Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 144, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 June 1912 — A PIRATE AMONG PIRATES REAL STORIES FROM THE LIFE OF A MASTER ADVENTURER. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A PIRATE AMONG PIRATES REAL STORIES FROM THE LIFE OF A MASTER ADVENTURER.

by CAPTIAN GEORGE B. BOYNTON

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■ Editor's Note—Capt. George B. Boynton died a unde?°e"ghtetn° fla Br^ much material for fiction. Thia la a story of some of his adventures told by himself for the first T was in tho summer of 1874 S ■ that I made my first plfinge r -; trimmings and aids to decepsVimL tion 9tri PP ed away, that was what really amounted to. I Mf||l did not know into just what I was being led when I “’em- ■■ \u barked in this new enterprise, \\\ but I am frank to say that it -w ’ would have made no difference, for a free translation of the word "piracy” is “adventure of the first order,” and that was what I was looking for. Frank Norton, who had interested me in the China sea, said we would need the Leckwith and two ships to carry on the business to the best advantage, so I' selected the Surprise, an American brig, and the Florence, a topsail schooner, both stout, fast ships. I w put Lorensen on the Leckwith as sailing-master, George Brown on the Surprise, and old Bill Heather on the Florence. The Surprise took on a general cargo for Japan and was ordered to rendezvous at Hong Kong, while the Florence loaded for Singapore. Norton and I followed in the Leckwith. We reached Singapore more than a month ahead of the Florence. Our scheme was to prey on the pirates who Infested the China sea, and particularly that part of it lying between Singapore, Sumatra and Borneo, which was dotted with islands and beautifully suited by nature to their plundering profession, and many were the good ships that ended their cruises there, along with their passengers and Crews. The British government had been trying for years to put an end to their operations, but the undertaking was a gigantic one. It was not until years after that it was officially announced that piracy had been suppressed, and piracy is still being carried on, even to this day, though in a small and desultory way. The chief of a large section of the Chinese pirates was old Moy Sen, a rich Chinaman who lived in a handsome home In Canton and posed as a -peaceful trader. Norton argued that the . were bound to keep on robbing and burning and murdering in spite of anything we could do, and that we (nuld derive plenty of excitement and large profits by robbing them. Incidentally, he contended we would put a lot of them out of business for good and all, thus contributing to the , end desired by all nations. - ■ It was arranged that I should pose as Dr. Burnet, a rich English physician who was cruising tn his private yacht for his health. The Florence and Surprise were .to carry soffie general cargoes from port to among the Islands, but were so to shape their cruises that we could keep closely In touch with them. They were to be given large crews and so heavily armed as to be safe from piratical attacks. The Leckwith was to do all of the prey- • ing on the pirates, and the loot we took from them was to be turned over to the other ships at the meeting-places. It was arranged that the bulk of our loot should be sent to a firm of Chinamen at Singapore, who dealt largely in dishonest cargoes. T “ With the Leckwith’s bunkers stuffed With coal, we headed for the islands In search of pirates. -. , , Our first experience was a profitable one. When near the “hunting grounds” we lowered the smokestack, got up our canvas and sailed along, awaiting developments. We were getting in among the Islands when we met a big junk which had just looted and. scuttled a richly laden Brazilian barkentine. We made a pretense of trying to get away, but tn reality we eased our sheets to hasten matters along. When she was dose astern of us, with the wind abeam, we ipffed up, got out guns ready for action in a jiffy and, as we crossed her bows, raked her fore and aft with our carronades, which were loaded almost to muzzle with slugs and nails. Taken completely by surprise and with more than half of their number littering the reddened deck, the pirates were panic-stricken. Before the}* could regain their senses we came about agaiMand gave them another broadside, which put flkoßt;at our mercy. As we ranged alongside, kwjfeg up a rifle-fire, but disdaining any further,uke of our guns, they managed to launch a couple gs boats, and all who could get into them iWled for the nearest island. We took out of junk fully one hundred thousand dollars* worth of specie, silk, tea, porcelain and drugs, and then set fire to her, leaving her to bury her own dead.. - After that easily won victory we trapped and and sank half a dozen proas and feluccas in the same way, though with more spirited resistant? in some cases. We had tsrned our cargo over to the Florence, along with a number of wounded men, and were back among the islands, when early one evening a full-rigged ship hove In sight She passed us, but was not more than six miles away when we saw flashes that told us she had been attacked, and we lost no time in going to her assistance. As we closed In we saw a Malay felucca cm each side of her and the pirates swarming on her decks, with the crew putting up a brave fight. Running the Leckwith up on her starboard quarter, we threw pur men aboard and they went at the pirates savagely from the rear. I led the boarding party. T " - The Malays outnumbered us more than two back toward their one good boat—we had smashed the other one to bits when we sent three boatloads of men to our assistance of a Stockily built young officer wearing wnat loosen, use uie

