The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-06-18
THEPIRATES OF BORNEO

:sf From Singapore, situated at the cX-
treme end of the Malay peninsula, the
China Sea to the north for four hun
dred miles is studded with islands.
They number, great and small, a good
hundred. Some of them are not more
than an acre in extent, and some are ff-
teen miles long. A portion of these
islands are occupied by Malays, and the
remainder by Dyaks. The first come from
the peninsula, and the second from Bor-
nea. There is but little difference be-
tween the two races, but what there is
favors the Dyak. He is cleaner in his
habits and has more mercy on his cap
tive.
Up to the year 1850 these islands in
the China Sea were the rendezvous Of
pirates. The fellows made no secret of
their trade, but practiscd it openly aad
boldly whenever opportunity offered. 1t
was estimated by Lieutenant Cairn, of
the English navy, that they numbered
$4,000 able bodied men. With the
women and children and slaves the num-
ber could not have been less than 40, 900.
I once saw list of the ships captured
and destroyed by these pirates between
the years 1888 and 1850, and the num-
Der was over hundred. As rule every
body was put to death, but If exception
was made the captive was doomed to
labor as slave. In 1850 the English,
with some assistance from other nations,
opened a crusade on the pirates and
cleared the islands. Those who got away
fed to the northern end of Borneo and
to the islands on the north, and for seven
or eight years remained very quiet. Then,
under the leadership Of Dyak called
Riker, they made three or four captures
in one year. England had her hands
pretty full at the time, and the single
msn-of-war sent out to break up the new
colony accomplished nothing. There was
at this time some international dispute
about the islands, and John Bull fought
shy of complicating matters by opening
war on people who even boaSted that
they were pirates.
In this emergency the foreign traders
on the peninsula, assisted by others In
Siam and along the China coast, bought
the brig Campo of her Scotch owners and
quietly fitted her out as a man-of-war.
She was large, stout and handsome
craft, and she was out6tted at Pehang.
She was armed with nine guns on a side,
with Long Tom" on swivel, and
when she left Pehang she had 13O men
aboard. This was crowding her some
what, but as she was clean, new ship
and we'll provisioned there was no growl-
ing. Her crew had been picked up at
half dozen different points,. and were
all sailors and white men. am quite
sure that the Captain and Lieutenant and
fourteen English sailors aboard were
quietly drafted from H. NJ. S. Kildare,
but the others were runaway sailors from
various American, French, German and
Russian ships. When the brig went out
of Pehang she was a match for anything
of her size ever hoatcd, and no crew
were ever under better discipline. She
carried three extra boats, and, as had
helped to stow her ammunition, I knew
that she had great plenty.
There were men on the peninsula who
were in communication with the pirates,
and to befog them we ran of up the Gulf
of Siam until we sighted Cape Campodia.
Then we headed to the northeast, and at
once began the work of Disgusting the
brig. An old set of sails were bent on,
Che paint pots brought out, and in the
course of twenty-four hours we made the
Relief, as she was called, look like tea
barge or a trader. It was no use to hunt
pirates with man-of-war. They were
altogether too sharp to be caught under
aer guns.
We cruised up and down the China
Sea for week, keeping well over toward
The Rorneo coast, bat met with no adj
Renturt. Then we got the tail end of
hurricane, which we rode out safely, and
after it subsided we limped along to the
north with foretopmasts down and sails
torn and rent. A sailor looking at us
from distance of half a mile would
have said that We had pulled through by
the skin of our teeth. A dead calm
usually follows storm in that sea, and
and as we were opposite Opokonoke, or
the westernmost island of the PHILIPPINE
group, we were not surprised to find
ourselves within five or six miles of the
green coast and without stcerage way.
This vas the state of affairs at sunrise on
a very sultry morning, and as the tide
set shoreward we driftcd in for couple
of miles and then let so our anchor
in forty feet of water. The Dyaks
not only had. as good marine glasses
as any ship carried, but they had
erected platforms in the tops of tall
trees, and could see as far out over the
ocean as a man at our masthead could see
inland. We knew that they infested
that island, and had no doubt we should
soon be an object of scrutiny. For this
reason, all but dozen men were sent
below, and those remaining on deck
were dressed as merchant sailors. There
was a man Or two in the rigging, appar-
emily engaged in making repairs, but
really to watch the coast, aad at about
high noon it was reported that 4 sampan
was approaching. The craft is sort of
Indian canoe made of bark, and i'll this
case there was but ono occupant. He
was doubtless coming as a scout to see
how matters stood. He came straig ght on
until within half mile of US, and then
halted and took long survey. Our
ports were up, yards askew, lot Of
rattle hanging over the stern, aid it did
-a4 4nl q h In, lnnn 10 1eterrninn that W.