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AMONG MALAY PIRATES
A TALE OF ADVENTURE AND PERIL
by G. A. Henty.

CHAPTER I.

"I wish most heartily that something would happen," Harry Parkhurst,
a midshipman of some sixteen years of age, said to his chum, Dick
Balderson, as they leaned on the rail of her majesty's gunboat
Serpent, and looked gloomily at the turbid stream that rolled past
the ship as she lay at anchor.

"One day is just like another--one is in a state of perspiration
from morning till night, and from night till morning. There seems
to be always a mist upon the water; and if it were not that we
get up steam every three or four days and run out for twenty-four
hours for a breath of fresh air, I believe that we should be all
eaten up with fever in no time. Of course, they are always talking.
of Malay pirates up the river kicking up a row; but it never seems
to come off."

"There is one thing, Harry--there is always something to look
at, for there are canoes constantly going up and down, and there
is plenty of variety among them--from the sluggish dhows, laden
with up country produce, to the long canoes with a score of paddlers
and some picturesque ruffian sitting in the stern. It adds to the
interest when you know that the crews are cutthroats to a man, and
would make but the shortest possible work of you if they had got
you in their power."

"Yes, Dick. Look at that canoe coming up stream; what a good looking
chap that is in the stern, though by the way he scowls at us I can
quite believe he would, as you say, cut our throats if he had the
chance. That is a pretty little child sitting by him, and what a
gorgeous dress she has! There, you see, he can look pleasant enough
when he speaks to her. I fancy they must have come from a long way
up the river, for they look wilder than most of the fellows who
pass us. If that fool who is steering her does not mind what he
is about, Dick, he will either run into that canoe coming down or
else get across our chain. There, I told you so."

The man at the tiller was in fact, looking, with mingled curiosity
and hostility, at the gunboat that he was passing but a few yards
away, and did not notice a canoe, manned by six rowers, that was
coming down with the stream, taking an oblique course across the
bows of the Serpent, and was indeed hidden from his view by the
hull of the vessel, until he had passed beyond her. Then there was
a sudden shout and a yell from a dozen throats, as the two canoes
came into collision, the one proceeding up the river being struck
on the quarter with a force that almost cut her in two, and in an
instant her occupants were in the water. As the Malays were to a
man almost as much at home in the water as on land, the accident
would have had little effect beyond the loss of the boat and its
contents, had it not been that the stern of the other craft struck
the Malay chief with such force as to completely disable him, and
he would have sunk at once had not two of the boatmen grasped him
and kept his head above water.

"What has become of the child?" Harry Parkhurst exclaimed, and he
and Dick Balderson both leaped on to the rail, throwing off their
jackets as they shouted to the men to lower a boat. Nothing could
be seen of the child until, after half a minute's suspense, a little
face suddenly appeared in the swirl of the muddy water some fifteen
yards from the vessel's side. It was gone again in an instant,
but, as it disappeared, both lads sprang from the side and with a
few strokes reached the spot where they had seen the face disappear;
then they dived under water and soon grasped her. As soon as they
came to the surface a sailor, who had seized a coil of rope, flung
it to them, and, grasping it, they were quickly by the side of the
gunboat.

A minute later some sailors, who had at once tumbled into a boat
on the alarm being given, came up. The child was first handed into
it, then the midshipmen scrambled in, and, by their directions,
two of the sailors, standing on the thwarts, lifted the child high
above their heads to the hands of the men leaning over the bulwark.

"Take the little thing to the doctor," Dick said. "Now, lads, row
on; let's pick up some of those Malay fellows."

A babel of shouts and sounds rose from the water; the bow of the
second canoe had been stove in, and she also had sunk to the water
level; a fierce fight was going on between several of the Malays;
the chief, who was being supported by two of his crew, was shouting
furiously; and others of his men, in obedience to his orders, were
diving under water. Harry turned to the gunboat, and called to the
men to bring Soh Hay, the interpreter, to the side. A minute later
the man was hustled to the rail.

"Tell that chief that we have got his child safely on board," Harry
shouted.

Again and again the interpreter called out; but it was some time
before he could make the chief pay attention to him. As the latter
caught the purport of his words his face changed at once, and, after
calling to his men to desist from their search, his head sank on
to the shoulder of one of the men supporting him, and he evidently
lost consciousness.

