They then pulled in toward the shore and jumped
overhoard, hut, hy this time, they had come near
a village, and the natives at once all turned out
with their spears, the only weapons they had, and
scoured the woods for these murderers until, as far as
could be ascertained, not one of them was left alive.
They seldom attack a European vessel, hut, when
they do and succeed, they take revenge for the severe
punishment their countrymen receive from the Dutch
war-ships, and not one white man is left to tell the
tale of capture and massacre. The vessels that they
prey on chiefly are the small schooners commanded
hy mestizoes and manned hy Malays, which carry on
most of the trade between the Dutch ports in these
islands. One of those vessels was taken and destroyed
hy these murderers last year while sailing
down the coast from Kema. The whites and mestizoes
are always murdered, and the Malay crews are
kept as slaves. While I was at Kema two Malays
appeared at the house of the officer with whom I was
residing, and said they were natives of a small village
on the hay of Gorontalo ; and that, while they were
fishing, they had been captured hy a fleet of pirates,
who soon after set out on their homeward voyage;
and, while the fleet was passing Sangir, a small island
between the northern end of Celebes and Mindanao,
they succeeded in escaping hy jumping overboard and
swimming a long distance to the shore. They had
now reached Kema, on their voyage toward Goron-
talo, and they came to the officer to apply for food,
clothing, and some means of reaching their homes
once more. Such cases are specially provided for hy
the Dutch Government, and their request was immediately
granted. A few years ago these pirates sent
a challenge to the Dutch fleet at Batavia to come and
meet them in the Strait of Macassar, and several
officers assured me that five ships were sent. When
they arrived there no pirates were to he seen, hut to
this day all believe the challenge was a bona fide one,
and that the only reason that the pirates were not
ready to carry out their part was because more men-
of-war appeared than they had anticipated. A short
time after I arrived hack at Batavia, a fleet of these
plunderers was destroyed in that very strait. One
chief, who was taken on the opposite coast of Borneo
a few years ago, acknowledged that he had previously
commanded two expeditions to the Macassar Strait,
and that, though the Dutch war-ships had destroyed
his fleet both times, he had been able to escape hy
swimming to the shore. At Kema I saw one of the
five praus that were taken in that vicinity last year.
It was an open boat about fifty feet long, twelve
wide, and four deep. There were places for five
oars on each side. At the how and stern was a
kind of deck or platform, and in the middle of each
a small vertical post, on which was placed a long
swivel, throwing a pound-ball. They do not, how-^
ever, depend on these small cannon, hut always ge+
alongside a vessel as soon as possible, and then hoard
her at the same moment on all sides in overpowering
numbers. It is almost impossible to catch them unless
it is done hy surprise, and this they carefully
guard against hy means of spies on the shore. Our
captain informed me that several times when he has