ram, and the other islands, and bought of them gold dust, pearls, birds of Paradise, and many other articles. They were not prompt to expose any thing for sale to us, from a suspicion, as we thought, that we would be unjust, and perhaps violent, using the force of our armed vessels against their town if we should find any occasion for a quarrel. The Europeans and others have not conducted themselves with sufficient integrity and disinterestedness to remove all apology for this suspicion. The largest pork, I ever saw, was brought us at this island. It was of the wild hog, the hair burnt off, and the skin made as black as a hat. The meat was not fat, but sweet. We also purchased a great plenty of good fish.

The soil was good, as far as we could judge from the produce, from what we saw, and from the information we could gather. Much of the land lies low, and must be frequently inundated. The sun is nearly vertical to the inhabitants, and the climate cannot be very safe for Europeans, although the natives were healthy, robust, and numerous. According to the custom over so great a part of the oriental islands, spread by the Malays, the New Guineans build their houses over the water on piles. They select a flat place, where the tide ebbs and flows, that all dirt and filth from their habitations may be regularly carried away without labour, and that they may be free from the numerous reptiles which would otherwise annoy them, particularly at night. The houses are like those of Savage Town, one story, a sharp roof, and thatched with leaves of various sorts. The floors are made of split bamboo, with the round side up, and in some of the rooms an inch apart in order to let the dirt through. In the rooms, where some kinds of work are done, and where small tools are to lie upon the floor, the bamboo is put close together. The houses are arranged in straight lines, and . have a walk before them three or four feet wide, quite to the shore. Their transportation of all heavy articles is done by canoes, which can pass under the houses. The piles are driven about six feet into the bottom, and are ten feet above it. The mode of driving them is ingenious for savages without the mechanical advantages of civilized life. A canoe, loaded with stones to the amount of two or three tons, is lashed to the pile, one on each side at high water, and as the tide ebbs, a heavy stick of timber is made to fall successively upon the top of it, which, acting with the immense weight of the canoes, forces it into the ground rapidly. The few windows,

which are necessary in so warm a climate, are made of the inner transparent part of the pearl oyster shell, as in China. I have seen a town on this coast, thus built, covering more than a mile square.

The New Guineans have some iron tools, which they have procured of the Malays. But they still use some, which are made of oyster shells, and some of flint. They have an extremely ingenious mode of lashing a short piece of wood to the end of a long one for a handle, at an acute angle with it on the inside, and then fasten the shell or the flint to the short piece, like an adz, with which they work very well. They grind the flint to a perfect edge with other stones. As we return to New Guinea in the course, of the narrative, some other remarks will be made upon it at that time.

While we were at anchor, we obtained plenty of good wood at Sallawatty. We dug more than a dozen wells, ten or twelve feet deep, and got brackish water, which from the colour of the clay where it was found, was as white as milk. On most parts of the coast, it is very difficult to procure water, because of danger from the natives. The winds in the straits were light and variable; but near the western entrance, they were strong and steady from the south and east. For a month, the thermometer stood between 80° and 83°.

We put to sea on the 9th of September, taking our departure from English Point, in latitude 1° 26' south, and longitude 131° 11′ east. This is the southwest cape of Revenge Straits. On the 19th we anchored in Cajeli bay, in the island of Bouro, in latitude 3° 23′ south, and longitude 127° 27′ east. The winds, since we left New Guinea, have been light and variable, with calms, but chiefly from the western quarter. We passed the north side of Ceram, the island of Mysol, and many other islands, but saw no dangers of any importance in the navigation. When we came to anchor, the fort saluted us with seventeen guns. The resident chief came on board, and we gave him an English national salute.

This settlement belongs to the Dutch East India Company. They keep a garrison of twenty-five Europeans here, and a great number of Malays. Their business is to cut down and destroy the nutmeg and clove tree; to collect black, white, yellow, red, and still other kinds of ebony, for the European market; and to prepare various sorts of beautiful wood besides for cabinet work. The chief told

us that he had destroyed more than thirty thousand nutmeg trees that season, and a vast number of the clove. A part of the cargoes of two ships in a season usually consists of these varieties of valuable wood. Cattle, deer, serpents, and crocodiles in the rivers, are found in abundance in Bouro. Deer were sent to us gratis, and we were allowed to hunt them at pleasure. The Malays drove them by us, a thousand in a herd, and we shot as many as we wished. Among the species we saw, were multitudes of those which are spotted with white upon a red brown, and which are very handsome. They are a little smaller than the common deer, but leap remarkably well.

The serpents of Bouro are most remarkable. The Resident told us, that some of them had swallowed a buffalo, a story which we should hardly have believed, notwithstanding the reasons he gave us to obtain our confidence, were it not that so many testimonies to the same effect are multiplied among men of information and veracity. The boa is known to be often about forty feet long, and is said, in books, as I am told, to be much more.