"He is badly hurt, Dick; we had better get him on board, too. Old
Horsley was wishing this morning that he had something to do beyond
administering doses of quinine to the men."

Taking the tiller, he brought the boat alongside the chief, and
four of the sailors, directed by Dick, gently raised him from the
water and laid him on the bottom of the boat. Blood was flowing
freely from an ugly gash in his face, and it was evident from the
manner in which his left arm hung limp, as they lifted him up, that
either the shoulder or the arm itself was broken.

"Get him alongside at once, lads," Dick said. "I expect he is more
injured than we see. The other fellows will be all right; they can
all swim like fish."

In two or three minutes the injured man was laid down under an
awning over the fore deck of the cruiser, and the surgeon at once
came up.

"How is the child, Doctor?"

"She is still insensible," he said, "but she will soon be all
right. I can't discover any injury, and I think it likely that it
was the sudden shock, and perhaps a knock against the side of the
boat, that stunned her; for I have no doubt she could swim, small
as she is. This is a much more serious affair; he has an ugly gash
in his temple, his collarbone is broken, and," he went on, as he
passed his hands down the patient's side, "he has two, if not more
ribs broken."

"Well, we will leave him to you, Doctor; there are a lot of these
fellows in the water, and I suppose they must be brought on board
until we can get a boat to take them ashore."

In a few minutes eighteen Malays were brought to the side, and the
two canoes, which were floating level with the water, were towed
up and fastened by a rope to the stern of the gunboat. Even when
safely on deck, the two parties were still so infuriated that they
had to be separated and placed under guards apart from each other.
Three or four had been killed by the stabs of the deadly krises,
and their bodies could be seen floating astern. Several of those
rescued had wounds more or less severe.

"We should not have much chance with those fellows in the water,
Mr. Parkhurst," an old sailor said to Harry.

"No, indeed, Davis; they could swim round and round us, and our
cutlasses would be very little good against those ugly looking
krises. If we were to leave them to themselves, they would fight
to the death; and, after all, it was no one's fault in particular.
Mr. Balderson and I were watching them; one was crossing the ship's
bow just as the other came out from her side, and they were into
each other before either had time to hold their boat up."

"That chap the doctor is bandaging up was in a nice taking about his
child, sir; it was a lucky job that you and Mr. Balderson happened
to catch sight of her."

"Yes, poor little thing! It was only just a glimpse we got of her
face; but as we were looking for her, and ready to dive, it was
enough."

"Lucky we are inside the bar, Mr. Parkhurst, or the sharks would
have had half the fellows."

"I did not think of it at the time, Davis, and it would not have
made any difference if I had; we were only in the water a couple of
minutes, and the Malays were making noise enough to frighten away
any number of sharks. You will have the job of washing out our
trousers again--we had only put them on clean half an hour before."

"That aint no matter, sir, especially if you go down and change at
once; the mud will come out easy enough if I leave them in a bucket
of fresh water for half an hour."

The two midshipmen joined the group of officers who were standing
near the doctor; the latter had, on closer examination, announced
that four of the ribs were broken. He had finished his work just
as the lads came up. News had been brought up by the steward that
the little girl had opened her eyes; while he was speaking, the
Malay conversed rapidly with the interpreter.

"What is he saying, Soh Hay?" the captain asked.

"He is asking why his daughter is not here, and if she is hurt, and
how she came to be saved," the man replied. "Me tell him she come
up to see him soon; the doctor say she no hurt."

Two minutes later the doctor reappeared, carrying the child in his
arms. She looked round fearlessly at the white faces until her eye
fell upon her father, when she slipped out of the doctor's arms
like an eel and ran to him. The grim features of the Malay lit up
with a pleasant smile as he held out his right hand to her. She was
a strange little figure, for the doctor had not waited to obtain
any suitable garments for her, but had wrapped her up in one of
the signal flags, which the child herself had wound round her waist
and over her shoulder like a native sarong.

"You tell him, Soh Hay, that he must not talk to her," the doctor
said. "If he keeps quiet, he will get well in short time: if he
talk, he ill many days; but I will let him say a few words to her
now."

