PREYING ON PIRATES
As a boy it was my ambition to fight Indians, but if I had known as
much about them then as I do now, I would have selected pirates. They
have none of the claims on life which the real, red, native Americans
enjoy, and they can be fought on the glorious sea instead of on land,
which adds to the inherent excitement. It was in the Summer of 1874
that I made my first plunge into piracy, for, with all of the trimmings
and aids to deception stripped away, that was what it really amounted
to. I did not know into just what I was being led when I embarked in
this new enterprise; but I am frank to say that it would have made no
difference, for a free translation of the word “pirate” is “adventure
of the first order,” and that was what I was looking for.
When I reached London, after my strange escape from execution in Santo
Domingo and the exploration of the headwaters of the Orinoco and the
Rio Negro, Frank Norton was coming up from the Mediterranean with the
“Leckwith,” carrying a general cargo, and I had not long to wait for
him. He was joyous when I told him I was ready to accompany him to the
China Sea, which he had pictured as an El Dorado of excitement, with
many golden Manoas that might be converted into Bank of England notes.
There was to be no filibustering there for we had no thought of playing
against the concert of Europe with our one little fiddle, even had
there been any prospective revolutions worth the hatching; but Norton
insisted that there was plenty of adventure to be found and much money
to be made in handling equally illegitimate cargoes which included no
explosives or munitions of war. As he was familiar with that part of
the world I took his word for it, without going into minute details.
He said we would need the “Leckwith” and two ships to carry on the
business to the best advantage, so I selected the “Surprise,” an
American brig, and the “Florence,” a topsail schooner, both stout,
fast ships. I put Lorensen on the “Leckwith” as sailing master, George
Brown on the “Surprise,” and old Bill Heather on the “Florence.”
The “Surprise” took on a general cargo for Japan and was ordered to
rendezvous at Hong Kong, while the “Florence” loaded for Singapore.
Norton and I followed in the “Leckwith.” Two brass cannon were mounted
in place of the yacht’s guns she carried and we took on board four
small carronades, a French _mitrailleuse_, and several hundred rifles,
cutlasses, and side arms, with an abundance of ammunition, all of which
were stored in the hold.
Before our departure I had printed on parchment, in exact imitation
of the genuine, certificates of registry in English, Dutch, German,
French, and Spanish, and seals made to correspond to them. These I
filled out, as occasion demanded, in the name the particular ship bore
at the time, and in the nationality which I thought would furnish the
best protection. I also had certificates of health, consular clearances
and bills of health, custom house clearances, and shipping certificates
printed in different languages. Forged service certificates were also
issued to old men of long service who were competent officers but who
could not pass the technical examinations provided for in the amended
maritime laws. These and the certificates of registry were aged with a
solution of iron and, if necessary, rubbed on the cabin floor to add to
their years. I had used similar forged papers while filibustering in
the West Indies but had never had such an elaborate outfit, though I
was never afterward without it. With these papers I could give a ship a
registry under any flag and make it appear that she had come from any
port that suited my purpose. They were signed with an illegible scrawl,
as are the genuine. To further complicate matters the “Leckwith”
was supplied with a telescopic smokestack which, when lowered, was
completely hidden. She was schooner-rigged and could be transformed
into a fore and aft schooner by dousing the stack and housing the yards
on the foremast, or into a brig by putting yards on the mainmast.
Similar changes of rig could be made on the “Florence” and “Surprise.”
I never used a ship on which this could not be done. The efficacy of
these precautions is proved by the fact that I have never lost a cargo
of contraband, though I have handled scores of them.
