The Opelousas courier., 1897-07-10
THE FIELD OF ADVENTURE
THRILLING INCIDENTS AND DAp.
ING DEEDS ON LAND AND SEA.

a Fierce Battle With Ruthless Chi
nese Pirates-A Tale of Disaster
at sea-A Cowboys Nerve.
N the year 1860, writes W. l..
Merton. in the New York Ledger.
i piracy had become a crime of 50
6 frequent occurrence on the east
coast OF China that, upon the suppli-
cation OF a body of ship owners in
Hong Kong, the British Admiral upoa
1nat station resolved to take strenuous
measures tor its suppression. A
strong, teak-built bark, the "Rajah."
was lying in port, waiting for a char
Ter; she had been an East Ind1aman.
and though anything but q fast sailer,
was a sturdy old vessel that would
ssand any amount OF battering from
the Chinese trading junks of those
days. The Admiral saw the captain
and consignees of this ship and MADE
arrangements with them that she
should ostensibly be placed on the
berth for Shanghai, receive a fictitious
cargo OF apparently great value, be
secretly armed and equipped, and sent
out to be preyed upon by the pirates.
A large quantity Of rice was first
sent on board; then many long, heavy
cases, supposed to contain machinery,
but really Armstrong guns and Mimic
rifles; flour barrels hall filled with
powder, and lastly, under a strong
guard, fifty treasure boxes, duly
marked as specie from q w%ell.known
bank; the dollars, however, were
spherical shot and shell. The blue
peter was hoisted, the vessel duly
cleared and towed through the Ly.ee-
moon passage by a small steamer, n
rather foggJ afternoon. The last and
most necessary thing now remained to
be accomplished, viz, the shipment
ola crew of "blue-jackets," and that,
of course, had to be performed under
cover of Darkness, and when the
''Rajah" was fairly out of harbor.
was nj of the few IN the secret of
the expedition, and alter much per-
suasion the captain of the bark per.
mitted me to accompany him. Two
days prior to III departure several
IASoNA lhiC LkA,luubSS tt1dulug
iunks), of most suspicious appearance,
left port, and we had but little doubt
these would prove our adversaries.
We anchored at a given spot neal the
entrance to the Ly-ee.moon, and, OBJ
scured from sight by the fog, two
boats, with mufied oars, containing
fosty men-of-war's men and two off.
GERS, came off to us, and. silently as
possible, we proceeded to the work
of mounting the guns, and getting
everything ready to give q var re-
ception to our foes. Before morning
broke all this was accomplished we
weighed anchor. and stood out to sea.
The morning breeze lifted tho mist
which had enveloped us, and as we
sailed in, on the port tack, towards
Mrs Bay, We deserted a fleet of five
large junks lodging about under easy
sail, and evidently edging towards lis.
Wgset a few ropes hang slack, and
four men laboriousIy hoisted q fore
topmast studding sail, to give us an
appearance of being a short-handed
and s%lovenly ship; then hauled it
down again as it would not stand. and
sailed along most unsuspectingly.
Presently the five junks managed to
hem us in a circle, and a heavy shot
hurting through our mainsail bespoke
the real character of our erstwhile
consorts. We Immediately tackled ship
and pretended to flee, but before we
were we'll out of stays-for the
ssRajah" Was slow on her heeI-the
junks ranged right alongside, and, af-
ter delivering a heavy volley, COM
menced to board MS. Then our ports
favyopenr Co crsshing broadside was
rpured into the vessels of our assail-
ants, and the fight began in earnest.
Up went the St. Georges ensign to
the peak, and a ringing British cheer
drowned the cries and imprecations
of our enemies, as a terrific hand-to-
hand fight ensued. The tars were in
heifelement, and how they did fight !
Steady and sure was every blow struck,
and every death-dealing gun fred.
Our decks were bestrewn with the
D of our foes; three junks went
down beneath the ruddied waves,
bearing the living and the dead; but
still the battle was not ended. The
other two tried to steal of in different
directions, but we followed up the one
and sank her with our heavy metal !;
the other would have outsailed us, but
her main-mast had been shot away.
and we ranged up to her. VIZ called
on her to surrender, but she turne
like q tiger at bay, snarling her rage
and hatred till she too succumbed to
Neptune.
Lieutenant Mainwaring, u com
mander,. was a brave, k1nd-hearted
sailor he had the boats lowered and
sent to pick up many Of our toes who
we're swimming around. They would
not accept the proffered succor, but
chose q present watery grave to a
ribbet that doomed in the future. 1t
was logged courage they displayed,
and + could have pitied any but such
ruthless fends as they.
The fight was over, our mission ful'
filed. and now all that remained was
to muster our crew, clear up decks
and sail back to port. Six OF the
"blue.iackets" and two of the
ssRaiah's" crew were killed, while over
a dozen of the rest, including the
second lieutenant, were more or Jess
wounded. The loss on the pirates
side must have been fearful, as each
boat contained over q hundred men.
We received quite an ovation on our