1832.] 
ISLAND OF SUMATRA. 
231 
dred and fifty seamen employed in that trade during the year 
eighteen hundred and thirty, in ten vessels, very much exposed as 
they usually are on the coast, only one died in the space of four 
months ; and his disease was not mahgnant in its character. In 
selecting an anchorage, a close harbour should be avoided. Rigas 
Bay should not be entered unless from necessity. As a general 
rule, it vi^ould be imprudent to anchor where the breezes blow 
over low land, and water from the wells is generally brackish and 
unwholesome. That article, however, can be. procured, of an ex- 
cellent quality, from streams which flow from the mountains. 
Again we repeat, that the result of the most patient inquiry, from 
sources which we believe could not lead us astray, has left no 
doubt on our mind, that our interests on the coast of Sumatra have 
been placed on a footing of security hitherto unknown. The 
policy which directed the Potomac to that coast, to be lasting in 
its effects, must be followed up at all hazards and at any expense ; 
though there exists no reason why either the one or the other 
should be formidable. 
In every port of India to which our commerce has extended, 
our vessels of war should occasionally make their appearance ; 
for it is always better by a wise policy and timely foresight to 
prevent the effusion of blood, than to be under the painful neces- 
sity of avenging it ! 
Let our intelhgent shipmasters, supercargoes, and officers, 
whose adventurous spirits lead them to visit the ports of semi- 
barbarians, reflect that they too have an important part to perform. 
They should never forget that they are American citizens ; and 
in those remote situations, often the only representatives of our 
national character. Let them study to elevate that character iu 
the estimation of the natives by an honourable intercourse, a just 
and fair competition in trade. For while our government shall 
continue ever vigilant and ready to protect its citizens in their 
lawful trade, and to avenge their wrongs at the most distant points 
of the globe, however difficult and hazardous to approach by 
heavy-armed vessels, considerations of honour, justice, and hu- 
manity require that we should always be in the right. 
An evil still exists on the pepper coast of Sumatra which re- 
quires correction, while we confess ourselves at a loss to propose 
