History of the Pirates Who Infested the China Sea From 1807 to 1810

On the first day of the seventh moon, O po tae came with about a hundred vessels and burnt the custom-house of Tsze ne. On the second day he divided his squadron into four divisions, extending to Peih këang, Wei yung, Lin yo, Shĭh peih, and other villages. The Chang lung division[64 - These are names of different sorts of Chinese vessels or junks.] surrounded the whole country from Ta wang yin to Shwy sse ying. The Ta chow, or large-vessel division, blockaded Ke kung shĭh, which is below the custom-house of Tsze ne. The pirates sent to the village Tsze ne, demanding ten thousand pieces of money[65 - In the original Kin (6369). Kin cannot be the common cash (Tung pao) for then the sum would be too trifling – 8 to 900 are to be got in Canton for a Spanish dollar. If Kin were used for dollar, or tael, which is very probable, the sum is enormous. Richard Glasspoole states that the pirates demanded indeed ten thousand dollars! – See the Appendix.] as tribute; and of San shen, a small village near Tsze ne on the right side, they demanded two thousand.(15 v.) The villagers differed in opinion; one portion would have granted the tribute, another would not. That part who wished to pay the tribute said: "The pirates are very strong; it is better to submit ourselves now, and to give the tribute that we may get rid of them for awhile; we may then with leisure think on means of averting any misfortunes which may befall us. Our villages are near the coast, we shall be surrounded and compelled to do what they like, for no passage is open by which we can retire. How can we, under such circumstances, be confident and rely on our own strength?"

1809.

The other part, who would not grant the tribute, said: "The pirates will never be satisfied; if we give them the tribute now, we shall not be able to pay it on another day. If they should make extortions a second time, when should we get money to comply with their demands? Why should we not rather spend the two thousand pieces of money to encourage government officers and the people? If we(16 r.) fight and happen to be victorious, our place will be highly esteemed; but if, what heaven may prevent, we should be unlucky, we shall be everywhere highly spoken of." The day drew to its end, and they could not agree in what they should determine on, when one villager arose and said: "The banditti will repeatedly visit us, and then it will be impossible to pay the tribute; we must fight."

1809.

As soon as it was resolved to resist the demands of the pirates, weapons were prepared, and all able men, from sixteen years and upwards to sixty, were summoned to appear with their arms near the palisades. They kept quiet the whole of the second day, and proceeded not to fighting; but the people were much disturbed, and did not sleep the whole night. On the following day they armed and posted themselves on the sea-coast. The pirates, seeing that the(16 v.) villagers would not pay the tribute, became enraged, and made a severe attack during the night; but they could not pass the ditch before the village. On the morning of the fourth, O po tae headed his men, forced the ditch, took the provisions, and killed the cattle. The pirates in great numbers went on shore; but the villagers made such a vigorous resistance that they began to withdraw. O po tae therefore surrounded the village on both sides, and the pirates took possession of the mountain in the rear; they then threw the frightened villagers into disorder, pursued them, and killed about eighty. After this the pirates proceeded with their van to the sea-shore, without encountering any resistance from the front. The villagers were from the beginning very much alarmed for their(17 r.) wives and daughters; they collected them in the temple and shut it up. But the pirates being victorious, opened the temple, and carried the women by force all away on board ship. One pirate set off with two very fine women; a villager, on seeing this, pursued after and killed him in a hidden place. He then took the women and carried them safe through the water, – this was a servant. A great number of the pirates were killed and wounded, and the villagers lost about two thousand persons. What a cruel misfortune! it is hard indeed only to relate it.

1809.

