The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1882-06-17

Laksamana, covered with blood, and looking like
a tiger that had been gorging upon a slaughtered
herd of helpless animals.
Again Laksamana cried out with a loud voice,
calling upon the chief of Pontiauak 10 rise up,
and ONE before him. An old man stood up,
and came forward and Frustrated himself before
the bloody chief, saying, "Thy slave, named
Barangkaya, desires to know the will of his
lord" Now, to him. Laksamana spoke in a
gentle tone My father, | want fifty Of your
young men whose brows are yet without 4
wrinkle also fifty well-lavored young damsels
who have never known a man, and whose bodies
are without spot or scar OF disease-all OF whom
are 10 be slaves of my lord the great chief of MIA.
And furthermore, l ask you, father, for as much
gold as one Of my strong men can lift; and
as many diamonds, the size of a bean, as will
make a necklace TO encircle my neck. When
these slaves, and this treasure are surrendered TO
me, along with three of your best war boats,
then We will leave you, my father, and all your
people in peace"
The old chief Barankaya groaned on hearing
these words, and prayed that be and his people
might be granted time, till day should dawn,
when they would know how to arrange and COM
ply with the demands of the great lord. At this
Laksamana cried out Now, o father, the
slaves, and the gold. and the diamonds must be
delivered so that we depart before the dawn or,
if not so, our kreeses will drink more blood, and
we may not stay our hands till all have persisted.
On hearing these dreadful words, Barangkaya
cried out in agony 10 the people o, my chill
dren, you hear the voice of our lord. Come for
ward you that are young, and save the rest oil
the people! :"
But all the people still remained PROSTATE and
terrified, and making agonizing Outcries. Then
Laksamana ordered each one of his men to select
a youth from among the terrified creatures lying
PROSTATE before them, and to place the youths in
a group together, with their hands hrmly tied
behind them. When this was done, Laksamana
ordered the seizure and tying in the same manner
Of the hands of the numhpr Of yOuny WDinen he
required. This cruel order was carried out amid
the screams OF the victims, and the agonizIng
lamentations of parents. And some fathers rose
up to rescue their daughters but Laksamana
struck one man down dead, and all the people
remained afterwards subdued to a state OF trem-
bling fear, and only gave vent to sobs and means.
When the prisoners were all secured, then
Laksamana ordered twenty of his men to enter
the house of the chief Barangkaya. pointed out
TO him. and the houses OF some smaller chiefs
that had not been burned. and to bring forth all
the treasures that could De found. And they
brought forth girdles of gold, such as are worn
by rich Malays at this day-some that weighed
twenty ounces of pure gold also heavy rings OF
gold to wear on their arms, and besides gold in
coins, of the weight altogether of two plculs-or
about two hundred and sixty pounds. Aud with
the gold they brought some brilliant diamonds
of great value, each one worth a great treasure
in money and there were over one hundred OF
these large diamonds. So the plumber was very
iOuI SShuc l. VIA vas iACu q ioNN VI 6OAA
and diamonds, as it is at this day.
Laksamana having collected together the pri-
soEers and the plumber marched to the water side,
to a point where many of the large boats of Pom
tianak were lying at anchor. He did not want
to delay one minute longer than was necessary,
because he felt that should daylight find them on
the land, the people Of the surrounding country
would see how few they were, and would attack
them in overwhelming numbers. Therefore Laksa-
mana. by means of small canoes on shore, quickly
EnI b- ont l,D1a- sI,-~Al % hA-.I
the large war prahus or boats, which he had
seized. He placed all the meidens in the prahu
under his immediate command, and all the male
prisoners in the other two prahus.
Whilst the wall and lamentation of the people
o. POntianak still sounded dIsmally from the
shore, and whilst the fame and smoke of burning
houses could be seen arising above the unfortu-
nate town, Laksamana and his rroup OF robbers
got up anchor and sailed away.
The terrible chief being weary after his great
e%xertions, lay down on a mat in the middle of
| the yrahu to rest awhile. Whilst he reposed. the
captain of the prahu, named Kiagoos, and who
was a brave warrior under Laksamana, seized
the body Of the most beautiful young woman
among the prisoners, named Manis (Which in
Malay means sweet), whose face shone like gold,
and whose beauty was like the glory of the
morning on the mountain top. Kiagoos clasped
Mlnis around the waist. and in spite of her
resistance and cries laid her down by tie
side of the great chief, and babe her caress and
embrace him, threatening TO throw her overheard
to the sharks if she refused. Now Kiayoos did
this hoping to please his Lord Laksamana and
also hoping that he and the other men Of the
prahu would be allowed to have their will with
all the girls on board.
Laksamana reused up at the cries Of MANS.
He glanced at the terrified girl by his side, raised
her up, and babe her go back to her place in the
prahu. Then looking sternly at Kmgoos, he
said % Is not this thy work Am L Il beast-and
shall | worry women like a dog, after l have
slain men like a king? Shall we waste our
strength like ours, that ought to be kept for the
work of heroes Let this girl rest undIsturbed,
and let my word 60 TO all the men in the prahu.
that the first man who touches one of these help
less girls against her will shall be slain
When this order was declared there was a
marmur OF discoateut among the warriors of
Laksamana, because they had expected to have
the privilege, as part of their ~recompense, to dis
pose Of female captives as they pleased but such
was their dread of their mighty leader, that no
one dared to speak aloud his ~vexatiOn, or modest
one of the girls. And so the persons OF the
maidens Of Pontianak on board the prahu were
respected according to the order of Laksaman8.
Now this order he issued and e~nforced-certainly
not because he was a ~puTe-minded and good man,
as we now understand. But it was SO, that on
account of the great love for Umba that filled all
his great and savage soul, he could not bear to
witness or countenance any injury to one of her
sex. And this is always the mark of ii great man
to respect the person of a woman.
After a few days sail they came in sight of the
Island of Mia. As Laksamana approached the
harbor he made signals to Indicate his success,
and as he nGared the land, and was too inpatient
to wait for the anchoring and mooring of the
prahus, he jumped into the sea. When he landed
near Sansuma he was met by King Sapidin and
some of his court with a very sorrCwful face.
The King cried out. THE Princess, my daughter,
is lost. She disappeared two days ago We
have searched the island for her, but alas she is
not to be found anywhere, and l know not her
fate
Laksamana was in a fierce rage on FIRST hearing
these words, thinking that the old King was de-
ceiving him, and had given his daughter to an
other chief. But when he saw that all the
people were Iamenting for the loss of the Prin-
cess Umba he felt oppressed with grief. How
ever. this hero was a man Of action, and would