Among Malay Pirates : a Tale of Adventure and Peril

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER XI.

  After the meal was concluded, the captain said to the chief:

  "Now, Hassan, we want to know how it was that you arrived at the nick oftime to save my officers' lives."

  "I had been watching for some days," the chief said quietly. "When Iheard that many chiefs had joined Sehi Pandash, I said 'I must go andhelp my white brothers,' but I dared not take many men away from here,and as I had to hide, the fewer there were with me the better; so I camedown into the forest near Sehi's town, and found the wood full of men.We had come down in sampans, so that I could send off messengers asmight be required. One of these I sent down to you, to warn you to beprepared for an attack. Other messengers I had sent before from here;but they must have been caught and killed, for I had been watchedclosely when they found that I would not join against you.

  "When my last messenger returned, I was glad; I knew that you would beon your guard, and would not be caught treacherously. Two of my menwere in the town when they began to fire on the ship, and I saw thetown destroyed, and followed Sehi to the place where the six prahus werelying, and crossed the creek, and lay down in the woods near the villageon the other side; for I thought that something might happen. One of mymen went down in the night, and brought me news that the ship was gone.As my messenger had told me that you had questioned him as to the otherentrance to the creek, I felt sure that you had gone there; so I was notsurprised when, just before daybreak, two guns were fired. We saw thefight, the sinking of two of their vessels, and the attack by the waterpirates, and by the men of the rajah and the chiefs with him, and Ifeared greatly that my friends would be overpowered.

  "I sent one of my men down to the mouth of the creek, to tell you howmuch aid was wanted; but he saw the ship steaming up as he went, and socame back to me. Then we heard the ship's great guns begin to fire, andsoon all was quiet where the fight had been going on. Then I saw theother four boats start. One of them sank before she was out of sight,and I soon heard that your ship had sunk another, and that two had gotaway. It was not for another two days that I learned where they were,and then I heard that they had gone into a creek twenty miles away;there one had sunk, and the other had been joined by the two prahus thathad been far up the river; and I also learned that one of Sehi's menhad gone into the village and let himself be captured, so that he mightguide the ship's boats to the place where, as they thought, they wouldfind but one prahu, while three would be waiting for them. I was notsure where the exact place was, for there are many creeks, but, with oneof my men, I rowed in a sampan all night, in hopes to arrive in timeto warn the boats; but it was not till I heard the firing that I knewexactly where they were.

  "When I got there the fighting was over, and but one prahu had escaped,and I learned from the men who had swum ashore from those that had beensunk that one of the English boats had been destroyed, and many menkilled, but that two boats had gone down the creek again. It was alsosaid that the white officers and sailors had boarded the boat that hadescaped, and had been all killed. I thought it best to follow the prahu,so that I could send word to you where she was to be found. As therewere many passages, it was difficult to find her, and I should have losther altogether had I not heard where Sehi was hiding, and guessed thatshe would go there. It was late when I arrived at the village. Thereone of my men learned that two young officers, who had been wounded, hadbeen brought there, and that Sehi was sending word to you that, unlessyou gave him the conditions he asked, they would be put to death.

  "I did not know whether to send down to you, or to send up the river forhelp; but I thought the last was best, for if you came in boats, thenSehi's men would hear you, and the officers would be killed; so I sentoff my man with the sampan. I told him that he must not stop until hegot here. He must tell them that all my men, except fifty old ones whowere to guard the village, were to start in their canoes, and paddletheir hardest till they came within half a mile of the village, and hewas to come back with them to guide them, and I was to meet them. Asthe prahus that had been up there were destroyed, the river was safefor them to descend. I said that they must be at the point I namedlast evening. They were two hours late, though they had paddled theirhardest. As soon as they disembarked I led them to the spot, and therest was easy. I knew that the prisoners who had been taken were my twofriends, for I saw them on the deck of the prahu; and glad indeed I wasto be able to pay my debt to them."

  "You have paid it indeed most nobly, Hassan," the captain said,holding out his hand, and grasping that of the chief, when, sentence bysentence, the story was translated to him. "Little did we think, whenyou were brought on board the Serpent, that your friendship would turnout of such value to us."

