Indian Antiquary Vol 49

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 43

MARCH, 1920)
EPISODES OF PIRACY IN THE EASTERN SEAS
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to the Cassandra again, having lain all the time within a cable's length and given her several broadsides, in order to clap her aboard; when, no hopes remaining, she clapt her helm a-weather in order to run the ship ashore, and, notwithstanding she drew four foot more than the Pirate, yet, by good Providence, the latter stuck fast on the higher ground, her boltsprit reaching almost to the Cassandra's mizzen shrouds, by which they were disappointed a second time from boarding her; when a more furious engagement ensued than ever, and the Cassandra having the advantage of showing his broadside to the Pirate's bow and gauled him very much, and had Captain Kirby come in even then, 'tis verily believed they had taken both the Pirates, for the Cassandra had one of them sure, but the other Pirate, who was still firing at her, seeing the Greenwich did not offer to come near, supplied his consort with three boats full of fresh men. At which time, being then about half an hour past four, the Greenwich made sail and stood quite away to sea; whereupon Captain Macrae, seeing himself totally deserted, ordered all that could to get into the longboat, under the smoak of his guns, and save themselves; and himself went into the yawl, very sorely wounded in the head by a musket ball, so that, some by boats and some by swimming, most of the crew that were able [i.e., unwounded) got ashore. When the pirates came aboard they cut three of the wounded men to pieces, whilst the Captain and a few of his people made the best of their way to Kingstown 20 about 25 miles up the country, where he heard that the pirates had offered 10,000 dollars to the country people to bring him in, which they would certainly have done, but that they knew the King and his chief people were in the English interest, who in the interim gave out that he was dead of his wounds, which somewhat abated the fury of the pirates, but after ten days when he was pretty well recovered, beginning to consider the dismal condition they were in and the little hopes they had of ever getting a passage from thence, he desired Mr. Cowan, a passenger with him, 91 to go down to the pirates and try if he could obtain their promise for his safety if he came down to them, which they readily granted, some of them having formerly sailed with him, which proved of great advantage to him and was the means of preserving all their lives, for, notwithstanding their promise, they were going to out them to pieces unless they would enter with them, had it not been for the authority that the chief Captain, Edward England or English, and some others that knew Captain Macrae, had over the rest ; and in the end he managed it so that they made him a present of the lesser Pirate Dutch built ship of about 300 tons, called the Fancy, and 129 bales of the Company's cloath, though they refused him & suit of his own cloaths or a shirt.
« On the 3rd of September the Pirates sailed from Johanna, and five days after Captain Macrae with 55 of his men, inoluding 2 passengers, with jury-masts and such odd sails as the pirates had been pleased to leave him, sailed for Bombay, where they arrived after a passage of 48 days, almost naked and half starved, having been reduced to a pint of water a day, and almost in despair of ever seeing any land through the long and continued calms they met with between the Coasts of Arabia and Malabar. At Bombay they found the London and Chandois. By these accounts it appears that Captain Macrae killed the pirates between 90 and 100 men, and lost himself 13 men and 24 wounded. The pirates had on board both ships when they sailed 300 white men and 80 blacks.
30 The two chiet villages of Johanna (Comoro islanda) were known as King's Town and Queen's Town in the 17th and 18th centuries.-E.
21 The Weekly Journal for the 13th July 1723 notices that the East India Company had made providon for the families of Captaina Benjamin Loveday and Francis Randel, who were killed fighting pirator on the Cassandra, and who were also probably passengers in the ship