With provision made for all of the deception and trickery which
experience and foresight could suggest we headed for Singapore, to
begin a career of adventure such as my wild mind never had conceived,
even in its dearest dreams. On the long trip out I whiled away the
time in an effort to evolve a torpedo of a new type. I had been
interested in high explosives all my life and had long believed that a
non-dirigible torpedo could be devised which would be an improvement on
our own Harvey,--which was towed in a bridle and was not practicable
for a greater distance than two or three hundred yards,--and which
would have advantages over the dirigible type. To facilitate my
experiments I had on board a lot of sheet brass and before the end
of the trip I had developed a torpedo that I regarded as perfection
and which I afterward used with success, though it finally got me
into trouble in South America. It was six feet long, thirty inches in
diameter, and shaped like a fat cigar. The inside was lined with air
cylinders to give it the required buoyancy, and inside of these was
packed the explosive charge, of wet gun-cotton or dynamite. It was
towed by a wire or small rope attached to the blunt nose, from which
projected six spider-like arms two feet long, and alternating with
these were six shorter arms extending outward from the thickest part
of the torpedo. The forcing backward of any one of these arms cut off
a shear pin and released a spring which set off a fulminate of mercury
cap. This exploded a disc of dry gun-cotton which set off the main
charge. The shear pins were of copper wire of any desired thickness,
but were intended to be only thick enough to prevent the arms from
being forced backward, and the torpedo discharged, by the current of a
river or by the resistance of the water when being towed or by small
driftwood which might be encountered.
The buoyancy of the loaded torpedo could easily be calculated and by
means of the air cylinders it could be kept awash or floated just below
the surface, the latter being the preferred method when it was to be
used during the day. The towing wire or rope was kept on the surface
or just below it by small floats, distributed at such distances that
they would attract no attention even in the improbable event of their
being seen. The torpedo was intended to be towed across the course of
the vessel that was to be destroyed. The moment the ship’s bow picked
up the towing rope her fate was settled, for whether the rope was fifty
yards or five miles long it was simply a question of time until the
torpedo was dragged alongside and exploded by the pressure of one of
the arms against the side of the vessel. The torpedo could be towed
astern of a ship or a launch or even an innocent rowboat. In river work
it could be stretched across the stream with a line at each end, the
shorter one being only strong enough to withstand the current, so it
would part easily when the unfriendly ship picked up the line attached
to the nose of the torpedo. I was greatly pleased with my invention
and it was not long until I had an opportunity to prove that it was a
complete success.
We reached Singapore more than a month ahead of the “Florence” and on
our arrival there Norton unfolded his whole scheme to me. The gist of
it was that we were to prey on the pirates who infested the China Sea,
and particularly that part of it lying between Singapore, Sumatra,
and Borneo, which was dotted with islands and beautifully suited by
nature to their plundering profession. Every ship going to Europe from
China, Indo-China, Siam, and from the Philippines and the network of
islands to the south of them, as well as vessels coming up from the
Indian Ocean through the Strait of Sunda, between Sumatra and Java,
had to run the gantlet of this piratical nest, and many were the good
ships that ended their cruises there, along with their passengers and
crews. It was here the pirates held out last in their long and bloody
fight against civilization, as the present state of mankind in general
is called. The British Government had been trying for years to put an
end to their operations but there were so many of the islands, and
the opportunities for concealment and escape were so numerous, that
the undertaking was a gigantic one. It was not until years after my
tragic appearance on this stage that it was officially announced that
piracy had been suppressed. Even that long delayed declaration was
not altogether true, for in that accursed region, now well known but
yet mysterious, piracy is still being carried on, even to this day,
though in a small and desultory way. There were a few islands farther
north, off the southern coast of Indo-China, among which the pirates
sometimes rendezvoused to lay in wait for their prey, but in ordinary
weather it was easy for ships to keep clear of these danger spots. But
they could not avoid those islands lying northeast of Singapore, and it
was there that most of the merchantmen were looted.
The pirates were chiefly Chinese, with a considerable number of Malays
and some Dyaks. As to bravery and bloodthirstiness there was little
choice between them. They were all desperate villains and their thirst
for gold was exceeded only by their truly Oriental cunning. When they
fell from wounds they would watch for an opportunity to hamstring their
opponents or disembowel them with their long, crooked knives, which
were as sharp as razors. After we discovered this devilish trait no
quarter was ever shown them. When one of them fell he was shot through
the head or stabbed, to make sure that he would do no further harm.
