Over Five Seas and Oceans, From New York to Bangkok, Siam, and Return/Chapter 1

by Thomas Miller

Chapter I.

I with three others, sailed from New York on the 4th day of August, 1857, on board of the British barque "Oak," of Hartlepool. We crossed the bar the next day with little or no wind, and laid our course S.E. by E. from the Highland Lights, losing sight of the Lights at dark that night. Our voyage was very pleasant until we crossed the line — the Equator: there, for two or three days, it was rather squally, but not enough to reef topsails. We had a good run until we made the Islands of Amsterdam and St. Paul, two lonely islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The next land we made was the Islands of Java and Sumatra about the 20th of November. Arrived at Anjiers in the Straits of Sunda about dark the same day, after a passage of about one hundred and seven days from New York.

Here we recruited ship with fresh provisions, such as yams, onions, sweet potatoes and fowls. On the third day we weighed anchor, and sailed out into the Straits, with the wind from S.S.W. blowing up the Straits. We passed the Two Brothers Island out in the China Sea. The first Sunday, after we entered the China Sea, at daylight, we were confronted with seventeen waterspouts of huge size, some of which were over two miles off. At one time it looked as if we would be engulfed by them, for certainly, if one of them had burst on us, our good ship would have gone down. A water-spout is a long column of water, rising out of the sea. It begins with a little ripple on the water like a whirlwind, increasing in diameter until ten or twelve feet in size; it then rises, up and up, until it reaches the clouds. It ascends with a corkscrew motion. The only way to get clear of it is to fire a cannon into it.

Sometimes the concussion will break the column, and it falls with a terrible noise and splash into the sea. As luck would have it, we had no guns to fire into the worst one; therefore, only by an overruling Providence and a little main strength and smartness in hauling our braces, did our good ship sail clear of the nearest one, which was very large. As it passed us, or we passed it, the noise was almost deafening. Notwithstanding our scare, the sight was perfectly grand. As it was the Northeast Monsoon, we kept well to the southward and eastward up along the coast of Borneo, commonly called the Palawan Passage. We passed large numbers of beautiful islands, until we made nearly a fair wind of it, and sailed direct for the entrance to the Gulf of Siam. We came to anchor off the bar about the 24th of December: took pilot, and crossed the bar and drifted up to Bangkok.

The river is so very crooked we could not sail up; therefore, we drifted up with the tide, and came to anchor in mid stream on the 27th of December, after a passage of one hundred and forty days. The whole distance of about seventeen thousand miles could have been made in a ship's boat.

We were very kindly received by our consignee and the natives. The first native of note I met was the Prime Minister of the Kingdom, who was very friendly. After the machinery was all landed and housed in the godown of the consignee, I was sent to the province of La Consachee to finish erecting a small steam sugar mill. La Consachee is northwest from Bangkok: distance from Bangkok about seventy-five miles. I went in a covered boat, with four stalwart oarsmen and a cook, who acted as interpreter. We journeyed at night and tied up to trees in the daytime. Went ashore to get fruit and to chase monkeys, with which the country abounds. We arrived at our destination in the middle of the third night after leaving Bangkok. Next morning the Governor of the Province called on me, and presented me with what is called a drinking cocoanut, which was very cool and refreshing. It is a fruit filled with natural milk, and very sweet. This fruit is a token of friendship. I lived on the very best provisions the country afforded during my three weeks stay with them. I started up the mill and showed the natives how to run it. The day be. fore 1 began grinding cane, I requested the Superintendent of the mill to give me as large a pile of cane as he gave the bull mills. He laughed at the idea of my little mill of 12 1/2 × 35 roller grinding as much as the three bull mills. About six P. M. we all started up, and I had to jump around to show the natives how to handle cane; and they handled it so that by 2 A. M. next morning my pile of cane was all used up, and I helped the others to get finished by daybreak, which is about 4.30 the year round. Then there was great rejoicing over the first steam sugar mill erected in Siam. We did not grind again for three nights for the want of cane, so I had a good time going round looking at the country, and seeing how they cut canc. I ran the mill a week, until the natives could handle it, which they did, the third night, without my assistance. They are a very smart, observing people. I left La Consachee for Bangkok, after a trip down stream of two nights and one day.

On landing, I found one of our young men, A. Sharpp, crazy. The doctor called it delirium tremens, but I thought it was sunstroke. He being a British subject, we turned him over to the Consul, after we were worn out watching day and night with him for three weeks. The Consul sent him to Singapore to the hospital, and he died on the passage, and was buried at sea. The captain never handed his effects to the authorities at Singapore, including a twenty dollar gold piece I put in his trunk to buy some little comforts that the hospital did not supply. Sharpp's death left in the gang two engineers and one carpenter. The carpenter, Mr. Hatch, got some kind of skin disease, which compelled him to leave for home. Then there were only two left, myself and Jenkins. Poor Jenkins turned out badly, and left me inside of two years; thus I was the only one left at Bangkok.

