April 1803, at Combe Grove, near Bath. His father was engaged in the
civil service of the East India Company; and when of sufficient age, the
future rajah was sent to India as a cadet, and, on the Burmese war
breaking out, went to the scene of operations; entered upon active
military service; and whilst storming a stockade, received a bullet in
his chest. This wound kept him for awhile balanced between life and
death, but a strong constitution stood him in good stead, and he was
able to reach England on furlough, to seek the full restoration of his
health. When sufficiently strong, he set out on a tour through France,
Switzerland, and Italy, the languages, as well as manners and condition
of which he studied; but the longest leave of absence will expire at
last, and we find our hero, in due course, again setting out for the
East; failing, however, to reach it at once, for the ship in which he
sailed was wrecked on the Isle of Wight. In his next vessel, he was more
fortunate, and safely reached India, to resume his duties; but finding a
long official correspondence requisite to explain why a shipwreck should
have delayed an officer's return, he resigned the service of the East
India Company, and in 1830 sailed from Calcutta for China. "In this
voyage," says Captain Keppel, in his _Expedition to Borneo_, "while
going up the China seas, he saw for the first time the islands of the
Asiatic Archipelago--islands of vast importance and unparalleled
beauty--lying neglected and almost unknown. He inquired and read, and
became convinced that Borneo and the Eastern Isles afforded an open
field for enterprise and research. To carry to the Malay races, so long
the terror of the European merchant-vessel, the blessings of
civilisation, to suppress piracy, and extirpate the slave-trade, became
his humane and generous objects; and from that hour the energies of his
powerful mind were devoted to this one pursuit. Often foiled--often
disappointed, with a perseverance and enthusiasm which defied all
obstacle, he was not until 1838 enabled to set sail from England on his