Books: Among Malay Pirates
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G. A. Henty >> Among Malay Pirates
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"Right, lad. I think the most prudent thing will be to tell the
captain first. It may only be a message to say why he has not come,
or it may be a matter of some importance. I will go to him at once."
Two or three minutes later he returned. "You are to bring him to
the captain's cabin. Here, Davis, pass the word forward that the
captain wants to see Soh Hay in his cabin."
Harry touched the native, who had been standing quietly by his
side, and signed him to accompany them, and with Dr. Horsley and
Dick went direct to the cabin.
"So your friend has sent a message at last, lad?" Captain Forest
said. "I am glad of that, for I own that I had doubts whether we
should hear any more of him."
"You come from the chief Hassan?" the captain, who had been working
at the Malay language, with the interpreter, since he had arrived
at the mouth of the river, asked in that tongue. The man's face
brightened.
"Yes, my lord," he said.
"Is he well?"
"The chief is quite well."
"I wish I knew enough to question him without Soh Hay's interference,
but I shall only make a mess of it, and, perhaps, get a wrong
idea altogether of his message. Now, Soh Hay," he broke off as the
interpreter entered, "you will ask this man the questions exactly
as I put them, and tell me his answer word for word. It may be of
importance. Now ask him first what message he brings from his chief
to the officers."
The question was put, and the native, speaking slowly and quietly,
and evidently repeating a lesson that he had learned by heart,
said, "The chief sends his greeting to his three friends, Harry,
Dick, and Doctor, also to Captain. He is well in body; he is cured,
and can throw a spear and lead his men to battle. He has sent
four messengers one after another, but none have returned with an
answer; they have no doubt been krised. Now he sends me."
"Tell him that no messenger has arrived until now," the captain
said, when this was interpreted to him.
The man nodded. "All krised. I travel at night, hide in trees all
day, float down at night in shadow of bushes, and have got through
safe. Chief Hassan says not been able to come down. Other chiefs
very angry because English warship come. Send message to Hassan to
join them. When he say no, they threaten to kill him and destroy
tribe when warship go away. Two of Rajah Sehi's prahus go up and
down river; stop all boats. Sehi send message to all chiefs; say
that English war boat here. English come take his country, and after
they done that take the countries of the others; make themselves
kings of the river. He ask them to join him in killing English,
every man, then he would have no more quarrel with them, no trouble
trade any more; be good friends with all neighbors. Some chiefs say
one thing, some another. Some more afraid of rajah than of English;
some think better have English here than rajah.
"Hassan says must take great care. Sehi very treacherous; attack
when they do not expect it. He thinks his prahus can easily take
English ship; but Hassan says Sehi wants the other chiefs to aid,
so that if the English send up more ships, then, can all join him
in fighting them. Hassan says he will do what he can. He has eight
war canoes, but no good against prahus--they run at canoes, and
cut them in half; but will come to help if English attack. He does
not know where prahus are. Begs Captain to attack these first;
it is they that make Sehi master of the river. If they destroyed,
other chiefs not afraid of Sehi, and he might get some of them to
join against him. Hassan said tell Harry, and Dick, and Doctor he
does not forget their kindness, and will do what he can to watch
over them. Such is Hassan's message."
"Ask him when he is going back to his chief," the captain said.
"He go now," the interpreter said, after asking the question. "He
get as far as he can before morning. He sure many eyes watch ship
night and day to see that no message comes, or any word of what
rajah is doing. He float down stream in sampan some distance, then
paddle to opposite bank, then keep in shadow of bushes up the river,
and hide away till night comes again."
"Very well, then, tell him that he is to thank his master for
sending us warning; that we had already found out that what he told
us before he went away was true, and that Sehi is a very bad man.
Say that we are not afraid of prahus, and will make short work of
them when we get a chance. Tell him we will take great care, and
not let ourselves be surprised, and that when we have finished with
this fellow here, the ship will come as far up the river as she can
go, and show the chiefs that the English have no evil intentions
against them, and will send his three friends with a strong boat
party to pay him a visit. By the way, ask the man if he knows this
part of the country."
