Richland beacon., 1888-03-03
A STORY OF THE SEA.
THE PIRATES WERE AFTER
THE SHIP.
put n Whale Interfcrcd and Made
Things Unpleasant for the sea
RoverS.

"It was in the year 1876, he SAID,
lsthat was bound to the ivory coast on
the English brig Plowboy, Captain Scott
commander. She was @ry craft, well
found. but very slow, and although those
were risky days along the heathen coasts,
owners OF RATS were s'ingy about arm
ing them for protection. We had two
old six-pounders, which had been pnr-
chased nj n sal, of condemned ordnance,
and ten or dozen muskets and cutiass-
es of but little value. We called Mt the
Canary Islands on our way down tho
coast, and there We got the cHnnon out
of the hold and mounted them on their
carriages. The Captain was informed
that French ship had been plundered
and sunk between there and the tropic
only two weeks before, and that Two or
three suspicious sail were cruising along
the coast. We felt brave enough as We
sailcl to the south with those two old can
non on deck, and the wish was expressed
time and again that we might fall IN
with pirate.
1--WE got light and laflling winds along
the Barlarv coast. but were nearing tho
tropics, wheL one afternoon, an hour
before sunset, strange sail was seen
Standing oat from the coast to cut lis OF.
She wa also brig, and from the very
first sight of her there was no doubt IN
our minds that she was u pirate. Wo
altered orr course n few points to the
west. and then began to get ready Tor
her. We had no sooner set about load
| the guns than it was fouul that our can
non balls were all too large for the bore
| Not one of them could be maic to Y.
This discovery cook the courage IN OF
/ us, and II was only in the hop./Nat we
might kill few Of the piratc/Oefore wo
we're all sacrificed that w<loaded with
bolts, pieces o, chain aTa such stuil IN
place Of solid shot TN discharge would
be effective at clos|fluarters.
"Thc strange/walked mp on MS at q
rapil rate. arZwhen darkness came on
he was not/more than four miles away.
Our Captain went into the rigging with
his glM for long squint, and when he
NrpI down he called us at and said
ser, was no longer any room to doubt.
/Che stranger was a pirate, and there was
40 hope of "scaI.ng him. At that very
moment the wind, which Was OIL the
land. began to fall. and ten minutes later
We hadn't enough to blow a feather. We
rould no longer see the stranger, owing
10 the darkness. We knew that he must
have lost the wind first, and that he was
all of three miles away. If the calm held
, through he night he would have to at
tack ns in boats, if at all, and We then
stood some show Of beating HIM OH.
Believing this would he his plan, We
made the best preparations possible: IL
was starlight night, but with bit OF
fog rising from the water, and all our
lights were eAtinguished at dark, ana
= we moved about in our bare feet. The
pirate had probably taken our bearings
by compass before night shut III, but
with that fog coming iittle thicker he
b could not sec us a hundred feet away.
{ midnight ne, and We had heard
l. nothing. The fog was now very thlck'
and every man was listening lntently 10
9 catch the irst suspicious sound, when
D.. all Of & sudden ther" was terriflc crash,
followed ~ shouts and shrieks. There
= was another crash, more sho;lts, anu
n tle.n n splash in the water rs II an ice-
berg had rolled over. In minute Oh
two we got a swell which lifted the brig
like a cork and kept her dancing for
d. three or four minutes. When IT SUB,
: sided the captain and mate agreed 1t had
. been caused by whale preaching: Both
:, had sailed in whaling ships, and they
= asserted that nothing else could have
,, caused the conmotiOn.
;. "From midnight until dawn every
= man stood at rs post. When daylight
- - came we saw the pirate brig about two
IL miles eff. Between the two vessels wal
lot of wreck stuff, which the captain
class made out to be the shattered rem
a. nants of several small boats. Only fou
u. men could be observed aboard the brig
VI and as the captain was watching then
III thew got into II fight. One was killed
one ran below, and the two men left Oh
'f deck got white cloth from the cabiI
Il md sent it aloft in place OF flag.
.In about half an hour we got TN
y. wind and ran down to her and lowered
ve boat and went aboard. j went IN tn
III boat. and followed the. mate on deck
Were We were welcomed by two mel
$, who spoke English. Is was queer case
as vou will agree. One of the men wa
nj an Enclishman, the sole survivor OF a
English vessel wrecked on the Barbar
tie coast five wears before. Tho other wa
an American. who had deserted his shi
Mt the Cape Verde Islands three year
previously, and while making voyag
n in coaster had been captured an
~ spared by the vessel he was now on. III
,ly dead man AMI the one below were III
n tive Algerines, rs were most oi t.ie priB
k, crew. On the previous night, whe
the wind went down, they got out the
ill boat and towed the brig about NIL
his The entire crew with the exception
mt the four men, then armed themseiye
me and the boats set off to attack us. Wh
ic. followed could be pretty safely guessf
to at. The four boats were III compai
un. when the whale struck at least one
or. them when he came up. He must ha
en- thrown this boat many feet III the al
vay He might have fallen mpon the others
tLt shattered them with rap OF his iiukt
tee but that he destroyed them the eviden
was before us. Not man had escape
j1s and. instead of being captured al
made to walk the plank, as we had re
|, O. son to expect, We had turned about o.
rm captured the piratical craft without
ing shot. She was fine prize, G
tell you, having over $4,000 worth
plunder aboard, besides being bet
r;f, vessel than our own. We carried
"nn down to Sierra Leone, where she
q, delivered over and passed upon, a
bore every one Of us got comfortable lul
Ru, of prize money from the adventure. )
all, was an English brig which had bt
p 'nnt captured five years before under "a
Rlanco. and recorded as lost III n gal