HomeMy WebLinkAboutExeter Advocate, 1914-8-13, Page 7•
AD'VENTUREWITII SAVAGES
British Crew Captured by Sumatrans Had Thrilling
Experience While Waiting to be Ransomed
For the crew of a British shia,
aumbering 28 hands, to be attacked
and overpowered on the high seas
'by
a band of savage pirates, and
then whisked away and held prison-
ert$ or a period of over five months
in the wilds of Sumatra, where they
endured tortures and sufferings
from whidh they were released only
by the payment of a, heavy ransom
by a European government, savors
more of romance than reality. Yet
sueh was the fate that befell my
companions and me, el the good
ship Nisero, in the year 1889, says
the Wide rld Magazine.
The Nisero, which belonged to D.
G. Pinkney & Sons of Suaderland.
and London, was a cargo steamer
trading ,between Great Britain and
the East. She was capable of car
ryiag about 3,700 tons of freight,
and in those days was 'considered
quite a big ship. She was in com-
mand of Oaptain Charles Hoodruff,
assisted by the usuai complement of
offi.cers and crew, my position on
• the vessel being that of steward. All
told, we numbered 28 hands, every
one of Vhem a British subject.
It was in the February, of the year
named that we loaded uo at Sun-
derland with a cargo of coal, bound
for Colombo, The voyage out was
quite uneventful. We discharged
our black diamonds t Colombo
and then proceeded in ballast to
Batavia, in Java, to load tip sugar
for New York. Steaming aeroes the
• Indian Ocean we sighted the north-
ern point of iSumatra safely, passed
• Brasse island, and then hugged the
coast, steering for Diamond Point,
with the intention of entering the
Malacca, strait. Everything went
well, until the early hours of May
29th, when we ran into a particular-
ly heavy fog. The ship's head was
put out to eea, and we went dead
slow: Despite these preortutions7
however, we touched bottom, and
it was not long before we discovered
that the ship Was hard and fast
aground.. We could distinctly hear
the sound of breakers which told
us we had* not run ashore. Appa-
rently we bad grounded on some
uncharted reef, and at first we .did
not regard the matter very Serious-
ly. All we had to do, we thought,
was to make everything aecure and
wait until, the fog lifted and the tide
rose, when we should -float off with-'
ouadamage.
It was about 5 &Tiede in the
Morning when ^ the ship strack—as
we discovered later—opposite a
place called Point Nyes, about 'half
way between Brasse Island and Dia-
raond Point, on the northern coast
of Sumatra. About an hour and a
half later, when the fog began to
lift a little, the lookout somewhat
astonished us by reporting more
'than a, dozen large native catamar-
ane, under full sail, bearing down
upon us. We erowded to the ship's
rail and peered through the fog in
the direction of the coming -boats,
speculating as to whether they
would prove to be friends or foes.
• We had. not long to wait to settle
thia poiet. Through his glasses the
, captain saw that -the boats were
crowded with armed isavages, e end
as they drew near we realized that
they were the dreaded Achinese, a
• powerful and warlike tribe who in-
habit the northern portion •of Su-
matra, and whom the Dutch even
to this day have not completely sub-
dued. They are notorious pirates,
• and had evidently come out to rob
us, if not to kill. us.
• It was impossible to get the ship
am'ay, and accordingly preparations
were made to keep our foes at bay,
for we knew that if we allowed them
to ;Isoard us we should be at their
mercy. Rockets were fired and
shots sent in the direction. of the
coming boats in the hope that the
savages would be frightened off.
Still, however, they bore down up-
on us. .When they were within hail•
ing distance we shouted to them,
making it clear that, we did nob want
them to approach nearer. Never-
• theless, they came on taking not the
slightest notice of our ghouts and,
•threats. As they drew closer we
•realized more than ever that their
• mission was nob one of peaCe, and
• that if we valued our lives they must
be kept away from the ship at all
costise• Occesional shots from the
captain's revolver troubled them
• little, and as our.aranery was small,
• consisting only of some four or five
guns, and there was little ammuni-
tion to spare, other measures had
• to be sought to keep our dreaded
• foes at bay. .