"Yes, Captain; he says that he has been since his boyhood a boatman,
and has worked for some years with a trader, who used to go up the
creeks, and trade with the villagers."
"Ask him if he knows a creek that turns off from the river four or
five miles above this; it is a very small one, but it leads into
a pool on which is a large village."
The man nodded at once, when the question was put, then spoke for
a minute or two.
"He says, Captain, that he knows the pool and village; but he has
never been up the small creek that you speak of. Did not know that
a boat could get through. He has been there by a large creek that
runs into the other branch of the river, the one that turns off
twelve miles below this; from that river it is an hour's paddle in
a sampan to the pool."
"How should we know the entrance?" the captain asked.
"Entrance difficult to find," the native replied; "strip of land
runs out from both sides, covered with trees. One goes a little
beyond the other, so that anyone who did not know it would pass the
entrance without noticing it. It is just wide enough for a large
craft to go in and out. There is a village stands a hundred yards
below the entrance; it would be known by a big tree that grows
before a large house close to the bank. The water is deep on that
side. You have only, after passing the village, to keep close in
shore, and you will then see the entrance to the creek. It is called
Alligator Creek, because, more than any place, it swarms with these
creatures."
"Thank you," the captain said. "Will you tell the chief that I say
you have rendered me a valuable service?"
He opened a case in which he kept presents intended for the chiefs,
and took out a brace of handsome pistols, a powder flask, and a
bullet mold.
"Take these," he said, "in token of the service you have rendered.
When I see your chief, you shall be well recompensed for the risk
that you have run in bearing me his message."
The Malay looked longingly at the pistols, and then said, "I came
by order of my chief, and not for reward."
"Quite so. I understand that, and am not offering you a reward
for that service, but for the information that you have given me,
which may be of value if I have trouble with the rajah here."
The man bowed and took the pistols offered. "I will use them against
your enemies," he said warmly; "but all of us know the creek, for
it is that which renders it so difficult for us to fight against
Sehi. He is master of the water, and we cannot attack him without
first crossing that creek. We should have to carry canoes with us,
to do it, for the creek is too full of alligators for anyone to
swim across, and our small canoes would have no chance of passing
the creek when his war boats were there."
The captain nodded when this was translated to him.
"Sehi's place, in fact, stands upon an island formed by the two
branches of the river and this creek. As soon as he became master
of the river, he could hardly be assailed, while at any time he
could sally out and fall upon his enemies. Ask the man if he will
take any refreshment before he goes."
The man declined. He had, he said, sufficient fruit and dried fish
for his journey back. A few minutes later he took his place in the
little canoe and drifted away into the darkness, and was soon lost
to sight.
CHAPTER VI.
"Things are coming to a crisis, Harry," Dick Balderson said, in
a tone of delight, as they left the captain's cabin. "We now know
what we all along suspected--the rajah is a rascal, and we have
not only found out where his prahus are hidden, but have them corked
up in a bottle."
"Nothing could be better, Dick, and I expect we shall have some
pretty hot work. Of course the Serpent cannot get up that creek,
though she can place herself at the entrance and prevent their
getting away; but there still remains the work of capturing or
driving them down the creek, and that is likely to be a very tough
job."
The next morning the second lieutenant, the mate, and Harry Parkhurst
were sent for to the captain's cabin. The first lieutenant was
there. They were each asked their opinion as to whether the prahus
could force their way through the creek by which they had ascended.
"It is a most important point," the captain said: "and indeed,
everything might depend upon it."
"I am sure, sir," Mr. Hopkins said, "that they could not go straight
down it. They might cut their way through, but it would be a work
of considerable time, for with their masts they would have to clear
away the branches to a considerable height. Down near the water
the branches by which we pushed ourselves along were those of the
undergrowth, with many rattans and other creepers varying from the
thickness of one's thumb to that of one's wrist, and these would
take a great deal of chopping before one of their war boats could
be pushed through, but higher up they would probably have much
thicker branches to contend with. It may be that they can lower
their masts; but even if they could do so, I should think that it
would take them over an hour's work, even with the number of hands
they carry, to get a passage through that bit of thick undergrowth,
fifty or sixty yards up the mouth of the creek. There are two or
three other places where some chopping would have to be done, but
that would be comparatively easy work."
