 Chapter 26 of The Romance of Piracy. We have seen already during the preceding chapters that there have been certain geographical spheres where piracy has been especially prevalent and persistent. Although of course there are some exceptions, yet has a rule the most suitable area is either at some spot where both sides of the land converge to make straits such as Gibraltar or the entrance to the Red Sea, or in certain parts of the West Indies, or the area is an archipelago where the multiplicity of islands can be used with advantage for convenient lurking places. Of this we have excellent examples in the Aegean and Caribbean seas, each of which has been a notorious haunt for pirates. And now we come to yet another territory, which for both of these separate reasons has been even in our own generation a well-known sphere of murder and robbery at sea. If you look at a chart or map of the Malay archipelago, you will see how land nearly meets land at the Straits of Malacca, so that ships passing between eastern and western ports on the Great Highway become focused into one comparatively small area as at the Straits of Gibraltar, thus enabling the pirates to concentrate their attention on one particular spot with every assurance of reaping their cruel harvest. But also, where the three great seas, the Indian Ocean, the China Sea, and the mighty Pacific meet just to the north of the Australian continent, you have here a perfect maze of islands, which, in the absence of any firm authority backed by adequate sea power, already made nests for the propagation of piracy and all which that term suggests. Whatever else a pirate was, he was a master of strategy, not by education but by instinct. And the situation of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo almost spells piracy, even if we were to be told that never in history had such a crime been here about perpetrated. The Malays were naturally sea rovers by habit and instinct, and their native craft, the swift-flying prahu, was particularly suited for darting out from a snug lurking place to harass the more cumbrous and slower merchant ship as she was passing over the sea. It was impossible to confine their energies to fishing or trading. Naturally warlike and roving, the convenient geographical position where they lived afforded them every opportunity of fulfilling their heart's desire. Matters have altered a good deal during the last fifty or sixty years, but about the middle of the last century, before the modern steamship liner had conquered the world's trade routes, no merchant men could voyage with safety through the region of which we are speaking. Simultaneously with the Malays, there were the dyacs of the northwest corner of the island of Borneo, who numbered thousands of warriors. These men, using spears and swords, were induced and trained by the Malays during the eighteenth century to become wily pirates, too. These dyacs became expert seamen with the facilities at their disposal and built a kind of prahu for their use called a bangkong. Joining their forces with the Malays, they were able to get together a formidable fleet of a hundred or more of these craft, with which they swept the seas of any ships that might come their way, laying waste the shores of Borneo and carrying off crews as captives into slavery just as had been done by the mausoleum corsairs. One of the chief characteristics of these dyacs was their passion for collecting human heads. It is difficult for a civilized person to understand this propensity, but headhunting was not merely a sport, but the accumulation of heads was looked upon as the essential possessions of manhood. Now, among all the romance which centers round the splendid work which has been done in far-off countries by Englishmen as rulers and governors, as administrators and reformers, few stories are more interesting than that of the late Sir James Brooke, first raja of Sarawak in the island of Borneo. Under his rule and that of his successor, Sir Charles Brooke, this barbarous custom of headhunting, as well as the persistent piracies, have been happily put down. And in the small space which is at my disposal, I propose now to give some idea of the kind of the evil which had to be tackled. In the forties of the nineteenth century, the English Navy was sent to act against the malaise and dyacs of Sarabas, and it is to the interesting account, written by Captain the Honourable Henry Keppel R.N., that I am largely indebted for the following details. Although the raja of Sarawak had done much to banish piracy, yet he found that an intrigue was on foot to revive this crime. So, in the year 1849, we find a strong force under Captain Arthur Farquhar R.N. Consisting of H.M. Sloup Royalist, the Honourable East India Company's armed steamship Nemesis, H.M. Steamtender Rani, together with a flotilla made up of the gig, pinniss and cutter of HMS Albatross. These craft were fully armed and manned by one hundred and three officers and men. The Albatross had been sent by the British government from the China Station, and while this was being done, Sir James Brooke was making every preparation for the forthcoming expedition. On the twenty-fourth of July, the SS Nemesis, together with the Royalist and the Rani, started inland. Owing to