| abstract | - The pirates who participated in the battle were Illanun Sulu, or Moro, pirates from the southern Philippines. They had raided several coastal settlements in 1862 and the years preceding so many men and women were being held prisoner or worked as galley slaves on board the pirates' prahus. A prahu was a type of large primitive sailing ship, with about a ten foot beam and usually over forty feet long, they could also be propelled by oars and the pirates armed theirs with three brass swivel guns each. The prahus had crews of over 100 men and were roofed by a bamboo cover to protect the ammunition and provisions from rain and to provide a platform to fight from. Sulu pirates sheltered in bays along the coast during the trading season to prey on merchant shipping passing from places like Singapore, Penang, or China back to Americas or Europe. In response to the affair, Captain Brooke headed down the coast from the town of Sarawak, in November 1862 to build a fort at Bintulu and release the captives at Mukah. He had with him his eighty foot screw-steamer named Rainbow, armed with two 9-pounder cannons, one 12-pounder and one 4-pounder, the latter two were meant to be offloaded for use at the fort. There was also a gunboat named Jolly Bachelor, under the command of a Captain Hewat, and armed with two brass 6-pounder guns and two small swivels. While in transit the captain was informed that six prahus were anchored off the port of Mukah, and their crews were raiding the town. So when he arrived at Bintulu the laborers were put ashore to construct the fort and ten Sarawakian soldiers joined the Rainbow's small crew to strengthen it before the coming battle. The Sulus themselves were heavily armed with muskets, pistols, swords, knives, spears so the men of the Sarawakian vessels placed mattresses and other improvised bulwarks on the upper decks to protect their legs from "ugly hits" according to Bishop Francis Thomas McDougall of Labuan, who was present during the battle on board the Rainbow. In all there were eight Europeans involved and a few dozen Sarawakian soldiers and sailors.
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