The Malay Archipelago Volume 1

b >> by Alfred Russell Wallace >> The Malay Archipelago Volume 1

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At Mataram we called at the house of Gusti Gadioca, one of the
princes of Lombock, who was a friend of Mr. Carter's, and who had
promised to show me the guns made by native workmen. Two guns
were exhibited, one six, the other seven feet long, and of a
proportionably large bore. The barrels were twisted and well
finished, though not so finely worked as ours. The stock was well
made, and extended to the end of the barrel. Silver and gold
ornament was inlaid over most of the surface, but the locks were
taken from English muskets. The Gusti assured me, however, that
the Rajah had a man who made locks and also rifled barrels. The
workshop where these guns are made and the tools used were next
shown us, and were very remarkable. An open shed with a couple of
small mud forges were the chief objects visible. The bellows
consisted of two bamboo cylinders, with pistons worked by hand.
They move very easily, having a loose stuffing of feathers
thickly set round the piston so as to act as a valve, and produce
a regular blast. Both cylinders communicate with the same nozzle,
one piston rising while the other falls. An oblong piece of iron
on the ground was the anvil, and a small vice was fixed on the
projecting root of a tree outside. These, with a few files and
hammers, were literally the only tools with which an old man
makes these fine guns, finishing then himself from the rough iron
and wood.

I was anxious to know how they bored these long barrels, which
seemed perfectly true and are said to shoot admirably; and, on
asking the Gusti, received the enigmatical answer: "We use a
basket full of stones." Being utterly unable to imagine what he
could mean, I asked if I could see how they did it, and one of
the dozen little boys around us was sent to fetch the basket. He
soon returned with this most extraordinary boring-machine, the
mode of using which the Gusti then explained to me. It was simply
a strong bamboo basket, through the bottom of which was stuck
upright a pole about three feet long, kept in its place by a few
sticks tied across the top with rattans.

The bottom of the pole has an iron ring, and a hole in which
four-cornered borers of hardened iron can be fitted. The barrel
to be bored is buried upright in the ground, the borer is
inserted into it, the top of the stick or vertical shaft is held
by a cross-piece of bamboo with a hole in it, and the basket is
filled with stones to get the required weight. Two boys turn the
bamboo round. The barrels are made in pieces of about eighteen
inches long, which are first bored small, and then welded
together upon a straight iron rod. The whole barrel is then
worked with borers of gradually increasing size, and in three
days the boring is finished. The whole matter was explained in
such a straightforward manner that I have no doubt the process
described to me was that actually used; although, when examining
one of the handsome, well-finished, and serviceable guns, it was
very hard to realize the fact that they had been made from first
to last with tools hardly sufficient for an English blacksmith to
make a horseshoe.

The day after we returned from our excursion, the Rajah came to
Ampanam to a feast given by Gusti Gadioca, who resides there; and
soon after his arrival we went to have an audience. We found him
in a large courtyard sitting on a mat under a shady tree; and all
his followers, to the number of three or four hundred, squatting
on the ground in a large circle round him. He wore a sarong or
Malay petticoat and a green jacket. He was a man about thirty-
five years of age, and of a pleasing countenance, with some
appearance of intellect combined with indecision. We bowed, and
took our seats on the ground near some chiefs we were acquainted
with, for while the Rajah sits no one can stand or sit higher. He
just inquired who I was, and what I was doing in Lombock, and
then requested to see some of my birds. I accordingly sent for
one of my boxes of bird-skins and one of insects, which he
examined carefully, and seemed much surprised that they could be
so well preserved. We then had a little conversation about Europe
and the Russian war, in which all natives take an interest.
Having heard much of a country-seat of the Rajah's called Gunong
Sari, I took the opportunity to ask permission to visit it and
shoot a few birds there which he immediately granted. I then
thanked him, and we took our leave.