her size and draft, the Albatross was left behind at the entrance to the River Sarawak. Following a stern of the other craft were towed three of the Albatross' boats, three from the Nemesis and the Royalist's cutter. In addition to these, there were also brought eighteen native craft, the Raja being in his new prahu. A little later, and this expedition was also joined by the Orangkaya of Lundu, with three hundred men in prahus of various sizes, and presently two, the Lingadayaks and others, about eight hundred strong, came with their help, so that eventually there were altogether twenty-five hundred men ready and keen to meet the pirates. The reader will wish to know, before we proceed further, some details concerning the prahu. She is one of the fastest vessels in the world propelled by sail. Measuring no less than ninety feet, with about nine feet beam, pulling about eighty oars in two tiers, she was manned by one hundred men. Over the oarsmen was a light, strong, flat roof of thin strips of bamboo, covered with matting to protect the ammunition and provisions from the rain, and also to serve as a platform from which she could fire the rifles or hurl spears. The rowers used to sit cross-legged on a shelf, and they could get a wonderful speed on to their craft. Six swivel guns were mounted on either side, and thirty rifles were also carried, so that one can quite easily imagine that such a craft, with a score more like her, could inflict almost any harm they liked on a trading ship becalmed. The Dayak bankongs, which were very similar to these, drew very little water, so were able to creep into shallow hiding places. Propelled by their eighty paddles, these craft, with their overhanging bow and stern, were so noiseless in their approach, and so stealthy in their movement, so easily capable of darting to and fro, that no wonder they became a terror to all commercial shipping. It was customary for these pirates, when attacked, to rush back up the river into the jungle, rather than to stand out to sea, for they knew how to hide themselves in the thickets, and as to the prahu, they could either conceal that by hauling her ashore or else destroy her. Very difficult, therefore, was the task of dealing with these artful fellows, and the wisdom of taking so many boats and crafts similar to those of the enemy, is quickly apparent. Sometimes the pirates would try to run out to sea, when no other course was left, but this was rare. Very useful, did the fast pulling boats of the punitive expedition prove, for keeping a lookout and signalling the approach of the enemy. For now the expedition had arrived at the spot where they were to wait. It was known that the pirates were coming along with one hundred fifty prahus, and that they had the great chiefs of the malaise to help them. After capturing trading vessels loaded with sago and cotton goods, they had come along the river with the strong flood tide. Between them and the main body of the punitive expedition were the latter's scouts waiting anxiously in the darkness of the night to give the warning. Suddenly a rocket went hissing up into the sky and lit up the dark arc of heaven. This was the signal from the scouts that the enemy were approaching. They came on in two divisions, whilst the Rajas fleet behind the scouts were guarding the breadth of the river. The hot tide was bringing the rival forces nearer and nearer, but as soon as the pirates, peering through the night, outlined the form of a steamer, they began to be nervous, for here was a craft at last superior to their own. The first firing had taken place when they came in touch with the expedition's scouts in Man of War's boats, and then the discharge of musketry became fiercer and fiercer, so that it was not long before the pirates, in spite of all their strength, were thrown utterly into confusion. During the fighting it was difficult to tell foe from friend, but the happy arrangement had been made of the expedition's boats burning blue lights, and what with these dotted about the dark river, what with the glare of the rockets, the cheers of the blue jackets, the discharge of musketry and the defiant yells of the pirate, it was a most impressive night. It was not long before the enemy realized that his chances were hopeless. No fewer than eighty bankongs were run on shore, while some others tried to escape down the river and out to sea. Seventeen of the larger prahus in avoiding a shoal attempted to pass the steamer, and so were destroyed forthwith. The pirates lost very heavily, whereas our casualties were but slight, though when blue jackets were humanely endeavoring to rescue pirates struggling in the water from drowning, the rescuers were viciously attacked, as the half-drowned creatures could not comprehend this consideration for human life. When morning came there were found no fewer than sixty deserted prahus in addition to a quantity of debris on the beach. As many as twenty-five hundred of the enemy had hurriedly dashed their craft ashore and fled into the jungle. Our men had captured or destroyed eighty-eight of this fleet, or over one-half of the one hundred fifty which had set out, and from five hundred to eight hundred of the pirates had been killed. Our losses were nil, and only a few men wounded in trying