t fathoms; but this
was of a different kind from that of which the fort was constructed.

The fort was built in the year 1784, principally for protection against
the Sulu pirates, who were in the habit of visiting the settlements,
and carrying off the inhabitants as slaves, to obtain ransom for
them. This, and others of the same description, were therefore
constructed as places of refuge for the inhabitants, as well as to
afford protection to vessels.

Depredations are still committed, which render it necessary to keep
up a small force. One or two huts which were seen in the neighborhood
of the bay, are built on posts twenty feet from the ground, and into
them they ascend by ladders, which are hauled up after the occupants
have entered.

These, it is said, are the sleeping-huts, and are so built for the
purpose of preventing surprise at night. Before our arrival we had
heard that the villages were all so constructed, but a visit to one
soon showed that this was untrue. The natives seen at the village
were thought to be of a decidedly lighter color and a somewhat
different expression from the Malays. They were found to be very
civil, and more polished in manners than our gentlemen expected. On
asking for a drink of water, it was brought in a glass tumbler on a
china plate. An old woman, to whom they had presented some trifles,
took the trouble to meet them in another path on their return, and
insisted on their accepting a basket of potatoes. Some of the houses
contained several families, and many of them had no other means of
entrance than a notched post stuck up to the door.

The forests of Mindanao contain a great variety of trees, some of
which are of large size, rising to the height of one hundred and
and one hundred and fifty feet. Some of their trunks are shaped like
buttresses, similar to those before spoken of at Manila, from which
they obtain broad slabs for the tops of tables. The trunks were
observed to shoot up remarkably straight. Our botanical gentlemen,
though pleased with the excursion, were disappointed at not being
able to procure specimens from the lofty trees; and the day was less
productive in this respect than they had anticipated. Large woody
vines were common, which enveloped the trunks of trees in their folds,
and ascending to their tops, prevented the collection of the most
desirable specimens.

The paths leading to the interior were narrow and much obstructed;
one fine stream was crossed