PIRATES AND WILD-MEN. 407 



people that they willingly gave us a bullock for a piece of 

 calico, and a fowl for an empty wine-bottle. They told a 

 pitiful, and no doubt perfectly true, story about a famous 

 Illanon pirate-chief, having come from the neighbouring 

 Tampassook, and taken away the young men of the vil- 

 lage, leaving those that remained nearly destitute. The 

 adjoining country is beautiful, exhibiting in its sea-ward 

 aspect more especially, gently undulating hills, covered 

 with a long, rank, green-looking grass, in many parts 

 higher than a man's head ; little rivulets trickle down the 

 sides, and form refreshing springs under the shade of the 

 trees that overhang the beaches of little coves and bays. 

 The mountains in the vicinity are inhabited by a wild 

 and savage race of Dyaks, possessed, by all accounts, 

 of a much larger stock of energy than the poverty-stricken 

 gypsies of the village. The bay abounded with fish of 

 the most beautiful colours and striking forms, keeping 

 my pencil pretty well employed. 



On the 10th of November we touched at Tampassook, 

 a lovely, fertile plain, with a river running through it, 

 from its source in the huge mountain of Kini Balu, 

 which towers above the plain, and forms a most imposing 

 back-ground. The towns about here, and on the river's 

 banks, are stated to swarm with Illanon pirates, a brave 

 and bold set of buccaneers, who keep the entire coasts of 

 Borneo and other islands in a constant state of alarm. 

 Those we saw were fierce, proud, and well-made men, 

 handsomely clothed, and fully armed. 



Among several other splendid insects captured by me 

 in the course of this short cruise, I may mention a large 

 and handsome new species of Lantern-Fly, which I have 



