Plurk paste

CHAPTER III
KOXINGA, THE EEBEL CHIEF We reach Tainan, the southern capital—The Japanese inn—Bathing difficulties—A night on the floor—A visit to the Governor's palace— Koshimura takes us to the shrine of Koxinga—An account of Koxinga— The coming of the Dutch to Tainan—They built Forts Zeelandia and Provintia—Trade with China and Japan flourishes—Fears of Koxinga's hostile intentions—Indifference of authorities at Batavia—Koxinga attacks—Fort Provintia surrenders—The siege and defence of Fort Zeelandia—Relief fleet under Caeuw arrives—Caeuw's treachery—The surrender of the Dutch—Character of Koxinga.
*6"
^ 1 WE reached Tainan station at 7.30 p.m. and found four officials waiting to receive us. The usual exchange of cards and polite speeches followed—I found that I was getting into the swing of the thing and becoming quite good at it. Then Koshimura produced a porter to look after our luggage and we were whisked off in a motor to the Shihiuen Hotel, the chief Japanese inn of the town.
Lafcadio Hearn's books—which, by the way, every educated Japanese seems to know and to respect— had made us in some measure familiar with the Japanese inn. So without fuss we sat on the doorstep and removed our shoes, being provided in ex- change with slippers in which we scuffed along the smooth pine-wood passages until we came to our rooms. Here the experience that I had acquired from Lafcadio deserted me, for, instead of leaving my slippers on the threshold as one is expected to do, I flip-flapped on to the spotless mats with which
63 64 KOXINGA: THE REBEL CHIEF the room was closely carpeted—much to the amusement of the two little maids, bright as butterflies in their kimonos and obis, who were waiting to welcome us. I felt as though I had walked into a drawingroom with my hat on. Hurriedly I returned to the passage and kicked off the slippers, praying that there were no holes in my socks. Somehow a man always feels rather idiotic in what are known as his ' stockinged feet.' I don't know why this should be so, for in hot countries Europeans (anyhow the bachelors) are accustomed to pad about their bungalows in bare feet and pyjamas or a sarong. But with socks on and no shoes one always feels neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring; at any rate I did, although Japanese floors, covered as they are with mats sewn over mattresses, are delightfully soft to walk upon.
The rooms of Japanese inns and houses have a very equal individuality. They are always built on exactly the same plan and are all as much alike as silver yen. Our rooms consisted of an outer and an inner chamber, divided by the shop, sliding doors with tiny panes of rice-paper broken by a band of glass half-way down. There were no windows, but, instead, more sliding doors back and front, opening on to a passage or veranda. In the inner room was the tokonoma, a little alcove in which hung a kakemono, a hanging scroll; before this stood a jar of green porcelain with a single spray of blossom. This is the only artistic adornment one ever sees in a Japanese house. For a long time I thought it must be an extremely simple and inexpensive method of decoration, until Koshimura disillusioned me by telling me that the kakemono, together with the vase or figure or other little work of art which is placed before it, is changed as often as the means of the THE JAPANESE INN 65
owner will allow and those not in use are carefully stored away. The Western fashion of displaying in a house every object the owner possesses seems to the Japanese the height of vulgarity (as often well it may), and for the creation of artistic effects it is a platitude to say how much we have to learn from them. But whenever I see a single hat, displayed in expensive solitude in a milliner's window in London, I always think that there, consciously or not, is someone who is imbued with the spirit of Japan.
The furniture in our rooms was as simple as the decoration: a short-legged table of blackwood, used for writing purposes, a little cabinet for tea-cups, a blue and white china hibachi, where a charcoal fire is always smouldering, ready for the kettle which is kept full of water for making tea. That was all the furniture the rooms normally contained, and it was all they ought to have contained, but, in her desire to make her foreign visitors at home, the proprietress had imported for our special benefit a hideous wooden table (with long legs) and three commonplace bent-wood chairs. They looked as out of place as paper bags in a forest glade, but we felt that we had to make use of them, although, amidst our surroundings, we should have preferred to squat cross-legged upon the little floor-cushions as does every Japanese —every Japanese, that is, who has not abandoned his own perfectly good customs and institutions for the less picturesque ones of the West.
On our arrival green teawas served, and some sweet cubes made of seaweed, which tasted much better than they looked, were set upon the table in a lacquer box. Mr. Sakakibara, one of the officials who had met us at the station, came in and drank a cup of tea with us. He said that he was deputed to look after us during our stay in Tainan and discussed some of 5 66 KOXINGA: THE EEBEL CHIEF
his plans for us next day, promising to call at 9 o'clock on the following morning with a car. He went off and ordered dinner for us, and this appeared shortly afterwards, having been brought from the nearest restaurant by a boy on a bicycle.
The piece de resistance consisted of rather tough chicken cutlets shrouded in batter, a dish which we had already sampled at the sugar-factory luncheon.
