Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1888-07-27
CHINESE PIRATES.

From the year 1852 to 1854 the Chinese
Sea, from Shanghai in the north to Sing
apore in the south, was infested with
pirate craft. AS for that matter, this
sea had been the cruising ground of
pirates for score of years previously,
but | mention these two years for par
ticular reasons. One was that was en-
gagged IN vigorous warfare against
them, and the other that the close of
1851 witnessed the death of the leading
spirits and broke up piracy as trade.
In those far back days comparatively
nothing was known of China outside of
a few seaports. Treaties were of little
account, and Consuls were few and far
between. Every merchant ship was ex-
pected to defend herself, and the Cap
tain of every man Ofwar had authority
to lombard any town which refused to
renew his water and provisions. All
nations were trading with China, but,
aside from few few seaports, all China
hated all other people. At the docks at
Hong Kong could drink tea with the
Chinese merchants. Half mile away
the people would have cut me to pieces.
While the country wanted to sell It's
products, it hated the men who bought
them. While it wanted the goods of
other countries, it despised the makers
and shippers. There is no doubt that
the Chinese Government tactily en-
couraged piracy, and could the great
mass of the population have had its say,
not single foreigner would have been
allowed to land on the coast.
In the year '54 there was an associa-
tion at Canton called THE Foreign
Traders" 1t was composed of Ameri-
cans, Englishmen, Germans, Frenchmen,
.Spaniards and Russians, and numbered
over sixty representatives. The capital
represented amounted to millions, and
the object was threefold. We had more
power with the Chinese Government
than any foreign Minister. We had
rules and regulations regarding the tea
trade. We could carry point by pro-
tests and threats. Every pound of tea
from a district 500 miles square had to
pass through our hands. We filed many
protest against the pirates and the laxity
of the government in hunting them
down, and we're finally officially informed
that we were at liberty to take any steps
we deemed best in the matter. That
meant we could fit out a craft and go for
the rascalS right and left handed. We
had been anticipating this, and had a
craft ready at Hong Kong. She was an
American schooner of excellent model
and large spread of sail. and we knew
that she could outsail anything, native
or foreign, we had ever seen in those
waters. We armed her with a Long
Tom and four 24-pounders, having
bought the guns from the sale of the
salvage of French man, of-war. Then
we picked up crew of fifty men-all
foreigners and sailors-and when we
went out of Hong Kong we were pre-
pared to give the pirates Hail Columbia.
/ was purser of the schooner, which was
called the Revenge, and her captain was
an Englishman named Wetherbee, who
had served as a commissioned officer in
the regular service. The first lieutenant
was an American, and the other officers
were divided up among the other nation
alities. We flew the association flag,
and while we had liberty to go for
pirates, we were warned that any mis-
takes would be made to cost us dearly.
The two boss pirates of that date were
Shung- Wong and ChinLung. The first
had a feet OF seven or eight craft, and
haunted the sea from Singapore north to
the Tong-Kin Islands. The second
!cruised from thence as far north as
Shanghai, having his headquarters al
Formosa Island. He was reported to
have feet of nine craft That both
were monsters we had hundred proofs,
and that both had grown rich and power
full it was easy to show by the long list
of missing vessels hanging in the head
quarters Office. While we had kept oui
movements 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 tc
the south for three days, and spoke and
reported to four ships bound for Can.
ton. Then we ran over toward the
Philippine Islands until we had good
Offing, when we headed up for Formoss
to get acquainted with old Chin Lung.
During the next three days we did
not sight sail of any sort. Then early
one morning we Iell In with lot OF
wreckage which showed us that trader
had been overhauled and burned. We
were now to the east of Formosa, and
fifty miles off the coast. Men were sci
to work to give the schooner the appear
ance of vessel in distress, and under 6
light breeze we made slow headway to-
ward the island. 1t was about O'Clock
in the afternoon before anything ap
preached us, although we saw number
of native craft at distance. Then
small junk came out from a bay abour
five miles off, and headed directly fol
us. Everything aboard of us seemed to h
at SKIES and sevens. A man wal
aashed to the malnmast, to repre-
sent the Captain, everything aloft wa
askew, and the seven or eight men OF
deck were seemingly drunk and havinl
l. IL IL b