Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1888-06-16
A TREASURE CAVE.

oeen tangnl 70 read and write. was worth
my millions ! had more clear treasure
under my hands than would have bought
the Astors, the Goulds and the Wander
bilts combined II is curious story. and
though can tell it only in plain. sailor
like fashion. 1t may be Of interest.
The Straits of Malscca. as you all know.
Is that narrow body of water between the
island of Sumatra and the Malay penin
sula Beyond are the Java sea the
islands of Java and Borneo, and If you sail
far enough you will bring up at New
Guinea As you enter the straits from
the northwest you have Acheen Head on
the right, being the butt end of
Sumatra, and Penang Island on the
left, this latter lying of the Malay
coast. and being for years the
rendezvous of pirates Up to 1859.
al which time British cruisers shelled this
island 50 often and so vigorously as to
kill of even the monkeys from 500 to
1000 Malay pirates lived on Penang, and
preyed on the commerce passing through
the straits They had q sort of govern
ment of their own. a fleet of fifty light
craft, and they often sailed 100 miles out
into the Indian ocean in seach of mer
chant vessels
In those days nearly every merchant
vessel carried an armament and extra men.
and a tussle with pirates was counted on
with as much certainty as a change of
weather Between 1855 and 1858 no less
than thirteen English vessels were capt
ured within fifty miles of Penang Island
Include in this list those taken from the
American, French and Germans, and the
total number would be at least twenty
five In 1886 the pirates attacked Rus
sian corvette which had anchored in the
straits to repair damages, and although
she finally beat them of. it was only after
a conflict in which she lost half her crew
They became so bold before they were
driven out that nothing was too big for
them TO attack. and they were utterly
reckless as to danger
Well. sirs. in the summer of 1855 was
a foremast hand ON the Liverpool ship
Castle Groat, bound through the straits
and beyond. and we came within sight of
Acbeen Head without having noted a
suspicious craft We had six cannon,
plenty of small arms. and a full crew
aboard. and for the last two days we had
been ready for anything which might turn
up can remember that we rather hoped
for a scrimmage, for we knew what a
murderous set they were and wanted re
venge but it was the opinion of the
officers that we should go through with
out a shot The pirate fleet seemed TO be
away on some expedition. and the best
glasses aboard failed to make out any
thing of a suspicious character
We came up with Acheen Head about 4
o'clock III the afternoon. and the wind all
at once died away The tide was against
us. aud the ship was allowed to drive over
within mile of Penang Island before be-
ing brought up with the anchor on a sort
of middle gruEnd. which gave the iron a
good hold in five fathoms 1t was pro
posed TO wait here for the tide to turn
and for a favoring breeze, as the channel
was not then thoroughly surveyed; but
in less than half an hour the clouds began
to bank up and it was seen that storm
was at hand Just before sundown we
got it from dead ahead. and it came with
great fury The heaviest gale could not
have kicked up much of sea in that
spot, and as we had everything snug
aioft, no one felt any uneasiness Ten
minutes later the storm struck US. and
while everybody but the watch on
deck was under shelter from the down
pour of rain. ! was ordered cut on the
jibboom to secure the flying jib. which
had been carelessly slowed felt as safe
as ! do this moment sitting in my chair,
but | had not yet performed my task
when a Sudden heave of her bows, accom-
panied by shake to starboard and port
as If the ship was an angry horse, zoos
ened my hold and dropped me into the
boiling sea One can never tell Just how
these things occur. but personal careless
ness is at the bottom of them was in
the water before realized that had let
.ra ,,,,- hold II u-aS ra;pif,rr and hln.-i,,,
tremendously hard. and If | cried out
which have no recollection of doing. no
one on deck heard it ! was swept away
from the ship in an instant. Indeed.
when fought my head above the foam
and sprang UP in the water to look
around. the rain and spray had hidden
the ship from sight,
I had no doubt that ! was driving
straight out into the Indian ocean. but
do not recall that ! was frightened or in
despair Sailors take more close shaves
than any other class of men in the world,
and. as a rule they depend more on luck
TO bring them safely through turned
on my back being a good swimmer. ship
ped as little water as possible. and thanked
nv stars that the uproar had temporarily
driven the sharks to deep water In almost
chat very location. year before, ! had
seen shark of such dimensions alongside
the ship that every one aboard had been
called up to view the monster His length
was estimated at thirty five feet. and he
could have bitten bullock in two at a
snap fought of all thoughts of my
peril, knowing that if got ratified
should soon go under. and in about half
an hour felt sure that ! heard the noise
of waves breaking OH shore. II wasn't
FIVE minutes later when | was driven over
a coral reef outside of Penang Island. and
in five minutes more was on the beach of
the island itself The last of the tide,
aided by current. had carried me to the
pirates headquarters, instead of out into
the ocean The storm still held, making
the afternoon as dark as evening. and,
though | had carefully husbanded my
strength and had been in the water only
halt an hour | crawled up beyond the run
OF The waves and lay on my back long
time before ! could walk about. By that
time night hal set in. and there was little
danger OF my being discovered unless
ran against somebody At this point the
forest came down almost TO the waters
edgs, and my first move was TO get under
cover had hardly moved back into the
woods when heard voices, and knew that
several r1en were patroning the sands
Had been three minutes later they would
have found me
The lnss Of foremast hand to ship
with a full crew is of little consequence
nothing 10 be compared to the loss of q
sky ruval or a few fathoms of new rope
In his case he is logged as gone overo' ard
and his effects are sold at auction In
week be is forgotten. and the chances IRE
that no one ever receives the back pay
due him If sail is lost. the money TO
replace it comes out the owners pockets,
and they may criticiss the seamanship OF
the captain | would be missed by the
mate after q few minutes. and he would