had the
greatest difficulty in persuading the Malays to give shelter to the
Chinese Christians and children. I answered for their good behaviour;
but all Chinese, whether rebels or no, were in sufficiently bad odour in
those days. At last I got them part of a house to themselves. No sooner
was all arranged than the Bishop arrived in his little boat; it was like
receiving him from the dead.

Presently appeared the Rajah's war boat, he standing at the stern. We
all ran down to meet him and Mr. Crookshank, and take them to Bertha,
who had been carried into a house. While we were all standing on the
little wharf, built on tall piles into the water, the Malays cried out
that it was giving way, and we must all go into the houses. The Bishop
then decided what to do with his large party. Mr. Helms had a schooner
close by, in which he was going to Sambas, to seek assistance from the
Dutch, our nearest neighbours. He kindly offered to take Miss Woolley,
Miss Coomes, and two of our eldest school-boys with him. The rest of us
could go to Linga, where there was a fort, as a little pinnace belonging
to Mr. Steele lay handy at the mouth of the river. The Chinese, however,
implored to go with us; and indeed it would have been cruel to leave
them a prey to the Malays, or the bad Chinese, or the Dyaks. When we
were lodged in the pinnace, therefore, the Bishop went back to Jernang,
and packed all our Chinese into the life-boat, which was attached by a
rope to the pinnace; so we were all together. It was nearly dark when we
weighed anchor, and left the mouth of the river. There was a tiny cabin,
just large enough to hold Bertha on her mattress; a fowl-house, into
which our native children crept; an open hold, where we women sat down
on our bundles, with our children in our arms; and there was a place for
cargo forward, where the men settled themselves. The Rajah in his war
boat also proceeded to Linga, and we expected him to arrive long before
our slow boat; he would meet Mr. Johnson, his nephew, there, and
organize a force of Dyaks from the great rivers, Sakarran and Batang
Lupar, to drive away the Chinese rebels. We never had any doubt of their
doing this eventually, though we feared the remedy might be almost as
bad as the disease, if the Dyaks proved unmanageable and quarrelled with
one another. The night was very dark and wet, and the deck leaked upon
us, so that we and our bags and bundles were soon wet through. But we
neither heeded