It was clear that this was not the
first ship theee men had attacked.
Presently, by a clever maneuver,
they spread out in an immense cir-
• cle and eotrapletely i•sierrounded us;
then, dashing in etimuIteneously,
—lhey began bo el/umber on deck,
climbing up the sides of the ship like
monkeys by means Of ibarnboo poles
and grass ropes with hooks at the
ends, which they flung upward, thus
obtaining a grip on the ship's
plates, portholes and rails. When
they reached the deok many were
hurled 'back clean into the water,
but it was a 'short fight, kr we were
hopelessly outnumbered and secure.
ly bound, though nob until we had
all been • more or less seriously
wounded. I had a spear-6110st
through the muscle of any arm,
the
scar of which I carry to this day,
and our quartermaster had a spear
driven right through his leg, while
the captain had a very narrow
shave, a spear, as it whistled
through the air'taking the skin off
one side of his face.
Many of the -natives lay aboatthe,
deck stunned by our blows, while
several of their boats had been dam-
aged, Sails had been knonked
down, and here and there men lay
apparently lifeless on the lashed
logs of which the araft were con -
strutted.
Once overpowered, we r ere
quickly rendered incapable of of-
fering further resistance, our hands
and arms being seourely tied with
grass- ropes. Our captors were
half naked, brawn-skinnecl savages,
from five feet six inches to five feet
eight inches in height, fairly muscu-
lar, and as nimble as kittens. Their
bodies were greased with cocoa -nut
oil, which made it very clifficelt to
grapple with them, while they were
armed with spears, a kind of toma-
hawk, axes, and a few old flintlock
muskets. Once masters of the situ-
ation, they quickly made us under-
stand by signs that we were to leave
the ship and go ashore with the.
Then, two or three savages gripping
each man, they literally tossed us
over the side of the ship into the Wa-
ter, where we were picked up by
their companions and placed upon
the eatamarans. Saila were then
set, paddles got out, and we made
for the shore.
Not being able to speak their lan-
guage, and the savages being. very
excitable and jabbering incessantly,
our 'thoughts were anything but
pleasant ones. • Did they mean to
kill and eat us, or were the, going
-alf to 'torture us to death? We
'a.
hear e stories of the creel -
ties they inflicted upon other
shipwreck crews, and regarded
our Nee as virtually sealed. We
could not ke head or tail of their
intentiens, owever, except that it
was clear they did not mean a single
one of us to escape.
After they had beached their
boats the Aohinese made signs to
us that we were to fellow them. Se-
veral of them, heavily armed, led
the way and we sailors followed, ab-
solutely surrounded by our captors.
They plunged into the jungle, trav-
eling in a more or less straight line,
and thus we tramped along for se-
veral hours through thick tropical
forests, which taxed our strength
and patience, for fettered as we
were, we eaten eaught our feet and
fell helplessly among the thick roots
that littered the ground, while hor-
rible thorns tore our clothes and
slashed oar bodies.
We journeyed on through that in-
terminable forest for some seven or
eight hours until we were utterly
exhausted from fatigue and want of
food. All we had to eat on the
march was some wild fruit, which
our captors gathered in the jungle,
and an occasional drink from some
stream. -
• The Achinese Made it very plain
to us 'by eloquent signs that any tat-
tennit to get away would mean se-
vere punishment, if not death.
Here held as prisoners by our sav-
age captors, we were destined to
spend five weary and anxious
months, knowing nothing of what
was going on in the outside world
and in ignorance of our ultimate
fate. •
That first night, we were too worn
out to do ,anything but sleep, but
as day tsucceeded day, and we re-
mained cooped up in that wretc,hed
shed we began to discuss the seri-
ousness of our plight and racked
oar brains for a means of escape.