The Malay's eyes passed over the group of officers and rested on
the two midshipmen, whose wet clothes showed that they were the
officers who had, as the interpreter had told him, dived in and
rescued the child. He said something to the interpreter.

"Malay man want to speak to you, young gentlemen," the man said;
"he wish to thank you."

"Oh, tell him there is nothing to thank us for," Harry said hastily;
"it was nothing more than taking a bath."

"Yes, officer, but he wishes to speak to you."

Somewhat reluctantly, the two lads approached the side of the
injured man; he took each of them by the hand, and, as he did so,
said something which Soh Hay interpreted:

"The chief says that you have given him back what he loved best in
the world, and that his life is yours whenever it may be of use to
you; he may be of service to you, gentlemen, should you ever go up
the river--a Malay never forgives an injury or forgets a service."

"Tell him we are very glad to have brought his little girl out of
the water," Harry said, "and that if we ever go up the river, we
will pay him a visit."

The chief was now laid in a cot which was swung from the stanchions of
the awning, while the little girl was carried away by the doctor,
who laid her in a berth, gave her a cup of tea, which she drank
obediently to his orders, but evidently regarded as being extremely
nasty, and she was then told through the interpreter to go to
sleep until her sarong was dried. A couple of hours later she was
on deck again in her native garb and ornaments. The interpreter
pointed out to her the two midshipmen who had rescued her, and
she at once went up to them, and, slipping her hands into theirs,
began to prattle freely; they were unable to understand what she
said, but they took her round the ship, showing her the guns, and
introduced her to Ponto, the captain's great Newfoundland, who
submitted gravely to be patted by her; to Jacko, the monkey, who
was by no means disposed to be friendly, but chattered and showed
his teeth; and to Julius Caesar, the negro cook, who grinned from
ear to ear, and presented her with some cakes from a batch which
he had just made for the captain's table.

The rest of the Malays had already left the ship; two native boats
had been hailed, and in these the two parties of Malays had taken
their places, and, with their boats towing behind, had been rowed
away, the captain giving strict instructions that they were to be
landed on opposite sides of the river. The little maid speedily
became a general pet on board the Serpent, and was soon the proud
possessor of several models of ships, two patchwork quilts, several
carved tobacco boxes, and other specimens of sailors' handiwork. Small
as she was, she had evidently a strong idea of her own importance,
and received these presents and attentions with a pretty air of
dignity which at once earned for her the title of the Princess.

On the second day after the accident, the chief's boat came off
from the shore, the damage having been speedily and neatly repaired.
Little Bahi stood on the top of the accommodation ladder as they
approached, and addressed them with great asperity, using much
gesticulation with her arms.

"What is she saying, Soh Hay?" Dick Balderson asked.

"She is telling them that they are bad men to let the boat be
run down; that she is very angry with them, and they will all be
punished."

'The men looked very crestfallen under their little mistress'
reproaches, and held up their hands in a deprecating manner; while
the helmsman stood up and, after salaaming deeply, entered upon a
long explanation, which ended in his asking if he might come on board
to see his chief. Permission was at once granted by the captain,
upon the request being interpreted to him. When he mounted the
steps, Bahi led him to the side of her father's cot. The doctor,
however, interposed.

"Tell him he must not talk," he said to the interpreter; "the chief
is ill and must not be allowed to excite himself. But he can say
a few words, if he wants to."

The cot had been lowered to within a few inches of the deck in order
that the chief might watch his daughter as she trotted about and
romped with Ponto, who had now quite taken her into his friendship.
The chief's face expressed alarm when he first saw the great dog;
but when he saw how gentle the animal was, and how, when one of the
sailors placed the child on his back, it walked gravely up and down
the deck, wagging its tail as if pleased with its novel burden, he
was satisfied that no harm could come to her from this formidable
looking animal. He had first spoken a few words sharply to the
man in answer to his excuses, and, indeed, had the helmsman been
minding his business instead of looking at the ship, the collision
might have been prevented; but Hassan Jebash was at the present
moment so well contented with the recovery of his child that he
accepted the man's excuses, and the latter went back to his boat
evidently greatly relieved.

