bravest man might be murdered by a coward in his bed, they labored to
foment wars among the negro princes, while they themselves declined to
aid either party. It naturally followed, that those who were vanquished
fled to them for protection, and increased their strength. When there
was no war, they fomented private discords, and encouraged them to wreak
their vengeance against each other; nay, even taught them how to
surprise their opponents, and furnished them with fire-arms, with which
to dispatch them more effectually and expeditiously. The consequences
were, that the murderer was constrained to fly to them for protection,
with his wives, children, and kindred. These, from interest, became true
friends, as their own safety depended upon the lives of their
protectors. By this time the pirates were so formidable, that none of
the negro princes durst attack them in open war.
[Illustration: _Captain Tew attacks the ship from India._]
Pursuing this system of policy, in a short time each chief had his party
greatly increased, and they divided like so many tribes, in order to
find ground to cultivate, and to choose proper places to build places of
residence and erect garrisons of defence. The fears that agitated them
were always obvious in their general policy, for they vied with each
other in constructing places of safety, and using every precaution to
prevent the possibility of sudden danger, either from the negroes or
from one another.
A description of one of these dwellings will both show the fears that
agitated these tyrants, and prove entertaining to the reader. They
selected a spot overgrown with wood, near a river, and raised a rampart
or ditch round it, so straight and steep that it was impossible to climb
it, more particularly by those who had no scaling ladders. Over that
ditch there was one passage into the wood; the dwelling, which was a
hut, was built in that part of the wood which the prince thought most
secure, but so covered that it could not be discovered until you came
near it. But the greatest ingenuity was displayed in the construction of
the passage that led to the hut, which was so narrow, that no more than
one person could go abreast, and it was contrived in so intricate a
manner, that it was a perfect labyrinth; the way going round and round
with several small crossways, so that a person unacquainted with it,
might walk several hours without finding the hut. Along the sides of
these paths, certain large thorns, which grew on a tree in that country,
were stuck into the ground with their points outwards; and the path
itself being serpentine, as before mentioned, if a man should attempt to
approach the hut at night, he would certainly have struck upon these
thorns.
[Illustration: _A Pirate and his Madagascar wife._]
Thus like tyrants they lived, dreading, and dreaded by all, and in this
state they were found by Captain Woods Rogers, when he went to
Madagascar in the Delicia, a ship of forty guns, with the design of
purchasing slaves. He touched upon a part of the island at which no ship
had been seen for seven or eight years before, where he met with some
pirates who had been upon the island above twenty-five years. There were
only eleven of the original stock then alive, surrounded with a numerous
offspring of children and grandchildren.
They were struck with terror upon the sight of the vessel, supposing
that it was a man-of-war sent out to apprehend them; they, therefore,
retired to their secret habitations. But when they found some of the
ship's crew on shore, without any signs of hostility, and proposing to
treat with them for slaves, they ventured to come out of their dwellings
attended like princes. Having been so long upon the island, their cloaks
were so much worn, that their majesties were extremely out at elbows. It
cannot be said that they were ragged, but they had nothing to cover them
but the skins of beasts in their natural state, not even a shoe or
stocking; so that they resembled the pictures of Hercules in the lion's
skin; and being overgrown with beard, and hair upon their bodies, they
appeared the most savage figures that the human imagination could well
conceive.
The sale of the slaves in their possession soon provided them with more
suitable clothes, and all other necessaries, which they received in
exchange. Meanwhile, they became very familiar, went frequently on
board, and were very eager in examining the inside of the ship, talking
very familiarly with the men, and inviting them on shore. Their design
was to surprise the ship during the night. They had a sufficient number
of men and boats to effect their purpose, but the captain suspecting
them, kept so strong a watch upon deck, that they found it in vain to
hazard an attempt. When some of the men went on shore, they entered into
a plan to seize the ship, but the captain observing their familiarity,
prevented any one of his men from speaking to the pirates, and only
permitted a confidential person to purchase their slaves. Thus he
departed from the island, leaving these pirates to enjoy their savage
royalty. One of them had been a waterman upon the Thames, and having
committed a murder, fled to the West Indies. The rest had all been
foremastmen, nor was there one among them who could either read or
write.
[Illustration: _Captain Avery's Treasure._]
THE REMARKABLE HISTORY OF THE JOASSAMEE PIRATES OF
THE PERSIAN GULF.
