the wind unfortunately increasing, and the windward coast being only navigable with safety with the ship, it was deemed too hazardous a task to land.

      From the distance at which we viewed these islands, it was difficult to form an accurate judgment respecting their structure. The two small ones, called the Cow and Calf, at one time appeared as if they were of basaltic formation; and again as if they were merely banks of coral. Against the latter supposition, their altitude above the sea (not less perhaps than two hundred feet) might seem to militate; but this is not conclusive, especially if there be any truth in the observation, that the great basin which composes this ocean has lost much of its original altitude. It is possible that they may be composed both of basalt and coral; it is highly probable that one or other of these materials constitute their mass, and most probably the latter. The principal island is of a gently undulating shape, rising gradually from the sea, to a slight elevation, and is thickly covered with wood, and apparently tall and wide-spreading trees.

      We had the more reason to regret the circumstance of our not being able to land on these islands, from their being the first in the great chain which composes the archipelago.

      On the following morning at sun-rise we were within sight of Narcondam, an island apparently several miles in diameter, in form and shape a perfect specimen of the volcanic cone, which we calculated to be about two thousand five hundred feet above the sea. We were at too great a distance to entertain a hope of landing on it. This island, from its height, its solitary existence in a wide sea, and its singular and beautiful form, constitutes a very striking object.

      On this occasion we endeavoured to construct an instrument for ascertaining the temperature of the sea at considerable depths, but from the imperfection of our materials, our success was but indifferent. In the only experiment that we performed, the temperature at two hundred and forty feet was 2½° less than at the surface.

      The variations on the barometric column we observed to be very regular, being at its greatest height about seven a.m., and lowest towards four p.m.

      The weather continued agreeable; the wind steady and moderate, the СКАЧАТЬ