Three Islands is a maritime landmark north of the waters between Mompracem and the Romades, and a threshold on the route to Labuan. Its importance in the narrative is navigational and strategic: the passage past the islands brings Sandokan’s ships to the first sentinels of Labuan’s harbor, where pirate movement meets British defenses.

Geographic Position

The novel places Three Islands at the northern edge of a stretch of sea bounded by Mompracem and the Romades to the west, Borneo to the east and northeast, and Labuan and Three Islands to the north. It offers no detailed account of the islands’ terrain or inhabitants; their stated significance is their position in this network of routes and approaches.

The waters around them are dangerous partly because of the reputation of Sandokan’s fleet. During the passage, the prahus encounter no merchant ships: the Tiger’s fame has led vessels to avoid the area and sail nearer the coasts, where they might seek land if threatened. The islands thus lie within a maritime zone shaped not only by geography but by the movements and perceived reach of the pirates.

Passage Toward Labuan

After a day of sailing without finding a merchant vessel, the crews lower the large sails as night falls, both to guard against changes in the wind and to bring the two prahus closer together against a sudden attack. Near midnight, Sandokan returns to the deck as the ships pass Three Islands. The vessels are not stopping there; the passage carries them onward toward Labuan.

Sandokan paces from bow to stern and repeatedly studies the dark sea, at times climbing onto the bulwarks for a better view. He listens for the sound of a cruiser’s engine or waves breaking on Labuan’s shore. As the stars begin to fade, he identifies Labuan, visible as a thin dark line on the eastern horizon. The sequence makes Three Islands a navigational threshold: after passing them, the intended destination comes into view.

The Approaches and British Power

Three Islands is described as the first sentinel of Labuan’s harbor. That position matters because Labuan is a contested destination rather than an unguarded coast. The British occupied the island in 1847, seeking to eradicate piracy in the surrounding waters, and had recently built a citadel with large bastions to defend against raids from Mompracem.

The route from Three Islands toward Labuan therefore leads into a space marked by competing forces. The British citadel represents their effort to protect the island and assert control over its approaches; Sandokan’s covert passage toward the harbor brings the pirate ships into that same strategic landscape. The text does not describe a confrontation at Three Islands itself.

Narrative Significance

The islands’ role is brief but structurally clear. They do not serve as a base, a battle site, or a destination in the account; instead, their passage marks the transition from open-water travel to the immediate approach to Labuan. The night watch, Sandokan’s search for signs of the island, and its eventual appearance on the horizon turn a geographic marker into a point of suspense, linking the fleet’s concealed movement to the British presence it is approaching.