Patrick O'Brian - The Thirteen Gun Salute

'Certainly truth is hard to come by, near or far,' said Stephen. 'But what is the gentleman not to worry about? Is it said that London is burnt again, or the plague broken out? And surely he would have noticed these things before leaving - he would have brought the news himself.'

'Why, sir,' said the sailor, 'the people here are all talking about the great losses on the Stock Exchange, the Funds falling to pieces and banks breaking right, left and centre, particularly country banks. It is all since I left Blackwall.'

'It may seem curious to you, Doctor,' said the civil servant, 'that we should have had the news before the Indiaman's arrival; but such is the case, for the Company sometimes has overland messengers travelling down at a great pace across the Arabian desert and Persia. The latest word is not three months old. But as it always happens, the latest word is much deformed by rumour. Rumour loves to make its hearers' flesh creep, and as soon as the Stock Exchange sinks a little rumour swears the bottom of the market has fallen out; yet it takes an even greater delight in breaking banks. In my time I have seen all the great houses brought down, Coutts, Drummonds, Hoares, the whole shooting match. Believe me, Humphrey, there is nothing in it; and I speak as the Governor's financial adviser.'

When they were drinking coffee in the long, cool, shadowy drawing-room, Jack came over and said in an undertone, 'By God, Stephen, how I hope you did not take my advice about money. I have just heard two damned unpleasant things: the first is about the City, and about a run on the banks. It seems that many have stopped payment, and that many country houses are broke: Smith's was particularly named. The second is that the French have already reached Pulo Prabang; they are there first, in spite of all our efforts.'

Before Stephen could reply his left-hand neighbour at dinner came to say good-bye, and on seeing Jack he claimed acquaintance; he had been aboard one of the Indiamen in whose company Captain Aubrey, commanding the Surprise even then, had engaged a French line-of-battle ship and a corvette and had obliged them to withdraw. By the time he had finished fighting the battle over again the room was almost empty, and the Governor claimed Dr Maturin. 'It is rare,' he said, 'to have anyone who will look at my collections as anything but a raree-show.'

'Banks would enjoy this beyond anything,' said Stephen, stopping before an astonishing group of orchids growing from trees, crevices, baskets or the ground itself. 'He is very much more of a botanist than I. He showed me some of your drawings of the vanilla...

'There is the very plant. A friend sent me a root from Mexico, and I hope to naturalize it. The insignificant green thing in a hanging raft.' Raffles broke off a piece of seed-pod and gave it to Stephen, who bowed, smelt to it, and continued '.... with the utmost appreciation, and yet with a certain regret. He saw so little when he was here in the Endeavour.'

'I am afraid he must have been in a sad way; but even if he had been able to get about, he would have had to go very far to acquire anything like a true notion of the flora. There was nothing worth calling a botanical garden in those days. The Dutch looked upon the island with a commercial rather than a philosophical eye.'

'Certainly few Dutch naturalists come to mind. Apart from van Buren, of course, for the fauna.'

'To be sure, and he is a constellation in himself. I am so sorry he is no longer here; we were great friends. But you will no doubt meet him in Pulo Prabang, where, as I understand it, you mean to accompany Edward Fox.'

'I shall look forward to it. But am I mistaken in supposing that he withdrew from Java because of the British conquest of the island?'

'Quite mistaken, I am happy to say. We are excellent friends. He dislikes Bonaparte as much as we do, like so many of the Dutch officials who are now working with us. His removal was settled upon well before our arrival, primarily for the sake of Mrs. van Buren, who is a Malay lady from those parts, but also for the sake of the orang-utang and some of the smaller gibbons, which are to be met with there and not here, to say nothing of the gallinae or nectarineas. I have never been to Pulo Prabang, alas, but I understand it possesses all the advantages of Borneo without the drawback of head-hunters.'

When they had finished the birds of paradise aviary, which was no small undertaking, and when Stephen had expressed his unqualified support for Raffles' projected zoological society and garden in London, Raffles said, 'It can hardly be necessary for a man of your reputation, but if you should care for a letter of introduction to van Buren, nothing could be easier.'

'That would be very kind. Yet on reflection perhaps I ought to present myself at his door. If it were known that I had been introduced by the Governor of Java, my character as a wholly unofficial naturalist travelling with his friend Aubrey might suffer. On the other hand - I may assume that you know the conditions of my attachment to Mr Fox's mission?'

'Yes, sir.'

'On the other hand, then, I should be most grateful if you would recommend me to a considerable merchant here, capable of dealing with bills of exchange, who has dealings with a colleague in Pulo Prabang.'

'You would not object to a Chinese?' asked Raffles, having considered for a moment. 'They carry out almost all the banking business, bill discounting and so on in these regions.'

'Never in life. It was a Parsee or a Chinese I had in mind:I have always heard excellent accounts of their probity.'

'The better sort can put John Company to shame. Here in Batavia we have Shao Yen, who has interests out as far as the Moluccas and up to Penang. He is under some obligation to me. I will find out whether he has a correspondent in Pulo Prabang.'

'I may have occasion to disburse considerable sums, and it might be more convenient to draw them locally than to carry them about. But my chief reason is that I wish to appear in Pulo Prabang as a man of substance from the outset, not as a mere moneyed adventurer. If I go to Shao Yen with your recommendation he will treat me with respect; this respect will be conveyed to his correspondent; and an intelligent banker or merchant is often capable of giving valuable information. Yet obviously he is not going to do so for a stranger unless that stranger is uncommonly well vouched for; and although I can display quantities of gold and letters of credit, they would not serve as well as a word from you.'

'You flatter me; but I cannot pretend you are mistaken. I shall ask him to call tomorrow morning. What else can I do to be of assistance?'

'Could your people give me a list of the members of the French mission?'

'I am afraid not, apart from Duplessis and the infamous couple, whose names you know already. Their frigate only arrived a few days ago. It has already been removed from Prabang harbour, because the sailors made such a nuisance of themselves ashore. But Duplessis will not have audience of the Sultan until after the change of the moon. He is hunting with his cousin of Kawang, in the hope of a two-horned rhinoceros.'

'So much the better. Would it perhaps be possible to have a very brief sketch of the Sultan and his chief advisers?'

'Certainly. As for the Sultan, of course, Fox knows everything about him - his Javanese ancestors, his wives, mothers-in-law, concubines, minions - but the office may turn up something new about his council. How those dear gibbons hoot and howl, upon my word. Did you hear the bell?'

'I believe I did.'

'Then perhaps we should go in. My wife thought of beginning with a dish that might amuse you, bird's-nest soup; and she maintains that soup must be ate hot. But before we go, see if you can make out the big gibbon to the left of the casuarina tree, even though the light is so poor. He is a siamang. Ho, Frederick!' The gibbon answered with a melodious hoo-hoohoo, and the Governor hurried in.