320 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



They tlien pulled in toward the store and jumped 

 overboard, but, by this time, they had come near 

 a village, and the natives at once all turned out 

 with their spears, the only weapons they had, and 

 scoured the wooda for these murderers until, as far as 

 could be ascertained, not one of them was left alive. 

 They seldom attack a European vessel, but, when 

 they do and succeed, they take revenge for the severe 

 punishment their countiymen receive from the Dutch 

 war-ships, and not one white man is left to tell the 

 tale of capture and massacre. The vessels that they 

 prey on chiefly are the small schooners commanded 

 by mestizoes and manned by Malays, which carry on 

 most of the trade between the Butch ports in these 

 islands. One of those vessels was taken and de- 

 stroyed by these murderers last year while sailing 

 down the coast from Kema. The whites and mesti- 

 zoes are always mm^dered, and the Malay crews are 

 kept as slaves. WhUe I was at Kema two Malays 

 appeared at the house of the officer with whom I was 

 residing, and said they were natives of a small \aLlage 

 on the bay of Gorontalo ; and that, while they were 

 fishing, tliey had been captured by a fleet of pirates, 

 who soon after set out on their homeward voyage ; 

 and, while the fleet was passing Sangir, a small island 

 between the northern end of Celebes and Mindanao, 

 they succeeded in escaping by jumping overboard and 

 swimming a long tiistance to the shore. They had 

 now reached Kema, on their voyage toward Goron- 

 talo, and they came to the officer to apply for food, 

 clothing, and some means of reaching their homes 

 once more. Such eases are specially proWded for by 



