CHASED BY A PIRATE-JUNK.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10418, 2 April 1910, Page 3 (Supplement)

CHASED BY A PIRATE-JUNK.

(By H. A.'M.) Round for Saigon. Cochin-China, the bark JJ: ydens stood out of Hong-Kong Harbor one (lav in the latter pari: of tl:- year 7?f. : 7. <".-.--.-;.- stitch or r-:-.n--as ~c-- -=rt. ihf br.ri: -\c thr,:.---I -.v.*. fcarr-iv ;;i;le to iVi.-,»;.-■ rtrrragi -vr.:.v ,<. t!i.-. iivl.i h.-.i.-l--.-.-,n.J;. Ly.:, : - "at ai.«-!i.,r in the l.yee-Moon !':is>:ij;i-. thlougli which the Drydens was making iicr way to rlii' open .sea, ".;•..•- a largo Chino.sc junk. Only a couple at nif-ii wore on deck as the hark wont by hut as soon as the Drv-<lt-:is was well past her. the decks of til.- junk siitiil'-niy becanio alive with Ci.ilii-.se. i.e--; , hall this «:is rofjliiivd io arouse suspicion in v.aiers as in-i'e-tou with pirates as the Chinese .Sea then iv.'i'--. i.ur I noticed, moreover. that tiie China bnai carried several largo gun*, and thai it was only a ip iv minute-: before her anchor was up j and he: yellow sails set. lik*'' tlie wings of hats. ' ' /

L knew thai we had no firearms aboard, and my uneasiness was not lessened when I overheard the captain remarking to the first mate: "I don't liko the looks of that fol-