In a few days the chief began to show signs of impatience, and
through the interpreter constantly demanded of the doctor when he
would be well enough to leave.

"You ask him, Soh Hay, whether he wishes to be able to lead his
tribe in battle again, or to go through life unable to use a kris
or hurl a spear. In another ten days, if he remains quiet, he will
be able to go, and in a couple of months will be as strong and
active as ever, if he will but keep quiet until the bones have
knit. Surely a chief is not like an impatient child, ready to risk
everything for the sake of avoiding a little trouble."

The chief, on this being translated to him, scowled angrily.

"Tell him it is of no use his scowling at me, Soh Hay. I am not
doctoring him for my own amusement, but for his good, and because
he is the father of that little child."

The chief, when this was translated to him, lay without speaking
for two or three minutes, and then said quietly, "Tell the doctor
I am sorry; he is right, and I have been foolish. I will stay till
he says I may go."

CHAPTER II.

Four or five days later the chief was allowed to get up and to
walk quietly up and down the deck, and a week afterwards the doctor
said, "You can go now, chief, if you desire it; but you must be
content to keep quiet for another couple of months, and not make
any great exertions or move quickly. How long will it take you to
go up the river to your home?"

"Six days' easy paddling."

"Well, that is in your favor; but do not travel fast. Take it quietly,
and be as long as you can on the voyage--lying in a canoe is as
good a rest as you can take."

"Thank you, Doctor, I will obey your instructions. You have all been
very kind to me, and a Malay chief never forgets benefits. I have
been hostile to the white men, but now I see I have been mistaken,
and that you are good and kind. Is it true that your boat is going
up the river? Soh Hay tells me that it is so."

"Yes; one of the chiefs, Sehi Pandash, wishes to place himself
under our protection, and he has sent to ask that the ship might
go up and fire her big guns, that the tribes round may see that he
has strong friends who can help him."

"It is two days' rowing up the river to my place from his, and
when you are there I shall come down to see you. Sehi is not a good
chief; he quarrels with his neighbors, and shelters their slaves
who run away to him; he is not a good man."

"Well, we shall all be glad to see you, chief, and I hope that you
will bring your daughter with you. She has won all our hearts, and
we shall miss her sadly."

"I will bring her if I can do so safely," the chief said gravely;
"but I am no friends with Sehi; he stops my trade as it comes down
the river, and takes payment for all goods that pass down. It is
because he knows that many of us are angered that he wishes to put
himself under your protection. I think that you do not do well to
aid so bad a fellow."

"We did not know that he was a bad fellow, chief. The best plan
will be for you and the other chiefs who are aggrieved to send down
complaints against him, or to come down yourselves when we are up
there and talk it over with our Captain, who will doubtless impress
upon Sehi the necessity for abstaining from such practices, and
that he cannot expect aid from us if he embroils himself with his
neighbors by interfering with their trade. Is he strong?"

"He has many war prahus, which sometimes come down to the sea and
return with plunder, either collected from the cultivators near
the coast or from trading ships captured and burnt."

"I will mention what you tell me to the Captain, and it will prepare
him to listen to any complaint that may be made to him. But you must
remember that he is only acting under the orders of the Governor
of the Straits Settlements, and must refer all important matters
to him."

"I will come when you are there," Hassan said gravely. "If nothing
is done, there will be war."

There was general regret on board the Serpent when the little princess
said goodby to all her friends and went down the accommodation
ladder to the boat with her father. The chief had said but little
to the two young midshipmen, for he saw that they preferred that
the matter should not be alluded to, but he held their hands at
parting, and said:

"I shall see you again before long; but if at any time you should
want me, I will come, even if your summons reach me in the middle
of a battle."

"It is such nonsense, Doctor," Harry said, as the boat pushed off,
"to have so much made of such a thing as jumping into the water.
If one had been alone, and had tried to save a man or a woman, in
such a state of funk that there was a good chance of their throwing
their arms round your neck and pulling you down with them, there
might be something in it, though everyone takes his chance of that
when he jumps in to save anyone from drowning; but with a little
child, and two of us to do it, and the ship close at hand, it was
not worth thinking of for a moment."

