The daily Alaskan., 1905-08-05
A Queer Capture

DeIort hlilIAllk NuNs aH AetA N"oee tNf as appeared later on, members of secret band that had sworn vengeance on anything British. These men msi- tlnled and, having got possession of the brig. ran her Into Shark bay. on the northernmost island. The captain and other officers were set efoat on raft. unproyided with sail water or provisions, and no doubt they pertshed In the storm that swept over the wa ters next day.
 The leader of the half castes was a man known as Dondra. He was sailor by occupation and probably as great a rufian as could be found In all India. When a start was made from Shark harbor course was laid for Ceylon, and during voyage lasting four weeks the Comet captured seven coastlng vessels. In each and every case the crews were put to death, the cargocs transshipped and the craft scuttled.
 It was piracy after the old style, ex- cept that the brig did not dare at tack larger vessels. Her acts finally reached the ears of the authorities, and men-of-war started from Bombay and Calcutta to overhaul her.
 After sailing part of the way up the coast Of Ceylon the Comet put about. and she was halfway back to her har' bor of refuge when the Serpent (man' of-war) sighted her. lt was during a heavy gale, and nothing could be done but chase. It was three days before the Serpent fired a gun. Just as even ing was coming on on the third day and after the mutineers had refused to surrender she crept up and fired broadside into the brig and sent her to the bottom. It was supposed at the time that everybody aboard was drowned. but two months later news reached Bombay that Dondra and four other half castes had got away in a boat and reached an island st the mouth of the gulf of Manaar. A gun boat was sent down to make an in' vestigation and a reward of f2.OOO offered for the five men.
 In the month of September of the year mentioned the bark Southland, bound from Liverpool Co Bombay, was making her way up the Malabar coast under light breezes. One night in the middle watch 1t fell a dead calm, and this state of weather continued all next day and night At midnight on the second night the officer of the deck heard faint shouting and singing to the east. and as no vessel had been sighted in that direction he was mys- tifed. AS the noises continued the mate awoke the captain. and it was finally decided that there were men aaoat in q small boat a mile or SO away. We burned a flare to guide them and heard shouts in reply, but it was two hours before a yawl crept up to us ont of the darkness The lit- tie craft contained five half caste Hin ioos, and they were suffering terribly for the want of food and water. There was but on,> oar and no sail
 The story told by the men, all Of whom spoke English fairly well, was that they were part of the crew of a coaster named the Emerald and while she was making her way up the gulf of Manaar she had been struck by Q suuall and turned turtle They had clung to her bottom for several hours, but had finally managed to loosen the boat and drift out to sea. They claim cd 10 have been afoat for three days. We had no room to stow thc'r boat and it was cast Edrift, but not before we had seen that her name hal been erased.
 When questioned separately the stO- ries of the men did not agree, but as we had heard nothing about the pirates we could not make out what the fel lows had been up to. Their leader was m impudent swaggerer, who would not promise to do any work in return for his passage to Bombay, and he had not been aboard two days when the captain ordered him Into irons. Th's action sobered him up, and presently he was as humble as you please and begging for his release When restored to liberty he was jealous In his duty, and all suspicious on our part would have been lulled but for n discovery made by one of the apprentices whc understood the HlndoO language.
 Thinking themselves alone in the forecastlp one afternoon, the strangers plotted to take the ship and the lad overheard every word and carried the news to the captain. He passed word to the crew, and of a sudden tho Hin doos were fallen upon and made pris- Oners.
 Not three hours later the gunboat from Bombay boarded us to give us the news about the pirates and ask that we keep our eyes open for them. Great was the surprise of her commander to find that we had prisoners aboard who answered to the description Of those he vas after.
 The Hindoos saw that the game was up, and one of them made confession. Their leader was Dondra himself, and they had been hiding on an island In the gulf. Learning that their where abouts was known. they had put on to sea in panic and In boat stolen from