Note 1 — BORNEO AND THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. (continued 2)

The account of this transaction is taken from the private log of one of the officers who was present in the barge during the whole time. I was not there myself. In his narrative it will be observed that he makes no mention of the natives who came down upon them having thrown spears at them, although in the extract from the "Times" it is so stated. It would appear also that there was some mistake as to the number of men on board of the prahus and the number killed. A war prahu generally contains from fifty to eighty men. Some are smaller, and occasionally they are larger, but not often. Capt. Keppell states fifty men to be the usual number in his work; and, in his conflict with the pirates, estimates the force accordingly. Now the first day there was one war prahu, which ran up a creek; and, on being fired at, the crew deserted her. On the second day there were five prahus, all captured. On the third day the five prahus engaged were not captured, the boat returning to the ship after the captain was wounded; so that in all it appears that there were nine prahus; and, allowing eighty men to each, the force would only amount to 720 men, or about one half of the number stated, viz. 1330. How the killed, amounting to 350, or about half the number, were arrived at and estimated, it is impossible to say; but in the narrative of the officer, which I have given, the major portion of the crews deserted the prahus and got on shore.