"No, Parkhurst, from your point of view the thing was not, as you
say, worth giving a thought to; but, you see, that is not the point
of view of the chief. To him it is nothing whether your exploit
was a gallant one or not, or whether you ran any danger; the point
simply is, his child would have been drowned had you not seen her
and fished her out, and that it is to you that he owes her life.
I think you have reason to congratulate yourselves on having made
a friend who may be very useful to you. It may be that there will
be trouble up the river; and if so, he might possibly be of real
service to you. But in any case he may be able to give you some good
hunting and fishing, and show you things that you would never have
had an opportunity of seeing without his friendship and assistance."

"I did not think of that, Doctor; yes, that would certainly be a
great thing."

"I can assure you I look at it in that light myself, Parkhurst, and
I am looking forward to paying him a visit, as, under his protection,
I should get opportunities of collecting which I could never have
in the ordinary way; for, unless they are greatly maligned, one
could not trust one's self among the Malays without some special
protection."

"But they are not savages, Doctor. Hassan is a perfect gentleman
in manner, and in that silk jacket of his and handsome sarong he
really looks like a prince. I could not help thinking that all of
us looked poor creatures by his side."

"They certainly cannot be called savages, though from our point of
view many of their customs are of a very savage nature. Piracy is
very general among those living on the seacoast or on the great
rivers; but it must be remembered that it is not so very many
centuries ago that a toll was demanded of all passersby by the
barons having castles on the Rhine and other navigable rivers; the
crews of wrecked ships were plundered on every coast of Europe, our
own included, not so very long ago; and in the days of Elizabeth,
Drake and Hawkins were regarded by the Spaniards as pirates of
the worst class, and I fear that there was a good deal of justice
in the accusation. But the Malays are people with a history; they
believe themselves that they were the original inhabitants of
the island of Sumatra; however, it is certain that in the twelfth
century they had extended their rule over the whole of that island
and many of its neighbors, and in the thirteenth had established
themselves on this peninsula and had founded an empire extending
over the greater part of the islands down to the coast of Australia.
They had by this time acquired the civilization of India, and their
sultans were powerful monarchs. They carried on a great trade with
China, Hindoostan, and Siam, and their maritime code was regulated
and confirmed, as early as 1276, by Mohammed Shah."

"How is it that they have come to such grief, Doctor?"

"Principally by the fact that they had the feudal, or you may call
it the tribal, system. Each petty chief and his followers made
war on his neighbors if he was strong enough; and as some tribes
conquered others, the empire became split up into an indefinite
number of clans, whose chiefs paid but a very nominal allegiance
to the sultan. So islands broke off from the empire until it had
practically ceased to exist, and the Malays were a people united
only by similar customs and language, but in no other respect, and
were, therefore, able to offer but slight resistance on the arrival
of the Dutch and Portuguese in these regions. Still, the upper
classes preserve the memory of their former greatness. The people
are intelligent, and most of the trade in this part of the world
is carried on by them. They are enterprising, and ready to emigrate
if they see a chance of improving their fortunes. You know we saw
many of them at the Cape when we touched there. Nominally they
are Mohammedans in religion; but they do not strictly observe the
ordinances of the Koran, and their Mohammedanism is mixed up with
traces of their original religion."

"Ah, that explains why the chief's name was Hassan. I wondered
that a Malay should have a Mohammedan name. They are not much like
Arabs in figure. Of course, Hassan is a very fine looking man, and
some of the other chiefs we saw at Penang were so; but most of them
are shorter than we are, and very ugly."

"Yes, in figure and some other points they much resemble the Burmese,
who are probably blood relations of theirs. The chiefs are finer
men, as you will always find in the case in savage or semi savage
peoples, for, of course, they have the pick of the women, and
naturally choose the best looking. Their food, too, is better and
their work less rough than that of the people at large.

"The sons and daughters of the chiefs naturally intermarry, and
the result is that in most cases you will find the upper classes
taller, better formed, lighter in color, and of greater intelligence
than the rest of the people. This would be specially the case in a
trading people like the Malays; their ships would bring over girls
purchased in India, just as the ruling classes in Turkey used to
obtain their wives from Circassia; and this, no doubt, has helped
to modify the original Malay type."

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