The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-07-19

niba ism had been substantiated, and who
would naturally make every effort to con-
ceal the facts of any such disaster on their
coast. Many of these Malays follow the
vocation of eOrsairs and are ready to pur-
sue any ,uckleSs merchantmen driven into
their waters to escape the gales. Whom
they capture they destroy, and whether
such had been the terrible fate of Captain
John and his companions was something
which would never come to the ear OF the
Governor. Captain Willis didn't hesitate to
penetrate into these wonderful forests of
tamarlnd, bamboo. mangrove. ebony, ma
hogany and ironwoOd in order to reach the
interior villages, in the hope of finding some
bit or shred of proof that the Dreadnaught
had gone to pieces on these reefs or that
some one or more OF her crew had fallen into
the hands of these islanders.
The exploration OF the Philippine archi-
pelago lasted two months ana half, after
which Willis made search through the
Ba ssilian group to the south of ZambOanga,
and then sailed for the Sooloo archipelago,
which ne reached on February %, 1880.
This Is veritable nest Of pirates and the
jungles of the many Islands lying between
Mindanao and BOrneo are alive with saw
ages. But one port is ever frequented bv
vessels crossing the China Sea and Malaysian
basins, and that is the port of Bevoan. Here
the Moliy's Hope cast anchor. Willis scat
tered presents With lavish hand among
the inhabitants of these islands, but nothing
tHdb Was drought 10 llGIlL served IN the
slightest to clear up the mystery of the
Dreadnaught. Although the steamer had
coaled at Mindarao, yet at the end of this
cruise her bunkers were pretty well emptied.
However, there was apparently enough left
to enable her to cross the CeIebes Sea and
make the port of Bandjermasin, in tine
southern part of BOrneo.
In spite of tile fact that the Celebes Sea
is shut in like lake it is visited by terrible
wind-siorms, ana on the night of February
2Sth 10 29th gale of great impetuosity
overlook the steamer, rolling up violent
sea and emptying hundreds Of tUns of water
upon her deck and flooding her hold, but
her compartments resisted the strain and
kept the water from reaching her engine
rooms, piece of great good fortune, for
her fires once eXtingushed and screw rem
dered useless she would have been power
less TO make head against the gale.
Neither captain nor crew lost their self
possession for moment during the long
hours OF this terrible night. On the morn
Molly's Hope sighted the Maratoubas Isl
ands off the coast of Borneo.
fortnight was devoted to ransacking
these waters Tor some proof that the Dread
naught had persisted in just such gale as
had overtaken the steamer, but, although
rich presents were distributed among the
chiefs, nothing was forthcoming.
ut Is very possible" said Captain Willis
to his mate one day, that the destruction
OF the Dreadnaught was due to a sudden at
tack of number oil piratical craft, and this
would account for our not having been able
to discover any trace Of her. These pirat
make no boast of their exploits and when a
vessel disappears they have but to lay it to
the fury of gale"
You are right, captain" replied the
mate. These waters swarm with pirates
and we must redouble our vigilance in pass
ing through Macassar Strait"
VERY true, answered Willis, but there's
no chance OF their being able to overtake
us. Not so sailing vessel. With irregular
and shifting winds sailing vessel is more
or less at their mercy. But SO long as our
engines are in working order we shall have
nothing to fear. Still. we can't be too care
full"
For two months, from March 18th to May
18th. Captain Willis busted himself making
close search of the eastern coast OF
Celebes Island. The fantastic outlines of
this island has led some geoeraphers to
compare 1t to huge tarantula, but the very
fact OF this bent and twisted coast line
make it fayorite refuge for pirates.
Whenever the ships boats were occupied
in searching the coyes and inlets, Captain
Wills lay to as near the coast as possi BILE,
with steam up, ready at mOment'a notice
to cover their retreat. Having once traversed
the strait all danger was at an end, for the
southern part OF Celebes is under Dutch
rule, Macassar being the capital city, and
here under the guns of Fort Rotterdam the
Moliys Hope came to anchor:on May nth.
Ii Captain Willis had thus far discovered
no trace of John Allaire and his crew of the
Dreadnaugbt he was now destined to get at
last some positive information on the sub
ject OF the route which the Dreadnaughthad
followed. 1t was this: On May 3, 1875, that
clipper ship had been signaled ten miles out
from Macassar, heading toward the Java
Sea. One thing was now certain, she had
not persisted in the terrible waters of Ma
laysia. 1t was beyond Ceebes and Borneo,
that Is In the Java Sea, that Captain Willis
was called upon to continue his search, not
relaxing his efforts until Singapore had been
reached.
In n report sent to Mrs. Allaire from this
extreme point of Ceiebes Island, Willis COM
munlcated to her this important piece of in
formation, at the same time promising to
Keep her posted as to the results of the
search which would now be confined to the
Java Sea and the Sunda Islands.
Willis had fixed the meridian of Singa-
pore as the western limit of the expedition,
and on his way home intended to explore
tue western shure OF Java Sea, and make
search among the ehapiet of islands which
smut IL IN on that side. then after passing in
among the Malacces regain the Pacific and
return to America. The Molly's Hope left
Macassar on May 23d, and crossing the
strait at It's lower end made the port of
Bandjermasin. This is the official resi-
dence of the Governor of Borneo. Most
scrupulous examination was made of the
shipping records, but no mention of the
Dreadnaught could be found. There was
but one explanation. Captain John had
Kept out To sea in crossing this body of
water.
Ten days later Captain Wi Ills cast an