Clearing Out Pirates

Frorn the year 1852 to 1854 the Chinese sea, from Shanghai in the north to Singapore in the south, was infested with pirate craft. As for that matter, this sea had been the cruising ground of pirates Lor a score of years previously, but I mention these two years for particular reasons. One was that I was engaged in a vigorous warfare against them, and the other that the close of 1854 witnessed the death of the leading spirits and broke up piracy as a trade. Iu those far back days comparatively nothing was known of China outside of a few seaports. Treaties were of little account, and consuls werf few and far between. Every merchant ship was expected to defend lierself, and the captain of every man of war bad authority to bonibard any town which refused to renew his.water and provisions. AU nations were trading with China, but, aside from a few seaports, all China hated all other people. At the docks at ilong Kong I could drink tea with the Chinese merchants. Half a mile away the people would have cut me to pieces. While the country wanted to sell its products, it hated the men who bought them. While it wanted the goods of other countries, it despised the makers and shippers. There is no doubt that the Chinese jovernment tacitly encouraged piracy, and, could the great mass of the population have bad its say, not a single toreigner would have ever been allowed to land on the coast. In the year '54 there was an association at Cantón ëalled "The Foreign Traders." It was composed of Amerieans, Englishraen, Germans, Frenchmen, Spaniards and Russians, and numbered over sixty representatives. Tho capital represented arnounted to rniüions, and the object was threefold. We had more power with the Chinese government than any foreign minister. We had rules and regulations regarding the tea trade. We could carry a point by protests and threats. Every pound of tea from a district 500 miles square had to pass through our hands. We filed many protests against the pirates and the laxity of the government in hunting them down. and were flnally officially informed that we were at liberty to take any steps we deemed best in the matter. That meant we could fit out a craft and go for the rascáis right and left hauded. We had been anticipating this, and had a craft ready at Hong Kong. She was an American sehooner of excellent model and large spread of sail, and we knew that she could outsail anything, native or foreign, we had ever seen in those waters. We armed her with a XiOng Tom and four twenty-four pounders, haviug bought the guus from the sale oí the salvage of a Freneh man of war. Then we picked up a crew of flfty men, all foreigners and 6ailors, and when we went out of Hong Kong we were prepared to give the pirates Hail Columbia. I was purser of the schooner, which was called the Revenge, and her captain was an Englishman named Wethtrbee, who had served as a commissioned officer in the regular service. The first lieutenant was an American, and the other offices were divided up amoug the other nationalities. We (lew the association flag, and while we had liberty to go for pirates, we were warned that any mistakes would be made to cost us dearly. The two boss pirates of that date were Shung-Wong and Chin-Lung. The flrst had a fleet of seven or eight craft, and haunted the sea from Singapore north to the TongKin Islands. The second cruised from thence as far north as Shanghai, having his lieadquarters at Formosa Island. He was reported to have a fleet of nine craft. That both were monsters we had a hundred proofs, and that both had grown rich and powerful it was easy to show by the long list of missing vessels hanging in the headquarters office. While we had kept our movements as secret as possible, we had no doubt that government officials had given us away, and that the pirates would be on the watch for us. To deceive them as far as possible, we ran to tho south for three days, and spoke and reported to four ships bound for Cantón. Then we ran 'over toward the. Ph'ilippiue Islands until we had a good offing, when we headed up for Formosa to get acquainted with old Chin-Lung. During the next three days we did not sight a sail of any sort Then early one morning we feil in with a lot of wreckage which showod ub that a trader had been overhauled and burned We were now to the east of Formosa, and fif ty miles off the coast. Men were set to work to give the schooner the appearance of a vessel in distress, and undef a light breeze we made slow headway towards the island. It was about 4 o'clock in the afternöon before anything approached us, although we saw a number of native craft at a distance. Then a small junk came out from a ba y about five miles off, and headed directly for us. Everything aboard of us seemed to be at sixes and sevens. A man was lashed to the mammast, to represent the captain, everything aloft was askew, and the seven or eight men on deck were seemingly drunk and having a high old time. We had a man aloft to play a part, knowing that wc should be hailed in English. Both of these boss pirates had Americans and Englisumen with them - rascáis who had deserted their ships and voluntarüy adopted the Life of a pírate - and one of them was always pnt forward to hail a ship. The junk carne steadily forward to within hailing distance before she came up iuto the wind. This was proof, whether she was honest or not, that our appearanee had deceived her. The men on deck yelled and shook thoir Csts, as drunken meu might do, but at the first opportunity a voioe hailed us. "Scboonor ahoy ! What schoonor is that!" "The Rovenge, Capt. Thatcher, bound to Shanghai," answered the man aloft. 'What's the matter aboardí" 'Crew in n state of mutiny for the last thiee days. They have lashed the captain to the mast and dn ven me aloft." "What's your cargo ï" "General merchandise." "Any arnis aboard?" "ünly a few nmskets." There were a dozen men aboard t'as junk, but they dared not attempt to board. ïhey chattered away among themselves for a wíúl, and chen the epoKesrnan called out: 'Very well; w will bring you help." With that tha junk headed back for the bay, acoouipanied by the yells and cui'Ses of the appai-ently drunken crew. We had a nativa aboard called Shin-Lee. Ho had been in tli bead'quarers office for several years, and could be depended upon. He gave it as Lia opinión that the junk was a spy boatsent out Ity the piratas, vho uever attacked a vesoel by daylight without taking all due precautious. Lie said we would see the pirate fleet come out in case no sail appeared upon the horizon, and his words were speedily verifled. We had been gradually edging inshore, and tverj not over fivc miles from the land, when we cauglit siglit of flve junks coming