to prevent these men sinking with sword and shields still in their wicked hands. It had been a well-organized attack from our side, and the spot just by the entrances of the rivers Caluca and Sarabas had been well chosen. The enemy had been thoroughly terrified from first to last. As he had come up with the flood-tide and realized the strength of the expedition, he had lost his senses completely and become obsessed with no other idea than to get out of it as quickly as he could. So, having dealt piracy a very severe blow, the expedition spent a couple of days securing prisoners and destroying captured boats. Then, on the second of August, the fleet proceeded up the Sarabas River and anchored near the entrance of the Paku branch. Here it became necessary, owing to the nature of the river, to leave the Nemesis and the heaviest Prahus behind. But the lighter boats and the captured Bang Kongs continued the advance, the small steamer Rani and the men of war's boats going on ahead. A stern came several hundred of the native boats all eager for plunder. But the rushing tide swept them all together in confusion, and, meanwhile, during this medley, a tree branch overhanging the river got a thwart the Rani and swept away her funnel. Simultaneously, she got a ground forward and, her stern being free, she was carried right across the river by the current. Steam was let off in the usual manner, and this noise, so strange and awe-inspiring to the natives, caused them so much terror that some of them jumped into the water. Others leapt into other boats, thus swamping them, while the remainder resigned themselves pathetically to their fate. It was a ludicrous sight, but comprehensible. As the enemy had felled so many trees into the water to bar the progress of the expedition, it became necessary, before attempting further procedure, to send a party of dyacs on land in order to clear away these obstacles. The rest of the journey was quite easy. The fleet anchored and took Paku, and, having wooded the steamer with her necessary fuel, the expedition once more proceeded up the alligator-infested river till they came to the mouth of the Kanawit, up which no European had yet ascended. It was now found impossible for the steamer to get farther, so only the lighter boats with their two thousand men now advanced, their instructions being to punish the guilty, but to spare those who surrendered. Slow progress was made against a strong stream, and this had given the inhabitants time to realize that trouble was approaching. For it was presently discovered that they had hurriedly left, and before doing so had burnt down their farmhouses. But in the ruins of these were ample evidences of the amazing collections of human heads which these men had made. These Sakharans had never expected that a big force of two thousand Malays and dyacs led by a European Raja and a few English would have penetrated a hundred miles into the interior. But as the expedition had taught them a salutary lesson, it refrained from touching one of these natives, and presently the return journey was begun. Back this miscellaneous fleet went, with cotton fields, sugar cane and coconut trees growing on either hand, and with plenty of pigs and poultry in evidence. Finally the expedition returned home in safety. It had been a great success and made a deep impression on the natives, not merely in respect of its display of strength, but in its humane dealings with those who were alive. This latter characteristic caused a special surprise. The fines which were now levied were applied to reward the captors or prisoners who had been caught without being injured. Only a few years before this firm action no European merchant ship had ventured on the northwest coast of Borneo and those which had previously risked coming had paid for their temerity. It was asserted by Lloyds that within a space of only a dozen years no fewer than thirty or forty square rigged craft had been captured, plundered or in some way molested by these pirates and the European crews murdered. But this successful expedition also had an indirect effect. For before long many piratical chiefs came to the Raja and made a pledge that they would never engage in piracy again. The admissions of these men sufficiently indicated the extent of the depredations. Within eight months admitted one ex-pirate, three large fleets had sailed from the Sarabas on piratical cruises. Their object was to take plunder and heads on sea and they made a point of attacking all they were likely to overcome. Chinese, Malay, fishermen, merchants, it made no difference. These pirates, it was proved, did not engage in trade but whenever they stood in need of money or slaves they went pirating. We have no friends when at sea remarked one of these corsairs on oath. They would attack towns and lay them waste simply for two motives, love of plunder and the desire to collect heads. As illustrative of their recognizing no friends at sea the following instance may here be cited. On a certain occasion a prahu was attacked off the coast by two other prahus. Why are you attacking your friends? inquired the first. The answer came quite candidly. At home we make a distinction between friends and enemies but at sea everybody we kill and plunder. With such views