Prisoners Their Own Warders

o

a. Amongst these, in the sixties, was a very remarkable man, and known to both of us, of the name of "Tickery Banda," who was a native of Ceylon, and had received

n Cameron's Tropical Possessions in Malayan In

to leave with the priests as a guarantee that he would fulfil his promise. He did not say whether the cheque was his own or his master's, or whether it was handed over or not; perhaps it was this cheque for the misappropriation of which he found his way to the convict lines of Malacca. The Siamese priests accepted his undertaking and unloaded their baggage, agreeing to wait for the three days. Tickery immediately placed himself in communication with the then Governor, and represented, as he says, forcibly, the impositions that must have been practised upon the King of Siam's holy mission, when they had expended all their gifts and had not yet obtained the desired view of the tooth. The Governor, who, Tickery says, was a great friend of his, appreciated the hardships of the priests, and agreed that the relic shou

ian officer would be necessary. Accordingly, on the third day, the temple was opened, and in the building the Siamese priests and worshippers we

foreigners. The Siamese priests, however, persisted in their request; and the Governor and Recorder, not knowing the cause of the altercation, asked Tickery to explain. Tickery, who had fairly espoused the cause of the Siamese, though knowing that in their request they had exceeded all precedent, resolved quietly to gratify their wish; so, in answer to the Governor's interrogatory, he took from the hand

also that such a proceeding was against all precedent. The Kandy priests were quite taken aback, while the Siamese priests, having obtained their desired object, took from Tickery Banda's hands the now consecrated golden jar with every demonstration of fervent gratitude. The K

been held in the highest esteem and respect by the King of Siam and his Buddhist priests, being considere

*

o

of them given in the warrants sent with them. Although many of them did not deny having committed what the law looked upon as a crime, they, under the circumstances, either considered tha

ing my wife and child alone. But now my trouble began. About six months after I bought my bulls, one of them got sick and died. I had not then enough money to buy another, and was on the point of selling the bandy and remaining bull, when my wife proposed that we should ask her father to help us, as he had plenty of bulls. I had not thought of this, and I said, 'Very good.' We went and saw my father-in-law, and he agreed to let me have a bull and pay for it as I earned money. Soon after that I hired my bandy to a man to go to a town thirty miles away, expecting to be away some days. I left my wife and child under the charge of a neighbour and his wife, who promised to look after them. I and the man who hired my bandy set out early in the morning, and reached the town about mid-day next day. In the evening the man told me he was going to stay many days in the town, and I could return to my house. He paid me, and I bought some things I wanted. Early next morning, at daybreak, I set out on my journey back to my village, and arrived there about 3 o'clock the next morning; and after seeing to my bulls I went to my house and to my surprise found the door unfastened. I

here was still a soft place in his heart, showing a sign of reclamation in spite

*

o

this year a number of piratical boats infested the mouths of the rivers Prye, Juroo, and Junjong on the Malay Peninsula, and the South Channel between Penang Island and the main

esistance from the crew of the tongkong than they had anticipated, they killed, as they thought, every man on board, and were preparing to scuttle the tong-kong, when a boat containing Indian convicts, and employed in carrying coral for the Government lime kilns, and which, unperceived by the pirates, had been rapidly approaching, came alongside the tongkong, having been attracted by the yells and cries of the victims. The pirates, recognizing that they were convicts, immediately got into their prahu, and made sail as fast as they could; and she, being a very fast sailer, was soon out of sight. The convict tindal in charge of the boat, with one or two convict boatmen, went on board the tongkong and found all the crew and passengers dead; but fancying they heard groans they searched round the tongkong, and at last found one of the Chinese boatmen clinging to the rudder. They lifted him on board, and f

*

o

nd this admixture of castes and tribes a very valuable corrective against a possible chance of insurrection, and for the discov

es were never encouraged, nor as a rule listened to, yet now and again an informer woul

ull investigation into the matter, the "Mazahbee" Sikh was proved to have been the instigator of the quarrel, and he was punished. The whole of his sect appear to have resented this judgment, and determined amongst themselves to be avenged, and to inflict some pain or injury upon the Superintendent. They

the standing men, he timed the arrival of the Superintendent going down the front on his inspection; and, stooping down, he thrust his head between the legs of the front rank men, and level with the ground, calling out only loud enough for the Superintendent to hear, "Khabardar sahib Sikh kepas tamancha hai"-"Look out, sir; a Si

d that it was either a false alarm, or that the miscreant was amongst the dozen men in the ward. And so it proved; for shortly afterwards, the chief

low-tribesman had managed to pass the main gate with a pistol secreted about his

up, the ringleaders being transferred to Penang, and the remainder kept in Singapore under close observation. The Pa

e sandy ground near which he had to stand for inspection. Waiting his opportunity, he proceeded to the spot and withdrew the blade from the knife, and replaced the handle just above the ground as he had found it. Wh

*

o

NNY

small means, and, to him, almost on foreign soil, he bethought himself of some expedient for making money; so, getting hold of a sailor loafing at the port, he talked matters over with him, and they decided upon clubbing their resources, hiring a hall, and circulating posters that on a certain night at "so much," and "so much" for entrance, a man might be seen "walking on the ceiling like a fly." On the night advertised the hall was crowded. "Funny Joe" then went to his companion, who was collecting the money, and took from him the amount he had received, and told him he might have all the rest that he could collect. He (Funny Joe) then decamped, and was never heard of more in Cape Town. He was next at Rangoon, where he got into the same plight for want of funds; but his mother wit came to his aid again, and th

ischarged, he warmly thanked the Superintendent for his counsel, an

rticles as mate of a ship; and he scrupulously returned to the Superintendent (Major McN

