does more in a mouth than he could possibly do by a year's search in the depths
of the undisturbed forest.
The next morning we left early, and reached the mouth of the little river in
about au hour. It flows through a perfectly flat alluvial plain, but there are hills
which approach it near the mouth. Towards the lower part, in a swamp where the
salt-water must enter at high tides, were a number of elegant tree-ferns from
eight to fifteen feet high. These are generally considered to be mountain plants,
and rarely to occur on the equator at an elevation of less than one or two
thousand feet. In Borneo, in the Aru Islands, and on the banks of the Amazon, I
have observed them at the level of the sea, and think it probable that the altitude
supposed to be requisite for them may have been deduced from facts observed in
countries where the plains and lowlands are largely cultivated, and most of the
indigenous vegetation destroyed. Such is the case in most parts of Java, India,
Jamaica, and Brazil, where the vegetation of the tropics has been most fully
explored.
Coming out to sea we turned northwards, and in about two hours' sail reached
a few huts, called Langundi, where some Galela men had established themselves
as collectors of gum-dammar, with which they made torches for the supply of
the Ternate market. About a hundred yards back rises a rather steep hill, and a
short walk having shown me that there was a tolerable path up it, I determined to
stay here for a few days. Opposite us, and all along this coast of Batchian,
stretches a row of fine islands completely uninhabited. Whenever I asked the
reason why no one goes to live in them, the answer always was, "For fear of the
Magindano pirates." Every year these scourges of the Archipelago wander in one
direction or another, making their rendezvous on some uninhabited island, and
carrying devastation to all the small settlements around; robbing, destroying,
killing, or taking captive all they nee with. Their long well-manned praus escape
from the pursuit of any sailing vessel by pulling away right in the wind's eye,
and the warning smoke of a steamer generally enables them to hide in some
shallow bay, or narrow river, or forest-covered inlet, till the danger is passed.
The only effectual way to put a stop to their depredations would be to attack
them in their strongholds and villages, and compel them to give up piracy, and
submit to strict surveillance. Sir James Brooke did this with the pirates of the
north-west coast of Borneo, and deserves the thanks of the whole population of
the Archipelago for having rid them of half their enemies.
All along the beach here, and in the adjacent strip of sandy lowland, is a
remarkable display of Pandanaceae or Screw-pines. Some are like huge
branching candelabra, forty or fifty feet high, and bearing at the end of each