VJll 



ihsit none of the inhabitants tn^eii emi trans- 

 late them, but merely that such of tliem, as 

 np]>eared to bear upon the subject, have 

 been embodied in the prenent work, 



WliUst thus engaged, a friend, whose 

 name I would gladly mentionj were I per- 

 mittedj put hito my hands some valuidjle 

 Dutch original communieations relative to 

 the island of llhio and the adjacent parts^ 

 and the work, at first commeneed for my 

 own private information, swelled, from that 

 and other sources, to a size wluch induced 

 me to give the result of nearly three years' 

 investigation to tlie indulgence of the pub- 

 lic. 



I must be permitted to gratefully aeknow- 

 ledge tlie assistance winch 1 have received 

 in the present compilation from various in- 

 dividuaLn — some of these have requested 

 that they may h& passed over in fdlenee, 

 and I therefore innvillingly omit the mention 

 of then* names. Where no such scruples 

 exist I feel the highest pleasure in reeording 

 my thanks to my esteemed and valued 

 friends the Revds. Samuel Kidd, Jacob 

 TomUn, and Josiah Hughes, at various pe- 

 riotls connected with the Anglo-CIiinese col- 

 lege at Malacca, for the unlimited access, 

 so khidly affVjrded to me, to the choice and 

 extensive librar\' of that excellent instituti- 



