67 



given the information, aiid pleaded that his raaa* 

 ter had compelled him tojciin the party, 



it h probable ttmtthe atrocity of this revenge, 

 50 far from quelling the spirit of theMalnyi!, sti- 

 mulated tliem to Hction. for not only Nannin^, 

 hut Rum how and Juhore, assumed a vvai iike atti- 

 tude. The Dutch, following their maxim of 

 vide el Impaa" concluded a treaty with the latter 

 state, m order that their hands might be more at 

 liberty to cru^h the nearer and ies^ powerful ones 

 of Uumbow and Nanning, whote parlies harass- 

 ed the outskirts of Malacca, not withstanding fly- 

 ing detachments were constantly sent in pursuit 

 of them. 



On the I7ih of November of the a, n. i«44, Heg, 

 ?iaine year, Nanning was split into 

 two factions, one party having been induced to 

 declare for the Dutch, whilst the other wished to 

 attack the fortress and plunder the town iti order, 

 to relieve themselves frcnn a famine* (the effects 

 of a long drought) from which they were snffering 

 considerable extremities^ being greatly in want 

 of rice and salt (the two staple ar- a, j>, !64i. Ht«. 

 tides of Malayan food) and gunpow- 

 der. These they imported from Mouar at a very 

 high rate, A runaway slave informed the Dutch 

 that the^e latter had assembled a body of a thou- 

 sand men, amongst whom there were sixty fire- 

 locks. 



In consequence of this information, the Coun- 

 cil met for deliberation, and were informed by 

 Mr. Fruitman that a road to Nanning and Rum- 

 bow through MuUikei, which afforded easy ingresi 



H 



