| A large ship, with Chinese on board, pays | $2,000 |
| A large ship, without Chinese on board, pays | 1,800 |
| Small ships, | 1,500 |
| Large brig, | 1,000 |
| Small brig, | 500 |
| Schooners, | from 150 to 400 |
This supposes them all to have full cargoes. That a difference should be made in a vessel with or without Chinamen, seems singular; but this, I was told, arose from the circumstance that English vessels take them on board, in order to detect and prevent the impositions of the Sooloos.
Vessels intending to trade at Soung should arrive before the Chinese junks, and remain as long as they stay, or even a few days later. In trading with the natives, all operations ought to be carried on for cash, or if by barter, no delivery should be made until the articles to be taken in exchange are received. In short, it is necessary to deal with them as though they were undoubted rogues, and this pleases them much more than to appear unsuspicious. Vessels that trade engage a bazaar, which they hire of the Ruma Bechara, and it is advisable to secure the good-will of the leading datus in that council by presents, and paying them more for their goods than others.
There are various other precautions necessary in dealing with this people; for they will, if possible, so act as to give rise to disputes, in which case an appeal is made to their fellows, who are sure to decide against the strangers. Those who have been engaged in this trade, advise that the prices of the goods should be fixed upon before the Sultan, and the scales of the Datu of Soung employed; for although these are quite faulty, the error is compensated by the articles received being weighed in the same. This also secures the Datu’s good-will, by the fee (some fifty dollars) which he receives for the use of them. Thus it will be perceived that those who desire to trade with Sooloo, must make up their minds to encounter many impositions, and to be continually watchful of their own interests.
Every possible precaution ought to be taken; and it will be found, the treatment will depend upon, or be according to the force or resolution that is displayed. In justice to this people it must be stated, there have been times when traders received every kindness and attention at the island of Sooloo, and I heard it even said, that many vessels had gone there to refit; but during the last thirty or forty years, the reigning sultans and their subjects have become hostile to Europeans, of whom they plunder and destroy as many as they can, and this they have hitherto been allowed to do with impunity.
Although I have described the trade with Sooloo as limited, yet it is capable of greater extension; and had it not been for the piratical habits of the people, the evil report of which has been so widely spread, Sooloo would now have been one of the principal marts of the East. The most fertile parts of Borneo are subject to its authority. There all the richest productions of these Eastern seas grow in immense quantities, but are now left ungarnered in consequence of there being no buyers. The cost of their cultivation would be exceedingly low, and I am disposed to believe that these articles could be produced here at a lower cost than any where else.
Besides the trade with China, there is a very considerable one with Manilla in small articles, and I found one of our countrymen engaged in this traffic, under the Spanish flag. To him I am indebted for much information that his opportunities for observation had given him.
The materials for the history of Sooloo are meagre, and great doubts seem to exist in some periods of it. That which I have been able to gather is as follows.
The island of Sooloo is generally believed to have been originally inhabited by Papuans, some of whom, as I have already stated, are still supposed to inhabit the mountainous part. The first intercourse had with them was by the Chinese, who went there in search of pearls. The Orang Dampuwans were the first of the Malays to form settlements on the islands; but after building towns, and making other improvements, they abandoned the islands, in consequence, it is said, of the inhabitants being a perfidious race, having previously to their departure destroyed as many of the natives as they could.
The fame of the submarine riches of this archipelago reached Banjur, or Borneo, the people of which were induced to resort there, and finding it to equal their expectation, they sent a large colony, and made endeavours to win over the inhabitants, and obtain thereby the possession of their rich isle. In order to confirm the alliance, a female of Banjarmassing,[43] of great beauty, was sent, and married to the principal chief; and from this alliance the sovereigns of Sooloo claim their descent. The treaty of marriage made Sooloo tributary to the Banjarmassing empire.