The second work at the head of this article possesses superior claims to Mr. Howell's, as eminently illustrative of clearer analogies and closer resemblances of figures and sentiments. It is a comparison of passages in a vast number of English writers with Eschylus and Sophocles, and contributes to the illustration of each of these writers in an eminent degree. We regret we can but barely allude at present to a work of great merit, but shall probably revert to it, and use it as occasion requires, to indicate the common sources of thought, as modified by the Greek or Anglo-Saxon temperament.

ART. XI.-1. Expedition to Borneo of H. M. S. "Dido," for the suppression of Piracy; with Extracts from the Journal of James Brooke, Esq., of Sarawak, (now Agent to the British Government in Borneo). By Capt. the Hon. Henry Keppel, R. N. 2 Vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1846.

2. An Address, with a Proposal for the Foundation of a Church, Mission-house, and School at Sarawak, on the north-west Coast of Borneo, under the Protection of James Brooke, Esq., Founder of the Settlement at Sarawak. By the Rev. C. D. Brereton, M.A., Rector of Little Massingham, Norfolk. London: 1846.

THE Dido received orders in 1842 to visit the Malacca Straits, and also the Island of Borneo, to protect the trade in that direction, and to suppress piracy. While she was at Pinang, she obtained information of various acts of piracy having been committed on the Borneon coast (we take this awkward adjective from Captain Keppel) on vessels trading to Singapore. She proceeded thither, taking with her a Mr. Brooke, who accepted the invitation of Captain Keppel to convey him to Borneo. This gentleman was the lineal representative of Sir Robert Vyner, Lord Mayor of London, in the reign of Charles II. Mr. Brooke was the second son of Thomas Brooke, Esq., of the East India Company's Civil Service; he was born in 1803, went out to India as a cadet, had the honour of being shot through the body by the Burmese, and of receiving the thanks of His Majesty's Government. He relinquished the service from ill health, and proceeded to China in 1830. On this visit he first saw the great islands of the Asiatic Archipelago, and formed a plan for their ultimate benefit. Disappointed at that period in the hope of obtaining his object, he waited until 1838. He had in the mean time tested his vessel,

the Royalist, which he designed for the purpose, in the Mediterranean, as well as his crew, and determined to risk fortune and life on an attempt to place these islands in a better position. The Geographical Journal, that concentration of general intelligence so much needed and so usefully directed, contained his views on these matters, in vol. 8, part 3. He arrived at Borneo in August 1839. His feelings on reaching its then solitary shore, as penned by himself in his journal, are as affecting as noble. He soon received at Sarawak assurance of a welcome from the Rajah of Borneo Proper, a very pleasant-looking personage, if we may trust his frontispiece as given in the work: permission was granted him to explore the country, and our courageous traveller, undismayed by intimations of danger, proceeded to do so. Our author was anxious to penetrate among the Dyaks, but unfortunately could not induce his guide to accompany him, and was consequently compelled to return. Amid other barbarous customs, Mr. Brooke perceived that the natives suspended the skulls of their slain foes within their dwellings, and that it was an indispensable qualification for a young man to procure a skull before he got married. We think this remarkably hard upon the Borneons; for difficulty enough attends generally the getting of the belle, and it is hard that to this should be added the capturing of the beau. The marriage ceremony is somewhat peculiar: a brace of fowls is placed over the bridegroom's neck, which he whirls seven times round his head; they are then killed, and their blood sprinkled on the forehead of the pair, which done, they are cooked and eaten by the married couple alone, whilst the rest of the company eat and drink the entire night. Not very dissimilar to the sprinkling with the blood of the dead bird described in Leviticus. The notions of God of these inhabitants of the Sibnowar tribe is dim, but hero-worship prevails among them. Concubinage is unknown among the Dyaks, and seduction or adultery seldom occurs. Their women have in general a considerable reputation for chastity.

After this little excursion Mr. Brooke returned to Sarawak, and renewed his associations with the Rajah. While at Sarawak, Mr. Brooke bestowed much attention on the ourang-outang. He remarked the extraordinary degree of melancholy that appears to pervade all that class of animals, and was much astonished, on procuring the mutilated hand of one of them, to find that it exceeded in size any man's on board his vessel, and that the fingers also were twice the size, though smoked and shrunk, of any ordinary human finger. Our author quitted this part of the island with regret, which appears to have been equally experienced by the kind Rajah. Hence he set sail for the river

Sadung. On his visit to this country Mr. Brooke succeeded in rescuing the Rajah Panglima from an attack made on him by the Dyaks. The Rajah in return gave them afterwards a dinner in the English style, and on retirement for the night Mr. Brooke couched himself on a crimson silk mattress, embroidered with gold, covered with white gold-embroidered mats and pillows, so that the civilization of the bed-room in these parts is by no means despicable. After this adventure he proceeds to other localities of the country. Persons who are interested in the question of the Polynesian dialects, will find some valuable remarks at this portion of his narrative by Mr. Brooke on that subject. Mr. Brooke returns to Singapore after this excursion, and proceeds next to visit Celebes and the Bujis. After this he returns to Singapore, and avails himself of the opportunity to refit his schooner. This done, he then proceeded afresh to the scene of his former associations. On this occasion Mr. Brooke enters into battle as an ally of the Rajah, whose cause he espoused, but had to do with a sad set of cowards on both his own side and that of the enemy. The Rajah, however, was so delighted with his prompt aid and determination, that he offered him the country of Siniawan and Sarawak if he would only stay by him and not desert: the acceptance of this offer was dextrously postponed by Mr. Brooke for some more fitting opportunity. The determined conduct evinced by Mr. Brooke raised him to no mean station in public opinion: he was, however, not in a position to show the full extent of military daring, for the campaign was nearly bloodless, terminated by a negotiation carried into effect by Mr. Brooke. Our gallant author received the investiture of the government of Sarawak, and determined on the right exercise of his functions by putting down slavery and protecting industry. He had immediately occasion to put his vessel into a state of defence, for report stated that the pirates, trusting to tales of large treasure on board of her, had made a great muster of all their force: eighteen prahus, with flags and streamers, firing cannon and musketry, certainly made their appearance. The character of these pirates is well given :

