280 SYMPATHY AND CONFIDENCE TOWARDS EUROPEANS. 
about the same as the king’s. After the usual forms of civility, we 
asked the necessary permission to visit several places, to seethe Jakuns. 
The king received the request with kindness, and allowed us to go 
wherever we chose within the boundaries of his state; and after a 
few minutes of friendly conversation he got up, saying to us, come 
here, I will show you some Jakuns, and took the Revd. Mr. Borie by 
the hand. I followed them accompanied by the king’s brother. We 
went to a place, where near one hundred persons, men, women, and 
children where huddled confusedly together, lying down under some 
old and miserable cart-house, separated from any other building; re¬ 
sembling the lepers of former times, who were bound to reside out side 
the gates of the cities. After having spent a few minutes in the visit 
we paidto these poor creatures, the king accompanied usto our lodging, 
and then returned back to the palace. The afternoon was spent in 
receiving the numerous visits of a good part of the wedding guests, 
who were desirous to see us, many of them having never before seen 
a European ; for five or six hours, our house was full of people, and 
ourselves exposed to the curiosity of the public, as extraordinary be¬ 
ings, and bothered by a multitude of tedious questions. The Jakuns 
came according to their rank, and should, of course, all enter our 
house one after the other; several of them came repeatedly, and we 
understood, that they wished to communicate some secret to us ; 
and in this we were not mistaken, for they came again in the evening, 
when they had watched that there were no Malays with us, and that 
we were alone. Then they opened themselves to us, showing us how 
unhappy they were in (hat place, and what bad treatment they expe¬ 
rienced from the Malays, so that only a few days before several of 
them had been killed, and wounded by order of the Malay chief; 
they declared that they intended to escape over into the Company’s 
territory, where they hoped to find more tranquillity and assistance ; 
and asked us to take them with us. Two of them besought us to 
receive them as servants for ever, or rather as slaves, as they intend¬ 
ed not to receive any pay. I was much moved by such a mark of 
confidence : for I knew well that by speaking so, they put their lives 
nto our hands ; for the mention of their design would have undoubt- 