The mate and Harry both agreed with the lieutenant.
"Practically, then," the captain said, "the Malays have but one
mode of escape, while we have two of attack. At any rate, if we
send up a boat beforehand, and fasten two or three iron chains from
side to side among the branches, that passage would be securely
sealed.
"Thank you, gentlemen; that is all I have to ask at present. It
is a very difficult nut we have to crack, Mr. Ferguson," he went
on, when he and the first lieutenant were alone. "To attack six
strongly armed prahus with the boats of this ship would be a serious
enterprise indeed, and its success would be very doubtful, while
the loss would certainly be very heavy, especially as, if any of
the boats were sunk, the crews would have but little chance in a
place swarming with alligators. I don't think I should be justified
in risking such an enterprise."
"There is no doubt, sir, the loss would be very heavy indeed; by
all accounts, these Malays fight like demons on the decks of their
own boats, and, for aught we know, they may, after nightfall, trice
up rattans to prevent boarders getting on board. I have heard that
it is their custom when they expect an attack, and that these are
far more formidable obstacles than our boarding nets. Of course
I should be quite ready to lead an attack should you decide upon
making one, but I cannot conceal from myself that it would be a
well nigh desperate undertaking."
"I am glad that you are of that opinion," the captain said. "There
seems to me but one course, and that a difficult one--namely,
to carry a couple of heavy guns through the forest to the edge of
the pool. It would be a serious undertaking, and we should have
to send a strong force to defend them, but if we could succeed in
planting them in position, we should soon drive the Malays out of
the pool."
"That would be a capital plan, Captain, if it could be managed.
I suppose before we attempt it, you will take possession of this
place, and capture the rajah?"
"That of course. I don't suppose we shall capture him. I have no
doubt that we are closely watched night and day, and that the instant
the boats are lowered, and the men get on board, the rajah would
prepare for flight, though he might possibly make some resistance.
However, that would be but trifling; our guns would cover the
landing, and knock the place about his ears; but to penetrate the
jungle would be vastly more difficult an affair. If, as is probable,
he has succeeded in inducing some of his neighbors to join him,
they may have already sent strong contingents, and the forest may
be full of them. In that case it would be quite beyond our power to
rout them out, and I certainly should not be justified in attempting
it. The destruction of his town and the burning of his palace would.
be a serious blow to him, but the destruction of his piratical
fleet would be a very much heavier one. If we can achieve that, we
shall have done good service.
"The first thing to do is to find out whether there is a path either
from this river, or the other branch, to the pool. If so, at dark,
after destroying the town, we will recall all the men on shore,
buoy the anchor and drop it noiselessly, and drift down the river
till we are far enough away to use the engines, then steam down to
the junction of the two streams, and up again to the entrance to
the creek on that side. Then we will at once land a very strong
party, land also two twenty-four pounders, and drag them to the
pool. We might hope to do so without any opposition, for the Malays
would no doubt be gathered at the edge of the forest near the town
to repel any attack we might make from there, and before morning
we might have the guns in position. I should take a hundred empty
sacks. These you would fill with earth when you get near the pool,
and form a battery with them behind the screen of bushes; then,
when you are ready, you will cut down the bushes and open fire."
"I don't see why that should not succeed, sir. Of course the most
difficult part of the operation is dragging the guns. These native
paths are only broad enough for men in single file."
"Yes, that is the difficulty. We could not employ axes to cut down
the trees, and to saw them down would be an interminable work. I
think, Mr. Ferguson, we should have to carry them."
"I doubt if we could carry a twenty-four pounder, sir; but we might
carry an eighteen. They have bamboos of almost any length here,
and if we were to lash an eighteen pounder between two of them,
I should say that ten men each side ought to able to carry them,
while as many more might take the gun carriage."
"We will get some bamboos today, Mr. Ferguson, and try the experiment
of how many men will be required to carry a gun; but now I think
of it, I fancy that it will be still easier to lay the guns down
on a sledge shaped piece of timber--these paths are smooth enough
where the natives tread, and the men could haul the guns along with
ropes."
"That would be better and easier, sir. The difficulty with the
carriages will be greatest, but they might be taken to pieces as
far as possible and slung on bamboos."
