YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

IN MEMORY OF SAMUEL AMOS YORK
YALE 1863
FROM THE FUND ESTABLISHED IN 1924
BY HIS SON SAMUEL ALBERT YORK
YALE 1890

TRAVELS

SOUTH-EASTERN ASIA

TRAVELS

SOUTH-EASTEKN ASIA.

EMBRACING

HINDUSTAN, MALAYA, SIAM, AND CHINA;

WITH NOTICPS OF

Numerous ifiltsstonarg stations,

AND A FULL ACCOUNT OF

THE BURMAN EMPIRE.

BY THE REV. HOWARD MALCOM,
OF BOSTON, u. a.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.

LONDON :
CHARLES TILT, FLEET STREET.
MDCCCXXXIX.

LONDON :
BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS,
WH1TEFR1ARS.

NJ.t

PART III.
TRAVELS IN HINDUSTAN, MALAYA, SIAM, AND CHINA.

CHAPTER I. PAGE
Voyage to Calcutta — Saugor Island — Hoogly River — Landing— Houses
— Servants — Streets — Weddings — Doorga Pooja — General Assembly's
School — Benevolent Institution — Orphan Refuge — Central School 
The Martiniere — Leper Hospital — Operations of Educational Com
mittee — Colleges — Progress of the English Language — Use of Roman
Alphabet — Native Periodicals — Hindu and Mahometan Edifices — Ram
Mohun Roy — Bromha Sobba — Population of Calcutta — Expenses of
Living — Habits of Extravagance — Morals — Religion — Clergy — Places
of Worship — Missionary Operations — Christian Villages — Hinduism
shaken — Serampore — Aspect. — Population — Marshman — College —
Grave-yard — Operations of the Mission ...... 1
CHAPTER II.
Madras — Catamarans — Difficulty of Landing — Black Town — Esplanade
— Population — Illustrations of Scripture — State of Religion — Catho
lics — Teloogoos — Travelling by Palankeen — Pondicherry — Cuddalore
— Tranquebar — Combaconum — Tanjore — Kohlhoff — Swartz — Tri-
chinopoly — Heber — Seringham — Slavery in Hindustan — Idolatry sup
ported by Government — Brahmins and Brahminism — Progressive
Poverty of the Country — Modern Languages of Hindustan . . . 52

VI CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III.
,i- PAGE
Voyage to Singapore — Coasters — Prices of Passage in India — Straits of
Malacca — Harbour and Town of Singapore — Climate — Productions —
Commerce — Islamism — Population — Moral Character of Population —
Orang Louts — Chinese Wedding — Missionary Operations — Malacca —
History of the Settlement — Extent — -Population — Progress of Chris
tianity — Anglo-Chinese College — Common Schools — Malay Peninsula
— Origin of Malay Race — Divisions — Keda — Perak — Salengore —
Johore — Rumbo — Pahang — Tringano — Calantan Patani — Ligore —
Character of Malays — Slavery — Language . . . - .91
CHAPTER IV.
Take Leave of British India — European Manners' — Voyage to Bankok —
River Meinam — Paknam — Audience with the Governor — Situation of
Bankok — Floating Houses — General Appearance — Visit to the Pra
Klang ; Servile Forms of Politeness — Chow Fah ; Singular Custom —
Pra Nai Wai — Pra Amramole — Present of an Elephant ; of a Cochin-
Chinese Slave — Population of Bankok — Police of the City — Climate —
Wats — Houses — Streets — Bridges — Somona Codom — History of Siam
— Extent of the Empire — Population — Personal Appearance of Siamese
— Dress — Amusements — Military Force — Commerce — Prices of Pro
vision — Fruits — Currency — Character — Degree of Civilisation — Slavery
— Language — Establishment of the Mission — Mission Premises — Wor
ship — Converts — Bankok a Station for the Chinese — Distribution of
Scriptures — Need of more Labourers — Constitution of a Church —
Harmony of Sects — Roman Catholics . . . . 128
CHAPTER V.
Voyage to Canton — China Sea — Mouth of Pearl River — Outside Pilots —
Lintin — Bocca-tigris — -Whampoa — Innumerable Boats—Evidences of
dense Population — Dollar-Boat — River Scenery — Population of Canton
— Foreign Factories or Hongs — Walks in the Suburbs — Streets — Shops
— Vacant Spaces — Placards — Perambulatory Trades — Booksellers — -
Circulating Libraries — Map of the World — Beggars — Small-fo.oted
Women — Trades — Labour-saving Machinery — Chinese Piety — Tombs
— Visit to a Hong Merchant — Restrictions on Foreigners — Temples —
Priests and Nuns — Pagodas — Chinese Sects — Introduction of Boodhism
— Jos — State of Morals in the Foreign Society — Opium Trade — Mis
sionaries — Dr. Parker's Hospital — Macao — Appearance from Harbour
— In a State of Decline — Missionaries — Mr. Gutzlaff — Voyages along
the Coast — Interesting School — How far China is open to Missionaries
— Dr. Colledge's Hospital ........ 165

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VI. PAGE
Embark for Home — Straits of Gaspar and Sunda — Petty Monsoon — Cape
of Good Hope — Remarkable Phenomenon — St. Helena — False Alarm
—-Slave Trade — Landing at Newport — Summary — Reflections . . 196

PART IV.
DISSERTATIONS, TABLES, &c.

CHAPTER I.
MrssroNs to the Chinese. — Stations now occupied — Sudiya — Mogoung
— Bamoo — Umerapoora — Zemmai — Pontiana — Sambas Banca — Other
Bodies of Chinese — Versions of the Holy Scriptures — Proportion of
Chinese "who can read — The Importance of distributing Tracts and
Bibles overrated— Comparison of the Modes of Printing — Difficulty of
the Language — Dictionaries, Grammars, &c. — Present Missionaries to
the Chinese — Other Sinologues — Number of Converts — Best Authors
on China  207
CHAPTER II.
The Missionary Field in and around Burmah — Burmah Proper —
Peguans — Tenasserim Provinces — Arracanese — Karens — Shyans —
Toungthoos — Tswahs, &c  226
chapter iii.
On the Measure of Success which has attended modern Missions. —
Introduction. — I. The Number of Missionaries — II. The kind of
Labour performed : Preparatory ; Collateral ; Additional ; Erroneous —
III. Disadvantages of Modern Missionaries : Imperfect Knowledge of
the Language ; Poverty of the Languages themselves ; Want of Fami
liarity with the Religion and People ; Degraded State of the Natives ;
Inability to live as they live ; Being Foreigners ; The Structure of
Society ; The prevailing Philosophy ; The Presence of nominal Chris
tians ; Popery. — IV. Efforts which do not reach the Field. — V. The
Amount accomplished ; A large Force in the Field ; Impediments
removed ; Translations made ; Languages reduced to Writing ; General
Literature imparted ; Tracts written ; Grammars, Dictionaries, and other
Helps prepared ; Immense Distribution of Bibles and Tracts ; Mechani
cal Facilities created ; Schools established, and Youth already educated ;

Ill CONTENTS. PAGE
Blessings of Christian Morality diffused ; Idolatry in some Places shaken;
Effects on Europeans abroad ; Actual Conversions  VI. Effects on the
Churches at Home — Remarks ....... 259

CHAPTER IV.
On the Mode of conducting modern Missions. — Schools — Translations
and Tracts — Preacliing in English — Periodicals — Use of the Roman
Alphabet — Missionary Physicians — Unnecessary Display and Expense
— Direct Preaching to Natives— Formation of Regular Churches —
Qualifications of Native Assistants — Instruction in the English Language
— Intermission of Operations— Division of Labour — Concentration —
Choire of Fields— Remarks  298

Missionary Stations throughout the World ..... 349
Glossary . , ...... 353

MISSIONARY; TRAVELS.

PART III.
TRAVELS IN HINDUSTAN, MALAYA,
SIAM, AND CHINA.

CHAPTER I.
Voyage to Calcutta — Saugor Island — Hoogly River — Landing — Houses 
Servants — Streets — Weddings — Doorga Pooja — General Assembly's
School— Benevolent Institution — Orphan refuge — Central School  The
Martiniere — Leper Hospital — Operations of Educational Committee —
Colleges — Progress of the English Language — Use of Roman Alphabet —
. Native Periodicals — Hindu and Mahometan Edifices — Ram Mohun Roy —
Bromha Sobba — Population of Calcutta — Expenses of Living — Habits of
Extravagance — Morals — Religion — Clergy — Places of Worship — Missionary
Operations — Christian Villages — Hinduism shaken — Serampore — Aspect —
Population — Marshman — College — Grave-yard — Operations of the Mission.
A hot and disagreeable passage of seventeen days from
Rangoon, in a small schooner, brought me to Calcutta, Sept.
20, 1836. The vessel, being loaded with timber and stick-
lac, had plenty of scorpions and centipedes. Twice, on taking
a clean shirt out of my trunk, I found a centipede snugly
stowed in it. Having several times caught scorpions on my
mattress at night, we undertook a general search, and on the
under side of the cabin table discovered a nest of twenty or
thirty. I had written here constantly for a week, with my
knees pressed up hard against the edge to keep me steady,
and felt truly thankful to have been unmolested. Several of
the females had white leathery bags attached to them, about
vol. II. b

52 HINDUSTAN.
the size of a grape, full of young ones, scarcely bigger than a
pin's head.
The constant increase of the sands at the mouth of the
Hoogly, and the absence of any landmark, renders the
approach always a matter of some anxiety. The floating
light is stationed out of sight of land, and the tails of the
reefs, even there, are dangerous. "When the shores are at
length discerned, their dead level and unbroken jungle,
without any sign of population, and the great breadth of the
river, gives the whole an aspect excessively dreary, well
suiting to one's first emotions on beholding a land of idolatry.
Saugor Island, which is first coasted, is famed for being
the spot where many infants and others are annually immo
lated. The Hoogly, called by the natives Ba-gir-a-tee, being
considered the true mouth of the Ganges, and the junction
of this sacred stream with the ocean being at Saugor, great
sanctity is attached to the place. A few devotees are said to
reside on the island, who contrive for a while to avoid the
tigers, and are supported by the gifts of the boatmen, who
cherish great faith in the security they are supposed to be
able to confer. An annual festival is held here in January,
which thousands of Hindus attend, some even from five
or six hundred miles. Missionaries often embrace this op
portunity of preaching and distributing tracts. As a sample.
of these efforts, the following extract from the journal of the
late Mr. Chamberlain* will be interesting.
" Gunga Saugor — Arrived here this morning. Astonished
beyond measure at the sight ! Boats crushed together, row
upon row, for a vast extent in length, numberless in appear
ance, and people swarming everywhere ! Multitudes ! multi
tudes ! Removed from the boats, they had pitched on a large
* The life of this brother, by the Rev. Mr. Yates, of Calcutta, is every
way worthy of perusal, and ought to be reprinted in America. It is a
large octavo, and might be somewhat curtailed ; but the abridgement, by
the American Sabbath School Union, though suitable for their purpose
is too meagre for general circulation.

RIVER HOOGLY. A
sand-bank and in the jungle ; the oars of the boats being set
up to support the tents, shops, &c. "Words fail to give a true
description of this scene. Here an immensely populous city
has been raised in a very few days, full of streets, lanes,
bazaars, &c, many sorts of trade going on, with all the hurry
and bustle of the most flourishing city. "We soon left the
boats, and went among the people. Here we saw the works
of idolatry and blind superstition. Crowds upon crowds of
infatuated men, women, and children, high and low, young
and old, rich and poor, bathing in the water, and worshipping
Gunga, by bowing and making salams, and spreading their
offerings of rice, flowers, &c. on the shore, for the goddess to
take when the tides arrive. The mud and water of this
place are esteemed very holy, and are taken hundreds of
miles upon the shoulders of men. They sprinkle themselves
with the water, and daub themselves with the mud ; and
this, they say, cleanses them from all sin : this is very great
holiness. In former years it was usual for many to give
themselves to the sharks and alligators, and thus to be de
stroyed. But the Company have now placed sepoys along
the side, to prevent this. A European sergeant and fifty
sepoys are here now for that purpose."
The veneration paid by Hindus to this river is almost
incredible. Descending from a height of fifteen thousand
feet above the level of the sea, and running a course of fifteen
hundred miles, it receives, in every part, the most devoted
homage. The touch of its water, — nay, the very sight of it,
say the Shasters, — takes away all sin. Its very sediment is
counted a remedy for all diseases. If it fails they are not
undeceived : for they say the man's time has come, and there
is no remedy for death. Drowning in it is an act of great
merit. Thousands of sick persons endure long journeys, that
they may die upon its banks. Its water is sworn upon, in
courts of justice, as the Bible is in ours. From 50,000 to
200,000 persons assemble annually at certain places, of whom
b 2

HINDUSTAN.

many are crushed to death in pressing to bathe at the pro
pitious moment. Still more die on the road, of poverty and
fatigue. No man acquainted with the history of Hindustan
can sail upon these bright, unconscious waters, without being
filled with sorrowful contemplations.
That the scenery here has been described in such glowing
colours, can only be accounted for by considering that the
writers had been for months immured in a ship, and that,
having previously seen no country but their own, everything
foreign became deeply interesting. The boats which come
off, of strange construction ; the " dandies," with their dark
bronze skin, fine Roman features, perfect teeth, and scanty
costume ; the Sircars, which board the ship with presents of
fruit, dressed in graceful folds of snow-white muslin, — are
indeed objects of interest, and form fruitful topics for journals
and letters, to young travellers. As to the river itself, at
least in the lower" part of its course, none could be more dull
and disagreeable.
As the ship ascends the river, (generally a slow and difficult
process,) objects of interest multiply. Fishermen's villages
and scattered huts appear on each side, embosomed in stately
palms. Trees, of shapes unknown before, fields of sugar
cane, wide levels of paddy-ground, and a universal greenness,
keep up an interest, till, on reaching Gloucester, European
houses begin to be seen, and the ear once more catches the
sounds of machinery and commerce. The cold emotions of
wonder, and the pain of reflecting that one has arrived in the
regions of degradation and idolatry, now give place to a sense
of exhilaration and homeness. On every side is evidence of
the presence of those who stand with the highest among the
civilised, the free, the scientific, and the religious nations of
the earth. Hope portrays the future, benevolence stands
ready to act, and discouragement is cheered by assurance of
co-operation. At length, in passing a bend in the river, called " Garden

HOOGLY RIVER. 5
Reach," a superb array of country-seats opens on the eastern
bank. Luxury and refinement seem here to have made
their home. Verdant and quiet lawns appear doubly at
tractive to a voyager, weary of ocean and sky. Buildings
coated with plaster, and combining Grecian chasteness with
oriental adaptation, lift their white columns amid noble trees
and numerous tanks. Steam-boats, budgerows, and dingeys,
ply about upon the smooth water. The lofty chimneys of
gas-works and factories rise in the distance, and everything
bespeaks your approach to a great city.
"We passed just at sunset. The multiform vehicles, for
which Calcutta is famous, stood before the doors, or rolled
away through the trees, followed by turbaned servants in
flowing muslin. Ladies and children, with nurses and
bearers, lounged along the smooth paths ; and it was difficult
to realise that this beautiful climate sliould prove so insidious.
The general observation, however, is, that death owes more
victims to high living, indolence, exposure at night, fatigue
in shooting excursions, &c, than to the positive effects of
climate. Indeed, some affirm India to be as salubrious as
England ; and the aspect of some who have been long in the
country would seem to countenance the assertion.
A farther advance brings an indistinct view of the fort and
the fine buildings of the Chouringy suburb, all presented in
one great curve, which is soon relinquished for a more minute
and inquisitive contemplation of "the Course." This is a
broad road on the bank of the river, passing round the
esplanade and fort, to which the English residents drive
every evening at sunset. As every clerk in the city keeps
his buggy or palankeen carriage, the crowd of vehicles rivals
that at Hyde Park. The sight is even more imposing.
Most of the higher classes use stately landaus, or open
barouches ; and the ladies are without bonnets. Crowds of
gentlemen are on horseback. Indian side-runners give a
princely air to the slow procession. The shipping of every

6 HINDUSTAN.
nation, the clear horizon, the noble fort, the city front, the
pleasure-boats, the beautiful ghauts, &c., make it a scene
which always pleases ; and the citizens repair thither from
day to day, and from year to year, without weariness or
satiety. On passing Garden Reach, the river becomes covered with
boats, of every conceivable form, from which a dozen different
languages meet the ear. A multitude of vessels lie at anchor;
steam-engines pour from their towering chimneys volumes of
smoke ; beautiful ghauts slope into the water; palankeens, ton-
jons, buggies, coaches, phaetons, gares, caranches, and hacka-
ries, line the shore, and before us spreads out the great city*
containing, with its suburbs, almost a million of souls.
All who die in or beside the river, and even those whose dead
bodies are committed to it, being deemed certain of future bliss,
multitudes are brought to die upon the banks, or are laid at
low water on the mud, whence the return of the tide washes
them away. These and the half-consumed relics from the fu
neral pile, in every variety of revolting aspect, are continually
floating by. Government boats ply above the city to sink
these bodies ; but many escape, and we daily saw them float
by, while vultures stood upon them, contending for the horrid
banquet. There being no wharfs or docks, you are rowed to a ghaut
in a dingey, and landed amid Hindus performing their ablutions
and reciting their prayers. No sooner does your boat touch the
shore, than a host of bearers contend for you with loud jabber
and those whom you resist least, actually bear you off in their
arms through the mud, and you find yourself at once in one of
those strange conveyances, a palankeen. Away you hie flat
on your back, at the rate of nearly five miles an hour, a chatty
boy bearing aloft a huge palm-leaf umbrella to keep off the
sun, whom no assurances that you do not want him will drive
away, but who expects only a pice or two for his pains. The
bearers grunt at every step, like southern our negroes when

CALCUTTA. 7
cleaving wood : and though they do it as a sort of chorus, it
keeps your unaccustomed feelings discomposed.
Arrived at the house, you find it secluded within a high
brick wall, and guarded at the gate by a durwan, or porter,
who lives there in a lodge, less to prevent ingress, than to see
that servants and others carry nothing away improperly. The
door is sheltered by a porch, called here a veranda, so con
structed as to shelter carriages — a precaution equally necessary
for the rains and the sun. The best houses are of two stories,
the upper being occupied by the family, and the lower used
for dining and store rooms. On every side are contrivances
to mitigate heat and exclude dust. Venetian blinds inclose
the veranda, extending from pillar to pillar, as low as a man's
head. The remaining space is furnished with mats, (tatties,)
which reach to the floor, when the sun is on that side, but at
other times are rolled up. "When these are kept wet, they
diffuse a most agreeable coolness.
The moment you sit down, whether in a mansion, office, or
shop, a servant commences pulling the punka, under which
you may happen to be. The floor is of brick and mortar,
covered with mats, the walls of the purest white, and the
ceilings of great height. Both sexes, and all orders, dress in
white cottons. The rooms are kept dark, and in the hottest
part of the day shut up with glass. In short, everything
betrays a struggle to keep cool.
Another great contest seems to be against ants. You per
ceive various articles of furniture placed upon little dishes of
water or quick -lime, without which precaution everything is
overrun. "White ants are most formidable ; for from those it
is impossible wholly to guard. They attack everything, even
the beams in the houses. A chest of clothes, lying on the floor
a day or two only, may be found entirely ruined. A mere
pinhole appears in your precious quarto — you open it, and
behold a mass of dust and fragments !
The number of servants, and their snowy drapery, huge tur-

8 HINDUSTAN.
bans, stubby mustachios, bare feet, and cringing servility, form
another feature in the novel scene. Partly from the influence
of caste, but more from indolent habits, low pay, and the in
dulgence of former masters, when fortunes were easily made,
they are appointed to services so minutely divided as to render
a great number necessary. The following list, given me by
a lady long in India, not only illustrates this peculiarity, but
shows how large opportunities private Christians possess of
doing good to natives even beneath their own roof; A genteel
family, not wealthy, must have the following domestics : —
Kdnsuma — a head servant, butler, or steward; Kit-mut-gar
— table-servant ; Musdlche — cleans knives, washes plates, and
carries the lantern ; Bobagee — cook ; Surdar — head bearer,
cleans furniture, &c. ; Bearer — cleans shoes, and does com
mon errands, (if a palankeen is kept, there must be at least
eight of these,) pulls punka; Ahdar — cools and takes care of
water ; Meeta — man sweeper ; Metrane — female sweeper ;
Ayah — lady's maid or nurse ; Durwan — gate-keeper; Motley,
gardener; Durgey — tailor; Dobey — washerman; Garee-walla
— coachman ; Syce — groom, one to every horse, who always
runs with him ; Grass-fiutter — cuts and brings grass daily, one
to each horse; Guy walla — keeper of the cow or goats; Hur-
karu — errand-boy or messenger ; Sircar — accountant, or se
cretary ; Ckuprasse — carries letters, and does the more trusty
errands ; Chokedar — watchman ; Cooley — carries burdens,
brings home marketing, &c. ; Bheestie — to bring water. O
gardeners, maids, table-servants, nurses, &c, there of course
must often be several. It is generally necessary to have part
of these Mussulmans, and part Hindus ; for one will not bring
some dishes to the table, and the other will not touch a can
dlestick, &c. If a child makes a litter on the floor, the ayah
will not clean it, but calls the metrane.
A walk into the native town, produces novel sights on every
side. The houses, for the most part, are mere hovels, with mud
floors and mud walls, scarcely high enough to stand up in, and

CALCUTTA. 9
covered with thatch. The streets are narrow, crooked, and
dirty ; and on every neglected wall, cow dung, mixed with
chaff, and kneaded into thin cakes, is stuck up to dry for fuel.
The shops are often but six or eight feet square, and seldom
twice this size, wholly open in front, without any counter, but
the mat on the floor, part of which is occupied by the vender,
sitting cross-legged, and the rest serves to exhibit his goods.
Mechanics have a similar arrangement.
Barbers sit in the open street on a mat, and the patient,
squatting on his hams, has not only his beard, but part of his
head, shaved, leaving the hair to grow only on his crown. In
the tanks and ponds are dobeys, slapping their clothes with all
their might upon a bench or a stone. Little braminy bulls,
with their humped shoulders, walk among the crowd, thrusting
their noses into the baskets of rice, gram, or peas, with little
resistance, except they stay to repeat the mouthful.* Bullocks,
loaded with panniers, pass slowly by. Palankeens come
bustling along, the bearers shouting at the people to clear the
way. Pedlers and hucksters utter their ceaseless cries. 'Re
ligious mendicants, with long hair, matted with cow-dung, and
with faces and arms smeared with Ganges mud, walk about
almost naked, with an air of the utmost impudence and pride,
demanding rather than begging gifts. Often they carry a thick
triangular plate of brass, and striking it at intervals with a
heavy stick, send the shrill announcement of their approach
far and near. Now and then comes rushing along the buggy
of some English merchant, whose syce, running before, drives
the pedestrians out of the way ; or some villanous-looking ca-
ranche drags by, shut up close with red cloth, containing native
ladies, who contrive thus to " take the air."
No Englishmen are seen on foot, except the very poorest, as
* These are individuals turned loose when young, as offerings to an idol,
which are thenceforth regarded as sacred. Though no one looks after
them, their privileged mode of life keeps them in good order ; and, mix
ing so much among crowds, from which they meet no ill treatment, makes
them perfectly gentle.
b3

10 HINDUSTAN.
it is deemed ungenteel; nor native women, except of the lowest
castes. Costumes and complexions, of every variety, move
about without attracting attention — Hindus, Mussulmans,
Armenians, Greeks, Persians, Parsees, Arabs, Jews, Burmans,
Chinese, &c. &c. ; bheesties, with leather water-sacks, slung
dripping on their backs, carry their precious burden to the
rich man's yard, or hawk it along the street, announcing their
approach by drumming on their brass measure. Snake-
charmers, jugglers, and blind musicians, gather their little
crowds. Processions are almost always abroad in honour of
some idol, or in fulfilment of some promise ; making all pos
sible clamour with voices, drums, cymbals, and trumpets.
Women carry their children astride on their hips. Wretched
carriages, drawn by more wretched ponies, jingle along, bearing
those who have long walks and moderate means. Women
crowd about the wells, carrying water on
their hips in brass jars. Children run
about stark-naked, or with a thin plate
of silver or brass, not larger than a tea
cup, hung in front by a cord round the
hips. Mud-holes, neglected tanks, de
caying carcasses, and stagnant ditches,
unite with fumes of garlic, rancid oil,
and human filth, to load the air with
villanous smells. The tout-ensemble of
Utility sights, sounds, and smells, is so utterly
Woman carrying water, unlike anything in any other part of the
world, that weeks elapse before the sensation of strangeness
wears away.
My residence with Mr. Pearce on the circular road, which
is a principal thoroughfare, afforded continual opportunity of
observing native character and habits. A spectacle of frequent
recurrence was the wedding procession of young children,
affianced by their relations. Music and many torches dignify
the procession. The girl is often carried in a palankeen, and

Calcutta.

11

"the bridegroom on horseback, held by a friend. Sometimes
the little things are borne in a highly-ornamented litter, as in

Part of a Wedding Procession.

the engraving. It is always affecting to think that if the poor
little boy die, his betrothed is condemned to perpetual widow
hood. Many of these, as might be expected, become aban
doned characters.
One is constantly struck with the excessive cruelty dis
played toward oxen and horses by the natives ; so strongly
contrasting with the tenderness of Burman drivers. The
cattle are small, lean, and scarred all over with the brands and
fanciful figures of their owners. Poor in flesh, and weak, they
are urged with a large stick, and by twisting the tail, in the
most violent manner. The heavy blows were continually
sounding in my ears, and, with the creaking of the wheels,
which are never greased, keep up an odious din. The horses
of their miserable caranches fare no better — the driver scarcely
ever suffering his whip to repose.
I saw many funerals, but none in which any solemnity or
pomp prevailed. The body, without a coffin, was carried on
its own paltry bedstead by four men, covered merely with a
sheet ; a few followers kept up a wailing recitative, and beat
upon small native drums. The body was thus conveyed to
the place of burning, or thrown, into the Ganges.

12 HINDUSTAN.
Close to my residence was one of those numerous tanks re
sorted to in this city, not only for drinking water, but ablutions
of all sorts. Every hour in the day some one was there bathing.
Those who came for water, would generally walk in, and let
ting their jar float awhile, bathe, and perhaps wash their cloth ;
then filling their vessel, bear it away with dripping clothes.
Some dobeys, or washermen, resorted thither, whose severe
process fully accounted for the fringes constantly made on the
edge of my clothes. Without soap or fire, they depend on mere
labour ; standing knee-deep in the water, and gathering the end

Washerman.
of a garment in their hand, they whirl it over their head, and
bring it down with great force upon a stone or inclined plank,
occasionally shaking it in the water. They spread out the
articles on the hot sand, and a powerful sun enables them to
present clothes of snowy whiteness.
My stay in the city included several annual festivals, of
which one was the Door-ga Poo-ja, which commenced on the
fifteenth of October, and lasted till the nineteenth. The whole
population unites in this celebration, and the government
offices are closed. It is in honour of Bhagabatee, wife of
Seeb, who is called Doorga, from her having destroyed a
dreadful giant of that name, who had subdued most of the
gods. The first day is spent in waking up Doorga, and other gods,
who are supposed to have slept since the festival of Shayan
Ekadashee. The second day, vows are made, and offerings

CALCUTTA. 13
of water, flowers, sweetmeats, &c, are presented. The third
day is occupied with ceremonies to bring the soul of Doorga
into the image. To effect this, the priest repeats prayers,
offers incantations, and touches the eyes, cheeks, nose, breast,
&c, of the image with his finger. The image now becomes
an object of worship, and crowds offer it divine honours, pre
senting at the same time large quantities of fruits, clothing,
and food ; which, of course, are perquisites to the Brahmins.
The fourth day streams with the blood of animal sacrifices.
The worshippers dance before the idol, smeared with gore ;
drums beat ; and shouts rend the air. The heads only of the
victims are offered, the worshippers eating the carcasses, and
rioting in strong drink. Such Hindus as worship Vishnu, not
being permitted to shed blood, offer pumpkins, melons, sugar
cane, &c, which are cut in two with the sacrificial knife, that
the juice may flow forth. All these days, the image is kept
in the house, and the services performed in interior courts, so
that the streets show little confusion or stir. The evenings
are occupied with songs and dancing, often of an indecent
character. The last and great day brings the goddess abroad, carried
in triumph upon the shoulders of men, to be thrown into the
river. Crowds follow with shouts ; bands of music accom
pany each group; and towards sunset the streets are
literally full of these processions. I rode to the margin of the
river, at that time, to witness this part' of the festival ; and
during the stay of a single hour, scores of images were thrown
in at that place. Above and below, the same scenes were
enacted. These exhibitions not only present Doorga, but several other
images, often as large as life, very handsomely moulded, of
wax, clay, or paper. Under an ornamented canopy stands
the goddess, stretching out her ten arms, each of which has
an occupation. One transfixes with a spear the giant
Mahisha ; others hold implements of war, flowers, sceptres,

14 HINDUSTAN.
&c. Beneath her feet is a lion, tearing the said giant ; and
on each side are her sons, Kartik and Ganesh. The whole is
borne on a frame or bier, requiring twenty or thirty bearers.
The group is generally got up with much skill, and no little
ornament, some of which is really tasteful and costly. Vast
sums are expended at this festival by all ranks, amounting, in
some cases, even to twenty or thirty thousand rupees ! Almost
every respectable family makes one of these objects, and
lavishes on it considerable expense. The offerings, the music,
the feast, and still more, the gifts to Brahmins, make up a
heavy cost. I could not help observing, that the men em
ployed to cast the fabric into the river, no sooner got a little
way from the shore, in the boat, than they began to rifle the
goddess of her muslins, plumes, and gilded ornaments, so that
often nothing but a mere wreck was thrown overboard.
Calcutta being the focus of religious intelligence for all the
East, and the seat of numerous missionary operations, I was
not sorry that no vessel offered for my next port of destina
tion, for two mouths. It gave me an opportunity of visiting
the charitable, literary, and religious institutions ; attending
the various churches, and several anniversaries; mingling with
ministerial society, committees, and conferences, and gathering
no small amount of information from the best sources. I shall,
however, only note here such as will interest the general
reader. One of my first visits was to the school of the Scottish
General Assembly, founded by Rev. Mr. Duff, and now
under the care of Rev. Messrs. Mackay and Ewart. It occu
pies a large brick building, inclosing a quadrangular court,
formerly the residence of a wealthy Baboo, and standing in
the midst of the native town.* It has existed about six
years, and now numbers about six hundred and thirty-four
pupils; boys, mostly under fourteen years. They are all
* A new building, capable of accommodating one thousand pupils, has
since been erected in Cornwallis Square,

CALCUTTA. 15
Bengalees and Hindus, generally of the higher castes, and
many of them Brahmins. Many have been in the school from
the commencement. They purchase their own school-books,
and receive no support from the school ; but the tuition is
gratis. There are five ushers, besides twelve or fifteen of the
more advanced scholars, who act as assistant teachers. The
instruction is wholly in the English language. I examined
several classes in ancient and modern history, mathematics,
astronomy, and Christianity ; and have never met classes
showing a more thorough knowledge of the books they had
studied. Nearly all of the two upper classes are convinced
of the truth of the gospel, and went over the leading evidences
in a manner that, I am sure, few professors of religion in our
country can do. Some six or seven pupils have given evi
dence of a work of grace in their heart ; a few of which have
made a profession of religion.
A few weeks after, I had the pleasure of attending the
public annual examination of this school, held in the town
hall, a truly noble building. I never witnessed a better
examination. The pupils were often led away from the direct
subject, by gentlemen present, and in every case showed a
good insight into the subject they had studied. Several
excellent essays were read in English, wholly composed by
the scholars, two of which were of special cleverness ; one in
favour of caste, the other against it. The former received
some tokens of applause from the Europeans, for the talent it
displayed ; but not a native clapped. On the conclusion of
that against caste, the whole mass of pupils burst out into
thundering applause ! This incident is worthy of note, as
showing the waning influence of Brahma.
The Benevolent Institution, instituted thirty years ago by
the Serampore Missionaries, has continued without interrup
tion ; imparting the English language and English literature,
on the Lancasterian plan, to an average of three hundred
pupils. Several times that number have left the school with

16 HINDUSTAN.
more or less education, many of whom are now honourably
employed as teachers, writers, and clerks. There are now a
hundred and eighty in the boys', and thirty in the girls' de
partment. The establishment of other schools has diminished
its number. It was intended entirely for the benefit of the
children of nominal Christians, chiefly Catholic, who were
growing up in ignorance and vice ; but some pagan youth are
now admitted. The Rev. Mr. Penny has devoted himself to
this service for many years ; and recently his salary has been
paid by government. The boys live with their parents, and
receive no support from the school.
The Boarding and Day Schools at Chitpore, one of the
northern suburbs of Calcutta, were established by the Baptist
missionaries, in 1829. They are under the care of Rev. J. D.
Ellis, and contained boys and girls, till the latter were removed
to Seebpore. The boarding school is for the children of native
Christians, and contains forty-five interesting boys, none
under seven years. They are entirely supported, at an
average expense of about four rupees a month ; including food,
clothes, books, salaries of assistant teachers, building, medicine.
&c. Nine of the boys have become pious, and been received
into the church, and three others are to be baptised soon.
The day school, on separate premises, is for heathen boys
and contains three hundred pupils, from eight to eighteen
years of age. They study the English language, and all the
branches of a good high-school. They provide their own
books and stationery, so that the salaries of the native ushers
amounting in the aggregate to seventy-five rupees a month,
and the rent of the buildings, constitute all the expense. This
school is decidedly the best I found in Calcutta, excepting,
perhaps, that of the General Assembly just mentioned, to
which it is not inferior. The arrangement of the school-house
and grounds, the general government, the deportment of the
pupils, and the degrees of proficiency, are most satisfactory.
None have become open Christians ; but most of the senior

CALCUTTA. 1 7
boys theoretically reject idolatry, and declare ours to be the
only true faith. I was astonished at the readiness with which
they went over the evidences of Christianity, from miracles,
prophecy, history, internal structure, &c. I started many of
the plausible objections of heathen and infidels, and found
they had truly mastered both the text-books and the subject.
Bishop's College, founded by Bp. Middleton, stands a few
miles below Calcutta, on the river Hoogly. The college
edifice is of great size, and substantially built, in the Gothic
style, and the professors' houses, pleasure-grounds, &c, are
every way suitable. A distinguished civilian politely took
me there in his carriage, and the president kindly showed us
every part. The fine library, beautiful chapel, and admirable
arrangements, with the high character of the instructors, seem
to invite students ; but there have as yet been never more
than ten or twelve at a time. This is possibly owing in part
to the exclusively Episcopal character of the college. The
salary of the principal is one thousand pounds per annum, and
of the second teacher, seven hundred pounds.
The Indian Female Orphan Refuge, and Central School,
were founded by Mrs. Wilson (then Miss Cook), about twelve
years ago. The two departments under the above names
occupied the same building, till the present season, when the
Refuge was removed to new and more suitable premises, six
miles north of the city. The increased and improved accom
modations will enable this excellent lady to enhance the value
of her admirable charity. Here native orphans, and other
destitute or abandoned children, are received at any age, how
ever young, and remain till marriageable, supported in all
respects. A considerable number of them were redeemed
from actual starvation, during the dreadful desolation of a
hurricane on the Hoogly river, a few years since. All are
taught to read and speak English, beside the elementary
studies and needle- work. They are found to be acute, and
generally learn to read and understand the New Testament in

18 HINDUSTAN.
one year. Some six or eight are Mussulman children ; the
rest are Hindus, who, of course, lose whatever caste they
may have ; though this now, in Calcutta, is productive of
comparatively little inconvenience to the poor. The present
number in the Refuge is one hundred and eight, and the whole
cost per annum, for each child, is found to be about twenty-
five rupees. Mrs. Wilson (now a widow) resides in the insti
tution, and devotes herself most steadfastly to the arduous
work. Possessing the unlimited confidence of the philanthro
pists of Calcutta, she has been able to meet the expenses of
her new and extensive buildings, and is not likely to want
funds for sustaining the school.
The Central School has, on an average, two hundred and
fifty girls, who attend in the day-time only, and receive no
support. The first impressions, on entering the vast room
where they are taught, are very touching. Seated on mats,
in groups of eight or ten, around the sides of the room, are
thirty classes ; each with a native teacher in the midst. The
thin cotton shawls, covering not only the whole person, but
the head, are lent them every morning to wear in school, and
kept beautifully white. In their noses or ears hang rings of
large diameter ; and many of them had the little spot at the
root of the nose *, indicative of the god they serve, tattooed.
Some had on the arms or ankles numerous bracelets or ban*
gles, of ivory, wood, or silver ; and many wore rings on the
toes ; all according to the immemorial usage of Bengalee
women. All were intent on their lessons ; and when it was consi
dered that those lessons comprised the blessed truths of reve
lation, the scene could not but affect a Christian's heart with
* This custom of marking the forehead illustrates, very forcibly, the
expression of Deut. xxxii. 5 ; " Their spot is not the spot of his children."
Some have one spot just above the root of the nose — yellow, brown , or red,
as the sect may be. Some have two spots, some a perpendicular line,
others two or three lines ; some a horizontal line, or two, or three. Thus
every one carries on his front a profession of his faith, and openly an.
nounces to all men his creed.

CALCUTTA. 19
gratitude and hope. Two pious ladies devote themselves to
the management of this school, and attend all day. A native
preacher conducts daily worship, and preaches once a week.
The native women, being paid one pice per day for each
scholar, are thus induced, though heathen, to exert themselves
to keep their classes full.
The two institutions last named show what may be done
by ladies. What abundant opportunities are presented, in
several parts of the world, for them to come forth, and be co
workers in the missionary enterprise !
The Martiniere, founded by a munificent legacy of General
Martin, was opened March 1835, and has already eighty
pupils, of which fifty are wholly supported. It is intended
solely for the children of Europeans, and has a principal and
two professors. The building, which cost 200,000 rupees,
is truly noble, and stands on the southern edge of the
city, amid extensive grounds. Many more pupils can be
accommodated ; and there is no doubt the number will soon
be full. The children are not required to be orphans, or very
poor, but are admitted from that class of society which, though
respectable, find it impossible to give their children a good
education, and are glad to be relieved from their support.
The Leper Hospital, founded by the exertions of Dr. Carey,
is located on the road to Barrackpore, a little north of the
city. Instead of a large building, it is an inclosed village,
with neat grounds and out-houses. Any lepers may resort
there, and receive maintenance in full, with such medical
treatment as the case may encourage. It generally contains
several hundred; but many prefer to subsist by begging in the
.streets. Beside these institutions, there are several others, such as
orphan asylums, a floating chapel, &c, of a character similar
to those of our own country, and which therefore do not need
any description.
In 1813, parliament required the East India Company to

20 HINDUSTAN.
devote 10,000£, or a lac of rupees, annually, for the educa
tion and improvement of the natives ; but nothing was done
for fifteen or sixteen years. The funds, with other appropri
ations, which had accumulated to nearly 300,000 rupees per
annum, were then placed under the control of a " Committee
of Education," who proceeded to work in earnest. The
Hindu, Mahometan, and Sunscrit Colleges in Calcutta, were
taken under the patronage of the committee, and schools and
colleges at Benares, Delhi, Hoogly, Agra, Moorshedabad,
Bangulpore, Saugor, Maulmain, and Allahabad, were soon
founded. In 1835, a new impulse and direction was given
to these operations, and there were established the Medical
College of Calcutta, and schools at Pooree, Gowhatte, Dacca,
Patna, Ghazepore, and Merut. The following are now in
course of being established — Rajshahi, Jubbulpore, Hoshun-
gabad, Furruckabad, Bareilly, and Ajmere. The whole
number of pupils at present is three thousand three hundred
and ninety-eight *, of whom one thousand eight hundred and
ninety-one study English, two hundred and eighteen Arabic,
four hundred and seventy-three Sunscrit, and three hundred
and seventy-six Persian. Most of the rest are confined to
the local vernacular. Of the students, one thousand eight
hundred and eighty-one are Hindus, five hundred and ninety-
six Mussulmans, seventy-seven Christians, and the rest are
Burmans, Chinese, &c. A summary view of those in Cal
cutta will give a general idea of the whole.
The Hindu College, (called by Hindus the Vidyalaya?)
established in 1816, by wealthy natives, contains four hun
dred and fifty pupils. About sixty are on scholarships ; the
rest pay from five to seven rupees per month for tuition.
It has two departments ; one for imparting education in
English, and English literature, open to all classes and castes ;
* The number of pupils has now (January, 1839,) increased to nearly
7000 ; but those studying Arabic, Sunscrit, and Persian, are fewer than in
1835.

CALCUTTA. 21
the other for the cultivation of Sunscrit literature, and open
only to persons of the Brahminical order, who are not ad
mitted under twelve years of age. In the English depart
ment, instruction is given in reading, writing, arithmetic,
composition, mathematics, history, natural philosophy, geo
graphy, &c. The institute has a valuable library in English,
which serves to give efficacy and expansion to the system of
instruction. The fact that natives are willing to pay so much
for tuition, and support themselves, shows the prevailing
anxiety to acquire our language. Scholars are received into
the English department as young as six years.
The Sunscrit College has about one hundred and thirty-
five pupils ; part of whom study English, with the other
branches. They are instructed in Hindu literature, law, and
theology. The fewness of scholars seeking instruction in this
worthless stuff is a good sign. Even of these, fifty-seven are
paid monthly stipends of from six to eight rupees. The rest
are not charged for tuition. The term of attendance is
twelve years ; viz. three for grammar, two for general litera
ture, one for rhetoric, one for logic, one for theology, one for
mathematics, and three for law. All the forms and distinc
tions of caste are observed at this school.
The Mahometan College (generally called the Madressa,)
is for the instruction of that class of natives in their own
literature and faith. Formerly, the students were allowed
stipends of seven or eight rupees per month ; but, as those
who hold these fall off, they are not renewed to others, so
that the number is annually diminishing. It has two depart
ments, Oriental and English ; the former containing ninety-
one students, and the latter one hundred and thirty. The
studies are reading, writing, spelling, grammar, arithmetic,
geography, history, natural philosophy, and the Mahometan
laws and religion.
The Hoogly (or Mahomet Muhsin's) College, situated about
twenty-five miles above Calcutta, has grown out of the

22 HINDUSTAN.
Hoogly School, which flourished several years, teaching chiefly
the English language, to about one hundred and thirty pupils.
Large endowments from the above-named Baboo have lately
become available, and yield an annual revenue of no less than
a lac of rupees. It was re-opened on an enlarged system in
August, 1836, and already enrols more than fifteen hundred
students, who have entered the western department ; that is,
to prosecute English and English literature exclusively ; and
three hundred who have entered the oriental department.
About one hundred of the latter study English in connection
with Eastern languages, and two hundred study Arabic and
Persian exclusively.
The Medical College was instituted by a general order of
the supreme government, in which it was directed that the
Native Medical Institution, then existing under Dr. Tytler,
and the medical classes at the Sunscrit and Mahometan Col
leges, should be abolished, and a new institution formed.
Medical science is here on the most enlightened principles,
and in the English language. Instruction commenced in June,
1835, with forty-nine students, selected from numerous appli
cants. All were required to be able to speak, read, and write
English with ease and accuracy. The institution is a great
favourite with Britons in Calcutta, and promises very im
portant benefits to Bengal, besides raising up suitable doctors
for the native regiments. None but native students are ad
mitted ; but these may be of any creed or caste ; and for fifty
of them, a competent support is provided. They are received
between the ages of fourteen and twenty, and such as are
allowed stipends are required to remain five or six years.
For each of these institutions a good English library and
philosophical apparatus have been ordered from London,
toward which object a wealthy Baboo has giventwenty thousand
rupees. Persons of all ages, religious opinions, and castes, are
admitted as pupils in all the government institutions except the
Hindu, Mahometan, and Sunscrit Colleges at Calcutta, and,

CALCUTTA. 23
the Sunscrit College at Benares. The effect of these last-
named institutions is regarded by many as wholly tending to
support the national systems of religion and literature, and,
therefore, so far as the eternal well-being of the pupils is
concerned, decidedly injurious.
The circumstances of the country make these colleges, not
what a cursory reader would infer from the name, but schools ,'
or, at the best, academies. Education has not long enough
prevailed to have produced a race of young men prepared by
elementary studies to pursue the higher branches. The pupils
of these "colleges" are taught to read, write, and cipher, as
well as grammar, geography, logic, mathematics, &c, from
the rudiments upward.
Until 1835, the policy of the committee was to' encourage
the study of Persian, Sunscrit, and Arabic literature, as the
best means of elevating the general intelligence of the natives.
Hence the endowment of schools and colleges, expressly for
these studies, and paying the students liberal monthly stipends.
A great number were thus induced to study these dead lan
guages, who felt no interest in them, and made no valuable
proficiency. While modern science was enlightening all
Europe, these students were learning Ptolemy's astronomy,
Aristotle's philosophy, and Galen's medical institutes, and
reading the shockingly lascivious stories of the Mricchakata,
and the Nol Damayanti. Bishop Heber examined some of
these students at Benares, and says,* " The astronomical
lecturer produced a terrestrial globe, divided according to
their system, and elevated to the meridian of Benares.
Mount Meru he identified with the north pole, and under
the south pole he supposed the tortoise ' Chukwa' to stand ;
on which the earth rests. He then showed me how the sun
went round the earth once in every day, and how, by a dif
ferent motion, he visited the signs of the zodiac." As Hindu
literature has been highly extolled by some, I will add a
* Travels in India.

24 HINDUSTAN.
specimen from Ram Mohun Roy's account of it.* " ' Khad
signifies to eat ; Khaduti, he, she, or it eats : query, does
Khaduti, as a whole, convey the meaning he, she, or it eats,
or are separate parts of this meaning conveyed by distinctions
of the word V As if, in the English language, it were asked,
How much meaning is there in the eat, and how much in
the s ? And is the whole meaning conveyed by these two
portions of the word distinctly, or by them taken jointly?"
" In medicine and chemistry they are just sufficiently advanced
to talk of substances being moist, dry, hot, &c, in the third
or fourth degree; to dissuade from physicking, or letting
blood, on a Tuesday, or under a particular aspect of the
heavens ; and to be eager in the pursuit of the philosopher's
stone, and the elixir of immortality."t
The Rev. Mr. Wilson, in a sermon on behalf of the Scotch
Missionary Society, and dedicated to the Right Hon. Sir
Robert Grant, governor of Bombay, preached in Bombay,
November, 1835, touches this matter briefly; and I quote
some of his remarks, because of the high authority on which
they come. Speaking of the appropriation of the lac of
rupees, he remarks, " We, the representatives of the British
nation in India, instead of applying this grant wholly to the
diffusion of a knowledge of the literature and science of the
West, as, we must suppose, was intended, employed most of
it in the support of colleges for teaching pensioned students
the elements of the Sunscrit and Arabic languages, and incul
cating through them the immoral precepts of the Vedas and
Purannas, the aphorisms of dreamy and obsolete legislators,
and the prescriptions of quack doctors and alchemists ; or in
printing Oriental books to fill the shelves of the learned and
curious, but illiberal and unphilanthropic confederacy, of
English and French antiquarians."
This policy of the committee led also to the expenditure of
* Letter to Lord Araherst, Governor-general of India.
X Heber.

CALCUTTA. 25
enormous sums in procuring translations of elevated scientific
works into those languages, and printing original Arabic, Per
sian, and Sunscrit works hitherto unknown to Europe. Of
the books printed by the committee up to 1832, there were of
Sunscrit thirteen thousand volumes, of Arabic five thousand,
Persian two thousand five hundred, Hindu two thousand.
A large proportion of these are quarto volumes, of seven
hundred to eight hundred pages, and printed in editions of
five hundred copies. Of course, were they ever so valuable,
they could not be generally diffused over an empire of two
millions of inhabitants. Not a single work was printed in the
prevailing and spoken languages of India ! The books thus
brought forth as treasures of Oriental literature, were indeed
such to some philologists of Europe ; but false philosophy,
fabulous histories, and impure romances, could do no good to
Hindus, even supposing the mass of the people could have
read them.
The policy of the committee, as at present constituted, is,
to cultivate Western, rather than Eastern literature, and to
diffuse modern science and arts, by extending a knowledge of
the English language, and by multiplying valuable works in
the vulgar tongues. In accomplishing this important change,
perhaps no man has been more instrumental than C. E. Tre-
velyan, Esq., of the Bengal civil service, to whom India is,
in many other respects, greatly indebted.
The stipends which were paid to pupils in the Arabic,
Sunscrit, and Persian languages, are now refused to new
applicants, and expire as vacancies occur. This change not
only adds to the available funds of the committee, but leaves
the dead languages to be cultivated, just so far as their intrinsic
worth shall induce the native. In all the new institutions,
pupils are admitted without distinccion of caste.
The prospect now is, that English, with its vast stores of
knowledge, in every department, will become the classical
VOL. II. c

26 HINDUSTAN.
language of the country.* The holders of office, and influential
natives generally, of the next generation, will be enlightened
beyond what could have ever been hoped for, under the old
system. Some of those who give themselves to literary pur
suits, will no doubt acquire such a mastery of certain sciences,
as to become able to bring forth works of great utility in their
mother tongue. By such works, and not by translations made
by foreigners, light may spread to all the people, and this vast
continent be brought forth into a worthy place among the
nations. Missionaries long since saw this subject as the education
committee now see it, and thousands of natives, in Calcutta
alone, have been taught in their schools to read English.
There are probably now in that city not less than four thou
sand youths receiving an English education. In the Hindu
College, established in 1816, and conducted wholly with refer
ence to English, there are four hundred and seven students,
of whom three hundred and fifty-six pay from five to seven
rupees a month for tuition, while the Sunscrit College, where
fifty-seven students receive a stipend of from six to eight
rupees per month, and the rest are taught gratuitously, there
are but one hundred and thirty-five pupils. In the Arabic
College are two hundred students, one hundred and thirty-
four of whom study English, and most of the remainder receive
stipends. The Hoogly College has grown out of the Hoogly
School, in which the English language was always a primary
object. Having received endowments from a native gentle
man, yielding annually 100,000 rupees, it has recently been
thrown open to receive more pupils ; and already fifteen
* When we consider the vast spread of the British empire in India, the
diffusion of the English language over the whole continent of North
America, and many of the West India islands, the establishment of British
laws and language in all South Africa and Australia, and the growing
colonies on the west coast of Africa, it is not unreasonable to anticipate
the prevalence of our language, at no distant day, among millions in all
quarters of the globe.

CALCUTTA. 27
hundred students have entered the " western department,"
that is, to study English, and English literature exclusively.
About three hundred have entered to study English, in con
nexion with Oriental literature ; and two hundred to study
Arabic and Persian exclusively.
A further evidence of the present demand for English, is
seen in the operations of the Calcutta School-book Society.
This institution prints elementary books, in all the languages
required by schools in the presidency, at the cheapest possible
rate ; and from its depository, most schools are supplied, in
whole or in part. The following summary of sales is from
the last annual report, viz : —
English  31,649 books.
Anglo-Asiatic (i. e. in the Roman Character). 4,525 "
Bengalee  5,754 "
Hindui  4,171 "
Hindustani  3,384 "
Persian  1,454 "
Oriya  834 "
Arabic  36 "
Sunscrit  16 "
With this impulse in favour of the English language, and
European literature, has sprung up, chiefly through the same
instrumentality, another, equally strong, in favour of using
the Roman letters for Indian languages. I regard this as
scarcely less important than the other, and have briefly
handled the point in some remarks on " The mode of con
ducting missions," in Part IV.
That the elements of society are not stagnant in Calcutta,
and that light is breaking in upon the public mind, is evinced,
among other proofs, by the present state of the native news
paper press. Formerly there was no such thing in the city;
now there are seven or eight. Among them are " The
Durpin," published in Bengalee and English, by nominal
Christians, but somewhat neuter ; the " Chundrika," strongly
in favour of the entire idolatrous system ; the " Cowmoodee,"
c 2

28 HINDUSTAN.
temperate and conciliatory, and rejecting the grosser Hindu
superstitions, but decidedly polytheistic. The " Reformer,"
in the English language entirely, and the first newspaper
conducted in English by natives, advocates the Vedant sys
tem, but is temperate. The " Inquirer," also in the English
language, is the organ of the education party among the
natives. The " Gyananeshun," wholly in the Bengal language,
resolutely attacks the Brahminical order, and all the mon
strous rites and ceremonies of the Hindus. There is another,
published in the Persian language, which is conducted with
considerable talent, but chiefly occupied with matter not
generally interesting to Hindus or English. All these are in
addition to the various newspapers, journals, and other
periodicals published by Britons, of which there are not few,
and several of them decidedly pure and religious in their
character. For English readers there are several newspapers
and magazines, and two medical journals. The Asiatic
Society, founded in 1784, continues its elevated career, and
annually renders important contributions to general, as well
as Oriental science and literature. The " Calcutta Christian
Observer" is an admirable monthly, sustained, by all per
suasions, and replete with information, not only on missionary,
but scientific and literary subjects.
The Hindu and Mussulman religious edifices in Calcutta
are few and mean ; strongly contrasting with those in some
other parts of the country, and with the stupendous pagodas
and splendid zayats of the Burmans. The mosques resemble
Oriental mausoleums, seldom larger than a native's hut, and
often not bigger than a dog-house. The dome is almost
always semi-spherical, and generally the plaster, which covers
the brick walls, is wrought into minute ornaments of ara
besque tracery ; not always tasteful, or even chaste. Tombs,
both for Europeans and rich natives, are often so built, that
natives might dwell in them very comfortably, and remind
one of some passages in Scripture, where lunatics and others

CALCUTTA. 29
are said to live in tombs. They resemble handsome summer-
houses, and afford all the shelter a Hindu desires, and much
more than he often enjoys.
The conspicuousness of the late Ram Mohun Roy, and the
eclat given for a time to the reformation which he was sup
posed to be effecting, called me to his meeting with feelings
of no ordinary interest. The Rev. Mr. Lacroix, to whom the
language is perfectly familiar, kindly took me to the Brohma
Sobha, as the congregation is called, and interpreted for me
the substance of the various exercises. We found the place
to be a commodious hall, in a respectable Hindu dwelling-
house. There was no idol, or idolatrous representation of
any kind. On a small stage, raised about eighteen inches
from the floor, handsomely carpeted, sat cross-legged two
respectable-looking pundits. One side of the room was spread
with clean cloths for the native attendants, who sat after the
manner of the country ; and on the other were chairs for the
accommodation of strangers. In the centre, and opposite to
the rostrum, lay some native musical instruments, and a
violin. The room was well lighted, and the punkas of course
waved overhead.
One of the pundits opened the services by reading Sunscrit
from a loose palm-leaf held in his hand, stopping at every
two or three words to expound and enforce. The subject
was knowledge — what it was, and what it was not, &c.
Abstract ethical questions were discussed, not unlike the
fashion of the old scholastics ; but no moral deductions were
made, nor anything said to improve the hearers. The whole
discourse must have been unintelligible to most of them.
The other then read a discourse in Bengalee, consisting
chiefly of explanations of their religious system, and en
comiums on it. He particularly dwelt on its liberality;
boasting that they quarrelled with no name or persuasion
and assuring us, that it was of no consequence whether we
worshipped idols, Mahomet, Jesus Christ, or the Virgin

30 HINDUSTAN.
Mary ; that it was not possible to come to any certain
knowledge respecting religious things ; and that if any man
believed his way to be right, that way was right for him.
These discourses extended to about an hour ; and the rest of
the time, about another hour, was occupied with music. At
the close of the preaching, professed musicians advanced to
the instruments, and, seating themselves on the mats, put
them in tune, with the usual amount of discord. Two of
them then sang several hymns, with instruments accompany
ing it. The themes were, the unity of the Divine Essence,
and the various attributes of majesty and power. No one
joined the strain, nor were there any books to enable them to
do so. Nothing could be less reverent or devotional than
the manner of the musicians. They looked about them with
all possible self-complacency, making unmeaning gestures,
bowing and blinking to each other, and vociferating with such
a nasal twang, that it was a relief when they had finished. I
thought it was literally such music as the poet speaks of —
intended " to soothe savage breasts ;" for certainly no other
could well endure it.
On their retiring, a very different singer took the place,
and proceeded for half an hour, with great power of execution,
and not a little taste. His voice was uncommonly fine. He
accompanied himself skilfully on the native guitar. The
violin had been well played from the beginning, and the
music was now truly excellent, furnishing, I was informed,
a fair specimen of the best Bengal art. The singer, as well
as the violinist, is distinguished at the nautch entertainments
of the city. The subject was still the attributes of God.
The Bengalee language has, for this purpose, a noble ad
vantage over ours, in numerous expressions derived from the
Sunscrit, which utter in a single word what may be called
the negative attributes, and which we cannot express with
brevity ; such as " He that needs no refuge ;" " He that is
never perplexed," "He that can never grow weary;" &c.

CALCUTTA. 31
The singer used these epithets with great majesty ; using
animated gestures, and with a countenance finely varying
with the theme. At the close of this exercise the assembly
broke up.
No female was present, nor do any ever attend. Most of
the congregation came in only in time to hear the music, and
stood near the staircase, not without disorder. The number
of the regular attendants was not over twenty. I am in
formed thirty is the largest number ever present. The
spectators were somewhat more numerous.
Few of the professed adherents are so confident of their
rectitude, as to detach themselves wholly from the common
religious customs, though more negligent in these matters
than their neighbours. The very pundits officiate, not because
converts to these opinions (for such they do not profess to
be), but because regularly paid for their services. One of
them, in his discourse this evening, expressly told us that
there was no impropriety in worshipping idols — a doctrine
which R. Roy would not admit. The musicians also are
paid, and perform here for the same reasons that they do at a
nautch, so that the whole concern is sustained by the money
of a few friends, and descendants of R. Roy.
Such is the boasted reformation of Ram Mohun Roy ! Not
another congregation of his followers is found in all India !
Of his labours as a reformer this is the sum : — Fifty or a
hundred persons rendered negligent of the national religion
or gathered here because they were so before, without being
a whit the better in their private life or public influence ; in
some cases, adding the sins of Europeans to those of their
countrymen; without being disentangled from the horrid
system of the Shasters ; without being ready, or without the
moral courage, to restore to their own wives and daughters
the rights of human nature. With all the superiority to
prejudice and custom, boasted by Ram Mohun Roy, he did
nothing for the elevation of the sex.

32 HINDUSTAN.
A striking instance of this occurred, not very long since,
in the case of D.T., one of his most intelligent followers.
This gentleman is a partner in a European house, in the habit
of mixing with European gentlemen, and evidently much
more enlightened than most of his countrymen. Yet was he
so much under the influence of Hindu public opinion, as to
marry his daughter to a Ku-len Brahmin, for the purpose of
elevating the family above the reproach occasioned by one of
his ancestors, with many others, having been compelled to
eat beef, by a Mahometan enemy, named Per Ali. The
young lady is well educated, reads and writes English, and
is remarkably intelligent. The Brahmin is as ignorant as
the rest of his class, and will probably marry others, as
arvarice or caprice may move him. Brahmins of this caste
may marry any number of wives, but are not bound to live
with them. They not unfrequently leave a wife after a few
weeks, and never see her again. She is thus doomed to
hopeless widowhood, merely to gratify the ambition of her
family. Thus completely is Ram Mohun Roy's principal
disciple under the influence of a thraldom which that great
man professed to despise. A good school would have done
more than all that has been accomplished by the Bromha
Sobha. We should expect pupils who had become so far
released from Hindu prejudice, to advance to a complete
emancipation. But this people show no tendency to advance;
they have long stood still ; and everything already wears an
aspect of decrepitude and decay. What a monument of the
entire inefficacy of unassisted reason, to ameliorate the reli
gious condition of any people ! Already may the undertaking
of this truly great man be pronounced a failure ; and soon all
traces of it will be lost from earth.
R. Roy established a weekly newspaper, called the " Re-
fomer,'' which was intended chiefly to excite among those
Hindus who understand English a desire for improvement in
their civil condition. It is yet continued, edited by an

CALCUTTA. 33
intelligent native, though incorporated now with a Calcutta
paper, conducted by a European. It has often contained
well- written papers against Churruck Pooja, Ku-len mar
riages, and the other abominations of the Hindu system, and
is, doubtless, as at present conducted, a valuable journal.
R. Roy was not a Unitarian Christian, but a Unitarian
Hindu. He believed that there was such a person as Jesus
Christ, and that he was the best moral teacher the world ever
saw ; but regarded his death as having no efficacy of atone
ment. His capacious mind, and extensive knowledge of the
Shasters, impelled him to abhor the abominations of the Veda,
and the monstrosities of its thirty-three millions of gods. But
he found in the Vedanta Sar (an exposition of the four Vedas)
a sort of Unitarianism, which he endeavoured on all occasions
to disseminate. The doctrine might as well be called pan
theism ; for it maintains the old Pythagorean doctrine, that
God is the soul of the world, and that every animal, plant, or
stone, is therefore part of Deity. It makes perfect religion
to consist in knowledge alone, or the realising in every thing
the Supreme Being ; and excludes ceremonies of all kinds.
There was formerly a Unitarian Christian congregation in
Calcutta, established under the care of Rev. W. Adams, (pre
viously a missionary,) who met for a short time at a private
house. The first Sunday they had sixty or seventy persons
present, the second fifty ; and soon only five attended. Mr.
Adams, thus disconcerted, became the editor of a paper, and
subsequently accepted an appointment under government, to
visit various parts of India, and to report on the state of edu
cation in the interior. In this last capacity, he has acquired
honourable distinction, and increasing usefulness. His reports
are exciting great attention, and show not only unwearied
industry, but superior talents.
The population of Calcutta is ascertained, by a census just
taken, to be 229,000 within the ditch ; and 500,000 are sup
posed to reside in the immediate suburbs. Within a circuit of
c3

34 HINDUSTAN.
twenty miles, the population is generally set down at two
millions. Of the number within the city, about 130,000 are
Hindus, 60,000 Mussulmans, 3000 English, and 3000 Portu
guese, or Indo-Britons ; the rest are French, Chinese, Arme
nians, Jews, Moguls, Parsees, Arabs, Mugs, Madrasees, &c.
The whole number of houses is 66,000; of which nearly 15,000
are brick ; the rest are of mud or mats. Officers stationed at
the principal avenues into the city, found that about 100,000
persons enter daily from the surrounding villages; chiefly
sircars, clerks, servants, fruiterers, &c.
The means now in operation, for the education and religious
instruction of this vast population, have in part been men
tioned. That they are so great, is matter of devout thanks
giving and encouragement ; but their distressing inadequacy
to the wants of such a multitude is obvious.
• Society in Calcutta, like that of other places, where a large
portion of the gentry live on stated salaries, has a tendency to
extravagance. Most families live fully up to their income,
and many, especially junior officers, go deeply in debt. The
expenses of living are, in their chief points, as follows : — Ser
vants' wages, from four to six rupees, without food or lodging ;
rent of a small plain house, fifty to eighty rupees a month ;
rice, three and a half rupees a maund ; fowls, two to three
annas each ; ducks, five to six annas apiece ; washing, three
rupees per hundred pieces ; board and lodging of one person
per month, in a plain way, fifty rupees.
A few years since, the state of morals was generally bad, both
in the city and Mofussil. Scarcely any officers or civil ser
vants were pious, and the marriage tie seemed held in con
tempt. Gross immoralities are now more rare, and where they
exist, less shamelessly exposed. A considerable number of
distinguished individuals, both in the civil and military service
are not only avowedly, but earnestly pious. The strong and
constant resistance lately made by the government of India
to the spread of the gospel, is within the memory of every

CALCUTTA. 35
reader. This resistance was enforced and stimulated by almost
every European resident, especially among the higher classes.
They really believed, that to permit missionary operations,
was to hazard their possession of the country ; and that violent
commotions on the part of the people would follow any attempt
to overturn their religion. Now, the missionary, in every
part of India, meets kind and respectful treatment from Eu
ropeans, and in many places liberal contributions are made
toward their schools. It is found that the natives can hear
their religion pronounced false, and even hold animated debates
on the subject, without dreaming of revolt. No convulsions
have ever resulted from evangelical labour, nor have any chiefs
taken offence, on this account, against the government.
There is still room for great improvement, especially in re
gard to the observance of the Sabbath. Merchants, tradesmen,
and mechanics generally, keep their people at work on that
day as usual. Buildings go on, ship-yards resound with the
hammer and axe,'goods are borne through the streets, bazaars
are open, the gentry take their usual drive, and Sunday is as
little discoverable by appearances as in Paris. The general
reason given is, that the religion of the labourers is not in
fringed. But it should not be forgotten that the command
ment is — " Thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son,
nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor
thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates."
The state of religion, as we commonly understand that
phrase, is very low. I attended most of the principal Pro
testant places of worship, and, by actual enumeration found
the largest audience not to exceed two hundred and fifty
persons. Several of them were not more than one third that
number. The church in the fort, being attended by troops,
according to regulation, is full. The monthly concert of prayer
is held unitedly by all the churches except one. At one of
these meetings which I attended, only sixty persons were
present, and in the other about eighty. During the week,

36 HINDUSTAN.
there are few prayer-meetings ; and those which I attended
seldom had more than from six to ten persons present. I could
not hear of a single Sunday School in the city. The announce
ment of the anniversaries of the Tract and Bible Societies
awakened the most pleasing expectations ; but at neither of
them were there more than seventy-five persons present, be
side the ministers.
Benevolent institutions are numerous, and generally sup
ported with great liberality. Beside those which have been
named, are the Bible Association, the Committee of the Church
Missionary Society, the Church Missionary Association, the
Diocesan Committee for promoting Christian Knowledge, the
Auxiliary Missionary Society, the Bethel Union, the Seaman's
Friend Society, the Military Orphan Society, the Military Wi
dows' Fund, Lord Clive's Fund, the King's Military Fund, the
Marine Pension Fund, the Civil Fund, the Mariners' and Ge
neral Widows' Fund, the Presidency General Hospital, the
Native Hospital, the Hospital for Native Lunatics, the Go
vernment Establishment for Vaccination, the Charitable Fund
for the Relief of Distressed Europeans, the European Female
Orphan Society.
Calcutta has sixteen Episcopal clergymen, viz., six Com
pany's chaplains, two chaplains to institutions, two professors
in Bishop's College, and six Missionaries. There are also
one Scotch Kirk chaplain, one pastor, and three missionaries
of the Independent persuasion, two Scotch Presbyterians, and
six Baptist missionaries, and several others ; making, in all,
with the bishop, mariners' minister, &c, about thirty-five
Christian ministers, beside those of the Armenian, Greek, and
Catholic churches.
There are in the city eleven Christian places of worship,
generally large, where services are held every Sunday in
English. Of these, five are Episcopal, two Baptist, one
Scotch, one Independent, and a floating chapel, for seamen.
There are also three Roman Catholic churches, one Armenian,

CALCUTTA. 37
and one Greek. At Howrah, Kidderpore, and other adjacent
villages, preaching in English is also regularly maintained.
Each of the Baptist churches has handsome brick meeting
houses. Mr. Yates is pastor in Circular Road ; Mr. Robinson
was, till recently, settled over Lallbazar, and Mr. Pearce over
the Bengaleese. A vast printing-office and type foundry,
gradually enlarged to its present dimensions at a cost of
nearly 20,000£, with three excellent dwelling-houses, have
been erected, without pecuniary aid from England, and chiefly
through the profits on the printing-office. This establishment
not only prints largely in English for government and indi
viduals, but in all the written Oriental languages, and casts
type in most of them. Six presses, on an average, are con
stantly employed in printing the Scriptures. Mr. Yates,
beside officiating as English pastor, has acquired great
celebrity for skill in Bengalee and Hindustanee, and for his
admirable revision of those versions. He seems raised up to
complete the labours of Carey in these important translations.
Many recollect with pleasure his visit to this country.
Beside the places of worship for foreigners, there are, in and
around the city, various preaching bungalows and chapels for
the natives. Of these, four are maintained by Episcopalians,
four by Baptists, five by Independents, and one by the Scotch
Kirk. Some of these are daily occupied, and, in general, with
encouraging attendance.
I was several times present on these occasions, in different
parts of the city, and was deeply interested with the decorum
and earnestness of attention shown by the auditors. As a
specimen of these occasions, I will describe one which I
attended with the Rev. Mr. La Croix, a German missionary,
who has acquired such a command of the Bengalee, as to be
as much at home in it as in his mother tongue. He devotes
himself wholly to preaching and other evangelical labours, and
unites great bodily vigour to untiring energy, and ardent
interest in his work.

38 HINDUSTAN.
On arriving at the place, no one had assembled ; but no
sooner were we seated, than some passers-by began to collect,
and the number gradually increased, during the services, to
seventy or eighty. Some sat down, but the greater part
remained standing, and scarcely advanced beyond the door.
For a while, the preacher went on expounding and argu
ing, without interruption ; but at length some well-dressed
persons proposed objections, and but for the skill of the
missionary, the sermon would have degenerated into a dis
pute. The objections showed not only acuteness, but often
considerable knowledge of the Christian Scriptures. Some
countenances evinced deep anxiety. Sometimes there was a
general murmur of applause, when strong arguments were
advanced, or satisfactory expositions given. At the close of
the meeting, many accepted tracts, selecting such as they had
not seen before. One of the most venerable hearers, and a
chief speaker, approached us as we came away, and pro
nounced upon us, in his own manner, but very solemnly,
a cordial benediction ; declaring, at the same time, that what
we advanced was all good ; that, no doubt, Christianity was
the best religion, but that too many difficulties were yet in the
way, to permit him and his countrymen to embrace it. I am
sure no Christian could be present on these occasions without
being satisfied of the importance of maintaining these efforts,
and cheered to exertions for their extension.
I attended worship, on several occasions, at Rev. W. H.
Pearce's native chapel ; and was highly gratified, not only with
the number present, and their deportment, but especially with
the psalmody. All united, with great animation, in this
delightful part of Christian worship. Two of their tunes I
was enabled to obtain in writing, and insert them here, con
fident that they will possess interest ; only regretting that I
was not able to secure, in the same way, some of the equally
pleasing airs of the Karens at Tavoy.

CALCUTTA.

39

BENGALKE AIR,
SUNG BY NATIVE CHRISTIANS IN CALCUTTA.
Harmonized in three parts, at tae request of tile author, oy LOWELL MASON, Esq.

Andante.

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HINDUSTAN.

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CALCUTTA.

41

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The above hymn was written by Krishnu, a native preacher.
The following is a

FREE TRANSLATION.

1.
He who yielded once his breath,
Sinful man to save from death,
O my soul, forget not him !
Forget not Him.

Cease thy fruitless toil and care ;
Christ will all thy burden bear ;
Grace and love shall soothe the breast
That sighs for rest.

2. 4.
Troubled soul, forget no more He is truth, and mercy mild —
God's best gift, thy richest store, — He in death with pity smiled —
Christ the Lord, whose holy name Shed his crimson blood abroad —
Now saves from shame. Leads man to God.

Faithful Friend ! on thee I call,
By day, by night, my all in all.
Thy name, sweet Jesus, brings relief,
And stays my grief.

t

ANOTHER.

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42

HINDUSTAN.

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CALCUTTA.

43

1

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LITERAL TRANSLATION.
O, my soul, be steady, be steady, he not unsteady !
The sea of love is come !
The name of Jesus bears thee over.
O, my sotd, there is no Saviour but Jesus.
Chorus. — O, my soul ! See !
There is no Saviour but Jesus.

