2^0 ACCOUNT OF CELEBES , AMBOYNA, &C.
The Kings of Ereka and Letha, two fmall diftricts, in the weftern part of Touradja,are alfo in alliance with the Company.
Cajelie lies upon the weftern fliore of Celebes , towards the north, between MandharMamoedje, and Sinlenfa, which is the fouthernmoft place belonging to the governmentof Ternate.
By the treaty of Boni, this country was ceded to the King of Ternate ; but thegovernment at Batavia afterwards iffued orders that it ftiould be conftdered as belong-ing to the government of Macaffer.
It uied formerly to yield much cocoa-nut-oil, and to furnifh as much of this articleas was wanted by the Company ; but ftnce the year 1730, it has been fo much ravaged,firft by the internal diffentions between their own nobles, and afterwards by theMandharefe, that all the cocoa-nut trees were felled for the purpofe of making bent-ings : the land lies now almoft uncultivated and defert, and is fubject, for the greateftpart, to the Mandharefe.
The petty Kings of this country requefted the aid of the Company, feveral years ago,againft the Mandharefe; upon which fome veffels and troops were lent thither,but they behaved fo ill, that the natives forely repented having ever had recourfe tothe Dutch for affiftance.
From the report of the chief perfons employed on that occafion by the governmentof Macaffer, it appears that the country was then very productive in paddee; as like-wife that it yielded much gold, and that in the neighbourhood of Pavigi, which is fitu-
on the coafts of Borneo, Celebes , and the adjacent iflands. Others dwell clofe to the fea, on thofe iflands,their houfes being raifed on polls, a little dillance into the fea, always at the months of rivers. They areMahomedans. They have a language of their own, but no written charadter. Many Boadjoos are fettledon the north-weft coaft of Borneo , who not only filh, but make fait, and trade in fmall boats along thecoaft. They make fait in the following manner : they gather fea-weeds. burn them, make a ley of afhes,filter it, and form a bitter kind of fait in fquare pieces, by boiling it in pans made of the bark of the anee-bong, or cabbage-tree ; thefe pieces of fait are carried to market, and pafs as a currency for money. Thofefettled on the north-weft coaft of Borneo ufed to fupply the Englifh at Balambangan with rice, fowls, and 'other provifions. Many of them are fettled at the mouth of the river of Pafiir, who employ themfclves chieflyin catching fmall fhrimps with hand-nets, which they pufh through the mud ; the Ihrimps, after beingwell wafhed in feu-water, are expofed to a hot fun ; they are then beat in a mortar, and made into a kindof pa He called blatchong, which has a ftrong fmell, and is much in requeft all over India . Thefe lalt Boad-joos may be called fixed or ftationary, compared with thofe who live always in their boats, and who, asthe monfoon fhifts on the iflands Borneo and Celebes , fhift their fituation to leeward, fo as to be alwaysunder the lee of the land, for the fake of fine weather. Moft of thofe who rove round Celebes , thoughthey change their fituation with the monfoon, confider Macaffer as their home. When Captain Carteretlay at Bontain, a fleet of more than a hundred fail of their boats anchored there ; they were from twelve toeighteen and twenty tons burden, and carried from fixteen to twenty men : they were all under Dutch colours. The Boadjoo boats which Captain Forreft faw at the little Paternofler Iflar.ds, between Borneo and Celebes , were about five or fix tons burden ; feveral had women and children on board, and theirwomen are faid to be capable of managing their veffels, even in heavy feas : they lay at anchor fifhing forthe fvrallow or fea-flug in feven or eight fathoms water. They fee the fwallow in clear water, and ltrikeit as it lies on the ground, with an inftrutnent confining of four bearded iron prongs, fixed along an almoftcylindrical ftone, rather fmaller at one end than at the other, about eighteen inches long ; an iron fhot isfixed at the end of the ftone, next the point of the prongs. The fwallow is dried in the fmoke, and fentto the China market. They alfo dive for it, the belt being got in deep water. The black is reputed thebell ; but there is fome of a lightei colour, found only in deep water, which is of more value in China thanthe black, and fold even for forty dollars a picol; the pieces are much larger than the general run of theblack fwallow, fome of them weighing half a pound. The white is the worlt, and is ealily got in Avalwater, and on the dry (and, among coral rocks, at low water : its value is about four or five dollars a picol.The Boadjoos are very ufeful to the Dutch Eaft-lndia Company, in carrying intelligence fpeedily fromplace to place. Tr.
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