TO
THE EARL OF ALBEMARLE.
My dear Father,
You could scarcely have anticipated, from my profession, the dedication of a book in testimony of my gratitude and affection;but, having had the good fortune to acquire the friendship of Mr. James Brooke, and to be intrusted by him with a narrative of his extraordinary career in that part of the world where the services ofthe ship I commanded were required, I am not without a hope that the accompanying pages may be found worthy of your approval,and not altogether uninteresting to my country.
I am, my dear father,
Your affectionate son,
Henry Keppel.
Droxford, January, 1846.[v]
The visit of her majestyʼs ship Dido to Borneo, and her services against the pirates, occupy comparatively so small a portionof this volume, that some excuse may be necessary for its leading title.
It was only by undertaking to make the account of them part of the narrative, that I could prevail upon my friend Mr. Brooketo intrust me with his Journal for any public object; and when I looked at his novel and important position as a ruler inBorneo, and was aware how much of European curiosity was attached to it, I felt it impossible not to consent to an arrangementwhich should enable me to trace the remarkable career through which he had reached that elevation. I hope, therefore, to beconsidered as having conquered my own disinclination to be the relater of events in which I was concerned, in order to overcomethe scruples which he entertained against being the author of the autobiographical sketch, embracing so singular a portionof his life, which I have extracted from the rough notes confided to me.
That his diffidence in this respect was groundless will, I trust, be apparent from these [vi] pages, however indifferently I may have executed my unusual task, during a long homeward sea-voyage; and, from the growinginterest which has arisen throughout the country for intelligence on the subject of Borneo and the adjacent archipelago, Iventure also to indulge the belief that the general information will be deemed no unfit adjunct to the story of personal adventure.
The text of this edition has been carefully revised, and has undergone numerous verbal alterations; some portions of it havebeen transposed, and a few additions have been made to the work. [In the American edition, a few pages of matter, of no interestto American readers, have been omitted from the Appendix.][vii]