e years, but carry on the subject
to the end of our Sarawak experience. It is perhaps necessary to say
this to prevent confusion.

CHAPTER II.

THE COURT-HOUSE.

While Sir James Brooke was in England, in 1847, he asked his friends to
help him in his efforts to civilize the Dyaks, by sending a mission to
live at Sarawak.

Lord Ellesmere, Admiral Sir H. Keppel, Admiral C. D. Bethune, Canon Ryle
Wood, and the Rev. C. Brereton, formed themselves into a committee, with
the Rev. I. F. Stocks for their honorary secretary, and soon collected
funds for the purpose. The Rev. F. McDougall was chosen as the head of
the mission, and with him were associated the Rev. S. Montgomery and the
Rev. W. Wright; but Mr. Montgomery died very suddenly, of fever caught
when ministering to the poor of his parish, before the time came for us
to embark, so the party was reduced to two clergymen and their wives,
two babies and two nurses. We sailed from London in the barque _Mary
Louisa_, four hundred tons, the end of December; Mr. Parr, a nephew of
Mrs. Wright's, being also one of the passengers. I had all my life loved
the sea, and longed to take such a voyage as should carry us out of
sight of land, and give us all the experiences which wait on those "who
go down to the sea in ships;" but I little thought how we should all
long for land before we saw it again.

The barque was a poor sailer; we thought it a good run if she made eight
knots an hour, so no wonder we did not reach Singapore till May 23,
1848. It was a long monotonous voyage, but we were well occupied, and I
do not remember ever finding it dull. The sea was all I ever fancied by
way of a companion, and, like all one's best friends, made me happy or
unhappy, but was never stupid. Then we had to learn Malay and its Arabic
characters, with the help of Marsden's grammar and dictionary, and the
Bible translated into that language by the Dutch. We lived by rule,
apportioning the hours to certain duties, and every one knows how fast
time passes under those conditions. The two clergymen busied themselves
with teaching the sailors, and several of them presented themselves at
Holy Communion in consequence, the last Sunday before we landed. The
most trying time we passed was on the coast of Java, becalmed under a
broiling sun, the very sea dead and slimy with all sorts of creatures
creeping over it. As for ourselves, we were gasping with thirst, for we
had already been on short ra