So long as they were out upon the open sea, and in fear of perishing by starvation, they had never had a thought about pirates.
Then the sight of a prau--even with the certainty of its being a piratical craft--would have been welcome; since death by the Malay kris, or slavery to the most cruel taskmaster, would have been a relief from the sufferings they were enduring, from hunger as from thirst.

Now, however, that these were things of the past, and they were not only safe delivered from the perils of the deep, but seemed in no farther danger of starvation, the pirates had become the subject of their gravest fears, and their eyes were habitually on the alert--now scanning the sea-shore on both sides, and now directed toward the forest, whenever any noise from that quarter occurred to excite suspicion.
While in this frame of mind, the boat which had brought them safely ashore caused them a good deal of apprehension.

They might themselves have easily found concealment among the trees that stood thickly on the land-side; but the large pinnace lying upon the open beach was a conspicuous object, and could be seen miles off by any one straying along the shore, or coming abruptly out of the forest.

If there were any pirates' nest near, the boat would surely betray them, and the question arose as to what should be done with it.
To have dragged it up the sand, and hidden it among the underwood, is probably what they would have done had they been possessed of sufficient strength.

But they knew that they were not, and therefore the thing was not thought of.