The ships and sailors of old Salem

by Ralph Delahaye Paine

“It appeared afterward, by the testimony of one of my crew, who was confined here, that the firing was so effectual that it dismounted their guns and split the carriages. The other two forts, situated at a greater distance from the beach, continued firing, and no progress was made towards recapturing the ship, which, after all, was our only object. It was now between three and four o’clock, and it was certain that if the Malays were allowed to hold possession of the ship much longer, they would either get her on shore or burn her. We then held a council of war on board the Monroe, and concluded to board her with as large a force as we could carry in three boats; and that the command of the expedition should, of course, devolve upon me. At this juncture the ship ceased firing. We observed a column of smoke rise from her decks abreast the mainmast, and there appeared to be great confusion on board. We subsequently ascertained that they had blown themselves up by setting fire to an open keg of powder from which they were loading the guns after having expended all the cartridges.

“The ship lay with her port side towards us, and, with the intention of getting out of the range of her guns, we pulled to the westward at an angle of some 33 deg., until we opened her starboard bow, when we bore up in three divisions for boarding, one at each gangway, and the other over the bows. We were now before the wind, and two oars in each boat were sufficient to propel them; the rest of the crew, armed to the teeth with muskets, cutlasses and pistols, sat quietly in their places, with their muskets pointed at the ship as the boats approached.

“The Malays now, for the first time, seemed to comprehend our design, and as we neared the ship, were struck with consternation, and commenced deserting her with all possible dispatch, and in the greatest confusion. The numerous boats of all descriptions alongside were immediately filled, and the others jumped overboard and swam for the shore. When we reached the ship, there was to all appearances no one on board. Still fearing some treachery, we approached her with the same caution, and boarded her, cutlasses in hand. Having reached her decks and finding them deserted, before we laid aside our arms a strict search was made with instructions to cut down any who should be found and give no quarter. But she was completely forsaken—not a soul on board.

“Her appearance, at the time we boarded her defies description; suffice it to say, every part of her bore ample testimony to the violence and destruction with which she had been visited. That many lives had been sacrificed her blood-stained decks abundantly testified. We found her within pistol shot of the beach, with most of her sails cut loose and flying from the yards. Why they had not succeeded in their attempts to get her on shore, was soon apparent. A riding turn on the chain around the windlass, which they were not sailors enough to clear, had no doubt prevented it. There had been evidently a fruitless attempt to cut it off. While we were clearing the chain, and preparing to kedge the ship off into the roads, the Malays, still bent upon annoying us and unwilling to abandon their prize, were seen drawing a gun over the sandy beach upon a drag directly under our stern, which, being fired, it jumped off the carriage and was abandoned. It was the work of a short time for us to kedge the ship off into deep water and anchor her in comparative security alongside the other ships in the roads.

“The next morning a canoe was seen approaching the James Monroe from Pulo Kio, with five or six men in her whom we took, as a matter of course, to be natives; but we were soon hailed from that ship, and informed that four of the number were a part of our own crew. Their haggard and squalid appearance bespoke what they had suffered. It would seem impossible that in the space of four days, men could, by any casualty, so entirely lose their identity. It was only by asking their names that I knew any of them. They were without clothing other than loose pieces of cotton cloth thrown over their persons, their hair matted, their bodies crisped and burnt in large, running blisters, besides having been nearly devoured by musquitos, the poison of whose stings had left evident traces of its virulence; their flesh wasted away, and even the very tones of their voices changed. They had been wandering about in the jungle without food ever since the ship was taken. Their account of the capture of the ship was as follows:

“When the pepper-boat came alongside, it was observed by the crew that all on board her were strangers. They were also better dressed than boatmen generally, all of them having on white or yellow jackets, and new ivory-handled kreises. No notice appeared to be taken of these suspicious circumstances by the mate, and all except two men, who were left to pass up pepper, were admitted indiscriminately to come on board. One of the crew, named Wm. Parnell, who was stationed at the gangway to pass along pepper, made some remark, to call the mate’s attention to the number of natives on board, and was answered in a gruff manner, and asked if he was afraid. ‘No,’ replied the man, ‘not afraid, but I know it to be contrary to the regulations of the ship.’

“He was ordered, with an oath, to pass along pepper and mind his own business. The natives were also seen by the crew sharpening their kreises upon the grindstone which stood upon the forecastle, and a man named Chester, who was subsequently killed while starting pepper down the fore hatch, asked them in pantomime what so many of them wanted on board and was answered in the same way, that they came off to see the ship. He was heard by one of the crew to say, ‘we must look out you do not come for anything worse,’ at the same time drawing a handspike within his reach.

The Malays had distributed themselves about the decks in the most advantageous manner for an attack, and at some preconcerted signal a simultaneous assault upon the crew was made in every part of the ship. Two Malays were seen by the steward to rush with their kreises upon Mr. Knight, who was very badly stabbed in the back and side, the weapons appearing to be buried in his body up to their very hilts. Chester at the fore hatch, notwithstanding his distrust and precaution, was killed outright and supposed to have fallen into the hold. The steward at the galley was also badly wounded, and was only saved from death by the kreis striking hard against a short rib, which took the force of the blow. Of the two men on the stage over the ship’s side, one was killed and the other so badly wounded as to be made a cripple for life.

“The chief officer was seen, after he was stabbed, to rush aft upon the starboard side of the quarterdeck and endeavor to get a boarding pike out of the beckets abreast the mizzen rigging, where he was met by Parnell to whom he exclaimed, ‘do your duty.’ At the same instant two or three Malays rushed upon him and he was afterwards seen lying dead near the same spot, with a boarding pike under him.

“On the instant the crew found the ship attacked, they attempted to get aft into the cabin for arms but the Malays had placed a guard on each side of the companionway which prevented them; they then rushed forward for handspikes and were again intercepted; and being completely bewildered, surprised and defenceless, and knowing that several of their shipmates had already been killed outright before their eyes, and others wounded, all who could swim plunged overboard, and the others took to the rigging or crept over the bows out of sight. The decks were now cleared and the pirates had full possession of the ship.