on the subject and such deeply rooted bias towards piracy it was hardly to be expected that the neighborhood would remain free from this nuisance for all time. By the year 1862 the pirates had become so daring that they attacked quite large craft. A Spanish steamer and gunboat had had some smart encounters but they had sunk two prahus and their crews. They had also bombarded a pirate stronghold and rescued 21 Christian Indian natives as well as 12 Javanese Malays. And the Spanish steamer had run down 15 more prahus one after the other on their way to Borneo. And there is still preserved a copy of a letter written in that year by Raja Brooke to say that on 27th May 1862 while lying at anchor in his steam yacht the rainbow a boat came alongside giving information that six large pirate craft were passing along the coast having killed several people and taken many captives. Even this very boat which had brought the message had barely escaped. So the rainbow and a gunboat were immediately prepared for action and steamed out over the bar the Bishop of Labuan being on board at the time. At daylight one morning three of the enemy were discovered from the masthead seven or eight miles to Seaward. Chase was now at once given and the prahus were seen to be crowded with men. It was now clearly their object to get ashore if possible before the rainbow should get up with them. The leading craft actually did so succeed and ran herself onto the rocks at Kadrong Point. The rainbow stood as near inshore as she could and while steaming in two fathoms the pirates fired on her from their muskets. This fire was now returned with interest and after ten minutes' cannonade the survivors as usual disappeared into the jungle. The rainbow now attacked the other two boats one of which she ran down. The other was captured and brought alongside full of men, women and children whom the pirates had taken as prisoners. These were brought on board and the wounded attended by the Bishop. From one boat alone there were taken one Spanish and five Dutch flags which showed doubtless as many acts of piracy. Shortly after the remaining three pirate prahus were found at sea and eventually destroyed though one of them made a most desperate fight killing and wounding several of the rainbow's complement and they even continued to fight when in the water. The rainbow took thirty on board who were pinioned and placed in the hold. The poor captives were found to be nearly starved. The pirates had treated them most cruelly having given them salt water to drink and for the first few weeks had disabled them by beating their knees and elbow joints with bamboos. Thus civilization, good administration and determination to oust these sea robbers and murderers have to be thanked for doing a sound work not merely to individuals but to ships and commerce generally. If ever there were any men who may unquestionably be set down as universal enemies of the human race certainly they are the brigands on shore and the pirates afloat. Cruising among Chinese pirates Perhaps it will be a long time before the last of the Chinese pirates can assuredly be said to have gone. We know too well that if a liner ever happens to get ashore in this neighborhood she stands grave risk of being looted and losing some of her people by murder. Things have indubitably altered for the better but in the sixties and seventies the coasts of China were infested with pirates especially to the southward. At that time when so many fine tea clippers and other sailing ships were passing and repassing full of such valuable cargoes just prior to the time when the steamship was altering matters and the Suez Canal was about to be opened there was what we may rightly call the grand period of Chinese piracy and the following incidents were taken part in by Captain H.C. Xinjiang R.N. who was sent to keep these pests in check at this time. I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to this officer's notes of these events which were subsequently published. One day, whilst at anchor in his gunboat in Hong Kong Harbor there happened to be lying close by a fine large opium junk. She was armed with no less than a dozen twelve to eighteen pounders and carried forty-five men. During the afternoon a number of passengers went aboard her and at dusk she got underway and cleared out but as soon as she had reached to the outer roads of Hong Kong it fell a flat calm so that she was compelled to anchor about nine p.m. About midnight another large junk ran quietly alongside and some of her crew jumped on board the opium craft. In a short space of time the pirates crew had seized both passengers and crew of the Hong Kong craft and placed them below hatches. The pirate then got underway and steered for the south side of Hong Kong. On the way thither soon after daylight the unfortunate prisoners were one by one brought on deck by the pirates and first their hands were tied behind their backs then their feet were fastened together and they were then thrown overboard. This treatment happened to all eighty-three of them with the exception of one a boy twelve years old. Him the pirates spared as he would be useful for making their tea and preparing their opium pipes. The pirates had taken this cargo of opium for they knew how