1 lon-/' Uiitipr the ciicumstanccs, wo were rather glad when wc. overhauled the Lubra, a brig hailing from New York, which liad been becalmed. When she felt the light air we brought down with us, she fell off her course, and we sailed on very close together. So close were we, indeed,. that' wo could sec everything f,n tho Lubra's decks. 1 distinctly remember the appearincc of the captain's wife, as we saw her walking up and down the quarterdeck with a little baby in her arms. But what impressed us more was the sight of two long serviceable guns—what were then known as long nineponnders. It seemed'unlikely that the junk would venture to i.ttaek two vessels in company, especially when it was very obvious that one was armed. Yet, in spite of this, the Chinaman's actions were far from reassuring. As the day wore on the wind fresh--e::od at times, and we would leave the clumsy junk astern.. On thr-f-e ocea'ions tv.eive 1.v.-ge sweep?, each i:iaur.ed by two or three men. were immediately thrown cut, and the junk once [ mt.re would craw! up closer. I This settled it. They were after one of us. which one ne could not tell. Sometimes they headed toward the brig, sometimes the Drydens. It was also apoarent that they had no in-t tention of attacking until after dark, ror they contented themselves with mai:it:.iiiing clow and sini.vier chase. . As the sun went down the skipper called us all aft. "Men." he began, "thai- fellow hehind us is a pirate. As soon as it gets dark I am going to try and get away From him. \Ve i.ave no ••..•apons, and" the only thing we can do is to nil. —if we have the wind..- 1' don't want any loud talking or noise of any kind, no striking of matches, no smoking, and everybody must keep his eyes about J.shi. 'Hie first man \. ! io disobeys these orders will go into iicns. iiarkii.'ss came, and we were glad when the :i.7lii oi the junk was f.hut from our eyes. The first order was to take in all'the sti'ddingsail. This was done as quietly as possible Then the yards were braced up- sharp, and she "was jammed up by the wind on the .:t-.u!)oard tack. These wen- r.o sidelights. Even the binnacle w?>s dark. The skipper was aiming to get as far as possible to windward of the junk, for he knew that not one in fifty of the eiuinsy craft could beat ten miles to windward in twenty-four hours. They are built on awkward lines, and, a* their sails are made of mats, they arcslow sailers, ever, when running before the wind. The breeze seemed to strt-ngte.en as socu ns we had hauled «n the wind, Mid we moved along pretty well. Both the brig and the junk were soon swallowed tip in darkness. For a couple of jidurs we kept on the starboard tack, then came'about ond stood off shore the rest of the night. The first glimmer of the dawn found nil of us straining our eyes astern. Not a sail was in sight. Again we sqimml away on our course, and arrived at feaigau some twelve clays later. Ir was with a full cargo of nee that we thrashed bur way back to HongKonr l : against the north-east monsoon, rlrofViag anchor at la«t in that harbor, ivisi. 30V2H weeks after we had left it. Tlic're, to our amazement, was our old i'riena, the junk, lying *t the Government anchorage. An English gunboat guarded her. On her sloping deck was ii uniformed guard. On shore we learned the story. It appeared that on the night we gave ;ix junk the slip, the pirates attacked the brig. Not suspecting their danger until it was too Jate. the Lubra's crew had fallen almost without a blow. The account of the massacre came from the captain's wife. The junk got alongside so silently, she said, that her crew swarmed aboard "the brig like rats. Followed by some of i'is" ruffians, the pirate-captain rushed down into the cabin. At the door he was met by the skipper of the brig, who tried to resist. The pirate struck him down with his cutlass. The captain's-wife rushed forward, her babv in her arms, to defend her husband. The Cl/mamm seised the child mid dashed its brains out. The massacre in the cabin was com-rloi'-d bv the killing of the second mare He threw himself on front of the captain's wife. The pirate spat his head in two with a single blow. Oil deck the niratos had made short work of the crew. All of the unfor-ttim-te sailors were murdered on the *pot with the exception of two who crawled into the. hold and hui under son;,- wood. After thr Chinese had left, these men were discovered. na!r----star-.-t-d and scared almr.st to death, by t!i<> crew of a uassi.'g vessel- . -\fter thev fiad Plundered tiie ong and turned her adrift, the pirates carried the captain's wife on board tne junk. , . It was seme days after tins that the .'iinboat, cruising for thst purpose, toll in with the umk as she w.-.s wallowing alon". To aid in Fupiv.L-SEing piracy ,-iion'' tiie coast, the British requires everv junk registered in ;'. British port to take out'a license for every gun carried. This particular junk had complied with the law, and the officer who boa-ded her froir the gunboat cotikl find nothing wrong with the papers. As he was about to go over the side, however, it occurred to the boardingofficer that it would be a good tiling to get some, fresh '-fish. The Chinese leader denied that he had any for sale. Not taking his word for rW the Jinglishman went forward to look into the fish-well, an adjunct to . practically everv iunk in those waters. Ordinarily, this is r square tank, connected bv a pipe with the water outside. This makes possible a continual flow of water into the tank, and enI ables fish to be kept there for any -length of time. But in this case the pipe was stopped up, the tank was dry, and, in place of tisJi, the officer was bonified to *ee a white woman huddled m a i corner. Her wrists were tied together wit IT strips of cane. She was gagged. She showed but little sign of lite. The- officei; quickly had her out, removed her bonds, and' .-poke to her in En-dish. He received sn answer in kind. The whole terrible story was revealed. ' . ~ There' was desperation among the pirates, vou can well imagine, but with the gunboat close- by, there was no possibility of resistance. All the yn-m-s<- were soon in irons and on their v,-av to Hong-Kong-■■"•heir leader having nr-on identified bv the woman, am! retained by die Uracil authorities, the sixty men who composed the crew ci die junk were nu-nod over u. Chinese justice. lhey won- all beheaded ac Can ton on the s-nie dav. a single oxeent.onc-r doing all "the work An eve-witness told me that he iwcd two heavy .-.w.-.rds, beheading thirtv with each, and that he demonstrated his skill by belieading every man with a solitary blow. As for the leader ot the gang, he was condemned by the British courts oi Hong Kong to be hanged. 1 he day before the sentence was to be executed we arrived in port from another trip to most of the other ships in the harbor, we had liberty to attend the execution It took place early in the morning, and not one of us was missing. He was a big, clean-looking man, dressed in white, and apparently without the knowledge of what fear was.

He .moiintcd the gallows calmly, bowed to the people, saying pood morning to thorn in Chinese, and howed again to a handsome Chinese woman, who was weeping, in the crowd, and who, I was told, was his wife. Then ho. saluted the executioner and died withcut r. tremor.