Twenty-eight Britishers were not
likely to ,subniiii tamely to captiv-
ity among savages. We had 'not
been among ehe natives more than
a fortnight, when Quartermaster
Potter, a big sturdy fellow, at-
tempted to regain his liberty by
quietly creeping out of camp at
night. This was pot easy, for, in
addition to the guards around our
prison, there were a dozen or more
fires enoirdling us, the glow of which
revealed our every movement. Pot-
ter told us of his intentions, 'and
though rine of us cared to join him
just then—we 7felt it , *VMS practical-
ly hopeless—we wished him luck,
and grew quite excited when we dis-
covered that he had actually got
away. It was a thettlived freedom,
however, for about 9 o'clock on the
net morning he was 'brought back
by a band of 'savages. The eoor fel-
lay( was almost naked, the little
clotting he possessed having been
tar lioff him by his angry captors.
tter was given a punishment
whitea more than one of us was oat-
pelle to suffer before we were ul-
thrall ,oreleased, Making a hot
fire, the Neleinese tied his hands to-
gether, at en, by means of cords
drew them over the 'blaze, holding
them there until they were badly
burnt and blistered, For days Pot-
ter was ,completely erippled and in
great pain, and ate had to feed him
like a bab se To alleviate his agony vigorous seamen, India. steamer Mombasa had re-
a o'a'acaa'a '
• ALLOW ME TO ..PRESENT
• my BEST. FRIEND
•
a ate,
• IN .401111.11
)144$7
OAPEFUL 70
SPIZCIPY
ROYAL "11141:4 -
DECLINE 31i,B52777,17E1
teasaiao qieereafreaaaisaaer
• • ...^..:444.4.Akm,
easweeneasee eariateaseesse
Princess 3targaret of Connaught lit Swedish Garb.
Princess Margaret of Connaught and her husband; the Crown
Prince of Sweden, at the innauguration of the Centennial Agricul-
tural Exhibition at Malmo. On that occasion Princess Margaret,
dressed in Swedish national costume, received a procession of 1,000
peasants wearing the local costumes of every part of the country.
we placed cocoanut leaves dipped in
water over the tender skin. The
leaves were veryecooling, and in
time 'the wounds healed.
About the end of June the 'same
fate befell another man, Murphy by
name, but the poor fellow died some
weeks later. In this case theasav-
ages, with fiiendish cruelty, burnt
his feet as well as his hands, with
the result that Murphy -could not
walk. We made him up a bed of
dried leaves, and in our rough-and-
ready way did everything we could
for him, bathing his burns and poul-
ticing with cocoanut leaves. Never-
theless, otur comrade grew rapidly
worse, and toward the end prayed
for death to release him from his
sufferings. Anson, another able-
bodied seaman, who essayed a bolt,
was subjected to a like ordeal, while
I still carry the scars of burns I re-
ceived as a -punishment for trying
to escape. The torture by burning
was unspeakably painful and was
always carried out in the presence
of the whole village. When the
captive was brought back tandems
were beaten and very soon the
„clearing would be crowded with sav-
ages. Then the fire would be lit,
the prisoner brought out and the
cruel punishment inflicted. Being
bound and securely held, there was
no escape. The nien often fainted
froM the awful pain, while the Adh-
inese gloatingly watched their suf-
ferings. The pirates invariably
wound up the proceedings with a
dance. •
After quite a numbeatef men bad
suffered this ordeal by fire we be -
gam 'to recognize that it was im-
possible for us to get away. Pos-
sessing no compass and knowing no-
thing about, the country, we did
not even know in what direction to
go. All around us was thick jungle,
in some places absolutely impene-
trable.. What dangers lurked there
we did not know, bat we were well
aware that it contained wild beasts,
for we often heard the roarings at
night. There were leopards and
jaguars, we knew, and.also enorm-
ous pythons. To have escaped from
one savage tribe into the hands of
another would not have improved
matters. and it, seemed as if this was
Climbing 'the trees for fruit and
nuts played havoc with our elothes,
avhich were soon in riibbons. Many
of the men, moreover, had been
weaning little at ithe time of cap-
ture. When the ship was etbacked
the mon below dashed upon deck
in their trousers and shirts and
these scanty garments were now in
the last stages of ,disrepair. The
natives took our watches and
chains, our pipes and tobacco and
every ,artiele we possessed that they
Fancied. They even took the rings
offtheactaptain's finaersa It 'was not
long before we detected in the vil-
lage many articles from the Nisero
in the form of Topes, canvas, awn-
ings, sails, chains and tools. Ears
of steel were brought from the en-
gine mein, and out of ft/hese the na-
tives fashioned improvised limn -
niers and ax, heads. They even
•,an-•-eaght • the ship's. Chronometer
ashore. This Riley 'evidently' regard-
ed iee a curio, for it, was 'broken up
and the works disbributed among
the chiefs.
