every nation and race in the Archipelago, who had been captured during
this cruise, which had lasted seven months. These vessels left
Tawi-Tawi, an island to the south-west of Sooloo, in October. The Sultan
of Sooloo is in league with the pirates, and receives part of the
plunder and slaves. In the only boat boarded by Captain Brooke was found
the Sultan's flag, which is only given to people of high rank; also the
usual Illanun flag, six Dutch, and one Spanish flag, which no doubt
belonged to vessels they had captured. The men who were saved gave
details of the taking of two large vessels--one a Singapore prahu
trading to Tringanau; the other a Dutch tope, of one hundred and fifty
tons, on the coast of Borneo to the south of Pontianak. There they fell
in with five other Illanun boats, which had come down from the
northward--they themselves were going up from the southward. The
new-comers told them of a merchant vessel near at hand, and proposed
they should join them in capturing her, which they did. She had a
valuable cargo, worth ten thousand dollars. They killed everybody on
board, plundered and burnt the vessel. Only the one Chinaman escaped who
told this tale. The captives stated that this was the usual proceeding
if resistance was made. When they spare their captives' lives, they beat
them with a flat piece of bamboo over the elbows and knees, and the
muscles of arms and legs, until they are unable to move; then a halter
is put round their necks, and, when they are sufficiently tamed, they
are put to the oars and made to row in gangs, with one of their own
fellow-captives as overseer to keep them at work. If he does not do it
effectually, he is krissed and thrown overboard. If these miserable
creatures jump into the sea they spear them in the water. They row in
relays, night and day; and to keep them awake, cayenne pepper is rubbed
into their eyes or into cuts dealt them on their arms.

The masts of these prahus are very small, so that they may not be seen
at a distance. They go very fast. Those encountered by the _Rainbow_
were seen off Datu on Monday night, and on Friday morning they were near
Bintulu, a distance of two hundred and forty miles, although they had
delayed nearly two days at Muka, picking up thirty people on the coast.
Most of these were recaptured and returned to Muka. On reckoning up, it
was found that one hundred and sixty-five people had been rescued, and
perhaps one hundred and fifty or two hund