on board of the Royalist, (Mr. Brooke's schooner yacht,) and taken to Singapore, where it is eagerly purchased by the merchants, and shipped for England.

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'After dinner we all proceeded to the rivulet in search of gold; the natives had cleared out the bed of the river; the sand and stones were thrown into an artificial sluice for washing it; and a little gold was found by some of the party. This gold mine, if it may be so called, is worth to Mr. Brooke about £1000 per annum, after all the expenses are paid. Its real value is much greater; but the Chinese conceal a great quantity, and appropriate it to themselves. But if the particles of gold which are brought down by a small rivulet are of such value, what may be the value of the mines above, in the mountains as yet untrodden by human feet? This, it is to be hoped, enterprise will some day reveal.'

p. 9.

A visit to the mountain called Sarambo, which is of great height, and excursions among the Dyak villages, employed their time pleasantly, until the Samarang again put to sea. After visiting various islands, they sailed for the Madjicesimer islands, which are subject to the kingdom of Loo-Choo, and landed at Pa-tchu-san. The natives here received them with the same courtesy which the inhabitants of Loo-Choo have shown to strangers; and although, naturally enough, they appeared uneasy at the proposal of our surveying the whole group,' they eventually assented, and furnished both horses and necessaries.

The inhabitants, judging from the portrait of one which Mr. Marryat has given, seem to be of Malayan, if not Arabic extraction. The features are sharp, but finely formed, and the expression is remarkably mild and intelligent. They have no intercourse with any part of the world beside Loo-Choo, and know of the existence of no countries except China, Loo-Choo, and Japan. We were the first white men they had ever seen,' says Mr. Marryat, and we are fain to believe, that the conduct of the company of the Samarang was such as to leave a favourable impression on these secluded islanders.

After visiting various places, they landed at Great Sooloo, 'the chief of a group of islands known as the Sooloo Archipelago.' The inhabitants resemble the Malays, both in their personal appearance, and warlike character. The Samarang was the first English man-of-war that had called at Sooloo, since the visit of Dalrymple, in 1761.' A severe fight with the Malay pirates, off the coast of Gilolo, in which Sir Edward Belcher was wounded, soon after followed. We regret the remarks in which Mr. Marryat has here indulged. With personal irritations, likely enough to occur on board-ship, the public have little to do; the showing-up,' therefore, of either

messmate or commanding-officer, under circumstances which preclude reply, is ungenerous if not unjust.

Borneo, which they visited several times, is inhabited, as our readers are aware, by various tribes, indigenous to the neighbouring isles and continent-Arabs, Malays, Chinese, and the natives of Celebes. The chief men claim an Arab descent; and, from the portraits given, we have little doubt that the claim is well founded. There has, we think, been too much abuse of these islanders, because they live by piracy, but we should bear in mind that our own forefathers, Saxon and Norman, were as fierce and enterprising pirates, as those of the eastern Archipelago. We have, indeed, been often struck, when reading accounts of them, to find how closely the description of these voyages in the nineteenth century resembles that of the Greek historian in the sixth to the north, when he tells of the ferocious pirates, whose vessels were unmatched in swiftness, and whose crews were as unmatched in prowess. And yet, these ferocious pirates became the civilizers of modern Europe, laying aside, under the genial influence of Christianity, their blood-thirsty practices, but retaining that energetic spirit of enterprise which, rudely developed as it then was, was still their impulsive principle. In the great care and skill bestowed on their boats, these pirates greatly resemble our remote forefathers; indeed, when we observe their rude habitations, and their more than half-savage customs, we may well be astonished at the perfection, both of their sailing and their warboats. We have very interesting drawings of both; and of the latter, the following description :

The Malay war boat, or prahu, is built of timber at the lower part, the upper is of bamboo, rattan, and Redgang, (the dried leaf of the Nepan palm.) Outside the bends, about a foot from the water line, runs a strong gallery, in which the rowers sit cross-legged. At the after part of the boat is a cabin for the chief who commands, and the whole of the vessel is surmounted by a strong flat roof, upon which they fight, their principal weapons being the kris and spear, both of which, to be used with effect, require elbow room.