Nothing else could be done with such an enemy. The Chinese operated
chiefly in large junks, with which they could go well out to sea. Most
of them carried guns of considerable size, while all of them were
supplied with a multitude of stink-pots,--their favorite weapon. These
were round earthenware pots, twelve or fifteen inches in diameter,
filled with a black mixture of the consistency of moist earth, which
was lighted just before the missile was thrown. They were handled in
a sling, such as every small boy has used but on a larger scale, and
could be thrown with great accuracy for one hundred feet or more. When
the pot struck the opposing ship it broke open and the contents spread
out on the deck, giving off a thick, pungent, and vile-smelling smoke
which would quickly produce complete asphyxiation if it was inhaled
at close range. If the smoking mass was left long enough undisturbed
it would set fire to the ship. The pirates themselves were largely
immune to this horrible smoke and under its cover, following a rain
of stink-pots, they would board a ship almost unseen and have her
defenders, whom they always outnumbered, at a great disadvantage from
the start. When fighting at close quarters the Chinese used long,
curved swords, something like a Turkish yataghan, while the Malays were
armed with the krese, a short, double-edged sword with serrated edges.
Both were murderous weapons and the pirates were graduated experts
in the use of them; in fact, they preferred their butcher knives to
firearms, for they were miserable marksmen. As soon as an engagement
became general they would throw away their guns and pistols and use
their swords, with both hands, striking powerful, chopping blows.
The Malays and Dyaks used _proas_ or _feluccas_, light, strong,
low-lying vessels from sixty to one hundred feet in length, from ten
to sixteen feet wide, and five or six feet deep, with less than three
feet draft. They were rigged with two large lateen sails and were very
fast. The only material difference between them was that the proas were
supplied with long sweeps with which they could be driven along at a
fair rate of speed when there was no wind. The junks were used for
outside work, while the proas and feluccas kept close inshore, seldom
going more than fifteen miles out. On account of their shallow draft
they were easily hidden in the mouths of rivers and creeks, and when so
concealed they could not be seen at a distance of half a mile.
It was this ease of escape, and the fact that unless they were
caught red-handed conviction was impossible, which combined to make
the stamping out of the pirates such a tremendous task. The junks
always carried just enough cargo to enable them to pose, technically,
as peaceful traders and, with the aid of their friends afloat and
ashore, they could easily prove an alibi, or anything else that was
needed. When closely pursued by a suspicious warship and certain to
be overhauled and inspected, they would throw overboard their surplus
of arms and, if necessary, any loot they happened to have on board,
to remove all incriminating evidence. Through an elaborate system of
spies the pirate chiefs were constantly advised as to the movements of
the warships and kept their craft as far away from them as possible.
Thus it was that unless a cruiser happened along just as a merchantman
was being looted, and her crew butchered, or immediately afterward,
the chance of capturing the scoundrels was remote. Even with the large
retributive fleet of cruisers and gunboats that finally was established
in those waters, beauteous and romantic but thickly dotted with
villainous havens, the number of piracies that were punished, including
the joyous justice which Norton and I meted out, was trifling when
compared with the total of murder and robbery.
The chief of a large section of the Chinese pirates was old Moy Sen,
a rich Chinaman who lived in a handsome home in Canton and posed as a
legitimate trader. He owned a large fleet of junks and one steamer,
and there was not a ship that left Hong Kong with a rich cargo that
he did not know all about. The evil genius of the Malays was a shrewd
scoundrel known as Leandrio, and he and Moy Sen operated under what
would be known to-day as a “gentlemen’s agreement,” by which they
divided up the territory, in a general way, and did not interfere
with each other. As a matter of fact there were practically no
honest trading ships in that section, with the exception of the big
merchantmen engaged in the export trade. All of the coasting ships were
either pirates themselves, when the conditions were favorable, or were
in league with the pirates, to whom they carried information as to the
value of cargoes being prepared for shipment and their probable date
of departure. The result was that there was not a ship, except the
easily distinguished merchantman, which we did not come to regard as
legitimate prey.
Norton argued that the pirates were bound to keep on robbing and
burning and murdering in spite of anything we could do, and that we
could derive plenty of excitement and large profits by robbing them.
Incidentally, he contended, we would put a lot of them out of business
for good and all, thus contributing to the end desired by all nations.
I fell in with his plan heartily, for, while I cared little for the
money that was to be made, it promised as lively adventures as I could
wish for. It was arranged that I should pose as Dr. Burnet, a rich
English physician who was cruising in his private yacht for his health.
