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*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOUR YOUNG EXPLORERS *** Produced by David Edwards, Emmy and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from scans of public domain material produced by Microsoft for their Live Search Books site.)
Cover: All Over the World Library: Four Young Explorers ALL-OVER-THE-WORLD LIBRARY
By OLIVER OPTIC
——————
Illustrated, Price per Volume $1.25
FIRST SERIES A MISSING MILLION
Or The Adventures of Louis Belgrave

A MILLIONAIRE AT SIXTEEN
Or The Cruise of the Guardian Mother

A YOUNG KNIGHT-ERRANT
Or Cruising in the West Indies

STRANGE SIGHTS ABROAD
Or A Voyage in European Waters
——————
SECOND SERIES
AMERICAN BOYS AFLOAT
Or Cruising in the Orient

THE YOUNG NAVIGATORS
Or The Foreign Cruise of the Maud

UP AND DOWN THE NILE
Or Young Adventurers in Africa

ASIATIC BREEZES
Or Students on the Wing
——————
THIRD SERIES
ACROSS INDIA
Or Live Boys in the Far East

HALF ROUND THE WORLD
Or Among the Uncivilized

FOUR YOUNG EXPLORERS
Or Sight-seeing in the Tropics
——————
OTHER VOLUMES IN PREPARATION
ANY VOLUME SOLD SEPARATELY
——————
LEE AND SHEPARD Publishers Boston

[i]

"Your first shot, Louis," said Scott. "Your first shot, Louis," said Scott.
Page 30.

[ii]

All-Over-the-World Library—Third Volume of Third Series Four Young Explorers OR SIGHT-SEEING IN THE TROPICS BY OLIVER OPTIC
AUTHOR OF
"THE ARMY AND NAVY SERIES" "YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD, FIRST AND SECOND
SERIES" "THE BOAT-CLUB STORIES" "THE ONWARD AND UPWARD SERIES"
"THE GREAT WESTERN SERIES" "THE WOODVILLE STORIES" "THE
LAKE SHORE SERIES" "THE YACHT-CLUB SERIES" "THE RIVERDALE
STORIES" "THE BOAT-BUILDER SERIES" "THE BLUE AND THE GRAY
AFLOAT" "THE BLUE AND THE GRAY—ON LAND" "THE STARRY
FLAG SERIES" "ALL-OVER-THE-WORLD LIBRARY, FIRST SECOND
AND THIRD SERIES" COMPRISING "A MISSING MILLION" "A
MILLIONAIRE AT SIXTEEN" "A YOUNG KNIGHT-ERRANT"
"STRANGE SIGHTS ABROAD" "AMERICAN BOYS AFLOAT"
"THE YOUNG NAVIGATORS" "UP AND DOWN THE
NILE" "ASIATIC BREEZES" "ACROSS INDIA"
"HALF ROUND THE WORLD" ETC., ETC., ETC.



——————


BOSTON
LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS
10 MILK STREET
1896

[iii]

Copyright, 1896, by Lee and Shepard

——————
All Rights Reserved

——————
Four Young Explorers


Typography by C. J. Peters & Son, Boston.

——————
Presswork by Berwick & Smith.

[iv]

TO
MY APPRECIATIVE AND VALUED FRIEND

FREDERICK D. RUGGLES, ESQ.

RESIDING ON A HISTORIC HILL IN
HARDWICK, MASS.

This Volume

IS RESPECTFULLY AND CORDIALLY
DEDICATED.

[v]

PREFACE

"FOUR YOUNG EXPLORERS" is the third volume of the third series of the "All-Over-the-World Library." When the young millionaire and his three companions of about his own age, with a chosen list of near and dear friends, had made the voyage "Half Round the World," the volume with this title left them all at Sarawak in the island of Borneo. The four young explorers, as they became, were permitted to spend three weeks there hunting, fishing, and ascending some of the rivers, while the rest of the party proceeded in the Guardian-Mother to Siam. The younger members of the ship's company believed they had seen enough of temples, palaces, and fine gardens in the great cities of the East, and desired to live a wilder life for a brief period.

They were provided with a steam-launch, prepared for long trips; and they ascended the Sarawak, the Sadong, and the Simujan Rivers, and had all the hunting, fishing, and exploring they desired. They visited the villages of the Sea and Hill Dyaks, and learned what they could of their manners and customs, penetrating the island from the sea to[vi] the mountains. They studied the flora and the fauna of the forests, and were exceedingly interested in their occupation for about a week, when they came to the conclusion that "too much of a good thing" became wearisome; and, more from the love of adventure than for any other reason, they decided to proceed to Bangkok, and to make the voyage of nine hundred miles in the Blanchita, as they had named the steam-launch, which voyage was accomplished without accident.

After the young explorers had looked over the capital of Siam, the Guardian-Mother and her consort made the voyage to Saigon, the capital of French Cochin-China, where the visit of the tourists was a general frolic, with "lots of fun," as the young people expressed it; and then, crossing the China Sea, made the port of Manila, the capital of the Philippine Islands, where they explored the city, and made a trip up the Pasig to the Lake of the Bay. From this city they made the voyage to Hong-Kong, listening to a very long lecture on the way in explanation of the history, manners, and customs, and the peculiarities of the people of China. They were still within the tropics, and devoted themselves to the business of sight-seeing with the same vigor and interest as before. But most of them had read so much about China, as nearly every American has, that many of the sights soon began to seem like an old story to them.[vii]

Passing out of the Torrid Zone, the two steamers proceeded to the north, obtaining a long view of Formosa, and hearing a lecture about it. Their next port of call was Shang-hai, reached by ascending the Woo-Sung. From this port they made an excursion up the Yang-tsze-Chiang, which was an exceedingly interesting trip to them. The ships then made the voyage to Tien-tsin, from which they ascended by river in the steam-launch to a point thirteen miles from Pekin, going from there to the capital by the various modes of conveyance in use in China. They visited the sights of the great city under the guidance of a mandarin, educated at Yale College. Some of the party made the trip to the loop-wall, near Pekin. Returning to Tien-tsin, with the diplomatic mandarin, who had accepted an invitation to go to Japan in the Guardian-Mother, they sailed for that interesting country, where the next volume of the series will take them.