Koshimura, feeling, I expect, that one so-called foreign meal a day was enough for him, had a Japanese dinner in his own room—there are no public dining-rooms in Japanese inns. All we could get to drink was soda-water, and, after a strenuous day, I sighed for a whisky-and-soda or at least a bottle of Japanese beer.
After dinner, not being able to make the serving maidens understand, I sought out Koshimura.
"What about a bath in this establishment, Mr.
Koshimura T" I asked.
"I think very difficult now," replied Koshimura, looking harassed. "There are many guests." It then transpired that there was but one bath in the hotel, the water of which was only changed last thing at night. As Koshimura said, there were many guests. Keen as we were to do as Rome does and to leave our conventionalities behind us for a little, we could not help jibbing at the idea of bathing in the same old water as twenty Japanese. It seemed prudent to give the bath a miss that night and to get first turn the next.
Having failed in our laudable efforts to get a I bath, the next proposition was to get a bed. There was no sign of one in either of our rooms and I racked my brains trying to remember a passage of Lafcadio that would help me not to make a fool of myself, but in vain. We were beginning to wonder A NIGHT ON THE FLOOR 67
if it would be very hard sleeping on the floor wrapped up in overcoats when the two little maids fluttered in and brought out from a cupboard built into the wall with a sliding door, which had escaped our notice, a quantity of bedding. They proceeded to lay our mattresses (there were three of them) out for us upon the floor, spluttering with laughter as they did so; indeed our stay at the inn seemed to make life one long jest for them. A sheet was spread on top of the mattresses, and, as a covering, a great thick eiderdown with another sheet tacked on underneath, whilst a vast green mosquito-net was hung above the bed by means of strings. Then, after yet another cup of tea (brought as a kind of doch and doris), we went to bed and, in spite of the hardness of the hay-stuffed pillows, neither of us ever slept better.
Unless you shut all the doors fast there is no privacy whatever in a Japanese room. In fact there is not intended to be, for the Japanese, looking upon life from a more natural standpoint than we do and having no false modesty, require no privacy. Nevertheless we preferred not to sleep in full view of every passer-by, so shut the doors had to be, fug or no fug.
Early next morning we were awakened by the maids getting our tea ready in the next room. No sooner had we gone to get it than they swooped down upon our bed, folded it up, bundled it into the cupboard, opened wide all the doors and swept the floor.
The room was 'done,' and it had not taken five minutes to do it. It all seemed very simple, but less simple was the problem of dressing in an open room which looked out on to the main veranda of the inn. My wife spent a lot of time that morning shutting doors, for as soon as her back was turned someone came and opened them. One washed at a 68 KOXINGA: THE EEBEL CHIEF
basin in the inn lavatory, into which I was ushered by one of the smiling fairies. Whilst there I noticed that a toothbrush had, apparently, been provided by the thoughtful management for the use of visitors.
At the time this brought home to me the gap between the East and West. I felt that the man who could use a communal toothbrush would do anything, but it has since occurred to me that this particular brush was one that had been left behind by another guest.
Perhaps it is best to let it go at that. 1
§ 2
After breakfast we found Koshimura looking rather worried.
"Matters are not going as I had planned," said he.
It appeared that the promised car was not forthcoming. Koshimura became less crestfallen when I told him that we should be even happier in rickshaws, and so we set out to call upon Mr. Eda, the Governor of Tainan.
The Governor's Palace (as Koshimura called it rather grandiloquently) was built and furnished in foreign fashion. It is no good my trying to pretend that it was beautiful, because it was not. To my mind it was hideous, and particularly hideous were the chairs upholstered in apple-green plush on which we were asked to sit. It has always struck me as being one of the strangest things about the Japanese that, while in their own style of decoration they have a taste which is unerringly faultless, as soon as they get on to Western ground they display as much taste as would a coalheaver who has made a fortune, in 1 Mr. Phipps tells me that toothbrushes are sometimes provided in Japanese inns, but that these are cheap wooden ones, supplied fresh for each guest, and thrown away after use. A VISIT TO THE GOVERNOR 69
spite of the fact that they are as a race the quickest and cleverest brain-pickers in the world. It is the same with clothes : for although Japanese men dress unostentatiously in Western garments, I have seen few Japanese women in hats that were really becoming to them and none who would not have looked more attractive in her native kimono. It is true that few "Western women can wear a kimono with the same grace as a Japanese. But then few try.
The Governor received us amidst his apple-green furniture, dressed in a lounge suit. Proceedings began by his placing a card on the large round table that stood in the centre of the room covered with an olive-green cloth. By this time I knew the rules of the game and had a card of my own ready. I placed it beside his, feeling inclined to shout 'Snap!' He spoke, or would speak, no English, but like everyone else we met he had delightful manners and beamed with kindness, though in his heart he probably looked upon our incursion as a nuisance.
While we sipped the inevitable green tea I made a little brisk conversation with the aid of Koshimura.
