528 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1816. 



«econd Eastern Empire, in tlie 

 Javanese year 1400. Some idea 

 may be formed of the jjower and 

 o|)ulen(e of this second empire, 

 established at Mnjapahit, from 

 tlie extensive ruins of that city, 

 still extant. 'J'hese 1 took an r)p- 

 portunity of visitinij^ duriiii!^ my 

 late tour; and 1 believe I am 

 within tiie mark, when I repre- 

 sent the walls to have enclosed a 

 space of upward of twenty miles 

 in circumference. 



Within this period will be in- 

 cluded the establishment of the 

 Western Empire at Pajajaran, the 

 subsequent division of the island 

 under the princes of Majapahit 

 and Paja'puan, the eventual su- 

 pren;acy of MMJapahit, and the 

 tiniil overthrow of the government 

 and ancient institutions of the 

 country, by the general establish- 

 ment of the Mahometan faith. 



It is during this period that 

 Java may be said to ha\e risen to 

 the highest pitch of her civdiza- 

 tion yet known, and to have com- 

 manded a more extensi\e inter- 

 course, thrnugliout the Archipe- 

 lago, than at any former period. 

 Colonies from Java were succes- 

 sively ])lanted in Sumatra, the 

 Malayan peninsula, Borneo and 

 Bali, the princes of which coun- 

 tries still trace their descent from 

 the house of Majapahit ; and that 

 adventurers from Western India, 

 from Siam, from Champa, from 

 China and from Japan, fiequented 

 Java in the greatest number. But 

 the object of the first importance 

 will be, to trace the introduction, 

 progi-ess and iinal establishment 

 of the Maiiometan faith in the 

 various countries where it now is 

 acknowledged as the established 

 religion, and particularly in Java, 



where we find, that notwithstand- 

 ing attempts to make proselytes 

 were as early as the commence- 

 ment of the twelfth century, such 

 was the attachment of the people 

 to their ancient faith and insti- 

 tutions, that these etlorts did not 

 effectually succeed till the latter 

 end of the fifteenth century of 

 the Cliristian era. 



A fourth division would com- 

 mence with the establishment of 

 the Mahometan government in 

 Java, and might be brought down 

 to the establishment of the Dutch 

 in the Eastern Seas, which may 

 be taken as A. D. 1600; and a 

 fifth, and by no means uninter- 

 esting period, might include the 

 history of the European establish- 

 ments, down to the conquests by 

 the British arms in 1811. 



Tlie further |-rosecution of this 

 extensive inquiry would lead me 

 beyond the limits at present pre- 

 scribed ; and 1 must, therefore, 

 conclude with drawing your at- 

 tention to the striking similarity 

 between the eaily state of Greece, 

 and that of the Malayan islands. 

 Change but the names, and the 

 words of Mitford's Introduction 

 to his History of Greece will be 

 found equally applicable to this 

 more extensive Aichipelago. 



"Thus," he observes, " Greece 

 in its early days, was in a state of 

 perpetual marauding and pira- 

 tical warfare ; cattle, as the great 

 means of subsistence, were first 

 the great object of jdunder; then, 

 as the inhabitants of some parts 

 by degrees settled to agi-iculture, 

 men, women and children were 

 sought for as slaves. But Greece 

 had nothing more peculiar than 

 its adjacent sea, where small 

 islands were so thickly scattered, 



that 