It may be necessary to say that the Guardian-Mother, now eighteen months from New York, and half round the world, reached Tien-tsin May 25, 1893; and therefore nothing relating to the late war between China and Japan is to be found in this volume. Possibly the four young explorers would have found more sights to see, and more adventures to enjoy, if they had struck either of the belligerent nations during the war; but the ship sailed for the United States before hostilities were begun.[viii]

Of course the writer has been compelled to consult many volumes in writing this book; and he takes great pleasure in mentioning among them the very interesting and valuable work of Mr. W. T. Hornaday, the accomplished traveller and scientist, "Two Years in the Jungle." This book contains all that one need know about Borneo, to say nothing of the writer's trip in India among the elephants. His researches in regard to the orang-outang appear to have exhausted the subject; though I do not believe he has found the "missing link," if he is looking for it. Professor Legge contributed several articles to "Chambers's Encyclopædia," which contain the most interesting and valuable matter about China to be derived from any work; for he lived for years in that country, travelled extensively, and learned the language. I am under great obligations to these authors.

The author is under renewed obligations to his readers, young and old, who have been his constant friends during more than forty years, for the favor with which they have received a whole library of his books, and for the kind words they have spoken to him, both verbally and by letter.

WILLIAM T. ADAMS.

Dorchester, Mass.

[ix]

CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.   PAGE The Borneo Hunters and Explorers 1
CHAPTER II. A Voyage Up the Sarawak River 10
CHAPTER III. Something About Borneo and Its People 19
CHAPTER IV. A Speculation in Crocodiles 29
CHAPTER V. A Hundred and Eight Feet of Crocodile 39
CHAPTER VI. The Voyage Up the Sadong To Simujan 48
CHAPTER VII. A Spirited Battle With Orang-outangs 58
CHAPTER VIII. [x]A Performance of Very Agile Gibbons 67
CHAPTER IX. A Visit to a Dyak Long-House 77
CHAPTER X. The Manners and Customs of the Dyaks 87
CHAPTER XI. Steamboating through a Great Forest 96
CHAPTER XII. A Formidable Obstruction removed 106
CHAPTER XIII. The Captain's Astounding Proposition         115
CHAPTER XIV. Down the Simujan and up the Sarawak 125
CHAPTER XV. On the Voyage to Point Cambodia 134
CHAPTER XVI. An Exciting Race in the China Sea 143
CHAPTER XVII. The End of the Voyage to Bangkok 153
CHAPTER XVIII. Louis's Double-Dinner Argument 163
CHAPTER XIX. [xi]A Hasty Glance at Bangkok 172
CHAPTER XX. A View of Cochin-China and Siam 181
CHAPTER XXI. On the Voyage To Saigon 191
CHAPTER XXII. In the Dominions of the French 201
CHAPTER XXIII. A Lively Evening at the Hotel 211
CHAPTER XXIV. Tonquin and Sights in Cholon 221
CHAPTER XXV. Several Hilarious Frolics 231
CHAPTER XXVI. The Voyage across the China Sea 241
CHAPTER XXVII. Some Account of the Philippines 250
CHAPTER XXVIII. The Description of an Earthquaky City 260
CHAPTER XXIX. Going on Shore in Manila 270
CHAPTER XXX. [xii]Excursions on Shore and up the Pasig 280
CHAPTER XXXI. Half a Lecture on Chinese Subjects 290
CHAPTER XXXII. The Continuation of the Lecture 300
CHAPTER XXXIII. The Conclusion of the Lecture 310
CHAPTER XXXIV. Sight-seeing in Hong-Kong and Canton 321
CHAPTER XXXV. Shang-Hai and the Yang-tsze-Chiang 332
CHAPTER XXXVI. The Walls and Temples of Pekin 342

[xiii]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
"Your first shot, Louis," said Scott Frontispiece   PAGE "What have you got there, Mr. Belgrave?" 41 "You are near enough, Captain" 99 The boat rose gracefully on the billows 132 "But where is Felix?" demanded Mrs. Blossom, 161 She made a vigorous leap into the fore-sheets, 267 Natives preparing tobacco in Manila 285 Temple and garden in China 329

[1]

FOUR YOUNG EXPLORERS CHAPTER I THE BORNEO HUNTERS AND EXPLORERS

The Guardian-Mother, attended by the Blanche, had conveyed the tourists, in their voyage all over the world, to Sarawak, the capital of a rajahship on the north-western coast of the island of Borneo. The town is situated on both sides of a river of the same name, about eighteen miles from its mouths.

The steamer on which was the pleasant home of the millionaire at eighteen, who was accompanied by his mother and a considerable party, all of whom have been duly presented to the reader in the former volumes of the series, lay in the middle of the river. The black smoke was pouring out of her smokestack, and the hissing steam indicated that the vessel was all ready to go down the river

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