Then the Governor's son came in, dressed in a kimono. To my relief I found that he spoke excellent English and was indeed in business in Australia, whence he had recently returned on leave.
Eventually a gentle hint from Koshimura warned me that it was time to be going, and as we took our leave His Excellency was kind enough to say that we might have the loan of his own car for the rest of our visit.
Then began another day of hearty sightseeing.
Tainan is the old capital of Formosa, with a population of over 75,000, and since it has many historical associations there is much to see. As soon as we had found the Governor's car, the 70 KOXINGA: THE EEBEL CHIEF
chauffeur of which reminded me of a Paris taxidriver so furiously did he tear about the little town, we paid a visit to the shrine dedicated to Koxinga, the Chinese rebel chief who in 1662 captured Tainan and with it the whole island from the Dutch.
In this high-walled Chinese sanctuary, where the atmosphere, although the main road lay close at hand, was one of peace, it was interesting to reflect how much the Japanese owe indirectly to that indomitable conqueror who, driven from his own country and still fighting an unequal battle against the invading Tartar hordes, is wholly a figure of romance. For as well as being the conqueror of Formosa, he lives in history as the only Chinese to whom a European colony has definitely and utterly surrendered.
§ 3 I
At the time of the Tartar invasion of China, Koxinga, who was the son of a famous Chinese pirate and a Japanese mother, gathered round him an army of irregulars to support the fallen Ming dynasty.
He became a thorn in the side of the invaders, attacking them both on land and sea. Even when by determined efforts they defeated him and drove him to the coast, he took to his ships and was able to maintain hostilities for many years before he swooped down upon Formosa.
In the meantime the servants of the Dutch East India Company, having left the Pescadores, settled on the island of Formosa in 1624 and made their headquarters on a barren sand-bank about four miles from where the town of Tainan stands to-day. The position was about a square mile in extent, and separated from the mainland by a narrow strait. THE DUTCH FORTS 71
This strait has since silted up owing to the violence of the south-west monsoon, so that the old Dutch territory now forms part of the mainland and is known as Anping. On this inhospitable site the settlers constructed a fort, sixty yards square, and gave it the name of Castle Zeelandia. The walls, which were built with bricks brought specially from Batavia, were six feet thick, and the stronghold was surrounded on the northern and western sides by a barricade three feet high.
The site was a bad one strategically, for it was overlooked by higher ground from the mainland.
This important point, however, was apparently not realized until the fort had been completed, and to remedy the defect a small redoubt called Utrecht was built later on the eminence which commanded Zeelandia. This was the second error of judgment, but it did not occur to anyone that in the event of an attack Utrecht would prove a very dangerous outpost, difficult to hold, and, once in the enemy's hands, the key to the capture of the main stronghold.
This was the initial folly of the Dutch. They came to an unknown island in the midst of pirate-infested seas, inhabited by wild tribes, many weeks' sail from their base in Java—their one source of supplies and reinforcements. Yet they took no greater care to render their position secure, even though, as years went by, in addition to the other dangers which beset them, the menace of Koxinga grew greater and greater and the rumours that he intended to seize Formosa as a base of operations became as threatening as a rising storm.
As time showed, Dutch rule in Formosa was a long series of blunders. Nor were these made wholly or even principally by the men on the spot. The original founders of the settlement made what turned 72 KOXINGA: THE KEBEL CHIEF
out to be serious strategical mistakes, but it may be supposed that they acted as best they could. Certainly had more funds been available they would have been enabled to build defensive positions better calculated to withstand a siege. The fault for what followed undoubtedly lay rather with the authorities in Java in failing to vote enough money for the works which the circumstances required, in neglecting to keep the garrison up to strength, and in meeting appeals for assistance with indifference.
For a time, however, all went well. Permission to trade had been granted by the Chinese mandarins and goods were procured from China for barter with Japan. For this purpose the position of the settlement was ideal, and large profits were made. The chief exports were raw silk and sugar to Japan, silk piece goods, porcelain, gold, and preserved ginger to Batavia ; spices from the Moluccas, pepper, amber, hempen garments, and tin were imported and were re-shipped to China, together with Formosan products such as rice, sugar, hides, and deer-horns.
Numbers of European traders settled on the sandy plain beyond the fort, and in time this quarter came to be known as the City of Zeelandia.
The Dutch laid themselves out to make friends with the native tribes, a policy which was only too rare in those days, and treated them fairly; missionaries were sent to work amongst them and many became converted. The company had undertaken to allow the Chinese and Japanese who had already settled in the island to remain there without molestation; others were allowed to come as they would.
In consequence there was an influx of settlers who, driven out of their native land by the unsettled conditions caused by the Tartar invasion, were thankful to find a refuge in Formosa. Although the THE CHINESE REBELLION 73 Japanese settlers who had established themselves before the coming of the Dutch gradually left the island, disgruntled at the treatment they received, it was not long before the Chinese colony amounted to 25,000 men, besides their women and children.