"The Datus, or chiefs, are incorrigible, for they are pirates by descent, robbers from pride as well as taste, and they look upon the occupation as the most honourable hereditary pursuit. They are indifferent to blood, fond of plunder, but fondest of slaves: they despise trade, though its profits be greater; and as I have said, they look upon this as their calling,' and the noblest occupation of chiefs and free men. Their swords they show with boasts as having belonged to their ancestors, who were pirates, renowned and terrible in their day, and they always speak of their ancestral heir-loom as

decayed from its pristine vigour, but still the wielding of it as the highest of earthly existences. That it is in reality the most accursed there can be no doubt, for its chief support are slaves they capture on the different coasts. If they attack an island, the women and children, and as many of the young men as they require, are carried off. Every boat they take furnishes its quota of slaves; and when they have a full cargo, they quit that coast or country and visit another, in order to dispose of their human spoil to the best advantage. Thus, a cargo of slaves captured on the east coast of Borneo is sold on the west, and the slaves of the south find ready purchasers to the northward, and vice versa. As the woolly-haired Papuas are generally prized by the natives, constant visits are made to New Guinea and the easternmost islands, where they are procured, and afterwards sold at high prices amongst any Malay community. The great nests of piracy are Magindano, Sooloo, and the northern part of Borneo, and the devastation and misery they inflict on the rest of the Archipelago is well known; yet are no measures adopted for their suppression, as every European community, be it English, Dutch, or Spanish, seems quite satisfied to clear the vicinity of its own parts, and never considers the damage to the native trade which takes place at a distance. To be attacked with success, they must be attacked on their own coasts with two or three steamers. A little money would gain every intelligence as to where they were preparing; and whilst the steamers were so worthily engaged in suppressing piracy, they might at the same time be acquiring information respecting countries little known, and adding to our stock of geography and science. A few severe examples and constant harassing would soon cure this hereditary and personal mania for a rover's life; and whilst we conferred the greatest blessing on the rest of the Archipelago, Magindano itself would be improved by the change." (p. 195.)

No serious consequences ensued from this meeting, and Mr. Brooke crossed to Singapore, where he purchased a schooner of ninety tons, and sailed with her and the Royalist in April 1841 for Sarawak. And now, having the expense of two vessels upon his hands, our author began to look to the advantages of traffic, and in this matter the treachery of the natives became far too apparent; and here the difficulties of his position began to break upon him, as he tells us :

"I had lost much valuable time, spent much money, and risked my life and the lives of my crew, in order to render assistance to Rajah Muda Hassim in his distress, in return for which he had voluntarily offered me the country. The conditions of my acceptance had been discussed and mutually understood, and I had, in fulfilment of my part, brought vessel and cargo. Profit I did not much care about; the developement of the country was my chief, I may say my only aim; and on my arrival I had been delayed and cheated

by false promises, which showed too plainly that he neither meant to adhere to his former agreement, nor to pay for what he had on false pretences obtained. It may appear to many that no measures ought to be kept with one who had so behaved; but, for the following reasons, I resolved still to wait his pleasure. In the first place, it was barely possible that indolence and not treachery might have actuated him; and in the next, that if it was possible to arrange so as to get back the amount of the Swift's cargo, I was in duty and justice bound to use every endeavour before resorting to measures of force. As for the cession of the country, and all the good which must have resulted from it, I put these considerations altogether out of the question. I had been deceived and betrayed, and had met with the grossest ingratitude; but I had no claim, nor would any written agreement have given me one, and I was therefore constrained to submit without returning evil for evil." (p. 217.)

The exertions made by Mr. Brooke at this period to save certain persons who had fallen into the hands of the Sultan of Borneo, do him great honour; he seems to have been sent for the regeneration of the island in honour and principle. He obtained, however, notwithstanding all obstacles thrown in his way, the complete ratification of his power as governor of Sarawak. His first steps were merely in mitigation of the state of horrors around him. His reflections, as given in his journal, are truly beautiful and excellent:

"Jan. 1st, 1842.-The past year is in the bosom of futurity, into which bourne we are all hurrying. Here we have no merry-making, no re-union of families, no bright fires or merry games to mark the advent of 1842; but we have genial weather, and are not pinched by cold or frost. This is a year which to me must be eventful; for at its close I shall be able to judge whether I can maintain myself against all the circumstances and difficulties which beset me, or whether I must retreat, broken in fortune, to some retirement in my native land. I look with calmness on the alternative, and God knows no selfish motives weigh on me; and if I fail, my chief regret will be for the natives of this unhappy country. Let the year roll on, let the months pass; and whatever they bring, whether it be life or death, fortune or poverty, I am prepared; and in the deep solitude of my present existence I can safely say, that I believe I could bear misfortune better than prosperity. In this, probably, I am not singular, for there is something in prosperity which, if it does not make us worse, makes us more foolish and more worldly, which decks passing time with wreaths of gay flowers, and gilds the things of this life with tinsel hopes and wishes, to the exclusion of the pure gold of reflection for the life to come. What are all these gewgaws, these artificial flowers, these momentary joys, these pleasures of the sense, before the war of time? Nothing! And yet, if exertion can benefit