ring the submarine treasures with which her seas
are stored. They are also very frequently employed in the beche de
mer or trepang fisheries among the islands to the south. The Bajows
generally look upon Macassar as their principal place of resort. They
were at one time believed to be derived from Johore, on the Malayan
peninsula; at another, to be Buguese; but they speak the Sulu dialect,
and are certainly derived from some of the neighboring islands. The
name of Bajows, in their tongue, means fishermen. From all accounts,
they are allowed to pursue their avocations in peace, and are not
unfrequently employed by the piratical datus, and made to labor for
them. They resort to their fishing-grounds in fleets of between one
and two hundred sail, having their wives and children with them,
and in consequence of the tyranny of the Sulus, endeavor to place
themselves under the protection of the flag of Holland, by which
nation this useful class of people is encouraged. The Sulu Seas are
comparatively little frequented by them, as they are unable to dispose
of the produce of their fisheries for want of a market, and fear the
exactions of the Datus. Their prahus are about five tons each. The
Bajows at some islands are stationary, but are for the most part
constantly changing their ground. The Spanish authorities in the
Philippines encourage them, it is said, to frequent their islands,
as without them they would derive little benefit from the banks in
the neighboring seas, where quantities of pearl-oysters are known
to exist, which produce pearls of the finest kind. The Bajows are
inoffensive and very industrious, and in faith Mahomedans.

The climate of Sulu during our short stay, though warm, was
agreeable. The time of our visit was in the dry season, which lasts
from October till April, and alternates with the wet one, from May
till September. June and July are the windy months, when strong
breezes blow from the westward. In the latter part of August and
September, strong gales are felt from the south, while in December
and January the winds are found to come from the northward; but light
winds usually prevail from the southwest during the wet season, and
from the opposite quarter, the dry, following closely the order of the
monsoons in the China seas. As to the temperature, the climate is very
equable, the thermometer seldom rising above 90 deg. or falling below 70 deg..

Diseases are few, and those that prevail arise from