In some places, numerous individuals have openly renounced
caste, and become nominal Christians, but without indicating
or professing a change of heart. These form a class at once
encouraging and troublesome — encouraging, because they have
broken from a fatal thraldom, and placed themselves and their
children in the way of religious instruction — troublesome, be
cause, while they come, in some degree, under the control of
the missionary, they are not reclaimed even to a strict morality,
and are naturally regarded by the heathen as exemplifying
our religion.
In a few cases, the native Christians have been gathered into
villages, together with others, who, for various reasons, have
renounced idolatry. One of these is near Serampore, super
intended by the missionaries there ; another is at Luk-yan-ti-
pore, thirty-five miles south of Calcutta ; another at Kharee,
fifteen miles further south. The two latter are under the su
perintendence of Rev. Geo. Pearce, of Seeb-pore, and contain
one hundred and seventy families. It is but eight years since
any of these people professed Christianity ; and the baptised
now amount to about fifty. Rev. Mr. De Monte, an East
Indian, and three native preachers, have the immediate charge,

44 HINDUSTAN.
Mr. P. visiting them once a month. The most promising chil
dren are taken to the Seeb-pore and Howrah boarding schools,
where about ninety of both sexes, who of course are all nominal
Christians, are now receiving a regular course of mental and
moral culture. Persons who join these villages under a no
minal profession of Christianity, are received and treated as
catechumens. They are required to promise obedience to
certain rules respecting fornication, theft, fighting, attendance
on public worship, abstaining from heathen rites, observance
of the Sabbath, &c. Themselves and their children are thus
brought immediately under the eye of a Christian teacher and
the means of grace. None are baptised, but on a satisfactory
evidence of conversion to God.
Besides the stations in connexion with the Baptist mission
aries, there are similar villages patronised by other sects, viz.
Ram Makal Choke, and Gangaree, under Mr. Piffard, of the
London Missionary Society ; Nursider Choke, under Mr. Ro
binson ; Jhan-jara, under Mr. Jones ; Ban-i-pore, under Mr.
Driberg; and Budg-Budg, under Mr. Sandys; the three latter
in connexion with the church of England. The whole number
of converts at these stations I could not learn, but am assured
that it exceeds two thousand. The degree of knowledge and
piety must be small, among converts possessing so few and re
cent means of spiritual improvement, exposed to so many snares,
trained from infancy to every vice, and belonging, for the most
part, to the lowest classes. Still there is an evident superiority,
on the side of even the nominal Christians.
Christianity is certainly gaining a footing among the natives
of Bengal ; though the rate of advancement is slow. There is
the fullest evidence that the Hindu system has received, in this
presidency at least, a great check. Few of the numerous in
dividuals, who have received education in the missionary and
government schools, retain confidence in the system of their
fathers. This class of persons is now rapidly multiplying, and
the standard of their education becoming more elevated. A

SERAMPORE. 45
smattering of geography and astronomy, is itself sufficient to
break the power of the prevailing belief on the mind of the
pupil. The preaching of missionaries, the distribution of
Bibles and tracts, and the natural inquiries elicited by the
presence of so many intelligent foreigners professing Christi
anity, have tended to diffuse still more widely the knowledge
and claims of true religion. Multitudes are convinced that
their system is wrong, who are yet retained in the ranks of
idolatry or Mahometism by a fear, lest possibly the faith of
their fathers may be best for them, and a want of principle,
sufficient to encounter opposition and suffering. But their
stated observances are coldly rendered ; their children are not
brought up with the old enthusiasm for the national faith ;
and a thousand acts and expressions apprise those children of
their parents'1 true sentiments. These, together with the nu
merous youths who are receiving education from Europeans,
already form a considerable body of the rising generation.
Loosed, in a good degree, from the intellectual bondage which
has griped preceding generations, and prepared, in various
other ways, to hear preaching with profit, they form an in
creasing class, to which the friends of truth may look with
hope. Brahmins are not venerated as heretofore. Though thou
sands still find a luxurious competency in the offerings of the
people, thousands more are compelled to pursue callings which
throw them into society divested of their aristocratic exclu-
siveness and spiritual influence. I have often seen the sacred
thread over the shoulders of common sepoys, market-men,
mechanics, and door-keepers. Enjoying many advantages,
and given to polygamy, they multiply faster than the herd,
who are pinched for subsistence, and often suffer from actual
famine. Such increase must, of itself, tend to the reduction
of their supposed sacredness of character.
The name of Serampore is so intimately associated with the
history of modern missions, especially those of the Baptist

46 HINDUSTAN.
denomination, that I of course spent some time there. A
pleasant ride of fifteen miles brought me to Barrackpore, a
military station on the river side opposite to Serampore, and
the seat of the governor-general's country residence. The
road is bordered with fine trees the whole distance, and the
country, as far as the eye can reach, is in high cultivation.
Many labourers were ploughing — an operation which stirs up
but a couple of inches of soil, and would call forth the sur
prise and contempt of a New-England farmer. The plough
costs but two shillings, and the miniature oxen which draw it,
but 11. the pair. The latter are generally marked all over
with lines and circles, burnt upon their skin. The view of
Serampore from the river is exceedingly attractive. The same
architecture which prevails at Calcutta, gives the houses
the appearance of elegant marble villas ; and the huge college,
with its superb columns, confers dignity on the whole scene.
The river is here about eight hundred or a thousand yards
wide, placid, and full of boats.
The population of Serampore is fifteen thousand. About
one hundred of the houses are designed for Europeans, but
nearly half of them are empty. I was kindly received by the
venerable survivor of that noble triumvirate, which will never
be forgotten while missions retain an advocate. Though in
his sixty-ninth year, Dr. Marshman's eye is not dim, nor his
step slow. He leads the singing at family worship, with a
clear and full voice ; preaches with energy ; walks rapidly
several miles every morning, and devotes as many hours every
day to study, as at any former period. His school for boys
and Mrs. M.'s for girls, are continued, though less lucrative
than hitherto, from the number of similar ones now established
in the country.
Every walk through the town and its environs, presents
objects which awaken tender and serious thought. There is
the Ghaut, where, thirty-six years ago, Marshman and his
family landed, friendless and discouraged by the opposition of

SERAMPORE. 47
the Company's government. There, twenty-four years ago,
landed Harriet Newell and Ann H. Judson, whose feet now
tread the starry plain. And up those steps, for many years,
missionaries of all names and parties have ascended, to receive
a fraternal welcome to India.
Close by are part of the foundations of the houses of Carey
and Ward, long since overturned by the encroachments of the
river. Further down is the printing-office, whence so many
thousands of thousands of portions of the word of God, in
languages spoken by more than half the pagan world, have
been produced. Still further is the college, a superb and vast
edifice, the principal hall of which is said to be the largest in
India. It is a chaste and noble building, constructed of the
most durable materials throughout. The staircases are of
ornamental cast iron, imported from England at great expense.
Its library is exceedingly valuable, and contains the immense
collection of dried botanic specimens by Dr. Carey. Connected
with the institution are about one hundred pupils, but for the
most part young, and studying only preparatory branches.
At this time, there are but two regular students in the
college proper. The building was erected when there were no
similar institutions in India, and shows the capacious plans
and noble spirit of its founders. But the starting up of so
many schools of similar character, and other causes, have pre
vented the expected accession of students. There is reason to
hope that the active operation of the numerous elementary
schools in the vicinity will, ere long, create a race of scholars
prepared to proceed in the elevated course of studies intended
to be here pursued.
In the rear of the college are two professors' houses, in one
of which Carey spent his last years. The room in which he
died called up indescribable sensations, and I trust wrought
improvement upon my spirit. Behind is the extensive bo
tanic garden, where that wonderful man, by way of relaxation,
gathered a vast collection of trees, flowers, fruits, and vege-

48 HINDUSTAN.
tables, from every part of India, and from whence he diffused
a taste for natural science, which is now yielding invaluable
results. A handsome church was built in the town, by the Danish
government, many years ago ; but no chaplain has ever been
appointed, .and the missionaries have always officiated there.
They have, beside this, a commodious chapel of their own,
where worship is performed on week days and Sunday even
ings, and a considerable church of natives. A mile and a half
from town is another.
A little to the north of the town, in a calm and retired spot,
is the mission grave- yard, surrounded with palm groves. It
contains about an acre, enclosed with a good brick wall ; and
along its nice gravel walks are mahogany trees, set at proper
distances. The monument for Ward is a circular pavilion,
beautiful and chaste, with a suitable inscription on one side
read from within. Carey's is a plain cenotaph, built many
years ago, for some of his family, and now bearing additional
inscriptions for himself and his widow. His own epitaph, by
his express direction, is merely this :
WILLIAM CAREY,
BORN 1?TH OP AUGUST, 1761.
DIED 9TH OF JUNE, 1834.
" A wretched, poor, and helpless worm,
On thy kind arms I fall."
Mrs. Carey, his third wife, died about a year after her hus
band. Mr. Ward's widow survived him ten years. Carey's
son is now a missionary in the upper provinces. Ward left
two daughters, both of whom are pious, and have been mar
ried several years.
This mission was commenced in 1793. Its history is too
well known to leave me the necessity of describing it, or
dwelling on its fruits. It was the commencement of those
grand operations, which we trust the church will never relin-

SERAMPORE. 49
quish till the earth be filled with the knowledge of the Lord.
With the exception of what had been done in the Tamul and
Malayalim languages, the whole of India was then entirely
destitute of the Scriptures in their vernacular tongues. Few
in number, and sustained by their own resources, the mission
aries have given the world the whole Bible in Sunscrit,
Chinese, Bengalee, Hindu, Mahratta, Oriya, Sikh, Pushtu or
Afghan, Cashmere, and Assamee ; and the New Testament
in the Gujeratee, Kunkun, Multanee, Bikaneer, Bhugulcund,
Maruar, Nepaul, Harotee, Kanoja, Mugudh, Oojuy-i-ne,
Jumbo, Bhutneer, Munipore, Bruj, Kemaoon, Shree-nagur,
and Palpa ; beside portions of the New Testament in various
other languages. Some of these versions have been repeatedly
revised, and successive editions printed.
There are now eighteen mission stations, and twenty-two
churches, connected with Serampore ; at which are labouring
five Europeans, and twenty-two Indo-Britons, with twenty-
five native preachers and catechists. Of the eleven members
which constituted the first church in India, Mr. Marshman
and wife alone remain.
The late transfer of the printing-office, and steam paper-mill,
to Mr. John C. Marshman, has been matter of much discus
sion, and seems not clearly understood. The explanation given
me on the spot amounted to this : Some years before Dr.
Carey's death, the concern was deemed bankrupt. The
printing-office, paper-mill, and other property, valued at about
126,000 rupees, was made over, in fee simple, to Mr. J. C. M.
in consideration of his assuming all the debts. To whom these
debts are due, and for what, and what portion has been paid,
were not mentioned, and I felt unauthorised to ask. It is
much to be regretted that this transfer was not made public,
till so long after its execution, and till Carey was no mpre.
No one could so satisfactorily have explained the matter to
the public. The controversy is now useless, as a question of
property. The lots and buildings are reduced to a value
VOL. II. D

50 HINDUSTAN.
almost nominal. Since the place ceased to be an asylum for
debtors, who fled hither from the British territories, it has
constantly decayed. At this moment Mr. J. C. M. is about
to remove the printing-office to a new building of his own,
not on the Society's land, and the old office is almost a ruin.
One dwelling-house, now in good order, and valuable, is nearly
the sum of all the English Society's acknowledged property.
One thing is certain — that there have seldom appeared men
so disinterested as Carey, Marshman, and Ward. Carey re
ceived, for upwards of thirty years, more than 1001. a month,
as professor in the college of Fort William, and Bengalee
translator to Government. Ward earned equally large sums
in the printing-office, as did Mr. and Mrs. Marshman by their
school. Yet, as Dr. M. assured me, they ate at a common
table, and drew from the common fund only the paltry sum
of twelve rupees per month each ! The rest went for the
support of out-stations, casting types, and the translating and
printing of the sacred Scriptures. The expense of the Chinese
version alone, for pundits, types, &c, exceeded 20,000/.
The agreement made at an early period, by the Serampore
brethren, one with another, and published to the world, is
worthy of all praise ; especially the following extract : " Let
us give ourselves up unreservedly to this glorious cause. Let
us never think that our time, our gifts, our strength, our
families, or even the clothes we wear, are our own. Let us
sanctify them all to God and his cause. O that He may
sanctify us for his work ! Let us forever shut out the idea,
of laying up a cowry for ourselves or our children. If we
give up the resolution which was formed on the subject of
private trade, when we first united at Serampore, the mission
is from that hour a lost cause. A worldly spirit, quarrels,
and every evil work, will succeed, the moment it is admitted
that each brother may do something on his own account. Woe
to that man who shall ever make the smallest movement
toward such a measure ! Let us continually watch against a
worldly spirit, and cultivate a Christian indifference towards

SERAMPORE.

51

every indulgence. Rather let us bear hardness as good soldiers
of Jesus Christ, and endeavour to learn in every state to be
content." Never were there more ..laborious men than the Serampore
missionaries, and never shall we see stronger temptations to
amass wealth, relinquished for the cause of Christ. The
arrangement for drawing twenty-four shillings a month for
personal expenses was discontinued in 1817> and each drew
what he needed ; but neither of them laid up property for
himself. Carey died without leaving his widow anything.
Ward left only about 1000Z., the proceeds of his private pro
perty, put to interest on his first leaving England. Marsh
man is known to be poor ; and his style of living, now at
least, is more frugal than that of almost any other missionary
I saw in Hindustan. Many of his measures are generally
disapproved, but his diligence and true greatness must stand
confessed. It cannot be said the glory of Serampore is de
parted. Though it has now become a mere unit among mis
sions, its history will ever be one of the brightest pages in the
records of modern benevolence. The benefits it has produced
are lasting as the world. It has been swallowed up in more
diffused endeavours, like the morning star giving place to
day, — swallowed up in brighter light.

Bengal Mode of Churning.

d2

52 HINDUSTAN.

CHAPTER II.

Madras — Catamarans — Difficulty of Landing — Black Town — Esplanade —
Population — Illustrations of Scripture — State of Religion — Catholics —
Teloogoos — Travelling by Palankeen — Pondicherry — Cuddalore — Tranque-
bar — Combaeonum — Tanjore — Kohlhoff — Swartz — Tiichinopoly — Heber —
Seringham — Slavery in Hindustan — Idolatry supported by Government —
Brahmins and Brahminism — Progressive Poverty of the Country — Modern
Languages of Hindustan.
A voyage of fourteen days, in a small trading vessel, with
out a white face in it but my own, brought me to anchor in
the roads of Madras, January 26, 1837- It was a fortnight
of great discomfort ; but I could not waive my rule of going
in the first vessel when my work at any place was done.
Generally, if an opportunity is allowed to pass in India, weeks
and even months elapse before the occurrence of another. Our
captain, in this case, was a quiet native of Chittagong, and,
though he had no means of ascertaining longitude, made a
short and safe voyage by dead reckoning. By taking such a
vessel, instead of a European, I saved three-fourths of the
customary price of passage.
There being no indentation on the coast, nor any island to
break off the sea, a heavy swell rolls in throughout the year.
Vessels anchor in the open roads ; the large ones keeping a
mile or two from shore. The swell keeps them pitching and
rolling, as uncomfortably as when at sea. The danger is so
great, during the south-west monsoon, that vessels are not
allowed to lie here for several months in the year, and the
anchorage seems deserted. Cargoes are loaded and unloaded,
by boats adapted for passing through the surf. Among the
first objects that struck me, were the catamarans, gliding in
every direction. These are exactly like a New England stone-
sled. Three flattened timbers, eight or ten feet long, are tied
together horizontally, and sharpened a little at the point. One
or two men propel it with a paddle, flattened at both ends,
and dip first on one side, and then on the other. They sit

MADRAS. 53
on. the calves of their legs, with the toes inward, and in this
position, which is the only one the case admits, they often
remain for hours. The water, of course, comes up between
the timbers, and washes over the little raft, so that the men
are kept wet to the middle. If they would carry any1 articles
dry, which is seldom attempted, they construct a high pile of
bushes in the centre. When no boat could live five minutes,
these catamarans go about in perfect safety. The men are
often washed off, but instantly leap on again without alarm.
A water-proof cap, for the carriage of letters to and from
newly-arrived vessels, is almost their only article of dress.
The rest is but a strip of cotton cloth, two or three inches
wide, fastened, front and rear, to a twine tied round the
hips. Landing seemed so difficult, though the weather was fine,
that it was hard to conceive how goods could be conveyed
without getting wet. Yet these boatmen do it, and display
energy and skill scarcely to be surpassed. Keeping time to a
rude tune, they now take long pulls, and now short ones, as
the waves run past ; they at length push the boat forward on
a foaming surf, and she is thrown upon the beach. As it
recedes, some jump out with the ropes, and, at every returning
wave, get her a little higher, till she lies still upon the sand.
The operation is sufficiently disagreeable, especially to the
timid. The passenger is not only almost thrown from his
seat, by the heavy and repeated striking of the boat upon the
beach, but is generally well sprinkled by the breakers dashing
against her before she can be hauled up sufficiently. The
boats are large and deep, made, without ribs or timbers, of
thin, wide planks, warped by fire to a proper shape, and fast
ened together by strong twine. Against the seams, straw
and mud are fastened strongly, by the twine which ties the
planks together. No nails are used, for none could keep a
boat together with such thumping.
The city presents, from the sea, nothing to create large

54 HINDUSTAN.
expectations. Only a few public buildings are visible, and
not much of the town, as the site is quite level. It is, how
ever, a noble city, and has many fine streets. The Black-
town, so called from the colour of the natives, who reside
there, is well laid out, and is defended by a substantial brick
wall. The houses are far better, on an average, than those
of the natives in Calcutta. Though there are not so many
fine residences of rich Baboos, as in that city, there are some
scarcely surpassed in elegance by any in America.
A space of several miles in the rear of the Black-town is
occupied by the Europeans. Their houses are not placed in
rows, but scattered about, and embosomed in gardens and
shrubbery. Trees are planted in rows along the principal
avenues, and the number of pleasant drives surpasses those of
any city I have yet seen in the East.
The fort is on the shore south of the Black-town, with a
large open space between, reserved as an esplanade. On the
margin of this opening, next to the sea, and also below the
fort, is the fashionable evening drive. Here, weary of lassi-

Hindu Gentleman's Carriage.

MADRAS. 55
tude or labour, come all the gentry to enjoy the freshness and
glory of sunset. The rushing of the ceaseless surf — the
numerous vessels, of varied make — the cool sea breeze — the
majestic ocean — the wide sweep of western sky — the superb
equipages — the cheerful faces — and the cordial -greetings —
make it every way charming. In going to " the Course,'1 you
meet, along the less pretending roads, merchants on their
camels, Arabs on their steeds, Burinans and Moguls on their
ponies, native gentlemen in their handsome bullock-carriages ;
while the sircars, &c, are drawn by a single ox, in an inde7
scribable sort of wheelbarrow, or are borne in palankeens.
While in this city, famous for snake-charmers, I sent for
some to show me their skill. They brought a boa constrictor,
and several cobra de capels ; the latter being, as is known,
highly venomous, and generally fatal. They were in shallow
baskets, coiled up as close as possible. The keeper had a
simple flageolet ; on hearing a few notes of which, the snake
gracefully erected half its length, and spread out its beautiful
head and neck to a breadth of several inches. The keeper
sometimes ceased his music, and irritated the creature with
his hand ; which it bit violently, but without injury, its fangs
having been extracted.
These men are often employed to draw forth from their
holes snakes which infest gardens and old buildings. Playing
on their flageolet, they pass round the suspected places, and
if serpents be there, are sure to bring them forth. Without
permitting the music to cease, an attendant seizes the snake
by the tail, and whirls it round so rapidly that it cannot bite;
sliding one hand up gradually, till he gets it firmly by the
neck ; then, taking a little stone or shell, he crushes out the
fangs, and puts it in his basket or bosom, and carries it away.
The transaction forcibly reminds one of the passage, Psalm
Iviii. 5, which compares the wicked, who persist in their ways
in spite of counsel or entreaty, to serpents that will not
be charmed. This text, as well as Jeremiah viii. 17, where

56 MADRAS.
Jehovah threatens to send among Israel " serpents which
will not be charmed," shows that the trade of these men is
of no recent date.
The population of Madras, including all the villages within
several miles, is generally reckoned at 420,000. But a census
made in 1823 gave only 27,000 houses. This, at seven inha
bitants to a house, would make the population about 190,000.
Large spaces, even within the walls, are wholly vacant.
Allowing for houses omitted in the census, the population is
perhaps 200,000. There are populous villages in the neigh
bourhood, containing 100,000 more. One of the most striking
peculiarities in the town is the universality with which males
and females, old and young, bear upon their foreheads, arms,
and breasts, the marks peculiar to their religion, or sect of it.*
Some have a red or blue spot on their forehead ; others blue,
red, white, or yellow perpendicular lines ; others, horizontal
lines. Some, in addition to these, have ashes or clay rubbed
in lines on their arms and breast. I could not help recurring
continually to that text (Deuteronomy xxxii. 5), " Their
spot is not the spot of his children." The allusion is doubt
less to a similar custom. These marks are shown in the
picture of a native woman carrying water, at page 10 of this
volume. The former shows also the costume and ornaments
* Those know little of the world, who advance the existence of sects as
an objection to Christianity. Over all Hither India, the same books are
held sacred ; yet the community is divided into many sects, holding their
preferences with bitter zeal and exelusiveness. Brahma has no followers,
because, as the supreme God, he is above all concern with mortals.
Vishnu and Siva have each their sects, and even these are far from harmony.
The worshippers of Vishnu are divided into twenty sects ; those of Siva
into nine. There are four sects who adore Doorga, and ten devoted to
various other objects, which, with some subdivisions, swell the number of
Hindu sects to nearly seventy ! Collisions, among these, are perpetual
and rancorous. At Hurdwar, and many other places, scenes of violence
and bloodshed invariably occur at the great annual festivals. The feuds
of similar kind which prevail among Mussulmans, are well known, and the
bloody character of their conflicts. It was thus also with Jews. Even
the followers of Zoroaster, are stated by Gibbon to have been divided into
seventy sects, in the time of Artaxerxes. The truth is, man will have
diversity of opinions, to the extent that opinion is free. Despotism alone
makes unity in such matters.

HINDUSTAN. 57
of women in the lower classes, as I saw them in the street.
The highest classes wear much the same, but of far costlier
materials. Men of distinction have servants running before ; and at
least two always run beside the carriage. Even persons on
horseback are never without one of these runners, who is
called syce. It is astonishing how long these men, accustomed
to the business from childhood, can endure. The rider never
slacks his pace on their account, and they keep up during the
whole drive. For a long time, the sight of these poor men
destroyed the pleasure of my rides. They, however, do
nothing else, and their labour, on the whole, is certainly far
less than that of a mechanic with us.
The incident of Elijah running before the chariot of Ahab
(1 Kings xviii. 46), has been continually brought to recol
lection by this custom, wherever I have been in India. He
had assumed an attitude of great grandeur, in mocking the
national faith before the king, and denouncing his sins before
all the people ; and, after so long a famine, he had now been
praying for rain, and already the heavy thunder announced
rescue to a starving nation. But in all these honours was he
proud ? Was. he disposed to refuse his lawful king the pro
per homage of a subject ? He would let all Israel see how
he honoured the ruler of his people, and how far he was from
vain-glory amid such triumphs. Gathering his robes about
him, therefore, and mixing with those who ran before the
king, he did nothing out of the way, nothing for effect, nothing
in the least supernatural ; but testified, in the happiest manner,
not merely his own humility, but that even a wicked king
had ceremonial claims, which a good subject should not
deny. My stay in Madras extended from January 26 to March 17,
1837, including journeys into the interior. The weather,
during this period, was truly delightful. Instead of remarks,
resulting from my own experience, I transcribe a table, ghow-
d 3

58 MADRAS.
ing the highest and lowest state of the thermometer, and the
mean temperature, for every month in the year : —

January .

Max. 86.

Min. 65. Mean height. 75.5.

February.

. " 87.

" 66.

77.8.

March .

. " 90.

" 69.

80.7.

April . .

" 94.

" 75.

83.7.

May . .

" 99.

" 78.

86.

June . .

" 98.

" -79.

' 88.4.

July .

" 95.

" 73.

85.

August .

" 93.

" 72.

84.6.

September

" 92.

" 72.

83.

October .

" 91.

" 70.

82.

November

" 87.

" 67.

78.

December .

" 84.

" 65.

76.

The state of religious feeling in Madras, at this time at
least, is little better than in Calcutta. The concert of prayer,
which is held, unitedly, at different churches in rotation, was
held, while I was there, at the Scotch kirk. One city minister
only was present, and but thirty-five other persons ; though
the evening was delightful. The services were just those of
public worship, so that it could not with propriety be called
a prayer-meeting. But religion seems to be exerting its blessed
influence in the city more and more, and recently there have
been among the troops in the fort, some forty or fifty cases of
conversion. I was happy to find several Sunday schools, though only
that of the Wesleyans seems flourishing.
This city is the seat of several missions, by various societies
in England and America. There are Episcopal, Scotch, Inde
pendent, and Wesleyan churches, with excellent places of
worship, where pastors are regularly settled, who conduct
services in the English language. Beside the bishops and six
Company's chaplains, there are fifteen missionaries, Episcopal,
Scotch, Wesleyan, and American, beside several who support
themselves, and are not connected with any board. Of all
the regular missionaries, there are but three who are devoted
wholly to the natives. The rest preach in English, or take

HINDUSTAN. 59
charge of schools, printing, agencies, &c. There are also in
Madras fourteen Catholic priests, and congregations of Arme
nians, Jews, &c. Some thousands of native youth are gathered
into schools under missionary superintendence, and several
printing establishments are owned by the missionary boards.
The language of the religion is Tamul, and in this, there are
printed the whole Old and New Testaments, and two hundred
tracts, beside the Pilgrim's Progress, Ayah and her Lady,
Swartz's Dialogues, &c. Many of these publications, however,
need revision, and many are wanted on other subjects.
As regards Christianity among the natives, Madras is behind
Calcutta. I inquired of several ministers, and most of the
missionaries, but no one knew the state or number of native
converts. The nominal Christians are few. As to real con
verts, one missionary thought there were but two or three in
the whole city and suburbs ! Another thought there were
not half a dozen, at the utmost. No one supposed there were
more than that number. Some hundreds have been baptized,
with their children; and many have grown up who were
baptized in infancy; but the conduct of this body is not
always honourable to the cause. Of the Catholics, there are
some thousands ; but they are distinguished from the heathen,
it is said, not by better morals or manners, but only by not
smearing their bodies and faces with idolatrous marks.
I had the pleasure of attending the anniversary meetings of
the Wesleyan Mission, the Madras Bible Society, &c. They
brought me into a pleasing acquaintance with many mission
aries from distant stations, and thus enabled me to enlarge
my stock of official memoranda.
I was particularly pleased with the Wesleyan plan of having
a second anniversary for the natives, in which the services
and speeches were in Tamul. The body of the chapel, cleared
of the settees, was well filled with natives, who sat, after their
fashion, on the floor. They behaved with perfect decorum,
and listened with attention. It certainly is a plan happily

60 MADRAS.
calculated to enlighten and improve the converts, while it
instructs and informs the heathen.
A case has recently occurred, which has excited a great
interest among the natives, far and near. Arumuga Tambiran
(literally, the six-faced god), a distinguished devotee, has been
converted to Christianity. He is now very old, having been
for fifty years a prominent pilgrim and teacher. Dressed in
a yellow robe, the sacred beads round his neck, smeared with
ashes and clay, and bearing the various insignia of his high
station, he made pilgrimages to many and distant places of
distinguished sanctity, and was everywhere received with
profound veneration. Eleven others, who had begun this
course with him, had died. Scarcely any man, far and near,
stood so high as Arumuga. His very appellation — Tambiran —
struck awe to the bosom of every Hindu ; for " Tambirans
rank higher than Brahmins, and inferior only to the invisible
gods." * His public baptism, last August, has created a strong
sensation through the entire peninsula. Being a poet, he has
¦written several pieces, which have been printed in large
quantities, and are sought after with great avidity ; this being
the style of the sacred books. His case, however, is an addi
tional evidence, that though the people are disposed to ask if
any of the great have believed on Christ, yet that such an
event has little other visible effect than transient wonder.
It was my intention to proceed immediately to Chicacole,
and settle with Mr. Day his future position. But on taking
steps for a dak to that place, I learned that Mr. Day was daily
expected at Madras. This report afterwards proved to be
erroneous ; but the repose which it gave me was very provi
dential, as my health, which had been declining continually
for some weeks, now became so poor that I should have been
arrested on the way.
The ministers and missionaries of the city urge Mr. Day's
location here. This opinion, which had been previously ex-
* Dr. Francis Buchanan.

TELOOGOOS. 61
pressed by various brethren in Burmah and Bengal, I now
adopted as my own, for reasons which it is not important to
rehearse. Mr. Day had previously resolved to leave Chicacole;
and on communicating my opinion, it met his cordial appro
bation, and he immediately prepared to embark for Madras,
with his family.
Learning that Teloogoos abound in Southern India, and
anxious not only to learn about them, but to measure the de
gree of the missionaries' success in a region where Ziegenbalg,
Swartz, and others, had laboured for more than a century, I
availed myself of the time which would intervene before Mr.
Day's arrival, to make an excursion to Tanjore, and Trichino-
poly, through the districts of Chingleput and South Arcot.
Instead of leaving the reader to pick out detached remarks,
scattered through the journal of this tour, I will, while speak
ing of Teloogoos and their new missionary, throw together such
facts respecting them as seem to be requisite here.
This people, whose name is often written Telinga, or
Kalinga, are generally called, by European writers, Gentoos ;
but this name is unknown, I believe, to any Indian language.
They occupy a considerable part of Hindustan, but have now
no country entirely to themselves, or bearing their name.
The region where theirs is the prevailing spoken language, is
about five hundred miles long and two hundred wide, em
bracing all the northern Circars, a large part of the Nizam's
dominions, the districts of Cudapah and Bellary, and all the
northern part of the Carnatic. The political divisions of the
Teloogoo country are, Ganjam, Vizagapatam, Rajamundry;
Masulapatam or Bunder, and Guntoor.
Teloogoo families and villages are scattered over the whole
of India, between the above-described region and Cape Como-
rin, and are particularly numerous in the Mysore and Tanjore
countries. The sea-coast, from Pulicat to Ganjam, is chiefly
occupied by Teloogoos.
The largest Teloogoo city is Masulapatam, which has a

62 HINDUSTAN.
population of eighty thousand. The next largest are, Nellore,
Guntoor, Vizagapatam, Chicacole, Burhampore, and Ganjam.
The latter cities have each about twelve thousand inhabitants.
In Madras, one sixth of the population are reckoned to be
Teloogoos. They are scattered over all the city, but some
streets are almost wholly inhabited by them, and in the suburb
Wonarapetta are about fifteen thousand, settled together.
Most of them, however, understand Tamul, as well as Teloogoo;
some read in Tamul, and not in their own language.
The number of Teloogoos is not known. There are probably
about eight millions, of which one million are Mahometans.
Of this nation was the dynasty which, before the Mahratta
conquest, ruled the whole region of Madura, Tanjore, and
Trichinopoly, beside their peculiar country. In these districts,
many of the rich chitty, or merchant caste, are Teloogoos at
this day.
It is remarkable, that in Japan and the islands of the China
Sea, the only name for India is Telinga, or, as they pronounce
it, Kalinga. It is always so called in their ancient books, and
the introduction of Hinduism into their country is ascribed to
the Kalings. As it would appear, from the history of Java,
that a considerable emigration from the Coromandel coast
occurred in the thirteenth century, it is not improbable, that
at that period the Telinga or Teloogoo dynasty was in its
glory. Another, and still stronger indication, is found in the
fact that the Telinga calendar, which differs from that which
prevails in the Deccan, and Hindustan generally, is precisely
the calendar of the Javanese.
Their religion is Brahminism, and the system of caste is in
full force. Their principal classes are, Brahmins, Chetries, Vy-
sias, Shoodras, and Pariahs. These are subdivided into dis
tinct castes. Of Brahmins, there are four castes ; of Chetries,
three ; of Vysias, three ; of Shoodras, eighty-five ; and some
even among the miserable Pariahs. Some of these are again
subdivided, as, for instance, of that class of Shoodras who cui-

TELOOGOOS.

63

tivate the ground, there are no less than twenty castes : Every
separate trade and calling is a caste ! The children of a barber
must not marry the children of a washerman, or any but of
the barber calling ; so of smiths, carpenters, &c.
All classes pay the parents for their wife. The gift of a
wealthy Brahmin is about half a pound of gold, and some other
things. Even a poor Pariah must give ten rupees. When a
man is too poor to pay a wife's price, he goes out to beg, saying,
" I want to marry such a girl ; give me some money." Poor
Brahmins do this most frequently, and are insolently importu
nate. Polygamy is practised by nearly all who can afford it.
It is believed that their religious system is on the wane, and,
whether from poverty or neglect, it is certain that no new
temples have been built for many years.
The first effort, in India, of the London Missionary Society,
was made in favour of the Teloogoos ; but the measure has not
been pursued with ardour. In 1805, Messrs. Cram and Des
Gran arrived at Vizagapatam, but they both died soon. In
1819, Messrs. Gordon and Lee, from the same society, arrived,
and some time afterward, Messrs. Pritchard and Dawson.
After the death of Mr. Dawson, the station was vacant till
early in 1834, when Mr. Gordon, son of the late missionary, re
turned from England, whither he had been sent for education,
and assumed the operations. In November, 1834, Rev. Ed
ward Porter joined the mission, but has laboured a good deal
of his time among the English.
There are now in this field four ordained missionaries from
the London Missionary Society, and Mr. Day from America.
Four other pious and active gentlemen, unconnected with any
missionary society, are acquiring the language, and have de
voted themselves to the good of this people. One excellent
native convert, Poor-shu-them, is ordained and labours ex
tensively. Beside these, several Tamul missionaries speak
Teloogoo, and do something in the way of giving tracts, &c.
The London missionaries have published an appeal for aid, in

64 HINDUSTAN.
which they state that there are not less than three hundred
Teloogoo towns, where missionaries might be advantageously
settled under the full protection of the British government.
There are six schools connected with the mission at Vizaga-
patam, containing two hundred and fifty pupils. This depart
ment of effort has been maintained from the beginning, but
neither this nor any other has been apparently made the
means of conversion ; and, though thirty years have elapsed,
no poor Teloogoo has at this station been brought to a saving
acceptance of the Lord Jesus. The lives of those brethren who
have laboured here, have, however not been spent in vain;
they have done much in preparing translations and tracts, and
have doubtless sowed seed, from which others will reap, that
" both may rejoice together."
At Chittoor, there are about fifty Teloogoo families, who
have become nominal Christians. Two thirds of the inha
bitants are Teloogoos.
At Cudapah, the London Missionary Society have another
station, occupied by Rev. Mr. Howell, an Indo-Briton. He
has baptised one hundred and fifty persons, (adults and chil
dren,) and settled them on lands owned by the mission. The
houses cost eight or ten rupees each. Each family is expected
to pay its own taxes, and support itself. He has three schools;
one for Christian children, and two for heathen. A few of the
baptised, probably twenty, Mr. H. hopes, are really converted.
The rules binding on nominal Christians, are, to attend wor
ship every morning and evening at the school-house ; to attend
public worship on Sunday, and two evenings in the week ; to
settle their disputes before a committee of five brethren and
not go to law ; to send their children to school, &c.
At Bellary, in the northern part of Mysore, a mission was
begun, in 1810, by the London Missionary Society. Strictly,
this is a Canarese mission ; but Rev. Mr. Reed has acquired
an extensive knowledge of the Teloogoo language, and has
translated and written in it to some extent. He occasionally

TELOOGOOS.

65

labours personally among the Teloogoos, who form about a
third of the citizens.
The whole Bible is translated into Teloogoo ; and the New
Testament, Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, and Isaiah, are printed.
The remainder of the Old Testament will be printed at the
London Missionary Society's press at Bellary, but how soon,
is uncertain. Thirty tracts are printed ; but some of them are
very poor. A large supply might be advantageously distri
buted ; but the Tract Society of Madras is feeble, even with
considerable aid from the parent society in London.
The language is confessedly difficult of acquisition, but has
many beauties, and bears a strong resemblance to the Sunscrit.
Missionaries now have the aid of an excellent grammar and
dictionary, besides translations of Scripture and tracts. Two
translations have been made of the New Testament ; one by
the Serampore missionaries, and the other by Mr. Pritchard,
of the London Missionary Society.
The only mode of inland travelling, in India, is by palan
keen ; and, in the hot season, at night only. Bungalows are
built, by government, on some principal roads, where travel
lers may spend the day, and where a servant is retained, who
gets what you require to eat. They are generally comfortable
brick houses, having several apartments, and furnished with
chairs, tables, and sometimes bedsteads.
In this part of India, a " set of bearers " consists of twelve
men ; ten to carry the palankeen, one cooley to carry the

Palankeen Travelling.
baggage, and a musalche. Six bearers carry at a time, and
four trot along to take their turns, and relieve the others,

66 HINDUSTAN.
about every quarter of a mile. The cooley carries the bag
gage in tin boxes made for the purpose, called banguay boxes,
suspended from a pole on the shoulder. The musalche, or
torch-bearer, has a hard roll of rags, four or five feet long, as
thick as one's wrist, and oil in a copper goblet, with a very
small mouth. When he trims his lamp he has only to
knock off the snuff against a tree, and pour on a little more
oil — a process which reminds one constantly of the parable of
the virgins. Every traveller is obliged to have his own
palankeen, in which he takes his carpet-bag, and some books,
&c, hanging on the outside his tea-kettle, hat-box, and
goblet of drinking-water. Notwithstanding the loss of time
incurred by changing hands so frequently, your speed averages
about four miles an hour ; often more. In travelling post, as
I did, fresh bearers are had every twelve or fifteen miles. By
starting when the sun gets low, and not stopping till eight
or nine o'clock next morning, you may go sixty or seventy
miles of a night. On roads where no bearers are posted, and
where special expedition is not wanted, a single set of bearers
is employed, who go journeys of any length, and average
thirty miles a day, travelling either in the day or night, as
you prefer. I chose to travel by night, not only because the
sun was oppressive, but because it prevented loss of time,
and gave me the day to be with missionaries at the different
stations. On two or three occasions 'I was obliged to spend the day
at bungalows, and greatly enjoyed the cool quietude of these
resting-places. The solitude was delightful, and refreshing
to my spirit, as well as advantageous in enabling me to bring-
up arrearages in memorandums.
This mode of conveyance has indeed the advantage of a
recumbent posture ; but the motion was to me excessively
wearisome, and, with some bearers, even painful. I liked a
palankeen in Calcutta very well, where the bearers are
accomplished, and the distances short. But this hasty

PONDICHEKRY. 67
journey of five hundred miles wore me out, so that I could
scarcely stand. The expense with post-bearers is one shilling
per mile, which, though dear for the traveller, is an extremely
small sum to be divided among fourteen men, who have also
to walk back again ; making their pay but about a halfpenny
per mile for each, for very severe labour. To take one set of
bearers for a whole journey costs less.
Leaving Madras, February 13, 1837, I proceeded from
forty to sixty miles each night. The road led through Villa-
cherry, Caliabaucum, Trepaloor, Allatoor, Maubiliveram,
Sadras, Alumparva, Canjimere, Collacoopum, Pondicherry,
Cuddalore, Poondiacoopum, Chillumbrum, Sheally, Mya-
veram, Trivellungaud, Combaconum, Paupanasum, and nu
merous smaller towns ; and across the rivers Paular, or
Palaur, Cunnabaur, Gaddelum, Pettanaur, Vellaur, Coleroon,
Cavery, &c. Several of these are mouths of the Cavery.
The first stage kept us along the sea-side, every surgfe
laving the bearers' feet, and my old acquaintance, Ocean, the
only object of my regard. The rest of the way is through a
wild and poor country, though with many towns and vil
lages. Immediately around Pondicherry, and all the country
from thence to Tanjore, is a garden. From Tanjore to Tri-
chinopoly is a desert, which extends, in a broad stripe, to Cape
Comorin. The district of country through which this road
carried me, forms the central portion of the Carnatic, and
comprehends the former dominions of the nabob of Arcot. It
came under the British power in 1801.
A few hours were devoted to a rapid survey of Pondicherry;
reputed to be much the handsomest town in India. No native
huts disfigure the streets, as these are all placed separately
in the suburbs. There is but little business now done here,
and but one foreign vessel lay in the roadstead. The Jesuits
have a college and a church here, and the Capuchins a church.
Many of the natives have adopted the Catholic faith ; but it
has done little for their improvement. The French are pro-

68 HINDUSTAN.
hibited by treaty, from keeping many troops, and the whole
city looks silent and languishing.
Cuddalore, on the Panaur, fifty-two miles from Pondi
cherry, is the first station on this route where there are
English. It is one of the great stations where soldiers are
placed, who, from having married native women, or other
causes, choose to remain in the country after serving out their
time, or becoming invalids. A few effective troops also are
stationed here. The Episcopal chaplain, Rev. Mr. Hallo-
well, received me with great kindness, in the absence of
the missionary. The invalids and pensioners are obliged
to attend worship, and with the gentry, form a large and
attentive congregation. The missionary, Rev. Mr. Jones,
devotes himself to the natives. . This was a station of the
Christian Knowledge Society so early as 1737> but has not
been constantly occupied. Mr. Jones arrived in 1834, and is
able to preach in the vernacular. He found Mr. Rosen's
church, and ten schools, which Mr. Hallowell had superin
tended for five years. He has baptised some adults, and
many children, and increased the number of schools. One of
these is for girls. The whole now contain 540 children. Mr.
Jones has two Tamul services on the Sabbath, and two in the
week. The congregation consists chiefly of nominal Chris
tians. They amount to more than three hundred, among
whom are many of the native wives of European soldiers.
Though I passed within an hour or two of Tranquebar, it
seemed of no use to visit it, as there is now almost no visible
effect of missionary labour there. Nor is there any mis
sionary, the last one having accepted the office of chaplain to
government. A few of the schools are continued by govern
ment ; but there are only three hundred nominal Christians,
and the mission is entirely relinquished. The causes of this
total abrogation of a long-established mission deserve investi
gation. Abundant materials exist, as to the history of the
men and measures ; and the question is of great importance.

CUDDALORE — IRRIGATION. 69
It is the opinion of some of the best informed persons in
that region, that many of the missionaries have been uncon
verted men. If such be the fact, the wonder ceases.
A more beautiful country than that from Cuddalore to
Tanjore can hardly be imagined. The dense population and
rich soil give their energies to each other, and produce a
scene of surpassing loveliness. But the taxes, and other
causes, keep down the labourers to a state below that of our
southern slaves. The labour of carrying agriculture to per
fection, under a cloudless sky, wholly by artificial irrigation,
is, of course, immense. The water is obtained, either from
the river by small canals, or from tanks and wells by pecottas.

A Pecotta.

The mechanism for the latter mode is simple and easy. A
pole, like that to New England wells, is fixed on an upright
beam, and worked by two men, one of whom walks a few
steps backward and forward on the pole, and the other guides
the bucket. The same plan is common in all parts of India.
Ihe water rushes through troughs into channels, which lead
to every bed. Another man passes along the field or garden,
and,' after suffering a proper quantity of water to flow upon

70 HINDUSTAN.
a bed, scrapes with his hand a little soil into that channel,
and leads the water into another — passing thus from bed to
bed, till the whole is watered. The services of a watering-
pot would be wholly inadequate, in a climate so hot, and
without rain.
Such a practice is doubtless alluded to, Prov. xxi. 1, where
it is said of God's easy control of human hearts, that " he
turneth them as the rivers ^rivulets] of water."
As there is always power enough, in a tropical sun, to
produce vegetation, moisture alone is necessary to constant
cropping. Districts, therefore, furnished as this is, with
tanks and rivers, present continually all the varieties of sea
sons in Europe. The eye wanders over large fields, in some
parts of which men are ploughing, in others planting, and in
others harvesting, at the same time. Each field is divided,
as in our own rice-growing districts, into small compartments,
separated by a narrow mound of earth, about a foot high. On
any one of these the water is turned at pleasure, while the
rest are dry ; and every stage of the process, and of the growth
of the grain, is seen at once. Most of the lands are cropped
twice a year ; sometimes with rice, but more frequently with
rice first, and then some other grain or pulse.
The scene is beautiful ; but squalid poverty and miserable
mendicants constantly obtrude, and remind one of Pope's
lines — " In vain kind seasons swell the teeming grain ;
Soft showers distil, and suns grow warm in vain :
The swain, with tears, his frustrate labour yields,
And, famished, dies amidst his ripened fields."
At Combaconum I found a London missionary, Mr. Nimmo,
successor to Mr. Crisp. The city contains forty thousand in
habitants, and was the capital of the ancient Chola dynasty,
from which the whole coast of Coromandel (corruption of
Cholamandel) received its name. It is distinguished among
Hindus for its sanctity, and is one of idolatry's strongest holds
in Southern India ; though missionary labours have here been

TANJORE — SWARTZ. 71
carried forward by Protestants for more than severity years.
Great numbers of the inhabitants are of the Brahmin caste.
The pagodas, gateways, and tanks, are very fine.
The chief cause of the celebrity of this seat of idolatry is
the general belief that one of its great tanks is filled, every
twelfth year, by the waters of the Ganges, which enter by a
subterranean passage. Thousands of people, unable to go so
far as Bengal, rush hither, from all parts of Southern India,
at these favoured times, and bring vast profit to the Brahmins.
The efficacy of the water is deemed sufficient, at these times,
to wash away, from all who bathe in it, all manner of sin
and impurity, even though contracted in many former trans
migrations. Papists are numerous in this region, and add
much to the difficulties of a missionary.
The station has not been without fruit ; and some souls
have evidently been born of God. The Danish missionaries
at one time had a congregation of five hundred persons. But,
among other causes, frequent intermissions of labour, by the
death or removal of the missionary, have been very pernicious.
Mr. Nimmo settled here in 1833, and has two hundred nomi
nal Christians (that is, baptized persons) under his care, and
a church of twelve members. Besides the chapel in the city,
lie has three others in the vicinity, and employs five readers,
mostly from Tanjore. He has twelve small schools, eight of
which are maintained by friends on the spot. Only four of
his teachers are Christians. The Rev. Mr. Combs, from
Tanjore, is about to settle in this city.
At Tanjore, a hearty welcome awaited me to the house
of the venerable Kohlhoff, the protege, friend, and fellow-
labourer of Swartz. For more than fifty years he has been a
missionary. I was charmed with his purity and simplicity
of character, and enjoyed during the three days spent under
his hospitable roof, not only a valuable opportunity of acquiring
authentic knowledge of the history of missions in this region,
but the deductions of his own long experience and observation,

72 HINDUSTAN.
and many delightful facts respecting the private life of
Swartz. The city is the residence of the rajah, who still reigns over the
kingdom of Tanjore, paying three-fifths of the revenues to the
Company. He is son of Serfojee, the rajah who was brought
up by Swartz, and who so sincerely loved that admirable man.
His residence is within the fortress, which is reputed to be
very strong, and which contains not only the palace, but a
population of many thousands.
The district of Tanjore was never actually occupied by
Mahometans ; therefore the Hindu structures remained unin
jured, and the religious revenues were not sequestrated. Thus
it is, that in no part of India does the Brahminical faith show
itself more imposingly. Almost every village has its brick
pagoda, and lofty gateway, covered with statues in mortar.
Brahmins hold all the power, are the chief landholders, and
fill almost every lucrative office.
Swartz lived within the fort, where both his dwelling-house
and church yet stand. The former is almost a ruin, but is
used as a school-room. It consists merely of three small
rooms, a little raised from the ground. Similar humility and
moderation are displayed in the house he afterwards built,
within the yard of his church. The church is well built and
handsome, and, having been lately repaired, at much expense,
by the rajah, is likely to last for ages. It is of little service ;
as but two or three Christian families live within the fort. To
these, however, a catechist preaches every Sabbath. Swartz's
pulpit remains unaltered ; and in the wall, at the opposite
side, is the marble tablet by Flaxman, representing his last
moments, with the faithful Gerike at his head, and the affec
tionate rajah and others by his side. O that this spacious
church may again contain such audiences as listened to its
blessed founder !
In visiting these interesting spots, we passed the rajah's
palace, and saw his tigers, &c, kept for show. He had gone

TANJORE  SWARTZ. 73
to a distant part of the fort, and we therefore witnessed his
displays of royalty. The cavalcade was resting near the gate
of the inner fortress, where he had entered. It consisted of
a score of war elephants, caparisoned, a troop mounted' on
camels, and a small park of artillery. Men and beasts looked
dirty and shabby, and all the pomp seemed poverty-struck.
The dens of the wild beasts, originally elegant, and each having
a fine tank of brick and mortar, where the animals might
bathe at pleasure, were dilapidated, and the handsome iron
balustrade nearly mouldered away.
We passed on to the huge pagodas, extensive gardens, and
paved yards, devoted to the national superstition. Here, too,
idolatry has made one of its " high places." But, though all
is grand and large, quietude and decay seem to be nearly in
possession. A few fat, supercilious Brahmins stalked along
the deserted walks ; but, except at certain seasons, worshippers
are few. The traces of recent repair are few and partial.
Other shrines in the city are more readily reached, and thither
the crowds repair.
The city itself seems flourishing. It is regularly built, and
is said to contain a greater proportion of good houses than any
other native city in Southern India.
The first visit of a Christian teacher to this important city
and province, was that of Pressier, from Tranquebar, in 1728;
but he was not allowed to preach, except at his own residence,
and remained but a short time. The next effort was made
by Wiedenbrock, in 1753. He accompanied an embassy of
the government of Tranquebar to the rajah, and staid but
twelve days. His diary, preserved in the mission library,
states that he had some little opportunity of declaring the
system of salvation before the assembled court, in reply to
questions from the rajah.
The first regular missionary efforts were made by Swartz
and Klein, who began in 1762 their labours at Trichinopoly,
making occasional visits to Tanjore. Ten years afterward,
VOL. II. E

74 HINDUSTAN.
Swartz removed hither, and the mission may be said to have
been commenced. The blessings which attended his efforts
may be seen in his memoir. 0 that his spirit had descended
on all his successors ! Two thousand persons embraced a
profession of Christianity under Swartz, many of whom, no
doubt, were truly pious. But he allowed them to retain
caste ; and the sad consequences of his so doing are felt to
this day. Caste is not even yet wholly done away among
the Christians, and its injurious effects are many.
In the province, mostly collected in villages, there are now
about four thousand Protestant Christians. Of course, among
such a population, a missionary enjoys many of the advan
tages of a pastor in our own country. It secures, too, to those
who may choose to abandon idolatry, the means of subsistence.
The children are brought up in the knowledge of the true
God ; and various other benefits accrue. Still, it is doubtful
whether the evils do not overbalance the advantages. The
baptizing of such as embrace Christianity, without becoming
pious, and of receiving to the Lord's supper all such as exhibit
a due measure of outward rectitude, and possess a certain
knowledge of the standards of the church, confounds the
church and the world in the sight of the heathen, keeps down
the standard of piety, brings forth unconverted assistants,
and makes church business a matter of civil police. This
mode of conducting missions has now been long tried, and is
practised by nearly all the missionaries in India, except those
of the Baptist persuasion, and those from America. It de
serves the serious consideration of the friends at home. Out
of the seven hundred and thirty-four communicants belonging
to the Tanjore mission, a very small part are deemed pious ;
nor can many, even of the native assistants, lay claim to this
character. Tyerman and Bennett affirm that " no vital reli
gion is found in any of the preachers or native Christians."
The present missionaries at Tanjore are Mr. Kohlhoff,
(Lutheran,) and Messrs. Calthorpe and Brotherton, (Epis-

TANJORE — TRICHINOPOLY. 75
copal). All are in connexion with the Christian Knowledge
Society. The two latter are young, and have but just arrived.
The mission, as a whole, wears an encouraging aspect. Three
of the native preachers have received ordination; two of whom
are evidently converted men. One of these, Visavarnarden,
(mentioned in Mr. Hough's reply to Abbe Dubois,) is still
active and faithful, though nearly sixty. His labours have
been particularly blessed.
The schools, to which government contributes a hundred
pagodas []more than 60l.~\ per month, are in active operation.
This allowance, with the avails of Swartz's bequests, nearly
support the whole mission, with the exception of the salaries
of Messrs. Brotherton and Calthorpe. The whole number of
catechists and schoolmasters is seventy-eight. These come
monthly to the mission-house, where their reports are received,
and where they are catechised, and otherwise instructed. The
whole number of scholars is about a thousand, of whom sixty
are boarded in the mission compound. The houses for the-
missionaries, the schools, &c, are excellent and ample. These,.
with the church now used, are in a pleasant suburb, composed,
in a considerable measure, of the native Christians.
Worship is maintained in the church, on Sundays, both in
English and Tamul. No audience could behave more pro
perly than did the poor natives. Their knowledge of Chris
tianity, however, is very small. It will probably be long
before heathen churches will possess the measure of light, zeal,
and devotion, which are often seen in more favoured lands.
Behind the pulpit is the grave of Swartz, marked by a flat
slab, with an inscription in English poetry, ascribed to the
rajah, his friend. The lines are affecting ; and the spot will
ever be, to the Christian, hallowed ground. Fragrant and
blessed will the memory of this holy man be, while earth
stands. How glorious is the society of heaven becoming !
How blessed it will be to meet there all the good who ever
lived, and none but such !
e2

76 HINDUSTAN.
There are about twelve thousand Romanists in the pro
vince, and in the city about four hundred. Their priests are
generally of the Jesuit order, from Goa. Within a few years,
a large party have come over to Protestantism.
The country between Tanjore and Trichinopoly is almost a
desert; and I could not place a relay of bearers on the road.
One set of men bore me the whole distance, thirty-eight miles,
between nine o'clock in the evening and sunrise next morning,
without apparent fatigue. This is the customary arrange
ment. Trichinopoly, once the capital of a small kingdom, stands
on the Cavery river, and is strongly fortified. It has a popu
lation of eighty thousand souls. None of that importance is
now attached to this strong-hold, which made it the theatre
of such sanguinary conflicts, between the English and French,
from 1751 to 1755. The Company maintain now five or six
full regiments of troops here ; but chiefly for the salubrity of
the spot, and its ready intercourse with other points on the
peninsula. The mission here was begun by Swartz, in 1762, and he
laboured in this field ten years. Since that period, it has not
been constantly occupied, and previous to 1827 there had been
no missionary here for ten years ! The injury of these repeated
intermissions has been very great. Rev. Mr. Schreivogel now
has charge, but the work moves on languidly. There are
about five hundred nominal Christians ; some of them the
descendants of Swartz's followers ; but very few give evidence
of piety. One of my informants thought there might be forty ;
but another, who had better means of knowing, could not
make out ten.
The church and mansion-house of Swartz are within the
fort. The former is still used ; the latter is empty, and going
to ruin. Here, as at Tanjore, it was sweet to linger in the
rooms where he prayed, studied, and reposed ; to handle his
books ; to look abroad on the objects on which his eye had

TRICHINOPOLY. 77
rested ; and to console myself with the thought, that, though
so vastly his inferior, and so unworthy of his society, I belong
to that company of redeemed ones, among whom he is con
spicuous. What a goodly fellowship ! How will that com
pany rejoice and shine, when the memory and the works of
the wicked shall have perished for ever !
The last days of Heber were spent laboriously in this city ;
and here, " as a thief in the night," his hour came. Though
his published " Travels in India" contain little or nothing to
indicate piety, yet no one can follow in his steps, as I have
done, without hearing enough to prove that he walked with
God. I stood over his grave in the church, and surveyed the
bath from whence his lifeless body was taken,* with feelings
of sacred brotherhood. Up to the period of Bp. Heber's visit,
in 1826, all the missionary operations of this region were
maintained by the British Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge. Since that time, this society takes charge of all
the schools ; and the Society for the Propagation of the Gos-
pel assumes the support of the missionaries.
Being within five miles of the famous pagoda at Seringham,
I of course made an excursion thither. It is the most distin
guished of the renowned seven ; and the expectation of seeing
it, induced me to omit any remarks on those of Combaconum
¦and Chillumbrum. Hindu architecture is too uniform to make
numerous descriptions of it interesting or useful.
This proud monument of Hindu art, wealth, and supersti
tion, stands on an island, made by the Cavery River dividing
itself into two branches, and forming a junction again a few
miles below. The sanctum sanctorum of the numerous struc
tures round, is scarcely larger than a native's hut; but is
highly adorned, and in some parts gilded. It is enclosed
within seven successive walls, a hundred and twenty yards
* He had gone into a large and deep cold bath, which he had before
used ; and, remaining longer than common, his servant entered, and found
him a corpse at the bottom. As he could swim, it was thought he had
fallen in an apoplexy.

78 HINDUSTAN.
apart; the outer wall being four miles in circumference.
These walls are of great strength, twenty-five feet high, and,

Seringham Gateway.
beside common gateways, have twenty stupendous towers or
pagodas over as many entrances. One of these is here deli
neated, and furnishes a fair specimen not only of the twenty
here, but of similar structures throughout India. By com
paring it with the Peguan pagoda, in the landscape of Tavoy,
that of Ava, on p. 163, vol. i., and that of China, in a sub
sequent part of this volume, a competent idea may be had of
the different forms of the pagoda. A multitude of sacred
edifices are scattered about, among which are some vast halls.
The flat roof of one of these is supported by a thousand slender
pillars of carved granite. The pavements, stairs, and lower
parts of the buildings generally, are of red and grey granite,

SERINGHAM. 79
and sienite. The rough slabs had evidently been split, in the
manner now practised in New England. I was surprised to
find that what is thought among us to be a modern invention,
had been practised here for ages.
Griffins and tigers, gods and men, tolerably sculptured,
adorned various parts; and the trumpery of display days,
with the cars on which the idols are drawn forth, stood in
the by-places. We saw no one performing any kind of
worship. The intervals between the walls are occupied by streets of
well-built houses, and present the common aspect of a busy
town. The population is about eight thousand. Persons of
all grades and occupations reside here, and carry on their
business. A very large proportion are Brahmins. The other
inhabitants seemed chiefly to subsist by little shops, in which
are sold the various articles connected with the idolatry of
the place. They made no objection to selling me unconsecrated
idols, and whatever else I chose.
A singular aspect is given to the place, by scores if not
hundreds of huge monkeys, which are seen at every glance.
They are held sacred to Hunimaun, the divine ape, who con
quered- Ceylon for Rama. Of course, they are not only
unmolested, but well fed ; and multiply without restriction.
They looked on us from every wall, and frolicked on the trees,
the images, and carved sides of the towers, often coming
within a yard of us, without the semblance of fear. They
are by no means peculiar to this temple, but abound in most
Hindu sacred places, and for the same reason.
Pilgrims from all parts of India resort to this place for ab
solution from their sins ; and as none come without an offering,
the Brahmins live in voluptuous ease. The establishment receives
also, from the Company, an annual stipend, stated by Hamilton
to be 15,600 pagodas (about 6000 pounds sterling). Still,
their rapacity is insatiate. A half dozen of them, pretending to
act as guides, followed us everywhere, begging with insolent

80 HINDUSTAN.
pertinacity. With idolaters, as with Papists, clerical mendi
city is regarded as a virtue, rather than a fault.
The number of slaves in the Carnatic, Mysore, and Malabar,
is said to be greater than in most other parts of India ; and
embraces nearly the whole of the Punchum Bundam caste.
The whole number in British India has never been ascertained,
but is supposed, by the best informed persons I was able to
consult, to be, on an average, at least one in eight, that is,
about ten millions. Many consider them twice as numerous.
The number is kept up not only by propagation, but the sale
of children by their parents. Manumissions, however, are
frequent among the opulent in the northern provinces. Forbes
says,* " I believe most of the tribes of Pooleahs and Pariars
in Malabar, are considered as slaves. The number of poor
people who come down to Anjengo, and the other seaports,
from the inland countries, during a famine, either to sell
themselves, or dispose of their children as slaves, is astonish
ing. During the rainy season, even when there is no uncom
mon scarcity, many are weekly brought down from the
mountains, to be sold on the coasts. They do not appear to
think it so great a hardship as we imagine."
It is strange that the British public should be so slow to
open their eyes to this great subject. For twenty years,
appeals and pamphlets have frequently appeared. In 1828,
a volume of 1000 pages of parliamentary documents, on East
India slavery, was printed ; and within four or five years,
some strenuous efforts have been made to call attention to this
enormity; but as yet, nothing has been done to purpose.
Surely the fceal which has achieved the freedom of a few hun
dred thousand slaves in the West Indies, will now be exerted
in behalf of twenty-five times the number in the East.
The countenance and support given by government to the
prevailing forms of religion, is a weighty subject, and calls
for the solemn consideration of British Christians. I cannot

* Oriental Memoirs.

SUPPORT OP IDOLATRY BY GOVERNMENT. 81
but sympathise. deeply with the missionaries, in the trials and
obstructions they meet on this account. They have little
doubt but that the pernicious influence of the Brahmins would
wither, and their system lose its power, if government did not
render its aid, both by open countenance and direct taxation.
An extreme fear of creating political disturbances, if efforts
were made to convert the natives to Christianity, seems to
have possessed the Company's government from the beginning.
Hence the refusal, at first, to allow missionary effort. Hence
Chamberlain, though in the service of her royal highness,
the Begaum, was deemed pestilent for preaching at a fair,
and her majesty was reluctantly obliged to send him down to
Calcutta. Happily, the little band that found a refuge under
the Danish flag at Serampore, lived to prove, practically,
that such fears are groundless.
But, though the government now permits and protects
missionary effort, it has not wholly lost its early fears ; and
these, together with a desire to be strictly neutral, lead to
measures directly favourable to idolatry. It levies and collects
the revenues for supporting Brahmins and temples, as the
former rulers did; thus virtually making idolatry and
Mahometism the established religions of the country ! The
annual allowance from the public treasury, for the support of
the temple of Juggernaut, is 56,000 rupees, and many other
temples have allowances equally liberal. C. Buller, in his
letter to the Court of Directors, on this subject, says, " Large
pensions, in land and money, are allowed by our government,
in all parts of the country, for keeping up the religious insti
tutions both of Hindus and Mahometans." • Lord William
Bentinck, governor-general of India, under date of August,
1835, speaking of the tax laid on pilgrims, which yields the
Company a handsome revenue, says, " As long as we maintain,
most properly, in my opinion, the different establishments
belonging to the Mahometan and Hindu religions, we need
not much scruple about the tax in question."
e3

82 HINDUSTAN.
In the district of Tinnevelly, an examination on this subject
was made by Mr. T., who found 2783 temples, and 9799
petty kovils, of male and female deities, and some inferior
religious stations ; making a total of 14,851 places of idolatrous
worship. The total charge of these on the government amounts
to 30,000 pounds sterling, per annum !
Beside this regular support, there are numerous other modes,
in which the national systems are countenanced. Mr. Rhenius
has stated, that, in 1831, government contributed forty thou
sand rupees toward the performance of a certain ceremony in
the temple at Tinnevelly, and to repair the idol's car ! At
the principal festivals, guns are fired by national ships, and
by the Company's troops, and the military bands of music
are loaned to grace the occasions. Thus Christian soldiers
are compelled to do honour to the false prophet and to dumb
idols ! A letter of the Rev. William Fyvie, dated Surat,
September 1, 1836, published in an English periodical, men
tions one of these cases, which are constantly occurring in
every part of India. It was the annual cocoa-nut day — a
festival in which cocoa-nuts are thrown into the river as offer
ings. " This Hindu festival was ushered in by a salute of
guns from the Honourable Company's ship, lying in the river
opposite to Surat. The castle guns fired a salute at the same
time. About four p. m., after the brahmin had consecrated
the cocoa-nut with prayers, the European magistrate presented
the offering to the river, amidst the poojas (worship) of the
brahmins and other Hindus present. While this vain and
idle ceremony was going forward, the ship, before alluded to,
first moved down and then up the river, displaying her
colours, and firing salutes. The British flag was waving on
Surat Castle all the day, in honour of the festival. In this
way our rulers and their agents directly and publicly coun
tenance idolatry and superstition in this place. The new moon,
excepting twice in the year, when the Mussulmans are mourn
ing, is regularly saluted by five guns, to please the Mahor

SUPPORT OF IDOLATRY BY GOVERNMENT. 83
metans. Two thousand rupees are annually given to the same
people by government, to assist them in the celebration of
their Eeds (festivals). When shall these practices be brought
to a perpetual end?"
Various idolatrous temples and gateways have been built
or repaired by government. Vast sums have been spent on
colleges and schools, for the inculcation of heathen and Maho
metan doctrines and customs. By these same laws and customs,
British judges and magistrates regulate their decisions, instead
of the pure and equitable laws of their own land, and of the
Christian Scriptures ! When the cars of certain gods are to be
drawn in public procession, there has been, for some years
back, in various places, a deficiency of people. In such cases,
the officers of government send out magistrates, and constables,
or peons, who, with whips and ratans, beat the wretched people,
and force them to quit their work and drag at the ropes !
Mr. Pegg, formerly a Baptist missionary at Cuttack, has fully
shown, in a pamphlet, published in England in 1835, the
pilgrim tax system, that the temple of Juggernaut, of which
we hear so much, is wholly supported by the British govern
ment ; and that a large premium is paid by the government
to " pilgrim hunters," who pass throughout the land, enticing
persons to make a pilgrimage to the idol, and receive twenty
per cent, of the tax laid upon them ! In regard to these
agents, " The Friend of India" very forcibly observes, " We
have a body of idol missionaries, far exceeding in number all
the Christian missionaries, perhaps, in the world, going forth,
from year to year, to propagate delusion, and proclaim (what,
perhaps, not one of them believes) the transcendent efficacy
of beholding a log of wood ; and all this through a perversion
of British humanity, and good faith, paid from year to year,
by the officers of a Christian and a British government,"
Until lately, the appointment of native Christians to . any
office, however low, was wholly prohibited. That prohibition
is now removed ; but, as the local officers are not bound to

84 HINDUSTAN.
employ them, and the general feeling is against it, they are
still excluded. How impressively does this say to the natives,
that their rulers do not want them to become Christians ! I
have heard several officers declare, that a man who would
change his religion, is not worthy of confidence ! After many
inquiries, I could never find any one who knew of a Christian
sepoy being ever raised above the ranks.
Corporal punishment has been abolished in all the native
regiments. Recently a native drummer committed an offence
which formerly was punishment with flogging. The question
was started, whether this man, being a Christian, came under
the new law. The decision was, that he was not a native, in
the eye of the law; and he was made to undergo the lash!
I take this fact from the Calcutta newspapers of the day.
Public offices are closed entirely on various native festivals ;
but on the Christian Sabbath, native officers and servants,
and many Europeans, are employed as usual. I have been in
no part of the Company's territories where public works, carried
on by native labourers, are not continued on the Lord's day.
By Mahometan and Hindu laws of inheritance, the son who
changes his religion loses patrimony. British judges, there
fore, deciding by these laws, are compelled to turn the convert
from his home, a beggar. The very records of these courts
are inscribed to Shree, to Ganesha, and other false gods.
Brahmins and others have been appointed and employed by
government to make intercessions and invocations to pagan
gods for rain, and for fair weather ! It is so customary for
British officers to subscribe to one Hindu and one Mahometan
festival annually, that some who recently declined, from con
scientious scruples, gave great offence to their superiors.
I speak in no spirit of bitterness in narrating these facts.
The government has, in the main, good intentions, I have no
doubt ; and, next to the profit of the Company, and the pre
servation of these countries to Britain, desires the well-being
of the people.

SUPPORT OF IDOLATRY BY GOVERNMENT. 85
Two incidents have just occurred, which will be likely to
attract attention. Mr. Casamajor, a distinguished civilian,
has resigned his appointment, rather than collect revenues
for the support of idolatry. Of course, those who hold
similar appointments are anxious to quiet their consciences
and sustain their reputation ; and a thousand arguments are
brought forward against Mr. Casamajor's course. The pre
sent commander-in-chief on the Madras presidency, principled
against countenancing idolatry, yet not able to forbid the
attendance of troops on festive occasions, which is a govern
ment regulation, issued a circular, forbidding the music to
accompany them. This order has created him much trouble.
Sir F. Adam, the governor, repeatedly and positively required
him to issue a countermanding order. This Sir P. Maitland
would not do, choosing rather that the governor in council,
who has the power, should himself countermand the order.
After some days of sharp contest, the governor's time to
embark for England arrived ; and nothing was done.
Facts on the subject have for many years been constantly
laid before parliament, and the court of directors of the East
India Company, and the British public been widely appealed
to by powerful pens. We may therefore cherish the hopes
expressed by the editor of the Bombay Oriental Spectator *.
" We trust that the time is now at hand when our rulers
will cease to be the bankers and factors of the idols and their
prototypes, the abortions of those who became ' vain in their
imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened ; ' when
they will no longer grace heathen and Mahometan revelries
by attendance, and participation in their unholy rites and
ceremonies, nor rend the heavens and provoke the thunders
of Omnipotence by firing salutes in their honour ; when they
will suffer no document dedicated to ' the lord of devils f ,' or
profaning the name of Jehovah j, to leave the public offices ;
when they will cease to appeal to the ' vanities of the hea-
* Vol. vii. No. 11. t Ganesh. J Or Jiu.

86 HINDUSTAN.
then ' for rain and fruitful seasons ; when they will neither in
respect ' make mention of the name of heathen gods, nor
cause to swear by them *,' nor regulate the affairs of their
worship, nor settle the rank of their deluded votaries ; and
when they will no longer bewilder the minds of the ' twice-
born ' youth by the exploded and absurd science of the Vedas
and Pur&nas, taught in Sunscrit colleges, and qualify them
for dexterously poisoning the souls of the people throughout
-the length and breadth of the land, by compositions prepared
under the auspices of the great Destroyer. We hope, we say,
that this, the most happy day which India has seen, and the
prelude of one still more glorious, will speedily arrive ; and
we invoke the blessing of God on all, in India and Britain,
who, by remonstrance with man, and prayer to God, may seek
to hasten it."
My personal knowledge of Hindustan and the Hindus,
though too limited to authorise me to pronounce new opinions,
is abundantly sufficient to satisfy me of the truth of portraits
drawn by others. I read much on both sides, and constantly
marked whatever tended to show up the native character, and
the tendency of Brahminism, and at every step was more and
more confirmed in the opinion of Lord Teignmouth, whose
personal knowledge of India was so extensive, that " the
Gentoos are as degenerate, crafty, superstitious, litigious, and
wretched a people, as any in the known world, and, espe
cially, the common run of Brahmins ; " and of Claudius
Buchanan, who pronounced the Hindus to be " destitute of
honesty, truth, and justice ; " and of Sir James Mackintosh,
(quoting Sir Wm. Jones's opinion as his own,) who, among
the evidences of their depravity, speaks of " the general pre
valence of perjury, which is, perhaps, a more certain sign of
the general dissolution of moral principle, than other daring
and ferocious crimes, and much more horrible to the imagi
nation." Of the same mind with these distinguished men, is
* Josh, xxiii. 7.

BRAHMINS AND BRAHMINISM. 87
-Forbes, author of the " Oriental Memoirs," already several
times quoted. He says, " I cannot praise a religion which
encourages thousands, perhaps millions, of idle vagabonds,
who practise no virtue ; but, under the mask of piety, with a
sort of stoical apathy and pharisaical zeal, undergo needless
austerities and penances near their celebrated temples, or per
vade the provinces of Hindustan, singly, and in large bodies,
to make depredation on the hard-earned property of the poor
villagers, and violate the chastity of their wives and daughters,
under a cloak of sanctity and religious perfection."
I will only add the very temperate remarks of the celebrated
Wilkes *. " The Hindoo character, like all others, is of a
mixed nature ; but it is composed of strange and contradictory
elements. The man who may be safely trusted for uniformly
unfolding the whole truth to a European in whom he reposes
confidence, may be expected to equivocate, and even to con
tradict every word he has said, if called on to repeat it in the
presence of a third person, whom he either fears or suspects ;
and in one of these descriptions he usually includes all
strangers. The same individual, who, from pique, and often
without any intelligible motive, will perjure himself without
shame or compunction at a public trial, is faithful, kind, and
respectable, in the intercourse of society."
Were all such testimony rejected, as partial or vindictive,
the fine rhapsodies on Hindu innocence and happiness would
be exploded by the slightest inspection of their declared reli
gion. The utter contrariety of the whole system to all mild-r
ness, purity, benevolence, and peace, may be seen on opening
any of their sacred books.
" The abode of the chandalas must be out of the town ;
they must not have the use of entire vessels ; their sole wealth
must be dogs and asses ; their clothes must be mantles of the
deceased ; their dishes" for food, broken pots ; their ornaments,
rusty iron ; and continually must they roam from place to
* History of Mysore.

88 HINDUSTAN.
place. Let food be given to them in potsherds, but not by
the hands of the giver ; and let them not walk by night in
cities or towns."
In the code of Menu, it is declared, that if one of the
Shoodra caste reads the Vedas, or listens to them, heated oil,
wax, or tin, shall be poured into his ears, and the orifice
stopped up. And, if a Shoodra gets by heart any of the
Vedas, though he may not have seen the book, he shall be
put to death. The same code affirms, that the only things in
which Shoodras, and other low castes, need be instructed, is
the superiority of brahmins ; and that the great means of
obtaining favour from the gods, is giving them charity.
The following turgid and shocking account of the brahmins
is quoted from their own Ramayana : —
" Even he who cannot be slain by the ponderous arms of
Indra, nor by those of Kali, nor by the terrible Chackra of
Vishnu, shall be destroyed if a brahmin curse him, as if he
were consumed by fire." In other parts, brahminical potency
(almost, it may be said, omnipotency) is strongly enforced.
" Let not a king, although in greatest distress for money,
provoke brahmins to anger, by taking their property ; for,
once enraged, they could immediately, by sacrifices and im
precations, destroy him, with his troops, elephants, horses,
and cars."
" Who, without perishing, could provoke these holy men,
by whose ancestors, under Brahma, the all-devouring fire was
created ; the sea, with waters not drinkable ; and the moon,
with its wane and increase ? " " What prince could gain
wealth by oppressing those, who, if angry, could frame other
worlds, and legions of worlds — could give being to new gods
and mortals ? When a brahmin springs to light, he is born
above the world ; the chief of all creatures ; assigned to guard
the treasury of duties, religious and civil."
" He who, through ignorance of the law, sheds blood from
the body of a brahmin, not engaged in battle, as many par-

POVERTY OF THE COUNTRY. 89
tides of dust as the blood shall roll up from the ground, so
many years shall the shedder of that blood be mangled by
other animals, in his next birth ; or so many thousand years
shall the shedder of that blood be tormented in hell."
All the writers I have been able to consult, and most of
my friends in various parts of Hindustan, declare India to be
in a state of progressive poverty and depression. The follow
ing observation of Hamilton embodies the general idea. After
stating many facts, and adducing public records to prove his
assertion, and remarking that the nature of the connexion
' which binds the country to Britain will sufficiently account
for this tendency to deterioration, without resorting to local
mismanagement, he says, — " All the offices of emolument,
civil and military, and the highest lines of commerce, are in
the hands of strangers, who, after a temporary residence,
depart, with the capital they have accumulated. Under
native rulers, even the extortions of rapacity, and the drains
of tribute, returned into circulation, and promoted, in some
form, territorial industry. Under its present constitution,
the remittance, or rather tribute to Britain, carries off every
year a large share of the produce, for which nothing is
returned *."
It may be interesting to some, and seems necessary, in
order to give a general idea of British operations in India, to
state the salaries of a few of the government officers. From
these the general scale of salaries may be deduced. Rupees per annum.
The Governor-general receives  250,000
" Members of Council ( each)  100.000
" Judge of Native Supreme Court  50,000
" Members of Head Board of Revenue  50,000
" Secretaries to Government of India (each) .... 50,000
" Salt Agents  from 50,000 to 56,000
" Commissioner of Revenue  36,000
" Secretaries to Government of Bengal (each) . . . 36,000
" Judge of a Zillah, or city  30,000
While such salaries are paid to the civil servants of the
* Walter Hamilton's Gazetteer of India.

90 HINDUSTAN.
Company, they are by no means niggardly to their military
officers ; and when it is recollected that they maintain con
stantly a standing army of 200,000 men ; that the military
pensions are already enormous ; that the recruiting and
bringing to India of each British soldier costs the Company,
on an average, 1001. ; that all the clothing and equipments
of the army, and most of the luxuries of the officers and
gentry, are manufactured in England, and that every expense
of the Company, to say nothing of profits, must be drawn
from the natives, — we can scarcely wonder that the country
should be gradually sinking into desperate poverty. Tennent,
author of " Thoughts on British Influence in India," esti
mates the annual savings of the Company's servants, sent
home to England, at 2,000,000/.
From time immemorial the land has constituted the chief
source of revenue in India ; and for plain and obvious reasons.
The habits of the great body of the people are simple and
uniform ; their diet is spare, and confined generally to a few
articles of the first necessity ; their clothing is scanty and
mean ; their habitations poor and unfurnished ; what we
term luxuries are confined to the opulent few. In all this
the keen eye of the financier sees nothing to touch, and he is
compelled to have recourse to the expedient of taxing produce
in the aggregate.
The government share of rice crops is, on an average, about
fifty per cent. ! But the mode of collection causes the culti
vator to pay about three-fourths of his crop. The public
treasury is replenished by monopolies ; duties on exports and
imports, for the most part heavy ; licenses for the sale of
arrack and toddy ; stamps ; fees on judicial proceedings, &c.
The entire revenue of the Company is probably about twenty
millions pounds sterling.
But the taxes on India are nothing, compared with the
oppressions and miseries inflicted by her religion. No sta
tistics can measure these — no eloquence describe them. They

VOYAGE TO SINGAPORE. 91
must be seen to be understood. In vain poets describe her
citron breezes and palmy woods, her consecrated rivers, bal
samic gums, fragrant spices, and trickling manna. One
wide-spread shade rests on the scene. It is the kingdom of
the god of this world — an empire where darkness reigns, and
the shadow of death. At every glance one is reminded of
the prophet's forcible description of a people who have
forsaken God — " They hunt every man his brother with a
net ; that they may do evil with both hands, earnestly ; the
prince asketh, and the judge asketh a reward ; and the great
man uttereth his mischievous desire ; so they wrap it up.
The best of them is as a brier ; the most upright is sharper
than a thorn hedge." Micah vii. 3, 4.
The following are the modern or living languages of Hin
dustan : — Hindustanee, Bengalese, Cashmerian, Dogura,
Ooch, Sindy, Cutch, Gujeratty, Concan, Punjaub, Bicanere,
Marwar, Jeypore, Odeypore, Harowtyr Malwa, Bruj,
Bundlecund, Mahratta, Magadha, Koshala, Maithila, Nepaul,
Orissa, Teloogoo, Carnata, and Tamul. Except the Hindus
tanee, which is the universal language of intercourse, all
these are local.

CHAPTER III.
Voyage to Singapore — Coasters — Prices of Passage in India — Straits of Ma
lacca — Harbour and Town of Singapore — Climate — Productions — Commerce
— Islamism — Population — Moral Character of Population — Orang Louts —
Chinese Wedding — Missionary Operations- — Malacca — History of the Settle
ment — Extent — Population — Progress of Christianity — Anglo Chinese
College — Common Schools — Malay Peninsula — Origin of Malay Race —
Divisions — Keda  Perak — Salongore — Johore — Rumbo — Pahang — Trin-
gano — Calantan Patani — Ligore — Character of Malays — Slavery — Language.
March 18, 1837- — Again at sea. The lapse of ten days,
since Mr. Day's arrival, enabled me to arrange with him
various plans of action, and to feel, on leaving Madras, that
my work there was done. I had already procured him a

92 HINDUSTAN.
house, and some furniture, in the midst of Teloogoo people,
and near to the residence of George Vansomerin, Esq., than
whom he could not have a warmer friend ; so that he entered
at once on housekeeping ; and his knowledge of the language
will enable him at once to commence some parts of his work.
Few are the missions blessed with so devoted a missionary,
and few are the missionaries blessed with so devoted a wife.
The Thames, in which I this day embarked for Singapore,
is one of the huge vessels, lately belonging to the East India
Company, and has now a cargo of seventeen hundred tons.
The ample decks, the cleanliness, the little motion given by
the sea, the size of my cabin, the excellent table, and all other
circumstances, form an agreeable contrast to the small coasters
in which all my voyages in these seas have, with one ex
ception, been made. I feel truly thankful for this relief.
Continued inconvenience and exposure for so many months,
and especially -my inland journey to Trichinopoly, had
seriously impaired the small stock of health with which I
left home, and made me doubtful of living to return. The
truly paternal hospitalities of Mr. V. and family in Madras
have set me up, and my present voyage is carrying on the
improvement. As the rest of my tour will be performed in large
vessels, I now set forward, not only with a fair prospect of finish
ing the work assigned me, but of regaining established health.
In taking my leave, as I hope, of " country vessels," as
the coasters are called, I will just " show up" a fair average
of their comforts, drawn from my experience in seven such
voyages. By this plan I shall not hurt the feelings of any of
those captains whose eye may meet these pages, and at the
same time avoid telling the same story " with variations''
seven times over.
You find, on getting aboard, a cabin five or six feet square,
and are fortunate if in it you can stand erect, and still more
so if it have a port-hole, or any ventilation, except through
the scuttle, by which you enter. Here you eat with the

INDIAN COASTERS. 93
captain, or perhaps off of a stinking hen-coop on deck. There
can be no awning on deck, because it would be in the way of
the boom ; so that you stay below while the sun blazes on
the plank over your head, and keeps the thermometer in the
cabin about blood heat. Your mattress is laid on a locker
at"night, and rolled up in the day : perhaps you may be
able to swing it. The seams on deck, neglected and parched
up, during a six months' dry season, let the salt water on you
in rapid drops, when the decks are washed. If it be the rainy
season, your confinement below is scarcely less unpleasant.
Trunks and small stores must occupy the margin of the
cabin, or be stowed where you cannot come at them. If you
attempt to write, three times a day you must huddle together
your papers, that the trunk or table may be spread for
meals ; or if you eat on deck, and so have uninterrupted use
of the table, the heat and motion make study difficult. Your
cooking is by no means scientific. The fowls, sometimes
without the privilege of a coop, and lying on the deck tied
by the legs, " get no better very fast." The smallness of the
vessel makes her toss about most uncomfortably, when a
larger vessel would be quite still ; so that, if you take any
thing out of its place, it must be " chocked" again with care,
or it will " fetch way." As to walking the deck, there is
hardly room to turn ; and if there be, you must have either
the sun or dew upon you. But your worst time is at night.
Several must sleep in the tiny cabin ; and the heavy, damp
air, coming down the gangway, gives you rheumatism, with
out producing ventilation. You perspire at every pore, till
nature is exhausted, and you sleep, from very inanity.
There are other disagreeables, which, though worse, are
happily not quite so common. Some of the captains have no
means of ascertaining latitude, and still fewer their longitude.
Sometimes there is no chart on board. The cables, anchors,
and general inventory, are apt to be poor. Vessels in the
habit of carrying rice, timber, stick-lac, &c, have always

94 HINDUSTAN.
mice, cock-roaches, centipedes, scorpions, and ants, in great
abundance. In one of my voyages I killed nearly thirty
scorpions in my cabin, and in another, eight or ten centipedes.
Thrice, on taking out of my trunk a clean shirt, I found a
centipede* in its folds. Large winged cockroaches infest all
India vessels ; but in some they creep about in every direction,
day and night. I had one full specimen of this. Such
crowds lighted upon the dinner-table, that we could hardly
tell meat from potatoes. To drive them away and eat at the
same time was impossible, for they would keep off of a dish
no longer than it was agitated. The captain and I just dined
patiently, each contenting himself with being able to keep
them out of his own plate. At night they swarmed in
thousands on the boards and on the bed, eating our fingers
and toes to the quick. A hundred oranges, tied up in a bag,
had not been on board thirty-six hours, before it was found
that these cormorants had left nothing but the skin. It was
a bag full of hollow globes ! Uncomfortable and confined as
were the voyages up and down rivers, in Burman canoes,
they were every way more pleasant than these little voyages
at sea.
These things ought not, perhaps, in strictness, to be called
hardships, but they are inconveniences, which I found tended
rapidly to make me old, and convince me that voyages of this
sort cannot be a wise resort for invalid missionaries. I might
indeed have gone more comfortably, had I chartered for my
self some proper craft, or waited for larger vessels ; but I could
not think of so greatly increasing the expense, or prolonging
my absence. Those who pass only between great seaports,
may generally, with some delay, obtain good vessels, and the
usual marine comforts.
The prices paid for passages in India are startling to an
American, accustomed to cheap locomotion. In general, they
* These are generally about two inches long, and the thickness of a
pipe stem. The bite is never fatal, but more venomous than our spider's.

