m A VISIT TO THE INDIAN ARCH [PEL AGO, 



character and deeds of tlie Serebaa and Sakarran pirates 

 on tlie coast of Borneo, considering tbat they bad reached 

 the pitch of ilaring nov\r to be described, and that their 

 effect on conimerce and on all industrial pursuits had 

 become such as is exhibited in tlie folloT\ing passage. It 

 is from the pen of Sir James Brooks himself It would 

 he as much waste of time to argue his title to be beUcTed 

 above Pengaren Miles Labuan, sm it would be to compare 

 their styles of writing. 



Tlie piratical character of the Serebas pirates," writes 

 Her Majesty^s anti -piratical Commissioner, " ib so notorious 

 t3iat the native laughs when he hears that it is doubted. 

 The slaughters perpetrated, the vessels captured, the 

 tov-Tis pUlagedj the men murdered, the women and 

 children reduced to slavery — tlie former to worse than 

 slavery I — aj*e proved and recorded facts. These, and 

 such-like subjects are the common topics of conversation ; 

 the latest depredidlon of the Serebas is mentbned as tlie 

 last horrid murder is mentioned in London, The first 

 inquiry of the trader on arriving in port, is, whether tbe 

 Serebaa are at sea. The fislierman dares not follow his 

 vcication ; the land below the defences of each town Um 

 uncultivated ; districts, fertile oiiee, are denuded of their 

 population ; trade destroyed ; the shores rendered unsafe; 

 rapine stalks abroad, and no community is strong enough 

 to cope single-handed with the pirates. The effects on 

 commerce may be imaghied ; the unscrupulous seek profit, 

 in spite of danger, by dealing with the plunderers, aad 



