The Opelousas courier., 1891-01-24
CAPTURED BY MALAYS

4 saw ID a singapore paper the other
day the statement that no less than five
trading vessels hailiug from that port
were long overdue from the Java Sea,
and that there were grave reasons to fear
they had fallen into the hands of the
Malays. Such a statement has an odd
sound to the reader who is not well posted
IN the locality and its surroundings. The
Java Sea, which separates Borneo from
Java, contains over a thousand islands,
great and small. Macassar Straits, to
the east of Borneo, contains almost as
many more. From Batavia, looking
north, the Chinese Sea is studded with
islands for 1000 miles. It is an old say
ing among sailors:
when nature created Borneo she
meant that every man who ever livedrnn
the island should be a pirate"
That four-ifths of the coast people
have for the last 200 years been engaged
In this business, no one doubts. The
Malays hold tho sea front, while the
Dyaks and other tribes hold the interior.
While piracy by organized fleets no
longer exists, every Malay craft stands
ready to do business on its own hook. I
was captured by a single craft, and a
small II at that, and will now give you
the particulars.
The English firm of Warner 6 Hill, at
Batavia, employed three or four small
trading schooners to cruise among the
islands after fine woods, furs, shells,
hides, roots, dycstuffs, etc. I was left
in Batavia off an English steamer, my
father having died on the voyage, and
the firm spoken of gave me q berth on
the Orient, one of their schooners. She
was OF ninety tons burden, and carried a
Captain, mate, cook, two foremost
hands and a boy. The Captain stood his
watch turn and turn about, and the cook
was o. call as a sailor. This gave us
three hands to a watch, which made
handling the craft an easy matter. We
took out axes, hatchets, powder, lead,
hoes, seeds, shoes, and various trinkets,
and more or less money, and as an arnla-
ment we had seven or eight good mus
kets. This was my third trip, and we
left Batavia for an islsnd called Anello.
This 10 situated about forty miles south
of the southeast point of Borneo, and al
that time was an island containing about
1900 people. We reached it after q
!, pleasant run, and for the next week were
anchored in a bay on the north side.
In this time we had secured about half Q
cargo, and at the end of the week were
ready to up anchor and sail for another
island to the south.
The King of Anello wanted to prove
bis friendship for US, and therefore made
q banquet to whitehall were invited. Nc
doubt all would have gone, but that
afternoon / accidentally cut my foot
and it panied me SO much that I begged
| to remain aboard as shipkeeper. AL
others went ashore at shutdown. We lay
within 200 feet of the beach, and tht
village was right there. Several large
fires were built, and Icould see and heal
most everything. It was a warm, balmJ
night, and after a while I lay down or
deck, and, despite the noise on sl.ore,
went to sleep. When / opened MY eyes
again some n was tying my wrists,
having already neatly performed that jot
on my ankles. As I tried to sit up I re,
ceived q smart tap on the head from /
club, and a voice which knew belonged
to a Malay warned me to be quiet. I ha6
picked up enough of the lingo to under
stand what he meant, and as | caught
sight of five or six other figures on deck
and also realized that the schooner wal
in motion, | lay back and kept quiet.
The craft was in the hands of thu
Maiays. They had sneaked into the har.
Dor under cover OF darkness, cut hel
hempen cable, and she had drifted out
with the tide. She must have been /
mile off shore when | awoke, for theJ
now proceeded to get her head around
and give her sail. In about an hour the
leader OF the gang approached me and
cast off my bonds, and motioned me into
~fo'castle. ! was glad enough to go, fol
] was IN q terrible fright. I had seer
Malays about Batavia often enough. buI
had been told that the real resident,
of Rorneo were q cruel and savage lot,
and that an Englishman unfortunate
enough to fall into their hands could
hope for no mercy.
There was 4 fine and favorable breeze,
and the fellows on deck knew how Il
handle the craft. She was kept going
all night, and 30 fustered was T that MI
eyes did not shut for q minute. About {
o'clock IN the morning we ran into . har
Dor On the south side of the island b
Iaut, which is on the southeast coast o
RoEne5. and separated from the mainland
by 4 narrow channel. All the anchor
went down was ordered on deck. If
we're ina land-locked harbor, and no