various times possessed themselves of the coasts, consist of-1st, the native Singalese or Ceylonese, one branch occupying the Candyan territories, and the other the coasts; 2nd, the Veddahs, or aborigines, who, in an almost savage state, inhabited the mountainous regions and unexplored astnesses; 3rd, the Moors, who are found in all parts of the island; and 4th, the Malabar and other Hindoos, who dwell chiefly on the northern and eastern coasts. Of all these races the Candyan Ceylonese differ east from Europeans in form, feature, and physical power. The Singalese are more timid and effeminate; but it may be observed that although some assume a haughty and independent bearing, yet indolence, deceit, and revenge are the generally prevailing qualities of these islanders. There are also some Caffres and Javanese, a few Chinese and Parsee traders, and a considerable number of English, Dutch, and Portuguese; besides a hybrid population from the intermixture of all these and the native races.

The upper classes among the Singalese profess Christianity, and many are converts to Mohammedanism; but the general religion is Buddhism. The government is vested in the hands of a British governor, assisted by a council of European civil servants; but all laws, before being acted upon, are published in the official gazette, for their general diffusion and translation into the native languages.

T

SUMATRA.

SUMATRA is a large island in the Indian Ocean, being, next to Borneo, the largest in the eastern seas. It is about one thousand miles in length, from north-west to south-east; but in general, not more than one hundred and fifty in breadth. This is the first of the islands which form the great East India Archipelago; and it is separated from the peninsula beyond the Ganges by the straits of Malacca; which is the usual passage from the bay of Bengal and the Coromandel coast to Borneo or China, and, consequently to the Gulf of Siam, Cambodia, Cochin China and the Gulf of Tonquin.

Gold dust is an article of considerable traffic, and is brought by merchants from the interior to the sea-coast, where it is bartered for iron tools, and various kinds of East Indian and European manufactures of silk, cotton, broad-cloths, &c. But the most valuable and important production of the island is pepper, the average produce of which at this time is supposed to amount to thirty millions of pounds a year. Tumeric, cassia, ginger, coffee, and many kinds of scented woods are also produced here. After the capture of the Moluccas by the British, in 1796, the nutmeg and clove were introduced at Bencoolen, but though large quantities were raised, the quality was inferior to similar products obtained from Amboyna and the Banda isles. The Sumatran camphor is in high estimation. Cocoa-nut, betel, bamboo, sugar-cane, various palms, and an abundance of tropical fruits, are indigenous.

At Bencoolen, on the west side of Sumatra, is the English factory, belonging to the East India Company. The factory was once entirely deserted, through the frequent quarrels and bickerings of the natives and the English; and had not the former found that trade decreased in conse quence of the absence of the latter, they never would have been invited to settle there again.

PRINCE OF WALES' ISLAND.

PRINCE OF WALES' Island, or Pulo Penany, is situated in the straits of Malacca, about two miles from the west coast of the Malay peninsula. The India Company in 1784, came to the resolution of establishing a settlement there. The island is about seventeen miles long, by ten broad: its northern extremity runs nearly parallel with the main land, at a distance of about two miles, by which a fine channel is formed, where the largest fleet may ride in perfect safety; the height of the surrounding mountains acting as a barrier against the force of the prevailing winds. In fact, the advantages attending this island, both in a political and commercial view, are obvious.

JA V A.

JAVA is a large island, extending in length nearly seven hundred miles, and averaging in breadth ninety; and it is separated from Sumatra by the strait of Sunda. Toward the close of the sixteenth century, Cornelius Houtman, a Dutchman, conducted four vessels to Java by the Cape of Good Hope; and his prudence procured him an interview with the princi pal king of the island; but the Portuguese created him some enemies. Having got the better in several skirmishes in which he was engaged, he returned with his small squadron to Holland, where, though he brought but little wealth, he raised much expectation. He brought away some Negroes, Chinese, and inhabitants of Malabar; a native of Malacca, a Japanese, and Abdul, a pilot of the Guzerat, a man of great abilities, and perfectly acquainted with the coasts of India.

The account given by Houtman encouraged the merchants of Amsterdam to form the plan of a settlement at Java, which, at the same time that it would throw the pepper trade into their hands, would place them also near the islands that produce the more valuable spices, and facilitate their communication with China and Japan. Admiral Van Neck was therefore sent on this important expedition with eight vessels, and arrived safe at Java, where he found the inhabitants prejudiced against his nation. They fought and negotiated by turns. At length they were permitted to trade and, in a short time, loaded four vessels with spices and linens. The ad miral, with his fleet, sailed to the Moluccas, where he learned that the natives of the country had forced the Portuguese to abandon some of the places in which they had settled, and that they only waited for a favour able opportunity of expelling them from the rest. He established factories in several of these islands, entered into a treaty with some of the kings, and returned to Europe laden with riches.