_Containing a description of their chief town, Ras El Khyma, and an
account of the capture of several European vessels, and the barbarous
treatment of their crews.--With interesting details of the several
expeditions sent against them, and their final submission to the troops
of the English East India Company_.
The line of coast from Cape Mussenndom to Bahrain, on the Arabian side
of the Persian Gulf, had been from time immemorial occupied by a tribe
of Arabs called Joassamees. These, from local position, were all engaged
in maritime pursuits. Some traded in their own small vessels to
Bussorah, Bushire, Muscat, and even India; others annually fished in
their own boats on the pearl banks of Bahrain; and a still greater
number hired themselves out as sailors to navigate the coasting small
craft of the Persian Gulf.
The Joassamees at length perceiving that their local position enabled
them to reap a rich harvest by plundering vessels in passing this great
highway of nations, commenced their piratical career. The small coasting
vessels of the gulf, from their defenceless state, were the first object
of their pursuit, and these soon fell an easy prey; until, emboldened by
success, they directed their views to more arduous enterprises, and
having tasted the sweets of plunder in the increase of their wealth, had
determined to attempt more promising victories.
About the year 1797, one of the East India Company's vessels of war, the
Viper, of ten guns, was lying at anchor in the inner roads of Bushire.
Some dows of the Joassamees were at the same moment anchored in the
harbor; but as their warfare had hitherto been waged only against what
are called native vessels, and they had either feared or respected the
British flag, no hostile measures were ever pursued against them by the
British ships. The commanders of these dows had applied to the Persian
agent of the East India Company there, for a supply of gunpowder and
cannon shot for their cruise: and as this man had no suspicions of their
intentions, he furnished them with an order to the commanding officer on
board for the quantity required. The captain of the Viper was on shore
at the time, in the agent's house, but the order being produced to the
officer on board, the powder and shot were delivered, and the dows
weighed and made sail. The crew of the Viper were at this moment taking
their breakfast on deck, and the officers below; when on a sudden, a
cannonading was opened on them by two of the dows, who attempted also to
board.
[Illustration: _A Joassamee Dow in full chase._]
The officers, leaping on deck, called the crew to quarters, and cutting
their cable, got sail upon the ship, so as to have the advantage of
manoeuvring. A regular engagement now took place between this small
cruiser and four dows, all armed with great guns, and full of men. In
the contest Lieut. Carruthers, the commanding officer, was once wounded
by a ball in the loins; but after girding a handkerchief round his
waist, he still kept the deck, till a ball entering his forehead, he
fell. Mr. Salter, the midshipman on whom the command devolved, continued
the fight with determined bravery, and after a stout resistance, beat
them off, chased them some distance out to sea, and subsequently
regained the anchorage in safety.
Several years elapsed before the wounds of the first defeat were
sufficiently healed to induce a second attempt on vessels under the
British flag, though a constant state of warfare was still kept up
against the small craft of the gulf. In 1804, the East India Company's
cruiser, Fly, was taken by a French privateer, off the Island of Kenn,
in the Persian Gulf; but before the enemy boarded her, she ran into
shoal water, near that island, and sunk the government dispatches, and
some treasure with which they were charged, in about two and a half
fathoms of water, taking marks for the recovery of them, if possible, at
some future period. The passengers and crew were taken to Bushire where
they were set at liberty, and having purchased a country dow by
subscription, they fitted her out and commenced their voyage down the
gulf, bound for Bombay. On their passage down, as they thought it would
be practicable to recover the government packet and treasure sunk off
Kenn, they repaired to that island, and were successful, after much
exertion, in recovering the former, which being in their estimation of
the first importance, as the dispatches were from England to Bombay,
they sailed with them on their way thither, without loss of time.
Near the mouth of the gulf, they were captured by a fleet of Joassamee
boats, after some resistance, in which several were wounded and taken
into their chief port at Ras-el-Khyma. Here they were detained in hope
of ransome, and during their stay were shown to the people of the town
as curiosities, no similar beings having been before seen there within
the memory of man. The Joassamee ladies were so minute in their
enquiries, indeed, that they were not satisfied without determining in
what respect an uncircumcised infidel differed from a true believer.
