Countries which present an extended field for Christianity and commerce—which none surpass in fertility—rich beyond the Americas in mineral productions, and unrivalled in natural beauty, yet continue unexplored, and spite of the advantages which would probably result, have failed to attract the attention they so well deserve. The difficulty of the undertaking will scarcely account for its non-performance; if we consider the voluntary sacrifices made on the shrine of African research, or the energy displayed and the sufferings encountered by the explorers of the Polar regions, yet the necessity of prosecuting the voyage in an armed vessel, the wildness of the interior tribes, the lawless ferocity of the Malays, and the dangers to be apprehended from the jealousy of the Dutch, would prevent most individuals from fixing on this field for their exertions, and points it out as one which can only be fully accomplished by Government, or some influential body. It is not my object to enter into any detail of the past history of the Malayan nations, but I may refer to the undoubted fact that they have been in a state of deterioration since we first became acquainted with them; and the records of our early voyagers, together with the remains of antiquity still visible in Java and Sumatra, prove that once flourishing nations have now ceased to exist, and countries once teeming with human life are now tenantless and deserted. The causes of such lamentable changes need only be alluded to, but it is fit to remark that whilst the clamour about education is loud, and extravagant dreams are entertained of the progressive advancement of the human race, a large tract of the globe has been gradually relapsing, and allowed to relapse, into barbarism. Whether the early decay of the Malay states and their consequent demoralization arose from the introduction of Mohammedanism, or resulted from the intrigues of European ambition, it were useless to discuss; but we are very certain that the policy of the Dutch has, at the present day, reduced this ‘Eden of the Eastern wave’ to a state of anarchy and confusion, as repugnant to humanity as it is to commercial prosperity.