they could not withstand our combined rush, and the last them soon . went over the side into their proa, Which drifted away into the darkness when they cut her loose. However, In the last few minutes of fighting, the young British officer, as I took him to be, sustained a savage cut in his right shoulder, and after we had laid aside our dead and given our wounded rough attention I was surprised to receive an inquiry from -him as to whether we had a surgeon on board. Taking him aboard the Leckwith, I dressed his wound on the cabin table. I then saw that_his uni-

form was that of a captain, but ndtof a naval officer. He told me Ms name waa Deverell, but when I asked Mm the name of his ship he answered evasively, and I had learned the ways of the China sea too well to press the question. At Singapore, where we discharged our cargo, our agents reported that Moy Sen was vowing vengeance on us for the toot we had wrested from him and the havoc we had spread among his fleet We worked our way back to the rendezvous and, after consulting with Norton, I took my Interpreter, Ah Fen, who was half “Chlnkie* and half Malay, from the Leckwith and went to Hong Kong on the Surprise to see Just what was going on. “The Beautiful White Devil," > woman pirate, whom I at first regarded as a purely fanciful being, came into my life on tMs visit to Hong Kong in the early day of 1876. White waiting for Ah Fen’s report I lounged around the hotel Soon I began to hear weird stories of a pirate who, while never molesting honest merchantmen, preyed mercilessly and successfully on the Chinese and Malay pirates, Just as Norton and I were doing. It occurred to me at once that if such a woman really did exist it might have been her ship whose captain I had attended, but I could not make myself believe the tales that were told me. 'S?: Then a man called at my hotel one evening and asked If an English physician was stopping there, and I recognised Captain Deverell, but he was as formal as a granger, and I did not indicate that I knew Mm. He asked if he could consult with me and I took Mm to my room, where he assumed a much more cordial air. he said, “to invite you take a cruise with meed tSatwe may get better acquainted and I can show you my appreciation of your kindness.” , - . i “ I packed my bag and turned It over to a man whom Deverell summoned from the street. I was given the cabin of the surgeon, who' had died recently. Deverell took me to his room and we talked until midnight It was considerably after eight bells before I retired, but my sleep was not long or. heavy. At breakfast time Deverell, wearing a smart uniform, escorted me aft to the private quarters of the queen. In a moment the queen appeared. As she parted the curtains and paused in the doorway with an air of diffidence, I was transfixed by her marvelous “I already know Dr. Burnet,” she said, go she swept toward me with superb grace and infinite charm of manner and extended her hand, - small and soft- y “We are headed for my retreat,” she explained. "I should like to have you stay with us as long as you can. I win put you down in Hoag Kong or Singapore on three or four days’ notlve.” .. I assured her the prospect was delightful.' On the afternoon of the third day out from Hong Kong we ranlnto a group of islands, off to the eastward of the regular course to Singapore. Just as dinner was announced a flag was waved from the bridge and I made out an answering signal on the steep side of a small Island just Ahead. Of us, but could see no sign of either a landing or an opening. Then a messenger brought word that the queen was waiting dinner for me. The Ship slowed down while fre were at dinner and finally the screw stopped. Immediately the queen led the way "This,” she said, “Is my kingdom—without a king. Isn’t it beautiful?” I assured her that it was the most beautiful place I had ever seen, wherein, when day dawned, I found 1 had not exaggerated. We were at the head of an oval lake, perhapsa mfie and a half long, with mountains rising crescent-shaped around It There was a small village of English cottages and native huts. On the lake was • narrow bench, the fourth side, toward the aea, waa e parpanaixty feet or more wc entered the lake, but nothing could I see but a bare wall of dark rock. The queen smiled at ffiy perplexity. “Wait until tomorrow,” she laughed. “We will go ashore at sunrise.” 1 She appeared with the sun, accompanied by a Dyak woman whom I had not seen before, and some with efiYered locks and fawr hofrw and , :»> 2 » t w _ . • W WWW ■