The Dyak war boat is a long built canoe, more substantially constructed than the prahu of the Malays, and sufficiently capacious to hold from seventy to eighty men. This also has a roof to fight from. They are generally painted, and the stern ornamented with flowers.

'Both descriptions of war boats are remarkably swift, notwithstanding such apparent loss of weight.'-p. 63.

The drawing subjoined exhibits the prow raised to the height of nearly twenty feet, and decked with a rather handsome ornament of carved wood, with feathers depending, and a plume surmounting the whole.

During the period of their second sojourn at Borneo, they anchored off a fortified Malay town, named Bintang, and became on such good terms with the sultan,' especially by treating him with Rule Britannia' in true sailor-like fashion, that he sent off to the head boat, a superb supper for seven people:

Consisting of seven bronze trays, each tray containing about a dozen small plates, in which were many varieties of flesh and fowl, cooked in a very superior manner. To each tray was a spoon, made of the yellow leaf of some tree unknown, but as specimens of primitive elegance and utility combined, they were matchless. We had some doubts from our knowledge of the treachery of the Malays, whether we should fall to, upon these appetising viands, as there was no saying but that they might be poisoned. Mr. Brooke, however, who, although not the commandant, was the mentor of the party, explained that he invariably observed one rule when treating and dealing with these people,-which was, never to exhibit any unworthy suspicion of them, as, by so doing, they became convinced of our own integrity and honour. That this confidence might have, in many instances, proved dangerous, unless adopted with great caution, must be admitted; but in our relations with the people on the rivers of Borneo it was of great service. The Malays are so very suspicious themselves, that nothing but confidence on your part, will remove the feeling; and, in treating with the Malays, this is the first object to be obtained.'-p. 69.

Now we think this alone proves the Malays to have a keen sense of honour, an element, we need scarcely remark, of great value in promoting civilization. During their stay, one of the Dyak chiefs provided a war dance for their entertainment. It is curious how close a resemblance these dances bear to each other. The clapping of hands, the swift wheeling round, the shrill yell, chorussed by the bye-standers, all resemble so closely the war dance of the North American Indians, that were these Dyaks not separated by half the globe, we might almost imagine both were derived from one common source. A sail down the river, and a boar hunt in the adjacent jungle succeeded, and the whole company dined off wild pig, with a relish which must have horrified a Mohammedan.

'Towards the end of a long repast, we felt a little chilly, and we therefore rose and indulged in the games of leap-frog, fly-the-garter, and other venturous amusements. We certainly had in our party one or two, who were as well fitted to grace the senate, as to play at leap frog, but I have always observed that the cleverest men are most like children when an opportunity is offered for relaxation. I don't know what the natives thought of the European Rajah Brooke playing at leap-frog, but it is certain that the rajah did not care what they thought. I have said little of Mr. Brooke, but I will now say that a more mild, amiable, and

celebrated person I never knew. Every one loved him and he deserved it.'-p. 90.

For our own part also, we have a higher respect for 'the rajah,' from this little trait, since the absence of all pretence and formality, is ever the characteristic of superior minds.

Singapore was next touched at, and the variety of race and costume, and the groves and forests, interspersed with plantations of nutmegs, cinnamon, cloves, and sugar-canes, and from which a most delightful perfume is brought by the breeze,' formed a picture on which the eye of the artist dwelt with delight. The Samarang then proceeded to Manilla, the inhabitants of which, we think, contrast unfavourably with the more uncivilized Malays. They are weak and spiritless, and although very good Catholics, seem to have all the vices of a worn out civilization.

