242 AUSTEALASIA. 



of corsairs. In 1837 the Dutch authorities removed four hundred of these pirates 

 to the island of Saleyer, where they received allotments of land to cultivate. 



The large island of Morotai, which forms the north-east extremity of the 

 Moluccas and of the whole of Indonesia, became entirely depopulated in conse- 

 quence of the constant incursions of the corsairs. Thus the vast colonial empire 

 of Holland, comprising over five hundred islands and too extensive for all its 

 natural resources to be developed, terminates towards the Pacific Ocean in lands 

 which were formerly thickly inhabited, but which are at present deserted. As 

 shown by the statistical charts, Java, Madura, Bali, and Lombok are the only 

 islands where the population is grouped in considerable masses. The eastern 

 members of the Sunda group are far more sparsely occupied, while the other 

 regions, such as Borneo, Celebes and the Moluccas, are relatively speaking almost 

 uninhabited. 



In the Appendix will be found a table of the Dutch possessions, with their 

 administrative divisions, areas, and populations. 