On the third day of the moon the people of Ta ma chow, hearing that the pirates were coming near, ran away. The pirates plundered all that was left behind, clothes, cattle, and provisions. On the sixth day they came so far as(17 v.) Ping chow and San shan. On the eighth they retired to Shaou wan, made an attack upon it on the ninth, but could not take it. On the tenth they ascended the river with the tide, went on shore, and burned Wei shih tun. On the eleventh day they came to our village, but retired again at night on command. On the twelfth they attacked Hwang yung, and left it again on the thirteenth. They retired on the fourteenth, and stopped at Nan pae. On the fifteenth they sailed out of the Bocca Tigris,[66 - Hoo mun. The following notice on the Chinese tiger is taken from the geography of Mookden, and translated by Father Amiot. Eloge de la ville de Moukden par Kien long, p. 249. "Au-delà de nos frontières (Mookden), il y a une espèce de tigre, dont la peau est un fort beau blanc, sur lequel il y a, par intervalles, des taches noires. Ces espèces de tigres sont plus méchants et plus féroces que les autres." Father Amoit adds, that these tigers are called Hoo by the Chinese, and Tasha by the Manchow.] and on the twenty-sixth attacked the ships which bring the tribute from Siam,[67 - The Chinese geographers and historians are very well acquainted with Siam; there is an interesting description of this empire in the Hae kwo hëen këen, p. 21, and in the 57th book, p. 13, of the memoirs concerning the south of the Mei ling mountains. That Siam acknowledges the supremacy of China, was known to the most early European travellers. Cluver says (in his Introductio in omnem Geographiam Wolfenbuttelæ, 1694, 4to., p. 473), that "Rex Siamensis irruptione crebriori Tartarica pressus, Chano denique Chinensi sese beneficiarium aut vasallum submisit." Mendez Pinto, who was in that country in the year 1540, states that the king of Siam acknowledged the supremacy of China; Bernhardi Vareni Descriptio regni Japoniæ et Siam; Cantabrigiæ 1673-8, p. 128.] but were not strong enough to capture them. On the twenty-ninth they attacked the places Tung(18 r.) hwan and Too shin, and killed nearly a thousand men.

1809.

The pirates tried many stratagems and frauds to get into the villages. One came as a country gentleman to take charge of the government guns; another came in a government vessel as if to assist the village; after which they on a sudden attacked and plundered all, when people were not aware of them. One pirate went round as a pedlar, to see and hear all, and to explore every place. The country people became therefore at last enraged, and were in future always on their guard. If they found any foreigner, they took him for a pirate and killed him. So came once a government officer on shore to buy rice; but the inhabitants thought he was a pirate and killed him. There was every where a degree of confusion, which it is impossible to explain.

1809.

On the sixteenth day of the seventh moon, the pirates attacked a village near Tung kwan.(18 v.) The villagers knowing what would happen, made fences and palisades, and obstructed the passage with large guns. Armed with lances and targets they hid themselves in a secret place, and selected ten men only to oppose the pirates. The pirates seeing that there were so few people, went on shore to pursue them. As soon as they came near the ambuscade the guns were fired; the pirates became alarmed and dared not advance farther. Not being hurt by the fire, they again advanced; but three pirates presuming that there was an ambush, thought of retreating, and being very hard pressed by the enemy, they gave a sign to their comrades to come on shore. The ten villagers then retired near the ambush, and when the pirates pursued them, about a hundred were killed by their guns, and the whole force of the banditti was brought into disorder. The villagers pursued them killing(19 r.) many; those also who had been taken alive were afterwards beheaded. They captured one small and two large vessels.[68 - It is impossible to translate the names of vessels of different descriptions. The large are the Chang lung, or great dragon vessels which by the Chinese law are forbidden to be used by any private person; these are the Mandarin, or government vessels. The pirates nevertheless had such vessels, as likewise the daring smugglers, who bring the opium from Lintin, or Linting, to Canton. The amount of the opium trade in the port of Canton was, in the year 1829-30, equal to 12,057,157 Sp. dollars.]

1809.

