alongside, we
declined to allow a single man on board. While we were explaining this
to them, our friend the chief himself arrived, accompanied by
half-a-dozen notables, most of whom I knew, together with the now
friendly dignitary whose wrath we had aroused the previous day. They
were all full of dignity and anticipation. Captain Jensen, however, was
obdurate, and refused permission to any one to come aboard. That was
enough for the chiefs. They went away in high dudgeon, followed
immediately by all the other canoes and their occupants. When all had
disappeared, a curious stillness came over the ship, the sea, and the
tropical coast, and a strange sense of impending danger seemed to oppress
all of us. We knew that we had offended the natives, and as we could not
see a single one of them on the beach, it was pretty evident that they
were brooding over their grievance. We might have weighed anchor and
made for the open sea, only unfortunately there was a perfect calm, and
our sails, which were set in readiness for a hasty departure, hung limp
and motionless. Suddenly, as we stood looking out anxiously over the
side in the direction of the shore, we were amazed to see at least twenty
fully-equipped war-canoes, each carrying from thirty to forty warriors,
rounding the headland, some little distance away, and making straight for
our ship. Now my shrewd Dutch partner had anticipated a possible attack,
and had accordingly armed all the Malays with tomahawks, in readiness for
any attempt that might be made to board the schooner. We had also taken
off the hatches, and made a sort of fortification with them round the
wheel.

Jensen and I armed ourselves with guns, loaded our little cannon, and
prepared to make a desperate fight for our lives against the overwhelming
odds. In spite of the danger of our position, I could not help being
struck with the magnificence of the spectacle presented by the great
fleet of boats now fast advancing towards us. The warriors had all
assumed their fighting decorations, with white stripes painted round
their dusky bodies to strike terror into the beholder. Their head-dress
consisted of many-coloured feathers projecting from the hair, which they
had matted and caused to stand bolt upright from the head. Each boat had
a prow about three feet high, surmounted by a grotesquely carved figure-
head. The war-canoes were propelled by twelve men, paddling on either
side. When the first c