To make it appear that they were engaged in legitimate commerce, the
“Florence” and “Surprise” were to carry some general cargoes from
port to port among the islands but were to so shape their cruises that
they would be at certain fixed points on or about given dates, so that
we could keep closely in touch with them. They were to be given large
crews and so heavily armed as to be safe from piratical attacks. The
“Leckwith” was to do all of the preying on the pirates and the loot we
took from them was to be turned over to the other ships at the meeting
places. This would make it unnecessary for us to put into port often
as we could use our sails a great deal and husband our coal. This
arrangement, and the changes which could quickly be made in the rig of
all the ships, would, we figured, remove us from suspicion, for a long
time at least. Agencies for our legitimate cargoes were established
in Sumatra, on the island of Banca, where there were extensive tin
mines, in Borneo and Rajah Brooke’s independent government of Sarawak
in North Borneo, and at other convenient places. It was arranged that
the bulk of our loot should be sent to a firm of Chinamen at Singapore,
who dealt largely in dishonest cargoes but were absolutely honest with
their clients.
With the schedules of the “Florence” and “Surprise” established and
with the “Leckwith’s” bunkers stuffed with coal, we headed for the
islands in search of pirates. We then had a crew of about seventy-five
men, though at different times we had as few as fifty and as many as
one hundred, independent of the “black gang” in the fire and engine
rooms. The crews of the three ships were frequently interchanged,
except for about fifteen especially brave and reckless fellows who were
always kept on the “Leckwith.” With all of our sails set and in the
guise of a trading ship we sometimes trapped the pirates into coming
alongside and grappling with us, which made it easy work for us, but
when we had reason to think they had valuable booty on board we went
at them full tilt under steam and took it away from them. All of our
guns, which were always unshipped when we went into port, were close up
against the rail and were concealed under what looked like deck cargo,
but it was the work of only a moment to cast off their covering and
lower a section of the bulwarks long enough to give them a wide radius
of action.
Our first experience was a profitable one. When near the “hunting
grounds” we lowered the smokestack, got up our canvas, and sailed along
awaiting developments. We were getting in among the islands when we met
a big junk which had just looted and scuttled a richly laden Brazilian
barkentine. She had much more than enough on board to pay her for one
trip, but cupidity got the better of her commander and he put about
and came after us, thinking we were only a trading schooner but might
have something on board worth taking. We made a pretence of trying to
get away, which we could have done, for the “Leckwith” footed fast even
under sail, but in reality we eased our sheets to hasten matters along.
When he was close astern of us, with the wind abeam, we luffed up,
got out guns ready for action in a jiffy and, as we crossed his bows,
raked him fore and aft with our carronades, which were loaded almost
to the muzzle with slugs and nails. Before he could change his course,
with his decks littered with dead and mangled, we came about and gave
him a broadside at close quarters, along with a deadly rifle fire from
the hitherto unseen members of the crew who had been concealed in
the ’tween decks. He replied to this blast with a lot of stink-pots,
only a few of which came aboard and were tossed into the sea before
any ill effects were felt from their nauseating fumes, and a weak and
poorly directed fire from his guns. Taken completely by surprise and
with more than half of their number littering the reddened deck, the
pirates were panic-stricken. Before they could regain their senses we
came about again and gave them another broadside which took all the
fight out of them, if there had been any left, and put them at our
mercy. As we ranged alongside, keeping up a rifle fire but disdaining
any further use of our guns, they managed to launch a couple of boats
and all who could get into them pulled for the nearest island. When we
threw our grappling irons and hauled in on them the few survivors who
had strength enough left to get to the rail threw themselves overboard
and swam for it. The first man aboard of the junk had one of his legs
almost severed by the wicked sword of a badly wounded Chinaman, and
after that bit of fiendishness our men lost no time in making sure that
the rest of them were really dead. We took out of the junk fully one
hundred thousand dollars’ worth of specie, silk, tea, porcelain, and
drugs and then set fire to her, leaving her to bury her own dead.
After that easily won victory we trapped and sank half a dozen proas
and feluccas in the same way, though with more spirited resistance in
some cases, for we were so anxious to get things to going that we threw
off our mask before we had them at such close quarters as we got the
junk. We had two men killed in these engagements and a dozen more or
less seriously injured. Norton sustained an ugly cut on the leg that
sent him to the hospital and I got a slash on the arm that gave me
considerable trouble for a few days. In only one instance did a ship
get away from us and that was when two proas attacked us on either side
in a dead calm that settled before we could get steam up. We could not
change our position, while they manœuvred with their long oars and one
of them escaped, though she took a lot of dead with her. We got nothing
from them to speak of but there was excitement _in extenso_ and we
gloried in it. Norton had not overdrawn the picture of the adventurous
China Sea.