On the eighteenth day of the eighth moon the wife of Ching yĭh came with about five hundred vessels from Tung kwan and Sin hwy, and caused great commotion in the town Shun tih, Hëang shan, and the neighbouring places. The squadron stopped at Tan chow, and on the twentieth Chang pao was ordered to attack Shaou ting with three hundred vessels. He carried away about four hundred people, both male and female; he came also to the palisades of our village, but could not penetrate inside. The twenty-first he came to Lin tow, and the twenty-second to Kan shin; he made an attack, but could not overpower the place; he then returned to Pwan pëen jow, and lay before its fence. The inhabitants of Chow po chin,(19 v.) knowing that the pirates would make an attack, assembled behind the wall to oppose them. The pirates fired their guns and wounded some, when the villagers ran away. The pirates then went on shore, but the villagers crowded together and fired on them; the pirates cast themselves on the ground, and the shots passed over their heads without doing any harm. Before the gunners could again load, the pirates sprang up and put them to death. Out of the three thousand men who were in the battle, five hundred were carried away by the pirates. One of the most daring pirates, bearing the flag, was killed by the musket of a villager; a second pirate then took the flag, and he also was killed. The pirates now pressed against the wall and advanced. There was also a foreign pirate[69 - One of the English sailors, who had been taken prisoner. "The pirates frequently obliged my men to go on shore and fight with the muskets, which did great execution; the Chinese principally using bows and arrows. They have match-locks, but use them very unskilfully." – See Appendix.] engaged in the battle with a(20 r.) fowling-piece. The pirates assembled in great numbers to cut the wall with their halberts, but they were disappointed on seeing they could not attain their object in such a manner. The pirates lost their hold, fell down, and were killed. The engagement now became general, and great numbers were killed and wounded on both sides. The villagers at last were driven from their fortifications, and the pirates pursued them to Mih ke, or the rocks about Mih, where they were hindered from going farther by foggy weather; they retired and burned about twenty houses, with all they contained. On the following day the pirates appeared again on the shore, but the inhabitants made a vigorous resistance, and being driven back, they retired to the citadel Chih hwa, where a thousand of them fought so hard that the pirates withdrew. It(20 v.) was reported that ten of them were killed, and that the villagers lost eight men. On the twenty-third the wife of Ching yĭh ordered O po tae to go up the river with about eighty vessels: he stopped at Show ke and Kung shih. On the twenty-fourth Chang paou and Po tae divided this district between themselves, and robbed and burned all. Pao had to plunder the north part to Fo shin; he carried away about ten thousand stones of rice,[70 - A shih, or stone, contains four keun: a keun thirty kin or catty, the well known Chinese weight: a catty is equal to one pound and a third English.] and burned down about thirty houses; on the twenty-fifth he went to Se shin. O po tae came and burnt San heung keih; he then plundered Hwang yung, and came to Këen ke, but did not make an attack against it. He afterwards returned and laid waste Cha yung.

1809. (21 r.)

On the twenty-sixth Chang paou went up the river to Nan hae[71 - Nan hae hëen. Its area amounts to 278 le, and it pays 63,731 leang. The European factories in Canton lie in this district, and the monastery opposite to the factories is usually from the name of the district called the Hae nan sze, the temple of Hae nan. The district of every place is called by the name of the the place, and we must therefore speak of the town and district Nan hae.] and Lan shĭh. In the harbour of the place were six rice vessels; and as soon as Paou was in Lan shĭh he made preparations to capture these vessels. The military officer, seeing that the pirates were numerous, remained however on his station, for the instant he would have moved, Paou would have attacked and captured him. Paou proceeded then against the village itself; but the officer Ho shaou yuen headed the inhabitants, and made some resistance. The pirates, nevertheless, mounted the banks; and the villagers seeing their strength, did not stay to fight – they became frightened and ran away: all the others ran away without making any resistance: Ho shaou yuen alone opposed the banditti with a handful of people; but he at last fell fighting, and the pirates burnt(21 v.) four hundred shops and houses, and killed about ten persons. After the pirates had retired, the inhabitants held in high esteem the excellent behaviour of Ho shaou yuen; they erected him a temple, and the deputy-governor Han fung performed sacrifices to his memory.

1809.

