Indeed, events proved that more than eighty men had come ashore in three large sampans, roomy and fleet craft, well fitted for piratical excursions up river estuaries or along a coast.
They were mostly bare-legged rascals, wearing Malay hats, loose jackets reaching to the knee, and sandals.

One man differed essentially from the others.

He was habited in the conventional attire of an Indian Mahommedan, and his skin was brown, whilst the swarthy Dyaks were yellow beneath the dirt.

Jenks thought, from the manner in which his turban was tied, that he must be a Punjabi Mussulman--very likely an escaped convict from the Andamans.
The most careful scrutiny did not reveal any arms of precision.

They all carried muzzle-loaders, either antiquated flintlocks, or guns sufficiently modern to be fitted with nipples for percussion caps.
Each Dyak, of course, sported a parang and dagger-like kriss; a few bore spears, and about a dozen shouldered a long straight piece of bamboo.