on the northwest coast and in the bay of Sawa. Their power appears,
however, never to have been very extensively acknowledged; and
at present I have not been able to meet with any account of the
condition of their factories. This information will probably be gained
at Singapore. Avoiding the Dutch settlements, I propose limiting my
inquiries to the northern and northeastern portion of the island, more
especially the great bay of Gunong Tella. It is impossible to state
here the direction of these inquiries, or any definite object to which
they should be turned, as I am acquainted with no author who speaks
of the country, save in a general and vague manner. It is reported
as rich, fertile, mountainous, strikingly beautiful, and possessed of
rivers; abounding in birds, and inhabited, like Borneo, by wild tribes
in the interior, and by the Bugis on the sea-shores and entrance of
rivers. The character of the Bugis, though so variously represented,
gives me strong hopes of rendering them, by care and kindness, useful
instruments in the prosecution of these researches; for all writers
agree that they are active, hardy, enterprising, and commercial; and
it is seldom that a people possessing such characteristics are deaf
to the suggestions of self-interest or kindly feeling. The arrogance,
and especially the indolence, of the Malays, counteracts the influence
of these strong incentives; and the impulse which governs such rude
tribes as the Dyaks and Arafuras is a dangerous weapon, which cuts all
ways, and often when least anticipated. The Badjows, or sea-gipsys,
are another race on whom some dependence may be placed. Mr. Earl,
who had a personal acquaintance with this tribe, and could speak their
language, always expressed to me a degree of confidence in their good
faith, which must have had some grounds.

I may here conclude the first stage of the expedition, during the
progress of which the head-quarters will be fixed at Singapore. During
some of the intervals I hope to see Manilla, and to acquire a cursory
knowledge of the unexplored tract at the southern extremity of Celebes,
called in Norie's general chart the Tiger Islands.

The time devoted to the objects above mentioned must, as I have before
said, be regulated by the degree of fortune which attends them; for,
cheered by success, I should not readily abandon the field; yet, if
persecuted by climate, or other serious detriments, I shall frequently
shift the ground, to