The Dyak yell had, however, succeeded in throwing the whole force afloat into a similar confusion, who, not hearing the signal, concluded they, and not we, were the party attacked. The real cause we afterwards ascertained to have arisen from the alarm of a Dyak, who dreamt, or imagined, he felt a spear thrust upwards through the bamboo flooring of our building, and immediately gave his diabolical yell. The confusion was ten times as much as it would have been had the enemy really been there. So ended the adventures of the night in the wild jungle of Borneo. CHAPTER XXXIII _DIDO_: SECOND EXPEDITION [Sidenote: 1844. Aug. 11.] At daylight we were joined by Wade and Brooke, their division making a very acceptable increase to our force, and by eight o’clock the last barrier was cut through between us and Seriff Muller’s devoted town. With the exception of his own house, from which some eight or nine Malays were endeavouring to remove his effects, the whole place was deserted. They made no fight, and an hour afterwards the town had been plundered and burnt. The only lives lost were a few unfortunates, who happened to come within range of our musketry in their exertions to save some of their master’s property. A handsome large boat belonging to Seriff Muller was the only thing saved, and this I presented to Budrudeen. After a short delay in catching our usual supply of goats and poultry, with which the place abounded, we proceeded up the river in chase of the chief and his people, our progress much impeded by the immense trees felled across the river. We ascertained that the pirates had retreated to a Dyak village, situated on the summit of a hill, some twenty-five miles higher up the Undop, five or six miles only of which we had succeeded in ascending, as a most dreary and rainy night closed in, during which we were joined by D’Aeth and his division from the Lupar River. The following morning, at daybreak, we again commenced our toilsome work. We should have succeeded better with lighter boats, and I should have despaired of the heavier boats getting up had they not been assisted by an opportune and sudden rise of the tide, to the extent of 12 or 14 feet, though with this we had to contend against a considerably increased strength of current. It was on this day that my ever active and zealous First Lieutenant, Charles Wade, jealous of the advanced position of our light boats, obtained a place in my gig. That evening the _Phlegethon’s_ first and second cutters, the _Dido’s_ two cutters, and their gigs, were fortunate enough to pass a barrier composed of trees recently felled, from which we concluded ourselves to be so near the enemy that, by pushing forward as long as we could see, we might prevent further impediments from being thrown in our way. This we did, but at 9 P.M., arriving at a broad expanse of the river, and being utterly unable to trace our course, we anchored our advance force for the night. [Sidenote: Aug. 14.]