'Gambling is carried on to a great extent in Manilla: the game played is monté. We visited one of their gambling houses. Winding our way down a dark aud narrow street, we arrived at a porte cochère. The requisite signal was given, the door opened cautiously, and after some scrutiny, we were ushered up a flight of stairs, and entered a room, in the centre of which was a table, round which were a group, composed of of every class. An Indian squaw was sitting by the side of a military officer, the one staking her annas, the other his doubloons. I stood by the side of an old Chinaman, who staked his doubloons, and lost every time. The strictest silence was observed, and nothing was heard, but the chinking of the dollars, and the occasional à quien of the banker, who inquired the owner of the stakes. Everything was conducted with the greatest order; when one man had lost all his money he would retire, and make room for another. The authorities of Manilla made every effort to put a check to this demoralising practice, but without much success. It is universal, from the highest to the lowest, from the civilized to the most barbarous, over the whole of the Indian Archipelago.' -p. 126.

The lower classes, however, prefer cock-fighting, and 'every man in the streets has his fighting cock under his arm.' This is, however, only another mean to the same end, for betting is their very meat and drink. In general, the inhabitants of the Eastern Archipelago, however fierce, can scarcely be considered as treacherous. Those of Sooloo are, however, fearfully so. At the second visit of the Samarang, a French squadron had anchored in the bay, much to the dislike of the inhabitants.

About a mile to the right of the town is a spring, where all the ships watered. One day some peculiar looking berries were found in the pool, which, on examination, proved to be deadly poison, the natives having thrown them in with the intention of poisoning us en masse. The water was of course started overboard, and intelligence sent to Admiral

Cecil, who was highly incensed. It was singular by what means this discovery was made. One of the seamen of the Samarang complained of a stinging sensation in his feet from having wetted them in the pool. Our assistant surgeon happening to be on shore at the time, caused the watering to be stopped, and the pool to be examined. Buried in the sand, and at the bottom of the pool, and secured in wicker baskets, were found those poisonous berries, which the natives had concealed there. As soon as Admiral Cecil received the information, all the water was thrown overboard, and the boats of the whole squadron, manned and armed, landed the French admiral, the ambassador, and our captain. They repaired to the palace of the sultan, who not only expressed his abhorrence of the attempt, but promised to put to death the parties if they could be discovered. The attempt did not, however, stop here. In addition to fruit, the boats at Sooloo brought off rice cakes, which were eagerly bought by the seamen. Some of the chiefs issued an order for a large number of poisoned cakes, which they intended for our consumption; but fortunately the order was so extensive that it got wind, and we were warned of what was intended by a native of Manilla, who had been captured by pirates and sold at Sooloo.'-p. 140.

The next port was Hong Kong, from whence Mr. Marryat made several excursions to the islands around. He also visited the celebrated pagoda of Ningpo, described by the late Dr. Milne, and which he thought might better bear the name of the Leaning Tower. Mr. Marryat has given us an excellent drawing of this singular structure, which far more resembles a Saracenic building than a Chinese. It is constructed of solid masonry, carried up with scarcely greater diminution than is necessary to the stability of the work, and the windows, or open arches, are the same as are seen in the mosques of Asia Minor. There are Chinese nuns here, to whom our author paid a visit:

They were assembled in a large room, at one end of which was an image of the god Fo. Each nun was seated at a small table, on which was a reading stand and a book of prayers. They were all reading, and at the same time beating a hollow painted piece of wood; the latter duty was, we were informed, to keep up the attention of the god. What with their all gabbling at once, and the tapping noise made with the wood, god Fo appeared more likely to have his attention distracted than otherwise. However, it was of no consequence, as Fo was one of that description of gods mentioned in the Bible, among whose attributes we find, Ears have they, but they hear not.' '—p. 157.

A company of women reading, scems strange on the very coast of China. At Hong Kong Mr. Marryat fell ill, and was sent to the Minden, hospital ship, where he was witness to the sufferings of the numerous sick who crowded the vessel, and most of whom died. The Samarang proceeded from Hong Kong to Loo Choo, and from thence to the island of Quelpart,