We had turned our cargo over to the “Florence,” along with a number of
wounded men, and were back among the islands, though outside of the
regular course of sailing ships, when early one evening a full-rigged
ship hove in sight. She passed us but was not more than six miles
away when we saw flashes that told us she had been attacked. We had
our fires banked, for it was just at the break of the monsoon when
the weather is variable and the winds uncertain, so we lost no time
in going to her assistance. As we closed in we saw a Malay felucca on
each side of her and the pirates swarming on her decks, with the crew
putting up a brave fight. Running the “Leckwith” up on her starboard
quarter, we threw our men aboard of her and they went at the pirates
savagely from the rear. I led the boarding party for it looked as
though it would be one of the kind of fights that I never would miss.
In those days I was young, athletic, and vigorous and I had rather have
a fight with death at one end of it than anything else. No matter where
I went, or what the odds against us, I knew the men of the “Leckwith”
would be at my heels, for a braver set of dare-devils never lived.
The Malays outnumbered us more than two to one, but we went at them
with a fury that was new to them, and were slowly forcing them back
toward their one good boat--we had smashed the other one to bits when
we slammed alongside--when a beautiful white yacht came tearing up on
the port quarter and sent three boatloads of men to our assistance in
such smart style that I took her to be a gunboat, though the quick
glance I took at her showed her lines to be unusually fine for a
warship. Her party clambered over the bows under command of a stockily
built young officer wearing what looked like the uniform of a naval
captain, and we had the pirates between us. I understood later, when I
learned who and what they were, why these reinforcements, instead of
discouraging the Malays, caused them to fight with renewed desperation.
But they could not withstand our combined rush and the last of them
soon went over the side into their proa, which drifted away into the
darkness when they cut her loose. However, in the last few minutes of
fighting the young British officer, as I took him to be, sustained a
savage cut in his right shoulder, and after we had laid aside our dead
and given our wounded rough attention I was surprised to receive an
inquiry from him as to whether we had a surgeon on board. I replied
that I was a surgeon and, taking him aboard the “Leckwith,” dressed his
wound on the cabin table. I then saw that his uniform was that of a
captain, but not of a naval officer. He told me his name was Deverell
but when I asked him the name of his ship he answered evasively, and I
had learned the ways of the China Sea too well to press the question.
“Your wound is rather a bad one,” I told him, “and is likely to require
further attention. I am simply loafing and expect to be cruising in
this neighborhood for some time, even though it does seem to be pretty
thick with pirates. I will be glad to have you call on me if I can be
of any service to you.”
He mystified me still more when he replied: “We know you, Doctor, and
will know where to find you if it becomes necessary to take further
advantage of your kindness.”
I had not time just then to think much about the strange incident, for
the fight had been a bloody one and there were many men who needed
attention. We had six men killed and there were fully twenty-five more
with injuries of some sort. When I came to look myself over I found
that one bullet had grazed the top of my head and another my chest,
while the right shoulder of my jacket had been sliced off by a cut
that, had it been properly placed, would have taken my arm with it. My
only injury was a trifling flesh wound on my leg. Had I been less of
a fatalist narrow escapes of that kind, to which I grew accustomed,
might have affected my nerves, but instead they were only entertaining.
It interested me, in every fight, to see just how close I had come to
being killed, knowing full well that death could not add my name to
the list until my time came, and that then there would be no way of
avoiding it.
When we got to clearing up the decks nearly sixty dead Malays were
thrown overboard. The merchantman, which was an English bark, had
twelve of her crew killed and so many of the survivors were badly cut
up that only six men were fit for duty. We left enough of our men on
board to work the ship and convoyed her to within two hundred miles
of Singapore, where, with a fair wind and a smooth sea, she was able
to proceed without danger. That episode netted us not only a glorious
fight but a great reputation as the friend and protector of honest
shipping. In fact, it brought us too much fame, for when we put into
Labuan, a British island off the north coast of Borneo, for coal, after
seeing the merchantman safely on her way, and reported the incident, we
had to get out in a hurry to avoid a lot of innocent questions as to
who Dr. Burnet was and where he came from.
