SO O LOO. 375 



Since the capture of Balambangan, there has been no event in the 

 history of Sooloo that has made any of the reigns of the sultans 

 memorable, although fifteen have since ascended the throne. 



Sooloo has from all the accounts very much changed in its charac- 

 ter as well as population since the arrival of the Spaniards, and the 

 establishment of their authority in the Philippines. Before that 

 event, some accounts state that the trade with the Chinese was of 

 great extent, and that from four to five hundred junks arrived annu- 

 ally from Cambojia, with which Sooloo principally traded. At that 

 time the population is said to have equalled in density that of the 

 thickly-settled parts of China. 



The government has also undergone a change ; for the sultan, who 

 among other Malay races is usually despotic, is here a mere cipher, 

 and the government has become an oligarchy. This change has 

 probably been brought about by the increase of the privileged class 

 of datus, all of whom were entitled to a seat in the Ruma Bechara 

 until about the year 1810, when the great inconvenience of so large a 

 council was felt, and it became impossible to control it without great 

 difficulty and trouble on the part of the sultan. The Ruma Bechara 

 was then reduced until it contained but six of the principal datus, 

 who assumed the power of controlling the state. The Ruma Bechara, 

 however, in consequence of the complaints of many powerful datus, 

 was enlarged ; but the more powerful, and those who have the largest 

 numerical force of slaves, still rule over its deliberations. The whole 

 power, within the last thirty years, has been usurped by one or two 

 datus, who now have monopolized the little foreign trade that comes 

 to these islands. The sultan has the right to appoint his successor, 

 and generally names him while living. In default of this, the choice 

 devolves upon the Ruma Bechara, who elect by a majority. 



From a more frequent intercourse with Europeans and the dis- 

 covery of new routes through these seas, the opportunities of com- 

 mitting depredations have become less frequent, and the fear of 

 detection greater. By this latter motive they are more swayed than 

 by any thing else, and if the Sooloos have ever been bold and daring 

 robbers on the high seas, they have very much changed. 



Many statements have been made and published relative to the 

 piracies committed in these seas, which in some cases exceed, and in 

 others fall short, of the reality. Most of the piratical establishments 

 are under the rule, or sail under the auspices of the Sultan and Ruma 

 Bechara of Sooloo, who are more or less intimately connected with 



