1S8 



A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCHEPELAGO. 



examination of the points at imm^ inasmuch aB what 

 Mr. Hume has said in Parliament uicludcs all that 

 ignorauco or ill-naturo has said anywhere. 



I find twopoaifcioiis advanced hj hira ; and I deny them 

 both. 



His first position is, That the 3Ialays and Djaks of 

 Serebas and Sjikarmn ai-o not pirate^k 



His second, That, supposing they are pirates, an unjus- 

 tiJiable loss of Hfe was inflicted on them by the naval 

 force which attacked their fleet on the 31at July. 1849. 



Some tasks ai-e paradoxically di&cult from their 

 easiness. It in provoking to be put to great efforts for 

 trifliiig endjs. That which lias long been with Mr. Hume 

 a self-imposed amusement, is at ouv penitentiaries a morti- 

 fying punishment ; I mean the task af turniug a crank 

 and grinding no/Aim;. But the liardened Mittte cannot 

 appreciate the disgust of those who are not amateurs. 1 

 have esplamcd wliy / come to the crank at Mr. Hume's 

 Cidh Before the appearance of a work, of which the 

 shell only is mine, the kerne! my friend's, his unobtrusive 

 merits had their recompense— sufficient for him — in tlie 

 affections of a people scarcely known by name to other 

 Bnglishmciu TJie simpie Iiistory <liscIosed in his journals 

 placed him at once among the benefactors of his race ; 

 and therefore I cannot again even name the Eastern 

 Arcliipelago, %vithout again hearing witness that the man 

 who has cliiefly given it interest foi' m reflects on his 

 country as much honour m she can confer on him. I 