On our way back to the islands from Labuan we sighted the mysterious
yacht whose commander I had attended. Evidently she was looking for
us for she changed her course as soon as she made us out, and sent
a boat alongside with a request that I come aboard, as the captain
was very ill. I found him suffering with surgical fever, as I had
predicted, and in rather a bad way. I dressed his wound and treated
him and stood by for three or four days, visiting him twice a day and
returning immediately to the “Leckwith,” for while my services were
plainly appreciated it seemed that I was not wanted on the strange ship
any longer than was necessary. There was an air of mystery about her
that puzzled and fascinated me. As I entered Deverell’s cabin on my
first visit I thought I heard the rustle of a skirt in the passageway
behind me. Before I could make any inquiry Deverell, as though reading
my mind, requested me to ask him no questions about anything relating
to the ship. On my last visit, when I told him he needed no further
attention, he said, after thanking me, “I am master here and I am not.
No doubt things seem strange to you, and they really are stranger than
you think, but I cannot tell you more now. Fate seems to have thrown us
together, however, and I believe we shall see more of each other and
get better acquainted. I hope so. Good-bye.”
Cruising westward after parting company with the ship of mystery we ran
right into a series of profitable engagements. Four ships had left Hong
Kong together but only one got through. The booty which the pirates
took from the others we captured from them, in two small junks and
three large proas, which we destroyed. We transferred our cargo to the
“Florence,” near South Natuna Island, and stood off to the north while
she headed for Singapore. We were three or four hours away from her
when I had a strange presentiment that I should have stayed with her.
The feeling was so strong that I put the “Leckwith” about, caught up
with her, and went on board, with my traps. Expecting to have a lot of
idle time I took along my torpedo, with which I was still experimenting.
A week later we were in a particularly dangerous place, near where the
Brazilian barkentine had been scuttled. Late in the afternoon as we
entered a narrow passage, we sighted a big proa close to an island on
the port bow, and less than half a mile farther on we came on another
one partly hidden in the mouth of a creek in a larger island on the
starboard hand. There was not a sign of life on either one of them
but I knew their crews were close by and felt that we were in for it.
I was fussing with the torpedo when we came upon them and it struck
me that this would be a good chance to put it to the test, if both
of them attacked us at once, which I supposed they would do. We had
neither fulminate of mercury nor gun-cotton aboard but I had been
working to overcome that very difficulty and had arranged the firing
pin so that it would discharge a cartridge into an explosive charge
of black powder. We packed the chamber with powder, and filled enough
air cylinders to keep the torpedo afloat, bent on a towing line of new
manila rope, one hundred fathoms long, and had everything in readiness
by the time it was dark.
We kept a sharp lookout and it was not long until we heard the soft
_chug_ of oars off the starboard bow. Our whaleboat, which was manned
and waiting, at once set off in a course which, we figured, would carry
the towing line across the bow of the proa. A few minutes later we
made out the other proa coming up astern on the port side. The pair
of them got so close that it looked as though something had gone wrong
with my torpedo and I was just about to divide our crew to meet them
on both sides when there was a flash and a roar less than fifty yards
away, and the complete success of my invention was demonstrated. The
proa was thrown out of the water, turned over, and badly smashed up. We
never knew how many of her crew were killed by the explosion but not
many could have escaped. The other craft swung around to board us but
we riddled it with full charges from the fore and aft carronades and
it began to sink. The survivors took to the water and a lot of them
attacked the whaleboat, which had towed the torpedo, as it was making
its way back to the ship. The boat’s crew were prepared for them and
their heavy cutlasses chopped off every hand that grasped the gunwale
and split open every head they could reach.
At Singapore, where we discharged our cargo, our agents reported that
Moy Sen was vowing vengeance on us for the loot we had wrested from him
and the havoc we had spread among his fleet, and that he had caused the
report to be actively circulated at Hong Kong that the “Leckwith” was
not a private yacht but a pirate, preying on legitimate commerce. As
a result many robberies with which we had nothing at all to do were
being laid at our door, and we were advised to be cautious. We worked
our way back to the rendezvous and, after consulting with Norton, I
took my interpreter, Ah Fen, who was half “Chinkie” and half Malay,
from the “Leckwith” and went to Hong Kong on the “Surprise” to see just
what was going on.