him was impossible; so we were obliged to content
ourselves with the capture of the war canoes, which were all that we had
to show for our exertions. Disappointed, and hungry withal, we were not
sorry to find ourselves once more with our heads down the river.

I must not omit, however, to narrate a little trick played upon our
gallant captain. I have stated that the river was so narrow near its
source that we could not use the oars, and the gigs, which continued the
pursuit, had to be hauled through the bushes by the boat-hooks.
Returning to where the larger boats had been left aground, our bow-man,
who was employed shooting the gig along by such aid as the branches of
the trees, or the tendrils which hung to them, afforded him, stuck his
boat-hook into what appeared to be a suspended ball of moss; but he soon
discovered that it was something more, as it was a nest of hornets,
which sallied out in great numbers, and resented the insult to their
domicile by attacking the bowman first, as the principal aggressor, and
us afterwards, as parties concerned. Now the sting of a hornet is no
joke; we covered our faces with our handkerchiefs, or any thing we could
find, and made a hasty retreat from the spot, pushing the gig down the
stream, till we were clear of their attacks. In the hurry of our escape
we left the boat-hook hanging in the hornet's nest, and not feeling at
all inclined to go back for it, we hailed the captain's gig, which was
following us, and requested very humbly that they would be pleased to
recover our boat-hook for us, as we could not well re-ascend the stream
from the want of it. As we did not mention that it was so peculiarly
situated, the captain saw no objection, and as they came to where it
hung, his bow-man caught hold of the staff, and wrested it from its
position; but this time such force was used that the tendril gave way,
and the nest itself fell down into the boat, and the irritated insects
poured out their whole force to revenge this second aggression. The
insects after all appeared to have a knowledge of the service, for they
served out their stings in the same proportion as the prize-money is
divided: the captain came in for his full share.

Returning rather in a bad humour at having had so long a pull for
nothing, we anchored off a fortified Malay town, which went by the name
of Bintang, and which had been brought to terms by Captain Keppell on a
previous expedition up the river. The people