The 'Dido,' after leaving Sarawak, proceeded to the island of Burong,
which was appointed as the place of rendezvous. The force selected
for the expedition consisted of the 'Dido's' pinnace, two cutters,
and a gig, with the 'Jolly Bachelor,' carrying a long six-pounder
brass gun, and 30 of the 'Dido's' men. Several chiefs sent their
fleets, so that the native force was considerable, and it caused no
little trouble to keep them in order. The command of the expedition
was given to Lieut. Wilmot Horton, and in the pinnace with him were
Mr. W. L. Partridge, mate; Dr. Simpson, assistant-surgeon; and Mr.
Hallowes, midshipman; with 14 seamen and 5 marines. In the first
cutter was Mr. D'Aeth and Mr. Douglas, from Sarawak, and Mr. Collins,
the boatswain; and in the second cutter, Mr. Elliot, the master, and
Mr. Jenkins, midshipman. The 'Jolly Bachelor' was commanded by
Lieut. Tottenham, and Mr. Combes, midshipman, with Mr. Brooke's
medical friend, Dr. Treacher, and an amateur gentleman, Mr. Ruppel,
from Sarawak. The force from the 'Dido' consisted of about 80
officers and men. Capt. Keppel, with his accustomed gallantry,
accompanied the boats in his gig, in which Mr. Brooke also embarked.
Lieut. E. Gunnell, in the second gig, had the difficult duty assigned
to him of preserving order among the extensive fleet of native boats.
A variety of motives had brought together this curious assemblage of
Europeans, Malays, and Dyaks. The British wish was to put down
piracy; the Malays came for plunder; the Dyaks to revenge themselves
for the atrocities committed by the Sarebus and Sakarran pirates. On
the 9th June, 1843, the expedition had got 30 miles up the river, and
Captain Keppel laughingly says, as he pulled along the line of his
tiny fleet, he felt as proud as Sir William Parker could when leading
75 British ships up the Teang-se-Keang River into the heart of the
Celestial Empire.
Captain Keppel being ahead, soon afterwards fell in with a couple of
boats evidently belonging to some pirates which had been chased the
previous day. He fired his rifle, when the crews took to flight and
escaped among the jungle. At a place called Boling, they met with a
dangerous obstacle, called a bore. It is caused by the tide coming
in with a tremendous rush, as if an immense wave of the sea had
suddenly rolled up the stream. Then finding itself confined on
either side, it extends across like a high bank of water, curling and
breaking as it goes, and from the frightful velocity with which it
passes up, it carries all before it. In certain bends of the river
the bore does not break across, and it was therefore the aim of the
boats to gain these spots between the times of its activity.
Just below Boling, the river branches off to the right and left; that
to the left leading to a nest of pirates at Pakoo, who are in
communication with those of Paddi, the place first to be attacked. A
vessel, called a 'Tope,' laden with provisions and ammunition, had
been brought up thus far, and she was here left, with a strong body
to guard her. The advancing force now consisted of the 'Dido's'
boats, the three Datus from Sarawak, and some Sow Dyaks eager for
heads and plunder. On the 11th, as they passed rapidly up the
stream, the beating of gongs and the loud yelling warned them that
they were approaching their enemies. A sudden turn in the river
brought them in front of a steep hill, which rose from the bank. As
they hove in sight, several hundred savages rose up, and gave one of
their war-yells. "It was the first," says Captain Keppel, "I ever
heard. No report from musketry or ordnance could ever make a man's
heart feel so small as mine did at that horrid yell. I had no time
to think, but took a shot at them with my double-barrel as they
rushed down the steep, while we were hurried past." As the large
boat came up she gave them a dose from her heavy gun. A barrier of
stakes was now encountered, but the gig pushed through, and found
herself in the presence of three formidable-looking forts, which
immediately opened a heavy fire on her. Luckily their guns were
elevated for the range of the barrier, a few grape shot only
splashing the water round her. The boat was drifting fast towards
the enemy. The banks of the river were covered with warriors, who
yelled and rushed down to secure her. With some difficulty the long
gig was got round, and, Rajah Brooke steering, she was paddled up
against the stream. During this time Captain Keppel and his coxswain
kept up a fire on the embrasures, to prevent the enemy reloading
before the pinnace could bring her twelve-pound carronade to bear.