In 1602, the states-general formed the Dutch India Company. It was invested with authority to make peace or war with the eastern princes, to erect forts, maintain garrisons, and to nominate officers for the conduct o the police and the administration of justice. The company, which had no parallel in antiquity, and was the pattern of all succeeding societies of the kind, set out with great advantages; and, soon after its establishment, they fitted out for India fourteen ships and some yachts, under the command of Admiral Warwick, whom the Hollanders look upon as the founder of their commerce, and of their colonies, in the East. He built a factory in this island, and secured it by fortifications. He had frequent engagements with the Portuguese, in which he generally came off victorious. A sanguinary war was the consequence of these hostilities be tween the two nations, 'n which the Dutch were successful.

Batavia, which, from a small beginning, has become the capital of al the Dutch possessions in India, has one of the best and safest harbours in the world. The city is surrounded by a rampart twenty-one feet in thickness, covered on the outside with stone, and fortified with twenty-two bastions. This rampart is environed by a ditch, forty-three yards over, and full of water. The river Jucutra runs through the midst of the city, and forms fifteen canals of running water, adorned with evergreens. The inhabitants consist of Dutch, French, Portuguese, Javanese, Chinese, Malays, Negroes, and many others. Coffee, sugar and spices are produced here in great abundance: and, together, it may be said to be one of the most valuable colonies belonging to any European nation. The island was taken by a British force from India in 1811, and held till 1816, when it was restored to the Dutch.

BORNEO.

BORNEO is one of the largest islands in the world, being fifteen hundred miles in circumference. It is seated under the equator, and occupies nearly the centre of the eastern archipelago. The west and north-east sides of it are a desert, and the east is comparatively little known. The inland parts are mountainous; and the south-east, for many leagues together, is an unwholesome morass.

The Portuguese, who first discovered Borneo, had been in the Indies thirty years before they knew anything of it more than the name and its situation, by reason of their frequently passing by its coast. At length Captain Edward Corral had orders to examine it with attention. From thence becoming acquainted with its worth, they made frequent voyages thither. They found the coast inhabited by Malayan Moors, who had certainly established themselves there by conquest; but the interior and part of the north-west coast are peopled by a savage race, believed to be the aborigines, and called Dyaks. They use long shallow canoes hollowed out of a single tree; and kiil wild animals for their food, by shooting them with arrows blown through a tube. They wear very little clothing, and have all the habits and superstitions of the most savage tribes. Borneo is rich in valuable minerals, and it is the only island of the eastern archipelago where diamonds are found. The climate is similar to that of Ceylon, and those parts of the island which are under cultivation are decidedly fertile.

CELEBES.

THIS is a large island, under the equator; the length and breath have not been accurately computed; but the circumference, taken at a medium, is about eight hundred miles. The principal Dutch settlement is Macassar, which contains Fort Rotterdam, the residence of the governor: they have also a fort at a place called Jampandam.

There are several independent tribes or nations of Celebes, each having their peculiar form of government. Among them the Tuwadju tribe, inhabiting the body of the island, are distinguished as an enterprising and ingenious people. Thefts, robberies, and murder are common with all the tribes. The island was taken by the British in 1814, but restored to Hol land in 1816.

THE MOLUCCAS, OR SPICE ISLANDS.

THESE consist of Amboyna, Ternate, Fedor, Motyr, Cilolo, and severa. other small islands. The Portuguese were the first Europeans who pos sessed them, but were obliged to share their advantages with the Spaniards, and at length to give up the trade almost entirely to them. These two na tions joined to oppose the Dutch in their first attempts to gain a settlement but the Dutch, assisted by the natives of the country, by degrees gained the superiority. The ancient conquerors were driven out about the year 1615, and their place supplied by others equally avaricious, though less turbulent.

As soon as the Dutch had established themselves in the Moluccas, they endeavoured to get the exclusive trade of spices into their own hands; an advantage which the nations they had just expelled were never able to procure. They skilfully availed themselves of the forts they had taken, and those they had erected, to draw the kings of Ternate and Tydor, who were masters of this archipelago, into their schemes. These princes, for a small sum of money, (little more than £3000) agreed to root out ali the clove and nutmeg trees in the islands under their dominions; and a garrison of seven hundred men was appointed to secure the performance of the treaty.

