One little king, however, appeared to have more friendly feelings. That was the King of Sidayu, on the strait of Surabaya. He was very obliging indeed, and volunteered to pay the first call upon his distinguished visitors. At the hour which had been officially announced his Majesty, with a large number of well-armed canoes, paddled out to the Dutch ships. The Hollanders, glad at last to find so cheerful a welcome, had arranged everything for a festive occasion. The ships had hoisted their best array of flags, and the trumpeters--it was a time when signals on board were given with a trumpet--bellowed forth a welcome. The _Amsterdam_ was the first ship to be reached. The captain stood ready at the gangway to welcome the dusky sovereign, but suddenly his ship was attacked from all sides by a horde of small brown men. They swarmed over the bulwarks and hacked a dozen Hollanders to pieces before the others could defend themselves. These in turn gave fight as best they could with knives and wooden bars, but many more were killed. At last, however, the other ships managed to come to the relief of the _Amsterdam_, and they destroyed the fleet of war-canoes with a few volleys from their cannon. It was a sad business. Several of the officers had been killed. What with the illness of many of the men there were hardly sailors enough to man the four ships. The _Amsterdam_ looked like a butcher shop. It was cleaned thoroughly, the dead people were given Christian burial in the open sea, and the voyage was continued to the island of Madura. [Illustration] Here they arrived on the eighth of December, and were once more met by a large fleet of small craft. In one of these there was a native who knew a little Portuguese. He asked to speak to the commander, who at that moment was on the _Amsterdam_. Houtman told the native interpreter to row to the _Mauritius_, where he would join him in a few minutes. This was a good idea, for the people on the _Amsterdam_, who had just seen the massacre of their comrades, were very nervous and in no condition to receive another visit of natives, however friendly they intended to be. But through a mistake the boat of the interpreter did not turn toward the _Mauritius_, but returned once more to the _Amsterdam_, apparently to ask for further instructions. Then one of these horrible accidents due entirely to panic happened. The sailors of the _Amsterdam_ opened fire upon the natives. The other ships thought that this was the sign for a new general attack, and they got out their cannon. In a moment a score of well-intentioned natives, and among them their king, had been killed or were drowning.