The Sun. — 1834-08-14 (London, England)

PIRACY.  Captain Hayward, of tl.e brig Lester, which arrived at this port from Demerara, on Tuesday last, reports the following occurrence on her voyage " Thursday, June 26—Wind N.E. by E., lat. 21 13, long. 61 28 W. At ten, a. in. saw a schooner, on our weather bow, steering to the N. W. ; at eleven perceived that she had borne away, with the apparent intention of speaking to us. and not liking her appearance I kept off the wind two points, and made all sail in order to get away, but at noon she was gaining on us fast, and I could plainly discern that her decks were full of men, and a long gun mounted amidships. At half-past twelve she fired a gun and hoisted Spanish colours, which I answered by hoisting the English flag, but still kept on, hoping to get away from her ; she then being about a quarter of a mile on our weather quarter. In about ten minutes after she fired a shot, which fell a few feet from our stern, and as she was gaining on us fast, I thought it best to heave to ; when after I did so the schooner came up alongside, hailed us, and ordered me to lawer my boat. and go on board. I accordingly went, with four of my crew, and on getting alongside I jumped on her deck among a parcel of as ruffianly-looking fellows as can be imagined, and was introduced to the Captain, who after inquiring where I came from, where I was bound to, and what my cargo consisted of, asked me if I could spare him some provisions, which, he said, he was much in want of. I told him I had but barely sufficient for my Ai crew, but if he was actually in want I would spare him a part. My men were then ordered out of the boat, and six of the schooner's crew were sent with me on board my vessel ; they were armed with long knives and pistols, and on getting on board immediately went down into the cabin and ransacked every locker they could find, broke open my drawers, trunks, and desks, plundered me of my watch, part of my clothes, and other valuables, and took away all our provisions, except one half-barrel of pork, one bag of bread, a small quantity of flour, pease and rice, and a little tea and sugar. They took away a bag of sugar and a cask of rum (part of the cargo), together with a quantity of fruit, preserves, &c., a quantity of canvass, cordage, twine, and numerous other articles, which loaded the boat twice. They likewise plundered my crew of a great part of their clothes, and held a knife to the mate's breast whilst they took his watch from him. They inquired frequently for money, and several times threatened to stab some of my men who told them there was none on board. They offered no violence to me, but disregarded my remonstrances when they were robbing the ship. They were fierce resolute-looking fellows, and frequently threatened some of my crew to murder us all, which they would no doubt have done had we mak any resistance. The schooner appeared about 110 tons burthen, with a great beam, low and sharp, and manned with between 40 and 50 men ; they had a great quantity of small arms on deck, ready for use, when I went on board. They told me they were last from St. Andero (Spain), and bound to Porto Rico ; but I have no doubt they are regular pirates. At 4 p.m., the men who were plundering left us, and shortly after they had got on board the schooner, I had the satisfaction of seeing my own men returning, and the pirate bear away before the wind, and make all sail to leeward. The Captain sent me 50 Mexican dollars as payment for part of the things his men had taken, probably to make me believe that he did not countenance them in plundering. The Captain's questions were put through an interpreter, though he appeared to understand English very well. The majority of the crew were evidently Englishmen and Americans, the remainder Portuguese and Spaniards.  The bean harvest, which generally comes after that of barley and oats, is this year in advance of both.