h the strong hand. Reflection, too,
teaches us that vice is comparative; and in forming a judgment, we
must not forget a man's education, the society in which he lives,
the absence of restraint, and the force of example from childhood;
so that what would be heinous in a Christian long under a settled
government, is light by comparison in a Malay, who is a nominal
professor of Islam, and brought up with the idea that might makes
right, and has no one external cause to deter him from crime.

"_March 12th._--On the whole getting on very well, but with many
reasons for vexation, and more for anxiety. The chief of these is,
whether Mr. Bonham will come here, as I have suggested, or rather
pressed. Another feature of inquietude is from the Chinese of Sipang,
who certainly aim at greater power than I shall allow them, and
perhaps, some day or other, it will come to a struggle.

"Petty troubles I do not reckon, though there are enow on all sides,
and for the last few days I have felt as if sinking under them;
but that is not my usual temperament. I now look impatiently for
intelligence. Blow, fair breezes, and waft Royalist here!

"_25th._--A period of wearing uncertainty since my last, having news
neither of the Royalist nor of Mr. Bonham, and kept on the _qui vive_
by a schooner or two at the entrance of the river. The plot thickens
in and around; and for the sake of keeping up a register of events in
something like order, I will here mention the leading features. Seriff
Sahib, of Sadong, pretends to be friendly, but is treacherous in his
heart, as is his brother, Seriff Muller of Sakarran. We have been
quite clear of Dyaks, and our own tribes enjoying rest and peace;
and one tribe from without, namely Serang, has come in and claimed my
protection. The only tribe at all troublesome is the Singe, the chief
of which (the Orang Kaya Parembam) is decidedly opposed to me, and
swears by Macota. I am given to believe, however, that the majority
of his people do not agree with him; and I shall dispossess him of
his dignity, and substitute a friendly chief. The Singe Dyaks are
the most powerful and numerous in my territory, and the only ones
who have not been attacked and plundered by the Sakarrans.

"At Lundu are the Sibnowan Dyaks, under the Orang Kaya Tumangong; and
the Lundu Dyaks, once a flourishing tribe, now, by ill-treatment of
all sorts, reduced to twenty persons. I may mention among my other
difficulties, that many, nay