the whole deck a strong roofing of planks, and place various ornaments on the bow and stern, both of which run out with a great curve and very thin, to the height of 20 to 30 feet. The weapons are stowed away under the roof, and the provisions in the hold. When everything is ready and the oracle has been duly consulted, the vessel is manned with a crew often amounting to one hundred. The inhabitants of Pora and Poggy are accustomed to steer to the northern part of Si-berut, because the people of that island, in their turn, select the southern islands for the scene of their murdering expeditions. To this barbarous usage is to be ascribed the hatred which the inhabitants of these different portions of the Archipelago have for each other. The people of Tepeket are the most dreaded of all the islanders on account of their courage and warlike character. On such voyages, in which only men and boys embark, every one decks himself with his gayest ornaments. When the place of their destination is reached, the canoe is anchored by means of heavy stones. Some of the crew then land and conceal themselves in the forest in order to shoot down with

their arrows unawares any person who comes within reach. When they have effected their purpose they immediately return to their boat, which proceeds home. If, after some days pass, they have not succeeded, they content themselves with shooting some arrows at the first and best coco or aru tree they meet. It is only when they return that the feast, which has given rise to the expedition sometimes of two months duration, can be brought to a close in the kampong. If they happen to lose any of their own number during the voyage, it is considered as a bad omen. [R.]

(To be Continued.)

NOTES ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE LIFE AND SERVICES OF SIR

STAMFORD RAFFLES.

In the year 1795, Mr Thomas Stamford Raffles was appointed to be an extra clerk in the India House. He was at that time only 14 years of age, consequently his education could not have been completed; however, the deficiency was supplied by his own exertions in the few leisure hours a close attendance at office permitted. Mr Raffles was early remarked for assiduity and great application to business, and in the year 1805, on the establishment of the Pinang government, he was nominated to the office of Assistant Secretary to that government. Ten years practice and experience in the India House gave the Assistant Secretary many advantages over his fellows in the new government, and he appears to have established, at an early period, a character for ability and official aptitude which attached to him throughout his service. Having been accustomed to mental labour, and the duties of his office not occupying his whole time, he devoted his spare hours to the study of the language, manners, customs and character of the Malays, among whom, for his amiable and courteous demeanour, he soon became esteemed. His house was always open to them, and the natives delighted to visit a gentleman who could condescend to be polite and to take an interest in their affairs. From the advantages derived from this intercourse and his evening labours, Mr Raffles was enabled to distinguish himself, when the opportunity, which was not long delayed, presented itself.

In the year 1806, Dr. Leyden visited Pinang for the benefit of his health, and resided with Mr Raffles for some months. Dr Leyden, whose early death left a void in Oriental literature, was delighted with the industry and evident talent of his host, and, when he returned to Bengal, they continued to correspond. Mr Raffles gave to his letters the style of essays, and the amiable Doctor took every opportunity of bringing them and their author to the notice of his patron, the Earl of Minto, at that time Governor-General. After reading the paper on the Malayan race, (see Lady Raffles's Life &c. p. 15), his Lordship told Doctor Leyden to inform Mr Raffles that he was much pleased, and begged that any

further information relating to the Eastern Settlements might be forwarded direct to himself. This was the keystone and the opportunity, and Mr Raffles was prepared to improve it. In the following year he went to Calcutta where he was received with great kindness, and, on his return, was appointed to be GovernorGeneral's Agent for the Eastern Seas, and directed to reside at Malacca. At that time the Indian authorities were occupied in the attempt to drive the French out of these seas, their privateers having done so much damage to English shipping, that no exertions were spared to deprive them of any resting place to refit their ships. The Dutch had been forced into the European war, and their colonies were, in consequence, liable to capture. Mr Raffles furnished the Supreme Government with the fullest information respecting the East generally, and more particularly as to Java, against which place it was determined to send a force. After all the preliminary arrangements had been made, the expedition left India in 1811, to rendezvous at Malacca, to which place Lord Minto came to conduct operations in person. Every possible information had been provided beforehand by Mr Raffles, for the purposes of the expedition, even to the deciding on the best route for the ships to sail from Malacca to Batavia. Lord Minto was so well satisfied with everything which Mr Raffles had done, and had so much confidence in his arrangements, that he decided, although against the advice of all the naval officers, to adopt the direct route, instead of that hitherto used by the coast of Borneo. The expedition started, and on the 18th September, 1811, General Janssens capitulated.

