Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1891-07-17

| Go auu overhaul SiN"V "N -
everything in seeming confusion alolt,
discussed her hull as much as possible,
and when we left the bay The Shark
had the look of a merchantmen which
had been through typhoon and was
too short. handed to make repairs. The
Dutch captain died on the day alter we
found him, aud his last words were
PRAYER that we might fall in with aud
punish the pirates.
1t was just at daylight that we ap-
peared off the north coast of the island
and anchored on bank about three
miles from the beach. Men were sent
aloft as if engaged in repairs, boat was
rot down as if to work on the hull, and
the bulk OF the crew remained in hiding
below. No doubt the fellows ashore had
a lookout in some trees, and provided
with a good glass he could see every
thing going on aboard. 1t was hardly
sunrise when a small native craft with
four men in her came out to within pistol
shot of us to make an investigation. Our
captain hailed them and they replied
with gestures of signify that they would
return to the shore for help. They
evidently took us for what we pretended
to be, and we were piped to breakfast
feeling that our ruSe would succeed.
About eight o'clock, with the wind
breezing up lively, three native sail-craft
put out for us. A man aloft with glass
reported that each craft was crowded
With natives, and it was now our plan to
weigh anchor and make little sail and
pretend to be standing away from them
as if alarmed. The object was to draw
them as far away from shore as possible,
and we had added a milo or more to the
distance when the foremost boat came
WITHIN hail. She hadn't a gun OF any
sort in sight, but she had forty-eight
desperate-looklng villains in plain view,
and every one of them had Il cutlass and
pistol. While her captain was hailing
Us in a language no one could understand,
she was slowly edging along down upon
our starboard quarter. At the same time
a second craft was drawing ahead on the
port side, and the third kept in our
wake.
Only seven or eight men were in sight
on our decks, and the natives seemed to
have no suspicious of a trick. The
breeze was little bit too strong for their
manGuvring at first, but after we were
about six miles of shore the two sudden
ly closed in to board US Our captain
had been closely watching them ant
waiting for this move, and OF sudden
the drum beat to quarters and our decks
were alive with men. l was captain OF
/ No. 8 gun crew and had the honor OF
firing the first shot. 1t was a solid ball,
and it struck the craft on her port bow
and went clean through her and dropped
into the sea beyond. This opened the
fight; the natives instantly realized that
they had caught Tartar, and they saw &,
too, that their only means of escape lay,
in capturing the ship. Therefore, in
stead Of running away, as we had looked
for, each craft bore down on US to board.
They were handled as easily az an Indian
maneuvres a canoe, and it wasn't five
minutes after the first gun was fired ere
they were on our quarters like wolves
seeking to hamstring deer. l hred
another solid shot aud Chen loaded with
grape, and this last charge was fired
RIGHT into mass of natives waiting to
Chamber up the side. The gun next to
me fired solid shot, which tore through
her bottom, aud two minutes later she
fouudered right along side of us. The
second craft got near enough to grapple,
but the irons were thrown of, and two
guns played solid shot into her hull un-
til she went down stern foremost, leav-
ing thirty men struggling in the waves.
The third craft had forged ahead,
sailing five feet to our one, and would
have boarded us at the bows but for the
sudden destruction of the Others. Their
fate frightened her off, but she had
scarcely laid her head for the island than
it was brought around as If the crew
had made some desperate resolve. Now
occurred curious thing. She had about
thirty men on board, and she came down
on us with every one of them shouting
and screaming and tried TO lay us aboard
We could have sunk her with one gun
even, or we could have picked OH tne
whole crew with our muskets before tney
had crossed the rail- Word was passeu
to give her full broadside at the woru'
aud when the smoke cleared away she
was not 10 be seen. There were over
twenty Of the pirates hanging 10 'nc
wreckage around us, however, and ooa'
was lowered to pick them up. You can
Judge of their desperation when tell
you that every one of them fought like
tiger against being picked up and that
we got only five out OF the lot' lne
Others we had to kill as they hoateo
about with the sharks swapping at them'
Two of the five leaped out oil tho ooa'
after being pulled in and were seen no
more, and the Others gave us so muc"
trouble that the captain swung them up