Shaou yuen was commanding officer in the citadel of Lan shih; he was of an active spirit, and erected strong fences. Before the pirates arrived, this was his daily discourse when he spoke to the people: "I know that I shall be glorified this year by my death." Half the year being already passed, it could not be seen how this prophecy was to be fulfilled. When the pirates came, he encouraged the citizens to oppose them vigorously; he himself girded on his sword and brandished his spear, and was the most forward in the battle. He killed many persons; but his strength failed him at last, and he was himself killed by the pirates. The villagers were greatly moved by his excellent behaviour; they erected him a temple, and said prayers before his effigy. It was then known what he meant, that "he would be glorified in the course of the year." Now that twenty years are passed, they even honour him by exhibiting fire-works. I thought it proper to subjoin this remark to my history.[72 - This simple note of the Chinese author better illustrates the religion of China than many learned dissertations. All the deities, those of Greece and Rome, of China and India, are derived from two sources; both the powers of nature and highly gifted human beings were deified. These powers of nature, and the virtues and vices of men being in every community nearly similar, the same gods and goddesses are found everywhere; only their external form and shape is different. Every province, every town, and every village of China has its particular tutulary saint, or god, and on the day of his festival his effigy is carried in public. There is no essential difference in this respect between China and those countries where Roman Catholicism is yet in its highest vigour. The effigies of the Chinese gods and goddesses are all of the human shape; they have no monsters like India and Egypt, under which it was once the fashion to seek for extraordinary wisdom and astonishing science. Lucian has already taken the liberty of laughing at these deities, and at the writers, the prophets, and sophists, who try to find some sense in all this vulgar display of nonsense, by which the people are deluded. Lucian de Sacreficiis s. f. where he laughs at the Jupiter with a ram's head, at the good fellow Mercurius with the countenance of a dog, etc. [Greek: Krioprosôpon men ton Dia, chynoprosôpon de ton beltison Ermên chai ton Pana holon tragon], etc. See the pleasant story of Jupiter with the ram's head in Herodotus, II. 42.]

1809.

On the twenty-seventh, Lin sun mustered about forty vessels, and went out to fight with the pirates in order to protect the water passage. He remained at Kin kang (which is near Shaou wan hae), hid himself westerly of that place the whole day, and removed then to Tsze(22 r.) ne. Chang paou ordered his vessels to remove to Shaou ting, and his men to go on shore in the night-time. Sun, seeing with sorrow that the pirates were so numerous, and that he could not make any effectual resistance, ran away eastwards and hid himself at Peih keang. At daylight the following morning the pirates sailed to Tsze ne to attack our commander, but not finding him, they stopped at Shaou ting; for this being the time when the autumnal winds begin to blow, they were afraid of them, and made preparations to retire. But we shall soon find the different flags returning to the high sea to fight both with extraordinary courage and great ferocity.[73 - The strong winds (Tay fung) in the Chinese sea begin about the middle of September, or just before the equinox.]

1809. (22 v.)

On the twenty-ninth they returned to plunder Kan shin; they went into the river with small vessels, and the inhabitants opposing them, wounded two pirates, which all the pirates resented. They next came with large vessels, surrounded the village, and made preparations to mount the narrow passes. The inhabitants remained within the intrenchments, and dared not come forward. The pirates then divided their force according to the various passes, and made an attack. The inhabitants prepared themselves to make a strong resistance near the entrance from the sea on the east side of the fence; but the pirates stormed the fence, planted their flag on the shore, and then the whole squadron followed. The inhabitants fought bravely, and made a dreadful slaughter when the pirates crossed the entrance at Lin tow. The boxing-master, Wei tang chow, made a vigorous resistance, and killed about ten pirates. The pirates then began to withdraw, but Chang paou himself headed the battle, which lasted very long. The inhabitants were not strong enough. Wei tang was surrounded by the pirates;(24 r.) nevertheless that his wife fought valiantly by his side. On seeing that they were surrounded and exhausted, the father of the lady[74 - It is not stated in the Chinese text, whose father rushed forward, whether it was the father of the lady, or of Wei tang chow.] rushed forward and killed some pirates. The pirates then retired in opposite directions, in order to surround their opponents in such a manner that they might not escape, and could be killed without being able to make any resistance; and thus it happened, the wife of Wei tang being slain with the others.

The pirates now pursued the inhabitants of the place, who cut the bridge and retired to the neighbouring hills. The pirates swam through the water and attacked the inhabitants, who were unable to escape. The whole force of the pirates being now on shore, the inhabitants suffered a severe loss, – it is supposed about a hundred of them were killed; the loss of the pirates also was considerable.

