pons, but not bullets. The wire probably comes from Singapore.

The local trade is chiefly in pearls, mother-of-pearl, shells,
shark fins, etc. [66] The Sultan, in Spanish times, had a sovereign
right to all pearls found which exceeded a certain size fixed by
Sulu law--hence it was very difficult to secure an extraordinary
specimen. The Mahometans trade at great distances in their small craft,
called _vintas_, for they are wonderfully expert navigators. Their
largest vessels do not exceed seven tons, and they go as far as Borneo,
and even down to Singapore on rare occasions.

I found that almost any coinage was useful for purchasing in the
market-places. I need hardly add that the Chinese small traders have
found their way to these regions; and it would be an unfavourable
sign if a Chinaman were not to be seen there, for where the frugal
Celestial cannot earn a living one may well assume there is little
prosperity. Small Chinese coins (known as _cash_ in the China Treaty
Ports) are current money there, and I think, the most convenient
of all copper coins, for, having a hole in the centre, they can be
strung together. Chinese began to trade with this island in 1751.

The root of the Sulu language is Sanscrit, mixed with Arabic. Each
Friday is dedicated to public worship, and the faithful are called
to the temple by the beating of a box or hollow piece of wood. All
recite the Iman with a plaintive voice in honour of the Great Prophet;
a slight gesticulation is then made whilst the _Pandita_ reads a
passage from the Mustah. I observed that no young women put in an
appearance at the temple on the occasion of my visit.

At the beginning of each year there is a very solemn ceremonial, and,
in the event of the birth or death of a child, or the safe return
from some expedition, it is repeated. It is a sort of _Te Deum_ in
conformity with Mahometan rites. During a number of days in a certain
month of the year they abstain from eating, drinking, and pleasure
of all kinds, and suffer many forms of voluntary penance. Strangers
are never allowed, I was told, inside the Mosque of the Sultan. The
higher clergy are represented by the hereditary _Cherif_, who has
temporal power also. The title of _Pandita_ simply means priest, and
is the common word used in Mindanao as well as in Palauan Island. He
seems to be almost the chief in his district--not in a warlike sense,
like the _Datto_; but his word has great influence. He performs all