THE INDIAN OCEAN. 319 



drifted away out of sight. The condition of the 

 persons who had thus escaped had altered very little 

 for the better ; they were immersed to the neck in 

 water, dreading every moment the attack of sharks : 

 nor had either during the whole of the night the 

 comfort of knowing that his companion was still in 

 existence. Soon after daylight some fisliermen ap- 

 peared, by whom they were perceived ; but instead of 

 rescuing them immediately from their perilous situa- 

 tion, the Javanese consulted together for a few 

 minutes, and then approached the sufferers, and 

 demanded who they were. On being told they were 

 Englishmen, whose vessel had been attacked and 

 captured by pirates, they were taken on board, 

 treated kindly, and conveyed to the Dutch Settlement 

 at Indramayo. Had they belonged to one of tlie 

 Dutch cruisers, their fate would probably have been 

 different ; for the fishermen are on bad terms with 

 the ofi&cers of the government prahus, whom they 

 accuse of robbing them of their fish.* 



The pirates who thus infest thp Indian Archipe- 

 lago are invariably jNIahometans ; none of tlie Pagan 

 natives ever being known to engage in these mur- 

 derous expeditions. They show no mercy : the Euro- 

 peans that fall into their hands are murdered, and the 

 native seamen sold into slavery. 



We have reason to hope, however, that the days of 

 this wicked system of piracy are numbered ; and tliat 

 a brighter day has dawned for the inhabitants of these 

 gorgeous islands. In 1 8 12 the government of Sara- 

 wak, a considerable province on the western side of 



• Earl's Eastern Seas, p. 38. 

 V 2 



