1809.
On the sixth moon, the admiral Ting kwei heu went to sea. Wishing to sail eastward, but falling in with heavy rains for some days, he stopped near Kwei këa mun,[57] and engaged in settling concerning his ballast. On the eighth day of this moon, Chang paou, availing himself of the bad weather, explored the station in a small boat and passed the place. Ting kwei was right in thinking that the pirates would not undertake any thing during these heavy rains; but he was careless regarding what might happen after it. Indeed, as the weather cleared up on the morning of the ninth, Chang paou appeared suddenly before the admiral, and formed a line(13 r.) of two hundred vessels. Ting kwei having no sails ready, and all the ships being at anchor, could by no means escape the pirates. The officers, being afraid of the large number of the enemy, stood pale with apprehension near the flagstaff, unwilling to fight. The admiral spoke to them in a very firm manner, and said: "By your fathers and mothers, by your wives and children, do your duty; fight and destroy these robbers. Every man must die: but should we be so happy as to escape, our rewards from government will be immense. Should we fall in the defence of our country, think that the whole force of the empire will be roused, and they will try by all means to destroy these banditti." They now all united together in a furious attack, and sustained(13 v.) it for a long time: Ting kwei fired his great guns,[58] and wounding the ringleader, nicknamed The Jewel of the whole crew, he fell down dead.
1809.
The pirates were now at a loss how to proceed; but they received succour, while the force of our commander diminished every moment. About noon Paou drew nearer to the vessel of Ting kwei, attacked her with small arms, and sustained a great loss. But Leang po paou suddenly boarded the vessel, and the crew was thrown into disorder. Ting kwei seeing that he was unable to withstand, committed suicide; while an immense number of his men perished in the sea, and twenty-five vessels were lost.
1809.
Our former deputy-governor Pih ling was about this time removed from his situation in the three Këang to become governor-general of the two Kwang.[59] People said, now that Pih(14 r.) comes we shall not be overpowered by the pirates. Old men crowded about the gates of the public offices to make enquiries; the government officers appeared frightened and held consultations day and night, and the soldiers were ordered by a public placard to hold themselves ready to march. "Since the death of Wang pëaou," it was said, "all commanders were unfortunate. Last year Kwŏ lang lin was killed in the battle at Ma chow; Tsuen mow sun was unlucky at Gaou kow, Url lin ran away like a coward at Lang pae, and now Ting kwei has(14 v.) again been routed at Kwei këa. If the valiant men let their spirits droop, and the soldiers themselves become frightened at these repeated defeats, the pirates will certainly overpower us at last; we can really not look for any assistance to destroy them. We must try to cut off all provisions, and starve them." In consequence of this, all vessels were ordered to remain, or to return into harbour, that the pirates might not have any opportunity to plunder, and thus be destroyed by famine. The government officers being very vigilant about this regulation, the pirates were not able to get provisions for some months; they became at last tired of it, and resolved to go into the river itself.[60]
1809.
The pirates came now into the river by three different passages.[61] The wife of Ching yĭh plundered about Sin hwy, Chang paou about Tung kwan,[62] and O po tae about Fan yu[63] and Shun tih, and all other smaller places connected(15 r.) with Shun tih; they were together explored by the pirates, who guarded the passage from Fan to Shun.
1809.
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] 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] 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?"