STRAIT OF MALACCA. 95
are two or three times dearer in proportion to distance, than
those of our splendid New York and Liverpool packet ships.
Freights are charged at rates equally exorbitant. Even at
these prices, the accommodations between unfrequented ports
are generally much worse than our little coasting packets'.
The passage through the Strait of Malacca, furnishes much
to interest the lover of wild scenery. Lofty islands, covered
with forests perpetually verdant, are continually in sight.
Equatorial temperature spreads its delightful uniformity, and
a smooth sea imparts feelings of safety. Heavy squalls, how
ever, often occur from the west, which the people here call
Sumatras. One is constantly reminded of being in the region
of the Malays, by the recurrence of the name Pulo, which is
their name for " island."
The whole strait has long been notorious for piracy ; and
shocking instances of it are even now often committed on small
vessels. Malays are far from considering piracy dishonourable ;
and many of their princes openly engage in it. Their old
romances and traditions constantly refer to such cruises, and
invest them with all the glories of a crusade. According to
their Mahometan notions, no doom is too bad for " infidel
dogs," so that Christians and pagans are robbed, murdered, or
enslaved, without compunction. Whatever else of the Koran
their Sheiks may conceal, they take abundant pains to pro
claim the decrees of merit for the foe of infidels.
Singapore, where we arrived April 19, 1837, lies in lati
tude 1° 17', longitude 103° 51'. The harbour can scarcely be
surpassed for extent, safety, and beauty. Lofty islands keep
the water perpetually smooth, and seem to lock it in on every
side. The town has not an imposing appearance from the
anchorage, but the fine hill in the rear, covered with vigorous
grass, is a charming object to one coming from other parts of
India at the close of the warm season, and who has scarcely
seen grass for six months.
Numerous vessels of various uncouth shapes, lie at anchor ;

96 SINGAPORE.
while more numerous boats ply in every direction over the still
surface. The aspect along-shore is busy, and the few European
houses, handsome and oriental. The settlement was made here
at the suggestion of Sir Stamford Raffles, in 1819. The next
year, it was declared a free port, and in 1 825 its sovereignty
was confirmed to Britain by the Dutch government; which
held claims upon it, and by the sultan of Johore, within whose
territory it is embraced. The latter had a pension of about
24,000 Spanish dollars per annum settled upon him. Captain
Alexander Hamilton says that, at his visit in 1703, the then
sultan " made me a present of the Island of Sincapure ; but I
told him it could be of no use to a private person." A mise
rable village of fishermen and pirates was, at that time, the
only remains of what was, some centuries before, a flourishing
Malay city, engrossing the commerce of these seas.
The lapse of more than a month, in daily expectation of a
vessel for Siam, my next point of destination, gave me leisure
to become' 'acquainted with the place, and to learn, from the
best sources what is known of the tribes occupying the pen
insula and adjacent archipelago.
Singapore is divided from the southern point of the Malay
peninsula by a strait, in some places not over a quarter of a
mile wide, but formerly the highway of ships passing to and
from the China seas. The island is of unequal breadth,
twenty-seven miles long, and containing about two hundred
and seventy-five square miles. A very considerable part has not
yet been explored by the English, and is probably uninhabited.
Some twenty or thirty other small islands adjacent, belong
to Singapore, but they are mostly uninhabited. The town is
on the south side of the island ; and the direct track of vessels
to and from the China seas, is within the roads of the harbour.
It is surrounded by abrupt red sandstone hills, enclosing small,
sterile, marshy valleys. The highest of these hills is computed
to be three hundred and fifty feet high. On some of them are
gentlemen's residences, but the rest are rugged and dreary.

APPEARANCE OF THE TOWN — CLIMATE. 97
The plain on the southern side is a low sandy marsh, pre
senting those successive ridges, which indicate that the sea, at
no very distant period, has dammed itself out. Though with
out rivers, the island is well watered, and has some boatable
brooks and small nullahs, extending a few miles into the in
terior. One of these, navigable for a mile or two by large
boats, passes through the heart of the town, and greatly con
tributes to the convenience of commerce.
The town is more attractive than it seems to be from the
harbour, and some parts are really beautiful : but Martin in
his " British Colonies," has drawn upon imagination in making
his picture. Instead of the houses being " generally of stone,"
with " superb granite stairs," neither one nor the other can be
found in the city ! The best houses are of brick, and will not
compare with many in Calcutta and Madras.
Lying almost under the equator, the variation of seasons is
scarcely perceptible. The heat is the same, night and day, all
the year round ; seldom greater than eighty-nine degrees, or
less than seventy-five. A fresh breeze is always felt, though
there is no very regular monsoon. There is no rainy season,
but a cloudy atmosphere prevails a good deal, and a fine shower
falls almost every day in the year. Such causes give an energy
to both animal and vegetable life, scarcely found in other lati
tudes. Plants of innumerable varieties crowd the forest, ren
dering human entrance impossible ; and myriads of insects and
reptiles people both land and water. Corals, madrepores, and
mollusca, charm by their novelty, beauty, and simplicity, and
excite admiration of Him who causes the earth to teem with
happy existence, and with evidences of infinite wisdom and
goodness. One of these curious productions, a species of al-
cyonum, called " Neptune's cup," is said to be found nowhere
else. It is a beautiful, tough, hard, sponge-like goblet, capable
often of holding from one to two bushels.
A more delightful climate there is not probably on earth.

98 SINGAPORE.
Storms and hurricanes are rare, though showers occur almost
daily. The following table is constructed from precise meteorolo
gical observations for the year 1835 : —

January . .
February .
March . . .
April .
May . . .
June . . .
July . .
August . .
September
October . .
November .
December .

6 a.m.
. 78 .
. 79 ,
. 78 ,
. 80
. 80
. . 81
. 80
. 79
. 82
. . 80
. . 79
. . 77

3 P.M.
86 . .
85 . .
84 . .
84 . .
84 . .
84 . .
87 . .
82 . .
84 . .
83 . .
82 . .
. 80 . .

8 P.M.
. . 83 . .
. . 82 . .
. . 80 .
. . 82 . .
. . 82 . .
. . 82 . .
. . 82 . .
. . 81| .
. . 81 . .
. . 82 .
. . 80 . .
. . 79 .

Fall of Rain

18 inches 8 tenths.

1 "

5 "

10 "

8 "

3 "

2 "

5 "

0 "

6 "

5 "

4 "

6 "

6 "

9 "

3 "

6 "

10 «

t C

7 "

4 "

20 "

7 "

The reader will do well to examine this table closely, and
mark how little is the variation of temperature, either between
day and night or the different months. I have omitted the
maximum and minimum, and will only remark, the greatest
cold known in the year is about seventy-three degrees ; and
the greatest heat eighty-eight ! The total fall of rain in a year,
averages about one hundred inches; which, though much
greater than in most parts of the world, is but half that of
Rangoon. Every species of tropical production would probably thrive
here ; but the English have occupied it too short a time to make
fruits abundant. For mangoes, durians, and all the finer fruits,
they depend on Malacca. Experiments are now in progress
for raising the sugar-cane and nutmeg, on an extensive scale ;
but the latter, at least, will require eight or ten years, before
the result is decided. I visited some of the nutmeg plantations,
the tree is of moderate size, and the fruit very like the peach.
Outside is pulp, a third of an inch thick, then the mace, spread
over a thin round shell, and inside that shell, the nutmeg.
Almost the only products for export are gambier, sago, and
agar-agar. Gambier, or catechu, (formerly called Terra japo-
nica, from its being supposed to be an earth, and coming from

PRODUCTS — COMMERCE. 99
Japan,) is produced by boiling the leaves of a species of
uncaria, and inspissating the decoction. It is used for chewing,
with betel-nut, over all the East ; and exported largely to
England, for tanning leather. Sago is brought in a crude
state, resembling sour arrow-root, from many islands, and
is here refined and granulated for the foreign market. There
are eight or ten sago refineries at Singapore, some of which I
visited. The price of the prepared article here, is generally
about a penny per pound. Most of the powder, or crude sago,
is brought from Borneo, and the islands round Sumatra. It
is the pith of a species of palm-tree. A good tree is said to
yield about two thousand pounds. Agar-agar (fucus saccha-
rinus) is a sea- weed abundant along the shores of the islands,
chiefly exported in a dry state to China, where it is converted
into a rich jelly for the table, and sizing for cotton goods and
paper. The commerce of Singapore consists in buying and selling
the commodities of different parts of the world. The imports
for consumption are very trifling, and, as has been stated, little
is produced for exportation ; but almost every article of Indian,
Chinese, and European industry, passes through the hands of
the merchants. Native vessels, from every part of the archi
pelago, find here a market, and obtain their supplies. A large
part of these are manned by Bugis, who are the maritime
men of the islands. They come in prows carrying from ten
to one hundred tons, and carry from twenty to sixty men.
They begin to arrive in September, and to depart in Decem
ber. The whole number in a year, is about two hundred ;
having in them, men and women, at least twenty thousand
persons. The name Bugis properly belongs to one tribe, on
the island of Celebes, but is generally applied to the traders
from every part of Celebes, from the coasts of Borneo, and
from Booton, Bali, Lombok, and Sumbawe.
The commerce of the countries in and around the China Sea,
would form an important and interesting theme for the poli-
f2

100 SINGAPORE.
tical economist. From the elegant and civilised Chinese to
the wildest tribes which roam the interior of the most un
known islands, all are animated and benefited by an honour
able commerce, which existed for ages before the European
found his way into these seas. The savage Batta collects
camphor ; the Daya and Harafoora gather diamonds and
gold ; the Sulu dives for pearl ; the Malay explores his lonely
shores for edible birds' nests, or gathers the nutmeg and the
clove, or sweeps the shore for tripang and agar-agar ; the
Bugis acts both merchant and mariner, bearing these gather
ings from port to port ; the Sumatran furnishes pepper for
all the world ; the more civilised Japanese smelts ores, and
constructs articles of elegant utility ; the still more refined
Chinese gives impulse to the whole by his luxury and his
capital ; while the Western world shares the precious com
modities, and returns the thousand productions of more perfect
sciences and arts. This vast, populous, and favoured portion
of the earth, is that which the ancients, even so late as the
time of Constantine, regarded as untenable by man ; inhabited
only by satyrs, centaurs, headless monsters, and human pyg
mies.* The extensive prevalence of Islamism among the islanders
is another subject yet untouched by the historian, and well
worthy of investigation. We are accustomed to ascribe the
triumphs of the false prophet almost wholly to his arms. But
here, the sword has not made way for his doctrine. At this
very day, while Christianity waits to send forth her teachers,
the Mussulman, without support and without delay, insinuates
his faith, and idolaters turn in tribes. While in Singapore,
I saw not less than two hundred of these islanders, then on
their pilgrimage to Mecca.
The present population of Singapore amounts to 30,000 ;
of which there are only 7229 females. Of Europeans, there
* See Pliny and Strabo ; Homer's Iliad, book iii. ; and a learned note
in Robertson's America, vol. i.

POPULATION. 101
are 105 males and 36 females; Malays, 5122 males, 4510
females ; Chinese, 12,870 males, 879 females ; Klings, 2246
males, 102 females. The rest are Bugis, Balinese, Bengalese,
Negroes, Javanese, Arabs, &c. ; with a few Indo-Britons,
Armenians, &c. I saw one or two of the Papua, or Negro
race of the Indian islands. They resemble the African Negro
in every particular, but are smaller. To account for the
existence of two races, so perfectly distinct, as the black and
brown population of these islands, has not been successfully
attempted. The growth of the place has not been equal to the expecta
tions originally cherished by Sir Stamford Raffles, its founder.
Within the first two years of its settlement by the English, no
less than two thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine vessels
entered and cleared from the port ; of which three hundred
and eighty-three were owned and commanded by Europeans.
Their united tonnage was 161,000 tons ! During the same
period, the value of merchandise, arrived and cleared in native
craft, was about 1,000,0002., and in ships about 600,000/.
more. It has not grown for some years at a similar rate, if
at all ; and it is quite uncertain whether the place can become
of much greater importance, till the various tribes in these
seas become more civilised and numerous, and consume foreign
products more largely.
As in every other part of India, each class of the community
preserves the costume, manners, and religion of its ancestry.
This has long ceased to look odd to me. It requires but a
short residence in the country to get accustomed to every sort
of fashion in dress, and cast of countenance.
The striking disproportion of females, who are but about
one fourth of the population, is owing partly to the laws of
China, which forbid the emigration of women, and partly to
those circumstances which make the male sex preponderate in
all new colonies, and purely commercial places.
In going through one part of the town, during business

102 SINGAPORE.
hours, one feels himself to be in a Chinese city. Almost every
respectable native he sees is Chinese; almost every shop,
ware-room, and trade, is carried on by the Chinese ; the huck
sters, coolies, travelling cooks, and cries common in a great
city, are Chinese. In fact, we may almost call Singapore
itself a Chinese city ; inasmuch as the bulk of the inhabitants
are Chinese, and nearly all the wealth and influence, next to
the British, is in their hands. A large part of the Klings
and Bengalese are ostlers, servants, washermen, &c, to Eu
ropeans ; and the Malays and Bugis occupy portions of the
city by themselves.
As to the moral character of this mixed population, it is
difficult to obtain accordant testimony. Some gentlemen in
Singapore considered the morals of the people at large, quite
equal to those of similar-sized towns in Europe. Others
regarded them as far worse. Certainly opium-smoking, gam
bling, and uncleanness, are quite prevalent.
Among the population of Singapore, is a very large number
of those wretched Malays called Orang Lout, or " men of the
water ;" and sometimes Orang Salat, or " men of the straits."
Without any home on shore, they are born and die on miser
able boats, scarcely large enough for a man to lie down in at
his ease. Roaming about for fish and coarse fruits, they pick
up shells and coral for sale, and sometimes are sufficiently
successful in fishing, to barter with landsmen for sago, clothes,
or a little rice. They procure sago at about one farthing a
pound, or less, so that the whole expenses of a common family
of Orang Louts do not exceed eight shillings a month. The
agricultural Malays of the straits are a grade higher in civil
isation, but deeply degraded. They contrive to live by the
soil, or by bringing in wood ; but scarcely one acquires the
least skill in any sort of trade. The average height of Malay
men is five feet, three and a half inches.
A Chinese population of so many thousands, gave me many
opportunities of observing the manners of this singular people.

CHINESE WEDDING. 103
One of these was a wedding, to which I had the pleasure of
being invited, through the kind offices of Mr. Ballistier, our
American consul, to whom I was much indebted in other
respects. As I had no hope of such an opportunity in China,
I gladly availed myself of this. The family of the bride being
wealthy, the room containing the family altar was decorated
both with costliness and taste. The " Jos" was delineated
in a large picture surrounded by ornamental paper-hangings.
Huge wax candles, delicate tapers, and suspended lamps, of
elegantly painted glass, shed round their formal light, though
it was broad day. On the altar, or table, before the idol,
were trays of silver and rich porcelain, filled with offerings
of sweetmeats and flowers, while burning sandal-wood and
agillocha diffused a pleasing fragrance.
After the elders had performed their devotions, the bride
came slowly in, supported by attendants, and went through
tedious gestures, and genuflexions before the idol, without
raising her eyes from the ground, or speaking. Her robe was
both gorgeous and graceful, covering her, in loose folds, so
completely that neither her feet nor hands could be seen.
Beside the numerous ornaments and jewels, which bound up
her profuse hair, she wore several heavy necklaces of spark
ling jewels, apparently artificial. When she had finished, an
elder placed on her head a thick veil, and she returned to her
apartment. We now waited for the bridegroom, who " tarried"
a little, and the interval was enlivened by tea, sweetmeats,
betel-nut, &c. Three bands of music, European, Malay, and
Javanese, sent sounds of gladness through the halls and cor
ridors ; the friends passed about with smiles and greetings ;
the children, in their gay apparel, danced joyously, they knew
not why ; — all was natural and pleasing, but the slow and
extravagant movements of a Javanese dancing-girl, who, in a
corner of the porch, earned her pay, little regarded.
At length it was heralded, " the bridegroom cometh," and
immediately many " went forth to meet him." He came

104 CHINESE WEDDING.
with friends and a priest, preceded by another band of music.
His devotions before the Jos were much sooner and more
slightly done than those of the lady, and he sat down with
the priest, and a friend or two, in front of the altar, where
had been placed chairs covered for the occasion with loose
drapery of embroidered velvet. Refreshments were handed,
till a movement from within announced the approach of the
bride ; and all eyes were turned to meet her. She advanced
very slowly to the centre, veiled, as when she retired, and,
after a few gestures by each toward the other, the happy
pair sat down together, her face still invisible. Refreshments
again entered, and each partook, but with evident agitation
and constraint. Presently she retired to her chamber, fol
lowed by the bridegroom, and most of the guests dispersed ;
but we were permitted, with some particular friends, to enter
with him. It was doubtless a handsome room in Chinese
estimation, but its decorations would scarcely please a
Western eye. The bedstead resembled a latticed arbour ;
and from the roof within was suspended a beautiful lamp of
chased silver, burning with a feeble light. Standing in the
middle of the room, they renewed their bowing, and passing
from side to side, with a gravity and tediousness almost
ludicrous, till he finished the ceremony by approaching and
lifting the veil from her head. We were told that till then he
had never seen her ! She blushed, and sat without raising
her eyes ; but, alas for the romance of the thing, she was
ugly ! A leisurely repast followed, shared by themselves
alone ; and probably forming the ratifying feature of the
solemnity, as in Burmah. Fifty dishes or more were before
them, a few of which they tasted with silver forks ; but of
course the occasion was too ethereal to be substantiated by
veritable eating and drinking. When they rose from the
table, the bridegroom, aided by his servant, removed his
outer robe, whicli had been worn as a dress of ceremony, and
threw it on the bed, as if marking it for his own. Then,

CHINESE WEDDING. 105
advancing respectfully to the bride, her attendant raised the
folds of her dress, and he unclasped the cincture of the
garment beneath. This act, so gentle, delicate, and sig
nificant, closed the ceremonial. He then returned to his
own house till evening, and every guest retired — a capital
system, allowing the bride some repose, after the trying and
tiresome ceremonies she had performed. This was about
four o'clock. In the evening a sumptuous entertainment was
given to the friends of both parties ; after which the bride
groom remained, as a son at home.
More refined deportment cannot be, than was exhibited by
all parties on this occasion. The guests were not all at one
table, nor even in one room ; but many tables were spread,
each accommodating five or six persons, and all diverse in
their viands. Servants were numerous, the silver and por
celain handsome, the deportment of the guests unexcep
tionable, and sobriety universal. Everything testified the
high claim of the Chinese to the character of a civilised people.
I readily accepted an invitation, a few evenings afterward,
to an entertainment at the same house. Order, delicacy,
abundance, and elegance, reigned throughout. Of course
many of the dishes were new to me, but there were many
also in exact English style. Among the novelties, I tried
sharks' fins, birds' nests, fish-maws, and biche-de-mer. I
think an unprejudiced taste would pronounce them good ; but
only that of a Chinese would consider them delicacies.
From the first settlement of Singapore by the British,
operations for the moral and religious improvement of the
natives have been carried on. Translations into Malay, and
the printing and distribution of tracts and Scriptures,
engrossed most of the time of early missionaries. In this
department a great deal has been done ; but, so far as can
now be seen, with very little success. Great efforts have
been made also in the way of schools ; not only by the
missionaries, but by the British residents, and the government.
f3

106 SINGAPORE.
The latter has allowed from the public treasury, 201. per
month. Several Chinese schools, and still more Malay ones,
have been constantly maintained. The principal authorities
have, at times, exerted their influence to induce the people to
send their children ; and even gone from house to house to
procure scholars. A multitude of children have been in the
schools, first and last ; and some hundreds have received more
or less instruction. But it has been found impossible to
secure the attendance of scholars for more than a few months ;
and almost none have learned to read. What is more la
mentable, no case of conversion has occurred among the
pupils. No place in the East offers greater facilities for tract-distri
bution, or a greater variety of nations and languages acces
sible ; and perhaps at no point has this species of labour been
carried to greater extent. Thousands and tens of thousands
of tracts and portions of Scripture have been given away.
Not only have the Malay inhabitants been fully supplied,
but thousands of Bugis, Javanese, Sumatrans, Chinese, Mus
sulmans, Arabs, Kelingas, Balinese, &c. So early as 1830,
the Singapore Christian Union reported, that " in Singapore
and neighbourhood, our friends have gone round, half-a-dozen
times, passing from house to house, and scattering tracts
abundantly." Ever since it has been vigorously continued.
Not a single Malay in Singapore has made even a nominal
profession of Christianity ; nor are there any hopeful cate
chumens. For a long time past no one competent in the
language has resided here ; so that the only missionary
efforts are the distribution of tracts, and some unpromising
schools. Indeed, this has been very much the case from the
beginning, as previous missionaries were chiefly devoted to
these labours, and to authorship ; and very little has been
done in the way of direct preaching. The history of this
mission, now twenty years old, is an item of consequence, in
our reasoning upon the modes of missionary labour.

SCHOOLS.  CATHOLICS. 107
The Catholics have two churches here — a French and a
Portuguese ; with several priests. They not only take charge
of those of their faith who reside here, but have brought over
a number of Malays, Chinese, and others, and have full
audiences on Sundays. Popish missionaries through India,
so far as I could learn, are men of good morals. They live far
more humbly than any other missionaries, and mix much
with their people. Their stipend, in all cases which came to
my knowledge, is 201. per annum. Their converts are taught,
from the first, to contribute to the support of religion, and
their teachers, being unmarried, have few wants which these
cannot supply.
The Singapore Institution, founded by Sir Stamford Raffles,
in 1823, has maintained a feeble existence, but is now likely
to be put on a footing of vigour and expansiveness. A
new building, large and commodious, has been prepared for
it, to which it will soon be removed, after which its course
of study will be more collegiate, and its number of pupils
increased. Singapore has, from the first, been a station of the London
Missionary Society. It became a station of the American
Board of Commissioners in 1834, and is now occupied by
Messrs. Tracey, Dickinson, Hope, Travelli, and North, from
that Society, — the three former giving themselves to Chinese,
and the others to Malay. Mr. N. is a practical printer, and
has charge of a a well-built and amply-furnished printing-
office. These missionaries have all been here so very short a
time, that their chief occupation has been the acquisition
of language. They have, however, a Malay and a Chinese
school, and superintend the labours of a large number of
Chinese printers, who have been constantly employed on the
revised Chinese New Testament, and various tracts, by Mr.
Gutzlaff, and others.
The Church Missionary Society have recently made this a
station for the Chinese ; and the American Baptist Board are

108 MALACCA.
about to do the same. Rev. Mr. Squier, from the former
society, has been here a few months. While China remains
inaccessible, missionaries for that country must prepare them
selves in other places. Great commercial emporiums must
be considered common ground to all persuasions of Christians,
in their operations for the heathen ; and in several instances,
such as Calcutta, Bankok, Smyrna, &c, the missionaries of
various sects live together in harmony and good understand
ing. In such places, property is safe, the press free, workmen
plenty, and exchanges easy, while uncertainties and delays in
procuring paper and transmitting books are avoided.
A little country brig, of thirty or forty tons, carried me to
Malacca in four days, and back to Singapore in six, allowing
me a stay of one week. The steam-boat demanded 201.,
while this vessel would take me for 31. ; and I could not
forbear, by choosing the latter both ways, to save 341.
But sorrow to the man who goes often in country brigs !
We were crowded with Chinamen and Klings ; and though
the accommodations did very well for their habits, they ill
accorded with mine. Noise, stench, and heat, ruled by day,
and confinement, dampness, and vermin, by night. My camp
chair was the only seat ; and, as there was no table, I ate
from a board on my knees. But eating was a brief business ;
for boiled rice and dried fish-roes, all day and every day,
furnished no temptation to gastronomic excess. There were
indeed lots of stews for the Chinamen, to which I was quite
welcome ; but either their smell, or their looks, satisfied me
to keep to the salt fish-roes, for in them there could be " no
mistake." Through the prompt and abundant hospitalities of the
British resident and his lady, whose house, carriages, and
attentions were put at my fullest service, and the kind com
municativeness of the missionaries, I was able, during the
week, to see and hear all that concerned my official objects.
The city of Malacca, formerly embraced within the king-

MALACCA. 109
dom of Johore, was taken possession of by Portugal in 1511 ;
but her authority was never well established in the interior,
and the possession neither benefited her commerce nor en
hanced her dignity. It was held by the Portuguese till 1 641 ,
when it was taken by the Dutch. It was, after two years,
taken by the English, in 1660 reverted again to the Dutch,
and finally passed over to the English in 1825, and so re
mains. Why this location of the settlement was chosen, it
is difficult to imagine, unless because it was previously the
chief town of the sovereignty of Johore. The harbour is very
bad, being on the outside a mere roadstead, and all within
so shallow, that ships cannot approach the town, nearer than
three or four miles. At low water, the sands are bare, a
mile from shore. The trifling river, on which the town stands,
keeps open a narrow, boatable channel to the town, when the
tide is out. The location is eminently salubrious ; but the
commerce, which once made this place so conspicuous, has
passed to Penang and Singapore. I found only a small cutter,
like our own, lying at anchor, and was told there was seldom
more at one time.
The view of the town from the water, is picturesque and
attractive. An old fort and church, in ruins, occupy the
prominent elevation, while handsome houses, fronted by great
trees, extend along the shore. The roads are finely Mac
adamised with a ferruginous clay, soft when first dug out, but
very hard after exposure to the air.
The district of Malacca extends about forty miles along the
coast, from Salengore to Moar, and inland to Rumbo, about
thirty miles. The population within these limits amounts to
twenty-two thousand, of which much the larger part reside
in the town and suburbs. The Chinese form about one-fourth
of the whole ; the rest are Malays, Klings, Arabs, &c. About
five hundred thousand pounds of tin, and the same quantity
of pepper, are annually produced and exported ; beside some

110 MALACCA.
gold, preserved fruits, and smaller articles. Rice is not raised
in sufficient quantity for consumption.
The city continues, fallen as are its fortunes, to be head
quarters to the military force in the Straits. The officers of
six companies of native troops, and the usual civilians, make
a pleasant circle of English society ; which brings with it, as
usual, all the artisans and shops necessary for a missionary's
convenience. Living is remarkably cheap ; and as to fruits,
no place on earth, perhaps, transcends it in number or excel
lence. A gentleman, not long ago, disposed to see how many
varieties were in season at once, ordered his Kansuma to
rocure all that might be in the bazaar ; and the result was a
dessert comprising seventy-two different fruits. Few places in
India have such a variety of agreeable drives, and, perhaps,
none a more salubrious and pleasant climate. It, however, is
fast fading away. The stillness of death reigns through the
streets ; and even the laborious Chinese seem here to catch
the general spirit of quiescence. If the military head-quarters
should be removed to Singapore, as is not improbable, it will
scarcely hold a place among English settlements.
The reproach which attaches to the European colonial sys
tem in India lies strongly on this city. For three centuries,
Christians have ruled here ; yet we look in vain for evidences
of an amelioration in the general condition of the people.
Their troops have maintained rule, and their tax-gatherers
have scraped revenues, but our holy faith is not yet estab
lished ; nay, scarcely can even a nominal Christian be found
among the Malay inhabitants.
The class called Portuguese * amounts to two thousand
souls, and are, for the most part, very ignorant and degraded.
One tenth of these are professed Protestants, probably the
r This cognomen is assumed by every man in India, black, brown, or
red, native or mixed, who aims at superiority over the general mass, and
can contrive to wear a hat and trousers. As to any descent from Portu
guese parents, it is, in thousands of cases, utterly out of the question.

MISSIONARIES.

Ill

fruit of intermarriages with the Dutch in former times. The
want of any minister to baptise, marry, visit, and instruct
this class of persons, and the ignorance and poverty of most
of them, has caused a continual falling away, for a series of
years, to the Romish church. They certainly deserve a
larger share of attention than they seem to receive. A
regular service is held for them on Sabbath afternoons, and
schools are open for their children ; but a pastor of their
own caste, and daily ministerial services, are indispensably
wanted. The late Sir Stamford Raffles, who took the deepest inter
est in the welfare of these regions, at that time under his con
trol, remarks, — " In our present settlement of Malacca, the
impossibility of procuring servants for wages, compels almost
every person to have recourse to slaves, and a considerable
proportion of these are pagans, being chiefly Battas from the
centre of Sumatra, Baylis from Bali, Dayaks from Borneo,
besides natives of Timor, and the more easterly islands. Of
all these that fall into the hands of the English, there is per
haps not a single one that becomes a Christian ; but the whole
of them become Moslems, and despise and hate their masters
as infidels ! Such is the woeful effect of our supineness and
indifference, which, if they should extend to the East, would
certainly not tend to the progress of general improvement
among the Malays."
I was glad to spend as much of my time as possible
with Rev. Mr. Dyer, lately removed here from Penang. He
is far advanced in the Chinese language, and preaches fluently,
but has devoted most of his time, for some years, to the
preparation of a fonte of Chinese metallic type. Wholly
untaught, he has devised his own way, with great labour
and patience, and has now, nearly completed, punches and
matrices for a beautiful fonte, which is to embrace three
thousand characters. Each punch costs about 2s. sterling.
The size is three times larger than that of Marshman's

112 MALACCA.
Bible *, and will be useful chiefly in the text of commenta
ries and sheet tracts.
The mission to Malacca was commenced in 1815, by Milne,
who immediately established a Chinese school, took charge of
the Reformed Dutch church, and commenced the " Chinese
Magazine." Mr. M. brought with him from Canton a Chinese
teacher and printers ; and next year Leang Afa, the teacher,
professed the Christian faith. He was then thirty-three years
old, and has ever since maintained a holy and diligent career.
I saw much of him at Singapore, and derived from him many
valuable facts. In 1817, Messrs. Medhurst and Slater arrived,
and an English periodical, called the "Indo-Chinese Gleaner,"
was established. Mr. Slater, after a year, went to devote
himself to the Chinese in Batavia. In 1818, Messrs. Ince
and Milton came, and assumed so much care of the schools,
as to leave Milne more at liberty to pursue the translation of
certain parts of Scripture, agreed on between him and Morri
son. In 1818, Dr. Morrison founded the " Anglo-Chinese
College ; " giving from his own purse about 1,200/., and
obtaining large assistance from various quarters. In 1820,
Messrs. Fleming and Huttman arrived, and, the year follow
ing, Mr. Humphreys ; and in the next year Collie was added,
and Milne died. The subsequent history of the mission is
known to the readers of missionary magazines.
During the above period, several other brethren settled in
Malacca, to devote themselves to the Malays ; by whom large
schools were established. At the period of Messrs. Tyerman
and Bennett's visit, in 1826, the Chinese schools contained
two hundred and fifty boys, and the college twenty. No
instance of the conversion of pupils had then occurred.
Malacca is chiefly conspicuous in the missionary world for
its college. It has ample buildings, and highly improved
* This Bible is partly printed with metallic type, invented by Lawson,
of Serampore, about twenty years ago, and used from that time success
fully.

MISSIONARIES. 1 13
grounds, with about 2000/. at interest. The location is within
the city, on the margin of the sea ; and was granted it by
government. There have presided over it, in succession,
Milne, Humphreys, Collie, Kidd, Tomlin, and Evans. The
last arrived in 1 833.
Like other " colleges " in the East, it is rather an elemen
tary school. The pupils are taught from the alphabet upward,
and retire from a full course, with a decent knowledge of
English, and the common rudiments of science. About sixty
or seventy thus educated, have left the institution, who gene
rally reside in the Straits, employed as porters, runners, and
under-clerks. I could not learn that any of them are more
than nominal Christians. Until lately, the school has for
some years been very small ; but it is now increased to above
seventy, of all ages, from six or seven years upward. Mr.
Evans not only has large experience in teaching, but is a
skilful financier; and the prospect of utility was never so
great as at present. He has lately baptised several pupils,
on their fully embracing the Christian system, some of whom
he hopes are truly pious. The whole cost of an in-door
student, including food, apparel, washing, &c, is about 16*.
per month.
The system of common schools has been largely pursued by
the London Missionary Society for twenty years. By the
kindness of Mr. and Mrs. G., I was able to visit most of them.
They form a curious variety — Chinese, Malay, Tamul, Por
tuguese, and English ; some for boys, and some for girls ; and
numbering in the whole not less than eight hundred pupils.
The resident English have not only liberally contributed to
the expense, and shared the labour of management, but have
been unceasing in their pains to gather and encourage scholars.
Little benefit has resulted, in comparison to the means and
the money employed. I regretted to see so much charity-
money bestowed on Portuguese schools. The cause of bene
volence is not concerned to perpetuate this language in the

114

MALACCA.

East ; and the spoken language is so cqrrupt that the pure
Portuguese, learned at school, is almost useless. It has not
been possible to obtain in this language a proper supply even
of school-books ; much less will the pupils find valuable read
ing, even if they become able to understand it. Nearly three
hundred pupils, the descendants of Chinese fathers, married
to Malays, &c, study Chinese. No objection is made by
these parents to the use of Christian school-books, nor to the
pupils attending worship on the Sabbath, and other religious
services. A number of German Brethren have recently settled at Ma
lacca to labour for the Malays, some of which are supported by
individuals in England and elsewhere. The school formed by
Mr. Tomlin, (and still principally supported by him,) for all
sorts of boys to be taught in English, is still maintained, taught
by one of these. Its plan is happy, and many have learned,
not only the English language, but the rudiments of geography,
grammar, arithmetic, &c.
As to conversions to Christianity, Malacca has few instances;
so few as to call for anxious inquiry. As to the natives, it re
mains a moral wilderness. The schools, so vigorously and so
long maintained, have not been prolific of spiritual good. Thou
sands who have attended them, are now heads of families, and
ample time has elapsed, to allow the efforts to show mature
results ; but no Malay Christian, that I could learn, is to be
found in the place ! Even the Protestant, Portuguese, and
Dutch inhabitants have diminished in number.
The Malay race is classed by itself, in geographies, as the
fifth great division of the human family ; but with what pro
priety I do not see. They have, certainly, no peculiarity of
form or feature, to entitle them to this distinction ; and history,
so far from furnishing a claim, shows them to be a mixed race,
of comparatively recent origin.
The original country of the Malays is not known. The evi
dence is in favour of Sumatra. Both at Celebes and Sumatra,

ORIGIN OF THE MALAYS. 115
there are prevalent traditions, which assign the period of their
origin to the middle of the twelfth century. About that time
a celebrated chief of Celebes went on an exploring and trading
voyage to the westward, from whence he had occasionally seen
natives. In the course of the expedition, he put into a river
of Sumatra, where a large number of his followers absconded
in a body, and passing into the interior, settled in the region of
Men-an-ka-bo. Obtaining wives from the adjacent tribes,
and possessing more civilisation, they gradually formed a new
race, and rose to dominion. Most of them had been slaves,
obtained from the Moluccas, and employed as wood-cutters and
drudges to the fleet. Hence they were called Malays, from
Mala, to bring, and aya, wood. Sir Stamford Raffles affirms
that, to this day, the people of Celebes look with great con
tempt on Malays ; and are in the habit of repeating the origin
of the name. A general similarity between the Malays and
the inhabitants of the Moluccas has been often remarked.
And, what is more remarkable, the Malay language is spoken
more purely in the Moluccas than on the Malay peninsula.
If this origin of the Malays be true, it accounts for the simi
larity which has been remarked between them and several of
the tribes of the archipelago, such as the Eidahans and Dayas
of Borneo; the Sabanos, of Magindano ; the Tagats and Pam-
pangoes, of the Manillas ; and the Biscayans, of the Philip
pines. On the arrival of the Arabs in Sumatra, the Moslem faith
rapidly supplanted paganism, and this by proselytism, not by
force. Whether their language had before been reduced to
writing, is not clear ; but it now was written in the Arabic
characters, which continue to be used. Since the introduction
of European influence, the Roman alphabet is becoming pre
valent, and the larger part of those who can read, do so in that
character. The new nation extended their conquests and colonies, till
all Sumatra yielded them feudal homage. In the thirteenth

116 MALAY PENINSULA.
century, they passed over to the peninsula, and took or built
Malacca and Singapore. Gradually extending their dominions
and colonies, the chief seat of their power was transferred to
the new territory ; and the chiefs of Sumatra began to throw
off their yoke. Proceeding to acquire power and numbers,
they at length not only regained Sumatra, but conquered the
Sunda, Philippine, and Molucca islands, with many smaller
groups, and are now found in all these regions, as well as
Borneo, Luconia, and many other islands ; but without any
centre of unity or power, without literature, freedom, or civi
lisation. They have sunk to insignificance, and are apparently
still sinking in national character.
To elucidate and establish the filiation of the Malays, and
many of their neighbour tribes, a full comparison of the lan
guages of farther India is greatly wanted. Dr. John pub
lished a work on this subject ; but it is much too imperfect to
be of any value. No one man can do more than contribute to
the undertaking. The Rev. Mr. Brown, missionary at
Sudiya, in Asam, is making exertions to obtain comparative
vocabularies of as many of the Eastern languages as possible,
and, we presume, will succeed in presenting a valuable con
tribution toward this desideratum.
At what period the people of Menangkabo embraced the
doctrines of the Prophet, does not appear. The conversion of
Malacca and Acheen took place in the thirteenth century ; but
it is uncertain whether Menangkabo was converted previous
to this date; although the religion is said to have been preached
at Sumatra as early as the twelfth century. About a. d . 11 60,
a colony issued from the interior of Sumatra, and established
themselves at Singapore, where a line of Hindu princes con
tinued to reign until 1276. Whatever may, in more remote
times, have been the nature of the intercourse between foreign
nations and Menangkabo itself, we know that Singapore,
during the period noticed, was an extensively maritime and
commercial state, and, at the time when the Portuguese settled

MALAY PI5NINSULA. 117
at Malacca, embraced the largest portion of the commerce be
tween the Bay of Bengal and the China Sea.
The Malay peninsula (called by the natives Tanah Malayu,
" the land of the Malays") is the only great country wholly
occupied by this race ; and is now divided into the kingdoms
of Keda, Perak, and Salengore, in the west ; Johore, in the
south ; Pahang, Tringano, Calantan, Patini, and Ligore, in
the east. There are states in the interior less known ; viz.
Rumbo, Johole, Jompole, Gominchi, Sungie-Oojong, Scrime-
nanti, Nanning Ulu, Calang, Jellye, Jellaboo, Segamet, Ke-
moung, &c. Some of these are divided into separate tribes ;
as, for instance, Jellaboo consists of the tribes of Bodoanda,
Tannah-Dottar, Muncal, and Battu-Balang. Scrimenanti em
braces twelve tribes, though the population does not exceed
ten thousand. Sungie-Oojong, Johole, Scrimenanti, and
Rumbo, are called " Menangkabo states." The entire popu
lation is very small ; some of the states numbering not more
than two thousand souls. The whole peninsula, except
Rumbo and Johore, is claimed by Siam ; but many of the
tribes are independent, and of others the subjection is but
nominal. Scattered over the peninsula, without specific districts and
locations, are several wild tribes, of whom almost nothing is
known. East of Malacca are Udai, Sak-kye,and Rayet-Utan,
and some negro tribes. These all go under the name of Orang-
Benua, or country people. These have each a language or
dialect, but largely tinctured with Malay. Further north, on
the mountains, are negro tribes ; but evidently distinct from
the African race. Of these tribes we hope soon to know more.
They seem to be a distinct variety of the human race; differing
both from the African, and the Papuan of New Guinea ; and
inferior to both. The average height of the men is about four
feet eight inches. These Malay negroes are thinly spread
over a considerable district, in and in the rear of Malacca, and
thence northward to Mergui ; amounting in the whole to but

118 KEDA.
few thousands. There are at least five tribes of them — the
Joc-oons, Sa-mangs, Oo-dees, Sak-ais, and Ry-ots. All of
them are much below the Malays, and some scarcely above
the apes ; dwelling in trees and clefts of the mountain. A few
have learned a little Malay, and occasionally venture among
adjacent tribes, to purchase tobacco and utensils; but of letters
they know nothing. Nor have any religious observances been
discovered among them. Their only weapon is the sumpit, a
small hollow cane, about eight feet long, through which they
blow short arrows, often poisoned at the tip. One of these,
together with the quiver full of poisoned arrows, was pre
sented to me by the British resident at Malacca. The sumpit
is somewhat ornamented, but as a warlike weapon, is quite
insignificant. I cannot insert a tenth part of the memoranda, gained from
travellers and merchants, respecting the different principalities
of the Malay peninsula. A few geographical notes for the use
of those who would closely survey the world as a missionary
field, I feel bound to insert.
Of Malacca I have already spoken.
Keda, generally written Queda, is divided from Siam by
the Langa River, in lat. 6° 50' ; and from Perak, on the south,
by Kurao River, in about lat. 5° 30'. It extends from the
seaboard but nine or ten miles ; but embraces several large
islands. Many rivers enter the ocean along its coast ; some
four or five of which are large for a little way. The popu
lation does not exceed 200,000, embracing four classes — the
Malays, Siamese, Samsams, (or Mahometan aborigines,) and
Samangs.* The latter resemble the Rayet-Utans, further
south, in the region of Rumbo ; but their complexion is
darker, and hair generally curled. From the earliest know
ledge of Europeans, it has been tributary to Siam. But " it
does not appear, either by writings or tradition, that Queda
was ever governed by the Siamese laws or customs. There
* Descendants of the intermarriages of Malays and aborigines.

perak. 119
would then have been some remains, had therebeen any affinity
between them. The people of Queda are Mahometans;
theirletters Arabic, and their language Jawee ; their kings
originally from Menankabo, on Sumatra. But, as Queda
was very near Ligore, a province of Siam, they sent, every
third year, a gold and silver tree, as a token of homage to
Ligore. This was done to preserve a good correspondence ;
for at this period the Siamese were very rich and numerous,
but no warriors ; and a considerable trade was carried on
between Ligore and Queda. After the destruction of Siam,
the king of Ava demanded the token of homage from Queda,
and received the gold and silver tree : when Pia Tach drove
away the Burmans, and built a new metropolis, the king of
Queda sent the trees to Siam, and has kept peace with both;
paying homage sometimes to one, sometimes to the other, and
often to both."*
The British province of Penang was given by the raja of
Johore, in 1785, to Captain T. Light, as a marriage portion
with his daughter. Captain L. transferred it to the East
India Company, which received also a section of territory on
the main land, now called Wellesley Province, and allowed
the raja upwards of 2000 pounds sterling. The city of Keda
stands at the mouth of an inconsiderable river, in lat. 6° 5'.
Perak is bounded by Keda on the north, and by the brook
Runkup, which divides it from Salengore^ on the south;
making about one hundred miles of sea-coast. The nominal
boundary to the west is Tringano ; but the central region is
little known, and the frontier indistinct. The population,
exclusive of tribes in this central region, is thirty-five thou
sand. But little of the land is cultivated, the inhabitants
depending on the sale of tin, and on fishing, for the purchase
of rice and other necessaries. Nearly all the people are slaves
and perhaps not one in five hundred can read.
This country was, for a hundred and fifty years, under the
* Grieg's Report to Sir S. Raffles.

120 MALAY PENINSULA.
Dutch. No trace of them remains but some ruins of forts,
on one of the Dinding Islands, and on the adjacent coast.
Salengore is divided from Perak by the brook above
named ; which enters the sea about lat. 3° 59', a little to the
north of a larger stream called the Bernam. It extends along
the coast about one hundred miles, but has a very trifling
population. Some Bugis, from Celebes, have held the govern
ment for half a century past. The people are notorious for
piracy, man-stealing, and ferocity. The town of Salengore
has but about four hundred inhabitants.
Johore embraces the whole point of the peninsula below
lat. 2° 10', and all the contiguous islands in the Straits of
Malacca and China Sea as far as the Natunas. It formerly
extended much farther north. Some of these islands are from
five to ten miles in diameter; but most of them are small,
and too sterile to be inhabited. The province seems to have
gradually diminished in consequence and populousness, since
Europeans first knew it. Its numerous inlets and harbours
afford shelter to swarms of pirates; the fear of which has
destroyed the native trade, which once enriched the province.
Among western Malays, the term Johore is synonymous with
pirate. The city of Johore, to which the raja resorted, when
driven by the Portuguese from Malacca, lies ten miles up a
river of the same name, which opens at the eastward of Sin
gapore Island. It is no longer the residence of the raja, and
is now a miserable fishing village, of about thirty houses. It
is, however, the only place where, at present, a mission could
be established. The surrounding country is champaign and
fertile, but scarcely inhabited.
Singapore Island was purchased from the Sultan of Johore,
at an enormous price ; and a pension is still paid him of
about five hundred pounds a month. He is, however, strongly
suspected of being prominently concerned in the piracies of
his subjects. Former sultans, coveting foreign commerce, had
sought to have a colony of the English on Singapore Island.

RUMBO  PAHANG — TRINGANO. 121
Captain Alexander Hamilton declares that the whole island
was offered to him, as a free gift.
Rumbo is the only important inland state. It lies back of
Malacca, about sixty miles from the coast ; but the bound
aries are not settled. The population does not exceed ten
thousand. The people are quiet industrious agriculturists,
strikingly diverse from the daring inhabitants of the coast.
Their dialect has the peculiarity, among other particulars, of
substituting o for a in all terminations. Beside the Malays,
who occupy the fertile portions of country, and bear rule,
several of the Orang-Benua, or country people, are scattered
over the rugged sides of the mountains, preserving their clan
ships inviolate, and speaking each a several language. It is
doubtful whether a foreigner could reside in Rumbo during
the rains ; but missionaries might be stationed at Malacca,
and spend the dry season on the hills, as those of Tavoy do
among the Karens.
Pahang extends from Johore to Kamamang, in lat. 4° 15',
and is supposed to contain about fifty thousand souls. It
produces annually about one hundred thousand pounds of tin.
The Chinese who procure it spend the entire proceeds in opium,
of which they consume annually about twenty-five chests.
The chief town lies on the Pahang River, and is a wretched
place, of eight or ten thousand inhabitants, of which two
hundred are Chinese, mostly opium-smokers, and degraded.
It has constant intercourse with Singapore, and would be a
healthy position for a missionary. The interior is wholly
unknown, and very thinly peopled.
Tringano extends from Kamamang to the River Basut,
which divides it from Calantan ; and extends from the China
Sea on the east to Perak on the west. It is a champaign
country, of low hills, producing a great variety of delicious
fruits. The Siamese do not send governors or make laws, but
are content with the annual present of a gold and silver tree,
and the acknowledgment of vassalage. The population is
vol. II. g

122 MALAY PENINSULA.
about forty thousand. The principal product is tin, of which
they gather annually about six hundred thousand pounds.
The men not only wear a krees, like other Malays, but often
two, and sometimes a sword also ; quarrelling much, and
working little. Their women do most of the business, and
Chinese work the mines.
The town of Tringano is at the mouth of the river of the
same name, at the head of a shallow bay. Ships may ap
proach within two miles. The river is not so wide as that
of Pahang. The town is ill laid out, and dirty, but contains
nearly half the population of the state. In the time of
Captain Hamilton's visit, (1720,) it contained one thousand
houses, about half of which were Chinese. About three
thousand Chinese occupy a quarter to themselves. The only
brick buildings are a mosque, and a custom-house, neither of
which is respectable. The country has long enjoyed foreign
commerce, and the rulers are intelligent. The present sultan
or raja is friendly to foreigners, and anxious to have them
settle there. He would probably receive and protect mis
sionaries, except they were Dutch.
Calantan extends from the Basut to the Barana River,
being the next petty state north of Tringano. It is probably
more populous than Pahang, or Tringano, but has never been
explored by foreigners. Siam has allowed them to retain
their native princes, and make their own laws, and this right
is now guaranteed by the treaty between Siam and England.
More than a million pounds of tin are annually exported,
beside a considerable amount of gold, most of which is carried
to Singapore in prows. The city is close to the sea, but
several miles from the mouth of the river on which it stands.
The position is salubrious at all seasons, and foreigners are
safe under the present government. Intercourse with Singa
pore is not unfrequent.
Patani extends from Calantan to about lat. 8° north, and
is divided from Keda, on the west, by high mountains. It

CHARACTER OF THE MALAYS. 123
was once the most populous and well- cultivated part of the
peninsula, yielding much tin, gold, grain, and salt. The
English had a factory here so long ago as 1612, and James I.
sent the queen a letter and presents. It was for a hundred
years the chief port in these seas for Surat shipping, and
maintained a trade not only with Western India, England,
and Portugal, but with Goa, Malabar, the Coromandel coast,
Siam, Camboja, and China. Their commerce attracted pirates
from Borneo and Johore, and gradually failed. Few traces
now remain of its ancient prosperity. A few years since, the
district fell under the displeasure of Siam, and war ensued,
which was terminated by the present Prah Klang, who, in
1 824, laid waste the country, and brought away all the inha
bitants he could find. These were distributed to the principal
families in Bankok as slaves, and this fine region now lies
almost depopulated and desert.
Ligore. This part of the peninsula is rather a section of
Siam, than a tributary. The governor is a Siamese, appointed
by the king. His authority extends to the border of Penang;
and since the devastation of Patani, that district is part of his
territory. The Siamese call this country Lacon. Its only seaport is
the city of Ligore, which for a long time enjoyed a large
foreign commerce. The Dutch had a good brick factory here,
and resident agents, in all the early part of last century. The
foreign trade is extinct, but the town is still flourishing, and
keeps up trade with all the chief places in the Gulf of Siam.
The dialect resembles that of Keda, and seems to be corrupt
Siamese, scarcely intelligible to the people of Bankok.
All these provinces are, we hope, soon to receive the gospel;
but at present only Pahang and Tringano offer positions for
new missions, and these by no means promising. Whoever
commences in these places, should first learn Malay, and com
mence the mission unmarried.
The Malays are everywhere Mahometans. The period of
g 2

124 MALAY PENINSULA.
their becoming so, must be placed near the commencement of
their existence as a nation on Sumatra, but is not known with
exactness. Wherever they have spread, they exhibit a vigour-
ous spirit of proselytism ; and even where force has never been
attempted, they have drawn many thousand pagans to the
worship of the true God.
Commercial and piratical in their character and aims, they
have seldom settled far from coasts and harbours ; so that the
language does not prevail among interior tribes, either on the
peninsula or the islands of the Indian Archipelago. Over
these tribes they claim some authority, and take precedence by
superiority of civilisation ; but their language, manners, and
government, remain unchanged.
A general character can hardly be assigned to a people
scattered over so many countries, and intermingled everywhere
with indigenous tribes. They have generally been set down
as distinguished for vileness and treachery. This opinion has
doubtless been derived from mariners ; for, till recently, few
others knew much about them, and the piratical tribes alone
have brought themselves into general notice. It cannot be
denied, however, that European and American captains on the
coast of Sumatra, and elsewhere, have, by their frauds and
oppressions, contributed not a little to drive these people to
make reprisals.
Disregard of human life, revenge, idleness, and piracy, may
perhaps be considered common to Malays. The universal
practice of going armed, makes thoughts of murder familiar.
The right of private revenge is universally admitted, even by
the chiefs, and the taking of life may be atoned for by a small
sum of money. Treachery has been considered the leading
trait of Malay character; but probably the idea is exaggerated.
Their religion teaches them, like other Mussulmans, to use
treachery and violence toward infidels. But there is full
reason to believe, that, in intercourse with each other, domestic
and private virtues prevail to as great an extent as among

CHARACTER OF THE MALAYS. 125
other heathen. As to piracy, it is deemed not only a pure
and chivalrous occupation, but religiously meritorious. It is
carried on by prince, people, and priest, and is not less a
matter of pride, than of rapacity.
In the arts of peace, they are greatly inferior to their
neighbours of Java, Japan, Cochin-China, and Siam. They
have even less mechanical ingenuity and skill than the Bugis.
No portion of the Malays are much civilised, and some are
truly savage. The feudal system prevails everywhere, in all
its integrity. The chiefs claim the time and services of the
people, at any time, and for any purpose, warlike or peaceful.
In no part of the East is slavery more common than among
the Malays. Not only do princes sell their vassals, often
without fault, parents their children, and debtors their
creditors, but a slave trade is kept up with activity, both by
sea and land, and in various places. One of the chief resorts
for this purpose, on the west coast of Sumatra, is Pulo Nias,
the largest and most populous island of that region. The
Acheens, and several other maritime tribes, both in Sumatra
and elsewhere, have, for many years, been systematic and
vigorous in this horrid business. Sir Stamford Raffles took
measures to collect authentic and exact statements, on which
the British government might act, but left the island before
much was done ; and the effort has not been renewed. A late
writer in a Singapore newspaper says — " Board any of the
numerous prows between Nias and Acheen, and you will not
fail to find young men and women, either kidnapped, or pur
chased from the petty rajas, who obtained them by similar
means, or more frequently by the laws which give in pledge
to creditors, the bodies of debtors." Such slaves are often
seen, exposed for sale, in the villages of Sumatra. The per
mission of this traffic is a deep disgrace to the Dutch authori
ties on that island, who have power to prevent, or at least
greatly to curtail it. It is generally asserted in the straits,

126 MALAY PENINSULA.
that Dutchmen themselves engage in this trade ; and it is cer
tain that they often are slave-holders.
The whole mass of the common people are virtually slaves,
under the native governments. Every chief not only con
sumes the labour or the property of his people at pleasure, but
sells the services or the persons of his vassals to any persons
who will purchase them.
Such as desire to read further in regard to the natives of the
Malay peninsula may consult Blancard, Commerce des Indes ;
Valentyn, Oud und Nieu Ostindien ; Van Wurm, Memoir
de Batavia ; Popham's Prince of Wales's Island ; Asiatic
Researches ; Marsden's Sumatra ; and Crawfurd's Indian
Archipelago. The Malays have long had missionaries ; few of which have
done much in the way of preaching. Preparing and distri
buting the Scriptures and tracts have engrossed most of them.
No less than seven versions of the Malay Scriptures have
been printed ; and so early as 1 820, Dr. Milne stated that
forty-two Christian books had been prepared. Many
thousands of these have been distributed ; but, so far as I can
learn, with scarcely any perceptible benefit. I did not hear
of a single Malay convert on the whole peninsula. In examin
ing into the reasons for this failure, two considerations occur,
which sufficiently account for the want of conversions, in the
case of those who have been devoted to making and distribut
ing books, rather than preaching the word. The books are
not intelligible to the generality even of good readers ; and
the number of those who can read and understand a book on
an unaccustomed subject, (except those taught in missionary
schools,) is probably not much more than one in five hundred.
Schools, also, have from the beginning, engaged, to a con
siderable extent, the attention of Malay missionaries ; and the
English residents at Penang, Malacca, and Singapore, have
strenuously aided. But the jealousy of the Hadjees, which

MISSIONARIES — SCHOOLS. 127
cannot be overcome ; the difficulty of retaining pupils long
enough to acquire any valuable knowledge ; the habits learned
by the children at home ; and the cessation of all literary
pursuits from the time of leaving school, — have almost neu
tralised the benefits conferred. Very few of the pupils have
so much as learned to read well in their own language, and
still fewer received such an education as some of the Bengal
schools confer.
The Malay language is pronounced, by all who attempt it,
an easy language to acquire. This is doubtless true, to a
certain extent. It has no sounds difficult for Europeans to
pronounce ; its construction is exceedingly simple, and its
words are few. There is no change made in words to express
number, person, gender, mood, and time ; and the same word
is often used as a noun, adjective, verb, and adverb. Even
the tenses to verbs are seldom varied. Hence, so much as is
necessary for common purposes is soon learned. But, whoever
would speak on literary or religious subjects, finds great diffi
culties. The absence of grammatical inflections and particles
creates great ambiguity, and makes the meaning so dependent
on the juxtaposition of words, as to make great skill necessary
to propriety in discoursing on any critical or novel subject.
Beside this, the language is so poor in abstract terms, as to
make it impossible to avoid using a host of new words. These
are adopted by one from the English, another from the Arabic,
another from the Greek, and another from the Portuguese,
according to the learning or fancy of his teacher.
In translating the Scriptures, it has been most common to
adopt from the Arabic ; and sometimes, I am told, this class
of words amounts to one fifth of the whole ! It may easily be
conceived that, as these must be, in general, the very words
which give meaning to the whole sentence, the mere Malay
reader is utterly unable to understand the book. It would be
well if only one fifth of the words were other than pure Malay;
but Walter Hamilton, in his East India Gazetteer, states that,

128 MALAY PENINSULA.
after repeated trials, one hundred words in a Malay book were
found, on an average, to contain twenty-seven primitive
Malayan, fifty Polynesian, sixteen Sunscrit, and seven Arabic ;
leaving thus only one quarter of the words proper Malayan !
The preparation of books ought certainly not to be made
prominent, in a case like this ; but rather the preaching of the
gospel. The poverty of the language, and the necessity of
using new terms, though embarrassing in oral communication,
is much more so in writing. In speaking, explanations may
be made ; sentences may be uttered in half-a-dozen different
ways, and truth effectually imparted. Thus, in time, the way
will be prepared for books, which will be hastened by a proper
attention to schools.

CHAPTER IV.
Take leave of British India — European Manners — Voyage to Bankok —
River Meinam -Paknam — Audience with the Governor — Situation of
Bankok — Floating Houses — General Appearance— Visit to the Pra
Klang ; Servile Forms of Politeness — Chow Fah ; Singular Custom —
Pra Nai Wai — Pra Amramole — Present of an Elephant ; of a Cochin-
Chinese Slave — Population of Bankok — Police of the City — Climate —
Wats — Houses — Streets — Bridges — Somona Codom — History of Siam
— Extent of the Empire — Population — Personal Appearance of Siamese
— Dress — Amusements — Military Force — Commerce— Prices of Pro
vision — Fruits — Currency — Character — Degree of Civilisation — Slavery
— Language — Establishment of the Mission — Mission Premises — Wor
ship — Converts — Bankok a Station for the Chinese — Distribution of
Scriptures — Need of more Labourers — Constitution of a Church —
Harmony of Sects — Roman Catholics.
As I am now taking my leave of British Indian society, and
have but slightly alluded to the mode of living, it is incumbent
on me to say a few words on that point. The houses are
large and airy, with whitewashed walls ; the floors are matted;
as little furniture as possible kept in any room ; and punkas
depend from every ceiling. Every bed has its musquito cur
tain of gauze, which is tied up during the day, and let down
about sunset, before the insects get abroad. A taper, in a
tumbler of oil, burns all night in each room, by which, before

EUROPEAN MANNERS. 129
day dawn, you dress negligently for the morning drive. At
dawn,* a servant brings a cup of coffee, with a slice of dry
toast, and announces that the horses are ready. An hour's
ride brings you home again, and you shave, bathe, dress, read,
&c, till breakfast, which is at ten o'clock. Here the family
meet, and enjoy social intercourse during a leisurely repast,
when they separate again, the gentlemen to their place of
business, and the ladies to their domestic employments. Calls
of ceremony are made about noon ; always, of course, in some
close carriage, to avoid the sun. About one or two o'clock
comes tiffin, or lunch, as we say, consisting of plantains and
other fruits, with nice bread and butter, and water, bottles of
which have been cooled in tubs of moist saltpetre.
Merchants, and gentlemen whose business is at a distance
from their dwelling, do not come home to this meal, but have
it brought to them. As to dinner, there is a diversity, the
plainer sort taking it at five o'clock, and then riding out ; the
more fashionable riding first, and dining about half past seven
or eight. But the sunset drive all regard as indispensable.
Indeed, European life in India seems a constant struggle to
keep off heat. The standing and favourite dish, both at
breakfast and dinner, is rice and curry ; the former boiled
plain and dry, the latter consisting of prawns, fish, or fowl,
stewed with abundant gravy, seasoned almost to burning heat,
with ground chillies, ginger, and onions. Instead of water,
the curry is mixed with the expressed juice of rasped cocoa-
nuts. The dinner is generally sumptuous, and the etiquette
quite ceremonious, but far removed from stiffness and reserve.
The waving punka overhead entirely prevents discomfort on
account of the heat. So far as my experience goes, English
society in India is far more intelligent and agreeable than
among the same grade in England ; perhaps because they are
all travellers ; and travelling not only instructs and polishes,

* It will be recollected that between the tropics the sun always rises
not far from six o'clock.

g3

130 SIAM.
but tends strongly to promote liberal and enlarged feelings.
After dinner, music and rational conversation fill up the
evening, and all retire in good season. A cup of tea is gene
rally handed round in the course of the evening ; but spirituous
liquors are sinking into disuse.
Missionaries in Hindustan live in a similar manner, only as
much more plainly, as ministers in this country live more
plain than their wealthy parishioners. The missionaries in
Burmah have breakfast and dinner earlier, and omit tea.
They do not keep horses, and take their morning and evening
exercise on foot. They seldom get any other meat than fowl,
or any other vegetables than rice, sweet potatoes, stewed
cucumbers, and pumpkins. Plantains are often fried or roasted,
and are very fine. At stations where there are English officers,
there are always bakers and herdmen, who daily furnish
excellent bread, and plenty of butter and milk. Their houses
are described and represented Vol. I, p. J5.
Leaving Singapore on the 24th of May, 1837, I arrived off
the River of Siam, without accident, in eleven days. We came
to anchor on the edge of the bar, amid numerous junks just
leaving Siam ; but could scarcely discern the low shore, distant
fifteen or sixteen miles. The river, called by the natives
Meinam or " mother of waters," is difficult to find, as the
coast is a dead level, scarcely above low-water mark. The
bar is ten or twelve miles broad, with but one and a half
fathoms water at low tide, and extending many miles east
and west. Vessels, therefore, can pass and repass with only
part of their load. Even thus lightened, they generally ground
once or twice ; but, the bottom being soft mud, except at its
outer edge, they take no harm. The southwest monsoon,
concentrating here as in the end of a funnel, raises a heavy
sea, and makes it a wild place for vessels to remain, as they
must for several weeks. Formerly, ships trading to the
Meinam River, anchored in the fine harbour of Ko-ci-chang
Island, where wood and water are easily procured ; but the

RIVER MEINAM — PAKNAM. 131
great distance renders it inconvenient. A small fleet, however,
in possession of that cluster of islands could effectually blockade
Bankok, and cut off all its commerce.
Taking a seat with the captain in the pinnace at dawn of
day, on the 4th of June, we crossed the bar in about three
hours, scarcely discerning the mouth of the river till we
were in it. I looked in vain along the beach for the nocto,*
said to be taller than the ostrich. The mouth of the river
is about a mile and a half wide, and presents nothing but
gloomy mangrove, the deadly silence of which was only
broken by the occasional screams of unseen birds. The region
is precisely similar to the Sunderbunds of the Ganges.
We had scarcely ascended a mile, before there came on one
of those violent squalls of wind and rain, common here at this
season. On every side had been seen boats ; but now, in a
minute or two, they were either upset, or, being near the
shore, had run aground for safety. Being in the mid-channel
for the benefit of the tide, we were near being overturned.
As we dashed on before it, using every effort to reduce sail,
and expecting at least to lose the mast, we passed some of the
natives swimming with perfect coolness beside their boats,
and preparing to right them. It was difficult to feel that we
must not stay to aid them ; but the offer would have been
matter of ridicule.
Three miles above the mouth of the river we reached the
town of Paknam, where all foreigners are required to stop
and report themselves. The first impressions of Siamese
towns were by no means exhilarating. Led through rain
and mud, along narrow filthy passages, called streets, and a
stinking bazaar, we reached the mean and dirty house of the
governor of the province. The hall of audience presented a
burlesque on official pomp. It was a large room, open in
front, with part of the floor raised, as usual, a few feet,
destitute of carpet or matting. From the lofty ceiling hung
* So called by the Siamese, from noc, great, and to, a bird.

] 32 SIAM.
an odd diversity of small chandeliers, apparently never used,
and against the very tops of the pillars stood Dutch and
Chinese mirrors, leaning forward, in which one sees himself
drawn out into more shapes than Proteus ever knew. Chi
nese paper hangings and pictures, neither new nor nice,
covered most of the rest of the roof and walls ; the whole
grim with dust and smoke. His lordship, perfectly naked,
except the cloth round his loins, sat on a mat, leaning on a
triangular pillow, covered with morocco. The attendants
crouched, as before the highest monarch, and we alone dared
to assume any position by which the head should be more
elevated than his. A multitude of questions was asked,
respecting the ship's size, cargo, armament, crew, &c, and
my name, office, countries I had seen, objects in coming to
Siam, and intended length of stay ; all which were carefully
written down, to be forwarded post haste to Bankok.
Preferring exposure to the rain, in the open pinnace, to our
catechetical tedium, we embarked as soon as released, and
arrived at Bankok (distant about twenty-five miles) a little
after dark. At Paknam, and several places above, are forts
on well-selected points, and somewhat in European con
struction. Most of the way, the shores are uninhabited,
and appear to be in process of being redeemed from the sea,
the high tide laying them under water. Almost the only
growth, at first, is the attap, or dennee, called by Siamese
chak (Cocos-nypa), and of which the best thatch is made;
and the mangrove (Rhizophora), in several varieties. This
latter plant grows over all the East, on the boundary between
salt and fresh water, and sometimes in the salt water itself :
and is a principal agent in extending the deltas of great
rivers. It grows down to low-water mark, its thick, strong
roots resisting almost any wave. The fruit club-shaped, and
a foot long, bending down the branch to which it hangs,
reaches the earth, vegetates, and forms an arch. These
arches, roots, branches, and strong stems, obstructing all

BANKOK.  FLOATING HOUSES. 133
currents, the quiet water deposits its sediment, and earth
gains on ocean.
The latter half of the way presents almost a continued suc
cession of houses, embowered in a dense growth of various
palms, and other fruit-trees. Behind, as I afterwards found,
are rich and extensive paddy-fields. The river at the mouth
is, perhaps, two miles wide, but half way up lessens to one,
and at Bankok, to less than half a mile.
Bankok is about twenty-five miles from the sea ; lat. 13°
58', long. 100° 34'. It covers a considerable island in the
river, and extends along both shores for several miles, above
and below. Its aspect differs from that of any other city,
and but for its novelty, would be rather repulsive. Little is
seen on ascending the river, but a row of floating houses, on
each side, small and mean ; most of them open in front, and
containing a little shop. The goods are arranged on a suc-

Floating House.
cession of shelves, like stairs, to the height of about three
feet ; and the shopman sits alongside on the floor, as seen in
the picture. The front of the centre part, or shop, opens
with hinges at the top, and is propped up in the day-time
with a bamboo, making a good awning. The sides and rear
of the building are occupied by the family. The whole stands
on a raft of large bamboos, which is renewed every two or
three years. They are kept in place, not by anchors, but by
large poles on each side, driven into the muddy bottom.
The Chinese junks, which make annual voyages to Bankok,
had not all gone, when I arrived (early in June), and a large

134 SIAM.
number lay moored in the mid-river ; some of great size,
probably eight or nine hundred tons. A few handsome
pagodas, and other sacred edifices, rise from what seems to
be a forest, but is in reality a great city. Innumerable boats,
of every size, move about the river. The larger ones are at
once boat, dwelling-house, and shop. The smallest are
scarcely so large as a coffin. Hucksters, and retailers of all
sorts, ply about with their wares exhibited on the deck of
their bateau ; one person paddling at each end, generally a
woman. Cargo-boats, yawls, sampans, pleasure-boats, &c,
make up a scene of extraordinary variety, animation, and
novelty. Canals and ditches, navigable a part of every tide,
are ramified in all directions, and reach almost every house.
The river is at once the highway, the canal, the exchange,
the market, and the pleasure-ground.
It was always interesting to see how a little good-nature
prevented all confusion and danger. No one resents occa
sional concussions. Smaller boats always give place to
larger. The paddles, held perpendicularly, occupy much less
space than oars, and all ply with consummate dexterity. If
a man or woman be knocked into the water, there is a laugh
on both sides, and no one is alarmed. If a skiff is upset, the
boatmen soon hold it edgewise, and, with a sudden toss, throw
it up into the air. It comes down quite dry, and they get in
and proceed as if nothing had happened. Even children of
five and six years push about, wholly alone, in boats not
much larger than themselves, with the edge hardly two inches
above the water. I sometimes saw these overset ; but no
one offered assistance, and the child showed no apprehension.
On one occasion, as I was passing up the river, a little girl,
of six or seven years, coming suddenly out of a little passage
between two houses, struck her skiff so hard against my boat,
that hers was upset, and she was thrown off several feet,
while her little paddle flew in an opposite direction. She
looked for a moment perfectly amazed, and then burst out into

VISIT TO THE PRA KLANG. 135
a fit of laughter ! My boatman never thought of stopping,
and I soon perceived, on looking back, that she had recovered
her paddle, and was swimming behind her boat, still upside
down, pushing it toward the shore. A case of drowning is
seldom heard of.
The memoranda sent up by the governor of Paknam to the
Pra Klang, or minister of foreign affairs, produced me an
early invitation, through one of his writers, to call and see
him. As soon as the ship came up the river, and put me in
possession of proper clothes, and a present, Mr. Jones and
myself waited on him, at an hour agreed upon.
The great man, the apartment, and the ceremonies, differed
little from the scene at Paknam, except in being more
respectable. His lordship seemed about fifty years old, and
possessed that important item of honourable distinction in the
East — corpulence. His entire dress being only a cotton
pa-nome, or wrapper round the hips, corpulence seemed any
thing but attractive in this case. He held his present office
during the embassies of Colonel Burney and Major Crawfurd
from England, and of Mr. Roberts, from our country ; and is
certainly a clever and enlightened man.
We were not required to take off our shoes, or hold down
our heads ; but those in attendance, among whom were native
princes and a Portuguese interpreter, crawled about on hands
and knees, with demonstrations of the deepest homage.
My reception was kind, frank, and respectful. He put
many questions respecting my age, clerical rank, objects in
coming, what other countries I had ever seen, what I saw
and heard among great men at Ava, the condition of Burmah,
probable successor to the throne, &c. He had heard, but in
a very vague manner, of the death of the Burman king, and
was delighted to obtaiii information from one who had so
lately visited Ava. The answers were all written down by
a secretary, and read over to him, to be sure of their exact
ness. They were probably to be communicated to the king.