These settlers were all men capable of bearing arms, and, moreover, were used to a life of fighting and insecurity ; many of them were little better than pirates. They were not the breed to form a very law-abiding community, and the result was that as an outcome of the Dutch levying oppressive taxes, in addition to export duty on rice and sugar, a serious revolt broke out in 1652. All the settlers sympathized with the aspirations of Koxinga and ex- pected his assistance if their plans for overpowering the Dutch succeeded. This rising was put down with the assistance of 2,000 Christian natives who proved themselves invaluable allies, but it made the Dutch realize how hazardous was their position and their apprehension as to the coming of Koxinga increased.
In an official despatch the Governor of the day told the authorities in Java that "his hairs stood on end and he was continually in fear about Koxinga 's intentions on Formosa." Consequently in the following year another fort, called Provintia, was built, this time on the mainland ; it was four miles distant from Zeelandia, and its remains still stand in the present city of Tainan. The future was to show how unwise a move this was, for instead of strengthening the position of the Dutch the new fort did but weaken it. The scanty garrison had to be split up to defend another poorly fortified stronghold when unity would have been its only hope.
§4
In 1656 Frederic Coyett was appointed Governor 74 KOXINGA: THE EEBEL CHIEF
of the settlement. He was a man of some vision and, wisely enough, did everything in his power to placate Koxinga. An envoy was despatched with letters and presents, and returned with a communication from the rebel chief expressing his friendly feelings towards the Dutch East India Company and its servants.
For a while the tension was relieved. Trade with China, which had long been waning owing to the uncertainty of the future, began to flourish once again.
Then Koxinga was severely defeated by the Tartars and was forced to retreat to his last stronghold at Amoy, the nearest Chinese port to Zeelandia. The fears of the garrison were again aroused. They knew that if once the hard-pressed rebel were driven from Amoy it would only be a matter of days before he appeared in Formosan waters. Eeinforcements were appealed for. Leading Chinese settlers were seized as hostages. Export trade with China was closed lest the ships should fall into Koxinga 's hands.
There was considerable delay in sending assistance from Batavia to the anxious garrison, but finally it occurred to the authorities that if a relief fleet were despatched it might well serve two objects, and, having settled affairs in Formosa, on the way back to Java effect the capture of Macao, that Naboth's vineyard of the Portuguese on which the Dutch had for so long cast covetous eyes. Accordingly in 1660 twelve warships with 600 soldiers on board sailed for Formosa. This had the effect of making Koxinga postpone the attack he was meditating and again he protested his good intentions. Bickerings then arose between Governor Coyett and the commander of the relief expedition, and eventually the squadron returned to Batavia without even making an attempt on Macao. Once back, the commander KOXINGA ATTACKS 75
reported that the fears of Governor Coyett and the Formosan garrison were groundless, and that with the numbers at their disposal they were well able to defend themselves in the unlikely event of an attack taking place.
The departure of the relief squadron offered Koxinga his chance, and he took it. At dawn on April 30, 1661, he appeared off Zeelandia with a large fleet and an army of 25,000 men. A force was landed on the coast, where it was met by a band of disaffected Chinese settlers several thousand strong, whilst the fleet took up a position at the entrance of the strait between Fort Zeelandia and the mainland.
The Dutch watched these preparations with consternation. The whole garrison then numbered about 2,200 men, besides 600 European settlers.
They had but two war vessels, the Hector and the Gravenlande. The only other boats on the harbour were a bark, the Vink, and a yacht, the Maria. These four, however, sailed out gallantly to attack Koxinga 's junks. Soon after the engagement started the Hector was blown up by an explosion in the magazine, but the battle was kept up by her consort and the two smaller vessels. Several of the junks were sunk and the hand-grenades flung by the Dutch did considerable execution.
On land, however, the defenders did not fare so well. Instead of the Dutch attacking the enemy with all the force at their command before he had time to make dispositions, 240 picked men went out to do battle with a band of 4,000 Chinese. They underestimated the courage of their adversaries, for the Chinese put up an unexpected resistance and attacked the Dutchmen with such ferocity that they turned tail and fled, many flinging their muskets 76 KOXINGA: THE EEBEL CHIEF away as they ran. The captain and 118 of his men were left dead or wounded upon the field, and the survivors only escaped thanks to the pilot boat. A second party of 200 men also advanced against the enemy, but they too were attacked with such determination that their commander thought it prudent to return to the fort, and managed to carry out his retirement without loss.
