Doing his best to ensure that he could not be seen he flashed the pre-arranged signal out to sea but there was no answering flash of light. He waited for half an hour and tried once more but again no reply. By now he was getting worried but he persevered until finally after several hours he saw the answering flash from the dhow, closer inshore than he expected. He turned to fetch his companion but found him close by. “I couldn’t sleep Gupta so I watched with you.” Only a few moments later the small dhow appeared through the gloom and anchored. The two men thankfully waded out to it and climbed aboard, exhausted, and the three seamen promptly raised the sail and headed out to sea.
After a quick bite to eat and a very welcome drink, followed by an attempt to clean up and with clean clothes, Merryweather ordered them to sail back to Bombay, keeping a watch out for the sloop that had set them off on their journey. Then he and Gupta crawled under a spare sail and a pile of nets and were soon asleep.
Chapter 20 – Pirate leader desperate
The Dutchman Den Bosch was restless and worried although one wouldn’t know it to look at him, leaning back in a reclining chair with his feet up on a stool and with a glass of punch in one hand and a cigar in the other. He was alone except for the servant squatting in the corner of the veranda waiting patiently and silently for his next order. The view from the veranda was magnificent, blue sky and blue sea breaking on the golden sandy beach where native fishermen were mending their nets and working on their boats. With a gentle breeze off the sea to keep him cool, what else could be needed for a tropical paradise? Women maybe, but he was not attracted to any of those he came across.
But in spite of all that the Dutchman was restless. In his bungalow in a small native village by a small inlet in the north of the Maldive Islands he was more unsettled than ever. Having heard of the loss of so many of his pirate ships in the two attacks on his ships on the Malabar Coast. “It must be that new Royal Navy frigate that has put some backbone into the Company ships curse it, I must find out more about it”
Now the Dutchman had his own sources of information, provided by some disaffected coolies or clerks in the East India Company’s offices, even one senior man, or in several of the small villages and harbours and trading posts along the coast. He had moved further north from the Seychelles, and then on to the Maldives to the small harbour where his ships now lay but it had been a long time since anything was reported and then word had arrived that the British warship had appeared. As usual he had his dhows out looking for prey, but they had found nothing for weeks and they were all becoming bored. And now the damned Frenchman Dumont had been lost with two ships of his squadron, following the losses in the previous weeks it was too much. The surviving two ships had reported that when a ship had been seen they had moved in to attack but realised too late that it was a frigate ready for action and Dumont had been lost. He had heard nothing from his man in Bombay which was strange. He had been told that the Company was gathering a convoy together to sail in the next few days but nothing more. Eventually he had received warning from fishermen that the convoy was passing the Maldives and he sent fourteen dhows after it, expecting rich pickings.
And now there was even worse news. A single ship had returned from the fourteen he had sent out after the convoy, all the captain could tell him was that they had been outclassed and beaten by four frigates and a brig guarding that convoy and none of his ships and men had survived. Until now Den Bosch had been the main pirate captain and had no difficulty in finding men to crew his dhows and other ships but with news of these losses of both ships and men his reputation had received a severe blow. He must do better next time or he was finished. He resolved to send some of his men northward, even as far as Bombay, to offer his spies more money for worthwhile information or death if they failed to keep him informed. And, he wondered, would his small fleet be safe in the Maldives? The small dhows would be alright, passing themselves off as simple fishermen but his frigate and the biggest dhows were too big to hide. All the islands were low lying with no hill or dunes rising more than eight or ten feet above the sea level so concealment was impossible. The more he thought about it he realised that the English ship and company ships would probably come looking for him here. They would have realised that the attack had happened soon after they had passed the Maldives and his ships must have been waiting there. “Damn them all, he would have to move, but where? It must be further east, Ceylon perhaps, they wouldn’t chase him that far, would they?” No sooner had he decided than he gave orders to his captains to be ready to sail. The smallest of the dhows could be left behind to tell him what was happening.
Chapter 21 – Next target surveyed
The Lord Stevenage and the other ships were approaching the latitude of the southern coast of India when Merriman, taking his customary walk on the quarterdeck suddenly stopped dead as a thought struck him. He stood for a moment then continued walking mulling over his new idea, whilst tugging on his ear as was usual when deep in thought. The others on deck watched him, hardly daring to move for fear of interrupting his train of thought, knowing that their captain often came up with new ideas when walking.
Merriman turned to the officer of the watch, “Mr. Shrigley, after we have all breakfasted, signal all ships to heave to and captains and first lieutenants to come aboard. When they get here I want all my officers to join them in my cabin.”
“Aye-aye Sir,” said Shrigley and then, greatly daring said “I think you must have thought of a good plan to show our teeth again to our enemies.”
