The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-12-11
THE PORTUGUESE PIRATES

In the year 1860 was one of the crew
of the British survey brig, the Advance,
which was surveying the islands to the
south OF the Sandwich group, Kingman
Shoal, Palmyra Island, and other shoals
and islands had not been closely sur
veyed and we were spending the sum
mer In the work. The brig was a craft
of 200 tons, and being government ves-
SELL was under strict discipline. She
was armed with two cannon, and carried
supply of small rms. In those days
the inhabitants of some Of tho south
Pacific islands were bad natured lot,
and nothing but the sight of strong
force would prevent them from making
troublesome visits to vessel anchored
close inshore.
About the middle OF September we
wer at Tanning island, when heavy
gale came up from the west. and we all
had to run for the open sea to the east.
The gale struck us about o'clock in the
afternoon, and hung to us until noon
next day. During this time we were
running little east of Lorth, and hav-
ing all we could do, and when the gale
broke We were at least 200 mi es to the
northeast of our island. 1t was mid
afternoon before We got the brig about,
and she had scarcely been headed back
when a whaleboat came down upon US
from the northwest, and after half an
hour of hard work we got her crew
aboard Then we heard a very interest
ing story. There were eight men of
them-a first mate, two harpooners AMI
five hands. All belonged to the British
whaling bark Penrose of Liverpool.
twenty days previously she had run into
Honolulu and discharged half cargo of
oil, aud shipped three Portuguese Sal rs
to replace hands who had been lost at
sea. On leaving Honolulu she had
cruised to the southwark, taking whalr
o .casionally, and on the day the ga
broke she lowered for whales about 200
miles north Of the group we had been
,urveying. Three boatswere down at
once as the boat ran into "a school. AS
THE breeze was light only shipkeeper
twas left aboard, and he was sailor who
Twas just recovering from hurt.
4, The three Portuguese were In the
! Captains boat, which made fast to big
buliwhale within a quarter Of mile of
| the bark, and was Immediately struck
and disabled, and the line had to be
cut. Meanwhile the other two boats
| had gone to the eastward after the
| fast than their victim ran off at full
speed. Owing to the direction of the
wind the shipkeeper could not work
down to the Captain. His boat was
wreck In this energy the three Portu-
guese offered to swim to the bark and
return with spare boat. and they were
told to go. They leached the craft in
safety, but had no sooner got aboard
than the yards were trimmed, her head
was brought to the south, and she sailed
within three hundred feet of the Captain
as she made off. The dark skinned
rascals made no bones Of the TACT that
they were running away with The ship.
Indeed, they boosted of it, and derided
and insulted the men hanging to the
steven boat.
| 1t was heartless, cold-blooded thing
to do The two other boats were five
miles to the eastward, and it was an
hour after the bark made off before the
men cut loose from their dead whales to
fathom the mystery. Taey found the
wreck of the Captains boat, to discover
that only one single man remained with
it, the others having been pulled down
by the sharks. By the time tsey had
heard his story the bark was more than
hull down, and just then the gale broke.
The boats were laid head-on to the sea
and drirted slowly to the east, dividing
I their men, so as to give each an equal
show to live out the gale. During the
night the second mates boat was lost
| sight of, and as it was never heard of
| y.gain, it must have been swamped. Had
| We been running course the surviving
boat could not have fetched US, but as
| we brought about to return to the island
she got the chance to do SO.
As soon as the story had been told our
| Captain decided to go in search of the
stolen bark. 1t was a question, however,
had she outlived the gale. She must
have received the full force of it being
so short handed she was liable to disas-
ter The main question was whether she
would scud or drift. We had adopted the
former course, as the brig had habit OF
flooding her decks when lying head on.
The mate of the stolen bark, whose
name was Cummings, felt certain that
the Portuguese would let her drift. In
that case he would have to cover humid
red miles OF ocean to the westward be-
fore beginning to look for them. What
did they want of the craft? What could
they do with her? There was only one
reasonable answer. They would run
her down among the southern islands,
find some safe spot to lay her away, and
then have good time" This meant
eating, drinking, smoking. and having
no work to do They would not dare to
TRY long voyage, nor to put into any
| prominent pert. AS they would nee
the services of the ships keeper, 1t was
not likely that they would do him any
harm.
1t was mate Cummings belief that the
Portuguese would head for Christmas
Island, hundred miles to the south Of
where we had been surveying, and the
briggs course was accordingly laid. On
the afternoon Of the third day after pick
ing up the boat, We sighted the BARI
dead ahead. We were not over twenty
five miles from the island. The stoler
craft had been evidently taking things
pretty easy She was under short sal
when we first espied her, altho Ugh tn,
weather was fine and the breeze fair
the thieves had no fear Of pursuit. snc
perhaps all were captains except the