Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1891-05-20
CHINESE BANDITS.


bandit bands that infcst the country.
Bandits and pirates are the curse of
the 1ndO-ChineSc peninsula. The story
has often been told of the hundreds of
Chinese pirates who infest the large
archipelago known as the Robbcr
islands, near the coast of Tonkin. These
bands, in their little vessels, have
preycd for many years upon commerce,
but they have been ut last nearly de-
stroycd by the persistent efforts of the
French and Chinese governments to
root them out; now the French have an
opportunity to turn their attention to
the hundreds of bandit bands who
terrorizc the mainland.
Piracy and other forms of outlawry
have existed for ages, says the New
York Sun, not only in TonlSin, but also
in the whole of AMMAN. These bands
do not commit so many depredations
when the harvests are good and the
country is tranquil and prosperous; but
in times of war, or when poor crops or
epidemics aff1ict the land, they are the
curse of Tonkin. Since the French
occupied Cochin-China, in 1858, they
have waged incessant war upon the
bandits, and have at last nearly ex-
tive governments have always been
powerless. They have often been
obliged to negotiate with the robber
and money and apportioning lands
among the robber soldiery.
The bands belong to two distinct cat
Hgories. One class is well disciplined
and armed with rapid-fring guns. 1t
is composed almost exclusively of Chi
nese or of savage Muongs recruited in
the mountains, who never visit the low,
flat lands, and consequently the delta
region, where the enormous crops of rice
are raised, are free from them. They
infest only the hilly and mountain re-
gions of the interior, where they have
hidden retreats and can easily get out
of sight after q raid and defend them
selves when attacked.
Their little settlements are strongly
fortified on all sides, and it is believed
the forces sent against them have never
taken them by surprise. From these
fortified centers they spread over the
country and live at the expense of the
people. If the inhabitants suffer their
depredations in quiet, none of them is
killed. All the robbers want is q good
living. If any resistance is made, how
ever, the bandits are merciless, and their
revenge is terrible. When armies arc
sent against them, if they consider the
advancing force teo large to resist, they
do not await it's approach, but arc
usually far away in the mountain fast
nesses before the avenging forces reach
their fortified places.
The bandits OF the second category
are less warlillc, but more numerous
than the others. There is scarcely a
district in Tonl1in that is net troubled
with them. While the bandits dc
scribed above are almost altogether
Chinese, these robbers are natives of the
country. Many of them arc fugitive
criminals who dare not return to Their
villages. In the Wilderness they have
acquired taste for the wild life of the
freebooter. They till the soil no longer.
but live by robbery. Often they dwell
in villages that are friendly to them.
Five or six mon form little band, com
hitting dcpredations only in regions
that arc quite distance from the vii
lagos that shelter them. They are not
so well armed as the Chinese bandits.
Some of them have flintloclSs, but
most OF them carry only swords or
lauces with iron points. They give to
their bands imposing names, to impress
the common people and inspire terror.
Ono band, for instance, is called the
Butchers of the Mountains, and another
the Heroes of the Country. They are
too poorly armed to hazard an attack
upon the French posts or populous vii.
lagos.
They usually select little towns where
they know there is considerable booty
in the way of food and other plumber
On account Of bandits, all villages are
guarded by hedges of bamboo and cac-
bus, and watchmen during the night
time walk around the town. When the
chief of bandit band thinks the time
favorable for foray he rallies his me1
by an understood signal. Sometimes @
big fire is lSindlcd on u hilltop, OF it may
he n vollcy of muslSctry. At the sigma
all the bandits collect at the designated