These garments they often wore,
especially on festive occasions,
when they presented a comical
sight. One would be seen parading
about in a shirt, another in a vest
and a third in a sou' -wester cap. As
we watched them,' men would rue-
fully remark: "There goes my
shirt!" "There goes my coat t" and
so on.
Meanwhile, the days of our im-
prisonment passed elowly and wear-
ily by, and no whisper from the out-
side world reached us. One day
was very much like another. When
the sun rose we would leave our
bed of dried leaves, stroll down to
the stream and perform our ablu-
tions, often indulging in a swim.
Our next task would be to cook
enough rice to last us the day. We
ate for breakfast, for dinner, •and
also for supner, and we soon came
to loathe it. After breakfast we
woukl wander into the adjacent
jungle, which we were allowed to
do—always accompanied, bewever,
by some of the natives—to hunt for
fruit, When night came and we
turned in we were greatly troubled
by myriads of voracious mosquitoes
and flies.
Now and then we could not help
the most we could Mope for if we
being struck with the humor of the
succeeded in avoiding the wild
beasts and snakes.
None of us get more than a few
miles into the jungle before we were
overtaken, 'for the natives were ex-
pert trackers. Our experiences
were practioally identical. All the
fugitives were 'suddenly pounoed up-
on by the savages, who emerged
from behind trees and bushes when
we imagined no one was following
us.
• During our imprisonment among
the Achinese we were fed on rice. A
bagful of this grain, with the husks
on, were 'brought every morning by
one of the natives and flung down
before us. We had to separate the
rice from the husks and Olen cook
it in a sort of cauldron over a fire
Nvhith we kindled with an old flint.
Water we obteined from an adja-
cent stream, fetching it in a kind
of old pail we found. To vary our
diet of rice we had various kinds of
wild fruit, such as mangoes,
oranges figs, apples, tomatoes and
cocoanuts, These we either picked
frond the forest bordering tthe clear-
ing or obtained from ,the natives.
We induced the native boys to
limb the cocoanut tree,s and throw
us down the nuts. These we eraak-
ed and drank the milk. In spite of
these shifts, however, our menu
was nob very satisfying' to healthy,
situation. Not only did the na-
tives bring everything movable
away from ,the ahip, but aur clothes
as well.
One morning, when we had been
there just over four months, we
found 'the natives greatly alarmed.
It was clear that something nn -
usual Was about to happen. The
young bloods were greasing their
bodies, fondling their spears, and
marching to and fro. Were we be-
ingtattacked by a rival tribe, or
'what was it? Just after noon we
heard •shouts, but they were not
wax ories, and then a band of na-
tives, many of 'whom we had never
seen before, stepped into the clear-
ing, followed by a troop of some 50
European soldiers, dressed in light
blue uniforms and peaked caps, and
lad by a smart little officer. They
were Da tehmen, and we could not
help giving them a rousing cheer,
whieh they promptly answered.
Without more ado they strolled over
to• us, shook hands with us went -
1V, god Plied us with queetions cora
cerning our health. Never had
we seen faces that cheered us so
mucls as those of these sunburnt
sons aof Holland I Nearly all of
them spoke English and we thanked
heaven that we had been found and
reeeued at taste— •
We now learned that the British
0
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414
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E.W. GI L.Lerr co. urn.
