CHAPTER X
SOME PRAUS AND A JUNK
Smith's destination, on leaving Penang, was Port Darwin in theNorthern Territory of Australia. He had never been at that port, andknew that a few years before it had been little more than a collectionof grass humpys, inhabited by Chinese and Malays, with an iron shedfor a Custom House, and a vast expanse of forest and jungle behind.But it was the principal port in the northern part of Australia, andhe had no doubt that at Palmerston, the thriving town on the easternshore, he would be able to obtain the necessary supply of petrol andoil.
His map informed him that his course lay across the Malay Peninsula,Dutch Borneo, and the islands of Celebes and Timor. It was necessaryto rise to a considerable height to cross the hills that run like aspine on the Malay Peninsula, and having passed those, he came inlittle over an hour to the eastern coast, about a hundred and fiftymiles north of Singapore. In another hour and a half he reached thecoast of Borneo, whence for nearly three hours he saw beneath him analmost unbroken sea of foliage, only one range of hills breaking themonotony. Somewhat after midday he came to the straits of Macassar, atthe south-east extremity of Borneo. As he crossed these, he had anunpleasant shock. The engine missed sparking once or twice when he washalf-way across the Straits, and he shouted to Rodier to loose thelife buoys in case it failed. There were several small craft beneathhim, so that he had no doubt of being picked up if the aeroplane fell,unless, indeed, sharks "got in first," as he put it. But theinterruption of the sparking was only temporary, and he reached theisland of Celebes safely. Then he thought it merely prudent to descendand overhaul the engine, though he deplored the loss of time. Helanded on a solitary spot where there was no likelihood of beingmolested, and Rodier having cleaned the fouled plug that had causedthe trouble, they went on again.
They were sailing low over the deep bay formed by the two hugetentacles that run south and south-east from the crab-like body of theisland, when suddenly, above the noise of the engine, they heard thesharp crack of a shot, then two or three more. Glancing up the bay tohis left, Smith saw a large junk, its sails hanging limp, surroundedby a number of small craft which from their appearance he guessed tobe praus. He had read many a time of the fierce Malayan pirates thatused to infest these seas, and was somewhat surprised to find thatpiracy had apparently not been wholly suppressed. As a matter of fact,European vessels no longer ran the same risks as of old, the Malayshaving learnt by experience that sooner or later retribution was boundto overtake them; but it was a different matter with Chinese junks. Solong as these could be attacked successfully and secretly, with nowitnesses to carry information to the outside world, there was littlerisk in swooping down upon them. The celestial government did notfollow up piratical forays of this kind in seas distant from theEmpire itself; and the Malays were not likely to attack unless theyhad a great advantage over their victim in point of numbers. A junkmight be seized and its crew massacred without the slightest whisperof the event coming to civilized ears.
Smith saw the praus clustering round the junk like a swarm of bees. Itwas impossible to doubt what the result would be. He was loth to losemore time: the plight of a Chinese vessel was no concern of his; yetas he glanced up and down the bay and saw that it could obtain helpfrom no other quarter, he could not bring himself to leave thehapless Chinamen to the fate that must overtake them unless heintervened. Slackening speed, he cried to Rodier--
"We must do something."
The Frenchman nodded. Smith swung the aeroplane round, and descendeduntil it was circling immediately over the junk and its assailants.Cries of amazement broke from some of the Malays as they caught sightof this strange portent from the sky, but the greater number wereclimbing up the sides of the junk, heedless of all else than the workin hand. There was something fascinating to Smith in the spectacle:the almost naked Malays, armed with their terrible krises, swarming onevery part of the vessel; the Chinamen with pikes, muskets, andstink-balls fighting with the courage of despair to keep the boardersat bay. As yet the Malays had not gained a permanent footing on thedeck, but for every man that was felled or hurled back into the prausthere were a dozen to fill the gap, and the most valorous of fighterscould not long contend against such odds.
For a little while Smith was perplexed as to what he could do to helpthem. The necessity of keeping the aeroplane in motion did not permiteither Rodier or himself to use his revolver effectively. Withoutdoubt the Malays would be scared off if they fully realized hispresence, for they could scarcely have seen an aeroplane before, andit must be to them a very terrifying object. But a Malay, when drunkenwith hemp and his own ferocity, is as little subject to impressions ofhis surroundings as an infuriated bull. The men left in the praus weregazing up in terror at the humming aeroplane; but even during the fewseconds of Smith's hesitation the others gained the deck of the junkforward of the mast, and with fierce yells and sweeping strokes oftheir krises began to drive the Chinamen towards the poop. In a fewminutes the whole crew would be butchered and thrown to the sharks.
Suddenly an idea occurred to Smith. He planed upwards till theaeroplane reached a height of about a hundred feet above the vessel,calling to Rodier to bombard the boarders with the full bottles ofsoda-water which they had with them. The Frenchman chuckled as heseized the notion. Smith kept the aeroplane wheeling in a narrowcircle over the scene of combat, and when it was vertically above thedeck Rodier flung down several bottles one after another among theMalays. The effect was instantaneous. These novel missiles flung fromso great a height, acted like miniature bombshells, exploding with aloud report as they touched the deck, and flying into myriadfragments. Not even the most rage-intoxicated Malay could withstandthe shock. The noise, the prickly splinters of glass, pepperingtheir half-naked bodies like a charge of small shot, altered theirblind fury to dismay and panic. With screams of affright they rushedto the sides of the junk. But the men left in the praus had alreadybegun to paddle frantically away, heedless of the fate of theircomrades. These plunged overboard, and swam after the departingvessels, whose flight Rodier speeded with another bottle or two. Inless than a minute the junk was clear.
For some minutes Smith shepherded the praus toward the shore. Everynow and then he saw a swimmer disappear suddenly: without doubt thesharks were gathering to claim their prey. Then, feeling sure that theMalays were too much terrified to think of renewing their attack onthe junk, he again set his face eastward towards the open sea.