  There was now some discussion as to the proposed meeting of chiefs; andhalf an hour after, a dozen small canoes started with invitations to thevarious chiefs to meet the captain at Hassan's campong, with assurancesthat he was ready to overlook their share in the attack on the ship, andbe on friendly terms with them, and that the safety of each who attendedwas guaranteed, whether he was willing to be on good terms with theEnglish or not. Four days later, the meeting took place in the newlyerected hall. Ten or twelve of the chiefs attended; others, whohad taken a leading part as Sehi's allies, did not venture to comethemselves, but sent messages with assurances of their desire to be onfriendly terms. A good deal of ceremonial was observed. The marines andbluejackets were drawn up in line before the hall, which was decoratedwith green boughs; a Union jack waved from a pole in front of it.

  The chiefs were introduced by Hassan to the captain. The former thenaddressed them, rehearsing the service that the English had done to themby destroying the power of the tyrant who had long been a scourge tohis neighbors, and who intended, without doubt, to become master of thewhole district. As a proof of the good will of the English towards theMalays, he related how the two English officers had leaped into thewater to save his child, and how kindly he himself had been treated.Then the captain addressed them through the interpreter. He told themthat he had only been sent up the river by the Governor in accordancewith an invitation from Sehi, of whose conduct he was ignorant, toundertake the protectorate of his district; and that, on learning histrue character, he at once reported to the Governor that the rajah wasnot a proper person to receive protection, as not only did he preventtrade and harass his neighbors, but was the owner of a number ofpiratical craft, that often descended the river and plundered the coast.

  "England," he went on, "has no desire whatever to take under herprotection any who do not earnestly desire it, and who are not willing,in return, to promote trade, and keep peace with their neighbors;nor can she make separate arrangements with minor chiefs. It was onlybecause she understood that Sehi ruled over a considerable extent ofterritory, and was all powerful in this part, that his request waslistened to.

  "I shall shortly return down the river," he said, "and have no thoughtor intention of interfering in any way with matters here. I wish toleave on good terms with you all, and to explain to you that it is toyour interest to do all in your power to further trade, both by sendingdown your products to the coast, and by throwing no hindrance in the wayof the products of the highlands coming down the river, charging, at theutmost, a very small toll upon each boat that passes up and down. Itis the interest of all of you, of the people of the hills, and ofourselves, that trade should increase. Now that Sehi is dead and hispeople altogether dispersed and all his piratical craft destroyed, withthe exception of the one captured by Hassan, there is no obstruction totrade, and you are free from the fear that he would one day eat you up.

  "Be assured that there is nothing to be feared from us. You all know howgreatly the States protected by us have flourished and how wealthy theirrajahs have become from the increase of cultivation and the cessationof tribal wars. If in the future all the chiefs of this district shoulddesire to place themselves under English protection, their request willbe considered; but there is not the slightest desire on the part of theGovernor to assume further
responsibility, and he will be well satisfiedindeed to know that there is peace among the river tribes, security fortrade, and a large increase in the cultivation of the country and in itsprosperity."

  There was a general expression of satisfaction and relief upon the faceof the chiefs, as, sentence by sentence, the speech was translated tothem; and, one by one, they rose after its conclusion, and expressedtheir hearty concurrence with what had been said.

  "We know," one of them said, "that these wars do much harm; but if wequarrel, or if one ill treats another, or encourages his slaves to leavehim, or ravages his plantations, what are we to do?"

  "That I have thought of," the captain said. "I have spoken with thechief Hassan, and he has agreed to remove with his people to the spotwhere Sehi's town stood. There, doubtless, he will be joined by Sehi'sformer subjects, who cannot but be well pleased at being rid of a tyrantwho had forcibly taken them under his rule. He will retain the prahuthat he has taken, and will use it to keep the two rivers free ofrobbers, but in no other respect will he interfere with his neighbors.His desire is to cultivate the land, clear away the forest, andencourage his people to raise products that he can send down the riverto trade with us. He will occupy the territory only as far as the creekthat runs between the two rivers. I propose that all of you shall cometo an agreement to submit any disputes that may arise between you to hisdecision, swearing to accept his judgment, whichever way it may go. Thisis the way in which the disputes are settled in our country. Both sidesgo before a judge, and he hears their statements and those of theirwitnesses, and then decides the case; and even the government of thecountry is bound by his decision. I don't wish you to give me any replyas to this. I make the suggestion solely for your own good, and it isfor you to talk it over among yourselves, and see if you cannot all cometo an agreement that will put a stop to the senseless wars, and enableyour people to cultivate the land in peace, and to obtain all thecomforts that arise from trade."

