The Tuan Muda was now resolved on running the gauntlet past the town, up the river, so as to place it between himself and the land force under the Tuan Besar, whose position was in danger. It would be a hazardous as well as a daring attempt, but he prepared for it in an ingenious manner, by constructing a stockade round the _Venus_. Long beams were placed across the schooner, and to them a framework was attached horizontally, and upon this frame a stockade was erected, screening the deck and the sides to the water's edge, so that the _Venus_ assumed the appearance of a monstrous "Jack in the Green" or haystack. The thick planks reached to five feet above the bulwarks, and were pierced with holes through which the guns could play on the enemy's fortified houses as the _Venus_ drifted up-stream with the tide. This took two days to accomplish. Meanwhile on shore the land party had thrown up a bank for protection, and further the natives had dug pits about two feet deep in which they lay after duty, and were thus completely protected from the enemy's shot. But no progress up the river could be effected till the booms had been removed, and this would not be an easy matter, as they were commanded by the forts. It could be effected only at night, and by expert and daring swimmers. The Tuan Muda, Pangiran Matusin, and a nakoda, undertook the task. Under cover of the darkness, in a small canoe, they stole softly up the bank, unobserved, and then the pangiran and nakoda entering the water, with their swords set to work to sever the rattans that held the booms in place. These rattans had been twisted together to the thickness of a hawser cable, and had to be cut under water. It was an anxious time for the Tuan Muda, as any moment might have brought a volley on their heads. In an hour they were severed. Towards the latter part of the time, the enemy were on the alert, and one boom moved slightly with the tide, when a few harmless shots ensued, which we heard pass over our heads among the leaves. At length the two men returned, and the enemy cried out, "Our booms are adrift," and forthwith banged away, but never caught sight of us. Matusin was so exhausted that I had to assist him into the boat, and at first I thought he was wounded. The tide was ebbing, and the booms, now disengaged, floated downwards towards the sea. The passage was clear for the venture upwards of the _Venus_. Messrs. Watson and John Channon accompanied the Tuan Muda, who had a crew of nine Europeans, besides the Malay complement. On that night the attempt was to be made, anchor to be raised half an hour before midnight, when the tide was flowing. Happily the weather favoured, as a thick mist and drizzling rain set in.