the Governor, &c. Our ship is due on the 20th, and we
shall start about the 21st or. 22nd.”
On the 27th of September he tells us he has
engaged his native servant and starts for Borneo on
the morrow. “ Yesterday thé fort fired minute guns
(fifty) for poor President Garfield, and all the flags in
the harbour and at the consulates were half-mast. I
was very sorry to hear of his death. My best love to
all our American friends.
“ The affectation and petty snobism of certain
‘ swells 5 here is ridiculous. A friend of mine, whom
1 met on the steamer, a barrister, M r . , when
making his calls, passed the house of a lady whom he
had to call upon, but he dared not go in because he was
on his way to L a d y , who would take it as a
deadly insult, if any one was called upon before her.
Mr. Alabaster, a pleasant fellow whom I met on the
steamer (private legal adviser to the King of Siam),
invited me to Bangkok, in Siam, when I am on my way
home, to spend a week with him.” 2
piano. Ah, yes ; not ze P. and Oh ! ” Cannot land at Suez. Two
Frenchmen kissing. Frenchman—“ Ah, mon cher cousin!” in a fearful
state of perspiration. A remarkable sunset—a, few clouds collect in the
evening, tinted with gold as sun goes down behind a distant range of
rugged purple hills—foreground in green scrub ; the banks are fined
with old Egyptian reeds—curious after-glow—wonderful water tints of
purple and red, with purple-tinted sky above. Ten minutes later the
moon appears after the sunset very bright. . . . French officials
very bumptious. Pass nothing but British ships, except one Prussian
corvette. French sailor : “ Ah, la, la, il y a tant de vraies Anglais!
‘ English sheep ! ’’—The other pages of the little book contain
memoranda on methods o’f skinning squirrels and preserving birds’
skins, notes of experiments in tropical photography, &c.
We last week announced the death of Mr. Henry Alabaster, private
secretary to the King of Siam. Some of our readers will be interested
hi.
Labuan, Borneo, vid Singapore, Oct. 17th, 1881.
My d e a r F a t h e r ,—I have got your two letters of Aug. 28th and
Sept. 8th. I get a chance of writing once a fortnight here.
Our passage from Singapore to Labuan was not at all pleasant. The
Royalist is an abominable ship, and I was ill, but the journey was
soon over. I made friends with the owner, Mr. Cowie, who lent
me his pony at Labuan. When we arrived here, Lempriere, the
secretary, and Cook, the treasurer, who stay at Labuan, were out
wild boar shooting. But we went up to the Company’s bungalow,
where I am now staying. I had orders to remain in Labuan until
the arrival of the Governor, who is away at Sandakan. Walker was
to go on to Sandakan, so I left him on board the Royalist. I
landed all my things, including my chemicals, camping outfit, and
everything I have got. Cook and Lempriere were very kind. I
called on the Governor of Labuan, who invited Walker, Cook, and
myself to dine with him at Government House. A very good dinner,
and we played billiards till two o’clock in the morning, which out
here is very late. I played nearly everything I know on the piano, and
made great friends with the Governor. I have dined there once since
then, to meet Mr. de Crespigny (who called on me the next day), from
Sarawak (in his ship), and also Father Jackson, and Mr. Everett, of
Sarawak, who is very nice, and is staying up with me at the Company’s
bungalow.
The other day Lempriere, Everett (of Sarawak), and I went up to
Coal Point a famous place in Labuan^—to shoot. There is a deserted
coal-mine there, upon which thousands of pounds have been spent;
and jungle is now growing all over most valuable machines, railways,
and other gear ; it is a very melancholy thing to see. I will send
you some photographs of it in my next letter. I am writing a sketch
to learn that he was a friend of the late Frank Hatton, the young
scientist who lost his life in Borneo. Mr. Hatton had arranged to
visit Siam, on Mr. Alabaster’s invitation, and had obtained special
letters of recommendation to the King for that purpose. It is a
pathetic coincidence that a box of floral wreaths sent out to be laid
upori Hatton’s grave in the little jungle cemetery at Elopura, Borneo,
was delivered by mistake at Bangkok, Siam, where his young friend
Mr. Alabaster had died.”—Court Circular, November 29 1884.