a prince. I could not help thinking that all of us looked
poor creatures by his side."

"They certainly cannot be called savages, though from our point of
view many of their customs are of a very savage nature. Piracy is very
general among those living on the seacoast or on the great rivers; but
it must be remembered that it is not so very many centuries ago that a
toll was demanded of all passersby by the barons having castles on
the Rhine and other navigable rivers; the crews of wrecked ships were
plundered on every coast of Europe, our own included, not so very long
ago; and in the days of Elizabeth, Drake and Hawkins were regarded by
the Spaniards as pirates of the worst class, and I fear that there was a
good deal of justice in the accusation. But the Malays are people with a
history; they believe themselves that they were the original inhabitants
of the island of Sumatra; however, it is certain that in the twelfth
century they had extended their rule over the whole of that island and
many of its neighbors, and in the thirteenth had established themselves
on this peninsula and had founded an empire extending over the greater
part of the islands down to the coast of Australia. They had by this
time acquired the civilization of India, and their sultans were powerful
monarchs. They carried on a great trade with China, Hindoostan, and
Siam, and their maritime code was regulated and confirmed, as early as
1276, by Mohammed Shah."

"How is it that they have come to such grief, Doctor?"

"Principally by the fact that they had the feudal, or you may call it
the tribal, system. Each petty chief and his followers made war on his
neighbors if he was strong enough; and as some tribes conquered others,
the empire became split up into an indefinite number of clans, whose
chiefs paid but a very nominal allegiance to the sultan. So islands
broke off from the empire until it had practically ceased to exist, and
the Malays were a people united only by similar customs and language,
but in no other respect, and were, therefore, able to offer but slight
resistance on the arrival of the Dutch and Portuguese in these regions.
Still, the upper classes preserve the memory of their former greatness.
The people are intelligent, and most of the trade in this part of
the world is carried on by them. They are enterprising, and ready to
emigrate if they see a chance of improving their fortunes. You know we
saw many of them at the Cape when we