﻿4 1 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



thus we may discern the habits and modes of life of simihir races in pre- 

 historic ages. Then, looking at the main causes that incite tlic dispersion of 

 human families in the tropics (the zone of our enquiry), wc have — 1st. Slave- 

 hunting expeditions. 2nd. Over-population. 3rd. Storms and drifting from 

 loss of course. And 4th. Mercantile adventure. That the first is the 

 most fertile sou7-ce, may be surmised from observation in the Indian Archi- 

 pelago in the present era. Most of the sea tribes are notoriously addicted to 

 this pursuit, and pre-eminently so the Bajow and Illanuns, the former by petty 

 expeditions, the latter by large fleets. Both range over the whole Archipelago, 

 capturing trading vessels, and making raids on villages on the coasts, ravishing 

 rtie inhabitants and carrying them off to distant parts for sale. This piratical 

 system extends from one end of the Archipelago to the other, neither the 

 people of JSTias, on tlie extreme west, nor those of Timorlaut, on the far 

 east, being beyond the reach of danger, and the inhabitants of which are 

 transported to known marts. Even at the present day large importations of 

 slaves are clandestinely made into the settlements of European Governments, 

 Thus, the first cause of dispersion of races above-mentioned, at the present 

 day, viz., slave-hunting, extends over 2,400 geographical miles of longitude, 

 and l,r500 geographical miles of latitude. Both these races of habitiial pirates 

 and man-hunters are as unlettered as the Maori of New Zealand ; that they 

 are not cannibals, though unlettered, is saying little, as the Battas of Sumatra, 

 notoriously given to man-eating, possess a literature and alphabet of their own. 



The Illanuns, who are the more formidable of the two, construct vessels 

 91 feet in length, 26 feet in breadth, and 8 feet in depth. These carry ninety 

 fighting men, and row forty oars on each side, and they advance with the speed 

 of five to six knots an hour. Thus they can make over a degree a day, at which 

 rate a voyage from Ternati, in the Moluccas, to Hawaiki, in the Navigators' 

 Islands, could be made in forty-nine days, which is no longer, nor in any way 

 more difficult than those annually taken in their usual pursuits. It may also 

 be mentioned that the whole distance is stiidded with islands, seldom more 

 distant from each other than a day's sail. These numerous piratical expeditions 

 are often ended by shipwreck, or by the pirates settling on various salient 

 points suitable for further operations. Thus, I have met individuals of the 

 race settled on the east coast of the Malay Peninsula left there from one or 

 other of these causes. 



"Very recent and modern European sentiment differs on this subject from 

 the tropical ; to the latter, the practice is innate and irresistible, and without 

 a critical knowledge of the habits and condition of the people, their impulses 

 are not to be understood. As it is, slave-hunting is the most poweiful incite- 

 ment to roving that I know — it is the same in nature and eflcct as sent our 

 illustrious navigatoi', Dampier, all over the world as a pirate;, and so much 



