Sketches of Our Life at SarawakMcDougall, Henriette
History
Sketches of Our Life at Sarawak
McDougall, Henriette
McDougall, Henriette, 1817-1886 -- Travel -- Malaysia -- Sarawak; Sarawak (Malaysia) -- Description and travel
About midday the Bishop told me he wished me, Miss Woolley, and the
children, including Alan Grant, to go to Singapore in a trading schooner
which Mr. Ruppell had detained at the mouth of the river in case of
emergency.
Mrs. Stahl and Miss Coomes were to remain and nurse Mrs. Crookshank, but
it would be a great relief to him to think of us in safety. The Chinese
kunsi also wished us to go, "that the people at Singapore might see that
they did not desire our death." It seemed very hard to me to leave my
husband in such danger, for that morning the kunsi had flourished swords
in his face and threatened him, knowing very well that he wished to
bring the Rajah back. Still I knew he could more easily provide for the
safety of those left behind if we were already out of the way. So I
packed up some clothes and provisions for the voyage. While I was doing
this a Chinaman came from the _Good Luck_ schooner to say I must only
take one box for our party, as the schooner was very full of Chinese
passengers, fleeing for fear of the kunsi. With this we had to be
content. At three o'clock we went to the shop of Amoo, the Chinese owner
of the _Good Luck_. There I found my husband writing to Mr. Johnson at
Linga, to tell him what had happened. Then Datu Bandar came in to say
that the kunsi had gone up the river, and had taken some of the fort
guns with them; that they were very crowded in the boats, and that he
should follow after them with a Malay force at night. They did nothing,
however, when the time came; for until the Malays had got their families
safe out of the place they were not willing to fight. They were brave
enough when the women and children were moved to Samarahan on Saturday.
There were many Chinese women collected at Amoo's, belonging to the
shopkeepers in the bazaar. The wife of the court scribe, whom I knew,
told me in a whisper that she managed to get some bread to the Rajah and
his party, and had told Mr. Crookshank that his wife was alive and with
us. At last the life-boat was ready. Stahl went with us to steer, and
said there were plenty of Chinese to row the boat. When we got down to
it, we found it not only fully manned by Chinese, but full of their
women, children, and boxes, so that we could scarcely find room to
squeeze ourselves into the stern, and we were so heavily laden that we
made very slow progress. It was no use protesting, however: we were only
English folk, and the Chinese had it all their own way in those days.
About eight o'clock we got down to the mouth of the Morotabas, where the
schooner lay. Pitch dark and very wet it was, but it was a relief when
all the Chinese passengers climbed up the schooner ladder, and the men
hauled the boxes up one after another, last of all a very heavy one
which it took six men to lift, full of dollars,--so no wonder we were
overladen. Last of all I climbed into the _Good Luck_, leaving the
children still in the boat with Stahl and Kimchack, one of our
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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