Chapter 15: The Pirates' Hold.
Sivagi, the founder of the Mahratta Empire, had, in 1662, seized andfortified Yijiyadrug; or, as the English call it, Gheriah, a town atthe mouth of the river Kanui, one hundred and seventy miles south ofBombay; and also the island of Suwarndrug, about half way betweenGheriah and Bombay. Here he established a piratical fleet. Fifty yearslater, Kanhagi Angria, the commander of the Mahratta fleet, broke offthis connection with the successors of Sivagi, and set up as a pirateon his own account. Kanhagi not only plundered the native vessels, butboldly preyed upon the commerce of the European settlements. The shipsof the East India Company, the French Company, and the Dutch werefrequently captured by these pirates.
Tulagi Angria, who succeeded his father, was even bolder and moresuccessful; and when the man-of-war brig, the Restoration, with twentyguns and two hundred men, was fitted out to attack him, he defeatedand captured her. After this, he attacked and captured the Frenchman-of-war Jupitre, with forty guns; and had even the insolence toassail an English convoy guarded by two men-of-war; the Vigilant, ofsixty-four guns, and the Ruby, of fifty.
The Dutch, in 1735, sent a fleet of seven ships of war, two bombvessels, and a strong body of troops against Gheriah. The attack was,however, repulsed with considerable loss. From that date the piratesgrew bolder and bolder, and were a perfect scourge to the commerce ofWestern India.
Charlie Marryat had, of course, frequently heard of the doings ofthese noted pirates, and the cry of "Tulagi Angria" at once explainedto him the terror of the master and crew.
"What is it, Mr. Charles, what on earth is the botheration about? Isit the little ships they're afeared of?"
"Those ships belong to a pirate called Tulagi Angria," Charlie said,"and I am very much afraid, Tim, that we are likely to see the insideof his fortress."
"But shure, yer honor, we're not afeared of those four little boats."
"We are, Tim, and very much afraid, too. Each of those boats, as youcall them, carries four or five times as many men as this ship. Theyare well armed, while we have only those two little guns, which areuseless except for show. If the crew were Englishmen, we might attempta defence, although even then the odds would be terribly against us;but with these natives, it is hopeless to think of it, and the attemptwould only ensure our throats being cut."
It was clear that the idea of resistance did never even enter theminds of the crew of the trader. Some ran to and fro, withgesticulations and cries of despair. Some threw themselves upon thedeck of the vessel, tore their hair, and rolled as if in convulsions.Some sat down quietly, with the air of apathetic resignation, withwhich the natives of India are used to meet what they consider theinevitable.
Hossein, who, at the first alarm, had bounded to his feet with hishand on his knife, subsided into an attitude of indifference, when hesaw that Charlie did not intend making any defence.
"It's mighty lucky," Tim said, "that yer honor left all your presentsto be forwarded to Madras. I thought you were wrong, Mr. Charles, whenyou advised me to send them thousand rupees the rajah gave me, alongwith your money. A hundred pounds wasn't a sum that Tim Kelly waslikely to handle again in a hurry, and it went agin the grain with me,to part with them out of my hands. Sure and it's well I took yerhonor's advice."
The four Sepoy officers also exchanged a few words with Charlie. They,too, would have resisted, had he given the word, hopeless though theeffort would have been. But they acquiesced, at once, in his decision.They had little to lose; but the thought of a prolonged captivity, andof being obliged, perhaps, to enter the service of the Mahrattafreebooters, just when about to return to their wives and families atMadras, was a terrible blow to them.
"Keep up your spirits," Charlie said. "It is a bad business, but wemust hope for the best. If we bide our time, we may see some chance ofescape. You had better lay down your arms in a pile, here. Then wewill sit down quietly, and await their coming on board. They will behere in a minute, now."
Scarcely had the seven passengers taken their seats in a group, on thepoop, when the freebooters ranged alongside, and swarmed over thesides onto the deck. Beyond bestowing a few kicks upon the crew, theypaid no attention whatever to them; but tore off the hatches, and atonce proceeded to investigate the contents of the hold. The greaterportion of this consisted of native grains, but there were severalbales of merchandise, consigned by traders at Calicut for Ceylon. Thecargo was, in fact, rather more valuable than that generally found ina native coaster, and the pirates were satisfied.