TORONra
N N t PEG. 1M ONTag
re.1 4.1Mett-fialeHW,
Creme dijLejeloYliRe.411""1"le—ellaPee:t one and a
half pints of new milk over a slow
fire with the the (thinly pared rind of
half a lemon. Beat a whole egg and
the yolks of three more •till light,
then mix in two ounces of sifted su-
gar and four tablespoonfuls of dried
and sifted flour rubbed smooth
with 'two or three spoonfuls of the
milk. When this is all blended
strain it into the hot milk just as it
reaches boiling point and stir it to-
gether over the fire, without allow-
ing it to boil, until it thickens and
"drapes' the spoon. Have ready a
layer of ratafias and 7nacaroon,3
mixed at the bottom of a deep glass
dash soaked with half a wineglass-
ful of brandy or so of essence of
vanilla,. Strain the • hot mixture
into this and strew ground cinna-
mon over it. Leib it ,stand over
night to get perfectly oold, then
serve either plain or with whipped
and 'sweetened, cream flavored with
brandy Served separately.
Yellow Custard :felly.—Put one
pinbofiiiilkin a pan with one-haLf
an ounce of leaf gelatine, dissolve
the gelatine in the milk. letting it
boil up, then add two ounces of su-
gar teed when the milk has eooled
a, little and the sugar :ie dissolved
stir in the besbten yolks; of four eggs,
talking care however not to let the
mixture boil; flavor with vanilla,
and when nicely thickened pour into
a border mould and leave till set,
when you fill up the centre with iced
t ..44444
KfasTEWErfet.
gooseberry fool. For the goose-
berry fool stew very slowly one
quart of greea gooseberries, after
lopping and tailing there, with half
a pound of sugar, three or four
strips of finely aa,red lemon peel and
just sufficient water to preveut their
burning. When tender rub them
carefully through a fine sieve (ad-
ding a drop or two of vegetable
green coloring, but be careful with
this), and wine -glass of merits-
ohina liqueur syrup, a squeeze :of
lemon juice and halrf a pint of stif
fly whipped cream (or failing this
use custard): and either freeze in
a freezer or paek into a tin, cover
down tightly and 'bury in ice and
freezing salt for some hours. The
fool must be stirred up from the
bottom and sides occasionally to
make it set evenly and smoothlY-
Any. fruit ean be prepared in this
way.
Orange Cheeseealses.—Boil the
thinly peeled rind of ;four oranges
in water to remove the hitter taste.
When tender pound up with half a,
pound .of sugar, four ounces of but-
ter and the yanks of six eggs. Beat
the mixture well and add the juice
of the oranges; should the oranges
be large only use the aice of two.
Have ready some small patty pans
or two large ones, line with puff
paste, put, in the mixture and bake.
The whites may be used for merin-
gues, etc. •
Vegetable Soups. •
Vegetable soup with etoeleis made
in this way: Measure a teaciaPfal,
each of 'chopped cabbage, parsnip
and turnips and a cupful and a half
each of onion, carrot and celery.
Pub these chopped vegetableis in a
soup kettle and add a quart each of
stock and water. Simmer until the
-vegetables are tender and then add
• a cupful a canned tomatoes and a
ported having. seen our vess,e1.‘ tablespoonful of Chopped parsley.
ashore. and on assistance being sent Flavor with a, teaspoonful of salt
to her itwas disicovered that not a and half a teaspoonful of pepper.
single member .01 the orew 'remain- Serve very hot.
ed on board. There were tames of Another vegetable puree, of which
a fight, however; and the wreckage
of the ship found on the shore made
it clear that we 'had been over-
powered and carried off into the
jungle.