An hour after, his son came to visit Mr. Carter accompanied by
about a hundred followers, who all sat on the ground while he
came into the open shed where Manuel was skinning birds. After
some time he went into the house, had a bed arranged to sleep a
little, then drank some wine, and after an hour or two had dinner
brought him from the Gusti's house, which he ate with eight of
the principal priests and princes, he pronounced a blessing over
the rice and commenced eating first, after which the rest fell
to. They rolled up balls of rice in their hands, dipped them in
the gravy and swallowed them rapidly, with little pieces of meat
and fowl cooked in a variety of ways. A boy fanned the young
Rajah while eating. He was a youth of about fifteen, and had
already three wives. All wore the kris, or Malay crooked dagger,
on the beauty and value of which they greatly pride themselves. A
companion of the Rajah's had one with a golden handle, in which
were set twenty-eight diamonds and several other jewels. He said
it had cost him £700. The sheaths are of ornamental wood and
ivory, often covered on one side with gold. The blades are
beautifully veined with white metal worked into the iron, and
they are kept very carefully. Every man without exception carries
a kris, stuck behind into the large waist-cloth which all wear,
and it is generally the most valuable piece of property he
possesses.

A few days afterwards our long-talked-of excursion to Gunong Sari
took place. Our party was increased by the captain and supercargo
of a Hamburg ship loading with rice for China. We were mounted on
a very miscellaneous lot of Lombock ponies, which we had some
difficulty in supplying with the necessary saddles, etc.; and most
of us had to patch up our girths, bridles, or stirrup-leathers
as best we could. We passed through Mataram, where we were joined
by our friend Gusti Gadioca, mounted on a handsome black horse,
and riding as all the natives do, without saddle or stirrups,
using only a handsome saddlecloth and very ornamental bridle.

About three miles further, along pleasant byways, brought us to
the place. We entered through a rather handsome brick gateway
supported by hideous Hindu deities in stone. Within was an
enclosure with two square fish-ponds and some fine trees; then
another gateway through which we entered into a park. On the
right was a brick house, built somewhat in the Hindu style, and
placed on a high terrace or platform; on the left a large fish-
pond, supplied by a little rivulet which entered it out of the
mouth of a gigantic crocodile well executed in brick and stone.
The edges of the pond were bricked, and in the centre rose a
fantastic and picturesque pavilion ornamented with grotesque
statues. The pond was well stocked with fine fish, which come
every morning to be fed at the sound of a wooden gong which is
hung near for the purpose. On striking it a number of fish
immediately came out of the masses of weed with which the pond
abounds, and followed us along the margin expecting food. At the
same time some deer came out of as adjacent wood, which, from
being seldom shot at and regularly fed, are almost tame. The
jungle and woods which surrounded the park appearing to abound in
birds, I went to shoot a few, and was rewarded by getting several
specimens of the fine new kingfisher, Halcyon fulgidus, and the
curious and handsome ground thrush, Zoothera andromeda. The
former belies its name by not frequenting water or feeding on
fish. It lives constantly in low damp thickets picking up ground
insects, centipedes, and small mollusca. Altogether I was much
pleased with my visit to this place, and it gave me a higher
opinion than I had before entertained of the taste of these
people, although the style of the buildings and of the sculpture
is very much inferior to those of the magnificent ruins in Java.

I must now say a few words about the character, manners, and
customs of these interesting people.

The aborigines of Lombock are termed Sassaks. They are a Malay
race hardly differing in appearance from the people of Malacca or
Borneo. They are Mahometans and form the bulk of the population.
The ruling classes, on the other hand, are natives of the
adjacent island of Bali, and are of the Brahminical religion. The
government is an absolute monarchy, but it seems to be conducted
with more wisdom and moderation than is usual in Malay countries.
The father of the present Rajah conquered the island, and the
people seem now quite reconciled to their new rulers, who do not
interfere with their religion, and probably do not tax them any
heavier than did the native chiefs they have supplanted. The laws
now in force in Lombock are very severe. Theft is punished by
death. Mr. Carter informed me that a man once stole a metal
coffee-pot from his house. He was caught, the pot restored, and
the man brought to Mr. Carter to punish as he thought fit. All
the natives recommended Mr. Carter to have him "krissed" on the
spot; "for if you don't," said they, "he will rob you again." Mr.
Carter, however, let him off with a warning, that if he ever
came inside his premises again he would certainly be shot. A few
months afterwards the same man stole a horse from Mr. Carter. The
horse was recovered, but the thief was not caught. It is an
established rule, that anyone found in a house after dark,
unless with the owner's knowledge, may be stabbed, his body
thrown out into the street or upon the beach, and no questions
will be asked.