valuable it was and how easily sold it could be. They then made for their harbor near to Macau where they divided their spoil. Seven of them then took the boy with them and proceeded to Macau from where they went by steamer bound for Hong Kong a little farther on. During this steamer trip the captain of the vessel noticed that the youngster was in great distress and questioned him. In a few minutes the captain realized that among his passengers were seven pirates and determined to have them arrested. So instead of taking his steamer as usual alongside the jetty at Hong Kong he anchored in mid-stream and hailed the police boat to come out to him. The latter arrived and then the hundred odd Chinese passengers were lined up and the boy was told to pick out the seven pirates. This he succeeded in doing and the police took them ashore and locked them up. Now it happened that the evening previous to this someone else had arrived in Hong Kong and told a similar story. This was one of the eighty-three who had been thought dead. For this fellow on finding himself in the water had managed with a desperate struggle to release his hands by slipping through the lashing which bound them. After he had gone to the surface of the water he succeeded in releasing his feet. He was thus able to swim to the nearest island and from there made his way to Hong Kong in a fishing boat. It was a true but remarkable story and the evidence of the boy coming on the top of this made the case against the seven pirates so clean that they were tried at Hong Kong, found guilty and subsequently hanged. On another occasion a British gunboat was cruising up the coast on the lookout for pirates when, on passing a small island, two fishermen paddled off in a sandpan and pointed out a couple of small junks that were standing out to sea. Knowing that as the wind was absent there could be no escape the gunboat esteemed quietly on. Presently about a dozen other smaller junks put off and opened fire on the two junks that had first been seen. But the gunboat, now running alongside the latter, captured them, took their crews on board prisoners, and then steamed in towards the town and let go anchor. The local mandarin now came off and expressed his thanks for having captured these two junks and twenty-one men. The incident had caused tremendous delight as the craft had been giving a great deal of trouble recently and no local junks had dared to come out. But what was surprising was that seven had not dared to tackle two larger than themselves, and yet it is said that the Chinese are no cowards. I mentioned, just now, that this was the time of the famous tea clippers which used to make such marvelously fast voyages from China to London. Now, one day whilst one of these clippers was on her way down the China Sea she was becalmed. Shortly after, apparently bringing a faint breeze with them appeared fifteen junks with their large sails. They opened fire on the helpless clipper from just within range and everything looked as if the junk fleet would soon capture the clipper. But, as everyone knows, these clipperships were famous for two things, the beauty of their hulls and the enormous mountain of canvas which they could set. Consequently the combination of a fine-lined hull with a light and lofty sail spread could be used in a light air to give an advantage over the heavy junk with her equally heavy sails. And as the breeze now strengthened a little, the clipper was able by the narrowest of margins to draw right away and escape. Captain St. John was now sent to capture these junks. After steaming through a lovely starlet night, the gunboat arrived with the dawn by the first of the islands which fringe the coastline just to the west of the Canton River. It was then noticed that there was one junk well in shore and some miles ahead. The weather was quite calm and her bat-winged sails were flapping uselessly in the ocean swell. Presently there were signs of activity observed and a boat was launched from the junk with a dozen men who pulled for the shore as quickly as human muscles could impel the craft. But they were useless against the steam gunboat which managed to cut in and arrest both boat and junk. The latter was then taken in tow by the gunboat with twenty-four pirates on board who were soon handed over to the governor of the nearest province. So that put an end to their activities for the present. And a curious thing was noticed when the junk was being examined. It was seen that the sails of the craft had holes in them and the shape of these suggested that they had been made as the result of somebody's cannonade. Later on it was learned that this was not originally a pirate junk but a trader which had bad luck to be captured by Chinese pirates three months previously after killing the crew. Those in the gunboat remembered as they were approaching this junk that the pirates were busily heaving bags of something overboard as fast as they could. You may imagine with what emotions they discovered later that these were bags of dollars. The sum of four thousand pounds had been found on board the junk when the pirates took her all they had done their best to throw as much overboard as they could. Rather than see it fall into the hands of the British ship there still remained