The leader of the party, leaving to his followers the task ofexamining the hold, walked towards the group on the poop. They rose athis approach.
"Who are you?" the Mahratta asked.
"I am an officer in the English Company's service," Charlie said, "asare these five natives. The other Englishman is a soldier, under myorders."
"Good," the Mahratta said, emphatically. "Tulagi Angria will be gladto have you. When your people capture any of our men, which is notoften, they hang them. Tulagi is glad to have people he can hang,too."
After being stripped of any small valuables on their persons, thecaptives were taken on board one of the pirate boats. A score of theMahrattas remained in charge of the trader. Her head was turned north,and, accompanied by the four Mahratta boats, she proceeded up thecoast again. Another trader was captured on the way, but two othersevaded the pirates, by running into the port of Calicut.
The trader was a slow sailer, and they were eight days before theyapproached Gheriah. Early in the morning a heavy cannonade was heardin the distance, causing the greatest excitement among the Mahrattas.Every sail was hoisted, the sweeps got out and, leaving the trader tojog along in their rear, the four light craft made their way rapidlyalong the coast. The firing became heavier and heavier, and as itbecame light, three large ships could be seen, about two miles ahead,surrounded by a host of smaller craft.
"That's a big fight, Mr. Charles," Tim exclaimed. "It reminds me ofthree big bulls in a meadow, attacked by a host of little curs."
"It does, Tim; but the curs can bite. What a fire they are keeping up.But those warships ought to thrash any number of them. Count theports, I can see them now."
"The biggest one," Tim said, "has got twenty-five."
"Yes; and the others eighteen and nine. They are two frigates, one offifty and the other of thirty-six guns; and a sloop of eighteen. Ican't make out the colours, but I don't think they're English."
"They're not English, yer honor," Tim said confidently, "or they wouldsoon make an end of them varmint that's tormenting them."
The scene, as the boats approached, was very exciting. The three shipswere pouring their broadsides, without intermission, into the piratefleet. This consisted of vessels of all sizes, from the Jupitre andRestoration, down to large rowing galleys. Although many were sunk,and more greatly damaged by the fire of the Dutch, they swarmed roundthe great ships with wonderful tenacity; and, while the larger vesselsfought their guns against those of the men-of-war, the smaller oneskept close to them, avoiding as much as possible their formidablebroadsides, but keeping up a perpetual musketry fire at their bulwarksand tops, throwing stink pots, and shooting burning arrows through theports; and getting alongside under the muzzles of the guns, and tryingto climb up into the ports.
The four newly arrived craft joined in the fray.
"This is mighty unpleasant, yer honor," Tim said, as a shot from oneof the Dutch men-of-war struck the craft they were in, crashing a holethrough her bulwarks, and laying five or six of her crew upon thedeck, killed or wounded by the splinters. "Here we are, in the middleof a fight in which we've no consarn whatever, and which is carried onwithout asking our will or pleasure; and we are as likely to be killedby a Christian shot, as these hathen niggers.
"Hear them yell, yer honor. A faction fight's nothing to it. Look, yerhonor, look! There's smoke curling up from a hatchway of the big ship.If they haven't set her afire!"
It was as Tim said. A cloud of black smoke was rising
from the Dutchfifty-gun frigate. A wild yell of triumph broke from the Mahrattas.The fire of their guns upon her redoubled, while that from theman-of-war died away, as the crew were called off to assist inextinguishing the flames. Now the smaller boats pressed still moreclosely round her, and a rain of missiles was poured through the openports. Several times the Mahrattas climbed on board, but each timewere driven out again. The smoke rose thicker and thicker, and tonguesof flame could be seen shooting up.
"She is doomed," Charlie exclaimed. "Even if unmolested, the crewcould not extinguish the fire, now. It has got too much hold.
"Ah! The other frigate is on fire now."
Fresh yells of triumph rose from the Mahrattas. On board the sloopevery sail was hoisted, in spite of the continued fire of muskets andarrows, which killed many of the sailors employed. The Jupitre,however, ran alongside her and grappled with her, and a furious combatcould be seen proceeding on the decks. Meanwhile, the flames mountedhigher and higher on board the two frigates. The crew now could beseen leaping overboard from the ports, choosing any death rather thanthat by fire.