Before coming into contact with them the Dutch had despised the Chinese, but they very soon found them formidable fighters. Koxinga's best soldiers were his archers, whose part was to throw the enemy's ranks into confusion, whereupon shock troops armed with shields and swords tried to break through, covering their heads and bodies with their shields and hacking with their swords. The second line was composed of men armed with broadswords which were affixed to poles and wielded with both hands: these either broke the enemy's charge or followed him up when he was in retreat. The bodies of all these men were covered with flexible iron mail, which left their arms and legs free. In addition to his Chinese troops Koxinga had two companies of Malays and others, many of them runaway Dutch slaves who had learnt to use the musket. He was, moreover, well equipped with ammunition and other supplies of war.
With such a force at his disposal and with complete freedom of action Koxinga had matters entirely his own way. He disembarked his men unopposed and laid siege to Fort Provintia, thereby cutting off all communication between the two Dutch strongholds. The Formosan natives could offer no resistance and the Chinese settlers greeted him with open arms. Within a few hours of his arrival he sent the Governor an arrogant demand to the effect THE DUTCH SEEK TERMS 77
that unless both forts were surrendered immediately he would take them by storm and put the whole garrison of the colony to the sword.
Governor Coyett and his Council met to consider their desperate position. An anxious consultation it must have been. Deserted by the fleet that might have saved them, reinforcements weeks away, hemmed in on every side: their plight must have seemed well-nigh hopeless to those stern-faced Dutchmen as they counted up the odds. Finally, for want of a better plan, two emissaries were despatched to Koxinga with instructions to offer him an indemnity if he would leave the island, or, failing that, to negotiate for the cession of the mainland to him if he would permit them to remain undisturbed at Zeelandia to carry on their trading operations.
The envoys were conducted to the general's headquarters. They were kept waiting while he had his hair dressed, after which they were granted an audience. Koxinga refused to agree to the proffered terms. He declared that the possession of the whole island was necessary to him if he was to succeed in his campaign against the Tartars, but he offered to allow the Dutch to embark their effects in his own junks, to dismantle their forts, and to remove the cannon to Batavia. He gave them until eight o'clock on the following morning to accept or to refuse his ultimatum. If they decided to accept, they were to display his own banner from the fort.
If they refused, they were to hoist a blood-red flag, the flag of war.
At the close of the audience the envoys were allowed to visit Fort Provintia. They found that the garrison was short of water and supplies, and quite unable to withstand a protracted siege. As all assistance from Zeelandia was cut off, there was 78 KOXINGA: THE EEBEL CHIEF nothing for it but to give the commander authority to make the best terms he could with Koxinga. The fort was therefore surrendered and the defenders, who might so well have helped to hold Zeelandia, became prisoners of war.
On the return of the envoys to Zeelandia the Council met again to consider Koxinga 's terms. The outlook was black indeed. The defences of the fort were weak; stores and ammunition, although considerable, were not abundant ; the water in the wells was brackish. There was little hope of any help from Batavia reaching them for twelve months, for Koxinga had astutely planned his attack at the beginning of the south-west monsoon ; this meant that, although it was normally only three weeks' voyage from Formosa to Java, a ship would have to wait six months for the north-east monsoon before it could sail south with the news and that it would be another six before the south-west monsoon could bring a relief squadron.
Nevertheless, Governor Coyett and his colleagues were no cowards. The thought of tamely abandoning their trust was intolerable to them ; nor, it may be supposed, did the thought of what would be their reception in Batavia serve to weaken their resolution. They swore that Zeelandia should be defended to the last, and in the morning the blood-flag fluttered defiantly over the battlements of the fort.
The Chinese lost no time in taking possession of the city of Zeelandia, whence the inhabitants had already been hurried into the fort, as no protection could be given them in their exposed and undefended position. No attack was made upon the fort itself THE GARRISON HOLDS OUT 79 until May 26, when the enemy, having brought up twenty-eight guns, began a furious bombardment with the object of making a breach in the walls through which they could storm the fort. But now the advantage lay with the Dutch, for, although the brick walls of the fort received severe punishment, the position of the enemy's batteries was exposed and the fire was returned with deadly effect.
The story goes that the Chinese commander who was in charge of the operations had promised Koxinga that he would storm the fort at the first attempt or forfeit his head. He flung reinforcements recklessly into the fight until over a thousand of his men had fallen ; then one by one the batteries were abandoned, while a storming party which had advanced against the fort along the sand-dykes from the south was put to flight. As soon as it was seen that the guns had been deserted, a sortie was made from the fort and, covered by the fire of the soldiers, a party of sailors spiked the batteries in spite of a rain of arrows from the Chinese archers, and then, having captured the enemy banners which had been planted on the palisade, returned in triumph.
This engagement showed Koxinga plainly that the Dutch were determined to defend Zeelandia with their lives, and, after two more fruitless attempts, he abandoned the idea of taking it by storm. He was not, however, above trying to attain his object by persuasive methods. He employed as an ambassador a missionary named Hambroek, who, with his wife and several of his children, had been taken prisoner whilst working among the natives, and sent him to Zeelandia with instructions to do his best to induce the Council to surrender.
