We thought last night every claim had been settled, but this morning they commenced again, anxious to prevent any goods leaving their village. We ourselves did not care to take back to our pinnace anything that was not necessary to enable us to pay our way. We made liberal offers to them if they would carry Mr. Low to the next village, but they positively refused to assist us farther. We therefore collected our Malays outside the place, and prepared to start; and were on the point of doing so, when shouts in the village house attracted our attention, and a man ran out to say that they were plundering the baggage left in charge of the Buñgol Ida’an. As this consisted of our clothes and cooking utensils, it was not to be borne, and I ran back into the house, where I found a couple of hundred men surrounding our Ida’an followers and undoing the packages; they were startled by the sight of my rifle, and when they heard the rush caused by the advance of Mr. Low and our Malays, they fled to the end of the house, and soon disappeared through the opposite door. The panic seemed to cause the greatest amusement to the girls of this house, who talked and laughed, and patted us on the shoulders, and appeared to delight in the rapid flight of their countrymen. None of their own relatives, however, had joined in the affair. Mr. Low’s rapid advance to my support surprised me; but I found that with the assistance of a servant he had hopped the whole of the way, revolver in hand. Our men behaved with remarkable resolution, and would have driven off the whole village had it been necessary. One Malay got so excited, that he commenced a war dance, and had we not instantly interfered, would have worked himself up to run a muck among the Ida’an. Though we wished to frighten them into honesty towards us, we were most anxious that not the slightest wound should be given, and I may here remark, that in none of our journeys have we ever found it necessary to use our weapons against the inhabitants. We discovered that showing ourselves prepared to fight, if necessary, prevented its being ever necessary to fight. We pushed on to Koung by a path that led below Labang Labang, Mr. Low suffering severely from the necessity of having to walk six miles over stony country with suppurating feet. At Koung we vainly endeavoured to obtain a buffalo, on which Mr. Low might ride; but the villagers showed no inclination to assist. So next morning we pushed on through heavy rain to the village of Tambatuan, where the Tampasuk becomes a little more fit for rafts. I was glad to see Mr. Low safely there, and then, as the rafts would not hold us all, I walked on with the men. The heavy rain had caused the river to swell, and the walking and the fording were doubly difficult, but we continued our course, and in two days reached the village of Ginambur, and joining Mr. Low on the raft, pursued our journey to the Datu’s house.