"I think that we shall be able to manage all that," the captain said
cheerfully. "The first thing is to find the path. There is almost
sure to be one from the village the Malay spoke of as close to
the mouth of the creek, and the pool, and if we send the boats up
as soon as we arrive at the creek, to row with muffled oars until
they get near the pool, and then land and find the path, it would
diminish very much the distance they would have to go and the work
to be done."
"It would be a great thing to find that out beforehand, sir. If you
like, I will drop down the river this afternoon in the gig; that
will attract no attention, for it will be thought that we are merely
going fishing or shooting. As soon as it is dark we will muffle
the oars, and row up the other branch, find the mouth of the creek
and row up it, first find how far it is to the pool, then drop
down a quarter of a mile and land, strike into the jungle, and look
for the path. I should, of course, choose a point where the creek
bends that way, for as the path no doubt goes straight from the
village to the pool, it would be nearer the creek at a bend than
it would be at any other point. If it is a sharp bend it might go
quite close to it."
"That would be a very good plan, Mr. Ferguson, and as you have
proposed it, you shall take command of the boat; otherwise I should
have sent either the third lieutenant or Morrison. I need not say
that it will be necessary to use the greatest caution, and to avoid
all risks as much as possible, though I fancy that my gig would
run away from any of the ordinary native craft; but, of course, the
great point is to avoid being noticed, for were one of our boats
seen up the other river near the creek, the alarm would be given,
and the prahus might at once shift their position, and make up the
river, where we should have little chance of finding them again."
"I quite understand that, sir, and will be as careful as possible.
I will take one of the midshipmen with me, either Mr. Parkhurst or
Mr. Balderson; if the worst came to the worst and one of the men
were hit, he could man his oar, or, if I were myself badly wounded,
could take the command. I think it is Balderson's turn for boat
duty."
"Either of them will do," the captain said; "they are both strong,
active lads, and as steady as you can expect lads to be."
Accordingly, at four in the afternoon the captain's gig was
lowered. As the rule was that all men on boat duty should go armed
no surprise had been excited when the order was given for the men
to take their muskets and cutlasses, though, when an extra supply
of ammunition and a brace of pistols were served out to each, they
thought that something unusual was in the wind, and there was a
grin on the men's faces when a hamper of provisions was placed in
the bow of the boat. Dick was in a state of high but suppressed
delight when informed by the first lieutenant that he was to
accompany him on a boat expedition, and that he had better take
his cloak with him, as they might be out all night.
"You can take your pistols with you, Mr. Balderson; it is not likely
that they will be wanted, but it is as well to carry them."
Dick borrowed a cutlass from the armorer and ground it down to
a razor edge, for his dirk was an altogether useless weapon if it
came to fighting. He was the more convinced that something more
than usual was intended when he saw the assistant surgeon place a
parcel in the stern sheets.
"Bandages, I expect," he said. "Where do you think we can be going,
Harry?"
"Perhaps you are going up the creek again, Dick. Who's going in
command?"
"I have not heard. Morrison says he has not been told off, so
I suppose it is Hopkins; in fact, if you are going up the creek,
it is sure to be him, as one of us who went up there before would
certainly be in command. It is rum they're taking the captain's
gig. He is very particular about it, and it is very seldom indeed
that even the first luff uses it."
"I suppose they think it possible that you may be chased, and there
is no doubt she is far away the fastest boat on board. She is not
a dockyard boat, but, as you know, is one the captain had specially
built for himself, and for racing if we were at any station where
there were other warships."
When four o'clock came, and the first lieutenant, with his cloak
over his arm, came out and took his place in the boat, there was
a general look of surprise among the sailors leaning on the rail
to see her put off, for it was a very unusual thing for the first
officer to take the command when only a single boat's crew were
going out on any expedition.
"Row easy, men," Mr. Ferguson said, as he sat down on one side of
the coxswain, while Dick took his place on the other. "Drop quietly
down the river. There is my fishing rod by your side, Mr. Balderson;
you may as well begin to put it together at once, so that the
natives on shore may see that we are going on a fishing expedition."
