Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 2.djvu/427

 HISTORY OF CELEBES. 383 have cultivated a more intiinate connection with the natives of India than any other of the adven- turers of Europe to the east. In the next reign, we are expressly told in the Macassar annals, that cannon were first intro* duced, and the art of manufacturing gunpowder acquired. In these we can be at no loss to guess at their instructors. We are more surprised to find that the vulgar art of burning bricks was not known until this time, a fact which illustrates, in the clearest manner, the previous rude condition of the arts, and the little useful intercourse which sub- sisted with strangers. The origin of a commercial in- tercourse with foreigners in the same reign, is im- plied by the regulation ascribed to it for determining weights and measures, and by the striking, for the first time, of a national coin. The violence and dis- order which reigned maybe implied from the follow- ing story, gravely told in their writings. A merchant of Java having come to Macassar to settle, present- ed the king with some European broad-cloth, and Indian cottons, and requested, in return, the four following boons for himself and his companions, — That his house should not be forcibly entered, — that the inclosure which surrounded it should not be broke down, — that the individuals of his fa- milies should not be seized as slaves, — and that his property should not be confiscated ! What we hear of in the annals of the people of Celebes consist of nothing but constant wars^