  A boat had been sent down to the ship, and this returned with a numberof the articles that had been put on board her as presents for Sehi andother chiefs. These were now distributed. A feast was then held, and thenext morning the chiefs started for their homes, highly gratified withthe result of the meeting. On the following day, the British boatsalso took their way down the river, followed by the prahu, with aconsiderable number of Hassan's men, who were to clear away the ruinsof Sehi's campong, to bury the dead still lying among them, and to erecthuts for the whole community. The Serpent remained for a week oppositethe town; a considerable quantity of flour, sugar, and other usefulstores being landed for the use of Hassan's people. Dr. Horsley wasgladdened by Hassan's promise that his people should be instructed tosearch for specimens of birds, butterflies, and other insects, and thatthese should be treated according to his instructions, and should befrom time to time, as occasion offered, sent down to him in large casesto Singapore. To the two midshipmen the chief gave krises of the finesttemper.

  "I have no presents to give you worthy of your acceptance," he said;"but you know that I shall never forget you, and always regard you asbrothers. I intend to send twelve of my young men down to Penang, thereto live for three years and learn useful trades from your people. Thedoctor has advised me also to send Bahi, and has promised to find acomfortable home for her, where she will learn to read and write yourlanguage and many other useful things. It is hard to part with her;but it is for her good and that of her people. If you will write to mesometimes, she will read the letters to me and write letters to you inreturn, so that, though we are away from each other, we may know thatneither of us has forgotten the other."

  Bahi and twelve young Malays were taken to Penang in the Serpent, wherethe doctor found a comfortable home for her with some friends of his,to whom payment for her board and schooling was to be paid by Hassanin blocks of tin, which he would obtain from boats coming down from thehills in exchange for other articles of trade. The Malays were placedwith men of their own race belonging to the protected States, andsettled as carpenters, smiths, and other tradesmen in Penang. Threeyears later, they and Bahi were all taken back in the Serpent to theirhome.

  The river was acquiring considerable importance from the great increaseof trade. They found Hassan's town far more extensive and flourishingthan it had been in the time of its predecessor. The forest had beencleared for a considerable distance round it, the former inhabitants hadreturned, tobacco, sugar canes, cotton, pepper, and other crops whoseproducts were useful for trade purposes, were largely cultivated, whileorchards of fruit trees had been extensively planted. Hassan reportedthat tribal wars had almost ceased, and that disputes were in almostall cases brought for his arbitration. Owing to the abolition of alloppressive tolls, trade from the interior had very largely increased, agreat deal of tin, together with spices and other products, now findingits way down by the river. Hassan was delighted with the progress Bahihad made, and ordered that three or four boys should at once be placedfor instruction under each of the men who had learned trades at Penang.

  There was much regret on both sides when the Serpent again starteddown the river; for it was known that she would not return, as in a fewmonths she would be sent to a Chinese station, and from there wouldgo direct to England. The composition of her crew was already somewhatchanged. Lieutenant Ferguson had received his promotion for the fightwith the prahus, and had been appointed to the command of a gunboatwhose captain had been invalided home. Lieutenant Hopkins was now theSerpent's first lieutenant, and Morrison was second. Harry Parkhurst wasthird lieutenant, Dick Balderson, to the regret of both, having left theship on his promotion, and having been transferred as third lieutenantto Captain Ferguson's craft. Both have since kept up a correspondencewith Bahi, who has married a neighboring chief, and who tells themthat the river is prospering greatly, and that, although he assumes noauthority, her father is everywhere regarded as the paramount chief ofthe district. From time to time each receives chests filled with spices,silks, and other Malay products, and sends back in return Europeanarticles of utility to the rajah, for such is the rank that Hassan hasnow acquired on the river.

  BEARS AND DACOITS A TALE OF THE GHAUTS