35B SOOLOO. 



English authority is established, are believed to be the most active in 

 equipping the prahus for these piratical expeditions ; yet no notice is 

 taken of them, although it would be so easy to control them by with- 

 holding payment until they had cleared themselves from suspicion, or 

 by establishing residents in their chief towns. 



Another, and a very different race of natives who frequent the 

 Sooloo Archipelago, must not be passed by without notice. These 

 are the Bajow divers or fishermen, to whom Sooloo is indebted for 

 procuring the submarine treasures with which her seas are stored. 

 They are also very frequently employed in the biche de mar or 

 tripang fisheries among the islands to the south. The Bajows gene- 

 rally look upon Macassar as their principal place of resort. They 

 were at one time believed to be derived from Johore, on the Malayan 

 peninsula ; at another, to be Buguese ; but they speak the Sooloo 

 dialect, and are certainly derived from some of the neighbouring 

 islands. The name of Bajows, in their tongue, means fishermen. 

 From all accounts, they are allowed to pursue their avocations in 

 peace, and are not unfrequently employed by the piratical datus, 

 and made to labour for them. They resort to their fishing-grounds 

 in fleets of between one and two hundred sail, having their wives and 

 children with them, and in consequence of the tyranny of the Sooloos, 

 endeavour to place themselves under the protection of the flag of 

 Holland, by which nation this useful class of people is encouraged. 

 The Sooloo seas are comparatively little frequented by them, as they 

 are unable to dispose of the produce of their fisheries for want of 

 a market, and fear the exactions of the datus. Their prahus are 

 about five tons each. The Bajows at some islands are stationary, 

 but are for the most part constantly changing their ground. The 

 Spanish authorities in the Philippines encourage them, it is said, 

 to frequent their islands, as without them they would derive little 

 benefit from the banks in the neighbouring seas, where quantities of 

 pearl-oysters are known to exist, which produce pearls of the finest 

 kind. The Bajows are inoffensive and very industrious, and in faith 

 Mahomedans. 



The climate of Sooloo during our short stay, though warm, was 

 agreeable. The time of our visit was in the dry season, which lasts 

 from October till April, and alternates with the wet one, from May till 

 September. June and July are the windy months, when strong 

 breezes blow from the westward. In the latter part of August and 

 September, strong gales are felt from the south, while in December 

 and January the winds are found to come from the northward ; but 

 light winds usually prevail from the southwest during the wet season, 