136 siam.
Fruits, sweetmeats, and cheroots, were frequently handed,
and for drink, tea in little cups, and the juice of pine-apples,
in flowing bumpers. How dignified, rational, and virtuous,
such beverages, compared to the spirituous potations de
manded by the hospitalities of more civilised races ! I found
it difficult to introduce religious subjects, except to present
him thanks, on behalf of our Board, for his kindness and pro
tection to the missionaries, which, though scanty, has been
valuable ; and to descant a little on the nature of true religion,
and the policy and justice of free toleration.
I discovered none of that dislike of Burmah, which Craw-
furd mentions as so great, that any allusion to that country
was a breach of politeness. On the contrary, my having
recently spent several months there, and seen " the great
government men," led to numerous questions, not only now,
but at each succeeding audience.
At a subsequent visit I saw my first Siamese acquaintance,
the governor of Paknam, submitting to the same servilities.
Before the king, this lordly Pra Klang himself, and the
highest nobles, creep as abject as the poor slaves do here.
With us, an inferior stands ; but, in Burmah and Siam, he
seats himself if we stand, squats if we sit, and leans down on
his elbows if we sit on the floor. To hold the head higher
than a superior or equal, is an affront. Hence, when the
servants bring in refreshments, they are obliged to place the
waiter on the floor, as soon as they reach the apartment
where the master and guests are, and come in crawling on
their elbows and bellies, shoving the refreshments before
them. I always observed the attendants on the young nobles
walk about on their knees, to avoid the elevation of their
heads above that of the young master.
There was less of dignity and intelligence displayed by
Siamese nobles than I met with in those of Burmah. The
magnitude and value of the diamonds and rubies I had seen
in Burmah, in what country I had seen the best, and the

VISITS TO NOBLES. 137
exact size and hue of the young white elephant I had seen at
Madras, seemed topics of primary interest ! The Pra Klang
produced some of his gems, which were indeed of astonishing
size and brilliancy. A full band of Siamese music played,
during the interview, at a little distance, in a manner far
from disagreeable.
Subsequent visits introduced me to Chow Fah Noi, or his
royal highness, Prince Momfanoi, Pra Nai Wai, Pra Am-ra-
mo-le, &c. The circumstances did not so differ from those to
the Pra Klang, as to afford new views of national character,
and I therefore offer no description. One of the present
king's sons, and other " nobles," as they are called, visited
the mission-house during my stay, but neither in dress,
deportment, intellect, or information, inspired the least
respect. Mr. Hunter, the only European merchant in Siam,
offered to introduce me to the king ; but for various reasons
I thought it inexpedient.
Chow Fah Noi is the probable successor to the throne ;
and in fact is now entitled to it, rather than the present
monarch, who is an illegitimate son. Should he assume the
government, Siam must advance from her present lowliness
and semi-civilisation. No man in the kingdom is so qualified
to govern well. His naturally fine mind is enlarged and
improved by intercourse with foreigners, by the perusal of
English works, by studying Euclid and Newton, by freeing
himself from a bigoted attachment to Boodhism, by candidly
recognising our superiority, and a readiness to adopt our arts.
He understands the use of the sextant and chronometer, and
was anxious for the latest nautical almanac, which I promised
to send him. His little daughters, accustomed to the sight
of foreigners, so far from showing any signs of fear, always
came to sit upon my lap, though the yellow cosmetic on their
limbs was sure to be transferred in part to my dress. One of
them took pride in repeating to me a few words of English,
and the other took care to display her power of projecting the

138 SIAM.
elbow forward. This singular custom, as has been mentioned,
prevails in Burmah, and is deemed very genteel.
Pra Nai Wai (or Koon Sit, as his late title was) is son of
the Pra Klang, and resembles Chow Fah in many points,
both of character and attainments, but does not speak English
so well. They are intimate friends, and will probably rise
together. His influence must prove auspicious to the best
interests of his country.
Pra Amramole is superior of a principal monastery, and
finishes the list of Siamese who understand English. Gutzlaff
speaks much of him in his journal, as his " pupil." He reads
English, but does not speak it ; and has, in addition to the
extensive and costly library of his institution, many good
English books, maps, &c. I greatly admired his pure and
simple manners, and extraordinary good sense. His know
ledge of the system of Christianity is not small. He has read
our Scriptures, and heard' much of them explained and en
forced by Gutzlaff, Jones, and others ; but, alas ! he remains
a heathen. None of these distinguished personages manifested any other
than the most friendly feelings. On making my farewell visit
to the Pra Klang, I noticed some slaves pushing a young ele
phant through the gate into the yard in front of the audience-
hall. He was just weaned, and came reluctantly, but gently,
into the midst of the prostrate crowd, manifesting no dislike
to the strange costume of Mr. Jones and myself. When I had
caressed him a moment, and admired his smooth, glossy skin,
I was told that he was a present for me ! What could I do ?
The vessel had dropped down, and passed the bar, and it was
too late now to get water or provisions for such a passenger.
Fearful of giving offence, by refusing so great an honour, (for
only nobles are allowed to own and use elephants,) I showed
why it was not now convenient to take him, and begged that
they would give me instead, an ankus, or elephant-hook, such
as is used in Siam. The poor little elephant was accordingly

PRESENT OF A SLAVE BOY.  POPULATION. 139
withdrawn, and the hook sent to my boat. I brought it home
as a keepsake and curiosity. But it is a ferocious instrument.
The iron head or hook weighs four and a quarter pounds,
fastened to a handle of very heavy wood, about four feet long.
A blow might be struck with such an instrument, which
would break any elephant's skull.
The most interesting gift was a slave boy, about fifteen
years of age, brought from Cochin-China, a prisoner of war.
The king had given him, with others, to Pra Nai Wai, who,
finding him to be a boy of uncommon cleverness, had lent him
to the Rev. Mr. Jones, that he might learn English. Having
noticed him in that family, and hoping that he might, at some
future day, carry the gospel to Cochin-China, or at least prove
a blessing to Siam, I asked the prince, his master, to set him
free, that he might return with me to America, and receive a
trade and education. He chose not to set him free, lest it
might offend the king, but gave him to me before witnesses.
After accompanying me to Singapore, Malacca, and China, he
came home with me to the United States, and is now engaged
in acquiring the trade of a carpenter. If it should hereafter
seem proper, he will be sent to an academy a few years, before
he returns to Bankok.
Few places have their population so variously estimated as
Bankok. Gutzlaff makes it 410,000 ; a writer in the Singa
pore Chronicle , 150,000 ; Crawfurd, very trustworthy in
his statistics, 50,000 ; Hamilton, from 30,000 to 40,000. Mr.
Tomlin makes the whole Siamese population 8,000 ; but Mr.
Abeel computes the priests alone at 10,000. I took some
pains on the subject, inquiring of the chief men, counting the
houses in some sections, ascertaining the real number of priests,
&c, and am of opinion that the city and immediate suburbs
contain at the most about 100,000 souls. Within the walls
there cannot be more than 3,000 or 4,000 people. The
350,000 Chinese, which have, by Gutzlaff and others, been set
down to Bankok, I was assured by several of the princes, is

140 SIAM.
the sum of all such residents in the kingdom. In the city and
vicinity are probably,
Chinese and descendants  60,000
Siamese  30,000
Cochin-Chinese, Peguans, Tavoyers, Malays,
Portuguese, &c  10,000
100,000

There is, however, no mode of ascertaining the true census,
and every traveller will make his own guess.
The number of Chinamen increases, though a large part of
them go back to their country after a few years. Loubiere,
who visited Siam in 1 677; estimated all the Chinese then in the
country at 3,000 or 4,000. The price of their passage is only
about l/.'lOs. sterling, and it is thought. that 1,090 emigrants
arrive annually. The variety of their dialects drive them to
clan-like associations, which not only keep them reserved and
cold toward each other, but often engage them in injurious
animosities. The three principal classes speak respectively
the Mandareen, Canton, and Tay-chew dialects ; the latter
being much the most numerous.
The city has no mayor, and little police of any kind. Each
great man exercises supreme power over his slaves, which
often amount to several thousand. Each class of foreigners
have their head man, before whom causes are heard. There
is little litigation among Siamese. No one dares carry a com
plaint to a ruler without a bribe ; and most persons choose
rather to suffer indignities and injuries, than complain.
Gambling prevails to a frightful extent, especially among the
Chinese. The licensing and management of the "hells" is
farmed out by Government to an individual, who is said to
pay nearly 7,000/. per annum for the privilege. He generally
grows rich on his bargain, though his income is only an eighth

CLIMATE. — SACRED PLACES. 141
of all sums won. Opium-smoking is very common, and the
practice increasing.
The climate of Bankok may be called hot, but as pleasant
and salubrious, probably, as almost any city in the East. The
suite of Mr. Crawfurd, when here as English ambassador,
amounted to a hundred and thirty persons. They were very
inconveniently lodged ; and their stay was during the four
worst months of the year ; yet no death, or even indisposition,
occurred, except a casualty.
November, December, January, and February, are the
winter months. March, April, and May, are hot. The rains
begin the last of May, and continue through September, and
occasionally till the beginning of November. Even in the
height of the wet season, it seldom rains so much and so long
as to be tedious. In the beginning and close of the season,
most of every day is fine, and often several days successively.
It is, on the whole, a very pleasant part of the year. The
following is an abstract from a register kept for one year by
Dr. Bradley : Cool Season.
Mean temperature of November  79.51
" " j " December  77.83
" " " January  79.86
" " " February  80.77
" " « Cool season  78.99
Hot Season.
Mean temperature of March  84.38
" , " April  86.33
" "May  84.58
" " " Hot season  85.09
Wet Season.
Mean temperature of June  84.78
" July  83.76
« « " August  84.02
« " " September  83.62
« " " October  83.29
« " " Wet season . ... 83.95
Mean temperature of the Year  82.57
Mean range of thermometer, about 13°.
The sacred places in Bankok are called Wats. They con-

142 SIAM.
sist of a spacious grove, containing pagodas, temples, image-
houses, dwellings for the priests, and various minor structures
used in particular observances. The pagodas do not differ
greatly from those of Burmah, but are smaller and less
numerous. The priests' residences are generally less sumptu
ous than those of Ava, but are oftener built of brick, and have
tiled roofs. I saw some not only well furnished, but elegant ;
and as imposing as carving and gilding, in bad taste, can make
them. In and around Bankok are more than a hundred Wats,
occupying all the best locations. As some of them embrace
several acres, they cover no small part of the site of the city,
and are the only pleasant parts of it. Paved and shady walks,
clean courts, and fragrant shrubberies, form a strong contrast
to the vile odours, rude paths, and spreading mud, encountered
everywhere else. The style of building and decoration is, in
all, more or less Chinese ; but generally with incongruous
additions of Portuguese, Siamese, or Peguan artists. Griffins,
balustrades, granite flagging, &c, imported from China, are
found in the best Wats. Most of the buildings are of brick,
plastered on the outside, and wrought into an absurd mosaic,
with Chinese and Wedgwood cups, plates and dishes of all sizes,
broken and whole, so set in as to form flowers and figures !
A more grotesque mosaic there could not be.
One trace of Egyptian architecture is universally found,
both in sacred structures and private ; viz., in the tapering
shape of doors and windows. Pagodas here, as elsewhere, are
plainly of the family of the pyramids. The Burmans make
stupendous pagodas and monasteries, while the image-houses
and zayats are comparatively small, and often trifling. On
the contrary, the Siamese construct trifling pagodas, and small
and detached priests' houses, and bestow their wealth and
labour in erecting vast image-houses or temples. These are
made beautiful to Siamese taste, by pillars, gilding, historical
paintings, and Chinese tinsel. If ever Christianity become

BANKOK — SOMONA KODOM. 143
prevalent in this country, it will find in these structures an
ample supply of churches.
One cannot avoid contrasting the size and costliness of the
sacred edifices with the meanness of the city in other respects.
The houses are small and rude, and the streets in general
nothing more than foot-paths, overgrown with bushes, bam
boos, and palms. Every species of filth and offal is thrown
among these bushes ; and the state of the air may be supposed.
Every few rods, a canal or ditch is to be crossed ; and a log,
or plank or two, without a handrail, is generally the only
bridge ; those of the principal thoroughfares are better, but
none are good or neat. Of the numerous canais, not one is
walled up or planked, except sometimes to secure a Wat.
Most of them are left bare at half-tide, presenting a loathsome
slime, and filling the air with stench, beside being useless half
the time. Not an effort seems to be made by the authorities
to improve the city. Hindus make tanks, wells, bridges,
and choultries, for the public good ; but no such efforts are
known in Siam. Such works are so much less meritorious,
according to Boodhism, than the erection of sacred edifices
and supporting priests, that private munificence is led by
superstition thus to expend itself; and the rulers are too selfish
to supply the deficiency.
Several writers speak of the Siamese worshipping a god
called Somona Kodom. Among others is Finlayson, who
attempts to translate the name, and says, " The founder of
the Siamese religion has various names, one of which is
Somona Codom, that is, ' He who steals cattle! ' " How he got
this interpretation he does not say. The American ambassa
dor, Roberts, adopts the same mistake. He says, " Somona
Kodom, the cattle-stealer, a Cingalese, was the missionary
who first propagated this religion in these parts ! " Somona
Codom is but another name for Gaudama ; and the Siamese
have no other deity. Their language having no letter^, c is
substituted ; and, as final vowels are generally omitted, Gau-

144 SIAM.
dama becomes Caudam, or Codom. Somona is merely a
title, and means "priest" — the priest Codom. In the word
Boodha, they change b into p, and d into t, making it Pootah,
or Plhuta. They generally write it Pra Pootah Chow, or the
" Lord God Boodh."
The Siamese call themselves Tai (pronounced tie) ; the
Shyans they call Tai-Yai, or " the Great Tai." By the Bur
mans, Siam is called Yudia, from the name of the former
metropolis, and the people they call Yudia Shyan or Yudias.
The Asamese, the Shyans, and the Siamese, evidently spring
from a common stock ; the Shyans probably being the parent.
Their existence, as an independent people, is probably of no
very ancient date. They have history, carrying back its
dates to the time of Somona Codom, b. c. 544 ; but their
credible records reach only to about 1350, at which time
Ayuthia, the old capital, seems to have been founded. Before
this, their capital was Lakontai, in the Laos country. They
seem to have been at one time subject to Camboja, as is
declared in the records of that country. The fact that the
Cambojan language was once that of the court, and remains
so to a considerable extent, tends to confirm this position.
The region of Siam seems to have been known to the early
Romans. There are good reasons for supposing it to be the
country called Sinw, by Ptolemy and Cosmas ; though that
term may include also Camboja and China.
The first notice of Siam, by European writers, is an account
of an overland expedition against Malacca in 1 502. Crawfurd
states that, from 1567 to 1596, Siam was subject to Burmah.
In 1612, an English ship ascended the river to A-yut-hia,
then the metropolis. Nine years afterward, the Franciscans
and Dominicans introduced Popery. In 1683, Phaulcon, an
enterprising Greek, became prime minister, and introduced a
respect for European customs and nations ; but was cut off
before he had accomplished any great improvements in society.
In 1687, the misconduct of some English merchants at

POPULATION. 145
Mergui, ended in their being massacred ; and in the following
year, some which had settled at Ayuthia were expelled the
kingdom. Contests for the throne distracted the country from
1690 till 1759 ; and during this interval, viz., about 1750,
Alompra, the victorious founder of the present Burman
dynasty, seized Mergui, Tavoy, and Martaban, and overran
the whole valley of the Meinam. During the war, some of
the principal citizens moved to Chantabon, a province on the
east side of the Gulf of Siam, and thus escaped the presence
and exactions of the Burman armies. Among these was Pye-
ya-tak, son of a wealthy Chinaman by a native woman, who
gradually gathered followers, and made successful resistance
to the new dynasty, till at length he drove the Burmans from
the country, and assumed the throne. With a view to com
merce, he made Bankok the metropolis, instead of Ayuthia,
and, after a successful reign, died in 1782.
The kingdom is now larger and in a better state than ever
before. The Tenasserim provinces are indeed lost ; but it has
acquired Keda, Patani, Ligore, and most of the Malay penin
sula. It has recently acquired one of the most valuable and
fertile sections of Camboja ; embracing the rich province of
Bata-bang. The present boundary, in that direction, is on
the. Camboja River, extending from about lat. 12° to 14° north.
Including the districts just named, Siam extends from 7° to
19° of north latitude, bounded by the Tenasserim provinces
on the west, Burman Lao and China on the north, Cochin-
China on the east, and the Gulf of Siam on the south. The
extreme length is about eight hundred miles, and the average
breadth about one hundred.
The population of Siam is probably about 3,000,000. Of
these about 800,000 are Shyans, 195,000 Malays, and
450,000 Chinese, leaving the number of proper Siamese
1,500,000. In 1750, the whole population was computed by the French
missionaries at 1,900,000. Our late ambassador to Siam, Mr.
VOL. 11. h

146

SIAM.

Roberts, estimates the proper Siamese at 1,600,000 ; Siamese
Laos, 1,200,000; Chinese, 500,000; Malays, 320,000.
The country is described by Mr. Gutzlaff as one of the most
fertile in Asia ; and by the Encyclopaedia Americana as very
mountainous. Both statements are true in part. The Meinam
valley, nowhere over fifty miles wide, the district of Chanta-
bon, recently taken from Camboja, and some other level spots,
are exceedingly productive. But most of the empire is moun
tainous, poor, and sparsely inhabited.
In personal appearance, they come behind any nation I have
yet seen, especially the women. Among the thousands of
these that came under my notice, I never saw one who was
comely. The men are often good-looking. The national
characteristics seem to be, a broad and flat face, long and
square lower jaw, large mouth, thick lips, small nose, fore
head very broad and low, cheek-bones prominent. A striking
peculiarity is the size of the back part of the jaw, the bone
and flesh projecting laterally, as if the parotid glands were
swollen. The average height of the men is five feet, two
inches. Both sexes wear the hair close, except on the top
of the head, from the forehead to the crown, where it is about
two inches long, and, being kept stroked back, stands erect.
The rest is kept shaved by men, and cut pretty close by
women. As the shaving is not
often done, it is generally diffi
cult to tell a man from a woman.
The principal mark is, that a
woman has a line round the edge
of the top-knot, made by plucking
out a breadth of two or three hairs,
so as to show the white skin, as in
the engraving. Only those who are
nice about their persons, however,
take this trouble. Roberts de
clares, in his Embassy to the East,
Siamese Woman.

PERSONAL APPEARANCE  ARMY  NAVY. 147
that he never could tell a man from a woman, when numbers
were seated together.
The raiment of both sexes is alike ; consisting of a cloth,
wrapped round the hips, with the end passed between the
thighs, and tucked in at the small of the back. It descends
below the knees, and is generally of printed cotton. At a
distance it resembles trousers. Young women, and those of
the richer sort, wear also a narrow kerchief, or scarf, crossed
on the breast, and passing under the arms, as in the figure.
Unlike most Asiatics, the Siamese reject ornaments in the
nose or ears, but are fond of bangles, bracelets, necklaces, and
finger-rings. Turbans are not used ; but in the sun, a light ¦
hat, made of palm-leaves, precisely in the shape of a large
inverted milk-pan, is set upon the head by an elastic bamboo
frame, which holds it up several inches, and permits the air
to pass between. Neither sex tattoo any part of their bodies,
deeming it a mark of barbarism. The universal mode of
carrying small children, as in every other part of the East
visited by me, is astride on the hip, as shown in the engraving.
It certainly is more easy thus to carry a heavy child than in
the arms, at least when the infant is divested of all raiment.
Play-acting, cock-fighting, and flying kites, are prominent
amusements. In the two latter, princes and priests, both old
and young, engage with delight. They have also a small
pugnacious species of fish, the fighting of which is a very
admired pastime.
In regard to buildings, food, agriculture, education, litera
ture, medical practice, priesthood, religion, crimes, punish
ments, government, laws, marriage, divorce, burial, and many
other topics, the statements made respecting Burmah apply
so nearly as to make further remarks, in this place, unneces
sary. They have no standing army, but every able-bodied male
is liable at any time to be called into the field, by the mere
will of his chief. The king has, for a good many years, made
h2

148 SIAM.
large annual purchases of muskets, which must amount now
to more than eighty thousand stand. Of cannon they have
plenty. They make good brass cannon, some of them very
large, but seldom have proper carriages. At Bankok there
is the semblance of a respectable navy, consisting of scores of
war junks, galleys, and other vessels of various sizes, built on
the Cochin-Chinese model, and mounting heavy guns. But
the Siamese are no sailors ; and when brought into service,
these vessels are manned by the promiscuous populace, and
officered by Chinese or other foreigners. No crews are now
attached to their vessels, and they stand in rude wet docks,
covered by regular ship-houses, as in our navy-yards.
The commerce of Siam has narrowly escaped the fate of that
of Tringano, Patani, &c. Hamilton states that he visited
Siam in 1719, " on the foundation of a treaty of commerce,
made in 1684, between King Charles and the King of Siam's
ambassadors in London." His ship went up to Ayuthia,
leaving the guns " at Bankok, a castle about half way up
the river." The Dutch trade must even then have been con
siderable, as they had a factory about a mile below Ayuthia,
and a resident company of merchants. It appears that, long
previous to the said treaty with England, some British mer
chants had a factory near Ayuthia ; but a quarrel with the
governor, who commanded in 1684, resulted in their expulsion,
and only within about twenty years has that trade regularly
recommenced. American, Dutch, and Bombay vessels now
resort to Bankok ; and though the trade is not likely soon to
be large or important, it will probably be steady. A new
treaty of commerce was made with England in 1826, and
another with the United States in 1833.
The number of Chinese junks, regularly trading to this
city, cannot be less than two hundred annually. Many of
them are of five or six hundred tons, and some are not less
than a thousand. Thirty or more trade to Canton and
vicinity ; nearly as many are from Hainan ; and the rest

COMMERCE. 149
from other places. Seventy or eighty sometimes lie in the
river at a time. Some of these vessels are owned by Siamese,
and still more by Chinamen, residing in Bankok ; but the
crews are never Siamese. None of the larger ones make more
than one voyage a year ; going in one monsoon, and returning
in the other. Most of them arrive in December and January,
and depart in May and June. Numerous prows and small
junks keep up a constant intercourse with the coasts of the
Gulf of Siam, and principal neighbouring islands.* Two or
three Siamese ships, built on the European model, trade to
Singapore. Cochin-Chinese vessels were formerly numerous ;
but the late war has suppressed that trade, for a time at least.
An artificial canal, kept in good order, connected with the
Camboja River, brings some trade from that direction. Bankok
has certainly the largest commerce, next to Canton, of any
place in the world, not inhabited by white men.
During the presence of the junks in the river, the city
exhibits a very active scene of buying and selling ; many of
them retailing their cargo from the vessel. The shops furnish,
at all times, almost every article demanded by European or
Indian customs.
The total value of exports per annum from Bankok, is not
less than 1,000,000/. The chief articles are, sugar, sapan
wood, tin, timber, rice, stick-lac, gamboge, benzoin,t ivory,
pepper, and cotton ; and small quantities of betel-nut, dried
fish, lead, gold, silver, gems, tombac, X. shagreen skins, and
buffalo horns. The export price of sugar is about twopence
a pound. The imports are, arms, ammunition, anchors, piece goods,
cutlery, crockery, mirrors, and many other productions, for
European, Chinese, and other foreign consumption.
* The chief of these are, on the eastern shore, Banplasoi, Banpakung,
Banpra, Banpomung, Rayong-Passeh, Chantabon, and Kokung ; and on
the western side, Ligore, Sangora, Champon, Kalantan, Tringano, Talung,
Patani, and Pahang.
t Crude frankincense, sometimes called Benjamin.
¦ I Native copper with a small mixture of gold.

150 SIAM.
Sugar, the principal export, is wholly made by Chinamen,
and most of the other staples are the fruits of their industry.
Indeed, to these emigrants, Siam owes much of what elevates
her from among barbarians ; not only in commerce, manu
factures, and improved husbandry, but in domestic habits.
The Siamese have coined money, but use cowries for very
small change. The coins are merely a small bar of silver,
turned in at the ends, so as to resemble a bullet, and stamped
with a small die on one side.
400 Cowries make  1 P'hai.
2 P'hai  1 Songp'hai.
2 Songp'hais  1 Fuang.
2 Fuangs  1 Saloong.
4 Saloongs  1 Bat or tical.
4 Ticals  1 Tamloong.
20 Tamloongs  1 Chang.
The two last are nominal. They sometimes have a gold
fuang, equal to eight ticals. The tical, assayed at the mint
of Calcutta, yielded about one rupee, three and a half annas,
equal to 2*. Qd. sterling, or about sixty cents of American
money. For weights they use the catty and picul. The catty is
double that of the Chinese, but the picul is the same.
Living is not dear, as the following prices show : — Servants'
wages, per month, 12s. ; fuel, five hundred small sticks for
As.; fowls, each, 3d. to 6d. ; ducks, each, 5d. to Qd. ; pork
per pound, Ad. ; butter (made in the family); lard, same
price as pork; oil, for lamps and cooking, per gallon, 15d. to
20c?. ; rice, per pound, ±d. ; milk, per quart, Ad. to 5d. ; sugar,
per pound, 2\d. ; tea, per pound, 15d. to 20d. ; pine-apples,
per hundred, 3*. 2d. to As. ; oranges, per hundred, 1*. 3d. to
2s. Qd. ; cocoa-nuts, for curry, per hundred, Qd. to 15d. ;
common labourers, per month, Qs.
No part of the East is more celebrated for the abundance
and quality of its fruits. Here are united the fruits of China
the Indian Islands, Hither India, and tropical America.

FRUITS — CHARACTER. 151
During my stay, the mango, mangosteen, durian, rambutan,
pomegranate, guava, pine-apple, and, I presume, fifty other
fruits, were in season. About taste there is no disputing.
Many Europeans disparage Oriental fruits ; but I deem them
incomparably superior to those of high latitudes, to say
nothing of their vast variety, and their being enjoyed every
day in the year.
I learned nothing, during my seven weeks' residence in
Siam, to induce me to dissent from the character hitherto
given to this people by all travellers. They are crafty, mean,
ignorant, conceited, slothful, servile, rapacious, and cruel.
As to truth, " the way of it is not known." No one blushes
at being detected in a fraud, or a falsehood, and few seem
superior to a bribe. Quarrels are common ; but as no one
is allowed to go armed, they seldom result in mischief. They
are cowardly, and shrink from an air of resolution in a
foreigner. The Abbe Gervaise said of them, a century ago,
that, " though as enemies they are not dangerous, as friends
they cannot be trusted."
But " God made man upright," and the fall has not obli
terated all semblance of good from any portion of the human
race. The Siamese have some redeeming traits. They are
exceedingly fond of their offspring, and cherish reverence to
parents almost equal to that of the Chinese. They are tem
perate, inquisitive, and, except on great provocation, gentle.
Women are not reduced, on the whole, below their proper
level ; for, though custom forbids them to rank with men in
some things, yet in others they are allowed an influence
greater than is accorded them with us. They are always
their husbands' cash-keepers : they do most of the buying
and selling ; and are not made to share as largely in laborious
drudgery as in most countries of Europe.
The Siamese are certainly a grade lower in civilisation than
the Burmans. They make none of those beautiful cottons
and silks which the Burmans wear, and are destitute of several

152 SIAM.
other arts and handicrafts common in that country. For
utensils of brass, iron, and porcelain, and almost every pre
vailing luxury, they depend on China. Even the coarse brown
pottery is made chiefly by Peguans. Malte-Brun mistakes
in attributing to them skill in jewellery and miniature paint
ing. In the first they are more clumsy than Burmans, and
in the second horrible.
Still the Siamese are much above the semi-barbarians of
the Malay states, and the islands of the adjacent seas. They
produce a surplus of sundry articles for exportation, and they
have an important and well-conducted foreign commerce.
Their religious edifices show surplus resources in subsistence
and labour, which barbarous tribes never possess. The
government, though despotic and ill-arranged, is regular and
firm, conferring many advantages upon society. In music,
they use the same instruments as the Burmans, and excel even
the Javanese. I have often listened with pleasure both to
single instruments and full bands. Their houses, dress, habits,
and entire condition of the nation, are those of a people far
above the rudest forms of human society. Such considerations
as these give them a dignified position in the grade of nations,
and will give momentum to their influence in behalf of Chris
tianity, when they shall have " turned to the Lord."
Slavery prevails in Siam. Many chiefs have hundreds,
and some of them thousands. In war, the chief objects are
prisoners and plunder. They have almost depopulated some
conquered districts, to bring the people to Siam. Around
Bankok are whole villages of Peguans and others taken in
war. Their national history, mentioned above, states that in
one of the wars with the Shyans of Zemmai, they took 120,000
captives. At all times, a slave-trade is carried on along the Burman
frontier, by wild tribes, who find a ready market for any
Burmans or Karens they may catch. Persons are daily sold
into hopeless slavery by their creditors ; for, once sold, they

SLAVERY  STRUCTURE OF THE LANGUAGE. 153
have no means of paying the debt but by getting a new master.
Men may sell their wives, parents, and children, at pleasure ;
and often sell themselves.
How large a proportion of the people are slaves, no one
could help me to guess. It is probably much greater in and
around the metropolis than elsewhere. With many of those
kept about the person of the master, the slavery is almost
nominal ; but in most cases it is severe. A common custom
is for the master not to support the servant, but to allow him
two or three months in a year to work for himself, to obtain
food and clothes for the rest of the year. Often they are
hired out by the year, receiving food and clothes, but no part
of the wages. Children inherit their parents' bondage. As
in Burmah, debtor slaves are entitled to freedom on presenta
tion of the amount due, which, however, being generally
borrowed, only secures a change of masters.
The Siamese language is exceedingly simple in its construc
tion, and is doubtless an original. It is destitute of termina
tions to signify gender, number, person, mood, or tense. A few
particles supply the place of these ; but they are almost uni
versally omitted, not only in conversation, but by the best
writers. This renders it easy to learn, but often ambiguous ;
and makes a considerable knowledge of the language necessary
to carry on nice discussions. Foreigners soon acquire it suffi
ciently for the common purposes of life. The Chinese, being
of various dialects, use it in intercourse with each other, as
more convenient than their own, and, their wives being
Siamese, the progeny speak it as their mother tongue.
Except as improved from other tongues, the language is
monosyllabic. Many terms, which seem to be dissyllables, are
only words joined. Thus namta, " tears," is from nam, water,
and ta, the eye. Lukwai, " fruit," is from luk, offspring, and
mai, wood. Many words, particularly in the language of the
upper classes, are from the Cambojan. This is a polysyllabic
language, and abounds more in complicated combinations of
h3

154 SIAM.
consonants. Terms to express mental operations, and all
religious technicalities, are from the Pali,* which is also
polysyllabic. These terms undergo various changes, the most
common of which is the contraction of the two last syllables
into one.
The languages of Siam, Asam, and the Shyans, are essen
tially the same ; but which dialect is primitive is not known.
Our missionaries at Sudiya and Bankok, and those soon to go
to Zemmai, will be able to investigate the origin and capaci
ties of this language, which, being one of the chief in Farther
India, deserves more attention than it has yet received. Cap
tain Low published, in 1808, a Siamese grammar ; but he had
never been in the country, and has fallen into so many errors,
that the missionaries deem his work nearly useless.
The form of the characters differs little from the Pali.
There are thirty-four consonants, only five of which are
regularly used as final, and twelve vowels, with several diacri
tical marks. It has intonations like the Chinese, which
makes the difficulty of speaking well much greater than that
of learning it. Thus ma, according to its tone, signifies
" come," " a dog," and " a horse." Ha means " to seek,"
" ghost," " five." Kow means " to enter," " rice," " a horn,"
" a mountain," " he," " she," " it," and " them."
The Catholics of Bankok use the Roman alphabet in writing
Siamese. I noticed also that the Pra Klang's secretary wrote
in that character. Chow Fah Yai, eldest legitimate son of
the late king, and who retired to a convent rather than con
tend for the throne, has not only written, but printed Siamese
in our letters. He has a press made by himself, and types,
most of which, probably, were obtained from Italy, through
the Catholic priests. It is certainly of great consequence to
follow up this beginning. If the number of Siamese who can
read be as small as now appears, there will be a necessity for
Christian philanthropy to raise up readers, as well as proper
* Pronounced by Siamese Bake.

ORIGIN OF THE MISSION — PRINTING OPERATIONS. 155
books, and these may be better taught in the Roman charac
ters than any other.
The Baptist Board of Foreign Missions established the
mission to Siam in 1833. Mr. Gutzlaff had visited Bankok
in 1828, and remained about three years, but was twice away
to Singapore, and studied the Chinese language principally.
Mr. Tomlin, London Society's Missionary at Singapore, made
a visit with Mr. G., and remained eight months. He after
ward came with Mr. Abeel, and both remained six months.
Mr. Abeel made a second visit of six months, and then
returned in ill health to America. None of these brethren
contemplated a permanent residence in Siam ; and in the report
of their first six months' labours, Messrs. G. and T. called
upon the Baptist brethren to " pass the boundary line of
Burmah, and come forward to Siam." Mr. T. also wrote
urgently to Maulmain for a brother to be sent at once. He
considered the Baptist Board called upon, more than any
other, to establish a mission here, not only because their sta
tions in Burmah were but a few days' march from Bankok,
but because they had begun with the Shyans, whose language
was so similar, and a large part of whom belonged to Siam.
The project was seriously entertained by our Board, when
Mr. Jones was appointed, in 1829 ; but it was left to be de
cided by the brethren at Maulmain. Mr. J. was designated
by them to this service, and sailed from Burmah for Bankok
in September, 1832. He found the station had been wholly
vacant for six months, and he remained entirely alone for
sixteen months longer. In the mean time, the American
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (without know
ing of the movement from Burmah) resolved to make
Bankok one of their stations ; and Messrs. Johnson and
Robinson were sent out, who arrived about the first of August,
1834. Dr. Bradley, from the same society, arrived the next
year. Mr. J. studies the Chinese, and the two others
Siamese. Interesting accounts from these brethren will be

156 SIAM.
found in the Missionary Herald, published monthly in
Boston. Mr. and Mrs. Jones may be said to have mastered the
Siamese language, and can freely impart to the people the
knowledge of the truth. Mr. J. has translated Matthew,
Acts, and part of Luke, and Mr. Judson's tracts — " Balance,"
" Catechism," and " Summary of Christian Religion," and
prepared a tract on astronomy, and a brief grammar.
Matthew, Acts, the Catechism, and the Summary, have been
printed and distributed ; beside sheet tracts, containing the
ten commandments, the sermon on the mount, &c. Two
school-books for Siamese have also been printed. Mrs. Jones
has prepared the history of Joseph, of Nebuchadnezzar, and
other reading books, together with a copious dictionary, in
Siamese and English, which future students may copy to then-
great advantage.
Mr. Davenport superintends the printing, and studies the
language. The issues of the office, within the year, have been
13,124 books, containing 1,439,720 pages, comprising the
Summary of Religion ; Acts of the Apostles ; Ten Command
ments, with Explanations ; Scripture Parables ; A broad-sheet
Parable ; First Lessons in English and Siamese ; Lessons in
Arithmetic ; Lessons in English ; and several publications in
Chinese. It has been found impossible to have satisfactory schools in
this city. By no device can the scholars be retained long
enough to imbibe any useful measure of knowledge. During
the period of their continuance, they cannot be made to attend
regularly. A few have lately been redeemed from slavery,
and will be thoroughly instructed. But the cost of children
is from 10/. to 12/., and for an adult, about 20/. sterling; so
that this mode of obtaining scholars cannot be extensively
pursued. Chinese scholars may be had with somewhat less
difficulty. Mrs. D., beside her daily studies, has a school of twelve or

MISSIONARIES  WORSHIP. 157
fifteen children, which Mrs. J. daily opens with prayer and
religious instruction in Siamese. Such of them as are not
Catholics, with a few others, are formed into a Sunday school.

Baptist Mission Premises, Bankok.
The mission premises, although pleasantly and healthfully
situated, are so confined in space, as to be very inconvenient.
The land, too, is only hired, and with no assurance of per
manence. The buildings consist of three dwelling-houses, a
printing-office, fifty-two feet by twenty, and a small fire-proof
building for paper, books, &c. The dwelling-houses are
similar to those of natives in construction, only larger, and
cost each about sixty pounds sterling. Mr. Davenport's
house, and the printing-offices, are in the rear of those shown
in the picture, of which Mr. Jones occupies that on the right,
and Mr. Dean the other. The graves in front are those of
the first Mrs. Gutzlaff and Mr. Jones's children. The tall
palms are betel-trees, described Vol. I. page 178.* There is
* A chapel has been built in the corner of the lot in front, since my
visit ; and beside her babes now sleeps Mrs. Jones, who died of cholera,
March 28, 1838. This admirable woman, and devoted missionary, is an
unspeakable loss to the mission.

158 SIAM.
scarcely any chance to walk for exercise in or around Bankok,
from the bad state of the streets, so that the missionaries are
obliged to content themselves, for the most part, with being
rowed out upon the river to get a little fresh air. The boat
used for this purpose is represented in the cut, on page 133,
and has a little house in the stern to keep off the sun. The
other boat in that picture is a Siam skiff, sharp at both ends.
The printing-office in charge of Mr. Davenport has one
press, which has been kept in constant operation since Oct.
1836, and another is now on the way. Nine of the natives
are learning the business, besides some engaged in the bindery.
There are several small fontes of English letter, one of Siamese,
and one of Chinese. With the latter, some extracts from the
Bible will be printed as broad -sheet tracts, and other works,
where a large type is wanted ; but a smaller one is ordered
from Serampore, for the printing of common books. A set of
blocks for Milne's tract, called " The Two Friends," has been
procured, and some Chinese workmen are constantly engaged
in working off impressions. Some others will soon be issued
in the same manner.
Regular public worship on Sundays has not been com
menced in Siamese. Mr. Jones spends part of his Sundays
in visiting the Wats ; preaching to such as he can gather
there, and distributing portions of Scripture. I, of course,
accompanied him, anxious here, as in every other place, to
see missionary services performed in all its modes. Though I
have accompanied many brethren in this highway, open-air
preaching, I have seldom described these occasions, partly
because they are so often narrated in the journals of mis
sionaries, and partly because I am anxious to maintain the
greatest brevity. The plan pursued in this city grows out of
the nature of the service, and is not materially different from
that pursued by various other missionaries. Things take
just that course which they would in our own cities, if a
respectable foreigner were to go about the streets and public

MISSIONARIES — CONVERTS. 159
places to disseminate a new religion. Generally the audiences
are poor people; objections are raised, and disputes often
ensue ; sometimes only two or three can be induced to give
their attention ; at others, a little crowd gathers, and listens
with interest. The fruits of these exertions in Bankok do
not yet appear ; but we must watch unto prayer. As the
time has now come, to make efforts for a permanent congre
gation on the mission premises, happier results may be
expected. When it is recollected that we have only Mr. J.
who can preach in Siamese, and that Mr. D.'s engagements
in the printing-office obstruct his acquisition of the language,
it is evidently of great consequence to reinforce speedily this
branch of the mission.*
Of the various individuals mentioned as encouraging, in
the public journals of Messrs. Gutzlaff and Tomlin, none
have continued so. None attend worship, or seem particularly
friendly to the missionaries. Bunty, who was baptized by
Mr. Jones in 1833, and who, for a while seemed a true
disciple, grew cold, and about a year ago left the ministry to
go into business, not without bitter feelings against the mis
sionaries. He led away another disciple, who has now fallen
into the deadly habit of opium-smoking. Of the six Chinese
who have been baptized, three have died, under the observ
ation of the missionaries, giving full evidence of triumphing
over the last enemy. Of the two who remain, one is an
intelligent, but poor old man, whose three sons not only
attend the public service on Sabbath, and unite daily with
their father in family worship, but have ceased to make
offerings to idols. The other is in bad health, but exceedingly
useful by his holy example, a great comfort to Mr. Dean,
and a cheering token of future in-gatherings.
Both the Baptist Board and the American Board of Com
missioners, make this a station for efforts upon the Chinese.
* Mr. and Mrs. Slafter left Boston, as missionaries to the Siamese,
in 1838.

160 SIAM.
With a population of this description in and near the city,
amounting to half a million, and at least eight or nine
thousand Chinese sailors, arriving annually, and remaining
many weeks, there can be no lack of scope. The whole number
of many tribes, who enjoy strong missionary establishments, is
not half so great as that of the Chinese in this region. Nor
are the circumstances more discouraging than in average cases.
Mr. Dean, of the Baptist Board, gives himself to the Tay-
chew dialect, which has never been attempted by any other.
He is, as yet, of course, but a student in the language, but
has attained such a knowledge of it, that, with the help of
his teacher, he couducts worship every morning for the
benefit of the block-printers, and others on the premises,
and on * Sundays has a regular audience of forty to fifty
persons. He has considerable knowledge of medicine, and
is daily engaged in practice. About twenty or thirty pa
tients, mostly Chinese, meet daily in his porch at four o'clock,
— chiefly cases of ulcers and wounds. Before opening the
dispensary, he holds worship with them, and gives tracts.
Some come several days' journey, and remain till cured.
When the junks are in the river, his number is often much
larger. Mr. Johnson, of the American Board, pursues the
study of the Hokeen or Fokien dialect.
The distribution of Scriptures and tracts may be carried to
almost any extent in Bankok, both to Chinese and natives.
A very small proportion, however, can read intelligently.
Even of this small number, few can understand more than the
plainest narratives.
It seems of little use to give books profusely without
abundant personal preaching. In China, where missionaries
may not live, and in Burmah Proper, or other countries,
from whence they may at any moment be expelled, a liberal
dispensation of books seems called for. But, in general, the
direct preaching of the gospel cannot be advantageously
deferred, after books have so far been diffused as to. excite

DISTRIBUTION OF BOOKS — CHINESE. 161
a spirit of inquiry, and a general knowledge of the mis
sionary's objects. The full power of the press will be best
seen in its following the preacher. The people are then made
capable of understanding, what before would be as unin
telligible to them as the book of Isaiah was to the eunuch
before Philip instructed him. It is quite evident, too, that
the apostles proceeded in this manner.
No place is, on the whole, so favourable for diffusing Chris
tian books into China as Bankok, as is evident from the state
ments I have made touching the trade by junks. It is important,
however, to make the publications more idiomatic and intelli
gible before we spend heavy sums of money in this work.
There should be at least eight Chinese missionaries in
Siam, without reference to supplying China itself hereafter.
Each of the four principal dialects, — viz., Mandareen, Canton,
Taychew, and Hainan, should have two brethren, that a
single death may not abolish a whole department. The.
adjacent villages, and even some of the ports in the Gulf of
Siam, would engage their attention in part. The junks
would not only supply opportunities for sending into China
any number of tracts, but regular congregations, for several
months together. The great difficulty in multiplying mis
sionaries at this point is, the refusal of government to allow
them to rent or purchase land for residences.
It has been erroneously supposed, that from Bankok, direct
overland intercourse might be had with the frontier of China.
No part of the Siam frontier approaches China within less
than about three hundred miles. The intervening space is
inhabited by various tribes, living insulated from each other,
and is traversed by mountains probably not passable by
caravans. Zemmai is the nearest point to Bankok from
whence the western borders of China may be approached, and
that station must necessarily depend upon Maulmain, in
Burmah, both for epistolary intercourse with America, and
supplies of clothing, printing-paper, &c.

162 siam.
Deeming it important to form the brothers and sisters of
this station into a regular church of our Lord Jesus Christ, I
convened them in council, and, after full consideration, it
was unanimously resolved upon. After devoting a day to
fasting and prayer, and drawing out, in full, the platform of
doctrine and discipline, I proceeded, on the following Sabbath,
to preach and perform the appropriate solemnities. Nine
persons,* of whom two were the Chinamen already men
tioned, formed the material of the church. In the after part
of the day I administered the Lord's Supper to this precious
band of pioneers. The text was, " From the uttermost parts
of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the Righteous
One." It suggested topics of joy and hope, in" the contem
plation of which all our hearts overflowed with pleasure.
Most of the brethren aud sisters were accomplished singers,
and our voices sounded to each other like almost celestial
music. The strange and depressing sensations of being at
the utmost possible earthly distance from those we love,
gave place to pleasure, on hearing in our own language the
praises of the Lord. The sad " Farewell for ever " to the
sacred fraternities of home, lost half its bitterness while par
taking of church privileges and communion, with Christians
from our own land, and of our own persuasion. The promises
of God, touching the triumphs of his truth, shone with ten
fold brightness, amid the gloom and thick darkness of a pagan
land, where yet hope has little encouragement in the things
that are seen. The visible encouragements to faith in the
presence of two Chinese, gave distinctness and glow to our
visions of hope. Our souls magnified the Lord, and our
spirits rejoiced in God our Saviour.
The first Lord's day in July, 1837, was, by this solemn
event, rendered memorable in the history of Siam, as the
* Two of these are already gone up on high — Rev. Mr. Reed and Mrs.
Jones ; but Messrs. Slafter and Goddard, who, with their wives, sailed
from Boston, 1838, will more than make the number good.

CONSTITUTION OF THE FIRST PROTESTANT CHURCH. 163
birth-day of the first Protestant church of Christ in the king
dom. It was indeed a small room, and a small company ; but
an occasion full of present benediction and future promise.
Hereafter centennial jubilees will celebrate the event, sacred
orators dwell on it with glowing tongue, and unborn genera
tions bless the auspicious hour. The " little one will become
a thousand," and the day of small things give place to periods
of power, extension, and triumph.
I was happy to find the brethren of the two missions in
Bankok living not only in Christian unity and peace, but per*
sonal friendship. Their worship in English, both on Lord's
days and week evenings, are held together. So far as I could
learn, their Christian intercourse, except at the Lord's supper,
is like attached members of the same church.
The same is happily the case at some other places where
missionaries of different sects labour together. Party dif
ferences look small, to those who stand on missionary ground.
A feeble labourer on the field of paganism, harbours no jea
lousy lest the wide harvest will be 'reaped ere he can snatch
his sheaves. He would not prefer the field to lie waste, if
those of his shibboleth do not till it. He would not lose the
noblest aim of the church rather than have it attained by
persuasions not quite so pure in faith or practice as his own.
In the advanced camp of the Lord's hosts, there will be the
same preferences, and conscientious competitions, which exist
at home. But as yet, none have betrayed the cause to the
enemy, by allowing sectarian preferences to engross their
strength, and engage them in contentions with their friends.
The Papal church has maintained missions in Siam for one
hundred and seventy years. The adherents, in the whole
country, amount to two thousand two hundred and forty, in
cluding about eight hundred Cochin-Chinese, recently arrived.
There is a congregation at Ayuthia, another at Chantabon,
and three at Bankok. Many of these are descendants of Por
tuguese who lived with native women, and some few are

164

SIAM.

converts from Boodhism. In civil condition, they are below
the Siamese. No part of the population of Bankok are more
degraded. Their children are not taught ; their manners are
not improved; their knowledge of Christianity is very small;
and as a body, they are neither industrious, cleanly, nor moral.
Processions, guns, drums, bells, and crackers, distinguish their
holidays, in much the same manner as those of the heathen
around them. During my stay in Bankok, a priest newly
arrived in the country, died at some days' distance, on a
journey. His body was brought to the city, and carried in
processions, first at one of their places of worship, and then at
the others, with nearly such ceremonies as mark the burial of
a Boodhist priest.
The entire salary of a Catholic priest, is twenty pounds per
annum; not only here, but wherever else I have been in
India.

Chinese Junk.

165

CHAPTER V.
Voyage to Canton — China Sea — Mouth of Pearl River — Outside Pilots —
Lin tin — Bocca Tigris — Whampoa — Innumerable Boats — Evidences of
dense Population — Dollar Boat — River Scenery — Population of Can
ton — Foreign Factories or Hongs — Walks in the Suburbs — Streets —
Shops — Vacant Spaces — Placards — Perambulatory Trades — Booksellers
— Circulating Libraries — Map of the World — Beggars — Small -footed
Women — Trades — Labour-saving Machinery — Chinese Piety — Tombs
— Visit to a Hong Merchant — Restrictions on Foreigners — Temples —
Priests and Nuns — Pagodas — Chinese Sects — Introduction of Boodhism
— Jos — State of Morals in the Foreign Society — Opium Trade — Mis
sionaries — Dr. Parker's Hospital — Macao — Appearance from Harbour
—In a state of Decline — Missionaries — Mr. Gutzlaff — Voyages along
the Coast — Interesting School — How far China is open to Missionaries
— Dr. Colledge's Hospital.
The pain of frequently parting from missionaries and other
friends, to meet no more on earth, has been no small part of
the trials of this long and wearisome tour. In leaving Bankok,
the case was peculiar. Mr. Jones had received baptism at
my hands ; he had been called to the ministry in my church ;
and under my roof he and his wife had their last home in the
United States. Their feeble health and oppressive labours
impressed on me the conviction that their labours on earth,
important as they are, will not be much longer enjoyed. Two
of the others and their wives had been my fellow-passengers
from the United States. To part with them cheerfully was a
duty : but the lonesome hours of shipboard kept fresh, for
many days, the sadness.
A long and tedious passage from Bankok to Singapore is
always expected against the monsoon. Some ships have been
six or seven weeks. One vessel, with missionaries, after being
out forty-two days, was obliged to return and wait for the
change of monsoon. I was favoured to get down in twenty-
six days without accident. Our ship also staid at Bankok a
month less than is usual ; so that I saved, in the whole trip,
at least three months. The Rev. Mr. Robinson, whom I left
at Singapore, anxious to return to Bankok, but not then
quite ready, was still there, and found no opportunity for the
next five months.

166 VOYAGE TO CHINA.
My stay, this time, in Singapore, amounted to but few days,
as I availed myself of the first vessel for Canton. I embarked
in the Jessie Logan, on the twenty-first of September, 1837,
with a prospect of a tedious passage, as the monsoon was
changing. We were happily disappointed, and reached China
on the sixteenth of October. Rains and squalls, however,
rendered the voyage comfortless, and my want of an ama
nuensis rendered it difficult either to improve or beguile the
time. The China Sea has an extraordinary number of shoals and
petty islands, making its navigation unpleasant and dangerous,
except when the monsoon enables a vessel to proceed through
the centre. The boundary of the sea on the eastward is a
succession of large islands, scarcely known by name, even to
the well-educated in our country. It seems reserved for mis
sionary enterprise to bring to light the numbers and condition
of mankind, in Luconia, Palawan, the Baihee, Babuyanes,
and Busvigan clusters, Mindoro, Balabac, Banguey, Borneo,
&c, besides the multitude of the other Philippines, the Mo
luccas, the Bandu and Aroo archipelagoes, &c. O, how long
must it be ere the tardy and stinted charities of God's people
shall spread Christian teachers over all these seas ?
Approaching the coast of China in a day literally cloudless,
the fine headlands of the vast entrance of the Choo-Keang, or
Pearl River, wore their best attractions. No river in the
world, it is said, is so easily found and entered as this. No
bar obstructs its entrance. No alluvial deposits spread dan
gerous flats along the shores. Scores of small but lofty
islands afford at once distinct land-marks, and a choice of
channels. The entrance, thus marked and defended, extends
nearly sixty miles along the coast from east to west ; and for
nearly forty miles toward Canton, the river preserves an
average breadth of fifteen miles. At that point, called by
Europeans the Bogue, or Bocca Tigris, the breadth is two
miles, divided in the centre by an island. This is considered

LINTIN— WHAMP0A. 1 67
by the Chinese the entrance of the river, and is defended by
several forts of no great strength.
We were boarded, many miles from land, by fishermen
offering to act as pilots, and by one of them was conducted to
our anchorage, while his boat went to Macao, for the usual
permit to proceed up the river, and the inner pilot. These
boats, though outre to us, are admirably constructed, of pine,
decked, and schooner-rigged. Under the deck they keep
provisions, water, &c, and sleep in bad weather. On the
quarter, they put up, in fine weather, a slight house, of bamboo
and mats. The sight of these men was not novel to me, as I
had already mixed with so many in Burmah, Singapore, and
Siam. Their costume is a pair of very wide blue nankeen
trousers, reaching but little below the knee, without buttons
or flaps. Its diameter at the waist would embrace a barrel,
so that they take a turn in the waistband, and tuck in the
ends, which keeps them on. Of labourers at work, this is the
whole dress : when not employed, they add a glazed cotton
jacket, reaching to the hips, with very wide sleeves. The
dress of the genteel classes is not transcended, in beauty,
costliness, or delicacy, by that of similar classes in any country
upon earth.
Lintin is an island, about in the centre of the outer har
bour, and, though large, has few inhabitants, and is noted only
as the theatre of the execrable opium-smuggling. Sheltered
by its dreary heights lay the " receiving-ships," which take
the drug from vessels as they arrive, and get rid of it by means
of native fast boats.
At the extreme western side of the entrance, twenty miles
distant from Lintin, is the city of Macao, occupying the
extreme south point of Pleangshan Island. From thence to
Canton is an inner passage, chiefly used by native boats.
Fifteen miles below Canton is Whampoa, beyond which
foreign ships are not allowed to proceed. The anchorage
extends two or three miles, along a reach of the river, lying

168 CHINA.
east and west. In ordinary shipping seasons, one hundred or
more vessels ride here, chiefly English and American. Owing
to the recent commercial embarrassments, there were at this
time but about twenty-five. Innumerable sampans, occupied
by marketmen, fishermen, fruiterers, washerwomen, &c, with
the ships' boats, and here and there the ornamented barge of
a mandareen, or a huge, crowded passage-boat, kept the scene
busy and cheerful. Whampoa is a considerable village, on
an island of the same name. Its chief business is connected
with the supply of vessels, and the smuggling of opium.
Boats lie before the town, literally in thousands ; and
almost every one the permanent habitation of a family. The
occupancy of these boats by a family, so far from preventing
active employment, seems rather a qualification. The wife
steers, while the husband rows, aided by children of both
sexes, if they have any. Such as are not quite old enough
to row, play about the boat with a great gourd fastened to
their waist behind, to secure them from drowning, in case they
fall overboard. Those a little younger are carefully tethered,
so that they have the entire use of the deck, but cannot pass
the gunwale. If there be an infant, it is fastened on the
mother's back, like a knapsack, without appearing to impede
her motions, or to be annoyed by them. See cut, opposite.
Any one conversant with boatmen, about other seaports in
the East, or even in our own country, cannot fail to be struck
with the superiority of these. Their dress, the structure and
appointments of their boats, their quiet, order, industry, and
good manners, are worthy of all imitation.
The published accounts of the populousness of China, are
strongly brought to mind, when one looks around on these
boats, and on the green fields and barren islands which make
up the scene from the deck of the ship. Every level spot is
subdued for paddy, and the sides of every desolate island
exhibit not only patches of cultivation, but houses and even
villages. The same impression is created by a host of fishing-

DOLLAR BOAT.

1C9

smacks, which sweep the waters of the vast harbour. They
literally swarm. I have stood and counted two hundred at a
time, from the deck of the ship.
From Whampoa to Canton, the boats of foreign ships are
allowed to pass up and down, without examination at the
custom-houses. Passengers, however, generally use native
boats, called " dollar boats," as affording better shelter, and
more conveniences.

Dollar Boat.
I found mine to be exceedingly neat, clean, and commo
dious ; divided into three compartments ; the centre being
handsomely panelled and roofed, so as to form a nice cabin,
with lockers, windows, &c. Here I was placed with such
of my trunks as I needed, and, though long since hardened to
the sensations of a foreigner, felt a little more foreign than
usual. In one corner of my cabin was "Jos" in grim dumb
ness, pointing upward with his finger, and looking as fat and
contented as Falstaff. Before him smoked tapers of sandal
wood powder, and round about were inscriptions on red paper.
His little closet or shrine had latticed doors to keep him from
harm, and was the most ornamented part of the boat. Behind,
sheltered by a roof, which, upon occasion, could slide over
that of the cabin, was the kitchen and pantry. Here the

170 CANTON.
wife, with an infant on her back, steered and skulled ; at the
same time watching her dinner and a youngster or two. For
ward of the cabin, a flat deck, extending beyond the bows,
and of the same width as the boat, afforded ample space for
two oarsmen, who sat on stools about six inches high. Be
tween them and the cabin was a small veranda, on one side
of which stood the ever-steaming tea-kettle and cups ; and
on the other the neatly-lacquered tray of jos-sticks or slow
matches, from which ever and anon they lighted their che
roots. The men were stout, though short, and pulled with
vigour, sheltering their naked backs with a broad palm-leaf
hat. We passed hundreds of boats built and manned in pre
cisely the same manner ; and as they constitute a very promi
nent item of the scenery, and I was lonesome, the foregoing
drawing was made, which will convey the idea better than
any description.
The scenery of the river, though monotonous, is attractive.
On each side are rich rice-fields, with villages embosomed
among orange-trees, lichis, and palms ; while the rugged hills
in the rear, irreclaimable even by Chinese industry, are dotted
with tombs. Some fine pagodas are visible most of the way,
one of which is given on page 1 83, as seen at a distance. The
dikes are for the most part paved with excellent stone masonry,
and planted with oranges, lichis, and bananas.
Just before reaching the city is the anchorage of junks or
native vessels trading to Canton, and of an imperial fleet.
The latter may create a smile, but can awaken no terror. A
little further on, other trading-boats of large size lie in hun
dreds. Then come long rows of floating-houses, and these,
with every sort of boat, more numerous as you advance, till
it becomes difficult, and even dangerous, to thread the maze
with a row-boat.
Arriving, at length, opposite Kwang-tung, or, as we call
it, Canton, nothing is seen of the city except the river-
suburbs, and portions of the wall. Here boats of every de-

RIVER SCENERY. 171
scription, and small junks, are so crowded together, that the
utmost skill as well as caution is required, in order to avoid
disaster. Cables stretch out from a hundred junks; huge
tea-boats, of fifty or sixty tons, lie side to side, scores in a
row. Dwelling-houses of elegant and convenient construc
tion, built on scows, are disposed in regular streets of great
length. Mandareen boats, with gorgeous and beautiful orna
ments, and fleet as the wind, move slowly round, acting as a
river police. Boats from the European ships, floating trades
men, mechanics, hucksters, shopkeepers, and thousands that
seem to be mere dwellings, are multiplied on every side ; so
busy, so noisy, so crowded, so strange, that it seems as if one
had suddenly dropped upon another planet ; and a man must
be vain indeed, who does not feel himself an insignificant
unit among such legions of busy ones, who merely regard him
as a foreigner.
It is computed that eighty-four thousand families live in
boats at Canton ; and that the whole population of the city
and suburbs is about a million.
The accurate representation of a Chinese junk, on page 1 64,
will give a perfect idea of their naval architecture. The sails
are of mat ; three little cabins, each just large enough to con
tain a man at his length, occupy the stern ; over the side hang
the hencoops ; a great eye glares upon the bow, and a snake
beneath warns you of the " touch me not" pugnacity of the
crew. I saw many of these both at Bankok and Singapore;
and off the mouth of the Hoogly passed several, which had
ventured even to that distance.
In all other parts of the East, Europeans bear themselves
so haughtily before the natives, and so transcend them in
wealth, luxury, and intellect, that the contrast at Canton is
most striking. Here are generally about three hundred
foreigners, permanently resident, and often more, kept so
completely under, that they may neither bring their wives,
nor take native ladies, nor build, buy, ride, row, or walk,
i2

1 72 CANTON.
without restrictions ; wholly forbidden to enter the gates of
the city, and cooped up in a spot which would be considered
in Calcutta or Madras barely large enough for one good dwell
ing and compound. The foreign factories, or hongs, are thir
teen in number, under the names of different nations, but
occupied somewhat promiscuously by the merchants and shop
keepers. They form a close front along the river, about three
hundred yards in length, with an open space toward the
water, which is here about a quarter of a mile wide. The
buildings extend toward the rear about two hundred yards.
Each hong is divided into several separate portions, entered
by a narrow alley, which passes through to the rear, and is
thus made to consist of five or six tenements, generally three
stories high. The heat, smoke, noise, and dreariness of the
interior of this mass of buildings, with the total absence of
female society, gives it, in no small degree, the aspect of a
prison. The front rooms, however, are pleasant, and some of
them have fine promenades on the roof. An open space in
front, about one hundred yards long and fifty wide, serves
both as a wharf and a promenade. But the first of these
uses obstructs it for the other; to say nothing of barbers,
cooks, pedlers, clothes-menders, coolies, and boatmen, who
crowd it most of the day.
I was kindly made welcome to the American hong, or, as
the Chinese call it, the " hong of extensive fountains," where,
at the table of the American missionaries, and of Messrs.
Oliphant and Co., I enjoyed, for several weeks, daily oppor
tunities of acquiring authentic information, on all the points
which concern my agency.
Fortunately for me, there existed, during my stay in Canton,
no particular jealousy of foreigners. Accompanying the
missionaries and other gentlemen in their daily walks for
exercise, I was enabled to ramble not only over all the
suburbs, but among the villages and fields adjacent. We
were not specially ill treated ; but I have nowhere else found

HONGS — WALKS — SALUTATIONS. 173
quite so much scorn and rudeness. Nearly all the time, some
of the youngsters would be calling out, as we passed, " Foreign
devils!" "barbarians!" " red-bristled devils ! " often adding
obscene expressions, and sometimes throwing light missiles ;
all which the parents seemed to think very clever. Often,
indeed, they would direct the attention of very small children
to us, and teach them to rail. Our clerical profession seemed
known to many; and these would shout " Story-telling
devils !" " lie-preaching devils !" In streets much frequented
by foreigners, these things rarely occurred; but in others,
we attracted general attention ; and if we stopped for a few
moments, a crowd would immediately choke up the street.
Sometimes Dr. Parker's patients would recognise him, and we
would be asked to sit down ; tea and pipes would be offered,
and a strong sense of confidence and gratitude manifested.
But the crowd would soon become disagreeable, and we were
glad to pass on to get fresh air, and to exempt our friends
from annoyance.
The width of the streets is seldom more than four or five
feet, and often less. The houses rarely exceed one story high;
and, except on business streets, all the better ones are invisible,
being built, like those of Paris, within a walled enclosure.
The streets are all flagged with large slabs of smooth stone,
principally granite. The breadth excludes wheel carriages,
of course, and the only vehicles are sedan chairs, which are
constantly gliding along at a very rapid rate ; those for ladies
being closed with blinds, or gauze, but not so as to prevent
the occupant from looking through. As these chairs, or loaded
coolies, come rushing along, a perpetual shouting is kept up,
to clear the way ; and, unless yon jump to the wall or into a
shop, you are rudely jostled ; for, though they are polite and
kind, their headway and heavy burden render it impossible
to make sudden pauses. As to walking arm in arm, it is
quite out of the question. I saw none of the unbroken
ranges of piazza spoken of by geographers ; but in some places,

1 74 CANTON.
mats are spread across the street, which exclude the sun.
The end of each street has a strong gate, which is shut up at
night ; chiefly for security against thieves.
The shops are often truly beautiful ; but the greater number
are occupied as well by the workmen as the wares. Such
minute subdivision of callings I have seen nowhere else. Not
only are trades subdivided into the most minute branches, but
the shops are often limited to one or two species of goods.
Some of those which I entered would vie with those of London,
for style and amount of capital invested. In each, the idol
has a handsome and conspicuous situation. As Chinese is
read perpendicularly, the sign-boards are suspended downward,
and are thus well adapted to narrow streets. They are gene
rally beautifully executed, and often, after announcing the
name and occupation, close with sage sentences ; such as,
" Gossipping and long sitting injure business ;" " No credit
given ; former customers have inspired caution."
The vacant places present a mixture of incongruities — at
tractive, pitiable, shocking, and ludicrous. Here is a doctor,
surrounded by roots, spreading his plaster on a man's shin;
there is an astrologer, disclosing fortunes. Here is a group
of happy children, purchasing smoking comfits ; and there is
a meat stall, surrounded by stout fellows, swallowing pork
stews. Here are some hungry mendicants, gloating upon the
dainties ; and close by are some of their fraternity, unable
any longer even to ask charity, lying unheeded, to die of
hunger. Mountebanks, clothes-dealers, musical beggars,
petty auctioneers, gamblers, &c, make up the discordant
aggregate. At these openings and other conspicuous places, placards
cover the walls ; and as with us, quack medicines, government
proclamations, and business cards, were the principal. Some
were novel, and showed the want of newspapers, viz. lampoons
and criticisms on public men. Some of these were intrepid
and severe, but none seemed gross and libellous. Alas, that

PERAMBULATORY TRADES — BOOKSELLERS. 175
"our country should be so much behind China in the treatment
of official characters !
Many trades are here perambulatory, which are so nowhere
else. Among these moving mechanics I noticed barbers,
coopers, tinmen, blacksmiths, shoemakers, and tailors, beside
a medley of fruiterers, hucksters, fishmongers, confectioners,
pedlers, rat-catchers, pastry-cooks, butchers, picture-men, and
I know not what. The throng and confusion of these narrow
streets is thus much increased, while their various bells, drums,
gongs, and cries, keep up a perpetual din-
In these walks I observed, what I believe, is not to be seen
in any part of India — regular native booksellers. They
generally display a considerable assortment of works, at
astonishingly cheap prices. The moral tendency of these
works is said to be in general "good; but the intellectual
benefit is small. This was often illustrated by the close
proximity of some gray-bearded fortune teller, with five times
the custom of his literary neighbour. I was often amused to
see the ludicrous gravity with which these men of destiny
drew. wonder and cash from their gaping patients; and to
mark the diversified countenances of those who retired. The
doleful, drawmouth visage, or the arch chuckle and rubbed
hands, plainly told which had received " dampers," and which
brought off animating assurances. As usual, these worship
pers of fortune seemed to be those she had hitherto least
favoured. Beside the bookstores are circulating libraries, in the literal
sense of the term ; that is, the librarian, having his books
arranged in two neat cases, bears them on a pole across his
shoulder, from customer to customer. Some of these have
several thousand books; but the greater part being in the
hands of borrowers, his burden is not excessive.
A tolerable idea of Chinese geography may be gathered
from a glance at their maps. Mr. Gutzlaff was kind enough
to present me with one of the world, and to translate many of

176 CANTON.
the names. It is two feet wide by three and a half high, and
is almost covered with China ! In the left hand corner, at the
top, is a sea, three inches square, in which are delineated, as
small islands, Europe, England, France, Holland, Portugal,
and Africa. Holland is as large as all the rest, and Africa is
not so big as the end of one's little finger ! The northern
frontier is Russia, very large.
The left corner, at the bottom, is occupied by "the western
ocean," as it is called, containing the Malay peninsula, pretty
well defined. Along the bottom are Camboja, Cochin-China,
&c, represented as moderate-sized islands ; and on the right
is Formosa, larger than all the rest put together. Various
other countries are shown as small islands. I should have
given an engraving of this curious map, but that a true re
duction to the size of a page would have left out most of these
countries altogether ! The surrounding ocean is represented in
huge waves, with smooth passages, or highways, branching
off to the different countries, or islands, as they represent
them. They suppose that ships which keep along these high
ways go safely ; but if they, through ignorance or stress of
weather, diverge, they soon get among these awful billows,
and are lost !
The beggars are very numerous and pitiable. They are
seldom obtrusive ; but a donation to one will bring several
upon you, and keep you annoyed for many paces. In streets
so narrow, they cannot, of course, be allowed to sit or lie
down. The open spaces near temples and other public places,
afford the only chance for them to rest ; and here many of
them, utterly houseless, lie down and die. In one of these
openings, not fifty feet square, I have seen six or eight of
these unhappy beings at a time breathing their last, covered
only with an old mat, such as comes round goods. Many,
who walk about, have merely such a mat, fastened round
their loins by a wooden pin. With such shelter only, do they
pass the night upon the earth or pavement ; and always after

SMALL-FOOTED WOMEN — PLACE OF EXECUTION. 177
a cold night, some are found dead. There seems to be no
particular want of charity among those who are able to give ;
"but the evil lies too deep for casual gifts to cure. Such as
are not too sick to go about, are sure of something daily ; for
custom gives them a right to enter any place, and makes it
disgraceful to send them away empty. They are obliged to
depart, however, with the gift even of a single cash, and are
often kept waiting a long time. I have often, as I passed,
admired the patience both of the beggar and the shopmen,
Many of them carry small cymbals, or two pieces of bamboo,
with which they keep time, at a deafening rate, to a plaintive
drawl. The shopman stands the racket as long as he can, or
till a customer come in, when he throws them the cash, and
they are bound to go. If he give soon, the place is but so
much the sooner filled by another.
Distressing as are the sights of mendicity in Canton, they
are less so than I have seen in some other cities, especially
Dublin, and Turin ; and almost all are either blind or evi
dently sick, which is far from being the case either in Ireland
or Italy.
I had supposed that small-footed women, being of the gen
teel circles, would not often be seen. Instead of this, large
numbers of them, evidently poor, and often extremely so, are
met with in every street. Many of these, doubtless, have
been reduced from competency ; but many are the offspring
of persons who, from fondness or ambition, had brought up
their children in a manner beyond their station in life. The
smallest shoes and models shown in Ameriea are no exagger
ations. All, indeed, are not equally compressed, but often
the foot of an adult does not exceed four inches in length; and
from a breadth of two and a half inches at the heel, tapers to
a perfect point. They walk precisely as a person would do
on two wooden legs. Other poor women often go barefoot,
.but these never. Either the appearance of such a foot is too
bad, or the toes, turned under, are too tender. Many of
i3

178 CANTON.
these victims of a false pride sit in open spaces, as public
menders of old clothes. A passenger can thus get a patch
or a button set on, while he waits — a custom which might
usefully be introduced among us.
We rail at the Chinese for compressed feet with little rea
son, so long as we persist in compressing the waist. Nor are
we wholly exempt from the folly of crushing the feet also.
Even our easiest shoes, though less absurd than the Chinese,
are by no means patterned from nature.
I enjoyed, in walking with Mr. Bridgman, what few
foreigners do — the advantage of an interpreter. I was thus
enabled to stop at many places, witnessing various Chinese
arts, and conversing freely with the operatives. Many of
these occupations are known among us ; but in every case,
they seem to be carried on by a unique method. I was
surprised to find labour-saving machinery employed to a con
siderable extent. One instance pleased me exceedingly ; viz.,
a bellows for blowing glass, which almost entirely saved the
workman's lungs. In every establishment, whether of an
artist, mechanic, or tradesman, we were received with great
civility, and generally offered some slight refreshment.
One of our walks was to the place of execution, which in
China is generally done by beheading. It is part of a popu
lous street, thirty or forty feet wide just at that point, and a
common thoroughfare. On one side is a high blank wall, and
on the other is a row of potteries. The drying wares are
spread over a considerable part of the space, bringing strongly
to mind the bloody potter's field of the New Testament. A
narrow shed, twelve or fifteen feet long, stood against the
wall, with shelves of open bamboo. Lifting up an old mat
with my cane, there lay a row of heads, apparently three or
four days old. On the ground in a corner were a few skulls,
nearly bleached by time. Executions occur here every few
days, and with very little notice or formality. The poor
culprit kneels on the earth ; his long cue is twisted up into

RESIDENCE OF A MANDAREEN. 179
a knot upon his head ; he puts his palms together, in a pos
ture of obeisance ; and leaning forward, one stroke severs his
head from his body. The remains are generally allowed to
be removed by friends.
The Chinese bury their dead, and are very careful of the
tombs of ancestors. To these they often resort, to make
prayer and offerings ; and so long as there are male descend
ants, they are kept in repair. Their mode of constructing
them is peculiar, invariable, and so unlike any others in the
world, that a picture alone can explain.

Chinese Tomb.
They cover many acres of ground near Singapore, Malacca,
and other cities where Chinamen are numerous, and land
plenty ; and even in China engross much space, but generally
only rocky or barren spots, incapable of other uses.
The cheapness and frivolity, as well as the universality, of
Chinese piety, was every evening forced upon our observation,
whether we returned on foot or by boat. Not a family, on
shore or afloat, is without its little altar ; nor does a sun set
without each being lighted up with tapers and incensed with
fragrant matches. Beside the gaudy domestic altar, with its
flaunting mottos and varied tinsel, nearly every house has a
little niche in the wall, near the ground, inscribed with sacred

180 CANTON.
characters, where also tapers and jos-sticks are burned. The
air is thus loaded every twilight with sandal- wood smoke.
Here and there you see men making additional offerings, by
setting on fire articles of gilded paper, or making libations
before the shrine. These vespers being finished, the China
man's religion is complete for that day; and he retires to
pleasure or repose, with the full comfort of self-righteous
ness. It is so unpopular to be familiar with foreigners, that an
opportunity of visiting the private houses of respectable
Chinese is rarely enjoyed, by transient sojourners in Canton.
One of the principal hong merchants, being particularly
indebted to Dr. P. for removing a polypus, and at the same
time a man of uncommon independence, I was glad to embrace
a proposal to visit him. Dr. P. having announced our desire,
we received a very cordial invitation. The house stands in a
crowded suburb ; nothing being visible from the street, but a
wall of the ordinary height. Passing through a vestibule,
attended by porters, we were ushered into a large and hand
some hall, where the old gentleman soon joined us. His dress
was negligent, but costly, and resembled that of the manda
reen figures in our tea-shops. He saluted us in English, and
the conversation was so maintained. After a little, he invited
us to see his establishment, and kindly accompanied us. I
was soon bewildered in passing through halls, rooms, and
passages ; crossing little court-yards and bridges; now looking
at scores of gold-fish in a tank, and now sitting in a rustic
summer-house on the top of an artificial cliff; now admiring
whole beds of china asters in full bloom, and now engrossed
with large aviaries or grotesque bee-hives. Here were minia
ture grottos, and there were jets of water. Here were stunted
forest-trees and porcelain beasts, and there was a lake and
a fancy skiff. Yet the whole was compressed into a space
not larger than is occupied by some mansions in the middle
of our large cities I

RESIDENCE OF A MANDAREEN. 181
There was not that quaint absurdity about all this, that
books and pictures had led me to suppose. True, it was
exceedingly artificial, and thoroughly Chinese ; but there
were taste and beauty in it all. Why should we break down
all tastes to one standard ? He that can only be pleased in
a given way, is ill fitted to travel ; and I am sure any one
not predetermined to contemn, would admire and enjoy the
grounds of Tinqua.
The style of the rooms pleased me less. They were numer
ous, but all furnished in the same manner, and most of them
small. Beside gorgeous Chinese lanterns, hung Dutch, Eng
lish, and Chinese chandeliers, of every size and pattern.
Italian oil-paintings, Chinese hangings, French clocks, Geneva
boxes, British plate, &c. &c, adorned the same rooms, strewed
with natural curiosities, wax-fruits, models, and costly trifles,
from every part of the world.
There are one hundred and twenty-four temples in Canton,
beside the numerous public altars seen in the streets. I saw
the principal ones without the walls, which are said not to be
inferior, on the whole, to those within. They strikingly
resemble the monasteries of Europe. The handsomest is one
of the Boodhists, in the suburbs of Honan, on the opposite
side of the river. Being accompanied by Messrs. Bridgman,
Parker, and Morrison, who were acquainted with the supe
rior, I was not only shown every part by his order, but had
the pleasure of his society for an hour. Cloisters, corridors,
court-yards, chapels, image-houses, and various offices, are
scattered, with little regard to order, over a space of five or
six acres. Priests, with shaven crowns and rosaries, loitered
about ; but I never saw common people come to worship
either at this or other establishments. Some of the priests
occupied small and mean apartments; but those of the supe
rior are spacious, and furnished not only with the ordinary
conveniences, but with chandeliers, mirrors, pictures, &c, and
with an extensive library. The buildings are chiefly of brick,

182 CANTON.
one story high, the walks handsomely flagged, and the court
yard ornamented with large trees, or beautiful parterres of
flowers. The printing-office contains stereotype blocks enough
to load a small vessel, so arranged as that every work is
readily accessible. The principal apartment or temple is
about a hundred feet square, with the usual images, &c. We
attended here, to witness the regular evening service. It
seemed to create little interest, for out of one hundred and
sixty resident priests, there were but fifty present ; and these
uttered their repetitions with most obvious indifference. Their
prayers are in Pali, ostensibly, but I am told not truly, as their
mode of writing renders it utterly unintelligible to any one.
They keep time by striking a wooden drum, and occasionally
a bell. At a certain stage of the process, the whole company
formed into single file, and marched round the hall, without
ceasing their repetitions. This gave us a full view of their
countenances ; and so far as these indicated, a more stupid set
could not be picked out in all Canton. I have already re
marked this characteristic of the Boodhist priesthood in other
countries ; and am confirmed in the belief of its being attri
butable to the character of their religion, and the nature of
their duties.
Instead of the humble dress of Burman and Siam priests,
these wear as handsome as they can get, with shoes and
stockings. What is worse, some are in rags, barefoot, and
squalid with apparent poverty. They have, however, a com
mon refectory, where I presume all fare alike. The buildings
were erected at different times by the munificence of indivi
duals, and by the revenues of the establishment, which amount
to about sixteen hundred pounds per annum.
While we walked over the premises, the superior had pre
pared us a repast of sweetmeats and fruits, to which he sat
down with us. His manners were easy and elegant, his dress
unostentatious, and his countenance full of intelligence and
mildness. His age is but thirty-eight. We, of course, endea-

TEMPLES — PRIESTS  EXPENSE OF RELIGION.

183

voure'd to make the visit profitable to him. My heart yearned
over him ; and when he assured me that he meant to visit
America in a year or two, I was happy to promise him a
most cordial reception. Priests may leave the country, and
return, without the restraints which make it dangerous to
others. The whole number of priests in Canton is estimated at two
thousand ; of nuns, one thousand. The annual expense of the
hundred and twenty-four temples is fifty thousand pounds.
An equal sum is required for the periodical festivals. One
hundred thousand pounds, annually paid in one city for reli
gion, by pagans ! And the whole amount which all Chris
tendom gives for pagans in a year, is but six times as much.
I saw no pagodas at any of these esta
blishments. They generally stand on some
hill, alone. Unlike the cones or pyramids
of Burmah, these rise like shot-towers, with
successive stories, marked by a cornice or
narrow pent-house. The top is often covered
deeply with earth, from which shrubs shoot
up, and form a romantic finish ; as is the
case with that here represented. There
are but two within the city. One, called
Kwa-ta, or " adorned pagoda," has nine
stories, and is one hundred and seventy feet
high, octagonal.* The other, called Kwang-
ta, or " unadorned pagoda," is one hundred
and sixty feet high. The first was built
about thirteen hundred years ago ; the latter
during the Tang dynasty, which closed a.d.
906. I believe they are not resorted to for
devotional purposes ; at least not commonly. As crosses are

Chinese Pagoda.

* The reader may compare, at his leisure, the different forms of the
pagoda, viz. that of Seringham, page 78 of this volume; of the Peguans
and Siamese, in the account of Tavoy ; and in the view of Boardman's
grave, Vol. I. p. 52 ;'of the interior of Burmah, Vol. I. p. 163 ; and of
China as above.

184 CANTON.
planted, in some countries, to mark the right of possession, so
these huge and durable monuments seem only to mark a
country swayed by him who claims " the kingdoms of this
world, and the glory of them." How artfully, in ten thou
sand forms, does he, in every pagan land, confirm and per
petuate his rule ! But his time is short.
The Chinese are divided into three sects, viz. those of Ju-
kea-su, Taou, and Boodh.
The Jukeasuists are the followers of Kong-foo-tze, or, as
the Jesuits Latinise it, Confucius, who flourished about five
hundred and sixty years before Christ, and was therefore con
temporary with Pythagoras. He was of royal descent, and a
mandareen ; but early resigned official life, and devoted him
self to literature, morals, and political economy. Reducing
the maxims of former sages to order, he added valuable
extracts from current works, and prudent sayings of his own,
and produced a digest, which continues to be the ultima Thule
of Chinese piety. Travelling extensively as a popular lecturer,
and sustained, not less by his high birth and eloquent address,
than by the excellence of his doctrines, he soon founded a sect
which became virtually the state religion. It is, however,
much less intolerantly maintained, than either Popery or
Protestantism, where united with the state. The other reli
gions are allowed, and sometimes fostered. Great officers,
and even the emperor himself, build and endow Boodhist and
Taouist temples.
The system of Confucius is highly extolled by European
writers, and most extravagantly by Chinese. As accounts of
it are accessible to all readers, I need not stop to describe it.
He seems to have regarded religion less than politics ; and
the burden of his works relates to social virtues, civil govern
ment, and adherence to ancestral habits.
The sect of Taou (literally reason) was founded by Laou-
Keum, a contemporary and rival of Confucius. His followers
may be called the mystics of China. They profess alchymy,

CHINESE SECTS. 185
assume mysterious airs, read destinies on the palms, and make
great pretensions to deep research and superior light. Their
practical works contain, in general, the same laudable pre
cepts which distinguish the system of the Jukeasu.
The third sect follow Fo-e, sometimes spelled FohL Foe
is said to be the old orthography of Fuh, which is the Chinese
abbreviation of Fuh-ta, or Boodha. The Boodhism of China
is the same as that of Burmah, which has been sufficiently
described. The system is certainly far older than either of
the others. It is generally supposed to have been introduced
about a. d. 70. Kempfer dates the introduction about a. d.
518, when " Darma, a great saint, came from the West, and
laid the foundation," &c. Chinese historians agree that the
worship of Fohi was originally brought from India. Sir
William Jones says, confidently, " Boodh was unquestionably
the Foe of China."
This sect probably embraces one third of the entire popu
lation. The government acts with indecision toward it, at one
time denouncing it as dangerous, and at another contributing
to its support. Mr. Gutzlaff saw, at Pooto, some placards
calling on the people, in the name of the emperor, to repair
to the Boodhist temple of that place, in order to propitiate
Heaven for a fruitful spring. The priests are numerous, but
not greatly respected. I saw some of them in the streets
daily. A few were exceedingly well dressed ; but generally
they were both shabby and dirty, sometimes quite ragged.
The idol differs somewhat from that of the Burmans and
Siamese. In the next page is an exact delineation of a large
image or Jos, which I obtained from Mr. Roberts at Macao,
and is now in the Baptist Missionary Rooms, Boston.
The state of morals among the English and other foreigners
here, is delightfully superior to that of other places I have
seen in the East. A particular vice, so notorious elsewhere,
is indeed effectually prevented by the Chinese police. But in
other respects the superiority is manifest. The Sabbath is

186

THE GOD BOODH.

well observed ; and sobriety, temperance, and industry, dis
tinguish a society, which, but for the exclusion of females,

The Chinese Boodli.
would be excellent. Of course, the total absence of mothers,
sisters, wives, and daughters, prevents any man from feeling
at home in Canton ; and few stay longer than they can help.
The British and American gentlemen, besides supporting
the hospital, have formed two societies for the good of China,
viz. the " Morrison Education Society," and the " Society for
the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge." Both are yet in inci
pient stages. Their designs are fully described in the " Chinese
Repository." Another measure is gradually ripening for exe
cution, viz., the establishment of a Medical Missionary
Society ; which promises effectually to try an experiment on
which the hearts of many friends of China are strongly set.

