ses with which man is
afflicted: those who are fortunate enough to recover from it, are
subject for life to severe nervous attacks at the full and change of the
moon. I well remember two gentlemen in Batavia, who could scarcely lift
their hands to their heads at these periods, though twenty years had
elapsed since they had had this terrible fever. The Dutch troops still
continue to suffer severely from this cause; and to be sent to Banca
from Java, is looked upon as the hardest lot that can befall a soldier.
Its tin-mines continue to be very productive, and yield 60,000 _peculs_
of pure metal per annum. From this source, the Dutch authorities derive
a considerable revenue. They employ Chinese miners, to whom they pay six
dollars for every _pecul_ of tin delivered on the coast in a pure state,
which they sell readily in Java for sixteen dollars per _pecul_; thus
getting ten dollars clear profit, less about half a dollar per _pecul_,
which it costs to send the tin to Batavia for sale. As far as I know,
Banca yields nothing else; and the rice eaten by the Chinese miners, is
sent regularly from Java.

The rivers on this island are infested by very large alligators, which,
from the scarcity of food, become highly dangerous. Their hunger drives
them sometimes to attack boats, as they are rowed up the rivers; and
serious accidents occur from time to time in this way. I could tell one
or two marvellous tales about the ferocity and bold attacks of these
river-monsters, but refrain from doing so, lest they should lead the
incredulous reader of these rambling sketches to doubt my veracity. The
straits of Banca were at one time the resort of numerous Malay pirates:
the activity of the Dutch cruisers has, however, rendered their once
dangerous neighbourhood perfectly safe, so far as the attacks of these
marauders are concerned. I have sailed many times through the straits of
Sunda, Banca, Rhio, Dryan, Malacca, and Singapore, since 1823, and have
known some few European vessels and many native proas taken; but, in all
my voyages up and down, I never saw a boat or proa that I felt certain
was a pirate. I have, indeed, seen many very suspicious-looking craft
off Singin, and between that island and the north end of Banca; but, as
they never molested us, I am willing to let their characters pass free,
so far as I am concerned.

The once thriving settlement of Bencoolen, (or Fort Marlborough,) which
I visited at different times between 1