The climate is good, the air pure, the soil rich, and the productions various. The mercury was between 80° and 83°. The harbour is excellent, and lies on the north east side of the island. We anchored in water six fathoms deep, half a mile from shore, in a muddy bottom, the flag staff south 34° west. The name of the Governor, or Resident, was Coomens. He was extremely attentive to us, supplied all our wants without solicitation, and was in every respect a model of hospitality. When we arrived in Canton afterwards, we procured a handsome silver urn, with an inscription upon it, testifying our sense of his kindness and worth, which we sent to him by a Dutch supercargo.

Learning that we should be well treated at Amboyna, we got under way the 24th of September to visit that island. Commodore McClure was particularly desirous to go there, in consequence of the notoriety which it had obtained for the massacre of the English by the Dutch, and because no English vessel had been to the island, as it was reported, for more than seventy years. When we arriv ed on the 28th, we anchored off fort Victoria, and saluted the castle with nine guns, which were immediately returned. On this passage, the prevailing winds were from the south and east, and the weather. was pleasant. We continued to receive at this place friendly and

polite treatment, and found Amboyna a truly agreeable residence. A general invitation to dine with the governor was given us soon after our arrival. The town, the country, the climate, and the soil, were surpassed by none. A great variety of aromatic trees, and of fragrant flowering shrubs, we saw growing in perfection.

We became acquainted here with Dr. Hoffman, an eminent chemist and botanist. He was professionally employed in extracting volatile oils from the principal trees and plants of Amboyna, the nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, culibaban, cajeput, and many others. We were on very friendly terms with him, and visited him often, both to gratify our love of society, and our curiosity in regard to his ingenious methods of pursuing his profession. His laboratory was large and convenient, built of brick, and contained a row of copper stills which were all heated by one fire. The distilled oils, accompanied by water, were received into white China pots. The oils, of different beautiful colours, appeared at the top, and made a fine show in the numerous white vessels. We bought a considerable quantity, particularly of the culibaban and the cajeput, which we sold for a good profit at Bencoolen.

The nutmeg tree grows from twenty to thirty feet high, is from nine to fifteen inches in diameter at the lower part of the trunk, and the first limbs are eight or ten feet from the ground. The top of the tree is a regular cone. The common or female nutmeg is oval, and is covered by a husk, which is cured, and is the mace of commerce. The husk grows round the fruit in a spiral form, and is interesting to a curious observer. The shell, containing the nut, which is loose in it, is not thicker than that of a hen's egg. The shell must be kept on the fruit in order to have it cured. Without this, it will always spoil. We made many trials of it while we were at New Guinea. All the green nutmegs, which were brought us, we lost, by taking off the shell. We learned afterwards to keep the shell on, to throw them into lime water, and dry them till they would rattle. Then we could break the shell, and not lose the fruit. The long or male nutmeg has a different husk from the other, which makes an excellent pickle. The husk, mace, nut, and shell, afford very good preserves.

The clove resembles the red cherry tree, is not quite as large or as high as the nutmeg, and grows without the same regularity. The fruit grows in what is called the mother of clove, which opens

at the proper season, and the cloves are shaken out upon a sheet spread under the tree. The mother of clove is sometimes used for a preserve, and is good for that purpose.

The inhabitants of Amboyna have attended much to the cultiva tion of their gardens. They have introduced almost all the varieties of beans, peas, potatoes, turnips, beets, carrots, and other vegetables. The sugar cane grows abundantly in all the eastern islands. The people have made great progress in the mechanic arts. They do fine work in silver and gold, and are eminent in cabinet manufacture. Many of the Chinese are among them, and are noted for their industry and ingenuity.

The fashionable phrase for calling a party together at this island is to smoke a pipe. They meet at six o'clock in the evening. The gentlemen take a room by themselves till ten, smoking and drinking gin and beer, which are both from Holland. They are then joined by their wives and daughters, and have a hot supper, served up in an elegant style. Their furniture is various and handsome. I have often seen three beautiful chandeliers, white, blue, and red, hanging in a line in one room, over a table, and giving a splendid effect upon the china, the glass, and the plate. The evenings are sometimes spent in dancing, and the first people always have a band of music of their own. The slaves, who are chiefly Malays, with a few negroes from New Guinea, are taught to play admirably well on various instruments. We were invited to smoke a pipe every evening we were there. In return, we gave a ball, to which we invited all the best class of people, who cheerfully accepted of our invitation. The entertainment was sumptuous, and the party in excellent spirits. The ladies particularly seemed to enjoy the evening with their whole hearts. So great was the exhilaration on their part, and so entirely did we give our own minds and efforts to the objects of the occasion, that we found ourselves in some danger of producing a counteraction in the spirits of the Dutch gentlemen. My fellow officers were intelligent and agreeable men; their manners were easy, simple, and cordial; they were fond of society, and capable of enjoying it to a very high degree; and they were peculiarly happy in their conversation and attempts to give pleasure this evening. The ladies complimented us upon our spirit of gallantry, and flattered us by saying that we had contrived to make our party more delightful than any which they had formed