first reason, the king of Gowa requested information; if for the second, he would lend his cordial co-operation; if for the third, the king of Boni must desist, for those whom he presumed to oppress were the friends of Gowa. The king of Boni made no reply and the Macassars having marched a great army into the country defeated him in three successive battles, forced him to fly the country, and reduced Boni into a province. After thirty years of subjection, the people of Boni, with the assistance of the Dutch, revolted against the Macassars, and assumed the headship of the tribes of Celebes, in the place of their former masters. [1293] The propagation of Islam certainly seems to have been gradual and slow among the Bugis, [1294] but when they had once adopted the new religion, it seems to have stirred them up to action, as it did the Arabs (though this newly-awakened energy in either case turned in rather different directions),—and to have made them what they are now, at once the bravest men and the most enterprising merchants and navigators of the Archipelago. [1295] In their trading vessels they make their way to all parts of the Archipelago, from the coast of New Guinea to Singapore, and their numerous settlements, in the establishment of which the Bugis have particularly distinguished themselves, have introduced Islam into many a heathen island: e.g. one of their colonies is to be found in a state that extends over a considerable part of the south coast of Flores, where, intermingling with the native population, which formerly consisted partly of Roman Catholics, they have succeeded in converting all the inhabitants of this state to Islam. [1296]