1842. J TREATY WITH THE SULTAN. 45 



OS 



is the chief article of food upon which the inhabitants sub- 

 sist. All the tropical fruits and plants flourish here in great 

 luxuriance, and beauty. Rice, sweet potatoes, and yams, of 

 the finest quality, are very abundant. The commerce of the 

 islands is principally carried on with the neighboring islands 

 of Celebes, Mindanao, and Borneo, and occasionally with the 

 Chinese traders who visit the archipelago. The most im- 

 portant products which they have for trade are pearls, 

 mother-of-pearl, and cowries. The cowry is the shell of a 

 small muscle, {cijprccc mm/eta), of an oval shape, and 

 usually about one and a half inches long. It is extensively 

 used throughout the East Indies, instead of small coin, 

 though the value affixed to the shells is but small, being only 

 about three cents per pound.* 



Captain Wilkes found himself so limited in time, that he 

 was itutible to remain but for two or three days at Sou ng. 

 As this was the residence of the sultan, he had an inter- 

 view with him, and succeeded in concluding a treaty pro- 

 viding for the protection of American merchant vessels trading 

 in this quarter against the attacks of the Sooloo pirates, and 

 from molestation and ill-treatment when they touched at the 

 islands. Little faith can be placed on the ability or disposi- 

 tion of the sultan to control the crews of the piratical proas, 

 but if the first infraction of the treaty be visited with severe 

 and speedy punishment, a most salutary effect will, without 

 doubt, be produced. The Vincennes left Soung Harbor on the 

 6th of February, and crossing the beautiful Sooloo sea, whose 

 waters are rarely disturbed by the swell of the ocean, passed 

 through the straits of Balabac, and in the afternoon of the 

 19th instant joined the other vessels of the Squadron then 

 lying at anchor in Singapore Roads. 



(4.) Singapore is one of the most important commercial 

 emporiums, or entrepots in the East. It belongs to Great 

 Britain, and was purchased of the Sultan of Johore by the 

 East India company, in 1819. It is situated on the south side 

 of a small island at the southern extremity of the Malay pen- 



* Cowries are found in great plenty everywhere in the Indian seas. 