“Yes Alfred I hope I have. I’ll tell you when we are all together.” He disappeared below and found Peters setting out his breakfast, a plain breakfast as all the fresh bread and vegetables had been finished, but he relished his black coffee and hard bread with some kind of Indian preserve spread on it. Breakfast over and the table cleared he spread out the chart of the southern Malabar Coast showing many small inlets and rivers. The sailing master’s charts and notes, with additions made by Captain Egerton, were surprisingly clear and he knew instantly what his orders would be. He continued to refine his plan and was deep in thought when the marine sentry banged his musket on the deck and announced “Midshipman of the watch Sir.” It was Gideon Small who burst in and excitedly said “Lieutenant Shrigley’s compliments Sir and the other captains are nearly here Sir and will you come on deck.” He seemed to say all that in a gabble and without drawing breath
“Thank you Mr. Small, now make your report again, slower and more distinctly this
time, and stand up straight when you do.”
The red faced and crestfallen midshipman replied “Yes Sir, sorry Sir,” before he repeated the message. “Very well Mr. Small, back on deck with you, I’ll be up directly.”
Each of the three captains and their lieutenants were welcomed aboard with all the usual ceremony with two lines of marines presenting arms and Boatswain’s whistles clear and shrill. The first to appear over the side was Captain Egerton, raising his hat to Merriman and his officers who acknowledged him. When all had arrived Merriman asked them down to the great cabin, his own officers followed except for Lieutenant Weston and the midshipman who were on watch.
Please be seated Gentlemen, and remove your coats if you wish. It is too hot to stand on ceremony. Peters, serve the tea or coffee as each requires.” Peters and Tomkins bustled about and finally disappeared. “Now then Gentlemen I have been thinking again about the reason my ship is here. As I told you, we know that Tipu Sultan is building a fleet of warships in the hope of gaining control of the western coast but more importantly to help Napoleon and his army to reach India. That is the main reason, only secondly was I to help you deal with the pirates. On the way here my ship sank two pirate ships. Then in our first attack by Captain Anderson’s sloop we burned three more and in our attack on the harbour at Karwar we destroyed perhaps another eight or ten. And only a few days ago we sank thirteen more making a total of around twenty six. I believe that we have dealt them a serious blow and t
heir losses of men must have been enormous. Of course we haven’t seen anything of the larger vessels they are reported to have, perhaps one or two brigs and even a frigate.”
“Captain Merriman Sir, I agree that we have caused much trouble for the pirates but I don’t think the problem has been completely dealt with. It may take some time but I expect that they will eventually recruit more men and find some more ships. Many of the native people are living on the edge of poverty and piracy may seem to be the only way they can find to feed their families. As far as the pirates go I believe they have at least one frigate hidden somewhere. Earlier this year, April I believe it was, a French frigate named La Preneuse and another ship brought volunteers, I understand some hundred and fifty of them, from Ile de France, Mauritius we call it, to join Tipu’s army and help to train his army. That was earlier this year. The La Preneuse left, leaving the other behind somewhere, but where we don‘t know.”
“Maybe so Captain,” replied Merriman, “But you should be free of trouble for many weeks. Now I would like to tell you what I propose to do next. You will remember that we have a French prisoner aboard. Mr. Cuthbert the master and Mr. Grahame spent a long time questioning him and under threat of the hangman’s noose he was quite forthcoming about other harbours which pirates use but which are big enough for shipbuilding. Two of them are on the southern coast of India and they are Chettuva and Beypore. Do any of you know them Gentleman?”
“I know where they are Captain, occasionally we have patrolled along most of the coast but being so few of us we haven’t been able to inspect any of those southern harbours closely,” said Captain Egerton to murmurs of agreement and chattering from the Marine officers. Merriman cleared his throat loudly to get their attention and then said “What I propose Gentlemen is that we do investigate those harbours as closely as we can to see if we can find any warships being built and destroy them. If there are pirates there we will destroy them too.” More excited chattering followed Merriman’s comments until he raised his hand, “I know that it is not part of the duties of the Marine ships to go looking for Tipu’s fleet but I would appreciate your help.”
Egerton rose to his feet, looked round at the eager faces and said, “Captain Merriman Sir, since you arrived in Bombay we have seen more successful action than we have had in months, and you are to be thanked for that. I am convinced that the Company and the Governor would be only too pleased for us to do everything we can to help you. As the senior Marine officer I must say that I am prepared to put our ships entirely at your disposal Sir and looking at the faces around me I don’t think we shall have any lack of volunteers for whatever you wish to do Sir.”
There was more excitement and Egerton’s First Lieutenant Wilde, calling for quiet, said “Captain Merriman I think I speak for all Sir, we are all eager for more action and look forward to hearing your plans for us.”
“Thank you Gentlemen, I am most gratified by your comments. Mr. Andrews, please be good enough to unroll our chart.” That done and the chart held down by various items before it could roll itself up again, Merriman continued. “I believe that we are nearly opposite the place named Chettuva and we’ll start with that. You remember the raid we carried out at Karwar when we sent in the sloop to put a small party ashore at night to observe any activity there may be. My chart shows that the harbour here is behind a long narrow headland. Is that correct Captain?”
“Yes Sir it is. I took my ship up the river there a long time ago and saw a small shipyard there building small native craft. At that time the headland did not appear to very wide or very high, mostly sand dunes rising to a higher level at the end.
I remember thinking that that would be an excellent position to construct a fort to defend the entrance if one were needed.”
