356 JOURNAL OF A VISIT 



it ; and challenged any one present to say to his face 

 that he had done so. 



None of the number present had courage to accuse 

 him, so that Williamson could do nothing but warn 

 him to leave the place as soon as possible, and return 

 to Borneo ; but this he will probably not be in a hurry 

 to do. Thus are these people terrified at the name and 

 rank of Pangeran, and dare not resist his demands, 

 more particularly as he is backed this time by his own 

 desperate crew, and that of Nakodah Serudin, who has 

 many of the Rajah's guns, and much of his ammuni- 

 tion on board, which he would not scruple to use, as he 

 has formerly often done, against any one who may 

 offend him, and whom he thinks himself sufficiently 

 powerful to attack. 



After Williamson had finished his business, I took 

 my gun, and with a small boat, and accompanied by 

 the Bandar, went up the river to see the country, 

 though the natives tried to persuade me that I should 

 very likely meet with some of the Sarebas Dyaks, 

 with whom we were then on bad terms. We went 

 about six miles, five of which were through a salt 

 marsh, apparently of immense extent, and covered with 

 the Nipah palm, which here grows most luxuriantly. 

 Inland, the ground was slightly undulating, and 

 covered with fine jungle, in which the nearest springs 

 of water to the town are to be found, so that the 

 inhabitants have to fetch all their fresh water from 

 a distance of five or six miles. We passed several 

 salt-making establishments on the banks amongst the 