It was but a choice. Many were drowned, the rest cut or shot down bythe Mahrattas. Down came the Dutch flag, fluttering from the mastheadof the sloop, and the wild Mahratta yell proclaimed that the victorywas everywhere complete.
The frigates were now a sheet of flames, and the Mahratta craft drewaway from them; until, with two tremendous explosions, their magazinesblew up and they sank beneath the waters.
"I should scarcely have believed it possible," Charlie said, "thatthree fine ships of war, mounting a hundred and four guns, could bedestroyed by a fleet of pirates, however numerous. Well, Tim, there isno doubt that these natives can fight, when well led. It is just aswell, you see, that we did not attempt to offer any resistance, inthat clumsy craft we were on board."
"You're right there, yer honor. They would have aten us up in fiveminutes. It makes my heart bleed, to think of the sailors of those twofine ships. I don't believe that a soul has escaped; but in the smallone, some may have been taken prisoners."
When the fight was over, the craft in which were the captives ranalongside the flagship of the pirate leader, and the captain reportedto him the capture he had made. Fortunately, Tulagi Angria was in ahigh state of delight, at the victory he had just won; and, instead ofordering them to be instantly executed, he told the captain to takethem on to Suwarndrug, and to imprison them there until his arrival.He himself, with the rest of his fleet, and the captured Dutch sloop,sailed into Gheriah; and the craft, in which Charlie and hiscompanions were imprisoned, continued her course to the islandstronghold of the pirates.
Suwarndrug was built on a rocky island. It lay within gunshot of theshore. Here, when Kanhagi Angria had first revolted from the authorityof the Mahratta kingdom, the ruler of the Deccan had caused threestrong forts to be built, in order to reduce the island fort. Thepirates, however, had taken the initiative, and had captured theseforts; as well as the whole line of seacoast, a hundred and twentymiles in length; and the country behind, twenty or thirty miles broad,extending to the foot of the mountains.
On their arrival at Suwarndrug, the prisoners were handed over to thegovernor, and were imprisoned in one of the casemates of the fort. Thenext day, they were taken out and ordered to work; and, for weeks,they laboured at the fortifications, with which the pirates werestrengthening their already naturally strong position. The labour wasvery severe, but it was a consolation to the captives that they werekept together.
By Charlie's advice they exerted themselves to the utmost, and thussucceeded in pleasing their masters, and in escaping with but a smallshare of the blows, which were liberally distributed among otherprisoners, native and European, employed upon the work. Charlie,indeed, was appointed as a sort of overseer; having under him not onlyhis own party, but thirty others, of whom twenty were natives, and tenEnglish sailors, who had been captured in a merchantman. Althoughclosely watched, he was able to cheer these men, by giving them a hopethat a chance of escape from their captivity might shortly arrive. Allexpressed their readiness to run any risk to regain their liberty.
From what he heard the pirates say, Charlie learned that they wereexpecting an attack from an expedition which was preparing at Bombay.The English sailors were confined in a casemate, adjoining thatoccupied by Charlie and his companions. The guard kept over them wasbut nominal, as it was considered impossible that they could escapefrom the island, off which lay a large fleet of the pirate vessels.
One morning upon starting to work they perceived, by the stir in thefortress, that something unusual was taking place; and presently, onreaching the rampart, they saw in the distance a small squadronapproaching. They could make out that it consisted of a ship offorty-four guns, one of sixteen, and two bomb vessels, together with afleet of native craft.
The pirate fleet were all getting up sail.
"It's a bold thing, Tim, to attack this fortress with only two ships,when the pirates have lately beaten a Dutch squadron mounting doublethe number of guns."
"Ah, yer honor, but then there is the Union Jack floating at themasthead. Do you think the creeturs don't know the differ?"
"But the Dutchmen are good sailors, and fought well, Tim. I think thedifference is that in the last case they attacked the Dutch, while inthe present we are attacking them. It makes all the difference in theworld, with Indians. Let them attack you, and they'll fight bravelyenough. Go right at them, and they're done for.
"Look, the pirate fleet are already sailing away."
