VOYAGES OF THE BUGIS. 101 



In tlie road were many praus of forty or fifty tons' 

 burden, and some even twice as large. In the begin- 

 ning of the western monsoon tliey go in great num- 

 bers to the Arni Islands, the principal rendezvous * 

 for the people of Ceram, Goram, the Ki Islands, Te- 

 iiimber, Baba, and the adjacent coast of New Guinea. 

 Mr. Wallace, who was particularly seeking the birds 

 of paradise, went in one of these rude vessels to the 

 Arms, a distance of one thousand miles. When Mr. 

 Jukes was at Port Essington, in January, 1845, two 

 of these praus were there. One had made the pas- 

 sage from Macassar in ten, and another in fifteen 

 days. But, on these long voyages, many never re- 

 turn. In the last of the month a third came into 

 that port and reported that four others, more than 

 liad arrived safely, had just foundered dui'ing a 

 hea^y gale, and that the crew of only one was s£i,ved. 

 Many go every year to the islands off the eastern 

 end of Ceram and to the neighboring coast of Papua, 

 and sometimes alono; its northern shores to Geelvink 

 Bay. These long voyages indicate that the Bugis 

 are now what the Malays were when the Portuguese 

 first came to the East, namely, the great navigators 

 and traders of the archipelago. They carry to all 

 these localities English calicoes and cotton goods of 

 theii* own manufacture, also Chinese gongs and large 

 f|uantities of arrack. They bring in return tortoise- 

 shell, mother-of-pearl shell, pearls, birds of paradise, 

 and tripanr/, which appears to be the common Malay 



* 'Sir. Wallace estimated the value of the goods carried there from 

 .Afacassar alone at 200,000 guilders (80,000 dollars), and those brought 

 from other places at 50,000 guilders (20,000 dollars) more. 