1809. (23 v.)

The pirates went in four divisions to plunder; they took here an immense quantity of clothes and other goods, and carried away one thousand one hundred and forty captives of both sexes. They set on fire about ten houses; the flames could not be extinguished for some days; in the whole village you could not hear the cry of a dog or a hen. The other inhabitants retired far from the village, or hid themselves in the fields. In the paddy fields about a hundred women were hidden, but the pirates on hearing a child crying, went to the place and carried them away. Mei ying, the wife of Ke choo yang, was very beautiful, and a pirate being about to seize her by the head, she abused him exceedingly. The pirate bound her to the yard-arm; but on abusing him yet more, the pirate dragged her down and broke two of her teeth, which filled her mouth and jaws with blood. The pirate sprang up again to bind her. Ying allowed him to approach, but as soon as he came near her, she laid hold of his garments with her bleeding mouth, and threw both him and herself into the river, where they were drowned, The remaining captives of both sexes were after some months liberated, on having paid a ransom of fifteen thousand leang or ounces of silver.

1809.

Travelling once to Pwan pëen jow I was affected by the virtuous behaviour of Mei ying, and all generous men will, as I suppose, be moved by the same feelings. I therefore composed a song, mourning her fate:

Chėn kė kīn seāou hëĕ,
Chúy szē chūng soó mëèn.
Tāng shĕ shwăy fàn leĭh,
Yĕw nèu tăh nāng tsūy;

Tsëĕn hĕuĕ yīng kwáng nëĕ,[75 - I must again remark that there is a false character in our text: it should be Nëĕ, 7974 in the Tonical Dictionary of Dr. M.]
Yuĕn keă yuĕn shwăy weī.
Shwūy hwăn pō shàng heà,
Yīng lëe sháng pèi hwūy.

1809.

Cease fighting now for awhile!
Let us call back the flowing waves!
Who opposed the enemy in time?
A single wife could overpower him.
(24 v.)
Streaming with blood, she grasped the mad offspring of guilt,
She held fast the man and threw him into the meandering stream.
The spirit of the water, wandering up and down on the waves,
Was astonished at the virtue of Ying.
My song is at an end!
Waves meet each other continually.
I see the water green as mountain Peih,
But the brilliant fire returns no more![76 - I am compelled to give a free translation of this verse, and confess myself not quite certain of the signification of the poetical figures used by our author. Fūng signifies a hollow pyramid filled with combustibles; yĕn signifies the smoke caused by combustion; tseāng signifies the spar or yard in a boat or ship, to which the sail is attached, and ying is shadow. It seems that the author alludes to the spar or yard-arm, at which Mei ying was fastened by the pirate; but what he means by shadow I do not really know, perhaps ying is in the place of Mei ying.]
How long did we mourn and cry![77 - The Chinese characters are printed like the other portion of the work. I have divided them according to the verses. Only the first eight lines have a regular metre of five feet, or words, and as the author himself says, his song is then at an end; but the language still remains poetical, and for that reason it was thought proper to divide also the remaining lines like verses. Every word must be considered as consisting of one syllable or sound, even if we write it with three or four vowels. Poetry is perhaps more esteemed in China, than in any other country in the world. The late governor-general of Kwang tung and Kwang se, his Excellency Yuen, published the poems of his daughter, who died when only nineteen years of age. Most of the emperors of China wrote verses, and I have, if I remember rightly, an imperial collection printed at the command of Këa king of many volumes, containing the poetry of the crowned heads of China. The reader may easily imagine that the Chinese have many works on poetry; I am also in possession of a Chinese Gradus ad Parnassum in ten large volumes, in which are to be found, divided under different heads, all the fine expression and poetical images of the classical poets. Mr. Davis has given some excellent specimens of Chinese poetry in his elegant dissertation on that subject.]

BOOK SECOND

1809. (1 r.)