"And do you think the English will take the fort, yer honor?"
"I don't know, Tim. The place is tremendously strong, and built on arock. There are guns which bear right down on the ships, if theyventure in close, while theirs will do but little damage to thesesolidly built walls. Suwarndrug ought to resist a fleet ten times asstrong as that before us."
"Shure then, yer honor, and will we have to remain here all our lives,do ye think?"
"No, Tim, I hope not. Besides, I think that we ought to be able torender some assistance to them."
"And how will we do it, yer honor? You have but to spake the word, andTim Kelly is ready to go through fire and water; and so is Hossein. Yemay be shure of that."
Seeing that the pirates were now mustering round their guns, and thatthe ships were ranging up for action, Charlie thought it prudent toretire. Hitherto no attention had been paid to them, but 'twasprobable enough that, when the pirates' blood became heated by thefight, they would vent their fury upon their captives. He thereforeadvised not only the native officers, but the sailors, to retire totheir casemates; which, as the guns placed in them did not command theposition taken up by the ships, were at presented untenanted by any ofthe garrison.
Presently the noise of guns proclaimed that the engagement had begun.The boom of the cannon of the ships was answered by an incessant firefrom the far more numerous artillery of the fortress, while now andthen a heavy explosion, close at hand, told of the bursting of thebombs from the mortar vessels, in the fortress.
Charlie had been thinking of the best measures to be taken, to aid hisfriends, ever since the squadron came in sight; and, after sittingquietly for half an hour, he called his officers around him.
"I am convinced," he said, "that if unaided from within, the shipswill have no chance whatever of taking this fortress; but I think thatwe may help them. The upper fort, which contains the magazine,commands the whole of the interior. But its guns do not bear upon theships where they are anchored. Probably the place, at present, isalmost deserted. As no one pays any attention to us, I propose, withTim Kelly and the ten English sailors, to seize it. We can close thegate, and discharge the guns upon the defenders of the sea face. Wecould not, of course, defend it for five minutes if they attacked us;but we would threaten to blow up the magazine, if they did so.
"I propose that, tomorrow morning, you four and Hossein shall strip toyour loincloths, and just before it becomes light go along the walls,and stop up, w
ith pieces of wood, the touch holes of as many of thecannon as you can. It would not do to use nails, even if we had them.No one will notice, in the dark, that you are not Mahrattas; and ifyou scatter about, you may each manage to close up four or five guns,at least. It is, I know, a desperate service, and if discovered youwill be instantly killed. But if it succeeds the pirates, scared bydiscovering, just as our ships open fire, that a number of their gunsare disabled; while we take them in the rear, from the fort behind,may not improbably surrender at once. At any rate, it's worth trying;and I, for one, would rather run the risk of being killed, than becondemned to pass my life the slave of these pirates, who may at anymoment cut our throats, in case of any reverse happening to them."
The four native officers at once stated their willingness to join inthe plan. Hossein did not consider any reply necessary. With him, itwas a matter of course to do whatever Charlie suggested.
The latter then went into the next casemate, and unfolded his plan tothe sailors, who heartily agreed to make an effort for their liberty.
The fire continued all day unabated; and at nightfall, when a man, asusual, brought the captives food, he exultingly told them that nodamage whatever had been effected by the guns of the fleet.
In the evening, the party cut a number of pieces of wood; these,measuring by the cannon in the casemate, they made of just sufficientsize and length to push down, with a slight effort, through the touchhole. When pushed down to their full length, they touched the interiorof the cannon below, and were just level with the top of the touchhole. Thus, it would be next to impossible to extricate them in ahurry. They might, indeed, be broken and forced in by a solid punch,of the same size as the touch hole; but this would take time, andwould not be likely to occur, on the moment, to the pirates.
The skewers, for this is what they resembled, were very strong andtough; being made of slips of bamboo. The prisoners had all knives,which they used for cutting their food. With these the work wasaccomplished.
Towards morning the five natives, with the skewers hidden away intheir loincloths, and their turbans twisted in Mahratta fashion, stoleout from the casemate. Charlie had ordered that, in case they shouldsee that the ships had drawn off from the position they occupied onthe preceding day, they should return without attempting to carry outtheir task.