about two thousand pounds of this amount when the gunboat took her in tow. The prisoners were sent on to Canton and executed for their piracy though seven were allowed to escape before Canton was reached. In the year 1875 an English brigantine was sailing to the northward past the Chinese coast when, about a hundred miles from Hong Kong they were attacked by pirates who promptly killed the captain and ship's boy. The rest of the crew went aloft and remained on the top until the pirates below had finished ransacking the ship. After a terrible suspense wondering who was to die next the crew watched the Chinamen leave the ship and return to their junk. So the Englishmen came down from their lofty perch to the deck and without further excitement they navigated their craft into port and gave information against the pirates. But it was not always an easy matter to locate these cunning creatures who were as artful as they were cruel but the following incident shows how cleverly the English navy could grapple with a difficult problem. In some respects the story is a kind of nautical detective tale and is well worth relating. It happened one day that while the gunboat was coaling information was brought to captains and John that a large fishing junk belonging to Hong Kong with her owner and his Chinese family on board had been attacked by pirates whilst the innocent vessel had been engaged in her lawful fishing at sea. The owner had been sent to drift in a sandpan, his junk taken from him together with his three daughters. He was ordered to make his way as best he could to the shore and there collect five hundred dollars from his friends if he wished to obtain his daughter's release. He was advised not to be too long about it as otherwise the girls would be put to death. The harassed Chinamen had got to the bank came aboard the British gunboat. So after the latter had finished coaling she got underway at dusk and made good progress towards the cluster of islands about thirty miles away from Hong Kong and now began a series of interesting events based on deductive and inductive reasoning to outwit Oriental cunning. Arrived at this island cluster the commander well knew that he was in the very center of the favorite resort of pirates. The channel ran between the islands and on either side were numerous little coves where the junks could easily withdraw and yet as easily get away again. Having reached this district before dawn just as the darkness was sweeping away there was seen a junk moving cautiously in the shadows of the cliff towards the farther entrance. This was certainly suspicious so the gunboat stood in bided her time and presently caught the junk although the latter's crew had escaped to the shore. It was a great piece of luck to have lighted upon this craft in such a manner for the Chinamen whom the gunboat had brought with her immediately recognized her as the very junk which had run off with his daughters. The gunboat's voyage was now becoming exciting and a little farther on she was passing another cove when another junk hove in sight. The gunboat went in pursuit but the Chinamen, nervous for their lives, ran the junk ashore and her crew of twelve made off into the bushes. After some little effort the junk was relaunched from her sandy bed and got a float again and you may judge of the joy of the Chinamen on the gunboat when he realized that this was his own junk in which he was fishing when the pirates had come to attack him. So she also was now taken in tow. So far so good. Both junks had been found and taken in tow by the gunboat but even if the pirates were not likely to be captured yet the fisherman's daughters had still to be found. Even the guns which had been taken by the pirates from the fishing craft were found after a little searching buried in the sand quite close to the junk. So the gunboat proceeded along till she arrived at the head of a bay where lay a town almost concealed by a woody point and here the British craft let go anchor whilst her commander played very cleverly the part of detective. He began by bluntly demanding the deliverance of the three girls. This was met with blank astonishment. The townspeople pretended with typical oriental manner that they knew nothing about the girls. They were completely innocent of all knowledge concerning them. This fervent assurance might possibly have convinced some Europeans but captain Saint John was far too experienced in the ways of the crafty to believe a word they said. He had every reason to suppose that the girls were in this town near which he had found the two junks and he was determined to obtain the object of his mission. Therefore having been met with this protestation of innocence he insisted on the three headmen of the village being sent on board the gunboat. They came in their silk robes accompanied by a couple of blue jackets proceeded to the man of war. Preparations were now made on the gunboat's deck for hanging the three Chinamen. A good deal of ostentatious activity was spent in passing a rope from each mast head and tying knots arranging nooses suitable for the heads of these three men. The intention of the commander was to frighten the Chinamen into his mission, for he was convinced they were lying. For a time these efforts had not