Mr Raffles was appointed to be Lieutenant-Governor of Java and its dependencies, and thus, six years after his arrival in India, apparently without interest, and solely dependant on his own exertions, found himself elevated to one of the highest offices in the empire. It is not necessary here to enter into an extended examination of Mr Raffles' policy in Java. The Dutch before this time had passession only of Sunda and the western part of the island. Under his government Solo and Djojocarta were reduced and the whole island was for the first time brought under European rule. Except in the vicinity of Batavia, the native regents had been

permitted to govern the country as they pleased, provided they were civil to the European officials and supplied their proper share of grain and labour when called on. The revenues had been derived from a monopoly of the retail sale of opium, spirits, toddy, &c., from gambling and cockfighting farms, from transit and customs duties and from the forced delivery of produce at prices below the market value. Mr Raffles introduced a new system. Availing himself of the acknowledged Asiatic right of sovereignty over the soil, he fixed on an equal and moderate land rent, and abolished forced deliveries of produce, right to exact labour and all tolls and imposts which had hitherto been a bar to improvement. Before however sufficient time had been allowed to test the value of the new system, which was obviously a great improvement on that previously in force, Java was restored to the Dutch. No question in connexion with eastern Asia has been more canvassed than the restoration of this island to its former masters. It has been asserted that the national interests were unjustifiably sacrificed, that the real value of the island was unknown, that Lord Castlereagh was imposed on by the flattering attention of the allied sovereigns, who were loud in their praise of the generous magnanimity of the great English nation which had fought the battle of Europe on the most disinterested principles, and that he consented to the restoration without having suffi ciently considered the matter. It must, however, be recollected that in consequence of the large military force necessary to maintain possession the expences far exceeded the revenue. arrangements of Mr Raffles not having then had time to produce the expected results in improving the financial condition of the settlement, he was obliged to draw on Bengal at a time when the treasury at that Presidency was exhausted by the Pindarrie and Ghoorka wars. It was argued, in ignorance of the new financial arrangements and the prosperity expected therefrom, that the Island was not worth keeping, and therefore neither the Crown nor the Company exerted themselves to retain it. In the general political view it must also be recollected that it was the object of the Treaty of Vienna to re-establish the balance of power, and however much the English Minister was ignorant of the great value of Java it is not to be supposed that the Dutch neglected

The

any means to obtain restitution of what was their most valuable possession. The nations of Europe have always been jealous of the extraordinary power of the English in India, and the opportu nity was not lost for depriving them of the great preponderance which the possession of Java would have given them in the East, to the exclusion of another weaker, and therefore, in the event of future differences, more easily influenced nation. This decision was doubtless not uninfluenced by the fact that the English had already deprived the Dutch of all their other valuable Colonial possessions.

The Court of Directors disapproved of Mr Raffles's arrange ments at Java and took advantage of the occasion to supersede him, when charges of mal-administration were preferred by Colonel Gillespie, the Commander of the troops. It is not necessary to allude to these charges further, than to state that Mr Raffles found no difficulty in answering them, and that they were most probably brought forward from misunderstandings arising from their relative position as Royal and Company's officers, at a time when it was still expected the Island would be retained by the Crown, and at a time when the Royal officers were accustomed to see in the Indian Civilian the clerk rather than the administrator of empires. Mr Fendall, a member of the Supreme Council, was ordered to relieve Mr Raffles but the island was restored immediately after. The Marquis of Hastings, who succeeded Lord Minto as Governor General, reported unfavourably of the acquisition, and the constant requisitions on the Bengal treasury did not permit the Company to hesitate in their desire to be relieved from a useless acquisition. Lord Minto's early death, after his return from India, precluded Mr Raffles from having the advantage of his Lordship's support, in laying before Parliament and the country the great advantage, in a political point of view, of the possession of Java, and, at the same time, of explaining the vast agricultural and trading resources of the Island, which would soon have had a large surplus revenue, and have afforded an extensive market for British manufactures.

It appeared doubtful, after the capture of Java, whether it would be held by the Royal Government, or be made over to the Company, and Lord Minto's thoughtful consideration had secured