On the thirteenth day of the ninth moon our Admiral Tsuen mow sun mustered about eighty vessels to go to Shaou wan, and obstruct the passage. The pirates heard of these preparations, and on the night of the fourteenth every vessel of the different flags was ordered to go to Shaou wan. Their order was, that being within ten le from the place, they should stop and prepare themselves to begin the battle when it was dark. From the first night watch the cannon began to fire, and only ceased with(1 v.) daylight. At the end of the day the cannon were again roaring without any intermission, and the country people mounted on the green Lo shang, to look at the progress of the fight. They saw the wrecks of vessels floating on the sea, the waves were rolling, the bullets flying, and the cries of dying people mounted to the skies. The vallies re-echoed the noise; beasts and birds[78 - Verbally "monkeys and birds," a sort of birds which according to Dr. Morrison are something similar to our crows.] started alarmed, and found no place where they might repose themselves. The vessels were thrown into disorder, and our army was pressed down by the overpowering force of the enemy. Our commander lost four vessels, but the palisade before the village could not be taken, by which means it was protected against pillage. Our admiral said, "Since I cannot conquer these wicked pirates, I will blow myself up." In this manner the(2 r.) admiral and many other officers met their death.

1809.

On the twenty-fifth the pirates went to Hëang shan and to great Hwang po;[79 - In the memoirs concerning the south of the Mei ling mountains, three books (from 9-11 incl.) are filled up with a description of the seas, rivers, and lakes, of the province of Canton. Book ninth begins with a general description of the Chinese seas, and of the different entrances from the sea-side; then follows a particular description of the sea near Canton and Hainan, and of the different Tides at various places. The mariner would certainly be gratified by a translation of this part of the work. The translator has often remarked the extraordinary phenomenon of the fiery appearance of the sea, during his residence in China. In the before-mentioned work, b. ix. p. 5 v, we read the following notice concerning this phenomenon:"The fire in the sea: It happens sometimes that sea waves have such a luminous appearance, as if the whole sea were full of fire. If you cast any thing into the sea, it becomes luminous like a star; but you do not see this during moonlight. Wood having in itself no fire, receives a fiery appearance, after having been passed through the water."In b. x. p. 10 r. Whampo is said to be seventy le from the sea custom-house of Canton. In this extract foreigners are in general very unfavourably spoken of. Amongst other things we are told, "that foreigners or barbarians drink so much strong liquor that they are not able to stand on their feet; they fall down intoxicated, and before having had a sound sleep, they cannot rise again." It is also remarked in the same article that many people assemble together at Whampo, to attend the trade with the foreigners; the reason probably why our author calls it "the Great." The reader will remember what has been said on Hëang shan in a former note; I will only here add the remark of Martini, "that in his time the principal and most wealthy merchants lived in that place." (Thévenot, Rélations de divers voyages, iii. 167.)] they took possession of the inside and the outside passage of Hwang po, so that the boat-people,[80 - It is well known that a great part of the population of China live on the water, and they are generally called Tan (9832) people; – a word which in the Canton dialect is pronounced Tanka. They are quite a separate race, and harshly dealt with by the Chinese government. There exist particular works concerning the history, the customs and laws of these boat-people. They more than once opposed the despotic regulation of their masters, and government was always afraid they might join the pirates. The history of the southern barbarians in the often quoted Memoirs, &c. begins with a description of the Tan jin, or Tanka people, and it is there said that they are divided into three different classes. The description of their customs and manners is very interesting, and I hope soon to lay it before the English reader. It has been supposed that the name Tanka people is derived from the form of their boats, which is similar to an egg; but Shwŏ wăn, as quoted in Kang he, explains the word only by Nan fang e yay, Barbarians of the southern region. There exist different forms of this character, but I think we should not presume to make an etymology of a Chinese character without being authorized by the Shwŏ wăn, the oldest and most genuine source of Chinese lexicography.] who stay outside on the coast, retired and came up to the town with their boats. The military officer Ting gaou ho being made acquainted with the arrival of the pirates, requested ten fishing boats from the town Hëang shan to assist the citizens and to help them in opposing the enemy. He posted himself before the town to protect it. Ting gaou behaved valiantly on the river; he headed his small fleet of fishing boats and opposed the pirates. There was incessant(2 v.) fighting day and night; but at last the numerous vessels of the pirates surrounded him on all sides, and Ting gaou ho received a severe wound in the back. He then addressed his comrades in the following words:

"Being on[Pg 55] the military station before this town, it was my intention to destroy the pirates, and for this reason I united with all the principal men to oppose them, without considering my own safety; – joyful I went to oppose the enemy. But not being able to destroy this immense number of banditti, I am now surrounded with all my principal men; and being deficient in power, I will die. Death could not move me, but I fear the cruel behaviour of the banditti; I fear that if the battle come to its highest summit, our fathers and mothers, our wives and sons, will be taken captives. United with the principal men of the town, we cannot destroy the pirates, neither protect the country, our(3 r.) families, nor our own firesides, – but the circumstances being desperate, we must do our utmost."[81 - In the Chinese text is King king (the character is composed out of radical fire and ear), on which is to be found an interesting critical observation in Kang he, s. v. b. viii. p. 119r. In no other oriental language has there been so much done by the natives for the foreign student as by the Chinese.]

1809.

They now again rushed against the pirates and killed many of them; but their strength being exhausted, the ten fishing boats were taken, and great Hwang po given up to be plundered. The citizens retired to their intrenchments, and made such vigorous resistance that the pirates could not make them captives. Chang paou therefore ordered O po tae and Leang po paou to make an attack on both sides, on the front and the rear at once; so the citizens sustained a great defeat, and about a hundred of them were killed. A placard was then posted up in the town, admonishing the citizens that they being unable to resist the enemy, must, under these cruel circumstances, send messengers to make terms with the pirates. This(3 v.) being done, the pirates withdrew.

1809.

The wife of Ching yih then ordered the pirates to go up the river; she herself remaining with the larger vessels in the sea to blockade the different harbours or entrances from the sea-side; but the government officers made preparations to oppose her. There were about this time three foreign vessels returning to Portugal.[82 - The most common denomination for Portugal is now Se yang kwŏ, or more correctly Siao se yang kwŏ. "The small realm in the western ocean; Europe is called Ta se yang." (See Preface.) I thought it here more proper to translate E by foreigner, than by barbarian. In a Chinese history of Macao, we find various particulars regarding the Portuguese. The description of the Portuguese clergy and the Roman Catholic religion is the most interesting part of this curious publication. It consists of two parts, or volumes.] Yĭh's wife attacked them, took one vessel, and killed about ten of the foreigners; the two other vessels escaped. The Major Pang noo of Hëang shan about this time fitted out a hundred vessels to attack the pirates; he had before hired six foreign vessels, and the two Portuguese ships, which had before run away, united also with him. Yĭh's wife, seeing that she had not vessels enough, and that she might be surrounded, ordered a greater number to her assistance.(4 r.) She appointed Chang paou to command them, and sail up the river; but to keep quiet with his squadron till he saw the Chang lung, or government vessels come on. On the third of the tenth moon the government vessels went higher up the river, and Chang paou following and attacking them, the foreign vessels sustained a great loss, and all the other vessels then ran away. The foreigners showed themselves very courageous; they petitioned the mayor of Hëang shan to place himself at the head of the foreign vessels, to go and fight the pirates. Pang noo having for some time considered their request, inspected on the tenth of the same month the six foreign vessels, their arms and provisions, and went out into the sea(4 v.) to pursue the pirates.

About this time Chang paou had collected his force at Ta yu shan near Chih leih keŏ, and the foreign vessels went thither to attack him. About the same time the admiral, Tsuen mow sun, collected a hundred vessels, and joined the foreigners to attack the pirates. On the thirteenth they spread out their lines, and fought during two days and two nights, without either party proving victorious. On the fifteenth one of the officers went forward with some large vessels to attack the pirates, but he was very much hurt by the fire of the guns; his vessel was lost, and about ten men were killed and many others wounded, – after this, the whole fleet retired. They however again commenced fighting on the sixteenth, but being unable to withstand the pirates, one vessel more was lost.[83 - It would be interesting to read the Portuguese version of these skirmishes. A history of these skirmishes was printed at Lisbon, but I could not procure this publication. The reader may compare the statements of Richard Glasspoole in the Appendix.]