out after us. ïhere was a good working breeze, and now, as was only natural, wo began to claw off. By setsjning to want to get away very badly, but by carefully manipulating the helm, we were seven miles off the land before the fleet reached us. We were satisfied of their intentions, long enough before. It was not to help a vessel in distress, but to take advautage of oue almost helpless. The junks kcpt pretty well together, and wheu within rifle shot eaeh oue ruised ChinLung's flag and uttered a cheer. Each had a eouple of howitzers. with which they opened iré upon the schooner, but no bario liad been done when we were roady to spring the trap. At the word of command cvory man was on deck, the guncrews juinped to their stations, and things aloftwereshipshape in a moment. Thcn wo wore round to get between the íirates and tho bay, and oponed flre. A Chinese junk is a mere shell. The solid shot went through them as if they had been paper. Tho poor dovils were unnerved as soon as they saw the trap into which they bad fallen, and devoted all their energies to getting away. We could outsail any of the junks, but it was quick work witb four of ;hem. They wero sent to the bottoni one after another, and as we came np with tho fifth we ran her down. Our stem struok her full on the starboard broadside and cut her almost in two. She had at least thirty men aboard, and there was one long, despairing shriek as they went down to watery graves. A f e w came up to clutch at the wreckage and beg to be taken aboard, but not one of them would the captain lend a hand to. Such as the sharks did not get hold of drifted out to sea with the tide. It was a fearful retribution, but these men were monsters. Insido of thirty minutes from the time we opened fire the fleet was at the. bottom and at least a hundrod pirates had paid the penalty of their crimes. Our captain was lamenting the fact that he had not picked up one or two in order to secure information when there was a row forward, and it was announced that a pírate had been found hanging to the chains. When brought aft he was ready to do anything to save his life. His name was MungHang, and he had good cause to believe that we would reverse it. He was tho captain of the junk we had run down, and was ready to teil us all about old Chin-Lung. The bay was his reudezvous, but his plunder was bidden on the coast near Foo Chow. There were barracks for the men up tho bay, and thirty or forty men there at that moment. They had captured a French briL several days before, and she was then at anchor in the bay waiting for Cbin-Lung's return. He was then up among the Lioo Kio islands with four junks to capture a large ship whiqh had drifted into shoal water, but was not abandoned. If we would spare his life he would pilot us anywhere and prove bis gratitude in any way. Shin-Lee took him in hand for a few minutes, and then announced that we could depend upon him. We ran into the bay, brought up alongside of the brig, and sent forty men ashore to clean out the place. Not a pírate was to be seen, all having bolted for the woods. Everything which would burn was set on fire, and a prize crew was put aboard the brig to navigate her to Hong Kong. She reached that port safely, and our salvage money went far to reimburse the company for its outlay. When we sailed out of the bay it was to look for the boss pirate. He was uearer than we thought for. At 8 o'clock next morning we saw his fleet dead ahead, on its way back to Formosa empty handed, and by 10 we had the junks under fire. These were a braver lot of men. Knowing that they could not ontsail us, and seeming to suspect that we were an enemy, they closed rigbt in for a fight. It did uot last long, however. We had one man killed by the fall of a block from aloft, and three or four woundedby the bullets from their andent firearms, and in return not a man of them escaped. In less than an hour's flghting altogether we sent nine junks and 200 men to destructiqn. Butchery, was it? WelL, cali i so; but remember that in tho prevíoua twelve montos the fleet of this old pirate had captured no less than ten foreign eraf t and six traders, and that every man, woman and child aboard had been murdered. There was no sentiment about Chin-Lung. He thought of nothing but blood and plunder, and he would cut a child's throat with a smile on his face. We were now ready to sail in search of Shung-Wong, who had less power, but was just as great a villain. Those two leaders had divided up the territory, and compelled all losser pirates to join them and come under their control. So, tkeu, wo liad only two men to strike at to down the whole lot. At the close of the third day, after heading for the south, we came upon the track of the piratical fleet. A trader in woods and dye stuffs had been overhauled about a hundred miles north of the northern group of Philippines, called tho Little Ehilippines. The crew consisted of three men and a boy, and the vessel had only part of a cargo. Shung-Wong had boarded her himself , and although the crew were native Chinese, he could not restrain his bloody hand. He domanded a sum equal to $300 in American mpney. There was only about $20 aboard, and he personally cut the captain's throat, had the others flogged, and went on his way to tho Bay of Luzon, which is on the west side of the island of that name. We spoke the trader, and received from her terrifled crew the incidents above íiiíi l uc:í i, uní tuuu öijiij.;eu uui i.uuiw iw the bay. As lupk would have it, an Americau ship called the Joseph Taylor was ahead oL us, and as she passed down tho coast was attacked by the fleot about seveu miles oít shore. "VVe heard the rumpus about an hour before daylight. There wag little breeze, and though greatly outnumbered, the crew of the Taylor beat the pirates off. At daylight tho wind freshened, and we alid in between the junks and the shore just as they were preparing for a second attack. We were no sooncr within range tlmn we opened on them, and, seeing escape cut off, the fellows ti-ied hard to lay us aboard. In thirty minutes from the opening of the flght we had suuk or run dowu every junk, and disposed of every pirate, and only had four men wounded in doing it. Our work had been done so promptly and well that it struek terror to the hearts of all ovil doers in those seas, and it was several years before another act of piracy was committed. The Chinese government returned its thanks to the assocáation, ship owners sent in contri butions of rnoney to express their gratitude, and when we came to sell the schoener to the Chinese government as a cruiser, the couipany was üuancially ahead. It was probably the briefest cruise and attended with the greatest results recorded of an armed