“The intense interest and excitement caused by our arrival home may still be remembered. It being nearly calm, as we approached the harbor we were boarded several miles outside by crowds of people, all anxious to learn the most minute particulars of our sad misfortune, the news of which had proceeded us by the arrival of a China ship at New York which we had met at St. Helena. The curiosity of some of our visitors was so great that they would not be satisfied until they knew the exact spot where every man stood, who was either killed or wounded. Even the casing of the cabin, so much cut up in search of money or other valuables, was an object of the greatest interest.
“But the feeling of presumptuous exultation and proud defiance exhibited by the natives, was of brief duration. The avenger was at hand. In something less than a year after this outrage, the U. S. Frigate, Potomac, Com. Downes, appeared off the port of Qualah Battoo, and anchored in the outer roads, disguised as a merchantman. Every boat which visited her from the shore was detained that her character might not be made known to the natives. Several amusing anecdotes were told, of the fear and terror exhibited in the countenances of the natives, when they so unexpectedly found themselves imprisoned within the wooden walls of the Potomac, surrounded by such a formidable armament, which bespoke the errand that had attracted her to their shores. They prostrated themselves at full length upon her decks, trembling in the most violent manner, and appearing to think nothing but certain death awaited them.
“A reconnoitering party was first sent on shore, professedly for the purpose of traffic. But when they approached, the natives came down to the beach in such numbers that it excited their suspicions that the frigate’s character and errand had somehow preceded her, and it was considered prudent not to land. Having, therefore, examined the situation of the forts and the means of defence, they returned to the Potomac. The same night some 300 men, under the guidance of Mr. Barry, the former second officer of the Friendship, who was assistant sailing-master of the frigate, landed to the westward of the place with the intention of surprising the forts and the town, but by some unaccountable delay the morning was just breaking when the detachment had effected a landing, and as they were marching along the beach towards the nearest fort, a Malay came out of it, by whom they were discovered and an alarm given.
“They pushed on, however, and captured the forts by storm after some hard fighting, and set fire to the town which was burnt to ashes. The natives, not even excepting the women, fought with great desperation, many of whom would not yield until shot down or sabred on the spot. The next day the frigate was dropped in within gunshot, and bombarded the place, to impress them with the power and ability of the United States to avenge any act of piracy or other indignity offered by them to her flag.
“When I visited the coast again, some five months after this event, I found the deportment of the natives materially changed. There was now no longer exhibited either arrogance or proud defiance. All appeared impressed with the irresistible power of a nation that could send such tremendous engines of war as the Potomac frigate upon their shores to avenge any wrongs committed upon its vessels, and that it would be better policy for them to attend to their pepper plantations and cultivate the arts of peace, than subject themselves to such severe retribution as had followed this act of piracy upon the Friendship.
“Perhaps, in justice to Po Adam, I ought to remark that the account circulated by his countrymen of his conniving at, if not being actually connected with this piracy (a falsehood with which they found the means of deceiving several American shipmasters soon after the affair), is a base calumny against a worthy man, and has no foundation whatever in truth. The property he had in my possession on board the ship, in gold ornaments of various kinds, besides money, amounting to several thousand dollars, all of which he lost by the capture of the ship and never recovered, bears ample testimony to the falsity of this charge. His countrymen also worked upon the avarice and cupidity of the king by misrepresentations of his exertions to recover the ship, thereby preventing them from making him a present of her which they pretended was their intention. His sable majesty, in consequence, absolved every one of Po Adam’s debtors, all along the coast, from paying him their debts. He also confiscated all his property he could find, such as fishing-boats, nets and lines and other fishing tackle, and appropriated the proceeds to his own use, so that Po Adam was at once reduced to penury. All this was in accordance with commodore Bieulieu’s account, upwards of two hundred years before, viz: ‘If they ever suspect that any one bears them an ill will, they endeavor to ruin him by false accusations.’
“The king also sent a small schooner down the coast, soon after, to reap further vengeance upon Po Adam. Arriving at Pulo Kio, while Adam was absent, they rifled his fort of everything valuable and even took the ornaments, such as armlets and anklets, off the person of his wife. Intelligence having been conveyed to Po Adam of this outrage, he arrived home the night before the schooner had left the harbor, and incensed, as it was natural he should be, at such base and cowardly treatment, he immediately opened a fire upon her and sunk her in nine feet of water. She was afterwards fished up by the Potomac frigate and converted into firewood.
“We do not know if Po Adam is now living, but some sixteen years since, we saw a letter from him to one of our eminent merchants, Joseph Peabody, Esq., of Salem, Mass., asking for assistance from our citizens and stating truthfully all the facts in his case. I endeavored at the time, through our representative to Congress, to bring the matter before that body but from some cause it did not succeed, and the poor fellow has been allowed to live, if not die, in his penury. We will, however, permit him to state his own case, in his own language, which he does in the following letter, written at his own dictation:
“‘Qualah Battoo, 7th October, 1841. Some years have passed since the capture of the Friendship, commanded by my old friend, Capt. Endicott.
“‘It perhaps is not known to you, that, by saving the life of Capt. Endicott, and the ship itself from destruction, I became, in consequence, a victim to the hatred and vengeance of my misguided countrymen; some time since, the last of my property was set on fire and destroyed, and now, for having been the steadfast friend of Americans, I am not only destitute, but an object of derision to my countrymen.