another gale I should not be here now writing to you. The Straits of Sunda and Banca and all the Archipelago up to Singapore are extremely pretty, the islands, which are very numerous, are wooded quite down to high-water mark, with magnificent trees of great variety; at night the land breeze was strongly scented with their perfume. The south-east coast of Sumatra is, however, not so pretty as the other land; it is covered with jungle growing in swampy ground which runs for some miles inland and is very pestilential. Banca, where we were wrecked, is one of the prettiest of the islands, covered with jungle (or forest) like the rest, with mountainous land in the centre; it yields an immense quantity of tin, from which the Dutch draw a net revenue of about half a million; they were very civil to us and did everything in their power to make us comfortable. The Malays were as like monkeys as they could be, but they are a very quiet and harmless set on this island, and did not give us any annoyance. There are quantities of Chinese on the island, about 80,000, who, with the Malays, used to come every day and sell us provisions — cocoa-nuts, pine-apples, and bananas by the hundreds, and most excellent; the cocoa-nuts furnish an immense quantity of milk, about two tumblers each, which, mixed with a little brandy or rum, forms a most delicious draught. After remaining about ten days on the island we were brought on here, where I have been a fortnight to-day. Although almost under the line, the climate is most enjoyable; the island is very pretty and is thriving wonderfully, with a free port; the merchants and residents are most hospitable. The other day I met a Chinaman at dinner, a very nice gentlemanly fellow, but with such a round moon face that my hand was itching to slap it all dinner-time; he eat and drank and chatted like other people, asked me to drink wine with him, and in^ vited me to a ball he is going to give to-morrow night, which they say will be an uncommonly good one, everyone is to be there; he is verj"- rich, and a justice of the peace, still, he is thoroughly Chinese in appear-
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ance, with his shorn head, pigtail, linen jacket, loose trousers, and turned-up shoes. Last night I went round the back slums with the police to see the opium shops and opium smoking; the shops are filthy, dirty holes, with benches for these devils to lie and get drunk upon. Each man is provided with an oil lamp, with which he is constantly lighting his pipe; each pipeful costs about 2d.; about ten of them are smoked before stupefaction commences — that is with some — for there are men who will smoke a dollar's worth in a day, but then they never live long. A Chinaman farms the whole of the opium here from Government, for which he pays;£6o,ooo a year. This forms the chief revenue of the place, but yet does not cover the expenditure of the settlement which still costs the company something every year.... — Yours affectionately, Fredk. Stephenson.
To Lady Stephenson
My dear Mother, — I have just this moment arrived at Hong Kong, having been exactly five months on my way, that is twenty weeks.... I am in perfect health. I have not yet seen the General, but shall be off there in a short time.... I cannot help thinking they will send all us staff on to India. I am looking forward to such a course rather eagerly, for there is nothing to be done here, all our troops being taken away from this expedition and diverted to India. Chambers and his crew are all gone up the Canton River to be tried. I am afraid it will go hard with him. This is a very picturesque place, but I do not mean to commit myself by a decided opinion of its merits till I have seen more of it. The harbour is certainly a beautiful one, very capacious and wellsheltered. We are completely hemmed in by rocky mountains, being only about a mile from the mainland, which is mountainous and rocky.... I have too much to do on first landing to scribble any longer....
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When you next write, find out if we are ordered for India.