The Hawaiian gazette., 1884-08-13
THE YARN OF THE NIsERo
Romantic Story of Shipwreck and Impris-
onment British Seamen in Captivity.
LONDON, May 81. 1881

LONDON, May 81, 1891
Although many of us had heard some
thing about the crew of British steamer
being detained in captivity by a certain
Rajah of Tenom, few. / fancy. knew the
true Yarn of the Nisero,7 till it was re
lated in the Echo the other day. The
information came direct from Capt. Wode-
house 1.-THE skipper of the unlucky vesseD
and may be relied upon as strictly correct
So far, the Government seem to have been
very apathetic in the matter, but they can
scarcely remain So 1t would indeed be a
sin and shame if our unhappy country
men were left to languish much longer in
captivity, simply because they are "only
sailors"
1t was ON November Sth OF last year that
the British steamship Nisero, while making
for Acheen for safety, ran ashore on the
west coast of Sumatra, and heeled over on
her port side, a prey to the heavy sea She
had been trading between Rangoon and
Penang, and had left Sourabaya, an i'm
portant seaport of Java, with 1880 tons of
sugar, bound for Port Said for orders: but
hindered by bad Goals and stormy weather
changed her course ego from Gale. and
made for Sumatra, 400 miles away. 1t was
after O'Clock at night when she struck
A terrific wind was blowing, and the rain
was falling in torrents, while tremendous
seas broke over the vessel, breaking up the
port boats and putting out the engine fires
In this perilous condition the crew re
manned until II o'clock. when-t thinking
they could not save the ip-they got out
lifeboat and starboard boat and made
for the shore, mile and half away. By
good fortune they reached it without
losing man, leaping out as the boats rode
in on the crests Of the waves. and seizing
them to drag them high and dry In this
they were successful with the small boat,
but the ifeboat broke away and went
ashore about half a mile along the coast
Here, then, on that strange shore they
gathered, twenty-eight men in all, half
clad, their only property some provisions
and the ships papers; around them i'm
penetrable darkness, before them raging
sea, behind them them the unknown and
perilous bush
Before long one of the crew made out
some figures moving in the bush, and after
time the captain went up to where they
were, and found five natives, heavily armed.
They refused to shake hands with him, so
he called ALI Yeow, a ChineseAmerican
cook, who told them in the Malay language
that the crew were English, and that their
assistance would be rewarded by the Eng
fish Government. While the cook was
speaking another native, who had crept up
on his hands and knees, whispered some
thing in the ear of one of them, and they
all withdrew Soon after this the light of
torch was seen among the trees, and
they then discovered that all the time
nptives had been concealed behind trees in
the thIckct, covering each man of them
with mIsket. On came the torch, until
by the light of it they could discern the
presence of chief, 4 noble-looking man,
decked with crown of long feathers like
those of an ostrich, and followed by band
of fifty men, armed with swords, knives
and muskets. The chief who turned out
to be the Raiah of Pangah, beckoned to
the captain, who went forward and re
ceiyed gift of bananas, stripping one ac-
cording to custom rs sign of peace, and
offering it to the Rajah. These formal
ties over. the Rajah asked them to 90 into
the bush, but the captain pleaded that he
had hurt his side, and that he wanted to
see the position of the ship in the morn
ing and to this the Rajah agreed, sending
some of his men with dried sticks to en-
able them to light fire. This they did,
but the heavy rain put it out; and the
morning that disclosed their vessel being
swept away to sea, found them drenched
to the skin and wearied out by exposure
and suspense.
Soon after daybreak band of armed
men arrived, and led them mile and a
half through the bush to a village com
posed of bamboo huts. Here they were
taken before the Rajah, who sat on mat
in the principal hut, turbaned, and with a
sword of state lying across his knees, its
handle cleaning with diamonds and pre-
cious stones. Aided by the cook, the cap
tam made his statement again, and then
the Rajah, having looked long at them,
ordered the captives to pass before him.
Two light haired Dutch sailors seemed to
arouse his suspicion "Are these English
men?" he asked The captain said they
We're. " If thought they were Dutchmen
| would kill them now said the chief
Still further to satisfy their captors, the
captain swore the men were Englishmen.
and tho Chinese cook, with a sword held
over his head, swore they were English
men also, for the sight of a Dutchman
inhames the passions of these tribes of
Acheenese, and swift and cruel death is
inevitable. At last the Raiah's lingering
suspicious We're removed by the sight OF
the Uuion Jack, which the captain I'M
frrled before him, and thereupon he left
the hut, and the captured crew saw moth
ing of him or his men until next day
Here they remained for nine days, with
no dry clothes, and nothing but rice to
eat
One night at ten o'clock the captain was
called out of the hut with the interpreter.
and taken before another Rajah, to whom
the Chief of Pangah was subordinate
This was the Rajah of Tenom, with whom
the Dutch had been at warfare for thirteen
years, man described rs savage and
bloodthirsty. He was of low stature, but
his shoulders were twice as broad as an
ordinary mans, and his teeth and nails
red with the use of the betel nut, gave
him fierce appearance. His men were
armed with muskets and swords. and wore
the rangong, or short dagger. This inter
view yielded no result, and the next morn
ing the captain and his men got out of the
hut and went down towards the beach.
where they found about two hundred fight
ing men. After some parleying, the chief
officer was allowed to go on board the
stranded steamer, rowed by four of the
sailors, and accompanied by six of the
Rajah's men, and came back with clothes.
some of which we're given to the crew and
some to the natives. The Rajah of Tenom
took box of two thousand cigars, giving
ten to the captain, but saying they were
not for such men as the sailors. Next day
the captain visited the ship again, and
found her rifed This was his last visit
to the NiserO, for the Raiah of Tenom said
it was his property, and if the Englishmen
were found wandering on the beach again
they would be killed.
That day, when they were in the hut,
six hundred men from the mountains sur
rounded it, declaring they were Dutch
men, and calling on the Rajah to turn
them adrift, so that they might butcher
them. This was an anxious time for the
seamen. Not a shutter was lifted, save
when the Rajah of Pangah came to see
them, and then they could see the dark
visaged mountainous scowling at them
through the window, longing to dip their
daggers in their blood This Rajah was
more friendly than his superior, the Chief
of Tenom. He would do little friendly
acts by night, sometimes coming with two
chickens, which was hardly feather each
among twenty eight, but was still great
treat
Early ON the ninth dav of their eantivitv-