The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-05-12 00:00:00

A PATHETIC STORY.

Under the above heading the Daily News of Tues-
day gave an interesting article, from which we make
the following extracts :

"Life must not be judged by years," is a remark
lull of pathos. It fell from the pen of Mr. Ashton
W. Dilke quite recently, as his young life was ebbing
away at Algiers. We are reminded of it in con-
nection with one of the most remarkable young men
of these days.
On the 26th of March we chronicled the death of
Mr. Frank Hatton (the only son of Mr. Joseph
Hatton), while on an expedition of exploration in
North Borneo. It was tragic in its simple brevity.
The pathetic details have only j mit reached London.
They are contained in despatches from Governor
Treacher, Resident Pryer, and the notes of the first
inquest ever held on an Englishman at Elopura, on the
north•east coast of what has been, not inaptly, called
"the Garden of the Sun."

Mr. Hatton was conducting an expedition in an
hitherto unexplored district, with a view to determine
the geological character of the Segnama River and
certain regions of the Kinabatangan. His expedition
consisted of four boats. He was in the first, Mr.
Beveridge, an Australian mining expert, in the last.
The first boat was an hour in advance of the others.
Mr. Hatton fired from the river at an elephant on the
banks, and wounded it severely. Leaping ashore with
his mandore, a Malay, he gave chase. The elephant
pausing, as they thought at bay, they returned for
reinforcements. Arming a few of his men with Sniders
Mr. Hatton led the way into the jungle. The elephant
had moved off, and, night coming on, Mr. Hatton was
persuaded to return. Mr. Hatton, when penetrating
forest country, had been in the habit of carrying a
stick to remove the obstructions of vine and creeper.
On this fatal occasion he raised his Winchester
rifle to move an overhanging creeper, stooping
at the same time to pass underneath it. The
weapon became entangled, the muzzle was twisted
towards him and exploded, the trigger having been
pulled by some twigs of the vine. "Ovodeen, Ovodeen,
mati sayah !" he exclaimed. s Ovodeen was the name
of his Tntong boy, the rest is Malayan for "I am
killed," His men were all around him in a moment.
They caught him as he fell, and he murmured his boy's
name as he laid his head upon his shoulder, lost con.
sciousness, and died. Mr. Beveridge arrived on the
scene at the moment, and found the young scientist's
dusky followers weeping, Ovodeen having the deceased's
head upon his knee. Shedding bitter tears, the men
explained the incident (Beveridge had heard the
shot, and was by Mr. Hatton's aide within four or five
minutes), and, after satisfying himself that their story
was only too true, he had the body carried to the
goats. It was night now, and some lamps which Mr.
Hatton had had lighted, in his resolve not to leave a
wounded elephant in the jungle, were used to throw a
light upon the embarkation of his corpse.
_ _

_
And now followed one of the most affectionate acts
of devotion in the records of exploration. 'Under the
direction of Mr. Beveridge, eleven of the deceased's
faithful followers paddled the body in a native " go-
bang," or boat, by river and sea to Sandakan, a
distance of nearly 170 miles, without sleep night or
day, over the unknown river and finally into the sea,
cbasting along the north-east shores into the bay of
Sandakan, where they arrived soon after midnight,
having pulled for 53 consecutive hours, only resting
three times for half-an-hour to eat a little rice.
An inquest was held. Dr. Walker, who bad been
the deceased's fellow voyager from England some two
years ago, said the wound was perfectly consietent
with the statements of the Mandore, the boy Ovodeen,
and the others ; and that it was altogether inconsistent
with the suspicion that one of the other rifles might
have accidentally exploded, as Mr. Hatton was taller
than any of the natives, and the bullet had entered
from above. Furthermore, the men had always acted
on a general order of Mr. Hatton never to carry
their pieces loaded, and only to load them when there
was something to shoot at. Mr. Beveridge said Mr.
Hatton's men were devoted to his service, and would
do anything for him. Several of the natives giving
evidence said, "We cried; we were very sorry ; " and
one who had been with the young fellow in several
previous expeditions for over a year deposed that
"We all cried and said, Better we had died than
this.'"
The jury's verdict described the manner of the acci-
dent, and deplored "the sudden death of Mr. Hatton,
who as an explorer and mineralogist had proved him-
self of much value to the North Borneo Company and
to the world generally, and on account of his many
social qualities"; and they registered their approving
admiration of the conduct of Mr. Beveridge and the
natives in bringing the body to the Residency. The
funeral at Elopura was attended by all the Europeans
and by most of the native and Chinese residents of
Elopura. The body will be exhumed for.final inter-
ment in one of the London cemeteries,