Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-08-09

foreign, We nao ever seen IN toOso wa
ters. We armed her with a Long Tom
and four twenty-four Founders. having
bought the guns from the sale of the
salvage of a French man-of-war.
Their we picked up q crew of fifty men
all foreigners and sail0rs-and when
we went out of Hong Kong we were
prepared to give the pirates Hail Co.
lumbia. I was purser Of the schooner,
| which was called the Revenge, and her
Captain was an Englishman named
Wetherbee, who had served as COM
miseioned officer in the regular service.
The First Lieutenant was an American,
and the other officers were divided up
among the other nationalities. We
few the association flag. and while we
were at liberty to 60 for pirates. we
were warned that any mistakes would
be made to cost us dearly.
The two boss pirates Of that date
were Shurg-Wong and Chin-Lung.
The first had feet OF seven or eight
craft. and haunted the sea from Singa-
pore north to the Tong-Kin Islands.
The second cruised from thence as far
north as Shanghai, having his head
quarters at Formosa Island. He was
reported to have a feet of nine craft.
That both were monsters we had a
hundred proofs, and that both had
grown rich and powerful it was easy
to show by the long list Of missing
vessels hanging in the headquarters
Office. While we had kept our move
ments as secret as possible, we had no
doubt that Government officials had
given US away, and that the pirates
would be on the watch for us. TO de-
ceive them as far as possible. we ran
to the south for three days, and spoke
and reported to four ships bound for
Canton. Then we ran over toward the
Philippine Islands until We had good
ofIing. when We headed up for Formo-
sa to get acquainted with old Chin
Lung.
During the next three days we did
not sight a vessel of any sort. Then
early one morning We fell in with a lot
of wreckage which showed us that q
trader had been 0verhauled and burned.
We were now to the east Of Formosa,
and fifty miles of the coast. Men were
set to work to give the schooner the
appearance OF a vessel in distress, and
under a light breeze we made slow
headway toward the island. 1t was
about four o'clock in the afternoon be-
fore any thing approached US, although
We saw a number of native craft at a
distance. Then a small junk came out
from bay about five miles of, and
headed directly for US. Every thing
aboard of us seemed to be at skies and
sevens. A man was dashed to the main
mast. to represent the captain, every
thing aloft was askew, and the seven
or eight men on deck were seemingly
drunk and having high old time. We
had man aloft to play part, know
ing that We should be hailed in English.
Both Of these boss pirates had Amer
leans and Englishmen with them
rascals who had deserted their ships
and voluntarily adopted the life Of a
pirate-and one of them was always
put forward to hail ship. The junk
came steadily forward to within hailing
distance before she came up into the
wind. This was proof, whether she
was honest or not, that our appearance
had deceived. her. The men on deck
yelled and shook their fists, as drunken
men might do, but at the first oppOr-
tunity voice hailed US.
Schooner ahoy! What schooner is
that"
"The Revenge. Captain Thatcher.
bound to Shanghai, answered the
man aloft.
"What is the matter aboard?"
Grew in q state of mutiny for the
last three days. They have dashed the
Captain to the mast and driven me
aloft."
Whats your cargo?"
General merchandise.
"Any arms aboard?"
''Only few mUSketS."
There were q dozen men aboard the
junk, but they dared not attempt to
board. They chartered away among
themselves for a while. and then the
spokesman called out:
very we'll, We will bring you
help"
With that the junk headed back for
the bay. accompanied by the yells and
curses Of the apparently drunken crew.
We had a native aboard called Shin
Lee. He had been In the headquarters
Office for several years. and could be
depended upon. He gave it as his
opinion that the junk was a spy boat
sent out by the pirates, who never at
tackled a vessel by daylight without
taking all due precautions He said
we would see the pirate heet come out
in case no sail appeared on the horizon.
and his words were speedily verified.
W. h al hoon vvad,,al 1v o6OinU inshOre