112 GORAM. [chap. XXV. 



Salwatty, Waigiou, and some parts of the adjacent coast, 

 the people have taken the first step in civilization, owing 

 probably to the settlement of traders of mixed breed 

 among them, and for many years no such attacks have 

 taken place. On the south-west coast, and in the large 

 island of Jobie, however, the natives are in a very bar- 

 barous condition, and take every opportunity of robbery 

 and murder, — a habit which is confirmed by the impunity 

 they experience, owing to the vast extent of wild mountain 

 and forest country forbidding all pursuit or attempt at 

 punishment. In the very same village, four years before, 

 more than fifty Goram men were murdered; and as 

 these savages obtain an immense booty in the praus 

 and all their appurtenances, it is to be feared that such 

 attacks will continue to be made at intervals as long as. 

 traders visit the same spots and attempt no retaliation. 

 Punishment could only be inflicted on these people by 

 very arbitrary measures, such as by obtaining possession 

 of some of the chiefs by stratagem, and rendering them 

 responsible for the capture of the murderers at the peril of 

 their own heads. But anything of this kind would be 

 quite contrary to the system adopted by the Dutch 

 Government in its dealings with natives. 



