23 6 ACCOUNT OF CELEBES , AMBOYNA, &C.

middling good timber for building proas; the chief building yards of the Macafierswere formerly at this place *.

The men of Bera are in general good warriors, both at fea and at land; thericheft among them are merchants; the others employ themfelves in building ofproas, and in manufacturing a fort of coarfe white cloth, from the cotton which growsin tolerable abundance here; a fmall annual tribute of thefe cloths is paid to the Com-pany.

This country has ten regents, of whom the chief is Crain Bera. Thefe come oncea year to Fort Rotterdam to difcharge their tribute.

CHAP. XIII. — Account of the IJland Saleyer. — Its Productions, — Government. —Character of the Inhabitants. — Iflands of Bonaratte and Calauwe. —- Intricacy andDifficulty of the Government of Macaffier. — Contract, or Treaty , of Boni. — MiftakenPolicy of the Company. — Declining State of their Authority. — Encroachments andclandeftine Trade of the Englifh. —Difficulty of preventing them. — Alarm excited atMacaffier by the Arrival of Captain Carteret, in 1768. — Account of that Affair. —Bad Confequences of the Second never fucceeding to the Governorfhip. — Emoluments ofthe Governor at Macaffier. — The other Servants of the Company. — The Company'sTrade. — Private Trade. — hnpoffiibility of preventing Smuggling. — Opinions of Go-vernor Moffel on thefe Subjects. — Receipts and Charges of this Settlement. — Memorialof Mr. Van Pleuren on the Trade of the Company. — EJlablifhment of Macaffier. —Malays. — Their Chief or Captain. — Trade of the Chinefe to Celebes . — Defcriptionof their Junk. — Departure from Macaffier.

THE ifland Saleyer lies nearly fouth of the point of Lalfem, full two leagues , inthe ftrait between them are the Budjeroons, called by our feamen the Boeferoens, whichare three fmall, uninhabited iflets.

There are feveral other iflands which lie round and near Saleyer, and belong to it, ofwhich however only two are inhabited, namely, Bonaratte and Calauwe.

The Macaflers, who had poffeflion of Saleyer, made a ceflion of it, by the treaty ofBoni, to the King of Ternate; but it has fince, in the lapfe of time and by flow degrees,been wrefted from the Ternatefe, by the Company.

Saleyer is very mountainous and woody, and there are many deer in its forefts. Itproduces ocbee and batta: the lafl. is a fort of millet, which conftitutes a chief part ofthe food of its inhabitants. Much coarfe blue and white ftriped cloth is made hereof the capas, or cotton, which it likewife produces f.

* They build their proas, which they call paduakans, very tight, by dowling the planks together, ascoopers do the parts that form the head of a cafk, and putting the bark of a certain tree between, whichfwells, and then fit timbers to the planks, as at Bombay ; but do not rabbet, as it is called, the planks,as is done there. In Europe we build reverfely; we fet up the timbers firft. and fit the planks to themafterwards. They are bigotted to old models and fixtures in fitting their veflels. The larged never exceedfifty tons. They have their bow lowered, or cut down, in a very awkward manner, fo as to be often underwater; a bulk-head is haded a good way abaft the dem, to keep off the fea. They have a tripod mad,with a high pointed fail: the tripod mad is made of three dout bamboos ; two riling from the fides, andone from the fore-part of the veffel, lathed together at the top : the two feet abread are bored at the lowerend acrofs, with holes about three inches in diameter ; and thefe holes receive the two ends of a piece oftimber, which goes acrofs, like a main thaft ; on thefe the two abread parts of the tripod turn, as upon ahinge : the fore part of the mad is fixed forward like a mainday, to a knee a-midlhips, with a forelock;by unlocking the forelock, the mad is druck in a moment. Ts.

f Captain Fored, who was cad away, in the Bonetta ketch, on a fmall, defert, fandy ifland, ead ofSaleyer, travelled acrofs the latter in 1763, accompanied by the refident. They were carried by men up

the