*

o

H A COBRA AN

llow cobra of India is perhaps more dangerous and surely fatal in its bite than the black "cobra" or "kala samp," which

very expert in catching these reptiles and extracting their fangs.

e back of the house to the bath room. We went immediately to the bath room, and, finding that the snake had not made his appearance inside, I stopped up the opening into the drain with a towel, and the convict orderly, who had gone round to the outer end of the drain, began pushing a long bamboo up it. This drove the snake to the upper end. The convict, then, with a pickaxe, loosened a brick from the covering of the drain close to the wall of the house, while I stirred up the bamboo rod. The convict then ge

Saracen, and getting loose on board was summarily destroyed, f

was admitted into hospital with a lacerated leg, the foot being almost sever

my hand but my 'roomāl,' or handkerchief, with my keys tied in one corner. I hit at his head with this, but it was of no use, and finding myself being dragged into dee

s leg had to

e have often been told by Malay boatmen, when going up a river, to keep our hands and shoulders well within the boat, for fear of their sudden attack. There are, however, known to our naturalists a dozen or more different forms of the crocodile proper, and it is said that they

*

o

the beast and attends upon it; that the spirit acts the part of a jackal, as it were, and leads the tiger to his prey; and so thoroughly subservient does the ghost b

weighing ten or twelve cwt, of round logs was made to fit the open part of the trench, and so arranged in an inclined position, and connected by triggers with the two flaps, that any attempt to open the latter released the upper end of the heavy cover and allowed it to fall down in the trench. A couple of goats were tied at the far end of the pen as a bait, and were kept there constantly, food being taken to them by a convict coolie. After the trap had been set for some time, the coolie who fed the goats came running to the house one day with the news that a tiger was caught in the trap. Of course every one set out immediately to secure the animal. The tiger had evidently tried to push in between the two flaps to get at the goats: this released the triggers, and the jerk and movement of the cover ha

he animal proved to be a tigress, and evidently had young cubs, as she had a quantity of milk. This the Chinese coolies were very eag

in form. Sometimes pointed stakes are fixed in the bottom of the pit. The mouth is covered over with light brushwood, and when convenient, a tree is felle

e of convicts a fortnight, besides the risk of being interrupted in their labour by the tiger happening to encounter them, and, naturally enough,

Free Press, at the time when so many Chines

ss is by setting traps; and it is to be regretted that the local Government did not long since take some pains to prove this to the cultivators. Had this been done, many lives might have been spared." T

ea coast. Some of these man-eaters were very bold, and would attack natives in their canoes, sometimes getting under the canoe and upsetting it in order to devour the occupants. Cases have been known of persons being snatched out of boats. A case of this kind happened in the Prye River, in Province Wellesley. The supervisor in charge of the public works was proceeding in a ferry boat with some convicts to repair the boundary pillar, situated some distance up the river, when suddenly a splash was heard, and his convict orderly, who was squatting in the bow of the sampan, or boat, uttering a cry, stood up, at the same time pointing to the stern of the boat. Upon looking round, a Chinaman, who had been

fted about, at the same time pinching the dog's ears and otherwise tormenting him to make him yelp. After watching the surface of the water for some time, they descried the V mark on the water indicating the approach of a crocodile; then, throwing the dog and buoy overboard, they pulled away for some distance to watch the result.. They saw the crocodile rapidly approaching the dog, who was swimming for his life. Suddenly there was a howl, and the dog disappeared. Then they watched the buoy, which would sometimes disappear under the water and t

ere attended to; but the shock to the nervous system was so great that the man lost his reason, and would constantly leave his cot and walk down the hospital ward, moving his hands up and down, as if in the act of shrimping. He died shortly after. A similar case of shock, and a well-known story in the Straits Settlements, occurred in Province Wellesley, but this was from a tiger. A Roman Catholic priest was returning to his house after breakfasting with a planter at Alma, and when passing through some tall "lalang" grass a tiger suddenly sprang out into the path a few yards in front of him. The priest, with great presence of mind, suddenly opened h

*

o

nd control of the Convict Department; and there were frequently from thirty to forty European

he sent in to the house of correction a very incorrigible man-of-war's man named John -- (we will not give his surname, for he may be yet alive). This man had been seve

at filth; I won't eat it." The chief warder reported to the Superintendent that the man in the cells was a dangerous-looking character, and he was afraid we should have trouble with him, for he had never seen a man with such a hang-dog look. The morning of the second day he had touched neither bread nor water, though fresh had been given him, and in a churli

d, "Look at my warrant if you want to know it." "But I want to hear it from yourself." "Well, if it is any satisfaction to you, my name is John --" The Superintendent then said, "Now I want to know what part of England you come from." "Well, what do you want to know that for? but I say again, if it is any satisfaction to you, I come from Saltash." "So you are a Cornishman, are you?" replied the Superintend

bull's-eye lantern turned upon the man, the Superintendent at once noticed a change in the countenance of his prisoner, for the reckless, devil-may-care expression had shifted, and as if by some good influence within. "Well, you sent for me, and I have come; what do you want?" said the Superintendent. Then in a faltering voice, and with te

ir Robert McClure that John -- was as well behaved a man as he had on board, and that the treatment he had r

ry treatment may lead to quite a change in the character, and if anything will touch the hear

tno

ajor M

lly gouged

of tough rop

H.M.S