had hung a basket on a high tree which was to contain my head.

"_Sadong._--Our relations with Seriff Sahib were very unsettled;
and by the bullying tone of the people of Singe I thought it probable
he might be induced to measure his strength, backed by the Sakarran
Dyaks, against us. I have already mentioned his attack upon my Dyaks of
Sanpro, and the second dispute about the Suntah Dyaks; in the first of
these he came off with impunity; in the second I met him with success,
and out-manoeuvered him, and wrested the Dyaks from him. Shortly after
the transactions at Suntah, a boat of Sakarran Dyaks came to Sarawak
nominally _to trade_, but in reality to tamper with the fidelity of the
Datus and others. They proposed to the Tumangong to join Seriff Sahib,
stating that they were sent by him to try all the people here. 'They
had been ruined here; Seriff Sahib would restore them their property;
and if they left Muda Hassim, James Brooke, and the Chinese, they
could afterward easily make a prey of the Dyaks and Chinese, with
Seriff Sahib's assistance, and get plenty of slaves.'

"The plan proposed for the removal was as follows:--Seriff Sahib,
with forty Malay boats, and the Sakarrans with one hundred boats,
were to request permission from Muda Hassim to attack the Dyak tribe
of Siquong, and under this pretence were to come up the river, when
the Datus were to join, with their wives and children, and all were to
take flight together. The Tumangong told me this as soon as he heard it
himself; and, to make sure, I sent Patingi Gapoor to fish their story
out of them, which he did most successfully. Being assured of the fact,
I called the Dyaks, and, before some dozens of our people and one or
two persons from Singe, taxed them with their guilt. They were obliged
to confess, and insisted upon it that Seriff Sahib had sent them,
&c. Many urged me to put these Dyaks to death; but the reluctance we
all have to shedding blood withheld me, and I had no desire to strike
at a wren when a foul vulture was at hand. I dismissed the emissaries
scot-free, and then both Muda Hassim and myself indited letters to
Seriff Sahib, that of Muda Hassim being severe but dignified. Before
they were dispatched, an ambassador arrived from Singe with letters
both to the rajah and myself, disclaiming warmly all knowledge of the
treachery, swearing _the most solemn_ oaths in proof of his truth, and
declaring that, so far from having committed so shameful a