The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-07-04
CHINESE BANDITS.
Tho French Of Tonkin at War with
the Freebooters.
Outlaws and Pirates the Curse OF tho
IndO-Chinesc Peninsula Their
Methods of Plundcring
tho Towns.

For over year the French In
Tonkin have been trying to destroy the
bandit bands that infest the country.
Bandits and pirates are the curse of
the Indo-Chinese peninsula. The story
hns often been told of the hundreds of
| Chinese pirates who infest tho large
archipelago known as the Robbcr
islands, near the coast of Tonl1in. These
bands, in their little vessels, have
preycd for May years upon commerce,
but they have been at last nearly de-
stroyed by the persistent efforts of the
French and Chinese governments to
root them out; now tho French have an
opportunity to turn their attention to
the hundreds of bandit bands who
terrorize the mainland.
Piracy and other forms of outlawry
have existed for ages, says the New
York Sun, not only in Tonkin, but also
In the whole of AMMAN. These bands
do not commit SO many dcpredations
when the harvests are good and the
country Is tranquil and prosperous; but
in times of war, or when poor crops or
epidcmics afaict the land, they are the
curse of Tonkin. Since the French
occupied CochinChina, in 1858, they
have wagcd incessant war upon the
bandits, and have at last nearly ex-
terminated thcm in AMMAN. The ma
tive governments have always been
powcrlcss- They have often been
obliged to negotiate with the robber
bands, giving their officers dignitics
and money and apportionins lands
among the robber soldiery.
I,
ogories. One class is well disciplined
and armed with inpid-fring guns. 1t
IS composed almost exclusively Of Chi
ncsc or OF savage Muongs recruited in
the mountains, who never visit the low,
fiat lands, and consequently the delta
region, where the enormous crops of rice
are raised, are FREQ from them. They
infest only the billy and mountain re-
gions Of the interior, where they havc
hidden retreats and can easily get out
of sight after a raid and defend them
selves when attacked.
Their little settlements are strongly
fortified on all sides, and it is believed
tho forces sent against them have never
taken them by surprise. From these
fortified ccnters they spread over tho
country and live at the expense of the
people. If the inhabitants suffer their
dcprcdattons In quiet, none of them is
killed. All the robbers want is good
Living. If any resistance is made, how
ever, the bandits are merciless, and their
revenge is terrible. When armies are
sent against them, if they consider the
advancing force teo large to resist, they
do not await it's approach, but are
usually far away in the mountain fast
pcsses before the avcnging forces reach
their fortified places.
The bandits of the second category
arc less wnrlile, but moro numerous
than the others. There Is scarcely q
district In Tonlzin that is not troubled
with them. While the bandits de-
scribcd above are almost altogether
Chinese, these robbers are natives of the
country. Many of them are 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 men form little band com
hitting dcprcdations only in regions
that are quite distance from the vii
lagos that shelter them. They are not
SO well armed as the Chinese bandits.
Some of them have flint-loclss, but
most Of them carry only swords or
lances with iron points. They give to
their bands imposing names, to i'm press
the common people and inspire terror.
One bend, for instance is called the
Butchers of the Mountains, AID another
the Heroes of the Country. They are
too poorly armed 70 hazard al attack
upon the French posts or populous vii
lagos.
They usually select little towns where
they know there is considerable bc,oty
in tho way OF food AID oshc. plunder.
On account of bandits, al v;llaves are
guarded by hedges Of ba:a5oo aud cac-
tus, ard watchrnen during the night
time walk around the town. When the
chief of a bandit band thinks the time
favorable for forey he rallies his racn
by an understood signal. Sometimes a
big fire is kindlcd on hilltop. OF it NAV
be vollcy OF rnushetry. 1t the signal
oil the bandits collect IT the Gesiynatcd
place, where they usually find bourtc-
Gus rcpast, as they Go rot believe in
robbElg villages upon empty sto.rachs.
Then in the night they start for the vii
lage which is to be surprised After
reaching the unsuspecting settlement
they send two or three men in ;.dvancc,
who noiselessly cut an opening in the
thorny hedge, through which their COM
rades gain access TO the huts within.
Tcnkincsc watchmcn arc often known
to sleep on their posts, and SO it often
happens that the bandits do not find it
very difficult to surprise the town.
Once within the Enclosure the bandits