At Amboyna they engrossed the whole cultivation of cloves. They allotted to the inhabitants four thousand parcels of land on each of which they were compelled to plant one hundred and twenty-five trees, amounting, in the whole, to five hundred thousand: and the collective produce averages about one million of pounds. Amboyna is about thirty-two miles long and ten broad, and is divided into two parts, a greater and a lesser peninsula: the former is called Hiton, and the latter, Letymor.

The massacre of the English at Amboyna, by the Dutch, in 1621, was attended with much cruelty. We have before observed, that the Dutch dispossessed the Portuguese of Amboyna in 1615. They did not, how ever, become masters of the island at once. The English had here five factories, and lived under the protection of the Dutch castle; holding themselves safe, in respect of the friendship existing between the two nations. But great differences arose between the English and Dutch colonists; at length a treaty was concluded, in 1619, by which the concerns of both were regulated, and certain measures agreed upon for preventing future disputes. Some short time after, the Dutch pretended that the English and Amboynese had formed a conspiracy to dispossess them of one of their forts. The plot, it was alleged, had been discovered by a Japanese and Portuguese in the English service, who were most inhumanly tortured into such confessions as their cruel inquisitors thought proper. Upon this evidence, they immediately accused the English factors of the pretended conspiracy. Some of them they imprisoned; and others they loaded with irons, and sent on board their ships; seizing at the same time all the English merchandise, with their writings and books. These acts of violence were followed by a scene of horror unexampled in the punishment of offenders. The torments to which they put the innocent factors, are too shocking to relate; and those who did not die under the agonies of pain, were consigned to the executioner. The whole of the transaction affords testimony that the Hollanders did it with no other view, than of monopolizing the trade of the Spice Islands. They acted a similar tragedy at Poleron, about the same time, where they put to the torture one hundred and sixty-two of the natives, whom they likewise charged with a pretended conspiracy. Until the French revolutionary war, then, the Dutch enjoyed in peace these invaluable islands, when Amboyna, and the other Moluccas, submitted to the English

THE BANDA, OR NUTMEG isles.

THE Banda Isles is the general name of twelve small islands in the East Indian Archipelago. Two of them are uncultivated, and almost uninhabited; the other three claim the distinction of being the only islands in the world that prodcce the nutmeg. If we except this valuable spice, the islands of Banda are barren to a dreadful degree. The land will not -produce any kind of corn, and the pith of the sago serves the natives of the country instead of bread.

This is the only settlement in the East Indian isles, that can be con sidered as a European colony: because it is the only one where the Europeans are proprietors of lands. The Dutch company finding that the inhabitants of Banda were savage, cruel, and treacherous, because they were impatient under their yoke, resolved to exterminate them: and their possessions were divided among the people, who procured slaves from some of the neighbouring islands to cultivate the lands. The climate of Banda is particularly unhealthy; on which account the company attempted to transfer the culture of the nutmeg to Amboyna: but all the experiments that have been made have proved unsuccessful. The Banda Islands were discovered by the Portuguese in 1512, and colonized in 1524; but were taken by the Dutch in 1599. The English possessed themselves of them in 1810, but restored them to the Dutch in 1814

تو

THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.

THE Philippine Islands are a large group belonging to the eastern archipelago, the principal of which is Luzon, a long, irregular, and narrow island. They were discovered by Magellan, in 1521, who called them the archipelago of St. Lazarus, as the discovery was made on that saint's day. But they were subjected, or rather part of them, to the Spaniards, by Don Louis de Velasco, in 1564, in the reign of Philip II., and derive their present name from him. The natives are supposed to be of Chinese extraction.

Manilla, the capital of the island of Luzon, and all the Philippines, is situated on the south-east part of the island, where a large river falls into the sea, and forms a noble bay, thirty leagues in compass. On the 6th of October, 1762, the English under General Draper and Admiral Cornish, took Manilla by storm, after a siege of twelve days; but, to save so fine a city from destruction, they agreed to accept a ransom, amounting to a million of pounds sterling, part of which, it is said, was never paid.

THE HISTORY OF PALESTINE,

AND, MORE PARTICULARLY OF

THE JEWS.

By the various names of Hebrews, Israelites, or Jews, were this most illustrious people of ancient times known, who dwelt in the land then