1832.] ISLAND OF SUMATRA. 209 
making the coast and harbour, hght winds and rain occasionally- 
prevailed, with the set of the current to the north, but not strong. 
Muckie he placed in 3° 24' north, but it has since been ascer- 
tained, by repeated observations, to he in 3° 28'. The harbour is 
small ; only three miles deep, and one fourth of a mile wide at 
the entrance. The anchorage is in from seventeen and a half to 
eighteen fathoms. Six or eight vessels might he here in perfect 
safety. The shore is coral, except a small place where the 
pepper is taken off ; this is sand, on which the surf breaks, but 
not so as to prevent getting off cargoes ; indeed, it is said there 
is not a better place to load oh the whole coast. While in this 
bay, from the fourteenth of May to the sixth of June, the land 
and sea-breezes were regular ; the weather was generally pleasant, 
though once in two or three days there was commonly a squall 
from the northward and westward, which lasted about an hour, 
and sometimes blew quite fresh. 
Pepper, the only article of export, amounted at this time to 
about ten thousand piculs annually, though this year there was 
nearly double that quantity raised and exported. A portion of 
this, however, is brought from other small ports in the neighbour- 
hood ; such as Laboan Hadjee, only a few miles to the north, 
where there is also good anchorage. 
Respecting the natives, the captain says he always found them 
friendly, though he acknowledges that it was dangerous to irritate 
them, or to permit many of them to come on board at the same 
time. He says they always carried their knives with them ; that 
there had been instances of their taking vessels ; and, from what 
he saw, he imagined they were always willing to take advantage 
of a favourable opportunity to do a like act upon an unguarded 
vessel ; still there appeared not to be the least danger to go on 
shore among them, and not to irritate them ; a line of conduct 
which he appears constantly to inculcate. He describes them as 
lazy, a point in their character about which there has never been 
room for more than one opinion. Respecting their government, 
he knew but httle. In that part of the country there appeared to 
be but two men in authority among them, who made the bargains 
and controlled the trade. He met with several who could speak a 
little of the English language, and that of the Malay did not appear 
to him difficult to acquire. The inhabitants were estimated at 
o 
