one of which each male carries, are short swords, from eighteen inches to two feet in length, irregularly shaped, and made of an unpolished soft metal; they are carried in neat wooden sheaths; the handles are of ivory, beautifully carved and ornamented. This is not the work of the Malay, but of the Chinese; and the fact explains the eagerness with which they purchase whale’s teeth--their hardness, and the superior whiteness of the ivory, rendering them peculiarly applicable for this purpose. These weapons are used by them in their encounters with wild beasts, more particularly the tiger, which infests these islands. Usually, when the tiger seizes his prey, they told us, he catches his victim by the calico which encircles the waist, thus leaving his arms free; then the Malay, feeling for the shoulder-blade, inserts his creese, and, piercing the beast’s heart, relieves himself from his cruel enemy. Their descriptions of their encounters with the tiger I am inclined to think are, to a great extent, bombast; as from observation, I have little faith in their confidence in themselves or weapons--one of the boatsteerers belonging to the James Allen, when under the influence of their abominable toddy, driving a score of them before him with a good sized cudgel. Beside their creeses, each carries in his girdle a box containing the beetle-nut, of which he takes a large piece enveloped in a green leaf, belonging to I know not what plant, and swallows it with great gusto. This practice, which is to them as much of a necessity as tobacco is to a sailor, blackens their teeth to an ebon tinge, and, I should judge, ruined them; as few, even of the youngest of those who have arrived at maturity, have anything but stumps of teeth. They also use the tobacco which grows on the island, known to seamen as “shag tobacco.” It has little taste, and when smoked, exhales an unpleasant odor; grows in threads and looks like saffron.