SUMATRA. 
mucks might perhaps be found, upon fcrutinf, of the nature of the 
foregoing, where a man of ftrong feelings was driven, by excefs of in- 
jury, to domeftic rebeliion, 
It IS true that the Malays, when, in a ftate of war, they are bent on 
any daring enterprize, fortify themfelves wkh a few whiffs of opium, to 
render them infenfible to danger ; as the people of another nation are 
fald to take a dram; but it mult be obfcrvcd that, the rcfolution for the 
a6:, precedes, and is not the eft'edt of the intoxication. They take the 
fame precaution, previous to being led to public execution, but on thefe 
occafions Ihew greater figns of ftupLdity, than frenzy. Upon the whole, 
it may be reafonably concluded, that the fsBgumary atchievements, for 
which the Malays have been famous, or infamous rather, in hiftory, are 
more juftly derived from the natural ferocity of their difpofition, than 
from the qualities of any drug whatever. The pretext of the foldiers 
of the country guard, for ufing opium, is, that it may render thetn watch- 
ful on their nightly pofts : we, on the contrary, adrainifter it to procure 
fieep ; and according to the t^uantity ii has either effect. The delirium 
k produces is known to be fo very pleafing, that Pope has fuppofed this^ 
to have been defigned by Homer, whea he defcribes the delicious draught 
prepared by Helen ^ called Nepenthe^ which exhiicrated the fpirits, and 
banifhed from tlie mind the recollection of woe. 
It is remarkable that at Balavia ; where the aflailins jufl now defer i- 
bed, when taken alive, are broken on the wheels with every aggravation 
of punilbment that the mofl: rigorous jufticc can inflid ; the mucks yet 
happen in great frequency ; w^hilfl at Bernvskn^ where they are executed 
in the mofl: fimple and expeditious manner, the offence is cscFemely rare. 
Excefles of fe verity in punilhment may deter men from deliberate, and 
intereflcd aCls of villany, but they add fuel to the atrocious enthufiafro 
of defperadocs. A further proof of the influence that mild government 
has ui'von the manners of people, is, that the piratic. il adventures, io com* 
monon the eaftcrn coafl of the illand^ are unknown on the weftern. Far 
from our having apprchenfions of the Mah^s^ the guards at the tm;\lfer 
En^liHit 
