For years past numerous trading vessels from Kuching visited Muka to obtain this article of commerce, but in 1854 much difficulty had been felt in getting it, as at that time civil war was raging, and anarchy existed in Muka, so that trading vessels were debarred from entering the river, being liable to plunder by one party or the other. The Pangiran Ersat had been placed there in authority by the Sultan, and he had oppressed the people incessantly. But beside him there was the Pangiran Matusin, his cousin, also of royal blood, who had been brought up among the Muka people, where he had many relations through his mother, who was of inferior class. A feud had long existed between these two Pangirans, both of whose houses were fortified. Ersat had expelled his cousin from Muka, but the latter had been allowed by the Sultan to return. Matusin, though unprincipled himself,[231] could not countenance the extortions of the other, and he supported his own people against the injustice of his rival. On one occasion, as Matusin was returning home from the river mouth, he passed the abode of Ersat, when this latter, with his followers and relatives, mocked him from the platform in front of the long house, brandishing their spears and daring him to attack them. Matusin was filled with rage. Of all things that a Malay can least endure is insult. Seizing his arms, he rushed into the house, and, running amuck, cut down Ersat himself, and, in the promiscuous onslaught that followed, killed one of the Pangiran's daughters and wounded another. He then made his way forth, no one daring to oppose him, as he was a man of prodigious strength. On reaching his house, he strengthened the fortifications and prepared for an attack. In the course of a month, a large force had assembled in Muka to avenge the death of Pangiran Ersat, led by the Sherip Masahor, who had called out the Saribas Dayaks, under the jurisdiction of the Rajah of Sarawak, as well as the Kanowit Dayaks on the Rejang. They numbered more than a thousand, exclusive of Malays.