He prospered greatly.

After his first--and successful--fight with the sea robbers, when he rescued, as rumour had it, the yacht of some big wig from home, somewhere down Carimata way, his great popularity began.

As years went on it grew apace.

Always visiting out-of-the-way places of that part of the world, always in search of new markets for his cargoes--not so much for profit as for the pleasure of finding them--he soon became known to the Malays, and by his successful recklessness in several encounters with pirates, established the terror of his name.

Those white men with whom he had business, and who naturally were on the look-out for his weaknesses, could easily see that it was enough to give him his Malay title to flatter him greatly.