318 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



sage, and were steering west, and I could feel that 

 at least my face was turned homeward, a thought 

 sufficient to give any one a deep thrill of pleasure 

 who had wandered so far. 



The wind being ahead, and our vesel steaming 

 slowly, we did not expect to see the opposite shore 

 until the next day, much to my satisfaction, for it 

 gave me a good opportunity to learn from the offi- 

 cers many particulars about the pirates in these seas. 

 Piracy has probably existed among these islands ever 

 since they were first peopled. It was undoubtedly 

 plunder, and not trade, that stimulated the natives 

 to attempt the first expedition that was ever made 

 over these waters. Piracy is described in the ear- 

 liest Malay romances, and spoken of by these natives, 

 not as a failing of their ancestors, but as an occasion 

 for glorying in their brave deeds. Such has also 

 been the case in the most enlightened parts of the 

 earth, when civilization and Christianity had made 

 no further progress in those regions than it has here 

 among the Malays. It has also been prevalent along 

 the northern shores of Euroj)e and the British Isles. 

 The only reason that it was not a common practice 

 among our Indians was because they had not made 

 sufficient progress in the arts to construct large boats, 

 and were obliged to confine theii' plundering expedi- 

 tions to rivers and lakes, and could not sail on the 

 stormy ocean. 



Pirates have been as numerous on the coasts of 

 China for centuries as they are now. Sometimes 

 they have come to the Philippines and the northern 

 parts of Borneo, but rarely or never among these 