Mr. Hambroek, on reaching the fort, did nothing of the kind, but exhorted the garrison to hold out to 80 KOXINGA: THE REBEL CHIEF
the last. Then, in spite of the entreaties of two of his daughters who were in the fort and although he must have known that he was going to a certain death, he returned to Koxinga and told him that the Dutch would never surrender. This so enraged the commander-in-chief that he gave an order for all the Dutch male prisoners to be put to death, on the pretext that they had been inciting the natives to revolt against him. Many of these wretched people, including the dauntless Hambroek and some of the women and children, were beheaded. Some, more unhappy still, were crucified. One of Mr. Hambroek 's daughters Koxinga took into his own harem, while the remainder of the women were divided amongst his officers.
Koxinga then resolved to force the Dutch into surrender by means of a blockade, thinking that no reinforcements could reach them from Java for many months. But here he made a miscalculation. The captain of the little Maria, which had taken her part in the first day's fighting, seeing that matters were desperate and fearing to fall into the hands of the Chinese, had slipped away under the cover of darkness. In spite of the furious contrary winds of the south-west monsoon he succeeded in bringing his ship to Batavia by way of the Philippine Islands, accomplishing a hazardous voyage, during which he was many times all but wrecked, in fifty days.
At the news of the disaster which had befallen the Formosan settlement the authorities at Batavia were aghast, more especially because two days previous to the arrival of the Maria they had sent out a new Governor, Hermanus Clenk, to replace Coyett, who was to be recalled in disgrace on account of what had been considered his panicking despatches about Koxinga. THE BELIEF EXPEDITION 81
Now that it appeared that Coyett's fears were only too well founded, they sought to cover up their blunder by sending a vessel after Clenk's ship to fetch her back. Owing to adverse winds, however, it was found impossible to overtake her. In the meantime a relief expedition was hurriedly collected.
It consisted of ten ships and 700 soldiers under the command of one Jacob Caeuw, a person of no ex- perience and worthless parts, who apparently only received the appointment because no one else cared to accept the responsibility. It is recorded of him that he was defective in his power of speech and could only speak through his nose, but he was to prove himself even more defective in courage, leadership, and loyalty to his friends. His squadron left Batavia on July 5, 1661, and by it a letter was despatched to Coyett authorizing him to retain his position as Governor.
§ 6
The relief expedition did not overtake Hermanus Clenk, who arrived off Zeelandia on July 30. As may well be imagined, he learnt the condition of affairs with mixed feelings. Here was the Governor who was to be recalled in disgrace for cowardice besieged within the walls of his own fort; his suc- cessor would assume command of a caged garrison whose hopes of getting out were forlorn indeed.
Under the circumstances it would not have re- quired a big man to put his services at the disposal of the harassed leader he had come to relieve, but there was nothing big, or even mediocre, about Hermanus Clenk. He delivered his despatches, the contents of which filled the Council with dismay, but showed no desire to take over his new omce. In fact 6 82 KOXINGA: THE EEBEL CHIEF
he had so little liking for it that he did not even go ashore, and, after hanging about for a few days, he made an approaching storm the excuse for leaving his anchorage and stood out to sea. That was the last the garrison of Zeelandia saw of Hermanus Clenk, for, after plundering a Chinese ship like a pirate, he set his course for Batavia and abandoned his fellow-countrymen to their fate.
Hardly had Clenk taken himself off when, to the wild joy of the besieged, the relief fleet under Caeuw came in sight. The rejoicing became more subdued when it was learnt that the force consisted of only 700 men, for it was clear that no offensive could be taken against Koxinga with so small an addition to the weakened numbers of the garrison.
Koxinga, knowing nothing of the voyage of the Maria through the storms of the monsoon, was unable to account for the arrival of the squadron. At first he was not a little perturbed that his calculations had miscarried, until, having taken prisoner some men from one of the ships that chanced to run ashore in a gale, he elicited, by means of torture, the true strength of the reinforcements. Finding that matters were not so serious as he had imagined, he determined to reduce the fort before further aid could
come.
The Dutch on their side planned an attempt to drive the Chinese from the city of Zeelandia and to destroy the junks, but, although a series of actions was undertaken both on land and sea, they met with no success. Nevertheless, reports they had from deserters gave them some encouragement. Koxinga himself was said to be in difficulties : he had lost over 8,000 men during the campaign, and his junks were deserting whenever an opportunity presented itself.
There was also another ray of hope. The Tartar THE TARTARS' OFFER 83
Governor of the Fokien Province of China, seeing a possibility of making an end of the troublesome rebel chief once and for all, offered to send Governor Coyett assistance for a combined attack. This proposal gave the Dutch fresh courage. Once more they resolved to hold out, but it was reluctantly decided to utilize some of the ships for sending women and children and other bouches inutiles to Batavia in order to eke out the supplies. A discussion also took place as to whether it would not be advisable to transfer the merchandise and other property in the fort to the ships for safety, but the commanders had enough knowledge of psychology to realize that the moral of their men would quickly weaken if there were no treasure left to defend; moreover they felt, very shrewdly, that if the worst befell and they were driven to make terms, it would be as well to have something of value with which to bargain.
