# Early English adventurers in the East (1917)/Chapter 3

CHAPTER III
A Fight to a Finish
James I gives Michelborne a licence to trade in the East—Michelborne's voyage to the East with Davis as chief lieutenant—Acts of piracy off the Javan coast—English ships fall in with a Japanese pirate vessel—Sudden attack by the Japanese—A terrific combat—Davis is slain—A happy thought—Defeat and extermination of the Japanese—Michelborne returns home
IN the period of Lancaster's absence on his voyage the great Elizabeth had passed to her rest. Her successor, James I, was to a certain extent in the position of the king who knew not Joseph. He was not only lacking in his predecessor's enthusiasm for the cause of trade expansion in the East, but his mind failed to grasp the essential conditions on which a policy of the kind could then be successfully prosecuted. On no other basis than as a monopolistic power—as the accredited commercial representative of England—could the East India Company hope to make good its footing and that of its country in the distant regions of the Orient. Elizabeth fully realized this when she gave the Company its exclusive charter and invested its representative with powers which were hardly to be distinguished from those of an ambassador. James I, on the other hand, appears to have felt that a ship or two in the East more or less did not matter, and that it was for the conflicting interests to fight out their differences ​on the spot rather than for him to exercise a restraining influence by withholding his prerogative when new aspirants appeared in the field. It must have been somewhat in this spirit that he selected the time when the East India Company had just dispatched a second fleet to the East to issue a licence to Sir Edward Michelborne "to discover the countries of China and Japan and to trade with their people," The East India Company protested vigorously against this infringement of the spirit if not the letter of their patent, but all in vain, for they had to contend with adverse Court influences which were proof against any representations, however weighty, on the score of expediency or however well grounded in justice.
Michelbome's venture was the more formidable by reason of the fact that he had secured the co-operation of John Davis. This worthy returned home from Lancaster's expedition to a certain extent under a cloud. He was thought to have misled the Company, and though there was probably a reasonable explanation in Dutch activity of the failure of Acheen to answer the expectations which he held out in regard to it, he suffered the usual fate of the false prophet; he was discarded. In Michelbome's expedition he figured in his old role of a pilot, but it may be imagined that he was a good deal more than a simple sailing master. He was as expert in navigation as Michelborne was deficient in that science, and he had, moreover, an incomparable general knowledge, picked up during his extensive service at sea, which must have made his decision authoritative on most questions of discipline and policy. Regarded as an essay in commercial exploitation in a far distant and little known region the gentleman adventurer's expedition was of a decidedly unassuming character. ​A single ship of 240 tons named the Tiger, and a pinnace, appropriately christened the Tiger's Whelp, comprised his "fleet." The whole might have been stowed away on the deck of a modern Atlantic liner without greatly disturbing the deck arrangements. It was formidable enough, however, to cause a good many heart-searchings in certain quarters when the news of its sailing from Cowes on December 5, 1604, reached the City of London, as it probably did a day or two later.
It is unnecessary to follow Michelborne through the various stages of his voyage to the East, which differed little from those which had preceded it.
We may take the story up on August 21, 1605, when the Tiger and her consort arrived in the vicinity of Bantam. The appearance at this point of native craft upon the sea seems to have suggested to Michelborne the opportunity for a little indiscriminate piracy. Two prows that were overhauled yielded nothing but a small quantity of rice. On boarding one of them, under the impression that the crew had escaped, two of the sailors from the Tiger were grievously wounded by two natives who were lying hidden and who, as soon as the Englishmen set foot in the craft, attacked them with their krises inflicting terrible injuries, thereafter leaping overboard and "swimming away like water spaniels." A day or two later a Bantam ship was overhauled and dismissed, apparently because she had on board nothing worth the taking. Still later a more promising capture was made in the shape of an Indian ship of some eighty tons, laden with a miscellaneous cargo. She was taken into Sillebar, a port in Sumatra, and ransacked with a fine disregard for all laws of right and justice. As no further opening for plunder appeared to offer, Michelborne ​made for Bantam, off which port he anchored some time in November.
As news of the exploits of the Tiger had preceded her it was natural that her welcome was not effusive. Some Englishmen from the local factory who came aboard told them the stories that were current as to their character. The Hollanders, who were most active in circulating the "slanders" as they were rather whimsically regarded by Michelborne, represented the members of the expedition as a body of "disordinate livers," who only wanted the opportunity to perpetrate the worst acts of violence.
