Many statements have been made and published relative to the piracies committed in these seas, which in some cases exceed, and in others fall short, of the reality. Most of the piratical establishments are under the rule, or sail under the auspices of the Sultan or Ruma Bechara of Sooloo, who are more or less intimately connected with them. The share of the booty that belongs to the Sultan and Ruma Bechara, is twenty-five per cent. on all captures, whilst the datus receive a high price for the advance they make of guns and powder, and for the services of their slaves.
The following are the piratical establishments of Sooloo, obtained from the most authentic sources, published as well as verbal. The first among these is the port of Soung, at which we anchored, in the island of Sooloo; not so much from the number of men available here for this pursuit, as the facility of disposing of the goods. By the Spaniards they are denominated Illanun or Lanuns pirates.[47] There are other rendezvous on Pulo Toolyan, at Bohol, Tonho, Pilas, Tawi Tawi, Sumlout, Pantutaran, Parodasan, Palawan, and Basillan, and Tantoli on Celebes.[48] These are the most noted, but there are many minor places, where half a dozen prahus are fitted out. Those of Sooloo, and those who go under the name of the Lanuns, have prahus of larger size, and better fitted. They are from twenty to thirty tons burden and are propelled by both sails and oars. They draw but little water, are fast sailers, and well adapted for navigating through these dangerous seas. These pirates are supposed to possess in the whole about two hundred prahus, which usually are manned with from forty to fifty pirates; the number therefore engaged in this business, may be estimated at ten thousand. They are armed with muskets, blunderbusses, krises, hatchets, and spears, and at times the vessels have one or two large guns mounted. They infest the Straits of Macassar, the Sea of Celebes, and the Sooloo Sea. Soung is the only place where they can dispose of their plunder to advantage, and obtain the necessary outfits. It may be called the principal resort of these pirates, where well directed measures would result in effectually suppressing the crime.
Besides the pirates of Sooloo, the commerce of the Eastern islands is vexed with other piratical establishments. In the neighbouring seas, there are the Malay pirates, who have of late years become exceedingly troublesome. Their prahus are of much smaller size than those of Sooloo, being from ten to twelve tons burden, but in proportion they are much better manned, and thus are enabled to ply with more efficiency their oars or paddles. These prahus frequent the shores of the Straits of Malacca, Cape Romania, the Carimon Isles, and the neighbouring straits, and at times they visit the Straits of Rhio. Some of the most noted, I was informed, were fitted out from Johore, in the very neighbourhood of the English authorities at Singapore; they generally have their haunts on the small islands on the coast, from which they make short cruises.
They are noted for their arrangements for preventing themselves from receiving injury, in the desperate defences that are sometimes made against them. These small prahus have usually swivels mounted, which, although not of great calibre, are capable of throwing a shot beyond the range of small-arms. It is said that they seldom attempt an attack unless the sea is calm, which enables them to approach their victims with more assurance of success, on account of the facility with which they are enabled to manage their boats. The frequent calms which occur in these seas between the land and sea breezes, afford them many opportunities of putting their villanous plans in operation; and the many inlets and islets, with which they are well acquainted, afford places of refuge and ambush, and for concealing their booty. They are generally found in small flotillas of from six to twenty prahus, and when they have succeeded in disabling a vessel at long shot, the sound of the gong is the signal for boarding, which if successful, results in a massacre more or less bloody, according to the obstinacy of the resistance they have met with.
In the winter months, the Straits of Malacca are most infected with them; and during the summer, the neighbourhood of Singapore, Point Romania, and the channels in the vicinity. In the spring, from February to May, they are engaged in procuring their supplies, in fishing, and refitting their prahus for the coming year.
I have frequently heard plans for the suppression of these pirates, particularly of those in the neighbourhood of the settlements under British rule. The European authorities are much to blame for the quiescent manner in which they have so long borne these depredations, and many complaints are made that Englishmen, on being transplanted to India, lose that feeling of horror for deeds of blood, such as are constantly occurring at their very doors, which they would experience in England. There are, however, many difficulties to overcome before operations against the pirates can be effective. The greatest of these is the desire of the English to secure the goodwill of the chiefs of the tribes by whom they are surrounded. They thus wink at their piracies on the vessels of other nations, or take no steps to alleviate the evils of slavery. Indeed the language that one hears from many intelligent men who have long resided in that part of the world is, that in no country where civilization exists does slavery exhibit so debasing a form as in her Indian possessions. Another difficulty consists in the want of minute knowledge of the coasts, inlets, and hiding-places of the pirates, and this must continue to exist until proper surveys are made. This done, it would be necessary to employ vessels that could pursue the pirates every where, for which steamers naturally suggest themselves.[49]
What will appear most extraordinary is, that the very princes who are enjoying the stipend for the purchase of the site whereon the English authority is established, are believed to be the most active in equipping the prahus for these piratical expeditions; yet no notice is taken of them, although it would be so easy to control them by withholding payment until they had cleared themselves from suspicion, or by establishing residents in their chief towns.
Another, and a very different race of natives who frequent the Sooloo Archipelago, must not be passed by without notice. These are the Bajow[50] divers or fishermen, to whom Sooloo is indebted for procuring the submarine treasures with which her seas are stored. They are also very frequently employed in the biche de mar or tripang fisheries among the islands to the south. The Bajows generally look upon Macassar as their principal place of resort. They were at one time believed to be derived from Johore, on the Malayan peninsula; at another to be Buguese; but they speak the Sooloo dialect, and are certainly derived from some of the neighbouring islands. The name of Bajows, in their tongue, means fishermen. From all accounts, they are allowed to pursue their avocations in peace, and are not unfrequently employed by the piratical datus, and made to labour for them. They resort to their fishing-grounds in fleets of between one and two hundred sail, having their wives and children with them, and in consequence of the tyranny of the Sooloos, endeavour to place themselves under the protection of the flag of Holland, by which nation this useful class of people is encouraged. The Sooloo seas are comparatively little frequented by them, as they are unable to dispose of the produce of their fisheries for want of a market, and fear the exactions of the datus. Their prahus are about five tons each. The Bajows at some islands are stationary, but are for the most part constantly changing their ground. The Spanish authorities in the Philippines encourage them, it is said, to frequent their islands, as without them they would derive little benefit from the banks in the neighbouring seas, where quantities of pearl-oysters are known to exist, which produce pearls of the finest kind. The Bajows are inoffensive and very industrious, and in faith Mahomedans.
The climate of Sooloo during our short stay, though warm, was agreeable. The time of our visit was in the dry season, which lasts from October to April, and alternates with the wet one from May till September. June and July are the windy months, when strong breezes blow from the westward. In the latter part of August and September, strong gales are felt from the south, while in December and January the winds are found to come from the northward; but light winds usually prevail from the southwest during the wet season, and from the opposite quarter, the dry, following closely the order of the monsoons in the China seas. As to the temperature, the climate is very equable, the thermometer seldom rising above 90° or falling below 70°.
Diseases are few, and those that prevail arise from the manner in which the natives live. They are from that cause an unhealthy-looking race. The smallpox has at various times raged with great violence throughout the group, and they speak of it with great dread. Few of the natives appear to be marked with it, which may have been owing, perhaps, to their escaping this disorder for some years. Vaccination has not yet been introduced among them, nor have they practised inoculation.