obtained from the ship was brought up in the native boats,
as well as the whole crew of the Samarang. Mr. Brooke insisted upon all
the officers making a temporary abode at his house, and prepared a shed
for the crew. An excellent dinner was laid before the officers, while a
substantial mess of fowls and rice was served out to the crew. In fact,
the kindness of Mr. Brooke was beyond all bounds. The gentlemen who
resided with him, as well as himself, provided us with clothes from
their own wardrobes, and during our protracted stay did all in their
power to make us comfortable; indeed, I may safely say, that we were so
happy and comfortable, that there were but very few of the officers and
crew of the Samarang that ever wished to see her afloat again. But I
must return to my narrative.

The morning after our disaster we went down to the ship, and commenced
recovering provisions and stores, sending down masts and yards, and
every other article deemed necessary; and this was continued for several
days: during which the midshipmen, petty officers, and seamen were
removed to the opposite shore, where two houses had been, by Mr. Brooke,
prepared for their reception. Our house, (the midshipmen's) we
christened Cockpit Hall; it was very romantically situate in the middle
of a plantation of cocoa nut, palm, banana, and plantain trees. It was
separated from the house in which the seamen were barracked by a small
kind of jungle, not more than 300 yards in extent, but so intricate that
we constantly lost our way in it, and had to shout and receive an
answer, or go back and take a fresh departure. Our garden, in which
there was a delightful spring of cold water, extended on a gentle slope
about a hundred yards in front of the house, where its base was watered
by a branch of the Sarawak; in which we refreshed ourselves by bathing
morning and evening, in spite of the numerous alligators and water
snakes with which the river abounds. But our incautious gambols received
a check. Two of our party agreed to proceed to the mouth of the branch I
have mentioned, to determine which could return with the greatest
speed. They had commenced their swimming race, when we, who stood ashore
as umpires, observed an enormous water snake, with head erect, making
for the two swimmers. We cried out to them to hasten on shore, which
they did; while we kept up a rapid discharge of stones at the head of
the brute, who was at last driven off in another directio