In a fine frenzy of indignation the gentleman adventurer sent a message to the Dutch ships then in port that he would weigh anchor and ride close by them with the intent that they might attack him if they dared. He gave notice that if one piece of ordnance was put out he would either sink them or be sunk by their side. Suiting the action to the word, Michelborne shifted his anchorage to the vicinity of the Dutch fleet, which consisted of five ships, one of which was a large vessel of between 700 and 800 tons. But the challenge was not taken up, and according to the veracious chronicler, "whereas the Hollanders were wont to swagger and keep great stirre on shore all the time before our being there, they were so quiet that we could scarcely see one of them on land."
Notwithstanding this bravado, Michelborne found it convenient to make his stay at the Javan port a brief one. On leaving he steered a course for Patani, a port on the eastern coast of the Malay Peninsula, which at that period was a centre of considerable trade. For some days the vessel was becalmed off the island of Banca. To enliven ​the monotony and keep up his character for freebooting, Michelborne chased whatever native craft came within easy distance of him. He got very little for his pains because the native crews of the threatened boats, with their intimate knowledge of the coasts, were able to elude their pursuers. At last the spell of inglorious marauding ended in a terrible tragedy which narrowly missed involving the whole expedition in absolute disaster.
For days the Tiger had been lying helplessly upon the water, "a painted ship upon a painted ocean." Hardly a breath of wind stirred to moderate the fierce intensity of the sun which beat with tropical strength upon the decks. The men were lying idly about in the shade of the high bulwarks or hanging listlessly over the sides watching with lack-lustre eyes the adjacent coast of the island of Bintang, which was shimmering in the blue haze of noonday. Suddenly a cry was raised of a sail. Immediately all was bustle and eager expectancy. The strange craft was too distant to determine her character, but she was evidently more than an ordinary junk.
Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the mysterious ship came on until she was near enough for those on board the Tiger to see that her deck was crowded with men. A boat, heavily armed, was put off from the Tiger and after a parley the Englishmen were admitted on board the stranger. She proved to be a Japanese vessel. Her crew, at all events, were of that nation—squat-figured determined-looking fellows, with the impassive calm of their race reflected in their features. There were some eighty or ninety of them, and they were manifestly not all seamen. The garb and bearing of many were indicative of the soldier rather than the sailor. Moreover, they made ​no secret that the majority of the party did not usually follow the profession of the sea. What were they then? The truth soon came out when they were questioned. They were very much what Michelborne and his men were, freebooters who picked up what they could on the ocean highway after "the good old rule, the simple plan" which has been followed by the swashbuckler in all ages. They had left Japan some months previously, had pillaged the coast of China and Cambodia and then crossed to Borneo, where they had discarded their ship in favour of another one they had picked up in the usual way. It was this vessel which they were now navigating back to Japan.
The story, told with an entire absence of mauvaise honté, was confirmed by the general appearance of the vessel and the absence of all regular discipline on board. Though one man appeared to have a little more authority than the rest the general rule was plainly one of equality. Michelborne became sufficiently interested in the stranger to set a party of his men to ransack her hold. The Japanese outwardly showed no resentment of the indignity offered to them. They fraternized with the English seamen, and a party of them sought and obtained permission to inspect the Tiger, which was now immediately alongside. Caution had suggested to Michelborne the desirability of disarming the visitors before they were admitted on board. As this measure was at that time always taken at Eastern ports in the case of the Japanese, owing to their notoriously desperate disposition, there would not have been anything remarkable in its introduction in this instance. But Davis, to whom the proposal was made, deceived by the appearance of total submission which the Japanese presented, would not be convinced that it was ​necessary to put any restraint upon their movements either by way of disarmament or by keeping them "before the mast." It seemed to him absurd to place under suspicion these eager visitors who, with childlike curiosity, roamed about the ship inspecting its equipment and examining with especial interest the arrangements for the accommodation of the officers and crew. So the day wore on with men coming and going between the two vessels without restraint as the work of unloading the cargo of the captured junk proceeded. There was even a certain amount of friendly intercourse between the two crews, and on the part of the Tiger's officers a display of hospitality. Glasses were lifted and eyes spoke apparently cordial sentiments which could not be expressed by the ordinary medium. The prevailing note of the gathering was one of almost idyllic peacefulness.