It was now that Caeuw began to reveal his true character. No sooner had the Council renewed its decision to face the odds against them than this worthy suggested that he should return in person to Batavia for further reinforcements. His motive was all too plain ; permission was refused and he was expelled from the Council (in which, as commander of the relief squadron, he held a place) for unbecoming conduct.
Coyett and his advisers then decided to accept the Tartar Governor's offer of assistance and to send part of the relief squadron to him with proposals for a combined attack on Koxinga's forces which were still in China, in the hope of creating a diversion and drawing the enemy away from Formosa.
The ships, their mission once accomplished, were to 84 KOXINGA: THE EEBEL CHIEF
bring back a supply of much-needed stores to the straightened garrison.
It was a well-conceived plan and one which seemed to offer every hope of success. Caeuw entered into it with enthusiasm and volunteered to command the expedition himself. The Council, so far from sus- pecting his real motive, imagined that he wished to retrieve his reputation. They accepted his services, entrusted to him despatches and presents for the Governor of Fokien, and allowed him to sail away from Zeelandia with five ships.
Caeuw, however, had never had the slightest intention of doing anything but save his own skin. He had only been biding his time to follow in the wake of Hermanus Clenk. Soon after he had put to sea three of his squadron, by a lucky chance, were driven back to Formosa by a gale, but with the remaining two Caeuw sailed for Batavia, in spite of the protests of his officers. On his arrival he explained his return to the authorities by a story of having been driven south by storms; it was not long before the truth of his perfidy leaked out, but even then, although it seems scarcely credible, he escaped with a small fine and six months' suspension from office, after which he was reinstated: an unpleasant ex- ample of the methods of the company's administration in those days. Worst of all, no further help was sent to the beleaguered garrison of Zeelandia, which was left to work out its own salvation to the end.
§ 7
When the three ships which had been driven back to the Formosan coast reached Zeelandia with the news of Caeuw 's treachery, the spirits of the defenders sank low indeed. The fates must have COYETT THE INDOMITABLE 85
seemed to be working against them. Their last hope had failed. Supplies were running short; their privations were becoming terrible; their numbers were depleted by the desertion of Caeuw, and the sur- vivors of the garrison were weakened by the hardships and rigours of the siege. Once more they felt themselves abandoned, as indeed they were. The soldiers began to desert. Among them was a Dutch sergeant, and from this traitor Koxinga heard the story of Caeuw 's flight, discovered the dispositions of the garrison, and learnt that it consisted of no more than 600 disheartened and exhausted men.
Once more he determined to attack. He concentrated his forces on the sandy plain before Fort Zeelandia and directed three batteries against the Utrecht Redoubt, for he had long recognized that the possession of the high ground on which it stood would give him the key to the whole position. On January 25, 1662, he began a furious bombardment of the redoubt, and although the Dutch detachment which held it gallantly repulsed the storming parties sent against it the whole day, by sunset it was reduced to a heap of crumbling ruins. The defenders were forced to fall back to the main fort, but before evacuating their untenable position they lighted fuses to four barrels of gunpowder in the cellar and had the satisfaction of blowing up a party of eager and unsuspecting Chinese.
A meeting of the Council was then held in Fort Zeelandia—the last of many such. Governor Coyett, whose indomitable spirit no misfortunes had the power to subdue, urged his colleagues to hold the fort until further help arrived or until their strength gave out. But other members of the Council pointed out despairingly that they were already well-nigh at the mercy of Koxinga. Nothing could save them: 86 KOXINGA: THE REBEL CHIEF
their supplies had almost run out, their men were in the last stages of exhaustion, the enemy now had control of the passage to the sea and so could deny a landing to any reinforcements, even should they come. They had done all that men could do, and it was better, they urged, to make terms with Koxinga while the fort was still in their hands than to wait and become his prisoners when he delivered the last assault.
It must have been a bitter moment for the brave Coyett, but, seeing that his fellows were against him, he yielded.
Negotiations were then entered into with Koxinga for the surrender of the fort. A truce was agreed to and, after five days' parleying, the terms were ar- ranged on February 1, 1662.
The evacuation of Fort Zeelandia began forthwith, and two hostages were given on either side until the provisions of the treaty had been complied with.
All artillery, materials, merchandise, money, and other property belonging to the company, with the exception of the records, were surrendered. The besieged were allowed to retain enough provisions for their voyage to Batavia; the Dutch officials were allowed to retain their private property. Prisoners of war in Koxinga 's hands were released and the vessels which had been captured were handed back.