They rowed some ten miles down at a leisurely pace, and then the
boat's grapnel was dropped at a bend of the stream, where the water
was unusually deep, and several baskets of fish had been taken at
various times. A spare rod was brought out from under the seat,
and Mr. Ferguson and Dick began to fish, one on each side of the
boat, while the men lay on their oars, and a look of satisfaction
came over their faces as the lieutenant told them that they could
smoke. Hitherto, Dick had been in ignorance as to the object of
the expedition. He had been much surprised when the order had been
given for the boat to row down the river, and it was therefore
evident that it was not the intention of the first officer to again
explore the creek.
Several fish were caught, but as soon as it became dark the lieutenant
said, "You can throw them overboard again, Mr. Balderson; we don't
want any extra weight in the boat, and these fish must weigh thirty
pounds at least. Now what do you suppose we are going to do?"
"I have no idea, sir. I thought that we might be going up the creek
that Lieutenant Hopkins explored the other day, to have another
look at the prahus; but as we came down the river instead of going
up, of course it is not that."
"No; we are going to explore the creek, but from the other end."
"That will be first rate, sir, but I am afraid that we shan't find
water enough for the Serpent."
"No, I fear that there is little chance of that; still we may obtain
information that will be valuable."
The night was a dark one, and an hour after sunset the grapnel was
got up, and the boat continued its way down the river, the oars
being now muffled, and the strictest silence ordered.
"Keep your eyes open, Mr. Balderson," the lieutenant said. "I think
that it must be another three miles to the point where the river
forks. The other branch comes in on the right, so we will keep
on the left bank. I don't think there is much fear of our missing
the junction of the stream, but if we do, we will row on to a mile
below the point where we think it is, then cross and keep up on
the other side. In that way we cannot miss it."
For the next half hour no word was spoken in the boat. Dick kept his
eyes fixed on the opposite bank. Suddenly he touched the lieutenant.
"There, sir, that must be it. The line of the trees has suddenly
stopped, and I think I can make out a lower line behind it."
"Yes, no doubt that is the junction. We will go two hundred yards
farther down before we cross; it is unlikely in the extreme that
anyone is watching us, still I don't want to run the slightest
risk."
In another five minutes they crossed the river, whose increased
width showed them that they had assuredly passed the junction of
the stream. Then they turned and followed the right hand bank.
"Stretch out a bit now, lads; you have fifteen miles' straight
rowing before you, and the sooner you get to the other end, the
better. We may have a long night's work before us, and I want to
be able to get to the place where we fished before morning."
The men bent to their oars, and the boat sped swiftly along. The
current was very slight, and after two hours' rowing, the lieutenant
judged that they must be but a short distance from the village
Hassan's messenger spoke of. Accordingly, he told the coxswain to
steer across to the other bank, and warned the men that the slightest
splash of their oars might attract attention, and that they were
to row easier for the present. In a quarter of an hour the wall of
forest ceased, and a hundred yards farther they saw houses. Two or
three dim lights were visible, and the sound of voices could be
heard. The boat's head was now turned out somewhat farther into
the stream, so as to be out of sight of anyone who might by chance
come down late to draw water. After rowing a hundred yards they
could dimly make out the outline of a white house. There was a
break just in the center, and the outline of a tree could be seen
above the roof. Dick leant forward and again touched the lieutenant.
"That must be the house, sir," he whispered.
Mr. Ferguson nodded without speaking; and after the boat had gone
another hundred yards, the line of forest could again be seen,
and the boat was rowed into the bank, and two minutes later shot
through a narrow channel and entered a creek some forty yards wide.
"Now you can give way again, lads."
An hour's paddling in a sampan would mean about three miles, and
after twenty minutes' sharp rowing, the men were ordered to row easy
again, and the lieutenant and Dick kept an anxious lookout ahead.
The creek was here little more than fifty yards across, and,
accustomed as their eyes were to darkness, they presently saw that
it widened out suddenly. The word was passed down for the men to
paddle easily, and in two minutes the pool opened before them. They
could not make out the prahus, lying as they did against the shadow
of the trees on the farther side, but they could see a number of
lights, apparently from swinging lanterns, and hear a loud murmur
of voices.
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