The only fortification which Bencoolen possesses, is at Fort Marlborough--it is in excellent order, and situated but a short distance from the landing-place. There are not more than fifty or sixty Dutch soldiers in the place. The town is built on a point of land named Onjong Carang: it is of moderate elevation--falls back into low swampy ground, and is at times severely visited by that fatal disease, the jungle fever: the liver complaint is also very general. Bencoolen and the ten doosoons or villages, contain about eighteen thousand inhabitants, consisting of a few Dutch, some of the descendants of Englishmen, who speak the English language--Chinese, Javanese, Bengalees, Parsees, Sumatrans, Malays, &c. The Chinese occupy an enclosure in the centre of the town, and have a Budhist or temple: they bear the same characteristic marks here as elsewhere, being industrious, frugal, and thrifty. Each doosoon is governed by a rajah, who is chosen from among themselves, and if approved by the residents, he cannot lose his office during life, unless for the commission of some flagrant crime. The residents and a certain number of Rajahs form a court for the trial of all cases requiring legal investigation. If a criminal is condemned to suffer death, a copy of the trial is sent to the governor-general of Java, and if approved by him, the sentence is carried into execution. It is degrading to humanity to see the abject air with which the resident is addressed by the lower order of Sumatrans. They stand, when they enter his presence, with an aspect of humble submission: their bodies are bent--the palms of their hands are seen resting on their knees, and fear is strangely marked on their countenances. The Dutch Government has two schools here--they are conducted upon the Lancasterian plan; the first, which is kept in an outer room of the government-house, contains about twenty-five scholars. The pupils were learning arithmetic, to write on sand, and to read from certain portions of the New Testament printed in the Malayan language. The translation was made and published, many years since, at the expense of the pious and well-known philanthropist, Robert Boyle, when the place was under the jurisdiction of the British Government, and was sent forth into various parts of the island. The second school is in the orphan-house, about a mile from the resident, on a piece of high ground sloping towards the bay, of which it has a fine view: in front of this building are several acres of land, substantially walled in with brick, and covered with fruit-trees and vegetables. The boys are educated in this school for agents, writers, &c. The principal articles of export from Bencoolen, to which may be added Trippany or Bichos do Mar, and some edible bird’s-nests, have already been named. Coffee and rice are raised here only in small quantities; they are imported from Padang for home-consumption, and consequently are not articles for export.