e 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 di