ated. The inhabitants of
Celebes are called Bugis. They are very enterprising and industrious,
and are the chief traders in the Archipelago. They are said not to be
altogether averse to a little piracy, when they can commit it without
fear of opposition or detection. They are, at all events, far more
civilised than any of the surrounding people, and they are in proportion
deceitful and treacherous. As Celebes belongs to the Dutch, and they
have a settlement on the north-eastern point, that of Mindanao, I was in
hopes that some Dutch ship of war might encounter the fleet and rescue
me from the hands of my captors; but day after day passed away, and no
such good fortune, as I should then have called it, befell me. I had
reason, afterwards, to be thankful for all that occurred to me. But I
must not anticipate. Losing sight of the coast of Celebes, we crossed
the Straits of Malacca, and sighted the lower shores of Borneo. The
land was low and thickly fringed with mangrove trees of large growth but
behind their dark foliage I observed blue mountain ranges rising in the
distance, which gave the scenery a more inviting appearance. We soon
entered the mouth of a broad river, up which we sailed in martial
array--tom-toms beating, pipes sounding, men shouting and brandishing
their weapons, and flags waving. I was at first doubtful whether they
were preparing for war, or celebrating their victories on their return
home. I found, at last, that all this noise and fuss was their mode of
rejoicing and congratulating themselves on their success. At first I
was inclined to think their custom very barbarous and ridiculous, till I
remembered that we in England do precisely the same thing in our own
way, only, as we are a more powerful people, we make more noise at a
victory. We fire off much bigger guns, and more of them; we wave a
greater number of larger flags; we light up our houses, which are much
higher, with lamps; and our mob, who are more numerous, shout with
hoarser voices. Indeed, when I came minutely to compare the habits and
customs of barbarous people with ours, I found that there was a much
greater similarity than I was at first inclined to suspect.

As we sailed on, the scenery much improved. Fine green fields, or
meadow land, formed the banks, varied with gently sloping hills and
knolls, or more rugged elevations, covered to their summits with the
richest and most varied foliage. We passed two or three plac