MADURA, an island in the Eastern Seas, situated off the north coast of the island of Java, from which it is separated by the Strait of Madura, which is a hundred miles in length by sixteen in average breadth. The channel at its
Mæander narrowest part is only eighty-three fathoms wide, and is marked by buoys. There is a depth of only three fathoms at the entrance, which can easily be passed by ships of a large size, the bottom being of a soft mud, through which a vessel is carried by the slightest breeze, aided by the current, which is strong. The inhabitants resemble the Hindus in their appearance, and worship their divinities, namely, Indra, Surya, and Vishnu. The inhabitants of the interior are rude and barbarous. They attack their enemies with poisoned arrows, which they blow through a tube. The Dutch invaded and subdued this island in 1747, and made slaves of a great number of them. Long. 112. 54. E. Lat. 6. 44. to 7. 15. S.