wishes that they should abandon piracy.

"Last year Captain Belcher told the sultan and myself, that it
would be pleasing to the Queen of England that we should repress
piracy; and we signed an agreement, at his request, in which we
promised to do so; and we tell our friend of the piracies and evil
actions of the Sakarran people, who have, for many years past,
done much mischief to trade, and make it dangerous for boats to
sail along the coast; and this year many prahus, which wanted
to sail to Singapore, have been afraid. We inform our friend
Captain Keppel of this, as we desire to end all the piracy,
and to perform our agreement with the Queen of England."

_Monday, 5th August, 1844_, being the morning fixed for the departure
of our expedition against the Sakarran pirates, the Phlegethon steamer
weighed at 8 o'clock, and proceeded down the river to await at the
mouth the collection of our force. Among those who accompanied us from
Sarawak was the Pangeran Budrudeen, the intelligent brother of the
rajah already noticed. This was a great and unusual event in the royal
family; and the departure from the rajah's wharf, which I viewed from
Mr. Brooke's house, on the opposite bank of the river, was intended
to be very imposing. The barge of state was decked out with banners
and canopies; all the chiefs attended, with the Arab priest Mudlana
at their head, and the barge pushed off amid the firing of cannon,
and a general screech, invoking the blessing of Mahomet.

Having seen the last boat off, Mr. Brooke and myself took our departure
in the gig, when another and last farewell salute was fired from the
rajah's wharf.

Three hours brought us to the steamer, anchored off the fishing huts
at the mouth of the river. Here we heard that a small boat from
the enemy's country had, under the pretence of trading, just been
in to spy into our force, but decamped again on the appearance of
the steamer. We now all got fairly away together, the smaller boats
keeping near the shoals in shore, while the steamer was obliged to make
an offing some miles from the coast. From the masthead we distinctly
made out the small boat that had left the mouth of the river before,
both pulling and sailing in the direction of the Batang Lupar, up which
the Sakarran country lies; and as it was desirable that the pirates
should not get information of our approach, at dusk, being well in
advance, and our auxilia