As soon, however, as the Rajah returned to the capital, he summoned a meeting of all the chiefs and principal men of the country, and in open court accused the Patingi of all his crimes and misdemeanours. He told him that on account of the respect he had for his family he would not try him for high treason; but that all his arms and ammunition must be handed over to abide the decision of the Government. The Patingi was too surprised to deny his guilt; in fact, he knew that every chief present was aware of his criminal intentions. It ended by his being permitted to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. The Rajah’s leniency, though judging by subsequent events misplaced, was so natural that it met with general approval, except among the more far-seeing of the Malays, who predicted that this ungrateful chief would yet do the English an ill turn. The Rajah then tried an experiment, of which some doubted the wisdom, of supplying the place of the deposed Datu by appointing the head of the Mohammedan priesthood in Sarawak to become the third ruling Malay chief. He was brother to the Datu Bandhar—a quiet, honest, good Malay. How well the Rajah judged has been shown by the subsequent history of Sarawak. The Datu Imaum has always proved the mainstay of the English in all their troubles and difficulties; and, although much over eighty, I heard of his being well and active until quite recently. The Rajah had intended to adopt no warlike measures against the pirate Dyaks, headed by the notorious chief Rentab, until the Commission was over, but after waiting fifteen months, and finding no signs of its assembling, he determined to lead an expedition against them. Previous attempts by his officers had failed, but this expedition was so well organised that its success was assured. Eight thousand Malays and Dyaks answered to the summons of their chief, whilst an expedition of fifteen hundred men threatened the enemy in the interior of the Rejang, and well-armed war prahus anchored in the Seribas. We pushed up the great Batang Lupar river, then ascended the Sakarang as far as our big war boats would go, built a fort for their protection, left a garrison—and there the Rajah was persuaded to remain, as his state of health did not permit him to expose himself to the further hardships of the advance. We proceeded in our light boats, or pushed through the jungle. I never saw such a go-as-you-please expedition. An enterprising enemy might have cut us off as we scattered through the woods, but fortunately they were over-awed by the reports of our numbers and of our arms. Captain Brooke, who was in command, saw the danger of this method of advance, and decided to continue the expedition in boats. Our people had found a large number of these in the jungle, hidden there by the enemy, so we soon had enough for the Malays. At first most of the Dyaks preferred to walk, but gradually they secured sufficient canoes to enable all to advance by the river.