he darkness of Paganism,
and the horrors of the Eastern slave-trade. While the trumpet-tongue
of many an orator excites thousands to the rational and charitable
objects of converting the Jews and reclaiming the Gipsys; while the
admirable exertions of missionary enterprise in the Ausonian climes
of the South Sea have invested them with worldly power as well as
religious influence; while we admire the torrent of devotional and
philosophical exertion, we cannot help deploring that the zeal and
attention of the leaders of these charitable crusades have never
been directed to the countries under consideration. These unhappy
countries have failed to rouse attention or excite commiseration;
and as they sink lower and lower, they afford a striking proof how
civilization may be dashed, and how the purest and richest lands
under the sun may be degraded and brutalized by a continued course of
oppression and misrule. It is under these circumstances that I have
considered individual exertion may be usefully applied to rouse the
zeal of slumbering philanthropy, and to lead the way to an increased
knowledge of the Indian Archipelago. Such an exertion will be made at
some cost and some sacrifice; and I shall here quit the general topic,
and confine myself to the specific objects of my intended voyage.

It must be premised, however, that any plan previously decided on
must always be subject during its execution to great modifications in
countries where the population is always rude and often hostile, and
where the influence of climate is sometimes so fatally opposed to the
progress of inquiry. Local information, likewise, frequently renders
such a change both advisable and advantageous; and circumstances, as
they spring up, too often influence us beyond the power of foresight,
more especially in my own case, where the utmost care would still
leave the means very inadequate to the full accomplishment of the
proposed undertaking. With a small vessel properly equipped, and
provided with the necessary instruments for observation, and the means
for collecting specimens in natural history, it is proposed in the
first instance to proceed to Singapore, which may be considered as
head-quarters for the necessary intervals of refreshment and repose,
and for keeping open a certain communication with Europe. Here the
best local information can be obtained, interpreters procured, the
crew augmented for any particular service; and here, if needful, a