The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-08-18
ATTACKED BY PIRATES.

a i llAUAID D 1 1 llGA luN'
James Terence was foremost hand
on the british bark Iluntress, and one
morning in the seventies VIC left Singl-
pore, bound to the South by way Of the
Straits of Suada. We had sixteen hands
on the bark, o ID for armament we had
a nine-pound;r mounted on carriage
and good supply of muskets and pixies.
All of the seas to the north of Australia
are suspicious waters for an hone>t ship.
Pirates have abounGed there ever since
ships began to sail, and I'm thinking it will
be long before the business is wiped out.
There are hundreds of islands in the Java
and Banda Seas, and each one of them
offers a secure headquarters for gang
of native pirates. They arc not as bold
as before the government cruisers got or
ders to patrol those waters, and sink
every craft which could not show honest
papers; but they are there still, and the
temptations are 100 great to expect they
can ever be entirely suppressed. On our
way up, when off tie Red Islands, on the
northwestern coast OF Sumatra, we over
hauled an Italian brig called the Cam
pello. She was stripped of sails. cordage
and most of her cargo, and had been set
fire to and scuttled. For some reason
the flames died out, and the water came
in so slowly that she was foatcd six
hours after the pirates abandoned her.
Our mate was ,ent off to toard her, and
he found shocking state of affairs. She
had been laid aboard withcutresistanceby by
two native boa.s armed only with muskets
and pistols. The crew had at once been
made prisoners. and set to work to strip
the ship and hoist out such cargo as the
pirates coveted She was run in behind
one of the islands and anchored, and for
three days and nights the pirates were
hard at work on her. Each m,n of the
crew worked under a guard during the
day. and at night Captain and all were
secured in the fore astle. The crew
numbered fourteen.
, Toward evening of the third day the
pirates had sex urtd all their plunder. Sew
everal native crafts had been loaded and
sailed up the coast to some rendezvous,
and only one remained to take on the last
of the plunder. AS no actual violence
had been offered CAPITA n or c.ew during
the three days, there was hope thrt the
pirates would 60 away and leave them in
possession of the robbed and dismantled
brig. Just what shift they would have
made in this cas-, I cannot say, for the
craft was left. without So rope, block
or provisions. About o'clock in th':
afternoon the crew were ordered forward,
while the nativeA collected aft, and at q
given signal fire was opened on the de-
fencelcss men. To their credit let it be
recorded that they seized whatever weap-
ons they could lay hands on and dashed
at the pirates, but it was simply to die
like brave Lien. In ten minu es the last
one was shot down. The pirates then
raised the anchor and got it into their
boat, bored holes in the ships bottom,
and started fire in the hold amidshipi.
The information have given you came
from little chap on board who was
making his first voyage as an apprentice.
He was, ifIrememberright, only thirteen
years old. On the morning of the third
day he managed to hide among the
cargo, and the pirates completed thci:
work and sent the hulk drifting out to
sea with out having missed him. lie was
on deck to catch the painter Of the
mates boat when size drew alongside,
and to one of our crew who could speak
italian he gave the stjry as straight a
the Captain could have taxed.
We reported the affair at Sing pore
and British gunboat was sent off to in
vestigate. She returned before we had
completed our loading, and reported
that she had made no discoveries II
was a warning for our Captain, and he
wisely determined to herd it. We tovk
on shell and grape for our cannon, Il
dozen revolvers were purchased for tie
crew, and on the very day we left, the
Captain brought aboard two very heavy
rifles which he had picked up somewhere
at bargain. / call them rifles, bat they
were young cannon, carrying three
ounce bail, with powder enough hind
it to kick the marksma1 ali way across
the ship. We left Singapore as we'll pre-
pared as m reliant vessel could De, and
it seems that the Captain was advised to
bear well up toward Forneo, and give
the Red Islands a wide berth. We
crossel the equator at least hundred
miles to the cast Of the islands, as over
heard the Captain say. and then altered
our course to the southeast, ca.c llating
to pass to the east of Billion Island be
fore hauling away for Suada Strait
The bark male good weather of it,
AID we lad crossed tic equator and rur
down on the new course until BilitoH
might have been sighted from the mast
head. when the cam, calm. The
wind had died away about m:dfo-cnoon
and the drift o he bark was t. tn
north. We looked for a change at sun
set, but nothing came, and the night
passed without wind enough gh to move ;
feather. My watch was below when day
light came, and we got the word to turf
up lively. To the Northeast, off tn
coast of Borneo, two or three greer
islands were in sight, and between u
and the islands were two native Graf
bearing down upon US. These craft wer
about the size of pilot boats, half dcckct
over, and riggtd like a catboat. The,
had been sighted when six or seven mile
away, and as my watch came On decl
the mate descended from the perch aloft
where he had been using the glass, ant
reported to the captain that the Graf
were approaching us by the use Of sweeps