PIRACY DISEASES. 317 



dismeml wring Malayan states, still it ia not to be 

 thence iuferred that it may not, by vigorous measures, 

 be so far checked as- to be rendered a very dangerous 

 pastime — !h< tnta! sum of piracies being, at the same 

 time, reduced. This may be done by the force of money, 

 not onl\ m gaining accurate information of the ha urns 

 and intended expeditions of the piratical fleets, but in 

 lating Mire suiui .i for them when they set forth on 

 the latter. Gun-boats would be moat useful, next to 

 smnll flat-bottomed steamers; for it has been well prov- 

 ed that the boats of English men-of-war have no 

 c 1 sauce in enmirtrf up with the pirate clippers, and a 

 very slender one of surprising them. 



But no measure will be truly effective so long as 

 the r%bt to overhaul is nol given, it is believed that 

 hb Majesh \s ships have not — or at least do not, if they 

 have — exert tins essential auxiliary. The pirates know 

 this already, and presume upon it. An Admiralty 

 jurisdiction would not much mend the matter — but 

 only make the persons detached in pursuit of pirates 

 more cautious than before — seeing that to prove that 

 any individuals are pirates is no very easy matter, 

 when no overt let df aggression has been committed. 



The late Dr. M. Ward, of the Madras establish- 

 ment, in his valuable paper on the Medical Topo- 

 graphy of Penang and Malacca, gives it as his opi- 

 nion that . Province Wellesley is a healthy station, 

 and that its climate seems to correspond with that of 

 Malacca. It does seem on the whole, certainly, more 

 healthy than the Island of Penang. The chief dis- 

 eases which prevail amongst the natives, throughout 

 t lie population on both sides of the harbour, are fe- 

 vers, remittent xmd intermittent; the former often pro- 

 ving fatal. These are generally brought on by ex- 

 posure to sun and rain, deficient clothing, ami im- 

 prudent bathing. It is only surprising how any of 