lage, which was a model of neatness, and on up a winding path for nearly a mile, when a sharp turn around a flank of the mountain brought us to a large bungalow—the palace of the queen. While breakfast was being prepared she made herself more beautiful by changing her dress of European style for a native costume of flowing silk so becoming that I wqndered at her ever wearing anything else. After breakfast she looked down at the little town and far out to sea in silence, for a long time and then told me the story of her life. Her name, she said, was Katherine Crofton; her father one of the younger branches of a family headed by a baron. Her father was a lieutent-commander In the British navy, and to prevent an accident he dlsoboyed the order of an Incompetent and arrogant superior officer. In a quarrel that followed, her father knocked his superior down and otherwise abused him, for which he was court-martialed and dismissed. “My father was a high-spirited man,” she continued, “and Ms disgrace embittered- him against England and everything English. He soon left home, and when we next heard from him he was in Hong Kong. When J was about fifteen, he wrote mother and me to take a P. 4 0. sbfp for Singapore, where we. would find further Instructions. When we got there father was waiting for us on a handsome yacht, the Queen. lam still using her. He brought us to to this island, where he had established a small settlement and built a warehouse and a machine shop for repairs. He had taken great pains to make his rendezvous secure from discovery. Li __ L_ . . “When I was not much older than nineteen father and mother were taken desperately ill, and he called me into his room and made a confession. He said that in his hatred of the British he had turned pirate and had been for ah those years preying on ships flying the flag he despised. He had also, occasionally, waged war bn the native pirates and taken their loot from them, which explained why he had frequently come in with wounded men on board, and he made me swear that if he died I would continue the work he had begun. He told me I could rely on Frank Deverell, his chief officer, whom he said he hoped I would some day marry,”—tMs last with Just a trace of sarcasm. “My father died the next week and my mother three months later. . _ ' ■ “That was four years ago. I have kept the oath, but the fulfillment has brought me increasing misery. My attacks on the British flag have been few—in fact, I have given timely assistance to many more English sMps than I have robbed, and hundreds of their passengers and crews owe their lives to me, but I have preyed on the natural pirates of these waters as ardently, perhaps, as did my father.” After luncheon the queen and I set off toward the mountain-top, nearly one thousand feet above us, but we did not reach it, for the heat was intense. “Well, what do you think of us now?” she asked, on our w r down, after I had told her how I had spent die forenoon. “I think enough of you to devote my whole life to your service!” I quickly replied. When I came back to dinner she was waiting for me in her bower. As she came to meet me and extended her hand she said, earnestly and almost sadly: “I believe you were honest and sincere In what you said this afternoon, but I can only say'Thank you.' What you suggested Is impossible ” In the three weeks that followed I urged my love upon her with all of my determination, but she refused to change her deHsfop and apparently was a firm in it as she was at first M was agreed that we should both give up Piracy, but all of our arguments ended there any, “Deverell was my father’s right-hafid man. I am going to take the next sMp for England, lay my case before the home secretary they had stolen from others. To offset that I V X . wvwi ***YBih I

There was nothing to do but fall in with her plan. • —> .. I knew about where to find the Florence. We picked her up in a few days and I boarded her made sail to meet the Leckwith at the rendezvous. Kate went on to Singapore, where she took the next ship for England. Six months latdF I received word that she bad died suddenly there, before shrohad applied for a pardon, and the course of my life was changed When I rejoined the Leckwith, I told Norton simply that I had been away on strictly private business. A day or two later I told Mm I had decided to sell the Florence and Surprise and quit the business we were in. Norton, dumfounded, advanced many arguments against such a course, and finally he lost Ms temper. “It may be,” he suggested sneeringly, "that this is due to the fact that Moy Sen has threatened to exterminate us. If you don't want to fight the old scoundrel why don’t you say so?” That dart struck a tender spot. I would be the last one to quite under a threat or under fire, and Norton knew it. “Far from running away from a fight of that kind,” I told Norton, “I should much rather run into it We will cruise around awhile to see whether the Chlnkles really mean to give us battle. But it Is the sport of it that I want and nothing else, for if itcomes off it will be a great fight” Nothing happened for ten days or two weeks. We saw several junta whlcU have stood up and robbed, but I would not permit It. Then, late one evening an enormous junk appeared suddenly from behind an island. She appeared to carry only a small crew, but when we came together it seemed to me for a moment that she had more Chinamen on board than I bad ever seen before at one time. Suddenly she swung to starboard and would have .smashed Into our bow if we had not gone full speed astern. As she passed under our bowsprit she threw a grappling-iron which caught on our port bow. We lit , our battle-lamps so that they illuminated our deck, where we preferred to fight because we knew every foot of ft It was such a fight as one gets into only in years, perhaps only once in a lifetime. The butchery was dreadful, but the excitement of it set one’s blood ablaze. There was not a pirate left alive on the junk or on our own deck. Before we had time to congratulate ourselves or count noses, we discovered a big steamer almost on top of us. It was the Ly-ce-moon, the flagship of Moy Sen’s fleet, and, though we did not know it, the old pirate chief himself was in command of her. .-The result was a repetition of what had occurred with the crew of the Junk, but ft required much longer to accomplish it Gradually, but slowly at first, we got the upper hand of them. It was broad daylight by the time we had thrown overboard the last of the dead Chinamen and washed down the decks, after giving our own badly wounded men such attention as was possible under the conditions. We thought for a time that Moy Sen had escaped, but we found him, almost chopped to pieces, close to the after-wheelhouse, with three of ofir men beside him. On the Ly-ce-moon were two teak chests, filled with gold and silver coin and ingots, silverware, jewelry and precious and semi-preci-ous rienp of the Oriental variety, apparently representing the most valuable portions of several stolen cargoes, and these I allowed to bo transferred to the Leckwith, in preference to throwing them overboard. It then became a question as to what wo should do with Moy Sen’s ships. We compromised the difficulty by scuttling the junk and putting a crew aboard the steamer. We went to Singapore, arriving there in the early part of 1876, as I remember It, to close up our business, and sold the pirate sMp to our Chinese agents for a third of what she was worth. We also sold -to them, for a’ small part of Ito value, the loot we tad taken from her, but all of that money was divided up between Norton and the <shsw.r held to my promise and toadied none of ft. •■■ - ■.' v ‘ j I left the China sea behind me and never have returned to it» . from these soy London.