The men are exceedingly jealous and very strict with their wives.
A married woman may not accept a cigar or a sirih leaf from a
stranger under pain of death. I was informed that some years ago
one of the English traders had a Balinese woman of good family
living with him--the connection being considered quite honourable
by the natives. During some festival this girl offended against
the law by accepting a flower or some such trifle from another
man. This was reported to the Rajah (to some of whose wives the
girl was related), and he immediately sent to the Englishman's
house ordering him to give the woman up as she must be "krissed."
In vain he begged and prayed, and offered to pay any fine the
Rajah might impose, and finally refused to give her up unless he
was forced to do so. This the Rajah did not wish to resort to, as
he no doubt thought he was acting as much for the Englishman's
honour as for his own; so he appeared to let the matter drop. But
some time afterwards he sent one of his followers to the house,
who beckoned the girl to the door, and then saying, "The Rajah
sends you this," stabbed her to the heart. More serious
infidelity is punished still more cruelly, the woman and her
paramour being tied back to back and thrown into the sea, where
some large crocodiles are always on the watch to devour the
bodies. One such execution took place while I was at Ampanam, but
I took a long walk into the country to be out of the way until it
was all over, thus missing the opportunity of having a horrible
narrative to enliven my somewhat tedious story.

One morning, as we were sitting at breakfast, Mr. Carter's
servant informed us that there was an "Amok" in the village--in
other words, that a man was "running a muck." Orders were
immediately given to shut and fasten the gates of our enclosure;
but hearing nothing for some time, we went out, and found there
had been a false alarm, owing to a slave having run away,
declaring he would "amok," because his master wanted to sell him.
A short time before, a man had been killed at a gaming-table
because, having lost half-a-dollar more than he possessed, he was
going to "amok." Another had killed or wounded seventeen people
before he could be destroyed. In their wars a whole regiment of
these people will sometimes agree to "amok," and then rush on
with such energetic desperation as to be very formidable to men
not so excited as themselves. Among the ancients these would have
been looked upon as heroes or demigods who sacrificed themselves
for their country. Here it is simply said--they made "amok."

Macassar is the most celebrated place in the East for "running a
muck." There are said to be one or two a month on the average,
and five, ten, or twenty persons are sometimes killed or wounded
at one of them. It is the national, and therefore the honourable,
mode of committing suicide among the natives of Celebes, and is
the fashionable way of escaping from their difficulties. A Roman
fell upon his sword, a Japanese rips up his stomach, and an
Englishman blows out his brains with a pistol. The Bugis mode has
many advantages to one suicidically inclined. A man thinks
himself wronged by society--he is in debt and cannot pay--he is
taken for a slave or has gambled away his wife or child into
slavery--he sees no way of recovering what he has lost, and
becomes desperate. He will not put up with such cruel wrongs, but
will be revenged on mankind and die like a hero. He grasps his
kris-handle, and the next moment draws out the weapon and stabs a
man to the heart. He runs on, with bloody kris in his hand,
stabbing at everyone he meets. "Amok! Amok!" then resounds
through the streets. Spears, krisses, knives and guns are brought
out against him. He rushes madly forward, kills all he can--men,
women, and children--and dies overwhelmed by numbers amid all the
excitement of a battle. And what that excitement is those who
have been in one best know, but all who have ever given way to
violent passions, or even indulged in violent and exciting
exercises, may form a very good idea. It is a delirious
intoxication, a temporary madness that absorbs every thought and
every energy. And can we wonder at the kris-bearing, untaught,
brooding Malay preferring such a death, looked upon as almost
honourable to the cold-blooded details of suicide, if he wishes
to escape from overwhelming troubles, or the merciless of the
hangman and the disgrace of a public execution, when he has taken
the law into his own hands and too hastily revenged himself upon
his enemy? In either case he chooses rather to "amok."