In a twinkling the scene was changed. How it came about no one knew, but before the Englishmen realized it they were fighting for dear life a body of desperadoes of the fiercest type. Those on board the Japanese boat were soon overwhelmed. Taken unawares they had no time to use their arms and were either cut down at once or driven overboard.
On the Tiger, owing to the unfamiliarity of the Japanese with the ship, the surprise was less decisive, but the position was, nevertheless, critical in the extreme. One of the first victims was poor Davis, who was attacked by the ruffians as he was emerging from the gun room. He was slashed and hacked at with knives and swords and was then thrust out on to the waist of the ship, where in a short time he bled to death. Meanwhile, the Tiger's crew, brought to a vivid realization of their peril, had rallied ​under Michelborne's leadership and with pikes had advanced to the attack of the Japanese, who were posted in the aft part of the vessel.
A furious conflict ensued. The Englishmen with cool determination fell upon their foes, killing and wounding many with the deadly weapons which they knew so well how to handle. On their part the Japanese fought with the frenzy of fiends. Armed with only short swords or knives they were at a serious disadvantage with their antagonists, but nothing daunted they dodged the thrusts and even caught hold of the pikes with one hand and lunged at their holders with their swords in frantic efforts to kill them. For some minutes this combat went on, each party realizing that it was a fight to the death or nothing. Gradually the superior weight and steadiness of the Englishmen told. Inch by inch the Japanese were driven down the deck, until at length they were near the entrance of the cabin. Then with a shriek of baffled rage they gave way and rushed pell-mell into the interior of the vessel. To follow them would have meant certain death for the first who entered; it was doubtful whether an attack at close quarters could be made at all with success.
What was to be done? For some time the Englishmen deliberated without seeing any solution of the problem. At length the happy thought occurred to some one to assail the refuge of the miscreants with ordnance. The idea was promptly acted on. Two demi-culverins (32 pounders) were loaded with bullets, case shot and pieces of iron and fired pointblank at the exposed side of the cabin. There was a crash and splinter of woodwork, followed by a shriek of mingled defiance and agony from the interior and then was comparative silence. The ​volley had effectually done its deadly work. When after an interval the cabin was entered it was found that only one of the party of twenty-two survived. The terribly mangled bodies of the remainder showed the extraordinary destructiveuess of the improvised ammunition.
All the time that this bloody contest was proceeding on the Tiger the Japanese on the junk were, as far as opportunity offered, placed under fire. The punishment they received, though less awe-inspiring in its aspect of concentrated horror, was equally decisive. All suggestions of quarter made from the Tiger were scornfully rejected. The desperadoes, with a courage which extorted the admiration of their foes, elected to continue the hopeless fight to the bitter end. One by one they were shot down, until the battered hulk no longer resounded with the fierce cries of defiance of its defenders. Of the entire band one only sought safety in surrender. He swam towards the Tiger and prayed to be taken on board, an appeal which naturally did not fall on deaf ears.
When questioned by Michelborne as to the motive for the attack the captive unhesitatingly said that the intention of himself and his comrades was to capture the ship and cut the throats of all on board. After this frank admission he sullenly declined to answer any further questions, and when pressed bade his hearers cut him to pieces as he was ready to die. Michelborne, with, it seems, a lack of chivalry, the next morning ordered the man out for execution. In due course he was strung up at the yardarm, but by a strange mischance the rope broke, and he fell into the sea. No effort was made to recover him, and as land was not far off it was surmised by those on the Tiger that he might after all have escaped. It was, ​perhaps, a not unsuitable ending to one of the most extraordinary episodes in which an English ship was ever involved in Eastern seas.
A somewhat Cadmean victory was that which Michelborne had won in this encounter. The enemy had been annihilated, but at the cost of a number of the crew and with the loss, in Davis, of the one indispensable man on the ship. After a period of indecision, in which he met the Dutch fleet of five ships, under Admiral Warwyck, which was then on a voyage eastward, he elected to abandon his expedition to China and return immediately home. He eventually reached England towards the close of 1606, a disappointed and discredited man. History has no further concern with his career beyond the evil influences created by his voyage. These were serious in their effect, not merely as they operated on trade, but by the unpleasant impression they gave to the people of the Middle East of the English character. It is doubtful whether for a generation the disagreeable idea that the English were a nation who made free with other people's property at sea was removed. Indeed, more than anything else the piratical raids of Michelborne tended to the discomfiture of the English in their earliest efforts to make their footing good in the spice region.