No other than the white flag was flown from Zeelandia until the evacuation was complete, nor were any of Koxinga 's men permitted to enter the fort until the Dutch had marched out—and this they were allowed to do with loaded muskets, flying colours and beating drums. 1 1 The foregoing account is based mainly on the translation from 'f Verwcerloosde Formosa, 1665, in Rev. W. Campbell's Formosa under the Dutch, pp. 384 et seq. THE SURRENDER OF ZEELANDIA 87
§ 8
Thus it was that the island of Formosa, which would have been so priceless a possession to the Dutch to-day, was allowed to fall into the hands of a Chinese rebel chief. The blame for this must rest not upon the heads of the gallant Coyett and his men, but upon their superiors at Batavia, who betrayed the settlement by their neglect of warnings, their re- fusal to sanction the necessary fortifications, and their failure to send adequate assistance. With the fall of Zeelandia they lost for ever the opportunity they had had of linking together the trade with China and Japan by means of a base in the China Seas; all missionary efforts in the island came to an end and the inhabitants were allowed to return to their pristine paganism; Dutch prestige in the Eastern seas fell—and with good cause—to a low ebb.
The amount of treasure, merchandise, and materials that were surrendered to Koxinga amounted to less than half a million guilders, and there is no doubt that Koxinga, although he showed himself inhumane in his treatment of prisoners, might have treated the members of the Dutch garrison, who were completely at his mercy, far more severely than he did. He offered them no indignities: on the contrary, he allowed them to carry away from that ill- fated fort upon the barren sandbank their honour and their arms. And these things, one may suppose, were dearer to the hearts of those dauntless warriors, who had won the respect of the Chinese chieftain by their dogged courage and endurance, than all the packages of amber and blood corals that were given up.
But they were not dearer to the hearts of the Batavia authorities. It is a bitter fact that the men 88 KOXINGA: THE REBEL CHIEF who had won the grudging admiration of the barbarian for having defended their country's honour to the last were treated by their own people like deserters. Governor Coyett and the members of his Council were flung into prison on their return.
Coyett, having been imprisoned for two years, was condemned to banishment for life upon a lonely island in the Malayan seas. He was eventually re- leased through the intercession of the Prince of Orange, who listened with sympathy to the entreaties of his children and friends, but even then his freedom was conditional on his giving an undertaking to settle in the Netherlands and never to take any part in Eastern affairs again.
Such was the fate of one who deserved well of his country. The strange thing is that while every decade of history has its Coyetts and its Caeuws, many of them receive like rewards.
No serious attempts were ever made by the Dutch East India Company to retrieve its fallen fortunes in the China Sea. Koxinga remained in undisputed possession of the island and made his headquarters at Fort Zeelandia, to which he gave the name of Anping-Chin—City of Peace. Here he appears to have ruled wisely and well, but he was not to enjoy the fruits of conquest long, for a few months after the surrender of the Dutch he died, at the age of 39, at a time when he was organizing a large expedition to attack the Spanish settlements in the Philippines.
Koxinga was, without doubt, one of the most striking martial figures the East has ever produced. Mr.
Campbell would condemn him as a cruel barbarian.
Cruel we know him to have been, but, as Mr. Davidson more justly says, it is impossible to judge him impartially without taking into account the conditions and times in which he lived. The Christian CHARACTER OF KOXINGA 89 commanders of those days were cruel, sometimes merciless: the Spanish conquistador es, the Portuguese adventurers, and the Dutch themselves committed barbarities—often under the cloak of their religion—more terrible than any recorded of Koxinga. Moreover, he had other qualities in his character that atoned for this defect. Contrary to its usual course, in him nature seems to have contrived that his mixed parentage should bring out the best qualities of both races to which he could claim kinship, for he had the courage of the Japanese warrior combined with the subtlety of the Chinese diplomat, two essentials of success in military leadership.
Koxinga, however, was more than a successful general. He was that rare thing, a man with a single purpose in his life: the restoration of the Ming dynasty which had been overthrown by the Tartars. To this cause he subordinated all other aims, devoted his whole existence. The capture of Formosa from the Dutch was to be but a steppingstone to the achievement of his single aim, and it is recorded of him that as he breathed his last he cried, "How can I meet my Emperor with my mission unfulfilled?" As I stood in the peaceful shrine with Koshimura by my side I could not help wondering whether, had Koxinga never lived, the island would have become a second Java, or whether the Japanese, working out their predestined expansion as a colonial power, would have wrested it from the Dutch. And as I gazed at a crude Chinese picture representing Koxinga 's victory I thought how well it would be for China to-day if she had a man of such iron will, such compelling personality, and above all such 90 KOXINGA: THE REBEL CHIEF
single-hearted devotion to his country's cause as this pirate's son. Koshimura saw me looking at the picture and broke in upon my reflections by telling me that he had had an awkward moment explaining what the scene represented to a secretary from the Dutch Legation at Tokyo, whom he had escorted round Tainan some time before.
"Very difficult," he said with a shake of his head and a sharp intake of his breath—"very difficult."