He himself, with Tim, joined the sailors; and, first ascending theramparts and seeing that the ships were still at anchor, abreast ofthe fort, he and his comrades strolled across the interior of thefort, in the direction of the magazine. They did not keep together,nor did all move directly towards the position which they wished togain.
The place was already astir. Large numbers of the pirates thronged theinterior. Groups were squatted round fires, busy in cooking theirbreakfasts. Numbers were coming from the magazine, with powder to fillup the small magazines on the walls. Others, again, were carrying shotfrom the pyramids of missiles, piled up here and there in thecourtyard. None paid any attention to the English prisoners.
Presently a dull boom was heard. There was a whistling sound; and witha thud, followed by a loud explosion, a bomb fell and burst in theopen space.
This was the signal for action. The pirates, in a moment, hurried downto the bastions overlooking the sea; and the Englishmen gathered, in agroup, near the entrance to the magazine. Besides their knives theyhad no arms, but each had picked up two or three heavy stones.
A minute after the explosion of the shell, the cannonade of the shipsbroke out. It was answered by only a few guns from the fortress, andyells of astonishment and rage were heard to arise.
A moment later, five natives ran up to the group of Englishmen. Theirwork had been well done, and more than three-fourths of the guns onthe sea face had been rendered temporarily useless.
Charlie gave the word, and with a rush they entered the upper fort.There were but two or three men there, who were just hurrying out withtheir bags of powder. These, before they realized the position, wereinstantly knocked down and bound. The gate of the fort was then shutand barred, and the party ran up to the bastion above.
Not a single pirate was to be seen there. The six guns, which stoodthere, were at once loaded with grape; and a heavy discharge waspoured into the crowded masses of pirates, upon the bastions on thesea face. These, already greatly disturbed at finding that most oftheir guns had, in some way, been rendered useless; were panicstricken at this sudden and unexpected attack from the rear. Many ofthem broke from their guns and fled to shelter, others endeavoured toturn their cannon to bear upon the magazine.
The wildest confusion raged. At last some of their leaders rallied themen; and, with yells of fury, a rush was made towards the magazine.They were received with another discharge of grape, which tookterrible effect. Many recoiled, but their leaders, shouting to themthat the guns were discharged, and there were but a dozen men there,led them on again.
Charlie leaped upon the edge of the parapet, and shouted:
"If you attack us, we will blow up the magazine. I have but to lift myhand, and the magazine will be fired."
The boldest of the assailants were paralysed by the threat. Confusionreigned throughout the fortress. The fleet kept up their fire withgreat vigour; judging, by the feebleness of the reply, that somethingunusual must be happening within the walls. The gunners, disheartenedby finding their pieces useless, and unable to extract the woodenplugs, while Charlie's men continued to ply them with grape, lefttheir guns and, with the greater portion of the garrison, disorganizedand panic stricken, retired into shelter.
A shell from the ships, falling on to a thatched building, set it onfire. The flames rapidly spread, and soon all the small huts occupiedby the garrison were in flames. The explosion of a magazine added tothe terror of the garrison, and the greater portion of them, with thewomen and children, ran down to the water; and, taking boats,attempted to cross to Fort Goa, on the mainland. They were, however,cut off by the English boats, and captured.
Commodore James, who commanded the squadron, now directed his fire atFort Goa; which was being feebly attacked, on the land side, by aMahratta force; which had been landed from the Mahratta fleet,accompanying the English ships, a few miles down the coast. The fortshortly surrendered; but while the Mahrattas were marching to takepossession, the governor, with some of his best men, took boat andcrossed over to the island; of which, although the fire had ceasedafter the explosion of the magazine, the English had not takenpossession.
The fire from its guns again opened, and as Commodore James thought itprobable that the pirates would, in the night, endeavour to throw inlarge reinforcements, he determined to carry it by storm. The shipsopened fire upon the walls; and, under cover of this, half the seamenwere landed. These ran up to the gate, and thundered at it with theiraxes.
Charlie and his companions aided the movement, by again opening aheavy fire of grape upon the guns which bore upon the sally port; andwhen the gates were forced the garrison, utterly dispirited by thecrossfire to which they were subjected, at once laid down their arms.