New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1873-04-24

a Fight with Pirates.
fhs 4 nsmJ Received with BoiIinr Tsraud
breksn Glass-IIorribIr Butehery-FIuy
Pirates Killed.

II
Broken Giass-HorribIe nuteh.ry-Finy
Pirates Killed.
The Schlesisehe Zsilbrg prints the follow.
ing extract from letter Of young Siesiau,
who is now sailing on board the BREMEN
bark Corioiau:
on Monday, the 18th OF February, IS.
~ ~ A. NJ, we raised anchor and ieft tho
BOMBAY hsrbor with a moderate breeze blow
ing; The pilot LEFT Us at 3 pm.
Our passage over the nineteen degrees
winch separate Bombay from the line lasted
one aud a half months. rs for weeks No Ley
the most tedious Gains We ken. alvroys
about one degree from the coast, and had
reached the tenth degree Of latitude. when
one night our attention was attracted by
three Dschunken. which looked somewhat
suspicious. The captain Mt once took them
Tor pirates. As, however, there was steady
breeze blowing, we hoped 10 eject our
escape.
;, Unfortunately. In the morning the wind
died away, but Of tie three boats only one
remained within sight, which. however. rad
uai!y crept up to US, as we could see tLr1,,gh
our glass II was moved by long oars. IL
became apparent that a fight would he nm
avoidable, and our captain made at once IN,
necessary preparations for il. A. We had
come via Monte Video 10 bombay. velalp,
cannon, not even single gun on board. IN,
captains small-barreled revolver lcinr ~,
only thing in the share OF arus We pos
sessed.
As numbered, all hands told. oniy eight
cen, and each of tho cueny's boats con-
tanned about four times rs many. our mos
poets were very gloomy indeed. so far wo
could only see one boat, the other two being
OUT OF sight. Ii was about two O'Clock L.
NJ, when the first boat came within shoot.
ing distance, and kept aStcrn of u, evidently
waiting for the other boats to Come w. They
mad not long to wait, for through the glass
we could see that one was coming up in front
OF us and the other from the Starb0ayd side.
Inc one that had kept astcrn now opencd
nre upon us, which, however, did us no harm,
except mat our compassion was damaged,
ana few shots went into our rigging.
In the meantime, the boat corning nearer
and nearer, the captain had ordered the deck
to be covered with boiling tar, and, while this
remained liquid, we had studded it with b.o-
Ken glass; of course we had then to put on
boots ourselves to avoid cutting our feet.
what the captain foresaw, happened; for
when, after the first boat had come alongside,
,ne pirates boarded the ship, cryi2g, Al
lah! Allah'' and came rushing toward Us,
they broke down, as they had their feet
laccrated by the glass. When the captain
looked over the side to see how many there
were III the boat, quite a shower of snears
went over our heads. Ten of us, among
whom was, had hatchets, while the other,
had hand-axes; We divided our force one.
nall forward, the other amidships.
In the next moment we were right against
them, ana the most horrible butchery COM
menced. In the meantime, TIE second boat
had come near, and placed itself under our
DOW nom the cries we heard we knew that
there, Also hand-to-hand fight had com.
mehced with our men. OF our division only
iour were loit standing, and of the one fight
ihS forward, only six; ALL however, more or
less dangerously wounded. was SUFFERING
more or less from spear-wound in the left
shoulder. Slowly, and fighting for every inch
OF ground, we withdrew toward the stern.
whore we made barbados of our bonts Will,
the Malays cut of the heads of the dead, tied
them together by the hair and hung them
over their shoulders
Tho captain was sending shot after shot
into the crowd We were well nigh despair
ing, for what would become at u when the
third boat would arriyeo Then, when th.
cloud OF smoke was driven away by a sudden
gust OF wind, we were delighted to see Il
steamer coming up, which, n moment after
ward, opened fire upon the third boat, which
sunk after n few shots. The pirates iumprd
into the water and tried to save Themselves
by swimming; but we saw that the boats
from the steamer were lowered, and began n
chase after them, while the steamer hcrscIT
came In full speed toward us. As soon as wa
saw this we picked up courage again. and.
with laundering hurrah, we threw ourselves
once more upon those pirates who still re-
manned on board, and cut down whoever
came in our way. then received another
wound in my right arm.
The steamer (Which turned out To he an
English gunboat carrying six guns) had over
run the boat lying under our bow, the sam,
having been LETT unguarded, and then went
alongside the other one, the OCCUPANTS Of
which were mostly on board our shin. Tho
few that were left in charge tried 10 row OH
with the boat, but iow wcli-aimcd shots
from the steamer soon dispatched them. The
surgeon from the steamer attended 10 our
wounds, as all OF us, with The exception Of
the captain, were wounded, aud ten dead.
among the latter the first mate
After we had rested little, We threw tn,
dead bodies OF the pirates overheard about
htty. The prisoners were all condemned by
court-martial to be hanged, and the crew Of
the steamer made the necessary rrcr,aratiou.
to carry out the sentence. Ropes were at-
tached to the yards Of the steamer and our
ship, the moses were put around the uecks
OF the prlsoners-One pull, and ten bodies
were hanging high in the air Our cautain
engaged twelve sailors from the steamer, as
we were all disabled. and at about six
O'Clock. breeze springing up, we lef. tho
battlefield behind US.
The steamer kept near II, during the first
night, and left US only after providing US with
arms and ammunition, and Kindly gave up her
surgeon to US. The next day We buried our
dead, viz: the first mate, the first carpenter.
seven sailors, and ono boy. remained dis.
aided FOR eight weeks, as the -jenr had gone
clean through my shoulder. Eight Of the
bodies OF our comrades were without heads,
which some Of the pirates hal most likely
taken with them when they jumped over
board. However, they eau hardly have got.
ten far with them, As the boats Of the steam
er, and also some shark. followed the -w.a-
Iners and finished them OF rapidly. The
bodies Of the pirates were hard u took 1T, al,
most Of them had their skulls broken