Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-06-22
A TREASURE CAVE.


port Of Plymouth, and having scarcely
been Taught to 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
bits combined 1t is curious story, and
though can tell it only In plain, sailor
like fashion, it nasy be of interest
The Straits of Aalacca. as you all know
is that narrow body of water between the
island of Sumatra and the Malay PENN
sula- Beyond are the Java sea, the
islands Of Java and Borneo and 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 off the Malay
coast, and being for years the
rendezvous of pirates. Up to 1888,
at which time British cruisers shelled this
island SO often and so vigorously as to
kill off even the monkeys. from 500 TO
1000 Malay pirates lived on Penang. and
preyed on the com merce passing through
the straits They had sort Of govern
ment of their own. a feet 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 tussle with pirates was counted on
with as much certainty a. q change of
weather Between 1856 and 1853 no less
than thirteen English vessels were capt
nred within fifty miles of Penang Island
Include in this list those taken from the
American French and Germans, and the
total number would DO at least twenty
i've In 1856 the pirates attacked Rus
sian corvette which had anchored in the
straits TO repair damages, and although
she finally beat them off. it was only after
conflict in which she lost half her crew
They became SO bold before they wsre
driven out that nothing was too big for
them to attack. and they were utterly
reckless as 30 danger
Well. siTs. in the summer of 1855 was
foremost hand on the Liverpool ship
Castle Groat. bound through the straits
and beyond. and we came within sight OF
Acheen Head without having noted
suspicious craft. We had six cannon.
plenty of small arms. and full crew
aboard. and for the last two days we had
been ready for anything which might turn
up. lean remember that we rather hoped
u
murderous set they were and wanted re-
venge. but 1t was the opinion OF the
officers that we sheuld go through with
put a shot The pirate feet 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 in the afternoon. and the wind all
at once died away The tide was against
us, and the ship was allowed to drive over
within mile of Penang Island before be-
ing brought up with the anchor on q sort
of middle ground, which gave the iron a
good hold in FIVE fathoms It was pro-
posed to wait here for the tide to turn
and for q 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 a storm
was at hand Just before shutdown we
got il from dead ahead, and it came with
great fury The heaviest gale could not
have kicked up much of a sea in that
spot, and as we had everything snug
aloft, no one felt any uneasiness. Ten
minutes later the storm struck us, and
while every body but the watch ON
deck was under shelter from the down
pour of rain, | was ordered out 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 4 shake to stsrboard and port,
Is if the ship was an angry horse, loes-
ened nay 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
GO my hold Ii WIS raining and blowing
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 bead above the foam
and sprang up In the water to look
around. the rain and spray had hidd
the ship from sight.
| had no doubt that I 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 rule. they depend mere on luck
to bring them safely through turned
on my back. being a good swimmer. ship
psd IS little water 50 possible, and thanked
my stars that the uproar had temporarily
driven the sharks TO deep water. In almost
that very location, year before, had
seen a 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-fiv feet, and he
could have bitten q bullock In two at q
snap fought off all thoughts Of my
peril, knowing that If / got ratified /
should soon 60 under, and In about half
an hour felt sure that l heard the noise
of waves breaking on shore. 1t wasn't
Eve minutes later when l was driven over
q coral reef outside of Penang Island. and
In Eve minutes more was On the beach Of
the island itself. The last of the tide.
aided by q current. had carried NE TO the
pirates headquarters. instead of out int
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
half Al hour. crawled up beyond the run
time before could wal. about. BY that
time night had set In. and there was little
danger of nv being discovered unless |
ran against somebody. At this point the
forest came down almost TO the waters |
edge. and my first move was to get under
cover had hardly moved back into the |
woods when | heard voices. and knew that |
several men were patroAing the sands
lad been three minutes later they would |
nave found me
iae loss of foremost hand to q ship |
with full crew is of little consequence
nothing to be compared to the loss Of
sky royal or few fathouas Of new RODE |