The pirates found the entrances of
the river occupied by their enemies,--the English, Malay, and Dyak
forces being placed in three detachments, while the Nemesis was fully
prepared to assist whenever the attack should begin. "Then there was a
dead silence, broken only by three strokes of a gong, which called the
pirates to a council of war. A few minutes afterwards a fearful yell
gave notice of their advance, and the fleet approached in two divisions.
In the dead of the night there ensued a terrible scene. The pirates
fought bravely, but they could not withstand the superior forces of
their enemy. Their boats were upset by the paddles of the steamer. They
were hemmed in on every side, and five hundred men were killed sword in
hand, while twenty-five hundred escaped to the jungles, many of them to
perish. The morning light showed a sad spectacle of ruin and defeat.
Upwards of eighty prahus and bangkongs were captured, and many more
destroyed." The English officers would have gladly saved life; but the
pirates would take no quarter, and the prisoners were few. It was a
striking fact, that one of the war-boats under Mr. Brooke was manned by
some thirty Malays, every one of whom had lost during the year a near
relative, killed by these same pirates.
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