Mention has been made of the Sepoys. It may be here said how that some of these men came into the Rajah's service. Many of the Sepoys, who had been mixed up with the rebellion in India, and were sentenced to death, had their sentence commuted to penal servitude in the Andamans for life. The Indian Government proposed to the late Rajah to take charge of some of these in Sarawak, and to this he consented, and fifty arrived from Port Blair in March, 1866. There were some soldiers, quite boys, and raw recruits, some of various other trades, and one or two were of superior rank. On reaching Sarawak, they all elected to join the military force, and were distributed among the out-stations. With very few exceptions, they proved themselves to be a steady and reliable set of men. They were treated as free men, the only stipulation imposed upon them was that they were not to leave the country. A few were pardoned and returned to India, the rest died as pensioners of the Sarawak Government.[304] On May 13, 1870, an attack was made on Sibu fort[305] by a force of some 3000 Kanowit Dayaks under the noted chief, Lintong or Mua-ari. Sibu fort, which is situated on an island, was then in the charge of Mr. H. Skelton,[306] with Mr. H. Brooke Low as his assistant, and was manned by a force of about thirteen Sepoys. Mr. Skelton had been frequently warned of the impending attack, but gave no credit to these warnings, and would allow no extra arms to be loaded. That very evening, during dinner-time, a noted Dayak chief, Unggat, had come in to inform Mr. Skelton that the place was to be attacked. Mr. Skelton was angry at being interrupted during his meal, and vowed, that if no assault was made, the man should be imprisoned. When the place eventually was attacked, the chief paced up and down in the fort and would take no part in the defence. It was the custom of the Sepoys to go out by the back-door before daybreak to perform their ceremonial ablutions, and of this the Dayaks were aware, and lay in wait about the exit to surprise them. But the Sepoys were on their guard, and the door was not opened. The Dayaks then attacked the fort in force, endeavouring to cut their way in with axes, but they were beaten off. Amongst the killed was Lintong's eldest son, a boy who had been the inseparable companion of Mr. J. B. Cruickshank, the Resident of the Rejang, who was then at home on leave.