The great staples of the trade of Lombock as well as of Bali are
rice and coffee; the former grown on the plains, the latter on
the hills. The rice is exported very largely to other islands of
the Archipelago, to Singapore, and even to China, and there are
generally one or more vessels loading in the port. It is brought
into Ampanam on pack-horses, and almost everyday a string of
these would come into Mr. Carter's yard. The only money the
natives will take for their rice is Chinese copper cash, twelve
hundred of which go to a dollar. Every morning two large sacks of
this money had to be counted out into convenient sums for
payment. From Bali quantities of dried beef and ox-tongues are
exported, and from Lombock a good many ducks and ponies. The ducks
are a peculiar breed, which have very long flat bodies, and walk
erect almost like penguins. They are generally of a pale reddish
ash colour, and are kept in large flocks. They are very cheap and
are largely consumed by the crews of the rice ships, by whom they
are called Baly-soldiers, but are more generally known elsewhere
as penguin-ducks.

My Portuguese bird-stuffer Fernandez now insisted on breaking his
agreement and returning to Singapore; partly from homesickness,
but more I believe from the idea that his life was not worth many
months' purchase among such bloodthirsty and uncivilized peoples.
It was a considerable loss to me, as I had paid him full three
times the usual wages for three months in advance, half of which
was occupied in the voyage and the rest in a place where I could
have done without him, owing to there being so few insects that I
could devote my own time to shooting and skinning. A few days
after Fernandez had left, a small schooner came in bound for
Macassar, to which place I took a passage. As a fitting
conclusion to my sketch of these interesting islands, I will
narrate an anecdote which I heard of the present Rajah; and
which, whether altogether true or not, well illustrates native
character, and will serve as a means of introducing some details
of the manners and customs of the country to which I have not yet
alluded.

CHAPTER XII.

L0MBOCK: HOW THE RAJAH TOOK THE CENSUS.

The Rajah of Lombock was a very wise man and he showed his wisdom
greatly in the way he took the census. For my readers must know
that the chief revenues of the Rajah were derived from a head-tax
of rice, a small measure being paid annually by every man, woman,
and child in the island, There was no doubt that every one paid
this tax, for it was a very light one, and the land was fertile
and the people well off; but it had to pass through many hands
before it reached the Government storehouses. When the harvest
was over the villagers brought their rice to the Kapala kampong,
or head of the village; and no doubt he sometimes had compassion
for the poor or sick and passed over their short measure, and
sometimes was obliged to grant a favour to those who had
complaints against him; and then he must keep up his own dignity
by having his granaries better filled than his neighbours, and so
the rice that he took to the "Waidono" that was over his district
was generally good deal less than it should have been. And all
the "Waidonos" had of course to take care of themselves, for they
were all in debt and it was so easy to take a little of the
Government rice, and there would still be plenty for the Rajah.
And the "Gustis" or princes who received the rice from the
Waidonos helped themselves likewise, and so when the harvest was
all over and the rice tribute was all brought in, the quantity
was found to be less each year than the one before. Sickness in
one district, and fevers in another, and failure of the crops in
a third, were of course alleged as the cause of this falling
off; but when the Rajah went to hunt at the foot of the great
mountain, or went to visit a "Gusti" on the other side of the
island, he always saw the villages full of people, all looking
well-fed and happy. And he noticed that the krisses of his chiefs
and officers were getting handsomer and handsomer; and the
handles that were of yellow wood were changed for ivory, and
those of ivory were changed for gold, and diamonds and emeralds
sparkled on many of them; and he knew very well which way the
tribute-rice went. But as he could not prove it he kept silence,
and resolved in his own heart someday to have a census taken, so
that he might know the number of his people, and not be cheated
out of more rice than was just and reasonable.

But the difficulty was how to get this census. He could not go
himself into every village and every house, and count all the
people; and if he ordered it to be done by the regular officers
they would quickly understand what it was for, and the census
would be sure to agree exactly with the quantity of rice he got
last year. It was evident therefore that to answer his purpose no
one must suspect why the census was taken; and to make sure of
this, no one must know that there was any census taken at all.
This was a very hard problem; and the Rajah thought and thought,
as hard as a Malay Rajah can be expected to think, but could not
solve it; and so he was very unhappy, and did nothing but smoke
and chew betel with his favourite wife, and eat scarcely
anything; and even when he went to the cock-fight did not seem to
care whether his best birds won or lost. For several days he
remained in this sad state, and all the court were afraid some
evil eye had bewitched the Rajah; and an unfortunate Irish
captain who had come in for a cargo of rice and who squinted
dreadfully, was very nearly being krissed, but being first
brought to the royal presence was graciously ordered to go on
board and remain there while his ship stayed in the port.

