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 malignant 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 would 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 excellent 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 necessity of avenging it!

Let our intelligent shipmasters, supercargoes, and officers, whose adventurous spirits lead them to visit the ports of semibarbarians, 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 in 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 humanity require that we should always be in the right.

An evil still exists on the pepper coast of Sumatra which requires correction, while we confess ourselves at a loss to propose

a proper remedy. We allude to the want of a regular standard of weights. The Malay picul is one hundred and thirty-three and a third pounds; but so far is this from prevailing in all the ports, that the standard of weight is as much a matter to be regulated by contract, as the price of the pepper itself. The consequence must be obvious; the Malay will sand or wet his pepper, and the trader will provide against loss by endeavouring to procure greater weight. The trader in a neighbouring port, fearing that his competitor will get better measure than himself, and thus enter the home market to better advantage, will exert himself in his contract, so as to guard against such a contingency. While this state of things exists, difficulties will occasionally occur; and though not of great importance, they are still annoying and perplexing, without bringing profit or advantage to any one.

We have conversed with no one interested in this subject, who does not feel anxious that this difficulty should be removed by the establishment of some standard; and it can make but little difference what that standard is, so that it be uniform. By concert of action, in one season the difficulty might be settled. This concert, however, is hard to bring about; for while all feel the necessity, who shall begin the reform?

There can be no impropriety in having this question decided and put to rest by government. An armed vessel, visiting the coast, might be provided with a standard of one hundred and thirty-three and one third pounds weight, to be left with the rajahs of the principal ports, with a plain explanation of its object, and every cause for cavil or dispute would be immediately removed. We offer this as a suggestion, in the adoption of which our merchants and traders would, we have no doubt, most cheerfully acquiesce,

But we have lingered long-perhaps the reader may think too long-upon the Island of Sumatra. If there be any of this opinion, we beg them to reflect that forty years-a large portion of our national existence-have now passed away since the commencement of our trade on that coast; that as early as eighteen hundred and three, thirty vessels, small ones it is true, were in the trade; that it has been continued with varied success and occasional interruptions to the present time; employing from six

hundred to twelve hundred thousand dollars capital annually; that the direct and circuitous trade springing from this island, has formed no inconsiderable item of our commercial prosperity; that if the aggregate of the whole trade could be ascertained, it would probably not fall far, if any, short of a sum equal to the entire capital of the Bank of the United States; and yet, only a short time since, when it became necessary to despatch an armed vessel to that point, a chart of the coast was not to be found in the possession of our government! And though the inquiry was not actually to be made, in what part of the world Sumatra was located, yet almost every thing that was known of it beyond the circle of those who were engaged in the trade, will be found in the Appendix marked A. and B.

This is not the only point to which these remarks might be applied; for many others could be named, were it our present purpose to do so. The genius of our people is strongly and decidedly imbued with the spirit of maritime adventure; and it is hoped, for the honour of our country and the American name, that the time has at length come, when the knowledge and protection of our government shall at least keep pace with, if not lead in, the enterprise of its citizens.

Previous to the Potomac, no public vessel had visited India and China for the special protection of our commerce, since the Congress frigate in eighteen hundred and twenty-two; and none had passed through these seas since, except the Vincennes, on her return from the Pacific in eighteen hundred and thirty. Following in the track of the Potomac, the Peacock and Boxer have both been in the east, and through a commercial agent, who went in the Peacock, we have understood that some new channels of trade have been opened, and obstructions in old ones removed. There is still room for further action; while further comment is reserved for another place.

An ample supply of wood and water, and fresh provisions from Soo-soo, had now been taken on board; and the rajahs of the neighbourhood continued to pay their visits to the commodore, or to send their deputations with professions of peace, and the promise of their future good deportment towards the AmeriIt might have been well, had time permitted further con

cans.

ference; but that was impossible. Other places in the east were to be visited, and the wide Pacific was to be crossed, ere the Potomac could reach the place of her original destination; so that on the morning of the eighteenth of February, the word was given to get under way.

"The anchor upheaves, the sails unfurl,

The pennons of silk in the breezes curl;
And the crest of the billows before her flung."

CHAPTER XIV.

Passage to the Strait of Sunda-Centennial Anniversary of Washington's Birthday -Patriotic Reflections-Enter the Strait-Prince's Island-Java Head-Flat Point-Keyser's Bay-Lampoon Bay-Rajah Bassa Peak-Hog Point-Mew Bay and Island-Pepper Bay-Anger Roads and village-Cap and ButtonBantam, or St. Nicholas' Point-Shores of Bantam-Beautiful Prospect-Bantam Hill, bay, town, and villages-Traffic with the natives-Perilous adventure of the Commodore-The Thousand Islands-Burial of the dead-The Potomac anchors in Batavia Roads-Beacons in the Strait of Sunda.

As stated at the conclusion of the preceding chapter, the Potomac left the coast of Sumatra on Saturday, the eighteenth day of February, eighteen hundred and thirty-two, and for four days afterward was constantly tantalized with light and variable winds. Although at considerable distance from land, on the morning of Wednesday, the twenty-second, and within the usual range of the regular monsoon, the latter was found to be so much affected by the influence of alternate land and seabreezes, that the frigate was virtually deprived of the benefit of both. Hence, she was almost constantly becalmed, and the slightest breeze was hailed as a welcome visiter-all hands running on deck to meet it.

Besides, this day, the twenty-second of February, eighteen hundred and thirty-two, was the centennial anniversary of the birth of Washington! How many manly and patriotic hearts on board that gallant ship, were throbbing with fervid emotion, responsive to the reflections which naturally suggested themselves! -"What a glorious day is this, in our own country, where it is consecrated by patriotism, and hallowed by the gratitude of millions of independent freemen! What multitudes are now met together, indulging in pleasing recollections of the past, and in fond anticipations of the future! A century! One hundred years! What a little point in the annals of time!-what a small space in the age of a nation! What was our country, and what were we as a people one hundred years ago! What changes-what eventful vicissitudes have we passed through! If true to ourselves, what high destinies await us!