251 
PIRACY IN THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 
By Spenser St, John, Esq 
AN article appeared in the Examiner newspaper of the 
21st of October last, which has been attributed, rightly or 
wrongly, to a gentleman whose authority in all questions 
relating to the Kastern Archipelago, has been justly regarded 
with great respect. 
As this article, however, appears to me unjust to the writer 
of the article entitled “Piracy in the Oriental Archipelago'* 
in the Edinburgh Review of July, erroneous in point of fact, 
calculated greatly to mislead the public, and above all to ob- 
stru ct the vigorous measures carrying on for the suppression 
of the marauders who infest the Eastern Seas, I am desirous 
through the medium of the Journal of the Indian Archipelago, 
(so justly held in esteem by the writer in the Examiner) 
to disprove his assertions by a simple appeal to fact, and 
to remove any impression which may have crept abroad, 
that Malayan piracy is a “nuisance** rather than a curse, and 
that it is to be regarded in any other light than as a very for¬ 
midable and frightful system. 
It is by an appeal to facts, and facts alone, that this question 
must be decided; andreversing the order pursued by the writer 
in the Examiner , I shall at once approach the subject of 
Piracy, and endeavour to show, how erroneous are his asser¬ 
tions, and unjust his criticism of the article in the Edinburgh 
Review . 
The writer complains first, that the statements regarding 
piracy in the Edinburgh Review are grossly and ridiculously 
exaggerated both in character, number, and extent, that the 
infidelity of the picture equals Pinto’s account of the treasures 
of Maslatan, that the writer of the article has huddled 
together the attributes of different stages of society, that 
piracy is incompatible with industry, with neat houses, or 
trim gardens, that to Mohammedan fanaticism, the koran in 
one house, and pickled heads in the next, is an impossible 
association, and concludes this list of charges, with one broad 
and distinct assertion, by stating that, “ The pirates of the 
Archipelago are a nuisance , but they are not formidable 
as we know by the results” ** They have never captured 
a vessel however small with a European crew, or even with 
a considerable part of the crew European . They have 
never captured a Chinese junlc ; the achievement is above 
the weight of the combined fleet.’’ E e 
