316 THE OCEAN. 



placed in the other, while the fast sheet being let 

 fly, and the loose sheet hauled in, the boat is imme- 

 diately trimmed again, without loss by lee-way. 

 From their extraordinary power of lying near the 

 wind, that is, of sailing nearly towards the point 

 from which the wind is blowing, as well as from 

 their extreme narrowness cutting the water with 

 little resistance, these boats are the fleetest vessels 

 known. Anson affirms that they will run nearly 

 twenty miles an hour, which, though greatly short 

 of what the Spaniards report of them, is yet a pro- 

 digious degree of swiftness. In more modern voyages, 

 we find the native boats called by the names of prows 

 and prahus ; as they seem, however, to refer to vessels 

 of the same construction as those described by 

 Anson, they are probably to be considered as some- 

 what closer approximations to the true pronunciation 

 of the native name. 



The navigation of these seas is rendered peculiarly 

 unsafe by the swarms of Malay pirates by which 

 they are infested. Voyagers continually allude to 

 the alarm which every collection of native boats 

 inspires, as being so exceedingly swift, and the 

 men merciless and daring. Wliole colonies of these 

 desperate adventureis proceed from Magindanao to 

 the coast of Borneo, where they seek some con- 

 venient, but retired, harbour, in which they make 

 their home ; not living, however, upon the land but 

 on board their praJms (or proas), which are fre- 

 quently of sixty tons' burthen. During the south- 

 east monsoon they cruise about near the entrance 

 of the Straits of Malacca, ready to pounce upon 



