supplied with money. I inquired who were the
principal English merchants in the place; and resolved at once to go
frankly to the first I could meet with, to state my case, and to ask his
assistance. While I went about this business, I begged Fairburn to go
and make inquiries as to our chance of finding a vessel to suit our
purpose.

"We must do away with all ceremony, Fairburn," I observed. "I have from
this day engaged you regularly in my service; and I am sure you will
enter it with zeal. Therefore, remember all you do is at my expense,
and I expect you to counsel me whenever you think fit. I do not forget
that I am but a boy, and have seen but little of the world; and I feel
very certain that I shall always follow your advice."

These remarks gratified Fairburn very much. He saw that I was likely to
act sensibly, and that I confided in him thoroughly. It is difficult to
speak of myself, and not to appear to my readers boastful and
egotistical. At the same time, I must remark, that had I not been
guided by great judgment, procuring information from everybody I met,
and weighing it well before acting on it, I should very soon have
brought my career to an end.

I took with me from the hotel a young Javanese lad as guide to the
counting-house of an English gentleman, whom I will call Mr Scott, and
who, I heard, was one of the principal merchants of the place. He
conducted me to a large wooden bridge thrown across the river, leading
to the Chinese quarter; and just above the bridge, shaded by a row of
fine tamarind trees, were a number of large houses and stores, among
which was the one I was in search of.

With some little hesitation I went into the office, and requested to see
Mr Scott. A young Englishman, or rather a Scotchman, instantly got
down from his stool, and, giving me a chair, requested me to be seated,
while he went to inform his principal. I had not a minute to wait
before he returned, and begged me to walk into Mr Scott's private room.
The merchant rose when I entered, and his eye rapidly running over me
as if he would read my character at a glance, he put out his hand and
led me to a seat.

"You landed, I think, this morning, from a brig-of-war commanded by
Captain Cloete," he began. "I have the pleasure, I conclude, of
welcoming you for the first time to Java."

I could not help, while he was speaking, contrasting his behaviour with
that of Mr Reuben Noakes, the merchant whom I met at M