tly asserted by
the rajah and Macota, that, were it not for the underhand assistance
of the Sultan of Sambas, who had constantly supplied them with food
and ammunition, the insurgents would long since have been dispersed.

"At the period in question they were said to be in great distress
for want of provisions; and as a force was collecting to attack them
from various quarters, it was greatly to be hoped that the war was
verging to a termination. During my week's stay I have frequently
visited Muda Hassim, and he has likewise been on board: our good
understanding knows no interruption; and these savage, treacherous,
bloodthirsty Borneons are our good friends, with whom we chat and
laugh every evening in familiar converse. I find no cause to alter my
last year's opinion, that they have few active vices; but indolence
is the root of their evils.

"_Sept. 7th._--Last night I received a strange and embarrassing
present, in the shape of a young Dyak boy of five years old--a
miserable little prisoner, made during this war, from the tribe of
Brong. The gift caused me vexation, because I knew not what to do
with the poor innocent; and yet I shrink from the responsibility of
adopting him. My first wish is to return him to his parents and his
tribe; and if I find I cannot do this, I believe it will be bettor
to carry him with me than leave him to become the slave of a slave:
for should I send him back, such will probably be his fate. I wish
the present had been a calf instead of a child.

"_9th._--Situ, my Dyak boy, seems content and happy; and judging by his
ways, and his fondness for tobacco, he must be older than I at first
supposed. In pursuance of my desire to restore him to his parents
I made every inquiry as to their probable fate; but have learned
nothing that leaves me any hope that I shall be able to do so. The
Brong tribe having taken part with the rebels, were attacked by the
rajah's people; and many were killed and the rest scattered. Pino,
the Brong, knows not whether Situ's parents are alive or dead; nor,
if the former, whither they have fled. Supposing my endeavors to
restore the child fail, I have resolved to keep him with me, for many
reasons. The first is that his future prospects will be better, and
his fate as a freeman at Singapore happier, than as a slave in Borneo;
the second, that he can be made a Christian. I can easily provide
for him in some respectable household, or take him to England, as may
her