The prahus were coming steadily on, up and down stream, and it could be seen from the steamer's deck that they were full of men, and bristling with spears, while any doubt as to the unfriendliness of their intentions was soon dispelled by the noise of beating gongs on board each vessel, the object being apparently to encourage each other and to excite alarm in the breasts of their foes, a result which in this case the noise decidedly failed in obtaining. The men kept glancing anxiously at their commander, who seemed to be letting the prahus approach very closely, which appeared to be a bad policy, seeing that the Malays were about ten to one, and their object would doubtless be to board the steamer and engage in a hand-to-hand fight; but Lieutenant Johnson had made his plans, and was abiding his time. He himself carefully pointed the guns, depressing them somewhat, so that the shot should strike low; and then leaving the task in the hands of the captain of each piece, he waited the result. The prahus were now within a couple of hundred yards of the steamer, and had begun firing iron shot from their little brass lelahs, when the first gun spoke out. There was a round puff of smoke and a deafening roar, and the shot struck the nearest right in the stem, tearing a great hole in her bows, and passing through her with such deadly effect that the prahu immediately began to sink, and her crew leaped overboard in confusion and began to swim ashore. Grape-shot from the smaller guns or musketry from the marines would have destroyed numbers of the Malays struggling in the water, but looking upon them as out of the fight, Lieutenant Johnson left them to struggle, some to one bank, some to the other, and gave his orders merely to the men at the great guns. It was one from the port-side that had wrought this mischief. Now one from the starboard spoke out. There was once more the great white ball of smoke, the deafening roar, and the shot struck the water about twenty yards from the nearest prahu, ricochetted, and passed clean through her, going down the river afterwards in a series of richochets. This shot caused no little confusion on board, and several of the sweeps fell uselessly in the water; but the prahu still came on, with the occupants yelling and beating their gongs. Another shot struck the water, and though well aimed for the next prahu, it rose and went over her, merely making a great gap in the matting-screen from behind which the Malays were keeping up a brisk but ineffectual fire.