Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
III
Malacca and Mount Ophir
(
JULY TO SEPTEMBER
, 1854)
Birds and most other kinds of animals being scarce at Singapore, I left it in July for Malacca,
where I spent more than two months in the interior, and made an excursion to Mount Ophir.
The old and picturesque town of Malacca is crowded along the banks of the small river, and
consists of narrow streets of shops and dwelling-houses, occupied by the descendants of the
Portuguese, and by Chinamen. In the suburbs are the houses of the English officials and of a
few Portuguese merchants, embedded in groves of palms and fruit-trees, whose varied and
beautiful foliage furnishes a pleasing relief to the eye, as well as most grateful shade.
The old fort, the large Government House, and the ruins of a cathedral, attest the former
wealth and importance of this place, which was once as much the centre of Eastern trade as
Singapore is now. The following description of it by Linschott, who wrote two hundred and
seventy years ago, strikingly exhibits the change it has undergone:—
'Malacca is inhabited by the Portuguese and by natives of the country, called Malays. The
Portuguese have here a fortress, as at Mozambique, and there is no fortress in all the Indies,
after those of Mozambique and Ormuz, where the captains perform their duty better than in
this one. This place is the market of all India, of China, of the Moluccas, and of other islands
round about, from all which places, as well as from Banda, Java, Sumatra, Siam, Pegu,
Bengal, Coromandel, and India, arrive ships, which come and go incessantly, charged with an
infinity of merchandises. There would be in this place a much greater number of Portuguese
if it were not for the inconvenience, and unhealthiness of the air, which is hurtful not only to
strangers, but also to natives of the country. Thence it is that all who live in the country pay
tribute of their health, suffering from a certain disease, which makes them lose either their
skin or their hair. And those who escape consider it a miracle, which occasions many to leave
the country, while the ardent desire of gain induces others to risk their health, and endeavour
to endure such an atmosphere. The origin of this town, as the natives say, was very small,