Unfortunately she fell athwart the barrier, and had three men wounded
while thus placed. With the aid, however, of some of the native
auxiliaries, the ratan-lashings which secured the heads of the stakes
were cut, and the first cutter got through. The other boats then
followed and kept up a destructive fire on the fort. Mr. D'Aeth, who
was the first to land, jumped on shore with his crew at the foot of
the hill, on the top of which the nearest fort stood, and at once
rushed for the summit. This mode of warfare--this dashing at once in
the very face of their fort--was so novel and incomprehensible to the
enemy, that they fled panic-struck into the jungle, and the leading
men of the British could scarcely get even a snap shot at them. That
evening the country was illuminated for miles by the burning of the
capital, Paddi, and the adjacent villages. The guns in the forts
were also taken, and the stockades burnt. The banks of the river
were here so narrow, that it was necessary to keep vigilantly on the
alert, as a spear even could easily be thrown across, though for the
greater part of the night the burning houses made it light as day.
In the evening Drs. Simpson and Treacher amputated the arm of the
captain of the forecastle on board the 'Dido.' In the morning a
fleet of prahus came sweeping towards them, and were only discovered
to be friends just in time to save them from a deadly discharge from
the six-pounder.
In the evening a party under Lieut. Horton, who was accompanied by
Rajah Brooke, was sent up the left stream. Capt. Keppel was at
supper on board the 'Jolly Bachelor' when the sound of the pinnace's
twelve-pounder carronade broke through the stillness of the night.
This was responded to by one of those simultaneous war-yells
apparently from every part of the country. Captain Keppel, on this
jumping into his gig, pulled off to the aid of his friends. From the
winding of the stream, the yells appeared to come from every
direction, sometimes ahead, sometimes astern. Proceeding thus for
nearly two hours, a sudden and quick discharge of musketry warned him
that he was approaching the scene of action.
He kept his rifle ready for use on his knee, and to give an idea that
he was bringing up a strong reinforcement, he ordered the bugler he
had with him to strike up "Rory O'More." This was immediately
responded to by three British cheers, followed, however, by a
death-like silence, which made him suppose that the enemy were
between him and his friends.
Seeing some human forms before him, he hailed, and receiving no
answer, fired, supposing them to be Dyaks, when to his horror, Lieut.
Horton exclaimed, "We are here, Sir." Providentially no one was
hurt. The sound of the current had prevented his hail being heard.
The party had taken up a very clever position on the top of a bank
from which the jungle had been cleared for about thirty yards, and
which rose perpendicularly from a little bay just big enough to hold
the boats. Here Lieut. Gunnell was posted with seven royal marines
as a rear-guard. This was an important position, and one of danger,
as the jungle itself was alive with the enemy; and although spears
were hurled from it continually during the night, no shot was thrown
away unless the figure of the pirate could be distinctly seen. The
rain fell heavily, the men wore their great coats to keep their
pieces dry. Often during the long night a musket was raised to the
shoulder, and lowered as the enemy flitted by. These in the boats
below stood facing the opposite hank of the river, with their arms in
their hands. It appears that the enemy had come down in great force
to attack the boats from that side; and as the river was there very
shallow, and the bottom hard, they could, by wading not more than
knee-deep, have approached to within five or six yards of them:--but
in the first attack they had lost a good many men, and it is supposed
that their repeated advances during the night were more to recover
their dead and wounded, than to make any attack on the compact little
force of British, whose deadly aims and rapid firing had told with
such effect, and who certainly were, one and all, prepared to sell
their lives as dearly as possible. For some object they had begun
felling some large trees, and their torches showing their position,
Mr. Partridge kept up a hot fire on them from the pinnace, and a
signal rocket fired among them made them take to flight. Two natives
and one marine of the British party were wounded; and the latter poor
fellow, a gallant young officer named Jenkins, already distinguished
in the Chinese war, volunteered to convey in the second gig, with
four boys only, down to the 'Jolly Bachelor.' He performed this
duty, and was again up with the party before daylight. At dawn the
pirates began assembling in some force, but as the boats advanced up
the river towards a spot where they had left their wives and
children, they sent in a flag-of-truce. Several chiefs soon
appeared, and the result of the conference was, that they undertook
to abandon piracy if their lives were spared. This was agreed to,
and they have strictly adhered to their promises.
The expedition now advanced towards Rembas, and early in the morning
came up with a succession of formidable barriers very difficult to
cut through. About a mile below the town, 700 Linga Dyaks were
landed, under command of Sheriff Jaffer and his fine-spirited son.
Captain Keppel managed in his light gig to get through the barriers,
and as the other boat came up, he opened a fire on the stockade,
which was full of men, this, with the war-yell cries from Sheriff
Jaffer's party, threw them into the greatest confusion, and made them
fly on all sides. On this the crews landed, and took possession of
Rembas, which was found to be the largest town they had yet seen. As
a severe lesson to the pirates, the place was given up to the native
allies to plunder, and was afterwards completely destroyed.
The kind-hearted and talented Dr. Simpson having slipped overboard
while suffering from fever, caught a cold, which soon ended his days.
The 'Dido,' soon after this, sailed for Singapore and China.