Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-03-09
THE COOLlE SHIP.
How the Coolies Gained Possession and
Then Lost Their Lives.

Then Lost Their Lives.
We were bound up the Yellow sea in the
Boston brig Orient, and one afternoon,
when 100 miles above the port of Shang-
hal, the breeze died away and left us heav-
ing on sea as smooth as glass. Coming
down from Chee-Foo and within mile
of us when the wind fell was Brazilian
bark called the Salto Grande. She was
loaded with coolies, as we could tell by
the odor which came to our nostrils across
the expanse of water. When coolies are
transported, they are not packed as close
" as the negroes were in the slaveships,
but yet they are treated more like cattle
than human beings. The odor from gu
ano ship or one carrying a cargo of hides
and bones is nothing compared to that
from a coolie craft after being three or
four days out of port.
At shutdown the two crafts were still
mile apart, but 5 minutes later were hid
den from each other by fog which drove
down from the north and shut us in till
no man could see an object four feet from
his eyes. No sooner had the fog come than
the vessels seemed to be attracted toward
each other. We realized this by the sense
of hearing alone. Everything seemed to
be all right aboard the bark as long as we
had her in sight, but half an hour after
she was shut out we heard curses and
blows and cries for mercy. This row CON
tinued so long that we knew the captain
was tlOgging half dozen coolies who had
been guilty of some offense. When the
punishment was ended, we still heard
him cursing, and later on there seemed to
be a fight among the crew. Some one hail
ed us and asked that we send boat, but
we made no reply. a coolie ship is little
better than a SLAYER, and neither is graded
much above pirate in the minds of hon
est seamen.
Before 10 O'Clock we drifted so close to-
gether that one could have tossed bis
cult from craft to craft, and then the cur
rents increased the distance to half a mile
We could hear men moving about on her
decks, with now and then an angry voice
uttering an oath, but at 1890 not n sound
had come from her for five minutes. There
was such deep silence on sea and ship that
the drops of water falling from the fog
soaked sails to the deck plainly caught
the ear and awed the mind. As suddenly
as the discharge of cannon a cry arose
from the bark. 1t was n cry-a shout-a
shriek-a scream-a sound which few men
will hear in lifetime. Under the bark
matches We're $50 coolies, most of them
criminals and offenders banshed from the
country. AS if signal had been given, all
screamed out at once at the top of their
voices. 1t was a threat-a cry for venge-
ance--the scream of a suffering and en-
ragged mob which had planned an awful
tragedy.
Just one horrible, long drawn cry and
then rush. We heard a smashing and
crashing, shouts and shots, and then the
gratings We're off, and the coolies had gain
ed the deck. That Cry brought every man
in the brig to the deck, with his pale face
. No SNff hn hoy IL hIYf
no man lifted his hand to stay the muir
derous work. The crews of coolie ships
take desperate chances, If this revolt was
suppressed, we'll and good; if not, we might
ourselves be attacked. Humble and alb
ject as the Chinaman appears to be, he is
fiend when his blood is up and has but
one feeling toward all foreigners.
1t was over in five ADMINISTRATORS a
boat sent from the brig could have got
alongside. No man had to ask of another
which side had gained the victory. We
heard shouts and prayers for mercy from
three or four BraZilians, and we heard the
blows of Delaying pins and musket butts
and capstan bars which beat their lives
out Splash, splash, splash! went the bod
les as they were heaved overheard, and a
fierce shout from n hundred threats sig
nailed that the coolies had possession. Some
of them had seen our craft before the fog
set in, and as there was no breeze they
knew the brig must still be near by. We
heard them lowering the boats to search
for us. At the whispered order of the cap
tain our shoes We're removed, and each
man armed himself as best he could and
took his station along the bulwarks. Ten
men could make but poor fight against
that desperate mob, but peaceful surren-
der meant a slash across the throat as fast
hayrE to
go search for them-fnd them-kill
them to the last man.
So our Chinese cook interpreted the com
mand of the coolie leader as the boats
showed off to engage in the search. We
heard them pulling this way and that and
calling to each other. Presently boat
came our way. Sheaves and blocks and
pulleys were wailing out as the brig rose
and fell, but for moment it seemed as
if they obeyed command to be silent
Even the great sails ceased to Stat as the
boat pulled so close to the stern Of the
brig that we thought we saw the blades
of the oars through the fog and the dark
ness. They gave up the search after half
an hour of pulling about, during any mo-
ment of which time cough or a sneeZe
would have brought them aboard of us.
For an hour they Quarreled and fought as
they looted the ship, and as light breeze
sprang up at midnight and enabled us to
skulk away they were quoting down I'M
der the influence of the liquor they had
discovered. When daylight came and the
fog blew away before the freshening breeze,
we sighted the bark, six miles away. She
was a mass of fire and all her top hamper
ready to fall. We had to beat down to her
against head wind, and we arrived too
late. While were yet mile away there
was a great puff of steam and cloud of
smoke, and the fiery mass disappeared be-
meath the choppy waves. We sailed over
the spot to find charred fragments in plen-
ty, but not human body, living or dead.
Ship, crew, coolies-the sea had engulfed
them ALL NJ. QUAD.