One morning however, after about a week's continuance of this
unaccountable melancholy, a welcome change tool place, for the
Rajah sent to call together all the chiefs, priests, and
princes who were then in Mataram, his capital city; and when they
were all assembled in anxious expectation, he thus addressed
them:

"For many days my heart has been very sick and I knew not why,
but now the trouble is cleared away, for I have had a dream. Last
night the spirit of the 'Gunong Agong'--the great fire mountain--
appeared to me, and told me that I must go up to the top of the
mountain. All of you may come with me to near the top, but then I
must go up alone, and the great spirit will again appear to me
and will tell me what is of great importance to me and to you and
to all the people of the island. Now go all of you and make this
known through the island, and let every village furnish men to
make clear a road for us to go through the forest and up the
great mountain."

So the news was spread over the whole island that the Rajah must
go to meet the great spirit on the top of the mountain; and
every village sent forth its men, and they cleared away the
jungle and made bridges over the mountain streams and smoothed
the rough places for the Rajah's passage. And when they came to
the steep and craggy rocks of the mountain, they sought out the
best paths, sometimes along the bed of a torrent, sometimes along
narrow ledges of the black rocks; in one place cutting down a
tall tree so as to bridge across a chasm, in another constructing
ladders to mount the smooth face of a precipice. The chiefs who
superintended the work fixed upon the length of each day's
journey beforehand according to the nature of the road, and chose
pleasant places by the banks of clear streams and in the
neighbourhood of shady trees, where they built sheds and huts of
bamboo well thatched with the leaves of palm-trees, in which the
Rajah and his attendants might eat and sleep at the close of each
day.

And when all was ready, the princes and priests and chief men
came again to the Rajah, to tell him what had been done and to
ask him when he would go up the mountain. And he fixed a day, and
ordered every man of rank and authority to accompany him, to do
honour to the great spirit who had bid him undertake the journey,
and to show how willingly they obeyed his commands. And then
there was much preparation throughout the whole island. The best
cattle were killed and the meat salted and sun-dried; and
abundance of red peppers and sweet potatoes were gathered; and
the tall pinang-trees were climbed for the spicy betel nut, the
sirih-leaf was tied up in bundles, and every man filled his
tobacco pouch and lime box to the brim, so that he might not want
any of the materials for chewing the refreshing betel during the
journey. The stores of provisions were sent on a day in advance.
And on the day before that appointed for starting, all the chiefs
both great and small came to Mataram, the abode of the king, with
their horses and their servants, and the bearers of their sirih boxes,
and their sleeping-mats, and their provisions. And they encamped under
the tall Waringin-trees that border all the roads about Mataram, and
with blazing fires frighted away the ghouls and evil spirits that
nightly haunt the gloomy avenues.

In the morning a great procession was formed to conduct the Rajah
to the mountain. And the royal princes and relations of the Rajah
mounted their black horses whose tails swept the ground; they
used no saddle or stirrups, but sat upon a cloth of gay colours;
the bits were of silver and the bridles of many-coloured cords.
The less important people were on small strong horses of various
colours, well suited to a mountain journey; and all (even the
Rajah) were bare-legged to above the knee, wearing only the gay
coloured cotton waist-cloth, a silk or cotton jacket, and a large
handkerchief tastefully folded around the head. Everyone was
attended by one or two servants bearing his sirih and betel
boxes, who were also mounted on ponies; and great numbers more
had gone on in advance or waited to bring up the rear. The men in
authority were numbered by hundreds and their followers by
thousands, and all the island wondered what great thing would
come of it.

For the first two days they went along good roads and through
many villages which were swept clean, and where bright cloths were
hung out at the windows; and all the people, when the Rajah came,
squatted down upon the ground in respect, and every man riding
got off his horse and squatted down also, and many joined the
procession at every village. At the place where they stopped for
the night, the people had placed stakes along each side of the
roads in front of the houses. These were split crosswise at the
top, and in the cleft were fastened little clay lamps, and
between them were stuck the green leaves of palm-trees, which,
dripping with the evening dew, gleamed prettily with the many
twinkling lights. And few went to sleep that night until the
morning hours, for every house held a knot of eager talkers, and
much betel-nut was consumed, and endless were the conjectures
what would come of it.

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