S O O L O O. 
353 
history of Sooloo that has made any of the reigns of the sultans memo¬ 
rable, although fifteen have since ascended the throne. 
Sooloo has from all the accounts very much changed in its character 
as well as population since the arrival of the Spaniards, and the esta¬ 
blishment 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 annually 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, how¬ 
ever, 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 discovery 
of new routes through these seas, the opportunities of committing 
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 
them. The share of the booty that belongs to the Sultan and Ruma 
Bechara i3 twenty-five per cent, on all captures, whilst the datus 
receive a high price for the advance they make of guns and powder, 
and for the services of their slaves. 
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VOL. v. 