When these unfortunate Englishmen had remained for several months in the
possession of the Arabs, and no hope of their ransom appeared, it was
determined to put them to death, and thus rid themselves of unprofitable
enemies. An anxiety to preserve life, however, induced the suggestion,
on their parts, of a plan for the temporary prolongation of it, at
least. With this view they communicated to the chief of the pirates the
fact of their having sunk a quantity of treasure near the island of
Kenn, and of their knowing the marks of the spot, by the bearings of
objects on shore, with sufficient accuracy to recover it, if furnished
with good divers. They offered, therefore, to purchase their own
liberty, by a recovery of this money for their captors; and on the
fulfillment of their engagement it was solemnly promised to be granted
to them.
They soon sailed for the spot, accompanied by divers accustomed to that
occupation on the pearl banks of Bahrain; and, on their anchoring at the
precise points of bearing taken, they commenced their labors. The first
divers who went down were so successful, that all the crew followed in
their turns, so that the vessel was at one time almost entirely
abandoned at anchor. As the men, too, were all so busily occupied in
their golden harvest, the moment appeared favorable for escape; and the
still captive Englishmen were already at their stations to overpower the
few on board, cut the cable, and make sail. Their motions were either
seen or suspected, as the divers repaired on board in haste, and the
scheme was thus frustrated. They were now given their liberty as
promised, by being landed on the island of Kenn, where, however, no
means offered for their immediate escape. The pirates, having at the
same time landed themselves on the island, commenced a general massacre
of the inhabitants, in which their released prisoners, fearing they
might be included, fled for shelter to clefts and hiding places in the
rocks. During their refuge here, they lived on such food as chance threw
in their way; going out under cover of the night to steal a goat and
drag it to their haunts. When the pirates had at length completed their
work of blood, and either murdered or driven off every former inhabitant
of the island, they quitted it themselves, with the treasure which they
had thus collected from the sea and shore. The Englishmen now ventured
to come out from their hiding places, and to think of devising some
means of escape. Their good fortune in a moment of despair, threw them
on the wreck of a boat, near the beach, which was still capable of
repair. In searching about the now deserted town, other materials were
found, which were of use to them, and sufficient plank and logs of wood
for the construction of a raft. These were both completed in a few days,
and the party embarked on them in two divisions, to effect a passage to
the Persian shore. One of these rafts was lost in the attempt, and all
on board her perished; while the raft, with the remainder of the party
reached land.
Having gained the main land they now set out on foot towards Bushire,
following the line of the coast for the sake of the villages and water.
In this they are said to have suffered incredible hardships and
privations of every kind. No one knew the language of the country
perfectly, and the roads and places of refreshment still less; they were
in general destitute of clothes and money, and constantly subject to
plunder and imposition, poor as they were. Their food was therefore
often scanty, and always of the worst kind; and they had neither shelter
from the burning sun of the day, nor from the chilling dews of night.
The Indian sailors, sipakees, and servants, of whom a few were still
remaining when they set out, had all dropped off by turns; and even
Europeans had been abandoned on the road, in the most affecting way,
taking a last adieu of their comrades, who had little else to expect but
soon to follow their fate. One instance is mentioned of their having
left one who could march no further, at the distance of only a mile from
a village; and on returning to the spot on the morrow, to bring him in,
nothing was found but his mangled bones, as he had been devoured in the
night by jackals. The packet being light was still, however, carried by
turns, and preserved through all obstacles and difficulties; and with it
they reached at length the island of Busheap, to which they crossed over
in a boat from the main. Here they were detained by the Sheikh, but at
length he provided them with a boat for the conveyance of themselves and
dispatches to Bushire. From this place they proceeded to Bombay, but of
all the company only two survived. A Mr. Jowl, an officer of a merchant
ship, and an English sailor named Penmel together with the bag of
letters and dispatches.
