The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-11-29 00:00:00

THE LOSS OF THE NISERO.

Mr. C. S. Crighton, the chief officer among the
survivors of the crew of the Nisero, has furnished an
account of their captivity. He states that the ship
Nisero, the property of Messrs. Pinkney, Sons, and
Clare, was wrecked on the coast of Sumatra, an island
in the Indian Ocean, on the Bth of November, 1883.
They had great difficulty in launching their boats, as
the vessel had foundered on her beam-ends. On
arriving at the beach they were accosted by two
natives, armed to the teeth, who immediately asked
them if they were Dutch. On being assured to the
contrary, and that they were shipwrecked English-
men, the natives left them and shortly afterwards re-
turned in large numbers, carrying fruits (their
emblems of peace) ; but at the same time the crew
noticed in all the bushes surrounding were hidden
armed natives, onlywaiting the order of the Rajah be-
fore opening fire upon them. On the beach one of the
crew had his watch taken from him by a native, but on
the Rajah being acquainted with the fact he compelled
the culprit to return it. This they considered was a
good sign of his friendly feeling. They were given
some rice to eat, and on the two following days the
chief officers were permitted, after some persuasion,
to go on board, where they found everything ran-
sacked by the natives, and the only thing allowed the
crew was a suit of clothes each, the Rajah appro-
priating the remainder. They were cautioned to keep
in their huts all day or their lives would be in
peril, owing to a hill tribe over which the Rajah had
no control, who, he informed them, would certainly
take their lives if the slightest opportunity was given
them. No satisfactory answer could ever be Got from
the Rajah as to their release. He said they intended
to remove them to Tenom, and the terms of their
release would then be negotiated for. These would
consist of the opening of their ports, which had then
been closed by the Dutch. They were then removed
to another small village, and the Rajah before
parting with them asked, "What do you think of this
country? What fools the Dutch are to think they will
ever take it." On the third day of their stay in this vil-
lage they saw a Dutch gunboat pass close to land, but
dare not make signals. It was evident the wreck had
been noticed. A few days later Captain Woodhouse was
instructed to write a hiter to the Dutch for the pur-
pose of making terms, and on December 9 a Dutch
gunboat arrived for the purpose of making those
terms. Captain Woodhouse was permitted to go on
board to see the British Consul on the understanding
that if he did not return the heads of the remainder
of the crew would be cut off. The next morning a
letter was received by them from the captain to say
he had to go on to another port to procure money.
This made the 13aah very angry, and their lives
were in jeopardy. Their supply of food, which con-
sisted of dirty rice and salt, was stopped for several
days, and this fare formed the sole ingredients of
their Christmas dinner. On the 29th of January of
the present year they were informed that the Dutcji
were going to bombard Tenom, and they would have
to be removed to further up country. This the
Dutch did, and landed troops, which only made the
case of the captives worse, and their supply of food
was again cut off, and on their remonstrating they
were told that the Dutch had taken it all; and the
Rajah only laughed at their sufferings. Their
principal food during their residence in a hut at the
top of a high hill was cooked leaves, which they had
to collect and eat to satisfy the pangs of hunger.
This lasted for twenty days. They were again moved
to another village, and on the 22nd of Feb. one of her
Majesty's gunboats left them a simply of tea and
biscuits, which lasted for 12 weeks. On the 27th of
Rajah to release the remainder of the crew, and detain
only them, but he refused. Another of the crew died on
that month (February) they were removed to a small
island, which remained their home for five months.
The first death among them was from starvation, on
the 24th of March. On May 19 another succumbed
from an attack of cholera, and two more the same
week died of the same complaint. Shortly after this
the engineer and himself (Mr. Crighton) asked the
June 10. On August 16 Mr. Maxwell, the British
Consul, arrived in a gunboat to make terms for their
release, and these terms were as follows: Free trade
and open port and 40,000 dols., or about £BOOO. On
the 6th of September the terms were agreed to, and
on the 7th they were instructed to pack up their
things and prepare for a march, which they were
nothing loth to do. On their arrival at Tenom they
could scarcely recognise the place, as the Dutch had
destroyed all the huts in the place and burned down
the trees. On arriving at their destination they were
met by Mr. Maxwell, Colonel Lockhard, and others,
and given a hearty welcome. Mr. Maxwell remained
himself as a hostage until the ransom was paid the
next day.