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She saw the moonlit waters, the black shadow of the proa, the moon-fire that ran down the far edge of the bellying sail, the silent natives: no sound except the slapping of the outrigger and the low sibilant murmur of water falling away from the sides and the beating of her heart. The flight.
As the proa advanced further up the stream, and drew closer and closer still in under the lee of the high land, the wind grew light and shy with her, and then, perhaps fearing that after all their prey might escape them, the crew hastily launched a boat and gave chase in her.
Men, white, naked and savage, swarmed down her sides some withred-hot iron bars, and others with large hammers threw themselves upon those innocent inquiring strangers, and, before any man could say what had happened, were in full possession of the proa, while the lawful owners bobbed in the water overside.
Each Bughis proa imports to the amount of from 10,000 to 30,000 dollars, and at least one half of her cargo consists of British goods. Taking the yearly average of thirty proas, and the amount of her import cargo at the lowest above stated, this will give 150,000 dollars, or 32,500 pounds sterling, as the amount of British goods imported annually into Dobbo.
The proa was sunk by repeated broadsides, and the commanding officer refused to pick up any of the people, who, with the exception of five were drowned; these, after floating four days on some spars, were picked up by a Pergottan proa, and told the story to Raga, who swore anew destruction to every European he should henceforth take.
On getting near the westermost island which was the biggest of the three, forty or fifty of their flying proas came off, in which there might be 450 men, allowing ten to each proa, and we could also see multitudes of people on the shore looking at us as we passed.
The Bugis from Coti explained, that with regard to me it was necessary to be particularly circumspect, as I was not only well known at Singapore, but the authorities in that settlement knew that I was on board the Sultan's proa, and they themselves were responsible for my safety.
It now came to him with an added thrill how well she had told her story; simply and directly, no skipping, no wandering hither and yon: from the first hour she could remember, to the night she had fled in the proa, a clear sustained narrative. And through it all, like a golden thread on a piece of tapestry, weaving in and out of the patterns, the unspoken longing for love.
"Begorra, if they'd ownly tould us afore we lift the ould country we'd a had some big guns, too," said Tim Rooney as he blazed away at a chap with a red sash on in the prow of the proa, taking aim at him with one of the Martini-Henry rifles that had been brought up by the captain from his cabin.
The boats were immediately manned and sent in chase, when in ten minutes the proa was boarded, upon which the pirates retreated below, and with their long spears through the bamboo-deck made a desperate defence, but finally, refusing quarter, were slain to a man, and the proa was sunk by the guns of the pinnace.
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