SOCIETIES. — OPIUM TRADE. 187
The object of this society will be to encourage medical gentle
men to come and practise gratuitously among the Chinese.*
The great blot on foreigners at Canton, though not on all,
is the opium trade. That men of correct moral sensibilities
and enlightened minds should be so blinded by custom, or
desire of gain, as to engage in this business, is amazing. A
smuggler in Canton is no more honourable than a smuggler
on any other coast ; in some respects less so. There is less
chivalry, hardihood, fatigue, exposure, and inducement, than
in the case of a poor man, who braves both the war of elements
and legal penalty, to obtain subsistence for his family. Here,
among a peaceable, and perhaps timid people, they incur no
personal hazards, and set at defiance edicts and officers. No
other smuggling introduces an article so deadly and demo
ralizing. The victims of it daily meet the smuggler's eyes,
and are among the patients resorting to the hospital he helps
to support. So well do they know the moral and physical
evils of opium, that not one of them ventures on the habit of
using it himself.
In this, as in other cases, magnitude gives dignity and
sanction to the operation. No other smuggling is on so grand
a scale. The annual sale amounts to a sum equal to the
entire revenue of the United States, and to the whole value
of teas exported to England and America ! At this very
time, though efforts so extraordinary and persevering have
been put forth by the Chinese government, to stop this
infernal traffic, there are twenty-four opium ships on the
* A Medical Missionary Society, with the above object, was formed in
Canton early in 1838. It does not purpose to pay the salary of medical
men, hut to receive such as may be sent by missionary boards, or come
at their own cost ; and to furnish them with hospitals, medicines, attend
ants, &c. It will establish libraries and museums ; and take every proper
measure to spread the benefits of rational medicine and surgery among
the Chinese ; in the hope of thus paving the way for the relaxation of
those laws, customs and prejudices, which now exclude the Christian
missionary. Of this society, T. R. Colledge, Esq. is president. The
society has already received cash subscriptions to the amount of full
2,000?. j chiefly from the English and American gentlemen on the spot.

188 CANTON.
coast. We have little reason to wonder at the reluctance of
China to extend her intercourse with foreigners. Nearly the
whole of such intercourse brings upon her pestilence, poverty,
crime, and disturbance.
No person can describe ' the horrors of the opium trade.
The drug is produced by compulsion, accompanied with miseries
to the cultivators, as great as slaves endure in any part of
the earth. The prices paid to the producer scarcely sustain
life, and are many per cent, less than the article produces in
China. The whole process of carrying and vending is an
enormous infringement of the laws of nations, and such as
would immediately produce a declaration of war by any
European power — the grandest and grossest smuggling trade
on the globe ! The influence of the drug on China is more
awful and extensive than that of rum in any country, and
worse to its victims than any outward slavery. That the
government of British India should be the prime abettors of
this abominable traffic, is one of the grand wonders of the
nineteenth century. The proud escutcheon of the nation
which declaims against the slave trade, is thus made to bear
a blot broader and darker than any other in the Christian
world. A subsequent chapter on missions to the Chinese, shows
what missionaries have laboured for this people, at different
points, and who are now thus engaged. It is sufficient, there
fore, here to notice those in Canton — viz., Messrs. Bridgman
and Parker. Mr. B. has not yet become able to preach in
Chinese, but is making very rapid progress, and has acquired
such a knowledge of the written language, as to be able, with
critical ability to assist in the revision of the Holy Scriptures,
now in progress at Singapore. He also has some promising
Chinese boys under his daily instruction. His other engage
ments, besides the study of the language, are, editing the
" Chinese Repository," and preaching in English.
Dr. P. has, from his arrival, been engrossed with medical

MISSIONARY OPERATIONS. 189
practice, for which purpose he was sent out. His hospital
was commenced in November, 1835, chiefly for diseases of
the eye. Resident foreigners wholly support the establish
ment (except Dr. P.'s salary), at an expense of about 330/.
per annum. Not only do crowds of patients, with diseased
eyes, resort to him, but many others, only a selection of which
can receive his attention.
Up to the present period, four thousand four hundred per
sons have been treated. The cases are described, and in some
instances the treatment and results, in Dr. P.'s regular quar
terly reports. His labours are severe, but his health and
spirits good. A satisfactory proof of his skill is found in the
friendship and encomiums of seven or eight English physicians,
residing at Canton and Macao ; some of whom attend him
on every operation day, rendering valuable aid, and highly
applauding his operations and treatment.- He has three
native students of medicine, who receive careful instruction,
literary as well as medical, and through whom incalculable
blessings may flow to this people.
There is no Chinese convert at Canton, nor religious
services in that language, nor giving of tracts. Even con
versation with patients in the hospital is ventured upon with
caution. A linguist is stationed there, by the local authorities,
who narrowly watches every transaction. The missionaries
fully believe that frequency, or a little indiscretion, would at
once break up the institution, and perhaps cause them to be
driven away.
How far the labours of these excellent brethren are to
prepare the way for Christianity, or for future missionaries,
is not clear. They are certainly earning for themselves the
confidence and esteem of many individuals. But can they
transfer these to others ? If successors keep equally quiet,
in respect to religion, they will remain unmolested, without
reference to the present missionaries. If they do not, these
will furnish no precedent, and their character no protection :

190 MACAO.
opposition might be expected, as heretofore, and the work
must be commenced in fact anew.
Ten days, out of my thirty in China, were consumed in a
visit to Macao. That it was my last point of observation,
made me acquainted with Gutzlaff, and would show me
Popery under a new phasis, gave peculiar interest to the visit.
The sailing distance from Canton is about seventy miles.
Small packet-boats, with a deck, ply regularly between the
two places, which stop a few minutes at Lintin, and consume
generally about twenty-four hours in the passage.
The crowds of boats and junks near Canton, the long line
of English and American shipping in Whampoa Reach, the
forts, towers, cultivation, and fishermen, on the way to Lin
tin, and the romantic islands and promontories between that
place and Macao, render the voyage, under favourable circum
stances, instructing and pleasant.
Macao, seen from the harbour, wears an aspect of great
beauty and dignity. The crescent curve of the shore, un
broken by any wharf or jetty, whitened by the foamy surf and
sloping sand ; the front range of well-built houses ; the town,
rising behind on different hills ; and the bold ridges on either
side — make a scene rarely surpassed. But the shipping lie
at the back of the town ; not a movement of commerce is to
be seen ; a few sepoys seem to be the only moving objects ;
and as you land from the little sampan, sensations of desola
tion are scarcely to be suppressed. The first walk through
the town dissipates all the poetic anticipations awakened by a
view from the harbour. Narrow streets, ill-built houses,
beggarly shops, and the total absence of the appearance of
business, create a strong sense of desolation ; and a few pro
menades leave you nothing new to see.
Decline seems stamped on everything, civil and religious.
Instead of its former population of twenty thousand Portu
guese and other foreigners, it has now but four thousand three
hundred. Its extensive commerce is almost annihilated.

POPERY IN MACAO. 191
Several of the large churches are either in ruins, or used for
barracks. Few of the houses are kept in perfect repair, and
the streets are no longer thronged with busy passengers. The
churches are still numerous and noble ; and evidence is every
moment present that you are in a Papal town. The bells
ring often every day ; processions, with crucifixes and lighted
candles, go and come ; and .priests, with black frocks and cocked
hats, are seen in the streets.
The town is built on two ridges, forming a triangle, of
which the hypotenuse is the secure inner harbour, where all
the shipping lie ; but which is gradually filling up. The whole
site is but a section of a promontory extending to the south
ward, from the large island of Heang-shan. A wall, built
across the entire breadth, only seventeen hundred yards from
the extreme south point, effectually restricts foreigners to the
limits assigned them, and enables the Chinese, by stopping the
supply of provisions, always to bring the Portuguese to terms,
if difficulties occur. A great majority of the inhabitants, even
within the Portuguese limits, are Chinese. They have their
bazaar, their temples, their commerce, and even their custom
house ; and seem to be virtually rulers of the place.
For more than three centuries (that is, since 1537) have the
Portuguese occupied Macao. The history of the place, during
this long interval, is interesting in various respects ; but I can
attempt no sketch of it here. It forms not only a veritable
and practical comment on Popery, but shows it up in an im
portant aspect ; viz., as having both power and prevalence, in
the midst of a pagan land. It also exhibits political and
commercial mistakes, worthy to be scanned and weighed by
statesmen. I of course found the Baptist brethren, Shuck and Roberts,
only students ; so that, as to them, there was neither much for
me to arrange or learn. But though they have so recently.
arrived, I was assured by a competent judge, that their pro
gress in the language was very honourable to themselves.

192 MACAO.
Mr. S. studies the Mandareen dialect, preparatory to assuming
some post on the western frontier of China ; and Mr. R. that
of Macao, intending to make this his permanent position. I
was happy to make arrangements with Mr. Gutzlaff, to devote
a few hours a week to their instruction.
Mr. Williams, a printer in the service of the American
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, is stationed
here. He has charge of the Honourable East India Com
pany's printing-office, and has been employed on Medhurst's
Dictionary, &c. The magistrates totally prohibit the printing
of Bibles and tracts in Macao ; so that he is at present left to
prosecute his studies in the language. This office contains two
fontes of Chinese character, and some English. One is of very
large size, each type weighing one tael and two mace, or about
an ounce and a half. Each type was engraved by itself, and
cost, for cutting and metal, about threepence-halfpenny. The
fonte has but one type in each character : so that it can be of
no use, unless in reprinting a dictionary. Seventeen thousand
of these types have been lost, and twenty-seven thousand yet
remain. The fonte was made at vast expense, by the East
India Company, for printing Morrison's great Chinese Dic
tionary. The other fonte is of the size called " Columbian," and, like
the first, was cut upon blank faces, and not cast. It contains
thirty thousand characters, averaging but two types for each ;
so that, like the other, it cannot be used in printing ordinary
books. With Mr. W. is residing G. T. L?y, Esq., an agent of the
British and Foreign Bible Society, whose recent visits to
Borneo, Celebes, Ternate, and other islands in these seas,
enabled him to give me light on several subjects, respecting
which books left me in the dark. Mr. L. is distinguished as
a naturalist, as well as for an extraordinary facility in acquir
ing languages ; and his researches among these comparatively
unknown tribes cannot fail to benefit both science and religion.

GUTZLAFF. 193
Mr. Gutzlaff welcomed me with all possible cordiality; and
our previous correspondence paved the way for business, with
out circumlocution or formality. He is a Prussian, about
thirty-four years of age, small, dark hair and eyes, in fine
health, of great activity, and sprightly in all his motions. His
office of interpreter to the superintendent of trade seldom
makes demands on his time, while its ample salary furnishes
him the means of much good. No man is more devoted to
the cause of Christ, and few so laborious, as his ten voyages
along the coast since his arrival in 1831 amply testify. His
chief employment, at present, is the preparation of tracts, and
of a new version of the Scriptures, with the help of Marsh-
man's and Morrison's versions.
I of course spent many hours with him, listening, note-book
in hand, to his opinions, observations, difficulties, desires, and
purposes ; and his comments on mine. Without the least
apparent reserve, and with exceeding earnestness and anima
tion, he passed on from subject to subject, at the table, in the
garden, and by the way-side. All was of China. Not an
inquiry had he to make of where I had been, or what was
doing elsewhere. Not a moment did common-place matters
come up. His mind, full of one grand theme, seemed to spill
over spontaneously every moment. Though unable to adopt
his judgment on many points, I could but admire his zeal,
piety, diligence, and hope.
His darling plan is the multiplication of voyages along the
coast, for the distribution of tracts. He thinks he has in this
way, himself, had access to thirty millions of people ; and
cherishes the most animated expectations from a large employ
ment of this method. But after listening with deep attention
to all his remarks on this important theme, I could not adopt
his conclusions. The distribution of tracts can only be of use
on a large scale, in preparing the way for living teachers.
This has been done sufficiently, so far as regards the coast ;
and we must continue to do occasionally till teachers be ad-
VOL. II. k

194 MACAO.
mitted to residence. But to make it an end, instead of a
means ; to pour annually millions of tracts along the same line
of coast ; to go in face of prohibitory edicts; and only as pro
tected by cannon ; and to be at the expense of both tracts and
voyage, while so many of the books are yet scarcely intelligible,
is at best but a very imperfect mode of conducting a mission.
Mrs. G. is an English lady, without children of her own,
and has taken twenty little pagan girls into her house, where
they . receive every advantage, in school and out. They
are allowed to come into the parlour, and are in all respects
put upon the footing of pupils in our best boarding-schools.
Among them are two little blind girls, of good parts. As I
caressed the poor little orphans, heard their hymns and por
tions of Scripture, saw them read from the New England
raised-letter books, and marked the deep and tender interest
of Mrs. G. on their behalf, my heart rejoiced in God. O,
how blessed and bright would this dark world become, if
only the spirit of our glorious Redeemer were diffused abroad !
What sweet intercourse of sympathy, generosity, love, and
gratitude, would gladden life's roughest passages !
There is no body of native Christians in Macao, nor any
Protestant convert but a poor gardener, baptised by Mr.
Shuck not long since. I accompanied Mr. G., on the first
Sunday in November, to the houses of some Chinamen, with
whom he conversed in a manner that showed he was no
stranger to their doors. In the evening, as is his custom, he
preached in English to the patients of the Marine Hospital,
and a few friends ; but it was evident this was not his forte.
There cau be held no regular meetings for Chinese, nor any
open preaching, and only a scanty and cautious distribution of
tracts. Mr. G.'s usefulness, therefore, can extend little
beyond his study and his scholars, except when on his favourite
excursions along the coast.
The next evening was the concert of prayer, held at the
house of C. W. K., Esq., a pious American, of the firm of

T. R. COLLEDGE, ESQ. 195
Oliphant and Co. We numbered but eight ; yet the occasion,
the place, and the circumstances of the people round us, gave
deep interest to a meeting always dear to a Christian. Alas !
that so many churches lose the pleasure and benefit of this
hallowed evening ; to say nothing of the duty of praying,
" Thy kingdom come."
T. R. Colledge, Esq., of this place, an eminent and humane
surgeon in his majesty's service, on joining the East India
Company's establishment in 1827, immediately began a
system of gratuitous practice for the Chinese, particularly in
diseases of the eye. The first year, his own resources sup
plied the funds ; but in the next, friends contributed, and as
confidence among the Chinese increased, patients multiplied,
and a regular hospital was opened, where patients from a
distance were accommodated. Up to 1833, four thousand
patients were relieved. At that time, the retirement of a
medical officer threw upon Dr. C. such an increase of duty,
that the hospital was suspended. The institution, however,
had so won the favour of all classes, that a very large and
well-adapted house has been purchased for a permanent
establishment, capable of accommodating several hundred
persons. Mr. G.'s published letters have widely diffused his favour
ite position, that " China is open." He still maintains this
position, though others have risen to controvert it. To me it
seems that, whether it is open to the settlement of missionaries
is a matter to be decided only by experiment ; to make which,
there are not more than himself and three other missionaries
sufficiently versed in the language. Little good could come
of an attempt of this kind, made by a man unable to teach
the people, or to explain himself before a magistrate. The worst
that would probably happen to a proper man, making the
trial, would be, to be placed in a sedan chair, and transmitted
to Macao. How far the seaboard is open to the distribution
of tracts, is ascertained ; that is, they may be given away in
k2

196 VOYAGE HOME.
any quantity, if a ship be at hand to protect the operation.
For want of such a vessel, a hundred and seventy large boxes
of tracts have now for months been lying in a receiving ship
at Lintin, and which dare not be landed either at Canton or
Macao. I am not only persuaded that, at this moment, China is
not open to the settlement of Christian teachers, but satisfied
that Protestants are far from being ready to have it open.
With three or four men able to preach in Chinese, what would
Christendom do ? Nothing, after locating these, with each a
hundred millions for his district, but what she can do now —
set apart more men to study the language. It is a great
mercy that China should be shut, at present, to Christian
teachers. Were it otherwise, Protestants are without persons
to send ; while Popish priests abound in the East, and would
instantly enter in great numbers, making the field worse for
us, if possible, than now.

CHAPTER VI.

Embark for Home — Straits of Gaspar and Sunda — Petty Monsoon— Cape
of Good Hope — Remarkable Phenomenon — St. Helena — False Alarm
— Slave Trade — Landing at Newport — Summary — Reflections.
Besides the sweets of being "homeward bound," the voyage
from the East is, in many respects, pleasanter than the out
ward, especially when we embark in the fall. The winds are
almost all fair ; the distance is much less ; the repeated sight
of land breaks up the dreary monotony of four or five months'
passage ; and vessels generally touch at the Cape of Good
Hope, or St. Helena, which adds a large amount of interest
ing information, and furnishes refreshments to sustain both
health and spirits.
The stagnation of trade is now so complete, (November,
1837,) that but one vessel is loading at Canton for the United
States, and no other expected to sail for six or eight weeks,

VOYAGE HOME. 197
if so soon. She belongs to Messrs. Brown and Ives of Provi
dence, and in her I take passage, grateful for an opportunity
to depart, when my business is finished.
Leaving Macao November 24th, we came down the coast
of Cochin-China, between the Natunna and Anamba groups
of islands, and passing in sight of Middle Island, St. Julien,
St. Esprit, St. Barbe, &c, reached the Straits of Gaspar in
ten days. Here we saw Banca, Pulo Lat, and other islands.
A day or two more brought to view the beautiful heights of
Sumatra, along which we coasted to the Straits of Sunda,
surrounded by noble scenery. The mountains of Java and
Sumatra, the fine peaks of Cockatoa and Prince's Islands, the
numerous minor islands, the quiet seas, and the glorious skies,
make it one of the most interesting passages I know.
Leaving Java head December 7tb, we took the petty mon
soon,* and hauled close upon it, to lat. 16° south, where we
reached the regular south-east trade, and rolled before it more
than four thousand miles, in about a month. On the 17th of
January, 1838, we came in sight of Africa, and sailed for two
days close along the sublime outline of the mountains which
form the " Cape of Storms." The winds here are almost
always ahead for homeward vessels, which therefore hug the
shore, for the benefit of the westerly current ; but we were
favoured with a gentle fair wind all the way round to Table
Bay. No sooner had we dropped anchor off Cape Town, on the
morning of the 19th, than I hastened ashore to make the best
of the time the ship remained to fill up her water, and procure
stores. Dr. Phillips, the well-known and venerable superin-
tendant of the London Missionary Society's stations in South
Africa, had not yet returned from his visit to England ; but
* The petty monsoon is a remarkable intrusion on the south-east trade-
wind. It exists six months in the year, viz. from November to May,
between lat. 2° and 10° south, and extending from Madagascar to Java.
It is sometimes broader. We had it as far as lat. 16°. It generally blows
fresh, and often in squalls.

198 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
I found Mrs. P. abundantly able to supply his place. Her
complete knowledge of the details of every station, and strik
ing energy of character, charmed me exceedingly. Making
me welcome to her home, she patiently suffered herself to be
plied with questions, and, on my retiring for the night, fur
nished documents to read, calculated to be highly useful to me
as a manager of missionary operations.
Rev. Mr. Locke, Mr. P.'s substitute, gave me his time
when Mrs. P. could not, so that, whether walking or sitting,
my pencil had no rest. Long practice has served to stereo
type my questions, so that when I fall among such as can
inform, the work of gathering facts, dates, and numbers, is
plain, if not easy.
Few places can be more beautifully situated than Cape
Town. I made a drawing from the ship ; but the expense of
this work is already so great as to forbid its being engraved.
The city occupies a gentle acclivity, on the east side of the
bay ; scattered villas are sprinkled over the adjacent shores ;
and in the rear, upon moderate hills, are pleasant country
seats, embosomed among vineyards and fruit-trees. Behind
all, distant but a mile, is the steep wall-like front of Table
Mountain, rising nearly four thousand feet, almost perpendi
cularly, without a tree, or scarcely a shrub, to hide the frown
ing rocks. In the placid bay about twenty vessels were lying
at anchor, of which no less than eight were American. There
is a small fort, and some other defences; but none which
would be of any avail against an enemy, which might land
elsewhere, and take these batteries in the rear.
The streets of the city are regularly laid out, and well
built, but narrow. The population is about twenty-five
thousand ; the great majority of which are negroes and mulat-
toes. These swarm about the town ; their wretched trousers
and jackets contrasting very disadvantageously with the grace
ful and snow-white drapery of servants in India.
It is the middle of January, (1838,) and here, the height

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

199

of summer. The markets abound with grapes, peaches, apri
cots, apples, plums, figs, oranges, lemons, strawberries, mul
berries, melons, &c, at very low rates. Our supply of oranges,
from China, had just run out ; so that such an opportunity of
replacing our antiscorbutic luxuries was most welcome. The
vineyards are not trellised like the Italian, or tied to stakes
like the German, but suffered to grow alone, like currant
bushes. This plan is probably necessary, on account of the
fierce winds which often prevail ; but as it suffers many of the
grapes to lie on the ground, is perhaps the cause of the earthy
taste of the common Cape wines.
There are at Cape Town two Episcopal ministers, four
Dutch, two Lutheran, one Scotch, two Independent, two
Methodist, one supported by- the South African Missionary
Society, and four engaged wholly or partially in schools or
secular business ; making eighteen. The following list of
charitable and religious institutions, though perhaps incom
plete, will show that Christians here are not unmindful of the
calls of enlightened philanthropy : — Society for promoting
Christian Knowledge ; South African Missionary Society,
instituted 1799 ; Auxiliary London Missionary Society ; Aux
iliary Wesleyan Missionary Society ; Bible Union, instituted
1818; Infant School Society, with three schools; three
schools on the British system ; Ladies' Benevolent Society ;
Tract and Book Society ; Orphan Asylum ; Sick and Burial
Society ; Widows' and Old Women's Society ; School of In
dustry for girls ; and ten Sunday schools, containing about
fifteen hundred scholars.
Had the Dutch, who settled this colony nearly two hundred
years ago, been as zealous for the conversion of the natives as
they were for the introduction of their language, there would,
no doubt, have been a far different state of things among that
part of the population. But though Dutch is now the verna
cular of all the negroes in this part of the continent, Christi
anity is the religion of comparatively few ; while more than

200 ST. HELENA.
nine thousand have adopted the faith of the false prophet.
Indeed, it is affirmed, that they rather preferred that the
Hottentots should become Mussulmans ; being unwilling that
their slaves should acquire such a ground of familiarity as
would be produced by a common Christianity ! Even now, a
large number of blacks annually go over to Mahometism.
On leaving the Cape of Good Hope, a delightful breeze
from the south-east brought us at once into the regular trade-
wind ; so that we scarcely started tack or sheet till off St-
Helena, on the 31st of January. Squalls and calms, produced
by the proximity of this lofty island, kept us near it for
twenty-four hours; making us familiar with its gloomy outline,
and allowing us leisure to philosophise on the fate of bloody
men. Heavy clouds lowered on its summits, while dreariness
and solitude seemed the only tenants of its worthless valleys.
May ambitious rulers never forget the impressive lesson of
St. Helena's exiled emperor ! We left the island to the west
ward, and, catching "the trade" again, reached the equator
in about twenty days. He who most dislikes the sea, must
love it in the south-east trade-wind. Such skies, such air,
such gentle waters, such quiet in the ship, such glorious
nights, such security from all shoals and coasts, and such
steady progress, make up the very poetry of life upon the sea.
The north-east trade met us south of the line, blowing with
double the force of the other. Its haziness prevented my
noticing at what latitude the Magellan clouds ceased to be
visible. We however saw them till within two or three de
grees of the equator. They appeared then about 15° above
the horizon. Since leaving the Cape, the thermometer has
ranged about 80° to 85° in the cabin.
For a number of days after crossing the line, we noticed
fine yellowish sand, deposited on every part of the vessel and
rigging. It could be wiped from the decks like dust from a
table. This, of course, was from the coast of Africa, above a
thousand miles distant ! I am told this phenomenon is not

A SLAVER. 201
uncommon, but do not recollect to have seen it noticed in
books. In the latitude of the West Indies, a suspicious-looking
schooner came in sight, and leaving her course, boarded a
vessel a few miles ahead. Soon after, she bore for another ;
changing her course again, came down upon us, and ranged
alongside at musket-shot distance. She carried the flag of
Donna Maria, was of the fastest model, too small to be
engaged in commerce, and had other indications of being a
pirate. It seemed evident, too, she had no particular course,
for she had been boxing about since day-light. To be cap
tured, and perhaps murdered, was now a reasonable expecta
tion ; and I began to think this book would never see the
light. After sailing with us a while before the wind, keeping
us in constant expectation of a shot, she sheered to, and an
officer in half-uniform hailed us, saying, " With your leave,
we will come on board." Of course, it was of no use to resist,
and our captain sulkily hauled up his courses. We were
somewhat relieved by seeing her boat shove off with but a
small crew. Our ladder and man-ropes were put over the side,
and presently a ruffian-looking man, with side-arms, stood
upon our deck. We stood ready to learn our fate ; but he
seemed in no hurry to announce it. However, after looking
about at everything, and asking our cargo, destination, &c,
he settled our surmises by saying that he wished merely to
know his longitude !
The schooner was a slaver, recently captured off Jamaica,
by a British cruiser ; and this personage was prize-master.
The slaves had been apprenticed on the island by government,
as is the custom in such cases, and the vessel was on her way
to Sierra Leone, to be condemned ; having the late eaptain
and one or two of the crew on board. Being destitute of a
chronometer, he took this opportunity to ascertain his posi
tion, by comparing the reckoning of the vessels in sight. The
vessel was about eighty tons burden, (not so large as many
k3

202 RETURN TO THE UNITED STATES.
of our river sloops,) and when taken, had on board three
hundred and twenty-six slaves ! Between her decks was but
two feet four inches, so that the unhappy negroes could
scarcely sit upright. They were stowed in a solid mass, in a
sitting posture, amidst filth and stench so horrid, that the
place was insupportable for days after they were removed.
These vessels are generally fitted out at Havana, and, if they
escape capture one voyage out of four, the profits are abun
dant. As the officers and crew are not punished, much less
the merchant, there is no want of tools for this infernal busi
ness. As soon as the vessel is condemned at Sierra Leone, she
is sold by auction ; and not being wanted there, the captain
himself becomes the purchaser, and with all his irons, gratings,
and other apparatus, already on board, passes down the coast)
takes in another cargo, and tries his chance again.
Lord Brougham has affirmed, in a late speech in parliament,
that one hundred and eighty-five slave vessels were fitted out
from Havana in the year 1 835 ; and that in 1836, the num
ber of slaves imported into that single city, exceeded twenty-
eight thousand ! In the month of December, 1836, two
vessels arrived at Rio Janeiro, one of which brought five
hundred slaves, and the other seven hundred and eighty !
The average import of slaves into Rio is about fifty-three
thousand ! In 1837, there were imported into one city of
Brazil forty-five thousand slaves ! It has been recently pub
lished, without contradiction, that nearly two hundred slave
voyages are made from Cuba every year, and that many of
these are owned by Englishmen and Americans. It is to be
feared that this awful business is now conducted almost as
extensively as at any former period.
On the 25th of March, 1838, the shores of my native coun
try once more received me, having made the voyage in a hun
dred and twenty days, without disaster. I have abstained
from speaking of dangers, escapes, hardships and inconve
niences, except where they might make the reader better

REMARKS. 203
acquainted with the country or people through which I was
passing ; but an open acknowledgment is now due to the
Father of mercies and to my friends, whose prayers were not
intermitted. In the East, opportunities of going from port
to port are often not to be had for months ; yet I was never
hurried from any place till my work was done, nor in a
single instance detained uselessly. During an absence from
the United States of two years and. a half, I made nineteen
voyages by sea, (which consumed four hundred and sixty-four
days,) fourteen voyages by rivers, and a land journey of five
hundred miles, besides smaller trips by land and water. The
whole distance travelled, including actual courses at sea, is
somewhat more than fifty-three thousand miles. In all these
wanderings, often in dangerous and ill-fitted vessels, and
regions unhealthy, or infested with robbers, I was never hurt
nor molested ; nor was any person hurt or taken sick where I
was. In one of these journeys, it will be recollected, I was
supposed to be armed with a pair of horse-pistols, for which I
afterward found I had no bullets. On all other occasions, I
went without the semblance of a weapon, except a cane.
The entire expense of my mission, including voyages out
and home, presents to chiefs, purchase of curiosities for mis
sionary rooms, and salary, amounts to about five thousand
dollars — or one thousand guineas — scarcely half of the sum I
had supposed would be requisite. Part of this may be
regarded as falling within the usual expenses of the Board, as
on all occasions I acted the part of a missionary, by preach
ing through interpreters, conducting the services of native
assistants, and distributing Christian books. I indulge a
hope that the profits of these volumes received by the Society
will repay in part the cost of the tour.
The wide field gone over in my weary way is now traced ;
and thousands of facts concerning it are fairly spread out.
Much more remains unsaid ; but nothing is kept back, which
would materially alter the nature of the reader's impressions.

204 REMARKS.
Deeply conscious of the imperfections which have attended
the discharge of this engagement, I am, nevertheless, cheered
by the fullest conviction that such an agency was essential to
the. welfare and vigour of the mission ; that no part of my life
has so effectually promoted the blessed cause for which alone
it is desirable to live ; and that the divine presence and aid
were never more manifestly vouchsafed upon any of my
endeavours. It only remains for me to declare my deep and solemn con
viction that the missionary enterprise is of God. All I have
seen, read, and heard, has served to impress me more and
more with the rectitude, practicability, and usefulness of the
work. Our duty, as revealed in Scripture, is illustrated and
urged in every part of the field. The missionaries, as a body,
are holy and diligent men. I have satisfied myself that the
translations are continually improving ; that the tracts are
orthodox and scriptural ; and that a large part of them are
intelligible to the natives. Evidences of the divine favour are
visible ; and are enumerated in a subsequent chapter, though
not completely, yet so abundantly, as that unprejudiced
Christians must deem them encouraging.
The personal examination of numerous missionary stations
in the East (some of them the seat of several distinct bodies
of missionaries) ; a minute knowledge of many adjacent ones;
a personal acquaintance with nearly ninety ordained mission
aries — Episcopalian,Lutheran, Scotch, Presbyterian, Wesleyan,
Independent, Congregational, and Baptist, besides wives,
assistants, and native helpers; visits to schools and the houses
of converts ; seeing many heathen in their native state ;
witnessing much missionary labour; attending committees,
conferences, prayer-meetings, and catechisings ; and almost
confining my reading to this subject for three years, — 'has
satisfied me that the measure of missionary success is equal to
just expectations. The particular grounds of this decision
will be found briefly spread out in Chapter III. Part IV.

REMARKS. 205
Opportunities of usefulness are more extended than ever
before. There are not only more presses and more mission
aries, but better tracts; more of the Scriptures are translated;
more of our brethren understand the languages where they
are; the native assistants know more of the plan of salvation;
and the schools are better conducted.
Our incentives to increased action are very strong. Many
young men of great promise, who have devoted themselves to
missionary work, are deterred from presenting themselves to
the societies, because of the uncertainty when they can be sent
out, if at all. This ought very seriously to engage the atten
tion of the churches. Men are prepared and willing to go ;
and the church does not supply the means. In the mean
time, promising fields remain unoccupied ; a proper division
of labour is not effected at existing stations; and at some
points the whole labour and expense, and the entire services
of some missionaries, are in danger of being lost, for want of
men to take the place of those now engaged, in case of sick
ness or death. In some instances, there is for a whole nation
but one missionary.
Our visible encouragements are greater than at any former
period. The number of converts within the year 1837, con
nected with missions from the United States, exceeds the
whole number of converts, during the first twenty years of
the existence of missionary operations ! In the same missions,
religious truth is now being printed in nearly sixty languages,
and at the rate of millions of pages per annum.
Reader, could you have stood with me over the graves of
Swartz, Carey, Boardman, or Heber, or could you stand
beside the departing ship, where weeping parents give up dear
children to many hardships, and to be seen no more, how
would your sacrifices appear in the comparison ? What are
you doing for the spread of Christianity which compares with
these ; or with the widow's mite, which was "all her living"?
O, examine this matter. The blood of the heathen may be on

206 REMARKS.
your soul. Have you properly satisfied yourself that it is not
your duty to go to the heathen ? Are you sure you are not
required to give more to this cause ? If it be the duty of
some to go abroad, and of others to give up their sons and
daughters, what ought you to do ? Must the whole body of
Christians do their duty? or will the services of a part excuse
the remainder ? Either those who go on missions are egre-
giously misled, and might without guilt have remained at
home, enjoying all the sweets of civilised society, religious
privileges, and family intercourse ; or you are fatally deluded
in supposing that you acquit yourselves of all obligation by
paying a paltry dollar or two, per annum or per month.
What shall be said, then, of those who do not contribute
towards spreading the knowledge of God and truth among
the nations, so much as the price of a gewgaw or a ribbon, in a
whole year ? O Lord, lay not this sin to thy people's charge !
Let thy church arise and shine, that the Gentiles may come
to her light, and kings to the brightness of her rising.

PART IV.
DISSERTATIONS, TABLES, &c.

CHAPTER I. \
MISSIONS TO THE CHINESE.
Stations now occupied — Sudiya — Mogoung--. Bam oo — Umerapoora —
Zemmai — Pontiana — Sambas — Banca — Other Bodies of Chinese —
Versions of the Holy Scriptures — Proportion of Chinese who can read
— The Importance of distributing Tracts and Bibles overrated — Com
parison of the Modes of Printing — Difficulty of the Language —
Dictionaries, Grammars, &c. — Present Missionaries to the Chinese-
Other Sinologues — Number of Converts — Best Authors on China.
The accounts given of Canton and Macao, in a preceding
chapter, show to what extent those cities can be regarded as
missionary stations ; and how little prospect there is of an
early toleration to missionary efforts in China proper. Hence
the necessity of establishing missions for this people in other
places, where they are found residing in large numbers.
Stations now exist only at Canton, Macao, Malacca, Singa
pore, and Bankok, of which I have detailed the facts ; and
Batavia, which I did not visit. Penang has been occupied
by Mr. Dyer, but he is now of Malacca. The general and
deep interest felt by the Christian public on behalf of the
Chinese, induces me to present, at one view, the other points
which seem now to invite missionaries. Others have been
named which I know to be unsuitable ; there may be some of
which I know nothing.
By placing missionaries at these places, we carry the gospel
to the Chinese, though not to China. Besides the numerous
body of permanent residents are thousands who return to their
own country after amassing a competency; and thousands who

208 MISSIONS TO THE CHINESE.
never cease to be citizens of China, come and return annually,
in the junks and caravans. Tracts may be sent by such to
every part of the coast. Converts may be made at such
stations, who shall become at no distant period the best of
missionaries, to their own land ; a quiet abode is secured
where the Holy Scriptures may be translated ; schools may be
taught ; and many other services rendered, quite as important
as any which could be performed in China itself.
1. Sudiya, a station of the American Baptist Board in
Upper Asam, on a branch of the Burampooter. Several
missionaries and a printing establishment are located here,
prosecuting labours among the tribes of the vicinity.
The frontier of China is not now accessible from Sudiya.
Some rude tribes of Singphoose intervene, who preserve their
independence, and render travelling by this route highly dan
gerous. British influence, however, seems fast extending in
that direction, and a free intercourse for whites may ere long
be secured.
Some of the chiefs, for an established compensation, grant
a free passage and escort to an annual caravan of Chinese to
Thibet. It generally amounts to about six hundred persons,
who collect on the borders of Yunnan, and proceed to Lassa,
making the journey in six weeks. Credible natives affirm that
a good road extends the whole distance from Lassa to Pekin,
and that letters are carried from one capital to the other in
twenty days.
We may hope that Christian zeal will soon make this road
and this caravan the means of conveying divine truth to China.
Perhaps, even now, the caravan might sometimes be reached
from Sudiya, for the distribution of tracts.
2. Mo-goung, or Mong-maorong, is a large, fortified city,
on a branch of the Irrawaddy river, about 25° 20', inhabited
chiefly by Shyans, Chinese, and Singphoos. It is said by
some to be the ancient capital of the kingdom of Bong ; but
whether there ever was such a kingdom, is not clear. It is

MOGOUNG — BAM00. 209
more probable that Mogoung was, at an early period, a part
of the Tai or Shyan country, and the metropolis of the northern
section. Good roads, for horses or bullocks, extend in various
directions, particularly to Asam, Yunnan, and Bamoo. The
trade to China is almost equal to that of the latter city. The
resident Chinese are of a respectable class. The contiguity of
the famous amber mines* brings .numerous merchants from
Yunnan, Munipore, and other adjacent countries. The tra
ders from China stay some weeks, and generally return from
year to year ; so that successive instructions might be given
them. Beesa, called by the Burmans Beejanoung, and by the
Shyans Hukung, is but about eighty miles, north by west,
from Mogoung. This is one of the principal Singphoo cities,
between which and Sudiya there is constant and free inter
course. I had the pleasure of meeting at Ava the famous
Duffa Gam, prince of the Beesa Singphoos, who assured me
that missionaries to his country should be well received and
protected. He imparted many of the facts I now give,
respecting that part of Burmah and its various tribes.
3. Bamoo. This city (lat. 24° 17' north, long. 96° 55'
east) lies on the Irrawaddy river, near the junction of the
Tapan, or Bamoo, or Pinlang river, which comes in from
China. It is called by Hamilton Bhanmo, and by some
writers Bamau. The old town stood on this branch, but the
modern one is a mile below. The present population is four
teen thousand, of whom one-tenth are Chinese. Each side
of the river, for miles above and below, presents the appear
ance of a continued village ; and the surrounding country is
one of the most wealthy and populous portions of the Burman
empire. About twenty-five miles to the southward, but much
more by the course of the river, is the confluence of the Lung-
shun, which also rises in China ; and which, as well as the
* The price of the best kind, on the spot, is about three shillings ster
ling, or seventy cents a pound.

210 MISSIONS TO THE CHINESE.
Bamoo, affords a boat navigation into Yunnan during the
rainy season. Boats come up from Ava in twelve days ; and,
when the waters are high, vessels of a hundred and fifty tons
may proceed a hundred and thirty miles farther.
A great trade is carried on from Bamoo to China, part of it
en route to Ava. • From five to six thousand Chinamen arrive
every cold season from Yunnan, causing a resort at the same
time of traders from all parts of Burmah and Munipore. This
intercourse was found- existing when Europeans first visited
the country, and the Portuguese are said to have established
factors here in the sixteenth century.
As the caravans travel in the dry season, they proceed by
land, crossing several ridges of mountains, and a country occu
pied by Shyans, to Santa ; from whence they disperse. Santa,
though in China proper, is peopled principally by Shyans,
who are also numerous in most other parts of Yunnan. They
spread also over all the country eastward of Bamoo, and are
called by the Burmans Tarouk, or Chinese Shyans. A large
part of them speak Chinese.
Bamoo would be a more pleasant location than either Ran
goon or Ava, except for its distance from the seaboard. The
people are more refined than in most parts of Burmah, dress
more completely, live in large comfortable houses, have peace
ful habits, and seem particularly intelligent. The Chinese
occupy a part of the city to themselves, chiefly one wide, clean
street. They have about a hundred shops, built of blue brick,
and tiled ; and a handsome temple. The Shyan quarter con
tains eight hundred houses, well built, chiefly of wood. Most
of the streets are paved, and all have fine shade-trees. The
vicinity is highly improved ; and Mr. Kincaid speaks of an
iron suspension bridge.
Besides its reference to China, this is obviously an im
portant point for a mission, not only to the Burmans and
Shyans, but the Kah-Kyens. Large numbers also of Asa-
mese, Singphoos, Muniporeans, Yos, and others, resorting

BAMOO — UMERAPOORA. 211
here for trade, demand attention. At least four missionaries,
one for Chinese, one for Shyans, one for Burmans, and one for
the Kah-Kyens, are wanted here ; or more properly two mis
sionaries to each of these classes. It is not certain that
operations or even a residence there would now be permitted ;
but every day increases the probability.
4. Umerapoora, six miles above Ava, and formerly the
metropolis of Burmah, has a population of about ten thousand
Chinese, mostly married to Burman females. It is also the
resort of many young men from China, who remain only a
few years. During all the dry season, small caravans arrive
every few weeks ; amounting, in the whole, to several thousand
in a season. The route is principally through Thennee, in
about lat. 22° 40', long. 98° 1C, said by natives to contain
three thousand houses, and destined, I hope, at no distant
period, to be a missionary station. By the caravan, a regular
communication with Ava could be maintained. Near the city
are extensive sugar plantations, wrought by Chinese, and fur
nishing a considerable quantity for different parts of the
country. Many considerations invite to the early location of a mission
ary at this city, who should acquire the dialect spoken in
Yunnan,* and the west of China ; and be prepared to cross
the frontier at the first favourable moment. A good teacher,
if not procurable in the place, might probably be obtained
easily from the caravans. Among the traders are educated
men, who would gladly engage for two or three years at the
usual wages. The city itself furnishes ample scope for the
labours of several missionaries to the Chinese, and the govern
ment would not, probably, offer obstructions ; as they permit
all foreigners to exercise what religion they choose. Mr, Kin-
* The province of Yunnan, of which mention is made so often, is one
of the fairest and most populous in all China, and forms the eastern
boundary of Burmah. Du Halde sets down its population at eight
millions, and that of Sechuen, the adjacent province, at twenty-seven
millions. Gutzlaff, from the government census, gives Yunnan fifteen
millions, and Sechuen twenty-one millions.

212 MISSIONS TO THE CHINESE.
caid has several times been invited to accompany the caravan
to China, and promised every attention.
5. Zemmai, about four hundred miles north from Bankok,
is called by the natives as above, by the Siamese Changmai,
or Changmy, by Loubiere Chame, in Modern Universal
History Jangoma, and in Malte-Brun's atlas Shaimai. It
contains twenty-five thousand inhabitants, and is the resi
dence of the prince, or Chobwaw, of all the southern Laos.
The river Meinam is navigable thus far for boats.
Part of what is now Siam appears to have formerly belonged
to this district, and formed an independent kingdom ; but
the period of the dismemberment and reduction of their
country does not appear. For several generations they have
been alternately tributary to Siam and Burmah. At present
they are virtually independent, but pay a nominal homage
to both countries.
Very considerable intercourse is kept up by caravans with
China. These go and come during six months of the year, in
small companies, making an aggregate of several thousand
men ; each trader having twelve or fifteen loaded mules, or
ponies ; and sometimes elephants are employed. A large
male elephant costs 50/. and carries about twelve hundred
pounds. A small female costs about 8/. and carries one-
third the weight. The route is over mountains and deserts,
and is performed with difficulty.
Zemmai has the advantage of regular and frequent inter
course with Ava, Maulmain, and Bankok. Standing on a
branch of the Meinam river, the intercourse with the latter
city by boats is very considerable. The flood-tide not being
felt much above Ayuthia, the voyage up occupies twenty-five
days. Boats come down in less than half the time.
Dr. Richardson, of Maulmain, has several times visited
Zemmai, and has made valuable communications respecting
the route and inhabitants to the supreme government of
India. He met with no difficulty, and performed the journey

ZEMMAI  PONTIANA. 213
in twenty-five days, travelling, as caravans generally do in
these regions, about ten miles per day. Droves of bullocks
have been several times brought hence to Maulmain for the
troops, and the intercourse is likely to increase.
Merchants from Zemmai visit Ava every year ; and some
times civil and military officers. They reach Mo-nay or
Mong-ny (lat. 203 40', long. 97° 40') in twenty days, and
thence to Ava in fifteen more. Monay is a large city, and
the seat of government for another division of Shyans. I met
the governor, or Chobwaw, in Ava, at the morning levee of
the principal Woongyee, who encouraged me to send mis
sionaries to his people, and made many kind assurances.
Besides the claims of Zemmai as a station for the Chinese,
it presents still more in relation to the natives. The whole
country round is peopled with a density very uncommon in
Farther India. Within a circle of fifty miles are the cities
of Lagoung, Moungpai, and Moungnam, each with twenty
thousand inhabitants ; Labong with fourteen thousand ; and
several smaller cities. The people are mild, humane, intel
ligent, and prosperous. Opium smoking and gambling are
almost unknown. Almost every article wanted by a mis
sionary can be had in the bazaars, and at low rates. A fat
cow costs but one dollar.
The tracts in course of publication at Sudiya would pro
bably be intelligible to the people of Zemmai and vicinity.
Four unmarried men are urgently needed at this station ; two
for the Shyans and two for the Chinese.
6. Pontiana, on the west side of the island of Borneo,
stands on a river of the same name, nearly under the equator.
Being a Dutch settlement, protection, and the comforts of
civilised life, are secured to the missionary. Its distance
from Batavia is four hundred miles, and from Singapore three
hundred ; the trade with each place being constant, both in
native and European vessels.
The city contains but about three hundred Chinese, but in

214 MISSIONS TO THE CHINESE.
the interior are thirty thousand, engaged in working the gold
and other mines. There were formerly Catholic priests here,
but they have left no proselytes. This station is salubrious,
safe, accessible, cheap, and every way promising. Numerous
junks constantly trade from here to different ports on the
coast of China, by which any quantity of tracts may be
distributed. 7. Sambas stands on the same side of Borneo, about eighty
miles northward of Pontiana. As a position for a Chinese
missionary, it resembles Pontiana in all important respects.
There are about fifty Dutch inhabitants, and many Malays,
Dayas, Bugis, &c. The Chinese in the city do not exceed
two hundred ; but there is another body of forty thousand in
the rear. Like the others they are nominally subject to the
Dutch, because lying within territory claimed by them, but
they pay no tax ; justice is administered by their own rulers,
and they are in fact independent. They hold daily inter
course, by an inland route, with the above-named body of
Chinese on the Pontiana river.
The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis
sions have stationed here the Rev. Messrs. Arms and Rob-
bins, as missionaries to the Dayas *. They commenced the
study of that language, but, finding the Malay would be more
useful, have turned to that. The Daya language is divided
into some thirty different dialects, none of which are reduced
to writing ; and is so poor in words, that the Scriptures could
scarcely be made intelligible in a translation. As missionary
zeal must create all the readers, it has been thought prefer
able to teach Malay, and give them a literature in that lan
guage. I am satisfied that it would be better to make Eng
lish their learned language, rather than Malay. In this case,
so soon as readers were raised up, they would have access to
all literature and works of piety. In the other, ages must
* This word is often written Dayak. But the final letter is a, guttu-
rally and suddenly pronounced. The same is the case with Pontiana,
Batta, and all that class of words.

SAMBAS  BANCA. 215
elapse before there can be a valuable literature in that lan
guage. The teaching to read is but a fraction of labour
compared to enriching a language with valuable books.
8. Banca is an island about one hundred and thirty miles
long, and thirty-five broad, lying in the strait of the same
name. The inhabitants are Malays, Chinese, aboriginal
mountaineers, and Orang Louts. The Malays are not very
numerous, and prone to indolence. The tribes of the interior
reside in a state of great rudeness and poverty. The Orang
Louts, or " men of the sea," reside chiefly in little prows,
along the coast ; deriving their precarious subsistence from the
waters. The Chinese are the strength of the colony, carrying
on almost all the trades, but especially the operations of
mining for tin. Their exact number is not ascertained ; but
they amount to many thousands, and keep up constant inter
course with their mother-country.
This island is not deemed particularly unhealthy ; and being
in the very highway of commerce, offers many facilities for a
Chinese mission.
Of Singapore and Bankok, as stations for missionaries to
Chinese, I have spoken elsewhere. Penang has been occu
pied by the London Missionary Society, and may be resumed.
It had, in 1836, nine thousand Chinese inhabitants.
There are other large bodies of Chinese, with some of whom
missionaries might probably be stationed. On the island of
Java are probably two hundred thousand, thirty-two thou
sand of which are in Batavia ; on Bintang, seven thousand ;
on Sumatra three thousand. Tringano, Patani, and other
towns on the east coast of Malaya, have each several hundred
or more ; but offer no encouragement at present as stations.
The facts exhibited in this sketch seem meagre, but com
prise all the valuable result of diligent inquiries ; omitting.
however, what has been made public by others, or mentioned
in other parts of this work.
So far as the salvation of the bulk of Chinese, resident in

216 MISSIONS TO THE CHINESE.
foreign countries, is concerned, the missionary in some of
these places need not acquire their language. They consist,
in great part, of the progeny of Chinamen married to natives,
whose mother-tongue, therefore, is the local language. Many
of them, wearing the full Chinese costume, know nothing of
that language. Most of them learn to speak it on common
subjects, and some few are taught to read a little ; but they
could not be usefully addressed by a missionary in that lan
guage. Perhaps the best plan would be, besides stationing mission
aries (two or three in a place, to learn the language, distri
bute tracts, &c.) at these various outposts, to collect a con
siderable number at some eligible point, say at Malacca or
Singapore, where, in classes, and under competent teachers,
native and others, they might pursue their studies without the
interruptions incident to the occupancy of a missionary sta
tion. Much money would thus be saved, as well as much
time and much health. The ladies, not keeping house, could
study in class with their husbands. Persons of experience,
observation, and ability in the language, would thus be raised
up, qualified to assume all the practicable stations, in China
or out of it.
There are two entire versions of the Holy Scriptures into
Chinese — Marshman's, of Serampore, in five volumes 8vo ;
and Morrison and Milne's, in twenty-one volumes 8vo. The
former was commenced about a year before Dr. Morrison
arrived in China ; but both were finished and printed about
the same time, (1823,) and have been largely distributed, in
successive editions. Both versions are verbal and literal ; so
much so as to prove objectionable to present missionaries.
Though not likely to be reprinted, they are eminently valu
able, as the bases of a new version.
A third translation is in progress, by Messrs. Medhurst and
Gutzlaff. The New Testament, which was revised in concert
with J. R. Morrison, Esq., and Rev. Mr. Bridgman, has been

VERSIONS OF SCRIPTURE — TRACTS. 217
printed from blocks, at Singapore, and lithographed at Bata
via. It is in process of revision for a second edition. Genesis
and Exodus are also in press, the Pentateuch ready, and the
rest of the Old Testament in progress. Objections have been
made to this version, as being too loose and paraphrastical.
The translators of course deny the charge, but the British and
Foreign Bible Society have as yet withheld their aid. The
character and attainments of the translators, and the immense
advantage of having two distinct and independent versions
before them, seem to authorise a confidence that it is a great
improvement. There have been printed in this language, beside the above-
named editions of Scripture, about ninety-five different tracts,
and twenty- five broad-sheets ; amounting in all to about two
thousand octavo pages of reading matter !
The number of portions of Scripture and tracts already
distributed amounts probably to millions ; but the exact
quantity cannot be ascertained.
The distribution of Scriptures and tracts from out-stations,
to be borne by trading junks to the coasts of China, is not
unimportant, but has, I think, been overrated. Christians
seem disposed to regard our duty to China as likely to be
accomplished cheaper and easier than it really is ; and to hope
that Bibles and tracts, with merely a few missionaries, will
do the work. We are in danger, on the other hand, of being
discouraged, because greater fruits have not resulted from all
the labour and expense bestowed in this way. Two facts must
be borne in mind — First, that few Chinamen can read under
standing^ ; and secondly, that our books and tracts have been
for the most part so imperfect in their style, as to be far less
likely to make a proper impression than a tract given in this
country. The ability to pronounce the characters, or rather some two
or three hundred of them, out of the many thousand, is very
general. Hence a man taking a tract, will proudly begin to
VOL. II. l

218 MISSIONS TO THE CHINESE.
read off what he can, that is, call off the letters. But this
does not prove him to understand one word of what he reads,
as I have ascertained many times. He may not even under
stand a word when the book is correctly read to him. The
written language and the spoken, are in fact two different
languages. After having questioned well-educated Chinese in
various places, heard the opinions of judicious missionaries,
and personally examined many through an interpreter, I am
deliberately confident that not more than one Chinese man in
fifty can read so as to understand the plainest book, and
scarcely any females, except among the very highest classes.
A few instances of the difference between the written and
spoken language will make this plain. In the Taychew dia
lect, the word nang means " man ;" in the written language
it is chew. E means " chair ;" it is written ke. Leng means
" besides ;" it is written jong. Toah means " large ;" in writ
ing it is ty. Aw means " to learn ;" it is written hack. In
the Hoke'en dialect, naw lanig means " two men ;" in writing
it is yejeen. Ngeo lay means "brother;" in writing it is haw.
Hence, when the Scriptures are read in Chinese worship, it is
as necessary to go over it in the vulgar tongue, as it was to
the Jews to have a Chaldee paraphrase and interpretation.
It will naturally be asked, Why not translate the Scriptures
and print tracts in each colloquial dialect ? One reason is
enough : There are no characters to express the words.
Strange as it seems, there is no way of writing a multitude of
words used every day, by everybody ! \
The advantages of book distribution are further abridged by
the imperfections of style and manner, from which few of them
are free. I am assured by missionaries, by Leang Afa, and
by private Chinese gentlemen, that neither Marshman's nor
Morrison's Bible is fully intelligible, much less attractive.
The same is the case with many of the tracts ; and some of
them have been found wholly unworthy of circulation. Suffi
cient time has not elapsed to make the books accurate, intel-

BLOCK-PRINTING  METALLIC TYPE. 219
ligible, and idiomatic. The snatching away of ship-loads can
have had little other effect than to prepare the people to
expect efforts to propagate Christianity, and to awaken inquiry.
If these efforts are not soon made, the effects of what has been
done may cease to be useful, and even become obstructive.
Exertions, therefore, should at once be made by all Christian
sects, to place men in safe and advantageous places to study
the Chinese language.
It is known that the Chinese print on wooden blocks, and
have possessed the art for eight hundred years. Some good
judges still prefer this system for the printing of the Scrip
tures ; and it certainly possesses advantages in some respects.
The process is to write the words on thin paper, which is
then pasted upon a proper block, and the cutter removes with
chisels all but the black face of the letter. It is thus a safe
and simple mode of stereotyping. Alterations are made by
cutting out the error, inserting a plug of wood, and engraving
again the proper words. When the size of the letter is not
very small, a set of blocks will give twenty thousand perfect
impressions ; it may then be re-touched at an expense of one
fifth the original cost, and give five thousand copies more. A
small table, two or three simple brushes, and a little China or
Indian ink, form all the apparatus necessary for printing from
blocks. A set of blocks for the New Testament may be cut at
Singapore for about 70/. The expense of each copy complete,
including paper and binding, is about two shillings.
The use of movable metallic type was introduced by Mr.
Lawson, of the Serampore mission, many years ago; and
from such were Marshman's Bible and some other works
printed. The great expense of cutting punches induced the
Serampore' printers to have the most rare letters cut on the
face of blank types, so that out of three thousand letters only
fourteen hundred were cast from matrices. The work of
completing punches for the whole has been lately resumed,
and they will soon be able to cast all the required letters.
l 2

220 MISSIONS TO THE CHINESE.
The size is what our printers call English, and is greatly
admired by the natives.
The labours of Mr. Dyer, now of Malacca, have been
already mentioned in my journal of the visit to that city ; and
the character and extent of the fontes at Macao have been
stated in the last chapter. M. Pauthier, at Paris, has cut
punches, and cast a fonte about the size of that at Serampore.
It is exceedingly beautiful, but somewhat strange to a Chinese
eye, from the use of different punches to make the same matrix.
It extends to about nine thousand characters, and will, no
doubt, prove an important aid to missionary operations.
A fair statement of the comparative advantages of block
printing, lithography, and movable type, is given in Vol. III.
of the Chinese Repository. Stereotyping from wooden blocks
has been done on a small scale in Boston, but is utterly out
of the question. Many years must elapse before any version
of Scripture, or other productions, will deserve such per
petuity. Stereotyping is never economical except where fre
quent and small editions of the same work are required.
Books can be manufactured by the Chinese method, at a
cost not exceeding that of metallic type ; besides saving the
salary of an American or European printer.
The impression very generally prevails, that almost insuper
able difficulties lie in the way of the foreigner who attempts
to learn Chinese. But the contrary opinion is maintained by
various persons with whom I had conversation. The late
superintendant of British trade, who resided many years at
Canton, acquired great proficiency in the language, and has
published the best general account of China now extant, says,
" The rumoured difficulties attendant on the acquisition of
Chinese, from the great number and variety of the characters,
are the mere exaggerations of ignorance. The roots, or
original characters, or what, by a species of analogy, may be
called its alphabet, are only two hundred and fourteen in
number ; and might be reduced to a much smaller amount by

DIFFICULTY OF THE LANGUAGE  nELPS. 221
a little dissection and analysis. To assert that there are so
many thousand characters in the language, is very much the
same thing as to say that there are so many thousand words
in Johnson's Dictionary. Nor is a knowledge of the whole at
all more necessary, for every practical purpose, than it is to
get all Johnson's Dictionary by heart," in order to read and
converse in English."
This opinion seems corroborated by several facts. In
printing the entire Bible, only about three thousand five
hundred characters are required. Mr. Dyer, in ascertaining
the most important letters to be cast, caused a large quantity
of Chinese histories, poems, and other books to be examined ;
and found only three thousand two hundred characters
employed. The Chinese penal code contains less than two
thousand different words. The New Testament contains less
than three thousand. Of the forty thousand characters in
Morrison's Dictionary, more than half are entirely obsolete,
and most of the remainder very uncommon.
To gather a sufficient number of words, therefore, for all
the ordinary labours of the missionary, cannot be difficult.
To master the language fully, so as to write critically in it,
must be exceedingly difficult. Dr. Morrison, who probably
proceeded farther in the acquisition of the language than any
other European, always declared himself far from the goal.
His advice to students is, not to undertake Chinese as though
it is a very easy thing to acquire, nor be discouraged under
an impression that the difficulty is next to insurmountable.
Medhurst declares, that " the formidable obstacles which
have frightened English students, are considerably reduced by
a comparison with our own language, and vanish entirely
before the patient assiduity of the determined scholar." And
Dr. Marshman affirms that " the Chinese language is little
less regular in its formation, and scarcely more difficult of
acquisition than the Sunscrit, the Greek, or even the Latin."
Helps to the study of Chinese are now somewhat numerous

222 MISSIONS TO THE CHINESE.
though few are of much utility to a beginner. The following
list is nearly or quite complete. Scarcely any of the works
being procurable in the East, except at one or two places,
missionaries should collect what they can before leaving home.
De Guigne, Diet. Chinois, 1813. French and Latin. One
large folio of 1200 pages : contains 13,31 6 words.
Morrison's Chinese and English Dictionary, 6 vols, quarto.
Part I. follows the imperial Chinese Dictionary, made in 1714,
and contains 40,000 words. Part II. is a selection of 12,000
words, which alone are now used. Part III. is English and
Chinese. This great work was printed at the expense of the
East India Company, at their press in Macao, and cost
12,000/. The first part was issued in 1816, and the last in
1823. It is for sale in London at 12/. per copy. One half of
the edition, say three hundred and fifty copies, remain on hand.
Medhurst's Dictionary of the Hokeen, or Fuhkeen dialect,
in 1 vol. 4to., very valuable. The printing was begun at
Macao, in 1830, and finished in 1836. Three hundred copies
only were printed, many of which are on hand. The cost of
the edition, not including types, was 1200/. It is sold at 21.
per copy.
Goncalves, a learned Catholic of Macao, has published a
good Dictionary, Chinese-Portuguese and Portuguese-Chinese.
Premare, Notitise Ling. Sinic83, printed at Malacca, is
valuable to beginners, though very imperfect.
Remusat, Elemens de la Gram. Chin. Paris, 1822, is an
improvement on Premare ; but those who can afford it will
do well to have both.
Marshman's Chinese Grammar is a learned and very practi
cal treatise ; valuable both to the beginner and the advanced
student. Morrison's Chinese Grammar is very brief, and has been
superseded by the preceding works.
Goncalves' Chinese Grammar is written in Portuguese, and
is valuable.

CHINESE WORKS TRANSLATED. 223
Klaproth, Chrestomiathie Chinoise, is one of the best ele
mentary books a student can procure.
Beside missionaries, there are other gentlemen prosecuting
Chinese literature, whose labours cannot fail to aid our holy
cause. The list is not long, and deserves to be noted. The
universities of Munich, Paris, and London, have each a pro
fessor of Chinese. F. C. Newman fills the -first, M. Julien
the second, and Rev. S. Kidd, late missionary at Malacca, the
third. M. Pauthier, at Paris, has' furnished several transla
tions. There are also Huttman, Manning, Davis, Staunton,
and Thorns, in England ; all of whom have published transla
tions of Chinese works.
Several Chinese works have been published with transla
tions, which offer great assistance to the student. I will
name only such as can be readily procured.
M. Julien has given in French, " Mengsteen, seu Men-
cms ;" " Blanche et Bleu ;" and other pieces of light Chinese
literature. Remusat has published, in the same manner, the Chung-
yung, one of " the four books " entitled " LTnvariable Milieu,"
also the " Two Cousins," and some others.
" The four books " are also given in English by the late Mr.
Collie of Malacca.
" The Sacred Edict," translated by Milne, is exceedingly
useful ; as the original, instead of the ancient and difficult
style, is in the most modern colloquial diction.
The " Study for Grown Persons," a very famous classic, is
published in English by Marshman in his " Clavis ;" and very
lately by Pauthier in French.
The " Life and Works of Confucius" were published by
Marshman at Serampore, in 1809 ; both the original and a
translation. The " Chinese Dialogues," by Morrison, have not only a
literal rendering of every word, but a general rendering of
each sentence, and the pronunciation given in Roman letters,

224 MISSIONS TO THE CHINESE.
according to the Mandareen dialect. They are an invaluable
assistance. The " Life of Mencius" is given in English by Milne.
J. F. Davis, Esq. late superintendant of British trade at
Canton, has published "Chinese Novels and Tales," "The
Happy Union," " Moral Maxims," and some smaller pieces.
J. R. Morrison, Esq. recommends that the student, after
mastering Remusat's Grammar and Klaproth's Chrestomathy,
should study Marshman's Grammar and Morrison's Dia
logues, and, after that, any of the rest he can procure.
Davis's Moral Maxims, is the best substitute for the Dia
logues. A multitude of works upon China are extant, both in
Latin and several of the languages of Europe. Davis gives
a catalogue of about sixty: The general reader will find the
best and latest information in Macartney's Embassy, by Staun
ton ; Barrow's China ; Morrison's View ; Abeel's Narrative ;
Ellis's Journal ; and superior to all, Davis's " General Descrip
tion of the Empire of China." A large amount of interesting-
facts may be had, also, from the Chinese Gleaner, printed at
Malacca, from 1817 to 1821; the Royal Asiatic Society's
Transactions, published at London, after 1823 ; the Asiatic
Society's Journal, printed at Calcutta; and the Chinese
Repository, published at Canton, since 1822.
No heathen nation has so little excuse for idolatry as China.
Her civilisation and commerce ought to set her above it. Her
literature is far from contemptible, and stands distinguished
from that of every other heathen people, in not being wrought
up with mythological legends. The system is thus left to
itself. The priesthood has less influence than in other coun
tries, and are in many cases not above general contempt.
There are diversities of faith, which should awaken a spirit of
inquiry. Her learned men are fully aware, that the nations
who interchange commodities with her hold to the Divine
Unity ; and they should diligently investigate the evidences

REMARKS.

225

on so momentous a theme. But much more is she deprived of
excuse by the fact, that, from the earliest periods of the church,
messengers of salvation have been freely sent to her. The
Tartar provinces were taught the truth by the first Nestorians.
There are strong reasons for believing that, up to the eighth
or ninth century, the Syrian churches continued to send
preachers into the heart of China. Under Innocent IV., in
the thirteenth century, the Monguls were made acquainted
with Christianity. When Portugal spread her power over
the East, her ministers everywhere carried the knowledge of
the true God ; and every Catholic country in Europe fur
nished missionaries and money. Whatever may be said of
the priests, who from that time pressed the introduction of
Christianity, and of the corruptions they mixed with it, still
it was the glorious doctrine of the Divine Unity. The true
God was set before them. Every part of the empire was per
vaded by the discussion of the new faith. Prime-ministers,
princesses, queens, and emperors, became converts and patrons.
Thousands and tens of thousands saw and acknowledged the
truth. Numerous distinguished youth were taught and trained
by a body of priests distinguished in all ages for learning and
science. True, they were Jesuits ; but that very many of
them were holy and devoted men, is proved by their pure
lives, severe labours, innumerable privations, and serene mar
tyrdom. The youth thus taught formed the flower of the
country, and never could have divested themselves of the
conviction of the folly of Boodhism. It was not till the com
paratively late period of 1722, when the emperor Yung Ching
set himself furiously to the work, that persecution became
wholly destructive ; nor was Christianity wholly put down,
and the places of worship demolished, till the reign of Kea-
king, who came to the throne in 1795. Even now, there are
Catholic Christians scattered over the country. Many of
their priests remain, and almost every year fresh ones con*
trive to enter ; while native preachers keep together, here and
l3

226 MISSIONARY FIELD.
there, little bodies of disciples. Thus, almost without cessa-:
tion, has China been summoned to forsake her abominations-
Yet in no country is there a more universal and assiduous
addictedness to the frivolous rites of their worthless supersti
tion. It may be most truly said to her, in the language of
Ezekiel, " Thou hast built unto thee eminent places, and hast
made thee a high-place in every street!"1

CHAPTER II.
THE MISSIONARY FIELD IN AND AROUND BURMAH.
Burmah Proper — Peguans — Tenasserim Provinces— Arracanese — Karens
— Shyans — Toungthoos — Tswahs — Kahs — Wahs — Selongs — Karen-
nes* — Lowas — Eccabat-Kulas — Ques — Bongs — D'hanoos — Kadoos —
Yaws — Engyees — Kyens — Paloungs — Kah-kyens — Singphoos —
Phwoons — Kan tees — Muniporeans — Kachars — Jynteas — Cossyas —
Garrows — Tipperas — Lalongs — NagaS' — Joomeas — Chakmas — Raj-
bungsies— Arings — Kookies — Kumaons — Mroongs — Kubos — Gorkas
( — Kirauts — Bijnees — Asamese — Meekirs — Abors — Meerees — Bor-
Abors — Ahoms — Kolitas — Mishmees — Kantees — Bor-Kantees — Sing
phoos — Kunungs — Muttucks — Lapchas — Dun" as — Akas — Kupa-chowas
— Booteas — Tangkools — Kons — Anals — Poorums — Mueyols — Mun-
sangs — Murings — Luhoppas — Rumbos — Joholes — Jompoles — Gomin-
chis — Oojongs — Scrimenantis — Ulus — Calangs — Jellaboos — Segamets
— Kemoungs — Udais — Sakkyes — Utans — Joccoons — Semangs — Ood-
ees — Sakais — Reyots — Simongs — Reegas — Pasees — Mizongs — Bibors
 Barkans — Uniyas — Marchas — Jowaries — Suryabans — Koiboos —
Longphoos — Champungs — Kapwis — Korengs.
To complete the foregoing notes on Burmah, and to show
the extent and character of the missionary field, in and adja
cent to this empire, the following sketch is submitted. With
some exceptions, these tribes have been hitherto unknown ;
neither geographers nor missionaries having so much as given
their names. My extended journeys brought me into contact
either with the people themselves, or with persons who knew
them, being neighbours ; and constant inquiry has produced
the following catalogue, which surprised the best informed
persons in India, to whom it was submitted. That a docu
ment, compiled, to a considerable extent, from natives
unacquainted with geography, and unaccustomed to minute

MISSIONARY FIELD. 227
investigations, should be imperfect, is unavoidable. My
object is to show the extent of the field and the necessity of
more vigorous exertions ; and this no mistake in detail can
effect. My memorandums would furnish a much greater
amount of information respecting the manners of several of
these tribes ; but the present purpose does not require further
details. 1. Burmah proper contains about 3,000,000 of inhabit
ants to whom the language is vernacular. Information as to
these is so amply furnished in this work and missionary
periodicals, that nothing need here be said. For these, there
are, at Ava, Messrs. Kincaid and Simons, and at Rangoon,
Messrs. Webb and Howard. Stations might be formed at
Sagaing, Umerapoora, Bamoo, Mogoung, Prome, Bassein,
and other important places. At least ten missionaries are
now needed for Burmah proper.
2. The Peguans, called by Burmans Talains, or Tallngs,
and by themselves Moons, amount to more than 70,000 souls.
Their language has been very much superseded by the Bur
man ; the men speaking it in all their business, and most of
such as learn to read, doing so in Burman. It will not be
proper to expend missionary time and money in preserving it
from extinction ; but, as many of the females speak only
Peguan, and all can understand it better than Burman, it
will be necessary to preach the gospel in their language,
and perhaps print a few books. At least one missionary,
therefore, is wanted to sustain and succeed Mr. Haswell,
who now occupies this department, and is located at
Amherst. 3. The Tenasserim provinces (as the British possessions
south of Rangoon are called) contain about 100,000 souls.
For the Burman part of these, the labourers are Messrs.
Judson, Osgood, Hancock, and Bennett. Mr. J. is wholly
engrossed with translations and tracts, and in the pastorship
of the native church ; Messrs. O. and H. are printers ; and

228 MISSIONARY FIELD.
Mr. B. has full employ in the government school. There is,
therefore, not a single effective out-door missionary to this
whole people, nor one on the ground preparing to become so !
Maulmain, Tavoy, and Mergui, should each immediately have
a missionary devoted to public services.
4. In Arracan, containing 300,000, there is only Mr.
Comstock, stationed at Kyouk Phyoo. The population is
twice that of the Sandwich Islands. Ramree and Sandoway
ought at once to be occupied. These stations should at least
have two missionaries each. Rev. Mr. Ingalls is designated
to one of them.
5. The Ka-rens inhabit all the mountain regions of the
southern and eastern portions of Burmah proper, and all parts
of the Tenasserim provinces, extending into the western por
tions of Siam, and thence northward among the Shyans. It
is impossible to form a satisfactory estimate of their numbers.
In the province of Tavoy, a British census makes the number
2500. Around Maulmain and Rangoon, there are perhaps
20,000 more. In Siam and Lao there are probably 10,000;
making in all about 33,000.
There are known to be at least two different tribes, speak
ing diverse dialects, viz. the Sgaus, or Chegaws, and the Pos,
or Pgwos. The former reside chiefly in the Tenasserim pro
vinces, and are called by the Burmans Myet-ho. Their language
has been reduced to writing, in the Burman character, by Mr.
Wade. Among this tribe have occurred those triumphs of
Christianity which have been so remarkable, and with which
all the friends of missions are acquainted. The Po tribe (called
by the Burmans Myet-kyen) reside in Pegu, and have adopted
many of the words and habits of the Talains. With this tribe
Miss Macomber has commenced labours.
Missionaries knew nothing more of these people, than that
there were such, until the visit of the sorcerer in April, 1828.
The heart of Boardman was immediately touched with sym
pathy, and his judgment convinced that Providence pointed

MISSIONARY FIELD. 229
them out as entitled to his future labours. An early visit to
their jungle confirmed him in this decision ; and thenceforth
his life was spent in their cause. On his second tour, he was
called from his labour, amid those touching scenes described
in his memoir ;. having seen nearly seventy persons added to
the church. He died February 11, 1831. Mr. and Mrs.
Mason had joined the mission in the preceding January ; and
Mr. and Mrs. Wade, returning from America with Miss
Gardner, were added in 1835.
The Tavoy station has hitherto been made almost wholly
subservient to the interests of this people. God has opened
among them an effectual door of entrance, and granted them
the services of as devoted missionaries as have ever blessed a
people. In July, 1836, they had in charge five Karen
churches, embracing nearly three hundred and fifty members,
more than twenty native assistants, about two hundred
inquirers connected with the several congregations, and fifteen
schools. An account of the Tavoy and Karen churches, as
well as of those in the vicinity of Maulmain, is given in the
first volume. Mr. Abbot is now successfully labouring among
the latter, in connection with Mr. Vinton.
There are three churches, not far from each other, about
forty miles north of Rangoon; viz. Mawbee, Yea-tho, or Ray-
tho, and Poung-nen, or Ponan. These have been founded
wholly by native assistants, aud have for several years walked
steadfastly in the truth. They have endured the spoiling of
their goods, and cruel tortures ; and live amid continual threats
of violence from the Burman officers ; but not one, among
several hundreds, has drawn back through fear, though a few
have relapsed into sin, as might be expected.
We have been, perhaps, too much disposed to esteem the
importance of a mission in proportion to the amount of popu
lation. We ought rather to regard the indications of Provi
dence. In this aspect, so far as I know, no other mission of
modern times holds out such encouragements.

230 MISSIONARY FIELD.
The several sections of Karens have each some peculiarities,
but such general similarity that they may be described toge
ther. The degree of attention now drawn to this interesting
race of people, requires that I should add a few particulars in
addition to the religious statistics given in Part I.
Their houses are like the Burmans', only much higher from
the ground ; and as there is little distinction of rich or poor,
the model, dimensions, and materials, differ but slightly.
They cost only a few days' labour, and are admirably suited
to the climate. One of the rooms has a hearth for cooking,
made by laying earth in a shallow box. Chimneys are
unknown ; but the high roof and open floor prevent all incon
venience on account of smoke. Each has a veranda, or porch,
raised to the same height as the floor of the house, where much
of the laborious work is done. The loom, agricultural imple
ments, &c, as well as the fowls and pigs, find a place under
the house.
They cultivate the ground with more care and success than
Burmans, and furnish no small part of the rice consumed in
the country. Their instruments of tillage are, however, par
ticularly rude. Having no plough, they are unable to prepare
the soil for a second crop, on account of its baking hard.
Their custom is, therefore, to clear and burn over a new spot
every year ; which, being soft and light, and stimulated by
the ashes left upon it, yields largely. Hence, in part, arises
their habit of roving from place to place. They raise hogs
and poultry in abundance, so that with honey, (obtained plen
tifully from wild bees,) fish, esculents, and indigenous fruits,
they have no want of the necessaries of life. Many of them
are expert with the bow and arrow, and shoot guianas,
monkeys, squirrels, and other game, common in their forests.
They seem to exempt nothing from their catalogue of meats.
Animals which have died of themselves, or game killed with
poisoned arrows, are not the less acceptable. When I have
expressed disgust at the swollen and revolting condition of

MISSIONARY FIELD. 231
such meat, they seemed to wonder what could be the nature
of my objections.
Their dress forms a more complete covering to the body
than that of the Burmans, but is neither so graceful nor of so
rich materials. The universal robe, for both sexes, is a strong
cotton shirt, made loose, without sleeves,
and descending a little below the knees.
Women wear beneath this a petticoat,
descending to the ankles ; but young girls
and old women dispense with this last
garment. • The women are distinguishable
chiefly by their turban, which is made of
a long, narrow, figured scarf, with the
fringed ends thrown back, and falling
gracefully on the shoulders. The costume
will be better learned from the accompanying picture of Nau
Moo Klur, whose letter to me is given on p. 41 of Vol. I.
Her standing up to be drawn afforded great amusement to
her school-fellows, who had never seen such an attempt before.
They are exceedingly fond of ornaments, and wear a great
variety on the neck, arms, and ankles. Some of these neck
laces are made of the hard, dry wing of a magnificent beetle,
found in their forests. A young lady, of special pretensions,
will sometimes wear ten or fifteen necklaces of various kinds,
often suspending a little bell to the longest, so that she has
"music wherever she goes." They never wear silk, and sel
dom any foreign fabric, except book-muslin, which some of
the men wear for turbans, in the same manner as the Bur
mans. Their ears are not only bored, but the aperture so
stretched as to become, in many cases, capable of containing
a cylinder, the size of a dollar. When women have attained
an age when such ornaments cease to be valued, this great
empty wrinkled aperture has a disagreeable aspect.
Their domestic manners are less exceptionable than those
of most heathen. Truth, integrity, and hospitality, are

232 MISSIONARY FIELD.
universal. For a Karen to lie or cheat, is scarcely known.
Females are in no respect degraded. They are neither
secluded, nor kept at an unseemly distance, nor required to
perform labour beyond their strength, nor treated with seve
rity. Polygamy, though allowed by the government under
which they live, is accounted dishonourable, and seldom
occurs. Their distinguishing vice is intemperance. Unre
strained by religious prohibitions, men, women, and children
use strong drink, and the miserable consequences are seen in
every village. The Christians are of course emancipated from
this baleful practice.
In musical taste and skill, they excel all the other Orientals
with which I became acquainted ; though their instruments
are few and rude. Young and old practise vocal music on
all occasions ; and the psalmody of the disciples is truly
delightful. Every word in the language ending with a vowel,
renders their versification peculiarly soft.
Their manufactures, though few, comprehend all the articles
in use among themselves. Without the advantage of a regular
loom, they make excellent cotton fabrics, often with beautiful
figures. One end of the warp is fastened to a post of the
house or a tree, and the other wrapped round the waist. A
neat shuttle holds the woof, but the figures are interwoven
with the fingers.
None of the tributaries to Burmah have been so oppressed
as this inoffensive people. Their regular taxes amount to
twelve or fifteen rupees annually, for each family, besides
which their goods are taken, without restraint, at any time ;
and where public labour is to be done, they are called out by
hundreds, without compensation or provisions. Many die of
fatigue and suffering on these occasions. They are, however,
allowed to have their own head men, who decide minor dis
putes, and may inflict minor punishments.
As to religion, the Karens may be almost said to have
none. Individuals, of course, will have religious anxieties,

MISSIONARY FIELD. 233
and these make prayer and offerings to the Nao-pu-ee, or
Nats *. In ordinary times, they make offerings to these of
a little boiled rice laid on a board near the house. In periods
of distress, a hog is offered. The mode of doing this is to
chase him round, beating him with clubs till nearly dead, and
then despatching him by thrusting a sharp stick down his
throat. Though so little is done to propitiate the Nats, the
fear of them is universal, and gives rise to a multitude of such
stories as infest our nurseries. Through fear of them, most
Karens " are all their lifetime subject to bondage."
Various traditions prevail among them which have a
remarkable similarity to Scripture facts. The following is a
specimen : "Our race began with a married pair, who lived in
happy innocence and abundance. Mo-kaw-le, or the devil,
attempted to seduce them to partake of certain food which
they had been commanded not to eat. They both listened
and argued for some time, till the man, indignant and out of
patience, would hear no more, and rising up, went away.
The woman continued to listen. Mokawle assured her that
if she would take his advice, she should know all things, and
be endued with ability to fly in the air, or penetrate into the
depth of the earth. That she might prove the truth of what
he said, he begged her just to taste the least morsel, and she
would know for herself. She began to hesitate, and said,
' Shall we verily be able to fly ?' Upon this, Mokawle re
doubled his protestations of ardent good will, and repeated
the most flattering assurances, till the woman ate. Mokawle
then praised and cajoled her, till she was induced to go and
find her husband. He yielded reluctantly, and after much
coaxing. They realised none of the promised advantages, but
felt no difference in themselves till next day, when God came
* The account of some individuals who worshipped a book, is familiar
to the readers of missionary magazines and the memoir of Boardman.
These were but a few families, and the rest of the Karens remained igno
rant of such a faith. The word Karen is accented on the last syllable.

