They have also been present in the written records of other Europeans henceforth; including in Sulawesi by the Dutch colonies in 1675, in Sulawesi and eastern Borneo by Thomas Forrest in the 1770s, and in the west coast of Borneo by Spenser St. John in the 1850s and 1860s. Sama-Bajau were often widely mentioned in connection to sea raids ("mangahat"), piracy and the slave trade in Southeast Asia during the European colonial period, indicating that at least some Sama-Bajau groups from northern Sulu (e.g. the Banguingui) were involved, along with non-Sama-Bajau groups like the Iranun. The scope of their pirate activities was extensive, commonly sailing from Sulu to as far as Moluccas and back again. Aside from early European colonial records, they may have also been the pirates described by Chinese and Arab sources in the Straits of Singapore in the 12th and 13th centuries. Sama-Bajau usually served as low-ranking crewmembers of warboats, directly under the command of Iranun squadron leaders, who in turn answered to the Tausūg "datu" of the Sultanate of Sulu. The Bajoe harbour in Sulawesi was the site of a small settlement of Sama-Bajau under the Bugis Sultanate of Bone. They were significantly involved in First and Second Bone Wars (1824–1825), when the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army sent a punitive expedition in retaliation for Bugis and Makassar attacks on local Dutch garrisons. After the fall of Bone, most Sama-Bajau resettled in other areas of Sulawesi. During the British colonial rule of Sabah, the Sama-Bajau were involved in two uprisings against the North Borneo Chartered Company: the Mat Salleh rebellion from 1894 to 1905, and the Pandasan Affair of 1915. Modern Sama-Bajau are generally regarded as peaceful, hospitable, and cheerful people, despite their humble circumstances. However, a significant number are also illiterate, uneducated, and impoverished, due to their nomadic lifestyle. The number of modern Sama-Bajau who are born and live primarily at sea is diminishing. Cultural assimilation and modernisation are regarded as the main causes. Particularly blamed is the dissolution of the Sultanate of Sulu, the traditional patron of the Sama-Bajau for bartering fish for farm goods.