My next move was with my mate to put a pair of 20 × 24 yacht engines in the Prime Minister's yacht, "Meteor." I ran the yacht for some time, until the natives were properly schooled.

The next job was to put in a small single engine for Som Decht Noi's yacht, used for merely a plaything round the river and canals. Som Decht Noi was a very high noble. His title was conferred on him for meritorious conduct. He was a very old man, and was heavy, say about 250 pounds. He wanted me to erect the engine in a saw shed, which I did. He came in the day I started it, and became very much interested and excited at seeing the engine run. Ile said it was wonderful. As he was leaving the shed, his half-idiotic son took hold of the little flywheel, and it threw him over on a pile of sawed lumber. He had tried the trick several times before, and I had stopped him: but this time, as his father was there, he put on airs, and took hold of the wheel, and got what I had told him. This accident and the excitement of seeing the machinery running, brought on an attack of heart trouble with the old gentleman, and he fell dead on entering his palace. His body was kept one year, and then the funeral pile was built, and the body placed on the top, incased in a gold box or urn. Ten Buddhist priests stood in a row, having in their hands a heavy web of silk. It passed from the last one to the ground. On inquiring, I found that the sins of the man were passing from the body during the incantations of the priests, which never ceased until the pile was all ready for the torch to be applied by the King. This took three days and nights, during which there were theatres, juggling, all kinds of shows with fruits and candies — a three days go-as-you- please.

On the evening before the burning, the King and his nobles were present, and I, with several other foreigners, went up to see the grand display. The King saw me, and sent his page for me. We all sat on mats, with the Prime Minister, Lord Mayor and several others. We laughed and talked until 12 o'clock; then we made our salaam and left. Next day we attended the burning, and, as the custom is, the King scattered limes (a small lemon), in which is money, from one Fuang to Siluing, to a Tical, and some had gold rings. The King saw me and called me, "Ma Millee," to come up to him in the midst of his nobles on a temporary platform. The nobles were on their knees and elbows, while I stood up, and the King filled my pockets with the limes. for which I said, "Cop chie" (thank you), and left. What he gave me contained two gold Fuangs, the rest silver. During all this time the body was burning. When the whole pile was consumed we went home.

The next job was to put up a steam saw mill to saw teak wood. This was a failure on account of opposition from the Chinese sawyers.

Next was a job to put in an engine in the steamer "Jack Waters" for C. A. Allen, of Andover, Mass.; A. J. Westervelt, of New York, and Russell & Co., of Hong Kong. Mr. Westervelt was the shipbuilder and I was the engineer. I put the engine and boiler in the boat before she was decked, and was ready for steam when the boat was launched, except shipping the wheel, which was done, and we went on a trial trip the third day after the boat was put in the water, and it was successful in every particular. The boat was put to towing on the river, which was not a success until the company built some lighters of their own, which they did: then business was flourishing, and kept so for about a year, when Mr. Westervelt became timid and sold his interest

to me, with the understanding that I was to have charge of the floating stock, which consisted of one steamer and three lighters, with carrying capacity of 4,000 piculs, or about 250 gross tons. Work was fair. Messrs. Russell & Co. sold their interest, through Chang Lai Soon, an educated Chinaman, to Williams, Anthon & Co., who assumed the shore work. This went along for a time, until one Sunday they took it into their heads to go on an excursion down to the bar. This was in violation of my agreement, which was that the boat should not be run on Sunday, no matter what inducements offered. as my men worked hard six days and six nights, when called upon. But my partners took the boat down the river, Mr. Allen and my native assistant acting as captain and engineer. This act dermined my future action. Next morning, Monday. I called at Williams, Anthon's & Co.'s office, and stated my ultimatum; namely, I was ready to buy or sell, feeling satisfied in my own mind that they were not able to manage the property, and the interview ended as I expected: C. A. Allen and Thomas Miller bought out the entire concern. To pay my interest, I borrowed $3,000 from the King's brother, Prince Crom Alouing Wangsan, without interest. We did well for over eighteen months; then business came to a stand still, owing to the heavy crops of rice in China and elsewhere. We did not earn $5,000 in four months. At the same time we were under heavy expense, with about ninety men in our employ. This was very discouraging to us. We agreed to buy or sell by comparing notes. Of course, whichever offered the most took the whole. Mr. Allen offered $1,000 more than I did, and became the sole owner of the steamer "Jack Waters" and four freight barges, and a schooner of about 100 tons.