Excluding the Philippines, as distant from the scene of our present observations, it may be noticed, that of the three chief nations in these islands, occupying respectively Java, Sumatra, and Celebes, the first has, especially by its moral habits, by its superior civilization and improvements, obtained a broader and more marked characteristic than the others. Both the Malayan and _Búgis_ nations are maritime and commercial, devoted to speculations of gain, animated by a spirit of adventure, and accustomed to distant and hazardous enterprises; while the Javans, on the contrary, are an agricultural race, attached to the soil, of quiet habits and contented dispositions, almost entirely unacquainted with navigation and foreign trade, and little inclined to engage in either. This difference of character may perhaps be accounted for, by the great superiority of the soil of Java to that of the other two islands. It is to be regretted, that our information on the state and progress of society in these islands is scanty, as Europeans only became acquainted with them when they were on their decline. The Malayan empire, which once extended over all Sumatra[35], and the capital of which is still nominally at _Menáng-kábaù_ on that island, had long been dismembered; but its colonies were found established on the coasts of the Peninsula and throughout the Islands, as far east as the Moluccas. The Mahometan institutions had considerably obliterated their ancient character, and had not only obstructed their improvement, but had accelerated their decline. Traditional history concurs with existing monuments, in proving them to have formerly made considerable advances in those arts, to which their industry and ingenuity were particularly directed, and they still bear marks of that higher state of civilization which they once enjoyed. What the Malayan empire was on Sumatra, in the western part of the Archipelago, that of _Guah_ or _Mengkásar_, was on Celebes in the east; but the people of this latter nation, whom we may generally designate by the name of _Búgis_, had not been equally influenced by foreign settlers nor exposed to the inroads of the Arab missionaries, and they consequently maintained their ancient worship and their native institutions for a longer period. Like the _Maláyus_, they sent forth numerous colonies, and at one period extended the success of their arms as far west as Acheen on Sumatra, and _Kéddah_ on the Malayan peninsula, and in almost every part of the Archipelago, Malayan and _Búgis_ settlers and establishments are to be found.