Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-08-19
LAST OF FAMOUS PIRATES.
Panglima Laut Terrorized the East
Indian Archipelago.
From the New York Tribune.

From the New York Tribune.
Prof. 3. J. Skertchly, who is staying for
a week so at the Murray Hill Hotel, is a
widely travelled man, and has many inter-
esting experiences to relate He is an En-
glishman by birth, but at present he con-
siders himself a resident of Australia. He
has lived in almost every quarter of the
globe. For many years he made his home
In North Borneo, and while sojourning
there he made the acquaintance of Pang-
lima Laut, said to be the last of the pirate
chiefs In conversation with a Tribune
reporter yesterday afternoon the professor
said:
Until within the last twenty years piracy
was the only liberal profession worthy of
the Malay gentlemen who infested the East
Indian archipelago, say from Singapore to
Timor Laut. Like some other emnently
respectable professions. it has fallen into
decadence. owing chiefly to the close pa
trolling of the sea by British and other
war vessels The most dreaded of these
pirates were two tribes, called the Illanus
and the Baglinini, whose legends say that
they were driven from Johar about the
time of King Solomon, in consequence of
being mixed up with the abduction of the
Princess Ayesha, daughter of the sultan Of
Sulu. over which island the United States
recently hoisted old glory. These people
We're compelled to take to the seas, and I'M
til twenty years ago they terroriZed the
islands from Borneo to the Moluccas. In
the new British territory of North Borneo
the last of their strongholds exists, and
here lives Pangima Laut. a six-foot, slend-
err wry. ferce-eyed warrior, who made
periodical raids along the Borneo shores
generally for plumber and slaves, but often
for pure devilment and just to keep his
hand in He had praus. some of which
had eighty paddlers and all of which sail
ed like witches. Most of them were out
rugged and We're as safe as lifeboats
when the Pangima felt weary it was
70 dan hrio h t..st Gill
ments, tie his small turban with a know
ing little cocktail over his right ear, shave
the right side of his mustache and swear
never to sheathe his kris or short sword
until his mustache had grown again He
was 'kabal, that Is, invincible, for he had
gene through some strange ceremony
which convinced him that steel or lead
coufd ever kill him unless in the hands of
English or Americans. The Malay places
the Anglo-SaXons in a very exalted place
by themselves. but he looks on the Portu-
guese, Dutch and Spaniards having no
greater power than himself. Starting
pirate raid the Panglma would give bat
tie to any praus encountered on the high
seas. unless the crews We're his brother
cut-throats, and as quarter was neither
asked nor given, the fights always resulted
in decisive victory fer one party the
other. The Panglima himself was never
defeated at sea or on shore. His fleet of
war praus would hover in the offing until
sunset and then suddenly swoop down on
a coast village and plumber it.
ION one occasion not long ago seventeen
men fell by the Panglimas kris in fair,
open, hand to-hand combat. The poor fell
low is now simply native chief under
British rule, living in his old pirate haunt
on Darnel bay, North Borneo. Trade has
been bad with him and he complained to
me that, although he was growing wealthy,
all the fun had gone out of his life. He
had been reduced to what we might almost
term a domestic and friendly piracy among
his people for some years, maintain
ing his family by levying 'tithes.' amount
ing however, almost to 100 per cent, upon
boats engaged in fishing. His occupation
ceased and his great heart broke when, af
ter having defied the English and most
pluckily stood up against an armed force,
he was asked in friendly way to come
and watch the effect of Maxim gun be-
fore that instrument was allowed to play
its war tune to his people. He saw the
rain of bullets playing with precision upon
distant objects and then, thrusting his kris
home into it's scabbard, he covered the
handle with his coat, in token of friendli-
ness. and pathetically exclaimed:
This is not fair. 1t doesn't give poor
pirate chance.
"Finally he succumbed to civilization at
Mrs. Skertchly's hands by submitting to be
photographed. But 1T took half a day of
moral suasion to get him to stand up be-
fore something which, after his Maxim gun
experience, he believed might be some
other kind of internal machine, and as his
wife and family were also likely to be VIC
tins. he first made a. careful investigations
putting his head under the black cloth and
keeping his hand on his half -drawn kris
all the time He was scarcely satisfied,
apparently, but determined to risk it, and
stood like adamant while the exposure was
being made The pictures of his wife and
children were not good, because they were
shaking with fright, but Panglima's was
excellent" 90