In the following year, two English brigs, the Shannon, Capt. Babcock,
and the Trimmer, Capt. Cummings, were on their voyage from Bombay to
Bussorah. These were both attacked, near the Islands of Polior and
Kenn, by several boats, and after a slight resistance on the part of the
Shannon only, were taken possession of, and a part of the crew of each,
cruelly put to the sword. Capt. Babcock, having been seen by one of the
Arabs to discharge a musket during the contest, was taken by them on
shore; and after a consultation on his fate, it was determined that he
should forfeit the arm by which this act of resistance was committed. It
was accordingly severed from his body by one stroke of a sabre, and no
steps were taken either to bind up the wound, or to prevent his bleeding
to death. The captain, himself, had yet sufficient presence of mind
left, however, to think of his own safety, and there being near him some
clarified butter, he procured this to be heated, and while yet warm,
thrust the bleeding stump of his arm into it. It had the effect of
lessening the effusion of blood, and ultimately of saving a life that
would otherwise most probably have been lost. The crew were then all
made prisoners, and taken to a port of Arabia, from whence they
gradually dispersed and escaped. The vessels themselves were
additionally armed, one of them mounting twenty guns, manned with Arab
crews, and sent from Ras-el-Khyma to cruise in the gulf, where they
committed many piracies.
In the year 1808, the force of the Joassamees having gradually
increased, and becoming flushed with the pride of victory, their
insulting attacks on the British flag were more numerous and more
desperate than ever. The first of these was on the ship Minerva, of
Bombay, on her voyage to Bussorah. The attack was commenced by several
boats, (for they never cruize singly,) and a spirited resistance in a
running fight was kept up at intervals for several days in succession. A
favorable moment offered, however, for boarding; the ship was
overpowered by numbers, and carried amidst a general massacre. The
captain was said to have been cut up into separate pieces, and thrown
overboard by fragments; the second mate and carpenter alone were spared,
probably to make use of their services; and an Armenian lady, the wife
of Lieut. Taylor, then at Bushire, was reserved perhaps for still
greater sufferings. But was subsequently ransomed for a large sum.
[Illustration: _The Pirates striking off the arm of Capt. Babcock._]
A few weeks after this, the Sylph, one of the East India Company's
cruisers, of sixty tons and mounting eight guns, was accompanying the
mission under Sir Hartford Jones, from Bombay, to Persia; when being
separated from the rest of the squadron, she was attacked in the gulf by
a fleet of dows. These bore down with all the menacing attitude of
hostility; but as the commander, Lieut. Graham had received orders from
the Bombay government, not to open his fire on any of these vessels
until he had been first fired on himself, the ship was hardly prepared
for battle, and the colors were not even hoisted to apprise them to what
nation she belonged. The dows approached, threw their long overhanging
prows across the Sylph's beam, and pouring in a shower of stones on her
deck, beat down and wounded almost every one who stood on it. They then
boarded, and made the ship an easy prize, before more than a single shot
had been fired, and in their usual way, put every one whom they found
alive to the sword. Lieut. Graham fell, covered with wounds, down the
fore hatchway of his own vessel, where he was dragged by some of the
crew into a store room, in which they had secreted themselves, and
barricaded the door with a crow-bar from within. The cruiser was thus
completely in the possession of the enemy, who made sail on her, and
were bearing her off in triumph to their own port, in company with their
boats. Soon after, however, the commodore of the squadron in the Neried
frigate hove in sight, and perceiving this vessel in company with the
dows, judged her to be a prize to the pirates. She accordingly gave them
all chase, and coming up with the brig, the Arabs took to their boats
and abandoned her. The chase was continued after the dows, but without
success.
[Illustration: _The Neried Frigate chasing a Fleet of Joassamee Dows._]
These repeated aggressions at length opened the eyes of the East India
Government, and an expedition was accordingly assembled at Bombay. The
naval force consisted of La Chiffone, frigate, Capt. Wainwright, as
commodore. The Caroline of thirty-eight guns; and eight of the East
India Company's cruisers, namely, the Mornington, Ternate, Aurora,
Prince of Wales, Ariel, Nautilus, Vestal and Fury, with four large
transports, and the Stromboli bomb-ketch. The fleet sailed from Bombay
in September, and after a long passage they reached Muscat, where it
remained for many days to refresh and arrange their future plans; they
sailed and soon reached Ras-el-Khyma, the chief port of the pirates
within the gulf. Here the squadron anchored abreast of the town, and the
troops were landed under cover of the ships and boats. The inhabitants
of the town assembled in crowds to repel the invaders; but the firm
line, the regular volleys, and the steady charge of the troops at the
point of the bayonet, overcame every obstacle, and multiplied the heaps
of the slain. A general conflagration was then ordered, and a general
plunder to the troops was permitted. The town was set on fire in all
parts, and about sixty sail of boats and dows, with the Minerva, a ship
which they had taken, then lying in the roads were all burnt and
destroyed.