234 MISSIONARY FIELD.
and cursed them, saying, ' You shall become old ; you shall be
sick ; you shall die/ "
The only religious teachers are a sort of prophets called
Bookhoos, who predict events, and are greatly venerated by
the people. They are always bards, singing with uncommon
skill, sometimes extemporaneously, verses of their own com
position. The uniform burden of the prophecies is the coming
of a deliverer, who is to gather their scattered tribes, and
restore them to security and independence.
Besides these is a set of wizards, called Wees / who are far
less respectable, but more numerous, and more dreaded.
Bookhoos frequently become Wees ; but there are many Wees
who are never Bookhoos. They pretend to cure diseases, to
know men's thoughts, and to converse with the spirits. Their
performances are fraught with awe and terror to a superstitious
people. They begin with solemn and mysterious movements ;
presently their eyes roll wildly ; then their body trembles ;
and at length every muscle is agitated ; while, with frantic
looks and foaming mouth, they utter oracles, or speak to a
man's spirit and declare its responses.
Let us now turn to the rest of this great field, in no part of
which, except at Asam, is there a single missionary of any
persuasion !
6. The Shyans, Shans, or Laos. Geographers and histo
rians know little of this numerous people ; not even the num
ber and location of their various tribes. The accounts of La
Bissachere, Jarrie, Westhoff, Kempfer, and Marini, are ren
dered worthless by the contradictoriness of their statements,
the confusion of their dissimilar orthography, and the changes
which have occurred since their day.
No modern traveller has explored the country. Dr.
Richardson alone has seen any considerable part of it. He
communicated many facts respecting the Shyans of the region
of Zemmai; but his whole account has been published in the

MISSIONARY FIELD. 235
Asiatic Journal, to which, if the reader please, he may refer.
I spent many hours in examining intelligent officers and
traders, whom I met at different places, and gathered some
facts from the Shyan princes, to whom Colonel Burney intro
duced me at Ava ; but as memorandums became voluminous,
they became also contradictory ; so that, instead of giving an
entire chapter on this people, as I had intended, I shall ven
ture only a few paragraphs.
The Shyan or Lao country is bounded by Asam on the
north, China on the east, Siam and Camboja on the south, and
Burmah on the west. The entire length of the country is
about nine hundred miles, and the greatest breadth about four
hundred. The population is probably not much short of three
millions. Shyan is a Burman name, and Low, or Lao, the
Chinese, which is adopted by the Portuguese. They call
themselves Tay, (pronounced Tie,) and their language often
bears that name in books. They seem to be the parent stock
of both Asamese and Siamese. Indeed the name shows iden
tity. Bengalees always put a vowel before every word, and
make m and n convertible ; so that Shyan becomes with them
A-syam, which the English further altered to Asam. Syam,
or Siam, is but another form of the same word.
The Shyans are divided into many tribes, and the language
has a corresponding number of dialects. They have no alpha
betical characters of their own ; but a few individuals write
their language in the Bengalee or Burman letters. The Roman
letters have been wisely adopted by the missionaries at Sudiya.
Readers will thus be more easily raised up, and vast expense
saved to the mission. If the same plan be pursued in giving
letters to the numerous tribes now to be mentioned, a happy
uniformity in proper names, &c. will pervade all this region,
and the diffusion of the Word be hastened by many years.
It is impossible to enumerate the different tribes. Their
chief designations seem to be from the regions they inhabit.
The Cassay or Kathe Shyans, occupy a country sometimes

236 MISSIONARY FIELD.
called Nora, on the head waters of the Kyendween. The
northern Laos inhabit the sources of the Meinam or Siam
River. Their principal city is Kaintoun. The Mrelap or
Myelop Shians occupy the region between the upper part of
the Irrawaddy and China, and are sometimes called Shyan
Waws. Their chief towns are Momeit, Thenne, and Monay ;
from each of which are annual caravans to Ava. The Tarouk
or Chinese Shyans reside chiefly in China. They are some
times called Ko-shyan-pye, or the " nine-tribe Shyans." The
Yunshyans appear to be the Jangomas of the Modern Uni
versal History. Perhaps they are the same as the Tarouk
Shyans. The Zemmai Shyans occupy the region round the
city of that name, and are less connected with Burmah than
with Siam. Their Chobwaw is in reality monarch, and holds
a very dubious fealty to his more powerful neighbour. The
city of Zemmai is on the head waters of the Meinam, fifteen
days from Bankok, by boat. Dr. Richardson speaks highly
of the mildness, intelligence, and purity of the people, and of
the pre-eminent salubrity of the climate. The Lowa Shyans
are numerously scattered over the southern portion of the
Lao country, and stand high for intelligence and prosperity.
One of the Woongyees at Ava assured me there were no
Lowa Shyans, but that the people so called are only Lowas,
scattered among Shyans ; but I am led to believe he was
mistaken. I saw at Maulmain some very intelligent traders who
called themselves Lowa Shyans, and gave me a list of twelve
or fifteen of their principal towns. The Lenzens, or Southern
Shyans, border on Siam and Camboja, and seem to be the
people called by old writers Langchan or Vinchang. They
were conquered, in 1829, by the Siamese, and their king
carried in chains to Bankok. Their chief town is Sandapuri.
The Shyans are, in some respects, a more interesting
people, and more civilized than the Burmans. Such of their
manufactures as I saw were greatly superior, and the com
mon dress is much more artificial and convenient. They

MISSIONARY FIELD. 237
wear round jackets, short full trowsers, and broad-brimmed
hats ; dressing, in fact, much like the Chinese. Though
occasionally reduced and overrun by their neighbours, they
have as yet maintained a virtual independence, and have to a
great degree avoided those internal wars which have reduced
the North American Indians to such weakness and dimi
nution. Some of the tribes adhere to the ancient demon
worship, but most of them have embraced Boodhism. Eight
or ten missionaries might at once be settled advantageously
in large cities, and would form an important advance upon
China. One should be stationed at Ava, or Umerapoora,
where he would have access to very large numbers, and where
his operations would probably create no displeasure on the
part of the government.
7. The Toung-thoos are sometimes called Tampees. A
few reside in scattered villages, on the Salwen River, near
Maulmain ; but most of them to the northward. They
amount probably to twenty thousand. The northern portions
are said to have a written language, and books in the Burman
character. The southern portion seem wholly ignorant of
letters, except a few, who read and write Burman. Their
name, which signifies " southern people," was probably given
them about Ava. The name they themselves give their
tribe is Paho, or Pwo. Thetong, or Tethong, seems to have
been their ancient metropolis. They resemble Karens in
migratory habits, dress, habitations, and customs, but hold
themselves .to be of a higher grade. They are given to trade,
and travel extensively among the villages in the wilderness,
selling ornaments and other articles of luxury. The upper
portions of the tribe cultivate tea, cotton, and indigo. They
raise also considerable floss silk, feeding the worm on the
plant called Puja.
8. The Tswahs reside north-east of Maulmain, and are
considerably numerous. They are somewhat more civilised
than Karens, and manufacture many articles requiring con
siderable skill.

238 MISSIONARY FIELD.
9. The Kahs inhabit the Siamese frontier, and are addicted
to wandering, like the Karens. They were formerly numerous
in Tavoy province, but the bulk of them went over to Siam,
when the English took the country. They are still numerous.
Their language is unwritten. Partial vocabularies of the
languages of the Karens, Lowas, and Kahs, are given in the
" Asiatic Researches,'' on the authority of Dr. Buchanan
Hamilton. It is not improbable that this is the tribe called
Lowas, or possibly the people called Lowa-kah, found between
Thennee and the Camboja River.
10. The Wahs are another wandering tribe, partly in the
province of Mergui, but chiefly in Siam. They amount to
about twelve thousand.
: 11. The Se-longs, or Zaloungs, inhabit islands of the Mer
gui archipelago, chiefly Dong, Sulse, and Lampee. On each
island is a distinct tribe, with a distinct dialect ; but the lan
guage is essentially the same, and resembles the Malay more
than any other. Few races of men are more degraded than
these. Their numbers cannot be ascertained, as they fly into
the mountains when strangers visit their shores. Their food
is chiefly fish and shell-fish. In seeking this, they put up
their wretched huts wherever they find a temporary supply,
and spend much of their time in canoes, among the small un
inhabited islands contiguous. A missionary or two for these
tribes might reside at Mergui, and itinerate among them in
the dry season. Their unsettled residences would preclude
his having access to them at any one place, till converts were
made and some village established.
12. The Karen-nes, or " Red Karens," occupy the region
directly east of Maulmain. They are more fair than Burmans,
and their eyes generally light-coloured ; which is very rare in
the East. They are not a tribe of Karens, as the name im
plies, but seem to be descended from the Shyans. The latter
universally wear trowsers of blue cotton : these wear the same
garment, but always of a red colour ; hence the name, proba-

MISSIONARY FIELD. 239
bly given by some one who supposed them to be Karens.
Their language contains a large mixture of Peguan words.
They are remarkable for living in houses connected together,
like a long shed. Sometimes a hundred live under one roof.
They are without large cities, but have several villages of
considerable size, and practise various mechanic arts with
respectable success.
They are represented to be zealous Boodhists, and exceed
ingly savage. This character, however, is probably given
them principally from their being addicted to man-stealing.
Their practice is to seize defenceless Siamese, and sell them
to the Burmans ; and defenceless Burmans, and sell them to
the Siamese. This trade is not now so earnestly pursued as
formerly. 13'. The Law as are in the extreme south-east, bordering
on China and Siam. Whether they have a separate country
is uncertain. There are several large tribes of these ; some
tributary to Burmah, and some to Siam. Their entire num
ber probably exceeds that of the Karens. It is probable they
live among the Shyans as the Karens do among the Burmans ;
but their laws, religion, and customs are wholly different.
They are not Boodhists, but worship Nats, and offer bloody
sacrifices. They not only use no idols, but reject them with
great abhorrence, and break them. They seem to have no
large cities. Their language seems to be corrupt Burman.
They are obviously distinguished from the Shyans, as an infe
rior and less civilised race.
14. The Ec-ca-bat Ku-lahs are occasionally called Mya-
does, from Myadoo, their chief city. They are found a little
north of Moke-so-bo, or Moh-cha-boo, as Symes calls it.
Some of them reside in the British territory, and are called
Cachars. They are a very short race, nearly as black as
Hindoos. Among them are a number of Peguan-Portuguese
Christians, brought there and colonised in a former reign;
most of whom are distinguished by the light colour of their

240 MISSIONARY FIELD.
eyes. The tribe is famous for silk manufactures. The dia
lect is peculiar, though essentially Burman. Burman books
would answer for them ; but few or none can read.
15. The Que, or Quays. Some of this people reside twelve
or eighteen miles east of Umerapoora, and two clans on the
west side of the Irrawaddy, towards the Kyendween. They
have been a warlike, intelligent people, and very conspicuous
in Burman history, though now but a few thousands. Their
language is essentially Burman, but mixed with Peguan and
Siamese. The Scriptures, as already printed, might probably
suffice, though it would be necessary that a missionary should
acquire their colloquial dialect. The chief Woongyee at Ava
assured me that they have books in their own language, writ
ten, as he thought, in a character resembling Chinese.
16. The Bongs are a considerable race north of Ava. Their
language and customs are peculiar ; but neither their boun
daries nor numbers are ascertained. Nor could I ascertain
whether these are the remnants of the ancient kingdom of
Bong, or whether they are the same with a tribe called
Phwoon. It is indeed doubtful whether the kingdom of
Bong, described by Pemberton and others, ever existed as an
independent nation.
17- The D'han-oos are found from one hundred to five
hundred miles east of Ava. They have villages, but no dis
tinct territory. Though not numerous, they are a thrifty,
industrious people, and raise much of the tea which is
brought to Ava. Their language is said to resemble the
Tavoy dialect.
18. The Ka-doos are scattered over the province of Mo
goung, between the Irrawaddy and Kyendween rivers ;
chiefly between 24° and 26° of north latitude. They have
their own villages and chiefs, and a distinct though unwritten
language, but no separate territory. They are a quiet, indus
trious race. Their chief town is Penjala-Namo.
19. The Yaws are on the lower waters of the Kyendween,

MISSIONARY FIELD. 241
not far from Ava. The district is sometimes called Yo or Jo.
The language is essentially Burman, but spoken with a dia
lect intelligible only to themselves. Unlike the Burmans,
they suffer their teeth to remain white, and the hair to flow
loose. Most of the people are entirely without religion, like
the Karens ; the rest are Boodhists. They are an agricul
tural and pastoral people, enjoying a country of extreme salu
brity and fruitfulness. They manufacture sugar, and export
it to other parts of the empire ; and often resort to Ava for
the purposes of trade.
20. En-gyee. This tribe occupies the mountains toward
Munipore, have a language of their own, unwritten, and are
somewhat numerous.
21. The Kyens* are sometimes called Boo-as, and some
times Na-gas, and by the Burmans Chins. They occupy part
of the Arracan and Munipore frontier, chiefly the mountains
of the district of Kubo, and amount to about fifty thousand,
divided into various tribes, as the Changsel, the Kongju, the
Chedoo, the Kuporee, &c. Some of the tribes are tributary to
Burmah, others to the East India Company, and some are
completely independent. Some tribes wear no other clothing
than a thin board, fastened in front by a string round the hips.
One tribe tattoo their women's faces in a horrible manner ; of
whom I have seen a number. They generally call themselves
Koloun. Hamilton regards them as one of the original tribes
of Farther India, and that, under various names, such as
Karens, Kookies; Cossyahs, &c, and in various stages of
civilisation, they are spread, more or less, over this whole
peninsula. Within the limits of Arracan are about fifteen
thousand, who might be reached through Akyab and Kyouk
Phyoo. A considerable village of these people stands at the
entrance of the Oo-tha-long Nullah, ten days by water from
Akyab. Many of them live in the intermediate space. The
hill tribes are fierce, and dreaded by all their neighbours ; but
* Pronounced in one syllable.
VOL. II. M

242 MISSIONARY FIELD.
the lowlanders cultivate the earth peacefully, and have settled
habitations. Those under Burman authority pay their tribute
chiefly in ivory, wax, coarse cottons, ginger, and turmeric.
They are greatly addicted to arrack extracted from rice. I
have seen cloths and other articles made by them, which dis
play excellent skill and taste. Their language is pecuhar and
unwritten, and the dialects of the different tribes vary con
siderably. Of religion they know almost nothing, having scarcely any
idea of a Supreme Being, and few superstitions of any kind.
Some offer bloody sacrifices before a certain bush, and worship
meteoric stones, talismans, and a god whom they call A-po-
ra-the. The dead are burned, the bones, &c. of poor persons
remaining around the pyre being buried on the spot, while
those of the rich are carried to the great Kyoung-na-tine
mountain, in the Arracan range. The father is expected to
marry the widow of his son, and the son may marry any of
his father's widows, except his own mother." Adultery is
always punished with death.
22. The Pa-loungs, or Polongs, a numerous and intelligent
race, reside between Bamoo and the Chinese frontier, having
separate towns and villages among the Shyans, but with little,
if any, territory exclusively their own. Some of their villages
are interspersed among the Kah-kyens, and some are found
almost as far south as Ava. They are a highland race, and
find security in their mountains, both from Burmah and
China, paying no tribute to either. They cultivate tea ex
tensively, and export it, both dry and pickled. The men dress
in Chinese fashion : women wear trowsers, and a gown reach
ing to the knees, with sleeves. Their own language is un
written, but many of the males can read Shyan. The
language itself seems to be Shyan largely intermingled with
Chinese, and pronounced so like Chinese that the true Shyans
do not understand it.
23. The Kah-kyens, a very large and numerous tribe, of

missionary field. 243
Singphoo origin, extend from the Irrawaddy to China, and
from Bamoo to Thibet. It is not certain whether they have
a distinct territory. Many of them reside in the province of
Bamoo, particularly in and around Mogoung, and are distin
guished by tattooing the space between their eyes. The,
Singphoos are sometimes called Kah-kyens, but always resent
it. These and the Lawas seem to be included by Du Halde,
in his map, under the term Lo-los. Their language resembles
the Burman ; but as a people they are remarkably different
from Chinese or Burmans. They are much less civilised than
the tribes around them.
24. The Sing-phoos, or Sinkphoos, called by Burmans
Thembaw, occupy both sides of the higher region of the Irra
waddy, and spread from the Pat-koi hills to China. Duffer
Gam, their principal chief, assured me that they amount to at
least three hundred thousand souls. They are divided into.
fifteen or twenty tribes, the principal of which are the Meerip,
Beesa, Lutong, Lapay, and Tesam. Some tribes are under
English authority, but more under Burman, and several are
independent. The Burman governor resides at Toowah ; but
they have no large city. They trade with the Shyans at
Mogoung, and the Burmans down the Kyendween, but chiefly
with China. Their exports are gems, amber, noble serpen
tine, small dahs, and salt. They worship Nats, and cherish
a great hatred to Boodhism ; but considerable numbers are
annually proselyted by Brahmins from Bengal, who constantly
make strong efforts for this purpose, and unless Christians act
with vigour and promptitude, annually increasing numbers
will go over to that dreadful system. Some of these tribes
are among the finest races of men in all this part of the world.
The language is unwritten.
25. The Phwoons, or Phwons, occupy parts of the region
round Mogoung. There are two tribes of this name, distin
guished by the terms great and small ; whose dialects differ
from each other considerably, and from adjacent languages
m 2

244 missionary field.
totally. They are a quiet, industrious, agricultural people.
They build their houses, not like the Burmans and Shyans,
but like the people of the Kubo valley. They have no
¦written character. They say their original country was to>
the north-east.
26. Khan-tees, spelled variously Kangtees, Khantis,
Kamptis, and Kantees, are found on the west bank of the
Irrawaddy, and are a numerous race. A small part of them
only is subject to Burmah. Their language bears considerable
affinity to the Burman, and is- called Tai.
Adjacent to Burmah, but not tributary to it, are —
1 . The Mun-i-poreans. Their country has been so vari
ously designated as to make great confusion in maps. By the
Burmans, their region is called Katkay ; by the Asamese,
Mekley ; by the Kacharese, Moglie; and by the Shyans,
Cassay. Some authors give them one of these names, and
some another ; and some give them as separate countries.
They hold a territory of about seven thousand square miles ;
but the population, though known to be numerous, is not
ascertained. It is at least seventy thousand. The great
valley of Mun-i-pore is twenty-five hundred feet above the
level of the sea, and eminently salubrious.
2. The Ka- chars*, or Cachars, are bounded north by
Asam, east by Munipore, south by Tippera, or Tripura, and
west by Sylhet and Jynteah. Their language is peculiar.
They came under British government in 1832, and are rapidly
improving in their civil condition. Surrounded, on three
sides, by high mountain ranges, the rains, during the south
west monsoon, are very violent ; and the inhabitants are sub
ject to ague, diarrhoea, dysentery, and fevers. The popula
tion is rated, by some authors, at five hundred thousand ; and
by others different numbers, down to eight thousand. The
principal place is Silchar *, on the south side of the Barak
river. * Ch as in church.

missionary field. 245
3. Jyn-teah, or Gentea, lies between Kachar on the east,
Asam on the north, and the Soormah river on the south,
containing a population of a hundred and fifty thousand, of
whom the greater part are Mussulmans, and low-caste Hindus
of Bengal origin. Most of this territory is now annexed to
the British dominions.
4. Cos-sy-as, or Khasias, who denominate themselves
Khyees, occupy the mountains of Asam, Cachar, Sylhet, and
the Garrows. The region is about seventy miles long, and
fifty miles wide, containing three thousand five hundred square
miles. They are a numerous race, divided into clans, such
as the Kyrin, the Churra, the Ramryee, the Nuspung, the
Muriow, &c, and are distributed in considerable numbers
among each of the tribes named above. The language in all
is essentially the same. They retain some of the forms of
independence, but are under the supervision of a British "agent
for Cossya affairs." Some attempts have been made by the
Serampore missionaries to give them a written language in
the Bengalee character ; but nothing of consequence has yet
been done. Their religion is impure Brahminism, which has
not long been introduced.
5. The Gar-rows, or Garos, occupy the mountainous
region of the same name, bounded north and west by the val
ley of the Burampooter, south by Sylhet, and east by Jynteah.
They were formerly numerous, but have been reduced by
their warlike habits. The skulls of enemies are highly valued,
and kept as trophies. Their territory is about a hundred and
thirty miles long, by thirty or forty broad. They raise large
quantities of cotton, and carry on a considerable trade with
the English who now inhabit the country. Their houses are
very comfortable, built on piles, like the Burmans'. Women
do much servile work, but have a voice in all public business,
and possess their full share of influence. The language is
stated to be simple, and easy of acquisition, but is not reduced
to writing. They have a religion of their own, but no priest-

246 missionary field.
hood. They worship Sail Jung, believe in transmigration,
and make offerings, but have no temples. Brahminical doc
trines are daily spreading amongst them, especially the more
southern tribes. Polygamy is not practised. Their temper
is said to be mild and gay ; but they are much addicted to
drunkenness. A mission to this people is earnestly called for
by Captain Jenkins, and some other of our friends residing
adjacent to them. If a brother were to engage on their behalf,
he plight reside for a year or two at Gowhatee, where every
facility would be at hand in gaining the language. This field,
however, is much less encouraging in its present aspect, than
many others mentioned in this paper.
6. The Tip-pe-ras, or Tripuras. Their country is called
by Bengalees Tura, or Teura, lying on the east bank of the
Burampooter, between 24° and 27' north latitude. On the
north, it has Sylhet ; on the south, Chittagong. It»compre-
hends seven thousand square miles, and now forms part of
Bengal. In this country are made the well-known cotton
goods called Baftas, exported to every part of the world.
They are a comparatively civilized people, amounting to eight
hundred thousand souls, a majority of whom profess Hin
duism ; the rest are Mussulmans. They build their houses
like the Burmans. Some parts of the country are covered
with jungle, and abound with elephants ; but the rest is fer
tile, and well cultivated, and the people are not only attentive
to agriculture, but to manufactures of various kinds, and to
commerce. They are divided into three tribes, viz. Tipperas,
properly so called, on the banks of the Gomuty ; Alinagar,
on the River Phani, or Fenny ; and the Reangon, on the
River Monu. All speak the same language, which is peculiar
to themselves.
7. The La-longs inhabit the low hills of the Jynteah coun
try, especially a tract now annexed to the district of Noagong,
and are estimated at over twenty thousand souls. They
resemble the Meekeers in character, have no written language,

missionary field. 247
scarcely any idea of a Supreme Being, and hardly the forms
of any religion. Their region is very unhealthy to foreigners,
six months in a year ; but the missionary could then reside at
the adjacent and very healthy city of Noagong, where much
of his work for them could be continued.
8. The Nag-as are a very numerous people on the borders
of Cachar, Munipore, and Asam. Their country belongs
partly to one, and partly to the other of these states. They
are called Nagas (literally "naked people") from their almost
total want of dress. There are many clans or tribes of thenij
differing greatly in their measure of civilization. The better
sort dwell in compact villages of well-built houses on high
hills, and are reported to be a very handsome and athletic
race ; active, both in agriculture and merchandise. The
religion of the more intelligent tribes is a rude sort of
demonology ; but they have no idea of a Supreme Being,
or the nature of the soul. Some of these tribes are in the
lowest state of humanity. The Rev. Mr. Rae, of the
Serampore mission, has made extensive journeys among this
people and the Meekers, and published ample and interesting
details. 9. The Joo-me-as reside chiefly in Chittagong, on a range
of hilly country, on the head waters of the Kulladine, between
the mountains and the plains. There are some tribes of them
in Tippera, and some in Arracan. They cultivate hill rice
and cotton. Their language is wholly unintelligible both to
Mugs and Bengalees, and is unwritten. Their religion is an
impure Boodhism. They remove their villages every year,
and always cultivate new grounds. They pay tribute to the
government at Chittagong, through a native zemindar ; who
lives in considerable state at Bazileah, eastward of Chittagong,
and calls himself raja.
10. The Chak-ma tribe is allied to the Joomea, and practise
the same religion. They are wholly confined to the hilly
interior of Chittagong, and are supposed to amount to about

248 missionary field.
seventeen thousand. They are considerably civilized, and
some can read Bengalee ; but generally write it in Burman
character. A dialect of Bengalee is the common language,
and their dress is quite that of Hindus. These and the
Joomeas are a hardy and industrious people, and cut all the
ship and furniture timber which is brought down Chittagong
River. They are remarked also for intrepidity as hunters,
and for general gentleness and probity of manners.
11. The Raj-bun g-sies amount to full thirty thousand
souls, scattered in every direction over Chittagong, and
occupying some places almost exclusively, such as Run-ga-
heer and Sunka river. They are mostly Bengalee Boodhists,
sprung from governing families of Arracanese, who being
forced to abandon their country during former intestinal
commotions, settled in Chittagong, and became naturalized.
Their name signifies literally " children of princes." But
though they hold themselves superior to Mugs, they are a
very poor people, and many of them come down into the large
towns to be servants. Their language is a corrupt Bengalee.
They retain the Boodhist faith, and have a few priests and
kyoungs, but no pagodas.
12. The A-rings are a tribe wholly independent. They
occupy spurs of the Youmadou Mountains in the rear of the
Kyens, and are known to amount to at least thirty thousand.
They reside within the limits of Arracan, but are not enumer
ated in the census of that province. They bring into the
plains cotton, ivory, and a little cloth, to barter for salt and
gnapee. They are exceedingly addicted to intoxication. The
liquor for this purpose is made of fermented rice, distilled with
a rude apparatus of earthenware. Their language is peculiar
and unwritten. They are not Boodhists, but worship Nats ;
paying, however, little attention to religious forms, and only
when pressed by calamity.
13. The Koo-kies, or Kunghis, called by the Burmans
Langeh, and by Bengalees Lingta, are a very numerous

MISSIONARY FIELD. 249
people, having at least ten thousand men capable of bearing
arms. They ocoupy the region of the Barak and Koomty
rivers, bordered, though indistinctly, by Kachar and Tip-
perah on the west, Chittagong on the south-west, and Bur
mah on the south-east. They are divided into at least ten
tribes, bearing different names, but generally live at peace
with each other. The dialects of these tribes are said to be
so various as to be unintelligible to each other. They have
no caste, and eat all kinds of flesh. Some of the tribes go
nearly naked. In general, they neglect agriculture, and
depend on the game and fruits of the forest. By consequence,
they all collect- into villages, some of which are very large,
and which they remove every few years. They believe in
future rewards and punishments, and worship evil genii,
whom they desire to propitiate. Some are found also in
Chittagong. They are exceedingly savage and warlike ;
strangers cannot pass safely through their country, their heads
being considered a great prize. No young man can marry
without possessing one of these trophies. Some houses have
many of them. *
14. The Kum-a-ons, or Kumoons, occupy an area of about
seven thousand square miles formerly subject to the Gorkhas,
extending from Rohilcund to the peaks of the Himmalaya — a
rugged and cold district, with little level arable land. The
people are in a very rude state, labouring just enough to support
nature. Some of them live in stone houses. The religion is
Hinduism, and many of the people are Brahminists. This
country was acquired by the British in 1 815, and Almora,
one of its towns, was made a sanitarium for the Company's
servants in bad health. A good road extends from Rohilcund
to Almora, through the Bamoury pass ; and another from
Hawellbaugh, a civil station of the East India Company.
* See Annals of Oriental Literature, Part III. ; Philosoph. Journal,
Vol. IV.
M 3

250 MISSIONARY FIELD.
This country is largely described by Fullarton, Raper, and
Dr. F. Buchanan.
15. The Mroongs, or Mroos, occupy the country between
the Kyens and the plains, from the Cosi to the Teesta, north
of Rungpore district, and formerly belonging to Nepaul.
From this region great quantities of timber are floated to
Calcutta, chiefly the saul-tree. A number of this tribe,
supposed to amount to five thousand, are found in Arracan,
chiefly in the district of Akyab ; and are as civilized as the
people of the plains.
1 7- The Kubos are of Shyan descent, and occupy the valley
of the Munipore river, one of the tributaries of Kyendween.
18. The Gor-kas occupy a large region "north of Nepaul,
but a warmer and pleasanter country. It has many fine
mountain streams, most of which combine in the Trisoolgunga.
Gorkha, the former capital, (lat. 27° 50', long. 84 J 22',) forty-
one miles west-north-west from Catmandoo, contains about one
thousand houses, and Catmandoo, the present capital, twice
that number. They conquered Nepaul in 1 768, and became a
powerful people ; but are now under British rule.
19. The Kir-auts, evidently of Tartar origin, occupy a
space between Nepaul and Bootan. They are now confined
to the mountains, but formerly governed portions of Dinage-
pore and Rungpore. Their religion is a negligent Boodhism ;
but since their subjection to the Gorkas, many have become
Brahminists. They are not wholly illiterate, and write the
language in the Nagree character. Individuals of this tribe
are scattered over Bengal and Bahar, where they follow the
life of gipsies, and wander about, preaching and telling
fortunes. These are called Kichacks.
20. The Bij-nees occupy a province east of Asam, and
speak the Bengalee language. They occupy both sides of the
Burampooter, part of them being subject to the British, and
part independent. It is an extensive, and much of it a beau
tiful country. The natives depend chiefly on agriculture, and

MISSIONARY FIELD. 251
have therefore stationary villages, many of which are much
neater than those of Bengal. Some idea both of the agricul
ture and population of the district may be derived from the
fact that, in 1809, taxes were collected, by the raja, from
thirty-two thousand four hundred ploughs. Bijnee, the
capital, is situated twenty-five miles east from Goalpara, (lat.
26° 29', long. 89° 47',) and is strongly fortified.
21. The A-sam-ese occupy most of the valleys and fertile
portions of the region called Asam, while other tribes, in
general less civilized, occupy the hills and mountains, especially
on the frontier. Their territory became a part of Burmah
in 1821-2, but is now wholly under British control. They
are very numerous, estimated by some authors at a million ;
and are so far civilized as to secure to a missionary the
immediate prospect of usefulness.
A missionary to this people might very advantageously be
at once settled at Jurhath, long the seat of the Asamese rajas,
and regarded as the capital of Upper Asam. Another is
wanted at Gowhatte, the capital of Lower Asam, and the
residence of the British agent for this region — a station now
held by Captain Jenkins, a warm philanthropist, who has not
only invited missionaries to this region, and rendered them
important services, but has given more than 200Z. toward the
operations of the American Baptist mission at Sudiya. Noa-
gong, Gualpara, &c. are now ripe for missionary labour.
22. The Mee-keers, or Mikirs, occupy a part of Asam, south
of the Burampooter, and amount to at least twenty thousand.
They are greatly addicted to drunkenness, but are simple,
honest, industrious, and inoffensive. Some of late years have
become Brahminists. They are a people in every respect pre
pared for missionary labour. The most inviting point for a
station is Noa-gong. The Serampore missionaries were very
anxious to establish a mission here, but relinquished the idea
for want of means.
23. The A-bors reside along the south side of the Himma-

252 MISSIONARY FIELD.
laya Mountains, from long. 93° to long. 95°. A very nume
rous and somewhat civilized race, divided into various tribes,
such as the Padows, Saloos, Meboos, Golmars, Mayings, &c.
Their country is cold, and manners rude. They use, both in
war and in the chase, arrows poisoned with Bisa. The
article is prepared from a fibrous root, which they keep secret,
and is sold in considerable quantities to neighbouring tribes.
They regard no food impure, but beef ; and are addicted to
strong drink. They worship a deity called Ap-hoom. They
dress well. Some of them annually visit Sudiya. No written
character. 24. The Mee-rees, or Miris, adjoin the Abors, and are
wholly independent. They occupy a strip of level land
extending along the right bank of the Burampooter from
Asam to the Dihong river, which separates them from the
Abors. They are few and degraded, but somewhat indus
trious. They raise some opium and have a few manufactures.
The head village is Mot-gaon. Their language is the same
as that of the Abors. The missionaries for this tribe and the
Duphlas would probably reside at Bishnath, (lat. 26° 40',
long. 93° 12',) a British station on the Burampooter, and
head-quarters of the Asam light infantry ; or at Tizpore, on
the north bank of the same river, (lat. 26" 37', long. 92" 52',)
where also are British officers and sepoys. The country
between these stations is beautiful. On the west side of the
Barelli river, which passes through this space, is a settlement
of at least four hundred families of Meerees ; and on the east
is the densely peopled district of Noa-dwar.
25. The Bor- Abors ; a powerful tribe occupying the loftier -
ranges between Sudiya and the Bonash River, extending to
Thibet. The word Bor means great. The people call them
selves Padam. These and the two last-named tribes are
essentially one people, and speak the same language. They
have no written characters ; but the language is fluent, easy
of pronunciation, and readily acquired by a foreigner. Mis-

MISSIONARY FIELD. 253
sionaries might at first reside with the Meerees, either at the
station mentioned above, or on the Burampooter, opposite to
Sudiya, where are many Meerees ; and penetrate among the
Abors and Borabors, as prudence might dictate.
26. The A-homs occupy the eastern parts of Asam, and
speak the language of Bengal. Three-fourths of them are
Brahminists. They are more numerous than some of the tribes
which have been named above.
27. The Kol-i-tas, or Kulitas, are scattered through the
Rungpore district, and part of Asam. They speak Bengalee,
and have adopted that religion. They are called by Hamilton
a powerful, independent, and civilized nation.
8. The Mish-mees occupy the sources of the Lohit and
Dibong rivers, to the north-east of Sudiya. — a lofty and very
cold region. They are a very extensive race, possessing
industrious habits, and more gentleness than mountaineers in
general. Missionaries would be quite safe among them.
None are found on the plains near Sudiya, but a constant
succession of them visit that city for purposes of trade.
They are distinguished for hospitality. When a man kills
a bullock, he invites his friends to partake ; all the skulls are
preserved in his house, as a proof of his hospitality, till he
dies, when they are piled on his grave as an honourable monu
ment. One branch of the Mishmees are a good deal mixed
among the Abors.
29. The Kan-tees, descended from the Bor Kantees>
inhabit a triangle near the sources of the Irrawaddy, bounded
by the rivers Lohit and Dibong, and the mountains of the
Mishmees. They are a very intelligent and numerous race,
and have many large towns, among which Mun-long and
Man-sai are the principal. The language is Shyan. Rev.
Messrs. Brown and Cutter are now labouring at Sudiya, for this
tribe and others, and thus form the exception mentioned at the
beginning of this article. Sudiya stands on the right bank of
the Ku-nil, or Kundil nullah, six miles above its junction with

254 missionary field.
the Lohit, and has ten thousand inhabitants. It is the
advance British post on the north-east frontier, and has a
military force and commissioner. The missionaries have
reduced the language to writing, in the Roman character,
and printed various elementary books.
30. The Bor-Kantees reside between the eastern portion
of Asam, and the valley of the Irrawaddy. Their capital is
Manchee, twelve days from Sudiya. A numerous and inte
resting people. Language is nearly allied to the Shyan.
31. The Sing-phoos. Of this people there are large
numbers under British sway, in the neighbourhood of Sudiya.
They are divided from the Burman Singphoos, on the south
by the Patkoi hills, and from the Bor Kantees, on the east,
by the Langtan mountains. On the west they are bounded
by a line extended from Sudiya to the Patkoi range. They
worship idols, and seem to have a religion mixed up of
doctrines from their neighbours. An intelligent and enter
prising race. No written character. The Singphoos are
likely to be much better known, from the fact that the tea-
plaut, which the British are so anxious to cultivate in India,
flourishes chiefly in their territory. A very inviting mis
sionary station is found at Ningru, a beautiful village on the
high bank of the Buri Dihing, three days south of Sudiya,
and in the midst of a tea country. Missionaries might, how
ever, advantageously remain a year or two at Sudiya, where
are many Singphoos, and where advantages for acquiring the
language would be greater than in the jungle. The language
is said to be singularly difficult, and full of combinations of
consonants, almost unmanageable to a foreigner.*
32. The Ku-nungs ; a wretched race, subject to the Kan
tees, somewhat numerous. Language not written. They
occupy the mountains to the northward and eastward of
the Hukung valley, toward Asam.
* Rev. Mr. Brunson left America in 1837, to labour among this people.
He has also interested himself for the Nagahs.

MISSIONARY FIELD. 255
33. The Mut-tucks ; a tribe on the eastern border of
Asam, south of the Burampooter, numbering twenty-five
thousand men, besides women and children. Some of their
villages contain a thousand houses each. It is probable they
are the same people sometimes called also Moo-a-ma-ree-as,
Morams, and Morahs. Though occupying a region rendered
cold by its elevation, they have many comforts, and are a
highly thrifty and intelligent people.
34. The Lap-chas, or Sikhims, are separated from the
Chinese dominions in Thibet by the Kha-wa Karpola ridge
of the Himmalaya. The eastern branch of the Teesta river
separates them from the Deb Raja of Bootan; and to the
west, the Konki river divides them from Nepaul. The length
of the district is about seventy miles, and the average breadth
forty ; almost all hilly. The proper name of this people is
Lapcha j the term Sikhims being given them from the name
of the capital. They are one of the most important tribes of
the Nepaul valley. They generally embrace the Boodhism
of the Grand Lama ; but are very lax in their observance of
it, killing animals, and drinking to excess. They are inter
mixed very much with the Booteas. The unicorn, so long
deemed fabulous, is said certainly to exist in this country.
The region is under British influence, though virtually inde
pendent. The raja holds an intimate intercourse with Lassa
and China.
35. The Duf-las, sometimes spelled Duphlas, and some
times Dupholas ; an independent tribe on the north border of
Asam, westward of Bootan. They are a powerful tribe, and
inhabit a region which, though hilly, is fruitful both in produce
and game. They are considerably civilized, and carry on a
brisk traffic with their neighbours.
36. The A-kas border on the Duflas, and are also inde
pendent. 37. The Ku-pa Chow- as occupy a hilly range contiguous
to the Akas.

256 MISSIONARY FIELD.
38. The Boo-teas, an independent tribe, in the neighbour
hood of the Akas and Duflas, occupying both sides of the
great Himmalaya range. Those on this side are tributary to
the English, and those on the other side to some tribes of
Tartars. They are evidently of Thibet origin ; and the pro
vince was probably once part of that country. Much of the
territory is above the line of perpetual snow. The villagers
migrate to the valleys in October, and return in May. Their
principal subsistence is derived from numerous flocks and
herds. The villages are small and scattered. The religion is
Lamaism. Besides these there are several tribes less known, such as,
39. the Tangkools; 40. the Kons; 41. the Anals ; 42. the
Poorums ; 43. Mueyols ; 44. Munsangs ; 45. Murings ; and 46.
Luhoppas ; all found on the mountain ranges to the eastward
of Chittagong ; 47- the Rumbos ; 48. Joholes ; 49. Jompoles ;
50. Gominchs; 51/Oojongs; 52. Scrimenantis ; 53. Ulus; 54.
Calangs ; 55. Jellaboos ; 56. Segamets ; 57. Kemoungs ; 58.
Udais; 59. Sakkeys ; 60. Utans ; 61. Joccoons; 62. Se-
mangs ; 63. Oodees ; 64. Sakais ; and 65. Rayots ; all
on the Malay Peninsula, having different languages, though
more or less mixed with Malay ; QG. the Simongs, on the
Yamunee river ; 67. the Reegas ; 68. Pasees ; 69. Mizongs ;
70. Bibors ; and 71- Barkans; all on the northern edge of
Asam, toward the Lama country ; 72. the Uniyas ; 73.
Marchas ; 74. Jowaries ; and 75. Suryabans ; on the margin
of the Himmalaya, in the region of Niti Ghaut, and Sutuleje
river ; 76. the Khoibus ; 77- Longphus ; 78. Champungs ;
79. Kapwis ; and 80. Korengs ; all occupying portions of the
region of Asam.
Here then, are twenty-six races of people in the Burman
empire, and eighty in the immediate vicinity, making a
hundred and six. The subdivision of many of these into
tribes speaking different dialects, increases the number of dis
tinct missions which demand to be commenced to about a

MISSIONARY FIELD.

257

hundred and twenty. Further investigations in these regions
will discover other tribes, equally entitled to missionary effort.
If the survey were extended, so as to include the territories
of the Grand Lama, where it is believed there is no mis
sionary, we should enrol some sixteen or twenty tribes and
dialects more.
Supposing the Baptist Board to be bound to supply only
the field described in this paper, and which has hitherto been
left to them, together with British and proper Burmah, and
to send only two missionaries to each language, what a mighty
effort is required, compared to their present operations ! Two
hundred and forty men would be demanded immediately;
and years must elapse before they could acquire their respective
languages. Should we at once enter upon these fields, and forestall the
introduction of Hindu and Burman literature and superstition,
we should gain much every way. As regards literature alone,
promptitude is important. To commence this, among a rude
but rising people, is to save mountains of obstacles in future
efforts. Heathen literature is everywhere, and has always
been, the grand prop of heathen religions. It was the curse
of Chaldea, of Egypt, of Greece, of Rome, of Arabia. It is
the curse of India, of Burmah, of China. The absence of it is
the huge advantage of the Karens, and one great cause, under
God, of missionary success with that people. The same
advantage is now offered, in relation to the tribes here
described ; but it cannot always continue. They will soon
have Mahometan or Hindu legends and literature, if we give
them not the truth.
These remarks are not at variance with the admitted fact
that ignorance is a principal hindrance of Christianity. The
educated heathen is as ignorant as the uneducated : nay, his
requisitions make him worse than ignorant. They fill him
with error. They oppress him with stronger superstitions.
They inflate him with pride, while they debase and harden
his heart.

258 MISSIONARY FIELD.
To give any people a written language, is not to divert the
missionary from his proper work. It is a part of his work,
and highly important. In accomplishing it, he gives more or
less literature to the people ; and this literature, being at the
foundation of all their future improvements, and based not on
false but on true philosophy, must ever prove the handmaid
to religion, to say nothing of still higher benefits gained by
giving a people the written word of God. Two hundred and
fifty or sixty men are wanted this moment to supply these
new fields, and to reinforce the present missions in Burmah,
even on the supposition that native preachers will be raised up
in numbers equal to nearly all the demand for preaching.
Further remarks are unnecessary. The facts speak with
sufficient eloquence. Where are the thousand young men in
our churches ? Will they all go to the law, to physic, to mer
chandise, to mechanics, or to the field, without once questioning
the propriety of giving themselves to the holy ministry? Shall
the heathen, the Jew, the Mussulman, and the Papist, have
none of their sympathies ? Must every view of a perishing
world be shut from their eyes, while, in their own land, and
for their own ends, they seek domestic comforts, or amass
property, or squabble in politics ?
May those whose duty it is to embark in this blessed
enterprise hear the voice of the Lord, saying, " Whom shall
I send, and who will go for us?" and without delay respond,
" Here am I ; send me."

MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS. 259

CHAPTER III.
ON THE MEASURE OF SUCCESS WHICH HAS ATTENDED
MODERN MISSIONS.
Introduction. — I. The Number of Missionaries  II. The Kind of Labour
performed : Preparatory ; Collateral ; Additional ; Erroneous  III.
Disadvantages of Modern Missionaries : Imperfect Knowledge of the
Language ; Poverty of the Languages themselves ; Want of Familiarity
with the Religion and People ; Degraded State of the Natives ; Inabi
lity to live as they live ; Being Foreigners ; The Structure of Society ;
The prevailing Philosophy ; The Presence of nominal Christians ;
Popery  IV. Efforts which do not reach the Field. — V. The Amount
accomplished : A large Force in the Field ; Impediments removed ;
Translations made ; Languages reduced to Writing ; General Litera
ture imparted ; Tracts written ; Grammars, Dictionaries, and other
Helps prepared ; Immense Distribution of Bibles and Tracts ; Mecha
nical Facilities created; Schools established, and Youth already educated;
Blessings of Christian Morality diffused; Idolatry in some Places shaken ;
Effects on Europeans abroad ; Actual Conversions. — VI. Effects on the
Churches at Home — Remarks.
Many of the best friends of missions avow feelings of dis-
appointment, in regard to the measure of success which has
attended the enterprise. Considering the great efforts which
have been made, they are ready to infer either that there is
some radical error in the mode of operation, or that " the set
time" to bring in the heathen, has not yet come. At this we
can scarcely wonder, when we consider the mis-statements
which are current, and the prevalent deficiency of information
on this subject, even among religious persons, for want of
reading missionary periodicals.
Those who stand aloof from the work, are still more dis
posed to regard it as a failure. Some are not backward to
charge those who persist, with fanaticism and folly; and a
few go so far as to brand them with chicanery and corruption,
and to declare their belief that most of the funds contributed
for missions, are retained by the hands through which they
pass. On the other hand, there are those who dwell always on
animating prognostics and local successes. Reluctant to con-

260 MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS.
template discouraging circumstances, they anxiously exclude
such details from what they say or publish, and at monthly
concerts of prayer, or other public meetings, create an impres
sion that the work is well nigh done, at least in some places.
There is thus a danger of making contributions to missions the
fruit rather of temporary emotion than habitual principle, and
of graduating the measure of our duty more by the amount
of success than the distinctness of injunction. And when, in
a course of years, the expected results are not realized, there
is a proneness to dejection and lassitude.
The writer cannot join with those whose tone is chiefly that
of exultation. But he is persuaded that missions have suc
ceeded, to a degree fully equal to the amount and kind of
labour bestowed, and presents the following considerations to
sustain this opinion.
Before proceeding to measure the absolute magnitude of
what has been accomplished, it is necessary to consider the
true amount of means employed, and the exact manner in
which they have been applied.
I. The number of missionaries, and the amount of time and
energy they have had to bestow on their work.
1. The English Baptist Missionary Society was formed in
1792; the London Missionary Society in 1795; the Scotch
Missionary Society in 1796 ; the Church Missionary Society
in 1800 ; the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign
Missions in 1810 ; the Baptist Board in 1814 ; the Episcopal
and the Methodist Missionary Societies in 1820.
Of course, the first years in each of these societies produced
very few missionaries. By a careful analysis of all the mis
sionary statistics within reach, it appears that in 1810, the
whole number of stations was twenty-nine ; in 1820, fifty-
seven ; and at the present time, about four hundred. If we
allow two missionaries to a station, it gives us, in 1810, fifty-
eight ; in 1820, a hundred and fourteen ; and at the present
time eight hundred. We thus perceive that we have proceeded

MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS. 261
but slowly to the present magnitude of our operations. One
half of the present number of missionaries have gone out
within so recent a period, as not yet to have acquired the
languages of their people.
2. The lives of missionaries are shorter than those of minis
ters at home ; not exceeding, probably, on an average, more
than eight or nine years.
3. As the highest instances of longevity are found among
those who gave themselves chiefly to translations and English
preaching, the average life of such as were devoted to the
immediate conversion of natives is still.farther lessened.
4. All those who died before they had been in the field
four years, are to be presumed not to have become efficient
preachers. 5. Three or four years are to be deducted from the brief
span of all missionaries, as time spent chiefly in study.
6. Most missions have been carried forward in regions
where the missionaries were robbed of one-fourth of their
effective energy by climate. Combine all these considerations,
and the absolute amount of direct efforts for the conversion of
heathen is reduced to a very paltry sum.
Again : The calculations which have been made on the
labours of the wives of missionaries, are for the most part,
much too large. Speeches, essays, and sermons, have described
the public usefulness of females in glowing terms. It has
even been declared that on this account, " almost all mission
aries of the Protestant churches may count for two." The
seclusion of women in certain countries, has principally given
rise to this opinion, as they can find access to their own sex
in a manner not practicable to their husbands. But it must
be considered that only in a part of the field are females rigidly
secluded, and then only the higher classes, with which few
missions have much to do. Few missionaries' wives have
acquired the language to such an extent as to enable them to
be useful in this way. Their opportunities for learning are by

262 MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS.
no means so good as those of their husbands. Household
duties demand some time ; their minds have been less trained
to the acquisition of language ; and such as have children are
greatly put back in their studies, and hindered from mission
ary work, if ever so familiar with the language. Among
ourselves, we do not reckon ministers' wives as so many
evangelists, when we compute the degree to which a state or
county is supplied with the means of grace. Much less can
we calculate upon the wives of missionaries. The helps and
facilities enjoyed by a woman at home, who essays to do
public good, are not found among the heathen. There, few
nurses or servants can be trusted alone with children, even
for an hour ; the elder ones are not safe away at school, but
must be about the mother, and taught wholly by her — itself
a great task, which few mothers in America could add to their
other cares. In sickness, she is not aided by a circle of kind
friends, but must nurse her husband, her child, or her scholar,
day by day, alone ; destitute even of the aid which servants
might render, could they fully understand her commands or
customs. At home, a minister's wife does good chiefly through
others, by setting in motion and keeping up plans which they
can execute. But not so with the missionary's wife. She
has around her no circle of active and unencumbered sisters,
to teach Sabbath schools, to form Bible classes, or to consti
tute societies for good objects. All she does must be carried
on, from beginning to end, by her own individual unassisted
energies. She must find her principal sphere of usefulness in
keeping her husband whole-hearted and happy ; in being a
good housewife ; sustaining all the domestic cares ; training
up her children well; furnishing her husband prudent counsel
and affectionate support ; and setting before the heathen the
sweet and impressive example of a well-ordered Christian
family, and the elevated and purifying character of conjugal
life, as regulated by the New Testament. As time and oppor
tunity offer, she should diligently and thoroughly study the

MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS. 263
language. Then let her take every opportunity of conversing
with such as come to the house, form a circle of acquaintance
among the native females, and faithfully visit among them as
a Christian teacher.
Unmarried females, and such as have no children, may
generally be regarded as missionaries in the fullest sense.
Some of these have maintained for years a course of public
usefulness not inferior to their masculine fellow-labourers.
II. The kind of labour ichich has been performed.
1. Up to the present period, the principal portion of mis
sionary labour has been preparatory.
He who views the lofty column is apt to forget how great
have been the labours of the architect beneath the surface of
the earth, and how widely the hidden foundations spread
round beneath his feet. So when we survey the results of
missions ; most of the labour, though indispensable, is not now
seen. Nor can any inspection of their present condition dis
close the extent and variety of past labours.
We need not here stop to inquire whether missionaries have
devoted too much time to translations, authorship, schools,
secular business, or preaching in English. It is sufficient for
the present argument, that the major part of our efforts have
been so expended. It is not possible to arrive at precision in
regard to the exact proportion ; but from careful inquiries, I
am led to set down, as preparatory, three-fourths of the work
done in India, much more as to China and Western Asia, and
somewhat less in most other missions.
2. No small portion of time and energy has been spent on
objects which may be called collateral.
A pastor at home looks for these labours to his church, and
to benevolent societies. He has around him those who main
tain Sunday schools, distribute Bibles and tracts, sustain
pecuniary agencies, hold meetings in private houses, visit
the sick, maintain discipline, and perform a multitude of
other services, which in a foreign land devolve on the mis-

264 MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS.
sionary alone. The fraction of effort, left after making the
deductions of the last head, is therefore to be still farther
abridged, if we mean to measure missionaries by ministers at
home. 3. He has many duties additional to those of a pastor in a
Christian land.
In addition to all his studies and labours of a strictly
missionary and evangelical character, he must erect places of
worship, dwellings, and school-houses ; employ and oversee
native assistants and catechists ; and send out agents, with
Bibles and tracts. In the absence of physicians, friends,
nurses, and trained servants, he must be surgeon, midwife,
and nurse, in his own family. In many cases he must devote
considerable time to the dispensing of medicine to the natives.
He must be schoolmaster for his owu children, as well as
Sunday school teacher, and perhaps superintend native
schools. Beside this list of duties, so large as almost to seem absurd,
he must correspond with his friends at home, the Society, and
fellow-missionaries ; keep careful money accounts ; and main
tain a proper intercourse with Europeans around him.
4. Many missionaries have felt obliged to imitate the
example of Carey, Marshman, and Ward, and of the Mora
vians generally, in devoting much time to raising pecuniary
resources. While the public was but half awake to their
duty, there was much reason for this. There are perhaps
cases now where it is proper. I only name it as another de
duction from our computation of the measure of means strictly
spent in converting the heathen.
5. Much time and money have been expended erroneously,
at least in several missions.
Shops, houses, mills, farms, machines, implements, fontes
of type, and books, have been made unwisely, and relin
quished ; or made at too great a cost. The temporal affairs of
the people have received too much attention. Periodical

MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS. 265
publications have trenched on higher duties ; translations
have in some cases been made prematurely; and in others
great labour has been bestowed in making revisions, which
prove not to be improvements.
All this was to be expected. In labours not expressly
patterned in the New Testament, we have no teacher but ex
perience, whose instructions are always costly. No reasonable
man could expect this item to be less than it is. Happily the
pressure of such expenses has passed away with the period of
our inexperience.
III. We will now glance at the disadvantages under which
the best and purest missionary labour is exerted.
The bigotry, superstition, and sensuality of the heathen,
their want of early training in the proper theory of religion,
the absence of a correct moral sense, and similar disadvantages
of great magnitude, not felt by ministers in a Christian land,
will not be insisted upon ; because they equally impeded the
apostles, who nevertheless had great success. I intend only to
name those which are peculiar to modern missionaries.
1. An imperfect knowledge of the language of the people.
Scarcely one missionary in twenty has become able to
preach with entire fluency, and probably never one had such
a knowledge of the language as - inspiration gave. A great
amount of preaching has been done through interpreters, and
these often unconverted heathen, who could not give full force
to themes they did not comprehend. Few can acquire such
mastery of a foreign tongue, as to express their thoughts with
the glow and intensity of a native, even when the idiom and
structure of the language is thoroughly understood.
An experienced missionary in Bengal assured me, that on
an average, not one half of the sermons of missionaries who
undertake to preach is understood. Dr. Carey, in a letter of
August, 1809, stages that after, by years of study, he thought
he had fully mastered the Bengalee, and had then preached it
two full years, he discovered that he was not understood!
VOL. II. N

266 MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS.
Yet Dr. C.'s teachers flattered him that he was understood
perfectly. This is a very common deception of pundits and
moonshees. In the opinion of one of the most experienced
missionaries in the Madras presidency, not one missionary in
ten, out of those who live the longest, ever gets the language
so as to be generally understood, except when declaring the
simplest truths. This is a difficulty not to be removed.
Merchants and traders may easily acquire the vocabulary of
traffic and social life, and so do missionaries. They may go
further, and be able to read or understand literary and histo
rical subjects. But to have the ready command of words, on
abstract theological subjects, and all the nice shades of mean
ing requisite to discuss accurately mental and moral subjects,
can only be the work of many years, of intense study, and
great practice.
2. There is a still greater difficulty in the poverty of the
languages themselves.
For terms which are of primary importance in religious dis
course, words must often be used which are either unmeaning,
or foreign to the purpose, or inaccurate. It is not easy to
exhibit this difficulty in its true magnitude to such as have
not mixed with heathen. A few examples may, however,
make the argument intelligible. Words equivalent to God,
Lord, &c, must, in various languages, be those which the
heathen apply to their idols; for there are no others. In Ta
mul, the word pdvum (sin) signifies only " exposure to evil,"
or simply " evil," whether natural or moral, and may be ap
plied to a beast as well as a man. The word padesuttam
(holiness) means " clearness." Regeneration is understood by
a Hindu or Boodhist to mean " another birth" in this world,
or " transmigration." The purposes of God tniSy understand
to be " fate." The word used in Bengalee for holy (d'harma)
sometimes means " merit" acquired by acts of religious wor
ship, and sometimes " that which is agreeable to rule or
custom." When the compound word Holy Ghost is translated,

MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS. 267
it becomes " Spirit of rule," or some phrase not more intelli
gible. In the Episcopal Liturgy in Bengalee, it is rendered
" Spirit of existence" (sadatma) ; and Mr. Yates, in his new
version of the Scriptures, uses the word pabitru, " clean."
This last, while it avoids the hazard of conveying a wrong
idea, and seems to be the best rendering, is yet evidently im
perfect. In Siamese, the word most used for sin (tot) means
either " guilt," or the " punishment of guilt," or simply " ex
posure to punishment." The best word the missionaries can
get for holy, is boresut, " purified," when people are spoken of;
and saksit, " or Spirit having power because of sanctity," when
the Holy Ghost is meant. There is no Siamese word equiva
lent to repent ; and a phrase is used signifying " to establish
the mind anew," or " make new resolves." In Burman, there
is no term equivalent to our heaven, and a word meaning
" sky," or more properly " space," is used ; nor any word for
angel, and the rendering of that term has to be " sky-messen
ger;" nor any word for condemn, except the circumlocution-
" decide according to demerit, or sin ;" nor any word for con
science, thank, &c. &c. I might add scores of such cases, given
me by missionaries. There is scarcely a theological term not
subject to this difficulty.
For a multitude of our terms there is no word at all.
Among these are not only theological terms, such as sanctifi-
cation, gospel, evangelist, church, atonement, devil, &c, but
the names of implements, animals, customs, clothing, and
many other things, of which ignorant and remote tribes have
never heard, and for which entire new terms are obliged to
be coined.
Let a man imagine how he would be embarrassed in read
ing a book, or hearing a discourse, in which he constantly
met with Greek or Arabic terms, and words used in a sense
differing more or less from that in which he understands
them, and these often the principal terms in the sentence, and
he may form some conception of this difficulty. Even the
n2

268 MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS.
native assistant, preaching in his mother tongue, is not pro
perly understood ; for he must use these terms.
3. Want of familiarity with the system and sacred books
to be encountered, and with national prejudices and modes of
thinking. For exposing with freedom, and attacking with power, a
popular belief, these are eminent advantages. Hence, in part,
the superior success of native preachers. The apostles were
native preachers almost wherever they went ; and we see how
largely they used their intimate knowledge of the national
religion and habits of thinking, not only in disputations, but
in formal discourses and epistles. Many years must elapse
before a missionary can attain this power ; and then only by
the wearisome perusal of many volumes of disgusting legends,
as well as contact with natives in many ways, and for a long
period. A. The rudeness and ignorance of the people sought to he
reclaimed. Idolatry tends steadily downward ; and eighteen centuries
have served to degrade the heathen far below the latest and
most corrupt Greeks and Romans. When mankind began to
fall away from the living God, there remained some know
ledge of the proper attributes of Deity, and a comparative
nobleness and purity in the human mind. But the objects of
worship, the rites enjoined, and the character of the people,
steadily sunk lower and lower. Hence all nations refer to
past ages, as having greater purity and happiness than the
present. Iniquitous oracles, abused asylums, horrid baccha-
nalia, and human sacrifices, were known, even in Greece and
Rome, only to later generations. With all these abomina
tions, they possessed no contemptible amount of arts, sciences,
literature, and poetry. Syria, Macedonia, Greece, Italy, and .
northern Africa, forming the field of the first missions, were
the centre of civilisation and intelligence. The wide inter
communication maintained by travelling philosophers and

MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS. 269
marching armies, gave impulse to intellect, and disseminated
knowledge. The Roman, the Greek, the Jew, the Egyptian,
was far less of a brute than the savage or semi-civilised object
of our philanthropy.
For a long period before the birth of Christ, a leaven of
contempt for pagan rites had been diffused by Pythagoras,
Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and others. Every century brought
forth some such writers, and increased the effect of the former
works. Socrates, Lycurgus, Demosthenes, and others, had by
their orations stirred up the stagnation of the public mind.
Euclid, Zeno, Epicnrus, Apollonius, Archimedes, and Eratos
thenes, led the select few to a noble expansion and activity of
the intellectual powers. Afterward came the satires and
exposures of Horace, Lucian, and Juvenal, turning a strong
tide of ridicule upon the prevailing mythology. To quote
more names might seem pedantic ; but there was then scarcely
a department of learning without writers which, to this very
day, maintain not only a place amcng our studies, but admi
ration and utility. Poetry, philosophy, history, eloquence,
tragedy, mathematics, geography, botany, medicine, and
morals, were all cultivated. Such was the state of mankind
when Christ came ; and while it would have allowed a new
system of superstition or error little chance of prevalence, it
made a happy preparation for Christianity. Not, indeed, that
any of the philosophy agreed with it; or that any of the philo
sophers adopted it. " The wisdom of this world," then as now,
deemed the cross " foolishness." But the people were trained to
think, and both Jews and pagans were capable of examining,
and disposed to understand, the nature of the new religion.
The nations among whom missions are now conducted, are
in general the reverse of all this. With them the human
intellect has for ages been at a stand. Improvements in
anything are not imagined. Without valuable books, without
a knowledge of other countries, without foreign commerce,
without distant conquest, without the strife of theology,

270 MEASURE OF MTSSIONARY SUCCESS.
without political freedom, without public spirit,— what is left
for them, but listlessness, ignorance, and pride ? Such of them
as attempt study, learn only falsehood and folly ; so that the
more they learn, the less they know. Their history, chrono
logy, geography, physics, astronomy, medicine, and theology,
are so utterly wrong, that to fill the mind with them is worse
than vacuity. This is true of the most civilised heathen of
this day ; and of many parts of the missionary field, a much
stronger picture might be drawn. Such indurated ignorance
is incomparably worse to deal with than fine reasonings and
false philosophy. What can argument do, if not understood ?
The edge of truth itself is turned by impenetrable dulness.
The depreciation of morals is as great as that of intellect.
We look in vain even for Spartan or Roman virtue. Except
perhaps among the Cretans, it is hardly probable that the
first preachers anywhere encountered such a spirit of falsehood
and deceit as distinguish the heathen now. Truth is utterly
wanting. Man has no confidence in man. The morality is
not only defective, it is perverted. Killing a cow or an insect,
is more shocking than the murder of an enemy : lying for a
Brahmin is a virtue ; stealing for real want is no sin : a few
ceremonies or offerings expiate all crimes. Transmigration
abolishes identity; for, if perfectly unconscious in one state of
existence, of all that transpired in previous ones, identity is
virtually lost. Sin is reduced to a trifle, the conscience ren
dered invulnerable, generous sentiments extinguished, and the
very presence and exhortations of the missionary engender a
suspicion destructive to his success. His reasons for coming
are not credited ; and the fear of political treachery is added
to a detestation of his creed. The best supposition they can
make is, that he is seeking religious merit, according to his
own system, and careful not so much for their conversion, as
for his personal benefit in a future state.
5. Inability to live as the people live.
Except at a few points, the manners and customs are such

MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS. 271
that a missionary cannot adopt them without disadvantage.
It has often been tried, to a greater or less degree; but always
relinquished, for numerous good reasons which I cannot here
stop to adduce. In some missions, the health and even the
life of a missionary require him to live in a better house, and
more expensively than the chiefs, or perhaps the king. The
consequent evils may be partly conceived, by considering the
effect with us of a minister's living in a style superior to that
of his richest hearers, without having any dependence on them
for support. It is not the question here whether this evil may
not be palliated in some places. It has existed as a disad
vantage in many instances, and in many must probably always
so remain.
6. The world is not now under a single government. The
apostles were everywhere fellow-subjects ; for the stupendous
power of Rome presided over the known world. But the
missionary is now a foreigner, living in foreign modes, holding
his connexions with foreign powers, and endeavouring to
introduce a foreign religion. In one part of the field, he is
either wondered at as a superior being, or feared as a political
agent ; and in the other, despised as coming from some bar
barous island on the confines of creation. To be either a
Roman or a Jew, secured to the first preachers a fraternity
wherever they went. Our missionary finds none, till, by the
blessing of God, he makes it. From some countries he is kept
aloof by inexorable prohibitions ; in some, his life is unsafe ;
in some, official obstructions are thrown in his way, so as
almost to discourage effort ; and in others, though protected
by Christian rulers, he is almost precluded from usefulness by
the influence of their example.
7. The structure of society.
At first Christians could be tolerated even " in Caesar's
household," and retain offices, civil and military. The perse
cutions were not so much by the people as the government,

272 MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS.
and the converts could prosecute their callings, whether as
tanners, tent-makers, fishermen, or centurions. Now, the
adamantine barrier of caste fences off into innumerable sections
the two hundred millions of India ; while all, from the highest
to the lowest, unite against Christianity. The convert becomes
an outcast, in such a sense of that word as Europeans cannot
conceive. He is not only deprived of property, but torn from
wife and children, and abandoned, without the means of sub
sistence. Unless the missionary devise a mode of subsistence
for him, he must starve. In addition to other evils, this state
of things tends to keep off all who have property to lose, and
draw together mendicants, idlers, and criminals, to profess
Christianity for temporal ends.
Among Mahometans, Boodhists, and other pagans, to
become a Christian entails most of these trials, though in
other forms. The convert is cast out as evil. His relations
deny him, his business fails, his children are a by-word, his
rulers are displeased, and his life endangered.
Among still ruder nations, the distinction of tribes cuts up
the human family into small, insulated portions, denying to
each other common kindnesses. After spending many years
to acquire a language, there are but a few thousands to whom
it can be the medium of truth. Wars, wanderings, extreme
poverty, and desperate degradation, seem to preclude the very
hope of success.
8. The apostles were not everywhere met by a system of
natural philosophy, which directly contradicted all their
teachings. Wherever Christianity now goes, a new system of geo
graphy and astronomy must be adopted. It cannot be said
that the missionary may pass by this topic, and only preach
Christ crucified. His hearers will not let him pass it by.
The country he professes to have left, cannot exist by their
system. The Shaster and the Bedagat must fall, if his

MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS. 273
system be true. He will be attacked upon it. It will be
regarded as a part of his religious belief, and he must clear
away their cosmogony, before he can build his faith.
With the few who can be so far educated as to understand
and receive the Copernican system, this difficulty is converted
into a facility. Such are at least rendered unbelievers in
their own religion. But the mass of the people will long
remain in the old belief, and as Christianity cannot wait to
be preceded by schools, missionaries must meet this diffi
culty in all its strength.
9. The presence of nominally Christian countrymen.
These are now found almost everywhere ; and too many of
them, by their ungodly lives, present to the undistinguishing
heathen a continual ground of objection. Their lewdness,
extortions, oppressions, riotous living, desecration of the
Sabbath, neglect of sacred things, direct opposition, and secret
obstructions, wring the soul of the missionary, fill his way
with thorns, and tend to nullify his greatest exertions.
Where Christian governments have borne rule, and where
his own life has been most secure, he has found those very
governments arrayed against his success. When Buchanan
would have given forth information touching the abominations
of Hinduism, not a journal in Calcutta dared publish his
communications ! When he made them from the pulpit, his
friends were not allowed to publish the sermons. When he
returned to England, and published these things, his state
ments were denied, and his character assailed. The East
India Company long opposed the introduction of missionaries,
or kept them under a surveillance which defeated their object.
Had not the Danish settlement at Serampore afforded an
asylum, till an experiment was made, evincive of the political
harmlessness of evangelical labours among the natives, it is
doubtful whether India would have been opened to this day.
It is only necessary to refer to the periodical accounts, to the
Calcutta newspapers, and to the occasional pamphlets of that
n3

2J4 MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS.
time, to show how wilfully and effectively the messengers of
mercy were hindered for many years ; and how large deduc
tions ought to be made, on this account, from the fruits which
might otherwise have been produced. Though the Indian
government no longer exerts a direct opposition to mis
sionaries, it does many things, some of which have been
named in a previous chapter, to sustain paganism and Ma-
hometism throughout its dominions.
The Dutch government has been even more inimical, and
still maintains its hostility. When Mr. Bruckner, after
many years' labour, had translated the New Testament into
Javanese, he went to Serampore, and at great expense got
types cast, and printed it. But he no sooner returned, (in
1 832,) and gave away a few copies, than the government
seized the whole edition, and placed it in the public stores,
from whence it has never been restored. I could mention
other facts of a similar character. Their own chaplains and
other clergy are under such restraints, as tend to nullify or
obstruct their labours to convert the natives.
The Spanish and Portuguese colonial governments in India
have avowedly opposed us from the beginning, on the ground
of our Protestantism.
At some of the Sandwich Islands, among various tribes of
American Indians, and in many other places where no govern
mental opposition has been made, the influence and example
of unprincipled men, both residents and visitors, have been
most distressing.*
* O that immoral Christians living among idolaters, and inimical rulers,
would consider how much more reprehensible they are than those who of
old professed to be his people, yet caused his name to be polluted among
the Gentiles ! In the days of Ezekiel, " They were dispersed through the
countries; and when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went,
they profaned my holy name when they said, We are the people of the
Lord, and are gone forth out of his land. The heathen shall know that I
a:n the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you, before
their eyes." Ezek. xxxvi. 19—23. In the days of Paul, it was still
their reproach, "Thou that makest thy boast of [possessing] the law,
through breaking the law, dishonourest thou God ? For the name of God
is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you." Rom. ii. 23, 24.

MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS. 275
In the most favourable aspect in which the missionary
meets a Christian government, in pagan lands, he finds it a
government of financial rapacity and military force. The
natives cannot forget that the presence and power of the white
man, is the fruit and proof of their subjection and inferiority.
Wherever he establishes his fort and his flag, it is to the sub
version of their political and eivil consequence. A distin
guished British writer declares, that with the exception of the
obstacles which the impolicy of Europeans themselves has
created against the propagation of their religion, there exist no
others. " In every country of the East, Christianity has been
introduced to the people along with the invariable and odious
associates of unprincipled ambition and commercial rapacity."*
Hence their expulsion from Japan, China, Tonquin, Cochin-
China, and Camboja; and the precarious footing of mission
aries in Siam, Burmah, and other places. " It must be con
fessed that if the beauty of Christianity has not convinced
Orientals, it is principally by reason of the bad opinion which
the avarice, treachery, invasions, and tyranny of the Portu
guese, and some other Christians in the Indies, have implanted
in them."f
10. The resistance made by Popery.
At a large proportion of the stations, there are Papal
establishments. At these the priests always, and the people
often, are active and implacable opposers. The missionary's
character and labours are misrepresented ; his Bibles and tracts
are declared false and pernicious ; and salvation, for him or
his adherents, is pronounced impossible.
Worse than this is the contempt and aversion which they
create toward the Christian name. Their proselytes are sel
dom less degraded and vicious than the heathen, and some
times more so. That they have not procured the exclusion of
all missionaries, as they have from China and Japan, is because
* Crawford's Indian Archipelago, vol. ii. book 6, chap. 4.
+ La Loubiere, Du Royaume de Siam, tome i.

£76 MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS.
they are not sufficiently powerful to excite the action of go
vernment. So far as they have ability, it is exerted to keep
Protestantism from pagans-
IV. The effect of much of the efforts at home does not reach
the field abroad.
Large sums have been spent in surveying the field, and
sundry lives lost for want of a better acquaintance with the
countries, climates, natives,* &c.
Large expenses, of both time and money, are incurred for
agencies, secretaryships, travelling, clerk-hire, buildings,
circulars, pamphlets, &c. Objections may lie against some of
these cases, and certain details. But the main question of
expediency and necessity remains clear. They yield no fruits
in the foreign field, but without them a beginning could not
be made. Christians were ignorant of the various subjects
involved in the undertaking. They were both to be induced
to move, and to be taught how ; so that the whole energies
of some have been absorbed in awakening the co-operation of
others. For this there is no present remedy but in the con
tinuance of these very expenses, f Even now, though thousands
* Men of the world exclaim against this ; but they spend money and
life upon matters of infinitely less moment. They encounter the same
perils, in the same regions, in pursuit of wealth, science, or fame ; or per
haps, prompted only by curiosity. Let but the effort to discover the
sources and course of the Niger be specified. In this one enterprise have
perished Ledyard, Houghton, Park, Anderson, Horneman, Nichols,
Roentgen, Tucker, Tudor, Cranch, Galway, Smith, Peddie, Kummer,
Campbell, Stockie, Toole, Denham, Clapperton, Morrison, Pearce, Laing,
and I know not how many more, all men of distinction and worth With
these have perished several hundred soldiers, scientific attendants, ser
vants, &c. All these lives spent to discover the course of a river flowing
through pestilent solitudes, and occupied by barbarous tribes ! And for
what purpose ? To convey peace and eternal life to these benighted
Africans ? No. To add a few facts to science, and.peradventure, to open
a new market for European manufactures ! The settlement of many
colonies, the attempts to discover a north-west passage, and a score of
other such enterprises, might be named, which have involved greater loss
of life, than- the whole missionary enterprise from the beginning.
t This item, though large, is apt to be overrated. At an early period
of missionary operations, when the total receipts were small, and great
personal efforts required to collect them, the proportion was greater than
at present. The average income of the American Board of Commission
ers for Foreign Missions is about 52,000/., and the average expenditures

MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS. 277
of pamphlets, reports, speeches, sermons, &c. have been dis
tributed, thousands of addresses made, and thousands of com
mittees and associations formed, there are multitudes who do
not understand the movement. For want of more of this
sort of expense and labour, thousands of sincere Christians have
not been awakened to a proper consideration of the enterprise;
and thousands, misjudging it, oppose.
In addition to these expenses, large sums are absorbed by
the outfit, passages, and salaries, of missionaries who die
before they acquire the language. Very costly libraries
have to be furnished to stations where translations are in
progress. Those who know the price of many necessary works
in the learned languages, will feel the force of this consideration.
This sort of expense, and all those connected with setting up a
printing-office, must be renewed at every principal mission to
be established.
The outlay for societies' houses, secretaries, treasurers,
clerks, &c. will not increase in proportion to increased opera
tions. Once properly organised, a set of officers can as well
conduct a hundred missions as fifty. Experience will reduce
many expenses, both abroad and at home. The houses,
lands, presses, types, machinery, libraries, &c. now possessed,
will remain as so much capital. Natives will soon learn to do
printing, &c, and the cost of manipulations be reduced. The
prices of passages will lessen, as facilities and improvements
multiply. In short, every charge between the donor and his
object may be expected to decrease. The churches will come
for agencies, salaries, travelling expenses of missionary candidates for
examination, postages, rent, and other incidental expenses, about 4100/.,
being <• fraction less than 8 per cent. The expenditures of the Baptist
Board of Foreign Missions are about 18,000/., and the home expenses
1500/., which is also a fraction less than 8 per cent. The proportion in
other societies is, probably, about the same. Contributors ought, certainly,
to feel gratified to know that they can collect their missionaries, place
their donations abroad, and convert their money into Bibles and tracts,
at so small a charge as lrf. on each shilling. Were the income of mis
sionary societies doubled, the home charges would not be materially in
creased, as the present organisations would suffice.

278 MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS.
to the work with more readiness ; systematic contribution
will succeed to desultory collections ; few brethren will
remain to be convinced and urged ; and the apparatus of
agencies will cease to be burdensome.
V. Let us now look at the amount which has been accom- •
plished. 1 . Numerous and formidable impediments have beeu re
moved. Ignorance of the field, and of the nature of the work, have
given way to knowledge and experience. An entrance and
location among various strange nations, has been effected.
The difficulties of many lauguages are overcome. Several
missionaries have attained, not merely a trader's fluency in the
native tongues, but that minute and critical knowledge which is
necessary to become authors, and to preach with advantage.
Prejudices against Christianity have been overcome, in many
places. In some, the spirit of indifference has given way to
a spirit of inquiry ; and confidence in the missionary, and
respect for the purity of his principles, have been created.
Most missionaries who now go out, find brethren to welcome
them, houses for their reception, and other facilities which do
away no small amount of suffering, mistake, and delay. Had
all our money effected only these preliminaries, it would not
have been ill spent.
2. A great body of missionaries and native preachers are
in actual service.
The reports of some societies do not distinguish between
missionaries and assistants, printers, &c, so that it is not
possible to state the precise number of each. It will not be far
from the truth to say that there are one thousand ordained
missionaries, fifty printers, three hundred schoolmasters and
assistants, and some hundred native preachers.
Of the ordained missionaries there are in Africa one hundred
and twenty-eight ; other regions adjacent to the Mediterran
ean, fifty-three ; Farther India, one hundred and sixty-eight ;

MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS. 2/9
Ceylon, twenty-eight ; Indian Archipelago, Australia, &c,
eighty-one ; West Indies, two hundred and three ; North
American Indians, one hundred and eighteen. To send out
one thousand missionaries, and three hundred and fifty printers,
schoolmasters, &c, with their wives, at an average of 60/.
for passage, and 40/. for outfit, has cost 260,000/., to say
nothing of the expense of their education and the cost of the
native assistants. The labour of committees, correspondence,
&c, in discovering, examining, preparing, and sending forth,
this body of labourers, can only be appreciated by those who
have been engaged in such services. A large proportion of
these persons has been in the field long enough to develop
their character, and prove their suitableness. Here is, then,
another item sufficient of itself to reward all our exertions.
3. The Word of God, in whole or in part, has been trans
lated by modern missionariesinto nearly a hundred languages.
We ought to look steadily at this fact, till its difficulties,
magnitude, and importance, are in some sort perceived. These
translations, in many cases, have been made from the original
tongues, with vast pains in collating versions, and after ex
tensive reading in the sacred writings of the natives, to gather
suitable words, true idioms, and general propriety.
Some of these versions have been printed in successive
editions, each revised with a labour equal to that of the first
translation. In several cases, different and independent
translations have been made into the same language ; thus
furnishing multiplied materials for ultimately forming a satis
factory and established version.
These versions embrace the languages- of more than half the
human family ; and some of them are among the most diffi
cult in the world.
4. A considerable number of languages have been reduced
to writing.
Strange sounds have been caught, orthography settled,
parts of speech separated, and modes of construction deter-

280 MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS.
mined. In doing this, it has been necessary to go into
wearisome and perplexing examinations of native utterance ;
to collect, without helps, all the words of whole languages ;
and to study deeply the whole system of universal grammar,
or structure of languages in general.
For some of these languages characters have been invented,
in whole or in part. . In most of them a considerable number
of the people have been already taught to read, and an intro
duction is thus made to the increase of books, elevation of
intellect, and extension of Christianity.
5. Missionaries have given to the heathen nearly all the
useful literature they now enjoy.
With a few exceptions, they have been the introducers of
the art of printing, into all the pagan nations where it now
exists. Even in Hindustan, there had never been a book
printed, in any of her numerous languages, (except a Bengalee
grammar, and one or two other works by the late Dr. Wilkins,)
till the Baptist missionaries gave them the boon.
It is not necessary to give specifications, to elucidate or
amplify this argument. Every literary man, and every
reader of missionary intelligence, will at once think of various
countries, where the facts exist, on which it is founded ; and
will perceive that this fruit of missions, though not directly
evangelical, is highly important. *
6. Tracts, and practical works, have been produced in con
siderable variety.
In the Bengalee alone, there are seventy-five tracts, beside
Doddridge's Rise and Progress, Baxter's Call, Pilgrim's
Progress, Janeway's Token, Evidences of Christianity, Com
mentaries on Mark and Romans, Young Henry, and some
others. The Calcutta Tract Society has printed more than
* Our own biblical literature owes much to the researches of mission
aries, not only for important illustrations from manners, customs, natural
history, &c, but for criticism. See, on the last point, a paper in the
Quarterly Observer for January, 1836, on " The obligations of philology
to modern missionary efforts."

MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS. 281
6525 pages of tracts ; equal to twenty-two volumes of 300
pages each. At Madras have been printed, in the Tamul
language, seventy-one tracts, beside broad-sheets ; at Jaffna
eighty tracts, and at Travancore_/?/ity, making in all over 200
publications in Tamul. About fifty tracts have been printed
in the Malay ; in the Chinese, about a hundred, comprising
5863 pages, or twice the amount of pages in Morrison's Bible.
In Burman, there are twenty-eight tracts, making about 900
octavo pages ; besides portions of Scripture in tract form. It
would be tedious to make further specifications.
Among these publications are hymn-books, in several lan
guages. Every one may conceive the difficulty of writing
poetry in a foreign tongue, even if the metre and mode of
versification resemble our own ; the reverse of which is true of
Oriental languages. At most missions, the variety of hymns
is now sufficient for public and private worship, and some
advance has been made in teaching converts to sing. I could
not explain, without too many words, the labour and diffi
culty of this work in both its departments.
All these, works are to be enjoyed by future converts, to
their more speedy and effectual growth in grace; and by
future missionaries, in extending the knowledge and the argu
ments by which Christianity is to prevail.
The amount printed, forms but a fraction of what has been
made. Part of the rejected or postponed matter may yet be
serviceable ; but a large number of manuscripts, made by
beginners, though useful in their place as studies, will never
be printed. The amount of life and labour expended in pro
ducing the reading matter now extant, is not easily conceived.
It is a labour from which fruit can only now begin to be
realised. The same noiseless, and for the time, ineffective
labours, must be performed in all new missions, and continued to
a great extent in the old ones ; but so far as idiomatic, intelligi
ble, and adapted works have been prepared, it is work done
for ever.

282 MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS.
7. In nearly every mission there have been prepared, a
grammar, vocabulary, and dictionary.
Rude and imperfect as some of these necessarily are, because,
in their first stages of preparation, they furnish most desirable
aid to beginners, saving not only months of labour, and much
health and strength, to new missionaries, but forming the
rudiments which future students will improve to complete
ness. Not a few of these helps have already advanced, under
successive missionaries, to a good degree of perfection, and are
among the noblest literary works of the day.
8. An amount literally incalculable of Bibles and tracts has
been put into circulation.
Making the fullest deduction for such of these as may have
been destroyed, millions doubtless remain, to prove, as we
may trust, seed sown in good ground.
I am not among those who seem to think that if Christian
publications are scattered abroad, good must follow. But the
records of Bible and tract efforts most amply show that God
smiles on this species of benevolence. Every annual report of
these societies gives fresh facts, so that volumes might be filled
with these alone. I give the following illustration, not
because more striking than others which constantly occur, but
because recent and unpublished. A young man came to the
Baptist brethren in Cuttack, stating that in his own country,
about six years before, he had received from some stranger,
who wore a hat, a religious tract ; which, almost without
looking at, he placed in the bottom of his chest. Lately, a
gentleman had come through the place, making a survey of
the country. The hat this person wore, reminded the youth
that once a person with a hat gave him a tract. He brought
it forth from his chest, and for the first time read it over. It
proved the means of his awakening; and he persisted in his
inquiries. Having unreservedly become a disciple of Christ,
he had now made a long journey to join himself to his people.
He was baptized, and returned, and is now a useful labourer
in the missionary service.

MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS. 283
9. Great mechanical facilities have been created.
Besides the presses employed on foreign languages, by the
Bible and tract societies of Europe and America, there are now
in full operation in heathen lands, more than forty printing-
offices, belonging to missionary societies. Some of these have
from five to ten presses, generally of the best construction.
The fontes of type are numerous, and in many different cha
racters. Each of these fontes has cost many hundred pounds,
because, in addition to the usual expenses, there have to be
incurred, in each case, the cutting of punches, sinking of
matrices, and apparatus for casting. The alphabets, too, con
sist not of twenty-six letters, like ours, but often of a thousand
or more, including symbols and compounds. In addition to
aT these facilities, we may enumerate school-houses, chapels,
dwellings, libraries, apparatus, tools, globes, orreries, &c, at
the different stations, and procured at an outlay of a great
many thousand pounds. All of the printing-offices have
binderies, supplied with tools sufficient to do the work of the
respective establishments.
Many natives, at the cost of much labour and time, have
been trained to all the branches of mechanics connected with
these offices. In bringing matters to their present position,
the missionaries have not only been obliged to devise, teach,
and oversee, but in many cases, to perform every part of the
manual labour. These services and expenses are not again to
be performed in the same places. The costly scaffolding is up
for large portions of the growing edifice ; and future labour and
money, on those sections, may go directly to the increase of
the building.
Besides the property invested in these facilities, and forming
a large available capital, we are to consider the savings which
will be made hereafter, by the improvements which have been
effected. This point may be made plain by a single specifica
tion. In 1805, the cost of printing a manuscript Chinese

284 MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS.
version of the New Testament, then existing in the British
Museum, it was ascertained, would be two guineas per copy.*
In 1832, Mr. Hughes, of Malacca, wrote to the British and
Foreign Bible Society, j that the cost of a hundred copies of
the whole Bible, from the blocks, would be twenty-two guineas
— a difference of about three thousand per cent. ! Whenever
punches and matrices have been made, the casting of type may
hereafter be done at a comparatively cheap rate.
10. Schools of various grades are established, and a multi
tude of youth have received a Christian education.
To appreciate, in any proper degree, the magnitude of this
result, it is necessary to consider the difficulties which have
been overcome. In almost every case, the first offers of gra
tuitous instruction are spurned. When, at length, a few pupils
are obtained, priestly influence has often driven them away.
When even this is overcome, the children are frequently too
wayward and idle to continue at school. Our victory, there
fore, over the prejudices and jealousy of parents, the influence
of priests, and the frivolity of the children, is a great achieve
ment. Now, in many places, applicants are far more numerous
than can be received, and nothing but want of funds precludes
an almost unlimited extension of the system. Even Brahmins
send their sons without hesitation,
I need not expatiate on all the probable effect of these
schools, many of whose pupils are adults, and many more,
who, though youth when at school, are adults now. They
have diminished priestly influence by raising up an intelligent
body of persons, who, though ever so humble, can and do argue
triumphantly with the men who had before held the sway of
great veneration^ They have diffused a right knowledge of
Christians and Christianity, overthrown erroneous systems of
philosophy and nature, arrested floods of vice, prepared intel-
* Owen's First Ten Years of the British and Foreign Bible Society.
f Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1833.

MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS. 285
ligent hearers of the gospel, proved the superiority of the
missionary, and, in many cases, have been the means of
genuine conversion.
Some of these are boarding-schools, where the pupils are
wholly withdrawn from heathen influence. Some of them are
for the children of native Christians, who receive at home
impressions favourable to the permanency of those they receive
at school. Some of them teach the higher branches, such as
form a collegiate course with us. Some are taught in lan
guages never before committed to writing ; so that the pupils
are the first of their tribes who have ever learned to read.
Some of them are for females, in countries where the sex has
ever been left in almost total ignorance.
The whole number of pupils who have received education,
or are now in the schools, cannot be ascertained. From the
statistics furnished on this head by some societies, and the
imperfect returns of others, I set down the pupils now in
missionary schools, throughout the world, at nearly three
hundred thousand.
11. The blessings of Christian morality have been widely
diffused. Some whole nations have adopted Christianity. In Green
land,* in Labrador, and in more than thirty islands of the
Southern seas, paganism has ceased to be the national faith !
These have become, in the customary sense, Christian coun
tries. Instead of poverty, wars, and plunderings, are found
plenty, peace, and security. Instead of murdered infants,
neglected children, degraded wives, and burning widows, are
seen domestic peace and social endearments. Instead of idle
ness, are the comforts of intelligent industry. Intellectual
cultivation has supplanted brutal insensibility. Rulers and
kings, laying aside ferocity and selfishness, are seen governing
their people by Bible laws, and anxious for the general good.
* In Greenland there remained, in 1834, only one hundred and fifty
heathen !

286 MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS.
Wherever even nominal Christianity takes root, through Pro
testant efforts, it produces more energy of character, milder
manners, and purer morals, than has ever been shown under
any form of Pagan or Mahometan influence. I confidently
refer for proof to the Philippine Islands, to Amboyna, Bengal,
and Ceylon.
There are, also, in the midst of heathen lands, Christian
villages and districts, shining as lights in dark places ; such,
for instance, as at Serampore, Luckantiapore, Tanjore, Tene-
velly, Ceylon, Mata, and scores beside.
" Dialects unheard
At Babel, or at Jewish Pentecost,
Now first articulate divinest sounds,
And swell the universal anthem."
There are also single stations, where nominal Christians are
reckoned by thousands. It is true, the degree to which the
fruits of Christianity are produced, is not the same as in
Christendom, where its influences are corroborated in a thou
sand ways, and matured upon successive generations. The
conduct of these nominal ones is often a discouragement, and
sometimes a disgrace. But the benefits preponderate. Chil
dren grow up among beneficial influences, and enlightened to
know good from evil. Instead of a false, filthy, and damning
mythology, commingling with their first and most lastino-
impressions, they are instructed and restrained by pure and
blessed truth. The Sabbath is observed, and the same people
assembling from week to week, afford an opportunity of im
pressing line upon line, precept upon precept ; converts are
not embarrassed for daily bread, nor scorned, abused, and
abandoned by relations. Many formidable hindrances to con
version are thus removed. I need not expand this proposi
tion. The reader will see, that among such a people, the
missionary labours with many advantages similar to those of
a pastor in our own land.
1 2. In some places, the entire fabric of idolatry is shaken.
The knowledge of the one true God, and of salvation

MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS. 287
through his Son, has, in several regions, become general.
Hundreds of the best-informed persons openly ridicule and
denounce the prevailing superstition ; and thousands have
their confidence in it weakened, if not destroyed. Conviction
of the truth is established in the minds of multitudes who
dare not openly confess it. Not a few of the converts have
been from among tile distinguished members of society, and
even from the priesthood. Some of these have been so cele
brated for sanctity, and so extensively known, as to have
excited, by their conversion, a thrill of inquiry and alarm in
all their vicinity. Education has emancipated thousands from
the terrors of paganism, who yet do not accept Christianity,
nor consort with missionaries. Indeed, no man can be con
versant with the heathen world, without perceiving that
several large portions of the kingdom of darkness are on the
eve of a religious and moral revolution.
This topic of encouragement is no doubt extravagantly
enlarged upon by some. It has been assumed of countries
where it is not true ; and where it is true, the degree has
been overrated. Still, it is one of the achievements of mis
sions which the most scrupulous must admit. That it is
found anywhere, and to any extent, is great encouragement ;
it is not only a blessing on past efforts, and the promise of a
still greater, but a most animating facility and preparation
for future exertion.
13. The effect of missions on the European population
abroad. Before this enterprise, there was, among those who resided
in foreign lands, whether in public or private life, an almost
universal enmity to religion. Carey said that when he arrived
in Calcutta, he could hear of only three pious persons in India ;
excepting the four or five missionaries ! Now, a considerable
number, even among the highest ranks, in many parts of the
East, openly serve God. Hundreds of soldiers, and many
officers, have been converted under missionary labour. Places

288 MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS.
of worship are built, and the Sabbath observed, where
Christians had long resided without giving any visible sign
of their faith. Missions now have the countenance of a large
number of gentlemen who make no profession of religion.
Apologies for paganism, and opposition to Christianity, are
nearly silenced. In various places, handsome contributions
toward the schools, &c, are obtained from the officers and
gentry on the spot.
On no theme do pious "old Indians" dwell with more
fervour than this change in the religious character of Euro
peans, since their arrival in the country. I might rehearse
numerous facts given me by such, but space does not permit.
It is sufficient to say that much obstruction is thus removed
at certain points, and an encouraging amount of co-operation
secured, which is annually increasing. Considering how large
a part of the missionary field is under the dominion of Euro
peans, this single result of our past efforts is evidently of
great consequence.
14. Lastly, and chiefly — souls have been converted to God.
Here is the great point. On this there can be no variety
of sentiment, as to the value or the fruit, nor dispute as to the
reality of its existence.
" Behold the midnight glory ; worlds on worlds.
Amazing pomp ! Redouble this amaze.
Ten thousand add. Add twice ten thousand more.
Then weigh the soul ! One soul outweighs them all,
And calls the astonishing magnificence
Of unintelligent creation, poor." — Young.
Converted heathen are already numbered by tens of thou
sands. I might fill many pages with proof of the sincerity of
their conversion, from the sacrifices they make, and the lives
they live. I examined diligently into this matter every
where ; and have copious details in my possession. But,
adhering to the studied brevity of the other parts of this
work, two or three specimens only will be given. Few
Christians are aware of the extent to which such facts may

MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS. 289
be adduced. The various histories of missions are full of
them. In the last report of the London Missionary Society, it is
stated that Narapot Singh, a native preacher, had by his
attachment to Christianity sacrificed, for a period of twenty-
four years, an estate of eight thousand rupees per annum,
making in the whole 20,000/. And this is " all his living.'"
For the entire period he has endured continual poverty and
toil. Many of the Burman and Karen disciples have literally
" suffered the loss of all things ;" and it is believed that some
have died in consequence of their sufferings. At the village
of Mawbee, near Rangoon, a large number of Karens became
Christians, through the preaching of a native assistant, and
endured persecutions, which only fell short of taking life, for
many months ; having never seen a white missionary. I saw
various individuals in Bengal and the Carnatic, who were
then suffering banishment from all their relations, and many
of the hardships of poverty, in consequence of serving God.
In Madagascar Christianity was for a while countenanced by
Radama, the king, and the missionaries had many seals to
their ministry. At his death, the queen, who had always
opposed her husband in this thing, no sooner found herself in
possession of supreme authority than she began to exercise
it for the destruction of Christians. The missionaries were
expelled. One after another the prominent disciples have
been put to death. One of these, Rassalama, was sentenced
to death, and, for several successive days, was cruelly flogged
before the fatal day arrived. But her faith never staggered,
and she met death with a martyr's intrepidity. Her com
panions were sold into perpetual slavery, and their property
confiscated ; but not one recanted. Rafaravavy, another
distinguished woman, was for a long time kept in irons, and
then sold as a slave. r
After this the remaining Christians began to assemble in
the night, at the house of Rafaralahy, where they read the
vol. n. o

290 MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS.
Scripture, conversed together on spiritual things, and united
in prayer and praise. They were soon betrayed to the
government, and Rafaralahy, after being kept in irons two or
three days, was taken to the place of execution. On his way
he spoke to the executioners of Jesus Christ, and how happy
he felt at the thought of seeing, in a few minutes, him who
loved him and died for him. At the place of execution a
few moments being granted him at his request, he offered up
a fervent prayer for his persecuted brethren, and commended
his soul to Jesus. He then, with perfect composure, laid
himself down, and was immediately put to death. He was
twenty-five years of age, and of a respectable family. After
this the persecution was pressed with rigour. The govern
ment determined, if possible, to secure all the companions of
Rafaralahy. Several of them were seized, and afterwards
made their escape. Many incidents, showing the distress to
which the Christians were reduced, are related. A large
number conceal themselves in the houses of friends, or in the
forests, numbers are sold to slavery, and some are in irons.
The queen proposed to put every Christian to death; but
some of her officers advised her against this, saying, " It is the
nature of the religion of the whites ; the more you kill, the
more the people will receive it."
Such are the facts, which might be multiplied to an indefi
nite extent. They leave no room to question the reality of
the reported conversions. Defections, indeed, often occur, to
pain the hearts of the missionaries ; but, though many have
fallen through strong drink, love of gain, and other tempta
tions, I never heard of one who was driven from Christianity
by violence.
It is impossible to know the number of regenerated heathen;
as the returns are not furnished from some missions. Two
thousand have been baptized by missionaries connected with
Serampore, of whom six hundred are now alive and in good
standing. In the West Indies, connected with the Baptist

MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS. 291
and Methodist Missions, there are 69,000 -communicants.
The number connected with the London Missionary Society
is 5,439; with the Church Missionary Society, 1,514; with
the English Wesleyan Missionary Society, 48,795, exclusive
of members in British America ; with the English Baptist
Missionary Society, 18,720 ; with the American Board of
C. F. M., 2,600;* with the American Baptist Board, 1,900 ;
with the Moravian Missions, 47,000. Some missions, for
instance the Moravian, do not require actual conversion to
God as the term of church membership ; so that we cannot
calculate exactly from their returns in this argument.
From the best data we can obtain, we may safely estimate
the present number of converts, after deducting such as may
be supposed to have been received on an outward profession
merely, at more than a hundred thousand.
In many cases, these are formed into churches, with pastors
and deacons. The native preachers and catechists amount to
more than a thousand. Many of these have received a good
education in mission schools. Some (and the class is increas
ing) have become authors, and produced books, tracts, and
hymns, of great value. Let the reader pause and consider the
facts contained in these last four sentences; for though they
are barely named, they are of great importance.
In some places, these churches have become so established
that if missionaries should retire, the cause would probably go
on. The Rev. M. Baker, of Madagascar, declared in an
address at Cape Town, several years ago, that there were
" not less than five hundred natives, who had maintained a
constant profession of religion amidst persecution and danger."
We have just seen how, with equal constancy, they could die
for the truth.
Some of these churches have already begun to contribute,
even in pecuniary ways, to the furtherance of the great work.
* An extraordinary number of persons in the Sandwich Islands have
recently become religions. The particular accounts have not yet reached
this country ; but it is supposed the number is not far from 5,000 I
02

292 MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS.
It is thus at the Sandwich Islands, in Burmah, and many
other stations. Even the poor Africans at Griqua town,
contributed in 1836, to the funds of the Society, about twenty-
seven pounds, and at Bethelsdorf, in the same year, nearly
ninety pounds sterling.
Iu addition to these thousands of converts, now shining as
lights in dark places, we must not forget the thousands who
have died in the faith. In the case of Serampore, out of two
thousand baptized, only six hundred survive. We ought,
therefore, probably to add another hundred thousand for
converts deceased.
It would be easy and delightful to rehearse the distinct
narratives of many who have crowned a life of evident piety
by a becoming death. To speak of hundreds or thousands of
converted heathen, sounds cold, when we think of the hundreds
of millions yet left to perish. But in tracing the history and
religious experience of an individual, our impressions become
distinct ; and to number even units seems an ample reward for
all we have done or given. Such as would taste this feast
will find it largely spread out before them in the Moravian
and Baptist periodical accounts, the histories of missions, and
the reports of societies. Separate volumes are also published,
containing the memoirs of many of these. He who knows
the worth of his own soul, could not rise from the -life of
Krishnu, Petumber, Abdool Meseeh, Asaad Shidiak, Afri-
caneer, Peng, Catharine Brown, Karaimokee, &c, and retain
enmity to the system of means which, under God, saved them
from eternal death.
These glorious fruits are now safe in the garner of God.
Schwartz, Brainard, David, Schmidt, Carey, and a great
company of missionaries, have their converts with them before
the throne. No apostacy, no temptations, no weakness, can
overtake them now. There they are, where we would go.
Some are there, to whose salvation we ourselves have minis
tered. Soon we shall embrace them, not only in the blessed-

MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS. 293
ness of a joint salvation, but in the delicious consciousness of
having been the instruments of their deliverance.
If, after such thoughts, we could come down again to mathe
matical calculation, we might consider that the total number
of conversions, divided by the number of missionaries who
fully acquired the vernacular tongues, would give from three
hundred to four hundred converts to each ! Can the ministry
at home reckon thus ? Truly the measure of missionary suc
cess needs only to be closely scanned to become a theme of
wonder, rather than of discouragement.
VI. This discussion cannot properly close, without adverting
to the effects of the missionary spirit on the churches at home.
I have held a telescope to direct the reader's attention to
circumstances, in various parts of the heathen world, which,
without this aid, he might not notice. This task is resigned, not
because I have shown everything, but because any one may
now go into further details at his leisure. A glance at the
effect of missions in our own country, will conclude my
endeavours ; and as they lie open to the perceptions of every
man, I will do little more than mention the subject.
The formation of a missionary spirit, to the extent which
now prevails, is reward enough for all the labours and expense
which have been incurred. To a very important extent,
ignorance, prejudice, covetousness, and indifference, have been
overcome. Experience is gained. Friends and supporters
are organised. Thousands have awakened to the duty of
spreading the gospel, and will never give over. They will
inculcate it upon their children, convince their friends, and
disarm objectors. The friendly host will continually multiply.
Contributions are not now drawn forth by novel and affecting
statements of heathen cruelties, but in many cases come up
spontaneously, from sources lying among the deepest springs
of Christian action.
Objectors make this item no part of their estimate when
they declare that missions have failed. Had David done

294 MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS.
nothing toward the temple, when he had formed the plan and
secured the means? Was nothing done toward bringing
civilisation and Christianity to these shores, when as yet the
May-flower * lay in an English dock, and the resolved colony
was commending its embryo enterprise to God ? Was nothing
done toward our independence, when the spirit of resistance
had been spread through the country, and the people resolved
to be free ? The thing is too plain to need words. A great
work has unquestionably been done, in bringing the church to
its present state of feeling. The spirit of missions has grown
to adolescence, and is daily acquiring strength: its implements
and opportunities are ready, and its training becoming daily
more complete.
It is particularly to be considered that this spirit is not a
mere sudden impetus or direction, such as is sometimes
transiently given to public sentiment. For forty years it
has been growing, slowly and soundly, amidst opposition,
ridicule, reproach, and manifold disadvantages. Never was there
a revolution in human sentiment more obvious and positive.
Formerly, the thought of sending the gospel to the heathen
scarcely entered into the minds of God's people. Many
prayed, " Thy kingdom come," but none felt called upon for
personal action. When Carey, Sutcliffe, and Fuller, kindled
the flame at the Northamptonshire Baptist Association, it
became a measure supported by the zeal of a few. It grew
and extended, by the zeal of many. Now it is the settled
point of solemn duty with the great body of believers. It is
found to have the same claims as any other duty, specified or
implied, in the whole word of God. Arguments to prove
that a Christian ought to aid in sending out God's light and
truth, are beginning to be obsolete. Instead of these, the
question now is, how much, and in what manner, each indi
vidual is to aid. In these respects we are still deficient, but
* Thus was the vessel named that conveyed the ''pilgrim fathers" to
New England. — Ed.

MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS. 295
in a state of progress. A few years ago, the whole United
States had no foreign missionary ; and when Judson, Newell,
and others at Andover, proposed to go as such, it seemed so
doubtful whether the whole church could sustain them, that
measures were taken to see if they could not be supported
from England. Now, the United States has in the foreign
field, in the various departments of missionary service, more
than seven hundred and forty-six persons ! They have forty-
three printing-presses, and are already issuing Scriptures or
tracts in fifty-six different languages 1
No symptom of revulsion, or of a waning enthusiasm, is
discernible in any -quarter. The humblest advocate assumes
the attitude of a man who feels that his cause will finally
prevail. Discomfiture in some cases, and small success in
others, have produced no check. Defeat only sends the bands
of the benevolent " to inquire of the Lord." It leads them
to doubt their measures, but not their object. It makes them
sensible of weakness, but teaches them where their strength
lies. It silences their boasting, but awakens their prayers.
The development of the missionary spirit, in the single
matter of home missions, is full of grandeur and promise.
Eleven hundred and three missionaries are now in the service
of the American Home Missionary Society, and the American
Baptist Home Missionary Society, to say nothing of those
from similar institutions, in these and other denominations.
These are scattered among feeble churches, strengthening good
beginnings, sustaining Bible classes and benevolent societies,
diffusing Bibles and tracts, and, above all, gathering a multi-
tude of souls. The number who have made credible profes
sion of religion, in connexion with the two societies above-
named, one of which has been in operation eleven years, and
the other but half that time, is about seventy-five thousand !
In Ireland it has produced effects of the most animating kind.
It is now extending into the continent of Europe, and is nobly
calling forth the most blessed actings of Christian zeal.

296 MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS.
It would require a disproportionate space were I but to
enumerate the societies and movements which have grown up
as the fruit of a missionary spirit. Such an enumeration
would comprise results of even greater magnitude than can
be shown in the foreign field. To this spirit may be ascribed
all the improvements of the church for the last forty years.
For proof, contrast the state of religion in missionary and
anti-missionary churches. It is the spirit which forms the
essential difference between active and inactive Christians,
and comprises nearly all the characteristics which make them
"the salt of the earth." It has altered the character of col
leges, academies, asylums, school-books, and, in fine, placed
Christianity itself, so far as it has prevailed, in the attitude
it maintained under apostolic influence.
Concluding Remarks. Were more time and labour than
I am able- to give, bestowed upon the preceding investigations,
this chapter might be made more copious. But to give it
completeness is impossible. Thousands of facts lie scattered
about, in unpublished journals and letters ; and many more
are known only to Him from whom no secrets are hidden.
But the facts which I have adduced, do not lose their force
for want of more, and can only be answered by the production
of counter facts. But what facts can countervail such as
have been here adduced ? The last paragraph alone, weighs
more than mountains of objection.
That captains or merchants visiting the East often say,
" We read animating missionary accounts in the papers, but
see no such things on the spot," is not surprising. How should
they ? What means do they take to get information ? Have
they gone to the native chapels ; or accompanied the mission
ary in his daily rounds ; or visited the converts1 homes, or
the schools ; or seen Bibles and tracts given away ? Have
they so much as visited the missionary himself, except at
meal-times, or other intervals of labour? What would a
gentleman know of the state of religion in London or New

MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS. 297
York, who had merely walked about the streets, or conversed
with those who make no pretensions to piety ; or with such
as are hostile ? Without taking pains, even residents at a
station may remain almost perfectly ignorant of a missionary's
operations. Instead of naked assertions that nothing has been done,
we have a right to expect objectors to come forward with the
religious statistics, past and present, of specified places. They
should fairly show that the work said to be done is not done,
or that the effects said to have followed have not followed.
If they merely point to things left undone, we concur in
lamentation ; and only ask larger means, and further time, to
show greater results.
There is reason to suspect, that those who most loudly
assert the failure of missions, are those who would have it so.
There are, in foreign countries, many who would shelter their
vices in the gloom of surrounding paganism, and are impatient
of the restraints of missionary influence. And there are many
at home, who, being inimical to Christianity, impugn its
benevolent operations, for want of talent or learning, to attack
its fundamentals. And there are many, who, without being
unfriendly to religion, are glad of a cloak for covetousness,
and, in declining to contribute on the score of conscience, can
save their money, and at the same time claim superior piety
or keener insight into abuses.
It is quite certain, that the great body of those who com
plain are not persons who have most right to do so. They
are not those who have given their money, their children, or
themselves, to the work ; and who, if there be fraud or folly,
are of all others the most interested to make the discovery.
They are not those who have seen most of the field, or who
have most diligently read the reports of the societies. They
are not those who have had the most extensive and intimate
acquaintance with the men who have gone forth, and who
might infer what is done from a knowledge of the agents.
o3

298 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
They are not the men best acquainted with the managers and
management of the different boards. All these classes of
persons are friendly.
Such considerations should restrain the uninformed from
impugning our motives or disparaging this great work. They
should hear the voice of reason, addressed to some in a former
age, who opposed what they did not understand. " Let these
men alone ; for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will
come to nought ; but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it ;
lest haply ye be found even to fight against God."

CHAPTER IV.
ON THE MODE OF CONDUCTING MODERN MISSIONS.
Schools — Translations and Tracts — Preaching in English — Periodicals —
Use of the Roman Alphabet — Missionary Physicians — Unnecessary
Display and Expense — Direct Preaching to Natives — Formation of
Regular Churches — Qualifications of Native Assistants — Instruction in
the English Language — Intermission of Operations — Division of Labour
— Concentration — Choice of Fields — Remarks.
More than forty years' experience in modern missions,
ought to furnish data for an intelligent revision of the system ;
and the anxious inquiries which are heard on this point, not
only among friends and supporters at home, but among mis
sionaries themselves, seem to demand some remarks on the
subject, in a work like the present.
The question is, whether the whole system is so erroneous
that it should be abandoned for another ; or is correct in the
main, with curable imperfections. The first of these opinions
finds many affirmative respondents, some of whom propose
definite substitutes.* The writer embraces the other opinion,
and ventures, though with sincere diffidence, to contribute his
* Edward Irving proposes that each missionary go forth singly, looking
to God for supplies, even as he does for success. The author of the Natural
History of Enthusiasm insists that our present system must be dissolved,
and recomposed upon anew model; the principal feature of which is, that
all existing missionary societies be absorbed into one great society, under
the English Episcopacy, and using the English liturgy.

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 299
mite toward a discussion which he hopes will call forth abler
pens, and result in a happy approximation to a perfect arrange
ment. For the sake of brevity, whatever is approvable will
be passed over, and only such matters touched, as seem to call
for change.
1. The proportion of time and money, bestowed on schools,
should be much less.
Schools are extravagantly extolled, and hopes are built upon
them which could only be warranted by a New Testament
declaration that they are the Lord's chosen and primary means
for spreading Christianity. It has been declared, that " our
only hope of success lies in the school system ;" that " the
evidences of Christianity must be understood before it can be
embraced ;" that " man must be civilised before he can be
Christianised;" and that "the schoolmaster must precede the
missionary." Thus a religion which God designed to convert and save
even ignorant savages, is made to wait the operation of a
tardy process of intellectual culture ; and man is to be made
wise unto salvation through the wisdom of this world. By
this system, whole generations of adults must be left to perish,
while the youth are being instructed ; and instead of boldly
advancing to dislodge " the strong man armed," we are to
seek priority of occupation in the human heart. Alas ! by
such a course, we are not only in danger of losing our labours,
but of awakening the jealousy of Him who " will not give his
glory to another."
The extent to which schools have been established by
modern missionaries, is very great. There cannot be fewer
than two hundred and fifty thousand youth now receiving
instruction in missionary schools. As the school system has
been actively maintained from an early period, and a full
course may be presumed to include only five years, this num
ber must be doubled to make the true total of educated pupils.
And, as the great majority of scholars remain but a year or

300 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
two, the number must be again doubled, making an aggregate
of a million of pupils, who have been, for a succession of
months, subject to missionary influence.
The proportion of conversions, among this mighty host, is
certainly very small. It was stated by the late Rev. Mr.
Reichardt of Calcutta, who laboured long in the service of
the Church Missionary Society, that, of the many thousand
boys instructed by that society, only five or six had been con
verted. At Vepery, a suburb of Madras, where, for a hun
dred years, this species of labour has been largely bestowed
by the Christian Knowledge Society, the results are scarcely
more encouraging ; nor at Tranquebar, where schools have
been maintained for a hundred and thirty years. In all
Madras, where several thousands have constantly been taught
in missionary schools, there are not known to be half-a-dozen
converted natives. At the Anglo-Chinese college at Malacca,
which has existed for twenty years, only a few have been
converted, though some twenty or thirty have been brought
over to Christianity. In Ceylon, where schools have been
conducted for twenty-six years, and generally with more
attention to religion than is common in India, few conversions
occurred previous to 1830; and those since that time have
been rather the fruit of protracted meetings, and special pas
toral efforts, than of the school system. Out of the Scotch
General Assembly's School in Calcutta, which for six years
has had an average of four hundred scholars, and the entire
and constant attention of two missionaries, there have been
but five or six conversions. The Baptist schools in Bengal,
numbering thousands of scholars, for more than thirty years
past have produced very few conversions. That at Chitta
gong, taught by a missionary in person, every day for sixteen
years, with an average of two hundred pupils, has witnessed
but two of the scholars brought to a knowledge of the truth.
In Arracan, no conversion has yet occurred in the schools.
Among all the Burmans, I know of no Christian who is

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 301
regarded as the fruit of schools. Among the Karens, many
scholars have been converted ; but the primary and daily
object of those schools has ever seemed to be the conversion,
rather than the education, of the scholar.
Let the primary and immediate object of gathering youth
into a school be their conversion, and the schoolmaster may
do great good. But to rely chiefly on him and his work for
results which Jehovah has appointed to be done by other men
and other means, is only calculated to mislead us, and insure
disappointment. Our expectations from schools are in most
cases wholly different from the expectations of the teacher
himself, nine-tenths of them being unconverted heathen.
In places where schools have most abounded, and for the
longest time, a considerable number of pupils have rejected
idolatry without embracing Christianity ; and are now con
ceited infidels, worse to deal with than pagans.. Many of
these, by means of their education, have obtained offices
under government, or in large commercial houses, and exert
considerable power and influence against religion. In some
cases, nearly all the pupils are children of country-born Ca
tholics, whose education only serves to make Popery more
respectable ; in others, a great majority of scholars are from
the poorest of the people, whose knowledge of reading, writ
ing, and ciphering, does not serve to elevate their situation,
and who, having no use for these acquirements after leaving
school, forget them to a great extent.
Few are so far advanced as to comprehend those evidences
of Christianity which have been made such an argument in
favour of schools. Even in our own country, this is a study
for the last years at college, and not for school-boys. But our
school-boys are better prepared to comprehend these evidences
than most of the students in Oriental " colleges," even of an
advanced standing.
It should be considered how far the diffusion of the ability
to read is desirable among a people in whose language little or

302 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
nothing of a valuable nature is yet prepared, or likely soon to
be. The readers in Bengalee, taught by missionaries, have
been furnished by unprincipled natives with a multitude of
silly and pernicious books, which, at the old average of readers,
would probably never havo been printed. The Friend of India,
of 1825, contains a list of all the books issued from the native
press in Bengal up to that period. They amount to thirty-
one ; and are all, with two exceptions, pestilent or preposter
ous ! The issues of subsequent years have been, no doubt, of
the same character ; but I am not able to find a list.
When the happiest effect flows from schools, viz. the con
version of scholars, the influence diffused on the population is
less than from conversions which follow preaching. The tri
umph of Christ is scarcely perceptible. The heathen see that
the children have been regularly trained to the new faith.
They know that if our children were trained in the same
manner by their priesthood, they would as easily become
pagans. They attribute the change, therefore, not to the
superiority of our system, but to the natural effect of early
education. I am far from wishing the school system to be abandoned,
especially in Hindustan. A school has many advantages in
enabling a missionary to bring divine truth before his pupils ;
and a man, whose heart glows with zeal, will find it an ani
mating field. The error seems to be, not in having schools,
but in expending upon them a disproportionate measure of
our means ; in expecting too much from them ; in not making
them sufficiently religious ; in establishing more than can be
properly superintended ; in the indiscriminate reception of
scholars ; in employing heathen teachers ; and in trusting to
science for the overturn of idolatry.
Schools furnish an advantageous opportunity for the partial
employment of fresh missionaries, whose knowledge of the
language is insufficient for more direct efforts. But this very
deficiency in the language must almost preclude religious influ-

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 303
ence, The plan now often pursued is, for a missionary or his
wife to superintend five, ten, or even twenty schools, taught
by hired pagans. These are visited once every few days, in
the cool of the morning, giving ten or fifteen minutes to each.
In some cases, they are visited once a month. The master
merely teaches reading and writing ; and that, too, in his own
inexpert, or perhaps ferocious manner. He is naturally sup
posed by the scholars to understand our religion, and his not
receiving it has a pernicious influence. Qualified teachers are
so few, that persons have sometimes been employed who openly
opposed Christianity. Secret counteracting influences, by the
master, are still more common. In schools patronised by the
British government, though taught by a missionary, it is
required that instruction in religion shall not be formally
introduced. The question seems not to have received sufficient attention,
whether we should multiply schools, and teach mere rudi
ments to a great number, or restrict the number, and carry
the education to a high point. I am in favour of the latter
course. No nation has become literary by universal instruc
tion in reading and writing. These confer no knowledge ;
they are only means for acquiring and diffusing it. In a
country where the absence of books, periodicals, and political
freedom, preclude advancement in after-life, beyond the rudi
ments learned at school, these acquirements will not be gene
rally retained ; or if retained, are of little use. With us, com
mon schools bring our youth to the starting-point, and give to
genius, where it exists, a chance for advancement and honour.
But where these leave a heathen pupil, there, in ninety-nine
cases out of a hundred, he stops; and soon begins to recede,
for want of use for his knowledge. Besides, the most extended
system of such schools, which we can hope to establish in the
heathen world, can embrace, after all, but a very inconsiderable
portion of the youth ; so that even the argument for univer
sality will not apply.

304 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
It seems to me, therefore, that the highest advantages of
schools are to be gained by gathering select children of pagans
into boarding-schools, and all the children of native converts
into day-schools, (which at most stations may be united,)
and carrying the education of these to a high point. Such
pupils will be exempt from the dreadful pollutions of a heathen
home, and the innumerable associations which tend to nullify
every good influence. They become subject to continuous and
systematic efforts, which are impossible where the scholars are
often changing. Some of them are likely to become authors
in their own language, for which they will have qualifications
which foreigners can scarcely hope to attain.
Such schools give the missionary a paternal relationship to
the child, and a probability of securing his confidence and
attachment. They furnish precious opportunities for the daily
inculcation of sacred truth. They form at oncp permanent
congregations and attached households ; opening access, at the
same time, to many parents. New missionaries could usefully
assist, two or three hours a day; and rather gain than lose
time, in learning the language. Scholars long trained in this
manner, could not but have a salutary influence on their
parents, and be the means of diffusing many important truths.
The systematic control of their minds, and constant example
of true family order, would counteract the danger, which exists
in other schools, of creating a contempt for parental knowledge
and government, without furnishing an adequate substitute,
to prevent the effects of filial disobedience. In every such
school, one missionary at least, competent in the language,
should devote his whole time, and hold the salvation of the
pupils as his prominent aim.
In educating converts, particularly the younger ones, there
can scarcely be too much effort. If knowledge is power, let
us give it to the truly good. Let us not compass sea and land
to make a proselyte, and then leave him to grope his way in
ignorance, perplexity, and error. Let us form his tastes,

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 305
habits, studies, and pursuits, upon the noblest principles of
divine revelation. Let us do all in our power to create an
impressive superiority on the part of such as bear the Chris
tian name, and to aid them in diffusing light and peace.
2. At some stations, at least, less time might be devoted to
translations and tracts.
It is eminently desirable to perfect every tract and transla
tion ; but where an intelligible and tolerably correct one exists,
the perfecting of it may thenceforth be made a by-business.
There will be diversities of taste, if no more, which will pre
vent any production from suiting every scholar. But it is
not found that the last is always the best. There have been
printed seven versions and revisions of the Malay Bible ; and
a distinguished missionary among that people assured me that
the first, published at Serampore, remains the best.
It is not desirable that missionaries should in their first
years devote themselves to translation and authorship, even if
there be no Christian books in the language. To write and
translate, as exercises for themselves, is important ; but they
should put nothing to press till they have been years at their
post, and have revised their work many times. It would be
well if every missionary, qualified, by his early studies, to
translate the Scriptures, were to take some select portion, and
occupy himself upon it, at leisure moments, for eight or ten
years ; or even his lifetime. He might sketch two or three
tracts, and keep them by him in the same way. This, how
ever, would not prevent the necessity for some individuals to
make translations and authorship their prominent employment.
The anxiety for an immediate production of books has
caused the publication of Scriptures and tracts so imperfect,
as to be almost if not quite useless, and in particular passages
quite erroneous. To prove this, and at the same time show
the sort of errors to which I allude, I will give a few instances
which were mentioned to me, taken from distant and different
versions. John i. 1, " In the beginning was the Word, and

306 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
the Word was with the Lord God Boodh, and the Word was
the Lord God Boodh." Exod. iii. 2, " The Lord appeared
-unto him in a flame of fire in the knot of a tree." Acts i. 8,
" Ye shall receive the power of life and death." Matt. v. 3,
" Blessed are the destitute of life." 1 Cor. v. 6, " A little
crocodile crocodileth the whole lump." !
When there are none of these mistranslations, there may be
such a want of idiomatic propriety, such an infusion of new
words, or such general obscurity, as to discourage, if not
bewilder, the heathen reader. Such, it appears from Mr.
Medhurst,* is the case with Morrison's Chinese version, of
which the convert Lew Tse-chuen, as quoted by him, says,
"I perceive there is no unwillingness to accept the books,
but, failing to comprehend their meaning, they frequently
throw the work aside." To the same effect is his quotation
from Choo Tih-lang, a Chinese transcriber now in England.
" Having perused the present translation of the Scriptures
into Chinese, I find it exceedingly verbose, — containing much
foreign phraseology, so contrary to the usual style of our
books, that the Chinese cannot thoroughly understand the
meaning, and frequently refuse to look into it." Marshman's
version is greatly liable to the same objections.
It is a serious subject, and deserving the early attention of
the managers at home, as well as Biblical critics, how far our
versions should conform to the pompous and unchristian
phraseology of Eastern languages. The language of a superior
to an inferior is wholly different from that of an inferior to a
superior. Shall this diversity be followed in translations ?
It is so in many of them, and not so in others. In one
Tamul version, the Virgin Mary is always addressed as
" Worshipful." And instead of " said," &c. in Gen. i. 3, it
is " opening his divine mouth, he said, Let light appear."
In one version, " apostle" is rendered " royal messenger."
These idioms give a haughty aspect to the language of apostles
* China, its State and Prospects, p. 443.

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 307
and prophets, and a servility to those who address them. It
will be a question also whether we shall make two versions in
some languages, one high and literary, ajid one common and
plain. Henry Martyn's Persian Testament is of the former
kind, and though intelligible and acceptable to all the upper
classes, is wholly incomprehensible to vulgar readers.
Rhenius's version of the Tamul is intermediate, and has by
some been objected to as suitable for no class of society.
Yet with all their imperfections, most translations have
been sufficiently good to convey a large amount of genuine
truth ; so that the expense has by no means been utterly
wasted. Thank God, the most important texts in the Bible
are easily translated. It would probably be difficult to err in
rendering "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;"
¦" It is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that
Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners ;" " Except
a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
The value even of a good version of Scripture, is wholly
overrated by such as suppose it to be as intelligible to heathen
as our Bible is to the unconverted. The case is far otherwise.
The most intelligent pagan finds not only words, but facts,
reasonings, and allusions, which he can no better understand
than the Ethiopian eunuch did the predictions concerning
Christ. He has not so much preparation for understanding
the Bible, as is acquired by our children in the nursery.
Beside, this want of preparation is the littleness and debility
of a heathen's mind, which is alluded to, page 269. Things
must be explained to him, as to an infant. Let the language
be never so plain and idiomatic, he will rarely understand the
subject, unless it be some simple parable or narrative. Hence
the king of Siam, after hearing a Christian book read, threw
it aside, saying, " Let the teachers go on giving these books ;
no man in my kingdom can understand them."
As to tracts translated from the English, very few of them
can be of any service, except to some of the more advanced

308 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
converts. They all are constructed on the supposition that
the reader knows certain doctrines, or facts, which heathen do
not know, and take for granted, what a heathen does not
grant. They all involve some knowledge of Christianity,
while the heathen reader may never have so much as heard
of it before. Tracts for the heathen must be written for them;
and that by men who not only know their modes of thinking,
their system of religion, their habits, temptations, &c, but
by such as have so far learned the language as to think in it,
and write it with idiomatic accuracy.
The number of heathen who can read intelligibly, on sub
jects not connected with trade and common things, is very
small. This point seems not to have excited sufficient atten
tion ; and a few efforts, lately made, lead to startling conclu
sions. Mr. North, of the mission to Singapore, has made the
most efficient investigation on this subject that I know of.
He examined, personally, the crews of many vessels trading
to Singapore, from the other ports of the peninsula, and the
numerous islands of the China Sea. Out of two thousand
persons thus examined, he informed me that he found but one
could read with ease, and four others who could spell out the
sense with difficulty. The rest, though in general able to
read the characters, scarcely knew the sense of a single word.
These persons are not an inferior class, like European sailors,
but are for the most part traders on their own account, and
may be taken as a fair sample of the inhabitants of then1
respective countries. The Malay population of Singapore has
scarcely a reader, except a mere handful, who had been
taught in the mission schools* I have already spoken of
the fewness of readers even in China. The Burmans, though
a reading people, as to the ability to pronounce the charac
ters, are not generally able to read with understanding. In
* In calling these a mere handful, I do not impeach the missionaries
who have for many years laboured largely in this department. The truth
is, it has been found impossible to persuade many of the scholars to remain
long enough to acquire the art of reading.

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 309
a late discussion of another subject in the Friend of India, it
is declared by the editor that not more than one million, out
of the thirty millions of Bengalees, can read. And this esti
mate is twice as high as is made by some others. Mr. Tre-
velyan, admitting that there may be a million, asks, " And
what sort of readers are this one million ? How many of
them understand what they read ? How many can even
pronounce fluently the mere words on a page they never saw
before ? Even Pundits and Munshees, and much more the
common people, read with difficulty, stopping to spell words,
and repeating over and over the last two or three words, while
they are studying out the next. There are probably not five
hundred persons in all India not educated by Europeans, who
could take up a translation, in their own character, of any
work in philosophy, morals, or religion, and read it extempore
with understanding.''
Our expectations from the diffusion of Bibles and tracts
appear extravagant, if we reason upon them in the abstract.
No school-teacher could hope to fulfil his duty by shutting
himself up in a study, and sending out among his pupils ele
mentary treatises and cogent appeals. Cases of the benefit of
Bible and tract distribution have occurred in sufficient num
bers to warrant our diligent continuance in this department
of effort, but not enough to warrant our making it so pro
minent in our general system of means. It is to be consi
dered how few it has converted, compared with the prodigious
amount done in this way. Among the Malays, for instance,
who have had the whole Bible, and more than forty tracts,
distributed among them by thousands, for many years, I could
not hear of a decided Christian on the peninsula. The avidity
with which our books are received, is not to be ascribed to a
general and intense desire to know the truth. The paper, the
printing, the shape, and the colour of the book, make it as
great a curiosity as a palm-leaf manuscript is to us. A
heathen missionary might give away any quantity of such

310 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
manuscripts in the streets of our cities, and the rush for them
would continue till they ceased to be curiosities.
We certainly do well to prosecute a lavish distribution in
countries like China and Japan, where missionaries are not
admitted ; or like Burmah and Madagascar, where their
tenure is frail. But the utility in such cases consists chiefly
in preparing the way for personal effort ; and without its being
thus followed up, permanent and general benefit can hardly
be expected.
3. There should be less preaching in English.
At a great proportion of our stations there are some who
speak our language ; and these, though but half-a-dozen, will
desire the ministrations of the Sabbath. But the missionary
is sent forth to heathen ; and he violates his engagement, if
these receive not the great bulk of his attentions. Many
missionaries are almost lost to the heathen in this way. These
Europeans or Americans know the system of salvation, and
deliberately put it away ! To irreligious men of cultivated
minds, common preaching has no charms. It must either be
so eloquent, as to make them consent to hear unwelcome
truths, for the pleasure of the oratory ; or so neutral, as not
to disturb their consciences. A young man, who has prac
tised little or none in his own country, will find regular weekly
services consume too much time and strength. If he deal in
undigested crudities, his little audience will fall off, or no
fruit ensue. Constant and close preaching to a very small
auditory, unless managed as few have skill to do, will give
personal offence, and inflict on the missionary both mental
suffering and official embarrassment. Besides, it is scarcely
desirable for a missionary to appear closely connected with
other foreign residents. In general, the persons with whom
he becomes thus identified in the eyes of the people, live in
open violation of the Sabbath, and other scandalous vices ; and
the natives are likely to take their conduct as the fruits of
Christianity. It has ever been a difficulty with missionaries

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 311
to make the heathen understand that these people are
Christians only in name.
This is not the place to multiply arguments on any subject.
It will suffice to remark, that while a missionary should readily
render his spiritual services to nominal Christians when sick
ness, death, or other occasions call for them ; and welcome to
his family worship and expositions, such as may be willing to
attend, his proper business is to go after the lost ones, who
have never known the way of peace. To these he is sent by
those who furnish his support. Where it is proper to main
tain an English service, there should be sent a person adapted
to the work, who should make this his chief business, and
whose health should not be worn down, or his mind distracted,
by studying the vernacular. His support should be expected
in great part from his auditory, and only such sums voted by
the Missionary Board, as may be contributed for this purpose.
A. Less effort should be spent, for the present at least, on
periodicals. Nearly every principal station, such as Calcutta, Bombay,
Madras, Malacca, Canton, Greece, &c, has one or more
periodicals, published or edited by missionaries. It must be
evident, that the getting up of these is attended with far more
labour, than similar works in our own country, both from
manifold inconveniences and the fewness of writers. A serious
amount of missionary energy is therefore expended in this way,
even on the supposition that subscribers, other than mission
aries, are sufficiently numerous to cover the mechanical expense.
But if these periodicals do not support themselves, much less
pay the salaries of editors, or if most of the subscribers are
missionaries, they cost the church, as a whole, too much, both
in money and men.
With one or two exceptions, these periodicals are in the
English language, and are intended to affect English and
Americans. They contain theological and missionary contro
versies, general literature, philology, news, translations of

312 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
pagan authors, and other matter, which, to a great extent,
might with advantage be inserted in existing periodicals at
home, or in some one or two established for this separate pur
pose. They might thus be even more extensively distributed
among missionaries than they are now ; for it is in general
easier to send parcels from home to each station, than to send
them from any one station to all the others.
If this amount of labour and expense be continued, it should
be by the expressed will of the churches, just as contributions
are now designated for education, for the distribution of Bibles
and tracts, for the support of children, or for general missionary
purposes. Funds to support editors and writers for periodi
cals, might be made a distinct account. If the amount of
contributions for this object will sustain these periodicals, and
brethren arise who deem it their province to go abroad and
edit them, no one can object. The department of service is
both useful and honourable ; and some of the present works
might probably be continued with advantage. But we must
not, with our present small force, bestow disproportionate time
and money upon it, nor allow the friends of missions in this
country to be expecting conversions in proportion to the num
ber of labourers, without understanding how those labourers
are employed.
5. In reducing languages to writing, the Roman letters only
sliould be used.
The curse of Babel has been greatly increased by the variety
of characters mankind have employed in expressing articulate
sounds. Some of these are more philosophical and convenient
than others, but none are comparable to ours. I cannot so
extend this head as to argue the whole case, but will barely
name a few reasons which go to show why our alphabet
should be preferred.
Oriental alphabets are written with great difficulty. Many
missionaries never become able to write their new language ;
and many, with all their pains, are so awkward and slow at

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 313
it, as to prefer to employ a native hand on all occasions, during
their life.
They are written at best very slowly. It may safely be
affirmed, that it requires five hours for a missionary to write
in the native character what he would write in one in his own.
Thus four years out of five, of time spent in writing, is lost !
The most expert native Bengalee writers have been found, by
experiment, to require three times as long to write a page in
their own character, as it does to write the same on the Roman
system. Any man can see how this would operate on the
progress of arts, sciences, literature, manufactures, and religion,
in lands where all are to be begun. Should we, who are to
raise up readers and writers for half the world, entail upon
them, and all their posterity, miserable alphabets of a thousand
different kinds, when, with the same labour, we can give them
our own ?
Oriental alphabets proceed from line to line, without any
prominent mode (often without any mode) of marking empha
tic words, proper names, quotations, pauses, accents, or even
of separating words from one another. How would an En
glish reader be puzzled in reading a page thus put together, and
how likely to be led wholly astray ! This argument alone
should weigh against many objections, when it is considered
how important it is to avoid every possible mode of misappre
hension, for natives reading books on a subject so new and
strange, and which inevitably contain many words they have
never seen before.
In writing these characters there is often no standard.
There being no other established form of the letters than as
printed, and this form in general being so difficult and slow,
each man alters to suit himself, when writing in haste.
Hence the writing of one, is often scarcely legible to another,
or even to himself, after the lapse of a few months. In our
language, the written and printed characters are so alike, that
VOL. II. p

314 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
all who read one, can read the other ; yet the former requires
but one fifth of the time consumed by the latter.
That our alphabet is competent to the expression of any lan
guage, is proved by the number and diversity of those already
so written; viz. English, Welsh, Irish, German, Danish, Dutch,
Swedish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Basque, Ca-
talonian, Malay, Bengalee, Hindustanee, Malagassee, Asamese,
Mahratta, New Zealand, several languages of Africa, the
South Sea Islands, the South American dialects, and probably
others. Except the Cherokee, for which a native invented
letters, all the translations and tracts which have been printed
for the American aborigines, are in the Roman character, and
generally if not always, without diacritical marks ; and cer
tainly words more difficult to spell and pronounce are not
found on earth. The inference is perfectly safe, that if these
languages, in every part of the earth, and with every variety
of articulation, can be expressed in our alphabet, so may all
others. The Roman Catholic missionaries employ them even
for the Chinese, Japanese, Siamese, and Burman.
The difficulties, inconsistencies, and often absurdities, of our
orthography form no objection to the use of our letters. So
far as modern missionaries are concerned, these anomalies are
avoided. English words are spelled after the fashion of the
different languages from whence they are derived ; but in con
structing an orthography for an entire language at once, a
perfectly uniform system can be always adopted.
Another great objection to these alphabets is the expense
they involve, in furnishing the nations with the word of God.
A good fonte of our type, of the size of this, embracing both
upper and lower case letter, and all the variety of points,
&c, may be had for 100/., or less. There are three sizes of
Burman letter, and each fonte costs, including the support of a
missionary to superintend the work, more than 400/. ster
ling. The proportion is not very different in most other
Eastern tongues.

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 315
There are probably four thousand languages yet to be fur
nished with the Scriptures. If, in doing this, we resolve all
into two thousand ' various alphabets, which perhaps is hardly
possible, and give three sizes of type to each alphabet, it will
cost nearly 2,500,000/. Our type, of three different sizes
for the same languages, would cost but 500,000/. When done,
many of them, such as Persian, Nagari, Arabic, &c, are so
formed that the types are necessarily and constantly breaking ;
making a still greater difference in the cost of books. The
small strokes above and below are not sustained by the body
of the type, but run out, and can scarcely bear the force of the
press. But the first cost of an Oriental fonte is as nothing compared
to the subsequent expenses it entails ; chiefly on account of
its large size. It requires from three to six times the expense
of press- work, and the same for paper, binding, transportation,
&c. Judson's Bible is in four large octavos ; and yet the type
is scarcely half the size in which Burmans commonly write.
I am satisfied, everything considered, that the use of Roman
letter would be a saving of seven-tenths of all the money to be
spent in missionary printing.
The question, then, is not only philological. Grant all that
the warmest advocates of Oriental letters could affirm ; nay,
admit for them a great superiority over ours ; it comes back
to a question of pounds, shillings, and pence. The whole num
ber of languages which contain the word of God is less than a
hundred, and about a hundred more have portions of it. The
people of some of those languages have not yet been supplied
in the proportion of one family in a thousand. Here, then,
are thousands of fontes of type to procure, thousands of trans
lations to make, and myriads of Bibles to print ; beside rousing
up nominal Christendom to supply itself. While the means
for accomplishing all this are so inadequate in the best modes,
how can we honestly pursue a system which so vastly aug
ments the difficulty ? Indeed, except we use the Roman
p2

316 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
alphabet, the supply of the Scriptures to mankind is indefi"
nitely postponed, and perhaps rendered impracticable.
Whenever, in giving letters to a tribe that never had any,
we adopt those of some adjacent nation, rather than our own,
we incalculably abridge the benefit to the people, as well as
inflict on the church an intolerable and useless expense.
When a nation, like the Chinese, Hindus, or Burmans, have a
written language, and books, and schools, of their own, we
must adopt their characters for some of our books. But it
has been found expedient in Hindustan to teach Bengalee,
Hindee, &c, in the Roman character. Dictionaries and trans
lations have been so published ; and it is not certain but that
even in such a country, the use of the native alphabets maybe
wholly superseded.
Against all the reasons for preferring the Roman alphabet,
I know of no respectable objection. In all the world the
mass of readers are to be raised up by efforts yet to be made ;
and they may as easily be taught in one character as in
another ; nay, far more easily in the Roman than any other.
There is no valuable literature in any pagan language to be
displaced by a new character. On the contrary, the render
ing obsolete of the mass of impurity, error, and absurdity now
existing, is a powerful argument in favour of the Romanizing
system. By teaching through the medium of our alphabet,
we shut out from the pupil, and gradually render obsolete,
the mass of abominations now constituting the literature of
such nations. We would thus avoid several of those evils
which now attend upon our schools, and which have been
mentioned under that head. To get rid, by any process, of
the stupendous obstruction now presented by pagan literature,
would be a magnificent achievement.
6. The recent plan of sending missionary physicians, should
be very sparingly prosecuted.
It may be that a sense of failure in regard to direct evange
lical labours, or a love of novelty, renders popular the sending

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 317
out of physicians. Many are already in the field ; and from
various directions the call is made, " Send us out accomplished
physicians." For some fields, it is avowed, that no others are
wanted at first.
Or the hope may be, to gain respect and confidence, and
thus open a door for Christianity. But Christianity needs no
such usher. We are pointed to the miracles of Christ and
the apostles. But these were for conviction and proof, not
for attractiveness or insinuation. Hence they were not all of
healing. Some of them inflicted death, others blindness.
They withered fig-trees, destroyed swine, or struck down
enemies. To assert that we need a substitute for miracles
will not comport with the received doctrine that miracles have
answered their end, and passed away. If those of the first
age are still sufficient proof, why seek a substitute ? If the
immediate effects of miracles are now necessary, we must
"ask and we shall receive" power to work them.
It is not clear that a physician, practising gratuitously among
the heathen, opens a door for his missionary brother. It may
even tend to throw him into the shade, and prejudice his use
fulness. One may be admired and patronised, while the
other is regarded as a mere supernumerary. He may acquire
personal esteem and confidence ; but how this is transferred to
his preaching and proselyting brother, to Christianity as a
system, or to successors, is not plain. The' cause and effect
do not seem to correspond.
The religion of the heathen is everywhere a religion of
merit and demerit. Of disinterested benevolence he knows
nothing, till he is made to understand it by the cross of Christ.
All the labours of a missionary, which appear meritorious,
are regarded as efforts to improve his own condition now or
hereafter. If the physician, by intimacy with his missionary
brethren, by giving of tracts, &c, give cause to suspect that
his real object is to introduce Christianity, he incurs as much
jealousy as his brethren, whose primary business is to make

318 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
direct evangelical efforts. " In vain is the net spread in sight
of any bird." If he shows no desire to introduce and recom
mend Christianity, how can he be paving the way .for his
evangelical brethren ?
Extended and gratuitous medical services may have the
injurious effect of conferring upon the mission the appearance
of opulence. The supply of medicines obviously involves
great expense. The heathen sees them given away profusely,
every day, to scores of utter strangers, from whom no remu
neration or service is accepted. It is natural that he should
infer that the individual and private charity of the physician,
is not competent to such expenditure. He may suspect the
hand of a foreign government, preparing for future encroach
ments, He will certainly suspect something, though his fear
be no more rational than that which has prevailed very exten
sively in Burmah, that when a certain number of disciples are
obtained, we mean to take them home and eat them !
It should not be forgotten that the history of missionary
physicians, from Felix Carey till now, contains many dis
couraging facts. It shows the danger of being drawn away
to posts of pagan honour ; or making shipwreck of Christian
character ; or becoming mere physicians.
It appears to me that, an affectionate and judicious mis
sionary, male or female, with a few well-known medicines,
good books written for family use, and some experience, will
be able to do all that ought to be done in this line, in most
places. Mrs. Wade and Mrs. Hancock have practised exten
sively, and with great success. Such a mode is as well calcu
lated to impress natives with the benevolence of Christians,
though it may not so astonish them with the superiority of
Europeans. 7. Every unnecessary expense in the mode of living should
be studiously avoided.
The unavoidable difference between the missionary and the
natives, in most cases, is very great. Native assistants seldom

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 319
receive more than a tenth or fifteenth of the salary of a mis
sionary. Rulers and princes, at some stations, are unable to
live as the missionaries do, even where considerable sacrifices
are made, and where a style of living is adopted, which many
of the contributors at home would regard as involving positive
and serious hardships.
The difficulty is aggravated, where the missionary aims at
the style of genteel Europeans around him. It is altogether
undesirable to see carved mahogany sofas, covered with crimson
silk, mahogany book-cases, engravings, cut-glass, silver forks,
&c, in the house of a missionary ; the house itself resembling
our handsome country-seats. Such a mode of living unavoid
ably imposes great restraint on the approach of natives.
However accessible the missionary may hold himself, the
poor inquirer will scarcely venture into such premises ; or, if
he do, will not be able to overcome an oppressive sense of
inferiority, and perhaps intrusion. Even in Burmah, where
no missionary so much as approaches this style of living, I
have seen inquirers listen eagerly for a few moments, and
then become absorbed in admiration of the fluted leg of a table,
or the joints of a chair.
Several missionaries have confessed to me that, on their first
arrival in the East, they were shocked at the style in which
they found their brethren living. Yet they had been carried
away by the current. And so, generally, will be their suc
cessors. A man does not like, on his first arrival, to set up
for a reformer. He feels as though he should have more
experience, and knowledge of the country. But when, after
a few years' residence, he is convinced that another mode is
preferable and practicable, he discovers that to attempt a
change will not only involve him in difficulties with his
brethren, but will require changes in his own modes, which
neither he nor his wife may have strength of mind to
accomplish. It is not necessary to adopt the costume or all the customs

320 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
of the natives ; nor is it in general possible for the missionary
to live so cheaply. To do either, would abridge usefulness,
and hazard health. Many things are absolute necessaries to
one, which to the other seem highly luxurious. But this
difference should not be increased by the use of superfluities
deemed genteel and suitable at home. Cheap fabrics make
raiments as truly comfortable as costly ones ; and ornaments
and embroideries certainly add no comfort. Plain furniture,
made by the natives or himself, should be preferred to that
which is elegant, even if the latter could be had for nothing.
And in erecting a house, no object should be regarded but
health and convenience.
The example of a missionary should tend to elevate the
people in temporal things, and spread a love of neatness and
order. But expensiveness defeats this result. If the materials
of our refinements and conveniences are too costly, the natives
cannot have them. I know certain missionaries who have
their sofas and bedsteads made of bamboo, at an expense not
exceeding sixpence each. Their people are thus taught
cleanliness and comfort, and cease to repose on the floor.
The same individuals dress in the cheapest fabrics, and have
brought their people to possess suitable changes of raiment,
instead of wearing one filthy garment till it could be worn
no more.
A great superiority of living, on the part of the missionary,
will almost certainly excite envy — a feeling tending more
than any other to obstruct usefulness. " Who can stand
before envy?" A minister in our own country could scarcely
hope for success if there existed a proportionate disparity
between him and his people. In places where there are many
Europeans, the evil will not be so much felt, if the missionary
live in far less style than they. In these places only, have I
seen such modes of living as have been just named. And if
these very houses are compared, not with those of the natives,
but those of Europeans, they will generally appear to be as

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 321
much humbler than those, as ministers' houses, in this country,
are humbler than their wealthy parishioners'. In the remote
stations, a missionary should take a still humbler mode. The
natives cannot know what luxuries are enjoyed with us, even
by the poor. They just compare the missionaries with them
selves, and can scarcely associate the idea of self-denial with
a mode of living which so greatly transcends their own.
The effect on the missionary himself is injurious. His an
ticipations had comprised great and unavoidable self-denial in
regard to house, food, climate, and other bodily comforts.
He is, therefore, in danger of habitually endeavouring to make
this self-denial as small as possible. Those who have preceded
him will adduce arguments or excuses with regard to health,
respectability, &c. Their example, the wish to preserve peace,
and his early habits, will all tend to carry him on to the very
position which, on first seeing occupied by others, had shocked
his feelings. He is then no longer the man he was, and
intended to be. His conscience is either smothered or troubled ;
his success is hindered ; and there is great danger that his
early devotedness and hope of usefulness may subside into
formality and quiescence.
The blessed Master is the great pattern of a missionary.
But he did not endeavour to live in a condition resembling, as
near as possible, that which he had left. Nor should the mis
sionary, sojourning amid degraded heathen, seek to retain as
far as possible the refinements and gratifications of his own
land. Let him renounce them, in fact, as, on his knees, when
he gave himself to this work, he renounced them in antici
pation. Beside the effect of an appearance of luxury on the natives,
every useless expense should be avoided on the ground of its
raising a barrier against the universality of our operations.
Though money will probably be raised in greater amount, and
with greater facility, yet it must be remembered how small -a
body the Protestants of Europe and America are, compared
p3

322 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
with the entire human race, and how great is the work to be
done. Presuming that, in every country, native pastors should
be raised up in sufficient numbers to perform the entire labour
of evangelists, we still need thousands of missionaries to make
beginnings in every tribe, to prepare these native pastors, to
m ake books and trnslations, establish schools, &c.
As our societies grow old, widows and children multiply;
and soon very serious sums will be required for these. As an
exemplar, we may advert to the Moravians, who have longest
maintained modern missions. Nearly all the contributions
from their own body are absorbed on matters which refer to
the past ; and their present missionary work is sustained by
the contributions of other Christians. By the last annual
report I can obtain, it appears that their receipts, from all
sources, are about 11,000/. ; about half of which is from their
own community.
Total expenses for all stations  £6100 0 0
Paid also within the year —
to 20 retired and disabled ) „„, ,,,,.,„
. . . >±616 16 10
missionaries .... I
to 36 widows  334 l(j 7
education of 95 missionary 1 ., , 
' J- 1422 0 0
children  J
20 boys and 1 1 girls apprenticed 1629 0 0
Contingencies  898 0 0
 4900 13 5

£11,000 13 5

It might give rise to unwarrantable surmises, if, in a work
so crowded with facts, directly and indirectly connected with
missions, nothing should be said of the salaries received by
missionaries ; especially while speaking of their modes of
living. Nor am I concerned to avoid that subject. But the
reader will bear in mind several considerations — 1. That

in

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 323
preceding chapters, I have borne full testimony to the purity
and zeal of missionaries as a body. 2. By far the larger part
of them endure serious privations as to modes of living, and all
of them endure, in other respects, what few Christians are
willing to encounter. 3. Though their income may far
transcend the poor semi-civilised or perhaps barbarous tribes
around them, it falls far short of what Europeans of similar
education and talents command, in the same places, and their
mode of living is proportionally humble. 4. Those of them
whose style of living has just been mentioned, as in my opinion
unsuitable, do but copy numerous ministers, and still more
numerous private Christians, in our own country, who live in
costly houses, and see no harm in using just such articles as
have been named. 5. It is certainly too much to expect that
an appointment as a missionary should, as by a charm, at
once raise a man to a fervour of piety, contempt of earth,
courage in dissenting from custom, and readiness to endure
privations which none of his church at home have attained,
and for which he has had neither training nor example. The
difficulty can.only be met by the adoption of stricter systems
of expenditure by all Christians at home and abroad. Mis
sionaries will carry abroad just that sort and degree of piety
they have been trained to at home. 6. The chaplains of the
East India Company receive 775 rupees per month, and rank
as majors, with full retiring pension at the end of the term of
service, which, I believe, is twenty-two years. There are
ninety chaplains, whose salaries and places of worship cost the
Company annually more than 88,000/. This last statement
is made to constitute a standard of comparison by which the
salaries of the missionaries may be measured.
The English Baptist Missionary Society pay, in Hindustan,
about 200 rupees per month, for a family, without allowances.
In large towns, a very humble house costs from fifty to eighty
rupees per month. One of these brethren stated to me that
his annual expenses for medicine and medical attendance

324 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
averaged 250 rupees. The missionaries of the Scotch General
Assembly receive, in Calcutta, 400 rupees per month, to cover
everything. Missionaries from the London Missionary So
ciety, at the Cape of Good Hope, receive 100/. per annum for
a family, without allowances, except to such as reside in
Cape Town. In large cities of India this society pays some
times double this amount. In the South Sea Islands the
allowance for a family is but 75/. The English General
Baptist Missionary Society pay their missionaries at Orissa
about 1200 rupees per annum, for a family, without al
lowances. A missionary from the Caspian and Black Seas
informed me, that the salaries there were 80/. for a married
couple and family. A self-supported, unmarried missionary
from Patna, in Bengal, informed me that his expenses at
that place were 70/. per annum.
Whether the English Wesleyan Society pay fixed salaries,
I have no means of knowing ; but from the only report of
that society I have at hand (1835), it appears that, in the
Madras district, five missionaries, four native assistants, the
passages home of two missionaries, and grants to schools,
cost 2116/. In Ceylon, nine missionaries, twelve native
assistants, grants to schools, and the return passage of a
family, cost 6032/. In Sierra Leone, three missionaries cost
286/. ; and in New South Wales, a station with three mis
sionaries cost 701/. The American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign Missions have not fully adopted the system of
fixed salaries, having generally allowed each family to expend
what is requisite. In Southern India they pay a married
couple 150/. per annum, with allowances for children and
house rent. Missionaries in the East, from the American
Baptist Board, have a hundred Company rupees per month
for a married couple, and allowance for children, house rent,
medical expenses, and travelling.
8. There should be more direct preacliing of the word,
publicly, and from house to house.

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 325
Of all parts of his work, direct preaching looks most
attractive to the missionary on leaving home, and becomes in
general most repulsive in the field. One of the best mis
sionaries now alive remarked, that there was nothing so
difficult for him to resist as a repugnance against coming in
contact with the natives ! This is the grand object of those
who design to devote themselves to foreign service. To
sit beneath some friendly shade, imparting to heathen the
words of eternal life, is their beau ideal, their enrapturing
anticipation, their expected reward, for leaving friends and
home. But when they approach the reality, they find the
romance of this hope turned into the substantial material for
disgust, weariness, and despair.
Sophisms, absurdities, false reasonings, extreme ignorance,
malicious opposition, unworthy suspicions, and inveterate pre
judices, must be perpetually encountered. These are rendered
still more formidable, for the first few years, for want of a
proficiency in the language, and a knowledge of the national
religion and literature. To teach school, to study, to trans
late, to survey new fields, &c, have none of these disagreeable
concomitants, and are not so totally at variance with previous
habits and feelings. They have the charm, too, of pro
mising evident and immediate fruit ; and of seeming to pre
pare the way for successors.
Thus the highest self-denial required of a missionary is in
that very part of his work where he thought he should want
none. He is unprepared for the demand, and in too many
cases is turned aside to collateral pursuits.
This is an age in which the proper ministry of the word is
in danger of being undervalued. It is an age of invention
and activity, in religious as well as common matters, and the
mechanism of Christianity is in danger of transcending the
simplicity of the Scripture model, or at least of attracting
superabundant attention. One eminent minister calls infant-
schools " the railroad to the millennium." Some declare preach-

326 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
ing to be the "smallest part of a minister's duty." Others
affirm that conversions among the heathen are not to be
expected, till they are enabled to understand the evidences of
divine revelation, and, therefore, that " schools are the grand
means of converting the heathen." The same sentiments
are rung in the ears of a missionary by his countrymen
abroad. He has their countenance in schools, translations,
&c. ; but if he " preach the gospel " in high-ways and by-ways,
he often incurs the imputation of fanaticism and folly. Every
temptation is thus offered to slight the proper ministry of the
word, and give weak faith a resting-place on human schemes.
It is often remarked that the apostles did not resort to
schools, Bibles, and tracts, because the art of printing was not
then invented ; that learning was more diffused; &c. But it
must be sacredly remembered, that the Lord gave his apostles
a system of means not founded on the then state of society in
that part of Asia, but for all possible conditions of society, in
all the world, to the end of time. It is a system founded on
the nature of religion and the nature of man ; and no changes
of outward condition will warrant us to invent another.
All modes of doing good sliould undoubtedly have a place
in our system of means ; but let us have a care, lest we
disparage, or make subordinate, that which is of our Lord's
own appointment, and which, above all others, should engage
our energies. " By the foolishness of preaching," it pleases
God to save men. It has always been the grand instrument
of conversion. We must always rely upon it as such. Other
services demand a portion of time, and in a proper division of
labour, where there are several missionaries, some one brother
may take one of these as his department. But, as a general
rule, the first object and business of each, is strictly ministe
rial service. President Wayland, in his address to missionaries
leaving Boston in July, 1834, insists on this point. " Nor is
it enough that you be laborious ; your labour must be exclu
sive ; it must be devoted in singleness of heart to the conversion

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 327
of souls to Christ. This work is surely of itself extensive
enough to occupy all your time, and all your talents ; and
manifestly no other can vie with it in importance. You go
not abroad to be linguists, nor lexicographers, nor botanists,
nor philosophers, nor statesmen, nor politicians, but ambassa
dors of Christ. Remember, we always expect an ambassador
to keep entirely aloof from all entanglements with the affairs
of the parties to which he is sent, and devote himself exclu
sively to the interest of the party by which he is commissioned.
I do not say that these inquiries are not important ; I only
say that they are not your duty. Like Nehemiah, you are
doing a great work, and you cannot come down."
Of the same opinion was Swartz, who reckoned that he had
been the means of converting two thousand persons ; and of
Brainard, who also gathered many souls. The following
remarks by a distinguished Baptist minister, now living in
Edinburgh, seem full of piety and good sense :
" Much have we heard, indeed, in modern times, of the noble
invention of printing, and much respecting the power of
education ; and I do not imagine that any candid reader, who
has proceeded thus far, can suppose that the writer is indis
posed to give to each its own appropriate place. At the same
time, he conceives that they may not only be perverted, but
prevented from doing that good which they otherwise might
accomplish. For example, if they be permitted to occupy that
place in our esteem and expectation, which belongs to a divine
and sovereign appointment, then they may not only become as
chaff when compared to the wheat, but awaken the jealousy
of Him who will not give his glory to another. Our employ
ment of education only, and with all the energy which the art
of printing has given to it, may turn out to be nothing more
than giving activity to the powers of the mind, without
directing and controlling their movements.
" Education will humanise and improve, in most instances;
but to save from ultimate destruction, properly speaking,

328 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
never was within its province, and never will be. Yet since
the time in which many have been roused to see its necessity,
there has been a phraseology often used respecting it by no
means warrantable. Education, but above all scriptural
education, will do much. There will always be an unde-
scribable distance between a people so favoured, and any other
left without such means. But if we expect more from it than
it has ever produced, and above all, if we apply to it the
language furnished to us in the Scripture, and which is there
exclusively employed with reference to an institution of God's
own sovereign appointment, we may be left to witness the
impotence of education, instead of its power. Hence we have
read of the system of some one of these educational societies,
being adapted for the regeneration of Ireland ; and the terms
employed in Scripture to the labourers in the vineyard of
God, have been unsparingly employed by religious people to
the exertions of schoolmasters, or those who superintend them.
This is not merely incorrect, but it is unwise and unwarrant
able. Every one knows, that, in all such cases of agency,
everything depends upon the expectations and intentions of
the agent; but the language referred to is teaching us to
expect from him, what, in a thousand instances, the agent
neither intends or expects himself. The schoolmaster may
have gone abroad, and, if a man of principle, will do great
good ; but to apply to him or his efforts the language of
Sacred Writ, which regards another order of men and another
exercise, is calculated to injure the work of his hands, as well
as blind our own minds with respect to another and a higher
duty."* While I am indulging in quotation, I will add the following
from a distinguished missionary, Melvill Home, who puts the
following words into the mouth of an objector, in the shape of
* Anderson's " Ireland without the Ministry of the Word in her native
Language." "The Domestic Constitution," so largely quoted from by
Jay, in his Family Monitor, and republished in the United States under
the title of " Book for Parents," is by this author.

