Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-09-01

them out he armed them and started a
man hunt, but before 1t had well begun
smoke began pouring out Of an open hatch.
The Malay had fired the cargo, and a min
ute later he came on deck, ran to the rail
and over he went.
The Malays had undertaken the work of
capturing the ship at the change Of the
watch. AS the two mates chatted for a
moment the two went to them, complain
Ing of illness. But as soon as they were
within reach they stabbed both mates to
death. Then they made a dash at the
sailors. only one of whom made a fight.
Two sailors were killed as they ran and
two wounded, the man who fought seri-
ously, though not fatally. One of the
sailors ran aluft, and one hid in a store
room in a deck house where the carpenter
slept. The Malays took these men, one at
time. and killed them in cold blood.
throwing their bodies overheard. The
man at the wheel was served in like
fashion
Capt Clarke was at last once more mas
ter of his ship, but 1T was too late to save
her He could only get out his boats, fill
them with supplies and head away for st.
Helena where. however, he fortunately ar
rived safely 1t was plainly love Of blood
only that had started these Ma1ays on their
raid.
Mohamm Love of Death.
According to the histories, our pirate cit
.Zens came to Suiu Island from Borneo at
about the time Spain took possession or
Luzon. They were Malays by birth and
Mohammedans in religion. They very quick
ly dominated the Sulu group and Mindanao,
for they were as aggressive and capable as
the Old Vikings. When the Spaniards un-
dertook the task of subduing the Sulu
Islands by the methods that had been sue
cessful in the West Indies. they found these
Malays of very different metal. The Ma
lays not only defeated every Spanish force
sent to them, but with every monsoon they
sent their great wboats. that they ham
died with Viking skill and courage, to de-
vastate the Spanish held coasts.
No fiercer pirates than these ever went
afloat. because bloodshed was a part of
their religion. No man could be a chief
among them till he had Topped off the heads
Of sixty unbelievers. The Spanish men
who were captured were always killed. the
women were sent to the harems. and the
young children were ensIaved. Not until
breech-loading and rapid-fire weapons came
into did the Spanish get even a foothold
in the Sulu archipelago Gen. Aro,as, a re-
publican, was sent there some time in the
eighties by the monarchists who expected
him to die. but he lived and established the
Spanish power there. Then the government
sent new ruler-one of the Weyler sort
to replace him, with the result that the
pirates within few months killed him and
almost his entire force. A Malay chief
literally split his skull open down to his
teeth in the presence of all the Spanish
troops, and at that signal the chiefs fol-
lowers armed with knives on.y, routed and
slaughtered all the Spanish troops save a
lucky few who escaped by flight and
stealth.
The Vikings of the South.
In their piratical forays these Sulus have
always been Vikings-they invariably went
af1oat in long, sharp, dug-out canoes, which
were kept upright in a seaway by means
of a bamboo Outrigger on each side. They
had no less than 300 of these craft in 1872
that ranged from twenty to thirty tons in
burden, each of which was manned with
from forty to fifty men, The number de-
creased from year to year thereafter. They
used both sails and paddles, the latter hav-
ing diamond-shaped blades. a cross sec
ton Of one of these huge dug-outs was
very nearly an equilateral triangle the two
sides representing the bottom being slight
ly rounded. The breadth across the out
riggers was about eight times the beam of
the canoe. The speed of the boat whether
under sail or paddle, was tremendous when
the water was smooth enough.
The Most Fiendish Men Living.
For weapons afioat they had swords.
knives. spears and hatchets, but the sword
and the knife were used most, the favorite
above all being the kris-a two-edged blade
that is bent to the form Of a running SER
pent. the most devilish weapon known to
the human race
They have always made their own Weap-
ons. smelling the native ores with charcoal
fires and refining the metal until in spite