the desired effect and one at least of these three orientals even laughed satirically at the arrangements. But when the nooses of rope were put over the head of each the effect was magical. So soon as the rope touched their yellow skin their manner was altered and their memories suddenly awoke from their untruthful stupor. Yes, the Chinamen now recollected that the girls were indeed in the village and if only the commander would spare the lives of these three headmen the girls should be returned in safety. So directions were sent to the village and before long the girls appeared on the beach escorted by crowds. The three headmen were then exchanged for the three girls and the gunboat once more got under way. The ship's company made them as comfortable as possible wrapping them up in a sail for the night and feeding them with all the tea and jam which their oriental palates delighted in. To the great joy of their father they were brought safely back to Hong Kong and the incident, thanks to captain Saint John's clever strategy and determination, had been brought to a happy issue. The part which the British navy has played in Chinese waters alone in putting down piracy has been considerable. Sometimes the efforts have had to be made against superior numbers and only British pluck and cleverness could have brought about the results which followed. Such an occasion occurred when this same gunboat once rounded a headland in the seas and after opening up the channel found no fewer than 15 junks drawn up in line in such a manner as to command the centre of the channel with their guns. The navigation hereabouts was tricky, especially for a vessel drawing as much water as the gunboat. But she was taken full speed through the soft mud onto the north side so that she kept all the junks end on and not broadside. This somewhat surprised the junks who were still more amazed when the gunboat with her guns out and ready loaded dashed into the middle of them before ever a shot had been fired by either side. Indeed, so terrified were these Chinaman that they jumped overboard and swam from their craft to the shore where they presently manned their land batteries. But before they had fired the gunboat had come to anchor and sent a shot against them. They had the salutary effect of clearing the Chinaman from their new stronghold. Then the English officer followed this up by landing the whole of his men with the exception of three plus the Chinese portion of his crew. He came ashore with his men some little distance below the position the Chinese pirates had taken up as the ground was less unsuitable. His force consisted only of twenty blue jackets and marines all told. The enemy amounted to three hundred or five hundred. Forming in single file the English advanced towards the pirates, but a minute later the enemy hesitated and then fled for their lives. Although the difference in the strength of the two forces was so great, yet the result of the encounter was instant and unmistakable. All that the English had now to do was to walk into the battery from behind and burn the village. This, together with the blowing up of three junks was readily accomplished. So the Englishmen returned aboard their gunboat and just then they espied a whole fleet of junks steering into the creek. The gunboat's Chinese interpreter assured himself that these were pirates, so another engagement was imminent. But in a short time it was found that they were the opposite of pirates. In fact these junks belonged to a certain Mandarin who assured the gunboat's commander that he would not have dared to have come into the channel had he not seen the British gunboat there lying. For the Mandarin had been living in terror of these corsairs. However the gunboat was in a hurry and had no more time to waste pirates, so handing over the junks to the Mandarin and leaving the devastated town in the latter's charge the man of war got up her anchor and made for Macau. After leaving Macau the gunboat steamed some miles to the west and then turned sharply to the right thus approaching the mainland which was separated from the chain of islands by a dozen miles of shallow muddy water. As she was proceeding the gunboat grounded the time being about low water and no further advance could be made. Heavy clouds were coming up and presently dirty weather set in. The water became lashed into a nasty short sea and the wind increased in violence. At this moment from amidst the heavy driving rain there emerged a junk bearing before the breeze with her great sails boomed out. Here was a stroke of ill luck to have this pirate coming out just as the gunboat was immovable and unable to work her guns freely. However, the best had to be made of a bad job. So a big shot was pitched across the boughs of the hurrying junk which she ignored. In another minute the big gun would be able to bear on her and she would have dashed past and would have been able to rake with her guns the helpless gunboat stranded in the mud. It was now or never and the order to fire into her had just been given but before the trigger had been pulled down came the great sail of the junk and in a very few minutes she had rounded to and anchored close to the man of war. In the next few minutes the tide had risen a little so that the