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 329
an apostrophe to the " Lord of the harvest :" — " If thou wilt
force us to cultivate this unpromising field, do not think of
sending us out immediately, but let schoolmasters go to receive
the first fire, and teach the little children reading and writing,
and then will we go and enter into their labours ; for the
experience of ages has taught us, that where preaching of the
gospel makes one Christian, education makes ten. Hence,
instead of preaching first to the" parents, and then establishing
schools for the education of the children, as the apostles did,
(who knew that the sword of the Spirit was of heavenly
temper, an instrument into which the God of glory had
wrought all his attributes, we having lost the art of using it,
and that arm which gives it the demonstration of the Spirit
and of power,) we go to work another way, by educating
children first ; and many are of opinion that the best way of
enlightening is, by putting the moon in the sun's sphere, and
having children to instruct their parents rather than parents
to teach their children ! "
Preachers must not be reluctant to itinerate. It will not
be necessary, except among a few tribes, to dispense with a
settled home, and to wander with a wandering flock. Still,
few missionaries should confine themselves at home. There
are jungles, small islands, and pestilent districts, accessible to
foreigners only for a few months in the year, which can only
be reached by itinerants. There are advantages, too, in all
places, peculiar to such itineracies. There is, upon the mis
sionary so employed, a benign and impressive aspect of disin
terested benevolence not easily misconstrued. His privations,
inconveniences, dangers, and exertions, convince even the
heathen of his love of souls. He honours them by the conde
scension and confidence with which he eats the food they
prepare, and sleeps on the mat they spread for him. He
becomes acquainted with native character, where it has not
been modified by foreign influence, and is thus assisted both
to preach and to prepare tracts. He has opportunities for

330 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
calm and repeated conversations with individuals at their
own home. He escapes the pestilent presence of ungodly
nominal Christians. The circumstances of his own superior
living are not present to do injury.
Not for a moment would I countenance that gadding and
discursive spirit which entices men to leave their sphere ; nor
that romance which loves to visit distant and celebrated
places ; nor that love of fame which is gratified by being able
to send racy journals to the magazines. It can be of little
use to scatter far and near seed which neither we nor others
can water. The itineracy should for the most part be per
formed within a given limit, visiting the same places again and
again as the apostles did.
Preaching must be maintained in contradistinction to con
versation and disputing. I know that it cannot always be
such preaching as we have at home. Questions must be per
mitted, objections occasionally answered, explanations made,
and much of our own formality dispensed with. But it must
be legitimate preaching. The heathen are very glad to dis
pute ; and do it in a very wearisome, provoking, and often
subtle manner. When we enter into their sophistries and
recondite arguments, we make Christianity contend with the
intellect instead of the conscience, and our great advantage is
lost. Paul's disputings in the school of Tyrannus are quoted.
But it should be remembered that hiakoyo/jievos, {dialogome-
nos,) here rendered " disputing,1' is the very word used of
other occasions where pros and cons were not thought of;
such as " Paul was long preaching" Acts xx. 9 ; " He reasoned
in the synagogue every sabbath-day," Acts xviii. 4 ; "He
preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow," Acts
xx. 7 ; "He reasoned of righteousness," &c, Acts xxiv. 9.
Missionaries will sometimes be obliged to dispute ; and so were
the apostles. But they are destitute of many advantages
enjoyed by the latter. Those disputes were with men who
believed in the Old Testament, or who held great principles in

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 331
common with themselves. They were to prove, to persons
who expected a Messiah, that Jesus was that Christ, or were
based upon premises which the antagonists, or their own
poets, fully admitted. So did our Saviour sometimes dispute ;
but we have numerous cases where he dexterously avoided
foolish questions or philosophical subtilties. He parried where
he might have triumphed, and chose the more immediate, if
not the only, avenue to conviction.
What has been gained by the repeated triumphs of specula
tive theology over science, politics, and heresy? Over and
over the battle has been fought, consuming whole lives, and
filling up whole libraries. 0 ver and over have infidels, heretics,
Papists, and Jews, been defeated. But new champions rise.
The old ground is taken, or some novelty advanced ; and in
every age, the war continues. At this very day our press
teems with works on the evidences of Christianity, and in
opposition to errors already a thousand times refuted. In
countries where Christianity has so triumphed, as to make
worldly and political men confess it, and weave it into the
very, texture of social and civil society, what do we see but a
dead orthodoxy, an unconverted priesthood, simony, secularity,
and pride ? Christianity has made its greatest triumphs
where it has stood despised, hated, and cast out, by the learn
ing, the philosophy, and the power of the world. Why should
missionaries repeat that struggle which has a thousand times
ended in a bootless triumph ? It is not a man's learning,
philosophy, or superstition, that precludes his conversion, but
the opposition of his carnal heart. To overcome this, God
forbid that we should confide in aught else than the doctrine
of " Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to
the Gentiles foolishness." Let us never, never forget that
" God hath chosen the foolishness of this world to confound the
wise, and low things, and things that are despised, and things
which are not, to bring to nought the things that are, that no
flesh should glory in his presence."

332 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
9. Regular churches, with pastors and deacons, should be
formed at the earliest possible period, in every place.
It is of great consequence to put our work on a footing
which may secure stability and increase, without the presence
of a missionary. Ordained native ministers are very few. *
Church order and discipline are not sufficiently understood
by the disciples. The missionary is all in all ; and at his
departure or death, every trace of his work may disappear.
It is true, such churches at first would seldom be able to stand
alone. But if they ever do, they must first have this feeble
beginning. There were great and important reasons why
Christ instituted churches. Even higher advantages result
from them, in heathen lands, than among ourselves. Without
the mutual brotherly watchfulness which they secure, feeble
members cannot receive adequate assistance. It is true, few
are as qualified as is desirable for the imposition of hands. But
the apostles, in resolving to ordain elders in every church,
must have met the same difficulty. If no encouraging degree
of fitness be found in any member, we may take a brother
from some other church. To these should be committed, for
obvious reasons, most of the preaching, discipline, and admi
nistration of ordinances. They should be honoured in the
presence of the people. Their support should, as far as possible,
be derived from the converts. They should be sedulously
watched over and aided. They should have associations, and
ministers' meetings. They should meet the missionary at
stated periods, and be aided, as far as possible, in acquiring a
knowledge of Scripture history and doctrine. In many cases,
they should be changed, on the plan of Methodist circuits.
Some might attend half the year at a proper seminary.
Younger ones should be placed at such an institution for
several years. But of this, more under the next head.
A similar appointment and training should be had for
* In all the Burman and Karen churches I found but one ; in some
missions none ; and nowhere, any adequate supply.

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 333
deacons, exhorters, and church clerks. The guiding influence
of the missionary should be exerted as unseen as possible.
Every effort should be made, to bring out the capacity and
activity of the members, so that the death or removal of the
missionary, should be injurious in the least possible degree.
10. The qualifications of native assistants should receive
more attention.
The importance of this class of auxiliaries can scarcely be
too highly estimated. Without risk of health, and with little
expense or inconvenience, they can carry the tidings of salva
tion where a missionary cannot go, or may not be sent, for an
age. They can travel, eat, sit, and lodge, as the natives do.
Between those and themselves, there is not that awful distance
which can scarcely be overcome by a missionary. Their know
ledge of the language is complete, which can seldom be said of
a foreigner. They know, from experience, the exact tempta
tions, doubts, difficulties, and prejudices of their hearers.
They can talk with an inquirer, often and long, without
drawing opposition upon him, before he has become
enlightened and firm enough to endure it. To be seen con
versing a few times with a missionary, or to go repeatedly to
his house, or chapel, excites almost as great opposition, as a
profession of Christianity. Thus a man's mind must te made
up to encounter exceeding difficulties, before he has become
sufficiently acquainted with the missionary's arguments, to
know whether he will endure sufferings for the new religion
or not ; that is to say, he must submit to be persecuted, before
he knows whether the system is worth being persecuted for.
Various reasons of this sort, some adapted to the condition
of one country, and some to that of another, show the duty of
fostering this branch of our force. Unordained natives have
indeed been employed, and in some places to a great extent.
And to their labours are traceable very numerous conversions.
But it seems necessary to bestow upon them a much greater
measure of mental cultivation and religious knowledge. Had

334 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
half the pains been thus bestowed, which have been expended
on common schools, how great would have been the gain !
Without some additional mental cultivation, doctrinal
knowledge, and practical graces, native assistants are not able
to avail themselves of their peculiar advantages ; some of which
have just been named. It is well known that scarcely one of
them is able to act alone; and that, though so useful, when
sustained and guided by a good missionary, they have run
into manifold evils when left to themselves. Why is this ?
They possess piety, zeal, and talents. It must be owing to
the superior intelligence and acquired advantages of the mis
sionary. Let us, then, lead them into that knowledge of the
word of God, and that measure of devotion, which at present
they have no means of obtaining.
Slender would be the qualifications of a minister with us,
whose opportunities had been no greater than those of native
preachers. Abstract from him all that his mother and father
taught him, all he learned at infant or Sunday school, from
the moral maxims of his horn-books, his copy-slips, his general
reading, and the restraints of Christian society ; put in the
place of this, every degrading, polluting, and erroneous thing,
learned by a heathen child, at home, at school, and abroad ;
take ay^ay the intellectual benefits of an academic or collegiate
course ; abolish all his knowledge of the evidences of Chris
tianity, history, chronology, geography, prophecy, miracles,
and the state of the world ; all he ever gained by intercourse
with eminent saints, or a perusal of their biographies ; all the
helps he has had from commentators, critics, sermons, anni
versaries, associations, religious periodicals, and intercourse
with enlightened fellow-ministers ; in fine, leave him nothing
but some portions of God's word, and a few evangelical tracts;
and add to him a plenitude of errors and malpractices acquired
in a life of Gentile abominations, — and you will have the
present qualifications of a native assistant.
Some regular institution seems wanting, in every mission,

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 335
for the express purpose of instructing those who give evidences
of a call to this work. Advantages, similar in kind, if not in
extent, to those enjoyed by young ministers at home, should
be placed within their reach. A supply of assistants, thus
educated, would leave leisure to the missionary for necessary
translations and revisions ; for exercising a general pastoral
care over a large district ; for exploring new fields ; for corre
sponding with the societies at home ; and for other duties,
which can now only be done at a great sacrifice of pastoral
pursuits. By no other course does it now appear that we can send
the gospel into all the earth. We cannot hope to send forth
from ourselves the hundredth part of an adequate supply of
ministers for six hundred millions of pagans, at an annual
expense of from 100/. to 200/. for each family. Nor could
we consent to lay the foundations of Christianity, over so
large a portion of the earth, by native preachers so ignorant
of the system as those we now have. Without raising these
qualifications, they will soon be despised by the very youth
who, by hundreds and thousands, are now being educated in
missionary and government schools.
11. A considerable number of the most promising converts
and younger preachers should be taught the English language.
It is dismaying to compute the period which must elapse
before the heathen can be supplied, in their own languages,
with the word of God. Who, then, can predict the time
when those languages shall contain a supply of works in eccle
siastical history, biblical criticism, theology, and practical
piety ? Who is to give them books of science and art ? If,
now, we would impart to our missionary pupils the benefits
of such studies, we are restricted to wearisome oral instruc
tions, demanding, on the whole, an amount of time equal to
what would be necessary to teach them English. Besides,
instructions unsustained by reading are less perfectly acquired,
and the amount obtained is in danger of being forgotten. At

336 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
best, when the pupil leaves the institution, his progress is
terminated ; and terminated too, as all school-studies are, at
the threshold of the subjects.
By giving our young convert the English language, we set
before him the whole temple of knowledge, and present him
with the key. Subjects which would otherwise have remained
for ever sealed will be fully open to his inspection. He has
but to use his own powers, and he may pursue an indefinite
progress. With an enriched mind, trained habits of thinking,
and a cultivated heart, he goes forth among his people " a
workman that needeth not to be ashamed." Let but the
reader ask himself what benefit he has gained, merely by a
dozen books, such as the Saint's Rest, Law's Serious Call,
Watts on the Mind, Pilgrim's Progress, the works of Brooks,
Mather, Flavel, Charnock, &c, and decide whether, even for
this, he would not have done well to master a language ? Did
he ever gain so much from his Latin, Greek, French, Italian,
or German, or all together, as a heathen convert would gain
from a knowledge of English ? Our language is now becoming
the religious language of mankind, and perhaps the scientific
also. It is to be to the East, what Greek was to Rome, or
Latin was, a century or two ago, to Europe. Already does
it abound with works of imagination, specimens of eloquence,
stores of history, speculations on metaphysics, morals, govern
ment, law, commerce, scientific researches, and mechanical
inventions, immensely more valuable than was ever extant
in all the ancient languages. As to religion, it probably
contains more valuable books than all other languages put
together. Add, therefore, to the important advantages already enjoyed
by the native preacher, merely those which the ability to read
English would confer, and he would be more valuable than
almost any foreign missionary can be, and at the same time
cost the church incomparably less.
From natives able to read English, we might hope soon to

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 337
see many Valuable translations. Men translate into their own
language far more successfully than into a foreign one. They
would do more than this — they would write original works.
Few translations, except of the Scriptures, will ever be very
useful. Books, being written for our state of society, and
degree of knowledge, do not answer for heathen. They
must be written by natives, not only in native idiom, but
in native modes of thinking, and adapted to the degree
of knowledge possessed by the reader. Our books, on
every page, take for granted certain measures of previous
mental culture, which heathen readers do not possess, and
for want of which the whole effort of the author is likely to
fail. The difficulty of learning to read and write a language,
especially our own, is much less than learning to speak it ;
and in this case, only the former is required. Indeed, the
learning so much of a language as to gather the meaning of
an author, is by no means an arduous undertaking. To pro
nounce correctly, and to command words fluently for conver
sation, is much the largest part of the task. This is not only
unnecessary to our brethren, but in some cases undesirable,
lest they be corrupted by evil intercourse, or tempted to seek
secular situations of greater profit.
A native assistant has now no books to read, but the tracts
and translations, to which his hearers have access. How can
he hold a proper intellectual and religious superiority over
them ? He ought to be versed in the true meaning of difficult
passages, the rules of interpretation, the geography, chrono
logy, and natural history of the Bible, the manners and cus
toms of Jews, and other kindred studies. He should know
something of ecclesiastical history, church government, and
biblical theology. But in all these he has no helps in his own
language, and in hundreds of languages there never will be
any. Missionary money can never make translations of all
these; and many years must elapse before there will be a reli-
yol. II. Q

338 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
gious public, creating such a demand for them, that they will
be printed as matters of trade.
In our own country, what students actually learn at college,
is not so important as the knowledge they obtain of the sources
of information. The wide and long vista of truth is opened
before them ; they see what is to be learned, obtain mental
training, get a knowledge of books, and leave the institution
prepared to be successful students. Not so with native
preachers. They set out with a modicum of biblical know
ledge, precariously retained in their memories, and with
scarcely the advantages of a Sunday scholar. They meet
antagonists, learned in the prevailing system, and must con
tend with them, without so much as a proper knowledge of
their own.
12. There must be greater care taken that a station, once
begun, should be uninterruptedly maintained.
That this has not been the case, has seldom been the fault
of missionaries. It is not easy to convey the importance of
this idea to churches and directors at home ; and their
arrangements have been such as to spread over as large a
surface as possible, leaving many stations in the hands of a
solitary individual.
What would be the effect on any district of fifty, or sixty
or perhaps five hundred square miles, which should be left for
one, two, or three years, without a minister, or a prayer-
meeting, or a Sunday school, or, in fine, any of the means of
grace ? But with us, even in such a case, there would be a
thousand good influences, public and private. Not so among
the heathen. The death or departure of a missionary stops
everything, except a church have been gathered, and native
pastors trained. Even then, all activity is suspended, and
passive virtues will not abound. The converts will fall into
errors and apostacies, if not into sufferings and want.
A heathen or Mussulman, on becoming a Christian, is
generally discarded by his friends ; and where caste exists,

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 339
always. In very many cases, if the missionary do not pro
vide him work, he must starve. If not so poor, yet without
the missionary, how shall he contend with the difficulties of
his situation, and the evils of his former habits ? He is left
without daily instruction, without pious intercourse, without
a shield from tyranny. The little band, gathered by years of
toil, is in a few months scattered; the enemy triumphs; con
fidence in the continuance of the station is destroyed ; and the
next missionary is cften led to affirm, as several have done
to me, that it would have been better if no predecessor had
ever laboured there.
Many contingencies may cause a station to be suspended
where a missionary is alone. There can be no security against
it, except by placing two brethren at every station ; and at
some still more. They need not always be in the same com
pound, or even in the same village ; but should not be so far
apart as to prevent one from taking an effective temporary
charge of the department of the other, in case of death, sick
ness, or absence.
It seems to have been one of the most fatal errors of modern
missions to disregard, so generally, the New Testament exam
ple in this particular. Our Lord sent both the seventy and
the twelve, two by two. When he had ascended, the apostles
continued the same plan. They either proceeded forth in
pairs, or took a younger evangelist as a " partner and fellow
helper." The Holy Ghost gave sanction to this mode, when
he called for the separation of Barnabas and Saul to a parti
cular field. How touching and instructive are Paul's feelings,
when separated from his official companion, though in the
midst of distinguished successes ! " When I came to Troas to
preach, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord, I had no
rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus ; so taking my
leave, I went into Macedonia." When Titus rejoined him, he
was in the midst of disappointment and difficulty; but his
heart was immediately made whole. He then said, " I am
q2

340 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
filled, I am exceeding joyful, in all our tribulation ; for though,
when we came into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, and we
were troubled on every side, (without were fightings, and
within were fears,) yet God comforted us by the coming of
Titus." 2 Corinthians ii. 12, 13, and vii. 4 — 6.
It is believed by some judicious brethren abroad, that some
missionaries have died in consequence of lonesomeness, dis
traction, care, and excessive exertion.
13. It is important to establish a greater division of labour.
Hitherto the same missionary has been compelled to be
pastor, itinerant, Sunday-school teacher, schoolmaster, trans
lator, author, tract- distributor, proof-reader, physician, nurse,
housekeeper, and perhaps printer and bookbinder. Some
times, in addition to these, he must oversee catechists and
preachers, be agent for inland stations, and preach occasionally
in English ! The thing amounts to a perfect absurdity.
Some men may endure such wear and tear for awhile ; but
the results of their labours are nullified by desultoriness.
Regularity and efficiency are impossible. Nothing can be
prosecuted with sufficient vigour, either to obtain skill in it,
or secure the best results.
It is truly surprising that the few missionaries scattered
over the world should have accomplished what we now see.
It proves that, in general, they must have been extraordinary
men. And it is very well to practise on the doctrine, that it
is better to wear out than rust out. But such a system as is
now pursued, only makes men tear out.
Schools might be maintained by the wives of missionaries,
or by brethren who shall call themselves schoolmasters.
Where preaching in English is deemed necessary, let a
brother separate himself to that work ; or let it be done by
one whose age, experience, and mental cultivation, will enable
him to do it with extemporaneous ability. Theological or
boarding schools should enjoy the whole services of a select
individual. Translations and authorship, with some avoca-

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 341
tion requiring bodily activity, are work enough for one man
at each principal station. Further specifications must depend
on each particular case.
Beside the advantages on the spot of such a distribution of
duties, it would have a happy effect at home in showing the
churches the actual state and operations of their phalanx
abroad. They would see what branches of the work most
needed re-enforcement. They would better understand what
result should be expected in each particular department.
They would particularly see what proportion of labour is
made to bear on the immediate conversion of souls, and the
whole operation of the missionary enterprise would stand
transparent and self-explained.
14. There should be more concentration of effort.
In every mission there should be one point where operations
should be conducted with great vigour and by many hands.
By placing at this point the translator, the printing-office,
the school for native assistants, and two or three evangelists,
besides those brethren whose proper field is pestilent or
inaccessible, except during a portion of the year, there would
be secured many advantages. Numerous questions from
minor stations, which must now wait the tedious process of a
reference to the Board, might be safely left to the decision of
such a body of brethren on the spot. Vacancies at various
points might be immediately supplied — a matter, as has been
shown, of great consequence. Thus a farmer, penetrating
into the forest, makes first an effective clearing where he esta
blishes himself, and from whence he may extend his openings
at pleasure. Thus an army always has its " head quarters."
Thus the primitive church" retained at Jerusalem a body of
principal apostles and elders, to whom disputed questions were
referred, from whence the brethren went forth to their
spheres, and to whom they returned, reporting successes, and
refreshing themselves with genial society.
The majority of employments which were just named,

342 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
as absurdly falling on the same individual, may be divided and
prosecuted at such central station with effect. Thus the
brethren who go forth, two by two, to lonelier stations,
will have fewer duties, and may divide these with a prospect
of mutual success. The establishment of such a body of
brethren would constitute a safe band of counsellors both to
one another and to their society at home ; it would inspire
confidence in the natives that the undertaking was perma
nent ; it could supply, for a time, any out-station vacated by
the retirement or death of a missionary ; and it would be a
favourable location for new missionaries to study for a year
or two, and acquire a knowledge of their field.
There should be more concentration as to the portions of
the world which we attempt to evangelize. Those regions
which have received the largest supply of missionaries have
been the most encouraging. Labrador and Greenland, with
a population of but eight or nine thousand, have fifty-one
missionaries and assistants. The West Indies have more than
two hundred missionaries ; and each of these may be counted
equal to two in the East Indies, if we consider that they have
not been obliged to learn a language, or make dictionaries,
translations, &c. Jamaica, with a population of four hundred
thousand, has more than sixty European missionaries. The
Sandwich Islands, with a population of one hundred and eight
thousand, has eighty-seven missionaries and assistants. The
portion of Karens which have received the services of Board-
man, Wade, and Mason, and which has been blessed in actual
conversions more than almost any other, amounts to less than
six thousand.
On the other hand, there are single cities containing popu
lations of hundreds of thousands, with but one, two, or three
missionaries ; and in these we hear of small success. It is to
be feared that the church has, in its anxiety to spread wide
the tidings of salvation, been beguiled into too great diffusive
ness of labour. It seems hard to keep sending men to

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 343
countries already entered, while whole kingdoms and tribes
are left to perish. But it had better be thus. Only thus
can the work be done. Only thus will the church be able
to see clearly and impressively how much land remains to be
possessed, and feel the inadequacy of her present operations.
15. A larger proportion of effort should be directed to the
more enlightened nations, and to the higher classes in all
nations. Our efforts have hitherto been expended chiefly on Esqui
maux, Laplanders, Greenlanders, Tartars, American Indians,
Sandwich Islanders, Hottentots, Bushmen, Nicobarians, Ma
lays, Negroes, and Slaves. Converts have indeed been made
and immortal souls saved. But the results terminate on the
spot. Such people have no such influence on adjacent nations
as had the citizens of Jerusalem, Damascus, Alexandria, Rome,
Corinth, and Ephesus. They have no commerce to spread
abroad the holy leaven, and few pecuniary resources to enable
them to join in the work of giving Bibles and ministers to the
rest of the world.
Among tribes so degraded the missionary contends with brutal
ignorance, strong temptations to hypocrisy, deep poverty, petty
wars, and frequent changes in congregation; together with
the inconveniences of unsuitable food and habitation, and the
most violent change in all his previous habits and associations.
Had we begun by spreading the gospel among our more
immediate neighbours and the greater kingdoms, missionaries,
and missionary influences in a thousand forms, would have
multiplied spontaneously. Converted Arabs, Chinese, Hindus,
or Burmans, could have spread out among ruder tribes, with
out those violent transitions which curtail the lives of our
brethren, or those excessive expenses which keep down the
extent of our efforts.
It may be thought the Hindus should not be named in this
collection, so much having been done for them. But the extent
of this country should be remembered, and the number of

344 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
missionaries, which, with all the late augmentations, have
been sent to occupy it. From Bombay to Bankok, and from
Ceylon to Delhi, the number of missionaries is stated by a late
writer in the Calcutta Christian Observer to be one hundred
and thirty. This estimate comprehends at least 200,000,000
inhabitants — one missionary to 1,538,461 souls. The region
described, it will be perceived, includes Burmah, as well as
Hindustan, and is emphatically that part of the field to which
the attention of the church has been of late years particularly
drawn. In, scarcely any mission have the higher classes received
their full share of attention. They have not been so freely
visited at their houses ; and when visited, it has rather been
the act of respect, or to secure advantages. The visit is sel
dom for the express purpose of winning their souls, as is the
case when the poor are sought. The oftener such visits are
paid without the disclosure of a deep anxiety for the conversion
of his soul, the more does the chief, or rich man, grow satisfied
to remain as he is, and to suppose that his toleration or friend
ship is all that is expected. We should abhor the spirit which
gathers ministers round great men, to share their gifts, to
bask in their favour, to secure political enactments in favour
of religion, or to gain popularity and distinction among the
common people. But we should leave no efforts unattempted
to save their souls. The prophecies which cheer us in our
work, specify such persons as among the fruit, and declare
that they shall be nursing fathers and mothers to the church.
Caesar's court contained disciples. Some of the " mighty,"
and of " honourable ones not a few," appear among the con
verts to apostolic zeal.
Concluding Remarks. — Many suggestions to the churches
at home offer themselves. I will venture only two or three.
1. The number of missionaries should be greatly increased.
Numerous stations, occupied now by a single individual,
should be reinforced by one, two, and in some cases five or

mode of conducting missions.

345

six brethren. No post has been taken which seems untenable
or useless ; none from which the occupant wishes to retreat.
Each describes openings for usefulness which he cannot em
brace. If we mean merely to keep our present position, there
is need of a fresh labourer in every station and department,
who may be coming forward in his qualifications, and be ready
to take up the task at any moment, in case of the death of the
present incumbent.
There must be a wrong in concentrating preachers among
a portion of mankind, to the extent seen in England and
America, while whole nations lie unblest with the truth.
Such as have not known or considered the proportion of
ministers in England and America, should ponder the follow
ing facts.
The following table takes up some of the counties in
England alphabetically, so as to furnish a fair sample of the
whole.

COUNTY".

AREA.

CHUBCHES.

POPULATION.

AverageNumberof Souls
to a
Minister.

Square Miles.

Esta
blished.

Volun tary.

Total.

Bedfordshire . .
Berkshire . . ¦
Buckingham shire
Cambridgeshire .
Cheshire . . .
Cornwall ....
Cumberland . .
Derbyshire . . .

463 752
738857
10521330 1523
1028

127 160
214 174142
221145 177

7283 8987
162
328 90
189

199
243 303 261304
549 235 365

95,000
145,000146,000 143,000
334,000 302,000 169,000
237,000

477 597482 548
1099 550719 649

In New England, taken at large, the proportion of minis
ters is not much short of the above average. In Massachu
setts are 1252 ministers ; population, 650,000 ; average souls
to each minister, 519. In New Hampshire are 412 minis
ters ; population, 269,633 ; average number of souls to each
minister, 654. In Connecticut are 482 ministers; population,
298,000 ; average number of souls to each, 620*. The great
* These numbers are taken from the Registers of the respective States.
In the other Northern States the proportion is about the same.
0,3

346 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
cities of the United States are shown, by Rev. Messrs. Reed
and Mattheson, to have a larger proportion of ministers, than
those of England and Scotland.
The contrast between one missionary, and he a foreigner,
imperfect in the language, and unsustained by surrounding
Christians, attempting to bless a million of souls, and a pastor
in Great Britain or America to every four or five hundred
souls, and aided by a hundred Christian influences, is both
painful and humiliating.
2. Numerous lay brethren are immediately wanted.
A glance at the employments enumerated a little while ago,
shows how few of them fall exclusively within the province
of a minister. Except preaching, administering ordinances,
and presiding over church discipline, they may as well be
done by laymen. Perhaps one reason why so little is said of
some of these departments, in the New Testament, is, that
that history gives professedly the life of Christ, and the acts
of apostles. We certainly see that some branches of mission
ary duty were consigned to laymen, such, for instance, as the
secular concerns, the care of the poor, and the settlement of
disputes. There are many brethren not inferior to the best
ministers in piety. A knowledge of business and accounts,
and habits of order, despatch, and economy, give some of
these superior qualifications for some parts of the work. Such
services as are rendered by lay brethren in our own country,
are greatly wanted.
It is neither necessary nor desirable that all laymen, who
for Christ's sake go to the heathen, should put themselves
under the patronage of a society, or give their whole time to
religious services. The brethren scattered from Jerusalem by
persecution, no doubt pursued their secular callings, in the
cities whither they fled. Yet through them the holy influence
was spread.
If persecution were now to break out in England, or the
United States, thousands of church members would pass to

MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS. 347
other parts of the world, and, we may presume, would labour
to establish pure religion wherever they might find a home.
May we not fear that if we remain supine, some such necessity
for dispersion may be permitted to occur ? By going without
the impulse of persecution, the sacrifices involved in emigra
tion are immensely lessened. The ties of friendship, kindred,
and business, may be preserved, and property retained. In
fact, the evils incurred by voluntary expatriation are submitted
to by multitudes, for no higher end than the possible im
provement of outward circumstances.
Finally. A vastly higher state of piety at home must be
realised. On this copious and most important theme, I must now
confine myself to a few sentences. But I pass it by with the
more content, because it is a subject on which others can
write as well as one who has travelled, and which is often
calling forth able works. I think it has been proved that the
measure of missionary success is equal to the amount and kind
of effort employed. But all must agree, that had the whole
movement been more apostolic, there would be seen much
more fruit. Want of piety makes missionaries less successful,
just as it does other ministers. Were they absorbingly
interested in their work, and highly qualified for it, by large
measures of the spirit of Christ, they would seldomer fall into
the subordinate and less self-denying departments of labour,
and would prosecute their proper work, not only with more
commensurate zeal and skill, but with a greater blessing.
How shall such missionaries be expected from a religious
community pervaded by love of ease, elegance, and gain ?
They come forth from the mass, and resemble the mass.
Streams rise no higher than their sources. In vain we
harano-ue departing missionaries upon the necessity of a holy
weanedness from the world, and contempt of ease, if we have
no more ourselves. These are not the fruits of mere volition,
or sudden effort. They are the result of circumstances and

348 MODE OF CONDUCTING MISSIONS.
self-training, through the steady agency of the Spirit. None
but extraordinary persons rise above the level of their times ;
and we cannot expect every missionary, and missionary's wife,
and printer, and school teacher, to be an extraordinary person,
wholly in advance of the churches. They are, moreover, sent
out too young to have made very great Christian attainments,
even if they are extraordinary persons. The ordinary state
of the church must be made right, and then ordinary persons
will have right views, aims, and qualities ; and missionaries
will possess proper qualifications, and bear abroad a proper
spirit. Every professed Christian, therefore, may aid the cause of
missions by promoting a return to apostolic simplicity and
singleness of heart among all Christians. This would not
only furnish the right kind of missionaries, but the right
number, and the proper support. When every believer shall
habitually pray not only for a blessing on the work at large,
but for a clear perception of his own duty in the matter, and
shall cherish the spirit of entire self-dedication, we shall have
abundant means and proper men.

349

PRINCIPAL MISSIONARY STATIONS IN THE
WORLD,
WITH THE DATE OF THEIR ESTABLISHMENT, AND THE SOCIETY
BY WHICH THEY ARE SUPPORTED.
The abbreviations are, U. B., for United Brethren, or Moravians; C. K. S., for
Christian Knowledge Society ; W. M. S. , for Wesleyan Missionary Society ; E. B. M.,
for English Baptist Missionary Society ; S. M. S., for Scottish Missionary Society ;
C. M. S., for Church Missionary Society; L. J. S., for London Jews Society;
N. M. S., for Netherlands Missionary Society ; G. M. S., for German Missionary
Society ; Gl. M. S., for Glasgow Missionary Society ; G. B. M. , for General Baptists'
Missions; U.F.M., for United Foreign Missionary Society ; A. B. C, for American
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions; A. B. B., for American Baptist
Board of Missions ; P. E. B , for Protestant Episcopal Board; N. Y. S., for New
York Missionary Society ; G. A. M., for General Assembly's Missions ; M. M., for
Methodist Missions ; L. M. S., for London Missionary Society.

Tranquebar, King of Denm.

Madras,
Vepary, St. Thomas,
Greenland, .
St. Croix,
St. Jan,
North America,
Canadian Indians,

C. K. S
C. K. S.
. U. B.
. U. B.
. U. B.
. U. B.
. U. B.
U. B.

Muskingum Indians, . U. B.
Surinam,
Parimaribo,South Africa,
Negapatam, Cuddalore, Gnadentbal,
Pilgerhut, Sharon,
Labrador,Jamaica, Antigua, .
Hope, .
Nicobar Islands,
Tranquebar, .
Trichinopoly,Barbadoes,Asiatic Russia,
Bombay, .
Tanjore, St. Christopher,
Grace Hill, (Antigua,) U. B
Sommelsdyke, - . U. B.
Caribbee Islands, W. M. S.

U. B.
U. B.
. U. B.
C. K. S.
C. K. S.
. TJ. B.
. U. B.
. U. B.
. U. B.
. U. B.
. U. B.
. U. B.
. U. B.
. U. B.
C. K. S.
. TJ. B.
. U. B.
. TJ. B.
C. K. S.
U. B.

1706. 1727. 1727.1732.1733. 1734.1734. 1734.1734.
1734. 1735.1735. 1736.1737.1737.1737.1738.1739. 1752.1754.
1756. 1757.1759. 1759.
1762.1765.1765.1766.1772. 1774.
1782.
1785.1788.

Trinidad, . W. M. S.

J 788.

Tobago, . . . U. B.

1789.

Cape of Good Hope, TJ. B.

1792

Serampore, . E. B. M.

1793.

Malda, . . E. B. M.

1794

Taheiti, . . . L. M. S.

1797.

St. Christina, . W. M. S.

1797

Marquesas Islands, L. M. S.

1797.

Calcutta, . . L. M. S.

1798

Susoo Country, . S. M. S.

1798

India, . . E. B. M.

1798

Zac River, . . L. M. S.

1799

Bermudas, . . W. M. S.

1799

South Africa, . E. B. M.

1799

Caffraria, . . E. B. M.

1799

Newfoundland, . E. B. M.

1799

Serampore, . . E. B. M.

1799

Boschemen, . E. B. M.

1799

Tuscaroras, . . N. Y. S.

1800

Cherokee Indians, . TJ. B.

1801

Griqua Town, . . L. M. S.

1801

Calcutta, . . B. M. S.

1801

Stellenbosch, . . B. M. S.

1801

Karess, CAsiatic # c „» „
Russia,) \

1802

Tartary, . . S. M. S.

1803

Bethelsdorp, . L. M. S.

1803

Ceylon, . . E. B. M.

1804

Bahamas, . . W. M. S.

1804

West Africa, . C. M. S.

1804

Cutwa, . . . B. M. S.

1804

Dinagepore, . E. B. M.

1805

Sahebgunge, . . E. B. M.

1805

350

MISSIONARY STATIONS.

Surat,Green Bay,
Asia Minor, .
Madras, .
Travancore, .
Amlamgodde, (Ceylon,)
Vizagapatam, Indians of New \
York, \
Travancore,Namaquas, .
Buenos Ayres,
St. Bartholomew,
Creek Indians, ¦
Jessore, Canton, Calcutta,
Madras,Demarara, .
Tobago, .
Rangoon,Trinidad,Digah, Bellary,
Burmah, Bellary, .
New Zealand,
Orissa, .
Balasore,« .
Monghir, Greek Islands,
Agra,Eimeo,Malta,Bombay, Agra,Ceylon,Chittagong,
Algoa Bay, .
Surat,Chinsurah, .
Cape of Good \
Hope, 5
Java, Pacaltsdorf, Lattakoo,Chinsura,
Rangoon,Bombay,
Batavia, Astrachan,Mahratta,Theopolis,

C. M. S. 1805.
TJ. F. M. 1805.
. A. B. C. 1805.
. L. M. S. 1805.
. L. M. S. 1805.
. L. M. S. 1805.
, L. M. S. 1805.
U. F. M. 1805.

. L. M. S.
. E. B. M.
.E. B. M.
W. M. S.
. TJ. B.
, E. B.M.
. L. M. S.
. C. M. S.
W. M. S.
W. M. S.
, E. B. M.
. E. B. M.
E. B. M.
. E. B. M.
E. B. M.
. E. B. M.
. L. M. S.
. CM. S.
, E. B. M.
. E. B. M.
. E. B. M.
. E. B. M.
. E. B. M.
. L. M. S.
. L. M. S.
. A. B. C.
. C. M. S.
. E. B. M.
. E. B. M.
. L. M. S.
. E. B. M.
. L. M. S.

1806. 1806.
1806.1806.1807.1807.1807.
1807. 1807.
1808. 1808.
1808. 1809.1809. 1809.1809.
1810. 1810.1810. 1810.1810. 1810.
1811.1811. 1811.
1812.1812.1812. 1812.1812. 1812. 1812.

L. M. S. 1812.
E. B. M. 1813.
L. M. S. 1813.
L. M. S. 1813.
L. M. S. 1813.
A. B. B. 1813.
A. B. C. 1813.
. L. M. S. 1814.
. S.M. S. 1814.
A. B. C. 1814.
. A. B. C. 1814.

Mauritius, or Isle
of France,
Java, .
Amboyna, • ¦
Madras,Jamaica, . •
Amboyna, .
Surat,
Malta, Greece, . . •
Meerut,Malacca, ¦ •
Bethany, Orenburg,
Astrachan, Kurnaul,
Free-town, )
(W.Africa,) J '
Free-town, .
Ceylon,Caffraria,
Benares, Chunar,Dacca,
Digah, .
Haweis-town, Calcutta,
Jamaica,Monghyr, Raiotea, .
Batticotta, .
Cherokees, < .
Burdwan, .
Hayti, . . ,
Benares, Cottayam,TeUicherry,Boschesfield, 1
(S. Africa,) J
Cottayam,
Puttawatomies, Cherokees,Calcutta,
Allahabad, Bencoolen, .
Valley towns, .
Choctaws,New Holland, .
Wyandott and >

L.«M. S. 1814.

L. M. S.
L. M. S.
C. M. S.
E. B. M.
E. B. M.
L. M. S.
C. M. S.
C. M. S.
C. M. S.
L. M. S.
L. M. S.
S. M. S.
S. M. S.
C. M. S.

1814.
1814.
1814. 1814.
1814.1815. 1815.
1815. 1815.
1815.1815.1815. 1815.
1815.

W. M. S. 1816.

. C. M. S.
. A. B. C.
. L. M. S.
E. B. M.
. C. M. S.
E. B. M.
, E. B. M.
L. M. S.
. L. M. S.
. C. M. S.
E. B. M.
. L. M. S.
. A. B. C.
. A. B. C.
. C. M. S.
W. M. S.
. C. M. S.
. C. M. S.
. C. M. S.

1816.1816.1816.1816.1816.1816.1816.1816. 1816.
1816.1816. 1816. 1817.1817.1817. 1817.
1817. 1817.
1817.

Sandusky,
Madagascar,Bareilly, AUepie, Ceylon,

. L. M. S. 1817.
. L. M. S. 1817.
. A. B. B. 1817.
. A. B. B. 1817.
. E. B. M. 1817.
. E. B. M. 1818.
. E. B. M. 1818.
. A. B. B. 1818.
. A. B. C. 1818.
. C. M. S. 1818.
. A. B. B. 1818.
. L. M. S. 1818.
. C. M. S. 1818.
. C. M. S. 1818.
. C. M. S. 1818.

MISSIONARY STATIONS.

351

C. M. S. 1818.
C. M. S.

1818.1818. 1819.1819. 1819.1819.1819.1819. 1819.1819.1819.1819. 1820.
1820.1820.1820.1820. 1820. 1820.1820.1820. 1820.
S. 1820.

Nellore, Bullom, (W.
Africa,)
Cherokees, . . A. B. B.
New Zealand, . .CM. S.
Binder's Point, . L. M. S.
Doorgapore, . E. B. M.
Parre, . . . L. M. S.
Singapore, . . L. M. S.
Penang, . . . L. M. S.
Mayaveram, . .CM. S.
Bombay, . .CM. S.
Sumatra, . . E. B. M.
Ajemere, . . E. B. M.
Syria, . . A. B. C
Greece, . . . A. B. C.
Bangalore, . . L. M. S.
Sandwich Islands, , A. B. C
Belgaum, . . A. B. C
Arkansas Chero, . A.'B. C
Van Diemen's Land,W. M. S.
Benares, . . L. M. S.
Calcutta, . . G. P. S.
Polamcotta, . .CM. S.
Borabora,(Society 1 q ^
Islands,) j
Monrovia, . . A. B. B. 1820.
Ava, . . . A. B. B. 1821.
Crisma, . . S. M. S. 1821.
Bathurst, . . CM. S. 1821.
Beltollah, . . C. K. S. 1821.
Chummie, . . G. M. S. 1821.
Tuscaroras, . U. F. M. 1821.
Chickasaws, . . A. B. C. 1821.
Quilon, . . L. M. S. 1821.
Negapatam, . .W. M.S. 1821.
Trincomalee, . W. M. S. 1821.
Chittagong, . . A. B. B. 1821.
Orissa, . . E. G. B. 1822.
Cuddapah, . . L. M.S. 1822.
Corfu, . . L. M. S. 1822.
Cattaraugus, 1 TJ F M. 1822.
(N. Y.) J * u-*-ivl- 1D^-
Sandwich Islands, L. M. S. 1822.
Malta, . . A. B. C. 1822.
Cuttack, . . G. B. M. 1822.
Cotta, . .CM. S. 1822.
Friendly Islands, W. M. S. 1822.
Maupite, . . L. M. S. 1822.
Tohoa, . . . L. M. S. 1822.
Dresden, (Germany,) L. J. S. 1822.
South America, . E. B. M. 1822.
Red River, (North ? c M g_ 1822_
West America,) }

Maupiti, . . L. M. S.
Taha, or Otaha, . L. M. S.
Chumie, (S. Afr.) . Gl. M. S.
Lovedale, (S. Afr.) Gl. M. S.
Honduras, . . E. B. M.
South America, . E. B. M.
Delhi,Buenos Ayres,
Beyroot

Beerbhoom,New Zealand,
Bogues-town,Sadras,Gorruckpore,Combaconum,Creeks,

E. B. M.
A. B. C.
A. B. C.
E. B. M.
W. M. S.
L. M. S.
N. M. S.
C M. S.
C. M. S.
A. B. B

Karens, (Burmah,) A. B. B.
Jamaica, . . S. M. S.
Jamaica, . . . TJ. B.
Ottawas, . . A. B. B.
Batticaloe, . . W. M. S.
Shusha, . . . G. M. S.
Berhampore, . L. M. S.
Kidderpore, . . L. M. S.
Buenos Ayres, . A. B. C.
Hidia, . . . L. M. S.
Combaconum, . L. M. S.
Caffraria, . . L. M. S.
Lageba, (Fegee Is.) L. M. S.
Osages, . . . TJ. F. M.
Machinaw, . . TJ. F. M.
Maumee, . . TJ. F. M.
Akyab, (Arracan,) E. B. M.
Raivaivai Islands, . L. M. S.

Maulmain,Chittoor,
Butterworth, >
i.) 5

A. B. B
L. M. S.

1822.1822.1822.1822. 1822.1822.1822.1823. 1823.
1823.
1823. 1823.1823. 1823.
1823. 1823.1823.1824. 1824.
1824.1824. 1824.1824.1825.1825.1825. 1825. 1826.
1826.
1826. 1826.
1826.
1826. 1826. 1827.1827.

W.M. S. 1827.

(S. Africa
Salem, '. " . L. M. S. 1827.
Green Bay, . . A. B. C. 1827.
Benares, . . E. B. M. 1827.
Madras, . . . G. P. S. 1827.
Liberia, . . G. M. S. 1827.
Kbodon, (Siberia,) L. M. S. 1828.
Neyoor (Travan- ? L M g lg28_
core,) )
Stockbridge )
Indians, J
Syra, .
Abyssinia, . ,
Bombay, Ojibwas, (Chip- J
pewas,) J
Gowhatte, (Asam,) E. B. M

A. B. C. 1828.

C M. S.
C. M. S.
S. M. S.

1828.1828.
1828.

A. B. B. 1828.
1829.

352

MISSIONARY STATIONS.

Greece,Habai Islands,
The Bushmen,
Coimbatore,

China,
Calcutta,
Chippewa,Shawanoes,
Liberia,
Tavoy, South Africa, .
Boujah, Shawnees,
Delawares,Delawares,Constantinople, Western Cherokees, A. B. B.
France, . . A. B. B.
Kickapoos, . A. B. B.
Delawares, A. B. B.
Creeks, . . . A. B. C.
Peorias andKaskaskias.M.M.

. P. E. B.
. W. M. S.
. L. M. S.
. L. M. S.
. C. M. S.
A. B. C.
S. M. S.
A. B. C.
. M. M.
. M. M.
A. B. B.
E. B. M.
C. M. S.
A. B. B.
. A. B. B.
. M. M.
. A. B. C.

Otoes, Siam,
Armenians, Kickapoos,Oregon,
Lodiana,Chiekasaws,Siam,

A. B. B.
A. B. B.
A. B. C.
. M. M.
. M. M.
G. A. M.
. A. B. B.
A. B. C.

Chinese, (Bankok,) A. B. C.
Nestorians, . . A. B. C.
Madura, . A. B. C.
Singapore, . . A. B. C.
Pawnee Indians, . A. B. C.
Chinese, (Bankok,) A. B. B.
Kyouk Phyoo, > . _ _
(Arracan,) S ABB'
West Africa, . A. B. C.
South Africa, A. B. C.
Chinese, (Batavia,) P. E. B.

1830.
1830.1830.1830.
1830. 1830.
1830.1830. 1830.1830.
1830.
1831.1831.1831.1831.
1831.
1831.1832.1832. 1832.
1832. 1832.
1832.1833.1833.
J 833.
1833. 1833.
1833.1833.1834.1834.1834.
1834. 1834.1834.1834.
1834. 1835.
1835.1835.

Abernaquis,Kansas, ¦
Hayti, .
Germans,Omahas,
Mahometan,Madras,Java,Borneo,

A. B. C.
. M. M.
A. B. B.
A. B. B.
A. B. B.
A. B. C.
A. B. C.
A. B. C.
A. B. C.

Peguans, (Burmah,)A. B. B.
Africa, (C. Palmas,) P. E. B.
Persia, . . P. E. B.
Rocky Mount. Ind. A. B. C
Asam, . . A. B. B.
Teloogoos, . . A. B. B.
Greece, . . . A. B. B.
Chinese,( Singapore,) C. M. S.
Allahabad, G. A. M.
Sabbathu, . G. A. M.
Saharanpore, . G. A. M.
South Africa, C. M. S.
Mergui, . . A. B. B.
Ottawas, A. B. B.
Omahas, . A. B. B.
Pawnees, . A. B. B.
Chinese, (Macao,) A. B. B.
Iowa, . . G. A. M.
Chinese (Singapore), G. A. M.
Crete, . P. E. B.
Jalna, (Mahratta,) A. B. C.
Nez Perces (Oregon), A. B. C
Kayuges, (Oregon,) A. B. C.
A. B. C
. M. M.
. M. M.
P. E. B.
A. B. C.
A. B. C.
A. B. C.
. M. M.
A. B. B.
A. B. B.

Dindegal,Texas, Puttawatomies,Texas, .
Sheragunga,
Teroomumgolum, Terussurranum,
Puttawatomies, Otoes,Chinese, (Singap.)

1835.1835.1835.
1835.1835.1836.1836.
1836.1836.1836.
1836. 1836.
1836.1836. 1836.
1836.
1836.
1836.1836.1836.1837.1837.
1837. 1837.
1837.
1837. 1837.
1837. 1837.
1837.1837.
1837.1837.1837.1838.1838.
1838.1838. 1838.1838.
1838.
1839.

GLOSSARY.

To avoid swelling this Glossary unnecessarily, such words as occur but once are
explained in the body of the work. To make it more useful, some words are
added which do not occur in the preceding pages, but are often found in works
on India. The following mode of using the vowels is adopted :—
e as in here.
i „ pin.
i ,, pine.
o ,, not.
5 ,, note.
Where no accent is marked, the syllables are to be pronounced with equal force.

ban.bane.far. fall.

run.
rule,house.aisle.

A.
A-bad-us, (called by the Chinese Swan-pwan,) an instrument for nume
rical calculation
Ab-dar, a Hindu servant who cools and takes care of water
A-daw let, justice, equity; a court of justice, civil or criminal
A' -gar d -gar, a species of sea- weed, (fucus saccarinus,') of which the
Chinese make a gelatinous sweetmeat, and also a glue which insects do
not attack
A-gil-lo-cha, or A-gil-a wood, the same as eagle wood, and lign or lignum
aloes ; a half-rotten, unctuous wood, which, in burning, emits a fra
grance much valued in the East as a perfume
Am-ba-lam-bos, natives of the region of Majunga, in Madagascar
A-nam, literally "south country." The whole of south-eastern Siam,
Camboja, and Cochin-China, is sometimes called Anam. Some maps
erroneously set down a separate country under this name
An-na, a Bengal silver coin, the sixteenth part of a rupee (about three-
halfpence)
An-ti-lou-ches, a mixed race of Arabs and natives, in the island of Mada
gascar, chiefly found near Majunga
A-ref-ca, the betel-nut tree, a species of palm. The betel-leaf is betel-
piper, which is the same genus as the piper nigrum of Linnaeus
Ar'-rack, an intoxicating liquor, generally made from rice
Ar-ee, an Arracan weight of about twenty-five pounds
As-say-woon, a Burman paymaster or general
A-twen-woon, a Burman minister of state
A-v'd'-ta-ra, descents of the Deity in various shapes, incarnations ; those
of Rama and Krishnu are the most remarkable
Ay-ah, a lady's or child's maid

354 GLOSSARY. B.
B'd-boo, a Hindu gentleman
Ba-har1, a measure equal to three piculs
Bal-a-chong. Same as Gnapee
Ba-lu, a Boodhist warder or guardian
Bang, an intoxicating drug, prepared in India from the flowers and juice
of the hemp plant ; to which opium is sometimes added
Ban'-gles, ornamental rings for the wrists or ankles ; made of various
metals, or precious stones, according to the wealth of the owner
Ban-guy boxes, tin cases for carrying clothes, &c, on journeys, made
with reference to being borne at the ends of a pole
Ban-ian, a Hindu merchant
Bas-ket, a Burman measure containing 58| pounds of clean rice, or one
bushel
Bat-ta, deficiency, discount, allowance to troops in the field
Ba-zar, a market, or place of shops
Be-da-gat, the sacred books of the Burmans
Be-ga, or Big-gah, a land measure, equal, in Bengal, to about a third of
an acre, but varying in different provinces ; the common ryotty bega,
in Bengal, contains about sixteen hundred square yards
Be-gum, or Begaum, an East Indian lady, princess, woman of high rank
Ben-zoin, or Benjamin, the commercial name for frankincense
Betel-leaf, the leaf of a species of pepper, (the piper betel,) which is mas
ticated along with the areca, or betel-nut, and lime
Be-zoar, an oval concretion of resin and bile, found in the glands and
gall-bladders of several animals
Bhee'-ste, a Hindu water-carrier
Biche-de-mer, dried sea-slugs, or tripang
Big-gah. See Bega
Bob'-a-gee, a Hindu cook
Bon'-zes, a Japanese name for priests
Boo-khoo, a Karen prophet
Bou'-le-a, a small Bengal pleasure-boat
Brah-min-y goose, the anas casarca
Brin-j&ls, the solanum longum, a species of egg plant
Bud-ge-ro, a large Bengal pleasure-boat
Bu-gis, (pronounced Boo-geese,) inhabitants of Bony and Celebes. They
are the universal carriers of the Archipelago, and noted for enterprise
and trustworthiness
Bund, an embankment
Bun'-ga-low, a Hindu country-house, or cottage, erected by Europeans
in Bengal, and well suited to the climate. It is constructed of wood,
bamboos, mats, and thatch ; and may be completed in a short time,
and at a moderate expense
Bun-kal, a Malay weight, equal to 832 gr. troy
C.
Caf-fre, an unbeliever, Abyssinian, or negro
Ca-li, or Cal-ci, the tenth incarnation of Vishnu, in the shape of a horse
with a human head ; still expected
Cam-pong, a Malay term for an enclosure or collection of houses
Cand, or Can-da-reen' , a Chinese piece of money, equal to ten cash, or
about a penny sterling
Can-dy. The Bombay candy weighs 560 pounds

GLOSSARY. 355
Car-'dn-che, a Hindu hackney-coach
Car-da-muns, or Cardamoms-, (amomum cardamomum,) a spice much used
in India
Cash, a Madras coin, eighty of which make one fanam. It is a Tamul word
Cash, a Chinese coin, composed of tu-ten-ag and copper, a thousand of
which are equal to one tael. They call it Le. It has a square hole in
the centre for the convenience of being strung on a twine, and is cast,
not struck with a die
Cat-a-ma-ran' ', a small raft
Cat-ty, a Chinese weight of 1J pounds, which they call kin. Eighty-four
catties make one hundred-weight. One pound avoirdupoise is equal to
three-quarters of a catty
Chac-ra-our-ty, a title formerly bestowed on the Hindu emperors of India
Chunk, the conch shell (volula gravis)
Char-va-cas, or Shrawuks, a sect of Jains
Chat-la, a Hindu earthen pot
Chat-ty, a Hindu umbrella
Chil-lies, red peppers
Chin-na, the lathyrus aphaca, a plant of the pea or vetch kind
Chit-ak, a British- Indian weight of 1 oz. 17 dwts. 12 grs.
Chob-d'dr, a Hindu servant who runs before a carriage
Chob'-waw, a tributary prince
Chok'-key, a Hindu toll or custom-house
Cho-ke-dar1, a watchman or custom-house officer
Choi' -try, a Hindu caravansera, or empty house for travellers
Chop, a Chinese permit or stamp
Chop'-per, thatch
Chop-sticks, Chinese implements for eating
Chow-ry, a brush of feathers, grass, &c, or the tail of a Thibet cow, (the
bos grunniens,) used to drive away flies
Chuck-ra, a sort of quoit or missile discus, always placed in the hand of
Vishnu
Chvl-liah, a native of the Coromandel or Malabar coast
Chu-nam', lime, used in stucco, for coating, &c.
Chap-ras'-se, a messenger
Coir, (pronounced kire,) a species of cordage, made from the fibres of the
cocoa-nut husk
Corn-pound, a yard ; corruption of the Portuguese word campania
Com-pra-dor1 , a Chinese steward or provider
Coo'-ly, a common porter or labourer
Coon, the mixture of betel-leaf, areca-nut, and lime, chewed by the Bur
mans and Siamese
Gorge, a measure of 40 baskets. In dry goods, it means 20 pieces of
anything
Coss, or Koss, about a mile and a half, but varying in different parts of
India. It is usually reckoned two miles, but is nowhere so much
Cov-'d-dy-coo-tey, a banguy-bearer in the Carnatic
Gov-id, or Chih, a Chinese measure of various lengths, according to the
goods measured. The common covid, used in measuring ships, &c, is
about 14f inches
Cow'-ry, the shell of a very small mussel, {cypraa moneta of Lin.) of
which 8000 are equivalent to a dollar at Calcutta, and 10,000 at Bankok ;
but the value varies exceedingly at different times. They are collected
on the Malabar coast, and especially round the Maldive islands
Cris. See Krees

356 GLOSSARY.
Coy'-an, equal to 40 piculs, or 4080 pounds avoirdupois
Crore. A crore of rupees is 100 lacs, or ten- millions of rupees
Cu-bebs, the small spicy berry of the piper cubeba
Cum-e-la, a dried fish, prepared in large quantities at theMaldive islands.
It is probably the boneta
Cum'-shaw, a present. At Canton, custom has made some cumshaws
matter of right
Curry, a stew of fowl, fish, or meat, with plenty of gravy, and eaten with
boiled rice. More strictly, the gravy itself is the curry. Hence they
say, "curried fowl," &c. This gravy, or curry, is made in various
ways, but generally of sweet oil, red pepper, ginger, garlic, and turmeric
Cutch, (called also Gambier, and Terra Japonica,) the inspissated juice
of certain acacias and mimosas. It is chewed in small quantities with
betel. The coarser kinds are used in tanning
Cutch-a', mud for building inferior houses
Cutch! -er-y, a Hindu hall of justice D.
Dah, a Burman knife or chopper ; it is used also as a sword
Daing, a Burman measure of about two miles
Dam'-ar, a species of pitch, exuded from several sorts of trees in the East,
and used instead of pitch for ships, decks, torches, &c.
Dam-a-thal', the Burman civil code
Dan'-dy, a Bengal boatman
Dawk, or Dak, a Hindu post, or mail conveyance
Day-a, or Day-ak, one of the original inhabitants of Borneo
De-coit', a gang-robber
Den-nee1, or At-tap, a thatch made of palm-leaves
Dep'-a, a Malay measure, equal to two yards
D ho'-ny, a Coromandel coasting-vessel of singular construction
Din'-gey, or Ding-he, & Bengal ferry-boat with two oars, and a small
house on the stern
Din'-gey Wat-la, a Bengal ferryman
Dir'-gey, a Bengal tailor
Do' -bey, a Bengal washerman
Doit, a Dutch East India coin, the 360th part of a dollar
Dong, a Burman measure of about six acres
Do-ry-an, or Du-ry-an, (durio zebinthinus,) a highly-valued fruit, the
size of a man's head
Drag-on1 s-blood, the concrete juice of the calamus rotang, a large ratan
made especially in Borneo and Sumatra
Dur-wan', a Bengal porter and watchman E.
En'-gy, or Eng-hee, a Burman jacket or short gown of muslin
F.
Fd-heer', a Mahometan devotee or religions mendicant
Fa-nam', a Madras coin, in value a fraction more than an anna. Twelve
fanams make one rupee
Fir-man, a royal order or mandate G.
Gal-li-vat, a large boat of about seventy tons, rowed with forty or
more oars

GLOSSARY. 357
Gam-bier. See Cutch
Gan-ja, an intoxicating drug, procured from the hemp seed and flower
Gan-tang, the 800th part of a coyan, or about five pounds avoirdupois
Ga-ree, a small Bengal wagon or coach
Ga-ree-wal-la, a Bengal coachman or driver
Gen-too, a name derived from the Portuguese gentio, (which signifies
gentile in the scriptural sense.) Not used by Indians
Ghaut, a pass through a mountain ; but generally applied to an extensive
chain of hills
Ghaut, stairs descending to a river
Ghee, butter clarified by boiling
Ghur-ry, a Hindu fortification
Gna-pee, a condiment for rice, made by Burmans and Siamese, &c, of
half-salted fish, shrimps, &c, pounded to the consistency of mortar.
The smell is very repulsive to Europeans r
Go-down, a factory or warehouse, from the Malay word gadong
Go'-la, (Hindu,) a public granary
Goom-ty, winding ; the name of many rivers in Hindustan
Goo-roo, among the Hindus, a spiritual guide
Go-saings, religious mendicants who wander about Hindustan, generally
in companies
Goun-boung, a Burman turban
Grab, a square-rigged Arab coasting-vessel, having a very projecting
stem, and no bowsprit. It has two masts, of which the fore-mast is
principal
Gram, a round grain, the size of maize, used in Bengal as provender for
horses, elephants, &c. There are many varieties, such as the red,
black, green, &c.
Gri-gua, (pronounced gree'-ka,) a mixed race in South Africa, sprang
from the intercourse of Dutch settlers with native women. The
Dutch call them bastards ; but the English, disliking that name, call
them Griguas
Gun-ge, a granary or depot. In gunges, the chief commodities sold are
grain, and the necessaries of life ; and generally by wholesale. They
often include bazaars, where these articles are sold by retail. It is a
very common termination of names in Bengal and some of the adjacent
provinces, and generally applied to a place where there is water
carriage
Gun-ni.es, bags made of a coarse cotton fabric ; a species of sackcloth
Guy-wal-la, a herdman or cow-keeper H.
Had-ka-ry, a street cart in Bengal
Had'-jee, a M ussulman who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca, and there
performed certain ceremonies
H'd-ram, a separate apartment for females
Has-ta, a Malay measure, equal to a cubit, or eighteen inches. Four
hastas make one depa
Hav-il-d'dr1 , a sergeant of sepoys
Hop-po, a Chinese overseer of commerce
How1 -da, a seat on an elephant's back
Hur-ka'-ru, a Hindu errand-boy, or messenger
I.
Indo-Briton, a person born in India, one of whose parents is a European

358

GLOSSARY.

In-dra, in Hindu mythology, the god of thunder ; a personification of the
sky ; the chief of the Devatas and Suras
In'-jee, a Burman jacket J.
Jag-ge-ry, dark, coarse sugar, made of the juice of palms
Jag-hire, (Hindu,) an assignment of the government share of the produce
of a portion of land to an individual, either personal or for the support
of a public establishment, particularly of a military nature. The district
so assigned
Jains, a sect of Boodhists in Upper India, particularly numerous in
Gujerat, Rajpootana, and Malwa
Jec-cuns. Same as Samangs, which see
Jeel, a shallow lake, or morass
Jet-ty, a wharf, or quay
Jin, a demon
Jog-hee, a Hindu devotee
Jos, the Chinese Boodh
Jos-sticks, in China, small reeds, covered with the dust of odoriferous
woods, and burned before idols
Jum-ba, a Malay measure of just four yards
Jun-gle, land covered for the most part with forest trees, brush-wood,
creeping plants, and coarse, rank, reedy vegetation, but not wholly
uninhabited. The term is used, in some cases, as equivalent to the
word country, as distinguished from villages
Junk, a Chinese ship K.
K'dri -su-ma, a Hindu butler or steward
Kit-mut-gar1 , a head table servant. (Hindu)
Elam, a Siamese coin, value about one half-penny
Kling, the Malay name for a Kalinga, or Teloogoo man
Ko, Burman title for an elderly man
Ko-lan', the name of a class of sectaries in Burmah
Koss. See Coss
Ko-vil, a Hindu shrine or place of worship
Krees, or Kris, (pronounced creese,) a Malay dagger
Ku-l'd', or Cola, (Burman,) a foreigner
Kyoung, a Burman monastery L.
Lac, one hundred thousand
Lap-pet, Burman name for tea. The decoction they call " tea-water."
Las-car, a European term applied to native sailors, called also ca-lash'-e.
Lichi, (pronounced lee-chee,) the scytala lichti, a favourite Chinese fruit"
about the size of an apricot
Ling-am, an obscene object of Hindu worship
Lot-dau, the Burman hall of the supreme court ; applied also to the
council itself
Lout, a Malay word, signifying the sea
M.
M'd, Burman title of respect for a middle-aged woman
Ma, or May, title of respect for an old woman
Mace, an imaginary Chinese coin equal to ten cands, or the tenth part of
a tael, or fifty-eight grains troy

GLOSSARY. , 359
Ma-dris-sa, a college for instruction in Mahometan law
Ma-ha, great
Maha-Raja, a great prince
Maik, (pronounced mike,) a Burman measure, equal to the breadthof the
hand with the thumb extended
Ma-lay-a'-la, or Ma-lay-a-lim. Same as Malabar
Man.da-reen, a Portuguese word, from mandar, to command ; applied
to Chinese officers of various grades. The Chinese word is Quan
Man-go-steen, a delicious kind of fruit
Man-grove, in botany, the rhizophora gymnorhiza. It abounds chiefly
where the fresh water of streams and rivers intermixes with that of the
ocean. One species extends along the sea-shore, with its roots growing
entirely in salt water
Man-tras, charms, incantations, prayers, invocations
Mat, a Burman weight, equal to 62 j grains troy
Maund, properly mun, a Bengal weight, now established at 1 00 pounds
troy, or 82 pounds avoirdupois. In selling different articles, the
weight is different, or used to be. Thus there is a factory maund,
of 74 pounds 10 ounces avoirdupois ; a bazaar maund of 82 pounds
avoirdupois ; and a salt maund, 2£ per cent, heavier than the bazaar
maund
May-woon, Burman governor of a province
Me, Burman title for miss or young girl
Mee'-ta, or Md-t'her, a Hindu sweeper
Me-tr'd'-ne, a Hindu female sweeper
Mo-fus-sil, the Hindustanee word for " country" or " interior," as dis
tinguished from the metropolis
Mo'-hur, a British- Indian gold coin, value of 15 rupees, weighing 180
grains troy
Mol-ley, a Hindu gardener
Moon-she, a Mussulman professor of languages
Moon-sif, a native judge or justice, whose decisions are limited to suits
for personal property, not exceeding fifty rupees
Moung, a Burman title of respect to middle-aged men
Mua, Karen term for middle-aged women, married or single
Muf-ti, the Mahometan law officer, who declares the sentence
Mug, a native of Arracan
Mus-aV -che, a scullion, a torch-bearer
Mus-nud, a throne, a chair of state
Myen-sa-gye, or Mensagyee, a Burman deputy governor
Myu-sa-gye, a Burman mayor or chief of a city
N.
Na-bob, (pronounced nawaub}) deputy or viceroy under the Mogul or
prince
Nac-an-gye, reporter or secretary to the Burman lotdau
Nac-o-ddr', the captain of an Arab vessel
Nagur, Nagore, Nuggur, and Nagara, a town or city ; the termination
of many East- Indian names
Na-pu'-e, Karen object of worship
Nat, a spirit of the air ; a Burman mythological being, of a superior and
happy order
Naw, or Nau, Karen term for miss or young girl
Nic-ban, (sometimes pronounced nike-ban,) absorption, annihilation.
The supreme and ultimate hope of the Boodhistic religion

360 GLOSSARY.
Nir-va-na, (Sunscrit,) in metaphysics, a profound calm ; signifying also
extinct. The notion attached to it by the Hindus is that of perfect
apathy ; a condition of unmixed, tranquil happiness or ecstasy. A state
of imperturbable apathy is the ultimate bliss to which the followers of
Brahma aspire — a state which can hardly be said to differ from the
eternal sleep or annihilation of the Boodhists
Nud-dy, a river, the termination of many names
Nul-l'd, an arm of the sea ; a natural canal or small branch of a river ;
also a streamlet, rivulet, or water-course O. »
Oo, an old man's title of respect. (Burman)
Or-long, a Malay measure of 80 yards
Or-pi-ment, a yellow mineral, from which the article called " king's
yellow" is prepared. It is a compound of sulphur and arsenic
Os-wals, a sect of Jain heretics, who eat at night, contrary to the Jain
orthodox usage P.
Pad-dy, rice not divested of the husk
Pa-go-da, a name applied by Europeans to pagan temples, and places of
worship
Pa-go-da, a gold coin of the Madras presidency, called varaha by the
Hindus, and hoon by the Mahometans. The star pagoda is worth eight
shillings sterling, or three and a half Company rupees
Pai, a Siamese coin, value one penny
Pak, a Siamese word signifying mouth, debouchure
Pdl-kee, Bengal name for palankeen
Panch-way, a Bengal four-oared boat for passengers
Pa-pu'-a, a negro of the Eastern Archipelago
Par-a-matf , a Burman dissenter from Boodhism
Par-but-ties, mountaineers, hill people
Pa'-ri-ah, or Pariar, a term used in India by Europeans to designate the
outcasts of the Hindu tribes, and also anything vile
Par-see, a descendant of the Guebres, or fire-worshippers, driven from
Persia by Mahometan persecution, in the eighth century
Pa'-te, literally uncle, a Karen term, rather more respectful than Saw
Pecotta, a machine for drawing water
Pee-pultree, in botany, the feus religiosa
Pe-nang, the Malay name of betel-nut
Pen-in1, a Burman boat-steerer
Peon, (pronounced pune,) a Hindu constable
Prr-gun-na, a small district or township
Pes-so, a Burman waist-cloth
Pet-lah, a town or suburb adjoining a fort ; an extra-mural suburb
P'hra, god, lord, or noble ; used by Burmans and Siamese in speaking to
a person with great respect
PV-a-sath, the Burmese name for the spire of a palace or pagoda, denoting
royalty or sacredness

or 1600

Pice, a small copper coin, the sixty-fourth part of a rupee
Pic'-ul, 133^- lbs. A Chinese picul is divided into 100 catties,
taels. The Chinese call it tan
Pie, the third part of a pice ; about 200 make a rupee
Poi-ta, the thread worn over a Brahmin's shoulder, to show his sacred
character

GLOSSARY. 361
Pon-g/iee1, a Burman priest of the higher orders. The term is given by
courtesy to all the regular priests
Pure, or Poor, a town, place, or residence ; the termination of many
names in Bengal and the upper provinces
Pr'd-cha-dee, or Pr'd, a pagoda, or temple
Prow, or Prahu, a Malay boat or vessel
Pug-gies, a village tribe, whose business it is to trace thieves by their
footsteps
Pum pie-nose, the shaddock (Citrus decumanus), a species of orange
Pun' -dit, a learned Brahmin
Pun'-ka, a large frame, covered with painted canvas, suspended from the
ceiling. A cord passes through a partition, and the servant, sitting
in an outer room, keeps it in motion like a fan ; a fan
Pu-ran-a, certain Hindu mythological poems
Put-chuck', the roots of a medical plant, greatly valued in China
Pway-za', a money-changer. (Hindu.) Q.
Quat-ln, a Malay word signifying the mouth of a river
R.
Ra-han', a name sometimes given to Burman priests of distinction
Ra-ja, king, prince, chieftain, nobleman ; a title in ancient times given
only to the military caste
Raj-bung'-sies, a tribe of mountaineers in Arracan and vicinity
Rajpoots (from raja putra, the offspring of a king), a name which, strictly
speaking, ought to be limited to the higher classes of the military tribe,
but which is now assumed on very slender pretences
Ran-ny (corruption of rojni), a queen, princess, the wife of a raja
Rhoom, a hall of justice, or a magistrate's court (pronounced by the
Burmans, yong)
Roo-ee, a fish of Bengal, the Rohit cyprinus
Ru-pee, silver coin of British India. The Sicca rupee is worth two
shillings and three farthings. The new, or Company rupee, weighs
180 grains troy, or one tola, has one twelfth alloy, and is worth about
one shilling and elevenpence. It is equal to the Madras, Bombay,
Arcot, Furukabad, and Sonat rupees, and to fifteen-sixteenths of the
Sicca rupee
Rut'h (pronounced rut), a carriage on two low wheels, drawn by bullocks
Ry-ot, or Riot, a Bengal peasant, cultivator, or subject
S.
Sago-tree (s'dgu, Malay), in botany, the Palma farinifera
Saib, or Sahib (pronounced sibe), a respectful appellation in Hindustan ;
literally, lord, or master
Sa-lam', a Hindu salutation of respect ; also used as an act of worship
Sdm-angs' , negroes of the Malay peninsula, mixed with Malays
Sam-pan, a Chinese skiff, or bateau
Sam-sams, Mahometan aborigines of part of Malaya
S'd-nyas'-sies, Hindu devotees and mendicants
Sap-an' wood, a wood employed for dyeing a fine red or deep orange ; in
botany, the Cmsalpinia sappan
Saw, Karen term of respect, equivalent to " Mr."
Se-bun-dy, an irregular native soldier, or local militiaman, generally
employed in the service of the revenue and police
VOL. IT. R

362 GLOSSARY.
Seer, a British-Indian weight, equal to 21bs. 6oz., and nearly equal to the
French kilogramme
Seids, descendants of Mahomet, through his nepliew Ali and his daughter
Fatima
Sepoy, or sepahi (Persian and Turkish), a native infantry soldier in the
British service. The sepahies of the Turks are cavalry
Serai, a Hindu caravanserai or choultry, thus named by the Mahometans
Ser-a-dau-gye1 , a Burman secretary or government writer
Se-ranf, a sort of mate among Lascars
Ser-e-dau', a Burman secretary to a great man
Sha-bun-der, a master attendant, or harbour-master, and generally the
king's agent and merchant
Shas-tras, or S'dstras, an inspired or revealed book ; also any book of
instruction, particularly such as contain revealed ordinances
Shad-dock, the pumplenose, a huge, bitter orange
Shea, Shias, or Shiites, a sect of Mussulmans, followers of Ali
Sher-eef, or Sherriffe, a descendant of Mahomet through Hassan. See
Seids
Sheet -ko, the obeisance made by Burmans to an idol. The palms of the
hands are placed together, and solemnly raised to the forehead. Accord-
to their feelings, the head is bowed down at the same time, sometimes
quite to the earth
Shi-as. See Sheas
Shin-bin, a teak plank or beam, three or four inches thick
Shoo-dras (pronounced su-dras), a low caste
Shroff, a Hindu money-changer, or banker
Shrub-d'dr, a Hindu butler
Shyans, or Shans, inhabitants of the Laos country, a region enclosed
between China, Siam, Burmah, and Asam
Singh, a lion ; a distinctive appellation of the khetries, or military caste,
now assumed by many barbarous tribes converted by the Brahmins
Sir-car, a Hindu clerk or writer
Sir-dar, a chief, captain, leader
Si-va, or Mahadeva, the third person of the Hindu triad, in the character
of destroyer ; he is a personification of time
Som-mo-na-Co'-dom, the priest Gaudama
Son-nites, or Soonee, a sect of-Mussulmans, who revere equally the four
successors of Mahomet, while the Shias, Sheas, or Shiites, reject the
first three as usurpers, and follow Ali
Sou-ba-dar' , a viceroy or governor of a large province ; also the title of
a native sepoy officer, below an ensign, though the highest rank he can
attain
Srd-wuks, or Chawacas, the laity of the Jain sect
Star pagoda, a Madras coin, equal to 3£ rupees
SU-cu, a nominal Malay coin of 6 fanams, or 60 doits
Su-cun'-ne, a Bengal boat-steerer
Sud-der, the chief seat or head-quarters of government, as distinguished
from the mofussil, or interior of the country
Sud-der-Ameen, the highest native judge of a Hindu court
Sud-der De-wa-ny A-daw-let, the highest native court
Sii-dra, the fourth caste among the Hindus, comprehending mechanics
and labourers. The subdivisions of this caste are innumerable
Sam-pit, a long, slender reed, or bamboo, through which the Malays blow
arrows, in war and the chase
Sur-dar, a head bearer. (Hindu.)

GLOSSARY. 363'
Su-ri-ans, the Hindu name for the Nestorians, or Christians of St.
Thome
Sut-ties, self-burning of widows
Swan.pwan, the Chinese abacus or calculating machine
Syce, a Hindu hostler, or groom
Sy-cee, (properly se-ze), a Chinese term for silver of a certain purity
T.
Ta'-el (pronounced tale), a Chinese piece of money, equal to about six
shillings sterling, but its value varies, according to the plenty or scarcity
of silver. In weighing, it is the sixteenth of a picul. By usage, the
tael of commerce is ,5>83^, and that of money 579^ grains troy. The
Chinese call it leang "¦
Taing, a Burman measure of two miles and 194 yards
Tank, an artificial pond of water. Some tanks are very large
Tan-jong, a Malay word signifying a point, cape, or head of laud
Tan-na (often spelled thanna) a police station ; also a military post
Tan-na-dar, the keeper or commandant of a tanna
Taf-ty, a mat curtain. (Hindu.)
Tee, an umbrella, surmounting Boodhist pagodas ; ordinarily made of
sheet-iron, wrought into open-work, and gilded. Round the rim, small
bells are suspended, to the clappers of which hang, by short chains,
sheet-iron leaves, also gilded. The wind moving the pendent leaves,
strikes the clappers against the bells, and keeps up a pleasant chime.
See picture of Tavoy
Te-mine', a Burman woman's skirt or frock
Tha-then-a-byng, Burman supreme pontiff
T'hugs (pronunced tuij), a notorious class of gang-robbers and murderers,
in the upper provinces of Hindustan
Tic-dl'. A Siamese tical is worth about 2s. 6d. sterling* A Burman weight
equal to 252 grains troy. Thirteen Burman ticals equal fifteen Company
rupees
Tif-fin, a slight mid-day repast ; a lunch
Tin'-dal, a petty officer among lascars
Tod-dy, the juice of the Borassus flabelliformis (palmyra-tree)
Tod'-dy-tree, a species of palm, yielding a copious sap (toddy), which, if
drunk fresh, is nutritious, but after fermentation becomes highly intox
icating. The inspissated juice is jaggery
Tom-bac, an article of Eastern commerce ; native copper, mixed with a
little gold
Ton-jons, a species of sedan chair
Topas, an Indian-Portuguese
Tope, a Hindu grove ; a Coromandel vessel
Tri-panf , the Malay term of Biche-de-mer
Tsal-o-ay' , a golden necklace of peculiar construction, worn only by the
Burman monarch and the highest nobility, and indicating rank by the
number of its chains
Tu'-an, sir, or gentleman. (Malay.)
Tu-ten-ag1 '. This name seems differently applied, sometimes to the
mixture of copper and zinc of which the Chinese "cash" are made,
and sometimes to the white copper of China
U.
V'-ze na, a Burman measure of twelve miles.

364 GLOSSARY.

V.
Vai-sy-a (vulgarly pronounced byce), the third caste among the Hindus,
comprehending merchants, traders, and cultivators
Vi-keel, an ambassador, agent, or attorney
Fed, or Ve-da, science, knowledge ; the sacred books of the Brahminical
Hindus, four in number, Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharvan
Ve-dan-ta, a summary and exposition of the Veda
Ve-ran'-da, a portico
Viss, a Burman weight of 3T6^ pounds. This is the English name ; the
Burmans call it piak-tha W.
Wat, a Siamese term for a sacred place, within which are pagodas, monas
teries, idols, tanks, &c.
Wee, a. Karen wizard or juggler, less respected than a Boo-khoo
Woon-douk ', a Burman officer, next below a woongyee
Woon-gyee', a Burman minister of state1 Y.
Yez-a-that' , a written collection of Burman law decisions
Yo-gee (same as Jo gee), a Hindu devotee
Yong, or Rhoom, a Burman court-house, or hall of justice
Z.
Zay-at', a Burman caravanserai, or public-house, where travellers repose,
and meetings are held
Zem-in-dar, a great renter of land from government, who underlets to
tenants, who again let to others. He is a trader in produce on a
large scale. The zemindar system prevails in many parts of British
India, but is a system exceedingly burdensome to the peasantry.
Zem-in-dar', a great landholder. (Hindu.)
Zem-in-dar'-y, an estate belonging to or under the jurisdiction of a
zemindar
Zil-lah, a large district

1HK END.

lo.vdon :
BRAJIBLBY AND EVANS, JOINTERS, WHIfEPR/ARS.

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