“Excellent. Then I propose that the sloop Clive, under Captain Johnson creeps as close to the shore as possible in the dark and three of your men with an officer, land and attempt to see exactly what is behind that headland now. Our bigger ships will stay well offshore and out of sight. Mr. Anderson, you must make sure that you recover your men and be out of sight of land before dawn. That is imperative. What we do next depends on what you find out. A lot rests on your report and on your shoulders. Any questions Gentlemen? No? Good, and remember that the unexpected always happens, as some writer put it.”
And so it was that the ships approached the land in the dark and hove-to, the sloop quietly crept inshore and anchored. A boat was lowered and the three men and Anderson’s Lieutenant Jamieson slipped ashore. They soon reached the top of a ridge of sand dunes from where the harbour lay before them. A rough road was behind the harbour leading off towards the end of the headland. What had been described as a small boatyard was now much bigger and by the light of a few lanterns scattered about it they could see a large ship under construction and piles of timber ready for use. Nobody seemed to be working but a few indistinct figures could be seen wandering about, probably guards. Jamieson decided it would be too risky to try and get any closer. They now knew what was happening and Jamieson had decided to leave when one of his men nudged him and pointed up river. The silhouetted shape of a ship could only just be seen, obviously anchored and with no lights showing. A few moments later the lieutenant was certain it was no bigger than a frigate, but whether it was armed and ready for sea he could not see. Certainly no masts could be seen against the high land behind it and Jamieson decided they had seen enough. Then he remembered Captain Egerton’s comments about a fort and he decided they must investigate further. It took only ten minutes or so to reach the end of the headland where they could see no sign of a fort although they found piles of stone and timber, doubtless ready for some sort of construction, most probably a fort.
Dawn was barely showing when they reached the sloop and climbed aboard. Anderson lost no time in heading off shore to find the other ships.
Chapter 22 – Shipyard attacked
“That is excellent news Lieutenant,” said Merriman when the report was passed on to him and the other officers gathered aboard Lord Stevenage, “Captain Egerton, when you sailed up the river there Sir, some time ago I believe you said, what would you say the average depth of water was?
“At any state of the tide there should be enough water to allow our frigates in Sir, but I don’t know if there are any new sandbars now. The river has not been sounded for a long time.”
“Very well Gentlemen, I don’t think it would be wise to risk our frigates in there but a smaller vessel could do so. From lieutenant Jamieson’s report I think we can do plenty of damage to the ships and shipyard and so this is what I propose to do tonight ………….!”
That night the sloop Clive crept up river to where the frigate was anchored. Fortunately the wind was blowing across the river and under reduced canvas the ship made slow progress until it was well past the anchored frigate to where Captain Anderson judged the position was right. In whispers he then ordered the ship put about and the ship then crept down river until near to the anchored frigate when he ordered the ready prepared stern anchor to be let go, quietly and all sails clewed up. The ship gently tugged at the anchor but he was pleased to see that the river’s flow was not too strong for what he had to do.
Meanwhile a party of sailors and marines from the Lord Stevenage landed on the beach of the headland with Merriman in the lead with Seaman Ted Jackson with him. Jackson had been a poacher before the press had swept him up and he had an uncanny ability to see in the dark. Merriman sent him ahead then waited with his men off the beach and in the sand dunes until Jackson came back. “It’s just like we were told Sir, not far ahead is a big dune and we can see the harbour from it.” “Good man, pass the word to advance, quietly now, until we are all in line as arranged, then we’ll wait for the signal.” The seamen were burdened with several kegs of gunpowder, fuses and combustibles and Merriman checked that they knew exactly what they had to do. Lieutenant Weston and Midshipman Hayward passed the word and then they settled down to wait.
&nb
sp; Aboard the sloop Captain Anderson checking his watch for the umpteenth time decided that enough time had elapsed for Merriman to get in position then he whispered to Lieutenant Clarkson to be ready with his party. “All ready Mr. Clarkson Sir, we know what we are going to do. If you can put us close enough we can climb aboard with all we need, it should provide a grand explosion Sir.”
Lieutenant Clarkson quietly issued the orders “Right men, let out that anchor cable slowly and quietly until we are alongside that ship then you men with the ropes tie us to the chains.” Slowly they let the sloop drift quietly down to the frigate and with hardly a bump fetched up alongside. Anderson and his men rapidly boarded with their bundles and kegs of gunpowder and disappeared into the darkness. Ten minutes later they appeared again and quickly climbed aboard their own ship.
“All done Sir, there was only one man aboard, a guard perhaps, fast asleep. We saw to it that he won’t wake up again. We put the explosives and the rest on the lower deck and against the side. I set the fuses for ten minutes Sir, so we should get away quickly. Oh, and that ship was only just built Sir, there were no partitions or fixings or guns aboard but I saw that all three lower masts had been stepped.” Anderson had already ordered the ties and the anchor cable cut and to the muffled thud of an axe the sloop was suddenly free with the Topmen racing aloft to set the topsails. The ship rapidly gathered way and under topsails and jibs was soon well away from the anchored frigate and round a bend in the river before the charges exploded.
The Threat in the East (The Merriman Chronicles Book 3) Page 10
