hief exceptions to this,
and they are my pet tribe. The language of Sakarran and Sarebus is the
same as the Sibnowan; and with all the word God, the _Allah Talla_
of the Malays, is expressed by _Battara_, from which we may infer
that their notion of the Deity, as probably was all the religion of
these regions, was derived from the Hindoos.

"When this force of Dyaks was, contrary to the assurance given to
me, sweeping up the river, I had just finished a late dinner. I was
_angry enough_, and resolved instanter to leave the house, when who
should come in, _as if by pure accident_, but Pangeran Budrudeen,
the rajah's brother. I controlled myself, spoke strongly withal but
civilly, and sent him away wishing he had not come near me; and the
boat being ready, I retired from the house to the Royalist. Their
immediate recall was the consequence; for the rajah having denied his
permission, those who fathered the act dared not persist in it when I
told them it was an act of disobedience. They tried to frighten me with
the idea that the Dyaks would attack us; but as I felt sure we could
blow them away in ten minutes, it had not the desired effect. They
had in the mean time reached Leda Tanah, whence they were brought down
again sulky enough, and did show a slight inclination to see whether
the people on board the Swift were keeping watch; for several of their
boats dropped close to her, and one directly under the bowsprit, as
silently as death; but on being challenged, and a musket leveled near
them, they sheered off, and the next day finally departed. The poor
Dyaks in the interior, as well as the Chinese, were in the greatest
state of alarm, and thence I gained some credit among them for my
interference on their behalf. The very idea of letting 2500 wild
devils loose in the interior of the country is horrible; for though
they have one professed object, they combine many others with it,
and being enemies of all the mountain tribes, they cut them up as much
as they can. What object, it may be inquired, can the Malays have in
destroying their own country and people so wantonly? I must endeavor
to explain, to the best of my belief and knowledge. The Malays take
part in these excursions, and thirty men joined the Sakarrans on
the present occasion, and consequently they share in the plunder,
and share largely. Probably Muda Hassim would have got twenty shares
(women and children); and these twenty being reckoned at the low rate
of t