The Island of Bali, lying east of Java, from which it is separated by a narrow strait, has recently been subjected by the Dutch. Some difficulty growing out of the commerce with the people, is the alleged cause. It is an island of great importance to Holland, and would seriously injure her commerce with Java, should any other European nation take it under its protection, or plant a colony there. A slight pretext therefore sufficed for its annexation.
New Caledonia Islands. Later information has been received from the Catholic Missionaries in New Caledonia; for it seems that even in those distant and barbarous islands both Protestant and Catholic are represented. The Propaganda annals contain some interesting accounts of the natives of these islands, and of other facts of importance in Ethnology. Two Catholic missionaries, the Rev. Mr. Rougeyron and the Rev. Mr. Colin, had been twenty months on these islands, during which time they had accomplished nothing in the way of conversions, and but little towards improving the moral condition of the natives. It was hardly time to expect much, as they had only then begun to speak the language of the country, which they found very difficult to acquire. The natives are a most lazy and wretched people. They cultivate the ground with the aid of a piece of pointed wood, or with their nails, but never in proportion to their wants. For the greater part of the year they are compelled to live upon a few fish, shell-fish, roots and the bark of trees, and at times when pressed by hunger, worms, spiders and lizards are eagerly devoured by them. They are cannibals in every sense of the word, and openly feed on the flesh of their enemies. Yet they possess the cocoa, banana and yam, with a luxuriant soil, from which, with a little labor, an abundance could be raised.
Among no savage tribes are the women worse treated than here. They are completely at the mercy of their cruel and tyrannical husbands. Compelled to carry burdens, to collect food, and cultivate the fields, their existence promises them but little enjoyment; and when there is any fruit or article of delicacy procured, it is at once tabooed by the husband, so that she cannot touch it but at the peril of her life.
The missionaries had begun to expostulate with the natives on the horrors of eating their prisoners, and other vices to which they were addicted, and observe that "a happy change has already taken place among them; that they were less disposed to robbery, and that their wars are less frequent."[49] They are beginning to understand the motive which brought the missionaries to them, and already show a desire to be instructed.
The protestant missions have not accomplished any more than the Catholic's among these savages. The latest accounts state that four of the native teachers who had been converted to Christianity, had been cruelly murdered, and that such was the hostility of the chiefs at the isle of Pines, that the prospects of the missionaries were most discouraging.[50]
Sooloo Islands.—Mr. Itier, attaché to the French mission in China, has recently visited a cluster of islands lying to the northeast of Borneo, between that island and Mindanao.[51] His researches on the natural history and geology of these islands, are of much interest. The soil is exceedingly fertile, and the climate more healthy than is usual in intertropical climates. The sugar cane, cocoa, rice, cotton, the bread fruit, indigo, and spices of all kinds, are among their products. Fruits and vegetables of a great variety, are abundant, and of a superior quality. Nine-tenths of the soil is still covered with the primitive forest, of which teak-wood, so valuable in shipbuilding, forms a part. A considerable commerce with China and Manilla is carried on, and from ten to twelve thousand Chinese annually visit the island of Basilan, the most northerly of the group, to cultivate its soil, and take away its products. The peculiar situation of these islands, and their contiguity to the Philippines, to Celebes, Borneo, Manilla, China, and Singapore, make them well adapted for a European colony. In fact, there do not appear to be any islands of the East Indies of equal importance, and there can be no doubt that with the present desire manifested by European nations for colonizing, this desirable spot will ere long be secured by one of them. The Sooloo group embraces sixty inhabited islands, governed by a Sultan, residing at Soung. One of these would be an advantageous point for an American colony or station.
The same gentleman has presented to the Geographical Society of Paris, the journal of a voyage and visit to the Philippine islands, from which it appears that that large and important croup is not inferior in interest to the Sooloo islands. The natural history and geology, the soil and its products, the manners and customs of the people, their commerce and political history, are described in detail.[52] The group embraces about twelve hundred islands, with a population of 4,000,000, of whom about 8,000 are Chinese, 4,000 Spaniards, 120,000 of a mixed race, and the remainder natives.
The Nicobar Islands, a group nineteen in number, in the Bay of Bengal, have again attracted the attention of the Danish government, by which an expedition has been sent with a view to colonize them anew. The Danes planted a colony there in 1756, but were compelled to abandon it in consequence of the insalubrity of the climate. Subsequently the French made an attempt with no better success.
Recent publications on the Eastern Archipelago and Polynesia.
Ethnology and Philology. By Horatio Hale, Philologist of the U. S. Exploring Expedition, imp. 4to. Philadelphia, 1846.
Reise nach Java, und Ausflüge nach den Inseln Mudura und S. Helena; von Dr. Edward Selberg, 8vo. Oldenburg, 1845.
Philippines (les), histoire, géographie, mœurs, agriculture, industrie et commerce des colonies espagnoles dans l'Océanie; par J. Mallat, 2 vols. 8vo., avec un atlas in folio. Paris, 1846.
The expedition of H.M.S. Dido, for the suppression of piracy; by the Hon. Capt. Keppell, with extracts from the journal of James Brooke, Esq. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1846. Reprinted in New York.
Trade and Travel in the Far East; or recollections of twenty-one years passed in Java, Singapore, Australia and China, by G.F. Davidson, post 8vo. London, 1846.
Typee: Narrative of a four months' residence among the natives of the Marquesas islands, by Herman Melville. 12mo. New York, 1846.
Besides these, The Missionary Herald, the Baptist Missionary Magazine, The London Evangelical Magazine, the Annals of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, as well as other similar journals, contain many articles of great interest on the various islands of the Eastern Archipelago and the South Sea Islands.
Australia. This vast island continues to attract the attention of geographers and naturalists. Its interior remains unknown, notwithstanding the various attempts which have been made from various points to penetrate it. The explorations of scientific men during the last four years have been productive of valuable information relating to its geography, ethnography, geology and natural history.