The matter was at once brought
to the notice of the Dutch /govern-
ro.e.nt, whir& eyes asked to ascertain
what had become of ue, a;ndby dint
of Many inquiries at last discover-
ed our Whereabouts. Word was
sent, through the natives, to the
chief who held us prisoners that we
were to be at once released, but
this the chief refused to do without
first receiving a ransom. He threat-
ened to massacre as if soldiers were
sent against him. We learned all
this from our rescuers. They in-
formed us that the matter badbeen
brought before the British House
of Commons by Samuel 'Storey, then
M.P. from Sunderland, and that
the British people were very incen-
sed sit tine inability of the Drubch to
release us. The British foreign of-
fice had insisted on something being
done, and that was why they had
come to bargain with the chief.
There were certain preliminaries
to be gone through, but we should
undoubtedly be free shortly. It
was indeed joyful news.
The soldiers pitched their tents
close to ue, and that night we , had
the pleasure of tasting hot coffee,
eating properly cooked European
food, •and indulging in a smoke—
the first far ages. Never was a
meal so satisfying and a smoke so
soothing to troubled rierves.
Next morning our captain left us,
in company, with 'some of the ;sol-
diers and Chiefs. There was to be
a palaver with the chief who claim-
ed us, and Who was away at the
time, one of the conditions being
that the taptain was to be present.
As the days wore on naturally we
speculated as to what was happen-
ing, though our Dutoh friends as-
sured us that it was only a matter
of errangernent, Twelve days later,
to our dismay, the soldiers were
called away, • but retuned next
mornintg, and great Was our `joy
when they informed us %hat we were
nOW .they
and were to accompany
them to the tweet. Our liberty had
been bought by 'tale Dutch govern-
ment, which had agreed to give the
natives 12,000 guilden-eaboub Al, -
000, Thus ended our captivity of
five months and three days among
one of the most warlike and danger-
ous tribes of Sumatra, Wesoon
rea
tir ched Sarawak,. where we found
oeapltAYti
tain ltAltig us, and from
that 'P1a60 we aline home to Eng-
land, via 11,obterdana, by the steam-
ship Souriabaya,,
stook is an ingredient, is made in
this way : Boil slowly until tender
in stock enough to cover half a oup-
ful each of chopped potatoes, leeks,
onions, carrots, parsnips and bur -
nips. -Men add salt, pepper and
other seasoning to taste and rub
through a sieve. Melt four table-
spoonfuls of butter over the fire,
and when it ibubbles, add table
spoonful of flour. Gradually pour
on the puree and stir over .the fire -
for four minutes. Then reduce the
heat and add two well beaten eggs
mixed with . a little Milk. Serve
with croutons.
• CONGENIAL WORK
Ana Strength to Perform It.
A person in good health is likely
to have a genial disposition, ambi-
tion, and enjoy work.
On the other hand, if the diges-
tive organs have been upset by
wrong food, work become drud-
gery.
"Until recently," writes e West-
ern. girl, "I was a railroad steno-
grapher, which means full work
every day,
"Like many other girls alone in
a large city, I lived at a boarding
house. For breakfast it was mush,
greasy meat, soggy eakes, black
coffee, etc.
"After a, few months of this diet
I used to feel sleepy and heavy in
the mornings. My work seemed a
terrible effort, and I thought the
work was to blame-atoo arduous.
"At home 1 had heard my father
speak of a y-oung fellow who went
long distances in the cold on
Grape -Nuts and cream and nothing'
more for breakfast.
"1 concluded if it would tide him
over a mornings heavy work, it
might help mac, so on my way homo
one night I bought a paokage, and
next morning I had 0 -rape -Nuts
and milk for breakfast.
"I stuck to Grape -Nuts, and in
leas than two weeks I 'noticed im-
provement, I remember I used to
live. the 12, blocks to business and
knew how good it was simply to
iv
"As to my work --well, did you
ever feel the delight of having eon -
genial work and the strength to
perform it That's how I felt.
truly believe there's life and vigor
in every grain of Grape -Nitta,"
Name given by Canadian Nature
Co., Windsor, Ont. Read "The
Road to 1,Vellville," itt pkge,
"There's a Reason,"
thief' road the above 'otter. A new ono
appoarg , from time to time, They are
genuine, trueand full o huinan Interest.
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