gunboat was able to float off and drop to stern into deeper water. The junk was then boarded and found to contain 43 men. These in small parties were now sent aboard the gunboat and secured for the night. The next day the gunboat and her junk arrived at the nearest Mandarin station where both junk and crew arrived. She was found to be a pirate very heavily armed and was the identical craft against which the gunboat had been sent out. With her eight big cannon she was capable of doing any damage she liked against a merchant ship. In fact she was so big a craft that she made the gunboat look quite small when alongside her. The sixties and seventies which have been selected to afford characteristic episodes of Chinese piracy were the very climax of the sea robberies by which those waters became so notorious. Hong Kong itself was a veritable hotbed of piracy. Here resided the headmen of the pirate gangs and in this self-same harbour pirate junks had the audacity and impudence to anchor even close to a British gunboat the mission it was to exterminate this class of nuisance. A favourite practice was for a pirate to wait in harbour till he saw another merchant junk getting under way bound for a coasting voyage. The pirate would then get his anchor up also and follow the other junk round the first headland when he would attack her board her and rob her with or without murder as suited his convenience. But this evil practice was largely overcome by the introduction of a system of compulsory registration which caused the junks to be numbered and additional to this the China men were prevented from entering Hong Kong without a passport. And let us now close this story of pirates with the narrative of an incident which she showed yet again that the white man was more than a cunning and often cowardly Mongolian. Information had been received from some fishermen that three large junks were anchored in a snug bay six miles away. The gunboat's commander was well aware that the pirates scented his coming and they did not fail to realise that the exceedingly narrow and shallow entrance was quite unsuitable for the gunboat. However there were other means for making the same object and this is what happened. The man of war was taken as near as she could safely float to the rocky shore. Then captain Sun-John with seven men quietly left his ship and rode ashore the gunboat having orders now to steam on and appear off the entrance to the bay as close as practicable and to send another boat to the assistance of the eight when the ship reached her position. Captain Sun-John and his seven men had barely three hundred yards of bushes and grass to traverse before the low ridge overlooking the bay was reached. Then it was found that they were within a hundred yards of the spot where the junks lay below them. These craft were clearly aground in the middle of the bay and broadside on to the entrance. Two of them were very fine guns, mounting ten guns though the third was smaller. There were about twenty men in each and at any rate the enemy numbered about ten to one of the naval men. The Chinese had expected that the English would row round the point and so the wily orientals had trained their guns ready loaded straight for the entrance and it had never occurred to them that their warland attack. Now lying hauled out of the water on the beach in front of the houses was a sampan and when the party of seven got down to the beach three of them launched this sampan and pushed off to the junks while the rest were on the beach. These tactics so surprised the Chinaman that they jumped and tumbled into their boats alongside the junks and some went into the water. One of the boats from the gun boat now came on to assist and the pirate craft were quickly taken possession of. The junks were destroyed, some of the pirates were killed while the rest of them fled into the bushes. Thus with a little force and much sound judgment and daring another nest of pirates had been got rid of to the further benefit of them and so we bring our story of the rise and growth of piracy to an end. Within the number of pages here afforded it has been impossible to do more than indicate both the historic outline of the subject and to illustrate this with real actual events of the most interesting character. A complete history of piracy will never be written. Such a task would be the records of many of the most notorious pirates perished with themselves. In the lives of even those of whom we have certain knowledge there are gaps about which history is silent. Perhaps those were the periods when they were enjoying their ill-gotten gains on land. Perhaps in those times they were engaged in still more daring sorts of piracy. We cannot tell. There is no need to be certain and in this any reader who has perused this volume will, I trust, agree with me. However charming and romantic a story the novelist may weave for us concerning these bold sea robbers and pillagers yet it is not necessary to overstep the limits of actual occurrence in order to demonstrate at once the daring, the ingenuity and the undoubtedly clever leadership of these lawless wanderers and enemies of the human race. End of Chapter 27 Recording by Linda Johnson End of The Romance of Piracy by Edward Kebbell Chatterton